@G2961 - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: What does it mean to be alive?

A: To be alive means to have a personal life and your own meaning of life.

Q: What do you think about music?

A: Music is what has been my meaning of life for a long time, but now I realized that there is something more valuable than music, because that is why I have so rarely started releasing my songs compared to the past months

Q: What is Geometry Dash? What do you think about it?

A: Geometry Dash is the best community and game in general, because it was she who introduced this site. I very rarely play this game now, but I continue to be a part of this community until now.

Q: What is the Internet? How did you discover the NG website? What made you decide to join the community? Do you feel differently about the site now compared to when you first joined?

A: For me, the Internet is a global global network that allows everyone in this world to have a chance to express themselves and become popular. After all, it was here that I discovered the Geometry Dash game, and then this great site and its community. At first, I uploaded frivolous tracks to my old account 3 years ago, but then a year later I created this account. It was in 2022 that I definitely joined this community to share my music, and I could never have thought that in a year and a half I would be able to reach 1 thousand subscribers.

Q: The story of your username: G2961

A: As funny as it may sound, this is really a random set of numbers and one letter. I wanted to use this account to check if my remix of the London song by Sleeping Hummingbird would be deleted. it seemed like the song was copyrighted, but for some reason I was afraid that my remix would be deleted. As a result, I accidentally left two versions of my remix on this account and after a while they scored 200 auditions each. that's when I realized that there was no need to delay and develop my account, which was not in vain.

Q: You made homemade headphones? How did you do that? That’s incredible! Being able focus for 5+ hours is an amazing skill

A: I didn't exactly build the headphones from scratch, translator error, lol. I picked up two pairs of headphones, namely the JBL Tempo On-Ear J03 and the Redragon Siren 2.

The first headphones had pretty good speakers, but a little bit muddy sound in the treble, but the second ones just had a disgusting sound. It would seem that what I wanted from gaming headphones? But I had gaming headphones from SVEN, which sounded much better than this. That's why I decided to make one out of two.

I took the speakers out of the JBL headphones. I kind of pulled them out, but it turned out that they are non-standard speakers and have such a peculiarity that the diaphragm itself is on a plastic mesh, which is glued to the speaker itself. So I had to cut the plastic around the edges to shape, using wire cutters I think. Then after I cut everything to the edge then I pulled these speakers out of the gaming headphones, it was difficult as I didn't want to damage the diaphragm with a screwdriver.

After I put everything in, screwed everything in, then I noticed that the built-in audio card of the gaming headphones seemed to be messing up the sound of the speakers, so I decided to solder an extra 3.5mm jack wire to these headphones. Now my headphones sound a little better and have USB and 3.5mm jack inputs, lol.

By the way, about the ability to concentrate. I think in 5 days I just missed the music. If you think back to January-May 2024, you will see that I recorded tracks almost every day. It wasn't difficult for me at the time, although my old tracks might have been monotonous, but there were also unique works. 

What does this have to do with the case?

One day I wanted to get to the main page and tried to achieve this in every possible way, each new OP constantly motivated me. I got upset every time I didn't get to the main page. I'm so ashamed of my behavior back then, because when I was upset that I didn't make the front page, I didn't realize that it was deserved. I ignored the advice of other musicians that my skill was not growing and that almost every track I wrote was an exact copy of my previous songs. This could be explained by the fact that "this is my style," but that would just be a stupid excuse.

I'm so glad that this dark time is over, and I wouldn't want it to happen again.

Now I'm writing my music because I LIKE it, because I have a fan base that listens to my songs, and it's very valuable! My skill has improved noticeably, I've tried a lot of new genres and I'm not going to show off yet!

- Video Card Story

I found a great graphics card for its price (Radeon HD 6950 for $11). I decided to go with my friend to the meeting place to buy, namely oh-oh-oh-oh-very far away! about 20 kilometers from my city

Anyway, we arrived, we left, and then I decided to withdraw money from the card, but I couldn't, because the ATM didn't have the money that I needed to withdraw, namely 11 damn dollars (or 1000 Russian rubles). I had to run around with a friend and look for ATMs, in the end my friend just insisted that I call the seller and ask about the possibility of transferring money to the card. He agreed. So I also asked to give the Internet to me, since none of us had it. It was so easy when he agreed. 

The moment of meeting with the seller has come. My friend and I went to the meeting place, namely the seller's house, however, as it turned out, the seller went to the railway station, and none of us heard it on the phone, in short, the seller had to walk another 800 meters to us with a friend. I was so ashamed to look at him, because we had definitely managed to get bored with this seller. In general, I bought a video card, and my friend and I went to the railway station to go home. We came, but we couldn't guess exactly which platform we were going from (there are a lot of them there), so we waited on the platform, which, in theory, was the one from which we could go home. However, my friend saw that an electric train was coming from another platform, and it dawned on him that this was our uniform. We had to jump off the platform and run while we had time. We barely climbed onto the platform and boarded the train

And it seems like there should be a happy ending here, but no.

Suddenly, out of the blue, the driver's assistant runs out and shouts to the whole car, "GET OFF THE TRAIN!", my friend and I were at a loss. We had to get off the train and we looked at the timetable that was on the platform. Fortunately for us, there was the last train that was supposed to arrive, and we were waiting for it. As a result, they did not wait

What happened? It even took 1 hour, but the last train did not arrive, we had already come to terms with it and were ready to leave at 5 a.m. (at that time it was one o'clock in the morning), so we sat on the bench that was in the railway station.

Literally an hour passes and we hear the sound of an approaching train, we were shocked, because the train arrived, which was traveling towards our city. We ran quickly and jumped right into this train. We hoped that we would get off at the right station, and subsequently it happened. 

When we got off at the right station, we had to switch from this station to another direction of trains, which we did. However, we saw that the nearest train would be only in 3 hours. We had to go out into the city and hope that night electric buses would travel there, but no one went to our city anymore

The final moment. 

My friend and I were running out of phones and we decided to take the last but right step - to call our parents so that they would come for us, however, my friend's mom ordered us a taxi and we went home!

We were so tired that I tested the video card only after 1 day. 

As a result, the video card is working and it even has more video memory than was written in the ad (2 GB instead of 1 GB).

That's the story.

Q: How would you say this experience has impacted your outlook on life?

A: I think that after all this, I will now calculate everything thoroughly and plan important things in advance.

Q: Thank you for reporting stolen audio and contributing to the cleanup of the audio portal. What advice would you give on recognizing audio that violates NG guidelines?

A: in the case of stolen audio; you just need to look at the title, it usually says that it is a remix of some song. it often happens that these are remixes of copyrighted songs, which are also low-grade. Those who upload banned audio usually call the speed-up version their remix and they really think they will be given a scout and whitelist in GD.

