#there we gO i finally did asuna's !!

[heyyallitsbeth]

Kirito's Quest Reward

In Alfheim Online, a small party of friends were taking on a boss monster. The giant salamander itself wasn’t particularly threatening, even with it’s attacks leaving multiple debuff effects, but the party enjoyed taking on large bosses together, and definitely enjoyed the payouts from selling the rare Fang Daggers these beasts drop.

“Remember, the one to finish it gets whatever it drops!” teased Leafa, who had been dealing most of the heavy hits this rotation. She knew they always shared rewards anyway, unless there was only one unique item per quest. However noticing her health had decreased due to the monster’s poison, she was prepping to take defensive. “Now switch!”

In a swift movement the girl and her attacking duo Klein had fallen back to the defensive and support lines, and two new attackers came in, the romantic crossed sword duo of Kirito and Asuna. Between them 3 swords cut deep and heavily into the salamander’s HP. Flurries of shortsword stabs and rapier pierces were landed before the rest of the team had assumed their new positions. Leafa began supporting her teammates with spell buffs alongside the cait sith monster tamer Silica, and Klein took a defensive stance beside the mace wielding blacksmith Lisbeth, preparing to run in to assist the mainline attackers. As the HP of the beast faded lower and lower, a rain of arrows shot down from above as the cait sith archer Sinon unleashed battalions worth of arrows. Not to be outdone, the blackswordsman Kirito rushed in unleashing a devastating combo to the creature, taking it’s final health points down to zero.

“Hmmph, all that effort in the last moments and you still go and killsteal.” Sinon sighed and huffed jokingly.

“Heh relax Sinon, we’re all sharin’ in the rewards nomatter what” Kirito replied, smirking.

As the monster turned to glittery dust a gift box fell from it’s place and landed square on the battlefield.

“Ah crap.” Lisbeth complained “That special drop events still goin’ on. All that work and we still might get a freakin’ steel dagger out of it.”

“Shoot! And I just barely made enough yuld off of it to buy back the potions we used.” Klein huffed.

“Hey we still have a chance for it to be good, even if we haven’t had much luck with it” optimistically chimed in Silica.

“Well, in that case if nobody wants it, I’ll be the one stuck with it I guess” Kirito said, striding over to it. “I was the one who took it down after all~” He playfully taunted to the other partymembers. 

He tapped on the box to open it and reveal it’s contents, fully expecting something mediocre.

“Hmm?”

A dialogue box appeared in front of him “1x Classic Maid Outfit added to inventory”

He closed the dialogue box before anyone else could catch up and see what it was.

“So whatcha get?” Asuna inquired looking right over his shoulder.

Kirito jumped from the sudden break in silence, hoping she hadn’t seen the box’s contents. His face flushed red and he flailed his arms. “N-NOTHING- NOTHING AT ALL HAHA-”

Real smooth there Kazuto. He thought to himself. You know how your friends are. That’s just inviting problems.

“Ooooooo~ somebody got something special~” cooed Lisbeth, now nearly hovering over the poor boy.

“So what rare item did you steal from me hm Kirito?” Sinon peered down.

“Heh- no. Th-there wasn’t even anything in it. Guess we got screwed by it haha-”

Next quest: Get better at lying. 

“Oh nuh uh, you aint keepin whatever it is for yourself, if it’s worth a buncha yuld then we’re splittin it okay Kirito?” Klein tossed out.

Kirito wanted to clear his inventory, he would sooner lose Excalibur than reveal what he had received.

“Hey Yui, if Kirito isn’t gonna tell us, could you check his inventory for us?” Silica spoke between small giggles.

“Yui please don’t-”

But it was too late. The small navigation pixie had already opened up a tab to review Kirito’s items.

“Hmmm let’s see. Ah it seems Daddy received an event item from one of Alfheim’s prior Valentine’s Day Events”

Valentine’s Day Item? Well that’s not gonna arouse any suspicion at ALL. Kirito grumbled to himself, his face so red he was matching the color of the holiday itself.

“Spill the beans Yui, whats it worth?” Klein inquired.

“Hehehe~ I just wanna know what it is that’s gotten Kiri so embarrassed~” teased Lisbeth. “Is it some toy you’re gonna share with Asuna later?~”

“AAAA Nononononono it’s nothing like that-” Kirito stammered out.

“No it’s not a toy- it appears the item itself is a clothing item labeled ‘Classic Maid Outfit’” Yui innocently stated.

The group went silent as Kirito’s face went from a flush red to a stark white pale. Then they all started laughing. Lis and Sinon were all but banging the ground laughing at the mortified boy. It took countless agonizing seconds until anyone spoke.

“S-*snkr* So you gonna model it for us Kiri-Chan?~” Lisbeth managed out between snickers. 

“Yeah it’s all yours oneesan~” Leafa joked out.

Sinon who had previously been laughing the hardest now had a more neutral but smug look on her face “Jeez if you wanna see him girly so bad you should join us in GGO sometime.”

GGO… Kirito thought. Yeah that model was quite something. I swear that there was something special in my eyes there. They just seemed brighter…

Kirito slapped his cheeks out of that thought.

“I’m not making it out of here without putting it on am I?” he sheepishly responded. 

“Honey you don’t have to if you don’t want to. But I can’t say I wouldn’t mind seeing-” Asuna trailed off, imagining Kirito’s toned physique in a maid outfit.

Add that to the online shopping list later. She thought, her mind filled with devious thoughts.

“You’re just scared you’ll like it-” Klein teased before getting one of Kirito’s boots directly to the jaw.

“F-fine. Just- Everyone turn around. If anyone peeks as I change I’m deleting this account!” Kirito stammered out.

The giggles of the group grew louder as they turned away. His fingers fumbled with the prompts to switch outfits, as if the outfit itself was attacking.

You’re just scared you’ll like it.

The words echoed in Kirito’s mind as he hit confirm. 

He got a good look at his reflection in the mirror view of the UI.

I look like one of those freakin’ anime twin maids Klein loves. Wait… Nononono- I look like Sugu…

Kirito wasn’t wrong, if it werent for his modest chest, he’d easily be mistaken as his sister. But like this, he looked like his sibling’s little sister more than her big brother. His face was soft. His hair had updated along with the clothing, now appearing more similar to his GGO avatar, with the only substantially shorter in the back. In addition to the dress, he had been gifted with a cute little hat and was adorned in ribbons and stockings. The outfit was a dark lavender, with the ribbons appearing a slightly brighter purple. The purple really brought out the color in his dark grey eyes.

“Everything okay Kirito?” Squeaked Silica. “I know we were teasing but if you’re uncomfortable you don’t havta show us…”

Why is she the only one with any decency here? He took one last look at himself in the mirror. Those lights are back in my eyes… He pushed down that thought and sighed.

“You can look now…”

He closed his eyes and braced for the worst. He expected laughter and mockery. What he got was… Silence? Silence for far far too long.

“Guys is everything okay?”

He opened his eyes and noticed everyone was just staring at him, shocked but… not giggly or amused… Almost confused? With the exception of Klein, who was frozen in place, and slowly tipped over before logging out.

“Jeez tough crowd” Kirito joked, trying to make the situation more bearable for himself.

He noticed as the slight breeze blew past, the skirt picked up a bit and waved effortlessly in the wind. Without thinking, he spun around, watching as his skirt effortlessly spun with him. He giggled.

Hmm. Not so bad… EH? What am I thinking I need to get this off-

“K-kirito?” Asuna quietly broke the silence.

“Yes ma’am” Kirito almost chirped out. 

He was happy to see he was now taking it better than anyone else. And then the whole group pounced on him, tackling him to the ground with a hug.

“You’re so cuteeeeeeeeeee!” they all echoed.

Even Sinon, the most modest one seemed utterly infatuated.

“Jeez Sinon, you’ve seen me worse than this- And Sugu you’ve DEFINITELY seen me worse than this-” Kirito thought of playing dress up with her as a kid, but a memory that should’ve made him shudder now brought him a surprising warmth.

That’s not good. He thought to himself. Yeah I’m gonna have to do some serious thinking about this. Or better yet I should simply never think of this again.

“Okay funs over now” Kirito exclaimed, tired of being at the bottom of a pile of bosoms. “This has been exhausting and I wanna go to bed now.”

That night Kirito dreamt of his wedding in Aincrad with Asuna, only now he looked like his GGO Avatar.

…

…

…

Kirito woke up early the next morning and his heart ached. He sent a good morning text to Asuna, despite knowing she’d probably be sleeping in still. He paused before he knocked on his sister’s door to wake her up, and chose not to, just sending her a quick “running out for groceries, be back soon.” text before he got on his bike and left.

Maybe a little ride can clear my head.

Kirito cruised down nearly empty streets, trying to think of anything other than his dream and yesterday. He hadn’t lied about the groceries, he just walked through the supermarket picking up a few essentials for him and Suguha for the week, passing through on his way to checkout when a glimmer caught his eye. He had wound up in the women’s clothing department, and beside him standing tall was a mannequin wearing a basic black skirt. It was nothing special, it was cheap, it was just a department store clothing brand. He looked at his reflection in the black screen of his phone, seeing sparkles in his eyes. He sighed, knowing he was about to make a mistake and placed it in his basket and checked out. He rode home from the shops with his mind racing. 

Why did I do that? I’m such an idiot. What the hell am I doing? What would Sugu say? What will Asuna say? I- I just need to try this once. I’m just gonna go home, try it on, nothing will happen and I’ll burn the damn thing.

Kirito tried to enter the home as quietly as possible, dropping the groceries on the table and tip toeing to his room with the bag with the skirt in it. He closed the door behind him, but in his anxiousness to try on the skirt, he neglected to lock it. He slid out of his black sweatpants, staring at his body in the mirror. His figure was slender, almost effeminate in nature. Years without hardcore exercise and barely eating while in SAO clearly took it’s toll on a previously toned figure.

Maybe I do look like Sugu…

Back when they were little, Suguha and Kazuto were always mistaken for twin girls, despite Kazuto being older and not even Suguha’s blood sibling. He never minded back then, he just liked being close to her. They’d occasionally swap clothes to mess with their parents. Kazuto softly smiled at the thought. He slipped on the skirt. She slipped on the skirt.

His eyes met hers in the mirror. Where a dull grey void once sat, a galaxy of stars was now present, with shimmering highlights and purple hues never noticed until now. There was a subtle curvature to her hips. A natural softness to her face. Her slender physique made him jealous. He stared at the girl who looked back at him, she shyly smiled and as the words left her mouth, they followed in his. “So, this is me?”

She looked down, and the girl was him. The girl was her.

She nervously laughed and shook in place. She watched as her skirt flowed side to side with every subtle movement. She spun herself around, watching the skirt flare up. She giggled to herself. She spun herself again. And again and again. She was giggling to herself like crazy. There were no thoughts left in her head, it was just a pure moment of bliss. And it came crushing down as the door opened behind her.

“Yawnnnnnnn~ Kazutooooooo please could you make a little less noi-” Sugu entered the room with her eyes closed yawning, but her eyes quickly shot open as she saw what was once her big brother in a tiny black skirt.

“S-Sugu??? EH! Don’t Look! I’m not decent!” She blurted out, not realizing she was pitching her voice higher than normal. She scrambled behind her bed, trying to cover up her shame, hiding her blushing face behind her hands.

Suguha smiled softly and walked over beside her as she softly pet her sister’s head.

“Well, it seems like I’ve stumbled into something big huh? Listen Kazuto. Or… whatever you may wanna be called. I’m always gonna support and love my big sibling, nomatter who they are.” She kissed the timid girl’s forehead. “I’m gonna go make us breakfast okay. You can wear that if you wanna. It’s just us home today. You don’t have to worry. You don’t have to tell anyone else if you aren’t ready. You don’t even have to tell me if you’re not ready. But I’m here for you.”

She walked out the door, and Kazuto sighed, knowing she meant every word of that.

…

…

…

Kazuto followed not long after, choosing to wear the skirt downstairs to the kitchen. She was blushing the whole time, still unable to meet her sister’s eyes. She slid a stack of pancakes over to her.

“Here big sis, I made your favorite.” She smiled sweetly down at Kazuto.

“...I like that.”

“Hmm?”

“I think… I think I prefer being your big sister.”

Suguha smiled brightly.

“Yayyyyyy! Now we get to do fun girly stuff together! This is so exciting!- Oh and of course, thank you for trusting me enough with this sis. It means a lot.” Suguha felt a warmth she had never felt, and she felt like it was due to the beaming smile on her big sister’s face.

“So, what are you thinkin’ for a name?”

…

…

…

A few days pass and nobody outside the Kirigaya household hears from Kazuto. He seemingly vanished from the ALO party, and only returned a few texts with “Sorry I’m just busy, miss you too” or “I love you too Asuna”. Truthfully, Kazuto had been training up a new ALO avatar with her sister, creating a swordfighting cait sith, with a name she chose for herself, Kiriko.

“Hey I’m gonna head out and make some lunch for us okay Kiriko? Don’t go far, and I’ll meet you in town.” “Sounds good Leafa, thank you!”

While Sugu’s cooking wasn’t the masterpiece Asuna’s was, Kiriko was always happy to indulge in some of Sugu’s fine craftsmanship as well. Leafa signed out, and her model disappeared. And Kiriko was alone.

She strolled through the town, wondering what to do in the meantime.

“I could really use some sword upgrades…” She muttered to herself, knowing that the only blacksmith worth caring about was Lisbeth, and she didn’t know who Kiriko was yet. 

“Ah well I can help you with that one!” A familiar voice made Kiriko jump, her ears and tail standing on end. “Heh, didn’t mean to scare ya, I’m Klein, and if you need some smithin’ done, I know just the girl for you.”

Kiriko did her best to pitch her voice up to not be recognized “N-nice to meet you Klein, but that’s okay- I- I think I might just wait until I get a better sword drop…”

“Nonsense, Liz is the best in the business, she can make a starter sword scale right alongside Excalibur” He laughed to himself. “What’s your name by the way?”

“K-Kiriko…” She embarrassedly managed out.

Great. I look like my little sister, and the name I chose is 1 letter off of my old handle. I am the smartest woman alive.

Luckily for Kiriko, Klein was the dumbest man alive, and did not question it at all, leading her to Lisbeth’s Smithy.

“Hey guys, I’m back, and I found a newbie who needs some sword help.” Klein announced to the full party.

Kiriko gulped. Everyone but Leafa was here. Asuna, Yui, Strea, Lisbeth, Silica, Sinon, Philia, Agil, even Argo.

With my luck, somehow Sachi is gonna walk through that door isn’t she…

“H-hi everyone, I’m Kiriko… Klein said that Lisbeth is a master blacksmith. At least I think he said ‘master blacksmith’ but all I really caught was ‘master b���-” She knew this was gonna be dreadful, so the least she could do was tease Klein before the whole thing fell apart.

“H-HEY! I said nothing like that- She is a master blacksmith though! She’s been working at it since Sword Art.”

“Yup yup! The best in the business!”

“It’s nice to see you again Liz, I haven’t had a chance to see you since SAO I suppose” Kiriko lied.

It’s not too farfetched to be another SAO survivor… Gives me some leeway if I mess up and say more than I should known…

“Ohmygosh sorry- I usually don’t forget my customers faces…” Liz pouted.

