Prescript: all of this may be considered further solicitation for commentary, I'm tryng to restart my muse, now all but silent for a couple of years, and even if I disagree with them comments ae like jumper cables.
---------------
Kyaaa~ ...Okay, now I've watched Nanoha again and A's, and the 'cast one spell Device-free' thing won't work for Nanoha either, because the top-tier combat spells are the only things everyone can't cast without a Device, and the familiars & Yuuno get along just fine for their Binds and physical enhancement.
I'm starting to think the person who asked "How could you TELL if Nanoha got a traveler power?" was right. It's hard to come up with something that couldn't be done as well by a spell if she wanted to, yet isn't gamebreakingly powerful. Telekinesis? Plant Control? Maybe go back to the hair thing, take it to an extreme like that Marvel Comics character, Black Bolt's wife. (Medusa? Maybe...)
For that matter, the spells Yuuno uses to speed up research in the Infinite Library later in A's makes the "read and comprehend with a touch" power for him less of a bump in ability, but also a bit too close to an incremental increase in an existing (spell) ability, which is the same problem I keep having with ideas for Nanoha.
The Book of Darkness activated June 6th, while the canon Jewel Seeds Incident ended around the first week of May, going by the datelines, and this time Fate got them faster than that. This being the case, die Wolkenritter are definately not going to be around to take part in any of the events surrounding the Jewel Seeds (though I think that was only suggested in the original CTMB discussion, since I didn't plan on showing much of the Earth-side events on camera.)
Actually, watching A's, the only thoughts I have on how adding the returned Earthlings to that mix lead to them curbstomping die Wolkenritter, who mainly have experience and the Cartidge system on Team Nanoha in the first place. I've ruled Cartiridges a more recent developement than the Ancient War so they still have that, but a Nanoha with nearly three years adventuring instead of a couple weeks and a few months' solo practice? Then add Ifurita iin the mix... Most likely, Shahal gets sniped when she's going after Nanoha's linker core, and even a relatively low-power, precise shot from Ifurita (since Nanoha is on the next building over) isn't something you shrug off - even Ura the living armor was left rolling around in pain in EH OVA1 ep4 or 5 and had a deep wound from Ifurita II in OVA2 ep2. That's assuming they can pin down a more seasoned Nanoha to begin with... though that would be right around the amount of elapsed time that Nanoha had a bad defeat due to strain from overtraining, mentioned in StrikerS.
Of course, then the 'mysterious masked magi' would appear, and exposing them early would really foul the plot. Of course, there's no point writing a crossover if you're not going to change anything, but that begs the question of where to go and how, even if it's not exactly an immenent worry. Hiding die Wolkenritter's activity from Hayate would become quite difficult with Shahal in the hospital due to a through-and-through energy burn, though. Eh, I dunno. I'd need to watch StrikerS as well before deciding, I seem to recall some connection between Graham and the black-ops group involved there, at least in some fics. Not that I've read a lot of MSLN fic, I've let it pile up in a folder until I got around to watching the shows.
At least I found out the name of the Old Dude in the Shrine in OVA2, Yuba Yurius. Going into more detail about how he arrived in El-Hazard might make for an interesting tangent somewhere, especially if it could be tied to Nanoha continuity - perhaps whatever case the TSAB agent young Admiral Graham met the way Nanoha met Yuuno involved something that ended up tossing him into the gap between dimensions - it could even have been reports on that incident that gave Precia the idea to look for the ancient Alhazared civilization there.
Even before that, however, Nanoha has to get to El-Hazard in the first place. I'm thinking she arrives in the Shinonome ruins just as energy starts crackling over the walls, in time for Ifurita to look over Makoto's shoulder and add her name to the speech ("I'll leave it all up to you, Makoto, Nanoha. When you reach that nostalgic world, say hello to me.") before sending the lot of them off. A flash of light later (the images Makoto sees in transit are most likely an aspect of his special bond with Ifurita) and she's standing in a jungle, being screeched at by a troup of mohawk-monkeys alarmed by her sudden appearance. And then, Ifurita II shows up, insisting most firly that she leave. Nanoha being the polite sort would be happy to comply but doesn't know where she is; Ifurita has a short temper since she's already so close to the main building. And of course, once you start shooting at her, Nanoha is not the type to turn and run, even if she would refer to talk the problem out. Since they ARE close by, however, Yuba quickly comes as well and is more willing to hear the girl out, especially since (depending on backsory) he might recognise her Mid-style magic circles. Until then, though, I need a good fight sequence. Assume I'm talking about Ifurita II from here on, unless noted otherwise.
