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[Andromeda]

A little slower this week, but still up in good time, chapter 230 is available now. Yes, I switched back to the Titans as soon as leaving them. It felt awkward for me as while, but in the sense of time it made sense, though from a storytelling point of view it felt a little awkward. Though I also wanting some space between the cliffhanger with Haruo before I get back to him. So I had to order things like this. I didn't have anymore flashbacks I wanted to do with Ayumi or any other material to cover that would space things out. Things are steamrolling pretty fast to their collision course. So a lot of people moving in different places all at the same time and it is the only way to really fit everything together. As a result, the first major fight of the third sub-arc is only a couple of chapters away. The result to be the chain of effect that leads into the climax along with everyone getting into their own final battle for the arc. Sounds like things are wrapping up fast, but the reality is that since I still have nine big fights to get through, things will not be over for at least a year most likely, but the second arc is closer to being over than starting now.

That's a lot of opening setup on chapter, most of which is not even about the chapter. Unlike the other Titan chapters, this one focused solely on one, Ourias. The rest of the thing I wanted to explore with him was too big for the chapters being done with the other Titans. So it only made sense to really focus on him. He is actually the most human of the Titans, so he is actually pretty relate-able, unlike most of the Titans which have very extreme personalities and in many ways so detached from their humanity it makes them difficult to connect with the character. Ourias is different since he only recently became a MP or even a Titan. So he's life was shaped by different circumstances. The chapter though is more than just being about his character. It really helps to look deeper into the reality of how different the two groups of people are and how society treats the MPs.

I did manage to get a little of Rheia into the scene. There is something really interesting about her character. She's wild and likely very insane, but she is actually pretty rational and is not blind. She ends up being impulsive and childish, but she has other sides to her. And I could look a little more into the way she thinks. She is going to be a lot of fun in the future.

Athene managed to get in some more time as well. I continue use her as a progress tracker and a way to clean up lose ends. She's on their trail. So she gets to see what the aftermath is, cluing in the reader on what happened that I did not explain. As you already saw, I don't explain everything immediately and sometimes it takes a while to get there, even though I'll imply something. But each scene with Athene, she's becoming more unhinged and the line between sanity and insanity is blurring more with her. She's become consumed with her hunt and everything she finds just makes things worse for her.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 231 is now up! Haruo's return is pretty quick, but as I said before the fights there were more for reasons of getting the players in their position rather than just having a fight. The fight itself wasn't important. If it's not that important I'm not going to spend time on it. But it is the last of the minor fights. The next one that occurs is significant and very important for the character involve. You can expect to know who the first fight is in the next chapter.

There is a little bit of a retread with the subject of figuring out Ayumi, but Haruo did bring new pieces to the discussion and they talked about some things I had left out for the time being. The answers to what is going on are getting closer. It will still be a while before everything is out in the opening. But the first trigger has already been pulled and now I'm pushing everything forward.

The first battle will start everything. Though there is going to be a little bit of a lull afterward before the major showdown. The big showdown coming up with the Titans is going to be interesting though. I'm having to do a lot of planning for this in advance since unlike with past fights I can't actually have them run chronologically at the same time, but still write them as whole mini-arcs. The way things will be happening is that there is going to be an impact by events that will affect everyone. So the big battle is going to be more chaotic then what you're probably going to be used to for the fights I've done up to now. There will be a lot more blending going on which focuses shifting.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 232 is now up. It ran a little longer than I expected, but still within margins. It was the conversation with Yori and Fumiko that ran deeper than I thought it would and I still did not get to cover everything that I wanted. It's been implied enough so I left it alone while I focused on the bigger problem.

I've still kept the thing Yumi said to Fumiko to motivate her and pull her out of her despair as secret. I believe I said it before that not knowing makes it more powerful than actually knowing. You know the results and I can talk about what it caused and how she felt. Considering how emotionally charged Fumiko is right now, it hit in a place that was deeply personal. Which is made clear before with the hints. It all actually ties into the core of Fumiko's development and a lot of her motivation to start with. I just never clearly exposed it, it is still pretty hidden what her real motivation is, but I've given enough hints in this arc that people should be able to get a good sense of what her secret motivation is.

The important thing with the fighting between Fumiko and Yumi is that it's got Fumiko back into the game. Something that's been difficult with her. She's gone through various cycles of being willing to fight and losing her will to fight. She needed to be stabilized for the end, even if it is a temporary thing. Everything that happened in the arc is going to come back later for her to have to confront. The rift between the two will also be something that will take a lot of time to repair.