“Hey now, cheer up, consider us equal for me breaking your sword.”

Smooth one smoothbrain. Kiriko thought to herself.

“Eh?” Liz cocked her head. “I don’t think anyone but Kiri-”

“Y’know out in the field, I abused the poor sword, I should’ve taken better care of such expert craftsmanship” She smiled out the quickest excuse she could muster.

“Ahhhh I see. You just reminded me of my favorite customer hehe.” She took Kiriko’s sword from her and got to work on it. “Cute guy, but he’s dumb as rocks. Broke my best sword and made me go on an adventure to forge him a new one.”

“Sounds like a bit of a jerk to me.” Kiriko joked.

“Nah, he’s the sweetest guy, but he’s a little bit off.”

“Yeah, he helped me revive my Pina!” Silica butted in.

“And he saved me from the Hollow Area” Philia added.

“And he’s like, the sweetest husband ever” Asuna swooned.

“And he’s the best daddy ever!” Yui chimed in. 

“He’s helped me in more ways than I’d care to say” Sinon said blushing.

Kiriko herself was now blushing and trying to stifle a smile, hearing all these kind things from all of her friends.

“Jeez, put the boy on a pedestal some more will ya? You’re just begging for this girl to be competition in that polycule you’ve got brewin” Klein sighed “Course, ya cant help but love the guy, after all, he saved us all so many times.”

She felt at home for once, the moment was so warm and peaceful.

“Hmm, you even look a lot like Kii-boy” 

Crap.

Argo’s intuition was always top notch. She’d sniff out the fact that Kiriko was Kirito faster than anyone. She needed excuses and fast.

“Well, I’ve been told I do look boyish-” Kiriko idly fiddled with her skirt, kicking her feet a little.

“Nono- You don’t look boyish at all! Infact it’s more that Kirito looks girlish” Philia tried to console Kiriko.

“Yeah! He actually wore a dress recently and he was really cute!” Silica was practically meowing out the compliment.

“We’ve all been thinking, we haven’t seen him since he did it, we’re worried that maybe we teased him too much and now he got self conscious.” Sinon looked down shamefully.

Kiriko could barely manage to keep up her facade. 

Focus focus focus. Think of things to say to make this go away.

Kiriko chose to simply say the truth. “Well, I think if they were willing to put on the dress, maybe they were just finding an excuse to try it out. Maybe they ended up liking it and has been taking some time for themself to work some things out.”

The room went a bit quiet. All that could be heard was Agil talking to customers and Liz hammering away in the background, but both were clearly listening in intently.

“Whatcha mean?” Silica asked.

“W-well… There’s this thing I’ve been reading about on some MMO forums. Apparently some guys will dress up with female avatars as a joke, and then realize something, that maybe they were girls all along. Maybe your friend is doing that?”

Kiriko was stuttering out almost every word. There’s no way they wouldn’t catch on.

“Well, then I’d be the luckiest woman in the world to have the best wife in the world.” Asuna announced.

“Yeah, and I’d get to have the two best Mommies!” Yui said, with Strea nodding along with her.

“Nomatter what, they’re always our Kirito. We’ll always love them nomatter who they end up being.” Sinon added. 

“Yeah, and I can have my own big sister instead of a big brother” Silica giggled to herself.

“Well, she already has a little sister, you sure you can compete with that role?” Kiriko pet Silica’s head and then she realized what she just said.

“Wait… how do you know Kirito has a sister?”

“W-well I’ve been playing with a girl named Leafa whose been teaching me everything- and she keeps talking about her brother Kirito so I just assumed since you both brought up the name.”

Next quest: PLEASE GET BETTER AT LYING BRAIN Kiriko screamed at herself internally.

Argo mischievously laughed. “Yknow Kiriko, I have gotten some inside scoops that Leafa’s been playin alongside a new account and callin her ‘big sis’. Now aint that somethin Kiriko? Or rather Kii-gal?”

Crap. That’s Argo for ya. She knows me better than… well even me probably.

As the tension grew thick enough to cut with a knife, Leafa walked through the door to the Smithy, and Lisbeth returned to listen to the gossip more intently. 

Hopefully Sugu can tell I’m blinking an S.O.S. to her…

“Ah I see you’ve met my friend Kiriko! She’s really sweet right?”

Kiriko shifted in her seat.

“... Fine ya caught me. It’s me…” Kiriko mumbled out. 

No escaping this one chief.

Leafa glanced down a look of “are you sure Kiriko?” to which Kiriko could only nod.

“While you’re about to lose some polycule points for forcibly outing me Argo-” “Polycule points?” Lisbeth inquired.

If I can earn those I’m taking them- Liz thought to herself

“Yes it’s me. I… I just couldn’t stand being Kirito anymore.” The small catgirl looked to be near breaking point. “I.. I didn’t wanna lose any of you. I never had friends until now. And I was so so so worried I’d lose you all. I’d been keeping this down since GunGale. That avatar stuck in my head like a parasite. I couldn’t stop thinking about having long hair, and cute outfits, and twirly skirts, and- and after I tried on that stupid maid outfit, I couldn’t go back. I couldn’t be that same person I was anymore.”

She couldn’t stop the tears anymore. She just balled herself up on the couch. But then she felt a warm soft embrace around her. And another, and another, and another.

“Kiriko, I’m so proud of you. And trust me, you’re still the person I fell in love with in Aincrad. I’m not gonna leave you because you found out more about yourself. That’s just more of you I get to love. I get to fall in love all over again with a wonderful wife.” Asuna held Kiriko tight, and rubbed her cheek against the girl.

A hand was placed on Kiriko’s shoulder. “Heh, you’re so used to playin with chicks that you became one yourself, good for you.” Klein smiled every word out. He may not have been the best with words, but Kiriko appreciated the meaning behind each one.

“We’re all gonna love you nomatter what Kiriko…” Silica was gripping onto her even tighter than Asuna.

Yui and Strea held onto Kiriko for dear life, trying to make their new mommy happy.

“Yeah, you’re our favorite gal to tease, and now we can tease you even harder and in new ways!” Lisbeth smirked devilishly before hugging Kiriko with one arm and poking her cheeks with her free hand.

Kiriko felt another hand on her other shoulder, and looked up to see Agil.

“I’m proud of you for finding out who you are. I’m blessed to have met ya.”

Kiriko’s tears turned from fear and sadness to joy and love.

Sinon came walking up to where Kiriko was sat and hugged her from the front then pet her head. “Truthfully, I thought you were trans the moment you said you were actually a guy in that avatar in GGO. Every time we fought there I saw that light in your eyes you’ve got now. I’m so proud of you.” She kissed the girl’s forehead. “And now we can confirm that two GGO Winners are girls too” she smirked.

“Hehe, sorry for gettin ya to come out if you werent ready” Argo tossled Kiriko’s hair. “But ya know I’m just like ya too! I just wanted ya to rip that bandaid off hehe. Makes it better in the long term.” Kiriko could only smile at the rat in front of her.

“And can I please have my polycule points back”

“T-there’s no such thing Argo. And if there were I wouldn’t take them from my favorite rat…”

“Hey I know we already talked Kiriko” Leafa held onto Kiriko’s hand “but I’m so proud of you and I’m so happy to have a big sister.”

All Kiriko could do was smile, she was finally herself, and surrounded by all of the people she held dear. 

And in the back of her head, she heard the faint singing of familiar christmas music, and relaxed.

Heh. I guess even Sachi was here afterall.

“I love you all. Thank you so much. All of you.”

[heyyallitsbethfanfic]

Kirito's Quest Reward / Something Comforting

In Alfheim Online, a small party of friends were taking on a boss monster. The giant salamander itself wasn’t particularly threatening, even with it’s attacks leaving multiple debuff effects, but the party enjoyed taking on large bosses together, and definitely enjoyed the payouts from selling the rare Fang Daggers these beasts drop.

“Remember, the one to finish it gets whatever it drops!” teased Leafa, who had been dealing most of the heavy hits this rotation. She knew they always shared rewards anyway, unless there was only one unique item per quest. However noticing her health had decreased due to the monster’s poison, she was prepping to take defensive. “Now switch!”

In a swift movement the girl and her attacking duo Klein had fallen back to the defensive and support lines, and two new attackers came in, the romantic crossed sword duo of Kirito and Asuna. Between them 3 swords cut deep and heavily into the salamander’s HP. Flurries of shortsword stabs and rapier pierces were landed before the rest of the team had assumed their new positions. Leafa began supporting her teammates with spell buffs alongside the cait sith monster tamer Silica, and Klein took a defensive stance beside the mace wielding blacksmith Lisbeth, preparing to run in to assist the mainline attackers. As the HP of the beast faded lower and lower, a rain of arrows shot down from above as the cait sith archer Sinon unleashed battalions worth of arrows. Not to be outdone, the blackswordsman Kirito rushed in unleashing a devastating combo to the creature, taking it’s final health points down to zero.

“Hmmph, all that effort in the last moments and you still go and killsteal.” Sinon sighed and huffed jokingly.

“Heh relax Sinon, we’re all sharin’ in the rewards nomatter what” Kirito replied, smirking.

As the monster turned to glittery dust a gift box fell from it’s place and landed square on the battlefield.

“Ah crap.” Lisbeth complained “That special drop events still goin’ on. All that work and we still might get a freakin’ steel dagger out of it.”

“Shoot! And I just barely made enough yuld off of it to buy back the potions we used.” Klein huffed.

“Hey we still have a chance for it to be good, even if we haven’t had much luck with it” optimistically chimed in Silica.

“Well, in that case if nobody wants it, I’ll be the one stuck with it I guess” Kirito said, striding over to it. “I was the one who took it down after all~” He playfully taunted to the other partymembers. 

He tapped on the box to open it and reveal it’s contents, fully expecting something mediocre.

“Hmm?”

A dialogue box appeared in front of him “1x Classic Maid Outfit added to inventory”

He closed the dialogue box before anyone else could catch up and see what it was.

“So whatcha get?” Asuna inquired looking right over his shoulder.

Kirito jumped from the sudden break in silence, hoping she hadn’t seen the box’s contents. His face flushed red and he flailed his arms. “N-NOTHING- NOTHING AT ALL HAHA-”

Real smooth there Kazuto. He thought to himself. You know how your friends are. That’s just inviting problems.

“Ooooooo~ somebody got something special~” cooed Lisbeth, now nearly hovering over the poor boy.

“So what rare item did you steal from me hm Kirito?” Sinon peered down.

“Heh- no. Th-there wasn’t even anything in it. Guess we got screwed by it haha-”

Next quest: Get better at lying. 

“Oh nuh uh, you aint keepin whatever it is for yourself, if it’s worth a buncha yuld then we’re splittin it okay Kirito?” Klein tossed out.

Kirito wanted to clear his inventory, he would sooner lose Excalibur than reveal what he had received.

“Hey Yui, if Kirito isn’t gonna tell us, could you check his inventory for us?” Silica spoke between small giggles.

“Yui please don’t-”

But it was too late. The small navigation pixie had already opened up a tab to review Kirito’s items.

“Hmmm let’s see. Ah it seems Daddy received an event item from one of Alfheim’s prior Valentine’s Day Events”

Valentine’s Day Item? Well that’s not gonna arouse any suspicion at ALL. Kirito grumbled to himself, his face so red he was matching the color of the holiday itself.

“Spill the beans Yui, whats it worth?” Klein inquired.

“Hehehe~ I just wanna know what it is that’s gotten Kiri so embarrassed~” teased Lisbeth. “Is it some toy you’re gonna share with Asuna later?~”

“AAAA Nononononono it’s nothing like that-” Kirito stammered out.

“No it’s not a toy- it appears the item itself is a clothing item labeled ‘Classic Maid Outfit’” Yui innocently stated.

The group went silent as Kirito’s face went from a flush red to a stark white pale. Then they all started laughing. Lis and Sinon were all but banging the ground laughing at the mortified boy. It took countless agonizing seconds until anyone spoke.

“S-*snkr* So you gonna model it for us Kiri-Chan?~” Lisbeth managed out between snickers. 

“Yeah it’s all yours oneesan~” Leafa joked out.

Sinon who had previously been laughing the hardest now had a more neutral but smug look on her face “Jeez if you wanna see him girly so bad you should join us in GGO sometime.”

GGO… Kirito thought. Yeah that model was quite something. I swear that there was something special in my eyes there. They just seemed brighter…

Kirito slapped his cheeks out of that thought.

“I’m not making it out of here without putting it on am I?” he sheepishly responded. 

“Honey you don’t have to if you don’t want to. But I can’t say I wouldn’t mind seeing-” Asuna trailed off, imagining Kirito’s toned physique in a maid outfit.

Add that to the online shopping list later. She thought, her mind filled with devious thoughts.

“You’re just scared you’ll like it-” Klein teased before getting one of Kirito’s boots directly to the jaw.

“F-fine. Just- Everyone turn around. If anyone peeks as I change I’m deleting this account!” Kirito stammered out.

The giggles of the group grew louder as they turned away. His fingers fumbled with the prompts to switch outfits, as if the outfit itself was attacking.

You’re just scared you’ll like it.

The words echoed in Kirito’s mind as he hit confirm. 

He got a good look at his reflection in the mirror view of the UI.

I look like one of those freakin’ anime twin maids Klein loves. Wait… Nononono- I look like Sugu…

Kirito wasn’t wrong, if it werent for his modest chest, he’d easily be mistaken as his sister. But like this, he looked like his sibling’s little sister more than her big brother. His face was soft. His hair had updated along with the clothing, now appearing more similar to his GGO avatar, with the only substantially shorter in the back. In addition to the dress, he had been gifted with a cute little hat and was adorned in ribbons and stockings. The outfit was a dark lavender, with the ribbons appearing a slightly brighter purple. The purple really brought out the color in his dark grey eyes.

“Everything okay Kirito?” Squeaked Silica. “I know we were teasing but if you’re uncomfortable you don’t havta show us…”

Why is she the only one with any decency here? He took one last look at himself in the mirror. Those lights are back in my eyes… He pushed down that thought and sighed.

“You can look now…”

He closed his eyes and braced for the worst. He expected laughter and mockery. What he got was… Silence? Silence for far far too long.

“Guys is everything okay?”

He opened his eyes and noticed everyone was just staring at him, shocked but… not giggly or amused… Almost confused? With the exception of Klein, who was frozen in place, and slowly tipped over before logging out.

“Jeez tough crowd” Kirito joked, trying to make the situation more bearable for himself.

He noticed as the slight breeze blew past, the skirt picked up a bit and waved effortlessly in the wind. Without thinking, he spun around, watching as his skirt effortlessly spun with him. He giggled.

Hmm. Not so bad… EH? What am I thinking I need to get this off-

“K-kirito?” Asuna quietly broke the silence.

“Yes ma’am” Kirito almost chirped out. 

He was happy to see he was now taking it better than anyone else. And then the whole group pounced on him, tackling him to the ground with a hug.

“You’re so cuteeeeeeeeeee!” they all echoed.

Even Sinon, the most modest one seemed utterly infatuated.

“Jeez Sinon, you’ve seen me worse than this- And Sugu you’ve DEFINITELY seen me worse than this-” Kirito thought of playing dress up with her as a kid, but a memory that should’ve made him shudder now brought him a surprising warmth.

