Nanoha FanFiction Discussion

[Justin_Brett]

That's certainly a fair point, but unless it's explicitly shown that some of what Hayate is trying to stamp out is worse than her own policies (ie, not Rio's group), I'm not going to be very inclined to see things from Nanoha's point of view.

I'd also argue that Teana's appearances have been fairly devoid of any actual professionalism. Part of the reason she's so pissed at Nanoha is because she hurt Wendi - which is far more important to her than why that had to happen in the first place. And shortly after they meet, her dialogue devolves into little more than name-calling.

[Yasanagi]

Spoiler for Usual MD update:

When Sette came to, she found herself lying on the bed in her quarters. She also felt some sort of odd sensation hovering over her left eye. ‘This is…?’

“Sette-chan, you’re awake!” exclaimed the excited voice of Material-L.

She tried flexing a muscle but found that her body was not responding. “I… can’t move…?”

“Apparently, the magical device that Material-L has found is undergoing some sort of reaction,” said Material-D. “Unfortunately, I do not have any data on this particular device to explain what is happening properly.”

Before the Combat Cyborg could ask for clarification, she heard someone speaking in her mind. It was a similar voice to that of Pandemona’s but with a slightly higher pitch. Sorry about that. There’s still quite a bit of work to be done.

‘You are…?’

Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. My name… well, to properly pronounce my name would require you to rip out your tongue and stitch it back on in a certain way so you can just address me as JD. I am the Artificial Intelligence programmed to assist the master of the Azure Grimoire.

“What’s wrong?” asked Material-S. “You are making some strange faces.”

“This device is speaking to me telepathically. Please wait a moment,” said Sette before she resumed conversing with her new device. ‘Can you explain to me what you are doing?’

First, the Grimoire needed to directly interface with your brain to begin resequencing the nervous system to match your specifications and to enable you to properly utilize Aura Magic. This is why it has taken on the form of an eye patch which is covering the left eye.

‘Specifications? Aura magic?’

You wished to return to peak combat condition. And in addition, you wished to be fit enough in the event that you had to take on… seven opponents at once? JD paused for a second. Just who are you planning to fight anyway?

‘It is merely a precaution for the worst case scenario.’ After all, she would have to deal with all seven sisters who crossed over to work for the TSAB and their affiliates sooner or later and she wanted to be ready in the event that they try to rush her down simultaneously.

Ah. In that case, the whole process will take a few more hours. Once you have regained mobility, I will run a few simulations so that you can get used to your new reflexes and start learning how to make use of what the Grimoire has to offer.

“Jiiiiiiiiiiiiii~”

“Would you stop doing that, Material-L? It’s giving me a headache,” complained Yami before switching her glare over to the bedridden Sette. “Well? Is this ‘device’ giving you problems?”

“Negative. It is merely completing a process so that it properly integrates with my body. However, I will be incapacitated for some time,” replied the Combat Cyborg.

“So there was nothing to worry about then.” Seikou found a sense of relief in that since it wouldn’t be something else to bother Yuuno.

“What a waste of my time,” grumbled the Lord of Darkness before she let out a small yawn and departed for her own quarters. “I am going to get some rest. Material-L, you can watch over your ‘sidekick’. Material-S, you can take the bridge.”

“Understood,” said the Nanoha replica. “Rai-chan, I’ll leave things here for you.”

The blue haired woman gave a clumsy salute. “Roger!” As soon as Seikou left, she resumed staring intensely at her sidekick. “Jiiiiiiiiiiiiii~”

“Can you please stop that?”

**********

‘If anything, I cannot complain too much about this new development. A new servant who has been able to unlock a strange new ability…’ Yami smiled at the thought of her inner court expanding. ‘I wonder… what would be the optimum number of servants?’

She already knew that she wanted to cap the number where the marginal benefit that a new servant brought would be equal to the marginal cost (which in this case would be the living and work expenses that would undoubtedly be incurred). But measuring the value per servant was a whole new field that she was ill equipped to handle. Perhaps that peon would be able to lend her a hand with that.

‘The peasant…’ She stopped for a moment and her eyes darted to the only closed door in the corridor. ‘Just what is wrong with him? His lack of composure is an embarrassment!’

It didn’t take long for Material-D to change her direction and stop in front of the closed door. She pondered on how she should approach this while retaining the gracefulness that royalty commanded. ‘Blast the door down? Command him to open up? Knock politely?’

Then she paused for a moment to think about why she felt like talking to him in the first place. The whole composure thing she thought up earlier…… that just felt like an excuse to go visit him in the first place. Why was that? What was this burning need to thoroughly make him understand that he belongs in her court?

In any case, the only way to properly resolve that need was to earn his loyalty properly. That would mean removing that enchantment she had used earlier. It was going to be an annoying uphill battle since she knew that the peon would lash out at her. ‘Honestly, he better be worth this effort in the end.’

What effort?

Yami was a bit startled on hearing the voice of her device so suddenly since she was certain she hadn’t established a connection. Then again, it’s not like it’s that difficult for the device to initiate a connection by itself. ‘The effort of talking to the peon and restoring him to his previous state so I can properly win him over as my subject.’

I don’t understand what you’re trying to do but this is obviously a result of fatigue. Go to sleep and forget about this.

‘I’m not content to let this slide-’

Go. To. Bed.

She didn’t have time for a retort as she felt that powerful migraine again. Like a sledgehammer going all out inside her skull. ‘What is…?’ She was about to collapse when she was caught by the Starlight Destroyer.

“Are you alright?”

