#super mario bros 2 did happen

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

Super Mario Bros. 2 USA Wasn't Just A Dream

While many people think Super Mario Bros. 2 USA is not canon or the events never happened, because it's a "dream" don't understand the lore of this game.

In the manual it is established that Mario first has a dream which takes him to a dream world called Subcon whose residents need his help defeating King Wart. The next day Mario tells his friends about the dream he had. Later on they eventually find a cave with stairs inside that lead to a door to Subcon. I also recall though I can't confirm this to be the case that the Japanese manual states Mario's friends also had the same dream. Anyways so eventually they all go to bed and the events of the game happen.

There is also a follow up game called BS Super Mario USA where Mario and friends return to subcon to deal with King Wart a 2nd time.

Subcon is the Land of Dreams and these games aren't the only time characters in the Mario world have been to Dream Realms. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team and Mario Party 5 are 2 examples of this. So the events of SMB2USA are not merely just a dream with events that never happened. There are dream realms in BSSMUSA. Other references that confirm SMB2USA is canon. Shy Guys Toad

[itsamenickname]

Okay, so hear me out:

We all can imagine that underneath that tough and threatening exterior, Bowser is just a big, soft, and giant teddy bear.

But what about Luigi? Have we ever considered the possibility that underneath that shy, sweet, and cowardly plumber is a man who can easily make even Bowser scared of him?

[ilylovelyz]

⍣ ೋ after the break up (prt 2)

˚ · . kenma kozume, iwaizumi hajime, tsukishima kei, ushijima wakatoshi & atsumu miya (prt 1.)

KENMA KOZUME — he feels really stupid. kenma does a lot after the breakup in order to distract himself. he buys more games, staying up until it's almost dawn. all of his attention goes into his video games and other devices that he completely stops taking care of himself subconsciously. it's only when he's lost almost 10 pounds is when he realizes how neglected he's become. it happened so fast it confuses him. why didn't you remind him to eat? or shower? oh.. right, it's because you broke up with him in the first place. still, he tries to forget. it's one night playing a game when he's dissociating randomly thinking about you does it all hit.

Super Mario Bro's plays in the background of his room. for once, his fingers are still but his eyes are locked on the pixilated screen in front of him. his eyes are red and dialted due to the bright screen contrasting to the dark dead of night. this game was very expensive, vintage and one of a kind—yet he's subconsciously stuck thinking about you.

did you know he thought about you so frequently? did you think the same of him? he drops the console, fishing his phone out from below him. his fingers tap on the keyboard, searching up your name into his contacts. he notices the last time you texted him was over a month ago. oh–, right. you broke up with him. right. kenma drops his phone back down, laying his face down into the same giant kirby plushie you bought him a long time ago.

a soft sniffle escapes through the thick material, mixing in with the almost taunting upbeat cartoon music.

IWAIZUMI HAJIME — your breakup was done on good terms. he was moving to the U.S., you were staying in Japan. neither of you knew the relationship wouldn't withstand such a long distance relationship so the relationship came to an end. the two of you still call and text over random things, but it's not like how things were before. time passes, and the two of you have less and less contact. iwaizumi is doing his weekly stalking of your Instagram when he realizes you've posted a photo of yourself.. but you aren't alone.

iwaizumi sighs with content when he's finally allowed to sit down, his legs sore from harsh muscle training. as always, he checks his phone. once he's finished going through his messages, ignoring almost everyone except his mom, he comes across your contact. the last you spoke with him was almost a year ago. he frowns, he wishes the two of you kept in contact, but you both were just so busy.

curiously, he indulges in his guilty pleasure and opens up instagram. as if on autopilot, he searches for your online handle. you both follow each other, but of course, never speak. he mindlessly scrolls through your highlights and posts, ending up on your most recent one. it's you. his heart flutters at the sight of you once more. even through a screen, you're still as beautiful as always. you're glowing and radiant as always.

his childish smile soon disappears when he realizes someone has their arm wrapped around you. a guy. a guy who is looking at you with the same loving look iwaizumi would give you long, long, ago. iwaizumi uninstalls the app shortly afterwards.

TSUKISHIMA KEI — he avoids you. he pretends you don't exist altogether. his heart cringes whenever he hears you around, regretting immensely when the two of you arranged your classes together in the previous year. it's childish. no, he's childish. especially because the breakup was more of his fault. still, he hides the fact that his heart is broken. he treats you like everybody else with such hate and bitterness, and only realizes how stupid he's being when it's too late.

"hey kei." you say, walking along aside the tall blonde. "do you want to work on the project together? sensei said that–," "i don't want to work with you." he says coldly. tsukishima doesn't even look to acknowledge you, staring straight forward as he walks. "o-oh, well i just y'know—" you stutter embarrassingly, "i just thought that because—" tsukishima finally stops in his tracks, swiftly turning to you, looking at you through clouded lenses.

"why do you keep on pestering me." his tone leaves you shocked. you can't even think of words to say, only able to let out incoherent stutters and mumbles. "all you do is stutter, it's annoying." tsukishima says nonchalantly, still looking at you with distain.

that seems to shut you up for now. tsukishima is relived when you do, if you talked to him anymore he probably would've accidentally spilled how he missed you. his relief is short lived when he sees the tears roll down your face and out of embarrassment, you quickly walk away from him. he's left standing still, gazing down at the floor. heart heavy and regretting.

USHIJIMA WAKATOSHI — he thinks he's alright but he doesn't realize he's distraught. he continues on with his life like normal, seemingly at peace and happy with whatever he's doing. but, he does have to admit, he's been feeling a bit more.. confused? more like agitated. outside of his calm demeanor to untrained eyes, he seems perfectly normal. but, to those who are close with them, they can see what's actually going on in that seemingly perfect head of his.

hazel eyes watch closely as you walk past. ushijima awaits for you to come up to him like normal, talk to him and pester him with a million questions once more. he hated when you pestered him, he wished you were more quiet and reserved... or did he? he's not sure. because now you are walking away from him, not saying a single word. hell, you barely acknowledge his presence. how do you not? he's everything you said catches your eye, tall and muscular build, with a handsome perfect face.

"y/l/n." he rumbles out. the boom of his voice finally catches your attention, finally spinning around to acknowledge him. you seem defensive, like a cornered cat, a single eyebrow quirking up at his call. "..ushijima-san?" his heart, for some reason, sinks into his gut with the formality use of his name. what happened to toshi? for once, his words are stuck in his throat and he struggles to come up with something to say.

seeing that he's yet to say anything, you hurry out of his presence, trying to be released from the gaze of the man you are forbidden to love. meanwhile, ushijima is realizing for the first time, that maybe he lost someone who he isn't fine with leaving.

MIYA ATSUMU — he's like a pitiful dog. he plays off the break up like it's nothing, even to your face, he just shrugged his shoulders and mumbled something under his breath and walked away. despite the two of you dating for a year, going through so many things together, hell, he even lost his virginity to you, but he still acts like it was nothing.. but everyone can tell it's not. much to his annoyance, even his twin brother tells him to take it easy following the break up. but he's fine. it was nothing. he definitely doesn't search for you in the crowd during his games, nor does he get the random pang of forgetfullness after school as if he should be waiting for you. he's fine.

a girl comes up to atsumu after his game, batting her long eyelashes and pouting her lips. "can i get your number?" she asks, making her voice as smooth as possible. atsumu blinks at her with a blank face before turning his back to her, ignoring her entirely. he ignores her whines and curses of embarrassment, his eyes scanning the emptying crowd.

"shes not here, 'tsumu." he hears a familiar voice say. atsumu snaps his head back to the direction of the voice, seeing osamu standing there with his hands in his pockets, eyes low and unamused. atsumu scoffs at his brother, "yah i know." the two of them wait in silence, but for what? what is he waiting for? suddenly, his ears perk up at a familar body frame, eyes darting to the source only to be severally disappointed with the sight of a person who looks like you, but isn't you.

"let's go home, 'tsumu." osamu says, walking past the blonde haired man. atsumu waits a couple more seconds, taking another quick scan of the crowd before he's hestiantly following his brother, shoulders low and eyes to the ground.

please like and repost with tags

[pianokantzart]

Seeing @keakruiser making AUs in a bullet point storytelling format inspired me to take a crack at my own AU that I've been thinking about for a bit. What would happen if, in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, after Mario and Luigi are separated, Mario was the one who ended up in the clutches of Luigi’s eventual arch nemesis, while Luigi teamed up with some of his own close allies to go rescue him? Essentially The Super Mario Bros Movie, but with the brothers' roles reversed. So, without further ado...

The Super Mario Bros. Redux (Pt. 1)

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 ________

The beginning is much the same as it was in the original Super Mario Bros. Movie until they are separated in the warp pipe, with two exceptions: 1. When their van breaks down, Luigi's first instinct is to take the tool kit and try to fix the motor (mechanic Luigi, my beloved). But before he can get a good look, Mario insists that there's not enough time, and heads to the job on foot. Luigi closes the hood of the van and follows him. 2. After Mario leaves the dinner table, the focus goes to Luigi's conversation with his dad rather than Mario holed up in his room.

"What did I say?" "''You're bringing your brother down with you'?" Luigi asks, finally able to get a word in now that his uncles have shut up. "Why would you say that?" "Luigi, be honest. How much did that commercial cost? How many new clients has it gotten you? Huh?" "It's only been a day! And Mario'll figure something out. He always does." Luigi insists, taking his brother's plate of pasta and picking it free of mushrooms. "I just want to help him out along the way."

Pio sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "You can't hide in your brother's shadow your entire life, Luigi. One of these days you're gonna have to man up and start making your own decisions." Luigi doesn't answer, he simply finishes removing the mushrooms from Mario's plate, and gets up from the table to deliver the food to his despondent brother.

