I've been interested in learning about the process of beta reading, and one thing I haven't seen touched on a lot is the means of communication for talking to betas.

Do you use a rich text editor like Word or Google Docs, adding them as an editor? Or do you simply post the work as you normally would, and communicate with your beta in the comments? Or do you post the work without tags or any way for outsiders to easily access it, and let them comment on it that way?

Or is there some other method you use, or you've heard of others using?

I'm going on a road trip, and I'm interested in fic recommendations. I had a fic in mind to read during the trip, but as I've been reading it, it's become a bit darker than I thought it would be. I may still read it some; it is well-written, but I want to have some backups in case it gets too much and I want to distract myself with something less bloody and grimdark.

Some violence is okay, as long as it isn't graphic or sexual in nature. I prefer something that's at least 15k words in length, preferably a little longer since I would like to finally finish a longer fic.

My main fandoms are Sonic the Hedgehog, Transformers, and Puss in Boots: the Last Wish, though I would be willing to read something from an unfamiliar fandom if it is high fantasy or science fiction related (especially if it focuses on sentient robots/has a well-developed sentient robot)

Here are some of my other fandoms: -Arthurian Mythology -Murder Drones -Record of Lodoss War -Star Trek: the Next Generation -Robotech -Magic Knight Rayearth -Sailor Moon -Almost all Disney/Pixar movies

Self-recs are fine by me :)

Have you ever written or read a fanfic that focuses on OCs and obscure characters? Though OCs can get flak sometimes, they can be great for pre-canon stories where you need to pad out the cast. And obscure characters can be kind of a blank canvas.

Though I've never written something like that, I've been reading a Transformers fic with a cast full of OCs and obscure characters (characters that died on their first appearance, only said a few lines in canon, etc). It focuses on the wife of one villain before canon, back when she was a child.

I loved the main character, but when I tried looking her up, virtually none of her backstory was even on the wiki page, and when I tried looking up some of the other characters, they didn't even have pages. I'm a little disappointed that nearly all of the events won't be referenced in canon, but I'm really impressed with the author's world building.

I always love it when authors put their own spin on an existing world, and I'd love to hear if anyone has read or made any other fics like it. (though it is kind of the point of fanfiction, these authors take it to the next level)

(Sorry if this was a little clunky, or if it's similar to something else. First post and all. 😅)