Most of the stories I write about are probably going to be Transformers-related, just warning you now.

I've been sort of drawn to the series ever since I was very very young. I was probably six years old, playing in my grandparents' basement, when my sister squealed, "This truck has a face!" We were a little confused at first. After all, cars were cars and action figures were action figures, right? I took it upstairs to show my mother and grandmother, who laughed when I showed them the face under the truck. "Oh!" My mother exclaimed, "More than meets the eye!"

Little did I know that I was holding a little metal Optimus Prime. Years later, I discovered afternoon cartoons on a local channel after moving. Transformers came on and as soon as Optimus Prime showed up, I thought: "Oh! I know you! Well, if you're here, then this can't be all bad." To this day, I'm not sure how I knew who all the characters were, since this was my first introduction to the show, but I watched every afternoon for a long long time.

Name: Is not going on the web, thank you all! I know all too well what kind of creepers lurk out there, I've met one of them. In this place, I go by Aspen or Ardent Aspen.

Hobbies: I have a deep love of music, drawing, reading, reading, writing, reading (seeing a theme here?)

Favorite book: "You know when someone asks you what your favorite book is and right away you forget every book you've ever read? Well that's a thing." Although currently its "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." I enjoy books from the 1800s, but I'm also a fan of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Wayne Thomas Batson, Brian Jacques and Lemony Snickett. Update: current favorite book is Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

Favorite shows: Transformers Prime, Doctor Who, The X-Files, The A-Team, MacGyver, Poirot

Religion: Christianity. For those of you who have had bad experiences with people who say they are Christians, I am so, so sorry. It's entirely possible that you've encountered a cult, but it is also possible that you just ran into a genuinely unpleasant person. Christians are just as human as anyone else, and they have bad days just like everyone else. (The thing is, we're supposed to know better than to be nasty to people. :( ) I hope that through my writing, I can bring glory to the Ultimate Artist, because without Him, I am nothing.

Favorite Music styles: movie soundtracks, such as Pacific Rim, Pan's Labyrinth, Frozen, and (of course) Transformers

Reason I joined : Foxbear. Her stories are amazing. The end.

I can be a little...abstract at times, but it isn't because I'm a hippie or on cold medicine or anything like that. Sometimes I just see the world a little...differently I guess.

So what am I working on now?

Colony 21186D: Survival: Basically, after one last big war, the Decepticons, Autobots, and humans live in (relative) peace and have set out to explore the galaxy. Three or four colonies have formed in a part of space just known as Quadrant 12. Deadly attacks by an unknown enemy force the colonies to band together in a desperate effort to survive and protect their families. UPDATE: This story is complete.

The Elder's Fables: A collection of folktales and fairy tales that I have modified to sound like Cybertronian stories. My favorite part of it is the suggestions I get from readers. Basically, you guys tell me what you want to hear, and I'll try to come up with a Cybertronian version of it. (Within reason: don't expect something like The Lord of the Rings or Dracula or Les Miserables...that's not really feasible at this stage, (nervous chuckle) ) UPDATE: this story is also complete.

The Miner's Song: Every now and then, the mood will come upon me to write poetry of varying forms and styles. I rather liked the idea of making up little cultural songs for various people groups of Cybertron. It certainly helped to picture a tiny Megatron in an oversized helmet, swinging a pickaxe and singing "Heigh Ho". That was hilarious.

In Which Ardent Aspen Forgets to Pay the Reality Bill: I was really pretty sick when I wrote this one-shot. It's complete, but someday if I feel ill again, I may write a sequel. Basically, it's what happens when my imagination runs off into the Twilight Zone. UPDATE: This tale is complete.

The Hitchhiker: I felt like re-telling some classic urban legends, and then throwing some favorite characters into it for humor's sake. Surprisingly, some people liked it, and I'm up to...eight-ish chapters. UPDATE: This story is complete.

Final Benediction: You get traumatized once too many, watching Optimus die. Call me sentimental, but I just wasn't ready to say goodbye. I was in my car, rationally talking to myself to get to the bottom of why it made me sad, and this one-shot popped out. It came from the thought, "All those people watch him die, what if he could see them?" Saddest thing I've ever written. UPDATE: This story is complete.

The Pledge: An unusual and solemn one-shot that popped into my head a few days ago. I don't want to work it to death, so it is going to remain a one-shot for now, although I might throw in an epilogue. If you have an idea of where to take it next, let me know! UPDATE: This story is complete.

Suddenly: A Shattered Glass story in which Airachnid raised an orphaned June Darby and Jack was born a Decepticon. Basically, it's a re-telling of Season 1 with corresponding changes. I'm going to go until the end of the pilot miniseries, or else I'll burn out on the story. UPDATE: This story is complete.

Mirrors: Basically, this is like a big pen where I can let all my plot bunnies run loose. Two or three of them are connected but they're mostly unrelated and I write them as they come to me. There are 100 chapters now, good grief!

Prime: Beast Saga: You may have seen a five-chapter and six-chapter version of this on as posted by two other users. At the request of the story's creator, brave kid, I'm picking up where they left off. It's an adventure full of new enemies, strange powers, dimension hopping, and two parts of space and time that were probably not supposed to meet. UPDATE: This story is on a temporary hiatus, and will start back up again after several more chapters of Masterforce: Animated.

Masterforce: Animated: This is another "reboot" of a brave kid story, at the request of brave kid and with the permission of the first writer, Gage39. Sari, Bumblebee, and the Jet-Twins end up Transwarping right into a parallel Detroit populated by characters from a much older Transformers show. Pretenders and Headmasters and Godmasters, oh my! All aboard for shenanigans, because with Sari and her crew involved, there's bound to be trouble!

Butterfly Effect: Someone from MECH messes with time-travel, and as a result the Autobots and their friends are trapped in a bizarre alternate timeline where Cybertronians are revered and Jasper is controlled by a ruthless magistrate. UPDATE: This story is complete.

The Adventure of the Spider's Web: All my Victorian Prime one shots from Mirrors, expanded into one complete story. I'm writing it in the style of Robert Louis Stevenson, so it takes a lot longer than my other stories. (Delays are also due to attempting to write for more than three stories simultaneously)

Upcoming projects:

Once I actually finish a tale or two, here are some stories I have in mind.

1. Remembrance: part 1 of a three-part epic penned betwixt Fanatic97 and I. Fifteen years after Optimus Prime's sacrifice at the end of Predacons Rising, it is discovered that the evil the Autobots thought they'd defeated was not sealed away quite as well as they would have liked. New enemies, old friends, and one Decepticon so bent on revenge against the human organization that cost him his sanity and health that he is willing to do anything to bring them down.

2. Darkling Glass: This will be a sequel to Mirrors, and like its predecessor, will be an anthology of "what ifs" and short stories.

I am also on Deviantart as ArdentAspen, and Archive of Our Own as ArdentAspen2 now!