Hermitage · 2:22am Jul 22nd, 2014
I wrote this blog before actually returning to the site. (It is rather odd to write in the past tense about a future event, heh, this must be what a Time Lord feels like all the time. No wonder the Doctor is so weird.) Chances are I will feel the same way I do now about the Fandom if or when I return, so pretty much all of this still applies... to the future. Later future edit: Yes, I do feel the same way. In fact, my conviction and resolve have only hardened over the course of the last fifteen weeks that I was away.
I mentioned in my hiatus post that I did not know if I was coming back, that I was decidedly unhappy with the community on Fimfiction and the Fandom in general. The time has now come, for I have finally managed to articulate what displeases me, for you—the few who bother to read what I write—to know why.
The short and long of it is that this community no longer serves its original purpose. Fimfiction, when it first appeared, was a site for sharing any and all stories for MLP: FIM in an an environment of like-minded readers and writers. Ultimately, the purpose of a community of like-minded people is to improve on itself. People come together to share ideas and work in order to synthesize those ideas and works into new things. This is commonly referred to as innovation and is the most powerful tool humans have. We would not be where we are today if we did not have it. Now, at the beginning of the site, things weren't very streamlined or elegant, but it was at least a good place to go discuss, share, and improve fanfiction. The ancient Romans called such a place a forum. There have always been users on the site who weren't particularly interested in improving anything, just for having fun, sometimes at the expense of others who were serious, but such is the norm. As time has gone by, however, the attitude, atmosphere and overall vibe of the site has changed from one of open, harmless fun to something sinister, closed-minded, and harmful. Before anybody jumps on the argument that my perception has changed as I became more familiar with the users and their antics, let me point you to the Featured Box.
That box has not changed remarkably in terms of programming; it features what is popular based on an algorithm that factors the number of views against the story's total lifetime. This might have been tweaked and polished a little bit over time, but it functions the same no matter the optimizations. When the site was young and small, a bit awkward but nonetheless vibrant, the featured box contained stories that one would find quite delightful perhaps about 90% of the time. They were stories that thought deeply about the characters we have come to know and love, on top of introducing whole new casts as deep as the first to populate Equestria, a world of a thousand facets. Meaningful and useful conversation and debate was a regular occurrence in the comments section and there was no restriction on images or the need for an upvote system to regulate it. More users appeared, more stories were posted and, at first, everything was very exciting, but then something changed. The stories featured in the box started to look the same, for only a few writers on the site could get into it due to the several authors with large followings who read every story their favorite author could come up with. Normally, there isn't a problem with this, but unfortunately fame has this tendency to promote drudgery. One or two authors even took it upon themselves to prove how broken the algorithm was by posting stories that were not even close to the quality of work they had once made, deliberately, and still were featured for weeks on end. This brought a change to the box where “heat” was applied and stories had a specific half-life in the box, but this just allowed for a higher volume of such popularity-seeking stories to attain the spotlight.
It may sound cynical, but the truth is that when a medium becomes mainstream, what and who made it good often makes newcomers look for a way to differentiate. Two paths present themselves to the medium and the community creating it: sensationalism or innovation. The easier path is to sensationalize; innovation is a lot of work, after all, and requires a certain level of talent that many do not have. Sensationalism, as I am using it here, refers to the practice of making something arousing "by lurid details, a quick, intense, and usually superficial interest, curiosity, or emotional reaction" (as defined in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.). A good example included with that definition is a tabloid newspaper, you know the ones; they sit in the racks at the cashier's aisles in supermarkets with loud, bright covers—often featuring gregarious cleavage of one sort or another—and large type titles claiming so-and-so broke up with what's-his-face because that-one-guy might have gotten so-and-so pregnant oooo. Such differentiation is based on being scandalous, combatative, loud and edgy. A hallmark of the tabloid is the complete lack of substantial content, whether it be based on fact, hearsay or just random stuff. There was a whole episode of the show devoted to the sorts of things found in sensational papers and how such things come about. I mean, seriously, if anybody is actually paying attention to the show, characters, stories and what they say, how is it that they can't see that the fandom has fallen into the same situation as the CMC during that episode?
