A Monochrome Interview

by Anonymous

Summary:

illustrated by KAGAMINATOR5000

the Project Diva tag really likes mischaracterizing modules and not caring that there is actual canon to the game.
i thought: if the authors on either side care so much, how do the characters feel? in this fic, a mysterious interviewer goes to monochrome world to visit the baku.

i'm currently reading multiple plays (or should be, i'm focusing on various school things rn) at the same time for English class (Shakespeare, Marlowe, etc.) and the format really interested me. i wanted to try using it to write something too, especially since the PV's style looks like a stageplay. this is what high school AP literature does to people.

not beta read, there may be grammar/spelling issue etc., but the fic itself has proper punctuation and capitalization.
the end notes has some background info and clarification for the story that might be interesting. enjoy or not.

Chapter 1: ☆

CHARACTERS. 

Trickster - Young, almost childish-looking male. Average height, thin, athletic build. Pale, peach skin, dull grey eyes, pointed, elf-like ears. Blond hair, bangs, the rest tied back with a black bow in a tiny ponytail. Dressed sharply, in a small black tophat, black gloves, a black tailcoat and shorts, a white shirt, a yellow-white striped vest and a bowtie of the same pattern/color, purple tights and black dress shoes with white laces. Has a white walking stick with him. 

Interviewer - Gender and skin tone unimportant. Adult, tall and lanky. Dressed in a white shirt (top button undone), a black tie (loose), black cardigan (one size too big, large pockets important), black dress pants (slightly wrinkled), white sneakers. Messy hair (color unimportant), appearance overall unkept. Large glasses (lens can be empty). Carrying a pen and a clipboard with a few papers on it.

---

SCENE I.

As curtains open, one side is not pulled completely and covers a part of the stage.

INT. WHITE ROOM WITH EXTREMELY BRIGHT LIGHTING - ???

TRICKSTER sits on a completely black table, which is the only furniture inside the room,. His legs are kicking and swinging in the air. There is a bowl of something in his lap, which he occasionally plunges a spoon into and eats a bit. His walking stick is resting against the edge of the table.

TRICKSTER. It gets lonely in here sometimes.
Ah, at least these nightmares are delicious. 

[Knocking comes from outside the stage. A pause.]

TRICKSTER. A guest?!
[Puts the bowl back onto the table and hops down, grabbing his cane.]
I wasn't expecting anyone. Who could it be? 
[Hurries over to the curtains and completely pulls it open with the help of the cane. It reveals more white wall and a completely black door.]

VOICE FROM OUTSIDE. Can I come in?

TRICKSTER. Ah, straight to the point, aren't we?
The door isn't locked. 

Enter INTERVIEWER, one hand in pocket, the other gripping clipboard.

TRICKSTER. A human?
[Visibly taken aback, takes a step back and looks up at INTERVIEWER.]

INTERVIEWER. [Almost accusatory tone.]
On the other hand, I know exactly who you are. 

TRICKSTER. [Tipping top hat. Aside.]
Already buttering me up. 

INTERVIEWER. I'm paying you a visit for one reason and one reason only. 

TRICKSTER. You could have spared yourself the trouble of coming to Monochrome World and called me right over instead. 

INTERVIEWER. Well-...

TRICKSTER. It's this easy,
[Cups hands around mouth and pitches voice slightly up] 
"Baku-san, come eat my dream!"
So, repeat that three times and I will appear as fast as I can. 

INTERVIEWER. [Pointedly. Adjust glasses.]
I didn't come to request your dream-eating services. 

TRICKSTER. And here I was thinking I could have dessert today. 
[Ears drooping, putting on a big show of disappointment.]

INTERVIEWER. Am I interrupting your breakf-... dinne-... lunch...? 

TRICKSTER. ... Yes.
But if what you came here for is really that important, I won't mind it.

INTERVIEWER. I came to interview you.
[Slightly waves clipboard, papers rustling. The interview questions are already written down, but they're not visible to TRICKSTER from where he's standing.]

TRICKSTER. Did something happen in the human realm that my opinion is needed on? 

