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Hello, and welcome to an interview with the amazing DarkLadyAthara. What may I call you?
I tend to sign off online as DLA so that'll be fine.
Alright, DLA! What got you interested in writing superhero fiction?
To be honest, it just sort of happened, really. I was watching one of the new Captain America movies and my imagination just sort of started running away with me, musing over 'what ifs' and so on. Before long an idea for a character and a story just sort of materialized to the point where I felt I needed to write it down. The rest is sort of history - more ideas followed and it rather snowballed from there into an entire series. There's just so much potential narratively in the superhero genre that it's an easy (and rather fun) rabbit-hole to fall into.
I agree. There's so much in the superhero genre to explore and write about. And I adore the Captain America movies. Who would you say is your favorite superhero?
Definitely. And they are a lot of fun, aren't they? There's also so much to them. It's great fun to play with them. lol! As for my favourite superhero? Oh man, how do I choose? Hahaha! I suppose it depends on the day, my mood, what I'm working on... I love Bucky - he's just so fascinating and tragic - but I also love Steve and Tony and Natasha and Loki and Clint and the list can go on and on. Each character the MCU has taken the time to develop just has so much to commend them. They're all so interesting and fun and real, you know? There's just something to love in all them.
I suppose in a general sense, the Original Core Characters - the original 6 Avengers and some of their secondary characters and favourite 'villains', like Bucky and Loki - are probably among my top favourites just because they're the ones who not only got the ball rolling and because we've just had all this time with them to grow to care about them, but because they're the ones I've been writing about which has let me get to know them, if you will, in what feels like a deeply personal way even beyond what the movies have let us experience. Not only that, but I just love their relationships with each other. They feel like a real family both on and off screen, you know? And I just love that.
Really, I could just wax poetic all day about why I love each and all of these characters so much! Hahaha!
I totally get it! The original six are fantastic. I've noticed that many of your works are Marvel, let's talk about those. What inspires you to write these stories, or make up plots of your own in such a complex and awesome universe? Is there any specific character or piece of Marvel that you're fond of?
Such a loaded couple questions. lol! To be completely honest, I have no idea. Most oft them just sort of happened. It comes out f a desire to play in the universe and with the characters jumbled up with a smidge of wish-fulfilment and living vicariously through the characters that just sort f materialize in my head.
In the case of the series I'm working on, the characters just sort of appeared in my head. the OC for my epic length story, 'The Ghost' came out of a random line of thought I had after learning that, in one of the comic storylines Bucky was brought into train Natasha and they developed a bit of a romance. From there the story just sort of grew organically before I'd even realized what hit me and latched itself onto my other story, 'Haven', as a companion story.
Similar with my epistolary fic, 'Dear Bucky'. In reading up a bit on Bucky's page on the MCU Wikia, I just sort of latched on to the detail of 'he was the oldest of four siblings', which got me absently wondering about his siblings back home during the War. Before I knew it, the same thing happened and a story idea had managed to wheedle its way into my thoughts and demand to be written down.
As for a specific character or piece of Marvel that I'm fond of? That's just as loaded. Haha! It depends, I suppose. I'm fond of a great number of them, really. I suppose, though, that I can honestly say that I'm particularly fond of the MCU and the Earth side, in particular - The Avengers, Bucky, etc - with a bit of Thor, Loki and Asgard Asgard thrown in. I enjoy the Guardians movies and the others like Dr Strange and Ant-man well enough, but I have yet to have and characters demand stories to go with those sides of the universe yet. I've also been dealing with a surge of Plunnies for the now winding-down Fox X-verse, which has left me with a series of stories I'm beginning to work on.
Long story short is that the muse is a fickle thing, I suppose. Some idea of absent thought will snag an idea that sort of snowballs into something else entirely until I have a story that's demanding to be written. And, of course, since all these canon characters - and my original characters too, I like to think - are all so interesting to play with, that it's a great deal of fun. ...and very hard to say no to... Hahaha!
The muse is most certainly a fickle thing--but it's incredible that you've found so much inspiration in these well-loved characters and that the smallest details can result in a story idea! What are your plans for the future? Any projects in the works that you'd like to share?
It really is. And it's certainly a blast getting to play with all these awesome characters even if the plunnies are, how shall we say, a bit inconvenient at times? Hahaha!
As for the future? There are so many plans....lol! Asking me is dangerous, you know. I always love talking about the myriad ideas bouncing around my head that I'm working on and planning! I've got lots of projects on the go, that's for sure. I actually have an 'In The Works' book up on my profile that has summaries, blurbs and even the odd excerpts for most of the stories I have planned that are in varying stages of development, both of fanfictions and original works that I hope to one day publish professionally. Currently, I'm working on a massive Revision of my main Star Wars Series, including getting my Sequel Trilogy part of the story caught up so that once Episode IX is released, I can work on getting it finished and ready to start posting.
As far as Superhero stories specifically, I have another 8 OC-centric stories (at least) in production that will be in the same story-verse as 'The Ghost' and 'Haven', including two mini-sequels to 'The Ghost' and a massive 'Avengers Assemble'-esque ensemble fic that will follow all my OCs from the series through the events of Avengers' Infinity War and Endgame. So there's definitely a LOT on my plate! Haha!
That sure does sound like a lot, ha! I wish you the absolute best of luck in your writing, and thank you so very much for being a wonderful interviewee!
You're very welcome and thank you! It was a pleasure. :)
Alright friends, thanks for reading! Be sure to head over to DarkLadyAthara's profile and check out her works! As always, stay super x
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