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On Jaclyn's Facebook page, she said in February that she hadn't been called back for a while and there was nothing for the future. It would have been nice to learn more about her than her first name, especially after all the time she was on the show and she did have her fans - someone on FB has even started up a Bring Back Watson page. It's just my luck though, that the characters I like most these days, are recurring or guest characters who just vanish. I do hope Watson will pop up some time in the future though and this wouldn't be the first time where she's disappeared for a lengthy period of time - wonder where Watson disappears to ?

Brax's violence toward Heath is as inexcusable as Danny's was and I always found it quite ridiculous when they had Casey worrying about becoming like Heath when Brax was just as bad, if not worse - he was the big brother who was using violence and words to lay into Heath (often for no justifiable reason) and Casey started to copy Mr Wonder Big Brother. After hearing the way Danny used to treat Heath, it just made Brax's similiar treatment of Heath all the worse. For years, it seems like Brax has been happy to not only abuse Heath (as Danny did), but nurture and encourage his violence when it suited him, ie. using his younger brother to do his dirty work within the gang, including using violence to enforce Brax's law, so that Brax could sit on the sidelines and play Mr I Wasn't Involved while counting his precious drug money. The way he has used his brother, dismissed at times (was even tossing him aside to runaway with his favourite brother and Charlie), let him take the fall for following Brax's orders and never seemed to encourage him the way he has Casey, prefering to treat him like a fool at times and knock him down when he tries to make his own decisions (even if they were dumb decisions, Brax just reinforced Heath's belief he couldn't be better) really makes it hard to believe we're meant to see him as a good big brother. Sure, he's there for them, but he's often made things worse by interfering and has been a lousy role model. There's little point telling Casey to be better when his actions say differently and while his motivations may be different to Adam and some of the others, his actions aren't any better and he is just as big a criminal and remorseless as all the other so called nasty bad guys - only difference, the show excuses and lets him get away with everything and throw around the words loyatly and family to do so - I'd say the Walkers are as loyal to each other and even the Pirovics were more loyal to each other than Brax has been at times to Heath and the Pirovics did things for family, yet it was never portrayed in that way. There are so many double standards when it comes to the portrayal of Brax and it's become quite laughable, especially as his actions have so often contradicted his words and at times, what we're meant to believe about him. It's no wonder Heath turned out as he did with both Danny and Brax treating him like they did, but it's funny how Heath is the one who doesn't react violently toward Brax when he is given so much provocation to hit back - that's what men like Brax do though, they beat loyalty into others so they just accept the abuse and putdowns, it's part of the gang culture and Heath had been nothing if not Brax's lackey. I honestly find Brax to be one of the most loathsome characters ever and even his one redeeming quality (looking out for his family) is ruined because he's so controlling of everything and his loyalty (when it suits him with Heath) is used to let him do all these awful things and get off scott free.

He's hit Heath, he's headbutted Heath just because Heath has said or done something Brax doesn't approve of (but has actually done himself) and has been verbally abusive with his put downs over the years toward Heath, and on more than one occassion, slammed Casey against a wall, he's beaten up Kyle etc. If a guest character bullied and abused his family the way Brax has done, it would never be tolerated and it would be seen as abuse or at the very least, as assault, but it's Brax, the big brother who would do anything for them and so it always comes across as if they deserve his rough treatment of them and he's never called out on it. If Heath deserves to be abused by his brother as we're meant to believe, then Brax would equally deserve to be punched back by Heath, yet that doesn't happen - who's the real thug in that family? No one, especially someone in your own family, deserves to be punched or headbutted just for saying something you don't like and Brax has no right to throw his weight around like he does just because they don't live up to his expectations or do what he wants for them - they're not little children to be bullied and shaped into what he wants for them, they're adults, old enough to do as they please, make their own mistakes and live life the way they want to and he's hardly set a good example for them. It was wrong for Danny to abuse his family and Alan Henderson wanted more for his son, like Brax wants for Casey, but Alan would never get father of the year because he abused his family and was a terrible role model to Stu, so why is Brax allowed to bully and abuse his family? The show can't have it both ways, yet they seem to insist on it at times, especially when it comes to St Brax.

