This is a post I really wish I didn't have to make.

I want to start things off by saying that I don't have any ill intentions for the Lock Legion, and I wish nobody to go attack the Legion for what I am going to say. I believe that the Lock Legion is able to change, but in it's current state, I cannot accept it.

Over the past few days, there has been a resurgence of activity in the Lock Legion, which is something that I was quite excited to see. The Legion has been in a state of dormancy this year, and I love it when we can all come together to create awesome stuff together. Unfortunately though, there have been some bad actors in our community. I'm not going to name names, but it is something that bugs me quite a bit.

Because the Lock Legion is such an old group, it's bound to happen that most people will join to reminisce about the old web, or just talk about the old days of the Lock Legion in general, and that is great... unfortunately, there is also the people who bring the old elements of the web that aren't as welcomed anymore, such as homophobia/transphobia, racism, sexism, and other such things.

I think the thing that annoys me the most about this is that they veil it under the disguise of "edginess", so it's completely okay somehow. It's the kind of "edginess" where it's just being a nuisance and saying slurs and shit like that. It's not okay, it never was okay, and it never will be.

And the thing that is irritating about it is that this kind of behavior... I wouldn't say is welcomed, but is tolerated. Because "Hey, that's what the old internet was like, right? This kind of thing is okay."

It has escalated to a point where people are just causally flaunting racist symbols and throwing around slurs like it's nothing, completely denying the history that these things hold all in the sake of "edginess". I have to stress that this is something that does NOT have to be grouped with the old web, it's just not necessary.

And that's what I feel is the biggest problem with the Lock Legion is right now, and that is this misunderstanding of what makes the Lock Legion special. I joined the Lock Legion because of how it was just brewing with creativity from all sorts of awesome people, and I just loved the community it brought. Yes, the Lock Legion is also a relic of the old web, but that's not all it is, and denying that it hasn't become something else entirely is just so ignorant.

Again, this is not everyone who is doing this, there are some awesome people in the Lock Legion who I really respect, and I wish nothing but the best for them... but the behavior that is being tolerated is absolutely not okay.

So that is why I am leaving.

I am leaving the Lock Legion, and I do not know whether or not I will be returning. I really want to return, don't get me wrong. My hope is that the Lock Legion learns from this, and betters itself for it. The Lock Legion means a lot to me, and is one of the things that got me into making cartoons in the first place. The community has taught me so much about how to use Flash, and has inspired me so much and influenced my animation style and my comedic timing. The Lock Legion actually got me my first frontpage and trophy, and I will forever be grateful for those things, and the things that the Legion has gave me over the years.

But I hope you all can understand why I don't want to be here anymore. It's just becoming something it's not, and it makes me so sad. I have seen many of my friends get scared off by the Lock Legion, and even attacked because of the behavior that some of these "edgelords" will use. I was afraid to come out for the longest time because of some of the people who were there. Many of my friends have stated to me that they feel discriminated most of the time in the Lock Legion, and don't feel safe there. And now people are defending symbols of a mass murderer, and I just cannot happily stand by. I don't want to be associated with this kind of behavior in the Lock Legion.

I will be leaving up my LL cartoons on my Newgrounds page, as I am still really proud of most of them, and it reminds me of the positive elements of the Lock Legion. Not to mention that they just have a lot of sentimental value to me.

I want to remind everyone to not attack anybody in the Lock Legion. They have their flaws, yes, but I really want to see them clean up their act. And if you do attack them, then you are worse than they could ever be.

I would love to come back in the future and make cartoons again alongside my buddies, but I just cannot accept this behavior.

-Jonah G.

Hello Newgrounds, and happy new year!

As some of you might know, I am working on a show right now, which will be released on Newgrounds exclusively! A trailer will be released soon, and the show will finally be revealed to you all!

A question arises though... when will the show actually come out?

Well, here is the thing... I only have two sections of the show done. Out of about twenty. The show is kind of a unorganized collection of sketches, and I only have two done unfortunately. Luckily though, this will change.

I am going to be working nonstop on the show from now to this summer, and hopefully I will be done with it by then. But who knows... I will probably only get a few done, only time will tell.

The thing is that my animation schedule usually consists of one animation a month, which isn't a whole lot. For a cartoon by cartoon basis, that IS quite a lot, but not for a whole damn show. My cartoons usually last around 1 or 2 minutes, while each episode of the show will be about 10ish minutes. So I'm gonna have to cram HARD if I'm gonna get anything done quickly. My plan is to get 3 animations every month, so that by the time it's summer, I will have 17 done in total, which will probably be enough for the show. The thing is that I will also have to probably make a cartoon for Lock Day as well, and maybe cartoons for something else if it comes up... who knows, only time will tell.

