Wasted and missed opportunities

[samdanfan]

3 hours ago, Spinach said:

^I feel like they were planning a Sophie / Karen reconciliation - but Rebekah wanted out as soon as possible. That's certainly the way it seemed on screen with her seemingly in the midst of a huge storyline (giving Tamara up) in the 1992 finale, and then leaving the show within a few weeks of the 1993 season. Her farewell all seemed very rushed - and that was disappointing. I wish she had stuck around a bit longer just for a better farewell.

Sadly that's the way things happen anymore without regard to how it affects the show, future plots or the fans.

[emmasi]

3 hours ago, samdanfan said:

That can be said for many other shows as well.

[...]

I guess that's why many have fan fiction on forums.

Love this response. So true  

Back when I started writing fanfic it was exclusively H&A for years. I think it was because the show truly inspired me to take great stories and characters and run with them in alternate directions that weren't necessarily any better than the truth, just different, because the show felt so layered that I could believe in those possibilities. There were so many times when I wrote particular moments or lines that then ended up being on the show, sometimes before I'd even finished the fic, that I was beginning to think someone at Seven was hacking my computer  But a more LIKELY (and less fun) reason is that I was following the same logical progressions as the writers of the show and hitting some of the same points. That's because the show used to BE logical, in its own exaggerated soapie way.

Now when I think about writing H&A fanfic, it comes from a place of wanting to "fix" things or "explain" things that the show has so clearly dropped the ball on. But I never get around to writing these things because the current characters are so uninteresting to me that I can't be bothered spending that sort of time with them, and the current stories are so flimsy, there's not much for me to build on.

I was lucky enough to meet Juliet Landau (*name drop!*) from Buffy at a convention a couple of months ago and somehow got talking about fanfic. She asked if I wrote any for Buffy, and it was such an odd question to me. My response was "No, because it's perfect. I don't know what I would change!" A couple of weeks after that, my friend bought me a comic book written by James Marsters, also from Buffy, about the adventures of his character Spike. And that's when it hit me: both these actors adored the show and their characters and just wanted to spend more time in that world, building on the existing stories because they were already so good, not because they needed to be changed. It reminded me that fanfic shouldn't be a reactive chore, it should be a creative pleasure. Dru and Spike, is there anything they can't do ?

Anyway, you're right about the actors needing to be on board with staying around long enough to make better use of their characters. But I feel like the writers used to take that into account. Three years is a pretty long time when you've got characters appearing in episodes every other day. It seemed to be pretty well plotted that you'd experience a neat little three year portion of a life, with ups and downs, loves and losses, and there would be some kind of arc to the characters. Now it's all just a random mess with no regard for the character's past and no sensible direction for their future, and then they're just dumped when the actor's contract is up with whatever nonsense might grab a few cheap ratings that week. Which is why I can't think of a single response to this thread's question, because there are so, so many things now that could've and should've been done differently, that it's just too overwhelming to think about!

I feel better having written this post about the nature of my own writing though, and how H&A both kindled and then smothered my creative spark. It was cathartic. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work through some stuff 

 

[samdanfan]

16 hours ago, emmasi said:

Love this response. So true  

Back when I started writing fanfic it was exclusively H&A for years. I think it was because the show truly inspired me to take great stories and characters and run with them in alternate directions that weren't necessarily any better than the truth, just different, because the show felt so layered that I could believe in those possibilities. There were so many times when I wrote particular moments or lines that then ended up being on the show, sometimes before I'd even finished the fic, that I was beginning to think someone at Seven was hacking my computer  But a more LIKELY (and less fun) reason is that I was following the same logical progressions as the writers of the show and hitting some of the same points. That's because the show used to BE logical, in its own exaggerated soapie way.

Now when I think about writing H&A fanfic, it comes from a place of wanting to "fix" things or "explain" things that the show has so clearly dropped the ball on. But I never get around to writing these things because the current characters are so uninteresting to me that I can't be bothered spending that sort of time with them, and the current stories are so flimsy, there's not much for me to build on.

