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My Transformers fanfic:

Chapter 1

And I've added a list of links to my blog, which includes a direct link to Legion World.

Have not watched Transformers in a long time, but I still could hear Welker's shrill voice coming through loud and clear.

Good job.

Thank you, Dev.

Chapter 2 this weekend.

I actually watched the first three episodes of Transformers last week for the first time in years.

I agree with Dev that you've done a beautiful job of capturing the feel of it.

Thank you, Eryk.

It was a truly special show, the kind that very rarely happens. I really connected with it on a deep level that I find hard to describe.

Yeah, I love the original cartoon. Haven't really liked any version I've seen since (especially the especially the live action movies), though.

The best (one of the only good) things about the first live action movie was when Optimus bent down and said "I...am Optimus Prime." Hearing the right voice saying that was soooo cool.

Hmm... just watched a couple of more episodes. This may lead to some retro-reviewing!

Double the fun:

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Very nice.

Thank you, Dev. It's a labor of love.

Chapter 4

Dev, thanks for becoming my latest follower.

Look forward to reading this a little later, once I get home.

My thing is moving along at a snails pace...as I want to get everything lined up right. Changing things from what I was initially going to do years ago takes a lot of coordination.

I've been on a fanfic-writing roll this weekend!

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9 - THE CONCLUSION

I look forward to finding out what you all -- Dev, Eryk, and everyone else who has been following this story -- think. Please post all your comments in this thread, not on the blog. Thanks.

I'll read this as soon as I can...I also need to work on mine...but time os not something I have a ton of these days.

Really liked the Forbidden Zone stuff especially! As I recall, it was always kind of ambiguous whether Cybertron was entirely artificial, or was built over an existing planet, so it was cool to that explored. Is there precedent for using magic in the TF universe? It was nice to see the much neglected Skids taking on the role of "Autobot Magician".

I'd never really thought about how odd it was how few "sea characters" there were in Transformers. You'd think with the Decepticon base being underwater, they'd have developed some aquatic troopers capable of guarding it.

Liked seeing the origins of Metroplex and Trypticon, and tying the latter to Dinobot Island was a nice touch.

Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts in detail, Eryk. As some recent posts in Mission Monitor Board's Share Something else else Completely Random thread indicate, one should never underestimate how much a creative person appreciates such things.

That makes me feel really good, because it was by far the hardest stuff to write, since it was the only thing in the story that was not part of established Transformers mythology and I had to create it from whole cloth.

A little bit. One of my favorite episodes was the one about the planet of the mer-people with their magic wishing pond. And there's a Season 3 episode that I consider rather underrated where a doorway to a magical dimension is opened. That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Yeah. Poor Skids. He was the only one of the second wave of Autobot cars and trucks that didn't get the spotlight even once in the TV series. I had to remedy that.

I tend to be very critical of my own work, but I was very satisfied with the way that the Metroplex/Trypticon sequences came out.

I'm not really up on my 'Bot lore but I fondly remember all these guys from my childhood. I was really disappointed with the movies.

As a result of reading your fic, I was went looking for stuff around the net. I totally geeked out because they are making a new video game set a prequel to the original G1 series and have preordered it for June release.

Both the video game geek in me and the transformer fan in me says this is going to be good.

That's great news, TL. I'm very glad I helped you find that game. Enjoy it to the fullest.

I saw the first of the live-action movies and thought it was almost completely without redeeming qualities, save for Peter Cullen returning to the role of Optimus Prime. I skipped the second one.

The animated movie, I'm deeply ambivalent about. I don't mind that it was darker and more violent than the first two seasons of the show. I do mind that the story was an incoherent mess, and that the celebrity voices were far inferior to the professional voice actor voices.

I'm more bothered by the inconsistency of the violence of the movie with earlier seasons. Characters suddenly get killed by damage that is extremely minor compared to stuff they'd been through before. It really just smacks of "Hey, let's snuff out as many of the older characters as we can to clear the way for the next wave of toys".

After re-watching the first season of the original, I decided to check out more recent series. Transformers: Animated was actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Certainly worth watching. Then I watched Beast Wars, which was okay, but had a lot of annoying aspects to it.

Yeah, the inconsistency of the violence in the animated movie is annoying -- all they had to do was have a character say something like "Since the Decepticons took over Cybertron, they've upgraded their weapons thousandfold."

