An Evening (or several hours on ICQ) With Jet Wolf

Your friendly neighborhood interviewer Greg, here. With the final masterpiece of these very special Chosen featurettes. I bring to you a woman that needs no introduction... except if I don't give her one, she'll carve me up and feed me to her dog. I've had the privelege to know her back during the early days of jetwolf.com, starting with Operators Standing By. Her rants and her online journal gave me insights into her mind, her music videos insights into her creativity, and every other word she has ever written has proven her talent for wit and her ability to capture a reader's attention. But I think it is fair to say that the drive, the thoroughness, and the stamina she has shown in creating The Chosen has made me sit back in awe. And I have never been more honored than by her request to interview her and her co-writers. And so I give you...my evening with Jet Wolf.

Jet Wolf: We good to go, or do you want to do it tomorrow?

Greg: Nope, we can go.

Jet Wolf: Werd.

Greg: Was in the other room.

Jet Wolf: You have other rooms? You're ruining this mental picture of you huddled in a single room over the warm glow of a monitor.

Greg: Only in my mind.

Jet Wolf: Oh, MIND ROOMS. That's okay then.

Greg: Wow. The dream me sounds rather pathetic. Am I unwashed, my hair scraggly, with pizza boxes and half-open bags of pork rinds scattered everywhere?

Jet Wolf: Sure, why not?

Greg: Well I may be a geek, but I aspire to be a better geek than that.

Jet Wolf: I'll say. Lose the pork rinds. I mean ... ew.

Greg: Actually I've never had pork rinds. The pizza's not far wrong, though. And there's lots of soda cans laying around. In point of fact, I was sitting in the living room, where my other computer is stationed right now, replaying Baldur's gate 2 and half-watching Star Trek:DS9 Season 2 while sipping down diet Mountain Dew.

Jet Wolf: <scoffs> Geek.

Greg: Yes! Your point? <snickers>

Jet Wolf: Oh, I have to have points now? Geez. Just be demanding.

Greg: Are we going to interview now, or should we continue with the foreplay?

Jet Wolf: Sicko. You're the interviewer, I just live here.

Greg: Now, being as I like symmetry...I'll begin with a query as to how you became Jet Wolf. And this is not me asking for a blow-by blow on your birth, just of the origin of your handle.

Jet Wolf: Aww, but my birth is so fascinating. I hear there were drugs, and much pain!

Greg: Nova already gave me plenty of details on that.

Jet Wolf: Okay, have it your way. It's pretty much like the others. We got AOL back in the whenever-the-hell-it-was, when AOL came on 3.5 disks and ten hours free was HUGE. I didn't want to be a word/number combo, so I spent approximately sixteen hours trying to find something to be. I finally settled on "Jet Wolf". The wolf part, pretty self-explanatory – wolves are my favourite animal.

Greg: Yes, I've been bitten by you more than once.

Jet Wolf: I'm not commenting on the biting thing for I am disturbed. The "Jet" part was me trying to think up a colour that I could use. I got the idea for "jet" (as in "black" not as in "plane") from the Magic: The Gathering card "Mox Jet". Black worked, as it's my default clothing colour. Victory! Jet Wolf wasn't taken! I've used it since.

Greg: Just to be extremely nosy regarding things that have nothing to do with this interview, was your handle the inspiration for your hellhound's name? Or just her coloring?

Jet Wolf: Both. I'm a narcissist. But it's two "T"s! TWO!

Greg: Gotcha. I will heretofore inform Microsoft Word that it is spelled 'narcissistt'.

Jet Wolf: Hardy har.

Greg: I liked it. Moving on from the cuteness that is Radar-Ears, however, here comes the big question: you've spent a long time exercising that creative muscle. OSB, rants, music videos, and even fanfic of both Buffy and non-Buffy variety. Why did you decide to devote that creative energy into three or more fan seasons of Buffy?

Jet Wolf: Because I am a huge nerd with no life, as is evidenced by your list there. Actually, I would love to do more. I just don't have the time. I'm Chosen-focused because it's my big thing, you know? I mean, I'm writing whole seasons of the show that I love. That sort of trumps the three-minute satisfaction of the music vids.

Greg: Actually, although the response is interesting, I'm not asking why you aren't doing other things. Merely where the leap of inspiration and drive came, specifically, to pick up where Joss left, and play god by giving new life to one of your favorite shows.

Jet Wolf: Tsk, well SAY THAT.

Greg: I thought I had.

Jet Wolf: Say it in words I can understand. i r dum. That's a much easier question though. Simply put, I wasn't happy with Season 7 on pretty much any level. And I hated the idea that this was the end. That after 144 episodes, it ended THERE.

Greg: Yes, you've said that you started The Chosen because you didn't like the way the series ended, and wanted to get back to what made Buffy great...mostly including making the Scoobies a family again.

Jet Wolf: Well there you go, see? You know the answer.

Greg: I know one of the reasons you've given, but that would only seem to be a part of the story. This isn't just some half-hearted little hobby, writing only for your own benefit. You've made posters. Bought a domain name. Created credits, and roped in your mother and your Dork-Boy, and even your Art Slave to not only help you in this monumental work, but to even give it an added amount of credibility by adding DVD extras, on which this very interview hinges. Why so much effort?

Jet Wolf: Part of the reason is the fact that I really want to make this as much as the real thing as I can. That's the whole point of doing it – to make it like the real thing. Even if only to dupe myself into believing it. Though I guess that's done more in writing than in bonus stuff. All the extras ... just to make it more tangible, I suppose. To make it more than simply the average bit of fanfiction. That, and given how much time it takes to write the damned things, if I'm going to invest that much time, I'm pulling out all the stops. I don't like to do things halfway. Or, well, stuff I like, anyway. I mean, I probably haven't made my bed in about a year and a half, so.

Greg: Was the existence of other Fan Seasons, such as 'Watchers'', partly responsible for this drive, or were you even aware of them at the time?

Jet Wolf: At the time I got the idea to do mine, I had no idea anybody else had thought of the same thing. I was most disappointed. I actually almost didn't do mine when I found out, but then decided that whatever anybody else was doing it couldn't be exactly like mine, so what the hell. I've never actually read anybody else's virtual season, so I suppose it COULD be just like mine. But at the very least I hope there's a character name different. Like, instead of "Hazel" it's "Brunhilda" or something.

