Shift Comments Thread

[Andromeda]

So then, I've finally started up my next story like I said I was. This one has been in development for a while and unfortunately still is in development. I just decided that I needed actually start writing on it or it would never leave development. Since I was continuing to bounce around on things. Once I finally start writing though things will be come concrete and I can advance my development as well. At least that is thought.

Anyway, this time around if you have already read my post you will notice the change in length from the last two I've done The Inner Man and Flesh is for Gods. Well I think I may have mentioned it in the last comments on Flesh is for Gods, but I've decided on making shorter posts now. I'm busy and well as I found it is difficult sometimes to keep up on making longer 14-18 page long posts at time. I'm usually pushing myself really hard on it and always doing things requiring me to hold off other things. So I'm dialing back.

I'm changing styles and this will be in a manga format. Though as I finished writing the first chapter I realized that I still got the anime moving pictures feel to it. Which I doubt I'll be able to get rid of since words are fluid and pictures in moments of time are not. But hey, its going to be shorter and I'm shooting for about 4-6 pages which is about a third the length of my episodes. Which if you think about it most anime episodes are between two to three manga chapters when made for adaptation. So that should work out. However, I will be posting every Sunday now rather than every other Sunday. So that will be a change too. It should be really easy for me to knock out a handful of pages rather than a lot. So it will not kill my whole Sunday.

On to the actual story. I actually doing a Shonen Jump style manga here interestingly enough, but I'm going to be seeing how many of the Shonen Jump molds that I can break. It is going to be action oriented and probably have an amount of comedy, but it is not going to be like the previous two stories I did. And to top it all off I don't have an end planned out for it. If my estimates are correct I have about half of the story planned out on a simple scale right now. I have four arcs currently developed, though only three of them are really solid so far. The fourth I came up while in redevelopment, so I don't even know where it is going to end up in the grand scheme of things. But yeah, four arcs means that this is not going to end anytime soon. This is a super mega epic of story that I'm going to be writing for the next like five to ten years. >< Yeah, I know I'm crazy. But hey, that is how Shonen Jump is, they do hundreds of chapters before coming to a conclusion and I don't have one in figured out yet.

Anyway, this should be fun since it is going to be a lot of things and should remain interesting hopefully throughout. As I said I'm going to be breaking some of the standards and cliches that you are used to in Shonen Jump, or at least trying. So that should be good. It is going to be a fun ride. ^^

Oh and I'm not going to be doing any previews anymore since this is a manga chapter. I might end up doing a little random comedic snippette but I'll have to see what happens.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Alright, so then I'm late and its only the second chapter. >< Yeah, I ticked off with myself about that. But it is not the only thing that I'm late on. Anyway, apparently I'm so accustom to my weekend schedule that poor planning ended up ruining everything that I was planning to do. I've got new things happening on the weekend now, specifically my writing day. So yeah, it makes it difficult. But I figured that I'd be fine anyway. Which was certainly not the case.

Well I'm starting to get the rhythm down for this. It is so short, compared to what I have written, that it is a little weird for me. But I think it will take a couple more chapters for me to really start feeling it solidly. In the meantime I've got to work on further development since I've only got a good eight chapters solidly decided at this point. Which will only last me eight weeks and well I'm on 2 now. So I need to get busy. Anyway, it should be coming together the more I write I figure.

This chapter was more prologue in a manner of speaking. I am still working to set down the ground work for the primary characters so I am placing in character development points whenever I can since I have a fairly expansive background on the characters. Which is the other thing that is making development hard. I have a lot of characters and I have to make things for all of them. Fortunately, for villains I don't have to get insanely complicated just yet with them since they will be used as devices themselves to explain things about what makes this special and Shonen Jump.

I'm still working on finding my amount of comedy to mix in with this. I know that these usually swing widely from action to comedy, but I don't want it to be stupid, completely at least. I still don't really have a comedic relief character apart from the main character which will probably break things up frequently with his carefree oblivious attitude that'll get him trouble. Besides in two chapters things are going to start heating up and the flood gates will open on what makes things special. So that is when the real fun begins. I'm quite excited to get to that.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

I'm on time for the third chapter, but that is probably because I had a normal weekend. I still have to figure out how I'm going to deal with the changing weekend. Though in all I took a bit longer than I would have wished writing it, but I had to keep referencing things. I'm actually finding it quite enjoyable writing these stories since each time I'm learning a little more about the Japanese culture and in most cases their school system/life. Since I have been applying what I know from American schooling and anime/manga to this it has made it well not as well informed as I thought. Things are different than I realized and I feel a little stupid for not figuring some of this out sooner. I can't believe I did not pick up on the fact that students have one class and the teachers just move from class to class. So many of things that I've seen just slid into place and made sense for me. I guess it is because you never see teachers switching around that it is just something that is lightly implied. And it makes so much more sense now. Wow, that gave me such a huge epiphany when I understood it and then I understood pretty much everything.

Anyway, things are coming together more now. The only problem I have is that I did not have enough time to work on more of the development like I had hoped since I had a normal Sunday. I was able to get it all done and that was important, but now I'm still in the same boat of needing to work on more later. Oh well, I've started making more characters as I need and additional plots. So it is progressing in strange pieces.

This chapter is certainly more comedy than anything, but it turns pretty serious at the end. It will start changing now at this point giving you a clearer idea of what is going to be the main plot for the next hundred odd chapters. Excitement, huh? Yeah, I know hundred is a lot. But that is the way manga go. This piece will push things out for two full story arcs. So yeah I'm getting some mileage out of it. Not to mention I've got a ton of characters to introduce still. Having a large cast is going to make my life difficult. I can't believe that I remember everyone from Bleach, but I guess eventually I remember everyone from mine as well. Its only been three chapters.

This was also a lot easier for me to write now since I'm back to normal way of writing, which is not making all of the dialogue first. So you probably have noticed that change in the way it reads. I think that is a little better, but I have to give due to the other style since it made sure that I always had words being spoken. Which is something that has carried over with me. So that is a good thing. I think the Inner Man was pretty description heavy if I remember right with blocks of dialogue.

