Friday, April 8, 2016

Chatting With Chelsea **Q&A session**



Chelsea: Welcome back everyone for another episode of Chatting With Chelsea. I’m your host, Chelsea Graham. You guys have no idea how excited I am about today’s guests…well if you watch my show regularly, all you all should be, then I guess you do know. I’ve been talking about this for weeks, how another one of my favorite shows was ending. I mean at the rate shows are dropping off, I won’t have anything left to entertain me, or guests to interview. But I’m rambling. Anyway, like I said I’m excited because today we have none other than the cast from the hit drama series Kiss of A Vampire!


So please give a huge round of applause for the woman you all know and love as Amari Smith, Vanessa Hale! **applauding** The man we all loved to hate to love in his role as Mulo Drakul, Thomas Palmer! **applauding** Mr. Licensed to impregnate, seriously his character knew how to make some babies! The one, the only Lamar Harrison! **applauding** Last, but certainly not least, the mastermind behind it all, Ms. Jazen Self!


Chelsea: Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you so much for making time to come on my show and Jazen, thank you for coming back.

Jazen: Thank you for having me again.

Vanessa: I’m happy to be here.

Thomas: It’s my pleasure.

Lamar: Been looking forward to it.

Chelsea: Okay, well let’s get right into things shall we? Jazen, we wouldn’t be here if not for you, so we’ll start with you. I love the spin you have with your story. How did you think up the "Cursed love" angle for Kiss?

Jazen: Is that what this was? *laughing* seriously I didn’t think things through when I first started this script and the plot changed so many times that I really questioned who was in charge, me or the characters. Turns out they were. Honestly going in all I knew was I wanted to have a reason why Amari had to have the babies and things all morphed from there. Characters changed, grew, and somehow it all worked out into the show you got to enjoy.


Chelsea: It all came together so seamlessly, you would never know. But that does bring me to my next question along the same lines. How far off the mark did you land from your original ideas for the story?

Jazen: Mark? What mark? I’m so far off I don’t think I could find it again ever! It was supposed to be short, quick, and simple. Amari was supposed to have a hundred babies.

Vanessa:  Thank you for changing that.

Jazen: You’re welcome. But yeah, what everyone got as the final product was not what I had intended when I first started this project.

Chelsea: I for one am not complaining about the final product. Vanessa, I’m going to pop over to you. Taking on the role to be a woman that had one hundred babies is a little different. Considering your character’s role and personality before this life was forced on her, how many children would she have had if the choice had been completely up to her?

Vanessa: Um, single digits for sure. But we’ll go with somewhere between two and four. She and Marcus had a whole life planned before and children were in her that plan. Although, with the way Marcus seemed to produce multiples, who knows, she could have ended up with just as many thanks his super sperm.


Lamar: I aim to please. Although, as much as I like the idea of having super sperm, I wasn’t the only one to give Amari multiples.

Thomas: This is true. So the only one to blame is really your rabbit like eggs. They just loved to multiply.

Vanessa: Hey…why are you two ganging up on me? Blame the writer! Yeah, that’s it, over eager Jaz over there and her lofty goals.

Jazen: **laughing** Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Chelsea: Okay, okay. Let’s change topics before things really get out of hand. Since we are talking about Amari’s pregnancies, Thomas this one is for you? Did your character ever think about having more children with Amari after the loss of the twins? If they could have the opportunity again that is.

Thomas: Oh absolutely. Mulo lived for years never having any children until Aric. He lived for years without being in love until Amari, nothing would have made him happier than to have more children with the woman he loved. He didn’t show it, not really, but he took the loss of the twins very hard. It was probably one of the most trying and emotional times he’d ever experienced and he totally screwed it up. Amari needed him more then than ever and he was a total asshole. That could have been a turning point for them and he just f’ed it up royally.


Chelsea: That scene after she lost the babies and you’d taken her home was the first time I cried. It was just so much going on and it was the first time, Mulo admitted he loved Amari. I bawled like a baby. Very emotional stuff there Ms. Creator.

Jazen: I do what I can.

Chelsea: Another question on kids for you Thomas. Did your character want Aric to be the kind of man Mulo was or was he proud of the man became despite him?

