#t: castle bleck

[vgtrackbracket]

Video Game Track Bracket Round 4

Title from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

vs.

Castle Bleck from Super Paper Mario

Propaganda under the cut. If you want your propaganda reblogged and added to future polls, please tag it as propaganda or otherwise indicate this!

Title [The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker]:

This game had the best theme by a mile. Listen to it. It's beautiful!

[loki-valeska]

Castle Bleck 5, Super Dimentio.

Here he is in all his glory! Super Dimentio is ready for the ultimate show!!

I wanted to go with something a little more human shaped and closer to Dimentio. (the reason was because I think Super Dimentio looks really goofy in canon I'm sorry T^T)

My thought process is he'll look more monstrous the longer he's in that form. Like Six looked in Little nightmares 2 in the Radio Tower. Stretched out limbs and deformed looking. Right now he's just taken this new form, so he looks pretty spiffy.  I'll upload a pic of his reference picture later so you can see the full design. 

[flipflopsavy]

Just curious what's everyone's opinions on each other?

( Sorry, if this is a really hard question)

🧐 🦇🦋🕷️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🃏

Nastasia and Bleck: Nastasia is Blumiere's best friend, he's more open about seeing her that way than he used to. Their friendship has grown healthier that they're equals. He's playful with her at times and tends to be the more soft one of the two. He feels deeply bad he could never return her romantic feelings. She sees Blumiere as an equal of sorts. It took a long time for her to get over him but when she did, she really blossomed. Especially in the world of business! She still has deep feelings for him but they've moreso evolved into these close familial- friendship bond. Despite technically being *his* boss at Bleck's B&B, she still calls him Sir, feeling uncomfortable to call him both Blumiere or Bleck.

Blumiere and Timpani: Gotta keep this one veryyy short LMAO. Love of his life ofc. Absolutely openly sweet as a button to his wifey Timpani, completely playful with her loving husband Blumiere. They are very much opposites, he's more introverted and hesitant around others (post and pre-SPM) and she's extroverted as a social butterfly and bold, always speaking her mind. She's been his entire existence ever since they met at 19/22 (I see her as three years older than him), overcame their differences of being different species/classes and became social outcast best friends. (She was the only human in her village of Yold Town due to a rare mutant genetic and he was a Tribe of Darkness.) Both respect each other extremely because of their love of taking care of other people and love of the worlds. Timpani forever won't completely forgive Blumiere for SPM events and she has a tendency to assertively take control of their relationship at times out of coping. Their main insecurities come from the fact that Blumiere has a fear of hurting her again, she has a fear of being hurt by him again. But despite old wounds and healed scars, everything between them is usually done with a deep conversation and mutual understanding, even with their massive differences. Their relationship is basically messy rekindled flames and they try every day to keep it afloat. They love baby talk and overwhelmingly affectionate to each other, especially now that they have seven kids.💙🦋

Blumiere and Mimi - He sees Mimi as loud and flashy, a bit intimidated by her energy but also knows when to tell her to stop. Happy that she loves to babysit the kiddos. Mimi sees him as a stuffy old man now but still occasionally flirts with him for kicks. He doesn't like that.

Blumiere and O'Chunks: He's learned to express his kindness to O'Chunks outwardly more since the SPM events, along with the other minions. Both are kind souls in nature (although O'Chunks still loves a good fight obviously.). And although Blumiere is still a bit hesitant to spend time with the minions because of everything he did, he tries to.

Blumiere and Dimmy - Blumiere sees Dimmy like a nephew of sorts. He knows that's the clone of Dimentio, but it also pangs Blumiere's heart to know Dimmy was in Castle Bleck alone for years until they found out about his existence. Blumiere knows Dimmy wants to "destroy him" but takes pity on that fact. Mainly because he knows Dimmy likely is just voicing his frustration about his identity crisis. Dimmy only hates Blumiere because he feels like that's what he SHOULD do as "Dimentio", but secretly can't find a reason to because Blumiere has been nothing but nice to him, same with the other minions/Timpani.

Nastasia and Timpani - Nastasia highly respects and idolizes Timpani, admiring Timpani's love of the world and everyone in it. She feels no feelings of competition against her. Timpani finds her idolization and patterns a bit weird but still bounds with her when they get the rare free time to. I like to think they mutually bond over being these incredibly powerful women in their respective fields. (Nastasia being a businesswoman and Timpani being a protector of Flipside.) Timpani is a very jokester type of person when she isn't serious about protecting everyone. Whereas Nastasia doesn't usually express emotion. So there's definitely an element of lighthearted teasing from Timpani there.

Nastasia and the Minions - She tends to see the minions as "lazy" in their jobs at the B&B, but it's just because Nastasia likes a lot of order and it helps her mentally to cope with everything/autistic coded. Mimi is probably the one who can break her stoic personality and get under her skin. O'Chunks she can grow tired of, but respects how much the B&B customers are a fan of his cooking, (yes he's the Chef in Bleck's B&B! Even has his own Cafe.) Like the others, she sees Dimmy as just a punkish kid who needs structure in his life. Mimi and Dimmy see Nastasia as a workaholic killjoy boss, O'Chunks usually tries to be polite to her, he used to have a little crush on her but not anymore. (Literally anyone remember that in SPM?) Mimi and Dimmy see Nastasia as a workaholic killjoy.