After Mario and Luigi attempt to save Brooklyn, after they end up in the warp zone, and after they are ripped from each-other's grasp, Mario is dragged into an unsettling looking pipe surrounded by purple smoke and overgrown with gnarled branches.

Luigi flies onward, emerging from a pipe inside what looks to be another sewer, not too different from the one back in New York. No sooner does he regain his senses does he find himself dragged away by a powerful blast of suction. Flying backwards through the air, he stops suddenly as his back clogs the nozzle of a strange vacuum-like contraption being carried by a little old man.

"Oops! Sorry, Sonny! I thought for certain you were gonna be a ghost!" the old man apologizes, releasing Luigi from the vacuum's suction with a flip of a switch. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small device that loosely resembles a hand-held vidoegame console, reexamining the numbers flashing on the screen. "When my readings showed that pipe 983 had suddenly reactivated, I thought for sure King Boo was trying to use it to send his band of ghosts to Sarasaland!"

Before Luigi could ask one of the thousands of questions on his mind, the old man introduces himself: Professor Elvin Gadd (E. Gadd for short.)

Luigi introduces himself in return, then asks about his brother. He tells the professor about their situation in detail, describing the warp pipe that Mario had disappeared into.

E. Gadd tsks sadly and shakes his head. He explains that particular pipe leads to "Evershade Valley," and though the valley used to be perfectly habitable, ever since King Boo shattered The Dark Moon nobody who has set foot in that land has ever returned.

"Wait, what do you mean? Who's King Boo?" Luigi asks "Well! You truly are out of the loop!" E-Gadd chuckles, "Then again... I remember how little I knew when I first arrived in this world." He continues to talk while leading Luigi through the underground, casually clearing a path for them with the powerful blowing and sucking functions of the vacuum. "King Boo is nothing less than the lord of ghosts! He is the master of illusions, the reigning tyrant of the undead, the loather of all living flesh, and– at the moment– the sole ruler of Evershade Valley."

This description unsettles Luigi. He retorts that if that's the case, he has to get to Evershade Valley as soon as possible. As frightened as he is, he's never been so frightened that he couldn't help his brother out of a tough spot, and he knows Mario would do the same for him in a heartbeat.

"Well! In that case I suggest you stick with me for a bit. And keep those tools with you." The old scientist gestures toward the tool bag Luigi had dropped on the ground in the mayhem, "I may have a few uses for them."

Just as Luigi comes to the question of where they are currently, Professor E. Gadd opens a sewer cover and leads him out into the middle of a big bustling coastal city in Sarasaland. Think the Daisy Circuit from Mario Kart, but way larger and more crowded (and missing the romantic statue of course.)

Luigi struggles to keep up with the elderly scientist, who weaves his way effortlessly through throngs of turtle men, snake monsters, insect soldiers, giant sentient heads made out of stone, and a vast array of other strange and fascinating pedestrians.

"Stop your dilly-dallying, youngster!" E. Gadd eventually calls, getting fed up with Luigi's slow, bewildered pace, "I've got a meeting in The Birabuto Kingdom, and my train– our train– leaves in fifteen minutes!" "Birabuto Kingdom?" Luigi asks, allowing himself to be shoved along, "What's that? What about Evershade Valley?" "So impatient! Do you think I'd send you into such a place unprepared??? No no, first I'm going to perfect my equipment, then I'll help you find your brother."

E. Gadd purchases their tickets and they board the crowded 64 Express. Once seated, Luigi's eyes are immediately drawn toward the window. He stares out, deep in anxious thought as the train chugs along, traveling from the coastal city into a desert landscape.

Then, we switch over to Mario. Standing up and dusting himself off, he looks around to find himself in the gloomiest place he'd ever seen... for the little he is able to see. There is a thick purple mist hanging in the air, and the path before him is shrouded in the branches of a forest long dead.

Loudly calling out his brother's name on the off-chance he was somewhere nearby, Mario follows a light in the distance until he stumbles across a lone boo. More confused than frightened, and feeling a little sorry for the white specter shyly covering its face, Mario bends down for a moment to examine it, assuring "hey, don't worry! I won't hurt you, I'm just a little lost is all."

Suddenly, he is ambushed by a colorful trio of ghosts: a greenie, a slammer, and a hider. He tries to fight back, but every time he attempts to shove them off or swing his fists he phases right through them.

His attackers knock him around a bit until Mario succeeds in slipping away. Now in a panic, he continues rushing toward the distant light, far faster and more recklessly than before.

Eventually, he gets close enough to discover the glow was coming from the lit windows of an old mansion. He enters and – for the little good it will do – shuts the door behind him.

He wanders the halls for a long time, roaming from room to empty room, all the while haunted by the shadow of something following him. Something big.

At last, he reaches a towering portrait room. Unlike the rest of the mansion it is teeming with life, full of frightened faces pressed against picture frames, begging for help.

Mario is frozen in a moment of fear and confusion, but quickly snaps out of it. He rushes to the nearest portrait– an image of a strange little mushroom man– to ask what is wrong and what he can do.

Before the toad can give a coherent answer, the eerie presence that Mario had felt when he first entered the mansion casts a looming shadow over him.

He turns around and raises his fists in helpless hopes of defending himself. The candles of the surrounding sconces go out all at once, and in the pitch black darkness a cacophony of cackles fills the air....

[sykestarot]

angel messages

1-2-3

I DO NOT OWN THESE IMAGES

hi guys i felt called to do an angel message this week and it was so many uplifting messages and I hope you guys feel the support I channeled. remember to like and reblog! thanks for stopping by!

Pile 1

“i’ll keep your, keep your best interest” (7 of wands (rx); 3 of wands (rx); 6 of pentacles (rx); 10 of cups; 7 of wands; The Moon (rx)) Hi pile 1! I hope you guys are doing well! For you guys I feel like the angel message is take time to focus. I had a really hard time focusing or even starting your reading. So maybe you guys are trying to escape reality and not face the real issues in your life. Which is totally understandable, sometimes life is really hard and we just need to escape. However I feel like your angels are trying to tell you that you have been escaping too much recently. I feel like you are running away from your emotions or something that happened in your life that is bringing up big emotions for you. Maybe you are considered the strong one in your family and you feel like you can’t face your emotions because so many people are relying on you. This energy reminds me of when Kim K was talking to Kris about Kanye and she said “for once can everyone else have their shit together so I can have a bad day?” I feel like that’s how you feel and you don’t allow yourself the space to feel your emotions and when you do feel emotions it’s a huge reaction to a small thing because you bottle it up. Your angels want you to know that they see and acknowledge your pain and even when you feel alone you are not. They are always with you and just want the best for you, always. They know you need to cry and lose it, they’re saying that even of you have to let it out alone in a parking lot that that’s okay too. Some of you might benefit from seeking out professional help but you can decide that on your own based on your own circumstances. Your angels want you to know that even though they are not there physically you can always speak to them. They are always listening to you and will help you from the other side as best as they can! Stay strong pile 1 I believe in you guys <3 Signs: koi fish; lily pads; pink lotus; blurry vision; lack of focus; daydreams; clouds; blue sky; mushrooms; meadows; super mario bros?; princess peach/daisy?; nintendo; cigarettes; church?

Pile 2

“I care for you still and I will forever that was my part of the deal, honest” (The Devil (rx); 10 of pentacles (rx); Knight of Cups (rx); 9 of swords (rx); 10 of swords; 7 of swords) Hi Pile 2! For you guys it was really easy to tap into your energy. Did you guys just go through a break up? Or maybe lost a friend? I feel a significant amount of loss in this pile however you seem to be handling it very well considering. I feel like you have a sense of optimism around this loss. For example, “it’s for the better we we’re incompatible anyways,” or “I’m grateful that I even had this person in my life.” And while yes, that is a great way to think about things, are you processing the loss or are you trying to mask it with love and light? I feel like you truly believe those things but I do feel like you’re using them as a bandaid for a bullet hole. Your angels are proud of you for dealing with this so gracefully, however they do hope you are careful because toxic positivity can lead you down a road where you don’t acknowledge the other person’s mistakes. Your angels want you to acknowledge that life is not just black and white, there are many shades of gray. And sometimes even when something was great there are reasons it came to an end. I feel you keep this person on a godlike pedestal and your angels want you to know that they were just human. Nothing better or worse. Just human. Not that they are asking you to villainize this person but giving you the okay to be angry and upset. They don’t want you to dismiss the bad things this person did to you even if they are small because you still deserve so much more than what they gave you. They might’ve been a good partner or friend but you deserve a great partner or friend. Your angels want you to work on some self worth issues you might’ve been dealing with since before this relationship. There’s a level of you feeling like you deserve people leaving you, like you are not good enough and that is so far from the truth pile 2. I feel like a lot of you are aware of these problems and are doing your best to fix them. I feel like you are in contact with your angels often so this might not be a new message to you. I believe in you pile 2 keep up the good work! Signs: panther; raven; starfish; beaches; ocean sounds; seashells; the birth of venus painting; california?; surfing; early mornings; jungle cruise (lol); disneyland?; the jungle book; Bagheera; 44; 66; Capricorn

Pile 3

“now that your here with me” (Justice; 6 of swords; 2 of swords; 7 of cups (rx); The Star; Ace of Swords) Hi pile 3! I hope y'all are doing good. For you guys I feel like your angels are kind of nudging you to start something new. I see you guys feeling like you have no options, but you know you have a couple, maybe they’re just not what you would want to do? I feel like your angels want you to try to start something new because you don’t know how much you’ll enjoy it if you don't try it. I feel a really youthful energy on you guys. Did you just get out of high school or college? There’s and energy of indecision on you, where you don’t know where to go. I’m getting a Disney's Pocahontas reference in the what’s around the riverbend song where she says, “or do you still wait for me dream giver? Just around the river bend?” I feel like you know and feel that your close to achieving your dreams and maybe you’re scared of failing to achieve them? I feel that your angels want you to know they are here to support you no matter what and that you should give everything a shot while you’re still young. The last thing you wanna live with is regret you know? I feel you guys probably have a form of catastrophic thinking and don’t attempt because you feel like the failure will be the end of everything. But because you don't try you never find out if the failure is the end of the world. Your angels are afraid that if you continue to quit while you’re ahead you will regret the things you never tried. Your angels know you are so very capable and can do all things you want to. I also feel like you know they have been trying to talk to you and that you’ve dodging them. Which is so funny that they chose that line in the song but they just want the best for you and if you feel pressure from them it’s because they know you can do it. Don’t count yourself out pile 3! You got this fs!  Signs: bat; turkey; orange cat; barns; small town; knee high socks with stripes; black hair; piercings; tattoos; video games; foggy; pacific northwest; cold water; ocean spray; 777; danzig

[howlingday]

Jaune: So, uh, I have these two friends that you may not know. Uh, Ren and Nora? And I remember we would hang out and Ren would just explode onto Nora for some of the most... out there shit about Mario. If I may?

