Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Character Creation and Discussion (second reincarnation)

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Kha

The reason why I thought she was immortal, or could be, was that the Cradle was gene-coded to the Kaiser, so if it were old, then wouldn't the Kaisers be the same?

It was gene-coded to the Royal Bloodline, not one person and one person alone.

I'm sure you'll be able to dig up 5000 ways of telling me how such encoding is impossible because genetic codes are unique for each person and so on and so on, but really, after they cloned Vivio from a few splotches of centuries old dried up blood on a cloth, I think we can safely say that Nanoha doesn't follow genetics.

Originally Posted by Kha

Plus it made room for a lot of emo content, and formed the bridge between Saga's actions, and my very long story.

Alright, changing it such that she's the common Sankt Kaiser program, but her vessels change over time. Like a secondary AI of sorts that goes right into your brain.

Here's an idea: Why not have her be the Cradles Defense Program? Canon states that should the Kaiser falter, it downloads a defensive program in the Kaiser. Why not have Saber be that program? Not only would it explain her Saber-esque battle additive and give the 'feeling human' part an extra push, it would also explain why Vivio was still herself during the time she was taken over by the Cradle, the Defense Program was still functioning automatically, but it's AI, Saber, was gone.

Originally Posted by Kha

I said, no flying, just a Barbie doll that walks, talks and makes a nuisance of herself.

And yes there will be doubts cast, but it's a source of lulz.

Okay, that could work. As long as she doesn't do anything too outlandish it could work.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Keroko

It was gene-coded to the Royal Bloodline, not one person and one person alone.

I'm sure you'll be able to dig up 5000 ways of telling me how such encoding is impossible because genetic codes are unique for each person and so on and so on, but really, after they cloned Vivio from a few splotches of centuries old dried up blood on a cloth, I think we can safely say that Nanoha doesn't follow genetics.



.

A worse offender in two words:

Jurassic Park.

[Keroko]

Oh yes, 65 million year old blood in a mosquito that would have been little more then a dried up husk. I almost forgot that one.

I still love it though.

[dragoncrusher]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Oh yes, 65 million year old blood in a mosquito that would have been little more then a dried up husk. I almost forgot that one.

I still love it though.

ditto... Jurassic Park ^^

[Kha]

Originally Posted by Keroko

It was gene-coded to the Royal Bloodline, not one person and one person alone.

I'm sure you'll be able to dig up 5000 ways of telling me how such encoding is impossible because genetic codes are unique for each person and so on and so on, but really, after they cloned Vivio from a few splotches of centuries old dried up blood on a cloth, I think we can safely say that Nanoha doesn't follow genetics.

Oh yeah my bad. ^^;;;

Originally Posted by Keroko

Here's an idea: Why not have her be the Cradles Defense Program? Canon states that should the Kaiser falter, it downloads a defensive program in the Kaiser. Why not have Saber be that program? Not only would it explain her Saber-esque battle additive and give the 'feeling human' part an extra push, it would also explain why Vivio was still herself during the time she was taken over by the Cradle, the Defense Program was still functioning automatically, but it's AI, Saber, was gone.

Won't exactly work that well... But its a valid idea. I'll take note, since I'm gonna need to redo quite a large part of her profile given my mistakes.

[Jimmy C]

Originally Posted by Keroko

I'm sure you'll be able to dig up 5000 ways of telling me how such encoding is impossible because genetic codes are unique for each person and so on and so on,

Actually, given what we know of genetics, it's quite possible. While DNA is unique to each person, the descendants of any particular human will share common markers in their DNA. Such DNA profiling can reach much further back than just parents. It's how scientists retraced the migration of humans across the Earth in our pre-history.
So I never had problems with the Cradle being able to identify Vivio as a member of the royal bloodline. That's actually within our ability now.

[Kha]

Oh yeah mitochondrial DNA genecoding might work, but it would favor females as it is only passed down by mothers...

...wait that's IT! If that is so, all Kaisers have to be female!!!

[PhoenixFlare]

Originally Posted by Keroko

It was gene-coded to the Royal Bloodline, not one person and one person alone.

