#i like to think that luigi also falls through a pipe

[marioxdk]

Ohhh I love your headcanons! You know what could be fun? A MarioxDK where Mario comes to JK as a kid and is raised among monkeys like tarzan 😋

Thanks for liking the headcanons!

AU where Baby Mario ends up in the Jungle Kingdom

The idea of Baby Mario crawling around in Brooklyn sewers and crawling through pipes is so funny to me

I assume he was left unsupervised and he just started wandering around and somehow ended up in a mysterious green pipe

He ends up being deposited in the Jungle Kingdom, and DK's family decides to take him in

They decide to raise him so that one day he can join the Kong army as a soldier

Mario is trained to be a warrior alongside Donkey Kong

Between sparring and battle training, DK and Mario become best friends

They are constantly hanging out and going on adventures

They become notorious for getting into trouble and doing really stupid things (it drives Cranky crazy)

The incident where they accidentally set all of the karts on fire trying to attach flamethrowers to them

Eventually, as they grow older, they start to transition from "you're my best friend" to "oh, I think I love you"

But neither of them really know how to deal with how they're starting to feel

So they both start subtly flirting with each other, just to see how it goes

It goes very well

But because they're both idiots, they don't realize how reciprocated the feelings are

Everyone can tell that they like each other, and they are so frustrated that they're not even dating

Eventually Cranky decides to have the most awkward/necessary conversation of his lifetime

Cranky: What are your intentions with my son?

Mario: Huh

Cranky: Don't play dumb, I know you both like each other, now what are you going to do about it?

Mario: I mean... I'd like to ask him out but...

Cranky: Then just do it already, I'm tired of watching you pine

Mario: ...Are you giving me permission to date your son?

Cranky: Unfortunately, yes

So Mario asks DK out, but he's super nervous about it

He kinda stumbles his way through it but luckily DK starts to understand and helps him

Mario: so... I was kinda wondering... because I... well... I like you a lot... but not just in a friend way... I mean... you're one of my best friends... but also...

DK: *hope in his eyes* ...Are you asking me out?

Mario: *nods furiously*

So they start dating, and when it comes time to fight Bowser, they do it as a couple

[pianokantzart]

By The Numbers (Pt. 1)

Luigi hoped to use one of his own special talents to give the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing company the leg-up it needed to succeed. But as usual, for all his good intentions, the younger of The Mario Brothers finds himself in over his head.

Part two: X Part three: X

Also available on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52624285

______________

When Luigi heard his brother’s gentle breaths fall away into a low snoring, he slipped out of bed and tiptoed to the closet, where his black vest, collared shirt, pleated pants, and green bow tie were folded together on a low shelf. He was glad he’d the forethought to gather everything beforehand. It was hard enough navigating his room in the dark, clumsy as he was. He hated to think what it’d be like trying to find everything piecemeal without waking anyone.

All the sports equipment and copper pipes left strewn about the floor didn't help in the slightest. By some miracle Luigi stumbled only once, bumping his shoulder painfully against his dresser. He clamped a hand over his mouth and nose to stifle a yelp, and waited with held breath to see if he’d given himself away. The mishap only elicited a small snort from Mario, who – after mumbling something under his breath– rolled over and fell right back to sleep.

Luigi let out a long sigh of relief, and after tucking his bowtie and a hair comb into his pocket he tugged on his striped socks, laced up his shoes, and plopped his bright green cap onto his head. The newsboy cap with the bright green “L” was identical to the one he wore as a child. Mario had a matching one, firetruck red and emblazoned with an “M.” Mario had insisted it be part of the uniform of their budding plumbing business, and their mother was ecstatic to put the hats together. “Budding,” as if their business had even a seed to sprout from. Quitting The Wrecking Crew felt amazing. Stepping back and realizing how much money it took to start a business of their own? That was far less pleasant. Luigi had three hundred dollars in his pocket, two hundred in his checking account, four thousand in savings. It was a fine amount for a man in his early twenties who worked a blue collar job. But even with Mario’s funds added on, plus all the tools and materials he’d gathered from his apprenticeship while working at The Wrecking Crew, there was no way they could get a business off the ground in a place like Brooklyn. If they only had a couple extra thousand… get a proper work van, some more tools, a bit of advertising… then they would stand a chance. Wearing the cap, he felt, would be good luck, and after giving the brim one more self-assuring tug, Luigi carefully opened the bedroom window and slipped out, shakily navigating his way to the fire escape, and creeping along the creaking metal to the pavement below. 

He couldn’t believe he was doing this. He had planned it, researched it, and thought about it constantly, but he couldn’t believe he was actually going through with it. This felt like the kind of crazy scheme Mario would come up with. Anyone else would assume this was something Mario had talked him into, but no, this was all him... one hundred percent Luigi. Maybe his brother was finally rubbing off on him. Luigi hoped so. If their dream was going to be realized, then they both needed to be a little reckless.

On his way to the subway station Luigi stopped once to look in the reflection of a shop window, where he brushed his mustache and put on his bowtie. That was the last moment of true clarity he had during his journey, which quickly descended into an anxious blur of dimly lit tunnels, rumbling trains, and crowded streets as he shifted like a man possessed to the nearest Casino, already echoing with the hustle and bustle of Saturday night.

Luigi paused at the door. He loosened his bowtie to try and swallowed away the lump growing in his throat. He whispered one more quiet “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” then forced himself to step through the glimmering doors into the mayhem.

Walking through the maze of bells, music, muddled conversation, cheers, shouts, and blinking lights, he fully realized just how unaccustomed he was to being without his brother. Mario always entered unfamiliar situations like this with boldness, friendly and confident, as though he had every life experience under his belt. When Mario was around everything came easy to Luigi, there was not a single worry about how he looked, what steps to take, where to go, or what was the right thing to say or do, he simply walked in step with Mario and everything worked out in the end. Every now and then Luigi glanced around for his brother in the half second it took for him to remember that he had come here alone. In these instances he took a deep breath, counted the colors in the room, and rubbed the tops of his hands, putting into practice every little trick he had learned to ground himself when his breath and heartbeat began to outpace him. It was okay. He was okay. He could do this. His eyes were lowered and his hands were curled protectively to his chest when he found the cashier counter. Shakily, he asked to sign up for the next cash game, and exchanged the three hundred in his pocket for plastic chips. He asked where the poker tables were, and was directed to a room adjacent to the main corridor of the casino. It was only when all was in place, and all of his competitors were dealt their hand, that Luigi was at long last able to get comfortable. He didn’t chat, he didn’t drink, he simply stared at his cards, and allowed himself to become completely engrossed in the game.

He didn’t even realize that “counting cards'' was a term when he first learned to play poker. Although, as opposed to blackjack, the method was perfectly legal, and far from uncommon. It was merely deduction and strategy, focused on probability and numbers, and Luigi had always had a head for numbers.

He’d played regularly as a teenager… wiped the floor with the competition to the point that none of his peers would take him on. Recently he brushed up with a few rounds online, and though he was at that time too uncertain of his skills to risk any real money, he discovered he was still good at it. Really, really good at it.

His biggest worry was his poker face. He was never known for his ability to keep his emotions hidden, no matter the stakes, and yet poker proved to be an unexpected outlier. In the thick of the game his mind didn’t register victory and loss, the fine line between financial ruin and easy street, or much of anything at all. It was all just numbers: multiplication, calculation, and probability, completely detached from his heart. No matter what card he drew or discarded, his expression remained unchanging.

Of course, a perfect poker face couldn't change the luck of the draw. At the start the cards weren’t in his favor, and Luigi found himself folding early for a couple of rounds. He narrowly kept himself from going into the negatives, but to his relief his fortune turned around after the first two hours. It was only after the fifth hour of playing that he was finally knocked out of his numeric stupor. His eyes drifted down from the cards in his hands to the mound of chips in front of him. Actually taking the time to register how many there were in total, his heart skipped a beat. He was barely able to keep it together as he closed out the round with a win, making it through with a straight flush, his highest card only barely beating that of his closest competitor. He startled even the dealer as he broke his five hours of perfect silence with an elated laugh, and gathered his mound of chips to himself. “Wowie zowie! Ha ha! I… I can’t believe it!! Look at all this!” His sentiment was genuine, but he only realized how condescending he sounded after the words left his mouth, especially considering where his newfound wealth had come from. His unease worsened when he got a better look at the faces of the other players, their expressions ranging from somber resignation to boiling resentment. From there, Lu kept the brim of his hat tugged anxiously over his eyes while the dealer exchanged his hoard of low-value chips to a handful of high value chips that he could easily transport to the cashier, which Luigi did immediately, handing his dealer a tip before scurrying away.

His heart battered against his ribcage like a tiny bird, light as air and racing with so much excitement it was almost painful. He received the payout, and hurried straight to the Casino ATM, where he put every cent into his checking account.

It took everything in him not to skip when he returned to the subway station, though he couldn’t help but hum a cheerful tune as he descended the stairwell into the underground.

An old analogue clock hanging from the sticky stone walls showed it was half past four in the morning. A few commuters were scattered through the subway, creating a scene that was eerily quiet and dreary compared to flashing opulence of the casino, but the familiarity did Luigi’s heart good. Still humming, he leaned against a pillar, not even minding how unsanitary it probably was in his exhaustion as he drowsily waited for his train. He was confident that he would make it home in time to change into his pajamas and climb into bed before anyone could figure out what had been done. His mother, being a very early riser, was the biggest cause for concern, but she rarely woke before six a.m on Sundays. If his luck continued at this rate, he wouldn’t have to clamor up the fire escape, and could instead get the spare key from the potted plant and slip quietly through the front door. “There you are!” A stranger’s voice pulled Luigi from his thoughts, a shrill squeak leaving his throat as a heavy hand slammed down on his shoulder. Luigi turned to lock eyes with a heavyset man, nearly a foot taller than he, clean shaven and well dressed.

“Hi?” Luigi looked the individual up and down, struggling to put a name to the face. After a long moment of uncomfortable silence between them, he ventured to ask, “...do I know you?” “Forgotten already? We met only a few hours ago.” The voice was gruff. It feigned friendliness, but the malice was unmistakable, especially when paired with the ever-tightening grip on Luigi’s shoulder. “...Oh.” Luigi tried to pull away, but to no avail. “Heh, uh… s-sorry.”

“Are you?”

Luigi shuddered, the stranger’s tone ringing every alarm bell. He took hold of the wrist in an attempt to ease the mounting pressure, and looked around in hopes of spotting someone who could help him. There were some commuters further down the tunnel, faces illuminated by their phones, earbuds in. There was no telling if they’d lend any aid, even if they weren’t distracted. It was the Brooklyn Subway, after all. Everyone knew to mind their own business in New York. Looking back toward the confrontational stranger, Luigi let out another startled cry when he saw he was suddenly joined by three more men, all without an ounce of sympathy in their eyes.

“What’s going on?!” The question was met with silence, causing Luigi's mind to race. At long last, he remembered the man who held him. He recognized a pretty golden lapel pin he had admired in the split second before he was reabsorbed into one of the many poker games he had played that night. The others, he couldn’t figure out for the life of him. Did he forget their faces over the five hours he had played? Or were they uninvolved friends? Before he could ask anything else, he felt himself being dragged away, the offending grip now joined by a second hand clamped over his mouth. 

“Let’s talk.”

Luigi let out muffled protests, struggling in vain as each of the men took hold of him, and began to usher him down a darker, emptier subway tunnel, where they could speak freely without fear of interruption.

[useless19]

So, King Boo in Days. Where to start.

When I started writing Days, I hadn't played a Luigi's Mansion game aside from a little bit of LM1 years ago before I got too scared to continue (it had ghosts!). I still liked making references here and there to the series, since it's half the reason for Luigi's characterisation being what it is these days. I've since picked up LM3 and had fun with it. Even if I don't have a proper handle on King Boo's character yet, I think I've got the rough idea.

However, my main issue with actually putting him in is that he's a final boss and I don't want to treat him as not a final boss. Equally, using him to make Luigi look tougher while weakening Bowser wasn't what I wanted to do to those characters either - any sort of curb stomp battle is not going to happen. King Boo needed to show up but not make too much of a mess because he's not part of the main plot; his appearance isn't the catalyst for Luigi and Bowser to change how they feel about each other. Trying to balance the weight of such an important character with the planned out state of the main relationship wasn't something I thought I could do justice.

That doesn't mean I don't have ideas for when he might have shown up :D

First off, somewhen around Day 24 could've been interesting. Adding him to the melting pot of Luigi in denial, Bowser coming to terms with liking Luigi more than Peach, and Peach being at the castle while trying to make plans to take back her kingdom. It would've been such a wonderful mess, but not one that I could ever have figured out how to write (especially given how long it took me to put Day 21 together). It would've derailed the plot and I would've had to have redone a lot of what I had already written for Day 27/30.

On the other hand, Day ~11 could've been very interesting. I have way more notes about how that might go down:

The scent of fresh welds mingled nostalgically with the dusty aroma of crumbled stone. Luigi hummed, satisfied with his work, as he fitted another length of pipe into place.

We open with Luigi fixing the pipework in the baths (Bowser broke some of it in Day 9 and Luigi wanted something to do while Junior was getting some lessons). The baths are also having their monthly clean out/scrub, so there's no risk of falling in boiling water or anything like that. Luigi's having polite chit-chat here and there with the cleaners until a Boo jumps out of nowhere and scares him.

Not knowing why a Boo is around, Luigi packs up his borrowed tools and heads off to ask someone what's going on (the cleaners don't know any better than him, also Luigi doesn't pick up that the Boo is similarly confused as to why Luigi is here). He tries asking a few people, but no one really knows. Eventually he reaches the throne room, where Bowser and King Boo are chatting about something. King Boo notices Luigi, tries to portraitify him, only to miss when Bowser yanks Luigi out the way with the contract warping.

Here's the tricky part, there needs to be an argument that doesn't significantly mess with the status quo. Something roughly like this:

Bowser: That's my prisoner. King Boo: That's my nemesis! [Bowser falters somewhat] Luigi: You kidnap Mario all the time, King Boo. Bowser [rallying]: Yeah, exactly! King Boo [lying through his teeth]: I would've handed him over after I'd gotten Luigi. Bowser [lying just as much]: I'll hand him over after I've gotten Mario out the way and married Peach. Luigi: ... yay.

After that, Luigi goes back to fixing the pipes, but with a guard watching him now (ostensibly to stop him escaping, he thinks it's just for show, Bowser's actually put the guard there to make sure there's at least a witness for anything King Boo might try). King Boo shows up to threaten him. During this, one of the cleaners/the guard refers to Luigi as 'Princess' (importantly this didn't happen during the previous confrontation) and King Boo finds the whole magical marriage contract hilarious. He laments that he ignored Bowser's wedding invite because it would've absolutely made his death to see Luigi get entangled in this mess.

I think it would be interesting from there to have a proper interaction between King Boo, Bowser, and Luigi. Highlighting why Bowser and King Boo are allies and don't mess with each other's plots. Possibly getting into a bit of what Bowser's marriage means on a larger political scale. Potentially touching on Luigi's fear of ghosts and him having to figure out how to explain it without insulting one or both of the kings.

But then I don't know! I don't feel like King Boo would just leave it at that. Maybe Bowser could work out a deal where King Boo helps him find something to break the contract (maybe he's the reason Bowser went looking in the Silicarid desert)? Though he wouldn't have done it for free and Bowser might have to deal with consequences shortly after letting Luigi go in Day 30 and I wouldn't want to leave that plot thread hanging (that's not going to stop Bowser from make the deal because he has never cared about potential consequences in his life).

Part of the problem is that around this time Luigi's starting to feel comfortable in the castle. Adding the vague threat of Boos showing up whenever they like is going to kneecap that. He's also still happy to make escape attempts and this could prompt one of those (which is another mess entirely that I'd want to do justice).

By this point, Bowser has definitely noticed that Luigi is his type, but hadn't reached the point of wanting a relationship rather than just sex. He's possessive anyway, so he's not going to give up his prisoner without a fight.

So, yeah. That's my King Boo in Days thoughts. Hopefully that ramble makes sense!

