At 21:11 -0700 13/04/00, Michael Noakes wrote:

I do have a slightly trickier question, though, once again about SM. How much of the past history of the SM universe is established in the canon (whether manga or anime?)

  In the manga, not that much, actually.  It seems that Takeuchi-sensei left a *lot* to people's imaginations.

  I've seen a few fanfics fill it out, but there may be a lot of fanfic convention going on there... do the original sources say much about the Moon Kingdom, or where Beryl or Metallia came from,

  In Volume 2, when Endy gets shot by Kunzite (not Zoicite like in the anime), we get a small flashback scene.  In the past (it's never clearly said when), we see Princess Serenity "mooning" over Endymion, thinking that she shouldn't, because it's apparently forbidden to have a relation with a Terran.  Serenity went to Earth more or less without permission to see her prince (she fell in love with him there).

  Next, we have the invasion itself, in which Beryl seems to be a leader (maybe not *the* leader, though - she has weapons like everyone else). They're hunting for the Crystal. She is surprised that Endymion (who is on the Moon for an unknown reason at that time) stands against the Terrans  Endy tries to argue that the fight is pointless, but Beryl kills him with a sword over which we see Metallia's silhouette.  She was most likely possessed by Metallia.

  Serenity, distraught over Endy's death, picks up Endy's sword and kills herself with it.  *That* is what sends the elder Serenity berserk into using the Crystal.

  A frame in Volume 3 shows us Venus slashing at Beryl with the Silver Crystal Sword in the past.  Metallia apparently saved Beryl from near death.

  In volume 3, the Senshi go to the Moon to find answers.  The "computer ghost" of Elder Serenity tells them that Metallia was "born" from a sunspot (she came out of the sun during a seriously abnormal series of solar flares).  She then felt the power of the Crystal and tried to dominate the Earth.  Metallia manipulated humans (and especially Beryl, who was smitten with Edymion back then) into attacking the Moon, but only Endymion was willing to side with the Moon.  the elder Serenity the used the Crystal to imprison Metallia, but not before Earth's evolution started again from zero.

  We also learn that Venus was in fact a double for Princess Serenity - I don't know about the anime, but when Venus appeared in the manga, the Senshi apparently wholeheartedly believed she was the Moon Princess because she had a crescent moon on her forehead.  It disappeared and turned into a tiara when Usagi became Serenity for the first time.

 or what kind of relationship there was between Earth and the various planets?  Has any kind of timeline ever been established?

  Timeline?  Not that I remember.  The only true relation we know of is that apparently, relations with Terrans were forbidden near the Fall.  It's never said clearly why.  Nothing at all is mentioned about the other planets - that's why there are so many variations out there.

(Someone did mention that, in the manga, the four dark generals of season one were Endymion's bodyguards way back then...

  Inthe first few volumes, the Generals are killed in the following order:  Jadeite is killed by Mars, Nephrite is killed by Jupiter when she awakens, Zoisite is killed by Venus' crescent boomerang in her first appearance and Kunzite is killed by the combined Sailor Planet attack.  Venus finishes the job she started in the Moon Kingdom by killing Beryl with the Silver Crystal Sword.

  In Volume 5, we see Mamoru contacting the ghost of the four generals through what remains of them (little pieces of jadeite, nephrite, zoisite and kunzite).  Their ghosts seem quite sane and they refer to Mamoru as "their king."  It's not **explicitly** said that they were his bodyguards, but then there's that infamous picture of the Four Generals with the Senshi (I have it on my website) - Jadeite and Mars, Nephrite and Jupiter, Zoisite and Mercury and Kunzite and Venus.  Make of this what you will...

why did Beryl have the hots for tux-boy, anyway?)

  Beryl had a crush on Endy (he *was* a prince), but but she was jealous because she knew he was in love with Serenity.  That jealousy is what drove her to make a bargain with Metallia.  Why she then killed him by herself in the attack, though...  <shrug>  Maybe Metallia possessed her too completely.

  Btw, I feel like mentioning that the Seven Shadows do *not* exist in the manga.  The Crystal is formed by one of Usagi's tears when she turns into Serenity for the first time.

  Nephrenia was also known to the Elder Serenity in the Silver Millenium, but that's a whole other kettle of worms.

  Hope this helps...  :)