ONE YEAR SINCE MY SEVERANCE FROM EOJ

 

ONE YEAR SINCE MY SEVERANCE FROM EOJ

 

Hey. TheAljavis here. I am the Creator of the crossover sequel to Turnabout Storm, the critically acclaimed “Elements of Justice”. I’ve worked on the series since 2015, but went through a lot of developmental hell for the first four years, until I finally released the first episode on June 5. 2019.

 

During the next four years, I put together a wonderful team full of talented writers, artists, voice actors, musicians, animators, and video editors to produce what many, if not most people, thought was one of the highest quality video series. Dedicated to not just the My Little Pony fandom, but the Ace Attorney fandom as well. Not to mention creating a very supportive and lovingly chaotic community.

 

Unfortunately, my time with my own creation came to an end when someone in the team found lolicon content I made from 2016-2017. Even when I thought I deleted every trace of it on the internet as I deeply regret making the content. I was in an arbitration session with many of the higher-ups and the concerned team member, and the goal was to uncover the full story through both parties so we could try and find a fair compromise. Unfortunately, the team member had put an ultimatum onto the leadership by wanting only one solution: They leave or I leave. After about an hour or so of discussion, it was decided that I should be severed from EoJ to ensure that the person and the team feels safe and the image of EoJ wouldn’t be tainted by my past mistake. And on August 5, 2023, my severance was announced to the public. I go more into detail in these two other documents if you would like to learn more or have a recap:

 

THE DAY I WAS SEVERED: https://tinyurl.com/5n6h2byh (https://ponepaste.org/10741)

ONE MONTH AFTER: https://tinyurl.com/2c7kf9aa (https://ponepaste.org/10742)

 

It’s been a year since my severance from EoJ. I’ve had a lot of time to process everything, whether it be my own mentality, where my friendships currently are, what new goals I have, how I feel about EoJ now, and if I still believe that this severance was the best choice we could’ve made.

 

MY MENTALITY

My mental health took a nosedive ever since the severance, to a point where I had a hard time finding fun in anything anymore. My job at the time felt like it was taking my soul away, I’ve lost my drive to continue making art, and my love for MLP and Ace Attorney dwindled. A lot of my family who knew about EoJ and how I was the lead were so proud of me. It felt like I let them down, even if a good amount of them to this day still don’t know I am no longer in the team. I felt like my life was over, that I should just disappear, that there was no point in moving forward because of this monumental stain I have now.

 

Fortunately, a lot of my friends were there for me when I was at my lowest point and it gave me the strength to get me out of that rut. Unfortunately, I’m not fully out of it yet. I still have self-doubts and I still feel down a lot when EoJ is even thought about, but I still do my best to move on from everything that happened last year. 2024 so far has its ups and downs. For the ups, I was able to find a new job that is a better paying job that required way less effort, and I was able to start working out again, albeit SUPER inconsistently. The downs as of right now are that I’m still not fully ready to draw consistently and the new job is an overnighter, so I am tired all of the time. But I am currently in a better headspace. Not there yet, but I’m on the way.

 

MY FRIENDSHIPS

Despite everything that happened, most of the friends I’ve made in EoJ are still my friends now, and they will forever be my guardian angels for that. Even though there are a few who don’t wish to be my friend anymore, I'll at least thank them for the good times.

 

I still hang out with a lot of the OGs who joined the EoJ team from the beginning. Once in a good while, someone who is at most an acquaintance from the EoJ team, would speak to me for a bit even if we haven’t spoken since the severance. It’s honestly super appreciated. I’m actually still part of Julius Gemstone’s (VA for Phoenix Wright) DnD campaign, Shadows Over Equestria. I even offered to help with the editing for the videos. Hopefully, my first edited episode will be out soon! And I hope people watch it because I poured countless hours into it, and I truly believe that this campaign should be recognized. I’m forever grateful to these people in my life, and I hope to work with them in another awesome project together.

 

MY NEW GOALS

Obviously with EoJ no longer being an active component of my life, the question becomes… What's next for me?

