LadyLunarPhoenix is author of several fan fictions. Aria of Sorrow: The Second Wave of Tears is her second Castlevania fan fiction and is currently in progress.
1. For starters, would you please talk about which Castlevania games are your favorite and why?
I’ve actually only played three. SotN, AoS and LoI. When I was much younger I made an attempt at playing another one but never got anywhere and gave up. I’m more story driven when I play games. I need a story to hook me in and the Castlevania series lacks that. I guess crazy as it sounds I just like killing things in the ol' castle. But SotN and AoS have the most structured type of storyline of the series so it helps.
2. Your story, ‘The Second Wave of Tears’, takes place in the Aria of Sorrow “universe.” Why did you choose to base a story on this particular game?
I got the feeling that Aria was going to be the final ending of Castlevania. At least until the next time someone wants to make a buck. But what also was a major factor was an idea in my head. After I played AoS I had a mental image of Soma and Alucard fighting in the woods. In fact I included that scene in the story way back when. From there the whole idea of doing a story was born.
3. In general how do you feel about including original characters in fan-fictions that did not exist in the original game such as your own John LeCarde, Juluis’ massive family, etc.?
So long as it doesn’t distract from the story I’m fine with it. As with my story John and the rest of the Belmont clan are not the focus of the story. They are there to give more realism to the main cast. For example John is a cop. He drinks a little has his own problems His own personality. But I don’t believe in spending Several chapters discussing each and everyone of them if he’s only a side character. However with Mary Sues’ that’s another story. As a matter of fact… I inserted myself in the fic. She’s already made an appearance but you’ll have to wait to know more of her. But a lot of new fan fics seem based on perfect characters. I don’t like them. So I intentionally put flaws into each character. So long as you know who the story is about and focus On them, the side characters should help enrich the world that you’re writing about.
4. In your story you have
managed to take the cast of AOS and mold them into truly three-dimensional
characters. The depth that you have given Alucard and Soma is in my opinion
unparalleled in my time reading CV fan-fictions. The actual games offer very
little insight into the personality of the characters we control. How did you
tackle the job of giving personality to the protagonists of AOS, specifically
Soma and Yoko?
Stereotype. They actually started out as that. Well With Alucard and Yoko. With Alucard I based the idea that Arikado was Alucard. And he is very much a brooder. The way most everyone who tries to be serious about Alucard in fact, to flesh him out I had him interact with the other characters. He’s a brooder but he’s smart. He’s been awake long enough to be comfortable in groups unlike his SotN days. Yoko was sorta ‘me at my goofiest’ moment type. I knew she was a witch and a type of nun. But when you listen to her in the game her loud high pitched perky ‘hello!’ just set the tone for how I wanted her to be. She has this grand time of knowing something no one else knows. And that’s of the Darkness and of evil. She’s empathic which means that her powers are at times linked to her emotional state. She’s just so damn perky… But then look who she has to work with. Julius spent years without his memories. With them he’s kinda getting that chance to be a young man again. The young man he was before. Thus his bon bon addiction and Garfield collection.
Soma was the big mess of the group. I knew exactly that I didn’t want him to be gay or be perfect. With standard ideas Soma’s femish looks would get him the gay label pretty fast. That’s how it goes in fan ficdom. I also didn’t want him to be perfect. I didn’t want him to be brainy because again that’s how most labels in fandom goes. He’s sorta this in the closet type of character. He’s not ashamed of who he is, but he’s so scared of rejection from the only people he has, his parents, that he pulls back a lot. A lot of the character development came from knowing who they are, then when the situation presents itself, asking myself ‘what would they do and why would they handle it this way. A good example is the dream. When Alucard first entered Soma’s dreams and manipulated him into that battle. Back then Alucard was more guarded and aloof then he is at chapter 49. He didn’t really think about how his actions would affect Soma. Many chapters and in story terms months and he suddenly finds out that he’s partly to blame for present situations because of that. Back then he dismissed clues, now he studies them and thinks. It doesn’t always work though. I’ve had times where I can’t do something because it’s out of character at the time, and then I have to figure out another way to get a desired result. Sorta of like how Alucard knows all this stuff about Soma but can’t say anything because he would be admitting that he broke Soma’s trust in him.
5. Alucard is without a doubt the most written about character in the Castlevania series, surpassing even the revered Simon Belmont. Although this overlaps with the previous question, I wonder if you would talk about how your take on the Alucard character came about, specifically any influences [i.e. actors, characters from movies, books, other]?
