It's always been our intent with this group to find and organize the best quality AppleDash fics out there, while providing a place for fans of AppleDash to gather, share art and links, and have fun. When DbzOrDie and I started this group, we dreamed that someday it would be this big and active, but it seemed overly ambitious to prepare for that.

Well, the day has come, and we appreciate each and every AppleDash fan that participates here. But our original goal of quality control and organization is a lot harder these days, with so many members, and the problem of people giving automatic thumbs down making using ratings as guidelines not-so-useful.

We've decided to move to a new model, where anyone who's a member of the group can add AppleDash fics to the Main folder, and a group of contributors can go through those and organize the fics into the correct folder.

We would appreciate it if each and every one of you keeps your eyes peeled for fics about Applejack and Rainbow Dash. We have folders for romance, non-romance (friendshipping or one sided love), NSFW, fics that feature AppleDash romance in the background, fics that contain a chapter focused on AppleDash, Humanized fics. . . pretty much any good fic about Applejack and Rainbow Dash's relationship to each other belongs in here somewhere.

Keep quality in mind. We aren't looking for every single AppleDash fic out there, there's actually another Appledash group for that. We also aren't EqD here. We're just looking for fics where the spelling, grammar, and characterization are good enough that it's fun to read. Ratings are sometimes a good sign of this, but we don't turn away good fics with bad ratings.

When you find a fic, it goes into the Main folder. From there our team of contributors will decide where it belongs, and hopefully delete it from the Main folder once it's been sorted.

Those contributors (who are all just now finding this out) are DbzOrDie, bookplayer, Tchernobog, KrazyTheFox, Lycan_01, Jackie, Roughhouse, CommissarAJ, Rangelost, First_Down, Rated PonyStar, Callisto, BronyNeumo, Posted, and Knighty. (And probably some people I forgot to add here.)

This is not an elite team of judges. This is just a collection of users who are either active on the forums, AppleDash authors who know their stuff, or Knighty. (Because, yeah, I'm not going to let Knighty add fics if he wants.) I just wanted to make sure that more than just mods can do the job, because we really want to make sure you get all the good AppleDash out there!

Contributors: We are not looking for flawless fics, just ones where nothing is bad enough to be distracting. The previous guidelines still stand:

We try to make sure all the fics we add are quality, and a good sign of that is if there are a lot more thumbs up than thumbs down. That isn't always the case, sometimes people will thumbs down for stupid reasons and some fics just didn't get a lot of ratings at all. In those cases, take a really good look at the fic and the comments. Are there a lot of spelling or grammar problems? Are the characters out of character? Are people pointing out some glaring problem in the comments? If the answers to all of those things are "no," go ahead and add it.

Traditionally we sort each fic into one folder. If you really think a fic belongs in more than one, of have any other concerns about a fic, go ahead and ask about it on the thread Discussion Thread: fics allowed in here.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask below!

Ooh! That's a sexy little "promotion" there. A bright and shiny plus!

As long as it is easy enough to find some good, decent quality stories through here, thats all that matters to me. If this will help with making finding those stories easier, I am all for it!

Now that the process is somewhat locked down, are you going to add a best of the best folder?

673399
I don't think this is a good idea. First, because "Best" is relative, and second, because Tchernobog does not need more achievements to stroke his ego.

Will any fictions remain in the main folder? I'd hate for a writer to get discouraged that their beloved AppleDash didn't qualify. Their love is real! Even if the words have a hard time saying it.

How about fics that are locked or require a password?

673460
But I do!

673564
That isn't a bad idea. I'll let DbzOrDie and Tchernobog weigh in on it, though.

673580
They can't go in a folder, because the rest of us can't read them yet, so they don't really need to be organized.

673768
I'm not so sure about it. You'd have to keep the bad AND the HORRIBLE fics in it as well

Yay, I'm a contributor!

673399
Good ide-

673460
Dangit!

673768

I'd... be hesitant about that. As dbz said, those that aren't really that good would stay as well, and since we're looking for quality that kind agoes against what we'd be wanting o.O

673850>>673564>>673785
My first thought was along the lines of CalmNQuiet, that if we have a folder separate from the moderated folders, it wouldn't hurt to leave the not-so-good fics in there, since people could turn to the organized folders for the approved fics, and it might make the authors feel a little better. That was where I was coming from.

My second thought, though, is whether it would make a difference to that author to be told, basically, your fic isn't good enough for the good folders, so it can stay in the not-so-good folder. We nixed the idea of having a folder for "bad fics" toward the beginning of the group, because we found it more insulting than just not allowing them in the group, and I'm inclined to think that's what the Main folder would become in this case.

Maybe better to just delete them. If the authors would like to improve them and resubmit, I for one would be happy to point them toward resources to help.

673866
Deleting and asking to resubmit does sound better!

673866 This is exactly what I was hoping for. Writing can be very soul-wrenching at times. Seeing your story stuck in limbo in an un-sorted folder can be very rough on morale. Removing the story, offering support, with the option to re-submit in the future sounds much more appealing.

I'd hate for an AppleDash to be left in the dust just because it's a little rough around the edges.

^_^; My name is in the contributors? I rarely read other fanfics... >_< But okay!

674191
And I draw ponies. I don't read fan fictions, let alone write them. I don't even speak English. I can't even read! I'm illiterate!

But, you know, lurking on forums apparently is relevant.

