At last, the latest (and hopefully final) version of Human ‘Bot has been posted.

I know some of you may be wincing at the single mention of “fanfiction”, and believe me when I say I completely understand. But hear me out first.

Why is this project so important to me? There’s a major reason for this. First of all, it’s because “Human ‘Bot”and its following Beast Wars fanfics haven’t been written in 2009-2010 like some of you may believe, but in 1996 onward. When I started out on this project, I honestly didn’t know it would gain any sort of popularity. My best friend, , convinced me to bring the fanfics on the internet, and there came a wonderful story from the both of us.

The truth is, when this started, I could barely write or speak english. I COULD do it, but with many, many errors. helped me a GREAT deal by correcting me and re-typing them before they were posted. The worst of the worst has been viewed but by a selected few. I wouldn’t want it any other way either lol. However, I was never fully satisfied with them. While we were happy with them when we were 15, we grew more mature and realized that what we thought was good really wasn’t. So we re-wrote them quite a few times. Human Bot was re-written over four times until it reached this point.

Many, MANY things have changed, from the fanfic itself to the OC’s, to the background of those OC’s. Felina used to be a major Mary-Sue. So was Gemini, I suppose. Both were pretty, powerful, etc... So they didn’t transform into unicorns with wings and didn’t control elements or whatever, but they were still a bit too perfect. Their backstories were alright for 15 year olds, but we’re 27 now – it doesn’t stand any longer. Could you believe Fiona and Gemini met in high school? Sounds familiar? Lol Well fear not, it’s not the case any longer.

I toned down Fiona/Felina a lot. She isn’t very pretty anymore. I guess she is, but in a sick, twisted kind of way. She’s the fighter while Gemini’s the brains. Fiona’s origins may sound similar to some long time readers, but it isn’t exactly any longer. It makes a LOT more sense.

I’ve had more experience with creating and developping characters with the years. I have a array of characters I have had a chance to experiment on, and I think it’s become my strenght. Angela/Angel, Leon/Spade, Christian-Hugh, Annie, Frann and Fifty-Three from Dark Wonderland were the first ones I worked on after Felina. They were pretty disastrous at first, but after the years, they grew more realistic. Killy Mathiews, Alice S.Moore, Adrian Brooks and soon Mikayla M. Hood, from Werewolf the Forsaken, also grew exponantionally with time. I noticed how much faster they developped with time and experience.

I suppose this is why I thought Felina needed a boost in character. I enjoy her far more now. She does seem more gloomy, but she’s also smarter and more calculating. Her looks were slightly altered. The “hair” (fiber optics) becoming dark when going off-line was an on-the-spot-decision I thought would make things esthetically interesting. Some people may think this is “mary-sueish” but honestly, I think it’s just a neat little feature. I toned her down a lot as well. The most physical aterations came from when she was human. I also aged her. When we started out, she was 17 and Gemini 16 (uuuh huh! O_o ) but now they’re 25 and 24, which makes much more sense. Well, long time readers will see the difference. lol Some people may say "human turned Transformer has been done" and I completely agree. However, in 1996, there weren't many fanfics with OC's who had that backstory. It's a very important and integral part of her story so it's not something I can change, but I DID change the context and the major points that made her who she is.

I also notice that I’m able to keep the Beast Warriors more in character then before. Not that they weren’t, but they were a little off at times. Now I think they make much more sense.

Over the years, I never thought we’d still get contacted by readers of the very first versions, remembering the characters and asking if there would ever be more. It’s extremely gratifying because we know our efforts weren’t in vain. I don’t plan on re-writing Human Bot anytime soon, but I plan on going onward from then on. Some of you will probably find old versions still scattered across the internet if you look closely.

Again, I want to thank everyone who has commented and taken the time to read these, even from older to newer versions. It warms our hearts and makes us want to do more.

Thank you!

This week's feature is... *drumroll*... valerie-haru</b>!