A while ago, when the polling for this quarter's Best of Ranma
Fanfic Poll was at its height, a question was asked: "Why aren't there
polls for OTHER fanfic? Specifically, for Sailor Moon fanfic?"
Well, now there is.
This poll was set up by my buddy LeVar Bouyer, SM fanfic reviewer
and author of the horrific "Innocence in A Minor". I'll let him tell you
about it. Be sure to read the rules, be sure to follow them (i.e., don't
send your votes to the FFML or, God forbid, *me*), and be sure to vote for
End of the Beginning as the best written Sailor Moon fanfic of 1997.
Chris Davies.
(Hell yes I'm partisan.)
--------
In the beginning was Sailor Moon, and Sailor Moon was with
Takuechi-sensei, and Takuechi-sensei looked upon it and yea, verily, it
was good (until you got to SuperS, unless you happen to like Chibiusa,
but that's another story, and in any case things more or less improved
for SMStars, overlooking for the moment the debacle of those damnable
Starlights). And yea, verily, many looked upon Sailor Moon, and agreed
that it was good, and above all merchandisable.
But then there came unto the Kingdom of Sailor Moon the otaku.
And yea, verily, the otaku looked upon Takeuchi-sensei's masterwork, and
they said unto themselves, "Look, see what has been done here. Yea,
verily, it is good. But what if Usagi and Mamoru never got together at
the end of R? Look, then, let us go to our keyboards, and write what we
think should have happened or could have happened or, in fact, *did*
happen, only Toei put Takeuchi-sensei under a gag order." And lo! the
fanfic was born.
Okay, so maybe I'm overdoing the importance of fan fiction, but
the fact remains that for whatever reason, fans of TV shows, novels, and
almost any other form of fiction just love to write their own stories
about them, and Sailor Moon is no exception. Indeed, one of the things
that drew me to SM were the fanfics (but that's an even longer story).
I've been in the SM fold for nearly two years, now (and writing
fanfics for about one), and almost all that time I've been fascinated
with fanfics. Starting with the FSC (Future Sailor Cabinet, which is a
story I don't think *anyone* can adequately explain), down through the
ages to OW! (Otaku Wars!, which after about 3/4ths of a year appears to
be evolving into a derivative colloquially known as OW!R), from Hui's
first related stuff down to SME, fanfics have dominated alt.fan.sailor-
moon, perhaps not to the degree that they once did, when a fanfic a day
was SOP, but still, it's pretty sizable.
Yep, there are a lot of fanfics. No-one knows how many; there are
far too many individual fanfic pages to make a comprehensive count. I'd
say that 500 fanfics isn't an outlandish number; I have over 1000
individual fanfic files, usually breaking parts up separately. There
are many archives; the two most well known are A Sailor Moon Romance and
Doug Helms's site (neither of which I will give the URL for, mainly
because at writing I don't feel like looking them up). Both of these
are simply huge, and still growing. That doesn't include the smaller
archives, and the plethora of pages that individual authors put up and
don't advertise.
So, we have more fanfics than anyone could ever possibly read
(which hasn't stopped me from trying). The problem presented is: which
is the best? Every once in awhile, that question becomes too much for
some people, and they post polls about "what's your favorite fanfic?"
Invariably, it becomes more a contest of "which did you like" rather
than "which was the best?" It was in this spirit (among others) that
this poll was conceived. For once and for all (at least until late
September 1998), I plan to put to rest all the discussion on what's the
best/worst/funniest/etc. fanfic. Humbly submitted for your approval:
THE 1997 FIRST ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE OMNIBUS SAILOR MOON FANFICTION POLL!
<pause for applause>
Yes, this is the poll to end all polls. Enjoy.
Rules:
1. You may not vote for a fanfic you wrote. This applies to all
categories. You can't say (in jest or in fact) that your own fanfic is
the best or worst. Replies with blatant (or not so blatant) plugs will
not be counted.
2. Send all replies to l_bouyer@csunix1.lvc.edu. Simple enough, ne?
To be helpful, please include somewhere in the subject: header "fanfic
poll" or something like that. Note that this is *not* my usual
correspondence address. You can send your votes to that address, but
I'd really prefer you send it to the one listed here.
3. Only e-mail replies will be counted. This is a biggie. I'm not
saying that you can't cc: to the newsgroup and myself. I'm simply
saying that if it isn't in my mailbox, I'm not going to contend with
Dejanews and a dozen different news servers to dig up your reply.
Again, there is no prohibition *against* posting to the newsgroup as
well; in fact, I look forward to the discussion.
4. Voting ends 10 November 1997, at 12:00 am. Anything time-stamped
after then gets ignored. Why? Because it sounds nice. Why so long?
To allow for slow news posts and wishy-washy respondents who insist on
three page essays on each question.
5. Be nice. Really. I'm not going to count replies that just say
"SAILOR MOON Z SUCKZ HORSE BALLZ!" Partly because its simply stupid,
and partly because I dont know which Sailor Moon Z youre referring to.
