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This post is not going to be funny, and it's also not going to be really emotional shit. It's going to be my honest opinion.

On Sunday afternoon Tom Ridgewell ("Tomska") contacted me on Skype and was completely level headed and calm, asking me how my day was. Then after some casual conversation he notified me that Edd had passed away. After thinking it was some sort of cruel joke, I came to terms with the fact that it was reality. I was told not to let the public know until after Tom posted the eulogy video on Tuesday (today), and it was one of the longest waits I've had to endure. I was told, however, that I could tell a select few about the news. I told other animators in my skype that knew Edd and worked with him. I told people like Oney, Harry, Egoraptor, etc, first. Not one person took it lightly.

It's a little baffling when you see someone die, and on their pages are comments essentially saying "GOOD IM GLAD THAT PIECE OF SHIT IS DEAD". You only find this on the internet. If that same person's father died tragically, they would not say the same thing for their father. I think mocking someone like that in death, especially AT people who you know care is attention seeking and obnoxious.

That's not to say you can't make jokes about Edd, because I'm positive Edd wouldn't give two shits if he was alive, but blatantly insulting the deceased for attention and to rile people up is really gay.

Now, that said, on to Edd. I only spoke to Edd several dozen times, not frequently, but not never. The last time I spoke to Edd was about a video he, Tom, and I collaborated on with puns. Edd said he really admired my line work and after some talking I convinced him to buy a cintiq. From talking to Edd the little that I did, it was clear that Edd was one of the nicest, coolest, easiest human being to get along with. I've never seen him say anything negative about anyone else.

Even if you didn't like Edd's humor or animation, you still have to admire his dedication. Doing 8 minute cartoons is not an easy task, and keeping on track with your series is even harder, not to mention he did it with cancer. Edd is the one who paved the road for the rest of us animators to migrate to Youtube, and realize we could make a living off of it. He was without a doubt the FIRST animator on Youtube to get a large fanbase. If it weren't for Edd, none of the animators on Youtube would be here now, or at least wouldn't have signed up as early as we did.

Regardless of whether or not you liked Edd's style or animation, it's inarguable that animators, and Newgrounds wouldn't be where they are without Edd. We owe Edd a lot.

Rest in peace Edd Gould.