Difference between revisions of "Alex Hall"

Alex Hall
Real name	Alexander D. Hall
Aliases	Jadusable; JadusableH; TheRealJadusable; Alex Hall of Fame; Delex2002; xpoggers23; swaglord720
Gender	Male
Born	August 13, 1990
Age	old

Revision as of 13:14, 13 August 2020

This article is about the author. You may be looking for the character or the video.

"He is twelve years old, internet!"
—Alex Hall, The Digital Fireside

Alex Hall is the writer of the Haunted Cartridge story, and creator of the subsequent ARG. During his second year of college, he decided to write a short horror story on a whim, which evolved into a full game shortly after the story's ending.

Biography

Education

Alex graduated from Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis and studied Business Management at Saint Louis University.

Prior work

At 14 in 2005, Alex began writing a fanfiction that takes place after the events of Devil May Cry 3. As of 2006, it appears to have been unfinished.

In 2008, during high school, Alex and several friends, under the name Consistently White, created a music video for a song titled "Hey I'm White," which is a parody of Kid Cudi's "Day N' Nite." They followed this video in 2012 with a Consistently White reunion video, which was posted to Alex's personal Facebook. It was finally released to the public on January 3, 2019, but was quickly made private.

Alex was a participant in the 2008 and 2009 48-Hour Film Project competition, participating from St. Louis. His 2008 entry, Normal, won awards for Best Screenplay, Best Male Lead, and Best Composer, but ultimately came in second place. His 2009 entry has been lost.

Haunted Majora's Mask Cartridge

In September 2010, Alex wrote the Haunted Cartridge during his second year of college. The project began on a whim, and he wrote the entirety of it himself, working between classes and at night. After seeing the success of the story, he paid out of his own pocket to start a website that advanced the story. Unfortunately, a few days into the ARG portion, his lack of funding forced the game to pause.

Receiving continuous donations and requests to continue the story motivated Alex to continue the game. After mentioning the real name of a player in-game, Alex allowed the player, Kayd Hendricks, to present his own portion of the story.

During the time leading up to the then-current Hubris Arc, Alex introduced a new forum that allowed the player base to communicate as a whole. The story's final arc was intended to end after the release of a video game portion, which was to be used alongside a new website. Due to the massive scope of the project, Alex put the game on hiatus during July 2011, which will last until he is able to allocate time and money to the project. He has expressed desire to return to the ARG after his film has finished production.

Methods of Revolution

In April 2012, Alex announced Methods of Revolution, a film project that he considers his master work. After raising money during its Kickstarter campaign, Alex began production. However, it has missed its deadline of a late-2012 release by four years, and is still in development.

Following a post on the project's Facebook page promising things to come on December 28th, 2016, the page updated with a post on that date detailing the approximate scheduled releases of the three Methods films. Interestingly, Methods of Revolution: Prologue had its release date scheduled for April 23rd, 2017. A video was later uploaded on January 14th, 2017, further detailing his plans for Methods.

On April 23, 2019, Alex announced The Digital Fireside, a podcast intended to serve as a prologue to the Methods of Revolution project.

Awakening

On March 17, 2020, the ARG officially continued. It is currently ongoing.

On March 20, he started a Patreon for the project, intended as a tip jar for those who enjoy his work and want to support it. It later became used in-game for voting due to its security from outside influence. The following is a complete list of Patreon updates:

Guide's Patreon posts

Starting the Game
March 20, 2020 at 12:31pm

Welcome to players, both returning and new in general to the final chapter of BEN Drowned.

New and Returning Players:

The final chapter of the BEN Drowned story is being told through YouTube videos, audio engineering, digital archeology, and some other surprises along the way. As we progress, the significance of some data points may not be readily apparent - that is normal. In keeping true to one of the reoccurring themes of Awakening, there will be times when older entries have a significance that is only brought to light after new information has emerged. The content itself may not have changed, but rather, new context will have given it new meaning.

This may be a lot of information to process for returning players, but there are plenty of tools in place created by the community to assist. When catching up, it's best to start simple - feel free to join the discord of the ARG and ask for clarification. You don't need to have a complete understanding of previous events immediately to start playing, others will be able to clue you in as you go along. Most of the bigger events are summarized here in the Patreon as the story progresses.

If you want to get more in depth - Here is a Google Doc, created by the fans, of the timeline of the story so far. In addition, you can also look into the fan wiki here.

This is a slower, more psychological approach than the original story - the timeline for this is much longer than the original story. Due to some of the psychological themes it explores, it's recommended for participants to be 18+.

Patreon is 100% optional

It is important to reiterate that this is a way to show support if you enjoyed the original BEN Drowned story or are enjoying Awakening. Patrons here are not given any kind of unique information or "advantage" to anyone else. Becoming a patron will not accelerate the release of content, nor is a certain threshold required to be met for the story to conclude. The goal of this page is to provide a way for users to support the work, should they be so inclined. There are unique benefits to being a patron that will be reflected in the story some time later, tier depending, but they are not required to get the full experience of the story. An apt way to compare it would be akin to receiving a cosmetic item in a game like League of Legends - it confers no actual "gameplay" advantages.

Additional Information

Timeline wise, every three days the story will progress forward. This is intentional.

Although the author's discord can be found here, and although that seems to be the main place that theorists congregate there is no official discord for discussion and theories. No unique information will ever be posted there, so users are not missing out by opting for a different server. The reason for this is to not monopolize the discussion area, but rather to encourage organic communities to be created.

Finally, to prevent gamejacking, links to any external websites to progress the story will come only from either the Jadusable Youtube account , the author's Twitter account, or this Patreon account. There will be a clear path to identifying the sources of information - as for the information itself, that may prove to be a little trickier. This is to reduce confusion and save time of meticulously combing through other unrelated endeavors that the author has done since. At some point, another platform will be introduced that will be canonical to the story, and this post will be updated to reflect that.

And as always, good luck. Enjoy the story.

LIVE EVENT 3/28: Methods of Revolution Website Discovered
March 29, 2020 at 2:13am

On March 28th, a new resource was unlocked thanks to the efforts of the community. After deciphering the hints hidden in binary and the data retrieved from a spectrogram, the combined efforts of the community piecing together clues ultimately led to user Rytikula unlocking the next part of the game - revisiting the abandoned Methods of Revolution website. It was just in time - barely over 24 hours remained before the next story progression was set to occur, and it would have been disastrous had it not been interrupted.

Instead of the usual splash page for the film, users instead found a repository of broken file links in a cobbled together directory. Digging deeper, it was discovered that there was an option to change the action that the character does in the next video, although how these two resources are able to influence one another is still a mystery.

Immediately users began sharing the link throughout the discord, online threads, and Youtube videos to spread the word that the next step had been unlocked. What occurred soon after at 8:30pm CST was a live event of something discovering that users had accessed this abandoned repository. It quickly turned into a race-against-time as archivists worked to catalog as much as they could of the website before it was shut down.

The Archived Website

You will be able to find records of what was uncovered in those few vulnerable moments on the discord here before the website was taken down. There were certain pictures and chat logs that were excavated from the scattered code of the website that may prove useful. As the story moves forward, it will become apparent that the puzzles are not always a matter of codebreaking or technical analysis - some will involve logic riddles and critical thinking. The goal behind this approach is to involve as many different people and skillsets as possible, not just those who are technically proficient. In some instances, piecing together the plot ahead of time might give players an opportunity to anticipate what is going to happen - which may have its own benefits down the line.

In an effort for archival purposes the website has been temporarily restored to a snapshot of the day before, before the intrusion was detected. It is important to note that there are no additional hidden materials to find at this point (and the few unique details that showed up during the live event were time sensitive and no longer available). When the website progresses further keep in mind that creative, outside-the-box methods of finding hidden files are encouraged and expected - as long as it stops short of actually hacking/brute-forcing the website itself.

Moving Forward

As we finish our first big live event, there will still be kinks to work out in order to try and reach the most amount of viewers possible - as we're aware that many people live in different timezones. One of the many things I hear from people is that they wish they could have been there to see what it was like when the Moon Children website was going through its 3 day cycle, and we're attempting to take steps to try and make this more approachable for newcomers. Due to the dynamic, real-time nature of the story its hard to anticipate when players will trigger live events (such as this one), but we'll do our best to funnel them towards the weekends when more people are likely to be on. We also have users working on a Google doc timeline (created by user Eevee Reborn) that summarizes events for those who missed them.

At this stage of the story you likely have more questions than answers, but rest assured that the players have taken a definitive step closer to piecing together the bigger mystery behind the true nature of BEN.

Attached file: iseeyou.jpeg

4/1 Update on Story Progression / Moderation
April 1, 2020 at 6:23pm

Story Progression Timing

As we begin a new month we've been listening to feedback from players wanting the story to be more accessible in terms of time availability and made a few changes. We know our audience digs pretty deep into clues and will spend a lot of time turning over every leaf if given the opportunity, and we want to be responsible/respectful of your time and energy.

