Tyson Interviews The Fanfiction Community
.A. E. Stover.
"Why are we interviewing someone who hasn't been active in the community since Jesus was walking around? I mean, they only have one story and it is almost 4 years old."
Twitching humorously because the producer had her mouthful with coffee; Ann had to place down her cup before the hot liquid ended up everywhere. 'That's so fucking cruel.' - The blonde concluded to herself as she was struggling to hold back her laughing fit. Her cheeks were burning, yet her throat was screaming for air. This was a catch 22 that could only end badly.
But luckily it didn't~.
She took a deep breath through her nose and closed her eyes to focus her entire attention on swallowing the liquid contents in her mouth. "Aw, that was too nice to waste." Ann muttered before firing the Granger a frown. He of course was too busy cackling away at her little episode.
"Tyson. This author is still very much involved in the community and she does have a lot of experience that not many of us know about. So I think it will be worth you speaking to her. Anyways, be nice and polite."
Nodding to show that he agreed; the champion refused to argue with this awkward fact. Instead he just turned his cap back to front and flashed her a confident grin. "Hey, I'm the nicest guy on the planet when you get to know me. Besides, I think that order is a little hypocritical coming from you." He winked and headed out the backstage room to make his way towards the stage.
Looking at his guest who was sat opposite him, the Granger flashed her a confident smile and began to work through his script cards that were sat still in his lap. "So, who is A. E. Stover?" He questioned, really wanting to gun through this interview to find out who the authoress really is.
"I don't know how to answer this question. There's this whole other persona I've created just for this name, one that's similar to me in a lot of ways but also completely different. A. E. Stover is a professional writer; I am not. A. E. Stover is a 20-something-year-old lady with a gentleman's name (Alexander Eliot Stover); I'm just some 20-something-year-old girl pretending to be an adult. I think I used to know who A. E. Stover was. Now, definitely not. I don't know how to reconcile these two personas. No idea if that's even what I should do. Oh well?"
Fascinated by the fact about her username, Tyson sat up straight in his seat and he thought about his next question before asking it. "Y'know, a lot of fanfiction authors I have met seem to have two different persona's, it must be a defensive barrier or something. Anyways, what is A. E. Stover like when she's not sat at the computer?"
"Offline, I'm a teacher. I teach social studies at a middle school, for grades 6 through 8. Right now, I'm the only social studies teacher at my school because of budgeting issues, so my work is both a nightmare and a blessing; I've got 175 kids to worry about, but I see all the kids each year, so I get to develop the strongest relationship with the kids. By the time they're in 8th grade, I hardly have any issues cause I'm either real tight with the kids, real right with the kid's parents/guardians, or even both." She paused to think about her answer in more detail. "I guess my reality is crazy? I have a 2-hour commute, so I wake up sometimes at 4:30 or even 4 in the morning to get ready and do what I gotta do before I catch my bus and my train to get in by 7. I don't gotta get in that early, but I wanna make sure I'm prepared for anything, y'know? That might sound crazy to most folks, especially when they hear that sometimes i don't get home until, like... 9 or 10 every day. But I think most teachers who care about their kids and their job have a similar schedule. I don't see a lot of folks leaving early, at least not at my school. "
"A teacher?" The Granger gasped with his eyes widening, "I did not see that coming. Holy cow."
"Yea, I kinda guessed that you wouldn't." The authoress smirked, "But what can you expect when you visualize a fanfiction authors just by their username?"
"Good point." He nodded, "This is why I love doing what I do because the authors are really unique. So, why do you write fanfiction and when did you start doing it?"
"I think I started writing fanfic in the 6th grade. I don't think I was doing it consciously; I don't even think I knew what fanfic even meant at first. I watched Yu-Gi-Oh! and wondered, like... "What would happen if this person never did this?" Or "What would happen if this happened instead?" I wrote in script/chat-format (i.e.: NAME: dialogue) for a while in 6th grade before I somehow stumbled upon Fanfiction. I think, maybe, I found a Rurouni Kenshin fansite that hosted a rec list of fics. And most of them linked to this site instead." Again, the fanfiction authoress took a moment to answer the second half of his question. "I don't know why I started writing. I'd like to think that it was because I thought it was fun. I hope I thought it was fun. Lately, I keep forgetting what it's like to write for fun; it slips through my hands just as I start to get a grasp on it. But I hope that, when I first started out - I really do hope I had fun writing."
