Shift Comments Thread

[Andromeda]

The next chapter is available now, Chapter 141. On here, this puts me back on schedule, though I never left it. As promised, this chapter starts up the action. It is still just light building action, but it is still fun stuff to be able to showcase some of the cool things that Yumi can do.

As probably expected, Vangelis group will not be engaging Yumi's group due to them leaving prior to Yumi's attack. They are destined to fight with Yuki's group. Which also means that Vangelis importance in the current story is coming to a close. Not until I resolve the fighting at the camp will I actually put up Vangelis in full force. I may end up providing little bits with his team, but that was pretty much the last you'll see of him for probably about 15-20 chapters. I'm not completely sure how long the fighting will last, but I'm planning that it will take up a good chuck of chapters.

Considering the start of the chapter and move to Vangelis, you probably thought I wouldn't get to the action again in this chapter. Too much talking and not enough fighting, right? Well most of that should be out of the way now. There are some planned character development, but aside from that there is going to be a lot of fighting happening from now on.

Yumi starts things off on a really good note. She acts a little more hardcore fighter than you might think, but she is driven. Plus she is becoming more confident with her powers. And there might be another factor involved as well. Either way, Yumi got a good show in thanks to everything. I'll pick up Seiji and Fumiko in the next chapter and explain the plan.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Though delayed, Chapter 142 is now available. I tried to post it last night, but the forums were not available, so I could not make it. Fortunately, I already had it ready. So I just needed to post it.

The real fun is starting to begin now. Most of the chapter is filled with light action and entertaining banter. Since I don't have the MP users appearing until the ending, the real action doesn't begin yet. But you can certainly look forward to that next chapter.

I've setup the three opponents for them and gave them quick introductions. Seiji as usual is the most fun with his traditional shounen attitude towards everything and random behavior. He's a lot of fun to write and often ends up just writing things himself, which helps out. He's going to be fighting the tall woman, which will be fun. I'm making sure to break with the usual standard of men fight men or women and women only fight women. Yumi gets to be the first to break that, after her first fight was with a woman. Her opponent is going to have a fun ability that will be a little complicated, but should make for a really enjoyable fight.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Forums were having more problems today. I couldn't access it for most of the day, it's like it is always having issues on Sunday. Anyway, Chapter 143 is now available for reading. This is not the full only Fumiko I thought, but Seiji does not end up taking up much of the time. It is otherwise a Fumiko chapter.

Fumiko has had some things to work through for a while. I've made that pretty clear in past chapters. But obviously it was not getting addressed. Since it is related to her powers, it was only really ever going to come back up when she got into a fight, where she needed them. So the fight where she reconciles that is now.

The first real fight she had after training with her powers left her traumatized. This is evident with the way she was acting until Yori was captured. I never really said it directly, but I hope it was pretty obvious that it bothered her. She lost control of it and it near destroyed the village if it wasn't for Seiji's intervention.

So during the fight she is dealing with that and trying to find a solution. In usual fashion, she's forced to face the problem in the heat of battle. The nice thing is that builds back into her own past. There is still a number of things about her past that I haven't specified, but considering Fumiko's feelings of them. It'll be difficult to expose them, but eventually you'll learn about the past that drives her. For the time being though, it does start to explain her motives. It is a little more complicated than just helping out Yuki, who saved her. But that is case with most of them, they all have fairly complicated reasons for going.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 144 is now available! The action is really heating up now, hehe. ^^; Sorry, that's a bit of a bad pun. Oh well, it is really fun getting back to the action. They had a little bit of talking and it is not the normal fisticuffs, but it is still fun. Two flame users duking it out.

I ended up introducing something new for Fumiko. I intended to do something different, but this worked out really well. I've already incorporated it with everything else. It has special abilities and weaknesses that will become more apparent as the fight goes on. It is a little unusual for a mage, but as you find out the purpose of it, you see why it makes sense. Fumiko still doesn't fully understand how to actually use it well.

This fight should probably finish in another two chapter. The next chapter will delve more into Stamatia's character. The more characters that come forward for a fight the more that I'll be developing them. The first arc's enemies were all intentionally one-dimensional, for reasons that will eventually be understood. The enemies here will have a lot more behind them as I plan to do with all future ones as well. I've started developing them more and more, it was a slow building process since the first few fights were all pretty light. But these are getting more serious and upping the danger. So I'm bringing in more development.

