Nobody asked for it, but - wait, people did ask for it. Well, here it is anyways! T H E B W C F A Q e a h r s u a r r e k e s s o q e s t n u d t i e i c n o l t n e l s s y v3.0 By Stormcloud, writer of BWC Contents: 0. INTRODUCTION 0.1 The Real Introduction 0.2 Umm... so, why's this here? 0.3 Version History 1. BACKGROUND 1.1 What the slag is Beast Wars Chronicles? 1.2 Is Beast Wars Chronicles an alternate timeline of Beast Wars? 1.3 Okay, what IS the timeline around here? 1.4 All these 'fics... what order do they go in? 1.5 Wait - howcum the dates aren't in sequential order? If /Transitions/ is before /Proving Ground/, howcum it's uncompleted? 1.6 Do you have any other claims to fame in the fanfic area? 2. CHARACTERS 2.1 Can you put me/a character I created in a fanfic? 2.2 You said you'd put me/my character in, so where is he/she/it? 2.3 Who in the crew was originally a famous Autobot/Decepticon? 2.4 Is Megatron really Dinobot's father? 2.5 Then who's his mother? 2.6 Treadbolt is actually the Silverbolt Fuzor, right? 2.7 Who the hell is this Vixen person? 2.8 All right, then, how 'bout Stormcloud? 2.9 Then who's Windrider? 2.10 "Bloodclot"? Who's THAT? 2.11 Way I hear it, there's some guy called Minimus Primal... who's he? 2.12 Isn't somebody named Hi-Tech flying around? 2.13 Um - what about Cloudspin? 2.14 Hold tight a sec. You talked about Grouind Zero - who might he be? 2.15 Bandit? I thought she was the chick who ran BWA... 2.16 Say, I saw the '97 Trannies, and someone named "Nightpounce" was nominated for Best Original Character... who's Nightpounce? 2.17 Hey - who's Trailblazer, anyhow? 2.18 Earlier, you mentioned Stratosfire. Who, exactly, IS he, anyhow? 2.19 Aeriomals - what are they? You keep mentioning them... 3. STORIES 3.1 How did Primus Trion find the planet in /Power Corruption/? 3.2 How could Blackarachnia and Tarantulas hurt Grimlock (the G1 Grimmers) in /A Better Time and Place/? 3.3 How did all these people come to the planet? 3.4 In /Juliet/, Blackarachnia mentions that she and Juliet were "VERY close", and then licks her lips... what, is this turning into an episode of "Ellen"? 3.5 How come Vixen doesn't seem to like Tailwind much in /Against the Moonlight/? 4. MISCELLANIOUS 4.1 How can the Beast Warriors be the same size as the original TFs? 4.2 So, what's the BWC take on the aliens? 4.3 What's the full version of the Cybertronian Song of the Dead? 4.4 Why in God's name do you feel compelled to use every Beast Warrior ever created, and then some? 4.5 What are those BWC-specific subgroups you kept rambling on about, anyways? 4.5.1 The Metalformers 4.5.2 The Lasermasters 4.5.3 The Armormasters 4.6 You're into Shakespeare, aren't you? All the aliens seem to be named after characters in his plays... 4.7 So, what if I've got other questions, huh? How do I find you? 4.8 I sent you an e-mail and you never answered, you moron. What's up with that? 4.9 Say, um, Stormcloud... um, can I ask you a teensy- weensy favor... um, could I borrow (insert idea/character name here) for a fanfic? 5. CREDITS 0. INTRODUCTION 0.1 The Real Introduction Beast Wars Chronicles is confusing. Really. Even for me. I didn't mean it to be. At first, I just wanted to write a story about Beast Wars. No more, no less. Then, I wrote another. And another. And now, the whole thing has become something of a juggernaut, still going strong. It's a story about triumph. It's a story about failure. It's a story about betrayal. It's a story about the things that make individuals who they are... and what can make them become someone else. It's a chronicle of the Beast Wars... a war that never should have happened... and may very well change the face of the universe in its passing... 0.2 Um... so, why's this here? Oops. Got carried off on the poem tangent up there. Sorry. My mistake. Anyhow, this FAQ is designed to help cope with the problem of BWC - the fact that it's confusing. After answering several questions about BWC, often repeatedly, I finally decided the best way to handle the confusion that it could generate would be this FAQ - a document that contained the questions that most stubbornly refused to die, and that most sorely needed answering. Enjoy. Oh, and no more poetry, I promise. 