Davies on Fanfic, Third Edition

	It has been pointed out to me that not everyone who reads these
reviews will know where to find the stories I comment on.  I had thought
that including the mailing adress of the authors might prompt curious
readers to drop the author a line and inquire about the stories, and that
anyone with an interest in Sailor Moon fanfiction would be aware of the
location of Luna and Artemis' archive ... clearly I was mistaken, and
since the archive has had to move to a new location, it's probably
worthwhile to review the situation.

	Luna and Artemis' Fanfic Command is currently located at
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9897  This is the "zip archive" that I have
mentioned before.  Each week, on Saturday morning, the compiled fanfiction
of the week is placed in a pair of zipfiles -- one for regular fiction,
one for lemon (erotic/hentai) fiction, and made available from the site.
Indices for these files are also posted, to indicate what is contained in
each file -- sadly, only the unzipped filenames, titles, and authors names
are listed.  I have considered suggesting to the maintainers of the site
that they ask each author to provide a brief summary of the story, to give
the readers an idea of what they're getting.  In any event, at this site
can also be found a collection of my reviews, again in zipped format.

	By Sunday of each week, the Sailor Moon Romance page, maintained
by Luna and Artemis in conjunction with author Andrea Hui -- currently
located at http://www.megsinet.com/smercury due to a hard drive failure at
the original site -- has posted these new files.  The advantage of waiting
for this posting is that you don't have to download a massive zip file and
probably get stories that you don't want, and you can read the stories
whilst online.  Also, the number of stories available is truly stunning.

	Speaking of which, since I began doing these reviews, I have been
asked, with varying degrees of politeness, whether or not I would be
willing to review stories which had already been posted, or which were
about to be posted.  The answer to all these requests is a flat no.  In
Davies on Fanfic, I will *only* be reviewing new files from Luna and
Artemis' archives.  To attempt to catalogue all the new fanfic about the
Senshi/Scouts which is released weekly to other forums would swiftly drive
me mad.  If you desire critiques of your work, I recommend that you join
the FanFiction Mailing List.  The way to do so is presented far more
concisely than I could here, at http://illusion.snu.ac.kr/~wacko/ffml/

BEST

Autobiography of Sailor V - part 1 
by "Aino Minako" <address not available>

	One of the frequently asked questions on alt.fan.sailor-moon
concerns whether or not Naoko Takeuchi is aware of the substantial fan
base her works enjoy in North America, especially on the Internet.  I
myself doubt that she cares, frankly, since she has finished with Sailor
Moon and moved onto other things.  I will admit to having had, in my more
paranoid moments, nightmares wherein Takeuchi-sensei somehow hunted me
down, determined to avenge the things I had sent "her" characters through.

	This story attempts to answer the question, what if the Sailor
Senshi (a) existed, (b) were the subjects of a popular manga and anime
which (b') had inspired vast amounts of discussion and story-telling,
and (c) were aware of (b')  Specifically, it recounts Sailor Venus'
discovery and opinions of "lemon" (erotic/hentai) fanfiction.

	A snippet:

	"But anyway, everyone seems to think that me and Mako-chan have
something going.

        "Now, make no bones, if I was like that, you know, like Haruka and
Michiru (or harukaandmichiru, I love that term, it's just so atropos, but
I'm digesting again), if I was like that, then she'd be the one.  But I'm
not; I definitely go for guys.  In fact, I've got a boyfriend right now.  
Yeah, really! You shouldn't believe everything you see on TV, you know."

	It is, to put no fine a point upon it, a hoot.  Especially the
tastefully disguised versions of the names of various authors of this sort
of thing.  I was able to puzzle out all but one of the names, but I can
only wonder about that "Rabies" fellow Minako spends so much time talking
about ...

Digital Moon Remix 
by Mike Koos <makoto@mother.com>

	I loathed the Star Wars special edition.  It was nothing more than
an attempt to cash in on the fond memories of those who remember seeing
the original films -- but have forgotten how little they paid for
admission and popcorn back then -- while simultaneously attracting those
whose first exposure to the story was on the small screen, and who provide
most of the audience for LucasFilm's book and game franchise.

	One would think that this, a "special edition" of one of the first
genuine classics of Sailor Moon fanfiction, would offend me immensely.  It
doesn't, largely because with one major exception -- a flashback scene
being dropped, and a resulting poor transition -- the changes aren't
really obvious.  It's a good job, worth a look if you have read "Digital
Moon", and definitely worth it if you haven't.

	Although I'm no closer to understanding what "Rei no ijiwaru"
means, or how much hell Usagi should catch for saying it ...

