What's Up with Mario?

Mario's been acting a little strange lately, being slightly calmer and quieter than usual and seemingly sneaking off on occasion, and Meggy and SMG4 are understandably worried considering it's only been a few weeks since they got him back from being accidentally reset. So, they do what any reasonable, mature adults would do in this situation; follow him around in secret to see what he's been up to. This is despite Luigi reassuring them he knows what's going on and that it's nothing to worry about (he doesn't actually tell them what it is, since it's not his to explain).

For most of the episode their investigation seems entirely pointless, as all they see is Mario doing mundane, everyday errands with the expected Stupid Mario Twist. They're about ready to call the whole thing off...at least until he meets up with Daisy at a diner and they hang out and just talk, with it being obvious that they do this regularly. It's especially jarring since they're both just acting like regular people, no memes or chaos in sight. And then after lunch they go to what's apparently a therapy group for people whose lives have been drastically changed by the arrival of memes.

The two investigators call it off after that, finally feeling like they've pried into something they really shouldn't have. Later that day Mario shows up at the castle and the two of them try to admit what they were doing and apologize for spying on him, only for him to tell them that he already knew they were there, and he isn't mad since he would do (and has done) pretty much the same thing in their position. Then he explains what's going on.

Apparently, after the Mario Reset Arc, his old Canon personality and the Stupid Meme personality he's has for the past 12 years started to merge, and it threw him off-balance for a bit, which is why he's been acting weird for a while. He was hanging out with Daisy because seeing Shadow Mario's team during the WOTFI made him feel a bit guilty about letting those relationships fall apart, and he's been working on reconnecting with any of his old pre-meme friends who are open to it (so, at least for now, definitely not Peach, Toad or Yoshi). And the therapy group is something Daisy introduced him to, because quite frankly he is the Poster Boy for "had your entire life and personality upended when the memes showed up and only really got things in order years later." Not to say he doesn't like who he is now or what his life has become, but it was still a massive change with some pretty nasty consequences.

As for why he didn't tell anyone, it's partly because he didn't think it was that big a deal and partly because he didn't want anyone to worry about him. Luigi knew since they live together and he's also been trying to reconnect with their old canon friends, though he's got a lot less ground to cover than Mario.

(not really sure how to end this)