crazy customizing and creativity questions and discussion

[Gomess]

I also realised the other day, through a conversation with O6, that I shouldn't be referring to my stuff as fanfic, since what little TF fanfic I have written isn't prose- even I would find that dull- but fully illustrated comics. Don't know if that changes Dom's perspective. Heck, he might see it as *twice* the waste of time.

But I rather enjoy working with an artist, sometimes several, on creating a fun new interpretation of an extant property just for the sake of it. It's a social experience too. And just because something isn't obviously "useful" doesn't mean it's worthless. (And, super duper secret: Repainting toys isn't "useful". Habsor doesn't care any more about that than they do my comics.)

And yeah, general response to my BW-set-in-the-50s-like-a-B-movie concept was very positive, so if I ever did anything with that I'd be sure to post it. And Dom is of course encouraged to give constructive criticism.

[Dominic]

Dom used to write fanfic back in the day, y'know, and I actually thought it was pretty good.

Eh, not really. Yeah, I wrote some fanfic, (too much really). But, it was not that good. It really was not. It was exactly the kind of thing that Bob Forward warned against in '98. I avoided some of the worst sins of fanfic, but my product (aside from Stinkskunk's epic journey) was still pretty bad.

Honeybear's memories are over a decade old, and seen through the eyes of a then obsessive fan. If I had old copies, I would share them with him......

My writing did not improve until I stepped away from this sort of thing. For the record, writing non-fiction helped me more.

Similarly, if I was really going to try to increase my technical/engineering skills. i would put down my paint brushes, and pick up some resin/metal/plastic moulding equipment.

I think the real problem with that is that Dom places official content in too high regard. I get the impression that he thinks the only fiction that should be written should be from official sources.

I know that respecting IP and such is not fashionable in creative circles. But, yeah, I do respect the guys whose job it is to write the content.

That said, I do not think that all official content is good. And, when official content reads like fanfic, (such as with the "AllSpark Almanac" or most everything to come out of Fun Publications), I am not one to forgive it.

Unless of course he could cite some sort of officially produced content that has all of those characters standing next to each other. I seriously doubt said content exists. The police Sunstreaker alone would make that virtually impossible. So he basically has fanfic on display by virtue of having officially produced content next to unofficially produced content.

Admittedly, Police Streaker stretches things. But, it is consistent in tone/theme with legitimate content. And, for a time, Takara was making use of previously forgotten toys.

think Dom's real problem with fanfic is because most of the time the people writing fanfic tend to be self indulgent in the sense that they create unofficial "fan" characters and use said fanfic as an excuse to try to make them seem more bad ass. Or maybe to justify creating said character to begin with. It's like fans just use it to say "look at this awesome character I made! Isn't awesome? Please tell me it's awesome!"

Or, it is an excuse to have characters doing things that they would/should not. Harry Potter fic is probably the worst offender at this point. (I tend to assume "My Immortal" is a brilliant parody. But, none of the problems it lampoons are unique to parody.)

I also realised the other day, through a conversation with O6, that I shouldn't be referring to my stuff as fanfic, since what little TF fanfic I have written isn't prose- even I would find that dull- but fully illustrated comics. Don't know if that changes Dom's perspective. Heck, he might see it as *twice* the waste of time.

I would still call it fanfic.

Fan Art, not like fanfic, is the sort of thing that kind of works for a younger fan/creator who is trying to build their skills or rep by working wth something recognizable. But, the more "creative" they get, the worse the product is likely to be.

So, any thoughts on the Decepticon Target Master question?


Dom
-still needs to make some custom PCC guys as well.

[Gomess]

Dom, you're the weirdest fan of anything (weird in your fan-ing, not as a person) I've ever sort-of met. That is all.

[Dominic]

Clearly you have never hung out with me. And, you forgot "Merry Christmas 2010".


Dom
-is actually a rather sensible fan.

[Gomess]

You seem like a sensible *person*, but as a fan... you are WAY OUT THERE, GUGLIEME

And I'll never forget Christmas 2010.

[Dominic]

So, any thoughts on the Target Master Seeker question?

And, would it be out of order to recolour PCC Undertow as Manta Ray? On the one hand, it would nicely compliment Leadfoot (arguably the same character as evidenced by the tech specs). On the other hand, it is kind of cheap and obvious.


Dom
-having a hard time coming up with good colours for that mould.

[Dominic]

I am willing to do 1 black recolour of the TFU Decepticon trooper/Seeker mould. And, there are two canonically possibilities.

-nameless black jet trooper from G2. This is the toy that is unofficially known as "black death" Starscream. It most likely would have been a new character, similar to the (recently discovered) G2 Sandstorm (recoloured from G2 Ramjet. it would fit in nicely with my G2 custom figures. But, it is a straight black recolour (tedious to paint and boring visually), and has neither an official name no release.

-black Starscream: Back in 2001, Takara/E-Hobby bundled a mostly black recolour of Starscream with one of their more desirable recolours, (I think it was either Sunstorm or the Ghost of Starscream). It was nearly impossible to avoid getting the black recolour if you got the other figure because most places only sold them as a set (to avoid being stuck with the black recolour that nobody wanted). Contrary to the name, this toy would have a fair amount of grey and gold on it. It would also ben another Decepticon for my E-Hobby custom shelf (alongside Howlback, Detritus and Magnificus). But, it would be another Starscream.


Dom
-thoughts?

[Onslaught Six]

Black Starscream is BB, from BWII.

What? He had to get his name from somewhere, and eHobby Starscream's bio even specifically mentions that he's using special "black-body" technology. BB and Starscream were primarily black, too, so there you go.

[Gomess]

Err, why can't black Starscream just be BW2 *Starscream*? =|

[Dominic]

Wait, do we have a source on this? I thought the character profile referenced "Machine Wars".

Dom
-oi...