[hyperfixatingonbowuigisohard]

Super Mario Bros Labryinth AU (Pt2)

(Note: Sorry the the strange looking Bullet Point, copy and pasted this from my notes and this is what it formatted as)

- [ ] While Mario has multiple things to freak out about— such as a giant lizard koupa, and suddenly being who know wheres when he was in his room just minutes ago—he manages to stifle his questions for later

- [ ] After all, he has a little brother to save

- [ ] And a little brother to applogize to as well

- [ ] He couldn’t beleive he said all those things…

- [ ] Mario makes his way down the hill to what he can assume is the entrance to the Labyrinth

- [ ] There’s another Koupa there, spraypainting the walls

- [ ] While he looks strikingly similar to that Bowser guys, he’s smaller and has less hair.

- [ ] When he spots Mario, he jumps in surprise and immediately raises his spraypaint cans at Mario, as if to threaten him

- [ ] “You didn’t see anything, got it?!”

- [ ] Ah, Mario thinks. So he wasn’t supposed to be spraypainting the wall.

- [ ] Mario: “I don’t know kid, it’s pretty obvious you spraypainted those walls….”

- [ ] Junior: “Hey! Thats Prince to you! Prince Bowser Jr!”

- [ ] For a second Mario considers taking this child hostage or somthing. Trading him for Luigi would he much easier than solving this maze.

- [ ] But then Mario remembers how big the Koupa King is and that he doesn’t want to see what all those spikes and mussles can do to him if he threatens his child

- [ ] Also Mario isn’t a monster, duh.

- [ ] So instead, Mario thinks of a way he can use his status as a witness of Bowser Jr’s mischief in his favor

- [ ] Mario: “Alright, Prince. I need to get to the castle in the center of the Labyrinth. If you take me there, I won’t tell your dad what I saw.”

- [ ] Junior: “Ha! Yeah right, Daddy would burn you to a crisp beforr you could even get a word in!”

- [ ] Mario: Well I guess I’ll have to tell every Koupa in the city about your graffiti before I get to the castle. Surely one of them will tell the King about this—“

- [ ] Junior: “Your a tattle-tail!”

- [ ] Mario: “But if you take me to the caslte, then he’ll never find out.”

- [ ] Junior: “….”

- [ ] Mario: “So? Do we have a deal?”

- [ ] Junior: “Fine, whatever! Your such a snitch!”

- [ ] Bowser Jr grabs Mario by the wrist and leads him to a giant door that definitely was not there before.

- [ ] Bowser Jr leads him through the door

- [ ] Before Mario can say anything thought, Bowser Jr runs back outside and locks the door behind him

- [ ] Mario: “Hey! This wasn’t the deal!”

- [ ] Bowser Jr giggles wickedly

- [ ] It would have been cute if he wasn’t a little cheater

- [ ] Junior: “Daddy won’t ever find out if you never make it to the city in the first place! Good luck getting out of there!”

- [ ] Where is there? It seems to be a long straight road, going on for miles and miles

- [ ] Mario does his best to continue through the Labyrinth, but it seems this single path goes on forever

- [ ] Theres not a single turn anywhere, seemingly no way to progress further

- [ ] Mario cries out in frustration and tries to punch the wall

- [ ] He ends up falling forward onto the ground

- [ ] The wall was an option illusion, and there was a fork in the path right in front of him!

- [ ] Mario sighs in releif

- [ ] And also embarrassment

- [ ] Mario finds himself in a much more complicated area, the paths lines with giant green pipes.

- [ ] Different creatures and things seem to pop in and out of them at random.

- [ ] He tries to keep track of where the pipes seem to go, but its no use

- [ ] And as for the creatures that are using said pipes?

- [ ] Well, lets just say after getting bit by a piranha plant he’s avoiding anything that comes out of those pipes

- [ ] Mario feels like he’s finally getting somewhere in this Labryinth when he hears loud screaming

- [ ] And no, its not Luigi’s! Thank Goodness!

- [ ] The shouts seem to be in fear and distress, and among them he can hear wild laughter and shouts of amusement

- [ ] Whatever he’s hearing doesn’t sound like a good situation for the screamer, and so he goes to investigate…

No sketches this time I’m afraid, but the next part will have some! I hope you all enjoyed this second part, what do you guys think of it?

(1)…(You Are Here)…(3)…

[pepperycar]

17 Mario and Luigi please

Sorry I took so long to answer! I have a rough idea of a Luigi fic I’m coming up with so, think of this as an early version of that potential future fic.

Luigi was not fine. It had been 12 hours after he and Mario were reunited, they were home, safe, protected and loved. And yet, Luigi couldn’t help but hat himself more now that they were safe at home.

Luigi made his way to the bathroom, closed the door behind him, then sat on the toilet seat to think for a minute.

He hated this, memories swirled through his mind of him being locked in a cage, his wrists having rope burns and his body feeling exhausted from the immense heat. But apart from that, nothing else, meanwhile his memories of Mario were a different story.

Mario had been nonstop walking in a new world for three days straight, got beaten up by a giant gorilla, was on and fell of a road made of rainbows, nearly drowned, was eaten alive by a huge eel, had his arm pulled on by Bowser, got punched, thrown, kicked, squeezed, got a black eye, got battered and bruised and all in between. And Luigi felt awful.

Mario didn’t deserve it, he did. He found the warp pipe, he lost his grip and yet, his brother was being punished for his mistakes. Mario didn’t deserve pain..

He did..

He figured it was only fair that he felt just as bad if not worse then Mario did. As a price for his clumsy actions. Luigi looked up at the glass cabinet just above the sink. He slid it open and grabbed a pair of scissors before pulling up his sleeve then carefully holding it up to his arm.

Luigi shuddered, his mind and heart raced, but he felt he had to do it, felt he deserved it.

‘This is going to hurt..’ he thought to himself as pressed part of the scissors into his arm. He felt blood trickle down his arm, his heartbeat and breathing getting faster and faster and-

Luigi found he couldn’t breathe, he gasped and just couldn’t get any air into his lungs, his heart stumbled like it would jump out of his chest or just flat out stop.

‘It hurts, IT HURTS!... no. I have to. I deserve this!’

He closed the scissors on his arm and more blood started to fall down his arms. He stumbled off the seat and slammed against the wall, his vision blurring, tears in his eyes. He couldn’t breathe anymore, his breaths to quick to get any air in, his oxygen starved heart begging for the pain to stop.

It was beating so fast and loud that he didn’t hear the bathroom door open. ‘Mario went through worse than this and he was showing no signs of pain. Please.. just kill me.. make it stop!..’

Suddenly, he felt a pair of strong but gentle hands wrapping around his waist, they squeezed gently, Luigi felt a cheek pressing against his hair. Even though he didn’t understand what was happening, he instantly felt calmer. He felt the scissors being pulled from his hand and what felt like a towel and toilet paper pressed on his arm. Luigi’s heart was still pounding, his vision still blurry but this time his breathing was much calmer.

He felt himself pulled into a fierce hug and although he couldn’t see it, he could tell it was Mario. And, by the sound of his breathing, Mario was crying too.

Luigi let himself go boneless against him, and slowly but surely started to relax. In his familiar cocoon of comfort in Mario’s arms. -The End.

I hope this is good enough for the wait. 😅

Also @silenzahra we just love torturing Luigi don’t we? 🤣

[sonicasura]

The most chaotic and funniest thought just hit me.

Mario and Tales of Arcadia could exist in the same universe.

Let me explain. The Super Mario franchise had their own cartoon in the 90s called the Super Mario Brothers Super Show. In it, the brothers can travel between Brooklyn and the Mushroom Kingdom via a green warp pipe located somewhere in the sewer systems.

Basically no one else knew about this pipe nor the hidden universe(I'll call the Mario World we know as the Hidden World from this point afterwards) except the Mario Brothers. Then you also consider there is more than one warp pipe. And thus this glorious idea.

For setup, the Hidden World could be considered the Promised Land to all Trollkind. A realm where sunlight nor lack of being near a Heartstone DOESN'T turn them to stone and bears many treasures of peculiar power but also a potential second home should their realm fall apart i.e what will become the Darklands.

Some trolls left to seek out the Hidden World but never came back. There had been only one account of someone finding the mythical 'Green Channel' that leads there. However the troll discoverer in question was branded as a liar and label an outcast. This explorer writes a journal of his experiences before eventually disappearing. 'Beginner's Guide To The Hidden World' was the only thing left as no one knew the writer's fate.

A book of a madman's ramblings and gone unfound inside Arcadia's Trollmarket until the first human Trollhunter been made. You don't expect Jim or Toby to not look through the books in Blinky's library especially if a problem arises. It bonks the poor Trollhunter on the head and our favorite book troll practically flips out once he sees the guide.

Whether the major plot point is such as Battle of Two Bridges, find Gunmar's weakness or handle Angor Rot, it doesn't take much convincing to look into this Hidden World. Now since sewers weren't prevalent in the middle ages, no Troll thought the 'Green Channel' could be a giant sewer pipe. Modern human thinking leads to Team Trollhunters rediscovering the Hidden World and it's unique flavor of insanity.

(Jim seriously needs a huge break from being the universe's drama dump. Why not throw a very long overdue albeit super goofy bone? Plus I know some of you guys want to see Draal put on a Cat Bell, Jim in a Tanuki Suit and Toby in a Penguin Suit.)

Now for some worldbuilding!

Trolls born in the Hidden World have natural immunity to sunlight. An occurrence that is half adaptation and half magic revelant. They can also survive without the presence of a Heartstone but are unable to use powers up unless they return or have a special item.

It takes four hits to make a Hidden World troll lose their active power up, two for Changelings and three for a normal troll. Although those who possess the Amulet of Daylight, like Jim, can take four hits no matter the species. They have a major kingdom located somewhere near the Seaside Kingdom known as Stoneheart and are neutral territory. Koopa Troopas are considered rivals specifically the royal ones like Bowser.

Trolls came up with 'Action Filming', a maybe Mario canon(my memory is rusty) where the games/series is a play while the characters are actors and friends offscreen. You know they would make a concept like that as they're still a warrior based race.

Quite friendly to outsiders and visitors, a good chunk of Hidden World trolls are travelling freelancers in their own expertise. The most common are traders, bodyguards, to of course any occupation that revolves around geology or architecture. Gunmar is considered the Hidden World Trolls' Boogeyman, a story to teach young whelps to behave.

If proven real then Jim definitely has an army willing to help him out as major threats are taken quite seriously in the Hidden World. I can say that Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, Partners in Time, and Bowser's Inside Story are the only games mostly based on true events. You can't expect three major incidents that affected three different kingdoms, ESPECIALLY their royalty, weren't taken seriously nor have a huge impact on everyone else.

Hidden World Trolls rarely eat cats or any other pet considered animals. I think the reason why they limit themselves in canon is because a missing cat ain't gonna draw major attention unlike cattle and other farm animals. Although I bet a grocery store that accepts or can keep trolls' existence a secret would be a godsend. But yeah, their food options aren't limited in the Hidden World.

Finally for the last bit, there have been some unique adaptations that tend to crop up with Hidden World Trolls. These can range power up based ones such as species with Penguin Suit or Fire Flower traits, environmental like those raised in Lake Lapcat have feline characteristics, to seemingly random ones like shapeshifting. Yep. A natural born Changeling who doesn't need a familiar to transform is a possibility.

That's it for now! Until next time folks, I'll see you at the warp pipe between Arcadia and the Mushroom Kingdom!

[chrissymorgan9700]

Firey Love Through Burning Sands Chapter 6: Meet & Greet

Mario and Luigi didn't know what to expect when they were brought inside the city gates.

The Koopas that were inside the city were a bit of a shock when they first arrived, considering the fact that the only Koopas that they had seen at that point were all from Bowser's kingdom. But out of all they had seen, nothing had prepared them for seeing other human beings. For the past month, Mario thought that he, Luigi, and Princess Peach were the only humans ever to see the land beyond the green pipe. But not only did Sarasaland seem to have human royalty, but they also had regular citizens and military members that were currently walking alongside them.

The city itself reminded the brothers of a documentary about ancient Egypt that they watched in middle school. Although the part of the city that they had passed through had a wall and gates, the entire city seemed to stretch out for miles without end. There was a big river that passed through the city, and the group crossed a gigantic stone bridge to pass it that was decorated with carvings of flowers and strange dinosaur-like creatures. Crossing to the other side, the group made their way closer to the city square as the sound of music and chatter began to grow louder with each step.

"We're almost to the palace," Daisy shouted over the noise, "You might want to stay close. It gets pretty busy on Market Day."

The occupants of the city were hard at work buying and selling wares at the bazaar. Humans were seen fixing musical instruments and cooking delicious-smelling food and snacks, the Bunbuns were weaving fabrics and silks from threads that shimmered like gems, Toads were busy with constructing new stands and repairing roads, and Koopas were seen forging metalworks and jewelry, but as they passed by, the Mario Brothers began to notice that a lot of the citizens were beginning to stare and whisper the closer they got to their destination.

"Princess Peach has returned."

"Who are those little people with her?"

"The red one looks feral."

"Ha, the green one looks sickly. What are they feeding that poor thing?"

Normally, Luigi would shrink at the comments. After all, he was the more timid brother, the one that avoided any sort of confrontation, the one afraid of his own shadow. But right now, he was currently too interested in the princess that was currently dragging him through the square.

She sure is strong, Luigi thought to himself with a blush.

Meanwhile, Mario found himself falling in step with Peach, determined to get a question answered.

"Hey Peach," he asked, "How do you know the queen again?"

Peach tensed at the question, trying to find a way to answer before Daisy interrupted.

"You've seen her fight before, right? Well, where else did you think she learned combat? Her kingdom's Toads?"

Toad gave an offended yelp.

Peach gasped, taken out of her tense state at her friend's jest.

"Daisy! That's not nice."

"What? You know I'm right! At least the Toads that live here are able to use a sword."

Mario took in her words. The Toads of the Mushroom Kingdom, bless them, were more of the "panic and run" type, from the regular citizens up to the guards that surrounded the pink-and-white castle. Not to say that they weren't protective of her. By what Peach had told him, Toad himself was willing to be tortured for her when Bowser invaded her kingdom after he and DK had been stuck in that gigantic eel. But he knew that whatever fighting skills she had to complete that training course that he couldn't even get through on his BEST go-around was not the doing of the Toads.

At least not from there.

"Huh, so is she, like, your teacher? I mean, that's cool, y'know? You're still able to get advice from her when you need to. But why haven't you mentioned her?"

"We're here."

Peach blanched as they suddenly stopped.

The white marble of the palace gleamed in the afternoon sun as the group entered the palace, the white stone now turning into shades of orange and yellow as they headed towards another set of golden doors that were guarded by two Bunbuns, the door itself decorated with a giant lotus blossom design. The Bros and Toad couldn't help themselves as they ooh'd and ahh'd at the sight before them.

Peach, meanwhile, felt her palms grow sweaty from nervousness. Although it was true that she was raised by the Toads when she first arrived in this land, it was the Queen of Sarasaland who taught her how to be a leader. All of the training to become the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, all of her combat skills, her knowledge of power-ups, all of what made her a princess came from her.

And what had she done with that wisdom?

Oh, only put two whole kingdoms and her friends in danger!

Daisy, sensing her distress, let go of Luigi's hand and stood next to her.

"You ready?"

Peach stayed silent as she straightened her posture.

"Not really." She finally answered before turning to her companions.

"Okay, I know you probably have a lot of questions about, well, all of this. And I must confess that I haven't been very... transparent. But when we get in here, I'll be doing most of the talking."

The Bros and Toad stared at her in confusion before slowly nodding their heads.

"Alright Daisy, we're ready now."

Princess Daisy nodded her head, signaling the guards to open the doors.

The group followed the princess as she entered the throne room, taking in the sights surrounding them. The entire room was the same orange-yellow color scheme as the rest of the palace, but accented with green and white inlays as you got closer to the actual throne. The throne itself was golden, not unlike King Cranky's own throne in the Jungle Lands, but above the throne were white silk drapes, and at her right hand was an orange and yellow cushion with golden tassels around the edge.

