Shift Comments Thread

[Coff9]

Well, that is exciting!

So far, I like your writing style. I'm sure that it will become even better as it goes. I just need to find the time to read more; I'm currently neck-deep in books I'm trying to read, both fiction and non-fiction.

Good luck with your writing!

[Andromeda]

I'm glad that you're enjoying it so far. I write Shift differently from other things that I write since it is supposed to be a manga-styled story. I do what I can keep with that feeling through the story. Hopefully it continues to be something you enjoy.

[Andromeda]

Chapter 376 is now available for reading! The start of the new arc begins! As promised, this is the Yumi character arc. Being pretty clear at the start, is recovering Yumi, but as you can imagine it's not going to be that simple. Complications will be quickly thrown in and before long you should get a sense of where the new arc is going. Sorting out pacing, it should be a few chapters before we dig into the meat of the arc. This is the prologue and setup for things to come.

In the past Yori's been a reluctant and disagreeable member of the group. He tags along because of his sister and for the most part, he's been working with everyone. During the end of the Atlantis arc, Fumiko became difficult in the group due to personal issues with Yumi and herself. Breaking up the bonds that were forming in the group. With Fumiko out of the picture for this arc, yes she's not going to be in like Chiharu wasn't in the last one or this one as well. Fumiko is going to be stubborn and not interested in helping Yumi, not after what she said to her. They'll eventually get things sorted out to some degree, but Fumiko's got personal matters to resolve. And so in a way Yori's taken up that part of not fitting into the group that Fumiko had before. Yori's had just always been there. He's never liked Yuki, because of how protective he is of Yumi, but he was warming up to Yuki. Though after this, it's become even more difficult for him to trust Yuki. Yuki and Yori will be one of the through arcs and sub-plots of this arc as Yumi is the focus.

Starting out the arc, I brought some needed levity to the situation. Things have been pretty heavy as of late and Yuki and Seiji bring a good brand of positivity A way to keep people from sinking into the pits of despair with everything going on around them. Yuki as much as Seiji, understands how things are, but knows that they need something more up beat to keep things moving forward even with all the sadness. This is very much a core of Yuki as probably should already be realized.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 377 is now available for reading! Confronting the one with control of Yumi turns into a fight, like to be expected, though it is more prep for things to come. It's a trial as made pretty clear by the one in control. They want to see their worth before things progress. But it won't be a long fight, since it's not the point to show off abilities or anything. It is make a couple of quick but very powerful points and then progress.

Putting Yori in the chessmaster position as it were is rather important of the plot of the arc. It won't be understood why for a while, but it'll become very clear in time. So this fight helps to show him in that light. He's a smart person with a good sense of planning, but it is still very inexperienced and far from the Tactician's equal. Defeating them has become something of his purpose now with how hot headed he has become.

Showing off Yumi's potential in the fight is also interesting, since she is surprisingly powerful, though admittedly this is without any of the others going through any sort of training or practice beyond what they have. So she out classes them right now because of the simple fact that she skipped ahead thanks to their unique understanding of her powers. Something that's been seen in other fights previously.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 378 is now available for reading! The short fight with the Tactician is over now. Like I said, it would be short and most of its purpose was to set some things into place because of the results of the fight. The way it ended most importantly being the biggest factor and the one that really crushes the spirit of Yori in that regards. But it also sets some things up for later down the road in the arc for Yori. It'll make sense when I get to that point.

There's a couple of interesting factors that pop up and hints to the future. The fact that they have abilities Yumi doesn't possess herself is a big hint to things. And it does get explained as the arc goes on. Things will be clear with them very soon. As the arc digs deeper into the story. And the power difference that Yumi possesses against everyone else, especially Yori is a big blow to him. He already knew before in the last time that they fought, but this time only makes it so much clearer. The vision of the future that Yumi will be.