0.3 Version History Hey, this thing's been around for a while. Therefore, this section has been formed: the place where I include everything added and included. v1.0: Initial release. All the basic stuff. Some settling seemed to have occurred during shipping. v2.0: Removed the part about the BWA Discussion Board - I'm not there anymore, and nobody used it anyhow. Added Vixen's beast mode - thanks go to Carl Enderton for pointing that I left it out. Added the Credits section. Identified Stormcloud, Windrider, Bloodclot, and Minimus Primal. Added information about Dinobot's mom and dad. Added the order the fanfics go in chronologically. Added descriptions of the BWC-specific subgroups. I've been reading far too many X-Men comics lately - any warped mind that could come up with The Disney X-Men needs more sleep. v3.0: Information about the later stories and why things seem wierd when it comes to the date the story was completed as opposed to when it fits in the timeline. Added a couple of questions that are borderline nitpicky, thanks to the excellent observational skills of Starlight85 from BWA and Blackbird from... well, I don't know. Added info about the joint fanfics with Blackbird and Moonlight. Gave Blackbird, Starlight85, and Moonlight credit, and altered Bandit's credit blurb. Inserted a little bit about unanswered e-mail. Replaced info about the BWA board, since it's back. Added info about Treadbolt/Silverbolt. Identified Hi-Tech, Cloudspin, Ground Zero, Bandit, Nightpounce, Trailblazer, Stratosfire, and the Aeriomals. Addressed the Shakespeare question. Added information about asking to borrow ideas and characters. Wow - the information density in this FAQ is really starting to fly through the roof. Cool. 1. BACKGROUND 1.1 What the slag is Beast Wars Chronicles? Beast Wars Chronicles is a fanfic series by none other than the exuberant Beast Wars fan, Stormcloud. The entire series came off of the story /Proving Ground/, which was finished on February 25th, 1997. After that, I wrote /Power Corruption/, which came soon after /Proving Ground/, and then I wrote /Kindred Spirits/... well, I guess you could say I started writing, and just haven't stopped since. Beast Wars Chronicles is fairly popular, with Stormcloud as its solo writer, Jennifer Stevens as the person who read BWC before reading BWC was cool (and also continued to post them on her page - thanks, Jen!), and Dolphonoch as its thoroughly devoted fanboy. In addition to this cast, the BWC universe now hails two other people for having an impact on the series - Moonlight and Blackbird. Moonlight's fanfiction is available on BWA, and Blackbird's is pending arrival. Both of them are collaborators with me in joint fanfic attempts. The one with Moonlight, "Other Side of Reality", has progressed into the writing stage and is coming along nicely. The one with Blackbird is still in the conceptual stages. 1.2 Is Beast Wars Chronicles an alternate timeline of Beast Wars? No, Beast Wars is an alternate timeline of Beast Wars Chronicles! ;) Yes, BWC is an alternate timeline of Beast Wars - sort of. Yeah, it's obviously not congruent with the BW 2nd season, but it's also not a completely original take on everything. The next question clarifies things a little more. 1.3 Okay, what IS the timeline around here? Well, up until "Other Voices", the timeline is identical. After OV, however, while BW went into "Aftermath", BWC took a different turn. (NOTE: What follows may be elaborated on in a fanfic at some point, but will be quickly explained here to answer questions.) Optimus managed to survive the explosion of the planet destroyer, but landed on the first moon instead of the planet, where Cavewing and Onyx Primal had managed to land. Meanwhile, the blast launched a large number of the pods towards the planet. Vixen and Jetstorm landed first, and between Rhinox, Rattrap, and Vixen, the Maximals managed to repair their shuttlebay, and used the Axalon's shuttles to search for Optimus. While the Maximals were gone, Blackarachnia placed Tarantulas in his body, gathered up Chuckles and Inferno, and quietly snuck back to the Soundwave. The shuttles found Optimus, Cavewing came along, and Onyx phased into one of the shuttles, staying hidden until they reached the planet, where he and Cavewing fought briefly, ending in Onyx flying off to the Predacons. Onyx, however, had gained the schematics of the Maximal's shuttles, and copied them to Megatron, who set Tarantulas and Blackarachnia working on