Shift Comments Thread

[Andromeda]

Chapter 342 is now available! I picked back up with Hiroshi and Tatsuya now, which remain as the only two that have not had their fight. While I did initially make the setup look like it was going to be Hiroshi and Tatsuya versus Saki, it was always going to be Tatsuya versus Saki, at least once I started writing the arc. I did originally have it planned that Hiroshi would be alone and fight Saki. In fact, it was supposed to be very different. Originally it was going to be Yuki and Seiji confronting Takako with Seiji having to hold back the guards that Takako has. But that all got reworked after I started doing more with Hiroshi.

Once I started writing the things with Hiroshi's group I ended up expanding things further than I had originally planned. These sorts of things happen frequently. The original second arc had a different direction as well until I started writing it. The overall direction here did not change. I just increased the cast and made up new characters that were not part of the original plan. But they've been all really good and I already have intrigrated them into the plot to have very necessary roles in the future.

I also realized that Saki and Hiroshi powers were really not suited for a fight. It was going to be very boring if they fought the way they should and trying to make it entertaining and interesting would not really be very easy. Hiroshi's powers in general are difficult to manage because they make games and rules. So they are a little overpowered depending on their use, sort of like Yuki. So I have to craft something that's going to be a better fight, which is why I sent Hiroshi ahead.

In fact, as I was writing and looking over all of the characters, I made the realization that Tatsuya was actually the perfect person to fight Saki. I do vary things from fight to fight. Sometimes I make match ups that are well suited to each other and other times I make matches up that are intentionally bad, powers wise. It varies depending on the prep of the enemy. In this case, Tatsuya knows he's the best to fight Saki due to his powers after seeing what Saki can do. But Tatsuya is still not a real fighter, not that Saki is either, but she has training and experience where Tatsuya barely has that. So it is still going to be a very rough fight and I'll get to showcase what makes Tatsuya so good against her.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 343 is now available! Picking back up on what might be a rather short fight with Tatsuya and Saki. However, Saki is one of the powerhouses of the group and Tatsuya doesn't have main character status, so he's not really that strong. So it turns into a more creative fight for him to find ways of dealing with her. I will get to explaining a little more about his powers, though if he gave away his secret to her it would end up being the end for him. So he's not going to be doing that.

Saki is very overpowering against a lot of the current characters due to her having a naturally powerful ability given to her, speed. She's had several fights for her to improve and learn about it too, something that Tatsuya has only really had in small bursts. He hasn't really had a lot of one on one sort of fights like her. So he has had to deal with groups and working as a team. In a group, he's actually better off and used to that due to how they work lately. So he is even more disadvantaged than normal.

It also doesn't help that Tatsuya is a naturally lazy character. While he is more motivated and driven now. He is not so driven as to refine and harness his power in the right well. Which is something that if he survives this fight with Saki will be something that'll be considering.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 344 is now available for reading! This continues the struggle Tatsuya has with Saki and pushing things into the final push. He's reached the giving up point in the fight, that is happening a lot this time around. None of these fights are easy and in general the odds are extremely stacked against pretty much everyone fighting. Yori's lost his fight already and Haruo barely survived his along with Seiji and Miyako. Seiji pretty much lost his needing Nerine to help and Miyako nearly lost her fight if she didn't get a last moment lucky action.

The dread and despair in the arc carried over into the fights. They are a lot more personal fights than the ones from the previous arc and they are far more challenging. All of the very powerful characters got moved over to the evil side of the fight. Making this a very different sort of setup. No one is coming out of these fights in one piece.

But it's been very interesting handling the fights since I have a lot of difficult people to work with in them. But they've all got complicated motivations which aren't completely clear from the start. It'll come out more through the fight and in the aftermath. Since as Yori mentioned a while back, things aren't going to be smoothly cleaned up at the end. Things were too bad and awful for that.

Things are coming to a head though with Takako on the horizon.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Running late tonight, but overtime threw everything off. Anyway, chapter 345 is now available! This is the conclusion of the Tatsuya and Saki fight. There is no further that I plan to do with them fighting. Everything will wrapped up with the cliffhanger at a later point. I'll be moving on to the Hiroshi fight and getting to that one. Since I have Hiroshi's fight with Takako's guard remaining before the final battle and showdown with Takako.

This is another lost fight, though Tatsuya got rescued from being killed. But like I said before, the aftermath and effects of this fight will change Tatsuya. I'll be working on him more as the story progresses over all. He put up a good fight, but Saki is still pretty overpowered. His power is the only one out of everyone that really would put them on any sort of level field and Saki still beat him without putting in much effort. Which is the rather scary part about Saki.