INTERVIEWER. No, we're just interested in your species and what you do and why.
I hope it's not too personal. 

TRICKSTER. Ah, humans, ever so curious.
So I should act as a spokesbaku now?
I'll indulge you. 

[BOTH walk back to the black table. TRICKSTER already climbing up, setting the cane back down.]

INTERVIEWER. [Opens mouth to ask TRICKSTER for a seat but doesn't say anything. TRICKSTER doesn't notice. Looks around for a chair, eventually giving up and sits down onto the white floor.]

TRICKSTER. I've never been in an interview before.

INTERVIEWER. That's fine. 
These are just very basic questions for species research.

TRICKSTER. Let's start at the beginning.

INTERVIEWER. [Adjusts glasses and scribbles an extra question onto the top of the paper.]
You don't look like, well, the other baku I've seen.

TRICKSTER. Shall I take this as a compliment, or criticism? 

INTERVIEWER. Just something I notice. 

TRICKSTER. [Looks over clothing, thinking that INTERVIEWER was trashing his sense of style.]
Shall I go change?

INTERVIEWER. No, not like that.
You don't look like any kind of animal. 

TRICKSTER. Would you rather trust me with freeing you from your nightmares, or some large beast with teeth bigger than your head?
Humans are impressionable and so they tend to judge at first sight.

INTERVIEWER. Got it.
[Writing. Aside.]
He's making me feel bad about being human already.

TRICKSTER. Let's continue.

INTERVIEWER. Is that a nightmare?
That goop- I mean, that delicious-looking dish.

TRICKSTER. See with your own eyes.
[He scoops up some of the liquid and lets it flow back down into the bowl. It has the consistency of oobleck, and there are little star-shaped particles inside.]

INTERVIEWER. [Leaning into the bowl of food and observing it. Exaggerated sniffing. Aside.]
Smells like the aftermath of a high school Chemistry lab accident. 

TRICKSTER. [Pretending not to hear, slightly lowering his ears.]
Of course I shouldn't expect a human like you to find it appetizing.

INTERVIEWER. So you eat nightmares, like the rest of your species.

TRICKSTER. Nightmares to baku are like bamboo to pandas.

INTERVIEWER. I see.
[Writing. Adjusts glasses.]
But you do eat other things sometimes, yeah?

TRICKSTER. Sometimes dreams, or hopes and aspirations.
[Aside.] 
It's important to maintain a healthy diet, right?

INTERVIEWER. Yes, I heard about that. 
Do you specifically go out to hunt for those?

TRICKSTER. I don't need to, humans willingly give them to me.
Somewhere in the human world, there will always be someone who's having a nightmare.
It's almost a symbiotic relationship.

INTERVIEWER. [Aside.] 
More like he's basically a trash can for nightmares.
[Scribbles answers down.]
How about dreams? 

TRICKSTER. Usually, I leave them alone.

INTERVIEWER. [Raises one eyebrow in suspicion.]
Can you elaborate?

TRICKSTER. One trait that a lot of humans unfortunately possess, which actually seems to not be present in any other animal, is greed.
They just take, and take, and take... 
It isn't even restricted to money, they take natural resources, they take lives, they take opportunities, they take everything that can be taken.
Even favors, actually, especially favors.

INTERVIEWER. I'm beginning to understand what you're getting at.
[Writing. Moved a little bit closer to where TRICKSTER is sitting on the table and looking up at him.]
So every time you help someone get rid of a nightmare, you're doing them a favor.

TRICKSTER. Visiting the human world is really taxing, both emotionally and physically.
The architecture in some places is ridiculous, not to mention people tend to be especially whiny after a nightmare.

INTERVIEWER. [Pointedly.] You were going to tell me about why you sometimes eat dreams and hopes.

TRICKSTER. Well, I just thought that was important to address.
So, if someone calls upon a baku a lot, the relationship will become unequal and tip towards the human as they receive more and more help.

INTERVIEWER. Do people have assigned baku?
Do baku have assigned humans?

