useless19

[useless19]

Another puzzle for everyone:

Decode the sign below and help Luigi decide where to go.

I think I know what the sign is supposed to say, but if I'm right then it has a typo. My main concern is whether or not I should keep the typo (assuming it exists!).

My interpretation under the cut.

I believe the sign says 'FROT MAGMA' (and that it should be Fort Magma, a specific place in this particular adventure).

If you use the first letter of each image to figure out the code you get: F(ire flower), R(ing), O(rb), T(anooki suit), M(uncher), A(nchor), G(oomba), M(usic box), A(ngry sun).

Now, I could be wrong there, I don't know a huge amount about smb3 (the game that was out last before this was written and therefore the one it takes most of its visual inspiration from), aside from what I've seen on the GDQ channel. I'm least sure about 'orb'.

#nintendo adventure books #smb #luigi

[useless19]

Early on when writing Days, I had a thought towards Luigi bringing up the idea that being a child soldier probably wasn't doing Junior's development any favours. However, when I tried to figure out how it would come up, I realised that Luigi was a child soldier (at least some elements of Partners In Time exist in Days, along with various Yoshi games) and never really stopped being a hero, so he probably wouldn't think it was all that unusual. And Bowser doesn't act hugely different compared to when he was a kid, so he's not going to see a problem either.

And that's kinda interesting. If I wanted to delve into this idea I'd have to step away from how I normally write SMB stuff (ie all games have simultaneously happened and not happened, so I can pick the bits I want for my fic soup and still have the general history without worrying about exact time frames - which, let's be honest, is still way more continuity than Nintendo has ever given the games).

Movie'verse would be an obvious way forward, since Mario and Luigi are coming to the whole hero business as adults with younger cousins and they could reasonably be expected to raise objections to kids being on the battlefield (movie!Peach was implied to be training from a young age as part of becoming princess, so she's not going to see it as wrong). However, the idea of movie!Bowser having a kid doesn't fit with the desperate loneliness that was pretty integral to his character.

I'm sure there's a way to do it though! I just need to figure out what it is and how it'd fit into a larger story.

#bowser #smb #bowser jr #days #(kinda) #maybe movie fic with a koopalings focus could fit? #rather than junior #give bowser a bit of emotional distance by not having him have raised them #(i have separate thoughts about how junior could show up in movie'verse and it's not this) #i don't know if would involve bowuigi #but luigi's perspective could be an interesting one #when someone is terrified but also feels strongly enough to overcome that to make their point

[useless19]

Here's my two favourite starter evolutions hanging out. Some relaxing tai chi and a footie match.

They really should have more of a height difference (6'3" and 4'7" according to Bulbapedia), if only I'd looked that up before I started drawing :/

Speed draw below if anyone's interested.

#pokemon #cinderace #blaziken #speed draw #(and now for something completely different) #(i should get back to my pokemon sword game) #(poor rodimus the cinderace is probably feeling neglected) #Youtube

[useless19]

After a very busy winter (not quite out of it just yet), I'm finally getting a chance to chip away at a Koopa Capers remake. This is one of the puzzles and I'm curious if anyone can help me solve it, because I've been struggling to come up with a solid answer.

Luigi inspects the block. Carved into is are four circles with odd designs in them. There's also a poem, which goes like this:

If one of these is odd man out, Run away without a doubt. If all four circles make a match, Then jump and see what you can catch.

"Hmm," Luigi says, inspecting the dusty circles. "Tricky! Switch Blocks often uncover hidden treasures or secret doors, but they can just as easily deliver a nasty surprise. What should I do?"

-Look carefully at the four circles. All four have some things in common. But one of them may not share all of the characteristics of the other three.

I'd appreciate it if you could put your reasoning in a reply or tags, ta.

(To be clear, neither option leads to instant death, so I haven't been able to work backwards from there).

#nintendo adventure books #luigi #smb

[useless19]

i´m re-reading days now that it´s complete and i just wanted to tell you that i love it so much, it´s one of my favourite fics ♥

Thank you so much! It was a joy to write and I'm glad you've enjoyed it :)

#days #ask #(sorry for the delay)

[useless19]

In one of my previous posts I mentioned reading/playing the old Nintendo Adventure Books when I was a kid. Out of curiosity, I managed to find some scans of them online and poked through some of the ones I didn't used to have.