Another issue is that it's not just me working on the show, it's me and my buddies BizzareEmerald and Nameless Octarian. And while we work pretty well together, we do live quite a while away from each other. Like, a city over. So that means that if we are going to collab with each other, I gotta find a time on the weekends to come over and visit them, given that they are also available. And that's not even considering if we get any work done at all, and not get distracted and just play Halo the whole time.

While the skit writing process was completely online, we actually need to be in person for the recording sessions. And considering how often we get distracted, it's going rather slow to say the least.

Luckily, I can work on some of the skits while I am away from them, specifically ones that don't require voice acting and/or a single voice. There are a couple skits that I can work on by myself (about 5 or more), and about 15 that require Nameless and Bizarre. Hopefully we can find some time next weekend to do a batch recording session and record a bunch of skits at once.

Well anyways, that's about what I have planned! I can't wait to show you all what we have planned, and let me tell you, it's gonna rock. Take care, yall!

-Jonah G.

Hey everyone, I am back with another yearly review!

If this is your first yearly review of mine, I'll fill you in: Basically, every year since 2021, I have been taking a look back of what I have accomplished over the year, as well as a general feeling for how the year went for me, I guess. So let's not waste any time, and let's just jump right into it!

How many cartoons did I get done this year? Well, I got a grand total of... three. I got three done. Yikes.

Okay, well that isn't entirely true, I technically got 13 done. But what's the deal? None of you saw any of that. Well, the two projects that you DID see were some of the projects that I worked the hardest on. They are by far my longest, most fleshed out projects that I had worked on by far, and those were most definitely worth posting...

Jip The Friendly Demon was our student film for the final year of NCTA. When I say "our student film", I mean that I worked on it with two other very talented individuals. I did all of the lead animation, as well as the storyboards and planning for the film, while Illiana worked on the animatics and backgrounds, while Paul made the logo and sorta just monitored the rest of the film. Pretty neat.

Jip The Friendly Demon was actually ranked the best out of our class, and ended up making it to the animation finals with a couple other films, which meant we actually got our film screened in front of a crowd of around 100 people, as well as three animation industry professionals! ...I have no idea who they are, but hey, still pretty cool. While we didn't win, we did win the "Outstanding Achievement in Unique Perspective" award, and we got overall pretty positive reviews all around from everyone. It felt really good having it screened, and it's something that I wish we are able to experience again! It was really awesome. I am incredibly proud of my team and what we accomplished, and I hope that we are able to work on something together once again!

The other animation that I released was LL - Hellfire REDUX, my Lock Day short for the year. It was a remake of one of my favorite Lock Legion films "LL - Hellfire", which in itself was a remake of the classic "Hunchback Of Notre Dame" scene. Originally, I didn't think that I was going to get this one done, due to it being made along with Jip The Friendly Demon, both huge projects. Somehow though, I was able to finish Hellfire in the last week, a DAY before Lock Day. And honestly, I don't know how I pulled it off, it was really tough. It is by far my most ambitious project, and I am really proud of it.

...and then I made the bear animation, which was... neat.

The other animations I made this year that I didn't upload was either for school, random shitposts that I didn't think were worthy uploading, or part of my secret project (more on that later)... I mean, if you REALLY wanted to see it, sure, I might come around to putting them in a Google Drive link or something, but honestly I just didn't think they were worth anybody's time. There is one animation that I am really proud of, but I am choosing not to upload that one because it is for my boyfriend and my boyfriend only. I didn't really make it with anyone else in mind, only him specifically. So it would feel wrong to upload it, because that is his Christmas gift, not anyone else's.

So needless to say, this year was a really... really inactive year for me. This is mostly from the burnout that comes from doing two huge project back to back, but most of you may know that this is also because I have been struggling with heavy depression this year. I've always had this, but this year has when it has been hitting full force, and I just had to take a step back and try to focus on getting my mental health in a relatively okay state. I'm not going to get too deep into it because I don't want this post to turn into a vent, but I will let you all know how things have gone since my hiatus has started; I have been put on medication which is helping me quite a bit, and I am seeking out therapy (though it is a bit difficult to find in my area). And my friends and family have been more than supportive, and I thank them all for being with me and helping me in this really tough time. I am doing a lot better now, and I hope to get back on my feet in 2024 and go in full force!