“…… g-guh…” Yami couldn’t even respond properly. All she wanted was for that damn pounding to stop.

[Moczo]

Originally Posted by Yasanagi

Spoiler for Usual MD update:

When Sette came to, she found herself lying on the bed in her quarters. She also felt some sort of odd sensation hovering over her left eye. ‘This is…?’

“Sette-chan, you’re awake!” exclaimed the excited voice of Material-L.

She tried flexing a muscle but found that her body was not responding. “I… can’t move…?”

“Apparently, the magical device that Material-L has found is undergoing some sort of reaction,” said Material-D. “Unfortunately, I do not have any data on this particular device to explain what is happening properly.”

Before the Combat Cyborg could ask for clarification, she heard someone speaking in her mind. It was a similar voice to that of Pandemona’s but with a slightly higher pitch. Sorry about that. There’s still quite a bit of work to be done.

‘You are…?’

Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. My name… well, to properly pronounce my name would require you to rip out your tongue and stitch it back on in a certain way so you can just address me as JD. I am the Artificial Intelligence programmed to assist the master of the Azure Grimoire.

“What’s wrong?” asked Material-S. “You are making some strange faces.”

“This device is speaking to me telepathically. Please wait a moment,” said Sette before she resumed conversing with her new device. ‘Can you explain to me what you are doing?’

First, the Grimoire needed to directly interface with your brain to begin resequencing the nervous system to match your specifications and to enable you to properly utilize Aura Magic. This is why it has taken on the form of an eye patch which is covering the left eye.

‘Specifications? Aura magic?’

You wished to return to peak combat condition. And in addition, you wished to be fit enough in the event that you had to take on… seven opponents at once? JD paused for a second. Just who are you planning to fight anyway?

‘It is merely a precaution for the worst case scenario.’ After all, she would have to deal with all seven sisters who crossed over to work for the TSAB and their affiliates sooner or later and she wanted to be ready in the event that they try to rush her down simultaneously.

Ah. In that case, the whole process will take a few more hours. Once you have regained mobility, I will run a few simulations so that you can get used to your new reflexes and start learning how to make use of what the Grimoire has to offer.

“Jiiiiiiiiiiiiii~”

“Would you stop doing that, Material-L? It’s giving me a headache,” complained Yami before switching her glare over to the bedridden Sette. “Well? Is this ‘device’ giving you problems?”

“Negative. It is merely completing a process so that it properly integrates with my body. However, I will be incapacitated for some time,” replied the Combat Cyborg.

“So there was nothing to worry about then.” Seikou found a sense of relief in that since it wouldn’t be something else to bother Yuuno.

“What a waste of my time,” grumbled the Lord of Darkness before she let out a small yawn and departed for her own quarters. “I am going to get some rest. Material-L, you can watch over your ‘sidekick’. Material-S, you can take the bridge.”

“Understood,” said the Nanoha replica. “Rai-chan, I’ll leave things here for you.”

The blue haired woman gave a clumsy salute. “Roger!” As soon as Seikou left, she resumed staring intensely at her sidekick. “Jiiiiiiiiiiiiii~”

“Can you please stop that?”

**********

‘If anything, I cannot complain too much about this new development. A new servant who has been able to unlock a strange new ability…’ Yami smiled at the thought of her inner court expanding. ‘I wonder… what would be the optimum number of servants?’

She already knew that she wanted to cap the number where the marginal benefit that a new servant brought would be equal to the marginal cost (which in this case would be the living and work expenses that would undoubtedly be incurred). But measuring the value per servant was a whole new field that she was ill equipped to handle. Perhaps that peon would be able to lend her a hand with that.

‘The peasant…’ She stopped for a moment and her eyes darted to the only closed door in the corridor. ‘Just what is wrong with him? His lack of composure is an embarrassment!’

It didn’t take long for Material-D to change her direction and stop in front of the closed door. She pondered on how she should approach this while retaining the gracefulness that royalty commanded. ‘Blast the door down? Command him to open up? Knock politely?’

Then she paused for a moment to think about why she felt like talking to him in the first place. The whole composure thing she thought up earlier…… that just felt like an excuse to go visit him in the first place. Why was that? What was this burning need to thoroughly make him understand that he belongs in her court?

In any case, the only way to properly resolve that need was to earn his loyalty properly. That would mean removing that enchantment she had used earlier. It was going to be an annoying uphill battle since she knew that the peon would lash out at her. ‘Honestly, he better be worth this effort in the end.’

What effort?

Yami was a bit startled on hearing the voice of her device so suddenly since she was certain she hadn’t established a connection. Then again, it’s not like it’s that difficult for the device to initiate a connection by itself. ‘The effort of talking to the peon and restoring him to his previous state so I can properly win him over as my subject.’

I don’t understand what you’re trying to do but this is obviously a result of fatigue. Go to sleep and forget about this.

‘I’m not content to let this slide-’

Go. To. Bed.

She didn’t have time for a retort as she felt that powerful migraine again. Like a sledgehammer going all out inside her skull. ‘What is…?’ She was about to collapse when she was caught by the Starlight Destroyer.

“Are you alright?”

“…… g-guh…” Yami couldn’t even respond properly. All she wanted was for that damn pounding to stop.

Hmmm, I still question the need to Supercharge Sette, but I'll wait to see where you're going with it. But as of right now, my main concern is Yami. Is it just me, or is it starting to seem like her Device is trying to prevent her from pulling a Heel-Face Turn...?

[Kaijo]

Uploaded Future Tense, Chapter 24: Bloodsport to ff.net.

