Shmaluigi, Private Investigator: Case Files (lore, behind the scenes, and more)

Waluigi Time

Waluigi Time

Too bad!
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Awards Committee
Retired Wiki Staff
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ShmaluigiPrivateInvestigator.png
Back in July 2021, I started a little 'Shroom section in Palette Swap known as Shmaluigi, Private Investigator, continuing the adventures of the titular detective after his appearances as a roleplay in Rogues in Rogueport Mafia and Sheep Mafia. While these stories are meant to be standalone, they frequently make use of content related to several years' worth of community events, games, 'Shroom sections, and in-jokes. Since these can understandably be a bit daunting and not easily accessible to newer readers, I've decided to make this thread to have all the information condensed in one place. For those of you who are already up to speed, I'll also be putting behind the scenes content including scrapped ideas in this thread, if you're into that sort of thing.

This thread also covers Too Bad, Storytime!, a companion section of one-shot stories featuring other characters started in June 2025. They're not crucial to understanding any of Shmaluigi's stories, but share the same continuity and will likely feature characters appearing in both from time to time.

I will try to keep this thread as spoiler-light as possible. There may at times be mentions of certain plot details when I deem it necessary, so if you're not caught up, tread with caution.

If there's anything not covered here that you would find interesting or have questions about, please feel free to let me know!

Shmaluigi, Private Investigator
172 - Hidden Mansion: Part 1
173 - Hidden Mansion: Part 2
174 - Hidden Mansion: Part 3
175 - Parabnormal Activity
176 - Diamond in the Rough: Part 1
177 - Diamond in the Rough: Part 2
178 - Diamond in the Rough: Part 3
179 - Termination Notice: Part 1
180 - Termination Notice: Part 2
181 - If The Shoe Fits: Part 1
182 - If The Shoe Fits: Part 2
183 - Sticky Situation: Part 1
184 - Sticky Situation: Part 2
185 - Crunch Time: Part 1
186 - Crunch Time: Part 2
187 - Tooth and Nail
188 - Through the Groucho Glass
189 - Mr. White Christmas
190 - Brains and Brawn: Part 1
191 - Brains and Brawn: Part 2
192 - Brains and Brawn: Part 3
193 - Cruise Control: Part 1
194 - Cruise Control: Part 2
195 - Cruise Control: Part 3
196 - The Wildflower: Part 1
197 - The Wildflower: Part 2
198 - The Wildflower: Part 3
199 - Cereal Killer
200 - Uneasy Alliance
201 - Tidal Terror: Part 1
202 - Tidal Terror: Part 2
203 - Tidal Terror: Part 3
205 - Lock and Key: Part 1
206 - Lock and Key: Part 2
207 - Lock and Key: Part 3
208 - Reminiscing in Rogueport
212 - Light at the End of the Tunnel: Part 1
213 - Light at the End of the Tunnel: Part 2
214 - Light at the End of the Tunnel: Part 3
215 - Light at the End of the Tunnel: Part 4
216 - Light at the End of the Tunnel: Part 5
217 - Light at the End of the Tunnel: Part 6
220 - Triple Trouble: Part 1
221 - Triple Trouble: Part 2
222 - Triple Trouble: Part 3
223 - Midnight Masquerade: Part 1
224 - Midnight Masquerade: Part 2
227 - Loose Ends: Part 1
228 - Loose Ends: Part 2
229 - Loose Ends: Part 3
230 - Unlucky Streak: Part 1
231 - Unlucky Streak: Part 2
232 - Unlucky Streak: Part 3
Too Bad, Storytime!
219 - The Most Dangerous Gameshow
225 - Termite Be A Problem
234 - Pursuit of the Shattered Bone
Shmaluigi, Private Investigator
WriterCharactersNotes
AuburnPolly Geist (197)
Boo1268Boo1268 (223-224)
Burghnust (224)
Gastronomole (223-224)
Lucky (231-232)
Mad Scienstein (224)
Rarity Alamode (224)
Richter Uppercrust IV (223-224)
Specture Striker (223-224)
Tripliss (224)		Co-author (223-224; 230-232)
ClawgripFan9001ClawgripFan9001 (193)
Cosmic CowboyDetective Luigi (187; 200; 217)
Yuri (187; 200; 217)
GoombuigiWright Forde 'Shroom (180)
Hooded PitohuiEma Skye (187)
Fern Greenwood (198)
Lana Skye (193-195; 207)
Morris (179-180; 191; 200-201; 230)
Virovirokun (200)
W. P. Hoodington (191)		Co-author (193-195)
LakituthequickLakituthequick (180)
Luigi 64DDThe Erudite Goose (174)
Magolor04726Dryvint (175)
Magolor04726 (175; 217)
Walter (200)		Co-author (176-178)
MightyMarioCayde (200)
Zerris (200)
Ninja SquidThe Sticky Warrior (183-184; 201; 203; 220-222)
Ms. Mowz (202; 220-222)
??? (220-222)		Co-author (201-203; 220-222)
Reverse InputAgent 30 (217)
Detective Fulbright (173; 217)
Fordley (196)
RoseradeKay Faraday (227-229)
Shmue Toad (173; 190; 200)		Co-author (227-229)
ShoeyPhineas J. Shoe (173; 181-182; 189)
Roserade (181-182; 189)
Too Bad, Storytime!
WriterCharactersNotes
Boo1268Feathers McGraw (219)
Florida (219)
General Camo (219)
Graphite Guy (219)
Lucky (219)
Rook Beak (219)
CloudwalkerPaul (219)
Hooded PitohuiSayaka Kanamori (219)
MightyMarioCayde (234)
Zerris (234)		Co-author (234)