That’s not good. He thought to himself. Yeah I’m gonna have to do some serious thinking about this. Or better yet I should simply never think of this again.

“Okay funs over now” Kirito exclaimed, tired of being at the bottom of a pile of bosoms. “This has been exhausting and I wanna go to bed now.”

That night Kirito dreamt of his wedding in Aincrad with Asuna, only now he looked like his GGO Avatar.

…

…

…

Kirito woke up early the next morning and his heart ached. He sent a good morning text to Asuna, despite knowing she’d probably be sleeping in still. He paused before he knocked on his sister’s door to wake her up, and chose not to, just sending her a quick “running out for groceries, be back soon.” text before he got on his bike and left.

Maybe a little ride can clear my head.

Kirito cruised down nearly empty streets, trying to think of anything other than his dream and yesterday. He hadn’t lied about the groceries, he just walked through the supermarket picking up a few essentials for him and Suguha for the week, passing through on his way to checkout when a glimmer caught his eye. He had wound up in the women’s clothing department, and beside him standing tall was a mannequin wearing a basic black skirt. It was nothing special, it was cheap, it was just a department store clothing brand. He looked at his reflection in the black screen of his phone, seeing sparkles in his eyes. He sighed, knowing he was about to make a mistake and placed it in his basket and checked out. He rode home from the shops with his mind racing. 

Why did I do that? I’m such an idiot. What the hell am I doing? What would Sugu say? What will Asuna say? I- I just need to try this once. I’m just gonna go home, try it on, nothing will happen and I’ll burn the damn thing.

Kirito tried to enter the home as quietly as possible, dropping the groceries on the table and tip toeing to his room with the bag with the skirt in it. He closed the door behind him, but in his anxiousness to try on the skirt, he neglected to lock it. He slid out of his black sweatpants, staring at his body in the mirror. His figure was slender, almost effeminate in nature. Years without hardcore exercise and barely eating while in SAO clearly took it’s toll on a previously toned figure.

Maybe I do look like Sugu…

Back when they were little, Suguha and Kazuto were always mistaken for twin girls, despite Kazuto being older and not even Suguha’s blood sibling. He never minded back then, he just liked being close to her. They’d occasionally swap clothes to mess with their parents. Kazuto softly smiled at the thought. He slipped on the skirt. She slipped on the skirt.

His eyes met hers in the mirror. Where a dull grey void once sat, a galaxy of stars was now present, with shimmering highlights and purple hues never noticed until now. There was a subtle curvature to her hips. A natural softness to her face. Her slender physique made him jealous. He stared at the girl who looked back at him, she shyly smiled and as the words left her mouth, they followed in his. “So, this is me?”

She looked down, and the girl was him. 

She nervously laughed and shook in place. She watched as her skirt flowed side to side with every subtle movement. She spun herself around, watching the skirt flare up. She giggled to herself. She spun herself again. And again and again. She was giggling to herself like crazy. There were no thoughts left in her head, it was just a pure moment of bliss. And it came crushing down as the door opened behind her.

“Yawnnnnnnn~ Kazutooooooo please could you make a little less noi-” Sugu entered the room with her eyes closed yawning, but her eyes quickly shot open as she saw what was once her big brother in a tiny black skirt.

“S-Sugu??? EH! Don’t Look! I’m not decent!” She blurted out, not realizing she was pitching her voice higher than normal. She scrambled behind her bed, trying to cover up her shame, hiding her blushing face behind her hands.

Suguha smiled softly and walked over beside her as she softly pet her sister’s head.

“Well, it seems like I’ve stumbled into something big huh? Listen Kazuto. Or… whatever you may wanna be called. I’m always gonna support and love my big sibling, nomatter who they are.” She kissed the timid girl’s forehead. “I’m gonna go make us breakfast okay. You can wear that if you wanna. It’s just us home today. You don’t have to worry. You don’t have to tell anyone else if you aren’t ready. You don’t even have to tell me if you’re not ready. But I’m here for you.”

She walked out the door, and Kazuto sighed, knowing she meant every word of that.

…

…

…

Kazuto followed not long after, choosing to wear the skirt downstairs to the kitchen. She was blushing the whole time, still unable to meet her sister’s eyes. She slid a stack of pancakes over to her.

“Here big sis, I made your favorite.” She smiled sweetly down at Kazuto.

“...I like that.”

“Hmm?”

“I think… I think I prefer being your big sister.”

Suguha smiled brightly.

“Yayyyyyy! Now we get to do fun girly stuff together! This is so exciting!- Oh and of course, thank you for trusting me enough with this sis. It means a lot.” Suguha felt a warmth she had never felt, and she felt like it was due to the beaming smile on her big sister’s face.

“So, what are you thinkin’ for a name?”

…

…

…

A few days pass and nobody outside the Kirigaya household hears from Kazuto. He seemingly vanished from the ALO party, and only returned a few texts with “Sorry I’m just busy, miss you too” or “I love you too Asuna”. Truthfully, Kazuto had been training up a new ALO avatar with her sister, creating a swordfighting cait sith, with a name she chose for herself, Kiriko.

“Hey I’m gonna head out and make some lunch for us okay Kiriko? Don’t go far, and I’ll meet you in town.” “Sounds good Leafa, thank you!”

While Sugu’s cooking wasn’t the masterpiece Asuna’s was, Kiriko was always happy to indulge in some of Sugu’s fine craftsmanship as well. Leafa signed out, and her model disappeared. And Kiriko was alone.

She strolled through the town, wondering what to do in the meantime.

“I could really use some sword upgrades…” She muttered to herself, knowing that the only blacksmith worth caring about was Lisbeth, and she didn’t know who Kiriko was yet. 

“Ah well I can help you with that one!” A familiar voice made Kiriko jump, her ears and tail standing on end. “Heh, didn’t mean to scare ya, I’m Klein, and if you need some smithin’ done, I know just the girl for you.”

Kiriko did her best to pitch her voice up to not be recognized “N-nice to meet you Klein, but that’s okay- I- I think I might just wait until I get a better sword drop…”

“Nonsense, Liz is the best in the business, she can make a starter sword scale right alongside Excalibur” He laughed to himself. “What’s your name by the way?”

“K-Kiriko…” She embarrassedly managed out.

Great. I look like my little sister, and the name I chose is 1 letter off of my old handle. I am the smartest woman alive.

Luckily for Kiriko, Klein was the dumbest man alive, and did not question it at all, leading her to Lisbeth’s Smithy.

“Hey guys, I’m back, and I found a newbie who needs some sword help.” Klein announced to the full party.

Kiriko gulped. Everyone but Leafa was here. Asuna, Yui, Strea, Lisbeth, Silica, Sinon, Philia, Agil, even Argo.

With my luck, somehow Sachi is gonna walk through that door isn’t she…

“H-hi everyone, I’m Kiriko… Klein said that Lisbeth is a master blacksmith. At least I think he said ‘master blacksmith’ but all I really caught was ‘master b’-” She knew this was gonna be dreadful, so the least she could do was tease Klein before the whole thing fell apart.

“H-HEY! I said nothing like that- She is a master blacksmith though! She’s been working at it since Sword Art.”

“Yup yup! The best in the business!”

“It’s nice to see you again Liz, I haven’t had a chance to see you since SAO I suppose” Kiriko lied.

It’s not too farfetched to be another SAO survivor… Gives me some leeway if I mess up and say more than I should known…

“Ohmygosh sorry- I usually don’t forget my customers faces…” Liz pouted.

“Hey now, cheer up, consider us equal for me breaking your sword.”

Smooth one smoothbrain. Kiriko thought to herself.

“Eh?” Liz cocked her head. “I don’t think anyone but Kiri-”

“Y’know out in the field, I abused the poor sword, I should’ve taken better care of such expert craftsmanship” She smiled out the quickest excuse she could muster.

“Ahhhh I see. You just reminded me of my favorite customer hehe.” She took Kiriko’s sword from her and got to work on it. “Cute guy, but he’s dumb as rocks. Broke my best sword and made me go on an adventure to forge him a new one.”

“Sounds like a bit of a jerk to me.” Kiriko joked.

“Nah, he’s the sweetest guy, but he’s a little bit off.”

“Yeah, he helped me revive my Pina!” Silica butted in.

“And he saved me from the Hollow Area” Philia added.

“And he’s like, the sweetest husband ever” Asuna swooned.

“And he’s the best daddy ever!” Yui chimed in. 

“He’s helped me in more ways than I’d care to say” Sinon said blushing.

Kiriko herself was now blushing and trying to stifle a smile, hearing all these kind things from all of her friends.

“Jeez, put the boy on a pedestal some more will ya? You’re just begging for this girl to be competition in that polycule you’ve got brewin” Klein sighed “Course, ya cant help but love the guy, after all, he saved us all so many times.”

She felt at home for once, the moment was so warm and peaceful.

“Hmm, you even look a lot like Kii-boy” 

Crap.

Argo’s intuition was always top notch. She’d sniff out the fact that Kiriko was Kirito faster than anyone. She needed excuses and fast.

“Well, I’ve been told I do look boyish-” Kiriko idly fiddled with her skirt, kicking her feet a little.

“Nono- You don’t look boyish at all! Infact it’s more that Kirito looks girlish” Philia tried to console Kiriko.

“Yeah! He actually wore a dress recently and he was really cute!” Silica was practically meowing out the compliment.

“We’ve all been thinking, we haven’t seen him since he did it, we’re worried that maybe we teased him too much and now he got self conscious.” Sinon looked down shamefully.

Kiriko could barely manage to keep up her facade. 

Focus focus focus. Think of things to say to make this go away.

Kiriko chose to simply say the truth. “Well, I think if they were willing to put on the dress, maybe they were just finding an excuse to try it out. Maybe they ended up liking it and has been taking some time for themself to work some things out.”

The room went a bit quiet. All that could be heard was Agil talking to customers and Liz hammering away in the background, but both were clearly listening in intently.

“Whatcha mean?” Silica asked.

“W-well… There’s this thing I’ve been reading about on some MMO forums. Apparently some guys will dress up with female avatars as a joke, and then realize something, that maybe they were girls all along. Maybe your friend is doing that?”

Kiriko was stuttering out almost every word. There’s no way they wouldn’t catch on.

“Well, then I’d be the luckiest woman in the world to have the best wife in the world.” Asuna announced.

“Yeah, and I’d get to have the two best Mommies!” Yui said, with Strea nodding along with her.

“Nomatter what, they’re always our Kirito. We’ll always love them nomatter who they end up being.” Sinon added. 

“Yeah, and I can have my own big sister instead of a big brother” Silica giggled to herself.

“Well, she already has a little sister, you sure you can compete with that role?” Kiriko pet Silica’s head and then she realized what she just said.

“Wait… how do you know Kirito has a sister?”

“W-well I’ve been playing with a girl named Leafa whose been teaching me everything- and she keeps talking about her brother Kirito so I just assumed since you both brought up the name.”

Next quest: PLEASE GET BETTER AT LYING BRAIN Kiriko screamed at herself internally.

Argo mischievously laughed. “Yknow Kiriko, I have gotten some inside scoops that Leafa’s been playin alongside a new account and callin her ‘big sis’. Now aint that somethin Kiriko? Or rather Kii-gal?”

Crap. That’s Argo for ya. She knows me better than… well even me probably.

As the tension grew thick enough to cut with a knife, Leafa walked through the door to the Smithy, and Lisbeth returned to listen to the gossip more intently. 

Hopefully Sugu can tell I’m blinking an S.O.S. to her…

“Ah I see you’ve met my friend Kiriko! She’s really sweet right?”

Kiriko shifted in her seat.

“... Fine ya caught me. It’s me…” Kiriko mumbled out. 

No escaping this one chief.

Leafa glanced down a look of “are you sure Kiriko?” to which Kiriko could only nod.

“While you’re about to lose some polycule points for forcibly outing me Argo-” “Polycule points?” Lisbeth inquired.

If I can earn those I’m taking them- Liz thought to herself

“Yes it’s me. I… I just couldn’t stand being Kirito anymore.” The small catgirl looked to be near breaking point. “I.. I didn’t wanna lose any of you. I never had friends until now. And I was so so so worried I’d lose you all. I’d been keeping this down since GunGale. That avatar stuck in my head like a parasite. I couldn’t stop thinking about having long hair, and cute outfits, and twirly skirts, and- and after I tried on that stupid maid outfit, I couldn’t go back. I couldn’t be that same person I was anymore.”

She couldn’t stop the tears anymore. She just balled herself up on the couch. But then she felt a warm soft embrace around her. And another, and another, and another.

“Kiriko, I’m so proud of you. And trust me, you’re still the person I fell in love with in Aincrad. I’m not gonna leave you because you found out more about yourself. That’s just more of you I get to love. I get to fall in love all over again with a wonderful wife.” Asuna held Kiriko tight, and rubbed her cheek against the girl.

A hand was placed on Kiriko’s shoulder. “Heh, you’re so used to playin with chicks that you became one yourself, good for you.” Klein smiled every word out. He may not have been the best with words, but Kiriko appreciated the meaning behind each one.

“We’re all gonna love you nomatter what Kiriko…” Silica was gripping onto her even tighter than Asuna.

Yui and Strea held onto Kiriko for dear life, trying to make their new mommy happy.

“Yeah, you’re our favorite gal to tease, and now we can tease you even harder and in new ways!” Lisbeth smirked devilishly before hugging Kiriko with one arm and poking her cheeks with her free hand.

Kiriko felt another hand on her other shoulder, and looked up to see Agil.

“I’m proud of you for finding out who you are. I’m blessed to have met ya.”

Kiriko’s tears turned from fear and sadness to joy and pride.

Sinon came walking up to where Kiriko was sat and hugged her from the front then pet her head. “Truthfully, I thought you were trans the moment you said you were actually a guy in that avatar in GGO. Every time we fought there I saw that light in your eyes you’ve got now. I’m so proud of you.” She kissed the girl’s forehead. “And now we can confirm that two GGO Winners are girls too” she smirked.

“Hehe, sorry for gettin ya to come out if you werent ready” Argo tossled Kiriko’s hair. “But ya know I’m just like ya too! I just wanted ya to rip that bandaid off hehe. Makes it better in the long term.” Kiriko could only smile at the rat in front of her.

“And can I please have my polycule points back”

“T-there’s no such thing Argo. And if there were I wouldn’t take them from my favorite rat…”

“Hey I know we already talked Kiriko” Leafa held onto Kiriko’s hand “but I’m so proud of you and I’m so happy to have a big sister.”

All Kiriko could do was smile, she was finally herself, and surrounded by all of the people she held dear. 

And in the back of her head, she heard the faint singing of familiar christmas music, and relaxed.

Heh. I guess even Sachi was here afterall.

“I love you all. Thank you so much. All of you.”

[mochinek0]

Beautiful Boy

Marinette sank into the hospital bed, as the nurses checked over her newborn son.

"You did so well, M'Lady." Adrien whispered in her ear, "Our son is finally here."

Marinette smiled as the nurse brought their son over to her. She looked down and could see the little tufts of blonde hair. When he blinked, she could see blue eyes. From the corner of her eye, she saw the nurses leave to give them some privacy.

"A mix of us." She spoke.

