four Avengers-universe podfics I rec

 

 

Star Spangled (Captain America, gen) (read by luzula, from a fic written by boombangbing) (44min) This is one of those stories that fills in some of the gaps that tends to niggle - what was Steve doing in his spare time on those USO tours? This story suggests that he spent time with the USO girls, and no, not like that; just being friends, and Steve learning how to braid hair and everyone figuring out how in the world they're going to balance on that motorcycle and ragging on each other about dating in war time, but it's more than that, too. There's this bit about 6 minutes in when one of the girls is talking about her younger brother, who wants to do his part in the war effort by joining up but is too young, and when I read the text I only registered one reason for Steve to feel uncomfortable - the text talks about how Steve doesn't feel he's doing anything for the war effort, and one of the girls corrects him by pointing out that selling war bonds is actually really useful - but the way luzula read it I finally got the other sets of uncomfortable parallels between Steve and the girl's kid brother, and it just all clicked, and that was lovely :D

Practical Mathematics (Captain America, Avengers, gen, though with references to a bunch of pairings including Steve/USO girls, Steve/Peggy, Steve/Bucky, and Bucky/Steve/Peggy) (read by sisi_rambles, from a fic written by grey_bard) (12min) This podfic is adorable for many reasons, but I think my favorite is the way sisi_rambles reads the back-and-forth between it's-not-a-big-deal Steve and IT-MOST-CERTAINLY-IS Tony. They're both so clearly talking at cross-purposes and approaching the question at hand with entirely different definitions and cultural contexts, and sisi_rambles' Steve is so blazé about it all and her Tony is so surprised to have his mental image of Captain America The Virginal proven nearly entirely wrong and it's just a lot of fun to listen to :D

5 Times Cint made Coulson Flour-based Foods (Avengers, Clint/Coulson) (read by sly_hostetter , from a fic written by perpetual_motion) (18:30min) I'm not entirely sure if I can explain why I love this podfic, but I'll do my best. I think it has something to do with the fact that sly_hostetter 's Clint and Coulson ring true - they're smart and snarky but also professional and get the job done but also affectionate when there's space for that and you can hear their affection for each (and the reader's affection for both of them) in sly_hostetter's reading and that's just so... happifying, to listen to. A lot of really wonderful podfics are a podficcer reading you a story and doing so really really well, sometimes to the extent that both the podficcer and the writer disappear and it's just you and the characters - and that can be great, don't get me wrong! but sometimes you want company, too, and this podfic feels like you're sitting next to a friend watching two idiots in love be competent at each other, and that's really, really lovely :D

Adamant (Avengers, Tony/Steve) (read by exmanhater / intransitive from a fic written by whizzy) (5:44:46min) I have spent many many many happy hours whiling away the time listening to this podfic, and each and every time I notice something new about exmanhater's reading. I don't mean that her reading is difficult to understand or opaque, only that it's incredibly nuanced. I especially love her rendition of Peggy, both the way she reads her, and the editing choices that were made. This character is described at one point as fiercely protective and sometimes violent in her fury (I'm paraphrasing), and the way exmanhater reads her, I can believe it. Also, I really, really love the fact that she doesn't use an effect for Peggy's voice - I know I sometimes get carried away with the possibilities of filters and echoes and all sorts of bells and whistles; and the way the text of this story the choice to use effects would certainly have been justified, and had Peggy's voice had an effect I certainly wouldn't have questioned it. But the choice not to go the bells-and-whistles route is also a good choice, and this podfic is a really good example of that - the story is told from Steve's pov, and to me the lack of effects for Peggy means that he hasn't put her on some high pedestal from which She Speaks As A Goddess; he respects her and values her advice, but it's much more of an equal relationship that gives both of them space to be themselves, and that fits so well with their interactions in this story, and it's not something I got from reading the story (somewhat the opposite, in fact - in the written text Peggy's lines are set off) and it's just a great example of a podfic that takes a written story and puts a twist on it that brings out all these little bits of the story that make it that much better :D (also, and I can't rec this podfic without saying this - the way exmanhater reads the narrative, it makes perfect sense and sounds perfectly natural, and then you have to turn it off for some reason and RL comes back into focus and you remember that the story is narrated in very archaic-sounding prose that makes perfect sense in-universe but could be really jarring read aloud, but exmanhater handles it in such a way that it all sounds perfectly natural at the time and <3 <3 <3)