So this is gonna be kind of a heartfelt breakdown on FNF and everything surrounding it, so if being gushy about childhood stuff makes you cringe I'd recommend skipping this post lol

So I'm not quite sure when it was I learned about FNF, I think it may have just been recommended on YT or someone I watch was playing it, but the minute I saw The Spooky Month kids rappinf against this random kid with an awesome artstyle and some sick music, I was instantly hooked. The vibe and the effort put into the game was clearly notable, and that kept it on my radar. Learning it was worked on by some fellas on Newgrounds, but it was gonna be filled with cameos from there? I was ecstatic!

For some context I'm a young adult who grew up on the internet basically, and one of the earliest places I'd spend a lot of time on was Newgrounds. The way I learned about it was a buddy of mine showing me the Madness Combat series back in like 5th grade, it quickly became one of my favorite web series and served as my gateway drug, so to speak. It was here I played some of my favorite flash games, and discovered characters that'd I'd still consider some of my favorites, and I hold many fond memories of of it all. Watching Salad Fingers and then showing it to my mom only for her to be freaked out (despite loving creepy stuff), playing through Pico's school and sucking at it, 100% Newgrounds Rumble (where's my sequel damnit), and making sure to celebrate Pico Day when it rolled around, all that good jazz.

But I'll admit, it was kind of a bummer that as I got older, none of my friends really knew about Newgrounds, despite how influential it's been: it was practically the birth of the modern indie game, it's where so many talented people got their start, without Newgrounds the internet landscape would be completely different. But now all these years later, all thanks to Friday Night Funkin, NG is on the map again. The pipe dream of "What if Pico was in Smash" is suddenly being shared by other people. There's high quality fanart of characters people haven't talked about much in over a decade. Suddenly it's cool to talk about Newgrounds again, and I couldn't be happier. Cheers to Friday Night Funkin, cheers to the development team, and cheers to the fans, I can't wait to see where this journey ends up.