~(oOo)~
Rule VI: Canon Characters are very important. You would be on Fiction Press without them, so make sure you understand them, but don't worry, you aren't going to have to work to do this. You don't even need to have watched much of the show! Define them by their appearances and catchphrases, so the reader can recognize them, and you won't be accused of writing them "OOC." Once you do that, you can have them do essentially whatever your plot needs.
Rule VII: If you don't like a particular character, then let your readers know! They'll probably agree, and enjoy watching an annoying person get a well-deserved put-down. Better yet, kill the character off in a possibly humorous way. By suddenly knocking off a canon character, you shock your readers into realizing that this is a serious situation, and if you pick the right person, it opens up a whole new relationship for your OC and the dead person's loved one.
Face pulled into the VA parking lot, accompanied by Tawnia. They were back to get Murdock out of the VA for a mission, again.
"I don't see why we have to use my car," Tawnia grumbled, as she pocketed her keys.
"Why scam one when we have a car already?" Face asked, slamming his door. Tawnia rolled her eyes and started for the door.
"You'd better wait out here," Face said quickly, jumping in front of Tawnia.
"What? Why?"
"If they see you too many times, they'll get suspicious," Face said, and went inside. Furiously, Tawnia stomped back to her car. On the other side of the parking lot, Colonel Decker watched her through binoculars.
"It's definitely her," he said, handing the binoculars to his aide. Tawnia glanced around cautiously, and made her way across the parking lot to where the MP cars were hidden behind the bushes.
"Peck's picking up the A-Team's old pilot from Vietnam," the reporter said, looking around nervously to make sure she wasn't seen. "The mission is rescuing some kidnapped kid." Decker smiled at Tawnia.
"Thank you, Miss Baker," he said, "You will be well-rewarded." Grinning, Tawnia turned to go, not seeing Decker screw a silencer onto his pistol. The shot hit the reporter through the back of her head, and she dropped without a sound.
Little did Decker realize, but Alex happened to look out the window as some of his men dragged Tawnia's corpse into the woods. Her eyes widened in shock, and she backed slowly away from the window. She had to warn the A-Team!
Rule VIII: Readers, my dear friend, like to know who the good and bad guys are at a glance. Make it easy for them. Beauty equals goodness, and ugliness is automatically evil, just like in the real world. As well, make sure your heroes are righteous, never doing anything morally ambiguous of their own free will, and your villains never stray from the path of wrongdoing. You also don't need to concern yourself with the motivations of minor characters. Mean fathers are alcoholic and abusive because they want to be cruel, not out of depression or any remotely human reason.
Face, pushing Murdock in a wheelchair, stopped to argue with the nurse. The pilot stretched to peek through the gap in the door, and paused. Inside the room was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. She had blonde hair with dyed violet streaks, chartreuse eyes, a perfect tan, and a very appealing body structure. The bandage around her temples gave her a vulnerable look.
The girl sat up and met Murdock's gaze. She stared for a moment, and then leaped to her feet and rushed to the door.
"Decker's waiting outside! He knows you're here and has a trap already!" She yelled, with a voice like wind chimes. The nurse, a fat old lady with frown wrinkles, punched the door and yelled for Alex to shut up, but the girl kept on yelling. Face and Murdock exchanged an alarmed glance, and swinging the wheelchair around, Face made for the back entrance.
The nurse unlocked the door and slapped Alex across the cheek. Startled, the girl stopped shouting.
"Shut it or I'll put you in a straitjacket!" The nurse yelled, shaking Alex with each syllable. When Alex didn't say anything, the woman smirked cruelly, let go and walked out, locking the door behind her. Curling up on the bed, Alex shed a single, crystalline tear. Then she heard a tapping on the window.
Sitting up, the teenage girl looked over to see Murdock standing at the window. Alex darted over and threw the window open.
