SM4200 - Spoilers

[Cherry-Kerry]

With the news that this glorious fic shall soon be updated (yay!) and that several questions will in fact be answered (YAAAAY!), I thought it might be good to start a discussion of this piece of deliciousness.  There are spoilers for everything posted, but I'll put stuff from the preview of Chapter 14 and some of his blogging under the cut in case anyone doesn't want to know what may or may not happen.

And yes, you may have seen this on LJ already, but no one responded.  So.

SM4200 is just... well, it'd the mountain-top for Sailor Moon fanfic isn't it?  To be a WIP going since I believe 1996, and to still have people willing to wait?  To be glad for the wait when you see the stunning quality of the chapters that gets turned out?  Angus's writing seems to be stronger than my anti-depressants it seems.  I don't cry nearly as much as I used to - or in fact as much as I need to - but Angus got me welling up today.  Oddly enough, it wasn't during Crystal Fall.

And just as a quick segue, I almost didn't read that chapter.  I tweeted earlier that reading it for me is like watching 1,000 trainwrecks.  I can see it happening, and it feels like I can reach out and stop it, but I can't, and it just kills me.  It doesn't matter how much I tell Ami to leave the damn bit of weirdness under the Earth alone.  I can't convince Sailor Moon not go down to help the work crew.  I can't tell Minako to stop using crystals for communication.  And in the end, everyone dies, and it leaves me feeling like I've watched something horrible happen that I could have stopped and didn't.  And that leads me right back to the strength of the world-building.  I know it's not real - I'm many things, but delusional is not one of them I hope - but it feels real enough to wound.

What was I talking about? Oh, yeah.  Crystal Fall didn't make me cry.  I'm not sure it ever did... I almost feel like the utter despair you feel after reading that's too deep.  It probably sounds melodramatic to anyone but fellow readers.  Anyway, what did make me cry was when I reread that Mamoru and Michiru got sent forward, without their significant others.

The real irony is that I'm not a huge shipper for either of those pairings, but it just guts me every damn time.  Eventually, they'll remember at least some of who they were, and then they have to deal with THAT on top of it.  It hardly means that they'll be alone forever more - I never put that much stock in miracle romances to begin with, you'll recall - but it's going to hurt and it's going to hurt hard.

But mainly the eternal frustration of SM4200 is that it isn't done.  There's so much left unanswered, and it drives me absolutely insane.

1) What the hell is Beth anyway?  I think we're going to get this answer soon since we got SO CLOSE in the last chapter (how typical that Minako rambled on so much that she ran out of time - frustrating, but typical).  The theory that there's some bit of Minako in there is the one favored in the store, but there mere fact that it IS favored makes me almost positive that it can't be true.  Which then leads me to wonder if that's what Angus wants me to think, and then I just wind up thinking in circles until I'm dizzy.  The real bitch of it is that it's the only explanation other than Beth being bipolar, which is absolutely no fun at all.  And it doesn't seem likely with NQS being all mysterious with the, "Tell them what you are" business.  But if the next chapter doesn't answer this question, I may well rip some hair out.

2) And then there's Iku.  *sigh*  I'm sure we won't find out what she is until the very end.  I can't even venture a guess, though I'm sorely tempted to scour through mythology for hypotheses.  I am hopeful we'll figure out the deal with her family this chapter - especially considering it's title.  I suppose an abusive family is the most likely answer, but it seems so likely that it would feel like the Snape/Lily reveal at the end of DH.  The pieces fit, and it's great for the story, but it's so expected that it has a false note.  However, any other scenario I come up with seems too ridiculous to imagine, so I may just have to settle for the obvious answer.  In which case, I sincerely hopes someone gets that girl out and soon or else she's going to keep getting stuck.

Something Serenity said to her makes me wonder though... I mean, it's obvious that Iku had a dog and something awful must have happened to it.  And Nanako knows something, and isn't doing anything about it.  But back to Serenity, she said Iku's afraid of the power.  I thought at first she was afraid of it in a vague way, but what if she's specifically afraid of fire?  What if the dog... burned?

May be a case of me reading into things too much, but eh, these things happen.

