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Days extras masterlist

My posts about Days are (let's be honest) a bit of a cluttered mess. This should make it easier to find specific ones. Everything is tagged #days if you just want to scroll through all of them.

(Below a cut now that it's gotten quite long)

King Boo, plus follow-ups: nightmares and fighting ability

The bad ending

Escape attempt

Junior's birthday

Post Day 42 hangover

Wendy

Luigi's room and follow up

Minor details

Bowser & marriage and follow up on Luigi's proposal

Falling asleep Days 15 & 27

Junior wanting a mama

Kroop the hammer bro

Peach's thoughts

Injuries

Bowser's Day 7 feelings and follow up Luigi's turning points

Other bosses & royalty

Luigi & food

Miscommunication issues

Kamek and Kammy

Koopalings

Mario and Bowser

Bowser's feelings for Peach

Bowser's future invasion plans

Original ending plans (Peach signing the contract)

Character sexualities

Peach waiting to be rescued

Bowser's dry spell

PTSD

Brothership ending question

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I can't help but feel like I've missed someone important...

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While the new Star Fox game has definitely made some good decisions as far as extra character moments goes, one thing I think they severely misjudged was Fox's obsession with money.

On paper, it doesn't sound like a bad idea. Fox is, ultimately, a mercenary leader, and one using absolute cutting edge tech. He needs money to run his operation successfully. And it's not like he hasn't been characterised like this before (Adventures and the Mario Galaxy movie, possibly also Command, but I can't remember it well enough).

The thing is, Star Fox already has a money-grubbing mercenary character.

Pigma.

With its fancy opening cutscene, the very first bit of James we see in the new game is him saying that the mission is the most important thing, and then Pigma betrays him for money. That's clearly saying that going for money is bad if it gets in the way of doing good, right?

However, Fox is constantly telling General Pepper that they'll take any mission if the military can afford it. It's not clear how much he's doing this because it's the right thing, he's doing this because he's getting paid. He barely comes across as someone who even cares that this is the cause his dad died for.

Fox has more in common with Pigma than he does his dad. In another piece of media we might've gotten some exploration of that, but they didn't have enough time or space to show it here.

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I'm not saying that there's actually any romantic feelings between Mario and Fox McCloud, but I do need media to understand that if you have your main character humming and hoing and awkward about asking out their crush only to turn around and have instant camaraderie and significant looks with another guy, I'm going to read more into it than intended.

(It really doesn't help when they have Fox using Peach's nickname for Mario too.)

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My finished pictures for the @tf-bigbang '25 event.

A murder mystery with an intrepid young lawyer called Phoenix Wright Trialfeather, investigating Airachnid's murder and Knock Out as the primary suspect! An fun take on Transformers in an Ace Attorney plot.

Story by Bremmatron33 https://archiveofourown.org/works/73757831

(Also consider checking out the other fics in https://archiveofourown.org/collections/TFBB2025 once you've finished this one!)

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Is it just me?

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Getting close to posting time for the @tf-bigbang '25! Here's a preview of one of my pieces.

[smbc-comics]

Possibly grapes would be more productive. Consult your local agricultural extension and tell them Zach Weinersmith sent you.

Check out the bonus panel on the site!

SMBC ◆ PATREON ◆ INSTAGRAM ◆ BLUESKY ◆ STORE

Buy this comic as a print!

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I know logically that the raccoon's silhouette is supposed to indicate something like this:

However, all I can see is:

A drunk raccoon screaming at the sunset.

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Bumblebee & Knock Out (Transformers), Bulkhead & Knock Out (Transformers) Characters: Knock Out (Transformers), Bumblebee (Transformers), Bulkhead (Transformers) Additional Tags: Post-War Summary:

In which more than a memorial is forged.

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It comes to mind that the Mario rpg games manage to avoid the adults are useless so I, the 12-year-old, must save the world trope. Because Mario and Luigi* are adults.

Whenever you start an adventure, it's clear that Mario does this all the time. He might need a rundown of the new area he's adventuring in, game-specific fight mechanics, and an introduction to the people/villains, but he knows how to take on any level of quest. It's basically his job at this point.

It also makes sense that civilian types (eg Toads) would ask him for help. If you've ended up in a situation and require help, are you more likely to ask an exhausted haunted determined 12-year-old to help you move your car out of a ditch, or are you going to ask an adult who dresses like he does odd-jobs for a living? (You might have to ask the 12-year-old eventually if no one else shows up, but you're not going to ask them the second they appear.)

