#podfic asks

[sunshineprincejeremyknox]

podfic question meme!!! 1, 13, 22, 42, 63

Eee thank you! Sorry this too so long, I barely touched my laptop yesterday lol!

Do you consider podficcing to be your primary fandom activity?

Oh yeah, 100%. I always get surprised by how much I do still enjoy writing when in the right mood for it, but no, it's definitely podfic overall.

13. Rec three of your current favorite podfics

Oooh this is fun hmmmm. I'm just poking through some recent listens, so this is far from exhaustive, BUT:

[Podfic] rage, rage (read by @palmofviolet) - Star Wars, Leia & Darth Vader, non-linear narrative, haunting and beautiful

[Podfic of] Intentional Incursion (read by @wilfriede) - Murderbot, Lovecraftian Horror!ART AU, spooky vibes!!!!

[Podfic] Cut and Changed and Rearranged (read by @unexpected-readings-of-poetry) - Stranger Things, Steve/Eddie, feelings admission VIA MIXTAPE, getting together, some emotional hurt/comfort and SO SOFT

also honourable mention as not a recent listen but I stumbled back across this pod recently in my favourties playlist and remembered how it's so fucking cool and one of my all time faves, everyone should listen to it seriously:

[Podfic] The Dead End Call (read by @chaoskiro) - Danny Phantom x DC, Ghost kid is calling for help from the Justice League but can only repeat back things that have already been said on the call -- Kiro did an AMAZING job, this podfic is so cool and I sometimes put it on repeat for hours ngl

22. Except for "podfic" and format tags, what is the most-used podfic tag on your ao3?

Haha, this was fun to look up and did actually surprise me a little. Fluff (234) and then Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence (199) and then Hurt/Comfort (134).

I did not expect fluff to be that high, but AU - Canon Divergence 100% tracks. If I'd had to guess what trope I pod most, I would probably have said Hurt/Comfort, but I have been leaning happier overall so fluff tracks.

OKAY YEAH, because I was curious, I excluded everything under 30 mns just to see, and now it's: Angst (33), Hurt/Comfort (29), AU - Canon Divergence (25).

So I do pod a lot of shorter light-hearted things, but when I pod something a little longer it does largely tend to hit those angst (usually with a happy ending) or hurt/comfort vibes. THAT tracks.

42. What’s the last podfic you listened to?

If we count falling asleep last night, it was the Summer Podfic Swap treat I finished for @devilwithabirddress this week ;) So, a secret. The last non-secret podfic... not 100% certain, but I know I've been falling asleep to and daytime comfort-relistening to my own [Podfic] Trade Your Heart for Bones to Know a lot this week. I would say of all of my pods, this is by far the most frequent relisten. (Star Wars, Jon Antilles/Jaster Mereel, premise: when you owe someone a life debt and expect to get murdered and instead he asks to marry you for Politics, and then you end up falling in love)

63. Are there any of your previous podfics you wish you could remake?

Definitely. Off the top of my head, the first 6 chapters of [Podfic] Spring in Hell (and Everything's Blooming) drive me NUTS on my audio quality, but alas. I'm realistically not going to redo them. On a totally different note, I sometimes get tempted to redo [Podfic] I am out with lanterns, looking for myself, literally not even because I have any problems with it--I just love this fic so much I want to narrate it again for FUN.

Thank you so much for the asks, this was a GREAT way to start my morning! <3

[flowerparrish]

8 Has another podfic ever inspired you to try something new?

70 Do you remember a podfic comment that made you particularly happy?

8. Definitely, and now I cannot think of a single thing lmaoooooooo. Probably sound effects though? I can't think of any specific examples, but like, I think just the osmosis of hearing how people did sound effects really helped me develop a style and experiment with new stuff at my own pace too. A lot of taking inspiration and then using it for trial and error within my own method.

OH and music. I THINK it was the blueberry eyes podfic Rionaa did, where the chapters had intro and outro music, and then the next chapter would start with "chapter #" and THEN the intro music, so that if you were listening to them back to back it was less jarring when it went from one song snippet to an entirely dif one? and I don't always do that but i do it a solid 50% of the time now if I feel it works better, and I owe it to whoever that was (I'm like. 90% sure it was Rionaa with that pod. but only 90%)

70. A lot of comments have made me really really happy, but my absolute favorite that comes top of mind right off the bat when asked is when someone climbed to the top of a hill to get service to tell me they were listening while herding ... sheep? animals of some kind for sure. lmao. and they were like "you asked what listeners were doing and I thought this would be unique and fun enough to go through the effort of getting signal to share" and I'm like. HELL YEAH IT SURE IS! THANK YOU! I have a lot of those though, like one person told me they listened to an entire long pod of mine while on a camping trip just on vacation, vibing and crocheting in nature listening to my podfic over a couple days, and I am so heart eyes about that!