3) I don't know why it took me so long to completely latch on to this, but it finally occured to me, "Oh hi, the enemy controls crystal and the Ginzuishou's a crystal!"  I realize I was meant to catch up with that ages ago, but I must have gotten distracted in light of everything else.  Ironically enough, I jazzed onto what must have happened to Pluto before Sadako said anything, but I have weird priorities I suppose.  At any rate, I am somewhat concerned that the "Master" has the Ginzuishou but for some reason can't use it yet.  Perhaps that's why they need the Senshi to be stronger?  Do not ask me in what way that works practically, but it's the leap I made in my head - mostly because I can't think of what they need the Sailor Senshi for at all, and that's the only theory I've been able to gleen on to.

4)  I noticed on the reread something rather odd concerning Dhiti... And no, I don't mean the obvious sexual identity issues. But when she's looking at the crystal shards, there's something in the narration of Dhiti hearing an old voice saying, "The stars know everything."  Nephrite, clearly.  And I remembered that I'd read that the last time I perused the fic and thought nothing of it.

And then a chapter or two later, she hears the voice again.  I don't think I'd caught that before, but she does.  She hears Nephrite twice.  Now for as careful a writer as I think Angus is, once I can assume is a stylistic choice, but twice?  And that brings up a whole slew of questions, the most principal of which is, "How the hell are Dhiti and Nephrite connected?"

My intial thought was that Dhiti is Zoisite, and I cannot decide if that is ridiculous, brilliant, or brilliantly ridiculous.  Or even ridiculously brilliant.  Nevertheless, it's just proof that every time I read this damn thing, I wind up with more questions than answers.

[JuJubi-san~da!]

Link, please?

I'm trying to find good alternate perspectives to complete my own story...

[Pandora]

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~macspon/fanfic/sm4200/index.html

I am pretty excited about the upcoming Chapter 14.    Been anxiously waiting for it to be posted.  My thoughts below!

1)I agree that there is some of Minako in Beth.  Take the following pieces from Chapter 13...

The queen was watching her with an oddly sympathetic expression.  She
reached out to touch Beth gently on the forehead, leaving only a faint
tingling sensation, and said, [[Have you told the others yet?]]

"Told --?"

[[Have you told them who you are?  Don't you think it's about time they
knew the truth?]]

"But they do know who I am!  I'm -- I'm --"  She faltered: suddenly,
crazily, uncertain.

[[Some of them think that you are Aino Minako reborn.  Or, at least,
that a part of you is.]]

----

"Oh, you know."  The other girl tossed her hair carelessly.  "I wanted
to say hello, see what the new me is like.  That sort of thing.  After
all, there's no reason we can't get along, is there?  You know what they
say: 'The grasshopper and the eagle can never be more than friends.'"

"Anyway, I just wanted to say ... ah.  Now, what was it I wanted to say?"
Minako pondered -- and then suddenly looked around, startled, as if she
had heard something.  "Oh, damn.  I don't have much time left.  Look, I
remember now.  You know how the Queen told you you might be me, reborn?"

I think the Queen was more or less urging Beth to say something about her possibility of being Minako reborn, or the small part of her that is.  I think it's just a small part of her that is Minako, what part that the Queen could send to the future just before she died.  Maybe that was all that the Queen could manage to send through was just that small bit before she got skewered real good.    Minako, in Beth's dream, never really  said either way.  Just called her 'the new me' but never eluded whether it was her entirely.  It was kind of sad that the dream ended before Minako could finish what she was going to say.  I would have been interested to see what came after 'You know how the Queen told you you might be me reborn?'

2) Iku is a mystery wrapped within a mystery.  I would scour through mythology to find out more.  I wonder what the Queen meant by 'You are not truely one of my Senshi.'  She doesn't even really know what Iku is.  Iku is supposed to become something.  What that is, we don't know.  I think Serenity was saying, above everything, was that Iku is meant for something else, something other than what she is now but she isn't sure what it is.  Maybe the Mars power is not what she is meant to have.  But then the question is, what was Iku meant to be?  Dhiti has a dream about Iku where she is seen shifting forms.  Could something in her past have made her afraid of the fire she wields?  Possibly.  The idea of something happening to the puppy is an idea, but there was nothing said either way so we're all left up to our own idea.

[[Yes.]]  Serenity's voice was grave.  [[For, Iku, you alone, out of all
of them, had a choice.  The others were all born to their roles ... but
you, you could have said no.  And you chose to help them anyway.]]

For a moment there was no reply.  Then she heard the queen say, [[It is
hard for you, I know.  That's to be expected.]]

"Why?" she wept.  "Why?"

