Since the forum appears to be dead and people love complaining....

Which EQD Pre-Reader is -by your opinion- the worst one?
And why?

I myself have absolutely no clue who they are and i honestly don't care about them.
They probably are even Chaos-Cultists.

I am, because I'm lazy and stopped doing the job. Also, I'm really picky and kick puppies every morning for breakfast.

Whoever the "Prereader From Middle Earth" is.

He pissed me off like a year ago.

That counts, right?

Alexstrazsa

2576793
At least he didn't piss on you, eh?

2576799

2576791

kick puppies every morning for breakfast

Pffffff....so what? I eat little foals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Alive.

2576809
Hopefully you sear the outside a bit before hand, raw flesh can contain disease. A blowtorch to the face should fix that

2576791 You did? Then I don't need to hate you anymore.

2576808
you seem upset...

2576813
Meh....
I prefer my meat to be alive, struggling and crying for its mommy.

2576788 Every single one of them.

2576788

The ones who don't know how to extensively point out problems.

2576846

So you're saying we're all tied for last?

This is so dumb

I hate myself.

Myself is a jerkwad.

2576863

What? No. I know a few pre-readers that actually do what I think all of them should be doing. Then there's ones who just... Don't.

2576809
Without any milk?

2577126
Milk is for the weak.

I think the problem isn't exclusive to pre-readers as a whole. It's more that a lot of stories get pre-read by people who either dislike the genre of the story they're prereading (such as the numerous detractors of human-based fics), or are so picky with their grammar that they will reject a story for something fairly minor (such as the many infamous rejects based on the placement of en dashes and em dashes.)

The former can work in theory—a sign of a well-written story can often be praise from those who typically aren't interested in the subject matter, after all—but there's also the issue of bias. Though I realize that bias is an unavoidable thing when it comes to both subjective and objective critique, I honestly do think would be more beneficial to organize pre-readers into certain catagories so that they can be reviewed by peers who have particular experience in the genre or subject matter of the story being submitted. On the one hand, it may lower the bar a bit because of potential bias, but on the other, it would be a more efficient manner of dealing with certain types of fics.

As for the latter... Well, that's a fairly subjective issue. Though yes, proper grammar is a necessity towards legibility, the level to which some pre-readers take their grammar can go a bit far. Though I have learned the difference between em and en dashes, there are some rules that some should consider. A common thing I see in writing—especially in regards to script writing, is the use of two en dashes for a break in dialogue, such as a brief pause. For example (and please, don't be afraid to correct it or supply your own in reponse:

"There's something you should know -- Goldman is dead."

Though yes, we should be preaching for more consistent style, should we really be giving the thumbs down to a story just for a tiny error in punctuation?

I'll leave that for you to decide.

I hate the guy who reads prereader applications. (Or lack thereof.)

You can go ahead and toss mine out by the way. I haven't gotten a response and it's been half a year since I applied. I asked 3 different prereaders about my application's status and never got much of a response. Not a rejection, just a "no one wants to look at it."

But hey, getting more help's clearly less important than working on the 2 month backlog, I'm sure.

2577444
First, I know it sounds terrible for me to point out, but two en dashes is an em dash. Most word processors will convert them automagically. You also never put spaces before or after it; just leave them pushed right up against the words. Most interesting type of punctuation, the em dash. I use it a lot.

Seeing as I'm one of the numerous detractors of human-based fics, I'd say that's a good idea. I refuse to edit or pre-read anything that has to do with humans because of my inherent bias involved with it, and I know I can't give it a fair judgment. The compulsion to punch babies in the face while reading the fic isn't because it's bad, it's because there's humans in it... right?

I'm very big on proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and EqD gave me a page-long description of everything wrong with a one-shot I submitted to them. I decided that, because of what their ridiculous standards were, I would never contribute to their metaphorical book-burning ever again. I'd rather be unpopular and unknown than have an English major telling me I didn't rhyme Zecora as well as his lofty standards allotted.

Maybe that's why I stopped going altogether. I'm pretty sure that was the beginning of the end of my reliance on EqD for pony things.

Why bother complaining about them? Just track them down and sacrifice them to the snake god Glykon to awake him from his eternal slumber!

2577444

Good luck trying to find a Pre-Reader who would willingly read a fic with humans in it, even let alone one who loves to read them.