it immediately. After that, the pods landed fairly repeatedly, ending with the Aeriomals and Reptilicons being acquired by their respective sides. That's when /Proving Ground/ comes in. (NOTE: I did say quickly, and I meant it.) 1.4 All these 'fics... what order do they go in? Here's the order of the fanfics, accompanied by the date of their completion: Transitions - Pending Completion Proving Ground - Febuary 25th, 1997 Merger - October 11th, 1997 Power Corruption - March 29th, 1997 Kindred Spirits - March 30th, 1997 Juliet - April 4th, 1997 Confirmation, pt. 1 - April 16th, 1997 Confirmation, pt. 2 - April 23rd, 1997 Betrayal of Trust - May 12th, 1997 A Better Time and Place - May 17th, 1997 Ante - May 23rd, 1997 Chasing Shadows - June 10th, 1997 Fire in the Sky - June 30th, 1997 Lady in Red - July 8th, 1997 Question of Loyalty - July 28th, 1997 Power Play, pt. 1 - August 4th, 1997 Power Play, pt. 2 - August 25th, 1997 Power Play, pt. 3 - September 27th, 1997 Changes - January 3rd, 1998 (note: this is the date I actually changed the title to "Changes". The date I completed the actual story is lost. The Artifact - January 3rd, 1998 Against the Moonlight - May 15th, 1998 Temporal Fluid - June 16th, 1998 Other Side of Reality - Pending Completion 1.5 Wait - howcum the dates aren't in sequential order? If /Transitions/ is before /Proving Ground/, howcum it's uncompleted? Because I moved faster than I wrote. /Proving Ground/ was written without thinking too much about timeline implications, and then continued to write the stories, often with gaps in the timeline between them. So, I later went back and filled in the gaps (or at least started to). Erego, the timeline discrepencies. 1.6 Do you have any other claims to fame in the fanfic area? Yeah, actually, I do. My only non-BWC Beast Wars fanfic, Good Intentions, is available on my page, as is my somewhat unorthodox 'fic, The EL TF Saga, and Beast Generation, a still uncompleted attempt to tie some of BW into G1. 2. CHARACTERS 2.1 Can you put me/a character I created in a fanfic? Yeah, sure, no problem. Just head over to my page, Transformers: Alias (http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/6381/tfindex.html), go under the Tech Spec Files, go to the Tech Spec submission form, and send me your specs, with a note in there somewhere that asks for your character to be put in a fanfic. If that method refuses to work on your browser, then send me an e-mail with the request and the basic information on your character. If that bombs, too, then post the request on the Beast Wars Anonymous Discussion Board (where a lot of my readers hang out, as well as me). If that also doesn't work, then boy, you're really in trouble - how did you get the fanfics? 2.2 You said you'd put me/my character in, so where is he/she/it? In purgatory. The pure fact of the matter is that it's pretty difficult to simply drop a character into a fanfic. Before I can bring someone in, I need to find a place where I can integrate them semi-seamlessly. Also, I can't _promise_ they'll have an incredibly prominent role. Face it, BWC has a cast of over 80 characters, and it's tough to cycle through them all. I try, but it's not as easy as it looks. However, if I said that I would put your character in, I will, even if it is only a bit part. You just have to be a little patient. 2.3 Who in the crew was originally a famous Autobot/Decepticon? Grimlock, Onslaught, Bonecrusher, Igaunus, Prowl, Silverbolt, Ironhide, Skydive, Skyfall, Sawjaw (really Wheeljack) - and, of course, Shockwave (although he isn't really on the crew, plus he's dead). If you scan a list of original TF toys, you'll find all of those on the list. Upcoming characters will also be former famous Autobots/Decepticons. (If you spot anyone I missed, then point it out to me and I'll give you credit in the FAQ, and fume about it for a week.) Also, I'd like to point out that Stratosfire was NOT a famous Bot. He was just an Autobot, nobody special. 2.4 Is Megatron really Dinobot's father? Yessssssssss. 2.5 Then who's his mother? Um... we don't know. Presumably, another Predacon, still somewhere on Cybertron. Considering the large amount of feedback I've gotten on Betrayal of Trust, however, there's a not- insignifigant chance that Dinobot's mother may show up in the future... 