On 5/26/2026 at 8:45 AM, MontyB said:

For some reason I thought this site had a fan fiction page.

On 5/26/2026 at 9:30 AM, ReddFoxx said:

The blog section is where all the fan fiction is.

Errol just announced that the blog section is being removed on June 1st.

On 5/26/2026 at 10:06 AM, ranger1rg said:

@DramatistDreamer I enjoyed your plot machinations. Maybe they're not for everyone, but I think you have a lot of good ideas and I don't see a problem with a post like this. It's not as if you write them all the time.

same. I have enjoyed reading these ideas. Also in the past 16 months of BTG episode discussions (and in years of episode discussion threads for other soaps), many posters have occasionally offered storyline ideas and I found them interesting. I don't always like everyone's ideas but I like that members have ideas!

Edited yesterday at 01:44 PM1 day by janea4old

On 5/24/2026 at 6:57 PM, MontyB said:

Although Bill Bell never wrote an autobiography, there is this book.

As soon as I saw your post, I bought the book for $10 on Kindle and just finished reading it. It’s a good book with lots of information I didn’t know about before. Bill Bell will always be one of my creative inspirations. Thank you for leading me to the book!

1 hour ago, Romalotti said:

As soon as I saw your post, I bought the book for $10 on Kindle and just finished reading it. It’s a good book with lots of information I didn’t know about before. Bill Bell will always be one of my creative inspirations. Thank you for leading me to the book!

How very cool. You're welcome!

Writers:
Teresa Zimmerman
Cheryl L. Davis

Director:
Michael V. Pomarico

original release date: Thursday, May 28, 2026 | writers: Teresa Zimmerman, Cheryl L. Davis | director: Michael V. Pomarico

Thoughts:

• Ashley and Shanice wasted zero time organising the memorial for Derek. And it is nice seeing those Derek worked with at the firehouse show up and show their condolences.

• Not the revelation that the boy Samantha had over was Nathan, who ended up sh*tfaced at the cotillion as Francesca's escort.

• Uh-oh. Sounds like Mike's M.O. has been the same since Bill's marriage to Dani. And Bill seems very unsettled by it.

• It is so nice of Andre to show up at the memorial in support of Ashley.

• I know that Bill has an alliance with Caroline, but he really is deaf when it comes to Dani's pain about his affairs and her interactions with Mike during their marriage. And good on her for standing her ground and making it known that Pamela had her back and was protective of her.

• Ouch. I thought Bill had learnt from the situation last year where Becky, Carrie, and Stefania were concerned, but it sounds like he has yet to learn just how problematic and toxic Mike was at his lawn firm.

• Ted wants to tap Nicole? I am glad she called him out on his wording. 🤣 Thank goodness Kial walked in when he did to break up such an awkward conversation.

• Wait, Madison wants to invite Willow to the wedding? Damn. That is a major development concerning the ongoing lawsuit and their history.

• Aw, the foundation is a great idea by Vanessa, and I am happy that Shanice brought it back around to Douglas and his own beliefs.

• What a beautiful gift from Derek's former co-workers to be given to Brian. Very, very thoughtful, too.

• I can just tell how tough this loss is on Jacob. So tough. Poor guy. And he cannot even tell everyone the absolute, total truth about what went down. So sad and that guilt is almost too much to handle.

• It is hilarious that Bill and Ted are two outliers from the Dupree family, due to them being former spouses, but it also feels different, because Bill still feels more included within the family's fold than Ted has been.

• Naked wedding dress?! It is truly a choice... sculpted resin? Shifting petunias? That is hilarious but also a very visual concept. And I like that Madison wants her Carrie Bradshaw moment.

Notes:

• I must say, Zimmerman's breakdowns are entering into... unlikeable territory, which is a shame, because their breakdowns used to be so solid. Davis did quite well with the scripted dialogue in today's episode. Felt very natural and had an ease to it.

• The memorial for Derek was excellently done, and it is absolutely what I love seeing: a celebration of one's life and remembering all of the times you have had with that person. This is what I and my family always do at funerals and memorials. It helps to remember things and celebrate. And the use of the last call was outstanding and definitely got me in my feels. Perfect. Just perfect.

I'm glad they're spending time on Derek's death. I was afraid the one day of Ashley mourning was going to be it and we'd move on. This is nice and needed today. The speeches were great (although I thought it was odd to have Izaiah start). That ending made me tear up. Derek's 'last call' - such a great tradition. I'm so thankful for all our brave firefighters.

I liked Grayson's text to Ashley - that's what I want in a man!

Ted: "But I want to tap YOU". Nicole: "Care to rephrase that?" 😂

Edited 19 hours ago19 hr by alwaysAMC

-- Why is Nicole so ANGRY about Ted nominating her as Chief of Staff? Can't she just say "Thanks, not interested"? Instead it's some personal affront.

-- Dani and Bill have great chemistry, but today's conversation tells me I don't want them back together. I want Dani to have more self-respect.

-- I'm glad Derek got a nice memorial service. Overall it was well done and hit the right emotions, especially with the Last Call. It was really strange that Izaiah started the tributes, and I could have done without Vanessa.