Something else that I wanted to do, Yuki stepping in with a way to resolve it points back to his awareness of the relationship that him and Yumi have between them. He's already shown that he's aware of what she's feeling, but is playing dumb for now, mostly out of selfish reasons. But it's a important thing that makes him different from other characters that are romance blind. He's not blind, though he is resistant to it since he's got a lot on his shoulders right now. But he made use of that knowledge knowing how Yumi would react.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 379 is now available for reading! Before jumping straight into the next beat of the plot, I wanted to touch back on happenings with Hiroshi. Hiroshi's sub-plot is something carrying on for a while before it takes center stage. But I don't want to ignore the progress and just make it sudden and rapid. Though as he becomes less seen in the future that's going to be an inevitability. But I'll try to give updates on it once and a while. I don't need to cover every little detail, but show when major beats occur. It'll be important for later.

The big note out of the last chapter was Yumi being rescued, but showing that things aren't fixed. There is still something wrong with her. Some probably wonder at this pace and direction, how Yumi is the main character even with her being the story focus. That'll come to be understood in time. A few more chapters of setup are needed before that is made clear. But once that happens, it'll be easily understood.

And the conflict between Yuki and Hiroshi will remain for a while as well. It'll be a long time before things settle between them. But there will be an important moment when that happens. The reconciliation will happen, just like it will with Yuki and Yori and Fumiko and Yumi. There are a lot of conflicts with the characters out right now. But things will happen and people will change that will start pushing them towards that settling past grievances.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 380 is now available for reading! I do a little skipping around of explanations for the sake of getting to the point. They are already covered, so make sure to cut to the important parts. It allowed me to pack in this chapter a little tighter than might have been expected. The whole point was getting Yori back in the game after his heavy blow to his personal worth. While it's not something I'm dwelling on right now, there is definitely going to be sub-plots about this as the story progresses. For now, I need his head in the game as do the others and this puts him back there.

Unless I get fancy and winded, I'll be pushing into the first major sub-arc proper very shortly. It's only a couple of chapters away at this point. The last pieces of things are being settled now with Yori. I'm really looking forward to the sub-arcs and what they will bring to the story. The first one up won't be a huge divergence from the norm, but it is just the introduction. Things will shift dramatically with each progressive sub-arc until the end.

And the core of characters you're seeing right now will be the ones that are present Yumi's story. The cast is going to be smaller than the last few arcs due to circumstances. It's also a more personal story so the others won't be involved in this due to not being as close to Yumi or just being busy. Hiroshi knows her well from school, but he's got obligations now with the UN and everyone that he has to protect. So he doesn't have the option to help, though he would want to help. And Fumiko's keeping her distance from this completely. This will have a tighter focus though keeping the cast easier to give attention equally.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Running a little late, but Chapter 381 is now available! Focusing on Yori's decent into madness a little, his journey through Yumi's mind space to find her. This won't be a long segment, though it could very easily be one. Since this aspect isn't a big focus right now of them. It is a transitional moment in the progress towards getting back to Yumi.

There are a number of hints and foreshadowing in this chapter for things to expect in the future of the arc. There are very important clues that will help to identify things. Though for now the context has little meaning until I start getting into the main part of the arc. But the worse thing for Yori is that all of the dying is weakening his mental fortitude to everything. Making him staying inside more dangerous to his mental health.

The last voice that helps Yori should seem familiar, though I will make it clear in the next chapter who they are. It won't immediately become clear what's happening, but looking back it should start to make sense what happened. As Yori understands things more he'll start piecing things together. Though that will be a while before he figures it all out.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 382 is now available for reading. This chapter finally concludes the rescuing element of Yumi. While the following chapters will remain multi-perspective for the time, it will start shifting attention to Yumi until she becomes the main character that the majority of the story is seen through. This was a chapter that I was pretty uncertain about how to do well, which I'm thankful that it turned out as well as it did.

The chapter plays things a little more subtly, as I intended to, show the progressive degradation of Yori's sanity. It handles things in three stages as Yumi's mind tries to break him completely. The maze, or the labyrinth that is literally seen at the start is the same thing that was present inside Yori during Athene's invasion of his mind. That part alone was enough to drive her to near insanity and break her mind such that her brain literally can't function properly hence the lose of her eye sight. That Yori survives the literal maze is a sign of his difference from Athene mentally.