And then as promised, the fighting is back. I don't know if anyone knew who it was, but it is pretty clear now. The grudge match of the arc is about to begin, though Yuki and Demosthenes might be one as well, though it's a little more of a revenge match. This is more of grudge, but as I brought up in earlier chapters, there is a problem that Seiji has. The appearance of Cosmas is certainly no coincidence. As though there were coincidences in a story like this.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

A touch on the late side, chapter 233 is now up. This is the start of the major fights for the sub-arc and the final fights for every character in the arc. It should be pretty easy to see from the setup I've been doing that everyone's got someone they are going to fight. You probably even saw Cosmas, since I did pull him back up. The only unknowns are the five Titans and who they will fight. Speculation would be interesting to hear.

This chapter is a little less on the fighting that one might think, but I did have to get Saki out of the scene. It also let something about what Saki did previously get a spotlight on it. There will be more attention brought to it later. All of the things that they've done in the arc will not be ignored. But it also is important for the sort of theme of this fight. It's already been made clear with Seiji's conversation with Chiharu, that he has trouble with himself and his willingness to kill. The willingness to kill is the center theme for the fight and his two front fight with Cosmas and himself.

And naturally, I could not let the fight just be a rehash of the last one. Cosmas has new tricks, which is one of the advantages of the MPs. They can easily change their powers. So I can make rematches actually feel different even though they are the same people. This is just the opening to the fight, but they both will have plenty of new tricks to show off. This is Seiji final fight for the arc, so he'll get do some pretty big stuff that pushes his character forward power-wise and development-wise.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 234 is now up. The fight continues with Seiji and Cosmas growing to some more ridiculous scales near the end. A lot of the fight is about control, specifically for Seiji and his control over his emotions. It was seen in the first chapter of the fight, but faded away here. Though it'll be returning before the fight is over. Though we do get to see a Seiji that is actually fighting with a little more of a head on his shoulders.

Something that is a staple of Seiji's fights are that he mindlessly fights. However, because he realized that he's willing to kill and wants to kill, he's having to hold himself down. Which means he is actually having to fight a little differently, because mindlessly fighting is pointing him in a direction that he's afraid to go down. As I've shown on a couple occasions, Seiji is not really dumb. He just gets sucked into the heat of moment fighting. He actually does understand how things work on a basic level. There is still the problem that makes things up as he goes along and doesn't actually follow plans well. But he does have enough of a working grasp to know how to fight them.

I've been continuing to hint at it, but there is a little more seen with his mysterious power that helps him out. It has never been completely explained, but it's pretty clear what the power is given his background. So I've never really felt the need to really come out and say it. Plus, Seiji has been ignoring it the entire time. But the fight he is having with Cosmas is forcing him to confront that part of him. All of the teases of it in the last fights have been leading up to this fight though. The full power display of it is still off for another arc, but a good awakening of his power is in store for this fight.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 235 is now up. The fighting with Cosmas continues as things increase. More elements come out about Seiji's power and I toss in a few new things for Cosmas. A fair bit of it is about Seiji's power and him maintaining his focus and resolve. He's clearly got a ways to go in understanding his power. There is still an important element for him missing, which will become a little more clear in the next chapter.

The mystery of the talisman really only is a mystery to Seiji and even he has a pretty good idea what they are. But he's still not really using them in the right way. There is going to be a decent amount of things coming out the next chapter because of what is happening in this one. The arrival of Nerine is a big part of that. Considering how significant she was in the last encounter, she made sense that she'd show up for the fight. I wouldn't have Seiji do this alone. She's sort of needed to win the fight as Cosmas has some very broken abilities against someone like Seiji.

This chapter is more of the march up hill for Seiji. He struggles, but keeps getting back up without doubting himself. Things are leading into the climax though. So things will start turning around for him with a big fight to the finish between Nerine and Seiji and Cosmas. I've got new things for Nerine as well as she was preparing for another showdown with him.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 236 is now up. The fighting is getting pretty intense. Nerine joins the fight and manages to do pretty well against Cosmas, but being a MP they fight differently. So I can do different things with her than I can with Seiji. Plus I did get to use some new stuff that she's never done before.

Like with a lot of the fight, the big thing for the chapter is Seiji trying to come to terms with his killing rage. It was probably expected that Nerine would end up triggering things for Seiji. He's going to have to come face to face with his desires. And he's lost all control of himself now. And he has a powerful move out on the cliffhanger. The whole thing upped the lethality of the fight. It is sort of weird to think about. Other series part of Shounen Jump will have big fights and everything, but not really anything more than injures or blood, no lose of limbs. Though to be fair, my sort of story has a get out of jail free card when it comes to injures like limbs going missing.

The next chapter will be the conclusion. I have quite a lot of pack into that last chapter, so it is probably going to seeing a lot of things. But I feel like both of these chapters are pretty heavy. Things get pretty intense and the fighting keeps getting raised to a new bar. The conclusion might surprise you on how things turn out.

Enjoy!