And further to that, Mario and Luigi are the people the kid characters (eg Connie and Arc from Brothership) look to when things go wrong. If you're a jrpg-type 12-year-old whose hometown has just been burned down and you're ready to swear revenge on the guys who did it, Mario will show up, listen to your sob story and then help you (whether that's finding a safe place with safe people for you to stay at while he defeats the bad guys, or protecting you on your journey to get closure).

They're adults, often silly adults, but still adults. And I appreciate that.

*Separately, I've noted that the Luigi's Mansion games very much kid-code Luigi by making the environment massive - he has to climb a bit to reach the sink taps, the door handles are face-height, etc. But those games are serving a different purpose and he's still the most competent adult in the situation (he just gets jump-scared a lot along with it).

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Not a Days question, I would just love to hear your opinion on Brothership when you finish it! It’s probably my second favorite M&L game behind the Bowser’s Inside Story remake for 3DS

I'm going with it probably being my favourite so far - if only because I don't have to play on a tiny handheld! 10/10

In all seriousness, I appreciated the story's simple message, not having to do fiddly platforming with both brothers (though Luigi could do with brushing up on his skills a bit), the combat being easy (enough that even though I was horribly under-levelled I usually beat bosses on the first attempt), the animation (you feel those hits land), and the general premise.

I think it was a bit of a slow start, but it's probably a lot of people's first M&L game, and I also feel like I could go back and play the previous games and find that they're just as slow to begin with too.

It dropped the making fun of Luigi bit that was a series staple, but I think that was probably wise, especially in a story about the power of friendship. Luigi got his time to shine, even though it felt a little at Mario's expense (it felt like Mario was the player character and Luigi was an NPC a lot of the time outside of combat, so Mario got to do less of his own character volition, if that makes sense).

I like what they did with Bowser, and especially Junior's arc. I don't think I was surprised by any of the major plot twists, but I think that was probably more of a sign of me knowing the genre than bad writing.

Going to get more spoilery now.

The Great Conductor fight can die in a fire. It's the only one that took me more than 2 attempts (Bomb Derby can die too) and I have no regrets about dropping down to easy mode for that.

I was surprised that Bowser didn't get to be one of the bonds for the watering can, given that we'd had Kamek specifically say that his bond with his troops was the reason he was so strong (and given the first Bowser fight, I can attest to that being true) or his bond with Junior (him limping after the Extension Corps after being beaten by Mario and Luigi but still trying to get to his son was a good moment), but since Junior and Buddy was obviously one, I suppose it makes sense that they didn't have to convince Bowser to help them there , especially when he shows up later to help too.

Though on that note, I don't think I really bought Dyode and Emmit having a strong enough bond to count. Maybe there's a sidequest I missed (I'll admit to sticking pretty close to the main story) but their bond felt significantly more one-sided and weaker than the others. And I want to get Willma and Gorumbla to therapy.

Someone had clearly spent a lot of time on Reclusa's puns. In general the writing was pretty on point (if often redundant) and while I don't think any of it made me laugh out loud, it got smiles.

Reclusa's fake Mushroom Kingdom was a textbook example of how to do a mindscrew scene. Not since Arkham Asylum have I been hit by such a feeling of wrongness from a slanty camera angle.

(I haven't seen other peoples' takes on it, but my reading was that Mario and Luigi want Bowser to be that friendly to them, but know it will never happen. Reclusa found that desire and made it "real" while not understanding the variety of bonds out there. And I do wonder what it would've looked like if they'd been separated instead of in the same fantasy too...)

It's not hard to make me cry over a video game and this one went hard. Connie, keep on keeping on you precious child.

I feel like there's probably more to say, but I've rambled enough for now.

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I’m not sure if you’ve had a chance to play Brothership so I’m gonna space a bunch because my question refers to spoilers for what’s IMO the best part of the game

Splitting up this ask so I can put the spoilery bits under the cut now that I've finally finished Brothership.

Towards the end of Brothership, the villain shows Mario and Luigi several ‘ideal world’ simulations, including one where Bowser and Peach and the Mario brothers are all able to get along and hang out in the Mushroom Kingdom with peace assured between their kingdoms. Do you think that Days would ever get to a point like that where everyone was happy? Or will there always be some tensions, even years in the future? I feel kinda bad that Luigi is always the one who has to visit Bowser

I feel like the answer has to be mostly yes but a little bit no.

