#or maybe it could be miserable..

[starbuck]

one more week of my Bachelor’s degree and the demons in my brain are trying to convince me to get an MBA.

[sunny-knight]

Who am I now?

@forgettable-au Fan animation :3

Papyrus has got a lot to think about, now that he remembers the other half of his life

Song: Flower (feat Haien Qiu) by Christian Basso

WHAT DO THE BUTTERFLIES MEAN??!?!?!!?!? WHAT DO THEY MEAN WHAT DO THEY MEAN

But nevermind that, loveeed making this loooved thinking about it looved the torment it put me through thinking of how on earth itll go when/if Papyrus ever remembers who he used to beee :3

In the beginning- I remember seeing at least 2 drawings of Sans and Alphys sleeping while Wingdings is wide awake. I wanted to make a little somethin different and play with that. His eyes also being closed is supposed to communicate a sort of happy moment where they’re finally all on the same page. It also makes it more “hehe that TECHNICALLY could still be papyrus ☝️” its not.

…

but TECHNICALLY- ☝️

The reason behind that shot though is I that I feel like good memories would make it harder for Papyrus to disconnect entirely from that part of his life. There were SOME GOOD THINGS and its just like…ugh. Its hard to put this part into words, but you get me. ITS VISUALIZED THERE AND THATS ALL YOURE GONNA GET OUT OF ME

(I tried really hard to work Flowey somewhere in this, but that never worked in the end- so whoopsies to all the Flowey fan club members)

The hands holding the star, then having a butterfly coming out- I’m actually obsessed with that shot cause theres a lot of things I can say about it.

Its intended to be ambiguous on exactly who’s hands they are cause the type of holes in them are just scribbles-

But thats just because transitioning between Gaster and Papyrus’ hands looks bad and also skeleton hands are really hard- SO!!! its an in-between thing. Its supposed to go from Gaster being obsessed with the star, GRABBIN IT, then a butterfly comes out of Papyrus’ hands. We’re comparing and contrasting the difference between how they handled their own traumas, and their view on life as a whole.

Again, im assuming a lot about Gaster in this cause we still don’t know how he’s gonna be characterized in this comic, but in this animation we’re gonna say he deals with life and his trauma by obsession and all that jazz, while Papyrus makes something new with it.

The fact that they’re trying to trap something in their hands WHICH HAVE HOLES IN THEM is also a part of this meaning. I feel something that has remained true for Wingdings, Papyrus, and supposedly Gaster, is they persevere despite any circumstances. Of course they don’t go in without thinking, but when they want something they are GOING to get it no matter how ridiculous or impossible their chances of success are.

SO YA THATS THE ANIMATION :D

Programs used: Procreate for the art, Toonsquid for the editing, plus a wip :3

originally I was gonna have Wingdings being happy, then Papyrus being sad to show that same “happy memories” thing, but the transition never looked quite right, and something simpler just looked better

[sleepysundial]

"Aw, quit your belly-aching. Hands grow back!"

something about mad scientists and their big strong boyfriends idk.

[torn-coattail]

S'il faut mourir Sur nos stèles je veux graver Que nos rires ont berné La mort et le temps

barricade day once more!

[honeyhobbs]

Off duty Gaz going adventuring!

[cent-scratchnsniff]

doodles and stuff. struggled with painting until i gave up

[luna-nuova]

fuck i wanna write an exr wwii fic SO BAD

grantaire living in his little hut in the french alps, with his goats and his chickens and his donkey, basically uncaring of whats happening in the world

one fine day one of his friends asks him to hide a partisan of the resistance and he agrees because why the fuck not, its not like he cares about the nazis and what they might do to him, hes just doing his friend a favor

and so he finds himself “living” with enjolras

fierce but frazzled, bone-tired enjolras that sometimes burns hot and bright but some other times just looks so ground down to nothing that grantaire just wants to wrap him in his arms

[kenzan-brainrot-mp4]

talk more about the white whale/whale symbolism in general whatever thoughts you have on the whale stuff i want to hear it 👂

GRAHHHHH YEAH (This one got. Long (again lol) So be prepared (series-wide spoilers but I feel like that's a given atp))

First of all I just wanna say that I love how rgg drags the player along around the final chapter title. With how upfront the other chapter titles are in what they're referring to, you might end up wondering why they chose White Whale for the final chapter title once you see the title card (or at least I did). Of course, this could just be referring to the treasure that everyone's been looking for, but with how nonchalantly they react to the fact that the treasure isn't actually there, it doesn't seem to completely fit the bill.

But then you beat the game (and by this I mean beat the final boss) and lo and behold, there's an Actual white whale, and so you think "Oh! Duh, the chapter's called White Whale because there's a literal white whale and it pretty much just finished off the final boss!" But that still doesn't make that much sense. Why name the final chapter (arguably the most important one) after some whale that appears in the last like 15 minutes of the game? Like, take the final chapter name of (Kiryu) Gaiden, it's literally the name of the game (The Man Who Erased His Name) so it's gotta be something more significant than that, right? (But then of course take into the account that by this point the player is still convinced that nothing really in pyih is too deep/serious, so maybe it could just be something as simple as that).

