September 1st 2023

Check these songs out while you read:

Da Intro

Howdy and hello, folks, and welcome to the sixth monthly blog post. It’s officially been half a year of this mess!

And with that milestone comes a big shakeup - a reworked segment, and two new planned ones!!

Firstly, “Da Recap” will no longer be about things that I personally did but will be about sitewide events that happened in the previous month. I want to distance the blog from being about promoting me and my works (outside of a few personal tidbits in Da Rest) and to being more of a community-focused newsletter.

Next, the two new community-focused segments (gotta put my money where my mouth is)! The first is called “Da Mail” and will be a feature for messages submitted by readers. The second is called “Da People” and will be a short interview with a Newgrounds user. More details on both are below, so let’s get started!

Just as a disclaimer: I’ll only be showcasing submissions rated E or rated T. I have the M and A ratings turned off for my account, so if a user I showcase here has submissions with those ratings on their account, I may not know about it. Viewer discretion is advised and all that!

Da Recap

This segment is where I’ll be talking about cool stuff that happened in the past month here on Newgrounds!

The end of July saw the NG Toronto Meet ‘23, hosted by @ninjamuffin99, which you can read about here below courtesy of @TomFulp (and various others linked in Tom’s post). While I didn’t attend, it seemed like a ton of fun!

https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1526843

@Random-storykeeper posted the results for this year’s Art Inspired Music contest, so go check it out! There’s a lot of great music here!

https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1526849#bbspost27741529_post_text

The Newgrounds Summer Festival was last month, so check out the VODs on the NG Fests YouTube!

Content may not be suitable for all ages; viewer discretion is advised.

https://www.youtube.com/@NGFESTS

Robot Day was also this month, so be sure to check out some awesome robot submissions!

https://www.newgrounds.com/search/summary?tags=robotday2023&match=tags

Be sure to keep an eye on the Newgrounds Calendar for future events!

https://www.newgrounds.com/calendar/

Da Spotlight

“Da Spotlight” will be me going over three works and/or users from this month that especially stood out to me here on NG. It may be popular stuff that I want to celebrate even more, or it may be more lesser known things that I think need a bit more love. Who knows! Anyways, here’s da spotlights for this month.

Da first spotlight goes to @JanetKWallace, who has an incredible art style I’d describe as elegant and painterly. Her work reminds me of both stained glass and watercolor paintings, showing great command over both character portraits and the abstract (sometimes a combination of both). If this serene expressionism sounds interesting, please go give JanetKWallace’s full album a look!

Da second spotlight belongs to “Crystal” by @Kreagato! This song is so delightfully nostalgic in the sense that it reminds me of a song from the mid 2010s. A very fun and energetic tune, it’s hard to listen to Crystal without smiling once or twice. The piano that Krea uses is also wonderfully artificial; it adds a lot of personality to every track she uses it in. (Also congrats on 100 NG fans, Krea!!)

Da third and final spotlight goes to “Jack the Box Collab - DJ Mix,” a collab organized by @DJChidow! This collab is a nonstop groove from stop to finish, with each and every artist bringing their A-game to a solid hour of house jams. DJChidow mixed and transitioned everything live and in one take, and it’s glorious. I swear y’all, the NG Audio Collab center Discord is making magic, and DJChidow & co. are proof of that.

Da N00bz

This segment is meant to celebrate the cool new users to the site who are just getting started on here. Whether they’re completely new to creative expression, or experts that are only new to NG, anyone who’s started their account in the past two months is fair game >:D

First up we have @Roronarr who has an awesome art style! The scratchiness of it all reminds me of crayons in the best way possible. Their choice of colors makes their drawings pop very nicely, and their character designs are super on point. Welcome to Newgrounds, Roronarr!

Next up is @BreakBeatMDZ who uses incredibly striking colors and dynamic posing that really pops. His linework is also really varied, giving each piece a dynamic edge that feels simultaneously static and fluid. Welcome to Newgrounds, BreakBeatMDZ!

Da News

It’s time for da news! Here I’ll share some exciting or interesting news posts from around Newgrounds.