Overactive mind. I really have no one I can honestly say I base any character on. No member of the cast in AoS is based off a living person that I know of. Alucard only loves two people. His father and mother. Unlike any other fic he’s never been or ever possibly will be attracted to anyone else. His monster blood makes him loyal first and foremost to his father. Betraying that as many times as he has, hasn’t been an easy thing for him. I see him as a solemn, mature, responsible adult that would like to have his family back. And in several pieces would be fine if Soma doesn’t learn to behave himself.
6. Aria of Sorrow takes place in the year 2035, yet since the game is set almost entirely in Castlevania, we do not get a sense of the level of technology in the outside world. How did you approach the issue of technology in your story?
It’s not an honest factor. As you’ve seen there’s little talk of it. Alucard has a computer and cell phone yeah, and there were talks of scanners. But really it’s not a focus of the story so there’s no reason to really go into it. Especially when one realizes that I’m dealing with a group that’s more into the mystic arts then the science arts.
7.My feeling as I have read your story is that there is a strong theme of family and the relationships in a family. Soma and his parents. Alucard and Dracula/Soma, Julius and his children. Was it a conscious effort to make this a theme in the story or was it something that evolved by itself?
I always play to the idea that Soma is Dracula reincarnate. And I wanted to explore the bond between Alucard and Soma. So yeah it was. The battle in the forest and one other scene were what began the idea, the theme of family is what grew from it to help flesh out the series.
8. Stuffy Patrol…?
They came from left field. It was late one night, which is when I do most of my writing, and I had to have a reason to get Alucard to leave the room. And well I be woman and I be woman with many stuffed toys. In fact my long time companion is an old raggedy stuffed cat named Nancy. I’ve had her for as long as I can remember. It just stuck that she would have a patrol of stuffed animals that do stuff for her. And later I inserted that she could give them real animal appearances.
9.
Not really relevant to the story but are you a fan of Carlos Santana? As a fan I
found the in-joke funny. An idea that I am using on a non fan-fic story is to
use the titles of Rolling Stones songs as chapter titles. Ever consider using
some Santana song titles for your story? Evil Ways? Supernatural? No One to
Depend On? Perhaps Black Magic Woman could be Yoko’s theme?
Actually what happened was I was trying to think of the name of the guy John was talking to on the phone. I knew he would be Spanish so I had to pick a name that was in that vein. It just happened to be Carlos and I ran with the Santana joke. I only know ‘Black Magic Woman’ by title and ended up using it for the scene. And yes I have wanted to use Song titles for chapters it’s just not been easy. I’ve even come up with some songs that would work for characters. Love Spit Love’s ‘How Soon is Now’ was one for Soma. ‘World on Fire’ was a flash back song about Tanya thinking of Julius and so on.
10. In one of my own stories I gave Reinhardt a brother who was physically not as strong as he is. You trotted similar ground when you had Julius explain that Gabriel inherited his strength and Richard his fear. Was there any particular reason that you gave Julius more than one child other than to explore this idea of the Belmont inheritance and can you go into some details about your feeling about this idea?
I gave a twist to Julius’s family. So far as I’ve seen most fics either have him without any family or it was started shortly before he lost his memories. In this case (And it is shown in more depth in the MV) He didn’t have one but agreed to follow the path of marriage without his memories. I’ll actually admit to an accident in the fic at this point. When I first created the airport scene with the Belmont Clan I had planned on Terry being the next Belmont to carry the whip. Basically making him the successor, however many chapters later I realized to my shock that I put Terry with the wrong father. Terry was supposed to be Richards first born son. In the end he ended up Gabriel’s. Should I ever do a rewrite I’ll probably fix it. But as it stands there are people reading this and I don’t want to confuse anyone so I let it stay as is. I just felt that Julius would have more then one child. There’s no law against it and it would be better if the Belmonts were wide spread so that they couldn’t all be crushed at once. With the inheritance I figured that by the time the story takes place there’s been enough ‘explaining’ as to where vampires, and werewolves come from. Because the Belmonts have had no interaction with Julius during his amnesia his kids grew up with the same vein as everyone else. Because of this the inheritance takes on a new meaning. Because in the end they’re doing something that no one would believe, since no one would believe in vampires and such.
11. The Second Wave of Tears is a rather globe hopping story with settings in Japan, Eastern Europe, the USA, and England. How did you choose your locations and why?
