Angel & Faith

1. AndrewCrossett: I’m wondering what happened to Willow’s new girlfriend, who seems to have vanished after Buffy’s party. Will she have any part to play in the story, or was she just a walk-on?

Scott Allie: She had no connection to the rest of the cast, and she wasn’t really terribly connected to Willow, so we probably won’t see her again.

2. Sosa Lola: In #9, Xander mentioning Jesse came out as a shock, and very delightful and intriguing shock, considering Jesse was never mentioned after the episode Xander dusted him in. We only see the whole Xander-dusting-his-best-friend dilemma explored in fanfiction and fanart, so it was remarkable to see it in canon. My question is: how did you guys decide to have Xander talk about his forgotten best friend? Who came up with the decision to have Xander’s confrontation with Dowling?

Scott Allie: That was me. I’ve always felt that must have been a defining moment for Xander, and it seemed like a perfect chance to revisit it. I think it’s important that the things they do, even the things we take for granted as part of a genre story, stick, and effect them.

3. Bamph: Welcome back Scott.

I have to admit that I got a big kick out of the Angel Island bit in last issue of Buffy. What can I say,I’m easy on that particular front. Buffy’s little look at the name and Spike’s reaction has been interpreted all kinds of ways as you can imagine. I’m sure that was intentional of course. My question and what I’ve been wondering since the issue came out though is who came up with that whole little Angel Island bit, you or Andrew or was a combination of both of you and in more general terms, how did working on this arc as co-writer work structually versus co-writing "Last Gleaming" with Joss last season?

Scott Allie: The division of labor here was a lot different. Andrew wrote a loose outline, I wrote a script, and Sierra and Andrew gave me notes. The Angel Island thing was Andrew’s idea. I didn’t get it right at first in the script—writing a joke from someone else’s pitch ain’t easy. But we finetuned it, and I’m glad it worked for you.

4. Stoney: Hi Scott, thanks for taking the time to tackle some queries for us. I was really delighted by the ’mature conversation’ in issue 10, it really showed some of Spike’s continuing character development through how he is approaching these things. I’m really looking forward to his mini and am hoping for lots more of this before his return. My question is about the changing Scoobies/group dynamics. With new characters abounding and existing ones waxing and waning, are we going to be seeing changes this season which will then go forward in the title? Could some new characters actually stick around awhile and is the new male character Spike picks up in his mini intended to join the BtVS title?

Scott Allie: Some of the characters will stay from Season 9 into 10. I’m not sure which male character you mean from Spike’s miniseries. But Spike’s series builds directly out of that conversation that he had with Buffy at the end of #10. That was my favorite part of the arc to write.

5. spuffyspangellover: Hey Scott. I really have enjoyed your writing on this past arc. There’s been a lot of action story-wise and a lot of fantastic dialogue. I must say, you handled that pivotal scene between Spike and Buffy in issue 10 extremely well. I’m interested though, that the conversation between them was mostly Spike talking. How does Buffy feel about Spike’s decision to leave?

Scott Allie: She didn’t want him to go, but she wasn’t willing to say the things he needed to hear.

6. TimeTravellingBunny: Hi, Scott. I would like to ask you about something you wrote about Buffy season 9 in the article Horsepower June 2012 - Vampires! "As Spike heads off into the darkness to explore what it really means to be a vampire with a soul, and Angel continues on a quest that may simply be a narcissistic disaster in the making, Buffy is left with neither of her vampires of choice by her side, as she fights a new breed of creeps." I found that rather confusing, since it seems to imply that Buffy is currently on friendly terms with Angel and would like to have him by her side, and that the only reason he isn’t is because he’s on a quest to resurrect Giles. This doesn’t fit with what we saw in 8.40, which was the last time Buffy has addressed the subject of Angel: she was having nightmares of him killing Giles, she identified "boinking Twilight" as her "betrayal", we were told she "couldn’t even look at him" while her friends are apparently very angry at him ("everyone else wants his head on a pike") and that Faith was the only one ready to forgive him and willing to take care of him. That was long before Angel’s current quest, and there haven’t been any signs in text that Angel and Buffy have talked to each other since or that anything has changed for Buffy, except that she doesn’t have nightmares about Giles anymore. My question is, does your statement mean that 1) we should assume that Buffy and Angel have had an off-panel talk by phone or e-mail where she told him she wasn’t angry at him, that everything was OK and that she’d like him to be by his side, but he had to continue with his quest? And if so, why hasn’t this been mentioned in either of the books? or 2) there were no such conversations between Buffy and Angel, but you, Joss, Andrew and everyone at the writers’ meeting have decided that Buffy has already gotten over what happened in season 8, that she doesn’t blame Angel for anything and would like to have him by her side? or 3) it’s your personal opinion (not something Joss said or that you all agreed on) that Buffy has is OK with Angel now? or 4) you were just simplifying the story and choosing to not mention the Twilight plot, for the sake of a promotional article? Thanks!

