1. Act 01 : Tomodachi - beginnings by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (9373 words)
This is not the first act you know. This one is almost totally rewritten, because I saw no reason to keep it intact. Otherwise, what's the point?

Also, by this point, this early chapter is now nearly seven years old. So forgive my style.

2. Act 02 : ami - Sailormercury by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (9046 words)

Yes, I'm aware that I had Tuxedo show up in act 2, instead of 1. It was an error; when I started this, it was mostly on a lark, and I just went at it. Then I realized my mistake when I made it to this act, though I suppose it turned out well; you can't expect the guy to show up immediately. Plus, it makes sense that Usagi would give him his name, instead of him honestly calling himself something quite silly.

Giving Ami her pen at the hospital instead of the cram school is actually a really old plot from my really old and very, very bad anime fanfic from, oh, almost ten years ago. Ami gets hit by a car, and ends up in the hospital, where a youma with a needle arm wreaks havoc. Aside from it needing a major update, I thought it fitting to place her somewhere else, instead of the same old school setting.

3. Act 03 : rei - Sailormars by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (13089 words)
Yes, I changed dates. It makes no sense to continue writing as if the series is still stuck in the 1990's. Half of the time I still forgot anyway, and kept referring to the 20th century instead of 21st.

Shibakouen is Minako's school. The athletic's festival is actually a normal event for all schools in Japan, as far as I understand, but I didn't know that at the time, and borrowed the idea as a way to get the girls together for some pre-soldier byplay.

This is also technically the second time Usagi is nearly hit by a car.

4. Act 04 : omoide - Illusion by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (9059 words)
This is the first entirely new act I wrote for the series, as everything changed but the characters involved. As time went on, I did it more often, but since act 4 was mostly a throwaway story, I felt no sadness discarding it. So, no silly masquerade ball.

5. Act 05 : makoto - Sailorjupiter by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (13747 words)
This is the chapter where I stopped fucking around, and planned to finish the epic. Before, I was mostly dabbling, getting back into the spirit of writing after a few years of mostly shitty drabbles.

Also, there's a Project A-Ko reference.

6. Act 06 : tuxedo kamen - Tuxedo Mask by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (10034 words)
Not much to say about this one. Half of it is original, half is basically the same. Mostly, I had fun with the generals, because who knows what they did inbetween ass kickings?

7. Act 07 : chiba mamoru - Tuxedo Mask by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (12138 words)
The story behind the auction is detailed in Codename wa Sailor V, Chapter 15. It seems silly that the generals never used their knowledge of Sailor V's actions before the others had awakened, though obviously the reason was because Naoko had written V's stories later.

8. Act 08 : minako - Sailor V by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (10885 words)
The whole "Moon being a decoy of Venus" is another one of my finger pointings at some of the utterly ridiculous plot points Naoko loved to engage in. I mean, honestly. Venus is the princess of the Moon? Then who would Sailor Moon be?

The dream sequence reflects the manga as close as possible, though I later have Venus recalling her part in the battle when she solely attacks Beryl and stabs her - which is also in the manga. I always took this first scene of the girls with a grain of salt, because they couldn't have all been there at once before Serenity died anyway. So call it a less-than-perfect memory.

9. Act 09 : serenity - Princess by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (8012 words)
Twisting the knife deeper. Mostly, the chapter stayed the same, with bits of dissent in the ranks that I always thought should have existed; I know I would've been pissed to have been lied to.

10. Act 10 : moon - Tsuki by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (13506 words)
The miracle healing attributed to the silver crystal was never fully covered in the manga, which is the function Iretsu serves; as proof. Also, it was a way to explain a niggling idea that's always bothered me: that the reincarnated Silver Millennium citizens are not going to be exactly the same.

Religious argument thrown in simply to amuse myself and play off Makoto's subconscious Christianity versus Rei's Shinto and unconscious Christianity.

