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fanauthorworkshop · 2 months

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Applications now open!

The Fall 2024 Fanauthor Workshop is a 7-week writing course led by Betts (@bettsfic). The workshop lends a supportive space to writers who identify as fans to receive constructive feedback on fanfiction, original fiction, or creative nonfiction.

Art by @emimayooo 💖

Where & When

We meet weekly over Zoom. You can apply for one of two sessions:

Group A: Wednesdays from Oct. 9 - Nov. 20, 12-2pm EST

Group B: Mondays from Oct. 7 - Nov. 18, 6-8pm EST

What

FAW is a feedback-oriented workshop with the occasional generative session. This means that each week we read 2 pieces submitted by participants, offer written feedback, and discuss them over Zoom. You'll be able to sign up for the week you would like to workshop your own piece, which can be anything under 6k words.

There may be weeks where, in lieu of workshopping, I present external readings and writing exercises. These sessions will be dependent on the number of participants. For example, if we have 10 participants and 6 workshop weeks, that means one week will be devoted to a reading discussion and generative activity.

I developed a workshop model that focuses mostly on affirmations and positivity, as well as descriptive over prescriptive feedback, which is to say, describing one's experience of reading rather than prescribing solutions to perceived problems. We also present improvement-oriented feedback, but avoid negativity, judgment, and pedantry. Week 1 is spent going over the model and how to give feedback.

About FAW

The first FAW was held in 2017 as an independent study in my MFA. I restarted it in 2022 and since then have led 9 sessions with a total of over 50 participants, about half of whom have participated in the workshop more than once.

Participation in the workshop includes entrance into the FAW community, an active Discord server where we host:

Ongoing accountability meetings, where we chat over Zoom about our projects and set goals for ourselves every other week

A monthly longform writing workshop, where writers can workshop any story between 6k and 100k words

A short story club, where we read and chat about original short form works

Events and activities like movie nights and co-op gaming

Scheduled write-ins and impromptu writing sprints

We also chat about writing and craft, offer resources, and share many, many pet photos.

In addition, participants of the workshop receive:

A one-hour consultation with me to go over your workshop feedback, come up with a plan for revision and/or publication, or anything else you’d like to discuss regarding your writing

Open enrollment in future workshops

Priority sign-ups for WTFS (Write the Fucking Story), WIP Cleanout, and other one-off generative sessions

Eligibility

Anyone over the age of 18 who considers themselves a participant of fandom and who is familiar with fanfiction may apply. A stable internet connection is also required.

Cost

The cost of the workshop is "pay what you can" with the recommended amount of $300. To be as inclusive as possible, I don't want money to be a deterrent for anyone interested in participating.

Payment (or notification of nonpayment) will be requested prior to the start of workshop via PayPal, Venmo, or Wise. You can also pay in installments.

Application requirements

To apply, you will need:

An informal cover letter discussing your fan history and goals as a (fan)writer (more specific instructions on submittable)

A short sample of your writing, either original work or fanfiction. This may be previously published/posted

You can apply via submittable. Applications close September 15.

FAQ under the cut

FAQ

Are there any content restrictions to what I can workshop?

The only restriction is word count (max 6k), with the following caveats:

If you workshop a piece in a form other than prose (for example, a script), your peers may not be able to offer constructive feedback on that aspect of the work. Participants are asked only to have a familiarity with prose.

Content warnings are required for each piece (if applicable), and participants who are uncomfortable reading certain subject matter may abstain from your workshop.

What is the time commitment of the workshop?

As a participant of the workshop, you'll be asked to:

Workshop any piece of your own prose up to 6k words, which will need to be uploaded to the group folder one week before your workshop.

Read 2 pieces per week, write out your individual crit, and attend the workshop itself.

What is the timeline of the workshop?

In week 1, we go over the syllabus and do a writing exercise. Weeks 2 through 7 will be a workshop, a discussion of an external reading, or a writing activity. Prior to the start of workshop, you'll be able to sign up for the week you would like to workshop your piece.