 

A lot actually! I am currently on hiatus, but I plan on getting back into doing Patreon work and finishing the rest of my commission work. I’ve also been working on a new Youtube channel! My style of Youtube content would be “if a storytime animator attempts to make bad video essays”. So yes, I am essentially gonna be a storytime animator! If you remember how chaotic my update videos in EoJ were, you’re pretty much gonna have the same thing in my own videos!

 

I’m also planning on getting back into making music! I wanna get myself a new electric guitar, as the one I have is now showing age, and I think it’s time to upgrade! This also means I’ll have to practice vocals, which will take a bit, but it's needed if I am gonna get back into it. I have LOTS of songs that I wanna remake and NEW songs that I wanna record that've been on the backburner for almost a decade! So yeah, gonna need to start removing dust from my old music channel!

 

I’ve also been testing out my new streaming layouts since I also wanna get back into streaming! This time as a Toontuber! I’ll probably add more animations later, but I got it to work, that’s all that matters! I don’t know a schedule yet, due to my current job always making me tired, but I still wanna try! Streaming is super fun!

 

And of course, I wanna work on a new story. Nothing involving any fandom or whatever. This is purely my own story, but that story won’t show the light of the day for a long time. I want to prove to myself I can do everything above before I show it off. If I could give it a quick description, this story is about the struggle to find balance. And if you guys know me, I am the biggest dick-sucker when it comes to balance. And to those who wanna know the title, it’s called What I Value. Those of you who are on my Visionaries Discord server, you should know some stuff about it.

 

And then the goal of real life. I currently have a job working as an online casino dealer. It's taking a lot of my time since I have an overnight shift. Fortunately, it pays way better than my last job at Chipotle, also for way less effort. Of course I don’t wanna do this forever. I am still looking for online art jobs related to my Graphic Design degree, and hopefully get myself my own apartment by the time I’m 30.

 

But yeah! I am cooking up some stuff! I dunno when I’ll get them all goin’, but I’ll let you guys know when I do! I’m just happy that there are people out there who will continue to support me despite everything, and even if it’s not EoJ anymore. A door has closed, but a window has opened with sunlight.

 

MY CURRENT FEELINGS FOR EOJ

So now we get to one of the big questions you guys want the answer to… do I still care about EoJ?

 

Yes and no.

 

Let’s start with the yes.

 

For one thing, it’s still my baby, I was the one who started it. So of course that connection will always be there. Not to mention many of my friends that I made through EoJ are, of course, still part of EoJ. Many of my ideas are still being shown in EoJ, and the advancements they made in terms of story, the visuals, and the performances. Case 3 has been great so far! The most recent episode I fairly enjoyed! The way Pinkie was used as a witness is exactly what I wanted, especially with the jokes and puns! I was there when the Juice Box Mare joke was being written, and the Brewery Lane… MY contribution! Though I’m sad that no one got the Call of Duty Zombies references. I did! I noticed! I still wanna see EoJ get to the end, and many others in the team too. The OGs who are part of the team told me that they wanna finish it for me, because it's the least they could do for me. It’d suck if we went through so much trouble with the severance only for the series to discontinue for whatever reason. The least I could do for them is to watch the episodes they all worked so hard on for me during and after my time in EoJ.

 

Now for the no.

 

Personally, I will watch the new episodes when they come out. Honestly, the only reason why I know when they come out is because my friends, who are still in the EoJ team, talk about it. You would think I would know when the eps come out by just looking through my subscriptions, but here’s the thing… I UNSUBBED. I unsubbed from my own series. I just couldn’t allow myself to stay connected to the series that I was forced to become disconnected from. It’s a SEVERANCE.

 

I remember when the first episode of Case 3 was being announced on Twitter, or X if you’re an Elon Musk rimjobber. MrG asked me if I was going to support it. Of course I said yes, but I wanted to retweet the announcement. Yet I was so scared of people looking too deeply into it when I did the retweet to a series that I was severed from. Like any public support for it would encourage people to make conspiracy theories or I would get hate or fans would get mad at the EoJ team for not at least blocking me from Twitter. Luckily, nothing happened. In fact everyone was happy that I was publicly supporting EoJ still, but I still felt dirty.

