What does the name podfIDIC mean?
IDIC is a term from Star Trek that means Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. For us, podfIDIC — a combination of podfic + IDIC — is about showcasing how the differences between us, as creators and individuals, lead to such an amazing array of different fanworks, even when we all begin from the same starting script!
What is the PodfIDIC challenge?
At its heart, podfIDIC is about performance and (we hope!) play.
Each week, we will reveal a new short script — called a seed — for participants to use to create their own audio-based work. There will be four seeds throughout the course of the challenge, each one with a different shape and emphasis, and they will be posted on tumblr, dreamwidth, and livejournal.
The seeds are there to be a common starting point from which you can grow your own fanwork; you can elaborate on the text a lot or a little and make performance choices that inform your final work in ways that work with — or perhaps subvert — the given seed text. Perhaps you want to make a soundscape or a dialogue between bots consisting solely of beeps and effects. Perhaps you want to have a werewolf and a vampire fighting off the zombie apocalypse or two people shyly courting centuries in the past (or future!). That would be awesome, and we look forward to hearing your work!
The seeds were created to be ambiguous, but we admit they're not universal. However, just as The Bad Sleep Well and The Lion King are adaptations of Hamlet, you can adapt the seed to the milieu of your fandom and its characters.
The seeds will be structured in a variety of ways. One will be a mix of dialogue and narration, one will be heavily dialogue, one will be heavily narration, and one will be a surprise!
Can you show me an example?
We can!
Who’s welcome to participate?
Short answer: absolutely everybody!
Longer answer: anyone interested in creating audio works from a common seed script and seeing where it takes you!
Perhaps you want to create a podficlet with the characters of your heart but are looking for support in finding words to shape your story. Or perhaps you're new to podficcing and want to start with a low-pressure challenge that you can complete in under an hour!
Perhaps you want the opportunity to start with a seed and let the fanwork you're creating grow in new directions, building upon on the words given with additional words or experimenting with sounds, seeing where the creative process leads!
Perhaps you come to the challenge with experience in podficcing or writing, both, or neither, and you want to build off of your experiences and try something new.
Whatever the reason you come to the challenge — to explore, to play, to perform — welcome!
What’s the timeline?
Jan. 1st: Grand opening! The FAQ goes up, the spread the word post goes live, and the first seed script is posted!
Jan. 10th: AO3 collection for first seed is revealed. Second seed is posted!
Jan. 17th: AO3 collection for second seed is revealed. Third seed is posted!
Jan. 24th: AO3 collection for third seed is revealed. Fourth seed is posted!
Jan. 31st: AO3 collection for fourth seed is revealed. All collections are closed, and the masterlist is posted at tumblr, dreamwidth, and livejournal.
What about sign-ups and deadlines?
There are no formal sign-ups or commitments. You're welcome to come in and out of the challenge as suits your inspiration and energy.
Inspired by the first seed but not the second? That's totally fine! Creating for one seed doesn't obligate you to create for them all.
Have time during the week of Jan. 17-23 but not before? That's okay! Join us then!
There are soft deadlines throughout the challenge. Each week, we'll create an AO3 collection for a seed, and we'll reveal the collection on Saturday, prior to the reveal of the next seed script. The collections will remain open throughout the duration of the challenge.
There is also a hard deadline: January 31st at 1200 pm EST (500 pm UTC | what time is that for me?). At that time we will close the collections and code the masterlist, which will be announced at twitter and posted at tumblr, dreamwidth, and livejournal.
On February 15th, we will reopen the collections for new fanworks, and we welcome new additions even after the challenge is officially closed.
What are the limits of participation?
There aren’t many! The end work needs to have an audio component and be posted on AO3 to be part of our AO3 collection. It should use the seed as a starting place, although how much overlap your final project has with the seed — anywhere from 100% to 0% — is up to you.
Note: if you need an AO3 account, you can request one at the AO3 invite request page. Alternatively, you can contact a mod; we'll be happy to send you an invite code.
Beyond that, you are:
• Welcome to create either one or multiple projects from a single seed.
• Welcome to participate in one or multiple weeks.
• Welcome to collaborate on a project with other fans.
• Welcome to interpret the seed primarily through changing the words, primarily through your performance, or through an equal blend of both.
• Welcome to translate the seed into any language.
• Welcome to forego words entirely and create an audio interpretation with music and/or effects instead.
• Welcome to make your final project as long or as short as you want.
• Welcome to post your project on its own or with the script you used.
• Welcome to take advantage of community support as you go or to just show up at the end of the week with finished projects.
What support is available?
Open discussion spaces in posts: Each week when the new seed goes up, we will open a discussion post on livejournal and dreamwidth. It's open to anyone who wants to share ideas, thoughts, questions, or excitement about that week’s seed. You might talk about fandoms you think would be an interesting fit, discuss ways to subvert the seed script (or challenge others with scenarios you think it would be hard to work into it), publicly express your desire to work on that week’s seed, or anything else that feels helpful to you.
Hosted chats: We will host chats in the audiosnippers chatroom (audiosnippers | audiosnippers schedule) to allow participants to discuss ideas with each other, sprint and support each other, etc. Klb will host chats on Sundays, and Blue will host chats on Wednesdays. We will also be happy to use our twitter/tumblr to retweet or reblog anything that you would like to have spread to a wider audience, like an idea you want to challenge others to try or a request for a beta or collaborator.
Quick turnaround for questions and/or troubleshooting: : We’re happy to be available for anything you might need to contact us about. We will do our best to get back to you within 24 hours about any questions or problems you have.
Fanwork hosting: If you need hosting, we can provide! Email us a copy of your fanwork, and we will upload it to podfIDIC.parakaproductions.com and email you the link.
Who are the mods? How do I get in contact with them?
klb and somnolentblue are the challenge mods. podfidic_mod is the official voice of the mod team.
Our preference is email contact at [email protected], but you may also contact us through podfIDIC, podfIDIC, podfidic, or podfidic if that works best for you! We have Page a Mod posts at dreamwidth and livejournal, the ask box is available at tumblr, and you can private/direct message us at twitter, dreamwidth, and livejournal.
