Line #29 Literature/InterviewingLeather


1	''Interviewing Leather'' is a WebOriginal short story by Creator/EricBurnsWhite about a music journalist named Todd Chapman sent to interview the supervillainess Leather for a rock and roll magazine. {{Deconstruction}} of ComicBookTropes ensues.
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3	The fourteen-part story is finished and can be found [[https://banter-latte.com/series/original-interviewing-leather/ linked from here]]. The sequel, ''Interviewing Trey'', began updating weekly on May 31st, 2013 -- and stopped mid-story on August 30th of the same year as the author battled medical issues -- can be found [[http://banter-latte.com/portfolio/featured-interviewing-trey here]]. It started back up on May 24, 2017. The original story was rewritten to better match the broader superhero universe and the central characters (whose personalities developed into shapes somewhat inconsistent with the first story); that revised version can be found [[https://banter-latte.com/series/interviewing-leather-revised/ here]]. A second-viewpoint story covering the same time as Chapman's viewpoint was titled [[https://banter-latte.com/series/being-the-steve/ Being the Steve]].
4	----
5	!!Examples:
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7	* ACupAngst: In the published version, Leather is openly angry about the MostCommonSuperpower.
8	* ALessonInDefeat: Played with. Leather claims that her beating up superheroes helps them because it forces them to shape up and work harder and clears out the weak. It's not convincing.
9	* AffablyEvil: Leather is generally pretty friendly.
10	* BadassNormal: The superhero Darkhood is an amalgamation of Franchise/{{Batman}} and Green Arrow.
11	** The Nightwatch is a [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Batmanesque Expy]] in ''Interviewing Trey.''
12	* BeneathNotice: This is a specialised Mook role, known as a "Steve". Leather has one to act as a scout and to call in legal assistance if she's captured.
13	* BeingGoodSucks: Dynamo Girl was living below the poverty line with no respect, in or out of costume.
14	* BetterLivingThroughEvil: One of Leather's two main motivations.
15	* BigEater: Leather has a very high metabolism and eats a lot.
16	* BoringButPractical: Robbing Jewelry stores gets attention, but quietly stealing laptops and game consoles is a lot more profitable.
17	* TheCape: Leather refer to these as "old school" heroes, and has nothing but respect for them.
18	* CaptainErsatz: Many people are mentioned who are very close to "real" comic book characters.
19	* TheCowl: The Nightwatch and Darkhood.
20	* CListFodder: In the grand scheme of things, both Leather and Darkhood are this.
21	* CutLexLuthorACheck: Mocked. Leather considers being a costumed criminal a lifestyle choice. If Leonardo Lucas wants to play with giant robots, so what?
22	* DarkActionGirl: The eponymous Leather. She used to be a heroic ActionGirl before her FaceHeelTurn.
23	* DarkMessiah: The Jack O'Knaves. Trey, and apparently the other [[EliteMooks Hearts]], are true believers who regard him as a great visionary.
24	* DatingCatwoman: Leather [[ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex can't sleep with normal humans]] because she [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength Does Not Know Her Own Strength]] and finds that supervillains make poor boyfriends. If it wasn't for this trope...
25	* {{Deconstruction}}: Leather has a lot of things to say about ComicBookTropes, especially those concerning Superheroes. [[spoiler:Inverted in the last two chapters when the SuperHero Darkhood refutes pretty much everything she says, making the story a {{Deconstruction}} of ''supervillain'' motivations.]]
26	-->'''[[spoiler:Darkhood]]''': ''[[spoiler:We don't need villains to be heroes... but some villains? like her? They need us '''to''' need them.]]''
27	** Some of the parts [[spoiler:that don't relate to those motivations still make for a good deconstruction of the rest of the genre]].
28	*** In ''Interviewing Trey'' [[spoiler:the Buzzard asserts a number of inverted motivations, in particular the idea that heroes attract villains and danger -- using himself as the primary example.]]
29	* DisproportionateRetribution: Leather threatens this if crossed and would almost certain follow through, if only to keep her rep. However on screen, she's generally fairly reasonable.