It was then that they noticed the woman sitting on the throne.

The older woman sat with her back straight, her eyes seeming to stare directly into their souls as she scanned the room before turning her gaze toward Princess Peach.

Princess Daisy, leading the charge, walked towards the steps before kneeling on the ground at the very base. The four companions followed suit, with Daisy nearly causing Luigi to topple over himself as she dragged him down to the floor and Mario being pushed down by Peach as she sank down.

"Bayete, Indlovukazi," Daisy spoke up, "Your visitors have arrived."

The queen paused for a moment, her gaze switching between the princesses and the plumbers, a tiny smile gracing her lips before motioning for Daisy to sit on the cushion and for Peach, Mario, Luigi, and Toad to stand up.

"Welcome to Birabuto; I take it your journey here was a smooth one?"

Princess Peach smoothed her skirts as she answered.

"Yes, your Majesty. And I would like for you to meet my friends, Mario, Luigi, and Toad."

The queen's gaze was unwavering as she noticed their body language. Mario and Toad had placed themselves directly in front of her former student, becoming a living shield. Luigi, who for whatever reason was still on the floor, floundered his way next to his brother, almost knocking the three of them over to join the protection squad. Daisy couldn't help but give an amused giggle, making Luigi break out in a deep blush.

"So, you must be the Super Mario Brothers and that brave Toad boy that saved the universe. You have my respect and my thanks. Now, let's cut to the chase, shall we?"

Peach cleared her throat.

"Yes, um, as I had stated in my letter, we have had some problems with the king of the Darklands that resulted in him finally being captured and taken into custody inside the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Hm, I do recall meeting with the council members that were involved in that whole ordeal. But what does this have to do with Sarasaland and our Power Star? "

Council? Mario thought to himself, Did the Toad Council visit Sarasaland?

"Your Majesty," Peach stated, "Bowser has escaped from his confinement, and it's my belief that he will attempt to take Sarasaland's Power Star and use it for his plans for world domination.

Unbeknownst to the others, Taraji's blood ran cold in her veins, the images of last night's vision practically swimming in her mind.

"Go on."

But before Peach could continue, Mario interrupted.

"Wait a minute, the Toad council met with you already?"

Princess Peach's cheeks turned bright red as a wave of second-hand embarrassment crashed into her. In hindsight, she should have seen this coming, especially when they met with King Cranky. Luigi and Toad looked on anxiously as the queen held the red plumber's gaze before answering.

"No. Princess Peach, just how much have you told your companions about our ways?"

"Well, I...haven't mentioned everything to them."

Peach couldn't help but give a nervous chuckle as her teacher gave her a pointed look.

"A half-truth by omission is still a full-on lie. But that is a discussion for another day. In the meantime, you all will stay here for the night and rest. Tomorrow morning, the council will arrive, and we will convene on what our next steps are going forward."

With a clap of her hands, a couple of her servants gathered around the throne room.

With little room for argument, the servants quietly led the four of them out of the throne room, the door shutting behind them.

"Take our guests to our spare bedrooms. Dinner will be prepared in a few hours."

Later

Princess Peach tossed and turned in her bed, her mind racked with dread.

Dinner had been a rather quiet affair, as was any dinner that was made by the queen herself. The table was filled with rice and beans, a savory stew filled with meat and vegetables with nshima to scoop it up and eat with, and even (to her surprise) malva pudding, all of her favorites. But she couldn't even stomach it. Even the few bites she forced down her throat turned sour in her gut as that pit of despair grew larger and larger.

The council members were all arriving tomorrow in order to figure out how to capture Bowser and what to do with him in order to pay for his crimes.

Again.

And it was all her fault.

Giving up on going to sleep, Peach got up from the bed and began to pace the room, feeling guilty as the queen's words replayed in her head.

A half-truth by omission is still a full-on lie.

Does it even count as a lie? She thought to herself before shaking her head.

As a ruler, she was honor-bound to be an honest and wise princess, whether it was between other leaders or with the common folk. She had learned that from the best, after all.

But she didn't mean to keep Sarasaland or its ruler a secret. It just...never came up in conversation between her and the Mario Brothers. And why she didn't go to Sarasaland when this whole problem began?

It was...complicated.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.

"Come in."

The door slowly opened to reveal Taraji, her hair in her bonnet and dressed in her white nightgown and robe as she smiled at her former student. Behind her stood Daisy, dressed in an orange tank top, shorts, and matching bonnet. Peach, ever the formalist, curtsied.

"Bayete, Indlovukazi. Bayete, Inkosazana."

Their smiles fell slightly in concern. Peach was always the prim and proper type. Had been that way since she was a little girl under Taraji's tutoring. But that was the first time in years that she had used their official titles, and in their native tongue nonetheless, while being in just their presence. She only ever did that when something was terribly wrong.

"Peach? What's wrong?" Taraji asked, a frown on her face.

Peach blanched for a moment.

"What, me? No, nothing's wrong. Nothing at all. Why? What would be wrong?"

Daisy snorted, unconvinced.

"Yeah right! You never call us by those titles unless something's up. So, spill!"

Peach shook her head, resuming her pacing as the two other royals watched.

"I'm fine. Just... got a lot on my mind right now."

Taraji said nothing at that. Instead, she sighed as she sat herself down on the vanity seat and grabbed the hairbrush that sat on the table.

"Sit down."

"But-"

"Sit."

With a sigh, Peach sat on the floor as Taraji began to brush her hair. Daisy, meanwhile, took a running start from the door and jumped onto her bed, jostling the bedsheets into more disarray. Rolling her eyes at her sister, Taraji turned her attention back to Peach.

"Now, tell me what's really going on. Why didn't you ask the council to help you in the first place?"

"I...It's just...I just...didn't want to bother them with something that I could handle by myself."

The two of them gave her an incredulous look.

"You're kidding, right?" Daisy deadpanned.

Taraji paused her brushing.

"Peach, I know that the situation was more dire than that. If reports from the last council meeting were correct, Bowser had not only captured the king of the Snow Lands and stolen their Power Star; but he also had threatened the safety of your kingdom and your people if you refused to marry him; he had ambushed and nearly killed the king and prince of Kong Country as well as the majority of the Kong army; and had threatened the lives of your red plumber, his brother, and their homeland. And this was all something you could have handled by yourself?"

Silence.

Daisy's eyes glanced between her friend and her sister, concerned.

"Look," she spoke up, "I don't like half of those stuffy folks either, but they're there for a reason, you know that, right?"

Peach jumped up at that, a huff of frustration escaping her lips.

"I know that! But... I can't help but feel as if I'm taken as a joke. I'm the only council member that is a princess; according to some members, my rule is illegitimate since I wasn't born a Mushroom Kingdom royal; and Bowser has been so much of a constant problem, I wasn't sure that they would listen to me! What else could I do? I-"

"Ipentshisi."

Peach turned around, her eyes cast down to the ground in shame. Taraji stood up and took her hands into her own, causing her to look up.

"A good ruler, regardless of what rank they are, doesn't just take care of their kingdom. A good ruler also knows when to ask for help. Both of which King Cranky and the Penguin King should have done. And even if you didn't want the council involved, you could have at least told us. You know that Sarasaland would have stood with you, don't you?"

Peach sighed, looking back down at the floor.

"I... I guess I wanted to prove to the council that I wasn't just some 'damsel in distress'. I wanted to protect the kingdom on my own, like you do."

And there it is.

Taraji sighed, leading her back to the seat she had abandoned.

"Peach, when I first became queen, the royal council had been disbanded for over a decade. I had to learn how to protect Sarasaland on my own because I was on my own. I had no one to help me or the empire, not to mention what had transpired for me to ascend the throne."

The young princesses paused at that, looking at each other and back at the queen as she seemed to visibly deflate at the mention of that night.

"When I was able to get the council back together, I vowed never to let any new ruler experience what I had to go through. Does that mean that they are infallible? No. We are not perfect in any sense of the word, but at least you would have the security of having that support when you need it. And as for questioning your legitimacy? You may not have been born into the original royal family, and you may not have been born in this very universe, but the Great Grambi brought you here and made you the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom for a reason. Don't ever doubt that."

"I know all that, but it still doesn't answer why."

Taraji laughed at that.

"Heh, still have that patience problem, I suppose."

"Well, old habits die hard, as Mario would say."

Taraji gave another small chuckle as she recalled the little red man that seemed to be glued to her hip. No doubt that he had sworn to be her protector.

Daisy snickered.

"Oh yeah, Mr. Knight-in-Ruby-Red! Sworn to protect pretty Princess Peach! Honestly, you two would be perfect together. "

The queen laughed, a rueful smile etching her face.

"Now, now, now. Don't think I didn't see you with the green one, Daisy. You seem quite smitten with him."

Daisy spluttered.

"S-s-smitten! HA! Who says I was smitten with that guy? Nope! No smitten-ness over here!"

That sent Peach into a laughing fit.

"Oh, please! You literally dragged poor Luigi from the city gates to the palace walls!"

But in their laughter, they had failed to notice a lone figure that was spying on them from above. Though invisible for the majority of the conversation, the shapeless blob that was hovering over them sneered a malignant smirk before blipping out of the room.

The three royals laughed and laughed, their voices echoing into the halls.

[papermariosuggestion]

What are you hoping for from a new Paper Mario? What's your "golden ideal", I guess?

I could spend, like, years thinking of things I’d like to see in a Paper Mario game, but I’ll try to narrow it down. Here are some of the main things I’d really like to see:

☆ New partners (plural)

• Based on previously established Mario species, preferably “enemy” species, as “The circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.”

• Unusual, but believable, and perhaps even poignant, backstories and fully realized character arcs. I want to care about these characters because I’m invested in this world, its inhabitants, and those inhabitants’ personal successes and failures, not just because their design is so kawaii and/or their dialogue is so funny, though those things are a plus.

• Distinct personalities and opportunities to show those personalities off (through design, body language, dialogue, etc).

☆ RPG mechanics

• Built on the solid foundation established in Paper Mario (N64)

• Turn-based combat

• A leveling system where you get to choose which stat to increase

• Badges (Including superficial badges like the L Emblem and Attack FX badges)

• Something new, like being able to use two partners to perform a Bros.-Attack-like move, or maybe even stats specifically pertaining to your partners.

☆ New locations

• It’s a delicate balance. Locations should both feel like they could realistically exist in Mario’s world and feel like something we’ve never seen before. TTYD has some great examples of this (Rogueport, Boggly Woods, Twilight Town, etc). Super Paper Mario has some creative locations as well, but because it takes place in another dimension, not in the typical world that Mario inhabits, none of them really feel particularly “Mario-esque” in nature. They’re all a bit off-brand, so to speak.

• On a technical level, graphics are improving all of the time, but that doesn’t automatically lead to more intriguing and/or more visually satisfying designs. At it’s core, Mario is a fantasy franchise, an escape from reality, and the Paper Mario series is one of the few series in the franchise that really builds out- or at least used to really build out- its world, and that world was interesting because it was new and mysterious, it practically begged to be explored. Paper Mario games should show me something I can’t see in reality; I know what paper and cardboard and lemons and steaks look like, show me underground cities and palaces, show me sprawling gardens with talking flowers, show me a floating tourist trap in the sky. The biggest limit is your imagination, so let it run wild, and show me that, show me that Alice in Wonderland-like controlled chaos.

☆ An interconnected world and motivated backtracking

• No stage-selection maps. Even if the game is fairly linear, I don’t need to have that shoved in my face. I don’t want to feel like I’m working my way down a to-do list, glued to a track, I want to journey through the world and explore somewhat freely.

• No fast travel by default (maybe you unlock fast travel after beating an optional challenge like the Pit of 100 Trials)

• No pipes that take you right from the hub world to the chapter area; I wanna walk…

…and I want it to be through a believable, expansive, intricate world that changes as I progress through the game, a world I could see hundreds of times and never get sick of because its details are constantly in flux, and because those details are the kind that make it feel realistic and lived-in. I don’t want to be teleported from A to B, or confined on a path from A to B to C, I want to explore, I want to discover, I want to experience this world and to form an attachment to it. This alone would make backtracking more worthwhile, but…

• …another way to make backtracking even more enjoyable would be to add events that make walking into a game in and of itself, like having to follow a creature up in the trees, or having to get through a cursed area in Mirror Mode, or having to dodge and weave through falling rocks because there’s a huge earthquake destroying- and altering the actual geometry of- the area. Walking doesn’t have to be a chore for you to complete in order to get on with the game, and it shouldn’t be, it should be part of the game, just as engaging as anything else you’re involved in.

☆ Non-linear elements

• The game should still be fairly linear overall, because Paper Mario games are chapter-based stories with beginnings, middles, and ends, but having some say  in which chapter comes next, or which partner you meet, or even just which puzzle you solve next would give the player a stronger sense of agency. Story-driven games are at high-risk of making the player feel like they’re just along for the ride, and this would help to counteract that.

☆ Spin dashing

• Gotta go fast! Getting rid of spin dashing always felt like an odd choice to me. Characters like the Yoshi kid, Carrie, and Dashell kind of replaced it, in the sense that they allow you to move quickly, but being able to speed up without switching partners, as well as being able to spin attack and just to witness the utter chaos of Mario flinging himself across the screen again, would make backtracking and walking around in general less of a slog. It would also give you more agency in the overworld and serve as a nice callback to the original game.

☆ Free-moving NPCs & situational dialogue

• In past games, NPCs have been confined to certain paths and locations. They might move from chapter to chapter, but they would always stay in the same general area until you triggered an event that placed them somewhere new. I’d like to see characters wandering around, going in and out of buildings, visiting other locations, having private conversations with one another, getting into fights, buying and selling items at the shop, putting on different clothes, and doing just about anything else they would typically do in-universe. Obviously this would be huge challenge to program, but we’re talking about an ideal here, and anything in this general direction would be an improvement in my eyes. We already see a bit of this in the series, but I’d like to see even more.

• When NPCs say things like “Where are your manners, Mario? You shouldn’t climb on the table” and “Don’t be so careless. There are too many enjoyable things in the world to gamble with your life!” it makes it feel like they actually see what you’re doing and care about what you’re doing. Having NPCs respond to you differently because of where you’re standing, or what partner you have out, or what badges you’re wearing, and so on, makes them into more than just set decoration or a sign to read, it makes them people, or at least more person-like. Nintendo’s been pretty good about this in recent years, probably because technical improvements have made it easier than ever before, and I think it would be fitting for a series known for its world-building.

☆ Dynamic lighting design & a day/night system

• This is all about aesthetics because, as it turns out, visuals are pretty important in a video game. Paper Mario (N64) had some really interesting lighting design, notably in darker areas like the secret passage in Peach’s castle, and we haven’t really seen a lot of that since, despite having more advanced technology that would allow for advanced lighting.

• I’d like to see things like swinging chandeliers that cast beams of light, and cracks in the ceiling that light pours through, and mirrors/reflections that Mario uses to solve puzzles, and shadows that hint at secrets. Lighting is a huge part of shaping a world, and using it in a variety of different and meaningful ways just makes your world seem that much more complex and grounded.

• As for the day/night system, I am picturing a game that visually changes based on the actual time of day, kind of like Animal Crossing games do, but not a game that requires it to be a certain time of day for any gameplay purposes, not for the main quest, not for side-quests, and not even for easter eggs. All I want is for it to be bright when I play in the morning, orange when I play at sunset, and starry when I play at night. This also would add to the game’s replayability, as different chapters would look and feel different depending on what time of day it was when you played through them.

☆ Easter eggs that reference other games in the franchise

• I want it to be clear, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Mario we see in Paper Mario games is the same Mario we see in other Mario games, not another person, and talking about the time he visited Isle Delfino or when Bowser fused with a sentient tennis racket would really drive that home.

• Make me really look for some, though. It’s cool to spot easter eggs in plain sight, but what’s really rewarding is having to dig for them. I don’t just wanna see Luigi standing in the background, I want to spot little inconsistencies and cracks in the walls and cryptograms spread throughout the world. Sure, the five-year-olds playing might not find them on their first playthrough, but when they’re fifteen and they remember that awesome Paper Mario game they played a decade ago, they won’t just be revisiting a world they’ve fully explored, they’ll be playing on a whole new level, figuratively speaking.