I'm sure you'll be able to dig up 5000 ways of telling me how such encoding is impossible because genetic codes are unique for each person and so on and so on, but really, after they cloned Vivio from a few splotches of centuries old dried up blood on a cloth, I think we can safely say that Nanoha doesn't follow genetics.

It is genetics, all right, only that it doesn't realistically follow mainstream science. While I'm able to suspend disbelief on this bit on Vivio, I sometimes do have to wonder if they aren't able to produce something more realistic with just a little extra effort on changing a small bit of the plot. It'd have solved so many other questions and leave a more satisfying answer instead of us grappling in the dark on how that is possible. Anyway, that's what I think.

Originally Posted by Keroko

Oh yes, 65 million year old blood in a mosquito that would have been little more then a dried up husk. I almost forgot that one.

I still love it though.

You notice that the difference between what's shown in Nanoha and Jurassic Park is that the mosquitoes are trapped in amber, while the Holy Shroud is basically exposed to open-air. While realistically still quite impossible to recreate entire dinosaurs out of the blood in those mosquitoes, the degree of realism is far better than what's shown in Nanohaverse. In fact, if the Holy Shroud has been said to be preserved in any way, it'd have been a no-brainer on the issue.

[Sheba]

Not all Kaiser have to be female. For one, we don't have a proof that it is a matriarcal monarchy. By the way, do the sound stage hint that the kaiser lineage was one uninterrupted bloodline? Or do several noble houses take over the throne at several occasions?

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Jimmy C

Actually, given what we know of genetics, it's quite possible. While DNA is unique to each person, the descendants of any particular human will share common markers in their DNA. Such DNA profiling can reach much further back than just parents. It's how scientists retraced the migration of humans across the Earth in our pre-history.
So I never had problems with the Cradle being able to identify Vivio as a member of the royal bloodline. That's actually within our ability now.

Ah, that's good to know.

Originally Posted by Kha

Oh yeah mitochondrial DNA genecoding might work, but it would favor females as it is only passed down by mothers...

...wait that's IT! If that is so, all Kaisers have to be female!!!

Nanoha's 'no males in big roles' attitude does little to dissuade this, but lets not jump to conclusions.

Originally Posted by PhoenixFlare

It is genetics, all right, only that it doesn't realistically follow mainstream science. While I'm able to suspend disbelief on this bit on Vivio, I sometimes do have to wonder if they aren't able to produce something more realistic with just a little extra effort on changing a small bit of the plot. It'd have solved so many other questions and leave a more satisfying answer instead of us grappling in the dark on how that is possible. Anyway, that's what I think.

Running from experience, too much technobable is not advisable. It's boring and not really needed for the plot. Does the audience need to know how exactly Vivio was cloned from a splot of blood and how she is genetically linked to the Cradle? The answer really is no. While some of us may be eager for the details, the greater amount of fans only need to know she's been cloned from blood and she's a genetic key to the Cradle.

Out of curiosity, just what would you have changed to make it more realistic? My lack of experience on the subject may cause me to overlook small things that can be changed.

Originally Posted by PhoenixFlare

You notice that the difference between what's shown in Nanoha and Jurassic Park is that the mosquitoes are trapped in amber, while the Holy Shroud is basically exposed to open-air. While realistically still quite impossible to recreate entire dinosaurs out of the blood in those mosquitoes, the degree of realism is far better than what's shown in Nanohaverse. In fact, if the Holy Shroud has been said to be preserved in any way, it'd have been a no-brainer on the issue.

Last I checked bloodcells didn't really live for 65 million years, not to mention merely being encased in amber is quite a poor stasis method... but this really has little to do with eachother, I mean, we can just as easily claim that genetics in Nanoha are much more advanced then in Jurasic Park, allowing for the recovery of the degenerated data. *shrug* It's a moot point, really.

Originally Posted by Sheba

Not all Kaiser have to be female. For one, we don't have a proof that it is a matriarcal monarchy. By the way, do the sound stage hint that the kaiser lineage was one uninterrupted bloodline? Or do several noble houses take over the throne at several occasions?

The SSX data heavily leans towards an uninterrupted bloodline.

