whencatsfoxesandwolvesfly

[whencatsfoxesandwolvesfly]

🤣🎉

to bind a titan's hand, or "the plan before silica"

so, quick-fire summary of what happened in canon:

-kirito decides to go after titan's hand

-goes down to 35th floor with full set of female gear

-meets silica right as pina gets killed

-gives her the gear and helps her revive pina

-also uses her as bait to lure the TH out in the process

-"fuck you battle healing"

-pina gets revived

-end of short story

got all that?

so observation here, the set of gear *predates* the first meeting with silica, as does the going down to floor 35

additional observation: kiri is aware of how androgynous she looks, and hair is the one thing that's fully customisable

add to this the whole "lure" plan and it becomes weirdly obvious what the original plan was

-go down to floor 35

-girlmode and switch gear to pretend to be a lower-level player

-be the lure herself

-"fuck you battle healing"

-end of short story

so that's um

something

[whencatsfoxesandwolvesfly]

…Soooo, is there a Discord server where any of those following and contributing to this tag hang out, by any chance?

[whencatsfoxesandwolvesfly]

THIS IS A CALL TO ACTION. Censorship affects all of us, and if Project 2025 gets its way, the entire trans publishing industry is at a significant risk of criminalization. In this article, I lay out the problem and the stakes, and suggest a broad action plan with dozens of potential response ✊

[whencatsfoxesandwolvesfly]

Gust Forth, and Cast a Dawning Flight of Twin Midnight Steel (Working Title)

GitLab OneDrive: Snippets

As stated in the project read-me:

A potential 'transgender female Kirito' Sword Art Online AU fan work.

Also an isekai 'Aincrad is/becomes real' work, I think.

This isn't anything I've really started devoting any serious time to yet (as of this writing.)

I'll start with these few snippets of potential dialog that I've come up with so far. ('No plan survives contact with,' of course.)

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Snippet 1 — Kirito talking with Argo and Mito some time between the end of Sword Art Online's beta test and the game's launch:

For lead-in, see:

https://gitlab.com/RandomDSdevel/gust-forth-and-cast-a-dawning-flight-of-twin-midnight-steel/-/blob/main/All%20Content%20(Unprocessed)/Development%20Logs,%20Notes,%20and%20Musings/Sketches%20and%20Outlines/Plot%20and%20Scenario(s)/Initial%20Plot%20and%20Scenario%20Sketch.md

Mito: …Y'know, you could crossplay, like I did. Argo, after a short beat: I could see ya pullin' it off, actually. Ya'd make a cute girl, Kii-bou. Kirito, gob-smacked: Wha — Argo!?

Somewhat-obvious 'TO-DO:' Figure out how/where, exactly, the conversation leads on from there.

---

Snippet 2 — Kazuto's first ALO log-in and character creation:

Kazuto (thinking to himself:) An I really about to go through with this?

---

Snippet 3 — Suguha figures out that Kirito's been crossplaying and confronts him about it:

(Kind of a two-fer, but both parts go together.)

(Note: The text below, as currently drafted, includes some CriticMarkup.)

Suguha, bursting into Kazuto's room right as he's logging out of ALO: How long?! Kazuto, still reorienting himself a bit after logging out: Wait, Sugu, what? Suguha, persistently insistent: How. Long!? How long have you been playing as a girl!? Kazuto: Oh. You figured out {~~it->that {>>Kirito's female avatar's screen/user name~~} was me, then. Suguha: ANSWER THE QUESTION!

Kazuto, tentatively: So, then…you aren't mad? Suguha: (Huffs a short sigh.) …{>>([Note] TO DO: Figure Suguha's exact response here out. I know she may suspect that this continuity's Kirito is a dense transwoman in denial after hints from some of his behavior in-game, but I'm not sure of the precise details of how she noticed this or how she'll verbalize it while doing so gently. I also don't know if this continuity's Suguha might or might not have met any transgender individuals before. There may be a remote chance that she's run into and has become at least acquainted with one at school? Not sure if they'd be in her class, though, or even her grade.) <<}

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Snippet 4 — Only a short time before SAO's launch:

(Note that Kirito has started to question his birth-assigned gender enough by this point for this to make sense as a conversation by now.)

