Interview with Bean · 7:10pm May 1st, 2021
Interview Rp Format
Nailah as Snow Heart
Bean as Bean.
Snow Heart
It wasn't just another day for Snow Heart, of course she did have her standard "Princess" duties to attend to, but she was actually out of her castle, heading to the local cafe. She enjoyed the downtime, and with her pink hoodie to hide her wings, no one knew who she truly was. Snow Heart often missed the simple pleasure of being just a unicorn. Being a Princess was if anything, nothing but stress. Ponies excepted you to have all the answers, but Snow had never asked for wings, nor the responsiblity. So, that was why coffee and tea where her go to things for when she needed to relax, and sometimes meet interesting ponies along the way. Stepping into the cafe, she saw it was mostly empty. It was later in the evening. Not really a typical time for coffee, but the heck with it. She was going to get her coffee and enjoy it, as much as she could before she'd have to leave for her night time lessons with her little sister on how to further control her wings, and keep up with practicing on not falling.
Bean
A graying unicorn sat slumped at one of the tables, staring absently into space and sipping tea. When the door clicked, his eyes moved towards in, then back again. The cafe was a touch too empty; deep moments of silence broken by clinking of cutlery, yawning and hissing from the kitchen. He came to let his mind relax in a gentle white noise of conversation - and found silence. He sipped his tea again. 'Poor sense of time, as always,' he thought. He pondered whether a slow evening walk would be a better alternative... but for once, the hiss of nature didn't attract him. He eyed the other patrons curiously. 'I wonder how others start conversations,' he mused, and started playing out scenarios in his head. Each one made him want to sit and sip tea even more. He sighed, shrinking into the cushions, and closed his eyes.
Snow Heart
Snow Heart casually looked around for a seat. Immediately, she glanced his way. He was sitting there alone, looking in need of company. She felt this slight ache in her heart, and figured it couldn't hurt to at least try to introduce herself to this stallion. He was older, and she could see the lines on his face. Rough, but full of knowledge. She always felt like she had so much to learn, especially from ponies like him.
"Um... Hello is this spot available?" she asked pointing to the seat opposite of him at the same table. Snow Heart's bat ear's twitched, and she reached up to scratch at the back, as she scrunched up her face, and muttered about the dust from her earlier work in the castle. Sometimes not having a bunch of servants, meant she had more work to do, but she didn't mind. She hated asking for help. She was raised to be able to handle things on her own, and thankfully Celestia had given her a Pegasus sister to help with flying, but that was besides the point!
Bean
The unicorn opened his eyes with a startled jerked. A second later he was sitting motionless - only his golden eyes darted up and down the pony opposite, stopping here and there. Then his mustache curled up in a smile. "Oh, please sit down. Excuse me, I was lost in thought." He gestured with his hoof, then paused, inclining his head slightly. "Or would you like the seat facing the door?"
Snow Heart
Snow Heart took the seat opposite of him, she had no preference and just shook her head, when he implied he'd move for her, if need be. She didn't want to cause a burden. She adjusted her seat, and smiled slightly.
"It's rather quiet tonight, what brings a stallion like you out here so late? Oh I'm being rude. My name is Snow Heart, it's a pleasure to meet you." she extended a forehoof in greeting, and remembered to not force her smile as she did for the lecture's and meetings of her typical Princess duties. He was just a pony, and she had asked him for his pleasant company, not the other way around. It sorta felt nice to just feel somewhat normal. Snow Heart offered a french vanilla frappe with a bit of caramel drizzled over the top. Nothing wrong with cold coffee, and she really didn't need to stay awake for hours on end
Bean
The stallion stood up and gave her hoof a slight shake. "My name is Bean. It's a pleasure to meat you missus Heart. Or is it 'miss'?" His eyes darted to her hoof, and to the top of her head, looking for something. Then, erratically, to the sides of her face, down to her drink, to her mouth, and to the door. He chuckled, and sat back down.
Snow Heart
Snow Heart shook hooves with him, before politely answering his question
"It's Miss Snow Heart, Azure Sparkle has yet to ask me to marry him. Not that I'd ever ask that of him. He knows how I feel about marriage." Snow Heart groaned a bit. She had actually never been married, but it felt silly to her. There was no reason she and Azure needed a ceremony to celebrate their love for one another.
"Though, I must admit, it took my little sister a long time to find a stallion that could put up with me. You could say I'm a bit of a hoofful at times." Snow Heart mocked and jabbed at herself. Just came with the territory. Not only was she an alicorn, but she was a bat alicorn, meaning she sometimes had the weirdest of sleep schedules, preferring to embrace the night over the daylight hours*
"Anyways, not to be too forward but I'd like to know more about you. It's not often I see many stallions like you out here. Most would have retired to their homes by now. Don't tell me, you're a writer working on his Magnus Opis and use the cafe to relax?"
