2021 Podfic Year In Review

Podfics made in 2021: 18

What was the best podfic you made this year? I think butterfly? It's certainly the one I've thought about the most since posting, and I really enjoyed the whole recording process even if I'm terrible at French/Quebecois pronunciation.

Most popular? I killed a clown! AMA by a long shot.

Most underappreciated? I had high hopes for my body on the waves being somewhat popular, but alas.

Personal favorite, for whatever reason? i could never hold a perfect thing, solely because I am genuinely proud of those music transitions and the sheer coincidence of how they lined up.

Most difficult to make? The only time I've needed to rewrite a fic before recording it was for I killed a clown! AMA. And like, so much editing trying to make reddit comments legible. I'm generally happy with how it turned out though!

Most “ah ha ha I can’t believe I’m doing this”? I had thought about recording butterfly for AGES but knew it would be a challenge and never felt ready. And like, I still didn't feel ready while recording it anyways, but luckily Steph's writing feels super natural for me to say, which helped greatly even when I was stumbling over Rouyn-Noranda for the 3847th time.

Most fun to make? Yes, And! Not for any story or recording reasons, but because I just kept taking breaks while recording to rewatch Youtube clips to figure out NoHo Hank's intonation.

Was there one that didn’t turn out the way you wanted? stranger than fiction. I really struggled with this year's ITPE for a variety of reasons but I felt like I just could not drum up the energy to make this one work the way I wanted.

Biggest learning experience? I recorded multiple polyamory fics this year, and for whatever reason this year my brain was like, "wait, how do we do THREE voices instead of two??"

What’s next? Do you have any podfic goals for next year? Mid 2021 came the end of my streak of almost 3 years of posting at least 1 podfic a month. Partially because I was burned out and partially because dealing with my noisy neighbors has made me really REALLY paranoid about my own noise output. I have some stuff recorded but haven't touched anything besides my ITPE projects in months. I'll come back eventually, but right now it still just feels so loaded and heavy. Maybe if I manage to get really passionate about a particular fandom again? It would be nice to finally get my giant Wincest series posted, or at least edited.

A positive side effect of the neighbors is that I'm back to listening to podfic consistently for the first time in AGES. Here's a few recs that I listened to multiple times over the last few months:
The Radio Game read by luvtheheaven (Veronica Mars, Logan character study immediately after S2 finale. cw: suicidal ideation)
Frequent Flyer read by MistMarauder (9-1-1, AU where Buck isn't a firefighter, but is really accident prone. The 118 helps repeatedly.) (All of MistMarauder 's 9-1-1 pods are a rec and have been on constant rotation for me!)
foolproofed read by growlery (Hockey RPF, Mat/Tito BA Test Kitchen AU)
Robins United series read by reena_jenkins (DC comics, Batfamily gen hurt/comfort and protectiveness)
Hide of A Life War read by Opalsong (Teen Wolf, Stiles is taken hostage, but how much rescuing does he really need?)
like a map of a place you've never been read by analise010 (Leverage, Eliot/Parker/Hardison, Eliot and Parker go undercover as fake married)
Richie Tozier: The Manchild Tour read by Linzoid (IT movies, Eddie/Richie, Richie post canon coming out magazine article)