[Sheba]

Inbreeding may be likely.It could explain how they preserved this small part of their genome that can connect to the Cradle.

(not to mention that it was a common practice in nobility to preserve the 'purity' of the bloodlines in History)

Another take would be marriage with vassal noble houses, and a kaiser is chosen so long he or she can connect to the Cradle.

[PhoenixFlare]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Running from experience, too much technobable is not advisable. It's boring and not really needed for the plot. Does the audience need to know how exactly Vivio was cloned from a splot of blood and how she is genetically linked to the Cradle? The answer really is no. While some of us may be eager for the details, the greater amount of fans only need to know she's been cloned from blood and she's a genetic key to the Cradle.

Out of curiosity, just what would you have changed to make it more realistic? My lack of experience on the subject may cause me to overlook small things that can be changed.

Nah, it doesn't even involve much technobabble. By just mentioning that the Shroud/blood is preserved in some way (vague generalization or specific mention -- scientific or magical -- works either way), it would have been easier to digest. It just takes a few extra lines of Jail's words to do that, nothing too much. The scene wouldn't even need to be animated. Would you believe a piece of bloodstained cloth exposed to the air and sunlight for 300 years or a small drop of 300-year frozen blood (both are, realistically, unusable materials) as being the likelier candidate for a successful cloning? I am rather sure that even non-science majors can understand the use of refrigeration to keep things unspoilt, so the choice should be rather obvious.

Originally Posted by Keroko

Last I checked bloodcells didn't really live for 65 million years, not to mention merely being encased in amber is quite a poor stasis method... but this really has little to do with eachother, I mean, we can just as easily claim that genetics in Nanoha are much more advanced then in Jurasic Park, allowing for the recovery of the degenerated data. *shrug* It's a moot point, really.

Yep, the cells don't live that long, and yes, amber crystallization isn't as good as, say, cryopreservation. The point isn't whether the method is feasibly realistic, it's about them making effort to at least reduce our need to suspend disbelief (give or take a few magnitudes). Scientists can scoff at the impossibility of such a notion, but the public understands that "Oh, the blood is preserved, so it's usable".

It's true that we can easily claim Nanohaverse technology as being far superior than anything we've discovered, but it's a huge suspension of disbelief on our part. Some may not go that far before their limit breaks. It wouldn't hurt to reduce what you can reduce to make it easier to believe. Then again, after watching Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, and the likes, whose limit is that small, isn't it? :P

[Evangelion Xgouki]

Then you also have those 'miracle' cases like Saint Januarius who's blood (preserved in a vial) liquefies during certain times of the year

[Jimmy C]

Originally Posted by Kha

Oh yeah mitochondrial DNA genecoding might work, but it would favor females as it is only passed down by mothers...

That was when the mitochondrial DNA was first discovered. The geneticists have improved since then, there's an equivalent for males. I think it was in the Y-chromosome or something. There was a documentary a few years back where they traced our genetic "Adam" the way the mitochondrial "Eve" had already been traced.

[Tk3997]

Originally Posted by PhoenixFlare

It's true that we can easily claim Nanohaverse technology as being far superior than anything we've discovered, but it's a huge suspension of disbelief on our part. Some may not go that far before their limit breaks. It wouldn't hurt to reduce what you can reduce to make it easier to believe. Then again, after watching Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, and the likes, whose limit is that small, isn't it? :P

*Tk snickers as he recalls Jack O'Neil's sixteen year old alien clone.*

Really just on Stargate alone you could fill a small book with their scientifically insane ideas:
-Radiation that makes people invisible… (radiation isn’t bad it gives you superpowers!)
-Being "Out of phase" with the universe and normal matter... but not falling through the planet for some reason. (In fact when people disappeared later on they acutally check to see if this has happened!!!)
-Inter-Universal travel in a half dozen ways...
-You can cure being turned into a caveman with allergy medication!
-Using more of your brain gives you awesome psychic powers!
-A random alien device rammed into your face can transfer the entire knowledge of a dead race into your brain and make you super smart! (At least until your brain overheats and melts)
-Being dead is only a minor set back as long as you're sufficiently advanced... or the powers that be happen you like you.
-Etc, etc

So yeah even allot of science fiction is nearly as soft on the entire "science" bit as Nanoha, which by the way is why I still call in sci-fi despite the odd elements.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Inbreeding may be likely.It could explain how they preserved this small part of their genome that can connect to the Cradle.