The willful destruction of the Silver Millennium by the Queen's hand was partly simple grey shading of her character, and mostly a simplistic reason for no ruins or signs of civilization remaining. Otherwise, we're stuck trying to explain why the rest of the planets outside of the attack no longer exist when they were left unscathed.

11. Act 11 : kurikaesu - Prince and Princess by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (15016 words)
The whole "Usagi at the Crown with Endymion" plot was compacted like whoa, because the original was just ridiculous.

12. Act 12 : sanze - Sacrifice by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (7593 words)
The three-who-are-one is a common theme running through this story, simply because it was all over the place in the original. Usagi/Serenity/Sailormoon. Usagi/Queen/Chibi-Usa. Usagi/Chibi-Usa/Nehellenia. Etc, etc. Plus, it proves that, despite reincarnation and the like, Usagi isn't the same as Serenity, and likely will not be for years to come. Again, this came out of my annoyance that everyone assumes these girls are exactly the same.

13. Act 13 : zanrui - Snapped Strings by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (9516 words)
The theme of Usagi as a helpless victim is broken, as proven by her rescue of the girl in the street; instead of being rescued herself, she is now the rescuer.

Makoto and Rei's mother's names are made up.

The destruction of Tokyo was meant to prove that yes, the city gets beat up quite a bit because of the girls, and that it doesn't just miraculously solve itself.

14. Act 14 : black•moon•koan - Sailormars by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (14356 words)
Here we go with the start of the Black Moon arc, and the real re-writing. After I got into the swing of things, I left almost no act unchanged.

I had the Crown command center destroyed, because it was a silly idea to begin with. Plus, it was almost never trotted out again after the first arc anyway.

The festival at Rei's school happened before this story, obviously, so I could instead write about her father, which is far more interesting.

15. Act 15 : black•moon•berthier - Sailormercury by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (15844 words)
Here we go; the introduction of Alex, basically the entire reason I started writing Pretty Soldiers. I had her in my old old old fic, with no explanation. This time around, I wanted to work her in properly, culminating in this act. She's my vehicle for anything that doesn't quite seem 'right' to non-Japanese; outspoken, sarcastic, and quick to point out flaws instead of ignoring them.

The connection between Mercury and Mars was never fully explained, though I envisioned it as a sort of common soldiers' link. A sort of psychic wireless, I guess, where they're so close to one another they can use their powers to reach out to one another. I guess you can also argue Neptune and Uranus do it all the time.

Made up Ami's father. I just found the idea of a chess tournament to be utterly dull.

16. Act 16 : black•moon•petz - Sailorjupiter by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (9461 words)
The character introduced in this chapter, Conrad Sommers, is someone an old friend of mine created. When I first got into Sailormoon, I met him on AOL and he introduced me to FFRP (yes, I'm showing my age), and he also showed me his own Sailormoon fic. The fact he wrote it inspired me to try, and even though I was absolutely shitty at it, I worked on getting better.

Have I done so? Well, at least now I know what a paragraph is.

At any rate, he's long given up on fanfiction (I believe he's a cop in Vegas now), so I'm using Con. Little things are not exactly the same, but no one knows but me.

Alex's speech patterns change on purpose.

17. Act 17 : black•moon•calaveras - Sailorvenus by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (16682 words)
Neptune and Uranus' introduction was partly because I couldn't wait to write them, and partly because, thanks to canon, they should have been awake and running around by this point, fighting daemon. So it made sense they would have encountered some of the Black Moon's handiwork.

18. Act 18 : time warp - Sailorpluto by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (14785 words)
The idea of sailor soldiers being immortal -- dying and being replaced only when killed in battle -- just made more sense than them living a normal lifetime. May just be me.

19. Act 19 : tenchyuu - 30th Century by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (14656 words)
I do realize this version of the future is more in line with the anime than the manga, but I really wanted to do a 'frozen wasteland' scenario. So I did. The future can change.

20. Act 20 : Nemesis - Shisoushen by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (20134 words)
The book Usagi finds is Endymion by Dan Simmons, the general theme of which is pretty much what I based the Black Moon arc on. Find the whole series; it's excellent.