Standing off and shooting blasts seems to suit Ifurita well enough, but Nanoha can dodge and return fire probably as well as she can, if not quite at the same level of power (Ifurita can throw Buster-level blasts rapid-fire, Nanoha has to charge a Divine Buster for a few seconds) so close combat would be the next choice (since wide area attacks would damage the landscape) and Yuuno would break out the binding magic to help. That seems to be unknown on El-Hazard, so it would be good for a momentary suprise even if Ifurita instantly assimilates the technique herself. From there, I'm torn - even Ifurita shouldn't be able to just break a Chain Bind or Struggle Bind outright, but even being doubleteamed and up against never before seen powers I think she should still give a creditable showing, if not pull off an outright win. I'd like to have her use something like "the Southern Capital Technique, also called Fist of the Earth" or something similar, that grants massive strength, but if she had something like that why not use it when getting spanked by Kalia in canon? (Because they needed Kalia to win for the plot, of course, but I'm trying to stick to internal logic rather than meta-level.)
Northern Capital Technique being Shayla's trick of surrounding herself in a shroud of fire; whether the other Priestesses' styles are also related to Ancient capitals is unstated. Naturally, this would have to be in a Chain Bind, since Struggle Binds also dispel magic on the target. The advantage of a modern Barrier Jacket is harder to quantify - much better than anything the Lamps do for the Priestesses, but an Ifurita uniform shouldn't be far behind, I don't think. Ifurita I says she has to experience a technique directly to copy it, so actually incorporating that technique would probably require a minimum of three or four sucessful melee strikes, possibly doing enough damage to shatter part of it like when Vita breaks through the bow and windbreaker in A's. There's no TSAB mechanics nearby, so actually damaging Raging Heart is out.
Having people mistake Nanoha for a demon-god could begin as a running joke with Yuba, though he'd know otherwise as soon as he laid a hand on her shoulder and got no response from Make Friends & Influence Mecha. Raging Heart on the other hand would work, but doesn't seem neccessary.... though since the Intelligent Devices seem to know a fair bit about their own construction, given the requests they made while being repaired after meeting die Wolkenritter, perhaps a lesser degree of damage inflicted could be repaired by Yuba using the shrine's main console, and/or parts from the various other stuff lying around.
I have this odd image of hte two of them sort of becoming friends, and Yuba sitting across a goban or shogi board from where Raging Heart in Device Mode is laid across a cushion, playing a game where he moves her peices also, according to spoken instructions. I blame this on the much more vocal and proactive movie version Raging Heart... this sequence, and a need for repairs, whould be an excuse to upgrade her to that form, though. Shin Bankai- I mean, Excelion form Raging Heart from A's (and did anyone else get the feeling Signum was the love child of Saber from F/SN and Renji from Bleach? I mean, blonde+red=pink hair, armordress, sword/snake weapon plus a defense ability in the sheath and a ranged attack in powered up/combined form... no funky tats, though, and her temper would have to come more from Saber. I'd kind of like to see a Nanoha A's/Bleach crossover, actually, Rukia and Vita bonding over bunnies would almost be worth it on its own. The original Pretty Cure could be fun too, Nanoha and Fate doing their first henshin with the repaired Devices was a real Cure Black & Cure White moment. I had a hard job resisting the urge to call out "DUAL AURA WAVE!" for them just then.)
Where was I? Right, Exceed form Raging Heart Excelion. I think it's meh, especially compared to movie-style shooting form Raging Heart, with an actual grip and trigger (Like a BOSS!) rather than making Nanoha grab the magazine (Like a FOOL! Insert firearms safety speech here. At least she doesn't do it in StrikerS.) Actually adding a cartridge system would have to happen later, as previously noted, but at least the foundation work would be there. Once everything was explained, I can easily see Nanoha asking Ifurita to help her train her magic use, if not teach her directly, given the work ethic she shows throughout the MSLN seasons. She's like the magical girl version of Rock Lee, almost - all that's really missing are exclamations of youth and guts turning 1% into 100% ... and the movie version even has that, rephrased a bit. The time needed for repairs and refamiliarization would let Yuuno peruse Yuba's library, and fill out the time in El-Hazard for The Second Verse/Night until Nanoha leaves; this Verse also has Nanoha's family reacting to her disseappearing to round it out. I'm watching Trinargle Heart next to see how the elder Takamachi not-exactly-siblings stack up for mad leet ninja skills.