Greg: Clearly you did something right, being in the top three.

Jet Wolf: Eh, that virtual topsites thing is screwy, I wouldn't judge by it. I can't figure out where they pull their numbers from. Besides, I don't like to judge against the others series. They do their thing, I do mine.

Greg: Nevertheless, you've developed a good following. Was it always your intention to post The Chosen online?

Jet Wolf: Oh of course. I mean, my tertiary motive is for fame. Fame and pie. Oh, and adulation, can't forget that.

Greg: And domination of the known world?

Jet Wolf: That's a goal sort of outside the scope of The Chosen.

Greg: Pity. I figured it was some sort of subliminal mind control thing. So...you're sitting there, yelling Eureka and scaring your puppy and your husband, as you decide to start small, with only three seasons. What was step one?

Jet Wolf: For world domination or The Chosen? Cuz I'm pretty sure there was no "Eureka!" in either plan.

Greg: Maybe just a maniacal chuckle, then.

Jet Wolf: The first step was in deciding/committing to doing it. Having an idea is all well and good, but I mean, I get ideas for stuff every day. Very few of them actually get done for I am quite astoundingly lazy.

Greg: Okay, so step one was getting off your lazy ass. But after that, how did you start off this monumental task? Was it just sitting down and brainstorming what you'd want to see in your ideal Buffy world?

Jet Wolf: A lot of the work at first was in trying to decide where everybody was. At the end of S7, everything changed. Buffy wasn't alone, Xander was without Anya, Willow got glowy, Sunnydale got sinky ... To coin a phrase, where do they go from here?

Greg: Don't tell me you're going to start singing.

Jet Wolf: Thankfully for all of us, no. There were lots of possible paths for each character. It was vitally important that we try to remain as true to them as we could. Examine each of those paths, then sort out which worked best for the story we wanted to tell. Once we worked that out, it pretty much brought us to where the gang would be when we opened the first episode. From there, it was a case of figuring out where we wanted them to go, what story we wanted to tell, etc.

Greg: As it turned out, you decided you wanted paths which involved them staying together...

Jet Wolf: Absolutely. I don't know about the rest of you, but I primarily watched Buffy because I love the characters. I love the Scoobies. That's why S6 to a point and S7 in particular was so hard for me to watch at times, because that feeling of togetherness wasn't there any more. If I'm going to invest time in writing a series – basically doing what I want with the show now – then you better believe getting those crazy kids back together was THE priority. I'm just not interested in writing season after season of estrangement.

Greg: And number two was bringing back Tara.

Jet Wolf: Heh. Well, that was a high one too, yes. It sort of ties back into #1 though. I wanted to reassemble the group of characters that, for me, were the heart and soul of the show.

Greg: Those two have been gone into many times in public forums: as you sat and brainstormed, outlining plots, character arcs, season arcs, did you discover anything else along the way that was of high importance to include? That you can tell us about, granted. Not asking for Season 9 spoilers... Such as, for example, an interesting and amusing villain...

Jet Wolf: Well, I think that's a given. Again, I wanted to make this as much like the series as I could ... the GOOD stuff about the show, the things that made me love it so much. Keeping the characters true, telling compelling tales ... I don't know that I sat down and actually said to myself, "I must not write trite crap", but it was always something at the back of my mind.

Greg: Highlighting that comment about 'the good stuff', was it intentional or coincidental that, for the most part, Season 8 was much more light-hearted?

Jet Wolf: You think it was?

Greg: In comparison to Season 6...yes. I can't say for Season 7, having not seen most of it...

Jet Wolf: Ah, yeah. Well pretty much. I mean we'd done overbearingly dank and depressing. While there's stuff about S6 that I adore, I think the show was always at its best when it blended everything together. Your angst and your pain should come along with your love and your laughter too. If you'll forgive me for sounding Hallmark. But you can't really work to heal the wounds caused by S6 & S7 by wallowing in that dark. So again, I don't think it was something I specifically planned. I don't think I said, "This will NOT be like S6!" I just think it couldn't be, not to do what I wanted.

Greg: You said you've already plotted/sketched out Seasons 9 and 10 as well. Was there really that many specific stories or ideas you wanted to cover at start, or was it more that you came up with three really good bad guys or character development arcs?

Jet Wolf: Hm, how to answer this without spoiling. Well, I had the idea for S8. Gotta start there. Then I had an arc that I very specifically wanted to do for the 10th season. (I like round numbers.) The 9th was, for a while, the sort of wild card. Though I really like the ideas we have for that season, and I'm totally looking forward to writing it. I figured all this out before writing anything for S8 for the most part. But I like having long-term goals. I like seeing where I'm going, so I can construct now. I like setting stuff up ahead of time.

Greg: How many of S8's episode came from that initial plotting, and how many came from 'okay, got to have filler, what would be interesting ideas for episodes?'

Jet Wolf: That all happened sort of at the same time, I think. Honestly, I can't remember a whole lot of the specifics of the seasonal plotting for S8 ... or even, really S9, which is funny as I didn't do S9 too terribly long ago now. It just sort of happens. I work out where I want key things to happen, then just logically follow the flow of they story and/or characters from there. If you know, for example, that you want Character A to reach a major revelation by ep 13, then that helps you know how to pace out that character's actions up to that point. Though there is the odd episode where you look at how everything's spaced and you say, "Okay, we need a so-and-so ep".

Greg: So some of the episodes were entirely just to frame important character events.

Jet Wolf: I'd say that every episode is a mixture of that and not that at all. I try to write character driven as much as I can, since that's where my interest lies. There are some eps where we say "Oh, we need to have one of these, that'll be cool", but I try to never make it JUST about that. I don't like pure fluffy filler for the most part. That applies scene-by-scene too. I don't like scenes that have no purpose.

Greg: Were there any stories you wanted to tell that were just burning a hole in your pocket, and wanted to do as soon as possible?

Jet Wolf: Hm. I suppose the biggest thing was bringing Tara back. I wanted to bring her into the story as soon as I could. But what was most important for that storyline was to buy it back. I didn't want this to be wish fulfillment. I wanted to earn it. I wanted the characters to earn it. Consequently, its placement within the season was very important. Too soon, and you enter into cheap fanfic trick territory. Too late, and you don't have enough time to really drive home what's going on and how important it is. But I was really happy with where we put it. I was happy with the whole season's pacing, actually.

