#super mario note block

[tearosepedall]

In Light of Mamoru Miyano Being Mario's VA for the Movie

The Reference

[suppermariobroth]

In Super Mario World, only red, yellow and blue Baby Yoshis appear as standalone entities. While green Baby Yoshis exist in the game, they are treated merely as an intermediate stage between releasing a green Yoshi's egg from a block and it growing up into a green Yoshi automatically immediately after.

If the game is modified to allow green Baby Yoshis as standalone entities, they exhibit peculiar behavior when the camera is scrolled to reveal them, as shown in the footage. Note the Baby Yoshi eating the Koopa Troopa, seemingly lunging at Mario during this, and then disappearing entirely. The event is slowed down and zoomed in on the bottom for easier viewing.

Main Blog | Twitter | Patreon | Source: twitter.com user "Kaizoman666"

[pianokantzart]

Hi, can I just say I love your character studies/essays on the Super Mario characters, especially from the movie. I don't know if you accept requests, but I was wondering if you could do an essay about Luigi being autistic. Luigi is my most favorite character of all the Super Mario characters (my second fav is Peach) and I hc him as autistic because I'm autistic, so imagine my surprise when I first saw the movie and his attitude and mannerism just screams autism. Don't know if it was intentional, but either way I'm happy they made him autistic.

Thank you! This took longer than expected, but I've broken down the essay into two main arguments for Luigi having ASD:

Part 1: Difficulties Socializing

The first and most obvious thing that people point to when suggesting Luigi (Movie Luigi in particular) is on the spectrum is his social interactions. As sincere and kind as his words usually are he shows a repeated inability to read tones, register figures of speech, or understand social nuances.

And while it's not stated explicitly, it's also hinted that Luigi struggles with controlling the volume of his voice. In the movie he gets inappropriately loud when emotional or excited, and in the Luigi's Mansion games he gets quiet and mumbly to the point that he can't get a word in. In either case, it's another sign that he struggles to understand and adapt to social communication in ways that come naturally to neurotypical people.

So, while Mario is inclined toward team sports and games that involve large groups, Luigi favors solitary activities. In a flashback in the movie he's shown keeping to himself, preferring to play with building blocks on the playground alone. Details in his bedroom imply an active photography hobby, and in the games he's shown to be an avid reader and skilled mechanic; two other hobbies in which one has plenty of alone time and full control over the pace of the activity.

Part 2: Sensory Issues & Motor Function

Speaking of pacing, it's very common for people with Autism to need to work at their own speed, which is often quite slow as autistic individuals demonstrate a bias for slower deliberative processing over rapid intuitive processing. This might be part of the reason why Luigi so often drags his feet when he's in a new location, and is teased by E. Gadd in the Luigi's Mansion games for being "sluggish."

And while his clumsiness can easily be waved off as just silly comic relief, it must be noted that most people on the autism spectrum have altered motor coordination, and studies show motor skills are substantially lower in autistic children when compared to their non-autistic siblings. Furthermore, one of Luigi's most defining characteristics is how fearful and anxious he is, and 40% of autistic people experience significant anxiety throughout their lives (Luigi's fear of lightning and loud noises may imply some level of auditory sensitivity as well.)

Then there's the way he moves. In the movie Luigi repeatedly stands with his arms tucked to his chest and his hands balled into his fists; a posture colloquially referred to as "T-rex arms" in the autism community, and is commonly believed by experts to be a form of stimming.

His stimming is far more blatant in the games, especially in the Mario & Luigi RPGs and Luigi's Mansion 2, where Luigi is repeatedly shown swinging his arms, rocking on his heels, and twiddling his thumbs.

So while Luigi definitely has a love for exploration and a strong sense of empathy that defies a lot of the stereotypes of autism, there is a really good argument to be made that he is on the spectrum.

[smallmariofindings]

Design from an officially licensed 2008 Mario T-shirt. Note that the mushroom in the image is actually a Mushroom Block from Super Mario Bros. 2, which unlike the vast majority of mushrooms in the Mario series, cannot be eaten by Mario and can only be thrown as a projectile.

Whether this is an oversight or a deliberate choice to imply that the Koopas are being kept away by throwing mushrooms at them is unknown.

Main Blog | Twitter | Patreon | Small Findings | Source

[redtsundere-writes]

Out Of My League | Heartsteel Kayn / Rhaast

Heartsteel Kayn / Rhaast x f!reader

Part 1: Facecheck.

Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.

Sypnosis: A chronically online girl doesn´t know that her Discord friend may be someone she already knows.

Contents: Modern AU, High school AU, a lot of bad jokes and meme references. No warnings.

Word count: 2023 (omg this year)

Author's Note: So... this gremlin's birthday was yesterday and since he has been on my mind lately. I decided to write him a fic cause why not?

Thanks to @mclovin1803 for helping me with proofreading and picking a title. (If this is out of charcater, blame him)

You were the exact definition of an introvert. You weren't good at talking to people you didn't know, your social battery doesn't last long, and you get excited when your friends cancel plans at the last minute. You like your loneliness and spending the afternoon playing video games and your guitar.

As an introvert, you didn't have many friends aside from a few classmates and some family members you were close with. Luckily, you had several friends on Discord. Among them was someone by the username of Rhaast. You didn't chat with him often because he wasn't as chronically online as you were, but he knew you were always down to play League of Legends with him.

One night while you were comfortably playing the new Super Mario Wonder on the switch, you received a message from Rhaast.

@Rhaast: League?

It had been two weeks since you had last played together, so you put the Switch aside and accepted. You opened League and put your headphones on to hop on the call with your friend.

"Hello there," you greeted him like Obi Wan as you waited for Rhaast to enter the game. He laughed at the reference. He had a deep, kinda seductive voice. You didn't know for sure if he was pretending or if he really talked like that.

"How have you been?," you asked while looking for your nightly playlist on Spotify to set the mood.

"Great. Yesterday I went out with a girl and today I broke up with her." You rolled your eyes at the comment. You knew Rhaast was quite the heartbreaker for discarding women like they were underwear. Personally, you didn't like that about your friend.

"And now why did you break up with this one,?" you asked as you started the game.

"I only went out with her once and she was already bugging me. My phone kept ringing because of her, so I blocked her," Rhaast answered with a chuckle. “Thank God I'll never date this asshole,” you thought.

"I wish there were more girls like you. You wait for me to send you a message and you are always down to play with me." He said while locking in Zed as his champion while you locked in Qiyana.

"I’m always down to play with you because I don't have any friends, not because I like you." You kamikazed by words.

"Damn, and I thought you had a crush for me," Rhaast joked. "Come to think of it, you never tell me anything about your love life," He suggested so he could hear some gossip.

"I haven't told you because I don't have any," you said, pretending to cry. Rhaast laughed at your foolish performance.

"Come on, you must have at least a crush or something," he insisted curiously as the game began. There was no one you liked... but someone caught your eye.

You felt like a fool for getting nervous every time you saw Kayn and his group of friends walk past you in the hallways. Kayn was a popular kid from a higher grade. He was good at sports, had good grades, was a member of an upcoming band, and was always surrounded by friends, while you were the complete opposite. You knew you shouldn't be nervous seeing him around because there was no chance that he would have the slightest interest in you. The majority of girls in your class drooled over him, so he was free to choose whoever he wanted. Why would he choose you?

Also, you had no good reason to go over and talk to him. The only chance you had, you blew it. You still cringe at yourself at night when you remember that moment. In your first days of high school, you had no friends and you just started learning to play guitar. When you tried to leave the music room that day, you ran into a tall boy with pink hair, perfect black eyebrows that indicated the true color of his hair, piercings decorating his ears, a pointy nose and a magnificent athletic body. Everything about him could catch anyone's attention but his most striking feature was his beautiful eyes with heterochromia, his left eye was green and the right; red. You were a moth and he was an RGB lightbulb that demanded your attention.  