You can look forward to a surprise in the coming chapters. I'm going to be really setting a tone for the fights with Fumiko's fight. It will hopefully get across the way I'll be handling the story.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 145 is finally up and available. It was a bit of a struggle to get it written with everything that happened over the weekend, but I made it. The chapter really does start to reveal more things and really get into the background of those that Yuki are fighting. Stamatia's flashback really helps to show the desperation of many of those that they are fighting.

Very little in the way of action and forward momentum actually happens, but it is still a very packed chapter. I work a lot with Stamatia as I said I would. I had wanted to do a few more little scenes with her, but it was already too long. So I can to cut them out. It still managed to get it all across quite painfully. A rather dark past for her and like many like her.

I managed to add a few more little details about Atlantis and the much talked about rebellion. There are more than a few things in there that I hint at. The connections a very loose, but if you look around you should be able to see some very interesting things happening.

And I probably made one of the more dramatic cliffhangers in a while and probably one of the most dramatic in the series thus far, though there are plenty of things I have planned in the future that will make this pale in comparison. But I did say that this fight would be setting the tone and the cliffhanger really hammers it home. I'm planning on some pretty grim and deadly fights here as their opponents are just as desperate as them. So people are not going to be leaving this fights in one piece or on friendly terms. Expect some bad stuff to go down.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

It's becoming a bit of a bad habit posting these up late Sunday, but I'm still keeping my schedule at least. Chapter 146 is now up. This chapter turned out as awesome as I hoped for it. It had a brief interlude from Simonides, but it otherwise was all Fumiko doing crazy awesome stuff. I ended up inventing a thing or two for her making the scenes even better. I loved the action in this chapter and Fumiko looked amazing. It was definitely the coolest thing and a lot of respect for Fumiko to just burn your cut off arm and keep fighting.

With the dramatic cliffhanger and dragged things out a little before the great moment that Fumiko had. They actually do a little conversing again. Which is very important in the hold thing since Fumiko revealed some details to Stamatia. So it will start changing things for the other side.

I actually planned to end the fight in this chapter, but things were just going too well for it to end. But things are pretty much at the climax now. There is not much left for the fight before it ends. Then I will be moving on to the next fight. Still this has been a great fight and Fumiko really got to show everyone that she is made of and she learned a little of what she was made of as well.

The pace and mood has been set for the rest now. So expect to have some more great fights.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 147 is now available. It ended up taking a little longer to end the fight, but it still is over. I do feel a little guilty cliffhanging the ending of the fight, though I imagine that you all know how it ends anyway. It is just a matter of needing to be stated out loud.

Anyway, it is going to be Seiji's turn for another fight. This one is going to be a little more complicated, since Seiji is not willing to fight. I'll be fixing that in the next chapter. But it is funny that the most willing to fight is actually chatting it up with his opponent and spilling the info. Which gets to reveal some very interesting details. It made for a nice little cliffhanger. Don't worry, I won't be giving you a solid answer on who is right and wrong for a while. ^^;

I'm guessing that Seiji's fight will be at least three chapters. But considering what happened with Fumiko, it could just as easily go longer. I'll eventually be getting back to Yumi. But I'm going to be having some fun with Seiji. He's got a really interest opponent and once they start fighting it is going to be a lot of fun.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 148 is now up and available for reading. This is a pretty divided chapter, but it helps to anchor some of the plot points that are happening all at the same time. Since there is still quite a lot of different things going on. Seiji's fight hasn't really started in full yet, so it was the best time to handle it. It also ends up being a bit of a polarizing chapter.

Vangelis' position in everything is a little clearer now, since it was only assumed that he missed them. He's now quite beyond them, not that his turning around would change things. And Simonides is getting things back into action and setting up things for the future. Plus, he reveals more of his plans.

The important part is the fact that Seiji's actually going to be fighting now. Though the way it comes about it pretty funny. I pretty much destroyed any hint of the fourth wall that might managed to still exist thanks to it. I even managed to pretty in Yuki for a good laugh as well.