Structure of the sessions:

Question of the day

First workshop

Short break

Second workshop

We'll go over my workshop model and the syllabus in week 1.

Do I have to participate in the Zoom meetings (camera and mic on)?

Attending the workshop itself is required, and everyone is asked to offer at least one note of positive feedback on each piece, so mics are necessary. Cameras are preferred but not required.

You can't asynchronously participate, i.e. read the pieces and offer written feedback without attending the sessions.

Can workshop participants submit to OFIC Magazine?

Yes! Part of the reason I run the workshop is to inspire and promote the original work of fanwriters. You can follow us on tumblr @oficmag.

Who is running the workshop?

@bettsfic! In short, I lived a dreary cubicle life as a banker until I found fanfiction at 24. I loved it so much that I quit my job to get an MFA in creative writing. I loved the MFA so much that I became a writing teacher. I have some publications, awards, an agent, and 2 million words of fic on ao3. I don't have a book out yet but I'm getting there.

Currently I'm a writing coach and freelance editor. I also have a lowkey writing-related newsletter. And I've been answering writing advice asks on my blog for 10 years.

If you want an idea of the kind of writing activities I create, last summer I worked with @books on a workshop series which includes craft essays and some fun prompts.

If you're interested in my original work, my short story "Not If, When" is a good representation of my writing. For something darker, check out "Shut Up and Kill Me."

What is the workshop like?

Check out G's experience of attending the workshop. And here's some feedback from previous participants.

One final note: I'm working on updating the copy about the workshop on my website and move it over to OFIC's website. This post and Submittable has the most updated information on the workshop. If you have questions about discrepancies (or anything at all), you can shoot me an ask, DM me, or add me on Discord (I'm bettsfic there too). Or you can email me at [email protected].

#faw fa24 #fanauthor workshop

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redmarqar · 4 months

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0 Days without an accident huh? What was each mercs last accident then?

waking up i suppose

btw if you ever wondered that blog caption is a reference to an in-game poster at ummmm tc_hydro i think (that zero days joke is also common in some media as i noticed eventually)

also while we're here shoutout to all ingame posters n signs in general they're hilarious

these are my faws

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faffreux · 5 months

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SAVE THE DATE

THE DATE FOR WHAT, YOU SAY?! FOR THE ULTIMATE BEAN WEDDING OF THE AGES!! (But what are you even SAYING, Faff?!) I'm saying Fawful and Jolligig are getting married! AND YOU ARE INVITED!

When: July 22nd, 2024!

Time: 4PM EST

Location: An entirely new discord server that you can join and celebrate in for 2-3 hours! There will be art streams and general goofery as well as a special preview of @seanhicksart's upcoming Fawful Smash Ultimate mod! Please note that the server will only exist temporarily for the purpose of the event and will close after it's ended. It will be open to the public and I'll post the link on my tumblr before it begins.

This is an all-ages, SFW only event.

Want to participate? Click here to see how!

See y'all there!

[UPDATE (7/22) The event has concluded. Thank you all for attending. <3]

#fawful #jolligig #jolliful #mario and luigi #super mario #beanparty2024

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lunareel · 11 months

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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

#bowsers bodyguard au #mario and the phantom #i think that might be the new name i call this au #im gonna test it out #master post #old master post

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redcomet-stims · 5 months

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hi!! could I get a fawful (from the Mario games Superstar Saga and Bowers Inside Job) stimboard please? thank you!!

Of course, thank you for asking!

🧪🍥🎈 Fawful (Superstar Saga/Bowser's Inside Story) stimboard for an anon with theming based on the general vibes I got! Colors: red and green ✧

To be honest, I hadn't heard of this guy before until I got this request. So naturally, I read up on him a bit! From what I know now, he's a very neat guy to me :) Based on what I read, he sounds like a pretty fun character! I read something about him using food metaphors, and I thought that was pretty funny (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) I hope I did him justice <3

Sources:

x | x | x

#mario and luigi superstar saga #fawful #superstar saga #smb #stimboard #visual stim #stimblr #red #green #spiral #red stim #green stim #spiral stim

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marinerainbow · 3 months

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Since you asked me about my Mario au tell me about yours!!!!

