Podfic isn't made in a vacuum and can be heavily influenced by or can rely upon other fanworks to exist. From the fic a podfic is of, to the coverart, to collaborations, podficcers often work with other fans to create their art. Check out pod_aware on DW, LJ or Tumblr to learn more.
Ok so I’m either showing up two days late with Starbucks, or I can successfully turn this into a post about community instead of history! I think probably both!
Anyway, for pod aware I actually got off my ass and finished editing a chapter of Shoebox I recorded with a friend. (I’m sorry it’s so clip at points - I’m overly loud.) It’s both history and community because sbp_aloud back in the day was my first podfic, and I had signed myself and then boyfriend up to record a chapter way back in 2006, but then we broke up and it never happened. 8 years later, there’s still a couple of chapters that haven’t been recorded, and it’s a fix that still holds a special place in my heart. So I convinced a friend who had history with that fit but none with podfic to start recording with me. That’s how I’ve gotten most of the community I have so far - just slowly dragging more friends into podfic, either getting them to listen to something with me (are you sleeping over? guess what we’re listening to before bed!), cajoling them into recording with me, or recording fic that they’ve written or that I wrote for them. It’s worked… moderately well. I’ve won a couple of people over which has been wonderful, but also recorded a gift fic for someone who said she had too much secondhand embarrassment to even listen to it, which was rough. But on the whole it’s been good.
I always thought that podfic was at a disadvantage in terms of community because it’s one of the only fan mediums that is often consumed away from the place where you can leave feedback for it. If you download something and listen to it a month later away from your computer you have to remember to go back to the place you found it and comment there, which is not insurmountable or anything, but it’s a barrier. I’m really happy to be hearing this pod aware stuff though, because I’m being convinced that that’s not so insurmountable.
KLB’s podcast on podfic community today has actually convinced me I need to join twitter, which, oh god I’ve been resisting forever, and go back to IRC, which, let’s be honest, I’ve actually missed being on. So, I’m not overly involved online yet, but I do track the tumblr tag and I’ve had good luck doing pod-together and pt lightening! I made friends with @dapatty who is really wonderful through the pt lightening com and have done several collaborations with her, so shoutout! I’m so awkward online, and I need to migrate to a platform better suited for community than tumblr. BUT! I live in a major city and surely one of you does too! If there are other podficcers in Chicago, I’d love to host/plan a meetup!
The chapter of Shoebox I finished recording is here!