And I, too, find Beast Wars overrated, except for a Season 2 stand-alone episode, "Transmutate", written by my heroine Christy Marx. That one is outstanding.

I think I would have preferred to see a lot more of the characters "reformatted" into new roles rather than killed off and replaced.

I remember thinking when the Protectobots first appeared (with absolutely no explanation where they came from), that it would make a lot more sense to turn the existing Firetruck character, Police Car character, and Ambulance character into Protectobots than introduce all these new guys.

And did we really need to kill off grizzled war veteran Iron Hide to replace him with never-before-seen grizzled war veteran Kup?

But Ironhide was an early 80s Toyota camper van. Kup was a pickup truck... of Space.

Funnily enough, I've often suspected that the original plan was to have BOTH Megatron reformatted into Galvatron AND Optimus Prime reformatted into Ultra Magnus. The cab of the Ultra Magnus toy was basically Optimus re-painted all-white. The fact that separate Rodimus Prime and Hot Rod toys were released only makes me more certain.

By coincidence, one of the future Transformers fanfics that I've plotted (did anybody really think I'd stop at one?) has the Protectobots trapped and their functional predecessors having to take their place.

I loved Ironhide, but I have a sentimental spot for Kup. In the movie, as voiced by Lionel Stander, he was just a one-dimensional old grouch, but in Season 3, John Stephenson took over the role and really seemed to put his heart and soul into the role. That, combined with improved writing of Kup (particularly in his showcase episode, "Chaos", one of the best Season 3 episodes) ultimately made him just as valid as Ironhide IMO.

Yes. I liked Floro Dery's space-age car and truck designs better than the more conventional car and truck designs of the originals.

I have mixed feelings on that. While I liked the futuristic car designs, part of the original fun of Transformers was imagining that the car down the street was actually an Autobot. That kind of got lost when they moved to the futuristic setting.

I actually think they really missed out by not releasing "Cybertronian" versions of their original characters. I would've loved to have one of those Tetrahedron-style Cybertronian jets to play with.

True, but I think so much was gained by the futuristic setting that it compensated for what was lost. There were fewer silly gimmick episodes (paradoxically, I do love the discotheque episode from Season 2) and more space opera.

I loved the cybertronian/futuristic designs too. Cyclonus and Scourge were a bit too creepy. Aside from Shockwave (my personal favorite decepticon) were any Cybertronian toys made before the Unicron story? Shockwave appeared quite often but I only remember Cybertron being featured in a few episodes: with the only one really clear in my memory being the episode with the female transformers.


Apparently so does Hasbro.

BTS Game Interview

Trailer

So much so, they're canonizing a video game prequel to fill in and retcon their 80s stuff for a new line. Tetrahedron jets retconned away unfortunately.

I need to convince my brother to pick up the game so we can spend a couple hours making a prequel to our living room floor battles in front of the TV.

Cybertron appears quite a bit. It always seems oddly underpopulated, though.

They were creepy, but that's what I liked about them. Cyclonus looked like the devil himself!

One of my biggest disappointments when I first saw the animated movie, years after watching Season 3, was that Cyclonus and Scourge were non-entities with barely a line between them. I loved the way they were portrayed in Season 3, as Galvatron's much more level-headed yet still loyal lieutenants, kind of a Transformers version of the Cobra Commander/Destro/Major Bludd dynamic from G.I. Joe. (I know I've said this before in other threads, but in my opinion the Leonard Nimoy Galvatron from the movie was dull as dirt compared to the maniacal Frank Welker Galvatron from Season 3.)

None that I recall.

Shockwave was awesome. I really enjoyed being able to give him a bigger-than-usual role in the fanfic, and (spoiler box for those who haven't finished the story yet)

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">...having him be the one Decepticon who escaped capture.</span></span>

Corey Burton says that he based Shockwave's voice on David Warner.

It really says a lot about Burton's vocal range that he could go from Shockwave's baritone to the high-pitched Spike.

That was one of my main problems with the first two seasons, the emphasis on Earth over Cybertron. At the end of the 3-part pilot, the Autobots were supposed to return to Cybertron. But when Season 1 proper started, they were still on Earth with no explanation!

That's also one of the reasons I've never been a GoBot-hater -- I think that show, while inferior to Transformers, did have its merits, most prominently that we saw plenty of their home planet.