You stood paralyzed infront of him. You clutched your music sheet notebook to your chest in nervousness. He was way too attractive and you didn't know how to feel about it. You tried to greet him but only stutters came out of your mouth. It was true that you weren't good at starting conversations but you had never been at a loss for words.

"Can you move? I want to get in," he asked while looking at you as if you were an inferior being.

"Ah... Yes-s, I'm s-sorry." You couldn't help your stutter as you stepped aside so he could enter the room. The Adonis didn't say anything else, but your eyes were still glued on him. The boy saw you watching him without shame.

"Can I help you with something?" He asked directly. You quickly shook your head and ran out of the room. “You are so stupid, you made yourself look like you have never seen a man!” You thought embarrassed as you felt your face getting hot. This was definitely your canon event.

One day, Rhaast sent you an ad. Riot was hosting a promotional convention for players at the capital at the end of the month.

@Rhaast: You goin'?

You: Maybe, sounds good.

@Rhaast: Let me know if you goin'.

You: Are you?

@Rhaast: If you go, I'll go.

You: K.

Thus the days passed until the day of the event arrived. You got ready with your best clothes: A K/DA sweatshirt, freshly washed pants, and the least dirty sneakers you had. You left your apartment nervously to finally touch some grass and meet your friend in real life. After a tedious subway ride, you arrived at the convention center where the event was taking place.

You: I'm here. Where are you?

@Rhaast: Wait for me at the entrance. I'm almost there.

You saw that there were several people waiting for their respective friends at the entrance, so you decided to stay in that area. You waited patiently while playing on your phone until you heard some girls next to you get excited.

"Look, it's Kayn, he looks so good!" They whisper to each other. You looked up quickly when you heard that name and, sure enough, the Adonis was there. “What is Kayn doing here?!” you thought as you tried to hide behind your phone as if you pretended he wasn't there, but your eyes traveled quickly between the screen and him. He was wearing a black crop with a jacket on top, tight pants and silver chains on his neck, fingers and waist. “Oh no, he's hot!” You thought nervously, wanting to run away. Your heart wasn't taking it.

You felt envious when the girls next to you didn't hesitate to approach him. Seeing the confidence they had to greet and talk to him, you felt that they had already known each other before. “I wish I could do that,” you thought.

"I didn't know you played League." One of the girls commented.

"I don´t play much," Kayn answered without taking much notice. Looking cool as heck.

"Are you here alone?" The other girl asked.

"Well, I'm meeting with a friend. I'll call her, " he said while searching for his friend's contact on his phone.

*Incoming call from Rhaast*

Out of nowhere, your phone started ringing from an incoming call on Discord. It was Rhaast. “No way,” you thought as you looked at Kayn and your cell phone simultaneously. “No, this must be a coincidence” you thought before answering.

"I'm here, where are you?" Your knees felt weak as Kayn spoke the words he was hearing over the phone. “Kayn is Rhaast?!” you thought in disbelief.

Kayn quickly found you and your eyes met. The last time that happened was a year ago. You knew Rhaast for over two years. That meant that Kayn, the cutest boy in school, had heard your horrible jokes, your fangirl screams when you saw Faker at almost every World Cup, and your burps for two years. You wanted the earth to swallow you whole at that moment.

"Oh, there she is. See ya," he hung up the call and said goodbye to his friends. He approached you while you were dying internally. You were lucky a wall was holding you up because you were sure you were going to pass out at any moment. “Breathe, maybe he doesn't remember you,” you thought.

"Hey! Why didn't you tell me we went to the same school, snake girl?" he joked. You covered your face in shame with your hands. “He does remember!” You thought, defeated. You still didn't believe that Kayn was still talking to you.

"Shut up, Rhaast… I mean, Kayn." You said, pulling your face out of its hiding spot. Kayn smiled, looking at your blushing cheeks.

"So you know me," he said confidently.

"How can I not know you? My classmates can't stop talking about you," you said defensively.

"I don't mean that," he said as he brought his face closer to yours. You backed up as far as the wall would allow you.

"Just look at you, you're crazy for me." He mocked in a flirting way. You couldn't help but to blush once again.

He was right, not only did he caught your eye, you liked him. You liked him more than you thought. Not because he was the popular Kayn, who is in a band and all the girls fight over him, but because he was also Rhaast. The one guy who laughed at your horrible jokes, the one who didn't criticize you every time you screamed when you saw Faker and burped when you did to match your energy.

"Ha! Says the guy that I always carry,” you mocked him back. Kayn laughed. That laugh that made you feel better in the small corner of your room.

"That's my girl!" He said before taking your hand. You blushed at the unexpectedly intimate act. His hand gently squeezed yours to guide you to the convention entrance.

You spent the whole afternoon chatting and spending all your money on merchandise. You got to know Kayn better than you ever thought. He was a little bit blunt, but nicer than you pictured. It was like you were seeing the other side of Rhaast. Kayn also got to know you on another level when you started to feel comfortable around him. You were a girl with whom he could see himself talking for many hours everyday without getting bored, something he had not felt with anyone else.

You and Kayn said goodbye to a wonderful day together. Both felt their hearts beating like crazy for each other. You had spent the entire day together but you still missed each other once you parted ways. You arrived home and then threw yourself on the bed to start screaming about the exciting day you just had. You had finally talked to Kayn and he seemed to like you. And boy did he like you...

The next day, another school day had ended, so you decided to go to the music room. On your way, you saw Kayn and his friends heading towards the exit. Finally, you got the courage to do something you've always wanted to do.

"Hey, Kayn!" You called him from your place. He turned around to see you among the other students passing by in the hallway.

"Wanna play later?" You asked, blushing lightly for attracting his attention. His friends began to tease him that a girl was talking to him that way, but he didn't care. Kayn smiled as he saw you standing there, blushing but determined.

"You know I do!" He said before turning around and getting back with his friends. You smiled. Maybe he wouldn't have chosen you before, but now you had a chance. 

Order your own fanfic! (Starting price: $5 USD)

Masterlist.

[lunareel]

A Heads Up

Hello everyone, I hope you all are having a great day or night, whatever time it is for y'all.

Making this post to explain and elaborate on some parts of the recent AU (Bowser's Bodyguard AU, which I'm thinking of renaming) I've been working on. This is going to cover the general story idea, overall vibe, and the games I'm covering with this along with questions I think people may have about the general au.

Don't worry I'll always have this AU tagged, so if you don't like it you can block it easily.

So as stated above this is more of a clarification post and just generally covering my plans for this AU just so people know what to expect.

So I want this AU to be around 6 to 8 main chapters, where I will see if I can combine the Paper and Mario & Luigi universes into one. The first chapter will be on the Mario Movie.

What games will you be covering?

So below are games I definitely want to cover, please note the games are listed in no particular order at the moment.

Super Paper Mario

Paper Mario Thousand Year

Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga

Bowser's Inside Story

Dream Team

All games are going to be rewritten within mind of the character/setup changes. I'm not a huge fan of just writing something that is a paint-by-numbers retelling of the original story; if that's your cup of tea more power too you this is not to throw any shade on that!

For both Superstar Sage and Inside Story I do want to include the side stories the remakes added.

