Keep Going, Buddy [SFM] 

Please read this : At around the 4:03-4:48 mark , I have been copyright claimed, I did not know it was copyrighted music, so I replaced it, for anyone new I suggest turning on subtitles, sorry about this, it sucks but I should have informed myself better.

The beginning: dramatic, depressing story The end: your average game of 2fort

soldier: BOYS WE HAVE A TRAITOR spy: i think not soldier: *understandable*

4:04 the silence actually adds so much. It’s like scouts just…not listening. Like he’s just completely numb. Adds an eeriness to it that I love

A tf2 anti suicide film is something that I would never expect but lets be honest we as community need it

I love how scout just has an action figure of one of his coworkers on his nightstand.

Alternate title: When your feeling depressed but then the whole server goes friendly

A scarily realistic rendition of depression caused by antisocialism and loneliness. I've felt a lot of these things myself; the mistakes brought on by trying to detach, the demotivation to put in any effort, the tuning out of anything and everything, the emptiness, having zero happiness from things that usually bring you joy, the staying up for hours merely contemplating life itself; all of these feelings are captured perfectly. And I think the silence during Soldier's speech is a lot louder than any audio that could have been included. Incredible, and a good showcase of how to respond to an isolative person who's going through a rough time. Peeps just need a little positivity thrown their way from time to time, even if brief. Awesome :)

"To exist is to suffer. To live is to find meaning in the suffering." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

"Spy!" "I think not." "Oh okay." **lowers shotgun**

Proof that Valve needs to continue the Saxxys

I love how at the end, scout's smile is the widest. The entire time, we see him smile lightly at best. But now, he looks so happy. This truly is a work of art.

At one point in my life I was barely scraping by, living day to day just like this. The most exciting part of my day was coming back to bed. In bed, I could pretend I didn't exist. But one day, I found this jem of a community. Team Fortress 2. I spent hours that day combing through all of the content I could find, laughing and crying and feeling relaxed for the first time in months. That was about 3 or 4 years ago, and in 2022 I watched this animation for the first time. I must admit, it made me cry. I have been in Scouts shoes before. I have spent nights unable to sleep, being plagued with unsavory emotions. But I found my Engie, my best friend, and I found my community in TF2. This animation reminded me of my own life so much that once I finished it, I had to send it to my Engie and tell her how much I loved it. Now it's 2023. I'm a bit late to the party, yeah. But I needed to tell all of these people in the comments, any newcomers that may see this, the creator; Life was, IS, worth living. The world seems to be taking a dark turn nowadays, but there will always be people who love you and people who you love back. People who will have your back and defend you, push you to get better, be a shoulder to cry on. As life marches on and shitty things happen to you, there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of friendship, family, love and acceptance. I have been off of my meds for 2 months now... After nearly a decade of struggling, I am reaching a point of emotional clarity. I want whoever is reading this (IF anyone reads this) to look back at your past. Who you've met and who you've lost, all of those joyous moments and all of those bad memories. And I want you to be proud that you made it this far. You made it past all of those horrible moments to create perfect, beautiful, meaningful moments, and it's amazing. Be proud of yourself even if you are in a low place full of struggle and greif, because you are still alive. Be proud of yourself if your life is perfect, because you made this life for yourself. And be proud if you are somewhere in between, because you are making progress, and you are doing a great job. This is amazing work, and an amazing SFM. The story is so touching and the ending made me laugh a lot :-)

SPOILER ALERT: If he killed himself, the Scout wouldn't respawn unless he's in the war zone, I'm really sorry, should have made it clear.

Humanity would achieve world peace in a matter of hours if the kazotsky kick had the same connotation in the real world as it did in tf2, mark my words

I'm not going to lie to you, this isn't the most impressive animation I've ever seen, this isn't the best story animation I've ever seen, but this is the one with most heart behind it. One of the best 17 minutes ever of my life, thank you. As a former suicide contemplating man, this really did mean so much to me.

i did NOT expect the kazotsky kick to be the very thing that gets me bawling my eyes out. watching this for the first time is an experience i will never get back. kudos

Moral of the story: Kazotsky Kick solves every problem.

