NEW YEAR'S SEASONAL UPDATE! (Patreon)

Happy new year everyone! We're so thankful for every year we're able to do this wonderful and wacky job of ours, and with the start of a brand new one, here's our seasonal update for what's going on and what's coming next for OSP!

2023 RECAP:
2023 was a banner year for us if I do say so myself. Some amazing trope talks like Those Dang Phones and Personifying death, three new all-time classic myth videos between 9 Realms, Gilgamesh, and Artemis & Apollo, some really fun looks into media with our best year yet for the Detail Diatribe series (Superheroes in Empty Worlds, The Spider-Man Symbiote, Breaking Fate in God of War Ragnarok, The Brilliant Mythology of Stray Gods, Arcane, Uncharted, and others), and the culmination of a lot of histories summarized with looks at world architecture from Zimbabwe to Ur to Iceland to Kyiv to Malta to Chicago, histories of Babylon and Sparta and England's problematic fave Henry VIII, and of course the biggo videos on the Byzantines and the Complete History of Rome. One of the best single years for OSP videos, and on a rather broad range of topics and styles too!
Meanwhile, we also had a killer year for livestream fundraising, accumulating a whopping $150,000+  for local and international charity organizations spanning lifesaving international medical aid, medical research, financial aid for children, and a fund for writers and actors striking for better working conditions – all during a combined longform playthrough of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the KIngdom, spanning twenty six 6+ hour streams. The goal with these was to have a much more relaxed experience overall, bridging the gap between the structure of gameplay and the freeform ramblings of the after-dark streams.
A lot of the "After Dark" energy has found a more structured home in the OSPodcast After After Show Show, (lovingly called the AASS), a new experiment for the year and a big success judging by your reactions and comments every other week. We're excited to keep this up in the new year.
Also, we launched our new whitelabel merch shop OverlySarcastic.shop – use code:  OSPATRONS<3  for 15% off (good forever, infinite uses), and get access to the special Patreon-exclusive Vault of additional goodies with the password:  supersecretpatronzone

All in all, a busy year, but a good year for sure.

Okay but what about 2024?
Great question, rhetorical me – for this year our goal is broadly to keep things simple and straightforward so we can focus on making the best videos possible. Last year we had a *lot* going on adjacent to work and behind the scenes (side projects, travel, conventions, etc), and we're looking forward to making our lives a little bit more simple in 2024 for the sake of our sanity, sleep, and art.  We're still in the process of picking out our videos for the coming year, but we were thrilled with "Mesopotamia Month" (Ziggurat of Ur, Gilgamesh, and Fall of Babylon all going with the gilgamesh pins) from last year, and we want to try to recreate that video-combo experience with other topics. We'll likely have more to share in the spring update once we plan out our calendar more thoroughly.

New Pins!
As ever, our big merch offering is the pins. We had fun with the plush experiment, and we'll keep looking into new product types to find things that excite us and would be cool for all of you. The constellation pins we did last year were really cool, so year we've got an ambitious goal: starting in May, we'll be releasing one pin a month for each constellation in the zodiac, starting with Gemini and running through April of next year when we run back into Taurus again. These will all be in the same visual style as the other constellations, with those gorgeous blue tones and glow in the dark stars.
We'll also have more of the regular double-pin packs, like what we've done with the olympians, but hopefully dabbling in other pantheons.

Aurora Arc One is COMPLETE!
This past year, Red's webcomic Aurora crossed the momentous milestone of completing Arc 1! That's 750+ pages across 22 chapters, and having finally read the whole thing front to back over the holiday break, I can say that it kicks so much ass you guys, I fully get why people love this so much. A common question Red gets is "Will there be a physical edition!?" – the only answer we can give at the moment is that Red is working on it. When there's more to share, you'll know.

Blue's Super Secret Venice Book???
Waaaaay back in 2018 I began a cagey little side project that I've kept on the down-low for the last five years. Nary a peep from me in all that time, but no longer! This year I am so excited to finally show what I've written.
Presenting: "The Veneziad" – a novella-length epic poem in the style of the Iliad, Odyssey, & Aeneid, set in the history of Medieval Venice during a war with its arch-rival Genoa in 1381, one of only three moments in the city's entire history when it was directly besieged. It follows three characters, a father son & daughter, on their seafaring journey back to Venice and their defense of the city in its hour of need. Biiiig Epic Poem story-structure and overall energy.
Later in the spring we'll do a proper reveal on the channel, and in June we'll launch the Kickstarter for the book. We're working with Wraithmarked, an independent publisher who makes the highest quality books outside of the highest-end of the traditional publishing space. For context, here's our good friend Daniel Greene's book he launched with them last year. Now imagine that but Vembis.
We'll have plenty more to share as we get closer, but consider this the first public announcement for The Veneziad. Ya boi is HYPED.

We can't wait to get started.
And that's essentially all we've got to share as we get into the new year. We're aiming to be more deliberate with our effort expenditure so we can focus on creating the things we want at the highest quality we can deliver, for Overly Sarcastic Productions, for Aurora, and for the Veneziad. We're so excited for you all to see what we make this year.

And now, we turn it over to you. Red's collating possible Trope Talk topics, and would love to hear your suggestions. Sound off in the comments!
Also I added a poll because I thought it'd be funny.

-B