A Comment and a Question

As the title suggests, this post has two parts.  First, the comment (preceded by the context, because without context you'd just have mm - tx, assuming my algebraic skills haven't abandoned me):

Several commenters have informed me that the epilogue of the just-reviewed Of Mares and Magic was written in response to a bunch of readers expressing displeasure at the way the Trixie/Twilight romance resolved in the "original" ending, presumably in a completely measured and reasonable manner.  Assuming that's the case, I'd like to present it as evidence of a maxim I make use of when discussing author/editor dynamics: committees are good for many things, but creative writing is not one of them.

Speaking of snogging, on to the question (again preceded by the context, because I have a compulsive need to bury my questions behind multiple paragraphs): I've had several Mature (sex) stories recommended to me to review, most notably Romance Reports.  In fact, I've had that one recommended to me by three different people, now--two of whom began their recommendations with a variant of "I know you don't like pony sex, but..."

Let me make clear: I have absolutely no interest in pony erotica.  However, that doesn't necessarily mean I would refuse to read anything with adult content in it.  At bare minimum, however, I would be looking for two things in such a story: is there a story here beyond the porn, and is the sexual material important to the story (i.e. would this story be as strong or stronger if all sexual content was edited out or replaced with a (literal or metaphorical) fade to black)?  Without the former, there's nothing but purposeless porn (not really something I could review in a useful way, even if I wanted to), and without the latter... well, that's as much a form of purposeless porn as the former, isn't it?

So, with that in mind, can some of you who've read Romance Reports suggest whether it would be something I should consider reviewing?  And more broadly, are "those kinds of stories," as the marms would put it, something you all think I should be reading and reviewing at all, both from the standpoint of my edification and your interest?

Just to be clear, this isn't a vote; I'm interested in getting some opinions as I decide whether or not RR and Mature(sex) stories generally are something that I should consider letting onto the to-read list.  If you've got any thoughts, for or against, I'd love to hear them.

Fandom Classics Part 19: Of Mares and Magic

To read the story, click the image or follow this link

Just a note to those of you wondering about Silent Ponyville 3 and why it hasn't been reviewed yet: although the story is "complete," I figured I'd wait until the alternate endings were done as well, since they've been a consistent (and, I thought, kind of neat) feature of the previous stories.  There's at least one side story I'll be hitting up along with it, but in the meantime I don't want you to think I'm blowing y'all off.  On a related note, I've been delaying on reviewing Dresden Gets Schooled because it's an Equestria Girls spinoff, and I'm still dragging my feet on seeing that, but I'll get to it eventually.  Just in case you were wondering why there were finished 6-star stories (well, sequels) that weren't getting reviewed!

For now, though, you can head below the break and check out my review of GanonFLCL's Of Mares and Magic.

Author Expectations and Reader Reactions

This ramble is even more rambley than usual; just a heads-up to any of you expecting my usual hyper-coherence (pah).  But I was discussing the occasional (okay, frequent) dissonance between how authors view their body of work, and how their readers do, and there were a few things I wanted to say about that as regards fanfiction.  My thoughts, below the break.

Mini-Reviews Round 21

Tuesday, I woke up before my alarm--not an unusual thing, in and of itself.  I felt pretty well-rested, too, and I got dressed and started fixing myself breakfast.  Then I glanced at the clock, and saw that it was 2:20 am.

So I went back to bed and, of course, felt like an absolute wreck when my alarm dutifully woke me up a few hours later.

Anyway, the fact that my body's playing practical jokes on me hasn't stopped me from reading a few fanfics that aren't on my "reading list," as it were.  Click down below the break for some short-form reviewmanship.

Fandom Classics Part 18: Variables

To read the story, click the image or follow this link

The end of daylight savings may be my least-favorite time of year.  Dang it, I don't want to give back that hour of daylight!  I've got few enough as it is!  The fact that it'll be returned to me in a few months is some comfort, but it doesn't do much for me now.

Speaking of nows, now would be a fine time to click down below the break and check out my review of The Descendant's Variables.

For a Change, Let's Talk About Actual Books (part 11)

I hope all of you have a Friday free of sugar crashes and/or hangovers, depending on your age (One Man's Pony Ramblings does not endorse underage drinking.  It does, however, advocate consuming candy and/or booze in safe, responsible, and legal ways).  And now that you've got the partying out of your system, how about discussing some books?  Down below the break, as always.

P.S.  There was totally a girl rocking a Fluttershy costume at work!  Made my day, it did.