Hello again newgrounders. Hope everyone's enjoying the summer. I know I'm finally happy to see some freakin' sunshine. Been living in washington state for just over a month after living in california for years. Not sure I'll ever get used to the colder weather up here. I was white enough as it was before! Any whiter and I may become clear!

Anywho, I digress. Been working on a brand new Transformers cartoon. The last one was surprisingly well recieved, and considering how the current one is turning out I have no doubt you guys will like this one just as much if not more. It's longer, more characters, framerate has been bumped from 15fps to 30fps, and this time it'll feature Decepticons as well.

And who know's, maybe if people like it enough they might even go check out my other series Larry and Benny! Huh? Anyone? I know it doesn't have giant robots that change into crap, but still...

...ah well, wishfull thinking :P

Here's a pic below showing some of the new appearances in Transformers Mediocrity 2. You can find the link to the full sized wallpaper at my website.

This is in regards to all other users here who submit content on Newgrounds.

For the most part, I'm a pretty laid back guy. I don't concern myself too much with how well others do compaired to me. I simply like to make cartoons, and if I can entertain a few people along the way then great! I'm sure there's others here who are the same way.

However, whenever you submit something, you want your work to do well. That's natural right? You spend a decent amount of time on something and you can only hope to see some decent results come from it. But do you ever find yourself wishing for the competition to fail, regardless of how good it is. Or do you find yourself incapable of enjoying a flash that's also been submitted the same day as you, despite the quality?

Personally, when I finish a flash, it's one of the best feelings ever. Finally getting done that project you may have spent months on. But when it comes to submitting it online (especially here at Newgrounds), it can be one of the most nerveracking experiences. Will people like it? Will I get first for the day? Is there someone else just waiting to release his/her masterpeice any moment now?

I don't like thinking these kinda things, but it's hard not to. And I'm sure this is the case for many of you as well. I figure so long as I'm at least not clicking zero on all the other submissions than I at least haven't completely lost my soul.

Why am I posting about this, I don't know. Probably cuz I'm working on a flash at the moment and needed a break. It's just something that popped in my head.

What's usually goes through your head after you just submitted a flash?

Well, submitted my latest Larry and Benny cartoon just last night. Feels good to get another toon done. I'm already pretty stoked to do the next one as it'll introduce a few new characters that I already have a few good ideas to work with on. Check it out if ya haven't already.

Larry and Benny 2

Originally I was going to go straight to work on a new Transformers cartoon right after this, however, I've decided to do a quicky first. I'm thinking of doing another series, one where each cartoon is pretty short (like a minute long or two). What'll be about is pretty much whatever the hell I want it to be at the time. I often have funny little ideas that by themselves are fine, but can't really be tied together with anything I've done. So this'll be a chance to get those little gags out there.

It should only take like a few weeks to do, then I'll be hard at work on Transformers Mediocrity 2.

Anywho, that's my babblin' for the day. Have a good memorial day peeps!

First off, just wanna say that I saw Iron Man yesterday. Kick ass movie. Never read the comics before, saw a few iffy cartoons about him, but never really had much interest in the character except for the sweet armor he wears. Robert Downey Jr however does an awesome job as Mr. Stark. If your on the fence about seeing it as I was, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Anywho, I'm well into my next flash. For those of you who may have missed it (I'd take a stab and say, roughly about 98% of Newgrounders), I have a original flash series titled "Larry and Benny". A lot of people probably don't know this mainly because, in my infinite wisdom, I released the first one the very day after Madness Day, and there was still plently of Madness stuff popping up then. So it kinda got lost in all the.....dare I say.....MADNESS.

But I am not one to give up so easily. This series is my own. No parady, no insert popular character here stuff (don't get me wrong, I like making paradies, but I'd like to do something original here and there). I'm gonna keep on truckin' and continue to make more of these cartoons. The next one should hopefully be done by the end of the month. Until then, here's a link to the last one to get you up to speed, and a pic from the next toon.

Larry and Benny

First off, just wanna say thanks to everyone for making Transformers Mediocrity my most successful toon to date. Can't begin to tell you how glad I am to see the positive reaction.

For those hoping to see more, fear not. I plan to have a new one out by about summer. First I've got a few things to do. First, a part in a fairly large callob (I'll let you all guess what that is). Then a new episode of Larry and Benny.

I've already got several fun idea's cooking, and I'd say I pretty much know what the next Transformers Mediocrity will be about. Yes, there will be Decepticons next time around.

And finally, for those interested, I've put up some new shirts in my store with good ol' Peanut on them! Thanks again for the support gang.

Metal Maverick's Store

I haven't been on Newgrounds a whole lot for a good while up until recently, but as they say, "the more things change, the more they stay the same."

In the last few weeks I've noticed a fair amount of posts here in regards to artists hating on other artists. Whether it be for use of tweens, parodies, whatever. Some of you are not happy with what you see, and instead of handling it like an adult, you'll piss and moan about it.

This isn't just some archive of flash games and animations, it's a community. Instead of giving each other crap for what we do, shouldn't we instead be working toward improving each other. Often I'll see reviews for animations that have nothing but negative things to say, even hurtfull at times. What does that accomplish? Wouldn't it be more productive to try and at least point out what was good (most every animation has at least something if you try to find it), and then follow up with constructive critizism without jumping down their necks?

The vast majority of users here aren't great artists, hell some of us barely even qualify as one even if you use the word loosely. But that doesn't mean we can't have fun and to try and entertain both ourselves and others. Some of us don't have the time to sit on our computers all day and animate frame by frame. Others my lack the artistic skill to draw well, and instead of subjecting you to their scary ass art, they use sprites.

As for parodies, sometimes people just like to make things based on what they know and love. God know's I've done my fair share. It hasn't been til recently that I've done anything completely new and my own. But I'm not done with parodies, in fact I'm working on a parody right now. I love doing them and to hell with what everyone else thinks. I've also seen some artists who gone from being parody makers to straight up originality, while now mocking those who do make parodies. Kinda sad in my opinion. The way I see it, if you know it's a parody and you can't stand parodies, DON'T WATCH IT!

The fact of the matter is, some of you wouldn't even give two shits about them if they didn't get decent if not great scores sometimes. But this is Newgrounds, and that's what many here like. Don't like the way things are run around here, then make your own site just for crusty stuck up animators. This isn't some democracy here, this is Tom's house.

We should all be thankful for this site. I know I am. It's an excellent place for us to showcase our work. Animation, writing, voice work, musical talents, you name it. Let's not clog the place up with too much negativity now, shall we?

Peace :)

*Edit* - It seems a lot of you are under the impression that I mean to say all reviews should be fluffy and sugary! God no! I care little for those. You can say you didn't like this or that, and you can do it without being a total douche about it. Your all three dimensional human beings, the world isn't black and white, and neither should your reviews be.

Hello peeps. Just saying hi. I've been really lousy with keeping up with all the goings on and such. So I'm gonna try to keep up with my email, site, and other online things a bit more. I've had a real big problem with keeping motivated and happy in the last few years so I need to turn that around a little bit.

Speaking of my site, I've just updated it. So feel free to take a peek. :)

Progress on Larry and Benny is going along well. I'm easily over halfway done with the animation and may be completed by the end of the month, if not shortly after. I'm certain many of you will enjoy the new series. The animation quality is bumped up quite a bit, and it's a bit edgy humorwise than anything I've done before.

...I ain't dead! And not only that, but I'm making flash again.