(no subject)

[the_rck]

I am looking for a beta reader for my Small Fandom Big Bang story. It’s 10200 words, M rated, Chronicles of Amber, Merlin POV, Luke/Merlin, canon divergent AU (from when Merlin was imprisoned in the blue cave), and comes with a wall of warnings: gender fluid Merlin (due to shapeshifting); dubious consent (Merlin sets out to seduce Luke, but Merlin is Luke’s prisoner); threat of forced pregnancy; discussion of death and torture; angst; cousin/cousin sex; bondage; captivity; open ending; first person POV; unreliable narrator; technically adultery (Luke is married to someone he hasn’t seen since they were both children, an arranged marriage of alliance).

I am mostly looking for SPaG at this point, but I wouldn’t mind someone who’s willing to point out plot bobbles/contradictions. Canon knowledge would be a bonus but isn’t required. Scott (who does know the canon) has looked it over, and his only comment was that he thought Merlin was too uncertain about what his plans were.

I’m comfortable enough with what I’ve got that I’ll go forward with only Scott’s beta, but if this is a story that might appeal to anyone, I would appreciate a hand.

Comments

[edenfalling]

How soon would you need the story back? I don't remember canon very well at all (it has been years since I reread the series), but I can do SPaG and general 'does this hang together' comments.

[the_rck]

I'm supposed to be ready to post by the end of the month. I'm not entirely clear what the process is. I know that posting is staggered, but I'm not sure if I'm to post or if the moderators will. If I do, I will have more time to tweak as posting will be staggered, April 4 through April 30.

So maybe the 25th or 26th or even the 27th? I don't think I'd want to go later because of Cordelia having that evaluation for possible surgery on the 30th. If she needs surgery, I'm unlikely to have revision time for a few days after her appointment.

Would two weeks be long enough?

I have the thing in Gdocs. I can also send it in a TextEdit file (.rtf and fine with MSWord but does not play nice with LibreOffice) or a Pages file (.docx). Oh, and I could post it, access locked, on my writing DW account, but that's the most difficult in terms of you making comments.

I think that, in terms of canon knowledge, having a general idea of the structure of the universe and knowing why Brand's son and Corwin's child might have issues based on how their fathers interacted would be enough.

I'm playing fast and loose with Merlin's characterization because I think he lies like a rug in canon* (when he's telling Corwin his story). This version is consistent with the version in the story I posted a couple of weeks back, with Merlin and Caine traveling in Shadow. You gave me a kudo on that, so I'm assuming you read it.

*Canonical Merlin is a little difficult for me to believe in given his backstory, so I just assume that a big part of it is him trying not to look dangerous and him hiding certain things about who/what he is from his Amber relatives, including his father.

[edenfalling]

Gdocs should work, as would anything that converts to MSWord. My email is elizabeth_culmer AT hotmail dot com, and two weeks is more than enough to edit something that's only ~10,000 words. :)

(Yeah, I read the Merlin and Caine fic. I have found your meta theories about Merlin as an unreliable narrator very interesting, since I don't remember thinking much about his personality at the time I read the books, but in retrospect you're right that the image he presents isn't fully consonant with his backstory.)

[the_rck]

Gdocs invitation sent. It's from my wallet name account which I don't think you've seen before-- First name: Anne.

[edenfalling]

I received it! I'll probably start work Tuesday night. :)