They still have an old-school cartoon vibe (constant quips, a lot of nasty appearance-shaming toward the bad guys, etc - they're from 1991), but if you can get over that, I really like the way they often have puzzles to give you hints as to which way to go. It's something I feel is missing from most choose-your-own-adventure books.

(Okay, yes, sometimes the puzzles pushed you in the wrong direction or were just straight up wrong, but the concept is there at least).

However, the reason I'm making this post, is because book 4 Koopa Capers has an opening which I'm amazed that the bowuigi crowd seems to have missed.

"KoopExpress," a voice yells outside the Super Mario Bros. plumbing shop in the heart of Brooklyn, New York. "Special Delivery!"

Luigi looks up from his new invention, a water-powered pasta machine. It isn't working quite right. "Strange," he says. "Mario and I weren't expecting any deliveries today."

The tall, thin plumber tucks his high-tech plumber's helper into the pocket of his green overalls and heads for the door.

When Luigi opens the door, he sees a big package on the stoop. It looks like a giant hero sandwich wrapped in brown paper. "Mmm, looks tasty! But there's no return address," he says, stroking his thick black mustache.

Luigi is even more puzzled when he takes the paper off. "It's a rug!" he exclaims. "I wonder where it came from?" He unrolls the carpet on the living room floor. "Very pretty. It looks like a Goomba pattern."

He steps onto the rug to get a better look. "Hey!" he shouts as it comes to life under his feet. It's a magic carpet!

Before Luigi can escape, the rug wraps itself around him so that only his head and feet protrude from the ends. It rises into the air and zooms down the hall through the special pipe in the workshop that leads to the Mushroom World.

The next thing Luigi knows, the rug screeches to a halt in front of Bowser Koopa's castle. "Oh no!" Luigi thinks. "I'm being served to my worse enemy for dessert."

Out of the corner of his eye, Luigi sees two large helmeted red turtles carrying hammers. The Hammer Brothers! They waddle up to Luigi, pick him up, and carry him into the castle, still wrapped in the magic carpet.

Soon Luigi's bearers arrive at Bowser's enormous throne room. They unroll the carpet and send Luigi tumbling across the floor. He rolls to a halt at the scaly feet of Bowser Koopa, king of the turtles and leader of most of the bad guys in the Mushroom World.

"Good," Bowser says, squinting down his slimy snout at the prisoner. "Now, everybody out! Not you," he growls as Luigi tries to sneak off with the rest of the crowd.

Bowser waits until everyone else leaves. Then, in an embarrassed whisper, he says, "I need your help, plumber."

Before Luigi can recover from shock, the turtle king goes on. "My daughter, Wendy O. Koopa has vanished! She may have been kidnapped," he gulps, shedding a large crocodile tear.

He wipes his eyes with his sleeve and continues. "I sent my Koopa Troopas to search for her, but with no luck. I need a real hero to find her!" He puts his arm around Luigi's shoulder and adds, "I know you can do it. But the whole thing must be hush-hush. I want it kept a secret from my sons, the Koopalings. It's possible that one of them may be the kidnapper. Besides, no one can know you're working for me. It would be terrible for my image."

Luigi is very confused. "Let's recap," he says. "You want my to find your daughter? And you don't plan to tell anyone I'm working for you? So I'll still have to fight your flunkies, including your bratty kids, while I'm doing it?"

Bowser nods. "Right. Of course, your brother Mario might have been a better choice, but---"

"Oh sure, everyone would rather have Mario," Luigi retorts, offended. "Too bad he's fixing that drip at Niagara Falls. What if I say no?"

"I'd be very annoyed," says King Koopa, showing all his teeth in a sinister smile.

As Luigi looks at Bowser's enormous teeth, he says to himself, "Maybe Bowser is telling the truth. There's a first time for everything. And he does seem upset."