Thy Kingdom Come - prologue and part 1-5
by Mark Latus <Mark.Latus@MSVU.Ca>

	All right, can I make one thing clear before I do this review?  I
have no great fondness for Mark Latus, the Dark Kingdom Renegades, or the
Sailor Moon Expanded project, in any combination.  Especially not the
author.  Quite honestly, some of the things he's done turn my stomach,
and I'm given to understand that it's a mutual thing.  Nobody is paying me
to be objective, and if this weren't a damn good story, which it is --
OBJECTIVELY SPEAKING -- I would cheerfully relegate this to the "neither
good nor bad" pile and make no mention of it at all.  For, once again, Mr.
Latus has chosen as his topic the "fact" that in the face of overwhelming
ruthlessness, good cannot prevail, unless it also uses such methods. 
Never mind the fact that this is antithetical to the spirit of the show,
which seeks to demonstrate that overwhelming ruthlessness is actually a
weakness, and compassion is strength.  The EVER-so richly portrayed
anti-heroes of Latus' Renegades (and in this case, their counterparts in
an alternate universe where things went a little bit differently at one
point and then snowballed into an orgy of mass destruction) are completely
beyond such sophomoric world-views, and after all, they're so much more
INTERESTING than the Senshi, whose silliness and immaturity Latus never
passes up a chance to point out, and who have, after all, only one
emotional state each.  (I place no smilies for the sarcasm impaired, but I
am being sarcastic here. Whether Latus is or not remains to be
determined.)

	Put simply, if you're a fan of the DKR, you'll like this, as it is
the most DKR of all the DKR stories.  If you like antiheroes who live by a
simple code of ethics -- Protect your own, and survive no matter what --
you'll find this entertaining.  Myself, I hated it, but like I said, no
one's paying me to be unbiased.

Sailor Moon: Shades of Light and Darkness 
by David Kogan <dnk@compuserve.com>

	When Luna and Artemis casually mentioned that their zipfile was
going to be over a megabyte, thanks to the presence of two stories -- the
new parts of 'Thy Kingdom Come', and this -- my jaw dropped.  My head
spun.  I thought, "I had to pick this week to get ill such that I must do
a double review and include a monster like that.  God hates me."

	Fortunately, it's GOOD.  It *almost* equals, in some respects,
"End of the Beginning", though it takes a dramatically different aim.  It
is set in the North American continuity, and, not unlike "Sailor Moon V",
essentially abandons all events after the Sailor Scouts regain their
memories.  Kogan is telling his own story, one which arises out of a
single line from DiC's dub:

	"The Universe is no more!  Let the Negaverse prevail!"

	That said, there are problems with the story.  It is very much the
story of Nakiad, the Chosen, and his interactions with the Sailor Scouts,
rather than vice versa.  If you find it difficult to identify with Nakiad
-- and Kogan does not go out of his way to make his hero especially
likeable -- you probably will not appreciate his tale, much as my utter
loathing of the Dark Kingdom Renegades makes it impossible for me to like
anything they feature in.  But IMHO, the characters that Kogan has created
to exist in this mythic universe are fascinating, even the villains.  This
is a sincere exploration of whether Sailor Moon is really about a battle
between good and evil or not, and the author has my deepest respect.

WORST

A New Beginning
by Niki <nikichichiri@hotmail.com>

	The first chapter of this almost beat out "Ultimate Battle" last
time for the worst fic released that week.  That alone should tell you
something.

	We begin with a typical, everyday battle in which Sailor Moon gets
killed.  A badly written story, but that's to be expected.  Halfway
through the second page, however, something odd happens.  A character
named Galen, described as "Usagi's pretend big brother", shows up.  We are
clearly expected to know who this fellow is.  The problem is, I don't.
The disclaimer states that he's from "Lady's soul mates".  Now, had the
author said "from the fanfic 'Soul Mates' by lady", it would have been
much clearer.  Soul Mates is a fairly well-written tale which introduces a
large number of ridiculously cute guys -- some of whom have been involved
in the Sailor Moon storyline before, hint hint -- as the destined consorts
of all the Sailor Senshi.  Yes, including Haruka and Michiru.  Needless to
say, this basically ruins the fic in my eyes ... 

	In any event, in "A New Beginning", which is apparently meant to
serve as the sequel to "Soul Mates", despite the fact that it's done by a
different author and that first story hasn't been finished, after Usagi
dies, she goes to Australia.  (I guess that must mean she's a mutant.
<watches the joke fall flat>)  More properly, she is reborn as a gorgeous
supermodel type, and becomes fabulously wealthy in a short amount of time.
Then she goes to the Universe of the Four Gods Sky and Earth, and meets
Chichiri and his girlfriend Niki, and ...

	Wait a minute.  I've seen Fushigi Yuugi.  Chichiri doesn't *have*
a girlfriend.  And Niki ... isn't that the author's name?  Oh great.  So,
we have a storyline in which Usagi gets killed for no adequately explained
reason, Haruka and Michiru are heterosexual for no adequately explained
reason, Chichiri has a girlfriend who is ASTOUNDINGLY like the author of
this story for a pretty obvious reason, and the Senshi are acting like
crybabies who need protecting by their ultra-macho boyfriends for no
adequately explained reason.  You'd think that was enough.

	Oh no.  It gets worse.

	Just avoid it.  Please.

-----
Chris Davies, when he's not being an irascible commentator on Sailor Moon
fanfic, has actually written some himself.  You may have heard of them.
http://www.ualberta.ca/~cdavies/hmpage.html