#merlee ttyd

[starferret]

Um so I've been really into the Ancients recently-

I think the Shaman characters are super cool looking so I wanted to give them cool designs/translate them into my style (I love you mirror tool) I’ve also been doing way too much research into their lore and society

The main Flipside/Flopside gang

The old guys from Lineland

The Four Sages

The Merlee depicted in the mural in the Pit

A character I made for a thing I'm writing (based on that unused character in the game)

And Bonus!! The TTYD guys (including Dazzle cuz I think he's a Shaman too)

[shadowwizdaily]

The Shadow Wizard of the Day is Merlee from the Paper Mario series!

[caecaesclubhouse]

Decided to draw TTYD/SPM characters OTHER than Vivian, Doopliss, Dimentio, or Mimi for a change 💖

[paperpeachy]

paper marios i drew while listening to arctic monkey

[a-mobile-opponent]

funny guy compilation

[indigosfindings]

replaying super paper mario, sporadic thoughts post-chapter 2:

very easy so far--& although ttyd was also easy, spm's gameplay is sadly substantially less rich thab ttyd's was

having said that the game design in spm is! unrelentingly charming!! the use of platforming as a framework for a varied stream of stage styles (straightforward levels, dungeons, towns, the entire 2-3 Situation) is creative in a way that imo predicts the sort of things the mario maker community later ended up making. chapter 2's set pieces in particular are extremely quirky (the rooms with traps, the rubee thing, the mazelike basement, the merlee game show lmao)

few platformers have boss fights that feel like genuine Combat, so that's pretty cool

i will confess that as a First Dungeon, yold ruins doesnt have half the sauce of hooktail castle--it's much more linear in layout, with far less of that zelda-y "explore & comprehend the space" principle that made ttyd's dungeons hit

in a similar vein, it's kind of crazy how tippi has like a fraction of the personality that goombella had. it's a bit sad for the character doing the vast majority of the talking to just.... not really have any opinions on anything

the momentum of the chapters likewise means very few npcs ever get to stick out. like, even the "first town crotchety old mayor" character was a total one-and-done, one dialogue and you never have a reason to speak to him again (mostly just speaks to the game structure, which is as mentioned a bold enough exercise that i feel i cant really fault it for that)

bringing up a menu to use items In A Platforming Context is not at all natural to me, so im finding myself just not really using them

this game is a masterclass in visual design imo. the npcs & enemies & pixls being made of primitives that reconfigure themselves into different shapes really elevates the interplay of 2d & 3d, the backgrounds/environments are extremely aesthetically satisfying (the Mathmosphere in lineland, the optical illusion in the sky in gloam valley, all of castle bleck), & i love how the constant "digital/tech" motif (eg the "dragging selection boxes to flip/teleport", the trees & shrubs looking like something youd make in ms paint, etc) is an ingenious progression of paper mario's core aesthetic design

dimentio is so fun

i ADOOOORE nastasia

the inter-chapter dialogue flashbacks are surprisingly earnest? for such a tongue-in-cheek game where almost every line of dialogue contains a joke of some kind, those exchanges feel humourless & sincere. that probably contributes to the Space the game occupies in all of our memories lol

likewise it was really interesting how peach's "escape" sequence after chapter 1 was (while, again, still extremely sardonic) aesthetically & narratively framed with such a sense of Hopelessness. that's not to say like "woahh this mario game is 10x darker than you thought!!!!", more that it's just not a space the series commonly ventures into

the Ancients stuff is being leaned into extremely hard lol. ttyd mostly teases at that kind of "mysterious rpg lore" thing peripherally (the riddle tower inscriptions, grifty, etc) so it's interesting how spm puts it front & centre in contrast, without ever sacrificing the sense of mystique

this game really highlights how interesting the wiimote is as a controller--pressing the A button while holding it sideways (ie removing your left thumb from the direction input to press a button) is something that i cant think of any other controller doing, & it projects onto that button a really interesting sense of, like, Valence

it's the kind of game that seems to beg for one of thsoe posts like "things that ACTUALLY HAPPEN in _____"

[celestialpaperhaze]

Now that more people have played TTYD, I wanted to compare and contrast a few things between that game and Super Paper Mario. In particular, this post will focus on...