Greg: Was it difficult at first? You have mentioned mixed feelings about, say, the first three or four episodes in forums and commentaries, and Ultrace has already shared his two cents about his run with Hide and Seek...

Jet Wolf: It was definitely harder at the beginning than it was later. I'm finding that again to be the case, now I'm working in S9. You get into a rhythm, and when that rhythm is disrupted, it takes a while to find it again. Those first episodes ... it was such a new experience. I'd done fanfic and writing and stuff before, but nothing even approaching something on this scale. I had no frame of reference. Not to mention the fact that in many instances, I'd never really written these characters before. Getting them to sound just right – not easy.

Greg: When did it start to flow well in the process of writing Season 8? When did the characters start to speak to you...not that I'm accusing you of hearing voices.

Jet Wolf: That's a good question. Hmm. <thinks> I think the first episode that I can say just really clicked and worked on every level was "Inside Out". That one I think was one of the fastest I'd written, and the way it all came together ... the scenes, the plotting, the message, the dialogue ... it all came out just like I wanted. Better even. Individual characters, they came in at varying times. Willow, for example, I could always hear quite well in my head. Giles too. Xander and Faith were surprises, they came much easier than I expected. But they all fell with me at assorted times that I can't really pin down specifically.

Greg: 'Fell with you'?

Jet Wolf: I mean, synched up with me. I got them. I could really hear them and see them in my head. "Got them" is the wrong phrase. From my experience, you can perfectly understand a character ... know them, know their motivations ... but making them act and sound like themselves, that's something else entirely.

Greg: Gotcha. Huh. Seven episodes in: took that long. That's a surprise. Wasn't my impression.

Jet Wolf: Well I mean that by the time I hit "Inside Out", I had it all down pat. Some earlier stuff came easy too. The Xander/Willow scene at the sapling in "Human Nature", for example, just spilled out. A lot of "The Name of the Game" was amazingly easy as well. "Fringes" gave me a lot of trouble on various levels, but the Xander/Faith and Willow/Buffy scenes just snapped into place. But by "Inside Out", I had pretty much everything in place. All the characters, the story, the plotting ... it was the first ep where I really felt "Okay, you know, I CAN do this."

Greg:You said "Inside Out" came quickly: what's the average time for completion of an episode, not including making the poster?

Jet Wolf: That's really variable. Breaking an episode – meaning taking it act by act, scene by scene – can be done in 20 minutes or five days. I can't tell you why some are harder than others, they just are. The writing part, again that depends. To give you an example, I'm almost done with scripting 9x01 and I wrote the teaser for it back on 17 January. (It's that rhythm thing there.) But "Second Chances" was scripted in about four days. Some scenes just come naturally, others I have to drag out. And then there's that whole thing where I'm lazy again. If I prose, that can add up to a week onto the writing time. The poster really is negligible, I've never taken more than a day on any one of them. In fact, half the time I find myself doing the poster the Monday before the promo goes up, so ...

Greg: That easy, hmmn?

Jet Wolf: No, not really. Just that ... I'm not a graphics designer.

Greg: And this is the reason you can do it QUICKLY? o.O

Jet Wolf: My Photoshop skills are minimal at best. So there's not really anything there that's going to take me that long to do. I don't do anything complicated, so they don't take up time. Also, since if I don't get an immediate idea, I know I'm not going to be hit with a flash of brilliance, so I just sit down and make myself do something.

Greg: Ah. But where do you get all the images to work with? Do you have, like a folder full of screen caps you liked, or do you actually have to search through your archives of actual shows to find one you like?

Jet Wolf: No archive. I just scan the DVDs. Which isn't as hard as it sounds. For the most part, I'm restricted to S7. I can fudge on some characters and go back as far as S5 (mostly just Tara [since she was dead and all] and Giles), but most have to come from S7. And I remember a lot of the specifics from the scenes from all that time doing vids. But undoubtedly, the screencapping part can be the most time consuming. That, and Xander patch jobs. Those are a BITCH.

Greg: Do you think there might be a point where you might have to beg and plead Amy to help with the posters, because you've just tapped the screen cap well dry?

Jet Wolf: I very much doubt it. I mean, going to drawn posters doesn't really work for the faux realism of what I'm trying to do.

Greg: True.

Jet Wolf: If I have to, I'll give a character a hairstyle change and then delve into earlier seasons. I thought about giving Willow an S6-style haircut for S9, but then realized she spent half the time either skanky and high, miserable and depressed or veiny and evil, so I'd be left with what? Five eps to pull from?

Greg: What are the ideal circumstances to be working on The Chosen in terms of mood, music, setting...

Jet Wolf: QUIET and ALONE. I actually can't have music on when I'm writing, I find it too distracting. When I'm doing it right, I just go to a place. Honestly, all I really do is let the characters write the scenes for me with a little godly nudge here and there. Having music on means I can't focus on them as much as I should. I'm a very boring writer in that respect.

Greg: Do you sometimes find yourself having to go back to the original episodes for insight into making them real, or once you're in the zone, can you pretty much do it on your own?

Jet Wolf: I can pretty much do it on my own. Rewatching the earlier eps can be good for reenergizing (or just for fun), but I've yet to get into a situation where I have to refer to the actual show. For that sort of thing, anyway. Details, that's another matter.

Greg: Are there any plans in the works for episodes that draw plots from past TV episodes?

Jet Wolf: Well now that'd be telling. :)

Greg: I'm not asking which ones...just wondering if there were threads you liked in the original series that you wanted to bring back...

Jet Wolf: I wouldn't rule it out. But I'm mostly here to tell my own stories, not relive those from the past. I do like making it all interconnected, but I'm not making it a mission to pick up all the unresolved threads from the show. There's ... some stuff that I'd like to revisit, yes. A character or two from the old Sunnydale days may be making an appearance in upcoming episodes. But I can't say much more than that.

Greg: Understood.

Jet Wolf: Of course, tying in old canon is something we do pretty much constantly. The show did, so we have to as well. A long standing history and mythology was always a strength on Buffy in my view.

Greg: As mentioned before, you've gotten a lot of positive support for The Chosen, along with some mixed bag responses...to date, I've not seen any raging flames. Have there been any? And do you need me to help you hide the bodies?

Jet Wolf: No flames. Does that mean I haven't made it yet?

Greg: I prefer to take it as a positive sign.