TRICKSTER. It's first come, first served. 
Whoever is available, really, but there are only so many of us to deal with...
How many, now?
[His ears wiggle as he thinks about it.]
8 billion humans' nightmares.

INTERVIEWER. I see now.
[Writing TRICKSTER's answers down.]
So humans who become reliant on you for help are eventually punished by getting their wishes eaten, is that it?

TRICKSTER. Eating nightmares one after the other is boring.
Sure, each and every one has a slightly different flavor, but the texture and the overall flavor profile is much the same.
As a human analogy, imagine eating rice pudding every day for every meal.
You can have it sweet or savory, you can eat it hot or cold or even bake it.
But it's just rice pudding, and nightmares are also just nightmares.

INTERVIEWER. Is it a very last resort to take wishes?

TRICKSTER. It depends on how annoyed we are with the humans.
Some of us are more patient.
However it's not in our power to refuse to eat someone's nightmare, as they called us there and it's our main food source.
It's a delicate balance.

INTERVIEWER. You're putting me off of ever asking one of you for help with my nightmares, that's for sure.
[Writing. Adjusts glasses.]
What happens to humans who lose their aspirations?

TRICKSTER. Surely, you've already met someone who had no hobbies and friends and wasn't working or going to school.

INTERVIEWER. So it's just like that, but they are forced to become that way instead of being naturally hopeless.

TRICKSTER. Essentially, yes.

INTERVIEWER. But, stripping a human being from their will to live.
... Doesn't that make you feel bad? 

TRICKSTER. I see it as just a fact of life.
Poetic justice, if you will. 
After all, they brought it upon themselves.

INTERVIEWER. If you say so.
[Looking for the next question, notices that papers are full.]
Excuse me for a moment.
[Stands, adjust glasses.]

TRICKSTER. Leaving so soon, are you?
[Looking away after INTERVIEWER.]

INTERVIEWER. I'll come back in a sec, but I need to bring some things for the rest of the interview. 
[Hurriedly towards the black door.]

TRICKSTER. Ah-... 

Exit INTERVIEWER.

TRICKSTER. [Looking out into audience with a blank face before suddenly coming to.]
What else was I expecting from a human, right?
[Raises empty fist to one of his pointy ears and puts out index finger, making a little twirling motion.]

CURTAINS.

---

SCENE II.

INT. WHITE ROOM WITH THE LIGHTS OCCASIONALLY FLICKERING OFF - ???

INTERVIEWER returns with different pages on the clipboard. TRICKSTER had finished eating by then.

TRICKSTER. Will you keep doing that?
Coming back with more questions every time you run out of them.

INTERVIEWER. No, I'm switching it up a little.
I brought,
[Holds up clipboard victoriously. Various photographs are clipped onto it.]
Pictures!

TRICKSTER. Is this the Rorschach test? 
[Trying to crane neck and peek upwards.]

INTERVIEWER. I just wanted to ask if you know who is in these pictures.

TRICKSTER. [Relieved, wipes forehead.]
The final couple of inkblots are way too colorful for my taste anyway.

INTERVIEWER. [Turning clipboard towards TRICKSTER, coming to a stop next to him and not sitting down again.]
Have you seen THIS MAN while looking through human dreams and nightmares?

TRICKSTER. Usually, I don't pay attention to the content, it's more about the taste.
Who is it? 

INTERVIEWER. In 2008, an Italian guy created this drawing as a hoax, but it turned out in the end that some people actually saw him in their dreams.
It has been studied since then and a lot of theories have come up.
Does he look familiar to you?

TRICKSTER. [Considering the picture of THIS MAN.]
Very familiar indeed.
The mix of striking and unremarkable features makes the picture seem so.

INTERVIEWER. Got it.
[Flips picture and writes on the back of it. Opening the clip, shuffles it to the back of the small stack of papers to reveal the next one.]
How about this?

TRICKSTER. [Eyes noticeably widen.]
His hair is like straw, and his gaze is so empty.
And he looks a lot like me, just more human.
Actually, it looks like a photograph that would be set out at a funeral...

