(This is copy-pasted from my Deviantart announcement)

I'm sure none of you are surprised. I made this decision nearly two months ago, but I couldn't bring myself to publicly announce it until now. I have decided to officially cancel my fanfic/fancomic, "The Magic of Love". I know it's a real bummer after only two comic pages, but I have my reasons, and here they are:

(Skip to the TL; DR if you don't feel like reading these paragraphs)

When I began this story in 2015 (I was only 15 at the time), I didn't really have a plan. All I wanted was to create a fluff story for my recently discovered OTP SciFlash (which I still referred to as "Human Flashlight" by then), have them share meaningful moments, and… well, I might as well tell you now: have Flash earn a magical transformation as well. Think of it as the 'Daydream' version of Fire Pit: he was going to have blue fire in his head, Pegasus wings, lightning powers, and the ability to summon a shield. I was so excited by the idea at the time that I didn't realize how silly the idea was in that concept. Heck, I didn't even realize that, in order to get to that epic ending I wanted, I needed a middle part!

2016 arrived. The infamous "Legend of Everfree" came out. I knew I wasn't the only one let down by Twilight's new love interest, so I just wanted to share my story, almost out of spite. I wanted to show everyone that Flash could be a better love interest for Twilight than Timber. I published the first chapter. Still without a middle part planned. Nothing more than a couple, VERY broad and vague ideas of things I wanted to see happen. "I'll just figure it out as I go". I was SOOOOOOOO naïve.

I figured that the story wasn't moving NEARLY as fast as I wanted it to. And not only because I had little time to write. I just… didn't have ideas of what to do with the story! And well… the silliest ideas began coming to me. Midnight Sparkle being a major plot element? Yeah, I wasn't planning that to happen at all when I started. I literally came up with the idea THE DAY in which I wrote chapter three. Originally, the only villains were going to be a herd of Equestrian Monster bugs (I called them Beetlebeasts) that only showed up until the very end. I am not joking about this, that was my legitimate plan. And now that I analyze it, that wouldn't have made much sense with the course the story is going now, is it?

I also was running out of ideas for them to form a strong enough bond that, when the time to fight the… *cringes* Beetlebeasts came, he would be strong enough about his emotions that the magic wouldn't corrupt him like it did to Twilight. I began to figure that their relationship, while pretty healthy, almost only had benefits for Sci-Twi, whose moral support was Flash. What was she able to offer him that would make him grow as a person? What could I do to give Flash character development and personality? How could I prove to the world that there was more to him than being effortlessly handsome and nice? "LET'S MAKE HIM A CLOSET NERD!" 17-year-old me thought.

I was going to have this whole meaningful and vulnerable reveal about Flash actually being REALLY into science, having being bullied as a kid because of it, having completely hidden his true passion when he came to Canterlot High, even going as far as getting bad grades on purpose and never wearing his glasses, despite the fact that he still needed them (and now I realize that this "brilliant idea" of mine was 99% ripped off of "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs", of all movies). He was going to be like "Oh but Twilight, with you, I can be myself, because I know you're not going to judge me, and that's why I'm telling you this", and she'd be like "Flash don't hide your true self from the world! Your friends will accept you the way you are, I accept you the way you are because I'm sure the true you is amazing!" Blah blah blah, their first kiss in interrupted, they go in and fight the giant bugs that came out of nowhere with THE MAGIC OF LOOOOOOOVE and then they win, Flash embraces his nerdiness, they kiss, the end. I didn't even stop to thing that I was essentially turning Flash into another character completely! Not only it's not necessary for them to share ALL their interest for the relationship to work, but also, just because Flash is a blank canvas when it comes to creating a character out of him, doesn't mean I have to disregard things that are already established about his tastes and personality in order to write someone that might as well have been an OC.

I am SO embarrassed by those concepts now. I am now 19 and, although not an expert by any means, have learned a bit more about storytelling, and how corny and out of the blue those storylines would have been. For the longest time, I tried my best to fix these cheesy ideas and replace them with something that would fit what I've done in the previous chapters better. Until I realized something, and this was precisely while writing my Fire Pit One-shot: I don't have interest in continuing this story anymore.