Jet Wolf: Feedback, by and large, has been tremendously positive. We've only had a few people who didn't like it, and most of those simply because it's not what they wish to see. (Spike fans, for example, are mostly not content with what we do. Which makes sense – they want to see Spike.) There are others, of course, who have much stronger disagreements with The Chosen. Which I happen to think is great. I love feedback, be it positive or negative. And if someone really takes the time, I can learn a lot and possibly work to improve. I've never been flamed, but honestly, it wouldn't bother me if I was. At the very least, even all the less than positive comments I've received have had something extremely positive to say ... good writing, great dialogue, wonderful new characters. Where we tend to disagree for the most part is on the characters and how they're being presented. Which is pretty much like Buffy itself, so I take this as a sign I'm doing something right.

Greg: You bring up wonderful new characters: talk a little bit about which creations have most inspired you and your readers.

Jet Wolf: I'll talk more about Madrigan and Seneca when we post the "Fringes" commentary, so I don't want to dwell on them too much. Except to say that I love those guys. Easily my favourite personal new creations. Doing new characters was actually really scary for me. Wondering how well they'd go over, concerned they'd be completely overshadowed by the existing ones, hyper paranoid that they'd be the ones doing the overshadowing. I'm still not completely convinced I did all the new characters as well as I would have liked ideally, but the fact that I got so many comments from people who were upset when we killed Hazel tells me I probably did better than I thought. I'm my own worst critic, easily.

Greg: Are there any original characters who you plan to expand on more than you did in response to positive reactions?

Jet Wolf: Well the only reason it was Sonja who asked Xander out was because of fan reaction. I'm also probably going to bring back Chrissie. She seemed to resonate well. I do try to reuse names of the Juniors though.

Greg: (laughs) I hadn't even told you that I liked Sonja up till that point...it certainly got my attention, though...

Jet Wolf: I think you had. Because it was going to be Lynn at first, but then I was like, "Oh, wait, the guys liked Sonja. I'll use her." But anyway. The other originals who are more than just names – Hannah, Grip, Dawn's friends – they'll all be back. As well as a few more who turned up in S8.

Greg: (gets this hopeful look) Sam?

Jet Wolf: I feel like I'm spoilering ... but yes, Sam too. Actually, she's a good one to answer that question. She was tremendously popular. I can say that I've developed her more now based on fan reaction. She was really something of a throw-away.

Greg: That's part of the reason I asked. I noticed the positive 'Sam' reaction too.

Jet Wolf: Sometimes it's the ones you don't actually try to make work that work.

Greg: I have a few more general questions before we start getting to brass tacks and talk about specific episodes themselves: first, you have said that you want to be as true to the spirit of B:TVS as possible, and that means pulling no punches. You have also said that 'no one is safe'. Does that mean you are actually seriously considering killing off a character in the plotted future? (and by that, I mean one of the core group, not your literary creations)

Jet Wolf: Wow, that's a loaded question. Obviously I can't answer it. Except to say that yes, nobody is safe. And yes, this means the core group.

Greg: The reason I ask is not to gouge information. But you have said over and over that the story you want to tell involves having the characters you love back together. Do you really feel that having them in mortal danger is necessary to capture the series, and isn't that, in fact, in contradiction of your goals?

Jet Wolf: No, I don't think so. Firstly, if the characters are always safe – if you, the reader know that – then the tension is exponentially reduced, if not entirely eliminated. As a shining example (and the first that popped into my head), take comic books. Wolverine, if you will. Marvel will never, ever, EVER kill Wolverine. Ever. I know that. So I can't bring myself to care when he gets put into peril. I already know what will happen. Shows like Buffy WORK because you just don't know. It makes you that much more emotionally invested in the characters. As for it being a contradiction, I don't think so on that count either. By "together" I mean emotionally, not necessarily physically. I mean, the gang was all physically together in S7, and there wasn't a spark of true togetherness. If someone dies ... I mean, that's harsh, no doubt. But if used correctly, it can do so much more. It's greater than simply the act itself. And hell, it's drama. Buffy is life. Buffy is drama. Death is both.

Greg: That being said: if one were to die, would it be a permanent thing? or do you think the resurrection ledger hasn't been completely drained dry?

Jet Wolf: I'm sort of loathe to answer this one as well. But ... well, I've played the resurrection card once. It was my "freebie". Death is powerful. It should be. It's, you know ... IT. The End. It goes back to what I was saying earlier about that emotional investment. Again, look at Marvel. Heaven's revolving door. If you know that every death is going to come with an automatic rebirth, then it stops being significant. I don't want that. Neither to cheapen death, nor to make it make it lose its poignancy.

Greg: There was, of course, that concern with bringing Tara back, but the overall response seems to say you pulled that off with class, and you seem to agree...

Jet Wolf: I do. I put ... wow, a hell of a lot of thought into Tara's return. If nobody's yet picked up on this, it's a HUGE thing for the overall plot. I mentioned this already, but the absolute last thing I wanted to do was to paint the idea that I was bringing Tara back just because I could. That's not in the spirit of Buffy, and more than anything, that's what I want to live on. If I couldn't have worked out a way to make this an important, plot-driven event, I wouldn't have done it.

Greg: We're waiting with bated breath on that one. Now, in your goal to make The Chosen as real as possible, you seem to have left something out: sex. I'm not saying you should rename it Buffy: The Poon-Tang, but the original series had its share of sensuality and even outright bed-creaking references and scenes. You've mentioned reluctance to open this door: will S9 show any changes in that regard?

Jet Wolf: I'm not by nature a romantic person, and I don't feel overly comfortable in writing romantic relationships. That's one of my personal hurdles. I think that's worked out well in S8 actually, since half the time romantic relationships are what screw up the Scoobies royally. But there's no denying that romance is a huge, integral part of the show, so yes. I will be striving to work that more fully into S9 and S10. As for sex itself, I doubt you're going to see anything along the lines of S6. And I promise we will NOT have an episode where the primary plot is Buffy screwing for 45 minutes. But hey, sex happens, and there's a good chance it'll happen to our guys too.

Greg: Are there any other themes besides the romance/sex that you have a hard time tackling? And will future seasons see you pushing the envelope in that regard?

