Mm653339 - Unbetitelt

one thing that 122 has highlighted to me is that sskk's lack of understanding is the only thing that hindered them until now.

akutagawa sought to understand atsushi, but was still caught up with his own reason to live and could not comprehend a world where somebody else had a deadly ability but could be treated so kindly. once he understood atsushi, and understood the reasons he wished to fight or go on missions, he trusted him with rashomon and even sacrificed himself to ensure the 'better' man went ahead.

whereas atsushi, up until 122, meets akutagawa and focuses on why. why was akutagawa always like this. why is it always dazai that akutagawa focuses on. why does akutagawa even help atsushi. why did he save atsushi. it's never clicked in his mind that all of these things could be linked - or even, that akutagawa is just as human as atsushi is.

now the puzzle is complete in atsushi's mind, he understands. he knows the answers to why akutagawa has done all of the things that he did, and he knows why he and akutagawa are meant to work together. he gets it. he understands.

God the range of conflicts in Blue Lock is so funny. They get increasingly more personal and intense and comparing some of them to others is hilarious.

Isagi and majority of the cast's main conflict is just wanting to become the best in the world. Normal soccer dreams. This doesn't really change for most of them. Their arcs are not really about soccer but about finding the happy medium between shooting for the spotlight but also remembering soccer is a sport played by 11 people. In a metaphorical sense, asserting yourself and living your life how you want without going too far and being a selfish/self-serving asshole.

Then Bachira has an actual internal crisis over being complacent depending on Isagi, but then solves his problems pretty quickly. Like a legit personal issue he has to navigate through, and successfully does so. He's so happy just being able to play soccer all the time. He's also in love with Isagi. This isn't a problem for him though.

Then there's Reo and Nagi going through the messiest divorce ever (well, Ness and Kaiser might take the cake on that one atp) because Nagi realized that having feelings is cool actually and didn't realize that he basically dumped Reo. They have a complicated ex arc and a backslide arc that is doomed to implode. They're both crazy about each other but also unwell. They are a mess and everyone in canon atp just looks away from this trainwreck. Nagi's arc is decently heavy with emotional conflict due to the fact that Nagi himself experiences very little emotional conflict (as far as he's aware of). Lmao.

Then there's Rin who has like actual problems that were inflicted on him. He really has every reason to be miserable and devastated and angry. He is miserable and devastated and angry. He is not handling this well. He is having actual psychological turmoil he can't escape, he is misplacing his anger on other people (one person), he is spiraling further literally every chapter every week. He has ten times as much emotional conflict in his arc as everybody else. His arc is not about soccer, it's about relationships and his role in them and how he needs to find his own ego and motivation. It's about letting people in and lifting him up even when he's hurting, especially because he's hurting. He is not handling this teamwork thing very well. He is the saddest meow meow in blue lock. He needs help, he has issues. Isagi help him.

(There is Kunigami and whatever the fuck is going on with him, but we know not too much so I will not rope him in yet).

Majority of the cast is trying to find their ego and play soccer and be the best. Then there's Nagi and Rin who are so lost on what to do with their lives and they are clearly massive trainwrecks amidst what I personally would consider a mostly normal group of people fighting for normal personal goals. I love when everyone is normal and then a very small amount of people among this normal group of people are absolutely not fucking normal and everyone in the story actually sees it.

A hero without a cape

Bounty hunter Akutagawa

I really hope that this changes the way Atsushi see the relationship between Akutagawa and Dazai in the future. Because in the past he had no context as to why Akutagawa was so fixated on getting Dazai’s approval and why he hated Atsushi so much. Because from his perspective before Akutagawa was some guy that Dazai knew in the mafia who was weirdly fixated on him.

But now he can actually see the similarities in how in their past and in how they were treated. I mean who else would understand Akutagawa hating his abuser, but also desperately needing their approval to keep on going more than Atsushi.

