Interview with Tempest · 4:33pm Jan 22nd, 2021
Interview Rp Format
Nailah as Snow Heart
TCC56 as Tempest
Snow Heart
Snow Heart was casually seated in a booth at the local coffee shop sipping at her Carmel vanilla mixture. She looked at her non-existent watch, muttering under her breath.
"They are late..."
Tempest
At the statement, a voice rose from behind her. The adjacent booth, most likely.
"A writer is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."
There was a moment of silence.
"Actually, yes, I was late but in my defense I also didn't see you and sat in the wrong booth."
A quick shuffle of cloth and the neighboring booth's occupant shifted around to a far more appropriate seat across from Snow Heart. He paused to sip his own drink - only for the steam to fog his glasses over.
"...I suppose that's a bit of karma. Hi. Sorry. I think we're the two who were supposed to meet? Unless I'm unluckier than usual and just became the creepiest story to tell over the water cooler tomorrow."
Snow Heart
"Ah, there you are. I take it you got my letter. Here I thought it got lost in the mail. Mail system is way outdated, and needs reorganized completely!" Snow rambled. Blushing, lifting a hoof to shake their hoof.*
"Sorry, I can go on and on if you let me. I'm Snow Heart, as you already know. Tell me who are you, and how did you get into mlp?"
Tempest
"Well, officially it would be Tempest but after the whole... you know. Invasion thing I opted to go by initials, so TCC. It's a little clumsy but it avoids the inevitable awkward questions. Mostly from ponies that aren't paying attention and mix up purple-unicorn-mare with blue-pegasus-stallion."
He wing-shrugged.
"As for how I got involved? It was pretty straight forward, honestly. I needed a creative outlet and found one that provided a rich background with strong stories and characters. I came around fairly late, so it wasn't really an unknown quantity if you know what I mean."
Snow Heart
"Hmm...I see and yet I've seen your name around fairly often. Not that I was stalking you or anything..." Snow heart flicked, her bat tufted ears flicking, that mischievous smirk on her muzzle. Her wing stiffened together under her hoodie. Her horn didn't light up, but she felt a strange nervousness running through her*
"Well hey it only matters that your here! But here's a tough one. Who is BEST pony?"
Tempest
"Sunset Shimmer."
He didn't hesitate there.
"I think I've had harder times choosing ice cream flavors."
Snow Heart
"Good choice. She's a very good pony. I resonate with her." snow heart skipped at her coffee. This was getting easier, she didn't feel as nervous.
"What inspires you to write?"
Tempest
For that, he chuckled.
"I am eternally stalked by inspiration. I wish I could say something artful or inspiring, but the raw truth is that I have ideas that ram their way into my head and I feel like I have to get them out somehow. And those ideas come from nearly anywhere - images, songs, random snippets of conversation, anything."
Another shrug, and a pause to sip his own drink.
"If something evokes an emotion, it can inspire something. It sounds like bull, but that's just how my mind's patched together. Blessed-slash-cursed with the creative spirit, I guess."
Snow Heart
"Hmmm... Interesting. I once wrote a smut story about my own experience with bdsm, but was too afraid to post it. So I understand that. " Snow blushed, a bright cherry red. She then leaned forward, and stared at him*
"Tell me what advice might you give a new author? One just stating out for the first time?"
Tempest
Of course, fate would dictate that he was taking a sip of his drink right as she said that. Fortunately, he only had a brief surprised cough.
"Sorry, sorry. Not a prude or anything, you just caught me off-guard with that."
He paused.
"Though I guess that might have been why you did it. Anyway! Uh, advice. Well, usually the biggest one I give out is that writers should always read their work out loud. The mind is an amazing thing, and there's a lot of rules of language you know but you don't know you know. So hearing that's just a little off can trip your brain into zeroing in on the problem. It also help dialogue feel more natural, since it forces you to speak like a real person."