[[Because you are not truly one of my Senshi.]]

[[No,]] Serenity said.  [[Truthfully, I don't know _what_ you really
are.  You must have realised that some power is calling you, some
destiny that you're being summoned to answer.  I don't know what that
might be.  And yet ...]]  She paused, and there was soft amazement in
her voice.  [[And yet, when you offered yourself -- when you picked up
the henshin wand and spoke the transformation phrase -- the Mars Power
accepted you.  _Accepted_ you!  Iku, you were born to be something else,
not Sailor Mars ... but the power responds to you anyway, of its own
free will.  I don't think that's _ever_ happened before.]]

She paused.  [[Iku ... I don't know what you are.  I'm sorry.  In the
end, when you have become what you must become ... I hope that you will
come back and tell _me_.]]

====

She saw a young girl, no more than ten years old, holding a puppy.  The
puppy was squirming and trying to lick her face; the girl held it away,
but was trying just as hard to pet it in return.  Her expression was
serious, absorbed, but Dhiti almost thought she saw a hint of a smile.
With a start, she realised that the girl was Iku.

Then suddenly, the scene shifted; it seemed to melt and dissolve away
and Dhiti was looking at an older girl.  Still Iku, but this time she
was in her Senshi form, as Sailor Mars.  She was on her knees, looking
up at Dhiti, and there was something magnificent in her eyes: hope,
trust, and other things Dhiti could not name.  Distantly, she seemed to
hear the echo of a voice: "I believe in you."

Another shift, and Iku changed again.  This time, absurdly, she was
dressed as Sailor Mercury.  Her head was thrown back, and she was
laughing.  Her face was more alive than Dhiti had ever seen it.  Was
this some kind of costume party?  And why was --

Then one last shift and Iku was alone once more.  She wore a deep blue
robe, its hood thrown back, and her unbound hair -- shorter than it
should have been -- hung down about her face.  A dark wooden staff was
in the crook of her arm.  Dense mists swirled around her.  She stared at
Dhiti with a look of anguish, and lifted her hands as if to grab hold of
her before Dhiti could be snatched away --

3)I do think the 'master' has the Ginzuishou.

Serenity shook her head slowly.  [[No.  I am here, in spirit.  During
the battle against the enemy, I bound myself to the Ginzuishou to
preserve it from the enemy's control.  Too closely.  When they killed
me, a part of me stayed behind -- still locked inside.]]

"Inside the Ginzuishou?"  Miyo wrinkled her brow.  "But ... well, where?
Where is it, then?"

[[I don't know,]] the queen said calmly.

"You don't _know_?" flared Itsuko.

[[It is dark where I am ... dark, and cold.  I cannot see where it is.
There is nothing to see.]]

Or the Ginzuishou could just be somewhere in hammerspace, biding its pretty time until it can reveal itself.  After the Fall, we can only speculate what happened to it.  But Serenity's eluding to it being dark and cold makes me think that the 'master' has it.  Like you said, why else would they want the Senshi to be stronger?

4) Dhiti...hmm.  I caught that phrase too.  Twice through the fic, she heard it.  She could be Zoicite, or maybe she might be Nephrite.  (imagine Nephrite's surprise to find out he's been reborn as a woman.  xD)  Or maybe it's the whispers of Nephrite from whereever he is, trying to nudge Dhiti in the right direction?

5) I've been slowly trying to figure out who Saturn and Neptune have been reborn as.  I have my thoughts on who Saturn *might* have been reborn as.  I think it might possibly be Higoshi Nanako, Beth's friend.  She descends from the same family.  Higoshi Hato might be a great-great grandfather or something like that.  But then again that's just my brain trying to puzzle it out.  I have no clue who Neptune is.  Ideas?

[echo]

I know this is an old topic but I'm willing to revive it to say

OMG

You want to talk about the best piece of literature not formally published and we'll talk about Sailor Moon 4200. As I stated in his blog, after I asked him just how long he'd been writing the damn thing-- this fic is good enough to wait years and frikkin years for a chapter. I LOVE THIS FIC.