(not to mention that it was a common practice in nobility to preserve the 'purity' of the bloodlines in History)

Another take would be marriage with vassal noble houses, and a kaiser is chosen so long he or she can connect to the Cradle.

There has been great emphasis on the Royal Bloodline and their genetical altering of their own. It's not impossible to think of marriage with vassal noble houses, as after having their child undergo genetic modification that child would have been of the bloodline capable of activating the Cradle anyway.

Originally Posted by PhoenixFlare

Nah, it doesn't even involve much technobabble. By just mentioning that the Shroud/blood is preserved in some way (vague generalization or specific mention -- scientific or magical -- works either way), it would have been easier to digest. It just takes a few extra lines of Jail's words to do that, nothing too much. The scene wouldn't even need to be animated. Would you believe a piece of bloodstained cloth exposed to the air and sunlight for 300 years or a small drop of 300-year frozen blood (both are, realistically, unusable materials) as being the likelier candidate for a successful cloning? I am rather sure that even non-science majors can understand the use of refrigeration to keep things unspoilt, so the choice should be rather obvious.

Hmm, the only reference to such a preservation method I can think of is the shroud being kept safe and away from prying eyes, encased in what -to me- looks like a magic field of sorts.

Originally Posted by PhoenixFlare

Yep, the cells don't live that long, and yes, amber crystallization isn't as good as, say, cryopreservation. The point isn't whether the method is feasibly realistic, it's about them making effort to at least reduce our need to suspend disbelief (give or take a few magnitudes). Scientists can scoff at the impossibility of such a notion, but the public understands that "Oh, the blood is preserved, so it's usable".

Actually, the audience will just go 'oh, they used blood to clone'

Given a choice, the audience will go for the preserved option first, but if preserved isn't mentioned 'it's blood, so it's good for cloning' works just as well.

It doesn't really apply here, considering this is really a minor thing, but there has always been an unwritten rule in my class when doing animation or video projects. Don't make your story to technical. The general audience doesn't care, and it'll just give the nitpickers more to nitpick. Point in case, episode 23, around the 09:40 mark, where we see the grunts holding of the gadget drones. One of the purposes of this scene was to show that the TSAB is more then just the heroes, and that even the grunts are capable of holding their own. Basically, it was meant to show that when properly organized, the TSAB is capable of proper military action. The general reaction of the audience was 'oh, okay' and at most 'woo, so that's a grunts fight' or something along those lines.

The military freaks among us tore into the situation like any other situation which involves military stuff, and ripped it apart.

Originally Posted by PhoenixFlare

It's true that we can easily claim Nanohaverse technology as being far superior than anything we've discovered, but it's a huge suspension of disbelief on our part. Some may not go that far before their limit breaks. It wouldn't hurt to reduce what you can reduce to make it easier to believe. Then again, after watching Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, and the likes, whose limit is that small, isn't it? :P

It's ironic, the people who can point out the flaws in such things usually have the biggest SoD armor there is.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

*Tk snickers as he recalls Jack O'Neil's sixteen year old alien clone.*

Really just on Stargate alone you could fill a small book with their scientifically insane ideas:
-Radiation that makes people invisible… (radiation isn’t bad it gives you superpowers!)
-Being "Out of phase" with the universe and normal matter... but not falling through the planet for some reason. (In fact when people disappeared later on they acutally check to see if this has happened!!!)
-Inter-Universal travel in a half dozen ways...
-You can cure being turned into a caveman with allergy medication!
-Using more of your brain gives you awesome psychic powers!
-A random alien device rammed into your face can transfer the entire knowledge of a dead race into your brain and make you super smart! (At least until your brain overheats and melts)
-Being dead is only a minor set back as long as you're sufficiently advanced... or the powers that be happen you like you.
-Etc, etc

So yeah even allot of science fiction is nearly as soft on the entire "science" bit as Nanoha, which by the way is why I still call in sci-fi despite the odd elements.

