Red Ranger 1

Interesting idea.Looking forward to seeing where you go with it. (And the episode where Beth died was shown 23rd April, so you were pretty close.)

Wow.I thought that was really good and Belle's reaction is so believable.Liked her conversations with Irene and Martha.Nice bit of symbolism at the end.

I too consider the idea of Captain Harris with a moustache to be much amusing.

Yeah, we really need to start a Transformers thread somewhere.Wish I had Time Wars.I think I've got the first three episodes somewhere. Anyway...When it comes to writing fiction for BTTB, my usual method is to work out a detailed plot and break it all down into chapters, mainly so I know what I'm doing and it doesn't all fly off at a tangent, then write it and post the chapters as I finish them.With my first fiction, I intended to post the first chapter then get on with writing the rest of it and post a new chapter every time either someone asked for one or it disappeared off the front page.I didn't realise quite how often those things happen. When I'm writing for my own amusement, I have been known to start a story without knowing how it ends or even what it's about.Which can be quite interesting.

Ahh.I like how everyone's getting a happy ending.And it's true we don't get enough Geoff and Melody these days.

Awww, poor Angelo... And something tells me Belle will change her thinking eventually.

Some interesting points being made here and I'm agreeing with a lot of it.I genuinely don't understand this whole Melody hating which seemed to spring up the moment she appeared and has built up more and more momentum.She did seem a bit judgemental when she first appeared but that was down to her mother's influence and she quickly seemed to realise her mistake once people sat down and explained it to her.Aden was a lot worse for a lot longer yet somehow he can do no wrong.Nicole I've actually always quite liked which may have something to do with her appearance but I think it's because they made sure that whenever she stepped out of line she always paid for it. Melody on the other hand doesn't seem to be able to do anything right.She tries to see her boyfriend after her mother orders them to split up and she's accused of being selfish and not caring about him.A boy tries to force himself on her and she's accused of overreacting and unfairly turning the town against him.(Whereas Aden's allowed to use him as a punchbag because...he's Aden.)She breaks off ties with the mother that treated her in an abusive fashion and she's criticised for not being fair towards her.Even when she feels guilt over the death of someone she didn't like, she's accused of being self-centred and making it all about her.And now that she really has gone off the rails, there seems to be a whole queue of people waiting to go "See?We told you.She's nasty." The whole thing about not making allowances for anyone else's past is nonsense.As has been pointed out, Aden used his past as a legal defence for actions that were blatantly criminal.I know it's a little thing but last year Don Fisher tried to give Annie a detention for not doing her homework and Sally overruled him because of her home situation.And the reason Aden hated Geoff in the first place was Tony was giving him preferential treatment because of his background, picking him when he kept turning up to training late or not at all. Having said that, I'm not too keen on this whole rebellion storyline.It seems to be the result of the same logic as Aden's breakdown:use the most extreme and overly dramatic way of showing that a character has problems.I'm hoping there's going to be a decent pay off and going from the rumours I've heard it does look as though the end's in sight.

Ah!Once more I find myself intrigued by what has transpired between the young Mr.Holden and Captain Harris.I await the next installment with great anticipation.

Yep, you had me fooled there.Darn it. Carefully examined every line but no, nothing's coming to mind.Excuse me while I go and do some more thinking.

Ah!Some intriguing occurences, my dear.My interest is piqued once more.

Sorry, I grew up during the '80s so I remember the old comics and cartoons...I think this is the point where I realise a lot of BTTB members weren't born then and feel unspeakably old. I wasn’t confused I know exactly who Optimus Prime is. I’ve still got quite a few of my old UK comics in a box on top of my wardrobe. The confusion was that I thought Megatron was better. Soundwave was pretty good as well. Anyway I digress. Really?Me too!(Well, actually, it's in the loft.)I've even bought a bunch of those trade paperbacks reprinting the ones I haven't got.Isn't Target:2006 great?I hear Soundwave's gonna be in the next film. Still hoping for Prowl. Sorry, how did we get onto this? Thanks to everyone for their comments.I'm glad I posted this one on impulse, I usually have a load of sleepless nights thinking everyone's going to hate it before I start a fiction so I managed to bypass that stage this time.Weekend looks like it's going to be mad-I'm at my brother's in Boston all day tomorrow(the one in Lincolnshire, not the one in Massachusetts), at a party celebrating Doctor Who's 45th anniversary on Sunday-so it might be Monday before I get a chance to update again. I usually avoid commenting in my own fictions because it looks like I'm posting another chapter.I seem to have got quite chatty with this one.

