So this is a journal I've pondered writing for a bit, and I figure now is as good a time as any, especially since I've finally made the Trichotomy setting public and I'm deep into expanding and writing it. As I continue to write it, those who follow the stories might notice characters, settings, places, etc. that seem familiar - and there's a very good reason for this!

I'm not shy about my inspirations - hell, I listed some of them out at the beginning of the Trichotomy source document. And like a lot of furries, I have favorite characters from across certain popular series. Krystal is my first and forever furry crush, for example. Some of you, then, probably weren't surprised when my own blue vixen made her appearance in a recent story...but I suppose that's kind of the point I'm getting at.

I've started a few series based on existing IPs - there's a Sonic one buried way back in my backlog, and a more recent hypnotism-focused MLP series that I've gotten a few questions about. I've also written a few lewd stories about Krystal herself, but going into this year, I realized something. I love these characters, but I don't want to write them. It's not about not being able to, it's more about a certain feeling of constraint. Now I know canon is whatever you decide it to be, and I'm not going to muck in anyone's mud who's ever written a fic where Rainbow Dash is a conniving villain, or Tails is a girl, or Fox and Wolf are fuckbuddies.

I just personally can't do it. To me, if you take a character and write them different enough, you're already writing a different character, just wrapped in a familiar package - so why not go all the way? That's why I like to write my own characters. That said, I also believe imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so if you like telepathic blue vixen bombshells, my character Skye might interest you - and if you like magical equine nations filled with a cast of interesting and varied characters, who also tend to get down with one another, the queendom of Celara could be your cup of tea.

Haven't really come up with anything Sonic derived yet, though I'm sure it's just a matter of time...

Anyways, I just wanted to put this out there. Will I ever write existing characters again? Never say never, but I think I'd have to have a pretty groundbreaking idea to do so.

And also, to anyone who reads this - this is not an indictment of fan fiction, nor those who write it. Without fan fiction I wouldn't be a writer today, and I wanted to cringe myself out of existence, I'd toss up some of my old Star Trek fics to prove it. This is just my personal decision to stop writing around existing IPs.