  • Characters - Bios including backstories and a list of their appearances in the section.​
  • Lore - Brief explanations of content from outside the section that I consider important.​
  • Behind the Scenes - Development stuff, scrapped ideas, and other fun trivia!​
 
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Things are still getting sorted out here - pardon the mess!

Characters
Not an exhaustive list of every character in the section, just the notable and recurring ones, especially if they previously appeared in other projects. For characters who aren't listed here, what you see is probably what you get, but feel free to ask if there's anyone who's not here that you think should be.
Detectives and Investigators The Criminal Element Citizenry Miscellaneous
    • Shmaluigi - A private investigator who dedicated himself to taking down all mafias after the apparent death of his fiancée at the hands of local crime boss Monty Brando. Finding limited success at first, he found his big break busting a Rogueport mafia. Despite bearing a strong resemblance to Waluigi, he is actually a Duplighost named Connor.
    • Shmwario - Shmaluigi's big brother. A private investigator himself, he remains trapped in the shadow of his little bro, lacking Shmaluigi's detective skills, recognition, or social graces. Despite this, he cares a great deal for his brother, and he's always up for helping him out - even if that means he's going to hold it over his head for a while.
    • Shmaisy - A private investigator originating from another world. Her former target was the notorious Golden Phanto, but after their death, she decided to move to the Mushroom Kingdom for a fresh start. She currently lives with Shmwario.
      • Recommended reading: "The Wildflower"
    • Jasmine- A Shadow trained in water elemental magic, and the wife of Shmaluigi. She was long thought dead, prompting Shmaluigi's career path, but in reality was kidnapped and brainwashed by Monty Brando to be part of his mafia. After his death, she was rescued by Shmaluigi and the two of them finally got married.
      • Recommended reading: "Light at the End of the Tunnel"
    • Chief Palmer - A mustachioed yellow Pianta serving as the current chief of the New Wikisburg Police Department. He got the position after his predecessor resigned shortly after the investigation of a Killing Game in the city. He begrudgingly puts up with Shmaluigi's frequent, unannounced, and lengthy absences from work because he's good at what he does, but some say he's too soft for it.
    • Cici Shell - A Noki serving as the deputy chief of the New Wikisburg Police Department. In contrast to her boss, she displays a bubbly, upbeat personality.
    • Detective Fulbright- A seasoned detective and a close ally of Shmaluigi. His dedication to the pursuit of justice is without a doubt his true calling in life. He acted as Shmaluigi's mentor as the head investigator while trying to bust a mafia in Rogueport, and the two of them have remained in touch.
      • Fulbright is written by Reverse Input, who previously portrayed him in Rogues in Rogueport Mafia.
    • Detective Luigi- An Italian detective who shares a mostly friendly rivalry with Shmaluigi. He runs a small agency in the city alongside his wife, Yuri.
      • Detective Luigi was written by Cosmic Cowboy.
    • Dr. Thomas Wattson - TBA
    • Ema Skye - An aspiring forensic investigator. She met Shmaluigi during the investigation in Rogueport, where she unfortunately met her end after getting involved with the mafia there. Ema's death haunts Shmaluigi to this day, and he has vowed to continue her legacy.
      • Ema Skye is written by Hooded Pitohui, who previously portrayed her in Rogues in Rogueport Mafia.
    • The Erudite Goose - A very eloquent goose detective. His vocabulary and manner of speaking vary depending on what object the Goose holds in his beak. His signature pipe results in his characteristic verbosity and refined speech. Shmaluigi met the Goose while the two of them were working in Rogueport, and his investigative skills contributed to a decisive success for the investigators.
      • The Erudite Goose was written by Luigi 64DD, who previously portrayed him in Rogues in Rogueport Mafia.
    • Kay Faraday- TBA
      • Kay is written by Roserade, who previously portrayed her in World of Plight Mafia and Amusing Awards Artifact Adventure.
    • Lana Skye - An ex-prosecuting attorney and the elder sister of the late Ema Skye. She dedicated a significant amount of time to investigating the Killing Games, employing dubious methods during that time. After an encounter with Shmaluigi, she chose to turn herself in for her actions and is currently spending time in prison.
      • Lana Skye is written by Hooded Pitohui.
    • Ms. Mowz - TBA
      • Ms. Mowz is written by Ninja Squid, based on her role in Rogues in Rogueport Mafia.