The fandom has entered a state of duality. Bronies see themselves as they once were, a community that challenged the accepted social norms of a severely gender-segregated society, champions of tolerance and acceptance. Perhaps there are many who still are this way, but based on the general attitude of the fandom and the users on Fimfiction, those Bronies are few and far between. A vast majority of the stories featured became more and more outlandish and “edgy” treating themes that merely bespoke the changing attitude of the fandom. The authors concern themselves with tales regarding controversial topics like sexuality, political agendas and religion—many times featuring some form of wish fulfillment—all of which are not in and of themselves "bad," but they are presented in a shallow, aggravated way that only seems to display the mindset of a militant. For some reason I cannot fathom, this has become acceptable to a majority of the users on the site. Don’t try to say it isn’t so, the feature box has been flooded with such stories. It seems to me that the fandom has been in the mode of "us or them" for so long that the mantra is no longer "love and tolerate" but now "holier than thou/haters gonna hate." Being part of the community has become a status symbol, a means to deviate for the sake of rebellion. The topics treated by these 'sensational' authors are simply attention-seeking outcries with no purpose other than to satisfy a craving. I have ranted before about "shipping" and why it is always bad. "Shipping" characters accomplishes nothing because it exists for the arbitrary reason of "because I can." Writing about a topic for the sake of the thing is not how one achieves depth. No thought is invested in such an act beyond the point of doing it. There's no point to the narrative, no direction, no movement, growth or change. The stories that are now being produced by an enormous number of authors on the site are suffering from the “quantity over quality” paradigm. The site is no longer a forum for improvement or discussion; it has become an arena for popularity contests. The name of the game is to write as many over-the-top edgy, sloppy and audience-pandering “stories” as possible for that golden shot at the feature box. Too many users have either lowered their standards or never had high expectations to begin with. Just as with mainstream media and Hollywood, majority rules for the bottom dollar, but in our case the currency is hits. There have been others who saw what I see and they tried to do something about it. They are what we call “critics” they offer their opinions and sometimes advice in order to serve the ends of improvement, but far too often, an author will not accept criticism of any sort.
I understand that many of these authors are amateurs, that we are not here to be professionals, but this is not an excuse to be whiney two-year-olds. When posting something on a public forum for others to see, you knowingly or not agree to the consequence of attracting criticism. It is what we do as people. We analyse everything all the time to make decisions about life. It is ingrained in us, an essential part of our very being. When somebody takes the time to think about something an author wrote, the author is only hurting himself if he dismisses it without consideration. On the flipside, there are those who are only commenting to troll. The random comments that say nothing specific about anything can be safely ignored, in my opinion, but far too many authors fall into the trap. Writing, as I have said before, is terrifyingly personal. It is natural to feel protective of a piece of writing, but there are absolutely no grounds on which to stand that support being belligerent or condescending to concerted review.
In the end, I, Laichonious, have been burned far too often from exposing my thoughts or explanations to the caustic environment that Fimfiction has become. I want no part in this game, because everyone loses in the long run. I will keep my promises and write what I have planned, but I will not create any new stories for MLP. I will not be participating in the community beyond the occasional chapter post. This will be my last blog. From this time onward, you will hear no more from me. I will read comments of substance and consider feedback but it does me little good to respond to anything. There are bigger and better things I can use my time on, such as my own work, than getting tangled up in internet dramas and disputing asinine rhetoric with fanatics. There was so much promise here, but it has been squandered and swept away. All I can say is that I am disappointed. Severely disappointed.
I dust my hooves of thee, Fimfiction.
--Laichonious the Grey
P.S. Here is a revised list of which stories will be completed. I may release the prewriting content for the stories that were cancelled at a later time.
1. The Delightful Dragon of Ep
2. Magical Wizard Brony Detectives
3. Legend of the Tree
4. Legend of the Moon
5. Legend of the Sun
6. Beyond Us -- CANCELLED
7. Point of No Return -- CANCELLED
8. Wizard at Large -- probably not, but mostly CANCELLED
But, like any community, it acts as a living organism. Specifically, it evolves, and not always in a way that is good or beneficial. And FiMfiction.net is just another subdivision of the community that is the My Little Pony Fandom.
We, the community, are comprised of many differing beliefs and values. Yes, we all may have a common factor that we are fans of a show that features little pastel colored horsies that talk, fly, and do magic tricks, but it is the sum collective of all aspects that define an individual, and these different values, beliefs, likes, dislikes and such all add up to a melting pot of vastly unique individuals.
While the fandom may have evolved into something which you may not care for, this evolution is not unique to the Brony community. ALL communities, be it towns and cities, fandoms, or even individual sections, such as this site, will go through changes which may be good or bad, but are as unpredictable as the winning Powerball numbers.
If you do go through with leaving the fandom, I do hope that you do not delete your account, and the stories it contains. There are some of us who might still enjoy these works of literary art which sprung forth from your creative mind.
If you do leave this community, in search of another home, I shall bid thee fair-thee-well, and I shall remember the works you have given us.
Know the feeling of frustration. When I came on the site, I found many with a like mindedness to be drawn to horrid fiction and from that bond came the Train Wreck Explorers. With that came a level of responsibility that we tried to handle and eventually the group went into infamy status. Sadly, it was because of all the authors complaining about how they didn't WANT to have people tell them how to improve that the group was disbanded under the excuse that it was a "hate group". Such is the world. When we hear opinions that we don't want to hear, we do all in our power to shut that opinion down in all ways possible.
Sorry to read this (and sorry I just now saw it)
You'll always have a place in my memory. Your story TGBM was the biggest single factor in inviting me to watch the show in the first place, all the way back in 2012. (And strangely enough, to watch all of StarGate, really underated sci-fi series I must admit) I only wish I was as talented a writer as you are, and as biker dash stated, don't delete your account and stories...
Maybe I cling to the the ideal hopefulness that we were but I hope we will one day remember ourselves