Hey to all contributors! I made this topic for a very simple reason. When you work your way through a fic and shift it to the 'Recommend For' or 'Recommend Against' folders, it struck me that it would be wise to state your reasons for doing so. So yeah, this is for anyone of the Contributor status who has a statement to make about the stories they are reviewing. Let's try to keep the side chatter to a minimum please.

Assassin's Creed: Musical Overture
Amount Read: Through Chapter 3 (~20K Words)
Rating: Against
Why: I am not terribly familiar with the AC franchise, so I have no idea if this is more original or just a plot swap with ponies. It is well written on the spelling/grammar conditions, with only minor errors present. What bothers me, however, is how disconnected the story feels. The story and the author's personal comments suggests that they really do not know where their plot is going, and are trying to add many OC's to the mix to keep the story afloat. A good story should stand on its own, and one that needs a booster shot from fans is not meeting that requirement. I think there is a good story in there somewhere, but it really needs a coat of spit and polish.

One Winged Alicorn
Amount Read: Through Chapter 3 (~12K Words)
Rating: Against
Why: The characterization is good, the spelling and grammar are decent, but one thing gets me. The plot is literally pulled straight from Dragon Ball. It's some weird combination of the Buu/Omega Shenron arcs, but it is incredibly obvious. I think my suspension of disbelief ran away when they suggested to gather the Harmony of the entire planet to fight the new chaos enemy that ate Discord and absorbed his powers.

More to come later!
-Lumino

Hmm, i wonder you could check out mines.

Let's try to keep the side chatter to a minimum please.

Trials of the Republic:
Amount Read: First Chapter (~1000 words)
Rating: Against
Why: NUMEROUS spelling and grammar errors in the first chapter. Two word long sentences, the start of sentences not capitalized, and then a plethora of more advanced problems. I can usually overlook the advanced problem if the basics are done right, but this one pushes that button quickly.

The Frozen North
Amount Read: First Two Chapters full (~6000 words), skimmed the rest.
Rating: For
Why: Yes it is clop. But it is slow clop. It leads up very nicely, and is an excellent take of a TwiShy relationship. The relationship is the central focus of the story, but the characters are not sacrificed for the smut. It feels real, believable, and if I were a fan of this pairing I could see myself really enjoying the fic. To spite my own preference, this one is, without a doubt, worthy.

1863966
You rock, LZ! If I may make a request of you (and other contributors), though, could you include links to the stories in question in the future? Makes it easier to refer back to the stories after they've been sorted or rejected.

1864168
I actually filed Frozen North under "Romance". As you said, the relationship is the central focus; also, the sex is "off-camera", so it's certainly not graphic enough to count as clop. But yes, it has been approved.

1863966 I'm glad you pointed this out to me. (I'm the author of Assassin's Creed: Musical Overture.) It is so hard to find some honest constructive criticism nowadays. Thank you.

I am working on an actual plot. You were right in saying that as is, the story kind of floats with characters. However, beyond chapter 3 I am now working on the actual plot.

Seriously, I'm glad someone else noticed this other than me. I'll work hard to see if I can change your opinion!

Precursors
Amount Read: Four Chapters (~15K Words)
Rating: For
Why: This is a huge story, and I will admit to barely having scratched the surface on it. However, as I see it is well written, and the Human OC present in it does not seem like an author avatar, nor a Sue. After reading the first four chapters, I have no reason to think it would suddenly drop off for the remainder of the story. The characters are consistent, the plot is original and the pacing is well done.

Quest For Harmony
Amount Read: Three Chapters (~4K Words)
Rating: Against
Why: The author pretty much admits to the fact that this story was a massive case of not knowing when to end. No chapter exceeded 2.5K words in length, which raises some major flags to me as well. Over a hundred and fifty chapters, bringing up random plot points and dancing all over the place. The writer has promise, but this story lacked focus.

1865402
You're a good man, Charlie Brown. A brave one, too -- even knowing that I only needed to read a representative sample, i've been staying away from 200K+ word fics like the one above. And I believe I see what you mean in the comment section: someone posts their disappointment about it being "almost done"... back in Chapter 81. Not a good sign.

The Eternal Gift
Amount Read: All
Rating: For
Why: I saw and loved this one well before I found this group (My comment is still on the front page!). That said, it is a simple and lovely little story on the pains of living forever, when nobody else around you does. I think the ending was a little sloppy, but it is one trip up in a story that was otherwise excellent.