I have to reread the damn thing (again), but I was floored when Sailor Moon was revealed, especially because I had Nanako pegged as Sailormoon, so I'm really unwilling to take guesses on future senshi identities, even though I'm sure he thinks he's dropped a couple of buckets of hints. I will say something through-- in the past, the senshi have unconsiously been drawn to Sailormoon if a crisis is brewing, so I've been analyzing anyone with any contact with Sailormoon for hints. But I also take into consideration that Venus is something of an icon herself, so anyone associated with her has a definite possibility of being senshi material.  So the guess that Nanako is a senshi is probably a good one. Or she could be an unlucky Molly reborn. Her Japanese name just escaped me.

But to address the questions formally:

1) I've been convinced from day one Beth has a little Venus in her. The transformation is too marked, and her dealings with Artemis too weird. I expect complications, sacrifices, and shock from this situation.

2)Iku? Jesus. What a messed up, poor, mysterious character. I hope she's something good. But here's a question-- even accounting for Hino Rei's continued existance, if Mars Power wasn't *meant* for Iku, it just merely 'accepted' her, is there another Sailor Mars to be running around? Will she show up to claim the title? What happens then?

3)I do not think the Master has the ginzuishou. I think it's definitely somewhere, god knows where, I'm sure Pluto knows. If the Master had it, there wouldn't be much to do about it. Unless he needs Sailormoon?

4)Dhiti... see, here's what I think. I've suspected for a while that Serenity really screwed up when she was interrupted bringing the senshi back. Sometimes I think different pieces of senshi are floating around, not unlike Venus but not to that degree. Maybe Dhiti is hearing an echo of something Mercury remembers... or maybe a little piece of Nephrite is talking to her.

5)Serenity said something that blew my doors off. Neptune's coming back as Michiru. So basically, she's going to lose Haruka TWICE. Since she didn't hold up well the first time, there's no telling what's going to happen this time.

6)I want to know exactly *what* happened to Chibi-usa. I know she's been showing up in visions, but I wonder if that means she's physically dead. Why would the enemy turn down the body of a moon princess?

7)Lady Blue. I sense some plot here. I don't know what to make of her, but something tells me we're not dealing with our average space-filling gomba of the Dark Lord here. What with Jupiter's sorta recognition and all.

8)There was one other thing...  damned if I can remember. I wish oh I wish 14 would be out soon.

[echo]

I remembered!

Because I'm rereading it. Again.

Who is the creepy dude stalking Setsuna? What is up with that? I don't remember anyone ever being close to her, ever. Not canon, anyway. I just do not get this part at all. It's disturbing and I have a feeling it's not going to end well. Unless there's a senshi reborn as a man. How weird would that be? Saturn maybe?

Who knows...?

And another thought-- What is Lady Blue is Neptune? I don't remember her description, but it seems like she ought to be somebody. Eh.

[Sokudo Ningyou]

I remembered!

Because I'm rereading it. Again.

Who is the creepy dude stalking Setsuna? What is up with that? I don't remember anyone ever being close to her, ever. Not canon, anyway. I just do not get this part at all. It's disturbing and I have a feeling it's not going to end well. Unless there's a senshi reborn as a man. How weird would that be? Saturn maybe?

I believe that was the worker that got fired as a result of Setsuna's tampering.   After he was told that the harmless woman he showed around was actually Pluto, he got a little....nuts to find her.  At least that's what I remember, because frankly, keeping two epic fics straight in my head is asking a little much!

I think Serenity really did screw up sending everyone forward, though I also think it was inevitable, considering the soldiers were already tampered with to become immortal.    As well, she did get skewered before she could finish, and to me, it reads as if she barely got started.    Plus, not everyone died around the same time, like the Silver Millennium; if she couldn't send Usagi forward, it stands to reason she couldn't have sent Haruka.   Their souls may have already moved on.  Ami's soul may have chosen to pass on instead of going into the future, to accept responsibility for what she had done.

Makoto, I think, may have been too stubborn to move on, and may have be the reason she's so far the only one to be completely reborn.   She wants to finish the fight.    Minako may have not been so stubborn; after all, she fought to the bitter end, and she may have decided to allow Serenity to chose for her.    Michiru, despite her grief, probably had faith in Serenity either bringing them all back together, or finding Haruka on the other side.   So either way she would have what she wanted. 

Yes, I may be thinking too hard about it.   Maybe Serenity really did just screw up and it's all random.  Or maybe they all somehow affected the new soldiers, and there's little bits of them in everyone.

Iku...all I can guess is that maybe she's meant to be to be an even more powerful being, or has been reborn so many times as so many different soldiers that she's able to become whatever she wants.

