Accel World - FanFiction Discussion

[Sunder the Gold]

Let's consider this scenario:

Spoiler:

You're talking to someone who has only watched the animated series thus far, and has not yet touched the light novels or otherwise heard anything about Ash Roller and Rin.

This person wants to write a fanfic in which a duel avatar is created exactly like Ash Roller was. This is completely coincidental; they just happened to come up with the idea on their own. This person then posts here and asks what people think of the idea.

Going by your previous behavior on the Q&A thread and elsewhere, you would not only tell them it was canonically possible in the setting, you would outright tell them that Ash Roller was the example.

That's too much information. That's going beyond telling them what they asked for, by giving them spoilers they didn't ask for.

It's much safer to provide LESS information and leave the other person to ask for more if they decide they want to know.

For example, after telling them that such a thing was canonically possible, if they then outright asked you which character was the canonical example of what they wanted to do, you can tell them. If they complain, it's their own fault for asking.

For a practical example of "reveal less, let them ask", you can say that Grandee has an ability called Parsec Wall, and let ME decide if I want to ask when and against whom he uses it.

[Tusjecht]

What about anime adaptations of LN scenes, i.e scenes from V1-V4 that have been animated? I have the reference material for the first part of an answer on hand; let's make this a right first step.

Edit: Wait, that was covered already. More precisely: what about material that already refers to Ash Roller, an unavoidable conclusion given the exclusive nature of duel avatars?

[Sunder the Gold]

Originally Posted by tusjecht

What about anime adaptations of LN scenes, i.e scenes from V1-V4 that have been animated?

I can't speak for other people, but if there's information in a LN that didn't make it to the adapted episode, I don't consider it a spoiler.

For example, the LNs make it very clear that Silver Crow and Ash Roller had fought a number of times between their rematch in episode 1 and their next on-screen appearance after Dusk Taker's arrival.

There's also how Scarlet Rain refers to her handgun as her most powerful weapon, or the whole story concerning Crimson Kingbolt's reputation back in Tokyo.

Of course, in large part, this is because the adaptations are so faithful. The additional details just fill in and clarify what the anime already revealed.


The point's a bit moot for me, now, since I've read all of the LN translations for the first four volumes, as well as the first chapters of the Volume 6. Plus everything translated for The Elements sidestories.

Nothing's available for Volume 5, but I know the synposis for what happens.

Spoiler for Roller:

I'm not asking for any information on Roller. I was using him as an example, since he's a neat combination of "an unusual thing which is possible" and "a secret that works better when not revealed until the proper time".

[Tusjecht]

Alright then, so little bits of info at a time then, that's what I take it you mean.
Some anime scene that was taken from V3:

After screaming "If there is an accident I will dieee‟ in his brain, Haruyuki suddenly realized.
It was this kind of vehicle.
This machine, other than putting out speed, did not think of anything else. The engine that turns while exploding the valuable fossil fuel without thinking of waste, the complicated transmission, and the desperately thick tires, were all designed to just run fast. The image of this then assembled.
So to speak, it exists as a pure embodiment of the longing for speed.
As if to resist the destiny of living while stuck on the ground, moving at least a little faster, ignoring everything else. With that longing, a human without wings created this machine.

So the "trauma" required to create a bike like Ash Roller is not really a trauma per se, but a simple wish to ride on the bike of (his) dreams. Like Blood Leopard, traumas are not the only thing that can create avatars.

[Sunder the Gold]

Editted my last post too slowly.


But I agree that Ash Roller's "Night Rocker" was born of a wish, rather than a trauma.

It's odd, though. Crow's wings seem to be a superior form of mobility enhancement compared to the motorcycle, yet Crow is a superior hand-to-hand combatant if Roller is forced to fight on foot.

True, the Rocker doesn't require Special Meter to operate, but it does run on a limited fuel gauge, it's slower, it needs flat roads and floors and cannot fly over obstacles... It kind of seems like Roller should be a better fist-fighter than Crow, since it seems like his bike is just plain inferior to Crow's wings.

Maybe his bike-based Special Attack is just really awesome?

[Tusjecht]

The answer would be the nature of the bike itself; an Enhanced Armament that contains nearly the entire potential of the duel avatar, just like Cyan Pile and Pile Driver. Take away the Armament and the avatar is almost helpless. Hence, the Armament must serve as the weapon, but how offensive can a bike get? For BB that accurately replicates the real world, attacking with the bike is limited to ramming and crushing, until Roller upgraded the bike with missiles.