 

I don’t even care about the pre-premiere live streams or the Director’s Commentaries anymore. Yes, me not being in them anymore is part of it, but I also felt so bored watching them now. The only time I was remotely having fun was when they showed a concept of SombraPage, which is literal deep lore within the team, and I only looked at the point where they talked about the development of Amber Gleam, a character that I personally designed. But that’s it. I just passively watch the episodes now and nothing more. And I only watch them once, unlike when I was still in the team and I would watch them multiple times, and read the comments multiple times.

 

So basically, I’ll watch the eps when I can, but I am not going to care about anything else beyond that. And honestly, I think I’ll get to a point where I might straight up stop watching. It sucks to think about, but I can’t help but think that. So yeah, I am treating EoJ like a divorced parent. I’ll watch when I can but don’t expect me to care that much anymore. I’m severed, remember?

 

WAS MY SEVERANCE STILL THE BEST CHOICE?

And now it’s time for what would likely be my most emotionally charged section of this doc… do I think my severance was still the best choice?

 

The answer will always be...yes. BUT IT'S STILL BULLSHIT!

 

My opinion on the severance went through lots of changes during this whole year. I went from sad, to angry, to content, to angry, to happy, to sad… I FUCKING WENT THROUGH THE WHOLE EMOTIONAL WHEEL!

 

Okay, I get it. We were put in a lose-lose situation, so we had to figure out which of the losing choices would lose less. Unfortunately, that would be me having to leave the team. I had to leave because if I stayed, it would do way more harm than good. The team member who made the ultimatum would likely make some kind of “call-out” post about how the team is protecting evil people. There’s a chance that once people find out that I stayed after something so sensitive was revealed, more people might have left. And Case 3’s production would’ve been halted, putting all of the fault on me. Not to mention the EoJ community would have a much different reception if I stayed. And knowing myself, I would’ve left the team feeling guilty for making people so uncomfortable, they left. EoJ as we know it might’ve died if I stayed.

 

But that’s the thing. MIGHT.

 

I remember seeing so many people within the team and the community around EoJ being upset and confused the day I was severed. Most people understood why I had to leave, but that didn’t mean they weren’t disappointed in not just me, but especially towards the team.

 

The general consensus was, “We understood that Al had to be removed to protect EoJ, but the way it was handled was overblown.”

 

Lots of the OG fans, and even team members, would know how much I’ve grown since I started EoJ more than 8 years ago. That the person I am now is nowhere near the person I was then. And a lot of them made a good alternative route they could’ve used instead of the ultimatum. Yes, it would be SO MUCH EASIER if all we had to do was remove the remaining lolicon art I forgot to remove and just leave it at that. BUT NO. That wasn’t enough. Everyone who was in the arbitration session were understandably frustrated that we were given an ultimatum, that I had to be permanently removed when literally EVERYONE ELSE in the session wanted temporary severance. But that person would NOT be satisfied unless it is permanent. That was why it was permanent, because this person, and even more we later found out after the severance was announced, wanted it.

 

I get what I did was disgusting, I get that I shouldn’t have done it, but here’s the thing, I figured that out a long time ago! I stopped on my own back then. It was MY decision to stop many years ago and I’ve actively condemned it since. The only reason why I drew lolicon when I did was because it got popular at the time, and there was a certain crowd that wanted to PAY big bucks to see that. I didn’t have a job at the time, and I was going through college, so I didn’t have time to get a job. Not to mention, I was currently in the monthly payment for Adobe Animate to make EoJ at the time. So from a business standpoint, it made sense to go for it, but it was still a stupid choice.

 

There was someone I associated with back then that made the argument about why they will take commissions for anything the commissioner wants. And I mean ANYTHING. Because they gave a cold and disgusting truth when it comes to people who are into lolicon and the other more extreme fetishes…

 

“People who are into the freakiest shit have the deepest pockets.”