@Certly is working on an animated music video!

https://certly.newgrounds.com/news/post/1377526

@Random-storykeeper posted a personal retrospective on this year’s Art Inspired Music contest!

https://random-storykeeper.newgrounds.com/news/post/1377869

@themefinland shared a very useful guide regarding how to make it as a private commission artist! (Even if you aren’t, there is still some great advice in here, so check it out!)

https://themefinland.newgrounds.com/news/post/1378677

@AhWham got User of the Day on August 11th! Huge congrats, man!

https://ahwham.newgrounds.com/news/post/1379860

@Wriizzy thinks all of y’all should include Super Smash Bros. Brawl sfx in your fight animations…someone get this man a TRUE

https://wriizzy.newgrounds.com/news/post/1379964

Da Mail

This segment allows you to share your voice personally here on the Frontpage Blog. Whether it’s shower thoughts, self-promotion, questions for me, something you think I should feature, or literally anything else - as long as it’s SFW I might feature it here! Simply PM me with the subject line “FP Blog Mail” to send your message.

I reserve the right to refuse to feature any message. Messages with profanity will be censored. Abusive messages will be reported to site administration.

Seems like the mailbox is empty this month…

Da People

This is a segment where I send some interview questions to a cool NG user and showcase their answers!

This month, I interviewed longtime friend of the blog @duimaurisfootball!

What are the main inspirations you draw from in your work?

oh gosh, i could go on forever i think. the most obvious influence is certainly modern LISA spriting, which is basically just cartoony exaggeration with an emphasis on weird colors and shapes. the other influence i can really pin down is flash games, particularly EYEZMAZE, Nitrome, and Hamumu. i wouldn't say they really influenced my style so much as the way i conceptualize things.

How did you discover Newgrounds?

Christian "MH4" Sasser encouraged me to make an account because of all the art i posted (and continue to post) in a mutual discord server. man am i glad he did because this site is super duper awesome!!

What’s your favorite thing you’ve submitted to Newgrounds?

holy moly this is a hard one, there's so frickin' many to pick from... but after much indecision i've gotta say blood menace. it's just so... my style, the character, composition, colors, everything about it. i especially love the background. my other pick would've been rocks and rocks and rocks, for mostly the same reasons.

What’s your favorite color?

orange. originally i took that position because nobody else said orange was their favorite so i could be special or whatever, but it's really grown on me to a point where that's just my honest stance. yellow orange is better than red orange.

What’s your LEAST favorite color?

red. i don't hate it, in fact i really love it, but out of the colors that come to mind, red just sticks out as a little overhyped?? i guess?? it's great for shading and whatnot but i dunno, just doesn't stick with me.

Editor's note: dui was actually the one to suggest this question to use in interviews!

Give a shoutout to one Newgrounds user!

@Flying3ggplant. very fun cartoony style!

What’s your message to the NG community?

i PROMISE im gonna start talking more on the forums and stuff!!! i will!!! all i have to do is

Da Rest

Here’s your friendly reminder to help me celebrate FNF’s 3rd anniversary with the NEWGROUNDS VS. BOYFRIEND COLLAB!!! Everyone is welcome to join by lending their voice and I seriously encourage you (yes, you) to join, but we also seriously need musicians to make tracks to go with those voices. Full details and guidelines are in the BBS post!

Also, in personal news my 21st birthday is a few days away and holy cow I’m not ready for it rofl, though I’ll blog about that when the time comes. Also also, seeing as how what will likely be my hardest semester of undergrad college has started recently, don’t expect all that many new tracks from me in the coming months (outside of NG VS. BF work). It is what it is!!

And quick note - today is Bandcamp Friday, which means Bandcamp musicians will make more money from your purchases! Last BC Friday I posted some suggestions for cool music to support, so go peep that for some tasty recommendations. Musicians, feel free to plug your Bandcamps in the comments and remember to make your own posts about this!

That’s it for this month’s frontpage blog! Thanks as always for reading. This month’s blog felt a little disjointed in my head so hopefully this all comes across as coherent to y’all lol. See you next month! And remember to join NG VS BF please!!!

