Tales from the Silver Millennium (SM Idea Discussion)

Because I haven't seen a Sailor Moon fanfic that is both new and worth reading apart from DKA and BDSM since forever.

Idea #1: Usagi is completely defined in canon by her past life. It's all about being Princess Serenity and being the heir to the Moon Kingdom and whatnot. But what happens when you stick another layer of problems on Usagi through her present life? Say for instance that she's...

*Rolls a die*

...the half-succubus daughter of Morrigan Aensland? Or something like that. Give her something from her present life to tie her identity to, like Nanoha picking up a Green Lantern ring before she becomes a mage in the 2814-verse, and see where she goes with that, how she balances her responsibilities and how the Senshi react to that. Maybe she'd rather follow in mom's footsteps than make herself a crystal kingdom, for instance.

The big problem is Usagi herself in many cases, and without MASSIVE character development, you're very likely to get a "Sailor Moon in name only" situation. It's not inherently bad, but it's not inherently good either, and it requires a good writer to pull off successfully.

You had me up until the dice roll that just seems like a complete shark jumping to me, maybe something a little tamer would be in order.

Yeah, I'd expect that one to produce a lime at some point, probably a bad one unless it was done well. Then again, Darkstalkers succubae get as much of a kick out of fighting as out of sex, so maybe it ends with Usagi being really enthusiastic about fighting evil.

Okay, try another random choice:

*Rolls die*

Mmmm.... I'm listening to the Macross Frontier OST at the moment, so let's go with 'Usagi is a colonist in the Frontier fleet.' And no, I don't have the faintest idea how I'd make that work.

How would a Saint Seiya crossover work out?

I had an idea with Mamoru Chiba better known as Tuxedo Mask become one of the 48 Bronze Saints or one of the other 24 Silver Saints, and during one of his missions comes into contact with Sailor Moon and Co. while their fighting the Dark Kingdom.

Another idea is to have Athena reincarnate as Chibi-Usa during Crystal Tokyo resulting in Queen Serenity having to deal with the Gold Saints, the Pope, the other Saints, and all the trouble that entitles.

Or have Sailor Pluto take up leadership and control over/recreating Underworld after her father Hades was killed by Seiya and Co.

All these idea's of course have to use Manga Moon which we need more of in Fanfiction.

I'm sorry, but how does Usagi tie herself to her past life? Princess Serenity wasn't a senshi, and she died ingloriously. Usagi is well past that, she's reinvented herself, and so have her friends.

Look, go read Shadowjack's In Which I watch Sailor Moon. See him compare Ami to Revy from Black Lagoon, and realize that it works.

Sailor Pluto has spent 250,000 years guarding the gates of time never interfering. The Time Gates are not the only method of time travel but they are the most dangerous. For you see normal time travel creates a new dimension. The time gates do not they are the only way to go into your own past or future. And they are never to be used.

However some idiot allowed them to be used, So now Sailor Pluto how has had no contact with the world for since the dawn of man, must now try and manipulate the time line to create Crystal Tokyo or risk universal paradox.

I've always loved the idea that Pluto's really Susan Foreman after a regeneration or two.

I seem to recall Usagi killing herself during the battle with Metallia in the manga, though I don't recall how she came back to life.

What I mean is how Usagi seems content a lot of the time to let destiny drag her around by the pigtails. Granted, destiny drops a lot of cool stuff in her lap, but it's very lucky for fate that Usagi was okay with a lot of this stuff. What if she hadn't gotten along with Mamoru? What if she decided she didn't want to be Neo-Queen Serenity? Who really wants to spend their whole lives fighting evil? Most of the Senshi have jobs they want to pursue, Ami wants to be a doctor for instance and I'm pretty sure Minako had dreams of being an actress or something. But nope, destiny decided they were going to be bodyguards for their best friend instead. It's one of those things about the series that doesn't sit right with me.

Hmm, on that topic, the hatred of Crystal Tokyo and Usagi's idiocy in it highlights something Aaron Peori stated.

"Sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice."

That's not what he's talking about. In the Manga, she killed herself after the Prince got killed during the invasion, the invasion got worse, and the Queen in a desperate bid threw her soul (along with the souls of the Senshi) forward into the future where she was reborn as Usagi before hitting Metallia with the Dues-ex-machina Crystal.

