Why do I podfic?
May. 22nd, 2015 03:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badbastionFirst off, let me thank my flist SO MUCH for using LJ-cuts for spoilery talk. I haven't seen the finale yet - will see it tomorrow, I think - and being able to look at LJ without being spoilered has been FANTASTIC. You guys are the best.
Now here's what the post is about. Last night I was recording some podfic and having quite a bit of fun with it, and then I hit a snag where I stumbled over the same phrase about ten times. For a second, I was like WHY DO I EVEN PODFIC WHEN I CAN'T EVEN TALK RIGHT!! I got over it quickly, because I remembered that that's actually why I podfic! :)
My whole life I've been sensitive about my voice - or more specifically, my accent and the speed at which I speak. I've spent almost my entire life in Texas and Arkansas (I live in a border city.) So I've always been surrounded by people who have a very pronounced Southern accent... and I don't. I never have. It took me a long time to figure out why.
I am a serious introvert. I prefer my own company to that of other people most of the time. When I was young, I was like that, too. I read. I read A LOT. When I finished my piles of kids' books, I began on my parents' books. Lots of sci-fi, lots of horror. I read a lot of words I'd never heard anyone say, and so I made up my own pronunciations of them. I read a lot of words period, and in my head, the speed and inflection began to change because I interacted with books so much more than I interacted with people.
When I was in elementary school, kids started asking me why I talked funny. It hurt my feelings. I didn't talk funny, I thought. You know how you can't hear yourself like you can hear other people? To me, I sounded just like everyone else.
Now, I never had a speech impediment, or anything as extreme as that. I just spoke quickly, with different inflections and a kind of sharp accent. Teek insteade of take. Or in Texas, "taayeek." Hend instead of hand, or "hayund."
"Why do you talk so funny?" all through middle school and high school. My name's Emily, and in high school, my friends switched it around to the nickname Limey "because of your accent."
After I graduated and dropped out of college, I had a job as a waitress as Denny's. I can't tell you the number of times people asked me if I was Canadian. Sometimes mistrustfully, lol! I've lived briefly in Baltimore MD and Portland OR, and no one ever knew where I was from, from my accent.
So I've always been self-conscious about my voice. I NEVER volunteered to read in class. I never wanted to do any kind of public speaking. It embarrassed me, speaking to other people sometimes, when I'd hear my words come out funny.
Finally, several years ago, I was in a fandom where podfic was starting to become a Thing. I instantly fell in love. I downloaded it whenever it came out, and listened to what little there was of it over and over. Then I went to a skype party, and people wanted to hear me say hi, and talk a little bit. One person remarked that I had a really nice voice. I was shocked as hell, lol.
But I started thinking. What if... what if *I* recorded some podfic? No one had to listen to it, and I'd even put a disclaimer on it that I talked kind of funny.
So I tried it. I forced myself to slow down, to pronounce words deliberately. A few people commented on my first podfic saying that they enjoyed it. So I tried again, and I looked at it as speech therapy plus a way for me to get over my self-consciousness. It actually worked! Some, at least. People liked what I recorded, and I got used to talking a little bit slower.
Then I hit SPN fandom, where podfic is easy to find, and there were so many podficcers out there, I felt like I could be a tiny fish in a big ocean, and I started podficcing again. It's fun. I like making podfics for people to listen to while they're busy, or if they need a distraction, or while they go to sleep. Over the years, I've gotten to the point where I even like listening to my own podfics.
So if you've ever wondered where my accent is from, it's from Texas. I actually hear it sometimes, in the way I say "I" and a few other words, and sometimes when I do voices, especially Dean's. For all I know, it actually does sound like a Texas accent, and I've been silly for worrying about it all my life. ...Or, for all I know, I still "talk funny," I've just gotten over worrying about it through podficcing.
If you've ever left a kind comment about my podfics or my voice, THANK YOU SO MUCH. I treasure these comments, not just because I get fewer comments on my podfic than on anything else (that's just the way podficcing goes) but because you're telling me hey, you don't sound funny! You sound good enough for me to tell you so! It makes me happy :D
Now I'm curious about my podficcing flisties. Why did you get into reading podfic?
Now here's what the post is about. Last night I was recording some podfic and having quite a bit of fun with it, and then I hit a snag where I stumbled over the same phrase about ten times. For a second, I was like WHY DO I EVEN PODFIC WHEN I CAN'T EVEN TALK RIGHT!! I got over it quickly, because I remembered that that's actually why I podfic! :)
My whole life I've been sensitive about my voice - or more specifically, my accent and the speed at which I speak. I've spent almost my entire life in Texas and Arkansas (I live in a border city.) So I've always been surrounded by people who have a very pronounced Southern accent... and I don't. I never have. It took me a long time to figure out why.