 

Artists like me who have a hard time financially staying afloat are desperate to find ANYONE to get commissions from, so they abide by the these kinds of people, and they become convinced, manipulated, and tricked into thinking that stuff like those kinds of fetishes are “normal”, and that is on top of the fact that they are paying shit tons of money to take advantage of these artists. Even if they weren’t commissioned to make this kind of content, artists would see that people would pay a lot of money to make certain types of fetish art, so they felt they had to at least attempt to make said content just to get some attention and possibly get people to commission them.

 

So how about instead of blaming artists for making this kind of content, blame the people within their communities who encourage this kind of content? Why do you think a lot of artists who never made NSFW before get into making NSFW? Because unfortunately, sex sells. It’s fine if the artist enjoys making NSFW, like me, but you gotta set your boundaries. So if anyone reading this loves certain artists, support their Patreons and commission them! You will give them the financial backing to keep doing what they love and they will be loyal to you forever!

 

I’m not excusing what I did. What I did was still really bad. Yes, you can say they’re just drawings. Yes, you can say that they are fictional characters. Yes, you can have fetishes that clearly are meant to separate fiction from reality. Just because you like furry smut doesn’t mean you’re suddenly gonna sodomize your pet cat. Just because you like giantesses doesn’t mean you’re gonna go out of your way to go to the Statue of Liberty and find the strength to lift up her gown. And just because you like transformation doesn’t mean that you’re gonna build your own portal to Equestria to watch yourself turn into a pony.

 

But lolicon is not like those fetishes. Lolicon is specifically the sexualization of underaged characters. And knowing how sexuality works, when you are into a certain fetish and it becomes less exciting, you try to find content that goes to the more extreme versions of said fetish just to excite you again. Meaning if you’re into lolicon, you are already on your way to liking something even more extreme… like the real thing. So if you think of it that way, then it absolutely makes sense why I was permanently severed from the team. I mean, I was never going to make content that would go further than what I did, but knowing myself back then, all it would take is some rich freak with maybe $1000 or more to make me do it. So I had to stop myself from making that kind of content before it happened.

 

So that’s what I did. I stopped because it was wrong and I shouldn’t have made it in the first place. Yet during that arbitration, I was treated like a monster. Even after I gave my whole backstory for why I drew that content and said that I’ve actively pushed away from it since stopping, they said it didn’t matter. One time was too much, the person still wanted me out.

 

Honestly, for a good while, I felt that this person was at best disingenuous and at worst hypocritical. They’re literally working on a series where its theme is all about redemption and making up for your past mistakes. Yet they wanted an ultimatum? I remember one of my friends in the team, who was also in the arbitration session, said that the person believed that a person’s past defines who you are now. That because this person isn’t my friend and had no emotional connection with me, they could look at the situation OBJECTIVELY. That was why they were so confident in the ultimatum. Yet, they were missing lots of context, which was what the rest of the people in the arbitration had. They wanted permanent severance for me based on incomplete information.

 

That is not what I, or many other people in the team, believed in. We believe it’s not your past that defines you, it’s what you do NOW. If I still made lolicon content TODAY, then yes, ban the fuck out of me because it’s well deserved. But I don’t, and yet I was treated like I still did.

 

Like… everything else that I did good didn’t matter anymore? The amount of work that I did didn’t matter anymore? You guys should know that someone monumental in the team right now wouldn’t be there if I didn’t take actions into my own hands. When the higher ups said that we should get rid of this person, I said that I would check on this person to get their point of view, and for an ENTIRE WEEK, I helped this person better themselves. I got them to personally apologize to every single person and now this person is KILLING IT in Case 3. I am so proud of their progress as a person and an artist, and not only did I save them from going down a dark path, but I also saved their friendships with the ones they wronged!

