Many generations ago, my ancestors left the human world to explore realms beyond. Eventually, we established a beautiful kingdom in a land that now bears our family name, Sarasa.

As the princess of the tranquil Sarasaland, which has traditionally been peaceful and untroubled, my duties are few. The empire of Sarasaland contains four separate kingdoms, each with its own ruler. As the overseer of these united kingdoms, I function largely as a figurehead.

As such, I occupy myself with various hobbies and interests and spend much time in the neighboring Mushroom Kingdom.

Recently, I've taken an interest in studying gender and sexuality in realms beyond the human world. Unlike the human world, these realms have many different sapient species that are capable of speech. These various species form complex social structures and fully functioning civilizations not dissimilar to the kinds of societies most humans are familiar with. But for several of these species, gender and sexuality work in a much different way than these things do for humans.

I decided to write this article because I thought some of my fellow humans who haven't had an opportunity to visit these realms may be interested to learn about these fascinating differences.

One interesting example is a species known as Toads. Toads are native to the Mushroom Kingdom and hold a higher social status than other species that dwell there. Though the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom is a human known as Princess Peach, all other government positions in the land are held by Toads.

Toads are a species of sapient mushrooms. Being fungus, they reproduce through spores rather than reproducing sexually. As such, Toads do not have biological sexes.

Because they are a biologically asexual species, most Toads are agender (meaning they don't identify as any gender) and aromantic (meaning they don't experience romantic attraction.)

However, much like humans, not all Toads are the same, and some experience gender and romantic attraction in a different way than most other members of their species.

As a species without biological sexes, all Toads are assigned agender at birth, but some Toads grow up and realize that they do identify as a particular gender.

In the human world, most females are people who were assigned female at birth, which means they're cisgender (not transgender) because they identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. But among Toads, all female Toads are transgender because they do not identify with their assigned gender at birth, which is agender.

A female Toad named Toadette who is a good friend of mine agreed to sit down with me for an interview to discuss her experiences being transgender in Toad society.

"My parent didn't understand at first," Toadette told me. "He didn't see how it could be possible that I'm a girl."

(I should note here that, though the vast majority of Toads go by he/him pronouns, this does not indicate that they identify as male; "he" and "him" are simply the default pronouns in Toad society, and most who use them identify as agender. It should also be noted that, because Toads reproduce through spores, each Toad has only one biological parent.)

"He didn't like it when I started growing out my mushroom cap so I could look like I had something similar to a human feminine hairstyle," Toadette went on. "He kept saying that genders are for humans and that I should quit trying to be something I'm not. But I wasn't trying to be human; I just wanted to be me, to be the girl that I am, and I wanted people to be able to look at me and see that I'm a girl."

I asked Toadette what other changes she made after she realized she was a girl.

"Well, I started wearing this pink dress," Toadette said. "I always thought Princess Peach's pink dress was so beautiful and feminine, and I wanted to look beautiful and feminine too. Of course, my dress is a lot different than hers; it's my own style that really shows my own individual taste in fashion."

I told Toadette that her dress was quite pretty, and then asked how her parent reacted to her wearing it.

Toadette sighed and said, "He didn't like it! He said that since Toads don't have breasts, we don't need to be wearing clothing like this to cover our chests. I told him that I know I don't have breasts, but you don't need breasts to be a girl, and it just makes me happy to look more feminine by wearing pretty clothes like this. But he didn't like that I was dressing so differently from all the other Toads. Of course, most Toads wear only an open vest that exposes the chest. He thought I was just trying to be different to get attention. But I only wanted to be myself."

I asked Toadette if her parent ever came around and began to accept her.

"Oh, he does mostly accept me now," Toadette said. "He always says I'm his child and he'll love me no matter what. Of course, sometimes he still messes up my name and pronouns! It took him a while to adjust after I changed my name to Toadette. And he's not used to using 'she' and 'her' pronouns for any Toads, so sometimes he forgets. It's frustrating, but I honestly believe he's trying."

