Do we need folders to organize these fics? If so, what folders? I'm thinking just a few. Like, a single "Sad / Dark / Tragic/ Grim" folder, so you don't have to scratch your head over whether a story is sad or tragic. Or {Optimistic, Pessimistic}. Or some way of classifying stories according to what they make you think about, like {Personal, Love, Ethics, Social problems, Philosophy}.

Or some way of classifying stories according to what they make you think about, like {Personal, Love, Ethics, Social problems, Philosophy}.

Seems the best way to organize them to me, though there could be a lot of overlap for stories like Eternal. I don't think labeling stuff by tags is the best idea, there are countless other groups that could already fulfill that role.

I actually feel OP's idea is better because and I quote

so you don't have to scratch your head over whether a story is sad or tragic

I'm in agreement with Sypher. Classifying stories by what concepts they bring to the table seems like the most effective approach. Tagging them "tragic" or "sad" just seems redundant, as the authors and other groups have already done this.

I wish the site offered display options that made theme-based folders redundant (e.g. Sad, Comedy, Grimdark, Clop, etc), but unfortunately there's no tag display here in the group listing.

I reckon the question comes down to "what organization method would be most useful to readers wanting to pick a serious story to read?" and, in my case, the story's genre seems like more useful information than what it makes me think about. If you look at Celestia's Big Day and it provokes interesting thoughts about the nature of eternal life rather than, say, relationships or ethics, you're still getting some good thoughts out of it. However, if you're not able to sit through graphic depictions of gore, it's a waste of time to even click.

Slightly off topic but I've seen two stories posted to the group now that fail to meet the submission criteria (at least 10 votes, 6 thumbs up per thumb down):

Circuity
Equine Sexual History: Fluttershy

Anyone in charge of moderating the submissions?

483429 I haven't been doing that. Are you volunteering? BTW, Circuity now has 10 thumbs-up.

501341 Are you asking for volunteers? Seems that of the two I've listed, the former has now met the requirements, and the latter was removed by the author after a member of this group commented on their page. The group seems to be fairly self moderating now, and really the only challenge left is in adding more stories.

Of course, without a clear definition of what makes a story serious, it's hard to select what fits the group. That's discussed more in the other thread, but since we're looking for more literary works, we'll probably have a slow rate of story additions. Still, quality over quantity is always welcome.