 

Same thing with MrG! A while after the severance, the team was going through many emotional hurdles just trying to work on Case 3. He was distraught, he felt no one liked him anymore, and he felt like his leadership hurt everyone. He reached out to me, hoping I would give some sort of advice or just help him with the situation. I had every right to completely ignore him and his problems with EoJ. But I didn’t. Even though I was going through my own shit with the severance, I put those feelings aside to help him because he is still my FRIEND. I did the exact same thing I did with the other person to help him deal with this situation. And look at that! It worked like a charm! When something went wrong that no one thought could be properly solved with the team, I took the initiative. So don’t you DARE say that who I am now is the same person I was back then.

 

THIS is what happens when you give second chances. THIS is what happens when you give others the benefit of the doubt. THIS is what happens when you actually listen to what BOTH SIDES have to say. Because there is nothing that hurts a person more than making them feel like they’re not being acknowledged. Sounds like a particular series you worked on, doesn’t it? Yes, there were other instances in the past where my methods didn’t work, and we HAD to remove certain members for their actions and behaviors, but I at least wanted to believe that they could change during that time. Now, I’m afraid that if there’s something problematic going on with members of the team, the ones in charge would just say “fuck it” and remove problematic people without even giving them a chance to tell their side. Yes, we should acknowledge their misdemeanors or at worst, toxicity, but we still have to listen to them. Give them respect too.

 

Here’s another thing that pissed me off, though kinda unrelated. If everyone said that lolicon content is as immoral and disgusting as they claim to be, then… why isn’t anyone else calling out all of the OTHER ARTISTS in the MLP fandom who made lolicon?! Even once?! Because apparently it doesn’t matter who they are now. Make lolicon once and you deserve to have your livelihood ruined. There are A LOT of artists I follow I know for a fact have made lolicon/foalcon at least once, and some multiple times. A part of me wants to make that entire list, but what would that do? That would be me just wanting to watch the world burn.

 

There are some artists I support on Patreon, and in the more popular ones, there would always be that ONE patron that would say to lewd the CMC or any similar character. That comment would get hella likes and then the artists would finally cave in. Some of the artists I am talking about are MASSIVE in and out of the fandom now or at least super respected. But even they were not immune to caving in to making lolicon content. And even though a few of those artists actually got ridiculed for making said content and stopped immediately after one instance, some never even got punished as far as I know. There is a particular artist that would actually make a Pixiv account SPECIFICALLY FOR PAID LOLICON CONTENT. Yet this artist is still praised! I think some of you would know who that artist is.

 

So where’s the consistency? I get that this is a fandom problem and not an EoJ specific problem, but I still can’t help but think about that.

 

One other thing about the severance that also rubbed me the wrong way was that I was breaking the rules of the server/team because of the content I made. Well, here’s the thing. Yes, I technically broke the rules with that content and I should be punished for that. But there’s another rule that I know others have been breaking… and that is whenever people in the team talked to me about EoJ. Yes, technically I already know what is gonna happen in terms of the story, but whenever they talk about what is happening within the team with me, that is technically breaking the rules. You’re not allowed to talk about the ins and outs of the team, and especially the story, with people outside of the team. And since I am severed from the team, it technically counts. So… why not punish them? Do I not count because I am the creator? It clearly didn’t matter, because I was punished for what I did, even if I was the creator. But whatever. Bend the rules when it benefits you.

 

And then there’s the EoJ team itself now. From what I know right now from my friends who are still in the team, the team itself is not that comradery that they once were. The team doesn’t feel like a rag-tag team of friends working on something great anymore. It feels more like a business. One of my friends in the team actually thinks this is a good thing, since they can actually focus on getting it done. They don’t need to deal with any personal gripes some people in the team may have. Based on what others have been saying, there are some people within the team that straight up dislike each other, some just don’t care as much anymore, and some are cynical to the process of making the series.

 

The soul of EoJ is gone.

 

And that sucks to hear. MrG actually went to me feeling so distraught about me not being there anymore, that the soul of EoJ has left with me, and he had no idea on how he was going to have a semblance of it back. I simply said that he should conjure up his own version of the soul, whether it's created through him, the team, or even the community. He was able to get back on his feet later on, but even now I know that he’s just simply… tired.

