Lessa

"Nope," Lessa growled through gritted teeth. "Over here, you ugly motherf-" Encouraged either by her howl or her taunt (perhaps both), the goblin and his mount thundered past Genji, and directly toward her. Lessa settled deeper into her stance, heaving her sword up and over her right shoulder. The massive blade, crafted by Klein, and styled after Joan of Arc's Sword of St. Catherine, seemed to pulse in her hands. How long had it been since she had faced such a formidable foe? Had it been the Hydra, or even Orochi before? The concern for Genji's safety never left her, but it was reduced to

"Pretty stellar foreshadowing, huh?" Her voice rose and fell with forced humor, but it was no secret that she was rattled. If the sudden explosion of dirt and rock had not been enough, the appearance of the mounted goblin was the cherry on top of her sundae. She yanked Hell Rose from its sheath, distributing her weight evenly between her feet, and settling into her familiar combat stance. She had rarely fought mobs with other players during her various hiatuses, considering her refusal to partake in boss battles. Most of the aid she had provided low-level players had been in the form of coachi

Genji was slow on his response, a fact that Lessa could not help but notice as she waited for his answer. This was not uncommon when it came to her silver-haired friend; he often retreated into thought, or memory, or somewhere far away from where they presently stood. At first, it had concerned her, driving her to wonder just what it was that consumed him so completely. Once or twice, she had asked him about it, only to be given vague, non-committal answers. Now, though she occasionally referred to him as "space cadet," or broke into his thoughts with a rousing rendition of "Ground Control to

Lessa grinned at the boy. "Depends on the studies," she answered. "Anything that has to do with history or teaching, definitely. I blew off economics though. It's important, but I just couldn't get my head around it. I'll have to do better if I'm going to pass the teacher certification test." At his mention of her ethnicity, her cheeks warmed a bit. "Ha, yeah," she began, reaching to rub at the back of her neck. "I get that a lot." And she did, considering she was a part of the minority in Aincrad. The game had not been formally released in her country, so her appearance confused a great

"You know a lot more about this stuff than I do," the blonde confessed, reaching up to rub at the bridge of her nose. "All I know is what I can remember from class." She had been preparing to teach these same religions to middle school students, but Sword Art Online had interrupted her plans. Interrupted her life, interrupted her relationships, interrupted her everything. Perhaps if she had remained in the real world long enough to see the end of her internship year, she might have learned more about Buddhism and Shintoism. I wonder if I would have passed the teacher readiness exam. She had he

The stoat leaped from her shoulder, scurrying into the nearby brush. When it returned, it was a wolf. "How convenient!" Lessa exclaimed, grinning. "It is almost like we experienced some sort of time jump, and now everything is different!" It really was remarkable. Riker trotted to her side, his tongue lolling as if he had no care in the world. The blonde rested a gauntleted hand on his sturdy head, then shifted it to scratch behind his ears. Were it not for his massive size, the familiar might be mistaken for a mere dog. He certainly behaved in a way that contradicted the vicious wol

Thread Complete Lessa receives 400 col and 1 SP. Alkor gets nothing.

Thread Complete Lessa gains 1 SP, 400 col, and 2 T1 mats. Alkor gets nothing because he dead.

Here's an odd one for you. I have "Hammer of Dawn." It was given to me by Klein. After the merge, all of his posts went to the Kirito account. In Klein's shop, he crafted the Hammer of Dawn. It was originally +1 CD. For whatever reason, Klein gave the hammer to Lessa in this post. Since I can no longer use +1 CD, I'd like to have this reapproved as Crafting Attempt (+1 crafting attempt per day). Please let me know if you have any concerns!

Lessa slowed before she could follow the man across the bridge, turning back to face her friend. An expression of mingling annoyance and discomfort drifted across her face with the slow laziness of the clouds above. She swiped at the the sweat on her brow, shoving a few damp tendrils of blonde hair back from her flushed face. "I think," she began tartly, "that it is way too hot for autumn. We might as well start with the Temple, since it might be cooler in there." And we're both idiots for climbing a mountain in the middle of the day. I'm an even bigger idiot for wearing my heavy armor. But wh

25,686 9 Tier One 0 Tier Two 0 Tier Three This is a link to the spreadsheet where I keep all of my data. Col and mat transactions are all the way to the right side. You'll also see a column with all of my completed threads and their mat and col gains. I hope that is sufficient!