So... what now? What are my plans for this year? ...I'm not sure, if I'm being entirely honest. This year has been kind of a rough one for me, and I don't really know where to go from here. I want to make animations for sure, but I don't know if I am capable of going as ambitious as I wished for last year. To add onto it, this year is going to be a big year for me, as this is gonna be the year that I graduate.

I guess I'll try to start simple; I want to focus on my show in 2024. Some of you may know that I have been working on a show for the past year, and I really want to finish this, if anything else. So instead of multiple projects, I'm going to go full force on one MASSIVE project, and I want to be able to finish it this year above anything else. That is my priority.

If I finish the show early, I might sneak in some other stuff in there too, but I'm not sure what. I know I am DEFINITELY going to work on a Lock Day short this year, that's an always. (I'm always loyal to the Legion, baby.) I have been very fascinated with music as of recent, and I would LOVE to work on a music video for someone if I have spare time... it would most definitely be an awesome project for me. (I already have one in the works, actually, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to upload it due to copyright.) However, this is just speculation for now, as I really want to focus on the show and the show only right now.

Like last year, I want to wrap up this year with a massive thank you to everyone on Newgrounds. Newgrounds is my favorite website ever, and everyone here fucking rocks. Everyone.

In today's age, so many websites are built upon negativity and hate, and are usually just a warzone in general. Newgrounds is one of those special exceptions, and revolve around uniting people and sharing passion for animation, music, art, games, everything. And that's so fucking special and rare, dude. Newgrounds is one of the last few remaining websites that is built on it's community, and I genuinely think that Newgrounds is the future of the internet.

And it's not just people like Tom Fulp or any of the mods who keep this website strong and alive (even though they are, indeed, fucking awesome), it's YOU. You keep this website alive and strong just by posting your awesome content, donating to the site, and having fun. So thank you all, and I fuckin' love you guys.

Additionally, I want to thank everyone who has helped me through this really rough year, and everyone who is just cool and awesome in general. I want to thank Ethan (my wonderful boyfriend), NamelessOctarian, BizarreEmerald, KitPlays, Nova, Ketrick, Tom Fulp, Imp, Nuka, Maspen15, Zteagh, everyone in the Lock Legion, Illiana, my family, ShrimpOnAStick, SomeGuyWithWifi, ClubFlash, everyone here on Newgrounds, EggzLegz, Toastroodz, anyone who has made amazing music this year, anyone who has made amazing music in general, anyone who is fighting for change and equality in the world, and anyone who is spreading positivity and peace. I may have missed some people, but just know that I thank you as well. Thank you everyone.

And I think that is it! I love you all, and let's have a great 2024!

-Jonah G.

https://youtu.be/CPzFeJzGMwE

Hope you all enjoy it, I worked very hard on it!

And yes, I will return soon! I'm starting to get a little better, and I have many cartoon ideas! Thank you all for being so patient while I recover!

-Jonah G.

(Oops, I posted this a little early. It's still uploading, so check back in a little bit.)

Hey guys, I'm still on my cartoon hiatus unfortunately (read more about it here), and to keep things short, I'm not doing much better. However, I just finished a video that I posted to YouTube, and I think it turned out pretty well!

https://youtu.be/ND2IgVMQBQU?si=qr12pummgO5cQrFN

To be clear, I'm not taking the Egoraptor route and only doing lets plays from now on. This is just a little thing I made to keep you guys happy until I return. Thank you guys for being patient, and I love you all!

-Jonah G.

Today I am one year closer to death, please celebrate with me and send me your kindest t̶h̶r̶e̶a̶t̶s̶ birthday wishes :)

TRIGGER WARNING: HOMOPHOBIA/RACISM, SELF HARM

I have some apologies to make.

I have been putting this off for a while, mostly because I didn't really know how to go about this... all that I knew was I needed to say what I'm about to say. I need to get it off my chest, because I feel like I would be lying to the people that support me if they didn't know this about me. I apologize if this is a bit messy, because I don't really know how best to go about this still. I might as well just go for it.

I guess I'll just get right into it...

One of the first things I wanted to apologize for my racist and homophobic remarks in the past. Long story short, I was sorta passed down some really shitty beliefs from a very young age, which unfortunately I have retained until 4 years ago. (To be clear, this is not an excuse for what I have done, and no context really makes it any better, but I do hope it sheds some light on where I was at mentally.)

This led me to start judging people for... you know, just being themselves. I think I was doing this for about 7-8 years, if not more so. I also ended up criticizing close friends I was with, and brought this behavior to communities that I was in (probably most evident, the Lock Legion). I even ended up breaking up with one of my partners due to their lifestyle. (I am so sorry by the way, if you're reading this.)