Y'all know the drill at this point - Frontpage Blogs on the 1st of the month, misc. updates on the 15th lol

First off, happy Clock Day! I didn't make anything but I'm sure there's still a lot for y'all to enjoy.

Second, sorry for being "that guy" but please help me with my FNF mod ROFL. We need an animator to draw and animate some sprites; see the help listing linked for the full details!

Third, Frontpage Blogs are getting another overhaul next month, and one of those is a new segment called "Da Mail." If you want your (SFW) message to be featured in next month's Frontpage Blog, simply PM me with the subject line “FP Blog Mail” to send your message.* The blog overhaul will also feature another new segment as well as a drastic change to an existing one, but I won't spoil those just yet haha. I hope you'll enjoy the new changes as I continue to develop Frontpage Blogs!

*I reserve the right to refuse to feature any message. Messages with profanity will be censored. Abusive messages will be reported to site administration.

Fourth, here is your regular reminder to join the Newgrounds VS. Boyfriend collab. It is open to literally everyone. We need you to join. Pretty please with a cherry on top?

Finally, I hope you have an awesome day today. And if today isn't awesome, I hope tomorrow is. Thanks for reading!

Hi lovely people who follow me!!!! If any of you would be interested (or know someone who's interested) in helping me out with an FNF OC mod my brother and I are creating together, please check out the following NG collabinate link for the full details! thanks i love you bye!

https://www.newgrounds.com/collab/view/19723

Welcome to MH4's Bandcamp Friday post! While you could check out my Bandcamp (lol), here's a few awesome works I love that you should absolutely check out today.

"Gappy's Playground OST" by @TeraVex is an instant classic; I listen to this all the time when I need to focus on studying or working. Super zen chiptune beats!

https://teravex.bandcamp.com/album/gappys-playground-ost

"Splash!" and "Splash! 2" by @DisOmikron are excellent Splatoon tributes that are both frighteningly authentic and uniquely their own!

https://disomikron.bandcamp.com/album/splash

https://disomikron.bandcamp.com/album/splash-2

"Edible Tunes" by @slowfreq is very relaxing and chill, while keeping that awesome slowfreq feel. It's ethereal and spacey in the best way possible.

CONTENT WARNING: Track 5 contains mild explicit language.

https://slowfreq.bandcamp.com/album/edible-tunes

"ONMYMIND" by @06 is probably my favorite song that has released this year. It has a powerful, catchy melody and a message that's just angsty enough without being edgy.

CONTENT WARNING: Song contains explicit language.

https://ohsix.bandcamp.com/album/onmymind

"POPGOES Arcade (Original Game Soundtrack)" by Kane Carter (unfortunately not on Newgrounds) is just some good old-fashioned VGM. A ton of super memorable melodies in here, especially my personal favorite track "West Forest!"

https://kanecarter.bandcamp.com/album/popgoes-arcade-original-game-soundtrack

"EMOTICON HEARTZ <3" by @Tritnew is a lovely instrumental album that makes me feel incredibly zen. This album is full of catchy, wonderfully simplistic tunes that juxtapose nicely with the more melancholic song titles, giving the album a dissonant feeling.

CONTENT WARNING: Song titles contain explicit language.

https://trit.bandcamp.com/album/emoticon-heartz-3

"Keygen Beats 2 - The Fan-Mades" is a remix project organized by @Dieswyx that's full of energy and hype. Based on Dieswyx's Keygen Beats 2, everyone on this project really gave it their all! I am not biased at all by saying this btw!!!

https://deesweex.bandcamp.com/album/keygen-beats-2-the-fan-mades

"I FINISHED THE ALBUM BUT IM PROCRASTINATING AND RELEASING THIS EP INSTEAD EP" by @InventoryObjects is absolutely rife with catchy melodies and fun sound effects. Not including InventoryObject's usual heavy distortion (although some fun jank is still present), this EP takes a lighter approach that lets the melodies speak for themselves.

https://inventoryobj.bandcamp.com/album/i-finished-the-album-but-im-procrastinating-and-releasing-this-ep-instead-ep

Shameless self promotion but download the NG Christmas in July Collab Album! It's free with no option to pay, so you don't have to wait for BC Friday for this one!

https://ngjulyxmas.bandcamp.com/album/newgrounds-christmas-in-july-collab-album-23

If you have any artists you've been wanting to support via Bandcamp, the time to do so is Bandcamp Friday! Be sure to recommend any other albums or projects you like (including your own) in the comments, and maybe I'll add 'em!