I would totally crack up if Dhiti is somehow Nephrite, but I don't think that's possible.   Maybe echoes of Ami's memories carried through. 

They may not awaken Saturn, frankly.  Why would they need to?  When she's not being used as a planet killer, she really doesn't do anything.   (Which sucks, as she is awesome in the manga.)  She may not be awoken by conventional means anyway, as she really is meant as nothing more than an atom bomb.     I don't think they'll bother her unless they absolutely have to.

Lady Blue is Chaos.   Every villain is Chaos.   Chaos Chaos Chaos.

[echo]

Ah, I finally reread the part where Hayashi remembers where she's seen Lady Blue. False alarm there.

This is true, but don't we see the creepy dude before that?  And it seems as though his room full of Puu is a work of years. She's hardly seen as it is, so to collect so many pictures... though I guess he could have done the cut-and paste job once or four dozen times. Creepy ass, in any case.

Iku is something, isn't she? Her Mars Power alone speaks of subtly, of a person who, though welding the power of fire, doesn't start out with a big fiery Fire Ignite, instead her attack supposedly harasses the heat within into a weapon. Weird. Strange. Mercury's new attack, Ice Spear, suits her difference in personalities from Ami's. I think Iku's speaks of a very mysterious, subtle creature who will find a voice soon and speak with thunder. Not to be melodramatic or anything. I just see oodles of potential here.

Off to reread. Don't look at me weird, I am doing it backwards. >.>

[Sokudo Ningyou]

I think Rei will get the Mars Power back, too.  Just a feeling.  After all, she still has a connection, which should have been cut if she was truly no longer able to call it.   Maybe all she needs is to retrain herself with Younger Mars' stick, instead of trying to continue pushing so hard with her original stick.   Iku will be called to something else.

[echo]

Now that is something I don't think will happen. I think Rei is done. It's a tragic thing, but I believe it. I wouldn't complain if Angus proved me wrong, though.

Here's something else I note: What is up with the dude and the singing rosebushes? I wonder if there's something to this, too?

[Horosha]

Konnichiwa  mina-san,

I have been a fan of this series for a very long time and enjoy it a lot. For me SM4200 is the equal of The Judge's SM series, Sailor Moon Miliands. I am glad MacSpon has been able to keep the series going.

Horosha

[echo]

This fic you speak of, is it complete, Horosha?

[Horosha]

This fic you speak of, is it complete, Horosha?

Sadly no, the fanfic isn't complete. The Judge mysteriously disappeared after the last chapter he/she posted. I was in contact with him all the time and I knew he had the next chapter almost done. His/her disappearce has left a great fanfic series incomplete.

Horosha

[echo]

I can't read it then. The disappointment of Midnight Blue's Mirror of Maybe still kills me. Google that one if you like HP. But it's not finished.



SM4200 should be updated soon.

I am DYING.

[echo]

I don't want to start a new thread just for this:

The next chapter has been completed and is being beta'ed.

:3

IT'S ALMOST HERE.

[Sokudo Ningyou]

I don't want to start a new thread just for this:

The next chapter has been completed and is being beta'ed.

:3

IT'S ALMOST HERE.

It's about time!   What's taken Angus so long, it's not as if we writers have lives have interfere in the process or anything--oh, wait.   

[LCDR Stormwalker]

It's about time!   What's taken Angus so long, it's not as if we writers have lives have interfere in the process or anything--oh, wait.   

He did post a link to the latest chapter on the FFML.  So the beta copy is already out.

[Sokudo Ningyou]

He did post a link to the latest chapter on the FFML.  So the beta copy is already out.

The FFML?  My brain is fried. 

[LCDR Stormwalker]

Fan Fiction Mailing List

Not as big as it once was, but still a good place to find anime fanfic authors.

[MacSpon]

He did post a link to the latest chapter on the FFML.  So the beta copy is already out.

No, he didn't.  One of his pre-readers did, and Angus is a bit annoyed about it.  There are a lot of changes required to that beta.

[LCDR Stormwalker]

No, he didn't.  One of his pre-readers did, and Angus is a bit annoyed about it.  There are a lot of changes required to that beta.

Ahh.... belay my last then.

And welcome to Dotmoon, I loved your Replacement Ranma's story.

[LCDR Stormwalker]

Chapter 14 was sent to the FFML and is up on his website.

I made sure that it was Angus MacSpon sending it this time.