Important Updates - Suggestion Box Tonight, The Rest of September, & More

Good morning.

I don't like talking about money, or why work gets held up, but I don't have much of a choice this time. I won't name names, and everything I am about to say is just in the spirit of transparency.

Let's start with the good news first.

The Last Week of September

If all goes right, two more audios will be releasing this month. The first is the long-overdue Zhu Yuan & Nicole audio. @TheVoiceVixxen has turned in her lines, and she sounds excellent as Zhu Yuan, especially paired with @ShennyChwan's near perfect Nicole. The planned explicit alt for All-Access members will not be releasing at the same time, as TheVoiceVixxen's schedule doesn't accommodate it, nor do my current finances. I will pursue it when time allows, cuz I really wanna do it.

The second is a Patreon reward featuring Makima. I won't say much about that one because honestly I can release that one within the next 36-48 hours.

Suggestion Box Tonight

At 6 PM EST, I will open the next Audio Suggestion Box.

I will be trying something a little different this time around out of necessity. I will expand on it below, but I need to be more budget conscious for the foreseeable future, despite the rapid growth of the Patreon. Be sure to read the box's instructions carefully if you want the highest chance of your idea being considered.

While I am not fully caught up, we are on track for Frieren and the Jujustu Kaisen audio to come out within the coming month, which means I have to get ready for what comes after. Alice and the other Zhu Yuan audio idea are not off the table, but aren't in focus for financial reasons.

The New Commission Form

I have streamlined the commission form based on feedback. The previous one was unwieldy and contained more steps than necessary for new submitters. Now, you just submit your idea with proof of patronage and you're on your way. All previous submissions are still being considered and do not need to be re-submitted via this streamlined form.

Now, onto the bad news:

Hatsune Miku & Other Visual Projects

First of all, Hatsune Miku is not coming out this month. Despite the disclaimer, the reason behind it is, actually, all good news for the project. I will give a more detailed update on it as soon as the artist (Pal) and Hatsune Miku (ShennyChwan) have given me all the things they want me to show you on their behalf, which I anticipate will be tomorrow.

The more disappointing news is that I had adequate backup plans lines up well in advance. Two visual projects, in scope and things I think you would both enjoy. TWO. Both fell through. I want to emphasize first of all that money hadn't exchanged hands, so these things not panning out are not due to a lack of ethics or integrity on the parts of the artists involved.

The artist attached to Plan B, who chose the character, funded the piece, and the idea for the piece, has vanished on me without a trace. I haven't heard from them all month. I have no plans to move forward without them at this time.

The artist attached to Plan C is a little more difficult to discuss. That piece required just one thing: that they send me the PSD file. One file. The art was complete, and I had permission to adapt it. And for days, reminder after reminder, they'd kept forgetting, and said they'd do it tomorrow. It's been tomorrow for a few weeks now and I still don't have it.

I tried, I really did. But there will be no visual project this month.

Independent Financial Issues

I live in a house with two other family members, and we of course share financial responsibility. But this month I was solely responsible for paying our house's rent as I was the only one with the money on hand to do so. I expect I'll have to do it again next month. I have had to lend the family $2,500 so far (almost all of which came from the runaway success of the Samus animatic), which I am not sure I will see back in a reasonable time frame, on top of deciding to take on a greater share of daily financial responsibility to alleviate some of the strain on them. I am grateful that your patronage has allowed me to fully support my family at this time, but I know that this was never part of the plan, and that money is supposed to go back into the page. As such, it will make it more difficult to produce visual projects and personal projects. I'm sorry.

The Bottom Line - Targeting Efficiency & Budget Without Sacrificing Quality

HotRamenAudios, as a patreon, just doesn't get to operate with the same consistency as other pages. Despite that, I have tried to run this page the way I have seen others run theirs. HotRamenAudios is, essentially, a movie studio, and while I'm the writer, editor, producer, line producer, and marketing lead of the studio, I still rely on a lot of people outside of that - Artists, Voice Actresses, and of course patrons, and not all of them pull through for me. I also spend what I earn to make the next thing, as movie studios do. The key difference is, movie studios don't fund everything with the same money they take home to their families. In Hollywood, a director's independent financial struggles would have no effect on the projects they green light.

I have put together a plan to better budget in light of potential financial strain I'll be under while preserving the spirit of democracy for the page. None of it is necessary info to those of you at the All-Access tier, don't partake in monthly suggestions, or don't plan on staying longer than a month. If that's you, you may stop reading here and I thank you for your patronage!

For those who do, or are curious, I will outline my plan below. These plans are in acknowledgement to my goal of 2 Patron-funded audios a month for the Instant Ramen (and up) tier:

1. I will emphasize a greater level of quality control and pragmatism when accepting ideas. I am more likely to consider/choose projects that are good vehicles for reliable talent and artists than ones that require me to find a new VA, no matter how popular the idea. I will also work directly with the suggestor to retool ideas that have potential but may have limiting factors (unnecessary scenes, too many characters)

2. Audio scheduling will be in response to my means. For example, TheVoiceVixxen's rates are among the highest of any voice actress I use (and not without reason). My current project slate has her as Zhu Yuan, then Frieren, and Zhu Yuan again, and paying out those projects back-to-back-to-back puts me in a corner. In the future, such things will be considered ahead of time, and at current time, those projects are being spaced out to soften the financial blow.

3. A definitive budget cap will be placed on Instant Ramen-backed audios, fractional to the amount of active memberships on that tier. In fair weather circumstances, that budget will be 50% (at present, roughly $750 for both audios, including art). At times like this where I need more personal finances, the budget will be 33% (roughly $500 for both audios, including art). If both ideas are estimated to exceed the budget, I will pare down one or both ideas. In the event neither idea will fit the budget no matter what, I will choose just one and make a planned All-Access piece into Instant Ramen content in compensation.

My Final Thought Like Jerry Springer

I'd like to thank you all for reading, and I hope you can understand. I am doing my best to remain clam and pragmatic in spite of this curve ball, and I see it as an opportunity to try out new financial models for the page. But I plan to take HotRamenAudios even more seriously in response.

Summer break is over. I won't be saying "yes" as often, or to as many people, as I used to. I won't be giving second chances to collaborators who didn't pull their weight. And anyone who can't treat working with me like a job isn't getting work anymore. I want to support as many people as I can with what I make. Money is no good if it isn't spent, and spending it to help others make a living is something I take pride in. But I can't be cutting checks indiscriminately. Do not take that as fury on my part. To me, it's liberating. The stress and uncertainty of my work, paired with trying to maintain the rigidity of a more stable patreon page, was killing me for a while. And it always led to disappointment. My hope is that this way, I can get back to producing things in a consistent, timely manner while having room to roll with the punches.