"Have fun writing?" Tyson wriggled his eyebrows and smirked with enthusiasm as he got into the juicy part of the interview, "That reminds me, when are you gonna write a beyblade fic again? You know, feature me and my awesome team."
The crowd then spared a laugh and Tyson winked at them.
"I have lots of ideas, but very little time and almost non-existent motivation to write much of anything. I hope I get around to writing soon." A. E. Stover responded, "When I was little, I used to think inanimate objects were real. Actually, I think a lot of kids think that; I hear teens and adults who believe that are common, too. I guess Beyblade as a sport or a game never fascinated me, but the concept of a spirit living inside an object and forging an unbreakable bond with whomever it chose sure did. You know how kids, when they have favorite toys or blankets or whatever, they hang on real tight to 'em? I felt like it was kinda like that. Maybe there really was some living quality in that toy, or that blanket, or that whatever. Maybe, as we got older, we just stopped caring about it."
"Your motivation is non-existent?" The host then gasped with shock and he looked over to his producer, "Ann, spare the girl some of your motivation will you? She needs it."
The blonde then pinched the end of her nose and nodded a no. "Tyson, give her some of yours. You're the 'best' at what you do. And while you're at it, give A. E. Stover some of your confidence too because you have too much of it." Little A Granger fired back with her pride hanging on her sleeve.
'What a cheeky little shit. His ego is miles bigger than mine.' - She thought to herself.
Tyson rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue childishly, "Mines too precious to share, that's all." He then quickly lowered his eyes to his script card to avoid any eye contact between him and the producer. He just knew that she was seconds away from bouncing her clipboard off his head.
"So, why did you comeback to Fanfiction after experimenting with AO3?" Tyson then tilted his head aside and he waved his script cards towards his producer, "What the hell is AO3?"
Ann shrugged, "Beats me. I have always stuck to Fanfiction or Quizilla." She admitted without thinking twice about her answer.
"Oh, I get to ask my favourite question now. Which beyblader represents your personality then most then? Now, I'm gonna be honest and say that I don't think you are a Tyson."
A. E. Stover then nodded a no and took a deep breath, "I've been told I'm quite flexible, and that I can work with any personality or situation no matter what conflicts might arise. I've been told I have great leadership potential, and I've been told I'm both dynamic and silent. I respect authority and usually follow directives to the letter, without question. On this alone, I'm probably a mix of Kenny or Rei. Personally, I'd lean more towards Kai. I'm flexible and can work with other folks because that's part of my job. Outside of that, I'm not really a social person. It's exhausting, especially when I have to be alert and "ready to change lives!" all the time. I don't actively distance myself, but I generally keep to myself to recharge after playing The Extrovert 12 hours a day when I'm actually an introvert at heart. Most days, if I had a choice, I'd run off somewhere, maybe go to a city where nobody knows me so I can blend in like a wallflower and watch the city go through its day. Or hide in some cabin in the woods. Or something. I don't know." She really loved to give an in-depth response to all her questions, especially as the authoress got her point across quite clearly.
"Well, Stover, it was a pleasure to have you dude." Tyson concluded as he scratched the back of his head. "Lets just hope you get some material written up soon so the community can look forward to it." He then turned towards the camera and let his champion persona do all the talking. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's give it up for A. E. Stover!"
A/N: Hey guys, I hope the update was worth the wait. It came a lot quicker than the others, shockingly xD. Anyways, I won't be online much for the next few days because I am taking some time off to heal. Alot has happened in the past two weeks and I can feel it in my heart that I am close to doing some permanent damage to myself. Take care guys – Granger~
P.S: An idea for a piece in the future will be a yearly review for many of the authors involved in the beyblade fanfiction community. Like, I want you guys to send me a message about how you think this year has gone then please do :). Also add what you want to achieve next year. Me and Tyson will get around to the messages when we can xD haha.
ALSO! My next chapter will feature a guessing game [so no cheating]. Send me a message about an author and guess what they look like. This will be an hilarious short piece for everyone to get involved in.