2.6 Treadbolt is actually the Silverbolt Fuzor, right? Um... yes and no. Originally, yes, but to get the whole story, you'll have to read /Against the Moonlight/ through /Other Side of Reality/, which details what made him become Silverbolt, and how the whole situation with the Magnaboss component Silverbolt. The whole Treadbolt thing actually arose originally because I had already introduced Silverbolt (Magnaboss) and couldn't simply get rid of him. 2.7 Who the hell is this Vixen person? I get a bunch of questions to identify folks, but Vixen's name comes up the most, so I'll identify her first. Vixen is the Maximal's chief medical officer and psychologist, and also Stormcloud's main love intrest (and later on, his wife). She also possesses some degree of psionic ability. Her beast mode is a fox. 2.8 All right, then, how 'bout Stormcloud? Stormcloud is GOD. Oh, wait, you mean in the stories. Sorry. Stormcloud is the Maximal's leading computer expert, who was, for a while, very withdrawn due to some dark incidents in his past. Since his relationship with Vixen began, though, he's become much more open. He had a sister, Chaseplane, known to be deceased, and a brother, Headlock, a member of the Predacons. His beast mode is a peregrine falcon. 2.9 Then who's Windrider? Storm, the mutant born with the ability to control the weather, and worshipped as... Wait. I'm thinking of X-Men. Windrider is one of the five-member gestalt team, the Aeriomals. He transforms into a hawk, and possesses incredibly sharp talons, mounted on his wrists in robot mode. He and Stormcloud are friends. His beast mode is a hawk, and he combines with the rest of the Aeriomals to form Skyking. 2.10 "Bloodclot"? Who's THAT? Bloodclot is a Predacon assault warrior who's known to have a long-standing grudge with Ground Zero - although it's not made clear exactly why. One of the Predacon's more formidable troopers, his beast mode is a mosquito. He is also a prime candidate for the Predacon Metalformers. 2.11 Way I hear it, there's some guy called Minimus Primal... who's he? Nobody special. Minimus Primal is the name I gave to Polar Claw's little bat buddy. He's only semi-sentient (unlike Hi-Tech), and acts as a scout and information relayer, as well as a remote surveillance unit. He has no beast mode - he's a robot bat. 2.12 Isn't somebody named Hi-Tech flying around? Yeah. Hi-Tech was named under the same circumstances as Minimus Primal - she's Scorponok's little bee. She's fully sentient (and seems to be somewhat smarter than Chitin-chips), but has similar functions to Minimus. She also can't land very well. 2.13 Um - what about Cloudspin? Cloudspin is the only female member of the Aeriomals. She transforms into a cardinal, and is the group's resident sharpshooter, with excellent aiming skill. She's also something of a wiseass. Her and Windrider are friends and enemies, depending on the day of the week. She combines with the other Aeriomals to form Skyking. 2.14 Hold tight a sec. You talked about Grouind Zero - who might he be? MEAN. Ground Zero is more or less a walking armory, with twenty-six high-power missile launchers on him, as well as a particle cannon, a close-combat rotoclaw, and the gift of flight. However, he isn't the brightest Maximal - nowhere near it, in fact. He, Trailblazer, and Bandit are friends. He also has a taste for rock n' roll. He transforms into a badger. After /Changes/, he's a Metalformer, with a vehicle mode of a tank. 2.15 Bandit? I thought she was the chick who ran BWA... No. And don't call her a chick. Bandit was CREATED by Jennifer Stevens, the maintainer of BWA. However, her MUSH incarnation was gotten rid of, and she now remains only in BWC. There, now onto personality... Bandit's the head of the Covert Ops department. She's stealthy, she's skilled, and she's a certifiable wiseass. She also died at one point, but thankfully her main memory was recovered, albeit damaged, and she was rebuilt. She used to be married to Trailblazer, and is still good friends with Ground Zero, Stormcloud, and Vixen. Before /Power Play/, she had the beast mode of a racoon. After /Power Play/, she's a Metalformer, and she has the beast mode of a weasel and a vehicle mode of a motorcycle. 