Ruby: Go ahead.

Jaune: Okay, this is what Nora said...

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Nora: You know, it doesn't make sense for the Mario Bros. to be plumbers.

Ren: Oh, so suddenly being a plumber isn't a respectable job now? I'd fucking love to see your toilet explode! What would you do then, Nora?! What the fuck would you do then?! Would you fix the toilet? No! You'd call a plumber, you piece of shit! YOU ARE A PIECE OF SHIT!

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Ruby: Snrk!

Jaune: And then there was another one for when Nora found out the plot of Super Mario Bros. 2 takes place in a dream...

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Nora: What the hell is Luigi doing in Mario's dream?

Ren: Nora, you dumb fucking bastard! Luigi is Mario's best friend! He's taking, like, a fucking spaceship into his best friend's dream to help him! That's what best friends do, Nora! I guess you don't care 'cause you don't give a fuck about your friends! I hope you slip into a dream world tonight! You just fucking see how fast I come to help you! YOU JUST SEE!

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Ruby: HAHAHAHAHA! Did that really happen?

Jaune: Yeah, they were some of my best friends. I gotta give them a call sometime.

[lowkeyrobin]

hi hi!! could i get cricket crew (those a-okay with xreaders) with a reader who’s like a pro gamer, maybe reader is also a streamer? somethin along the lines of that pretty please 🦕

ahhh yes of course!! I recognize you mwahahha, lmk if you'd like to be addressed as 🦕 anon btw bc I can't tell if you used it in a silly way like how I use 🛒🛒🛒 somwtimes or as a way to address yourself LMAO no worries tho 🫶🫶🫶

HANDSOME BROS ; pro gamer era

includes ; ranboo, tommyinnit, & badlinu

warnings ; language, mention of Dream

masterlist

TOMMYINNIT

he's been your biggest fan since day one, literally

he just so happened to be one of the first couple viewers you pulled while you began speedrunning minecraft

eventually you guys became friends and stuff

he literally watched your speedruns go from an hour and a half to half an hour so quickly

and over that time he's been boosting your stuff and everything

you ofc make other content and collab w other streamers, mostly Tommy and his friends

one time, you get a speedrun down to 25:03, your best so far and he's in a vc w you with your stream pulled up

literally screams when he sees the ender dragon explode into xp

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT, YOU GOT DOWN TO 25 MINUTES, THAT WAS SO GOOD, OH MY GOD, Y/N/N!"

you sit there like "omg I just did that that's my best record ever"

afterwards you play roblox for a bit with him (meep city) and throw a party to celebrate

you meet a bunch of viewers/chatters/fans as well bc you publicized yours and Tommy's usernames so they could join your server

"You're a pro now, y/n! even better than Dream!"

if he was right next to you rn, he'd be giving you the biggest kiss in the whole world

you'd been spending so, so long to get below a half hour or so and even just 5 minutes below that made you so ecstatic, same with him lmao

he literally makes 40 tweets about it and posts about it on his Instagram story

he also doordashes you some fast food + like three large waters

he's literally your biggest fan ❤️❤️❤️

when I tell you he's so fucking sweet to you

he's fully aware you're very serious with your video games and you try to be the best you possibly can

like he'll come over while you're training for a valorant competition with foolish & punz and just hang out behind you and watch

he'll go to snapchat and snap aimsey a pic of u grinding on valorant with the caption "look who's grinding valorant again"

star will respond with a "Jesus Christ how many hours do they have on there??"

he'll reply with a video of him asking

"how many hours do you have on valorant? like, all time"

you didnt even hesitate or think before you replied with "253"

"HOLY SHIT DONT YOU THINK YOURE GOOD ENOUGH?"

"amount of hours doesn't equal skill, tommy"

RANBOO

good god they're actually worried something is wrong with you

no way super Mario odyssey can be so fun to you

speedruns went from maybe 2 hours down to 58ish mins or so in just a couple months

you were friends prior, but you got back into smo and got addicted with trying glitches and bugs you knew about

once you reached like 58:05, (about 13th on the leaderboard) you quit

good lord there was no getting better lmao

then came the challenge to get all the moons and speedrunning the dark side & darker side of the moon

they got on a vc with you while you were collecting moons so you could deal w a lot of distraction, and asked you to check the hours time

the way this shit said 834 hours.

the amount of joke-yelling and "I'm not mad just disappointed" convo came out of that

"It's not my fault the game is fun!"

"that's more than a year! that's nearly two straight years!"

"I've been playing it since release in my defense. I probably grinded up half of that within the past year or two though to be honest"

never the less, they always cheer you on and always have to boost your content

for the leaderboards, you're around 70th place on the dark side, about two hours, and for the darker side, around 80th, so about 3 and a half hours

they literallt watched you do 10+ hour streams and got on vc to voice concerns of burnout or scoliosis

"I'm fine! shit! damnit!"

"Chat please tell them to go sleep, this is wild. go play Mario kart with Bill at least"

"Yeah, come play Mario Kart with me!"

"where the fuck did you come from, I didn't even hear you join???"

"I've been here for half an hour!?"

BADLINU

you're freakishly amazing at building in the Sims 4

like dude you're an idol in the Sims community it's so weird

you build like those humongous mansions and find new furniture glitches and new designs and share them and stuff

dude don't even get me started on your sims

most the time you make your friends but they're never inaccurate

you can dedicate a five hour stream just making the fucking characters dude

he'll sit next to you so you can properly make his face and he'll get all tingly in his head as he watches

when you're making a giant new build he'll tweet about it like 4 times and leave a link to your stream LMAO

"guys go watch y/ns stream they have polls set so you guys can actually decide on design choices"

he's actually your biggest fan omg

he'll be in your chat like "omg hi y/n"

"Hey Freddie!"

joins a vc with you and starts absolutely bombarding you with compliments

dude can't go one stream without taking 372882 screenshots of you

"Dude how do you have motivation for this?"

"It's fun! if I can't be a designer in real life then I'll be one in the digital world motherfucker"

[bltngames]

A Better Late Than Never Look at "Knuckles"

Note: I get pretty casual with spoilers as I go.

So after consuming 5 out of 6 episodes of the Knuckles show when it was new, and then waiting two weeks (I was busy with other things!) to watch the finale, I think I'm finally in a place where I can talk about how I felt about it.

From the earliest adopters, I'd heard that this show was trash. Some went so far as to call it one of the worst things in the Sonic franchise, period. 

It's not the worst thing in the Sonic franchise. I don't even necessarily think it's bad. But I would also struggle to call it good. It's... a little more nuanced than that.

The story brings us back to Knuckles the Echidna in the weeks following the end of the second Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Having helped in the defeat of Doctor Robotnik, Knuckles finds himself restless. He's a big mish-mash of different barbarian, viking, and warrior stereotypes, and he can no longer quench his thirst for combat, something that's starting to drive his friends crazy.

Knuckles convenes with the spirits of his ancestors (Pachacamac, played by Christopher Lloyd) and learns he must take on an understudy and train them in the ways of the warrior, much like his father did with him. However, we also learn that Knuckles is now the last of his kind (something the movies never elaborated on, I don't think) and thus his understudy has to be someone from outside his species. 

Pachacamac tells Knuckles to seek out Wade Whipple, the dopey deputy of Green Hills, Montana, and educate him in the ways of the ancient Echidna warriors. Wade recently lost a bowling tournament to a particularly snarky 8 year old girl scout, and so Knuckles and Wade go on a road trip to the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada so that Wade can reclaim his title, conquer his battleground, and become a true warrior.

Right away, there's a lot wrong with the Knuckles series, and most of it happens in the first three episodes.

Though we should be used to it by now, how fast and loose the movies play with Sonic game lore is pretty annoying. In the years since that second Sonic movie, we've seen the release of the Super Mario Bros. movie, and while that's not exactly a perfect movie in itself, it is maybe one of the most faithful and respectful game adaptations ever released. 

The Knuckles series building a twisted Frankenstein of Sonic game lore now feels increasingly frustrating by comparison, especially as it rewrites the movie's own history in order to borrow from the more story-heavy games. The first Sonic movie shows us a whole tribe of Echidna warriors trying to capture a young toddler Sonic for unknown reasons. Though it's been almost two years since the last time I saw it, when Knuckles is introduced in the second movie, I don't think it's ever mentioned he's the last of his kind. We just know he's looking for Sonic for the same nebulous reasons the rest of his tribe were hunting him down in the first movie. The "Last Echidna" stuff comes from the games, and now it eventually gets mentioned in this series.

