#A game about Luigi’s adventures and another about the heroes

[laughingsour]

I’ve completed up to chapter 6 of Paper Mario: The thousand year door and I just have to know why is it that everyone is sleeping on the lore of the heroes of a thousand years back?

The ones whose story is told by the minstrel mouse in Rougeport?

I mean, just hearing their story as a fairytale made me excited and they sound like fully fleshed characters with flaws, pasts and strengths.

I wanna know their full story! How they interacted with each other, how they looked, how the world under the control of the demon was like and then can you imagine what it felt like to get cursed like they did? After all their trails they saved the world but despite their efforts they didn’t get a happy ending themselves.

Why is there no fanart or fanfics or something about them?

[pianokantzart]

What do you think of this theory regarding the villain of Brothership?

The villain's motivation could be summed up by one detail I've noticed. He has two wires on top of his head. One's red, the other green.

Let's say that Concordia is running out of power. The villain needs Mario and Luigi as a battery. He says that it's for the good of Concordia, and that the Bros are only thinking about themselves because they're trying to go home. Not only do Mario and Luigi contradict this by helping the islands, but it's revealed that the villain only wants to use the Bros to power himself and take over.

The game could even have a twist on kidnapping Peach. The villain only wants Peach as bait. The moment he thinks he has Mario and Luigi, he lets Peach go, she's of no further use to him.

Hmmmm, I have some alternate theories of my own.

I love the idea of Peach being used as bait only because the villain wants to get ahold of the heroes (kind of like what happened in Luigi's Mansion 3, but this time with Mario and Luigi as the targets) but I wouldn't count on that happening in Brothership since it's been all but confirmed that Peach won't be kidnapped in this game.

But regarding your first theory, I'd say based on the synopsis and previews that Concordia is thriving in terms of resources, but struggling with social discord (which is ironic, given the definition of the word "Concordia.")

Aesthetically speaking, the residents of this world seem to be divided into two main categories: Outlets, who are friendly, helpful, or otherwise common folk.

And wires/plugs, who are aggressors and troublemakers.

But what if it's not that simple? What if the outlets are producers of powerful magic but can't wield it to its full potential, while wires and plugs are able to wield magic in ways outlets can't, but they can't produce any magic of their own?

With that in mind, I can definitely see our main baddie trying to use Mario and Luigi as something of a battery, since one way or another their combined skills have made them into a formidable source of power.

But if I may speculate, I'm willing to bet that... as you've theorized... Mario and Luigi will bring concord to Concordia over the course of their adventure. Perhaps they might even fix some of the broken relations between the wire-types and the plug-types. I can see the main baddie wanting to see the status quo maintained; a status quo that, up until now, has allowed him to work from the shadows and hoard power for himself. When sending his lackeys out to stop Mario and Luigi doesn't work, he targets them as a personal power source as both an act of vengeance, and a way to make sure he stays on the top of the heap.

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

My Unofficial Mario Character Bio

This is a going to be the first in a series of posts I will be making for unofficial character bios I made for the Mario cast, using official information to craft them. These are intended to help people better grasp these characters and I hope y'all like them.

Mario the is the iconic hero of the Mushroom Kingdom who is always willing to stand up to the Turtle Tribe when they step out of line. Brought to his parents in the Mushroom Kingdom he would grow up with his younger twin brother Luigi, and even attended kindergarten with a Baby Peach. Eventually the Bros. moved to Big City now New Donk City where they could go through many jobs until they eventually became construction plumbers, which has been Mario’s profession ever since. Mario is also a jack-of-all-trades, having even become a doctor researching viruses at the Mushroom Kingdom Hospital's virus research lab. He is a trusted friend of Princess Peach and heavily implied to be dating her. His masterful jumping abilities which he uses in all his adventures have made him very athletic, and have allowed him to excel in all types of sports, and have even helped him out in the Olympics. His jumping skills are what make him popular, and in New Donk City he was given the title Jumpman. He is also famous for his moustache. He has many rivals from the Donkey Kongs to Wario, but neither hold a candle to his arch-rival King Bowser Koopa. Between the Bros. Mario is regarded as the one with the brawn between the two, and while he is strong he is not as strong as his rivals Wario and Donkey Kong. Speaking of rivalry Mario and Luigi have had a friendly rivalry since they were little, when they play sports, race karts, and even in the Olympics which they partake in. They can get into heated contests to the point they will even compete to see who gets the most medals. That being said both of the brothers do care about each other very much where they will defend each other, and in Mario’s case has even hallucinated seeing Luigi when they were apart. They also seem to have a twin sense. Both him and Luigi are famous around the world, though characters can be surprised to see this is the Mushroom Kingdom’s hero, and Mario is more likely to be recognized more for his heroics than Luigi is. Mario is bright, merry, and very cheerful with an indomitable spirit and is an all-around guy who is always ready to help out a friend.. He is meant to represent the perpetual underdog. Mario doesn’t aim to kill his opponents though that doesn’t mean he won’t if he needs to in some cases. In addition, due to adventures like the one he took with Bowser, Geno, Peach, and Mallow he knows there is more to Bowser. This is why he has helped Bowser Junior return Bowser back to normal in one game, and comforted Bowser in another. But he also isn’t going to let Bowser kidnap Peach and force her to marry him, let alone conquer other lands. Mario, also has experienced several opponents who have turned over a new leaf and villains who have been reformed which may also influence how he treats Bowser. He also doesn't punch Yoshies or drop Yoshies into pits, and the same goes for the rest of his friends who ride Yoshies. Let alone his loyal adventuring buddy Yoshi who is a good friend of his. Toad is also one of Mario’s loyal friends. Mario has provided a lot for the Mario Kart Grand Prixs through Mario Motors , Mario Work Gear, and Mario Electrical Support.

[tokiro07]

That reply I got on my last Zelda post made me realize that I was only thinking about the story elements for potential Zelda-led games and not the mechanics of those games. I touched on it a bit in my reply, but I wanted to dive a little bit deeper into it here

As in Echoes of Wisdom, the goal here is to find gameplay styles that de-emphasize direct combat or physical dexterity, though we don't need to completely eschew them either (even EoW Zelda throws boulders around, after all)

Skyward Sword: a common complaint with Skyward Sword was the lack of content in the sky, so I think revisiting that through Zelda herself would be a great idea. Getting to spend more time with the Loftwings would be fun too, so I'd like them to play an active role within the dungeons. To that end, I'm thinking something inspired by Team Ico's The Last Guardian would work well, with the goal being to guide and instruct the Loftwing to perform tasks, requiring the player to pay attention to its mannerisms in order to gain some semblance of control

Minish Cap: the shrinking mechanic in the original was already a game-spanning puzzle in and of itself, so revisiting that could work well for Wisdom gameplay. To differentiate it, though, I might recommend expanding it to include shrinking and growing other objects, maybe a little bit like Superliminal but on a smaller scale. Or Zelda could just be shrunk down the entire time and needs to figure out how to navigate the world around her

Four Swords/Adventures: FSA ended with Zelda talking about learning a lesson about teamwork and some such, so this could either be another co-op game where the players need to coordinate with each other, or one player would be given multiple characters to work with at once and need to keep track of them all, like the single player in Tri Force Heroes. Honestly, my problem with TFH was that it was clearly not designed for single player, so if they revisited that concept with that explicit intention, I think they could have something solid

Ocarina of Time: obviously this would be Sheik stealth game. Oracle of Seasons already had minor stealth segments, so if you expand that concept into something more akin to the classic Metal Gear games, being more focused on observation, reaction and improvization than pure memorization, I think you'd really have something

Link Between Worlds: again, the 2D/3D puzzles of the original were already exactly the kind of thing we're looking for, so if the developers felt in any way that they hadn't fully explored the concept, like giving Zelda the ability to actually perform actions in 2D rather than simply moving, I think it would be worth revisiting

Zelda 1/Adventure of Link: similar to my idea for Four Swords, I think this one would best focus on the dichotomy between the two co-existing Zeldas, so perhaps an It Takes Two approach with each character having unique abilities would be best. Again, this is a good opportunity for co-op, but I'd like it if they could be controlled simultaneously, like in FSA. Maybe something more like Mario & Luigi's overworld segments, where they're both moving at the same time and different buttons are assigned to each character to activate their unique abilities. We don't really know enough about either of these Zeldas to conjecture what powers they'd have, but if we go off of Zelda I being under a sleep curse, maybe something to do with stillness vs. motion? Like one can make things stop and the other can make things speed up? It would take some workshopping, but I see potential here

Twilight Princess: knowing so little about the Twilight Realm, I'm envisioning labyrinthian architecture, where pathfinding is the name of the game. Given the predilection for darkness, perhaps light-based puzzles would be in order

Wind Waker: this one has the best reason to expand into combat for sure since Tetra is a fighter, but coordinating with her crew to perform tasks either for puzzle-solving or combat would be a perfect way to incorporate her Wisdom into the gameplay. Maybe there would be naval battles where steering the ship in the right way or firing the cannons at the right time would help fend off enemies. Maybe on land, resource management of ammunition and other supplies would be something the player has to be mindful of, or Tetra can bring two or three of her crew along at a time like the Sages in TotK to use their abilities

Spirit Tracks: the Phantoms were already pretty much exactly what we're looking for, so I think just coming up with new Phantoms and level designs would be sufficient. Rearranging the Spirit Tracks themselves for more efficient navigation could also be fun, but I don't know if most fans want land development in their Zelda games

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom: I already said in my last post that the Ancient Power system in TotK would have worked as a Wisdom mechanic, so again, any enhancement or refinement therein should probably go to Zelda

If I were a professional, I'm sure I could come up with something a lot more workable than these high concepts, but my main goal with this thought exercise was just to see how the extant stories could be used to make new ones, and I definitely see a lot of areas of opportunity

Of these, I personally like the Skyward Sword idea best, I like what Last Guardian was going for and would really like to see the concept explored by other developers

[wariofranchisefanblog]

I am in a major Wario’s Woods mood and mentioned I may write down my concepts of how I’d do a sequel fic and yep, doing just that now.

Not sure if I’ll ever pursue it, but I did want to at least muse a bit about how I’d imagine a follow-up. Trying to make it fit with how we know the characters now, while also adding things relevant to my interests.

One of the big concerns for it is how to justify Wario as the villain, since he has long stopped being a pure antagonist and the answer is quite simple:

Rudy.

When Rudy returned in Dr. Mario 64, he was significantly shrunk and generally portrayed as more vulnerable than in Wario Land 3, down to catching a cold. This is where personal interpretation and headcanon come in, as I imagine him to have lost a lot of his power, following his defeat at Wario’s hands and naturally, he wants that back.

