Nanoha StrikerS

[CattyNebulart]

I'd like to add 19 has been released as well.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[Valles]

As is 20, apparently. Yay for rushes!

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[Valles]

This sequence... I'm gonna need to watch it several times, but it tells us so much about the way the Nanohaverse works.
On a storytelling level, too, having That Which Should Not Breathe explain to his 'daughters' is not only useful for educating the viewers, it's a very strong reminder that just because he's batshit crazy does not make him stupid or unobservant.
I like VI. She's not very bright, I think, but she's observant in spite of that and I really like her attitude.
...boy, shades of SEELE, but in a way that actually fits with the rest of observed history! Their number of genuinely trusted minions must be really low, though... perhaps they'd've been better off taking that as a hint?
...wait. *makes a mental note to double-check what the Nakajima sib's mom looked like*
EYECATCH! *shatters* I've been wanting something like that ever since that bunch started showing up... II isn't present, though. Spoiler, no doubt.
Hee. Poor Subaru. Probably she's had fantasies that started like that, but the real situation ruins it completely.
"I'm sure you won't listen to me if I tell you not to use it..." ...they know each other so well.
Y'know, I'm actually kind of sad we won't be getting the stock transformation footage for this sequence. It'd be absolutely appropriate.
*blinkblink* Yup. Jail's no fool. Pity.
ETA: 'Are you pondering what I'm pondering?'
I think so, Yesy, but where are we going to get a five-hundred gallon vat full of bullet ants?
Ja, -n

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[Berk]

A whole lotta foreboding. A whole lotta bad karma.
Wheel of morality, turn turn turn.- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[CattyNebulart]

Yesy seems to be doing an ep a day. 21 is out.
Love the Tea & Subaru bit in ep 20.
Also Nanoha's idea of a peptalk makes them all shudder by reminding them of training. Priceless
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[Valles]

I am extremely amused that the Nanohaverse has become a large and rich enough setting to require LOGH-style intro captions for its characters. ^_^
...Ah! Point in support of my 'dimensional travel is actually hyperspace' theory: If Midchildia has two moons, then it is obviously and explicitly not a parallel Earth.
...Alf suits her better than Arf. If nothing else it's more dignified...
Sister Schach has the same combat techniques I gave Akane in that Mai-HiME fic. Cool!
Storm Raider is neat, no doubt about it, but I can't help thinking that it says something extremely telling about Midchildia's tech level: If she was designed from the ground up as a combat dropship, then something more similar to an Osprey would be a considerably better choice than a helicopter - faster, more agile, and if I remember my physics right, more efficient in level flight. Even if they decided not to use the antigravity principles that let Asura and her like fly in spite of their unaerodynamic shapes, designing some sort of magic-fueled turbine should be relatively simple... but hasn't been done, presumably due to technical limitations. I'm more convinced than ever that, for all its being officially referred to as a 'Nonsignatory Planet', there's considerable clandestine contact and cross-pollination going on between Earth and the various TSA worlds.
For some reason I suspect that the original 'Type 0s' were designed to tougher specs than the more sophisticated Numbers, likely because it was thought to be superfluous.
Vita's speech is more effective as it is than it would be as some out-of-character 'I'm about to die' monologue.
Tea, you're thinking about her because you're in love, and being in love sucks.
The advantage of a Unison Device over an Intelligent one seems to be self-motivation. A Storage Device is essentially an ordinary computer designed to load and execute magical 'programs' on voice command. An Intelligent Device is self-programming with regard to spells and posesses humanlike judgement regarding what is appropriate to a given situation. An Armed Device is an ID built from the ground up to take the brunt of combat and cartridge use; from the way they're referred to in-story, this is likely a case of convergent evolution rather than shared heritage. A Unison Device takes the ID concept a step farther - not only can they do spellwork for their partner, they posess the ability, when synchronized, to execute spells and maneuvers entirely on their own initiative without their partner's attention, essentially giving that mage the ability to do two things at once (refer to Sakon and Ukon of Naruto's Sound Four). I suspect that there's also a degree of integration between the device and the host's magical 'organs', though not to the extent posessed by cyborgs like Subaru - compare it to wearing power armor, say. Of course, effective use presupposes that the UD and their partner are capable of cooperating effectively...
Vita is a Brute if ever one was rolled.