Crow's wings are body parts, they serve only one purpose of letting him fly. Combat potential has to be invested in his body then.

Edit: ah, i see what you edited. ._. Hang on for a post.

[Tusjecht]

Speaking of «unusual things», it was brought to my attention during translation that avatars can be a «Perfect Match», the avatar matches the profession of the controller.

Now before I spoil anything to err on the side of caution; it is highly unlikely that Crow, Roller, and most other avatars even come close to this, since most BB players don't fly or ride bikes (and Blood Leopard is impossible to match perfectly).

What I was thinking though, is an avatar born of recollection from countless hours of VRMMOs, eg Samurai warrior.

Any thoughts?

[Sunder the Gold]

A "perfect match" for Haruyuki would probably have been an Orange avatar that would allow him to capitalize on his First Person Shooter experience. According to the Light Novels, he used a virtual training program to learn rock-climbing for the purpose of getting into better sniping positions for such games, and KYH's hit-and-run/wait-or-trap strategy for Ash Roller was the kind of victory he liked to achieve.

Cyan Pile perhaps becomes a "Perfect Match" for Takumu when he uses the Cyan Blade technique, as his kendo skills are more applicable to a sword than a pile-bunker.

Lagoon Dolphin is apparently a "Perfect Match" for Ruka, since it relies on bare-handed martial arts skill for attack and defense. When it shapeshifts into a more hydro-dynamic form, it still retains legs, so it makes use of her own swimming skills.

Scarlet Rain might be a "Perfect Match" for Yuniko. The default, base body reflects her own very well. The handgun allows her to use any FPS skill she may acquire. She might play Mechwarrior type games which match the tactics of her Immobile Fortress.


Yellow avatars seem least likely to make Perfect Matches, since most of their indirect powers would require magic or specialized technology.

[Tusjecht]

So I assume the consensus is that Perfect Matches can apply to VRMMO strengths as well...

Canonically, the only Perfect Match avatar that has appeared so far is Iron Pound in V11. He has the appearance of a boxer. Spoilers upon request...am I doing this right?

With that in mind, I was thinking of a crossover character from SAO :P

Normal Life

Name: Ryoutarou Tsuboi (壷井遼太郎 Tsuboi Ryoutarou)

Age: 14

Gender: Male

Appearance: If you know the above name, there's no need to describe him.

Biography and Personality: Although only a middle-schooler, Ryoutarou has racked up hundreds, if not thousands of hours playing VRMMORPGs together with a circle of friends. Their grades are pretty much less than average but Ryoutarou and co. shrug it off, seeing as they bond very closely in the online world as much as offline. Their circle is an all-guys group with five core members, though over the years they've taken in new members sometimes. Ryoutarou also crushes on girls fairly easily, often failing to comical effect.

He often plays as a samurai or any other character with a katana/curved sword. In school, aside from playing games with friends, he practices kendo once a week. He doesn't go into it more, though, since his chief complaint is that kendo equipment is "heavy, cumbersome, and sweaty. The swords are too heavy too!"

He received Brain Burst from one of the new members, a girl who only told them she enjoys playing games, and since then has been trying to level up so that he can give the game to the rest of his friends.

(RP characters can take the place of all these 'friends' referred to.)

Brain Burst

Name: Klein Samurai

(Refer to International Klein Blue on Wikipedia.)

Level: 3

Points: 246

Appearance: Exactly like a samurai, coloured entirely in a shade of blue close to ultramarine.

Moves: Klein Samurai uses mainly katana sword skills. One- and two-hit moves form his basic moves. While combos with three or more hits are his special moves, more often than not Klein ignores using the moves designated by the system and tries to use his own invented skills - often to comical and humourous ends.

Normal moves:

-Reaver: Basic curved sword skill, single hit. Weak in attack power, but low cooldown. (0.15 second)

-Fell Crescent: A charge-type sword skill that delivers a downward blow. Covers a distance of 4 meters in 0.4 seconds, has moderate cooldown. (0.20 second)

-Ukifune: Single-hit katana skill "Floating Boat". Deals less damage than Fell Crescent, but knocks the opponent high into the air. Moderate cooldown. (0.20 second)

Special moves:

-Hiougi: Three-hit katana skill "Scarlet Fan". Slashing upwards, downwards, then fiercely thrusting, it deals high damage but has a long cooldown. (1.0 second)

-Armour Pierce: A single punch from the hip with Samurai's left fist. High penetrating power, point-blank range and only upon contact. Very long cooldown. (1.5 seconds)

[tuckersister]

Hi, first time here...I think. Like the fanfics.

