Sorry about this. · 2:55am Apr 14th, 2015
Not that it really matters to anyone - Okay, sorry, there are three of you who actually follow my stuff, so not literally anyone - but I will no longer be writing My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfiction. I might return to it at some point, but it is unlikely.
I became a brony in June of 2012, right in the middle of the big upswing in popularity. I'm a middle adopter, part of the center 66% of people who joined - in other words, nothing special. My stuff, obviously, is not particularly popular, though it does seem to be liked by 96% of people who read it. The combination of these facts are... confusing to me, to say the least. Anyway, that's not important. (Just in case you couldn't tell, I'm trying to be as free and human in this address as is possible. Sorry if that makes things confusing.)
I am a strange brony, that's for sure. Not much puts me apart from the crowd, but there is one thing that I think bares mentioning. I... don't actually like the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. And, no, I don't mean that I stopped liking it. I mean that I never liked it in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I can see where the appeal is. I certainly don't dislike it. But it just doesn't do it for me. The plots aren't complex enough, the characters are too simple (though I've heard that that's been changing), the world feels too empty. I always got the impression that it was a great framework that wasn't ever developed enough to really be good.
I guess that's why I loved the fandom so much. It was open and kind and managed to use that provided framework in amazing ways. The show was an 'eh' experience for me, but what the fandom put out was pure gold. I became a fan of the fandom. I read enough fanfiction to reverse-analyze and reconstruct the characters well enough to write fanfiction of my own. How well did I do, by the way, for someone who only ever managed to sit themselves through two episodes of the actual show? Was my characterization okay?
Sorry, again, not important. The point is that, though I came upon it in a strange sideways manor, I definitely identified with the brony community. It's a testament to how important it was to me that it took until November of 2014 until I found another piece of media that was finally capable of edging out MLP for a controlling share of my imagination.
Which brings me to, sort of, my conclusion. It's a truth that I'm not as into MLP:FiM as I was in the summer of 2012. But I still like it. It's fun, and the people in its fandom are unbeatable. I'm not stopping because I don't like MLP anymore. I'm stopping because I'm lazy and I've found something I like more.
I spent nearly thirty months wrapped up in a show for six year olds about a group of adults who face large external problems that they overcome with their connections and friendships to each other. It only makes sense that it would finally be overtaken by a show for adults about a group of little girls who face large external and internal problems which are exacerbated by, and even caused by, their connections and friendships to each other.
In short, I'm leaving My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic for Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
And here is where the lazy comes in. Between my writing speed and ability, and the amount of outside work I have, I can really only manage to do one large project at a time. I mean, I physically could do more, but I know that I won't - and if I did, each project would be weaker than if I'd only concentrated on one. Unfortunately for you, and fortunately for the currently two times as many people who follow my Madoka Magica fic (which, yes, is only six. Baby steps.), I'm giving precedence to it over Test of Time. I just like writing that one more, and if I'm not getting payed for either and can only do one... well, I'm going to go for the one which I enjoy doing the most, and that happens to be the Madoka Magica fic.
Maybe, in a year and a half, which is my predicted completion time for the Madoka fic, I'll come back - but I highly doubt it. It's not impossible, but it's very unlikely.
Sorry.
Aw, that's too bad. I was really enjoying your stories, and it's saddening to see another great writer go.
I hope you have good luck in your future exploits.
3039543 Yeah, you too. At least it won't be hard to find a better pony author to get your story fix.
Don't blame you, Puella Magi Madoka Magica was a fascinating anime to read, even though if times it seemed like you were taking an acid trip, have fun writing your story and good luck!