August 1st 2023

Check these songs out while you read:

Da Intro

Howdy and hello, folks, and welcome to the fifth monthly blog post. We got an interesting one this month, so buckle up!

Just as a disclaimer: I’ll only be showcasing submissions rated E or rated T. I have the M and A ratings turned off for my account, so if a user I showcase here has submissions with those ratings on their account, I may not know about it. Viewer discretion is advised and all that!

Da Recap

This segment is where I’ll be talking about stuff I’ve done this month here on NG (possibly other sites as well, if it’s notable enough)!

This month was a month of collabs for me - no music I posted (or worked on, for that matter) this month was for something other than a collaborative project! Nothing wrong with that, just a funny thing to note, haha.

First up, Keygen Beats 2 - The Fanmadees finally went live, and my submission alongside it! Check it out y’all; there’s some dope music in there! Big ups to @Dieswyx for organizing the project!

Next up, I’ve heard your cries - “MH4, when will you voice the Flipnote Frog?!” Well cry no more - @Tritnew needed a Flipnote Frog chromatic scale, so I lent my voice!

Next, it’s official - THE CHRISTMAS IN JULY ALBUM IS LIVE!! Go give it a listen here on NG, or even on YouTube and Bandcamp! It came out so well, y’all, I’m so so so proud of it. If you listen to nothing else from this post, please listen to this. I cannot wait to organize next year’s album.

Here’s my individual submission for the collab - “Oh! Holy Night,” a VGM-inspired cover of “O Holy Night.”

And when one collab ends, another begins - help me celebrate FNF’s 3rd anniversary with the NEWGROUNDS VS. BOYFRIEND COLLAB!! Everyone is welcome to join by lending their voice, but we also need musicians to make tracks to go with those voices. Full details are in the BBS post!

Da Spotlight

“Da Spotlight” will be me going over three works and/or users from this month that especially stood out to me here on NG. It may be popular stuff that I want to celebrate even more, or it may be more lesser known things that I think need a bit more love. Who knows! Anyways, here’s da spotlights for this month.

Da first spotlight goes to @Ghospel for the very artwork that inspired Tritnew’s song - “FLIPNOTE IN FNF???” This incredible piece was created using real DSi hardware, and it perfectly blends Boyfriend’s spunk with that classic Flipnote feeling. Any description I give won’t do it justice - go peep that sucker for yourself!

Da second spotlight belongs to “parappets” by @SamaadBae5! Yet another FNF themed highlight but for great reason - this track oozes with effortless style and heart. It’s a love letter to both PaRappa and FNF, so give it a go if you haven’t already!

Da third and final spotlight goes to “Dancing On Our Graves” by @CrossCarrasco! This song is fun and energetic, with a deceptively simple melody that’s sure to get stuck in your head. The guitar work on display is nothing short of awesome, and the lyrics give the bumpin’ music a very balanced edge.

Da N00bz

This segment is meant to celebrate the cool new users to the site who are just getting started on here. Whether they’re completely new to creative expression, or experts that are only new to NG, anyone who’s started their account in the past two months is fair game >:D

It seems we had a bit of a Twitter exodus at the beginning of this month, and a ton of cool artists joined Newgrounds as a result!! As such, it’s time for a…

NEW ARTIST LIGHTNING ROUND!

@naraicat has works that are as elegant as they are surreal!

@RortDalitz has a gallery full of stylish skeletons!

@SCREWBU has a wonderful retro anime style!

@metalbeak is an incredible pixel artist!

@CupcakeTheSalty has some really good character designs!

@DawnBean is incredible at posing and shot composition!

And to all the other new folks who I didn’t cover who are migrating from a platform that has left them disillusioned - please accept this sincere welcome to Newgrounds. I was there once - I deleted my Twitter over two years ago now, and after finding Newgrounds through Friday Night Funkin’, I never looked back.