Thomas: We touched on this some during the show. Mulo is fully aware that Aric is the man he is because of Amari mostly, I say mostly because he would like to think he had a little bit to do with how Aric turned out, but he’s very proud of the man Aric became. Mulo knows his faults, he knows he’s a bastard, and he wouldn’t want that for his son.

Chelsea: One more on this topic before moving over to hear from Lamar. Did your character even want a family of his own?


Thomas: Of course. Mulo was a bastard, but he also was an undercover family man. He did things to help out Amari’s children, all of them, because he genuinely wanted to. He liked being around her and them. If any of them ever needed him, he’d help, no questions asked.

Chelsea: Seeing you with the kids was always an interesting view into your character. A side people didn’t expect.

Thomas: It’s good to keep people on their toes.

Chelsea: You certainly did that. Okay Lamar your turn.  If he could turn back the clock well before he and Amari started dating, knowing then what he knows now, would Marcus still pursue Amari?

Lamra: Unequivocally yes.

Chelsea: Really? After everything she put you through?


Lamar: Of course. It wasn’t like his life was all bad with Amari. They had plenty of good times together, more good than bad really. The bad just took the forefront especially in the later episodes; it was all that they had. I’m not going to lie, it was tough, but without pursuing Amari, he wouldn’t have his children. All thirteen of them. Like Mulo’s character, Marcus saw all of her kids as his regardless of biology. Was the journey bumpy? You bet your ass it was, but for him, it was well worth it.

Chelsea: I can understand that. Love is love right? It has no real rhyme or reason. While on the topic of love, Vanessa your character claimed to love both men, but there is no way that love is equal. In your heart of hearts, who did she love more, Mulo or Marcus?


Vanessa: Well, I guess that answer is obvious now with how the show ended. Amari did love both men in very different ways. Mulo was both her tormentor and savior at times if that makes sense. Sometimes at the same time. I don’t want to say it was a stolkhomish thing because it wasn’t. At first she was in love with the idea of him because of who he was, but then she fell in love with the man behind the image. Over the course of their time together, things morphed and changed constantly with them. No matter the state of their relationship at any given time, he was always a constant in her life. If she needed him, he was there. She liked and needed the comfort and security in knowing he would always be there.

Marcus…well he was everything Mulo wasn’t. He loved her, he accepted her and that made her feel better about who she was. That someone took value in her, as a person, that was a big deal considering the state of her life. He was just good to her, always, well at least in the best of times. Marcus represented happiness. He represented everything she’d ever wanted in her life, and after everything she put him through he still loved her. That right there was the biggest difference. When Amari didn’t feel she was deserving of his love, Marcus gave it anyway. Even in their worst of times, he still loved her. Amari grew, matured, and realized the importance of the difference that she had for both men which in turn made one stand out more than the other.

Thomas: **playfully shoves** Whoa Nessie, look at you getting all philosophical and shit. Who knew?

Vanessa: **shoves back** Like you said, gotta keep you on your toes.

Chelsea: Alright you two. Hands to yourself or I’ll separate you. Okay Thomas your chance for a deep answer. After the countless unforgivable acts your character committed, do you really feel that he was deserving of love?

Thomas: What? I have to follow up the answer she just gave? I feel like you’re setting me up here Chelsea.


Chelsea: I would never.

Thomas: If you say so. Was Mulo deserving of love? Isn’t everyone deserving of love? Yes my character was horrible at times to Amari, and he finally got around to recognizing that, and apologizing for it. He changed for her, not because she asked him to, but because he knew she deserved better than what he’d been giving her. So yeah, I completely think he was deserving.

Chelsea: Aww, I thought so too. Jazen, we’ve hit on the relationship dynamic for the show. When the show started thing were very carefree and simple, well as simple and carefree as the basic plot allowed that is. Was it difficult writing/thinking up angles the deeper in you got?

Jazen: Hell yeah it was. Like seriously, I think I enjoy making things harder on myself. The whole love triangle thing that happened, not in the plan! But it did and so I just had to go with it, it’s how I handled a lot of the storylines.