As a sidebar: I'm aware there's an off-hand piece of dialog in the Sonic 2 Movie Prequel comic that mentions Knuckles is the last Echidna, but that's a flimsy promo comic and none of it feels canon to me. That comic also has a cameo by the Chaotix and features way more Sonic environments than the movies ever will, making it feel disconnected to the actual movies.

Like it's fun, don't get me wrong, but it's also like when the Spider-man games based on the Sam Raimi movies would bring in characters from the comics, like Shocker or Mysterio. You KNEW if the movies ever dealt with those characters for real, they'd be completely different from what was in the games. The promo comic casually mentioning Knuckles is the last Echidna may as well have been nothing more than fluff for all anyone knew. 

In fact, it gets mentioned in the Knuckles series that The Owl Tribe -- the same creatures who we saw protecting Sonic in the first movie -- have apparently exterminated the entire Echidna race. It's only been, what, seven years? Eight years? So what's going on there? Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys?  The Echidnas apparently wanted to kill Sonic, and the Owls were willing to commit genocide to protect him, and this all seems like some pretty heavy stuff for a series that still refuses to define what this "power" everybody has actually is.

It feels extra obnoxious considering the proximity to the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie, which is openly an adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. There's more than a little Echidna lore that needs to be set up in order for parts of that game to make sense (if it ever did), and it's obvious they have little interest in carrying that forward in the movies, content instead to make up their own lore. And what we've seen of that so far doesn't necessarily seem to be better, it just seems to be different. Like they dug themselves into a hole and now have to dig back out in a different direction -- more damage control to cover for that first movie twisting up the source material.

Ultimately it ties back around to the fact that I don't think this is what Sonic fans were hoping for. There were a lot of directions to take a Knuckles solo project, and they made it into a road trip buddy comedy between two of the weakest characters. Movie Knuckles is a one-note Klingon stereotype and it feels like Idris Elba is sleepwalking through a lot of this chest thumping "heart of the warrior" stuff.

And Adam Pally as Wade Whipple was okay in small doses, but he wasn't exactly breaking new ground as the bumbling small town deputy. Putting these two guys in a box together is kind of a bad idea.

And for the first three episodes, it is. Wade and Knuckles have absolutely zero chemistry together. Most shows would have a little hint that these two guys like each other, but it's more that Knuckles wants to train Wade for selfish reasons (satisfying his ancestors) and Wade is kind of a dumb puppy who does what everyone else tells him to, sight unseen. 

We also get new B-tier villains for our B-tier show, who swagger in like they missed the audition for their gig on Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (no shade meant towards my sentai fans in the audience). They're GUN Agents, either current or former, and have apparently been selling weapons tech to a genuinely dangerous killer only known as "The Buyer."

Actually, another small sidebar: it was kind of strange to see Knuckles rated "PG" (for some mild swearing), but Paramount+ constantly inundate me with advertisements for Dora the Explorer, Minecraft, and The Loud House. This is actually my first, real, honest exposure to The Loud House, both in its cartoon and live action form. It feels like a show made for the whitest children on earth and if I have to see that little girl with the shrimp bowl fart again I'm going to throw my TV into the street.

Anyway, Knuckles: for the most part, the villains only really exist to remind us that this ties to the Sonic the Hedgehog movie universe while also providing goons for our heroes to fight. 

If I'm being real, I was actually a little confused by the presence of the GUN Agents. The Knuckles show is kind of bad at establishing whether they still work for GUN or not. We do get a scene where they go rogue, but it's never clear if they're just overachievers who get results, or if they are actual card-carrying bad guys who are breaking off for a solo career. I just figured they were here as a flimsy setup for the third Sonic movie.

Mostly, though, it's a lot of fluff. Knuckles or Wade gets into trouble, and they accidentally stumble out of one bad situation into another, over and over, for a good 90 minutes. Very few jokes land, it doesn't feel very funny, it's a confusing mixture of new lore and stuff borrowed from the games, and it feels like the show is a mess that's constantly spinning its wheels. 

Wade, now branded as a fugitive for being seen fighting GUN Agents (again: current or former?), accidentally and conveniently finds himself at his mother's doorstep seeking asylum. On the jewish holiday of Shabbat. Now, I'm not jewish, but it seems like Shabbat can happen on literally any Friday, yet the Knuckles series treats it like an annual holiday like Christmas or Halloween. Regardless, it seems like Wade happens to catch his mother on a Shabbat where she's already preparing a big meal, since Wade's older sister, an FBI agent, also happens to be in town. Which is also weirdly convenient. Wade, feeling like he can't disappoint his mom, sits down and they have a meal together, only to be assaulted by bounty hunters looking to claim the price on Wade's head.

This episode starts a kind of turning point for the Knuckles series. Over an hour into this three hour ordeal, and it finally provides some threads of character development for Wade Whipple. We learn his estranged father is a legendary bowling champion, who will also just so happen to be at the big bowling tournament Knuckles is ushering him towards. Knuckles has a cozy moment with Wade's mother, and we learn more about how much she hates Wade's father for breaking up their family.

The fourth episode finds Wade facing down yet another bounty hunter. Earlier I mentioned Wade lost a bowling tournament to an 8 year old girl -- specifically, he lost a placement match for a bowling team known as The Renegades. The captain of The Renegades is a man known as Jack Sinclair, and when he rejects Wade's entry into the team, he casually mentions a bounty hunter gig he runs on the side. Now, Jack's back to claim the $100k bounty, and Knuckles has decided that it's time for Wade to solve this problem on his own.

Ultimately, this means Wade is forced to convene with Knuckles' ancient ancestors for himself, leading to, of all things, a rock opera in a spectral bowling alley where we learn more of Knuckles' origin. If the Shabbat dinner episode finally budged the needle a little bit, this rock opera episode is the kick in the pants this series should have opened with.

We get Wade in a Knuckles costume, a puppet of Knuckles' dying father that's definitely a reference to Archie's controversial Sonic writer Ken Penders, dancers in owl costumes, and a genuinely impressive prop of a "Fire Demon" (Iblis from Sonic 2006) operated by an entire squad of bodysuit actors. It's a lot of fun and I even found myself starting to laugh at the jokes! It only took, what, two hours?

As the rock opera explains, after Knuckles watched all of his friends and family get slaughtered by the owl tribe, Knuckles wandered the galaxy, hopeless. Knowing he was the only one who could protect the master emerald, he challenged this fire demon to claim the power of The Flames of Disaster. The demon nearly killed Knuckles, but by keeping the warrior's spirit in his heart, he summoned the strength to defeat Iblis once and for all and claim The Flames of Disaster as his own. Thus, Wade learns that a warrior's true strength comes from within, giving him the push needed to have a final showdown with Jack Sinclair. 

And then something else weird happens: the final two episodes of the show turn into something completely different. 

In my opinion, the more the Knuckles show gets away from Knuckles himself, the better it gets. Even though I thought the rock opera origin story was great, the less we have to worry about their jumbled up lore, the better. And these last two episodes of Knuckles get about as far away from the Echidna as they can get, turning into a late 2000's sports comedy in the vein of something like "Balls of Fury", "Hot Rod" or "Blades of Glory." Except here, the stand-in sport of choice is bowling.  

It's actually pretty funny how much the previous four episodes just stop mattering entirely. Like, the bounty on Wade vanishes. Being a wanted criminal (former or current) has no bearing on his ability to attend the bowling tournament despite apparently being national news not even 48 hours earlier. It's never mentioned or brought up again. 

Knuckles almost exits the show entirely. He spends most of the final two episodes relaxing in a hotel room, leaving Wade to carry almost literally everything else by himself. We get introduced to Cary Elwes as Wade's father Pistol Pete, who summons the same level of ham and cheese we last got from him in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. 

And... It works. It's not the greatest thing on earth, but compared to where this show started, once the bowling tournament kicks off, it's literally the best part of the whole series. The jokes get even funnier. We get all these different themed bowling teams, everybody in special costumes, with dumb names like "Ball Busters" and "Split for Brains." The editing gets really energetic and creative, too, with lots of flashy split screen cuts set to music. 

It feels like somebody had been sitting on a decade-old bowling comedy script and dusted it off for these last two episodes. It stops being the Knuckles show and starts being the Wade Whipple show, and is surprisingly better for it. 

But then, that's not entirely true. It's still the Knuckles show, and almost begrudgingly, they have to make up a reason for Knuckles to have a big fight at the end. It's almost funny how blatant it is -- there's so much focus on Wade's showdown with his Dad that when they cut back to Knuckles it feels kind of forced. Like they realized Wade is getting all of the pathos and character development but they still needed to show Knuckles doing something, anything, so here's a big robot that needs punching. 

It's not terrible, and Wade eventually joins him, tying into his overall journey of believing in himself and becoming "a warrior", but it does feel kind of tacked on regardless. There's this general vibe of the show getting lost in the bowling tournament and then going "Oh, right. That guy."

Listen, I'm not here to evangelize this show. It's kind of an inconsistent mess. It's jammed full of obnoxious needle drop musical interludes, there's tons of REALLY blatant product placement, and just like with the previous two Sonic movies, whenever it makes direct references to game lore, it feels more pandering (and increasingly sloppy) than anything else. It takes its sweet time expanding on both its title character and his poorly chosen side kick. A lot of it made me cringe more than laugh. 

But it does eventually hit a stride and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the back half of it. You can really see the show start to find its footing once you hit that Shabbat episode, and by the end of the rock opera, Knuckles had finally won me over... by getting further and further away from Knuckles himself. 