I asked her if she ever has issues with other Toads calling her by the correct name and pronouns.

"It used to happen a lot," Toadette said. "Everyone assumes all Toads use the pronouns 'he' and 'him,' and it can take people by surprise that I go by something different than most Toads do. And of course, traditionally Toads are always named after the color of the spots on their mushroom caps, so those who don't know me look at me and assume my name must be Pink Toad. But it's actually helped a lot that I've gone on some adventures with Mario and the others and become a bit well known in the Mushroom Kingdom because of that. Now, a lot of Mushroom Kingdom citizens know who I am and respect me for helping Mario on his quests and they know that I go by Toadette and use 'she' and 'her' pronouns. So most people these days remember and are pretty respectful."

I asked Toadette if there were any Toads in her life who have been particularly supportive.

"My best friend Toad has been great!" Toadette said with a smile. "That's Red Toad, you know, though a lot of times people just call him Toad since he's the most famous Toad around. He was actually the first one I came out to, and he accepted me right away. He's agender like most other Toads, but he never had an issue with me being a girl. He said he wants me to be who I truly am and all he wants is for me to be happy and comfortable with myself."

I asked if there was anything else Toadette would like to say to the people who will read this article.

"Things are getting better," Toadette said. "Some Toads still find it really confusing for a Toad to identify as a particular gender, and others just plain don't want to accept it, but I think it's really helped that, as someone who is in the public eye, I've been able to speak out on these issues and help educate the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. More and more people are becoming supportive, and I just hope that by talking about these things I can help other Toads who identify as female, male, or any other gender besides agender."

I thanked Toadette for her time. She had to get going so she could get back to her training, which she's been working really hard on in hopes of getting an invite to the next Smash tournament.

I myself understand some of the issues Toadette has had with her parent. My own father found it hard to accept when I came out as nonbinary. He kept telling me that I was "just a tomboy," and it took a while for him to understand that humans really can be a nonbinary gender and that this is who I truly am. I suppose my own experiences in identifying with a gender other than the one I was assigned at birth are what has made me so fascinated with studying the subjects of gender and sexuality. I do think I'm lucky to live in a realm where many of the inhabitants are members of species that don't have binary sexes. I think this did make it easier for my father to understand that genders other than male and female exist.

Most of my friends in the Mushroom Kingdom have been very accepting of the fact that I'm nonbinary. My best friend Princess Peach and my boyfriend Luigi have been my biggest supporters. Still, I'm happy to have good friends like Toadette who can really understand exactly what I'm going through from personal experience in identifying with a gender other than the one that was assigned at birth.

Toadette isn't the only Toad who identifies with a gender. But some Toads are different from other Toads in even more ways than that. I was able to sit down for an interview with Raini, a female Toad, and her husband Raz, a male Toad.

To most Toads, Raini and Raz's romantic relationship seems strange. As members of an asexually reproducing species, most Toads don't experience romantic attraction. But Raini and Raz met each other and discovered they were different.

"It was hard enough to get people to accept that I'm a guy, and not agender," Raz said. "But when I met Raini and fell in love with her, I guess a lot of people felt it was just too much. My parent and siblings said our relationship was disgusting and unnatural."

Raini patted Raz's hand. "My friends and family were a little more accepting. They already knew that I identify as a girl, and they dealt with that, so when I told them that I'd fallen in love, they just said I'd always been weird anyways so they shouldn't be too surprised. So they tried to be accepting, but still, they didn't really understand. A lot of people think that because Toads don't need to mate to reproduce and don't feel sexual attraction because of that, there's no reason we should be falling in love or getting married."

"Luckily, in Marrymore they allow anyone to get married," Raz said.

"I know Raz gave up a lot to be with me," Raini said, emotion in her voice.

"But it was worth it," Raz assured his partner. "I'd rather be with the Toad I love most in the world than have Toads in my life who don't accept me or want me to be happy and just want me to conform and suppress myself to please them."