I will say Bowser's Inside Story will be heavily rewritten and I plan on calling it "Fawful's Revenge." The two main reasons are that I'm having Luigi prevent Bowser from eating the vacuum shroom which prevents a lot of the original plot, and I just don't want to draw the inside of Bowser. I don't know what else to say here.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Games that will either be short stories or I'm torn on covering:

Super Mario 2

Mario Galaxy (combining 1 and 2)

Mario RPG

Mario Odyssey

Origami King

Mario Sunshine

Luigi's Mansion 1 & 2

Rabbids Spark of Hope

Paper Mario 64

Super Mario 2 is going to cover Luigi's history with the Shy Guys, particularly with him usurping King Wart. This one might become a full/long chapter.

Mario Galaxy is one that might become a full chapter. It depends on what I end up covering. For instance, at the moment I'm debating on whether to have a semi-character death in it. It's weird because on one hand I don't fully consider this a character death, but it also kind of is because they leave the comic at this point and this does heavily impact the cast. So I'm unsure how to fully label this yet.

Mario RPG is a game I am very intrigued by and I would like to incorporate it into the story, but I do not know the plot of the story so it is on the fence right now. I do have at least a few short comics planned for it.

Mario Odyssey is just going to be a few short comics.

Origami King is where I don't know the full plot, but I'd like to do a comic about Shroom City just for some fun world building.

Mario Sunshine I am so torn on whether it would be a full chapter or just a short. I'm going to have to see where I go with it. Whatever it becomes I do plan on calling the chapter/comic "Obligatory Beach Episode."

Luigi's Mansion I'm going to be combining the first two games. I really want this to be a full chapter, I have just been struggling to plan out a full story for it along with fitting it into the rest of the games. I do want to try, but just in case I can't I'm slapping it into this category.

I need to give Rabbids a Spark of Hope a comic or two as Luigi and Bowser have a mission in there that is solely tied to their characters called "The Brains and the Brawn" which helped me think of their setup in this.

Paper Mario 64 will be another backstory one where Luigi attempts to use the Star Rod to send him home, to mixed results.

Games I am not covering:

Please note the games listed below are NOT because I think they are bad games, it's more because I haven't played them and/or I just don't have good ideas for how to fit them into the story.

Color Splash

Sticker Star

Paper Jam

Partners in Time

For Color Splash and Sticker Star, I just don't know the full plots of these games. Though I might do the train scene that occurs in Color Splash when Mario talks to that one Shy Guy.

Paper Jam is similar to the two listed above where I just don't know the plot and I don't want to deal with the multiverse. As in this I'm trying to combine the Paper universe with the Mario and Luigi universe into one.

Partners in Time could change, but at the moment I'm counting it as not covering as I'm just using the concept and the machine E Gadd builds. It won't deal with time travel, but instead the concept of looking into someone's memories. I don't like covering time travel so I'm just skipping it. Like I said I might cover the Cobalt Star and Princess Shroob, but I don't have a lot of ideas going for this so it might just be skipped entirely with her and her sister as villains.

Will there be shipping?

No, I'm sorry if you were hoping for anything. The most there will be is probably implied Peach x Mario, but that's it for the moment. If any of this changes I'll give a heads up just so no one is caught off guard. But romance isn't really the focus of this comic nor do I want to write romance. Listen just trust me on this you don't want me writing romance, I'm not good at it, this is for the best.

Just in case I am also just going to flat out say this so no one gets mad or feels misled when reading these comics. There will be no Bowser x Luigi in this story. Listen it's a funny and shockingly mostly wholesome ship, but it's not happening here. So I'm sorry if you were hoping for it, but I'm not doing it.

There might be some one-sided Luigi x Daisy (honestly thinking about doing Daisy x Waluigi because their Mario Party team name is Awkward Date and that is hilarious), and/or one-sided Luigi x Peasley, but in this Bowser will be majorly crushing on Peach. Bowser and Luigi are just platonic co-parenting the koopalings (think the Dungeons and Dragon movie with Sofina and Edgin). I just wanted to state this here so everyone is on the same page.

Quick side note: This isn't about shipping, but character-wise Donkey Kong and anything related to his games will only be in the first chapter. I struggle to write him and I don't know how to involve him in the other storylines so I'm just gonna have him chill in his kingdom. He will probably be making a reappearance in Dream Team as that is where I plan to end the comic.

What is the overall story/vibe of the comic?

The main story is going to focus on adventure and learning to love yourself. That's really the main premise. The story itself is going to focus on Luigi learning how to like himself for who he is and reconnecting with Mario and others while going on adventures. The big overall conflict will be the Chaos Heart itself. In this I really want to play around with the concept of the Chaos Heart and what if it didn't just go away after Super Paper Mario. I don't want to say too much about it at the moment as I don't want to spoil that part of the plot.

I feel bad because with the initial comic/sketches of this au, I made it seem a lot more dramatic/angsty than it will be. Sure there's going to be some drama but it really is more focused on the fun of the world, the adventures the characters go on, and the friendships that form out of them. I swear it's not as angsty (or I guess edgy, not sure if it was or not??) as the original comic made it seem so I apologize if that is what you were looking for.

Why I am calling Luigi Mr. L in this?

So in this, I am having Mr. L be more of his 'work mode.' It is designed to be more of a persona he puts on so he can do his job more effectively, but it is also still a part of his personality. I want to include more of his temper which is often portrayed through animations in Mario & Luigi (you know his stomping tantrum animations). Along with a few other notes, like how in the first Luigi's Mansion you kind of find some pretty sassy/sarcastic remarks through the pictures he takes with the Game Boy Horror, along with some of his dialogue in the Paper Mario games. I also want to play into him having a bit of an ego as well (playing more into the Mr. L in Super Paper Mario).

However, at the core, I do want to keep him a more socially awkward, easily frightened, and a very kind person outside of the mask/persona. At the end of the day he really just wants what is best for his friends and family. And that he is always ready to help someone even if he is scared out of his mind (though he might complain about not getting paid, or take a bit of convincing when it comes to dealing with ghosts.) I am also keeping the self-esteem issues, more so dealing with the fact he feels like all he has done is stumble through life making one mistake after another, and never being enough for the people he cares about in his life.

What are the inspirations for this?

Ghibli movies, particularly Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away. I love their world building and how they handle character stories.

Magical Girl animes, I cannot stress enough how much the masks and his powers/setup are based on the magical girl shows I grew up on.

Majora's Mask, I want to do quite a bit with the masks themselves in this setup. I'm not going to elaborate much on them yet, because I prefer to reveal how they function in the comics than through this ramble.

Funnily enough, the character design that kicked off this au, or at least Mr. L's design was Death from Puss in Boots the Last Wish. I can explain, it was his cloak and his whistle. I've been playing through Super Paper Mario and I kept wondering what if they incorporated references to Luigi's Mansion more like maybe putting in his whistling, or going with a more horror aesthetic for him. Or even goes more into the concept of shadows as well, playing not only his ties with ghosts but also how Luigi feels like he is constantly in Mario's shadow. And when I saw the Mario Movie and that he was captured by the Shy Guys I was like hey wait a minute, I can do something with that.

So this story is just me playing around with those thoughts. Don't get me wrong though, him building robots to fight you along with the absolute banger of a jazz theme, and his cocky/petty attitude I have no notes and I like how he is done in the game.

So yeah this pretty much covers everything, if you read all of this kudos, I know this was long, but I hope I clarified what this comic is going to be like. Though please note that I have a job and I'm going through school, so this is going to take a bit to get going. I'm still writing out the base story, and I like to have one or two chapters fully drawn before I start posting it. I do plan on posting some of the short comics and doodles while working on the main writing.

Thank you for reading my rambles. I hope you all have a good one! : D

[covesdadappreciation]

Stormy Day

Short Comfort Fluff - Step 1 [Trans Friendly] Male Reader x Qiu Lin

Reader Pronouns: He/Him

Reader is afraid of storms, specifically lightening and heavy rain.

