Machete beta reading
From Fan History Wiki
By 2004, a number of X-Files fan fiction writers who were part of the “Yes Virginia” group of fan fiction authors had migrated to other fandoms. Some examples of this migration included Harry Potter with the author S.E. Parsons, Lord of the Rings with the author M. Sebasky, West Wing with the authors Sabine, Punk, and CazQ, Stargate with Cofax and Minnow, Farscape with the authors Cofax, Fialka, Sab and Pene, Sports Night with the authors Sabine and Punk, Smallville with the author Punk, and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer/Angel with the authors August/Unwinding, Minnow and M. Sebasky. As they migrated, they took their traditions of machete beta reading with them.
The term "machete beta" was coined by fan fiction writer Cofax while betaing the M. Sebasky story, "Blood Valentine." Machete beta involved tag-team line-by-line detailed literary criticism of all aspects of a story from actual sentence construction to characterization and plot line development. This form of beta was offered as a legitimate aid in creating tighter, better product. Hallmarks include humor, destruction of all adverbs, detailed criticism and in-depth discussion of goatees.
