Well, I’ve done it! I’m in @TaintedLogic’s NG Underdogs Audio Contest, or NGUAC! This’ll probably be the biggest crunch I’ve ever been in so far for music production deadlines - somehow I’ve never gotten a chance to participate in something like this before! So I’m not expecting to get that far, but it’ll be fun nonetheless!

Be sure to cheer on some of my friends and acquaintances who made it as well: @WingsOfAsh, @vater-roboter, @ZaneLittle, @KillerRATBand, and @Tangerine!

Better luck next year to acquaintances @Valbun, @JizzyJazz, @Seth, @CIEIRmusic, and @GlaceonDash! Go check out their stuff anyway!

Check out the submission that got me here: Clash of Cass!

Edit 8/13: The Knockout Round submission is out! Listen to The Night Is Still Young!

Hey!

So as far as I understand, I got some friends interested in the commemorative art activity I’d planned back when I’d thought it was going to be a contest, but as of changing it to a collab, I’ve only received one character (thanks @ABlueGhost). This is confusing.

Either way, it’s getting close to the end of the month, I’d said it was going to be only for the duration of July, so that it wouldn’t take too long or be extended indefinitely. At that point, I’ll see what the outcome is. I’d love to see some drawings!

-Cass (Thetageist)

Whew! Thank God. I will not be in the NG Audio Deathmatch this year. That’s a relief. To be honest, I kinda sprung that on myself and did not prepare at all for having to compose new pieces with that kind of frequency. Thanks anyway to @The-Great-One for scouting me on the Audio Portal to try to help my eligibility.

But look who did get in, it’s @ZaneLittle! Zane has 112 audio tracks submitted to NG, as well as movie collabs he wrote the music for, and he also does some of his own animation and art! Guaranteed you’ll find something to love with his work! So let’s get hyped for his progress through the brackets of the Deathmatch!

Go support my friend who didn’t make it in as well! @GlowBoyMusic wound up ranked higher than me, in fact, so take that as a sign that you need to check out their work.

Happy listening!

-Cass (Thetageist)

Hey there!

I'm not seeing any engagement with the background I made for the art collab I posted about earlier, so in case something got lost in translation, I wanted to explain.

This is the collab! You'll be drawing yourself on that background; the instructions for how to do so are in the description. Comment here with your laser tag team and where in the picture you want to be (you can even be walking upside down, thanks to the weird gravity in that arena!), and then use a Dump link to send me your drawing as a transparent image or a PSD file with your character separate from the background layer. Rasterize vector images, please, Procreate can't handle that.

I've also updated the deadline to make it the end of July, considering there's a bunch of other events going on and I don't want to step on them. Let me know if you think further extension would be wiser!

Hopefully this helps! Happy drawing!

-Cass (Thetageist)

So, thanks to @WendigoVDB’s July 1st post, I had a thought.

I believe that the best way to make a change is to create what you want to see in whatever area of your life you can. A lot of us here seem to agree that LGBT pride and support shouldn’t be reduced to a charade that people keep up for the duration of June, and are disgruntled that companies are doing just that.

Well, guess what? We’re on Newgrounds. We don’t depend on those companies for ad revenue, and we’re a small enough community that ideas can really spread throughout. We are in the perfect place to be the change we want to see.

So keep drawing pride art, keep your profile pics the same, keep your flags up, all that good stuff. Let’s see if we can keep going long enough to celebrate Prideoween, Pridemas, Pridesgiving. Valentine’s Day would be an especially great time to be confident in who you do or don’t love!

I told all this to a friend over text, and she added on that July is also Disability Pride Month, where we support individuals in the LGBT community who have disabilities of any kind. I haven’t said this to most people yet, as I don’t make a big deal out of either of these things, but I myself have autism and, thanks to my propensity for overanalysis, a terrible case of the questioning that doesn’t seem to be getting any clearer. So I’m going to try my best to love myself this month, for all of the weird ways my brain functions, and keep self-deprecation out of my mouth. (I hope I can deliver on that last one).

Here’s a comic she sent related to why Disability Pride Month is important.

Feel welcome to join in, or not, whatever suits you best. But I think it’ll be more fun if more Newgrounders get together and do something cool. How about you?

-Cass (Thetageist)

Welcome, everyone!

After some deliberation, I’ve picked up on some of the traits I liked from the usernames you suggested me and come up with one of my own. EscapistProductions is now the more punchy, more spooky, more concise, Thetageist!

This was a change that I’d been ramping up to for a while without knowing it - not only have I been drawing more dark and horror art, but my concept of self has changed quite a bit, and I’ve defined myself more beyond simply being someone who “escaped from” toxic platforms in the past. I’m not afraid of showing off a little weirdness anymore; I’m comfortable in my own skin. And now, with a gift of Supporter, I’ve taken on a new name to reflect that.

To commemorate this rebranding, I’m hosting a collab for my followers! Take a look here!

-Cass (Thetageist)

I want to thank you personally. I feel like a “thank you, kind stranger” isn’t enough (and feels cliched, but that might just be how much I lurk on Reddit.)

Regardless of if you ever step forward: Thank you. I’m happy to be on the cheer squad for NG, and I’ll make sure to enjoy this to the fullest.

I'm so excited to celebrate my first-ever follower milestone on Newgrounds! 50 of you guys got to know me and liked me enough that you wanted to get updates about what all I've been up to!

It may not sound like much in the big scheme of social media, but 50 people means 50 unique lives, personalities, and creative drives that all exist simultaneously. If all 51 of us, including me, were in a room together, talking to each other, that would be a lot of conversations going on - and I'd have to buzz around like a bee between the different groups to keep track of it all! 50 people also means my attempts to put myself out there and build confidence have been paying off, and many more supporters than I would have if I'd stayed in the shadows and let social anxiety restrict me to just posting art and hoping for the best. It's 50 people I can count on to support me when I'm feeling lonely and isolated, and living proof that my sometimes awkward navigation of the Newgrounds forums has not defined who I am on this site. I'm grateful to everyone who's shown their appreciation - it truly does mean a lot!

I wish I could celebrate in a bigger way, but unfortunately I'm sandwiched between a lot of art that I need to finish and a lot of real-life things I need to be working on. So instead, I'll do what I've always been good at - getting my friends introduced to my other friends. Go down into the comments and get to know my other followers! Let's talk amongst ourselves and connect - who knows, maybe it could be the beginning of some lasting friendships between you!

In the near future, you can also expect a little more engagement from me - art challenges, events, and other stuff my brain cooks up in its spare time - so keep an eye out in your feed and the forums!

Thanks again, everyone, and have fun!