Scott Allie: 4.

7. tigerfan: Hi Scott, thanks for doing this. Its lovely to see another the Q&A again. I was just hoping for some more Xander information. I’m a little worried that Xander will come off more of an ass for not being there for Buffy as he used to be. So far he has been pretty cold and very distant without having very much detail of what is going on with him and some come down pretty hard on him for that. From the tidbits and interviews it doesn’t appear that Xander will be coming around to Buffy’s aid as much or as willingly at least in the coming issues, which has me worried that his side of the story wont give him enough focus in order to help explain some of his reactions, even in later issues. Will there be much explanation we can look forward to in the sooner issues rather than the later issues, so that Xander wont look like such an ass? I’m just worried it may become "too little, too late" when it comes to his story. Thanks!

Scott Allie: It’s gonna be later issues. I know that will disappoint some Xander fans, but I think the quality will make up for the quantity.

8. hann23: Hi Scott,

My question is regarding the production of the Buffy comic.

This past TV season Chambliss and Espenson wrote significantly for Once Upon a Time. Naturally, I loved the show ... due to the writing. I really have little understanding of the time involved in writing scripts, so I have wondered how my favorite TV show could impact my dear to the heart Buffy comic. Could we be seeing more guest writers or writing by you in the future?

Thanks!

Scott Allie: Jane will actually be in to do a little bit, and Drew Greenberg, but aside from that it’s likely going to be Andrew straight through to the end.

9. Maggie: Hi Scott! Thanks for all your hard work on these comics. I especially appreciated the way Spike handled himself in The Conversation. So many questions to choose from! Buffy has always been opaque but at this point it’s really hard to see what’s going on with her, except that she’s yearning for a ’normal life’. What’s puzzling me especially is how passive she seems. Andrew did something that’s a violation on so many different levels it’s hard to know where to start. Buffy was mad for a bit, but then got absorbed in mooning after this wonderful suburban life. The reference to Angel Island works the way Bamph suggests, but it could also have worked to draw a parallel between Andrew and Angel — since Angel also did some pretty horrific things to Buffy last season, also supposedly for her own good. My question is why is Buffy’s anger at Andrew so short-lived? He’s got good intentions, but he ROOFIED her, got her naked, stole her body... it’s a staggering violation. It’s about as strange (to me) as Buffy’s reaction to Angel’s revelation that he’d been beating her down in order to power her up. Is it a plot point that Buffy is basically willing to let men do anything they want to her so long as they have good intentions? Or is it just an artifact of the story — i.e. readers like me might find it all outrageous, but the writers don’t really and therefore neither does Buffy. I don’t think Buffy is the sort to hold grudges against people. But I don’t see how a woman with any kind of self-respect could get over being angry at Andrew so easily. So what’s up with Buffy?

Scott Allie: Nope, Buffy isn’t willing to let men do just anything they want to her. I think she’s got a weakness for Angel, and a deep understanding for Angel, and dare I say perhaps a history of some fondness for Angel. With Andrew, she didn’t have time to take it out on him, but you’re not gonna see him around a whole lot. She’s not happy with him.

10. Veiriti: Hello Scott, first I’d like to thank you for doing this Q&A session and for the Spike mini series. The covers of Morris and Frison are awesome and I’m so happy that Paul Lee will do the artwork inside - he’s my favorite DH artist and I hope and the writer will handle Spike’s character well. I cannot wait for the miniseries. But I’m sad to see Spike out of Buffy comics, especially when Wolfram & Hart are back in. My question - is the Spike’s story connected with Buffy’s? Thank you!

Scott Allie: Spike’s mini is very isolated, very much it’s own thing. A bare minimum interaction with other Season 9 characters. It’s where he needs to be for a bit.

Click on the link :

http://slayalive.com/showthread.php/2803-Q-amp-A-with-Scott-Allie-for-Buffy-Season-9-10