Originally Posted by Justin_Brett

That's certainly a fair point, but unless it's explicitly shown that some of what Hayate is trying to stamp out is worse than her own policies (ie, not Rio's group), I'm not going to be very inclined to see things from Nanoha's point of view.

In short, terrorism. It's what (seemingly) killed Nanoha, and what Runessa/Tredia engaged with the Mariages, and also later what seemingly killed Shamal and Zafira. Fear drives people into doing things, and accepting things, they normally wouldn't.

I'd also argue that Teana's appearances have been fairly devoid of any actual professionalism. Part of the reason she's so pissed at Nanoha is because she hurt Wendi - which is far more important to her than why that had to happen in the first place. And shortly after they meet, her dialogue devolves into little more than name-calling.

You have a fair point here, too. Teana's one major emotional button left is her family, and that she'd do anything to protect it. She also has a bit of a sour emotion with regards to the idealism the original Nanoha filled her head with.

Anyway, it's part of my job as a writer to be able to clearly get my ideas across, so if I find that isn't happening, then I'm not doing my job well enough. Read the rest of what's available, and let me know if you still have reservations. I can possibly go back and edit sections to better get ideas across.^^

[Justin_Brett]

I really wouldn't know where to start with something like that, so I wouldn't go that far. It's probably just me, given the feedback its gotten.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Moczo

Hmmm, I still question the need to Supercharge Sette, but I'll wait to see where you're going with it.

It's probably either that or gain more evil sidekicks. Quality VS quantity much?

[DezoPenguin]

Originally Posted by Justin_Brett

I really wouldn't know where to start with something like that, so I wouldn't go that far. It's probably just me, given the feedback its gotten.

It's actually not just you; I had an almost identical reaction to the story at pretty much the exact identical point that you are at (you can go back and check my reactions to chapters 10-11 earlier in the thread). It does, however, start to take shape later on, has a slight dip in quality when Ein and Vivio show up(spoiler typed in white color; highlight to read), and then starts getting really good. I can say that the things that you are and I was complaining about do all make sense, but I have to question the pacing of things (that is to say, insufficient hints as to What Is To Come during the early chapters to keep the reader from crossing the Despair Event Horizon. The only reason I kept up with the fic--and I'm glad now that I did--was because it's easy to read one-chapter installments posted here in the FFT which I visit every day anyway. You've got the worse scenario, coming in once Kaijo is 24 chapters in so you have to pick it up and read it as a bulk-size work.)

[Kaijo]

Part of the problem is in keeping some things back and revealing a little at a time. Before, it was just revealing how the past went, and now that it's most over, I'm slowly revealing the why.

However, I think I understand what you're saying, and I've been thinking about it. I could have Nanoha question past events more, and perhaps have Uno drop some early hints of irregularities she had noticed in her own study of history; just as a way to bring up the idea that things are strange.

Part of it was to hit the reader with the same despair Nanoha was feeling, waking up and learning about everyone who has died and how badly things had changed. But then slowly change that as she presses onward and doesn't give up, despite wanting to at times. Think of it like breaking the cuties on a massive scale, heh. RB hits Lutecia with it, and I hit everyone else!

[shiroi mahotsukai]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Part of the problem is in keeping some things back and revealing a little at a time. Before, it was just revealing how the past went, and now that it's most over, I'm slowly revealing the why.

However, I think I understand what you're saying, and I've been thinking about it. I could have Nanoha question past events more, and perhaps have Uno drop some early hints of irregularities she had noticed in her own study of history; just as a way to bring up the idea that things are strange.

Part of it was to hit the reader with the same despair Nanoha was feeling, waking up and learning about everyone who has died and how badly things had changed. But then slowly change that as she presses onward and doesn't give up, despite wanting to at times. Think of it like breaking the cuties on a massive scale, heh. RB hits Lutecia with it, and I hit everyone else!

AHA! So, that's how it is huh? The two of you are subconciously in kahoots in order to brings us all to the brink of despair and shove us of with a vengence. I'm suprisingly okay with that, despair is fun (just ask Itoshiki-sensei).

Also, I always wanted to use the word "kahoots"

I kinda liked the way the story played out, makes you wonder how it would feel to one day wake up and know you're not you anymore, so many you knew were dead, others that survived have turned against everything they believed in. Shows you how people's beliefs erode slowly over years of fate slapping them in the face. Like comparing Shirou Emiya and Archer. How it slowly rose up from the deepest pits of darkness and begane to show hope just when it's needed.

Of course I was never much of a literary critic so, what do I know?

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

RB hits Lutecia with it, and I hit everyone else!

I could toss her over to you sometime if you want to take a couple hits at her.

[Moczo]

Originally Posted by RadiantBeam

I could toss her over to you sometime if you want to take a couple hits at her.

Haven't you done enough to the poor girl without renting her out to be abused by others?

... wait, don't answer that, I probably don't want to know.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Moczo

Haven't you done enough to the poor girl without renting her out to be abused by others?

Because that way, Kaijo would then be obliged to allow her to bestow the dreaded RB touch on everyone else

Afterall, one day even she will grow tired of abusing Lu...won't she?

[Yasanagi]

Spoiler for More MD thanks to viewing Nanoha movie:

It was peaceful and quiet in her quarters with the only noise being the light humming of the ship’s engines vibrating through the walls. Of course, Sette knew such silence wouldn’t last since Material-L wasn’t the type of person to sit there quietly like an obedient girl.

“So what’s it like?”

