This is probably the raciest thing you will ever get out of me. I was so scandalized with myself when I wrote it, and I thought, “Oh dear, I should probably rate this M.” Then I went and read some other M-rated fics to compare and lololololololol I am such a prude. Oh my goodness.

Anyway. I thought I would play around with Akumi‘s personality in this one. After many (many many) rewatches, I started to wonder if—even though she claimed to remember everything in Act 21—if Akumi might have had some false memories embedded in her to make her think that she was the original/dominant personality, that she had always been Ami and that other girl who kept trying to invade her mind was some kind of hostile invader. Hence, she is fighting to retain her identity the same way Shiroi did in A Melody to Forget; but inversely, because this time, it’s the Dark Kingdom personality who is fighting against the True personality.

Just something fun I thought I’d try.

Anyway, I’ve been wanting to write something like this for at least 5 years now, but it never turned out right before today (you know, the day I sat down to write the next chapter of “Guardians” and somehow this came out instead). I take some kind of sadistic pleasure in playing with Kunzite’s unrequited love, and setting him up only to be let down instead.

I PROMISE I have something nice for him in the future, though. I just have to finish “Guardians” first, because there’s no way I can write the Something Nice for Kunzite story without obnoxiously spoiling the end of “Guardians.” Just four more chapters, just four more chapters…

Part 1 of these rambly notes can be found here. Explanation of the names I use for the Shitennou’s human names is here.

The premise of this story was suggested to me by my sister when we rewatched Act 35 recently. It actually was based on a two-part question:

1. How does Zoisite know that the music box won’t work if your heart is guarded?
2. What does Minako mean by, “I also know how it feels to forget“?*

I realize that this fic is a lot darker and more angsty than most of my other fics. As my sister would say, sorry ’bout it. I’d blame it on the fact that we just marathon-watched Hana Yori Dango, which has a tendency to bring out the melodramatic; but I think the nature of this premise just kind of lends itself to the darker angst anyway. Just… blame it on my sister, either way 

Some things that you might be wondering about in general…

Keep reading…

Tags: melody to forget

This actually got really lengthy, so I’m splitting these notes into two parts. This part kind of meandered into general theorizing about PGSM and its characters. For the second part, which addresses a few specific points from the story, click here.

I wanted to use this story to explore what kind of lives the Shitennou might have led before Beryl possessed them (this is following up on the premise I started with in “First Sight,” which is that all the Shitennou were like Shin—regular humans who were possessed by Beryl and lost their memories). I kind of build here on my own headcanon that the personalities of the Shitennou who served Beryl were a meshing of their past life and their modern personalities. The mileage on this, of course, varies from general to general.

Keep reading…

Tags: melody to forget

So, after such a ludicrous amount of time, chapter 7 is finally done and uploaded. Yaay! You can check it out here.

Lots of things change in this chapter. First of all, we finally meet Luna and Artemis! I hope you like them and that the Ethereal concept works for you like it works in my mind. 😉

Also, I know I’ve said it before, but I hope you’re picturing Beryl as Mio right now.  That’s how I picture her in my mind. In fact, it’s been really hard for me writing this because I almost type “Mio” instead of “Beryl” almost every single sentence, lol.

I actually don’t have a lot of notes for this chapter. Everything seems self-explanatory, to me at least. I’ve spent the last two years obsessively thinking it over, though, so maybe that’s just me.  If you have any questions about the chapter, please comment here or on the chapter reviews on FF.net.

In other, depressing news, it seems PGSM-Fanfiction is gone! I went to add the chapter there and it’s just… gone. So is Kirari-PGSM.net. I’m really upset about this. First of all, I loved adding my stories to that site, and having a PGSM-only resource available. I used it frequently, but not as much as I wanted to—now that I have a smart phone and an eReader, I was hoping to read more there and make use of its ePub feature. Also, on a more personal note, I don’t think I backed up all my reviews from the site, and now they’re gone. So I’m really hoping that the site may make a reappearance… :'(

Tags: Guardians Chapter Notes

The fanfic and these notes were originally posted on Dreamwidth in April.

I got the idea for this story after rewatching Act Zero recently. I’ve always been of the opinion that the Shitennou were reborn as humans like the Senshi, and that Beryl brainwashed them and brought them to the Dark Kingdom. This makes sense, based on what we see of Kunzite in Act 14, not to mention what happens to Nephrite in the second half of the series.

(Maybe this isn’t even up for debate? I haven’t read the manga yet [September!], but I’ve never seen anything really definitive about this in the fandom, so I’m assuming this is just speculation.)

Anyway, so I thought it might be fun to imagine what kind of life Zoisite might have been living before Beryl captured him. I chose not to name him in this one… I thought about using Shiroi Zero like I have in other fics, but then I thought, “If Minako learns his name now, then wouldn’t she recognize it in Reunion?” So I just decided to leave it a mystery.

