October Update (with Content) (Patreon)

Chads, Gosus and Hax0rs,

I'm gonna let the pledge charges roll at the start of this upcoming month this time. I've paused it several times this year, including the past couple months and, frankly, I could really use some money coming in. That said, although I don't have the full episode sixteen ready for you yet, I've been busting ass on a lot of things, and I do have some things for this month to show you. I hope that's alright. The things are as follows:

- New media review show title, details, thumbnail template, prop photographs, digital set photographs, pilot episode subject, and request for fan mail

- Hard Justice soft reboot details

- First Master Chief Sucks at Halo commentary video

- Arby 'n' the Chief S8E16/17 spoiler-limited teaser

Here's details and links regarding each item:

New Media Review Show Title

My new media review show will be called:

'Mediabyss'

Mediabyss Details

I play myself in the not-too-distant future. I won't be playing an entirely satirical persona, unlike in nearly everything else I've done-- rather just being my authentic self, occasionally satirical, riding aboard a solitary spaceship cruising through space after the Earth has been destroyed by nuclear war. Within the reality of the show, for all I know, I'm the only human left alive. My companion aboard the ship is a ridiculous-looking alien called Allen who speaks English with a thick Scottish accent through a malfunctioning voice translation mechanism. Also on the ship is recording equipment from the late nineties-- all that I was able to salvage from the planet before its destruction-- that I use to record episodes within the episodes, explaining the nineties' television aesthetic Mediabyss will be made with. The interior of the ship has been built and lit from scratch by me digitally using Blender with a vaporwave aesthetic and color palette. Each episode will be dedicated to reviewing a single film or video game that has some funny or interesting aspect to it beyond just being good or bad, of which said media could be perceived as either. Typically I'll review something that's underrated in some regard, as I like to see the good in things. Within the reality of the show, these pieces of media are found by myself and Allen in pods drifting through space-- the origin of their trajectory being the explosion of Earth-- and pulled into the ship via a tractor beam. Allen and I provide amusing commentary and banter with each other throughout each episode in reacting to the media, or at least that's the intention. I also want each episode to have a segment at the end dedicated to responding to several pieces of fan mail, like you'd also see on nineties' television-- kind of like I did on Hypernews. Also within the reality of the show, I record episodes onto VHS tapes and fire them out into space in the hopes that someone, somewhere in the universe will one day find and enjoy them. The show will be scored by original synthetic music tracks made by me. All details are subject to change.

Mediabyss Thumbnail Template

See the attachment section of this post for my current thumbnail template for Mediabyss episodes. The design was inspired by a number of things, including the synthwave/vaporwave color palettes and box art for games on retro consoles including Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo and the Nintendo 64.

Mediabyss Pilot Episode Subject

As indicated by the thumbnail, the subject of the pilot episode is set to be Sonic Adventure, originally released on the Sega Dreamcast, a game that famously rides the line between irredeemable glitch bucket and fan favorite. I acknowledge its flaws in the episode while making a case for why it's a better game overall than you may think.

Mediabyss Prop Photographs

See below for photographs of a couple of props that will be featured in Mediabyss, the alien and the spaceship. The alien was built by me using a rainbow sock, some stitching, crafting items and superglue, with some help from my mom. The spaceship is a birdhouse I custom-painted by hand with acrylic paint and made some adjustments to.

Mediabyss Digital Set Photographs

As I said, the interior of the spaceship in Mediabyss was built and lit by me from scratch using Blender. See below for screenshots. I had never used the software before doing so and had to spend a few weeks teaching myself.

Mediabyss Fan Email Request

Again, as I said, I want the end of each episode of Mediabyss to have a segment dedicated to myself and my alien sidekick Allen responding to fan mail, sent by (hopefully) viewers such as yourself to an email address created exclusively for the show. I expect to get numerous emails, and I'll be selecting a relatively small number to respond to for each episode based on content, humor and brevity. Ideally the emails involve the subject of the episode-- Sonic Adventure in the case of the pilot-- but it's optional, as is who the email is addressed to-- it can be addressed to me, Allen, or both of us. For the pilot episode I'd like some emails to feature. If you'd like to help me with this, please send brief and preferably funny Mediabyss fan mail addressing myself or Allen the alien, preferably involving Sonic Adventure to some degree (maybe briefly share your personal experience with the game, or a fun anecdote involving it), to:

mediabyssmail@gmail.com

Hard Justice Soft Reboot Details

I'm still only in the development phase for this project, and don't want to confirm any video releases until it's at least finalized on paper. I've still got a lot of plot kinks to work out, but the underlying skeleton is there, and I'm quite excited about it. The series is planned to be a soft reboot in which a number of familiar characters and themes from the original seasons will return, but with new, more relevant themes, reworked character and plot origins, and more sophisticated writing overall. I realize there are many fans of the initial seasons, but I personally don't hold the work in high regard in retrospect. Bernard Brown will be the main character. Edward Stryker and Max Dangerfield will be important but more secondary characters. The personalities and attributes of the three will transfer to the soft reboot mostly intact. There are numerous antagonists, the primary one being a decorated alien soldier with years of experience commanding an elite special forces unit within the alien military, on a rogue mission to rescue his operators from imprisonment and torture, and execute a plan involving cataclysmic destruction. This will be amidst a destabilizing war between citizens and the police force of all that remains of society following an alien invasion and domestic nuclear war.

Legacy Content Commentaries

I'm finally recording new commentary videos on my legacy content for my patrons, starting with the Master Chief Sucks at Halo series. Commentaries for more legacy seasons will follow. You can watch the commentary I've just recorded for the first Master Chief Sucks at Halo now if you're a patron of the $5 tier or above. There's a separate post that's just been made with the link to it.

Arby 'n' the Chief S8E16/17 Teaser: "The Bad Guy"

Once again, I can't show you the full episode sixteen yet, but I whipped up a few-minute teaser to give you an idea of what I'm working on and how seriously I'm taking its production. It doesn't contain any significant spoilers or otherwise contain anything that isn't already known or can't be assumed based on prior episode events. It contains dialogue from one scene from episode sixteen overtop images of another of the episode's scenes, with unique sound design. You can view the teaser by clicking the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2JxZ8YzWdI 

I'd appreciate it if you didn't share the video link as it's intended for patrons. I think I can get the full episode out by the end of next month, barring any unforeseen incidents regarding some re-casting and auditions. I am sorry about how long it's taken. It's been a tremendous effort in writing in particular and I needed to take a long break from it and work on other things, myself included. I'm much healthier now. I've re-gained my wind and am working on the final episodes at full-steam. I hope you're excited for the season's conclusion. I'm very excited to show the last episodes to you, as well as the other content I've got in the works. Thank you all as always for your generosity and viewership. My content would not be possible without you and I'm so grateful to you. Stay safe, and have a spooky Halloween!