The Science of Phonaesthetics
AO3 / Amplificathon / what's podfic?
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Hey friends!
So, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now based on the proliferation of posts about it over the past few weeks, last weekend was the Seattle Sherlock Con, and it was fanbloodytastic.
Myself, michellaree, and keerawa did a panel on podfic at the Con, and this is the intro that we played to get us started. Basically, we wanted to get a couple other voices from the podfic/Sherlock podfic community in on the conversation, even if everyone who wanted to be in Seattle that weekend couldn’t actually be there in person.
Dodificus, FayJay, Revolutionaryjo, Jinjurly, Lunchee, and Crinklysolution all sent us lovely little blurbs on why they podfic, how they got into podficcing in the first place, and what podfic means to them.
Hope you guys enjoy!
xo Cellar Door
PS: apologies to the readers whose blurbs I had to cut down a bit for length (we only had 50 minutes for our panel and we ran over anyway). I’m thinking of remixing all the full-length blurbs and posting again so that everyone can hear the entirety of what y’all had to say, since it was all fantastic and really hard to cut!
PPS: Download link here if you guys so desire.
*is* FayJay updating? I thought she gave it up! DETAILS, PLZl
Does FayJay have a tumblr?
That she does, here. She seems like a fantastically busy lady in general, and I don’t think she’s recorded a whole lot of late, but she did do a cute little half-hourish Teen Wolf podfic by Jebiwonkenobi recently that was lovely. Not in that fandom, but it’s always a joy to hear her read anyway!
A Sherlock POV where he tries to work out what is fine, and what isn’t fine with regards to John. Part of the paradox series.
Reader: fayjay
Writer: wordstrings
Length: 27:57
Audio: British reader fayjay is one of my favourite readers, the recording quality is clear and quite frankly she has a voice for radio. She captures Sherlock’s wonderful voice through a wide range of emotions, from calm sultriness to the speeding train of his internal monologues. Her John voice is a nice contrast with that easy going lightheartedness to Sherlock’s seriousness.
The whole paradox series is fantastic and all a must listen.
Rating: A - Not a long en-gripping story, but a nice little story none the less. Best listened with the rest of the paradox series. This regularly makes my playlist.
Download mp3 here
Download audiobook here
Always and forever, FayJay.
Again, not even remotely in the Merlin fandom, have watched like, two episodes, and still, FayJay’s The Student Prince podfic is the best ever. On my third re-listen, and it’s not getting old.
So iamthelightening was wanting some quality podfic recommendations, so I thought I would draw up a quick list of must-haves!
She mentioned loving Sherlock and Harry Potter fandom, but since most Harry Potter fandom podfics were made after my time I thought I would include a few other classics. The Inception and Merlin fics are so AU it’s not necessary to know the source material to love them. <3
Sherlock BBC:
Apotheosis written by madmaudlin, read by calliglad
Summary: John is given a chance to take the fight to Moriarty. You know what they say about whoever fights monsters…Autopsis written by spikeface, read by Fay Jay
Summary: Sociopaths are known for their complete lack of control, but Sherlock is extremely high functioning.The Dealt Hand written by solsticezero, read by Fay Jay
Summary: A fourth episode, beginning where the third ended. In which Sherlock and John play the cards dealt to them; featuring running, puzzles, running, a card game analogy, and more running.
The Paradox Series, written by wordstrings:
**Note: This is one of the single best pieces of writing I have ever had the joy to encounter. It is stunning, brilliant, and indescribable. Listen. If you don’t do podfic, read it. This story is one of my favourite things in the whole, wide world.An Act of Charity read by Fay Jay
Summary: In which what’s in his head is never going to get any better, and John is nearly thrown out of his flat.The Paradox Suite read by Fay Jay
Summary: Being with Sherlock is a series of shocks, but John is game for it anyhow.The Death and Resurrection of the English Language read by Fay Jay
Summary: Wherein the English language dies, Sherlock mourns it, and John revives a dead tongue.Entirely Covered in Your Invisible Name read by Fay Jay
Summary: Sherlock solves crimes, loses himself, comes back again, and all the while John prays that he never comes to his senses.Wider Than a Mile read by bronwynferchdai
Summary: Sherlock may know what it’s like to be beautiful, but John knows what it’s like to be good.New Days to Throw Your Chains Away read by bronwynferchdai
Summary: When Sherlock decides that he needs to be higher functioning, he simultaneously finds the perfect tutor.A Thousand Threads of What-Might-Have-Beens read by revolutionaryjo
Summary: John finally does leave, and Sherlock is entirely unsurprised by it. And he clearly has two options: either get him back, or die trying.