-- Derek's mother and father should have been there. Instead we got too much emphasis on Ashley as the grieving widow.

-- And what the heck was Eva wearing? That dress was not memorial ready 😂

-- Are we really going to continue with Jacob being this undercover cop? Because, damn, that's not working, especially since Naomi and Ashley can't keep their mouths shut.

-- The Chelsea and Madison relationship seems so immature and shallow. I just don't feel any depth between them. And inviting her mother to the wedding when they're not even talking and there's this lawsuit?

I enjoyed the memorial even though it was at Uptown. I'm glad they seem to be leaning in to Jacob's guilt over what happened and not brushing it off after an episode. Yes, the "last call" was sad and a nice tribute to fire fighters.

I was expecting Leslie to crash the memorial, but thank the stars she didn't. The press conference was bad enough. The memorial would have been disgusting.

I've been over Chelsea and Madison for a long time now. They never seem serious about their relationship. Madison is all over the place. In and out of the relationship. One minute fleeing the country and then not. I don't feel like there is anything to root for.

Kial and Nicole have such easy chemistry. Far better than Carlton and Nicole. I hope they can move forward as a couple and maybe bring in his sons to mix it up with Kat (instead of Tomas).

16 minutes ago, Melroser said:

I've been over Chelsea and Madison for a long time now. They never seem serious about their relationship. Madison is all over the place. In and out of the relationship. One minute fleeing the country and then not. I don't feel like there is anything to root for.

Nothing about Madison is giving doctor. That's one problem. The other is that she and Chelsea talk to each other like they're in middle school.

I haven't watched yet, but glad to hear they are giving Derek a decent memorial.

Boy, the people online are really giving Ashley a hard time saying she's a liar and acting like a grieving widow.

I can see why she would be distraught, but I admit I really didn't like the way she was written before with Derek. She treated him pretty badly.

Edited 16 hours ago16 hr by MontyB

In regards to Chelsea and Madison, I can't be over something that I never cared about to begin. I've said this since almost day 1 of the soap and I'll continue to say it until there is actual improvement... but Chelsea and her story/arc is treated like an afterthought to the writers.

You have very strong focus and character development with Naomi, Eva, and Kat.. even Ashley has decent character development... but Chelsea feels like an afterthought to these writers. It's almost as if the writers are just chilling out and a photo of Chelsea comes up and they get reminded that she's actually on the show and maybe it's time to wheel her out for her bi weekly air-date.

Ashley is acting the grieving widow because she feels immense guilt over the way she treated Derek.. and I'm going to be honest in saying that he didn't lie to her at all. He was just waiting till he could actually walk before telling her while Grayson was caught in a huge Operation... but she'll be back in his bed by 4th of July.

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by Soaplovers

34 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

In regards to Chelsea and Madison, I can't be over something that I never cared about to begin. I've said this since almost day 1 of the soap and I'll continue to say it until there is actual improvement... but Chelsea and her story/arc is treated like an afterthought to the writers.

You have very strong focus and character development with Naomi, Eva, and Kat.. even Ashley has decent character development... but Chelsea feels like an afterthought to these writers. It's almost as if the writers are just chilling out and a photo of Chelsea comes up and they get reminded that she's actually on the show and maybe it's time to wheel her out for her bi weekly air-date.

Ashley is acting the grieving widow because she feels immense guilt over the way she treated Derek.. and I'm going to be honest in saying that he didn't lie to her at all. He was just waiting till he could actually walk before telling her while Grayson was caught in a huge Operation... but she'll be back in his bed by 4th of July.

Can't disagree with any of that.

They'd better come up with something for Ashley and Grayson, because they're not exactly electric.

Chelsea is an afterthought, and so is Madison. The problem is that even what they're given is so poorly written.

Had we seen a slowly developing romance, met Madison's mother, made the lawsuit more believable etc then we might be more invested.

-- Why is Nicole so ANGRY about Ted nominating her as Chief of Staff? Can't she just say "Thanks, not interested"? Instead it's some personal affront.

She acts like everything is a person affront and TBH I'm tired of it.

I'd be okay with Madison and Chelsea leaving the DMV together, to give others more scenes and to regroup with Chelsea before having her return single. What they have right now just isn't working.

I know it's a soap, but sometimes I feel like there are too many characters. Maybe that's because they flow their recurring people in and out of storylines so well. A tighter focus would be better for the show. Then maybe we would get more movement with "Kills Bill", Nicole's choice of men, Eva vs Kat, Leslie's comeuppance.

I've been okay with Ashley, but I don't want her to jump right back to Grayson. That would make no sense (though I'm sure it's going to happen). He lied to her and pulled her into something dangerous. That led to her ex getting killed. How can you get over that? Especially, when they have already showed how upset Ashley was about keeping his walking a secret. He kept something from her...not so much blatantly lied like Grayson did.

The only angle they've missed...so far...is Hayley reaching out to Ashley about Derek. Wouldn't she and Derek have been friends too if Naomi, Ashley, and Hayley were supposed to be best buds? I want to see Ashley rebuff her. lol