Harry Potter Fic Recording: In Love (Marcus/Oliver)

[prillalar]

You probably thought I forgot all about when I said I wanted to record a reading of one of my stories. But I've actually been working on it all this time.

Since it seemed to be the most popular, I chose In Love. Which was a lot of fun, but oh my god so very long. Next time -- if this goes over well, I'll likely do it again -- I'll do something shorter. I think it took me longer to record this than it did to write it in the first place.



In Love written and recorded by Halrloprillalar
Harry Potter, Marcus/Oliver, PG-13, 7000 words, 38 minutes, mp3.
Even big dumb mean guys fall in love.

Download the sound file: YSI 1 | YSI 2 | Static -- 43 MB -- choose one, and please use a YSI link if you can
Read the story: HTML | TXT

Distribution: Private, free redistribution is fine; please don't archive the sound file publicly without my permission (archive of the story is fine).



If you do give it a listen, please let me know what you think, either of the story or my melodious voice or any technical crit you have. I kept redoing bits of it and playing with effects in GarageBand. (Don't worry -- I didn't leave the reverb on.) But in the end, I just had to say: good enough, time to post.

This was fun. I'd forgotten how much I was in love with Marcus when I was writing this. And if there were a sports anime about Quidditch, that would be the coolest thing ever.

Comments

[octopedingenue]

OMG, that one is my favorite of your Harry Potter stuff. I didn't even really know who Marcus was and you still made my heart hurt for him. I'm downloading now. (I still want "The Forever Love of Oishi and Eiji: A Tragedy in Three Acts". With appropriate voice modulation for characters!)

[prillalar]

Hee! It's one of my favourites too. I love those boys so much. I'm not sure "Forever Love" would really make a good recording -- there's too much that really can only be represented in text or a performance, unless I read all the names and stage directions as well. But I do want to do some tenipuri fic.

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

oh, goodie!! ever since i found podslash, i've been hoping to se people record stuff...and you have it be you even makes me read listen HP again :D

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

and TO have it be you...and i just realized i've read and loved the story, but relistening is certainly fun with a great fic! yeah!!!

[prillalar]

Cool! Yes, it's an older story. It would be interesting to write something specifically to read -- it would probably turn out a bit differently.

[hesychasm]

Listening to this was the one of the COOLEST fannish experiences I've ever had. Brilliant! And your voice is so friendly and you've got this adorable Canadian accent and it just...I had not read the story before, and yet I could probably say with some accuracy how I would have read it without the audio: quickly, roughly, smiling at the smiley parts and all of that, but in the end thinking, "cute story" and just walking away.

But -- with your voice making the words and dialogue sound so soft and...accessible, is sort of the word I'm looking for...and making me read the text at the same pace as you read it, it just makes the whole experience that much more warm and inviting. It makes Marcus almost tangible, in that way that fairy tales when I was a little a kid could seem so real and tangible. And I was just in suspense the whole time, hoping for the best for him -- I was totally invested.

Dunno if I'm making any sense. But, suffice to say, I LOVED it.

I'm curious how it would work for you to read a darker or more explicit story out loud -- or how it would have read if you had an English accent, or any number of different factors. This seemed like a story perfectly suited to your voice and accent, but that could also just be because it's the only story I've heard you reading out loud. (g) Awesome experiment, though.

I remember recently seeing a few Harry/Ron writers had recorded themselves reading their favorite stories, so now I'm curious to see if those worked as well as this did....

What hardware/software did you use, btw? Never heard of GarageBand.

[hesychasm]

btw, went hunting and found the Ron readaloud: http://www.livejournal.com/users/shocolate/263783.html

[prillalar]

This is awesome to hear -- thank you so much! It was really cool to work on too. It made me think a lot about the story, about what I was trying to accomplish with it.

making me read the text at the same pace as you read it

That really does make a difference. We read so quickly, and skim, and if the line length is too long, we really only read the first part of the line closely. But audio forces you to hear all the words.

I'm glad to hear that about my voice, too. :) When I started out, I spent a bunch of time recording the same drabble over and over, to get over the "my god, do I really sound like that?" thing and also to work on modulating my voice to a pitch I liked. I'd like to try something more serious but I don't know about more explicit. It's hard enough just to read aloud without feeling self-conscious.

I used a Logitech USB headset with a noise-cancelling microphone, which worked pretty well. I have an iMac and GarageBand is an audio app that comes with it. It's a great app for doing mixes and such, so it's got a lot of effects and filter you can use. That was helpful for trying to minimized the "S" sound, though I wish I could have done more there.

And thanks for the Ron link -- I'll check it out.

[akatonbo.livejournal.com]

Ahahah, that was even more fun than when I read it myself. I am totally in favor of the idea of audio slash (and I hadn't forgotten, because the comments on that post inspired me to investigate a bunch of text-to-speech software, but, uh, getting it to pronounce everything correctly is probably almost as much work as recording something myself). And yeah, surprising how long it takes to read 7000 words, huh? Then again, 70000 words is not an especially long novel, and unabridged audio books or not particularly long novels tend to be in the general neighborhood of 6 hours...

[prillalar]

Hee! Glad it was fun. :) It's not just the length of the final file -- I did a lot of takes of some sections. I doubt there's any part of this that I nailed on the first try. Even so, there are still things I probably should have re-recorded. But then, like George Lucas, I would never be done. *g*

[prillalar]

Thank you! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it.

