Continuing with our Tapas Media creator highlights, young hot shot Ivy Song has amassed a considerable following of over 80,000 subscribers on the platform. Her main series, Airplanes and His Barcode Tattoo, are dynamic collaborations with fellow Tapas creators Johyoo and Wishroomness, showcasing strong female leads. In our interview Ivy recounts her earliest work as a fiction writer, her introduction to Tapas Media, and the motivation for developing her narratives.
ComicAttack: Just for the purpose of introduction, what is your name(or Tapas handle) and what kind of content do you provide on the Tapas Media platform?
Ivy Song: Hi! My name is Ivy Song and I’m a content creator for Tapas Media. I started out as a novelist and eventually went on to adapting one of my novels into a comic. His Bar Code Tattoo was my first novel-to-comic project and now we’re branching out a little more and doing the same for another title – Airplanes.
CA: When did you first get into writing and what influences have you drawn on in developing your narratives?
IS: I started writing around the end of middle school. I think it was around 2012-2013? I can’t believe so much time passed since I started this journey. I actually got into writing through fanfics- hear me out on this one! My friend from Saturday school discovered this website called “asianfanfics” and she told me that she made an account. I had no idea what it was and never heard of it until that moment. The bottom line of this website was that “people write stories and sometimes they use the names of their favorite (Asian) celebrities to garner attention”.
I brushed it off but somehow, she convinced me to get on it too! I posted some random stories here and there and didn’t pay attention until ‘His Bar Code Tattoo’ took off, getting featured on the front page in September of 2013. I realized that people liked what I was writing about and continued- the rest is history!
I think I’m mostly influenced by the media and the ideas portrayed by the entertainment industry. When I write, I take an idea that’s already been presented and think- what can I do to make this better? To make this more intriguing? For example, the basis of His Bar Code Tattoo is death dates. The concept of death dates was not new, but I took it anyway and decided to put my own spin on it. Whatever concept or theme that I’m focusing on, I just take it and run with it!
CA: Is it more important for you as a creative to feel an abiding personal connection to your stories, or to be inspired by the creation of something new and possibly unfamiliar?
IS: I find both of these ideas important. When I write, I like having a personal connection to my stories because it’s a piece of me. I love writing so much and at the end of each novel, I try sneaking in something personal such as letting a character share a quirk that I have. But the personal connection doesn’t always have to be real, it could also just be something I resonate with. Sometimes I create characters and paint them as someone I wish I had in my life. “Be the person you wish you had growing up”, that kinda thing, ya know?
Being inspired by your creation is great too! Your imagination is limitless, anything can happen in the artificial world you create as a writer, or as a content creator in general! Let it inspire you! Great things will happen!
CA: What attracted you to Tapas? Was it more about accessibility and ease of use, or were you drawn to the community?
IS: I wasn’t too familiar with Tapas until Gabby (from Tapas) contacted me. She sent me a message on Tumblr and I was quite confused. I didn’t use Tumblr regularly so I thought she was trolling me, haha! But it was definitely not a troll and I’m so thankful she tried to reach out to me. From there, we figured out the logistics and next thing I knew, I was published!
I didn’t think I’d be on the app so much, I actually love reading comics on Tapas (no one’s telling me to say this by the way!). When school’s out and I have some spare time, I could stay on the app for hours. It’s a very simple app to use, nothing complicated at all! And I love supporting my fellow content creators!
CA: You have an ongoing web novel, Airplanes, that has also been adapted to a web comic. Who have you worked with from the Tapas community and what was the collaborative process like in transitioning your work to a graphic format?
IS: “Airplanes” is my second webcomic and this project is quite different from the first. When we were working on HBCT (with art by Wishroomness), my role was just to “okay” everything before it went into production. This time around, I’m working with a very talented artist named Johyoo and I’m the one who’s script writing! This is my first time writing a comic script and it’s been a very cool experience thus far. I’m literally watching the production process and I’m a part of it too!
CA: Are there any other creators on Tapas that you would like to work with, but haven’t yet had the opportunity? Is there any creator, in any medium, that would be your dream collaboration?
IS: I absolutely love the plot/concept behind “Body for Rent” by Zephygaru and “Mode II” by You.Ling. Body for Rent is about the power of borrowing other’s bodies and to make it short, the repercussions of abusing that power. The police are involved! There’s murder! There are many twists in this comic that you just don’t see coming! Mode II is about this shy boy who acquires the power to hear the inner thoughts of people and he uses it to find the serial killer behind his sister’s murder. I personally had a phase of writing where I was obsessed with fate, death days, playing with destiny, etc. I also notice that I’m drawn to books/comics with similar sci-fi/fantasy aspects of Body for Rent and Mode II. I think it would be interesting to see what would happen if we threw all three of our minds into one pot, what would brew?
I’ve always wanted to write a novel or create a comic with a storyline with the sole purpose of blowing the reader’s mind. Maybe a murder mystery thriller or a death date dystopia, whatever it may be, I want to make something that no one can decipher- essentially a story that’s written backward. It would take tons of planning, but I’m down to whip out a blueprint!
CA: Would you say that the web model is ideal, creatively and logistically, for your intentions as a creative, or do you feel like eventually branching out into print is a natural progression?
IS: For now, the web model is ideal, it’s all I know, anyway. But I think it would be awesome to have a physical copy of any of my books!
CA: Of the series you are currently working on, Airplanes and His Barcode Tattoo, what would you say are the strongest thematic elements you want readers to come away with?
IS: I definitely wrote Airplanes with the intention to create a strong female character. If you think about it, many shows and plotlines display the same old formula: distressed female character meets a hot male character and her life changes forever? Um…How about no? I hated seeing female characters portrayed as helpless women who needed to rely on men. Where are all my strong independent females? I created Sora, the main character of Airplanes, and gave her a blunt and powerful persona. I wanted both main characters to fight their own battles outside of the relationship.
As for His Barcode Tattoo, I never really thought of this: what do I want my readers to get out of Barcode? I wrote this novel when I was really young and honestly, I wrote it for fun! But if I had to answer, it’s going to sound very cheesy: loving someone even through hard times, picking your own destiny and fighting for it! (spoiler alert(?): Just like how Sehyun and Minhee chose to be with each other despite knowing all the consequences!)
CA: Do you have any new secret projects in development? What’s next for you creatively?
IS: Well, when we wrap up Airplanes within the next few months, I did express a desire to rewrite the sequel to His Bar Code Tattoo: Numbers. Honestly speaking, some of my published books were written years ago. My writing style was a bit juvenile and I’d like to see it revamped.
CA: Just to wrap up, as a kind of personal touch for our audience:
What are you reading?
IS: Just a bunch of articles for my human sexuality class and my classical mythology textbooks. (Ouch, the reality of college hits hard, haha!)
Pro Tip: If you’re in college, consider taking a human sexuality class. It’s been my favorite psychology class so far. Pro Tip #2: look up your professors beforehand and if your human sexuality professor is a flamboyant gay guy who tells it like it is – enroll ASAP!
What are you watching?
IS: I started watching Knowing Brothers! It’s a very funny show, I’ve been missing out!
What are you listening to?
IS: Exo’s “Don’t Mess Up My Tempo” Album!
We at comicattack.net would like to thank Ivy and her fellow creators over at Tapas Media for offering a glimpse that the content and talent currently featured on the platform.
You can find Ivy Song’s Airplanes and His Barcode Tattoo here.
Christian Davenport
cable201@comicattack.net
