**Warning: if you are reading トリックスタ [Trickster] and have not read the final chapter, read it first please! :D**

Mock Interview with Yukie23

Part I.

Hello everyone!! This is Sayumi-chan!! Sayumi-chan is here with the author of the amazing fanfic Trickster -- well amazing because I'm it, hehe. So, the readers have a few questions that the fanfic may have failed to address , so hopefully she can answer them for us!

Sayumi: Good evening Yukie23.

Y: Good evening Sayumi-chan. You look cute today.

Sayumi: You think so? I do too..hehe. Ok, now on to the questions before HIro scolds Sayumi-chan again. Let's start with the most obvious question shall we, who is "I?"

Y: Well, this may not be a satisfactory answer for many, but "I" is whomever the reader wants him to be. At the beginning of the story, I envisioned "I" as being female, but as the story progressed, he evolved into a male character. I'm not completely sure when it happened though (laughter). I do give a very subtle clue in Chapter 35 that reveals "I" is in fact male. For most of the story, he stays gender-neutral though.

Sayumi: And is there a certain reason for that?

Y: Of course, I wanted the readers to make connections with I. Of course, it can be hard to do that as he seems more like a truly hateful character, but yet he intrigued everyone because he simply put, had no name. I give his background, what his position was during the games, his emotions, his reactions, his way of thinking, and near the end, his gender as well. Most readers will insist that he must have a face and a name though, since that is what is usually used to identify someone with, but by staying gender neutral throughout most of it, and with no name or face, anyone can be I. Which is exactly who I is.

Sayumi: So, I is anyone, and everyone?

Y: Precisely. "I" is completely corrupted by selfish desires, that which is in each of us, and on a daily basis we supress. "I" can be essentially, a refelection of ourselves, in our most manaic and self-indulging moments.

Sayumi: You seem to have thought this character through.

Y: (laughter)"I" evolved as I wrote the story."I" was not present in the storyline until I actually started writing the story. He just suddenly appeared as an all-seeing prescence.

Sayumi: Then, why are the rest of the game masters given names then?

Y: In order for more attention to be given to "I". Of course each game master, at one point of another, lets their emotions show through, but for the most part, characters like Harry, Kali/Kalichi/Kama, David, and Ivan do not have their emotions portrayed. Only a survival instinct.

Sayumi: Then, is there a reason as to why Hero, Jena, and especially Koen did?

Y: Hmm...Hero was always present, so at point or another, I allowed his emotions to seep through, in order (mostly) to show that they all weren't thinking about killing others without any remorse. Jena's character was meant to be like every other game master, but since she was the first female introduced, I wanted her to portray the more gentle side of the game masters, the gentleness that usually, a man shows to his wife, daughter, sister, or mother. As for Koen...Koen intrigued me a lot, and I wanted him to be the "tough guy", but also the guy that was most concerned with being a monster. I suppose Koen was my attempt at trying to save the game masters.

Sayumi: Ah, Sayumi-chan sees now. So, just by chance, was there someone you envisioned to be "I?"

Y: Haha, actually most of the time I envisioned him as a man in a suit with no head, lol. But, yes I do have someone. If I could choose someone to portray him, it would be Takahiro from Exile. I have no idea why though.

Sayumi: Haha, well, Sayumi-chan will now let Hiro take over.

Part II.

Hiro: Good evening

Y: Good evening Hiro.

Hiro: So, let's start. The first question has to do with the philosophy portrayed in their story. It seems to be quite a jumble of various philosophies mixed into one, including some atheism here and there. Are these your own philosophies?

Y: Not at all. I am Catholic, which is not shown at all in my story until the very end. I believe in an idea of redemption for oneself, but, not necessarily forgiveness. Let's just say this fanfic is heavily influenced by Hindu doctrines, particuarly those found in the Bhagavad Gita and Buddhism. The idea of cause and effect, essentially, karma, is one of the central ideas of this fanfic, where one person cannot be to blame for soemthing that affects many. Many are to blame.

Hiro: I see. Is there a certain reason why these were used?

Y: I'm not going to lie, it was heavy influence from my East Asian Studies course, but it was also my ideas that the problems of overpopulation and exploiting farm land were not one person's fault, and as such, should not be blamed on a sole person or group of people. It's my belief that small yet sure steps should be made in the present, so we do not have to worry about it in the future.

Hiro: Would the extreme measures seen in this fanfic be a viable option?

Y: Absolutely not. Believe it or not, in the last 50 years, there has been a significant decrease in inter-human violence even if it does not seem as obvious. Nowadays we don't go to war over food, or land, but mostly over beliefs and cultures.After all, this is what terrorism is mostly founded upon. Yet, we could see ourselves returning to the periods in which war was mandated due to resources. To be able to work in unison in order to exterminate such a large amount of people seems far-fetched to me. But, the human is an interesting human being, and thoughts change in seconds.