Thank you so much for asking me!!!

Hum... Well, my AU is nowhere NEAR yours or anybody level of awesome. But I hope you still like this! ^^

So, to begin, I do want to pinpoint that I do believe in MatPats theory that Rosalina is the daughter of Luigi and Peach. I know that MatPat has a reputation of WAY overthinking things, and I don't agree with all of his theories, but I like this one. And the reason, as he also put in his video, for how Rosalina can be the same age as Peach, how Peach can be alive even though Rosalina's mother is dead, and why she would choose Luigi over Mario, is because the Mario Universe's galaxy basically resets itself every 100 years with various differences; Rosalina is from a previous cycle of the galaxy, and since now she's a part of the ship and with the lumas, she is nearly immortal.

The reason I took the time to get into that theory is that I applied that to my AU. The galaxy resets itself every 100 years or so with little differences here and there, hence the various inconsistencies throughout the Mario Franchise. (This is partially so I can have the excuse to have multiple Mario AU's and just claim it's another galaxy cycle 😅 but also because I genuinely think this is cool ^^) for now, we'll talk about the current galexy cycle. Or at least my version of it.

Since there is SOOOO much to dissect in the Mario universe, I'll try to cover a little bit of everybody. Or at least the main crew. If you want individual headcannons, feel free to ask! ^^ I'm gonna do this in bullet points since I feel that format will be better for this.

The World

Even though Rosalina states 100 years as the galaxy's cycle time in Super Mario Galexy, I'm gonna stretch this too... 1,000 years, at least. Because think about it; one century isn't as long as you may think. Peach, Mario, Daisy and Luigi can all be born and grow old to be 100, and maybe not even die considering the oldest person alive is 117 years old, a whole new galexy is supposed to be born within one or two generations?? It doesn't exactly sit right with me tbh. So even though it's explicitly stated in the Mario canon... I'm gonna toss that out the window for my AU 😅😅😅

I know that the Mario TV shows are considered non-canon, but I do draw inspiration from them; in the sense that in this cycle at least, Mario and Luigi did originate from Brooklyn and accidentally found a magic pipe that took them to the world of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and Luigi, after getting over the initial panic, decided to lay low and continue their jobs as plumbers in this strange world while trying to find a way to get back home (as plumbers, they can get closer to pipes anywhere and can easier find a pipe that can take them home). It wasn't until that they witnessed Bowser kidnapping Peach while fixing the pipes of her castle that they were promoted to heros.

Speaking of Princess Peach's World, everything is bigger here. Like, everything. From the plants, the wildlife, the coins, and even the people. That's why we have gold coins as big as Mario's head, and why Bowser Jr., a b a b y, is half his size. I headcannon Luigi to be 6'2 and Mario to be 5'3, which although is still small for the average man... Princess Peach is 7'3. Yeah. Which compared to Bowser, that's still small. They truly are the land of giants. Toads are considered some of the smallest inhabitants of this world, as well as other characters such as Fawful. (I heard that Nintendo made Mario's official height to be 5'1, which would make the other characters a more reasonable size when you do the math... But this is a different cycle of the galexy (*cough* my personal AU) so XD)

From now on, I'm gonna refer to the world as The Strangelands. This is the world as a whole, not one specific land like The Darklands or The Mushroom Kingdom. They have their own separate space and galexy from us, hence why we aren't affected by the galaxy rebirth. The land where the fairies of 3D world come from, however, is also a separate universe from the Strangelands, and that's part of why their pipes are transparent rather than green. Ever since Mario and Friends and Bowser discovered the land of the fairies, it's become more accessible... And yet Mario and Luigi still can't find a pipe back to their world 🥲

Building up on that; the boos are a separate entity from ghosts. We see in Luigi's Mansion both boos and ghosts of various shapes and sizes. The boos have never been alive, or at least not as humans or toads or anything. They are the natural born citizens of the Strangelands' underworld- or rather, The Underlands, as they are called in this universe. It's where you go when you die regardless of the kind of person you were in the Strangelands, and King Boo rules over the afterlife. He sets up haunted mansions up in the land of the living both for fun and to 'recruit' more ghosts... Since boos are aggressive towards Mario and Friends when they enter the houses, use your imagination on what this recruitment process entails.

