Leaving the site · 8:40pm Jul 28th, 2020
I know I don't often give updates like this in my blogs, but as you can see, this is too significant not to share with all of you. I'm of the opinion that having a following of people, no matter its size, requires you to keep them informed when you make big decisions like this.
Indeed, this lizardman will be leaving Fimfiction.
Now, I don't know how many of you are diehard, passionate fans of the bulk of my work and not just one or two kinds of stories I put out. I do pride myself on being very versatile with my stories, after all, which is part of the reason, I'm sure, that I never attracted a huge following of people. That's okay, that's the kind of writer I want to be. The fact that I amassed as many followers as I did is an achievement in my eyes. I can't speak for how all of you feel about this, but this is a decision that I'm happy with and not making lightly.
I'm sure you'll want to know my reasons for leaving. Like many things in life, there isn't a single cause to pinpoint this decision on. When I first came onto this site, my creative muse was itching to develop and the world of FiM was the perfect vehicle for this. I've written a lot of things I'm proud of and a few things I realized were dumb mistakes that I decided to delete- present me wouldn't do this, as I now believe one should own up to all their decisions, not try to sweep them under the rug and pretend they don't exist *coughDisneycough*. Every story I wrote was a learning experience and now I've reached a point where I feel like I'm ready to branch out into original stories. Now, this isn't to say I'm incapable of splitting my energies between both original stories and fanfics - I've actually been doing that for about the past year - but that's only if I have ideas for fanfics in the first place. I've got about twenty different ideas for original stories and, like, two for fanfic, one of which not being MLP related.
For about a year, I've barely read anyone else's stories and only put out fics either for contests or stories in my Singularverse. More than I've put out in years past, yes, but I've reached the end of my rope. I'm sure I've written blogs in the past that gave people the impression that my presence on this site was/would remain strong; I apologize if this blog directly contradicts anything I've said in the past. I'll be writing one final story for my Singularverse before I take my final bow, mainly because I want to leave without having any regrets. Now, the idea of Fimfiction going general excited me, but that leads me into my second reason for leaving, one that might stir up a little bit of controversy.
Many of you are probably aware of knighty's recent blog. Before I continue, I'm going to make a few things clear. The first is that I firmly see this country's political climate as toxic, run by narcissistic clowns from all sides. If I had my way, I'd gather every politician and shove cream pies into their faces... on live television. My world, as in my life and the things I construct it with, is built on a foundation of artistry and creativity, of entertainment, of giving other people a glimpse into my soul. That's my passion, one that will never go away, even after I die. Anyone who's in the know about the goings on in pretty much every single branch of entertainment - comics, movies, video games, tabletop, TV - knows that identity politics and agenda are being prioritized over creativity and quality.
And it's killing western culture. There are actual, undeniable statistics backing this up. Manga is supplanting comics. Once popular franchises like Star Wars are losing money. And don't even get me started on cancel culture- it's one thing to rally against someone who says genuinely racist things, it's unacceptable to target someone who merely tried to be a voice of logic and reason where such a thing is sorely lacking and make false claims about them just because they dared disagree with you on something without spreading any hate.
A lot of you are probably thinking that I'm overreacting here, that knighty's blog isn't indicative of Fimfiction going far-left authoritarian. I can't say for sure; I don't know what the future holds. I do know, however, that the SJWs are like squirrels. Give them a nut and they'll come back for more. Give them more and they'll bring their friends. Keep giving them nuts and you'll eventually run out. And then they'll follow you everywhere you go, continually pestering you until you either buy more nuts or stand your ground and scare them away. Go to the Grand Canyon and you'll see squirrels like this, by the way, in case you want proof that this isn't just a hypothetical example. My point is that SJWs only manage to take over when no one is willing to stand their ground and entertainment is ruined because of it. I must stress that this has nothing to do with real world politics, only entertainment. It's important to distinguish between fiction and reality and the context in which something is being said or presented, something identity politics are unable to do in this day and age. And believe me when I say the same would apply if those identify politics leaned far the other way. What this all boils down to is that my confidence in knighty is shaken based on other examples in our media, but this isn't the largest factor in my decision to leave the site.