☆ amiibo Compatibility/functionality

• I’m not a big fan of DLC in general, as it’s often overpriced, but I do think amiibos are neat; using a real object to unlock something in a virtual world makes the virtual world feel just that much more alive to me, that much more like it’s a little world I can actually affect.

• The Paper Mario series never really got official merch, and while you do see a bit of your partners’ lives in the epilogue, it’s only a glimpse into their future, so getting little figurines of past partners that make them appear in the game, tell you about a recent adventure they had, and give you a unique badge based on their abilities/personalities/experiences, would be like a dream come true.

☆ Just be creative (I know it’s not that simple, but like, figure it out)

• Surprise me; throw in something inventive and revolutionary, like Wall Merging from A Link Between Worlds or The Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device from Portal.  There’s a whole universe of possibilities out there; please dream a little bigger than items disguised as a gameplay element and a hammer that fills in glaringly obvious gaps in paint. Nintendo’s always pushing the video game industry forward with their creative consoles. Use that, take whatever whacky control method they come up with next and integrate it like Super Paper Mario did- but hopefully even better than Super Paper Mario did- with the Wii remote.

• I see fans writing stories, and drawing characters, and making sprites, and working with all kinds of mediums to make art that knocks everything from recent “Paper Mario” games out of the park. Obviously Intelligent Systems can’t just steal those ideas, but I’d love to see them get on that wavelength and match that passion.

• Make a game that you’d never want to put down because you just can’t get enough of it, and don’t even bother with that “You’ve been playing for a while. You wanna take a break, grab a snack, chill out for a sec?” message; if I die playing your game because it’s truly that good, I see that as an absolute win. That’s legendary game design, my friend; aim to make a Paper Mario game so good it’s worth dying for, and if you fall short of that, hopefully you’ll still land on something pretty awesome.

[cythieus]

Mario/Peach Fic Rough Draft

Tasteful flower arrangements and buffets flanked by smaller round tables had transformed the palace courtyard from a spot for solitary reflection into somewhere guests were entertained. Clustered people engaged in conversation wherever room permitted, though no one had taken a seat yet. A semicircular bar guarded the southern side of the fountain, staffed by three Mushroom people. Servers used the bar as a kind of base, but spent most of their time flitting between guests and tables.

Most in attendance were Mushroom people or humans. There were a trio of Tostarenans noticeable because of their neon colored skull-like heads and short stature and a single Pianta with blue skin, his long nose jutting out from under the tree that grew from the top of his domed head. The ease with which Mario had become used to creatures that had no parallel on Earth was amazing, but everything on this side of the warp pipe was bit jarring.

If only he could get used to the reverent splendor of the Mushroom Kingdom and its Princess.

The kind of parties that Mario knew typically took place in cramped rent controlled apartments or the darkened spaces of Brooklyn bars that might have been built in repurposed alleyways. He never would have dreamed he would attend something hosted by royalty just a few short years ago.

You also didn’t think you would be breathing the same air as or get a kiss from an honest to God Princess, yet here we are.

His suit sleeves felt rigid and unnatural because of how he was holding his drink up near his chest. It had been some time since he last wore a suit and he felt the need to get a new one for this occasion. He considered letting his arm down to his side and pinching his fingers around the rim of the glass, but years of rooting around in muck as a plumber still made him cautious about the idea of touching a drink with his fingers right where he would be putting his mouth. It was different for food, he didn’t understand the strange quirk, but it was something that he didn’t think he would be able to alter anytime soon.

A chime of laughter broke through the monotony of the distant conversation and clanking dishes. Princess Peach stood on the middle landing of the wide grand staircase that led back into the castle with her head tossed back in enthused laugh. While most of the women in attendance styled their hair up in buns pinned in roll at the back of their head Peach wore her blonde hair down. It cascaded off her bare shoulders and down to the middle of her back.

The crown that she usually wore was accented by a ring of pastel flowers that stayed firmly in place even as she looked down at a pair of children. One of them was tugging on her dress and she turned to the side, her laughing turning into a smile as she addressed them. Mario couldn’t tell if she knew these children otherwise. It was hard to judge with Princess Peach—she had a way of making everyone feel welcome.

Peach stepped in close to the kids and sank down into a squat, presumable so she was at eye level with them. The dress she wore today wasn’t something Mario had seen before; a pink off the shoulder dress that has a much flatter, more ruffled skirt than usual and fell to the midway point between her knee and ankle. She rested her slender, pale arms over her lap (no gloves today) as she spoke to the children.

Though she was across the courtyard he could tell by her smile and the way she squinted her eyes until the skin at the sides of her nose crinkled that she was sharing some irreverent, endearing tidbit with the kids.

Mario lifted the cap off of his head, smoothed his hair back, and placed the hat soundly back into place. It would have felt wrong without something up there. The gray newsboy cap wasn’t quite the same, but it offered a kind of comfort.

Better not stare, someone might notice.

He glanced at a waiter passing with a tray propped up on the bulbous pileus of its head. Mario had come to learn that the Mushroom people’s heads and the patterns and spots on them had all kinds of meanings to them both superstitious and founded in hard fact.

Movement out of the corner of his eye caused Mario to glance in the direction that the waiter had headed. Daisy’s orange dress seemed like a flare in the middle of the pastel and floral print of the worn by everyone else at the party. The big floppy orange hat perched atop her hair bounced as she wove her way around obstacles and people in her bid to get to Mario.

Without slowing her pace, she spun, plucked a pair of champagnes from the tray and used the back of hand to push the sunglasses up the bridge of her nose. “I guess it’s sad boy hour over here,” Daisy said before downing one of the champagne flutes.

“Those white trays are for non alcoholic beverages.” Mario kept his eyes forward, not looking at her as he spoke.

Daisy tilted her head down over the glass, letting the liquid empty back into the glass. “This is the worst thing to ever happen to me. And I was kidnapped by fucking aliens once. Is Peaches tying to poison me?” She said as she poured the contents of both flutes into a bush just behind the raised dais where they stood.

“Maybe you could slow down? I can smell vodka on you from here,” Mario said.

“Oh, a bird shit on my dress and I used the vodka to clean it off. I wouldn’t drink that cheap bilge-water they’re serving over there.”

Daisy glanced around as if expecting to see someone. Mario already knew what the next thing out of her mouth was going to be”

“Where’s your sexy brother?”

That hadn’t been how he had thought she would phrase it. “You know how Luigi is about crowds.”

“Right. He’ll eventually turn up.”

Mario nodded.

“Why don’t you stop moping in the corner and go talk to her?”

“And say what?” Mario asked.

“Whatever you normal-types say to each other. She likes you. She claims you’re dating now and here you are hiding from her like one of those little fat ghosts with the nub hands,” Daisy said.

“They’re called Boos. You’ve spent time with several of them over the years; you’ve got one’s number in your cellphone.”

“Know what your problem is?” Daisy asked.

Mario didn’t have time to answer before she leaned in closer to him, the smell of alcohol mixed with floral perfume dominating the air around her.

“You’re hung up in the minutiae of every situation. Go try to put your arm around her while she chats with those children, maybe grab a drink and try to have a little fun? Who knows, maybe she’ll let you turn her guts inside out.“ She said the last part very quickly and before he could cut in or correct her she waved a hand at him.

“—I need to go find something to drink before I have to suck this vodka out of my dress. There is too many boring people out here for me to remain sober.” Daisy rushed off toward the bar in a frantic pace, leaving the glasses resting on the railing behind where she had been standing.

Mario lifted the glass to his lips and drank; the after being clutched in his hand for so long the liquid had warmed considerably, but he found it was often better to have something to take the edge off the things Daisy said.

She wasn’t wrong though.

It was rare that Daisy lied. He wasn’t sure that she had enough shame to know that she should really omit things in most cases. The lies she had told might have just been out of some sense of needing to conceal something for someone else or honest mistakes.

Daisy believed deep down that Mario was right for Peach and that her efforts in talking to him would help. Mario finished his drink and wandered near enough to the bar to exchange his glass for another. For a moment his reflection was visible in one of the decorations on the bar and he noticed his mustache looked a little frazzled. He reached inside of the breast pocket of his coat and plucked out a comb. Careful to tilt it just right to go with the grain of the hair he brushed down and away from his nose in clean, even strokes.

Peach leaned in beside him trying to rest her butt against the bar, but it was obvious that she connected to it with a bit more force than she intended and cause the whole thing to rock. One of the Mushroom People behind the bar grasped it to steady things.

“Oops! My apologies! Sorry, sorry!” Peach went to grab one of the glasses in a bid to keep it from falling over, but she bumped it onto its side instead. “Oh no, I am so sorry—this is my fault.”

A bushy eyebrowed Mushroom Person gave her a deep, close-lipped grin. “It’s fine Your Highness, we’re all used to your little accidents by now.”

Redness crept across the space on either side of Peach’s nose. While he had been admiring her with a kind of starstruck awe from across the room, being this close to her was like staring into the sun. Peach seemed to glow with more than just embarrassment as she pressed a slender hand to one cheek, the blue jeweled ring on her index finger catching the sunlight.

Right, the spill.

Mario tore his eyes away from her and spun to grab for a bar cloth. He pushed in close to Peach where the spill was and mopped it up. “Excuse me, Your Highness. I’ve got that,” he said hurriedly brushing the ice into his hand and depositing it into the glass.

The color in her cheeks faded as she turned to help. She took the glass and sat it behind the bar on the lower shelf before letting out a truncated giggle. Her blonde bangs had were pressed to one side, she seemed to notice at that same moment and used her fingers to fan them back out. She moved a tendril of hair away from her cheek, tucking it back over her ear.

“I haven’t seen you around here before.” She brought the hand that had been up by her ear down to rest against the side of her neck and her bright, blue eyes searched his face before nerves or something else got the best of her and she averted her gaze.

Somehow Peach was both graceful and awkward; he guessed that she fought to compose herself most of the time, but he had seen the woman trip over literally nothing while simply walking around. The only person he could think of less prone to accidents was Luigi.

“Very smooth, Your Highness,” Mario said with a smile. He left bar rag and took the time to remove his hat.

“You’re actually not allowed to call me that,” she said.

“Princess?”

“Uh-uh. It’s Peach, just Peach.” She shook closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Peaches?”

“Daisy only calls me that because when she was a little she had a speech impediment and couldn’t seem to say my name without messing it up. But I will be sure to let her know you’re making fun of her.”

“Don’t put me back in Daisy’s crosshairs…”

“Ha, you’re actually so scared of her! I won’t tell if you do me a favor and walk me around the back gardens.” Peach offered her elbow out to him as she often did when she wanted her to loop his arm through hers.

So he did.

“We hardly got to talk today so I’d—well I think I’d like that,” Mario said. Peach smelled like perfume, some scent that they didn’t seem to have on earth or if they did not one he could place, and sugar and flour from baking earlier.

“We haven’t had time together because you always seem to be as far from as this garden will allow.”

Now Mario was sure that there was some redness in his face. He moved to put his hat back on, hoping it would hide some of the color.

“Toadsworth!” Peach called to her steward.

Toadsworth was an older looked Mushroom Person with brown spots on the cap of his head, unlike most of the others of his race that part of his head was beige. He had a bushy mustache that concealed the bottom half of his face and when he spoke his words were always slightly muffled.

“Yes, Princess?” He said turning, his weight rested partially on a cane at his side.

“Can you watch things here for me? Mario is taking me on a romantic stroll.”

Mario swallowed. How even she shade from his cap’s brim wouldn’t hide the redness in his face. He could feel the heat bubbling up and a shiver shot through him.

[coll2mitts]

Super Mario Bros. (1993)

Thanks to the awesome people who donated to Extra Life (you still can, btw!)  y'all will now be treated to a retrospective on the 1993 classic movie, Super Mario Bros.  When I took on this milestone, the first (and only) person I messaged for ideas on terrible (but wonderful) films based on video games was my friend Max, who has a history of viewing and talking about bad movies.  He suggested this, and while I was aware of this magnificent piece of cinema history, I had not had the pleasure of viewing it myself.  He hooked me up with a copy, and to say this film lived up to my expectations would be an understatement.

I couldn’t help but be charmed by this movie.  It is filled with so many questionable creative choices that were fucking ridiculous.  Mario and Luigi not being blood related?  Sure.  Cheesy Italian accents replaced with a New York ones?  Yeah, why not?  Having all the enemies in Super Mario Bros. be canonically dinosaurs?  I mean... It's a choice informed by the great media dino wave of 1993, but whatever.  Yoshi is a dinosaur, if we want to extend that to goombas and Koopa for whatever reason, I'm down.  Having these dinosaurs live underneath New York City in a parallel dimension?  It's based on a video game, why the fuck not?  Everything is so goddamn bonkers.

The opening credits roll, and we’re told that 65 million years ago, a meteor created said underground parallel universe dinosaur land.  We witness a human-looking woman, who is really a dinosaur, leaving an egg baby on a church doorstep.  Don’t think about it too hard, the logistics of a human giving birth to an egg that size are just... it’s gross to think about.

We’re then introduced to the titular characters, Mario Mario and Luigi Mario.  Yes, their last names are Mario.  Making them the Mario brothers.  Because this movie is interested in answering the important questions.  Mario is the owner of a failing plumbing business, while Luigi is a conspiracy theorist who would have really enjoyed modern-day YouTube.

While they’re out trying to find work, they run into Miss Amy March herself, Daisy, who is an archeologist in charge of digging up dinosaur bones from a New York City construction site.  She’s being forced off the property by the mob, who apparently are annoyed that a blonde lady in cargo shorts is coming between them and whatever the fuck they’re building.  

They try and intimidate her, she storms off to use a payphone to call for security, and is almost picked up by two inconspicuous bozos in a cab who apparently are stealing Brooklyn women off the street for no reason.  Their plan is quickly thwarted by a random moving pane of glass.

Instead, Daisy runs right into Luigi, who forgets how to human once he sees her pretty face.  He asks her on a date, where she reveals even more exposition.  She believes the meteor that destroyed the dinosaurs landed in New York City.  Oh, and also, she’s the abandoned egg baby.  Luigi is also an orphan, and this shared trauma apparently gets them both hot and bothered.  They wander off to the dig site, because an underground pit attached to a sewer is so romantic, and it is also where Daisy feels the most comfortable.

What if we made out at the bone pit?

Their touching moment is cut short when the mob sabotages the plumbing in the sewer and water starts flooding the area.  They run to get Mario, because he is a plumber, to fix the pipes, which is so fucking clutch, I love it so much.

While the Mario brothers are distracted, Daisy is captured by the weirdo twins and dragged into the alternate dinosaur universe.  Mario and Luigi follow, and we’re treated to the most fucking amazing transition scene of Bob Hoskins spinning wildly through colorful rocks.

Turns out, parallel dinosaur world, or Dinohattan, is fucking lit as hell.  I am convinced that Futurama based their sewer city on this movie.

King Koopa, who is a dinosaur with badly bleached hair gelled back in an effort to look like Michael Douglas in Wall Street, has taken over Dinohattan.  He is the one who asked the goons to kidnap Daisy, because of the tacky crystal necklace she wears.  Apparently, it is a piece of the meteorite that crashed into earth, and once he puts the piece back into the original space rock, the dinosaur world will merge with the mammal world after 65 million years of his people being sequestered underground, and Koopa will have endless resources at his disposal.  Also, Daisy is a princess, and her dad is a giant fungus taking over the city, so that’s totally normal and not at all weird.

Problem is, the two idiots he sent to grab her didn’t think to check if she was wearing the necklace.  Turns out, Luigi has the necklace, or had the necklace, as they are quickly mugged by a granny, who is then robbed by a lady with a bright red spiky latex coat and springy robot feet.  The brothers are then arrested by the dinocops and are grilled by Koopa for the whereabouts of the rock.  When they play dumb he uh... reacts in a proportionate way.