And... that's not really a great endorsement, now is it. 

[coffeecat1983]

Mario Bros: "Proud of You" pt 2.

pt 1 is here.

Luigi gazed out over the city. He was up on the apartment rooftop, leaning against the edge wall as he watched people on the streets below. In the distance he could make out flashing emergency lights and a faint sound of people shouting. From behind him came the creak of the rooftop door opening and footsteps. He was startled by a clink, a plate with two cannolis was placed by his elbow. "Hey kiddo. You left without this." Tony smiled, patting his nephew's shoulder. "You boys usually race me to the kitchen when Ma gets cannolis from the bakery." "Thanks." Luigi said, taking one of the treats. The two were quiet for a bit and Tony noticed Luigi took just one bite of his cannoli before setting it aside. From behind them, the door creaked again. "There's my boys." Marianna said brightly. Coming over she spied the plate and laughed. "I was wondering where those went. I think Marie took some to Mario, too." Tony popped the last bite in his mouth. "What brings you up, Ma?" Both men looked to where she pointed. "Heard on the news the streets were flooding, wanted to see if I could see it from up here. A big water main break is shuttin' things down." Tony lightly punched Luigi's shoulder. "Sounds like a job for the Super Mario Brothers." They both saw it, Luigi's already withdrawn mood dropped even further. He crossed his arms, fingers trembling as he clutched his sleeves. "Super Mario Brothers was a bad idea." he said softly. Tony and Marianna glanced at each other in worry. "Sweetheart? Did something happen?" "You boys were so excited to start this." Luigi looked heartbroken. "It started after the commercial played…" He explained it all. Spike calling him an idiot, Mario nearly getting into a fight, stepping on the dog treat and the absolute disaster at their first job. By the time he was done, tears were trickling down his face. "It's my fault! If I had paid attention I wouldn't have stepped on the dog treat, then Francis-" Something hit Tony. "Wait," he put a hand up, "A dog named Francis? Big, white, penthouse deal, on Garden Street?" Luigi nodded. "Y-Yeah." Reaching in his jacket pocket, Tony pulled out his phone. "That's Adam Carmichael! He's one of my best customers at the garage. Gimme a minute." "Huh? Wait-" Luigi went to object but his uncle was already on his feet with the phone to his ear. "Mr. Carmichael? Hey, it's Tony Atarinetta…" He wandered away from the others and Luigi slumped, hiding his face in his hands. His head was beginning to ache and it must have showed, as he felt his mother's warm hand rest against his neck and begin to tenderly rub. "You weren't hurt, were you?" He sighed, raising his head. "Couple'a bruises. Mario took a few hits, too." he sighed heavily. "Ma, I don't know what to do. Our business could sink and it's all my fault. Mario must hate me." He teared up again. "And I don't blame him." "Oh Luigi, your brother doesn't hate you." Marianna said, pulling him into a hug. From nearby they heard Tony as he said goodbye and hung up. Walking back over, he stuck his hands in his jacket pockets. "Kiddo, I think we all need to have a talk."

To be continued...

[eleventhhourfactor]

Factor's Mario Fics

Realized that I wrote quite a few fics between this and Luigi's Mansion. Decided to make a sub-post for them that can be found on my pinned post so that when I do get around to posting stories for other fandoms, it's not a massive wall of text right then and there.

Anyway, here are my stories, with most recently released at the top of the list. I'll be using the tag #factor's mario fics to make it easier to find these as well.

S(t)ealing the Show on Christmas, Of All Days!

Click here to go straight to AO3.

Status: Complete.

Fandom: Super Mario Bros.

Any number of things could happen at midnight. Marilyn Moretti hadn't counted on seals.

Or: a folklore dimension AU where Mario and Luigi become selkies and eventually have to break that news to their extended family.

For @loud-kid2 and their Folklore AU, which now has me obsessed with selkies.

Bowuigi Halloween 2024

Status: In Progress.

A collection of short stories centered around the Koopa King and the plumber we all love to ship so much. No particular order; read them how you wish.

Light Reading for a Dark Evening

Click this link to go straight to AO3.

Status: In Progress.

Fandoms: Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario & Sonic

Amy Rose agrees to a tarot reading for Bowser. Her cards turn up quite a few surprises.

Tarot reading couldn't be done with @jayyydez and the Sonic Wikia Zone.

Prompts: bad luck, run/escape, fortune telling, transformation

Nightmares and Days Dreamed

Click this link to go straight to AO3.

Status: Complete.

Fandoms: Super Mario Bros., Paper Mario Series, Mario & Luigi Series.

A nasty curse threatens an eternity of bad dreams to whoever dares to close their eyes.

While Kammy busies herself with a potion, and Kamek does his best to keep Luigi stable, Bowser takes on the task of keeping him calm from the inside.

Prompts: potions, bewitched

Worth a Shot

Click this link to go straight to AO3.

Status: Complete.

Fandoms: Super Mario Bros., Luigi's Mansion

On the night of his fathers' big Halloween bash, Bowser Jr. summons a ghost in an effort to lift Papa's spirits.

The specter he calls upon has other plans.

Prompts: ghost, scream, summoning, costume party.

Out in the Rain

Status: Complete.

Fandoms: Super Mario Bros., Luigi's Mansion

Luigi's been acting stranger than usual after a visit to E. Gadd's lab. Mario finds out why while they take a walk in the rain.

Written for @lu1g199's Plant Luigi AU, wherein Luigi gets into a bit of a lab accident that leaves him half-plant.

Another Point of View

Status: Complete

Fandom: Super Mario Bros.

After messing with a mysterious artifact, Bowser and Luigi have to seize the day without letting their differences get the best of them.

Done for a Friday the 13th Discord server challenge.

Aftereffects

Status: Complete.

Fandom: Super Mario Bros.

After overcoming a powerful curse, Mario’s left with zero memory of what happened, but plenty of physical reminders that something absolutely did.

Based on @wahooitsamee's Ancient Koopa AU, where Mario's dealing with becoming a half-human, half-Koopa hybrid and the changes and insecurities that come with that.

Part 1: Tarragon, Tails, and Koopa Scales

Click this link to go right to AO3.

It’s been a week and a half since Kamek cast a terrible curse, and Mario’s still having a hard time feeling okay with himself.

What's a kingdom to do except lift his spirits?

Part 2: Literally Lovestruck

TW: sexual content

Click this link to go right to AO3.

It’s been a month since the curse was calmed, but Mario’s still holding Peach out at arm’s length when it comes to bedtime endeavors. What is a Princess to do, then, when her love wakes up feverish and clinging to her for dear life?

Figure out what's going on, of course.

Part 3: Sparks and Butterflies

Click this link to go right to AO3.

Time marches forth for Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom. He's finally marrying the love of his life, getting ready to rule alongside his Princess, and he couldn't feel any better. He's on top of the world and as comfortable as can be with himself.

Then Peach becomes pregnant, and some old fears come roaring back.

Revised on 08/29/2024.

The Fourth and Final Time

Status: Complete.

Fandom: Luigi's Mansion

Luigi takes a terminal spill, and Mario has to pick up the pieces.

Written in collaboration with @giddlygoat, originator of the Ghost Luigi AU.

Tumblr posts:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Enjoy Your Stay at the Last Resort

Status: Complete.

Fandom: Luigi's Mansion

A weeklong stay at a faraway resort would normally be paradise. The idea really loses its appeal when there's ghosts involved.

Post-movie take on a Luigi's Mansion movie, with Luigi teaming up with some unexpected allies to save everyone and trounce the King of the Boos. Loosely based on @profbastard's Syncytium AU.

Off-Hours

Status: Complete.

Fandom: Super Paper Mario

Dimentio's endless interruptions normally keep Team Bleck apart. Throw in some snacks and a bad movie, however, and the jester just might have the stuff to pull them together.

Written for the Super Paper Mario Gift Exchange. Features a work of art by @snakeeyesdraws done for the collaborative nature of the exchange.

[monsterfuckerconfessions]

Inspired by Ben 10 alienfucking anon, but I gotta agree with the basic idea of looking back on childhood favorites and just saying

"...Ooooohhhh...Cool."

I have a lot of similar personal cases.

Some standard ones like Frankie Foster making a generation super horny for tight black dresses and chokers, or Saria giving Zelda fans some hesvy love for the childhood friend thing. The one that sticks out in my head from the same game really hard though...

Zora Princess Ruto

She did some shit to my dumb baby brain that maybe wouldn't be seen on that scale again until Undyne came along and awakened some fish dicks.

I was either 8, 9, or 10 when I played Ocarina of Time. I got on the N64 hypetrain late since I got the SNES console gaming introduction after the later rounder redesign model was out.

Had some fun starts from some classics. Donkey Kong Country 2, Kirby Super Star, Super Mario World/Kart, the usual cool shit.

But later on, when my mom's boyfriend at the time was cool about showing me some SNES and N64 gaming (He ended up being a cheating alcoholic asshole, but I didn't know that yet, so I just took him at face value here)

He'd entertain my silly gawking and plot questions while he played and ended up lending some cool ones he never came back for (which I can't help but spitefully laugh at now) and they were all pretty fun, but obvious hood classic "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" was particularly great and led to some Discoveries(tm) later with Ocarina of Time.

I was super hyped about getting an N64 even if a year or two late to the party. Got some staples of the time that came with it of course. The obligatory classic games, Super Mario 64, Smash Bros., and obviously OoT, some bulky unwieldy third party controllers, some slightly better than the official monstrosity, some worse, and somehow most importantly here, Nintendo Power or Game Informer or whatever paper stuff that had strategy guides with cool pictures and stuff.

