Dunmurderin'

WIPweek, Day Five: June 27, 2019: To read other entries, head over to wipweek

Theme: Your Canonverse or AU WIP:

Ok, by this point, it’s likely pretty plain that I only have one main WIP – I mean, I have snippets and ideas running around but in terms of an actual Work In Progress, I’m only counting one in terms of fanfic. (For original work, I’ve got three different works that are in different stages of “In Progress”). Common Cause is set in my own personal Transformers/GI Joe universe and takes place in 1993, so it’s somewhere between canon and an AU.

Bonus Question: What is your most used AO3 tag?:

I have an AO3 account but I have yet to post any fics to it, so I don’t have any AO3 tags. (cue shameful hanging of head). However, going by Dreamwidth tags, my top five most commonly used fanfic related tags are:

• Fanfic -- with 191 uses, not all of which are fics
  
• Genre: Gen – 92 entries
  
• Fandom: Transformers – with 80 uses, not all of which are fanfic related
  
• Rating: G to PG -- 75
  
• Characters: Combaticons – 42 uses; most of which are fanfics
  

WIPweek Day 3: June 25, 2019: To read other entries, head over to wipweek
Theme: Your Previously Unpublished WIP:

I’ve got a few of these, but I’m going to talk about one that’s my attempt at an origin story for the Combaticons, my favorite team and the group of characters I’ve written the most fics about.
In the original US G1 cartoon, the Combaticons got a surprising amount of screen time. “Starscream’s Brigade” introduced them to Earth, followed by “Revenge of Bruticus” which showed them reacting badly to having been foiled and “B.O.T.” which is the one where “Swindle sells the rest of the team for parts, leading to shenanigans.” But for all that, we didn’t get much of their pre-cartoon backstory. Which means it’s open for ficcing!

In my version of the Transformers G1 universe, I have it that the Combaticons weren’t originally Decepticons. Instead, they were a group of thugs and hard-cases running around making trouble for anybody who they felt like making trouble for.

I set out to write about how the Combaticons were originally recruited to be Decepticons and, toward that end, I created a group of original characters who worked for the Decepticons as recruiters, of a sort. Ok, considering the leader of the group is named “Pressgang,” their particular ‘recruitment style’ is probably pretty obvious.

The WIP starts off from the POV of Pressgang and introduces her and her crew of recruiters. Pressgang and her brother/co-leader Witness have been mentioned in other stories of mine and they’re a group of OCs I’d like to do more with.

The reason I like these OCs as much as I do is because they’re really nothing special (this is kind of a theme of mine). They’re not high rankers, they’re not the best of the best of the best. They’re a bunch of workaday, punch-clock Decepticon-adjacent Transformers who do what they do because they need the money. Which, should I ever get around to finishing this fic, is part of why they’re in an ideal spot to recruit (my version) of the Combaticons – who are also punch-clock villains.

This snippet is from the beginning of the fic. The fic itself is as yet untitled -- it is Safe For Work/No Warnings Apply:

Pressgang had just settled back into her favorite booth at Oiler’s when her radio crackled with an incoming alert from Detain, her crew’s comms master. “Figures,” she said with a long suffering sigh as she took a drink and considered ignoring the hail. “I just got comfortable.”

“Sunbow’s Luck,” Witness agreed from where he sat, slanted in his chair so he could keep an eye on Snag and Snare as they prowled the area near the booth. Pressgang could sense the pings travelling between her brother/co-leader and the two mini-con sniper-scouts. “Want me to take it? I can tell her you’ve just gone off with a pair of sleek turbo-jets and left orders not to be disturbed.”

“Tempting, but they know I’m sitting here, they’d have checked my location before they sent the message. It’s what makes them the best comms-master in the Zone.” Pressgang was about to answer Detain’s first hail when a second one came in, this time with a high-priority tag added on that just about made her internal sensors crackle. “Damn it to the Pits!” Pressgang set her mug down with a thud that made Snag and Snare jump and dart for the relative safety of Witness’s seat.

“This had better be good, Detain,” Pressgang said as she answered the hail. “You just made me startle the scouts. And slop the best part of my drink onto the table, so you’re already in my bad graces, Detain.”
"Sorry to interrupt, Boss but we got five neuts trying to go up against Mixer's crew down in the Quarter," Detain said, taking the implied threat in stride. “Fight’s going pretty hot and heavy, from the chatter I’m hearing over their comms.”

