#so technically luigi could have still had a chance to live even if he did die due to falling from the cliff

[jaybleu25]

Hypothetically speaking, if Luigi died when Mimi threw him off that cliff, would Mario wear Luigi’s hat as tribute/a way to honor his brother? My friend wants to know because she’s making an AU called”Greenfall”, which is your AU if Luigi died at Mimi’s hands.

Technically speaking, the only way Luigi would've died due to that fall is if it happened at a different cliff or somewhere else entirely, due to the fact that the cliff E. Gadd's lab is on is surrounded by a foresty area at the bottom of it (and trees broke Luigi's fall somewhat, which is why he survived).

However, if Luigi did somehow die then, I don't think Mario would wear his brother's hat simply because he'd want to keep it safe from any further damage. It's the one thing he has left of his brother; he doesn't want to lose it.

[anomander-dragnipurake]

Haunted Castle

I don't remember what sparked the idea but basically this fic is based off an idea I had for what might be a cool spinoff or something in the Luigi's Mansion series. We see Bowser as an almost good guy sometimes so I think it'd be neat for him to be the person being saved for once. It's never going to happen of course but I still think it'd be neat.

This was supposed to be a quick drabble just setting up the idea, mostly just as a way to sharing the idea, but then it became 2k words long. It's still just the setup for now but I might continue it, I haven't decided yet.

~

It started with just the doorbell ringing. It set Polterpup off into a fit of excited barking but Luigi ignored it. He wasn’t excepting anyone and therefore it couldn’t be anyone he wanted to talk to. But then after maybe a minute, it rang again, quickly follow by another a few seconds later before whoever it was descended into just spamming it.

With a sigh, Luigi put aside his book and careful to avoid being visible through the front window, snuck over to the door. Peeking through the peephole he saw… nothing. But the bell was still going off and Polterpup was going absolutely mad about it. Before he could pull away to attempt to stealthily peek through the window…

“I know you’re in there. I can hear your dog barking. If you don’t let me in, I’m going to bust through your window.”  It was muffled by the door but it was still distinctly the voice of a child. It was also familiar, Luigi had heard it multiple times before, though he couldn’t quite place where right now.

With that in mind and not wanting to deal with a child trying to bust through his window, Luigi put a hand on Polterpup’s head to finally calm him before answering the door at last. … Bowser Jr. was on the other side, one clawed hand still raised, pressing the doorbell.

“Finally,” he said as he pulled his arms in to cross them over his bandana, puffing out his chest while he did so. “About darn time. Now uh… uh…” he faltered deflating a little before with a growl he kind of just invited himself in, striding into the middle of Luigi’s living room as if he owned the place.

There wasn’t much Luigi could do to stop him short of using physical force which he didn’t want to do if he didn’t have to. So with a sigh, he closed the front door and turned to face the intruder. “What do you want?”

Whatever it was, he clearly hadn’t planned what he was going to say before getting here as he looked off to the side in silent thought for a few seconds. In the hallway behind him, Gooigi stepped out into the living room. They stayed silent though so Luigi let them be.

“King Boo took over Papa’s castle,” Bowser Jr. finally said, regaining his confidence as he looked back at Luigi. “And you’re going come with me to take it back and beat him up.”

Luigi was shaking his head ‘no’ before Bowser Jr. even finished speaking. He even shook his hands ‘no’ for more emphasis. “No, no, no. I don’t do ghosts.” They were scary and he was done with scary things. He was going to have to call up E. Gadd later and scold him for losing King Boo again. … Assuming he had, this being Bowser Jr. meant it could theoretically be a trap.

Bowser Jr. frowned at him. “You’re a ghost hunter though. You’ve beat up King Boo three times now. Also, I didn’t ask, I said you’re going to and so you are.”

“No!” Luigi was proud of the amount of force he was able to put into it. He was done with scary things and he was not going to take orders like that. “Ask someone else.”

Bowser Jr. faltered again, his shoulders sagging a little as he made a visible effort to maintain a confident demeanor. “But… you’re the only ghost hunter in either this kingdom or my dad’s. So….” he growled, balling his hands into fists at his sides, “you can’t say ‘no’.”

Luigi crossed his arms and turned his head away. “I’m sure that’s not true.” There was no way, right? He knew from experience that it was a rather lucrative endeavor so people who weren’t scared of ghost and wanted to make some good mood should flock to it. “You can ask E. Gadd. He’s not really a ghost hunter, he just studies them. But I’m sure he knows some ghost hunters you could ask. I can even call him for you.”  Luigi wasn’t a heartless monster so there was no way he could send Bowser Jr. away completely and he needed to call up E. Gadd anyway. Before he could pull out his phone to do so though…

“E. Gadd’s obviously the first place I went. He’s the one who told me to go to you because you’re supposed to be the best and only ghost hunter left alive. He even gave me your address. So you have to do it because… you just have to, okay?”

Luigi refused to believe he was the ‘only ghost hunger left alive’ because that meant the profession – if it could be called that – was even more dangerous than he’d thought. Just thinking about it made him want to go even less. “I can’t.”

The last of Bowser Jr.’s confidence vanished. “But… but… what am I supposed to do then? He turned Dad and Kamek and all my siblings and… everyone into paintings! I only got away because I hid in the closet like a stupid coward because Dad told me to.”

And now Luigi felt bad, great. He maybe shouldn’t feel bad for someone who was technically an enemy but regardless of anything else Bowser Jr. was a kid who’d witnessed his entire family and probably everyone he’d ever really known get turned into paintings by King Boo. Given those circumstances, it was hard not to feel bad for him and maybe even a little tempted to help him. But… Luigi had already said ‘no’ and he didn’t like ghosts.

He looked back over at Gooigi, still standing in the hall watching. They nodded and gave him a thumbs up. What did that mean in this context? Were they telling him to say ‘yes’ to Bowser Jr.’s ask for help? Or were they approving his ‘no’?

“Let me have you ghost hunting stuff then.” Bowser Jr. stomped his foot and squared up his shoulders as he looked up at Luigi. “I don’t need you, I can just do it myself.

