trustyside-kick: Welcome aboard, Q. I understand you've been aching to appear here. Guess it is a good thing you finally made an AIM account, eh? SF and byrd would only joke about doing these things via PMs, after all.
The Question: Yeah...Like most of the developements in my life that effect the RPGs, it actually has nothing to do with them. A friend of mine who has, let's say, mood swings, wanted to complain to me about her love life, but hates using phones. So, she kind of harrased me into getting it.
trusty: Being a vet, the entire time you would do things via PM then? Not exactly a bad way to do it, but I for one like to get a quicker response talk to the person at the exact moment.
Q: I've always been a little technophobic. Going through the process of getting an AIM account just seemed like too much of a hassle for me. PMs were technology, but they were technology I was comfortable with.
trusty: And how did it feel once you finally upped and made that AIM account. Did you feel like a whole new man?
Q: Well, it followed with an hour of "WHY WON'T HE LOOOOOOOVE MEEEEE?!" So, I wasn't necessairily all that thrilled.
trusty: Now, I know this is all about the RPGs here, so I'm not trying to go off on another tangent...but you are a large Charlton Comics fan. I cannot pass up to get your opinion here. What is your'general opinion' on what DC Comics has been doing with their characters?
Q: ...yeah. That's kind of a thin, innit? It's kind of a mixed blessing for me. For example, I did not want to see Ted Kord go. He's one of my all time favorites. But, the way they killed him was probably the best "Death Of" story for the character I could have hoped for. And his replacement, Jaimie, is a fantastic character. On the other hand, I've never actually been that against killing off The Question. Not that I was clamouring for it, but his story was a story of self discovery.
trusty: The new Judo master is pretty cool if you ask me.
Q: Not familiar. As I was saying, I thought that Q's story could have benifited from a good death scene. But I didn't think it was necessairy. However, the way they killed him, and how they replaced him, was a travesty. Not only was his death anti-climactic, but they ruined another favorite character of mine, Renee Montoya, by putting her behind a mask.
trusty: Hold on there, partner. Didn't want to go off on THAT long of a tangent. :P
Q: Sorry. 
trusty: Now that I've got that out of my system, time to move on.
You have been around the RPGs for quite an amount of time. I tracked down your portrayals of Count Nefaria in the Marvel RPG Season III as well as your portrayal of The Question in the DC RPG Season III. Did I do my homework well, or did you join the games earlier than that?
Q: Nope. They were my first. Like a goated ninteen year old at a rave while I was on E. Did I spell goate right? I mean the thing that's on your face.
trusty: I'm not sure I want to know.
I know I'm digging way deep in the past, but you think you would be able to answer a few questions about the DC RPG's third season?
Q: Sure.
trusty: I have not read the entire Season just yet, but The Question seemed to be all over the place in the DC RPG Season III. Who was it that proposed the large-scale Unity arc?
Q: That would be Spike. It was entirely his baby. I just somehow managed to get pulled along for the ride. And I think it worked well. Vic's kind of like Indiana Jones.
trusty: The premise of it really caught my eye.
Q: Yeah. It was pretty basic sci-fi. But the beauty of basic sci-fi is that it leaves so much room for character stuff. As I was saying, Vic's got a bit of Indiana Jones. He gets pulled into big epic things where he doesn't belong, but somehow manages to barely survive. I think that arc really helped me get a handle on the character.
trusty: Considering that the Dark Alliance arc--which was so heavily praised--occurred the Season before the Unity Arc, what was the general consensus? How did most people feel about it? You recall any 'rough times'?
Q: Well, I did show up for the tail end of the Dark Alliance arc.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying it a lot. I was kind of on the side lines, where my character probably belonged, so it worked out. But I think everything gelled about as well as a colaboration like the RPGs can. It was nice.
trusty: For the readers who have yet to read any of the Unity Arc, mind filling everyone in and just what was "The Unity"?
Q: The Unity was some big space monstie. I think he was supposed to be the living embodyment of the concept of order or community or something like that. Don't really remember that many details. But he basically took his job too seriously. Wanted to turn every living being in the universe into one entity in a psychic hive mind. Naturally, the heroes of Earth weren't too thrilled.
trusty: As I previously said, The Question seemed to be all over the place. That being the case, you recall your absolute favorite moment in that arc?