INTERVIEWER. Do you know him?

TRICKSTER. Should I know him?
[Looking between the picture of SENBU and INTERVIEWER.]

INTERVIEWER. I'm asking since some people are convinced that you two are together. 

TRICKSTER. [Body stays turned towards the INTERVIEWER but his eyes shift towards the audience at "some people", scrunches nose up and vaguely motions hands towards them.]

INTERVIEWER. [Shrugging. The lights flicker.]

TRICKSTER. I'm not dating anybody in general, let alone a human.
[Aside.]
It must be another human peculiarity to want to date someone who looks a lot like them.

INTERVIEWER. ...Does it bother you that people think you should be in a relationship?

TRICKSTER. However stupid the things humans do might be, I don't concern myself with them.
They concern themselves each other enough with arbitrary things.
Let it be their own problem.
Ignorance is bliss.

INTERVIEWER. Ignorance is strength.

TRICKSTER. [Not understanding the reference.]
If you want it to be so...

INTERVIEWER. [Unclips the picture and puts it behind the rest of the papers, writing on the empty page that was behind it.]
So you said just now that you don't date mortals? 

TRICKSTER. There was one time I fell for one.
It's my biggest regret to this day. 

INTERVIEWER. Care to elaborate? 
[Writing still. Adjusts glasses.]

TRICKSTER. Once, I loved this human girl very much.
However...
[A pause. TRICKSTER is wondering how to word this.]
Humans, they have this tendency to... die. 

INTERVIEWER. ... I'm really sorry. 

TRICKSTER. Ah, don't apologize.
It must have been a hundred years ago by now.
It was a good wake-up call, if anything.
[Aside.]
I can't recommend dating outside of your own species.

INTERVIEWER. So, you haven't been in any relationship since. 

TRICKSTER. It's all so tedious, following the customs, navigating the cultural differences, making it seem perfect to outsiders.
A lot of people are, honestly, better off without a partner, human or otherwise.

INTERVIEWER. Do you miss that girl? 

TRICKSTER. I would do a lot of things to say goodbye to her properly.
But it's just a fact of life, right?
Everything comes and goes. 

INTERVIEWER. That's a strange thing to hear from you.

TRICKSTER. I have a lot more strange things to say, if you would like.

CURTAINS. Through the curtains, vague conversation and occasional laughter is heard.

---

SCENE III.

INT. WHITE ROOM, THE LIGHTS NOTICEABLY DIMMER AND SOFTER - ???

Stacks of empty plates and bowls, all with various colorful leftovers inside, litter the floor. A closed windows with blacked-out panes suddenly appeared on the wall. 

TRICKSTER. Can you give me the photograph? 
The second one.

INTERVIEWER. [Digs the photograph of SENBU out of the clipboard and hands it over.]

TRICKSTER. It's so stuffy in here.
[Turns towards the window and opens it up with the help of the cane.]
Here, you go get some fresh air.
[SENBU is casually pushed out the window.]

INTERVIEWER. Hey, printers are expensive to operate.

TRICKSTER. Extend my apologies to the printer...

[Lights flickering.]

INTERVIEWER. Well, at least this interview was very eventful.

TRICKSTER. Are we done?

INTERVIEWER. You answered my questions better than I expected you to, I don't want to hold you up for no reason.

[A pause. Before TRICKSTER can answer:]

THREE OVERLAPPING VOICES FROM OUTSIDE. Baku-san, come eat my dream! 

TRICKSTER. [Ears perk up. Excitedly.]
This is my sign!

INTERVIEWER. Just like that?
It's this easy?

TRICKSTER. I told you right at the beginning, it is this easy.
You thought I was deceiving you, didn't you?

INTERVIEWER. I can't say that I take you at face value.

TRICKSTER. So take me with a pinch of salt then, like all good dishes.
[Climbing off the black table.]
If you would excuse me,
[Pulls the door handle open with walking stick, door swings and smacks shut loudly. Exit.]