I'd like for her to have a purpose in the Bay other than being someone's girlfriend. We've seen with Liam that without Bianca, he has no family or real reason to stick around and becomes a rather pointless character and Tam seems to have been brought in to stir up drama for Casey and not much else and so far, I'm not too impresssed with her behaviour. Given time, that may change, but going on the way so much revolves these days on romantic drama and triangles, I'm not sure if my opinion of her will change, though I do hope that she and the other younger characters form some sort of friendship group, preferably without the sex/relationship drama taking over - I'd actually like for them to exist outside of a couple. The past couple of years, I find myself constantly falling into the 'then I must be wrong' category as I dislike most of the big couples we're meant to think are the best thing because I don't like the way the characters interact within those pairings or the way they treat each other and others during their on-off-on-off-sleeping around-love triangle-romances and so far, Tamara has fallen victim to yet another one of those unlikeable romances. Maybe if Casey had been single at the time, my view may have been different, but he was with Sasha and Tam turned up as the interloper - find it hard to support any couple that starts off like that.

I disagree. Year 11s consist of 16-17 year olds, and year 12's consist of 17-18 year olds. ^I believe you're both right.Year 11 actually consists of 15-17-year-olds and Year 12 of 16-18-year-olds.But you're only there for a year.Different people start the year at different ages, depending on when their birthday falls in the year and how old they were when they started school. RR is right. My birthday fell in the early part of the year, so I started school at 4 and so was 15 when I moved into Y11 and turned 16 that year, just like Sasha but the majority of Y11s began the year at 16 then turned 17 during the year. It meant that I and just a few others, were always a year younger than just about everyone else in that year - we really were in the minority though and it was like that at both Secondary Colleges I went to. Considering what Sasha went through last year, no surprise her school work suffered but I suspect she is just the unfortunate 'mandatory' repeater we seem to always get. Hope Sasha does move on from Casey and finds a guy that treats her right and is there for her, much like Xavier was.

Highlight the spoiler, then go to Special BBCode - the icon to the left of the font box - and scroll down to spoiler. You should be able to see what text will appear under the spoiler tag.

I was never much of a Xavier fan until he started seeing Kelly last year and by the end, I was sorry to see him leave. I think during his stay, he developed and matured into a rather nice young man, which seems like a rarity these days as a lot of characters take one step forward then two steps back and unlike those characters we’re told are nice guys, yet their actions continually say otherwise, Xavier actually was a nice guy and since Miles left, I enjoyed having another nice guy around the place. I liked most of his storylines this year, because they showed him maturing from the school leaver into a young man looking to take responsibility. Romeo could learn a few things from him. Even though I still find it rather funny thinking of him as a cop, he had the right motivation for choosing that career and think he will probably become a good cop, especially as he’s well away from Summer Bay, a town that taints and portrays so many cops in a poor light. I didn’t like the usual, have a cop do something wrong for the sake of family/friends part though and it’s a shame we won’t see him develop further into his career, but hopefully, Even when I wasn’t a fan, I always enjoyed his interaction with John and this year, I started to enjoy his interaction with his mother much more, especially the way he was finally loosening the apron strings and starting to stand up more for himself with her. There were quite a few amusing Gina expressions because of Xavier standing up to her. I liked the way he stood by Sasha throughout her ordeal, but though I started off as a fan of them as a couple, as he grew into his role as police cadet, Sasha just seemed to come across as far too immature for him and the age gap appeared more than it was, so I wasn't that fussed when they split. The only storyline of his I didn’t like this year was his exit. I can’t remember the last exit storyline I liked as these days, they seem to be about character assassination before sending them to jail or a coffin or shoving them out the door as fast as they can and Xavier’s exit felt like the latter. One minute he decides to move away, the next minute he’s packed and gone as if he'd never even been there. Overall, I was happy with the person he became and his development from a teen doing dumb things into an adult taking responsibility and looking to help others in his role as a police officer. I just hope he gets over his accident-proness, as he could prove rather dangerous to himself or others with a loaded weapon.

