INTRODUCTION TO SOJOURN REDUX

I have a nasty habit of getting ahead of myself when I start to write a fanfic. I don't generally do an outline or conceive of any plot structure. Usually I'll start by coming up with a set piece or two then fill in the blanks around it until it starts to look like a story. With "Sojourn" I knew the general story I wanted to tell: the Silver Millennium story. Obviously the end of the story is already written as we know what happens but instead of working backwards from that I, predictably, started with a set piece, namely Zoisite & Nephrite having a high-seas adventure. From that the story began to write itself day-to-day and chapter-to-chapter. As anyone who followed it knows sometimes those chapters took years to write. My interest in fandom wanes every few months when I begin to think I should focus my efforts on writing original fiction, but I always seem to end up back with the characters I've come to know so well.

I finished "Sojourn" in May of 2011, but I didn't release the final few chapters because I felt the pacing was off and the climax came out of nowhere. I decided that instead of releasing a half-assed epilogue and then going back to do revisions that I would take "Sojourn" down for a week or two and submit the revised version as a finished product. Unfortunately what this means is that if you've been following the story on a chapter-by-chapter basis some things might appear out of thin air and the whole tone of the ending may feel slightly divorced from the rest of the story.

The revisions I've made aren't terribly extensive, but they do change the nature of the storyline. I had originally planned to reconstruct the story as a traditional third-person narrative, but decided to keep it from Zoisite's first-person perspective because I think it would have been a disservice to discard all the time I spent inside his head. What have changed are some details surrounding the Shitennou's gradual shift in loyalties. The stones of the Shitennou in particular play a larger role in the story. They are introduced early and referenced throughout. I also wanted to expand the roles of the Outer Senshi from the original draft, especially Setsuna. I toyed with removing them completely, but I believed their presence, though small, was a necessary element to illustrate that the whole solar system was backing the Earth's inclusion in the Silver Alliance. Setsuna definitely gets the most screen-time out of the outers and her previously hinted-at fondness for Endymion is explored in greater depth.

Beyond that I simply tried to clean up grammatical errors and I rewrote some passages that felt a bit flat. Certain chapters have a bit more meat to them now thanks to added scenes with the Outer Senshi and other characters, but I don't think I outright removed anything. Perhaps the biggest change you'd notice right off the bat is that the Prologue, Interludes and Epilogues with Luna are now written from a third person perspective. I also hoped that the relationship between Endymion and Serenity, while not Zoisite's primary focus, would be shown as a slightly larger part of the overall work. In the end I think the revision works much better as a whole story than what I had before. It was a matter of tying up loose ends and utilizing characters. I'm still not completely content with the presence of the Outer Senshi, but I definitely believe their role in this version of "Sojourn" is more flattering than their one-and-done appearance in the past version.

As I've stated in forum posts I'm hoping that "Sojourn" will form the basis of my own little universe where I can place some more stories. In particular I'm interested in showing the Kunzite/Minako story which was barely touched here. There is plenty more that could be said about the other pairings and I'd very much like to explore a story, perhaps involving some original characters, set before the time of the Dark Kingdom; maybe just Endymion and the Shitennou on a solo adventure.

Anyway, I think you've heard quite enough out of me. If you're a past reader of "Sojourn" I'd invite you to accompany Zoisite on his journey once again. If you're new to the story I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for all the support, especially those who have stuck around since the very beginning. I hope finished product was worth the wait. I'll try to be a bit more punctual next time.

Cheers!

-Adins (06-18-2011)

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION TO "SOJOURN"

Hello all, and thank you for taking an interest in this story that I've been laboring on for years called "Sojourn." I'll try to keep my normally long-winded introduction brief.

This story comprises a lot of ideas and stylistic approaches that I've wanted to work with for quite some time. I've always been attracted to the mythology of Sailor Moon rather than the available, official media releases. Specifically I've always found myself most interested in Endymion and his four Shitennou, their relationships with the Senshi, as well as the overall tapestry of the long-past Silver Millennium. These are characters whose lives span millennia and there is a lot of story there left untold. I really wanted to tell my own, epic version of the Silver Millennium story with my own injection of swashbuckling adventure, pulp romance, and swords & sorcery.

With "Sojourn" I tried to make the story accessible. You won't find altered names, special vocabularies, or notes jotted in the margins explaining some previously unheard-of concept. The story follows the precedent set in the manga in which the Silver Millennium was set in a prehistoric era, the end of which triggered an "evolutionary reset" for several thousand years. In this way I don't have to intertwine historical events which, considering how this story unfolds, serves my purposes well. I take some liberties with geography, but for the most part I try to stick with a Greek naming convention for the places I invent, which are few. Also, as to not get bogged down in details, I don't go into much explanation on the cultures of the other planets unless it suits the story. Mars is really the only planet whose history and culture are explored in any great detail.

The most important introduction to make, however, is that of your guide: the mystical, reserved Shitennou called Zoisite. I was drawn to write this story through his eyes for two reasons: First being my desire to tell the story from the point of view of the people on Earth and second because I so enjoyed the depiction of Zoisite in the live-action (PGSM) version of Sailor Moon. However, I don't consider my story to be part of that canon. In fact, one of my goals was to incorporate as much of the different interpretations of the character as I could. You'll see his loyal, quiet, reflective side from PGSM right alongside his nefarious, underhanded ways of the anime and his eager, almost naive personality of the manga. There are scenes in third-person from other characters that set the stage for future events, but the majority of the story is told through Zoisite's words.

"Sojourn" is broken up into several "acts" joined by interludes. These interludes are told from the point of view of Luna who acts as the audience for Zoisite's story. While Luna speaks in the present tense Zoisite's story can be viewed as almost one large flashback. Contained in that flashback are scenes of high adventure, romance, political struggle, subterfuge, humor, and just about anything else I can come up with that fits. I try tried to structure the story in such a way that every character gets their due, but it is a struggle to maintain balance. I apologize if you feel your favorite senshi/shitennou doesn't get all the face time you would like. Maybe in my next story I'll be able to rectify that! I do hope you enjoy "Sojourn" and I'm always looking for feedback, so feel free to drop me a message.

Enjoy!

-Adins (10-24-2010)