The next chapter is going to be a lot of fun to write since I'm going to do some crazy action with Nerine. She's got a lot of potential for some really cool stuff. So it will very action packed. Though do expect some talking. They both have some issues to sort out.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Hey, I'm appearing early for once. It's pretty nice not to be so busy in the weekend that I put this off for so long. Anyway, Chapter 149 is now up for your reading pleasure. This is the promised start of the Seiji and Nerine fight. It is a little slow, but it is building up.

Playing out very similarly to other shounen fights, things begin with a warm up. But they start to heat up at the end. The next chapter will bring the fun stuff into play since Nerine dropped the gauntlet. ^^; Sorry, couldn't resist.

I'm doing a little different thing for Nerine. I'm planning on throwing in elements of Nerine's past in throughout the fight. I don't know if I will do a full flashback or not for her. But the inserts will help to keep the fight moving forward while still explaining things about her. It is a different approach, but I like it.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

So much for early again, oh well it is still up. Chapter 150 is available now. This chapter is pretty heavy on the action, they get a little talking in between them. However, I focused mostly on non-stop no holds bar fisticuffs and I think it was pretty awesome, though you haven't see anything yet. The finish I'm going to make even better.

I continue to filter in little bits of Nerine's past through the fight. If you notice they are slowly further apart as her mindset changes through the fight. The end of the chapter has her resolving some of her issues and actually just enjoying the fight with Seiji.

Seiji has done a pretty good job of killing the mood these last few chapters, huh? Well don't worry I've got some nasty things in store that is going to destroy the work that he's made. Things are going to get pretty bad again. Anyway, Seiji's continued to play up an odd role in the fight. The last time he fought he could go more or less all in because he was not fighting someone directly. Since that has changed in this fight, he shows his awareness of his strength and how it could hurt others. So he ends up playing more defensive egging her on to use stronger attacks so that he can fight her without the issue of her taking him for granted. Though he is also wanting to have a fun fight, so he doesn't want it to end quickly. That he's made pretty clear.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Today's Sunday right? I'm not working today so that must be correct. Apologies on the delay, but the conclusion to the fight is now available, Chapter 151 is up. As I talked about, the awesome mood that Fumiko's fight created sort of got killed by Seiji excitement and stubbornness. However, the darker mood has return in a terrible way, at least for the readers probably.

I like Nerine quite a bit and she works well with Seiji. They make a fun pair on a couple of levels. So the ending only makes that whole thing even more tragic. The promised return of the previous mood is back. It is even worse than the rough Fumiko fight, since Seiji was getting along so well with Nerine. Then wham at the end.

This will be a very interesting coming chapter for Seiji though, since this will be the first that his has actually fought enraged and for someone else, in this manner. He actually is ready to totally kill the person that did this too. So he's gone from comedy to deadly serious in the span of a page, talk about mood whiplash. Any faster and you might have a neck injury. Well I hope you're ready for another crazy and definitely bloody fight.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Yeah, so much for the original plan. I ended up behind now thanks to the addictive nature of Atelier Meruru. Oh well, I finished Chapter 152 and it is now up. I'll be working on getting the next chapter out during the week with any luck. And as promised, this chapter gets pretty dark all around.

The next chapter is going to be even worse for violence and blood. And Seiji is going to lose himself even more. Though I did seed in some interesting little things during this chapter. I'll be making more use of it in the next one. But being Seiji, he just shrugs off the lose a couple of finger tips. He is going to be getting even more desperate too. It is quite a shift for Seiji, even when he's frustrated he has not really lost it. So this is the first time he's truly lost himself and not in a good way. I've got plans for how this will develop his character going forward.

And Cosmas is pretty much pure evil. Probably the worst sort for Seiji to deal with and the darkest character to be seen and I haven't even explained his background with only makes it worse. It makes Vangelis look pretty tame, but Cosmas is the product of an interesting background. Everything ties back together, so you can look forward to that. Not that it'll make him very sympathetic, the guy's too dark to even be considered as anything but evil. There always needs a few of them.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

So I left things on a pretty mean cliffhanger and then I don't post the next chapter when I'm supposed to, even though I did have it completed for Sunday. Yeah, those nasty distractions again. Anyway, you don't have to worry I'll keep making the cliffhanger worse and meaner. ^^; Chapter 153 is up now. Still playing catch up.