INTERVIEWER. ... He just left me alone in his dimension.
[Reaches into cardigan pockets and after feeling around for a couple of seconds, pulls out a copy of the photograph of SENBU.]
I would rather not get stuck here.
[Sticks picture onto the white wall. Aside.]
I'll have to ask the boss to stop sending me into other worlds for the sake of interviews.

Exit INTERVIEWER. Door is closed carefully at the very last second when there is light.

[A pause. All the lights go out by themselves. The once-completely white room is now fully dark, but through the darkness it can be heard that the picture stuck onto the wall has slipped to the floor.]

CURTAINS.

Notes:

i hope this turned out just as chaotic but also raw and personal as my vision for the story. i wanted to write something that was a little awkward but the characters were trying to get along anyway in their own strange ways.
the most important thing is to not let yourself focus on get lost in whatever you and other people are doing, in both positive or negative ways, and go outside to socializing and do various different things. that is the moral of the story, and so was the moral of the original song and i hope it was somewhat clear.

---

from the author/a little help with understanding why i wrote things the way i did:

i made the interviewer not only an unspecified gender but also just as colorless as the room, to contrast that the actual main character is very colorful (unlike the song title) and to make them kind of an everyman, someone who can be whoever instead of the well-established character of the baku. i also don't have much experience with being an adult but i hope the overworked employee who is worried about the cost of printing and their boss was a realistic portrayal.

i also utilized the rule of three in multiple ways (3 scenes, 3 characters (if you don't count This Man), the chant being used etc.)
Chekhov's gun was intended as the interviewer's cardigan pockets and the chant.

i wanted the lights to represent something. in my mind, the lights shut down at the end because the energy source depleted, in the same way people "shut down" metaphorically when their physical or emotional energy is depleted, and then physically collapse and go to sleep or become socially unavailable.

to deal with the multiple ways dreams and nightmares are shown in the PV, here they were depicted specifically as oobleck because it is a liquid that responds based on how you treat it (slowly and gently handling it means it can melt and flow freely, while punching it or grabbing it fast will cause it to firm up). in my opinion, dreams, nightmares, and ideas and aspirations, are much like that, you can't force them to come or go, you have to work alongside them.

Trickster's comment on a balanced diet isn't just his way of justifying eating dreams instead of nightmares even if unprompted, or just a nod to humans needing to eat healthy too, but also a warning that consuming too much of the same kind of content online (whether that be biased news, politics, one genre of fanfiction, fanart of the same characters, discourse and exposés, YT or TWT drama, etc.) will be harmful to your psyche later.

again, everything that Trickster said about humans is something i personally feel applies to many people, how they just take and take and take, whether that be physical favors, emotional help, time, etc. and i took into account the sequel song and his tragic human crush but i tried to write it so that some time had passed by then and he somewhat returned to his original selfish personality. it could also be understood as him being asexual and/or aromantic.

if you read 1984 by Orwell, you know what the interviewer was referencing.
i always found "have you seen this man" interesting and since it has to do with dreams i wanted to include it somehow.

the photographs being thrown out of the windows and falling to the floor at the end is supposed to symbolize neither the interviewer or the baku caring too much about Senbu because neither of them know him well.

---

it was my first time using the script format, and instead of just copying the way Shakespeare or someone else formatted their own plays i made up my own style, so if it was clunky or difficult to read that is why, and i apologize.
once again, these were just my intentions but if you had a differing interpretation or didn't understand something until reading this part, that's completely fine.
thank you if you read. any comment/criticism/observation is welcome.

Chapter 2: That goop- I mean, that delicious-looking dish.

Summary:

a KAGAMINATOR5000 illustration on my amateur play? it's more likely than you'd think

AUTHOR. You weren't expecting this now, were you!?
(or maybe you were, especially if you saw the announcement in their artbook. i guess i'm not that good at plot twists, i did tag plot twists but they weren't that unpredictable)

i know it's their exam period rn but they love Len sooooo much i had to ask them about illustrating.
(don't worry tho, they were paid very handsomely in sour gummy candy and almond cookies from IKEA.)

artist commentary from Nana in the chapter notes. TAKE IT AWAY NANA

Notes:

Hello from over here!!
(Yes, I have "illustrator" on my profile for a reason. If anyone sees this and wants me to illustrate for their own Kagamines-related fic too, feel free to contact me.)
I'm putting this at the end notes so someone who came to see the illustration isn't force to go through a wall of text... Once again I had to make my friends to read this and tell me what they thought the best scene was, and this was one of the most common suggestions with more than half the people suggesting it. I was give quite a few ideas so there will be at least one other drawing by me here.

