in einem thraume, gänzlich mein

As @sonriacat recently pointed out, every writer should have a beta, so this is me looking for one.

Even though I mostly write shallow, pointless smut, I still want to grow as a writer, improve my work, get better at concise and consistent characterization and develop the ability to carry a plot all the way through to its natural resolution.

What I'm looking for:

A native speaker (this is a must, as I need help with the finer points of grammar, phrasing and punctuation).

An honest, informed opinion. I expect my beta to tell me where my writing is weak, where my characterization is sloppy or even completely off the mark. I need them to show me where I should add more detail, infuse more of that backstory which only exists in my head but is necessary at this particular point for things to make sense to the reader. On the other hand, they should keep me from getting too prosy (as I know I tend to do), too lost in detail, and help me find a balance between putting a strong focus on a particular moment and advancing the story.

Plot work. Are there plot holes, inconsistencies, clunky exposition? Does the overall arc make sense, does the resolution feel natural, believable?

POV assistance. I'm a sucker for present tense, with a strong inclination toward second person. Why not get me to try something different, especially if it's in the best interest of the story?

Voice. Help me whip my style into shape. I know there's a lot of room for improvement there.

Patience. I'm not the most prolific of writers, and my output levels often vary strongly. On the upside, I can be made to see sense quite easily.

Persistence. Kick my lazy writing butt, unless I've got a valid excuse for slacking.

I'm usually only actively writing in one fandom at a time - Star Trek: Discovery at the moment - which has a lot to do with my plotting and writing routines.

Right now, I have three active WIPs I would very much appreciate help with:

Take A Devil By The Hands, multi-chaptered, overall plot-arc finished, some fleshing out still in progress.

From A Distance, See Myself Existing. Prequel / backstory to i leave my broken bones in the desert. Very likely to scratch the 10k mark, maybe up to 20k. I'm undecided yet whether to post this as a WIP or in its entirety when it's finished. Overall plot-arc finished.

Deliver, part 3 in the Galathea series. As good as ready for the beta.

If anyone is interested, or knows someone who might be, or could point me somewhere where I might find someone suitable, please let me know.

You can check out my previous work on AO3.

I want a dirty Western Disco AU in which Katrina Cornwell is the badass sheriff in town, and then Gabriel Lorca comes along, the snarky stranger, a wanted man, bad news all around. But he's been wrongly accused, framed with a crime he didn't commit, and he's out for revenge, seeking to clear his name. Once he's managed to convince Katrina of his innocence, they work together, taking names, kicking some serious ass. And then they take the snark and the grit right to the bedroom.

Yes?

Brought to you by I'm A Wanted Man, Royal Deluxe.

My apologies to those waiting for more PrimeGabriel/PrimeKat stuff. I'm working on that, I am.

But there's this thing. A prequel to i leave my broken bones in the desert (PrimeLorca/MirrorCornwell) that just won't leave me alone (and it's not a 100k words, not even close by my current reckoning).

You see, this story ate my mind. It ate my heart, and I've never felt more protective of a fic, a pairing, in all of my fandom years to date.

I'm going to write this, because apparently, no one else will. And I want this story to be told, because I believe in a version of MirrorKatrina who's. Not. Evil. Who's been broken by the system in the shape of one man. Who's still trying to do good wherever she can. Who's fighting to be whole. Who's putting the well-being of others over her own. Who's deserving of love.

Who is, in all aspects that matter, a worthy reflection of Admiral Kat.

It feels so very liberating to know that this is a story I'm telling mostly to myself, because it means I get to be less conservative with it. More experimental.

I have a Thing for broken characters. A crush on stories that go where the show didn't, and never will. That's what I write fic for.

That's what I'm writing this fic for.

The plan is to write chapters for distance alternating with those for take a devil by the hands. The POVs and tones should be different enough for me to pull it off.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Trek: Discovery Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Gabriel Lorca/Mirror Katrina Cornwell, Katrina Cornwell/Gabriel Lorca Characters: Gabriel Lorca, Mirror Katrina Cornwell Additional Tags: S01E14, the war within the war without, Missing Scene, Mirrorverse, Smut, Hurt, Emotional Distance, Dysfunctional Relationship, Trauma, Trust Issues, Dystopia, Freeform, Introspection, Stream of Consciousness Summary:

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mirror. With a prize on his head, Gabriel Lorca is forced into hiding, hanging on to the woman who sprung him from prison.

We can't choose who we love, but we can choose how hard we fight to make things work.  

You take a hold of her wrist, non too lightly, so that if she really wants to break free, she'll have to make a struggle of it.

"Let me go," she says, roughly, her arm stiff and hard with tension, her voice brittle with it.

"No," you say, rubbing your thumb over the incredible softness on the inside of her wrist. Tender, and her mouth twists with it, angry-scared, and she tugs, and then she folds, all of her, inside and out, and she sags back down next to you.

"I'm not yours," she says, harshly, with her eyes closed, her fingers tight and hard and bruising on your arm. You cover the unforgiving curl of her hand with the warm weight of yours, holding on, your fingers working themselves into the spaces between hers.