If it's here, I've read and reviewed it! Check my review blog index or the fic's comments to find which edition of "Ghost Mike's Ponyfic Review Monday Musings" the review is in. The fic will also be in that rating folder.
Everyone should read these, no questions asked. Not even your tastes in genre or characters matters. There might be room for a little improvement, but it's doing enough things really well that I have little to say against it. Many fics in here are so compelling in execution and reader involvement that the flaws simply don’t matter. Writing of this quality rewards your faith in the fandom.
This provided enough of a great time that it's worth a reread at some point, length permitting. The kind of fic you’re delighted to have read, and know you’re talking proper writing quality, not just fanfiction. The flaws can't be ignored, and I'd be hard-pressed to claim you "have" to read it, but I'd still recommend it strongly enough.
We’re starting to get somewhere here. There’s something holding these fics back from the kind of quality that encourages rereads, or enthusiasm on the level of gushing. Or perhaps the subject matter and delivery by their very nature puts a ceiling on the fic’s bounds. Regardless, you’re quite glad to have read it, and there’s enough to earn a recommendation. NOTE: Some fics that belong here are still in Good or Really Good, and will be moved here in due time.
Worth the read. Little special about it, either due to lots of small flaws, select big ones, or having little standout. But it's likeable, and while I might not actively recommend it, I might suggest it as a casual read if it came up in conversation. A place for competent if unremarkable fics. By their very nature, many fluff pieces end up here.
Doing enough right that I don't regret reading it. Some fics here may be otherwise Weak but have an element(s) of note to push them up, while others are just serviceable all around. If it's short or the subject matter appeals to you, a worthwhile diversion. I'd drag my heels (wait, ghosts haven’t got those…) about recommending it, though, especially if it's longer.
There's some potential here, but it's either crushingly mediocre all around, or a equal balance of bad and good. Possibly worth the read if the subject matter appeals to you and/or it's short, but even in that case, you can pass on this with no regrets. These fics are usually very forgettable.
There’s something going very wrong, and there’s little worthwhile to offset it. Often the fic is filled with things happening just because, has poor characterisation, is technically malnourished, or a combination of all three. These are the kind of fics one abandons rather than finishing.
RETIRED FOLDER: So intentionally random and absurd that it basically can’t be judged in either direction. Also other fanfiction that, for whatever reason, can’t be evaluated and ranked on a conventional scale, at least by me – random fics are not a strength of mine to even judge, much less make.
Any fic here is one for which I pre-read or edited to some degree. Or even co-authored, possibly! It is not guaranteed that I am credited in each fic's description.