Luigi takes another look at the turtle. Bowser is now gazing at the ceiling and whistling innocently. "On the other hand, he's a born liar," the plumber thinks. "Well, maybe I should look into this mystery, just to see what the real story is. Besides, it would be quite a tale to tell Mario."

"Are there any clues?" he asks aloud.

Bowser holds out two shreds of paper. "There was a note in her room, but her Nipper plant chewed it up. This is all that's left."

Luigi can read only two words, FORT and MAGMA, on the scraps. "Intriguing," he says. "Okay, I'll do it. It might even be fun!"

Solve this puzzle to see what happens next:

Help Luigi find his way through this message maze to see where the clues lead.

If you think Luigi should go to the Magma Pits, turn to page 55.

If you think Luigi should go to the Fortress, turn to page 20.

If you think Luigi should look around Koopa's Castle, turn to page 29.

#smb #nintendo adventure books #bowuigi #honestly it's not suggestive #but i know what people were like with that trailer #in the midst of figuring out how to make this properly interactive and potentially hosting it somewhere #also might make for an interesting movie!verse fic opener #(with a few tweaks of course)

[useless19]

Do you have anymore Kamek or Kammy thoughts? I loved the roles they both played throughout days and the quips on day 42 when Luigi showed up were A Plus

They both fill the same role in the games (and I didn't work very hard at making them distinct in Days). Kammy has a few more stereotypical old-hag-that-thinks-she's-still-pretty moments, but they're both of the opinion that their magic is super powerful and often take a nannying/nagging role towards Bowser and/or Junior, at least in the Paper Mario games.

I tried to have it be the case that Kamek was more in the position of advisor to the king and the one who mostly goes off on adventures with Bowser these days, while Kammy has settled into being Junior's caregiver alongside any duties she has in the castle. She still goes on adventures from time to time, but she's not being dragged out on hairbrained schemes nearly as often and her old bones thank her for it.

I'm not of the (as far as I can tell) popular opinion that Kamek has any sort of fatherly role towards Bowser. He's the king's advisor and Bowser's troops tend not to stand on ceremony, which is why he feels comfortable talking back to Bowser the way he does. He might've had stints of looking after Bowser as a young child (Yoshi games and Partners in Time come to mind), but that wasn't his main role and, if I was getting into it for Days lore, I might go as far as to say that looking after kid!Bowser was punishment detail and Kamek was lucky that he was magically talented and/or from a high ranking family so he could avoid more fatal punishments for his backtalk.

(I don't mind Kamek-as-Bowser's-dad coming up in fic I read, it just isn't my headcanon and won't be showing up in my fics).

On the other hand, Kammy is very much of a mind that she knows everything and therefore young people should listen to her. If I were to try and figure out her Days!backstory, I'd probably have her brought into the royal family's service via Bowser's mum or Isashell, with her having been some remote village's wisewoman before that (hence her frustration at not being listened to by young whippersnappers). She probably also did her share of babysitting kid!Bowser amidst her main duties (probably setting up health clinics for troops if I had to pick something).

I do miss having Kammy in the games, stereotype that she is. If nothing else, the Paper Mario series has been hemorrhaging visibly female characters since SPM.

#days #ask

[useless19]

We know communication is the crux and where a lot of growth happens, and I adore how you showed not the best communication and the effects both in the main and in the follow up. Is there any future miscommunications that you feel would br extra intense or particularly too close to home for one or the other that thanks to how they both grow they’ll be able handle? Like that would have been the end of things if it happened earlier?

I don't know that I can come up with specific examples without getting too lost in the weeds, but we can have a look at the sort of things that might give rise to some miscommunication.

Bowser is a villain. He's spent his whole life with it being reinforced that might is right. Once he reduces the amount of stealing/invasions he does to other countries, his war machine's momentum is going to halt and everyone he's wronged will start to try pushing back. (Peach is very much of the opinion that Bowser should pay reparations to everyone, but he doesn't want to completely tank his country's economy). Luigi's going to have to get used to the way Bowser talks about dealing with people, though Bowser's bark is always worse than his bite, so when he sketches out a plan to wipe a entire city off the map he's not all that likely to follow through, but it often sounds like he will. Having the courage to ask and figure out that Bowser's just venting is definitely a step Luigi is going to make.