No seriously, if you have a HIE fic don't even bother to send it in. It will be in 96% of all cases a rejected.

2578756

Hiya! I'm one of the rare HiE EQD pre-readers! How the fuck are ya?

2578901

A EQD Prea-Reader who reads HIE?

Quick Question: Are Humans bastards who need to be transformed forcefully into Ponies since Ponies are Superior Beings who have all right to exterminate lesser Species such like Humanity?

2578971

Nnnnno. Never. Humanity has it's bad points, but so do ponies. Ponies just tend to talk things out, instead of going to fucking war over a disagreement. That's why I prefer the latter.

That being said, my favorite HiE HAS to be Article 2, found here

2579228

Not really the answer i expected.

2579271

Oh? what were you expecting? 'rah rah, Equestria is number one'?

I'll say this as a writer of another maligned sub-genre, and that's The Conversion Bureau: A few terrible writers taking the setting in terrible directions can ruin the perception of the entire sub-genre for everypony else. It's thanks to good writers in both sub-genres (Muppetz and Article 2 for HiE, and Chatoyance and the LARGE body of her work for TCB) that I'm even writing again, after having laid aside my pen for many years.

The reason EqD tends to reject HiE is the fact that the vast majority of it when EqD first started was nothing but 'rah rah humanity, let's focus on them and not on the ponies or misrepresent them entirely and make the ponies out to be villains'.

2579297,

It's thanks to good writers in both sub-genres (Muppetz and Article 2 for HiE, and Chatoyance and the LARGE body of her work for TCB

Purple Prose; strawman characters; constant, heavy-handed moralizing; and heroism via authorial fiat don't make for good stories. And neither does taking the setting and characters and turning them into something that barely resembles the source material.

-------------

As for the topic, can't say as I will not send anything to them but a lot of the hate seems to come from unprofessional behavior by the prereaders.

2579297
Interesting....

But i actually believe that there is just a strong Anti-Humanism in this fandom.
Imagine this:
In one of the epsiodes is a hint about Humanities existence dropped. Nothing that would in some way influence the show, just a artefact (the Voyager 1 satellite crashes in Equestria and is hidden by Celestia) or Celestia/Luna makes a remark about a highly advanced species of hairless primates in another dimension or even something in Starswirls journals.

Now, what would be the fanons reaction to this?

As for the thread topic:
EQD-Pre-Readers don't have a Soul.

2579503

Most of your complaints can be pointed at just about everything everyone's ever written, unfortunately.

You want purple prose? go read Shakespeare, or Tolkien.

Strawmanning? That's a whole lot of everything, from Asimov to Heinlein, from King to Koontz, from McCaffrey to Lackey, and so much more. You need bad guys somewhere, and some writers draw from their own life experiences, then exaggerate. I do. I'd bet you do too.

Moralizing, ditto.

Heroism via fiat... well, wouldn't that also cover the show? I don't recall the Mane Six losing so badly they'd never recover from it, even against Discord or Chrysalis.

Settings and characters? Hello, Fallout Equestria. You're not alone in twisting show canon.

To the topic... yeah, we can be unprofessional, but we're also volunteers. We do this for free, in our free time. We have gotten everything from 'You're Nazis and you don't know what you're talking about' to 'You deserve to have your family murdered for not posting my fic, I'm going to commit suicide, how's it fee to have blood on your hands'. We have breaking points, and reactions like that are why some of us quit. So, are we unprofessional? sometimes. But we're also human. Folks seem to forget that.

2579514

I think the main issue arises in that a lot of the show's viewers like to IGNORE G1, where the big ass-saving character... was a human. Maybe it's bad blood with the show's past, maybe it's that they like seeing heroic pretty pastel ponies instead, I don't know. And the fanbase has a bear of a kneejerk reaction to it for some odd reason.

Me? If they included a nod to G1, or humanity in general somewhere, I would probably squeal and die happy, because I grew up with it. That's good memories and good times for me. Maybe that's why I appreciate HiE, I can see the spark of creativity in even the worst work.

2579572
Oh my...its always nice to meet a fellow HIE enthusiast.
Even if you are a fan of certain genre to which i'm not really fond of.

But yeah, some nod would be really cool.