That Deep, Romantic Chasm
Amount Read: All
Rating: For
Why: A basic 'pair everyone' story. It has it's flaws (some of the ponies act exceedingly out of character at times, especially near the start), however it comes together soon enough and turns into a good story. I will admit that the hostility of some characters (Like AJ or the Cakes) really pushed my suspension of disbelief on this one. I am for it, but I could understand an argument being made for Against.

EDIT: 1865659

Hah, thanks. It was next on the list, and I figured I'd give it a general look. Man I was not looking forward to read it though, freaking HUUUUGE.

I, apparently, dunno when to quit.

Repercussions
Amount Read: 3 Chapters.(~20K)
Rating: For
Why: Whoa man, the literal definition of epic. The story is paced phenomenally well, the characters are fleshed out, and it is actually an incredibly interesting story. The first three chapters hooked me clean, and I have a feeling I'll be reading the rest of it over time. I fully support this one.

Going through some One Shots now, let's see what we can clean up.

Discord's Past
Verdict: Against
Why: Story is all over the place. It drifts in and out of focus, as well as tense. Some small amount of spelling and grammar errors pretty much nail the coffin. It's an interesting idea, but it doesn't seem to fit the character right. He may not have murdered, but he was downright malicious is his appearances. The story kind of makes light of it.

Drowned
Verdict: Against
Why: Not to be rude, but why was this even submitted? Loads of spelling/grammar errors, just a bad design, guh. No way.

Changing Destiny
Verdict: On The Fence.
Why: It is... normal. The fic isn't bad, but it isn't particularly gripping either. I couldn't really find problems with it, but the story didn't really entice me either. I'm not too sure on what to do with this one, so I'll just leave it where it is for now.

Crimson Cough
*NOTE* This was noted by a Moderator for being gruesome enough to require a Gore tag, so I am going to go ahead and say it's gonna fail by the gore rule.
After a quick read, yeah I would say that stands.
Verdict: Against

Misery
Verdict: Against
Why: Story is really short, with no major developments yet. The chapters are very short, yet the author has not updated in over three months. I have reason to believe the story has been discontinued. If they continue with it, it could possibly be a candidate for the Library.

1867710
I concur with all your "Against" verdicts, and I'm also throwing your neutral opinion into the same pile. That particular writer seems to have a particular talent for run-on sentences.

1863966

I can give approval to this

1863966>>1867816

I very much approve of this as well, as we really did need a proper process for this. It'll also make it a lot easier to keep track of which contributors I should be promoting to admin.

Sorry for not responding to your last pm, btw. hadn't quite had a chance yet...

--arcum42

1867963

No big deal! I was just impatient and decided to get to work. You should ask my proofreaders, my impatience is the stuff of legends.

Anyway, I am happy to help.
-Lumino

Ya know, I had an awesome post typed up, and then closed the window and lost it all. I'll outline it here.

Used Up. It has the beginnings of a good story, but the lack of content gives me pause. Nothing wrong with it, per say, but there is not enough there to judge it on. Resubmit when it has more content.

Reject.

The Dancer. Almost a year since the last update, abandoned.

Reject.

How Daft Punk Saved Equestria. Appears discontinued as well. Also, nothing in the story really stands out to me.

Reject.

Broken-Hearted Warrior. Very small amount currently present, OC seems at risk of being a Stu. Resubmit when more of it is published.

Reject.

Sorry for the really small reviews, but with the exception of Warrior and Used Up, most of em didn't need a long review. I feel those stories could be good, but the author was in a rush to submit it.

-Lumino

1880879
Y'know, I've been a Tron fan since the original movie came out (yes, I'm old), and all I know from Daft Punk is that they did some pretty cool music for the sequel. I've been hoping like hell someone else would tackle that fic, 'cause I figured I would be unable to make heads or tails of it.

Anyhoo, all of that sounds reasonable. Off to the chopping block they go...

1880879

So just resubmit Used Up once I've added a few more chapters? Erm, how many more chapters do you need? I've already started on the plot, and though it's not at its most exciting peak yet, this will be a fairly short fanfic with long chapters. What do you consider "enough content?"

1881584

I am, apparently, not the right one to ask about that. Your story should be in the process of being looked at again as we speak.

And, for the record, I did enjoy reading your story. The issue I had with it was it was introducing a lot of new stuff, and without any of the series characters to hang on to, it is difficult to gauge if it was going to go anywhere or not. I had a good feeling about it, but making decisions on a gut feeling usually leads me to err on the side of caution.

All in all, Darkshadow said he wished to look over fics I recommended against for this reason, so hope is not yet lost.

-Lumino

1881617

Alright, thank you. Your reasons are valid; this appears to be an alicorn OC with her own kingdom. I can understand why people would be confused or wouldn't get how this is show-based.