[flowerparrish]

Podfic ask meme:

Is more than one okay? I'm curious about 16, 27, 30.

Definitely okay!!

16. Do you do any prep before you start recording?

oh no, @seascribbling might come for me (lovingly) but I have not yet incorporated vocal warm ups oops. the most preparation I do is finding a quiet spot and drinking some water beforehand lol

27. How do you feel about recording explicit scenes?

I actually really enjoy it? Whatever I record (along with anything I read), I just enjoy it best if there's a lot of emotions in whatever is happening. Good smut tends to come with good emotional resonance, so I enjoy narrating it! That said, I do prefer to do these scenes when no one can overhear, because I get shy if someone is in hearing range.

30. Talk about a piece of feedback that made my day:

I've actually started collecting my favorite comment "types" kinda, which so far are: "I fall asleep to this" because I do that, and so it's the highest honor for me lol; "I listened to this while I was sick / couldn't be reading" because!! I love being able to tell people stories when they can't otherwise be reading them!!; "I had never listened to podfic and this was really cool" because yes!! come join me in podfic land!! Also deeply love any time someone calls out something specific about my narrating or sound editing that they like, and I have such a soft spot for people who comment on a multi-chapter podfic or a bunch of pods of mine because it feels really nice to know they enjoyed the first one / part enough to keep going and that they liked it enough to let me know! <3

So that was a lot but!! thank you for asking me questions (and listening to my podfics and leaving me comments :D)

[flowerparrish]

Podfic Asks! How about: 2, 6, and 13 🙂

Hi Wander!!

2. Is there a trope, style, or technique I want to try?

I actually have this one podfic I want to learn how to do a darth vader modulator effect for... I haven't looked it up yet but I'm excited to!

6. One of my favorite works & why I'm proud of it:

[Podfic of] Creature Only (by trixree)

I really felt like I nailed the voice acting in this one, but really it remains one of my favorites because I put this in my sleep rotation and it stayed there. I sleep to my own podfic a ton?? Would not have believed that possible when I first started. I love that I made something specifically for me to enjoy, and I do enjoy it that much. What a good gift from past me to present and future me.

13. Is there a podfic I'd like to repod?

Of my own, there's probably a couple. First thing that comes to mind is chapter 2 (or 3?) of Do Every Stupid Thing. One of them was just a little worse on noise quality past the point of what I want to exist like that forever, BUT I didn't want to let rerecording hang over my head, so I just vowed to go back when I was done.

For a doing my own version of ones others have done, there's this one codywan podfic/fic I want SO MANY VERSIONS of, because I've collected two (one by godoflaundrybaskets & one by reena_jenkins) and I want one by EVERYONE who is willing, myself included.

[flowerparrish]

Podfic asks! :D 18, 19, 29, 30?

18. Describe my perfect podficcing conditions:

No one is home. Ginny is asleep. The neighborhood dogs are not barking. The AC is not on. The fridge is not being noisy. My laptop fan is chill. I am as hydrated as it is possible for me to be. Time stretches out in front of me, somewhat infinite, no interruptions in sight.

(This will never happen but it's such a nice dream)

19. What does my editing process typically look like?

I've recently started punch & roll recording sometimes, so my editing is a lot less of deleting re-takes for those which is nice. Normally, though, I'd do a listen through to delete re-takes / repeat phrases / background noise, and do some minor edits at the same time. Then I'd listen thru again and get anything I didn't catch the first time. And, of course, noise reduction / some kind of basic leveling first usually. Sometimes I use auphonic, but usually only if I record with my good mic.

29. Current WIPs:

omg do u want me to cry?? (/loving)

ugh just the ones that are multi-chapter, not even like, the series i'm podding

Do Every Stupid Thing - 17/26 posted - I'm so proud of this one I don't even have words. on a technical level the quality goes up and down but my voice acting goes off so hard

A Change in the Weather - 11/33 - my favorite Glee fic, forever (or at least for the last decade) left incomplete and still it lives rent free in my head. I speedran 4 chapters of this pod from May to July because I wanted to get the July 4th chapter up by then but haven't updated it since oop

Missed You By a Few Minutes, a Few Centuries - 2/12 posted - my favorite Old Guard fic, I will update this I swear it

So Wise We Grow - 1/2 posted - I'm almost done I swear it's just a long boi. FAvorite Star Trek fic ever tho. Was making this pod for someone before we broke up and still posted it because I worked hard on the first 4 hours and I love it a lot.

A Heart's Revolution - 6/14 posted - AU Codywan my beloved!! trying to update this every two weeks, but might miss this week ngl I'm super behind

brave face, (hide) the truth - 3/14 posted - my best friend Kaje's (@kbirbpods) soulmate AU; kinda Codywan but a lot more than that relationship gets featured

there are some other shorter ones or ones I haven't updated in forever or ones I've barely started; for now we're going to consider this my "main" WIP list

30. Talk about a piece of feedback that made my day:

Okay I answered generally before, but one that's still making me grin is you saying that when you were writing the next part of showerclones you could hear it in my voice already :D I don't even have words for how AWESOME that is

[flowerparrish]

33, 66, and 70 for the podfic asks!