The person that Hiroshi is fighting is something that I've already introduced. It's been a while since they've been seen. But it'll be a very unusual sort of fight all around. Hiroshi will be able to take advantage of his powers in this fight and I show what he can do. Making children's games into something to fight with will be challenging, but it fits with Hiroshi. So I look forward to it.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 346 is now available for reading! This is the start of the Hiroshi and Hitomi fight, the one hinted at by Saki during Tatsuya's fight. Someone appearing wasn't the surprise part, but more that it was Hitomi. Which is another one of those long forgotten about characters. For those with really good memories, she is the girl, also on the track team, that went to Saki when Takako disappeared. Hitomi's nature is that of an extreme worrier. She stresses out over the smallest details. Though in the case of what happened with Takako, it ended up being for very good reason. Hitomi is close with Takako, which is why she was the one guarding her.

This is the arc that sort of brings up a lot of the minor details that I introduced back in the first arc. There was very little that I put into the first arc that I planned to ignore. Most of it was done with a purpose, a purpose for later. As I have said on at least one occasion, I've never been a fan of just suddenly introducing characters that are important to the plot now, but should have been present realistically in some capacity in previous parts of the story. So I made sure to introduce the necessary parts for future story arcs early. Once I got out of the first arc, it became less of a need. But I do still introduce small little pieces that I plan to make into big pieces later on. Part of it helps that I make plans for all of the future arcs well in advance so I can do what is necessary to introduce the pieces. So if they have a name then they are going to be important later on for something pretty much. So there is a lot of worth in going back and re-reading things. I'm intentionally writing Shift in such a way.

This is the second time we've seen the inside of Takako's throne room, a classroom. Last time with Saki, I ignore some of the details. So I did more to explain it this time around. Plus it is sort of awkward to say that there is some big room at the end of the hall in a school. That's just not true. So I needed to explain the layout better to get a clear view of how it is set up. Saki was admittedly less interested in the school and more focused on Takako. So she didn't take in the scene much.

I'm also finally getting to some of core parts for Takako as well. It's still going to be a bit before I start truly answering the questions. But I wanted to give Hiroshi a little face time with her so I could start stirring up the questions for the reader about Takako. There is still a lot of things that are not known about her. And I'll be finally getting to those very soon.

And Hitomi does indeed have the power to cry literal rivers from her eyes. It's one of the more silly powers I came up with for the characters. But it does fit in with her personality, which as I said is that she is a huge worrywart. So she's weaponized crying. But she's also a track member, which should be another important clue to remember about her.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 347 is more promptly up today. Nothing to get in my way really. So it is on time and getting deeper into the fighting between Hitomi and Hiroshi. This is still the opening parts of the fight since the last chapter was mostly talk and setup, while this chapter was a preview and tease of things to come. And I have Hiroshi state how silly it is to have such a power as to cry rivers.

There's still a fair amount of darkness around in the story, but with Hiroshi things get a little lighter. He's not too unlike Yuki in that he likes to joke around, though in Hiroshi's case he's doing as way to protect himself and keep himself level. Yuki does it more as a tactic in a fight to off balance his opponent. He's also been in a lot more fights than Hiroshi, so he has the ability to make light of things. Hiroshi is still try to desperately stay alive and keep why remains of his humanity and joking is his coping method.

Hiroshi activated his power again in the fight, but it is much like Yuki's in that it is an area of effect. Everyone in the area is effected by his power, including him. Part of the fun of the fight will figuring out what game is being played. And I'll be trying to use a couple of different games through the fight. Weaponizing children's games is not very easy since they way they play don't well suit combat in the normal sense. So I have to get more creative with how I use the games. And there will also be games Hiroshi has made up for the sake of his power.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 348 is now up for the reading entertainment! The Hiroshi and Hitomi fight continues to advance as I play around with his powers. I never state in the chapter what the game is, but I do give a few hints to it. The obvious hints are the way the game is played and setup, but I also include a hint in the title of the chapter as a really bad pun along with one given by Hiroshi. There should be enough for people to figure out what the game is without too much trouble.

One thing I always try to do if it is in the way the character is, going for the kill when it makes sense. Even if it is ends up failing, I don't let characters that would try to kill not do it just because I don't want to end the fight that fast or kill a character. I'll figure out how I'm going to handle it, but I don't want to ignore what can be a very glaringly obvious point. There is so many times you complain about characters not taking the shot when they should have and it was only ignore because the fight had to continue. I may continue the fight as well, but I'll make the kill attempt still happen to show the character's resolve or personality.

The next game I setup for Hiroshi was a hard one to figure out. It's the sort of thing where I needed to show off the potential of his power and still find something that will be useful in a fight. Because not a lot of the children's games are very good for actually fighting. So I have to get creative while not feeling like I'm stealing from Bleach, who already has a character that can do the same thing. I also wish for moments like this that I was born Japanese, I'd have a lot more material to work from, but it is just how things are.

Enjoy!