    • The Mystery Dudes - A tentatively-named group of young mystery solvers, consisting of Muercello the Tostarenan and his Polterpup Spectra, Ook the Ukiki, "Halloween" the Ninji, and G-XY the Gearmo. The group originally imitated Shmaluigi, before forming their own identity after an encounter with the detective.
      • Recommended reading: "Through the Groucho Glass", "Light at the End of the Tunnel"
    • Shmue Toad - A blue Toad working on the New Wikisburg Police Department, who happens to bear a suspicious resemblance to Shmaluigi. He frequently antagonizes the private investigator during their interactions.
      • Shmue Toad is written by Roserade.
    • The Sticky Warrior- A mysterious ninja warrior, emerging from a dark and troubled past. His unorthodox methods and reckless behavior tend to make Shmaluigi a bit nervous.
      • The Sticky Warrior is written by Ninja Squid, who previously portrayed him in Rogues in Rogueport Mafia.
      • Recommended reading: "Sticky Situation", "Tidal Terror", "Triple Trouble"
    • Yuri - Wife and investigative partner of Detective Luigi. She was originally an AI phone assistant before being brought to the physical world with Professor E. Gadd's Pixelator. She remains on more pleasant terms with Shmaluigi than her husband does.
      • Yuri is written by Cosmic Cowboy.
    • Bandwich - The alias of Robert Arie, a petty thief Bandit who has been a recurring thorn in the side of New Wikisburg law enforcement. He's nothing too special, but received his nickname for his love of jelly sandwiches and his habit of unintentionally leaving jelly behind at crime scenes as a convenient calling card.
    • The Blizzman - A flashy Mr. Blizzard showman. His ultimate goal is to bring about worldwide global cooling, ushering in a new ice age in which him and his kind can freely thrive.
    • Count Tyrannos - A supposedly vampiric Rex, whose powers actually come from a stash of Vampire Candies. His interest in the macabre at one point brought him under the servitude of the ghostly Puppetmaster.
    • Crawford & Sledger - The frequent pairing of a Craw and Sledge Bro who were two of Monty Brando's more incompetent lackeys, frequently assigned to odd jobs and low-risk assignments together.
    • IG-11 - A deadly assassin droid who worked as an enforcer and bodyguard for Monty Brando, and performed freelance work for additional profit. His remains were originally recovered and repaired by the mafia after he was thrown into Pyropuff Peaks by the Toad Brigade, leaving a scorched and mismatched appearance.
      • IG-11 previously appeared in Toad Brigade Mafia.
    • Kreep - TBA
    • Lucky - TBA
      • Lucky is written by Boo1268.
    • Monty Brando- A Monty Mole who ran a powerful mafia in New Wikisburg, making himself Shmaluigi's true arch-nemesis after being responsible for the disappearance of his fiancée, Jasmine. Working from the shadows, he excelled at pulling strings and had eyes and ears just about everywhere, though his evil ambitions ultimately led to his own demise while executing his ultimate master plan.
      • Recommended reading: "Cruise Control", "Light at the End of the Tunnel"
    • Phineas J. Shoe- A mad Shoe Goomba doctor whose list of crimes is as colorful as it is long. Despite help from his assistant Rose, his incompetence and hubris usually keep him from being much of a serious threat. When he isn't wrangling fighters in an attempt to finally get a winner for Mushroom Kingdom Smackdown, he's usually working on a new invention of dubious utility to sell to the other villains of the kingdom.
      • Phineas J. Shoe is written by Shoey, who previously portrayed him in Mushroom Kingdom Smackdown nomination posts, The Devious Workings of Phineas J. Shoe, and other projects.
      • Recommended reading: "If The Shoe Fits", "Mr. White Christmas"
    • Pokerface - A shifty Pokey who always seems to know a guy (or at least, a guy who knows a guy) with knowledge about what's going on in the criminal underworld. He spends a lot of time at a seedy establishment known as the Despair Pub. His most notable feature is that he always wears a trenchcoat despite not having any arms to fit into the sleeves.
    • Puppetmaster - A mysterious, malevolent ghost with the ability to perfectly imitate the deceased, as long as he has a puppet of them. His ultimate intentions are still unknown. Luckily, he's currently safely locked away in Professor E. Gadd's laboratory after being thwarted by Shmaluigi and his allies.
    • Roserade- The 'Shroom's Fun Stuff Director who also moonlights as the beleaguered assistant of the mad doctor Phineas J. Shoe, a connection that no one seems to have made, somehow. Despite their attempts to point out Phineas' mistakes, they are usually ignored until it's already too late.