In the case of AI audio; in the case of Suno, everything is simple, the bitrate is 192 Kb/ s and the monotonous structure of the songs. to remember the approximate sound of such audio, you need to try this neural network yourself. And in the case of udio, it is usually given out by too robotic vocals and the very inscription "Udio v1.5" in the metadata of the song file, or some kind of liquid mix in the song itself, like it was just accelerated using FL Studio and switching from Resample to Stretch. That's my explanation. And in the case of other AI, such as Soundraw, Soundful, they also have the same song structure, which gives away the fact that this is an AI song. I've studied too many AI's that allow me to generate music, so it would be easier for me to assume that everything comes with experience.

Q: What do you think about the NG community?

A: I think this is a talented community that has given me everything I once dreamed of. of course, there are some kind of upstarts in this community who lack attention and belittle the work of talented authors, but it's better to just ignore them, since they do not bring any benefit. That's what's most valuable - it's feedback from more skilled authors, because it's feedback that gives a leap in skill, and this site and its community do a good job with it.

Q: Advice that has helped you the most

A: Never give up and do not succumb to the fact that they are trying to stop you in your work. After all, art was created to put all its soul into its work and not adapt to others.

@kmau - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: How would you describe living from your perspective? Would you say that your experiences have changed the way you see life? How do you view life differently now? What advice would you give to people about setting goals that align with their personality?

Haha, I'd describe my life as that of a wandering hermit. I observe more than I participate and retreat into my cave for a period to apply those observations to my art. Learning to filter information for the sake of my craft or mental well-being is what changed my outlook on life the most.

Regarding setting goals that align with personalities, I can really only speak from my perspective: I am a person who knows exactly what they want and move forward to get there little by little. My most basic advice for that type of person would be to set your goals high while working towards smaller milestones along the way.

Q: How would you describe art has impacted your life?

My interest in art started with cartoons, videogames and later anime and manga, but what impacted my life the most was the dawn of the internet and discovering websites like Newgounds. Before that, I didn't really consider pushing it further; but the internet has shown to me that any weirdo with a good-enough drive could become an artist or animator. I was about done with the education system at the time so this provided an alternate path towards what I really wanted.

Q: Your experiences with the Internet

I had unsupervised access to the internet very early during the pre-social media wild west. Saw some things I shouldn't have seen, saw some things that changed my outlook on art, as mentioned earlier. Lowering the barrier of entry really made the internet a worse place over time, but there are still good corners and interactions if you know where to look.

Q: How did you become interested in post-apocalyptic and sci-fi themes? What elements of these genres intrigue you, and what are some future implications for humanity that you find fascinating?

Playing the old Fallout games sparked an enduring fascination with possible outcomes for humanity within me. I like the optimistic aspect of it, wiping the slate clean and starting over without all the baggage of previous power structures. What will stick around? What's gone? So many new possibilities that are nontheless informed by what came before.

Post-apoc blends very well with sci-fi elements.. so when I talk about sci-fi I actually refer to a "dark age of technology" type of deal where impressive technology exists, albeit derelict and nearly incomprehensible.

Q: How did you discover the NG website? What made you decide to join the community? Do you feel differently about the site now compared to when you first joined?

I first encountered Newgrounds in the computer room of my old school when I saw some classmates play a crudely put-together flash game with ripped Dragonball Z sprites, as was the style at the time. I only made an art account when the Art Portal came around, but I've been here much earlier..

Newgrounds largely stayed the same, at least to me. The faces may change, but an overarching spirit remains.

Q: The story of your username: kmau

I originally went by Kamui, shortened to Kamu in a certain online game and my guildmates kept misspelling my nickname.. henceforth, I was known as kmau. Spelled Ke-mau, with the e almost silent. Don't pronounce it like KAY-mau, that will trigger my gag reflex.

Q: What habits do you consider necessary for cultivating skills in art?

There are many ways to go about art, but I consider developing a natural curiosity for the real world to be very important. You shouldn't lean on fictional inspirations and other media as references exclusively.

Q: Please, it would be awesome if you could share your experiences with autistic career development!

I assume you meant artistic career development!

My experience is pretty boring, I played it safe and learned a less risky career path - one that I absolutely despise, I might add - until I happened to apply at the right company at the right time.

I didn't feel very qualified for professional animation at the time, but since I was dropped into a room with both rookies and veterans, that job became a better learning experience than anything before. I consider myself a very lucky person who just stumbles into these things like a stray dog.

Q: What are some misconceptions you see people having about art, and what is your favorite piece of advice you've learned after more than 10 years of experience in 2D puppet and frame-by-frame character animation?

Hmm, one misconception that I really don't agree with is that you don't need to be able to draw to animate. Learning to draw gives you the fundamentals to understand the materials you are working with.. muscles, implied weight and posing, all of that will be enhanced in animation if you already know how to draw appealing static images.

My favorite advice for puppet animation is that you should strive to make it look as close to frame-by-frame animation as possible to get the best results. That doesn't mean reducing fps like some 3D cartoons do, but to apply the same construction workflow with keyposes and to make lots of manual tweaks to interpolation frames. This obviously can't be applied to all projects, it really depends on intent, time and budget.

I don't really have anything new to say about fbf animation, it feels so thoroughly documented.. maybe try to animate straight-forward without onion shells for practice if you haven't already!

Q: Why do you like the childhood-friend trope in manga and cartoons?

When you asked for obscure facts, I should've anticipated that I would be questioned about them..

There's an implied, primal trust and understanding between childhood friends that can't really be matched by friendships formed later in life. That's how I would put it, haha. I am already a fan of non-verbal communication between characters and this trope just leans into that so well. Naturally I want to use it in my own stories, too.

Q: What was it like working at a drone manufacturer?

Just to clarify, we made camera-bearing drones, not the military kind. I was in charge of illustrating and translating instruction manuals. Really weird as a first job experience but it was funny at times, especially since customers would often crash the bloody things anyways. I eventually designed a drone frame myself, but the company shut down before it could be constructed. We had discovered that our boss left a lot of bills unpaid and he actually fled to his home country to avoid prosecution. Wild.

Q: How would you describe living in Germany?

Every german will tell you that it's safe, boring and that the german railway company sucks. Two of those things are true.

I grew up in the countryside next to nice forests and moved across several states during my career, so I came to appreciate the different cultures germany has to offer. The food and living standards are fantastic, I just wish our government had better priorities for the taxes we pay - but you could say that about any country I suppose.

Q: Art and animation resources you would recommend

I'm not much of a study person, me and my aquaintances just put our pen to the paper. Aspiring artists today have access to so many resources and I'm completely out of the loop there. Still, I must insist that the best resource is the study of life itself.. and The Animator's Survival Kit.

@KittyhawkMontrose - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: Your experiences with the Internet

Oh man, I’ve had a lot. I’ve been on probably as long as Tom Fulp. I’m not sure if he was on BBSes too, but I certainly was. I’ve been doing websites and creative stuff online since really commercial internet was available. I had to fight my dad to get on, but I won (lol). I’ve done fan sites, translation, webcomics, games, you name it. I’ve had rape threats, death threats, job threats (lol), and even a hate letter from my grandma, but I don’t pay those much mind because words are words. I told my grandma I loved her and we’re still cool, and I sent the ones who threatened me similar things (less hugs and kisses though). I would say I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I wasn’t online. I think of myself as an online person too. It’s so much fun being on the Internet, learning new things, connecting with people around the world. I’m constantly scanning the signals~

Q: How did you discover the NG website? What made you decide to join the community? Do you feel differently about the site now compared to when you first joined?

