Cozy :
It's been two years.
I am happy, and a little sad at the same time.
I haven't been as active at writing this story for the second year. It's a real shame, really - If I had kept the fervor I held in year 1, I think this story would be almost halfway into Messiah, compared to this.
But I feel like rushing the work would mean sacrificing its quality. I don't know... It's just a vibe I get.
The quantity of the chapters have gone down. But subsequently, the quality increases, and the spelling mistakes are lesser.
Still, I wish for this story to be finished quickly.
I can't wait to finish the story and begin proper sales of its paperback edition.
Though, it will be pretty tricky, given the nature of the story - There needs to be a way to identify what the strange characters are.
Well, for the story here online, Google helps a lot - Highlight the word, paste on Google Translate, and the meaning becomes clear.
But for the paperback... I will need to make some modifications.
Edits need to happen here and there. The Cozy's Notes (some of them, at least) need to be incorporated into the story properly, instead of giving it a non-serious, detached feel (at least, for the non-spoiler related ones.)
There's so much to do. There's so little time.
Also, my enlistment begins on November 27th. It's a compulsory enlistment called National Service by the Singapore government - Don't ask.
Though, with clear reasons, I am strongly against the notion of war and joining the army. I don't want to hold a gun in my hand, run into Malaysia and fight, if and where possible. I have relatives there!
There is no glory in murder. I think Katachi's reaction when he killed Wang Gu and Mei Lan was pretty well done - It reflects the inner turmoils in my own heart properly.
*** ***
I apologize for this slow, almost-stale story.
I really do.
This story, how may I put it...
It takes a while to get it going.
But the world is amazing. This story's world is absolutely amazing. I want to post the next Deku Up! 7 right now and show you how beautiful it is, but I cannot.
Yet, if I refuse, I would likely be seen as a lazy bum who does practically nothing at home almost all-day, watching anime and reading manga and being a NEET. (Which I currently am, until I start / finish NS.)
So, without further ado, allow me to enlighten you on what I've been doing for this time.
I have been experimenting with a... Different approach to battles, if I may.
You see, many stories simply write "Their swords clashed, and sparks flew where they struck."
But, thinking from another angle, that is extremely uncouth. That is stale, boring, and it leaves the battle's full momentum to the imagination of the reader.
So I've been thinking, 'Hey, why not break down the battle into every swing, every action? I mean, it'd be bad if I simply repeated what I did with the battle between Katachi and Cillian.' The result...
... Well, you can see for yourself.
The link below shows what I've been trying out:
K vs. R - http://kotsubakatachi.blogspot.sg/2014/11/herald-draft-katachi-vs-roberia-work-in.html
Ha-ha! It's wonderful, isn't it?... Is it? I thought it was pretty engaging.
Yes! That is the fateful battle between Katachi and Roberia!... !? (Yes, they are indeed fighting, Katachi is bald, and it's not complete.)
This is supposedly what happens in Herald. I won't explain the circumstances that resulted in that scene, but I would greatly appreciate it if anybody could give feedback on that type of writing style.
Do you feel your blood turning cold as you read the story? Do you feel the danger with each swing, the consequence of each action, the weight behind each attack? A real battle is not a matter of overpowering your opponents and crushing them outright flatly like in shounen stories.
It is a matter of dancing in coordination with your opponent's moves, moving and shifting yourself into an advantageous position that makes your opponent move in a predictable way out of desperation, and not giving your opponent a chance to fight in a field/situation where he/she is adept in.
There are no fanciful sword beams that lash out towards each other, that seeks to destroy everything in their path. Think of those kinds of attack as shining a flashlight into your opponent's eyes - Sword beams are just beams of light, and they should do no damage at all. All the background effects that make the sword beams look like they're powerful? They're just Specal Effects to give the illusion that it's powerful.
I would hate to see the community say something like 'Getsuga tensho numero uno scrub' or 'Wind scar > everything nigga' I'm not even a 'nigga', please use 'asian' if you do. (Not that I'm promoting such an action.) Those are the inFamous 4 (One piece, Naruto, Bleach and Dragon Ball), which do not actually consider human vs. human battles when drawn / animated.
In fact, their characters aren't human. They're monsters who only act human, so as not to disconnect them from their viewers too far. Once I reach Endus Reignum, you will see some real human vs. monster battles. Real humans can never move the way the inFamous 4 move.
Whereas in my story, you can completely relate to the physical fights because they are actions that can be performed by me, you, and just about anyone with working pairs of limbs. It challenges the real limitations of battle, rather than assume a person's skill and power in numeric values.
In any case, I'll leave you all with this draft. Please take good care of me as I continue to paint this world with these incapable hands.
Signing off,
Cozy
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