I also wanted to play with the idea that PGSM gave us about everyone having different personalities in the present than in the past life. Throughout the series, some of these were more obvious (Princess Sailor Moon vs. Usagi comes to mind), but others were more subtle. And then there’s Minako and Zoisite, who both completely surrendered themselves to their past life identities when their memories reawakened. We at least got to see a little bit of Minako’s present-life identity in Act Zero (goofy, ditzy, cutesy), but we don’t know what Zoisite was like before his memories reawakened. The boy we meet in this story believes strongly in pursuing things that make you happy; of course, when he remembers the past life and his mission, he is forced to leave all that behind, just as Minako becomes very grave and serious when her memories return. But I’d like to believe that, once Metallia was destroyed and the ties to the past life were broken, Minako and Zoisite might be able to go back to the lives we see here in this fic. ♥

Finally, chapter 6 of “Guardians of the Earth and the Moon” has been published.  This chapter went through a lot of evolution, which is a large part of the reason it took so long to write/publish (that, and the fact that I’m easily distracted XD). You see, I started writing this fic back in 2004, but it was all on binder paper… so I had to type it, which is why it took me so long to get even this far. Chapter 5 was the last chapter I’d written back then. From Chapter 6 on, all content is brand-spanking new.

Because of the amount of time that’s passed since I wrote the first five chapters, you might see a slight difference in style between chapter 5 and chapter 6. I’m hoping it’s not too bad (my sister betas for me and she didn’t think it was a drastic departure from the previous chapters; it could be that I’m being overly critical XD).

This chapter also went through a lot of revision as I came up with new ideas to tie in more aspects of the PGSM timeline, as well as ways to give the characters more depth and backstory. Hopefully you will enjoy these additions. Here are some notes I had regarding this chapter that I hope will answer any questions you might have (here there be spoilers):

• This chapter goes into Princess Serenity’s backstory much more. I wanted to find a way to explain why Serenity is still a princess (not queen) if her mother is not present. The most logical explanation for this something that has occurred throughout history: a regency. Serenity is ruling with the help of advisors such as Egeria and others until she comes of age. In this story, Serenity is 18 and will become queen when she’s 20… that may seem old, but there’s a reason for it which will soon be explained, and it has to do with the Crystal.
• Speaking of Serenity, we see a harsher side to the Princess in this chapter. This ties into what we see in PGSM: she looks so sweet in the flashbacks, and yet she’s so cold as Princess Sailor Moon. Serenity’s under a lot of strain right now because her heart is telling her one thing, but everyone else is telling her something else; but there’s more to it than that. We’ll be seeing more of this evolution of her character, as well as the reasons behind it, in chapters to come.
• The Ethereals are probably my favorite addition in this chapter, so I hope they’re not too “WTF” for everyone else. 😛 I had been trying to think of a way to include Luna and Artemis, but was having trouble  figuring out how to incorporate talking cat plushies. My solution to this six years ago was to just ignore them. XD But then I recently came up with the idea to make them shape-shifters… I won’t give you more details than that and what Serenity explains about them within the chapter, since I don’t want to spoil you. But I’m looking forward to introducing Luna and Artemis and revealing more about the Ethereals, who will be playing an important role in the story in the future.
• I reference a lot of Greek and Roman mythology in this chapter, although I use the names loosely (a lot like Naoko Takeuchi’s borrowing of Selene and Endymion for her own story, heh heh). For example, Egeria’s name (and character) is based on Roman mythology. According to legend, a nymph by that name was the wife of the second king of Rome, and she was also his chief political advisor. Many of the laws and traditions in ancient Rome were begun by Egeria. It’s only fitting that Serenity should such a strong political leader as her advisor! I had a fun time coming up with this character, although I don’t think she’ll be playing a very big role in the story.Other mythological names in this chapter: Deukalion is actually the name of one of Endymion’s ancestors. The names of the months are based on the Athenian lunar calendar. Hestia is the Greek goddess of the hearth (tying in with how “Mariel” means of the sea [although that’s a Dutch name], I thought the princess of Mars should have a name that tied to her powers as well).

I think that’s it… if you have any questions about the chapter you’d like me to answer, feel free to post them here! ♥

Tags: Guardians Chapter Notes

“After the End” is a Neph/Ami short story set after the end of the series (but before the Special Act). I am planning on writing a number of other stories set in this continuity (the first one of these is “Reunion“, which is a Zoi/Mina fic), so I wanted to give some more details about the universe.

