The End of Digital Harmony · 4:14pm Oct 21st, 2018
This is going to be one of the most painful blog posts I’ll ever write, but I think it’s something I will have to do eventually. I’ve been thinking about this decision for a long time now, and it’s become increasingly apparent that this will end up being the only way forward for me.
As you may have guessed from the blog title, Digital Harmony is cancelled.
This was not an easy decision for me to make. Digital Harmony was my first real fanfic, and for years was a passion project of mine that I put a lot of forethought, planning, and care into developing.
But as time has passed, it’s become increasingly apparent that this isn’t a project that I can keep up. There are several reasons for this.
Firstly, the scope. Digital Harmony was a massively ambitious story from the outset, in hindsight way more ambitious than it probably should have been. It’s taken me more than five years to get it to the point it’s currently at, and it’s not even halfway finished. With FiM itself wrapping up next year, there’s really no chance of me finishing the story by the time the show finishes. And while that itself isn’t a problem, it’s also related to a similar one.
Secondly, the show’s canon has diverged somewhat significantly from what I had planned for Digital Harmony. This is to be expected, of course, but it’s also left a few contradictions between canon versions of characters and my versions of characters that I no longer feel comfortable writing. The most notable example of this would be the role of Sunset Shimmer, who as some of you might have guessed, was foreshadowed to make a future appearance. Her later role in the story as I have planned it leaves a bad taste in my mouth looking at it, mostly due to the way it greatly contrasts with how she’s developed in canon, and how I’ve written her in other stories. There are other examples, but that’s the one that stands out the most to me.
Thirdly, Digimon is no longer a major interest to me the way it was several years ago. While I still enjoy the series (and am arguably still a fan), recent output in the Digimon franchise has not engaged me the way that a lot of the prior series once have. I don’t really enjoy writing about Digimon the way I used to, because of this.
Finally, there are just other things I’m writing currently that I’m much more passionate about. My current My Little Planeswalker series, while initially only a side project, has managed to captivate my attention for far longer and far more strongly than Digital Harmony. It’s a series that I feel I can take in many more interesting directions than Digital Harmony, and it’s what I will most likely be putting my long-term focus into for the foreseeable future.
That said, despite Digital Harmony’s end, I don’t plan to leave you all in the dust. Sometime later, I will likely write a blog post detailing what I had planned for the plot of the fic and what would have been its story. Despite the complications, I’m glad to have started Digital Harmony, and I’m very proud of what I’ve managed to create for it so far.
Never stop dreaming,
Zenn
It's always somewhat sad to see a cancelled fanfic, even if it's one I'm not really reading (not the greatest fan of Digimon).
It's sad to see a story like this be put up so early but yeah, it's understandable for all your reasons stated. Though just one thing is that while you did mention how canon Sunset would be different from how you write that like you said, shouldn't be so much a problem since this is how you would develop her and not necessarily stick to the mold of canon.
Franchise wise... Yeah, not going to go that deep but up till Digimon 3 was great after that... I mostly stuck to the occasional game like Card Battle on emulator. Ironically even though I don't personally play MtG it has been around me long enough to remember the basics of... At least from ten years ago Still, I somehow get pulled into TCGs so easily...
Disappointing. But I understand your reasoning. Sad to see this go.
It's always sad to see a fic die partway through. But I understand where you're coming from.
A suggestion, though: Have you considered finding someone to confine the story in your stead? Even if you cannot write it yourself, someone else might be more than willing to pick up the torch.
(And lest you misunderstand, this isn't an offer. I have my own crossover fic that I am working on.)
Nonetheless, good luck with the rest of your works.
4956104 That could be doable, but it's not quite like having a fic already started and just having a few chapters rewritten. As he mentioned, the scope of this fic is a massive undertaking.
Another great story falls my friends, rest in peace