Funny things happen when you combine the word 'science' with 'fiction' after all. Two polar opposites, used in the same sentence. It's like disaster waiting to happen.

[NorthernFallout]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Spoiler for The Journeyers - Chapter 1:

Originally Posted by Sheba

Spoiler for The Journeyers - Chapter 2:

Right, meant to read this earlier, but better late than never.
I had high expections for this, judging from what you've told me on IRC. I'm glad to say I wasn't disappointed in any way.

First off, Chapter 1 was a nice introduction of the characters, factions and the universe itself. I could easily get a mental image of the politics and general status of the worlds and there was no problem following it. The plot is interesting and I think you managed to come up with reasons to why things are unfolding as they are.
As I'm bad at characterization myself, I can't realy utter an opinion, other than that I think you got them right. They don't diverge from the norm so to speak and the OC's are really interesting. You have managed to give them life, and a personality, providing an interest in learning about them more.

Chapter 2, as the sci-fi junkie I am, is my favorite. The battle is deliciously described and I cannot really ask for a better way to write it. I also think you have managed to find a middle-ground between hard sci-fi and soft sci-fi as the story has its share of minor techbabble, while being easily understandable.
The battle itself is interesting in terms of tactics and how it turns out. I wasn't expecting a few things, I can say that.
I must say the supernova part was also very thrilling. I got many flashbacks to other series there.

As for negative aspects, both Chaper 1 & 2 had some minor spelling/grammar mistakes, but it didn't interrupt the flow that much. True, for the sheer size, it isn't unexpected.
Can't find anything more negative really.

As a last note, I must say you excel in world-building. This really shows in how you portrait the different planets, factions etc. The sheer research into gravity wells, orbits, acceleration etc, really builds up the universe and provide a good picture of how it might work and how the universe itself looks like.

Looking forward to Chapter 3 of this epic story.

[PhoenixFlare]

Originally Posted by Tk3997

*Tk snickers as he recalls Jack O'Neil's sixteen year old alien clone.*

Really just on Stargate alone you could fill a small book with their scientifically insane ideas:
-Radiation that makes people invisible… (radiation isn’t bad it gives you superpowers!)
-Being "Out of phase" with the universe and normal matter... but not falling through the planet for some reason. (In fact when people disappeared later on they acutally check to see if this has happened!!!)
-Inter-Universal travel in a half dozen ways...
-You can cure being turned into a caveman with allergy medication!
-Using more of your brain gives you awesome psychic powers!
-A random alien device rammed into your face can transfer the entire knowledge of a dead race into your brain and make you super smart! (At least until your brain overheats and melts)
-Being dead is only a minor set back as long as you're sufficiently advanced... or the powers that be happen you like you.
-Etc, etc

So yeah even allot of science fiction is nearly as soft on the entire "science" bit as Nanoha, which by the way is why I still call in sci-fi despite the odd elements.

Oh, this list makes my day!

I especially like the part about using my brains giving me awesome psychic powers.

*starts sending brainwaves all over*

Originally Posted by Keroko

Hmm, the only reference to such a preservation method I can think of is the shroud being kept safe and away from prying eyes, encased in what -to me- looks like a magic field of sorts.

*shrug*

There was no mention, nor of at least the slightest animation, of any such method (I don't recall the magic field part ), which is why it leaves a large question mark (at least, to me). Of course, it's probably the producers' intention for us to exercise our suspension of disbelief.

Originally Posted by Keroko

Actually, the audience will just go 'oh, they used blood to clone'

Given a choice, the audience will go for the preserved option first, but if preserved isn't mentioned 'it's blood, so it's good for cloning' works just as well.

It doesn't really apply here, considering this is really a minor thing, but there has always been an unwritten rule in my class when doing animation or video projects. Don't make your story to technical. The general audience doesn't care, and it'll just give the nitpickers more to nitpick. Point in case, episode 23, around the 09:40 mark, where we see the grunts holding of the gadget drones. One of the purposes of this scene was to show that the TSAB is more then just the heroes, and that even the grunts are capable of holding their own. Basically, it was meant to show that when properly organized, the TSAB is capable of proper military action. The general reaction of the audience was 'oh, okay' and at most 'woo, so that's a grunts fight' or something along those lines.