In order for this story to best reach its audience, we will continue the content release schedule of every three days until a certain point in the story, but going forward we will orchestrate things so that big reveals and live game events happen closer to the weekends to convenience the audience as much as possible. The discovery of the Methods of Revolution website coincidentally happened to occur on a Saturday night and saw active participation of hundreds of users. We'd like to keep that kind of rhythm directed towards the weekends, as even though the majority of the country is quarantined at home, we know of a few dozen of our player-base have essential jobs and aren't as time flexible. As it stands now, you can still expect significant story updates when the three day cycle to fall on weekdays, but the more in-depth interactive content & events (like the discovery of the Methods site) will take place when the cycle lands on a weekend.

Discord Moderation Policy

We're excited to announce that the Awakening discord has reached 600+ members since Awakening has started! That's an incredible amount of growth in such a short time period and we're doing our best to acclimate. We've added roughly 8 new moderators to the roster to keep up with demand and we're implementing a new policy to ensure that the server is managed fairly both to the users and the moderators. The new progression of disciplinary action will be as follows: warning on first offense, kicked from the server on the second, and finally ban on the third offense. Banning is meant to be a last resort for people who continue to violate the rules and after seven days you will have the opportunity to appeal your ban. If you have any issues with the moderation staff, please DM Jadusable directly on Twitter.

Progression Caps

We are also working on an appropriate way to signify when all available clues have been found to "call off the dogs", so to speak. You will likely know the manner this weekend when we have our second live event.

Good luck!

4/4/20 Live Event + Future Plans
April 7, 2020 at 7:15pm

4/4/20 Live Event -

Not only did players finally get to see what CHILDREN.wmv and TheRealTruth.rtf were - in a sense - but they solved the second riddle and bypassed a speedbump in getting to the next part of the story. Hopefully this was an engaging twist on a traditional checkpoint that didn't depend on a select few people solving ciphers (although there will be more of that soon), but rather a collective group of people paying close attention to the context of what was being shown. In quick summary, the Methods of Revolution website was opened back up for a brief period, featuring several new files - one of which was a modified version of the original 2010 document TheTruth. Soon after, players saw mysterious images flash on the website while a poll was presented to them presenting their next three options: Run, Fight, or Hide. These images were reminiscent of an entry in TheTruth of a nightmare Jadusable had in which gave hints about which actions proved to be ineffective against the entities. A heated debate broke out in the discord with both sides arguing which option should prevail, but ultimately Hide won. You can find a moment to moment recap of the live event here.

Discord Update

The Awakening discord has reached 800+ members now - and we couldn't be happier. I'm excited at the opportunity to build a great community and stay in touch with each other during the quarantine. These next few months are going to be rather crazy, and I'm glad that this ARG can be a suitable distraction - so try and be good to each other, yeah? Again, it's a crazy amount of growth in such a short time period and we're doing our best to acclimate as best as we can - we are bringing on several new mods as well. If you have any issues that cannot be solved by a moderator or administrative suggestions for layouts (i.e. adding new chat channels), please DM Jadusable directly on Twitter.

Progression Caps

If it wasn't clear on the previous event, when the Methods of Revolution site goes down that typically marks a cap on the progression for this time. As of now, the big live events are coordinated towards the weekends - involving the Methods website updating and the .wmv files dropping. Weekday updates will involve .txt files for now until a point is reached in the story.

Good luck!

4/14 Update - The Father Revealed
April 14, 2020 at 7:38pm

The Father Revealed

In the original story, Jadusable's fate was left ambiguous at the end, but now due to the tampering and infection of the Methods file repository and what appeared to be an inner conflict in BEN itself, new footage was presented to us on the original Jadusable account - letting us see what happened after the end of the original jadusable.wmv video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymWm0O51iG0

As Jadusable delved deeper into the darkest recesses of the cartridge, despite ignoring the warnings from the voices in the game itself, he finally found what he was looking for in the edge of the game's existence - The Father. He appeared before Jadusable in his true form - not using a representation within the game itself anymore - and opened his eyes to stare through the avatar at the player behind it. Jadusable was only able to gaze dumbfounded at the monolith's eldritch face before he was consumed and killed.

A few hours later another vulnerability opened up on the Methods of Revolution website, allowing players to quickly access the site and save/backup as much as they could from what had changed. Players found several cryptic audio codes, and the opportunity to "awaken the second player,". Although there was some dissent in the consensus, the players ultimately voted to awaken the second player. Who or what that it is, though, remains to be seen.

The cycle has been broken, and now it appears that The Father's face sits resting again at the home page of Methods of Revolution. What could this signify?

Entering the Second Phase

As we conclude the first phase of Awakening - for now - we begin to move the story forward in a different mediums. It should be said here plainly as a disclaimer that there will be real life locations being filmed. I know how passionate and methodical some players can be, so to help ensure good working relationships with the cast and crew, it is important to note that there will never be any hidden clues gained by doxxing these locations or trying to figure out where they are geographically. The same goes for actors appearing as well. These are meant to take place in a fictitious world.

Catch-up Mechanics

We are going to be working on a more streamlined and effective way to bring new and returning players up to speed, and part of that will be a website that will be rolling out sometime this month. While we have a wonderfully comprehensive timeline created by CircleHunter that is an invaluable resources for the hardcore players, the sheer size of it can be overwhelming to newcomers. We are in need of people who are able to help grow the community - either by creating easy and informative summary videos or info-graphics. If you think you can help, please send me a PM on Twitter or reach out to the mods on Discord.

Discord / What's Your Mask Contest

We're less than fifty members away from having 1,000 concurrent members on our Discord! We've recently updated the #server-rules so be sure to check those out, and help flesh out some of the other channels.

We're currently having a What's Your Mask Contest, a non-canon event where users can create custom made masks and submit pictures of them to be entered in a prize pool (win Steam games, cosmetic rewards in the ARG, etc).

This is a great chance to form gaming communities, share your own artwork/creations in #art-gallery, or take part in one of our many contests! If there is a channel that we don't have that you think would be a good addition to the server, reach out to a moderator. As always, any concerns you might have with the server you can always reach me on Twitter.

4/29 Update - Exploring the Ethereal Hotel
April 29, 2020 at 6:35pm

Catch-up Video

A brief catch-up video will be going up this week to acutely summarize the three arcs of BEN Drowned to ensure that newcomers are not overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information and lore surrounding the series. Because the Methods of Revolution is a brand new setting, it is the perfect time for someone to jump in with no prior context of the story other than the original BEN Drowned videos.

Methods of Revolution [Day 1]

The dreams have stopped. You are awake now in a strange hotel room. How did you get here? What is this place? Where are you? All you have to go off of is a man over the radio calling himself Abel - who cryptically outlines the rules of this place for you. But can you even trust him? Time operates abnormally here and object permanence is not what it should be. What's more, there is an entity that unrelentingly patrols the hallways - only known as the Jailer at this point - that cannot be harmed, reasoned with, or destroyed by conventional means. It clearly must be avoided at all costs. In your starting room you notice that several items have been left behind by your predecessor. What could be the significance of these?

Methods of Revolution [Day 3]

It is becoming apparent that there is a wealth of information to be gained here that will shed light on your environment, the true nature of BEN, and even The Father itself, but in your short time here it will be impossible to discover it all. Sacrifices for progression must be made and the players must make the most of their decisions. What you decide to take with you is just as important as when you decide to leave. It is recommended players go back through the notes that the main character found to try and find any hints about the area you find yourself in, you can find the main character flipping through each page of notes in Methods of Revolution [Day 1].

Choosing Items

Should you decide to explore the hotel, without any kind of backpack you will only be able to take three items with you. The items you decide to take will determine your toolset and what you can find as you explore this ethereal hotel. These decisions will impact your story, survival chance, and what you are able to find. There are no wasted items or wrong choices here, but some items will naturally have more use than others. Items will automatically be used if the appropriate situation presents itself without prompt by the consensus (i.e. if the main character encounters a dimly lit room and has chosen to bring the flash light, they will automatically use it). You can find more information about the items and their potential uses by hovering over them individually on the Methods of Revolution website.

Player Consequence

In this phase, it is extremely important to note that the main character can die - and with their death any potential new information to be gained from this part of the story will be lost forever. The likelihood of the main character surviving to the end is low, as it cannot be overstated enough the danger that lies outside of the room. It is critical to remember that you are in a completely foreign environment with no idea what to expect. All you know is that you are safe in your current room, someone new has appeared in the room adjacent to you on Day 3, and then was subsequently snatched by a mysterious entity. But if players have a calm and prudent consensus that can analyzes their environment, use clues from past videos, and have a keen eye for detail, the main character will at least have the best chance at navigating the hotel, avoiding the Jailer, and reaching the top floor.

However, staying within your established parameters is also a valid choice. Your safest place is in your starting room and will guarantee the main character's survival. If you choose to venture outside, your first destination will be a pre-determined attempt to reach the second floor. If you are successful, a floor plan will be made available to you that you can then plan your routes carefully as you explore the hotel.

Voting Period

Because these items are important for determining the entire direction of this part of the story, the voting will not begin immediately - this gives each player ample time to discuss among themselves and weigh the pros and cons of each value of the potential items. It is important for any one group to not monopolize discussion and to do their best to hear out all possible viewpoints. Failure to work together will almost certainly spell doom for the survival of the main character. A vote will be called 24 hours after this post goes up in which the consensus will decide on the three items to bring and the day in which the main character leaves his room (or if they choose to leave at all).