If he wasn’t a child, Luigi probably would’ve handed over the Poltergust and all its attachments with little argument – who was he to stand in the way of someone else catching ghosts, especially in a situation like that? But villainous Bowser’s child or not, he was still just a kid and sending a kid off to fight a castle full of ghosts, boos, and King Boo himself all on his own was just wrong. … And sending him off to look for another ghost hunter when neither of them knew where to even start looking for one was less than ideal as well.

Maybe he could send him off with Gooigi. But could Gooigi handle everything on their own? They were so fragile and their weakness being liquid, made them easy to defeat. An inch-deep puddle of water that couldn’t be navigated around or over would be enough to make it impossible for them to be of any help to anyone. Which meant Bowser Jr. would have to be helping them potentially the whole way which was still asking a kid to run around in a castle full of ghosts and boos, most likely culminating in a fight against King Boo himself.

Oh dear, Luigi’s conscious wasn’t going to let him out of this, was it? … Darn it! Why’d E. Gadd have to go and lose King Boo again? One would think he’d learn from King Boo’s prior escapes resulting in Luigi having to deal with him again. And speaking of that, he was going to go after Mario and Luigi again for sure because he was not the type to let a grudge go. So to protect Mario before he got turned into a painting again and to probably protect himself from a trap later down the line as well, Luigi should go take care of King Boo now when King Boo shouldn’t be expecting him, increasing his chances at another victory. It was the smart thing to do but… Luigi really didn’t want to.

It was so unfair. He just wanted to be done with ghosts and other scary things for forever. Wasn’t facing his worst fear three times more than enough? And… and… he wanted to stick to his guns. He’d already said ‘no’. … Maybe instead he could send Gooigi and someone else, like Mario. Yeah sure, Mario didn’t have any real experience in dealing with proper hauntings or in using ghost hunting equipment but he could learn, right? So that would maybe probably be fine?

“Let’s a-go!”

Luigi looked up to see that Gooigi had apparently left to retrieve the Poltergust from their room which they now carried in front of him. Any question about what their intention might be was erased as the beelined for Luigi with it.

“What is that?” Bowser Jr. asked, taking a step back as Gooigi passed by him.

“Gooigi!” Gooigi introduced themself, twisting their head to look at him in a way that would’ve been unnatural if they weren’t made of goo. Their head snapped back into proper orientation as they reached Luigi. “Let’s a-go.”

“You want us to help him, don’t you?” Luigi asked as if there were actually any question to it.

Gooigi nodded. Of course they did, they’d been brought into existence for the sole purpose of hunting ghosts so it would’ve been odd if they hadn’t wanted to help someone who came to them with his ghost problem.

“You can go. You don’t need me, right? You can ask Mario to go with you to make sure you don’t get into any trouble with water or anything.” And that way Luigi could stay home and not deal with a bunch of ghosts.

Expressionless as always, Gooigi didn’t reply. Instead, they walked around behind him and… pushed the Poltergust to his back. They held it there with one hand as they used their other to maneuver Luigi’s arms into the straps. He could’ve resisted but didn’t because this wasn’t a battle he could win, was it? His conscious, logic, and Gooigi trying to get him to do it made it hard to stick to his ‘no’. Which was not fair at all but there was nothing he could do about it.

“Let’s a-go,” Gooigi said again when they were done, looking at Bowser Jr.

“Uh… what’s going on?” he asked, understandably a bit confused. “Are you two going to help me save my dad now?”

Gooigi nodded and pointed to the door.

“Sweet! Let’s go!” With a grin that made him look even more like his father and namesake, Bowser Jr. hopped into motion, heading for the door. Gooigi followed, tugging on Luigi’s wrist to get him to come along too. And the final nail in the coffin was an excited bark from Polterpup before he grabbed at Luigi’s pantleg to pull him along in the right direction.

Outside on the front lawn was Bowser Jr’s flying clown car. It was a squeeze but the three of them plus Polterpup managed to get into it. The squeeze lessened a bit when Gooigi went back up into the Poltergust’s tank on Luigi’s back.

“Uh… that’s weird,” Bowser Jr. said. “It looks kind of like you but … what is it?”

Luigi sighed. “They’re name is Gooigi. E. Gadd made them to help me hunt ghosts. They’re made of goo and melt when wet.”

“Um… okay. You like for reals going to help me save my dad now though?”

“Yes.” Luigi still would rather not but he wasn’t being given much of a choice. It wasn’t like he hadn’t dealt with hordes of ghosts before though so hopefully he could get this over with fast and maybe convince E. Gadd to get some tighter security protocols on King Boo to hopefully keep him contained this time.

“Awesome!” Bowser Jr. said as he started up the clown car. With the added weight its ascent was a bit more sluggish and unsure than it probably should’ve been but once they got up in the air, there seemed to be little issue as he turned them towards in the direction Bowser’s castle presumably lay in.

“And uh… thank you,” he added with an awkward grin as he looked back at Luigi. Well at least he was being openly grateful now. Bowser and company better be grateful too otherwise Luigi was going to be real mad at them. He’ll have earned the right for some gratitude after this.

[bountyofbeads]

Italy’s Prime Minister Resigns, Turning Chaos Into Uncertainty https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/20/world/europe/italy-pm-giuseppe-conte-resign.html

"If Mr. Salvini(PUTIN PUPPET) does get the election he so craves, and if he performs as well as polls suggest, he could consolidate his grip on power and cement his reputation as the most powerful — and for critics, destructive — nationalist leader in Europe."

Italy’s Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, Resigns, Turning Chaos Into Uncertainty

By Jason Horwitz | Published August 20, 2019 11:03 AM ET | New York Times | Posted August 20, 2019 11:44 AM ET |

Leer en español

ROME — The most nationalist, populist and dysfunctional Italian government in decades collapsed on Tuesday as the country’s prime minister announced his resignation in the face of a mutinous power play by the hard-line and increasingly popular interior minister, Matteo Salvini.

