There are plenty of 2nd-party anime out there, all on the Anipike at
www.anipike.com .  One does not have to be stagnated and follow the
crowd like sheep.

The problem is that by leaving the mainstream, an author gives up a
large readership.  For each of my "All Over Again" episodes, I had great
responses from my pre-readers and FFML'ers alike.  Then there was "Birth
of a Species".  Personally, I think that BoaS is a much better story
than AOA.  I just wouldn't know it by the number of responses I've
gotten.

Don't get me wrong.  I would have written BoaS even if there was no FFML
or any other way to spread it around.  I thuroughly enjoyed writing it.
I would also like to thank the few who have responded to BoaS.  You have
been encouraging.

In fact, I have shelved AOA because I'm a little tired of Ranma and all
the mainstream stuff.  I'm still a little tempted to work on the
Halloween comedy episode, but not enough to drop what I'm doing.

My current project, "Fushigi Bokei (The Mysterious Matrix)" is coming
along slowly but surely.  I didn't expect many people to be interested
in both FY and The Matrix.  I was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong.
I think that if you want there to be more non-mainstream stories out
there, you should give feedback encouraging those who are writing the
stuff now.  Other authors may see the feedback as encouragement to
strike out on their own as well.

For those who aren't as much into the comedy style of "The Colour of
Magic", I do have a vague idea or two that might form into an
independant story with the same flavor as BoaS, probably placed in a
similar universe to "Sol Bianca".  Depending upon how well that simmers
in my subconscious while I'm working on FB(TMM), it will probably be my
next story.

-Andy Searls
http://www.jps.net/searlsa

I'm not completely insane,
some parts are missing.