SPOILER ALERT: Chroma becomes Chrysalis and the citizens of her kingdom the first Changeling hive.

So that's what I'm leading up to. I understand your reasoning, and I'm glad it's being looked over again.

I know I'm not actually a person who works on this, but I decided to give a verdict anyway.

Solitary Pinion

Amount Read: All
Rating: Reject
Why: The story has 9.2K to tell a story, but all it covers is: Human finds mirror in haunted house. Human gets sucked into mirror. Human sucks at being a pony. Human ends up in hospital.
Also, the main character seems very, VERY, VERY Moe, with no real defining characteristics.

1912537

We no longer have active contributors (now that I have been promoted), so if you actually want to do the job you should talk to Arcum. I'm sure we'd all welcome the help.

As an FYI, we normally do not post our rejections in their comments. It's just pretty rude to fill their comment page with it. You can certainly leave a comment, but unless you are an Admin accepting it, you should probably not do it in the manner in which you did.

-Lumino

1913955 If I do it, can I put that one into the "Problematic" folder?

1914369

No need, it's already been rejected. But still, get official permission from Arc before you do anything like that. Better safe then sorry, yeah?

-Lumino

1913955 Oh, and by the way, the author in this case didn't even know this group existed.

1914436

I did see, and once again you need to chill out. That is not the kind of image we want to show to people about this group. If you must be cynical and rude, keep it on THESE forums, not on another author's story.

I may not like his story, but that is no reason for people to give him attitude about it.

-Lumino

1914450 I was just saying that was the best possible mistake of that kind I could have made.
I won't do it again.

1914462

Leave rejecting and giving verdicts to people who are actually admins or contributors. Stepping out of bounds could cause some trouble.

1925575
Tales from Canterlot High #40: PETAshy
by Chelis

Sequel rule. reject.
Is this OK?

2001364

Look I know you are trying to help but this thread is for ACTIVE contributors only . You are not a contributor therefore it is not your job to do this. Please do not keep doing this unless you get contributor status

2001379 Well can I become one?

2001400

Not my say only arcum42 promotes people to contributor

2001400

I'm not ashamed to say, my vote would be for no. You don't have the professionalism or etiquette that I would associate with a good reviewer. You are reading peoples dreams here (did I romanticize that enough?). Sometimes we need to be rude, to rip something apart for the poorly written story it is, but there is a fine line from scathing critique and just being rude. A line, from what I have seen, you have blurred with alarming frequency.

-Lumino

2001612 It violates a hard rule.
There is no way for that story to pass unless the original comes in.
That's the rule, is it not?

2001612

Thanks for putting my thoughts into words LZ. Clearly you have more plates then I do .

2001633

Seriously I'm gonna go back to the original point of all this. You are not a Contributor or an Admin. Worrying about fic approval is not something you are associated with. That is mine, 2001612's, and all the other admins and contributors jobs. Please stop trying to do things you shouldn't be doing

2004534

There is a reason my avatar is a villain. I like being the bad guy sometimes, cause the bad guy gets shit done.

:D

-Lumino

2001612>>2004534

I also take my other admins views into account when promoting people to contributor or admin. If several of my admins don't feel someone should be a good fit, while I could add them anyways, I'm not likely to.

Especially when I already felt compelled to make apologies for their behavior at one point...

--arcum42

2004624

Sorry Today wasn't a very good day today and my mood kind of carried over into this

2004632

That's all right. I really probably should have somewhere for people to apply to be a contributor and some sort of standards for who gets in, to be honest, rather then just winging it every time.

I'm rather glad the person whose fic had that rejection posted in the comments was amiable and somewhat bemused by the whole thing. Posting rejections in fic comments would be far closer to the Train Wreck Explorers then I'd like to get...

--arcum42

2004632
I think he was saying he had to apologize for Romaji already, which was not in R's favor...

2004639

We could do a thread with like an application they need to fill out. I could drum something up tomorrow and send it your way for approval

2004652

Awe okay then

2004652>>2004663

Yes, I'd rather not we be known as the group that sends you unsolicited rejections on your fanfiction...

2004661
Might not be a bad idea, if you feel inspired. I'm not sure if we need more contributors right now or not, but wouldn't hurt.

Of course, I do occasionally just mark people that I feel are really good authors as contributors, like bookplayer. I don't really expect them to put much in because they didn't volunteer. I should make a list of them somewhere, I suppose.

--arcum42

2004669

Yeah I can come up with something to tomorrow in my spare time and I'll send it to you. It'll be really simple.

2001633
Turns out it was the first story in the series. Titles can be misleading.

2020071
And with that, I am never posting my opinion again.