21. Act 21 : Worlds Apart - Fukutsui by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (14571 words)
There's a tip of the hat to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

The pregnancy bit was a rather pointed reminder of the fact everyone seems to assume Usagi and Mamoru are having sex, and never seem to use any kind of protection. Call it a quick lesson in sex ed. Also, it was a way to explain why Usagi had Chibi-Usa after becoming Queen and giving up her soldier's powers.

22. Act 22 : seizon kyousou - Last Man Standing by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (9495 words)
I had to release Demand, if only to prove he was still a little shit no matter what happened. But a sympathetic one.

And yes, I did enjoy writing everyone's reactions to Black Lady's infatuation with Endymion. Because it was so very crazy to begin with. Naoko likes her incest.

23. Act 23 : koufuu seigetsu - After The Storm by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (20298 words)
This was my longest act, until I started on the Death Busters. It took a lot of pages to explain everything I wanted satisfactorily.

The 'holiday' Usagi mentions is exclusive to Japan. At the moment, I'm too tired to look up the exact name, but miniature dolls representing the royal court are set up in the home.

24. Act 24 : mugen un - Foreboding by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (18368 words)
This act started off way better than it starts now, but I had a bad computer crash that deleted it. Woe.

The plushies are an in-joke; all of the characters share voice actors.

25. Act 25 : mugen deux - Interaction by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (17144 words)
I may as well say it now:

Haruka. Is. Not. A. Male.

It's meant to show how she views herself, not as a literal change in sex.

26. Act 26 : mugen trois - Awareness by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (9057 words)

The excuse for the rebirth of the outer plant soldiers was the best I could come up with.

27. Act 27 : mugen quatre - Soldiers & School Girls by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (19116 words)
I'm quite proud of my interplay between Haruka and Usagi.

28. Act 28 : mugen cinc - Les Trois Belles Fleurs by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (18173 words)
I thought Ami should prove she can fight on her own for a change.

29. Act 29 : mugen six - Sanshu no Jingi by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (21446 words)
Yes, the singing was totally frivolous, but funny.

30. Act 30 : mugen sept - In'you by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (10705 words)
I'm convinced that, despite Chibi-Usa's intelligence, she is just a naive, stupid girl. Just like Usagi can be. Which is why she makes boneheaded decisions.

31. Act 31 : mugen huit - [Mushozoku Chitai] Ichi by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (25075 words)
Yes. I do enjoy people talking with their multiple personalities inside of their heads. Because this series is ripe for a disorder of some type. And Saturn is just that cool that she needed a chance to talk.

32. Act 32 : mugen neuf - [Mushozoku Chitai] Ni by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (14341 words)
The wings are just silly, but they exist in Stars.

33. Act 33 : mugen dix - Hakanai by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (25592 words)
This was a massive work for me to finish. Again, we have the Three-Who-Are-One imagery; conflicting personalities; and the end of the world. Mamoru's link to the Earth is established here, instead of in the Dead Moon Circus arc (because frankly, he would've noticed the world being destroyed). I also find it interesting that this is the one villain that isn't stopped by Usagi's sacrifice, but by Saturn's.

There's a Darkwing Duck reference in here. Also a small nod to a Henry Rollins show.

34. Act 34 : Rêveur I - Magical Circus by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (18821 words)
This arc is going to be so hard to write. I really don't like the Dead Moon Circus. At all.

Not everyone's dreams are visited, because honestly, not everyone dreams at the same time, or nightly.

35. Act 35 : Rêveur II - Virgo Dream by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (12578 words)
I know; I took over a year for this chapter. Unforgiveable. But it continued to be hard to write, and I finally did something I had not planned to do until I finished Stars. I may regret it.

There's sort of a Firefly reference in here, as well as the obvious ones.

36. Act 36 : Rêveur III - Libra Dream by Sokudo Ningyou [Reviews - 0] (7819 words)

Did something completely different this time.