Prefacing a bit here: I was a single mom's baby, my dad walked out when my sister was 3 and I was like 0.4, so our house didn't have the dad porn stash to find. There was other stuff, some Victoria's Secret ads, my kinda hot single fifth grade teacher who seemed so weirdly fixated on gushing about how cute I was that it brings up some uncomfortable implications I can't confirm now, but also basic shit like strategy guides, gaming mags, and manuals with neat illustrations.

And somehow with all that, the last option just struck first with sifting through to find tits out post-timeskip fishwife Ruto, and at that point I really couldn't not fuck around and/or find out.

So I felt some things, started the playthrough and got up to Jabu-Jabu's Belly. And hoo boy, I was sexually curious already, but her actual in-game personality just DID things to me.

The tsundere shtick got a little worn out later, but the bitchy spiteful attitude to marriage promise 180 pipeline, the love for blue colored characters that could fill a Bible thick DSM, and her overall character arc just ruined me as a person in a way I find really hot.

Yes, I was into the kid version at the time too, but I was basically the same age as her in-game, don't overthink it.

So if the childhood marriage promise thing hadn't hit hard enough, the Water Temple hit so much harder by the end.

Adult Ruto tits out fish lady fucking hotwired my dormant libido and drove that shit 0 to 150 mph into the sunset. After the infamously confusing dungeon crawl and the disappointingly easy Morpha fight, that sealed it in the Sacred Realm jail hard for me, and unlike Ganon breaking out easy peasy like a Batman villain, I was not going anywhere.

Soon as I figured some stuff out playing in the shower and making up for spacing out in early proto-sex ed talks, it was just gonna happen.

I grabbed the nearest Nintendo Power or manual etc in one hand, my dick in the other and went to town, left for Zora's Domain, and never really left from there, cause I just started jackhammering my dick til it got sore and came whatever buckets I had at the time staring at Big Blue Titty Fish.

Everyone who played it knew the drill and had their personal favorites in the Link brothel. Zelda, Shiek, Saria, Malon (more potent after the older Majora's Mask counterpart), the Cucco lady (same deal with Anju), Darunia for the gay bar crowd probably, Impa, Nabooru, and my obvs by now favorite:

Ruto.

And for a lot of shortcomings and gripes I had with Majora's Mask, I didn't actually mind her getting clothed. I missed the titty out look for a little, but the dress was cute, the Zora band gang was particularly cool and interesting to me, and even though the Great Bay Temple doubled down on the Water Temple's problems, I still enjoyed the third Mask hunt pretty well and thought the band idea was really awesome and probably low-key inspired some of my interests in making music later.

And dressed or not, the fish wife love held really strong.

Saria gave people some weird feelings about The Friend Zone, Cremia gave people some extra love for titty hug motorboats, and Ruto cemented my love of blue girls and fish girls of any cup size, and she all-around gave me some lasting complexes for years to come.

Not for everyone, but my older sister used to watch me play Majora's Mask and comment on how horny she got about Zora mask Link, so it might just be for more people than I thought.

Undyne has some strong dom lesbian appeal that fed some stuff I already had brewing about strong ladies by the time Undertale hit, but for me, the bitchy to lovingly clingy fish wife will hold a special place as my first true furry/scaly/monsterfucking-adjacent experience.

Undyne could suplex me into dust and I'd still be really into that, but Ruto was THE og Blue-coded fictional crush that defined a lot of weird boners for me that can still be felt over half-mast today. (Don't ever ask me about my thoughts on Ranni the Witch, that question is turning the safety off a loaded gun and deepthroating it) (I love her and it's positive, I'm just exaggerating to say how annoying I will inevitably get about it)

Anyway, point is I fucking love clingy fish tsundere and if there was a canon choice for everyone's dumb elf-eared heart, for my heart's canon, that was her.

That was Ruto <3

.

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

The Mario Movie Is Not Canon To The Games P1

Okay so it's become a common occurrence amongst a bit too many people who think the MarioMovieverse is canon to the MarioTalesverse. So I am here to tell you why this is wrong and point out all the contradictions between the Movie and Games. So Let's begin.

So to start off with this movie appears to be an origin story for the Bros., and the cast as a whole. This doesn't work for various reasons. First off the Bros. are in their modern attire instead of their Classic Outfits. The Classic Outfits as has been established to be what Mario and Luigi wore up until Super Mario Bros. 3 when they switched to their Modern Outfits.

Mario and Luigi also grew up in Brooklyn and are Italian Americans while the Mushroom Kingdom is on a separate planet in the movie. While the games through Yoshi's Island, Donkey Kong 94, Donkey Kong Land, and Super Mario Odyssey, it's established are from the Mushroom Kingdom and migrated to Big City. The Bros. living on the same planet as the Mushroom Kingdom was already and idea in the OVA before it was added to the games. While the original idea was for them to be from real world New York, and that they were Italian Americans. This was never stated in game or in manuals unlike the Koopaling retcon and Yoshi retcon. As of now they are native sons of the Mushroom Kingdom.

The events of Mario Bros./Did Somebody Call A Plumber never play out where the Bros. fight the Koopa Troopas, Fighter Flies, and Sidesteppers in the sewers eventually finding their way to the Mushroom Kingdom.

The events of Donkey Kong also don't play out in the movies either. Mario owned Donkey Kong Senior aka Cranky Kong as a pet in the games. While Cranky Kong kidnapped Pauline as a way to get a rise out of Mario. Cranky in the Movie is an adult and Leader of the Jungle Kingdom. Also, Cranky doesn't even know who Mario is.

Speaking of the Jungle Kingdom, it does not exist in the game universe. There is also no Kong Civilization in games, and what is ancient ruins in the games is in use structures. The Kongs in game are from the Kong Archipelago which is near the Metro Kingdom.

More stuff all the Kongs in the movie speak English, while in the games they speak Kongish.

Donkey Kong Junior the son of Cranky Kong and father of Donkey Kong III is not in the movies. Instead Donkey Kong III was made into Cranky's Son in the movies instead further establishing the difference between the 2 continuities. DK III also is implied to have met Mario in Mario Vs Donkey Kong.

Next up is Princess Peach, first off she wears a modern dress instead of her classic dress. But also, Peach's origin story is a creation of the movie and exclusive to the movie as established in a Nintendo Dream article in "I think it was probably something that was originally reflected, and we just had to decide how to explain it, and it was a clear cut feeling. This movie really clarified the setting (laughs). It was Matthew's invention." While in the games Peach is delivered to the Mushroom Kingdom via stork, and was raised by Toadsworth. Peach also wore princess attire when she was a Baby unlike her movie appearance. Peach would have interacted with the Baby Bros. which does not happen in the movie. This leads into the fact while the citizens if the Mushroom World in the Mario universe know what humans are. It's treated as a rare sight, the humans of Earth don't seem to know about the Mushroom Kingdom, and the Bros.' parents never mention it. Peach as a Princess and ruler who would have to interact with other leaders would have to know at least one other leader, aka Princess Daisy. Also, Peach uses her dress to float in the movie while in the games she uses magic.

Moving on the events of the Super Mario Bros. don't play out in the movie. Bowser doesn't invade the Mushroom Kingdom before the Bros. show up. Bowser doesn't capture the Princess from the start or turn the Toads to Bricks and Stone. Goombas don't betray the Mushroom Kingdom but are already part of Bowser's army in this movie, unlike in the games. And Luigi is not kidnapped in the SMB unlike in the movie.

Unlike the original game where Bowser is simply focused on conquest, the games have him already in love with Peach. Bowser also doesn't know who Mario is in the movie, while by Yoshi Story he knew who Mario was and hated Yoshis. Bowser is not captured at the end of SMB unlike in the movie where he is shrunken by a Mini Mushroom and taken captive. Also, in the movie Bowser had the intent to kill and was planning on sacrificing his captives. But in the games Bowser rarely actually tries to kill anyone and any implications he intends to is seen out of character. Bowser while is willing to torch others out of frustration, he doesn't necessarily attack his underlings unless the really annoy him like with Iggy or Kammy. We don't slam a piano lid on Kamek or set a Koopa Troopa on fire for a minor inconvenience. Bowser was also tone deaf in the games until it was fixed by the music keys. Before DDR he has note been shown to have the ability to sing like does in the movies because of this. Also, Bowser doesn't know what Spinys even though Spinys are turtles and part of the Turtle Tribe since the first game.

Part 2

[bowletta]

my thoughts on mario and luigi brothership!

(spoiler-free edition!)

(click here for the Major spoilers version)

I will sort my thoughts into 3 categories: the good, the bad, and misc (not necesarily good or bad just in the middle)

The Good:

+ the animation. I didn't think theyd be able to recreate the charm the sprite animation had, but they nailed it.

+ great job translating the 2d sprites to 3d models. This was one of my biggest concerns when the game was revealed, but as much as I miss the sprites... they did a good job. Love how they added the blue accents from sato's early m&l artwork.

+ the cutscenes look so good. Very charming

+ probably the best boss battles in the series. Every one (except the 3rd lighthouse one >: [ ) was the perfect balance of fun and difficulty without dragging on too long.

+ extremely fun combat (jump attacks, hammers)

+ the characters. I really really enjoyed the characters.. I wish they cut a few of them to give others more screentime, but I was surprised how attached I got to them

+ the extension corps. Early on i thought they were just a rehash of the bffs from bowser jr.s journey... but I feel that they executed it 100 times better. I wont spoil, but they have a good arc : )

The Bad:

- I think the #1 problem plaguing brothership is the pacing. It is atrocious. The first 5 hours are so boring. It really drags its feet to get anything interesting happening. The villains arnt introduced until nearly halfway through the game. Why.