Peach, the Toads, and the Mushroom Kingdom

I'm gonna say that for my AU, Peach is an adopted Strangelands human of the Mushroom King and Queen. For whatever reason, they couldn't produce an heir, but found Peach when she was a baby. That's why Peach looks different from the toads.

The clothes and building materials of the Mushroom Kingdom are made from the fibers of the kingdoms own mushrooms and toadstools. It allows the clothes to grow back when they get torn or something, and the houses and buildings can easily recover from an invasion (afterall, we were able to create bricks out of fungal mycelium that can literally grow. Why not have the same be true for the toads?) The clothes are also pretty soft despite not being cotton, silk, or anything of the like. Which is why Kamek and Luigi canonically love Peach's dress... And also it's because her fashion is on point.

As we know, Peach is becoming bigger than just a damsel in distress. In my AU, Peach took a vow of pacifism when she took the throne, believing that that was the true path. However, the more that Bowser kidnaps her and the more threats that she encounters, Peach has been starting to get tired of it and learning how to defend herself with Daisy as her mentor. She's still the sweet, kindhearted princess and would rather avoid conflict. But she's not afraid to fight some koopas anymore. (Bowser thinks it's hot-)

According to the original games' manual, the goombas were traitorous toads of the Mushroom Kingdom. The reason why they look so different from the toads is because the magic in the Darklands corrupted their forms, making them closer resemble the very fungai of their former home.

The Mario Kart and sports games take place in the far future, when Peach and Bowser are finally on peaceful relations like she had always hoped. She now always invites him and his family to the tournaments. It took a while for the toads to trust him, considering his reputation, but in good time, he was accepted in the Mushroom Kingdom again ^^ in fact, Iggy helped invent the gravity defying wheels we see in Mario Kart 8.

Bowser, the Koopa Kids, and The Darklands

Toadsworth and his wife, the grandma toad in Mario RPG, are basically the Kameks of the Mushroom Kingdom; being Peach's advisors and teaching her what magic they know. Granted, their magic is more light than Kamek's, but it was how Peach was able to change her citizens back to normal after Bowser turned them into bricks, stones, and horsetail plants in the first game/kidnapping.

Speaking of horsetail plants; they are considered illegal in the Mushroom Kingdom with how deadly they are to the citizens. They can make a toad gravely ill just by being near them, and is the most effective poison against a toad, being able to kill them in mere minutes after consumption. And, with various things in the kingdom being made of mushrooms, the horsetail plants can also potentially destroy the very foundation of the city. Bowser intended on taking the mushrooms of the kingdom and turned some of the citizens into the plants to keep any potential survivors away from the princess, and once he took full control he would turn the toads that were bricks and stones back to normal since they know how to create these mycelium inbued buildings.

Mushrooms in real life can boost plants' immune systems and even defend them when they are connected to their 'shroom network. The same applies to the mushrooms of the kingdom. In fact, because these are magical mushrooms, it makes Peach's Kingdom not only the healthiest, lushest and most colorful place in the Strangelands, but it also means her land is the most valuable for agriculture. Not only could you grow whatever you want in the kingdom's soil, but it can also thrive. If the Mushroom Kingdom was in charge of our farming, we would have so much produce we wouldn't know what to do with it! Those $6 boxes of strawberries could go down to as little as 50 cents! No wonder people are constantly invading Peach's kingdom!