[Sunder the Gold]

Originally Posted by tusjecht

So I assume the consensus is that Perfect Matches can apply to VRMMO strengths as well...

A consensus between you and me, perhaps, but I haven't seen anyone else offer an opinion.

My opinion is also de-valued by the fact that I haven't read any of this official material that supposedly talks about "perfect matches".


Still, the concept reminds me of that one crossover fanfic where Saotome Ranma returns home to Nerima from his father's martial arts training trip, and meets Niko. They fight in a combat simulator, and he impresses her with his general combat skill despite his inexperience with games. So she offers him Brain Burst.

The fic has stopped there, so there's nothing on his nightmare or avatar. But given that Ranma has been transplanted into the no-fantasy, high-tech setting of Accel World, he doesn't have the Curse, and he might not have the Neko-Ken.

Without the curse, he has no insecurity regarding his manhood. He has no lack of confidence in his martial arts skills or his ability to handle the challenges of the world. Even if he DID have a crippling phobia of cats, I don't see how that would seriously impact his Avatar's design.

I'm pretty sure he'd be a Blue; pure power and speed, an agile and strong killer at close-range combat. Low on armor, to allow for greater agility. No weapons, but his fists are hard and he is very capable of bodily lifting and throwing opponents, as well as pinning and locking.


This also fits with your idea that Blue represents those people who have a self-image of strength and a desire for strength. If Ranma is even more confident in this story than he was at the start of his original manga, he doesn't really have much in the way of "trauma" to weigh him down.

And his desires? To be stronger, faster, harder, better. Starting as a small boy no fitter than any other, being trained by a master martial artist, Ranma has ALWAYS wanted to become stronger than he is. Genma's unreasonable expectations and the harsh conditions of the road would have made that desire even stronger, since physical fittness and combat skill were necessary for survival.


Hmm. It would be interesting if Akane was already a Burst Linker, and therefore Ranma's senior in the Accelerated World, with a higher leveled Avatar. Ranma would still be the superior martial artist in the real world, which would give him an advantage in the Accelerated one, but Akane would have her own advantages to press.

Damn, now I wish we already had the published and translated story of Scarlet Rain's earlier years. Knowing more about the Red Legion's history in Nerima would help for writing this crossover.

[Tusjecht]

Patience...I wanna read it too ):

At least, I'm waiting for Chinese translations. Flere is a pretty good summariser, but he usually is on other threads, either the Index threads or SAO threads to have time to actually do TL-ing. Not that he even wants to, I think.

I'm still learning Japanese, so no Jap raws for me yet. And then there's RL stuff I'm handling, I'm learning to ride a motorbike, searching for universities to apply to, waking up early for the job, trying to chase this one girl...

Tl;dr Translation has a rather low priority for me actually. Hence I'm not as fast as Breakdown16 or Xplorer30.

[tuckersister]

Steel Waker. Fanfic duel avatar name I came up with.

[Tusjecht]

It's early in the morning where I am and I misread it as Steel Wanker.

[Sunder the Gold]

Originally Posted by tuckersister

Steel Waker. Fanfic duel avatar name I came up with.

Metallic colors are based on elemental metals rather than alloys. And I don't think there would be a Chromatic color called "Steel".

There's Iron, and Tungsten (called by its alternative name of "Wolfram" for at least one canine-themed character), Aluminum and Chrome...

If you want a "strong" metal that hasn't been taken yet, there's Titanium.

[tuckersister]

Originally Posted by Sunder the Gold

Metallic colors are based on elemental metals rather than alloys. And I don't think there would be a Chromatic color called "Steel".

There's Iron, and Tungsten (called by its alternative name of "Wolfram" for at least one canine-themed character), Aluminum and Chrome...

If you want a "strong" metal that hasn't been taken yet, there's Titanium.

Titanium is too long a word. I was original going to use Zinc. Steel Waker just sounds cool.

[Sunder the Gold]

Spoiler for Yuuno Scrya's avatar: Jade Sage:

Burst Linker: Scrya Yuuno (Russian-descended orphan, born and raised in Japan)

Duel Avatar: Jade Sage

Happily, the color of Yuuno's Duel Avatar conforms to the color of his magical light in Lyrical Nanoha.