I am not even going to attempt to explain the devo process...  It is a combination of insane and fucking disgusting.  Whoever in the costuming department looked at the cute fucking mushroom Goombas in the video game and decided to translate them into this scaly, jagged-teethed nightmare fuel deserves to be committed.

Also, there’s only one lizard king, and that’s Jim Morrison, so back off, buddy.

What is hilarious to me is this is the story the screenwriters came up with.  Super Mario, as a video game, doesn’t have much lore, right?  You slide down pipes, you jump on mushrooms, and you save the princess from a spiky turtle.  They took that game and created... This.  A parallel underground dinosaur universe that has a sentient fungus as a king, taken over by a human-like t-rex that devolves other lizards into tiny-headed night paralysis demons.

The middle of this movie alternates between a slog of expositional scenes about Daisy being a princess, and pretty entertaining action scenes of the Mario brothers running from Goombas while trying to find and save Daisy.  Mario and Luigi steal a cop car and drive it off a cliff Thelma and Louise-style; They cosplay as Ketchup and Mustard to steal the necklace back from Big Burtha while asking her to stomp on them; They jump off a bridge into a garbage truck; They break the pipes in Koopa’s building to freeze everything, and get past an elevator full of Goombas by making them dance.

Watching Daisy damsel-in-distress-it in Koopa’s high rise office building and fend off advances by a long-tongued dude who devolved her father into a mushroom was pretty boring and disturbing.  Alternatively, witnessing Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo pretend to jump on giant sheets of fungus really sold this movie for me.  It succeeds when it tries to be ridiculous and fun, and fall flat when it attempts to integrate any sort of drama that I’m assuming was added to make this story more appealing to adults.

Mario and Luigi eventually find Daisy, and she introduces them to her father - a giant dripping blob suspended from the ceiling.  Luigi wants in her pants badly enough that he pretends this is a reasonable thing to do.  Mario heads further into the building to free the other ladies kidnapped by tweedle dee and tweedle dum that they initially thought were Daisy, but weren’t.  The newly assembled group are able to escape by sliding down the frozen pipes on a mattress before they are green-screen launched out of the pipe and back into the greater Dinohattan area.

The amount of times Mario and Luigi use their plumbing skills to overcome obstacles may be my favorite part of this movie.  The plot goes out of its way to justify a really bizarre character trait for the original game.

Anyway, the end of this movie comes at you fast.  First, the sentient fungus king gives Mario and Luigi a bomb, and they decide to wind it up and aim it at Koopa.  This takes about 10 minutes of screen time to matter again.

Koopa’s second-in-command tries to merge Daisy’s stolen necklace with the meteor, and instead gets skeletoned to bits, prompting the best line delivery reaction from Daisy, a deadpan “Yikes”.

Because the necklace has now been returned to its resting place, the worlds start to merge Infinity War style.

“Mr. Koopa, I don’t feel so good.”

Koopa and Mario end up back in Manhattan, and Koopa just starts shooting his devo guns at human mobsters, turning them back into primates, and giving their wardrobe a whole new literal definition of monkey suit.

Luigi uses his super plumbing powers to drill the necklace back out of the meteor, separating the worlds again.  The bomb finally goes off, they devo Koopa into slime, and the citizens celebrate by immediately painting over his ever-prevalent propaganda.

The king evolves back into a mushroom person or something, and Daisy stays in Dinohattan to get to know her father better.  Mario and Luigi return to their lives in Brooklyn as plumbers, and their heroic acts make them conspiracy community famous, as they now refer to our heroes as the Super Mario Brothers.  Roll Credits.

Except not, because Daisy returns to ask for the help of a couple of great plumbers, setting up a sequel that will never, ever happen because there is no god and we’re not allowed to feel joy.

Honestly, Super Mario Bros. is great.  It owned every bold plot and visual choice it made, and I have to respect it.  I could listen to John Leguizamo say Mario like 700 more times.  Y’all are missing out if you think you’re too cool to watch this movie.

I’ll be back to musical reviews later this month.  I have a few seasonally appropriate movies in my big red sack waiting to be placed under the tree...  Yes, I meant to phrase it that way.

[hbmmaster]

Mario Bros. (Game & Watch) analysis

Mario Bros. is an arcade game released in 1983. it’s the game that Super Mario Bros. is supposed to be the “Super” version of. it introduced things like coins, pipes, and turtles as features that have been core aspects of the Mario franchise ever since. it’s often claimed that it also introduced Mario’s brother Luigi to the series, but that’s not technically accurate.

Mario Bros. is a Game & Watch game released in 1983, about a hundred twenty days before the unrelated arcade game with the same title. this was the first game to feature Luigi. in my opinion, it’s also a much, much more interesting game than the other game called Mario Bros.

like all Game & Watch games, Mario Bros. is very simple. in it, Mario and Luigi work in a packaging company, and the player, controlling both brothers simultaneously, moves packages of bottles at various stages of being packed from conveyor belt to conveyor belt, eventually loading finished packages onto a truck.

Mario Bros. (Game & Watch) is played on two screens, the left screen showing what Luigi is doing and the right screen showing what Mario is doing. the player must pay attention to both screens simultaneously to succeed. as the game progresses, the number of packages gradually increases.

if either brother drops a package, breaking its fragile contents, a short cutscene plays where the brothers’ boss yells at them, and the player gets a “miss”. after three misses, the game ends, though misses are periodically forgiven at 300 point intervals. as an arcade-style high scoring game, the game doesn’t end until you lose.

at a surface level, this is all there is to this pocket sized game. (though to be fair, it is also a watch!) however, when you think about it for literally any amount of time, you might be able to convince yourself that Mario Bros. (Game & Watch) is like, actually about something.

in Mario Bros. (Game & Watch), Mario and Luigi are tasked with moving packages between conveyor belts. this is not difficult for them, there isn’t even an input necessary from the player to get them to do this. all the player, and therefore, we assume, the Mario Bros., are concerned about is making sure that they’re literally standing where they need to stand to do their job.

the challenge, of course, comes from the fact that they’re each expected to be in three places at once. the packages of glass bottles fall and break if there isn’t someone literally standing there waiting to catch them when they reach the end of the conveyors.

it’s also worth discussing that this game is impossible to “win”. there is no end to the labor. the Mario Bros. are occasionally afforded a break long enough to sit down and exhale, and then it’s back to work, and the amount of work continuously increases.

but there is, however, an ending. you, the player, are incapable of playing Mario Bros. (Game & Watch) perfectly forever. eventually, you will make a mistake, and you’ll be shown a cartoonishly furious boss yelling at whoever dropped the package. and eventually this will happen three times in a row, and the game will end.

the fact that this “bad ending” is unavoidable can only be interpreted one way: that it’s the “canon” ending of the game’s story. the events of Mario Bros. (Game & Watch) end when Mario and Luigi become incapable of being able to deal with the increasing workload, resulting in both brothers being fired.

and isn’t it fitting for this story to be told through a game mechanic where the player does the work of two people simultaneously?

there really isn’t that much to Mario Bros. (Game & Watch), but at the very least I can say that it genuinely is a game about working at a packaging company, which I guess is kinda obvious, but I don’t think I could say that Donkey Kong is really “about” being a construction worker or that Mario Bros. (arcade) is really “about” being a plumber.

[mariofallenstar]

Super Mario Bros.: Fallen Star AU (Part 4)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

What did Luigi feel in the face of his approaching execution?

A lot of jumbled-up things, most of them seemingly incompatible with each other.

See, Luigi had no intention of saving himself by giving up Peach’s location to Bowser.

After being captured for what seemed to be the final time, he looked over the course of his heroing career and saw nothing but failure.

He hadn’t been able to save the Mushroom Kingdom or Mario.

He’d rescued many Toads from Bowser’s tyranny, but there were so many more left behind.

And even the ones who had been saved were now living in exile.

Luigi, in some twisted way, saw himself dying to save Peach and Stella as a redemption,

A redemption it never occurred to him he didn’t need.

His silence was the one thing he still had left to him.

If he could keep his silence, his niece and her mother would be safe.

Well, he wanted to think like that,

But when he thought of his family, not just Stella and Peach but Daisy and his own children,

He nearly broke.

He didn’t want to leave them. He wanted to stay with them.

Each time he tried to reconcile himself to his “sacrifice,” their faces appeared in his head, and he railed against the deep unfairness of it all.

Little did he know,

His niece had no intention of letting her uncle die.

Stella emerged from the warp pipe hidden in an empty mine where Bowser’s forces wouldn’t think to look.

This was the first time she had set foot in the Mushroom Kingdom since she was sixteen, and the first time she had ever done so alone.

She was in awe as she traversed the country she still thought of as her birthright.

“This rock is mine. This tree is mine. That horizon is mine.”

Of course, that’s not how royalty or property works, and to some extent, Stella knew this,

But she was also young and mentally overwhelmed. 

She looked over the terrain the way a farmer would survey the untamed patch of wilderness they had just purchased,

Seeing both what was there and what would be underneath once every obstacle was cleared away. A sort of greedy double-vision.

But, of course, Stella had a job to do.

Luigi’s execution was in six days. She had to make her way to the site of the old castle and interrupt it somehow.

She didn’t really have a plan,

And the Mushroom Kingdom had become an unwelcoming place.

Everything about the country had changed, even its name.

It was called “New Bowser Kingdom” now. 

Much of the old cities had become industrialized, and new towns had sprung up surrounding ember-spewing weapon factories.

The sky was choked with pollution, and the air filled with the metallic clang of hammers.

Toads had been reduced to second-class citizens who toiled in dangerous and thankless jobs. 

And, while many were still secretly loyal to Princess Peach and dreamt of the day when she would return,

Others were consumed by bitterness, thinking that Peach had abandoned them.

Many of them had lost their last shred of hope in the wake of Luigi’s upcoming execution. 

Stella was deeply saddened as she moved through these sad, soot-filled cities.

These were her people. They needed her.

But she had no idea how to help them.

For the first time, she understood something of the full weight of what her mother and uncle were up against. 

Now, naturally, a human girl in the isolationist New Bowser Kingdom was bound to attract attention,

And if anyone discovered she was Princess Peach’s daughter, that could jeopardize her rescue mission.

But, Stella had a cover story.

She told any Toad to whom she showed her face that she was a reporter from the Metro Kingdom. 

She had come to see if living conditions in New Bowser Kingdom were truly as inhumane as the rumors claimed.

When people heard she was a reporter, they became eager to talk to her. 

They all seemed to have something they wanted her to say to the outside world.

Some felt it was important to communicate how bad living conditions really were.

They told Stella of overly long hours, low pay, strict rationing in winter, merciless fatigue in summer, how a coworker had fallen into a smelting vat and the smell had lingered for weeks.

Others had loved ones who had already escaped or that they had simply lost track of.

They urged Stella to send out inquiries and give names.

“It’s me, Todd. I’m still alive. I miss you.

“Publish that for me, will you? Maybe she’ll see it.”

Still others had messages they wished to convey to Princess Peach.

“Long live the princess!”

“This kingdom is still yours, Princess! It will always be yours!”

“We’re fighting for you, Princess Peach! We know you’ll come back one day!”

It was this last group that hit Stella the hardest.

She found her eyes welling up with tears as she heard those earnest words, pledges of loyalty to her mother.

The Toads were taken aback by her tears.

“It’s just very moving how much you care for your princess,” she managed to choke out.

The Toads came to see her as a living bottle, carrying all their messages. They wanted to protect their messages,

And so they tried to protect her.

Stella found people willing to hide her in their homes, people willing to share their food. 

Still, there were a few close calls.

Stella found herself unable to stand back and watch as an overworked Toad was disciplined by a Hammer Bro. for passing out in the street,

So she jumped in and fought the Hammer Bro. off.

She knew it was probably a mistake, but the testimonies of the Toads had left her so riled up, she felt she would explode if she didn’t do something.

She’d had to retreat before reinforcements appeared by crawling into the sewer.

It was there, sloshing through who-knows-what in the dark,

That she discovered her uncle had not been the only one fighting for the kingdom’s freedom.

As previously stated, Luigi had been very hush-hush about his rescue work in New Bowser Kingdom. There were many aspects that he had never told Stella about.

That included his allies.

Stella found herself confronted with a cluster of very dirty, very fierce looking Toads. 

They were the remains of the Toad Brigade.

No longer an exploration team, they now served as the major resistance organization in New Bowser Kingdom. 

In the intervening years, Captain Toad had changed from a wide-eyed idealist into someone much more jaded and cynical.

Stella, overjoyed at having found a real resistance, confided in him her real goal of rescuing Luigi.

Captain Toad told her she was out of her mind.

Luigi was already dead. They couldn’t count on Mario, and they can’t count on Luigi.

They had a hard enough time keeping their numbers up as it is. Risking the entire Toad Brigade to rescue Luigi was a foolish gamble.

They had already seen so many brave souls fall.

He didn’t even want to mention what had happened to Toadette.

Before Stella even had time to ask, “Who’s Toadette?” Captain Toad had already turned away.

“Forget him. Head home. Nobody asked you to meddle in our business.”

The Toad Brigade had been tracking Stella, but they didn’t know who she was, and they were not impressed by what they saw as her feeble efforts to be a hero. 

Stella had no choice but to play her final card.

She opened the backpack she had been carrying and pulled out a hat.

It was a plumber’s hat, much like her father’s and uncle’s. It was in pink with an “S” above the brim.

She put it on and told Captain Toad to look at her.

He did.

He huffed.

“That stupid cosplay isn’t going to change my mind.”

“It’s not cosplay,” said Stella.

“Look in my eyes.

“Don’t you know who I am?”

Captain Toad looked.

He blinked. 

He couldn’t look away.

Stella’s eyes looked exactly like Peach’s.

And that determined expression underneath that hat...

“Princess Peach...the hero you called Mario...

“They’re not strangers to me, either. 

“I already lost my dad. I don’t want to lose my uncle.

“I know you think we failed you, but I promise it will change.”

In spite of himself, Captain Toad was in tears.

“Has it really been that long?

“Is she really a mother now?”

“Please, help me!” said Stella.

But, Captain Toad shook his head.

“Go home. Go back to your mother.

“Do you think we want to lose you, too?”

But, Stella was tired of being protected, tired of being told it was enough just to live.

She had never felt more strongly that she had so much more to offer than her continued survival.

“If you don’t come with me to save Zio, I’m going alone.”

Looking at her blazing blue eyes, Captain Toad saw Mario.

He knew she was serious.

He agreed to help her.

The Toad Brigade bowed to their princess.

Luigi’s execution was in two days.

[alt-ernativewonderland]

Make You Smile

Harrison Osterfield x Reader One Shot

Warnings: Swearing + An abundance of Fluff and Banter + Secondhand embarrassment perhaps? Probably some very shitty writing?

It was a lazy fall Sunday afternoon, soon to be evening and because it had looked rather dreary outside this morning (not very unusual for London, of course) you and your housemate Tom had decided to stay in and play Mario Kart all morning in your Pj's feasting on Jaffa cakes and day old pizza.

However by the time noon had just about rolled around your partner in crime (or Mario Kart more accurately speaking) had received an urgent call from his agent requesting his presence immediately for a last minute rescheduled call back for a new film he had been in the process or auditioning for.

Tom felt a little bad leaving you during your Mario marathon so around 15 minutes after he had left, a knock at the door and a familiar hoodie clad face had popped in moments later, seating himself down next to you, taking up a controller for himself.  

Tom's best friend. The gorgeous Harrison. Who you may or may not be a little helplessly in love with. Those damned eyes. Could you be blamed? Tom of course suspected something straight off and had been trying to get you to admit it ever since, giving you shit about it every. Single. Day.

"Alright? Tom called, told me you might need a friend he'd said, making himself comfortable and switching Tom's Mario Character for his choice Luigi instead.

This is how it had started out. Now? Now it was all out war.

"You better watch out princess look who's catching up" Harrison taunts.

"Good come a little closer so you can taste this banana i'm about to throw at your stupid green hat"

You fire back aiming the fruit behind you. It hits him dead on sending his cart spinning off the to side of the track, he yells out an obscenity in protest.