Leah was once one of my favourites, but in the past couple of years, she's moved down the list and I actually didn't like Leah much this year, so I didn't really have a favourite storyline with her in it. My least favourites though, was having her falling for Brax, which I thought was one of the more ridiculous storylines. She never really trusted him or wanted him around the house because of the danger someone like him brings, so Charlie's death in her house at the hands of one of his enemies should have just reinforced her feelings, instead it made her forget everything and it became all about poor Brax. And the way they had her acting around him at times was embarrassing to watch. The other least favourite was the way she handled Ruby at times. I didn't like the way she put Brax before Ruby. Sure, it was her house, so when Ruby got upset about having Brax at the house, which under the circumstances, was completely understandable, while Leah had a right to not let Ruby dictate who comes around and who couldn't, I just think that with Ruby's feelings still so raw, this one time Leah could have relented. I mean, why was it so important for Leah to be able to have Brax around the house when she could so easily see him at any other place? Ruby should have been her focus, not Brax, who at least had his brothers as support while Ruby had no family and so I hated the way Leah let Ruby move out and became one of the growing number of Brax groupies, there to remind us what a good guy he is, usually after his latest disgusting behaviour. I liked her when she saw him for what he was and so this about face and letting Ruby move out at such a tragic time when she really needed her more than ever, just didn't sit right with me. Another storyline I didn't like was her exit. It just felt contrived, rushed and totally unnecessary when there were other family related options which could have been used, ie. her mum or someone got sick and needed her. Jamie was too obvious and by rushing the storyline, there was no real suspense and considering all the unpleasant characters and criminals these days, I wished they'd chosen a non-psycho/crime storyline to write her out - after all her years on the show, she deserved a far better treatment than what she got. Ada may be back filming this year, but I think it will be later in the year, so I'd be surprised to see Leah on our screens at all next year, but hopefully the break will give the writers time to come up with some fresh ideas and maybe introduce a new character as a long-term love interest. It's time Leah had some happiness in her life and for this show to have another family, ie. mum, dad and kid.

I've uploaded some wallpapers of each couple in my artwork thread.

^^Current (as of when last saw them) police officers at the moment that I know the names of Snr. Sgt Mike Emerson, in charge of the station. Sgt Georgina/Georgie Watson Const. Patrick Avery Const. Neal Stevenson

Hugo Johnstone-Burt - he's around 24/25, so about a 10 year age difference. Once again, I think Leah is heading for heartache. The guy just has that vibe, 'Run away quick before it's too late'.

I didn't have any screen caps, so I hope these will do.

If you're still after some Romeo Indi icons, I've uploaded some new ones in my artwork thread.

Bianca is so far out of Heath's league in all ways and I will never be able to take Heath and Bianca seriously because of the way so much is overlooked, like him using and sleeping with April and then cheating on her; where's the anger at the man for treating her little sister like that or the man who sold drugs (which she supposedly hates) to her students? Can't stand Bianca since she hooked up with Heath, but that's for another thread. I find it weird the way April gives her sister advice on the man they both slept with as if it's not that big a deal and they all lived under the same roof. Heath/Bianca is just so implausible whereas I actually brought April and Heath as a couple, even more so if they'd toned down April's rather stalkerish chase of him. She understands him, accepts him for who he is, just as he doesn't pretend to be someone he's not (his big bro could get a lot of pointers from his so-called bad brother) and age wise and maturity wise, they're a far better match than he will ever be with Bianca, who treated him like dirt and beneath her. Don't know why they ever went with Heath and April if it was never going to be nothing more than a fling, because it ruined Dex/April (I actually think he works far better as a single guy) for me and Bianca hooking up with the man who used her sister just makes her look even worse than just hooking up with her husband's drug dealer.