• Member Since 9th Oct, 2017
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Nailah


Pineapple Love. Beloved Mare. Follow me on Discord: Godfrog#4197 Support me on: My patreon https://ko-fi.com/nailah

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Mar
22nd
2020

Interview with Cloptimist · 2:20am Mar 22nd, 2020

Interview with The Cloptimist 

"Alright, now tell me my dear friend, what inspired your username?"

I kind of regret it now! I only signed up for Fimfiction to post a stupid clop story I'd written for a friend. I didn't want to use the name I usually use everywhere online, so I tried to think of a silly pun - I write clop, I'm an optimist, "Cloptimist" made me smile and so I guessed it would do the same for someone else, and that's what I ended up stuck with. I haven't actually written a clop story in months, and I often wonder if my stories might be taken a bit more seriously with a different name, but I don't want to seem like I'm ashamed of the clop stories I wrote and use an alt account or something, so... here we are.

"What drew you into MLP?"

I got into MLP because I watched the show with my daughter - she got a DVD of season 1 for Christmas one year, and I was quickly won over by the strength of the writing, the awesome characters, the great jokes, the lack of cynicism, and just the feeling that Equestria was a great place to spend some time.

"Who is your favorite pony and why?"

Applejack! Although I think in real life I'm a bit more like Twilight and Pinkie - I'm a lawyer and a bit of a joker - I'm also a country boy who's very proud of my rural background, and Applejack is just somepony I aspire to be like. I love her honesty (obviously), her sense of humour, her good manners, her common sense wisdom, the way she's portrayed as stubborn and even ornery but never stupid. I feel like her respect, so grudgingly given, means more than pretty much any other pony.

"Favorite episode and why?"

There are so many, but I would have to go with Amending Fences - it feels like the absolute textbook example of how to do a flashback episode, it packs so much in and has so many of those amazing, unexpected MLP emotional moments. The shot where Twilight snaps out of her flashback and she's just staring into space because she suddenly realises that what happened with Moondancer was all her fault is... I've got chills just thinking about it.

"What inspires you to write?"

I like to think I have stories to tell. I'm not usually so good with actual plots, but I pride myself on characters and dialogue - most of my E or T stories are just basically ponies talking to each other. (And even an M one - In Search of Lost Time, which was prompted by a bet from my friend, is a clop story where there's no clop until the very end, and instead just has Sunset and Flash talking to each other all night). I just enjoy spending time with these characters, especially since there won't be any more new episodes of the actual show (sniff!), and this is my way of doing that, writing little stories about them just interacting. On a more prosaic level, there's nothing as encouraging as upvotes, favourites and comments to get the pen moving!

"Tell us about a story that inspires you to write. It doesn’t have to be mlp specifically!"

The first MLP fanfic I ever read was 'Misunderstandings' by The Rogue Wolf. It's a HiE story where the human doesn't speak the pony language, the ponies have no idea what this weird creature is, and each chapter is told from an alternate perspective. I was just blown away, and wanted to try my hand at writing my own stories pretty much purely as a result of reading that. Sadly the author seems to have left Fimfiction, which is a real pity because it's still a story I turn to again and again to marvel at how well-constructed it all is; plot, characters, dialogue, I wish I could write something half as good.

"Give us the background of the author! Tell us all about you. Well in a short summary."

So, I'm a lawyer, and a parent, and British. I caught up with the show just in time for the Season 5 premiere, so I'm different from a lot of bronies in that Starlight and Sunset have been main characters to me for pretty much my whole time in the fandom. I'm pretty sure I'll be a brony for life, and a ponyfic fan (and hopefully a writer).

"What is one thing mlp has taught you?"

Okay, I don't want this to go too dark, but... I used to suffer pretty badly with depression. I credit MLP, and specifically the Smile Song, with helping me feel encouraged enough to go and get the help I needed, rather than doing something drastic and (in hindsight) stupid or selfish. So I don't think it's an exaggeration to say MLP may very well have saved my life.

"Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

This is normally where I give a shout out to my favourite band, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, but I already did that the only other time I was interviewed, so... I'd just like to say thank you to all the awesome authors (and reviewers! and interviewers!) who make Fimfiction such a special place.




Thank you for allowing me the pleasure of interviewing you, you have truly been a pleasure to talk to. I hope you continue being awesome.

-Nailah.

His profile: https://www.fimfiction.net/user/341451/The+Cloptimist

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Comments ( 2 )

Aw, thank you so much for the opportunity :twilightsmile:

That was a good read; thanks for doing the interview -- and to Nailah for conducting it, of course! :ajsmug:

Is there anyone even vaguely interested in ponyfic writing who doesn't love "Amending Fences"? I'm racking my brain (such as it is) and can't think of anyone saying they actively disliked it. (I've seen one or two fans who have, but they weren't into ponyfic.)

Misunderstandings looks interesting, so I've added it to the RiL list. Normally a 228k word fic would be something I didn't have time for... but for obvious reasons I'm likely to be at home reading for a while, so maybe I'll get some longer stories read.

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