On the other hand, Luigi is a bit of a pushover when it comes to people. He'll follow along and be swept up in all sorts of misadventures just because he rolls his charisma saves at disadvantage. He's also not super great at seeing through even paper-thin disguises and won't notice if people are flirting with him. Which can lead to Bowser getting stroppy when he thinks Luigi's trying to make him jealous.

Neither of them are particularly prone to keeping secrets, so I imagine miscommunication is more likely to be born from cultural/class differences and occasional moments of idiocy, than anything really serious.

Bowser is royalty and always has been. There's going to be moments when Luigi's overwhelmed with how much Bowser's spending on things and/or the quantity of stuff he buys, especially when it comes to getting stuff for Luigi. He's going to worry that he's not living up to Bowser's expectations and try to push himself to do better (Bowser certainly isn't going to complain about the extra affection), but that'll also lead to anxiety and Luigi burning himself out somewhat.

Similarly, Bowser operates on a higher energy level than Luigi. He'll keep suggesting activities to do and when Luigi inevitably bows out, it'll make Bowser feels like Luigi doesn't want to spend time with him full stop, not that Luigi just needs a couple of hours of quiet to recuperate.

They both take things at face value and Bowser especially is prone to not asking many questions if he thinks he's got the gist of things, while Luigi's more likely to avoid questions if he feels like everyone expects him to already know the answers.

... This feels like it's veered away from miscommunication issues and into general relationship problems. I don't know that I'm all that good at writing proper miscommunication, but hopefully this was in the right area.

#days #ask #bowuigi

[useless19]

Luigi and food, as he continues his visits, does food he enjoys gets easier or better for him to get from the castle? Or always a point of experimentation with the chefs? Does bowser ever try it?

I like to think that, over time, Luigi's meals get more edible and a little more consistently tasty. It'll never beat the stuff he makes in his own kitchen, but, equally, his homemade meals will never be better than the food he remembers from his childhood. It's all fighting familiarity and nostalgia.

There's a patch where Luigi realises that import taxes are a thing and worries about how much he's setting back Bowser financially because he likes having Mushroom Kingdom-grown tomatoes (Bowser finds the idea hilarious when Luigi brings it up). But that at least incentivises Luigi to start figuring out a bit more actual royal work and chat with the right people to draft some trade tariffs. Bowser's ties to the Mushroom Kingdom only ever benefits from Luigi wanting familiar foods.

The chefs will never stop their experimentation, it's half the joy of food science, and Luigi's the only one polite enough to put up with it on an ongoing basis. When Bowser's feeling particularly indulgent, he'll let Luigi offer him some of the weirder stuff, but even though he likes to eat, he can be pretty picky (a lifetime of getting what he wants didn't do him any favours in that department).

#days #ask #bowuigi

[useless19]

Now that we know the timeline of Bowser falling in love, when were the milestones for Luigi?

Trickier to work out!

Luigi is significantly more oblivious than Bowser when it comes to his own positive feelings. There's a lot more self-esteem issues getting in his way, whereas Bowser's been in love and acted on it before, so he knows what he's feeling.

I think Luigi hit the friends part a lot quicker but was slower for lovers. He doesn't see Bowser as a personal rival the way Bowser sees him (yes, Mario takes more of that title, but there's still definitely a good chunk of Luigi-is-the-enemy thinking that Bowser started off with). Before the end of Day 1, Luigi was settling into friendly acquaintance as far as Bowser was concerned. As long as you're not actively threatening Luigi he'll be happy enough to chat and the like.

Maybe about Day 6 for fully friends? That gives him a day to get over his failed escape attempt and have it reinforced that he's not going to be punished (beyond not being allowed to leave) for trying something. I guess it comes down to how you define friends.

He definitely wouldn't have fallen asleep next to Bowser in Day 15 if he wasn't some degree of comfortable either. So make of that what you will.