1. Stories set in this continuity are written with the assumption that the Shitennou were reborn as humans just as the Senshi were in Act 49. I believe that this actually is the case in canon, although I know many people disagree with me. If you want to read a lengthy argument as to the whys and hows of this theory, you can do so here. Reading that rant might be a good background to reading the fic, although it’s totally not necessary.
2. In this and other fanfics set in this continuity, the Shitennou’s human names are:
   

   Jadeite = Jun Kiiroi
   Nephrite = Naito Akai (his given name was borrowed with permission from my sister’s story “Darkness Emerging“)
   Zoisite = Zero Shiroi
   Kunzite = Ken Kuroi

   The way I thought of these names is kind of a funny story: when I started this fic, I was sitting there trying to think of what they should go by on Earth, and I thought, “Oh, I’ll give them corresponding colors for their last names” (Red, White, Black, and Yellow). So I looked up the colors and I was thinking, “Wow, I’m so original.” Well, I later realized that my “clever” name choices were actually the same names the Shitennou-police had in Act Zero. In my defense, I’ve only seen Act Zero once and it didn’t have subtitles on it, so I wasn’t really paying attention to their names (I also didn’t know back then that they were named after colors… the things you learn!). There’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

   For their given names, I chose names that started with the same letter as their Shitennou names (“N” for Nephrite, “Z” for Zoisite, you get the picture). I didn’t use “Shin” for Kunzite because, since he has his memories now, I honestly can’t see him wanting to use that name (or acting the way Shin did, haha).

3. For this and the other fanfics in this continuity, I have tried to do a lot of research so that it won’t seem like I’m so obnoxiously clueless about Japan. I felt like in some of my earlier PGSM fanfics, they were acting much too American. I really want to make something that is believable for the culture they’re in and would be as believable as a real episode of PGSM, but not being Japanese and never having been there, I can’t claim to be an expert. Hopefully I didn’t screw up too bad. Please forgive me if I did.

If you have any questions about anything you encountered in the fic, feel free to comment here and maybe I can answer them! XD

I wrote “The Dark Ones” in its entirety during my junior year of high school, completing it in February 2002. Almost seven years have passed, and it is still the longest fanfiction I have ever written and completed. Looking back, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it stood the test of time (that is, considering the fact that it was written by a 16 year old, it actually didn’t suck). There were a few things I always wanted to revise, however; which is what led to the version you see now!

Most of the changes I made were minor; spelling and grammar things. I did, however, make three major edits. The first of these is regarding the character of Orion. When I originally wrote the story, I didn’t decide to make him one of the good guys until halfway through the story, which meant that he was portrayed in earlier chapters as kind of whiny and sniveling. He wound up being my most popular original character, though, as well as my own favorite, and I felt that his behavior in the original version didn’t do him justice. Therefore, his scenes have been re-written (and new ones have been added) to portray him in a manner that I feel better fits his character from start to finish.

The biggest edit I made was chapter seven. In retrospect, Milo and Kida’s behavior in the original version was grossly out of character, and made me largely dissatisfied with the entire story. I actually rewrote and posted the new version of this chapter in 2005, but never made note of it until now. For people who read the old chapter, I think you will agree that this one makes much more sense, and fits the characters and overall flow of the story better.

The last change I made was to the Atlantean words throughout the story; I made them into actual words. In most official merchandise, Atlantean is broken down into syllables, with the emphasized syllable in all caps. This is clearly done for pronunciation’s sake, since the words would be written in the Atlantean alphabet as opposed to with English characters. I felt like it really disrupted the flow of the story, though. If Atlantean were a real language, there would probably be some better form of translation, like romaji for Japanese. So I just made one up. I used symbols from the phonetic alphabet to indicate pronunciation for stuff that was ambiguous so that there wouldn’t be as many Hs in the words (for example “ë” and “ä” are “eh” and “ah,” and “ō” is “oh”).

I also cut out most of the Atlantean words that were in the story because, frankly, I only put them there in the first place as away to show off how much Atlantean I knew, which is just stupid. I only left Atlantean where I felt it was necessary. Here is a list of the Atlantean words I used and their definitions for you:

Mätim | MAH-tihm | Mother

Täbtoap | TAHB-toap | Father

Mëbelmōk | MEH-bel-moak | Great Flood

Täneb-toat | TAH-nehb-toat | Your Highness, etc.

supük | SOO-puhk | hello

niipuk | NEE-pook | fool

kiiyish | KEE-yihsh | quickly

shemubin | lava whale (like Obbi from the sequel)

ketak, aktirak, martak | stone-fish vehicles

wokano | Atlantean standard of measurement

-toap, -toat | honorifics; the first is familiar, the second is formal

Phrases:

mōkit gwënonik | MOH-kiht GWEH-noh-nikh | I’ll kill you for that!

Yädlug, Yädlugonik | YAHD-luhg, YAHD-lu-goh-nihk | Oh my god!, etc.

kwahm tëredsenen | kwahm TEH-red-seh-nen | don’t be afraid, have no fear (kwahm = no)

I didn’t make up any words or phrases, I only used official movie Atlantean. Keran_Shadlag has done an extensive study of the language developed by Okrand for the movie using a number of sources way over my head. If you are interested in the Atlantean language, I hope you will take a look at his work, which you can find here and here.

I hope these notes were informative. 🙂 Thank you all so much for reading “The Dark Ones” and I hope you enjoyed it!