"I just can't understand how Toads can be so cruel," Rani said. "We're not hurting anyone with our relationship! If it makes us happy, why does it bother them so much?"

"And you do make me happy," Raz told his wife. "That's why I decided I wasn't going to hide our relationship anymore no matter what everyone else thought. I wanted to marry you and show the world that we're together, even if some won't ever accept it."

"And I'm grateful every day to have a wonderful husband like you," Rani said. "But I never wanted you to lose your family because of me."

"The way I look at it, I didn't lose a family, I gained one," Raz said. "Before we got married, I made a wish on a magical star to start a family as soon as possible. To me, marrying you was starting my family, because you are my family. And the wish worked—after all that trouble where we had to postpone the wedding because of Mack's invasion, and then the wedding being ruined by that crazy Booster, in the end we were finally able to get married, and it was a lovely ceremony. I've been happy ever since, because I'm with my real family now."

"That's so beautiful, Raz," Rani said, clutching onto his hand. "I'm so lucky to have someone like you."

I congratulated Rani and Raz on the marriage and asked how they first fell in love.

"You know, at first I had no idea what I was feeling," Rani said. "I was never taught to expect that it could be possible for me to fall in love. I knew it was something other species like humans and Koopas did, but I didn't think it was possible for it to happen to me. I'm so glad it did, though! Despite all the trouble, being with Raz has made me happier than I've ever been. It's great that most Toads are perfectly happy without romance in their lives, but being in a romantic relationship with Raz is what makes me happy."

Raz smiled. "I was a little confused about my feelings at first, too. But somehow, I knew it was something more than friendship with Raini. Something about her just made me want the kind of relationship you hear about between Koopas who get married. At first I didn't know exactly what it was, but I knew it was special."

"I didn't even know it was possible for Toads to fall in love," Raini said. "Some people still try to convince us we're just confused and what we have can't be real. But I know in my heart that it is."

"Since we got married and went public with our relationship, I've heard of some other Toads who fell in love with each other," Raz said. "I'm glad we can be open so other Toads who are different in this way know that there are others like them out there and that they can be happy."

"I thought romance might be hard because I didn't have much context for it, growing up among Toads who just don't do romantic relationships," Raini said. "I thought I might not even know what to do. But with Raz, it's actually easy. Somehow, everything just feels natural."

"Speaking of romance, we should head out!" Raz said.

Raz explained that he and Raini like to go on a weekly romantic date, and they had something special planned that night. I thanked them for their time and told them to have fun.

It's interesting for me as a human to think about the fact that, in human society, a pair like Raz and Raini—a male and a female in a romantic relationship with each other—would be considered standard, but in Toad society, their gender identities and romantic orientation is out of the ordinary and considered by many to be deviant.

I hope that as time goes on, progress continues to be made and more Toads can understand that there's nothing wrong with it if some Toads identify with a gender or want to form romantic relationships.

But Toads aren't the only species that has an interesting situation as far as gender, romance and sexuality go.

Another interesting case is Yoshis, an all-female species of reptile. All Yoshis lay eggs and are biologically female.

Interestingly, this species has a sort of analogue in the human world in the form of whiptail lizards. Whiptail lizards are also an all-female species and they reproduce through parthenogenesis, a process in which an egg develops into an embryo without being fertilized by sperm.

Whiptail lizards are sometimes referred to as an "all-lesbian species," as the females do still mate with each other despite not needing to do so in order to reproduce. Though they can reproduce alone, females who mate with other females produce a greater number of eggs than females who don't. This is because of the hormonal cycles of the females, which change when they mate with each other.

Yoshis function in a very similar way. As an all-female species, they're able to reproduce through parthenogenesis without the need for a male. Like whiptail lizards, Yoshis often mate with other Yoshis, which increases the number of eggs they're able to produce.

