It is interesting how Mario ended up with the rounded face and figure of his father and mother while Luigi inherited a more oblong face and slim body type like his uncles.
For the drabble Mario and Luigi, “What if one day I wake up and you don’t?” Thank you!
(writing prompt game is here)
(Story set after the 2023 animated Mario movie)
Luigi shuddered as the cool, damp cloth was placed across his forehead. He went to swat at it but was stopped when a firm yet gentle hand grabbed his own.
"Easy, Lu, leave it alone."
"M-Mario?" Luigi's eyes cracked open and he winced at the light. "What… what happened?" Looking around he could just make out they were in one of the castle's guest rooms. Mario looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes.
"You don't remember, do you?" the older brother asked. "You wouldn't leave the training course, forced yourself to keep going. Lu, you blacked out."
Luigi pushed himself up, gasping at the waves of pain that rippled through him. It was then he realized his shirt was off and he was wrapped in bandages.
"Wh-What the…"
Mario nearly choked on his words. "Y-You fell, slammed into the bricks and spikes."
Luigi leaned back, groaning. "I'll do better next time."
"'Next time'?" Mario got up and began pacing. "Lu this has to stop! You've been at that for weeks! You're going to seriously hurt yourself!" He paused, staring at his little brother. "Please tell me you'll stop."
"…No."
"Why not?"
Luigi sat up again. "Because I need to be stronger! You'll need help if Bowser escapes, and there's no Super Star this time-"
"Exactly!" Mario shot back, reaching his breaking point. "There's no Super Star! And if you keep going like this-"
"Why do you care if I wanna keep going?"
"Because I'm afraid one day I'm going to wake up and you won't!" Mario said, tears falling. "I can't do it! I can't do any of this without you!"
Shuffling over he collapsed on the seat, fingers running tensely through his hair. "I could barely make it last time, thinking you were already dead."
"…I thought you were dead, too." Luigi muttered. "That's why I'm doing this. I can't lose you."
"And I can't lose you." Mario replied softly. Getting up he moved to the edge of the bed, arms open. Luigi leaned into the hug.
"So what do we do?" he questioned.
"I don't know. But whatever we do, we do it together."
made this in like 20 mins tops lol, but this is how i wished she looked in the movie. Tried to make her look closer to her softer and more like her original design, as i think would've have fit the movie just fine. they made her look like shes scheming something lol my edit is the second image
I wish we knew more about the relationships between Luigi and his dad, and Mario and his mom, respectively. We know that Luigi is a momma's boy, and that Mario and his dad love each other but don't always understand each other. It'd be interesting to learn more about the inverse
From what little we were given, it seems that while Mario is accepting of his mom's affection he's averse to being overtly mothered compared to Luigi.
But if the concept art is anything to go by she's still a place of comfort for him, as she was the only person other than his brother who fully believed in him and supported his business venture.
Luigi's relationship with his father is a bit more vague and complicated, since he's only shown being used by his Dad as a middle-man to drive home a point to Mario.
My theory is that while Luigi's dad loves and cares about him, he has no clue what to make of him. Chances are Pio is far more comfortable with the loudmouthed, bullheaded traits Mario shares with the rest of the men in the family, and he doesn't quite know how to approach a conversation with his younger son.
But that's just my current theory based on the tiny snippets we were shown. I definitely agree that their relationships could use more exploration.