Naturally, there needs to be a reason the peaceful woods tie into this, so I imagine the Sprites of the forest guarding a treasure containing the power Rudy needs to restore himself to his old strength. 

How to find it though? Wario. Making sure Wario learns of there being a treasure, he catches him off guard and brainwashes him to use his literal nose for treasure to uncover it. The brainwashing part being to ensure Wario in his greed doesn’t somehow accidentally set that power free in a way that puts it to waste. 

To aid him and ensure that they are uninterrupted, he let’s Wario hire his old minions from both versions of Wario’s Woods:

Who I imagine as a WarioWare type company of misfits, only instead of making games, they’re goons for hire, for shady business, with Katsini as the head of the company. They note Wario seems odd compared to last time they saw him, but business is business.

So they invade the peaceful woods and imprison the sprites which, for some nice callbacks, include the elder and Alice from the Comic BonBon adaptations of Mario & Wario and Wario’s Woods.

One sprite gets away though and it’s the one who aided Toad in Woods. She is never identified as anything but a Sprite in the manual, however both KC Mario and Kun go with her being Wanda:

So I go with that too, she even shares the same species name, so it checks out.

Wanda travels to the Mushroom Kingdom for help, however, Mario, Luigi and Peach are currently out to visit another kingdom, so the only one left for her to ask, that she knows, is Toad.

She isn’t really worried though, given he helped her in the past and while timid about it, he agrees and the two head off. That said, they are followed by someone and anyone who knows me can imagine who that is:

Yep, Kinoppe. 

I just love her a lot and I like interpreting her as someone who was always around, just never seen, since she is more of a civilian that only accidentally gets involved in adventures, but this time joins in on purpose, excited to see her personal hero Toad in action.

She very much takes Birdo’s role, being a look-out for when Wario tries to mess with things, which thanks to Rudy’s involvement, can even be justified as something like magic, with Wario peeking in to see how the intruders are doing.

Much like Birdo with her encouraging words, Kinoppe also serves as emotional support. 

A thing with Mario characters is that how they act can fluctuate depending on their role. Peach has had maaaaany very helpless depictions as a damsel, despite clearly being capable as many other games show as well, down to having her own adventures.

For this I characterize Toad as timid, but brave. Afraid, but ready to step up and do the right thing. That said he deals with insecurities and not knowing how to deal with the pressure of being seen as a hero. It’s nothing new to Mario, but for Toad, being the sole main hero and subject of Wanda’s belief in him and Kinoppe’s admiration of him, is something very foreign to him and he doesn’t know how to handle that yet.

Also gives an excuse for just a biiiit of teasing.

It’s not something that ever comes up on the blog, since Wario to me isn’t the character or series for it, but I do have a lot of interest in romance and a more gentle character like Toad is a nice means to sprinkle a little of that in.

Anyways, the trio adventure through the woods with many shenanigans happening, using the locations from SNES Wario’s Woods like the mountain area as a base. Along the way they face off against the bosses, with the SNES opponents being moreso mooks, while the NES ones are the big bosses.

Eventually they make it to Wario, who has found the treasure and is acting highly strange, being a mix of his Land onward power-set and looking and acting more deranged, like in his Super Mario Land 2 debut.

After a hard battle, Wario is freed from his possession, but unfortunately, Rudy has gotten a hold of the treasure and restored his power, using it to turn all the Sprites, even Wanda, into monsters like in Land 3.

When all seems lost Toad and Wario team up to take down Rudy, with the latter being more than happy to get some payback and the two take him out, breaking the curse he tried to unleash again and sending him packing.

With that, the day is saved. Toad is a hero, Rudy is chased off by the Woods bosses and Wario sneaks off with the now depowered treasure and nobody minds, since he did nothing intentionally wrong this time and the reason for them to guard it is now gone.

That’s the basic gist of it. Not sure if I ever will make it a fic, but I do want to expand on it.

I considered several other characters for inclusion, particularly Waluigi, Birdo, Toadette and the Ware crew as other possible mind control victims, but figured I’d be better off avoiding cluttering the cast too much.

[uncloseted]

Do you game? I recently got a switch and gaming computer but I'm not sure what games to pick up

I do! I actually just lucked into a Playstation 5 so I'm really excited to see what games are available for that, but here are some of my favorites that are available on Switch or on PC:

Switch:

I think a lot of these you can also find on PC, but I played them first as Switch games, so that's why they're on this list:

Starting out with the classics, all of the Mario games are super fun and Switch exclusive. Super Mario Odyssey is my favorite of the Mario platformers, Paper Mario: The Origami King is a great RPG/puzzle game, and Luigi's Mansion 3 is a super fun action/adventure game. If you want to play with other people, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros, and Super Mario Party are great.

Another group of classics are any of the Zelda games. These are action-adventure games where you play as Link, a hero who's trying to save Princess Zelda and prevent the world from being destroyed. I would start with Breath of the Wild, which is widely considered to be one of the best video games of all time.

If you like The Sims or other social simulation games like that, Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Stardew Valley are both super fun and you can sink a ton of time into them. In this same vein, I also really enjoyed Wylde Flowers, which has a little bit more of a story than other social simulation games.

If you want something that's just kind of unhinged, We ♥ Katamari and Katamari Damacy Reroll are puzzle-action games where you play as a little alien Prince who has to roll up objects on earth to try and impress his father, The King of All Cosmos. The Katamari franchise also has the greatest soundtrack of any game I've ever played.

If you want to be the most frustrated you've ever been in your entire life, Cuphead is a run and gun game drawn in a really cool 1930s style (it's really fun, I swear).

Okami is a action-adventure game where you play as Amaterasu, a wolf who uses the power of the Celestial Gods in order to save the world. The game is done in a woodcut, watercolor style, meant to look like Japanese ink-illustration, and it's just so beautiful.

My personal favorite game franchise has always been Kingdom Hearts. These games are hack and slash action RPGs where characters from the Final Fantasy Franchise team up with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy from the Disney Animation Franchise to go to different worlds from Disney movies so that they can prevent darkness from consuming the universe (multiverse?). This seems unhinged, and that's because it is. 10/10. As a bonus, I think there's a free trial for the Switch version so you can see if you like it before you buy.

Most recently, I've been playing Disco Elysium, which is a role playing game where you're an amnesiac detective trying to solve a murder mystery. This is also considered to be one of the greatest video games ever made, but I haven't finished it yet, so I'm tentatively recommending it.

Some other games that I've really liked but that are maybe a little less accessible are Chinatown Detective Agency, The Stanley Parable, Return of the Obra Dinn, and Gris.

PC Games:

I'm actually not a PC gamer, but I do have a Playstation, and there's quite a bit of overlap in terms of where games get released, so here are some of my recommendations that you can find on PC.

Inside and Limbo, both puzzle-platformer games where you explore a surreal and monochromatic world. They're really beautiful and tense and are considered some of the greatest video games of all time.

If you want something in a similar vein but not as dark and tense, I really love Planet of Lana. It's a puzzle-platformer, but its design style is inspired by Studio Ghibli, and it has a really nice story about a girl trying to rescue her sister from hostile alien machines that have taken over her world.

For something really beautiful and relaxing, I love Journey, which is a indie adventure game where you are trying to reach a mountain in the distance. What's cool about this game is that even though you can't speak with other players, the game fosters an emotional connection between players. It was designed to evoke a sense of smallness and wonder in the player, and I think it does that really well.

If you want to play a game that - and this is true - sent me into an emotional tailspin for several weeks, Wattam is a puzzle-platformer where you play as the Mayor of a planet that's empty. As the game goes on, you unlock and befriend other inhabitants of the world, including trees, flowers, rocks, toilets, poop, and mouths by holding hands, uncovering secrets, playing minigames, and solving puzzles. It's designed to be a game that "makes people notice how our ordinary life is great".

Life is Strange is an episodic adventure game where you play as Max, a high school student in the Pacific Northwest who can turn back time. The choices that you make change how the narrative goes. Some people find this game kind of cringey and the ending is... kind of disturbing, so fair warning, but I think it's a really well-made game.

I'm sure there are others that I've loved, but these are the ones that come to mind. I'll add to this list if I think of more. Happy gaming! Let me know what you think if you end up trying any of these.

[alinalioness]

Alina and Singing Monsters FINAL:Excursion.

The next day.

While it was dawn, a store employee decided to open a grocery store. But I noticed that the logo was in the dust and decided to wipe it. When he started to wipe, his work hat fell off, but the Drumpler caught him.

Drumpler:Hello, this is yours (Returned the employee's hat).

Worker:Thank.

Noggin:Drumpler, they're going to talk about ships right now.

Drumpler:I'm running.

The employee was surprised to see the singing monsters while Alina was telling them about the world war before them.

To Shararam.

The Kikoriki told the monsters about the city and their adventures.

Krash:Long ago, when Alina was gone, we were in space.

Dermit:Wow! What did you study there?

Pin:We studied everything.

To Bikini Bottom.

The monsters admired the burgers at the Krusty Krab restaurant.

SpongeBob:How are the burgers?

Monsters:Tasty.

Furcon:Can I have some more?

In Highland Isle.

Phineas, Ferb, Tom, Jerry, minions and animatronics talked about the city.

Phineas:In the city of Highland Isle, the snowfall is called Eltrandos.

Monsters:Wow!

In the theater.

Monsters were playing with Tims and negatives on Tim's island.

PomPom:They're just sweethearts.

Hoola:Just look at their little faces.

Balan:The creatures themselves are very cute.

Lance:In a minute, the residents will call you in their chapters.

In chapter 1, Jose and his costumes treated the monsters to vegetables that were in the gardens.

Mammott:Mm, it's so delicious.

Jose:We tried very hard, because being a farmer is not so easy.

In Chapter 2, the monsters were hanging out in the water with Fiona and her costumes. Fiona also introduced monsters to her friend dolphin Mink Mink.

Fiona:He likes you.

Jeeode:He's just charming.

In Chapter 3, Yuri showed the monsters various insects and spiders.

Humbug:I have not seen such insects in their reality, including bees.

Arackulele:I just want pet spiders from your world.

Yuri:Of course, but not poisonous ones so that friends don't get hurt.

In Chapter 4, monsters with Haoyu and his costumes flew on a whale-like island and looked at his world.

Skye:It's like another version of an air island.

In Chapter 5, Sana and her costumes showed the monsters birds from reality. This made the bird-like monsters interested.

Tweedle:I didn't think there were birds that could even talk.

In Chapter 6, the Monsters were watching the castle with Cass and her costumes.

Jam Boree:(Eating a lollipop) There are even sweets here.

