Welcome once again to Inside The Poster's Studio. If
you thought this was a one time thing, then **** you!
I'm here to stay, *****ebags!! Tonight's guest is
someone who's been around a good while, ladies and
gentlemen. Harlekin. Harl, I'd like to say thanks
first off for this interview.
No thanks needed, glad to be here.
Okay, let's jump right into it, shall we? Let's talk
about the present, your name has been on a lot of people's
lips recently for your portrayl of Captain Nazi in
the DC RPG and I'm one of him, you've done a good job
and made him bone chillingly scary. Do you find it
easy to write material for him? Is it just, "hate
everyone that isn't white and blonde" or do you put
some thought into it?
Honestly, it's a little bit of both. On the one hand,
I basically go into this mindset, where I think: What
Would Hitler Do? On other points, I am going for the
shock value. This is a truly evil
character, and he can in no way be redeemable. That means doing horrible horrible things.
Most of the time though, I just sit around and think
about what a true Nazi would do in today's society,
and take it from there. It's staying true to the
character and playing to the crowd, basically
Yes, I find him to be more terrifying than say,
Darkseid or Thanos, simply because there are and were
people really like that
I think that's what is really the appeal, if you can
call it that, of a guy like Captan Nazi. He's human,
and what he does, well, it's not pretty. I think
softening that doesn't ring true to A) the character
and B) history. Nazis did gruesome things. It makes
for a great story though. In many ways, there isn't a
villain like Captain Nazi, Pure human evil.
Let's move on before we burn some books and start to
invade Poland.
Heh. Funny you should say that. There are currently
talks of removing the ban on 'Mein Kampf', the book
Hitler wrote, being lifted in the Netherlands.
This is what you call a perfect segway, now for those
of our readers who don't know...you're from the
Netherlands. Is English your first language?
Nope. Dutch is my first language, but I did have a
6-year bilingual education (secondary school/high
school). English has come pretty close to being my
first-and-a-half language
Now I feel bad that a guy who doesn't speak English
once corrected my grammar....Do you ever have
difficulty with the transition from Dutch to English
when writing a post?
Don't feel bad. I could say "yes", but that wouldn't
be the truth. I do pretty much ninety percent of my
writing in English and have spent numerous years
talking English day in, day out. It has actually
gotten to the point where I sometimes have trouble
thinking up the Dutch word and I'm forced to resort to
English. English is almost like a native language to
me, although I still make quite a few errors here and
there.
Let's move onto some of my base questions. Which
character have you enjoyed writing for and playing the
most?
Tough question. I'm torn between Deathstroke and
Deadshot, and not just because of the similar sounding
name. Deadshot is pretty much my favourite villain bar
none, so he holds a special place in my heart. That's
probably the reason I actually had a bit of a trouble
playing him. Then there's Deathstroke, whose character
I didn't quite get completely back then, but that time
was... well, you had to be there. The Dark Alliance,
season two, I'm arrogant enough to say that we caused
somewhat of a revolution. Definitely my best time in
the DC RPG.
Yes, I have read the Dark Alliance stuff after JB
threatened me earlier this week. It was top notch.
Let's move onto a question to which I already know the
answer. What story or arc you participated in is your
favorite?
Dark Alliance, without a doubt. As I already said,
that arc pretty much changed everything there was
about comic RPG's on the Hype. Besides that, I just
had a blast playing with my homies JB, Trop and Corp.
Yes, you four seemed to have formed a comic geek dream
team. All four of you I've seen on the comic boards
and all four of you certainly know your comics.
Thanks. What can I say? It started back in the DTL
(Dream Team League). I was a young lad, and for some
reason, these guys were the equivalent of the "cool
kids". Eventually, I got to hang with them, and we've
internet-hung ever since. To get extremely geeky, I'd
say we're brothers in arms. DTL, RPG's and your
standard ownage (with a little assist from the grander
ASSHAT crew). Bluntly put: We play
well off each other.
Tell me, what posters have you enjoyed working
with the most. DA excluded.
JRK, just because him and me had that great
'Stroke/Batman battle. When you're 16, that's the
geeky stuff you dream of. Twy, because, well, she
knows what she wants and she knows how she wants to go
about it. We don't work together often these days, but
the Legion thing was a blast. I mostly just like
working with the entire crew of the RPG, thinking up
stories and doing our thing.
Let's do some hypothetical questions. What one
character would you like to play in an RPG? No holds
barred, anyone.
Oi, good question. Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, from Angel. No
doubt about it. My favourite fictional character bar
none.
Thank god it's not Spidey....
Haha, yeah, I like Spidey, but I wouldn't exactly want
to play as him.
I knew I wasn't the only one. Now, you seem to be one
of the RPGs most opionated posters, in a good way.
Some of your constructive criticisim early on in my
RPG career helped me. What's your stance on the
current RPG approval forum and the new RPGs that have
sprung up because of it?