“The interior minister followed personal and party interests,” by calling for elections and pulling his support from the government, said Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte as he addressed an extraordinary session of Parliament that interrupted the usually sacrosanct Italian summer recess.

With Mr. Salvini seated beside him with raised chin, Mr. Conte took aim, accusing him of “political opportunism,” disregard for Italy’s institutions and thrusting the country into a “vortex of political uncertainty and financial instability.”

Circumventing a confidence vote that Mr. Salvini had promoted, Mr. Conte said he would go to the Quirinal Hill and tender his resignation to Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella.

Mr. Salvini responded, saying that he would do everything the same again and did not fear the judgment of the Italians, unlike others in the Parliament who were simply frightened that elections would lead them to lose their jobs. “We aren’t scared,” he said.

Mr. Mattarella will now begin the process of consulting with party leaders to see if a new majority can form yet another Italian government. If not, he is likely to call for early elections, potentially as soon as October.

The demise of the coalition between the hard-right, anti-migrant League party, led by Mr. Salvini, and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement thrust Italy into a renewed period of crisis and political chaos only 445 days after the unlikely partners took power.

During the government’s short tenure, the nationalist-populist coalition struck fear into the heart of the European establishment, with its antagonism toward the European Union, its flouting of the bloc’s budgetary laws, its demonization of migrants, and its embrace of President Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia and his strongman politics.

While expressing regret that the government could not continue to compile achievements, which its critics consider all but nonexistent, Mr. Conte vented his anger at Mr. Salvini.

With the leader of the Five Star Movement, Luigi Di Maio, hardly able to suppress his glee as he sat on Mr. Conte’s left, the prime minister accused Mr. Salvini of exploiting Catholic symbols on the campaign trail and of failing to answer accusations that his League party had secretly sought funding from Russia.

He questioned Mr. Salvini’s failure to leave the government despite expressing his lack of confidence in it.

“Dear Matteo, pushing this crisis you have assumed a great responsibility,” Mr. Conte said, adding that he “was worried” by Mr. Salvini’s request for full powers and for his supporters to fill the country’s squares in protest.

Mr. Salvini and his Five Star counterpart, Mr. Di Maio, turned the country into a social media reality show, incessantly speechifying and bickering via Facebook Live or Twitter over their opposite positions on infrastructure projects, taxes, regional autonomy and even beach holidays.

In the meantime, the country became isolated in Europe and its financial situation darkened.

Growth hovered around 0 percent and the government proved paralyzed or ineffectual in the face of dizzying youth unemployment and public debt of more than 2 trillion euros — about $2.2 trillion, more than 130 percent of Italy’s annual economic output. The yield spread between Italian and German 10-year benchmark bonds, considered a metric of risk for investment in Italy, has stayed high through much of their tenure.

But any relief expressed by critics of the government could be short lived.

If Mr. Salvini does get the election he so craves, and if he performs as well as polls suggest, he could consolidate his grip on power and cement his reputation as the most powerful — and for critics, destructive — nationalist leader in Europe.

It is with that goal of elections in mind that Mr. Salvini, and not the opposition, called for a no-confidence vote in the government.

Over the last year, Mr. Salvini’s popularity has doubled to nearly 40 percent, considered a ceiling in Italy’s fragmented politics, as he has consistently outflanked and embarrassed the inexperienced, and often incompetent, Five Star Movement.

Five Star’s support halved, making elections perilous for its members’ continued employment in Parliament. This month Mr. Salvini used the government’s paralysis on infrastructure projects as a rationale to announce the death of the government — “the majority is no more,” he said — as he called for new elections. “Let’s hear from the voters, quickly,” he said.

But for the usually politically adroit Mr. Salvini, it turned out to be a rare, and potentially costly, misstep. For all his public support, Parliament amounted to a parallel universe where endangered and defunct forces still held sway.

The Five Star Movement, feeling betrayed by Mr. Salvini and dreading elections that would likely send many of its members of Parliament packing, has made itself open to an alliance with the Democratic Party. But whether they can overcome their mutual animosity and differences to form a majority is anyone’s guess.

For years, Mr. Di Maio and former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, still a power broker inside the Democratic Party, have been sworn enemies. Now, however, they may find common cause in avoiding new elections, staying in Parliament and depriving Mr. Salvini of his power and campaign-friendly perch as interior minister.

Mr. Salvini — who had triggered the crisis by calling for a confidence vote against Mr. Conte — seemed to realize that early elections may not be in the offing, and spent the last days backtracking and expressing his willingness to support Mr. Conte in the hopes that the government he tried to collapse would instead stand, and with him in it.

In a dramatic reversal, Italy’s most popular, and now chastened, politician was reduced to trying to make up with the Five Star Movement to avoid the crisis. Instead of becoming prime minister himself, speculation in Rome focused on him supporting, as a peace offering, Mr. Di Maio as prime minister.

On Tuesday, Mr. Conte did not even give him the chance and resigned before the no confidence vote.

The Five Star Movement, with which the nominally independent Mr. Conte is much more closely associated, instead wanted to end the relationship with the League.

The Democratic Party’s Mr. Renzi, who had spent the last years vowing never to join forces with Five Star, accusing it of spreading hate, misinformation and a dangerous anti-expertise ethos, changed his tune dramatically. For him, an alliance with Five Star may now provide an oxygen tank for a remarkable political resuscitation.

Mr. Renzi wasn’t the only Italian political figure reanimated by the crisis. It also jolted energy into the moribund Forza Italia party of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Eager to avoid elections that would erase their representation in Parliament, the party is considering lending support to a Five Star and Democratic Party government with a more Forza Italia-friendly prime minister.

To the chagrin of Mr. Salvini, Mr. Mattarella, the head of state who is imbued with enormous powers during a government crisis, also had his motives for avoiding early elections, which the Italian Constitution says should be a last resort.

If Italy doesn’t approve budget cuts to balance out its expensive programs and extraordinary debt by Dec. 31, a financial safeguard mechanism will automatically raise value added tax on all purchases, devastating the spending power of Italian families.