Note: First fic everybody and Reader has a crush on Qiu, but this is more comfort than romantic?

[Name] was laying back in his bed, the canopy blocking him from the warm autumn sun that illuminates the room. His mom was out doing chores on today, so what else could he do besides be in his room? He's already ventured enough through the house, done his homework, finished lunch...

maybe add some color to the wall with crayons?

That plan is quickly shut down as the sound of the doorbell ringing brings [Name] back to reality.

He heads downstairs and over to the entrance of the house and peeks through the windows next to the door only to find Qiu on the other side.

Isn't he supposed to be over at Baxter's?

Regardless, [Name] opens the door, happy to see his crush at his place.

"Hi [Name]" Qiu chimes, doing a little wave, "are you busy right now?"

"I'm not busy, but I thought you were at Baxter's place?" [Name] finally asked.

"Baxter made some last-minute changes to the plan, so we aren't hanging out today, which works out great at the end. Kind of great, I mean. There's supposed to be this big storm happening tonight" Qiu starts, but [Name] starts to feel his stomach stir with unease...

"and I know you hate those storms, which is why I wanted to see if you'd be okay with us hanging out today while it's going on" Qiu explained, "I wanna help distract you... You always talk about how you have to hide in a bathroom or closet to block out the sounds, so I thought maybe you'd like some company?"

[Name] hums softly at the thought. Qiu's always been a selfless friend to you, and now he's willing to do this?

"That sounds great and all, but what would your parents say?"

Qiu gets excited, knowing he's thought of everything, "I already asked them and they said it'd be okay as long as your mom is okay with it!"

"My mom's not home yet, but you could wait here. We could start our hangout right now until she gets here" [Name] proposes

That's how we got here. [Name] and Qiu sitting on the floor next to each other while playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Wii, shouting and laughing loudly at each other for doing so badly at the co-op game.

[Name] flops back onto the floor, his laughter finally dying down. Qiu notices, turning to his side and watching [Name] as [Name]'s attention shifted outside the window. The sun was hidden by the clouds now, as if it were a looming threat to [Name]. Warning him.

He hated it.

But he felt some peace knowing Qiu was beside him...

"You okay?" Qiu asked

"Yeah! It's just," [Name] falters for a moment, "it's nice having a storm buddy for the first time."

Qiu chuckles at being considered a 'storm buddy', and he's taking his new title to heart. Qiu isn't going to let [Name] face this fear alone, no matter what.

Abruptly, the sound of the keys jingling at the entrance of the door clicking made the two kids perk up. Opal had walked in, a little surprised to find Qiu here, but it wasn't the first time that she's walked into the house to this duo.

"Hi Ms. Second!" Qiu smiles

"Qiu wants to help me and stay throughout the storm, is that okay ma?" [Name] asks excitedly. Of course, Opal knew about the gravity of [Name]'s fear over the storms, and the whole move probably wasn't going to help either... maybe it'd be helpful.

"As long as his folks are okay with it then-" Opal is quickly interrupted, hearing [Name] and Qiu quietly cheer "Yes!" before scattering back to the tv to finish one more round of their game.

Qiu and [Name] sat in his room. At this point they had already played 2 board games, talked about school, made future plans of what the friend group could do together... they talked about anything and everything with each other as if they weren't going to see each other ever again. They even made a pillow fort to relax in.

It's dark outside, and the rain was beginning to pour harder. The first flash of lightning makes [Name] freeze up. Qiu takes [Name]'s hand and moves him away from the windows and into the fort, giving him a gentle squeeze of the hand to let him be aware that Qiu's there for him.

“it’s okay, you know. if you need to vent.” Qiu smiles, "I'm here for you"

There's a moment of silence between the two as they look at each other, both smiling at the other's presence... that is until they hear some distant thunder that breaks the quiet.

"I forgot my headphones on the bed" [Name] muttered. Qiu quickly crawled out of the fort, and [Name] could hear some rustling on the bed before Qiu crawled back in with [Name]'s headphones, comfort object, and a game of uno.

"I just found us another distraction game" He grins, waving the uno cards around.

[Name] happily took two of his life savers, sliding the headphones on and hugging his comfort item tightly while Qiu opened the Uno card pack and placed the cards on the floor.

As Qiu worked on the card stacks, attempting (and failing) to do a cool card shuffle, [Name] could feel the thunder from outside. It helped that the headphones were on to kill a lot of the sound but the reminder that the trees were probably waving around wildly, the lightening could shoot down at the house, anything was possible!

Qiu noticed [Name]'s discomfort, offering his hand out again.

"Thank you" [Name] said softly, accepting Qiu's hand and his stack of uno cards

"Of course, what else are storm buddies for?" Qiu crooned.

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

What Happens When Mario Breaks Bricks In Super Mario Bros.?

There is a common belief that when Mario he breaks bricks he kills the Toads that were turned to bricks by Bowser. This is because of the Super Mario Bros. manual's game description on page 2 mentions the Toads were turned into bricks. "The quiet, peace-loving Mushroom People were turned into mere stones, bricks and even field horse-hair plants." Translation from Legend Of Localization. Side note, the field horse-hair plants are the plants in the background.

This is incorrect and mainly stems from people not reading the full manual. If you read the power-up section from page 8 of the manual, you'll come across an often overlooked bit of lore. The power-up section it tells the player that if they come across a Toad that has been turned to stone and break it, the Toad is set free and reward Mario or Luigi by giving them a power up. "If you come across mushrooms(Toads) who have been turned into bricks or made invisible, they reward you by by giving you a power boost. With each boost Mario changes into a different, more powerful Mario, as shown below." Note: Toads were originally just called Mushrooms and Mushroom People. This also only applies to the blocks with power-ups

This detail also appears to have been adapted in the film Super Mario Bros: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach. In it after setting the Toads free, Toad gives a power up to the Bros.

The turning Toads into bricks seems to have only occurred in the first game seeing there is no mention of a repeat of it in later games We also know the Prize Boxes we see in later games are constructed from various materials. The closest we get to a repeat of this is Toad getting kidnapped in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and being stuffed into a Question Mark Block.

[suppermariobroth]

To conserve space on the cartridge, Super Mario Bros. does not save information about every individual background tile in a level separately. Instead, common tile arrangements are represented in the code with a single object each, which allow them to take up a fraction of the space that storing each individual block's coordinate would.

In addition, if some of these objects are placed near each other, they will use a mathematical function called convolution to affect each other's shape to produce an object that is a combination of the two. The footage shows two staircase objects being dragged around in a level editor. Note how when they approach each other, they modify each other's shape, allowing the developers to create even more unique tile arrangements at even less cost.

Main Blog | Twitter | Patreon | Small Findings | Source: twitter.com user "IsoFrieze"

[alexhwriting]

Bloodborne: A Study of Environmental Narratives and Ludonarrative Harmony.