“Hm?”

“The eye patch, Sette-chan!” exclaimed the Fate replica. “Seeing with one eye and stuff!”

“Actually, even with the patch on, I can still see with my left eye. There’s no change in my depth perception,” replied the Combat Cyborg. “In a sense, it’s like a monocle.”

Rai had a small pout upon hearing that. “Really? And I had such an inspirational speech ready for you too in case you were going to scream ‘Despair! Seeing with only one eye has left me in despair!’”

“…… I should have known you were going to say something like that.”

“Still wanna hear my speech anyway? I really worked hard on it!”

Sette merely sighed in annoyance. “I can’t stop you anyways so do as you wish.”

Material-L grinned before clearing her throat. “First things first: don’t think of yourself as handicapped. Think of yourself as handicapable! Even though you may have lost an eye, that doesn’t mean you can stop being badass! Take that Sagat guy from Street Fighter. He’s only got one eye and yet he still keeps top tier status!”

It didn’t take long for the pink haired woman to tune out her companion and try conversing with the Azure Grimoire’s AI. ‘You never answered my question earlier. What is Aura Magic?’ Since she’s going to be down for a bit, she might as well try and figure out what she was getting herself into.

Aura magic is a style of magic that one uses to enhance your own physical abilities to a degree. A true master of Aura Magic can control their bodies perfectly.

‘Perfectly?’

Well, if you lost an arm, you could regenerate it without taking much time to do so. Also, you can buff up certain physical aspects of your body while inflicting status ailments on your enemies.

‘So, it's just a style of magic to enhance your physical abilities?’

That's just the basics. At the highest levels, you'll find that even the laws of reality are easy to manipulate to your own whims. Of course, reaching that level would take many years, if not decades, to do so. There are also other limits but you'll find out on your own as your skill improves. For now, you should know that you cannot affect ordinary metal, certain creature species...

‘Metal? I have metal circuits in my body. Would that not interfere with the Aura Magic?’

JD sounded rather surprised by that. Huh… no wonder the integration process is taking so long. Just to clarify, the metal that’s a part of your internal body won’t interfere with the Aura Magic but if you are attacked by a weapon made out of normal metal that is not enchanted in some way, that would be disruptive to your aura.

‘That’s a rather odd weakness...’ She paused for a moment before asking her next question. ‘What about combat applications?’

Any attack spells with this system would strike the aura of a person before their body.

‘Aura?’

Every living being has an aura to it. It determines our magic abilities.

‘So, it's like a Linker Core then.’

I don't know what a Linker Core is but if this Linker Core is the source of magic that feeds into your aura, then an attack on the aura would also be an attack on the Linker Core in a way.

‘In a way?’

All magical spells amplify the aura around the user based on the mana that is used to power the spell. Most of the time, it’s invisible to the naked eye.

“Sette-chan, you aren’t listening!” wailed Rai, snapping the Combat Cyborg out of her telepathic conversation. “Ah, geez… and I was just gonna start telling you the juicy stuff on why I recruited you!”

“Really?” asked Sette in her usual neutral tone.

“Yep! I told you back in that kitchen that there’s a source pulling the strings behind a lot of events in this universe. A source that has vast influence over the way things unfold. We’re going to go after those sources, Sette-chan!”

“An assassination mission?”

“No! Massive befriending!” There was that super mega happy grin along with that weird eerie glint in her red eyes.

“…… I don’t follow.”

Material-L immediately got into her ‘informative’ lecture. “The source can be divided into primary and secondary influences. The primary one is Masaki Tsuzuki. Of course, the problem is that he’s very elusive. Hardly any photos of him! Once we manage to pass the Final Frontier, I was thinking of knocking down the Temple of Seven Arcs to force him out but that’s still not exactly a guarantee. So our next best bet is Nana Mizuki who screwed the lives of both you and me. Easily recognizable but she’ll be tough to approach.”

“In what way?” Sette had obviously given up trying to make sense out of what the blue haired woman was saying.

“The thing is she can assume multiple identities! Like being a vampire with duo personalities, a Magical Girl with a Super Silhouette form or an Elf Princess armed with a weapon that can act as a gun, sword AND a guitar! And if that’s not hard enough, we have to deal with her army!”

“An army?”

Rai was glad that her sidekick was getting involved in the planning. “Yes, an army… and by army I mean Production Assistants... and by Production Assistants I mean underpaid interns...and by underpaid interns I mean her fans. We’ll have to deal with her fans!”

Sette could practically feel the headache forming. “So we have to deal with an army of cooling apparatuses brought to life by a spell designed to make inanimate objects serve as foot soldiers?”

“…… sure, let’s go with that!”

“I find your lack of sanity highly disturbing.”

That deadpan comment was more than enough to get Rai to lose herself in endless giggles.

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by Tiresias

Afterall, one day even she will grow tired of abusing Lu...won't she?

Is that a challenge?

[Moczo]

Originally Posted by Tiresias

Because that way, Kaijo would then be obliged to allow her to bestow the dreaded RB touch on everyone else

Afterall, one day even she will grow tired of abusing Lu...won't she?

Originally Posted by RadiantBeam

Is that a challenge?

Tiresias... buddy, friend...

Have you learned nothing of how she operates?!

[Nanya01]

What's this? a whole week without doing a real update to Blood That Flows?

I must correct this!

Season 1

A's

Jump

New Parts 1-10

New Part 11

New Omake 2 and 3

Spoiler for Blood That Flows - New Part 12:

After a few moments of realizing that, yes, Lina was back, and yes, this wasn't a dream, Zelgadis and Amelia looked at each other and then at Lina and then at the rest of the group before realizing that things were getting a touch awkward for everyone.