So among Yoshis, unlike Toads, forming romantic and sexual relationships is common. Yoshis are even known to sometimes mate with other reptilian species—another similarity they have to whiptail lizards.

In fact, the most famous Yoshi in the land, Therapoda Yoshisaur Munchakoopas (usually referred to as Yoshi for short), is in a relationship with Catherine, who is a Birdo, a different species of reptile. Yoshi is well-known for being a good pal of the beloved hero Mario, and for helping the Mario brothers and their friends on many of their adventures.

Though Yoshi's relationship with Catherine is considered normal in Yoshi society since inter-species relationships aren't unusual for Yoshis, there is something different about Yoshi. Much like humans and Toads, Yoshis don't necessarily have to identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.

Unlike most of the egg-laying females in the species, Yoshi identifies as male. Yoshi doesn't mind producing eggs, especially since these are often helpful to Mario and his other friends; Yoshi just wants to be recognized as male despite the eggs he lays.

Being transgender is something Yoshi has in common with his girlfriend Catherine.

As opposed to Yoshis, which have only one biological sex, Birdos have three of them. There are the female pink Birdos who produce eggs, the male green Birdos who produce only fire, and also a third sex, the red Birdos who produce both eggs and fire.

Catherine (who often simply goes by Birdo) originally started life as a green Birdo, but she knew early on she was truly meant to be a pink Birdo.

Birdos are native to Subcon, also known as the World of Dreams since the world is made from the dreams of the denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. Being a world made from dreams, magic exists in Subcon and anything one dreams can become reality. Because of that, Catherine was able to use magic to transition from a green Birdo to a pink one. Now she spends most of her time in the Mushroom Kingdom, where Yoshi and her other friends recognize her as the girl she is.

While relationships like the one between Yoshi and Birdo are considered normal by members of their respective species, not all species consider it acceptable for their members to date outside of their own species.

For some people, even though they're not transgender and their romantic and sexual orientation is the same as most other members of their own species, they still face social censure on account of the relationship they choose.

My best friend Princess Peach, a human, is in a relationship with a member of a different species. Her partner is a Koopa named Bowser. Bowser is the King of Koopas and the ruler of Dark Land.

Many would disapprove of their relationship, not only because they are of different species, but also because they are the rulers of rival kingdoms that have warred with each other in the past. Because of this, they feel obligated to hide their relationship. However, Peach and Bowser agreed to sit down and talk with me about their relationship for this article, as the article will only be published in the human world, so citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom won't be aware of anything that is printed here.

I asked Peach about the struggles of hiding her relationship from everyone in our society, and the lengths to which she's gone to do so.

"It's definitely been difficult," Peach said. "I have to keep pretending to get kidnapped by Bowser just to spend some time with him without anyone suspecting anything! Sometimes I've even had to dodge my own security team just to make sure the fake kidnapping can happen. But so far, I don't think anyone has caught on to what's really happening."

"Those fools will believe anything!" Bowser let out a roar of laughter. "My Peach is far stronger than that pathetic plumber. She can do everything he can do, and she can float on top of that! I don't get why that idiot Mario is so famous for his jump when Peach can jump farther than him with her floating ability! Why would anyone think she needed to be rescued by that wimp? If I had ever actually tried to kidnap Peach and she didn't want to go with me, she would have stomped me flat!"

Peach giggled. "Oh, Mario is a nice guy. He just wants to help. Still, I'm glad he eventually got over his crush on me and got together with Rosalina."

Bowser let out a snort. "That puny plumber never had a chance with my princess! Peach needs a real King like me."

I asked Peach and Bowser how they first met and fell in love.

"Well, when I first met Bowser, he really was trying to kidnap me," Peach said. "That first time, I went along willingly because I found him…"

Bowser raised one bushy, orange eyebrow. "Awesome?"