Discord

We've reached over 1150 active members on our Discord! Viewers that want to take a more active role in the story are encouraged to join the server to take part in the discussion and debate on which items to take, as well as theorize and analyze clues. The story can obviously still be enjoyed as a passive viewer, but taking a more active role in the ARG helps to get the most out of the experience. As a reminder, be kind to each other and respect rules + moderation staff. There will be a lot of newer players wanting to join in and contribute theories of their own, so let's do our best to encourage them. It bares repeating that this part of the story is a blank slate, so everyone will be on even footing here - everyone's ideas are just as valid no matter how long you've been following the story.

4/30 Update - What Items Do You Choose?
April 30, 2020 at 6:30pm

The top three winners of this poll will determine the items that the main character takes with them going forward. For more information on what each item's purpose is, visit http://www.methodsofrevolution.com

Radio (36)
Flashlight (97)
Notepad and Pen (134)
Knife (77)
Rustic Song Book (71)
Holy Bible (35)
Model Head (82)

Attached image: IMG_6459.00_06_40_01.Still002.jpg

5/3 Update - When will you first leave your room?
May 2, 2020 at 5:39pm

In the final decision before the story continues, when do you decide to leave your room? This decision impacts the progression of the next video and carries a much bigger risk than choosing which items to take - this is the first choice in the story that can impact the mortality of the MC. The day schedule is not meant to be 1:1 to our world, and is instead on a 7 day cycle. only influencing the date of when the next video takes place.

The last video ended on the third day. The winning day is when the next video takes place.

For example - if Day 5 is the winning vote, the MC will spend two more nights in the room before leaving on the fifth day. If Stay wins, the MC will wait out the entire week in the room.

Day 1 (1%)
Day 2 (1%)
Day 3 (2%)
Day 4 (3%)
Day 5 (1%)
Day 6 (69%)
Day 7 (3%)
Stay (21%)

5/9 Update - When will you leave the room?
May 9, 2020 at 6:31pm

Methods of Revolution [Day 6] -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM74MtnOi0k&feature=youtu.be

Grabbing a flashlight, a notepad, and a model head, you make your way to the second floor on Day 6 - encountering an even more bizarre environment in this seemingly deserted hotel. You can't help but think you hear voices coming from some of the rooms as you walk the empty hallway. You find another seemingly empty room - again appearing to be occupied by your predecessor. She's left behind a map as well as some additional notes for you - it appears that she was in the process of investigating different locations in the hotel before she was interrupted. What could she mean by these?

There's something outside preventing you from leaving today, so you will have to plan your escape on a different day. If you choose to leave you will have to select a location on the map to visit from here. What do you do?

Day 1 (4)
Day 2 (5)
Day 3 (11)
Day 4 (5)
Day 5 (62)
Day 6 (8)
Day 7 (8)
Stay (44)

Attached file: Image0(1).jpeg

5/16 Update - The Death of the MC
May 16, 2020 at 7:09pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7d6yFvvTF0

The MC has chosen to leave on Day 11, ultimately falling victim to the roaming Jailer. In his final moments, players watching through the MC's eyes saw a bizarre digitization effect while the screen cut to familiar static. What could this signify?

As we jump ahead several days, we see a young woman wake up in the same room that the MC briefly inhabited. She barely has time to gather her bearings before a frustrated Abel appears on the radio to admonish her. The MC had managed to safely make it to the second floor, but further attempts to traverse the hotel met with failure. What could be missing from the equation and what will this new character decide to do differently?

As the discord server lights up with heated debate over the next course of action, a vote will be held at 12pm on Sunday to determine our new protagonist's next course of action.

The stakes have been raised, and caution must be exercised going forward.

- It was possible, although unlikely, to complete this part of the story with just the original MC. Mistakes are anticipated - it's all part of the fun in figuring out the rules of this strange place. However it is important to be careful going forward - the amount of main characters is not infinite.

- The protagonists have subtle differences between them, personality wise.

- The Live Event of interfacing further with the Methods site is tied directly to progress made in the hotel, for story purposes.

- It is worth noting that Abel is his own character with his own motives and is not meant to be an out of character proxy. If his personality seems different after the death of the MC, there may be more to that.

- There will be an opportunity to recover MC's belongings from the second floor.

- When in doubt, don't be hasty now.

5/17 Update - What day will you leave?
May 17, 2020 at 1:33pm

What will you decide? Things to keep in mind:

- The day schedule is not meant to be 1:1 to our world, and is instead on a 7 day cycle. only influencing the date of when the next video takes place.

- It was possible, although unlikely, to complete this part of the story with just the original MC. Mistakes are anticipated - it's all part of the fun in figuring out the rules of this strange place. However it is important to be careful going forward - the amount of main characters is not infinite.

- The protagonists have subtle differences between them, personality wise.

- The Live Event of interfacing further with the Methods site is tied directly to progress made in the hotel, for story purposes.

- It is worth noting that Abel is his own character with his own motives and is not meant to be an out of character proxy. If his personality seems different after the death of the MC, there may be more to that.

- There will be an opportunity to recover MC's belongings from the second floor.

- When in doubt, don't be hasty now.

Day 1 (2)
Day 2 (1)
Day 3 (2)
Day 4 (6)
Day 5 (1)
Day 6 (20)
Day 7 (5)
Stay (159)

5/23 Update - The Decision
May 23, 2020 at 6:00pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0DlwVMVSyw

You have chosen to obey and stay in your hotel room, and sure enough your safety was guaranteed. What's more, it appears that you've been given an opportunity to play a mysterious Nintendo 64 game with the promise of "more entertainment" on the way. Abel swears that no harm will come to you as long as you stay within the confines of your room, and the opportunities arrive to delve deeper into this familiar cartridge. Who knows, maybe some long lost answers will be finally uncovered the deeper you delve into the fabled Haunted Majora's Mask game. This is just a viable path as deciding to leave your room an explore the hotel - albeit much less dangerous.

However.

Time is ticking, the more time you spend going deeper within the cartridge chasing BEN, the less time time you will have to interact with events that happen in the "real world" and vice versa. The further you pursue BEN the more information you will uncover about the original 2010 phenomena, while the further you explore the hotel bigger elements will be at play. There are time-sensitive opportunities in both worlds and while an immediate choice is not required at this time - there will eventually be a point where the community will have to decide to pursue one lead or the other.

A vote will take place tonight and last until tomorrow at 8pm EST for the next course of action.

5/23 - Do you pursue BEN or do you undercover the mystery of the hotel?
May 23, 2020 at 8:00pm

Both are valid options, and both will further the story. However it comes down to a matter of priorities. What answers do you truly seek?

Explore the Haunted Cartridge (83%)
Explore the Hotel (17%)

Community Update
May 26, 2020 at 10:56am

I wanted to take this time to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone - not just our patrons - but everyone following along. Making this project has been a ton of fun and has brought up old nostalgic emotions that I haven't felt in almost a decade. It's been surreal to revisit this world again and exciting to finally bring it to a conclusion. I've always been interested in telling stories through transmedia narratives and I hope that the upcoming decisions the playerbase will have to make between the two worlds will be exciting. As you might have been able to deduce by the past four weekends, Saturday's around 6pm EST are typically when new content is posted.

Viewer Agency

My original vision with BEN Drowned in 2010 was to try to have the reader themselves be as much of a character in the story as the actual written characters - especially in the ARG portion - but with hundreds of thousands of active participants a common complaint I kept hearing was that viewers felt more like passive observers than actual players with agency. It was a challenge to choose which video responses would be accepted, which user submissions would progress the story, and issues arose in chat room discussions that became so massive that it would just amount to spam, etc.

It has been fascinating to compare and contrast this almost ten years later with the new (and returning) playerbase, and my hope is that it has created a stronger community. In a lot of ways the smaller scale has been a blessing this time around and gives more agency to the players. I believe it adds a more personal investment to the story and hopefully that results in players feeling as though they have a little more say in the story's direction. Seeing old faces return from 2010 and reunite means there's a little bit more comradery and seeing discussions take place in the discord means debates are a little more organized. It is my hope that this smaller scale allows for more coherent community discussion, debate, and overall enjoyment. We're trying out a few different things to help facilitate discussion so that everyone has a voice - one such example is presenting a story choice but withholding the actual decision making process on it for at least 24 hours to allow time for all sides to be heard.

r/Jadusable Subreddit

Because you all have come up with some incredible theories (some on the nose enough to even make me nervously tug at my shirt collar) we've also opened up a subreddit to post more intricate theories, memes, fanart, and other pieces related to the ARG if the Discord is moving too fast for you or if you're tired of copy/pasting the same long-form theories. You can find it at:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Jadusable/

The use of this subreddit is optional, but just like the discord it definitely helps enhance the experience and continues to foster the great community we have.

No system is perfect, of course, but in terms of establishing you - the players - as actual characters with agency in this story I'm excited to see what comes out of this.

