Quid Pro Quo: The Interview (the first, at least)

Quid Pro Quo: The Interview

Episode I: The Writer

    For an interesting dynamic, questions will be asked of writer Jason Froikin by Lara Night, rising star of Strike-Two's Raiders series. Why? Because it's amusing, that's why.

LN: Do you consider yourself a professional writer?

JF: No. I professional gets paid for doing work. I did come close once.

LN: Oh, really?

JF: It was a comic called Girls In White, I worked on it with German "Zio" Mora. Issue #1 was even listed on Diamond's previews, and it recieved 320 orders. Sadly, the printer then took the investors' money and folded before a single copy was printed.

LN: That's so sad. Are you still bitter about it?

JF: Not really. It's a little depressing, but it's taught me not to expect too much.

LN: Why do you write? What drives you?

JF: Quite simply, because I like to, I can, and I feel like it would be a huge waste to just let all of the ideas I have floating around in my mind simply vanish with time.

LN: Can you elaborate?

JF: I have so many plot and character ideas in there, I couldn't possibly find the time to write them all. I sometimes hope I can some of them pass them off to other people but it never works that way, so I write what I can and still usually miss what I can't write when it's gone.

LN: What kind of ideas have disappeared due to lack of time?

JF: The Batgirl and Supergirl fanfic had to come to and end because I had new ideas that had to take their place in the writing rotation. I also had more ideas for those two fanfic series, but they sadly had to be scrapped for lack of time. I also had a Star Trek fanfic series that was supposed to be but never took off. I was discouraged after the pilot for it generated a lot of hate mail.

LN: You get a lot of hate mail?

JF: Aside from the Trek piece which attracted six, I got a total of one. I think I got maybe three positive fan mails.

LN: How did you get involved with the Parodyverse?

JF: It started when I was asked to host the board, and I got a chance to test new message board software I designed. Much later, though I was kind of afraid of 'interrupting' the normal board activity, I experimented with posting a few things, figuring if it didn't go well I could just disappear again.

LN: And how did it work out?

JF: Nobody asked me to leave. *laughs*

LN: What's with the Anime Jason handle?

JF: At Comicboards I started out as just "Jason", but someone started posting with the same name. I changed it to "Mangacool Jason" to differentiate, and then just "Mangacool". Later on I got the mangacool.com domain, and was afraid my Comicboards handle might attract crazies from the boards to my new domain, so I changed it again to Anime Jason.

LN: How do you think things are at the PV board today?

JF: Slow, I guess. I'm not sure if it's permanent, but I fear it might be. The general trend on the internet these days is looking toward the obselescence of message boards. I don't know if it's because people are working more hours or whatever, but nobody wants to spend the time anymore.

LN: Are you predicting the end of the internet?

JF: No, but I do think it will become more self-centered rather than community oriented. Just millions of people posting their thoughts on weblogs, playing online games, but nobody really talking or collaborating anymore.

LN: Now let's talk about me.

JF: Why did I have a feeling this would happen?

LN: Why do you keep me around as a character when I've failed a series?

JF: Because your personality is very sound, it's just the story which didn't measure up. Whenever that happens I often 'rescue' the characters involved so they can have another chance, if they have the power to detatch from the tale. I would feel terrible if I scrapped a decent character simply because a story didn't work out right.

LN: Why are most of your lead characters female?

JF: A lot of people ask me that, and it's actually an accident. When I started with Supergirl fanfic, I was a Supergirl fan, and I created a small supporting cast that was supposed to move on to other stories even when Supergirl herself wasn't lead. A couple of them did make it to the Batgirl series, which, again, I chose that character because I don't like Batman or Robin as much. You, on the other hand, were the only character to really survive the scrapped Third Realm series.

LN: How does that explain new concepts like World Class, which also has a female lead?

JF: She was supposed to be more on equal ground with Sean, Steve, Matt, and Jerry - actually outnumbered by male co-leads - but it didn't work out that way, because nobody seems to like the others as much. I decided just to stick with what works and push her more into the lead.

LN: What made you decide to create Parodyverse characters? And why are they female as well?

JF: I was asked to, and I took it on as a challenge. They're female because the Parodyverse seems to have mostly male characters, and because it appears to have become an in-joke by now and I figured I'd just run with it.

LN: Do you have plans for me to visit the Parodyverse as Keiko has? And will Keiko return?

JF: In both cases, yes. But I need a good story to go with both, and I need points of interaction so you or Keiko aren't just operating there alone. That wouldn't be any fun.

LN: Thanks. This ending made me happy. I hope it makes everyone else happy too.

Episode II: The Actress

    This is a double interview! I'll interview both Lara Night and Keiko Takashi. Because that, too, is amusing.

JF: Lara, do you feel under-utilized as a story character?

LN: Of course. Raiders is on hold, and besides a remote promise that I'll be visting the Parodyverse at some point, people are only vaguely aware of my existence.

JF: Which one of those would you prefer first?

LN: I get the feeling I have a better chance at the PV first, because I don't really have a place in World Class and Raiders...well, you've been blocked on that for months now.

KT: If I may interrupt, I wouldn't mind if she were to appear in World Class. I'm sure it's possible.

JF: But that would change the whole reality flavor of the World Class series, wouldn't it?

LN: It would, yes, unless my appearance is handled more like a cameo. Which I wouldn't really mind.

JF: I'll make a note of it. For both of you, who would you like to work with at the Parodyverse?

LN: The Hooded Hood, or Hatman.

KT: I've already worked with the Hooded Hood, but I wouldn't mind...confronting him again. My second choice would be Sir Mumphrey Wilton.

JF: Now that's an interesting choice. Keiko, why Sir Mumphrey? And while I'm at it, Lara, why your choices?

KT: I find him interesting. We would complement each other because my skill can back up his mouth.

LN: *laughs* I like that. Can I change my answer? Just kidding. I like Hatman, he's probably one of the only Lair Legion members who doesn't have some kind of weird fetish. The rest kind of creep me out, especially CSFB!. And the Hooded Hood...he's one of the most interesting people in the PV. Who wouldn't want to work with him?

JF: Any less headlined characters you might be interested in interacting with?

KT: The Psychic Samurai sounds like someone who would be excellent to work with in a dangerous situation. I wouldn't mind simply talking to Yo, I sense that she hides a lot of her thoughts and feelings.

LN: Yo does sound interesting. And you'll think I'm strange, but I'd love a chance to frighten Chad and Ronnie.

JF: I'm not so sure even you can do that successfully.

LN: Maybe not. It would be fun to try.

JF: So as a closing question, what are your thoughts on the restriction I've placed on using my non-Parodyverse characters? Or of how I can encourage people to use my PV characters properly?

LN: Write about them more. Have them interact as much as possible so people really understand them. The restriction is cool, though, I don't think it's scaring anyone. I think it just limits unnecessary cameo appearances.

KT: I don't like being characterized badly, I agree with the restriction. You may find it useful to offer more help to those who wish to use both Parodyverse characters and non PV characters.

JF: Thanks, I'll take note of that. And thanks for the Q&A.

LN: No problem.

KT: You're welcome.

JF: Any last words?

LN: Nah. Those are reserved for endings.

KT: I agree.

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2005 by Jason Froikin, and may not be
-- reprinted without permission.

Post By Anime Jason Fri Feb 25, 2005 at 07:01:05 pm EST	Subject Quid Pro Quo: The Interview (the first, at least)

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