The other two phases are still all part of what is called the Labyrinth of the Subconscious Floor 1. Yori never made it any deeper. And the thing that left Athene in despair was knowing that she had only cracked the door to gain access to Floor 1 essentially. Their mental defenses are that more complex than a normal human, eve compared to other superhumans. Yori would not have nearly the same sort of trouble with anyone else.

Each phase works on a different part in breaking Yori down until he is ready for the next part. The maze is meant to alter and change perception. Give you hope while never showing you anything. And slowly work on breaking you down until you start actually accepting and feeling comfortable with chaos. Once chaos feels normal then you're dropped into something static. Pushed to the edge of order and chaos, something unchanging now puts cracks into the thinning sanity now. You know time is passing, but no progress is made and nothing changes. It is the same. And like a constant slow drip of water on your forehead it starts to chip away at your sanity. You lose a sense of self and identity as your sanity breaks. And with your sense of identity gone you can't remember yourself or your intent only the pattern. And are dumped into the final area until you completely exhaust yourself. There Yori sees multiples of himself because he no longer sees himself as a person or as Yori just something existing without personal definition. He is defined by others external goals. He's is nearly broken and has little traces of sanity left. He longer even knows which of the many Yoris is the real one. With that it is just a wait until he completely collapses and at that point he would completely lose his sense of even external definition as the others are gone and he ceases to have anything that could be considered an existence. Collapsed, he's out of his mental energy and can no longer go on anymore fully drained and will in time be absorbed into Yumi's mind scape completely unknowingly.

A sliver though remained that made use of Yuki, something that angers him and he is able to focus long enough to actually use his power correctly and locates Yumi before it's too late. But not before the damage is already done to him. It's a rather complicated and involved process that happened all in a single chapter. Yori is permanently affected by this though like Athene before him. He went too far and the damage can't be reversed. It amounts to specific brain damage basically that destroyed his brain's receiving and interpreting the light it sees. And he does literally have blood filled eyes right now from the physical strain left upon him.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 383 is now available for your reading entertainment! The switch to Yumi starts happening in this chapter as I already mentioned before. Most of the thoughts of her come out rather than the other characters. It's less omniscient, but that's always been the style here for Shift. It's selective omniscient since it's not 100% you know what everyone is thinking and doing at all times. And I can't quite call it limited, though it is limited. It's just a less standard limited, since I will jump around and I don't make it consistent in only these people will be the points of view. I'll jump around to whoever makes sense, which is why I call more selective, especially since even in a scene with characters that are normal the point of view I don't always make them it. It's driven by the story needs, who makes the most sense in being the perspective. There are a lot of different main characters and even just perspective characters.

While addressing the Takako issue, I pull things back subtly to the current situation going on with Katsumi and Kaede. One that Yumi knows nothing about yet, which they're withholding for the time. But Saki's point of view of the matter, which is partially a rationalized version so that she can justify the good in what needed to be done in a horrible situation is going to return. It's a going to be a situation that Yumi will have to face. Because Katsumi is saved, but she's forever a broken person as a result and just wants to die. Yumi will have a choice that she's going to have to make.

And unlike previous arcs, this one doesn't start out on a happy and positive note, though not for lack of trying on the part of Seiji. He's doing what he can do keep everyone's spirits up or else everyone is going to be crushed by the weight of their responsibilities and the horrible things happening. Though things will be in ways a little happier deeper into the arc. But it will come in waves.

The start of the first real sub-arc is on its way though. Yuki's idea is the start of things moving in that direction. There's still going to be some bumps before we get into it proper, but only a few chapters away now. And then the real meat of Yumi's arc begins.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 384 is now available for reading! Getting focused more on Yumi now as something to start setting the tone. And it start being fairly clear where things are going now that Yuki laid out his plan. Things will be advancing fairly quickly now moving into the sub-arc. I'm expecting it to be in a chapter or so that it'll hit. This one ends on a cliffhanger that sets things into motion.