30	--> ''"My wrath will be as extensive as it will be disproportionate, because I have no. Fucking. Sense. Of perspective."''
31	* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: Leather reveals that SuperStrength is a BlessedWithSuck superpower since you constantly have to be careful not to break stuff.
32	* DudeWheresMyRespect[=/=]DudeWheresMyReward: Leather seems disgusted that, while villains constantly make the Front Page of every newspaper around, heroes are lucky to get onto page four of the local press and struggle to pay off the bills.
33	* ElaborateUndergroundBase: The Jack O'Knaves has a number of ''Dispater's Pit'' casinos worldwide -- including literal inverted skyscraper-sized hotels that go down twenty floors or more.
34	** A few of the bottom-tier villains such as Rook and Bandolier have not-so-elaborate versions, operating out of an abandoned underground parking garage (Rook) and a space beneath the maintenance bay of a used-car dealership (Bandolier).
35	* EliteMooks: Used by most Villains at the third tier and above.
36	** Leather has two trained bagmen (specializing in collecting the loot from a theft), a Steve and a wheelman (who specializes in driving).
37	** The Jack O'Knaves has a number of these organized by playing card suit (from 2 to 10 -- the Jack doesn't use Aces or Face Cards unless he's working an angle).
38	*** The Hearts (including Trey) are highly trained assistants and performers. [[spoiler:They're also recruited to be fanatics, often with the Jack having a specific plan to kill them right from the start.]]
39	*** The Clubs (including Cater) are thugs and cannon fodder, though more highly trained and better equipped than the Jack's average henches.
40	* ExplosiveLeash:
41	** Leather attaches one of these to Todd's neck on a couple occasions to keep him from running to the police. [[spoiler:It is later revealed that it's actually a fake, with Silly Putty instead of explosives]].
42	** In ''Trey'', Mr. River mentions that Jack O'Knaves will implant explosives in people like himself who would otherwise want to escape Jack's service. [[spoiler:Shortly thereafter, Todd discovers that he himself has been given one]].
43	* FaceHeelTurn: Leather in the BackStory. Included an EvilCostumeSwitch.
44	* FauxAffablyEvil: Jack O'Knaves can be charming when he wants to be, but that just accentuates his murderous insanity.
45	* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Downplayed. It's pointed out that while Leather had a good reason for her FaceHeelTurn, her chosen job still involves stealing kid's birthday presents and beating up and humiliating good people.
46	* GaveUpTooSoon: [[spoiler:Quite possibly. Dynamo Girl's penultimate fight had given her serious respect from the people she rescued and the setting's SupermanSubstitute wanted to personally thank her for it.]]
47	* GoodNeedsEvil: Asserted by Leather. [[spoiler:Denied by Darkhood.]] [[spoiler:Inverted by the Buzzard.]]
48	* HealingFactor: Part of Leather's power set.
49	* HellBentForLeather: Goes without saying. She doesn't wear this apart from her costume though.
50	* ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex: Leather mentions "like making love to a hydraulic vise" and "broken pelvis" when talking about her inability to date ordinary men.
51	* MostCommonSuperPower: Mocked. Leather, a B-cup, claims that anything below a C-cup is referred to as "SideKick physique" in SuperHero circles.
52	** In ''Interviewing Trey,'' a number of henches applying to work for the Jack O'Knaves are rejected on this basis -- of course, they're looking to replace a Las Vegas style magician's assistant [[spoiler: after the Jack O'Knaves killed the last one for stepping on his lines.]]
53	* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter: Beguile is the paranormally beautiful daughter of the evil Doctor Guile.
54	* NervesOfSteel: Todd pretty much never stops asking interview questions, even in situations so frightening [[BringMyBrownPants as to demand a change of underpants afterwards]].
55	* OffscreenVillainDarkMatter: Leather explains that sometimes she gives a target "the full business" of supervillain ranting and destruction, and sometimes she does quiet and efficient thefts. The former maintains her [[VillainCred notoriety]], the latter pays the bills.