Hope you enjoy the new developments. The title feels very anime/manga. ^^;

[Andromeda]

Fourth chapter is up now after a long Thanksgiving of overtime and family. I'm glad that Sundays are still mine. Well until next week that is. I've got Warhammer again Sunday, so I'm probably going to be putting my new schedule into action next weekend to see how it goes. :/ Oh well, it happens. Anyway, so I managed to knock out this chapter in a few hours I think which is pretty spot on for what I'm aiming. Since it ended up being six pages. There was only one intermission as well, which means that I'm keeping focused through it all. It is only six pages so I should be able to. I also did not have to research or look up anything, so that shortened matters. Though I have a little planning that I have to before I write the next couple of chapters. I'm still going to keep the schedule, just means that I need to do a little work prior to writing them.

Anyway, this chapter is a mix of comedy and drama with both in pretty even doses. I'm still feeling out a little on the degree of comedy I'm going to be working with, but I think I got a better feel for what I'm going to be doing in the department and that comes out a little clearer here. Thoguh the last couple chapters probaby spoke to that as well.

As for the drama well it comes in the form of stress and storytelling, literally. So that went pretty well and it was simply there to provide some much needed explanation and information on what this series is going to be about. Naturally, Yuki believes nothing he hears, as anyone with a sensible head on their shoulders would. But as any main character in a Shonen Jump series finds out that what they were told is all completely true. And thus begins his tale. I end the chapter on a very good cliffhanger to be continued point. Which will really start the snowball effect that is going to happen. There is only a few more chapters left in this mini-arc within an arc. I don't know if I said it, but I think I did. The first arc of the series all going to be character introduction. so there will be a lot of mini-arcs that sit under the entire umbrella of the over-arcing mood that exists. Yes, there is going to be a purpose and theme for the entire series of mini-arcs beside character introduction.

So you should start to see some different sides of Yuki and well you only really see one side of Saki still. But that will be changing soon enough. I've got reasons for everything that is happening. Considering that this has been a year in development I would be disappointed if I did not have this planned out.

Enjoy the chapter! ^^

[Andromeda]

Well Warhammer was Saturday as it turned out so I could still do Sunday for writing. But it took longer than I expected, but I had some other things that I needed to do as well. It was about the normal length of writing time I think. So that is not really an issue, but I just got bogged down on something. I did not know how I wanted the assassin to look with his cloths. He ended up not looking as strange as I originally made him sound, but it was still different from what Yuki is used to seeing so it was strange.

Anyway, the fifth chapter is up now and it had a lot more action in it. It was a pretty serious chapter seeing as his life is on the line at this point. So you get to Yuki in real life danger rahter than just bullies beating him up. I was still a little uncertain about how this was going to proceed for length, but I think I managed to work it well without it feeling too drawn out. There are actually a number of things I do with this chapter that helped me with some things that I had been coming up blank on. So that is good. It is actually a slightly tell chapter about Yuki. I make some of it obvious and some of it subtle. So depends on how much you the readers pick up on things. There is actually a lot meaning in the episode that will have significance later on in the series. ^^ Yeah, I'm already building up things and mysteries that won't make sense until later.

This is going to be a complex story that I'm going to be telling. So there is going to be things that I drop here or there that you will want to remember since I'll draw upon them later with more meaning that time around. But I'm really starting to get into this and I almost wanted to write the chapter earlier in the week. Which might end up happening for the next chapter. I don't know. I'm still deciding if that happens what I'll end up doing since normally I keep up to date with work here and I leave FictionPress a month behind. But I don't know what I'll do if I keep this to once a week but end up behind on the actual current progress. Well if it ends up happening I'll figure it out then.

Anyway, I think this was a good chapter for the introduction of the cool powers that I came up with. You'll get to see more on these powers over the course of the first arc since Yuki is naturally going to be learning and understanding them himself. So it will be fun. I've got a lot of plans with them.

The cliffhanger this time is probably an easy one to figure out. But it was what I was planning anyawy. So the next chapter will have another good bit of action. Things are going to be ramping up and soon Yuki will get to show his mettle as well. I can't wait. ^^

Oh and don't forget that you can post your comments here. I think I only might have said that in the other thread. But if you want to say something please do. I'm interested in hearing what you have to say.

Enjoy the chapter! ^^

[Andromeda]

The sixth chapter is up now. I had been considering working on it throughout the week, but one thing or another ended up getting in my way. The primary thing was Persona 4. :/ Oh well. I got it done a long time ago, but well I was distracted from my proofing.

Anyway, this chapter you get the probably expected answer to the last cliffhanger. So now you get to see Ayumi fight, since it is pretty clear right now that Yuki can't fight. It was fun to get some time with her, though I had like five different endings for the chapter planned out. I was pondering when I wanted to actually stop the fight. I had considered making a quick one that was over before you realized it. But then I felt like displaying some of her powers and so it continued until it had to end. Eventually I had come to the conclusion that I knew where I wanted the chapter to end which meant that I needed to do enough to reach that without going beyond it.

And so I left it a pretty dramatic if not slightly humorous cliffhanger. It is all getting pretty exciting now huh? Yuki is in bad shape and Saki and Ayumi are not on the best of terms. Looks like there will be some rough roads ahead for Yuki if he plans to survive it all. I've got a lot more action coming up soon.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Yeah, I'm a day late. :/ The funny thing is that it was finished last night early. I just did not get to proofing it until tonight because I was like I'm going to play Persona 4 for an hour and then proof it. Because I really want to play it and then return to the game afterwards. Well as you can tell that never happened. So I finally got to it after I finished some shopping that I needed to do.

This chapter was a little weird in that I expanded it out to much more than I was planning to do. It managed to progress on things that I wanted, but I thought that I was going to be covering a lot more in the chapter than I ended up doing so. So now I'm going to be spending most of the next chapter on what I was going to be spending a good chunk of this chapter doing. Which is after-aftermath. If you can get your head around that.

I also ended up changing the order of how things progress due to the non-linear nature of this chapter. I skip backwards for a little and I did not know if I wanted to hit that point where I started at or push it back. And I ended up deciding that I would push back the flashback to front end a little extra and do the chapter break. And then after the flashback it picks back up immediately from where it broke on. Then you get some more explanation about what is up with the powers and a display of the powers again. Not action packed, but got to pour in some emotion and a little comedy. So it was all good around, though I feel like it is dragging at that moment. But if it was a longer chapter I could have gotten everything in. And even after writing it I wonder if it was necessary to have the flashback, but I think it helps to develop character interactions more, especially between the two girls. Since this mini-arc is focused on the three of them mainly. I think it worked out.