Boo'qwurm:And books like in chapter 3 with insects.

In chapter 7, Cal taught monsters how to play chess. When it was Entbrat's turn, he won.

Cal:(Claps his hands) Bravo, you've won.

In Chapter 8, the Monsters had fun playing winter games while Iben and her costumes watched with a smile. In Chapter 9, monsters hung out on different rides with Attilio and his costumes.

Maw:It's so fun!

In chapter 10, the monsters admired Lucy's paintings.

Fluoress:You have a wonderful talent to draw all the pictures.

Lucy:Thanks.

In Chapter 11, the monsters learned the rules for dealing with dangers from Eis and his costumes. In chapter 12, the monsters helped Bruce and the suits clean up the trash. Later, the monsters were with Lance and the Negabosses in the world of negativity.

Lance:Here, unlike the vulgar one before our meeting, the rest of us are defending wonderworld.

Monsters:Wow!

And so it is with the others. Alla showed the monsters the forest. Mario and Luigi, along with other Disney characters, talked about New York. And the rainbow heroes told how they protect mi from the loss of colors.

Later, a party was held at the house of heroes. The monsters were very happy with everything they learned. Kayna watched with a bright smile.

Alina:I see you are much better than before.

Kayna:It's all thanks to you and your old and new friends.

Later, the others joined in.

Lula:I felt better myself when I came to the old house.

Balan:But even better, we saved the singing monsters.

Alina:But it's a fact, in a word...

Heroes:Together, stronger, hurray!

The end.

[astridsfavs]

First Favourite Character

So this is my blog, where I shall ramble about my fav characters. Isn't that fantastic? And I figured I should start with the most famous viddy game franchise of all.

Tetris Super Mario! Mario has a sheer ocean amount of characters, through the platformers, kart racers, party games, RPGs, there's a million bajillion nerds to choose from. So is it the Brothers themselves I love? Princesses? Koopas? Or is it...

WARIO!

The big bad German/Italian/Something Anti-Mario. Super Capatalist Fucker. sigma male. I've loved Wario since day 1. My first Mario game was Super Mario Land 2, the game Wario debuted in (and it came out in Europe the month after I was born, so like, I was a newborn baby with Wario in my life. (the game boy was my parents, not mine originally)). Like, I didn't even know who the fuck Bowser was, or Luigi. When I was a wee bitch, I knew Mario, Wario, and the three fucking pigs who ruined my life in Mario Zone.

We also, at some point, got the first Wario Land game, and I liked the heavier, stronger style of gameplay, and the treasure hunting aspect. The collecting of coins gave the same "yes" feeling as collecting the rings in the Snoic. And the world evolving as you go through the game made it so cool. The tide coming in after finishing world 1, so early levels now are flooded, MT Teapot's lit crashing down and changing some of it's levels layout. And most importantly, Wario with his evil crosseyed grin, a fucking bastard of a man.

And to be honest, for a long while, that was it for me and Wario for a long while, I loved these two games, but I never like, played as him in Mario Kart 64 when we got our Nintendo 64, I was always Yoshi. I had borrowed a copy of Wario Blast from a friend once. And when we played on the playground, like, if we played Mario, which we did shut your mouth, I played Wario and just, "Elbow Bashed" everything (I didnt realise til long later it was a Shoulder Bash actually shut up), and doodled fanart of Wario in "Smash Bros 2"(he was just another Mario clone, but with yellow fireballs instead of red)

Anyhow, years later, I got Wario Land 3 from Woolworths, and that unlocked some shit in my brain because from then on, he was my guy. The cartooney transformations, and the way Wario behaved was like, that was the shit, and then Wario Land 4?! I was in, I am in and in for life! I love this cartooney shit!

Thing is though, again. that was it, I'd now play as him in the Wii games, Strikers, Smash, Kart Wii and Party. But I never played WarioWare until THIS year actually on the GBA Console on Switch. But that doesn't matter. There is SOMETHING about Wario that draws me in, even if I can't afford his own games.

So what do I love? I love an Anti Hero, I love powerhouses, I love selfish agendas (and Wario's love for gold being the drive for all his adventures is selfish AF) and I love hidden hearts of gold, Wario with Shokora shows he isn't entirely selfish, willing to team with others, heck he's got a huge group of friends in Warioware, and even when with the Mario gang, he pals around with Waluigi.

I love that he is allowed to dress up compared to other Mario characters.

He has so many outfits, this isn't even all of them. I love playing as him in Mario 64 DS, I know he's "The Worst" in the game, but punting goombas to hard it takes like 5 seconds for them to land and die is just a silly little fun. I love he is able to punch the fuck out of Tox in Shifting Sand Land.

I love he's a suer arrogant, rude, brash, super like, macho manly man. An Alpha actually, like, man has women throwing themselves at him, and some men too probs. He's a bitch dickhead, but he draws people in, and bitch like, me too.

Also he has the best cast of characters in the Mario series. Mona? Shokora? Syrup? Jimmy T? fuckit the whole warioware crew? Bonko the CLown or whatever his name is? All iconic!

ALSO! SAKURAI. Mate, bud, I love you, listen, Smash is fantastic, Kirby is superb, Kid Icarus Uprising is yum. But my fucking god, Wario is the WORST repped character in Smash. Like Sonic might have a basic spindash only style moveset, which is a bit boring, but whatever. Wario? We got a shoulder bash and his bike, yup, that's it. And a weird amount of farting, calm it down man.

Also give me a Next Level Games made Wario game, it would be so cool. Listen I know Strikers Charged did the fating rubbish too, but Striekrs 3 showed me they got Wario's character down to a T.

So this is my first post, so I'm figuring out the format of my rambles, it might get more organised in the future, but maybe not, maybe people like the way I write. Who knows.

ANYWAY! RUNNERS UP!

PRINCESS DAISY- I will be her.

WALUIGI! Not a meme, he is such a funny, Wacky Races goofy character, Next Level Games puts so much life into his animations in the three Strikers Games, he's a fantastic loser self-pitying dweeb. WAAAA.

[ask-marios-apprentice]

(I forgot to post this yesterday. I had some things on my mind)

This was requested by @kutekite in trade for some art work

They asked me to talk with Luigi about what it can be like to be overshadowed by Mario.

[Interview start]

Garth: Thank you for talking with me today Mr Jupmin.

Luigi: You're welcome and you can just call me Luigi.

Garth: I'm trying to be formal.

Luigi: Well Mister Jupmin was my grandfather's name. Mister Giovanni Jupmin.

Garth: Giovanni Jupmin?

Luigi: No. I said Mister Giovanni Jumpman.

Garth: So his first name is Mister.

Luigi: Yes.

Garth: Uh...why?

Luigi: Well. Back in Italy, my great-grandfather, Lorenzo Jupmin was trapped in a tunnel. The man who saved him went by the name of Mister.

Garth: And he was named after this man.

Luigi: well it was either that or Tharowup (pronounced throw up).

Garth: Okay

...

Garth: So anyways. The question I wanted to ask you. Do you feel like You Are overshadowed by Mario?

Luigi: Uh. That's kind of a complicated question.

Garth: I have time we don't have to get to the airport for another hour.

Luigi: Uh. I guess we can talk on the way. But only if you help me get polterpup into his cage.

Luigi then pulled out a cage that was obviously modeled after a poltergust.

It took us about half an hour to get the polterpup in his Travel Carrier.

Luigi: Hurry up and get in the shuttle. We have to be at the airport in half an hour.

Garth: Alright. Alright. But still you said you would tell me what it's like to be in your brother's shadow.

Luigi: Sigh. Fine.

Luigi: When we were younger, we grew up in Brooklyn. I was always considered the weaker brother. I was always picked last to play basketball. It took me longer to learn how to fix a leaky pipe.

Garth: Wait weren't you taller and could jump higher than Mario. Wouldn't they pick you first to play basketball.

Luigi: It was more about how I acted that made them not want to choose me.

Garth: Well how about when you were older.

Luigi: Me and Mario in high school and college we we're still trying to figure ourselves out. But we were a bit more balanced in our lives. It really wasn't until we had a video game based on our adventures that I started getting the short end of the stick.

After a major plumbing accident happened in the New York sewers. We were hired to fix them. This drum up a lot of business and got the attention of a game designer called Shigeru Miyamoto.

He's already spoke with my parents about what happened with Cranky Kong after a deal with trying to make a game about Popeye fell through. That made the Donkey Kong game.

He wanted to continue and make a game based on our plumbing escapade.

That game happened to be Called Mario Brothers.

Garth: But wasn't that an adventure that you both had.

Luigi: Apparently they changed it for brand purposes. They even did it when we went to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Garth: Side note. How did you and Mario get to the Mushroom Kingdom, I've seen some alternate interpretations.

Luigi: Okay. One day a woman called us up to fix her bathtub, she had to get ready for a party or some other event.

Garth: Whatever happened to her?

Luigi:Not sure. But I want to get back to the story.

Luigi: So me and Mario travel throughout multiple locations to try and find the kidnapped princess from King Bowser Koopa. We eat some mushrooms and fire flowers. We use a power star but because we didn't know it's true power it just gives us invincibility. We meet Toad and he gives us a rude gesture (not the one you're thinking of). Rinse and repeat 8 times till we find the princess.

Garth: Oh I know it happens next. You both move to the Mushroom Kingdom after Merida offers you both the title of SUPER. But I still don't understand why you didn't want the title.

Luigi: It was a personal choice. I didn't want it. I didn't know that much about it or understand why a robot dressed in Tweed is talking to us about being a hero. I'm willing to help my brother and others. But I didn't understand the concept enough to accept it.

Mario however was the more heroic of the two of us. So he took the offer.

Garth: So it is true. Only a willing person can become SUPER.

Luigi: That's nice and all but I thought we were having this conversation about me feeling overshadowed.

Garth: Oh sorry. Please continue

Luigi: As the years passed I felt a bit...Small. it would always Be the "Super Mario Brothers" and never "SUPER Mario and Luigi". In fact I would sometimes not even appear in games regardless of whether or not I actually went on those adventures.

Garth: Must have been tough. Was there any way that you coped.

Luigi: Well there were things that I did to try and get my mind off of it. I played sports like tennis and golf. Of course there were also some unhealthy ways to process this. I can give a pretty deadly stare if someone passes ahead of me while driving. When I go use the poltergust (which is an entirely different matter I don't want to get into right now) I can get the little rough when capturing a mean ghost. And of course it is my power star form. Negative Zone Luigi. Which is the literal obvious representation of me being in my brother's shadow.

Garth: Man. That is..Something.

