The State of the Moonion 2024

This was a genuinely interesting read. Thanks for creating this address and sharing your thoughts on the channel with us. I’m glad to hear that it’s something you enjoy and hope that it never becomes something you feel obligated to make. That being said, I appreciated getting an inside glimpse of how the channel is doing and hearing your reflections on the videos you’ve made. P.S. I’m very glad to discover that the dolphin’s official name is “Royalty Free Smug Dolphin” and I will think of it as such going forward.

B. Rob

Just joined after the first half of the korean gender video! I really hope patreon can allow you to spend more time making your videos as you envision them, instead of having to stick to sponsor deadlines 🙏

shale

Anyone who has watched YouTubers for along time knows that many of them burn out from the grind. Doing what you can to protect your energy & create work you are proud of is important! And viewers will resonate with content that comes from a good, healthy place. I wish you the best, and look forward to a year of interesting analysis of topics I’ve never thought about before!

Happy New Year, Wishmakers! And thank you both for the very kind and thoughtful comment, but also for your support!

Moony

Hi Miles! I do sometimes add little disclaimers when I'm about to approach the threshold, but as I am writing the scripts, recording the audio, and editing myself, I can generally avoid the pitfalls without having to place a blanket disclaimer. Generally speaking, a blanket disclaimer like "nothing in this video is legal advice" is more for appearances sake anyhow: it's a deterrent against people claiming you're giving them legal advice, but in the right context, is virtually powerless. If I ever bring on an editor, where I have less direct, executive control over the content of the videos, I may also elect to start adding a disclaimer!

Moony

You're clearly too hard on yourself but I totally did immediately want to read this entire address :) I think the lessons learned from the Jobst and Completionist video are...interesting, and certainly not wrong. It's difficult and decidedly unwholesome to step right into the middle of a drama war and present a take, mainly because that will invite...well, that entire audience to a group of people who are decidedly trying to escape that audience. That being said, I don't think the premise of the video is flawed at all, and I think it's worth examining the very real ramifications of things that drama audiences cook up. (I.e. Jirard literally committed a crime) This wasn't your average drama, this was a *witch hunt*, and regardless of whether or not Jirard was actually guilty, they wouldn't have stopped without a scapegoat. Jobst and Mutahar having a good reputation with calling out people on their bs is probably what lends massive righteousness to that audience. The problem, as I'm sure you know, is not the video itself, but what it led to for... the channel's image, as callous and cynical as that seems to my ears. But I think it's good for the atmosphere and long-term health of the channel to re-evaluate that. I've been lightly seeing Jirard's stuff for years now, so the allegations are certainly troubling for someone who...actually commits to aiding *other* charity efforts, yet seemingly not his own? (I have actual proof of this - one of the events I've contributed to actually had all its "merch with proceeds going to charity" fulfilled BY Jirard, and it's not like they didn't deliver - though it wasn't *run by him* so...) Sometimes the reality of a situation is ugly, and betrayal does happen. It's part of why I would want to know whether or not any claims would have merit. That being said, probably best to steer clear of that for the future, and I respect all the accountability you take for your actions on it. > I have… something of a dream, really. Where, perhaps, one day, the YouTube Channel can become large enough such that I can devote my law office to full-time pro-bono work: I can rely on YouTube income, while helping those who most truly need help – people in dire circumstances, who have no money, and thus nobody to turn to. (I see the Phoenix Wright & Maya Fey emblem of the channel at this point has become less of an emblem and more of a persona and honestly I massively respect it. Being able to be in a position to live out your ideals is not something everyone gets to do, and I'm glad that someone responsible is able to exercise it :] There are many people in this world who will use their money for all sorts of power grabs and attempts to greed snowball, but the idea of living modestly in any way is...extremely honorable to me and I'm sure many others, and I think your clients of the future would appreciate that more than you'd ever know.) While I may not be the channel's eldest patrons now, I'm very personally proud to be one of the first and I hope to be able to maintain my finances in such a way that I can continue to do so and help your dream thrive. However, now that I've fallen in my uncle's footsteps and turned a one-off contact into a whole epistle, I'll get back to my work before the snow rolls in and hopefully allows us to leave early. Happy new year, Moony! I'm looking forward to more State of the Moonion addresses

WishMakers

Good evening Moony! I noticed you don't have the message saying something along the lines like "this is not legal advice, this video can't be used to start an attorney/client relationship" in your video descriptions. I'm curious if you're just careful with your video's messaging instead of just copy/pasting the boilerplate messaging that other attorneys that make videos do. Either way, I completely agree with the commentary about possibly hiring an editor if the income gets to a point you can start doing that. Editing videos takes a bunch time and can be frustrating, I speak from past experience using an old copy of Sony Vegas trying to edit Let's Play videos, which arguably take a lot less effort than video essays. Looking forward to future videos!

milesluigi