loquatenjoyer69

[loquatenjoyer69]

hi @marykedoesart, this is my gift to you for @natsume-ss' spring exchange!

you said you like tanuma/natsume and heartfelt, emotional themes so i went very symbolic with this, haha. i really love the idea of using imagery from the fish pond in tanuma's backyard to represent these two and their dynamic, so that became the concept i ran with. i'll explain my whole thought process below, but in the meantime i hope you like it! 💖

pls bear with me here bc this is going to be very long and wordy lol

so there's a definite theme of separate worlds here; while the environments are both pretty abstract, the idea was that tanuma is sitting in his house looking out towards his backyard where the pond is, representing the "real world," whereas natsume is in a more fantastical underwater setting, representing the world of youkai. also there's the implication that he's sitting at the bottom of the pond, aka completely immersed in that other world, while tanuma can only perceive hints of it in the reflected light & shadow on the wall.

tanuma's side is lit by the glow of the setting sun, and natsume's by an otherworldly blue light. also, there's their clothes: tanuma is in his regular school uniform while natsume is in a yukata, something that pretty much all humanoid youkai wear.

next, their poses; they're both sitting exactly the same way as a reflection of each other but natsume has his head bowed while tanuma is looking up; this is meant to represent their different approaches to their relationship. natsume is definitely more closed off, both as a defense mechanism and because he wants to protect tanuma & keep him away from the dangers of youkai. tanuma, though, is open and contemplative, maybe even hopeful; he wants to be let in and he wants to help, even if it is dangerous.

the lighting reinforces these conflicting attitudes, with tanuma's side being brighter and warmer while natsume's is darker and colder, representing this sort of "optimism vs pessimism" dynamic.

so now, the fish. the bridge between their different worlds, basically. on natsume's side it's a real fish while on tanuma's it's a shadow cast on the wall, which is obviously the original conceit of the scene in the source material: natsume can literally see the fish, while tanuma can only see its shadow. still, even if it manifests differently, it still exists to both of them, so it's a connection between them concerning youkai.

so they're both in their separate worlds, but because of this connection they affect each other, maybe in small ways at first; as the fish crosses over the barrier it leaves little effects, little disturbances behind. on natsume's side, bubbles drift up towards the surface, little pockets of air like little lifelines showing the way, and on tanuma's side little droplets fall and create ripples in the reflected water, these small things that grow and grow outward until they're not so small anymore. little feelings that bubble up and ripple out, hoping to reach the other in their own way.

the fish brings these feelings across the barrier, endlessly looping around them as they endlessly call out to each other, trying to navigate this relationship they have; it's possible to bridge the gap between them as long as they look and listen and learn to embrace the things that make them different just as much as those that bring them together.

and that's about it! my goal was to make a symbolic piece about their struggle to understand each other but with a hopeful note, so hopefully that comes across! i hope my explanation at least sort of made sense and wasn't too confusing! (to be completely transparent i only had about half of that in mind while i was drawing it, the rest sort of came together as i was writing this. neat!)

and finally, here's a still frame in the original higher resolution so you can see it a bit nicer! 💖

#MY GOD....................... #god tier art #astralibrary #tanatsu #natsume takashi #tanuma kaname

[loquatenjoyer69]

@natsume-ss spring exchange piece for @tobiyooo! Surprise! It was me the whole time!

Some nice and soft found family, as Natsume deserves 🤎

#WAHHHHHHHHHHHH SO LOVELYYY #love the youkai in the background

[loquatenjoyer69]

YAYYYY THEY'RE SO CUTE!! I'M SO HAPPY YOU DREW KOGITSUNE!!!! THANK YOUUU <3333333 ^u^

Natsume Yuujinchou Spring Exchange 2024 for @thecrowsart !

I love Kogitsune too so I couldn't resist! Hope you enjoy!

