Beta reader?

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

Hello kind community members.

I normally blithely post things and let the chips fall (Apologies if that was unmannerly--I happened upon this community after getting hooked on the work of Mice and Random Nexus in Ao3).

I have something in the hopper that's been giving me pause and was wondering if there were any brave souls willing to give it a glance?  It's the sequel to that last 'spyverse' tale (no one dies and the ending is happy). It's longish--about 17,000 words, and any help would be deeply appreciated.

Rummy comment warning: things got a bit out of hand in crack pairing land.  Please be cautious with the links. AND also the lower comments... please keep animals (especially newts) and small children away

Comments

[laeticiav.livejournal.com]

Would one be of use when one has not read the final section of the existing spyverse arc (because one is a total wimp about character death and hasn't yet stuck the courage to the sticky place and chowed down on the necessary bullet). I have read all the others. Of course, if you need someone to say things like "fewer clothing fetishes," "less fluff" or "less smut," I will be about as useful as a penguin at a cricket match.

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

If by 'one' you mean 'maker of the great and wonderful Bertie Seahorse Jr.' then, yes, one would be of use.

This is set about a year after the character death... but it should stand alone. I was wondering if it needed more fluff, fetishes, 'nature study' or 'snuggling' (my characters always get rather soppy) and less intrigue... and if anyone would be put off by the eventual snuggle buddy pairings, as it were.

[laeticiav.livejournal.com]

Sir is too kind :) Of course there is a risk that it might need more aquatic crack mpreg. So many things are lacking in that respect.

Hmm, so I assume it's not Jooster, short of cloning/reanimation/zombies (not that those are necessarily bad things). Please tell me there's not Spussie involved! (I think I just made that up -- it sounds obscene though).
Anyway, I'm happy to take a look. I've only been a Wodehouse convert for about a year, so I can't offer anything like the depth of critique on canon, linguistic appropriateness or period-correct details that others around here can, so it would definitely be worth also finding someone with a fish fed brain brim full of such things.
Do you want to pm it to me or is it easier to do via email?

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

No...you are too kind.

I can pm it to you... want a small chunk first?

PS "Spussie" heh heh...

[laeticiav.livejournal.com]

You can send it in bits or as a whole if the PM system tolerates that kind of behavior :)
Spussie -- the name is as terrible as the concept it represents.

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

Somewhat better than Flooster, however?

[laeticiav.livejournal.com]

Only in that it doesn't involve cruelty to Bertie. Mental image-wise I still find it worse. Perhaps the only thing I can imagine (and why did I have to imagine this?) worse than Spussie would be ... Flagatha. (My mind is a darker place than I knew.)

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

My mental image of Spussie is Gussie cringing on top of the wardrobe while Spode prances about in a toga trying to woo him. Flagatha (http://archiveofourown.org/works/477809) would probably be perfectly cordial and unexciting... OK, perhaps not entirely unexciting... you are possessed of a dark side.

I must confess I find the Stinker-Pinker and Stiffy Bing union to be a bit frightening to think about and they seem to like each other just fine. I always picture them going at it each wearing a purloined policeman's helmet while the dog Bartholomew (in a miniature helmet) worries Stinker's slippers.

[laeticiav.livejournal.com]

Your first sentence there is amazing because it starts off seeming to imply something HORRIBLE ("Gussie cringing on top of") then briefly seems to become less horrific when it reveals that Gussie is cringing on top of the wardrobe, not on top of Spode (bottom!Spode, well, of course) and then becomes terrible once again with the juxtaposition of toga and wooing. Well done. Or not.

... wait, I just clicked on your link. DAMN YOU! DASH IT! You will regret this!

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

As if I did not regret it before i even wrote it down... brrr

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

*clicks link* HUAGH!

Of course, nothing could be worse than the dreaded threesome, Joogatha . . . *shudders self to death*

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

No way. Although I am frightfully sorry about your trauma. Perhaps that little effort just needs to go away?

Curses, dash it.... Joogatha (http://archiveofourown.org/works/477957) Thankfully, this one is a comedy.

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

NO, WHAT HAVE YOU WROUGHT? *dies* I am . . . both delighted and horrified.

Honestly, though, I'm of the opinion that every fandom can do with more horrifying crack pairings (or groupings, in this case?).

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

They do have a certain type of entertainment value.

[laeticiav.livejournal.com]

It has got quite rummy over on AO3 in the comments on your ungodly Flagatha drabble (considerate of us to vomit all over the carpet there and not here though, what?).

[laeticiav.livejournal.com]

And I hadn't even seen your Joogatha... WHY IS THE COW CREAMER DENTED? I don't even.

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

I, for one, appreciate the wit and charm of the above conversation.

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

I really have no idea... it was just there

[laeticiav.livejournal.com]

Spagatha Gussie roleplay Jooster revenge drabble As threatened, this is in retaliation for godsdaisiechain's Flagatha drabble. [Might want to up the post's warning to apply to the comments as well as the links, what?]

Peering through the crack, I saw Spode on all fours, wearing an x-hatch union suit and horn-rimmed glasses. Behind him, Aunt Agatha, armored only in her corset, was fastening some large leather object to the front of that formidable garment.

“What on earth are they doing?” Since I was pressed tightly against his back in the tiny closet, I whispered directly in my man’s ear. “Is that thing shaped like … a newt?”

He hushed me by raising one finger to my lips, and it lingered there.

“Best not to ask, Sir,” he replied as he pushed back against me.

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHAHAHAaugh! *sob* *twitch*

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

That's just wrong... how could you pollute the X-hatch? Besides, it is a truth universally known that Spode's undergarments are floral and/or lace-trimmed silk satin... and wait a minute... are you making Bertie and Jeeves WATCH?!

That's just terrible. *sniff*

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

Are you still appreciating? Or evacuating your newts to safety?

[laeticiav.livejournal.com]

I put the x-hatch to such horrible use just for you personally. But yes, you are quite right, it is actually canon that Spode likes women's lingerie!
Not only are they watching, but note Jeeves's response -- he LIKES it.
I was actually quite impressed with how much wrongness I could bung into a mere 100 words.
Think I'm over it though.
{{shudder}}.

[laeticiav.livejournal.com]

You're welcome :)

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

I think that Roderick Spode would have been able to make a silk satin floral lace-trimmed X-hatch for just such an eventuality.

I do believe, though, that Jeeves does not like it... he's horrified and trying to protect Bertie by distracting him. This one should really go in the hurt/comfort drabbles. Yes, that's my story and I am sticking with it.