One of the little tiny issues got cleaned up more and explained. Something that if you thought about it should be a little off and it gets the answer now. It fits in with the plan for this arc acting as a supposed plot hole that I cleaned up and becomes the device for this arc. It's an important aspect for the arc since it is dealing with Yumi and her personalities. They will get their time as it making pretty clear by the cliffhanger.

The fun thing about this chapter is that finally starts to give a little more background on Phoibe, who's remained a very mysterious character by intent and design. She keeps herself hidden away and seems to know more about things happening than she should. She is very resourceful and powerful given her explained history. Since the arc is about Yumi, you're not going to learn a ton about Phoibe. But there will be these little pieces that get picked up until the big reveal for her character much later into overall story.

I'm fast approaching the 400th chapter, which is a crazy milestone to be thinking about approaching. Another Rewind is already in the works for it. Like the previous ones, this will continue to explain and expand on the history and time before the death of the King. What he was doing and what Yuki's parents were up to back then. Unlike the 300th chapter, which focused on Ayumi and Atlantis, this will be back in Japan and focus on their work. This is a very important piece to the larger puzzle that Yuki lacks.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 385 is now available for reading! I weighed things for this chapter in if I wanted to push straight on or not. One of the sub-plots with Yumi was going to be Katsumi, something I introduced and left in the last arc as an unresolved matter. It was going to be and still is a Yumi problem to deal with, given things now Yumi can't confront it. I just didn't know if I wanted it to happen now or be explained to her later. It ended up making more sense for the sub-plot to be like this. It's important for the sake of her character growth and will be something that weighs on her during the current trials.

Since I have pushed things a little it does mean that the planned start of the arc will happen in the next chapter. There is one last thing to handle here before things move forward into the sub-arc proper. But all of the pieces are in place. I move it at a fairly brisk pace, but there's no real reason to drag things out with fluff. So I jumped around a bit. And I keep hinting at other things that will be important in the future.

The next chapter will explain what is going to be happening for the rest of the arc, though only in initial details. Estimates for the whole arc are that it will be as long as the previous one. There are major sub-arcs for this one and each will take a lot of time to get through. So it's going to be hard to know exactly how long it'll be.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 386 is now up for reading! The end of the prologue for the arc is now here. This chapter directly leads into and cliffhangers on the first sub-arc for the arc. Despite it being Yumi's story, Yuki and Yori were the focus of this chapter and with good reason. The two of them are the focal points around Yumi's life. And thus the targets. Though it is more complicated than just that. It just won't become fully clear for a while what it is all about.

And based on Yumi's mind they will have their powers or not. So it will change since it is a reality controlled and crafted by Yumi. And as Phoibe mentioned, they're stuck in this virtual reality until Yumi's mind will allow them out, or more specifically the personalities in there. So this will be a trapped world scenario. You can imagine where things are going based on that.

The chapters will jump around a little since there is more than just Yumi and Yuki in here. The others are elsewhere in the world and will be doing their own things. So I'll jump between all of the characters until they meet up again. Yumi will remain most of the plot focus and driving force though. So she will get most of the time.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 387 is now available! This chapter is the first full chapter of the new sub-arc. The previous chapter was prologue and setup for the sub-arc and sub-arcs to follow. This will be something that they are in for a while and the new world that they have to understand is going to have new rules. For now, the focus as I said before will be on Yumi and Yuki, establishing things with them. In time I will jump over to everyone else and let their stories in.

One important thing that Yuki does to make it very clear for me to the reader is how much of a backseat that he is taking. He knows this is for Yumi and it is something she must do. So he's forcing to not rely on anyone but herself for answers. Making it very clear that she is the main character and she will be the one making the calls and getting the attention. And like with other times, unless Yuki is the point of view, you won't hear his thoughts. Yumi will be the only one you hear thinking between the two of them.