... um, okay, skills both mad and leet, and that's just in the first action sequence of Toraha OVA1. (toothy grin) Even though MSLN continuity doesn't perfectly align, (Nanoha's father is alive, and she's is in a different school, as are the school-age customers judging by the uniform) this should still be good.
(later)
Having now finished StrikerS as well, I propose Hazardous Lyrics III: Operation Jail Bait. Because if the Combat Cyborg and Artificial Mage projects were based on recovered information about or the damaged remains of an original Ifurita unit there is absolutley no way that the various people in on the conspiracy wouldn't do everything in their power to try to get control of a working model after one appears, regardless of whether it's a world signatory to the TSA treaties or not - maybe even especially if not; even if they're not shown there's got to be rival interdimensional powers that they wouldn't want gaining such a resource. Since his name comes up almost from the beginning of StrikerS and is known as an involved party by the investigative side, having one of the senior counter-conspirators contact the El-Hazard group and ask Ifurita to act as the lure for a sting to bring him out before his timetable called for it seems entirely in order. Plus it facilitates the title, which is fitting in so many other ways as well for the Nanoha franchise.
My favorite is still Signum, though, and no matter how you slice it she's legal. Plus in this continuity I could get to have her and Afura in the same scenes! Double win! Agito/Shayla would probably not get along so well, however, without a theraputic bonding moment (I.E., just the two of them and a very wide target selection opportunity) or two.
While I'm talking about Shayla-Shayla, I've thought over the idea of Deva as a former High Priestess some more, and while it's not locked in I like it; this would make the exact location of Forbidden Islan and the path through the ruins to Ifurita I's stasis chamber secret knowledge of the Fire Priestess (since it's Shayla who opens the door and leads Makoto & co. inside) while the Air Priestess knew of either the destroyed city where Deva led Jinnai or something else in Bugrom territory, in either case already looted, and the Water Priestess's secret(s,) if any, are as yet unrevealed. Something underwater would be reasonable, but I have no specific ideas. (Maybe Nanoha's traveler power is that she can breathe underwater? It woud fit the criteria of having limited utility most of the time, but potentially a critical ace in the right situation.)
The idea of the Saint's Cradle as a relic of Ancient Alhazared and needing someone of royal blood to activate (rather like the Eye of God in that) and its huge size suggests that the Belkan civilization may have had direct roots in or actually been founded by refugees from the Ancient War who left to escape the final blows that destroyed its civilization and tossed it into the cracks between dimensions, or wherever it actually is. The skies look normal, but who knows? Maybe whatever happened grabbed the entire solar system, and the lights in the sky beyond are actually the glowing dimensional walls around various universes. Hey, it worked for Kingdom Hearts.
The endless monologuing in the last few episodes of Strikers really irritated me. To the point I wanted to drop an SI in just to say, "You talk too much" and use an Infinite Edge World Split Slash to shut them up. Well, maybe not a World Split Slash, Mid-Childa is where Signum keeps all her stuff, but at least a Sticky Endo or Death of One Thousand Combine Harvesters. Seriously, way too much jaw-flapping. (Infinite Edge/Mugenzan is basically the sword version of the Monkey King's Compliant Staff, able to extend and retract without worrying about petty details like conservation of momentum and with a subatomically-fine edge. It's not so much a physical object as the philosophical concept of a thing that divides other things lent a seeming of existence by what would be called an AT-field projection in Crapangelion, so it's also a shield, wall, or a sieve if that's more fitting for the task. I mentioned a tendency to munch out, if you'll recall. I renamed it from The Sword of Ullathanderthar in the original concept because that wasn't cool enough, and the current form is as codified for a Lesser Eternal Spirit (AKA an equipment Summon) for Ninja Robot Space Fighter. If you were on the Mekton Zeta Mailing List a decade or so ago and remember the Ogattawannalikkem: Over The Top setting, it was mentioned in the lead up to that as "A Mythteron weapon, said to be used to slice off a little bit of the moon each night from full to new.")