This was a pretty intense chapter and grim, especially after the stuff that happened to Seiji. He gets away with a lot of the stuff he does because they aren't real, but doesn't discount the fact of what Seiji was intending to do. So it has some pretty serious implications to his character.

This does wrap up the fight, as quick as I planned for it. I even managed to do a name drop. I was not sure if I was going to have a good moment to actually explain some of things about him. I still hasn't explained everything, but the name drop is pretty important since it has come up before and actually facing one is significant.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Well I'm getting a little closer to being caught up. Still a chapter behind, but I'll be able to get it done over the week since I'm not distracted anymore. Anyway, Chapter 154 is available now. This chapter as one probably already expected shifts over to Yumi's fight, but not without some side tracks to other matters.

I still had the Athene matter that was dangling around for a while. So I needed to resolve that issue. It brings up some interesting things with Yori though. It is still going to be a while until things are complete settled, but for now the Athene matter is closed. It won't be long before the real Yori will get to actually do something again.

The fun part comes with Yumi and the opponent that she has to deal with it. The boy brings some interesting abilities to the table. The next chapter is going to be hard to write, but it should be a lot of fun at the same time since it is going to be multiplying the mood that I've created and taking it past eleven. Hope that Yumi will survive it.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Running later than I thought, but I still managed to get it up. Though the chapter was as difficult as I thought it would be. Chapter 155 is now available. I actually was working on this one all week trying to figure out how to go about doing it. I was actually hopeful that I was going to be able to get it done, but trying to write nightmare fuel is not very easy.

This is the darkest chapter of Shift I'm pretty sure. If you know what's going on, which isn't too hard to figure out, then you probably know what to expect in the following chapters. I still was trying to judge how awful I wanted to go with it. There was a lot of options I had and I could be directly horrifying or indirectly. I largely went for indirect for the sake of the story not needing to be graphic, plus ones imagination is far more creative than words would do things justice. So I think that in part makes it even worse because some of it you don't even know what it looks like, but that it is completely destroying Yumi.

The next few chapters are going to be very interesting for Yumi. A pretty big moment for her, with me revealing something new about Yumi will be surfacing in the next chapter and be on full display in the following. Things will get pretty serious for Yumi in the aftermath as well. So I wasn't kidding when things are going to get worse. The dark and grim mood is around to stay.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Hey check it out, I managed to get the next chapter done before the week. The things a holiday will do for you. Plus it helped that I managed to have some good focus today despite family events and such. Anyway, Chapter 156 is now available and makes me caught back up. Normal posting will continue until I slip again...

Anyway, this chapter is a bit of a breather from the last one. A lot of pretty intense and crazy stuff happened with little explanation last chapter. Not that I give anymore explanation this chapter, but I do imply what most of you probably all knew at the end.

The fun part that I mentioned before comes as the big cliffhanger. Being the fans of those deus ex machina solutions that Shounen do for their main character, I pull one out for Yumi, sort of. However, I've been seeding this moment for a while now. So even though the event itself is very similar to those hopeless moments that you know the hero can't be out, but don't know how they'll survive and yet they put some new power out of their butt to save themselves with sometimes no explanation, this follows most of those patterns. However, it does have some background, still remains pretty convenient timing for Yumi, but that will be explained in the next chapter. You'll get to learn something new about the power Yuki gave Yumi.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

The chapter is later than I would have liked, but it is still here. So I can't complain too much. Chapter 157 is now available. Things worked out a little differently than I was thinking. So much for planning, huh? Well it is still good, though I do feel a little guilty on a couple of fronts. I went into the flashback planning on explaining more about Galen, but most of it isn't through his eyes. It ends up explaining more about Simonides with Galen an afterthought. But it does help to develop Simonides and Galen at the same time. I just feel bad that Galen got the short end of the stick.

I ended up writing another sad chapter though. By the end of it I was almost crying. I make it seem like things will probably be fine, since I aside from one person records had me not killing people. But I totally did this time, unfortunately, it was pretty much planned for him. Poor kid. And I only made it worse with the fact that he wasn't even a bad kid, just someone that loved his family and wanted to see them again. Really makes Yumi out to be the bad guy. The last few paragraphs were especially sad to write. I guess depending on your point of view this could make things even darker huh, considering Galen was largely a sympathetic, but not necessarily innocent character. He was a soldier, unwillingly so.