Jet Wolf: Hm. Nothing that immediately leaps to mind. Which doesn't mean no, just that I can't think of anything else I really have a block on. Though I DO feel self-conscious, the more emotional I get. But this is where it's so important to have people you can trust who will tell you when you're laying it on too thick or not thick enough. It's a balance I'm still not confident I've hit in some areas. Back to your question though, I can't think of any other themes that challenge me. As for pushing envelopes, I certainly would do so for the sake of the story. The story is primary, so if it demands to go a particular way, I can only obey. I'm not interested in pushing them just for the sake of pushing, however. It's all about the story.

Greg: But it's also about the characters. You've said that characters often insist on acting and talking in ways that you had not originally intended. Have you ever had to scrap plotlines/scenes as a result of that?

Jet Wolf: We've mentioned several for Kennedy. I had, like, three plot arcs for her at the beginning, but I'll be damned if she was going to go that way. Dawn and Grip weren't really intended to be so couply by this point either, but they just clicked right off the bat and I was helpless but to follow along. Giles went to some dark places that weren't intended, which has completely affected his arc for S9, so that had to be rewritten. And the Tara/Willow reunion was actually planned to happen much sooner, but both characters made it clear they weren't ready yet. The characters are very demanding.

Greg: Given those changes, though, are you pleased with the results?

Jet Wolf: Very. I think trying to force the characters to do what you want leads to disaster. It comes across as exactly what it is – you forcing a plot. I think this is a primary problem with S7. The plot became the commanding voice, and the characters just had to go along with it. It also keeps things exciting for me. Knowing that sometimes what I have planned isn't what comes out. I think it's a much better story for that.

Greg: Let's get away from the general and start drilling down on the specific. Just give me your initial gut reaction on what you liked, didn't like, and took away from each episode. First: 'Inside Out'.

Jet Wolf: I liked pretty much everything with "Inside Out". As I said, it was the first episode where I felt it all came together like I wanted. Standouts for me were the Faith/Buffy scenes and the Willow/Kennedy breakup. That, and the "Willow comes home" scene. I remember marveling at how long that sucker was when I wrote it. It just kept going and going and going .... I can't think of anything off the top of my head I'd change for that one. It all came out just about how I wanted.

Greg: Are there regrets with the Willow/Kennedy breakup? I mean, you wanted Tara and Will back together, but you like Kenn much more than you did...

Jet Wolf: No regrets. I didn't like their relationship on the show at all, and even now, liking Kennedy so much more than I did then, I can't see her relationship with Willow working how it stood. To my mind, their breakup was inevitable. They may have been able to get back together again in time (though I'm not convinced of that), but it was forged much too quickly and for all the wrong reasons. Kennedy was a rebound for Willow. I just can't look at her any other way. That incarnation of the relationship was, in my opinion, doomed. Though I think that Willow does love Kennedy very much, it's not romantically.

Greg: In regards to Faith/Buffy: lot of the bile and frustration and anger bubbled up in this episode. Do you picture their history always getting in the way of a closer relationship, in spite of a growing professional trust between the two?

Jet Wolf: I think I've already shown within the context of the show that their history is being put behind them. In many ways, their exchange in "Inside Out" was Buffy and Faith healing their own wounds caused on each other. See, these guys? They never talk. Do you think Buffy and Faith would ever actually, voluntarily, sit down and air their differences? Hell no. It takes a spell and some pounding, but at the end of it they've reached a new level of understanding. What sort of impact Judith's death may have had on that, we'll have to see. And I don't see Buffy and Faith ever being bestest buds. But they have a connection that's totally different from any other on the show. They understand each other in ways that nobody else can.

Greg: Was this 'healing' as you say it, an intended plot development, or merely a part of Faith's arc?

Jet Wolf: That's sort of part and parcel of the same thing, isn't it? Faith's arc is plot. Or are you asking if it's vital to something much larger?

Greg: The latter. is it a throwaway development, or will it have larger repercussions?

Jet Wolf: I wouldn't say it's throwaway. It was important and necessary to both Buffy and Faith. I wouldn't necessarily say it's part of something larger, but then if I DID say, it'd be a spoiler.

Greg: Let me ask this then: was S8 chocfull of stealthy elements that will resonate later, or were there only a few key parts that were actually important?

Jet Wolf: Good question. Hmmmm. I would say that when looking at S8 in hindsight, a lot of things will rise to new importance.

Greg: So it's rather a story evolution we're looking at, as opposed to a Babylon 5 level of subtext...

Jet Wolf: I don't watch Babylon 5 so I can't confirm or deny the comparison there.

Greg: Well, working within the Buffy world itself, there was a lot of subtext in hindsight...Willow's sexual evolution, the introduction of Dawn...but you're saying that there are more things that weren't intended, rather than those Jossian easter eggs...

Jet Wolf: No, I don't think I'm really saying that. There's some subtext. There's stuff that will be revealed later as main text. I think there's both. Though of course, knowing where I'm going means that I can lay foundation nice and early.

Greg: Moving on: "Ex Post Facto". Gut reaction; liked, disliked, what you took away from it.

Jet Wolf: I liked. It changed from its original vision for Faith's story, but I liked. Perhaps not as much as I might otherwise because I had some personal stuff going on at the time I was writing it, but I was overall quite pleased. I wish I'd been a little better tying Giles' story into it. I think it got overshadowed, all told. But not everything can be the strongest.

Greg: Faith's story would seem to be paramount, as this episode is critical to her arc, less so for Xander...but in Giles's case, it would actually seem this story is overshadowed by later events...the isle of peace he seems to find here en medias res is broken later...

Jet Wolf: True. Giles' arc takes a different sort of turn later in the season. Part of that unplanned stuff popping up. I would've liked to have tied it all together in a much neater bow, but I was able to do what I wanted regardless – showing Giles under the strain of all this new responsibility he never wanted while, in that episode at any rate, showing how when all is said and done, it's not really his purpose. Giles isn't the Watcher so much as he's the father.

Greg: And he seems to be feeling that quite keenly now, with Dawn...it will be interesting to see how that develops, in the aftermath of WLoD, not only with Giles's left turn at the traffic light plot twist, and Dawn coming into her own...

Jet Wolf: I certainly hope it'll be interesting, at any rate.

Greg: Think fast: "Waxing and Waning".

Jet Wolf: What am I thinking fast about? This is an interview! Don't challenge me!

Greg: (laughs) Thoughts, feelings, hindsight regarding this episode....

