“You do know what ‘lesbian’ means, right? I like to kiss girls, Dan.”
Ta-daaa! May I present, ladies and gentlefolk, the second of my 2011 multipodicity entries: Girl, You're Like A Weird Vacation.
Written by moirariordan (who has been an excellent sport, and let me re-record two of her stories), and previously podficced by paraka, Weird Vacation is an American-Idol-Season-Eight-High-School-Genderswap AU. Sounds both exciting and confusing, I know!
To those of you out there who aren't familiar with the AI8 fandom, this is probably the perfect toe-dipping podfic for you. Yes, the characters of Weird Vacation share names with the top two men of American Idol's eighth season, but you don't need to know anything about the judging or rules or any of the other people from the show, or even anything really about Adam Lambert or Kris Allen in particular, to enjoy it. Instead, you've got two girls on the verge of adulthood, being snarky and sarcastic and flirty and cautious and falling in love and falling in lust and slowly figuring themselvees out as adults in this great wide world. Add some drag queens, and some guitar playing, and some rumors, and you've got yourself an enjoyable romp through a very well-crafted 'verse.
For those of you who do know AI8, this is also an excellent story for you, too! For example, Katy isn't the bitter shrew or manipulating ex of some fics - she's actually quite lovely, and very supportive of Kris's coming out. Adam ("...my parents are hippie-intellectuals..."), as both a penpal and a live-in-person friend, is an excellent sounding board for Kris's fears and insecurities. The cameo appearances by Brad, Tommy, Cale, Daniel, Kim and Neil are all executed marvelously. And, yes, Weird Vacation is most definitely an AU of epic proportions, but that makes it almost more fun to find the nods to canon, too: referencing Neil Lambert as Adam's "crazy-smart but over the top cynical brother", and the Ten Commandments playbill Adam sends Kris for Christmas (take a look here, for added smiling power), and the whole Adam-Kissing-Tommy scene at the Hairspray cast party (kinda like this, but one of them's a girl in the fic) in particular made me smile. Take a listen to the podfic, and see if you can spot the rest....
Now, before I drew paraka's name from the Hat Of Repodding, I had very little exposure to any aspect of the Americal Idol fandom (seasons seven or eight), and I liked it that way. If Supernatural RPF had seemed invasive to me once upon a time, AI8 seemed even more like hiding in the bushes with a telephoto lense and a telescopic mic...... coupled with additional 'invasion of privacy' squicks for me to get over, especially since these two guys were just Regular People before the casting call of American Idol. But, Weird Vacation with it's amazingly awesometastic AU-ness, and the vibrant 'verse moirariordan created for these two girls to inhabit, got me over that first hurdle (and flung me head-long into the abyss, apparently - I've got, like, three dozen more AI8 fics bookmarked 'To Be Read' right now...), and now I implore you, dear listener, to give it a shot as well.
Plus, there are so many moments of sheer glee in Weird Vacation! I swear, this fic overtook my mind as I was recording it. Not only did I compile an entire fanmix for this fic (you can find it here), I also made three different pieces of coverart - one for each chapter of the podfic! (Pssst, bessyboo - the timing of your ever-so-excellent tutorial helped with these as well....) Here, take a look:
Chapter One's Cover
Chapter Two's Cover
Chapter Three's Cover
The musical interludes throughout this podfic are excerpts from the song Faster, as perfomed by Matt Nathanson - I was watching JumpStart (aka, Music Videos With Breakfast) and saw the video for this song, and immediately knew it was Kris'n'Adam's themesong (also, I immediately knew that Mr. Nathanson had Chiclet teeth....but that's neither here nor there). In addition, the IMing sound heard during chapter one can be found here, and the beep during the bloopers reel at the end of chapter three can be found here.
Clocking in at just under three hours (I read slower than paraka, I think), the direct-download folder of mp3 files for Girl, You're Like A Weird Vacation can be found here (and thanks again, paraka, for hosting all my podfics!). If you enjoy the podfic, you might also want to check out the fanmix I made....it's full of music that gives a listener the same kind of gleeful experience as Weird Vacation, and has even more art! And a winking face!