Chelsea: The love triangle, after a while the show became more about that and less about Amari’s mission to have the hundred babies. We all know who she picked, but who did you want Amari to ultimately end up with?

Jazen: **looks at both Mulo and Marcus** guys don’t kill me, but…both.


Thomas: He would have been okay with that. **Gives wink**

Jazen: I’m sure he would have. I really had a soft spot in my heart for both guys which showed in the writing. I loved them both which made it harder to decide, poor Amari got the heat from my indecision. **looks at Vanessa** Sorry about that.

Vanessa: You’re forgiven.

Jazen: I thought about doing a what if thing at one point on if they had found a way to live in a polyamorous relationship, but I think that would have been way too weird for everyone, including the kids so that will stay in my head. Sorry fans.

Chelsea: OMG! That would have been awesome. I for one would love for them to somehow work as a unit. Man…Amari would have been one lucky woman.

Vanessa: What? That was an option? The life…one to fan me one to feed me strawberries. Why wasn’t I told this information???

Jazen: um…next question please Chelsea.

Chelsea: Huh? Oh right sorry. Got lost in my head on what that would have been like to be in Amari’s position and have both of them for myself. My fantasy come true! Whew **fans self** Let’s move on to a safer question. What type of plot and setting were you gonna have before? There is so much drama and suspense in this story. I can't possibly see this as being a simple or regular baby challenge.

Jazen: **hysterical laughing** Well sure I could have done simple, although some people who shall remain nameless say I’m delusional when I say that. But before I had planned on it being a less complicated story. I needed a reason for her to have the babies, so Marisol being that threat to keep things going was always going to be there, but Amari was going to keep struggling through life, having babies until the goal was met. Clearly that didn’t happen, but yeah, that’s really as far as I got on the plot. Amari equals a hundred babies.


Chelsea: At what point did you realize this hundred Baby Challenge was going to be too much work?

Jazen: It was a cold winter night. I was walking in snow, knee deep…no wait, wrong thing. Um, can I pinpoint the exact moment, probably not. When I set out to let Amari and the kids have lives outside of her just popping out babies. I wanted the kids to be more than just a number and that was probably where things really started to change in terms of tone of story and work load involved.

Chelsea: Was it hard to think up the different storylines and tie them all together so well?

Jazen: Yes! Yes it was. Especially since I don’t preplan out things. I always had to be mindful and try, let me stress the TRY there, and remember what I had before to make sure something didn’t come from left field. The concept of this story was strange enough without me adding to it with crazy or unnecessary aspects. I would try to leave myself a loophole with things, just in case, so crap didn’t blow up in my face and I was painted into a corner there was no chance in hell I could get out of.

Chelsea: Well things came together flawlessly. No one would have ever known this wasn’t your master plan from the beginning.

Jazen: Well thank you.

Chelsea: Jazen brought up Marisol, so let’s talk about her for a moment. Thomas, your character claimed to love Amari, and even in its crudest sense I'm sure he must know what the word means. If this is the case, why did it take him so long to stop Marisol's scheme against "the woman you loved?"


Thomas: Well, two reasons. One…if he’d stopped it too soon there would have been less story and we all would have been out of a job. You wouldn’t want me unemployed would you?

Chelsea: On no, of course not!

Thomas: That’s good to know. The other reason…well he had to figure out how. He knew he couldn’t kill Marisol, but trying to find the right way to get rid of her, and keep Amari and the children safe took some effort.

Chelsea: Did your character ever wish that he had told Amari about Marisol's plan from the very beginning and helped Amari instead of using her?

Thomas: Yes and no. No because a lot of the times he and Amari had together were due to Marisol’s plan so if he’d told her, they wouldn’t have had that time. Yes because, let’s face it, her life was hell. He basically sat back and watched her get knocked down over and over and did nothing to stop it initially. Not his finest hour.

Chelsea: Vanessa, one for you. If Marisol had not been part of the reason Mulo approached you, would you have made a life with him and had a hundred babies?


Vanessa: Probably not. Not only was the hundred babies thing nuts. No offense Jaz, you know I love you for giving me a job, but without Marisol’s involvement it’s likely that Mulo and Amari’s paths would have never crossed. Not only that, Marisol was the reason for the babies, so if by some chance she and Mulo had met some other way, they would have had a normal amount of children if any at all.  