"The world better watch out." he stated, making his wife giggle.

"He's so cute Adrien." Marinette declared, "What should we name him? I had some ideas, but I want your opinion, too."

"What were your ideas?" he asked.

Marinette blushed, "I sort-of....always liked the names Hugo or Louis."

"Hugo Agreste. Louis Agreste." he spoke, looking down at their son, "What about Naruto Agreste?"

"N-Naruto?" Marinette questioned.

"We-We don't have to!" Adrien immediately backtracked, "I liked your names, too!"

Marinette looked down at their son.

"Naruto Agreste." she smiled.

'It must mean something in Mandarin.'

"Wait. Really?" Adrien questioned.

"Yes." she replied, "Little Naruto Agreste."

"So, did you guys pick a name?" Alya questioned, over the phone.

Nino shouted, "Yeah, tell us!"

"I gave Adrien the two suggestions I liked, but he wanted a different name. I like it. It sounds nice and I think it's in Mandarin." Mari answered.

"Cool." Nino smiled, "What did he pick?"

"Naruto." the new mother answered.

"Naruto?" the other couple shouted.

"Yes?" Marinette replied, "Is-Is there something wrong with the name? Is it too weird?"

Alya just laughed and walked away. Nino smiled and took his phone out of his pocket.

"You do know you married a weeb, right?" he questioned.

"Don't tell me." Mari sighed, closing her eyes.

"Meet Naruto Uzumaki." Nino chuckled, as Alya continued to die of laughter in the background.

Marinette opened her eyes to see a blonde haired boy with blue eyes, similar to their newborn son.

"I'm gonna kill him." she answered.

Adrien walked back into the hospital room with some food and drinks from the hospital cafeteria. He wasn't expecting to see his wife so upset. She looked scarier than his father ever had.

'Had something happened to their son while he was gone?'

"M-Mari?" Adrien stuttered out.

"You can choose Hugo or Louis for our child's name." Marinette declared.

"What about-" he began.

Marinette turned her phone around and showed him Naruto Uzumaki.

Adrien winced, "Oh." and then smiled, "Middle name?"

"Hugo Naruto Agreste?" Mari questioned.

"Louis Naruto Agreste?" Adrien offered.

Marinette sighed, "Louis Naruto Agreste."

Adrien smiled happily and brought the food closer to Marinette.

"Your father drives me crazy sometimes, but I love him." She spoke, picking up their son.

"And I love you, M'Lady." Adrien replied, kissing her cheek.

"Dork." Marinette giggled.

"Still yours, though." He answered.

"Yes, you are." Marinette smiled, "Adrien?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"You are not doing that ever again and if I find out that you went behind my back, I'm changing my name back to Dupain-Cheng." she growled out.

Adrien gulped and quickly nodded. Marinette smiled sweetly up at him.

"Good. That includes video game characters." Marinette continued.

"Aw, come on!" the new father whined, "Imagine having a girl named Zelda!"

"Adrien." she spoke.

"Or we can name it Link, if it's a boy again." he continued.

"Adrien." the new mother called.

"But they'll be so cute!" Adrien defended himself, "Emma Zelda Agreste! Hugo Link Agreste!"

"Adrien!" Marinette shouted.

He pouted, "It's unique."

"Aren't all of those for blonde children?" she questioned.

"Maybe." he answered with a smile.

"What if they get my hair or are brunette like Papa?" Mari asked.

"I'll come up with names for those, too!" Adrien exclaimed, "Oh, Maybe Hinata or Neji. There's Rikka, Rimuru, Levy, Asuna, Tomoya, Yui, Haruhi, Kaname, Tai, Lucina, Sakura, -"

Marinette looked down at her son in her arms and smiled.

'Why do I feel your father is going to be more of a handful than you?'

TAG LIST: @animeweebgirl @a-star-with-a-human-name @meme991001 @vixen-uchiha @abrx2002 @alysrose-starchild @fandom-trapped-03 @dood-space @moonlightstar64 @saltymiraculer @marveldcedits20 @09shell-sea09 @icerosecrystal @animegirlweeb @insane-fangirl-of-everything @blueblossombliss @nickristus-dreamer @megawhitleycalderonpaganus

[salted-anime-takes]

Sword Art Online (S1 & S2; dropped after that)

Author: Reki Kawahara, originally light novels

Studio: A-1 Pictures

Genres (Listed by MAL): Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance (vomits), Love Polygon (kills you)

Premiered: Summer 2012

Anime vs. Manga?: You couldn't pay me less than $100 to consume additional content to this series. I'd also need a large margarita.

Salted Genres: stereotypical teen boy fantasy, loser cardboard male mc, harem of women too good for him, jesus christ they had a torture dungeon for main girl in S2 by some grown man obsessed with her???, jesus FUCKING christ they gave Kirito a cousin who is into him but reasoned it off not being totally blood related, why did we let this series get so popular

Major Trigger Warnings: that weird sex dungeon thing in S2, almost incest, shitty writing, shitty love polygon garbage

Can I Watch It Around My Parents?: Just don't watch it. The cultural context isn't worth it. Do yourself a favor and stop thinking isekai will be family friendly when the main audience is incels.

Artstyle: That moe-esque style without any personality and makes all the main characters look 12, and many side characters look ridiculously older.

Personal Review: I will never forgive SAO for kicking off the isekai genre in anime so hard. Fuck yourself, Kirito. Every other anime lead in isekai is just you. Fuck this garbage pile for the isekai boom. Fuck my life

Context: This is the real reason you're here, aside from the scathing remarks you've probably heard a billion times. Why the fuck is this show even relevant? Let's go back to the early 2010s, before half of tumblr could pretend to read. (This is mostly from the Western perspective, so please add anything else happening in the world with this wild popularity jump, because I'd LOVE to hear additional takes.) Several factors were going on. Firstly, Netflix was finally a full streaming service, and most people were starting to subscribe. You didn't have to hope it was on Toonami or go to whatever sketchy websites had anime illegally available (and get every virus known to computer-kind) to get your fix anymore. Well... for a small starting selection. Secondly, while the isekai genre was already a fully developed thing, it hadn't broken into the majority Western anime viewership circles, which barely ventured outside of Toonami at the time. Then along came SAO. Netflix got the rights to the entire first season, and suddenly, it was not only insanely accessible but also something most Western fans had never seen before. You die in the game, you die in real life?! Incredible!!! (Sorry Tron, you weren't high fantasy enough for this crowd.) Thirdly, gaming was finally mainstream, and watching streamers was a new norm. The timing couldn't have been better for its release. And what with the insane levels of ignorance and assumptions most Western anime watchers had at the time of anime tropes, most red flags discussed were merely looked over. We let too much slide in the early 2010s, and SAO was one of the biggest culprits. Fourthly, if you needed a gateway anime? SAO didn't require any sort of understanding of Japanese culture to get, which appealed to a lot of people who didn't want to think outside their box, as was the early 2010s. Despite it all, SAO was easy merchandise. Hot Topic (apologies for the American chain drop) was venturing into nerd culture and including some nice trinkets for the little nerds that hung out with their goth besties, and anime merch- including SAO- was some of the first big hits. After that? It's history. I don't know if anyone who still claims to like SAO actually is banking on nostalgia or just never gained tastes beyond a lameass horny 15 year old boy, but that boom it created gave so many light novel writers the ticket they needed to get isekai as a major genre in today's seasonal anime lineup.

Favorite Character: Asuna deserved better you motherfuckers. She actually did stuff until you get thrown into the most unnecessary slice of life arc where they begin the Sexualization. S2 cour 2 they gave her a genuinely interesting opportunity to be a lead, AND Kirito wasn't there. Still not worth watching.

Fandom: you couldn't pay me ANYTHING to check this.

[nflstreetsanimereviews]

A Retrospective on Sword Art Online's Aincrad Arc

What you’re about to read was originally going to be a review of the first volume of the Sword Art Online series. Then after reading it along with the second volume, I realized that they were so interconnected that it only made sense to combine the two into one review. After that, I had a realization–most people reading this have probably already watched the SAO anime. Meaning that reading this would pretty much be redundant since it’s a pretty one-to-one adaptation. Even if you liked the anime, there’s no payoff in reading the light novels, since the anime has the superior version of the Aincrad arc. Needless to say, this review became more of a slightly below-surface-level view of Sword Art Online as a series, Reki Kawahara’s growth as a writer, and what you would be better off reading if you wanted to learn more about Aincrad. Please excuse the title, I couldn't think of anything better to name it.

Believe it or not, it’s been almost eleven years since Sword Art Online first aired. For those who don't remember, it was a huge deal when it aired. It was probably the biggest anime back in 2012. It was also the most panned, with many calling it overrated or saying it just plain sucked. While some of the criticisms were over the top, it was understandable why many didn’t like SAO–there were many better anime that aired that year that only got a fraction of attention it did. Many of SAO’s plot points, especially in the second half of the show, were rightfully slammed for being inconsistent about Asuna’s personality and the way it handled Kirito’s and Suguha’s relationship. After a while, it became ‘cool’ to hate on SAO. After all, it was a mediocre-at-best anime that became immensely popular despite said setbacks. I’ve always had a soft spot for SAO–for a series that wasn’t that good overall, it does maintain to keep being interesting, which at the very least is what you want. With that in mind, I decided to re-read the first and second volume to see how it holds up, years later after the hype.

For those who’ve already watched the first season of Sword Art Online, the first two volumes cover roughly the first half of it. It begins with Kirito, our protagonist, playing the game Sword Art Online, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG). The game is played on a device called a Nerve Gear, a state-of-the-art VR headset that simulates all five senses. For Kirito and the ten thousand players that were able to log on and play SAO, they’ve just unwillingly signed up to be trapped in the game’s world (Aincrad). The game creator, Akihiko Kayaba, states that he’s holding them captive until they’re able to reach the 100th floor of the game’s map and that anyone who dies in the game also dies in real life.

I don’t think it’ll come as much of a surprise when I say that this book isn’t good. With all of the knowledge and lore I know about the Sword Art Online series, SAO volume 1 is alright–but on its own, it’s flimsy and hollow. After the big reveal that Kirito and everyone else in the game are trapped in there, there’s a two-year time skip, which in my opinion is a huge mistake. What the reader knows of SAO and Aincrad from this volume is almost at an elevator pitch level, assuming that this is their intro to the series. For now, we almost know nothing about the world around us–we just know about how powerful and cool Kirito is.

Most of our perspectives on this are warped because most of us already knew about Sword Art Online from the anime, which had a completely different pace from this. It’s why I’m including the second volume in this review as well. This volume skips most of the world-building and spends an extensive amount of time showing us what ends up being the final boss fight, along with Kirito and Asuna being together, although we as a reader don’t know that much about her or why she fell for Kirito in the first place. Funny thing is that the Aincrad Arc part of the anime takes parts from other entries in the light novel series–from Volume 8 (which is a collection of short stories, like Volume 2), Material Edition 1 (which I don’t even know is translated into English officially), and Progressive Volume 1 (written four years after the first volume was published, and is a ‘spin-off’ that expands on the Aincrad arc). To put in perspective how much this volume is lacking in detail, the anime adaptation only uses material from the first volume in episodes 1, 8-11, 13, and 14. That’s a whole lotta gaps! Compare that to the second half of the anime–the Fairy Dance Arc. It adapts from volumes three and four chronologically, and it shows in an obvious decline in plot quality. There are other reasons why that is, but that’s not relevant here.

I mentally tried to put myself as a reader that didn’t know anything about Sword Art Online before opening this book, and this was the interpretation I got: This volume leaves a lot to be desired. We know that Kirito is perhaps the most powerful person in the game. We know that Asuna is in love with him. We know that many have gotten used to life in Aincrad and have given up all hope of returning to the ‘real world’. But we don’t get to see them transition into that. All we get is the tail end, where life is already settled in. It zaps most of the fun out of it. It straight up didn’t make sense how THIS became popular enough to be animated in the first place–it is, until I did some more research on how this light novel came to be.

—

At the beginning of the afterword for Sword Art Online Volume 1, Reki Kawahara, the author writes “The volume of Sword Art Online you hold in your hands now was my first novel, written for the Dengeki Game Novel Prize in 2002.” He actually never submitted it, due to it being too long to enter, and instead published it online. The web version of Sword Art Online, which ran from 2002 to 2008, had popular support, but it wasn’t what got it published as a light novel. He won the Dengeki Novel Prize in 2008 with his story Accel World, allowing himself to finesse his way into also have SAO published as well. So basically, what we’re reading is the most juvenile writing that Mr. Kawahara had to offer. Due to it being not how he got his foot in the door, SAO was left on the back burner for Accel World. That being said, the web novel had LOADS of content, which made it more feasible for Kawahara to be able to publish both it and Accel World at the same time, even if the writing quality wasn’t up to Kawahara’s now-seasoned standards.

—

The second volume of Sword Art Online contains four short stories–stories that were sorely missing from the first volume. For the theoretical person in my head who has only read the first volume, and knows nothing else about the SAO universe, this volume gives some life to Aincrad and the society that formed in-game.

The first story, titled The Black Swordsman, starts on the 35th floor of Aincrad. Our hero runs into Silica, rescuing her from a mob of NPC monsters. Kirito and Silica go on a quest to revive Silica’s Tamed Monster, Pina.

This story introduces the concept of ‘Kirito, the older brother’–something that those who’ve seen the later half of the first season of Sword Art Online know full well about (many would claim that they know ‘too much’.) While Kirito admits that he’s helping her because she reminds him of his real-life sister, their relationship is nowhere near as weird. I have to say though, there were still some ‘sus’ moments. The one that comes to mind is Kirito saying “Level is just a number”. I cringed at least a little reading that, even if the context is way less insidious than expected.

Other than that, it was an alright story about the difficulties of being a young girl trapped inside Sword Art Online. While Kirito is also young (he’s only two years older than Silica), he’s had years of prior gaming experience before SAO, along with also being a beta tester. Silica, being only thirteen (and a girl), for better or for worse, has a constant stream of fellow players wanting to play with her. Her naivety gets her into trouble, being only saved by Jes-...I mean Kirito. This story also gives us a more in-depth look at the mid-level players of SAO. Silica, being ‘mid’ herself, doesn’t fight on the frontlines, and instead makes her living exploring already cleared dungeons in the lower levels of Aincrad. It’s a pretty good gig if you want some excitement in your life, but aren’t crazy (or strong) enough to be on the front lines. Probably beats subsisting on apples and being harassed by Army assholes in the Town of Beginnings.

The second story, titled Warmth of the Heart, features our hero with the blacksmith Lisbeth, who both go on a quest to the 55th floor to obtain a new mysterious metal–a metal so rare that it has not been dropped in-game yet.

This story was by far the worst. I feel bad for Lisbeth, because the entire reason for her existence is to be another girl to pine after Kirito. Yes, as you would expect, Kirito’s Law1 is in full force in this story–Lisbeth, swept by the enigma that is ‘Kirito’, falls for him in no time. Are there really no other honorable men in Aincrad other than Kirito? Well, of course, there’s Agil and Klein, but they’re adults. Lisbeth, while older than Kirito, is still a teenager. Not that age has ever stopped someone in Sword Art Online, but you’d think that there’s at least one other Japanese teenage boy stuck in the game that is as honorable, or even as nice, as Kirito. Guess not, considering that most male players in the game that aren’t Kirito and friends turn out to be huge sickos most of the time. Guess being trapped in a video game world with little hope of ever coming back gets to you after a while. Cabin fever did a number on more than a few men in Aincrad.

