radylis

[radylis]

The Perfect Start to Tragedy

Drifting Through Time | Memory 1 w/ Lyrics

[radylis]

The Perfect Start to Tragedy

Drifting Through Time | Memory 1 w/ Lyrics

[radylis]

“Surely you are with me now for a time such as this… do you doubt?”

[radylis]

Illustrations I did for @gamerecroom's Super Paper Mario the Musical's Soft Light!!!! (Credits to Sally Strings for her amazing model of Francis' room!!!) 💚💚💚

This is the first video in the musical to feature my artwork!!! I'm so so so honored to be part of this project!!! It really is a dream come true for me. Q_Q 💚Please check out the upload!! The whole team cooked so hard with this one!!💚💚💚

[radylis]

We are looking for help! We are hiring Environmental Artists, Musicians, and Sprite Animators. (Moreso the first two!) Share this to people who might be interested! Submit your applications by JUNE 20TH:

[radylis]

Family portrait uwu (I designed a Blupani kid) ~

// Also I'm really proud of the detail to turn the stars in Blumi's cape to hearts c:

[radylis]

Nya! What a stud, that's for sure!

[radylis]

A Father's Heart: A Beauty and the Beast Retelling

For the Four Loves Fairy Tale Challenge at @inklings-challenge

Let me tell you, I sure confused that Beast when I returned. Have you ever seen a cat pounce on its own tail? That was the look of confusion the Beast had when he saw me in his palace. Only this cat was enormous—standing seven feet tall on his hind legs—black as soot, with claws this long, and a mouth full of teeth like butcher knives.

"Where is your daughter?" he asked me. Yes, that's what he sounded like—all deep and raspy, like he was growling and purring beneath his words.

"At home," I said.

"You did not bring her?"

“You told me,” I told him, "that I could return to be devoured or send her to take my place. I returned.”

"She did not wish to save you?"

“I never told her. Do you think I could lay that kind of burden upon my own daughter? What sort of father do you take me for?”

He had taken me for a cowardly one, I guess, because it took me a long time to convince him that my daughters were all safely at home, and I didn't plan to fetch any of them. He didn't seem to know what to do with me after that. He wasn't as bloodthirsty as I'd have expected someone with that many teeth to be.

"You will be my guest," he said at last—and he didn't seem too glad about saying it. No doubt he'd have preferred a pretty young girl as a houseguest to a weathered old sailor. But he gave me run of the place—I could help myself to anything, go anywhere I pleased. I didn't understand it. He'd been ready to kill me for a rose, and now he was giving me everything in the house?

I wasn't about to complain, though, so I set about to enjoy the place. The Beast encouraged me to enjoy the luxuries of the palace, but I've always been a working man—I didn't fancy living the life of an idle aristocrat. Before the week was out, I was working in the gardens—the place was overgrown like you wouldn't believe. When I wanted a rest, I'd explore the castle, and boy, was there plenty to see. He had rooms upon rooms of treasures—paintings, silks, wines, musical instruments, even an entire room full of exotic birds! I'd made my living selling such things, and my head swam at the sight of it—a tenth of it would have been worth more than all the riches I could have transported in ten lifetimes.

I didn't make my fortune by having dull wits, and I didn't lose it for lack of courage, so it wasn't long before I began to piece together the truth of this place and confronted the Beast with it.

"How long have you been cursed, your highness?" I asked him one evening at supper.

That great big cat was so shocked he knocked a wine bottle off the table. "Who says I am cursed?"

"Blazes, man, I'm not blind! This palace is worth more than most of the kingdoms of the world put together. If there was a king out there this rich, you can bet every merchant in the world would know of him. He'd have destroyed the world's economy. Fairy magic's the only way you get a horde like this, but you, sir, are no fairy."

Now the Beast seemed intrigued. "How do you know that?"

"A fairy would never have let me live—if he promised to kill me, he'd have killed me. No mercy among their kind. Only a human could have changed his mind like that—for which I'm very grateful, by the way."