Creating The Community

The wonderful byproduct of this is that even though the world outside is filled with uncertainty, I'm glad we've been able to create a fun community with a story that helps give entertainment to so many people. I personally love watching people in the discord or reading the subreddit - looking at all of the theorycrafting going on and friendships being made. The memes are incredible (especially the JoJo ones and the cheesy top 10 youtube compilations are among my favorite) and I've even seen some cool gaming friendships being made. As always, the discord and subreddit are works in progress and if you need to reach me for any moderation concerns please do not hesitate to me on Twitter

Patreon Engagement

It is also important to say that even though this may be antithetical to raising money on Patreon - in these turbulent times please do not pledge more than you are comfortably able to. Pledging is optional - this has and always will be a tip jar if you've enjoyed the original BEN Drowned story or if you're having fun following along with the Awakening finale. There are a lot of uncertainties in the world right now, and I'm grateful that we are able to provide a fun and engaging distraction, but I don't want anyone feeling like they have to go hungry to see this through. The amount of money we raise here helps recruit additional talent and expand the scope of the project, but is ultimately not necessary for its completion. The story will still be completed even if this Patreon doesn't raise a single cent more. Pledges made here go to support the content creator and show appreciation for the entertainment, and for that I am deeply, deeply humbled and grateful for each and every one of you. I am so, so thankful for any amount that you choose to give - not only does it help the story but like many of you income stability is most certainly not the name of the game right now during this lockdown.

We are working on additional benefits to throw your way, including a fun behind-the-scenes video that will be available to everyone once this is all said and done.

And something... extra... planned for next April.

Until next time,

Alex

Thank you to:

Alex, Alex A., Amy C., Arhena R., Ben P., Carnel G. -THE- CircleHunter, Daniel S., Dexter W., Ena, Eric P., Evan L., Evan S., Fran M., Gavin, ith me bin, James B., Jerry M., Joebotnik, Julie M., Kara D., Keyla, Koli X., Lizard L., Luna B., Neil F., Nick S., Nikki H., Rhys, RocketDogShawn, Ryan G., Shylenced, Smilecat98, Starryscreams, Stryder, supermariozelda, Sydney, Tara B., Taykenbystorm, Throfax13, Tikibuns, Vivianne V., Vizmo Films, YTSatrun

5/31 - Do you continue to play or explore the hotel?
May 31, 2020 at 5:56pm

Methods of Revolution [Ben.wmv]

Summary

Upon launching the old cartridge, Sarah travels to a world that hasn't been touched by human hands for years - the old Majora's Mask game is nigh unrecognizable at this point. After creating a file, she's thrust into a broken world without even so much as a tutorial. It's an unremarkable forest found deep within the game's code, much outside of the original game's boundaries. As she explores the area, the only thing she is able to find is the body of the dead Happy Mask Salesman. Moving to investigate it, the ground begins to shake as corrupted version of the moon bears down upon her. Running away frantically, she reaches the edge of the stage and falls through the ground - landing in a limbo between-the-code briefly explored in CHILDREN.wmv and THE FATHER.wmv.

There, a character calling himself Ben, reaches out to her in the cartridge and brings her to his own version of the forest she just escaped from. There, he communicates to her briefly and implies something that is a startling revelation to the players before prompting her to play a song to him. However, before Sarah is able to interact further, Abel interrupts the game in the real world and resets something , which as also happens to open up a path to http://www.methodsofrevolution.com.

Players could then modify the URL path to find hidden pages of various characters from previous arcs, including Ben, Jadusable, and other prominent characters from the first and second arcs. Data here has been scattered across multiple binary encoding schemes - needing to be translated by the theorists on the discord and subreddit. Meanwhile, Sarah has returned to the game and has another decision to make.

This additional decision will need to be made in two parts. This first poll will run for 48 hours to collect votes, and based on that course of action a follow up poll will be made as to what specific action you take. If you choose to explore the hotel you will have to vote on where to go or what to do. If you choose to continue to play, you will have to decide which song to play for Ben - if you choose to at all.

For this first choice of whether to stay in the game or explore the hotel, the same principles apply as last time. Both are valid options and both will further the story. However it comes down to a matter of priorities. What answers do you truly seek?

Stay in the game (158)
Explore the hotel (18)

What song will you play?
June 5, 2020 at 12:00pm

What song will you choose to play for Ben?

Song of Storms (22)
Song of Healing (148)
Sun's Song (7)
Reverse Song of Healing/Saria's Song (49)
Epona's Song (10)
Sonata of Awakening (16)
Song of Soaring (7)

6/13 OOC Update - Regarding Current Events
June 13, 2020 at 7:30pm

In an effort to distance myself from the cold, corporate "brand stands in solidarity" type posts regarding the protests across the country right now, I'm going to simply lay out how this will impact the story going forward without getting too political.

I came to the very difficult decision to postpone updates for these two weeks, at the risk of losing the great momentum we built up these past few months, and to resume the story on June 21st. It was an incredibly difficult decision to make but I feel it is ultimately the right one with sensitivity to the protests. Without going into too many spoilers, Jadus' timeline is meant to be just as much of a warning as it is an entertaining story. It is a tumultuous time for our country - I never anticipated that it would come as quick as it did - but it is here now and we have to adapt accordingly.

Given that Jadus' world is a timeline in which America collapses due largely in part to manipulated media radicalizing and encouraging destabilization, I feel as though it would be hypocritical of me to update this storyline when widespread rioting is happening across the country. Even though this story was planned out months ago - the lines between reality and fiction are getting a little blurred - and I don't want this next update to be misconstrued as being opportunistic. As I said last week, I believe it would be pouring gas on the fires going on right now - especially since this next update was set to center around elaborating more on Jadus' story as well as the origins of BEN. Granted, even though my audience is no where near the size of something like CNN, I feel in this current political climate we need people - now more than ever - to stand by their ideals and tell uncomfortable truths, even at the risk of being impacted financially.

I want you to know that while your support is incredibly appreciated and it is so humbling to receive - I am not entitled to it and I am fine with anyone to looking at the content output this month and opting to adjust their pledge accordingly. Again, the Patreon serves as a great tip jar and has some special things at the end for those who donate, but it is not required to see the story through - I don't want anyone to feel like it's an obligation. I'm just sincerely grateful for all of the support, the response to this has been a huge surprise and has helped me improve the quality of a few aspects of this story. I've received questions on if I will re-evaluate the story or rewrite some of it in light of current events and the answer is no. I've made the decision to stay true to my original vision, the story I want to tell, and the message I want to send out - even if it might be a little uncomfortable or controversial to hear. Looking ahead to next week, waiting until June 21st gives enough space for other voices to be heard, and I would urge you to wait until then before evaluating your pledge as we'll be combining two updates worth of content into that Sunday to make up for lost time.

We do have somewhat of a schedule to keep, after all.

Thank you, and stay safe out there.

6/23 Update: What is your next course of action?
June 23, 2020 at 6:06pm

https://youtu.be/vJUVDRyFiVs

https://youtu.be/MTW6ODviaw4

After a startling revelation of inside the cartridge, Sarah is immediately interrupted by a rather animated Abel. He explains the origins of Ben - a boy who’s soul was forcefully digitized into a rudimentary machine learning network named BEN, but he has somehow retained some form of sentience. Going outside of his initial parameters one last time, he has sent the player character back to the cartridge’s state in 2010 - before Jadusable touched it - to make things right. If you take Abel words at face value, the enigmatic voice Seems to claim that you are now done with the cartridge and his little experiment is over, encouraging Sarah to wait around for another simulated experiment.

He seems rather adamant to get his hands on the cartridge for some reason.

This choice will dramatically impact the story moving forward, do you:

Continue playing, trying to set things right within the game? (169)
Wait in your room for Abel to remove the cartridge (11)
Escape (64)

PATREON EARLY ACCESS: The Last Hero.wmv Reaction
June 29, 2020 at 12:47pm

In an effort to give extra bonuses to patrons that have no effect on actual gameplay or on story progression, we're giving out early access to the reactions of video premieres. These are a ton of fun for the community and a great way to fondly look back and remember how we spent the summer of 2020 being under lock down fighting a monstrous rogue AI. Patrons (of any tier) will be able to get access to them a day early before this post becomes public to everyone else.

We're still working out some kinks on the method of delivery of these videos, so bare with us, and if you have any feedback/concerns/criticism please don't hesitate to reach out to me here or on Twitter @AlexanderDHall.

Thank you again to the community, this has been so rewarding to make and we're entirely grateful for your support.

6/29 Update - The Last Hero
June 29, 2020 at 2:22pm

The Last Hero.wmv

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NcuetoHtQ4

Synopsis

Sarah - now armed with a mask containing the memories and strength of Ben, Jadusable, and others who have been forcibly digitized into the cartridge - travels back in the game world before the events of 2010 in an attempt to stop The Father once and for all. Arriving in Clock Town, she finds the game completely uncorrupted - a far cry from the glitched hellscape she escaped from. By some miracle, the hard reset had worked and seemingly everything has gone back to normal.