The military freaks among us tore into the situation like any other situation which involves military stuff, and ripped it apart.

There's that, and there's this, no doubt.

The onus with technicality is perhaps on the producers' capability to gauge the understanding of the public audience with regards to what they intend to show on screen. True, too much technicality is bad, but too little is just as well. Public expectation varies, of course, but it's really a matter of being able to judge what the audience is most likely to perceive of the scene.

Inasmuch as military experts among us nitpick (okay, ruthlessly tear into it ) on the incapabilities of TSAB, some of us who are considered the least experts on the field are also able to immediately spot the incongruency with which the military was shown to handle the problem. Honestly, I don't know heads or tails of military, but even I am able to tell that the scene, as far as the producers intend for it to tell, was slipshod. My military knowledge is severely limited, so you can see how obviously bad work was if I went "Huh? That's all?" at that scene. While it's true I didn't really care that much about how capable their officers were (at least because they're not the main focus of the show), a better effort could've been made to make a difference to my perception. It's my personal expectation of course, so the producers aren't obliged to fulfill them.

The point with animation is that if you can't express something with words, do it with scenes. Unlike authors who had to agonize over whether the sentences are understandable to the readers (and oh, dear god, whether the technical part will cause the readers to pull at their hair and scream "RAGE!" ), animation simplifies the matter with a few seconds of scenes that tell a lot. As they say, pictures are worth a thousand words.

Of course, there's some of us who's perfectly neutral on the view, in that as long as they get to view their favorite scenes (like Nanoha bombarding everyone with pink beams of doom ), everything else doesn't matter.

Choices, choices.

Originally Posted by Keroko

It's ironic, the people who can point out the flaws in such things usually have the biggest SoD armor there is.

Yep.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by AtomicoX

*snips*

The introduction chapter is meant to introduce the 'expanded' universe. Imo, yes, there are other powers than the TSAB and they are bound to meet, some being friendly, others being less.

Characterization is a hit or a miss, while it seems easier for original characters, the task is not that easy for the canon characters. First, a typed, to not say written, fiction does not have voice actors to breathe life, images to give the readers an idea of how things look like. An extra effort from the author, me in that case, have to be made. I had to keep in mind to make them stay true to the original (hard) without making them static when confronted to potentially dramatic situations. this should be put to test as more chapters will roll along.

Now, as for hard sci-fi and soft sci-fi, I admit it was one of the more troublesome tasks, along with the CC characterization. The question was how much I could pour without killing the "taste" of the series and getting readers lost, and how little I can afford before the more hardcore starts rolling their eyes.

For the world building bit, it is something I still work on, since I started telling stories and playing pen & paper roleplaying games. My secret is not much of a secret, read, watch and catch in as much diverse sources as you can, in the age of internet, things like wikipedia or that dusty book you left in your shelf since ten years does come handy to give that small idea that makes you go EUREKA.

And yes, I do acknowledge my problems with grammar and spellings, beta readers are here, so does the microsoft text software.

[Comartemis]

Alright folks, here's the first of a number of steps being taken towards making Comacanon a little more than a whole lot of vaporware.

Spoiler for Alex's Profile (Spell List and Device only):

Name: Alexander Scryon
Nicknames/Titles: Alex
Gender: Male
Species: Engineered Human
Age: 12
Height: 4’7”
Weight: 126 lbs
Skin: Pale
Hair: Silver/Grey
Eyes: Red
Device: Nexus
Magic System: Neo-Belka
Ranking: AAA+
Moral Alignment: Chaotic Good
Theme Song: “Daia no Hana”, Yoriko

History


Description:


Powers
Alex is a well-balanced mage capable of fighting effectively both in melee and at range. His fighting style is akin to that of Fate Testarossa, with a preference for melee combat but great competency at a distance as well, and he uses his specialty with great skill. A common tactic Alex makes use of is to present himself as a range-only fighter, then rip his enemies apart when they attempt to attack him in melee, though he lacks the skill necessary to defeat melee specialists such as Signum or Zest. Alex’s most potent ability is his fledgling usage of the art of kanka, a mixture of atmospheric mana and internal mana that provides great benefits to those very few Mage Knights who are able to master it.