This has a bit of a video game analog and popular themes with current anime of being trapped in virtual worlds or other realities. The irony of this is that I planned this years ago before the trapped in other worlds became so popular a sub-genre for anime. The fact that I'm doing it now while sort of at the height of its popularity is almost good timing, but also bad since it'll just appear like I'm taking advantage of something that is popular. It's a single arc and makes sense in the context of Yumi. So I'm not worried about it. But there is some amusing timing with it.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Yeah, I'm late on the chapter. I got distracted and focused on other things and wrote it up, but didn't post it. So now I am, chapter 388 is here. This is the fight between Yumi and the snake demon. Since we're just early in the arc, it's not going to be a long fight. There plenty of other times for actual lengthy fights. This fight is merely to setup what sort of world this is and to start digging into Yumi. Because of the way the world is created it is going to have a certain affect on Yumi and that'll be something that plays out very importantly through the first sub-arc.

The fight itself is fairly brief taking only a few real attacks before it is over. Which is not too surprising, Yumi is quite powerful and the snake demon while not a grunt and not a complete pushover is not really that strong. So it is a showcase for Yumi's powers. But it is also a exposition as well for the world. It starts putting somethings into place. Since demons, priests and demon hunters get tossed around. That helps to fix the world. But also as Yumi notes, confuses things since none of those things are things that relate to her in any meaningful way. It's more like what Yuki would think up. But this is Yumi's mind and the contradiction here in the world is an important one part of what is going on with Yumi. It'll make sense before the end of the sub-arc what's going on though.

And for the fight I did weigh between if I want to include Yuki in the fight or not. Besides his reality breaking powers, he would be very useful in the fight. But it was Yumi's fight so I pushed him out. I had considered him being merely a support role healing or defending Yumi so she could fight and insisting on doing it herself. But we're not quite at that point yet when I thought about it. There is some development and things that need to happen with Yumi to make that occur. But Yuki as I've said is not the main character for this arc, he's a support character along with the rest of the main cast. So he won't do anything that will overshadow or out do Yumi. It's her moment to shine and grow.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 389 is now available! You know how I work, I don't let myself stay behind and I don't let you guys fall behind for long either. So I have the next chapter available as well. With the fight over this does a lot to place Yuki and Yumi in their roles for the immediate future. Yuki is out of commission for the time being due to his injuries and need to recover. While Yumi will be doing the fighting. This will be pushing Yumi more head long into fights and being more aggressive than she normally would be because of what happened to Yuki. She'll be even more focused to making sure nothing happens to him. This is the start of her push and where her character arc for the entire the sub-arc and main arc begins.

And I do explain here why Yuki didn't do anything in the fight. He kept his powers off since it is a reality warping ability on something that is already a fake reality. But his mind is just simulated along with everyone else. So he had nothing really to be worried about. And Yumi's little push with her powers was rougher than it looked in description, mainly because it was not Yumi who was receiving it. So it wasn't really explained how much force she used on Yuki, but it was not enough to kill him yet enough to leave him with fractures and broken bones. Something most of them forget is that Yuki is the only one still normal and without the high resistance to damage that everyone else has. Which makes his fights a little hard to do at times when he's up against someone far more resilient as seen with Takako.

But with Yuki out, it puts him on that support role. He'll help when he can in fights, but it's not going to be actively on the field. He'll be behind the scenes doing things. And I've got things planned for him in the story. There is going to be a lot of fun to be had coming up.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 390 is now available for reading! Some progress in this chapter, getting them off the road or back on the road as is the case, but off the road and back into some plot for the next chapter. This chapter was a focus on developing and showing Yumi. Working with her insecurities and troubles that she faces. She's able to fight well enough from the experiences she gained while in Atlantis, which helps her out a lot during this sub-arc for her. But she is still very inexperienced everywhere and lacking in confidence about herself. She very reliant on others when she's not driven by something.

The situation she is in is one that she had no understanding of and sees no point to it happening. She views it as a mistake or error and something that is getting in the way of her goal to control her personas. In way, this is a sign of her own failure, to herself that this even happened. So she lacks any real sort of drive that normally gives her the motivation and strength to go beyond herself. With that missing, she's just her normal reliant self. And that will be something that is important and be worked on through the arc. She will make a lot of changes to herself over the course of this. And the way things happen are very important.

