A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR – 1/AUGUST/2017

This isn't a new chapter for The Chaotix: The World's Greatest Detectives. If you came here thinking that it was, I'm sorry for that. I'm also sorry that I haven't updated anything to this fanfic beyond slight edits of earlier chapters in the two years that have passed since the last proper chapter. And I'm very sorry for what I suppose has been a long time coming, but I feel I should at least have it out there in the open:

My decision to dis-continue this fanfiction.

I've been thinking about this for quite some time, and with today being the two year anniversary of my last proper chapter, I feel like now's a good time as any to talk about this.

As I explained in the previous 'chapter', I'd been busy with a Film & TV Production course at a local college, and I've gone on to do the second year of that course since then. I've been doing quite a few things in general, which (combined with my aforementioned worries of not being good enough) lead me to pretty much abandon the fic so I could work on more pressing matters.

And since there'll always be things I have or want to work on (soundtracks for games, college courses, video ideas, a personal project you may or may not find out about in the near future), I soon realized that whatever desires I had to go back to the fic and finish it off were nearly entirely gone.

I accepted that much, but I still wasn't sure on what to do. For a couple of years, I really invested myself in the fic. I was constantly thinking about what I could do with the characters, I spent whatever free time I could writing chapters and exchanges; in other words, this series was a part of me. I felt like I should at least finish up Episode 13 and end things on a positive note, but my heart just wasn't in it.

It's been too long since I last wrote anything for the fic, and I've changed as a person, so I can't help but feel somewhat detached when approaching these somewhat old ideas. When I was writing this fic, I think I wanted to create something from the heart. No matter how good or bad the final result would be, it was an honest expression of how I felt at that time. I don't think I'll be able to write something honestly when those are based on feelings from at least two years ago.

And whenever I go back and see what I could do, I get bogged down in the flaws of my writing style. I get bogged down by thoughts of other things I should be doing (not in the sense of 'I should be curing diseases/helping refugees' that people often lament when having some kind of existential crisis, mind you. Just other creative things that I want to do or have been working towards). I get bogged down by the worry that I'll never get anything done.

It hurts to say this, but I really can't stand writing or thinking about this fanfic anymore. That's just how it is. But please don't take this to mean that I regret anything to do with it (apart from the long, unexplained abandonment of the fic, of course).

I'm still proud of what I've done. I'm still happy that I took the chance to try and write something for people to see. I'm still amazed to have found out that I'm actually a half-decent writer, and that I'm more capable than I thought I was. I'm still eternally grateful to everyone who has ever reviewed, favourited, followed or even just read the fic over the years, and that includes you.

I want to do right by you guys, since you're the reason that I kept going during the times when I felt like what I was writing wasn't good enough. And when I can't go on, doing right by you guys means coming clean and letting you all know why I'm giving up. I should have done this sooner, but it only took until now for me to finally make a decision. I'm still sorry about that, and for keeping you waiting for so long.

So, what happens now? I'm not sure. Part of me wants to post a chapter or two detailing ideas I had for future episodes, along with some commentary and some unused script ideas that I might have used for those episodes. I feel like you guys should at least know where everything was going, instead of leaving you completely cold.

Then again, I may get nervous about writing them, and will then leave you all waiting for something that may never come. And I don't want to do that again.

Regardless of whatever I do next, consider this fanfic to be dead in the water.

It was fun writing it.

Thank you for reading this fic, reviewing it, following it, and favouriting it.

Until we meet again, have a great life y'all. –FrDougal9000