I sort of came into the fandom with the newer continuities, and it's only now, five years later, that I'm sitting down and watching some G1... and starting to see where people get certain things that I've seen in fanworks for other 'verses XD

Oh, absolutely. And, I would always be far more critical with regards to details in my own work than in others'. I actually love when a writer puts a new or cleverly different twist on things :)