However, something is amiss as she explores the town and realizes that some of the NPCs are displaying acute symptoms of self awareness. Curiously, she explores the town and makes her way into the Clock Tower where she finally encounters Matt - who somehow exists outside the boundaries of the normal game and was unaffected by her returning to the past. Sarah learns that those who are digitized into the game are forced into inhabiting the bodies of different assets in the cartridge. While most of the NPCs in this game have very little autonomy - even their traumatic deaths that led to the doomed world that Sarah escaped from quickly becomes a hazy memory and then forgotten - there are those who are trapped in this particular cartridge that are most certainly not originally NPCs.

In Ben's unfortunate case, he was a child wanting to be the hero of his favorite game, but was digitized into the elegy statue. The elegy is a cruel rendition of the actual hero of Majora's Mask - Link - that can neither speak nor move freely. Worse yet, however, he remained entirely conscious during this duration even if he could not control himself - he was trapped in a fate worse than death.

Matt, whether by fortune or by some other yet unrevealed means, was able to inhabit an NPC that could communicate and had enough knowledge to be able to summon Ben on demand to prove his point. He then tells her that her predecessor Jadusable - in his "bull in a china shop" approach of glitching the game as much as he could - managed to trigger an anomaly in Ben to give him some semblance of free will again. Why Ben used this opportunity to pursue and try and scare Jadusable is left up for the reader to theorize, but between his natural curiosity and the new-found attention he was getting online by documenting what was happening - Jadusable kept poking and prodding at the cartridge more and more, breaking it down even further until he eventually met The Father and was digitized himself.

Matt then asks Sarah, and by extension the players, if they had found anything of note that could disrupt a simulation - possibly bringing an end to this digital nightmare for good. Unfortunately, during the exploration phase of the hotel, not enough information was discovered to unearth any kind of lead in that regard. Dejected but refusing to give up, the two then resolve to do things the hard way and battle The Father in his own plane of existence. Armed with the mask that contains the memories and strength of Ben, Jadusable, and all of those that came before, Matt believes it might not be a completely impossible endeavor especially if they attempt the 4th Day Glitch to give this version of Ben autonomy again. Of course, it would stand to reason that doing so would also help to further unshackle The Father as well.

Their conservation is then interrupted by The Father, who has become aware of Sarah and her mask's anomalous presence. Although weaker compared to his fully corrupted form encountered by Jadusable at game's end - he still is able to exert an incredible amount of influence over this simulated world. Wasting little time, Sarah leaves the Clock Tower and faces down the first of The Father's invading forces. With the mask channeling the rage and power of the souls that have been locked away for decades, Sarah is able to almost effortlessly dispatch the two enemy swordsman and makes her way to East Clock Town.

Whatever compelled Abel in the real world to change his tune and instead immediately come to get the cartridge sets off warning bells in Sarah's mind. Something tells her that to stop playing the game here would mean losing this opportunity permanently.

Story Choice

A poll will be published at 6pm EST tonight and, depending on the winning choice, another poll will be published the following day to determine a further course of action. It is imperative to look back at all the clues thus far - even consult the original diaries of Jadusable as to what he did or didn't do - because remember, the game world has been reset to the point right when Jadusable first started playing.

At this point, Sarah's life is held in the hands of the community - she is the last hero that can stop The Father.

Do you stay in the cartridge or escape the hotel?
June 29, 2020 at 6:00pm

Read the plot synopsis of the previous video before voting.

Do you stay in the cartridge to fight against impossible odds to defeat The Father to free Ben, Jadusable, and the others or do you unplug from the game in an attempt to navigate and escape the hotel that you're trapped in?

Once this choice has been locked in, a follow up poll will be made with additional options of where to go from there.

WARNING: This choice represents the point of no return for the story and will dramatically impact the endings that players can receive. Regardless of which choice is selected, this will put players on a direct track to the final conclusion of the BEN Drowned story.

Stay in the cartridge to stop The Father (179)
Make your way to escape the hotel (48)

Where do you go in the cartridge?
June 30, 2020 at 6:00pm

With the decision made to stay in the cartridge to try and combat The Father, Sarah now has several choices to make. The top three choices will be the places that Sarah attempts to explore in the cartridge. Think back to the experiences that Jadusable had and his encounters there in the original 2010 story and what he could have done differently. Sarah and by extension the mask she wears has its own autonomy once she arrives in the chosen location, so players won't be able to micromanage her per say - only generally guide her direction.

It is important to note that you are not yet making a decision on if you are going to be attempting the 4th day glitch or not, this is an opportunity to gather information similar to the second phase of the story in the hotel, but be cautious - as The Father is very clearly aware of her presence.

Stock Pot Inn/Explore Clock Town (174)
Astral Observatory (21)
Stone Tower Temple (26)
Ikana Graveyard (75)
Great Bay Coast (23)
Snowhead Mountain (136)
Romani Ranch (99)

Entering the Endgame
July 3, 2020 at 9:18am

The Last Hero.wmv

First of all, I never expected to receive this kind of support. This started as a glorified tip jar and I've been blown away by the support I've received. I'm truly blessed to have such a passionate group of awesome people participating alongside. You've shown me that you guys have a real passion for this story, its world, and its characters and I'm so excited to deliver the finale to you guys. I love seeing what the discord is up to, what the subreddit has theory-crafted, and the wonderful fan art you guys send me on twitter. The response and reception to this story has been amazing and I'm so thankful for each and every one of you. I'm in the middle of moving right now so there may be a delay for an update this week as things are a little hectic right now, but I will keep you all up to date on Twitter.

I'm sure you've noticed on the Patreon that there are various tiers of patron rewards - the BEN Distinction, Method Revolt, and Finale Role rewards (and obviously the Exceptional Supporter role goes without saying). These have been intentionally left vague at the beginning in March - and I'm sure you're starting to figure out some more context behind at least one of these three rewards now in July. These rewards will start rolling out in the story as the story moves to its conclusion - Sarah has become determined to free Ben and defeat The Father within the original haunted cartridge.

If you have ever been a patron of these tiers since the Patreon's inception, you will receive the reward - you do not have to be a current patron when the reward goes out. Meaning, if you've pledged $15 just for one month back in April, you will still receive the Method Revolt and BEN Distinction reward as it comes up in the story. If you are eligible for these rewards, you should have already received a message from me about needing more information from you to help fulfill the reward. If for some reason you slip through the cracks of Patreon's messaging system, please reach out to me by sending me a message on here.

As we're progressing now in the final updates, how long this phase lasts really comes down to player choice - from the road map I have laid out in my office, the earliest I can see this story concluding is in August and the latest is in September. So that means if you've been watching and want to participate to be eligible for a patron reward, or if you just want to chip in and show your support you should aim to get your pledges in before the end of July so they can be processed in time.

Looking forward to seeing this through until the end with you guys, it's been a long time coming.

PATREON EARLY ACCESS: The Moon Children.wmv Reaction
July 14, 2020 at 5:58pm

In an effort to give extra bonuses to patrons that have no effect on actual gameplay or on story progression, we're giving out early access to the reactions of video premieres. These are a ton of fun for the community and a great way to fondly look back and remember how we spent the summer of 2020 being under lock down fighting a monstrous rogue AI. Patrons (of any tier) will immediately be able to get access to them a day early before this post becomes public to everyone else.

We're still working out some kinks on the method of delivery of these videos, so bare with us, and if you have any feedback/concerns/criticism please don't hesitate to reach out to me here or on Twitter @AlexanderDHall.

Thank you again to the community, this has been so rewarding to make and we're entirely grateful for your support.

7/12 Update - The Moon Children
July 14, 2020 at 6:13pm

The Moon Children.wmv

Synopsis

Sarah - guided by the consensus - delves deeper into the haunted cartridge and has a chance encounter with a mysterious child. Meanwhile The Father continues to slowly gain power over the world, beginning his corruption. The winning choices from the poll determined the consensus' direction in guiding Sarah's actions.

Stock Pot Inn was explored first, with Sarah ignoring the warning from the Moon Child she encountered there and opting to continue to follow them - going so far as to break through the boundaries that the game world had set up to impede her progress. With no other option left the game froze and hard reset itself to prevent Sarah from progressing further in chasing the Moon Child, but the damage was done - it's become readily apparent that whatever omnipotence The Father might have had before, it doesn't possess now. With clever planning and a keen eye for detail, it's possible to outsmart it in this timeline.

Undeterred, Sarah returns to the game to find that it had not only been reset back to the beginning of the day, but that The Father had turned the peaceful denizens of Clock Town into the undead in an attempt to get rid of her by force. It's limited influence was beginning to accelerate. Making her way back to the Inn, Sarah gathers the remains of the Moon Child and is informed by Matt that she needs three more to help free the other trapped souls within the cartridge. Guided by the consensus, Sarah opts to visit Romani Ranch and Snowhead Mountain next.

Due to a time sensitive event in the original game, Sarah chose to venture to Romani Ranch first, hoping to find something of value there.

The Moon Children.wmv reaction videos

Patrons of any tier get access to reaction videos of the premieres a day early. You should be able to see a Patron Only post with a link to this week's reaction video. Thank you to everyone who participated! For the newcomer patrons, thank you for your support! I will be reaching out to you depending on your selected tier at the beginning of August - once the July pledges are processed - to get any necessary information from you for your patron rewards.

