CLOSE UP// Animation Meme

I can't believe I haven't done this sooner! Not only is Close Up one of my favorite animation memes (and There's Something Happening one of my favorite songs), character close-ups are also one of my favorite things to draw!

Honestly though I am so genuinely proud of this. I'm like,, 3 Strikes proud, and 3 Strikes is my favorite animation that I've made. I'm so happy with how it turned out and I'm so glad I finished before school began (only one more week!) I'm glad I can finally share Heaven's story and explain a big part of the Angel lore, even if it's a bit silly I'm so happy with how this turned out. Thank you so so much for your kind words and patience while I worked on stuff, you guys are amazing!

Inspired by Blackie Sootfur's version, Glithy's version, and Okami Wolven's version! They all take such different approaches and yet they all work so very well! Easily some of my favorite animations on this site, I rewatch them all the time.

Original's by lily eagle. It's unlisted, but believe me it was cool!

Will update with explanation after premiere, thank you for watching and thank you for reading!

Story Stuff:

Ok so, I'm not too great at visual storytelling just yet, so to avoid any confusion I'm just gonna explain everything here:

Everything starts with Nekro and Heaven choosing to wander rather than live in their respective clans, leaving their closed-off and paranoid-about-the-outside-world families to be with each other.

It all goes south (Nekro believes) when he introduces Heaven to flying above the clouds to see the clear sky, which is generally known to awaken and summon the Dragon King, a creature who has reign over the clouds and weather. Nekro had never been caught so he figured it was safe

They were happy together
They had a kit, and named him Storm (who went on to be known simply as Angel, the common name of the winged-cat species)

One day a lone Bone Wolf finds them (wolf with double jaws, same one from Darkside vid). Nekro defends to allow Heaven and the kit time to escape. He gets away himself and runs to find Heaven, arriving just in time to see her being caught by the Dragon King.

In response to his emotions, Nekro lashes out at the wolf.

Before eventually finding the kitten, who Heaven had hidden away to keep safe.

Bare-bones explanation but y'know. Hope you enjoyed!

[brainvomit]

HAHA KNEW IT!
I read the description and everything!
This is one of the saddest, yet cutest video you’ve ever made :, )
Hold up!
Nekro is Angels father?
Awh that’s why he asks the story every time!
I’ve always assumed that lightning had killed Heaven, as I saw Balloon Toonzz ‘Time Flies’ video.
So it’s all because of a DANG BONE WOLF that Heaven died! (Well technically- no- but- y’know what I mean-)
Those two walking in the beginning is so mesmerising!
But that’s not the only thing that’s mesmerising! I’m got a list >:)
So that’s their clan! Sort of like Warrior Cats?
There’s Heaven and Nekro being adorable beans x3
Sorry, I’m a SUCKER for love stories like these!!
Where Jack Stauber says, “I’m Ready!” They go on their flight!
AWHAHJS HEAVEN CLOSE UP
*s p a i n wi th out t he a*
WHSTJAGS NEKRO CLOSE UP
I like the little detail how whenever there’s a close up, there’s a little heart for when it ends!
So Nekro calls Heaven into flight, (The backgrounds are so beautiful:, ))
*HUGGSSS!!!*
I like how when Heaven and Nekro sit, it transitions into Angel and Nekro, in the future.
HEAVEN CLOSE UPx2!!!
*eYeS1?1!3?1?*
BABY ANGEL!!!!
NEKRO CLOSE UP!
*mOrE eYeS1!1!3?1!?*
oh no a blood wolf D:
The blood wolfs design is so cool :D
OH NO ITS THE DRAGON KING
and *blam*
Heavens dead :, (
AHAGAH THE LOOK ON NEKROS FACE I FEEL SO BAD :, (((
Baby :0
WOO NEKRO KILLED THE BLOOD WOLF!
The animation was incredible! It really told a story without words! (I read the description too so with words too haha-) and the backgrounds were BEAUTIFUL!
Thank you for another amazing upload!
The improvement is WOAH :0
Anyways, have a good day!!
ILY!! 💞💕💞💕❤️💙
Just realised, your birthday (and my brothers) is coming up!!
Happy early birthday!!

