• Member Since 29th Aug, 2013
  • offline last seen March 1st

Chaos Phantasm


An on again-off again Australian FIMfiction author. I like to write stories, be they good or bad. I always have an idea in my head just waiting to be used. I love to write and will continue to do so.

More Blog Posts182

  • 109 weeks
    How is everyone?

    Hello. :twilightsmile:

    I wasn't very active last year. Normally I write blogs to let people know that I'm still roaming about on the site, but for some reason last year, I didn't. I'm sorry about that. It's not like I had anything going on either, I was just lazy, I suppose.

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    0 comments · 221 views
  • 169 weeks
    Merry Christmas!

    Blessings unto you on this day, December 25th.

    2020 has been such an awful year. It's destroyed lives and families in the wake of a terrible and virile plague. In light of this, I wish people the very best day in 2020, wherever you may be. Please be safe and hearty. Let us make 2021 a better year for all of us.

    1 comments · 261 views
  • 186 weeks
    Anniversary Blog (two days late)

    I've been on this site for seven years, time flies very quickly.

    Read More

    0 comments · 288 views
  • 197 weeks
    But you said... (take it with a grain of salt)

    Yeah, I know what I said, but before you hang me, hear me.

    Read More

    3 comments · 373 views
  • 208 weeks
    Deleting another story

    Gonna keep this short because I don't care for this particular story enough and I know well enough that neither do you.

    I will be deleting A Song of Angels from my library at my discretion of course. The artwork as done by Turbopower1000 will still be available on his Deviantart, considering that the artwork is probably plastered over the internet, having them deleted wouldn't matter at all.

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    2 comments · 310 views
Aug
27th
2019

Friendship is Magic - Where do I stand now? · 2:10pm Aug 27th, 2019

Tl;dr: The new writers skewered Friendship is Magic and because of the tonal shift and what I perceive to be disloyalty to the characterisation of our favourite ponies, I no longer watch the show or consider myself one hundred percent a brony.

I'm not an analytical type so please bear with me as I talk about my journey with Friendship is Magic.

How long has it been... nine years? I was twelve when Friendship is Magic aired and I was largely oblivious to it for the longest time. My introduction, funnily enough, was a video where a giant robot drops down and slaughters ponies in a silly Gmod video, of course I had no idea what it was all about and paid it very little mind until around early 2013 when my then best friend now ex-girlfriend introduced me to Nyx.

Yeah, Pen Stroke's Nightmare Moon filly piqued my interest. :rainbowlaugh:

But you know, it was interesting, I knew next to nothing of the character and I didn't really feel up to it, that was until I caught an episode on Boomerang one morning with my little brother and, me being me, got drawn in. August that year I joined up here but that's a whole other story.

I used to stay up till two in the morning watching recorded episodes after my fam went to sleep at night, catching up on as much as I could and watching other episodes on YouTube among many fan related content that's been amazing. I would say that I understood why this series had the community that it did. It was awesome to be apart of it, even if I was just a fanfic writer with hardly a good book to his name. I loved Friendship is Magic as much as a dear friend you saw off and on again.

Then came season three. :ajsleepy: Alicorn Twilight was a thing now, I was among the many who disliked this change but as time went by I came to accept it.

Then Equestria Girls which I didn't like that much (I like the later EG stuff). And as the series went on I sort of drifted in and out. I enjoyed the show, up until season six, this is when I started to phase out of the Brony fandom, although I stuck around for big things like the season seven finale and the Movie.

But when season eight came... That was it.

I started to notice around season eight that the quality of the writing had started to decline. Of course, the show and especially Equestria Girls didn't have Oscar worthy writing (M.A. Larson is an exception for good reason) but around season seven, eight and especially nine, the writing has become so much worse.

Lots of odd writing choices, the mane 6 had become caricatures of their former selves and Starlight and Trixie had become much better characters than the ones we're supposed to be rooting for. It became the little girls show it was intended to be at long last, compounded by departure of the original writers. Friendship is Magic had changed for the worse and nobody ever noticed it.

Where am I now? I've come to view the Brony community as but a remnant of what it used to be. Many great artists have departed, their music unlisted and their art buried and FiMfiction over saturated with clop with hardly any stories with a soul or innovation. And the few amazing stories that have come out are largely ignored which is just disheartening.

I stopped watching the show when season eight came out because the writing upset me more and more as time went on.

There was so much they could have done with Friendship is Magic, so much potential.

And now, the show will officially end soon and I regret that it has to end in a state I can barely recognise as the Friendship is Magic I grew to love.

Clarity: "Tonal shift" can be taken in a few ways so let me just clear this up; the show is more for kids than it has ever been since season one and the writing and direction certainly reflects this. Whatever quality that was there under Lauren Faust, Megan McCarthy, M.A. Larson (etc) is lost as of season eight, and I find it difficult to believe that folks haven't noticed the change, but here we are. :fluttershysad:

Comments ( 5 )

Got to agree with ya that the characterization got much worse over the time. If one is to compare an episode from S1~3 and then another from laters like 7~9 it's pretty much clear.

PS: You have been of great inspiration to me. Thanks to you and other creators I even sorta learned the language! :rainbowlaugh:

5112466
You're English is a heck of a lot better than ever. :pinkiehappy:
Glad to have been an inspiration for somebody at least. My stuff isn't nearly as good as Recon77 or DuvetofReason.

5112475

Well, to some the quality doesn't matter that much as the concept within. And you certainly are good at your storytelling 😉

Personally, I find the later seasons fairly enjoyable, but I understand why you'd find issues with them. I'm sorry that your run with MLP ended on such a sour note, and I wish you luck with your future endeavors.

-AP

5112475
Very kind, thanks.
And yes, I echo most of the sentiments in this blog post. I too have found myself greatly saddened by the loss of MLP's vision. To the degree the final two seasons are enjoyable by many, it is surely not for the reason that MLP was originally enjoyable. About the only thing that has improved is the visuals/animation -- which seems to be a running theme in entertainment these days. Lost are the days of quality storytelling, and it is up to us, as content creators ourselves, to carry the torch forward.

Chaos, I hope you stick around for our continued efforts as we transform the Harmony saga into its non-MLP rendition. It will be well worth it.

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