Pull up a seat and get comfy, this is going to be story time with your local, old, wrinkling Greeny.

This has been an idea I've had in my head for awhile now and have been searching for the right artist whom I believe could do it well. Its something more on a serious tone and I knew was someone who could do it right.

Where to begin. I joined the fandom back before even FA existed somewhere back in 1999. Even back then I stumbled across an artist known as  athus somewhere on the internet. He quickly became someone that illustrated dragons in a manor I was quite fond of and was always happy to see him upload something new. At some point, I joined what was called a "Yahoo Group" run by Kaa Starhunter a neat traditional artist raptor, and the group's name was Anthrosaur I believe. Well, that's what  Kaa used to be called and later he changed his name to Kaa bakensobek an Egyptian crocodile but yet changed yet again to a Carno(as of now). Kaa was another favorite artist of mine which is why I joined his Yahoo Group Anthrosaur. And there is when I met Athus. I had two artists that I enjoyed uploading in the same location. I had some very minor interactions with both these artists and generally enjoyed being in this group.

Some time passed, maybe a few years, and this budding new furry website started up called Furaffinity. I joined and followed Athus to this website. Around this time I was more of an observer and was less involved in the fandom. I always enjoyed what Athus created, he seemed like a nice person. His journals were always pleasant to read and overall simply seemed great to be around. He always seemed very friendly, and he even shared the same interest in video games that I enjoyed. Didn't cause any trouble and the group he was involved in seemed to all really enjoy themselves. If you go back and check his journals you can see how excited he was for Skyrim. Heh. Funny how even today The Elder Scrolls hasn't passed beyond Skyrim. x)

Then one day he shared this with everyone and all his followers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAQ56_dfOfY (whew, got 3 seconds into the piano intro and I'm tearing up) Its a BEAUTIFUL animation. Something really neat to watch. No words are spoken and only emotion is shown in this video. Its really wonderful, thought provoking with a marvelous piano medley.

3 days later tragedy happened. Word got out that Athus was killed in a car accident. I was honestly surprised how disheartened I was hearing the news. I wasn't one of his close friends and only barely spoke a few comments here and there but I was still saddened by the news. I was merely an onlooker but still was greatly affected by the news. Sadness, disappointment, and utterly defeated was how I felt. You can go visit his last journal and see the great out pouring that happened. First list of comments are people amazed by the animation and then later you can see where the news got out and others sharing their sadness. I also recall seeing BD flooding his shout page with hearts. I always wondered if this was Narse or Varka showing their grief of the situation.

This image is my remembrance to him. My way of showing that I won't forget. I thought it would be fitting that I'd be in the scene of the Butterfly Dragon. To be an aspect of the last thing he shared. I feel like Athus was important. He was in essence a great grandfather to the scalie side of the fandom. He was the early pillar that helped to bring us to where we are today. Helped to pave the way forward as the Fandom was still very new and developing.

So! Its now my turn to share this animation. Its really neat! Its all about interpretation and deciding what is actually occurring. Watch the Butterfly dragon and tell me what you see. I'll go first. I see hope. To always chase after your dreams no matter how far away they might seem, and that imagination is a wonderful, beautiful thing that will let us fly. To always be yourself and maybe one day, you'll leave an impression on those around you. ^_^