Weekly Reading Report VIII, job 'test', and BBo1494 prequel schedule · 3:46am Mar 5th, 2013
Hi everypony! 
A new maximum has been set! With 376.702 words this week, not counting some re-reads, I definitely feel I'm reading too much. I have some news of personal significance as well, at the bottom, and I'd like to publicly announce that I set myself a deadline of May 3rd for publishing the first chapter of prequel of Big Bang of 1494. More details on that at the bottom too.
The Sweetie Chronicles: Fragments by Wanderer D, with all of its glorious 168kw, is the biggest culprit.
I won't lie. I have noticed this fic several weeks ago, and I have been ignoring it on grounds of finding its argument incredibly silly. I still do. It's sort of a meta-fanfic, in which Sweetie travels through different universes, each of which is actually another fanfic, in a scavenger hunt. In the meantime, I've been reading other stuff from Wanderer D, and I had to conclude that if it could be pulled of, he'd manage. And oh, he does, he does it so well. I had already read the original fanfic for the first alternate universe, and it was so interesting and spot-on that when the second universe came, I decided to just read the original fanfic before proceeding. In many ways, I'm impressed. I'm impressed that he can pull off a filly that finds herself prematurely wiser — and, at moments, madder — due to her hardships. I'm impressed that each chapter is both faithful to the spirit of the original fanfic and brings new things into them. I'm impressed that I'm finding myself caring about both the protagonist and the glaringly ephemeral side characters, as well as where the story is ultimately heading towards. I'm throughly, throughly impressed.
Forever a Changeling by Scootaloo-009 with all of its 56kw.
I usually avoid Rainbow Dash stories, because they tend to run short in descriptions and thus characterization often falls short. This fic there is a little guilty of that, but I find that it was a bit refreshing, because it uses this as a weapon to deliver very agile, plot-oriented, and rich world-building. The alternate endings are a little stupid, but I'm ok with that.
The Cutie Mark Allocation Agency by Hoopy McGee with its most recent 3kw.
First two chapters? BORING. Premise? Amusing, but somewhat sterile. I will have to admit that the Dilbert vibe is pulled off very efficiently, and perhaps that's part of what made a bad impression. But I love this author's other stories, so I pressed on. And then, in this latest chapter… something incredibly serious happened. And boy oh boy, corporate heads will roll. Consider my nails bit to stumps. 
About the promised prequel on Big Bang of 1494. I set myself a deadline of May 3rd, which means I must have a release candidate no later than April 22nd. I can definitely use some help in the editing front, but only if you have already edited light shipping stories before. I'm not going to tag the story on this blog just yet. I intend to do that when I have a usable draft. But for those of you who are interested, that's my schedule.
On the personal news font, I'm going through a "biopsychosocial" test tomorrow regarding a new job. I may or may not be relocated (anywhere in Brazil) if I pass. If I fail, I'll simply move to Canada next month, as originally planed. The total area of Brazil and Canada combined is just a little bigger than Russia's. Knowing I can be anywhere in 11.8% of the surface of the world 2 months from now is both exciting and terrifying. Wish me luck. 
Best of luck! anywhere specific in Brazil/Canada you'll be going or it's still just in the country somewhere?
891416 It's an energy company, so I can't tell. It might even be literally off-shore, as this is the common way oil is prospected in Brazil. If I fail, I'll go to Toronto, because this was my original plan before getting involved in this. If I pass, it's up to them, but I'll have a preference for Ontario (if Canada) or one of the 3 Brazilian states I have (close) friends in. Today was form-filling only. I'll have several further tests every day up until next Monday, and more to be scheduled after that! I'm stumped..