Next Chapter: The Prisoner
Previous Chapter: The Last Hero

7/21 Update - The Prisoner
July 21, 2020 at 3:41pm

The Prisoner.wmv

Synopsis

Sarah makes her way to the second location chosen by the players - the Romani Ranch - where a startling revelation is made. Meanwhile, the remaining Moon Children discuss their next course of action while the second child - the one representing Goht - arrives to confront Sarah at the beginning of the Ranch. He proposes an increasing question to Sarah, lending credence to the possibility that there may be more to this digital world than meets the eye - that some of its inhabitants might actually prefer to remain here as opposed to facing the harsh realities of the outside world. Barely given any time to mull over these new developments, the original alien enemies from the cartridge as dispatched to try and abduct Romani herself - an NPC from the original game who, without player intervention, would always have her mind wiped at the end of the first day.

Sarah fights valiantly against the intruders before they retreat, seemingly freeing Romani from her fate. Afterwards, as Sarah surveys the land she notices that the moon child she encountered at the beginning of the ranch was no where to be found. In its stead, however, the horrifying reaper Gomess appears and begins to launch its attack against her. Ill-equipped to handle thefoe, Sarah does what she can to buy herself some time to retreat into the barn where Romani is supposedly being held. Inside the barn, Sarah is transformed to a familiar void - with none other than Romani herself looking at him. The two exchange words briefly, with the young girl trying to recollect her thoughts as her memories begin to flood back to her. She reveals herself to be Rosa , the original character from the 2010 videos, albeit trapped in this character avatar and doomed to repeat the same 24 hours again and again... until now. Thanking Sarah for freeing her, she promises the two will have more time to explain the true nature of this world - but with the angered reaper outside their doorstep, Rosa imbues Sarah with two weapons capable of fighting back against the corrupted world. The first is a staple of the original game, the Light Arrow - a weapon of great force able to vanquish some of the strongest monsters in the original game. The second is an item with a unique purpose - a pendant of memories that can be used much in the same way that Sarah broke Rosa free; disrupting their predetermined cycle. When used on a certain NPC, it allows that characters original memories and autonomy to return. What uses this may have remain to be seen, as this item could be a great asset to the right character, or an extremely deadly one to the wrong one.

As of now, Sarah seems to be have been able to start to wake up certain NPCs to join her fight in retaliating against The Father, and things are beginning to look almost optimistic - almost heroic. But then again, hubris can prove to be a powerful Achilles heel. One must not forget that Jadusable himself seemed to be curiously enjoying the glitching game as well before the fourth day glitch happened.

Consensus Poll

There will be a poll at 6pm EST tomorrow to determine the next course of action. Even though the moon child wearing the Goht mask has seemingly disappeared/vanished, does not rule out that there still could very well be important information in Snowhead. Remember, Sarah only has 48 hours in-game left until a decision must be made about doing the 4th Day Glitch, this part of the game it is pertinent to gather as much information as possible about the world before making a decision that will irrevocably change it. It's important to think about the potential locations to visit and take some time to debate the merits of them of who or what you might encounter to shed light on this world. Clearly, the visit to Romani has added some more context into what this virtual world is and what its inhabitants are - even rewarding the players with special items - perhaps other locations will as well?

The options are:

Great Bay Coast
Ikana Graveyard
Stone Tower Temple
Snowhead Mountain
Astral Observatory
Revisit Clock town

The objective for letting the players know the options a day beforehand is to ensure that there is plenty of time to debate the merits of each, and to ensure that people don't feel rushed into making a hasty decision. As a general rule - which will be enforced by the moderation staff going forward - impassioned debating is allowed, but resorting to name-calling or insulting those you disagree with is not. Please keep that in mind as discussion opens in the discord tonight.

Under the Hood

After some issues have been brought to light to me - and I apologize for that because I tend to be immersed in the creating aspect and am not on discord as much as I'd like to be - we've spent last evening having an extensive conversation with the moderation staff in hopes of refining our moderation process, improving our involvement in the community, and representing ourselves accordingly. We have been listening to your concerns and it is my hope that after moving forward, that we continue to foster a community that is welcoming and inclusive towards new members. This is a growing process, and we have introduced several new systems to help streamline this a bit better and make your concerns heard. One of these is the new "Tickets" system.

Essentially, if you have an issue with a user or a problem you'd like to bring up to the moderation staff, you'll be able to open a private ticket that is a chat channel between just you and the moderation staff in order to speak confidentially about your issue.

If for whatever reason you do not feel comfortable talking to the moderation staff about a specific issue, or if it concerns a specific moderator, you can always reach out to me personally on Twitter via DM. We are a work in progress in refining our moderation team, but we all share a love the community that we have created here and want to do everything we can to help continue to grow it and make it a great space for veterans and newcomers alike.

In Closing

Thank you, and as another reminder we are progressing to the final updates. How long this phase lasts really comes down to player choice - from the road map laid out, the earliest I can see this story concluding is in August and the latest is in September. So that means if you've been watching and want to participate to be eligible for a patron reward, or if you just want to chip in and show your support in general you should aim to get your pledges in before the end of July so they can be processed in time. I would say that getting them in before the end of August would be a 90% safe bet as well, considering we have now saved Rosa it has greatly shifted the odds in our favor, but there is still a crucial point coming up at the end of this month that could effectively lead to a "bad end" and end the story at the beginning of August. So, if you're waiting on your paycheck in August to consider pledging... convince your friends to make smart choices these next two weeks!

Thank you as always, and good luck!

Next Chapter: The Happy Mask Salesman
Previous Chapter: The Moon Children

7/22 Update - Where Will You Go?
July 22, 2020 at 2:33pm

Having now acquired both the Light Arrows and the Pendant of Memories from Rosa, Sarah now has the ability to restore certain characters back to their original state and wake them up from being mindless automatons.

48 hours remain until a decision must be made to do the 4th Day Glitch or not. It is pertinent to gather as much information as possible about the state of world before making a decision that will irrevocably change it. You may have gotten hints in the previous video that things may not be as black and white as they seem when it comes to the nature of this world. It's important to think about the potential locations to visit and take some time to debate the merits of them of who or what you might encounter to shed light on this world. The only given is that the Moon Children are starting to actively seek Sarah out at this point. Clearly, the visit to Romani has added some more context into what this virtual world is and what its inhabitants are - even rewarding the players with special items. Are there any clues or hints that might give some insight into which options to select?

The top three choices will decide where Sarah visits next. Voting will last until 6pm Thursday and like the previous vote will not necessarily determine the order in which she visits first. In addition, Snowhead is just as viable of an option as it was the first time around, but it's worth repolling the players to see if these new items make a difference in their decision.

As a reminder for newcomers, you do not need to pledge anything to be able to vote, you only need a patron account (which can be made for free). This is to just ensure that bots don't spam a particular option.

Great Bay Coast (126)
Ikana Graveyard (99)
Stone Tower Temple (16)
Snowhead Mountain (125)
Astral Observatory (18)
Revisit Clock Town (13)

PATREON EARLY ACCESS: The Prisoner.wmv Reaction
July 22, 2020 at 4:14pm

In an effort to give extra bonuses to patrons that have no effect on actual gameplay or on story progression, we're giving out early access to the reactions of video premieres. These are a ton of fun for the community and a great way to fondly look back and remember how we spent the summer of 2020 being under lock down fighting a monstrous rogue AI.

Patrons (of any tier) will immediately be able to get access to them a day early before this post becomes public to everyone else.

As an additional note: Please check the microphone volume of your headset before participating in these. There were several people that were too loud or excessively spamming. Fortunately it's as easy as a click of a button to squelch them in post production but try not to ruin the viewing experience in real time for the rest of the listeners. Continually doing so will result in disciplinary action.

Thank you again to the community, this has been so rewarding to make and we're entirely grateful for your support.

7/26 Update - The Happy Mask Salesman
July 27, 2020 at 12:01pm

The Happy Mask Salesman.wmv

Synopsis

After defeating Gomess and with the second moon child nowhere to be found, Sarah and Rosa have a moment of respite to begin formulating a plan to try and solve the mystery of this rapidly deteriorating world. As Rosa's memories begin to return, she laments how things have gone so awry from the original goal of wanting a playground free from the horrors of the real world - implying that at some point she was digitized willingly, along with other kids. However, having just been rescued from being trapped in an endless loop of being abducted and brainwashed on the first day of the game - something has indeed gone horribly wrong from their original vision of paradise. It's starting to become apparent that there are a significant amount of human beings that are consciously trapped in the bodies of NPCs in this game with no way to break free - a fate worse than death as Matt put it - unless Sarah can use the Pendant of Memories to wake them up.

Rosa and Sarah decide that the best course of action is to gather as much information as they can about the world, and opt to visit Snowhead and Great Bay. Seeing as the only way to get to Great Bay is by horseback, Rosa offers up Epona to make the journey with her. Being too heavy in her current adult form to ride the young horse, Sarah tries to remove her mask but is physically unable to - having a nightmarish out of body experience. Rosa has a moment of despair as she seems to realize something, and apologies for getting her involved in all of this.