#reblogging from my natsuyuu blog since thecrowsart is just for posting art but it's still me! #thanks so much this is so lovely! #natsume's wearing the hat...... #kikijidraws #natsume takashi #kogitsune

[loquatenjoyer69]

crawling out of the hole that is artblock w exposed back matoba

#heLLO?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? #matoba-san. ............................................................................................................................... #i am asking respectfully #akabloom #matoba seiji

[loquatenjoyer69]

SEIJIIII come out and greet the aunties

#LITTLE GUYYYYYYYYYYYYYY #love him :')) #fwmy #matoba seiji

[loquatenjoyer69]

the immediacy is kind of funny lol. guy who literally cannot handle any small show of kindness from his only two friends who hate him he has to go sit on the I Hate My Life bench about it and mope instantaneously. cant even respond.

#U________U #DEEP SIGH ....... #horrible exorcists

[loquatenjoyer69]

my favorite horrible exorcists 😘💓🫶

inspired by this post, thank you very much @defeateddetectives :3c

#YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES #(COUGHING CLEARING MY THROAT CATCHING MY BREATH CHOKING CRAWLING OUT OF THE ABYSS) #ahem........... the poses of the subjects are mutually complementary and both very elegant i must say #kuromisa's hand cradling natori's jaw is quite graceful and on that note the glove is very beautiful #matoba holds natori and is looking away; natori is held by matoba and looking at the viewer. hrm #hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm #also love kuromisas dress i love that design really #you executed the cel shading nicely btw im never good at that #god this piece is so fucking sexy i would have this as a print #ladsofsorrow24 #horrible exorcists

[loquatenjoyer69]

the immediacy is kind of funny lol. guy who literally cannot handle any small show of kindness from his only two friends who hate him he has to go sit on the I Hate My Life bench about it and mope instantaneously. cant even respond.

#LITERALLY THE FUCKING WAY NATORI IS REACHING OUT. AGAIN. AND MATOBA IS LIKE : 0 (wind noise) (matobench) #1.) something else i like about this scene is how before this they're thanking each other for their help #iirc its like matoba: thanks for your help back there natori #natori: well without you idk if i could have gotten out of the room #and then matoba is like: then we're even this time #this whole arc is all about debt and taking on debts etc #the sabotaging ayakashi felt obligated to repay masakiyo for sparing it but he said he merely didn't exorcise it #and here we have our guys who are always on different footing with each other #'this time we're even' we don't owe each other anything. there is no debt accumulated here #and then natori: (trying to reach out once more like in sp17) and instead of matoba 'haha i'm fine lol' it actually gets him this time #time to go sit on the bench of lost love...the bench of i am bound by familial duty.......tied to my notorious and very old twisted up hous #i wonder what teenage matoba did after he left natoris house after natori was like 'if you ever wanna talk ill listen' #'i'm fine lol' (goes home and sits on his bed in silence for an hour)........................... #okay rant over lol this fucking arc drives me insane #joelletwo #horrible exorcists #matoba seiji

[loquatenjoyer69]

first panel has matoba-san always been so much like a kid? last panel WHY DID SHE MAKE HIM SO SOPPING WET PITIFULLLLL i cant stand ittttttt. i dont even know how to plot this in the notes. screams about it

#'id always wanted to try one and my wish came true' thing i would genuinely say about getting to try a normal ass fruit bc i also have #deny myself everything disease. BUDDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #<- YEAH....also yes his face in the first panel always kills me #he looks at that loquat so like freely. unguarded looking at a loquat reminiscing about getting to try the loquats you had always wanted #his desire.............. #matoba seiji #joelletwo

[loquatenjoyer69]

why does she do this to meeeeeeeee

#i know theyre in two different panels but the way it looks like matoba is watching natori wistfully from the door..... #horrible exorcists #joelletwo

[loquatenjoyer69]

[ID: natsuyuu manga panel from loquats arc where matoba negs a guarded natori for his shiki, edited so he's saying a tumblr post that reads "i'm not arguing with someone made of masks and false identities. go stare in the infinity mirror and be surrounded by endless reflections of yourself gazing back at you, gradually decreasing in detail and recognizability until you're driven utterly mad by the endless possible refractions of you that exist beyond your control."]