Bean
Bean chuckled when she mentioned her relationship. "Oh, I'm told I can be quite the hoof-full as well, don't let the looks deceive you. If I had my wife's patience..." He shrugged, and shook his head. "I'm out on a little stroll, I do that when the fancy strikes me and I need to clear my head." _He glanced up, looking into her eyes for the first time, a piercing golden stare - gone the next second when he closed his eyes, smiled, and shrugged.
"You have, however, guessed partially right," He looked down at his hoof, and turned his teacup slightly. "While I'm not much of a writer," he said musingly, "I have a bit of connection with the writing world." His eyes glanced up filled with mischief. "Care to take another guess? Or would you first tell me how come a spry young pony such as yourself visits this place often enough to see me as an oddity?"
Snow Heart
Snow Heart chuckled at that.
"I'm sure she loves you, and that's why she puts up with you. Often, I wonder how Azure deals with certain things about me. It's not easy when you're dating a Princess..." Snow paused and quickly covered her mouth. She flinched. Damn it, why did she say it like that? Being a Princess wasn't horrible, it just was hard at times. Ponies excepted so much of her, and she felt bad for not living up to their expectations
"Well, normally I see lots of ponies coming in and out of here. I like this cafe a lot because you never know what you might find. You could find a crazy old coot that lives in the mines, and finally got to Ponyville as a way of relaxing, or you could meet someone as bubbly as Pinkie Pie that just wants to spread cheer. I may not have pinned you down right immediately, but then again I've never been that good at guessing games. So tell me who are you, and what got you into mlp?"
Bean
Bean smirks at her slip-up, and nods. "I enjoy a good pony-watching myself. Helps me relax, I suppose. As for myself..." He shrugs again, and sips tea, collecting his thoughts.
"I've been with the community for a long time, in some capacity. I started as an artist, if you can believe that. I ran a business selling moving pictures." He shrugs. "Not sure you would be interested in that."
Snow Heart
"Oh? Actually, that sounds interesting, I'd love to hear more if you don't mind telling me about it. I'm kind of passionate about art too, but I never could grasp the fancy fancy digital art."
Bean
"Ah," Bean perks up a bit. "As I said, I was making little moving pictures. Animatics. A scene from somepony's memory - and sometimes imagination - painstakingly recreated and brought to life into a seamless little loop." He shrugs. "I'm quite curious, and find animation fascinating. And the technical side is very stimulating. But it can all get quite technical, most don't have a stomach for it." He chuckles. "I don't blame them."
He pauses and sighs. "Those were nice times, and they are nice memories still. Not necessarily the best of times, sadly." He smirks bitterly. "Quite time-consuming, you see. A lot of ponies I wanted to bring joy to, who might not have had the deepest pockets."
"I made all my tools from scratch," he continues, "a whole animation studio. Two, no, three years of my life I poured into that thing." He sighs. "But it wasn't good enough. This story did not have a happy ending." He shrugs again, and smiles. "Or it might have, all things considering."
"While my skills and ambitions grew, time demands did so - and with them, costs. In the end, I could not find individuals who could afford my full services. I took a long look at my life, considered creating smaller pictures and pouring my soul into them, barely struggling to balance my books..." He pauses, and sips his tea again. "That was when an opportunity came for another job - the animation studio proved an impressive resume."
He sighs.
"It shames me to say I simply jumped ship and ran. I was quite burned out at the time, constantly struggling with overworking, depression and poverty. I left it all behind and sought to build my life into something else."
He smiles.
"But I couldn't keep away. I don't have the time to make animations anymore, but I sought to express my creativity through another passion - writing."
He looks at Snow Heart and blushes. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm being quite impolite. Rambling away! Brevity is not exactly my forte."
Snow Heart
Snow Heart listened to his tale, with keen and earnest interest. Never once did she look bored, nor tired of his words of wisdom. In a strange way, she could relate. Though this wasn't about her, but about him, so she didn't bring it up.
"Oh do ramble away, I'm told I'm a good listener. So you like to write, what inspires you to do so?"
Bean
"Ah..." Bean thinks, "I suppose... the exchange of ideas. Showing others something they haven't seen before, or considered. Making them think, and perhaps," he smirks "transferring a bit of my life experience?"
Snow Heart
"I see. that's a good reason as any." Snow Heart replied softly, nodding. She often wished she could help other learn too, but she wasn't really that talented with her words. Often she had a big heart, but her words never came out just the right way, when it came to the grammar and execution. Which is what editor's were for!*
"Speaking of experience. What advice might you give to a new author just starting out for the first time?"
Bean
Bean chuckles. "Write."
"Write until you're done, check for big errors, do some basic editing... Don't overthink it. And publish - that is the most important part."
He sips his tea. "Which brings us to what I actually do these days."