That isn’t to say that I want Atsushi to do a complete 180 and start to hate Dazai now, but I would like him to start to be more mindful of how Akutagawa feels. Tho to be fair I think if Atsushi finds out that Dazai was somewhat responsible for Akutagawa sacrificing himself on the boat, I would like him to have a strong reaction to that. Since as much as I like Dazai as a character, he’s been getting away with treating Akutagawa poorly for too long.

white people go like “is anyone going to redesign this nonhuman evil character as a poc?” and not wait for an answer

[EN Sum-up] Hoshino Katsura’s livestream about chapter 253.5 (part 2/3)

Hello everyone, As promised here is a sum-up (more of a transcription?) of the one hour livestream Hoshino Katsura did last Sunday, February 2nd, 2025. The livestream was about chapter 253.5, which came out on January 29th in the SQ. RISE WINTER 2025 issue. This sum-up is very long and will be divided into three parts:

Part 1 about the context around chapter 253.5 (How she came to draw it, etc.)

Part 2 about the art style of chapter 253.5

Part 3 about the story itself and some details which will allow us to theorize about what’s coming next

Obviously, this sum-up is full of spoilers, please be careful if you haven’t read chapter 253.5! This sum-up is not an exact transcription of what has been said: I skipped all the parts where she answered comments (except if it was relevant!) and I mixed some parts, because she has a tendency to repeat herself.

About chapter 253.5 art style (part 2/3)

Hoshino Katsura: “The drawing hell started after I moved to Kobe.

I wanted to give more paternity leaves to my assistant, but, at the same time, I needed him to work. Sadly, I could only give him one month of paternity leaves. We were both tired as hell, him because of his baby, me because of my house move, we were totally down, we worked super silently, just saying “Good morning” “The deadline is…”, when the new year came, we were too tired to wish each other a happy new year. When I asked him about his baby, he was like “the baby is crying all night long” I could only say how sorry I was for him. That’s how we started to draw the chapter.

(Someone asks if she drew about Lavi because he is a top seller character): Well, not exactly. I was totally free to draw whatever I wanted, and I found Lavi the easiest to draw. Actually, my editor was very happy when he heard I was going to draw Lavi. (Someone asks: do you draw the characters first? Or the backgrounds?) For me, inking the characters is my top priority, so first, the characters, and when I finish, I go to see what my assistants have done for the background, and I select what I want. I have also to check what my assistants are drawing.

1. Drawing nature

Do you know which background was the worst to draw this time? It’s not the city background, or those houses with weirds windows, no, not at all. It’s nature. It’s plants. It’s so hard to draw nature, it’s difficult to suggest something through nature, and besides, depending on the plants, they have different positions. We took a lot of time to decide what kind of image we wanted to suggest to the reader through the background. Also, nature is a complex thing: it has its own order without having a physical order. It’s hard to make it natural. It’s important, when you draw nature, to give a realistic touch. For instance, how much do you fill the spots? How large do you make them? This time, we drew weeds, so the question was: how high do you make them? (…)

In D. Gray-man, you often see the wheat field of the Campbell residence, right? It has been years since I have been drawing it, so I’m used now. Of course, at first I struggled, but now, it’s really easy. But the field in the extra-chapter, it’s my first time drawing it, so I had to start everything from zero. It was really hard. Besides, even if I say to my assistants “please draw like this” when it comes to plants and nature, it’s really hard for them to understand what I mean. Because every one of us has a different impression when it comes to nature.

So, in order to avoid creating a weird background, one of my assistants started to do some research on the internet about plants which grow in the area where Lavi is. Basically, I want to make the background as plausible as possible: in this country, there are those kinds of plants, in this season, this plant is growing, etc. I want him to draw something which matches with the universe of the story. While he was doing his research, I started to draw because I didn’t have much time (laughs) (…) I wanted the weeds to be at knee level, in order to make it impossible to distinguish someone from afar. And then, we were wondering if we should add trees, what season it was, what the weather was, etc.

2. Drawing the helix of life

(Someone comments on the fact that drawing the helix of life looks difficult): About this! Actually, I am the one drawing the helix, I am not letting my assistants drawing it. I feel bad saying this, sorry to destroy all your dreams but…it’s really easy. Like really REALLY easy. (…) I’m saying it’s easy to draw but, the thing is, I asked my assistant to make me a special digital brush to draw the helix of life. I was like “this is how I imagine the helix; do you think there would be any good brush?” and he made me one. That’s why now, I am able to draw the helix as I imagine. Anyways, I am the one in charge of making the drawings progressing, and my assistants are my helpers. (Someone says they remembered Bookman’s glass pen design when they saw the helix of life): Thank you for remembering. Yes, it’s exactly this. I forgot what I said back then, but yes (laughs)

3. Screen tones and oblique lines

By the way, when you read the extra chapter, did you feel there were more details than usual?