I hope you find NG to be more than just another user-generated content platform as I and hundreds of others have found. The best possible piece of advice I can give you in order to grow on Newgrounds is to insert yourself into the community - using this platform as just another art dump will give you a shallow facsimile of the true NG experience. We have something genuinely special here, so please - enjoy it, and if you’re capable, why not support it? If y’all have any questions at all about Newgrounds, I’d be more than happy to answer them as best I can!!

Da News

It’s time for a new segment - da news! Here I’ll share some exciting or interesting news posts from around Newgrounds!

@DarrylCrayons officially has his music available for use in Geometry Dash!

https://darrylcrayons.newgrounds.com/news/post/1370112

@Dungeonation reminds us of all the handy dandy features the NG newsfeed can provide!

https://dungeonation.newgrounds.com/news/post/1370185

@duimaurisfootball has officially uploaded 100 pieces of art!

https://duimaurisfootball.newgrounds.com/news/post/1370658

@ZaneLittle really wants you to know about the Digital Fusion genre!

https://zanelittle.newgrounds.com/news/post/1372616

Da Rest

July has been a crazy month for me. Disregarding real life responsibilities that have left me unable to work on music and videos as much as I’d like, I hit 100 fans this month (which, uh, from the bottom of my heart thank you), I posted my first ever fully completed collab (still on a kick about that; the CiJ ‘23 kicks so much butt), and I started a rather ambitious one! Sometimes I think I’m a little in over my head with all these projects (and, truth be told, given how many WIP projects I switch between behind the scenes, I most definitely am), but the NG community makes it all worth it.

I not only thank you for 100 followers, but thank you for matching my enthusiasm for this community and for the spirit of collaboration. I typically hate the idea of online “communities” because of the negative connotations surrounding them, but Newgrounds has proven itself to be different. I hope to continue collaborating with all of you for a long, long time.

That’s it for this month’s frontpage blog! Thanks for reading, everyone! As “back-to-school” season starts ramping back up, I hope everyone who is in school (myself included) has a productive and enriching semester.

Hey everyone, I've got some cool announcements for you on this fine 15th of the month.

1.) The Newgrounds VS. Boyfriend collab is here and it's happening!! Go read up about it here, because you (yes, YOU!) can join it RIGHT NOW! Tell your NG pals about it too, because quite literally everyone is welcome to join.

2.) The Frontpage Blogs are getting an upgrade next month - I'm adding a new segment called "Da News" where I post a few awesome newsposts from folks all across NG! I have a few more segment ideas, but I'm always open to new ideas, so if you have any suggestions let me know!

3.) The FNF mod I'm working on with my youngest brother is dangerously close to having its demo be playable, so I'll start uploading music for that hopefully sometime soon! I'm excited for everyone to see what we've been working on - it's nothing groundbreaking, but it's been a ton of fun.

4.) Thank you thank you THANK YOU for 100 NG fans...I cannot express enough how much I appreciate all of you. Thank you for listening to my music, participating in my collabs, letting me participate in your collabs, reading my blogs, and whatever else. Y'all are awesome.

Hey y'all, I'm hosting a collab for FNF's upcoming 4th anniversary called "Newgrounds VS. Boyfriend." We're going to take the voices of as many Newgrounds peeps as possible and make a (hopefully) huge collaborative song out of it!

Anyone and everyone is welcome to join - if you have a voice and you use Newgrounds, you're welcome to contribute! Full details are in the BBS post linked below. Be sure to share this around, too - we want as many people as possible to join!!

Please note - this will NOT be an FNF mod. This is a collaborative song project.

https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1526182

edit: it's for fnf's 3rd anniversary not the 4th lol. i cannot count

It's the fourth of july so it's time to celebrate in the only way I know how - listening to this absolute BANGER

July 1st 2023

Check these songs out while you read:

Da Intro

Howdy and hello, folks, and welcome to the fourth monthly blog post. Four, as you may have guessed based on my username, is my favorite number, so this makes this a special blog post probably!

Just as a disclaimer: I’ll only be showcasing submissions rated E or rated T. I have the M and A ratings turned off for my account, so if a user I showcase here has submissions with those ratings on their account, I may not know about it. Viewer discretion is advised and all that!

