Greetings. My name is Ravnos. I've been a huge fan of X-Men Evolution since its start. I got into Fanfiction.Net a while ago and have already found some great stories and authors. One of my favorites is Descendent. So I figured I'd e-mail him and find out if he'd like to do an Interview about his Fanfiction story "Brotherhood Evolution". And believe it or not, he agreed. So we logged on at the same time, met in a chat room and talked for about three hours. With his permission I'm posting the interview. It's pretty cool and provides some insight into what this author has in store for his fans. I hope you enjoy.
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Ravnos: Thanks for meeting me here and agreeing to talk to me about "Brotherhood Evolution."
Descendent: No prob. it's actually pretty cool that a fan wants to interview me and find out more about the series.
Ravnos: So I guess one of the Questions that are on most peoples mind when they read the first chapter of BHE is, is Mike an extension of yourself, turned into a character?
Descendent: Heh. Well yes and no on that question. Mike is a combination of a character my friends and I designed, originally called Alpha. That's where the appearance, healing factor and secondary abilities come from. But when I started writing, I had always liked the character of Omega Red, and in the original first chapter I had him join the Brotherhood, not Mike. But as I wrote down future chapters, (I work ten chapters ahead of what I post) I realized that our favorite evil Russian wasn't cutting it. So I decided to come up with a story to keep the fans busy while I wrote down more plausible ideas. That story was Summer Fun, and it turned out to be a huge hit. I went back and said what the hell. I combined Alpha with Omega Red and came out with the design for Mike Nagrite.
Ravnos: So where did his name come from?
Descendent: To be perfectly honest, it came out of my ass. It was the first thing that popped into my head and I've loved it ever since.
Ravnos: You said, "yes" to part of my last question. So how is Mike a Mary Sue type?
Descendent: Mike's personality is a much more amplified version of mine. While I'm a normally shy and quite guy, I do like to make wise cracks and do extreme sports. Mike is an amplification of that. But the sarcasm is entirely new.
Ravnos: So Mike is a small part of your personality and the features of a buff thrill seeker all tied in with the powers of Omega Red and Wolverine?
Descendent: When you put it like that, I guess that makes sense. So yea.
Ravnos: Why bring in Psylocke?
Descendent: She has always been my favorite character. Ands I wanted to show off the fact that Psylocke isn't little miss nice X-Man, so I put her in the Brotherhood.
Ravnos: Cool. Another question I had was why you had Omega hook up with Psylocke?
Descendent: Like I said, I work ten chapters ahead of what I post, but I do go back and change things based on fan input. Originally I was only going to have Mike and Betsy flirt a lot, kinda like Lance and Kitty were doing. But when I discovered that the fans were generally interested in seeing this couple, I went back and added the chapter "A Romance in the Works". And lo and behold, people have loved the couple ever since. With Mike's inability to read women and Psylocke's dominate nature; they're the new odd couple.
Ravnos: People do seem to like them; you obviously got the goods to create couples.
Descendent: Please stop kissing ass.
Ravnos: Sorry. But really one of the things I as a person have wondered, and probably most of the fans of the series wonder, is what are you doing with Lance and Kitty? I mean you said that your one of the biggest Lancitty fans around, yet you had them break up in "Mainstream?"
Descendent: Brotherhood Evolution tries to follow the show as closely as possible. But I'm also building up for season three of BHE, where I break away from the show and do my own things with the characters. And Lance and Kitty will play a major role in the break. So fans can expect great things from the upcoming couple. I already have the first several episodes of season three written, but as for the current season, I've fallen behind, which is why I post the new chapters only once a week. If that. It's getting a little hard, but I've defiantly hit a creative patch and am catching up. So the fans don't have to worry. (If they worry at all…)
Ravnos: They do. And I look forward to reading what you have coming up. What can we expect in the upcoming episodes of BHE?
Descendent: Well, right now I'm just pulling a lot of stuff out of my ass until the show resumes. But once this season ends, I'm going to bring in a lot of creative ideas for the break from the show.
Ravnos: So what kind of ideas?
Descendent: You'll have to wait to find those out.
Ravnos: Okay then. What about the things that influenced you to become a writer?
Descendent: To be perfectly honest, I started writing after reading Neva, and Red Witches stuff. They were the major influences, and still are. Red Witch is a comedic genius and Neva brings the darker more angst side of our merry mutants out. Other factors that keep me writing are Todd Fan, who is one of my biggest fans, and I love Her/His stuff a lot. Sorry about the Her/His thing, I just don't know what gender Todd Fan is. That's one of the problems of being a writer. Other factors include some of my fans such as SandsO, The Scribe, and Aphrodite. All of whom have given high reviews to my fic's. And I thank them. But the thing that keeps me writing is the fact that its' so much fun. I mean, writing allows you to free your imagination. Or some bull like that. I really don't know. I just like it a lot.