I leave things on a cliffhanger at this point and you can see where things are heading at this. I do not really make any feints about what will be coming. This is a cliffhanger that is meant to get you excited about what is going to happen next. Since at this point you know things about Yuki and that there will be the natural showdown to awakening powers. So this is the building tempo to get your blood pumping for the real fun to begin. I will say that you will have to wait another chapter since as I said this one went on longer. But the good stuff is coming and the end to the mini-arc is coming as well.

Enjoy!

Please post comments if you have any as well.

[Andromeda]

The next chapter is up now. I thought I was going to be able to get more done today, but well I bought about a week's watching worth of anime. So needless to say I've been distracted. Anyway, I got it done and I'm heavily considering making another chapter tomorrow. I've got to do some work on it anyway.

But this chapter I was a little uncertain about how it was going to progress. Which is rather funny seeing as when I started in on it I just sat down and started typing. Normally, when I'm having concerns about a chapter or something I end up reading over things and staring at the screen endlessly. But this just flowed well for some reason. It was a little jerky in the narration but I liked to think that is in part the sort of choppy feel you get from manga anyway. Not to mention I was cramming to make the goal and still do everything that I wanted. It was meant to be more of reflection time for Yuki, but it ended up being more of an external look at Yuki in his problems. Which I think actually worked out better than endlessly repeating the same things that he is thinking in his head anyway.

I ended up adding in more to it than I was expecting. It had more comedic moments than I was planning for. But when it flows you do no really argue with it. And points to those that pick up on the little cameo that I put the chapter. I had been considering it from the beginning that I should have some fun and cameo my previous stories and I probably will here and there. Though it is certainly easier to cameo things visual and not have to come out to say it. Here I have to be a little more direct and still be subtle. Anyway, it should be a good little laugh. Seeing as what I did, it should provide some entertainment if I choose to do something with it again.

I hope you enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Well the newest chapter is up now. I know I had said I was thinking about doing the next chapter sooner. And I was honestly, but I ended up getting side tracked. I started working on another story and to top that off I had about 5 days of anime that I watched as well. If the anime had not gotten in the way I would have ended up writing a lot more probably.

Anyway, the chapter is up now. The sub-arc is slowly coming to an end now. There is only one more chapter left in this sub-arc at this point. And then things will being to progress onward to new things. For those that knew what was going to happen then you got rewarded. To those that did not well you did too with a nice ending to the chapter. As you can imagine you know what is going to happen in the following chapter. So things will be wrapped up with that and some things will start getting pushed. I will also begin to explain somethings as well that I have left for you to understand through Yuki and actions.

I was pretty excited about doing this chapter as I had said before. Plus I get to end things soon as well. So then I get to move on to the next sub-arc. I know you can't wait. Well I can't at least. Anyway, I had to make another villain for this one and it is only going to become more difficult to do so without feeling like I'm doing the same thing over again. Fortunately, I've got a large canvas to work with here. At the very least I won't have to make a lot of villains that often. Though I will need to start working on my stockpile for later.

Anyway, the aside one thing that I really want to work on in this chapter was really conveying the emotions and pounding that was almost like a second hand counting away each second. It was a little difficult to do without sounding repetitive, but I think in the end it really help to sell the way Yuki was feeling at the time.

I hope you enjoy it!

[Andromeda]

Chapter ten is up now, I've hit the double digits now. ^^; I actually did not have a lot of things planned for this chapter, but I figured that it would work out. Though it appears that is going to continue on a little further. I was planning on tying everything up with this chapter since the fight that started in the last one will be resolved shortly. However, that did happen as planned the rest did not. Not that I'm displeased with what I did. I actually like it since I covered a few things that I've been wanting to for a while anyway.

I got to do some family bonding finally since I had not really got to do much with the family since the first chapter. And the last chapter things were well not in the best of terms. So now that things get back to normal you get to see a little more of the flavor of the family and insight into them. I also got to address a point about one of the brothers, Jun, that I had there since the beginning but did not really have a good point to actually explain it. And well I found a great point. It almost worked out like I planned it.

Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with the way things turned on it. So it is a good chapter even if I did not finished everything that I wanted. I also ended up finding a great cliffhanger that is one of those big shockers to the characters, but sort of something you saw coming because I alluded to it. But anyway, I really like the cliffhanger. But this is more or less the end of the first sub-arc and the new sub-arc will begin in the next chapter unless something changes. I doubt it will though.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

I'm late on the chapter. >< Now that I admit that its time for my excuse. :/ Well I actually had a lot of work going on this weekend that my planning did not account for. The bulk of it went into getting the Chocobo Digest up and running for this new revival. After that I had a Warhammer session that went on longer than I was expecting and didn't get home until very late. So that killed my weekend. I was planning on doing the writing Saturday, but it was completely taken up by the Digest.

Anyway, that aside now I'm on to the chapter. It is up and longer than I was planning and shorter than my goal. Yeah, that doesn't make a lot of sense does it? Well simply put it is probably one of the longer chapters that I wrote. However, I did not cover even half of I what I was planning on. And I'm honestly not sure why this time. It didn't seem like things carried on that long and yet they did. It is a mystery to me. So it is shorter in coverage than I wanted. Which in a manner actually makes this the real end to the arc, even though I immediately drop you into the next arc at the end.

I made it so long because I wanted to do more and I wanted to get the great moment at the end of the chapter that I thought was just going to be a funny moment in the middle. It ended up being the way the chapter ended more or less. I still think it was a great moment for Yuki. But like I said I follow through into the next arc with it. Since I was planning on ending things and moving on at a faster pace.

I'm starting realize how strangely constructed and written Ayumi is as a character. I already imagine her having two almost distinct voices and mannerisms. But beyond that my style of writing is done in a why that places you more in the feet of the character so you feel what they are. Unfortunately, Ayumi is a character within a character. Since she plays a ditzy airhead type with a darkly serious underneath. And yet I play on both sides in the narrative when I write. So you almost get this poor sense of her and yet you see how complete of an act it is. It is not like she believes herself to be an airhead, but she plays it off well. And then I start mixing things in and so you end up with an almost bi-polar state of mind reading from her perspective. She is weird.