When Luigi's unconsciously jealous in Day 21, I wrote that to be the first signs that he's falling. He's not in love by that point, but he's reacting more than if he'd made a new completely platonic friend and they liked hanging out with Mario more than him.

The next few days involve a lot of Bowser organising troops and planning an invasion. Luigi's right in Day 30 when he talks about being impressed with that. Bowser is confident in himself, his plans, and his people. Luigi gets to be on the right end of that confidence for once and that really helps his feelings tip over the edge, though only subconsciously. (Suddenly it's not "you're going to lose here" it's "you're going to help me win here" and Bowser just declares stuff, where Mario might ask Luigi if he can manage something, eg "you'll take out the guards on this gate" vs "do you think you can take out the guards on that gate?" which helps).

So, I think Luigi was friends at Day ~6, though didn't realise it until he was rationalising taking care of Bowser and Junior in Day 15 as something friends might do for one another. And he fell in love somewhere around Day ~24, but didn't realise it until Bowser showed his hand and admitted his feelings first in Day 30.

#days #ask #bowuigi

[useless19]

Excluding Boo and Peach, do any other royalty or boss level enemies have any strong feelings about the Luigi and bowser relationship? Like beyond just general confusion, be it attempts to talk one of them out of the relationship or attempt to use it to their advantage somehow or other positive or negative things?

I don't know that I have much of a grasp of other royalty or bosses to know that any of them would have a specific reaction. Most mini-bosses who are already one of Bowser's minions, or something adjacent, will accept Bowser's decision, though they might gossip out of earshot. They might not like Luigi, but they're not going to argue against Bowser.

Tbh, I'm really struggling to think of any final bosses who aren't Bowser or dead. There's a lot of world-ending destruction for MMO's there and if I was trying to get them to pay any attention to the relationship I'd probably have to write in a prophecy that specifically mentioned it or something like that.

As for royalty... I guess Daisy will be similar to Peach, without the kidnapping PTSD? She hasn't been in the majority of the games I've played and doesn't really have a character in most of the games she's in. I don't know what she's like.

I've played enough of Superstar Saga to have seen Peasley and his mum, and my impression is that they'd treat Bowser and Luigi exactly like any other royal couple (Bowser wasn't their problem, Cackletta was). Though I could see Peasley continuing to be himself and Luigi swooning over it, making Bowser jealous.

(I don't know about Dreambert or Florian, I've not played their games or seen playthroughs. And there's probably other royalty I've forgotten too).

Well, this ended up less interesting than it could've been. Sorry. There's a reason I stuck with the small set of characters I did for the series :/

#days #ask

[useless19]

Jumping on the Days ask train :3

I'm currently rereading the series and i remembered thinking that day 7 was when Bowser fell in love with Luigi and that's why he got so quiet when escorting Luigi to the kitchens. But he wasn't aware of it back then?

That was definitely intended to be a turning point! More the to-friends part of enemies-to-friends-to-lovers process than any romantic feelings. At the end of Day 7, Luigi is compromising with Bowser and (temporarily) agreeing to be on his side. That's not something Bowser's had a huge amount of in his life (partly self-inflicted, so don't feel too sorry for him).

Bowser's quiet because he's had a long day (and from an author's pov I wasn't sure what else to have them talk about at that point) and being able to coexist with someone in silence is something I feel is good in friendships. He's comfortable in Luigi's presence. He was definitely expecting Luigi to hang around longer too, which is why he's surprised when Luigi says goodbye; he thought they'd keep chatting about nothing in particular all night.

It's the start of Bowser's slippery slope of feelings. Day 9 is the tipping point for sexual attraction, and then Day 16 is when the romantic attraction hits. Bowser doesn't hang around ;)

#days #ask #bowuigi

[useless19]

How are bowser and Luigi at dealing with injuries to the other as things progress? Day 20 and 21 gave us a bit of insight, but with the Mario and peach aspect and pre feelings being mutual then, I am curious if you have any thoughts or just that someone in the castle handles the healing and that’s the extent, which is also good cause bowser has capable healers on hand.

