Is there a beta in the house?
I'm in the market for a beta who doesn't mind a little slash (H/W). I've worked with a beta before but not too extensively, and my writing has been crappy of late, so I'm going to try this beta thing again. The fic in question is one I'm going to try to write most or all of before I start posting, but I'm so used to writing WIPs and getting chapter-by-chapter feedback that I feel a bit lost right now, having written about 5,000 words in a vacuum. I need help with characterization more than anything else.

More below.



Premise: An accident in the family forces House to deal with his father. H/W established relationship. AU. Rating: T+ (some language and references to sex...an M chapter is possible). Length: will be 20,000+ words. This will be an angsty, angry fic given the plot, but I always like to work in moments of levity too. Knowing the way I write, this might take two months to complete (though I hope it doesn't take that long).

The main difficulty I'm having is that this fic is set about a year and a half in the future (starting at the end of "Sex Kills") during which our beloved fellows have been together. I've written in a few minor character changes that I hope would be believable given the impact a 1 1/2 year committed romantic relationship would have on two people, but I'm just not sure. Also, most or all of this fic will take place out of PPTH and New Jersey itself, and will involve an examination of House's relationship with his father. Stacy and Mark might show up. It's not too much like anything I've written before, hence my uncertainty.

Here's a sample:

[Set up: Saturday. House has a cold. Wilson has left to play tennis, instructing House to feed Steve McQueen, who has gotten pretty old for a rat.]

Rolling off the couch, House limped to the spare room and opened Steve’s cage, offering him his left hand. Steve ran up his arm and perched on his shoulder. House carried him to the kitchen and together they surveyed the fridge.

Steve squeaked eagerly as House fished out a Budweiser.

“Not for you,” House said to him.

He opened a cabinet and collected a can of roasted peanuts.

“This is for you,” he explained, holding the can up.

Steve squeaked in earnest.

“Settle down, settle down,” House muttered. “I know he feeds you.”

House carried the beer, peanuts, and rodent back to the couch and sat down with a sneeze. Steve squeaked in fright.

“Sorry,” House mumbled, wiping his nose with his hand.

He gave the rat a peanut first, then twisted the top off of his beer and took a deep drink with a sigh.

“Kind of nice when mommy isn’t here, isn’t it?” he said to the rat.

Steve offered no reply, too busy with the peanut.

“Forty bucks says we beat the Boilermakers by ten,” he said as he gave the rat another peanut. “You in?”

Steve took the peanut without a word while House watched him.

“I thought you’d say that.”

He drank in silence, stuffing the occasional handful of peanuts in his mouth between feeding Steve.

“Their quarterback’s no good out of the shotgun,” he said as a way of shifting the subject. He glanced at the rat. “You know,” he began, “it’s time for another round of labs, but you’re getting up there, old man. Your fur’s gotten grey. Falling out in places. You sleep all the time. Barely use your wheel at all anymore. You’ve gotten fat, you know. You’re at least twelve ounces overweight. I suppose that’s partly my fault, but that last girlfriend I brought you—you didn’t even touch her. It’s not like I’m not trying.”

He offered Steve another peanut and watched him gnaw on it.

“It hasn’t been a bad life, though, has it? Would you really be better off if I’d left you there, soaking up those carcinogens?” He nibbled a peanut himself. “Bet she still smokes sometimes.”

Steve squeaked and lumbered down his chest to rest on his leg. House looked down at him.

“You don’t want any more labs, do you? Ready to die with dignity?”

Steve rolled onto his back and House smiled and scratched his belly with a finger.

“Of course you are.”


That's not too representative but I really like it and thought it would be the best scene to share right now.

I guess...please reply here if you'd be interested...? (Going to look up the rules for this again.) Thanks very much, to both the comm leaders and to anyone who replies.