Luigi: That isn't the last of it though. During the events of the Pure Hearts and Count Bleck. I was hypnotized and became Mister L.

Garth: Oh. So you also reference your own grandfather while also chaneling your possible rreincarnation of Bleckss Grandfather.

Luigi: Look if you know the story as well as I do. Why don't you tell it.

Garth: Sorry. Uh. Please continue.

Luigi: After the whole fusing with Dimentio thing and returning to the Mushroom Kingdom. I had a talk with Mario. I actually revealed that I wasn't entirely under the control of Dimentio's spell. It was just that that piece of me that wasn't under control was my resentment.

[Flashback]

Flashback Mario: So You are...upset with me?

Flashback Luigi: Well...kind of.

Flashback Mario: You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.

Flashback Luigi: No. I feel like things won't get better unless I confront these feelings head on.

Flashback Luigi: Mario. I feel like I am not respected.

Flashback Mario: I respect you.

Flashback Luigi: I know that but it doesn't feel like that sometimes. I mean with the video games and how people react to you compared to me. There was evan that time where I won that tennis game and you stepped on my foot repeatedly WHILE I was receiving my trophy.

Flashback Mario: Yeah. Sorry about that. I hadn't had enough sleep and I was a bit groggy after that night. But I did let you pull my mustache as revenge.

Flashback Luigi: Look. I don't want to talk about revenge or punishment. I want to talk about the root of the problem.

Flashback Mario: Oh. Well if you want to. Go ahead.

Flashback Luigi: I feel like I don't get enough respect and that I'm in your shadow.

Flashback Mario: Luigi. You know you're my equal.

Flashback Luigi: Do I? Because it seems like most of the time I get the short end of the stick. Super Mario Brothers instead of Super Mario and Luigi. My first ever game was an educational game based on an event that never happened. And the second game to focus on me only got made because of us both getting tricked by some boos plus the fact that Kopai needed something to show the Game Cubes effects.

Flashback Mario: Woah... Luigi. I didn't know you felt this way. Or at the very least is this deeply.

Flashback Luigi: Well I do. I'm hoping we can talk about this more.

Flashback Mario: I hope so to.

[Present day]

Luigi: We make sure that we talk about our relationship every once in awhile. And we're better brothers because of it.

Garth: Well that's nice to hear.

Luigi: Yeah it sure is.

Shuttle Driver: Hey. You two. The story was nice and all but you have to get off the shuttle. We arrived here 45 minutes ago.

Luigi: We better get off. We are late and our flight is in 5 hours. The rest of the game probably arrived here before us.

Garth: Okay but I have one last thing to ask.

Luigi: Make it quick.

Garth: Where's Polterpup

Luigi: That's easy. He is in his ca...

Luigi: Where is he!?!?

Garth: I think he's eating that venders kebabs at that kebab cart.

Luigi: [While running after Polterpup] POLTERPUP!!!

[Interview end]

Garth signing off.

[barilleon]

Actions Speak Louder: The Silent Protagonist

Sometime last year somebody published an article about how Mario has no characteristics. I got made and wrote this post on Silent Protagonists. I never published it, so welcome to the world premiere!

When we read or watch or tell stories, much of the action is driven by the characters, especially the main character. We watch them try, fail, grow, and succeed. We know them by their traits, and we love them by their flaws. Sometimes we project onto them. We relate to them, or we wish we could be them.

We know Bugs Bunny is a trickster because of how he constantly pulls the wool over the eyes of his adversaries. We know Jonathan Harker is clueless because it took much longer than is probably reasonable for him to realize Count Dracula wasn’t just a harmless weird guy. We know Captain America is sincere and stalwart because he puts everything into what he does and never compromises.

In video games, it can be tricky to write or pick up on the characteristics of a main character. The character is meant to be an avatar for the player, someone we can see ourselves in. Some games allow us to really customize our character. We decide how they look, what they wear, and what they say in response to NPCs. We have a lot of control in driving the traits of our character.

But even if we don’t have that control, even if they don’t speak, silent protagonists always have character traits. They’re defined by their actions—the actions you’re piloting—in the context of the world you’re playing in.

My favorite silent protagonist is Ness, from EarthBound. For a young kid, the journey across Eagleland and beyond was difficult, but Ness takes it anyway. When he gets homesick and wants to stop, he calls his mom and keeps going anyway.

When the journey requires him to put his soul into a robot and travel back in time with no guarantee of return, he does it anyway.

Ness is, in his own mother’s words, a “thoughtful, strong boy.” He keeps fighting for a better tomorrow, and he keeps going no matter how many times he gets his head handed to him. Even if it’s you pressing the continue button, in the structure of the game’s narrative, it’s Ness making the conscious choice to keep moving forward. Lots of silent protagonists share that trait.

Another good example of a silent protagonist is Red from the original Pokemon games: another young kid who embarks on a lofty adventure. We know that Red is capable of forming a strong bond with his Pokemon even at his young age, which means he's a very understanding and empathetic boy. We see him trespassing: pressing buttons he shouldn’t, invading hideouts he has no business being in. Red isn’t afraid to cause trouble for the right reasons.

We can also tell a lot about a silent protagonist by their surroundings, especially those they have control over. Red has video games and a computer in his room, which is a big deal for a kid living in the early 90s.

The best example of this, in my opinion, is Mario’s hotel room in Luigi’s Mansion 3. It’s a total mess: pizza left out with boxes strewn all over the floor, suitcase open and clothes hanging out. Mario’s a slob! And you can't blame the ghosts; not when all the other rooms are reasonably tidy.

Mario isn't exactly a "silent" protagonist. Charles Martinet voices his lines, which are usually a collection of "wahoo!"s and "yippee!"s. That's a look into Mario's personality as well, especially juxtaposed with other Nintendo heroes. This is fun for Mario. He enjoys this.

You don't hear Link yelling "wahoo!" when rolling around Hyrule Field.

[year2000electronics]

good morning. so every member in team bleck has a member that sort of ‘parallels’ the five member ensemble of the heroes and tippi. bleck parallels mario as the leader, mimi and peach are the girly girls, o’chunks and bowser are the muscle, and that leaves the last two-

(long post incoming)

the fact that 8-3 and 8-4 have luigi and dimentio paired off with eachother pretty much implies that he’s intended to be luigis parallel, and that nastasia and tippi are also parallels. not to be overly thorough again but i’m gonna spell out a lot of the ways both these parallels work

luigi and dimentio:

- have matching colour schemes (luigis inverted green and blue becomes purple and yellow, and vice versa)

- have the obvious parallels thanks to moments like in 6-1, 8-3 and 8-4 where dimentio and luigi/mr l have extended dialogues alone

- on the topic of mr l and dimentio, both of their major design traits are their masks and how one can’t be recognized with it on, and one’s true intentions can’t be recognized thanks to their mask always smiling

- carson mentions that dimentio was turned away once by the count before seeing that he had potential, much like luigi wasn’t allowed to come on adventures in pm64 until mario saw him handle himself in ttyd (this ones a bit of a stretch admittedly)

and just overall the fact that luigi and dimentio are the only remaining pair means they’re obvious parallels

tippi and nastasia:

- have mirroring but similar form transformations (tippi from human to flying creature, nastasia was implied to change from a flying creature to a humanoid)

- both are from blecks past, but only one of them was his love

- both of them sacrifice themselves in the name of love for the count (nastasias may have been platonic or familial), but only nastasia lives to see the end of the ordeal

- both are the one ‘non playable’ character in the group- you cant REALLY play as tippi and nastasia doesn’t get a boss fight

- pretty much the ‘brains’ of the group, the one that speaks on behalf of bleck/mario a lot of the time

HOWEVER. what if i told you i could also make the argument that THIS is also an equally valid interpretation.

now obviously the game pretty much confirms that luigi and dimentio are parallels through their fights but i could also argue that luigi/nastasia and tippi/dimentio have some parallels of their own, and why i wanna highlight this i’ll talk about later

tippi and dimentio:

- unlike the other parallels, tippi and dimentio are actively made so that dimentio can’t be tattled. he is literally the only miniboss or major npc like this (aside from maybe nastasia as she has no true overworld encounter)

- at the beginning of the game, both of them are the characters with the most mysterious pasts, as in little to no information is given (tippis gets given later, again i’ll come back to this)- dimentio is the only bar story that doesn’t help out much in terms of his past or lack thereof

- both of them have teleported a character to the safety of flipside in the events of the story (tippi in ch 4 and dimentio in the ch 2 interlude, though teleporting is part of his niche in general)

- have elements that may or may not hide a “true” face (is dimentio’s mask his face or is he just like that?)

- tippi and dimentio’s “moments” together are a bit fewer and far between compared to the others, like her strange out of place “i know you. you’re that...” and the fact that she’s the only one who survives dimentio’s ch 7 nuke (when he tells her directly he’s her enemy) and the fact that despite luigi being onscreen and PLENTY mouthy in his actual fight with dimentio, TIPPI is the one who talks back to you in dimentio’s optional game over

- this ones a bit of a stretch as it’s heavily based on theories that i don’t even believe myself but if you believe dimentio is the magicians son then both tippi and dimentio have a pseudo connection to pixls

luigi and nastasia:

- both are seen as the ‘right hand’ or ‘number two’ for their respective ‘number ones’ (mario and bleck) and generally play off of more subdued versions of their designs (nastasias glasses vs blecks monocle, her white clothes vs his beige cape and hat, her light blue vs his dark blue, luigis proportions being a bit more average compared to mario and a more subdued green colour scheme)

- both have a deep affection for bleck/mario and this is largely in part due to their pasts with them, where seeing their ability and kindness made them believe bleck/mario was truly brilliant (nastasias lines and backstory imply that she was around to see bleck as blumiere which would imply she knew him just as long or longer as tippi did), they also have spent more time by bleck/marios side than the others, comparatively

- both almost never have things on their own, their escapades are mostly ‘side stories’ (but they still DO happen: i’ll give tippi and nastasia the fact that they do hover around mario/bleck more than luigi hovers around mario BUT nastasia isn’t always around bleck, does her own thing, and is even in a meeting when bleck isnt vs tippi only ever leaving marios side when she’s forcibly removed)

- much like luigi and dimentio have their moments, nastasia and luigi also share moments (mostly in the first part of the game, keep it in mind): the most pivotal part of the direction luigi goes in this game is when he gets caught by nastasia, and nastasia is the one who tells him not to mess with the wedding

- in addition, many times throughout the game nastasia details to count bleck each minions defeat, often just telling him the messages they relay or punishing them herself, but specifically when it comes to mr. l’s disappearance, she says she’s the one at fault