II. Environmental Storytelling

Environmental storytelling refers to the act of using the scenery of the story to communicate additional details about the story being told, typically through details like plants, architecture, items, etc. Alessandro Soriani and Stefano Caselli, build on Michael Nitsche’s conception of the Evocative Narrative Element (ENE)[1] in explaining how an ENE works:

“‘Evocative narrative elements’ (ENEs) are implemented to ‘encourage players to project meaning onto events, objects, and spaces [in videogames]’; they help players to ‘infuse significance’ and therefore to ‘form narratives’ (p. 44). Such ENEs are defined as ‘foundational building blocks’ (p. 37) at the basis of the structuring of players’ comprehension of the game. They ‘can be anything and any situation encountered’ that can structure such a comprehension (p. 37). The aim of ENEs ‘is not to tell a linear story, but to provide evocative means for the interactor to comprehend the virtual space and the events within it and generate context and significance in order to make [it] more meaningful. While the reader of a novel is limited to the given text, the player of a game interacts with these evocative elements, cocreates them, and changes them.’ (p. 45).”[2]

            This means that any object that is presented within a game space as an object of the plot, be that a reward at the end of a puzzle (such as the rewards of notes after solving puzzles in the Resident Evil series) or an item with an in-game description that reveals more about the plot (such as key items in the Dark Souls series), can be described as an ENE. As games have evolved, these ENE’s have become much more plentiful and their nonlinear narratives more convoluted. Previously, a video game followed a structure that could more accurately be described as on rails, meaning that there was only one path forward, like a railroad.[3] As ENE’s have become a larger and larger part of game design over the years, these paths become progressively less defined and less easily followed.

            Soriani and Caselli also establish the term Visual Narrative Elements (VNEs) to refer to the graphical representation of visual elements in the game world, such as objects, rooms, and characters, which are the building blocks of their five types of visual (by which they mean graphical) narratives: evoked[4], enacted[5], enacting[6], embedded[7], and emergent.[8] For the purposes of the rest of the paper, the most important of these to keep in mind is the embedded visual narratives, which “refer to those visual elements intentionally positioned by developers which contain information about the context of the game,” as this is the strategy that FromSoftware takes with the story of Bloodborne.[9] This means that as the player enters a new area and interacts with the items and enemies within that area, they will in turn learn more about the story of the game and the particular role they play in that game. For example, in Dark Souls III (2016), another game developed by FromSoftware, the player can come across a body in a swamp that has a spell book and a set of pyromancer robes. The description of these items, in addition to their location, tells the player the story of a swamp pyromancer who preceded the player in their journey.

Espen Aarseth addresses a similar question, the intersection of game world structure and game mechanics, in his essay, “A Hollow World: World of Warcraft as Spatial Practice”.[10]  World of Warcraft (2004) is a Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPGs), meaning that it is played by many players interacting with the world and the characters simultaneously and often in cooperation with each other. As a roleplaying game (RPG), the player designs an avatar for themself to embody and move within the game world. The game also does not have a set path to follow like Super Mario Bros (1985), and, as such, allows for a more explorative experience since the avatar can explore without being put on a specific path. This gives the player a large amount of freedom to tell the story of their character rather than just the predetermined story of the game.

Aarseth argues that, as a world made up of a wide variety of landscapes and cultures, spread across multiple in-game continents, that World of Warcraft represents a “hollow” world, where the variation is rich, but it lacks in depth.[11] He says that this hollowness is part of what gives the game its popularity.[12] The game world’s primary goal is to be functional and playable, which distinguishes it from traditional fictional worlds of film and literature, where the primary goal is to offer grounding for the action of the narrative.[13] This means that, rather than designing a world from a directed perspective, one that cannot change after publication, World of Warcraft designs a world where the perspective is guided by the player’s interest and interaction within the game world. It is because of this approach to world design, focusing on the interactivity of the world, that its hollowness shows merit: it allows players to make their own stories and add their own depth.

Tanya Krzywinska, also discussing World of Warcraft, talks about how this hollowness relies on some familiar themes to remain as an evocative environment for player interaction.[14] She attributes familiar themes to the real world’s collection of mythological stories, and the nonlinear symbology that makes up these stories being at play within the game world.[15] Though these symbolic elements are nonlinear, they add to Krzywinska’s conception of worldness: “the world should have a unifying consistency; this applies not only to spatial coordinates, style, and physics but also to the past events that constitute the current state of affairs within the world and to which the player-character is subject.”[16] Symbols, as well as references to the game world’s internal history add this consistency for World of Warcraft.[17] For an example, Krzywinska points to the faction within World of Warcraft called the Night Elves, who are an incredibly long-lived race that has historical ruins throughout one of the game’s regions.[18] To indicate the historical ruins, the game uses forms of ancient Greco-Roman architecture strewn around important locations to indicate to the player that those locations are ruins or built on top of ruins. By utilizing this real-world symbol of the Greco-Roman ruin, and the mythological familiarity with such places, the game world becomes more fleshed out within the player’s mind and they in turn become more immersed in the world that seemingly has a history that exists before their experience of playing takes place. The story is then communicated through the player’s experience of the environment without any dialogue to tell them the written history of the area around them.

[1] Soriani and Caselli, “Visual Narratives in Videogames.” 481.

[2] Soriani and Caselli, 481.

[3] Arcade games such as House of the Dead (1996), and early home console games like Super Mario Bros (1985) are famous examples of on rails games.

[4] “Evoked visual narratives refer to those situations where the fact that some videogames are set in scenery/backdrop already known to gamers may ignite a process of anticipation that allows the game narrative context to exercise a greater sense of involvement by evoking what the player already knows about such contexts.” Soriani and Caselli, 495.

[5] “Enacted visual narratives can be considered all the cases where game designers stage in-game scenarios where players are called to 'solve' the situation by means of creating or perturbing a graphic element (or a set of them) that immediately becomes an integral part of the game world, thus activating a narrative sequence.” Soriani and Caselli, 495.

[6] “Enacting visual narratives refer to all those visual elements staged by the designers with the intention to suggest to the players an action with a specific scope.” Soriani and Caselli, 495.

[7] “Embedded visual narratives refer to those visual elements intentionally positioned by developers which contain information about the context of the game.” Soriani and Caselli, 495.

[8] Soriani and Caselli, 485; “Emergent visual narrative concerns all those games that allow the creation of graphic assets by the player, such assets assuming that for the person they have meaning within a context of reference absolutely internal to the subject.” Soriani and Caselli, 495.

[9] Soriani and Caselli, 495.

[10] Aarseth, “A Hollow World: World of Warcraft as Spatial Practice.” 111.

[11] Aarseth, 111-112.

[12] Aarseth, 112.

[13] Aarseth, 118.

[14] Krzywinska, “Blood Scythes, Festivals, Quests, and Backstories.” 383-384.

[15] Krzywinska, 385.

[16] Krzywinska, 386.

[17] Krzywinska, 386.

[18] Krzywinska, 388-390.

[smallmariofindings]

In the New Super Mario Bros. U game style of Super Mario Maker 2, it is possible to avoid losing the "reach the goal without landing after leaving the ground" clear condition by landing on falling POW Blocks in the manner shown in the footage.

Note the clear condition in the top left corner and the fact that Toadette never loses the flag icon in the footage, meaning that the game considers her to be touching the ground at all times despite her slowly climbing up a step-like structure.

Main Blog | Twitter | Patreon | Small Findings | Source: JoCr2

[s-creations]

26 Ways to Feel Mortal - Z: Zeal

26 Chapters based around experiences that newly arrived Geno experiences while trying to find the Star Pieces.

Fandom: Super Mario & Releated Fandoms, Super Mario RPG Rating: Teen and UP Audiences Relationship: Mario/Geno (Nintendo), Mario/Princess Peach (Nintendo) Additional Tags: Rating for Teen needed for later chapters, but shouldn't be to worrisome, I'll have warnings if I'm worried, Poly relations!, Main characters will always be named, Minor characters will arrive as needed, the chapters are not in a specific order, just meets the needs of the given word, please be aware of spoilers

Zeal: (noun) Great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause of objective.

“Mario. …Mario, come on, you said you’d join me this time!”

Said hero let out a low groan as he rolled over onto his back. Part of the ceiling of his small home being partially blocked by Geno’s beaming face. The puppet clearly eager as he waited for Mario to sit up.