Then you get to the credits, and they reveal that the "elixir"/the ambergris is found in the stomachs of whales. Damn, that's pretty crazy/cool, but once again, nobody that was actively seeking the treasure (Rodriguez, Jason/Noah, Spade Tucker, etc you know the drill) seems to hung up on the fact that they didn't find it, and they didn't even encounter the whale, so they wouldn't get that same sense that they just missed it either, again, it's not a big deal really, so why make that the final chapter title?

Of course, we all know what this builds up to: the big reveal, the fact that Majima, who we've been following along with this entire game, was looking for that elixir this entire time, was the only one to actually encounter a whale in the game, and then there's the insane line drop from Saejima.

"Kiryu Kazuma. You never could give up on that one."

Ironically, the final chapter title has nothing to do with that whale you saw earlier at all, rather it's a summary of what Majima's motivations/actions for this game, and the past. Almost every game, has meant for him. It's what Saejima spells out for us at the end of the game, but said in even fewer words.

An all-consuming obsession that only leads to your destruction. An impossibility, something that you can destroy yourself over but never achieve/obtain. This is what the white whale means, metaphorically. And it is this, exactly, that Kiryu is to Majima.

Kiryu is larger than life itself, to just about everyone. He's a legend, he's the one Majima has had his sights on since the very beginning, the legend he chases after game after game and also what he destroys himself over game after game.

(see:

Yakuza 1 -> Majima just straight up taking a full-on stab wound for Kiryu. Like, buddy, I literally saw one of my favorite characters die that way in another game, there was No guarantee you were surviving that.

Yakuza 2 -> Majima fights off an army of yakuza for Kiryu. That man was beat to total Shit (which is Not something that happens often) and we all saw it

Yakuza 3 -> Majima re-enters the Tojo Clan for Kiryu even though he is (extremely likely) aware that it is already entering its steady decline that we see throughout the rest of the series up until its dissolution. And while he's willing to do it for Kiryu, we can't exactly say that he's happy about the situation as a whole.

Yakuza 5 -> Majima's willingness to die for Haruka, specifically stated because "She means more to Kiryu-chan than life itself." Like, of course he wouldn't just let Haruka get killed, but to choose to mention Kiryu as part of his reasoning in that moment? Christ

While I (surprisingly) can't say anything particularly self-destructive happened in (Kiryu) Gaiden and Infinite Wealth, you could argue that Majima trying to more and more directly tell Kiryu not to leave ("No need to rush outta here yet... Alright?" -> "Don't leave! Don't you dare leave, Kiryu-chan!"), knowing that it's likely pointless, knowing Kiryu, is not doing himself any favors.

Pirate Yakuza -> *gestures at the entire game*

Also his reaction to encountering that giant squid ("Sure is a helluva way to die. I think I'm into it!"). Like, okay. I don't want to try and read too much into it because it was very likely just a one off line. But I'm still gonna side-eye it.

Honestly now that I think about it, if Majima Had died fighting that giant squid (that is such a way to begin a sentence thank you rgg), you could argue that that would've been his nail in the coffin for the white whale metaphor. If he had, it would've meant that his obsession for Kiryu is what got him dragged down into the literal depths of the ocean, and even if it wouldn't be Kiryu physically dragging Majima down like the white whale to Ahab, this is a situation that is completely, entirely, fueled by Majima's obsession towards him (Majima had no real interest in the nuclear waste cleanup project, after all, Kiryu was his one motivation this entire time), and it would've drowned him.

Guess that means he got real lucky with the last part, but we all know he sure as hell isn't beating the allegations.)

All this and yet Majima seems to fail to reaching Kiryu time and time again.

Majima does not obtain the Heart of the Dragon, found in the intestines of the literal whale. He does not obtain eternal life for Kiryu. And he (arguably, though the final scene of him walking to Kiryu's hospital room could oppose this) does not resolve the indefinite limbo that has been sitting between them throughout the entire series. What he gets at the end of the game is the acknowledgement (through Saejima, everybody thank him) that he has been obsessing over this, and perhaps the realization that Kiryu was, in fact, this white whale that he would never truly reach ("Well, still just a dream in the end.") Of course this is something he already knows/has acknowledged deep down, and it's a feeling that is hinted at in some of his dialogue in scattered moments, but this is the first time he ever says it in such an outright manner.

I guess in a way, you could say that Pirate Yakuza is a story about the newfound success of all the people Majima helped and supported in achieving their dreams, and the continued failure of Majima in pursuing his own (Kiryu), and him needing to acknowledge/accept that. And the post-credits begs the question of what he decides to do with the aftermath and what he has left. (An oversimplification definitely but still. augh. Augh)

Naming the final chapter White Whale was yet another crazy move on rgg's part. Its so unassuming, seemingly straightforward yet also seemingly insignificant, but once the realization dawns on you it slaps you right in the face, just like everything else about this game does. It's yet another instance of how rgg managed to pull its big reveal so well, with all the small details, all the reframing, all pointing back to the same topic that it had spent the entire rest of the game dancing around.

