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The artist drew ml hands reaching for the gun intentionally, to show him actively moving the gun. Lots of suicide survivors who try to shoot themselves live specifically bc they moved their hands ever so slightly, out of hesitation, that all it does is lasting damage instead. This looks like a .45, you dont even need to move it a full inch to change the trajectory enough for it to only be a deep graze. Think just a smidgen bigger thank a quarter in length, so not entirely small - small enough that a knuckle size of movement makes a massive difference (my uncle is a gun fanatic so I've been taken to the range a few times but ofc im no expert) none of this includes recoil and there will be recoil if this is a .45 and him using one hand, hell there's recoil if you use two hands.
Anyway outside of that, it's an interesting parallel between the two men who obsesse over Mc. How they both cling to him so desperately because he is essentially the physical embodiment of their humanity. For blondie the Mc is the humanity he longed for bc it seems even as a kid he never really had much to began with, so it's like a curiosity that became an obsession. Where as for our ML, the Mc is what is left of his humanity. Like he is protecting what is left of his inner child, so saving the Mc is like saving what's left of his humanity.