This section does not house much in the way of fanfic reviews yet, although it will eventually have several, now that we're getting into the habit of archiving them. However, the point of this section is not just for our reviews per se, but rather so that fanfic authors may request C&C from us.

Why would you want to do that? Well, the fact is, good C&C is hard to get on the Net. If you're looking for someone to take a good look at your story with an eye to what is REALLY good and bad with it, what works and what needs fixing, as opposed to just pointing out a couple of spelling errors or the much-despised "It was cool/it sucked" commentary, we might be able to help you.

However, with all things come a price. First, C&C stands for comments and criticism, and you WILL get both. In fact, both of us are notoriously harsh critics. We will be fair, and we will be honest, but if you can't handle the thought of somebody tearing your work to shreds, then you don't want us reviewing it. Even if we love it, we have no qualms with pointing out exactly what is wrong...at some length. Ask Alan Harnum. ;p

Second...well, we're both busy men, and honestly don't have time to review every fanfic that comes down the pike. Actually, we couldn't do that even if we weren't busy men. So, we'll only review a fanfic for one of three reasons: first, if it's theme catches our eye as new and unusual; second, if it comes to us highly recommended by people whose opinion we trust; or third, if the author is willing to trade C&C for C&C.

Obviously, the third option is what is the main point here. A fair trade is in order: we'll review a fic of yours, if you review a fic of ours. We don't ask that you be nice...in fact, the more you hack whatever it is you review to bits, the more we're likely to enjoy it. Also, length should be commensurate: if you want us to review a giant, sprawling saga, we'll expect more than a half-page review of Ani-chan in return (and the reverse applies too; for a short one-shot, feel free to review only one or two chapters of one of our works, or one of our one-shots). We are likely to appreciate C&C on a work we are actually doing at the moment, but that's not necessary. Basically, be fair to us, and we'll give you the best C&C we can.

And while it's probably not fair, we are human too (believe it or not). If you send us our C&C along with a request for review, then we're likely to assign a higher priority to you than to somebody who just asks for C&C on their own fic. This particularly holds true for people who get C&C from us but have a habit of being slow in returning the favour. But we're sure we didn't need to mention that. ;p

One final point is that as far as C&C goes, we're not really a team: Epsilon and Blade have different tastes as far as what we like to review, what series' we will review for, and how precisely we review. Please direct your request to only one of us, unless you want to give twice the C&C. ^_^;;; In accordance with that, our tastes and reviewing style follow.

Epsilon...


...has been known to reduce people to tears, start giant flamewars, attract numerous death threats, and destroy formerly happy public forums. And that's just from reading them. When he gets to talking, well, look out. Epsilon is not interested in reviewing lemons, limes, or any fanfic with more than, say, one sentence with sexual material (romance is something different). He prefers to review finished work; if you send something to him chapter by chapter, don't bitch when he comes back with "there was no good reason to end the chapter here". He generally reads "other stuff crossed over with Ranma 1/2"; he's also been known to read Final Fantasy, Sailor Moon, Street Fighter and Dragonball-based fiction. In all cases, including series' not mentioned above, he will review stuff that has an interesting concept and some actual thought put into it...and if it has neither, he will be more than happy to tell you so. By the way, Ranma has a certain level of skill, power, intelligence and social grace. People who clearly have no idea what those levels are will be ruthlessly mocked. E-mail him if you dare at rlepsilon@hotmail.com.

Blade...


...is probably even worse than Epsilon, but hides it better. Of course, for C&C, the kid gloves are off. He'll actually point out spelling and grammar mistakes if they're bad enough to detract from the story; he'll also likely make MST3K-like commentary throughout. He tends to like angst-filled drama or over-the-top parody, and is very anal about proper characterisation and representation of power levels (especially Ranma power levels). While not as uptight about sexual content as Epsilon, he really isn't interested in lemons unless they have a REALLY good plot. He will review fics in progress or on a chapter by chapter basis, although finished work is cool too. Series' he will review for include: Ranma 1/2 (especially if Pantyhose Tarou is around), Inuyasha, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Serial Experiments Lain, Shadow Lady, Neon Genesis Evangelion (manga continuity), El Hazard (OAV continuity), Tenchi Muyo (OAV or manga continuity), Final Fantasy VII, DarkStalkers, Blue Seed, Star Ocean 2/EX, Dragonball/Z/GT, Phantasy Star IV, Strange Dawn, Hellsing, Rival Schools and Street Fighter. E-mail him at kumonryuu@hotmail.com for requesting or giving C&C.

Please note that these lists don't include every series we've ever seen (that would be a long list), just the ones we figure we're vaguely likely to run into fan fiction of. If you've got something not mentioned here, especially if it's of an obscure series or one that doesn't get much fanfic, feel free to e-mail us and ask. Best, in that case and in fact any case, to include a short (paragraph or two) plot outline. If it catches our interest, and we know enough of the series to review it, we'll certainly help you out.

Go back to C&A Productions or Smiling Evil Reviews.