Jet Wolf: It was my Oz episode, first and foremost. That's how it stands out most to me. I liked it for that reason enough, though I'm sort of 'eh' on the ep otherwise. The werewolf plot was important thematically – it was all about moving on. Oz and Kennedy moving on from Willow, Willow moving on from Tara, Eddie moving on from Jemma ... All with varying levels of success of course. But it's not one of those plots whose intricacies stick with me much otherwise. I did love and still do love the Buffy/Willow scene when Buffy comes bounding in for girl talk, however. And Faith and "Finding Nemo".

Greg: It did feel, in a way, that this was a resolution to NMR. But do you think there would ever be more Oz story to tell, or is W+W the final coda to that character?

Jet Wolf: Oh I think Oz is a guy with more story left in him. I suspect he'll wander back into the Chosenverse some day.

Greg: But not as a recurring character.

Jet Wolf: No. I love Oz, I truly do, but he's not a character that I feel I can do much with. His stories on Buffy mostly revolved around two things: being a werewolf and Willow. He doesn't have the latter and the wrested control of the former. And how many "losing control of the wolf" stories can you do? If the writers had given Oz more depth way back when, then possibly. But they didn't, and for me to give him new depth would be to focus far more time on him than I can reasonably spare.

Greg: "Second Chances." This was a huge story, being the culmination of the resurrection of Tara. Couple drill down questions. First, is there a reason that Nova gets sole prosing credit for this ep?

Jet Wolf: Probably because she solely prosed it. <grin>

Greg: (snerks) You nit. I mean, why did you give it all over to her? Were you feeling the pinch and not feeling up to doing it yourself?

Jet Wolf: If memory serves, I was under serious time crunch with "Second Chances". My best friend was visiting for a week for my birthday, and I was running out of time like a mofo. I didn't have any wiggle room, but couldn't sequester myself away for the necessary week to prose it, given I had a friend who'd just flown halfway across the country to see me. However, while Nova has sole prosing credit on that one, I distinctly remember several rewrites that I did on the final product. I edited very heavily on this one, since it was THE big climax of the first big emotional arc of the show. The scene where Buffy breaks down, for example, I think I rewrote at least ten times. I could open my sent mail and check for sure, but I think at least four of those occurred on its posting day. I was VERY VERY picky with that scene. It had to be just right.

Greg: That dovetails into my next question. On the surface, this story would seem to be mostly about Tara and Willow. But looking back on it, is this episode also critical for Buffy's self-healing arc?

Jet Wolf: I would actually say this arc is more about Buffy and Tara than Tara and Willow. Although on the surface it looks like Tara/Willow.

Greg: AH, so I wasn't smoking something I shouldn't be...

Jet Wolf: No, you got it. This arc was pivotal for Buffy's self-healing. It's the moment where she gets a do-over. One of her biggest failures in S6 is ... not ERASED, but restored. The ep's name is "Second Chances", because that's what they each get. Buffy: a redemption in her mind; the event that sort of encapsulates the destructive nature of her own personal isolation. Willow: her own redemption now complete; she had to have Tara's forgiveness to make it whole. Tara: she's alive again, she has back the only family she's ever wanted. The Tara/Willow stuff really just plays out over the trilogy as you would expect it to. There's so much going on, there's frankly no room for anything very subtle. But Tara/Buffy, as well as Buffy/Willow, that's where the real meat of the eps lie, in my opinion.

Greg: You have mentioned a love of the Buffy/Willow relationship and all the baggage with that over the years: is that earmarked to come up again in the near future?

Jet Wolf: Hm. I'll say that in my opinion, the Buffy/Willow relationship is incredibly complex, and that can't help but crop up when they, and we, least expect it.

Greg: It's fair to say, however, that their relationship is healing well, considering the tonality at the end of WLoD...

Jet Wolf: It was important to give the sense of "Mission Complete" at the end of "Win, Lose or Draw". The gang reunited. As for the two of them ... Consider Buffy and Willow like the amphibians of Scooby ecology. When they start to get sick, it's an indication of larger trouble.

Greg: "Aid and Abet". I remember way back in the early days of The Chosen, someone, can't remember who, wanted to see Kenn and Tara on a road trip. Was that the inspiration for this episode, or did you have this idea already?

Jet Wolf: Oh no, the road trip was always in the cards. I have a thing for road trips. It's bizarre and unexplainable. Though how anyone wanted to see a road trip between Kenn and Tara when Tara was still a corpse, I'm not sure. It certainly would've been a much different episode.

Greg: Ouch. That's just...ick. bad JW!

Jet Wolf: "So Tara, tell me about Willow." "......" "You know, I just don't get what she saw in you. I mean yeah, you're quiet and all, but damn. And I gotta say, the first adjectives I'd use to describe you are NOT 'Pine Fresh'."

Greg: ....JW, I know you love dark humor...but please, never bring this up again. :P

Jet Wolf: <innocent> Bring what up?

Greg: This may get edited.

Jet Wolf: You can't edit me, I'm the star!!!

Greg: I still have the Hello Kitty axe, missy...

Jet Wolf: Yeah, well you're three time zones away. Watch me vigorously not care.

Greg: Considering by this time, you were feeling very happy about 'your' Kennedy, did this episode turn out differently than you had originally planned?

Jet Wolf: Originally in terms of the initial outline, yes. In the first concept, waaaaay back before I started writing anything at all, Tara and Willow were already back together by this point. The episode was really more about the antagonism between Kennedy and Tara – which in my initial concept, was much more pronounced. Additionally, it was really more about Tara helping Kennedy. The final version is so much stronger, and that's largely due to a much better formed Kennedy.

Greg: It also would seem to be as much about Kennedy helping Tara as vice versa.

Jet Wolf: Exactly. They help each other, which is a large part of the reason WHY it's so much stronger. But when I first conceived of the episode ... well if I'm being completely honest, I was probably vilifying Kennedy just a wee bit, and probably edging towards Saint Tara. Neither character eventually fit those profiles, thank the gods. The episode works so well BECAUSE it's about them both, and how these two complete opposites can find a connection and actually be important (even necessary, in this instance) to the other.

Greg: "Exchanges". Post-episode feelings, thoughts.

Jet Wolf: Poor Hazel. <sniff>

Greg: Really? I thought you had no regrets...that it was Nova and Ultrace that were trying to save her from the axe...

