Who cares about writing? An interview by Zenlith.

It’s all an experiment anyway.

“In preschool, I once had the principal praise me for a poem and I was like 'oh damn, call me wordsworth',” WhoCares recounts. “I’ve always loved writing and loved making fantasy settings.”

A love that hasn’t disappeared, as WhoCares is currently writing a web fiction named Re:Write, a pledged fiction rapidly nearing its end. “I wanted to experiment with multiple point of views” adding that “I wanted to see if a character who could literally do anything could be interesting.”

Further elaborating, WhoCares explained how it could be done. “You could take the comedy route and use that to propel the reader or withhold information and make the MC less central, use the peripheral POVs to propel the reader.”

Watching WhoCares’ burning enthusiasm for writing and trying new things, the only thing I felt missing was a firm ‘I love it when an experiment comes together.’

So what could possibly drive this experimental writing spree?

“I kept writing so I could experiment with different styles/techniques, because creative expression is the highest form of pleasure to me”

But WhoCares went on to add a secondary reason. “WriTE's a family to me, I come here to relax, talk to friends and lighten up which keeps me writing. I ended up becoming a leader because I was pushing for us to do more.”

Despite all this, it would seem WhoCares has no shortage of experiments or ideas.

“I read homestuck recently and wanted to blend elements of other artforms with writing” “I might try telling bits of my next story through music. This time I intend to blend new forms of art/writing with older ones”

WhoCares proceeded to talk about the write magazine itself. “I thought it would be interesting. A magazine for web fiction has been attempted before but never really worked.” With a sly smile the hypothesis was added. “With a group of writers behind it though, it might.”

But despite all of that, WhoCares still did not seem satisfied.

“I wish I had more time to do more stuff. In fact, I think I'll go ask for some help right now, since I can't figure out a magic system.”

Despite WhoCares eagerness for going back to the bubbling experiments and exciting hypotheses, I did the only proper thing a reporter could do. I stopped WhoCares with one last question: “Were you into horses when you were younger?”

After a long and awkward silence, WhoCares finally answered my question. ”Not really, the horse series was long and there were a ton of them in the used book store.”

After this, WhoCares drew a hasty retreat.

But what do other people think about WhoCares?

To get insight on WhoCares, I contacted the oldest co-leader of WriTE, a man who’s been working on the WriTE project together with WhoCares for a long time.

“We have a very efficient system,” Donkeymonsterz explains. “Krill does all the hard work and I look important and reign tyranny on the populace.”

When inquired about the name Donkeymonsterz uses for WhoCares, “Krill”, he merely nodded a few times to himself, without further elaborating.

I asked what he thought of WhoCares ideas during their long period of teamwork, and Donkeymonsterz seemed reluctant to answer.

“As much as it burns to say it out-loud, he can organize shit and works pretty hard at stuff.” He added a comment on how inventive WhoCares can be. “Krill's ideas are surprisingly decent, Who woulda knew?”

It would seem that even Donkeymonsterz, a man who has a complicated yet playful relationship with WhoCares, had to admit to the cleverness and dedication of WhoCares. “We can have many jokes and jabs at each other. His jokes leave a persistent fishy stench that is hard to get rid of... or is that just him?” Donkeymonsterz explained. “I simply demoted him to the lowest form of life that I thought fit of him. A krill.”

Very telling of their relationship was the remark from the sidelines by WhoCares. “I actually called myself that.”

Before I could intervene, Donkeymonsterz was already jabbing back “No you didn't, Krill”

“I did,” WhoCares insisted.

As I fled the scene I heard a final retort from Donkeymonsterz. “LIES”

While the two of them were arguing, I continued my quest to find out exactly who cares. For all I know, their argument hadn’t stopped the following morning.

In the meantime, I went to speak with the supervisor of WriTE, Vocaloid, the man known as the Loki of Royalroad.

With a slanted smile, Vocaloid, affectionately dubbed “Mocha” by WhoCares, explained to me.

“He's often forced to do follow up or clean up after my whims. For example, the first groupwar was sparked by me and I proceeded to force WC to make all the arrangements after making a format.”

But Vocaloid also had a lot of praise for WhoCares. “When making big decisions with WriTE, he'll often ask me about if certain things are alright and vice versa. WhoCares is both active and enthusiastic about the group.” Vocaloid explained, moving on to talk about WhoCares as a leader.. “WhoCares is finding ways for the group to keep to its goals and organise some stuff to make the group more meaningful without taking away the fun part. I think he's the best one for the job.”