Jade Sage is built rather like Lime Bell; small, slim, lightweight but tough, and decently strong. His physical strength is actually a bit less, and his basic punches don't compare to Bell's clubbing power with the Choir Chime.

Normal Move - "Grab and Hold"
The gripping power of Jade Sage's hands is out-of-proportion to his body's overall strength. While not strong enough to bodily lift or throw most opponents, or large and heavy enough to pin them, it would be very hard to make Sage let go without inflicting him with considerable amounts of pain. The small size of Sage's hands also limits their ability to crush opponents, but it is dangerous to let Sage grab hold of a small, vulnerable location, such as your throat.

Special Ability - "Extending Arms"
Jade Sage's forearms conceal telescoping extention mechanisms which allow him to explosively shoot his hands out to a range of five meters (15 feet).

The force of this projection is far beyond his body's overall convention strength, allowing his hands to reach maximum range instantaneously. Equally powerful retraction strength allows for equally quick recovery.

Deploying the extention ability in the middle of a Punch naturally increases its striking power, though no-where near to the level of Cyan Pile's Pile Driver when firing its stake. The lethality of the small, blunt fist likewise cannot be compared to that piercing nail. Punches delivered at maximum range have rather unremarkable striking power.

More importantly, the shoving force of Sage's telescoping arm serves to push a nearby target off-balance. Yuuno often uses a single palm-strike with minimal extention to disrupt an opponent's balance, before delivering a two-handed palm-strike at greater extention to blast the opponent off of their feet and some distance away from himself.

The extention ability also allows Sage to execute the Grab attack against opponents that would otherwise be outside of his range. He can then use the strength of his arm's retraction to pull the enemy closer to himself. Since most opponents are far too heavy for this to work, Yuuno must use only one arm to grab them while using the other arm to grab and anchor himself against the ground or some other sturdy object.

When not anchoring himself, Yuuno can instead use this ability to reel himself in towards heavier opponents, or else grab hold of a distant part of the landscape to affect a swift advance or escape. In this way, Jade Sage is effectively far more mobile than he would otherwise be, and also capable of rapidly relocating his enemies and allies to control the tactical flow of battle.

Extending Arms does not cost Special Meter, does not overheat or operate on an independent battery, and the only cooldown time or reloading required is to fully retract an arm. Instead, the full power and range of Extending Arms requires a brief charge-up time, which telegraphs Yuuno's intent to watchful opponents, and also prevents Jade Sage from unleashing a combination of extending jack-hammer punches.

A full charge doubles the maximum range to 10 meters (30 feet), with a proportional increase in striking speed and power. The speed and strength of retraction can likewise be charged, but this must be done seperately, and gives the opponent time to attack Sage's hands and extended forearms.

Special Move - "Twisting Coils"
Jade Sage's telescoping arms normally may only move straight out and straight back. This Special Move changes that.

With this, Jade Sage can project his arms even farther than normal, and his hands can change course in mid-extention to curve around obstacles and coil around a target's body like living snakes. The farther the target, the less coils there are to spare -- firmly binding a target's arms and legs requires Sage to be close enough.

Any outside force applied to Sage's extended arms depletes his Special Meter, so the mightier his victim's struggles, the more quickly Twisting Coils will end. On top of that, the move requires an initial cost of 10% Meter per arm.

Retracting the coiled arms to maintain grip and exhert crushing power upon the victim is possible, but depletes the Special Meter just as rapidly as the victim's struggles, effectively halving the time that Sage can keep them bound.

It is always in Yuuno's best interest to make use of pre-existing pillars or similar objects to serve as fulcrums, increasing the restraining and crushing power of his arms with make-shift pulleys.

Yuuno has also learned how to apply Twisting Coils more humbly; as it allows him to change the trajectory of his hand in mid-extention, he can surprise opponents with trick-shot punches -- for example, aiming down at the ground at their feet, but landing an uppercut blow to the chin.

So, those are the ideas I offered earlier about what kind of Duel Avatar would best capture Yuuno Scrya, from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. Unlike my conversion for Nanoha, Yuuno's write-up didn't include any ideas for upgrades or IS Skills.

Mostly because Yuuno doesn't get neat upgrades in the original material, and he doesn't reveal as many new spells.


