Shift Comments Thread

[Andromeda]

Chapter 329 is now available! The Seiji and Katsumi fight has begun. It was a rather interesting chapter to write, though a little difficult for Seiji. Since it is very clearly an unsettling fight for him because of there being something wrong with Katsumi. There is a good explanation coming after the dust settles on what is up with Katsumi, just be prepared for some fridge horror.

It's a complicated fight and one that drags a little since Seiji is not willing to full commit to a fight that doesn't really make any sense to him. Which I take the chance to show off one of the abilities of Takako as a result. There are some unique circumstances involved with Katsumi. But it makes for some really creepy imagery thinking about Katsumi and how she is basically a puppet.

Katsumi's power is actually very well suited as Takako mentioned to fighting Seiji, something that was intentionally set up by Yumi. Due to her ability to resist the damage that Seiji puts out, it makes it very difficult for Seiji to actually finish the fight. And with him being unsettled with the whole thing, someone like Katsumi/Takako, who is hardly experienced in fighting is able to overwhelm Seiji. He is getting beat pretty badly. Most of the fights here are going to be very bloody and rough affairs that won't end very simply.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

It's running late, but I still made it. Chapter 330 is available now. I had originally planned to end the fight between the two here, but it ended up turning out well enough that I wanted to let to go out the natural course rather than speed it up. So there will be one more chapter to it. I'm going to do a little more with Seiji in the fight to advance his character, mostly in terms of power.

This chapter is actually a little of the more humorous side than others. It does help a lot that it was Seiji, but the arc is extremely dark at times, so having Seiji lighten things up now and again is good to keep things from being nothing but black. There is not a lot of these sorts of opportunities for it. So I do enjoy when I can do it in this arc.

This chapter also gave an important clue to some of the things that I'll be explaining later on as well. Dropping in these little things are important since there are often a lot of things that I don't expressly explain or at least take a while to get around to explaining. So putting in these little clues are good to help the reader try to piece things together on their own.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Doing better today, Chapter 331 more on schedule. This does largely end the fight between Seiji and Katsumi/Takako. There is still a little left over, but it is not going to take up the full chapter. But there is some important aftermath work that I want to handle with Seiji, which is why I decided to cut it before I got into that since it could easily balloon out of control.

We see a new side to Seiji, something a little hinted at in past fights. He had suppressed his desire to kill previously in his fight with Cosmas. And so things seemed to be in order with it resolved. However, something new has happened to Seiji all caused by Yuki's supposed death. A berserker mode, which is being fueled by his talismans that had in the past protected him. This is a continuation and development of his character arc and powers arc. It ties in very well with his personal arc that'll come at some point in the future. That's still a long ways out.

Though mores the question of who shot Seiji and Katsumi/Takako. The big cliffhanger was perfect to leave things off after I realized that it was going to take way too long to deal with all of the aftermath in a good order after the fight ended. There is some important developments for him in this fight, something that might have seemed like a throw away fight is actually important.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 332 is now available. The conclusion of the fight went longer and differently than I had planned, but it worked out for me. Seiji's part was already finished and he was out of the fight. So having Nerine in was good, she just had more of a role than I had originally planned. It just flowed better as I thought about it.

Nerine's part in the fight laid down a good a little hint to what's up with Takako. More obviously will be explained later, but it was a good opener to start getting the pieces laid out for Takako. And like better, Nerine is for Seiji, what Saki is to Yuki. Nerine's already showed herself willing and able to kill when Seiji was unable to do so. There's still going to be a little more remaining with Katsumi, she's got one last story to tell.

The bigger part of the chapter though is Seiji. He is finally acknowledging what he had been ignoring since the first arc. He's got shinto priest powers that he has to face. And there are some good developments as a result of this. Seiji is actually well versed in things, but has ignored or tried to forget it all. However, it doesn't go away so simply. And now he is forced to confront a part of himself and his past that he has otherwise been running away from. This is the true start to his character arc, the rest up to his point was just prologue and introduction.

Enjoy!