33. How do you pick a story to podfic?

Answered this earlier today but I'm gonna answer again and see if the answer stays the same XD I pick based on my mood. I have a working list of my priority "to pod", which is usually a mix of my WIPs that I'm trying to post on a schedule, and anything else that has a deadline. and then I have my aspirational "to pod" bookmarks (I admittedly will often private bookmark these just in case the author might look, bc I worry they'll get excited that I want to pod it and then get sad if it doesn't happen quickly oops) that I'll hunt through if I don't have anything specific in mind and none of my to do list is hitting the dopamine button. And if I'm really in the mood for something SPECIFIC (fandom, ship, trope, etc) that I don't have on my to pod list, or I'm really hyperfixated enough to be actively reading a LOT in a fandom, I'll come across stuff and be like "I gotta eat these words RIGHT NOW" and it jumps the queue lol. And then sometimes I'll be like "I want to pod but idk what" and I think about some of my favourite authors (of whomst you are one, btw) and do a quick mental check to see if any of their classic vibes are what i'm in the mood for, and if so, I'll pull them up and go hunting!

66. What's something you're particularly good at in podficcing?

oh no, making me say nice things about myself?! understated but resonant emotions. I do not voice act dramatically, but I have made a really solid niche on managing to really nail emotions without leaning heavily on the dramatics. (This is not to say dramatics are bad. I love listening to people who can really go all out. I am just not one of those people, and it's cool to think that despite being deeply opposite, I have managed to be really good at the way I do it, too.)

I think I'm also really good at knowing what i'm good at, if that makes sense? if you hand me a role that I know needs dramatics, I know I'm not the right one for it. but if you hand me a fic where it is UNHINGED but needs to sound completely reasonable while being deeply unhinged if you actually think about it? I'm all over that. If you hand me a grumpy character, or a sarcastic character, or a really quietly sincere character? I've got this. If you hand me someone going over the top on flirting? I do not got this lmao. And I know half of that is me saying what I can't do, but I genuinely think just accepting my strengths and that i can do my best beyond them but that it's not where I shine IS in itself a really good skill!

70. Do you remember a podfic comment that made you particularly happy?

Oh I just did this one too so let's go from a different angle. Lmao oh I've got it. the time I made a SUPER niche podfic that no one was ever gonna listen to, and posted it just in case, and the only person who I didn't already know who listened to it is now my wife. I was so hype that a stranger liked that niche thing I made! fandom is magic :)

[sunshineprincejeremyknox]

for the podfic meme! 23, 26, & 51

23. Have you noticed any patterns in your podfics?

Probably but now I couldn't tell you XD

26. Do you have any advice for other podficcers?

I guess depends what stage you're at, but I often get asks from people who want to start, so: don't overinvest until you try it out and decide if you like it! If you have a smartphone, try recording something (short!!) on that. See if you like it. Practice editing. If it ends up being something you actually enjoy, then invest in it as much as you want, sure! If it ends up being something you want to do just with your phone, or casually, do that! But try it out before you go nuts is my main advice. XD

51. Which podfic was the fastest/easiest to make, and why?

Any of my itty bitty tiny ones probably, lol. For longer ones, though, amongst the dust breathing souls! partially because I was on a deadline (ITPE) and also because the chapters were in the perfect 2 - 3k range that meant i could easily convince myself to sit down to record at least 1, and then often would be like "well let's keep going" and get through 2 in one sitting. IDEAL. I can plow through SO MUCH that way.

[flowerparrish]

4,17,44

For the podfic ask game

4. What's your recording setup?

Microphone in a little sound box on a desk is my main one, but I'm trying to convince myself it's okay to go back to phone recording where I am for a while. Work in progress but the more progress I can make there pre-baby, the better I'll fare post-baby when it's really gonna be the main way I can record for a bit.

17. How do you approach recording smut scenes?

Honestly, the main thing is being in the mood for it, or at least not not in the mood for it. I've learned that if I force myself to record smut when I'm feeling more sex-repulsed, I'm going to end up feeling like absolute garbage after. But when I'm excited for it, like yesterday with the xeno smut, it can be super fun, and even when I'm just neutral about it, it's fine. I prefer smut scenes with a lot of emotions going on at the forefront, though, so I can get lost in the emotions of it and not as much the physical act.

44. Are there any words you keep mispronouncing no matter how many times you've looked them up?

why would you do this to me? but yes. Feral. I cannot fucking say it and I have Learned the right way but I can never remember which it is, and I'll forget even if I've JUST looked it up, I fucking hate this word, UGH