Q: I've got two: 1: Q holding Batman at gun point, being backed up by a group of Arkham Inmates, including The Joker. Batman had breifly joined forces with The Unity, who tempted him with the promise of reuniting him with his dead loved ones. Q, feeling horribly betrayed, actually entered into an alliance with The Joker and his gang in order to stop The Unity (everyone was that desperate), and almost blew Bruce's head off when he showed up. Of course, bu that point, he'd returned to the side of angels, but Q didn't know that at the time.
The second is the battle at the Fortress of Solitude. Q was so completely out of his element, trying desperately to avoid getting stepped on by the demi-gods who were swatting each other around the North Pole. I remember he actually got the crap beaten out of him by Red X. You know, the cartoon character. It really helped me get a hold of his under dog status.
Also, in case your curious, my close second is Q running into Blue Beetle shortly after the Fortress Battle on New Years Eve. I just liked that conversation.
trusty: Alright, time to move on from the Unity Arc. I'm sure with what has been said, we've stirred enough interest to cause new readers to want to check it out in their free time.
The games have evolved...quite a bit I must say. While the second Season through out some impressive stuff, would you say it was moreso around the time of the third Season where the game began to evolve?
Q: Not sure, really. While I wasn't in the second season much, I did see some improvements in the quality standards of the writing at that point. I don't think people were taking the games more seriously or anything, because they shouldn't be all that serious. If the RPGs become your life, well, that's just a little sad.
trusty: Do you fear that is happening now? The games getting too serious?
Q: I mean, not in tone, but in additudes towards the games themselves. There are so many rules and formalities that, for some people, it seems like less of a fun pass time and more of a lifestyle. For me, the RPGs are fun way to hone my writing skills. If I'm worried about my narration, I'll do a post that's mostly narration to work out the kinks. If I'm worried about my ability to write multiple characters, I'll do a post with a lot of NPCs to work out the kinks.
trusty: You wandered off for a while from our section of the Superherohype! Boards. Any particular reason? It was around the time the new RPGs were being made. For instance, you portrayed Joker in the DC:NA RPG and then disappeared.
Q: Well, you're actually a teensy bit wrong. I wondered off, then came back when the RPGs got their own section, then wandered off again.
Reason is, I was taking on too much. I was doing the exact thing I said you shouldn't do. The RPGs became too big a part of my life. And it was hard for me to go to school, see my friends, actually have meaningful relationships with people I can see in person, and write on the boards. So, I dropped everything. And then I came back, thinking I was better at time management now, and I fell right back into it.
trusty: Well glad to have you back, Q. You know, The Question in the DC RPG is available again.
Q: I'm not really sure if I have anything to say with Vic right now. And more importantly, I have a lot to say with Jimmy and Josiah, and I don't want to have more than two characters at the moment. Like I said, I don't want to do too much.
trusty: I can understand. A good amount of posters are approaching times in their lives where the real world is just overwhelming.
Out of all the RPGs, and out of each of their Seasons...which story arc did you have the most fun being a part of?
Q: Hmm...That's a toughy. I think I'm gonna have to say...I think either Unity, or the arc where Batman formed a new Outsiders team to lead a strike against Ra's Al Ghul. Unity because, like I said, it helped me with the notion that Vic is a true underdog. He's in great shape, is a good fighter, and is incredibly brilliant, but unlike similarly talanted men like Batman, he doesn't have the resources to be an international adventurer. He's just a freelance detective who wears a mask and works out of a rat hole apartment.
And I liked the Outsiders arc because it allowed me to do more of the same, but also allowed me to shoot ninjas. Which is fun. Plus, there was a great moment where Vic tried to kill Ra's, and only failed because he decided to give him a chance and played Russian Roulette with him. Showed that Vic isn't Batman, and Vic has a breaking point
trusty: I can picture that scene...and it reeks of awesomeness.
Q: It was. Although, it wasn't true Russian Roulette. Vic had a shotgun, and he loaded in a shell, but he had no idea if it had real bullets, or rocksalt (which is used in riot situations).
trusty: In all of your Superherohype! RPG career, who would you say is the poster you've enjoyed working with most?
Q: Well...I liked working with Johnny Blaze, because we came up with some really good ideas together. It's only my fault that I didn't see them through with him. I like working with JRK because he's a load of fun. We seem to have a fair amount in common, and we like a lot of the same kinds of stories. We kind of gell together when writing.
trusty: He even took up the Q Mantle for you for some time.