On the note of characters I manage to give Momoko some more time, but on top of that I worked in a little on Yuki as well. I still keeping things intentionally vague at this point. But I'm setting up things at this point since this arc is going to be doing a little explaining. But I still have more to explain on him even after this arc. So he will still have plenty of secrets.

What's disappointing is that I was really looking forward to writing this chapter and it was so painful to do because of the problems that kept popping up for me.

I hope you enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Alright, I'm back on task again. Though I didn't have Warhammer this weekend, so that is part of the reason. I do next week providing that I don't have overtime. Anyway, hopefully things will work out better for me. Though next week is coming to a head for me on a few things.

That aside, it looks like I got held up again on what I was planning on doing. ^^; Yeah, I have that problem. Though what I did cover is just a important. I just have not gotten a handle on the pacing that I normally write in and the length of writing that I'm locking myself down to. I'll get it figured out eventually.

Anyway, this was a pretty light hearted chapter like some of the last couple of couples. There is certainly some serious part, especially the last chapter. But more or less I'm balancing the comedy right now. And with the powers that Yuki has it is pretty easy to just have tons of fun with him. I've already got all sorts of things lined up for him in the future. This will be a lot of fun.

Though I'm finally into the new sub-arc and working towards what will be the main focus of the sub-arc. It does not really pick up until the end, but I knew that I needed to get it in. This was an important thing to start setting up. Though what I have planned ended up going for three chapters now. Which is in the second of them. That will end handled soon enough in the chapter and the real meat of the chapter will begin. The action and suspense will start back up. Not to mention you will get to learn more about the strange powers that Yuki has.

That said the pacing that I have I'm not going to be explaining everything immediately. I am going to let things stew for a little and make you think. Then I will come out say what is happening. Part of that is because if I explained everything immediately, well it would pull you out of the action. And it would make the chapters really long. So there will be points when a number of questions will just suddenly get answered. This is planned that way. It makes things a little more mysterious and interesting I think.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

For those that don't already know I was hit with overtime on top of being ill. I'm still not sure what I had, but it was thankfully nothing serious. It just made it difficult to concentrate. So I ended up not able to write for two weeks. Which I'm very annoyed about. I managed to recover though now and I have Sunday off, not Saturday though. Hurray for one day a week and 63 hours this week. It was 55 hours last week. You think testing is a fun easy job, but they don't know about the long hours and the lack of scheduling.

Anyway, this is not my journal. So chapter 13 is up and I'm actually working on 14 as well. I'm seeing if I can get it out tonight as well. I'm not sure, but I will certainly try. If not it will be tomorrow. Anyway, I did actually start this up last week, but I did have Warhammer and was still recovering from being ill. So those two combined to make things difficult.

That aside the chapter ends up focusing more on Saki right now than Yuki. But that was probably becoming a little clear in the last end of the previous chapter. Seeing as this sub-arc is focusing on the story that is developing around Saki, it only makes sense. There will be some good stuff to happen soon and on top of that you will get to hear a little more about the powers that Yuki has. Though that is going to happen in the following chapter.

I finally gave names to the other two friends that were hanging around with Hiroshi and Yuki. I don't know why I was holding back for so long. I just wanted to wait and not introduce a ton of characters all at once. I figured a slower pace would be easier, especially since they did not have a hugely important role. They were just there for scenery and flavor. They are still for the time being, but they will get their time. But I have not focused a lot on his friends yet, so they will get fleshed out more later.

Well I hope you enjoy the chapter!

[Andromeda]

Alright, I finally got last week chapter up, though I had it finished on Saturday. Why I didn't post it up then I don't know. I went into writing on Sunday's chapter, which I'm still doing right now. And I guess I just got pulled away. And needless to say I'm balancing work and personal hobbies.

This chapter provided few more details and I finally settled on a few things as well. I had been tossing around names for a while on powers and so that got done finally. There are a few things in there that probably won't make sense for a while until I put in the key. But I've got a lot of things planned out in advance already. So things won't make complete sense until the story progresses further. It is meant to give you pieces, but the key won't be inserted for a while. But when that happens you'll see what's behind the door.

I got to work on the dynamics between Yuki and his brothers, which is an important matter for me. I've had things planned out for how they are and react, but so many of the things takes time to develop and have the right moments. So those times are finally starting to pop up and really show true colors from them. There is still more to come, but this sub-arc has been good for that.

This chapter is actually completely free of Saki, but well that will be changing soon. I know I had a lot of focus on her before and now she is gone from the light. But I'll be putting her back in soon enough. I've just got some things to sort out with Yuki before moving on. Look forward to the next chapter having more revealing details about the strange power of Kasou-ryoku. ^^

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

And now I finally got 15 up and it is almost a week later at this point. I'm hoping that I'm back on schedule soon since I still have tomorrow to get the next chapter finished. This got broken up so much that I can't believe how many times I stopped and started on it.

I actually forgot to talk about it a little before, but seeing as the last chapter was called Kasou-ryoku and I think I did mention that I came up with a name for it. I should say a little about what was going on with it. It is actually more challenging this time around for me to do these sorts of things because not only do I have to figure out Japanese for this I am also doing Greek on top of that. I'm actually using the Japanese more right now, but that is only because it is between Yuki and Ayumi. I'm going to be using more Greek later on with the assassins, since it will make sense. I don't know why I'm doing that to myself, but I'm spending part of my time figuring out that much about the chapter as I'm going through. It is not easy since I know nothing about the structure of their words and compound ideas/words/phrases. I got some advise at least on the Japanese from someone that has taking some classes and knows some amount of Japanese. So I'm trying to stay as close as I can, but I can't help but feel like that I'm butcher things.

That aside this chapter is pretty revealing on the powers of Kasou-ryoku. Though it more puts words to what you should have been figuring out from the things that I've described and dropped in the past chapters. So it is not as revealing as it sounds. However, I am going to be providing more fun stuff in the next chapter.

The strange and funny thing is that I was planning on ending in a different place, but it ended up lasting longer than I was expecting and I knew that I could not do everything that I wanted and end when I needed. So the rest will be done in the next chapter and the fun will begin again in the following chapter next week.

I'm hope you enjoy!

[Andromeda]

And now I have 16 up, though I'm still quite late on it. I'm hoping to have more time to work on the next chapter tonight before I have to get to sleep. I should have finished it a long time ago today, but I found it took longer than I would have thought. I'm not sure for the reason, but either way it is done now.