Harry Potter:
Stealing Harry written by sam_storyteller, read by revolutionaryjo
Summary: AU, in which Sirius and Remus have had quite enough of the way the Dursleys have been treating young Harry. **DISCLAIMER: I have never listened to this fic, and just discovered it today, but OH MY GOD the reader is to die for. I’m listening to it this week!
Inception AUs:
I’ve Got Nothing to Do Today But Smile (The Only Living Boy in New York) written by gyzym, read by pennyplainknits
Summary: Arthur’s a corporate lawyer, Eames owns the coffee shop across the street, and all good love stories start with a quadruple shot latte.Ach, des Knaben Augen written by toomuchploor, read by pennyplainknits
Summary: Being a freshman piano performance major at a prestigious New England conservatory is difficult enough without landing the school’s star baritone as your singer, and inevitably, your hopeless crush. **Note: STUNNING use of music in podfic, total must-listen.I Bet Nureyev Never Had to Deal With This Shit written by cobweb_diamond, read by Emiliana Darling
Summary: Arthur has managed to achieve a principal role in The Royal Ballet Company’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, having just resturned to dancing after recovering from a serious injury. However, his co-star Eames might just drive him insane before Opening Night.
Merlin AUs:
The Student Prince written and read by FayJay
Summary: A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love… ***Note: THIS IS A PODFIC MUST-LISTEN. SERIOUSLY. Even Mr. Darling has listened to this and loved it!
Nice rec list! I still need to listen to The Student Prince…
Anonymous Asks:
cellardoorpodfic Said:
Oh, that’s a biiiiiig question, Nonnie, but a good one :)
OK, first: if you don’t know about Jinjurly’s Audiofic Archive, you must! It’s run by General Jinjur (or Jinjurly; she goes by a couple of names), who is a fanfic writer and podficcer across multiple fandoms. She’s absolutely awesome, and her audiofic archive is probably the most exhaustive/expansive place for podfic on the internet. Until very recently, the Archive was down because of malware issues, but it’s back up now! I think they’re still working on smoothing out a few glitches from the scare, but it’s mostly up and running again. You can browse by reader, by fandom, by pairing, by author, etc., much like on Archive of Our Own for fics. My suggestions in the Sherlock fandom would definitely be:
- Anything — I mean anything — read by Fayjay. Amazing character voices, beautiful accent, good production, etc. She’s the best, and she’s produced something like 300 podfics. Definitely download her wordstrings stuff, such as Entirely Covered in Your Invisible Name, The Death and Resurrection of the English Language, and The Paradox Suite.
- General Jinjur’s podfics of Katie Forsythe’s canon Holmes fics. Wonderful. She has a slightly wry, kind of gentle delivery that makes you fall in love with Holmes and Watson afresh. (If you haven’t read Katie Forsythe, um, get on that, you’re missing out! Or you know, just listen to them.) Download Four Minor Interludes For The Solo Violin and Hallowed Be Thy Name for sure.
- Note: These two ladies, in my opinion, are the titans of Sherlock Holmes podfic. Both of them read in other fandoms, too. For example, I’m not really in the Merlin fandom, but apparently Fayjay’s podfic of The Student Prince is a lot of Merlinites’ favorite.
- There of course are many, many other amazing readers out there (archived on Jinjurly’s site and elsewhere) so you just kind of have to explore! I recommend browsing by your favorite stories/authors and seeing if there are podfics for them.
- Check out/join the Amplificathon community on Dreamwidth and LiveJournal. The 2012 Amplificathon’s going on right now, and there are lots of great entries.
- Oh oh oh! I almost forgot. Verity Burns’ podfic of her own fic, The Heart In The Whole. 10+ hours and totally top-notch.
That’s a good start I think. Let me know if you have any questions :)
Also: followers, do you guys have any favorites to share? Let me know!
Why, WHY has all of The Paradox Series been podficced, and well? Obviously, Fayjay and RevolutionaryJo are beyond awesome and their podfics are top-notch, but I’m still jealous :-p
Oh!
Hello lovely lady :)
Yes. It fits.
They always have done.From: A Thousand Threads of What-Might-Have-Beens by wordstrings
This is so lovely. Also, Fayjay’s reading of Wordstrings’ Paradox Suite is still one of the absolute best podfics out there, in my opinion. She’s a super expressive reader, and although some of the files sound a little fuzzy (especially when she gets loud) the production is overall really good. She reads in other fandoms, too!
PS: remember that Jinjurly’s audiofic archive is still hacked at the moment, so to be safe, don’t DL anything from audiofic.jinjurly.com just yet, and check Amplificathon for updates.
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