You know, when you first become obsessed with Hoshi no Kaabii at the ripe age of 13 and are mostly too busy just being excited over how cute Kirby is, sometimes it's not until you sit there 8 years later, at one week away from 21, watching old tributes about your biggest childhood hero on YouTube, where it finally dawns on you just how dark Meta Knight's story is—and just how strong he himself truly is.
This man has been through war almost as long as he's been alive. He witnessed one of his closest friends die before his very eyes in order to reclaim a sacred sword she knew she'd never be able to wield just to toss it toward him in her final living moments, knowing that he was the chosen one; the one worthy of Galaxia's power. He was forced to wield that blade with it undoubtedly carrying those painful memories, knowing that Garlude died for it, just for his sake. Years later, he was forced to kill his own best friend with that very same sacred sword after at first being overjoyed to withess his triumphant return after going missing for an unknown amount of time, possibly years, following Meta Knight helplessly watching him being captured and carried away by a demon beast—only to realize that the one and only remaining person closest to him had been tortured near to death, then corrupted and turned into a mindless, unrecognizable demon by Nightmare.
He was forced to watch his comrades die over the course of what we can only assume is at least hundreds of years in what was nothing but a doomed war from the beginning, falling one by one, until as far as he knew, he was the one and only survivor. In one of the first few episodes, when he chooses to entrust Fumu with knowing just a part of his past, we see him in a flashback, tattered and beaten against an unnatural red sky, staring down from a clifftop where smoke rises from burning ruins where we can only imagine the carnage that lies within and the things he's seen. His eyes don't hold their vibrant glow for the only time in any of his appearances. He's injured, grief-stricken, bereft. Downright heartbroken, undoubtedly.
Years later, he discovers the children of his fallen best friends, the last remaining memory of them, are alive, but both hate him and believe he is responsible for the death of their parents. And even when they're out for his life in the belief that he's a murderer, Meta Knight chooses to attempt to comfort and guide both of these bereaved children so that their hatred and grief does not turn them into demons inside and out, all without being able to defend himself... because he knows that they're right. Even if indirectly, even if unintentionally... all of their anger and hatred toward him is justified.
And yet, through all of that... He never gives up. He never lets his grief, his anger, his sorrow consume him. Despite losing everything he's ever dared to care about, despite watching the cause he devoted his entire life to fall apart before his eyes, despite his entire existence being an endless living hell... he keeps going, because in his words, he has not given up hope.
This is why Meta Knight was my hero when I was younger, and why he always will be.
powerful water spirit reluctantly accepts gift from little echidna girl idk
have I posted this here before…?
Pikmin Pomni
"COME AND CLAIM YOUR PRIZE MY GALLANT GAMERS!"
a couple snippets from a presentation i gave at school this past week on storyboarding!!
‼️DISCLAIMER: I am still a student and have only worked on student and indie projects! This is just stuff that I personally find helpful as an amateur, so feel free to take it with a grain of salt!
Happy boarding, friends! ✍️💕
Shadow the Hedgehog and Mewtwo trauma bonding not only over the dark entities that took over their body but also their dead friends
“Same story bro”
“Same story bro”
Video essay by Jellybox about what's good and bad about indie animation!
Wanted to share this in case it's helpful to anyone wanting to pursue making animation independently. It's also for fans of indie animation who may want some insight into how an indie studio works, why indie cartoons are always selling merch, why release schedules are often erratic, etc.
I also wanted to clarify the video's context, because it seems to have been somewhat misconstrued in some circles. Not long ago, WGA and SAG strikes, followed by TAG negotiations were very much in the news, shining light on the struggles the artists, writers, and actors in the Hollywood studio system are facing. In response, the words 'just go indie' have been tossed around quite a bit lately.
Gene and Sean at Jellybox approached us a few months back explaining that they were planning to make a video about the realities of running an indie studio/producing indie animation, largely in response to that 'just go indie' attitude. They were curious if we'd be willing to share our experience, including information about actual costs and the various difficulties and complications we've encountered. We said yes! We'd like for people to know what it's like. As much as it might look appealing next to the currently very broken studio system, indie has its own set of problems, and we think it's a good idea to be transparent about that because talking about problems is how you begin to address them.
Of course, while you get creative freedom and you have no shareholders to appease with indie production, the primary struggle you're always going to face is funding…and funding avenues are limited. Banks aren't eager to hand out business loans to freelance artists making cartoons, for instance. Social media algorithms reward frequent updates you can't swing with hand-drawn animated content, so you can't rely much on things like AdSense. You can't really insert sponsored ads into your animated videos without being too obtrusive. You can take on client work, but that interferes with your ability to focus on own animated project. Crowdfunds can be great for seed money, but they're also a ton of work to fulfill, and fulfillment itself will tend to eat up a considerable amount of the funds you've raised. Once your animation is produced, there is no well established way to sell the animated episode itself like there is for, say indie games sold on Steam. So, while we consider ways to try to make the terrain a bit more hospitable to indie creations, if nothing else, let this explain why productions rely a lot on merch drops!
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And hey, if you're an animation fan, consider supporting the independent productions you enjoy, whether you're tossing a few dollars their way, buying their merch, or just mentioning them to friends:
The Far-Fetched team is launching a crowdfund very soon to help them complete their pilot!
The Monkey Wrench team is killing it lately, and they deserve so much more fanfare than they've gotten!
And of course, thank you to the excellent folks at Jellybox for starting an important conversation!
Something Something- AMANDA HUFFORD!!
Escaping from Olaf.
Alt version with her black hair!
Tessa James Elliot ref. sheet! (For my AU) This is her formal/gala outfit btw! I'll be working on her gothic outfit soon :D (she'll have a different hairstyle for the gothic outfit which will be somewhat similar to the canon hairstyle)