A storm approaches and as Rosa starts to explain more about her relationship with Nekko, Kevin, Rem, and others - Epona runs off of its own volition away from the ranch. The two, realizing that neither has ever made it this far in this cycle, have no idea what happens next but resolve to solve this mystery and save as many people as they can. Unable to reach Great Bay without Epona, Sarah makes her way to Snowhead - opting to cut through Clock Town to save time. She once again finds that the town has changed - this time completely desolate of any life whatsoever. Exploring the town once again, she finds only rain and a haunting melody - even Matt isn't waiting for her inside the Clock Tower. Distraught and ready to leave, she sees a stoic woman walking by herself in the distance towards the Laundry Pool. Curiously following her, Sarah encounters a disturbing visage and sensing impending doom if she stays, Sarah resolves to leave the town. On her way out, she's finds herself ambushed by the watchful eye of the Wart.

Cornered in the alley, without proper equipment to fight it, and facing an enemy vastly more powerful and dangerous than her previous encounters - our hero finds herself backed into a corner. However, because of the player choice to go to Romani Ranch to save Rosa, Sarah finds herself empowered and is able to fight and defeat the monster instead of flee. Triumphant once again, she makes her way towards Snowhead and begins to ascend the snowy tundra...

Patreon Rewards

They are starting to go out! They won't all come at once, but keep your eyes peeled in the future. Some of you familiar with the community might have noticed that CircleHunter - creator of the Jadusable Wiki (which is an amazing repository of information about the ARG dating all the way back to 2010) - has been canonized in the form of Sarah's fairy that follows her around. He inhabits the body of Tatl in this world, and with the Pendant of Memories that Sarah holds, he has "awakened" from his NPC state and has called himself Circle.

This was a fun moment for the chat, and you can watch the reaction snippet here (warning: language)

CircleHunter has, over the years, consistently gone above and beyond to help preserve information about this ARG and has shown an incredible passion for the source material I thought it would be only fitting for him to be canonized as a forest fairy. For those unfamiliar with Zelda lore, a fairy is basically a walking encyclopedia of knowledge of the world meant to guide the player character, and I cannot think of a more fitting person than CircleHunter to represent this in the world of BEN Drowned.

In the interest of full disclosure this was an exceptionally special role that took into account the amount of time and investment CircleHunter has made in helping the community over the years and his patron tier, so I would not expect every high tier of patronage to receive the same level of "character tier" - so to speak (we can't have 50 Navi's flying around, after all) - but this hopefully will start to give you guys some ideas of what to expect for patron rewards being implemented in the following months. They will be in a manner that's befitting to the lore, but not so much that it takes you out of the story and it just becomes full of on pandering. As I have stated numerous times in the past, I am very conscientious of the finances of my patrons here - especially given current world events - so I want to make sure that is clear.

This game has plenty of souls still trapped within it, and utilizing the Pendant of Memories we can begin to "wake up" those who were digitized into the game and had their memories wiped. As we recently saw with Anju, it unfortunately doesn't work on every character. There are those that are ultimately just actual NPCs that have fleeting moments of self awareness before they go back to their pre-programmed routines, as was touched upon in The Last Hero.

Also, as an important note - Circle or anyone else included in the game does not have any 'insider info' of the story or has any special knowledge or hints of what to do/where to go.

This game has plenty of souls still trapped within it, and utilizing the Pendant of Memories we can begin to "wake up" those who were digitized into the game and had their memories wiped. As we recently saw with Anju, it unfortunately doesn't work on every character. There are those that are ultimately just actual NPCs that have fleeting moments of self awareness before they go back to their pre-programmed routines, as was touched upon in The Last Hero.

Also, as an important note - Circle or anyone else included in the game does not have any 'insider info' of the story or has any special knowledge or hints of what to do/where to go.

Behind the Scenes

I will go into more depth about this in a future interview about revisiting this world again as a writer a decade later and looking to bring something new to the table, but I've noticed some people on Youtube wondering why these videos aren't full of "BEN appearing behind you and jump scaring you" moments like in the videos in 2010 were.

Canonically, it's because we used the Song of Time to travel back to before the Fourth Day Glitch. We are technically in a "prequel" to the original BEN Drowned story. The original videos take place after that glitch has been activated, so all the chaos is ensuing there has yet to transpire in the current timeline.

As an author, I wanted to have a much more directed focus on world building this time around. I wanted to flesh out the lore of the world, start to answer questions that fans have had for years, and show the steady deterioration of the world as the rot begins to accelerate. Some of these things require a slower build up and need more time to breath, but I hope you guys are enjoying the end result all the same. Some people have already correctly theorized that the death of a certain character in this video might have serious implications of what is starting to happen.

I like to view it as a TV show to look forward to each week, seeing how most new film and television production has been halted across the country due to COVID - some episodes have more exposition than others, some have more action, but all of them ultimately move the story forward. Rest assured if you're looking for crazy nightmare fuel, then you'll probably want to vote in favor of activating the Fourth Day Glitch when the option comes.

Speaking of moving forward, Sarah and will now move at a slightly quicker pace, unless some thing really phases her - she is still a human that's playing and reacting to a very confusing cartridge of Majora's Mask after all!

NEW PLAYERS

It's come to my attention that we have an influx of new players - welcome! This story has been ongoing since March of this year and is a continuation of the original BEN Drowned story creepypasta. Since March, it has been told through a variety of different mediums - hidden text logs, encrypted websites, and found footage - with the players themselves interacting with the story and voting on the direction it takes (what character to talk to, which place to visit, what items to take with you, etc). This is typically referred to as a transmedia narrative - a story told through multiple mediums of entertainment - or an ARG.

Because of this, it can sometimes be a little overwhelming for new players to get "caught up". So there are a few ways you can simplify this process and get only the necessary information to be up to date with current events. A lot of players here have a passion for the haunted videogame cartridge story-line, so we'll focus on that.

Here are some easy options:

1. You can start from the Methods of Revolution [Day 21] update and use the Next Chapter/Previous Chapter links at the bottom of each Patreon update page to navigate in getting caught up. Each update page has a link to a Youtube video to watch and a description of the events that occurred. You will be missing some backstory on what happened in March-May in the hotel phase of the story, but if your primary concern is just continuing the BEN Drowned story-line you can start from here. All you need to know is that a girl wakes up in a mysterious hotel and is given the original haunted Majora's Mask cartridge to play as an "experiment" by a mysterious man named Abel. Here is the same playlist of videos on Youtube.

2. For a more in depth explanation of the entire story, Ryan Geever has compiled a series of videos explaining everything from 2010 up to current events. I personally love these long-form, deep dive videos myself. I find they're perfect for watching/listening during your commute, when you're relaxing, or having something to fall asleep to, etc.

3. Finally, if you want to go at your own pace, there is a comprehensive wiki that chronicles everything from 2010 to 2020 about the story, with in depth articles on specific characters, videos, clues, and even old cached websites (that were used as 'online scavenger hunts' to find more information during current arcs). It has information on everything from the latest video to a timeline of events as they occurred in the past.

If you have any questions you can always head to the discord and ask - we have a community of great people here that are willing to answer and help out newer players:

discord.gg/bendrowned

In Closing

The reaction video to The Happy Mask Salesman will go up for patrons (of any tier) this afternoon around the time this post goes live, so be sure to look for it shortly after. It will be open to the public tomorrow - and it's a pretty funny one! Lots of great reactions and I always enjoy putting these together.

As always if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me on Twitter.

Next Chapter: The Dying World.wmv
Previous Chapter: The Prisoner.wmv

PATREON EARLY ACCESS: The Happy Mask Salesman.wmv Reaction
July 27, 2020 at 12:05pm

In an continued effort to give extra bonuses to patrons that have no effect on actual gameplay or on story progression, we're giving out early access to the reactions of video premieres. These are a ton of fun for the community and a great way to fondly look back and remember how we spent the summer of 2020 being under lock down fighting a monstrous rogue AI. Patrons (of any tier) will immediately be able to get access to them a day early before this post becomes public to everyone else.

As an additional note: Please check the microphone volume of your headset before participating in these.

Thank you again to the community, this has been so rewarding to make and we're entirely grateful for your support.

8/5 Update - The Dying World
August 5, 2020 at 2:26pm

[The Dying World.wmv]

Synopsis

Immediately upon entering the frozen tundra it becomes obvious that something is clearly amiss - the game world itself seems to be destabilizing. Rocks, trees, and objects of all kinds are suspended in mid-air and bizarre warnings are littered throughout the snowy landscape to stay away. Unable to find any inhabitants, Sarah ventures to the Goron Village and encounters only one NPC from the original game - the Owl. Speaking cryptically, it mentions that while this world is doomed and breaking apart, it is still possible to follow the game's original logic to progress. With that, Sarah obtains the Lens of Truth and goes to follow Darmani's ghost - attempting to mirror the progression of the original game.