PARTNERS AND SIDE CHARACTERS!

The Thousand-Year Door really shines with its partners and side characters, in part because every chapter allows one of these side characters to be a protagonist. This also ties into the "each chapter has its own subplot" idea that SPM lacks, at least in the beginning.

! SPOILERS FOR THE THOUSAND YEAR DOOR !

(and minor spoilers for Super Paper Mario)

Chapter 1 allows Koops to have a mini-arc where he’s avenging his father. Even though his father turns out to be alive, this adventure to defeat Hooktail marks an important development in his character that leads him to continue traveling with Mario. In SPM, while the first chapter does drop a few key pieces of information on the Ancients, there's not really a clear subplot or side character to follow.

Chapter 2 starts out with Punio and his desire to rescue his sister, and branches out (heheh) into the Punies trying to defend their home. Meanwhile in SPM, there's a bit of a sub-plot with Mimi and Merlee that places them both in the spotlight, but that's mostly it. If the chapter had given a little more attention to the other prisoners of Mimi's debt scheme, then maybe it could've come close to establishing the environment in the same manner as TTYD.

Chapter 3 kind of puts the entire cast of the Glitz Pit in the limelight, since you don’t really know who’s who until nearing the end. I can’t really argue that it makes Jolene the protagonist because that reveal comes only once the chapter ends--but after you realize Jolene's role in the mystery of the Glitz Pit, it becomes clear that she is a key protagonist in chapter 3, and the revival of Prince Mush serves as the completion of her arc. Again, chapter 3 of SPM could've pulled this off by giving characters like Carrie some more involvement in defeating Francis; after all, she was a victim of his weirdness too, right?

After playing the first three chapters of TTYD, you begin to feel more invested in the plot of the game. However, the first three chapters of SPM are weaker in terms of establishing interest, which is largely why many people who first played the game didn't stick with it past this point. However, around chapter four, the tides begin to turn!

Chapter 4 of TTYD follows the people of Twilight Town, as you are immediately introduced to the plight of their pig curse. However, after the first battle with Doopliss, the chapter places Vivian in the spotlight. Vivian becomes the protagonist in this chapter as she finally learns to overcome her fear of her sisters and fight for what she believes in. Chapter 4 of SPM actually has Squirps as a side-protagonist, so it comes pretty close to matching TTYD's pattern here.

Chapter 5 puts Flavio in the spotlight. He is...quite the personality! He's a flamboyant, arrogant coward who's given a Brave Moment during the climax of the chapter. In SPM, we have the conflict of the Cragnons and Floro Sapiens in the forefront of the chapter, which helps better establish the world of chapter 5.

Chapter 6, being all about solving mysteries, puts your partnership with Pennington in the spotlight, thus making The Penguin With the Improbably Large Brain a protagonist of the chapter. In SPM, chapter 6 focuses on the Sammer Guys as their world is on the verge of erasure.

Chapter 7 puts the main plot of the Thousand-Year Door back in focus, so there's not much of a sub-plot. However, you could still argue that TEC is made into a protagonist for this chapter, given his act of sacrifice at the end. And of course, Super Paper Mario has Luvbi as a protagonist, and her arc with Jaydes and Grambi as a sub-plot of sorts.

In chapter 8 for both games, all the strings tie together and the focus is placed primarily on the climax and conclusion of the main plot! For SPM, this includes focuses on each villain in turn (O'Chunks, then Mimi, then Dimentio, then Count Bleck and, to a lesser extent, Nastasia).

Because TTYD's writing allows you to be close with all of the partners and side characters you meet, parting with them at the end feels like a real goodbye. Even though you know you can just reload your save file, you still have the sense that you'll miss these people and this world you've gotten to know so well.

