[Sunder the Gold]

Originally Posted by tusjecht

I reviewd V7 and searched Wikipedia and a couple other sites for the Big Dipper's stars; the only connection seems to be the consistent "Star" theme the author has been using in both SAO and AW, especially for high-level skills and equipment. Here in AW the allusion appears focused on Legion names and equipment, and...beyond that there's no apparent connection.

You know, I knew that each of the great legions' names were star-related, but I never once made the connection that they were ALL star-related.

With (and possibly because of) the exception of Great Wall. I don't see how that's astronomical.

Since you really want to discuss B&W, I'll say this: Lotus is definitely the epitome of "rejecting all other." Four sword limbs that cannot be touched without losing your fingers and a couple of limbs, pure black that refuses to be dyed any colour, it's safe to say that from this alone, Black represents "isolationism."

I agree that this theory seems very feasible, and repeat that it matches with Aqua Current. Someone who wants to hide as many aspects of his or her self as possible from others, and rejects any "impurities" from her featureless, near-formless self.

I tend to regard Vise with less credibility, however. Not only am I inclined to believe he found a way to change his colour (and possibly fake another avatar's shape), his avatar doesn't support the idea of "isolationism."

I wouldn't go so far as the idea that he changed his shape, since his form of panels is directly related to the idea of "vise".

Shiyumi, simply quoting the state of Vise' mind when using IS does not necessarily mean that is equal to his nature! Counter-example: Crow activates Laser Sword by thinking "I can be fast," but his nature is to fly away from everything!

Haruyuki's idea of "fly" is bound up in the idea of "speed". He threw his whole heart into that virtual squashball game, attaining greater and greater speeds.

To Haruyuki, flying is part of going faster, and flying fast is the same as flying high, and flying high is the same as "transcending". There's also a strong element of "escape" rather than "self-improvement", as he wanted to escape his physical and social circumstances.

Pard, on the other hand, may have conflated her idea of "speed" with "groundspeed". Rather than dreaming of flight, she may have dreamed of speeding along the ground like a motorcycle or great cat. It's possible that, unlike Haruyuki, she desired self-improvement rather than escape.

Different people view similar concepts through different metaphors. Takumu's metaphor for revenge was "stabbing-thrust". If he had dreamed instead of defeating his tormentors in fair matches through superior skill and speed, he probably would not have gotten his Pile-Driver, but instead the Cyan Blade, which represents his love for and dedication to kendo, and his refusal to give up in the face of bullying.

Sky Raker was born of two wishes: The wish to reach the stars, and the wish for legs that worked. So the avatar has powerful legs, capable of great speed and jumps, and also a rocket pack that can take its owner high into the sky. Perhaps if she was born with working legs and didn't strongly desire something she didn't have, her avatar would have been more completely focused on the rocket pack.

Where the heck did Bonus Points come from?

There are a lot of terms to keep straight, so I just assumed he meant "Level Up Bonus choices" and got it mixed up with terms from other games. Brain Burst's rules are more than a bit unique.

We seemed to have missed that Shiyumi assumes potential means the same thing everywhere. Just to distinguish for the benefit of doubt:

To summarize further:

Dusk Taker has two different potentials: The same potential that everyone else has, in regards to the sum of his personal abilities.

And the potential he can attain by stealing the maximum amount of other people's potential. He has a limit to the potential he can steal, but by grabbing as much as possible, his effective potential is greater than anyone else's of the same level.

Which is made more pronounced by the fact that his victims have LOST potential, which gives him an even greater advantage against them in re-matches.


One can also say that all avatars have two potentials: Their current potential, which is equal to that of every other avatar of the same level. And their future potential at different levels, which is still equal to other avatars of the same levels.

If I have this right: you're saying, it's like as if Crow chose Rapid Knuckle as his bonus instead, and poured in enough bonuses for it to become something much more powerful, is that what you're saying?

Yes. It's as if Crow had never discovered Flight or started with Headbutt, but instead bought a Special Move upon leveling up and then kept upgrading that new Special Move.

So, at Level 4-5, it would be a Silver Crow who was a nigh-untouchable hit-and-run pugilist. Still very weak against other avatars of the same level, just as Dusk Taker was nearly driven to use Incarnate Skills to defeat Silver Crow once he started flying.

Because other than that, I don't think Dusk Taker was created other than the purpose of having an NTR antagonist to add to the mix, for it to be so flawed in conception and having glaring inconsistencies.

But my theory seems sound, and would explain away some of the inconsistencies. That said, I don't think your idea couldn't be exactly right.

At least Blood Leopard was somewhat logical (and backed up by the bull-headed Yellow Legionnaire in the anime).

The bull might have been a goof-up, like having Ivory Tower at the meeting where Red Rider died.