After chasing down the ghost at the top of the Mountain Village, Sarah finds him to be extremely hostile - nothing like the original character was in Majora's Mask. Although refusing to divulge his identity, it becomes obvious to Sarah that he's either had his memories already restored by some other means or that he never lost them in the first place - he definitely is another soul that was digitized. He seems to think that Sarah is solely responsible for the collapse of his world and mistakes her for someone else as he tries to guess her real identity. He laments that not even escaping into "that mirror world" will be able to save them from this infection, as apparently that world is beginning to break apart too.

Even more curious, "Darmani" mentions that someone else had already visited him today but refused to divulge any details about their encounter. This solidifies Circle's earlier fears that someone else is not only following them but independently navigating this world just as Sarah is. Adamantly refusing to help Sarah for the upcoming battle ahead, the ghost abruptly disappears again, leaving our hero to snoop around the graveyard to see if she can find anything of note. Fortunately - just as the Owl predicted - it wasn't a complete dead end; Sarah manages to uncover a chest containing additional items that allow her to progress outside.

Navigating the floating platforms, she makes her way to find the second Moon Child - the one she originally encountered at Romani Ranch - waiting for her. Upon talking to him, she is transported to a modified arena in order to do battle with the mechanical stampeding monster Goht. The battle begins with Rosa reinforcing Sarah's health as she did before in Clock Town, but immediately it's apparent that this version of Goht is much harder than the original game's. It would seem that the Moon Child had lured her here to trap her - without the right items to compete with the monster's speed (and having to contend with additional enemies), Sarah begins to be overwhelmed.

Rosa uses the last of her strength to reinvigorate Sarah, only able to give her a single heart back. Utilizing the bombs she acquired from the Goron Graveyard earlier in the video, Sarah manages to trick Goht into charging her as her back is turned. She delivers a killing blow to the beast and is transported to the same blank world that we saw with the first Moon Child in The Moon Children.wmv. There, she is chastised by the second child as he tells her "to go ahead and consume him too", referring to Sarah as a monster before he disappears into the ether. Back in the real world, Sarah remains the last one standing on the floating platform and can do little else but process everything as the clock ticks down to the Night of the Second Day - with only 36 hours remaining. With no choice but to press onward her next destination is Great Bay.

Patreon Rewards

They are starting to go out! They won't all come at once, but keep your eyes peeled in the future. Some of you familiar with the community might have noticed that last week CircleHunter - creator of the Jadusable Wiki (which is an amazing repository of information about the ARG dating all the way back to 2010) - has been canonized in the form of Sarah's fairy that follows her around. He inhabits the body of Tatl in this world, and with the Pendant of Memories that Sarah holds, he has "awakened" from his NPC state and has called himself Circle.

This week, a certain owl that is synonymous with explaining things has revealed himself to be Ryan - who has been responsible for these magnificent catch-up videos that have been incredibly useful to new & returning players to the ARG. Keep your eyes open for more appearances in future videos!

In the interest of full disclosure this was an exceptionally special role that took into account the amount of time and investment CircleHunter and Ryan have been made in helping the community over the years and their patron tier, so I would not expect every high tier of patronage to receive the same level of "character tier" - so to speak - but this hopefully will start to give you guys some ideas of what to expect for patron rewards being implemented in the following months. They will be in a manner that's befitting to the lore, but not so much that it takes you out of the story and it just becomes full of on pandering. As I have stated numerous times in the past, I am very conscientious of the finances of my patrons here - especially given current world events - so I want to make sure that is clear.

Also, as an important note - Circle, Ryan, or anyone else included in the game does not have any 'insider info' of the story or has any special knowledge or hints of what to do/where to go.

Behind the Scenes

Based on the choices made so far, and the observations of people theorizing in Discord you can almost assuredly know that the story will continue through August into September, as no "wrong" choices have been made so far. There is a chance this may not happen considering the direction the next poll goes into, but this community has time and time again proven itself to be incredibly astute and observant. For example, this was a nice catch that I wasn't expecting too many people to pick up on in the last video (The Happy Mask Salesman.wmv):

There are other little small details like this hidden throughout these videos that give hints and foreshadow future events, so it's always a good idea to dig a little deeper if you think something is a little off about a certain scene (or video).

Next weekend is my birthday - and with this Sunday (the 9th)'s upcoming cliff hanger and resulting poll I will be taking that following weekend off. Between this video being the longest in length (25+ minutes), it also took me the many long hours and late nights to script, program, film, and put together - the time investment it takes to create some of this stuff is pretty wild. While there is a ton of documentation on Ocarina of Time programming, there is not as much on Majora's Mask (which on a personal note is peculiar considering how much overlap these games have) so some of this stuff I'm having to do completely on my own.

From here on in, things are only going to get crazier so I need a bit to recharge myself and get ahead of the workload before continuing. Right now these past four updates have been worked on throughout the week and completed on the same day they premiere, and I'd like to use this time to break that pattern in order to get a healthier work schedule and get out a little ahead of the workload so they aren't all down to the wire. So to reiterate after the 9th there will be a week off, and you can expect the story to resume on the Sunday after that.

NEW PLAYERS

This past video saw our biggest premiere yet and welcomed a lot of new players into the story. For any first-timers, welcome! This story has been ongoing since March of this year and is a continuation of the original BEN Drowned story creepypasta. Since March, it has been told through a variety of different mediums - hidden text logs, encrypted websites, and found footage - with the players themselves interacting with the story and voting on the direction it takes (what character to talk to, which place to visit, what items to take with you, etc). This is typically referred to as a transmedia narrative - a story told through multiple mediums of entertainment - or an ARG.

Because of this, it can sometimes be a little overwhelming for new players to get "caught up". So there are a few ways you can simplify this process and get only the necessary information to be up to date with current events. A lot of players here have a passion for the haunted videogame cartridge story-line, so we'll focus on that.

Here are some easy options:

1. You can start from the Methods of Revolution [Day 21] update and use the Next Chapter/Previous Chapter links at the bottom of each Patreon update page to navigate in getting caught up. Each update page has a link to a Youtube video to watch and a description of the events that occurred. You will be missing some backstory on what happened in March-May in the hotel phase of the story, but if your primary concern is just continuing the BEN Drowned story-line you can start from here. All you need to know is that a girl wakes up in a mysterious hotel and is given the original haunted Majora's Mask cartridge to play as an "experiment" by a mysterious man named Abel. Here is the same playlist of videos on Youtube.

2. For a more in depth explanation of the entire story, Ryan Geever has compiled a series of videos explaining everything from 2010 up to current events. I personally love these long-form, deep dive videos myself. I find they're perfect for watching/listening during your commute, when you're relaxing, or having something to fall asleep to, etc.

3. Finally, if you want to go at your own pace, there is a comprehensive wiki that chronicles everything from 2010 to 2020 about the story, with in depth articles on specific characters, videos, clues, and even old cached websites (that were used as 'online scavenger hunts' to find more information during current arcs). It has information on everything from the latest video to a timeline of events as they occurred in the past.

If you have any questions you can always head to the discord and ask - we have a community of great people here that are willing to answer and help out newer players:

discord.gg/bendrowned

In Closing

The reaction video to The Dying World will go up for patrons (of any tier) tomorrow, and will be released to the public on Friday. This one was a little delayed because my own internet went out during recording, so I had to reach out to the community for the parts that I missed. Thank you to all of the people who reached out to help once my internet went out - look for your names in the reaction video description.

As always if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me on Twitter.

Next Chapter: The Predecessor.wmv
Previous Chapter: The Happy Mask Salesman.wmv

Works

Writing

My Devil May Cry fanfic: Nelo Angelo, 2005 - 2006 (unfinished)
Haunted Majora's Mask Cartridge, 2010 - 2011, 2020 - present (ongoing)

Film

"Hey I'm White" (music video, 2008)
Normal (short film, 2008)
Unknown title (short film, 2009)
Consistently White Returns (short film, 2012)
The Digital Fireside (podcast, 2019 - ongoing, hiatus)
Methods of Revolution (in production)

Voice

Narrator, BEN - "Majora's Mask: 20th Anniversary Tribute" (video series by Zelda Universe, 2020)

Characters
Haunted Cartridge Arc	Jadusable • BEN • Ben • Tyler • Old Man • The Father
Moon Children Arc	Ifrit • Duskworld23 • Nekko • Insidiae • DROWNED • Alex • Rosa • Rem • Kelbris • Ryukaki • Guide
Awakening Arc	Jadus • Denton • Baker • Second Player • Abel • The Jailer • Sarah • Circle • Ryan
Real life	Alex Hall • Kayd Hendricks • Players

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 |image = [[File:Alex Hall2.jpg]]
 |real-name = Alexander D. Hall
-|aliases = Jadusable<br>JadusableH<br>TheRealJadusable<br>Alex Hall of Fame<br>Delex2002
+|aliases = Jadusable<br>JadusableH<br>TheRealJadusable<br>Alex Hall of Fame<br>Delex2002<br>xpoggers23<br>swaglord720
 |gender = Male
 |born = August 13, 1990
-|age = 30
+|age = old
 }}
 {{Quote|"He is twelve years old, internet!"|[[Alex Hall]]|The Digital Fireside}}

Difference between revisions of "Alex Hall"

Revision as of 13:14, 13 August 2020

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