One of the tricks I've seen people utilize in writing fiction when they really want to find their character's voice, get into their heads and figure out what makes them tick, is a character interview. Basically, you sit down and, writing as yourself, ask questions and then respond in-character. This way, you have something to reference, their personality, their ideals, their speech patterns and their particular vocabulary.
However, given the nature of our games and some of the unique tropes of the genre, I thought it might be interesting to have our interviewer be in-character as well.
With that in mind, there's only one character fitting for this sort of exercise:
"Lois Lane, Daily Planet, with an open invitation to the Capes and Creeps of the DC, Marvel, and OU Universes. The world wants to know what you've got to say, and there's only one way to get the word out. Got a message you want to share with mankind? Think someone in the media is treating you unfairly? Here's your chance to set the record straight! Send Andy C. a Private Message to set up an interview, and sign up for a no-holds-barred sitdown with yours truly."
These are coming, I promise. I was about halfway through with my first one before my computer crashed, and because I'm an idiot, I didn't save it, so I have to rewrite the whole damn thing.
Okay, got the first interview finished, starting with one of my own. Yeah, yeah, I know, it's a little self-serving, but think of it as a 'demo' episode. Once I get more volunteers, I'll be able to do more interviews that aren't just me talking to myself.
Til then, here's DC-YO Superman:
L: I'm here today with a man that's sparked something of a revolution, not to mention quite a bit of controversy. They call him the Metropolis Marvel, the Big Blue Boy Scout, and the Man of Tomorrow. Most people, however, know him simply as Superman.
S: Thanks for having me, Miss Lane.
L: Please, you can call me Lois.
S: Right, erm, thank you, Lois. It's nice to be able to chat with you when there isn't something exploding.
L: Well, about that. You made quite the spectacular debut some time ago, single-handedly saving the citizens of Metropolis from a Category-3 hurricane. What made you decide this was the moment to make yourself known to the world?
S: It wasn't really a conscious decision-- I'd been doing similar things around the world for a while, but I'd always tried to keep myself a secret. That wasn't an easy thing to do; even for someone as fast as me, it's difficult to stay out of sight in a world with eyes and ears everywhere. Eventually I realized that I'd be more effective if I was just up-front with the world about what I am, and that decision happened to be right around the time that Hurricane Zack hit. I could have just as easily made my debut by pulling a cat out of a tree.
L: How long had you been doing these things on the sly?
S: About seven years, give or take.
L: And why did you keep yourself a secret for so long? I mean, you've only ever been seen helping people, I doubt there's much you'd have to fear from reprisals, and well, you're hardly Quasimodo. You could have been a superstar any time you wanted, so why be shy about it?
S: Well, I never wanted to be famous-- I don't do this for the attention or the glamour. I just wear the cape and the bright colors to let everyone know that I'm not hiding from them. I mean, I'm not exactly the type you can accuse of 'sneaking around.' It's the same reason I don't wear a mask-- I don't have anything to hide.
L: But that's not exactly true, is it?
S: I'm sorry?
L: You do hide some things, don't you? We still don't know your real name, where you came from, where you grew up, basically anything about who you actually are apart from what you do. You claim that you don't lie, but you also don't really tell the whole truth, do you?
S: .....okay. You're right about that. I haven't told everyone the whole story, and there are a couple of reasons for that. The first is that there's still a lot about my past-- my home, my biological parents, their reasons for sending me to Earth-- that I just honestly don't know. I came here as a baby, and barely remember anything from the world I'm from. The second, bigger reason, is that there are people out there who mean a lot to me, who could be hurt if their connection to me was exposed. I couldn't allow that.
L: Don't want some masked lunatic attacking your wife?
S: I'm, er, not married.
L: Your girlfriend, then?
S: Well, I'm actually single at the moment.
L: I'll keep that in mind.
S: Excuse me?
L:*Ahem* anyway, you said yourself that keeping anonymous is getting next to impossible in an increasingly digital and inter-connected world. Isn't having a 'secret identity' only a stop-gap measure, at best? If you're worried about protecting your loved ones, why not just go to the government about it and ask for assistance?
S: I've only been public for a few weeks, and since then, the United States military, along with contractors in the private sector like LexCorp, have already spent over twenty billion dollars in developing "advanced metahuman response" technology, specifically meant to capture or kill me. So hopefully you can imagine why I'm not rushing to the authorities just yet.
L: So you don't trust the world you're trying to protect, then?
S: That's not it, Lois. I'm not out to judge or condemn anyone, and I'm not some higher authority. It's just.....trust is something that doesn't come easy. It's something you've got to build, something you have to maintain or else it breaks. I've been to a lot of places, met an awful lot of people, and seen a lot of things, and not all of it was good. But the fact that I chose to show myself to the world is due to the fact that I trust people. And hopefully, I can eventually do enough good that the world will trust me enough that they'll stop dumping money into ways to blow me up.
