The events of this evening have been truly heart-breaking... Monty Oum is no longer with us. In 2013 I attended RTX with the sole purpose of attempting to meet Mr. Oum. After the RWBY panel I had the chance to pull him aside and tell him how much he influenced my life. That day, I shook hands with a living legend. A true marvel among men.
Now the carefree, happy, intelligent, DDR God, and kind person I met two years ago is being lowered into a grave at the young age of 33. A line from a RWBY video described it best. "Even the most brilliant of lights eventually flicker and die." and Gray's saying on the livestream dedicated to Monty added even more. "The brightest lights, burn out the fastest."
Monty was my inspiration for beginning to write, make games and animate in my spare time. But, I will not let his death weight me down, instead, I will channel the talents and the drive of Monty into my soul.
Moral of the story? Monty isn't dead, he lives in you, me, the air around us, and in the universe. Carolina said it best. "Don't say goodbye, because if you don't, you're not really gone... You're just not here right now."
Monty leaves behind a legacy far greater than anything I could pull off without his inspiration. So I challenge you to use his motives to write a song, act in a play, draft a movie, or anything else you can think of.
As for the story... I too will be taking a few days off from writing to cope with the sudden lose, but when I return... Think of Monty while you read.
See you in space, cowboy.