Ravnos: I must admit, I've never read any of Neva's stuff, but I do love Red Witch and Todd Fan's work.
Descendent: I highly recommend reading Neva's work, especially some of her older stuff.
Ravnos: I'll look into it. What influences do you draw from when writing?
Descendent: The Comics, my imagination, and other stories that I read. There's inspiration everywhere. And of course Fan input is a big thing for me. That's why I started the seasonal Fun series, where I let the fans dictate the way the story goes. And they're all really big hits, and some of my most successful stuff to date.
Ravnos: Another one of your major epics was Age of Apocalypse Evolution. Why haven't you finished it?
Descendent: When writing, the story has to interest me. AoAE was really interesting, but fan approval was lacking, plus it was getting hard to write. You can only get so dark and gloomy and then you have to call it quits. I'll finish the story off eventually, but not for a while. One thing I wish is that the fans and fellow authors would talk more with me, other than through reviews. I would love to do a cross over fic or something with another author, or even talk with them about ideas for BHE and what they want to see. Maybe even let them write a chapter or to of it.
Ravnos: Cool. Maybe this interview will help with that. Now let's move on a bit. I'm going to ask a series of questions, just answer with the first thing that pops into your head.
Descendent: Shoot.
Ravnos: Hard Rock or Pop?
Descendent: What are you? Friggin nuts? Hard Rock all the way baby.
Ravnos: Silk of leather?
Descendent: Leather.
Ravnos: Hot or Cold?
Descendent: Luke Warm.
Ravnos: Okay… Blond, Red Head, or Brunette?
Descendent: Red Head.
Ravnos: Sweet or Sour?
Descendent: Sweet.
Ravnos: And finally, Chinese or Italian?
Descendent: Gotta love the mob's work, so let's go with Italian.
Ravnos: Thanks for the interview. It's been really helpful and extremely cool to talk with you.
Descendent: No problem. It was really cool. I look forward to reading this when you post it.
Ravnos: So you mind if I steal something from you real quick to end this?
Descendent: I have an idea. Go right ahead.
Ravnos: Until next time people. Peace out. Ravnos
Descendent: Well done.
Ravnos: Thanks.
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Well how was that? Descendent and I talked a lot longer and I found out some really cool things about him. Stay tuned, as I get ready to interview another author if possible. And as Descendent would say,
Peace out,
Ravnos
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Ravnos: Thanks for meeting me here and agreeing to talk to me about "Brotherhood Evolution."
Descendent: No prob. it's actually pretty cool that a fan wants to interview me and find out more about the series.
Ravnos: So I guess one of the Questions that are on most peoples mind when they read the first chapter of BHE is, is Mike an extension of yourself, turned into a character?
Descendent: Heh. Well yes and no on that question. Mike is a combination of a character my friends and I designed, originally called Alpha. That's where the appearance, healing factor and secondary abilities come from. But when I started writing, I had always liked the character of Omega Red, and in the original first chapter I had him join the Brotherhood, not Mike. But as I wrote down future chapters, (I work ten chapters ahead of what I post) I realized that our favorite evil Russian wasn't cutting it. So I decided to come up with a story to keep the fans busy while I wrote down more plausible ideas. That story was Summer Fun, and it turned out to be a huge hit. I went back and said what the hell. I combined Alpha with Omega Red and came out with the design for Mike Nagrite.
Ravnos: So where did his name come from?
Descendent: To be perfectly honest, it came out of my ass. It was the first thing that popped into my head and I've loved it ever since.
Ravnos: You said, "yes" to part of my last question. So how is Mike a Mary Sue type?
Descendent: Mike's personality is a much more amplified version of mine. While I'm a normally shy and quite guy, I do like to make wise cracks and do extreme sports. Mike is an amplification of that. But the sarcasm is entirely new.
Ravnos: So Mike is a small part of your personality and the features of a buff thrill seeker all tied in with the powers of Omega Red and Wolverine?
Descendent: When you put it like that, I guess that makes sense. So yea.
Ravnos: Why bring in Psylocke?
Descendent: She has always been my favorite character. Ands I wanted to show off the fact that Psylocke isn't little miss nice X-Man, so I put her in the Brotherhood.
Ravnos: Cool. Another question I had was why you had Omega hook up with Psylocke?