I believed that I'd advance faster if I made a comic instead of a written fanfic, but that proved to be the opposite. Not only was I SUPER dissatisfied with the quality of my drawings, but I felt like I kept pushing them back over, and over, and over again. I just didn't want to work on this story anymore. I was disappointed of where it was going. I felt like I was going to lose half the people by the end. I didn't find ways to fix it that weren't incredibly dull, repetitive, or anti-climactic. Not to mention, cliché. Would you really have been satisfied that Flash had make Twilight conveniently become stronger than Midnight just by talking to her and giving her a pep talk? Sure, it can be cute one time, but by the climax, that would have been the THIRD time in the story. It just wasn't working anymore.

That's one of the reasons I wrote "Fire Pit". There were many concepts I wanted to explore between those two that weren't working within the concept I had already established in TMOL, so I tried it out in a different environment, even different universe, and cleaned up the details I wasn't happy with. I was SO much more satisfied with the end result. And it was done in one sitting! I didn't need to go through countless "middle" chapters, which were killing and dragging me. That's when I realize I didn't need to keep grasping and clinging to that ONE story. I could still make great stuff with my favorite couple! And there was no necessity for them to be super extensive to be good! I had many ideas that were far better than my initial idea for this multi-chapter fanfic, but I could only get to them if I put the fanfic aside.

I was in a point where I was having an unhealthy relationship with the fanfic. I got angry at myself whenever I was working on something that wasn't TMOL, and even more when I published something else. Every new follower or comment that it got wasn't making me happy anymore, it got me angry, because it reminded me that I needed to continue it. I didn't want to continue it. I wasn't feeling it anymore. I know that passion and motivation should not be the only things that drive a project. But like… the only person that obligated me to keep going was me? I wasn't getting paid for this. This wasn't being made for anyone else. This wasn't a school project or anything. This was something that I started, for fun! And I wasn't having fun anymore. I was just getting angry at myself. I was feeling frustrated and disappointed. That was an awful feeling. And the only person able to free me from it, was me. (Yeah, I put a little bit of that thought into "Fire Pit" as well. No one caught that foreshadowing, huh?)

I, like many people, have anxiety issues. I'm not medically diagnosed or anything, but I tend to have break downs and health problems related to stress. College and some personal issues that I won't go into detail about are frustrating as they are. Why put any extra luggage on myself when I could very easily just call it off and make things that I actually wanted to do instead? This announcement alone is the very thing that's been keeping me from posting much lately. It was kinda hard for me to talk about this stuff, but I figured it was time. I want to do anything that I can to maintain my inner peace, and cancelling this project is a huge step to achieve that.

Writing is not for everyone. I admire writers that are able to create deep, meaningful stories in half the time that I've squeezed out those 5 chapters and 2 comic pages. You guys are the true heroes. I came to accept that I am not a writer. Sure, I can come up with good stories and, luckily, even put them into words, but I struggle with making them very extensive. I probably shouldn't have started a multi-chapter and should've went for the OS route since the beginning. But hey, I was only a teen. These are the kind of things that you learn from in life.

And it's not like I hate what I did manage to write. In fact, I think those first five chapters could probably work as a short story on their own! I'm particularly proud of chapter 2 specially, and the disclosure of the original Flashlight pairing. I am thankful for every single comment I've received over the years (I know I said I was angry about receiving them, but when I read them, I was still so very grateful for your kind words 3). I can't believe so many of you have accompanied me along this ride. Ya'll have been INCREDIBLY patient with me. And now I'm regarding your patience by not letting your hopes up anymore. I am cancelling this fanfic for good, so none of us keep suffering from the drag and the wait. Now we can let go and move on to better things that (hopefully) won't make us cringe! Fanarts, one-shots, short videos, maybe even an animatic? I still have SO many ideas for SciFlash, and I can't wait to share them with you! If you're mad at me, it's understandable. I also was for the longest time. But hopefully, as I was, you'll also be able to understand and forgive me, and enjoy the future things that I have in store.

TL; DR

I just don't like the ideas for this fanfic anymore, and I know that my readers aren't going to either. I've been frustrated and stumped with this fanfic for months, and it's been keeping me from doing other stuff that, not only are better, but that I actually WANT to get to! I don't want to let this story keep stopping me and holding me back anymore, and I don't want to let you guys hanging for months and months of waiting anymore. Cancelling this fanfic and moving on to other projects involving my favorite couple is the best for everyone. I understand if you're mad at my decision. But I do hope you enjoy the future content I'm planning. Great stuff is coming.

Again, thanks for sticking by me for so long. I wouldn't have made it this far if it wasn't for your support. I love you guys. Sorry if I expressed myself awfully in some parts, it's late and I'm tired x'D I'll announce this on other sites tomorrow.

Love you all.

Stay awesome.

-Ro