Yuki continues to just be along for the ride. He is going to be the hand at her back pushing Yumi forward and being encouraging. Just he's not going to be giving her the answer. Something that she finds frustrating that he's not helping her in the way that she wants. But Yuki understands what she needs and is keeping back so she can grow and step out of the shadows.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 391 is now available for reading! Arriving the village starts setting the stage for the next course of the story. The micro story that will happen around the village as the major beats of the story start to take form. This will be an important starting point for Yumi in the current sub-arc and the events that will make up the main elements of this sub-arc.

Things naturally can't be easy and something is going on with the village. One of the mysteries that Yumi will have to solve. But it will also be the place that she will remain for a while. Her story is going to be centered here for a while. I'll be jumping around to the other characters in time. However, I'm using Yumi to do a lot of the exploring of the world setting with her growth. So the other moments for the other characters won't be so focused on world building and just the action of their little stories until they all meet up with everyone.

And of course, I leave things off on a cliffhanger, a bigger one than some of the previous ones because there is no clue what is wrong with Yuki or why he might be collapsed. It should become clear what is wrong with Yuki. I'll drop hints to it in the coming chapters without getting into specifics immediately. It'll remain something to solve until I answer it once the major elements are handled.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 392 is now available! There is a bit of a jump in events here, since it completely avoids what happened to Yuki and how Yumi got to where she was, but it suited the story progression better to just jump straight into the action and pick up things after. Things would have to be explained as some point so this helps make things easier over all for story and gives some good reveal moments to the reader.

Yumi taking on the role of Demon Hunter is where things start to begin. This is going to be the catalyst for most of the future events and will be part of the driving force for Yumi in the immediate time for her. She's going to be fighting more often and regularly now that she has assumed this role. Though since she is lying about it there are other factors in play too, though since she has the power to back it up she is able to do so convincingly.

The changes happening for Yumi should already start to becoming apparent. She's more confident and a little cocky right now since she knows what she can do and wield her power. She knows that right now there isn't much that can threaten her and being alone without protecting Yuki makes that even easier. And then the mindset that she's in a virtual space without consequences is also affecting her. These'll be things that play out more in coming chapters.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 393 is now available for reading! This is more of a slow chapter doing a push towards the goal. Even though it is a virtual world that will be gone in time, I'm still giving it time to develop as a world setting. Since it is a small world, I'm mostly just focusing on the important aspects and some added flavor to things. But it will feel like it is fleshed out enough that you have a feeling that it is real. Which will be something that will eventually weigh on Yumi as you remains longer inside it. Things will naturally get more complicated.

Most of the chapter was focused on Yumi, but I split some time for Yuki. It did not go on as long as I had originally planned it with them getting into more details about things. But it is not something that had to happen in that scene. The natural flow took its course the way it needed to do it. But Yuki does get a call back later on. Which is a little bit of a hint to Yuki and his silent support for Yumi, while still providing the needed voice as a counter point for her. He supports her fully though in her decision as his healing made clear.

And Yumi's continued push of confidence along with how she is viewing things right now. Making the emphasis on things be fake. The minor sub-arc within this is hitting the stride now. Yumi's push forward and the demons near the village. Once this little sub-arc wraps up I'll be jumping to the others and showing what they are up to before returning to Yumi. Everyone's got something going on.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 394 is now available, though a bit late. Working Saturday threw off my schedule. But it is available now with the start of the Tokaromaru fight with Yumi. It's not going to be a long fight, but it'll be meaningful enough for Yumi since this will be her first challenge since entering the world. And it will be a very different fight from what she is used to dealing with.

The one of the key differences here is that Yumi hasn't really fought in a battle against something with similar physical attributes before. The only time she did was against her friends and it was a very short fight that was largely one sided against her. So this will be her first time against a real opponent that can challenge her toe to toe and not through tricks and things like the Atlanteans.