Hiro: Indeed. One final question. What exactly do the bananas signify?

Y: Koen ate them a lot when he didn't go into a rage where he questioned the beliefs of the game masters. At those times, he ate an apple -- representative of knowledge, showing that he was seeing things as they truly were. On the other hand, Buddha made the banana significant of the futility of earthly posessions. Many do not know this, but the banana is sterile, further emphasizing this futility.

Hiro: Thank you for your time.

Y: Of course.

Hiro: Kame shall conduct the rest of the interview.

Part III.

Kame: Good evening

Y: Good evening.

Kame: Well, I'm going to start with the first question that has been bothering me. What is the significance between the titles, "Ace, Handicap, and Stabilizer?"

Y: Apart from the obvious meaning, the characters personalities reflected their positions as well. The Ace, Hiro, was someone who knew his stuff, but a smart person has trouble connecting with society, something that Hiro eventually struggled with. He originally went along with Sayumi's plans and branded all humans as selfish. But, he eventually becomes self-conscious and accepted the fact that everyone else, though inferior in intelligence where the same as him. This led to his breakdown, and eventually to his acceptance that people could indeed be selfless.

Kame was ordinary. He wasn't the ordinary person among the three, the one who just lives in order to live. Kame is the type of person that we would all like to be, but then we don't want to, because socitey has deemed it undesirable to be "normal". Yet, it's undesirable to be "weird". The entire group of three here represent this paradox. Which one of them is desirable then?

Sayumi is/was the trickster. The persont that says one thing but thinks another. You could say the traitor in the bunch, representaive of the person in a group of people that for one reason or another, nobody likes. Sayumi knows nobody likes her though, because her insight is far greater than what people believe her to be. She was the prime example of seeing what we want to see.

Kame: You say Sayumi is/was the Trickster, but the final question refutes that statment.

Y: Correct. That is because in the end, we are all tricksters are we not? We portray ourselves as we want people to see us, and we see things as we want to see them. We trick ourselves. The Trickster in this world, are ourselves.

Kame: I see....now, another question, how did you come up with the games?

Y: The games...the games were my take on game theory. I'm not so smart as to make the games up from scratch by myself, haha, not at all. The first game is based of the "Prisoners Dilemma", and from then on, almost each game is game theory with my own twists on it. The final game is the most obvious one, as it's an uneven rock, paper, scissors game, except with an ax, bat, pipe, and a hand. :)

Kame: What inspired you to write this story?

Y: A lot of things. My concern that people live their lives like the game masters, as if they're the only ones in it. My concerns over environmental degradation and the lack of action. Philosophy class, jpop, jrock, the drama Liar Game, Battle Royale, Confessions (Japanese movie), the song Beginner by AKB48, and Sayumi's narcissist personality. I reaaallllyyy wanted to write a fanfic with her personality. And I wanted her to be a badass, although Gekikara may have overshadowed her in the end >.< Oh, and the earliest form of inspiration, my bio lecture on population pyramids, and the music video "Roman ~My Dear Boy", by Morning Musume.

Kame: That's quite a lot.

Y: Indeed it is.

Kame: Now, what exactly do the Puppets represent?

Y: Discrimination. Plain and simple. They were treated as inferior simply because they were thought of as monsters. Even as they were revealed to be humans, they still monsters correct? And then the game masters were monsters in their own right, but still humans...ironic isn't it? People fail to see the two side of a coin when it comes to discrimination and racism. *shrugs* People see what they want to see.

Kame: There are many things that you did not explain in full. Is there a reason for that.

Y: Yes. My fanfics are like puzzles. You don't necessarily have to have all the peices physically in order to see the picture. I hope to allow readers to fill in the gaps with their own minds.

Kame: I see. Well, that's all the questions that have come up for us. If the readers have any other questions, do not hesitate to ask below or on the fanfic itself. If you demand a rewrite of the final chapter, realize this may take over a month, hehe. That's all for now. Until next time!!

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Game masters:

Harry --> Harry from Tawainese group : Da Mouth

Koen ---> From Thai-pop group "K-otic"

Jena --> Solo French Singer

Antonio ---> Spanish actor, Antonio Banderas

David --> English soccer player, David Beckham

Hero --> Jaejoong from Korean group JYJ

Dulce (brief mention) ---> Dulce Maria, Mexican actress and singer (not really her fan...but all I could of..)

Juan --> Juanes, Colombian Singer

Anh Minh --> Vietnamese Singer

................I think those are all the ones with an actual person linked to their appearance, hehe...... :D