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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,168
Top Banana
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OP
Top Banana
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,168 |
Not sure if I should post this, but here goes... and I can always blame Sara. <g> A friend of mine is in a Harry Potter fandom, and I always notice the different terms she uses. Like, what we call a vignette, she calls a one-shot (i.e, one chapter story). Anyway, I was going through the terminology in her fandom, just because I thought it was really interesting how similar and yet different it can be, and then I googled for "beta readers." In the general Google, not just HP. <g> And I came up with this. <g> This is from a Star Wars fandom, which apparently also has a Beta Reader Appreciation Day, though theirs is October 13th, not December 1st. Anyway, someone from the fandom wrote this for their BRs. <g> No copyright infringment intended. The page is here . Threes: The Beta Version
Kathleen Dailey
In honor of Beta Reader Appreciation Day, October 13, 2000. With thanks and apologies to Mercedes Lackey, Leslie Fish, and the 3,734 people who've already filked "Threes" in every fandom, genre, and profession. Sing along, folks--y'all know the tune and the scansion.
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Deep inside the manuscript,
Miles from real life's call,
The beta goes a-travelling,
To starship, keep, and hall:
Armed with pencil bluer than
The bluest lake or sky,
"Tracking changes" software, and
Her keen all-seeing eye.
Three things betas save us from:
The dreaded "told not shown,"
The tenses mixed without intent,
The scene that's not our own.
Little does the beta care
For sleep or drink or food:
She shepherds us through case and clause
And the subjunctive mood.
Oh, fandoms may grow cold and dark,
And Muses turn their backs:
The beta reader buckles down
And covers all our tracks.
Three things are most perilous:
A blond-haired golden Kirk
A weepy, girly Mr. Spock
A villain who's a jerk.
On newsgroups and on lists we post
Our newly minted fics
With pounding hearts we steel ourselves
For readers' stones and sticks:
And when the praise is heaped upon
Our efforts brave and bright,
We sing our betas' glories
Throughout the starstruck night.
Of three things be wary:
The dangler unattached
The adverbs that proliferate
The howlers we can't catch.
Oh, all you beta readers
Standing close at hand
Who lay aside your own fine work
To help us understand
The truth about the story,
And the poem, and the song--
Blessings, peace, and joy to you.
Prosper and live long!
Three things trust above all else:
The Muse who's never lied
The character who speaks to you
The beta at your side. Julie <g>
Mulder: Imagine if you could come back and take out five people who had caused you to suffer. Who would they be?
Scully: I only get five?
Mulder: I remembered your birthday this year, didn't I, Scully?
(The X-Files)
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,587
Merriwether
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Merriwether
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,587 |
 Awesome find, Julie.
Do you know the most surprising thing about divorce? It doesn't actually kill you, like a bullet to the heart or a head-on car wreck. It should. When someone you've promised to cherish till death do you part says, "I never loved you," it should kill you instantly.
- Under the Tuscan Sun
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 454
Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 454 |
With pounding hearts we steel ourselves
For readers' stones and sticks:
And when the praise is heaped upon
Our efforts brave and bright,
We sing our betas' glories
Throughout the starstruck night. So true, so true!  Thanks for sharing this find, it's a real gem. I read it with a big smile on my face. 
Lois: Well, I like my quirks. I think they make me unique.
Clark: You certainly are unique.
Clark: You're high maintenance, you know that?
Lois: But I'm worth it!
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,761
Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,761 |
Nice!! See ya, AnnaBtG.
What we've got here is failure to communicate...
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,587
Merriwether
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Merriwether
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,587 |
I sent FDK to Kathleen, and she helped me find the mp3 to the original filk (as I didn't know the tune). You can find it here .
Do you know the most surprising thing about divorce? It doesn't actually kill you, like a bullet to the heart or a head-on car wreck. It should. When someone you've promised to cherish till death do you part says, "I never loved you," it should kill you instantly.
- Under the Tuscan Sun
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 484
Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 484 |
Threes!  I can say that I've actually read the original tale and ballad. Good stuff (particularly "three things never anger or you will not live for long: a wolf with cubs, a man with power, and a woman's sense of wrong"). Has anyone created an L&C version?
Don't point. You make holes in the air and the faeries escape.
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