I was lucky enough to meet Juliet Landau (*name drop!*) from Buffy at a convention a couple of months ago and somehow got talking about fanfic. She asked if I wrote any for Buffy, and it was such an odd question to me. My response was "No, because it's perfect. I don't know what I would change!" A couple of weeks after that, my friend bought me a comic book written by James Marsters, also from Buffy, about the adventures of his character Spike. And that's when it hit me: both these actors adored the show and their characters and just wanted to spend more time in that world, building on the existing stories because they were already so good, not because they needed to be changed. It reminded me that fanfic shouldn't be a reactive chore, it should be a creative pleasure. Dru and Spike, is there anything they can't do ?

Anyway, you're right about the actors needing to be on board with staying around long enough to make better use of their characters. But I feel like the writers used to take that into account. Three years is a pretty long time when you've got characters appearing in episodes every other day. It seemed to be pretty well plotted that you'd experience a neat little three year portion of a life, with ups and downs, loves and losses, and there would be some kind of arc to the characters. Now it's all just a random mess with no regard for the character's past and no sensible direction for their future, and then they're just dumped when the actor's contract is up with whatever nonsense might grab a few cheap ratings that week. Which is why I can't think of a single response to this thread's question, because there are so, so many things now that could've and should've been done differently, that it's just too overwhelming to think about!

I feel better having written this post about the nature of my own writing though, and how H&A both kindled and then smothered my creative spark. It was cathartic. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work through some stuff 

 

Years ago I wrote FF on sites and one family of a star read my story and loved it that's a great honor. of course they use different means to search forums using others ID to log in to read  ( a new member could be a PR person for someone? SPOLIER)

Yes actors need to stay a long time to get a base and build up interest even 1 year does that anymore then they go  get rid of the character? my biggest issue.

[Trudy Heine]

I would've made Ailsa's death more emotional, like have her die in hospital.

[Jacklost]

Irene and Claire. I felt this was a part of a bigger storyline with her bills Olivia found and everything but then it was suddenly over. It was weird to be honest.. 

[yaniv]

danny in the stalker storyline . she was the reason for all the crazy stuff of felix and sarah lewis , i always wonder if tamin sursuk knew they will go with this direction before she left ,so maybe than she could agree to stay couple of mounts  for last big storyline ,im sure zoe will want get revenge on danny more than any one in summer bay and this could be super interesting

[adam436]

14 hours ago, Trudy Heine said:

I would've made Ailsa's death more emotional, like have her die in hospital.

 

There is a discussion about Ailsa's death somewhere in another thread, but I agree with you. So many less memorable characters had emotional hospital endings, so it would have been good for Duncan, Alf, Shauna and maybe even Fisher, Irene and Sally, to say goodbye to her. I'd also have liked to have seen the immediate aftermath, but instead we jumped straight from her collapsing (was there even any indication she died apart from the fact it was common knowledge Judy had left the show?) to the funeral. I felt it was way too rushed and cheap for a character who had been around for 13 years.

Does anyone know why it was all so rushed? Was it because the focus wasn't on the Sutherlands. so the writers weren't interested? It just seems odd to do an expensive mudslide stunt involving Ailsa, followed by burning down her business and then have her die a few weeks later from a heart attack. I remember thinking at the time that Ailsa would meet her maker in one of those disasters.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Jackie Woodburne missing out twice in the Pippa role. But would we get a great actor to play Susan Kennedy otherwise?

 

 

[samdanfan]

Packed to the Rafters begged a Neighbours actor to relocate to Sydney and they rejected the offer of Rebecca Gibney role and then they came back a second time and offered her a part time role same deal she had with Ramsey street and she rejected again saying she didn't want to relocate and leave family yet that's not the real story. Yet unlike other fans as much as I love to see people do things as Actors I meet tell me its their life and we must respect their choices,

[Gerard]

The current storyline in the UK with Alf recovering after his stroke seemed like a good opportunity to bring back Morag for a few weeks or months. Maybe she is coming back, or perhaps Cornelia Frances was never asked.