Da Recap

This segment is where I’ll be talking about stuff I’ve done this month here on NG (possibly other sites as well, if it’s notable enough)!

First thing (and only lol) I posted was Careful, a collab between myself and @robo2k which I am quite proud of! He did the instrumental and I did the vocals; check it out!!

A lot of my music work this month has been in the background this month, so I promise I’m not slacking off!! I’ve also been working more on the YouTube side of things + been busy with IRL stuff, but I promise I’m still cookin’ up some cool stuff.

Da Spotlight

“Da Spotlight” will be me going over three works and/or users from this month that especially stood out to me here on NG. It may be popular stuff that I want to celebrate even more, or it may be more lesser known things that I think need a bit more love. Who knows! Anyways, here’s da spotlights for this month.

Okay so originally da first spotlight was going to go to @duimaurisfootball for his original Shadow Wizard Money Gang artwork but then he posted “Super Shadow Money” and forced me to rewrite this section because holy crap this one is an improvement in almost every way. So erm…screw you dui for making me rewrite this…the shot composition and designs of the wizards are super sick i GUESS

Da second spotlight belongs to “GETTING 40 LETTERS A DAY FROM SOMEONE I DON’T KNOW” by @InventoryObjects and I have to say - this is my new favorite Inventory Objects track. It still has the trademark quirkiness that IO has made themselves known for, but it’s channeled in a surprisingly more straightforward manner here. The core melody the entire song is built around is so, so solid, and this tune just makes me want to get up and dance. I love IO’s usual crazed distortion, but this was a very pleasant surprise.

Da third and final spotlight goes to @Sony-Shock, an artist many of you may be familiar with! Their work has such an elegant fluidity to it, and it’s amazing just how curvy, twisty, and off-model Sony-Shock can make a character while still being recognizable. Specifically the way Sony-Shock portrays faces feels very unique, and it compliments the fluidity of the characters excellently.

Da N00bz

This segment is meant to celebrate the cool new users to the site who are just getting started on here. Whether they’re completely new to creative expression, or experts that are only new to NG, anyone who’s started their account in the past two months is fair game >:D

First we have @Poffim who specializes in character artwork but also has some gorgeous looking backgrounds! I especially love their color choices and shading techniques; everything they draw feels soft. In addition to some lovely fan art, they also have some great OC designs, my favorite being their pirate cat character. The crab being an earring is such a fun idea! Welcome to Newgrounds, Poffim!

Next we have @not160cm who posted the wonderful animation “FISHEYE LENS,” a funny and realistic depiction of being a kid and overthinking things. It’s a lovely animation with humor that genuinely made me smile and a very nice message! I can’t wait to see what else they have in store for us. Welcome to Newgrounds, not160cm!

Last but certainly not least is @CrossCarrasco who is actually one of the musicians working on the Christmas in July album! Cross can absolutely shred it on a guitar, but is also handy with a DAW! When I say Cross can shred, I mean it - just listen to some of the crazy solos in these two songs! Absolutely incredible skill. Welcome to Newgrounds, CrossCarrasco!

Da Rest

This is the final segment and I’ll be using it to give any closing thoughts I have or mention anything that doesn’t fit into the other segments.

You may have noticed that I extended “da n00bz” to include users from the past two months instead of just one month. This gives me a wider net to cast in terms of artists I can highlight, in turn making those artists easier to find. Last month I lamented that there’s not really a great way to find new talent on Newgrounds without scouring the frontpage and/or the portals and hoping an artist is a fresh face, and I think extending the range to two months will help mitigate that problem just a little bit. I’m still having trouble though, so please oh please - if you find new talent, send them my way so I can talk about them on the blog!!

Also - YOU ONLY HAVE TEN DAYS LEFT TO SIGN UP FOR THE CHRISTMAS IN JULY COLLAB ALBUM!!! THERE IS LITERALLY ONE SONG LEFT AT THE TIME OF WRITING SO ACT NOW!!! Folks who have already signed up, your submissions are due in SEVENTEEN DAYS!!!