O'Chunks and Mimi - Absolutely BESTIES. They've actually known each other before joining Bleck for a long explanation reason I'll go into someday. They always treat each other kindly and like to go on wild parties/events out post-SPM.

O'Chunks and Dimmy - O'Chunks was the one who became like a foster parent to Dimmy when they first took him out of Castle Bleck. O'Chunks is very fatherly kind and optimistic to Dimmy, even if the feelings are very much not mutual, at least outwardly by Dimny. Even if O'Chunks can be a klutz and accidentally burn their apartment down at times too. They balance each other out.

Dimmy and Mimi - She picks on him lovingly like a big sister while he HATES it. She taught him everything about petty theft, that which is apart of his foundation today. He's the second closest in the gang to her, only surpassed by O'Chunks. Secretly views her as a cool older sister.

Timpani and the Minions: With Mimi she views her as a bit eccentric but enjoys Mimi's blunt personality as that's something they both share (although Timpani is more thoughtful of her words to others than Mimi). Both of them are Flipside's biggest gossipers along with Saffron and Muffy. O'Chunks post-spm she finds him a big sweetie, he's a lot like Blumiere and is great with kids, even if O'Chunks is clumsy. She has the biggest soft spot for O'Chunks and O'Chunks is always polite and happy to be around her! Dimmy she sees as a punk kid, as Dimmy likes to do petty theft around Flipside. She was pretty cautious around him at first seeing how he's a clone of Dimentio. But her heart felt incredibly sadden to realize he was just a lifeform who was suffering alone and isolated for the first part of his life. Dimmy sees her as an irritating cop that ruins his plans, although secretly thinks she's cool.

Blumpani and their Kids - Do I need to write this one out? They definitely have their own relationships with each of their kids that would take a long time to type out lmao. Blumiere is afraid to punish them usually because of his trauma with his own father. However, he is still very openly affectionate and playful with his babies. Timpani is a very motherly mother, her kids are literally EVERYTHING to her besides the safety of the dimensions. She sometimes gives them tough love if they misbehave but it's also very loving and affectionate.

The Minions and Blumpani's kids: Nastasia is NOT a kids person, lol. Kids make her feel slightly uncomfortable. But she respects and addresses them with proper terms. Dimmy can't stand the kids usually. Mimi and O'Chunks are pretty much the hands on playful Auntie and Uncle of the kids. They especially love to babysit when Blumiere and Timpani are gone.

Dimmy and Harpi: Harpi basically has Dimentio's magic abilities but since she's only two they haven't appeared much yet. Harpi absolutely adores Dimmy, and sees him like a big cousin, Dimmy is a bit jealous of her skills for sure, being magicless himself.

Merlon and Timpani:

Ever since he found her after being attacked by Blumiere's father, he's had a rather close attachment to her. When she comes back to Flipside with Blumiere, she asks him to become his student. He can be serious and tough when it comes to teaching, but also gentle and shares the same deadpan humor Timpani finds hilarious. She feels he's become her father-figure (especially losing her parents at relatively young ages) and takes that role for him seriously.

Dimmy and Dimentio: .......

To be continued.

[mixed-up-multiverse]

The OCs; a formal(?) Introduction post!

// I'm as stuffy-nosed as Mr. Snuffulupagus rn and I'm fairly certain that I've just got some kind of cold at the time of writing and posting this, but whatever. I think it's about time I introduced you to all of my OCs now that they've moved, since I wanna screw around with 'em a bit. They'll be introduced by the order of their fandoms.

With that said, here we go! Under the cut!

Disney OCs

Princess Kloi of Gentlehaven -- You've already met her, but here's a quick rundown regardless; she's the formerly-amnesiac princess of a kingdom called 'Gentlehaven', which fell under a curse placed by her banished sister and ex-heir to the throne, Zara. After meeting and befriending Princess Ariel, Jasmine, Cinderella, Snow White and Belle on her quest to save her home, Kloi defeated Zara in a magical duel and later restored the kingdom to it's former glory. She now goes on adventures in other worlds while occasionally living life at her castle with Powder and her fun-killer aunt, Mercedes.

Powder -- Kloi's pixie best friend, as well as her confidant and unofficial royal advisor. Powder typically uses their magic to protect Kloi from permanent harm when on their adventures, and is something of her conscience and guardian in a lot of situations. Think Navi, but if Navi wasn't a girl and always wore a funny flower hat.

Super Mario OCs

Erebus -- The lost son of Blumiere/Count Bleck and Tippi/Lady Timpani. Once a loner orphan kid living in the mushroom kingdom (after being found near the forever forest by Fice T.), he gets caught up in the SPM incident when he follows the Mario Bros. to Bowser's castle (after hearing of Peach's supposed kidnapping) and meets Tippi along with Mario. He joins the gang on their journey, and basically learns about his origins and relation to Tippi and Count Bleck. Fun, am I right?