I knew about Newgrounds for a long time, but I didn’t join until 2019 when @alsoknownas1 and I decided to get serious about game dev. We realized that Newgrounds was the perfect place to post the kind of games we like to make, doujin games. Newgrounds is punk after all! I would say I’ve come to love Newgrounds even more as I’ve been a part of it. The community is really good, I’ve met a lot of cool people, Tom is really awesome to everyone, it’s one of the last places with free speech, and I’ve found myself more productive as a result of the engagement and support I’ve received here. I would recommend Newgrounds to everyone who’s a creative type, and I do! :D

Q: The story of your username: KittyhawkMontrose

Oh wow, lots to unpack! I chose KittyhawkMontrose on Newgrounds because Kittyhawk was already taken, and I didn’t want to use KittyhawkNG when I first started because I felt it was a big presumptuous seeing as I had just joined and wasn’t really part of the NG team. “Kittyhawk” comes from an OC I made a long time ago. I needed a more unique online name, so I took it from him. It comes from my misspelling of Kitty Hawk, NC. “Montrose” is the doujin circle that my brother and I founded long ago, and now my husband and I run it. It takes its name from a town that was the center of some our earliest stories. If you want to read one, it’s here on Newgrounds. the Jar will break your brain though. So yeah, lots of city refs.

Q: How did you get interested in creating art?

I was born.

Q: Your advice for artists

Never give up. I know that’s trite, but it’s true. I’m still standing, but there’s a lot of artists that I’ve known over the years who’ve given up. I’m not saying that’s bad either, because life is full of choices, and sometimes another path needs to be taken in order to make those things happen. Art will rarely make enough money to pay for those things. You will probably have to get another job. If you’re lucky, you can take projects and commissions, but you will find yourself holding your head in your hands sometimes thinking, “Why the hell am I doing this?” When art becomes a job, it sometimes kills the drive, but you have to remind yourself why you’re doing this, that this is the thing you are best at and love doing. So yeah, NEVER GIVE UP. Keep pushing, keep creating, keep believing.

Q: What are activities and subjects you like, although you rarely talk about?

I think the things I like most that I rarely talk about are politics and the natural world. To be honest, the phrase “reality is more interesting that fiction” rings true to me. If one were to look at my X feed, they would be shocked that it’s not mostly naked girls and men (though they are there!), but a butt load of world politics, rando animal videos, and travelogues. I don’t discuss either much because I know politics is a dicey subject, and no one wants to hear me ramble on about this one silvery bird that exists in New Caledonia whose possible closest relative lives in South America.

Q: What do you think about X, which was formerly known as Twitter?

I used to hate that place because I was shadowbanned for my sexual politics, and I was even further shadowbanned for my followers’ beliefs, specifically trans and Gamergate/MAGA (yes, both; I have a wide range of followers). You can read the details about how the FBI and Twitter staff did this BS for years in the Twitter Files. I stuck with it because any advertising is good advertising. It’s all about creating as much of a presence as possible. When Elon took over the site, I was allowed parole from Twitter Jail, and I’m doing a lot better now. I quadrupled my followers in one year. I had people contact me and say, “I thought you quit the internet!” I had government agencies contact me about giving me grants after being ignored for a long time. So yeah, even though I’ve been blocked for thanking Elon for freeing me, I’ll keep doing it because that man has made my life better in so many ways, including PayPal. Elon and Tom are my heroes.

Q: What is social media about?

It’s about connecting with other people, and it’s also about letting the deep state spy on you. :)

- Marriage story

My husband and I were married by an Elvis impersonator at the Viva Las Vegas Chapel in Las Vegas. We had some TV execs from the WB sit in on the wedding because they were seeing if they wanted to make a reality show based on the experience. We got to ride into the chapel in a Pink Cadillac. It was awesome.

Q: How would you describe your experience of being married?

I would say it’s been the best experience of my life. I cannot think of my life without my husband now because he is such a major part of it. We are so perfectly matched in all things. We have our own interests, but we like sharing them together. We often have thoughts that we’re like “YOU TOO?! I JUST THOUGHT THAT!” And the sex is great. :D I highly recommend getting married. Find the right one, AND STICK WITH THEM. You will go through a lot of crap in your life, and it’s better with a partner by your side. Fight the urge to break up with them when there’s money problems or sickness! You will be stronger on the other side! Marriage is for life and it is a thing to be worked on all the time! Because it’s so much fun! You may not get everything in life, but try to have someone to share it with is the advice I give.

Q: What do you think about traveling?

If you can do it, DO IT. Traveling gives you new insight into the world. If you can live somewhere for a while, like a short time, DO IT! Lord knows living as many places as I have, traveling to as many places as I have, has made me the person I am, open to a lot of things. Even if it’s going a state over, or even a town over, do it. Go do as many experiences as you can.

Q: What are some stories you would like to share?

So I had surgery back in 2020, and then blam! The pandemic started like a week later. Great for recovery, right? So I was pretty bored a lot of the time, and I really wanted to go to Japan after everything was over (lol). Sometimes when I’d pull up the map to plan, I’d get distracted by the islands off in the Pacific, so I’d go check them out.

Eventually, I stopped planning the Japan trip as I realized that we weren’t going to be let outside any time soon, and I got more obsessed with learning about former military installations and old Pan Am island hops. This evolved into learning about individual Pacific Islands, which became most of my entertainment. I would go take “trips” using Google Earth, I would follow people’s social media and blogs to get an idea of what life was like there, and I even started checking the local grocery stores and even the McDonalds in Tahiti for the latest specials! I’d find myself saying “Damn! That’s a good price! I should go take a trip!” To Google Earth! I also had places that I liked to “sit” and enjoy. There’s a burger place on Rarotonga that looks really good.

But where does this story go? Well, all of this obsession eventually lead to Paradise Slice. The isolation, the wanting to get away, the wanting to find happiness in a world gone shit, and Pacific Islands are cool. I guess I wanted to tell this story because it’s taking a bad situation like quarantine and recovering from surgery and using it to learn and build something new. I feel like I had an adventure, even if I was just looking at a phone screen, and I want to share some of it now.

Q: How to describe your experience with making Paradise Slice?

Paradise Slice really has given me new life. When Paradise came to me, originally as “Kon” and then merging with the Paradise ideal, she started some creativity in my mind that I hadn’t experienced in a long time. As I worked out her story, I found myself putting in things from my “trip” around the Pacific as well as all the other stuff I’ve experienced, a lot of the government stuff I think about, aliens, and even my philosophy on life. I think of it as the “Everything Series”.