Device: Nexus
Type: Storage (Special)
Magical Color: Black
Characteristics: Nexus was developed for Alex’s use not long after he first entered combat testing. It is, for the most part, functionally identical to a storage device, serving mainly as spell storage and as a focus for Alex’s spells, as well as being Alex’s preferred melee weapon. Nexus is incapable of speech and cannot utilize the cartridge system due to design limitations, but it has been heavily reinforced for usage in melee combat, and is a match for Belkan Armed Devices in terms of durability.

Storage Form:
A pair of fingerless black gloves which Alex wears almost constantly.

Basic Form:
A pair of duster knuckles not unlike those worn by Adult Vivio in StrikerS, with additional material that covers the wrist and part of the forearm like a pair of bracers. The gloves are black and sheathed in a thin layer of armor with the reinforced AI core positioned on the back of each hand. Each of the fingers is topped by a single flexible blade that runs the length of the finger and ends in a vicious talon two inches past the fingertips. In spite of its’ lack of heavy material, Nexus is every bit as durable as larger devices like Levantine or Strada, and its’ blades are perfectly capable of slicing through concrete without magical enhancements.

Miscellaneous Abilities
Reinforcement: A standard Belka-type enhancement spell known by every knight who’s worth her weapon, Reinforcement is used for both offense and defense by boosting the strength and durability of the mage’s body and/or any weapons he may be using. Alex primarily uses his other enhancement-type spells in lieu of this spell, and saves Reinforcement for occasions where he only needs additional strength, speed or endurance and more advanced spellcasting would be overkill.

Shadow Snare: A simple binding spell akin to Lightning Bind which is highly resistant to physical damage but is easily broken by even basic anti-bind spells. This spell sees frequent usage in Alex’s fights, and is highly effective against mages and other targets who do not possess anti-bind spells.

Midnight Rush: Alex’s standard speed boost technique, Midnight Rush differs from similar spells like Sonic Move in several key ways. First, the spell functions less like a supercharged flight spell and more like magical jet propulsion; the spell’s usage is always accompanied by a visible flare of magic from wherever the spell has been centered, usually the small of Alex’s back. Second, the spell exerts a considerably lower strain on Alex’s body, since it is simply being pushed at high speeds instead of being forced to move on its’ own at a rate much faster than it is used to. Third, the nature of the spell’s usage prevents the mage from changing directions in mid-use, and the mage is subject to the laws of inertia while in flight, and cannot stop on a dime the way mages using more traditional speed boost spells can.

If Alex uses Midnight Rush while utilizing his kanka, the speeds he is able to reach while using this spell increase dramatically, but it becomes difficult to use for fine maneuvering and small bursts, since the throttle has essentially been thrown wide open.

Kanka: Not so much a spell as it is a technique, kanka usage is a famous trademark of the Belkan Mage Knights of old, and it is one of Alex’s most potent abilities. Kanka is best described simply as the skillful use and application of both internal and external mana simultaneously, an effect that is achieved by cycling atmospheric mana into the mage’s magic circuits through the linker core, and then utilizing the mage’s boosted internal mana pool as normal.

Mages who utilize kanka experience a dramatic boost to their physical capabilities, and their bodies react to the enhanced mana pool by acquiring an enhanced degree of resistance to extreme temperatures, disease, and most types of poisons. The most notable effect kanka has on the user lies with any spells the mage may cast while under the technique’s influence. Outwardly, a spell can be identified as being powered by kanka due to the second color tone the mage’s magic sigils and spells acquire (Alex’s templates and spells turn red around the edges while the core remains black). On a more personal level, a mage using kanka recieves a significant boost to the power of their spells at the cost of a somewhat less significant drop in control. In Alex’s case, this control drop is much more noticable because his device is not designed to assist with spellcasting control. If Alex were to acquire a more advanced device capable of interfacing with Nexus’s control systems (Say, for instance, a Unison device…) this problem would most likely be nullified, but for the time being Alex uses his kanka sparingly, reserving its’ use for those times when he needs massive firepower more than anything else.

