Monday 25th June 2012

by SailorDonut

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…

So, does Akai have a girl of his own to remember?
Nope. He’s a little bit jealous of Shiroi, actually, which is why he reacts as he does. Like everyone else in PGSM, Akai’s been on his own for most of his life; no one’s ever really taken care of him or even really cared about him, which is why he’s so hard. He says he doesn’t need anybody, but deep down he does wish he had someone like he thinks Shiroi does. He really just needs someone to reach out to him, maybe show him a gesture of kindness after he gets cast out by Beryl, or when he’s stuck having to do janitorial work in a karaoke lounge. Maybe bake him some cookies.

Are Minako’s memories gone forever?
This is a bit of a complex subject. I’d say the music box did its job and erased Minako’s memories of Shiroi; but it did not erase Sailor Venus’ memories of Zoisite from the past life. I think that, when her past-life memories awaken, she does remember something she might have had with Endymion’s guardians. But the Sailor Venus of the Silver Millennium was harder than this Minako, even though she tries to live her life in the way of the past. With only her past-life memories to guide her, Minako in Act 12 can do the hard thing and kill someone she might have loved long ago, because she knows she has to for the good of the mission. If she still had her memories of the boy she’d had a crush on at the music shop, she might not have been able to do it so easily.

The relationships in PGSM are so dynamic—while Usagi and Mamoru may have been drawn to each other initially because of their love in the past life, I think we can say without a doubt that the reason they stay together in the present is because they love each other now. I think the memories of the past might always hover somewhere in the distance, but Mamoru loves Usagi, not Princess Serenity. Usagi loves Mamoru, not Prince Endymion.

In my fics, I’ve tried to use a similar dynamic for the couples I write. It’s easier for Nephrite and Ami, because they never really awaken their past-life memories (this is especially the case for Nephrite). I think it’s safe to say that, whether or not they might have been a couple in the past, they love each other now.

Zoisite and Minako is a bit harder. Both of them became so governed by their past-life selves throughout the course of PGSM, I think it might be hard for them to separate that after PGSM ends. I think that their relationship will always be influenced to a great extent by their memories of how things were back then. That’s why I’ve been having such fun in this fic and in “First Sight,” playing with how they might have been before their memories of the past awakened. They’re drawn to each other by the familiarity of the reincarnated souls that are hibernating within them; but they’re more grounded in their own identities before their memories awaken.

Are Shiroi and Akai’s memories gone forever?
I’m not sure yet. When I wrote “After the End,” I indicated that Nephrite and the other Shitennou couldn’t remember anything about the lives they led before Beryl possessed them. After writing this and “First Sight,” I’m not sure if I like that anymore. We’ll see if I change my mind and write something about them regaining their present-life memories in another fic someday. Maybe if I come up with some good backstory for Akai, I might even edit “After the End” for continuity. We’ll see.

Anyway, if you’re still here, thanks for reading. I realize probably no1curr, but, well… I curr.


* I realize that this line is ambiguous and more than likely means something else entirely—such as, Minako had to forget about her own personal hopes and dreams for the mission; or, the alternate translation, that she wasn’t talking about herself at all, but was commenting on Usagi’s resistance to the spell. However, the wording was bizarrely ambiguous, and so I chose to use creative license and take this interpretation for the sake of the fanfic.

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One Response to ““A Melody to Forget”: Story Notes, Part 2”

  1. […] 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. […]

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