[meemobunny.livejournal.com]

hee, that was so much fun to listen! you sounded great and i hope you'll do more in the future. :D (i admit it, i played over several times the part where you said your name in order to figure out the correct pronounciation of "halrloprillalar" ;))

[prillalar]

Hee! I had to do several takes of "Halrloprillalar". Before this, I've probably had to say it out loud less than 20 times in 8 years.

[xsmoonshine.livejournal.com]

Oooh. This is very nice. I like your reading voice - very clear and expressive. That you were reading such a cute story didn't hurt either.

[prillalar]

Thank you. :) I'm glad it was clear and cute. *g*

[panisdead.livejournal.com]

Downloaded it, am looking forward to listening. The story is one of my HP favorites.

[prillalar]

Cool! I hope you'll enjoy it.

[kestrelsan.livejournal.com]

Wow, this turned out fabulously! I listened to it while reading the story, and like T. said above, it's amazing what a different experience it was, yet at the same time fitting perfectly with the story. I'm so glad you finished it.

Also, it was nice to hear your voice again :).

[prillalar]

That's so cool to hear! I'm glad I finished too -- I was beginning to think I'd never be done. And thanks so much for the link from your LJ. (You could totally do this too, you know.)

[grandevina.livejournal.com]

That was really interesting. I hadn't read that fic before. While I was waiting for the download I read some of the beginning, then the download was done and I listened to all of it, so I got a bit of both.

I think I imagined you with a different voice... I guess I just try to imagine a voice when I read your posts.
What I can say about your voice is it's a very good reading voice. Clear and easy to listen to. You did an excellent job.

I like being read to, especially if it's of something I enjoy, which I did. Hope you'll do another.

[prillalar]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. :) And now I'm wondering how my imaginary voice sounds to you!

[grandevina.livejournal.com]

Heh... Higher I think... More like my own I guess, yet extreamly vague. Your real voice is nicer :D

[i-smile.livejournal.com]

Your Adrian voice is the best. :D

I listened to this on a crowded train, and got a few stares: I couldn't help grinning and laughing at poor Marcus's relationship troubles. I don't think I'd read it before, which made listening to it possibly even better. (The suspense...!)

And, man, Oliver totally liked that poem. Definitely.

[prillalar]

I love Adrian here. It's a good thing that he finds happiness in the end. *g* I'm glad the story made your commute more fun.

And, man, Oliver totally liked that poem. Definitely.

Dude, who wouldn't?

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Likely my favorite story of yours. Still makes me teary when I go back and read it.

[prillalar]

Aw, that's so good to know. Thank you. :)

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

Glad to see this has been successful, after all the work you put into it. I don't know when I'm going to get a chance to listen -- I am still deluged. But thinking of you!

[prillalar]

It's gone over really well, for which I'm glad. Now I'm itching to do another story. :) Talk soon!

[chzbrgr-of-doom.livejournal.com]

I listened to it and loved it! I got my sister to listen as well (she loved the fic when I told her to read it ages ago) and she said "She sounds like somoene who reads audio books professionally". :D

[prillalar]

Yay! Maybe this will be my new career. *g*

[miss-pryss.livejournal.com]

Wow, you read really well. And I adore that story! The tone and quality of your voice -- friendly but quiet and carefully modulated -- fits the tone of the story PERFECTLY. What a decadent experience, to hear the voice of the author!

THE AUTHORIAL VOICE! Hahaha.

Are you going to do more? I hope so. I think it would be so, so, so wonderful if you did I LOVE LUCY, which I first read when you wrote it, and which remains TO THIS DAY one of my favorite fics in all of the intarwebs.

[prillalar]

Thank you so much! I'm glad that you enjoyed it. :) I would definitely like to do more. I don't know about I Love Lucy, though -- it's too explicit and, besides, there's that whole Gilligan's Island theme song thing going on. *g* It's really great to hear that you still like the story, though!

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

OH, it's so good. I hadn't read this, and this recording was bedtime story bliss. I've already listened to it thrice!

MARCUS is SO big and dumb and adorable, I just, I don't know what to do with how adorable he is. And how adorable YOU are, with your Canadian accent and your perfect, innocent, bully-ish Marcus voice. Hot damn!

Please record more, please please please. PLEASE.

[prillalar]

Thank you, honey. :) Wow, thrice! I so adore Marcus. I do want to do more recordings. Maybe over the holidays.

[coldsnap.livejournal.com]

I just go around to listening to this last night, and it makes the best bed night story ever. I think it's a great idea to record stuff, and I love this story a lot. I went and read 'The art of conversation' as well, which is also a wonderful story, I am in love with Marcus myself now.

[prillalar]

I'm really glad you enjoyed it. :) I had a lot of fun with Marcus -- both writing and reading him.

[physixxx.livejournal.com]

just wanted to let you know that this story is the one that got me into Marcus/Oliver.... gah!

so cute and awesome and funny and sexy!

thanks for writing it; thanks for recording it!

[prillalar]

Sorry for my nearly-a-month-late reply! I'm a little backlogged with browser tabs.

I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed the story and the recording! If I have an HP OTP, it's Marcus/Oliver.

[general-jinjur.livejournal.com]

hi there! i'm a bit late to the party. :)

i maintain a podfic archive (http://audiofic.jinjurly.com) and would really love to include this, if you would be willing to grant permission. let me know what you think!

[lucre-noin.livejournal.com]

I'm late but... this is the BEST Oliver/Marcus story I ever read.