56	* PersonalMook: Certain specialized henches are used by various criminals.
57	** Leather employs a Steve -- a professional hench whose job is to stand off to the side of a job, watching for police or superheroes. If she or her other henches get caught, the Steve's job is to leave the area without being noticed, and then call a specialized service who will arrange for legal assistance, empty out Leather's lair, destroy any evidence they can, and so forth.
58	** The Jack O'Knave designates high level personal assistants (such as his butler Mister River, his accountant Madam Bank, and his chauffeur Nickel) as the Diamonds suit (from 2-10). Diamonds run his infrastructure. Many of them are coerced into service, often through an ExplosiveLeash.
59	* PostClimaxConfrontation: Todd's conversation with Kyle in [[http://banter-latte.com/2007/10/02/interviewing-leather-part-fourteen/ Part 14.]]
60	* RedemptionEqualsSex: Mocked. Leather regards this trope as sexist and insulting and has nasty things to say about wielders of ''redemptive genitalia''.
61	* RoguesGallery: Discussed as a concept. Leather is very much a roving professional, very much a lifestyle for the hell of it. (Neatly matching up with her name, as it happens.) But there are also villains who fixate on one hero. Worse yet, they're regarded as a good deal less sane, and a LOT more dangerous. ''Interviewing Trey'' establishes that such villains are also sometimes seen as more pathetic, especially in the lower tiers.
62	* RunningGag: In ''Interviewing Trey'', Jack O'Knaves has two:
63	** Cracking jokes about Chapman's environmental consciousness.
64	** Misstating Leather's name.
65	* SecretIdentityIdentity: Mild version. Leather thinks of herself as Leather and has discarded her old civilian identity.
66	* SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains: Invoked by Leather in her EvilCostumeSwitch.
67	** Also invoked by Beguile and Lady Violet.
68	* {{Soaperizing}}
69	* StartOfDarkness: Leather explains hers in detail.
70	* SuperReflexes: Leather has this ability.
71	* SuperRegistrationAct: The distinction between superheroes who work with the police and vigilante freelancers is noted
72	-->"Some heroes have sanction -- they work with the police, they follow procedures, they file reports. Freelancers were vigilantes. Depending on the city, the cops might turn a blind eye to them, but technically they were breaking the law."
73	* SuperpoweredMooks: The Jack O'Knaves arranges for a number of his henches to gain powers -- organized (from 2-10) as Spades from playing cards. This includes Sawbuck.
74	* StealthHiBye: Jack O'Knaves pulls this after talking with Todd. As a stage magician, he naturally has a good disappearing act.
75	* TakingTheBullet: Leather in the BackStory.
76	* ThouShaltNotKill: Leather makes it clear that she is a thief, not a killer.
77	* TrickArrow: BadassNormal Darkhood have a lot of these, including net arrows, electric arrows and gas-bomb arrows. Partially subverted, since he also use ''pointy'' arrows. Y'know, the kind that makes people bleed. [[ThouShaltNotKill He still doesn't use them to kill people, though]].
78	* VillainCred: Leather's other main motivation. Her desire for publicity is what started the story[[spoiler: and her original FaceHeelTurn]].
79	* WeirdTradeUnion: Leather's henchmen are unionized. So are the outlaw teamsters who pack up, transport, and unpack all that cumbersome equipment you find in those constantly-being-relocated supervillain lairs. Yes. The supervillains have their own ''moving company''. As well as their corporate affiliate, a temp agency for forensic technicians who specialize in ''removing'' evidence from crime scenes.
80	** The union makes certain its members are well compensated. That isn't the same as protecting them. [[spoiler:They don't care if the Jack O'Knaves kidnaps an accountant or butler and [[ExplosiveLeash implants a bomb in their head]] so long as he pays them their contracted rates.]]
81	* WhatYouAreInTheDark: When she stopped one robber, Leather thought for a few moments, then took the money, paid off her bills, and decided on a life of villainy rather than virtue.
82	* YouFightLikeACow: Both Leather and Dynamo Girl crack wise while out on the job.

Context Literature / InterviewingLeather