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How to Podfic: A Highly Biased and Incomplete Tutorial

So, a while ago, some of my friends and fellow cast members of the @sansukhpodfic​ asked about how to make and edit podfic on their own. I created this tutorial for them, as a supplement to the resources already posted  by the Sansukh mods. In the wake of the most recent @auralphonic​ episode asking for technical advice on podficcing in Audacity, I thought I would polish this up and post it. This tutorial explains how, once you have permission to record a story, you go about turning it into a podfic using Audacity. It focuses on technical and logistical details, rather than artistic advice, and is cobbled together from my own experience, my knowledge of the mathematics behind signal analysis, and other people’s tutorials. There’s lots of communities and resources out there that give advice on the artistic side (Auralphonic, for example, has an episode for newbies), which I recommend checking out.

Disclaimer: There is no one standard method of doing this! This is the method I have found gives me the best results, personally, but there may be better ways to do this. I strongly recommend checking out other resources for comparison.

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Meet me on the rooftop

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEPO YOU ARE SO LOVED

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I can't write for the life of me, but I've just thought of a tasty soulmate-fic premise (romantic or platonic!):

When their eyes are closed, a soulmate can see what their other half sees.

Whether it's super clear, or just impressions, or perhaps the more one stares at something the clearer it gets, just imagine the potential.

Soulmates taking turns to close their eyes and communicate through notes to find eachother. Soulmates who know when the other's fallen asleep because it's completely dark on the other side. Soulmates who can't sleep because their other half is somewhere way too bright and have to write passive-aggressive notes asking if they could "please turn the lights down!" Soulmates who are bored and would rather watch the others everyday life, no matter how mundane. Soulmates who's friends and/or family make fun of them for zoning out to watch through their other halves eyes instead of paying attention.

And then, on the other hand? The angst potential is delicious-

Soulmates who are so desperate to stop their other half from knowing that they wear a blindfold, or straight up blind themselves, to prevent it. Soulmates who hate the thought of someone intruding on their private lives, whether they're meant to be together or not. Soulmates who have terrible home/work lives and hope against hope that their other half doesn't find out or worse. Soulmates who are abused or get into fights often, trying their damnedest to protect their eyes above all else. Soulmates who's eyes are damaged, accidentally or otherwise, terrified of the thought that their other half won't ever be able to find them.

There are so so many ways you can swing this:

One soulmate afraid that their other half had died, having never been able to see through their eyes. Their soulmate was born blind, and managed to see things they thought they never could/would thanks to their soulmate.

Soulmates that met during childhood, living their lives as a whole, using their connection for simple, silly, domestic reasons.

Familial soulmates! Twins who aren't quite psychic but know what the other is doing all of the time. Siblings who are stuck with eachother and pretend to hate it, but are secretly glad they'll always have the other. Found family where it feels like they've always had the other and are impossible to separate.

Long-distance soulmates, teaching eachother about where they were born/grew up, showing eachother things precious to eachother.

Daytime Vs Nighttime soulmates who are barely ever awake at the same time, treasuring those in-between moments.

Soulmates with nightmares, one waking up in a panic, blinking hard and trying to calm down as quickly as possible. The other getting glimpses of the aftermath as they blink, perhaps rushing to their side if they can, comforting their distressed soulmate.

College/University AU soulmates knowing too much about their other halves area of study. Writing eachother notes to go to bed or to eat when they both forget and stay up studying way too late.

Assassin/Spy AU soulmates, using their bond to complete their missions as effectively as possible. Or perhaps the assassin/spy's soulmate is their target. Especially tasty if you throw in undercover work.

I could write a million of these prompts-

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PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!! I NEED SOMEONE TO DRAW LAWLU OR ZOLU OR SANLU TO THE SONG “LOVE LIKE YOU”

IT IS A NEED. IT JUST FITS SO PERFECTLY FOR ALL OF THEM.

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SO CUTE

Law and Bepo Interactions: USJ ONE PIECE Water Battle 2017

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BEAST (AU Novel): Summary with Short Excerpts

This post is more than 7,000 words long. 

1. I have not put any warnings on this post; that does not mean there aren’t possible triggers. If you’d like to know specifically what these trigger warnings are, please privately contact me. For those who proceed, please do so at your own caution. 

2. Please do not repost. Please do not translate into another language.

3. I have translated only those excerpts I wanted to. If you’d like to send asks, please kindly refrain from asking me to translate a certain part or other. 

4. If you want to wait for a full English translation, reading this post will most likely, most definitely, take away some of the excitement of reading the novel. 

5. Once again, same encouragement for movie posts applies: tag responsibly and place all discussion under a ‘read more’, try to keep your tweets out of the public search engine, please be especially careful if you have followers who do not wish to be spoiled. 

