Did everyone have a good Christmas? I… well… did spend Christmas working, but on the way back from working I bought myself some cake, and also got myself some good food and a glass of wine, so I had a merry Christmas in my own way.
Now that I’m thinking about it, this is going to be the last upload of 2021. Next week’s is 2022… I say this every year, but I did not know I would be drawing webtoons for this long, and I’m always grateful for you guys always (in keeping me alive this year too).
Some may say being harsh to yourself is what makes a true professional, but I haven’t been able to be too harsh on myself this year. I wrote out some things here before, but it felt like a TMI, so I erased them hehe. It was vaguely about working in a rapidly changing market over the past 11 years… something like that ^^; This year, my body was hurting quite badly too… Overall, due to my physical condition and anxiety of the future, even when I think about it myself it’s been a difficult year.
I want to tell myself I’ve worked hard, and this may be asking for too much, but I also would want myself to do well next year too. I hope to do better in 2022.
And to my readers I want to say thank you so so much. The manhwa that I make don’t always meet your expectations, for the past 11 years, I’ve tried to reach it every week.
Then everyone, I hope you have a good rest of 2021, and I will see you next week and next year.
Thank you ^^
ps. Next year, as planned, I will be looking to cut down on blog posts. I hope even in the last week of 2021 that you have a happy and healthy week.
Naver Endnote:I like spiderman. ha Season 3 has reached chapter 100 too. Thank you so much.
I decided to draw Endorsi for the first time in a while… I gave her a short and lively outfit that’s ahead of the season. Recently, I’ve been wanting to draw more modern outfits.
Season 3 is already at 100 chapters now as well. I thought it’s been a journey filled with hard work, but it also feels like I’ve fallen short at moments as well. Actually, the hiatus was quite long, and it was also in the middle of an arc, so I remember that moment being less about the rest and more about stressing about what would come after hehe. It was a 100 chapters that was rather difficult for me mentally. Still, I should work hard to gather myself.
I’d imagine there would be a lot of reasons as to why an author would draw comics, but rather than sales, rankings, or fame, ultimately for me, the biggest reason and goal is having readers telling me that it’s fun. These days, that simple goal is also my biggest motivation. To brighten up your Mondays at least slightly, I will work harder and harder.
I hope you have a happy and healthy week this week as well. I will be back next week. Thank you _ _
Naver Endnote: 마스쳬니 대사에 비트를 주고 싶은 화였습니다． This chapter, I want to play a beat to Maschenny’s lines．
Today, it’s Viole and Cha in a School-Life genre theme. School-Life is a genre I personally want to draw a work in hehe. It’s a genre I read without too much thought when I was a student myself, but to draw it as an adult, you need to be be very brave. While fantasy approaches the reader indirectly in abstract ways, school-life works can influence young readers quite directly. Well, in that aspect, it’s a quite lucrative genre. Still, I find the fantasy genre to be a little more charming.
This week, I was really busy. Since for my hospital appointment, I had to stop by Seoul, when one of my old files had some issues, I stressed out the entire weekend going from place to place to fix it. I’m already short on time when I’m focusing on just the work itself, but when this kind of stuff happens, the stress… hehe. Still, I wanted to take this opportunity to cool my head a little, so while getting these problems fixed, I took a breath of fresh air and had some good ideas. Of course, it was about half a day long at best ^^; still, being able to rest at least that long in a week is quite nice. Sometimes people say it’s easier on yourself if you learn to let go of your greed, and while it is no good to want something in excess, it’s hard to draw a work without any desires for it… hehe… I desire to draw something that my readers will enjoy.
The winds today were really ferocious. They say short paddings are “in” right now, but I think it’s time for longer coats. You may be wondering if I got a sudden sponsorship, but I’m just an author worrying about the health of his readers so everyone please just dress thickly and warmly. I’ll be back next week.
I wrote this while dead tired, not even sure if this is very legible ^^; Since I’m tired, I should get moving quick and go to bed.
I hope you all have a happy and healthy week I’ll see you next week Thank you _ _
Naver Endnote: Since there’s quite a few parts, the chapter came a bit late. Hope everyone don’t catch a cold and stay healthy this winter. Thank you everyone.
This week’s doodle is Ha Jinsung walking Viole to school. Personally I don’t think Ha Jinsung considered Viole his child per se, it’s more of pity towards his certain special fate, but hehehe I thought it would be cute to draw them like this.