A bit of Yuki is starting to rub off on Yumi with her confidence and boasting. Though it is a bit of a natural thing when you think you're going to win with little effort and it won't be a challenge. This will be the one that will test her. But it is also a very dangerous fight for her with the outcome. So it'll be important for her development through the story.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 395 is finally up! The overtime and getting unfocused delayed things a lot, but I finished. As I said before, this fight is pretty short. It served the single purpose that it really brought for Yumi. It's the spark and push for her that begins the path that she will be following for this sub-arc. It'll be a rocky and dangerous one for her, but she is now on it.

I was thinking about it after I wrote the chapter, but I've got this odd habit of removing limbs, arms mostly. Yumi's the second main character to lose an arm and the fourth character in general. Not sure what that says about me. Though part of it is possible because of Yuki's ability to heal injuries. So I tend to be more brutal the characters since they can recover from it. Though some characters remain permanently changed from it despite that. Which is something I make based on character personality and the events.

A dark side in Yumi came in out in the chapter. And a part of her that will affect how she goes about fighting. It will be guiding her for a while and be part of the demons that she must face along with the real demons out there.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 396 is now available! Picking up in the aftermath of the fight, this is a slower and calmer chapter than the last couple. Though it is finally getting to a point that is answering something that might have seemed a little strange back at the start. The answer obviously won't come until the next chapter, but I'm finally getting to explaining what's going on in the village.

Much of the chapter is focused on Yumi's new resolve that she found and drive. Something that she found during her fight. One of the driving forces for her for much of this sub-arc. And what's going to provide her with lots of trouble as well. The focus on Yumi will remain for a while more as the story revolving around the village is going to remain at the center. There are still a few things left to happen before I can continue on with the rest of the cast.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 397 is now available, I'm getting close to that all important 400 now with another Rewind coming up. It will be a brief interlude while Yumi's arc is happening. But Yumi's direction is starting to take a turn for the more exciting. She's gotten a bounty on her head now thanks to all of her efforts against the demons. Which will be fueling the future chapters for a while as these little story continues in the village.

While I don't explicitly state it, I do finally give that reason I was talking about for why Yumi and Yuki were being treated that way at the start. The more important matters will be coming as Yumi has to face the fact that she's going to be targeted by demons now and that will make things even worse for the village. And Yuki still remains recovering from his injuries. There will be a lot of action coming up thanks to the turn of events. And even sooner we'll finally get the introduction to the main beat of the first sub-arc. Though we're still more than a few chapters away from that happening.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

It's a little delayed, but chapter 398 is now available. The village story line is finally progressing into the second half. With the disappearance of Yuki, things will start moving fairly rapidly. Most of the building blocks are all in place now. So I'm going to be starting to focus on more of the main plot of the sub arc now.

The changes and ways that Yumi is carrying herself now is important. She's undergoing quick and harsh changes. While I'm fairly on the head about certain things at times, given that the story is in general not about careful analysis of everything to understand motivations and the deeper elements of the story and characters, I try to include that when I can for things that will eventually be explained more explicitly. Since I will be pointing them out later, it's sort of a reward to those that are digging in deeper. I try to limit how excessive I get with the telling, which has a bad tendency at times to show up.

Aside from that, Yumi's gaining more of her confidence in fighting and its starting to become a little more like how Saki approaches fighting. The fast takedown. Yumi is not like Seiji and somewhat like Yuki that enjoy testing their limits and seeing what they can do. Yuki had a part of him like that, it's part of that buried element of him in his past that sometimes surfaces. Though, he's generally not run across people that really allow for that sort of attitude. Ironically, though also intentionally, the only one that really has is Saki. Something I did on purpose because Saki is the opposite, not one to flaunt powers or waste time. Yumi is still more moldable than Saki in how she approaches fighting. Her character arc will naturally define that though.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 399 is now available, getting me back to a more regular schedule. Though overtime continues to throw off my writing time. Additionally, with 400 next week, the main story will be on break as I do the usual Rewind chapter for 400. This will continue to explore the history of the late King of Atlantis and Yuki's family and their connections with each other. There should be some good interesting pieces to come out of it.

