Captain Scarlet/Predator ; Endangered Species

[Skybase Girl]

Wow! What else can I say?

I've just finished this amazing epic and I'd like to congratulate Chris on a remarkable achievement. As always, her intricate plotting and attention to detail are superb. The descriptive passages are so finely nuanced that the reader is immediately transported into Captain Scarlet's world and finds him/herself fighting alongside the characters.

I knew nothing about the world of the 'Predator', but it really isn't necessary to know in order to thoroughly enjoy the story. Chris explains enough to make the Hunter's character and situation clear. All the characterisations were spot on and I loved her original character, Nicolas Laws. He's fabulous - without giving too much of the plot away, I hope he gives positive consideration to that job offer! It would be nice to see him return in a future fanfic.

It's obvious that Chris has done a great deal of research to ensure that she knows exactly what she's writing about. I know how long this can take and am therefore extremely impressed by her dedication to getting it right. I know she went to the wire in order to get this story finished for the end of challenge deadline, but Chris, all I can say is, it's been so worth it! It's a long read, but please do give it your attention - you won't regret it.

[chrisbishop]

Thanks, Skybase Girl! Your comments certainly make it all worthwhile.

This story has been an experience. As much in regard of writing it as to keep up with the deadline! It's probably one of the most violent and gruesome stories I wrote - not to mentioned, peppered with bad words, in some scenes - which is why I put such high warnings on the website regarding it! But I did enjoy writing the story, and if some people liked what they read, than I'm happy with it.

I kind of run a little bit behind in my schedule, which at the end, forced me to put much of my free time into the writing as I could. Not much of a problem, as I was totally engrossed with it at that point. The reason it took that much time, was mainly because of all the researches and checking out I needed to do while writing it, not only for the Predators' culture and language - both of which you have plenty of - but also in view of the characterisation of my main villain - and a bit of the Japanese language I also included in the story. I have to thank Captain Yellow for his bit of help in that matter, but I mostly made do with what I could find on the net, trying to re-check the translation on many pages to make sure I had it right in most of the case. In that regard, if there are still mistakes within the text, they're strictly my own fault!

So the bottom line is: when writing such a long story with so much researches involved, I'd better start much earlier next time! For the Halloween Challenge? January seems like a good time! Although, the first part of this story was mainly written last year, it's only in July that I started checking it again. BIG mistake! Never to be done again! That's a promise I do to my beta-reader!

I always found the Predators world fascinating. The first Predator movie, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was but a first step. But really, it was with the reading, years ago of the novel Aliens/Predators: Prey, that I found myself hooked. The book was superb, especially considering it was an adaptation of a comic book mini-series, which in turn had been inspired by the movie. Since then, I discovered that The Predators franchise has grown considerably - it is today very rich, with graphic novels, comic books, movies, games, novels... Enough to satisfy the most avid of fans.

And of course, there are websites... Quite enough for me to consult for the research needed for this story! And I'm quite grateful that fans took the time to put all that information online. Without those, I would not have made the story as interesting or complete as I'd wish it to be. Yes, legwork is very important to a story. I might have put a little too much Predator language that was strictly necessary, which might have made the reading a bit complicated or heavy. But I wanted to show that the complexity of the character, and of his species, such as many of the stories from the franchise tried to do. If that was a mistake, I present my apologies to all those who thought so.