"This is a great day indeed!" Well, apparently not for Prince Phil, the man seemed to not be deterred by anything. "We find that not only did you defeat the most evil being in the world, but you've been returned to us!" The large man started laughing as he looked them over. "This is a red letter day for enemies of justice everywhere!"

Lina mentally groaned as she listened to Phil. Not that she had anything against his enthusiasm, but it reminded her... Way too much about those stupid magic girl animes from back home.

"I guess there's one thing that bothers me, sis..." Luna spoke up and gave her sister a flat stare. "Just what the hell did you do?"

"Put the whole universe at risk because I couldn't figure any other way to defeat an enemy that could warp reality to how he sees fit." Lina said flatly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nanoha tense up, at least Fate was there gripping her shoulder and getting her to relax. "Do you think I'm so careless that I would use something like that for no reason?"

"Yes." Luna said flatly causing Lina to groan in dismay.

"Be nice to your sister, Luna."

"Sorry, dad." Luna looked away, uncomfortable. Despite everything, her parents still could order her around with no problem. Must have been something that parents had over their children, she decided.

"Miss Lina..." Amelia frowned softly as she looked between Lina and Shiro. "You said you were gone for sixteen years, but... How is that possible?"

"I'm not sure." Lina shook her head. "I was absorbed by the Lord of Nightmares, sank into the Sea of Chaos, and I'm lucky I came out of it at all. You tell me how it's possible." She always knew that this day was coming, she did, but she wasn't sure how to explain it all.

"I guess the Lord of Nightmares really isn't on anyone's side." Zelgadis spoke up softly as he looked at her. "Your eye wasn't gold last time I saw you. I'm guessing that the Lord of Nightmares did something to you before letting you live."

"Most likely." Lina nodded to him, glad he wasn't making a terribly big deal out of it.

"The next time you try to do something that stupid, Lina, try to give the rest of us warning so we can smack you." He deadpanned and Lina hung her head.

"I'd like to say that I could have given you warning. But you were, oh, I dunno, kind of dead at the time." Lina shook her head and looked at her daughter. "But, that's enough of that, mom, dad, you mind if Nanoha takes my old room for a little while?"

Her mother shook her head. "Not at all." She looked at Nanoha and frowned. "Oh dear, you look like you haven't gotten any good sleep, come along."

"Um..." Fate looked at Lina, who nodded, and she and Yuuno followed Nanoha out of the room.

"I think there's more to it than just letting your daughter get more sleep." Zelgadis said softly as he looked at the children. "She seemed absolutely terrified of something."

Lina wasn't sure what to say when Shiro squeezed her hand and smiled softly. "Thanks."

"Excuse me..." Zelgadis spoke softly as he looked at Arf, who was poking his arm. "Would you stop that?"

"Wow! You really are stone!" The little girl, in appearance, kept on poking Zelgadis' arm. "That's so COOL!"

"Cool?" Zelgadis blinked a few times as Arf nodded to him.

"Yeah! I mean, having a stone body would be really awesome, that way all the normal spells couldn't hurt you too much. And if you needed to be normal, you could just use transformation magic and..."

"Wait..." Zelgadis interrupted her. "Transformation magic?"

"Yep!" Arf grinned as she shifted from her child from to her adult form. "Kind of like this."

"Interesting..." Zelgadis was interested, if there was magic that could turn change a person's form voluntary, well, that was something that he had only thought Mazoku, Gods and Dragons could do that. Humans that could shape-shift?

Lina shook her head, she had almost forgotten that Zelgadis would do nearly anything to be normal again. "Hey, Zel..." A small smile came to her face as he looked at her nervously. "If we're still here in the morning," depending if she had traveled back in time or time went completely different between the pillars, "would you mind teaching these kids Astral Magic?"

He looked at her, then at the girl with orange hair and shrugged. He supposed that he could teach them some of his spells. He didn't expect them to learn much of anything, but if he could learn how to do that transformation magic, well, it would make his life a lot easier in the long run.

[deathcurse]

Originally Posted by Tiresias

Afterall, one day even she will grow tired of abusing Lu...won't she?

Originally Posted by RadiantBeam

Is that a challenge?

Originally Posted by Moczo

Tiresias... buddy, friend...

Have you learned nothing of how she operates?!

Caro: *teary-eyed* Lutecia-chan...it was nice knowing you.
Lutecia: .....
Vivio: *Clutching onto Lutecia's knees* NOOOOO!!! I don't want to die a virgin!
Lutecia: *faints*
RB: *EVIL smile*........

[Moczo]

Originally Posted by Nanya01

What's this? a whole week without doing a real update to Blood That Flows?

I must correct this!

Season 1

A's

Jump

New Parts 1-10

New Part 11

New Omake 2 and 3

Spoiler for Blood That Flows - New Part 12:

After a few moments of realizing that, yes, Lina was back, and yes, this wasn't a dream, Zelgadis and Amelia looked at each other and then at Lina and then at the rest of the group before realizing that things were getting a touch awkward for everyone.

"This is a great day indeed!" Well, apparently not for Prince Phil, the man seemed to not be deterred by anything. "We find that not only did you defeat the most evil being in the world, but you've been returned to us!" The large man started laughing as he looked them over. "This is a red letter day for enemies of justice everywhere!"

Lina mentally groaned as she listened to Phil. Not that she had anything against his enthusiasm, but it reminded her... Way too much about those stupid magic girl animes from back home.