2.16 Say, I saw the '97 Trannies, and someone named "Nightpounce" was nominated for Best Original Character... who's Nightpounce? Considering how she did, she's not my nominee for Best OC next year. ;) Nightpounce is head of Tactical Ops along with Onslaught. She is strictly trained militarily, and frequently reflects with pride upon her days in the Cybertronian War Academy. She used to be involved with Primus Trion, and is now involved with Dinobot. She's a good friend of Stormcloud and Vixen. Her beast mode is a black panther. After /Against the Moonlight/, she's also a Lasermaster. 2.17 Hey - who's Trailblazer, anyhow? Trailblazer's exact Tech Specs can be found at TFA's Tech Spec Archive. In the stories, Trailblazer is a highly agressive warrior who's nearly been killed by Dinobot once. He also travelled back in time in /A Better Time and Place/. He transforms into a mustang (the horse, not the car). After /Changes/, he's a Metalformer, and his vehicle mode is a Ford Mustang. (Personality isn't detailed here because you can check that all out in the specs.) 2.18 Earlier, you mentioned Stratosfire. Who, exactly, IS he, anyhow? Stratosfire is a former Autobot that now works with the Maximals. He's somewhat calculating, and a master strategist. He works with Covert Ops at the moment. He gets along fairly well with Rhinox. His beast mode is an eagle, and his vehicle mode is a trans-atmospheric fighter craft. Although his third mode existed before /Changes/, he didn't become a true Metalformer until /Changes/ came around. 2.19 Aeriomals - what are they? You keep mentioning them... The Aeriomals are the first gestalt team of BWC, consisting of Wingspan (team leader), Windrider, Cloudspin, Skyfall, and Skydive. The team was assembled by Stormcloud and Rhinox. They combine to form Skyking. 3. STORIES 3.1 How did Primus Trion find the planet in /Power Corruption/? Primus Trion is - er, was - extremely arrogant. En route from a confrence with the humans, Trion picked up the energy signatures of the Axalon's and Soundwave's generators. Without thinking of calling Cybertron or any other ships, Trion rushed right into the planet. However, he knew that the planet was ripe in energon, and intended to destroy the Axalon and Soundwave, taking the energon, and consequently the credit, for himself. Exactly what happened in this situation is explained fully in /Power Corruption/, so read the story. 3.2 How could Blackarachnia and Tarantulas hurt Grimlock (the G1 Grimmers) in /A Better Time and Place/? Someone was complaining at one point that a little thing like Blackarachnia couldn't do damage to a big 'ol bruiser like Grimlock, and Tarantulas isn't much bulkier than Blackarachnia. However, you've got to remember, they were using their leg guns. Maybe one blow from them couldn't damage him, but blow after blow after blow would. Also, Grimlock wasn't incapacitated, just pretty banged up. People have managed to bang him up before. 3.3 How did all these people come to the planet? One of two ways. Either they landed in pods, or they came on the /Starrunner/, which landed in /Power Corruption/. You'll notice that in some cases, new characters show up without introduction. This is because there are a lot of pods out there, and neither side is quite as gung-ho about getting them as they were before. Assume that if somebody who you haven't seen or heard about before shows up, their pod probably landed in between their first appearence and the last story. (Dolphonoch, for instance, landed in between /Lady in Red/ and /Question of Loyalty/.) The main reason that more time isn't taken up with the scramble for pods is that I'd rather do less recyclable plots - and you've got to admit, the pod dash is used as the plot in a lot of BW eps. 3.4 In /Juliet/, Blackarachnia mentions that she and Juliet were "VERY close", and then licks her lips... what, is this turning into an episode of "Ellen"? I hope not. "Ellen" was cancelled. Anyhow, Blackarachnia's comment was something I intended to develop later but never did. So... for the moment, exact interpertation remains up to the reader. (But that question may be answered undeniably later...) 