I have 218 stories on my Fimfiction Favourites list. Of these, only five are Mature-rated – and one of those is Fallout: Equestria. That's a bit of a law unto itself, and also happens to be the only one which has a [Gore] tag – the other four are M-rated for the [Sex] tag. These are they:
Ribbons and Lace by Jot Jiggety Jog (PR 111) – one of the few explicit clopfics that can fairly be called a love story, this RariShy fic won me over despite the early-series characterisations (it was written in mid-2012). Sex scenes that are actually sexy rather than unintentionally cringy help it to its four-star status, too. Only the LUS, intrusive even by the standards of its day, stopped it getting a five, and it was an easy four even so. I was impressed that I could enjoy a story featuring Fluttershy in such a situation, too.
Proofreading Clopfics Sucks by idiotcornball (PR 112) – the only story in the entire 218 that isn't marked complete. I broke my usual rule because this story's episodic nature means that isn't too much of a problem. Also, in its guilty-pleasure way, it's hilarious and despite slightly variable levels of comedy I think it's worth its four-star rating. Don't read it in public, though. Especially Pinkie's chapter. I mean this!
Lust by Taialin (PR 138) – RariShy (well, "Flarity") again. This is the third part of an increasingly adult (in multiple senses) trilogy, and in my view the best, though I'd strongly advise reading both prequels first. Part of the reason I gave this the full five stars was that I can empathise somewhat with Rarity. The full details are a little too personal for me to go into, but Rarity's narration is brilliant, the explicitness is appropriate and the resolution is satisfying.
When the Levee Breaks by A Hoof-ful of Dust (PR 150) – a RariJackDash fic chock-full of sex, physical and otherwise (which is important), but just using the word "clop" almost demeans it. If you want to see erotic ponyfic, this is it. The substantial amount of POV-hopping actually works in its favour for me, and the atmosphere the author creates is intense and in fact thrilling. This one also got the highest rating from me.
Leaving aside Proofreading Clopfics Sucks, the second-funniest sex comedy I've read here (behind Cold in Gardez's T-rated Naked Singularity), there's a common denominator between the fics: Rarity. This actually slightly surprised me, as Rarity fics are not always among my favourites. She might also be considered a little obvious a choice for this sort of story. Nevertheless, in the three non-comedy fics here, she absolutely shines.
The stories are also all stories – I have very little interest in fics that are nothing but clop. They don't just show us the ponies in question falling into bed, but take the time to show us how they got there in a way I can buy. On top of that, their explicit scenes aren't (as sometimes happens) a place where the actual writing takes a nose-dive. These ponies don't stop their character development just because they're having sex.
As most of you know, I don't read many M-rated ponyfics, but that's not because I have any rooted objection to them. While I do have a few no-go areas (foalcon being the heaviest red line of all), that still leaves plenty. I generally do prefer my MLP fiction to be all-ages stuff, and I see no sign of that changing, but these few stories have convinced me to keep Mature stories in mind occasionally.
(Since you ask, I currently have five M-rated stories on my RiL list. Out of 398, yes.)
Ribbons and Lace is excellent. :D If you haven't read Romance Reports yet, you should also do that.
ReplyDeleteAnd then read all of my clopfics, they're great. :V
Romance Reports is one of the five. :)
DeleteAn interesting read. Having already read 'Ribbons and Lace' and a little bit of 'Proofreading....', I'm now most tempted to give 'Lust' a try.
ReplyDelete^^ As for 'Romance Reports' above, it's a been quite a long time since I read it, but I remember it at least having a decent amount of story.
My favourites list has a few different M-rated fics in, although I don't think all of them would fulfill your criteria. I cleared out some other stories from my list which I realised I should have kept private long ago; they're not necessarily M-rated, just... niche.
I think Lust is my most personal selection here, and I said in my review that it might well not be a five to people who didn't empathise so much with Rarity. Most people do seem to like it, though again I think reading the (shorter) prequels first is quite important. Everyone (except me) seems to have read Romance Reports and to like it. It's really only because it's long(ish) that I haven't. Well, and because Luna isn't quite as high up my favourite ponies list as she is on many other people's! :P
DeleteI don't tend to look at the favourites lists of people I know personally; I feel a bit uncomfortable about doing it. I know it's a bit silly when someone's chosen to leave their list set to public, but still. I guess it's a sort of TMI thing for me. I was unsure for a long time about reviewing stories like this for a similar reason – that's a big reason all these fics are from PR 111 or later. After all, as a reviewer you know that lots of people are going to find out what you like!
Fimfiction is at least pretty flexible when it comes to letting you keeping things compartmentalised. It would be awkward for an awful lot of people if this site was one of those which banned alt accounts – and it would have been even more so a few years ago, before Bookshelves were a thing and there was no easy way to keep a private list of stories on your account. It doesn't really affect me, anyway – like most people, I have niches, to borrow your word, but in my case there isn't much overlap with what's on Fimfiction.
Doh - just went to add the prequel to 'Lust' to my read-it-later - turns out I HAVE read Lust (the thumbnail is familiar too). Oh well, I still haven't read the prequels, so I'll go back and do it 'properly'. ;)
DeleteThanks for the clarification points on favourites; it's nice to hear that Fimfiction has improved for its users over the years.
For someone like me who spent years wrestling with the utter mess that is FurAffinity, any version of Fimfiction is about a billion times better! ;)
Delete