Chelsea: That makes sense. Well with all this talk about Marisol, why don’t we hear from the villainess herself. Guys, please join me in welcoming none other than Lorraine Nunez!


Chelsea: Thank you for joining us today.

Lorraine: Thank you for having me.

Chelsea: So Lorraine were your ears burning back there?

Lorraine: A little.

Chelsea: Well, let’s get your perspective on your character. I understand how Amari's father hurt your character, but couldn't she have found a way of getting revenge that didn't involve destroying the life of his innocent daughter?


Lorraine: Could she have? Sure, but where’s the fun in that? Honestly though, in her head it made perfect sense. She was out to destroy the family he’d created and going after his children instead of him directly she thought would hurt him more.

Chelsea: Did your character ever really come to care about any of Amari's children?

Lorraine: Yes actually. She grew very close with Bynni. She’d always wanted a daughter and she and Bynni had more in common than Bynni probably would want to admit. Is it strange to say that losing Bynni to her mother was hard on ‘Marisol’? I mean yes, technically Bynni wasn’t hers to lose, but Marisol helped Bynni through her change, she felt like a second mother to her in a way so when she cut off contact ‘Marisol’ felt like she’d lost her child all over again.

Chelsea: Vanessa back to you. Amari had to toughen up and carve out happiness in the best way she could despite Marisol's efforts to sabotage you. What do her think your life would have been like had she never met Mulo?


Vanessa: A hell of a lot less complicated! Seriously, Mulo’s face should be beside the word complicated in the dictionary. Just when Amari would think she knew what to expect from him, BAM, he up and changes things. It was nuts. Without the whole crazy scheme, she would have had that normal life ya know? Graduated school, gotten some sort of job in the art world, married Marcus most likely and had a kid or two.

Chelsea: I agree with the complicated thing. Mulo couldn’t get it together when you need it. Lamar I feel like I’ve been neglecting you.

Lamar: I’m feeling that way too.  

Chelsea: I can’t have my guests feeling neglected. Did Marcus ever resent Amari for the way his life has turned out?

Lamar: Really? Maybe I was happier being neglected. **laughs** To answer you though, I would have to say no. He resented how she behaved at times, and the choices she made that made a hard situation harder, but he never resented her directly. I know what you’re thinking, how could he resent her choices, but not her? Easy. Amari was reactionary. She was put in a situation that was out of her control for a long time and she would simply react to what happened instead of finding ways to take control. Because of that, she would make poor choices at time when faced with hard decisions, and those choices just led her and Marcus at time farther down the rabbit hole.


Chelsea: Even with the knowledge that his wife, Amari, had feelings for another man, why did he still think there is a chance to make things work?

Lamar: As everyone saw, Marcus had an extremely hard time with the fact Amari had feeling for another man, especially that guy over there. After all Mulo put her through, Marcus couldn’t wrap his head around how she loved him and that made him angry. The reason he still thought things would work out was because he loved her and she loved him. He didn’t always want to acknowledge that fact, especially in his worst moments, but that’s what kept him hanging on.

Chelsea: Marcus ever consider divorcing Amari and just co-parenting?

Lamar: Yes. During their separation, the legal one, he thought about it. They were already living apart and had figured out a way to co-parent without it affecting the babies. On a deeper note thought, Marcus thought Amari might need to be free of him. They’d both hurt each other and Marcus was ashamed of the man he’d become in relation to how he treated her. With so much that transpired between them, he wondered if going their separate ways wasn’t best for both of them. In the end he’s glad he didn’t.

Chelsea: We certainly saw the many affects love can have on a person over the course of the show. It changed both you and Mulo in very different ways which to me was a real insight to how deep love can affect a person and alter who they are at times. Vanessa, this is for you. When you saw how your feelings for Mulo affected your relationship with Marcus, why didn't you let Mulo go before things got as bad as they did?