“And that’s our problem, why?” Pressgang asked. “As long as Mixer and his people stay in Yan Sector, I don’t give a—,” She cut herself off, scowling. “Detain, they’re not coming across into our turf, are they?”

“No ma’am,” Detain said. “Sounds like the neuts actually brought the fight to them; Mixer’s people are barricaded inside their HQ and the neuts are trying to take them out.”

Bonus Question: What fanwork would you most like to receive as a gift?:

The bonus is easy to answer, though it’s a two-parter. First and foremost, I’d love to receive fanart based on my stories. I even have a list of stories that I’d like to see art from. Ok, to be 100% honest, the list could be easily summarized as “All of my fics; send me art, I cannot draw and am fascinated by those of you who can.”

Second, I’d love podfic. Again, the list is pretty much “Anything I have written." Though, f I had to pick fics that I’d like to see art/podfics from, the list would include the following (highest rating on these fics is M for mature, most should be safe for work, no real warnings:

• any of my Huffer/Pipes fics
  
• the Seven Ages of Tailgate
  
• Shambleau
  
• Common Cause (particularly once it’s finished –- which, by Primus’s purple patchcord, I swear will happen this year!).
  

I’m making an attempt at participating in wipweek this month. wipweek is A week to encourage the updating and completion of WIPs from every fandom, previously run exclusively on Tumblr.


June 23: Your Oldest WIP:


There might be older ones, but I’m fairly certain my oldest WIP is “Common Cause” which was started back in June 2006 and remains unfinished – mostly. I actually wrote an ending for it but I never posted it because it wasn’t done enough.


“Common Cause” is a Transformers/GI Joe crossover fic based mostly in the original 1980s cartoons for both series, though there are elements of the comics and some of my own head-fanon in there as well. The plot centers around the Combaticons, a group of evil Decepticons, causing mayhem and the Joes being sent out to try and take them out – without help from the Autobots. A lucky shot disables Onslaught, leader of the Combaticons, leaving him severely injured and forcing the rest of his team to make common cause with the Joes and the Autobots.


I’m hoping to rewrite and actually finish the damned thing this year. I've been reviewing it and making revision notes so *fingers crossed* this year's the year! Also, I have a kind of a superstitious thing that makes me think that not having finished this fic is stopping me from finishing anything else. So, here's to removing this 13 year long case of the whiffs!
Snippet:

"Alright," Hawk said, calling the room to attention. "I'm not going to sugarcoat this. We have a Decepticon attack underway in Rhode Island. This is not a drill. We will be going in locked and loaded.” He paused. “And we’ll be going in solo.”

A murmur ran through the room. "I know, I know," Hawk said. "Orders from on top, we've got to prove we're worth the money the taxpayers have spent on us. The Autobots were told they're to stay out of this one. We're on our own, but that's nothing new. Now, for the nitty-gritty."

Behind Hawk, a viewscreen turned on, showing footage of a group of robots surrounding an office building.

"This is the Havefam toy company's corporate headquarters," Hawk said. "We're not sure why they've been singled out. They're not an energy producer and they don't have any special secret projects that would interest the Decepticons."

'Maybe Megatron wants a Mr. Tomato Head?" A chuckle ran through the room at Mainframe's joke.

"Well then, he needs to hit Toys R Us like everybody else." This time, the collective chuckle was louder. "Alright, listen up," Hawk said and the room came to attention. "It's 'know your enemy' time."

The image on the screen changed, tightening up on the robots.

"These five individuals are the Combaticons," Hawk said. "Preliminary reports have them first appearing on Earth approximately seven years ago. Apparently, they were created during an internal power struggle between the Decepticon higher-ups back in '86."

"Nice guys," Sci-fi drawled from where he slouched in his chair. "Real cuddly."

Bonus Question: What fandom would you love to revisit?:

Transformers. It was the first fandom I started writing fic for and I had a lot of fun doing it before I kind of drifted away from fic writing in favor of working on original fiction. This year, due to rediscovering the fandom thanks to the IDW comics (especially More Than Meets The Eye and Lost Light), I’ve decided to work on finishing Common Cause as well as rewriting some other older fics and hopefully writing some new ones!