- you could also make another design argument that mr l’s mask could also be a parallel to nastasias glasses as a large part of her character also comes from her glasses as they do the fact that mr l can’t be recognized- theyre her weapon (the red rims are also a bit of a gut punch when it comes to that)

- both of them wind up ‘taking count blecks place’ (as the final boss, and as the one to get hit by dimentio’s fatal blow) (interestingly this also puts them both out of commission for the final boss)

- this ones a big stretch but nastasia is seen openly sobbing at the end and luigi is the one of the four heroes who’s the most prone to tears (according to tv tropes at least)

so with all that being said, Why. why did i make this post. i’m sure i could draw comparisons to fuckin uhhh luigi and idk BONECHILL if i had the time on my hands. well the reason why is because i wanted to think about... what if we all looked at spm like this.

in the beginning, nastasia and luigi are in fact eachothers parallels, nastasias logic vs luigis emotion nastasia being the villain to defeat luigis hero yadda yadda yadda. but as the story goes on more and more of the luigi/dimentio parallel begins to happen. and this is because starting with chapter 5, dimentio begins to show his hand- to the heroes, but also to the audience. more of his plan is succeeding, and as count bleck grows more reluctant, this story becomes less and less about how to defeat him and more about how to stop the chaos heart from doing its thing.

we all know how that story goes though, how dimentio usurps the count and takes luigi with his little pizza hands. but i’m thinking that luigis parallels, luigis villains are really supposed to represent the arc 1 villain and the arc 2 villain- both nastasia and dimentio are the ones who are trying to make the man in green choose the dark prognosticus as the true prophecy, it’s just that as the story goes on, dimentio is the one who seizes control of the story. even to the effect that he’ll shift the very structure of the team around so that HE will do battle with luigi. so that HE is the one who is the obvious representative of the ideal host for the chaos heart.

cos who ELSE would it be, right??? :o)

*and here comes the obligatory disclaimer that obviously i’m not trying to say that THIS is concrete 100% what the writers meant. i just think this is an interesting interpretation i’d like to explore

[louve-garoue]

You know apart for the whole "Brad Pitt Chris Pratt as Mario thing" the thing I'm salty with Mario's film is that Miyamoto made so it wouldn't have a big storyline. Heck he had a discussion with Koizumi to tell him to stop trying making story within this franchise because of a bonus cutscene with Harmony there was in one game. What I'm saying is that this franchise was made to have no plot and it's not the greatest choice to made a film on.

Meanwhile Luigi's Mansion was just here. Next door. You just had to knock and it would have been present. It would be so simple to adapt.

Made the whole film happen in 1 big mansion,

the Purple Moon or whatever it is called made Ghost crazy with power again, (the rest below cut)

Luigi goes with his equipment to save Mario that got kidnapped and trapped into a painting, except this time instead of finding him at the end of a game Luigi find him pretty quickly (~first quarter of the movie),

Luigi wants to get out of the place but Mario wants to continue on to stop the King of Ghost (Boo King I think), Luigi attempt to go without Mario grumbling about how his bro can make his own decision and he tried to save him but he's not responsible for him, but the ghost have closed the main exist and he's forced to go on,

In their adventures they see Bowser, trapped in a painting too, King Boo trapped him too after the Purple Moon rised, in fact he trapped Bowser Junior too and Mario, Luigi and Bowser are now in a very reluctance alliance to find Bowser's son, kick King Boo ass, stop the Purple Moon and get out of here.

Many plot point comes that everyone has different goal and there's tension. Mario and Bowser fight constantly they both wants to put King Boo down but instead of cooperating they are competiting about him. Bowser wants revenge on King Boo and make him submitted again. Mario wants him done for good + he doesn't trust Bowser in the slightest. Luigi is just terrified of the Ghost and of Bowser himself and he really can't back out anymore here because (supposedly) the only thing capable of capturing Ghost now and free people from the painting. And a certain Giant fire-breathing turtle won't be happy if he flee now, plus he's kinda angry at his brother for not trying to play the hero again putting both of their lives in danger (but he keeps quiet about that),

After another argument from Mario and Luigi he just crack he yell at them both and a ghost take advantage of his distraction to separate him from the other 2,

He's alone again and he has to try to find the ones he fed up with. Great. While wandering he finds Bowser J. painting. He hesitate to free him for fear the Mini-Bowser try to fight him but his morals are stronger than his fear and he can't leave a child like that even temporaly. He free him (very stressly and anxiously). Baby Browser does attack him but stop when Luigi yells that he's with his father to get out there. B.J (I'm calling bowser junior like that now) calm down instantly. Luigi talk with B.J of his problem with his bro, how he feel in his shadow and don't like him risking his life constantly like this. B.J then talk about his father and how his legacy is heavy sometimes but he's so cool and it's not important because he wants to enjoy time with him and he loves him (no romo this strictly father-son). Luigi and B.J become friends,

Meanwhile Bowser and Mario are in a pinch. They can't fight ghost, they don't get along and this is humiliating for the both of them. After a while they figure out they can hit them if one of them can surprise the ghost while it attacks. This means they have to cooperate but after some misadventure they manage and, against their will, they bond,

Finally the 2 group rejoin and the fight against King Boo together and my god I put an entire scenario without meaning too. See how easy that was ?!

Anyway adapt Luigi's Mansion the haunting house would make such a great ambience and it would make so easy character development or action scene too. Now seriously you could what you want with that ! Nitendo I'm begging !

[themattress]

My Top 30 Favorite Video Games

Inspired by @ultraericthered’s Top 30 Favorite Anime post. 

Although I’m doing mine in countdown form, ‘cause it’s more fun that way!

30. Super Mario Bros. - Arguably the first “blockbuster” game to be released, not only does Super Mario Bros. still hold up over 35 years later but it’s a gift that keeps on giving with how many different incarnations, remixes, fan games using its assets, etc. that we have now.

29. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - OBJECTION! While I cherish the entire original Phoenix Wright trilogy of the Ace Attorney franchise, I’ll always be the most partial to the original outing. The sheer audacity and hilarity of the concept, which is grounded by endearing characters and compelling mysteries, shines brilliantly in this little, easily accessible game. 

28. Trigger Happy Havoc: Danganronpa - While similar in many ways to Ace Attorney, Danganronpa boasts a variety of more actual gameplay than mere point-and-click text scrolling. But what really makes this stand out, beyond gameplay or even the strength of its concept, story and characters, is the atmosphere it creates. For good and for ill, traversing the pristine, neon-lit hallways of the abandoned Hopes Peak Academy looking for clues as I’m forced to play by Monokuma’s twisted rules is an experience that will stay with me forever.

27. Star Fox 64 - Beyond all the entertainment this game provides through memes, it’s really just a fun, reasonably simple but just moderately complicated enough game that’s accessible to any player even if they usually don’t go for aerial shooters. It’s also one of the earliest console games that I ever played, so of course it’s going to hold a special place in my heart.

26. Batman: Arkham City - It’s an impressive feat when an open world game can still feel so claustrophobic in all the right ways, and that’s what Arkham City accomplishes. This game is essentially The Dark Knight to Arkham Asylum’s Batman Begins, escalating the action, suspense and sheer Batman-ness, providing unlimited opportunities to enjoy yourself playing as Gotham’s defender and facing down the greatest Rogues Gallery in comic book history.

25. Red Dead Redemption - Look, I know that Red Dead Redemption 2 is technically the superior game. But its complicated story, sprawling cast of characters, and vast canvas of a world can be pretty daunting, whereas I feel like the original Red Dead Redemption struck a much better balance. Allowing open world freedom within the confines of the straight-forward story of John Marston’s redemption really makes you feel like you’re in an old Western film, and the way that choices you make as a player impact the way that film ultimately turns out is one of the strongest arguments for video games being worthy of consideration as true art.

24. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - So, ten years ago an open world adventure video game series releases its fifth entry...and to this day, we’ve had no sixth, in favor of expansions and updated re-releases of said fifth entry. But that’s not a sign of laziness; it’s a sign the developers know they hit such a peak in quality that they have no need to rush anything further out the gate, as Skyrim is a gift that keeps on giving. Addictive in how unlimited in possibilities it is, with each playthrough never being the same as the one before, Skyrim is a gaming masterpiece that I don’t think I’m going to get bored with playing anytime soon.

23. Super Paper Mario - This may be an unpopular opinion, but I vastly prefer this game’s action-platform-RPG hybrid gameplay style to the prior installments’ traditional turn-based RPG style, which feels more at home in stuff like Super Mario RPG and the Mario & Luigi series. But gameplay aside, I think this has the strongest story of any Mario game, trading in the usual “save the kingdom/princess” fare for saving all of reality, with legitimate emotion and drama and even character development. It’s one of the Wii’s shining gems, to be sure.

22. Epic Mickey - This game’s graphics are by and large unremarkable, its gameplay is fraught with issues (that camera is unforgivable), and it’s nowhere close to the best on its system or genre. But Epic Mickey is a case study in where the effort put into crafting the game’s world and story, not to mention the obvious love and respect for the material being worked with, pays off. Any Disney fan will love this game for its story, which puts Mickey front and center as an actual character rather than a mascot and dives deep into his history as he meets his “half-brother” Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and its mystical, unique atmosphere - what the graphics can’t deliver, the fucking music more than makes up for. All of the game’s flaws mean nothing compared to the sheer heart on display, and I treasure it greatly as a result.

21. Batman: Arkham Asylum - I already mentioned that Arkham City is the superior game, but as was the case with Red Dead Redemption and its sequel, personal preference strikes again. The simpler story and narrower confines of Arkham Asylum just appeal to me slightly more, and I feel like the borderline horror atmosphere this game has could never fully be replicated by all of its sequels and spin-offs. Also, you can play as the Joker in this. WIN.

20. Metal Gear Solid - And on the subject of Arkham Asylum, it owes much to this game, which created the template of a lone badass hero having to use stealth and weaponry to liberate a government-owned island from the lunatic terrorists that have taken over. Hideo Kojima famously never wanted this game to have any sequels, and I can definitely see his point, as it’s a complete and wholly satisfying experience in of itself and I don’t feel like it’s ever been topped. At the very least, it’s certainly the most enjoyable of the series to me.

19. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - Also, speaking of “borderline horror atmosphere”, we have the freakiest game that the Legend of Zelda series ever put out. What was supposed to just be a gaiden to Ocarina of Time mutated into this beautiful monstrosity that’s become just as iconic. Nobody who plays this game is ever going to forget that fucking moon and all the constant jumping back and forth in time across three days as you try to prevent the apocalypse of Termina. It’s the kind of gaming trauma that’s well worth experiencing.

18. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - Like Majora’s Mask, this game is a case study where you can take a bunch of recycled assets and gameplay, and then make something unique from it if you have a well-crafted story with a dark and disturbing atmosphere. It’s hard to experience or appreciate the transition between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II without playing this midquel, which takes the narrative and characters to deeper levels without being pretentious about it and sets the stage for the proper console sequel perfectly. And if you can’t get into it being on Gameboy Advance, then just play the PS2 remake (which is arguably the superior version anyway) and you’re good! Just...don’t mind the cards, OK?

17. Sonic CD - And now we have another game about jumping back and forth through time to prevent an apocalypse! See the common threads at play here by this point? Sonic the Hedgehog is at his best in 2D gameplay, and I personally enjoy this the best out of all the 2D games in the series. As obscure as the Sega CD was as a system, it was powerful enough to take the blue blur’s speed to its maximum level, set alongside beautiful graphics and a kick-ass soundtrack (well, two different kick-ass soundtracks; and I actually prefer the US one). 

16. Pokemon Black & White - While there were advancements made to story and graphics and gameplay features in the third and fourth generations of the Pokemon series, nothing felt as truly ground-breaking as the second generation games until the fifth gen with its Black & White games. This was arguably the game series’ peak in quality on all fronts, but its specifically the story that lands it on this list, as its well-written and paced, subverts many formulaic elements from the previous games, is set in one of the most unique regions in the Pokemon world, and has a timeless message that has only grown more relevant with age. 

15. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - The whole series could really go here, but fortunately the most recent entry is the perfect embodiment of said series, with every playable character there’s ever been and then some. The sheer variety is unmatched by any other fighting game out there, and its story mode, “World of Light”, is quite possibly the greatest video game crossover in history given how many characters are featured as both fighters and spirits.

14. Super Mario 64 - I’m pretty sure this game used to be higher in my favor, but replaying it on the Nintendo Switch recently has made me aware of how, as the first game on the Nintendo 64 and the first 3D platformer, it’s poorly aged in several areas. However, I must stress that it is still a very good game. The fun of going to the various worlds within paintings in Peach’s Castle hasn’t changed, nor has how smoothly and seamlessly Mario managed to make the jump from 2D to 3D. Just like Super Mario Bros., the number of games that owe something to this one is too great to count, and that’s an achievement that remains timeless.

13. Dark Chronicle - Also known as Dark Cloud 2. I hadn’t heard a damn thing about this game before renting it on a whim many years ago, and I was caught off guard by just how good it was. It’s got a simple but effective story and likable characters, a timeless atmosphere, beautifully cel-shaded graphics, dungeon-crawling gameplay, action-RPG combat gameplay, literal world-building gameplay, and even a fishing minigame! This game can actually stand besides the Zelda series without shame; it’s truly an underrated gem.

12. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Oh, speaking of Zelda, this game goes full Lord of the Rings-style epic fantasy with it and it is glorious. Between the near perfect gameplay, beautiful 3D graphics, and one of the best stories in the series (with one of the best characters: Midna), Twilight Princess’ most prevalent complaint from critics all the way up to its own developers is that it wasn’t even MORE expansive and awesome given how long it was hyped, and if that’s the biggest issue with the game then I’d say it’s in pretty good shape.

11. Super Mario Galaxy - Super Mario 64 may be held back a little by how its aged, but no such thing is holding back Super Mario Galaxy. Super Mario Odyssey might be as good or possibly even better, but I just don’t hold the same feelings of amazement and respect toward it that I do for this game. From the blitzkrieg-style attack on the Mushroom Kingdom by Bowser to the discovery of Rosalina’s space station, this game had me hooked from the first few minutes, especially with it blaring that awesome orchestral score the whole way through. To this day, I maintain that this is Mario’s greatest 3D adventure. It’s simply magnificent.

10. Final Fantasy X - Ha! See what I did there? This game has caught flak for some of the awkwardness that comes from being the first fully 3D entry in the series, but I think that’s tantamount to nitpicking when compared to all it does right. To me, this was the last really good installment of the main Final Fantasy series, with a story and world so brilliantly developed that the game earned the immediate breakthrough success and acclaim that it found in its native Japan. 20 years later and, as the HD remaster has shown, it still holds up as one of the most engaging JRPG experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of having.

9. Banjo-Kazooie - At the time, this was basically Rare’s copycat version of Super Mario 64, although considered about as good. Now, however, there’s a difference: the aging issues I mentioned for Super Mario 64 don’t apply for Banjo-Kazooie. Whether replaying it on the Nintendo 64 or on whichever Xbox you’ve got, this game is still just as fun, imaginative and hilarious now as it was back then. It’s quite possibly the greatest 3D platformer ever made.

8. Pokemon Crystal - The definitive edition of the Gold & Silver games of Pokemon’s second generation, taking what was already a phenomenal advancement and improvement to the first generation and making it even better with additional features such as the ability to play as a girl for the first time and a more clearly defined storyline centered around the legendary Pokemon featured on the game’s box art. Pokemon had been written off as just a passing fad up until this point. This was when its staying power as a video game juggernaut was proven.

7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Talk about a win right out of the gate for the Nintendo Switch! This game returns the Legend of Zelda series to its roots while also applying all that has been made possible in video games since the original game’s release, and the result is an enthralling, addictive, open world masterpiece that has set a new standard of quality for both the Zelda series and for many modern video games in general.

6. Kingdom Hearts II - The Final Mix edition to be precise, although in this day and age that’s basically the only edition people are playing anyway. This game is the apotheosis of Kingdom Hearts as both a video game series and as a concept; filled to the brim with Disney magic and Square Enix RPG expertise and paired with some of the most refined action-based gameplay there is. And when it comes to bringing the original Kingdom Hearts trilogy’s story to a close, does this game ever stick the landing. The series could have ended right here and I would have been completely satisfied (and its reputation would be a lot better off, too!)

5. Pokemon Yellow - While I maintain that this game, the definitive edition of the original first generation Pokemon games, still holds up as fun to play even now, I’ll admit that it’s pure bias that it ranks so high. It was the first proper video game I ever played, there was no way I was leaving it off the top 5! Its blissful nostalgic atmosphere is always such a delight to return to.

4. Banjo-Tooie - Remember when I said Banjo-Kazooie was “quite possibly the greatest 3D platformer ever made”? The “quite possibly” is because its in stiff competition with its own sequel! And personally, I’m in Banjo-Tooie’s corner; something about how inter-connected its worlds are and the addition of so many things to do all while maintaining your full moveset from the original game is just beautiful to me. Both it and its predecessor are like obstacle courses that I never tire of running through, which is the hallmark of brilliant game design.

3. Kingdom Hearts - Another case where the sequel may be the superior game, but my own personal preference leans toward the original. And in this case, it’s a highly personal preference: this game and my memories of playing it for the first time are so very dear to me. The characters and worlds of Disney put into an epic crossover RPG was like a dream come true for me and no matter how far the series it spawned has deteriorated, nothing can detract from the magic of this game. It’s got a certain, indescribable feel and atmosphere that’s never truly been replicated, and that feel and atmosphere still holds up whenever I revisit it. The gameplay may not be the best, particularly when compared to Kingdom Hearts II’s, but the charm of the story and the characters and the world and the very concept more than makes up for that. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of Disney and Square’s greatest masterpieces.

2. Final Fantasy VII - I was aware of the hype this game got and was totally ready to call it overrated, but damn it, it got me! I don’t know what it is about this game with its blocky early 3D graphics, poor sound quality to its excellent soundtrack, and frequently mistranslated script that proved to be so gripping and enjoyable to play through, but man did it ever Limit Break its way into my heart. This is considered a JRPG classic for a damn good reason.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Do I really need to explain this one? It’s famous for being frequently cited as one of the greatest video games ever made, and like Final Fantasy VII, its hype is well-deserved and totally justified. Whether you’re playing it on the Nintendo 64, the Gamecube, the Wii, the 3DS, and hopefully the Nintendo Switch in the future, there is a magic quality to this game that permeates through every step you take in its fully 3D world. It’s a triumph that has stood the test of time, cementing the Zelda series as truly legendary.

[arahul-abyssia]

Looks like it's September again (already, somehow), so that means that it's Nintember again, which means I'll be writing again! Same dealio as last time, one story per five prompts, up to six writings total. (And I'll be putting most of each under a cut, because mobile users can't skip posts)

And for my first entry for @starprincesshlc and @jklantern 's wonderful little event, I shall once again be attempting to twist some modicum of continuity, characterization, and canon-compliance out of a world that clearly cares scarcely for all three.

The Great Act

~~ Art, Green, Dizzy, Fire, Strength ~~

It was the loud buzzing of his phone’s alarm clock that dragged him from his slumber. He awoke to find himself sprawled across the couch, which was in no way long enough for his lanky body and spindly legs. As he blearily reached out and slapped at the coffee table, hoping to find the rude device by pure luck, he also blearily reached out and slapped at his memories, trying to figure out what series of events had led him there. For a moment, they floated just out of reach, and then suddenly flooded back to him all at once.

Oh. Right. It’s all over.

Another sporting event had come and gone, and as usual, in spite of all the effort he put into training and practice, he had ultimately lost to the same people he always did. No matter the sport, no matter the plan, no matter the time, they always won. And why shouldn’t they? The heroes always win in the end, always securing victory against the villains.

And he was one of them: the purple-clad counterpart, mirror, and supposed rival to one of the land’s most revered figures. Meant to oppose, and meant to lose.

He was Waluigi.

The name still sounded absurd to him. He had no idea how two men whose names were ‘Mario’ and ‘Wario’ and who naturally served as near-perfect foils of each other, had managed to meet and form such a publicizable rivalry without any deliberate effort, but such was the case. However, the notion that the brother of one had his own doppelganger in the brother of the other (or cousin, they never did manage to keep that story straight), with the same dichotomies of name, body, and personality? That was simply and utterly ridiculous, far beyond even the realm of ‘too good to be true’. And yet, if anyone had caught on, they hadn’t made it known to him.

Lost in thought and routine, he realized he had reached and opened his wardrobe, where numerous sets of that purple hat, shirt, and overalls were staring him in the face. In a sickening sense, they were the centerpiece of a great work of art, the fabrication that was his entire public existence, the character that he and Wario had constructed so that he might further be the ‘evil counterpart’ to everyone’s favorite red-clothed fire-throwing hero. Mario was stout and a bit fat, Wario was stouter and fatter; Luigi was tall and a bit thin, so Waluigi was taller and thinner. Mario had an M as his emblem, Wario had an inverted M; Luigi had an L, so Waluigi had an inverted L. To any casual outside observer, it was perfect.