Descendent: Like I said, I work ten chapters ahead of what I post, but I do go back and change things based on fan input. Originally I was only going to have Mike and Betsy flirt a lot, kinda like Lance and Kitty were doing. But when I discovered that the fans were generally interested in seeing this couple, I went back and added the chapter "A Romance in the Works". And lo and behold, people have loved the couple ever since. With Mike's inability to read women and Psylocke's dominate nature; they're the new odd couple.
Ravnos: People do seem to like them; you obviously got the goods to create couples.
Descendent: Please stop kissing ass.
Ravnos: Sorry. But really one of the things I as a person have wondered, and probably most of the fans of the series wonder, is what are you doing with Lance and Kitty? I mean you said that your one of the biggest Lancitty fans around, yet you had them break up in "Mainstream?"
Descendent: Brotherhood Evolution tries to follow the show as closely as possible. But I'm also building up for season three of BHE, where I break away from the show and do my own things with the characters. And Lance and Kitty will play a major role in the break. So fans can expect great things from the upcoming couple. I already have the first several episodes of season three written, but as for the current season, I've fallen behind, which is why I post the new chapters only once a week. If that. It's getting a little hard, but I've defiantly hit a creative patch and am catching up. So the fans don't have to worry. (If they worry at all…)
Ravnos: They do. And I look forward to reading what you have coming up. What can we expect in the upcoming episodes of BHE?
Descendent: Well, right now I'm just pulling a lot of stuff out of my ass until the show resumes. But once this season ends, I'm going to bring in a lot of creative ideas for the break from the show.
Ravnos: So what kind of ideas?
Descendent: You'll have to wait to find those out.
Ravnos: Okay then. What about the things that influenced you to become a writer?
Descendent: To be perfectly honest, I started writing after reading Neva, and Red Witches stuff. They were the major influences, and still are. Red Witch is a comedic genius and Neva brings the darker more angst side of our merry mutants out. Other factors that keep me writing are Todd Fan, who is one of my biggest fans, and I love Her/His stuff a lot. Sorry about the Her/His thing, I just don't know what gender Todd Fan is. That's one of the problems of being a writer. Other factors include some of my fans such as SandsO, The Scribe, and Aphrodite. All of whom have given high reviews to my fic's. And I thank them. But the thing that keeps me writing is the fact that its' so much fun. I mean, writing allows you to free your imagination. Or some bull like that. I really don't know. I just like it a lot.
Ravnos: I must admit, I've never read any of Neva's stuff, but I do love Red Witch and Todd Fan's work.
Descendent: I highly recommend reading Neva's work, especially some of her older stuff.
Ravnos: I'll look into it. What influences do you draw from when writing?
Descendent: The Comics, my imagination, and other stories that I read. There's inspiration everywhere. And of course Fan input is a big thing for me. That's why I started the seasonal Fun series, where I let the fans dictate the way the story goes. And they're all really big hits, and some of my most successful stuff to date.
Ravnos: Another one of your major epics was Age of Apocalypse Evolution. Why haven't you finished it?
Descendent: When writing, the story has to interest me. AoAE was really interesting, but fan approval was lacking, plus it was getting hard to write. You can only get so dark and gloomy and then you have to call it quits. I'll finish the story off eventually, but not for a while. One thing I wish is that the fans and fellow authors would talk more with me, other than through reviews. I would love to do a cross over fic or something with another author, or even talk with them about ideas for BHE and what they want to see. Maybe even let them write a chapter or to of it.
Ravnos: Cool. Maybe this interview will help with that. Now let's move on a bit. I'm going to ask a series of questions, just answer with the first thing that pops into your head.
Descendent: Shoot.
Ravnos: Hard Rock or Pop?
Descendent: What are you? Friggin nuts? Hard Rock all the way baby.
Ravnos: Silk of leather?
Descendent: Leather.
Ravnos: Hot or Cold?
Descendent: Luke Warm.
Ravnos: Okay… Blond, Red Head, or Brunette?
Descendent: Red Head.
Ravnos: Sweet or Sour?
Descendent: Sweet.
Ravnos: And finally, Chinese or Italian?
Descendent: Gotta love the mob's work, so let's go with Italian.
Ravnos: Thanks for the interview. It's been really helpful and extremely cool to talk with you.
Descendent: No problem. It was really cool. I look forward to reading this when you post it.
Ravnos: So you mind if I steal something from you real quick to end this?
Descendent: I have an idea. Go right ahead.
Ravnos: Until next time people. Peace out. Ravnos
Descendent: Well done.
Ravnos: Thanks.
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Well how was that? Descendent and I talked a lot longer and I found out some really cool things about him. Stay tuned, as I get ready to interview another author if possible. And as Descendent would say,
Peace out,
Ravnos