^^Well, that's the million dollar question, old friend.I like to think I try my best to be impartial but a fiction is always coloured by the author's perception of characters and events.My main reason for writing the story was because, as I've mentioned elsewhere, I felt the writers didn't deal with the consequences of what they'd set up properly so I thought I'd show an alternative way of dealing with it. One of my rules has always been to stay true to the characters as established in the show and I hope everyone will feel, by the end of this, that I've portrayed Aden and others in a way that is fair and accurate.(It's also interesting that I find certain characters a lot less irritating in my stories than I do in the show.Probably because they're doing what I tell them but I do find poking around in their heads and rearranging things quite therapeutic.) Hope that didn't sound too pretentious.And I've started calling people old friend, as if I'm Optimus Prime or something.Hopefully the next update will be along shortly.

Landon Xavier Jefferies?Poor kid.That was really funny though. And yay for Ric and Mattie as always. Didn't Melody leave town?I've lost track...

I am gratified that you noticed my contribution, my dear.(I trust you do not object to being addressed as "my dear".It is simply that, as a man of my metaphysical acquaintance once observed, "I call everyone 'my dear.'") May I just say that I found the latest installment most amusing and intriguing and continue to await further developments with eager anticipation.

I agree, he's certainly one of the better new additions.(Unlike the new family-for possibly the first time, I'm hoping they're all gone within six months.)I loved his reaction when Tina kissed him on the cheek and the way he genuinely felt the need to reassure Gail and Joe that David was only joking about killing himself.

Ha-hah! A most entertaining piece of work, my dear.I greatly anticipate the continuation.

Liked the conversations between Aden and Irene and Aden and Nicole.Looking forward to having certain things explained.

Oh...my...god.I don't think I've laughed that much in a long while.Keep it up!

Ha ha!Sorry, just had to laugh at that last line.Isn't that just typical?Good job Aden wasn't released a day or two later...

Man, I'm good.I think it was the comment about Belle not showing as much as she should at twelve weeks that did it. And, er, you're good as well, of course.Very well written.And loved Nicole's little cameo.

I had a feeling Belle might end up losing the baby...not that that's necessarily what's happening. Yes, I'm still here.Actually like your analysis of Aden and Belle's relationship.You seem to have put a lot more thought into it than they did on the show.

I believe his name was Richard Bellingham.He and Morag were together when she first moved to the Bay in 1989 but split up not long afterwards.(Morag mentioned him in passing when Ross turned up, telling Martha she first met him shortly after she broke up with "her Uncle Richard".)

I'm finding this argument very interesting and there probably is a case that Melody has had it worse than the others.Larry Jefferies and Bruce Campbell might have been far from ideal guardians but deep down they did seem to love their charges.I never really felt that with Christine.She thought she loved Melody but she didn't seem to understand what that meant, ensuring Melody acted the way she thought she should rather than let her develop as a person.It's a bit much to say she's the only person who's used her past to excuse her behaviour: .I don't think we should be writing her off like some people seem to:The show has a long history of teenagers self-destructing(Matilda, Lucas, Hayley, Nick, Jade, Kirsty, Jack, Sam, all the way back to Carly)and coming good in the end. And I don't like the way that, because they love Geoff and Nicole now, everyone feels the need to rubbish Geoff and Melody's relationship.I don't see it as him playing it safe.Nicole as she was then was definitely NOT a suitable girlfriend for Geoff and he went out with Melody because he realised he wanted a girlfriend who was a decent person rather than someone glamourous.I genuinely think they loved each other and it would have worked out if things had been different.Okay, Melody encouraged him to break his AVO but then Nicole was the one that encouraged her.And it was Melody, albeit with a lot of prompting from Belle, who persuaded Annie to go easy on Geoff after he'd humiliated her, before thanking Geoff for trying to be nice and admitting she needed to grow up, after which Geoff was the one pursuing her.It's no wonder she's fixated on him, he was probably the first person to genuinely care for her.Aden fixates on Belle when she's with someone else and they're meant to be together. Melody does it and she's a stalker. I'm hoping the writers know what they're doing, that they're taking Melody on a journey which is going to have a pay-off(round about the season finale/return perhaps?)and we're going to get Nice Melody back at the end of it.If they end up ruining a decent character, I will not be best pleased.

Yeah, that was kinda sweet... My own personal favourite line? That had me...momentarily tittering.(Hey, I don't laugh much, okay?)

Well, it helped that someone posted a character profile of him on the main site not so long ago.(Did they know?)That reminded me of a few details.