Beta Volunteer Post

[holmesticemods]

"Watson," said he, "if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little over-confident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper 'Norbury' in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you."

— The Adventure of the Yellow Face

Because even Sherlock Holmes sometimes needs someone to look over his work.

If you're available to beta or Britpick for someone, please leave a comment with the following information:

Email: (or other preferred contact method)
Types of fanworks you can beta: (fic, art, graphics, vids, etc.)
Fandoms: (Doyle, BBC, Elementary, 22nd Century, etc.)
Pairings: (it's helpful to name what you are willing AND not willing to work with)
Ratings: (if you will or won't beta explicit sex, graphic violence, etc.)

If you have any other limitations or areas of expertise, please feel free to include them! Suggestions include fic length, time constraints, availability, areas of special knowledge, or particular strengths or weaknesses.

If you need a beta, please check the comments to see if someone is right for you. (Show a care with your anonymity, please, and refrain from leaving public comments that suggest what you're making for the exchange.) If you can't find who you need in the comments, please email the mods at holmesticemods@gmail.com, and we'll help you find someone.


Also! Please let me recommend sherlock60's Round 5 Discussion Posts. scfrankles spent over a year compiling historical linkspams on topics inspired by the original canon stories, and then generously shared what she learned with all of us. I highly recommend the collection for anyone needing inspiration or background for Victorian- or Edwardian-era fanworks!

Comments

[darkrivertempest]

Email: (my user name)[Bad username or site: gmail @ com] Or DM, either one works
Types of fanworks you can beta: Fic
Fandoms: BBC, Richie-Verse, House cross-over, Doyle
Pairings: Sherlock/John, Mycroft/Lestrade, Lestrade/Sherlock (I'll beta most anything if those ships are endgame)
Ratings: Pretty flexible - I won't beta daddy!kink, BDSM, incest or watersports/scat, but otherwise I'm game!

I'm American, but have lived in the UK, and also write for the Harry Potter fandom (so there's a lot of Brit-picking there), and I feel very comfortable with British idioms/slang, etc. I love the Oxford and AP Style comma equally, so the preference is yours. SPAG, continuity, and flow of the story are my strengths. Darker aspects are no problem as far as content.

I have written for the Sherlock fandom... a long time ago, in a galaxy far... very far away, but I'm more than content to beta/read in the fandom these days. I was one of the betas on a piece from last round, The Lying Doctor by Pagimag, if you need a reference. So, if you are interested, drop me a line via DM or email.

Thanks!

[ancientreader]

Contact me by DW message initially.

I can beta fic -- happy to supply whatever level of input, from SPAG to structural advice. I can NYC-pick and although I'm a USian I'm told I have a good ear for British (London) and ACD-ish diction, so though not expert I can help out if you don't have a "real" Britpicker/Victorianpicker. I can supply reliable help with medical questions and also with questions about how hospitals and doctors work, at least in NYC (which is often atypical of the US as a whole).

Fandoms: Try me, though if you need input beyond SPAG the only canons I know well enough are ACD and BBC. The only definite noes are Elementary and Mary Russell. NB that I'm not one of those folks who has every detail of every episode/story stamped on their brain: caveat emptor.

Pairings: Strong preference for happy, sexual, and romantic SH/JW relationship, not too fussed about other friendships/relationships.

I'm fine with explicit sex -- my fics on the AO3 give a pretty good idea of my range. Incest is probably the only common trope that squicks me. As for violence, onscreen torture/mutilation are more than I can handle.

Have probably read all I can read of omegaverse.

Usually I have some time constraints because, ugh, work, so I'm probably not your girl if your fic is 10k words and the deadline is in five days. ;^)

[smallhobbit]

Email: Initially by DM
Types of fanworks you can beta: fic
Fandoms: Doyle, BBC - happy to beta others, but have no particular knowledge
Pairings: No incest, otherwise I'm not worried
Ratings: Graphic sex is okay, but please warn (I'm great at counting limbs!), kinks/violence on an individual basis
I'm a Brit, and happy just to britpick if you have a regular beta. Lots of experience with ACD Holmes. Also, as a Brit of a certain age, I'm used to SPAG.

[sanspatronymic]

Email: DM for my gmail.

Types of fanworks you can beta: Any. Fic, vid, art, whatever. I don't have much technical expertise in terms of viding, but I'm told I have a good eye for visual composition and a mind like a steel trap when it comes to 'other scenes that have that same visual thing you're thinking of'

Fandoms: Most familiar with ACD and adjacent, Victorian-set fandoms (Richie, Granada, etc). Will read anything if you just want an outside perspective. Live in NYC and so very happy to help with Elementary details.

Pairings: Not sold on Mycroft/Lestrade, but I don't have any squicks.

Ratings: Willing to read any rating, including explicit sexual or violent content, non-con/dub-con, etc.

Special Skills Spotting repetitious words/phrases, I've been told I have a good ear for sentence flow, and I WILL go on a 90 minute exploratory Google search to find a relevant fact or visual example (like if you're wondering what the floor plan of a Victorian row house would be, or what sort of furniture was found in a sitting room).

Like most of us, I work full-time, life is busy, etc. But, that said, Tuesdays and Thursdays I always have a chunk of time in the evenings. And if you're really in a bind and just need a SPAG-check two days before the deadline, I got you.

[nottoolateforthegame]

Email: nottoolateforthegame@gmail.com

Types of fanworks you can beta: Probably best suited to beta fic. Happy to look over anything else, but not sure what help I would be with other mediums.

Fandoms: BBC is my go to. But I love Study in Emerald and have read ACD, so I am happy to work with either of those as well. If it’s another verse, I’m happy to beta, but will probably not be your best choice for helping with characterization or verse specific details.

Pairings: Most comfortable/familiar with Sherlock/John (Watson/Holmes) and Mycroft/Lestrade (BBC), but am open to working with any pairing/gen.

Ratings: Any rating is fine.

I work on a chromebook/my phone so Google docs is where I’m at. I am happy to get as involved as you’d like. If you find yourself needing a last minute SPAG, feel free to hit me up.