Written by moirariordan (who has been an excellent sport, and let me re-record two of her stories), and previously podficced by paraka, Weird Vacation is an American-Idol-Season-Eight-High-School-Genderswap AU. Sounds both exciting and confusing, I know!
To those of you out there who aren't familiar with the AI8 fandom, this is probably the perfect toe-dipping podfic for you. Yes, the characters of Weird Vacation share names with the top two men of American Idol's eighth season, but you don't need to know anything about the judging or rules or any of the other people from the show, or even anything really about Adam Lambert or Kris Allen in particular, to enjoy it. Instead, you've got two girls on the verge of adulthood, being snarky and sarcastic and flirty and cautious and falling in love and falling in lust and slowly figuring themselvees out as adults in this great wide world. Add some drag queens, and some guitar playing, and some rumors, and you've got yourself an enjoyable romp through a very well-crafted 'verse.
For those of you who do know AI8, this is also an excellent story for you, too! For example, Katy isn't the bitter shrew or manipulating ex of some fics - she's actually quite lovely, and very supportive of Kris's coming out. Adam ("...my parents are hippie-intellectuals..."), as both a penpal and a live-in-person friend, is an excellent sounding board for Kris's fears and insecurities. The cameo appearances by Brad, Tommy, Cale, Daniel, Kim and Neil are all executed marvelously. And, yes, Weird Vacation is most definitely an AU of epic proportions, but that makes it almost more fun to find the nods to canon, too: referencing Neil Lambert as Adam's "crazy-smart but over the top cynical brother", and the Ten Commandments playbill Adam sends Kris for Christmas (take a look here, for added smiling power), and the whole Adam-Kissing-Tommy scene at the Hairspray cast party (kinda like this, but one of them's a girl in the fic) in particular made me smile. Take a listen to the podfic, and see if you can spot the rest....
Now, before I drew paraka's name from the Hat Of Repodding, I had very little exposure to any aspect of the Americal Idol fandom (seasons seven or eight), and I liked it that way. If Supernatural RPF had seemed invasive to me once upon a time, AI8 seemed even more like hiding in the bushes with a telephoto lense and a telescopic mic...... coupled with additional 'invasion of privacy' squicks for me to get over, especially since these two guys were just Regular People before the casting call of American Idol. But, Weird Vacation with it's amazingly awesometastic AU-ness, and the vibrant 'verse moirariordan created for these two girls to inhabit, got me over that first hurdle (and flung me head-long into the abyss, apparently - I've got, like, three dozen more AI8 fics bookmarked 'To Be Read' right now...), and now I implore you, dear listener, to give it a shot as well.
Plus, there are so many moments of sheer glee in Weird Vacation! I swear, this fic overtook my mind as I was recording it. Not only did I compile an entire fanmix for this fic (you can find it here), I also made three different pieces of coverart - one for each chapter of the podfic! (Pssst, bessyboo - the timing of your ever-so-excellent tutorial helped with these as well....) Here, take a look:
Chapter One's Cover
Chapter Two's Cover
Chapter Three's Cover
The musical interludes throughout this podfic are excerpts from the song Faster, as perfomed by Matt Nathanson - I was watching JumpStart (aka, Music Videos With Breakfast) and saw the video for this song, and immediately knew it was Kris'n'Adam's themesong (also, I immediately knew that Mr. Nathanson had Chiclet teeth....but that's neither here nor there). In addition, the IMing sound heard during chapter one can be found here, and the beep during the bloopers reel at the end of chapter three can be found here.
Clocking in at just under three hours (I read slower than paraka, I think), the direct-download folder of mp3 files for Girl, You're Like A Weird Vacation can be found here (and thanks again, paraka, for hosting all my podfics!). If you enjoy the podfic, you might also want to check out the fanmix I made....it's full of music that gives a listener the same kind of gleeful experience as Weird Vacation, and has even more art! And a winking face!