Instinct took over as Lessa saw the man begin to sway on his feet. In the real world, Alyssa Butler had been more clumsy than anything else. Though her hobbies required balance - shotput, horseback riding, skiing - she was still a naturally clunky mover. She made a fool of herself at yoga class when her friends convinced her to join, and speed had never been her forte. Either her time in Aincrad had made her more physically fit, or the game's mechanics made her more capable. More than likely, it was both that allowed her to slide beside the groundskeeper, drop to one knee, and hammock him in h

Expectant silence fell between them, and Lessa waited nearly a full five seconds before she motioned for him to go on. "The NPC is what?" she demanded. "Trapped in the temple? Protected by a dragon?" Her blue eyes widened with an idea, and she added, "or maybe the NPC is that dragon! That would be cool." Her companion shook his head, then nodded a short distance off. The pair had come around a bend in the trail, and as Lessa had been entirely focused on Genji, she had stopped watching her surroundings. Now, as she zeroed in on the figure in question, she frowned. "Oh," came her reply

Closed to Genji "So here's my dilemma." The blonde paused to take a bite out of a crisp, red apple; she had been tossing it between her hands for the past twenty minutes, and had finally decided that she was hungry enough to eat it. "It is probably way too dangerous for me to be taking you, a level one, into the level seven mountains. We have no idea what's up here, or if I'll be able to handle it on my own." She took another bite, her blue eyes shifting to watch Genji in her peripheral. "But on the other hand, I'm really curious about where this rumor leads, and I'd hate to be left out."

@Shield For the record, I don't think anyone is claiming that there are no players with rich histories. But there are players who are asking for more, as I'm sure you can see in this discussion, and on Discord. I could write a dozen solos and have an awesome story. But how does that tie me to the community? How does that build overarching themes that everyone can benefit from? I'd like to see us open the world to everyone by creating events and stories that can't be wrapped up with a bow in 21 posts.

@Shield I'm not sure if you read my initial post (as long as it was), but I value community over canon. I have for a long time, even during my stint on staff. If we determine an action will benefit the writers, even if canon isn't adhered to 100%, I support it. I know that others don't feel that way, but I don't believe actually being trapped in a virtual game and writing about it with others should be considered identical. If you're actually in SAO, sure, you do things a certain way. On a writing website, you have to worry about member retention, inviting and keeping new members, and

To address this, I don't think it would be all that difficult. Claim there was a glitch and a few people existed in limbo for a while. They come back out of the blue. Nothing else in your story has to change. If you want to meet them and have the "wow you're alive" character development, great. If not, you don't have to write with them. But that's just how I see it playing out. I know a few people might consider this a "cop out," but I still believe the benefits would outweigh any concerns.

Loosely based on SAO? Staff has taken great pains to keep everything canon, for as long as I've been here. If this were a mere "trapped in a game" situation, sure. But we have reflected SAO in every way possible.

Is that enough to settle for a site that could do so much better?

Why would you be against their revival? I'm assuming it is an IC reason, considering the players aren't IP banned (as far as I know). Is it because they are too powerful? I know more than a few veterans would be willing to come back at half or zero experience, without expecting to be given original items. They just want their character back, and that would be incentive enough to reinsert themselves in the writing community.

Though I've been a member of the site for three years or so, I've spent considerable chunks of that time on various hiatuses. While many of those "rage quits" can be attributed to staff issues or site disputes, one thing has remained constant for the past two and a half years - a lack of community. Don't misunderstand, I think the OOC community is fantastic. You're some of the funniest, most ridiculous people I've ever met, and that's what keeps drawing me back. But ultimately, the IC aspects fall flat. What I mean when I say community is the sense of belonging and purpose among the

Lines of pain criss-crossed her face as Baldur spoke, her stomach knotting at the words. Were he given a second chance, he might still don the nerve gear? The mere thought of it made her a bit nauseous, but out of respect for her friend, she did not make that fact known. When she did speak, however, her voice was heavy with pent-up emotion. Her face also revealed such things, but in attempt to further disguise it, she kept her gaze on the path ahead. "Of course the real world is better," she replied simply. "That's where our lives are. Our memories. Our childhoods. Our houses, and our pet

"It is, isn't it?" Lessa replied, regarding the holiday season. The thought widened the smile she wore, and she cupped the mug between her palms, relishing the cheery warmth it brought her. "It has always been my favorite time of year," she informed him unabashedly. "Even though I'm twenty-something, Christmas gets me like a little kid again." Her blue eyes twinkled. "I started listening to Christmas music months early. Seriously, I'm talking before Halloween. It drove my brothers crazy." The blonde paused long enough to drink the hot chocolate, and a beat longer to appreciate the rich ta

His answer, mixed parts embarrassed apology and lingering anger, somehow worked to calm me. I had expected a cocky, angst-filled bozo who amused himself by beating up NPCs. Sure, it was a worst-case scenario, but the game had left me a bit jaded. But the man surprised me, demonstrating a concern for all people in Aincrad, even those who were merely strings of code. Had I not been thinking on that same point just a moment before? Sure, I could not relate to everything that the stranger shared with me, but we could at least find common ground in that. "I can't say I have any martial arts ex

The young man's compliment twisted her lips into a wry smile. "I've been told I'm kind," she answered, pausing to spoon more soup, "and I wonder if that's half the trouble." It was a lousy thing to say, Lessa recognized, but the other player's mood was contagious; it settled over her like a dark cloud, and threatened to release more than a bit of thunder were she not to make a change. So, instead, she replaced her humorless smile with a wider, less genuine one. "Nah," she countered simply, shoulder rising and falling in an easy shrug. She anchored her spoon on the side of the bowl, and wi