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[ordnance11]

If you drop the team into the Potterverse....they can wipe out any force the Potterverse can bring to bear, right?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[CattyNebulart]

---

but hasn't been done, presumably due to technical limitations. I'm more convinced than ever that, for all its being officially referred to as a 'Nonsignatory Planet', there's considerable clandestine contact and cross-pollination going on between Earth and the various TSA worlds.

---

I don't think midchilda has the same tech curve that we have, they have had artificial limb replacement for decades or even centuries, and their soceity has gone through more than One rise and fall. Ancient Belka was more advanced than they are at least in weapon systems, and presumably in other things too. And we all know about the legendary El Hazard. (That's a crossover that just begs to be made).
I suspect that for the most part the TSAB is a lot more careful about technological development, and hence it's so much slower that earth is catching up. Sure earth lacks the knowledge of magic but in other ways their technology is rapidly becoming the equivalent of Midchilda in most ways.
But can you imagine the issues with getting earth into the TSAB? No mass based weapons allowed...

---

For some reason I suspect that the original 'Type 0s' were designed to tougher specs than the more sophisticated Numbers, likely because it was thought to be superfluous.

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I doubt that, but Type 0's where mass produced, and I don't think they where desinged by Jail. The higher numbered androids are all unique, I suspect prototypes, and so their construction might not be as optimized, and they are probably not as well tuned. It was stated that the androids had noticeably increased their performance over a few days ago based on the data gathered. That means they are probably still well clear of desing limits and more held back by software limits or someth

---

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E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[CattyNebulart]

---

If you drop the team into the Potterverse....they can wipe out any force the Potterverse can bring to bear, right?

---

I'd imagine a nuke would still stun and blind Nanoha, much like a flash-bang and nukes are probably capable of seriously hurting or even killing the younger strikers.
Potterverse wizards could steal nukes, they wouldn't think of it, and probably not do it unless desperate, but they could.
Anything as primitive and innefective like an Ava Kedavra would just be handled by the layered shields of their armor. (There is an explanation in the manga I think about 4 different types of shields that are maintained by an Inteligent Device while transformed, and it's some impressive kit.)
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[Valles]

---

But can you imagine the issues with getting earth into the TSAB? No mass based weapons allowed...

---

The EU buys stuff from China. ^_^ It's not necessary to agree to do business.
Anyway, I think we're largely in agreement about the relative positions and natures of the Midchildian and Terran technical repertoires - I was merely speculating on the specifics of what was different, how, and why. I do, however, think that the TSAB actively monitors Earth using agents in place, electronic means, and quite possibly classified diplomatic contacts. That being the case, it only makes sense that they'd be able to observe and copy the points where Terran technology exceeds their own, as does the likelihood of their using magic to finesse their way around thorny technical problems that stalled the original research.
Incidentally, as a case study, the timing seems right for the genetic engineering responsible for Subaru et al. to have been based on our own. The altered bacterium used to produce human insulin for diabetics was patented twenty-five years ago - Ginga is 17 - and if they had prosthetic implants as long ago as you imply (not doubting, I just don't remember hearing it referenced in anything I've seen), then they'd have a far larger database on rejection issues and be able to identify the genes needed for increased tolerance just by statistical means even if they didn't have other options.
Turning the altered zygotes into living people could be done with surrogate mothers, but I think that some kind of artificial incubator is more likely - whether a Lost Logia or just one of those things a falling society considered useful enough to make the effort to hang onto.

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I doubt that, but Type 0's where mass produced, and I don't think they where desinged by Jail. The higher numbered androids are all unique, I suspect prototypes, and so their construction might not be as optimized, and they are probably not as well tuned. It was stated that the androids had noticeably increased their performance over a few days ago based on the data gathered. That means they are probably still well clear of desing limits and more held back by software limits or someth(ing.)