I've gotten sidetracked again; this mostly-offline stuff is for the dickiebirds. Overall, I'm going to have to say that I think StrikerS would have been better if they only had 13 episodes to work with and kept the pace up more, but probably not a rich a source of backstory elements useable here. With a closer initial tie to the Roshtarian crown and a couple years among the peole of El-Hazard, I'd expect Nanoha and Fate to remain 'civilian collaborators' or contractors rather than join the TSAB outright; Hayate might not get the choice if she was arrested by TSAB agents but with her being a native of a Non-Administered World and at least the possibility of the Rostarian delegation to Earth having her first their jurisdiction could be questioned. Then again, she is apparently the legal ward of Admiral Graham, even if she thinks she's just an ordinary Japanese schoolgirl.
Getting back to the point in in Hazardous Lyrics that I'm actually trying to write now: should I choose to go with the plan of having Raging Heart damaged fighting Ifurita II and repaired in movie-style form using parts from and the console in the EH OVA2 shrine, should the magic circles it projects be altered? El-Hazard magic uses none while the Cyborgs have data block/geartooth designs - part of that of course is the fact that it's not actually a single continuity, and the detailed, spinning instant runes of the more modern series would be too expensive to animate without digital tools even if the idea came up when El-Hazard was in production, but as an in-continuity explanation it could simply be that those data-ring circles with their eccentric centers are neccessary to interface the ancient Alhazared magic style with modern Mid, or even the slightly-less-ancient Belkan style and equipment. If so, Ifuritas who copy and use a modern mage's attacks would also manifest one, I think. Not that it makes a huge difference in text form, of course. Maybe it's just my own gearhead tendencies, but the Mid circles always seemed dull to me, while the data rings are nifty. A more frightening possibility is that the level of complexity in spells to need a circle is a more modern invention than the Ancient War, and those city-busting atttacks we see Ifurita throwing around like basic fireballs actually ARE the Ifurita-strength version of a basic fireball. In such a case, Ifurita firing a Buster-class spell (let alone a Starlight Breaker) would probably equal a TSAB naval main cannon, l'Arc-En-Ciel...
- CD is still amused by the fansubber quip "Rainbows are straighter than Subaru," even if it is a blatant overstatement compared to Fatora and Alielle.
Library's about to close so I don't have time to read replies let alone respond, but I'll save off a copy and try to get back faster than a week next time. And maybe write some actual prose, not just outlines and ideas.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
---------------
Kyaaa~ ...Okay, now I've watched Nanoha again and A's, and the 'cast one spell Device-free' thing won't work for Nanoha either, because the top-tier combat spells are the only things everyone can't cast without a Device, and the familiars & Yuuno get along just fine for their Binds and physical enhancement.
I'm starting to think the person who asked "How could you TELL if Nanoha got a traveler power?" was right. It's hard to come up with something that couldn't be done as well by a spell if she wanted to, yet isn't gamebreakingly powerful. Telekinesis? Plant Control? Maybe go back to the hair thing, take it to an extreme like that Marvel Comics character, Black Bolt's wife. (Medusa? Maybe...)
For that matter, the spells Yuuno uses to speed up research in the Infinite Library later in A's makes the "read and comprehend with a touch" power for him less of a bump in ability, but also a bit too close to an incremental increase in an existing (spell) ability, which is the same problem I keep having with ideas for Nanoha.
The Book of Darkness activated June 6th, while the canon Jewel Seeds Incident ended around the first week of May, going by the datelines, and this time Fate got them faster than that. This being the case, die Wolkenritter are definately not going to be around to take part in any of the events surrounding the Jewel Seeds (though I think that was only suggested in the original CTMB discussion, since I didn't plan on showing much of the Earth-side events on camera.)
Actually, watching A's, the only thoughts I have on how adding the returned Earthlings to that mix lead to them curbstomping die Wolkenritter, who mainly have experience and the Cartidge system on Team Nanoha in the first place. I've ruled Cartiridges a more recent developement than the Ancient War so they still have that, but a Nanoha with nearly three years adventuring instead of a couple weeks and a few months' solo practice? Then add Ifurita iin the mix... Most likely, Shahal gets sniped when she's going after Nanoha's linker core, and even a relatively low-power, precise shot from Ifurita (since Nanoha is on the next building over) isn't something you shrug off - even Ura the living armor was left rolling around in pain in EH OVA1 ep4 or 5 and had a deep wound from Ifurita II in OVA2 ep2. That's assuming they can pin down a more seasoned Nanoha to begin with... though that would be right around the amount of elapsed time that Nanoha had a bad defeat due to strain from overtraining, mentioned in StrikerS.