673768 So are they automatically removed from the folders? And is it possible to contact the author and ask if the public can view it?

674201>>674191
Lurking is relevant, as writing really high quality fics.

The idea isn't "these are people who should be looking for fics" so much as "these are people we know will make sure they understand the rules, so if they want to add fics, we know they'll be the kind of fics we're looking for."

This list will be expanded, as people join in the forums or we get to know them other ways. The list there was just me going through the complete members list and adding anyone who I figured we could trust to not add not-so-good fics.

674264
Of course. Anything an author makes available to the public can go in a folder, as long as it belongs there. Though if it's unsubmitted I'd still ask the authors permission. They might not be done with editing.

I for one wouldn't mind quality control since DA has no quality control on their appledash groups because they allow stories on there with HORRIFIC grammar Look i am not asking for perfect grammar i just want something that wont make my eyes bleed when i try to read it.

Just so I know... am I a contributor or not? I don't mind helping at all with reading/accepting/sorting, but I need to be able to do so before I can actually do so.

I'm not going to be insulted if there was a determination made not to add me since I'm not that active on the forums and I'm not a true AppleDasher in the sense of it being my OTP or somesuch. I just would like to know if I'm going to help here or not. Thank you.

676918
You're a contributor, whether you like it or not.

All that means is that if you read any AppleDash fic, and it's good, you can add it directly to the folders. And if you feel like it, from time to time you can take a look in the main folder, and if there's anything there you can decide if it meets our requirement of being at least "good." If it's good, it goes in one of the folders, and if not, you can delete it (and send a nice note explaining why, at your discretion.)

I'll probably end up adding the least, what with me and my high standards when reading

677466
I can already see your message to the author :)

Your story wasn't accepted because of reason:
impossible high standards

677466>>677481
I'd just like to mention that if anyone does send notes, keep them short and polite. The author might not have submitted the story themselves, so they might look at it and go "Who are these jerks, and why should I care if my story wasn't added to their group?"

Hmm, sounds like a good call, though I'm not sure if should ask what makes a member become a contributor and/or how you know if someone's lurking (if they do nothing to comment on threads like this one or don't know who submits stories to be added to this group). Not that I'm looking to become one even if AppleDash is my OTP for those two ponies (and may write a few stories with it referenced (probably not so much this) or actually doing as such), I guess thanks to BronyNeumo's series that I first read on Deviantart (thanks to finding it on EqD). And dunno if should ask why you said fics with a chapter of AppleDash, when think it would/should be more, as one of the folders is labeled AppleDash chapters, not AppleDash chapter.

May have a few in faves/tracks that actually haven't been submitted yet, even though so far, already saw one that I have read that did have AppleDash (but didn't forcus on it), has already been submitted. But need to re-read to see if quality's good enough, even though I don't think it was that bad, since it's been a while.

698693
Let's see:
How someone becomes a contributor: Basically, they have to interact with me, DbzOrDie, or Tchernobog enough that we know they can recognize a quality fic. This can be on the threads here, on our blogs, anywhere you might talk to people.

Lurkers: There could easily be lurkers we don't know about, who would make fine contributors. But unless we've spoken to them, we don't know it.
In terms of knowing to put things into the main folder, I'm figuring that if they didn't read the rules here that say that, they probably also didn't read the rules about what the folders are for, or about quality control. So in that case they shouldn't be adding things anyway.

The AppleDash Chapters folder: This folder is for those fics where an author had included a bunch of different stories published as one fic, even though they aren't connected. If one of those stories is AppleDash, we want that fic in here, but it doesn't make sense to put it in the romance folder when it's only one chapter.

And finally, if you're not sure about the quality of a fic, just go ahead and add it to the main folder. We can make a decision if you aren't sure.

698937
Well, after searching through current list of 233 faves/tracks (if number is even totally accurate, at least according to current # on my page for Compact View), I do see a few I know of that don't seem to be added. Though some may be... touchy on certain aspect, as aren't totally or even really AppleDash, but make a reference to the pairing at some point or interest from at least one side. Dunno if could do so for those (3 I have that aren't exactly added after thoroughly searching all folders, even though 1 I think may be less than good quality, possibly and again touchy; also have 1 that DOES have it mentioned as being a part of the fic, but not exactly the focus, if shouldn't waste a thread to say what I did, not that looking for attention but just because of uncertainty and clarity when someone decides to check them out if can't be more certain or able to say for certain, based off my wording), including the one that does have it as a possibility of actually happening, even if it isn't clear until the sequel (which I have yet to read at this time, cause need to re-read/finish reading the original) how it'll work out, if even remembering it right. Since thought your original post or some comment here or on the other thread did say something about 'sad' fics where AppleDash may not work out or something, but can't seem to remember or find it now (if those wouldn't be Non-romance [Friendshipping], for the reason that unless it changes, can't really be in another folder).

And just asked about AppleDash chapters folder fyi, cause again, wasn't sure why in original post, said about a folder with "fics that contain a chapter of AppleDash", when had to assume with the title and if it has multiple that does focus on AppleDash a bit (such as in future one I plan on doing, as a side-pairing), should likely go in the 'AppleDash chapters' folder and not the 'Stories with, but not focus on, AppleDash' folder. But maybe that was unnecessary of me.

673283
What about stories that have already been added to the folder. will you sort through those as well?