 

MrG and I were the perfect leading duo. He’s the logical and business side of the team while I was the creative and emotional side. And it felt like half of that brain had been removed; I wish I was there to help more. And I know it wasn’t purely him that made it more business-like, but the higher-ups too. They just simply want it done, because if you ask me, I don’t know if they’ll keep going if they handle it any other way. Yet at the same time, I wish it didn’t have to be that way.

 

The friendly feel was what made us passionate for EoJ in the first place. It's what made us go beyond and above to make the best content possible. Because when we get times when we weren’t doing it for the fans, we were doing it for each other. Because we want to see each other succeed. It’s a long-term investment that has high risk, but a HUGE reward.

 

But I get it. Those team members who were there for a long time… they’re tired. They want it over with. And it makes me feel bad for the team members who joined for Case 3. I don’t know if this is 100% correct, but those who are newer in the team are having a good time, as they get to be with the great team of EoJ. Even if the ones who were in the team for a long time are getting tired. I hope the new blood helps keep the spirit of EoJ alive.

 

You gotta remember, EoJ is a PASSION project. They’re not getting paid to make such a high-standard series. Yes they have the Youtube Memberships and Patreon, but the money is mainly used for reimbursements for equipment and getting into conventions. The team is made up of people who had projects within their belt and those who worked on a project for the first time. I was the guy who became a leader when I never wanted to be one. So I made a lot of mistakes, along with many others who wanted to help carry the load. From the time I was in the team, many of us overworked ourselves because of the skills we had that others didn’t, while at the same time, we didn’t give people who wanted to help more enough to do. It’s hard to keep the soul alive if we get drained and unmotivated. That's what I believed MrG lacked with his leadership. He may have had the know-how to work as efficiently as possible, but he didn’t know how to motivate and encourage the team to do that work. That was MY job.

 

What also really hurts me with the severance was that back then, it was one giant friend group that gathered into one place. That was the EoJ team server. But after August, the friends became fragmented. Some of my friends are not friends with each other anymore, some have to make new servers just so I could be part of it. There’s even a server where I have my friends in, but there’s someone in there that I cut off and refuse to be around. I hate that everyone couldn’t gather on the same server anymore because of what I did.

 

When I got severed, it created a domino effect. Even more negative things happened, both in and out of the EoJ team. I know it’s not my fault for everything that happened and my friends wanted to reassure me of that, but I still feel guilty of everything negative that happened quickly after the severance. I would go into more detail, but this is super personal shit and it’s technically not my problem, but I can’t help but feel to this day that everything that happened after my severance was because of me. I still feel to this day that if what happened with me never happened, then everything else after also would’ve never happened. I know it’s not true, but I can’t help but feel that way.

 

Going back to the question, do I still think my severance was the right decision? Absolutely yes. Now knowing the long-term results, even though a lot of bad things happened, this was literally the best outcome. EoJ would move on without me and I could move on without EoJ. And if you ask me, it’s actually a blessing in disguise. Even if we somehow got the outcome of just deleting the forgotten lolicon content, if I stayed, I wouldn’t have time for my other projects. And if this theoretical timeline has my current job, I would have a hard time keeping up with deadlines to EoJ. And knowing what I know now, the production side is the hardest it’s ever been, and the morale gets pretty low for a concerning amount of the time. However, knowing myself, I would STILL pour my blood, sweat, and tears into EoJ like I had before. I still believe to this day that out of the entire team, I am the most passionate for the project. Even if everyone else gets burnt the fuck out and demotivated, I was always the one to spread the fire back to everyone else. So if you ask me, they did me a favor severing me from the series. I can finally have all of the fire to myself.