      • Rose is written by Shoey, who previously wrote them in other works featuring Phineas J. Shoe.
    • Teller Vision - TBA
    • Terrakingpin - The alias of Albert Koopone, an ambitious Koopa mafia boss. He's not so much into it for the criminal lifestyle as he is for the glitz and glamor thanks to watching too many mobster movies, and is somewhat lacking in the skill needed to pull off the role, frequently leading to his plans being thwarted.
      • Recommended reading: "Sticky Situation", "Uneasy Alliance", "The Most Dangerous Gameshow", "Unlucky Streak"
    • Tripliss- TBA
      • Tripliss is written by Boo1268.
    • Zurg - An unstable, deluded toy who fully believes that he is the "real" Emperor Zurg. Currently stranded in the Mushroom Kingdom, he is desperate to return to space and take his "rightful place" on the throne of his empire. He assigns his own nicknames to everyone he meets rather than using their real names.
      • Zurg previously appeared in Lost in Space: Galactic Mafia.
    • Boo1268- TBA
      • Boo is written by Boo1268 himself.
    • Cel Winters - TBA
    • Chuck - Waluigi Time's security expert, serving as the head of security for Waluigi Time Incorporated and formerly Mushroom Kingdom Smackdown. He's a fairly quiet, easy-going guy who doesn't have much to say and usually just goes with the flow when it comes to his boss' bizarre antics.
    • ClawgripFan9001 - A large Sidestepper who is one of the writers for The 'Shroom's Fake News team. He's best known for his cooking column and former coverage of sporting events.
      • ClawgripFan is written by ClawgripFan9001 himself.
    • Dryvint- A battle-worn Dry Bones working as head of security (and handyman) for M-corporated. At some point before being employed, he was a general in an unidentified country during a revolution, and was exiled following the loss of his side.
      • Dryvint is written by Magolor04726.
    • Fern Greenwood - TBA
      • Fern is written by Hooded Pitohui, who previously portrayed him in Awards Killing Game: Odyssey as one of the game hosts.
    • Jonathan Morris - The owner of Jonathan's House of Weights, a fitness center in New Wikisburg. In terms of personality, he's a bit like a hip surfer.
    • Lakituthequick- An expert at technology who is fittingly the Website Manager and Programming Manager for The 'Shroom. He really likes coffee, though unfortunately for him, he has to work a bit harder to get it at work following budget cuts.
      • LTQ is written by Lakituthequick himself.
    • Magolor04726 - CEO of M-corporated, journalist, and author, among other distinctions.
      • Magolor is written by Magolor04726 himself.
    • Mertle - TBA
    • Morris - The Joja Corporation's regional manager for the New Wikisburg area, who also happens to be one of Shmaluigi's least favorite people in the known universe. They first encountered each other when Morris was, unbeknownst to Shmaluigi until it was already too late, leading a hostile takeover of Fred Pasture, seeking to acquire it for the Joja Corporation's purposes, allowing JojaMart to achieve practically uncontested dominance in the New Wikisburg market.
      • Morris is written by Hooded Pitohui, who previously portrayed him in Sheep Mafia.
      • Recommended reading: "Termination Notice"
    • Ms. Broxy - Shmaluigi's gruff Magikoopa landlord with a booming voice. She gets very unhappy when her tenants fail to pay their rent on time, something that Shmaluigi knows a bit too well.
    • Mr. Shbeeg - An artificial intelligence unit taking the avatar of a Broodal, built to serve as the president of Waluigi Time Incorporated. He is almost always frustrated with Waluigi Time's wild ideas and apparent inability to properly run a business.
    • Polly Geist - TBA
      • Polly is written by Auburn, who previously portrayed her in Awards Killing Game: Odyssey.
    • Robirda - Waluigi Time's personal Birdo secretary. No one's getting in or out of his office doors without her knowledge.
    • Specture Striker - TBA
      • Specture is written by Boo1268.
    • Waluigi Time - The infamous CEO of Waluigi Time Incorporated, former owner of the Mushroom Kingdom Smackdown tournament, and Director of The 'Shroom, among various other roles. Best described as a man with too much ambition and not enough competence, he's frequently running all kinds of schemes that he's definitely not qualified for.
      • Recommended reading: "Crunch Time", "Cereal Killer"
    • Woodrow Oakley - TBA
    • Wright Forde 'Shroom - A Toad who shills with one goal... Get people to write for The 'Shroom! Anyone who strikes up a conversation with him can expect to be encouraged to write 'Shroom sections basically the entire time.
      • Wright is written by Goombuigi, who previously portrayed him in Waluigi Time Cereal Mafia.
    • Captain Stardust - TBA
    • Commander Nebula - TBA
 
