by darkpower
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PLOT: After being saved by Michiru and Haruka, a young man and his friends attack the two senshi on the justification that they are gay. Inspired by the MTV campaign and based on the Matthew Sheppard attack.
NEW CHARACTERS: A couple of homophobic teenagers, Officer Mathews
LENGTH: 4,101 words
RATING: PG-13/R, depending on which rating of his you go by
COMMENTS: Well, you know this one will be special when the author tells you he's basing his story on a) a real-life hate crime, b) anything created by MTV, or c) both. The turds that are "inspired" by true events/PSAs tend to suck, and this one is no exception. So on behalf of this story, welcome to Virginia- land of history, mother of presidents, grower of tobacco and soy, and home to swarms of homophobic teenagers.
(Because, you know, being the 7th wealthiest state in this here Union - which is a factor in it being the twelfth-least violent state - and all, what better way to demonize it than to make all the teenagers that come from there in your story gay-hating, redneck maniacs who SCREAM AND CUSS IN ALL CAPS EVERY FUCKING SENTENCE!?!!? DON'T YOU FUCKING AGREE!?!?!! YOU FUCKING BETTER, BITCHES!!!!!!!!15461183111)
I think the author assumed most people probably wouldn't know the difference, it being a southern state and all. However, I lived in Virginia, and I can safely say that there were no gay-hating redneck maniacs going around beating up girls in sailor suits, so cosplayers everywhere may breathe a collective sigh of relief. It is clear that the only research the author did was that godawful made-for-TV movie about poor Matthew Sheppard, since this seems awfully reminiscent of it. That, and the author even admits that he changed Haruka's personality for the sake of showing just how much of a victim she becomes in the course of this story. Because Haruka (and for that matter, Michiru) is such a wimp to begin with. Then you've got the noble black cop who understands the hurt these two are going through - this is a southern state, after all! - and who puts his life on the line to save the two senshi from the generic racist/sexist/everythingist bigot who holds the town hostage.
For that matter, brain cells die every time I try and figure out just how these guys managed to figure out Haruka and Michiru's identities, let alone beat them up. Canon-wise, Usagi and co. couldn't be totally sure they were senshi - even after noticing tons of similarities - until they transformed right in front of the group. That means Haruka and Michiru gave the redneck teenager a peep show - and given that he apparently hates them in the aftermath, no wonder he'd want to attack them. Because if he didn't, his girlfriend would've.
Sailor Moon and related characters are copyrighted ©1991-2007 Naoko Takeuchi.