Cookie Run OCs

The Witch of Mourning -- A former member of the Witch of Light's coven with a tragic past. Originally a mother of two who went by the title of the Witch of Love, she became a broken individual after witnessing Mystic Flour cookie kill her two young daughters in cold blood when the Beast cookies initially went mad with power. Now that the beasts are free and her old coven is seemingly gone, she is now planning her revenge on the beasts-- specifically Mystic Flour cookie-- for taking her daughters away from her.

Visual Novel OCs

Naya Draven -- From '(Don't) Open your eyes'. An administrative assistant for a small company by day, she's secretly the girlfriend of a poetic 'Sleep paralysis demon', whom she met one night while she was sleeping (and kept 'meeting' for many nights after). She's scared of virtually nothing frightening (having a monster as your romantic partner makes you used to a lot of horror stuff), and while a bit sarcastic on occasion, and could probably be in the same room as the girl from the r.ing and not even flinch.

[snuffydoo]

Head cannons:

Swap Demi has a small boo in his front pocket as a travel companion

Swap Mario plays ace attorney

Swap chunks still doesn’t know how to tie shoes or understand what an air fryer is

Both swap peach and swap mini have around 274 different outfits for each season

Dimlight can probably twist his head and torso fully around as a fear tactic, he’s also probably a extremely good actor

(imagine if your Besty, who you treat as a sibling, head’s rotated full backwards  while they looked like they were in agony)

Swap Luigi and Dimlight would be good friends and sh!t talk about the other members in their free time

As for the small boo that Demi has, i imagine it’s PeekaBoo, constantly hiding

PeekaBoo would escape tippi’s castle and tell swap Natasha that Demi was kidnapped in an extremely panicked state, requiring swap bleck to translate

(Sorry that this was long)

(Sorry I take so long answering these oh I'm so bad at it)

I love it when people give me headcanons :]

I love the airfryer one thats so funny

Me encouraging people to go wild even if I can't canon-ify any of them rn

[lizadale]

Same anon here who wrote the chaos sadly no she didn't cause I wanted one wholesome story. But I added another spirit after future 'what could have been' it showed Dimentio futures were Bleck won, he won, the accident never happened (I used your backstory sorry) he died in the castle and one where he got help and settled down with Luigi (somehow). In the end he went "you know what, I'd rather be dead" then wakes up with no regret and very tired. My English teacher didn't like them T-T

then wakes up with no regret and very tired OMFG why didn’t your teacher like that, it’s A+ Dimentio characterization I’m losing my mind

[flopsider]

What Makes a Paper Mario Game Great?

*This post was turned into a script for a Game Domain video which I’ll post here once it’s out!

The Paper Mario game series has undergone massive changes with its last few installments. Most fans can agree that the first 3 (or, if you’re strictly fond of the formula from Paper Mario 64 and The Thousand Year Door, the first 2) games achieved something brilliant. They cemented Mario’s role in the RPG world, providing players with unforgettable experiences that left many with powerful nostalgia and an urge to revisit the titles as they grew older. However, with the newer titles, the gaming community’s feelings on the franchise have been shaken. Once Nintendo began to develop Paper Mario as an Action-Adventure series, many fans were left feeling like the company stopped listening to its fans and were taking the series in an unwelcome new direction. For some fans, however, particularly younger players who are just now discovering the Paper Mario games through the newer titles, these new changes and formulas offer some very enjoyable experiences. Undoubtedly, nostalgia plays a huge role in how we view video games, but there is more at play here than just sentiment. The question I’d like to pose, then, is “What Makes a Paper Mario Game Great?”

Let’s take a look at the individual games and see which areas they thrive in, and what holds them back. Keep in mind that every opinion listed here is just that: an opinion. I’ve tried to be objective in my analyses here, but like all people, I have biases and nostalgia which affect my opinions of video games, so don’t take what I say as the undisputed truth. This is simply my attempt to answer the question posed as best as I can, so if you disagree, let me know peacefully and respectfully in the comments!

 Paper Mario 64

 I feel like this game is the perfect entry to the series. It has a charming art style that I feel still holds up, offers fantastic gameplay and controls and a solid battle system, and has memorable characters. The main things that hold it back are the more basic storyline and villain, and the less unique character types compared to the next 2 games. However, both of these things can be forgiven since it was the first entry to the series. The chapters are all joys to explore, the leveling system is satisfying and allows for customization, and the badges are a great way to personalize Mario based on your playstyle. Paper Mario 64 laid the groundwork for the games that would follow, and most of the aspects of its formula would evolve throughout the next two entries.