What sucks is I feel like if you can get past the first ocean, it starts to get really good! But looking back at all the leakers quitting a few hours in... I cant blame them.

- adding onto this, bros moves and battle plugs. It takes 5 hours to get your first bro move. You are stuck with standard jump and hammer for the entire first ocean. As much as i like performing those moves, it got old fast. You get bros moves so far apart, and several of them are introduced so late I didnt bother trying to learn them.

I wish the battle plugs were introduced sooner as well, I think it wouldve helped make the early combat more interesting.

- game feels way too long and bloated.

- why do you select luigi's actions with 'A' in battle. Why is there no option to change it. I struggled with this and fumbled my attacks literally until the 4th ocean. Why.

- frame rate issues. Upon booting the game I thought 'oh this is rough'. But then I got used to it. But as you progress, and more people join your ship, it gets bad. By the end, shipshape island is a choppy powerpoint presentation. I could hear my switch's fan struggling from my couch lol.

- weakest soundtrack in the series. Its not even close. Theres like 5 tracks I like, but that doesnt make up for the other 40+ being so unremarkable, esp when its one of the franchise's highlights.

- timing when counterattacking enemies is wildly inconsistent. With some, the timing feels too generous (the flying flower enemies) and other times it feels frame perfect (lakitu)

Misc:

> Theres so many instances where I cant tell if its supposed to be a homage to older games or just copy pasted from them. Theres a character introduced very late who is very similar to another late game m&l character. The extension corps and the bffs. Etc.

> the timeline is kind of confusing... Like how long ago did concordia break up? How long did it take connie to grow the tree on shipshape? Like did this take place months ago or decades ago??

>them reusing peach and bowser voice clips from 15 years ago (bis) was very funny

final thoughts:

id give brothership like... a 7.5-8/10. Is it the new best mario rpg? Absolutely not lol. It has some serious issues but... I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I think it couldve used a few more years in the oven, but overall, it was cute. Definently a contender for the new generation's super paper mario.

1. superstar saga

2. bowser's inside story

3. brothership

4. partners in time/dream team

5. paper jam

[seandwalsh]

Is there a reason why the Mario Bros skip all the way to Bowser's castle when they assumed Bowser kidnapped Peach in Super Paper Mario, but in the main series games, they go through 7 worlds first. Wouldn't that be wasting time.

In Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Mario and Luigi did not know which castle Princess Peach was being held in. This also applies to Super Mario World., in which Mario and Luigi didn’t know where Princess Peach was being held.

In New Super Mario Bros., New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. 2, Princess Peach wasn’t taken directly to Bowser’s Castle. Mario, Luigi and the others chased Bowser Jr. and/or the Koopalings from castle to castle trying to save Princess Peach. If they had gone directly to Bowser’s Castle she would’ve have been there.

In Super Mario Bros. 3, Princess Peach was only kidnapped after Mario and Luigi defeated all of the Koopalings and saved the kings of the Mushroom World. In Super Mario RPG, Princess Peach was taken directly to Bowser’s Castle, so Mario immediately went there. This is also what Mario and Luigi assumed had happened in Super Paper Mario.

Even if Peach was directly taken to Bowser’s Castle in the main series games, Bowser’s Minions are still invading in each of them and someone will have to clear them out sooner or later. The heroes just tend to do this along the journey to save Princess Peach.

[pianokantzart]

The Super Mario Bros. Redux (Pt. 6)

What would happen if, in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, after Mario and Luigi are separated, Mario was the one who ended up in the clutches of Luigi’s eventual arch nemesis, while Luigi teamed up with some of his own close allies to go rescue him? (This part of the story is in one shot format. Most other parts are written in bullet points.)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 7 ________

A short summary of the things Luigi had done in the past twenty four hours that he had never expected to do in his entire life:

Fall into an interdimensional wormhole. Fight a warrior princess in a crowded arena. Become a royally acclaimed ghost hunter. Enlist in an army assembled to ambush the territory ruled by The King of Ghosts in order to rescue hostages and bring balance to the afterlife. Adopt a dog.

... Though it was more accurate to say the dog adopted him. Normally Luigi had trouble with animals– he could never read their body language, and his clumsiness made for bad first impressions. The few animals he got along with in the past were old and quiet, wanting nothing more than a warm lap on which to lay their head. Polterpup was different; playful and energetic, mischievous yet patient. Luigi couldn’t help but wonder what was the reason behind the attachment– if he himself resembled an old master or friend from the dog’s past life before it became a ghost. It still wore a collar, though the little golden loop on the front had no tag. The collar was bright red, almost a perfect match to Mario’s favorite color. "Heh, you’re just as good at getting into trouble as Mario, too,” Luigi added with a somber smile, kneeling down to oblige the ghost dog’s less-than-subtle plea for belly rubs until it disappeared again, as was its habit. Polterpup tended to suddenly poof in and out of thin air with little warning, and though it seemed to be at random at first, Luigi began to realize the dog mostly came to him when he was feeling alone, which was more often than not as of late. Every new experience, every strange encounter, every unexpected victory made Luigi wish more and more that his brother was around to take part. Hardly a second passed without him wondering what he was doing at that moment, and if he was okay.

Unfortunately, his occupied mind made him a less-than-helpful assistant to E. Gadd. The professor had warned earlier that he had always preferred working alone. The result was a very low tolerance level for “tomfoolery,” as he described it, and it wasn’t long before Luigi’s shaky attempts to help attach upgrades to The Poltergust caused the scientist to lose his patience. One shoddy wire-soldering job later, Luigi found himself being forcibly pushed toward the exit by the surprisingly strong old man. “Go. Shoo. Distract yourself with something else.”

“Like what?” Luigi asked, digging his heels. “What do I do? Where do I go?”

“How about you see the princess?”

“Princess Daisy?”

Luigi lingered in the doorway. The professor adjusted his glasses, and pointed down one of the castle hallways. “Yep! She’s in the greenhouse. I’m sure she could use the company. You two seem to get along well enough.”

“We do?” Luigi placed his hand against his cheek, thinking over their last interactions. They had exchanged blows, but worked together in the end to defeat Boolossus. She had held his hand up as the victor, but she had also toyed with him in a way that made it clear that she knew how weak he truly was. He liked her, that much he knew, but that didn’t mean she wanted anything more to do with him, and furthermore she had a power and confidence to her that intimidated him beyond her status as the daughter of four kings. “I don’t know. I mean, we did make a pretty good team, but she’s royalty! I don’t know anything about how to approach royalty. Do I bow? Or–”

“You’ll be fine,” The Professor assured, only half paying attention as he returned to his work, burying himself back into the open hatch of a large machine.

In the end, Luigi did as he was told. The greenhouse was easy enough to find. As large as the Birabuto Palace was, its corridors were open and easy to navigate, and the guards were surprisingly helpful in giving directions despite their shaky first-encounters.

Finding the large doors to the greenhouse, marked by limestone imitations of crawling vines carved into the archway, Luigi gathered his determination and pushed them open. The first thing that struck him was a wall of glacial cold– a shocking surprise, and the opposite of what he expected from a greenhouse, but this discomfort was immediately undercut by the beauty of the surrounding foliage. The flowers, sparkling with a brilliant, incandescent blue, sprouted from planter boxes and large pots all around in blooms and buds. He thought for a moment that surely they were beautifully-crafted plastic or silicon, but pinching a large leaf between the fingers of his gloves he found they felt as real as any common dandelion. The second thing that struck him was the night sky, clearly visible through the glass walls and ceiling. He had never in his life seen so many stars, and for all his love of science and space he could not recognize a single constellation, which served as an unsettling, but ultimately breathtaking reminder of how far from home truly he was.

“Oh! Hey!”

Luigi jumped and let out a surprised squeak when Daisy emerged from behind a stack of pots to greet him. Her cheeks were tinted pink from the cold, and in her right arm she held a large sack of powdery-white fertilizer that she was distributing between the plants. She laughed at his reaction, but it carried no hint of condescension, just friendly amusement. “I was hoping I’d see you again before we invaded Evershade Valley!” she called, waving him over. “Luigi, was it?”

Luigi approached while holding his hat to his chest, shuddering a bit as the chill bit at the edges of his ears. “Yes, Your Highness.” Daisy once more laughed her friendly, good-natured laugh. “None of that. Just Daisy. No ‘Miss’ or ‘Ma’am’ either. If you’ve gotta be formal, call me Princess Daisy.” Luigi, feeling a little more at ease, put his hat back on his head. “Yes, Princess Daisy.” She gave a nod of approval, then went back to work fertilizing the long rows of plants. “So,” she asked, “What can I help you with, big guy?” “I, er…” Luigi suddenly realized he had failed to come up with a proper reason before arriving here. He couldn’t very well say the professor kicked him out of the lab for being inept, but before he could think of an excuse his attention was re-seized by the plants. Curiosity overcame him to the point that he forgot his worries, and he once more brushed his hand against the leaf of the nearest flower. “Are these where your ice powers came from? In The Battle Stadium?” “Of course! I’m pretty good with a powerup, huh?” Daisy said proudly, “Normally I favor the elephant fruit, but today I decided to switch things up.” “Elephant fruit? There’s other magical plants?” The princess stiffened. Luigi was worried for a moment that he had accidentally said something offensive, but she retained her genuine smile as she set the sack of fertilizer down and placed her hands on her hips. “Wow, you’re really not from around here, are you.” Before Luigi could answer, she walked up and wrapped a friendly arm around his shoulder. “Suppose I should’ve known. Humans aren’t native to this world. The professor is one of, like, two other humans I know. Do you know E. Gadd? Is he your uncle or something?” “I– uh, no. We just met yesterday.” “Let me guess: you're lost." "Well... yes..." "And he said he'd only get you home if you help him.” “What!?” “He’s the kind of guy to pull a stunt like that if he thinks it’s for the greater good.” Daisy explained, holding Luigi a bit closer in a show of sympathy. “You don’t have to do this, you know, you could go home anytime you like. I’ll vouch for you!” Despite the friendly intention behind these words, Luigi felt a lump form in his throat. He slipped out from under The Princess’ side-hug, and stared up at her with a troubled look. “Do you… want me to leave?” Daisy bristled. Her cheeks reddened as she shook her head and waved her hands in dismay. “No! No no no of course not! I think you’re great! It’s just…” She trailed off, rubbing the back of her neck.

Luigi, surprised by this rare show of nervousness, patiently waited with bated breath for her to gather her thoughts, and after a few seconds she continued, quieter than before. “It’s just that I keep thinking about what you said in the arena. You seemed like a guy who had a lot to lose. You weren’t in it for glory or the fun of the fight, you were just scared and… I don’t know… I felt bad for you. Still do.” At this, Luigi gained a slight smile, shyly burying his hands in his pockets and rocking on his heels. “Heh, don’t worry. I gotta learn how to not be scared all the time, y'know?” It didn’t take long before he realized what he said– whose words he was echoing. The gravity of the situation quickly crashed back down on him, robbing him of that small moment of comfort. It was evident by the look on Daisy’s face that she had seen the change in his expression, so Luigi went ahead and explained his predicament before she could ask: “It’s my brother, Mario. We both fell through a warp pipe. I ended up in your kingdom but he ended up in Evershade Valley.”

Daisy cocked her head, the gears turning behind her eyes as everything she had witnessed about the plumber's manner up until now came together in her mind. “Oh. I see.”

“It was my fault. I fell into the warp pipe, and he jumped in after me, and– I… I can’t just leave him.” Luigi heard his own voice crack and felt tears beginning to form in his eyes. Despite this he kept going, the pent up emotions of the past twenty four hours running rampant, unable to be reigned in. “It’s not that I don’t trust anyone else to save him, but I gotta make sure he’s okay! We’ve never been apart this long… and I-... I miss him.” Tears began streaming freely, the cold air burning them into long lines down Luigi’s cheeks. He turned away, struggling to wipe his eyes with the back of his glove. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be.”

Luigi saw a glimmer of white fabric in the corner of his vision. Turning, he saw the princess holding a flower-embroidered handkerchief out to him. He accepted, and dried his eyes. He tried to hand it back, but she was already returning to the flowers, plucking up a set of pruning shears as she went. “I’ve never known a good fighter that didn’t have big emotions brewing under the surface,” she assured. “But don’t you worry, after the way we saved my dads, saving you brother should be no sweat!...” Luigi, hearing a light snip of closing shears, saw Princess Daisy remove one of the ice flowers at its base between where the leaves connected to the soil. Despite being cut off from its roots the plant remained as lively as ever. It almost looked to be dancing happily in her hands as she delivered it back to Luigi.

“...and when you do save him, give him this.” She said, holding out the offering. “If Mario’s anything like you, he’s not going to want to be defenseless, and ice magic is the one of the few things that can combat boos besides your Poltergust.” Luigi smiled. He reached out and took the flower into his hands. He was surprised to find it wasn’t particularly chilly to the touch– clearly the coldness of the room was for the sake of cultivating the plants, not the effect of the flowers themselves. “You seem to really know a lot.” He mused aloud, pressing the gift to his chest. “But… you said humans aren’t native to this world. Where did you come from, then?” He stopped suddenly, realizing the personal nature of what he asked. He searched Daisy’s face for some sign of disapproval, but was relieved to see her smiling just as brightly as before. “Ha! I wish I had an answer to your question!” She laughed, “Dragonzamasu says I hatched from an orange egg that appeared suddenly in a field of flowers. Biokinton says he found me curled up in a bassinet hitched to a shooting star. Hiyoihoi says he found me locked in a gemstone at the center of the oldest mountain in Sarasaland. But I’m more inclined to buy Totomesu’s story.”

“What’s Totomesu’s story?” Daisy’s smile wavered. Luigi wondered once again if he misstepped, but this time easily brushed the thought aside, trusting by now that the princess would let him know if he had done something wrong. She turned away, staring up at the stars through the glass wall of the greenhouse, and Luigi placed himself at the her side, watching the stars in tandem until Daisy finally broke the silence and answered his question: “He found me at the mouth of a warp pipe, barely old enough to crawl and completely terrified. Sometimes I think I still remember that day… as much as I prefer to believe that I hatched from an egg.”

There was such an odd sadness to her voice that Luigi felt an impulse to reach out and reassuringly take her hand, though he had enough common sense to refrain from such an intimate gesture. All the same, he wanted to say something comforting. “I don’t mind that you didn’t hatch from an egg.” He heard himself blurt out.

Daisy shot him a confused look, and Luigi nervously scrambled to explain himself. “What I mean is… hey, you were a baby, y’know? Ain’t nothing to be embarrassed about. You’re already so cool, you can’t be cool every moment of your life, and most babies aren’t cool! And… uh…” Daisy started to laugh. Luigi turned red, but felt a little better now that she was smiling again, even more so when he felt the princess affectionately nudging his shoulder. “Haha! I get it big guy, I get what you're saying!”

Luigi laughed too, in spite of himself.

“Speaking of ‘cool,’” Daisy went on, “I'm freezing!” She rubbed at her arms in a display of discomfort. Luigi, too, was suddenly reminded of just how cold he was. By now the low temperature had seeped all the way through his clothes and skin, triggering a powerful shiver that ran through his core, which was soon soothed as the princess wrapped an arm around him, and pressed him close. “Tell me, Luigi, do you have hot chocolate in your world?”

“I love hot chocolate!”

“Perfect!” With her arm still tightly wrapped around the plumber, Daisy eagerly led him to the egress of the greenhouse. “Let’s get us some good old-fashioned creature comforts before we fight some ghosts!”

"Heh. Yeah. Let's-a-go!" Luigi said, forcing enthusiasm, thankful that he had the cold as an excuse for his uncontrollable shivering.

[marxist-amy-rose]

I feel like to some people, SatAM is just to Sonic what the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! was to Mario, when it's not the case at all! SMBSS is just one of many branches of Mario Content, whereas SatAM was a franchise defining event, a turning point in history, it sealed Sonic's fate. Forces would not have happened without SatAM, or Archie, and no Forces or Archie, no IDW! You get what I mean? SatAM had more of an impact than X did, fight me on this, I will kill us both on this hill. Not to say that SatAM is better than X, just that, X's mark on the franchise was soft and shallow compared to SatAM's, SatAM's mark is downright problematic even.

What's gettin' me all uppity about it now? Well, again, I feel like people treat SatAM like the Sonic Bros. Super Show (when far more accurately, AoStH would be the Sonic Bros. Super Show), like it's a footnote, a side dish, and not as important as it really is to the public perception of the franchise and how Sega tries to play catch up with that perception, it's one of the earliest parts of Sonic's seemingly forever identity crisis. You know whenever someone says Sonic is a franchise about freedom and fighting oppression? You can thank SatAM for that. When you break it down, that kind of thing comes from SatAM. Sure, SatAM also started a trend of Sonic associating with monarch's, but no one really cares about that except me, so whatever. SatAM was the first thing people got pissed at for "All of Sonic's friends" and complaining about a "bloated cast", Sonally and Sonamy was the first shipping war, SatAM was the first Sonic Cartoon, the first split in Canon's, it was the first! It was responsible for Archie and all Archie became, and what eventually became IDW, and was so shamelessly copied but also ignored and disrespected by Forces. There isn't an equivalent, such an oddity of the franchise yet so impactful at the same time, even because of its status as an oddity, it is something special to Sonic!

(extended extra analysis under cut)

I kinda find Japanese purists in the Sonic Fandom, especially the young ones, obnoxious. Like, they're this odd brand of Sonic purists, not on a gameplay level or visual design level but on a conceptual level, Sonic is a flawless concept that represents freedom and not really a character with problems, the real Sonic plots in games are the original Japanese ones, those types. It's not a moral judgement, I don't even think they're wrong, I just think that it's ignorant. Sega was founded by an American, Sonic was made to appeal to juvenile Americans, he's Santa Clause Bill Clinton Michael Jackson Mickey Mouse. I'm just a Doylist about these things. What Sonic is to me is a moving conversation between America and Japan, and when you cut out one side of it you miss the whole thing. You can't cherry pick what is and isn't "really Sonic", it's ALL Sonic, that's the conundrum, that's the metanarrative. Sonic isn't "about" anything, especially not when you remove it from its creators and inspirations, and from the very earliest days, those creators were also USAmericans. Sonic 2 and Sonic CD, Sonic CD US Soundtrack and Sonic CD JP Soundtrack, Sonic Story (English Translation) and Sonic Story (Original Japanese), Sonic Comics and Sonic Manga, SatAM and OVA, etc. Sonic was never written to be about Japanese-American, dialectics lets say, but when you look at its fanbase and look at its creators and look at its history, that is what makes Sonic, that's the historical push and pull that has created Sonic, not as a singular forever idea like Mario, but as a moving living historical entity, even with its own goddamn looping lifecycle!

Hell, now with Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic, you can say Sonic is just dialectical at its heart as well as in its history. Then with Knuckles, Shadow, Metal Sonic, hell even Tails you could say. Sonic was made as, literally an antithesis to Mario, or an equivalent, a rival, whatever, Blue Oni Red Oni. The dichotomy, the dialectics are just in the blood and soul of what this franchise is on a larger level.