2579743

Yeah, there are some parts of the fandom where even I wind up doing Rarity's 'WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?!' bit... for some, it's Conversion Bureau. For others, it's Fallout Equestria. Takes all kinds, though, and there's gems even in some of the stuff you'd think you'd hate.

Me? I like reading HiE. I always volunteer to read them.

2579775
Kinda sad that there is a need for Volunteers to read HIE.

2579790

Eh, it's just that most of the rest of the crew got burned by some really HORRIFIC shit back in the day. Detailed, graphic slaughter of the ponies by the human 'good guys', or detailed, graphic slaughter of the humans by the pony 'good guys'. Kinda put most of them off it. I still hold out hope.

Is it too late to nominate myself? :B

2579553, I can deal with one or two of those things in a story. But Chatoyance puts all of these things in one story.

As for FoE, I didn't read it and I have no intention of doing so for that very same reason.

As for heroism by authorial fiat here's what I mean:

Her story, The Speed of Right opens up with two PER terrorists potion bombing a child's birthday party. Standard villain activity, right? Here's the odd part: the two terrorists are written as though they are the heroes of the story, despite them doing a blatantly villainous act (attacking civilians).

As for moralizing, I stay away from stories like that.

----------

All in all, it's all subjective. You think Chat's stories are good; I loathe them

End discussion.

2580103

Fair enough, to each their own.

Basically EQD is the IGN of the Brony fandom.

2579297
I stopped paying attention after you didn't lump Chatoyance into the "terrible writers into terrible directions" line. I attempted to read one of her TCB stories once, and all I saw were horribly characterized characters whose only main point was to be either a plot device or a xenophobe which was honestly just sickening, as well as all the misanthropy. I am referring to the Main Six when I refer to horribly characterized characters. I later asked about why Chatoyance characterized them in such a way in the comments and was unhappily met with a "Blocked all Communication" to the face, and my comment was deleted.

You may or may not HAVE lumped her into it, and I could've mis-read it. Do you mind correcting me otherwise and giving me your reasoning if you DO think she is a competent writer?

2581119

I don't think she is a bad writer, at all. I think that sometimes, her life experiences in dealing with the worst of humanity has colored her work and perception of the human race as a whole. Does it come off as 'ponies are better' with her? sure. The show itself presents an idealized view of the world. And there's some HORRIBLE fucking people out there. I count myself in that number.

That being said, I can't *entirely* fault her for the way she writes. It's two parts life experience and one part world-built headcanon that results in the way she writes and how things work out in her stories. She's been grievously wounded in emotional and psychological ways that means that... well, no, humanity is not all sunshine and rainbows. They're dark, they're brutal, they're merciless, and they're cold bastards.

I guess it all comes down to 'can I read this without thinking that these antagonists are meant to be a stand in for me?'

In my case? I can. I know I'm not a pleasant person. I can be one avenging motherfucker if the right buttons are pushed. But I try to be good. The bright cheeriness of the pony side of things that Chatoyance portrays makes me want to try to be kinder. I don't discount that I'm a human being, with all the flaws and issues therein, but when I read Chat's stuff, I feel like there's something better out there to strive for.

... I'm sorry, this was rather long-winded, wasn't it? My apologies. I hope that this makes a little more sense as to why I enjoy Chat's work though.

I dislike Chatoyances work based on the simple fact that it is essentially a ponified "White Man's Burden" with the same outcomes as that fundamentally racist ideology. You can either become "civilised" and throw away every inch of your cultural and historical heritage (and even your own memories) to become like your pony masters, or you can be erased from existence with your "barbaroi" culture. Frankly even her depiction of Equestria is sinister in itself to me, its almost Orwellian in nature, even with some colorful paint slapped on its still a grotesque nightmare.

Yet Chatoyance continues to portray the equine world as some sort of paradise...

When did this go from hating pre-readers to HiE and TCB discussion? Come on, people, I want blood.

2584905
alex didn't you know chatoyance is a pre-reader now and soon eqd will be overrun with hie and tcb and pfq and jpg

2584905 Seconded. Don't you hate it when you come into a thread, and over half of it is about some dumb other topic you didnt come here to see.

2584905

Soooooorry Alex~

Um... uh... you suck? and you're unhealthily obsessed with Cage?

2584905
Then you should probably join this guy here:

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!

2576788

Totally late to the party, but dibs! I call dibs on being worst pre-reader!