Vanessa: It’s not like you can just shut off feelings like that. She loved Mulo, she didn’t do it because she wanted to or to hurt Marcus, she just did. She truly believed because she didn’t act on her feelings and because she chose to be with Marcus that it would be enough. Amari did everything she could think of to prove to Marcus that she loved and wanted him despite her feelings for Mulo.

Chelsea: I have a two part question for you. First, while Marcus was missing, why did Amari and Mulo never explore a relationship then? Secondly, Marcus was living what one would consider a dream life, with his second chance, albeit unaware of his previous existence, do you regret going after him and pulling him back into such a traumatic life?

Vanessa: Damn, who comes up with these things? Answering the second part first; eh, yes and no I suppose. When she set out to find him, it was for selfish reasons sure. She wanted her husband back, she wanted back the life, the happy life that she was trying to have with him. It’s a normal human reaction to try and get back what was stolen from you. At the time she didn’t take into account what his life might have been without her in that moment. But you have to remember they also have kids together. How could she be expected to look her children in the eye, knowing their father was out there, and she did nothing to find him? It’s a tough call either way.

As for the first part of your question; timing. Marcus was missing and Amari strongly believed that Mulo had something to do with his disappearance and naturally that was an issue for her. When he came back to help her with the triplets, he was starting to change at that point and as strange as it sounds, had he not grown a conscience where she was concerned and told her where Marcus was, they probably would have explored things in time. It always came down to timing with them. He was never ready to make that commitment when she was and by the time Mulo figured things out, Marcus was in the picture. He was the king of missed opportunities.

Thomas: Tell me about it!

Chelsea: Yeah, I would have to agree there. So for you then Thomas, Why did your character continue pursuing Amari seeing how hard she was trying to make a life with Marcus? I mean your character felt for Amari is really love, then why didn't he leave her alone when he saw she was happy?


Thomas: Short answer, he’s a bastard. In all honesty though, he loved Amari even if he had a crap ass way of showing it. They never got their chance, like Vanessa said, king of missed opportunities, and he wanted that. Knowing that she did have feelings for him was the motivation he needed to try and win her over to the dark side so to speak. Also he was also jealous. He wanted Amari and knowing she was happy with someone that wasn’t him, well that didn’t sit well with him.

Chelsea: I can understand that, no one wants to be on the losing end, but sadly someone always is. Lamar, was there ever a time Marcus wished Amari hadn’t found him, and that he had not regained his memory?

Lamar: Man, I’m with Vanessa, who comes up with these questions? Why can’t I get something easy like my favorite color? **laughs**

Chelsea: Hey, my viewers like getting into the nitty-gritty. No fluff questions here.

Lamar: Fair enough. I’d have to say sadly yes. At his lowest point, when he made the decision to move out of the house after everything, for a brief moment he wished he could have been spared the pain he was feeling. It sounds terrible because he would have missed out on knowing his children and have the four they had afterwards, but the truth isn’t always pretty.


Chelsea: The truth isn’t always pretty, that’s for sure. Okay, since you asked, an easy one for you. Which lifestate did your character prefer; human or vampire?

Lamar: Thanks. Well considering he’d be dead if he were human, I’m gonna say vampire. It certainly had its perks. **winks at Vanessa*

Chelsea: What was that?

Lamar: What was what?

Chelsea: I’ll get back to that later. Over to you Jazen, what character did you find easiest to write?

Jazen: Hmmm…I’d have to say any of the kids. Their storylines weren’t as detailed as their mother’s so they were always somewhat easier to work with. Well other than Ceula’s storyline. Not sure why I gave her such a hard one.

Chelsea: Speaking of the children, did any of the 'children' surprise you with how they turned out looks wise?

Jazen: Yes. Aric being as dark as he is with his father being as pale as he is was a huge surprise. On the flip side same could be said for Ceula and Finley. Without knowing their parents, one wouldn’t think they were mixed children based off their skin tone.

Chelsea: Were there any characters that you were going to use originally but decided not to use or decided to suddenly create and use?


Jazen: Well, this goes back to my lack of planning for this story. The only main characters I knew I would have were Amari, Mulo, and Marisol. Since this was supposed to be a 100 baby challenge I knew I’d have plenty of extras brought in to act in the role of baby daddies.  Like the other fathers before him, Marcus’ role was supposed to be only temporary. Adrian, you know Kathy’s new man, he was a last minute addition. I just thought she needed to have some happiness after everything as well.