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Shigaraki in a suit~

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I FINALLY GOT IT. HECK YEAH!

I will upload a video version… eventually… give it time… I’m tired.

I would personally like to thank all the people who supported me through this whole thing. I know I’m not big or anything, but I’ve already gotten comments of support from the Awk Squad pals, my friends (yes, I have those), other people, and people that I look up to and admire like @bsd-bibliophile. 

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“The idea has occurred to me that if one wanted to crush, to annihilate a man utterly, to inflict on him the most terrible of punishments so that the most ferocious murderer would shudder at it and dread it beforehand, one need only give him work of an absolutely, completely useless and irrational character.”

—

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The House of the Dead

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“It is not you in particular that I distrust, but the whole of humanity.”

—

Natsume Sōseki, Kokoro

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Oh shit he's too cute 😭

💜

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Ch 71, over and done

Mangadex ||  Imgur

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Advice for improving my writing? I haven't any work of mine public because I know I can improve so much. I just feel like I can do so much better if I wrote up to my capabilities.Reading others' works is always a good way to improve but -for me- having your own specific way of writing (nicely, which I know don't do properly), is more satisfying and I wouldn't need to criticize my own work. Writing is not my main focus (obviously, seeing how I suck at little at it), (1/2)

(2/2) but I want to be happy with every piece I write, even if i don’t share them with others. I’d be very greatful if you could suggest some methods and/or give some advice. (Or just teach us your ways.) Thank you.

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Hi! Thank you for sending me an ask about writing. I don’t think my writing is good enough to give advise but I can share some personal experiences with my practicing / learning process if you’re okay with it?

I think the common tricks still apply. Read a lot. Though, by saying this I don’t mean read a lot to learn how to write characters, but more of to learn the technical stuff; for example, learn about how the sentences are written and how scenes are being arranged. In terms of characterization, I’d suggest studying the source material. I personally don’t read fanfictions because it’s easy to get pulled into a good writing’s way of writing characters that sometimes it might distort what you really feel about the characters in the first place. But that’s just me, to be honest, haha! I still read fanfictions by friends whom I always share characterization thoughts with so I know the wave lines align, though it’s not always common to find people like that. Not to say that you can’t read at all, but when you do, just remember that the version of characterization isn’t the source material’s version, so if you’re looking to strengthen characterization, always, always read the source material. Do it as much as you can and study the characters from it. I’d say that the more you do it, the more natural the interactions will come to you; sometimes they’ll just write themselves, really.

When I started writing in English back in… 2013, I had a very close beta (also a very close friend who knows exactly what type of writing / characterization I’m aiming for) who would always look through my writing and guide me with things. It’s only two years of this constant process that I’m able to write and edit my writing for myself. 

It’s a piece of very classic advice but it works: Practice makes perfect. I write every day, I still do, and I’ve been doing so since who knows how long, since I started writing, I guess? I started writing since I was 10, and now I’m still writing. It’s been more than a decade. Eventually, you’ll find your own style the more you write. And don’t be afraid to show the public what you like, if you want feedback, that is. Feedback is important for improvement! Not just the criticism, but also just to know what your writing strength is. But if you prefer more private guidance, you can also show it to someone you trust who understand what you want to achieve with your writing. 

Keep the process going and really, across time, you will come to be able to appreciate your own writing more. I won’t say you will be perfectly satisfied with them, even I don’t sometimes. But at most times, it still feels nice to be able to write what you want to write. Just be patient, keep practicing, keep learning, and keep improving. That’s really all the advice I can give :’)

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I love your blog and am AMAZED by how much work you've put into all of this. I had a quick question though that I was wondering if you could answer. At the end of the season 2 finale, when asked why he cares so much about Yokohama Dazai quotes Odasaku and says "You might as well side with the people who save others. That's at least a little more beautiful." Hirotsu replies "Ten'i muhou." Do you know why he responds that way? Is this a quote from Flawless? Thanks so much and again love your blog!

Thank you for the ask and I am happy to hear you are enjoying my blog! I have to admit putting together a PDF of every quote I’ve ever posted took forever, but I hope it can be beneficial to everyone and not just me. I’m afraid I am not nearly qualified enough to answer your question, so I asked an amazing friend of mine to help. 

M Skeels is an amazing translator and editor! You can find her Word Press here, and her explanation of the title "tenimuho" here. 

