I Should Probably Make it Official.

While I doubt that this is something that many people are really concerned about, I want to say that I'm not planning on writing anything more in this fandom. I logged onto the site on a whim, as I have on a few other occasions in the last couple years, and it's taken me on a bit of a trip down memory lane.

It's odd to see so much going on on the site that I haven't been here for, honestly. It's weird to see that so many stories I read are now entire series. It's weird to see the authors that went on hiatus while I was still active back and writing regularly, and weirder to see that some people have kept at the writing grind the entire time I've been gone.

I had an awesome time in this fandom. Some significant things in my life have happened because of it. Getting into the pony fandom, and I guess in particular the ponyfic community, really helped me back in late 2012 when the first girlfriend I ever had broke up with me, and helped me feel better about myself a lot of the time. About a year later, another one of my exes and I bonded over a mutual liking of the show, and we actually confessed our feelings for each other when I was showing her some of the cool music that the community created. While we aren't together anymore, we're still best friends and I care about her more than anyone in the world. I met another close friend in the fimfiction irc chat, as well. Being in the pony community has certainly had some direct effects on my life like those that I just mentioned.

I learned quite a bit about myself in my time here, as well. I never thought I would write a piece of fiction in my life, before I joined this site. I'm really such a science/math guy you wouldn't believe it. I mean, I'm planning on going to graduate school for a PhD in astrophysics after next year. Believe me when I say that I never would have thought I would end up writing stories about horses kissing each other.

Despite how unexpected this was for me, I had fun. I realized that I'm much better at writing than I ever thought, and that I am actually capable of creating things that other people will read and enjoy. There's something magical about that - knowing that there are people out there hanging on the words that you type. Honestly, it's the weirdest thing logging onto this account for the first time in months and seeing that you have five notifications about people favoriting stories you wrote years ago. It's cool knowing that people like the things you have created. Thinking about it as I write this makes me almost want to come back and try it some more, but I know that I just don't have the fire for this show anymore, nor do I think I have the time that it would take if I wanted to try to write again. In a sense, I guess I feel similarly about ponyfic as people often do about their past relationships. I loved reading and writing while I was doing them, and I miss the fun I had in this community, but I'm just in a different part of my life now.

I'm a bit surprised that this post is getting as long as it is, but I guess I can understand it given that MLP was a pretty significant part of my life for about 2 years, and has been a sporadic topic of interest to me for a while after that. I guess all I really wanted to do was give you guys some closure, and explain a little of my experience in the MLP fandom. Sorry I haven't responded to the few of you that have commented on my stories asking if they will be continued, and to those who have messaged me as well. There's not a lot of you, so I don't expect this post to get much attention, but I think it's good to actually say something about my "retirement" rather than let people continue to wonder if they happen upon my stuff.

So, thanks, and goodbye.