“I’m awake,” Mario let out a wide yawn, “I’m awake. Can you make the coffee for me?”

Geno nodded before practically bouncing off the bed and rushing over to the kitchen area. Shifting to sit on the edge of the bed, Mario rubbed his eyes to remove more of the remaining sleep. Eventually letting himself sit and watch as Geno moved around. The puppet hummed softly as he waited for the coffee to finish dripping. Wearing one of Mario’s old and very large red sweaters with his familiar hat and shoes in place.

It had been a few weeks since the Star road had been repaired. Mario receiving a happy surprise from Geno not long after. Who had happily announced that he’d been allowed  to come and go as he wanted to. With the understanding that Geno would need to return to Star Road if the number of wishes grew substantially. Otherwise, Geno could live as he wanted to. Meaning, with Mario.

The hero had immediately offered a place for Geno to stay, more than happy to have the puppet as a roommate. Peach had thrown a large celebration when told of Geno’s return. Turning it into an even larger celebration upon learning the puppet could stay. Mallow had cried when Mario and Geno came for a visit. The newly homed prince happy to see his friend once more. 

There had been a bit of growing nerves when Mario decided the time for Geno and Luigi to meet. The puppet worried about needing to impress the younger brother. However, it was more Mario’s turn to worry as Luigi did not hold back upon teasing his older brother. 

“Such a big hero, can’t just stay with one partner?” Luigi smirked.

“When are you proposing to Peasley?” Mario shot back. 

Geno laughed softly at the brother’s teasing. Happy to know that Luigi accepted the Star being easier than what Geno had expected. 

Now, weeks later, Mario was thrilled to start each day having the puppet by his side each day. Waking up to see Geno eagerly engaging each morning. 

Mario was brought out of his thoughts when a mug of coffee was passed to him. Letting out a small laugh, Mario took a sip before saying, “Am I moving to slow for you?”

Geno playfully huffed before replying with, “Maybe.”

“Alright, alright, I’m coming.”

Geno was already out the door before Mario even moved to fully slide off the bed. Said hero shivering as the morning chill washed in. Shuffling after the excited puppet, Mario takes in the darkened morning sky with a smile. Mentally noting that some of the stars were shining a bit brighter than usual. 

Taking another sip of coffee, he walked up to where Geno was standing. Both leaning on the tall banister, Geno pressing close to Mario while the human wrapped his arm around the other. 

Eyes on the horizon as the darkness slowly changed to pastel sky. 

The sun eventually peeked out from the horizon. 

Both shared a warming kiss as they welcomed a new morning. 

[fishpeanits]

「 ✦ Welcome to the waters! Let me get everything together… ✦ 」

「 ✦ … Perfect! Please enjoy your stay! ✦ 」

this blog will be a sanctuary to be unabashedly silly and enjoy the beauty of the internet’s vast connectivity. wasting time chastising “cringe” behavior or arguing over petty discourse isn’t something fishpeanits tolerates. the internet has become a cesspool of hate, and fishpeanits will not let that infection spread to this blog.

* . + What things does fishpeanits like?

› ACTIVE INTERESTS: FORTNITEEEEE, Stardew Valley, Baldur’s Gate 3, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Princess Peach, Super Mario Galaxy I & II, Bungo Stray Dogs, My Little Pony, Jujutsu Kaisen, Preacher’s Daughter / Ethel Cain, the MILGRAM Project, Fortnite, Ichthyology,

› INACTIVE YET SPECIAL: Tomodachi Life, Soulsborne (Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Sekiro), Splatoon (I, II,III), Apex Legends, Boku no Hero Academia, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Ruby Gloom, Genshin Impact, Soul Eater, Earthbound, Fran Bow, Sally Face, OMORI, Ensemble!! Stars, Project Sekai, Banjo Kazooie, Botany, Kingdom Hearts, Sonic the Hedgehog,

fishpeanits can be quite forgetful. this list is subject to change. - . *

* . + What kind of content will fishpeanits post?

› #.fshits will be a collection of miscellaneous textposts and such that have no real category!

› #.fshart will be the tag used on any and all art!

› #.fshfic will be used for literary pieces! this will probably be fanfiction in most cases.

› … a special fourth item will be posted here! how invigorating!

do you trust the strangers you glimpse through a screen? fishpeanits wouldn’t. - . *

* . + What kind of people should NOT expect to be welcomed here?

「 ✦ Some of these things should be common sense, really, but they will be listed regardless. Blocking people is a blessing! ✦ 」

› PEDOPHILES { This INCLUDES: DDLG, DDLB, MDLB, MDLG, MAPs, Proshippers, etc. } and any defenders of lolicon/shotacon/pedophilia in media.

› RAPISTS and any defenders of: “Consensual-Nonconsensual”, rape “jokes”, or victim blaming. Anyone who forgives rapists.

› ZOOPHILES and any defenders of zoophilic behavior.

› Anyone who villainizes mental illness or, conversely, romanticizes/idolizes it.

› Supporters of the United States government, the Israel government, etc.

› Anyone who glorifies serial killers. Anyone who glorifies stalkers and/or yandere tropes.

› People who focus their “activism” on pretty discourse (pronouns, slurs, etc.) OR use “activism” as a means for social media fame/profit

› NFT community

› … More to come as items are remembered.

to bring it to a close, a final note . . . remember to be skeptical. do research. being well-informed is crucial in the modern world. - . *

[allmyfriendsareheathens]

Welcome Bitches, Bros, and Non-Binary hoes my blog

Let's get the basics out of the way

Name(or rather nickname): Mothy(this one is permanent this time)

Age:[redacted]

Sexuality: Pan AroAce

Gender: Whatever I feel like at the moment

Pronouns: They/He/She

Nationality: Dominican/USAmerican

Ethnicity: Hispanic Latina

Hobbies: Drawing, listening to music, writing, psychology, reading

Favorite color: Purple

Now time for my interests!(aka what you can expect to see here)

TV/Web Shows

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

South Park

Beavis and Butthead

Bluey

The Powerpuff Girls

My Little Pony

Bob's Burgers

Teen Titans

Precure

Love Live(Aqours especially)

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

The Amazing World of Gumball

The Amazing Digital Circus

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

Eddsworld

Death Note

K-On

Yuru Yuri

Smiling Friends

Movies

M3GAN

Barbie(2023)

Trolls

Shrek franchise

Encanto

Music

Rina Sawayama

Hayley Kiyoko

Vocaloid

Melanie Martinez

MARINA

Gorillaz

Mamamoo

Pink Fantasy

Set It Off

Gwen Stefani/No Doubt

The Killers

Avril Lavigne

Cher Llyod

Charli XCX

NewJeans

The Chainsmokers

Imagine Dragons

Maroon 5

The Weeknd

Paramore

TV Girl

Video Games

Project Sekai

Doki Doki Liturature Club

Super Mario Bros

Five Nights at Freddy's

Class of '09

Misc.

Sanrio

Lost Media

High Class Homos

Spicy Mints

Blorbos

Blog rules

Porn blogs will be blocked

No outright NSFW allowed

I won't post about current events or any of that stuff, not because I don't care(I do), but because these kinds of things make me kinda uncomfortable, and this blog is meant to be an escape from reality

As with other blogs,please be kind and respectful

Where else can you find me?

Pinterest

Letterboxd

Project Sekai ID

[yungvenuz]

Game of the Year List 2023

Honorable Mentions: Touhou: Artificial Dream in Arcadia: I love the oddball mashup of shmup and dungeon crawler mechanics, but I ended up losing interest before the end of the game. In Stars and Time: Still playing this game. I like it so far, but I didn't want to rush it through to get it on this list. It'll go on next year's list if I like it enough. Stuffo the Puzzle Bot: Really great soundtrack. Still on regular rotation.