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Lore
Rogues in Rogueport Mafia
Having made no progress on busting mafias with the New Wikisburg Police Department, Shmaluigi ran off to the port town of Rogueport on a whim after hearing of increased mafia activity. He found himself in the middle of an investigation with several investigators, including seasoned detective Bobby Fulbright, the Erudite Goose, the mysterious Sticky Warrior, and Ema Skye. The case ended in the successful elimination of the mafia, and emboldened Shmaluigi to set out on his own as a private investigator.

Notable characters: First appearances of Detective Fulbright, Ema Skye, the Erudite Goose, Shmaluigi, and the Sticky Warrior.

Timeline: Prior to the beginning of the section.

Sheep Mafia
After his successful case at Rogueport, Shmaluigi's next outing at Fred Pasture went much worse. Morris, sent by his superiors at the Joja Corporation, led the charge in a takeover of the pasture that Shmaluigi was unable to stop, finding himself dead before the end of the investigation, albeit temporarily.

Notable characters: First appearance of Morris. Shmaluigi returns.

Timeline: Prior to the beginning of the section.

Awards Killing Game: Odyssey
In an alternate world, the S.S. Circinus and S.S. Cetus embarked on a cruise to observe the Sargasso Vermelha comet. Both ships were hijacked by MB-Kusagi and forced to endure a Killing Game. Both ships sunk and the survivors became stranded on Circitus Isle. After many months, MB-K washed up to see the game to its ultimate conclusion.

Notable characters: First appearances of Cel Winters, Fern Greenwood, and Polly Geist. Shmaluigi returns.

Timeline: The events of the S.S. Circinus, which Shmaluigi were directly involved in, take place between "Crunch Time" and "Tooth and Nail". ("Brains and Brawn" also takes place during this period of time after the Circinus events.) In-universe, the entirety of AKGO takes place over about 7 months, so it probably wraps up not too long after "Mr. White Christmas".
 
