I'll still be here.

Not that I have a large army of followers, but even after the finale today, I'll still be here. I'm going to keep my sponsorship going for some time yet.

Sometimes, people have to say things out loud to really realize them. You can have a thought internally for ages, but until you say it, it never quite solidifies. These are the sorts of things that usually start as dreaded or horrified whispers, like my divorce after 13 years.

But once it's out loud, you hear it echo back at you. You can taste it on the wind. You wait for windows to shatter or doors to fly off or any other number of things, and it doesn't happen. People react to words, but things don't care so much. The world still spins. Your pets still love you (as much as they ever did).

After the whisper and then the reaction, you can say them again, but louder now. The more you say things, the more concrete they become. Careful though, this is how lies gain lives too. But you say it, and test it, and say it again, and the words settle in. The notions gain strength.

I loved this show. I'm going to buy the entire collection once it's out. I've been open about it to anyone who asked for years, since... the start? Not long after, for sure. I find it makes a good litmus test. "How weird do you think I am?" It's a handy thing to be able to get a quick read on.

My reasoning is always the same. I like the bright colors - I hardly ever watch non animated TV anymore. And while they could be a little heavy handed with the lessons, they were also usually good lessons to have on hand. Unless you lived some sort of idyllic life, they may even have been lessons you hadn't already had - the writers covered a fair bit of ground.

If anyone needed even further explanation, there was an even shorter, more succinct answer: some of us didn't do childhood right, so we have to get it later. No one questions that one. It's true.

I've had more reactions to the stories here than I have the show itself, but that's a credit to the writers here and the freedom we had. Hasbro wouldn't allow the show to cover the more mature topics we can here. The fact they even hinted about sex happening with Flurry Heart was honestly closer to the topic than I expected they would get. And the treatment of AJ's parents was fantastic - subtle and profound. I liked it.

If anyone leaves today because the show is over, I'm not sure those are the sort of people I'd really want around anyway. You can't force a deep connection, but you also can't mourn shallow ones.

My list of stories to read is several hundred deep. I haven't been doing anything to get through it really. I've got a new job I'm not even 6 months into and I pour a lot of time and energy into getting work right. The last time I got a new job, I didn't take any time off for 14 months outside of attending funerals. Now that my new job gives me weekends off like normal people, I don't need to take any time - all the fun stuff happens on the weekends. Still, I tell my bosses that I have yet to meet a grindstone I didn't like.

I'm not sure I'll ever put up another story here. I've thought about it, made outlines, even started a few hundred words. It's hard to court the muse though. Plus, I like to write about mature topics, which means you have to stretch the setting a little bit further even. Not impossible - I've seen it done fantastically, but it doesn't help.

I would also like to take a moment to thank the folks who made FIM. They won't ever see my obscure little corner of the internet, but if I met them somewhere I would thank them IRL. The writers made the show good and lets never forget they had to be hobbled by Hasbro itself. That's no small feat! Animation also deserves a nod - I do like the bright colors after all :). Beyond that though, they did a good job actually putting life on the screen and making us all believe you could use hooves as hands and make it look right and feel believable. The music never grabbed me like it did a lot of other folks but I think that's more my deep love of bands like NIN & Tool than any fault of theirs. My foot got tapping a few times.

If anyone wants to chat about FIM, drop me a line. I don't have most of the show memorized, but I'd enjoy talking about it just the same. I've limited my story comments to praise for work well done, or posting about comments on things I know about, but I'd be just as happy talking about anything show related at all, even if I don't remember particular scenes. I'm going to have to get back in the swing of talking to people anyway.