It’s because I had to draw more lines. Why? Well, I told you my assistant just became a father, right? I could not give him a proper paternity leave and honestly, having a newborn looks like hell, so, in order to avoid losing time on laying screen tones, I drew a lot of details with lines. For instance, take a look at the first page [which is actually the second, the cover doesn’t count] or the second page [same, it’s the third], you see Lavi stretching out his hand, right? Well, in normal conditions, I would have used screen tones to make shadows. But here, I created the shadow with oblique lines: this way, we would not have to use screen tones, and if at the end, we realized we would not have time to use screen tones, we could let it that way. So, I drew a lot of oblique lines. Until now, I used to draw shadows with screen tones, but here, everything is made with oblique lines. You can compare it with other chapters, you’ll realize that usually, everything is made with screen tones. (…) Please think that those oblique lines are a guarantee for me in case I don’t have time to use screen tones. But, since my assistant is far from being over with his newborn, I guess we’ll keep using this technique for the next chapters.

(Someone says “Is this the reason why you do not use screen tones anymore for Lavi’s hair?): Ah no, I stopped using screen tones for a long time when it comes to Lavi’s hair. I realized I would never finish in time, so I decided to stop using screen tones.

On the first and second pages [Second and third pages, actually], you can see the shadow I drew with oblique lines on Bookman’s face and, look at Past Lavi: I drew his silhouette with oblique lines as well. You might think it is faster to use screen tones but actually, it takes a lot of time during the final check to adjust them. Do you see the page where Past Lavi says “That’s right, keep breathing”? It’s the fourth page [It’s the fifth]. It’s the last page we drew, actually. Also, please look! Lavi is bleeding, right? The blood is drawn with oblique lines as well. I spent a whole month only drawing oblique lines: everything, his mouth, his hand, his stomach, I was always drawing oblique lines. Actually, we wanted to draw more panels with a background, but it was impossible for my assistant who didn’t have any sleep with the baby crying all night, so we had to suppress a whole page of backgrounds. But I think it doesn’t affect the reading experience.

4. Drawing smoke

Besides nature, you also have the smoke coming from an explosion. We discussed a lot about it with my assistants, we had difficulties exchanging our views on it. You know, dusty smoke coming out of a simple explosion, for instance a building, is very different from a smoke caused by gunpowder. In the chapter, the explosion is caused by gunpowder. At first, we drew white smoke, but greyish smoke gives more an impression of an explosion caused by gun powder. (Comment: The smoke appearing on the cover is whiter than the smoke in the chapter): Exactly, on the cover, it’s just almost like dust, it’s a different sort of smoke. In the chapter, it’s gunpowder smoke, it’s not the same texture. It looks like it’s bad for the body, right?

That’s it for part 2 on the art style, to be continued in the third and last part!

when internet people are like “i love gothic literature but i hate anything that discusses incest, sexual violence, oppression, misogyny, abuse, torture, gore, murder, or death”

here is a handful of palestinian family fundraisers id like to boost. (these are all verified fundraisers & ones i have supported in the past.)

Low on Funds:

Mohammed Family - Farhat Family - Yasin Family Albaz Family - Ayyad Family - Hussein Family - Tashmali Family - Abumousa Family - Mekawi Family - Dawoud Family - Almoghrabi family - Yousef family

Halfway to Goal:

Al-Deeb Family - Balousha Family - Mahmoud Family - Alanqar Family

Close to Goal:

Ayyad Family - Aldeeb Family - Saftawi Family - Shahwan Family - Shaqqoura Family - Ahel Family - Alhajjar Family - Shehab family - Al-Sharif Family - Ahmed Family - Jamous Family - Al-Talouli Family - Maliha Family

Urgent update my little brother is dying 😭

Today we took our little brother to the hospital because he suffers from an infection that affects his breathing and causes him pain. I hope that every living conscience will help us save our young son’s life and donate any amount you can.

Unfortunately, there is no treatment in the hospital for my little. Help us before it is too late.