And BTW, the episode with the female Transformers is one of my personal Top Three episodes. Besides the Cybertron setting and the thrill of seeing kick-ass female Transformers, it's also the episode where Starscream says, "How fitting that the Decepticons have finally captured Optimus Prime under MY leadership."

My latest story is a done-in-one set in the Marvel Universe during the early 90s:

Something else else About Mary Clarke

Very nice. Reminds me that I have more things to write about Dane as well.

Thanks, Dev.

I think Dane is hotness personified -- and, as most people here at LW know, I usually prefer women.

I enjoyed this, but I wish I was better-versed in the era you're writing about. (A common problem for me when I'm reading people's fic here and on LJ, and the main reason I don't comment on them much.) The last time I saw Dane, he was kinda' sorta' interested in the Wasp. But I left superhero comics not long after that, so I don't know if that subplot ever went anywhere.

Thank you, Cleome.

Dane's thing for Janet ended up being wholly unrequited (Janet never had particularly good judgement in such matters, did she?)

It's a shame that the era this story is set in has not been collected in trades. I consider it an extremely underrated era, and I know Cobie, Dev, Pov, and Tempest would back me up on that. And the back issues are cheap and easy to find: Avengers #334-339, #343-351, #355-369, and #372-375.

One of, if not the, favorite Avengers runs. Not a huge fan of the Lightsaber Dane carried, but that didn't diminish the fun.

For you my dear...

COOOOOOOL!!!!

Thanks a million, Dev!

I gotta find him, but I have a custom Black Knight figure made from several different Batman:TAS figures, Including a removeable helmet.

Surprise! I spent most of Sunday working on the follow-up, did the final polish this morning before I left for work, and posted it just now!

Enjoy!

http://iammilk-milk.blogspot.com/2010/08/fanfic-black-knight-in-choice.html

Are you a fan of the Legion of Substitute Heroes? Do you wish that Marvel's Legion analogs, the Imperial Guard, had their own versions of the Subs?

Well, I've introduced Subs analogs in my latest alternate-universe fanfic, and I'd sure like to know what you think:

http://iammilk-milk.blogspot.com/2010/09/fanfic-imperial-guard-in-new-blood.html

I like the fact that you cover both the seeming ineptitude of the initial suns as well as the better more thought out subs of the 5YL stories.

Glad to see that you plan to continue this story.

Thanks, Dev.

Mild spoiler: Their voyage to Earth won't lead to them running into the X-Men or the Avengers. That's too predictable.

Good to hear. I like the unpredictable.

Here we go with the second installment. And just a reminder that this is an alternate Marvel Universe, full of surprises for characters and readers alike.

http://iammilk-milk.blogspot.com/2010/09/fanfic-imperial-guard-in-new-blood-part.html

Another great installment. Cannot wait to see the next one. Nice and simple set up for the main event here.

The final two installments of the Imperial Task Force story should be ready this weekend.

In the meantime, here's another untold Avengers story, starring Wanda, Vizh, Clint, and Simon, and guest-starring Mary Clarke (has anyone figured out yet which DC character she's an analog of? Hint: they're not necessarily the same gender.)

http://iammilk-milk.blogspot.com/2010/09/fanfic-west-coast-avengers-in-burdens.html

Someday, I'll finish the Imperial Task Force story.

But until then, here's my latest:

http://iammilk-milk.blogspot.com/2011/03/fanfic-outworlders-in-mission-to.html

The second installment of Outworlders:

http://iammilk-milk.blogspot.com/2011/03/fanfic-outworlders-in-space-madness.html

Comments on both stories would be greatly appreciated.

Been a while since I had a Non-Legion, Non-DCU fanfic to plug.

I've begun an ambitious project tracing a partial history of the Avengers through the eyes of the Black Widow, who's been everything from ancillary member to team leader in more permutations of the team than just about anyone I can think of.

I hope you'll enjoy these character-driven vignettes, and please share your thoughts with me in this thread.

http://avengersinternational.weebly.com/fan-fiction.html

This past spring, I decided to take a break from fan fiction to start writing my first original novel.

Several days ago, I decided the time had come to take a break from the novel, to recharge my batteries, and to dive back into the familiar, cozy waters of fan fiction, for a little while at least.

Last night, I completed my first fan fic since April, hosted at Ao3. It stars Marvel's cult-favorite Canadian superhero team, Alpha Flight. I have endeavored to make it as accessible as possible, both to readers who know Marvel but don't know Alpha Flight that well if at all, and to Non-Marvel readers who might be curious:

http://archiveofourown.org/works/7525012/chapters/17105122

As always, comments -- whether posted in this thread or directly at Ao3 -- are not only welcome, but also greatly appreciated.