Their lifestyles mean that they're more likely to brush off injury after the initial surprise of it than they are to fret during the fight itself. (Very much borrowing from the Mario & Luigi games where if one sibling goes down then the other panics, but they don't react if the other gets punched full in the face and it's all thumbs up and smiles when they've been healed).

Both Bowser and Luigi are fairly indestructible. They've spent enough time fighting each other that they have a good idea of their limits. It takes a lot to put either of them down for more than a minute (again, leaning into the hp of the side rpgs instead of the 3-hits-done of the mainline games).

But sometimes an enemy is fiddly to dodge or there's been too many and they're tired. Sometimes they get unlucky.

Bowser's default reaction will always be retaliation. He might not go straight for the punch in the face, but he will attack back in some way. Between the two of them, Luigi's more likely to be in the role of front-line fighter, so Bowser nearly always has an army ready to throw at whatever hurt Luigi.

On the other hand, Luigi will go for protection every time. He'll keep fighting, but if the enemy retreats he'll let them go. Bowser might be a final boss, but, narratively speaking, Luigi is very often the last line of defence. He will not go down if he's the last thing standing between an enemy and something he cares about.

In the aftermath (assuming an injury that isn't magically fully healable), Luigi tends to behave very similar to how he was in Day 15/16. He'll fuss and make sure Bowser is looked after, while reasoning that even he can manage all the little parts of making sure someone is fed and comfortable. Bowser is very much a fan (it's why he fell in love after all, even if Luigi never figures that out).

Bowser's... less competent. He'll yell at the right minions to make sure Luigi gets the right care, but he doesn't always remember that he needs to be quiet when Luigi's napping and stuff like that. (Luigi sometimes things he'd like to be held as a comfort thing, but he knows he can't ask Bowser to skip a week of being king just to be Luigi's blanket/mattress). Mario usually shows up to help Luigi out when he's sick or injured and that gives Bowser a target for his anger over being useless. It's not the most emotionally stable time for anyone. Thank goodness for magikoopa healers being able to deal with 99% of injuries.

#days #ask #bowuigi

[useless19]

What are peach’s thoughts on the relationship? Bowser didn’t exactly have them make a graceful exit from the mushroom kingdom on day 27 for her to be feeling super great about the situation ship and all.

Day 27 was very hard for Peach. Having a big fight and then dealing with her home ruined was bad enough, and then Bowser stomps right on her in her kidnapping PTSD. If Luigi hadn't been one of the most capable people she knows, then she would have physically fought Bowser over the matter (and not done great, she was running on fumes at that point).

However, Luigi is capable and they exchange a lot of letters over the next few days that manage to calm her worry. She sends power-ups and Luigi confirms his (confused) receipt of them and writes things that she was sure that Bowser wouldn't have allowed a prisoner to write, but it's clear that Bowser knows what's in the letters and hasn't tried to change anything. She receives anecdotes about Junior and Bowser.

Of course, at that point she hasn't picked up on Bowser's feelings for Luigi or Luigi's denial about his feelings for Bowser. She wasn't always kidnapped for "romantic" reasons after all.

So when Mario gets back on Day 30 and talks it through with her, Peach is mostly confused. The idea of anyone liking Bowser on a romantic level is something she struggles with. She spent eleven years being kidnapped and that took her from a more accepting 'not my cup of tea but I understand that people's tastes are different' to an extremely firm no on the thought of Bowser with anyone. She doesn't get the appeal and has had to spend so long stamping down any friendly overtures that might be taken the wrong way that it's going to take a lot for her to come to terms with Luigi's choice.

Peach is a good person, so she accepts Luigi's right to make his own choices, but she cannot understand his choice on a fundamental level. She's happy to be allies with Bowser and extremely pleased for his attention to be away from her. She's going to spend the first few months worried that it's going to fall apart, but as time goes on and it becomes clear that Bowser is trying to be nice for Luigi, she gains a bit of faith and, ultimately, they've dealt with Bowser being "heartbroken" before.

