EP579: Texts from the Ghost War

[Piet]

It is engaging to follow the two characters as they gradually find common ground between their initially separate worlds and then eventually come to deeply care for each other. The innovative use of an epistolary form, with the back-and-forth texts between the two characters distinguishable by being justified either left or right, somewhat compensates for the unexplainable supernatural ghost element in this story.

[CryptoMe]

Okay, this story was super weird for me. Why? Well, there were so many elements that I didn't like about the story, yet I still *loved* the story.
What I didn't like:
  - ghost thing wasn't very well explained, I was completely lost on all it's aspects throughout.
  - lots of other things weren't explained well; something about removing teeth?? mourning training?? and more...
  - the Left/Right track thing didn't work for me - I kept checking to see if my earbuds had busted.
  - the narration was good, but because it was good I kept seeing this as a phone conversation instead of a texting one.
And yet, despite all that, I absolutely loved this story.

Then, on the advice of apratch, I went and read the text (which is something I never do). OMG!! So many things that didn't come across well in audio were crystal clear in text. This was sooo well done!! I absolutely love this story even more!

So, I have to say something that I never thought I would say.... This story just doesn't work well in audio. But I am so grateful EP tried to do it anyway, because otherwise I wouldn't have been exposed to this fabulous story.

[acpracht]

Okay, this story was super weird for me. Why? Well, there were so many elements that I didn't like about the story, yet I still *loved* the story.
What I didn't like:
  - ghost thing wasn't very well explained, I was completely lost on all it's aspects throughout.
  - lots of other things weren't explained well; something about removing teeth?? mourning training?? and more...
  - the Left/Right track thing didn't work for me - I kept checking to see if my earbuds had busted.
  - the narration was good, but because it was good I kept seeing this as a phone conversation instead of a texting one.
And yet, despite all that, I absolutely loved this story.

Then, on the advice of apratch, I went and read the text (which is something I never do). OMG!! So many things that didn't come across well in audio were crystal clear in text. This was sooo well done!! I absolutely love this story even more!

So, I have to say something that I never thought I would say.... This story just doesn't work well in audio. But I am so grateful EP tried to do it anyway, because otherwise I wouldn't have been exposed to this fabulous story.

Hey, Crypto,

So, to address the L/R effect. My first reaction was: "What?!!!"

Given that I had spent a good extra 30-45 minutes applying said effect. And if it was gone I was going to have to cry... or break something... possibly both...

But anyway I knew it was there. I had not only applied it but also heard it from the RSS feed after it went live.

So I went to check, and I'll be damned if it wasn't in mono.

By some miracle, nothing ending up being broken or succumbing to, erm, water damage...

Finally, I went back today and checked the Libsyn direct file link. To my profound relief, it's there WITH the stereo effect.

So, I went back and checked the website player, and it's there correctly now, too...

I have no idea what caused it to go to mono and even less of an idea of what made it go back. But you might try giving it one more listen.

I'm biased, but I think it's worth experiencing in audio as-intended.

-Adam

[CryptoMe]

  - the Left/Right track thing didn't work for me - I kept checking to see if my earbuds had busted.

....
So I went to check, and I'll be damned if it wasn't in mono.
...
 I went back today and checked the Libsyn direct file link. To my profound relief, it's there WITH the stereo effect.
...
I'm biased, but I think it's worth experiencing in audio as-intended.

LOL! Sorry to scare you Adam, I guess I wasn't clear.
When I said the L/R thing didn't work for me, I meant the the concept, not the technology. I was getting the stereo effect just fine! So,   every time one character started speaking, I kept thinking the other earbud had just busted. Drove me nuts! 

[acpracht]

  - the Left/Right track thing didn't work for me - I kept checking to see if my earbuds had busted.

....
So I went to check, and I'll be damned if it wasn't in mono.
...
 I went back today and checked the Libsyn direct file link. To my profound relief, it's there WITH the stereo effect.
...
I'm biased, but I think it's worth experiencing in audio as-intended.

LOL! Sorry to scare you Adam, I guess I wasn't clear.
When I said the L/R thing didn't work for me, I meant the the concept, not the technology. I was getting the stereo effect just fine! So,   every time one character started speaking, I kept thinking the other earbud had just busted. Drove me nuts! 

Oh, well, sorry to drive you nuts, but in my defense the method I used was supposed to minimize that sort of effect.

It wasn't a hard pan to the left or right. Rather, it was a filter to simulate how you'd hear though sound in your opposite ear after it has traveled through your head (the result is a more realistic 3-D effect).

That hard pan to the L or R drive me nuts, too, so I can empathize (Especially when a podcast decides to put one person completely in the left and the other fully in the right. I often like to listen with just one ear, so I miss half of all of it).

I guess never get stuck between two people talking?

Sorry it didn't wory for you, but I felt I needed to do SOMEthing in audio to reflect what it was doing visually. Was the best I could think of.

Oh, wells...

Now the real mystery... why did I hear it in mono that one time...?

-Adam

[TrishEM]

Popping back to note that this remains my favorite story of 2017 from ANY venue, not just Escape Pod or even Escape Artists. I nominated it for a Hugo Award, but alas, apparently not enough other nominators agreed for it to make the finalists cut.

[acpracht]

Popping back to note that this remains my favorite story of 2017 from ANY venue, not just Escape Pod or even Escape Artists. I nominated it for a Hugo Award, but alas, apparently not enough other nominators agreed for it to make the finalists cut.

Wow, that's AWESOME Trish.

If if makes you feel better, the story was one of the ones we selected to include in the Hugo Voter Packet, which you can access for free right here: http://escapepod.org/2017-hugo-voter-packet/

-Adam