I know this SFM is great and all, but this guy is more genius than what's on the surface. During the night scene, the times on the phone represent timestamps on the video. 0:57 is when scout glances at his phone. However, at the timestamp 0:57, Scout also glances at his phone. Before Scout picks up the gun, the clock says 3:08. At that timestamp, Scout gets shot in the head. While Scout has a gun up against his head, time passes from 4:12, to 4:25. This is exactly the same time the Soldier was beating down on Scout, and also lasts long enough for Heavy to give him a worried look, when during the finale, he is the first to start dancing. Finally, when the alarm goes off at 8:00, Scout decides not to pull the trigger, and at the timestamp 8:00, is when he meets the blue Engie. Don't let this comment go unnoticed. Pokyface is a genius for thinking of this.

This might just be the deepest sfm that I've ever watched. Scout is.. actually kinda relatable. Believe it or not, this is the ONLY sfm animation to actually make me think about myself.

this animation truely shows what bad mental health can do to someone, thats something what everyone should have in mind, if they are with someone and they are feeling down, to not mke it worse otherwise they might end up on the wrong path, and to instead, try to talk to them, see what the problem is and try to fix the problem, or to do somehting to lift the mood up 9.7/10 animation

*"No matter how fast I run, I never manage to outrun the pain."* ~ Scout.

Oddly, the part with no audio due to copyright made that scene somehow more better. Soldier yelling at scout who probably in his mind just is tuning him out

This hit on a personal level. I understand the feeling Jeremy may be experiencing, and it truly sucks, cause it feels everything is going in one long circle and just restarts.

That beginning... that aching feeling of "should I get up?" "It can... wait right?" Then that forceful way of getting up after... The way you ignore the obvious alarms to get the day started, the way you just wanna lay back down and not worry about anything. The way the only place you feel safe is by yourself, yet even by yourself you slowly peel yourself apart. Listening to the whispers and echoes of your suicidal thoughts, pressing deeper and deeper into your back, until your sitting at the edge of your bed, so close to ending it all. Letting death wrap it's warm embrace around you, and letting the worries slip away... yet something always keeping you from doing it. It's always something. This animation captures depression perfectly. I love this SFM because it's written by someone who actually knows how it feels. Knows that numbness, knows the way you have to force yourself to act okay.

You know what, i like how in every sfm TF2 videos engineer is always potrayed as your comforting friend when you have serious problem in your life

Honestly I don't blame scout, he's the youngest one there and he's just repeating everything he does every single day.

Lesson of the day: If you are sad, just make the kazotsky kick.

the ending caught me completley off guard, like the visual equivalent of a really pleasent punch across the jaw

Heavy when scout is home: =) Heavy when scout is gone:

It absolutely flabbergasting that an animation that includes Scout contemplating [you know what] ends with a dance party

9:55 love the use of uncharted 4 music here. Gives off a "about to snap feel"

11:17 POV: You accidentaly bump into enemy spy as a spy

Spy seems like a bad biological dad who went buying cigarettes and never came back, or feigned death using Dead Ringer Engie seems like a chill and nice step dad

I'm writing just to say that I appreciate and love the support I am getting in the comments, your words are heartwarming to me, I haven't been proud of myself for a while now and this helps me...

Wow this is one of the most impactful and touching SFM films I've ever seen. You really did a great job keeping it serious while still containing the soul of TF2.

*one must imagine scout happy*

Honestly the part that you had to cut out really works, it makes it seem like Scout is just tuning out the world around him because he's depressed.

Blu engineer betrayed his team because red team was so bad they couldn't even reach the intell room so he was useless, he was sitting all the time in the intell room waiting for someone to appear, but no one came, he just gave up.

Sometimes all you need is a friend, this made me think, and it made me smile.

At the end the little detail that red scout had the biggest smile added a lot more to the story. Keep going scout. We love u

I love how this defines TF2 as a whole, one time it can be toxic, tryhardy and sweaty and the other time it can be wholesome, friendly and goofy.