Chelsea: Who was your favorite character/s to work with through-out the story?

Jazen: Um…that’s a tough one. I love all of my characters so working on each of their parts brought me joy. Most of the story was about Amari, so I spent a lot of time with her character. It’s going to sound bad, but I liked my time with Marisol, although it wasn’t often. She just didn’t give a damn and there’s something freeing about characters like that which are fun to work with.

Lorraine: Aww, sometimes it pays to be bad.

Jazen: Yes it does.

Chelsea: Speaking of being bad. Lorrain, did your character ever feel any guilt for what you did to Amari or her family?


Lorraine: Only when it affected her negatively, like the situation with Bynni. It started out as a way to get back at George, but when the plan backfired on her, and she lost another man to someone else, well the revenge goal changed. Marisol loved Mulo, but he didn’t want her any more than George did. When something better came along, she was tossed aside. She took that personally and her reason for revenge shifted to her wanting to hurt Amari and Mulo at any cost.

Chelsea: Did your character feel any guilt for using Mulo to help you in your plan for Amari?

Lorraine: Only in the fact that she lost him to Amari because of it.

Chelsea: So when it boils down to it, Marisol only wanted to be loved.

Lorraine: Yes, sad isn’t it. Nobody wanted her.

Jazen: Aww, now you’re making me feel bad.

Chelsea: Yeah, me too since I really didn’t like Marisol’s character.

Lorraine: The story of my life.

Chelsea: Thomas, knowing how Marisol felt about you, if it wasn't for Amari, would you have eventually killed Marisol yourself? I only ask because you didn't seem happy with her, even at the start of the series.

Thomas: Again Chelsea? I really am starting to think you are setting me up. Poor Lorraine just talked about no one liking her and you come at me with would I have killed her?


Chelsea: I swear I’m not. **laughs** It just felt like a good segway into the next question.

Thomas: It wasn’t **laughs**I’m watching you from now on Ms. Graham. Anyway, probably not. Marisol was a bitch, but he really didn’t have a lot to do with her at times. She’d come around when she was bored or in need of a great shagging. He could deal with her for the most part, but she wasn’t his favorite person. She was however his maker which presented its own sets of challenges.

Chelsea: I promise to be on my best behavior. Sorta. Does your character ever wish he could have helped raise Aric and be there for him a bit more? Cause I think he kinda hates you.

Thomas: This is your best behavior? I think you’re angling to get put over my knee. **laughter**

Chelsea: Oh, is that a real option because I can keep being bad if that’s the case.

Thomas: It’s become a real option now.

Chelsea: Dreams do come true!


Thomas: You did say something about fantasies earlier…

Lamar: Hey…what is this turning into?
Thomas: You got the girl; I’m all alone over here.

Lamar: Very true. **smiles at Vanessa** Carry on.

Thomas: I guess I should at least answer your question. I don’t think Aric hated Mulo. They weren’t always close, but they had their moments. But to answer the question, yes. Mulo doesn’t have many regrets in his life, but not being there more for his only child when he was younger was one of them. I think it’s one of the driving reasons he tried to be around more for Amari’s other children, to fill that role as father and to try and get back in a way what he missed out on.

Chelsea: I have to finish up this show, but we’ll get back to the knee thing. **Thomas blows kiss** Okay…moving on, while I still can. Vanessa, I've always been curious - Amari, do you still listen to Mulo's music after all you've been through?

Vanessa: Yeah, she still had some of his older music she’d listen to. He didn’t make as much music later because he switch roles and did more behind the scenes things, but still she loves his music. It was the first connection she had with him.


Chelsea: If things hadn’t happened the way they did, with the medical issues, would Amari have wanted more children?

Vanessa: I don’t think so. Over the course of the series her pregnancies came with higher risks. At some point she had to choose and she had more than enough kids to fill her heart. And since the grandbabies were starting she was in a good place to be done having children of her own.

Chelsea: Which of Amari’s children do you feel is the most like her?