Majima recounting his story of how he went to Hawaii -> Majima recounts his story to Kiryu in the exact same way at the very end

The treasure everyone's been looking for/known about + Majima, the one guy who didn't have knowledge about any of this legend stuff prior? -> Wrong, he was after the treasure from the very start (before the amnesia at least). For Kiryu

Majima originally being on course for Hawaii so he could help with the nuclear waste cleanup even though he'd be bored as hell? -> Nah. For Kiryu (Ohhhhh you know what this is reminding me of some screenshots I took from near the beginning of the game)

(I'm sure this meant nothing of course. Lol. Lmao)

Majima's dream during pirate yakuza being to fulfill Other People's dreams -> Haha. Well, I think you get the point by now

Kiryu, Kiryu, Kiryu. It all goes back to Kiryu, every single time, without fail, in an obsessive loop that Majima has been dragging himself around over for Years. He is the white whale, seemingly untouchable, the constant object of Majima's attention and devotion in so many forms, his consistent weak point, that only seems to dig at him deeper as the games go on.

Like I said before, while the white whale metaphor is undeniable, and essentially spells doom for Majima, it's not over for him yet. Because, hey, he didn't drown at sea, or die on the beach. He was saved, and he's survived enough to retell that tale and reflect on it all with Saejima in the post-credits, brief as that reflection was. I mentioned before how he really only said one line of any actual substance during that specific part of the exchange, but the significance of it says so much.

"Well, still just a dream in the end"

As much as it hurts to here Majima address the hopelessness of it all, to hear him say something like that after Saejima basically just laid out his sheer devotion and refusal to give up on his dream for everyone to see, I think the bittersweetness is. Good, actually. Captain Ahab never gave up on that pursuit on the white whale, and it destroyed him; that whale dragged him down until he finally drowned, and it feels like all Majima has been doing over Kiryu since Yakuza 3 is drowning himself in him.

Don't get me wrong, I (for now at least) do not take that line as a complete admittance of defeat, or Majima finally giving up on Kiryu, on that dream he could never let go of. (Like I've been saying, it's an acknowledgement, not exactly a declaration.) I do not think it means he is just letting go, full-stop.

But I do hope it means he can stop himself from self-destructing completely. I hope it means that he can slow down with the wild chase, (and that he and Kiryu can just. Sit down and talk like fucking normal people. Which i guess they are doing in the post-credits, supposedly) and I hope it means that he won't drown completely, especially in the case of the worst possible scenario.

[cornedbeefhashtags]

🎥

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Up High!

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[biddy-biddy-biddy]

can you draw older josh next…

i was planning at first drawing him than Bill. but my hand slipped. anyways 54 years old josh. pops. sorta. just an idea. a doodle..

[chiropteracupola]

the consequences of what you did / we won't forget (are you ready, are you ready, are you ready?)

[a bit of fanart for @emilybeemartin's creatures of light trilogy]

[sesamestreep]

I am by no means an expert on the subject at all, but if I could give one piece of advice to people who are job hunting, it is to always save a copy of the description of any job you apply for. It’s getting RIDICULOUS out there (at least in my experience/industry) in terms of how long between when a job gets posted and when they start contacting applicants for interviews, and unless you have a photographic memory, or the job is still active on the website you found it on, you will forget details about the job before you get invited to interview and it’s probably not a strong sign if you ask the interviewer what the heck the job is again (even if it’s fair given the elapsed time and how many applications people expect you to have going at once).

If it’s not already available in PDF format, just click the print option on your browser’s menu when you’re on the webpage with the job listing and when it gives you the window with the printer specifications, select “save as PDF” on the dropdown of available printers instead and save it to the same folder where you’re saving your cover letters/resumes/application materials with the name of the company/job title/date you applied in the file name. easy peasy. I still forget to do this occasionally but even remembering to do it half the time has saved me a lot of trouble overall.

job hunting sucks and is demoralizing on the best day, so keep your head up, do little things like this to make your life easier, and remember that I love you 💖 you got this!

[raspberryusagi]

Me, rambling to my wife about this crackpot theory I came up with in the shower about how Les Miserables may have been an answer to The Count of Monte Cristo, or at least could be read as such: ... But then Valjean didn't personally screw Javert over like Dantes' enemies did-

My wife: Are you sure Valjean didn't screw Javert? I thought I read that on AO3 once.

[lovesodeepandwideandwell]

Two prayer requests of vastly different levels of significance but whatever

[pseudophan]

sorry but i think if you saw one of the tour shirts having a defect and you got immediately angry about it accusing dnp and their team of deliberately scamming people instead of going "hm could this possibly be an unforeseen production error" you should delete your account and never post about them or anything else ever again :P