Anyways, back to Lisbeth–this story kinda rubs me the wrong way due to the way it establishes her character–someone who will only feel unrequited ‘love’. In scare quotes because it’s a ‘love’ that comes from being stuck with him for a day. Replace her with any other female blacksmith, and the story would’ve gone the same. Because he’s Kirito, and you’re supposed to want to be with him forever. It isn’t like Lisbeth is bland or anything. From what little we know about her, I like her. It’s just disappointing that her purpose (for now) is to be a side-piece of Kirito’s theoretical harem. She’ll never get what she wants because she’s not Asuna. Her fatalist interpretation of Kirito’s and Asuna’s relationship combined with her inability to move on traps her in Kirito’s ‘friendzone’, for a lack of a better term. Needless to say, this story doesn’t pass the Bechdel Test.

The Girl in the Morning Dew is the third story, featuring Kirito and Asuna shortly after they got married in-game. They come across a little girl named Yui, who collapses near the two while they’re venturing out to a remote part of the forest on the 22nd floor to look for a rumored ghost. Yui, not a ghost, nevertheless lacks a Color Cursor, something that every living object has in Sword Art Online. Kirito and Asuna, never one to not help someone in need, help Yui try to find where she came from.

Out of all of the chapters, this one is the best by far. The worldbuilding is a good thing to see. I mean, we gotta know about Aincrad first if we’re expected to care about it. A lot of the chapter is set in the Town of Beginnings, the starting town in Sword Art Online. It’s still the most populous town in all of Aincrad two years after the ‘game’ started. Most people who still live there are those who’re afraid to go outside the town’s walls. There’s also the Aincrad Liberation Force (known as the ALF, or simply as ‘The Army’), the largest guild in SAO with more than a thousand members, who make the starting town their base. It was nice to come back to where it all started, since Kirito stayed in here for all of one day the first time he was here.

This chapter delves into the conflict within the higher rungs of the Army and offers a very interesting insight into what happens when leadership breaks down. One faction of the ALF has turned to ‘taxing’ (extorting) the citizens of the Town of Beginnings–who’re probably the least well-off out of all of the people trapped in Sword Art Online, considering most of them haven’t even left the town. In typical SAO fashion, these ‘taxers’ are unnecessarily evil–they would take candy from a baby and laugh about it. Another victim of cabin fever. Caught between this is an orphanage run by a woman named Sasha, who houses twenty kids that’re stuck in SAO without a parent or guardian. There’s a lot about The Army that could be expanded, but since this is a series about Kirito, all we need to know is that they’re the closest thing Aincrad has to a form of government. Did you know that ‘The Army’ is actually a combination of two guilds, the ‘Aincrad Liberation Squad’, a front-line clearer guild, and ‘MMO Today’, a mutual aid organization that aimed to spread info about Sword Art Online and resources equally. 

The final story, titled Red-Nosed Reindeer, is also the earliest story chronologically, taking place in December 2023, almost a year before Kirito and everyone else finally broke out of Aincrad. The story is also the only one where Kirito is the lone narrator.

This story hearkens back to an earlier time in Kirito’s Sword Art Online playthrough, when he briefly joined the ‘Moonlit Black Cats’, a small guild whose camaraderie was a welcoming surprise to the lone-wolf Kirito. Kirito hides his actual power level, pretending to be only two or three levels higher than the rest of the guild, while in actuality he’s Kirito, the all-mighty slayer of bosses and wooer of around half of the women he talks to. Nevertheless, things go horribly wrong one day when one of the members accidentally sets off a trap in a labyrinth, ending up killing four of the guild members and driving the remaining member to suicide. This memory still haunts Kirito months later, believing that he is the reason why the Moonlit Black Cats were killed. He’s especially guilty about Sachi, who Kirito was mentoring and teaching sword skills to.

While it’s woefully the shortest, Red-Nosed Reindeer is easily better than the first two stories. It’s the only insight that we get to see of the ‘early days’ of Sword Art Online, with all of the other stories in the book taking place in 2024, the year after. Our visit with the Moonlit Black Cats is only brief, getting only a little bit more than the cliff notes on them, but at least we got to meet them.

—

These four stories add some flair to the Sword Art Online universe, but still leave a lot to be desired. Aincrad is a vast and wonderful world, filled with ten thousand people’s stories–two volumes are better than one, but there’s still tons of meat on that bone. Mr. Kawahara agrees as well, regretting that the Aincrad storyline is only solved in one volume. To correct this, he started the Sword Art Online: Progressive series in 2012.

The Progressive series starts from the very beginning. I mean, the very beginning. The first volume only covers the first two floors. Kawahara, in his afterward for the first volume of Progressive states that “I wrote the story [Sword Art Online] as a submission for the Dengeki Novel Award, so I had to finish the story with the game being beaten, right in the very first installment.” Wow. So that explains why it was wrapped up so soon. The first volume quite literally was what he was going to submit in 2002. In a sense, it’s actually very cool, since what we’re reading is pretty much the first thing he wrote. One of the payoffs of reading the series is seeing the growth in Kawahara’s writing.

Continuing on, he also says that “Later on, I wrote a number of shorter prequel stories that filled in gaps (see Volumes 2 and 8), but they’re more like little episodes, and don’t focus on the meat and potatoes of the players advancing through the game.” Okay, so we did read Volume 2, but I’m not going to read Volume 8. This review is already long enough as it is. Moving on, I’m so glad that he gets that what supplements he wrote are substandard, especially for a great concept like Sword Art Online. They just don’t quite scratch the itch for people like me.

Moving backward, it’s pretty absurd to see an author so freely critique and criticize his most known and successful work. It was popular enough to have people begging him to write more when it was a web novel. It was somehow impressive enough to have it published as a light novel, which then had an anime adaptation that blew up in popularity, and since then has had several sequels and even a spin-off. It’s a staple ‘starting anime’ to this day, nearly a decade after it aired. It makes me respect him a lot to admit what he really thinks, and try to ‘rectify’ it in a sense. The Progressive series contains many ret-cons of the original novel. The biggest to me is when Asuna and Kirito meet–in the first volume, Asuna and Kirito are just kinda together forever already, and we’re supposed to care about it–but in Progressive, they meet a lot earlier. On the first floor. This change is for the good, because we get to see their relationship from the start. We get to see them slowly become lovers, rather than be dropped off via timewarp to literally a week before they get married. There are also characters from the original novel, like Agil and Kiabou, along with new ones.

So, is it worth it to read the Sword Art Online series? To be quite honest, I think it’s only worth reading the Progressive series, and that’s if you’re into the concept of Sword Art Online. I’ve only read the first volume of the Progressive series, and while it's miles better than the original series, it still wasn’t great. That’s only the first volume though. Kawahara has written a total of eight Progressive volumes–usually releasing them once a year. The funny part is that the SAO light novel series didn’t have an original arc until 2017. The guy got 18 volumes of content from what was basically something he wrote for fun. I know light novels aren’t the longest things, but that’s a lot of words! So basically, this arc up to the Alicization arc was already written by 2008, and Kawahara was only able to write new arcs when the light novel caught up to where his web novel was when the series was originally published. That’s quite a mind boggle. It also pieces together why it became big enough in Japan to warrant an anime adaptation. Since there was already a web novel, Japanese readers had the opportunity to read past where the light novel is, if they didn’t ready before reading SAO. The context it was released makes it suffer from poor-quality writing and bad pacing, but those gaps could be filled by the web novels, which were only ever released in Japanese. The light novels began being translated into English in 2014, two years after the anime aired. Most of those who bought the light novel had already watched the anime. This means that my theoretical person whose first experience with SAO is with these light novels was likely a larger minority than I originally thought. Sword Art Online really is a weird series!

It might be worth a read of the main series–only after you’ve read all of the Progressive series that is. I mean, it’s up to you. The anime series has adapted the light novels up to the end of the Alicization Arc. You could either watch it or read it. That is, if you wanted to in the first place, which I highly doubt.

‘Kirito’s Law’ is a slight deviation from the more well-known ‘007’s Law’–basically, any woman who interacts with Kirito for more than four hours has a fifty-fifty chance of falling in love with him. Unlike ‘007’s Law’, these women pass away ten times less often. These two terms were made up by me at the time of writing this.

[ssamou]

> **LOCATION:** MOVIE THEATERS

You're not sure if the last riddle could be more obvious... it gives away the movie it had been describing and that first official date had been etched into your mind from how eventful it was. There had been the movie, yes, but you had also returned to the arcade, gone out to dinner, had a blast in an karaoke booth and finally... the romance of the night-time drive. That part, you knew, was Jeongguk's favorite part of the entire night.

Without wasting time, you head to the same theater that you had went to on your first date and had never returned to after finding you both much prefer the intimacy of watching movies in the comfort of Jeongguk's apartment. Upon walking in, your hit with the scent of fresh popcorn and gaze around the venue until your eyes eventually land on Hoseok. He's standing there with a flower bouquet in the same style to the first one you ever got from your boyfriend—the same one where he rambled about flower meanings out of nervousness—and another letter.

"you came here, that means you solved the last riddle. I know you must be very nervous and curious what the end of this small trip will be." Hoseok made a few dance moves to reach both his arms out to her in a formal bow to hand her both the flowers and the letter "i sure hope you will get to solve this riddle too!"

> *"Don't you just love the smell of movie theaters? I normally do, but now when I smell the scent of popcorn I can only really think about this date. Isn't that funny? It's funny to me, simply because I never paid attention to a minute of the movie playing on the screen, despite knowing it was one you wanted to see. But how could I when you were sitting next to me? Looking gorgeous in your white and red outfit in an adorable attempt to match me as anime characters you dubbed was like us; Kirito and Asuna.*

>

> *I caught on quickly to what you did but I pretended I didn't realize because of how.. nervous it made me. I mean, you wanted to match with me? On our first real date? God, I swear my heart was going to jump out of my chest from how fast it was beating. But all I could focus on was how beautiful you are, and I was unable to stop myself from leaning over and stealing kisses in that back row of the theater.. despite joking from before that'd I'd sneak you out to bathrooms for kisses. That never really happened, did it?*

>

> *While I loved everything about that day, nothing will ever replace how I felt driving with you in my car as it rained and the moon hung overhead. I felt a lot then, but really, it was all overpowered by the sheer adoration I felt for you. How much I loved you. Perhaps that's why I couldn't help pulling over and pulling you onto my lap in an intense need to be closer. As close as we could be. That night will be forever one of my favorite dates."*

>

> ─── ⋆⋅ ♡ ⋅⋆ ───

>

> **In a world beneath the waves, where secrets reside,

> Our love story bloomed on a K-drama-inspired tide.

> A surprise awaited, a memory so grand,

> In this aquatic realm, where love's dreams expand.

>

> Where colorful fish danced in a watery ballet,

> A date inspired by dramas, in a romantic display.

> To unveil the next scene, where our love did unfold,

> Visit this place, where the mysteries of love are told.**

What's the answer to the next riddle?

♡ 메시지 𓂃 ⋆ #koobie's scavenger hunt??

answer: the aquarium where we had our first 'bicker'; but it was also the first time i realized just how much i loved you.

it feels odd roaming around a theater when it's empty. she's so used to the bustling nature of it and people running around in their own scenarios—this date was their first. it was also extremely different from any other date they'd have from then on. in this one, jeongguk took her to a lot of places despite the two of them being so intimately greedy with one another.. it was the beginning of their relationship anyways, back then they couldn't get enough even if it had only been a few hours. not that she minded. all the public shows of intimacy felt special in a sense since the two wouldn't usually be able to do those kind of things.

but this one was special. it was their first official date even though they've been together for roughly a month. then probably the last official date besides a handful here and there. it's true that the couple agreed they've preferred simply cuddling at his apartment all day.

though, finding hobi standing in that theater with a bouquet of flowers had another smile tugging at her lips, which seems to be a common occurrence since the beginning of this.

chaewon made her way to the man, blinking in surprise at his matching theatrics to jimin's. even though she didn't fully know what all of this was for, or the randomness of it all, she was sure the entire thing would become a memory she'd keep to old ages. the fact all their friends are involved make it something more memorable since her and her boyfriend tend to be quite antisocial most of the time.

she gives hobi a small giggle before taking the flowers and letter from him. it honestly surprises her how easy the riddles in the notes were given these things happened so long ago. it brings a little warmth to her to know that they both always remembered the same things and their importance in the relationship.

"hobi, join the train," she teased at him, "i think the next stop is the aquarium."

just don't mind her if she stops mid-way to check out the sharks and jellyfish again.

[miraculart]

Contemplations over Cookie Dough and Christmas Time in the Cabin

———

Christmas Writing Prompt themed one-shot.

Kazuto and Asuna share a tranquil moment in their new home. A well-earned, much needed reward.

———

“Don’t. You. Dare.” Asuna whipped around to face Kazuto, drawing her blade from its sheath. The look in her eyes was deadly, fires burning hotter than any dungeon he had seen decorated her irises. “That’s it,” he thought to himself, “there is nothing more terrifying than the woman who stands before me.” He had said it many a time before, yet every time he did, that fear became admiration, and that admiration reminded him of just how grateful he was to stand by her side. He would not want to fight her in earnest. Luck be with the poor sap caught on the wrong end of her blade.

He shuddered at the thought, throwing his hands up in defeat. “Alright. I won’t come any closer.” He sighed, slowly dropping his hands to his sides before darting under her arm.

Thinking he escaped the zone of danger, he shot out his arm, vying for the prize so close at hand. He was met with a resounding “thwack!” His fingers smarted obnoxiously, his poor, innocent digits were crushed under the pressure of Asuna’s lightning fast reflexes. The burning pain staggered up his tendons, causing him to drop to his knees on the floor, clutching his hand to his heart. Okay, so he was being dramatic. Why shouldn’t he try to gain some sympathy points?

Asuna sneered at him, “I told you. Don’t. Touch.” Kazuto rolled over to face her, cradling his injured fingers to his chest. He looked up at her with his best impression of a sopping wet kitten in a cardboard box. Outside in the rain. Alone. He let his hair dangle around his midnight eyes as he attempted to appeal to her softer, more nurturing nature- “Oh, don’t you start with that.” She rolled her eyes, scoffing at his childish display. She was grateful though. He was finally starting to act like himself again. They had been through so much, the two of them. And yet, here they were, facing their biggest challenge yet: Preparing to host a Christmas party.

He started up again, attempting a feint to get to the mixing bowl behind her. She parried, “If you eat any more cookie dough we won’t have enough cookies to decorate for everyone. Help me roll them out or go decorate something.” She gestured unenthusiastically to the remainder of the space, filled with big storage boxes filled with shiny and sparkly additions to their new home.

They’d finally done it this year. They found a little lake place like the one they bought in Aincrad all those years ago. The reality of that wasn’t lost on either of them, having lived so many lives over with one another, this reality, however tangible it may seem to others, was often a point of concern for the pair. They would wake up from nightmares consoling one another, reminding each other that this is the world they are truly living in, the lives they truly lead. Not to say that the experiences they’ve had up to this point haven’t been real, but that this reality isn’t a virtual existence.