---

Type 0 isn't the sort of nomenclature given to a production version, I think, and besides, IIRC Major Nakajima specifically said that the program that created his daughters was shut down before it got beyond the prototype stage. My thinking that That Which Should Not Breathe was involved in that research is, admittedly, speculation, but it makes sense - and even if it didn't, the Conspiracy Of Hitler's Brains was likely behind both efforts and could have given him access to that information.
I'm less certain that the Numbers' upgrades were software only... judging by Subaru's injury, the 'borging process at the very least involves replacement of the arms and can be reasonably assumed to extend to the legs as well. Given Subaru's comment about her sleeping habits, I think it's more likely than not that they're Motoko Kusanagi-style full replacement cyborgs, with the only remaining organic components being their brains and whatever else is necessary for the use of magic.
I'll admit, though, that how the heck the Nakajima girls managed to grow up if that's the case is troubling.
Of course, the other possibility for her apparent relative toughness...
*headdesk*
Duh! We were told that Mach Caliber was being reinforced and upgraded!
...though if that were all, how did she get damaged in the first place?
Anyway. Other reason might be that TSAB's medical and cybernetic resources include a number of technologies not originally intended to be part of a cybermage but suitable for easy adaptation and for whatever reason not available to a clandestine operation like That Which Should Not Breathe's.
Ja, -n

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[ordnance11]

---

I'd imagine a nuke would still stun and blind Nanoha, much like a flash-bang and nukes are probably capable of seriously hurting or even killing the younger strikers.
Potterverse wizards could steal nukes, they wouldn't think of it, and probably not do it unless desperate, but they could.
Anything as primitive and innefective like an Ava Kedavra would just be handled by the layered shields of their armor. (There is an explanation in the manga I think about 4 different types of shields that are maintained by an Inteligent Device while transformed, and it's some impressive kit.)

---

Using a nuc to off any StrikerS cast would be the case of "if I can't win, kill everyone."
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[Berk]

One of the problems with the theory that hyperspace is involved is that the association itself is called 'The Prime Dimensions' and is overseen by the Time-Space Administration.
Looking at Midchildia's sky tells us a lot about what Midchildia itself is like. It orbits a Hot Jupiter and has two satellites of its own in irregular, elliptical orbits. It has other living worlds in orbit around the same primary body, and the sun is apparently fairly close to our own.
It kind of makes sense that their civilization would look to other ways of travel besides space travel, getting anything into orbit and keeping it there would be a nightmare.- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[Sweno]

after catching 22 I am definitely looking forward to 23.
An angry Vita is a scary thing.
and spoilerish: Fates mom not being the driving force behind the experiments is a rather interesting point I hope they explore more.-Terry
------
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint Exupery
"Luge strategy? Lie flat and try not to die." - Carmen Boyle (Olympic Luge Gold Medal winner - 1996)
Mary Sue's theme music
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

[CattyNebulart]

Quatro is a psychotic evil bitch. I like her.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[Valles]

I like Massive Wonders better every time I hear it.
*shatters* Down with the bourgoise! Up the proletariat! BLOW IT UP! BLOW IT ALL UP!
I think it's a very good touch of the writers to make the Numbers varied in personality and outlook - each of them has their own reasons for and feelings about what they do, rather than just being faceless stormtroopers.
Minimum of seven abandoned city areas, each of probably large enough to house at least several hundred thousand given the size of the areas of Clanagan we've seen... I'm really wondering where all that population went. Depending on how sturdy their construction was and what the environment's like, they may even date back to before the war...
Lutetia speaks even quieter than Fate... I wasn't even sure that was possible.
...okay, IV goes with her father. Bitch.
...The continuing countdown is a nice touch - a perfect tension-builder for the climax.

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[CattyNebulart]

---

...okay, IV goes with her father. Bitch.