Vanessa: Oh, that’s a tough one. Maybe Ceula. Sadly they both were known for not always making the best decisions, but more than that, we both always seemed to be looking for acceptance and love.

Chelsea: On the topic of bad decisions. What decision do you think Amari regrets the most?

Vanessa: Damn…good one. Amari made a shit ton of bad choices. If I had to pick one, it would be walking out after that singing telegram. With her having been gone and making no contact with him after her change, which would probably rank as number two on her list of fuck ups. Knowing that the night before Marcus was so upset that he went out and got wasted, walking out and going to Mulo was that final nail in the coffin. Marcus had said he understood Mulo needed to help when it came to getting Ceula back, but he still wasn’t happy with it. He never knew what the plan was, he wasn’t involved in any of the decision making, he was once again left on the sidelines. I think Lamar would agree here, that her walking out in a way solidified Marcus’ belief that he would always be second best in her life and that was the catalyst to him deciding to just give up on her and them.

Chelsea: That moment did seem to be the last straw for Marcus. Lamar after everything they went through, do you think Marcus will ever completely trust Amari again?


Lamar: He has too. For their relationship to work, he has to, plain and simple. When they made the decision to stay married and start over, that’s exactly what they did. Married but dating as you saw in the final episode. They both had changed so much that they needed to get to know each other again and that’s what they did. Marriage counselling helped too, but it was mostly the boatload of make-up sex they had. You remember those perks I talked about when being a vampire…stamina baby! Although I’m pretty damn sure that human me does just fine. I’ve never gotten any complaints. **looks at Vanessa**

Vanessa: Oh my God Lamar! You did not just say that!

Lamar: What? Chelsea said her viewers liked to get the real deal, I’m just giving them what they want.


Vanessa: **laughing** Do you see what I had to work with? On set with horny teenage boys disguised as grown men.

Thomas and Lamar: You loved it!

Vanessa: Yeah, I kinda did. And you’re right, no complaints here. **smiles at Lamar**

Chelsea: Okay you two, I have a few more questions for Jazen, but I’m coming back to these looks you keep giving. Which child do you like the most? Which child do you dislike the most?

Jazen: I don’t dislike any of the kids. As for my favorite, well has to say it would be Aric. He just turned out to be a great kid, not to say the others aren’t as well, but with the dynamic with his parents he was always just the good son. So lax and even tempered, most of the time, that it was hard not to love him.


Chelsea: How do you make each character so unique and interesting to the point that they seem real to us?

Jazen: Huh, well I guess the easy answer is by keeping it simple. I’m really a basic person, I know that probably sounds strange but it’s true. I don’t ever try to do too much if that makes sense. I’m overly logical at times and it will come through in situations and things as I write characters. Are they fictional? Yes, but that doesn’t mean they can’t react or relate to real world at times. It’s finding that balance. I think things through and based on the personalities I’ve molded for them is how I try to base their actions and reactions to things. I don’t set out to base them off any one in particular, but at the same time, as you are watching them, in the back of your mind I hope you go ‘hey, I know someone kinda like that’.  I never want them to be too anything. Not too perfect, not too bad, not too…fill in the blank there. I aim for a little bit of everything to make them a whole.

Chelsea: Did you know that you are a great writer and an awesome person?


Jazen: aww really? Thanks. I truly appreciate that! The support and interaction I’ve had with the fans of this drama over the course of the last 4 years have been truly amazing. It just makes me feel good and even when I didn’t know where things were going, I knew I had to keep pushing through to bring closure to the story. There were plenty of times where I thought it was stupid or drawn out, but then an episode would come out, and people would leave comments and I could see that they enjoyed it and it would make it all better. I’ve had a blast and I’m sad to see it ending.

Chelsea: Speaking of ending, a little birdie told me what we got wasn’t your original plan. Is that true?

Jazen: **nervously laughs** well, see about that…I had a hard, super hard time deciding between the guys. So…at one point I considered not choosing, as in leaving it as one sort of crazy cliffhanger where Amari would go to answer the door, but we never saw who was on the other side. However, a close friend of mine told me she’d personally organize an angry mob to come after me so I nixed that idea.