Don't start on that old yarn, RJ. }p

I know what he's talking about, I mean they both committed suicide at some point so they're not completely different, at least at that point in the series.

What I would like to see is something more like the PGSM version of events, where Serenity snapped and blew up the Moon Kingdom herself when Endymion died, and her reawakening in Usagi in the modern age is not a good thing because she's still crazy and willing to destroy the Earth if Endymion dies again. Usagi forcefully divorcing herself from that past life -- "I am not Serenity! I am myself! I am [Insert Gurren Lagann reference here]!" -- is something I don't ever recall seeing in either the anime or the manga.

I thought that SJ canon was that Revy, Usagi and Misato were related somehow?

(Or maybe that was just wishful thinking for my interpretation of SJ canon.)

In any case, SJ canon is Best Canon. Kamen Scooter says it is so.

If you want to change Sailor Moon just steal a page from BDSM (just one of them though) and change her/a senshi's Pre-show interests. You end up with a very different but still similar feeling if you have an Usagi who's a big fan of High Fantasy or a Minato who thinks she's in a Noir Detective Story.

Thats a major theme in White Devil of the Moon

So Usagi and Warhammer 40K, then?

Yeah, but that's Nanoha doing it.

The fanfic The White Devil of the Moon showed Nanoha absolutely disgusted with Princess Serenity's actions, and chewed the Queen out something fierce as well.

So? She's the reborn Serenity in that fic, and the premise isn't that far removed from the one in this thread (Serenity In Name Only).

Quite honestly, while Usagi has some potential as a character, the true underlying issue Usagi really faces in her character growth is Japanese culture itself, and this isn't addressed worth shit. You can't address a problem if you never acknowledge it as such.

How do you figure?

Usagi sacrificing her life to kill Metallia /= Princess Serenity committing suicide because she a wimp.

No, I mean Usagi impaled herself on Venus's sword because Metallia killed Endymion if I recall correctly. It's a case of history repeating itself, except this time she came back to life for some reason. It's been ages since I read the manga though, so it's possible I'm misremembering that

I saw an idea on another forum a while back, can't remember where though. Really I should look it up, but I don't remember where it was. any help would be appreciated.

Here is how it went Other people besides the Senshi are reincarnated in modern times. With snatches of their past lives memories coming back they begin to search for information about what is happening to them. Eventually someone decides create a forum and these various people eventually find each other and by putting up what little information they can remember on the Silver Millennium their data contributes to the creation of a Digimon, Lunamon(who already exists in canon this plot just modifies it so that data on the Silver Millennium is her source). And she wants to find her princess, the rightful ruler of the Silver Millennium.

Here is an idea, have Usagi be a Chosen Child (Adventure 01/02) or a Digimon Tamer (Tamers/Season 3) before she becomes a Senshi. Having Usagi already been on a life changing journey before becoming a Senshi would definitely affect the plotline. Saving the world with allies and fighting forces far beyond anything a human can even hope to contend with would be something she has already experienced. Since she already has experience in this area she would likely be more mature about it and other areas of her life and less influenced by her past life's memories. The whole "Serenity Reborn" thing was always implied to be a part of her, but it really kicked in when she became Sailor Moon. Really any plot that has her gaining life experience before becoming Sailor Moon could be interesting. The Digimon one was just the most convenient because it provides a way for this to happen and is not only one of the most well known, but easiest ones to work in. Usagi becomes Sailor Moon at 14, most of the kids in Digimon Series are about ten when things get started. Some of them are even younger!

Unfortunately Digimon is even more broken than the Nasuverse. Go ahead and look at some of the heavy hitters and you can see what I mean.

Susanoomon: He can destroy and recreate the entire Digital World. Since this is only used when their is a major threat it is somewhat implied that he does not bring said threat back when he recreates the Digital World. Digimon are usually reborn as Digieggs when they die. Susanoomon can potentially remove them from the system. It's like the Silver Crystal, except he does not need to risk his life every time he uses it.
http://digimon.wikia.com/wiki/Susanoomon

UlforceVeedramon: The fastest of the Royal Knights. He has Blue Chrome Digizoid armor which makes him faster than most other Digimon, including Rapidmon who can move at the speed of light. And his Ulforce special ability lets him regenerate just as fast. That's right he regenerates from wounds faster than the speed of light.
http://digimon.wikia.com/wiki/UlforceVeedramon

