The Lightning Awards Season 3 [IN SESSION]

Meet Judge Vanerz

Now that we have entered the last days of the application period, we have noticed our new judges haven't received as many entries as others, so we want to give them an opportunity to introduce themselves in a short interview. Assistant Tieg (Tieg2001) has offered to interview Judge Vanerz (nosakkayuuma). We hope you enjoy this, and if you are prospective applicant, chose Judge Vanerz. Her works can be found on FFN under the name "vanerz".

When I read your judge's page, I noticed the number of years you have been writing in the Inazuma Eleven fandom. Seven whole years, quite an accomplishment. Would you like to describe your growth as a writer throughout these years?

Thank you!

My first Inazuma Eleven fanfic was "Renegade", which focused on Fudou in between seasons 2 and 3. More specifically, between Shin Teikoku and the Inazuma Japan tryouts. There was something about the way his backstory was revealed by Hibiki that dissatisfied me, and that led to it all. Renegade was in many ways just me putting my headcanons down onto the page. It also took a while to write... two whole years to finish! After that, I started a collaboration with a fellow writer: "Redemption". It's an AU of season 2 of the original Inazuma Eleven, basically a 'what if Fudou joined the Inazuma Caravan after he was defeated in Season 2'. Sadly, it remains unfinished today, but I learned a lot about writing together with someone and also about plotting a story. (In comparison to Redemption, Renegade doesn't have as many plotlines.) It was a lot of fun!

In the years after that, I continued to write Inazuma Eleven, at the pace of a few oneshots every year or so. A personal favourite is the "Rise up, let me see the sun" series. I got to merge typical sports manga tropes into Inazuma Eleven (which I see as more fantastical), and portray the contrasts between Fudou and Kazemaru, but also their similarities! And I got to use high school metaphors too (like titrating chemicals, haha), which I really enjoyed thinking of. I think in these few years, I paid more attention to my prose, rhythm, and imagery.

More recently, I've had a few forays outside the Inazuma Eleven fandom, particularly in Dangan Ronpa and Mo Dao Zu Shi, but what hasn't changed is that I still write for Inazuma Eleven, and will likely keep writing for it in the years to come!

I recall your information mentioned that you pushed yourself to write the stories "What draws me to you" and "O.P. Catalyst", would you care to give a bit of additional information regarding how you pushed yourself to write these stories?

Definitely!

"What draws me to you" is a Fusaku fic set in their high school years. Sakuma is in his third year of high school and hasn't seen Fudou in some time, even though they were supposed to go to Teikoku High together. He's managed to build a great team with Genda and Kidou, and they've all put Fudou behind them. But one day, Fudou appears before him...

I tried to write it without revealing what Fudou was up to, and once you find out, I tried to portray a looming sense of inevitability. And, of course, I worked on the beautiful imagery and metaphors! Their situation is tragic in a way, and so while writing it I got really sad. But there's also a beauty in their varying circumstances, which I tried my best to portray. There was (and is) a gap between the imagery in my head and in the text, and I really pushed myself to make the gap as small as possible.

"O.P. CATALYST" was a departure from the stuff I normally write, which is usually slice-of-life, or at least set in a believable, modern-day world. It was inspired by Inazuma Eleven Outer Code Episode 3, which is where Fudou appears looking totally different to his original series self! I thought about why that would be the case and came up with a (slightly fantastical) reason in that fic! I pushed myself in the sense of thinking beyond what I normally write, and also experimenting with a past-present non-chronological structure.

Personally, I'm not all that familiar with your stories, so could you try to summarise your current writing style?

I put a large emphasis on flow and word choice when I write, and also try to portray the characters and the setting to be true and living. I realise this all sounds like very obvious stuff to focus on for any writer... what can I say; I write what I want to read!

If we're talking about the surface level stuff, I tend to favour third person and past tense. Also, I like to write a narrator that's very close to, but not exactly, the POV character. (So I definitely don't do that head-hopping, omniscient narrator-type stuff.)

As a judge for this season's Lightning Awards, for what reasons should aspiring fanfic writers apply to your page?

I'll definitely give you a detailed (and nice) critique to the best of my ability, so if you've read my criteria and this interview and like what you see, please apply!

Any final remarks?

Thank you for taking me on as a judge!