The empty white room as the stage was really convenient because I didn't have to deal with any furniture except the table for the drawing. I also made sure the props (bowl, clipboard, pen) were either black or white as well.

I will also confess that haven't heard the song until I started working on this illustration, even though I have images of the module saved to my Kagamines folder.
For context, the Sega website for Project Diva and Project Sekai news used to put out promotional art and in-game screenshot for new Project Diva modules, and while I wasn't there when he was released (I'm not that old ☻) I go through the site regularly since 2021 to download official screenshots and art, and apparently happened to saved them one day.
So I knew what he looked like and who he was, and the author showed me the lyrics, but I wanted to hear the song and to look at the PV because it would help me get a grasp on his personality better. It's a bit stupid, but I have an easier time drawing characters I know a lot about, because I can really imagine their movement and facial expression, body language, etc.

I also wanted to use the more boyish-looking form of Trickster instead of the more adult one, I'm just better at drawing teenagers. I can't say I prefer him to Pâtissier Hansel, but he's a little bit more simple to draw. Both of them are definitely very high on my favorite Len module list, though.

Because the Interviewer was very vaguely described, I wanted to not specify anything and instead made them an androgynous-looking person with grey skin and hair. Is it a copout? I feel like it would have done injustice for the "blank slate" part to draw them with specifically one gender, skin color, hair color, etc. Now they kind of look like YCH template or Y/N character in a collab drawing, but overall I'm satisfied.

Hopefully even if you're not the biggest fan of Trickster you can enjoy this drawing, and stick around for future illustrations too. Thank you. 

Chapter 3: Who is it?

Summary:

This was the second most requested scene. Personally, I wasn't expecting This Man to appear either but I probably should have.
The shock factor was probably what made it stand out to the people who recommended it.

Instead of drawing the whole scene from one viewpoint, I wanted to divide the focus between the Interviewer showing their clipboard and Trickster looking at the image. This way, the figures are bigger and more easy to draw, and the details are more visible to the viewer, and I don't have to struggle (as much as usually) with the poses. I also wanted to draw the face of This Man instead of using the original picture and printing it or editing it on, because it was good practice and I felt like my style isn't that cartoony to make it unrecognizable.

By the time this drawing is completed and posted, I should be almost done with my exams. While it was a little difficult to find time and energy, it was also important to me to take break from studying and focus on something else for a while. The current plan is to finish the third illustration still in May, and then I will be returning to my art book again for the summer.

Thank you for viewing.

Chapter 4: TRICKSTER. [Aside.]

Summary:

I got a lot of recommendations for the last illustration but I decided to take a less-requested one. I don't have a lot of drawings where the character breaks the fourth wall (I think just that one of Len with his plushie from my art book) so I wanted to do it as a practice for posing and expressions.

The conspiratorial tone of the baku was a fun challenge to try expressing with a specific pose. When I had to read Othello for class, my favorite parts were always Iago speaking to the audience about his plans. (As an aside: I hate him, but I love to hate him.)

Of course I couldn't leave the Interviewer out even though they're not in the focus for this scene. I got a lot of text messages about how much my friends like my design for them, I didn't want to disappoint.

And just recently, we got 100 hits ☻ So thank you very much for that as well. Enjoy this illustration.

Notes:

This was my last drawing for this fic. Even though I'm sad to not have anything else to make for this story as Trickster's design grew on me quite a bit, I was happy to have something to do instead of just studying and it helped me relax between exams.

Thank you for viewing, even more if you followed along, and hopefully I'll see you over at my art book in a few days.