Progress Update: Where the needle's pointing

G'morning, helpful humans one and all.

Last week we had a bit of a zinger, and this one will be more of the same. Zingier, even. 

It seems the last portion of 2018's hedge maze was all briars, and we're perhaps only now coming out of it. Much scraped, shoelaces a complete mess, but in one piece nevertheless.

Let's talk about it.

Where are we now?

I suppose following the last post, this won't come as a tremendous shock, but that doesn't mean it won't create a shockwave. 

In the simplest words, Chloe has decided to step away from the Tale Foundry team.

By and large, I support this decision. It's not an easy thing for either of us, and I know it isn't done maliciously. It's a difficult thing to find your independence while you're working alongside the person you've been companion to for the last year-and-a-half. We're not the first to face a situation very much like this. Some manage it well, and that's excellent, but it's also good to keep a read on one's comfort gauge and to be honest about where the needle's pointing.

All told, I'm glad we're not pushing ourselves to do something that could ultimately be damaging for us. I feel strongly that this will give us both the opportunity we need to grow as individuals, the freedom to seek our own horizons.

Chloe has been an asset to this show, this brand, and this community. She will be missed by all the many friends and fans she touched during her time here. I know she'd want peace, love, and happiness for all of you, and I'd appreciate it if we could all wish her the same in the comments here as well. 

Thank you for what you've done for Tale Foundry, Chloe.

What's next?

A lot of adjusting, really. There will be roles to fill in Chloe's absence, my workload will increase by a lot, and the show will be that much harder to produce on my own again.

But I will. I've done it before, and I'll do it again.

What's more, I've written up a plan for expanding the team over the next year. It'll be a near thing, but I think it's possible with the community's incredible support to get the show uploading each series on a bi-monthly—and eventually a monthly—basis. This could happen even as soon as this time next year if all goes exceptionally well.

Fingers crossed, eh?

No matter what, I think 2019 is going to be an excellent year for the show. So long as I keep producing, we've nowhere to go but up.

Anything else?

Despite all the wicked slings and spitballs of fate, I'm dangerously close to finishing up this short story now. I plan, definitively, to have the video out before the end of December. Then we'll begin a drive to rebuild the team in January, and the Pratchett series will at long last begin after Vidcon London during the tail end of February.

Tentative as always, especially during this strange period, but that's the plan.

Thank you all for sticking it out with me. I've been saying this a lot over the last year, but I do think this is the part where things begin to improve for me and for the Foundry.

I love you guys, and I have every intention to keep making stuff up.

—Benji