Q: With my express permision. I hand picked him as my replacement.
Most recently, I'd say my favorite to work with is Harlekin. He's been a massive help with getting me aquainted with Josiah, and is always really nice when I hit a wall with the character that, let's face it, he knows better than me. I haven't done much with Josiah posting wise yet, but I've been talking with Harl about him in private a lot. He's really given me a new love for the character, and showed me what I can say about myself and the world through the character, which is really important to me.
trusty: Any posters you have yet to work with that you are aching for a team-up?
Q: Not sure. Honestly, I'd love to do a story about Jimmy and Aquaman with you. Something light and fun.
trusty: Oh really?
Q: Yadood. Aquaman's a big favorite of mine.
trusty: Well, there just might be an aftershow once this interview is over. Only...it would be just you and me and...no strippers. Just good 'ol mand bonding and brainstorming.
You've portayed some big guns like Joker and Spider-Man in the OU, as well as Joker again in the short-lived DC: New Age RPG. Let's not forget, you played DC's American Symbol Superman in the UDC. These are some of the characters that people kill each other for. What are some other characters you've got on your eye on that you've still yet to pick up?
Q: Hmmm...That's a bit of a toughie. I think I might enjoy playing either Luthor or Darkseid. They both say a lot about the nature of good and evil in very very different ways. Luthor, when he's done well, is all about how a man's desire to be good and do good can destroy him as utterly as intentional corruption, and lead him to just as horrible depths.
Darkseid, on the other hand, is the representation of evil at it's finest. He's some who sees himself completely detatched from everything around him. He sees himself on the outside working with, and often against, the rest of the universe. And because of that, he's capable of unimaginable evils because he fails to see how it's all connected. To him, the perfect world is one in his image. Not because he's an egomaniac, but because all he sees is the universe and himself, and all he can trust is himself, so there will only be peace and safety when all there is is himself.
trusty: Sounds like out of the two, you are very interested in portraying Darkseid. Fortelling of the future, perhaps? What are some things we can expect from you with the new Season of DC just around the corner?
Q: Well, with Jimmy, I'm going to keep things small at first. He's going to be exploring Metropolis in ways we don't normally see. We're going to learn, through Jimmy, that Metropolis is a living, breathing organism with millions of people living there, not just the town where Superman lives. I'm also going to work with a lot of secondary characters in the Superman comics. Specifically Lucy and Sam Lane.
trusty: And with Josiah in Marvel?
Q: For right now, it's Harl's show. Everything relating to The Crew, I'm leaving in his hands. We plan to wrap up one of the big dangling plot threads from The Crew in the RPG. After that, however, I have a few plans. There not set in stone, but I'm toying with the idea of taking Josiah, and the rest of The Crew if Harl is down, out of New York for a spell. Visit some places that never had heroes like The Crew and maybe need them. And I'm working on a storyline for that where The Crew gets caught in the middle of a gang war in Boston. But like I said, it's not set in stone, and I'll be working with Harl to hammer things out.
trusty: Is there anything else you'd like to say to the readers? I swear to God though, if you try to advertise yourself like that Icelandic bastard...well, you can forget about the after party!
Q: Okay, two things: 1: Please, don't take the RPGs TOO seriously. They're just good fun, and if you have a real passion for writing it's damn good practice. 2: Don't be afraid to put some of yourself into your writing. God knows I'm doing that with Jimmy (his relationship with Lucy as I write will pretty much mirror my relationship with my best friends exactly, and I'll be the first to admit that), and to a lesser extent Josiah. It's natural, it really can't be helped, and it you may learn something about yourself, and character archetypes in the process.
Also. Never, EVER, bring up your dead cat when trying to ask a girl out. It doesn't necessairily end badly, but it doesn't end well either.
trusty: So that's why Emily dumped me.
And with those words of wisdom, we shall end the interview. Thanks for agreeing to have it at this time, Q. I knew you sort of wanted to start it earlier. I just wasn't able to.
Q: It worked out for the best. You showed up right after my friends left after a DVD marathon of Simon Pegg's "Spaced." Best sitcom ever, by the way.
trusty: I'll have to check it out. See ya around, Q.
