Hi guys! So I've been ruminating over this idea for some time and I'm finally going to take the next step to make it a reality.

I've been a long-time fan of voice acting and after taking several classes during my last year of uni, I realized that voice over is a viable career. This summer, I've been doing a lot of research on how to break into the industry and taking steps to potentially become a voice actress. It's a big jump that I'm taking, because I've been studying to be a doctor for my entire life. Most of my work experience and education is STEM-related, so I'm really behind when it comes to having acting experience. And one of the biggest things I've learned is that VOICE ACTING IS ACTING. VOICE ACTORS ARE ACTORS. It's not just simply doing silly voices and impressions. You have to BECOME the character and sell it. And as an Asian-American from a very traditional Chinese family, it's pretty terrifying to think about breaking into acting/entertainment, even though I've (thoughtlessly) dreamed about it for years.

But dreaming isn't doing, so I'm going to build myself up as best as I can while taking classes, because that's one of the biggest pieces of advice that virtually every professional voice actor has given to aspiring talent. I'm honestly horrible at networking and putting myself out there, even though my fifth grade teacher told me I needed to learn how to sell myself. I clearly didn't learn how to do it more than ten years later, especially because pre-med has always been about the grades and not the person (even though it's such a flaw in the system, TBH, but that's a discussion for another day). So going to classes to meet coaches and industry professionals is the best route for me, since I don't have classical training or any friends in theater/film/entertainment (what a surprise, most of my friends are in STEM).

But I also need to practice by myself every day and I figured that a great way to do that is to read from AFF, my home away from home for almost eight years now. I can offer my voice and create an audio fic for you or even just read some dialogue to give your character a voice. I don't have a professional home studio, but I've managed to convert my upstairs closet into a decently sound-proofed space, even though it's super uncomfortable to record in there right now because of the summer heat. OTL But the sound is much more dead in there than it was in my previous recording space, so my voice isn't as distorted when I edit out the room tone. I'm still learning the process of reading audio fics and self-directing, but I wanted to get an interest check to see if anyone would even care for an audio fic shop/service on here.

I would start off with producing one-shots or short fics (probably less than 5,000 words at first until I get more comfortable with longer works) and doing dialogue for various characters. And then I'd see where that would take me. And if the authors that I'm producing for give me permission, I would like to possibly use these lines for demo reel material in the future. But DISCLAIMER FIRST: if you expect me to imitate any male idols, you're going to be very disappointed, LOL. I have a relatively high-pitched voice, so there's no way I can believably sound as deep as Chanyeol or T.O.P (I'll just sound super stupid and you'll get an awful voice that'll make your ears bleed). :') I can do male child voices, but that's the extent of my male vocal repertoire for now.

You can listen to my 90-second demo reel here if you're curious to hear what I sound like. It's technically a mixed reel since it has both animation and commercial spots, but most of it is animation since I'm more interested in that (and I hate most of my commercial spots, LOL). All of the clips included were recorded in a professional studio, but the reel was assembled and edited completely by me, so I wouldn't call it a professional demo reel. The clips that the spots were cut from were directed by a professional actress and a professional sound engineer and they gave me some very helpful notes when I was assembling the reel, so it's not completely amateur, but I wouldn't send it to any agencies or casting directors. I have a LONG way to go, acting-wise.

So yeah, thanks for reading this if you've gotten this far. If I do set up an audio fic shop/service on here, it'll probably be after I come back from China in September. I should have more details ironed out by then on how I want to approach this. And if you have any character dialogue you'd like for me to try now, out of curiosity, feel free to comment or PM me and I'd be happy to work with you. :)

And in case you were wondering, the door to medical school has not closed. I just need time to find myself and explore other options that I was never encouraged to pursue, even though I'm a creative at heart. I don't know if I'm just burned out from school or if my love for science was just an illusion, so I'm taking a year or two to find myself. If I find out that I miss school during my gap year and that my calling really is orthopedic or plastic surgery, then I'm going to medical school and working my off to tack that MD-PhD title to the end of my name, LOL. I'm good at science, but I don't know if I care enough to do it forever (especially because I hate lab research with a passion). So here's the next step of finding myself and hopefully I don't fail too spectacularly. :')