Hello everyone! Welcome to Halo Spotlights’ first ever Q&A. In these Q&As, you can expect us to ask the easy and hard questions to the Halo community content creators.
This first Q&A, if you couldn’t tell by the title, is with Ascend Hyperion. The YouTube content creator that’s known for tackling some of the risky Halo topics in and around the Halo community.
Our very own Writing Spartan sat down with Ascend Hyperion for a chat and it’s safe to say things went well. You can find the full Q&A on the Halo Spotlight YouTube Channel and at the end of this piece.
The written answers will be a straight to the point version of the original Q&A, so be sure to listen to the full version if you want the full in depth conversation. If not, please enjoy the shortened version of our chat below.
Question: What made you decide to go full force with your youtube channel again?
That’s a great question. Previously in 2019 I was really busy. I was working 35 hours a week, doing school full time and kinda broke away from my YouTube because I didn’t really have the time for it anymore.
Luckily in 2020 I was given the advantage of having more free time and I was able to return to my YouTube channel. Having some freed up time, I was like “better use it right.”
I always had a plan for what I wanted to do with Ascend Hyperion and I just never had the time to do it, but now I finally have the time.
Question: Is there a particular reason that you seem to focus on some of the more controversial topics within the Halo community?
It’s a funny thing, because we talk about “controversial” Halo topics. Halo is a video game. That’s the thing about me. There should be no “controversial” topics. At the end of the day, we should be able to have open dialogue and discussion about pretty much anything.
I think part of the reason I enjoy doing what I do so much, is because so many content creators are just scared to talk about certain things, and it leaves a hole in the platform for discussion. I’ve got no problem filling that in.
I get good pleasure by coming in and taking this topic that people wanna say is controversial, it’s like blacklisted, “Don’t talk about this” and showing them “hey there could be a conversation about this. It’s not as extreme as X,Y,Z has led you to believe. “
Question: How would you like to change the current Halo content creator/youtuber climate?
The only thing I wanna see more of is seeing the big names reach down and pull up. Halo is, all things considered, a fairly small community. I think some of the larger creators always have constant opportunities to pull up and promote smaller creators.
Y’know, I’m not saying you gotta take the guy and tweet everything he does ever, and put him in every video of yours. No that’s not it. It’s just simple stuff. Get them in your videos, play with them, watch their videos, every now and then share their videos with someone else. It’s just that simple.
I think there should be better higher and lower level content creator relations and there isn’t. I think the highest level content creators are clicked up. I think they’re most concerned with themselves and each other, and y’know whatever if that’s how the current crew want to play let em play. I can’t change that.
What I know is that as I claim the ladder, I plan to bring people with me, and to pay forward the good deeds that some content creators did for me. Ducain23 and Forgelabs were essential characters in me establishing my YouTube channel, and they didn’t have to do that but they did.
As I grow, I’m always looking for opportunities to promote quality Halo content on small levels.
Question: Do you have any topics that you’ve avoided speaking about on YouTube due to the worry of backlash?
Truthy no, and it’s probably what lands me in hot water with people all the time. For me, every topic is fair game. I’m as in my right to talk about something as somebody else.
As far as Halo topics go, I’ve talked about all types of things that have made people upset. I don’t seek out things that make people mad. People decide to get mad, I don’t know why. That’s one of my favourite Twitter replies is “Why be informed when you can be angry.”
I think my viewers, my core views, the people that subscribe to Ascend Hyperion, that’s what they’re coming for. They’re like “Aw man finally someone is gonna talk about this thing, and someone’s gonna get upset but who cares because finally we can have a conversation about it.”
Question: What’s your favourite video that you’ve created so far and why?
Well, I’d say a recent favourite is probably the BR video, just because for me it’s a wow moment. It’s like, we didn’t think about this. It’s fun, it’s things that change mindsets.
I think a different favourite one of mine is the female Spartans video. It’s a total “Gotcha.” It was a recommendation from my Discord server. I was joking about how my channel doesn’t have sex appeal. We were talking about YouTube analytics and what sells in thumbnails and I was like “Yeah I’m a Halo content creator and a guy. I’ve really got no way to pull the gamer demographic into my videos.”
And a guy was joking, he was joking like “You should do a video breaking down the design of Spartan butts.” We kinda laughed about it and then I sat back in my chair and I was like “wait a second, this might be a workable topic.”
In many ways I was inspired by HaloCanon, I think it was HaloCanon, did a video of the roles of gay people in the narrative. What that revealed to me was something I already knew, that the Halo franchise has been really good about just casually being progressive. Nowadays when people are progressive it can be forced. They’re like “come check out my female protagonist” and whatever power to that, but the Halo franchise since 2001 have just been doing that.
They’ve just had female soldiers, they’ve just had multiracial characters in armour, with no reference to it being strange. So I got to thinking about character designs, and I was like “In this climate, where we’re so concerned about whether or not we’re oversexualising women, or if we’re deviating from fantasy and abandoning the capabilities of storytelling, the Halo franchise found this balance between having accentuated feminine design but keeping it reeled in.”
I was like “Halo figured it out 10 years before the conversation was even being had”, so that’s what the female spartan video was about. It was a total gotcha. People in the comments were like “I came here for one thing but I stayed for 10 minutes for another” and those comments were fun to me. Where people were like “Finally a cultured discussion.”
It’s a good introduction to Ascend Hyperion as content, and to understanding what you’re gonna get in an Ascend Hyperion video.
Question: What are your goals for 2021 on YouTube?
I’d say I’m looking pretty ambitious this year. I wanna hit 30,000 subscribers. That’s kind of my viewership goal. I am bringing back Machinima to my channel, but only one Machinima. I only have one major production planned for this year, the details of which are still secret to the public.
I’m launching a new content series. Something I’m very excited to share with my current followers and potentially I hope new followers who’d be interested in it.
That’s what it’s looking like for 2021. There’s other things on the horizon that I can’t wait to talk about in the future. The goal at the end of the day is to keep delivering fresh baked Halo content.
Question: For those who want to check out your content, where can they do so?
If you’re looking for fresh baked Halo content, you can find me on YouTube at Ascend Hyperion or you can type in “home sliced Halo”, either will get you to me. Look for the Green Cinder Helmet.
You can find me on Twitter at Ascend_Hyperion. If you type in Ascend Hyperion chances are you’re gonna find me.
You can find me at those outlets. New uploads every week on my main YouTube channel and complete BS on my Twitter all the time.
A huge thank you to Ascend Hyperion for taking the time to sit down with The Writing Spartan to have a chat. There were many discussion points, some Halo related and some not Halo related, but all were just as important as the next. If you want to listen to the full interview, you can do so here.
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