"I guess there's one thing that bothers me, sis..." Luna spoke up and gave her sister a flat stare. "Just what the hell did you do?"

"Put the whole universe at risk because I couldn't figure any other way to defeat an enemy that could warp reality to how he sees fit." Lina said flatly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nanoha tense up, at least Fate was there gripping her shoulder and getting her to relax. "Do you think I'm so careless that I would use something like that for no reason?"

"Yes." Luna said flatly causing Lina to groan in dismay.

"Be nice to your sister, Luna."

"Sorry, dad." Luna looked away, uncomfortable. Despite everything, her parents still could order her around with no problem. Must have been something that parents had over their children, she decided.

"Miss Lina..." Amelia frowned softly as she looked between Lina and Shiro. "You said you were gone for sixteen years, but... How is that possible?"

"I'm not sure." Lina shook her head. "I was absorbed by the Lord of Nightmares, sank into the Sea of Chaos, and I'm lucky I came out of it at all. You tell me how it's possible." She always knew that this day was coming, she did, but she wasn't sure how to explain it all.

"I guess the Lord of Nightmares really isn't on anyone's side." Zelgadis spoke up softly as he looked at her. "Your eye wasn't gold last time I saw you. I'm guessing that the Lord of Nightmares did something to you before letting you live."

"Most likely." Lina nodded to him, glad he wasn't making a terribly big deal out of it.

"The next time you try to do something that stupid, Lina, try to give the rest of us warning so we can smack you." He deadpanned and Lina hung her head.

"I'd like to say that I could have given you warning. But you were, oh, I dunno, kind of dead at the time." Lina shook her head and looked at her daughter. "But, that's enough of that, mom, dad, you mind if Nanoha takes my old room for a little while?"

Her mother shook her head. "Not at all." She looked at Nanoha and frowned. "Oh dear, you look like you haven't gotten any good sleep, come along."

"Um..." Fate looked at Lina, who nodded, and she and Yuuno followed Nanoha out of the room.

"I think there's more to it than just letting your daughter get more sleep." Zelgadis said softly as he looked at the children. "She seemed absolutely terrified of something."

Lina wasn't sure what to say when Shiro squeezed her hand and smiled softly. "Thanks."

"Excuse me..." Zelgadis spoke softly as he looked at Arf, who was poking his arm. "Would you stop that?"

"Wow! You really are stone!" The little girl, in appearance, kept on poking Zelgadis' arm. "That's so COOL!"

"Cool?" Zelgadis blinked a few times as Arf nodded to him.

"Yeah! I mean, having a stone body would be really awesome, that way all the normal spells couldn't hurt you too much. And if you needed to be normal, you could just use transformation magic and..."

"Wait..." Zelgadis interrupted her. "Transformation magic?"

"Yep!" Arf grinned as she shifted from her child from to her adult form. "Kind of like this."

"Interesting..." Zelgadis was interested, if there was magic that could turn change a person's form voluntary, well, that was something that he had only thought Mazoku, Gods and Dragons could do that. Humans that could shape-shift?

Lina shook her head, she had almost forgotten that Zelgadis would do nearly anything to be normal again. "Hey, Zel..." A small smile came to her face as he looked at her nervously. "If we're still here in the morning," depending if she had traveled back in time or time went completely different between the pillars, "would you mind teaching these kids Astral Magic?"

He looked at her, then at the girl with orange hair and shrugged. He supposed that he could teach them some of his spells. He didn't expect them to learn much of anything, but if he could learn how to do that transformation magic, well, it would make his life a lot easier in the long run.

So... Zelgadis teaches the kids how to fight horrible dimensional monsters. Arf teaches him how to not be emo?

That seems a pretty fair trade!

Though again... Xellos was interested in something, when are we going to find out what Xellos was interested in, I don't like not knowing that because Xellos is scary!

Originally Posted by Yasanagi

Spoiler for More MD thanks to viewing Nanoha movie:

It was peaceful and quiet in her quarters with the only noise being the light humming of the ship’s engines vibrating through the walls. Of course, Sette knew such silence wouldn’t last since Material-L wasn’t the type of person to sit there quietly like an obedient girl.

“So what’s it like?”

“Hm?”

“The eye patch, Sette-chan!” exclaimed the Fate replica. “Seeing with one eye and stuff!”

“Actually, even with the patch on, I can still see with my left eye. There’s no change in my depth perception,” replied the Combat Cyborg. “In a sense, it’s like a monocle.”

Rai had a small pout upon hearing that. “Really? And I had such an inspirational speech ready for you too in case you were going to scream ‘Despair! Seeing with only one eye has left me in despair!’”

“…… I should have known you were going to say something like that.”

“Still wanna hear my speech anyway? I really worked hard on it!”

Sette merely sighed in annoyance. “I can’t stop you anyways so do as you wish.”

Material-L grinned before clearing her throat. “First things first: don’t think of yourself as handicapped. Think of yourself as handicapable! Even though you may have lost an eye, that doesn’t mean you can stop being badass! Take that Sagat guy from Street Fighter. He’s only got one eye and yet he still keeps top tier status!”

It didn’t take long for the pink haired woman to tune out her companion and try conversing with the Azure Grimoire’s AI. ‘You never answered my question earlier. What is Aura Magic?’ Since she’s going to be down for a bit, she might as well try and figure out what she was getting herself into.

Aura magic is a style of magic that one uses to enhance your own physical abilities to a degree. A true master of Aura Magic can control their bodies perfectly.

