Amplirecathon 2010: Changes, Smiles, and Meta

[lunate8]

It’s been great to read about things that I share with some other Amplirecathoners: finding podfic in the last year, lurking on-line a bit more than intended, somewhat mono-fannish in their recs, and listening to stories at bedtime. I feel like I’ve been catching up with listening to podfics and the process of creating them, and am now more confident in discussing and sharing my thoughts about them. Here in the home stretch, I wanted to make sure I listed stories that hadn’t been rec’ed yet (note to self: next time, sign up for an earlier slot) but still worked in my own thumbs-up for podfics that people have already mentioned.


Podfic That Changes the Way I Experience the Story

Realm of Dryads by trinityofone, read by Twilight (twilight_angel)
SGA, gen; mp3, m4b
Twilight's reading has a measured, dream-like quality that totally enhances this story about Rodney rescuing his teammates in a very unscientific, fairy-tale-ish way. Her Rodney sounds anxious at the right times, but she doesn’t let it break the calm spell she’s woven with her voice. When I want a little taste of fear, magic, and hope, I listen to this podfic.

Who’s Left and Who’s Leaving written and read by the_drifter (user name="fiercelydreamed">)
SGA, gen; mp3, m4b
I started listening to this story at work, and fiercelydreamed drew me in so completely with the emotional intensity she brought to this piece that I drove home that day with one earbud discretely jammed in my ear, then sat in my car and had a “driveway moment” as I listened to the last 10 minutes of the story. I COULD NOT TEAR MYSELF AWAY.

Plus:

All These Places We Have Met by toft, read by thingswithwings
SGA, John/Rodney; audiofic archive
I'd heard some podfics that got me a bit sniffly before listening to this one, but I think it was the first one that optimistically broke my heart. thingswithwings gives Rodney such range from normalicy to despair to delusion, and does a great job with the dialogue pacing.

Homo Ex Machina by toft (content notes on text site), read by Fayjay (pandarus)
Sherlock Holmes, Holmes/Watson; audiofic archive
Even before all the recs during the last week, listening to this piece by FayJay already set me down the road of finding other podfics by her. She takes the first person narrative of this story and totally embodies it while still making the other characters’ voices distinctive.


Podfics With That One Line Guaranteed to Make Me Smile

Five Lies John Told (and then a whole lotta truth) by cesperanza, read by aphelant
SGA, John/Rodney; mp3, m4b
aphelant reads all of the characters well, but the treat in this story for me is her Jeannie Miller. Her conversations with John at Rodney’s hospital bedside crack me up every single time, especially Jeannie’s panicked “Hi!” at 14:28.

Bang written and read by rageprufrock
SGA, John/Rodney; mp3, m4b
rageprufrock sounds like she’s having loads of fun reading this, which makes it extra fun to listen to. Each of John’s increasingly frustrated “goddammits” as he lands himself in the hospital is more hilarious.

Controverted by , read by general_jinjur
SGA, John/Rodney; mp3, m4b
Mark me down as another jinjur fan. She always gives great Rodney (and John, and Teyla, and Ronon, and narration, and, well, you get the point). More than once I’ve imitated her voicing of Rodney’s exclamations at 18:25 at inappropriate times to cheer myself up.

Plus:

Odd Jobs 1-2 by brownbetty and emeraldwoman, read by aphelant
Leverage, Hardison/Parker(/Eliot); m4b
These stories are told from Eliot’s POV, whose thoughts and dialogue aphelant delivers terrifically and which may possibly only be exceeded by her delivery of Parker’s lines. When I first listened to this podfic, Parker’s response at 5:53 had sealed the deal that this would be a long-time favorite.

Feeding Frenzy by astolat, read by anatsuno
SGA, everyone/everyone
How anatsuno manages to do both hot and hilarious in a podfic is amazing, and this is just one of those stories. An example of this at 6:30 makes me giggle, and makes me feel a little bit of sympathy for John.


Podfics I Like for Meta Reasons

Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead by cesperanza, read by zoetrope
SGA, John/Rodney; mp3, m4b
To be honest, this story falls under a bunch of my personal favorites categories, but I had to make sure there was a zoetrope story on this rec list. This was from the first batch of podfics I’d found and listened to, before I had the gumption to make my own. Besides loving her voice and reading style, I adored that she’d included a blooper at the end! It was a funny, vulnerable glimpse behind the curtain during the recording process.

Loser (hot like burning) written and read by general_jinjur and aphelant
SGA, Lorne/Teyla, Lorne/everyone; mp3, m4b
I love this quick podfic because it’s the kind of fannish dialogue that I don’t get to have very often off-line except a for few times a year at conventions (and that I don’t always have time for on-line). Plus it has the best vocalization of an ellipsis I’ve ever heard.

Fix, written by crysothemis, read by general_jinjur and chocolate bunnyhead (choc_bunnyhead)
SGA, John/Rodney; web site
This was already a fun story set up as a choose-your-own-POV as you read it on-line. Then general_jinjur and chocolate bunnyhead recorded all the bits and turned them into a choose-your-own-streaming-POV on-line. Both solo POVs and an alternating version are archived and portable, but I love the effort put into maintaining the interface of the original written version for the audio version.

Amplificathon 2009 <5 Collection and New Fandoms Collection
Amplificathon 2008 Collected Shorts Anthology 1 and 2 and New Fandoms Collection
As I mentioned, most of my podfic listening has been from a narrower part of the fandom spectrum. These collections are a great way to hear different readers and fandoms -- you know, besides rec-athons. ;) Getting exposure to different reading styles, or a cool new effect, or audio headers and notes that a particular fandom or reader may use, helps gives me a broader view of the podficcing community and its trends, and can inspire me the next time I record a story.

Crossposted to amplificathon
(edited for cut tags)

Comments

[anatsuno]

Oh oh oh, yay, more recs! You made me download a few things....

Also I am SUPER HAPPY to see someone other than me rec Loser (hot like burning). It is a GEM, and always on heavy rotation on my ipod, mostly for the same reasons as you (I don't even really go to cons, even), and I love it dearly. \o/!!

[lunate8]

Yay, another Loser lover!! :)

[cybel]

Many of my favorites are on your list, so yay!