Amplirecathon 2011 - Recs from a N00b!

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

I'm about as new as they come to all this podfic business. I've been vaguely aware of them for a while, but only listened to my first podfic (something by FayJay, I'm pretty sure it was Shift - not recced here, but a fabulous podfic, so please consider this a mini-rec.) on a random whim when I saw it turn up on sherlockbbc . I knew that I had a rare boring day at work coming up, where I would be doing mindless, repetitive tasks and I thought I'd give one of these podfic things a shot. I was surprised to find myself getting rather involved in the plot and enjoying FayJay's excellent dulcet tones and I've been randomly sampling the various podfic on offer since.

I haven't bothered with reading rec posts (until this recathon anyway), but instead I've been enjoying just downloading something that looks mildly interesting from a fandom/genre perspective and allowing myself to be surprised by the reader. I adore discovering all the different accents and speaking styles and seeing whether there are added extras like music and effects... I think finding out what someone sounds like for the first time is really rather wonderful and while I already have a few favourite readers, I will keep sampling new ones, because it's such a delight every time. :)

So, enough rambling. Here's some... Podrecs from a N00b!

These got a little long-winded, so I hope that's okay. I kept typing up recs and then deleting, because I wanted to limit myself to five choices and I kept changing my mind. Ha! SO here are the SIX I had when I finally hit send rather than go insane. Enjoy!

* History, Repeating itself written by gyzym and read by speccygeekgrrl
Sherlock Holmes | AU | Holmes/Watson | NC17 | audiofic archive link | 4:32:31

So far, this is my favourite podfic and it'll take a lot to displace it (do keep trying though peeps). This is not a fic I would have naturally decided to read, which only makes it all the more fantastic. The story is windy and wonderful and praise-worthy and funny and sexy all of its own, with it's wonderfully messed up Holmes and Watson in a modern-day guise, but speccygeekgrrl really brings it to life with so much expression. I couldn't stop listening. And there is over FOUR and a HALF HOURS of this fabulous podfic to listen to and it never at any point lost my interest and speccygeekgrrl never faltered in her marvellous reading. The first person pov lends itself so wonderfully to audio, drunk!Holmes actually made me spit my tea from laughing (around about 1:16:00 mark for those interested) for it's realism and PTSD!Watson made my heart tug from the emotion in her voice and just... *flail* I'm not good at expressing myself in rec posts, but I hope you all get the idea. This one is totally worth downloading and keeping forever!


* Defender written by jadesfire2808 and read by reena_jenkins
Stargate Atlantis | Gen | audiofic archive link | 43:11

I have a major soft spot for stories in which Sheppard connects with Atlantis in some way, so having come to expect crack!fic from reena_jenkins (Or that's possibly my love of crack!fic controlling which ones I download and yep, she's become one of my fave readers), I was pleasantly surprised to find this little fic. The story is a fresh take on a common SGA trope and while it's drama and h/c, I also love the humorous snark that's so very in character, especially for Rodney. But on to the reading... reena_jenkins does wonderful SGA character-voices - her Rodney in particular is brilliant to listen to - and her voice is lovely and clear and warm and so very easy to listen to. What made this fic PERFECT though was the simple addition of an effect on the parts of dialogue that are being carried out over the communications system. It adds an authenticity to it somehow, while making it very clear that the characters are scattered around different parts of the city and communicating via mics. Just yay!


* Strange Bedfellows written by JoJo and read by nikojen
Magnificent 7 | gen | PG | audiofic link | 33:02

Oh, it made me so happy to find Mag7 fic, you have no idea, this being a fandom I discovered long after the show had ended and so I have only really read authors recommended to me by a few friends who were in the fandom when it was active. Finding such a great gen podfic, full of h/c and angst and worrying, but tough cowboys and just... *guh*. But then, and here I ask you to excuse my need to employ capslock glee, nikojen DOES THE DIFFERENT VOICES!! Ahhhhhh! F**k yeah! Favourites and keeps forever! \o/


* Endemic (It Takes a Soul To Hold It) written by eighth_horizon and read by nickelmountain
Supernatural | gen | mp3 | m4b | 0:37:43

Great h/c with an incapacitated Dean and lovely Sam angsting... basically wonderfully gen brotherly love and worry. nickelmountain's emphasis of dialogue and thoughts is subtle, but works wonderfully. You can easily differentiate the different characters. I really got hooked into this story and zoned out of what I was meant to be doing completely. Good stuff.