If no new political majority forms, Mr. Mattarella can appeal to Parliament’s institutional powers, including the speakers of both houses, to try and form a government that can survive a confidence vote.

If such a government emerges, it would be empowered to pass a budget to avoid the tax hike. Another option is that Mr. Mattarella empowers a technical government of nonpartisan experts, which, once validated by a confidence vote, would also have the ability to pass a budget and govern.

If those options proved impossible, Mr. Mattarella could install a time-limited government to shepherd Italy through early elections, most likely in October or November, which would not have the time or latitude to prevent the tax hike.

In the meantime, Italy, already struggling financially with decreased influence abroad, finds itself in a mess of its own making.

[monsters-conquer-the-world]

10 Games

For Jack’s 10th birthday, Will got him a RetroPie.  Pretty cool, especially since it’s so easy to just dump a zillion games in there and let the kid go nuts.  But that’s a one-way ticked to analysis paralysis, so Will had a a super sick idea.  He asked me and Jess and some other friends to put together a list of 10 must-play classic/retro games and write a little bit about why we chose them.  As someone who loves video games and writing and lists, I was ALL ‘BOUT THAT.  

Now that Jack’s birthday has come and gone, I can share all the junk I wrote about these ten games that mean so much to me!  Check it out:

I love this idea.  I know the initial prompt was just "pick your favorites" but I couldn't help but impose a bunch of additional caveats. I know where this list is headed (and I have a pretty good idea of what games will pop up on the other lists)!  I could have easily listed off 10 Super NES games or 10 N64 games, but I wanted to hit a variety of consoles and franchises.  I would have liked to have hit a variety of genres and studios too, but I can't lie: I love platformers, and I love games by Nintendo.  It was challenging but rewarding to shave this list down to ten--a lot of old favorites and recent discoveries couldn't fit on the list, leaving these few.  The ones I've always treasured, the ones that stuck with me, the ones I memorized the music and sound effects to, starring the characters I love, exploring the worlds I wanted to live in.  Maybe you'll dig 'em too.

NES

Super Mario Bros. 3

I had spent some quality time with our Atari 2600 well before we ever had an NES in the house. I have fond memories of playing but not really understanding Pac-Man, Haunted House, and the bleak nuclear apocalypse masterpiece Missile Command.  But the first game I really wrapped my head around was Super Mario Bros. (and Duck Hunt, but that's not as relevant!).  Mario and Luigi's multi-screen adventures under a friendly blue sky expanded my concept of what a video game could even be--plus it was super fun, and Rochelle and I could both play it together! Super Mario Bros. 2 was technically more impressive, but so weird (and flanked by so many similar games) that it didn't rock my world like Mario 1 did (though I of course have a huge soft spot for it anyway).   Then Super Mario Bros. 3 came along and Mario had learned how to fly.  It was bigger, more beautiful, and stuffed to the brim with secrets and surprises! It was so exciting even Mom and Dad would play it with us.  Super Mario World is maybe the bigger, better, beautifuler game (and you can ride a FREAKING DINOSAUR), but I'll never forget the day I woke up to find my dad and sister playing this in the living room because we finally owned it.  It was too good to just keep renting! Kid Icarus

I didn't catch Kid Icarus the first time around.  I didn't even play it until high school, but I was inspired to track it down because of my love for Greek mythology and the Metroid series.  Kid Icarus takes place in a world heavily inspired by (but still distinctly different from) the swords, sandals, and sorcery epics of ancient Greece!  It's considered a "sister game" to the original Metroid, released around the same time by the same team, and the game shares a lot of the core elements that make Metroid so unique and awesome: eerily lonely, dangerous worlds to explore, a challenging beginning, player-empowering character growth, and a focus on exploring vast, often vertically-scrolling worlds with satisfying run'n'gun'n'jump gameplay. Kid Icarus borrows all the best stuff from Metroid, but tempers it with a slate of unique design choices: instead of one sprawling world, KI is split into discrete levels.  The first world is an ascent out of Hades with vertically oriented levels, the second world is a horizontal trek across the surface world, the third is another vertical ascent into the sky, and the finale is a horizontal, forced-scrolling shoot-em-up to reclaim the heavens!  Every fourth level is a sprawling, maze-like, Metroid-ish dungeon, capped off with a frantic boss fight!  Plus, Eggplant Wizards, credit cards, and RPG-style character upgrades!  They don't make 'em like this anymore!! Duck Tales

It's not as groundbreaking as Super Mario Bros. 1 or as innovative as Super Mario Bros. 3, but that doesn't change the fact that Duck Tales could possibly be my favorite NES platformer of all time. You don't need to know anything about or even like the original cartoon (or the comic books that birthed it) to appreciate the challenging charms of this hop'n'bop classic.  Duck Tales only has a handful of levels, but they're huge, full of hidden treasures, packed with alternate paths, swiss cheesed with secret passageways, and just gorgeous translations of Disney's lush cartoon worlds.   Getting to choose your own path through Duck Tales' roster of big beautiful worlds is reminiscent of the Mega Man games (also by Capcom). What really sets Duck Tales apart is controlling Scrooge.  He's spry for a septuagenarian billionaire, but his real talents lie in swinging and pogo-sticking off his cane!  It's delightful cartoon nonsense, but if you get the hang of it, it's also incredibly satisfying, allowing you to make some wild, death-defying maneuvers.  If you dig this and find yourself hungering for more bounce-centric gameplay, Shovel Knight takes Scrooge's cane, turns it into a shovel, and builds a deeply satisfying modern classic around it.  Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze finally gives Cranky a chance to shine as a playable character, and he straight-up jock's Scrooge's style, cane and all.  It rules.