this comment was longer than expected-

*please remember me when you’re famous :, )*

did you know I actually have a similar story with my own old characters?
ghost and heaven would be best friends as they both are fully white with beautiful blue eyes <3

[BlackieSootfur]

WHY IS EVERYTHING YOU MAKE SO AMAZING AGHAGAGAHAGAHAGHAGAGAGA tine to watch this on loop for like 100 hours and analyze every frame 🏃🏾‍♀️

[WataHazad]

THE LORE- I CANT- NOOOO THATS SO SAD THOUGHHH! Bro I actually cried and I never cry :, ) lmao crying rn too :, , , , ) BUT DUDE THE ANIMATION IS SPOT ON AND THE ART WOWOWOWOWWWW!

[kaysrandomchannel]

Seeing those fellas fly around all over the place is so satisfying to watch!

[omegagames]

0:27 two mouths!!!*
I loved this animation and the characters (even more their story)













+1 subscribed

[Tie-WearingDog]

I SWEAR. I can’t stop replaying this. I must say that 0:26 is my favorite part, because the song fits absolutely perfectly to the scenes, and the emotions are so well drawn!! I feel bad for that poor Nekro tho :( 💚

[Shayanoobiefloppedquit]

Why do the parents remind me of toothless and the light fury? (The white one is white with blue eyes like the light fury and the black one has green eyes like toothless)

[HannahTheInsomniac]

OH MY GOD, WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR "FRIEND"?? THATS SO FREAKIN SAD 😭😭😭

AMAZING ANIMATION! THERES SO MUCH TO LOOK AT (AS ALWAYS, PFFT) ✨✨

[BirdsofaFeather_Art]

This is going to be amazing!! I can already tell 🥺🥺🥺🥺

[CreamPuffCentral]

THIS IS SO AMAZING!!! Every frame has such detail and every movement has such a beautiful smoothness to it, you have a right to be proud!!

[toodles]

The way my smile faded when i realized what was happening 💀💀💀

[Artsypawz]

OMG YESS IVW BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE EVER SINCE THE WIP YOUR STYLE IS SO COOL

[oliveristired]

INCREDIBLE AS ALWAYS, THE LORE IS EXPLAINED SO WELL. It's all so smooth as well and the expressions are GOLD <333

[icecreamwolf]

OMFG THIS ANIMATION, this needs to have its own close up

[its_darkconnercyd]

WOW THE SMOOTHNESS IS ALWAYS FIRE!! and somehow this backstory is kinda sad 😭 but then again i love it!

[ShinyRockruff]

CANT WAIT! Your animations are just so smooth cool and cute! This seems so good!!

[balloontoonzz]

OH MY DIGITY DANG GOODNESS GRACIOUS!!! DUDEEEE THAT IS JUST SO EPIC MAN! WHEN U TOLD ME THE LORE THIS IS ALMOST EXACTLY HOW I IMAGINED IT IN MY HEAD OML THIS IS TRULY STUNNING WOWWWW I LOVE THIS LORE FREAKING MUCHHH ITS STUNNING AND AMAZING 😭 I WISH I WAS AS TALENTED XD

[HarmonyTRE]

I need to binge-watch your videos tomorrow because I'm about to go to bed but OH MY GOODNESS THE STORY AND CHARACTERS MY

[SpeedyWhippetAnimations]

NEKRO AND HEAVEN LORE!! I’ve been so, so excited to learn more about these guys backstory! And here it is!!! :D

And the animation itself- wow Raye! Okay I really love all of your animations! But this is probably my absolute favourite one so far! Everything about it is so mesmerisingly good!! How can someone so talented improve SO MUCH? The smooth animation, the way you show the story through the animation, all of the perfectly drawn backgrounds! It’s really incredible!

Okay firstly the thumbnail! The thumbnail itself is so good! It’s really cute how Heaven and Nekro are playing together in the night sky! I love them so much!!🥺 And the beginning! The whole thing starts of with one of the most beautifully drawn scenes ever! Nekro sitting down on a rock overlooking a group of winged cats sat on a grassy area beside a rushing blue waterfall lake! This scene is just so perfect! The colours go really nicely together and the detail looks great! Are these characters Nekro and Heavens old clan? And are the two cats at on top of the rock Nekro’s parents? I wondered of they might be because one of them has the same coloured fur as Nekro and the other one has the same sort of fluffy tail as him. (I would love to learn more about all these new characters!) They both look quite sad, maybe because they know Heaven and Nekro are about to leave? Nekro takes one last look at his family before he and Heaven run off into the bushes to live their own life! (Another really nice background in this scene! I love how you drew the forest behind them, so much detail Raye!! And the way Nekro and Heaven leap around each other off the rock and into the bushes is so smooth!)

And then Heaven gets her close up shot! She looks so pretty with the purple night sky and bullrushs behind her! I love how a little heart appears beside her! So cute!! Look at her and Nekro having such a good time together in their newfound freedom! I absolutely adore this scene at 0:10 the way Heaven and Nekro fly above the forest together before spiralling around has been done flawlessly! It’s too smooth for my eyes! It’s really clever how they spiral around and turn around so you can see both of their happy faces!

And then at 0:12 Nekro gets his close up shot! He’s grinning and smiling like nothing else in the world matters to him more then Heaven! A little heart appears next to him as well! It’s too wholesome!

I love how after Nekro’s close up he and Heaven lip sync to “Ha Ha” and lean towards each other on the last “Ha” it’s one one those small details that really add a lot to the animation!

And the run cycle at 0:14 I absolutely love how you do run cycles! The moving backgrounds he way they run as the screen swirls around to reveal hill with the light shining down from a gap in the clouds! It looks so, so professional Raye! You are without a doubt the most talented animator in existence. This is flawless!! You’ve used some really good animation techniques in this!

Heaven watches Nekro fly up above the clouds and he gestures with his head for her too follow witch she does and then they swirl around in the air together gazing into each other’s eyes and looking cuter then anything else!

0:21 the happy lil lovebird beans are just vibin! What could possibly ever go wrong for these- op the screen changes to reveal future Nekro dropping sadly a scull hiding his once cheerful face, Angel sat beside him looking crestfallen, could this possibly be foreshadowing something terrible is about to happen…

0:22 Heaven is singing happily but- are those eyes behind her? That can’t possibly be a good sign-

The scene changes to Nekro and Heaven in a wonderfully drawn den (how many detailed backgrounds are in this? I love each of them so much!!) Heaven moves her tail aside to reveal… BABY ANGEL!! Okay 1: THAT IS SO COOL! I LOVE THAT HE IS THEIR CHILD! ITS SO PERFECT!! And 2: Baby Angel is officially my favourite thing ever now!!

0:26 The background for Nekro is much more ominous then before and the eyes apear from the darkness to watch him too! I love all the foreshadowing Raye!

Then a lone Bone wolf appears (Little did he know he was later going to be a hat!) Heaven takes baby Angel gently in her mouth and runs away whist an extremely worried looking Nekro faces the Bone wolf. Nekro bolts for it and I absolutely love the detail of him running through a puddle that reflects the shape of a certain dragon in the sky above him…

0:30 Heaven looking confused and scared, she spots Nekro and try’s to fly towards him but Wind appears behind her and Nekro watches in horror as the evil dragon king kills his soulmate.

My heart literally melted when I saw Nekro’s expression as he watched. This scene has been animated so well! It’s really sad though! Poor Nekro😔


The animation ends with Angel alone in the den and Nekro appears holding the head of the bone wolf and wondering what he can possibly do now he’s lost Heaven. Poor Angel unaware that he’s just lost his mother snuggles close next to him.


I really, really enjoyed this Raye! You have the most unique eye catching artstyle I have ever seen! It’s definitely my favourite! You should be really proud of this animation and of Heaven and Nekro’s story! You are the definition of talent👌

[BaffledBafoon]

JUST AAAA I LITERALLY LOVE YOUR ANIMATIONS SO MUCH!! THEY ARE SO PRETTY AND AMAZING HSOXKDHEJ💙💙💙