I was never very well acquainted with Alpha Flight, but as I read through your story, I tried to Google and Wikipedia myself up=to=date.

Wow. A lot of history.

I like how you have fleshed out the interactions and relationships between the various characters.

I also like how there are varying degrees of self-awareness among the characters, and how this plays into how well-adjusted they are.

I have had an ongoing problem with super-heroes vs. god-like beings. There never seems to be any long-lasting consequences to the characters from these encounters.

(Aside: this double-goddess is not the daughter of Dr. Strange's Nightmare that Alpha Flight has met before, is it?)

For instance, Fantastic Four vs. Galactus, or Justice League vs. Darkseid. It is as though they are all just peers interacting, rather than, say, ants vs. hurricanes.

However, in this story, there are lasting consequences for everyone who interacts a transcendental being (or demon-level being?). That's nice.

Klar, thank you so much for that thoughtful and detailed review.

I totally agree with you that superheroes interacting with Gods is rarely done right, and that there should always be lasting consequences. I put a lot of thought and effort into making the Goddess as...well, for lack of a better term...Goddess-like as I possibly could, and having her effects on mortals be as plausible as I could make them. Thanks for confirming to me that the hard work paid off.

The Goddess is, indeed, not the same diety as Nightmare's daughter Dreamqueen. It was imperative to me that the Goddess be a character cut from whole cloth, rather than her having some connection to Marvel continuity. That was part of my effort to make the story as accessible as possible to readers who are not Alpha Flight cultists such as myself.

And as I think back on it, I realize now that I really should have listed a special thanks to writer Fabian Nicieza, whose all-too-brief 15-issue run on Alpha Flight is not only the last part of the AF canon before the alternate-continuity divergence, but also the first and only AF run that gave some of the second-and-third-string team members some real depth. It was Nicieza, for instance, who was the first to show readers that Diamond Lil had a real vulnerability hidden behind her brash, tough exterior.

For that matter, I should also have listed special thanks to Nicieza's two best AF writing predecessors, James Hudnall and AF creator John Byrne.

I do believe I'll go fix that omission right now.

Keep an eye on this thread...something's coming in just one week.

A slight change in plans...

Good news is, the Transformers fic is ready to post and, bar any unexpected cosmic disruptions, it will be posted on Archive of Our Own tomorrow morning at 7:00. A link in this thread shall immediately follow.

Bad news is, the Gobots fic, which I've actually been working on longer than the TF one, still needs some fine-tuning, so I've set a new deadline for posting it: Monday, September 26th.

Hmmm...methinks the Gobot haters might interpret both items as good news. But I kid the Gobot haters -- to each their own, I respect your opinion and your inalienable right to hate 1980s Hanna-Barbera toy-driven cartoons with space-opera trappings.

As promised:

http://archiveofourown.org/series/543541

Enjoy.

And, as always, comments are greatly appreciated. It doesn't matter to me whether the comments are left here in this Legion World Bits thread, or on Archive of Our Own.

Coming tonight at 9:00...

"We are experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by..."

Just kidding. OK, half kidding. Basically, I'm running a little behind schedule, BUT I will have the entire fanfic posted before 12 midnight. One way or another, I *will* have it ready *on September 26th*, as promised.

It's still going to happen. Put it this way, I can finally see proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

And this is the last post I will make about the delay until all seven installments are completed and posted at Ao3.

Famous last words. :s

But I'll keep this short and sweet:

It became painfully obvious last night that the Gobots fic needs a lot more work than I realized. I won't bore anyone with the details (I've got my fanfic writers' community for that post.) Suffice it to say I'm now looking to have it ready by Christmastime, because I still intend to do one "movie-length" Gobots fic a year, from 2016 through 2019, just like the old sci-fi TV show "Alien Nation" did a series of TV movies after lasting only one season.

Now I'm off to get a long rest, and then I'll have myself a stress-free, fanfic-writing-free (but not Legion-World-post-free, oh no) weekend.

Later, 'gators.

Take all the time you need, Fanfie. Can't rush art.

Thank you, Ibby. Much appreciated.

My brand-sparkling new Transformers fan fic!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/37407001/chapters/93349153