"Thanks for the warning, come on," Murdock said, opening the screen and offering Alex a hand. Taking it with a grin, Alex climbed out the window and shut it behind her. The trio tiptoed around to Tawnia's car, hopped in, and Face started the engine.
~(oOo)~
Rule IX: If coming up with a strong OC proves to be too difficult, then simply use yourself! No, not the You who can barely manage five push-ups and has semi permanent acne, the You you imagine yourself as: beautiful/handsome, strong and very talented, because as Rule VIII stated, nobody ugly could possibly be sympathetic enough to be the hero! Also, since this is you, take any and all criticism of the character personally, because it actually is you they're criticizing, and you don't want to change who you are for a bunch of strangers on the internet!
My fingers paused in their typing. I leaned back in my chair, and glanced over into the mirror, whose frame was surrounded by printed-out pictures of Murdock. Once again, I took in my blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and fair complexion. I thought about what I would do if I was Alex—I'd used my middle name for her, because I liked it better—and had just joined the A-Team. Probably be going fangirl-crazy, talking about how I know everything about them. They'd be surprised by that, and decide to take me—sorry, Alex—to see Hannibal, because I'd—Alex would—be so valuable to Decker if he found out.
I looked again at my favorite picture of Murdock, and smiled. He and I—Alex!—had so much in common. Both of them had been stuck in the VA, they were both pilots. Instant attraction. Now came the fun part!
~(oOo)~
Rule X: Romance is very important in any fanfic. Often, it's the driving force behind the story. The lovely thing about romance is that any two people can fall in love, especially people who hate each other, purely based on physical attraction! Just put them alone together in a situation, and let them be sweet at each other. Others should tease them about their attraction to each other, seeing it before they do—especially former loves, who will either move quietly aside or become insanely jealous monsters.
Murdock glanced at Alex as they drove down the road.
"How'd you get in the VA?" He asked.
"I-I'm not sure," Alex said, swiping at her eyes. "I don't really remember. The nurse said I hit my head. I don't remember anything but my name." (A/N: I forgot 2 put this in the last chappie, but Alex only remembers the A-Tam oopsie :P) Murdock put an arm around Alex's shoulder and squeezed comfortingly.
"Hey, it'll come back," he said, "With a lump that small, there can't be any permanent damage." Alex smiled at him, and felt a small thrill go down her spine. He was so handsome and so nice to her.
"Thanks, Murdock," she said, adding before he could say anything "I heard your friend say your name."
~(oOo)~
Rule XI: You may, at some point, introduce children of the canon characters. To make sure everyone knows whose children they are, make them act exactly like their parent(s)—and since parenthood changes people, let the canon parents become very protective and loving or abusive, whichever you prefer to write.
Hannibal and B.A. were waiting at an abandoned warehouse with the client, a young woman. Face took one look at her golden curls and sapphire eyes and instantly forgot all the other women he'd conned and romanced. Alex laughed at the look on his face as she and Murdock went past him and inside. After a second he snapped out of it and followed.
"This is Rachelle Smith," Hannibal said. "Her son was kidnapped by mobsters three days ago, and the police are in on it."
"Three days? Hannibal, didn't Mr. Lee even check her out?" B.A. asked.
"Mr. Lee didn't need to," Hannibal snapped, lighting his cigar. "I can guarantee this client is trustworthy." Rachelle smiled up at him.
"Thanks, Daddy," she said, and sniffled a little. Face, B.A. and Murdock's jaws all dropped. Alex laughed again.
"Well, she has your eyes," she said. Murdock laughed.
"Good point, Alex," he said. Alex flushed at the compliment.
~(oOo)~
A/N: I do find Tawnia irritating, but she's still a canon character and deserves respectful treatment. I agree with Linkara: if you're going to kill a character, make it their Crowning Moment of Awesome. The "appealing body structure" is a phrase I encountered in one particular new writer's work—which was sent to me privately, being original fiction—over and over again. She was an awesome person and a real sport, but that description is just too funny.