Over the past few years, I've noticed a disturbing trend in the Fimfic community. Namely, that tolerance, respect and kindness are going out the window. I've interacted with people on this site that one could and would call bigoted, but I've always tried to remain respectful and polite no matter how much I disagree with them. Heated arguments about nerdy stuff like canon is one thing, but when that heat starts spilling out into real world topics... that's when we have a serious problem. I've noticed a lot of knee jerk reactions to opinions I put out, despite being objective in nature, that those people seem to think are sexist or racist. The same holds true for other users. People's passion for real world issues is outweighing their passion for horsewords and it's dividing this community. I feel like the most rational people left the fandom over the years while the most hypersensitive people remained and now make up the majority. I could be wrong about that; it's merely my personal observation which is going to influence me the most since you can't quantify emotion. That's not the kind of community I could feel comfortable being a part of, even if I had a deeper creative well for ponyfics.
These factors combined have brought me to the decision to leave. The exact time and manner in which I ultimately would was something I didn't put much thought into until yesterday. Originally, I was going to have my account deleted because I didn't want to feel a constant pull back to the site, that there were all these new followers and likes and favorites on my stories that I'd miss out on if I didn't stick around. But I was also going to send out blogs tagging each of my stories in them so that people would have a chance to download them before they were deleted. There's also the fact that some of the content in my earlier stories is questionable, not for the reasons you might think, just that it's indicative of where my life was (and still is, really). Ultimately, I decided that: 1. I need to exercise some more self-control, and 2. The content in question really isn't any more dangerous than what people willingly put on their social media accounts for everyone to see. I won't be asking for my account to be banned or deleted, after all, so feel free to keep enjoying my stories, both you and future readers.
Here's what's going to happen: From here on out, I won't be responding to any more pms apart from replies from people to whom I sent out personalized messages announcing my departure; people whom I was doing editing work for, in case they want to continue communicating with me via email. Like I said, I'll be writing one final story for my Singularverse, but that Singularverse group I said I'd be making (did I say it, I think? too lazy to check) won't happen. There's also the matter of the one and only group I actually admin, that being Fimfiction's Madhouse. I suppose I'll need to pass admin duties to someone else, not that I know how to do that; if any of you can inform me of how that works and whether you wish to take up the reins, please do. I never did much with that group, but maybe a new caretaker will turn it into something amazing. If no one else wants to take control of it then I'll have to delete it.
I think that's about it for now. That new Singularverse story will take some time to write up, but once it's finished I'll post it immediately, take some time to witness its initial reception, then post one final blog announcing my real departure from the site before stepping away forever. I'll go more into detail about my experiences on this site then. I'll finish off by saying that I hope you all are doing well in this disastrous year of 2020. Holy shit does this year suuuuuuuck!
Ciao!
See you around.
Sorry, you’re leaving
Sorry to hear you feel you have to leave, but kudos on doing what's best for you. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.
Anywhere else you like to hang out where we could find you?
5324580
The only other thing I have is youtube, but I only upload random things once in a blue moon. Not worth it, if you ask me. Sorry.
I've seen this before - people getting stifled who then shake their heads and leave.
Sorry to see you go.
And I can agree with your stance on Cancel Culture - It is one thing to ban openly hateful content, but another to press those same iron-fisted rulings onto any story that shares an inkling of content.
Example - the latest "Interview with Aryanne" story about racial equality was stripped of its comments and ratings. What kind of moderation message is that supposed to send??
It's like slamming the movie "12 Years a Slave" because it has slavery.
*shakes head*
Sad to see an author leave.
Take care mate.
5324838
Do you have a Discord or Steam account that you wouldn't mind sharing?
5324913
Nope, sorry.
5324926
Alright, then.
See you, space cowboy.
I'm sorry to see you go. You're like, the only person I've ever met online who was willing to stand up for me. I'm going to miss you.
5325779
Standing up is only half the battle. Growing and becoming a better person is the other half.