As Kazuto busied himself setting up the dining area, rather haphazardly at that, Asuna couldn’t help the smile that crept on to her face. Finally, the memories they’re making aren’t under a death threat. A gun, a sword, a magic psychopath, or a super computer world domination scheme. These memories are pure, untainted by blood stains and death, by betrayal and battle fields. This peace was earned. This slice of heaven, straight out of a bad Christmas romcom was theirs. Finally and truly.

She continued rolling out cookie dough and pressing shapes into the slabs. Carefully moving each little snowflake and gingerbread man to the oven trays for baking. She hummed as she worked, dancing around the kitchen, in her element, hair tied up in a barely contained bun. And then she hit something solid in front of her.

She looked up from her work to find Kazuto, grinning silly over her, dangling a mangled piece of mistletoe from some forgotten holiday box of years past. He looked positively proud of himself, standing before her in his Christmas pajamas, hair tousled from their previous altercation, with his dried up, shriveled up, saddest-excuse-for-a-plant mistletoe that he found. The sight was akin to a young cat, presenting its owner with the toy mouse it had “hunted” and “killed.” God she loved him.

She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her lips as she cupped his face. His arm moved around her waist, holding her in an all-too-familiar embrace. She kissed him gently, forcing herself to move out of his grasp. There was still much work to be done after all! He groaned as she pulled away, tapping him lightly on the nose.

“We have guests in two hours, play time can wait until later.” She spun back to her work in the kitchen, a deep blush settled on her cheeks. No matter how many years, how many lifetimes they have been together, he still made her blush like a teenager. Not that she would admit that.

[goblin-waifu]

Welcome to the new age part 13

The beach seemed to be in a daze. While most still went off to the party, there seemed to be this fog around everyone in regard to the change in command. Everyone gave the militants more room than normal, and Asuna did everything she could to avoid them as much as possible.  

With Kuina posted up on one part of the hall, Asuna kept her eyes on another part, walkie in hand as Chishiya went to work. Now that they knew where the real safe was, it was now time to get the cards and run. But after the stunt with Arisu there was the fear that there would be eyes on the room. Of course, the militants were too busy throwing their weight and partying to really care. Aguni was sulking somewhere, and Niragi was busy. 

There was a bitter taste in both women’s mouths when thinking about what would happen to Usagi, but Asuna planned to get her and Arisu and escape as quickly as possible. Closing her eyes, she let out a breath before bringing the walking up. “Hurry up cat eyes.” She said softly, smiling at the nickname she had given him the night before.  

“That was supposed to stay between us.” He said back, a hint of annoyance in his voice, but she could also hear the amusement. Kuina didn’t have to say anything, but there was no doubt in Asuna’s mind that she was smiling.  

Asuna was lost in thought for a moment when she heard “Remind me not to get on your bad side.” Came from Kuina. It was a thought that had crossed her mind as well, and she wondered what happened to those that did. She glanced around the empty hall, making sure to keep a lookout as Chishiya replied back “Yeah, I get that a lot.” 

Before long, he was victorious and had the cards. “I’m going to go get Arisu and Usagi.” She said into the walkie, pushing off the wall. She waited for a reply, her feet carrying her towards Niragi’s room.  

“Asuna, leave them. We have to leave before anyone realizes the cards are gone.” Chishiya called back, and she stopped walking. She knew he was right. If they got caught the punishment would be bad, but she couldn’t just leave Usagi.  

“I can’t leave her to Niragi.” She stated, starting to walk again when that bad feeling in her gut hit again. She ran to Niragi’s room, her boots thudding on the floor, echoing in the empty hall. She stepped into her brother’s room just in time to see the TV turned on, the white screen bright.  

Niragi looked at her in anger for stepping into his room, already knowing why she was there, but his eyes settled on the TV, laughing when the 10 of hearts was shown on the screen. “I called it.” She groaned, rubbing her temples. She hadn’t expected The Beach to become one of the Arena’s, but it made sense. Though how the game masters knew about those problems within the beach in order to choose this night for a game made her suspicious. One of the game masters had to be an executive.  

A thought for another day she told herself as she pulled Usagi out of the room. “Go find Arisu. He has to be locked in one of the rooms and he needs to be a part of this game.” Shoving the girl down the hall, Asuna ran to the main entrance, meeting up with Chishiya and Kuina. 

“You were right.” He said simply, glancing over at her. His hook was pulled over his head, something he seemed to do every game. She nodded, glancing at him. 

“I didn’t expect this to be the Arena, but it makes sense. Considering everything that has happened.” She muttered back, closing her eyes for a moment. “I sent Usagi to find Arisu. He needs to participate in this game to up his visa, and we have no choice but to play.” Chishiya nodded, his eyes on the body before them. 

She finally took in the sight before them, looking at the body on the floor. Someone had killed her and left her in the place with the most traffic. However, it would also be empty for a time, meaning it would be a perfect spot for murder.  

Game: Witch Hunt. 

Time Limit: 2 hours. 

There is a witch among you all. They have murdered one of your own and you must find them. When you find the witch, burn them in the fire of judgement to clear the game. Players win when the witch is found. Players lose if the with is not found within the time limit. 

The announcement started, everyone looking at a fire was lit in the back. Just as everyone started to panic, Asuna looked at Chishiya. “This is going to be really bad.” She whispered, her eyes landing on Niragi and Aguni as they pushed through the crowd. 

“We have guns, so we’re not the Witch.” Aguni said, hands in his pockets. This didn’t seem to settle anyone, as fingers started to point at Momoka’s friend, then at Usagi. “Start burning people until we find the witch.” Aguni added after a moment, causing Niragi to cheer and let off a few shots. 

A hand on hers brought her out of her panicked thoughts, brain buzzing with ways to stop her brother. How to save everyone. Who the witch could be. Chishiya dragged her and Kuina into the surveillance room, the door shutting and locking. 

“Let’s lay low here and see what we can find out.” He squeezed her hand, looking at her in a way that told her to breathe. He saw all the ways her brain was working and knew it wouldn’t help anyone if she couldn’t focus. 

Finally getting her breathing under control, she nodded her head before looking at the screens. “It’s going to be a blood bath.” She sighed, never once letting go of Chishiya’s hand despite Kuina’s questioning look.  

[healeroflightanddark]

Family Ties, Chapter 8: Big Family

After breakfast, the Yuus went to explore the farm. Three of their cousins joined them, wanting to spend time with them and show them around. They introduced themselves as Ari, Kyo, and Megumi, and they were Auntie Asuka’s triplets.

“Hang on,” Yuya said slowly when the triplets introduced themselves. “So you guys are triplets, and then Auntie Ren, I think it was? has twins, and Mean Old Uncle is Mom’s twin…”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of twins and triplets in our family,” Megumi replied. “Uncle Ichiro, Uncle Toshiro, and Auntie Fumiko are triplets, Mom and Auntie Kaede are twins, Uncle Haru and Auntie Yoko are twins, Uncle Hiroshi, Auntie Sakura, and Kagura are triplets, but Kagura’s not really welcome in the family anymore after what she did. Then there’s Cousin Miki and Cousin Niko, the oldest cousins, they’re 32-year-old twins. Next is Cousins Hiroto, Mei, and Len, they’re 31-year-old triplets. Then comes 30-year-old Hina, she’s one of the few cousins that isn’t a twin or triplet, then 29-year-old twins Akiko and Akito, then 29-year-old triplets Seiichi, Tadashi, and Mio, then 29-year-old triplets Emi, Saki, and Yuki, then 28-year-old triplets Kenji, Nobuo, and Hiro, then 27-year-old twins Ayame and Ayano, then Ari, Kyo, and me, we’re also 26, then 26-year-old twins Daichi and Ryuichi, then 24-year-old twins Kasumi and Mitsu, then 24-year-old Yuno, then 23-year-old twins Kotone and Kai, then 21-year-old triplets Takumi, Kazuo, and Isamu, then 21-year-old twins Miwa and Misaki, then 21-year-old triplets Haruko, Rei and Asuna, then 20-year-old Yumiko, and finally 19-year-old Mayumi.”

Yuya frowned. “Mom is only 34, right? Doesn’t that mean that Cousins Miki and Niko were born two years after she was?”

“Yep, Uncle Haru and Auntie Yoko were surprise babies,” said Ari. “All of their siblings were between 18 and 21 when Grandma found out she was pregnant with them.”

Yuri hummed, intrigued. “So, which of our cousins belong to which parents?” he asked

“Miki and Niko are Auntie Ren and Uncle Hiroshi’s kids,” Kyo replied. “Hiroto, Mei, and Len are Auntie Kaede and Uncle Akira’s kids. Akiko, Akito, Yuno, Miwa, and Misaki are Uncle Jun and Kagura’s. Emi, Saki, Yuki, Kotone, Kai, Haruko, Rei, and Asuna are Auntie Fumiko and Uncle Ryou’s. Hina, Seiichi, Tadashi, Mio, Kenji, Nobuo, and Hiro are Uncle Toshiro and Auntie Amaya’s. Ayame, Ayano, Daichi, Ryuichi, Kasumi, Mitsu, Takumi, Kazuo, and Isamu are Uncle Ichiro and Auntie Sakura’s. And the three of us and Mayumi are your Auntie Asuka and Uncle Takeshi’s kids.”

Yugo was quiet for a moment, then slowly looked at Yuya. “How many cousins do we have on Dad’s side, Yuya?” he asked with trepidation. Yuya replied, “Only four.”

To which Yugo let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god, it’s going to be hard enough keeping track of all the cousins on Mom’s side.”

Ari, Kyo, and Megumi all laughed. “Don’t worry, little cousin!” Kyo reassured him. “We all lose track all the time. If you forget a cousin or a name or call someone by the wrong name, nobody will be offended.”

[witchoftrinity]

1 from basics, 2 from OCs !

Munday Questions

Do you tell your friends / family that you write?

Half my friends are also writers writers/rp people too so its a boon to my sanity when I don't need to explain how out of pocket my muse choices are. As for my family well...yeah I haven't lmao.

They do know I do DND stuff so realistically it shouldn't be too hard to explain this as well. It'd be more trying to tell them the muses I do and not sound like a lunatic.

Who was your first OC?

its been so long I wouldn't even know. Beyond DND characters there's definitely around 2 dozen characters just lost to time that I wrote down concepts for and never really expanded upon.

I think the first real one I developed significantly was a Fate Master that I still use relatively often to this day. She wasn't anything special, really most of it was just other character traits that I cut off and slapped onto her but that's what we all did way back when. Nowadays I actually have a coherent idea of who they are and not some hobbled mess but goddamn their FC changed a few hundred times and really shows how my tastes went.

I'm talking like Deadman Wonderland to Tokyo ESP to Otherside Picnic to whatever is on my mind today. If you ask how it got to that point I LITERALLY would not be able to tell you it just happened. But she's someone I sat down and wrote out a backstory and all that jazz. Nowadays there's stuff like XIV where I can shove most of my energy and call it a day. But past Allul was crazy don't screw with them.

How do you create an OC? What are your steps for developing an OC?

I'm very sorry that this part is long but really its just me rambling with my bad opinions especially as someone who does canons a lot more nowadays. Anyway...

"Just do it. Within reason." - Allul 2k24

This is like 30% a shitpost but also like 70% serious. I feel too many people get hung up on handling everything at once rather then taking it one step at a time. Your mind (especially someone like myself who goes full ADHD constantly) just can't work that way delegating everything to where it needs to go. Then you lose motivation, do nothing, all the above and nothing ever gets done. At least that's how I've noticed my mind goes.

Basically my mindset goes

1. Jot down the idea for a character or group of them. 2. Ruminate over how/what they might do in said setting. Main goal smack dab in the middle. 3. What forces/motivations are helping them reach that goal? Friends? Foes forcing their hand? Outside forces beyond our comprehension? Those are the circles around that middle goal. 4. Other ideas, potentially characters that are intertwined with them, etc.

So Teacher Allul is in session and four an example like this I'll do a certain someone that reared their head here for awhile. Ofc I feel DND works off different rules because you are (usually) at the DM's mercy but that doesn't mean you can't have a compelling OC.

For Asuna "Step 2" I really wanted to try and push the whole "sheltered royalty wants to find out about the real world" vibe but not make it basically her defining character purpose. "Step 3's" forces that influenced her was...well her actually dying and coming back as a ghost on top of the world ending threat that the campaign had. The people she met along the way and getting closure with those intertwined with her own past helped motivate her IC to keep pushing to finally get some that ending she wanted and still open the book for more adventures down the road.

For your own characters just existing in their own universes or other canonverses you definitely have more breathing room since you can fill them into the blanks or have something in the story influence them. It helps ease your mind and connects the goals much easier then your own mind. But ofc YMMV and most importantly, you should have fun! If something isn't seeming right look at it later and find out what you aren't enjoying. it's your character and you can do whatever the hell you want.

[lintsins]

"@indygotcha I don't think that at all! I'm happy you vented" - Me

I love hearing people's thoughts on SAO, as I also have a lot of complicated thoughts on it! I also appreciate you didn't go full "SAO 2012 fanboy" on me, as they were VICIOUS back in the day. In fact, I'll give you my own rant on SAO, and hopefully I'll assuage some of your fears on SAO fading into obscurity.

For context, I'd say I'm a weird fan of SAO. I grew up with it, and thus my thoughts change on it as I got older. At first, I was a genuine fan, then THAT scene with Asuna and Oberon happened and it felt like a betrayal, and I became a hater esp bc I learned more abt writing analysis, then as I grew older, I came to appreciate it for what it was, and I feel that its cultural impact is not appreciated.

I'm not a stan, so I enjoy poking fun at the anime and some of the events in the novel (so SAO Abridged is indeed great XD), but I'm not a hater either. I feel more like a movie critic, like you don't expect a movie critic to be all that invested in the movie beyond their analysis.

I think my stance on it is best summed up in Mother's Basement's last video on the topic, where he praised SAO's Mother's Rosario arc and noted that SAO, while it has some struggles with aspects like character work and storytelling and women, it had a masterful grasp on tone/aesthetics.

It really managed to sell the mundane beauty of living in a fantastical world, [much like Dungeon Meshi does], in a way that many of its isekai descendants/precedents fail to do or are not interested in doing.

a beautiful interaction/connection between kirito and a middle aged man, who used to be an IT department head and became a simple fisherman within the game's world

I think that's a beautiful thing to explore because it's a wonderful metaphor for what it's like for people to grow up with video games. Video Games, while to most people are just games, to others it's where they made their best friendships, events, and favorite achievements. It is its own world, but also intimately tied to their real life.

this is a visual version of the metaphor. the code is shaped into beautiful rolling hills, like real life grassy plains. the code touch grass lol

Thus, Kawahara's choice in having an MC gamer, traumatized shut-in like Kirito trapped in a video game world is genius, and the show/book really do a lot to sell the everyday mundanity of what that would be like. (The cooking date episode and murder mystery episode are a lot of fun for that reason, even if they're not "plot.")

