Amplirecathon 2010: Five People Who Got Me through Renovating

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

Many moons ago, I spent my summer holidays stacking blocks of aluminium trash on pallets to make some extra money. It was the most boring job in the world, but it was outside and I had my trusted walkman (for the young folk: kind of like a clunky iPod that used tapes and ran on batteries). That was the summer I discovered the joy that is audio books. They let you read a book, hands-free, and the time passed so much faster if you were waiting to find out if the seismic vibrator truck would indeed cause an earthquake (as opposed to waiting for the next time the trash-spitting machine would break down because then at least you'd get to press a button)!

Podfic is like audio books, only better. For someone like me, who doesn't much like reading stories on screen, they're one of the best parts of fandom: I can't squish fanfic into a book and read it on the sofa. But I can listen, especially if I have to do something mindless and boring like, say, painting the hall.

Which leads us to the Kickass Renovating Project of 2009.

Five People Who Got Me through Renovating

winkingstar is the one person I pimp out far and wide (it's okay, she's my American mistress). Her calm voice is perfectly suited for fairy tales and slightly melancholic stories. She has recorded stories in a variety of fandoms, but if I had to pick one, I'd have to choose setissma's SGA fic Wide Open Ocean (SGA, download links). The effortless way she captures John Sheppard's loneliness enchanted me from the very first time I listened to her read. In June 2009, it got me through painting half a bedroom wall.

rheanna27 also has a very calm voice, but while winkingstar's is gentle and soothing, hers is more matter-of-fact and sometimes even bleak. This makes her perfect for reading stories where people have a hard time getting in touch with their feelings – which, incidentally, is what she does. Her voice holds so much emotion without ever becoming melodramatic, and I dare you to listen to her reading her own story The Hard Prayer (SGA, download links) and not find yourself drawn in some time within the first five minutes. The Hard Prayer is one of the main reasons I didn't throw the brush out the window when I discovered I'd have to paint the kitchen cabinets twice.

pennyplainknits is another of my favourite podfic readers. You can hear her feel for and with the characters as she reads, and her pronunciation is so clear even non-native speakers (i.e. me) have no trouble understanding her. Her main fandoms are SGA, Merlin and SPN, though I have only listened to her recordings in the first two. Her reading of syllic's Three Tasks (Merlin, download links) entertained me through painting the second half of the bedroom wall as well as cutting the skirting boards down to size. Plus, her delivery of an outraged cat in morgaine22's Rodney Haz Cheezburger (SGA, download link) will never not crack me up.

anatsuno holds a special place in my heart, for she took my podfic virginity. I don't remember which of her many, many SGA recordings I listened to first, but you can't mention Ana and podfic without also mentioning runpunkrun's That Particular Month (SGA, download links), an ambitious project anatsuno took on marvellously. She has a lovely, lovely accent, and her recording of sheafrotherdon's Bound By Will (SGA, download links) is another podfic that made me finish the kitchen.

general_jinjur reads so many stories so marvellously it's hard to pick a single one. Her voice sounds almost detached as she works her way through one epic after another, but strangely enough, she makes it work. One of my favourite projects of hers is auburnnothenna's In the City of Seven Walls (SGA, download links, over 17 hours of angsty goodness!), but it was her recording of astolat's Transcendental (SGA, download links) that got me through dealing with the mess the previous tenants had made of the hall.

There are many more wonderful podfic readers who make me enjoy cleaning and cooking and baking and ironing, because no matter how boring the chore, their voices telling me stories make everything better. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of them for brightening my days and making fandom a lovelier place to be. Thank you. ♥

Comments

[cybel]

Wonderful choices all. :-)

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

I know. :)

Thank you, too, for your formatting. It must take a lot of time.

[cybel]

My pleasure. :-)

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

What a beautiful love letter to podfic in general and these readers in particular!

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

I wish podfic were more widely appreciated. It can make so many things better.

[pennyplainknits.livejournal.com]

*makes the outraged cat noise to crack you up*

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

Pfffft! Fffffffffft! :D

I'm so easily amused.

[mangst.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting these. I now have hours of entertainment ahead of me. :)

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

That's great. I hope yours will be as lovely as mine were. :)

[winkingstar.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you. I needed some love today.

And sadly, I think Wide Open Ocean was an instance of method acting. Because I was seriously feeling that John Sheppard loneliness when I first moved to D.C. and I recorded that around that time. WOO was my comfort fic.

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

I love you every day! ♥♥♥

Oh, sweetness. *hugs you tight*

[laurie-ky.livejournal.com]

Me, too, Me too! Podfics are the sugar that makes the medicine go down. I can go into a dreamy state listening and my hands just do things that result in a project done,miles walked, the house cleaned, laundry folded, walls painted, etc.

Except for vacuuming.

I've listend to some of your choices, notably Jinjur reading The City of Seven Walls(Loved It So Much) and look forward to downloading the ones I haven't heard yet.

Laurie

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

Heee! If I'm lucky, the recording will be loud enough that entertained vacuuming is a go.

I hope you'll like these as much as I did!

[superstitiousme.livejournal.com]

i love every single one of these podifcs like WHOA. actually, most of them i was going to rec myself on the 31st!! especially In the City of Seven Walls and That Particular Month; both are amazingly awesome!

:)

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that by the time the 31st rolls around, there'll be few podfics left unrecced. :D

[sothcweden.livejournal.com]

I agree. Several that I planned to rec on the 29th have already been mentioned. I'll just have to choose a few others or second the recommendations.

[sothcweden.livejournal.com]

I agree that general_jinjur is a great podific reader. For the first few months after I found out about podfic she was one of only three readers I listened to. Luckily, my listening tastes have expanded, and now I can't keep up with all the fic I want to listen to!

Also, about squashing fanfic into a book: This winter I discovered ereaders. The university library has a few to check out (not the Kindle), and I borrowed one over the end of December holidays and fell in love. Precisely because it enabled me to take the fanfic and go sit on the couch with it. I don't have a 'net connection at home, so I can't give feedback until I get to campus the next day anyway, so it works for me. Though I think it's more beneficial for longer fics. Too much work for just 1000 word fics.