Despite all my love for the game, I do have mixed feelings on how effectively SPM pulls this off. I think they definitely give enough attention to the game's main cast to make the players curious about them after completing the main story, but I don't feel that this sense carries over to all of the side characters and worlds from throughout the game. I'm still fond of the characters in Super Paper Mario, of course, but it's not in the same "I feel I experienced something with them" kind of way that the Thousand-Year Door does so well.

TL;DR - Each chapter in The Thousand-Year Door gives some side character a chance to serve as that chapter’s protagonist, which helps better establish the characters and worlds in that game. However, Super Paper Mario does not do this to the same extent, especially in the earlier chapters, which I believe is part of the reason many people found SPM less engaging than TTYD when it first released.

[year2000electronics]

i have been playing the ttyd remake since i never got to play the original. and now i understand why mario was in your Thats Not My Neighbor art. the impostoror

HEHEHEHE YES..... THE IMPOSTOR!!! i was gonna do mimi but she has literally no "tells" aside from a fly buzzing around merlee's head. so

[riddlegecko]

i beat ttyd remake, and merlee's spell kicked in when i beat the final boss and doubled my star points (you do not get any star points when you beat the final boss of ttyd)

[moonknightproductions]

Not me wanting to draw all the Merlons/Merlees/Merluvlees all together just hanging out chatting about their lives

[sleepyfivevolt]

Human Merlee!

[lizadale]

is Mimi in the SP AU? how do you see the differences in the way hers and Doops' copy powers work?

OOH, yeah, ok so. yes, she is. but i can’t decide yet if she’s on team shadow or if she’s successfully run away. this AU is still very underdeveloped but i love it bc the world of it is so potentially different from canon due to the events of neither TTYD and SPM happening

in regards to powers... 

so Mimi is partially mechanical and her ability is essentially a large scale data grab, but it’s thorough. She does the copy thing and NEARLY EVERYTHING about whoever she’s copying just appears in her head, seamlessly incorporated. Appearance, memories, speaking mannerisms, food preferences, you name it - the only thing she can’t replicate is abilities (so if she copied Nastasia, she wouldn’t be able to use her hypnosis). The info sets up camp in her system and stays there until she decides to turn it off. But once she initially breaks character for whatever reason, it’s like the data flushes out automatically and she’d have to start over (like when she gets flustered after the Merlee quiz for example). She can keep character for days, but the longer she does it the more at risk for “falling into” that character she runs - basically if she stays as someone for too long, her system could gradually forget her base data and actual identity. 

Once Mimi has visual records of someone stored, she can copy their appearance at will - but she can’t store their personality. So she can walk around as Peach, but without doing a live copy she can’t easily mimic her personality/mannerisms. She can copy in advance, however, meaning she can do the data grab, wait, and as long as she doesn’t copy anyone else or use her powers in between, she can do the whole transformation. Think 8-2, when she’s posing as Merlon - she had that identity prepared in advance and held onto it in order to confuse the heroes when they appeared. Since we don’t see her mimic anyone else after King Sammer, it’s hard to say when she data-grabbed Merlon. Probably while he was still flustered from Dimentio “exploding” the heroes in his house. Mimi coming out of a copy can be very disorienting, and she needs time in between doing it again to get her personal data to reset.

Doopliss, on the other hand, commits straight up identity theft. Normal duplighosts ONLY copy appearances. Doopliss doesn’t copy, he steals: appearances, voices, abilities. He is NOT capable of stealing someone’s personality - a fact which hardly matters, because the nature of his magic causes misconception. He stole Mario’s identity, and despite how un-Mario-like he acted, literally everyone thought he was Mario. It’s not because Mario’s partners were stupid; that’s just what his magic does. He becomes that other person while also retaining himself. His ability also isn’t limited by time and it doesn’t affect his sense of self at all - he can hold someone’s identity indefinitely, and lose it at will. The second he releases the spell, the identity returns to the rightful owner no matter how far away they are.