I think the approval forum was sorely needed. However,
I've found it's also had a negative effect. It's
getting a little crazy with all of the applications.
The main RPG's are seemingly close to dying, and all
these RPG's are springing up that we know won't last
longer than a season, two at most. What people seem to
forget is that the main RPG's have a lot of history,
and they've got a legacy. It's where a lot of people
got started. Now, we've got newbies applying for their
own RPG. Back when the RPG's were still over at the
comics forum, mod mandate meant we had to keep it down
on threads. Now that we've got our own forum, I notice
more often than not, that new RPG's quickly sink to
the bottom of the first page. Most of them have great
concepts, but often don't have the longevity. On one
hand, I want these new RPG's to succeed. On the other
hand, I want them to sod off and thereby stop
people from spreading themselves so damn thin.
Plus, like JB said some of these people are creating
the RPGs on the sole purpose they can be GMs.
Yep, and that's something that's been a constant of
any RPG I've been in, on other boards as well. The
"power" of a GM attracts. Luckily, a lot of people
seem to grow out of that as they get older and more
experienced in RP'ing. Trust me kids, being a GM isn't
a fun job.
I agree, roster updates are not fun. Let's change
gears to something more recent. Today, as of this writing,
you posted a rather criptic season preview with Rip
Hunter in true 52/Countdown style. What info about
that preview are you willing to share with us?
Not a whole lot obviously, but I'll induldge you
either way. Some of the messages relate directly to my
involvement in the DC RPG. Some of them are obvious,
some less so. They refer to the past, to the future
that never came, and the future that is to come. I'm
afraid I have to leave it at that. I promised JB that
he'd get the answers to most questions before (if he
ever) quits RPing.
I understand. Anymore, and you'd be dead.
Basically. Time anamolies are a *****.
Let's move back to the RPG Approval Forum. What's one
RPG concept you would like to see made and survive?
I'm always a fan of alternate realities. Any RPG
wanting my participation (as if you'd want that),
would have an alternate setting. Beyond that, I really
don't have any preferences. I do have to say that,
although we essentially deal in the fanfic business, I
don't want it to be too fanficcy. Some people are
changing characters to points (not naming anyone),
where I'm going: WTF? So really, I don't really have a
desire to see any concept get made into an RPG. I'm
quite content with the main RPG's, and I might get
involved with the Future Marvel one, but that's more
about exploring a certain character, than it is about
the concept.
Alright, we touched on this a bit when we talked about
Rip Hunter, but what will we see from Harlekin in the
future? What lies ahead in the world of the RPGs?
Nazi atrocities. You can definitely count on those.
You can bet your horses on "EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED!"
coming true, something that will be stretching through
my history in the DC RPG. I will not be leaving any
character or stone unturned. And of course, c'mon, did
you really think me and JB didn't have some kind of
plan? We ALWAYS have a plan. Besides that, I'm hoping
to bring some more solid writing (more solid than it
has been) and some more regular posting. I've made
those promises before though, so hey, we'll just see
where the dice takes me.
Personally, I would love to see you take up Quasar
once more.
Thank you. He's definitely someone I've thought about
taking up again, but I wouldn't count on a return to
the Marvel RPG any time soon. I've flirted with it
quite a bit lately, but I'm sad to say I just can't
keep up the pace in that RPG. Still, Quasar is someone
to think about. Maybe I'll bring him back, at least
for a little RPG arc.
Well, that's all the questions I have. Do you have any
parting words to say to our readers?
Well, only that I've been thinking about the nature of
the Hype! RPG's a lot lately. People, allow yourselves
to be surprised once again. I'll never forget how
semi-pissed JRK was at me shooting his kneecap. These
days, and I know that in some ways, the DA is at fault
for this, but things are way too organized. Get off
your messengers. It's been a good long while since the RPG's
have been really fluid again. RPG's are a reaction
game. Not a I-post-that-and-then-you-post-that, so
that when a newbie jumps in and totally ruins your
plans, you should suck it up and REACT. Because really, it's a
game. If you want to write fanfiction, write
fanfiction. You want to play this game, be ready for
some setbacks, be ready for things you can't prevent,
and I'll repeat it for good measure: Let yourself be
surprised once in a while. Sorry, got a little ranty
there.
That's fine. But I agree. That's my motto, "It's a
game!" I can't tell you how many people get so uptight
and anal about the least little thing.
Exactly. Most of the things I see in the OOC threads
these days is "edit this" or "edit that". What I want
to see again is "oh my god, did you just what the ****
he just did? He just totally kicked my/his/her ass!
They're kicking our asses!"
Yes, surprise is the steak sauce of life
Hmmmm.... steak sauce.
Well, on that note. We'll end this interview, I'd like
to thank Harl once again for letting me ask him
questions.
Again, no thanks needed. It was a joy to do this. You
do good work, byrd.
Pssh, tell me something I don't know....
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