Super NES

Yoshi's Island

The first thing you'll notice about Yoshi's Island is that it looks like it was drawn with crayons, markers, and colored pencils!  The second thing you'll notice is that Mario is a freaking baby!  It's an odd premise, but it all comes together in perhaps the best sidescroller ever made.  With Mario mustache-less and diaper-clad, this game puts you directly in control of Yoshi, and he is a joy to play as.  Hovering to extend his jump power, turning enemies into eggs and chucking them, and butt-stomping are Yoshi's primary tools of the trade, and they mix things up nicely.  This doesn't feel like "just another Mario," but it also feels right at home in the Mario pantheon. Beyond the Yosh-man's most basic maneuvers, there are some wild power-ups that turn Yoshi into a helicopter, a train that zips along in the background, a mole-tank, and more, plus special areas where Baby Mario gets superpowers and runs up walls and stuff!  Yoshi's Island is another magical micro-world, jam-packed with extremely clever and fun level design and very possibly the biggest and best boss fights of all time.   Ya gotta play this one.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong-Quest

I know I just talked about Yoshi's Island maybe being the best platformer of all time, but Donkey Kong Country 2 is right behind it, nipping at its heels.  DKC2 has a wildly different aesthetic, dropping you into beautifully computer-rendered pirate shipwrecks, janky-but-glitzy night time carnival rides, endless bramble patches, a skyscraper-sized beehive, haunted forests, and more!  They're not just beautiful to look at, but beautiful to listen to, because DKC2 features one of the all-time greatest video game soundtracks.  Maybe the greatest.  But this game ain't just another pretty face!

DKC2, like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Duck Tales, is stuffed to the gills with tricky little secrets and hidden areas and surprises.  This game doesn't just have secret levels, it has a secret WORLD.  This game doesn't just have a secret world, it has an entire secret ENDING.  The classically solid platforming is accompanied by a wealth of mine cart challenges, awesome animal buddies, mini-games, and enough level design variety to keep you coming back for every last hidden treasure.  

Super Metroid

Super Metroid doesn't just have secrets, it has mysteries.  This was the first game to ever actually scare me. The first one to ever creep me out.  And that just made me want to play it even more.  It feels lonely and dangerous.  Unlike the games earlier on this list, it is one HUGE and continuous world.  It is a world of incomprehensible alien horrors, ancient moldering ruins, and high-tech space-faring bio-terrorists.  This world, named Zebes, is a world where the sky continuously rains acid and almost every living thing inhabiting it wants to kill you.  Good thing you're Samus Aran, the toughest, smartest bounty hunter to ever clean up Space Pirate scum!

Samus explores this acid-drenched nightmare planet by running, gunning, and jumping... but also by solving puzzles and thinking her way out of traps.  With each power up she gets a little stronger, and can find her way deeper into this gnashing alien hellscape.  It's a game that is sadly beautiful just as often as it is ghoulish.  The story, simple and sketched-in as it is, is also deeper and more moving than you will ever expect. The boss fights are as massive, memorable, and epic as the ones in Yoshi's Island, but about a thousand times more intense and frightening.  The music perfectly sets the dark, burbling mood of each region of Zebes, and by the end of the game you will feel like the most powerful hero in the galaxy.  This mix of sci-fi, horror, and adventure isn't just a must-play, it's a life-changer.

Gameboy Color

Wario Land II

I love the Mario series, but I'm also absolutely crazy about Wario.  He's a fat, greedy, chaotic, prideful, disgusting, bull-headed oaf.  He's the polar opposite of Mario... and that's why I love him!  He's not exactly a villain, but he's a definitely a troublemaker, and it is hilariously fun to walk (or stumble!) a mile or three in his shoes.  The game before this, Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land is a ton of fun (as is Super Mario Land 2 before it!), but Wario Land II is the first one that truly feels like a Wario game.  What makes this game so different?  Wario can't be killed!

You read that right, there's (almost) no way to actually "die" in this game!  No way to lose lives.  That might sound too easy, or boring, or both, but it's not!  Wario might be unkillable, but all KINDS of bad stuff can and WILL still happen to him.  A LOT.  He'll get flattened, set on fire, trapped in bubbles, fattened up, frozen, drunk, zombified, and more!  And here's the kicker: those wacky conditions are required to solve the puzzles and challenges of each level!  On top of that ingenious and perfectly wacky set of game mechanics, the story branches off in wildly different directions: you'll blow up the annoying alarm clock in your castle, play street basketball against a giant bunny, be nice to a chicken, visit Atlantis, race through a weird world of mouths, noses, and eyes, and more!  There are multiple endings, multiple hidden exits, and multiple secret treasures and minigames to find and conquer.  Almost all of the Wario Land and Wario Ware games are oddball masterpieces, but WLII is the perfect balance of weird, smart, funny, and challenging.

Nintendo 64

Super Mario 64

This is it.  This is the game.  In 1996, when I was in sixth grade, Super Mario 64 was the only thing I cared about.  I begged and wished and hoped for a Nintendo 64 that Christmas, but it didn't come.  I was crushed.  Occasionally I was able to rent an N64 and Super Mario 64, and I'd lose whole days to this magical, miraculous game.  When I couldn't rent it, I'd bug my classmates about it endlessly.  "What level are you on?  What's that level like?  What stars can you get?  What secrets have you found?"  They'd answer a few of my ravenous, bug-eyed questions before getting uncomfortable and leaving to do something else.  What was the big deal? Why was I (and still am) so obsessed?

The leap from Super Nintendo to Nintendo 64 was like the leap from console and computer games to virtual reality.  But instead of short, funny minigames, it is a huge, sprawling world where anything seems possible.  A magical, secret garden full of surprises, wonder, challenges, and secrets.  Where the sun always shines in a cloudless sky... except when you plunge into the death-defying Bowser levels or the inappropriately terrifying Big Boo's Haunt.  Oh Mario can definitely fly in this one like he did in Super Mario Bros. 3, but just the simple act of running around in circles and jumping through 3D space felt like a joyous miracle... one that puts 2-dimensional flight to shame.  Each world (accessed by jumping INTO paintings in Princess Peach's sprawling but empty castle) is colorful, full of possibility, and chock full of distinct personality.  Adventuring through 3D space for the first time ever was incredible on its own, but doing it in such richly detailed, lovingly crafted worlds made me want to play there forever.  I still do. 