I think I only stopped fully around 2021ish, and I sorta realized I was a gigantic prick. But by then it was too late, and I have made the world a worse place to live in due to my ignorance. I have tried my best to apologize for my bigotry, and I am apologizing here to anyone in particular who was hurt by me, just in case I haven't reached out to you personally; I am sorry for everything.

I have linked some related charities below... I'm aware that this won't magically undo what I have said and done in the past, but it's the least I can do.

The Trevor Project

NAACP

National Center for Transgender Equality

Suicide Hotline (USA): 988

Suicide Hotline (UK): 08006895652

Suicide Hotline (Australia): 131114

I also have some really shitty sexual background on the internet, too. If anyone who I have encountered is reading this, then you probably know what I'm talking about. I won't dive too deep into it to protect the identities of the people I interacted with, but I'll provide enough that it's clear what I'm talking about:

In 2022, some of you may remember I made a cartoon for the Lock Legion specifically made around a dare that my friend gave to me, specifically our Lock identities performing sexual acts on one person in specific, in a comical manner. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I think that person told me that he was uncomfortable with me making porn of his character, specifically at my age (14 at the time). He eventually came around to the idea, but I think the fact that I went through with it in the first place was still a bit weird... I tried to defend myself on the LL server, but really, there is no excuse. If you're seeing this, I'm sorry. I have since then taken down the cartoon, and have no intention of putting it back up.

I kinda almost did this again for another Lock Legion cartoon... to those unaware, I am gay. I was in the middle of making a cartoon for Lock Day, and during that time my ex boyfriend was with me at the time. (Identity anonymous, obviously.) I wasn't out yet, and I said that I wanted to be dating a girl in the cartoon as to not reveal my sexual identity... clearly this raised a red flag as he stated several times he was uncomfortable with the idea, despite him not actually being in the cartoon itself. I ended up canning the cartoon entirely because of this, which is why I kinda had a rushed Lock Day entry last year. If you're reading this, I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable, that was not my intent at all... the whole point of having a partner in that cartoon was for comedic effect, but clearly I struck a bad chord, so I am really sorry.

I also wanted to say sorry in specific to two members from the Lock Legion who have since left... I will leave them anonymous and I will try not to go deep into it as to not stir any drama... But to sum it up, I got in a relationship with one of them, and then cheated on them with the other on the same day due to us already doing lewd stuff together prior to our relationship. They insisted that we continued behind the scenes, which I obliged and felt really awful about, to a point where I ended up sort of having a mental breakdown on call with that person. They ended up telling the other what we were up to, and it was over. I left a statement to the person I was with, and it was done.

A while later, that same person messaged me fighting back with my statement, and we argued for a bit to a point where they were just trying to aggravate me. I essentially told them that I would harm myself if they didn't leave me alone, to which they finally did leave me alone.

I have thought about this situation nonstop for YEARS since then, and I have done nothing but felt bad about it. I think about everything that I could've done better during that time, especially around the suicide threatening stuff. That was nothing but irresponsible, I am so so sorry that I did that, nobody should ever be put in that situation. Regardless of if I felt the statement was warranted or not, it does not and ALWAYS will not warrant my irresponsible behavior.

This is my last resort of trying to reach out and apologize to them... I tried sending them a message and I'm unsure if they got it or not. So this is it, this is my final message to those involved:

I am so so sorry for everything I did. I hope you are okay from what happened, and I hope you both are doing well.

And that is all I can think of right now... if there is anything I missed, PLEASE let me know in my DM's. I will personally apologize to you. I am genuinely serious, please tell me.

I have been trying to change myself for the better recently, and I think the first step is to apologize to those who need it the most. This apology has been long due, and I think it's about time I did something about it. I want to give one final sorry to everyone... I really hope you are all doing well now.

I think that pretty much wraps up everything... Thank you for reading this through all the way if you have, and I hope you're having a good day.

EDIT: I have also included the suicide hotline from various different regions, since it also seems fitting. If anyone wants any other numbers added, DM me. I will update when I can.

EDIT 2: I have edited someone out of my statement, due to me not giving them the privacy that everyone else has recieved. I have unintentionally brought them into a situation where they are being held responsible for my actions, for what is supposed to be me taking accountability. I overshared, and as a result, I risked them being in the crossfire for my actions. I'm sorry. For those who are aware of the person I am referring to, please leave them alone, and let them have their privacy.

OH MY GOD HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE SHIT HOLY FUCK SHIT WHAT

THANK YOU GUYS FOR THIS OH MY GOD

:3

Holy shit. Thank you all so much.