 

As for the person who wanted me severed from the project… I strangely don’t hate them, but I do hate the fact that they NEEDED to make an ultimatum. Then I started thinking like, what if they came out with another issue? What if this person wanted to let people know of someone else being problematic, and we decided to not take it seriously? It would make me feel horrible that I haven’t taken their words seriously. That was probably why I decided to just take whatever punishment they wanted. Because I wanted to set an example that I was willing to take these arbitrations seriously, and that I am willing to confront and punish the perpetrators responsible for endangering the team… even if it was against their own creator.

 

That’s likely why when I got severed, nearly everyone backed me up and got mad at the team. I showed integrity, I showed responsibility, I showed self-sacrifice.

 

I know this all sounds like I want EoJ canceled or that you shouldn’t support it anymore. Quite the opposite actually. Everything I’m saying is to let you guys know the reality of the situation. Everything isn’t always happy-go-lucky. Not everything is cut and dry. These situations are not black and white, much like how real life works, and funny enough, just like Ace Attorney. I knew that when I started EoJ and the team, I was bound to get into some bullshit, whether it would be because of me or others.

 

For those of you who wish to make a project that would likely require a team, expect fuckery. Good, bad, and ugly. If there’s something about the severance that absolutely showed me that was both great and terrible? It showed EVERYONE’S true colors. There will be people who will support you forever, there are people who will try to destroy you and/or the project, and there are people who will only support you to get something from you.

 

My biggest advice to making a project with a team: COMMUNICATE.

 

That was, still, and always will be, the biggest flaw for EoJ. It’s the biggest reason why we make decisions that don’t make sense. It’s the biggest reason why good people break down from not getting the acknowledgement they need whenever they do something good or bad. It’s the biggest reason why those who have malicious intent will get away with everything and create drama over nothing. Please for the love of Celestia, sit down and talk to each other. It’s how true progress is made.

 

I am still feeling the effects of the severance even after a year. This is the kind of stuff you will not be able to get over for a long time. I mean, 8 years, nearly a third of my life, taken away and brought down to nothing? That shit hurts. And now that a year has passed, I wonder now… do people even remember me? Do people even know that I am the creator of EoJ anymore? Do people miss me? I honestly don’t know, and it’s not like I can just show myself to the EoJ fan server and find out. I don’t want to start anything, but if there’s anyone that I certainly feel bad for, it’s the EoJ community. It felt like I betrayed their trust and the chaotic and fun creator is no longer there to give them that chaotic fun that they were used to.

 

It also absolutely sucks that right before the severance, I was in a podcast with MrG talking about EoJ with these two other hosts. How they were inspired to do the podcast with each other because of EoJ. The podcast was a blast and it showed the dynamic between MrG and I. And it felt like I destroyed their fun and passion for EoJ. Luckily, it didn’t, but I imagine for a good while it did. The last thing I wanna do to other people who enjoy making content is to make them uninspired to create. It goes against who I am.

 

So if any of those podcasters who somehow read this… I am sorry for betraying you.

 

To the EoJ community, I am sorry for breaking that trust.

 

But there is one more thing I want to say before I end this doc.

 

I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE.

 

After a year of self-doubt, beating myself up, feeling sorry for myself, and constantly wishing to relive the past… I’ve learned to truly find my value as a person.

 

I am an animator. I am an illustrator. I am a graphic designer. I am a video editor. I am a musician. I am a streamer. I am a writer.

 

I AM A CREATOR.

 

So I will create. And no one is going to stop me from doing so.

 

With that said, I wanna say thank you to everyone who has supported and will continue their support for me through this hard time in my life.

 

To my friends who may have read this, thanks for being there for me and continuing to inspire me. I will forever be in your debt.

 

To the EoJ team, I hope you guys continue to work hard, but please take care of yourselves too. If there are any team members in there that are still cool with me, I’d love to reconnect with you. My DMs are always open.

 

And finally, to EoJ. Thanks for teaching me how to be a leader. I will use the experience to create something bigger and better than you ever could be. You were a pillar in my life, but it’s time I found something else that can elevate me higher. I only have one final favor to ask of you:

 

Finish the story.

 

Thanks everyone for reading. Enjoy the rest of your day, and make it a damn good one.

 

TheAljavis