The initial reason why Bowser kidnaps Peach in the first place was A) part of his plan to conquer and rule all of the Strangelands, and B) because her lands' mushrooms are valuable for the reasons I stated above and then some. However, at some point, he fell in love with the princess in pink and his kidnappings became less hostile (as in, unlike the first time, he'll leave the toads alone for the most part. He'll still cause destruction, but he doesn't go out of his way to kill anyone. Except the Mario brothers since they are constantly in his way and wrecking his plans). He wants to court Peach, but after the first time, he's pretty certain that she only sees him as a monster. So he thinks that the only way to get her to even look his way, let alone get her to talk to him, is by force. But as we see in the Super Mario Wonder promotion video, we see Bowser is starting to try more gentler tactics of charming Peach when he offers her flowers. It doesn't excuse his actions, but my version of Bowser just wants Peach to love him back.

He does love Peach for her, but he also gained memories of a past incarnation of the galexy where they were genuinely in love. He's not sure how these memories exist, or why they only came to mind when he first met Peach, but it did spur him to find answers, and that led to his falling for the princess (in this world, there are only a few characters who remember their pasts lives. Kamek is one of them, and he used an experimental spell to jog Bowsers memory, and later on the koopalings and Junior once he perfected the spell. And that's how Junior knows that Peach isn't his mama without her or Bowser telling him otherwise. But he and the koopalings still want her to be their mother)

The reason why we see so many dry koopas in the darklands is because the darklands are the closest connection to the underworld. Like you're more likely to find a pipe to the underworld in Bowsers castle than in Sarasaland or sonething. That's also part of why Bowser and King Boo have developed an alliance. Boo has taught Bowser the secret of his paintings, hence Super Mario 64, and provides him a way to utilize his citizens who have passed away. In return, Bowser agreed to allow King Boo reign over part of the Stranfelans whenever he takes over. As long as each of his kids still get their own kingdoms.

Speaking of the Koopalings; kamek only casted the spell on them after their own first encounter with Peach. The kids were confused as to why Bowser would go to such lengths for Peach, but when they got to interact with her, she was... Actually, very nice to them. Almost maternal. Peach couldn't believe Bowser had children and was even afraid for them, considering she's only seen his tyrannical side. For the brief time she interacted with them, she expressed concern and care for their wellbeing and even got to play with some of them like Lemmy, before Mario rescued her. That was enough to convince the Koopalings they needed Peach in their lives, but once they got to remember the past cycle where she was their mother, they really started to get involved in Bowsers schemes to get her back... Even if they are exasperated with him not just talking with her 😅

Wendy: Dad, trust me. Us girls love it when a guy just walks up to us and tells us how we feel! You need to try it!

Bowser: Hm... Maybe-

Bowser: Wait! Have there been boys talking to you, Wendy!?

Wendy: -_- Dad, if there were, Roy would have beaten them up by now.

Bowser: Well, as your father, I need to get a beating in myself! Where are they!?

Wendy: *facepalms*

Edit: I originally said that Bowser requested Kamek to jog his children's memories, but I realized the plothole in that; if he knew that the kids knew that Peach was only their mother in a past life, why did he look so guilty, shocked, and was almost crying when Junior confessed to him that he knew Peach wasn't really his mama? So I fixed it, and Kamek did it on the koopalings request instead, when they snuck in his lab and read his notes on this whole thing. Bowser only finds out later. (Also, Bowser up above is threatening to beat up the hypothetical boys that talked to Wendy not only because he's protective, but because he figured out she's a lesbian and isn't tolerating some guy putting the moves on her. Wendy hasn't told him yet, he's just waiting for her to come out if at all. He's intense, but he's got the spirit.)

In this galexy cycle, Bowser birthed Junior himself (I saw a headcannon floating around that koopas can reproduce with another, or by themselves, and I love that ^^), but adopted the koopalings in different times. Ludwig came first, followed closely by Iggy. Larry. Mortan. Roy and Wendy were adopted around the same time. And finally Lemmy. Junior was born a little before Roy and Wendy came into the picture, and has very vague memories of first being introduced to Lemmy. Other than that, as far as he's aware, his siblings have been with him from the beginning.

