This week on And Now for Something Completely Machinima, snacks are flowing, pretzels are implied, and Tracy throws us a curveball of a film pick. 🍪🎬

We dive into “Demoram” by Livviathen, a lightning-fast, 90-second burst of animated chaos made in Team Fortress 2 and Garry’s Mod—and somehow packed with more storytelling, personality, and punch than films ten times its length.

At first glance, it looks like old-school machinima. But look again, and you’ll spot razor-sharp animation choices, perfectly timed sound design, and a wild, Warner Bros.–style cartoon energy that feels both nostalgic and fresh. A furious Scottish cyclops ram, a doomed Scout, explosive slapstick violence, and blink-and-you-miss-it details all collide in a miniature masterpiece.

We talk about:

• Why less than half the action is actually shown—and why that makes it brilliant
• How sound design carries the story as much as the visuals
• The genius of using gaps, cuts, and implication instead of over-animating
• Why Livviathen’s claim of “not being an animator” absolutely does not convince us
• And how this short channels Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, and Ren & Stimpy… inside Source Filmmaker

Plus, we explore Livviathen’s behind-the-scenes channel, her creature work (including the unsettlingly awesome Spantis), and why her workflow proves that instinct and timing matter just as much as polish.

Short, silly, ferocious, and shockingly smart—Demoram is proof that machinima can still surprise us.

👉 Watch along, then tell us: what do YOU call someone who animates like this if not an animator?

Audio only version here –

and YouTube version of this episode here –

Here’s the film –

The Demoram by Livviathen, released 20 July 2025

and the making of –

For more about Liv and her creation, Spantis, check this out.