"You're in first now but don't get too comfortable you're about to get wrecked with blue shells just wait." He laughs managing to speed back into third place rather quickly.

"Meh me meung meh meh" You mimic back under your breath.

Suddenly the grin etched on your face is wiped clean when your screen goes black from the predicted blue shell.

"NoOoOo you fuck- stupid- fucking- shhhghaarrghh!!!!!!"

"Language, darling Peach that's not very royal of you" He chuckles.

"Shut it you, I can still win this, if you stop trying to distract me with your stupid retorts"

"If you can't bant and play at the same time what even is the point? Also careful what you say there peachy look who's in first" Harrison says grinning while poking a finger at your side.  

"Well then who has to watch out for blue shells now huh!" You think up (a little weakly) tingling from the ticklish contact.

You didn't have any blue shells or any sort of random items actually so you decided to play a little dirty instead, palming his face and shoving him off to the side effectively tipping him over, off the lounge and onto the carpeted floor.  

"Oi that's cheating you can't do that!"

"All's fair in Mario kart and war my friend" You say as you race toward the finish line, crossing it seconds later.

Immediately you leap from the couch jumping up and down like a little kid on Christmas morning.

"YEEESSS I am the queen of Mario Kart in your FACE Osterfield!" You cackle delightedly down at his hunched over form as he still sits upon the floor, dejected puppy dog expression and all.

Your cheeks are a little warm from all the excitement. And perhaps his adorably put out expression.

"You're princess Peach not queen Peach and whatever you cheated AND anyway we were playing on 150cc that's too fast it wasn't a fair game!"

"Oooooh that's right blame the speed and my genius tactics for your epic 5th loss in a row! Or is it 6th now? I've honestly lost count" You tease him, still giggling a little, sitting back down on the lounge for the next round.

"I'll show you a genius tactic!"

Suddenly he launches himself towards you from the floor, sprawling himself on your lap and tickling mercilessly at your sides.

"Stop! Stop! Please - oh my god Harrison, Harrison please stop I can't - stop - I cant breathe!" You scream at the top of your lungs gasping, laughing uncontrollably at his preferred method of payback.

"This - is what you get - when you play dirty and cheat - to - win!" He says a little out of breath from the effort of holding you down and dodging your pathetic attempts of attack and defence.

"Okay okay okay I'm sorry, I'm sorry please just please okay-"

"Have you had enough yet?"

"YES Harrison PLEASE stop it oh my god" You beg, giggling uncontrollably still.

"What was that? I couldn't quite hear you love"

You could just hear the smirk in his voice, your sight of him effectively lost from the tears of laughter streaming down your face"

"I'M SORRY for shoving you okay truce truce, I surrender! I'm going to die, seriously!"

He laughs a little through tears of his own as he replies "I don't think it's actually possible to die from being tickled but I think you've learned your lesson."

He let's up on the tickling as you clutch your sides protectively, trying to get your breath back.

Although after peaking your eyes open a little, any chance of this is immediately tossed out of the window as you take in his disheveled appearance.

He was wearing that classic angel faced smile that instantly turned into a devilish grin when his starry eyes met your tear filled ones. His sandy blonde curls were sticking up in all directions and his cheeks were flushed from all the exertion. He was absolutely stunning.

Suddenly you both became very aware of the position you were in. He was still sitting firmly in your lap, hands resting gently on the skin of your exposed stomach where your shirt had ridden up a little in all the commotion.

Harrison bit his lip a little as he took you in. You desperately wondered what he could be thinking as your breath hitched a little at the quick flash of his tongue darting over soft pink lips.

The sound of shoes shuffling at the doormat shattered the tense atmosphere, the squeak of the old front door swinging open had you both scrambling to opposite sides of the lounge seconds after. Tom came rushing in to the  room.

"Y/n, Y/N! You would not believe - my agent Karen, and-" He stopped as he took in the scene in front of him

"What's...going on here? Harrison I thought you'd have left by now by now mate you do realise it's almost six, yeah?" Tom grinned at the two of you, shooting a knowing look your way.

"We were - we were just playing Mario Kart...still" He cleared his throat a little, reaching for a discarded controller and clutching it upside down in his haste.

"Right-o then if you say so." Tom scoffed, taking the spot on the lounge between Harrison and yourself and winking at your eye roll of a response.

"Are you sure H because you look a little winded there and your face is-" Tom started up again.

"What were you saying about your agent Karen? Thomas?" You piped up, noticing Harrison's embarrassment and glaring at the doe eyed boy beside you.

"Oh yeah! She managed to convince the casting agents to give me a second shot at callbacks because I missed mine from that nasty flu Harrison gave me and the director was so impressed with my 3rd audition that he invited us all out to lunch to get to know ME better because he really wants me to be chosen for the part! He thinks I was born to play Spider man can you believe?"

"No way man! That's incredible!" Harrison exclaimed high fiving his best friend and giving him a few congratulatory pats on the arm.

"I'm so proud of you Tom, honestly, you've worked so hard and you truly deserve this so much! You've been dreaming about this role since we were kids" Your face lights up and you offer a genuinely proud smile toward your best friend of 10 years reaching for a warm hug.

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. He mumbles back a little sheepishly into the crook of your neck.

"Well then, I guess this calls for a bit a celebration right? What's say I make some of my world class pasta for dinner tonight?" Harrison stands from the lounge, stretching languidly and heading towards the doorway to put his shoes on.

"Anybody need anything from the shops?"

"I'm good thanks" You reply back, rising from the lounge yourself to stretch.

You don't notice Harrison pausing in tying his shoelaces as you do so, fixated on your movements. Tom raising his eyebrows at him suggestively, then rolling them soon afterwards when his friend is brought out of his daze by his voice.

"Grab me a cornetto would you mate?" He grins, eyes twinkling at his friends dopey expression, reaching for his wallet.

"Nah mate don't even think about it, dinner and desserts on me; So parsley and basil for the pasta, cornetto for Tom aaaand Oreos for Y/n,"

He flips his hoodie up as he prepares to head out into the evening fall breeze.

"Hey I never said I wanted Oreos!" You call out to him, confused.

"Well yeah but I know you want them and even if you say you don't you'll change your mind, like always." He grins knowingly at your squinted eyes and crossed arms.

He heads out and its quiet for a moment, Mario Kart music still playing distantly on the TV.

"So" Tom's accusatory tone follows.

"What." You reply absently still facing the front door.

"What happened while I was out charming my future production team?" He picks up Harrison's discarded controller and flicks the character back over to Mario.

"Erm. Nothing. What? Nothing we were literally playing Mario Kart until you got back that's it." You respond hastily, plonking yourself back down on the lounge, grabbing the other controller and starting a new game.

"Are you sure about that? Because it kind of seemed like I walked in on something a little more than that." He smirked, instantly making it into first place with ease.  

"I really have no clue what you could possibly mean." You bite your lip thinking back to just a few moments ago when Harrison had had you practically pinned beneath him, his face flushed and breathless.

"Oh come off it you've been completely infatuated with him for like 6 years now don't even TRY to deny it Y/n." He chuckles shoving playfully at your shoulder trying to distract you from the game but the conversation in itself was distracting enough.

"You know I can here sounds coming from that frog mouth of yours Holland, but all they're saying is 'I'm gonna lose spectacularly'" You shove back, deflecting the attention back to the game at hand, aiming a red shell his way.

He swerves just in time and dodges it

"Damn your expert reflexes" You mumble, not 100 percent paying attention to the game in the first place anyway.

Too preoccupied by memories wayward curls over starry blue eyes and soft smiles.

"I prefer Spidey senses"

"Calm down you dork you haven't got the part quite yet"

"Just you wait when I do and I start getting more and more followers on Instagram I'm going to post it all over my story for my 1 million followers to see; 'Y/N LOVES HARRSION OSTERF-'" Suddenly he has a face full of pillow as you prepare to throw another.

"Shut UP Thomas! Oh my god like you would even GET a million followers in the first place you fucking div" You don't even throw the next pillow at him this time, electing to just pummel him with it for a while until you hear a muffled "Okay okay I'll stop I'll stop I'm sorry don't kill me" As he continues laughing, running his fingers through his frazzled hair the game effectively forgotten.

You sigh as you give up your pillow attack, placing the pillow behind you and resting your head against it with a deep defeated sigh.

You sit in comfortable silence for a moment, both listening to the ever playing Mario Kart theme and taking note of the sudden rainfall that must have just started to during your miniature conflict.

"Okay but I'd just like to reminisce something to you for a moment here." Tom speaks up after the pause in commotion. "Remember when we were kids, and I brought H to your birthday party so you could meet him and I got you that new Sims 2 Pets game?"

"Yeah...?" Suspicious eyes peered over at the boy, wondering where on earth he was going with this.

"Not two weeks after that you'd already made sim versions of the two of you and were planning the wedding, which from the screenshots I vacantly remember browsing through looked to be a beautiful ceremony I might add." He snickered, already scooting away from you and grabbing a nearby pillow off the loveseat, bracing for another attack.

"I'm going to murder you in your sleep tonight, and might III add that I was like eleven when that happened! And I made you too!" You threw the pillow you'd been resting your head on in his direction regardless of his makeshift pillow shield, groaning at the memory and covering your now very warm cheeks.

"I WAS THE DOG YOU GUYS ADOPTED AFTER YOU'D MOVED IN TOGETHER!" His exasperated tone turning into gasps of laughter when he saw your grin peaking out from behind embarrassed hands.

"At least you were a golden retriever puppy! That's a super cute dog! I could have made you as a hairless cat with huge disfigured eyes or something equally strange and disturbing."

"Something equally strange and disturbing is the title of yours and Osterfield's Sims 2 honeymoon sex tape." He clapped back, already on his feet and sprinting off towards the kitchen.

"I hate you!" You called out to him getting to your feet and following the object of said hatred to make yourself some tea.

"You only hate the fact that I right." He taunted back sticking his tongue out at your less than impressed expression at his childish antics.

"Alright fine maybe I did have a sort of small crush or something when we were younger but it's in the past!" You give in finally, absently fiddling with the tab of the tea bag in your Pusheen cat mug.   "Besides he never liked me back anyway." You mumbled the last sentence a little under your breath, concentrating on making the baggy bob up and down repeatedly in the steaming water.

"That's not true!" Tom blurted out, smacking a hand over his lips a moment later silently cursing his big mouth.

This was a secret Harrison swore him never to tell, he'd even pinkie promised.

Even if it was a secret from six years ago.

He couldn't help it though, after all this time you finally had said it clear as day, right in front of him!

"What do you mean it's not true? Thomas what aren't you telling me?"

You look up at his sudden admission, squinting your eyes to gauge his current demeanour as your heart rate inexplicably picked up. You watch as he shuffles nervously scratching at the back of his neck, not looking at you and busying himself with his own mug of tea.

"I mean, I'm just saying there was that one time you got really sick during the summer holidays before high school started and he brought Monty around to cheer you up."

"Oh I remember that! He said puppies could help cure anything so he stayed as long as he could to make sure I'd get the full effect even though I couldn't leave my bed." You smiled fondly at the memory, and how Harrison had also brought over your favourite chocolate chip cookies to double the efforts in making you feel better.

"Also when you lost your ring that day we played football in the park and he REFUSED to leave until it was found even after the sun had set and he only had his shitty phone screen light."

You shifted the heart shaped signet ring on your finger, remembering when Harrison's meticulous search had paid off almost 2 hours after you had initially lost the gold band and how Tom had made some cheesy remark when Harrison slipped it back onto your finger.

You were so delighted he'd found it that in your overwhelming excitement you'd thrown your arms around his neck in a tight hug and placed a kiss on his cheek, both of your faces tinted pink the whole walk home afterwards.

"Thanks by the way he would not shut up about that damned kiss for two months afterwards!" He chuckled, noticing your faint blush reappearing at the memory.

There was a pause as you collected your thoughts, sipping your tea silently while processing the memories and trying to connect any dots you may have missed from the past that may or may not be JUST In history, but perhaps also in the present.

"You know he only pretends to be bad at Mario Kart so he can watch you get all giddy and excited at beating him." Tom adds after a while, biting his lip after perhaps spilling a little too much information.

It was one thing to let slip that Harrison liked you years ago but it was another to hint at the fact that he possibly still did, and didn't want you to know about it.

"Okay that’s not true I'm great at Mario Kart!" You roll your eyes scoffing at his accusation.

"You suck at Mario Kart, why do you think I always beat you? And where do you think I learned all my skills from hm?" He raised his eyebrows at you, smirking at your slightly bewildered expression at all these new developments.

You didn't get a chance to rebut his claim because just as you opened your mouth footsteps came in quick succession up the front steps and the door swung open to reveal a very heavily rain soaked Harrison, shaking out his dripping wet curls in dog like fashion after slipping of his hood.

"Man it's raining cats and dogs out there!" He chimed in a faux American accent, slipping off his shoes and setting the groceries down on the kitchen counter.

"Just my luck, started up right as I stepped out of the shop." He continued when neither of you said anything at his return glancing between the two of you still standing a little ways from each other in the kitchen, your cheeks still tinged pink.

He pulled the uncomfortable hoodie from over his head, the t-shirt underneath sticking to it also and being pulled off with it letting out a sigh as he balled up the wet garments in his hand, still not entirely sure about the strange atmosphere he'd entered into.

"Have I missed something?" He questioned with a raised brow when STILL neither of you said anything and all you could do was fixate on the little droplets of water dripping periodically from Harrison's curls, making their way through the crevices of his glorious torso.

Tom snickered at your lingering gaze shaking his head as he finished off the last of his tea.

Harrison set his wet clothes down on the dining table and crossed his arms over his chest, eyes still shifting between the two of you curiously.

"Do you let me win at Mario kart?!" You blurted out when the silence started getting a little too thick.

"Really? That's the thing you choose to address first?" Tom laughed, rinsing his panda mug and shuffling past the two daft idiots standing in the kitchen staring at each other.

"What are you on about?" Harrison's perplexed tone answered back, glancing back at Tom's retreating form.

"Listen mate, this day has been a long time coming and you KNOW I suck at keeping secrets but might I just say I think I did a pretty good job considering I didn't breathe a word for six bloody years!"  

Tom grabbed a towel from the linen cupboard and darted into the bathroom, head re-emerging a moment later from behind the door frame with a: "You'll thank me later for my big mouth!"  

The water from the shower started up a moment after Tom closed the door and suddenly it was just you and a very shirtless Harrison left standing a little awkwardly together in the small kitchen area.

It felt even smaller when we was stood there looking like THAT.

Harrison's eyes met yours for a beat but you looked away, concentrating once more on the wayward water droplets traversing his skin, unable to look him in the eye.

"What's going on?" He murmured softly, trying to decide whether he should move towards you or keep his place in the door-frame.

"Tom, erm - Tom said, that you let me win at Mario Kart all the time and that you suck on purpose." You replied in a small voice, finally peering up at him through your lashes.

"I - I mean...maybe a little bit, sometimes?" He stuttered out, running a hand through the loose curls fallen on his forehead and biting his lip a little, bashful.

He was making it really difficult for you not to just kiss him right then and there.

"What else were you discussing before I interrupted? What did he mean by 'This has been a long time coming'?"

"Did you want some tea? You look awfully cold you should probably change into some dryer clothes." You grabbed Harrison's Avengers mug from the top cupboard and made your way back over to the kettle trying in vain to distract the confused object of your affections.

"No no no no no come on Y/n don't try to change the subject." He moved towards you, switching the kettle back off before it could make too much noise, taking a seat on the counter to face you, waiting patiently.

"Would you at least put a shirt on you're making ME cold just looking at you." You hug your arms around your middle, feeling self conscious and picking at stray pills of your jumper.

"Why am I distracting you?" He chuckled, throwing a cheeky wink your way and sitting up straight, tensing his muscles.

He was just joking but he couldn't help notice the slight tinge of colour gracing your cheek and the way your teeth gnawed unforgiving on your bottom lip.

This isn't fair. He should be the one feeling self conscious or a little nervous being half dressed and what not in front of you like this.