With the disappearance of Yuki now, Yumi is starting to slip and get more aggressive. Showing similar sides of her as what was previewed during the siege on the Capital of Atlantis. She can be an unstoppable train when he is involved. And the mystery about his disappearance is only interesting with unknown and unexplained variables appearing. Though the chapter still works a couple of angles besides just the search for Yuki. Ones that will be getting explanations in the future.

Though the big moment is Yumi confronting the village elder over Yuki's disappearance. Much like her willingness to kill Ayumi over Yuki's capture and slow death. She's showing again her willingness to go to extremes. This is only made easier for her knowing that nothing is real and any effects will have short term consequences that she can live with. Which something that is affecting her greatly. But answers will be coming soon. And this little story ending shortly. While it can appear like a bit of a detour that is pointless it's important for the development of Yumi into the rest of this arc. Things will be pushing to the main arc soon enough.

Enjoy!

[otomo]

Just saw this in perusing, good work! a lot there have read the first couple so far. You write any non-fanfic stuff too?

[Andromeda]

Shift isn't a fan fiction, its an original fiction. All of my stories up here are original fictions. They are themed and written to be like manga or anime, but they aren't based on pre-existing franchises.

[Andromeda]

It's been a while, a number of things happened and I stopped posting completely here. Though that didn't mean that I stopped writing. No, you won't be free of me that easily. Now that I'm on vacation and solely focused on writing right now, I'm going to be getting back into my routine. Ideally, I will be posting a chapter every day until I'm caught back up to what I've written, which is currently at last count chapter 414. So there are 14 more left to go, not counting anymore Saturdays that I write for Shift. But either way, this is going to be my resumption of normal habits.

Chapter 400, which is a little surprising that it worked out that was when I stopped. So you don't actually get the next chapter to follow up the previous one from months ago, that's tomorrow. But in the long standing 8 year tradition of Shift every hundred chapters is a special chapter that rolls back to a different time when things were just getting started. Following Yuki's parents and the things that worked to create the destiny that Yuki now holds. While the first chapter focused on Yuki as a child with a glimpse at what he was like then and making the connections of his family and Atlantis very clear, the second chapter focused on Eudokia and her relationship with the King and about the only moment seen for him. The third returned to focus properly on the young Hayashi couple before Yuki or even Momoko, it introduced their work and life outside and before being parents. The fourth continues to look at them jumped ahead a little.

Since I do have a limited about of time to build and detail the sub plot that exists within the Rewind Arc, I end up being faster and briefer with getting to the points. So there is a lot of jumping around hitting only on the important moments in their life. This chapter is the first one of the most important chapters for the overall story as a whole since this starts to explain some of the mystery surrounding the people that Yuki is up against. While all of the mystery will not be revealed, because that is to come with the arc containing Yuki's confrontation with the organization, but it will start to lay out pieces that will all be connected by that point. Not to mention many of the larger scope details are already known, so the Rewind simply puts more details into them and gives you new reveals about characters you might not have already known.

Yumi mental battle with her personas resumes in the next chapter.

Enjoy!

[Andromeda]

Chapter 401 is up and things are back to normal. Returning back to the main story, things were left off on a dark note for Yumi to be heading down. I don't explicit commit to it, but leave it more open to interpretation. The stronger point is made with how far Yumi's gone off the deep end. Seen previously when she found out about what Eudokia planned to do with Yuki, she loses any sort of reason when he is involved. And given her current view of the world she is in as being one of no consequences, it makes it even easier for her to push the dark side.

The chapters showing off Yumi's progression to ruthlessness starts to hit the peak here with the swift executions of the demons. She is understanding her powers more and the possibilities that it holds. The confidence and boldness she has now is starting to steer her down the path. Though the demons are starting to act strangely and Yuki along with them. Everything is left with more questions.

This is propelling things in the final parts of the mini-arc for Yumi. It won't be long before switching the other characters to see what's happening with them in the world. Once everyone meets up the main thrust of the story will hit and things will be progressing quickly from there.

Enjoy!