Of course, then the 'mysterious masked magi' would appear, and exposing them early would really foul the plot. Of course, there's no point writing a crossover if you're not going to change anything, but that begs the question of where to go and how, even if it's not exactly an immenent worry. Hiding die Wolkenritter's activity from Hayate would become quite difficult with Shahal in the hospital due to a through-and-through energy burn, though. Eh, I dunno. I'd need to watch StrikerS as well before deciding, I seem to recall some connection between Graham and the black-ops group involved there, at least in some fics. Not that I've read a lot of MSLN fic, I've let it pile up in a folder until I got around to watching the shows.
At least I found out the name of the Old Dude in the Shrine in OVA2, Yuba Yurius. Going into more detail about how he arrived in El-Hazard might make for an interesting tangent somewhere, especially if it could be tied to Nanoha continuity - perhaps whatever case the TSAB agent young Admiral Graham met the way Nanoha met Yuuno involved something that ended up tossing him into the gap between dimensions - it could even have been reports on that incident that gave Precia the idea to look for the ancient Alhazared civilization there.
Even before that, however, Nanoha has to get to El-Hazard in the first place. I'm thinking she arrives in the Shinonome ruins just as energy starts crackling over the walls, in time for Ifurita to look over Makoto's shoulder and add her name to the speech ("I'll leave it all up to you, Makoto, Nanoha. When you reach that nostalgic world, say hello to me.") before sending the lot of them off. A flash of light later (the images Makoto sees in transit are most likely an aspect of his special bond with Ifurita) and she's standing in a jungle, being screeched at by a troup of mohawk-monkeys alarmed by her sudden appearance. And then, Ifurita II shows up, insisting most firly that she leave. Nanoha being the polite sort would be happy to comply but doesn't know where she is; Ifurita has a short temper since she's already so close to the main building. And of course, once you start shooting at her, Nanoha is not the type to turn and run, even if she would refer to talk the problem out. Since they ARE close by, however, Yuba quickly comes as well and is more willing to hear the girl out, especially since (depending on backsory) he might recognise her Mid-style magic circles. Until then, though, I need a good fight sequence. Assume I'm talking about Ifurita II from here on, unless noted otherwise.
Standing off and shooting blasts seems to suit Ifurita well enough, but Nanoha can dodge and return fire probably as well as she can, if not quite at the same level of power (Ifurita can throw Buster-level blasts rapid-fire, Nanoha has to charge a Divine Buster for a few seconds) so close combat would be the next choice (since wide area attacks would damage the landscape) and Yuuno would break out the binding magic to help. That seems to be unknown on El-Hazard, so it would be good for a momentary suprise even if Ifurita instantly assimilates the technique herself. From there, I'm torn - even Ifurita shouldn't be able to just break a Chain Bind or Struggle Bind outright, but even being doubleteamed and up against never before seen powers I think she should still give a creditable showing, if not pull off an outright win. I'd like to have her use something like "the Southern Capital Technique, also called Fist of the Earth" or something similar, that grants massive strength, but if she had something like that why not use it when getting spanked by Kalia in canon? (Because they needed Kalia to win for the plot, of course, but I'm trying to stick to internal logic rather than meta-level.)
Northern Capital Technique being Shayla's trick of surrounding herself in a shroud of fire; whether the other Priestesses' styles are also related to Ancient capitals is unstated. Naturally, this would have to be in a Chain Bind, since Struggle Binds also dispel magic on the target. The advantage of a modern Barrier Jacket is harder to quantify - much better than anything the Lamps do for the Priestesses, but an Ifurita uniform shouldn't be far behind, I don't think. Ifurita I says she has to experience a technique directly to copy it, so actually incorporating that technique would probably require a minimum of three or four sucessful melee strikes, possibly doing enough damage to shatter part of it like when Vita breaks through the bow and windbreaker in A's. There's no TSAB mechanics nearby, so actually damaging Raging Heart is out.
Having people mistake Nanoha for a demon-god could begin as a running joke with Yuba, though he'd know otherwise as soon as he laid a hand on her shoulder and got no response from Make Friends & Influence Mecha. Raging Heart on the other hand would work, but doesn't seem neccessary.... though since the Intelligent Devices seem to know a fair bit about their own construction, given the requests they made while being repaired after meeting die Wolkenritter, perhaps a lesser degree of damage inflicted could be repaired by Yuba using the shrine's main console, and/or parts from the various other stuff lying around.