Jet Wolf: I have no regrets, but doesn't mean I can't miss her. I liked Haze. Of the closing eps, it was simultaneously my least favourite and my most. I love that final act fight scene in the library. That sucker just poured out and was ... wow. It was great. And I love what Ultrace did with it. Oh and, the Willow/Tara stuff wasn't planned that way, but I loved when it happened. I think that "Exchanges" is a good collection of moments, but as a whole, it feels looser than I'd like.

Greg: But you felt it was absolutely critical not to spare Hazel, due to the importance for Faith's arc...

Jet Wolf: Oh yes, vitally important. Had to rip Hazel away from Faith. The interesting part is seeing where Faith goes now.

Greg: Do you think Buffy/Dawn's 'exchange' hallmarks a turning point for that relationship, or is Buffy still going to be doggedly frustrating in regards to Dawn?

Jet Wolf: Well I think that frustration will always remain. Dawn is always going to be Buffy's kid sister. Buffy can be 60, Dawn can be 53, and she'll STILL be trying to protect her. That's the relationship that they have. But in "Exchanges", we see Buffy – VERY grudgingly – acknowledging that Dawn is growing up and has to be allowed to do so. So while Buffy is never going to completely break out of that role (she wouldn't be Buffy if she did), I think their relationship is taking a more mature turn.

Greg: Finally..."Win, Lose, or Draw" post-episode thoughts.

Jet Wolf: "Holy shit, I finished 22 of these bitches."

Greg: (laughs) I meant post-episode, not post-season.

Jet Wolf: Same thing. That was my first thought. But in terms of the episode itself, I was pleased. It was a rough one, getting everybody in place to do their part. Buffy finales are always more satisfying to me personally when everybody gets a role and everybody's important. When you're dealing with super strong armies, that's not an easy thing to pull off. But it was particularly vital in this season, because of that Prime Directive of unity. This couldn't be about any one person saving the day. The goal was to show that if you took any one of them out, it would've all fallen apart. I'm moderately pleased with how that turned out. I would've really liked to have given Kennedy something more visible to do. You can probably thank her more than anyone else that so many Juniors made it. Without her being there and keeping them in line, they might have been overwhelmed. Still, I would've liked to have made that contribution more evident to the reader.

Greg: Do you feel that WLoD met all criteria, however? Not just a resolution of season arc, but of character arcs as well?

Jet Wolf: I would say so. Most character arcs had already been resolved by that point. Looking back on S8 as a whole, while I'm still really, really pleased with it, I don't think I did as good a job defining and pacing the individual character arcs. I think that this weakness will be dramatically improved in S9.

Greg: That covers post of the episode questions: but before I let you go completely, a few more overall questions before we bring it home. First, what do you take away from working with Ultrace and Nova?

Jet Wolf: THEIR VERY SOULS.

Greg: Ah. Do you keep them in glass cases or are they to put in vampires?

Jet Wolf: Feh. Why waste a perfectly good soul on a vampire? I save them for my ... personal collection.

Greg: Seriously. You reached out them to help you with this. Has the overall result in terms of teamwork been positive?

Jet Wolf: Absolutely. I can honestly say that without Ultrace's initial support and encouragement, I'd still be sitting on the couch eating Fritos and thinking, "Damn, S7 of Buffy really blew chunks." He may not have done much more at first than say, "I think we should," but it was the not-me encouragement I needed to start really thinking about doing it. As for Novareinna, her opinion is essential. Vital. I trust her perhaps more than anyone else to give harsh but fair critique. That's so very critical. Her prosing work, while fantastic and undoubtedly allowing me to meet my deadlines, is second to her opinion and help in the editing process. Both of them help to take what may be mediocre work at best and make it something extraordinary.

Greg: Will it continue to be just the Unholy Triumvirate? Or do you think you'd ever invite someone else to contribute...maybe not for plot or character arcs, but perhaps prosing a script you'd already finished?

Jet Wolf: Honestly, I very much doubt it. I'm really not easy to ... well, even deal with most times, let alone work with. I just don't play well with others. I feel comfortable enough with Ultrace and Nova to not only tell them what to do, but to be a completely dominating bitch about it. I don't think that including another person would add more than it would subtract.

Greg: Fair enough. For Season 9, are some of the characters whose arcs got short shrift in S8 going to be featured more prominently?

Jet Wolf: I like to THINK that S9 is well balanced between all characters. Better so than I felt it was in S8. There is a slight shift of super deluxe mega primary focus toward someone or someones in particular, but I genuinely don't feel it will be overwhelmingly about any one over any other one. That's what I'm striving for, at least. We'll see how successful I am. If you learn nothing else from this interview, it should be the fact that what I plan and what happens aren't always the same things. I sort of look at S8 as a training season. I was finding my way. Now I know some of my weaknesses, I can specifically work to focus them. Of course, S9 may produce even more, at which point maybe by the time I hit S10 I will be PERFECTION.

Greg: You're watching Angel recently. Considering the fact that you're annulling Angel Season 5 in its entirety, that would seem to really make this 'Chosenverse' a separate entity. My presumption is that you are looking at Angel to see if there are ideas you want to mine for The Chosen, but do you think it's possible that you might cut out other parts of Angel if there was a story you wanted to tell that necessitated certain events not having happened?

Jet Wolf: Angel S5 obviously didn't happen as far as the Chosenverse is concerned (Scoobies scattered to the four corners? No thanks.), so that's just a big red X in my mind. If I come across something in Angel that contradicts something I've ALREADY written ... well, if I can easily fix it in The Chosen so that things align again, I will. But if I can't, I'll have little choice but to ignore that bit of Angel. I'm really, really hoping I won't find something that contradicts, since the whole point of The Chosen is to integrate as much as it can. Thankfully, I haven't come any situation like that. I'm definitely not watching Angel to mine for The Chosen, however. Let's just say that I have an episode coming up for which it will be vital to know what happened in Angel S1-S4. Hence the marathon watching.

Greg: Ah. I see. But for the future? Do you think you'll even want to keep writing The Chosen after S10?

Jet Wolf: I honestly can't say right now. If I have the ideas, the time, the drive ... then sure. But trying to think that far in advance makes my brain go squish. Sometimes just trying to keep three years (well, two now) worth of story intact can be a thoroughly daunting (read: terrifying) task. I'll probably know if I'm going to want to try for a season 11 around S10.