 Paper Mario: TTYD

 There’s not much I can say about this that hasn’t been said before, but in summary, this game took everything that made Paper Mario 64 great and evolved it into something phenomenal. It built upon the battle system, offering what is widely considered to be the best battling in any Paper Mario game. The audience feature made battles livelier and more exciting, offering further incentive to pursue optional enemy encounters. It gave players new attacks and new ways to orchestrate them, with less repetitive actions than in the first game. It offered a much deeper, darker story with compelling antagonists, partners and NPCs unique to this game which made the world feel alive, and side quests that allowed you to progress through the game and level up your character in a less linear way. The world was crafted beautifully, with areas that stand out in many players’ memories and are far less formulaic than the typical Mario worlds. There were tons of secrets and areas to explore, as well as the first iteration of the Pit of 100 Trials, a side quest arguably more challenging than the game’s final boss. It’s no wonder this is likely the most acclaimed Paper Mario title to date. 

 Super Paper Mario

 First and foremost, I have tons of nostalgia for SPM. It’s maybe my favorite video game of all time, or at least in the top 3. It’s the first Paper Mario game I ever played (I was 7 or 8 years old and have since replayed it many times), and when I played it I had never heard of Paper Mario. There’s a chance that if I instead played 64 and/or TTYD first, I’d be more partial to those games because of nostalgia. However, I truly believe that, nostalgia aside, SPM provides the best overall game experience. I also think that if SPM had come first, and the creators then shifted into a more straightforward RPG style over time, it would be less polarizing.

The move away from turn based combat and into the more classic Mario platforming/real time combat was bold, but not universally appreciated. I totally get why some people feel it was a bad change. If you were in love with the camera perspective, movement, and combat mechanics of the first two, this may be less fulfilling. However, if you are a huge fan of platformers, then it’s certainly a welcome new angle. And if you’re like me and you grew up enamored with classic 2-D Mario platforming action, but also fell in love with the style, RPG elements, and stories of the first two Paper Mario games, then you’ll likely find the perfect mix of the two in SPM. Plus, I feel like turn based combat was never the basis of the Paper Mario franchise, or at least was not the core concept that made the games great. Some people disagree with that, but I personally believe that all the before listed criteria make up the greatness that is the Paper Mario series, and I think Super Paper Mario lives up to them. Despite its many differences, Super Paper Mario felt like a true successor to TTYD. The graphics were quite similar aside from the camera angles, the dialogue and storytelling were stylistically similar but done even better this time around, and several elements were revisited such as the Pit of 100 Trials. I loved the turn-based combat in 64 and TTYD, but I also adored the platforming and real time combat of SPM. Overall, I just feel SPM has the most to offer and provides the most unique, thrilling, and memorable experience. The New 2-D / 3-D switch feature quite literally adds a whole new dimension to the game. I think this is super interesting and fun to use, and it allows for more interesting level and puzzle design. It offered a nice balance since much of the game is played 2-D style whereas the first two entries were set in a 3-D space. Without the 3-D option it’d still be a great game, but might end up feeling a little basic by comparison. The Pixls, in my opinion, are a fantastic reimagining of the partner system. Since the game ditched turn-based combat in favor of platforming combat, the Pixls affect your movement, attack, and defense abilities in real time and can be swapped quickly. This makes platforming, fighting, and movement in general more fun and varied. In my opinion, they’re a fresh take on partners, and even though I love the old partner system, I see this as a welcome new take on it. Flipside and Flopside serve as effective and memorable hub worlds where you can touch base after exploring other dimensions. They have tons of explorable areas, puzzles, characters, and secrets, all of which contribute to the world development. The NPC’s helped add depth and contribute to the lore, with the Flipside and Flopside bartenders being the best examples. The ability to play as 4 different characters, each with different special abilities and movement characteristics was a huge step forward and made the level design much more interesting. In several areas, you have to utilize all available characters to access certain areas, some secret and some required. The best example of this in my opinion is in Castle Bleck, where in order to effectively maneuver around the platforming challenges and access secret areas you have to take advantage of Mario’s ability to flip into 3-D, Peach’s parasol gliding, and Luigi’s super jump, while Bowser is your key to easily clearing rooms of tough enemies. Maybe the least controversial thing I could say about this game is that it has a phenomenal story, the best of any Paper Mario game to date in my opinion. It’s darker than any other Mario game I’ve played, and despite its cartoony appearance, the stakes were higher than ever. It had incredibly memorable characters, small bits of backstory at the end of each chapter which slowly reveal the connection between the antagonist and Mario’s partner Tippi, excellent dialogue and humor, and a darker plot than any Mario game I’ve played. This is balanced by the game’s colorful visuals and soundtrack which make it a joy to play. The game had an inspired world design with bold style choices. For example, in the space levels of Chapter 4, the game temporarily becomes a Defender type horizontal space shoot ‘em up. It was a perfect blend of the RPG style from the first two games and the side scrolling platforming of older Super Mario games. The music is a fantastic mix of retro and modern, a concept mirrored in the graphics and gameplay. All in all, Super Paper Mario is a perfect blend of old and new. 