Millenniumon: Has three forms each stronger than the last, his first form has the ability to create a pocket pocket dimension and trapping them for all eternity, and the ability to destroy said pocket dimension at will. Oh and killing him makes him evolve into his stronger forms.
http://digimon.wikia.com/wiki/Millenniummon

Lucemon: His Grand Cross attack is basically the same as throwing a nuke at the enemies face. Even in this his Child(Rookie) form he is stronger than most Ultimate (Mega) level Digimon and can pretty much one shot them.
Lucemon Falldown Mode (Chaos Mode): His first attack Paradise Lost is a combo of punches and kicks that that knocks the opponent into the air, then he grabs them and slams them back into the ground. Fun Fact: in Digimon Frontier the Digital World has three moons. Lucemon uses this attack and it breaks one moon and causes the debris from it's destruction to destroy the other moons as well. His second attack Dead or Alive(Ultimate Sacrifice) has a fifty/fifty chance of killing an enemy outright or leaving them on the verge of death.
Lucemon Satan Mode(Shadowlord Mode): a giant purple dragon "Demon God" created in the image of the Dragon from the book of Revelation. Carries a black sphere(Gehenna) that can absorb all attacks that hit it. Even destroying this form is meaningless as it will just regenerate. Attacks are a demonic flame that purifies anything (Purgatorial Flame) and firing "a light of annihilation" from the "Crowns of the Seven Deadly Sins" the floating crests over it's body. It is fact little more than a puppet body controlled by...
Lucemon Larva: an evil insect like creature that exist in the Gehenna orb carried by Lucemon Satan Mode. Unless it is destroyed then Lucemon Satan Mode cannot be stopped. You have to enter the Gehenna Orb and destroy Lucemon Larva in order to destroy Lucemon Satan Mode.
http://digimon.wikia.com/wiki/Lucemon

The Canon Guilmon Line
Dukemon:Royal Knight, one of the Royal Knights the "Guardian Deities of the Net" and one of the strongest of them, so he is in the top tier of Digimon. His next form is so broken it isn't even funny
Dukemon Crimson Mode: Quo Vadis(Crimson Light) removes anything it hits from existence. And it is an area affect attack that can cover at least several miles.
Megidramon: Guilmon's Dark Ultimate(Mega) form. Simply by existing he causes the entire Digital World to nearly collapse. Since the Digital World and Earth are linked, if it goes the Earth is destroyed too.
http://digimon.wikia.com/wiki/Dukemon#Gallantmon
http://digimon.wikia.com/wiki/Megidramon

Apocalymon: Massive collection of Pure Hatred who can force his opponents back to their weaker forms (Death Evolution) and as a last resort self destruct and destroy entire worlds (Grand Death Bang) and can use the attacks of every other Digimon that has ever existed. Oh and if you do manage to kill him it might spawn a Mephismon who can evolve into Galfmon whose Dead Scream kills everything that hears it. And he is about the same size as Godzilla so he can scream very loud. Thankfully Apocalymon only has their attacks not special abilities like UlforceVeedramon's Ulforce.
http://digimon.wikia.com/wiki/Apocalymon

And finally the big one. Alphamon. The "Deterrent Force" of the Digital World. The Digital World's equivalent of a Nuclear Arsenal that can wipe out pretty much anything else with his power alone, he also leads the other Twelve Royal Knights and can call upon them as backup. Thankfully as the "Lord of the Empty Seat" he is absent most of the time. Oh and he has Time Hax. The Alpha inForce or Alpha Gain Force lets him rewind time and repeat his attacks as many times as he wants so you only ever see the final blow.
http://digimon.wikia.com/wiki/Alphamon

So yeah it would be pretty hard to crossover Digimon with anything else without the plot devices and just plain hax getting in the way. As you can clearly see I though this up a while ago, and the more I thought about it the clearer it became that alot of Digimon would have to be nerfed or just omitted from the story as only Metallia could stand up to some of the higher tier Digimon when the Sailor Moon part kicks in. Later enemies provide a more credible threat, but having the Digimon stomp the Youma and Generals in the beginning would detract from the story overall. Though I will admit Lunamon's evolution line as a rabbit Digimon certainly fits. Yes I know that Usagi means rabbit and that rabbit's are linked to the moon in Asian Folklore. But just look at the images of Lunamon and her evolutions and tell me that they don't look like something Sailor Moon would have as a partner.
http://digimon.wikia.com/wiki/Lunamon

But like I said anything that has Usagi experiencing live changing events, most importantly supernatural ones before becoming Sailor Moon could affect her overall development. Hell even being the token "kid" following around a hero or heroine would give her insight one what it is like to fight for others. Having an Usagi who is already has her own beliefs about protecting others and does not let her newfound power as Sailor Moon and her past life's memories sway her from her ideals would be interesting.

