[Sailor Moon/Multicross] NETTG - an overview

[Jason_Miao]

Although my writing style has deteoriated to the point where I cannot read my own fics without weeping, I am often motivated to make a passing attempt at producing something.  On these rare occasions, a innocent passerby may ask me what manner of fic I am writing.

"Oh, a Sailor Moon fic." I may reply.
"You watch Sailor Moon?!  I would never have guessed!" they usually exclaim in surprise.
"Actually," I admit "I've never seen a single episode."
"Ah.  A fellow manga reader," they reply, sagely.
"Well, no.  Never even seen the manga, either.  But I HAVE read Nuke Em Till They Glow, and Waiting for Minako, so I think I can pull it off."

At this point, the tradition is to gibber in unspeaking horror.  But it occured to me that many newcomers to the anime fanfiction scene may not be familiar with NETTG.  If you are one of these poor souls, kindly allow me to introduce you to this long running fic.

Imagine an epic story about a beautiful princess, her knight in shining armor who waits for her across the aeons of time, a thriving magical kingdom, and an evil general who leads armies comprising of the foulest of beasts across the dimensions to conquer and enslave the peaceful denzins of Earth.

As you can see, NETTG has all the elements of a classic fairytale.  However, note that none of these elements have anything to do with one another.  In addition, NETTG has a good dose of mutated flying seal-like creatures based on cat genetic experiments, multiple personality disorder, Lebanese relationships, a restaurant with a monsterous yet cute short order cook, Sailor Pluto, saiyan-steak, and the Power of Cheese.  Again, these elements do not necessarily have anything to do with one another, nor with the preceeding list.

With me so far?  No?  Good!  Then you probably have a feel of the fanfic.  

NETTG is one of the earlier humor fanfics that I've read.  Although I wasn't acquainted with Sailor Moon at the time, the audacity of the title lured me onward.  And thankfully so, because my lack of SM knowledge did little to prevent me from throughly enjoying the fic.

Because the fic is somewhat dated, modern readers may find some warning signs that indicate that most fics should be skipped.  For example, the fic starts out with a character who seems to be an ANC, and quickly moves on to another apparent ANC.  Additionally, there is the occasional overused joke of a long and dull monolog, followed by a --

[GET ON WITH IT!!]

Sorry, sorry!  Where was I?  Ah, yes.  The point is, none of that matters.  The new characters are indeed amongst the main characters of the fic, but serve to enrich the SMverse, rather than overshadow it.  The humor itself is slapstick, so it is admittedly overstated, but never over-overstated, as is often the case with other writers.  (For comparison, you might wish to try reading ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/ranma.akane-can-cook but I wouldn't actually suggest doing so.)

To read the actual fanfic itself, you can go to http://www.rakhal.com/florestica/ben-oliver/index.html

Those who are more inverested in visual art may want to look at the ongoing webcomic at http://www.nettg.com/ which discusses some of the backstory of one (technically two) of the main characters.

Finally, what do *I* think of this slightly old yet still refreshing fic?  "Oi loikes it."

[Anastasia]

Ah, Ben Oliver's work.

While I don't care for his works, as I just don't find him funny. (Sorry, Ben), it's a nice review. It nails down something of it that appeals to many of it's fans.