The weather’s getting really cold these days. The winds are like blades they say hehe. Recently, due to my insomnia I haven’t had any caffeine, but I ended up drinking some… and I ended up staying up working all night with an absolutely clear mind qq I’ll have the post queued and go home early. Recently there’s pretty much no problems with the upload system, and it tends to go ahead with almost all the boxes ticked, so it’s nice not needing to check the upload at late hours.
Personally, even though I always spend a similar amount of time on the chapters, I think I have a different degree of concentration each chapter. As I create the chapters, sometimes I put in a lot of emotion, while other times I couldn’t… When it comes to a long-running series, I think the kind of attitude you have as you try to focus on the work is important as well. It’s something I should work on more.
Since there’s a lot of work load, my wrist’s been acting up again, so I have a therapy appointment next week, I’m hoping to make some progress. If the work load increases, it’s inevitable that the body suffers however, so this concerns me.
Since I’m getting older, recently I often think of what a good person is, what a good life is, outside of the work context. Recently, I feel envious of those who can laugh easily and find happiness in the small things around them If I come across people like that, they brighten my day and I feel envious as well. I wonder if people are born that way, or if it was brought out by a just and happy heart, but while previously, I tried to find a justification/reason to show someone good will or bring them joy, nowadays, perhaps it’s best to not think too much, just smile and be happy. That’s what I think sometimes. People who look happy end up gaining a lot from life. So I hope you all can smile and be happy ^^ Of course, working isn’t something someone can do with a smile all the time, so that may be a bit of a problem hehe.
Then, I hope you all enjoyed this week’s chapter, I’ll be going now. I hope for a good night’s sleep, and I hope for a morning that’s at least slightly warmer.
May you all have a happy and healthy week. As always, thank you See you next week!
Today’s doodle is Hoaqin and Vicente. Although it may feel like the two have different personalities/styles, considering they became one body, you’d think they would have something in common, right? hehe. Since this amalgamate of White needs to be narrated together with the story of the Arie family for quite a while, it’s difficult to handle. In some ways, all characters in Tower of God have that kind of an aspect hehe. Some of these characters need a long time to see their conclusion, so it can be difficult at times.
This may be a bit of a TMI, but a while back I had to take something called the Internet Civil Defense Training. Since it was just some online classes, I was playing it in the background without paying much attention as I was doing my work, when all of a sudden they threw a test at me at the end. Even without looking at the questions I panicked, not knowing how I would solve these problems hehe… I reached out to those who already did it, and they told me simply to just take another look at the problems because they’re not hard. So I did, and they were surprisingly easy questions. I realized then that ever since I stopped being a student, I’ve lived a life without tests. If I was still a student, I would have at least looked at it first to figure out how to solve the problem. I lost my ability to take written tests. That was what was on my mind.
Well, since I brought up the topic of tests… Many authors including myself think of the weekly releases as a weekly test. Every week, we get graded by our readers, and we have to take responsibility for our grades, ad nausium. This is something I haven’t gotten used to despite having done this for a while. Nor is it something I should resist either. Because of this, some days I feel afraid, some days I feel excited, some days I feel happy and excited. My emotions go through a lot of extremes. These days, above all else I just want to be able to do this work enjoyably with others, but despite having those thoughts, if you are a pro, you have a responsibility beyond having fun. If I do well, everyone gets to be happy. That’s why I should try to work harder to enjoy my work.
And so another week ends. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter… I will keep working hard and come back next week.
Everyone, have a healthy and happy week. I hope you all wear warm clothes in this cold weather.
Naver Endnote:They say you need to keep jabbing to make a big hit. The weather is getting colder, please take care of yourself.
To all the students who took KSAT, you’ve worked hard. Will cheer for your bright future. Will cheer for everyone’s bright futures.
This week’s doodle was something I posted during this year’s KSAT day. KSAT was this week. It seems that I’ve been posting a picture for the day almost every year, and although it’s a short embarrassing memory, I did teach students briefly, and a lot of my friends are currently teachers too… Because of these, I have a more than usual interest in KSATs and other events pertaining to schools. Above all, I am showing my webtoons to you guys, a lot of whom are students. Important days like these makes me nervous too.
I remember my KSATs, and while I don’t remember much, I do remember being befuddled because there were a lot more English grammar questions than expected, and the feelings I had during the taxi ride back home after the exams… I do remember those feelings like it was yesterday. “This is it. This is the end of my days as a student, no more school.” that kinda feeling hehe. I didn’t know back then. I didn’t know that was the real starting point haha. Anyway
To those of you who took the KSAT, you’ve all worked hard. Only good things are ahead of you. I’m sure of it.