Kanka serves the role of a Full Drive since Alex’s device does not possess alternate forms, and can be thought of as a “mode shift” similar to Fate’s Sonic Form, the primary difference being a focus on brute strength and destructive power at the cost of control instead of speed at the cost of defense.

Defensive Abilities
Night Shade: Alex’s standard shield-type spell. This spell projects the sigil of the Belkan Mage Knights (A five-point Belkan star) rather than a standard Mid circle or Belkan triangle. It provides good protection against most forms of attack.

Offensive Abilities
Reaper’s Edge: Alex’s most commonly-used melee spell. Razor’s Edge is a Belkan enhancement-type spell that wreaths Nexus in a sheath of energy for enhanced damage and armor penetration. The spell’s name derives from Alex’s fighting style and his tendency to use this spell in conjunction with ripping and slashing melee attacks.

Shadow Claw: A Mid-type energy blade spell, Shadow Claw creates a trio of energy blades on the backs of each of Nexus’s units, giving Alex a set of sword-like claws that extend 2-3 feet past the end of his arm. Each blade ends in a vicious talon that curves downwards like a billhook. Alex primarily uses this spell when fighting mages skilled in melee, as his added reach offsets one of the advantages weapon users have over unarmed combatants.

Reaver Shot: A simple, unguided shooting-type spell that launches a machine gun spray of magical rounds off the end of Alex’s gloves. The spell is equal in power on a shot-by-shot basis with Fate Testarossa’s Photon Lancer spell, but the spell can be maintained to provide a constant rate of fire over several seconds. Attempting to use kanka with this spell causes the shots to scatter wildly and sometimes detonate prematurely.

Howling Shot: Alex’s most powerful ranged spell. Howling Shot is a weaker variation on Shining Darkness, with the sphere of energy being projected through several targeting rings and accelerated to speeds on par with a Divine Buster Extension in a manner similar to a magical railgun. It detonates on contact with the target, dealing a high level of explosive magic damage to everything within several meters of the target point. Using kanka with this spell is likely to make the round blow up in Alex’s face.

Shining Darkness: Alex’s most powerful melee attack (at present), Shining Darkness is a bombardment spell designed for usage at point-blank range. It was created to make full usage of Alex’s kanka ability and is the only spell he has which is specifically designed for use while Alex’s control has been hampered by the side effects of using kanka. The spell consists of forming a tightly-packed ball of magical energy in one of Alex’s hands, in either an open hand or a closed fist, which is then shoved towards Alex’s adversary (preferably into the face) and released. The end result is an explosive burst of energy on par in strength with one of Subaru’s Divine Busters, which devastates anything caught in its’ explosive range (a ten-degree arc extending away from Alex for several meters).

Blazing Darkness: One of Alex’s two “forbidden techniques”, Blazing Darkness is a prototype spell template currently in development as of the beginning of the A’s timeline. Blazing Darkness is simply a Shining Darkness charged between two hands and projected as a ranged attack, essentially a kanka-powered version of Howling Shot. The problems inherent with this spell stem from the fact that the two-handed charging method is needed to assist with control and prevent the shot from blowing up in Alex’s face, but two hands also greatly increases the amount of power that Alex pumps into the spell, which makes the spell that much more difficult to control.

Radiant Darkness: The second of Alex’s two “forbidden techniques”, Radiant Darkness is simply a double-cast Shining Darkness, with one charge in each hand released simultaneously, effectively doubling the power of the spell in exchange for twice the mana cost. While it is a simple idea on paper, in practice it is much more difficult to pull off due to the enhanced control casting two spells simultaneously requires. If Alex were to attempt to cast this spell at his current skill level it is more likely than not that one or both of his charges would simply blow up in his face.

Been a while since I've been able to say this...

*ahem*

Haxxbusters, GO!