But unlike Mario and Wario, whose rivalry had been formed in their youth, Waluigi had never even met Luigi until Wario had made him his sporting partner. The most he had known of the legendary Mario Brothers was just that: they were legends, for the countless adventures and quests they went on. In truth, despite how much he played it up during each and every game, he bore no true grudge against the man he was supposed to hate; Wario had, for a time, convinced him that Luigi’s presence in the public eye was somehow detracting from his own, but he had long since realized that that wasn’t the case; in fact, it often seemed like Luigi himself was being snubbed by the public, with the vast majority of the glory placed upon Mario, no matter how much Luigi contributed.

And yet, despite his existence being little more than a convenient story, despite the stress that constantly acting like a jerk brought, and despite always losing at the games no matter what, none of it brought him any sadness: for all its ups and downs, he felt himself to be rather good at keeping up the act, and the sports were, at the end of the day, still fun.

So why do I still feel so… bad?

Routine and thought had once more brought Waluigi elsewhere, and he found himself once more on his couch, now dressed in his usual outfit, with some sort of drink in his hands, probably coffee or tea; he didn’t care to determine which at that moment. His eyes casually wandered around the room as he brought the mug to his lips.

Then, just as the liquid touched his tongue--apparently he had managed to make tea out of coffee beans--the answer came to him. All across the room’s walls and shelves was sporting equipment of every sort--tennis racquets, shin-guards, helmets, golf clubs, old kart wheels, giant dice blocks, a probably excessive number of deflated balls--and absolutely no other sort of decoration. He leaned forward to place the mug on the table, and in doing so noticed his gloved hands and violet sleeves. Who wore the outfit of a character that they supposedly were not, every single day? Apparently, him.

He didn’t do anything else. He had let the character that was Waluigi consume his life to the point that had no idea who he was outside of it. He had nothing that he did when sports weren’t involved. Wario didn’t dedicate all his time to his rivalry; he owned an entire video game company--an unstable and poorly-run one, certainly, but it was nevertheless another use of his time. Mario and Luigi had their own grand adventures, of course, which is also what Peach, the Yoshis, Bowser, and his horde of minions were all typically involved in.

They all had lives outside of the games, and what did he do during the interim times? He either tried to practice, on his own, in the few suitable locations that he could find when the world was arranged for adventure, in a vain attempt to not lose as bad when the next game came around, or he wallowed in his home, doing absolutely nothing of any import.

But what could he do? Waluigi was never anything beyond a fabricated counterpart to both Wario and Luigi, but he could not remember, even slightly, what or who he was before he embraced that role. That nearly all of his memories prior to his first meeting with his partner were lost to him, was, he shuddered to admit, rather unsettling. Not even his old name--if he even had had one, he could not recall anymore--would reveal itself to him, and it was not as though he could simply find out through some external means: he was never the best at record-keeping, and to really sell their act, he had had his name legally changed to “Waluigi” and all references to his previous identity erased.

He shook his head, attempting to clear his mind of thoughts. There was little sense in worrying and fretting over who he was in that moment--the chance of any sort of useful epiphany emerging from it was even slimmer than he was.

Ugh… better just try to distract myself…

The first suitable option to catch his eye was the TV remote lying on the table. He quickly grabbed it and flicked on the set, and was immediately assaulted by the cheery enunciation of the Lakitu news anchors on the aptly-named Lakitu News Channel. He recalled that that was the channel he had left the set on last night, after he had gotten quite fed up with the incessant and inane blathering about the events of that day’s final matches, and it took only about five seconds to figure out that they were still on that topic. Scowling, he began flipping through the various channels available, hoping to find something interesting enough to block out the melancholic thoughts that were biting at his mind, like a hundred tiny Muncher and Nipper Plants.

After a painfully long series of more newsrooms--all talking about the exact same thing, of course--and unappealing shows--Half of these are for children and other half would just make me feel even worse!--he stumbled across some sort of advice segment hosted by a Birdo (was it the Birdo? He couldn’t tell). With absolutely no better options, he resigned himself to sit back and listen halfheartedly to whatever trite tips she tried to provide; maybe they’d be amusing enough to at least give him a small chuckle.

“I hope you all enjoyed our lovely guest! Now, before we move on to the submissions from all you wonderful viewers, I’d like to reiterate some old, but tried and true, advice, which I hold very close to my heart.”

Oh, here we go…

“Something which you probably hear very often is to always be yourself, or to always be true to yourself…”

Feh, I can think of several people who definitely shouldn’t do that…

“But it may be that you don’t like who ‘yourself’ is, or perhaps you don’t know what self you even have to be true to…”

Hah! As if… uh…

“And to that end, I’d like to say that there is always room for change. There’s always a way to make something new of yourself, to alter the parts of you that you want to, to become a different, better person. ‘Yourself’ can be whoever you want it to be; never are you locked along one unending bleak path. Try new things! Experiment! Don’t let yourself be trapped in an endless cycle.

“Believe me when I say I have personal experience with this: I’ve done so many different things over a rather short period of time, trying to find what I wanted to do with myself, who I wanted to be. Even now, I’m still not entirely sure if this is my supposed ‘calling’…! But I never got anywhere by doing nothing: it was on me to break out of my shell and search for myself, and now it’s on you to do the same.

“You don’t have to begin drastically, with a flying leap of faith--I think we’ve all walked over enough cliffs by now to know that!--but, if this is the sort of mindset you find yourself in, why not try taking some small steps today? It could be as simple as wearing a new outfit, or talking to someone new, or partaking in a new pastime.”

Birdo continued to elaborate on her point, but Waluigi--or, whoever he was beneath that--had stopped listening. He wanted to make some snark about what she said; he wanted to rationalize how what she described couldn’t ever apply to him; but, he found that he couldn’t. He had attempted to follow similar advice long in the past, and failed, but something about the way she phrased it, managed to affect him more deeply than he had thought possible. It was as though her words had dug beneath his shields and layers and pierced something somewhere in his core; pulled a lever, turned a handle, flipped a switch.

A strange sensation washed over him, one he could only describe as a blazing fire--nay, an inferno--igniting within him. He had felt the touch of flame countless times over the years, but not even the innumerable rage-fueled volleys he had endured, all combined into a single force, could compare to what now burned in his soul.

He leapt up from the sofa and ran to his bathroom. Staring at him from within the mirror was a character, a costume, a facade. It was not who he was. He grabbed a towel, dampened it, and proceeded to scrub away the pink paint on his nose; Wario and Waluigi’s noses were defined by that bright rosy color, but his was not. He then tore open a cabinet and grabbed his bottle of mustache product; normally, it was used to create the signature angular mustache of Waluigi, but today, it would shape the hairs into something softer and curlier. Whether that was what he would ultimately like did not matter: he was experimenting! He was changing himself!

Though the man that stared back at him from the glass now bore a much different visage, it was still framed by the purple cap and shirt, yellow emblem, and dark indigo overalls. He tore them off, then opened his wardrobe once more and threw all the copies of that same outfit to the ground. Hidden behind them were old clothes that he hadn’t worn for many, many years. He grabbed the first garments he saw--a casual dress shirt and gaudy neon-yellow shorts. Did those go well together? It didn’t matter. Without hesitating, he put them on.

He quickly glanced in the mirror again: the ensemble was nearly complete, but just missing one last touch. He thought on it for a moment, then stricken with brilliance, hurried to his modest backyard, where the roses he performed with in the games grew. He plucked one from its bush and affixed it to his hair, then ran back to the mirror to observe himself one more time.

His mismatched get-up would likely garner many stares from others, though he wouldn’t mind them at all; if he had anything in common with Waluigi, it was that they both loved being the center of attention. Even still, that’s not what mattered. A whole new day lay before him, a whole new day to be someone new, someone different; to move on from the cycle he had been stuck in, to take a whole new step forward.

He returned to the sitting room and turned off the television, then went to the front door. Taking a deep breath, he turned the handle, threw it open, and marched into the daylight, the daylight which felt far fresher and warmer than it had in a long time, though even it held no candle to the flame that continued to blaze within him.

Ready or not, world; here I come!!

[lildevyl]

Pick Me Up Playlist

@jellymadebutler  I know you said you’re not feeling your best so here’s a “Pick Me up Playlist” for ya or for anyone needs it!

(Markiplier)

Try Not To Laugh Challenge:  This is actually backwards! It goes from 23-1 but it’s still a nice Playlist to watch!

Markiplier Makes:  This is the whole Playlist of the infamous Markiplier Makes Videos!  It’s really funny!

Among Us:  Among Us is a new game that’s out there on Steam.  You’re either a Crewmate going trying to do tasks to keep the ship going until you reach your destination or the you’re the Imposter! What happens when you get a bunch of YouTubers together for a classic Whodunnit?  Chaos and hilarity in sue!

Minecraft:  I’m not big into Minecraft but it is very funny seeing Mark and Sean play this and see what they come up with!

I Am Bread:  This is a rage game just letting you know ahead of time!  But it is funny seeing Mark rage out of the game!  But like I said this is a rage game so there is some yelling/screaming in it!

Getting Over It:  This another rage game!  It is quite funny but like I said it is a Rage Game so there is screaming and yelling involved!

Pogo Stuck:  This is a somewhat kind of rage game!  It first starts out with Bob, Wade, and Mark playing it.  But then Mark starts playing it by himself and yes there is some yelling and screaming in the videos so fair warning!

Uno:  This is quite a hilarious game series!  It’s Mark and his friends playing the online game of Uno!

Monopoly:  This a goo game series and is quite hilarious!  It’s Mark, Bob and Wade and there is one where Lixian joins!  It really funny and think you might enjoy it!

(JackSepticeye)

Undertale:  The best way to start you off with JackSepticeye is one of his most famous series of all time, Undertale!  Undertale is about a human that falls in the Monster World and go about it learning the Monster World while trying to get home! It’s a text based game and Jack does the voices for the characters!

Deltarune:  The Sequel to Undertale!  Or that’s what everyone seems to be calling it!  I haven’t had the chance to watch the series but I’ve heard it’s really good!

Slime Rancher:  Literally you are a Rancher raising all kinds of different slimes!  It’s really cute and funny!

Cuphead:  This is a very old school cartoon like style game.  There is some violence in it but it’s mild and no more then what actual cartoons, like Tom and Jerry and the Animatics.

Bendy and the Inc Machine:  This is a horror game but it’s not the scary!  There are some jump scares but it’s more like FNAF kind of jump scare.  So, it will be scare ya but not that much.  It’s like a cartoon horror game.  Again some violence in the game but it’s mild.  This also kinda of spawn the idea of the JSE Fan Made Ego Shawn Flynn!  Jack has a cameo in the game!