I also surprised myself in that I changed pretty much the whole damn story just one month before I published it on Newgrounds. Grey appeared in my mind after I said “I need an agent.” I wanted there to be an government entity eventually, and kinda like the scenes in American Fiction where the writer is talking with the characters, I found myself having a conversation with a man who introduced himself as “Grey”. Rarely I have characters introduce themselves with a name, hell, even introduce themselves at all. That’s when I knew he was special. After working with him a bit, I learned he was a damn good character, and the way he was interacting with Paradise was better than her chemistry with the original male main character. I found Paradise cheating on that guy to be with Grey! But then Grey said to Paradise in response to this, “I do not like cheating. Break up with him and be with me.” And that’s when the whole series had to be rejiggered and the original main character was dropped. I’m happy that he arrived, and I think Paradise is too. :D

I’m looking forward to working on more after I’m done with some projects. I experience something like love when I think of these characters, something that has never happened before. It’s odd and exciting. I will protect them.

Q: What is your advice for being part of the Newgrounds community?

Be nice but firm. You should be supportive, because these are your fellow creators. Tearing other people down may feel good, but that’s going to lead to you being a pariah eventually. You might hate that person who makes the funny wizard cartoons or the one who makes ass-clapping videos, but you gotta realize those things are popular. Like, you’re not going to get popular tearing those things down, and you’re really hurting Newgrounds because you’re making it a unfun place and less trafficked. This place gets worse with every creator that is chased off by the Hate Squad.

That’s why you gotta fight back too. @alsoknownas1 and I sit in the P-bots every day to make sure that winners are congratulated and not jeered. If you have a problem with the work, go use your big boy words, and put them in the comment section of the movie or game. Don’t hide your score like a coward. Be a man and post it. Show that you blammed it. Stand by that blam. And don’t go acting like you’re some authority on Newgrounds and scare off the creators, all the while not creating really anything of your own since 2022 which happens to be very similar to the thing you’re currently dumping on, a small animation loop that’s peaceful and nice. That will eventually lead to you ruminating, doing absolutely nothing, getting your mom on your case, being kicked out of your family home, and finally living near a pickleball court that you hate. :) I stand by being nice, being supportive, and always congratulating the winners!

@SomeDoodles - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: What do you think about books?

I think books are a great form of entertainment. When I read a comic book, I read and read and read, I want to keep reading till the end. I can read them pretty fast, while also appreciating the artwork of each panel.

When I read a regular, text only book, I really use my imagination to picture how the characters look like, and the scenario they're in, which I like to do.

Q: How did you discover the NG website? What made you decide to join the community? Do you feel differently about the site now compared to when you first joined?

Like a lot of users, I discovered the website during the Friday Night Funkin popularity spike.

Although I joined the website on June 2022, I really joined the community in 2023, that was when I found the OC plaza thread in the art forum. There are so many cool OCs on that thread, and I met some great users there.

I don't think my thoughts on the website have changed, too much.

Q: The story of your username: SomeDoodles

I made this name up in 2021, when I was watching story time animation channels for a brief time. I tried to come up with a stupid username that sounded like a story time animation channel name.

Nowadays I don't like story time animations as much.

Q: Why is your favourite day of the week, the shabbat?

It is my favorite day, because that's the one day of the week where the whole family puts aside the smartphones and other devices, and we get to spend some actual time with each other. On that day I like to play card games, go for walks, play sports, read books.

Q: How are you inspired by SpongeBob?

This show was probably my first exposure to animation. At least, the first one I can remember. I really like the characters and their designs. I loved the artstyle, I loved the plots. This is the show that got me into cartoons. This is the show that made me interested in creating my own shows one day. I still love that show

Q: Why do you like the combination of the colors; purple and yellow?

I like the color purple. It's my favorite. This color and yellow are a really nice contrast. They're completely different from each other.

Q: What do you like about animation?

I like how in animation, reality can be exaggerated and twisted based on the animator's artistic choices. This one's more specific to cartoons, but I also like fun, wacky character deisgns. I especially like anthro animals.

Q: Your advice for animation

I don't think I am experienced enough to give any good animation advice

Q: How would you describe your art style?

It is very cartoony and stretchy, with big, round eyes.

Q: Your advice for being a part of Newgrounds

I don't know, don't be an asshole, I guess?

@Hydweeb - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: From your perspective how would you describe you experience with living?

A:Being alive has been pretty cool recently, definitely better than being dead

Q: What are your goals, and why do you think you have them? What is the process you plan to follow, and how do you think about achieving the goals you have set?

A: Id love to get big on the net and be able to monetize that but the likelihood of that happening is slim, so I've been looking into getting a job in a trade, like a electrician.

Q: Internet, what does the word mean to you?

Slop, lots of slop.

Q: Why do people come to Newgrounds?

A: I assume because of the freedom that other don't platforms have, the community, and that the website doesn't completely rely on some shitty algorithm.

Q: What do you like to read?

I like to read Stephen King, his books are really good at making you feel immersed, same with Tolkien, I also like George Orwell's most famous books even tho they're just glorified schizo posts.

Q: Why would you like to make music someday?

A: I believe you can express more emotions with music than any other artistic mediums

Q: What is history about?

A: humanity's past and how it affects us to this day

Q: What do you like about taking care of animals?

A: it's not to hard and I get bird eggs out of it( me and my family take care of a lot of birds like chickens, ducks, and quail)

Q: How did you become interested in learning to play the guitar, and what are riffs?

A: Parents bought me a guitar and insisted I try it out, so I did, I learnt a couple songs from the Beatles, probably the most interesting thing I could play was coffin nails.

Q: How did you develop your art style?

A: Ripped off phantomarcade because it was pretty easy to replicate, but I realized that was dumb so now I've been trying to develop my own style.

Q: Your advice for creating art

A: Always be honing your craft, never stop trying to be better.

Q: what does it mean to be based?

A: To be ALPHA and absolutely CRUSH pussy all the doo dah day

Q: What interest do you about Internet hoaxes, creepypastas, and args?

A:The unique approach story telling.

Q: Create an inspirational quote

A: There are 2 kind of men in this world, the gays and men that have tried to suck their own penis

@CappyCatII - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: How has being born in Singapore and growing up in a multicultural environment affected you? How would you describe your experience living in the United Kingdom?

I didn’t hold any biases towards others. I was taught to be kind, not having presumptions about people when meeting them for the first time. Attending local schools that also had an international section meant I made friends with people from many different backgrounds!

At some point this had to change. When the time came my family moved back to the UK.

I would say living in the UK is… different. There were pros and cons, as there were in Singapore, but it was time to get back to the reality of a country that I held a passport for. Being the ‘new kid’ with no local friends and also being neurodivergent. There were inevitably some tough moments in school, but there were a lot of ups too, including living near the countryside and being able to do more acting. Living in the UK helped me understand the importance of small things; Singapore helped me understand the importance of diversity.

Q: How did theater change your life? How did you decide on taking a gap year to figure out if drama college is the right place for you?

