2022 Plans - Update 12/31/2021

Hey ya’ll! Hope all’s well~

First off, I’d like to give a huge welcome to all of the new faces because WOW are there a lot! The outpouring of kind words and support since the release of Act 2 has been staggering as it’s been humbling and I don’t know if I have the words to express how much it means and how much of a difference it’s already made for me (though I suppose we’ll get to that momentarily). For now, I’ll have to settle for this: After the months and months of effort that was put in, I can say unequivocally and with total confidence that you’ve made it all worth it. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so, so very much for everything.

Secondly, I’d like to apologize for how long this follow up post has taken to come together. Between post-upload burnout, the holidays, me moving cross-country into a new home with my partners (which your donations have played no small part in making possible, thank you again <3), and, to be entirely honest, the release of FFXIV: Endwalker, my free time and/or energy has been sparse. Additionally, I actually first attempted to write this post a couple weeks ago when Opera crashed about 1000 words in, taking the entirety of everything I’d penned with it which was... an inertia-crushing bummer, to say the least. Fortunately, things have finally started to calm down, so now I’m here to answer the burning question that is undoubtedly on everyone’s mind:

What’s next for the channel?

Well, a few things~

First off, I recently finished my replay of Haruspex’s Route in preparation for when the time comes to begin work on that behemoth, so I am now confidently prepared to pursue that when the time comes. But, since it seems like I’ll likely have a bit more time till we hit the goal for that, I have a few projects I’m eyeing beforehand.

In the immediate short term, I will be taking some time to put together The Bachelor’s Route - Director’s Cut. This project will more or less Act 1 and Act 2 stitched together into one huge megavideo with a few minor changes, fixes, and additions. Nothing radical or wild, but a few minor tweaks with maybe a couple new conversations. Now, I’m sure this might seem somewhat redundant to some of you, but there’s a few reasons why I think it’s important for me to do this:

A) I always saw Act 1 and Act 2 as part of a complete whole and want to do what I can to make sure it’s viewed as such, particularly since, to be frank, the YouTube algorithm abso-fucking-lutely LOVES super long videos like that. And if I’m uploading a new version of the video, I might as well fix some of the more major mistakes that slipped through the cracks. Not all of them mind you (my humiliating mispronunciation of Thanatica will remain for example), but definitely some of the ones that meaningfully detract will be getting fixed.

B) In a similar vein, I learned a lot about how I want to present this story over the course of doing Act 1 and Act 2 and I’d like to apply that knowledge to areas that I think would benefit the most from it. If I AM making changes, I might as well make some changes that make it more fun to rewatch and capitalize on some opportunities and moments I could have done more with. This will likely include adding some conversations I cut for time which I now realize should have probably been played out in full, particularly in Act 1.

Most importantly and the ultimate reason though, C) I created these videos with the deliberate goal of making them as evergreen as I possibly could. I wanted this to be something I could look back on in 10 years and still be proud of and enjoy while staying confident that it would remain a strong introduction to my work and, in a way, myself.

And the first thing I do is introduce myself with the wrong name and gender.

I trust you see the issue at hand. Likewise, I trust you can understand why it would be important for me to address.

I will not be unlisting the original videos at any point, but I want to make sure there’s a version out there that is better reflective of the person I’ve since become, if not for the audience’s sake, then for my own. So that will be something I’ll be aiming to put together early next year.

However, I’m not here just to tell you that I’ll be reuploading a 2-in-1 video of old content for the Bachelor. Quite to the contrary. You see, call it Stockholm Syndrome if you will, or perhaps whimsy as a result of the beautiful response to Act 2, but I’ve already found myself missing the prickly prick, even if I’m somewhat burnt out on Pathologic 1. This is likely why, immediately after finishing the main story for Endwalker, I found myself replaying Pathologic 2. Some of you may note though that Patho2 ‘only’ has the Haruspex’s Route at the moment and, hence, does not have any Bachelor’s Route to play through.

Technically.

For those of you in the know, you likely see where I’m going with this. Because, in reality, Pathologic 2 does in fact contain exactly 1 Day with a playable Daniil. A standalone sidestory originally released as a tech demo for Kickstarter backers which also serves as perhaps the best vertical slice for what makes Pathologic 2 unique mechanically, narratively, and thematically. And given it’s short length, familiar leading man, presence within an visually and tonally distinct game that I’ve been eager to talk about on it's own terms, and how generally underappreciated this work is by even diehard Pathologic fans, it’s hard for me to imagine a more perfect brief-yet-rich coda to this massive journey we’ve just been on.

As such, I’m proud to announce that my next real project will be The Marble Nest, For Those Who Will Never Play It!

This will NOT be the hours-long monstrosity that Act 1 and Act 2 are, but likely more along the lines of a more robust recommendation video for Pathologic 2 combined with a performance of The Marble Nest that will run for roughly the length of two Days. Kind of a mini-Act 1 in it’s own way, even if it’s still liable to break an hour in length. The outline is already completed, as is the preliminary research for the theatrical aspect & figure I’m going to be focusing on alongside it. With any luck, I’ll be able to post that as a companion piece to the Director’s Cut, ideally come March (however, as always, these things take as long as they will take and you will all be updated and receive previews as it comes together).

What comes after that will depend largely on whether or not I feel like I need a serious break from Pathologic and whether or not we’ve hit our goal for the Haruspex’s Route, but suffice to say the next multi hour project will either involve us getting to know Artemy much better, or me taking you all to visit a small island nation to fulfill some ancient prophecy for a culture that hates us. Which one happens first though is something to be discussed and decided when the time comes.

In the meantime though, you WILL be hearing from me much more regularly. As a result of my recent move, I now have a vastly better set up for content production. Without meaning to sound like I'm complaining, it is worth noting that everything you’ve seen from me in the past few years has been made out of a single shared bedroom with thin walls and only weak wifi signal to get me online. This has, fortunately, changed. Notably, my new home includes both enough space for me and my long time collaborator Jade to be able to record things such as podcasts and commentary, as well as a drastically improved internet with a LAN connection which will allow me to finally stream consistently. I am incredibly eager to make both of these things happen and will have more details for you before too long, but for now I would strongly encourage those of you who are interested to be sure to follow my Twitch channel. Big things will be happening there before too long and trust me, I have ~ideas~ for some fun and unique streams.

Lastly, and perhaps the most important bit for you, I’d like to ask you all what else you’d like to see from me here on this Patreon. I would very much like to be able to provide valuable benefits to the kind people who support me [IE, You :) ], but to be entirely honest, it’s hard for me to discern what sounds like something that people would actually be excited to get vs what is just stuff that I *think* sounds cool but is actually just pretentious and self-aggrandizing in the Not Fun way.

As such, I will humbly ask you directly: What kind of new bonus content would you care to see here in future? Commentary tracks with me and a couple actors for Act 1 & 2? Commentary for other videos? A written post-mortem on the behind the scenes process? An editing stream where I break down how I put the videos together in the way I do? Private Q&A streams each month? Something else entirely? Please let me know and I can promise I will do my best to accommodate. It is sincerely the very least I can do for your kind support.

For now, I think I will leave it at that. Expect to hear from me again towards the end of next month, hopefully with a script in hand. In the meantime, I hope you had a wonderful holiday, and wish you the best 2022 one could possibly ask for! Looking forward to seeing you all again real soon~

With all my heart, thank you all again,
Ruby <3

P.S. Very glad everyone has reacted so positively to the appearance of Eva’s ghost on Days 11 and 12! Looking forward to hearing your opinions on her cameos on Days 7-10. Like to think I made those appearances tastefully subtle ^^