Luigi isn't going to really notice how worried Peach is over the whole thing, she's much more likely to keep quiet about her concerns. Funnily enough, Bowser's a bit better at reading her when he puts his mind to it (which he doesn't do super often). Of course, staying quiet in the face of Luigi's apparent happiness will mean that it takes Peach longer to come to terms with it (because she isn't raising her concerns with Luigi and therefore giving him a chance to explain himself and put them to rest), but she'll get there eventually. As long as everyone seems happy, she'll try to put on a happy face too.

(When Luigi left for the first time in Day 42, Mario visited Peach's castle to have company and be in a better situation for having power-ups when it inevitably went badly. However, Mario and Peach ended up winding each other's paranoia up terribly. Eventually they decided it was best for Mario to stay away from the castle for the first day any time Luigi was away so they could face the situation with more level heads).

#days #ask #bowuigi #peach is a tricky character to figure out sometimes #she's good and nice #but how does that play out in a world that isn't always good and nice back? #like she genuinely wants bowser to find love with someone when it's what he so clearly wants #but she doesn't want that person to be her #she's not going to marry someone she doesn't want to (especially when they've kidnapped her) #but sometimes it's difficult to say 'no' without hurting him and putting her people in danger #this got kinda rambly

[useless19]

Does Kroop ever make the hammer bros? Or do him and Koovin just kinda get to stay on luigi duty or assistance?

Kroop being in the war room in Day 42 was meant to indicate his promotion to hammer bro :)

(Koovin also gets technically promoted, but keeps doing the same Luigi-duty, it's just for the royal paramour instead of a prisoner and he's not going to turn his beak up at a few extra coins a month).

#days #ask

[useless19]

@senor-gaylord you're half right!

Bowser doesn't let fear stop him from doing things (sometimes it makes him more likely to do the thing to begin with and then he gets angrier when it goes how he expected). He's going to calm down on the proposals because a) Luigi doesn't like it and b) it's sunk in that the continued soft rejections aren't great for his mental health.

However, as soon as I wrote Luigi promising that Bowser would be the second to know, I knew that would be an unintentional lie :)

Luigi has his epiphany in the middle of the Mushroom Kingdom when Bowser's not around. He thinks aloud right in front of Mario, who's had a couple of years to take it in stride, but still has a "marriage?!" moment (more because he's not married yet and Luigi's his little brother, than any genuine concerns over the state of their relationship).

And what would be the best way for Luigi to tell Bowser that he's ready for marriage? Proposing of course! Wouldn't that be such a wonderful surprise for him?

So, of course, everyone Luigi buys stuff from or asks to set things up gets to know before Bowser. (Luigi thinks he's being subtle when sorting everything out, but he is not in the slightest). And both kingdom's rumour mills are nothing to sniff at.

Amazingly, Bowser's the last to find out and only then when Luigi finally asks the question. No one's surprised when Bowser announces it after (until he gets mad and then they all fake surprise badly and that's good enough for him).

#days #ask #bowuigi

[useless19]

So after that ask with Luigi’s room, my brain was turning a bit more at this continuum you’ve built. I was thinking along the lines of further Luigi anxiety, that him staying with that pink room would be a reinforcement of being in Peach’s shadow or the 2nd choice, I guess more subconsciously but a bit of negative reinforcement. And bowser not realizing since Luigi never asked to change the room? Just some good brain thought bounces to help further build their growth through it all

I can definitely see that!

Luigi's a younger brother (him and Mario aren't twins in this), so he's already spent a number of years growing up with second-hand clothes and in a room that Mario got to pick the decorations for. There's a lot of just having to put up with stuff that comes with being the younger sibling.

So yes, subconscious negative reinforcement. It takes a couple of weeks for the excitement at a new room to wear off, but then Luigi does realise that he feels better about staying in the castle. It takes longer (and a few therapist appointments of his own) for it to sink in that he can just ask about getting a new bedside table because his current one is an inch too high and he keeps bumping his hand on the corner when he's trying to shut off his alarm clock in the morning.

I'm fully in the camp of Bowser having bad taste and he using his considerable influence to make that bad taste everyone else's problem. So, to him, the only reason other people aren't doing that is because they have significantly less money/power/intimidation factor. The fact that he can use his influence to help other people is still a work in progress.

#days #ask #bowuigi