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Take everything I just said about Super Mario 64 and multiply it by ten!  Well, sort of.  Ocarina of Time took the lessons learned from Super Mario 64 and applied them to the dungeon-crawling, puzzle-solving Legend of Zelda series.  The result was an incredibly groundbreaking game that I cherished almost as zealously as Super Mario 64.  I don't think it's aged as well, but I don't care.  Ocarina of Time is a grand story, spanning seven years (!!!) and the entire fantastical country of Hyrule.  As Link, you jump forward and back through time, meet strange and wonderful new friends, discover hidden kingdoms, face the blood-soaked evil of Hyrule's past, save its future, outwit cunning puzzles and traps, steal and ride a magnificent horse, challenge towering, Super Metroid-style end bosses, wield magical weapons, break hearts, play beautiful music, and go fishing.  It's an entire, epic fantasy life in one little cartridge. 

This was the first Zelda game I ever spent SERIOUS time with, and the fact that it plays like a fantasy-fueled hybrid of Super Mario 64 and Super Metroid means I've lost entire days to it.  I've played it start to finish at least 8 or 9 times.  It never gets boring. Like Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time invented how we make and play 3D games.  This was the first 3D game where you could lock onto enemies and points of interest, plus a bevy of other camera controls that come standard in 3D games now (or at least they did for about a decade after Ocarina's release). The story is surprisingly cinematic and even gripping at times.  You'll want to live in this world.  You'll be sad when you see the end credits.  Not because of the ending itself, but because there's no more game for you to play... until you start it all over again on the next save file.  

Star Fox 64

Star Fox 64 was a life-changing event for me, just like Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time.  So is Star Fox 64 a slow-paced, exploration heavy adventure into beautiful and fantastical solitude like those other two games?  N O P E.  It's a guns-blazin', fast action, dogfightin', barrel rollin', rock'em sock'em intergalactic action epic in supersonic spaceships!  Piloted by talking animals!  That actually talk!  YES!

Instead of the wide-open freedom of Super Mario 64 and  Ocarina of TIme, Star Fox 64 either puts you on (invisible) rails in a forced-scrolling attack run or in a contained 3D arena.  Here's the kicker though, the levels are all so perfectly designed and the action is so expertly paced that you never feel restricted.  You're too busy racking up kill combos, saving your wingmen, and navigating through flying, burning space debris and buildings and asteroids and terrain to think about what you can't do.  And even on rails, Star Fox 64 gives you ways to explore!  Most levels have multiple exits and there are a whole mess of different, branching paths through the entire, war-torn Lylat system.  The game is designed to be played start to finish in a single sitting, but experimenting with repeat playthroughs is the only way to experience everything this laser-blazing action classic has to offer.  On top of all that, it's got a great story, iconic, meme-worthy dialogue, and an absolutely banging soundtrack.  It might not have changed the face of interactive entertainment like Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time, but it delivered the ultimate shoot'em up space adventure.  

[jenna347-blog]

Chapter 6(Koopa kingdom Fanfiction Draft)

Chapter 6

(Jennifer’s point of view)

