Hi. How have you guys been? 🤓 I'm feeling better, my migraines have reduced a lot, and I'm on a new therapy that I think is finally working after all these years, focused on autism and depression. My psychiatrist found out a few years ago that I'm autistic. That must explain all the hours I spent playing Earthbound and Chrono Trigger as a kid, among other nerdy stuff, hahahaha. I wanted to draw this for you today without so much pressure, just some doodles. I hope you're all doing well. Big hug.❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✨️✨️✨️✨️😬
Well, there isn't much fighting going on here, is there? Just love... OH WELL! <3
holy friggen crap. this took me days to finish. backgrounds, shading, coloring, motivation in general... actually, this list should be in reverse order. Either way, I FINISHED IT DURING PRIDE MONTH YAYYYY
Basically, this is just a run-down of how I believe 1-UP mushrooms work in the Mushroom Kingdom (and the Mushroom Peninsula (my hc of where Mario and all the other areas associated with the games are found).
Just a heads up, this is quite possibly, the darkest headcanon I've had, so just... I'll let the content warnings speak for themselves.
(CW: death, revival from death, violence, murder, and amnesia)
Growth
In the Mushroom Kingdom, mushrooms are seen as especially important (obviously). The Toads all grow from spores from their parent Toad, and they are a rather closely-knit community. Each of them supports one another throughout their lifetimes, which can span for thousands of years. Essentially, as a Toad, you could be 500 years old, and you're basically still in your 20s.
So, for starters, 1-UPs are grown from the soil, similar to most other mushrooms (for the sake of shortening things, I'll just use the standard red shroom).
Mushrooms:
These are just like any other crop. You grow them, they give you healing abilities. They're also most often used in medicines (vaccines, herbs, foods, and medication). As you can expect, there's a healthy supply of these available since they can be easily grown.
1-UP Mushrooms:
These guys don't grow from traditional seeds. They come from the Vim of Toads.
Remember how I mentioned that Toads honor mushrooms? Well... here's where that applies.
When a Toad reaches the end of their lifespan, a special ritual is performed so they may pass peacefully. To the Toads, death is a momentous occasion as it celebrates their life. The whole day is dedicated to celebrating the Toad's life, singing their praises, and telling stories about all of their achievements. When the sun sets, the Toad then goes into Toadwood Forest, the final resting place for Toads. There, they allow themselves to become consumed by the soil, thus allowing their Vim to seep into the Earth to give birth to the 1-Up Mushroom. These mushrooms are especially special as they are meant to give someone an extra life should they die unexpectedly. To the Toads, the worst fate one could have is dying without living a full life. This was a usually rare occurrence, but it was good to have on hand.
As a result, mushrooms are seen as symbols of both life and death to the Toads.
These mushrooms are typically gathered from Toadwood Forest... but what about the ones that aren't?
~~~
A Life Cut Short
Sadly, there are some Toads who aren't able to make it. As a result, they die outside of Toadwood Forest, ending up in random places. The discovery is often a somber one to the Toads as they know they weren't able to survive, and there is no hope of revival. Once the body is gone, they can't be brought back. There's... also another factor at play.
See... the reason why living a full life is so important to a Toad is because it increases the amount of Vim in their 1-UPs. The sooner a Toad dies... the less power they are able to provide. They are still used much like regular 1-UPs but are considerably weaker in revival abilities.
Things only grew worse as Bowser came to power. Bowser knew of the healing properties of 1-UPs, just not the rituals behind them. Thus, he sought to gather as many as he needed... by any means possible.
As you can imagine, this sent the Toads into a panic, as well as Princess Peach. Each of them all relied on fully nourished 1-UPs for survival. The ones from those outside of Toadwood Forest could still revive others, but the effects were often... unwanted. I'll get more into that later, though.
As time went on, Toadwood mushrooms grew more and more scarce. It was heartbreaking, but the Toads did all they could to salvage what they had left from Bowser's sweeping of their kingdom. This led to them selling the 1-UPs in shops, providing them whenever necessary. Peach even made a ruling stating for the Toads to be discreet about it, being wary of who to provide them to. Most of the time, this is for Mario and Luigi, so there's no worries there.
But there's always the chance.
~~~
Effects of 1-UPs
Now onto the biggest part: the effects.
Normally, mushrooms that are allowed to fully nourish someone are able to revive someone without complication. They regain full functionality of their bodies and can resume daily activity without complication. Additionally, the 1-UP will heal the body of its cause of death without any permanent effects. Pretty normal stuff.
And if the mushroom isn't fully nourished? Well, let's just say the effects are... nasty.
Depending on how recent the Toad died, the victim can have severe impacts or minor ones, depending on what caused their death. For example, if someone died by a lashing, the mushroom would heal their injury... but they could still feel it being done to them. And in severe cases... the injury might not even be healed up all the way.
While these side effects are bad enough, there's two possible outcomes for the victim, both of which are equally bad.
One, the victim remembers ALL of what happened to them. From that point onward, they will feel their injuries/ailments from time to time (ex. lashing = phantom pain; severe coughing = chest pain). All of it will be in vivid detail, especially if they died violently. They can recover, but it's usually excruciating to handle. This one often occurs in mushrooms that were nourished too little.
The other outcome is where the victim develops amnesia... full amnesia. They can't remember anything of what happened to them, or anything before that. This one most often happens when the mushroom is more nourished, but its life was still cut short. This one is rarer, but its effects are devastating for those around the victim. Just like the previous outcome, the victim can recover, but oftentimes their loved ones are too traumatized by their death to remind them of what killed them.