This is the direct continuation of what was happening in the last chapter and getting pretty intense now. The one thing that I continue to try to keep in mind that is that I'm trying to break away from a number of the things every other manga ends up doing. I know I can't avoid them all and I certainly have my share that I'm using here. But I am trying to not be caught in the trap that so many fall into, not saying it is bad or anything. Some of my favorite manga use them a lot, but I just want to be different from the rest and not just in a story department.

This chapter was another one of those that went longer than was I planning for. I was actually wanting to get a little more of some other things in, but it would have been too long and the action I think was important for what was happening. I probably could have trimmed things down somewhere, but I've never trimmed anything when I'm writing unless I completely don't like it. I have the bad habit of keeping everything that I write and just expand it if it is needed. Which probably does not necessary help me when I'm keeping it a stricter line.

Still it was a fun chapter to fun, but I finally got around to the real point of the sub-arc at the end of the chapter. So expect the next chapter to follow up and continue on with that line of the plot. With any luck I will have some more free time this coming week to work on this a little harder, because I have a feeling I won't be able to get the chapter up by the end of the Sunday. Stupid overtime stealing away my free time.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

And now I have 17, though I had it finished last night I just was distracted. Anyway, I'm getting close to being caught up now since I can work on the next chapter today. This chapter was harder to write than most of the others because of the number of direction that I was considering for this. It also helps that I haven't been able to plan out the rest of this sub-arc due to lack of time available. So I've been winging it.

I have the rest of the sub-arc more or less figured out at this point and an idea of what I'm going to be doing in the following one. However, it still remains to be seen how that ends up aiding my progress. Though that aside, this chapter had too many different things that I was thinking about. I was actually planning on doing my flashbacks later in the sub-arc, but it seemed to make since to drop one here. I still got another one or two flashbacks that I will need to do for this sub-arc. Especially since this is meant to be a more Saki focused arc, so she is going to be getting her own flashback and time. I need to develop her character and this was where it was going to be happening. Though thankfully, she actually has a fair amount of development already.

This chapter let you peak into the past of Yuki though which will be expanded on further in later chapters. There is a lot of history that he has that makes up who he is and why he is does things. So it will take some time to work through it.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Hey, there's that chapter I said I should be done with Sunday. Yeah, that clearly didn't happen. Though in reality it was finished Monday. I just ran out of time on Monday and Tuesday I just fell asleep while I was editing it. Yeah >< I literally just fell asleep and woke up to find my laptop turned around and at my side. No idea how it managed that, but I'm guessing that I was careful or something. Which I've very thankful for since well I don't want to break my new laptop already.

That aside, the new chapter picks up immediately where I left that little cliffhanger with Saki. Yeah, I'm getting back to the focus of this whole sub-arc finally. On top of that I also finish out something that I ended off on like 5 chapters back. ^^; Yeah, so I'm finally finishing out things since I had like two different things happening at the same time more or less. Now those things have met and you get to see what you missed.

So yeah, more flashback time. ^^ I told you it was going to happen. But it is only a day back and not like years ago like the last one. I did leave off on a cliffhanger too, but I left enough for you to figure out the importance of things. Though I did sort of casually drag in Ayumi. I was sorting through several ways of handling it and I ended up doing that. I was not really too pleased about it, but it did just as well as anything else without needlessly catching her up after the reader is already up to speed.

I'm not going to endless repeat past events like so many Shonen Jump like to do. I wonder if it is just them filling out pages or time or what. But I'm going to limit that as much as I can, because its annoying.

Anyway, enjoy!

[Andromeda]

I made it to my normal day finally. How long has it been since I managed that? I actually managed to do it yesterday since I have plans today. So I actually was able to work with my new scheduling. I am very pleased that I was finally able to get things back into gear.

Anyway, this chapter for those that read the previous one already know that it is a flashback. It is completely focused on Saki like I said it would. Though there definitely some focus on Yuki as well since Saki's development is intertwined and linked to Yuki's development. It is pretty much unavoidable if I try to develop her. So it sometimes comes off like I'm focusing on him still, but it is all leading to an important life changing decision for Saki. So it all has purpose.

I've been waiting on this flash back for a while since I had the general idea of it planned out since before I began. So it was nice to finally be able to get to it now. There are still a few more flashbacks if I recall that I need to do before this sub-arc is over which will help to fill in a few more pieces. As I said somewhere further back, I think, all of these sub-arc are meant as an introduction and development for the main cast of characters that you will be reading about throuh the rest of the story. I'm taking a lot of time to introduce them and give them stories before I really even get going since I won't be able to as much once things push on.

There will probably be some smaller reveals during some of the fights, but more or less the characters will be fleshed out before the serious stuff hits the fan. When the serious stuff hits the fan there is not going to be a lot of time for reflection. I can't wait for the first big event to hit. Though I have like 20-30 chapters before that happens probably.

This sub-arc is slowly rolling to a climax and conclusion. The funny thing is that I thought this flashback would have ended, but it went on longer and when I got to a point it seemed like the best place to end. So I just stopped and let it be.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

And I'm back again. I'm at least keeping up with something. It is still been a pretty hectic time for me, but I'm pushing on. I think I am even getting back into the groove of things for this story. It went by a lot faster than the last ones once I got done getting distracted. So I am very pleased with the way things improving on that front.

The chapter brings an end to the really long flashback that fills you in on what happened to Saki. And now that things are brought back to the present I think you know what is going to be happening next. The fun is about to begin soon with some action. The fight will start next week and will probably be wrapped up the following week. I don't know if I'll wrap up the entire sub-arc in that chapter or not, but at the most this sub-arc has three more chapters.

So besides some Saki torture...um... yeah that's about it. ^^; Though things are put forward now and you get to see some gears turning in Yuki. I guess we'll see if he has what it takes to fight, huh? I'm looking forward to finding out.