Yes, everyone's going to be moving towards a better future with better cooperation between peoples and less general fear of Bowser in an average citizen (which he will pout about) and theoretically everyone could have a lovely picnic at Peach's castle together.

However!

Narratively speaking, it would never happen on-screen. They arrange a picnic and then Peach gets kidnapped by someone else/Bowser accidentally lands his airship on the picnic/Luigi spends the whole time running away from bees/Mario is late from having been on a whole bunch of side-quests/etc.

Things will never be perfect, because things can never be perfect, but they can be good enough and better than today, and that's what's important. They'll be fine.

(And Bowser has visited Luigi, it's just very weird and expensive for him - he doesn't understand how Luigi could live not just in a tiny house but sharing it so closely with Mario too (they have one bathroom for them and any guests to share?! how can they live like that!?) and he's built on a different scale so tends end up paying for door/ceiling repairs after any visit.)

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To the anon with the Brothership ask: I am currently playing Brothership, but I haven't finished yet, so I'll get to that ask once I've finished (I'd say it feels like I'm near the end, but Mario&Luigi games have a habit of making me think that and then taking longer to get there than I expect).

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In the old ask “peach’s thoughts”, you mentioned kidnapping PTSD. Does Days!Peach genuinely have PTSD from being kidnapped? (I’m surprised all the Mario characters don’t have PTSD at this point)

I'm not a professional in any way, so I don't know if it would be legit PTSD, a mild form of it, or something else entirely. But Peach definitely has some hangups and behavioural changes from being kidnapped a lot of times.

I tried to mostly match the genre/vibes of the Mario games* when writing Days, so if Peach (or anyone else) has PTSD then it's on the milder side. She also has an excellent support network on top of that. Whatever steps she needs to take to work on dealing with her PTSD she has taken/is taking already.

(*There are genuine wtf moments in some Mario games, the ones coming to mind currently are the Shunned Guy and Soggy Guy from Color Splash, but it's still kid horror)

I guess it comes down to what kind of story you want to write with the characters. It wouldn't be unreasonable to explore what it would actually be like with all the kidnappings and end-of-the-world stakes and aftermath of that. I just usually stay on the lighter side of things.

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In Day 69 (lol) Bowser mentions that he was with a few women before. But you also noted in a previous question that he’s been in love with Peach for a good portion of his life. Was he with women after he’d met Peach, or is he in the midst of a long dry spell when Luigi comes along?

He's definitely slept with other women after meeting Peach - at the very least Junior happened a few years after the first kidnapping.

I'd say he's not not in a dry spell. His preferred options (human and/or girly girl) aren't very common and he's not exactly the smoothest operator around. Plus having an unexpected egg dropped on him has probably made him a bit more cautious.

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What does Peach do while she’s stuck in Bowser’s castle for a week before her kingdom can be freed?

It'll depend on how often she's been kidnapped. I imagine early on Peach will have tried to escape a fair amount, but as time goes on and it becomes more of a routine thing, she doesn't bother as often. Game plots dictate that she can't beat Bowser or escape once she's already kidnapped, so she might as well focus her time and efforts elsewhere so that she doesn't spend all her time locked in her room or the dungeons.

(Which is why in Days, Luigi practically has the run of the entire castle. Yes, the contract says that Bowser can't shove him in a cell the whole time, but him being free to wander isn't really questioned by anyone either.)

So, to answer the actual question, I think she spends a lot of time socialising with the staff (she's a social person and she doesn't blame Bowser's people for Bowser's choices), trying to find good books to read (her tastes do not match Bowser's tastes and it's fifty-fifty if the library needs rebuilt after every kidnapping), possibly a bit of sports practice on the away team's home turf, and a little bit using the opportunity to force herself to take a break from active princessing.

Not every day is like this, but I could see Peach deciding to spend her second or third day of kidnapping on pure relaxation that she wouldn't quite manage to take in her own kingdom:

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Sometimes a fic just grabs you by the throat and you have to make something for it.

So, here's a silent video of a visual novel adaptation of part of @batneko's fic Lady Emerald. Hopefully the quality hasn't dropped too far between recording it and youtube's compression.