As for the Koopalings' ages, I do mostly agree with the mainly agreed census that their order of appearance in Super Mario Bros 3 is indicating their ages; Ludwig, Lemmy, Roy, Iggy, Wendy, Mortan, and Larry... I say I mostly agree with this because I actually headcannon Lemmy to be the youngest of them all next to Junior. Just- LOOK AT HIM!? He's so baby!! I know, he could very easily just be immature and short for his age... But he is the true baby of the Koopalings in my heart.

Rosalina and the Lumas

As for Kamek, he's been working on this memory spell for some time. The past... 50 or so galexy cycles, in fact. It's only before the lumas sacrificed themselves in SMG that he finally cracked it, after experimenting on himself and other koopas (one cycle, he even accidentally wiped all of his memories and had amnesia for the rest of his life. Fortunately, he had all of his memories back in the next cycle and made a mental note not to do what he did to cause that again 😅)

As stated above, Rosalina is from a previous cycle where she was Peach's and Luigi's daughter. It did take her some tie to get used to witnessing new timeliness where her mother fell in love with Mario instead, or stayed single. Bowser being her mothers love interst especially threw her off. Though, because of that, she has developed a tiny sense of a big sister role with Junior and the Koopalings. It grew when she got to meet and interact with them in Mario Kart, though she keeps her secrets from them; they don't know that she's technically their sister from another timeline.

By the end of Super Mario Galexy, Rosalina has made her presence known to the cast, and has decided to be more hands on from now on as her role of watcher of the galexy. She comes to the Strangelands to physically check in more often, and that allowed Peach to invite her to the kingdoms events. Rosalina hasn't told Peach of her true identity, though the princess does feel a strange, maternal warmth towards her that she can't explain.

The reason why Rosalina and the lumas were so involved in SMG was because of the black hole. It was unexpected, and they stepped in hoping to help Mario stop it, but he couldn't. That's why the lumas sacrificed themselves to emergency reset the whole galexy before it's scheduled time. It's because of that emergency cycle that the cast are still around rather than being reborn as their ancestors and clearly remember everything.

Just because Rosalina has accepted her role as watcher of the galexy, doesn't mean she's too happy about it. I mean, she has to watch her family who don't even remember her continue on with different lives every 1,000 years, and is unable to communicate to them who she really is... I think Rosalina might have even developed depression at some point. She loves the lumas, but she still wishes she can truly be with her family. Even if they aren't her family anymore.

After the events of Galexy, Kamek wants to find Rosalina and figure out what the hell is going on. He remembers past lives, but doesn't know how it's even possible. But he knows Rosalina has to know, and he wants answers. He's also hoping to find a way to get everyone to remember their pasts for his own reasons. But since Rosalina lives in a spaceship, it's kind of hard to accomplish that... But hey, with the strange stoic women being invited to the Go Karting tournaments, as well as the koopas, it gives our favorite wizard a chance to finally confront Rosalina...

This is all I have so far, aside from character headcannons. I also have my own original concepts and characters. You know Princess Boolina (the poll is still going, but I'm gonna refer to her as Boolina since that's the winning name), as well as a kingdom of music with a king, queen, princess, and prince. I'm not sure if I'll develop the second one more. It depends on whether or not people would be interested and if I can figure out how to fit them in the Mario world. But I hope you like this AU! It may change as I develop it more ^^

Part of the need for the emergency reset was also because of people like Kamek trying to change the course of this cycle. In this iteration, or at least the one before the lumas sacrificed themselves, Peach was supposed to end up with Mario, but thanks to Kamek, Bowser kept getting in the way and trying his way of courting her and getting her back rather than letting this cycle run its course, to the point where he made up his own universe and caused the events leading up to the blackhole consuming everything just to have his love back. After these events, Rosalina has decided that she should keep a better eye on Bowser and Kamek in particular...

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