On another note, one of the reasons that chapter went by so smoothly I think is because I finally finished planning this sub-arc. On top of that I've started developing the next three sub-arcs. I had been working on the following sub-arc for a little bit since I already knew who it was going to focus on. But it was not until recently that I started to actually put ideas to words and write something. So the next sub-arc is pretty much all done at this point. I may make some slight changes to it, but it is pretty much ready to go. At this point I'm just deciding what I'm going to be doing next. I've got two sub-arc in addition planned out with a third as well. However, they are all going together in chronological order. And I'm still not sold on the amount of development that I would be getting to by the end of the third sub-arc. So I'm thinking about do two or three more sub-arcs before getting to the others. If that happens I will be pushing out the huge plot changing event. But either way, I should be coming to a decision on it soon. The coming sub-arcs will most certainly be shorter than the ones I've done so far. I'm pretty certain of that, though this is me after all. So I guess I can't really be certain about even that. The plan is to make them shorter like around 4-6 chapters in length. They are meant as introductions for the main characters after all. Which is why I'm leaning towards more sub-arcs since if I didn't the rest of the main characters would not get an introduction until after all of the huge life changing events. Which works as well, since I planned it that way. I'm just re-evaluating my decisions.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

[Andromeda]

So I've got this up late, but it was finished yesterday. I just didn't get the time to put it up until now. The passage of time is very difficult for me to hold on to it seems. But anyway, the action is hitting now. ^^ Though as I wrote it I realized that I'm making a lot of dialogue happen and it is turning out like a typical shonen jump fight. Where you have to chat before you fight and during the fight. Though there isn't much of the chatting during it. Yet anyway. ^^; Who know I've still got another chapter to wrap up the fight.

The fight be finished in the next chapter, I've already planned that. Though I don't know how much page space I'm going to have with all of different things I need to deal with. So this sub-arc may end up getting concluded completely in the second chapter after the action comes to an end. Which is very likely I think. But the sub-arc is reaching the end and we get to move on to the next one.

I promise it'll be short. I hope at least. I've talked with my friend about my dilemma that I talked about and I think I know how I'm going to be handling things. I still need time to arrange and develop things before I get there, but I think I made my answer.

Fun times. I had some cool moments in the chapter and I'm really enjoy the relationship that I'm creating between Yuki and Ayumi. It is making for a lot of fun moments and I really enjoy Ayumi's character. She has so many sides to her and she is so complex of a character. Yuki is pretty complex as well, but a lot of that is not made apparent at the beginning as it is meant to be slowly shown over the course of sub-arcs and chapters. But it is clear from the beginning that Ayumi has layers and complexity. She's a very fun character for me.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Alright, Chapter 22 is up now. I finished reading it over and posted it up. I'm a little frustrated that I couldn't end it in a quicker amount words/pages, but I knew where I wanted it to end and made sure to get there. I was actually worried that I'd have to run the fight into the next chapter a little, but I managed to not have that happen. I got in everything that I wanted and I think I got a pretty interesting fight as well.

It is funny thinking about it and I think I've made this realization before, but I write up the enemies before I get to the fight so that I know what I'm working with during the fight. I lay down a list of the abilities that they have and what they look like. For someone that only lasts a few chapters at most they get a fair amount of effort them. They are people after all even if they are just villains I'm putting the time in to make them good. I may not flesh out a background on them, but I know it. And so when I go into the fight I know what I'm dealing with. Though I lay out a lot of things figuring that they will be used in some way. But I don't lay out the fight in the detail before hand. I just know vaguely I want this and this to happen. So when I go in and finish everything I realize that I haven't used everything. But I would rather not use everything than not have enough. Though I usually end up coming up with some extra stuff in the process of the fight anyway.

On the note of the fight I realized that Saki is more in line with the stereotypical Shonen Jump hero than Yuki is. I sort of made sure that Yuki was not, because I was trying to do manga and Shonen without all of the standards that you see. And as a result I think a lot of those got tossed to Saki. Saki has that strong need to protect personality and the hand strong quick temper. She also beats up bullies and charges in with out much of a plan. So I found that amusing when I realized that fact. I don't think it is a bad thing though.

Well the conclusion or epilogue, how ever you want to look at it is coming up next week. So this sub-arc will be brought to a close. I've got the next sub-arc ready to go as I've said. I'm very excited about this one since I'll be introducing some new characters.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

I finished up with the sub-arc finally. Hurray! ^^; Yeah, I know it took a long time to get there and I think it is about the same length as the first sub-arc give or take a chapter. As I've said before I'm planning on shorter sub-arcs from here on out since they are supposed to be just sub-arcs that are brief. But you know how I have trouble being brief.

This was a wrap up chapter, but most of you figured that out already probably. I was able to put in another a little piece of details that I've been waiting for the right moment to do. That is the fun thing about all of these chapters as I go along. I've got so many things set up and laid out about the Kasou-ryoku powers that I haven't said. So I can just pick out pieces and lay them in whenever I need. By the end of the first major arc you will have a pretty solid understanding of the power and what it is truly capable of doing. Though you won't have seen everything that is possible until the second arc where there will be a lot of good stuff to witness.

I was a little struggling on knowing where I wanted to end the chapter though as some might note. There were a couple places that I thought to end it, but I did not drag it on too long fortunately. I just wanted a full conclusion to everything rather than a simple walking into the sunset sort of thing that could have happened.

I'll be working on the final details for the third sub-arc that I'm doing. So look forward to some new characters and some new stuff to learn about. It is going to be a fun little sprint.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

And a new sub-arc begins. ^^ Well you'll probably figure out what it is going to be focusing on when you get to the end of the chapter. So you have that to look forward to. I managed to introduce a few new characters, though the most important one was Yori, Yumi's older brother, well that and the one at the end. But I'm actually doing some setup for Yori since I don't want to have a lot of introduction of him when I need to use him. I also put in Yumi's friends which will play small parts throughout the whole arc appearing along side Yumi.

The pacing on this arc I think will be different from the previous ones which I think were a little drawn out in places. Though I guess all things side the last arc I was still trying to rush everything in knowing that it was going over in length. So I'm not certain how things will end up going for this sub-arc, but I've only really planned for six chapters and I think it should stick to that. I've got a lot of things to do in this arc though and it will be a very important one for reasons that won't really be fully understand for some time to come.

This chapter felt a little weird to me though while I was writing it since I was trying to address a number of points before getting to the end. I managed to do all of that, but it felt like I was jumping around. I was at least able to do that if nothing else. One of the big things was that I want to keep portarying Yuki in the happy and carefree light that is who he is currently. I've had to weigh him down with a lot of emotional things already and as you can plainly see he is complicated and complex character on top of that. But his pervailing attitude is supposed to be very happy and always smiling doing silly things that makes him the unwanted center of attention. And some of that gets across at times, but due to all of the things in the past chapters I have not been able to completely express how he is really happy most of the time. Things past through him pretty easily and he is quick to forget past emotions. So I try to make that a point whenever the chance that I get. I think this chapter really helped to illustrate that point. It overall helped to paint the picture that I have of him that is more talked about than shown at times.