Peach laughed a little. "Interesting! I just wanted to see what he was all about. I'd been bored, and something about being kidnapped seemed exciting. I knew I could get myself out of it if I actually needed to. But Bowser surprised me by treating me really well. He didn't treat me like a prisoner—he put me in a nice room with everything I needed, and even made sure the room was done up in pink since he knew it was my favorite color."

Bowser grinned, showing his large fangs. "You know I've always said that nothing makes me happier than a smile from you, Peach. Of course I would treat you right."

"For a while, I just kept letting Bowser kidnap me, and over time we got to know each other and became friends," Peach said. "I first found out he had feelings for me when I read in his diary about how happy I made him and how much he hoped I liked him."

"Arg! That was so embarrassing!" Bowser said. "I still can't believe I left my secret diary lying out!"

"It was so sweet, though!" Peach said. "I always knew you were soft inside despite that big, tough exterior!"

"Sure, I'm a cuddly guy!" Bowser agreed. "But only for you!"

"Don't forget Junior. You're a wonderful father," Peach said. Peach then sighed. "Of course, ever since I had Junior, hiding our relationship has been even more stressful."

"I know it's hard to keep your relationship a secret when you have a child together," I said.

I remember when Peach gave birth to Bowser, Jr. Even though she was happy to have a child with the one she loves, she also went through a lot of angst knowing she couldn't be there for her son all the time. Junior stays with Bowser in Dark Land, while Peach lives in the Mushroom Kingdom and has to sneak away or orchestrate fake kidnappings in order to spend time with her son and partner.

"Of course, Junior knows Peach is his mama," Bowser said. "And all the morons in our kingdoms still don't suspect a thing even though our kid always calls her 'Mama' right in front of everyone!"

"It would be a disaster if my people in the Mushroom Kingdom found out I'd had a child with a Koopa, and the King of Dark Land no less," Peach said. "Most Toads have a lot of prejudice against Koopas because of the past wars between our lands."

Bowser scoffed. "Well, they're idiots. I still think you should agree to marry me and we should make our relationship public! After all, we're royalty, so we should be able to do what we want. The mushroom people will just have to deal with it!"

Peach smiled. "I've told you, I'm not ready for that yet. But maybe someday."

Bowser groaned. "I've asked her to marry me so many times! But I know eventually she'll say yes!"

"We're still young," Peach said. "I know things will work out eventually. At first, I wasn't sure if I should embark on a relationship with Bowser, because I knew it was considered forbidden for us to be together. But once I found out Bowser's most precious memories were his memories of me, I knew he truly loved me and I couldn't deny my feelings anymore and had to give us a chance. Even though it's been hard and we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like, I haven't regretted it."

"Of course you haven't!" Bower said. "But isn't it about time for us to scram? We've only got an hour before that kart race Luigi invited us to, and I want to spend some time alone with you before it starts!"

Peach agreed it was time for them to get going, and I thanked her and hugged her goodbye. I've also been invited to the kart race, so I told the couple I would see them there. Despite the tensions between the Mushroom Kingdom and Dark Land, events such as races, tennis matches, golf tournaments and board games are often held that bring together the leaders and citizens of the rival kingdoms for fun competitions.

"Mwa, ha, ha! I'm going to crush you in the race, Daisy! You and everyone else!" Bowser said in parting. "Really, I don't know why people think Peach would always agree to play games with me if she hated me and I was really kidnapping her all the time!"

With that, the two headed out together. They were the last interview I had scheduled for today, since I need to start getting ready for the race. I look forward to seeing them and my other friends there, as well as my boyfriend Luigi. I know I'm very lucky to have a relationship that is accepted by society, so Luigi and I don't have to face the same kinds of struggles many others in our lands do.

I feel truly blessed to live in a realm where expressions of gender and sexuality are so varied. As a nonbinary person, I feel comfortable living in such a diverse society, and I know some of my human friends here feel the same way. For example, my friend Waluigi is a bisexual human who has recently started a romantic relationship with his close friend Wario, who is also a human male. If he were living in the human world, he might face prejudice because of his sexuality, but in the Mushroom Kingdom, nobody is bothered by humans being gay or bisexual.