10. Super Snail (IOS and Android)

This is a difficult inclusion. Super Snail is an Evil game. It's the most monetized game I've ever played. Every screen you can visit can trigger a special offer for a pile of goodies you don't need that you can buy with real money. It's a mobile gacha game, through and through, designed to eat up time and attention and offer back a distant illusion of progress that you could surely expedite, if you were just willing to kick in ten bucks for one of its dozens of customized season passes…. So, why is this game on this list?

Developer QCPlay was already on my radar from previous release Gumball and Dungeons, a similarly high effort mobile game (amusingly originally intended as a Dragon Quest game, until they failed to secure the license and were forced to sand all the iconic teardrops off their slimes and call them gumballs instead). Despite their willingness to indulge in all the awful trends of mobile game markets, these are real, proper game designers, who have buried a real, actual game under all of Super Snail's idle timers and base management bullshit.

Super Snail is constantly shifting, adding new layers of complexity and shaking up existing mechanics. It's the only gacha game I'm aware of in which your gacha machine can be stolen from you temporarily if you use it too much, forcing you to wait on spending tickets until the thief decides its rates are too shit to bother with and returns it to you. There's a dating sim mechanic in which various characters met in your travels (male, female, or both) will find out about your secret base and decide to mooch off you, which is some of the funniest writing in the game.

On that note, the writing is weirdly good for a game that's approximately 80% random pop culture references. The eight demon lords you've been tasked with defeating by the mysterious god "Earth's Will" all have detailed and consistent backstories. There are a few honest-to-god effective twists in the plot, and a lingering question about how shady the god you've signed your life to actually is.

A predatory mobile game shouldn't deserve one minute of my attention, let alone one of the coveted slots on my illustrious top ten list, but Super Snail spits in the face of all that, and god. I can't stop thinking about it, about how many interesting game design lessons are nestled within its strange and evil exterior. So, by compromise, it's grudgingly earned my #10. Just, for god's sake, if any of this backhanded review piques your interest, set a budget for yourself and don't exceed it for any reason.

9. BOSSGAME: The Final Boss is Your Heart (Steam)

BOSSGAME is an action rpg about two dirtbag lesbians, Sophie and Anna, trying to earn rent money by taking random mercenary work in the big city. The story is low pressure fun, with a little melodrama mixed in to spice things up. The plot is needs-suiting, even maybe good, but the reason this game is on the list is the gameplay.

BOSSGAME is really, really fun to play. It uses a combat system reminiscent of the Mario and Luigi rpgs in which both party members are controlled simultaneously. Enemies telegraph attacks that need to be blocked using the left or right side of the gamepad based on character, draining stamina. Attacking also drains stamina, so a careful balance of offense and defense needs to be maintained to survive. Most interestingly, there's no turns: enemies repeat attack patterns usually without waiting for a counterattack, so combat becomes a brain-bending routine of multitasking, with one character needing to block attacks while the other sneaks in some damage. A combo system encourages keeping up constant pressure, with the reward being increased progress toward a super attack that can briefly stun bosses and allow some easy hits before returning to defensive play. The end result is fast paced, engaging, and totally unique combat that was fun to learn for each of the dozens of boss fights in the game.

I'm glad this game ended up being good enough to recommend here, not just because I, too, am lesbian, but because I love designers that are willing to take a chance on unique control schemes. Part of the fun of playing BOSSGAME was getting to learn how to play without being able to rely on any of the muscle memory I've accrued over years of playing other action games. I only wish it weren't so short. Of all the games on this list, this is the one I would most want to see expanded into a full 40-60 hour RPG epic.

8. Slay the Princess (Steam)

A Myers-Briggs test for fetishes. Keep that in mind whenever anybody who tries to talk to you about their favorite "route". Great writing though

7. EDF 5 (Steam)

My official Multiplayer Game Experience of the Year. The EDF (EDF! EDF! EDF!) series is an alien invasion resistance simulator that exists somewhere between Dynasty Warriors and Monster Hunter in gameplay. I've known about the series for a long time, and I had assumed it was the kind of loud dumb fun that makes for punchy clips but wears out its welcome quickly. To be clear, it definitely is loud, and dumb, and fun, but it also has significantly more mechanical depth and complexity than I expected, which kept it fresh and engaging for as long as I played it.

Mechanics like building destruction and corpse hitboxes looks like they're just they're there for spectacle at first, but as levels progress and more and more aggressive enemy types are introduced, these seemingly incidental details take on more and more importance as you need to manage cover and enemy sight lines more effectively. This is the game's most potent tool, I think: everything that makes it great as a ridiculous carnage sandbox has been meticulously designed to also work in the higher difficulty levels to deliver a genuinely tense and highly mobile shooter.

6. Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayers (Steam)

A boomer shooter in the same canon as Hypnospace Outlaw, partially developed by troubled teen ZANE_ROCKS_14 and polished up for release 22 years later. For an elaborate shitpost, it's very well made, but what most interests me about it is its contradictory nature. Outwardly, it's completely juvenile and silly about everything it does, filled with poop jokes and mouthy rats and evil stepdads. Underneath that, there's the deep melancholy of a 36 year old desperately trying to relive the last time in his life that he felt cool.

all the levels in the game faithfully recreate scenes of Zane's Idaho childhood, from ritzy suburban neighborhoods to car parks to the local fair, but they're all just a little bit too eerily empty for the settings they're trying to evoke. The protagonist's sincere love for his mother completely clashes with the badass attitude he brings to every other scene. Zane put his all into voice acting the protagonist's lines, while every other character sounds like they're reciting lines into their phone in a bathroom. The end result is a masterpiece in immersive game design, meticulously arranged to feel like it came from a very specific time and place in a fictional alternate universe. It's so effective that even the parts that don't work can be argued as a deliberate part of the overall period piece, like the confusingly short penultimate level or unnecessarily annoying final boss.

5. Cobalt Core (Steam)

A card battler built around spaceship combat. It should be immediately apparent to anybody who's played a lot of Slay-The-Spire-likes that Cobalt Core is on the easier side, but that's a deliberate choice here, in an effort to create an engaging narrative experience rather than a perfectly tuned progression treadmill. While Inscryption (another narrative card battler) managed its story by bringing the player away from the cards for cutscenes or escape room sequences, Cobalt Core delivers everything within its roguelike framework, even going as far as coming up with a time loop justification for why the player is repeating runs to progress the story.

In that regard it compares more closely to Hades than other card battlers, and I also think that's a good comparison because I really like the characters and character interactions in Cobalt Core. Each round starts with the selection of three of the (after finishing a short period of unlocks) 7 crewmates available to play with, and every combination of characters has interesting discussions and interactions between them. Characters also have lines to acknowledge specific artifacts, cards, or game states (like big damage or status effects) that offers a level of reactivity to make each run that much more unique. Also like Hades, there's a concrete ending sequence. Backstory for each crewmate is delivered piecemeal throughout the game, and while there aren't any earthshattering twists or revelations, the ending does a good job of tying everything together for a proper sendoff.

Shoutout to Riggs. Best possum in the galaxy.

!Great Soundtrack Alert!

4. Going Down (2014 Doom wad) (Doomworld File Depot)

This year, I played MyHouse.wad. More and more people were talking about it, and I wanted to give it a try myself before someone randomly spoiled it for me. I didn't end up caring for it much! It did some interesting things, and it was definitely well made, but I'm not that interested in the creepypasta style it was going for.