Lastly, I’ve mentioned this before but I am so dang jealous that I can’t go to any of the cool NG meetups happening around. If anyone wants to host one closer to Louisiana please be my guest LOL

That’s it for this month’s frontpage blog! Thanks for reading, everyone!

June 1st 2023

Check these songs out while you read:

Da Intro

Howdy and hello, folks, and welcome to the third monthly blog post. Can you believe it - I didn’t quit after two months!!

This month was a really busy one here on Newgrounds, so there was a lot of great material to choose from (hence why I’m cheating by including three songs up in the “listen while you read” section lol)! It’s always hard to choose just three things for each category (I’m a big fan of arbitrary limits), but I think I’ve got some awesome stuff for you today.

Just as a disclaimer: I’ll only be showcasing submissions rated E or rated T. I have the M and A ratings turned off for my account, so if a user I showcase here has submissions with those ratings on their account, I may not know about it. Viewer discretion is advised and all that!

Da Recap

This segment is where I’ll be talking about stuff I’ve done this month here on NG (possibly other sites as well, if it’s notable enough)!

First thing was for the Art Inspired Music Contest - a 7/4 rap called “rocks and rocks and rocks” inspired by my good buddy @duimaurisfootball’s art! This song allowed me to let out some negative emotions I didn’t even realize I was harboring, and for that I’m thankful. It’s also dang catchy, in my own humble opinion!

Then was Pico Day, where I made a very last minute contribution that ended up, uh, sounding like it was made in an hour. Probably because I made it in an hour. ROFL!

Next came the Intergalactic Radio Collab, which I contributed “Makeshift” to! This one was incredibly fun to make, although admittedly I could have sung better on it… Thank you to the kind soul who frontpaged this tune!

Next I posted some POPGOES Arcade fan art that I whipped up for a competition over on Game Jolt! I started using GJ to keep up with POPGOES / general FNAF news and I’ve found the community blogging aspect of it very enjoyable. That side of things definitely feels more inviting and personalized than other social platforms tend to, which is nice. If you also use the platform, why not shoot me a follow? lol

Towards the end of the month, I posted “Lighter,” a Friday Night Funkin’ fan song that features Darnell vs. Boyfriend. Give it a listen if FNF is your thing; I’m rather happy with it!

Last but absolutely not least, I’ve started accepting sign-ups for the first annual Newgrounds Christmas in July Collab Album! If you’re interested, act fast - slots to join are almost gone!!! Check out the details here:

https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1524338#bbspost27700832_post_text

One small thing has changed since I made that original BBS post — I’ve made dedicated Bandcamp and YouTube accounts for the project! Everything else should still apply. For anyone who’s participating in the event, I’ll check in on progress later this month via Discord or Newgrounds, so keep an eye out for that.

Da Spotlight

“Da Spotlight” will be me going over three works and/or users from this month that especially stood out to me here on NG. It may be popular stuff that I want to celebrate even more, or it may be more lesser known things that I think need a bit more love. Who knows! Anyways, here’s da spotlights for this month.

Da first spotlight belongs to “VILLAIN ACADEMY (Episode 1)” by @N4sh0 which is eye candy in its art style. Taking cues from media like Invader Zim, this pilot episode is a great introduction to the world and characters N4sh0 has cooked up. The voice acting works incredibly well for the style and tone, and the world the toon is set in is very interesting and has a great deal of potential for expansion. Here’s hoping we see episode 2 sooner rather than later!!

Da second spotlight belongs to the full Intergalactic Radio Collab, coordinated by @AhWham (sorry I’ve pinged you so much recently, AhWham; you’ve got your hands in all sorts of cool projects)! And no, I’m not just featuring it because I helped contribute to it LOL. This piece was a blast to listen through; the parody radio show concept (especially the “country of Newgrounds”) worked really well and everyone who contributed did great with the concept. The other day I listened to it through my car speakers for full effect, and it was so much fun.

I’m especially partial to @JazzDew’s portion (the very same JazzDew I featured in last month’s blog)!