Okay, clearly, I have a lot of love for this game. But I want to be as objective as possible here, so let’s look at some of its shortcomings. The XP system was more basic than the first two games. It being present was a huge plus, but when you level up, it upgrades a predetermined stat (HP or attack) as opposed to you having stat customization. Along these same lines, the lack of badges meant less customization and attack options. Level design wise, some areas felt somewhat empty in 3-D. I didn’t really feel like this as a kid, but as an adult I feel like they could’ve done more with the 3-D perspective in certain areas. In some places, they totally nailed it though. 

 That brings us to the more recent, more divisive action-adventure titles. To preface, I have the least experience with these games, and the majority of my familiarity with them is from reading articles and watching videos which analyze them and compare them to the older games. So I’ll try not to be too critical, as I’d like to play them all the way through before completely solidifying my opinion on them. That being said, you can learn a lot about a game by watching gameplay footage and reading analyses of them, so I’ll do what I can to go over their pros and cons.

 For all three of the newest titles, it’s worth noting that I didn’t include the world being made of Paper in the list of what makes these games great. I don’t hate the jokes, comments, or visual references to paper and crafts in these games. In fact, sometimes I think they’re quite clever and add to the feel of the game. However, in the first 3 “classic” Paper Mario games, it wasn’t a major point of plot or world development, but rather something casually referenced in some well-timed jokes. In fact, the first game wasn’t even meant to be a paper based world. It had many titles in development, and the one directly preceding Paper Mario was Mario Story. The name Paper Mario, more than anything, is a reference to the art style being reminiscent of a pop-up book, and is not the basis of the gameplay or world creation. At least until the more recent games, that is. Sticker Star, Color Splash, and Origami King all base many core gameplay mechanics, the visuals, much of the humor, and even some of the world development on everything being made of paper. This is a cute idea, and the graphics in the newer games are undeniably vibrant and beautiful, but it ends up holding the newer games back only because they focus more on paper gimmicks than they do the story, unique character design, and gameplay. To be fair, I haven’t played the newer games completely, and from what I’ve seen, Origami King looks like a phenomenal stand-alone game and a much stronger Paper Mario entry than SS or CS. I just think Arlo summed it up perfectly when he said, “We didn’t love Paper Mario because it was paper, we loved it because it was Mario’s story.” That being said, let’s look at each game and see what they have going for them.

 Paper Mario: Sticker Star

 This is easily the most universally criticized Paper Mario title. Every so often you’ll find someone who will defend it, but for the most part, the fans of the series see this as the point where the games took a turn for the worse. Instead of just adding to the overwhelming pile of hatred for the game, I’m going to try and discuss some specific things that hold it back while giving it credit where credit is deserved. Sticker Star is not irredeemable. It has some of the charm the series is known for, some solid dialogue and humor, and appealing visuals. Unfortunately, there’s not too much more I can give it credit for, at least in the context of the other games in the series. So much of what made the first 3 games great were lost here. One of the most obvious steps backward is the near-total lack of original characters. Instead of a world packed with new NPCs and enemies with distinct personalities, the game almost exclusively utilizes classic Super Mario characters. You’ll see plenty of toads, goombas, and koopas here, and not anything in the realm of demonic shadow queens, members of ancient tribes, or mysterious cape and monocle wearing antagonists threatening the existence of all worlds. The villain here is Bowser, which is not just disappointing because it’s formulaic, but it almost feels like it separates the franchise even further from its roots because of Super Paper Mario’s inclusion of Bowser as a protagonist. The battle system also fails to reward you for entering into enemy encounters, and feels much more basic than the previous games. Overall, my main criticism of this game is that it took several steps backwards and not enough steps forward to justify them.

 Paper Mario: Color Splash

 This game improved upon the action-adventure formula of Sticker Star in almost every way. In that way, it can be seen as a parallel to TTYD, which improved upon its predecessor’s formula. The difference is, TTYD’s predecessor established a formula that was already phenomenal, whereas the groundwork Sticker Star laid for Color Splash was far weaker. Most of the criticisms I have for Sticker Star could be echoed about this game, just less harshly. Speaking more positively, this game had gorgeous visuals (second only to The Origami King), excellent dialogue and humor, and some creative levels, such as the section where you operate the cannons aboard a sailing battleship. 

 Paper Mario: The Origami King

 Overall, The Origami King looks to be the strongest Paper Mario entry in years. It seems to have developed the action-adventure formula of its two immediate predecessors, while including a handful of RPG elements. The battle system is both new and familiar - it’s turn based, but the ring system adds a puzzle element that, to some players, makes battles much more enjoyable and to some distracts from the battling itself. Utilizing the rings, it seems like there are far more creative ways to reach your opponents, but far fewer creative ways to actually attack them. Once again, the world and characters are more formulaic, relying heavily on classic Super Mario locations and characters. However, this game offers more uniqueness than the previous two, starting with the non-Bowser antagonist. The fact that King Olly has a previous close relationship with Mario’s main partner Olivia is reminiscent of Count Bleck and Tippi from Super Paper Mario. This provides the foundation for a better story than Sticker Star or Color Splash. In addition, the visuals are undeniably beautiful. It has the best graphics of any Paper Mario game, and some areas are truly striking, particularly the desert oasis area. The huge con of this game is that is triples down on Nintendo’s shifting of the Paper Mario series away from its RPG roots and toward a more formulaic action-adventure approach. The major positive is that it seems to be a solid game in its own right, one which makes much better use of the new formula than Sticker Star or Color Splash did. It’s got loads of charm and some solid gameplay, but if you’re looking for an experience comparable to the first 2 or 3 Paper Mario games, you’ll likely be left wanting something different from it. 