Greg: Had you hit any major stumbling blocks in S8? Any moment where you said to yourself 'god, I'm not sure I can do this anymore'?

Jet Wolf: When I opened up the file and typed "8x01: Crossroads" at the top of the document. The "I can't do this" dance is one I do practically every episode. I have the steps memorized. I finish an ep, I despair for a few days that I can't ever do it again, then I kick myself and move to the next.

Greg: What's the proudest moment you've had since the conception of The Chosen?

Jet Wolf: Finishing the fucking thing. Every episode is a tiny miracle.

Greg: The original series includes a lot of musical underscoring...popular music as well as mood instrumentals. Do you ever thing you might try to incorporate that as well into your work?

Jet Wolf: Well ... maybe. The music on the series was awesome. It worked in some many ways. Setting place, setting mood, stirring emotion. But music – by its very nature, it's an audile thing. There's a reason that song 'fics don't really work, at least not to me. To work a song into The Chosen, the trick would be in getting it to enhance, not detract. And if I do it right, then you probably won't even notice.

Greg: You could always embed sound clips into the html pages...

Jet Wolf: No, I don't see me doing that at all. How jarring ... to take someone out of the moment to click, download, go find and then play something? I'd rather let the reader play their own music in their head if they feel it'll add something. But when you're reading something of mine that's that emotional, to where you'd actually add music cues, I want you locked in the moment. I want you riveted to my words. I want your mind's eye to be seeing what I want you to see. So no. I can't think of any good reason to shatter all of that for a sound file.

Greg: Fair enough. At this point, do you feel that you've got the character voices well ensconced in your head, or are there some that you still have a hard time writing for?

Jet Wolf: I've found in returning to writing again that I'm having to coax them back out to talk to me. I think they're like bears, they went and hibernated on me. But now that they're waking up again, it's getting to be like old times. I feel really comfortable with all of them at this point. The only character that was giving me a little bit of trouble toward the end of S8 was Tara (a great example of getting the character, but not necessarily the voice). Not necessarily surprising, because the others had, like, a thirteen episode head start on her. But she settled in nicely too, and now we all just have long philosophical discussions over tea and cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off.

Greg: Way to go with the amusing imagery. ;)

Jet Wolf: If it helps, it's at a little low child's table with a toy teapot. But huge-ass cups for some reason.

Greg: Finally, last question before the questionnaire...what happened to Andrew? Dare we hope that he was a snack for John Q Vampire and no one noticed or cared?

Jet Wolf: Tsk, such rampant Andrew Hate. He's still around. He's at Slayer Central. I can't say that I have any specific plans for him, and after about "Fringes" I stopped trying so hard to keep mentioning him. But he's handy sometimes, so I've kept him around.

Greg: It's true, it's hard for me to forgive him for Jonathan's death, especially because he's such a weak character. You could possibly change that, of course, but somehow I doubt you'd care enough to...

Jet Wolf: Andrew is a character with a lot of potential. But you have to want to explore it, and since he was part of my big problem with S7, I never had he desire. I would've been doing what I hated – taking screen time away from the characters I loved. That's the sort of thing I'd rather explore in a side fanfic. Non-Chosenverse.

Greg: Okay...the moment that I'm not sure anyone has been waiting for: The Chosen Questionnaire. What is your favorite word?

Jet Wolf: Good god, I hate this thing.

Greg: Hmm. I could not do it, but that would be asymmetrical...

Jet Wolf: Nah, it's cool, I'm just gonna sound like a total lameass with these answers, I know it. You know, I don't have a favourite word, I really don't. I've been contemplating what to say here for weeks and I got nothin'.

Greg: Least favorite word?

Jet Wolf: It really depends on what else is going on. While I was working at the answering service, I think it was "cable". These days ... I dunno. Just take anything Bush says, that'll probably work.

Greg: What turns you on, either emotionally, creatively, spiritually...

Jet Wolf: An idea that I can sink my teeth into – emotionally, creatively or spiritually. Something that makes me THINK.

Greg: What turns you off? I know, I know...the human race. (grins)

Jet Wolf: Yes, true. Pretense. Gross, inexcusable stupidity (not ignorance – stupidity). Someone fishing for a specific, prefabricated response. Sort of like dishonesty ties all that together, but I actually don't care about liars. I think it's just people who aren't true to themselves and both put on and expect others to put on something phony. That's just ... rr.

Greg: What is your favorite curse word?

Jet Wolf: "Fuck". It's perfect. It's fun to say, it carries with it a weight that the others don't, and it's multi-purpose. It's a noun, it's an adjective, it's a verb! Show me another curse word that can do all that!

Greg: (laughs) What sound or noise do you love?

Jet Wolf: Rain. The tapping of keyboard keys. The hard disk whir of my iPod. The chink of ice in a glass. Silence.

Greg: What sound or noise do you hate?

Jet Wolf: My dog whining. Anything my neighbors do. A tooth being drilled. Country music.

Greg: What profession would you care to attempt?

Jet Wolf: Well ideally I'd be able to do exactly what I'm doing every day for the rest of my life. ....actually, that sounds great. I'll take that for $100, Alex.

Greg: What profession would you not want to try...or have you already done the worst job in the world? ;)

Jet Wolf: Gods, you'd think so. Customer service – JUST SAY NO. I'm sure there are worse jobs though. Working in a nursing home, I don't think I could handle that. Too many bodily functions I don't even want to deal with for myself, and I do not have the patience. I also think I wouldn't want to be a door-to-door salesman. I hate myself enough already, why add?

Greg: Finally...if you got to meet Joss, or any one Buffy actor, what would you say?

Jet Wolf: "Oh my god, it's Josh Weldon!"

Greg: (dies laughing)

Jet Wolf: It would depend on the setting. If they were, like, walking down the street then I wouldn't say anything at all. And really, what other chance is there going to be? The odds on them just appearing on my doorstep are probably pretty slim. Unless it's with lawyers in tow and they're suing for my 'fics. In which case I'd probably just say, "Jet Wolf? Who the hell is that? You're insane, leave me alone."

Greg: Jet Wolf, you're a hell of a writer. And though you started this journey from a place of self-gratification, on behalf of all your fans, I thank you for taking us on a hell of a ride, and we're all looking forward to more.

Jet Wolf: Well it's all about the self-gratification. Which probably sounds very dirty, so I'll stop now.