M Skeels was kind enough to answer your question in my place:

In the quote ending “That’s at least a little more beautiful” (その方が幾分か素敵だ/sono hou ga ikubunka suteki da), the word 素敵 (suteki) is translated in the subs as “beautiful”. It’s typically translated as “brilliant”, “wonderful”, “lovely”, etc. The dictionary meaning is (1) “charm”, i.e. draws one in, or perfectly suits one’s present headspace, and/or (2) “to an extraordinary degree”. Before an 1867 dictionary established that the word was positive, “suteki” only meant “to an extraordinary degree”, but by Dazai’s time, the word was commonly accepted as always having positive connotations.

So the end of Dazai’s phrase could alternatively be translated as “That has some charm to it” or “That’s somewhat extraordinary”, discarding “at least” which doesn’t actually appear. I think Oda and Dazai are embracing the “extraordinary” reading because, especially with the minimizer “somewhat”, it comes off quite sardonic. Like, Oda implied that simply having and using powers is basic; only in helping save people is there a “little bit” of charm, or saving people is a “little bit” extraordinary.

“Tenimuho” refers to some thing or action which looks so effortlessly done or constructed that it seems divine in origin. Hirotsu’s response of “tenimuho” (flawless) makes more sense if he interpreted Dazai’s “suteki” as “extraordinary” rather than “beautiful”. But I think that in making the reference, Hirotsu’s also conveying that he recognizes that the old friend Dazai’s talking about is Oda (seconding the shout out, if you will).

None of this means the subs are wrong in their original interpretation, though, and I can go into lengthy detail as to why not. But it looks like they were tripped up by having a much later line which unfortunately didn’t align with the translation they’d settled on during the Oda arc.

Refs:dictionary.gooweblio.jpNihongo, doudeshou (https://japanknowledge.com/articles/blognihongo/entry.html?entryid=269) 　 

In regards to the meaning of “tenimuho” M Skeels has explained:

When applied to people, it means:

Utterly honest, pure, and innocent. Behavior is natural, free, and lacks any sense of artifice or embellishment. It can be used to describe any person, but due to its uncommon usage, it can sometimes be taken as insulting because it implies the existence of innocence so great it suggests naivety or lack of due care, or doubt that such purity can exist. However, it’s perfectly okay to use to describe children, art, or people who are so relaxed they are true to themselves.

When applied to art (a product, practice, or action), it means:

Completely perfect. Appears to have been formed or to occur spontaneously, with no visible trace of technical skill being applied. It is not perfection achieved though ‘masterful’ crafting, rather it perfection that defies crafting, which is accomplished only naturally, free of effort. It flows without any resistance. It can also describe something so perfect that one is driven to touch or possess it (i.e. its tactile smoothness is irresistible), or something so complete it needs no further adjustment or development. Equivalent English expression: Music of the spheres.

You can read the complete explanation here (it’s the same as the link above).

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do kids these days know abt numa numa

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Lan Sizhui’s names

Lan Sizhui. 思追, which translates into something along the lines of “to yearn for” or “to pine for.” Lan Wangji named his de facto son after the emotional turmoil that must have engulfed him those 13 long years, where he yearned for the return of a love that was never meant to be in the first time around. 

Alternatively, he named his son after his unresolved sexual tension. (Thanks for naming me after your blue balls, dad.) 

Lan Yuan. 愿, which is one half of phrases like 愿望, which basically means “wish” or “desire”, 愿意, which translates to “willing”, or “will” (as in this is the intention of somebody) when used as a single character. I think is the flip side of the coin for Lan Wangji’s yearning; not only might it reflect a hope for Wei Wuxian’s return, but it also could be a hope for the future of the world after so much tragedy and bloodshed. Lan Sizhui was given this name after he recovered from his fever and lost all his memories.

But once upon a time, he was a little boy named A-Yuan who ran around the Burial Mounds and was buried like a radish to grow big and tall.

(By now, I think most of the fandom knows about Lan Sizhui’s background.)

Wen Yuan. 苑, which is pronounced the exact same as the Yuan above, has a much different meaning. I’m not sure what Grannie Wen was going for here, or even MXTX for that matter, but the most I see that character is, like, 御苑, which means “the emperor’s garden.” I can’t help but laugh because that name evokes an overglorified, overhyped back yard (which happens to also have a yuan character pronounced the same way, although it is 后院). 

Perhaps Wei Wuxian was onto something with the whole burying business.

In any case, just personal speculation, but I think how 苑 became 愿 was because when Lan Wangji picked him up as he was sick with the fever, Lan Wangji knew only his name as A-Yuan without knowing the original words. However, seeing as 1. he was a bab, and 2. he was running a high fever, there was no chance that smol Sizhui could have told Lan Wangji which character it was originally. 

And of course, with Lan Wangji being who he is, Lan Yuan received a refined, dignified name with many layers and meanings as opposed to, ya know, yard. 

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.