Snow Queen and Proctologist
Marq, THAT is a topic for later in the story.
Negi has full control over his power. But others don't
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The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
In some settings, any direct-damage magic, elemental or not, that isn't a Holy Hand Grenade or weaponized Light Is Good is counted as "dark magic" / Black Magic.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I know, I'm just wondering if the villains behind this shadow stuff might end up biting off a lot more than they can chew with their targeting of Negi.
edited 8th Oct '12 11:55:10 AM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Fandom Heretic
NL: Actually, 95% of the time Light Is Good. It held true in Akaneia and Jugdral, and it's mostly true in Elibe, what with the Elmine teachings being a Saintly Church, same deal for the Rausten theocracy in Sacred Stones. However, there was a smug-as-all-hell enemy Bishop working for the Black Fang in Fire Emblem US, and in Sacred Stones, Riev was excommunicated from Rausten, and worships Formortiis, the Demon King. Riev still uses Light magic. So yes, there are some instances where Light Is Not Good, but they are by far more the exception than the rule.
I haven't played Sword of Seals recently enough to say if there were any notable evil Light-users in that, but it's possible.
Cue Final Fantasy reference.
edited 8th Oct '12 11:57:13 AM by EvaUnit01
World's Cutest Direwolf
@Limit: You're welcome. The Black Magic trope page mentions that part, plus the fact that any magic that requires you to torture someone to death is not very heroely.
It certainly makes a lot more sense than "raising the dead is EVIL!!!!eleven!! because ew, dead things."
edited 8th Oct '12 11:57:27 AM by rikalous
Yep, exactly what I was thinking.
If anything, they're rather practical magic that just so happens to have a bad wrap about them...kind of like a lot of science nowadays, with the Moral Guardians and all that crap.
But, yeah. Stuff like sacrificing a dude's soul to a demon is pretty bad voodoo.
edited 8th Oct '12 12:00:42 PM by NoLimit
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Fandom Heretic
Also, the idea of dark magic being used to help people was explored in Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones, with Lyon, a Nice Guy and the Crown Prince of Grado. His in-game class is Necromancer, and he's trying to study the Sacred Stones for medical applications. Offscreen, he even used the Stone's colossal power to save someone's life, who was badly injured to the point that normal healing magic was useless. However, the Stone of Grado is also the can for Formortiis, and the Demon King has steadily been corrupting Lyon over the course of his studies, and Lyon's been fighting a losing battle. While using the Stone's power to heal critically near-death people seems to be okay, it's implied (I think) that any attempts at resurrection are doomed to have the target Come Back Wrong. Orson's wife, for example, is not shown onscreen other than her neutral map sprite. However, the implication is that she's not able to do anything more than serve as Orson's bedmate, since she literally says nothing but "Darling", over and over again.
The moral of the story: dark magic and research into the arcane can be used for good, but only up to a point, and the bigger your goals, the more cautious you should be.
Snow Queen and Proctologist
The moral of dark magic in my stories:
Human emotion is a wonderful and dangerous thing. You need to be careful with it, otherwise it will consume and destroy everything
You know you want to add love
Random.
Negi drew in a deep, hissing breath as the words appeared on the diplom.
To find Nagi, you must go become a butler in Japan.
"... I can't believe it!" he said, tears streaming down his eyes. "This is the best day of my life!"
"I'm so happy for you, Negi!" Nekane smiled. "And to think, with all the scrubbing, washing and cooking I made you do for me, you're already fully ready for that job!"
Anya frowned. "Wait, how would that work? How could you find Nagi by working as a domestic servant across the world?"
Six months later:
"NEGIIII!" Sanzenin Nagi cried out. "HELP ME...!"
Negi sighed as he jumped to his master's rescue yet again. "This isn't exactly what I had in mind..."
Well...they're certainly closer to each other's ages.
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The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
<Face Palm> Stupid Meldiana headmaster...
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Scriptor Referens
@The Spell That Casts You: We have a whole section on this in our story notes. You won't believe how close it sounds to Divider virus infection, even though we've wrote it without access to Force.
@Magia Erebea: It's a sentient magical parasite. I think that's the closest analogy. The way it works, you have to constantly suppress it, or it will manifest and kill you and everyone within several miles, with your own hands no less.
Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein.
himitsu keisatsu
Exact words, my friend...
Also, Demon!Negi is in no way more powerful than the real Negi. The only difference? Negi holds back. Demon!Negi doesn't. So yeah, Negi is like Gilgamesh in that regard. He really won't stop holding back until it is absolutely necessary to give it his all.