I also failed to get a lot of detail on what's going on with Yumi. I even had the new stuff prepared for her too. So I didn't need to figure it out on the spot. Unfortunately, only a little bit comes out. However, I am planning on getting into it in a little more detail in the coming chapters. In away, this was the shortest fight, though it lasted for three chapters technically. Anyway, another fight is coming in the next chapter from a familiar face. So that'll be fun and it will allow me to get more into what's going on with Yumi.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

I'm glad I was able to get this up earlier than I have been lately. I can't say it is returning trend, but lets hope anyway. Chapter 158 is now up for your reading pleasure. This chapter changed slightly from what I originally planned, but I actually like it more. It worked out better and continues with the darker theme that I'm working with currently for the rescue arc.

I had not really got to show too much of the reality of the situation. The reality being that if you fight in the middle a place with a lot of people and start using superhuman powers without restraint, people are going to be hurt or worse killed. These things are largely overlooked in Shounen, though also avoided when they can as well by taking the fight to an abandoned location. Keeping it in the camp mostly, since Seiji's did actually get taking to a safe location, which would have made matters even worse. But keeping things in the camp shows the recklessness and lack of foresight to the problems that it would cause. They are all too caught up in their personal issues to think about what they are actually doing to the area. Plus it helps add some weight to the fact that when superhuman's clash it is the bystanders that end up suffering the most, but is largely ignored. So that adds a second named character to the death list. Things are getting pretty grim.

I've been able to start revealing some more details about what's happened to Yumi. Though the next chapter will have more of the reveals. This is largely because Photine is too angry to see straight right now. So her character did not allow for what I was actually wanting. But you can't really fight a character when they are driving things. It is sort of funny how often I want things to go one way and then they go a completely different direction because it doesn't work for the character involved. I'm not going to make them do something out character or out of their current emotional state.

Still, this is the first rematch fight and the significance of that is only starting to be shown. The Atlanteans have largely been disadvantaged by everything so far. However, the more data they get the worse the situation is going to be for the others now. Yumi's fight will reveal the reasons for that.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Not as early as last time, but still not too bad. I had some things come up and it was a bothersome chapter, more so than I originally thought. Anyway, Chapter 159 is now available. This one I finally manage to get in the name for Masa, which I had been trying for a chapter or more. But there was never a good moment.

This chapter was a complicated one. I had a bunch of things I wanted to do and not all of them panned out. It felt really awkward to me and I'm not pleased with it. It did everything I needed, but still just felt weird. I'm probably going to see about fixing it up later.

Anyway, I do also finally get around to explaining a couple of things about Masa. There is still a lot more to reveal about her at another time. But she keeps adding in more mysteries to surround Yumi. She is becoming a very complicated individual with her powers, maybe more so than Yuki. ^^; I wonder if Yumi's trying to steal the center stage from him. But she's back in control, but also really screwed up from the experience left upon her by Galen. Something I'm planning on making continued use of.

Yeah, if you think about what happened you can see where I'm going with this. Yumi's not going to have a very easy life for a while. I'm pretty mean to her dumping such trauma on her. She's got a couple of things on her hands too. So she's going to be royally screwed in the head for a while.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Definitely back to my late hour postings, huh? Well, it is because of the previous chapter. I probably would have finished it earlier if I figured it out. Anyway, Chapter 160 is now available. As a note, I did end up re-writing a part of Chapter 159, it was last page of it. Nearly the entire thing was scrapped and rewritten. The cliffhanger is different as well. Such as, the new chapter won't make any sense unless you go back read it.

I was working with two different ideas for this chapter, which is why I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the last one. I ended up making Yumi crazy from the mind screw she got from Galen, which is something largely to be expected seeing as she just woke up from what passed her out before. Which meant that she was going to be crazy the entire chapter and I'd work on showing how broken she had become and reach the end. Or, I change the last chapter and she came in sane, like I planned before. It was originally supposed to be that Yumi directly intervened with Masa's attempt to kill Photine and that woke her up, giving her more clarity. I preferred it over the other.

This is mostly because I could have a bit of a better fight, but also I wanted a slower descent into madness rather than an immediate one. The effects of Galen's work still haunt Yumi and I wanted that to be clear. It is enough to drive her insane. Something I wanted to make clear through the chapter. Which climaxes with the end of the chapter.