3.5 How come Vixen doesn't seem to like Tailwind much in /Against the Moonlight/? Well... there's not too much information yet as to the nature of Vixen and Tailwind's relationship, so that assumption seems a bit premature. However, considering that this has been noticed, who knows... maybe there's something about Vixen we don't know. 3.6 Is the Xenadon mentioned in /Changes/ the same Xenadon as in /Beast Generation/? Since BWC and BG operate in two completely different timelines, it couldn't be the same one per se (i.e. the one that was the overseer on the Cadavaris colony). Apparently, there's also a character named Xenadon in Matt Owens's Matros Universe. Once again, this is a different Xenadon than the one from BWC... or is it? Since a character from the Matros Universe is destined to show up, it might be the same one... but I'm not giving any more about that away. 4. MISCELLANIOUS 4.1 How can the Beast Warriors be the same size as the original TFs? Must you question everything I do? Anyhow, to answer the question, according to BWC, they always were. After all, it's an alternate timeline, and there's nothing that happened in any BW ep that would be massively affected by everyone being about five feet taller. Plus, you'll notice that there's a lot of stuff in BWC that ties in closely with G1. This is simply because I grew up on G1, and figure that ties with the past are entirely appropriate. Besides, it makes things more interesting. 4.2 So, what's the BWC take on the aliens? Here's a rough synopsis of the information presented in the fics: The Aliens are a highly intelligent, energy-based lifeform. They possess the ability to fly, to manipulate pure energy, to change their appearence at will - most of the things you would expect from a being without a static form. It has been indirectly hinted at that the aliens constructed the planet, or at least manipulated it, but I'll neither confirm or deny it. The Alien that is most involved in the Beast Wars (and will be getting even more involved very, very soon) is known as Mercutio. Yes, before anyone asks, he was the alien in Other Voices. Each encounter with the aliens has proved to be dangerous but not fatal, almost as if it were a cat playing with a mouse. It was been made very clear that the aliens are not the highest force in this: they are merely agents of another race, known only as the Ancients. Exactly what the Ancients are is the subject of upcoming fics... 4.3 What's the full version of the Cybertronian Song of the Dead? That's hard to say, because the CSoD isn't just singing - there are a lot of other things you do in the process. It's more of a ceremony than anything else. What's more, it's in Trinary (the TF's native language, which is supposedly what's spoken in the fics), so a human being cannot possibly perform it entirely correctly. Also, considering that the full version, all four full- length verses, takes 32 hours to perform, it's not something that's really convenient to do. ("Hi, boss, I need to take the next two days off, I'm going to be performing a ritual of an alien race I read about on the Internet...") At some point, I probably will do the entire version out, but that would be a very big undertaking. 4.4 Why in God's name do you feel compelled to use every Beast Warrior ever created, and then some? To confuse you. I simply use all of the officially released characters (the ones featured on the show or in toy form) because I feel that I shouldn't have some bias against them simply because they haven't been put on the screen by Mainframe. The original characters are either there from requests people made to be included in a fic, or from my own well of character ideas. (I came up with the basic character ideas for Vixen, Nightpounce, and Ground Zero when Beast Wars first came out, long before I wrote BWC.) Also, there's that G1 thing again... if you ever saw G1, you'll know that the cast was simply immense. Granted, having a huge cast does cause problems when I try to count up who's on which side, but then again, there are always bound to be disadvantages... 4.5 What are those BWC-specific subgroups you kept rambling on about, anyways? Aside from the Transmetals and Fuzors, there are three subgroups that I created specifically for BWC. They are as follows: 4.5.1 The Metalformers Metalformers are Beast Warriors that possess a robot mode, a normal animal mode, and a normal vehicle mode. Unlike Transmetals, the Metalformers are complete triplechangers. Stratosfire was technically the first Metalformer, but he underwent modifications to allow him to maintain his robot and vehicle modes indefinitely just like the others, so he is technically not a Metalformer until "Changes". FIRST APPEARENCE: Changes 4.5.2 