"You're welcome," he said, seeming dazed.

I went on, "You're definitely more than a dumb beast; you walk and talk and dress like a man, so it stands to reason you were a man once—that furry coat of yours is just some fairy shell. Same way all these riches are probably just dirt and ashes once you take away the magic. Which means you must have run afoul of a fairy sometime in your past, who decided to curse you with an animal body and then trap you in a palace full of false riches."

I looked at the furnishings, the food, the Beast's clothes—everything spoke of royalty. "Fairies always meddle with royals, so you must have been a prince. The seventh son of the king of Gher went missing just before I went on my last voyage, so I'd wager that he is you. Am I right?"

The Beast goggled. "I…can't say."

"Which means I'm right. No fairy worth his salt would let you say you were cursed. Which means all I have to do is figure out how to break it. Those fairies always give you a way out—the more improbable the better."

I came around to his side of the table so I could walk around him and examine him from all angles. "You were disappointed when I came—you wanted one of my daughters, not me. When I did come, you didn't seem too keen on killling me—which makes me think it was an empty threat, trying to convince me to send my daughter instead. Which means she must be the way to break the curse. What can she do that I can't? Easy—true love. No fairy would think a girl could love a hulking monster like you, so that would be their impossible way to break the curse. You needed, what—true love? Marriage?"

"I can't say," the Beast said, but I knew by his face that I'd hit upon the right answer.

"That makes things simple. You let me out once before. Let me go home again and fetch one of my girls, tell her there's a prince waiting for her, and bring her back to join you in wedded bliss."

He seemed genuinely horrified by that. "I…can't say."

"Oh, of course. It won't count if she knows you're a prince. Well, I'll leave that part out. Tell her that the Beast who spared my life is in need of more company. With a bit of time and a bit of encouragement from her old dad, we'll have you back in human form by Christmas."

He thought it was worth a try, and something he could arrange with the conditions of his curse. So I went home to my children, convinced my sons not to follow me to slay the Beast, and made the castle sound intriguing enough that all three of my girls agreed to join me. I thought that maybe Hope would be the one to break the curse—she's always been the boldest of my girls—but it turned out that my quiet, gentle Beauty brought out the soft side of the Beast. It was the cutest thing you ever saw, the way they'd sit together reading in the rose gardens, that great big cat as shy as a schoolboy with her.

It wasn't three weeks before the Beast worked up the courage to propose—and my Beauty accepted without hesitation. Then there was blinding light and earthquakes, and when the dust cleared, the palace was gone. We were standing in a clearing in the woods—and a black-haired prince stood where the black-haired Beast had once been.

He's an excellent boy—I'll be proud to call him a son. He doesn't mind at all that his bride's the daughter of a failed merchant or that she once worked on a farm. We'll all be moving to his palace across the sea to live as honored members of the family.

Which is why we're moving out on such short notice—his highness doesn't want to be away from his kingdom any longer than he has to. I'm sure you'll find someone else to take the old place off your hands.

No, you don't have to believe me, but it's much better if you do. You'll look much less like a fool once it comes out that it's all true.

[radylis]

Kiss art february wip day 7

I had to get dimigard in there somehow and the whole setting of the original painting just fits really well :3

[radylis]

some people think writers are so eloquent and good with words, but the reality is that we can sit there with our fingers on the keyboard going, “what’s the word for non-sunlight lighting? Like, fake lighting?” and for ten minutes, all our brain will supply is “unofficial”, and we know that’s not the right word, but it’s the only word we can come up with…until finally it’s like our face got smashed into a brick wall and we remember the word we want is “artificial”.

[radylis]

*slams the door open, panting heavily*

I need more domestic fluff Blupani

[radylis]

It’s a ya boi, the rightful ruler of the feudal kingdom…

…Or…..?

[radylis]

Took my Luvbi design from yesterday and made a portrait to add to my Paper Mario girlies series~

[radylis]

Turns out I hadn't drawn Luvbi in legit 10 years so I thought I'd try a new design for her! 🤍

[radylis]

SPM Theory: Merloo and the Fourth Pure Heart

«The Ancients traveled to many worlds to entrust people with Pure Hearts. It was to keep them safe from destruction or misuse by those with evil hearts. The Pure Hearts were drawn by their own power toward those strong with love. The Ancients used this trait to find suitable guardians in each world. And a few romances also began as a result of these little journeys… Many of the Ancients who found guardians fell in love with those they met. And so they lived their days happily in the world they'd visited out of duty. This is how the legend of the hero was passed down to future generations…»

This is one of Garson's stories from Super Paper Mario. In it, it's explained that the Ancients decided to entrust the Pure Hearts to well-meaning people in different worlds for safekeeping until the hero arrived.

However, although there's a great emphasis in the guardians here, there is one Pure Heart whose guardian we know nothing about...

Let's start with a little recap. During SPM's events, Mario and company find the Pure Hearts in the following places:

❤️ The First Pure Heart is given to Mario by Merlon in Flipside.

🧡 The Second Pure Heart is given to Mario by Merlumina in Yold Ruins, with Fracktail also serving as a guardian to it.

💛 The Third Pure Heart is obtained from Merlee and it was hidden within her Mansion.

💚 The Fourth Pure Heart is found within Fort Francis, with Tippi's happiness releasing it from its hiding place.

🩵 The Fifth Pure Heart is handed over by Squirps, prince of the lost kingdom of Squirpia.

💙 The Sixth Pure Heart is obtained from the Floro Sapiens, who explain that King Croacus IV was its current owner.

💜 The Seventh Pure Heart is kept at Sammer’s Kingdom, with the current King Sammer being its guardian and, thus, the one who has to give it to the heroes (or rather, the one who should have given it to the heroes).

🤍 The Eighth Pure Heart, lastly, was entrusted to Jaydes and Grambi, rulers of The Underwhere and The Overthere respectively, who transformed it into their daughter, Luvbi. In the end, Luvbi herself decided to go with the heroes, reverting back to her original form and accepting her fate as the final Heart.

Notice something strange? There was exactly one Pure Heart that wasn’t given to the heroes by anyone. That's right; it's the fourth one, the green Pure Heart...

All the other Pure Hearts were being guarded by at least one person (although in Croacus' case, he wasn't exactly "guarding" it). Yet the green Pure Heart was just found inside a fortress/castle.

Here's what Merlon says about it when you return to Flipside after completing Chapter 3:

«I think that castle was once a dwelling of the Ancients I told you of earlier. It seems that my ancestors have roamed far and wide in their dimensional travels. “In the castle beyond the great sea, we hid a Pure Heart and sealed it safely…” Yes, I remember reading such a passage in the Light Prognosticus. The seal could only have been broken by a powerful pulse of love and trust…»

Isn't it strange that the Ancients just seemingly hid a Pure Heart within a random castle they found and assigned no sort of protection to it except for a seal?

In Garson's story, it's stated that the Pure Hearts were entrusted to "suitable guardians", and so it'd be more believable to think that there used to be a guardian for the green Pure Heart as well.

And I believe this Pure Heart's guardian (or, at least, its original guardian) was none other than Merloo.

Now, if you're part of SPM's fandom you'll probably already know that Merloo has been the subject of much theorizing; he's a quite mysterious figure described as "a great magician who could control dimensions" and, allegedlly, the writer of the Light Prognosticus too (although Merlumina is also stated to be its writer).

Nothing more is known about Merloo himself... And there aren't any Ancient-related characters who look like him in-game, unlike with the other three sages we hear about in SPM...

But why Merloo as the green Pure Heart's guardian? Well, that's because I think the other three sages were also entrusted with a Pure Heart each...

My evidence? The fact that another of Garson's stories sheds light on Merlumina's sister, who was tasked with finding one of these suitable guardians. She fell in love with said guardian, the King Sammer of that time, ultimately marrying him and having 100 kids together; this means that the King Sammer we meet in SPM (who is the purple Pure Heart's current guardian) is a descendant of them.

All of this aligns with the Garson story I cited at the beginning of this post. But, considering Garson spoke in plural ("Many of the Ancients who found guardians fell in love with those they met"), this means Merlumina's sister wasn't the only case of an "ancient x guardian" couple happening...

Let's take a look at the other Ancients we know of:

Merlight is stated to be a "distant ancestor" of Merlon, who at the time of SPM is in possession of the red Pure Heart.

Merlumina is an ancestor of Old Man Watchitt, and her spirit can be found in the same dimension/world as him, guarding the orange Pure Heart.

Merlimbis is a "direct ancestor" of both Merluvlee and Merlee; the current yellow Pure Heart's owner is Merlee.

Isn't it fair for us to assume that they were also tasked with finding guardians, fell in love with them, and decided to stay in the worlds they'd visited out of duty, as Garson's story says? Well, in Merlight's case, he designed Flipside/Flopside, so he had no other option than to remain there to ensure the city's correct functioning, I suppose... But I'm getting off-track.

Returning to the matter at hand: once again we can see that Merloo's name hasn't been brought up... He's the only sage whose descendants are completely unknown to the player.

If we follow my reasoning, we have Merlight, Merlumina and Merlimbis guarding the red, orange and yellow Pure Hearts alongside their spouses, respectively. Or rather, their descendants (except for Merlumina's case; I have an idea on why this could be, but that's for another day...).

The thing is that the red, orange and yellow Pure Hearts are the first three Pure Hearts encountered in-game. So, it wouldn't be irrational to assume that Merloo was also entrusted with the next Pure Heart after those. Which, no surprise, is the green Pure Heart.

So, to recap, Merloo went to The Bitlands, found a suitable guardian, and fell in love with them (just like the rest of the sages), staying in The Bitlands for the rest of his life and eventually passing on the responsibility of protectiing the green Pure Heart to his children, who in turn passed it on to their own children, and so on...

But what happened to their castle, then? Why is it now Fort Francis?

Honestly, I have no idea for why this the way it is.

Perhaps they were forced to flee due to unknown circumstances, with no other option than to leave the Pure Heart behind? Perhaps they all died due to some illness or attack, only managing to put an emergency seal on the Pure Heart before passing away?

I'm afraid, the answer shall remain a mystery forevermore...

However, I would like to say that there are some indications that hint at the possibility of a descendant of Merloo's being encountered in-game by the heroes...

Dimentio is quite the enigmatic character, isn't he?

He's a magician with great dimensional powers, just like Merloo, even being able to create his own pocket dimension!

Not only that, but he seemed to know quite a lot about the Pure Hearts and the Dark Prognosticus' final prophecy even before meeting Count Bleck...

On top of that, the only time Dimentio is fought against in SPM outside of Castle Bleck is, precisely, in The Bitlands...

Moreover, Dimentio seems to be aware of where the entrance to Merlumina's chamber (where the orange Pure Heart is hidden) is exactly located, and he has no trouble messing with Fracktail's mind!

Furthermore, how did Dimentio go to Flipside? How was he aware of its existence? And how was he able to send the heroes to The Underwhere and The Overthere? Also, all these places hid a Pure Heart as well...

Lastly, Dimentio knew that Jaydes' power could restore a damaged Pure Heart...

It's as if he had been taught all of these facts by someone, don't you think?

This is all suspicious...

...Quite suspicious, indeed...

[radylis]

hi it's me the pixelated fairy!! ( i loveeee tippi )

[radylis]

"Oh Timpani… I know you’d hate what I’ve become if you were still of this world…"