Actually, I was in a sad mood this week too. I went out for drinks alone after work before bed, and all of a sudden my acid reflux flared up again, so my throat’s really sore… I’m suffering. I suppose this is why people stick to what they usually do. Drinking’s for people that drink hehe. And people like me shouldn’t drink. So I’m going to instead write this up and try to go to bed early. In order to defeat insomnia, the bane of all writers, it seems that I’m going to have to try a lot of ways.
I’ve ended up rambling on for quite a while. Since it’s late autumn now, I’m feeling sentimental too hahah… The work lately has been pretty difficult, so I’m fairly tense when I work these days. I can’t let up with the plot progression or fight scenes, and despite staying tense all these days, I don’t think I have much to show for it in terms of bringing you guys good content most days… I think I must work harder.
Then I will work hard so I can come back next week. I hope you are all healthy this week and have a happy week.
Naver Endnote: White seems to give a lot of xp each time… If we can improve through xp too, that’d be great. Thank you everyone for this week too.
Hello. This is SIU. Once again, Monday. ^^ I’m writing up a post today like I always have. Yesterday I got my second vaccine shot. My body’s not having any issues besides my arm being a bit stiff, but since I do live alone, I was slightly worried about side effects, so yesterday I worked outside where there’s people. Perhaps because I took on a bit too much cold air from that, or perhaps because of the vaccine, I feel mentally out of it hehe. I feel tired without doing much.
This Nest Arc is… I think of this arc as… one where it progresses a little bit by bit for the sake of conflict with the main forces… Each wall has different enemies and different forces at play, and Baam needs to level up quicker, as the person who has to make that progression happen, this arc hurts my head, as well as make things difficult for me mentally and physically in a lot of ways. However, if I don’t do this, I wonder if I will be able to cover the 10 Families or the Princesses of Zahard… so this is a difficult question.
Since Tower of God is about the team of a protagonist with very little power facing off those with great powers and growing from it, it doesn’t really fit what you would call… recent trends. So I wanted to give opportunities for the main characters to become stronger than before. Of course, I do know I need to be careful with how I handle the situation… Anyway, this is a part I’m constantly thinking about.
Although it’s cold these days, a lot of people are working hard outside. Today, I heard a thud at one point, and when I looked back, someone who was doing delivery on a motorcycle fell, and his foot got stuck under the motorcycle. I ran up to him and helped him get up, but motorcycles are so heavy… When he took off his helmet, he looked like he was someone much younger than my age, and I thought to myself he’s working a tough job even throughout the weekend. Of course, drawing comics is not easy, and I’ve been doing it long enough even my body’s breaking down, but I can’t say for certain if I am working harder in life than anyone else in particular. So, umm… fighting, everyone. Fighting.
My post ended up being a bit long today. Since it’s getting cold, I hope you guys all dress warmly. Since I got the vaccine, I’ll be turning in early today, and work hard tomorrow too.
I hope you guys are all healthy and happy this week as well. I’ll see you next week. Thank you _ _
Hello. Today, I don’t feel too well, so I’ll probably take some meds and go to bed early tonight. My condition for the last few weeks hasn’t been good qq. Recently, events that are difficult for me personally, big and small, have been happening continuously… And there’s been an increased amount of workload for the series, so I hope you are all understanding.
I think this is pretty much the first time I’m uploading a photo; above I just overlayed some characters like AR. While I was working, I stepped outside for a bit and I really liked the sound of fallen leaves rustling. And since my shoes were also the color of fallen leaves at the time… Since I’ve been working constantly, I wasn’t able to feel the seasons changing much, at time like these I think to myself I want to go and see the changing of colours of autumn leaves… just thinking though hehe. Still, I’m glad there’s a love for trees around like this.
Recently, I haven’t been able to talk about the characters while going through the series, and personally, I think White is the character that best shows the relationship between the Ten Families and their children. Not too distant, but at a certain point where it’s difficult to be too close, or that’s what I think at least.
That’s how relationships between people are. It’s hard to be close to someone you look up to, and perhaps due to that distance, you end up looking up to them… If I look up to someone, it turns out that I end up becoming more distant from them. It’s not easy, the relationship between people… I want to close the gap.
Also as an author, the distance between the work and author is difficult to manage. Even though I feel we are close, working on this… figuring out how to present this work to you all is quite difficult. Even though I work hard, the work doesn’t always return in kind, and sometimes I feel resentful for it, but I just have to reach harder. I find it difficult to close the gap between one person and another, but I want to at least do well in this.
It’s getting colder and it’s also quite windy. I hope you take care of your health, and I hope you all have a happy and enjoyable week. Thank you so much. _ _
ps.
