torment nexus attack💥💥💥

☆ Acquiring the Firebrand/Thunderhand in the Beanbean Kingdom messed with the brother's proficiency with other elemental based power-ups. Ice flower's tend to melt/wilt in Mario's hands due to the Firebrand (with any ice he creates being weaker/more fragile compared to usual) while the Thunderhand powers up the magic of the fire flower at the cost of being harder to control/more unpredictable.

☆ Mushroom Kingdom ghosts/boos are attracted to areas of high, often ancient magic -- feed on emotions (primarily fear) and can be sustained indefinitely by magic. Power-ups cannot grow in areas of high ghost populations because of it.

☆ Mario and Luigi have both been changed by their environment. Side effects of repeated power-up usage and repeated exposure to ghosts and related spooks.

while most people cant really tell, the chaos heart + ghostly claim + dying for real that one time messed up Luigi's magical vibe/aura. it's noisy at best and downright overstimulating at worst. starlow can tell, however, and she has opinions about it

the chaos heart is the reason why power-ups act strangely around luigi, such as the takooki leaf/suit

☆ Toads have a minor hivemind/connection between them. Mostly just to share emotions/read intentions + alert entire population when the princess is gone or endangered.

☆ Luigi has used his Thunderhand to do stupid things before like use himself to jumpstart his kart or power up a flashlight when he cant find a battery. Has accidentally shocked himself numerous times as a result. Also accidentally fried the previous version of the Poltergust while doing research for E. Gadd .

☆ Both brothers have anxiety and I will die on this hill.

Mario has a hard time recognizing that he is anxious/has a hard time admitting he is anxious. Being one of the great heroes of the mushroom kingdom doesn't help things.

Luigi used to smoke in high school/early adulthood to semi-help with anxiety -- stopped completely only after living in the mushroom kingdom

☆ The only time Mario gets adequate sleep is immediately after getting home from an adventure and he is exhausted. Every other day, he will wake up at exactly the same time every day regardless of when he fell asleep because his brain needs him to be productive unless he dies from standing still for too long.

Relates to anxiety above but also due to insomnia (and sometimes due to nightmares but he tries to ignore those)

aaaaannnddd thats it for now :]