Chelsea: Thank goodness for that or I’d be joining that angry mob! So, Vanessa, Lamar, what’s going on here? And don’t try to deny it, we have all seen the looks you two have been exchanging.

Lamar: She’s a great woman I’ve had the pleasure of working with for four years and dating for the last two.



Chelsea: What!!! How did you two manage to keep that secret for so long?

Vanessa: I like my private life private. Plus we didnt want people thinking our personal relationship had any bearing on the outcome of the series. It didnt, but we wanted to be careful all the same.

Chelsea: That’s great, you do make a cute couple. Alright one final question for all of you. if you could tell your past self, like at the beginning of this series for example, one piece of advice for the future, what would it be? Let’s go down the line starting with Lamar.


Lamar: Be less of an asshole. He was good for the most part, but when his ego was bruised he acted like a dick at times which didn’t help the situation.

Vanessa: Guess it’s me next. Um…get your priorities straight. Talk to your husband and don’t take him for granted like she did. It almost cost her, her happiness.

Thomas: Seize the day. There were plenty of times when Mulo could have done what Amari needed, been the man she wanted him to be and he could have had the girl. Don’t miss those opportunities.

Lorraine: Well, shit because my advice would mean there wasn’t going to be a series to begin with. **laughs** It would either be just kill both sisters and call it done. By going after revenge like she did, Marisol lost everything including her life.

Chelsea: Those are some words of wisdom from you all. Alright, thank you all for tuning in to another episode of Chatting With Chelsea. I’m your host Chelsea Graham, until next time. **looks at Thomas** you mentioned something about a spanking.

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4 comments:

  1. I'm glad the questions were answered this way. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy knowing they are all great friends in "real life" despite everything that happens in the "show." Marcus/Lamar has a good point about easier question. We had so many hard, emotional questions. I'm actually kind of curious what their favorite colors are. Is that how you based their speech colors? Is Lamar's favorite color blue?

    I would have definitely joined that angry mob! Front and center, demanding to know who was chosen!! And Mulo is right. He ended up kinda alone at the end. Were there any other relations that started during the show?

    Thanks for answering all of our questions! I like their "real" names. It fits them.

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    1. yay!! Happy to know you enjoyed this format. You guys asked some tough questions. It really had them (me) thinking. LOL Um sure we can go with that on the favorite color thing. I'm sure it sounds better than me needing an easy way to see the answers because there were a lot and I wanted to make sure I had a good rotation of the characters. Jazen's color though is her (my) favorite ;)

      Yeah, I'm sure I would have had to go into witness protection if I'd left that ending. It just was so hard for me to choose for a while, but in the end, the guy that fit her best is who she ended up with. I tried to explain that in her answer about who she loved more. Well if you want to know the craziness that Story Progression did in game it's as followed:

      Mulo/Florence
      Edson/Jenelle
      George/random townie
      Kathy/Adrian (and they have a baby on the way LOL)

      Other babies. Aric and Nina did actually have another baby in game. A girl named Renae. Trey and Ceula had a son named Robbie. Bynni and TK had a boy I named Van (the game name was terrible!!!) That's really all I can remember on the pop ups as I was doing shots.

      Thank you for taking the time to read through it all. It was a lot, you guys were really curious. :) Glad you liked the names.

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  2. Oh I really loved this idea of a talk show and how you set it up like a series that just ended. You really did a great job with the story and I have to say that this last update was the icing on the cake. :) This really gave some more insight on these wonderful characters that you created. It was nice to see Amari, Mulo, and Marcus along with yourself to reflect on the characters in the story. I was also glad that you also included Marisol who was a villain you can truly hate was also very important to the story. Great job I really enjoyed this last update.

    btw I would have joined that angry mob too.

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    1. glad you liked it. :) Aww thank you! This story needed to end, but I'm still sad to see it finished. You guys all asked good questions and it's good to know you enjoyed getting the insight and answers that you wanted. I was surprised Marisol got questions, but she did. She sure looked less scary in the Q&A. She is human after all. LOL

      I figured a few of you would have joined that mob, so I knew I had to find a solution to the triangle.

      thanks again for your support

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