On a side note, I've finally started working on drawing up the characters for Shift. I've naturally started with Yuki, but I'm working on his entire family right now. I've got the school uniform designs completed minus the school crest which I'm still weighing on. Hopefully, I can clean up the characters soon and I can show them off. I'm actually planning on writing and drawing up what I'm calling a pilot for Shift the manga. I naturally don't need all of the characters drawn for that, but I'm going to be doing it anyway. But the pilot manga will be a little different from the original since it is clear to me that the first chapter is not representative of what the overall story and characters are like. So I'm going to be making some changes to things and making that. Which I think will probably be a longer than the standard manga length of like 20 pages in the weekly stuff and probably a little closer to 30 or 40 pages. But it is a pilot, so I think that will be fine.

Anyway, for now enjoy the chapter! ^^

[Andromeda]

Well the new chapter is up now. It is a little earlier than normal, but I got up early. This chapter actually did not end up being everything that I was planning. I had to stop before I finished everything, so now I'm starting to wonder if this is going to be a longer sub-arc now. I know I have the tendency to write long and feared it could happen, but I guess I will have to see what happens. I'm actually considering writing more since I did not get through everything, but I have so many things I need to do on top.

I got to go into more depth about Seiji now, though he was only briefly introduction in the last chapter so there was not a lot that I could really have said anyway. ^^; But there is still plenty to be covered about Seiji as you will no doubt about probably after reading the chapter. Though I also got to cover some new territory with Saki that I was not expecting. But it ended up working out for the story.

I normally write out the idea of what I'm going to be doing for everything. But it is just a path and not a road, so I'm quite flexible when it comes to changing as the wind desires. If I find something that I like better or works out I just go with the flow. It makes for a more enjoyable time. On which, I've actually worked out what I think is going to be the fifth major arc in the story. Yeah, I'm thinking that far ahead, though it ties back to the previous arcs. It is also important to Yuki, so I sort of need to be thinking about it to drop in pieces about it here and there. Though it does make me wonder how long this is going to be going for. I think when I stopped writing originally, which I think is halfway through the story, it was estimated to be like 300 chapters. And so I really wonder if it is going to be like 500 chapters before I'm done or even longer. It is going to be like ten years of me writing for this single story. Though it is fun. ^^;

I've been thinking about adding supplimental material here for a while, but I have not had the time. So I'm thinking that I will start now. I may just putting in things about the characters here for fun as well, but I'll start off with a breakdown of the chapters.

School Days Arc - Chapters 1-Current
School Days Arc: Awakening - Chapters 1-11
School Days Arc: My Brother's Keeper - Chapters 12-23
School Days Arc: Like Spirits - Chapters 24-Current
School Days Arc: Sub Arc #4
School Days Arc: Sub Arc #5
School Days Arc: Sub Arc #6
School Days Arc: Sub Arc #7
School Days Arc: Sub Arc #8
School Days Arc: Sub Arc #9
School Days Arc: Sub Arc #10
School Days Arc: Sub Arc #11
School Days Arc: Sub Arc #12

I think this is how many sub-arcs that I will have for this arc. Yeah, I know it is a lot, but I'm pretty sure this is how many that I will need for what I need to do. I don't even have all of them sorted out completely either. I'm still not really even sold on the name 'School Days' for the arc, but it does make sense. I'll figure out a new name if I come up with one.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Alright, I'm late. Though I've got a different reason this time. I wrote too much. Yeah, that'll make sense in a moment. I basically ended up writing more than I could fit into the limits that I placed on myself. So I have to go through and re-edit it to knock it down to the size that I needed. Which ended up creating a new chapter out that which is nearly half completed thanks to that. Yeah, I wrote that much extra. And then I couldn't finish it Sunday and Monday I fell asleep the entire day. ><

So I got back to it tonight and finished it up. And now I'm really wondering if I'm going to be able to make it or not. I guess it will really end up coming down to how things go in the next chapter. It will only take one or so chapters for the fighting. So it is all about the set up and character development at this point that is holding things up.

The funny thing about this whole thing is that the stuff that I was eager to write about all got pushed out in the next chapter. So now it is going to be even longer until you get to learn about it. Either way, I'm going into good amount of detail about it since it is pretty important for understanding things. I'm trying to slowly introduce these concepts while the story goes so I'm not rushing it all at the beginning and taking the mystery out of it. Not to mention it would take forever to through the details about the powers.

Ayumi and Saki got to have some face time. I find them to be amusing together and make a pretty good duo at times. They are sort the ones that keep Yuki safe and not from going crazy. They are always watching him. Though they will not be getting a lot more face time in the rest of the sub-arc, Ayumi will though.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

I'm not late, though I was thinking that I would have had this chapter done a long time ago. I only need to write like half of the chapter since I had removed some much from the previous chapter and made it into a new one. So now I got to another exposition time that is a little necessary to understand what the powers of the Kasou-ryoku really are. There is still plenty of discovery to be had, but I've dropped in three very important pieces in this chapter.

I am now caught up to where I need to be for the action to begin in the next chapter. Though there is going to be a little flashback during the fight, so I don't know if it will be completed in a single chapter. I'm planning on it to be though since it should not be very long. Though I can't wait for this coming chapter because I'm going to be able to finally start doing some fun things with the powers. I've got so many plans and it is taking so long to get through to each of the points. But it will all pay off I believe.

But Seiji is back and he will be present in the remaining chapters of the sub-arc naturally. After that he will probably end up disappearing a little since he doesn't go to the same school. I'm hoping to keep bringing him in from time to time, but I'll have to see how I can swing it. Though speaking of future chapters and sub-arcs I'm going to need to start finishing the details on the coming arcs since this one is finishing up soon. I may even end it in the next chapter, depends on the room I have.

I didn't make it for the last one, but I'll provide a small little profile on Yuki this time.