The obvious bonus choices would be improved durability (both for his body armor and his arm-cables), increased extention range, and increased extention/retraction power.

There's also the possibility of a magnetic grip, which makes his hands even harder to remove, and which would allow him to latch onto metal surfaces too smooth to offer handholds and too hard to pierce with his fingers, such as featured in the Demonic City stage.

Alternatively, retractable claws which allow his fingers to pierce surfaces and opponents alike, inflicting more damage and pain as well as ensuring a better grip.


A different upgrade could allow him to convert his feet into a second set of hands, allowing him to anchor himself to the ground more firmly, or to stand on walls or hang from cielings. A further upgrade from that could allow him to extend his feet-hands just like his arms.

This monkey-like design is actually part of the reason why the avatar is currently called "Sage", because I was thinking of the original Son Wukong, also known as Son Goku. The Stone Monkey called the Great Sage.

The other half of the inspiration was the Buddha who defeated the Monkey King, because no matter how far Wukong leaped away, he found that he was always within the palm of the Buddha's hand.

In a similar fashion, Yuuno's enemies would find it very difficult to escape his avatar's reach and grip.


IS Skills would include Defense Enhancement and a blend of Range/Movement enhancement, owing to how the avatar itself combines the advantages of attack range and mobility. He would not be capable of Attack Enhancement.


An alternate idea for the basic avatar involved giving Yuuno an extending, prehensile chain for an Enhanced Armament. I might still explore that idea, and see if I like it better.

But in the second fighting game, Gears of Destiny, Yuuno never lashes or whips anyone with his magical energy chains. He shoots them straight forward like spears. This is rather conspicuous in a game where Signum has a whip-sword and Precia has a whip-staff, both of which are used to lash like actual whips.

[tuckersister]

More about Steel Waker
-an originator
-knew White Cosmos before she was king
-made a program prevents any BL from dueling him 90% of the time
-broke away from Cosmos because research ethics
-very antisocial
-think about others than himself
-only contacts through emails and blogs
-before moving to America, he leveled up to 9

that's it so far.

[Tusjecht]

Originally Posted by tuckersister

More about Steel Waker
-an originator
-knew White Cosmos before she was king
-made a program prevents any BL from dueling him 90% of the time
-broke away from Cosmos because research ethics
-very antisocial
-think about others than himself
-only contacts through emails and blogs
-before moving to America, he leveled up to 9

that's it so far.

Wait a minute. A very long minute. Like, all eternity. There are huge inconsistencies you need to address here.

-Program to prevent Linkers from dueling 90% of the time. You mean, like he won't show up on a matching list? Appears invisible in the UNF? Brain Burst is too balanced a game to prevent you from refusing duels. And once a troll appears and causes significant damage, we've seen twice already how it's not going to be let go of easily.

-antisocial, NEET-like behaviour. They are okay starting points, but a note, they'll need to tie in closely with the steel - or titanium - characteristic of Waker. They need to match the characteristic of metal colour avatars, which are 1) an underlying shell of trauma, and 2) unwillingness to be physically hurt. Titanium may be a little bit stornger than steel in terms of hardness but it's a fourth as heavy, so that's some serious physical protection resulting.

-levelled up to 9 before moving to US. This, combined with the anti-duelling program, is the main contention; one does not get to 9 without being noticed. The base assumption we've been making of the distribution of levels in BB is that the higher levels have fewer Linkers. No troll is going to be left breathing easy like that, really.

The weakest point I have against Waker is how...familiar it sounds. I'll send a PM.

[Sunder the Gold]

The idea of a level 9 Originator moving to America is interesting, in that he could basically try what Crikin did, but with better ability to farm Enemies and endless attempts at making Children. The set up could theoretically allow one to translant the basic story of Accel World into the fan-author's own city.

However, there's no evidence that the Accelerated World EXISTS beyond Japan's borders, since it relies on the Japanese Internal Security Social Camera network.

Further, if the Originator's personal power matters at all to the story, it would need to be as the villain against whom the main character struggles.

Otherwise, the story would be about the Originator's early attempts to create a new Burst Linker society outside of Tokyo. Since he's Level 9, Legendary Enemies can be easily solo'ed, and Level 1 newbies are no threat at all, so there's absolutely no dramatic tension to be had from battles. The story would practically need to be slice-of-life, or a drama focused on the characters' interactions and real-life challenges.