Japan, Spain, England, Unnamed Country in the Middle East. They’ve never gone to the USA. Soma’s from Spain so that’s where it would start, Yoko’s Spanish Japanese mix so you got her. And Julius is English. The only other place I had to think up was the Middle East. Because I knew Soma was being sent somewhere and I had to figure out where half way there would be. He was supposed to go to a collective in Russia but because he woke up he ended up where he did.
12. At the moment your story is not yet complete. It is currently 49 chapters in length. How much pre-planning did you do for the story? For example did you outline the story and if so how detailed did you outline it?
You know how I said that forest fight was what brought this about? Well about five or six chapters later I figured out how I wanted this to end. I just go along as it is. I don’t plan anything it just comes. Scary no? I often just think of a scene that would be so cool to have happened in a series or something. Then I move on to fleshing it out by asking what would bring it about. There’s no clear cut path in this I just blaze a trail through my creative mind. For example this just happened with chapter 50. I started writing out the final scenes knowing that I needed [should] finish up at least the standard four pages I normally go for as the standard length of a chapter. (It’s been going between 3 and 4 for a while.) The original plan was that Soma would basically in panther form tease Alucard into his wolf form. Then lead it so that they would end up in the underground playing around. But as I was stuck for two days trying to get myself to write out the scene (they wouldn’t connect), when suddenly Sunday night I began writing it out to finish up on deadline time. As I wrote it evolved from what was originally a playful mood into a darker theme. Furthering the image was halfway through writing this scene the new darker scene; I was going to have Soma brooding at the window. That was when he was going to admit that he recalled having a son while being a vampire. But as you read chapter 50 you can see that’s not how it went at all.
13. Do you think that the length of your story has affected it in anyway?
Because I never know when I would reach the end? I don’t think so. I'll just keep writing till I know I’ve reached the end.
14. Your story features quite a few memorable moments of humor. Among them, Yoko vs. the cultists, Julius and his family, Stuffy Patrol, and of course the Alucard drinking game. Considering the heavy themes of dysfunctional families, self abuse, etc. did you feel a need to incorporate humor for balance or is it a style based instinct to include such scenes in your story?
A little of both. I mean, come on… It’s the STUFFY PATROL! How can you ‘not’ have humor? But yeah a lot of it is to offset the more dark themes. I think if I just kept it going with dark morbid sad moments I would lose readers. A rollercoaster isn’t fun just because of the drop, it’s everything, the ride up, the turns and loops everything. If I made Soma just a self abusing teen you’d lose that 3-D feeling of him because all he becomes is a pit of despair. Even I don’t like characters who go on about how depressing their life is. Why do you think Alucard has a closet full of Game systems?
15. I found that Dracula is portrayed somewhat neutral in your story. Not devilishly evil yet not entirely sympathetic. How do you see Dracula in your story? In the Castlevania series?
I’ve got things in store for Dracula but not in the near future. As for in the series… He’s not much of a threat considering how crummy his record is. Dracula is as he said the ID aspect of Mathias so he’s no more evil than anyone else. He’s not really evil in this version, he’s just very hateful. First he hates God for taking his wife then when she’s brought back to him he changes back a bit to the old Mathias. However when humans kill his wife so that his hate transfers to the humans, in the end Alucard is the only thing that pacifies him. Otherwise he starts destroying things as per the result of hatred. He can’t create so he destroys.
16. Were there any direct influences to the plot of your story other than AOS?
Nope. Just me and my overly active imagination.
17. What Castlevania characters would you like most to write?
Writing them even as I type.
18.For you, how is a story born? Does it start with an idea, image, phrase, or other?
In this case it was the image of Soma and Alucard fighting. In other cases its an image or concept that I like to expand on. And then my mind takes over and runs to the end zone with it.
19.As a writer, what do you consider your biggest obstacle?
Focus. I have an insanely hard time focusing on topics for a long time. When I have an idea I can go for a long time. But then when I don’t it takes a longer time to focus enough to write something out. For example I polished off three chapters in this story in one weekend. Then the scene was done and it took me another week to do another chapter. Originally I have five prewritten chapters written and put them on the net once a week. But the ability to focus shows up because I would lose it and the work dragged out till I’m writing a chapter a week and putting it up with no breather.
20. What helps inspire you to write? Movies, music, other?
Music. Linkin Park is a good source for Soma and Alucard at the moment in fact. But yeah it’s music.
21. What do you consider to be the biggest problem (s) plaguing Fan-Fiction?
Plagiarism people who can’t write shouldn’t steal from others so that they look great. People who can’t write a sentence, insert stupid A/N’s in the middle of the writing, do random stories, or are just plain out of character. Then there is Mary Sue. Stories written purely so the writer feels like a god or goddess is pointless and kills interest fast.