Name: Yuki Hayashi
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Height: 5’ 4”
Weight: 130lbs
Hair Color: Dark Blue

Eye Color: Light Brown
Occupation/Position: High School Student
Appearance in Story: Beginning (Main Character)
Abilities: His abilities will vary from situation to situation as they are needed since he has the Power of Imagination (Kasou-ryoku). He starts out with primarily offensive abilities that lack any sort of defense. Eventually this will change as he begins to develop as a fighter and learn what is truly possible with his powers.
Appearance: He has short hair coming unevenly around the back of his head and ears. He is fairly thin and lean with a very slight muscular build left from when he used to get into a lot of fights. He appears like the average high school student.
Cloths: He has his regular high school cloths for when he is attending classes. In addition to that he has regular cloths that he wears around when not in classes. Then when he is using his powers he will change his cloths depending on the law set that he is using. He starts out with something a little more ostentatious than he ends up settling on later.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

The next chapter is up now with the action beginning once more. The fun is here as you were probably expecting with the end that I left on the last chapter. So Seiji and Yuki are left to deal with another assassin. Sounds like the previous sub-arc a little huh? Yeah, just wait. It is going to be nothing like the previous fight. As I've been saying to myself pumping myself up, this is when the awesome begins. Though you don't get to really see what I mean in this chapter since I left the start of the 'awesome' as the cliffhanger for the chapter. But next chapter is going to be fun stuff, its on the big moments that I've been waiting for. It's going to be fun times. I'm all excited about it.

That said, I was actually thinking I would end up finishing the sub-arc in this chapter, but I guess not. Still I know it will be finished in the next chapter since the fight will only last about half of the chapter. When I hit like page 4 I realized that it was not going to be finished and then I was worried this would be really short because I knew where I would end it if I was going to be cliffhang it. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I found the perfect moment for it all to hit and that took another two pages and I nearly went over the limit that set myself too. It is funny how it ends up working out that way.

The thing that has me wondering is how long will these end up when drawn. They are supposed to be 20 pages in length drawn since that is the weekly serial length for Shonen and the rest of the manga like that. The monthly and novel ones end up be more varied and usually longer. But reading someone of the chapters of things like Bleach I look and realize out little sometimes happens in a chapter and can't help but think how much I press into one of my chapters. They are usually pretty packed and so I wonder if these might be too long.

Well I won't know until I get there. Though speaking of which, I've started to actually draft the pilot for Shift as though it would be a real manga and just not written. The thing I knew from the beginning was that I started very slowly. The action does not hit until chapter 4, which is a long way to wait for you to under what the series concept is. Which also makes it difficult to pitch Chapter 1 to someone to pick up for publishing. So I'm taking the entire first sub-arc Awakening and compressing it into a single chapter that is a pilot. I saw that Naruto apparently did the same thing. So that is what gave me the idea that it would be acceptible. So I'm working on writting something like that probably going to be like 30 pages in length that will get across the characters as well as all of the elements of the powers and concept that I'm running with for the series. I'm going to be drawing it in my free time and when it is done I'll be sure to post it up. I may pick up a deviant account for it. Since I'm starting to work on my drawing in a serious manner finally.

Enjoy the chapter!

[Andromeda]

The next chapter and the conclusion to the current sub-arc is up now. It actually did end with being 6 chapters in length, which I'm happy that I managed to do. Though I have a feeling that the following sub-arcs might go even faster. I will have to see what I have planned. I know that I want to spend time on each of the characters and give them to depth before tossing everything together to be mixed. Unfortunately, since Seiji does not attend Yuki's school it will be difficult for me to keep him in the coming chapters. That will naturally change later on since Seiji is part of the main cast, but I have a feeling until then he will be rather missing.

But as I said the 'awesome' has come in this chapter. It was one of the big moments that I have been waiting for. I was very excited about it being done. I don't believe that I'll be making use of that ability anytime soon again, but it is nice taste of the future. The future is going to be fun indeed. ^^ I can't wait for the next big moment to come, but that is still several sub-arcs away. So it probably won't be hit until like chapter 50ish.

The interesting thing that I realized about this fight from the previous ones was that there was not nearly the amount of injures that came out. Yuki and Seiji got beat up, but apart from that there was not a lot of critical stuff like the previous ones had. They got beat to a pulp and then Yuki turned things around. Its about the way things go, but I just found it interesting. It did not seem so life threatening, I don't know. It doesn't make it any less important or meaningful though.

Anyway, I'm going to working on the next sub-arc now. Which is going to be focusing on Yori and Yumi. I introduced briefly Yori in this sub-arc with the intention of it setting up this coming sub-arc. Which pretty much picks up the next day and runs pretty much concurrently with the previous sub-arc for a little bit. It'll only be a chapter or so, but you'll see what I mean when the next chapter comes.

I hope you enjoy!

[Andromeda]

The new sub-arc has begun now and for those that read it can tell that Yuki is pretty much nowhere to be seen in this chapter. I pretty much intended it to be that way. Yuki will be playing a small but important role later in the sub-arc, but overall I wanted this to really be from a different point of view.

In the other chapters it is mostly from Yuki's eyes, though I do carry other points of view when I need. And in each sub-arc the character focus gets their time. But this time around I'm going to be solely focusing on Yumi, a previously minorly mentioned character that was easy to forget. I wanted to really give her some face time since she is quite important to the series as a whole, though her importance will not really be noticed for quite some time. ^^; Yeah, I've planned out her story into several arcs.

But I do quite like Yumi since she is one of the less stand-out-ish characters. She is easy to blend into the wall because of her personality, but she is someone that is really not confident in herself at all and outwardly portrays that fact while the others may not have confidence but they aggressively cover it up through outlandish ways or just through more vocal means.

And I already laid in the hints, but it is not really a secret that she has a crush on Yuki. She is like the only character that will admit to having feelings for Yuki personally, openly she would never even think about it. ^^; There are probably other girls that like Yuki, but they would never even admit it to themselves let alone openly. Yeah, that's a little typical huh? It happens, unfortunately.

But this was a short chapter, but I'm pretty certain this whole sub-arc will be wrapped up in three chapters total. It is not meant to be long, just give you an understanding and some time in Yumi's shoes. And seeing as there have been a lot of action lately, it is nice just to ease back into some simply everyday drama to relax in. If you can call drama relaxing. *shrugs* Everyway I'm enjoying this sub-arc.

I hope you enjoy the chapter as well!