4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!

Yep, you read that right, I’ve officially been apart of this website for four years, that is pretty crazy, considering it only felt like two. Which in reality, is kinda true considering I didn’t really do much in 2020 or 2021 besides make a few figures and post dumb random stuff like any other new user.

This site was a very.. interesting experience to be a part of. Lots of stuff has happened throughout my time here, and luckily, I was able to grow as a person and as member of this community. Most of you guys (you know who you are) are the reason I’ve still been around, seeing all of you talented dudes progressing alongside me has been such a pleasant thing to see, this may sound corny, but I love you all and I’m genuinely proud of you guys, even if the improvements in whatever is you do is small, it’s still great to see. I’ve met a bunch of wonderful people through this place, and I can’t say how lucky I am to be able to talk to some of you. You guys have motivated me, inspired me, helped me, and just, are really cool dudes. I’m not very good at expressing myself, but I just want you most of you are some of the bestest friends I’ve had.

Now, on to a more relevant topic. Stick Nodes, the app that somewhat changed my life. This little animation program allowed me to express my ideas and creativity, and I’m genuinely happy I found it because I was able to find my passion project through it. Bootlegged was a very bumpy ride at first, I was really just messing around and trying to make “the next big animated series!!!” but you know, 14 year old me was a little too imaginative. I’ve stepped back and tried turning this series into something much smaller, and just using it as a way to mess around with the characters I create. There was gonna be this whole plot about IG and Peri teaming up to stop the boss of a boot company that ends up trying to take over the city or something idk that was pretty dumb and unoriginal. So instead, I’ve taken a step back, wrote more for the characters, and now taking a more “slice-of-life with a side of shenanigans” approach, and I think it’s worked much better. I love these little dudes I created, they are so fun to write and animate, I’ve just been spending days and days on end thinking about what I can do. Animating is awesome, I’ve grown to appreciate it more when I’m not trying to animate “realistic” movement and instead focusing on more absurdity and wackiness (which is pretty fun); who knew throwing boring realism out the window could make an animation more cartoonish, which is exactly what I want. I may not be the best animator, and doing everything by myself may be a looong process, but learning to do everything myself makes it way more worth it and feels more, accomplishing.

I’ve just, had a blast for the time I’ve been around, showing off stuff and you guys being so supportive (even if my old stuff was bad), you guys unknowingly pushed me to improve in way old me could have never imagined. If you told me from two years ago where I was at now, half of me would think you’re lying and the other half would be a little obnoxious and say he knew it’d happen. ANYWAYS, the point is, I’ve had fun, and I want to thank you all for making it fun, and for tolerating my nonstop yapping and tomfoolery.

If I were to list off all of the friends I’ve made and am thankful for, you’d be reading for like, another hour lmao, so, to the ones that know who they are, thank you, for being a genuinely cool user, for being fun to hang around, for inspiring me with your talent, I appreciate you and everything you’ve done, thank you.

That’s all for now though, see you!!!