But I plan to keep doing research about the various ways gender, sexuality and romantic attraction are expressed in my realm. There are many other interesting things to explore that I haven't touched on, such as the Yurarin, a seahorse-like being that is native to the Muda Kingdom, which is one of the kingdoms in Sarasaland. Much like seahorses in the human world, the males are the ones who get pregnant. Not long ago, Dragonzamasu, the king of Muda, was pregnant, and he gave birth to several young Yuarin. Though this is entirely normal for his species, many other species would consider it strange for a male king to become pregnant and give birth.

Another interesting case I'd like to learn more about is that of Bob-ombs, a species of sapient bomb that is native to Subcon but often found throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. Nobody is quite sure how Bob-ombs reproduce. Bob-ombs come in two colors: pink and black. The pink ones seem to be female and the black ones seem to be male, and it is known that they occasionally form romantic relationships with each other. However, relationships between pink and black Bob-ombs are rare due to the fact that the pink Bob-ombs live separately from the black ones, and the two societies have entirely different cultures and ethos. Pink Bob-ombs describe themselves as "peace-loving" and rarely choose to explode, while black Bob-ombs have a more warlike society and often attack by detonating themselves. The two societies remain separate from each other and often find themselves on different sides of conflicts. The fact that two genders of the same species live apart from each other and have such different societies and values is a unique situation.

I would also like to learn more about the Shadow Sirens. Though not much is known about this ghost-like species, I do know that Mario's friend Vivian is a transgender woman of this species. It would seem that any sapient species, regardless of the individual biology of that species, can have members who are transgender.

So, there are still many things to explore as far as the fascinating and differing ways that various species in these realms outside of the human world experience gender, sexual orientation and romance. I hope that my fellow humans who have never been able to visit these other realms have been able to learn something from this article about the societies of other species and the interesting ways each of them deals with the issues of gender identity and sexuality.

AN: I decided that Daisy's last name is Sarasa since she's the princess of Sarasaland. Daisy being nonbinary and Waluigi being bisexual are just my own headcanons, but most of the stuff in this fic is based on analysis of the games.

I started thinking about the different ways gender and sexuality work for various species in the Mario series after Nintendo said, in response to a question about whether Toad and Toadette are a couple, that they're just friends because Toads are an asexual species and don't have genders. This makes sense, considering they're mushroom people and some of the games have mentioned them reproducing through spores. But even though Toads don't have biological sexes, obviously at least some do identify as a gender, considering Toadette is a girl, so that would actually make her canonically trans, while most Toads are canonically nonbinary (agender).

After that I started thinking about other things, like the fact that Yoshi uses he/him pronouns even though he lays eggs, so he's probably trans as well. Of course we know Birdo is trans since that's canon and was first stated in the original Mario 2 manual back in the '80s, and various Mario sports games have said that Yoshi and Birdo are a couple. Vivian is also canonically trans, as that was stated in the Paper Mario game she appeared in.

I thought it would be interesting to write a fic exploring the ways gender and sexuality are different for these species, such as Toads who are largely agender and aromantic, even though there are some exceptions like Toadette, who is a girl, and the Toads Raz and Raini, who are a romantic couple from Mario RPG. For Toads, the ones who are alloromantic or who identify as a gender would be the queer ones. I thought Yoshis might be an all-female species since all the Yoshis we ever see lay eggs, though obviously some such as Yoshi do identify as male.

Lots of the species in the Mario universe have unique setups for the way gender and sexuality would work for them, so I just thought it would be interesting to write a fic exploring that.

In case you don't know, Catherine is actually what Birdo is called in Japan, and Yoshi's canon full name is Therapoda Yoshisaur Munchakoopas. The part of the fic about Bowser and Peach is largely based on things that have actually happened in the games, mostly from the Paper Mario series.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!