Da third and final spotlight goes to “A few minutes” by @SockDotClip which had the unfortunate timing of being posted right before Pico Day, causing it to quickly lose its spot on the frontpage. Sock once again flexes her multi-talented abilities with great writing, animation, different art styles, pacing, etc. Seeing these characters Sock has established interacting in real time feels like a great realization of her ideas, and it’s wonderful to watch it happen. Go see what I mean for yourself!

(also the whitty fnf reference in the music made me soyface; i am not immune to propaganda)

Da N00bz

This segment is meant to celebrate the cool new users to the site who are just getting started on here. Whether they’re completely new to creative expression, or experts that are only new to NG, anyone who’s started their account in the past month is fair game >:D

@Landylachs has some amazingly rendered art pieces posted to Newgrounds! Even the Darth Jar Jar piece, which naturally has an element of comedy baked in, is taken as seriously as possible, and the elements of realism combined with the dynamic posing and excellent color choices make for pieces that feel highly detailed without actually being overwhelmingly detailed. Welcome to Newgrounds, Landylachs!

@foolywizard has style for days. Their gallery displays a strong stylistic variety that makes it hard to predict what their next upload will be, and I mean that in the best way possible! There’s such a wide breadth of coloring styles, shading styles, linework styles, etc.…like I said, style for days! It all works really well and it’s very impressive that it’s all coming from the same artist. Welcome to Newgrounds, foolywizard!

@orangedudeTV introduced himself with the calming, relaxed simplicity of his music video for louie zong’s “pit stop” before showing us the true level of detail he can reach with his art gallery! Large, sweeping, grandiose scenery seems to be orangedude’s bread and butter, with sprinkles of character art and experimental perspective thrown in for good measure. If you like Terraria, you’ll love orangedude’s art gallery. Welcome to Newgrounds, orangedudeTV!

Da Rest

This is the final segment and I’ll be using it to give any closing thoughts I have or mention anything that doesn’t fit into the other segments.

This month, I also helped put together a murder mystery game for my church’s youth group. It was stressful, it was tiring, and it wracked my brain, but it was so much fun, it was a blast putting it all together with my coworkers, and the kids ultimately loved it. It reminded me of how much I love entertaining others with high concept ideas, but it also reminded me of two more important things: it’s okay to ask for help and/or delegate other responsibilities to others when you’re overwhelmed, and sometimes you have to be flexible and just allow things to happen naturally. The game ultimately went as well as it possibly could have, and I’m so thankful and blessed that it not only went as well as it did but the youth enjoyed it and engaged with it.

Also GOOD GRIEF, May felt like it went on forever. Pico Day feels like it happened a lifetime ago, even though it wasn’t even a month ago. Not that I’m complaining about it; the slower summer passes by the better!!

On the dorkier side of things, I finally got my Fazbear Fanverse Hex plushies in the mail. Outside of a few small complaints, they’re pretty dang cool! My aforementioned buddy dui drew art inspired by one of them, too:

Lastly, I feel so incredibly thankful for all of the opportunities that Newgrounds has afforded me. Participating in collabs with awesome folks, participating in sitewide events, getting a few of my pieces frontpaged, getting a collab I’ve organized put on the official events calendar - heck, getting to organize a Newgrounds collab at all - it’s all been so surreal. Thank you, Newgrounds, for genuinely feeling like a real community. This site motivates me to do my best creatively!! ‘NUFF SAID!!

That’s it for this month’s frontpage blog! It’s been a pleasure writing these each month, taking time to critically decide which pieces and/or users to highlight. Thank you to all of you who read these, even if it just ends up being the few people I tag in the post itself! Your time, just like the creative endeavors of the folks I’m highlighting, does not go unappreciated.

P.S. - I purposefully avoided including any Pico Day submissions in da highlights. Pico Day is awesome and a great blast of pure NG self-congratulation straight into my arteries, but NG is more than self-congratulation, and I wanted to represent that in this post. Seeing all the cool NG crossover pieces never gets old for me and is always very fun, but originality is so important!!!

P.P.S. - The hardest part of these to write is always “da noobz” section because finding talent new to NG is difficult. Do any of you guys have any suggestions on how I can locate new faces more effectively other than just scanning the frontpage and hoping one of the submissions is from a new user? Genuinely please help with this LOL