“I’m right here baby! Ran so fast you’ve thought I was the Flash. Thank you Ludwig, Kamek, and King Bowser for allowing to speak and also to team up with you guys to make that Fawfull would stop line of terror of Bean beam, Mushroom, and Koopa Kingdom for decades. All I wanted to say is I know that I’m a foreigner but I would make sure to keep go aside Ludwig, King Koopa, the Koopa army. (the crowed started to cheer even louder) But I think it’s time to allow your King to have his chance to shine also to put his 2 cents in, plus I must get back to castle to work on my next mission with my dear Ludwig(wink). Now my dear I need truly need to fix my transporting device when Midbus and Fawful kidnapped me, Midbus had pour water on in. So, I need Iggy to at least help me with replacing the boards. Not just that I really need to get back home, so my mom she wouldn’t think I went missing, and then after that I’ll pack up my things and move in your universe. I hope you don’t mind my dear love?” Explaining while we walked towards the castle. “Do what you need to Jennifer, I’ll be waiting for you once you come back to me (kissing the back of my hand) let me escort you to my brother’s room. (25 mins later Ludwig knocks on Iggy bedroom door). Iggy, Jennifer needs your asstiance by fixing her teleportation device.” “And why should trust a human Ludwig, for all we know she could’ve help kill Fawful for the Mushroom Kingdoms gain. She could’ve an undercover spy, so I’m not bloody helping you two figure it out on your own.” Before he had the chance to close his door I slammed it back open putting my hand on his neck slamming him against the wall. “Now you listen here Iggy, if it wasn’t for me or Ludwig. You’ve been bloody dead, and to me you need our help. So, basically you owe us this bloody ass favor if you like or not. Not just that why would I work for Mario for, he probably wouldn’t been able to afford a chick like me/Lira, and not just that I can’t stand Mario anyways. Like or not I’m here to stay and going to make sure nothing happens to you koopalings, King Koopa, and the rest of the Koopa army.” “Yea okay, I’ll do it for you and you’re right. Just let me go, damn I thought that Roy, Ludwig, and Larry was crazy but you’re just as bad. I don’t need to cross you Jennifer, come with me to my lab. Okay, give me the item please and thank you (hands it to him), I never seen anything like this before. Its amazing workmanship, you have to show me one day how you did it, you know what I was wrong about you, because even the Mushroom Kingdom couldn’t make such a device including yours truly.” Me and Ludwig just wanted him to get this over with. “Well, thank you, but we can’t waste any time with this, because this may take a day or two. Both of them agreed, telling them that we needed to give this bad boy an upgraded teleport arm device. Iggy do you have a 250 gb Hard drive and a better mother board?” “I don’t have one, me or Ludwig may have to magically give them to you.” “Iggy you know more about this then I do you know that, but I’ll try to help the best way that a true leader can.” Iggy just sighs trying to be easy towards Ludwig, I kind of giggle at Iggy. “Ludwig and Iggy, I guess should’ve gave you guys the blue prints to my invention right. And I know you guys are going say you should’ve gave us that from the start, but I wasn’t thinking that my equipment was going to get damaged.” (Pulling my blueprints from my backpack). “Only thing is we can’t do it here because all the work we have to do, but don’t worry about it I know where we should go that nobody knows about. So, please don’t tell anybody about this location, if you do I’ll make sure you both will regret it for sure.” Explaining while transporting us to an unknown location, and it looks like a CIA type laborty very fancy and high tech. “Wow Iggy! This place is a lot nicer then the places I seen before, not even NASA could have a lab such as this.” “It’s nothing really, but we do need to get to work Ludwig, I know you don’t want to do anything technical anymore we do need your help with this.” “Oh I would love to lead this project and you can’t no Iggy, just like you said I’ll do the same thing if you try me and telling me what to do or give me a negative type comment.” “Ludwig, please relax that, save that attuide for later my love, I need your and Iggy brains and handy work to make sure we don’t waste any time, so please will you both please help me. Explaining while trying to gathered all the equipment that I need. Okay, Iggy, I need for you to build me a those gigabytes and SSD (soft drive) please and thank you.” “Only thing about this would be that you need an upgrade, 20x the amount, if you want to this hand part of an armer. Maybe, we could built you a full body gear, but that’s if you’re willing to go with my brand new project. Replying while walking towards his suit collection wall. Now see, I was going to wait til the time was right, but didn’t think it would’ve been this soon, these suits were supposed to be for us Koopalings/Koopa army. But I guess you need it as well, just to make an extra one and good thing this is a custom fit… “How long would this take Iggy?” Ludwig you know I have a wand as well if you want it super quick right.” “Great let’s get this done, because I really need to go back to my universe to gather my items then head back here. Just hopefully your father still isn’t pissed off from me coming here and wonders that I’m a spy for the mushroom kingdom, but like I mention you couldn’t pay me enough to pretend that princess peach was being kidnapped.” “What a minute you knew she wasn’t really being kidnapped and they were both in love, Ludwig, did you tell her about that?” Iggy wondered while looking at Ludwig. “No, I never told her that, I’m just finding this out.” “Okay, Ludwig, remember when I told you that I didn’t expect for this kingdom to be real, so in my universe this place is part of a Nintendo gaming series very well-known one. This kingdom and Bean Beam Kingdom are enemies to the Mushroom kingdom, Mario is the hero that saves Princess Peach and Daisy, but sometimes you guys work with him including Luigi, not just that Mario Kart and Mario tennis. There’s so many games that were based from you universe. So, basically we all know about you guys just don’t know who’s your real parents except for Ludwig real mother that was in one of the paper Mario games I believe in Nintendo 64. But any who we don’t need to worry about this just get me back home, we can talk about this later. My mom is probably worry about me knowing her I already know she called the police on me by now or thinks I’m six feet underground.” “What do you want me to do Iggy and Jennifer, so it doesn’t seem like I’m just standing around, I feel bored right now and useless you make me in charge of the whole thing.” “Only problem with that would be is this is my lab, you don’t get to own me when we’re here just because your little girlfriend is here doesn’t mean anything, so let’s back to work brother. Explains while unlocking a suit chamber. Here you go try it on Jen to see how you like it, and don’t worry about it nobody has worn it not even Morton. It fit like a beautiful glove. So, how you like Ms. Jennifer?” “Oh Iggy, I love it, I think we’re going to be best friends, but you Ludwig is going to be my deadly lover more than ever. You know damn well I couldn’t live without you. Iggy I just need to know how we’re going to fix this multi verse thing, maybe one of you guys could just use some of the items here and magically make it possible.” “Oh crap forgot all about that Ms. Jen, Ludwig I actually need your help with this, you know what spell I’m talking about right.” “You mean that same spell we did when we were kids and it was meant for King Bowser?” Iggy nods yes, as they all the items that I needed and the show they preformed their music show, it was something I could ever dream of was so damn beautiful. “Okay Jen, all fixed up and not you should be able to go back home now. And just wanted to tell you that I shouldn’t had judge you before getting to know you, hopefully you forgive me.” Saying while holding his hand out. “No problem Iggy this person never helds a grudge dude, and baby I can’t wait to come back to you (kisses) my dear love.” “I can’t wait either, but I’ll wait for you till the dawn of time my deadly princess.” Says after kissing my hand. Putting in the couration to bring me back home, pointing it to wall and this was a lot better system then my old one, gave them a last goodbye before hopping into my