what would your dream mario story/game be?

regardless if nintendo makes it or if fans do

this one’s always hard because i can think of like 2 different pathways to answer it

1. “dream mario game” as in something that would be completely self indulgent to me, no holds barred, just a creative exercise

2. “dream mario game” as in something nintendo would realistically create that id operate in the wheelhouse of

i think realistically what i’d want for a dream mario game is something kinda like new paper mario games (adventure game!) brought to the main series, just with platforming challenges instead of rpg fights… and i’d love for mario peach luigi & toad to be all playable ala 3d world or mario 2 but mostly i’d love for a dream mainline mario game to have like. an attempt at a story where characters like peach & luigi can actually Talk and have personalities instead of just being one of four playable characters. i know it’s hard with miyamoto around but i want this

if im going full indulgence my truest dream mario game is my oc lunie’s story Shadow Over Glitzville which i haven’t posted about much but its basically a love letter to all those late-2000s paper mario-mario & luigi crossover fics particularly where villains team up, where my oc lunie resurrects a bunch of the dead mario rpg villains to be wrestlers in the glitz pit for grubba & all the while dimentio and fawful are slowly plotting a way to try and free themselves from the barriers of the glitz pit and lunie’s terms and conditions

Gordon B is immensely Patient— perhaps even too patient, but it's what we love about him. He's just got so much care for everyone and hope for the better, and he's willing to give someone all the time they need to come around, or to help them sort something out.

Swap being Justice is also very befitting; he wants to make things right and do his best by others!! He wants to do right by his morals and standards for himself (which he's learning to also be gentler with himself about and to not judge himself too harshly)! All of his behavior in Redux especially, hammering in how much he looks out for everyone and tries to amend things or help ease the weight of The Askers Latest Bullshit is just. Yeah absolutely, dead-on, Swap is Justice 100%.

Now, Malcom being Kindness is VERY interesting to me, because thus far it feels more like something he is learning to be— but that does also fit him in a way! After all, the flowers in DR Chapter 5 weren't 1-to-1 reflections of their traits either. But rather, learning to BE those traits because it's what they wanted most, and wanted to work toward. Seems very fitting of what we have for Malcom so far, and I honestly love that for the guy.

Doc's being Perseverance is just. Yeah. I can't even dispute that one that man has a RIDICULOUS amount of mental fortitude to keep going and persist through it all, after the horrible shit he's been through (and WILL go through). Spot-on there.

Player's being Integrity, too, is a lovely little choice— he's a pretty chill, honest and down-to-earth guy! These are the things you'll immediately notice about him when he isn't panicked about something! He can be very chill and understanding toward the others, encourages them, but isn't afraid to voice his own thoughts on a matter in a way everyone can hear and understand the angle of. Just. Yeah absolutely love that pick for him.

Back to Malcom for a moment, however: I'd argue Bravery also fits for Malcom/can be swapped with Freeman's assignment (being a Regular Guy in the midst of all these shenanigans is a LOT to face, especially when his situation is just a GAME, where it's been painful reality for others to some varying degree). Having the Bravery to stick to his guns as he learns to face these things AND help the others face theirs, even calling the Admins on their shit TO THEIR FACE? Bravery would fit Mal a little better, I think. He is kind, absolutely, but it's the Bravery to choose to be different in spite of himself amd everything else around him— to confront all that's haunted him since he learned the truth, because he WANTS to be better and WANTS to be kind— THAT is Bravery. Not necessarily just sticking to your guns and calling people out on their shit, but also accepting you fucked up and working to amend what you can without letting it eat you.

That leaves the swapped position of Kindness for Freeman— both as something he was, as something he is underneath the mask of cold/calloused government man that "doesn't need connections" (you KNOW he misses that connection and closeness like hell even if he doesn't remember it), and also something he'll learn to be again when adjusting to the way his life has changed and learning who he is now as a person. The one thing that stuck out the most to me about the flashbacks the Admins had of him, was just how kind he was. Persistently even, to the point of willing to give Benrey another chance (after initially Duking It Out) despite how TERRIFYING that must've been to face off against his best friend that was an eldritch alien! Bravery to persist through it all and still stand tall, absolutely, is a trait that is still VERY befitting— especially given what may happen later with GVRV! But the trait I'd argue stands out the most about him as his Main One, especially as we get to know who he will be without the weight of the multiverse and his job on his shoulders, is a man who's kind. Who sees everyone as just, hurt people that are struggling and understands that struggle, and doesn't want them to be alone in it once he realizes/understands what's going on. You can see the way that kindness bleeds through in little and quieter ways throughout Redux already!

Funny enough, there's just as much argument for Kindness being Gordon B's Big Trait too— it's an even toss-up between these two! Ultimately though, the biggest trait Gordon B has is his Patience, because you need a LOT of that to be as persistently and stubbornly kind as Gordon B can be.

— 💀☔️

That man hauled ass through Black Mesa, fighting aliens and military, jumped to Xen, killed the nihilanth, woke up 20 years later and hauled ass again through city 17 and the waterways and then Ravenholm and then the coast and then Nova Prospekt and then city 17 again and then blew up the citadel, without catching a single break. Aside from being knocked unconscious.

It's like that story of the soldier that survives alone in enemy territory by taking the entire squads stimulant supply. This man should be dead, but he isn't and his enemies are fucking scared of him.

Nothing but respect for the OG Dr. Freeman.