(Originally I was going to use Wikimon for info links, but for some reason I could not connect. Feel free to try, it is generally better with canon information that the Digimon Wikia. This only holds true to the original Japanese source however, the wikia is better for a more concise picture overall. http://wikimon.net/Main_Page )

Kage, clip everything below this line, if we need to know the specifics we'll look them up ourselves.

Sailor Moon as space opera.

The various enemies send in fleets instead of ground troops. If the bad guys to out a multi-world empire make them look like it. After the Sailors win a few battles they come to close to losing the last one and the Earth finds out. The Scouts are forced to recruit to man more ships despite massive automation. They can't delegate to more qualified people because their command codes are locked in and all the infrastructure is Royal Guard and intended to be directly commanded by the Queen/Empress and the Scouts. The Earth finds out relatively quickly because the masquerade is for pussies.

The Scouts find each other much more rapidly. Artemis helps Sailor V teleport the two of them to the moon with the help of an artifact. Sailor V activates the equipment and factories on the moon, gets things rolling, and calls up the 4 Inners with the equipment on the Moon. When Moon arrives and activates uses her higher level codes she's instantly crowned the new Queen (Empress sounds better to me and would help her outrank terrestrial nobility, but YMMV). Que much freaking out.

That's Admiral Jedite to you! Alternatively, stay with General Babylon 5 style.

Thoughts?

That is what occured in the Silver Millenium. Beryl makes her move on the system, the Youma attack, the Prince gets killed, and Serenity offs herself in despair. Queue to the Queen trying to fix what she can as everything is fucked nine ways from Sunday and the worlds burn around her. Many millenia later, Usagi is born.

The issues with Japanese culture? A culture that is ingrained to be as racist, judgemental, thoughtless of consequences, and xenophobic as it can be? A culture that still believes it has a heavenly mandated destiny is has yet to reach? A culture that believes it is ethnically and culturally "Special" and "unique"? A culture that does it's best to "Hammer down the nails that stick up"? A culture that believes the crippled and maimed should do the world a favor and die, rather than continue to be burdens by being all 'crippled' and 'maimed'? A culture that is seeped in officially recognized corruption, and is in large part ruled by organized crime?

I don't know. You tell me what may be wrong with such a culture and the peoples in it that both support and defend it's very negative aspects.

One I wrote for the Tribble thread a while back...


Make Money, Not War!

The final minutes of the Dark Kingdom's invasion of the Silver Millennium go a little worse for wear. Queen Beryl is cut down by a cheap shot Love-Me Chain to the back.

At first, things are generally the same. Queen Serenity still lets rip with the Silver Crystal, banishing the Dark Kingdom to a pocket universe and sending all her subjects to be reincarnated in the future. The Lunar Cats are sent into hibernation. Sailor Pluto retreats to her lonely post at the Time Gate. The Dark Kingdom, isolated in a desolate dimension, dreams of conquest and revenge in their Goddess's name. However without a supreme monarch to keep them in line or to provide a link to Metalia, the four surviving generals eye each other warily, unsure of what to make of this unexpected development.

History happens.

A dramatically appropriate round number of years later, the Sailor Senshi are reborn in Japan. One by one, they're recruited by Luna and Artemis. Love and friendship gradually forges a team out of them because the fire of combat sure ain't. Somebody forgot to tell the Dark Kingdom that the stars were right to break out of their ancient cage. In the meanwhile they're busy continuing their search for the missing Moon Princess.

Haruka Tenou and Michiru Kaiou continue their partnership, playing piano and violin duets... amongst other nocturnal activities, including ones that don't involve tribadism.