"Tom thinks - he told me that you used to like me." You let out, finally setting your eyes to his and not looking away. There. That should make him squirm a little, hopefully.

Harrison's face flushed as he was the one to avert his eyes this time, the back of his neck suddenly feeling very warm despite the cool raindrops still gracing his skin.

"You never said anything." You continued, carefully observing his now shifting form.

"Yeah well I - erm, I just always thought you might have seen me as a sort of brother you know, you - being friends with Tom first and all I didn't want to get in the way or make anything awkward."

"A brother?! God no Harrison I never ever thought of you that way Tom's always been like a big brother to me but y-you were the -"

"- The what?" He looked up hopefully, the crease in his brow still evident.

"The...’Cute best friend’?" You finished in a small voice, turning away to rinse your mug and making a beeline for the doorway, heading to the living room to tidy up all the stray pillows off the floor.

Harrison's face lit up into a huge shit eating grin heart beating wildly as he hopped off the counter, heading over to where you were very obviously pretending he wasn't an arms length away from you.

"Am I still?" He teased, taking a pillow from your hand and holding it up high out if your reach.

"Hm?" You offer in lieu of a response, playing dumb and reaching for the pillow but stumbling a little on your tip toes.

You swallow audibly after your hand pressed into his chest accidentally as he looks down at you catching your lower back to steady you.

"Am I still the ‘cute best friend’?" He whispers, grinning down at your shy form and tilting your chin up to look you in the eye.

"Cute...and....impossibly annoying." You finish, making a grab for the pillow after his hand had fallen a little in his distraction.

Suddenly you walloped him in the face with it laughing at his gobsmacked expression, trying to distract your thumping heart and nerves.

Harrison wasn't having it though so he grabbed the wet ball of clothes off the dining table from earlier and slowly crept towards you as you waited for the inevitable

"Don't you dare!" You pointed a finger at him menacingly with nowhere to escape to.

He captured you in a tight hug wrapping the wet hoodie around your frame and laughing gleefully at your yelps and small slaps of protest.

Resistance was futile though so you gave up with a sigh and rested your head against his chest listening to his heart rate pick up a little bit before he said his next words.

"You were the cute best friend for me too." He admitted, glancing down to your lips mere centimetres away.

"Am I still?" You mimicked his words from earlier unable to stop the corners of your mouth pulling into a wide smile.

He didn't answer, instead leaning down to press a swift kiss to you lips after you sucked in a quick breath.

"Does that answer your question?" He murmured, his eyes twinkling and a very pleased expression gracing his soft features.

"Hmm I'm not sure perhaps you should try-"

He cut off your witty remark, capturing your lips once more and this time you melted into the kiss all banter quickly vanishing from your thoughts as you reached up to play with his still wet curls, feeling the hoodie slip from his grip onto the floor so he could press you closer.

God you had waited far too long to do this you thought as he swiped his tongue along your lower lip, allowing the kiss to turn deeper.

You moaned a little as his tongue swiped over your own, the hand that wasn't toying with his damp locks tracing the definition of his toned stomach, fanning the fire that had started long go inside your chest.

"Still distracting you?" He murmured as he pulled away, his lips still brushing against your own as he spoke and a devilish smirk forming as his own hand found its way atop yours, pressing into his stomach.

"You're always distracting me." You continue pressing soft kisses to his lips unable to stop now that you knew what they felt like against your own.

"Is that so?" He chuckled, his hand on your back slipping underneath your jumper to feel the warmth of the skin beneath.

You sighed as you felt his fingers press firmly into you, his hand moving from the skin of your back to your hip as he continued to kiss you like his life depended on it.

A small gasp and a soft ‘ugh‘ fell from his lips as you raked your fingernails down his chest reveling in the feeling of being completely wrapped up in him.

The sound of a throat clearing somewhere in the distance brought you both out of your haze, bursting the bubble that had formed around you both.

You pulled away from each other at the noise and turned your heads toward the bathroom door, where Tom stood in clean pyjamas, toweling off his damp curls and giving you both the biggest self satisfied smirk you had ever seen on his boyish features.

"Oh man this is like the Sims 2 Pets all over again." Tom laughed, directing his shit eating grin to you as you buried your blushing face into Harrison's still gloriously bare chest.

Harrison sent a questioning look to Tom and then back down to you, confused as ever but laughing none the less at your sudden embarrassment, pressing his lips to your forehead then your warm cheek and finally back down to your lips, not a care in the world that Tom was now in the room.

"You're welcome!" Tom muttered under his breath, shaking his head at the admittedly adorable pair of divs in front of him.

Author’s Notes:

So there you go! Wow this is I think the first piece of writing i’ve actually started and compelted in literal years and I can’t believe it’s fanfiction between a real person and the reader but i’m gonna take it cause i’m a little proud of myself right now for accomplishing this one small thing. Anywho I hope you enjoyed this drabble turned very long One Shot and if i tagged you it’s ‘cause you liked or reblogged my original post/sneak preview of this fic! :)

@sleepwalkingdragon @hollandfieldluv @miraculousparker @would-you-tell-me-who-you-are @imwearingtomholland @soloriormora @kindbearqueen @claredolphinbear24 @ducky2542 @creativexdreamer @nachochitz @letstravelsunshine @the-divine-fxminine

[bahamutgreen]

A hyper analysis of the Mario Stages in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Hey I took the liberty of spending too much time of my life going through some of the Mario stages in Ultimate to find pretty scenes and interesting secrets. I go through each stage one by one in this MASSIVE text post so it’s all hidden under this readmore link! Enjoy the post if you have the time and energy to read it all, haha!!

Super Smash Bros. 64 (2 stages)

Peach’s Castle

As one might expect, the Smash 64 stages don’t have too much to talk about. But I tried to find as much as I could! For starters, here’s a very pretty scenic shot of the background, which is a bird’s eye view of the starting area in Super Mario 64.

Secondly, there are these trees, which are taken directly from Super Mario 64 smushed down a little bit, and had the colors desaturated a bit.

And, just for fun: This isn’t the first time this tree appears on the Nintendo Switch, as this same tree sprite was used in the recreation of the courtyard in Odyssey!

Mushroom Kingdom

Again, not much to talk about but hey here’s something everyone already knows: You can see the blast zones in this stage. I believe this is actually in each iteration of this stage (64, Melee, Ultimate) I also think the fake 2D pipe is a little interesting to look at. It doesn’t blend in very well but it’s cute.

You can also get a glimpse of how far down the vines and mushrooms go

And lastly, here’s a picture of the cute Buzzy Beetle on a spring. Rumor has it that this was added in by a developer without permission in the N64 version? I don’t know if that’s true but it’s a neat story. Also, Buzzy Beetles don’t usually appear above ground, so there’s some trivia for you

Super Smash Bros. Melee (4 Stages)

Princess Peach’s Castle

This is the first stage to get an HD remaster! Look at the beautiful recreation of the Peach Mural in front of the castle!

You can also see the bridge over Peach’s Moat, which I don’t think you could see before

Also, this isn’t intentional and is surely a coincidence but if you clip under Peach’s castle, it looks like there’s a hole in the water which is almost what it looks like if you clip under Peach’s Castle in Super Mario Odyssey.

Lastly, here’s a nice scenic shot of the waterfall behind the castle

Rainbow Cruise

So, this stage opens up with a really beautiful scenic shot. And to the left of the lake, you can see a little town! This was also in the original Melee version of this stage.

Interestingly, if you move the camera you can see that the whole stage is already loaded while you’re on the airship, and the airship is actually stationary.

Yoshi’s Island

OKAY this is a Yoshi Stage cause it’s based on Dinosaur Land but it comes from Super Mario World which is a Mario game so I’m putting it here.

The walk off part of the level actually has grass on it

And the level has been updated to have cute New Super Mario Bros. flowers!

And this stage has cute 2 paintings of the Sprites from Super Mario World AND a shot of nice HD Yoshi Fruit. These fruits have a much more berry or persimmon look in modern Mario titles but the apple look isn’t too far off.

Mushroom Kingdom II

A sequel to the first Mushroom Kingdom Stage, this doesn’t have a lot to talk about either but there is some stuff! It looks very pretty with the All-Stars sprites

And if you look, the tops of the platforms are just a very... neat looking solid green color

And you can even get a peek at where the stage’s background cuts off!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (4 stages)

Delfino Plaza

My favorite Smash Bros. Stage ever! I love all the detail put into this stage, particularly all the stages you can see from the plaza itself. Like Ricco Harbor and Bianco Hills

Pinna Park and Sirena Beach

And even the Airstrip!

There’s also tons of cute details in the Plaza, like the manhole covers and the overhang that contains the Pachinko stage!

Even the open windows have been updated to have fully rendered rooms inside them! Although the camera can’t zoom in very far to see them.

And here’s a fun glitch, you can clip the camera underwater just like clipping Mario under the water in the original Sunshine!

Also I noticed that the fire from Mario’s Final Smash leaves a special burning effect behind when it touches grass

Mushroomy Kingdom

The spinoff to Mushroom Kingdoms I&II, it has a TON of fantastic visual detail. Being a realistic, worn down reimagining of the original 1-1

You’ll notice in the last one that the pipes have covers on them, so you can’t enter them. The castle itself also has a fantastic visual wear and tear

Here’s a cute detail! 6 blocks away from this pipe is a hidden box. Just like the original Super Mario Bros.! In the original game it had a hidden 1-up inside!

Also here’s a nice shot I got of Mario grabbing the flag pole!

Figure-8 Circuit

Most people already know this but you can almost see the full track just out of reach of the screen

You might notice a cute garage and even stands for the audience! However, the stands are filled with humans instead of Mario characters. I think they’re recycled from the Punch Out arena stage. But there’s a screen that keeps track of where the Shyguys are in real time! Neat!

Speaking of which, here’s a close up on the Shyguys. They use the Standard SG Kart just as they would when playing multiplayer mode with 1 cartridge in Mario Kart DS. Which is where Figure-8 Circuit comes from, of course.

Lastly, one of my favorite details in this track is it’s use of Mario aesthetics and platforms as set pieces to build the environment. You can see large mushrooms, hills, checkered floors, and the block platforms seen in Mario Bros. 3!

Luigi’s Mansion

A really nice detail in this stage is that all the rooms you can see are actual rooms from Luigi’s Mansion! In order, left to right, top then bottom, the rooms are: Nursery, Foyer (1F), Study, Kitchen, Foyer, Ballroom.

And by stepping out of the Mansion you get a good look at the front!

But don’t worry, you can still see the cross section if you turn the camera

Some other cute details include the well where you first see Mario’s fate in Luigi’s Mansion, there’s a lot of tombstones around the mansion which take designs from Luigi’s Mansion’s graveyard. And even the chimneys at the top of the mansion are right where they should be!

And lastly here’s some of the Boos that spawn when you destroy chunks of the mansion

Mario Bros.

I only have one thing to talk about with this stage, and it’s that the POW Block has a strange amount of detail to it. It’s updated with this cool, cybernetic design.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (3 Stages)

3D Land

This stage is GORGEOUS, in my opinion. Here’s some good shots that show the detail of blocks, flip panels, Peach’s castle, and spike pillars, all with their 3D Land designs

You can also see a little visual thing where this mountain isn’t exactly in the water

An interesting developer trick is that when you go into the pipe to restart the stage, tilting the camera will show you that almost the whole stage unloads around you

And now... Here’s just a ton of really pretty scenic shots I got from this level. I just think it’s a really nice looking stage. It also does a good job of incorporation Mario elements and platforms into the environments.

okay I’m done sorry

Golden Plains

Some really nice recreations of Mario props in this stage. Here’s the 3 types of coins that appear in the stage, Gold, Red, and Blue. Gold/Blue count as 1 and Red counts as 5.

The little sign at the bottom appears when the stage starts scrolling. Also here’s some other Mario set pieces.

Also this stage isn’t as pretty as 3D Land, it does have some nice background shots

And here’s a screenshot of the stage gimmick, getting 100 coins will turn you into a gold version of your fighter!

Paper Mario

this is another stunning stage to look at. The detail in the paper and crafts are so amazing. 

In the first area, based on Hither Thither Hill, if you look to the side the walk off part of the stage actually has the same walk off between areas that Paper Mario games have!!

Here’s a close up of the fan

The 2nd area, based on the S.S. Flavion, has a super cute references to the reoccuring Big Blooper bosses in Paper Mario and the Whale from Paper Mario 64

The 3rd area, based on Bowser’s Castle in Sticker Star, is just pretty. And when the stage transitions back to the 1st area it actually closes like a story book, how cute!!

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Wii U (4 Stages)

Mushroom Kingdom U

A really underrated stage in my opinion. This is the most recent entry in the Mushroom Kingdom series of stages, based on the New Super Mario Bros. series this time. The first area, based on Acorn Plains, has some very cute environments in it.

You can even see trees containing Super Acorns, which naturally grow in this area! The 2nd area is based on the Meringue Clouds world. It’s so pretty and I even got a shot of the icicles that fall periodically through this stage. Sadly I couldn’t get the beanstalk to spawn? Maybe it’s not in Ultimate’s version of the stage. But I don’t know.

The next area is based on the games’ fortress stages! It has REALLY complex machinery for the center platforms, and you can even move the camera to see down the tower. It’s a LONG drop. I also got close ups of the multiplying blocks

The final area is based on Sparkling Waters and Rock-Candy Mines. It has pretty backdrops and sea urchins!

Lastly, some nice pictures of Kamek!

And Nabbit! Who, interestingly, has a visual glitch on his bag. The top of the Mushroom emblem is incorrectly doubled right underneath it.

Mario Galaxy

Another super pretty stage. It has gorgeous set pieces

Here’s a closeup of Starship Mario and one of Bowser’s airships. Starship Mario has Lubba, the Lumas, and all the trimmings. The airship doesn’t seem to have many crew members, though.

And here’s a closeup of a falling starbit

Mario Circuit

This, like Figure-8 Circuit, is a recreation of Mario Kart 8′s Mario Circuit. It has all the same details (minus an audience to watch)

Also, some of the towers you land on have staircases that go a lot further than you’d think

And lastly, here’s a close up of the shyguy racers. They’re now decked out with the Standard Kart design from Mario Kart 8. If you look closely, the Shyguy’s clothes are also far more detailed than the Shyguys in Figure-8 Circuit.

Super Mario Maker

This is a neat stage because it can shift artstyles mid battle. Here’s a picture of the 4 art styles: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U!

I also got some shots of the hands that will appear to fix parts of the stage you break during combat! I’m sure there’s more hands but we do have human hands, animal hands, and Mario hands!

Mario also has a cute Mario Maker alt. to go along perfectly with this stage!

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (1 Stage)

New Donk City Hall

We finally made it! Here’s the end of this massive, way too long post! Here’s some nice shots of the city, a shot of the park, and I even tried getting most of the sky scraper in one shot

Here’s some nice shots of the Odyssey! You’ll notice it has 21 Power Moons, as the official art for the Odyssey has. But it actually takes 55 Power Moons to reach the Metro Kingdom.

Some bonus stuff: A lightbulb, the New Donk City players (plus poster), and even a shot that shows how much of New Donk City was rendered.

And look! It’s Captain Toad!!! I love this fella so much!

His arm looks very weird and long when he puts it in front of his face. But you wouldn’t notice that during normal gameplay anyway

And now... I have no other way of saying this. I have a million shots of Pauline. She’s so gorgeous. I love her so much.

A really nice detail about this is that we get a good shot of Pauline’s back! You don’t get a good look in Odyssey because when you get to her during the festival the camera is locked.

AAAAAAND that’s it! That’s all the little snacks and secrets I found in the Mario stages. This was very fun and very tiring. I hope you enjoyed what I found. I know there’s a ton more stuff I missed. I do also have screenshots from the Mario spinoffs, like Donkey Kong, Yoshi, and Wario. So if people wanna see that too I can share them. But hey, for right now. I’m going to sleep. Let me know if you wanna see the spinoff stages or if I should share nicer quality pictures of the environments. That’s all for today. See ya later!

