I'm really genuinely interested to know what it is that people find so appealing about it. The biggest thing for me about podfic is it allows me to consume fanfic in places where I'm not generally able to. When I'm at work, cross-referencing, when I'm driving, when I'm standing in line at the grocery store. I love fandom, and I love podfic, so why not try to squeeze it into the boring parts of my day?
And I just went and read your post where you say you get that in theory, but I guess it comes down to everyone has different comfort levels. You mention that it doesn't sound right to you, or that people interpret things differently than you do and it throws you out. The thing is, if you listen to podfic, you just get used to it. Just like reading fanfic for the first time can be a bit jarring because canon through fandom can have a very different emphasis than what you pick up on your own. Fandom changes how you interact with the source. Podfic does the same, only this time the source is a fanfic and possibly the canon instead of just the canon.
You say that there's no way the podficers can sound like the actors, which is true, however, it's also not really the point. When you hang out with friends and talk about your day, do you make sure to use the same voices as the people you interact with? Is everything you say a performance? No, you're just telling a story. A story about other people, and that's understood by how you tell it. It's the same with podfic.
I know the first time I listened to an American fandom podfic read by an Australian, I'll admit it threw me out of the story for a second but it's just something you get over (or don't and you give up on podfic because it's not for you).
no subject
The biggest thing for me about podfic is it allows me to consume fanfic in places where I'm not generally able to. When I'm at work, cross-referencing, when I'm driving, when I'm standing in line at the grocery store. I love fandom, and I love podfic, so why not try to squeeze it into the boring parts of my day?
And I just went and read your post where you say you get that in theory, but I guess it comes down to everyone has different comfort levels.
You mention that it doesn't sound right to you, or that people interpret things differently than you do and it throws you out. The thing is, if you listen to podfic, you just get used to it. Just like reading fanfic for the first time can be a bit jarring because canon through fandom can have a very different emphasis than what you pick up on your own. Fandom changes how you interact with the source. Podfic does the same, only this time the source is a fanfic and possibly the canon instead of just the canon.
You say that there's no way the podficers can sound like the actors, which is true, however, it's also not really the point. When you hang out with friends and talk about your day, do you make sure to use the same voices as the people you interact with? Is everything you say a performance? No, you're just telling a story. A story about other people, and that's understood by how you tell it. It's the same with podfic.
I know the first time I listened to an American fandom podfic read by an Australian, I'll admit it threw me out of the story for a second but it's just something you get over (or don't and you give up on podfic because it's not for you).