L: That might be easier said than done. Lex Luthor, for instance, has been pretty public about his.....distaste for you. You may have made a very powerful enemy already.
S: Like I said, not all of the things I've seen in this world have been good. There are people in very high places with a lot more power than just being able to fly around and lift heavy things. And sometimes those people abuse that power, and in turn abuse more people. I don't consider Luthor an enemy--he could do more good for the world than I ever could if he abandoned his "ends justify the means" mentality-- but as long as I've got the ability to stop him from abusing his power, I'm going to do just that.
L: I thought you said you weren't a higher authority.
S: I'm not. I'm just a concerned volunteer. In the end, it's Luthor's decision if he wants to change his mind about the way LexCorp does things. I don't pass laws, I can't throw people in jail, and I don't have an army to command. But I'm going to keep putting out fires and getting as many people as I can out of harm's way. And I hope sooner or later, Lex Luthor will come around.
L: Well, the institutions of the military-industrial complex might not be on board with you just yet, but there are other individuals popping up in costumes with superhuman abilities. Do you think you've started a trend?
S: I'm not actually sure; I haven't had the opportunity to meet any of the other heroes and crime-fighters out there-- apart from the heroes and crime-fighters of the Metropolis Police Department and Fire Department, anyway-- so I can't honestly claim that they're specifically following after me. It would be nice to know that I've inspired other people to step up, but for all I know, they just happened to have the same idea and I just did it first. Still, I'd like to meet them-- you never know when it could help to have friends out there.
L: What about the superpowered people out there who aren't on the side of the angels? There's been an up-tick of people with metahuman abilities since your arrival, and not all of them have been using their powers for the greater good. It's one thing to say you're going to try to get the Army or Lex Luthor to come around, but what about someone like, say, the Atomic Skull or Blockbuster?
S: Well obviously, the safety of the general public comes first. I'd like to be able to reason things out before they become a threat to the people around them, but if it comes down to it, I have to remove the threat one way or another.
L: And how far would that extend? Would you be willing to use lethal force if--
S: Absolutely not.
L: But what if--
S: Never gonna happen.
L: So, what then, if someone comes along who's more powerful than you, who won't listen to reason, and actively tries to kill--
S: Lois, I'm not sure where you're going with this, but I'm not really interested in pondering about hypothetical situations. I don't ever willingly take lives, period. I don't eat meat, I don't squash insects, and I would never deliberately end the life of a conscious, thinking being. Sacrificing principles for the sake of pragmatism is unacceptable, especially for someone like me.
L: Worried you'd get comfortable with judging who lives and who dies?
S: That, worried other people might follow my precedent, worried about starting some cycle of revenge and retribution, worried that I couldn't handle the weight on my concsience.....but more than just worrying about one thing or another, I simply refuse to believe in a no-win scenario. There's always a better way to handle things than by killing one another.
L: Don't you think that's a little bit naive?
S: Maybe. But look around the world, all the problems we're facing, the needless suffering and conflict. Can you really tell me that what we really need is to be more cynical?
L: Fair enough. Wrapping things up with some lighter notes, what do you do when you're not saving the world?
S: Well, I've got a day job in the city-- can't go into the details, of course, but even I need something to keep the lights on. Other than that, I watch a lot of movies, I do a lot of reading and writing, and I play chess.
L: You're a movie buff, eh? Got any favorites?
S: Not a lot of surprises, I imagine. To Kill a Mockingbird, 2001: A Space Odyssey, pretty much anything by Spielberg or Miyazaki, the Pixar stuff.....I'm admittedly big on movies with a lot of shmaltz.
L: And you said you're a big reader, too?
S: I actually get to read a lot more than I get to watch movies-- it's pretty rare these days I get a few hours to myself to watch something, but I can speed through a good novel in a few seconds. I'm partial to Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke, Gaiman, Pratchett-- people with big ideas but still having heart to it.
L: How about music? Beatles or Stones?
S: Beatles, no question.
L: Got any pets?
S: Not really, but I love dogs.
L: Sleep with, marry, kill-- Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and the Atom?
S: Do I have to answer that? I might be working with any one of them in the near future, and that could make things awfully awkward.
L: Okay, last question: what is the one thing you want, more than anything else in the world? And don't say something corny like 'world peace.'
S: Well, all right, but then I won't be able to answer your question.
L: I believe that's all the time we've got; thanks for stopping by, Superman. I'm sure this won't be the only opportunity we get to know each other. But don't worry, dear readers, because we've got more superheroes and villains to sit down with in the next issue! Until then, this is Lois Lane, Daily Planet, signing off!
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