Yeah, I'm not rejecting your request regarding the merge tag for the approval note. It does make sense, I agree, as I replied above. We just need to figure out what merge tags should be available to access those notes, as there will be many possible notes, depends on the approval workflow type.
The workaround I suggested is an alternative solution that you can do immediately right now, while we develop the feature. This forum actually full of workarounds and modifications. Some people don't like any workarounds/customizations but many others still find it useful, hence I replied with that. I've noted your preference now
Regarding the approval status on the reporting. Yes this is a valid request. We missed this one. I've added this into our todo list.