Audio update! And thumbnail previews!

Hi, all! I come bearing news!

Technically, I have this week's audio in the can, and near completion. I could even get the finished product out tonight, if I really applied myself. (Although RIP early access.)

However: I'm not going to. It's for a good, creatively meaningful reason this time rather than the usual life-falling-apart thing, though! Whew, amirite?

Instead, there will be TWO main channel audios next week! ^^ A remaster and a new sequel, which should total 45-60 minutes in length if my guess is right?

See, back in 2023, I recorded Forcing Your Enemy to Confess, the first part of a lengthy fantasy series. I was sick when I did so, and it made my voice husky af in a fun way that I can rarely manage. (Do I sound like an old diner waitress named Dottie who smokes five packs a day? Absolutely! Do I love that for me? YES.)

It didn't last, of course, but I figured I'd be able to do a follow-up episode the next time I got sick and had that particular symptom. I posted the audio, put the sequel script on the back burner, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And...

Uhh....

Well, you get the idea. Every time I got sick, I was like "Now?!" but no. My pipes would not cooperate.

Then, joy of joys! (No.) I got sick a couple months back! Surprisingly enough, my voice was FINALLY the same. I even went back and listened to a few seconds of part one to double check. Hooray! A match.

So I recorded part two (a snippet of which you can hear in my sick blooper here) and I've been working on the file this week, hoping to get it ready for release tonight.

Deep in the weeds of editing last night/early this morning, I decided to take a break and re-listen to part one in its entirety -- which I haven't done in 2+ years -- just to make sure everything would mesh the way I wanted. I got a nasty shock.

While the voices fit together, the pacing in the first installment is waaaay off from the -- imo superior -- pacing of the second. I find it so jarring that I can't abide the massive difference. I need to fix it.

What I'm going to do is dig part one out of my backup files and give it a quick update. Nothing huge (I hope) just shift some lines around to fix the issue. I'm a little scared that once I pull stuff out of the (metaphorical) deep freeze, I'll find something hugely wrong with it and I'll have to scrap the whole idea. But for now, this is the plan!

I may even record part three if everything works out and I'm feeling particularly daring because -- yay! -- I'm actually coming down with something again, and will likely forgo most holiday festivities that don't involve being cozy in bed as a result.

So! No audio today. In the meantime, I DO have a thumbnail update + new one to share, to help make up for it a bit. Originally I was just going to re-skin part one, but now it'll get a nice fresh face to go with its fresh pacing. ^^

(Currently tweaking a potential thumbnail three, let's consider that pending.)

I'll be back soon! With...something? Stay tuned!

• Vel