And hey guess who showed up. The little miss has been gone for almost 20 chapters only to show up now. Don't worry, some explanation will be in order. Plus I'll be getting around to Chiharu fighting as well. Chiharu is the last of the fights before things resolve. I've got somethings for her to do.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Finally back after all of that trouble. I actually have a pretty good excuse this time for why I didn't write anything last week. Not as though I'm looking for good excuses not to write. ^^; Anyway, ear infection stopped me in my tracks for about two weeks. It was conveniently placed after I finished the last chapter, so I was only affected by one chapter. I've still got a bothersome cough, but I'm motivated and energized enough to write again.

So Chapter 161 is now available! I'm going to be working on the next chapter this week to try to get it out before the weekend, but who knows how that will go.

This chapter is less on the action, but more about sorting out everything that has been happening for the last almost 20 chapters. It finally puts resolutions to Fumiko, Seiji and Yumi's fights. Something that I purposely put on cliffhangers. I do end up making the situation even more complicated though with Fumiko and Seiji both even at the mercy of the enemy. And then I do the terrible cliffhanger of what's going to happen to Yumi.

I've been pretty mean lately with these cliffhangers huh? Well, the events in the chapter will leave some lasting repercussions for a while. So it is also setting up future events. But with Chiharu the last remaining fighter, things will be wrapping up soon. I just have to give Chiharu her fights.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

I'm very early today, but not early enough as I wanted. But I'm not behind anymore than I was before. So I can't complain too much. Anyway, Chapter 162 is now available. This one settles the really mean cliffhanger from last week.

As you probably knew, I wasn't going to end up killing someone important this early. Oh I plan on it, but you'll know when it happens, because it will be done so in the most devastating and tragic means possible. Anyway, what happened is still pretty serious as it puts Yumi out of commission for the near future. It be yet another problem she'll have to contend with. She's got no short supply of problems, huh?

It ends up being more about Chiharu though if you pay attention to what Chiharu says and what she does. The significance of what happens in the chapter for her character is quite revealing. So even though Yumi's the one with the issues, Chiharu is the one that is actually quite critical to the chapter and developed as a character. Like with just about everything with Chiharu, I keep all of her developments very subtle because of the type of character she is. So you'll have to see what's changing about her. I won't have any characters providing commentary to help you out with her.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Hey lookie at that, I'm caught back up again and in the middle of the week at that. Helps I made good progress on it Sunday and Monday. Anyway, Chapter 163 now available. This brings Chiharu into the fights, though it does take the length of the chapter to do so. But even still, fighting happens next chapter and I've got with a fun ability. So it'll be interesting.

I do keep trying to come up with interesting uses of the ability. Because the power is limitless it is only bounded by my imagination. So I can get as crazy as I want when I want. I've kept things pretty practice and normal so far. But I do plan on getting more complication and weird. The Omega Division characters will have the strangest ones and the ones that will really show off the full potential of the powers. There's some things I've been keeping in reverse specifically for them. So you can look forward to that.

I went back and forth with Yumi on how I wanted to deal with her. She had a habit of completely falling apart whenever things start going wrong or she felt lost. She usually has good starts, but bad finishes. Something she is working on changing, part of that comes from confidence. Anyway, I went back and forth on Chiharu doing the work to get her on her feet or herself. I wanted to show some improvement and change in Yumi, not needing Chiharu or someone else to give her a verbal slap back on track. She had her initial shock and lasting issues, but I wanted her to pull it together at least for the sake of the others. So I could show her improving. She's still got a lot of issues to sort through and she didn't just magically get better, she just faced herself and trying to hold herself together even though she is about to fall apart. Which is better than her just falling apart and having someone else picking up the pieces.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

I'm a little later on this than I wanted, especially since I had the time, but this was an annoying chapter. Either way I'm still on schedule, so I'm happy for that. Chapter 164 is now available. Chiharu finally gets a fight for the first time since the first arc and it is longer than a chapter at that too.

This was a bothersome chapter for the lack of direction I had going into it. I kept trying to figure out some things about it, but nothing was coming to me. I ended up having to just write it and let the fight sort itself out. So the chapter was largely written by itself with Chiharu and the old man deciding how things went.