I don't see Magia Erebea as a sentient, sapient being. To me, it's basically a wild animal that has a single directive that it will follow at any cost. Survival. The problem is, it detects anything and everything as a threat to its safety, labels it an enemy and proceeds to kill and eat it so it may grow stronger and defeat stronger enemies.
edited 8th Oct '12 12:31:35 PM by IAmNotCreativeEnough
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari
Scriptor Referens
himitsu keisatsu
Hilariously enough, if I were to create a magic system, Necromancy would be very high level white or divine magic. Why, you may ask?
Shitting around with the dead in any form requires permission from a god and knowledge of the healing arts to actually raise corpses (essentially, you need to heal the body back to life. Without a soul, it'll become a zombie).
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari
World's Cutest Direwolf
Hopefully they would also give evidence for that, and maybe even explain why the natural order is automatically a good thing.
Random.
"Hello, Aincrad arc!" the rest of the attendants said.
The therapist smiled kindly. "Welcome, dear. These are the Negima anime, the other Negima anime, the Negima movie, Negima Neo, the Negima manga, the Negima live action series, School Rumble, Ranma, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Monster A Go Go, Mass Effect 3, the Matrix Trilogy, the first To Love Ru manga series, Lady In The Water, the Post Crisis DC Universe, and Return Of The Jedi."
Aincrad looked at Return Of The Jedi. "Wait, why are you he—"
"Celebrate the love! Yub, nub!" it sang, clutching its Ewok plushie.
"... Never mind. I know."
"Here in Awful Endings Anonymous," the therapist explained, keeping her warm smile, "You'll learn how to cope with your issues and find the beauty between your own flaws and imperfections. And with some luck, someday, you'll be able to get over your past with our help and reach satisfaction through a remake or sequel."
"I'm going to make it, I know I will!" To Love Ru promised, clenching a fist and sniffling to itself.
"In Rebuild we trust!" Evangelion nodded.
Somewhere, Kodansha, GAINAX, Shueisha, DC Comics, Marvel Comics and several other shadowy figures sat around a table in darkness, gathered before a giant screen showing the events in the therapy room.
"Poor, poor deluded fools...!" Kodansha cackled evilly. "How little they suspect! FU FU FU FU FU!"
"CRISIS, CRISIS! REBOOT, REBOOOOOOOT! RETCON PUUUUUUUNCH!"
"Dammit, someone bring DC its medication already!!"
edited 8th Oct '12 12:52:21 PM by NapoleonDeCheese
himitsu keisatsu
Wait... To Love Ru has a sequel, so its non-ending really isn't an issue.
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari
As hinted above, it is still attending meetings to prevent a relapse.
Random.
In the last moment, Negi could reach the rosario around Evangeline's neck and yanked it off.
Chamo rasped to clear his throat and announced for the audience, in a deep and grave voice, his contractually obliged stock narration, "When the rosario in Eva-chan's neck is plucked off, her inner power is unleashed! She becomes... Inner Evangeline!"
Evangeline's round, huge and innocent eyes sharpened and grew narrow, and her usual bubbly, naive expression changed into a vicious, cruel smirk.
"KNOW YOUR PLACEEEEEEEEE!" she screamed, kicking Fate through several walls.
Chizuru, in Kurumu cosplay, looked at Sextum, who was in Mizore cosplay sucking on a lollipop, "So, what's next after this? K-On? Lucky Star?"
Sextum checked on the schedule. "Fist Of The North Star, actually. I think I'm going to call in sick..."
You know, it would have slightly have been more funny if inner-Eva was a Shrinking Violet and outer-Eva was normal Eva.
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The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Wouldn't work with Rosario To Vampire's fighting aspect. The inner personality needs to be a Sealed Badass in a Can type who has no qualms about using overwhelming force from the get-go (even though Inner Moka does still hold back a lot to avoid smashing her enemies' heads/body parts into gory bits; her sister Kahlua, on the other hand...).
edited 8th Oct '12 1:32:42 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
...Marq, no offense, but your sense of humor is so weak that even the crappiest of jokes will fly over your head. And I should know. I live my life by crappy jokes!
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The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
I did get the joke. I'm just pointing out that the implementation would unfortunately lead to the entire ficlet falling apart when your Shrinking Violet inner Eva gets curbstomped by the Monster of the Week due to her non-confrontationality.
edited 8th Oct '12 1:34:15 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
...That's the joke. If it's funny or not, whatever.
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Thank you, rikalous!
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