WHEN SCOUT IS DEPRESSED: *HEAVY* :TRY TO TEAM BLU TEAM WITH RED TO DANCE DANCES KATSOSKY KICK TOGHETER. WHEN HEAVY IS DEPRESSED *SCOUT* : Ｙｏｕ *ｆａｔ* *ｂａｌｄ* *Ｂａｓｔａｒｄ*

The fact that this is 16 min long yet it didnt feel like it, makes it feel surreal. Those moments where he just contemplating as time flies yet it doesn't, almost as if time froze or slowed down just so you can have moment of clarity that may never come..

this felt.. so relatable. i had depression and tried several attempts of suicide. they all failed. even though i wish i got through depression by myself, sometimes i wish someone helped me through it. even though this was a shitpost, it feels like one that spreads awareness. stay strong, even when times are hard, u can always talk/vent to a friend. thank you

This sfm felt like something else, I actually cried and though scout was gonna kill himself

Here's a fun little thing about Soldier when he does the katzoscky kick, his eyes are looking up at his helmet you can see it when it flies off. The part at the end allowed me to see that

Sometimes, small thing can make someone happy.

I know this video ends really silly, but everyone coming together to give scout something to live for is beautiful. This hit way to personally and i wish it ended like this. Please reach out to people if theyre hurting, even if youre not sure. Even if everyday feels less and less worth waking up for theres always something good that will happen. Even if it takes a long time something good happens, even if its something really small, or as stupid as middle aged men in a line doing the kazotsky kick, *something good will happen*. People still love you.

I love how at 9:40, Scout just goes to sleep happy because he found someone that he could feel safe and happy around. (BLU engineer) That's the most realistic plot for the feeling of trusting someone when you're sad I have ever seen.

Unlocked Ending: Friendlies Party

this video has genuinely played a huge step into my growth and i'm more than grateful i watched it.

One of the best tf2 sfm's I have ever seen, I really like all of this and I like the way the entire server went friendly, and Soldier went from a hard arse, to an Understanding civilized person. I also like how they all became friendly at the end, not many sfm's have done that before, keep up the good work man, and I hope to see more amazing stuff like this. :)

When only a hoovy makes a whole server friendly : 15:07

I've been going through a bad time lately, I really resonate with Scout, feeling like every day is the same old monotony, and wanting it all to end. My friends keep me here though, and TF2 is probably why. I've got a busy life, so I have little time to play, but my friends and our various conversations keep me coming back. We've got silly fanfic projects and stuff, that all leads back to how we met, through TF2. I just wish I had strong enough legs to do the kick...

This is such a masterpiece, I shed tears of sadness and joy though this emotional animation.

I literally want to save this as an example for anyone who doubts that using preexisting assets to abimate is art. I really feel like you could feel the emotions Scout was feeling at each moment because his place in the environment like his bed and TV was so familiar

its clever how pokyface added the heavy mini figure cuz scout voice actor likes to play as heavy

How two clinicaly depressed players turned an entire server friendly. On a more serious note, I am glad it didn't end in the horrible way I imagined. Thank you for this emotional video.

tbh I think the silence of the scene with the music you used around 4:03 worked wonderfully as it was. it felt like the scout has heard this kinda of thing before, and it became silence as he heard it more and more. the end was very wholesome, you caught me by suprise there.

3:35 most emotional scene with medic and heavy 🥲

this is why we play, not to win wars, but to win friends

I kinda wish that the blue Engineer was the spy in disguise trying to comfort his depressed son

Before reading the description, I thought the 4:03 - 4:08 was silent on purpose, I think it adds to the effect very well

it's crazy what a single act of kindness can do..

The line, "Keep Going, Buddy" Hits hard.

