SarahZ
patreon
2026 Check-In and Patreon Update
🕑 Added 2026-01-05 20:18:48 +0000 UTCHey everyone! Happy new year :) Figured I'd do a proper check-in since it's been a minute.
Life stuff:
2024-into-2025 was a lot. I finally finished my MA after years (defended in December!), did my first live shows in Toronto and Vancouver, ran a charity stream for the Transgender Law Center that raised over $150k (!!!), and have generally been trying to figure out what the next phase of this whole thing looks like. I've also been playing an embarrassing amount of chess (hit 1600 on Lichess, started at 400 on chess.com), knitting increasingly ambitious sweaters, and slowly chipping away at a visual novel game in Ren'Py because apparently I don't have enough projects.
What I'm working on:
Right now I've got three videos in progress simultaneously, which is new for me:
A Nebula video, Three Dead Girls I Love — it's about history, memory, the archive, and how we should totally stab Caesar. I think it might be my best work. Patrons will get access down the line too. This one is about 90% edited right now, but I'm working to get some commissioned art for a few visuals. When the video is out, I think you'll understand why!
A mockumentary — I'm getting into fiction production! If you've been following me on Bluesky/tumblr, you know about this already. YouTube videos as a mockumentary subject exist a little but are pretty untrodden ground, so I'm incredibly excited about this one. Much like how American Vandal takes the concept of "true crime documentary" and uses it to both be funny and ask questions about the ethics of the genre, this is going to do the same for the concept of "drama/accountability video".
A video about a mostly-dead literary genre from the 2000s — this one's about literature, but on a deeper level it's about the economics of how we package suffering for mass consumption. It touches on misery lit, fake memoirs, the satanic panic, and a bunch of other stuff. It's going to be long.
Also still grinding through the O1 visa process so I can bring live shows to the US. Immigration bureaucracy is exactly as fun as you'd imagine, but we're getting there!
And something right now:
In the next couple of days, I'm posting a Patreon-exclusive "cutting room floor" video for my chess cheating essay, so this means interesting stories that didn't make it in, tangents, editorial decisions, that kind of thing. Consider it the first of what I'm hoping will be more regular bonus content.
Patreon stuff going forward:
I want to be honest: I've been inconsistent with the exclusive content, and I'd rather acknowledge that than keep quietly hoping no one notices.
Here's what I'm thinking:
Chat videos will still happen, and going forward I'll put up polls with a few options I'm excited about, and $10+ patrons pick which one comes first. I've found I'm better at actually making things when I'm choosing from ideas I'm already excited about.
More low-key posts — works in progress, research rabbit holes, life updates, what I'm reading/watching/knitting. Not everything needs to be a produced video.
Cutting room floor as a recurring thing — after main channel videos, I would like to do more bonus content about what got cut and why. This is going to be a way for you guys to hear interesting stories I find cool but maybe didn't fit in a full video.
Conversations with other creators! I've got some things lined up already! In early stages, but I think it's going to be a good time.
Thanks for sticking around. Here's to a good 2026!
Comments
Josh Grey
Congrats on finishing your masters! You think we should stab Caeser? I have greatnews!
JF
Thank you for the update! Good job unlocking the grad school achievement!