---

How can you not like her? She is a cheerful psychotic evil bitch! Oh wait those are traits most people dislike.
But seriously she's great as a villan, someone you can genuinely loathe & hate and yet somehow still empathize with.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[Berk]

With regards to the abandoned city zones on Midchildia:
Keep in mind that Midchildia became the capital of a very large collection of worlds, not all of which may have been inhabited, yet capable of sustaining life.
It's quite simple to encourage people to move off world to new places, once you've set up transit. Hell. You don't even have to worry about colony ships and nasty things like that.
The retooling to magic took place 150 years ago.
The TSA was established 75 years ago.
It's gonna take a while to clean up what got left behind.- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[ECSNorway]

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*headdesk*
Duh! We were told that Mach Caliber was being reinforced and upgraded!
...though if that were all, how did she get damaged in the first place?

---

I recall on at least one occasion the Numbers refer to Mach Caliber as an IS, not a Device... I forget what IS stands for, Integrated something I think, but it's the kind they have, that's integrated into their cybergear and literally a part of them...--
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Berk]

Mach Caliber isn't an IS. Mach Caliber is an Intelligent Device.
An IS is an Influential Skill, a built in ability a cyborg has which cannot be changed without a total refit. Subaru's IS is 'Oscillation Breaker' (or Vibration Shatter, depending on your translation).- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[Valles]

Shoot first! Make friends later!
...I must complement Quatro's voice actress. She does a superb job of making us want to stick the bitch's head in a meat grinder.
A white hot meat grinder. Feet-first.
I think I'm in love. Grown up Vivio is as hot as she is scary, especially with way her armor design is patterned after Nanoha's.
'If I can hit at the exact moment their combination strikes...' Mutual annihilation. Oh, Tea...
Y'know, I think that, Agito and Rein-tan aside, Mach Caliber's gotten more character development than all the other devices we've seen put together?
Ah! So that's what Klarerwind does!
And Teana pulls it out! You go, girl!

===============================================
"Reseeestunce ees fiutil. Yoo weeel bee Useemooletud. Borg Borg Borg."
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[CattyNebulart]

*bounces up and down* 23 is out, 23 is out.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[Valles]

Hm. Geis & Zest backstory, huh? I don't think that this was really the best moment to bring that up - earlier I would have been quite interested in what was between these two and how it ties into what's going down with the rest of the plot, but...
At the moment? What about Nanoha?! What about Fate?! AAAAAAGH!
...oh dear. Poor Zest. Poor II, too. Bitch.
That's a big goddamn bug.
No, Brane, shut up. This is not the moment for Power Rangers flashbacks.
Wait, wait, how did Caro know the big one's name? I'm pretty sure Lu didn't use it...
...Oh, ick. That is just too fucked up a thing to do to your surrogate daughters.
Caro? Elio? This would be an ideal moment for you two to speak up and denounce the bad guy.
Glad we're agreed. GO LIGHTNING!
Oh, look, it's the return of the perv ba- I mean, swimsuit costume. Can't say I'm not glad to see it. ^_^ And, Yay Instert Songs!

===============================================
"Reseeestunce ees fiutil. Yoo weeel bee Useemooletud. Borg Borg Borg."
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[ECSNorway]

Ouch.
All I can think of is, at this point, if the Scooby Gang were watching it? Xander would be asking Spike for ideas on what to do to Jail. Forget 'liscence to breathe revoked', he's gone WAY past that and into major "we are going to make you pray for death by slow torture" territory. For him and Quattro.--
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[SkyeFire]

Took me all DAY to download this.
But it was WORTH it. Now I just have to wait for the next episode...
Spoilers white-protected:

Well, well, well. Ginga&Subaru's mother, as well as Lu's mother, were members of Zest's team. And now we know how Cinque lost her eye (I'd had a theory before connecting Cinque to the girl whose eye Vice shot out, but that got shot down in Ep23).
This probably also explains why Zest and Lu were only partially under Scagliatti's control, and why Zest stuck to her so much; he was taking care of his teammate's orphaned daughter.
Never thought I'd feel sorry for Regius, but I do, a little. Each one of the little steps down this path probably seemed right, or at least justifiable, at the time, but it's only now that he looks at the whole emergent pattern and realizes just what he's done.
And, in a twist that violates the usual Laws of Drama, he not only doesn't get a chance to atone, he doesn't even get a chance to apologize.
Poor Lu. Quattro-who-deserves-to-die-slowly cranked that Insecurity Logic Bomb in Lu's head up to 11 and let it run. Caro keeps trying to reach her, and Erio keeps trying to reach Garyuu soldier-to-soldier. But Lu's too lost in her own pain to do anything but lash out blindly, and her summons are too loyal to disobey even for her own good (though I note that with Lu comatose they had enough flexibility to back off).
Fate needs to give her "daddy" what Raven gave to Trigon in that episode of Teen Titans. You've got a lot of gall, calling yourself her 'father', Scagliatti.
OTOH, he can twist her deepest insecurities almost as well as Precia did.
I've felt sorry for (at least some) of the CCs for a while now, but THIS is just... oy. And it's going to make for one bloody heck of a moral dilemma once the dust settles -- if each CC is carrying a memory-copied clone of Scagliatti, what happens to the chibi-Scaggies when they're born (it seems a safe bet that at least some of the CCs would refuse abortions, regardless of how things fall out)? I mean, just how 'hard'-coded are these transferred memories?
Every season seems to bring Fate face-to with her deepest demons. S1 had Precia rejecting her utterly, S2 gave her a chance at a fantasy life with everything she wanted most, and now Scaggliatti unearths her greatest fear: that she is no different from Precia, that she's just been using Erio and Caro to satisfy her own deep-seated need for love. Fate, hon, we all use the people we love to satisfy our emotional needs -- it's part of being human. But Precia just took from you, and gave nothing back. You've given to these kids, and while they love you as much as you loved Precia, you also made them strong enough to tell you to step off when they think you're wrong. They're not fighting for you in some desperate hope of getting you to love them -- they're fighting with you because they know you love them, and would do anything to protect them.
The first brilliant thing about what happens next is the kids: Erio and Caro jump straight down Scagglietti's throat (metaphorically) and kick his arse (verbally), but without any blind, tearful declarations of devotion. These children are mature beyond their years, they see their beloved adoptive mother's virtues and flaws clearly, they have no illusions about her... and Scaggie is lucky beyond all deserving that he merely had Fate to deal with, and not her kids. I don't think Erio and Caro would have killed him, but they certainly would have exercised their right to maim severely for what he said to Fate (not for kicking her around, Fate's tough and all's fair in love and ware, natch -- but what he said to her, putting that look in her eyes... yes, Scaggie is bloody fortunate).
The second brilliant thing is that, while E&C's enraged but reasoned defense of her kicks Fate out of her emotional paralysis, it doesn't miraculously fix her problems, and she acknowledges that. And yet, it's still obvious that she's taken an important step towards eventually settling this issue.
Fate's "stripped down" battle mode? HAWT.
...does this make Fate a MILF?
I really thought we were gonna lose Tea, there. And even she's trying to salvage 9, instead of just pounding her flat.
Snipers, yay!
And I can't help but snicker over her de*****ion of Subaru.
Speaking of whom, I thought I saw her blow a hole clear though Ginga last episode. Which I was sure she'd survive, but she sure looks more intact now than I'd expected.
...oh, CRAP. Scagglietti said he'd implanted... oh, okay, he said all twelve, not all thirteen. Whew! Poor Ginga, that would have been... .
Tea is SCARY when she switches to I-could-kill-you-right-here-but-I-don't-have-to mode.
Well, last ep was mostly Tea&Subaru, this ep was mostly Fate&her kids. Looks like next ep will be the big Nanoha&Vivio dustup, and Nanoha's looking to already be behind on points, not to mention fighting under a handicap.
...no sign of Vita this episode at all. I'm nervous.

[Sweno]

nothing to add that hasn't already been said.
fate = definite milf. I now envy Nanoha all that much more.
And definitely looking forward to next episode.
(possible spoilers in white)
I'm interested what Nanoha is going to pull from her sleeve in the upcoming fight.
Fate has a history of changing her costume to be faster (see A's if reference is needed), Nanoha not so much.-Terry
------
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint Exupery
"Luge strategy? Lie flat and try not to die." - Carmen Boyle (Olympic Luge Gold Medal winner - 1996)
Mary Sue's theme music
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy