From the personal journal of King Bowser Koopa, Lord of the Badlands…
I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, as well as asking myself a lot of personal questions. Stuff I wouldn't even dare talk to my minions about. Or even Kamek for that matter, and he's my most trusted advisor! Like a father figure to me really, but the day he hears me say that to his face is the day I kick the bucket; I've got an appearance to hold up after all. But anyways, lately I've been thinking a lot about happiness. Asking myself "what makes me happy?" or "how would I personally define happiness?". If anyone would've asked me those questions when I was first starting out, a younger and more knuckle-headed koopa than I am now, my only answers probably would've been that capturing the princess and ruling over her kingdom as king would've made me the happiest person in all the lands and that happiness in my eyes was riches, my enemies defeated before me, and a sweet Peach by my side as queen. And I believed in only that for a long time. And I still do, but not entirely.
My opinion changed some time after I had Junior. Which is somewhat bad, I guess, considering how previously I had adopted 7 other young koopalings before him. But back then, I only really thought of them as minions and not really as my children. If I'm gonna be honest, I originally adopted them because I thought they had potential and they looked like they'd put up a really good fight. But after two failed kidnap attempts, I figured they had a long way to go and sent their tails off to a koopa boot camp. It was then, sometime later on, when I had Junior. Besides Kamek helping out where he could, I was by myself; a single father with no clue how to really care for a kid. I mean, he seemed to be growing up just fine, but I knew he was missing something in his life. He needed a mom. And luckily for me I knew a good candidate right off the bat.
I never really told junior about his real mother at that point in his life, either because I thought it'd be too sad a story for him or because I'd felt like I couldn't handle taking a sad trip down memory lane. But in any case, it worked out pretty well for me when it came to lying to him about Peach being his mom. The look on his face and fire in his eyes told me that he'd stop at nothing until he got his "Mama Peach" back from that "Bad Mario Man". It was great, his own little introduction into the family business! I taught him everything I knew, from top to bottom. And when we put it into practice, it went off without a hitch! He was able to snatch the princess from right under Mario's nose and gave him a real run for his money during their little vacation! I had never been so proud in my entire life! Sure, the plan went up in smoke eventually, and plumber boy once again saved the day. But, in the end, I felt like I didn't really care. During the entire time, me and Junior bonded, really cementing our relationship as father and son. It was then when I realized I liked being a dad, and loved having a kid who was interested in my "line of work", so to speak. Someone to pass on my tricks of the trade to. I saw a bright, happy future ahead of us. It was then at that point when I remembered that I had 7 other kids that I could also be sharing these sort of feelings and moments with.
When I went to go get those little rascals, I was pretty surprised to find that they had all taken charge around the place. The toughest of koopas that I could find, my elite minions, were bowing before them like they were royalty. Needless to say, I was impressed. Those kids were something else altogether, and I knew I wouldn't regret bringing them along again after so long. Bringing them back to the castle, I introduced them to their new brother. Thankfully, they seemed to get along just fine with him. Even Junior was pretty excited to have so many other siblings. It was then where I started growing a bit softer.
I focused less on training them to be elites, and more on us being a family. Togetherness and all that crap. I got to know all of them better individually and started bringing them all along with me whenever the Badlands and the Mushroom Kingdom held a temporary truce to hold go-karting, sports, or even fighting tournaments. And when it came to kidnapping Peach, they gave it their all without fail. We'd always lose in the end, and we'd be sent back with our tails between our legs, but we would all have fun in the end and laugh about it later on. My new personality even eventually spread to my minions, who noticed a change in my attitude. I wasn't the dark and brooding overlord they'd cower before. I became a bit chummier with them, to the point where now when I lead them they follow me out of respect and not fear.
So now, when I ask myself "What makes me happy?" and "How would I personally define happiness?", I would still tell you all the same stuff from before. Kidnapping peach and ruling her land would make me happy, but what makes me most happy now is my family. My kids. And even my loyal subjects whom I care for, now that I think about it. The badlands, Kamek, my trusted advisor and caretaker, all these things make me happy! And while riches and peach would still be in my definition of happiness, I'd also add the moments shared with all my kids, the roars and cheers I get from my subjects as I rally them and boost morale. That's happiness in my eyes. And I don't think I'd trade it for anything else in the world.
-Bowser
Author's Notes: Hey there, thanks for reading. I guess this could be considered my "first fanfiction" since I've never written anything previously. This is just something I decided to write to test the waters and see how people liked it. It's more or less a lemon, though I do have other journal entry ideas for the ol' koopa floating around in my head. It really all depends on what you as the readers want. Feel free to comment and be my critics, not even letting the smallest of details slide so I can improve myself! Again, thanks for reading and take care!
Edit: I actually meant one shot, not lemon. Thanks to Ems602 for the correction, I'm not too "in the know" when it comes to the lingo, you know?