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Behind the Scenes (172-189)
Part 1
  • This arc was originally intended to serve as a prologue to Shmaluigi in Awards Killing Game 5, which ended up not happening (I'll get back to that later). The game would have been a rehost of AKG1 which was based on Luigi's Mansion, so the title comes from the Hidden Mansion mode in that game.
  • I went with this arc to kick off the section because I felt like having something specifically tied to strategy games was a good idea, since that was pretty much the core of Shmaluigi as a character at the time. Rogues in Rogueport and Sheep Mafia are both referenced pretty heavily here to kick off Shmaluigi's motivations.
  • So something that may have been obvious get-go is that despite Shmaluigi speaking in third person most of the time, his inner monologue is entirely first person. I mainly did this because I felt like having the entire section be narrated in third person would get annoying really fast, but there's also lore reasons to back this up.
  • There's a pretty obvious reference to News Flush, a recurring volunteer Fake News section, as Shmaluigi wanders the streets of New Wikisburg.
  • The name of Sipping Time Cafe was suggested by Pitohui. When I asked for suggestions, LTQ also suggested the Club Sandwich Shop, which I ended up not going with but I still wanted to use in some way, so Shmaluigi mentions it in response to Sipping Time's rising prices.
  • Case LT-5 references a post made by Rose in my RP ask thread, where the case file was given to him by Shmue Toad. He ends up appearing in the section proper in the second part of this arc.
Part 2
  • In the opening monologue, Shmaluigi talks about the previous Killing Games, specifically mentioning the existence of 'Shroom Killing Game. He also talks about "a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories" involving bad futures and alternate timelines, in reference to how Awards Killing Game 3 and 4 were retconned through time travel. And yes, the use of "rabbit hole" was an intentional nod to Big Changes.
  • Shmaluigi's bad intel leads him to Mushroom Kingdom Smackdown instead of a Killing Game. It's not just a vague appearance of Smackdown though, this one ties directly into the one I had written two issues earlier, in Issue 173. All of the fighters mentioned by the people waiting in line were actual nominations from that cycle! To add to that, Shmaluigi bumps into Phineas J. Shoe in his Michelanshoego disguise, who appeared in that issue to throw a wrench into the match.
  • Speaking of Phineas J. Shoe, he's the first character in the history of the section to have his dialogue written by someone else. Although, ironically, of the three guest characters in this issue, he was the last one I ended up adding. Pretty early on (as in, before the section was even public knowledge), I decided that for authenticity, I wanted to bring other users on board to write the dialogue for their characters and to provide input on how they were portrayed.
  • Chief Palmer is introduced in this issue! Since the first mention of "the chief" was in the post that introduced Shmue Toad, I talked a little bit about him with Rose beforehand, who said that he envisioned the chief as being either a Pianta or a Noki. I went with him being a Pianta, and ended up using the idea of a Noki character much, much later, when I introduced Deputy Chief Cici Shell in issue 181. Since the character was a blank slate otherwise, I came up with the rest of the details and wrote his dialogue myself.
  • The name of Despair Pub is also a nod to the four original Awards Killing Games, since despair was a common theme throughout those.
  • Shmaluigi replying to Chief Palmer with "true, true" is a reference to an emote used in various community Discord servers with the same name.
Part 3
  • So, I mentioned earlier that AKG5 ended up not happening, and this is where that comes into play. Luckily, I had a backup plan to salvage the arc, and I have to credit that to Pitohui for giving me a nudge to come up with something else in case things didn't pan out, based on how development was going at the time. Part 2 remained relatively unchanged, but Part 3 would've gone in one of two directions. The original plan was that the progression of the story would lead Shmaluigi to the actual Killing Game, where he would possibly end up meeting up with some other RPs from the game on the way there. The backup ending was obviously what ended up in the section. The backup ending ended up being way more interesting than what would originally have happened in my opinion, and, among several other reasons, I think it's a good thing that AKG5 didn't happen.
  • Aside from the original ending, this is the first issue where I get to talk about scrapped content. At one point, one of the characters that Shmaluigi would've met was a Shaman named Mertle, who would've used her fortune telling abilities to "help". I ended up deciding not to use her, but I kept the character in the back of my head, and ended up using her for an Awards presentation in 2022.
