Beta Bio: general description as a beta reader
I am a longtime member of this site who specializes in the world of Neon Genesis Evangelion. I am a bit of a nit-picker when it comes to characterization and plotting, and I dislike Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters - a LOT. I love writers who can take the characters from NGE and put them in new, challenging situations without significantly altering their characters (although characterization that *gradually* evolves from canon can sometimes make for some of the best stories). All criticism will be of the constructive and supportive nature, with an eye on helping to make your writing as good as it can be. I read each submission carefully, and will offer my honest thoughts on what I think works well, and also what I feel may be more challenging for your readers. If you don't mind being asked a lot of questions about your work and being constantly asked to justify your characters' motivations and your plot devices, then I would love to read your stories and give you my thoughts. |
My Strengths: beta, writing, or reading strengths
Characterization is my number one focus when writing for NGE. The dynamic between the main characters of this series is really the engine that drives the story, and many EVA fanfics fail when their authors stray too far from this balance. I try very hard in my writing to stick as close to the characters as possible, as I prefer to see the way they react to different circumstances, rather than just changing their characters to better suit the story, which in my opinion is lazy writing. If you have a story where one or more of the characters is significantly OOC vs. canon and you want me to review it, you'd better have a REALLY good explanation for the change, or I won't bother reading it. "What would Anno think of this" is something I ask myself a lot when writing for the characters of NGE, especially for the First, Second, and Third Children. I don't expect everyone to follow this maxim, but I've found it works well for me, and it's how I tend to look at EVA stories from other authors as well. Plotting is also something I spend a lot of time on. All good stories have a beginning, middle, and end (please don't me about "Godchild!") and I don't like stories that leave plot holes or hanging threads. I try to wrap up a story so that all of the material I have covered throughout the piece has been resolved in a way that makes sense (I don't always succeed, but I try). Sometimes this is very difficult, but the extra effort can be the difference between a good story and an average one. If I notice something that appears to have been forgotten or has been ignored, I'll ask you what you intend to do about it. |
My Weaknesses: beta, writing, or reading weaknesses
I tend to work on a chapter until I feel that the chapter is done. In some cases, this means 1500 - 2000 words. Sometimes, it means 10,000 - or more! So yeah, managing chapter length is something I need to work on, but I actually don't mind reading longer chapters as long as the pacing, plot, and characterization are keeping me engaged in the story. I like chapters to have a resolution that makes sense for that segment of the story, so if it takes you 10K words to get it there, that's fine by me, but if you have a longish chapter that has a few obvious "breaks" in the narrative, I might suggest splitting it into two (or more) chapters. But sometimes, that's hard advice to take, especially for me! I'm also admittedly somewhat biased against characterizations that are, in my opinion, too far OOC. Again, if you can explain the change to my satisfaction, I'll roll with it and see where it goes, but if it's your feeling that Shinji is too much of a wimp in the series so in your story, you're going to Gary Stu him so that he's now a badass mack daddy with a bomb car and ladies swooning over him, you're really not going to like what I have to say about it. Hideaki Anno is a multimillionaire and we're writing fanfics for *checks notes* nothing, so maybe he knows a little more about characterization than most of us do. ;-) Where you take the characters is up to you as the author, but I think it's important to also be mindful of and to respect where they've come from. |
Preferred: types of stories I prefer over others
Anything Evangelion. S/R is kind of my thing, but at the end of the day, a good, solid story with honest, believable characterization, no matter which specific characters you've chosen to spotlight, will always catch my attention. |
Would Rather Not: I do not beta for these stories
Anything not Evangelion. :-) Not really a big fan of lemon, either, to be honest. I don't mind, erm, *romantic* scenes and stories as long as they are handled tastefully, but if you have a XXX-rated Fuyutsuki/Pen Pen ship that you need a beta for, I'm definitely NOT your guy... |