I have this odd image of hte two of them sort of becoming friends, and Yuba sitting across a goban or shogi board from where Raging Heart in Device Mode is laid across a cushion, playing a game where he moves her peices also, according to spoken instructions. I blame this on the much more vocal and proactive movie version Raging Heart... this sequence, and a need for repairs, whould be an excuse to upgrade her to that form, though. Shin Bankai- I mean, Excelion form Raging Heart from A's (and did anyone else get the feeling Signum was the love child of Saber from F/SN and Renji from Bleach? I mean, blonde+red=pink hair, armordress, sword/snake weapon plus a defense ability in the sheath and a ranged attack in powered up/combined form... no funky tats, though, and her temper would have to come more from Saber. I'd kind of like to see a Nanoha A's/Bleach crossover, actually, Rukia and Vita bonding over bunnies would almost be worth it on its own. The original Pretty Cure could be fun too, Nanoha and Fate doing their first henshin with the repaired Devices was a real Cure Black & Cure White moment. I had a hard job resisting the urge to call out "DUAL AURA WAVE!" for them just then.)
Where was I? Right, Exceed form Raging Heart Excelion. I think it's meh, especially compared to movie-style shooting form Raging Heart, with an actual grip and trigger (Like a BOSS!) rather than making Nanoha grab the magazine (Like a FOOL! Insert firearms safety speech here. At least she doesn't do it in StrikerS.) Actually adding a cartridge system would have to happen later, as previously noted, but at least the foundation work would be there. Once everything was explained, I can easily see Nanoha asking Ifurita to help her train her magic use, if not teach her directly, given the work ethic she shows throughout the MSLN seasons. She's like the magical girl version of Rock Lee, almost - all that's really missing are exclamations of youth and guts turning 1% into 100% ... and the movie version even has that, rephrased a bit. The time needed for repairs and refamiliarization would let Yuuno peruse Yuba's library, and fill out the time in El-Hazard for The Second Verse/Night until Nanoha leaves; this Verse also has Nanoha's family reacting to her disseappearing to round it out. I'm watching Trinargle Heart next to see how the elder Takamachi not-exactly-siblings stack up for mad leet ninja skills.
... um, okay, skills both mad and leet, and that's just in the first action sequence of Toraha OVA1. (toothy grin) Even though MSLN continuity doesn't perfectly align, (Nanoha's father is alive, and she's is in a different school, as are the school-age customers judging by the uniform) this should still be good.
(later)
Having now finished StrikerS as well, I propose Hazardous Lyrics III: Operation Jail Bait. Because if the Combat Cyborg and Artificial Mage projects were based on recovered information about or the damaged remains of an original Ifurita unit there is absolutley no way that the various people in on the conspiracy wouldn't do everything in their power to try to get control of a working model after one appears, regardless of whether it's a world signatory to the TSA treaties or not - maybe even especially if not; even if they're not shown there's got to be rival interdimensional powers that they wouldn't want gaining such a resource. Since his name comes up almost from the beginning of StrikerS and is known as an involved party by the investigative side, having one of the senior counter-conspirators contact the El-Hazard group and ask Ifurita to act as the lure for a sting to bring him out before his timetable called for it seems entirely in order. Plus it facilitates the title, which is fitting in so many other ways as well for the Nanoha franchise.
My favorite is still Signum, though, and no matter how you slice it she's legal. Plus in this continuity I could get to have her and Afura in the same scenes! Double win! Agito/Shayla would probably not get along so well, however, without a theraputic bonding moment (I.E., just the two of them and a very wide target selection opportunity) or two.
While I'm talking about Shayla-Shayla, I've thought over the idea of Deva as a former High Priestess some more, and while it's not locked in I like it; this would make the exact location of Forbidden Islan and the path through the ruins to Ifurita I's stasis chamber secret knowledge of the Fire Priestess (since it's Shayla who opens the door and leads Makoto & co. inside) while the Air Priestess knew of either the destroyed city where Deva led Jinnai or something else in Bugrom territory, in either case already looted, and the Water Priestess's secret(s,) if any, are as yet unrevealed. Something underwater would be reasonable, but I have no specific ideas. (Maybe Nanoha's traveler power is that she can breathe underwater? It woud fit the criteria of having limited utility most of the time, but potentially a critical ace in the right situation.)
