Hey all, Panda here. I have some terrible news to share with you all, and what follows is a copy of a Facebook status that I posted earlier tonight.
Hey Shifters, author of "Ashfall" and "Cold Read" Jarrell Garcilazo here. First I want to thank you all for continuing to support us here at StoryShift, but today I'm begrudgingly writing to bring some tragic news.
Since the beginning of "Cold Read", we've been credited as a two man team, Kareem B. Najjar, the artist, and myself, the writer. But behind the scenes, we've been a three-man team, with the wonderful Jude Momani assisting Kareem, her boyfriend, with coloring and shading on some pages. Her contributions were always valuable, and helped shaped the look of our pages and art style from the beginning.
Unfortunately though, that three-man team is now one person short. After a month or so of not hearing from Jude Momani, a few short days ago Kareem B. Najjar received the tragic news that Jude Momani, 16, had passed away on August 26th.
Jude was a good person, friendly and upbeat, and in fact if it wasn't for that friendliness Kareem and I may not even be here delivering "Cold Read" to you, the readers. I had initially contacted Jude to inquire about her interest in joining us on board StoryShift, but instead she pointed me to Kareem's direction, and the rest is history.
Of course, I didn't know Jude as personally as Kareem did, but it's always painful to lose a skilled colleague that you've worked hard with on something, especially one that was as young as she was. I had actually messaged her, on August 25th no less, to praise her for her recent work on the comic, but that message was never received.
It is during this time that I'd like for you all to send your well wishes to both Kareem and Jude's family. It's a very difficult time for everyone involved, and any support is appreciated.
I would also like to ask for some patience when it comes to our "Cold Read" updates. Something like this always has a great effect on things, and updates may progress a bit more slowly for some time.
But progress they will. Kareem and I both have no intention on leaving "Cold Read" incomplete. In fact, that would be the worst thing that we could do in my mind. One thing that I'm sure would make Jude happy, would be to see through the completion of "Cold Read". Kareem and I will both work to the best and extent of our abilities to push "Cold Read" onward with the best quality that we can manage.
Even with that, I hope that we can both push our own personal abilities forward, so that when "Cold Read" has reached its conclusion, and when we both look through the pages upon pages that have been completed, what we see on those pages is something that not only Jude would have been proud to be a part of, but something that could carry her legacy forward for years to come.
I want to thank everyone that took the time to read these few short paragraphs. I would like if everyone could respect Kareem's privacy at this time. It won't be easy to continue on with "Cold Read", but we will both see it through to the end.
And whenever that day comes, it will still feel like she was there with us every page of the way. Until then, may she rest in peace.
For those of you here on Newgrounds, Kareem B. Najjar is the talented and always funny KimoLemonHead, and Jude was CheeseCakeLOL. I met both of them here on Newgrounds, and that alone is a testament to the type of friendships and partnerships this site helps create.
Newgrounds gave me the oppourtunity to work with folks like Jude and Kareem, and even though one of those partnerships ended early, I wouldn't trade it away.
This site brings people together, and helps them create something great to share with the internet, and even though I hope I have to never write something like the above again, I'm happy that Newgrounds brought me to both Kareem and Jude.