It did pique my interest in the rich ecosystem of Doom modding that's been quietly trucking along for 30 years before myhouse ever released, though. A friend recommended Going Down, which I found to be terrific, and then I spent the rest of the year playing random wads (level packs) whenever I didn't have anything else to do. Doom has become invaluable to me as a podcast game, especially as I've only just been able to extract myself from Tactical Nexus's cunning grasp this year.

So, without further ado: The Official Doom Wads of the Year Minilist:

10 Struggle: Antaresian Legacy - Most of the levels in this wad focus on low-pressure exploration, but my favorites were the wide-open chaotic battles. I especially like the capstone levels of the first two chapters (maps 11 and 20), which both feature massive arenas with hundreds of enemies active at once. 9 Ancient Aliens - A collab megawad with great aesthetic and theming. Level quality is inconsistent, which makes sense given how many authors were involved, but the best levels in the wad are excellent. 8 Dust Devil - A short campaign of two interconnected levels with a bunch of interesting custom content. The use of grenade launchers and shielded enemies was especially cool, and not something I expected the doom engine to be able to do. 7 Lullaby - A stylish single-map wad in a decidedly undoomlike blue dreamland. There's only five or so major setpiece encounters, but they're all very memorable. 6 Doom 2 - I love how experimental the design in Doom 2 is, especially given that the entire genre of fps was brand new at this point in history. there's abstract levels, puzzle levels, diagetic cityscapes, and more. It's easy to see its influence in every fps to ever follow in its wake. 5 Overboard - A newer wad by the same author of Going Down with a great gimmick- the first five levels are followed by a set of hard mode remixes that use the same maps with more aggressive enemy arrangements. I particularly liked the last map of hard mode, which is identical to its normal mode variant except that it spawns all 500 enemies in the moment the level starts instead of deploying in piecemeal waves as it does in the original. 4 The Thing You Can't Defeat - An experimental remix of the first chapter of Doom 1. Very interesting premise and punchline. If you liked MyHouse.wad, I'd highly recommend checking it out. 3 Tarnsman's Projectile Hell - This is the first touhou game I've played, technically. Deviously difficult design with an emphasis on long distance hitscan enemies that would be extremely annoying in the hands of a level designer any less obviously talented than Tarnsman. 2 Unloved - An ambitious continuous campaign that takes place in a Silent Hill-esque house with several portals to distorted nightmare realms. I like that small amounts of progress are made in each level at a time with frequent revisits to the main hub, and I love the dark atmosphere. Very creepy. Also insanely difficult. 1 Going Down - My favorite by a long shot. The amount of variety in level and encounter design is incredible on its own, but I particularly like the care that went into giving each level a unique identity that still makes sense in the context of the wad's premise (taking an elevator floor by floor down into the depths of hell). Every level is meticulously designed to use the entire space, usually multiple times as later encounters in each level usually reuse the same arenas with additional twists on the layout and enemy deployments.

3. Pizza Tower (Steam)

A fluid platformer heavily inspired by the Wario Land games. Its most notable design choice is the lack of fail state when exploring levels. There's no health bar, and falling into pits only resets the room, so there's no significant pressure until the timed escape sequence at the end of each level. That's not to say the game lacks challenge, though. Far from it- the challenge comes not from reaching the end of each room, but in doing so as efficiently as possible. Pizza Tower's principle antagonist is the 5 second combo timer in the top right, forcing a constant stream of action. Every level has just enough stuff in each room to allow a single combo to be carried from start to level finish, which confers the coveted P Rank medal on level completion.

Full P Rank completion is what I spent three months obsessively chasing at the start of this year. Movement in Pizza Tower is so fluid, and so satisfying to learn how to fully utilize, that I couldn't resist going for it. I got so far into it that after finishing the game, I went back in immediately for an optional challenge that requires full P rank completion of the game in less than 4 hours, which required being able to clear each level with perfect consistency.

!Great Soundtrack Alert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWoTeTZL-C8

2. Beton Brutal (Steam)

The trailer for Beton Brutal immediately spoke to me. I've been a fan of persistent-state platforming games for ages, and it's a sorely underserved genre (mostly lurking in MMOs and player-made levels for games like Mario Maker). I like the emphasis on meditative upward progress, and I especially like the increasing pressure that builds as each subsequent jump risks losing more progress than the previous. Beton Brutal's developer was able to deliver this perfectly while also maintaining a consistent and interesting visual style (a stark contrast to the dreadful nft tie-in climbing game Only Up, which also released this year).

For weeks, I opened Beton Brutal after work and played for thirty minutes to an hour, usually seeing some small amount of new progress before inevitably taking a long fall and rage quitting for the day. I don't think I can call this the hardest game I've ever played, given that there's an entire community of people that can complete the entire climb in less than ten minutes, but I do think I'm uniquely poorly suited for games like this, given the extreme precision required. Still, that made it all the more satisfying to finally complete the game after almost exactly 20 hours of effort.

Three months later the DLC "Beton Bath", with another 500 meter tower with new obstacles, mechanics, and visual aesthetic (themed after public pool equipment, which honestly looks great decorating the tower), released. This dlc had mixed reviews, but it cemented this game as a whole as a favorite for me. The new tower has a very different design approach, with more focus on interpreting strange geometry, seeking out aggressive shortcuts, and taking giant leaps of faith. The last 100 meters particularly impressed me, with numerous falls onto trampolines 80 meters below to stride the entire tower in one jump and reach new ladders, before climbing just a few meters higher and repeating the process back to the opposite side.

trying to settle on which screenshot to include with the entry was agonizing, so I'm going to post a bunch more here. I love how this game looks.

Don't worry about the vertigo meter in the bottom left. It's probably nothing to worry about.

Void Stranger (Steam)

Void Stranger is a tile-based puzzle game featuring a magic wand that can pick tiles up and place them elsewhere. Help the noble handmaiden Gray delve into the 256th floor of the mysterious Void to fulfill her heart's desire, learning more about her past by peeking into her memories as she rests at checkpoints along the way.

…But that's not sufficient to describe it, really. The best way I can come up with to describe what Void Stranger actually is, is as a seemingly normal block-pushing puzzle game that's had an entire additional Myst-like adventure game layered over it. The puzzle game is real, and it can be engaged with honestly from start to finish, but the true fun of the game (and several of its many, many possible endings) comes from interpreting obscure clues in the lore and interface to dive deeper.

The more that's learned, the easier it is to navigate the underlying puzzle game. Almost every object in the game has hidden mechanics related to it, opening up easier routes through initially difficult puzzles or allowing the use of shortcuts to skip floors entirely. Once these tricks are mastered, only thirty or so of the game's 256 floors even need to be visited to complete a run, and most of them can be cleared in seconds.

That's a good thing, too, because there's a lot of travel to specific floors needed to find all the secrets in the game. This is a game that thrives on friction in its play experience, which means it's definitely not going to be a game for everybody. If clues regarding certain shortcuts or secrets are missed, it can add a lot of unnecessary work to completing the game. But I personally love that kind of obscurity in games, and I really appreciate that the developer System Erasure (who made the similarly excellent ZeroRanger) was willing to take a chance on a niche-of-a-niche genre that could really speak to its core demographic: me specifically.

I'm not going to talk much about the plot, because most of it is deeply tangled with the Void Stranger's deepest secrets. That said, I appreciate that every route through the game, even the ones that don't engage with all the secret hunting, have been given fully fledged stories. Even the bad ending has a fucking awesome finale, to the extent that I would recommend seeking it out before engaging with the rest of the game's content (if you get offered a fruit, go ahead and eat it!)

Void Stranger is good enough to make it onto my top ten list of games of all time. I've put it at #6, just behind Iji and just ahead of Full Bore. Everything about it is fucking awesome. Check it out!

!Great Soundtrack Alert!