The idea of the Saint's Cradle as a relic of Ancient Alhazared and needing someone of royal blood to activate (rather like the Eye of God in that) and its huge size suggests that the Belkan civilization may have had direct roots in or actually been founded by refugees from the Ancient War who left to escape the final blows that destroyed its civilization and tossed it into the cracks between dimensions, or wherever it actually is. The skies look normal, but who knows? Maybe whatever happened grabbed the entire solar system, and the lights in the sky beyond are actually the glowing dimensional walls around various universes. Hey, it worked for Kingdom Hearts.
The endless monologuing in the last few episodes of Strikers really irritated me. To the point I wanted to drop an SI in just to say, "You talk too much" and use an Infinite Edge World Split Slash to shut them up. Well, maybe not a World Split Slash, Mid-Childa is where Signum keeps all her stuff, but at least a Sticky Endo or Death of One Thousand Combine Harvesters. Seriously, way too much jaw-flapping. (Infinite Edge/Mugenzan is basically the sword version of the Monkey King's Compliant Staff, able to extend and retract without worrying about petty details like conservation of momentum and with a subatomically-fine edge. It's not so much a physical object as the philosophical concept of a thing that divides other things lent a seeming of existence by what would be called an AT-field projection in Crapangelion, so it's also a shield, wall, or a sieve if that's more fitting for the task. I mentioned a tendency to munch out, if you'll recall. I renamed it from The Sword of Ullathanderthar in the original concept because that wasn't cool enough, and the current form is as codified for a Lesser Eternal Spirit (AKA an equipment Summon) for Ninja Robot Space Fighter. If you were on the Mekton Zeta Mailing List a decade or so ago and remember the Ogattawannalikkem: Over The Top setting, it was mentioned in the lead up to that as "A Mythteron weapon, said to be used to slice off a little bit of the moon each night from full to new.")
I've gotten sidetracked again; this mostly-offline stuff is for the dickiebirds. Overall, I'm going to have to say that I think StrikerS would have been better if they only had 13 episodes to work with and kept the pace up more, but probably not a rich a source of backstory elements useable here. With a closer initial tie to the Roshtarian crown and a couple years among the peole of El-Hazard, I'd expect Nanoha and Fate to remain 'civilian collaborators' or contractors rather than join the TSAB outright; Hayate might not get the choice if she was arrested by TSAB agents but with her being a native of a Non-Administered World and at least the possibility of the Rostarian delegation to Earth having her first their jurisdiction could be questioned. Then again, she is apparently the legal ward of Admiral Graham, even if she thinks she's just an ordinary Japanese schoolgirl.
Getting back to the point in in Hazardous Lyrics that I'm actually trying to write now: should I choose to go with the plan of having Raging Heart damaged fighting Ifurita II and repaired in movie-style form using parts from and the console in the EH OVA2 shrine, should the magic circles it projects be altered? El-Hazard magic uses none while the Cyborgs have data block/geartooth designs - part of that of course is the fact that it's not actually a single continuity, and the detailed, spinning instant runes of the more modern series would be too expensive to animate without digital tools even if the idea came up when El-Hazard was in production, but as an in-continuity explanation it could simply be that those data-ring circles with their eccentric centers are neccessary to interface the ancient Alhazared magic style with modern Mid, or even the slightly-less-ancient Belkan style and equipment. If so, Ifuritas who copy and use a modern mage's attacks would also manifest one, I think. Not that it makes a huge difference in text form, of course. Maybe it's just my own gearhead tendencies, but the Mid circles always seemed dull to me, while the data rings are nifty. A more frightening possibility is that the level of complexity in spells to need a circle is a more modern invention than the Ancient War, and those city-busting atttacks we see Ifurita throwing around like basic fireballs actually ARE the Ifurita-strength version of a basic fireball. In such a case, Ifurita firing a Buster-class spell (let alone a Starlight Breaker) would probably equal a TSAB naval main cannon, l'Arc-En-Ciel...
- CD is still amused by the fansubber quip "Rainbows are straighter than Subaru," even if it is a blatant overstatement compared to Fatora and Alielle.
Library's about to close so I don't have time to read replies let alone respond, but I'll save off a copy and try to get back faster than a week next time. And maybe write some actual prose, not just outlines and ideas.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows