Feel The Raw Naked Plebefic Header Of The Road

[cimorene]

1. Disclaimer: I do not own the song this story is based on (and the title and cut), that is by Bell X1. I do not own the characters insinuated in this work of fiction. [I can't decide if the characters have been snuck into the story, or heavily hinted at by it.]



2. Summary: Cas needs help. Deans' help



3. Beta:My beta is currently asleep but I read it over a couple times and I'm pretty sure there aren't any errors.



4. Jensen doesn't remember. Waking up in a place he doesn't know, surrounded by people he has no idea if he can trust, leaves Jensen feeling vulnerable and alone. But he's not alone, plagued by nightmares of a past he can't recall, the memories are there but just out of reach. But in the end, the struggle to find himself, may be more painful than the not knowing.



5. Summary: When Jon dares Ryan to kiss Brendon during a game of truth or dare, Ryan feels something he isn't supposed to feel. And he won't admit that he feels it, never! Or will he?

Comments

[someblazingstar.livejournal.com]

And he won't admit that he feels it, never! Or will he?

NO. HE WON'T.




...or will he?

(Agree with your tweet. HATE RHETORICAL QUESTIONS.)

Also re #3, argh. Am I alone in also hating people who feel the need to make a big hairy deal about their fic being unbetaed, all "I'm so sorry, my beta is out of town/swamped with other stuff/got eaten by wolves/didn't get it back to me fast enough for my impatient ass"? I've never had a fic beta-read in my life, but I just kind of don't talk about it and no one seems to ever notice or care. Is it just me?

[cimorene]

Well, that's you. There are also the people who DO have it beta read, and yet still post things laden with one or more of the following: typos, Words That Don't Mean What You Think They Mean, incorrect punctuation, dangling or misplaced modifiers, half-rewritten sentences with chunks missing or duplicated or unwittingly juxtaposed.

And of those, some of them apologize for it and some of them throw a fit on the basis of their (possibly imaginary) betas' existence if someone tries to point out the mistakes ("That's so rude! You're trying to usurp my beta's job, and she is totally more awesome than you, except for the part where she completely missed all these truckloads of errors!").

But yeah, disclaiming that you have no beta is both unwise (likely to draw attention to any errors that might possibly have slipped by) and tacky (because it's not like that makes it okay if you've posted something full of mistakes).

[villeinage]

Nonsense, I'm sure no-one would ever take offense on behalf of their (perhaps imaginary betas) to the point of causing wank.

And especially not as part of an anonymous feedback meme.

*coughs to cover giggles, hopes eye-rolling translates onto the page*

Re #2--Yes, Cas needs so much help that one Dean is not enough.

You know, I don't have a problem with more than one of him. He's very easy on the eyes. More is surely better.

[cimorene]

Well, I could enjoy two or even three, but imagine if there were, say, thirty. That might be unnerving.

[someblazingstar.livejournal.com]

Ha, I tried to think of what the hell a person could do with 30 Dean Winchesters and the first thing that popped into my head was "make them answer the phones at my job so my coworkers and I can go on vacation." WHAT.

[cimorene]

Make a synchronized swimming team?

I'd love to see this as a meme. "Post a list of five things you could do with 30 Dean Winchesters."

[someblazingstar.livejournal.com]

Ha ha, that was one of those chicks who got wanked on the Anonymous Feedback meme, wasn't it? "Your fics aren't bad, but they'd be better if you had a beta who knows the difference between 'their' and 'they're'." "OMG HOW DARE YOU!!! MY BETA KNOWS MORE ABOUT WRITING THAN YOU EVER WILL, GRAMMAR NAZI!"

With the beta-read-yet-still-shitty fics, I always have to wonder if the issue is that the betas have figured out that the authors they're reading for are Sensitive Delicate Flowers who will scream and stomp their feet at any hint of real criticism, or if it's just that people are volunteering to read who are just as incompetent as the authors they're reading for. Either way, awesome!

Man, I don't know. When I started writing fic beta readers didn't really exist yet, at least not in my fandom (Vampire Chronicles, a fandom that could have DEFINITELY used a few, but anyway), so the "I have a beta reader, therefore my fic is inherently better even if it's actually a total mess, and I don't have to make an effort to make my fic good or legible because it's the beta's job to fix it" and "I'm going to loudly proclaim that this was not beta-read and therefore people will be more forgiving of my errors, instead of expecting me to get rid of them myself" ideas both elude me. Blah.

[noracharles]

I don't have a beta-reader, and I make sure not to mention it in the header, so as not to call attention to it. I once asked for volunteer beta-readers on a mailing list (rather than guilting a friend into helping me) and got three very kind offers. One added a bunch of errors - no comments, just sent me a new version telling me she'd fixed it, one said it was fine the way it was, and one couldn't understand what I'd written so kind of gave up on commenting.