* Crossbones written and read by Baylor (baylorsr)
Supernatural | R | Mary/John | audiofic m4b & mp3 | 1:54:50

Lovely, lovely AU where Mary comes clean to John about her family of hunters and together they try to find a solution to the deal she made. The sound is slightly echoing, but Baylor has a great clear voice with quite a strong American accent (Wherabouts is your accent from?), that is surprisingly easy to listen to with half a brain (while the other half is engaged in working like you're meant to be *whistles*) and I just really enjoyed this one.


* Everybody Loves Ianto written by Pennyplainknits and read by reena_jenkins
Stargate Atlantis/Torchwood | Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Rodney Mckay/John Sheppard | audiofic link mp3 | 25:18

Hahahahahahaha! *snicker, snort, giggle* Just hilarious! Fabulous fic, fabulous reading. I could totally feel Sheppard's confusion, exasperation and jealousy as he sulks and generally acts rather like a big child. And Rodney all but orgasming over coffee is just so Rodney. It's pure love. PURE LOVE!


.

Comments

[nickelmountain.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks for the rec! This totally just made my day.

This looks like a great rec list. I'm familiar with most of the readers, but haven't listened to any of these stories. You sell them all really well. I love Sherlock, but haven't really gotten into its fandom or podfic. The combo of speccygeekgirl, drunk!Holmes, and PTSD!Watson sounds awesome. *goes to download*

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome. Keep the podfic coming. :)

I'm glad I'm selling them. Job done then.
Just to let you know, History repeating itself is not actually a Sherlock BBC rec. It's her own modern Sherlock Holmes AU, which is why it is so brilliant! :D

[cantarina]

So much agreement about Defender and Everyone Loves Ianto! The first was incredibly engaging to listen to and the latter was funny. (On the writing side, it also fanonically confirms everything I've been saying about Woosley for months :P)

I really enjoyed listening to Crossbones too (the echo is almost baylorsr's signature!) and while I don't know that particular story, I always enjoy listening to nickelmountain :D

I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of these!

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad I sell them right. :D
I vid a fair bit using Sony Vegas and that program has an effect that has names like "warm concert hall" and that's how I tend to imagine baylorsr, sitting in a warm concert hall. :D

(edit, because it's too early to type)

[cantarina]

I think that that mental image is going to stick with me too!

[nikojen.livejournal.com]

*squee* Thank you. :)

And thanks for clarifying the Sherlock thing in the comment above... now I'm really very intrigued. Oooh... and a couple yummy sounding gen stories, too. *scurrying off to dl*

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

Thanks for recording M7! I still need to get to your other M7 podfics. They're totally in the listening queue.

Hope you enjoy the other recs. :D

[reena_jenkins]

Oh, wow. I am smiling SO HARD right now. Like, I have a day ahead of me that will involve a fair bit of bureaucratic slogging and paperwork-filing, but I'll be doing it with a smile because I'm up there twice. That is so cool. :-D I'm really glad that Defender worked for you - I think I might have been having more fun playing around with the different sound effects than actually thinking if people wanted to hear said sound effects when I was recording - but to know it made the story work for you is just really, really awesome.

I'm just gonna be effusively happy all day today, aren't I?

Also, I've had Crossbones sitting on my laptop for a while now, but I couldn't remember why I'd downloaded it - thank you for a) reminding me to listen to it, and b) making me all anticipatory about something you enjoyed.

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome. Thanks so much for recording. :D
I was only gonna rec one fic from each author, but considering I've listened to Everybody Loves Ianto about 4 times already, it had to be slipped in there at the last minute.

You know I was reading an awesome humorous crossover this evening and I realised that your voice was reading it in my head. I think that is totally some kind of win on your behalf. Ha!

And Crossbones is a unique little AU. I hope you enjoy it too.

Cheers
Lizzie

[reena_jenkins]

What crossover fic? 'Cause now I want to read it, too..... ;-)

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

Oh this delightful piece of awsome HERE (http://community.livejournal.com/gins_lair/11331.html). It's now one of my fave fics eva! :D

[reena_jenkins]

HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS? My life has been missing this fic, and I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT.

Thank you for sharing the Awesome. I totally have to record this eventually. :-) But, I've gotta point out, I can't do the Doctor's accent. So, no Brittishness will be a no-go. :-(

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

Ah, glad I could show you the awesome you've been missing in your life. :D

I'd love it if you would podfic it. I can't do an American accent, so we'd be on par there. Such things don't bother me at all. And Cole_Chan said she's be quite happy with my Help_Japan win being another of her stories podficced for me (All her fic is brilliant!), so I doubt she'd say no to that one either. \o/