I didn't really have a lot figured out for the old man, but he just sort of settled out into this lazy, but battle harden man who had a lot of experience. He has a bit of a cheap way of fighting, but it is subtle enough that I did not have to reveal it until the end as the cliffhanger. Chiharu's got a pretty cheap fight, but she's in a tight spot and got to figure a way out of it.

Because Chiharu is fighting, I'm getting to explore some more things with her. The next chapter I plan to get down to a few more things about Chiharu and her purpose for being here. I don't know how direct I'll be about it considering it is Chiharu and I like keep her pretty subtle and vague. Doesn't hurt to make the reader think every so often. ^^

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

I'm a little late on posting this chapter even though I had it ready last night. I sort of got distracted by anime. Oh well, it is up now. Chapter 165 is available for reading.

This is largely about Chiharu and getting a little deeper inside her. There is still a lot of mystery surrounding her purpose with the group aside from some strange connection she feels with Saki. But she has her own motivation that doesn't involve helping Yuki with his problems. She is just using the opportunity. It is one of the reasons she still doesn't really get along with the group, but she is getting there.

I do finally get to address some of that she's supposed to be a ninja, assassin, why is she not acting all stealthy and fighting the way you would expect. Chiharu's personality gets in the way. Plus, it allows me to have fun with Naruto on some levels as well. Since they are totally not proper ninja. Chiharu's got some layers of issues to deal with, so it'll be fun to explore them as time passes.

Things will be wrapping up in the next chapter and concluding with Bakkhos. Left him with some important information since all of the fights here are going to be pushing the plot into new and more complicated directions. A lot of information is getting tossed out and it'll be soon that it'll start getting sorted out. But not until all of the fighting ends, which is only one more fight.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

I finally got the chapter up. I had it finished on Sunday, but the forums were not available when I finished. So I got delayed, then things got hectic on Monday, I had social plans on Tuesday and other things that took me away. So I finally am able to actually post it tonight. ^^; Chapter 166 is now available! This ends Chiharu fight as promised.

I allowed myself to slip in a little exposition into the dialogue about a few things. Plus it is fun every so often to have the peanut gallery commentary from someone watching the fight, which has rarely happened so far. Pretty much all of the fights I've had up to this point there were no non-combatants. Which is actually surprising that I've made it this far with non-combatants. The only time I did before was funny enough involving Fumiko. The last time I actually made use of though was with Yuki during Haruo's fight. Because I wanted to poke some fun. ^^

There less about Chiharu in this chapter, since I focus most of the fight. Though I do still get in those thoughts and stuff between blows. And Chiharu gets to do some pretty cool stuff that ended up a little difficult to explain, but I think what happened was pretty clear to anyone that has seen enough Shounen Jump. Which is why I tossed in Fumiko's making the Yuki comment, which pretty much explained everything.

The last loose end is getting wrapped up with Seiji in the next couple of chapters. And then I move into the aftermath chapters for this long rescue. ^^ The aftermath is where the fun begins.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Back on track now! Chapter 167 is now available. This sort of quickly answers the question of who was behind Miltiades, there was really only two choices and it could have easily gone either way, but it was likely pretty obvious who it was going to be. It does make sense that it was going to Chiharu, but still a little suspense on it is nice.

It does take a little while to get into the fight, but I manage to start showing off some new things from Miltiades that wasn't seen before. There are going to be some new things for next week's chapter as well as small little reveal about him as well. Still I managed to do some fun stuff and couple of nice stunts from Chiharu. I also take advantage of one the favorites of Shounen tropes, a dangerous and threatening situation will draw out hidden reserves of power even when you think you're completely drained. It's not obvious, but it's called upon.

I even got to have Chiharu do a little bluffing which is a bit out of character for her, but does help to illustrate the situation that she felt she was in. The last fight was pretty draining on her. It left in her a pretty weakened state that she actually is more manageable for someone normal. Provides a good challenge for her, since like so many close ranged fighters, they are a little over powered. But I figure out ways of dealing with that problem.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Running a bit on a late side, but still tonight I got the chapter finished. Chapter 168 is now up! Things ended up getting a little dragged out, but I still managed to have a good showing and a good cliffhanger. So it all worked out. The next chapter will be fun for what I'm planning.