Also, I was told that a teaser video for Tower of God Standalone IP game is now public. Since the developers who made this game have been interested in this work for a long time, I am looking forward to it a lot. The links are as below.
Although it’s still promotional stage, but I wanted to tell you guys my blog readers at least. If I get any other news, I’ll post it on the blog as well.
Halloween. Today (Sunday) is the real Halloween. For me, it was just another day, but it sounds like despite the COVID environment, a few people who celebrated it quite excitedly. So I put on costumes from a certain hot Netflix Drama on Khun and Rak. Since I have been so busy I haven’t watched it yet, but I heard it’s fun. Squid Game.
Actually, when you say Halloween, I think the character that fits the best is White… White hair and white clothes for funerary rites (well… not quite funerary rites robes) but it’s almost perfect. [TL: In pre-modern Korean, the custom was to wear a certain set of white clothes when in mourning] But in Halloween, you’re supposed to put on a costume… ^^;
Recently, some bad things been happening to me… Strangely, some unintended negative things have been happening to me on a daily basis. It makes me feel weird, and it also felt like I was under an illusion. Still, I shouldn’t think much of it, brush it off, and stay strong.
I gave you my story for the week, and after setting the post queue, I am going to work on the next week’s manuscript. I try to work on giving you guys a good manhwa in various ways, but it’s not easy. I’ll continue to work at it.
Next week is going to be colder, so please don’t catch the cold. I hope you guys stay happy and have a healthy week.
Naver Endnote: I’m not feeling well, so the chapter length is shorter than expected ㅠ In this cold weather, hope everyone take care of their health and have a good week. Thank you _ _
At the English Academy, in the cafe building next to the office, when I saw that they had put out pumpkins, I thought today was Halloween. But after I drew a picture for Halloween, it turned out that Halloween was next week. Since I don’t participate in events with the “in” crowd due to the fast paced work life I live… heh heh… I’m thinking if I can slow down a little next week to draw another Halloween-themed character…
Not really related to my uploading schedule, but today was a strange day. I can’t tell you guys too much as it’s something personal, but something I had done with good intentions caused problems, and to fix those problems, I made some sacrifices, came back tired, got no rest as I worked more, and I found myself a little sad because of it. At times like this I find that what I intend and what ends up happening often end up conflicting.
In life, a lot can happen, but that also means there are stressors that you can’t unload anywhere. The best I can do is to swallow it as much as possible and think happy thoughts. Now that was a pretty depressing story, but regardless, you should think that if bad things happen now, good things will come eventually. That’s what I think.
After a long day, I should get going to my very late first meal of the day. As I live day by day, I find myself wondering why it can be so hard to live sometimes. Perhaps I’m overthinking what should be an easy life.
I hope you guys live a very easy, very relaxed life with a healthy serving of luck. A blessed day after a blessed day. I will work hard too.
Thank you. Be healthy, be happy, And I’ll see you next week.
It’s very cold today. It seems that I’ve overworked myself during the change of season, and caught myself a mild cold, so I’ll just post a picture with the post on queue, before heading in.
White only wears white clothes; it’s kind of his thing, but since we don’t get to see him in casual clothes, and I wanted to practice designing outfits, so I gave White a black hood coat this time.
Nowadays I’ve been using simple sketches to practice a lot of different things that would be helpful for the work. I want to improve on so many fronts, and it’s a shame that time is limited. Because some things were fixed in the work or character’s image over a long period of time, some of these things I cannot try, it seems. I understand why long running works sometimes have spin-off events. Of course, for me it’s hard to even keep up with the chapters weekly…
Both in terms of the work and beyond it, I think deeply about them, and I also want to show you guys my best in a lot of these aspects, but it doesn’t seem to be too easy. It’s a hard world to want to live with only happy thoughts, and it’s easy to get caught up in negative thoughts, so you end up keep going out to dump them, only for it to be filled again, and the cycle continues. I hope my work and my life walks a good path.
As I’ve said earlier, the weather recently has gotten a lot colder. This morning I went out on a walk to organize my thoughts, and I was so surprised by how cold it was. Maybe it’s because I get cold easy, but it was a cold that I would wear a thick padded coat for. I hope you all dress warmly as well.
Well my readers, I hope you guys take care of yourselves in the cold weather, and although I do get busy, I will try get a lot done this week. I hope you have a good week this week and I hope you stay healthy.
Naver Endnote:Even if you don’t wake up, there’ll be someone who’ll wake you up.
Hello, this is SIU.
I said last week that the weather was getting chilly, but it’s getting hot these days heh. Was autumn always this humid and hot… Thanks to the weather, all my jackets I brought out are sitting unused still.