Mamoru Chiba, who's never worn formal wear, leads a somewhat monastic life as he continues his university studies. When he travels abroad to study in London, he Meets Cute with a fellow Japanese student, Hina Kusaka, and the two introverts hit it off.

At the Time Gate, Sailor Pluto continues not masterminding all of human history.

That's what's happening on Earth.

* * *

Unbeknownst to our heroines, imprisonment has actually been pretty good for the Dark Kingdom's general welfare. Without an all-powerful sorceress to keep the rank-and-file monsters in line, it falls yo Beryl's four generals to keep their nation from cannibalizing itself. Each general heads his own faction and all are fairly well balanced, so a kind of Mutual Assured Destruction arises from their distrust of one another. With Zoisite and Kunzite in bed together, Jadeite and Nephrite ally, but both alliances aren't entirely sound as one person in each tries to be first among equals.

Outside from the odd skirmish in the first or second centuries of imprisonment, however, life has been outwardly peaceful. With their dimensional prison so resource and energy poor, it's simply not affordable for the generals to waste their efforts on war. What conflicts occur take place in the realm of court intrigue, victories and defeats that only the four general know about. Publicly, their Junta is solid and unshakeable. The martial structure Beryl maintained has atrophied over the centuries of imprisonment. Evolutionary pressures favor youma with brains. (Think Tidus as a default model.) Something of a capitalistic system has evolved over the centuries to service the feudal court system that replaced the maximally military efforts under Beryl.

Lacking a direct link to Metalia or a manifestation of Her will, the Dark Kingdom has become a little more... circumspect in how they honor their goddesses' desires. It's been a long time and, with the four generals being the only ones to really remember Beryl as anything more than a quasi-mystical historical figure spoken of in hushed reverence at the youma equivalents of Christmas and Easter, there's doctrine has been altered to support and stabilize the junta. Conquering the Earth is a long-term goal, sure, but life is already pretty good. Why risk destroying a cushy set-up by attacking as soon as possible? Why not learn about the enemy first, get the lay of the land, and import some of that "champaign" stuff that Jedite brought back from his first personal expedition. The Earth will still be there for the taking in a century or six.

The Japanese government has been cautiously receptive to their diplomatic feelers, as have a few other candidates. The only real stumbling block in negotiations have been accusations of rogue youma attacking innocent Tokyo residents. The junta has, of course, denied any connection with the two female youma dressed in schoolgirl outfits have been spotted standing over dead bodies and has promised to investigate, but somehow the four generals suspect "broken heart crystal" as Cause of Death won't go over well if it gets leaked to the public. Yet having the senshi on the wrong side of their native government wouldn't be a bad thing. All that's needed is a little evidence to implicate them, real or otherwise, and a lead about whoever else is out there manufacturing youma.

Still, the future is lookin' damn good.

At least until a meteor crashes into downtown Tokyo, transfer students Ail and An arrive for their first day of school, and shit gets real with monsters attacking in broad daylight. The senshi are thrilled to finally have an enemy to fight, the Japanese government is outraged that the Dark Kingdom can't control their own citizens, and the junta is left scrambling to preserve their diplomatic negotiations. Whoever these little bastards are stirring up the pot, all four generals agree, they need to be taken care of -- quickly, quietly, and messily. The last thing they need is anti-youma public sentiments ahead of their kingdom's impending disclosure to the world media. That sorta talk will be bad for business.

And eventually things settle down into a multi-polar cold war, with the odd crisis from this season's alien invasion. Which makes things a bit easier on the senshi because now there's another effective force interested in Earth's survival, but harder too since the Dark Kingdom would be happy to give sanctuary to defectors (Monster Von Brauns!).

You're not listening, Robo. It is also what happened at D-Point when the Senshi went to confront Metallia in the present day. Moon had to mercy-kill Endymion because he'd been rezzed by Metallia and her purification magic wasn't working, then she turned the sword on herself, apparently in the hopes that they'd reincarnate together again.

And what the jumping monkey fuck does that have to do with Usagi? You say it's an impediment to her character development but clearly it's not since she had no problems at all developing into a perfectly sweet girl in the canon series. Why would it have any impact whatsoever in a fanfic unless we specifically wanted it to for some bizarre reason?

I like the idea that got bantered around on Shadowjack's thread... What if Serenity the Younger reincarnated as Beryl daughter.