The Lasermasters Mercutio, in what was originally thought to be another one of his little games, drew a group of Transformers into another dimension. However, it was revealed that he had brough them there to grant them powers similar to, although not as potent as, those of the aliens. Thus were formed the Lasermasters. FIRST APPEARENCE: Against the Moonlight 4.5.3 The Armormasters The Armormasters, the third subgroup, has yet to be featured in a fanfic. As such, I will not disclose any information about it just yet. FIRST APPEARENCE: Pending 4.6 You're into Shakespeare, aren't you? All the aliens seem to be named after characters in his plays... And more to come. This one of many things I owe to Jennifer Stevens, maintainer of BWA. I was creatively stuck for alien names - the only one I had managed to come up with was Mercutio. Jen suggested that I stick with the Shakespeare theme for naming the aliens, and, as you can see, I did. However, yes, I am a fan of the bard, though not as heavily into him as I think I SHOULD be, considering that I'm a writer. (Special credit goes out to Blackbird for being the first person who noticed this.) 4.7 So, what if I've got other questions, huh? How do I find you? It's actually not too difficult. Unlike some people I know of, I actually LIKE having fans. My e-mail is eltf@hotmail.com - I try to reply to every e-mail I get, though sometimes I get sidetracked. Comments are always welcome, though. Just because I didn't reply doesn't mean I ignored what you said. If you've got a specific question about BWC, it would help if you included "BWC" in the subject line. A slightly easier way is via the BWC Reader Survey, at Transformers: Alias (http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/6381/tfindex.html). The "Other Comments" field is a perfect place for questions. However, if you do have e-mail, I'd prefer that you use that. (Little easier to sort.) A third way is to use the BW Forum at BWA (http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Studio/8801/). I can usually be found there, and will try to answer any questions addressed to me. Just make sure you've got a subject line along the lines of "For Stormcloud" or "To Stormcloud" or "Stormcloud, get your lazy @$$ in gear and come read this!" 4.8 I sent you an e-mail and you never answered, you moron. What's up with that? First of all, calling me a moron (or otherwise insulting me) is a good way to get yourself kicked off my A-list. Second, I'm usually REALLY busy - and this isn't one of those excuses where I say "usually I only have time to chat on IRC" or something like that. I mean that I litterally can't get to the computer, much less online, sometimes. And, sometimes, e-mails get passed over. It's nothing against you or your ideas. If you haven't gotten a reply and you really do want or need one, then wait for about a month, and if I still haven't replied, then re-send the message. 4.9 Say, um, Stormcloud... um, can I ask you a teensy-weensy favor... um, could I borrow (insert idea/character name here) for a fanfic? Depends. In most cases, I will say yes. There are relatively few times I will say no. Just mail me first (or otherwise get in contact with me). But, first, one request - no beating around the bush, or flattering me, or addressing me like I'm someone that's unaccessible. Really, I'm a nice guy, and I just want to be addressed like a normal person, even if you are asking a favor. I won't bite your head off or something. (Of course, I don't DISLIKE being flattered, but...) 5. CREDITS Stormcloud - Hey, I wrote this! Of course I get credit! Jennifer Stevens - For posting my 'fics, and still liking them. The new BWA is awesome, and a great home for BWC, as well as placing it in just about every category there! Dolphonoch - Just for being Dolphonoch. Hey, what can I say? Fanboys deserve credit too. Carl Enderton <> - For pointing out that I forgot Vixen's beast mode. All at once, everybody... D'OH!!! Blackbird - For the joint fanfic, some keen observations about BWC, and just generally being there. The #2 BWC fanboy. Starlight85 <> - For noticing a couple of subtle things from /Against the Moonlight/. Moonlight <> - For the joint fanfic. (By the time we finish, Nightpounce might not ever want to leave the house again...) "Remember - why prevent forest fires when starting them is so much fun?"