As for its cultural impact and WHY it blew up, I'll say this:

Kawahara was born at the right time to make SAO. He grew up with video games, and technology/trends made it feasible to think of VR worlds. It's like how the bullied niche of comic nerds grew up to direct Marvel movies -- his childhood interests were luckily something that became trendy as he grew older, making it prime for him get in ahead of everybody else.

On top of that, Kawahara’s amateur writing was kind of a plus. Amateur anime writers tend to lean more into tropes that they like, as he did with his admiration for Berserk, as well as bald wish fulfillment, which is perfect for mainstream anime. Don't fix what ain't broke, even if you might not win mainstream writing awards or something. Plus, Death Games were HYUGE at the time, like Hunger Games, Danganrompa, Future Diary, and Fortnite, which drew people in (even if that's not really a huge part of SAO's legacy in this analysis).

Culturally, we were finally at a place where the internet was ubiquitous with young people AND Kawahara's longtime experience with gaming meant that he could accurately capture an experience that the new mainstream would finally be knowledgeable enough to appreciate-- the digital world.

As I've said before, Kawahara was amazing at blending/connecting the real world with digital ones. "IF YOU DIE IN THE GAME YOU DIE IN REAL LIFE," Asuna and Kirito's "real name vs username" conversation mirroring conversations many people have with friends they've made from online spaces, Kirito stumbling across his cousin in the digital world without realizing, Kirito trying to bring his digital daughter into the real world with robotics, Yuuki being a girl who can only really live inside VR because her body is too weak to go out into the real world.

In the past, this wouldn't have been a trend because too many people touched grass for that to be a popular topic. After all, the idea of people 'living' on the internet didn't make sense until relatively recently. But because the Internet had become so entrenched in Gen Z's lives, Kawahara's interest in connecting the real with the digital resonated with a lot of people.

Previous 'isekai' like log horizon I feel still came too early to hit that ipad baby generation lol and also didn't really do the transition/explanation of isekai very well. Log Horizon made it into a mystery off-screen, which means it kinda throws you in the deep end, whereas SAO made it a plot point, so we experience the transition from ep 1. This connection of the real world to the virtual world is important, as gaming and the internet are not disconnected from our reality but instead are intimately tied to it.

So, while others have said that Kawahara's idea of "trapped in a new world" was nothing groundbreaking for fantasy (It's called portal fantasy, and Narnia lol is the easiest example to point to), I'd say that misses the point -- portal fantasy is nothing new, but the connection to the Internet/video game/modern aesthetics to the new world IS new. That's SAO's impact and genius.

Isekai meaning "trapped in a new world" is a bit of a misnomer, because what's important isn't just the new world, but also the online/gaming aesthetics. It's not just getting trapped in a new world, but also having a smartphone with you. It's not just having magical powers but having a respawn mechanic like a video game. It's not just European fantasy, but also DND/RPG fantasy, with lingo like "bosses" or "area of effect" or "leveling up."

protagonist of "in another world with my smartphone" with Kirito's face and swords pasted on top. he doesn't look different.

So, while a lot of people discredit SAO's influence in popularizing "isekai" as a legit genre (either bc it doesn't quite fit the way the genre has grown or bc portal fantasy has always existed or bc they hate isekai), that's actually a cultural impact I wish more people would talk about. I can't prove this, but I'd say SAO carved out a new space that would go onto usher in shows like Dungeon Meshi AND SCUM VILLAIN MY BELOVED (which uses a plot device that looks like video game UI called "The System" to drive its plot).

from my Scum Villain animatic

Well, I'd argue Dungeon Meshi is easier to prove, as the show, while not an Isekai, similarly utilizes DND/RPG aesthetics like with the Dungeons/Dungeon Masters/Respawn mechanics (Danmachi was one of those SAO inspired shows and shares these aspects with Dunmeshi, so I feel safe in arguing this.) There's a direct timeline of SAO to "In Another World With My Smartphone" to "Campfire Cooking/Dungeon Meshi" (in terms of anime, at least. in terms of novels, it's a bit more concurrent, but the point stands, as SAO came before them all).

Scum Villain and the "transmigration"/"system" genre is much harder to prove. China, Korea, and Japan often influence each other.

Think the Hallyu Wave or the "Cool Japan" initiative, or the way period C-dramas have created shows like "Ya Boy Kongming" or Apothecary Diaries, or the way the Chinese myth/novel like Journey To the West influenced shonen anime with Dragon Ball) or the way Kpop idol culture influences China, or donghua looking like anime, etc.

I'm not read up enough on the origins of modern trends like isekai and Transmigration / System stories to be able to trace influences the way I wish I could, as that would require things like Korean/Chinese/Japanese fluency and Chinese/Korean/Japanese phone numbers to access their social media sites and such. As such, similarities could be the case of parallel thinking, as I've said that the culture was moving this way regardless of Kawahara.

All I know is that Solo Leveling and Scum Villain were released after SAO's "video game aesthetic" impact on anime, which is an industry that has been influential on Chinese/Korean netizens/culture/art (and vice versa).

So yeah! SAO may not have executed the Blackened Swordsman trope as well as Guts, and he may have inspired a bunch of bland black-haired OP isekai protagonists that Bingge went on to satirize, but it also DID manage to spawn a new genre with its wonderful weaving of video games with reality (including Binghe's story lol).

It may not fit the label of isekai as we've come to know it, but it's like those early genre influential works that transition us from the old to the new, and it should get its flowers for that instead of languishing away into obscurity.

Especially because I feel like we could reframe its flaws into the awkwardness of being a cultural transition, where Kawahara has to shoe-horn a death game to draw people in bc the draw of slice of life isekai hadn't yet been pioneered. I mostly remember slice of life being associated with moe blob high school anime like Lucky Star or K-On! at the time.

For instance, OP fighting abilities is one of SAO's chief criticisms and said criticism is only really a problem in stories where fighting is the appeal because it messes with stakes. Slice of life can often have OP MCs because the point isn't really about the fighting like that, like Frieren's OP elf main character.

With how much Kawahara shined in the mundane aspects of the show, I wonder if slice-of-life fantasy had been a thing at the time, would he have approached SAO differently? (SAO's cooking date episode -> Campfire Cooking's cooking show). Same thing with the slice of life aspects of SAO being called filler bc it doesn't contribute to getting out of the death game. (SAO "why aren't we watching the frontlines?" -> Dungeon Meshi's "why aren't they rushing to save Falin?")

Much like how Akira Toriyama hadn't known how to handle power creep in the Dragon Ball franchise because there weren't any prior shonen to learn from. Such is the trouble of being a pioneer, and I think a cultural retrospective on SAO along these lines would be wonderful in that regard.

just gonna leave this here.

If you’re wondering who the other two are, read this

(semi-related to my Bingqiu Jinlan City Reunion Weeb AU fic)

[kazeyami]

Trigger Warning ⚠️: This one is a fuckin DOOZIE

Honest Review of Sword Art Online

(May contain spoilers)

Well. There’s a lot to say about this one. It has high points, low points, and everything in between. Each arc is written so VASTLY differently from each other it’s almost like you’re watching an entirely different show. Absolutely no consistency whatsoever. Because of this, I’ll be reviewing this show arc by arc.

- First Arc: Aincrad

Absolute doo doo water. I can’t lie to you all, this shit feels like it was written by a high schooler. The idea this show is based on had so much potential but the execution is literal cheeks. The story writing is pretty bland and the entire first season feels like filler lmao. And I didn’t need 5 episodes of hallmark to tell me that Kirito and Asuna are horny teenagers. I will say, the relationship that they have is pretty reminiscent of my own relationship tho. So I was able to relate to the show in that way.

- Second Arc: Alfheim

This arc wasn’t as bad. The story continues on from Aincrad and the story writing got a little better. Character design did not. The biggest gripe I had with this arc is that Kirito was just too OP. Never really felt like we was in danger and it kinda killed the suspense. Not to mention the entire sister thing lmfao. They were going in the right direction with this arc though.

- Third Arc: Gungale

This arc is prolly the worst for inconsistency. The animation got better in this arc but it felt so damn cheap. Here is about the time you start noticing the Laughing Coffin trend. As the first real arc surrounding Laughing Coffin, it wasn’t bad. But some of the story choices really pissed me off. This is also about the time where they start building Kirito a harem which is bullshit and degenerate. Bro already got a wife. The final battle went crazy though and the suspense wasn’t killed like in the previous arc. This one wasn’t as bad comparatively.

- Fourth Arc: Alfheim Part 2

Easily the shittiest arc in the entire show. It starts out as a fucking slice of life, boring as fuck. No real character development or plot. Just bullshit. Pretty sure it’s a filler arc but it continues on into some story. After they get the sword the story starts focusing on Asuna a bit more and goes into an arc for her. This wouldn’t be bad if it wasn’t fucking terrible. It’s like towards the end the writers were like “wow seems the viewers don’t like the slice of life, let’s just give them A CHILD WITH FUCKING AIDS” like what the fuck. The most out of nowhere stupid bullshit I’ve ever watched.

- Fifth Arc: Underworld Pt 1

It starts getting better here. In the beginning it was kinda jarring because you really had no idea what was going on, but the pieces of the puzzle started to connect after a few episodes. The writing was better than any of the other seasons and the story was actually engaging for once. Not to mention they really went crazy with the animation in this arc, so I really enjoyed the fight scenes. The biggest issue I have with both Underworld arcs is they really beat you over the head with the Harem thing. Like if I wanted to see that, I’d just go watch some shitty isekai. Kinda detracted from the serious tone of the show. Also, another laughing coffin mf. They really just used laughing coffin members to stimulate the story and tie it together. It was so cheap. Like “oh a cool antagonist. I wonder what his story is. Fucking oh.. just another LC character wtf”

- Final Arc: Underworld Pt 2

This arc was consistent with the previous arc. I have to say, Alicization kinda redeemed sword art a bit for me. I had to choke through 2 seasons of bullshit to get there, but on its own Alicization isn’t bad. If they had written the entire story like they wrote Alicization, SAO wouldn’t get nearly as much hate as it did. Biggest gripe for this one is Alice turning into a complete bitch. When you first meet her she seems all cool and powerful, but by the end of the show she’s just another crying woman on Kiritos arm fr.

All that to say, SAO is ass. While Alicization wasn’t as bad, it wasn’t good enough for me to ignore the hours of bullshit I went through to get to that part of the story. Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend this show to anyone, but if you just want an action anime to put on in the background while you do other shit, might be a good option. I’m gonna have to give this show a 4/10. Might be better if you were in middle school.

[lunacyn24]

Sword Art Online (Ep 10, 11, 12, 14)

After two plus years, the final boss is finally defeated and the populace that still remains “alive” in Sword Art Online is released from the shackles of being trapped in this man-made AI world. Within episodes 10, 11, 12, and 14 of Sword Art Online, we learn a lot more behind Kirito’s lone-wolf persona, the unknown character, Yui, and the truth behind the Knights of the Blood Oath. After losing a duel with the Head Commander of the guild called The Knights of the Blood Oath, Kirito is forced to join said guild. After this duel, we learn that Kirito was once a part of a small guild, but after every member dies in a trap, Kirito blames himself for their deaths because he knew of the dangerousness of the trap as a beta-tester. Thus, due to his survivor’s guilt, Kirito found it best to distance himself and not grow deep connections with other players, which is honestly lonely and isolating. I know that was his point, which is both understandable and dangerous. Kirito’s self-isolation from guilds is understandable because as the series goes on we see that not everyone is truly as they seem since they’re betraying each other left and right. For instance, what happened with Kuradeel being a member of the Laughing Coffin, the murdering guild, and the killing of Godfree and near death of Kirito. However, Kirito’s loner style is also dangerous in a world where you’re isolated from the real world with no contact or information of what’s going on to your physical body and health, they only know of their HP and that death in SAO means death in the real world. With the introduction of Yui, she is truly an anomaly seeing as she was a girl roaming aimlessly in the forest until Kirito and Asuna found her, she has no memories, and no HP. Despite all of this, Kirito and Asuna take her in as if she were their own child, and protect her to great lengths to the very end when they find out what Yui is, a Mental Health Counseling Program, and what she represents, Cardinal, the system that SAO runs on. Finally, we learn in episode 14, about the truth behind the creator, Akihiko Kayaba,  of SAO, and his façade as Heathcliff, head commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath. All in all, these episodes really touched on the vulnerability and dark side of one’s humanity. We see the dark side of humanity through Kuradeel and the Laughing Coffin, the military men trying to take advantage of the townspeople, and the decline of the populace’s mental health at the beginning and throughout the progression of years trapped in SAO. Vulnerability is found in the genuineness of Asuna and Kirito’s bond, the care of Yui, and the ending of SAO after Heathcliff is defeated. Sword Art Online emphasized the facets of humanity that, as a society, should not be forgotten about, otherwise we’ll lose our way and decline like multiple players did, unfortunately, in this unique world of AI.

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Sword Art Online 27 Unital Ring 6

Author: Reki Kawahara

Illustrator: abec

Label: Dengeki Bunko

Release Date: 7 October 2022

English Release: Yen-press is currently releasing this series in English so check it out if the series interests you.

My Score: 3/5

Once again, I found myself asking throughout this volume why Unital Ring and Return to Underworld aren’t seperate arcs. The two never feel related at all and both plotlines have new elements introduced this volume that complicate them even further and make the story harder to follow. It doesn’t help that large chunks of this volume felt made up of explanations of previous events. I think both stories really would have benefited from being seperate arcs and I just hope that Kawahara is able to connect the two plotlines in a way at the end of the arc to justify them being told at the same time.

Anyway, this volume opens with the Underworld team (Kirito, Asuna, and Alice) being reunited with Selka, Tiese, and Ronie who have just awoken from their deep sleep. Kirito and Asuna are kicked out of the Underworld soon after they wake up because of the time limit but Alice is able to stay for longer so the volume is split between Kirito, Asuna, and the others in Unital Ring, and Alice in the Underworld. In the Unital Ring plotline, the gang has progressed to the second floor of UR and there’s some further potential connections to Aincrad revealed. In the Underworld plotline, Alice learns why everyone decided to go to sleep until Alice’s return and it turns out that there are people other than Selka, Ronie, and Tiese who were frozen in time. We learn more about what happened during Kirito’s and Asuna’s time in the Underworld and there’s some fun reveals there with regards to romance. There’s also the introduction of another plotline in which Kikuoka is working on developing a cat AI product but the cat keeps on acting in a non-catlike way so he requests Kirito and Asuna to find a cat in the Underworld so that they can use it to work on the product. He also gives the prototype to Asuna to look after. This plotline isn’t brought up again after it is introduced but I have to assume that it will become relevant in a later volume.

This volume had some really interesting plot points and character moments but for me it was ruined by the further complication of an already confusing plotline. Again, my hope is that Kawahara is going to do something to connect the plotlines and justify them happening at the same time but, for now, it feels like a bit of a mess.

I will say that this volume did make me want to read Moon Cradle though. I haven’t because I’ve never been that interested in Ronie and Tiese, it seemed skippable, and I assumed it would get adapted into an OVA or something but this volume succeeded in making Ronie and Tiese interesting to me so maybe I’ll finally read them. I do also want to read the first volume of Demons Crest, Kawahara’s new series that just came out, so I’ll do that soon. But first, time to read the new Astrea Record spin-off of Danmachi.