Snow Heart
"I've been hearing that a lot lately. And well I'm not a new writer, but I can admit reading your story out loud is a good tool, but why not go further? Why not engross yourself into the character. Sorta like acting I guess. That's the best way I can explain it. It's helped me with characters that I'm not as familiar with, and gets me in their head." Snow explained, as she wasn't sure her words were getting through, but words were hard. It was difficult to convey a message through a simple exchange of coffee.*
"Now, you don't have to answer this if you don't want but is there anything about the writer behind you, you'd love me to say?"
Tempest
Tapping his chin with a primary, TCC considered.
"Engrossing yourself in a character, I agree. It's an extremely useful tool - I just don't recommend it for a new author since it's a more advanced skill. Being able to get inside a character's head properly and think from their perspective? That's not easy."
At the question, he turned his head to look at the booth behind him.
"There's a writer behind me? They're pretty good at hiding, then. But seriously - nothing springs to mind. Writing is a passion and its own reward in a lot of ways. I'm fortunate. I've got a good life, solid friends and a way to express myself. What else is there to say?"
Snow Heart
"Well, I could make a list but I won't. That would require way too much work! And have you've ever seen the paperwork a Princess deals with?" She leaned back into the booth and sighed. This wasn't about her problems, this was about him*
"Do you have any hobbies outside of writing?"
Tempest
"Well, I'm a long time avid tabletop gamer. But you know. Plague and fire and all that so I haven't had a good one in a while."
He leaned to the side, holding his mug up to signal for a refill.
"I've been trying to expand out my hobbies a bit lately, but I haven't found anything else that quite pulls my attention the same way. I used to do long distance running, but I got injured and still haven't managed to get back into shape again."
Snow Heart
"Ouch..." Snow leaned over and gently put a hoof to his shoulder, head lowering in sympathy. She too had been injured. But not in the same way. She lifted her hoof, and sat there awkwardly. She twitched, and a slight smile rose as when the waitress came she refilled her coffee too.*
"Let's turn the tables shall we? Is there anything you'd like to ask me? Choose wisely you only get one question."
Tempest
"Hm."
For a long moment, he considered the question. Some of it, he managed to cover with a quick sip, but the silence lasted just a little too long for that.
"I'm going to guess that asking when the next chapter of Broken Promise is coming would be in poor taste. So instead I'll ask you something that's been asked of me a few times - what is it that draws you to focus on short writes? Most writers ramble and prattle, but there's a handful like you and I that focus on the small, short and quick in our writing. Is there a reason you do it that way?"
Snow Heart
"Well, honestly I prefer writing longer things, but I struggle with motivation and not getting a lot of feedback on my multiple chapter stories, and want to give my fans something to tide themselves over with while I write the next chapter of whichever story I'm focusing on. Right now, it's Broken Promise. I'm hoping by the end of this month, but I wanna make sure it gets the proper tlc before posting it. Too often I get impatient and want feedback sooner, which resulted in my earliest stories, suffering. I'm trying to be better."
Tempest
A grin crept up across his face.
"So what you're saying is that I got away with two questions there."
Snow Heart
Snow heart flushed "I reckon you did. I told you I ramble!" She coughed. She sighed, and smiled, giggling.
"It's okay though. I never knew you were stalking me. It's very flattering considering you are well sort of a big deal despite being a late-comer to this fandom. Now before you go on your way to write more horse words.
"Is there anything you wanna say to them?"
She points to her 420 stalkers
Tempest
"For the life of me I have no idea why I'm sort of a big deal at all. I try to write the good words instead of the bad words and I guess people like that or something."
The stalkers are pointed out. He freezes for a moment - and then waves.
"Hi there. Please treat her well, she's also making with the good words and that's harder than it looks. And thank you all for deciding our collective time is worth your collective time. It's always a pleasure to get reactions for writing - both positive feedback and helpful criticism. Hopefully we continue to entertain."
Link to TCC56's Fimfiction page: TCC56
"If you want Snow Heart to interview you, get in touch - and be sure check out Nailah's Reviewer Mansion"
This is great! Thanks for this.