Ande's overview of podfic awesomeness

[andeincascade.livejournal.com]

I LOVE being read to and always have. For years I have made the 12-hour drive between the Twin Cities and Detroit to do the family thing and have relied on Books-on-Tape for company. Once I started reading a lot of fanfic that is what I wanted in the car as well. Podfic is like a dream come true for me. We have the best writers in ds6d, the best podficcers and we have a lot to choose from.

I've heard some people comment that because they are fast readers the pace of podfic would drive them crazy. I actually find the reverse is true. Reducing the pace of the story to that of spoken word allows me to sink into the tale more deeply and the emotional punch of the story is much greater. I love that!

These are not my three favorite podfics. It's virtually impossible to choose. It's like asking what my favorite chocolate is. Answer: whatever is in my mouth at the time. *g* These ARE three recordings I love dearly, listen to often and highly recommend for anyone wanting to sample the wealth of dS podfic. I tired to choose fics that are relatively short and representative of what's available. So here are three great writers read by three great readers.


Title: Flying Blind
Author: Speranza cesperanza
Reader: Slidellra slidellra
Pairing: F/K
Rating: PG-13
Length: 52 minutes
Why I'm reccing this podfic: Ces is revered in every fandom she touches and with good reason; she's a brilliant writer. There are a lot of recordings of her stories and I highly recommend that you download and enjoy each and every one of them. This recording is really special. I spent a lot of time at bitchinparty stalking following Sli like a puppy telling Slidellra how much I loved this podfic but it didn't occur to me until I got home that I never told her why. Simply put, she is a sensual, evocative reader with an OMG amazing voice who makes you FEEL the story. I point you to the bath scene. When Kowalski gets out of that tub you can smell his shampoo and sense the damp warmth emanating from his skin. It's a gorgeous reading.

Flying Blind


Title: The Art of Losing
Author: China Shop china_shop
Reader: Nos4a2no9 nos4a2no9
Pairing: F/K, F/V
Rating: NC-17
Length: 20 minutes
Why I'm reccing this podfic: I resisted downloading this podcast for a long time. I love this story, it's amazing, but it's a story that rips my heart out, stomps it and leaves it in pieces on the ground. Factoring the emotional effect of having it read and the fact that Nos had done the reading, I figured I'd be pretty much cinderized. But, in the end, that's also what made it irresistable. This story contains one of the most hauntingly definitive lines of Fraser dialogue ever and Nos is definitely your go-to gal when you need a good, restorative catharsis. And I was decimated, but oh, what a beautiful way to die. I weep and weep every single time.

The Art of Losing


Title: The Cold Equations
Author: Arrow arrow00
Reader: Zabira zabira
Pairing: F/K
Rating: NC-17
Length: 19 minutes
Why I'm reccing this podfic: I have a special affection for this story. Back in the day - which seems an awfully long time ago but really isn't - when I was just starting to read Kowalski and still wasn't sure I'd be able to swing both Rays, this was one of a handful of stories that really made me "get" him. It was quite a while before I realized it was written by the same Arrow I knew and loved from her TS fic. Here we have it read by the wonderful Zabira. One really can't say too much about Z. She voices Fraser and Ray very distinctly and consistently, the quality of her recordings is top notch and she's prolific as hell. She makes every story she records come alive and we are so fucking lucky to have her.

The Cold Equations

Insta-Rec: "An awkward moment is to be savored"

[belmanoir.livejournal.com]

Title: An awkward moment is to be savored
Author: snoopypez
Pairing: Fraser/Vecchio
Rating: NC-17
Length: 1102
Why I'm reccing this fic: Because this fic is amazing! It starts off as a cute, wacky little fic about Fraser and Vecchio's first few dates and then it makes you wibble and then all of a sudden there is HOT SMOKING SEX. And there is a line, towards the end of the fic, that I am not going to quote because I don't want to spoil you, but it is my favorite sentence I've read in MONTHS. Seriously guys, this fic is deceptively simple and short but there's a lot of awesome and complex stuff packed into a small space--the guys are just so blindingly THEMSELVES, cute and dorky and then all of a sudden they sucker punch you with just how badly they need each other.

( A brief excerpt )

"An awkward moment is to be savored."

Photograph

[slidellra.livejournal.com]

Title: Photograph
Author/reader: Giulietta (mondschein1)
Pairing: F/K
Rating: Not porny
Length: 7 minutes 16 seconds
Why I'm reccing this podfic: This is always the first story that comes to mind when I'm pimping podfic, and, really, this is possibly a deeply flawed strategy. Because this story is heartbreaking and the reading makes me cry every time. Photograph was maybe the first dS podfic I listened to and I wasn't sure I could buy an amateur female reader voicing first-person Fraser narration. I bought it, I buy it, I am SOLD. Gah, this story. It defies reason: as a rule, I dislike music under the reading; here it is wonderful and devastating. Most of us fumble around a bit when starting out recording podfic; this was her very first and it's absolutely stellar. Not only is the story superb and the recording technically solid, but she reads it beautifully, with powerful, utterly convincing emotion. So, yes. RATHER A LOT OF LOVE HERE.

Working link at Jinjurly's index. (Giulietta's original post)