I had planned on covering more things for Miltiades, but it'll have to wait until the next chapter. I did get the quick little reveal which sort of can get passed easily if you're not following, but is actually pretty significant. The name keeps getting dropped, Omega Division. It'll be getting a little bit of an explanation next chapter, but most of it will still be reserved for later chapters. Considering how much I'm name dropping it and the significance of it you can bet that it'll end up playing an important role later on.

I got to have some fun showing off Chiharu's skill. She is actually one of the smartest fighters in the group, but it ends up getting down played by Chiharu herself due to her issues. So it is always nice to really show off how smart she actually can be in a fight. The only one that is actually as intelligent in fighting would be Yuki, and Yori if he actually fought. But it is pretty much just Yuki and Chiharu. And yeah, I know Yuki the main character of a Shounen action series being a smart fighter. Seems a little weird, but he actually is pretty intelligent and makes good use of his powers, which I've manage to display on a couple of a occasions.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

I'm doing a little better today, still later than I would have wished, but I can't complain for finishing. I had more work than originally planned for this chapter. Anyway, Chapter 169 is now available! The chapter went on longer than I planned and it did not completely wrap up the fight, though by all signs it will in the next chapter. It is rather nice to leave off on a cliffhanger that doesn't have them gravely injured or suggested dead. It feels like a nice cliffhanger where you know something cool is about to happen. A proper Shounen Jump cliffhanger. ;p

Anyway, as I promised I got to do some background on Miltiades. He got a flashback that doesn't completely explain him, but you understand him better and the situation he came from. However, more importantly, it adds more to the Omega Division, which I continued to hint and only revealed a tiny piece of the larger mystery about. So I finally got to reveal the darker sides of things. It is mostly build up still as I still have a ways to go before the larger reveal. Still it is nice to be able to build up this thing as something looming on the horizon that is dangerous and shouldn't be messed with even though the heroes will go straight towards it. I'll keep building it up in future chapters. It's going to be fun.

I finally got Seiji back on his feet. He already had the confirmation that he was alive, but now I got to put him back into the fight. It actually is pretty funny seeing the two of them working together. Aside from getting a mental image from Bleach, I really have been wanting to do this for a while. So it is really nice to have the two of them together. I even got to do a great call back quote of something Yuki said, which plays out very nicely between the two of them. It's a great scene at the end.

The rescue is coming to a close and I'll be starting the aftermath soon. With it you can expect to see Yuki in the near-ish future. It's been like 40 chapters, huh? Well the return of Yuki, will have the return of more fighting, but even more important will be the reveal of Ayumi's story. It won't happen all at once, but expect quite a few chapters to be solely devoted to showing her past. They are all very important as it will lead up to the climax of the arc. It's still some time off, but we're about halfway through the arc and the mysteries are going to start being unveiled piece by piece.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Hey this one is really early isn't it? Yeah, I finished writing it last night, which was a first for a while. So it was actually nice to have a lighter day today. Anyway, Chapter 170 is now available. This chapter starts the aftermath of the rescue and shows the change in tone. There are still the darker elements that I play with and the effects of what they did.

I've talked at long length to my best friend about Shift, so I end up getting things blurred and crossed on what I've talked about to her verses what I've posted here. One of the intentions of the rescue was meant to show off what happens when people with superhuman abilities and powers start fighting in the middle of a populated area. Even in the best of intentions and control, things are going to get dirty really fast. I have Fumiko see some of that, but I also showed it off in previous chapters as well. It is one reason fights are taken out of populated areas in Shounen Jump series and the heroes always insist on fighting in an uninhabited area. The people were all soldiers, but they were still innocents in the fact that they were not targets, just bystanders.

The impact of the fighting in the camp is going to be something that they all have to deal with in their own ways. Because they acted differently and faced different circumstances. So they will be followed/haunted by their mistakes/actions. This will be what part of the aftermath chapters will be handling. They will also be handling some of the truths gained while fighting. They all have different pieces of information to pool together and Yori is the biggest key of them all.

The changing tone at the end of the chapter marks the end of the fight and really heavy tension. Though things will still be dark with all of the carrying the burdens of the fight with them. But there will be some breather chapters after all of the fight. The couple bits of comedy are the triggers for how things are changing. The downtime between fighting segments will not be as long as last though since Team Yuki is in store for more fighting.

Enjoy!