Penalt's Reading Corner - April 4

Sex.

We write about, dream about it, talk about it. Sex and sex appeal is, and likely will continue to be, a multi-billion dollar industry. Many of the most famous people in society are not famous for any sort of skill. Be it in business, politics, the sciences or sports. No, they are famous for having sex appeal, and it can be a tool, a weapon, or a liability depending on the context.

So think of sex appeal carried to a dangerous extreme. Of someone who is universally attractive to any sentient being. To know is to desire them. To desire them is to want them. And to want them is to attempt to act on that want.

Such is the nature of A Mark of Appeal by Estee

Estee is one of Fimfiction's most prolific writers and they bring their signature brand of introspection and emotional insight to the tale of what happens when a pony wants, no needs, to have the deepest magic of their very being cut off. What do, or even can, Luna and Celestia do to help a pony who is the key to every lock? What can you do to dim an appeal that crosses the lines of gender or species, even attracting those who otherwise feel sexual attraction to nothing at all?

Do they become a curse to your own? A weapon against your enemies? And most of all, how do you help them live with a power they can't control?

Read A Mark of Appeal, it's well worth it.

Comments

[Raging Mouse]

Estee's work is often a harrowing but rewarding read, when the tone is serious and the stakes high.

Since we are on the topic of sex, lemme recommend back a fic in the same general vein.

Stock Imagery by MrNumbers

I know, I know; I just recommended something else by MrNumbers! But this is something quite different. Just read the description:

What makes for good fantasy? Are we failing ourselves if we don't pursue them, or is that missing the point of what fantasy should be? If we are never given the opportunity to engage in our wildest daydreams, we never have a reason to ask what holds us back.

Pinkie Pie thinks the best way to explain this is by setting up a public stockade with a sign that says "Fuck me!" on it, with a big smiley face.

She's not wrong.

[Pseudosapien]

Already a big Estee fan, that’s one of the few I haven’t read yet. I’ll get to it!