‘Perfectly?’

Well, if you lost an arm, you could regenerate it without taking much time to do so. Also, you can buff up certain physical aspects of your body while inflicting status ailments on your enemies.

‘So, it's just a style of magic to enhance your physical abilities?’

That's just the basics. At the highest levels, you'll find that even the laws of reality are easy to manipulate to your own whims. Of course, reaching that level would take many years, if not decades, to do so. There are also other limits but you'll find out on your own as your skill improves. For now, you should know that you cannot affect ordinary metal, certain creature species...

‘Metal? I have metal circuits in my body. Would that not interfere with the Aura Magic?’

JD sounded rather surprised by that. Huh… no wonder the integration process is taking so long. Just to clarify, the metal that’s a part of your internal body won’t interfere with the Aura Magic but if you are attacked by a weapon made out of normal metal that is not enchanted in some way, that would be disruptive to your aura.

‘That’s a rather odd weakness...’ She paused for a moment before asking her next question. ‘What about combat applications?’

Any attack spells with this system would strike the aura of a person before their body.

‘Aura?’

Every living being has an aura to it. It determines our magic abilities.

‘So, it's like a Linker Core then.’

I don't know what a Linker Core is but if this Linker Core is the source of magic that feeds into your aura, then an attack on the aura would also be an attack on the Linker Core in a way.

‘In a way?’

All magical spells amplify the aura around the user based on the mana that is used to power the spell. Most of the time, it’s invisible to the naked eye.

“Sette-chan, you aren’t listening!” wailed Rai, snapping the Combat Cyborg out of her telepathic conversation. “Ah, geez… and I was just gonna start telling you the juicy stuff on why I recruited you!”

“Really?” asked Sette in her usual neutral tone.

“Yep! I told you back in that kitchen that there’s a source pulling the strings behind a lot of events in this universe. A source that has vast influence over the way things unfold. We’re going to go after those sources, Sette-chan!”

“An assassination mission?”

“No! Massive befriending!” There was that super mega happy grin along with that weird eerie glint in her red eyes.

“…… I don’t follow.”

Material-L immediately got into her ‘informative’ lecture. “The source can be divided into primary and secondary influences. The primary one is Masaki Tsuzuki. Of course, the problem is that he’s very elusive. Hardly any photos of him! Once we manage to pass the Final Frontier, I was thinking of knocking down the Temple of Seven Arcs to force him out but that’s still not exactly a guarantee. So our next best bet is Nana Mizuki who screwed the lives of both you and me. Easily recognizable but she’ll be tough to approach.”

“In what way?” Sette had obviously given up trying to make sense out of what the blue haired woman was saying.

“The thing is she can assume multiple identities! Like being a vampire with duo personalities, a Magical Girl with a Super Silhouette form or an Elf Princess armed with a weapon that can act as a gun, sword AND a guitar! And if that’s not hard enough, we have to deal with her army!”

“An army?”

Rai was glad that her sidekick was getting involved in the planning. “Yes, an army… and by army I mean Production Assistants... and by Production Assistants I mean underpaid interns...and by underpaid interns I mean her fans. We’ll have to deal with her fans!”

Sette could practically feel the headache forming. “So we have to deal with an army of cooling apparatuses brought to life by a spell designed to make inanimate objects serve as foot soldiers?”

“…… sure, let’s go with that!”

“I find your lack of sanity highly disturbing.”

That deadpan comment was more than enough to get Rai to lose herself in endless giggles.

Heh. Well, I won't lie, I'm mainly concerned about Material-D's 'headaches', but I guess we did need to get the run-down on new-and-improved Sette. A weakness to metal, huh? That could be a problem if she encounters someone with a metal weapon, like...

...

Oh. That's a lot of people...

[Nanya01]

Originally Posted by Moczo

Heh. Well, I won't lie, I'm mainly concerned about Material-D's 'headaches', but I guess we did need to get the run-down on new-and-improved Sette. A weakness to metal, huh? That could be a problem if she encounters someone with a metal weapon, like...

...

Oh. That's a lot of people...

NON-enchanted metal.

Cuts down on the amount of people tremendously there.

[00-Raiser]

@New Day chapter:

Well I'll be frank and say I wasn't too interested in that chapter. Mood aside, weddings bore me in general, so... It's no fault of your's, Nanya.

About the venue though, I can't really see them having that big of a wedding. Sure, they're celebs, but I don't think they'd invite tons of people unless they knew them really well. As such, having a smaller one on Earth seems the better option. Given that Earth is a non administrated world, I bet the media would have a harder time sticking their noses into things. Nanoha and co are completely unknown on Earth so Earth based media wouldn't be an issue either.

Unless, of course, another reason to have it on Mid is to provide better security in case some one tried something. That's a good enough reason as any.

Cinque's actions here might be a bit much... Honestly I keep thinking of this. Only not so humourous. I mean, if any fully grown 20 year old was seen kissing a 10 year old like that, some one would call the police, seriously.

Wasn't too keen on some of the stuff with Hayate, but you had hinted at it before and I suppose such an event would drag up some feelings even if they were long since buried. Though I don't see why she couldn't just make it a 4-some. I doubt anyone would mind. They're all for a 3 person group marriage, so what's one more?

So that's the end of that with more to come in the sequel. But I'd like to take the time and reflect back on the fic as a whole. Guess the best way to do that is to divide it into what I like and what I didn't like.