  • Shmaluigi being woken up specifically at 2:01 am is a little easter egg as a reference to the date he first appeared on the forums, February 1st.
  • The mysterious voice telling Shmaluigi to be in Boo Woods on Tuesday at 9:00 pm is also a reference. Had things panned out with the game, sign-ups would've opened at 9:00 am in my timezone on Tuesday, July 6th. The day of the week was kept as-is, but I changed the time from am to pm because it needed to be at night!
  • Shmaluigi's archnemesis, Monty Brando, is introduced here. His name is of course a reference to actor Marlon Brando from The Godfather. Monty Brando was conceptualized quite a bit earlier, as one of many contingencies I came up with in the event that I ended up rolling mafia while RPing as Shmaluigi (two ideas involving him would've been Brando creating a Shmaluigi clone, and him blackmailing Shmaluigi in some way). IG-11 is also shown working for him here for the first time, which I set up in a post following the end of Toad Brigade Mafia.
  • The barista at the Sipping Time Cafe telling Shmaluigi he should write about his escapades is a nod to this being a 'Shroom section, that should be pretty obvious.
  • The name's not a typo, it's a pun on "paranormal activity" and "abnormal".
  • This was the first time where the logo was swapped out, changing it to Shmaluigi, Paranormal Investigator! This was an idea that Magolor suggested and it sounded fun.
  • This issue marks the first mention of Shmwario in the section, although it was quite a while before he ended up making an actual appearance.
  • Shmaluigi also mentions Frankentime's Monster Cereal, a Halloween-themed WT Cereal product that was at the time not very utilized otherwise. I didn't even have a recipe in mind for it when I wrote this.
  • The idea to go with a Scooby-Doo type story (criminals posing as spooks and taking over) was set from the start, but I went through a few different ideas of what location Shmaluigi might be investigating here. My initial idea was that Shmaluigi would be investigating some sort of warehouse owned by The 'Shroom, but it didn't seem likely that anyone would be able to pull a stunt like that when Perch is around. I also wasn't sure if it would make sense for The 'Shroom to have a warehouse at all, and I probably would've asked Pitohui, but I never got that far with it. Other ideas included JojaMart or something completely original, but I liked the idea of using M-corporated better, so it's what I went with.
  • M-corporated actually had a similar problem as The 'Shroom though, with its head of security being a Dry Bones. Magolor was actually the one who solved that problem by suggesting that Dryvint would go to explore the warehouse and then disappear.
Part 1
  • This was actually the first story arc of the section that started development! Magolor started writing this in April 2021 as a section demo of sorts after suggesting the idea of a Shmaluigi 'Shroom section to me. I liked where he was going with it, and at first I planned to incorporate it into Hidden Mansion, but it ended up spinning off into its own thing pretty early on to make sure both stories had enough room to breathe. At the time, we were referring to this arc tentatively as "Shmaluigi Needs To Pay His Rent" just to have something to call it.
  • Also, this arc was pretty much 90% Magolor. I helped with aspects of the lore and did some rewrites and other edits of my own where I felt appropriate, but for the most part, he came up with the story and wrote it himself.
  • Shmaluigi's landlord Ms. Broxy was originally written as a human, but ended up being changed to be a Magikoopa in the final story. I did this because I wanted to use humans sparingly like they are in the Mario franchise, and it felt like she would fit better into the world as a Mario species. For the most part, humans in the section are limited to pre-existing characters, though that's not completely set in stone. I also had the idea of making her a Whomp instead, because the idea of a Whomp wearing lipstick popped in my head and I thought it was funny, but her being a Magikoopa seemed like a good fit.
  • Since Sheep Mafia was ongoing when the demo was written, it originally took place concurrent with those events, which Shmaluigi would've mentioned. This was changed for the final story, mainly because it didn't seem likely to me that Shmaluigi would leave Fred Pasture during the case, but also because Chief Palmer ended up appearing later on in the story, and leaving the timeline as-is would've contradicted dialogue between them from Hidden Mansion. I don't think there's much that indicates when it takes place in the final story, but I envision it as being some time after Parabnormal Activity for simplicity.
  • Al