Scout : *Depressed* Whole server : *Friendly* Scout : understandable have a great day *Starts dancing*

The film is so deep, with the story at the end with such an hard message, and the action of the scout and engineer together agaisn't both of their teams to in the end realising that they will just come back again and again and killing each other and breaking the respawn machine and killing their team but SPOILER dying to the red spy and killed by the explosion of the sentry

I remembered seeing this 2 year's ago and I genuinely felt emotions

Believe it or not, the lack of music and speech from 4:03-4:48 makes it even better. You can't even hear what Solder is saying but you KNOW he's disappointed. It really adds a new layer of tension and suspense. You don't need to know what he says; you already have a good idea.

Can we just agree how nice Pyro is considering when Scout said hi when Scout got to work Pyro said hi back?

See the Medic dancing give me 1000 live years

2:44 When the average tf2 player realizes there never ever gonna be a update

I'll admit they had us in the first half But that last part was such an unexpected and wholesome turn Remember to Kazotsky Kick when your friends are down, boys

This teaches a lesson that not many people realize. A game is a game, sure you can take it seriously but there are times just like in war where friendship is valued more than bloodshed.

If you look closely to the times on the phone you can see they have a deeper meaning, at 3:08 is when scout get shot and killed and the timestamp of 4:12 - 4:25 is the same time scout is getting yelled at by soldier. this sfm has so many layers that all connect to themselves and its amazing

This is true art. Made me emotional. I didn't expect such well-done film making and storytelling in a TF2 SFM. Rivals 90% of film and television. Amazing work.

In the end, no one is enemies. Sure they fight and kill one another but they all learn to forgive and forget. There really isn't any TRUE enemies in TF2. Everyone is your friend and you fight each other for fun and when the 'war' ends, THAT is when you all can have fun together!

Heavy is the supportive one who is the only one who smiles at scout

the ending blessed my soul

The fact that this is the best thing ive ever seen, I truely remember this as a reason why ww3 should never happen

Scout: thinking about suicide Heavy: SANVICH MAKE ME STRROOOOONNNNGGG

I never could have guessed I could have seen such accurate depictions of depression, anxiety, friendship, and betrayal, in a TF2 video. I can't overstate how deeply emotional this made me. I'm not kidding when I say this made me shed a tear. And in the end, like all CTF matches, it devolves into an impromptu dance party, true to the spirit of TF2.

the best animation I've ever seen, good job!

5:57 This kinda creepy. The time on the phone showed exactly the time in real life for me 😳

This feels like a SFM that should have a million views, great job!

Dude all jokes aside, the scene when the engineer shot the soldier on his own team gave me absolute chills down my spine

This is an incredibly lengthy and personal comment which im not really posting to be read by commenters, I’m alright with the fact that people dont care how i interpret this cinematic piece of art. But this might take some time out of your life, your choice. I don’t know if I’m gonna watch your other stuff but this will always be something I remain loyal to. I remember watching this when it came fresh out of the oven. When his profile picture was a lil dispensah bot. I probably interpret this too complex or take it too seriously. But I saw this when I was in a rut. Watched it like 3 times, patiently waiting for more. i cant tell you what happened exactly but I forgot about tf2 as a whole. Few months back got a pc so i also got back into it i decided. I now love it more than anything. Yeah starting over is challenging but I chose the path. Lately been in a rut again, nowhere close to 2-3 years ago fortunately. But definitely down deep. This video got recommended to me. 2-3 years later it communicated back to me while I was mindlessly scrolling. I took a screenshot and kept it in the back of the mind. It’s winter break now, and I honestly just got as comfortable as i could think of since i was in a rut anyways and i dont feel like i have enough energy to be alive, just live. I put it against my pillow, laid my head down and watched it again and made sure the audio played on my soundbox. It…was different. I started to interpret it in other ways as one would but I started relating to all characters. To details. And then came the part where he slept in the position where he’s about to kill himself and that was the first lightning struck through my heart and entire nervous system. Don’t worry I’m fine now just for the sake of not worrying people unnecessarily I do not plan and do not want to kill myself. I wouldn’t be able to say the same for the other parts of my life before the beginning of this year. Going off topic, that’s where the first lighting struck. But the scene with soldier. The exact same fucking thing happened to me today. I heard but hadn’t listened. Hell at times I didn’t even take it in. It’s like he’s so afraid of the outside world he feels safer and his own world. Instead of being choked by the voices, emotions and people around him, he prefers the idea of a slow suffocation by means of isolation. But it’s the engineer for me, BLU. He was probably the first ever person that gave me hope in a best friend years back, I gave up awhile after though. Two people suffering sharing each other’s trauma and pain effortlessly, just being together. The two hearts bonded there and they embraced each other, it’s what I love about tf2. It’s a sense of brotherhood, the team is like a household. The scene where they both killed their entire team showed a snapping point in a really painful way. People suddenly need you and ask after you (Expertly portrayed by soldier as the one asking things of you and for example heavy showing visible worry and empathy, but there’s also subtleties such as sniper’s voice line in spawn. But it’s the ending for me. Nothing, and I mean nothing will beat that genuine smile. It’s so weird, am I weird for this? But his smile is so unreal. It’s the smile of a boy who’s come to terms with life, and through hardship eventually got what he needed. This is no masterpiece, I am aware. It’s no high quality tf2 movie like some around on youtube. Doesnt have voice lines, not even crazy visuals and very simple transitions but, in a way it all comes together. But I’d be damned if this wasn’t my masterpiece. It’s the thing I’ll hold onto. Thank you. I’ll never forget 12 y/o me discovering the joy of the kazotsky kick when they noticed i was F2P and we just danced around the map. I laugh a lot, smile a lot but I want to laugh and smile like scout. Feel that warmth, feel that safety within the brotherhood. Feeling like I belong. Because until then, life was worth living. Keep going, buddy.

