I imagine the rush of watching a new episode and immediately being able to discuss it with friends and people online would have been a really fun experience.
Agreed here, it was something I had to look forward to every week. Something that I could expect to brighten up my weekends, especially if it hadn’t been going the best.
I got into the show when I was younger, my sister would watch it, and I would just try to ignore it… until I wasn’t ignoring it anymore. That was between the Finale of S1 and the premiere of S2, so it’s been a prominent part of my life and schedule for years, and bordering on a decade before it finally ended. When I first started watching it though, I wasn’t online whatsoever. So I missed every bit of that. That’s really something that I regret, as now I have more of an online presence, and enjoy so much of the content that has been created and maintained. If I knew better, I’d have been more involved for a longer time… But even just the show itself kept me enamored, and was a forefront of my entertainment for a while.
I also didn’t really have friends to discuss it with because of that also- Just my sister. But that wasn’t so bad. It was something that helped me keep a decent relationship with them even through some really rough times.
It took a long time to process the show ending and I’m still not sure if it has fully sunk in, it was such a part of my identity for so long and even though I didn’t pay as much attention past about S7, watching the eps only once and not really saying much in forums or discussion groups anymore, it was definitely a part of me that felt like it withered away with the closing of the book. For better, or worse, I’m still not sure, but it was definitely a very weird thing not having any new episodes anymore and it took a long time of pre-bracing for the end not to lose it too hard at the finale lol
The ending was a bit jarring, but honestly… as I kept watching the episodes, they weren’t really keeping their same flair. They were different as it neared the end, and I know a lot of people liked how the later seasons were, but the main reason I stayed along until the end was emotional. It would feel wrong to just… leave it behind, and not give it a fair shot? Go down with the ship.
There has been a lot of good things to come from this community over the years, and plenty that is probably better to overlook. It’s been incredibly influential to so many people, and I hope that it continues to be that way. Some good things cut short, maybe. FiW: Horse Women was mentioned, RDP: Equestria Primates, Twilight’s Dollhouse II… But there has been so much to enjoy. I’m glad to have been a part of all this, even if I haven’t done a whole lot. It’s been fun.
Signing off,