Spoiler for Dislikes:

For what I didn't like, the length of it is definitely something. I know some people like reading lengthy chapters, but I think it would be better in shorter bursts. As such there were a few points where I felt really tired and it was hard to dedicate the time needed to get through a chapter.

While it is good you tried to give all the other characters focus and development, but as a result you had gotten too far away from the central storyline of the Nanoha/Fate/Yuuno relationship. Events not pertaining to this should have been secondary, but instead there are a few chapters where they don't even appear at all. In short it lost focus at times and was a bit bogged down by too many plotlines.

Of course my disliking of a few plotlines probably factor into this. I think the absolute worst chapter of this fic, and I know you know this, is with that Marona chick. I know you took her from some video game, but the character itself didn't mesh well with the universe and recieved more focus than she had any right to have. Not to mention randomly pairing her with Fiasse. What was that all about? It's no secret I'm not into yuri, but was it really necessary to add in another yuri pairing? If you wanted to pair Fiasse with some one, why not use a male character instead? The ratio of straight to yuri pairings in this series is horribly one sided. Realistically speaking it should be the other way around.

But, well, I understand that more yuri is what everyone wants to see, so my complaint about this is paltry.

Moving on, it comes as no surprise as other things I didn't like involves pairings

My feelings on Shamal/Miyuki should come as no surprise. The idea feels completely arbitrary to me and extremely cracky, which doesn't exactly belong in a semi-serious fic such as this. If it was played completely for laughs, maybe, but it was treated quite seriously with an amount of drama which I just didn't buy. You tried to give it basis and develop up to it and I give you points for trying, but in the end there's nothing there. Shamal and Miyuki have no chemistry and nothing holding them together. Heck, the only reason you give for any attraction is that Miyuki gives off strong pheromones or something which, to be honest, is an inherently lazy way to justify all the attention she was being given by random people. I still think it'd be best if they broke up but this chapter is leaning towards them staying together which is just bleh to me.

Then there's Nove/Wendi/Ginga. This is just... sorry, the only word I can think to describe it is 'wrong.' It doesn't sit right with me that you turned their sisterly relationship into a romantic one, especially one where most of their screentime had them all over each other. Now, I can say I'm a fan of incest storylines, but these things need to be far more subtle and to develop over years between those involved. You had it spring up fairly quickly. I suppose you can chalk it up to being exposed to new emotional stimuli, but the Numbers were all raised together in a fairly functional environment. Save a few, they weren't emotionally stunted and they formed bonds they knew to be familial. So I don't think a short time out in society would have them going "It actually wasn't familial at all!" Granted the short time with the Nakajimas means they wouldn't have formed a strong familial bond with Ginga yet, so I'll give you that, but if I recall Nove only went on one 'date' with Ginga before deciding she wanted to be with her too. The whole thing comes off as them misinterpreting their familial feelings as something else, which is a fine plot line itself, but at this point the relationship remains completely serious.

What doesn't help this whole thing, and I've also told you this, is how I hate your Ginga. You took her Cool Big Sis status and turned her into this emo mopey girl who gives up on life easily and runs away when things go bad. She's supposed to be the mature, caring big sister who is always looking out for her little sisters. I don't think she'd jump into bed with any of them, ever. She definitely has the mental maturity to separate her feelings, so I'd say it's more likely if Wendi or Nove insisted that they cared about her, wanted to be with her, etc, saying they were in love with her, Ginga would smile, pat them on the head and explain that those feelings are normal feelings one has for family, and are different from being romantically interested in some one.

Those are the things that stand out to me the most. Again, this is what I personally dislike. No one else seems to have a problem with these things so I could be wrong to complain.

Spoiler for Likes:

For what I do like, I do like this fic as a whole despite my misgivings. What I listed above are mostly secondary things, as the main meat of things I liked.

The premise, naturally, is great. This started up at a time where I was the only one pairing Yuuno with anyone and getting attacked for doing so. I was all alone in that darkness where there was nothing for me to enjoy, but low, there was a ray of light. I skipped over it at first since the characters listed on FF.net were Nanoha and Fate. I assumed it was just another of the many yuri fics in the section so I just skipped over it like I did 99.9% of fics at the time. Then one of the installments listed Yuuno as one of the characters, so I took a peek. Imagine my surprise when I see that you didn't pair off Yuuno with one person, but two! Naturally I went back and read the other parts and here we are. I got in touch with Nanya because of it and this played a key role in my decision to come to AS. I'm sure glad I did

So yeah, the Nanoha/Fate/Yuuno relationship is definitely the main selling point. I don't think anyone had seriously explored such a relationship before, so you guys are something of pioneers in that sense It was a joy to read how it developed and you handled it all very well.

Though I mentioned it in my dislikes, it is a good thing you managed to give most of the rest of the cast some development. Even if I don't like where some of that development went, I'll still give you a pat on the back for doing it. I doubt it's surprising that some of the subplots I did enjoy were the Vice/Signum and Arf/Zafira ones

The larger, overarching plot really added things too. Because of it we got some pretty cool battle scenes and some intrigue that we'll have to wait for the sequel to get answered. Though due to the length, I can't exactly remember all the hints and connections to things... I know you've said before you've introduced things, only to drop them subtly later, so I'm not exactly sure what all still ties into what...

Well, hopefully when they become relevant again, you'll include call backs to when they were first hinted at.

So yeah, all in all, it was an enjoyable ride. It may have been long and required some effort, but I hung in there because the effort was worth it. So great job to all those involved, past and present. I look forward to the sequel.

Now as for Future Tense and Material Days, I'll have to read them later.