As mentioned earlier, arriving in school with no local friends or contacts, it was quite tough a and I often found myself a bit lonely. Then I saw on my school’s billboard that a local theatre company was taking auditions for the musical production of The Wind in The Willows – I took that chance.

That changed everything. Being a part of the production and involved in a community that cares was the greatest feeling ever. I took the role as the Magistrate, and they loved me so much that the backstage team gave me his gavel as a reminder. With this and some other local theatre experiences behind me, I thought about applying to drama college, but as my time studying Games Design progressed, I found concept design to be more my fitting. So instead, I decided to take a year out to figure myself out.

I asked my brother’s friends if they would recommend taking a gap year before uni and they all lamented not taking it!

Q: how did you decide on taking a gap year to figure out if drama college is the right place for you? And why do you say you believe everybody should speak a second language

Most of the people I know who are bilingual, are some of the loveliest people I’ve met, including my boyfriend. Learning another language is not only showing a sign of respect but also a sign of empathy as language is a part of people’s identity. Being able to communicate across borders helps remind us that these borders are arbitrary and we’re all human in the end - with pretty much the same hopes, fears and dreams.

I watched Kneecap recently, bonkers movie I tell you. A true story about a rebellious Irish hip-hop group making the Irish language a part of their culture. The movie ends with a caption that states, “every 40 seconds a language dies”. It’s damn important.

Q: How did you meet your boyfriend, and how did he become fluent in French? Do you also want to learn French because your boyfriend is fluent in it?

Oof this is personal. I really don’t want to give too much away if I’m honest so I’ll keep it short. We met at my college’s expo, he was with a friend of mine and there was a… spark between us! He’s half-French and when I was chatting to him on the phone, his mum came up and talked to him and I could tell that he was completely fluent. 

I may well pick up some French just to surprise him, and also feel more in touch with him!

Q: Why are you trying back to getting learning Mandarin?

I did learn some Mandarin in elementary school, so I’m hoping it would be easy to pick up if I put my mind to it. It's one of the most popular languages in the world, so I think it'll be polite to hold a basic conversation.

Q: How did you decide on creating art?

At first, I thought programming was going to be my thing, but later discovered that I preferred to visualise what I saw in my mind. It felt thrilling to create these worlds and characters, conjouring up something new to share with the world! I hadn’t studied art in high school, I didn’t think I had the passion for it or that I could ever become good enough. But with enough practice and patience, I found myself enjoying it more and more!

Q: How to describe your experiences with being part of the NG community?

Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I joined this site initially to host the portfolio for my GD course. But after joining a collab, it changed my mind.

Never have I seen such a strong community as this. I never saw it with other platforms like Twitter or Instagram, just the fact that these people are all rising or established artists puts a smile on my face!

Q: How do you know if a opportunity is good?

I think that you need to assess the person or people who are putting it forward. Do they seem authentic and genuine? Do they have a solid plan for the idea or project? Are they going to be truly collaborative and willing to try new ideas and be patient if you’re still learning?

I often tend to be more positive than negative about opportunities though as I think it can, within reason, be a way to learn and grow in experience and skills.

Q: Your advice on being kind

In the end, it’s a bit like the race of the tortoise and the hare. Being kind may seem to be dull and slow when other people are being cynical and flashy with witty cut-downs or sarcasm. But kindness will often win in the end as you reap what you sow and who wants to be remembered as a bad person?

Kindness is free to give but is priceless to receive, which helps to start a virtuous circle too.

Q: The story of your CappyCat character

He’s a reflection of myself. A… fursona if you will. My general design philosophy is to be down-to-earth. I designed him based on myself, from the confidence I like to show, even down to the grey cap! So, whenever I’m wearing his attire, I become him. Or… he becomes me.

It helps me get into a good place whenever I want to be more confident. Works every single time. Saves spending a grand on a fursuit if you ask me!

Q: What does it mean to be happy?

The state of happiness that is ‘sold’ to us through films, social media and ads is so superficial.

I’m coming to realise that you can’t be full-on ‘happy’ all the time, it has shades and different depths. Sometimes you find yourself happy from moving outdoors in the fresh air, at other times it could be when you’ve finally cracked a drawing or finished reading a great book. Or it could be simple hanging out with family or other loved ones. I know I’m still a bit ‘grass is greener’ about happiness, convinced that everyone else is having a great time somewhere else, but I’m learning to savour moments and that good old ‘pursuit of happiness’ rather than needing to feel like you’re at a rave party all the time.

To be happy is… to live and experience it.

@Itsmega - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: Your experiences with the Internet

It can be a rather mixed bag between genuinely cool people and people you cannot stand, but for the most part I've been meeting people that are genuinely cool people, especially the ones from TETR.IO, despite me being above average in terms of the playerbase, I have made a lasting impact over the course of 3 years being there.

Q: The story of your username: Itsmega

Oh, this one... It's rather odd and also humorous. It started out as: ItsMegaLosers and later down the line I realize that having that Losers suffixed in there would look funny to onlookers, so I dropped that and made the "M" lowercase, which turned it into "Itsmega" I'll also add to the fact that I use an alternate handle in some places, in cases where "Itsmega" is taken: "1tsm3ga". L33tSpeak is the byproduct of having to pick something else. I did incorporate it into my online signature since the Valentine's Day illustration.

Q: How did you discover NG, and why did you join?

I discovered Newgrounds from Markiplier who was playing some popular flash games at the time and found out about the Henry Stickmin series and achievements it had integrated somehow nudged me young brain into making an account on the site. Eventually I would forget about it as I got busy with other things, but came back after seriously wild decisions by Elon Musk with Twitter (the name is more recognizable than "X").

Q: What do you like about art?

The Passion, Effort and Commitment to make something that you like or find something you like about someone else's work speaks volumes than just some engagement. Every illustration you make is some sort of learning process of trying something and see if it works or not.

I had times where things weren't working out, especially with the hands at one point looked so wrong, that I had to redo those, so they looked better.

Q: What do you think about the Henry Stickmin series?

Fun, Goofy and chalk-full of references from several media (games, cartoons/anime, comics/manga) from the western and eastern hemisphere.

Q: Why do you dislike Crunchyroll?

It's got something to do with the paywalling of content, when I get the sudden interest in watching it and can't because you have to pay €6/month just to watch the show.

The reason why Anime got popular in the West was because of ill-gotten means on the web and fan-subtitles.

Q: Your advice for artists

Burnout happens to even the best, it's important to take a step back and relax. The best place when to take a break is when you have: "I'm enjoying this, but it's getting a bit annoying" mood, that's where you stop and take a break.

It's a cycle: "I'm enjoying this!" -> "I'm enjoying this, but it's getting a bit annoying" -> "This is annoying and I'm not enjoying this..." -> "*Quit the activity for a good while" -> (repeat)

If you are in the 2nd phase, step back from it and jump to 4th phase. It'll turn "a good while" into "a bit".

I learnt this from SoundSmith, I just can't remember which video it was from...

Q: Your experience with Tabletop RPGs

Rather interesting, I'm in 2 groups, one with consistent session times (with some exceptions) and one with rather inconsistent. The Roleplay with complete strangers is really fun to do and the element of chance, that something might go spectacularly well or in complete disaster by the luck of the dice. You gotta roll with it and adapt to the situation, you still have your party members to soften the blow of a Natural 1 (otherwise known as a Critical Fail).

Q: What is it like being a community manager and commentator for EUCannon?

As a Community Manager, not much different to holding moderation tools on a site. If you can keep a level-headed, neutral stance with having the place tidy to newcomers and welcoming them, and keeping the bad actors out, it's perfectly fine.

As a Commentator, you watch top-tier players duke it out to see who's the best. You gotta have the knowledge of the game and have the energy to pump the viewers' excitement up to whatever is happening in-game. I'm not commentating alone, I always have someone by the side to bounce off one another.

Q: What are your goals in life?

Not much really. I could be popular and famous eventually, but I think I rather just make a lasting legacy to where ever I'm around in places, such as: YouTube, Newgrounds, TETR.IO, etc. That's all I what, make a lasting impact, even if my life outside the web is boring.

Q: Have you ever struggled with negativity, and how did you overcome it?

I've come to terms with the lack of trust, because I got bullied in school for growing a mustache before any of the boys did in class and mocked my dog's passing. It was just too much and I just decided to transfer schools, because it was too much (I went on to graduate from it with an average score).

Some time later, I found people from the US West Coast, during a VC in the Fall Guys discord during Classic Season 1 (when that was hot in 2020) and slowly opened up with them. They were trustworthy enough to be able to slowly open up about myself and have my faith restored overtime. I'm not gonna open up more about my life, but I have recovered from the bullying.

@BlakeyTakeyTheCakey - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: What is life about?

Achieving goals and spending time doing what you love

Q: The story of your username: BlakeyTakeyTheCakey

"Blake" is my real name. The cake part is a subtle reference to the portal games. The rest I added because it sounded nice. I'm thinking of removing the y once I get the supporter upgrade.

Q: Why do you like bike riding? And what do you like about bikes?

I like riding my bike because it's where I get most ideas for my animations/art

Q: What makes you interested in history?

I find events like battles in a war to be interesting. I also like wondering about what would’ve happened if different things happened

Q: How did you discover the NG website? What made you decide to join the community? Do you feel differently about the site now compared to when you first joined?

1. I discovered the site a while ago at school, a friend was playing interactive buddy and he showed me the site. 

2. I think the reason I joined was because I just wanted to be active around the site. 

3. After using the site for about one and a half years, my opinion of the site changed a lot. When I first joined I had no clue what the community was like! But I’ve learned that this community is one of the best out there!

Q: What do you think about art?

I love it. Need I say more?

Q: Your advice for artists

Do not do things just to get popular. Trust me, you’ll get burnt out INSANELY fast.

Q: What do you like and dislike about the NG community

I really like the community in general! I would say it’s the best place for new artists to start out. There are a lot of good people here. I would have to say the adult content is my least favorite part about the community and site in general. That’s all I feel comfortable talking about.

Q: What do you like about games?

I love the gameplay, immersion, and storytelling the most. A perfect example is Half-Life 2. It nails all of those aspects in my opinion!

Q: What does it mean to be happy?

Everything's going your way, nothing can put you down!

@SkankyMojo - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: What is it like living in the United Kingdom?

I don't want to bring it down from the start, but at present, and since Brexit, honestly... it's politically divided, there's brutal economic disparity, and it feels like living in a collapse-of-Rome situation. As a working-class British citizen, you exist in a kind of neo-serfdom, where, like in America, I'd imagine, you're at the bottom of the top of the world. I get clean water from a tap in a rented house, a flushing toilet, and I have the trappings of a Western life: phone, computer, internet, music gear, access to supermarkets with fresh fruit and vegetables. But the majority of the things I benefit from in the UK are offset by death and suffering imposed around the globe. My entire existence is drenched in blood, suffering, and slavery... and for it, I live a life that only 1% of the planet is afforded. Obviously, there's a 1% of that 1% who actually have true agency... I've not been able to figure out the best course of action yet, and I can't comfortably exist with things the way they are though, for sure. But what praxis looks like, I have no idea. 😅 I just want to live in a world where we share resources instead of exploiting each other for them. But yeah, living in the UK comes with a lot of existential baggage.

Q: How did you get interested in creating music?

It was something I found through an ulterior motive, really. I always wanted to be a character artist for Squaresoft (now Square Enix). I was in love with Yoshitaka Amano's work, and that's all I really wanted. But then I hit puberty, and this girl I fancied made the comment "bass players are fit," and my adolescent mind understood what must be done. That relationship didn't work out, but god, I fell for music—it did what art did for me, but sound felt more immediately expressive than visual art did. I've been obsessed ever since, went to college for it, and have been in loads of bands. All in all, I've been playing bass for 20 years and recording/producing for about 17. I got into production because of punk bands I was in, and later prog-metal and djent bands. In the punk band era, we'd use the old Boss 8-tracks that burned to CD. Then I had my first studio experience recording to the old ADAT racks. Eventually, the DAW thing came in during the Prog/Djent era, and that's when I started learning to produce properly, reading Sound on Sound magazines, and buying books on it all. I'm a massive fan of Sylvia Massy's approach—she's a huge inspiration. Her work with Tool is beyond words. Also, people like Kenny Segal in the hip-hop world.

Q: What does music represent?

To my mind, music represents primarily the intention of the artist, which is then reinterpreted by every individual through their subjective experience of it. Fundamentally, I see it as an externalization of the artist's internal world.

Q: What have you learned about psychology and philosophy, particularly metaphysics?

Well, I've half-read some books and watched a lot of lectures on YouTube, so I reckon I'm at about a PhD level. 🤣 In all seriousness, though, these topics are my other obsession next to music. Let's be frank—being a conscious human experiencing existence is fucking mental. Philosophy is just the collective attempt to understand what the fuck is going on and the implications of that. I'm particularly enthralled with the study of "Ontology," meaning "Being/Existence," and "What is the ontological ground?" or the "fundamental substrate of existence." From a religious point of view, that would be "What is God?" and what is "God's experience of self?" I'll ask myself really esoteric questions, like "Can a thought be aware? And if a thought is aware, can a thought be aware of its thinker's awareness?" and I'll endlessly muse on these mental experiments. It's partly to blame for my out-there lyrics. 🤣 My favorite philosopher is a guy called Terence McKenna—if you haven't heard of him, check him out. Also, do yourself a favor and read *The Conquest of Bread* by Peter Kropotkin—it's old, but it's one of the foundations of anarchist thought, and it's an interesting read. Oh, and if you're on YouTube, check out Philosophy Tube, TheLeftistCooks, and Tirrrb.

Q: Your story of dropping out of university and your tutor Jan Kopinski, who's an acclaimed saxophonist.

So I was very bright-eyed when I left college and went to university. I'd really built it up and had an unrealistic idea of what it would be. I went to Salford Uni, which is good, but I was imagining fucking Berklee or something. Sadly, it fell short of my hopes. I was doing a BA Hons in Popular Music and Performance, and the key is in the name—I thought there would be more focus on jazz and experimental approaches, but I was stuck reading Madonna in session musicianship lessons. Thankfully, I had a tutor called Jan Kopinski, who's an utter legend. He's played sax on fucking everything; I'm pretty sure he's done Bond soundtracks and the like. An absolutely fantastic player. He took an interest in me because I think he could see my frustration. I was producing weird jazz metal with loads of odd meters and dissonance. I'd come early to sessions, and he'd give me notes on what I was working on, really pushing me to explore my creativity without limitation. This had been going on for about three months, and I was getting increasingly sick of pop and had developed a significant disdain for Motown through being forced to over-analyze it. At the end of a particularly mind-numbing session—if I remember correctly, we were having issues with the brass lines—I was sat on the bass amp looking drained and miserable. Jan took me aside after the session, and the first words out of his mouth were, "You know I've not got a degree?" I was taken off guard by this because I was under the belief that you needed one to teach at a uni. He then proceeded to tell me that there was only one member of the entire faculty with one (the guy who taught musicology, he was a wanker). He revealed that a music degree was never going to get me a gig and was brutally honest about the exploitation of the arts in higher education. I'd not completed my first year, and I'd not taken out any more loans. "Quit, put everything into your production, and gig at every opportunity—you'll get where you want to be if you just put everything into YOUR music." I'd never had someone believe in me like that before, not to mention risking his job to save me tens of thousands of pounds. Needless to say, I walked out the door and never went back. One of the things I'm most proud of musically is that I have an original sound. This is the moment that gave me the courage to dedicate myself to developing that.

Q: Your experiences with climbing

I specifically do indoor bouldering climbing-wise, and it's the one sport I'll actually watch. 🤣 I got into it when I was 27, so I've been doing it for about eight years-ish—well, the pandemic killed it for about two, so six years, I guess? Anyway, if you're not familiar, there are networks of converted warehouses, hidden on industrial estates around the globe, containing 5-meter wooden walls adorned with colored plastic blobs, floors cushioned with crash mats, and occupied by skinny fuckers in ballet shoes and North Face beanies. These sacred places are climbing gyms, and it's the most autism-friendly sport going, trust. 🤣 Basically, I love it because it makes me forget I'm exercising—it's a puzzle game on a wall. You start at the bottom on the holds marked, then get to the top hold and touch it with both hands for three seconds. That's it, but they go from things like ladders to doing fucking yoga up a wall, and after an hour—two on a great day—your entire body is jelly and you're full of endorphins. I have to be very conscious of my mental health to stay balanced, and climbing improves my well-being tenfold. If you are or were a gawky teen with no coordination, and exercise has never clicked with you, give it a try—there's probably a gym hiding on an industrial estate near you.

Q: How did you discover NG, and why did you join?

God, I was on Newgrounds in high school, but I can't remember exactly how I found it. I got into Joe Cartoon, and not long after, I stumbled upon Newgrounds and Gigglestick. I remember the old Final Fantasy Chocobo rap that I'd watch on repeat, and a hentai game I used to play—it was like the old GTAs, not quite top-down, but you were a photographer shooting nudes. 🤣

I didn't like being in the yard at school, so I'd go into the IT department and play on NG to get away from the other kids. I probably joined during the pandemic for music. I was (and am) disillusioned with the internet as a whole and the music industry. NG feels like a community of creatives growing together, rather than a dick-swinging contest. And, importantly for me, it's slower. I can't keep up with normal feeds; I get overwhelmed with bloody Discord. 😅 But the steady pace of a forum—I can handle that. I just wish I could host videos here. I want to do more production vlogs, and I think it would be a cool perk for a higher supporter tier, with no portal or anything. At the moment, I'm setting YouTube videos to private and embedding them. I just feel like there's money on the table for NG there rather than YouTube.

But yeah, I love NG. It feels like home online to me. I've made genuine friendships here, and I've learned a shit ton just through osmosis and being here.

Q: What do you think about the internet?

It's a tool, and you can use tools to create or destroy. Or really, it's a communication tool, and it can be used to communicate truth or lies. It's a phenomenal piece of technology, but I fear we as a species are misusing it. Once corporate interests take hold, frontiers become claimed territory, and the people, once free, are themselves reduced to a resource.

Q: What do you like about comic books/manga?

They're dyslexic-friendly 🤣. Seriously, though, I think it's the combination of fine art and narrative. I love animation, but (I feel like this is a theme for me) I like the pace of comics because I set the pace. I can linger on a frame for as long as I wish, get lost in it.

I enjoy them physically too—having a book in my hands feels grounding to me. It puts me in my body, even though I'm indulging in the narrative mentally, so I guess it just feels like a holistic experience, with mind and body stimulated simultaneously.

One of my favorite comics is *Saga* by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. It's absolutely captivating. It's a fucking sci-fi fantasy romance—think *Romeo and Juliet* meets *Outlaw Star*—but it's the most viscerally real, character-driven, heart-wrenching story I've ever been exposed to, and I don't think it could have been achieved in any other medium. Also, I know it's a bit trashy, but *Chainsaw Man* is sick. I'm just waiting for the next volume in October. 🤓

Q: How do you feel autism has affected your life?

First, autism is a spectrum, and I'm diagnosed with it, but I'm not an expert—so I'm just speaking from my own experience. For me, there's not a way it doesn't affect me. The foundation of my perception is looking at the world through an autistic mind. From what I understand, my experience of self and my processing of sensory information is quite radically different from the majority of people I've ever met.

This kind of presents a massive barrier to communication because my existential frame is so different. It's like everyone's watched a film, and you think you've watched the same film, but you got mixed up and watched the making-of documentary instead, but you think you watched the same film as everyone else. So you're missing all these references, and you have all this insight that ruins the cinematic magic for everyone else. Then you kinda end up very alienated and traumatized as a result of it.

I was a late diagnosis—it was only the other year. I'd been misdiagnosed with major depressive disorder and had crisis team interventions for being suicidal. Then I find out my arse just watched the special features and didn't know everyone thought I was a dick because I wouldn't shut up about the entire thing being shot on a green screen.

But that's it, I guess. You just see that society is a narrative construct—90% of the world lives in an internal narrative and not the objective world, and people hate the idea that they're really just a story they tell themselves. 🤦🏿‍♀️ That's why it's so hard as an autistic person—because society only appears to work if you accept the underlying ontological claims. The moment you broach the absurdity of those claims, people become volatile, and the system works against you.

I'm fortunate, though, as I get medical weed, and that helps take the edge off the overwhelm. Unfortunately, I do suffer from periods of crippling burnout that I've yet to figure out how to keep at bay, but it's a process.

Q: Your experience with drugs?

In broad strokes, drugs saved my life—specifically the classical psychedelics (LSD, DMT, Psilocybin). Disclaimer: I'm not telling people to do as I have. I also know people who've lost their minds to this stuff, so it's not to be taken lightly.

I think it's quite a normal experience for neurodivergent individuals to find cannabis in their teens and experience therapeutic benefits from it. This was my personal experience. As touched on above, I've always suffered from mental health issues, both from autism and traumatic childhood experiences. But when you're misdiagnosed (remember, I didn't get my diagnosis until I was 34, so I'm autistic and have PTSD), you're not given the support you need to self-regulate or navigate the social environment. So from the age of being self-aware, throughout my entire life, I've had suicidal ideation. I just couldn't understand why I shouldn't kill myself when life was so painful.

Psychedelics were something I turned to as a last resort. I'd been studying religion and philosophy, and everything seemed to point back to the psychedelic experience and the root of transcendental ideas. I figured, well, how about I try this before I gas myself in the oven?

Putting the psychedelic experience into words is a fool's errand—they are steeped in the archetypal forms that precede language, and any attempt to describe them will innately fall short. But I'm nothing if not a fool, so here goes: once upon a time, I was an atheist. I smoked DMT, ate some mushrooms, and now I believe in God. There you go—some call me eloquent, you know. 🤣

Right, so how the fuck do I explain this? The psychedelic experience presents an ontology where "mind" is primary, and we are something akin to "God" having a schizophrenic episode as a result of a state of infinite loneliness. God exists as the totality of all things. Time is a unity for God—all experience is unity, all things from all time rendered meaningless as a result of there being no one with whom to share the experience. Meaning comes from shared experience; meaning comes from love. If you kill yourself, you just wake up at the beginning and end of time, alone with your infinite bounty—alone for eternity. Suicide isn't the act of killing yourself; it's the act of killing the world.

Needless to say, the shift in perspective this gave me has had a massive impact on my want to be "here." This is what my song "Life" is about.

And my album *To Be Adrift In Infinity* covers the period of my life when this all took place.

Got to get the plugs in. 😉🤣

Q: Your perspective on health?

I think it's crucial. You're a mind fused in a meat puppet, so you have to maintain the meat puppet to maintain the mind and the mind to maintain the meat puppet. It's also just about the most difficult thing to balance, especially as... and this pains me to say it... a middle-aged dude. My optimal health routine is:

- 8 hours of sleep with set bedtimes

- 3 meals a day, high in protein with broccoli and peas, and avoid sugar

- 30-40 mins meditation daily

- 20-30 mins yoga session daily

- 1-2 mile walk daily

- 1-2 hour climbing session 3 times a week

- Working on, practicing, or performing music daily

If I'm doing these things, I'm functioning at my best, and I have the best impact on the people around me. I do find it extremely challenging to keep this as a constant, though, because I do suffer from burnout and loss of executive function as a result of my autism. So it can be a battle, but the healing is in the return, and it's a process, so you have to treat yourself with grace.

Q: What does it mean to be happy?

To be content, satiated, with a good amount of dopamine in your system? 🤣 I'm not sure. I'm more a fan of meaning as a gauge for well-being over happiness. Happiness is fleeting, or it soon becomes hedonistic if left unchecked. Meaning will weather the storm of suffering, while happiness will wilt at its mention.

@lowstation - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: What is your perspective on the value and role of reviews for creative works?

I imagine it's something surprisingly cool, as it's a way of sharing a story, and one of my stories might inspire someone else

Q: Your experiences with the Internet

my experiences were never that cool, I was pretty reclusive most of the time, I watched a lot of youtubers and a few channels that I really liked, like, the channels that did gameplay of undertale, FNAF, castlevania, because I REALLY found it very captivating

Q: The story of your username: lowstation

this is something interesting, because I needed a username that was simple and easy to remember, I really liked the idea of ‘station’ that the playstation had, but the rest I had no idea what to put, so a friend of mine told me to put ‘low’ before ‘station’ which, besides being interesting, was phonetically similar to ‘louis’, you know? ‘lows’, it's similar, since louis is my name, it fit like a glove

Q: Why do you appreciate the art of drawing, and where does this passion come from? How would you teach others to develop the same appreciation for drawing? Also, why do you enjoy drawing gestures?

I love drawing because it's a very expressive way of showing people what I want, until I realised that I could ANIMATE the things I wanted, and I was truly WONDERED!

Q: What do you like about independent games such as Undertale, Friday Night Funkin', and Five Nights at Freddy’s?

in the ‘passion’ of how these games are made with love and care, I've never liked triple AAA games so much, and each independent game had a different feel, such a great feeling

Q: What are your thoughts on animation, and what are some discussions you've had about it that resonate with you? What conclusions have you reached?

that in animation it depends a lot to judge, and that any kind of style in animation can be done, since speaking in a more crude and ignorant way, there are a lot of drawings clustered one after the other, so the only thing that limits a person is their own creativity

Q: Your profile picture is of your character, inspired by a cat you once had who sadly passed away. How has the experience of losing your cat affected you?

a lot, I was devastated, because I felt that even if the others didn't understand and all, I don't know, I felt that he at least tried to console me, or was one of the few who showed affection, you know? a child thing I imagine, I carry him with me even after that, because he really helped me

Q: What elements of Dragon Ball do you find most compelling, and would you say it inspired you to learn animation?

maybe the ‘animation’ factor itself, but I thought the effects were VERY cool, I thought the effects were very cool too, like the KI aura, the lightning and the colours themselves, it really was a great inspiration

Q: What are your goals, and what do you hope to achieve by being part of the Newgrounds community?

oh, notoriety, and also people for me to get to know too, I think this community is really cool, so why not join it? I imagine they can accept new people, right?

Q: How do you make an action in an animation interesting?

with the principles, in order to make an interesting movement, you first need to put yourself in the reader's shoes, and that's what we do with staging, staging is very important, and arcs help a lot too, well, I've listed the most important ones I imagine :)

Q: What are the differences between the types of animation you are interested in and those you are not? What common elements resonate with you, and which elements do not? Please explain why these specific elements are positive for you, and why the others are negative

look, I really like the kanada style, I love the styles of studio trigger, but my favourites are those of ghibli, studio ghibli knows very well how to captivate me, the ones that don't interest me so much are cheap animations made with rigs, most of which you can find on youtube itself, and that's just... makes me dislike them? I'm not sure, 

Q: Art and animation resources you would recommend

Proko's YouTube channel, Marco Brunet's channel too, Toniko Pantoha's, studios now, Studio Ghibli comes first for me (I'm sorry, I really love the animation from this studio :D ) wit studio , mappa (even with her problems, they can be very good), and no other studio comes to mind, sorry :(

Q: Life advice

some advice I could give is that perfectionism can kill your project or anyone else's, and that people should evolve as quickly as possible, yes, it's about evolving, but take it easy, get some rest, nowadays people are forgetting to take care of themselves, because art is about what the artist thinks, if you're not mentally well, that will reflect on your art