How Holding Objects Really Works

I explain how holding objects really works in SM64. Here is a complete summary:

When Mario grabs at an object and appears to hold it, it's actually just a clever illusion. The object instead becomes invisible and intangible, in state called "limbo". In limbo, the object won't interact with or influence anything in the real world. Simultaneously when the object is sent to limbo, Mario's given a "ticket" that looks exactly like the object he grabbed at. Furthermore, when Mario releases the ticket, the object will come back from limbo to the real world on the same frame the ticket disappears. And so, since the ticket appears right when the object is sent to limbo, and since the object comes back from limbo right when the ticket disappears, it creates the illusion that the ticket IS the object, but that's false.

Since the ticket is its own entity separate from the object, it needs its own coordinates to render at. Thus, the HOLP is a variable specifically designed to be where the ticket renders. The HOLP is used as the bridge for the transition from ticket to object, since the object needs to know where to appear in the real world so as to maintain the illusion that the ticket was the object. If Mario throws the ticket, the object appears at the HOLP but translated 32 units forward in Mario's facing direction. If Mario drops the ticket, the object appears at the HOLP laterally but at Mario's current height. More info on this here: https://youtu.be/lbgYAyzaT8w. Additionally, if the ticket doesn't render because of any number of glitches, then the HOLP simply won't bother to update. We can take advantage of this by having the object transition back to the real world at an old HOLP value.

Cloning is a glitch where we grab at an object and it unloads after the grab is established (frame 3) but before the object is sent to limbo (frame 6). Since unloaded objects aren't processed, the object is never sent to limbo, and so Mario ends up with a ticket for an object not in limbo. The whole point of sending objects to limbo is to keep them safe and inactive so they won't unload while we're supposedly holding them. But since this doesn't happen, any object can now load into the slot represented by the ticket, and so it will appear as though Mario is holding those objects.

Handsfree teleporting is a glitch where Mario teleports while holding a ticket. Unlike all other ways of releasing a ticket, this way doesn't redeem the ticket, but instead discards the ticket without affecting the corresponding object. Consequently, the object remains in limbo, but Mario no longer has its ticket. Thus, Mario becomes unable to retrieve the object from limbo and it's stuck there forever.

However, the exception to this is bob-bombs, since bob-ombs are unique in that they remain tangible in limbo. Consequently, bob-ombs can be manually grabbed straight out of limbo. The bob-bombs' tangibility in limbo also explains many bob-omb-related idiosyncrasies, such as why Mario can push goombas and detonate other bob-ombs while holding a bob-omb. It also explains why Mario experiences backwards momentum while holding a bloated bob-omb,
since the bob-omb's bloated hitbox is large enough so that it overlaps with Mario's hitbox. Hence, the bob-omb's hitbox will push Mario back, then update close to Mario again, then push Mario back, then update close to Mario again, and this repeats. The result is that Mario experiences constant backwards momentum.

P.S. The word "limbo" is defined as:
- a place or state of oblivion to which persons or things are regarded as being relegated when cast aside, forgotten, past, or out of date
- an intermediate, transitional, or midway state or place
- a place or state of imprisonment or confinement
Hence, it seemed like a fitting name to describe the realm that held objects are confined to as they wait for Mario to release the ticket so that they may return to the real world

Corrections:
(1) I said the grab is established on frame 3 of the grab, but it's actually established on frames 4 and 5. My mistake.

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