 So let’s return to the original question. Based on what we discussed about each title, what makes a Paper Mario game great? I’ve done my best to narrow down what I consider to be the 10 most important criteria that, when met sufficiently, provide the best possible Paper Mario experience. These are:

A compelling story with unique characters

Partners to assist in combat and movement

Clever dialogue

Visually appealing art style

Exploration

Puzzles and Secrets

Cohesive world design with unique areas

An XP system which rewards combat

World development and lore

And finally, a willingness to go darker than other     Mario games

 There are plenty of other criteria I could add to the list, but these are the main ones which stood out to me as I analyzed each game for their strengths and weaknesses. 

 Answering the question of what makes a Paper Mario game great is not a simple task, nor is it an objective one. As I said before, my nostalgia for Super Paper Mario is a huge part of why I discuss it so positively. I truly believe it’s worthy of the praise, and I stand by the opinions I’ve stated for the other games as well, but my thoughts on each game in this series are my own, and many of you will and should have different thoughts on them. So share them in the comments, and keep it respectful! 

[sa-gt-tarrius]

A Visitor in Castle Bleck

Part 1/?

G/t content ahead. Nothing raunchy, but still, proceed at your own risk.

***

After thinking about, you decided that you REALLY hate this castle.

There were things you could be grateful for, of course: lots of places to hide, unrelenting silence, and almost no foot traffic. Most borrowers would do anything for such a secure place to live.

However, you quickly decided that you didn’t like this place at all. It was permanently dark and gloomy, and even though the silence was a blessing, it was also a curse. The consistent darkness and deafening silence became unbearable after only a few days of being there. It was ominous... like something bad was always about to happen. You couldn’t stand it.

You sighed, wishing that you were back in the castle where you used to live. Even though that place was filled to the brim with lava and people, it at least wasn’t so... scary.

You weren’t sure how you ended up here, anyway. You woke up inside the castle foyer three days ago (although the lack of a day-night cycle left you unable to tell when a day has passed. You may as well be guessing at this point). All around you laid koopa and goomba soldiers, unconscious and sprawled in unnatural positions. It looked like you were the first to wake up.

During your escape, a few koopas had woken up and spotted you scurrying across the floor. Luckily, they seemed too exhausted to give chase. You slipped into another room before you could be snatched up.

For a while, you kept to the walls, focusing on avoiding anyone who passed by. But then you started to become hungry. Where was food kept in a place like this, anyway? Maybe this was like your old home, with a storage space in the basement? It was a good place to start, so you began to carefully traverse the hallways, ready to duck out of sight if anyone approached.

By some miracle of the stars, you stumbled across the kitchen within the hour. You knew it was a kitchen because it had a fridge and an oven and a table with chairs. Unfortunately, there were also two giants there, arguing about something. They hadn’t seen you enter the room.

Thinking quickly, you slipped under the fridge. It was a tight fit, but you were hidden very nicely. You grunted quietly as you adjusted yourself to get more comfortable. Then, after you were settled, you began to wait for the right moment to snag some food.

“I really don’t like the new guy,” one of the giants grumbled. You didn’t get a good look at her, but you knew she was a young-looking girl with curly pigtails and a colourful dress. “Are we even sure he’s the chosen one or whatever?”

The second giant tapped his finger on the table. His voice was gruff, befitting his large stature and rugged exterior. “Yeh, it’s bogus if yeh ask me. Innit strange that teh lad JOST showed up? How come we’ve never met im before? It’s all mighty fishy.”

The girl huffed in response nodding her head. “I don’t trust him. He’s weird.”

“Well, excuuuuuse me.”

Both giants fell silent. A pair of footsteps entered the room—not too heavy, which meant the giant was on the smaller side, but he was wearing heavy duty boots, so his steps were pretty loud regardless. The thumping came to a halt near the fridge. “Talking shit about me, hmm?”

“Oi vey,” the larger giant groaned, shuffling uncomfortably. “Leave us alone, won’t ya?”

“Let’s eat somewhere else.” The younger giant quickly stood, rushing out of the room. The larger giant followed suite, leaving you and this new giant alone in the room. He huffed quietly and took a seat at the table, facing away from you.

Perfect.

You’d have to be fast, but if you stayed quiet, you’d have no trouble sneaking some food. You spotted the pantry door across the room, door slightly ajar. As long as this guy didn’t notice you, you could camp out under the fridge for a while while you waited for everyone to leave.

Moving slowly, you crawled out from under the fridge, glancing up at the giant for a split second. He was still turned away from you, unmoving and silent. What a creep. You bolted to the pantry with the stealth you’d acquired over years of practice, slipping through the door with ease.

Immediately, your eyes landed on some boxes on the ground, already opened. Perfect. You clambered into the shortest box you could find, digging around for food of some sort. A cheer almost escaped your lips when your hands grasped a package of crackers. Working quickly, you ripped the package open and strapped one cracker onto your back with string. Then you snapped a second cracker in half to make it easier to carry. Man, these giants were stupid. Luck was on your side, despite the unfortunate turns of events this week.

As you were adjusting your grip on your meal, you failed to notice the room darkening slightly. You also failed to notice the sound of quiet footsteps towards you.

“What the hell?”

But you certainly heard the incredulous voice from above.

Relying on raw instinct, you leapt out of the box and made a mad dash for the door, which was unfortunately where the giant was standing. Your plan was to slip between his legs to escape the pantry. What ended up happening was the door slammed shut on your face, knocking you back a few inches. A stream of blood ran down your nose and onto the floor.

The door creaked open ever so slightly again. A single eye peered through, boring its gaze into you. You gulped—this was NOT good.

“Wow,” the giant murmured, utterly entranced by your very presence. “You, uh... you’re a tiny person. Huh.”

He lowered himself slowly, kneeling by the door while he watched you carefully. As soon as your head stopped spinning from the impact of the door, you quickly scrambled behind the cracker box, more out of instinct than for any good reason. You hated that he was staring at you.

“Hey hey whoa, where are you going?” The door opened a bit more, just enough for an gloved hand and an arm clothed in leather to slip through.

The box shifted as he grabbed it, and in a moment of sheer panic, you let out a startled cry. “NO!!”

The box stopped moving as the hand flinched away. The giant was silent for a minute, probably listening to your heavy breathing. “You can... talk?”

Oh god, what have you done?

The giant laughed quietly, clearly in a state of shock. “Wow... Okay, uh... huh. This is new.”

You just revealed yourself. You’ve become trapped in the pantry. And now the giant knows you can talk. How could you be so stupid?

“Are you... gonna come out?”

“No,” you whined. “Please go away.”

The man sighed. “Ah, geez. You’re probably freaking out.” He shuffled again, taking a seat by the door. “My name’s Mr. L. My friends call me Elly.” He let out a laugh. “Well... if I had friends, that’s what they’d call me. I’ve mostly got enemies.”

You remained silent.

“Can you... tell me your name?”

“...N—no.”

“Alright, it’s okay. No pressure.” Mr. L huffed, exasperation crossing his face. “Look, if someone finds you ransacking our food, you’re not gonna get off that easy. Stay out of their way, alright?”

Silence once again.

Mr. L sighed, defeated. “Okay, okay... I get it. I’ll leave you be.” With a grunt, he stood to his full height and quickly left the kitchen. The light was left on, and the pantry door was conveniently left ajar.

It took you a moment to process everything that had just happened. Did he just... let you go? Even after knowing you were stealing his food? What kind of idiot would just leave after discovering you?

Hopefully, you’d never find out. As soon as you’d collected your wits, you escaped back into the hallway, vanishing from sight.

[the-dimimi-dome]

Mind Your Own Damn Business, a Mimi X Dimentio fanfic

Summary: Nastasia catches Mimi and Dimentio breaking one of the castle rules. Luckily, she quickly learns to mind her business.

Rating: T

Warnings: Mentions of sex(only mentioned though), Making out, Kissing

Ao3 Link

Somewhere in Castle Bleck, Dimentio and Mimi ran through the halls. Or rather, Dimentio floated quickly while Mimi speedwalked.

"Do you know where you're going, you dummy?" Mimi asked.

"Do not worry, my green haired beauty, I have found a very private area in the entire castle." he told her.

"Good." she smiled. He led her to a door in a rarely used part of the castle and opened it. Inside was a closet that didn't have much in it, so it was big enough for a few people to fit.

"Is this the best you could find? You couldn't have just used you magic to make some hidden dimension?" Mimi complained.

"Ah, but that makes it too easy. After all, isn't the danger of getting caught part of the fun?" Dimentio asked.

Mimi just looked at him. "Alright, then." she replied.

Going inside, the jester closed the door. Taking off his mask, he looked at her directly, revealing white and yellow heterochromatic eyes and a gray face. It wasn't very often that he showed his true identity, but here they were in an intimate setting.

"I have to say," Mimi admitted, "you're cuter than I thought you'd be." She went and undid her pigtails, revealing her shoulder length green hair.

"And you should put your hair down more often, Mimi dearest." he complimented, causing her to blush.

"S-stop that, you doofus..." she stammered. "Just kiss me already."

"If you insist~" he leaned over and kissed her, one arm around her waist and the other in her hair. She did the same.