Animal Crossing:  Nice little story driven game that Jack plays on his switch.  It’s very cute and it’s a nice little game to series to watch!

Spiderman:  Jack finally gets to play as his all time favorite Super Hero from his childhood!  Spiderman!

Spiderman Miles Morales:  The next gen starts now!  With the new Spiderman!  This game is based of the movie Spiderman into the Spider verse and I can’t wait to watch it and watch this series of Jack’s!

Spyro 3: Remake:  This is a cute series of the game Spyro 3 redone for the PS3!  It’s super cute and a lot of fun!  I think you might enjoy this one!

Minecraft:  Like I said, I’m not into Minecraft but this is a nice and cute series that Jack has!  Filled with a lot of Adventure and some scary events!

Meme Time!:  A cute series that Jack started where he goes on his Subreddit and looks at some of our Memes that we did!

Luigi’s Mason 3:  I can’t make a playlist for someone to watch and not include this!  This is so cute and wholesome!  It’s all from Luigi’s point of view and how he’s going to try and stop the Ghost King and save his brother and friends!

Among Us:  I have to include Jack’s!  This is so funny with Jack and his friends!  I think you might enjoy this!

(CrankGamePlays)

Pokémon: I haven’t watched this series yet, but I’ve heard great things about it!

 Papers Please:  This is very hilarious!  I’ve seen a couple of episodes and I think you might like it!

Animal Crossing:  I did enjoy watching Ethan play this!  It’s really funny and wholesome and I think you might enjoy it!

Slime Rancher:  I have to include this!  I watched this when I was feeling a little down during Quarantine.  It’s really funny!

(DolphinTreasureArt)

This a YouTuber that I found when I went browsing for Markiplier and JackSepticeye fan-made games!  DolphinTreasureArt plays fan-made games and indie games on her channel.  Along with some Cosplays and Artwork that she has done.  Some of her Fanart has gotten in a couple of fan games!

Septiscape:  First off, this series is near and dear to my heart!  This is the first ever series that watched back in 2k18 when I first found Erin’s Channel!  This helped me get over my writers block and led to me to writing my first fanfic that I wrote in over a year!  This one is an older version but I still love it!

Jack finds himself trapped in his own mind, the Mindscape and is trying to find his way home!  Along the way he finds out the Egos that he created are more then just Egos!  But at the same time, some sort of Corruption and happening with Jack’s mind and many of the Ego’s Worlds is collapsing!

Septiscape: Livestream #HopeFromHome:  This is the livestream of the updated version of the game!  It’s about 8 hours long but you can skip some parts, especially since some of the fights can be a bit repetive but I wanted to include this one!  

Soulscape:  I can’t put in Septiscape and not give you the sequel as well!  This is the well awaited sequel to Septiscape!  After the adventures of the first game, the Egos go and try to enjoy a nice little R&R only for someone to stalking Anti and trying to take his soul pieces back!  Join Anti and the Egos as they try to figure out what it going on and help save Anti before it’s too late!  And there is really cool plot twist!

Hearts and Heroes:  This is another one that is near and dear to my heart! I will also link Mark’s playthrough as well!  Hearts and Heroes and about you the fans of Markiplier and the journey that the fans go through trying to help save people from the Monsters the haunt their dreams and to help save Mark from his worst Nightmare.  Markiplier’s Playthrough here.

Septiclands: A JackSepticeye Fan Game:  This is very funny series that DolphinTreasureArt has done!  It’s silly and goofy and it has a very weird plot but it’s absolutely one of my favorites!  It’s also on her longest series as well!

The Boss: A JackSepticeye Fan Game:  Just like Heats and Heroes is near and dear to me heart so is this game!  I’ll leave a link to Jack’s Playthrough as well!  This is near and dear to my heart b/c it’s the first JackSepticeye Fan Game that I came across.  It was on Jack’s Channel that first saw it and then I watched Erin’s.  This is nice little RPG Game, but it’s about Jack being sucked into his computer and has to try and find his way home! On the way he finds out that there is two subscribers that lost in his computer and there is a major twist at the end!

The Boss Is Nothing: His Side of the Story:  I don’t want to give away what happens in the Boss!  So, this the other side of the story of The Boss!  In the Boss, Jack comes across someone he never thought he would, so now we’re getting his side of the story and why did what he did to Jack!

Glitch in the System: Chapter 1:  This is a very special game!  It’s the sequel to The Boss!  The developers over at Sarcastic Pasta Games is working hard to get chapter two out!  Chapter one is really good and you get see Erin do some Cosplay along with some voice acting for the characters/Egos!

Septic Storm:  This is a cute little fan game that’s a bit old, but it’s a very cute RPG Game!  Join, Jack, Mark and Felix as they battle Billy to end this battle once and for all!  Only to find out that Billy isn’t the one that truly is behind this, but someone else entirely!

CrankGamePlays Fan Game: The Crank Chronicles:  This is a RPG Fan Game of one Ethan Nester CrankGamePlays!  Ethan has find himself in a distant land thanks to the help of a powerful Sorceress!  But an evil threatens the land!  With help of his two best friends Mark and Tyler, Ethan goes on a quest to help save this land and find his way home!  I don’t if the developer ever did the sequel to the this game or not but it’s not a bad game!

[anomander-dragnipurake]

Ghost Portraits

I replayed all the Luigi's Mansion games recently (in a rather janky order: 2nd, 1st, then 3rd) and in them are several differences in how E. Gadd interacts with the ghosts. In the 1st one he's dead set on getting his ghost portraits back. But in Dark Moon, he seems to be working with the ghosts and clearly on friendly terms with them before the Dark Moon shatters. And in the 3rd one, at the end he and the heroes help the ghosts rebuild their hotel after King Boo destroys it. So basically my headcanon is that E. Gadd changed his ways due in large part to his befriending of Luigi and this is a short little thing exploring the beginning of the process.

~

E. Gadd was a strange man, probably the strangest Luigi had ever met. A mad genius, he’d dedicated his life to studying ghosts and overall had the air of someone who didn’t interact with people much. Despite that though, he’d helped Luigi a lot and generally seemed to be a good person. Except for one thing that haunted Luigi enough to bring him back here to E. Gadd’s lab only a handful of days after his ghost hunting adventure had brought him there initially.

He had to ring the doorbell three times before E. Gadd finally answered. “Oh Luigi,” he said, seemingly pleased to see him again. “What are you doing here? Oh, I know, the thrill of ghost hunting has enchanted you and now you’re back for more.”

“Uh… nope, that’s not it at all.” If Luigi had it his way he’d never see another ghost in his entire life. “I have a question about ghosts though if that’s all right”

“Oh, of course, come right on in.” E. Gadd stepped back and gestured Luigi in. “What’s your question?” he asked eagerly once they stood in the middle of his lab once more.

Luigi couldn’t stop his eyes from wondering over the Ghost Portrificationizer – being the biggest thing in the room, it was hard not to look at it. “Uh… ghosts are people, right?”

“People who have died, yes. What else would they be?”

“I don’t know just… When I was fighting them the other night,” if it could even be called ‘fighting’ in some cases, “some of your escaped portrait ghosts didn’t really attack me. I uh… sort of attacked them first.” He’d had to because they’d held keys that had let him progress further into the mansion and ultimately save Mario but maybe he could’ve tried a more peaceful approach and been successful. He’d been far too scared to even consider it at the time though and thus had done exactly what E. Gadd had told him to do; capture them with the Poltergust.

“Well, yes, not all ghosts are feisty and ready to fight all the time. What of it though?” Did E. Gadd really not see what Luigi was getting at here?

“Well uh…” Luigi forced himself to meet E. Gadd’s gaze. “What I mean to say is that because they’re people maybe keeping them trapped in portraits is wrong and you shouldn’t do it. Meaning uh… that you should let the ghosts go and stop turning them into portraits.” There he’d said it, now it was time for E. Gadd to get mad and yell at him or something similar. And then Luigi would have to decide how hard he wanted to stand his ground in defense of ghosts.

But… despite Luigi’s worry, E. Gadd didn’t seem mad. His large glasses made his expression hard to read so it was hard to know for sure but he was certainly at least thinking about it before responding. “Hmmm… I suppose you may have a point. But how am I supposed to study ghosts if I have none to study? Also, I worked rather hard on this,” he patted the side of the Ghost Portrificationizer, making a hollow clang, “after learning of King Boo’s power to turn people into portraits, not using it anymore would be a waste.” It wasn’t anger or refusal though so maybe Luigi had a chance to convince him to do what was right even if it would involve more spooky ghosts being released into the world again.

“Maybe you could ask some ghosts to help you in your studies, I’m sure some would if you give them some kind of compensation.” Did ghosts have a need for money? They certainly seemed to like to collect and hide it in various places so maybe. “And perhaps you don’t have to let this technology go to waste, it can pull someone out of a portrait too. Maybe focus on that aspect of it and… try to streamline it or something.”

“Hmmm… hmmm… I suppose I could. It is rather big and clunky, isn’t it? ... Ooh, I know, I could work on making a portable version. Where to begin though?”

“And releasing the ghosts?”

“Oh that, I can do that.” E. Gadd gave him a dismissive handwave as it really weren’t a big deal. “A willing participate would be easier to get data from anyway. I’m not sure why I never thought to ask. Oh well, science is an ever changing artform, it’s never too late to start doing things more efficiently and uh I suppose ethically too. And besides, I was starting to get tired of those specific portraits anyway. I was thinking of selling them, freeing them works too I suppose. You think King Boo would let me run tests on him if I asked nice enough?”

“Uh… maybe don’t release him yet after what he did to Mario and uh… tried to do me too.” Luigi couldn’t help but shake a little at the thought. King Boo had been justified in freeing the ghosts E. Gadd had captured as portraits but capturing Mario and turning him into a portrait had crossed a line. And how gleeful he’d been about it made it pretty clear he had no regrets and thus there was a decent chance he might try to do so again. Especially since, based off the things he’d said about Mario, he was clearly the type to hold a grudge and now he had rather good reason to want revenge on Luigi too and that was not something Luigi had any wish to deal with.

“Hmm… I suppose you’re right, he probably wouldn’t cooperate. Being the newest, he’s my favourite portrait anyway so I’d like to keep him a bit longer. But come on now sonny, help me start figuring out how to make this smaller and eventually portable.”

“Uh… okay.” It’s not like Luigi had anything better to do today anyway, right? And this conversation had turned out far better than he’d hoped it would, he might as well stick around to help a little if he could. And while he was here, he could make sure E. Gadd would indeed do the right thing and free the ghosts.