The only physical clue of Doopliss stealing an identity is while he does it he doesn’t have a shadow; when he steals someone’s identity, they become his shadow. Because of that, his abilities won’t work on anyone else who doesn’t already have a shadow available - which is why he’s afraid of the Shadow Queen. She doesn’t have one, because the Shadow Sirens ARE her shadows. He can only use regular weak duplighost copies on them.

tl;dr both Mimi and Doopliss are terrifying

[minijenn]

I saw earlier that you liked TTYD, what do you think of the other Paper Mario games?

So TTYD is my fav of the bunch but i also enjoy the original Paper Mario a lot too! Super Paper Mario is HELLA nostalgic for me, i remember that being one of the first games i was Hype about before it released and my mom.surprised me with it and a guide book for it one day after school (fun fact is that i vividly remember being in the Merlees Mansion part of the game on the day my cat Rose was born idk why I just have a strong associative memory between that game and her birth lol). I've never played Color Splash or Sticker Star but based on what Ive heard of them I'm not so sure i really want to tbh

[paperpeachy]

Heyhey, I absolutely love your art! Are there any characters you‘ve never drawn before but are planning/wanting to? : o

aaaa tysm!! 😳 ah man, i’d like to get a drawing out for every ttyd+spm chara at some point, mayb for the 64 cast too... but charas i wanna get down for now aree merlee, grubba+jolene, the playbunny/cat boos, and lady bow !

[sharas]

hi i’m gonna ramble for a sec abt something hella niche bc in this house we hyper fixate

you know how everything in paper mario the thousand year door looked so celestial bc there were star motifs everywhere? like yeah most mario games have you collecting power stars or shine sprites or some shit equivalent but ttyd really incorporated it into the game’s theming. with merlee and merluvlee’s magic and their designs being star/moon counterparts, how the sewers of rogueport had star engravings in the walls, merlon and his shop looking like an observatory, the sun and moon keys in thwonk fortress... and the balls to the walls plot twist where you go to literal outer space. idk the theming of that game was so wonderfullt whimsical and celestial and magical and childish all at once.

[emergencyration]

okaaay so this is late, but i just want to give out my own little speech abt how much i lve spm 8))

10 whole years....that’s like, the anniversary to b at. i first played this game around 6 years ago. ahem..

there i was!! the stand of wii games getting smaller and smaller at the local rental store. i’ve played a lot of the games there by now, but kinda avoided the one that looked the most different. when i saw the little sticker on the side saying ‘adventure game’, i decided it was time to take it on. and that was..hte moment that changed me life forever. yus..for that game was actually spm >:)

...but seriously!! this game actually changed me LOL..like, when i first booted it up and found out that a MARIO game has DIALOGUE..i insta-fell in love. i have so many precious memories from this game. i’d visit merluvlee way too often, i’d pause and write merlee’s rhymes in a little booklet bc i was so mystified by how she spoke, picking up shakespear language from chapter 8 bc of how long i was stuck ther, crying myself to sleep everynight bc i was stuck even longer trying to beat crocus.....crying even more bc no matter how many forum sites me and my cousin would go on we couldn’t find a way to meet timpani and the count post game...lol

it’s like. every level is my home. super paper mario is my home. that sounds stupid but honestly everything feels so familiar and muscle memory just kicks in when i play it and that is a beautiful thing. and i know everyone hates the geometric style but that like. complements the vibe of the game so well.

and i just remember.. staring all dumb like at the upclose scene of the void as luigi gets sucked in. is this a movie?? is this even real? is mario reall??? everything abt this game was just so new to me and i wanted everyone to know how unique it was. i sometimes wonder if i played ttyd that early on, would i have had a greater reaction, considering how high it’s regarded as? considering how, even tho i didn’t play it as a 10 y/o, i still feel close to the game?

maybe. but ttyd and spm are like two different moods honestly. no matter what tho, super will always one up for me bc of how much it just feels like home.. ik this post is all over the place, but i just have so much to say. i just love this game ok;;

ill end it here anyway.. i love spm w my whole heart. a lot of my passion comes from this, and im? honoured to have stumbled across this game.happy 10th anniversary :-)