Flames won't be returned to the sender, they'll just get a judicious
poke of the D key from me.
6. Violations of 1 or 5 are universal. Put more simply, if you're
perfect in all other categories, but slip up in one, the whole thing
goes. Again, this is one of those things I'm doing just because I can.
7. You don't have to answer each question. You can leave some blank
for whatever reason.
8. I forget what 8 was for.
9. One man/woman/cat, one vote. Unless specifically requested, the
first reply from a respondent is the one that counts. Additional votes
will be ignored (or flamed, if I'm in a bad mood).
10. EVERYTHING EVERYTHING EVERYTHING EVERYTHING!
11. When voting, please include the title, author (if at all possible
with an email address), and preferably a URL where it can be found.
12. Be honest. Please? I'm not doing this for money; this is simply
to satisfy my curiosity, and the curiosities of anyone else who likes
fanfics as much as I do.
13. Read all questions first. Some questions have very fine
distinctions, and you may find that you misread one question to
apparently answer the same question twice. Just trying to save you some
time.
14. For each question, you can make three selections. For example,
you can reply to #1 with "Um...Sailor Moon Z, Sailor Moon V, and Sailor
Moon A." Not that those would necessarily be my choices. To put
yourself at ease, I have no intention of voting myself.
15. Unless otherwise noted, assume that questions do not apply to
lemon/hentai fanfics. Ecchi fanfics I'll deal with on a case by case
basis.
Simple enough, ne? Yeah, right. Read it through again, and write
to me if you have any problems.
Here's the actual poll. To make my life simple, please snip
everything before the double line.
===================================================================
SNIP ABOVE THIS LINE
#1: What is the *best written* or most well done SM fanfic ever
written? This need not be your *favorite* fanfic.
#2: What is the *best written* or most well done SM fanfic written in
1997? You may include fanfics started before 1997 but are still being
written or were completed in 1997. This need not be your *favorite*
fanfic.
#3: What is your favorite SM fanfic?
#4: What is your favorite SM fanfic written in 1997? You may include
fanfics started before 1997 but are still being written or were
completed in 1997.
#5: What is the *worst written* or least well done SM fanfic ever
written? This need not be your *least favorite* fanfic.
#6: What is the *worst written* or least well done SM fanfic written
in 1997? You may include fanfics started before 1997 but are still
being written or were completed in 1997.
#7: What is the funniest SM fanfic ever written?
#8: What is the funniest SM fanfic written in 1997? You may include
fanfics started before 1997 but are still being written or were
completed in 1997.
#9: What is the darkest SM fanfic ever written?
#10: What is the darkest SM fanfic written in 1997? You may include
fanfics started before 1997 but are still being written or were
completed in 1997.
#11: What is the most romantic SM fanfic ever written?
#12: What is the most romantic SM fanfic written in 1997? You may
include fanfics started before 1997 but are still being written or were
completed in 1997.
#13: What is the best SM crossover ever written?
#14: What is the best SM crossover written in 1997? You may include
fanfics started before 1997 but are still being written or were
completed in 1997.
#15: What is the best SM lemon fanfic ever written? For the purposes
of this poll, lemon shall be defined as any story which includes
explicit depiction of sexual acts, i.e. oral sex, intercourse, etc.
#16: What is the best SM lemon fanfic of 1997? For the purposes of
this poll, lemon shall be defined as any story which includes explicit
depiction of sexual acts, i.e. oral sex, intercourse, etc. You may
include fanfics started before 1997 but are still being written or were
completed in 1997.
#17: What is the worst SM lemon fanfic ever written? For the purposes
of this poll, lemon shall be defined as any story which includes
explicit depiction of sexual acts, i.e. oral sex, intercourse, etc.
#18: What is the worst SM lemon fanfic of 1997? For the purposes of
this poll, lemon shall be defined as any story which includes explicit
depiction of sexual acts, i.e. oral sex, intercourse, etc. You may
include fanfics started before 1997 but are still being written or were
completed in 1997.
#19: Who is the best SM fanfic author? This need not be your
*favorite* fanfic author.
#20: Who is your favorite SM fanfic author?
#21: Who is the best new SM fanfic author of 1997? For the purposes of
this poll, new shall be defined as any author who had not posted or
released to the internet at large an SM fanfic before 1 January 1997.
#22: Who is the worst SM fanfic author? This need not be your *least
favorite* fanfic author.
#23: Who is your least favorite fanfic author?
#24: Who is your favorite fanfic senshi/scout?
#25: Who is your least favorite fanfic senshi/scout?
#26: (bonus) Do you prefer fanfics written in the DIC storyline or the
original?
SNIP BELOW THIS LINE
=================================================
Well, bet you weren't expecting an inquisition, were you? This
brings to a close the polling. The results will be posted on
alt.fan.sailor-moon on 14 November 1997. Happy fanficking!