Making of a Retcon

To be honest, it was really Walky and LV!'s idea to retcon the hell out of Firestormers. It wasn't that there weren't parts of it I'd like to disavow any knowledge of (like the entirety of the Unicron Earth War, which I only even kept in the first rewrite because it established the relationship between Trixter and Jazz), it was mostly a case of "You can't do that, can you?". I started Firestormers when I was all of 15 and was still getting the hang of what was a good plot and what was a ridiculous plot. Not to mention that I didn't really like how the G2 comic had ended so I thought it might be more fun to forget it happened at all. I just felt that, once a story had been read by more than, say, three people, you couldn't just go back and change it. But their suggestion that I scrap everything and start over as a way of taking care of the stuff I was less than proud of stuck in my head and I considered the possibilities. It had been several years after G2, after all, so it wouldn't have to take place right after the G2 comic (which I originally didn't really like the ending of). Lots of stuff could have changed. Plus I had LV! to tell me all about the UK comic, so I could include that in the backstory. So it eventually got to the point where I couldn't answer people asking when part 13 would be coming along because honestly, there was very possibly not going to be a part 13. And there's not. If enough people ask, I may write a conclusion to the storyline the characters were firmly entrenched in as of part 12, but after that the old stories are firmly Elseworlds fodder.

The continuity: Firmly and strictly based on the comic, including the UK and G2 series. This is the Skids who went to Limbo and back, and this is the Jazz who was part of the Magnificent Six. (Not to mention this is the Slapdash who got such a kick out of watching "Miami Metal Clamp". And, as according to the comic, Slapdash has a face. :-) ) Where things stand as of now: The Autobots and Decepticons are finally growing comfortable with their alliance against the Cybertronians. Not comfortable enough to have mixed teams just yet, but at least enough to share the occasional base (as you'll see in #2, "Sanctuary"). Autobot Firestormer teams and Decepticon Destructor squads, both controlled from the Alliance base on Cybertron, have been established to wipe out any Cybertronian settlements they come across and provide readily available moble units for the army. The first Firestormer teams were actually established shortly before the first Cybertronians were discovered, and the Destructor squads were established based on them after the Alliance was formed. As for my specific characters, I've changed the team around a little. Which basically comes down to "I've replaced the two Technobots with Slapdash." Why? Well, when it comes down to it, I only really put Afterburner and Strafe on there because I had liked the Technobots when I was little. And heck, I still do rather like them, but this time I've given the whole team another role to play (as you'll also see in #2). And Slapdash fit in quite well, plus Lube gets to be "the smart one". Which is something my team really needs. :-) Everyone else is the same. Trixter's lost her teleporting powers 'cause, well, it was kinda early-G1. Notice they kinda gave up on the super powers after the first series, so I finally took the hint and dropped it. LV!'s story "Breaking Point" is firmly canon, and it'll actually come up a little later. LV! seems rather convinced that Upstart's from the Scottish part of Cybertron, and I guess Ewan MacGregor is a tad more impressive a voice than Rob Paulsen (even if he had awful hair in "Shallow Grave"). Which, until I get more of a hang of dialectical writing, will probably pretty much come down to him saying "bloody" a lot. I fixed Fury's name because everyone thought it was, well, kinda gay spelled with an "ie". Dharma and Maleeus will show up again eventually, as will Melee and a couple other original characters I never got to in the original series.

And that about covers it. Let me know what you think of the new series. I need all the input and constructive criticism I can get!

-Trixter

1/4/99