I don't know why people make a big deal out of not having their stuff beta-read, but some places it's against the rules to post anything that hasn't been, and many places there's an unwritten rule, so I guess they feel they can deflect some of the ire if they apologize in advance? Or maybe some of them are hoping for some kind reader to volunteer?

What really puzzles me is when people are proud of posting something unedited. I think they think it makes them cool and anti-establishment, free-spirited artists in touch with the muse.

[cimorene]

Yes, there's a big difference between the kind of beta-reading a serious writer is talking about for a novel, where presumably they've gotten honest opinions and advice about the plot or characterization, and the kind of "beta" that is required in plebefic communities, where the main purpose is to make sure there are periods, commas, and quotation marks and that someone has run spellcheck. XD

[noracharles]

Yes, I know. I find it very sad. I love beta-reading, since for me it's a creative challenge. It can be really difficult analyzing the fic well enough to put into words how it can be improved, and I love being able to give quality feedback and feel that I helped create a great fic in some way.

Unfortunately some people have been hurt and upset by my constructive criticism, even though they specifically asked for it. Ah well. They'll get over it.

Meanwhile I wish I could find someone to give me concrit. I'm so picky and perfectionist I sabotage myself, and to post anything at all I have to deliberately do it quickly before I can have second thoughts, or edit or improve it in any way. Maybe that's also true for a lot of those people bragging of posting an un-betaed fic?

Regarding pro fic being carefully betaed: I don't believe you. Well, probably a lot of the best authors do have their stuff betaed, and I've sometimes noticed authors thanking their editors or writer's workshop or expert who've fact-checked, but a lot of the books I read, if they've been edited in any way... that's kind of sad, actually.

[cimorene]

but a lot of the books I read, if they've been edited in any way... that's kind of sad, actually.

Yeah, that's why I said serious writers. ;)

[noracharles]

LOL

[cimorene]

Ha ha, that was one of those chicks who got wanked on the Anonymous Feedback meme, wasn't it? "Your fics aren't bad, but they'd be better if you had a beta who knows the difference between 'their' and 'they're'." "OMG HOW DARE YOU!!! MY BETA KNOWS MORE ABOUT WRITING THAN YOU EVER WILL, GRAMMAR NAZI!"

Well, I noticed afterward that it described her perfectly, but actually, the most memorable example of this particular strain of wank in my fandom history was definitely rageprufrock's tantrum in 2005 in which she simultaneously called all of fandom bad people for not giving her more comments, declared her right as an artiste to never respond to feedback, and explained that commenting to point out typos is a personal and grievous insult because it calls the skills of her beta into question. *consults fandom_wank memories* Ah yes, here we are.

Different fandoms definitely have their own distinct sets of norms and expectations re: beta-reading. In the main central strain of media fandom which I'd say traces its ancestry through SGA, Due South, Highlander, and The Sentinel (for the most part), beta-reading is generally a widely-followed practice that everyone just expects everyone else to follow, although it goes from 'unwritten' to 'written' for official occasions like fests and fic exchanges. It's also common practice there to thank your beta readers in the headers, and this probably helped give rise to the apology because people think that Beta: [fill in the blank] is a required part of a header, and it doesn't occur to them that they could just leave the line out. And there are other fandoms - generally the most plebe-intensive ones, like Jpop and band RPS fandoms (distinct from the recently-popular so-called 'bandom' which was actually mostly populated by people who migrated from other, bigger media or RPS fandoms, and not by older band rps fans) - where vast numbers don't use betas at all and many others make a point of advertising that they do as a minimal predictor of quality, since there can be a lot of completely unreadable fiction in these fandoms - from non-native speakers or people who don't know how to use formatting and spellcheckers, for example.

[noracharles]

Wow, I'm disappointed to learn this about rageprufrock. You know, I honestly thought she never had her stuff betaed.

I think you're right about people thinking Beta: is a required part of the header. That makes so much sense!

[torachan]

The commas in #4 are making me read it in a Kirk!voice! D:

[cimorene]

Whereas for me they just cause my brain to have a fatal parsing error and give up so I can't figure out what the fuck it's trying to say at all. I almost tried to diagram it. XD

[thefourthvine]

Summary: Cas needs help. Deans' help

I am totally not up on SPN canon. Am I to understand that in a recent season Dean was cloned, maybe many times? (A six-pack of Deans will probably solve most demon infestations, I am thinking.) Or perhaps another Dean or two arrived from an AU? (The one where Dean is a U.S. Marine! Or the one where Dean is a librarian! Or both, and then there are - oh, god. Fights, probably.)

[cimorene]

http://cimorene.dreamwidth.org/2662870.html SO AHEAD OF YOU. :D