22. Where do you stand on the 2D/3D controversy and what are your thoughts on the recent Lament of Innocence?
I don’t see a problem if the game is done right. From what I saw the Metal Gear Solid games started out like that. But they knew what they wanted and where they were going. Without losing sight of that they progressed from 2D to 3D easily. Castlevania doesn’t have such luck. The game has become an industry to milk basically. I can see MGS going down the tubes after Snake Eater because it’s producer is leaving. If the next person who takes over MGS only cares about making money the series will tank fast. The only game in CV that followed a path was the series with Simon. It’s inability to stabilize the series itself coupled with it’s half attempts to create a 3D environment crippled LoI. Lets face it, they didn’t strive to push the engine even half way as far as they could when they made the game.
23. A few years ago I was engaged in a novel length story based on Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness. I wrote the story over a period of three years. This month will be exactly one year from the date you first published your story on Fanfiction.net [9/27/03]. How do you feel about the progress of your story since you first began?
Eh nothing really. It’s the reviews I get that are something. I write to get what’s in my head out. But to get reviews and letters from people like you who like what I’m doing. Now ‘that’s’ something!
24. During my time writing my LoD story I had the experience where the release of a new Castlevania game [Circle of the Moon] had serious ramifications on a plot element of my story. The recent release of LoI and the sudden revelation of Dracula’s origins have suddenly torpedoed the theories of many fan fiction writers expressed in their stories [mine included]. Did the revelations in LoI cause you to alter your story or any ideas you had for it in anyway?
Not really. I try not to get too mired in the past. For example I’ve got the Orbs and Books from Leon and Juste but I don’t exactly mention them by name. So far I’ve been lucky. But another aspect is that for the most part Castlevania’s history isn’t stable. People put in what they want whenever they make a game. So I don’t see any problems with my story. Everything is ‘my’ take on events. I pick and choose what I want from it and go from there. In writing fan fiction it’s something you have to do. A lot of people wrote the ‘next book’ in Harry Potter for example before book five came out only to find out that Sirius is dead which threw out what they planned. Fan Fiction in the end is a giant AU of a standard series. I feel no shame in going in the direction I am even if the next game proves my story wrong.
25. Do you think that the relative unpopularity of the 3D Castlevanias’ give Fan Fictions based on their characters a disadvantage as opposed to works starring characters like Alucard, Juste, Richter, etc.?
Yeah because people tend to write what they know and the 3D CV games had a bad series of raps going for it. A growing number of gamers don’t want to play a game if it’s not visually stunning and another group of gamers don’t want to play if there’s no story. When you combine either aspects coupled with having to buy several more games to make a complete story. Along with difficult controls people won’t play something. Also most Castlevania fans seem to be degenerating into brain dead zombies who bitch about anything and everything.
26. If Konami would let you write any Castlevania story, what story would you write?
I’m writing it right now. Give me a proper beta reader and such and I’d be fine. Since it’s [Aria of Sorrow] the least cluttered story they have.
27. Videogames have a mixed record when it comes to being adapted into movies. How do you think a Castlevania movie should be handled?
Not a movie. Again it’s a stability issue. Because Konami won’t settle on a solid history and build from there Castlevania doesn’t have a chance. No one wants to go to a movie that makes no sense. History would conflict with itself somewhere, there would be fans talking about what went wrong everywhere. A stable history is very important. You could make a movie out of Metal Gear Solid, but you can’t with Castlevania. An anime might work, again you’d have to make a solid history but in doing so through the series… You could take time to build things up, instead of using the standard 2 hour movie.
28. Recently we have also seen videogames turned into full length novels e.g. Resident Evil novels by SD Perry, the WarHammer series, Halo, etc. How do you think Konami should approach a series of novels based on Castlevania? Direct novelizations or original stories?
Both would work. Because you have side characters like Grant or Maxim that would justify side original stories, while you’ve got enough to work with Direct novel styles.
29. Any final words of wisdom for future Fan Fiction writers?
Don’t get a yes crew. Don’t let just your friends tell you if something you’ve written is good. They could be lying just to save your feelings. When you write you can miss things, editing mistakes, historical errors. They won’t tell you that something is wrong. Keep writing take in the bad with the good and learn where you can fix things and grow and where you’re fine at. Don’t just sit there and think no one can understand your genius. If no one can then you shouldn’t bother putting it up in the first place.