Subject: Re: [FFML] [SM][Fanfic]I'm Here to Help Chapter 1
From: "Douglas A. Reeves" <dougreeves@earthlink.net>
Date: 9/14/1997, 11:31 AM
To: "Anime fanfiction mailing list (FFML)" <fanfic@fanfic.com>
Reply-to:
dougreeves@earthlink.net

Mark Doherty wrote:

At 10:23 PM 13/09/97 -0400, Douglas A. Reeves wrote:
Mark Doherty wrote:
I'm Here to Help
by Mark Doherty(mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au)

      I must admit, when I started reading this story, I didn't 
expect much.

Er...

Well, I've not read any of your work before, and I tend to begin with
low expectations (and hope for pleasant surprises like this one).

Suffice to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

Good, good.

      The perspective of this story was quite interesting... the 
main character feels to me very much alive, and real, even though 
exceedingly little is revealed about him.  The emotions felt are 
real, and can even be identified with to an extent... one empathizes 
with him.

      The respect shown for Sailor Moon (who he obviously has not 
connected to Serenity) is another nice touch.  The character is 
clearly not omniscient.

No, he's not. Despite his power, his experiences, his age, he is still
human, with all the flaws that brings. Does his incomplete knowledge 
of the Senshi give him a perception unflawed by beliefs of their just 
cause, or does his limited knowledge blind him to their good?

Or possibly both?  While I see the Senshi as good, they are (like
anyone) less than perfect... heroic figures tend to be glossed over,
their imperfections unnoticed.
 
And, of course, that brings the question: were the Senshi good? In 
the end, it's all a matter of perspective, and from his, they're not.
Considering his hate, Usagi should count her lucky stars that he 
doesn't know she's Serenity, he'd have no moral troubles doing what 
needed to be done to eliminate the fledgling Neo-Queen.

So true.

      I recommend this story to those of you who haven't read it.  I 
didn't expect to read past the first few paragraphs, but once I got 
into I just couldn't stop... I had to finish.  Almost made myself 
late to work that way, too.

Any day I can almost make someone late for work is a good day in my 
books. Thank you.

No problem.  When I read something like this I always try to comment on
it.  It encourages more of the same *grin*

************
Mark Doherty  -  mdoherty@mailbox.uq.edu.au
The Weekly FFML Synopses Lists are at:
http://www.uq.edu.au/~zzhdoher

My fanfics will be back on the web sooner or later.

"Time grows short, but I remain tall."

-- ************************************************************** Douglas A. Reeves <dougreeves@earthlink.net> Tempest - http://www.earthlink.net/~dougreeves/ Fanfics - http://www.earthlink.net/~dougreeves/fanfic.html "Where there's life, there's hope, and I'm not dead yet!" **************************************************************