Great update! Four of five pivotal scenes over the hill is huge, and a bear and ferret scene on a gorgeous background sounds like a treat. A CG scene between Nico and Gabe with a foley and music pairing you call comforting sounds lovely too. Taking extra time on the cookbook to get the cover right instead of rushing for MFF is a good call, and it's great that some of the motion comic VAs are returning.
Quick question, how are you keeping people engaged between updates while episode 2 cooks, mostly Patreon and itch devlogs, or other places too?