honestly I relate to this, back in 2018, when my life went completely downhill after school stuff such as being bullied and ditched by everyone around me (for genuinely no reason at all, and I have yet to even find out why it happened all these years later) and I just knew it was going to be over for me when school ended for the year mid 2019, I was basically on the verge of just ending it all eventually, when I stumbled upon a game thanks to my first online friend in July, and ended up meeting the people that practically saved my life and I felt like life would finally get better fast forward about 5 years later, and things really didn't get better at all for me, with my mental state still declining a ton to this very moment I'm writing this comment, with a crippling fear of losing my friends while also knowing it's too late now to even try to stop it from happening, and practically just try to do something kind (which ends up going wrong) and I know something will end up happening soon enough I'm trying the best I can to get through this, to no success so far and with my home life being as bad as it has been for years, getting help won't exactly be easy as much of an unsatisfying ending as this is, I'm still trying to put up with this as much as I can and I've at least found something I enjoy making, even if my horrible home life and terrible school makes the time I have on it extremely limited and causes some things to take months to even start I'm still pushing, even if things keep getting worse and my mental health decreases more and more each day also my hatred for humanity, but that's a story for another time and is its own whole well...hole

Unrealistic, all the snipers would've been votekicked already

The whole video was kinda dark and depressing, so ya really caught me off guard at the end, lmao. This was a roller coaster. I really felt sad when Scout was contemplating suicide, and I felt happy when he made a friend. You are a master of storytelling.

Just cause you're enemies, doesn't mean you're ENEMIES.

The one time copyrighted audio actually makes a scene even better.

Alt Ending: Scout gets kicked for being afk after the first round

This was amazing. A well-paced tale with great storytelling and great lighting. A VERY satisfying ending and a friendship that reminded me of RED Demo and BLU Soldier's friendship - except this time it actually ended well. Well done and thank you for making this.

this is actually a accurate representation of a match of 2fort, one moment we are all killing each other, being tryhards and toxic, and suddenly a coin flips because someone decided to do a cross map conga taunt and everyone just stops fighting and joins in

that moment of silence was so good that I thought it was a planned part of the animation

This describes tf2, when you die so many times and think about quitting you remember all of the good memories(and money)that you spent on the game through out the years, but you fight through to make sure that your team doesn’t lose and make new great memories.

Even if its just an SFM made for a joke, i feel like this somewhat hits me harder. Really shows just no matter how lonely you feel, there will always be people that can relate to you.

This video hit me hard. I enjoyed. Good job to all who worked on this.