Letting the kiss get deeper, she closed her eyes as they ended up leaning against the wall. Five minutes went by before he moved on, kissing her neck. She moaned a little, pulling him even closer to her.

In return, he moved his hand downwards and-

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?" Nastasia exclaimed, opening the door. They quickly stopped what they were doing as Dimentio used his magic to put his mask back on. Clearly embarassed, Mimi fumbled with trying to tie her hair back up.

"Uh, nothing!" Mimi replied, trying to cover up what Nastasia just saw.

"Oh, I saw something, alright." she said. "I thought I heard something coming from in here, but I was not expecting this." she adjusted her glasses. "As you all know, the Count has instructed a strict No Lovemaking Rule."

"That's a stupid rule, why does it even exist?" Mimi muttered to herself, but it went ignored. "Besides, we were only just making out. We haven't gotten that far."

"Not yet, at least~" Dimentio purred. Mimi's face went a deep red.

"He will be very displeased to hear this." Nastasia noted.

"Aw come on, don't tell him!" Mimi pleaded. Meanwhile, Dimentio had a smug look on his masked face.

"That's very interesting coming from you, Nastasia." he told her. "After all, you shouldn't be the one to talk about this rule."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Don't think I don't know about your little threesome with O'Chunks and Mr. L..." he revealed. Mimi had a shocked look on her face.

"How... how did you know about that?"

"You didn't do a good job of hiding it." he said. "I happened to hear you three as I passed by. You really went to town back there." he laughed. "It's a really lucky thing I decided not to tell the Count."

"Oh..." the Count's assistant had a defeated look on her face. Suddenly, he got closer.

"So, how about you mind your own damn business, and we mind ours, hm?"

Nastasia sighed with frustration. "Alright, deal." She turned away and closed the door, leaving them alone.

"Holy crap. Nastasia, O'Chunks, and Mr. L?" Mimi questioned. "I didn't know she had that in her!"

"You'd be surprised what really goes on around here." Dimentio explained.

"So, where were we?" she asked, trying to finish what they started.

"Oh yes..." he purred, taking off his mask once again and placing his lips against hers.

[pumpjin]

ask-castle-bleck replied to your post: kittycactusmaid asked “WHAT?!?!??!*concerned…

omgosh that’s scary! I’m so glad that everything is okay!! ;;

thank you.. !! i was terrified tbh. just woke up from a blackout to like. 3 paramedics in my living room is nO T FUN–

[vgtrackbracket]

Video Game Track Bracket Round 3

Castle Bleck from Super Paper Mario

vs.

going on a walk to take my mind off things for a bit from Celeste: Strawberry Jam

Propaganda under the cut. If you want your propaganda reblogged and added to future polls, please tag it as propaganda or otherwise indicate this!

going on a walk to take my mind off things for a bit:

This is the song for one of the most impressive levels in the strawberry jam mod's beginner lobby. It's for a timing level in a city with cats, so it has to be good, clearly

I'm so glad a song from SJ got submitted! I doubt many people will know of it as it's a piece composed for a mod, but I think that it's a testament to how passionate the Celeste community is that they go to this much work for their fanmade maps. Also, it's a great song! I would recommend listening the whole way through as it only gets better as it goes on. It's chill, it's catchy, it's fun, and it's great to listen to in the background or actively. It perfectly fits the level it plays in, which I would also recommend you check out as it is a) beautifully made and b) everything is synced with the music (something really hard to code into celeste), which adds another layer to how good 'going on a walk to take my mind off things for a bit' is. I know it's very niche, but please please please don't just pass it up. Also go check out other parts of the SJ soundtrack, the whole thing is a labour of love from a really passionate community and there's something in there for everyone!!

[vgtrackbracket]

Video Game Track Bracket Round 2

Castle Bleck from Super Paper Mario

vs.

Kujara Ranch - Cursed from Tomba/Tombi! 2

Propaganda under the cut. If you want your propaganda reblogged and added to future polls, please tag it as propaganda or otherwise indicate this!

Kujara Ranch - Cursed:

An ost from the ps1 era. They made steel drums sound like chistmas.

[lizadale]

I was scrolling Pinterest and in my SPM board recommendations I saw a bunch of Lmentio stuff, and I thought nothing of it for a second until I realized most of them were your artwork (From the style to it saying "Lizadale" and "Castle Bleck is my Aesthetic" to the link being your tumblr) But I thought you didn't like it because you thought t was abusive. Did you like it then change your mind, or did you dislike it and change your mind?

pinterest is freaking weird. idk much of how it works but I’ve seen a lot of my stuff uploaded on there and half the time it links back to not-my-blog e_e and then there’s stuff that’s NOT my art by I REBLOGGED IT so it links to my blog????

I have a weird relationship with it. It has to be a very specific brand in which: 1) Luigi is NOT under mind control and 2) Dimentio does not get away with anything he did/continues to do. Mr. LxDimentio specifically makes me really uncomfortable, actually... I prefer post-game stuff!

[lizadale]

I take back all those awful things I said about vectors this is actually really really relaxing???