Suguha, speaking a little softly/gently: So…, which avatar are you going to use in SAO? Kazuto: Honestly? I…don't know. Suguha: …I wouldn't mind having a big sister, actually, you know. I didn't think I'd have to lose my big brother to get one, though. It's just… — you looked like you were having fun. You've been sad for a while, and you deserve the chance to be happy. I won't — I can't stand in the way of that. Kirito: That… — that's what scares me. What if I lose myself? (Some kind of steely response to this from Suguha where she: 1.) forcefully refutes this and 2.) affirms her support for her sibling.)

(He settles on his ALO/girl look.)

---

Snippet 5 — After Kirito Finalizes their decision on which avatar to use for SAO and before logging in:

This could actually happen not too long after the previous snippet, maybe even as a direct continuation of it. I'm not sure of its exact timing just yet.

Context: Suguha is telling Kazuto that they need to tell their mom and dad that they're a transgirl.

Suguha: After we log out, you really need to tell Mom and Dad. Kazuto, still kind of anxious about it and bracing themself for it: …Yeah.

(…I may not be entirely happy with this snippet yet? It gets the gist across for now, though.)

[whencatsfoxesandwolvesfly]

…That's Kaiba, silly.

Since I don't think I've seen anyone else bring it up, can we talk about the fact that SAO had anti-harassment protections? Like, not even touching on the funny thought of Kayaba hunkered down in his mountain shack going, "I can excuse my players killing and robbing each other, but I draw the line at sexual harassment!"

Just... the extra layer it adds to Kirito's hesitancy to open up to Asuna. The way she wants to offer Asuna physical comfort and camaraderie, but can't bring herself to in case either of them have misread the situation and it turns thermonuclear? And the emotional swan dive it took to even attempt to kiss her after the Kuradeel fight?? Like, if that ain't the most clear picture of transbian anxiety, I don't know what is.

this entire thing is *extensively* talked about in the progressive novels, like, "what are even the specific rules?!", because it's not as simple as it seems

and as for why kayaba even put it in?

well it's for the same reason there are in fact some anti-crime systems too, like the cursor colours and the prison system

more coherent than you'd think

(also he didn't actually make it alone, there were other people involved and media coverage of the development, if nothing else it was just covering his ass during development before going mask-off)

anyway yeah kirisuna is lesbians

[whencatsfoxesandwolvesfly]

most likely the twist at the end of Accel World.

there is a character that is referred to as "The Black Queen" (mixing Kirito's titles of Black Swordsman and Star King) who has access to Kirito's Unique Sword Skills

Regardless of Accel World's relationship with regard to any connections with Sword Art Online, simply visiting each series's Fandom wiki to check some basic facts would make it obvious that it isn't possible for Kirito and Kuroyukihime to be the same person.

Kuroyukihime's real name is known; it's Sayuki Kuroba.

I can maybe see a little of why people might compare Kirito and Kuroyukihime some. They may share some personality traits, at least if you tilt your head and squint a little; but they aren't the same person.

Compare the characters' canon birth dates and ages. Kirito was canonically born on October 7th, 2008, and is 14 as of the beginning of Sword Art Online's Aincrad arc on Sunday, November 6th, 2022. Any counterpart he might have in the Accel World universe would likely also have the same birthday and age. Sayuki 'Kuroyukihime' Kuroba's canon birth date and age are also known; she was born on September 30th, 2032, and is 14.

So, I was about to say that this is a cute fan theory, but, going by the information above alone, canon in both series already debunks it.

…Then I couldn't resist and read the spoilered text on Kuroyukihime's Accel World Fandom wiki page. I realize that's what's being referred to here. That being said, as suggestive as this particular bit of lore might make you want to read it, it isn't conclusive. Canon would have to make a definitive statement whose Fluctlight Kuroyukihime's is a copy of. Additionally, I could well see divergent histories even making an original not trans and their soul clone trans.

(Not saying that Kirito can't be written as trans fem, but it's also something that I can only say is something that's non-trivially common as fan AU fodder, cute though it may be.)

Still not over this