[classicdaisycalico]

PREPARE FOR A STORM >:D Luigi/Daisy for the meme

SEND ME A SHIP and I’ll tell you:

I should have known I’d be in for a storm of asks from you! But since you’ve started this ask storm with a ship I absolutely adore, I’ll dive on in! Here we go!

WHO SAID “I LOVE YOU” FIRST?Surprise! It was Luigi! Now here’s the thing: the reason Daisy didn’t say it first was because she SHOWED it first. I think it was right after she kissed him on the cheek for the first time or something was when Luigi somehow got this random shock of courage to tell her how he felt about her (complete with this goofy grin on his face. And of course, she kissed the heck out of him afterwards.)

WHO WOULD HAVE THE OTHER’S PICTURE AS THEIR PHONE BACKGROUND?Luigi has Daisy as his phone background, definitely! Since their homes are so far away from each other, it saddens the poor man to know that his beautiful princess is away from him. So he has a photo of her as his phone’s lockscreen. It’s a picture of her looking into a sunset, with her hair blowing in the wind, and it’s definitely one of the best pictures he has of her, but he continually insists that even photos don’t do her justice, as she is much more beautiful in person.WHO LEAVES NOTES WRITTEN IN FOG ON THE BATHROOM MIRROR:Totally Daisy! She would totally do something cute like this! Often it’ll be a cute motivational message and a little doodle as a signature (like a flower or a smiley face or a heart). Other times it’s a simple “I love you” (In English or Italian. Either one is acceptable). Luigi’s heart melts every single time.

WHO BUYS THE OTHER CHEESY GIFTS:LUIGI! Oh my gosh! Luigi!! See, I headcanon that he and Mario have some of the corniest senses of humor on the freaking planet, so maybe he’ll buy Daisy something with a pun on it. Or maybe give her a small bouquet of flowers with a small, cheesy card with a love note inside. But Daisy loves it to bits and laughs every time (it’s a cute little giggle that really tugs at his heartstrings).

WHO INITIATED THE FIRST KISS:D A I S Y Y Y Y Y Y. Oh my goodness it was right after Luigi told her that he loved her for the first time. And she was so excited to full-on kiss him that she forgot to ask if he was all right with it first! So, she pulls away all sheepish when she realizes she surprised him a little too much. Buttttttt he pulls her back in to kiss her back anyway because he realizes he really likes this. :3

WHO KISSES THE OTHER AWAKE IN THE MORNING:Both do!

WHO STARTS TICKLE FIGHTS:L U I G I. Okay, remember earlier how I mentioned how he adores whenever Daisy laughs? He learned something about her early on: that this princess is SUPER FREAKING TICKLISH. So whenever he sees her feeling a little down (or whenever he just wants a little laugh out of her), it’ll start with a playful poke in the ribcage, and the second that first giggle lets loose he gets straight to it. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t fight back. He’s ticklish, too! 

I mean if you want an honest answer it’s probably Daisy????

WHO SURPRISES THE OTHER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY AT WORK WITH LUNCH:Both of them do! Being Italian, both Luigi and Mario are no fools when it comes to food. And I can imagine that being an influential political figure can be very time-consuming on Daisy sometimes (girl works so hard we never see her in any mainstream Mario games, am I right???). But conversely, Daisy’s a good cook, too, not because she’s a princess and can do traditionally feminine things, but also because it’s a messy business, and she’s not one to shy away from messy! And who knows? Maybe Luigi is exhausted out of his mind from an exhausting plumbing job. Unclogging an unfortunate set of pipes that have fallen victim to bad bean burritos on Mexico Monday sure is intense.

WHO WAS NERVOUS AND SHY ON THE FIRST DATE:LUIGI LUIGI LUIGI LUIGI LUIGI LUIGI wow I can’t believe this even needs answering. The poor guy was so scared to even pull through with the first “official” date. I’m pretty sure he thought at multiple instances that what was happening wasn’t even real. What would an affluent political official see a working-class plumber like him?! (And apparently, the answer is: everything!) 

WHO KILLS/TAKES OUT THE SPIDERS:None of them kill the spiders, but they both take them out.

WHO LOUDLY PROCLAIMS THEIR LOVE WHEN THEY’RE DRUNK:You know what? BOTH OF THEM DO. Daisy is already an extrovert when she’s sober. But she’s even more no-filter when she isn’t. And loudly proclaiming her love for her “handsome man in green” (”Wait…she thinks I’m handsome?! *blushes*) is no exception. On the other side of this, Luigi’s self-confidence rises a lot more than you think when there’s a little too much in his system.LUIGI: *Will Smith gestures to Daisy* “You see this work of art? *hic* Right here? This woman? *hic* I don’t care……….what any of these haters think about her, all right? *hic* I. LOVE. HER……………Okay?………….I LOVE HER SO. MUCH. *hic* I’M GONNA MARRY HER. I AM GONNA MARRY THIS WOMAN.” *falls on his face*DAISY: *whispers to herself* He wants to marry me?! *blushes*

Wow…I kinda liked making up the drunk Luigi scenario a little too much…honestly, I don’t see them as the “getting drunk” types. But I think it would go a little something like what I mentioned before.

Thanks so much! *braces for the rest of the ask-storm*

[dragonkeeper19600]

New Mario Movie: Plot Prediction (Part 4)

Oh, yes. This is still going.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Mario and the Toads wait a few days before putting their escape plan into action.

Not just because Mario needs a few days to recoup, not just because they want a few days of Best Behavior to lure Bowser into complacency,

But because the path he’ll need to take through the pipes is pretty treacherous.

Peach’s Castle’s water supply is fed by the moat, which is itself fed by a stream from a private lake.

The plan is for Mario to swim through the maze of pipes unto the lake and out.

None of the Toads have ever attempted this because they can't swim very well. 

They have no legs.

Look at these poor freaks.

It’ll be pretty dark. There are some tanks where it’ll be shallow enough to breathe but not many. 

Mario can’t afford to make a wrong turn.

Training Montage!

They spend the next several days alternating between keeping Mario in shape and pretending to be doing nothing whenever one of the Koopa Troop happens by.

Toadsworth goes over the map of the sewer system over and over again.

Meanwhile...

Luigi is also busy.

Still working on a hydroelectric generator that will work on the van.

You can tell the poor man is scared out of his wits.

He’s constantly looking over his shoulder, jumping at small sounds,

Any second expecting the people keeping his brother hostage to show up at the door. 

He works long into the night

Because sleeping isn’t happening.

Keeping his hands busy so as not to go mad.

The whole time, begging to he knows not who:

Please work. Please work.

The night of the escape, Mario can’t sleep either.

“Mario, you should get some rest.”

Can’t. His heart’s too loud. It’s keeping him up.

Finally, after several agonizing hours of not falling asleep, Toadbert nudges him awake.

It’s time.

They manage to slink past the night patrol and reach the sewer area, where Mario shuts off the water.

They can only afford to keep the water off for a minute. If one of Bowser’s minions notices the water isn’t working, this trip won’t last very long. 

They slide one of the pipes out of the way, and Mario climbs inside with one of those headlights on.

Very fashionable.

Mario is nervous as they roll the pipe back into place behind him.

“Remember, Master Mario,

“Stay the course.”

“We’ll keep the water off as long as possible.”

Mario climbs in. All is dark.

Hope you kids aren’t claustrophobic.

Too soon, a Koopa approaches the kitchen sink for a glass of water. 

The knob squeaks and nada comes out of the faucet.

“Hey, what gives?”

The Toads see that someone in the kitchen is trying to get some water and reluctantly turn it on.

Water flows past Mario’s knees. Before long, he’s swimming. 

The Koopa finally gets his glass of water.

He takes a drink and smacks his lips, frowning.

Tastes kind of... mannish? 

He walks away, muttering about tap water. So far, everything’s good.

Mario keeps pace, managing to pop up for air in the tanks where several pipes branch off.

Everything is going swimmingly (Hee!) until Mario notices a bleached white something skirting out of site at the end of an elbow pipe.

Okay, you’re all alone, there’s nowhere to run, and there’s something in the pipe with you.

Don’t freak out.

Mario can’t afford to go back or even slow down. 

He has no choice but to follow the thing he saw.

He reaches another tank before he’s grabbed.

The thing, as you might have guessed already, is a Blooper.

“Imma squid if you haven’t noticed!”

The Blooper grabs Mario and drags him to the bottom of the tank, trying to drown him. 

Those tentacles are everywhere, binding his legs and covering his mouth. Mario can barely move.

And the Blooper’s eyes are just fixed on him, watching him squirm.

Out of desperation, Mario bites down hard on the tentacle covering his mouth.

The Blooper squeals and lets go, while also releasing a cloud of ink. 

Not good.

The ink spreads to each corner of the tank. Mario’s headlight can’t break through. All around him is inky black.

Which way is out? Which way is up?

Mario frantically flails through the water, encountering wall after wall.

Agonizing, Mario kicks against the side of the tank. The Toads hear the echo.

“Is that Mario?”

“I think he’s stuck!”

“What do we do?”

The Toads are petrified. They know they might be listening to Mario drowning.

Water is stored in the tank when it’s shut off, so shutting off the water again won’t save Mario.

So, they opt for the opposite solution.

Toads stationed all throughout the castle proceed to turn on every source of water they can find.

Sinks are twisted full blast, bathtubs are filled, fountains do not so much spit water as they do vomit it.

Toadsworth flips a lever, and sprinklers spray all over the castle grounds. 

The excessive demand drains the tank. Mario is deposited onto his knees at the bottom, coughing.

The Blooper flails, beached.

However, all that water is making a lot of noise. It sounds like a waterfall is pounding through the castle.

Kamek pulls the sleeping mask over his forehead.

“What is that sound?”

Before long, the water runs black. Kamek sees the sprinkler spraying the window panes with inky black rain.

“What the devil is going on?”

The Toads are caught red handed, staring at Kamek with broken-off handles in their hands.

One of the bathrooms is completely flooded. Toads are standing up to their waists in inky water.

“What do you twerps think you’re doing?”

Suddenly, Kamek’s eyes narrow. 

“Where’s that plumber?”

“That plumber” is rising to his feet in the tank, looking rapidly from one pipe to another.

There are many pipes leading out of this particular tank, each one gushing water as the tank attempts to refill.

Mario takes a moment to reorient himself, remember his place.

He spots a hole higher up and decides that must be the one.

He jumps up to it, using the Blooper as a springboard. 

He braces himself against the flow and powers inside.

Meanwhile, Kamek is giving a very violent, spur-of-the-moment interrogation.

“I said, WHERE IS HE?”

The Toads are terrified, stammering, “I don’t know! Have you seen him?”

“Nope, not me!”

They’re scared out of their wits, but none of them will give him up.

Kamek is beyond furious.

“You little, scheming ingrates!”

Kamek gives orders to search the castle top to bottom until they find Mario.

But, Mario isn’t in the castle.

Mario finally swims out of the pipe at the base of the castle moat, dodging Cheep Cheeps on his way to the surface. 

He clambers onto the bank, exhausted.

The lights are all on in the castle above him.

He doesn’t have more than a moment to himself before he hears somebody shout. 

“Over here! I see a light!”

Cazzo! Mario forgot about his headlight, blaring into the night like a landing signal. Right here! 

Mario throws the light off his head without turning it off and ducks back into the moat. 

The person who shouted, a Paratroopa, sees the light discarded on the ground and the ripple in the moat. 

“Guys! I think he’s in the moat!”

The Paratroops retreats into his shell and dives in after him.

The shell, spinning through the water, is soon joined by several others. Mario turns to see several hard, fast turtle shells coming right at him. 

He manages to dive below one, but a second slams into him. It’s like being grazed by a torpedo.

Reeling, Mario nonetheless manages to grab onto a third as it spins below him. 

The Koopa spins onto the bank, dragging Mario behind him. 

Mario kicks away the Koopa shell. It spins away, its owner yelling helplessly.

On land, Mario doesn’t have to worry about Koopa barreling at him from all directions.

But that doesn’t mean he’s out of the woods yet.

Mario hears a distant barking. It’s a sound every gamer recognizes. 

He turns to see Richard, the Chain Chomp. A Walker Guy is holding the end of his chain.

Now, for those of you who have never played Mario and Luigi: Dream Team, a Walker Guy walking a Chain Chomp is less like a man walking a dog and more like a kid failing the rodeo.

The Walker Guy is thrown around, yanked off his feet, and dragged, facedown, through the dirt as the Chain Chomp merrily launches itself at its target.

That’s basically the deal here, too. The Walker Guy is being whipped too and fro like he’s on the pain end of a skating chain. 

Richard is barreling right towards Mario. The ground rumbles with every bounce. 

Mario sprints, relying on pure adrenaline.

But, Richard is faster. The outline of the Chain Chomp soon dwarfs Mario, those white teeth glinting in the starlight...

At the last second, Mario rolls to the side, out of the way. Richard barrels past him.

The chain snakes past before the Walker Guy passes into view. Mario throws himself at him and holds him tight.

“Hey! What do you think you’re-?”

The Walker Guy doesn’t finish. A shadow is looming over them. The Walker Guy and Mario look up to see Richard snarling down at the pair of them. His target is right in front of him. It doesn’t matter that his keeper is in the way. Chain Chomps are opportunistic like that.

The Walker Guy frantically kicks at Mario. “Get off! Get away!” 

Mario waits until Richard has lunged to get off, but at that point, it’s too late for the Chain Chomp to change its trajectory. The Walker Guy is buried under two tons of metal and mouth.

He’s twitching slightly as Richard rolls off him. The end of the chain has been thrown loose by the impact. Mario grabs it.

Maybe that wasn’t the best idea.

Richard spins frantically after Mario, but the end of his chain always whips just out of his reach, like a dog chasing his tail.

Mario hangs on for dear life. 

The g-force is killer.

Finally, Richard gives up and bounds away from the castle, worked up and directionless, dragging Mario behind him. 

The Walker Guy watches, stunned, as Mario, and his charge, disappear into the distance.

One thought escapes the mouth behind his mask:

“I am so fired.”

Kamek is livid.

He has all the Toads lined up in front of him in the throne room. The entire castle staff.

“How long have you been planning this?” 

Everyone is looking at the floor.

“TELL ME!”

No one moves a muscle. Kamek throws the Toadsworth’s map of the sewer system on the floor in front of them.

“Did you really think we’d never find out about this? 

“Did you think you could just do WHATEVER YOU WANT?

“Lord Bowser has been soft on you up until now, but if he were awake-!”

“If I were awake what?”

Kamek jumps his entire height. Bowser is not yet fully awake, but Kamek is terrified. Despite his threats, he was kind of hoping he could have all this resolved before Bowser found out.

“Kamek, what’s going on?”

He finally notices the Toads. Many of them are still soaking wet.

“Geez, don’t these things know how to clean up after themselves?

“Why are they all here?

“And who said you could sit in the throne?”

Kamek stammers.

“Well, uh, you see, sir, the thing is, um...”

But Toadette is the one whose voice rings clear. “Mario escaped!”

Bowser looks. Toadette glares up at him, defiant.

Bowser blinks, utterly confused. “Mario? My plumber?”

Toadette nods. “That’s right. He’s gone! And you’ll never find him!”

Bowser doesn’t take long to switch from incredulity to white-hot rage.

“YOU LET MY PLUMBER ESCAPE!? What were you, asleep!?”

The other minions present cower. Kamek manages to stammer out a nervous, “Well, technically yes, and so were you...”

“This is UNBELIEVABLE. What kind of wizard can’t even catch one little plumber?”

Bowser is terrifying. The size, the power, the glistening sharpness of those scales,

And yet, there’s something heartening about seeing him so enraged. 

It’s undeniable proof of their success.

This is why Toadsworth and Toadette smile, though they know that things will only get harder from here.

Bowser sees Toadette smirking and grabs her. 

“So, you think he’s home free, huh? You got lucky once! Don’t forget that!”

He tosses her to the ground and gives orders.

Station patrols at every train station and road to the Metro Kingdom. 

He’s confident they’ll find Mario, for he knows to whom he’ll return.

And speaking of which,

Perhaps it’s time they finally paid a visit to the other Mario brother...

To be continued...