--and maybe you'll calm down 💕

#GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD #horrible exorcists #natori shuuichi #joelletwo

[loquatenjoyer69]

I don't have many like 100% This Is Hexorcists songs but Do I Wanna Know is obviously one lol

#do i even tag this.... #horrible exorcists #why not

[loquatenjoyer69]

Oh, this reminds me of a thought that's haunted me for a while, I mentioned it in my Natori wavering meta post:

"...unlike Matoba, who probably grew up seeing exactly what he would become in the previous clan head, down to the long hair and eyepatch."

Sometimes I think about what it must have been like for Seiji as a child to have this living example of his future self... His life really has been set out for him in so many ways. This was the panel that originally got me thinking about it, btw:

(From special chapter 15) "The next Matoba clan head will probably be Seiji-kun. I envy their stability." "Envy? I don't want my right eye being eaten. I heard the current clan head's face has been attacked many times, it's awful."

also not the line i went looking for (ended up being nothing) but comes looking like ME (thats not in the official translation) is so chilling. meet ur doppelganger and its a vision of a failed future yet to come

#ive also kind of wanted to draw the matoba parents since then. hopefully someday #anyway do go on about the eye eater taking the form of his father its very yummy to me

[loquatenjoyer69]

I always find it helpful to look at the text as it appears on the page, so I'm putting the panels here:

The line in question succeeds

「あの黒いだけのただの醜い塊が小賢しくも人の姿に化けてやってくる時もあるんですよ」

or, "There are times when that disgusting black lump cleverly takes the form of a person."

Not ground breaking, just introducing context for the next thing he's about to say. Specifically, the verb 化ける, to transform/change. He's gonna reuse it in the next line. 「私や一門にとって懐かしい人間や知っている人間に化けてね」

Which Joelle helpfully broke down above. I would only say that や is like and/or, as opposed to と which implies that both the nouns being listed are included. So when he says 私や一門 I would interpret this as "I or my clan," it's either one of them but not necessarily both. As for にとって、 it's actually kind of a set phrase, it just means something like "with regards to (the preceding thing)." So he's saying whatever follows is regarding him and his clan. Which in this case is 懐かしい人間や知っている人間, "A close/familiar human, or a human we know." Not actually sure why he chooses to use 人間 rather than 人 as he does in the first sentence. In a proper translation I'd probably translate both as "person" but I wanted to make it clear he is using a different word, maybe for nuance reasons I'm not skilled enough to pick up on.

ANYWAY, so putting that all together, He's saying "It transforms into a person close to me or my clan, or someone we know."

also not the line i went looking for (ended up being nothing) but comes looking like ME (thats not in the official translation) is so chilling. meet ur doppelganger and its a vision of a failed future yet to come

#forgot to do this last night so hope you dont mind me jumping in here #and adding too much information as usual lol #my meta #? not really but its me adding something so for the purposes of organization #oh also random but the way the lines are delivered in japanese like based on the particles hes using and the way the lines are broken up in #the speech bubbles #feels to me like #'just sometimes.... it's quite rare but...... there are times when that disgusting black lump comes in the form of a person.' #'in the form of someone close to me or my clan...or someone we know' #with the little ね at the end is like 'im adding clarifying information to my original statement' #but it feels like too much of an anime ism to me to translate it directly as 'you know?' lol #anyway more random thoughts. um haha hope this was useful in any way #matoba seiji #natsume takashi

[loquatenjoyer69]

#gag manga #taki tooru #natsume takashi #nyanko sensei

[loquatenjoyer69]

one day i will take these two seriously. today is not that day

#WHATTTTT THESE ARE SO CUUUTTEEEE #bee-calm #horrible exorcists #natori shuuichi #matoba seiji

[loquatenjoyer69]

why is she so insanely beautiful i forgot about this panel augh

#my goddess kuromine #joelletwo #matoba seiji