[unyieldingstar]

"If you bring up that damn spoon thing again I swear..." But thankfully Yuri's memories manifested decided to once again interrupt before Asuna smiled and gave a wave before walking on out and breathing a sigh of relief with that little escapade finally finished.

"I swear by the end of this whole venture here in this world I'm going to have to tell you a million times that I did NOT BLUNDER spoons. And if I did I didn't do it on PURPOSE it wouldn't have mattered because I learned to fix my mistakes!"

"Did you now?"

A voice that instantly set off Asuna's fight of flight caused her to turn around from where the two were standing and see a rather tall blonde woman, suited up and all look down towards her.

"I never thought I'd hear those words ever come out of your mouth dear. Did that boy manage to teach you something that we couldn't?"

"...N-No. No he hasn't. Absolutely nothing at all." She paused for a moment to look off to the side, knowing full well that despite this not being real that was indeed the voice of one person.

"...Mother. It's been awhile."

yeah, the small things, yuri pondered, absently watching hanks scold ted for his comments earlier.

"hey, it'd only be fair, wouldn't it? after you getting all this dirt on me," he wasn't serious, of course. 'getting even' really didn't matter much to him in this case. "maybe i'll get to watch a recreation your noble spoon blunder in real time."

sneaking away? there wasn't any reason to get sentimental -- they're just data, after all -- yet his chest ached slightly when he thought about leaving them in the lurch like that. still, he'd gotten the boost he needed, and they were only going to disappear anyway... might as well have it be on his terms. "...sure, why not? lets'--"

"oh, i know that look of yours, yuri--" (when did he--?!) "--you can't fool this old man. what're you two scheming over there?" sharp as always, this guy. hanks was even making a point to stare directly at asuna, too, knowing yuri would just dodge the question.

[writingwhimsey]

My Pirate Lord and Our Life Ch. 72

Chapter 72

“This just might be fun.” Motonari said, that wicked grin on his face. Already imagining payback.

The two men standing in front of him gulped as they looked around the room. They were clearly intimidated by being surrounded by men who could very easily kill them. “So, the story about meeting Ava in Kyoto and a whirlwind romance was obviously a lie.” Ichiro finally spoke up.

“Just left out the part where she traveled through time first.” Sasuke said.

“Who are these men?” Nobunaga asked.

“A couple o’ rats.” Motonari answered.

“Now Lord Motonari, I don’t think that is necessary.” Sasuke said, clearly trying to keep the peace.

Motonari glared at Sasuke a moment, but then turned back to the guys. “This is Ichiro and Tadashi. Former friends of Ava’s from her time.”

“I was more than just a friend.” Ichiro spoke up.

Nobunaga was giving an amused smile from his seat. “An old lover then?”

It was then that Hana started to fuss in Motonari’s arms. He turned his attention from the two men back down to his daughter. He quickly grabbed a bottle and quickly popped it in her mouth. She quickly grabbed on and started to suck it down. “There ya go, minha florzinha.”

Ichiro and Tadashi’s eyes widened once they realized that Motonari was holding a baby. “Wh-what?” Ichiro asked.

Ava…

I woke up after I wasn’t sure how long. I stretched, still feeling sore and stiff. While I appreciated getting to take the extra nap, I was missing my baby and my husband. I pushed myself up from the futon. I opened the door and poked my head out, looking for a maid and I found Hiroyoshi and a few other vassals outside the room.

“Did you need something, Lady Mouri?” Hiroyoshi asked.

“I…I was just looking for one of the maids.” I answered. “I’d like to take a bath.”

Hiroyoshi smiled. “Of course, I’ll get everything ready for you, my lady.” He told me.

“Thank you.” I said.

“Of course.” He replied.

“Is Motonari still in council with the Oda?” I asked.

“Yes, my lady.” He answered.

I nodded. “He still seemed okay with Hana?”

Hiroyoshi smiled. “Yes, Lord Motonari is just fine. He seemed rather happy to be holding her.”

I smiled. It still amazed me how well Motonari was taking to fatherhood. Granted I believed in him, but I also knew he still had his trauma. 

“You are both so good for him.” Hiroyoshi said, smiling fondly.

“As are you.” I replied. I was glad that Motonari had had him even before he had me. I think that man was the reason Motonari hadn’t completely lost his heart in the first place. If he hadn’t been around I might not have been able to help him get it back.

Hiroyoshi gave me a fond smile. “I have only ever done what any good vassal would.”

We shared another smile and I was returning to my room to gather my things. Hiroyoshi was knocking on the door and letting me know when my bath was ready. I was soon relaxing back in the tub, letting the warm water surround me.

While I was relaxing, I heard a knock on the door. “Who is it?” I called.

“It’s us.” Kimi called from the other side.

The door was then sliding open and all three of them were walking in. “We thought we’d come and pamper you again.” Asuna said.

“You guys don’t have to do that.” I said, smiling.

“Ava, you just had a baby. Let us help you.” Kimi replied.

“Just as long as that one promises not to touch me.” I said, pointing to Misa.

Misa held up her hands as if in surrender. “I swear I won’t. And if I do, I’m pretty sure Kimi will smack me.”

“Well, it has been four days.” Kimi replied. “If we were back in the future, she would have already been discharged from the hospital.”

“I know. I know.” Misa replied. “It’s just…you know we are five hundred years from that kind of medicine and I just wanna be sure nothing is wrong.”

“No, you just wanna hide from Nobunaga.” I told her.

“Yeah, every time he tries to talk to you, you run from the room saying you have to check on Ava.” Kimi agreed.

“Well…that’s just a coincidence.” Misa replied, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest.

“Uh-huh.” The rest of us were saying in unison.

Misa glared at us. “Come on, let’s just focus on pampering Ava who had a very exciting day just four days ago.”

“Let’s just leave her alone…for now.” I said.

After that, they were helping me and then I was getting dressed. When we exited, I was missing my family…and also had a feeling that maybe Hana might be getting hungry and the bottles might be empty. Kimi was kind of wanting to see Masamune. So, we were all heading for the council room.

When we walked in I was greeted by one hell of a surprise. I looked over at my friends. “You see them, too? I’m not having a sleep deprivation hallucination?” I asked.

“We’re all in the nightmare.” Misa assured me.

“You say nightmare, I say a great show.” Asuna replied.

“Ah, there is our goddess.”

I looked up surprised to see Shingen and Sasuke had returned. Shingen looked like the picture of health. “Hey there, Ava.” Sasuke greeted.

“When did you guys get back…and did they come with you…and why?” I asked.

“Just a few days ago.” Sasuke answered. “And..well we didn’t intend for them to come along with us.”

“Ava, it’s good to see you…” Ichiro spoke.

I glared at him. “Cut the bull.” I said, walking past them to go sit beside Motonari and Hana.

Motonari was wrapping his arm around me as soon as I sat beside him, kissing the top of my head. “Ya missed us?” He asked, teasingly.

“Well, duh.” I replied, leaning into him and reaching for Hana.

Motonari passed her to me, still keeping his arm around my shoulders. “You know she’s been just fine.” He assured me.

“I know.” I replied.

“So…you…you had a baby with…him?” Tadashi asked.

“You two are a little slow on the uptake there, aren’t you?” Masamune asked.

“Ava was pregnant the last time you guys saw her.” Misa said.

“I’m just glad there’s other people here who might finally be able to help Ava see reason.” Hideyoshi said. “Anyone would be better than Motonari.”

“Yer still on that crap.” Motonari said, looking grumpily at Hideyoshi.

“He does seem to be rather violent.” Tadashi agreed.

“Yeah…that reaction…” Ichiro said.

“None of us here are strangers to violence.” Mitsuhide said. 

“They are warlords for a reason.” Sasuke said.

“I’m pretty sure I already made the decision of who I want to spend my life with.” I said.

“But this guy seems like a rather good guy.” Hideyoshi said, pointing to Ichiro. “And sometimes an old flame can be reignited.”

“He cheated on me.” I said, feeling too tired to be anything other than blunt.

Hideyoshi looked taken aback. “You’re a disgusting bastard for doing that to my little sister.” 

“You…you wanted others when you had this goddess?” Shingen asked. “What is wrong with you?”

“You would think you had a need for others when you had my lucky charm?” Nobunaga asked, his carnelian gaze staring holes into Ichiro.

“Well, this is a fascinating turn of events.” Mitsuhide said, an amused smile on his face.

“You two startin’ ta regret yer decision to follow Sasuke and Shingen yet?” Motonari asked, grinning.

“I…uh…” Ichiro said, visibly sweating.

“I never cheated on Ava.” Tadashi pointed out.

“Because she never dated you.” Asuna said, wanting to stir the pot a bit.

“Not for a lack of Tadashi trying.” Kimi said with a giggle.

“I am bored of this. Can I just kill them?” Kenshin asked, glaring in an impassive manner at the two men. “And then Shingen, you and I will fight to the death.”

I let out a sigh. “How about we don’t kill anyone?” I said.

Motonari gently nudged my head with his nose. “Don’t act like yer not enjoyin’ this, at least a little bit.” He teased me, wearing a warm smile as he looked at me.

“Maybe a little.” I replied, smiling back at him. “But I’m also tired.”

“I don’t care too much about these two,” Shingen said to Kenshin, “but I would rather not fight to the death. I intend to enjoy life to the fullest now…and there are two new goddesses for me to meet as well.” He added this last part eyeing my friends.

“Pretty sure these two have something going on with someone else already, but I’m still currently unattached.” Asuna said, giving Shingen a flirty smile.

“My castle becomin’ everyone’s love shack or what?” Motonari asked with a sigh and a shake of his head. He then looked at me, a playful glare on his face. “I blame you, flower girl.”

“I’ll take the blame for making this castle a happier place.” I replied, smiling at him.

He returned my smile and gently ruffled my hair as he placed a light kiss on my forehead.

“Look, we definitely shouldn’t kill them.” Sasuke spoke up. “To be responsible, we should help them until they can return to the future.”

“That would be the right thing to do.” I agreed with a sigh.

“They should go with you to Echigo.” Misa said. “I mean, they piggy-backed with you guys here. That should make them your responsibility.”

“Oh, but they came because they were looking for Ava.” Asuna said. “So, that would make them Ava’s responsibility.”

I shot Asuna a glare. “You’re just saying that because you want to see some drama.”

“What? There’s no TV here. I gotta get my entertainment from somewhere.” Asuna said with a laugh.

“Ava just had a baby and I think the castle is already getting crowded.” Kimi said.

“At least two of you make some damn sense.” Motonari said.

“Ava, I hate to ask you this…but did you like…I don’t know hit your head or something when you fell through time and decided to stay here?” Tadashi asked, his tone almost polite.

“Nope.” I replied, not even having the energy to really glare at him. I continued to hold Hana close and lean against Motonari.

“Are you just going to ignore the fact that they’ve mentioned killing is?” Ichiro asked.

“Well…yeah. If I don’t mention it, they might forget.”Tadashi remarked.

“Idiots.” Ieyasu muttered.

“Indeed.” Nobunaga agreed. “Ava, what did you ever see in this one?”

“I was young and stupid.” I answered.

“Hey…” Ichiro began to protest.

“Quiet, you.” Nobunaga commanded Ichiro. “You have no room to talk as we discuss what to do with you.”

“Wait…what? We get a say in that.” Tadashi tried to protest.

“Do you even know who you’re talking to right now?” Hideyoshi asked.

“Why should it matter?” Tadashi asked.

“Because that’s Nobunaga Oda.” Misa answered.

Tadashi and Ichiro’s faces both went white as ghosts. “You mean…he who kills the bird that does not sing?” Tadashi asked.

Nobunaga smirked. “Is that how they remember me five hundred years from now? Interesting.”

“Could give ‘em to the kitsune…” Motonari said, a devilish grin on his face. “Or put ‘em ta work on my crew…”

Ichiro and Tadashi both looked scared. I knew Motonari was just joking, having some fun with them…or at least I hope he was. “Come on, be serious.” I said, giving him a look. 

“What? It’s the least I could do after the welcome they gave me to your world.” Motonari replied.

“Be the bigger man.” I told him.

“Just havin’ a little fun.” Motonari replied, frowning. “Don’tcha trust me?”

“More than anyone.” I replied, kissing his cheek.

“I think they should come with us.” Hideyoshi said, after a moment. “We took Ava in when she arrived here…besides I think I need to have a talk with Ichiro.”

“Why do I feel like we have no good options here?” Tadashi asked.

“You might be able to get out of any and all of this alive. I’M the one that they all want to kill.” Ichiro answered.

“Okay, come on guys.” Misa spoke up. “I think you’ve all scared them enough…even if I am enjoying watching Ichiro squirm…we really should help them out until it’s time to go back.”

“Since they followed Lord Shingen and I, I do think we should help them.” Sasuke said.

“It is the right thing to do.” Shingen agreed. “Even if this one is clearly an imbecile. Perhaps I can teach him how to properly treat an amazing goddess. How to please a woman.”

“Well, at least there will be someone else you can traumatize with your nonsense.” Yukimura said with a sigh.

“I don’t need any lessons.” Ichiro said. “Yes I fucked up, but I do know how to please a woman.”

“For any future woman dumb enough to date you, yes you do need lessons.” I spoke up before I could even think to stop myself.

Ichiro looked up at me, his eyes wide. “What? But…you always…”

“She faked it.” Misa, Asuna, and Kimi all spoke up in unison.

“Yeah, well maybe she’s just hard to please.” Ichiro replied.

“Ain’t that hard.” Motonari said matter-of-factly.

“My room was next to theirs in the apartment, she’s definitely not faking it now.” Misa remarked.

Ichiro looked abashed and Tadashi was trying not to laugh. There was a bit more discussion before everyone finally agreed that they would return to Echigo with the Uesugi-Takeda forces. They would all be leaving in a couple of days, so in the meantime, Motonari gave them a room to stay in…on the other side of the castle…under guard.

The council was soon beginning to disburse, Nobunaga approaching Misa. “Misa…”

“I just remembered something I needed to do.” Misa said, jumping up and running from the room.

Asuna, Kimi, and I all looked at each other. “We’re going to have to interfere, aren’t we?” I asked.

“I think so.” Kimi agreed.

“How do you plan on doing that?” Nobunaga asked.

“I think the only thing that will work at this point is locking the two of you in a room together.” Kimi said.

“Probably.” Asuna agreed.

“Just make sure it’s a room far enough from ours.” Motonari said.

“Locking Lord Nobunaga up…I don’t know if that’s a good idea…” Hideyoshi said, clearly concerned.

“We’ll give him the key to get out.” I said.

“Why are you all wanting to even do this?” Mitsuhide asked. “And how would you plan on getting her in the room in the first place?”

“I’ve not seen Misa get this way in a long time.” I answered. “I think it could be good for her.”

Kimi and Asuna were nodding. “We all know why she is this way.” Kimi said. “And…well maybe it’s time to help her move on.”

“What are you talking about?” Nobunaga asked.

“Not our story to tell, but we’ll get Misa to tell you.” I said. “Don’t worry we’ll be your wingmen here.”

“Wingmen?” Nobunaga asked.

“Your backup if you will.” Asuna explained. 

We were quickly devising our plan before getting ready to put it into action. It was time Misa moved on and let her wounds heal and admit to herself that there was something she wanted in life. Someone she wanted.