Vocaloid seems to agree with the assessment WhoCares is both experimental and hardworking, so I asked him to describe WhoCares in a single word, fully expecting either of those words to be used.

“Krill,” Vocaloid said. “It's an easy to say nickname, it matches up with the Karen thing since krill is a sea life-form, and admittedly it sounds somewhat like an insult so I find it fun.”

Karen is an invention of Donkeymonsterz, so I could not help but find it interesting that despite his enthusiasm, hard work and experimental approach, the defining characteristic for WhoCares was grounded more in the relationships formed in WriTE, than the work done. I could not help but wonder if it had always been like that.

“Towards the beginning of the group he was constantly talking about Karen and messing around in chat.” Vocaloid explained. “It's not a straight line of becoming more mature. Sometimes, you'll feel the urge to test your limits and relax a bit. I feel like things could go either way. One day, WhoCares could right back to the way he acted before while still helping out with furthering the group. Or he could cut away from the RP and become super serious.“

But it would seem, despite the growth, WC has not yet become too mature to liven up the group. “We idly chat and roleplay with each other about various matters ongoing.” he explains.

When asked why WhoCares was undergoing this transformation, Vocaloid drew a clear parallel to himself. “Responsibility. Much like how I've matured after taking up a role as a staff member for RRL. I realise that what I say has consequences for more than just me. My internet identity which can get to someone's head and act like a shield so a person feels less inclined to hold back is no longer a shield. It's something I value.”

With those words in the back of my head, I went to one of the new leaders of WriTE, a person WhoCares praised for the initiative he’s shown. OldBeggings usually take on the name of “Background character” in the chat, but is in reality a man so stone-faced he dubbed himself “apathy in carnate.”

I asked about his relationship with WC I was met with a dry response. “Talking happens. But not that much.” when pressed further he added “Meh... I tend to not care about others as a whole.

I'd say he's not a dick, but that's all.”

At this point I knew that OldBeggings would represent one of the most indifferent voices in all of WriTE, so I pressed about how WhoCares was as a leader for the group.

“Meh. He's giving good hype to new members joining. He’s laid back and doesn't seem to get mad at anyone that much. He does what he needs to do, but I feel like he doesn't go overboard with control. He's done a good job.” Adding that the mod chat is mostly empty, “Except for little things once in a blue moon, and WC describing all the current dramas happening when we first became mods.”

So it would seem that even to one of the most stone-faced members of WriTE, the leadership of WhoCares has been beneficial. But is it at times less than ideal? “I feel like he doesn't go out of his way to make too many changes.” OldBeggings explained. A stance that is indeed backed up by his rival-yet-on-friendly-terms, Aucis Josh, leader of PenDragon.

“During an argument or fight he seems way more neutral then he should be. I also think he could work better on his laid back take on groups. When fights or arguments happen between fellow write members where he should have intervened he left it be. It shouldn’t be so accepted to have arguments between members.” He added that “I still think he should be a more serious leader.”

He went on point out “I haven't seen him recruit anyone recently and hold any events.”

But despite all this, there’s still a lot of secrecy surrounding WhoCares. “WhoCares has never told anyone her gender nor her age,” a member of WriTE said. A secrecy that seems to fit into the name itself. When asked about the name, WhoCares explained “It’s ironic.”

When asked about speculations of the person behind WhoCares, there was no shortage of opinions. “In my brain jelly, he's been firmly established as a male.” Vocaloid said. An opinion backed up firmly by Donkeymonsterz.

But one person has a radically different opinion on the person behind WhoCares. “How she acts and what she says have brought me to think she is a woman,” Oinos, a recent arrival to WriTE explains. “If someone doesn't have a proofreader or something like that already WhoCares will probably be there to help and man, does she have patience sometimes.”

Oinos added that “Unlike what the name says she cares, she is mature and patient but also laugh at dumb childish things people link here on the chat. With her really caring attitude it wouldn't be weird if she was a mother.”

When asked about what drives WhoCares, Oinos explained that “Fun. But it isn't just that. Looking at what she's doing lately, I'd say she wants to expand. Make webnovels more known in general and have more and more people read hers.”

A prospect that might explain some of the secrecy around the character known as WhoCares.

When asked about it, WhoCares commented “I don't intend to stick to just writing and wanted to expand into other forms of media. I wanted to use Who Cares as an umbrella. and because I like anonymity.”

It seems we might just have to keep guessing about the identity behind WhoCares, and what the future may bring. When asked if the real reason for the anonymity was that WhoCares is in fact a shapeshifting krill, WhoCares promptly retreated with the words ”he’s onto me… abort!”

This has been the Write way magazine interviews. Thanks for your time.