Ever since I decided to stop the afterwords [TL: about the specific chapter released that week], something’s always felt missing, and the last few times I’ve been talking about stuff unrelated to the work. And um… actually, since I reduced my sleep time and break times a lot, it’s hard to put my attention to what to say to you guys through the afterwords or otherwise.
Hard work… this is honestly a task without an end, and the work of an author is one of those jobs where what you put in and what you get out don’t match, but if I want to do better, this is the only thing I can really do. Recently I’ve actually reduced my sleep and even got rid of the half day I gave myself, but as the work progresses and the chapters pile on, ironically writing a work well becomes only harder it seems. Really, the weekly releases are a battle with my endless shortcomings.
Sometimes I think to myself if this is how I should be living, if I am happy, but honestly, the very act of drawing manhwa is something you can’t do if you don’t find any joy in it. Still, I’ve been thinking a lot more recently that if I am doing this, I want to be able to enjoy it more. If I don’t find any joy in it any more, it would become a lot more difficult. Money… having more is better, sure, but as I grow older, I started to think to myself that the remainder of my life has more value than money. Thankfully, I live without any shortcomings to my mediocre standard of living. You could think that if I’ve worked in a job over 10 years you shouldn’t have any material shortfalls, but on the flip side, being able to work 10 years in the first place was quite a stroke of luck.
I rambled a lot, that’s the first in a while. These days I haven’t been able to rest, so I must head in early during this weekend. If I get insomnia again, it affects my work… I hope you guys have a good monday as well.
I hope you get the Hangul Day substitute holiday off, and I will return with a short afterword next week. I thank you guys today again.
Hello, today is the upload date for Tower of God. Apparently today is a Substitute Holiday. There’s been a lot of those recently… In reality, that’s something far away from our studio, so it hasn’t hit me fully hehe. Still, it does bring me joy that my readers can have a Monday that’s also relaxing. I hope you guys have a good substitute holiday, and I wish good fortune to those of you who are still working like me. The cold is slowly approaching. Before, it felt like it was only step by step, but now it feels like it’s coming closer in strides. I should prepare for autumn and winter. Well, I hope you guys have a enjoyable and healthy week, and I will work hard to come back next week. Have a happy week everyone. Thank you for reading, even when I fall short in many ways. _ _
Naver Endnote: Mr. White is being hit by heavy rain during the untimely rainy season
Autumn. It’s autumn.
Because I personally think of it as a lonely season, I may not like autumn, but the weather recently has been quite nice, where it’s not too cold or too hot but just right. (Although it does get a bit chilly when it’s windy heh)
For a Webtoon author who spends of of their life indoors, I wonder if there is anything more meaningless than the weather, but when it’s like this, I do feel affected by weather.
When I was young, I didn’t wear a coat when the seasons were changing, but as I get older, I do seem to favor a long coat more than jumpers. It’s honestly a matter of personal preference, but when I was young, long coats were pretty expensive relative to my family’s circumstances. It was something that rich kids wore hehe. These days I’m glad that a there’s a lot of well-made affordable coats around these days. Maybe I should put Baam in a peacoat someday.
I know the times are the times, but I think you should all enjoy the outdoors every once in a while before it gets colder. Although I honestly think that you guys don’t need me to be the one to tell you this and that you are all already enjoying it hehe.
Sometimes when I look out the window, I feel lonely and cold, but when it’s spent with good people, I think it can be a delightful and fun weather.
I hope you guys have a happy and healthy week, and I’ll see you next time. Thank you ^^
Naver Endnote: COVID-19 is on the rise again. I hope all of you take good care of your health and stay healthy.．
Hello. This is SIU, who’s not dead, coming back this Monday. Today is the second day of the Chuseok Holidays.
As I had to stay at the hospital for a few days this week, this holiday may be a bit busier than usual. I ended up having to make my staff work during the holidays, so I’m sorry for that too. I feel like I’ve fallen short all around.
I got my results back this week, and thankfully it’s something that I can get better from by just taking medication, I’m a lot better now. I was told to reduce some stress, so I tried reducing anything that could cause stress outside of work. But since I had to get examined and I was almost unable to use one of my arms for a whole day, the amount of work being published was short this week (for the previews). I’m already aware of my shortcomings, but since now I’m also putting out less content, I feel very sorry for my readers. I’m sorry, these are difficult problems, but I will try to be better at my shortcomings and self-care.
I hope everyone enjoy the extended Chuseok holidays, stay healthy as you enjoy this holiday, and I will be back next week.