I am a serious introvert. I prefer my own company to that of other people most of the time. When I was young, I was like that, too. I read. I read A LOT. When I finished my piles of kids' books, I began on my parents' books. Lots of sci-fi, lots of horror. I read a lot of words I'd never heard anyone say, and so I made up my own pronunciations of them. I read a lot of words period, and in my head, the speed and inflection began to change because I interacted with books so much more than I interacted with people.
When I was in elementary school, kids started asking me why I talked funny. It hurt my feelings. I didn't talk funny, I thought. You know how you can't hear yourself like you can hear other people? To me, I sounded just like everyone else.
Now, I never had a speech impediment, or anything as extreme as that. I just spoke quickly, with different inflections and a kind of sharp accent. Teek insteade of take. Or in Texas, "taayeek." Hend instead of hand, or "hayund."
"Why do you talk so funny?" all through middle school and high school. My name's Emily, and in high school, my friends switched it around to the nickname Limey "because of your accent."
After I graduated and dropped out of college, I had a job as a waitress as Denny's. I can't tell you the number of times people asked me if I was Canadian. Sometimes mistrustfully, lol! I've lived briefly in Baltimore MD and Portland OR, and no one ever knew where I was from, from my accent.
So I've always been self-conscious about my voice. I NEVER volunteered to read in class. I never wanted to do any kind of public speaking. It embarrassed me, speaking to other people sometimes, when I'd hear my words come out funny.
Finally, several years ago, I was in a fandom where podfic was starting to become a Thing. I instantly fell in love. I downloaded it whenever it came out, and listened to what little there was of it over and over. Then I went to a skype party, and people wanted to hear me say hi, and talk a little bit. One person remarked that I had a really nice voice. I was shocked as hell, lol.
But I started thinking. What if... what if *I* recorded some podfic? No one had to listen to it, and I'd even put a disclaimer on it that I talked kind of funny.
So I tried it. I forced myself to slow down, to pronounce words deliberately. A few people commented on my first podfic saying that they enjoyed it. So I tried again, and I looked at it as speech therapy plus a way for me to get over my self-consciousness. It actually worked! Some, at least. People liked what I recorded, and I got used to talking a little bit slower.
Then I hit SPN fandom, where podfic is easy to find, and there were so many podficcers out there, I felt like I could be a tiny fish in a big ocean, and I started podficcing again. It's fun. I like making podfics for people to listen to while they're busy, or if they need a distraction, or while they go to sleep. Over the years, I've gotten to the point where I even like listening to my own podfics.
So if you've ever wondered where my accent is from, it's from Texas. I actually hear it sometimes, in the way I say "I" and a few other words, and sometimes when I do voices, especially Dean's. For all I know, it actually does sound like a Texas accent, and I've been silly for worrying about it all my life. ...Or, for all I know, I still "talk funny," I've just gotten over worrying about it through podficcing.
If you've ever left a kind comment about my podfics or my voice, THANK YOU SO MUCH. I treasure these comments, not just because I get fewer comments on my podfic than on anything else (that's just the way podficcing goes) but because you're telling me hey, you don't sound funny! You sound good enough for me to tell you so! It makes me happy :D
Now I'm curious about my podficcing flisties. Why did you get into reading podfic?
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no subject
Date: 2015-05-22 09:23 pm (UTC)I need to listen to yours and others. Part of my issue for both doing it and listening to it is not having anyone around :-P which doesn't happen a lot here.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-22 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-25 04:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-22 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-22 10:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 06:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 07:05 am (UTC)Haha, Steve seems like such a sweet guy :) I listen to podfic mostly while I'm going to sleep, on my ipod. If you ever have trouble sleeping, you should try it!
no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 07:39 am (UTC)I'm a broad Hampshire accent, which is a little like the Southern accent in America, all though less sexy twang more dropped vowels ;)
no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 09:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-23 09:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-25 04:28 am (UTC)(Also, dang I need to buckle down and listen to some of these. So much goodness to catch up on!)
no subject
Date: 2015-05-27 07:17 pm (UTC)And oh man, there is SO MUCH podfic out there for SPN. It's a treasure trove, omg. You could listen for literally months and not run out of material.