Snow Heart
"Oh? What do you actually do these days?" Snow Heart asked curiously, leaning forward ever so slightly, with big wide eyes, eager to learn
Bean
"I had time to sort things through in my head a bit," Bean says, "And came to the conclusion that it is very hard to learn on one's own. Experience and feedback from others is necessary, as is motivation a bit heftier than 'thumbs up'." He shrugs. "Naturally, I returned to FiMFiction and its Discord community."
He sighs. "However, the community being so numerous, I found it quite hard to find consistent feedback like that. So, I made my own group -" he chuckles "- there's a joke here about blackjack I'm sure."
"The premise was simple - create a group in which all members would consistently write, and give each other criticism. The tool was to be a periodic prompt - at first weekly, nowadays one prompt every two weeks." He looks at Snow Heart. "How does that sound to you?"
Snow Heart
"It sounds like it would spark creativity. And I feel like when writers are challenged, feel forced into a deadline, they're more eager to actually write. I know my author has struggled with this herself."
Snow Heart paused to think about what she should say now. The awkward silence lingered in the air. She was never sure how to ask this next question
"I do admit, I am a bit curious to the writer behind the Bean, if you know what I mean..."
Bean
"Hah," Bean blushes. "To be honest, I'm not much of a writer in practice. I've written earlier in my life quite a lot, but in my own native language. My tastes have changed since then, and I have a lot of issues to figure out." He chuckles. "One being publishing anxiety, hence the group. It's basically a group-based cognitive-behavioral therapy. Get more comfortable with showing one's work to the others, or even consider it. Be forced to keep to deadlines, and get more used to time management. Have publishing slowly become a thing one does naturally, and one's mind expects with positivity."
He shrugs
"As for my own style, well..." He thinks for a moment.
"I'm a great fan of Lovecraft, and tend to write stories revolving around perceptions and the mind a lot, I suppose." He smiles. "That, or time travel and creative use of magic. Basically exploratory fiction." He shrugs. "Which makes me quite indigestible I'm sure. Too lofty for my own good, squeezing too much into stories too short, giving descriptions a bit too verbose."
"I also like music - studied it for a while in fact - and poetry. And language in general. I find comfort in systematic things, and intrigue in relation between them and the mind."
Snow Heart
"Ah I see." Snow Heart finally replied after a few minutes of sipping at her frappe, enjoying the pleasantry that was having a casual conservation, with a pony far superior to her in every way possible.*
"I am hoping I can contribute something to your group. It took a bit of convincing to get my hoof in the door, but I'm eager to see if it actually will be theraptic for me, because believe me, I've been struggling. Anyways, I know I keep asking the questions. So I'll give you a chance to ask just 1 question, Is there anything you'd like to ask me?"
Bean
"I'm sure you'll do fine," Bean waves his hoof. "This isn't a competition, you know? There is a good reason why we don't do points. The only point is writing - for the craft, for the art, or for yourself. Getting better at it if you can, but most importantly, making the process smoother and more enjoyable."
"As for a question..." He sips his tea, thinking.
Snow Heart
Snow Heart waited patiently, yet fidgeted awkwardly in her chair. She never was a fan of the spotlight. Every second felt like an eternity when she was filled with the overwhelming anxiety that plagued her. She often felt she didn't deserve her wings, nor the attention she got from being a Princess. So often, Snow Heart felt she wasn't good enough.
Bean
"It is fairly hard to figure out something someone else didn't ask you," Bean admits. "At least probably. I do like to be novel, after all."
"How about this," he looks at Snow Heart. "Which one do you like more: A sunrise, or a sunset? And perhaps... why?"
Snow Heart
"Probably a sunset, because I admire the majesty that is the night. I've never been a morning person. I remember my very first actual job was delivering newspapers at 2am in the morning, and still going to school afterwards. I remember the one time I was so exhausted, I fell asleep in history class. My teacher was totally understanding, and even offered to let me nap during class, if I needed too. Which I never took advantage of, because I'm stubborn."
Bean
Bean gives a quiet laugh. "I see. A gateway into the night... I'm not a morning person either, and sunsets are warmer. I often work late into the night, but seldom early in the morning. For some reason," he shrugs "a sunset often finds a way into my stories. I'm dreading I'm a bit repetitive on that point, actually." He smiles. Thank you for your answer."
Snow Heart
"You are welcome, but never apologize for being you. In life, if there's anything I learnt, you can't be afraid to be yourself. I was in a really bad situation years ago, where I had to choose. Myself or my marriage. I chose to save myself, because no guy is worth losing Nailah over. But that's enough about me. Is there anything else you'd like to say? Maybe to the peanut gallery?"
Bean
"With writing, I think it comes down to goals," Bean shrugs. "Some compromises can be better than a heap of bullheadedness. Like with many thing, the answer lies somewhere between the two I think."
He smiles again.
"And for the peanut gallery: Don't be afraid to do the things you love, and share them with others." He nods. "And remember: Hope shines eternal."
Link to Bean's profile page: Bean