bedroom. “MOM, I’m home! Where are you?” “Oh my god, Chanel, I thought something had happened to you.” She said while holding me tight, just like I thought there was cops around. “Can me and my mom talk alone please.” “Sure, ma’am we’re been looking for you for a month now. We’ll leave you guys alone for now call us if you two anything from us.” We both agreed while showing them to the door. “You better tell me where you been at for a month.” “It’s been a month, that couldn’t been that long, I was been go atleast a day or two at the Koopa Kingdom. Look I know you didn’t want me to go there, but I was so curius and it was the most amazing thing that I ever experenise. I had to kill one of their enemies and also was kidnapped, but I’m fine, only came back so you wouldn’t worry about me. But I guess a day there It’s a month in this universe, as I was saying I need to pack up and go back to the Koopa Kingdom promised them to come back there and help them protect the kingdom from the other enemies that may wanted to cause harm towards them.” “If it wasn’t for the fact I saw it for myself, would never had believed you, but if you need to go back to help someone in need go right ahead. Just glad that you’re in one piece, and about the suit where you get it from let me guess the Koopa Kingdom.” “I can’t tell you that supposed to keep it a secret, but I do have to go now going to miss and always love you mom no matter what. Giving her the biggest hug that I could give her after I finish packing didn’t have that much to grab. But I’ll come back on your birthday, mothers day, and every other day, even if you say no still going to do so.” After doing this another time thought it wouldn’t happened a second timing, checking every place that they could’ve ran off to, found Ludwig went back into his room, guessing that Iggy did the same thing. Waved here goodbye. Oh my Ludwig, everytime I leave your side feels like my world was going to end, even though it wasn’t a minute.” “Oh, my dear princess couln’t wait for you either it was killing me inside my cold heart. Saying this while kissing my arm going towards my neck. Your love is driving me wild and you’re the only human that understands and completes me… (Knocking) Who is it?” “It just us Ludwig, the rest already know about your girlfriend.” Iggy replied while opening the door. “Oh Ludwig who’s your girlfriend?” “I’m Jennifer and you must be Wendy O’ Koopa right?” “Bingo girly, and you probably already know the right of the Koopalings.” “Morton wants to know if you have any food on you?” “No man I don’t, didn’t know I was going to feed a big ass dude. And you must be Larry, how are you doing kiddo?” “I’m doing fine ma’am, and it’s great to have you on the team, if Ludwig likes you we do too. Only problem is Ludwig if our dad would accept her you know how King Bowser is including Kamek.” “Oh trust me he has to accept my deadly princess, and if he lays a hand on her I’ll make sure he’ll never gets to see his bloody son ever again and drag his corpse on the kingdom streets.” “I love the sound of that my dear love and I’ll help you on that sadistic killing and support you every step of the way my Ludwig.” While saying this they all looked at us like we were beyond crazy, but I didn’t care how they felt about our sadistic love affair, only person I should care about is my dear Ludwig, and I love the way he thinks and act. “I can’t believe I’ve met someone not just beautiful but deadly aswell, and Jennifer, I’ll make sure to you more of a better deadlier woman then you already are.(kisses my arm while they all watch) What you morons never seen how a real man treat his princess?” “It’s not that, bro. Just that you guys are freaking us out, plus we’re not morons, maybe Morton but not the rest of us.” “Nice one Larry.” Iggy and Wendy had replied. You can tell it “Hey! Morton isn’t a moron, Morton is smart. If you insult Morton… Then Ludwig interrupts him buy going between them. “Shut the hell up! You’re going to drive me insanse one damn day, and Lemmy don’t say “I’m already insane” and I have to say about that I’m not just a dark and edgy gentleman who’s trying to keep take the throne for myself.” “I guess if you become King we may just drink English tea and listen to some classical music.” Roy jokfully said while placing his hand on Ludwig’s shoulder. “You have up to 2 to get off my shoulder or I’ll hurt your arm so damn bad till the point you’ll be eating your food throu a tube. Now Koopalings, I think me and my Jennifer need to be alone I’ll let you guys know if we have a meeting or have to invade Mushroom Kingdom, and how we supposed to train that brat Junior. Explaining them this as he shows them the door. Now please don’t come to my room unless you fixing to die, I’m sorry my dear love about those imgrates. “We all can hear you asshole.” They all said this while walking around and also laughed at him. Get the fuck out I swear to god, you going make me turn you morons into a 3 course meal for me and my love.” (Sigh) “Ludwig, don’t let those ungreatful Koopas get to you, because they’ll see your greatness soon enough my dear.” “I hope so my princess, because they’re hold me back for my place in the throne including that brat, Junior. That brat has ruined my chances on ever allowing me to set foot on that throne, only way I could every take it from him if he was never born. But I know that’ll never would happen, unless we could use that device of yours to go back in time to make sure Bowser never met Juniors mom,” “But Ludwig, you know if we do this, there’s a chance that it may go wrong with my universe. And when I mean by that I wouldn’t been born my dear love, don’t want that to happened, we need to make sure that we do this in a safe way that your world including mine wouldn’t cause any serious damage to our timeline. Not just that also get away with it, make the long story short don’t want anything to happen to you/your clan, or me. But I’ll be there by your side no matter what, includes Lira you thought I wasn’t going to include her aswell.” “You have a point there Jennifer, maybe should think of a better plan. Just don’t know how, maybe if we get the rest of the Koopalings invald in our mission to take over Koopa kingdom. The only problem is that I know some of my team would snitch to that ratchet King. “Why would you think that?” You don’t know them like I do, mostly Morton, Iggy, Larry, including Wendy would diffently how you humans say “snitch” on one of another…” “But maybe they’ll change their minds soon enough, like they always say it’s better to be patence then rush perfection my dear love and not just that I don’t want to lose you Ludwig. (Kissing him so deeply)I know you don’t want the others to help us out, but we do need to make sure that the others will be on our side, you ust need to presade them to follow your lead. I know you can my dear Ludwig.” (Knocking) “Ludwig, may I come in it’s very important? If you must know just Iggy, so don’t worry. Iggy what do you want now? I’ll tell you but not in the hall way.  Okay, what’s so damn important to the point you have some to interrupting us. (Iggy pulls out a chair) Well, all I have to say is when you guys killed Fawful and Midbus(sigh), let off a chain effect and not in a good way either. When I looked at the Koopa scanners and reports with the other Toopas, Fawful Kingdom figured the whole thing. Guess I’m trying to say is once a bee dies the whole connay comes behind and attack the enemy, so what I’m trying to say that we need to make sure that we’re ready also we need Jennifer/Lira help.Wait a minute is Bowser and Kamek still having that meeting with the Goombas and Koopa troopas right? “The last time we check they sure were, we just same came from there. But they probarly left already Iggy, only way we can get their attention if we did some type alarm and you have to give a anounment about the soon to be invasion. Maybe this is me and Lira fault we should never had come here, if I could guess Fawfall wasn’t supposed to die including midbus. My dear princess it’s not your fault, guess I made my hate towards him get to me and didn’t want him to harm my beautiful princess.” I don’t want to ruin this touching moment, but we do have prepare for a battle between kingdoms. Iggy, maybe we should call Bowser, Kamek, and the gang to make sure they stay behind to make sure we could make another meeting about the invasion.” Yea, sure I could text Kamek to see if their still at the office meeting. (Texting Kamek) “Hey Iggy, yes we’re still here, guessing you guys needed to say something. I’ll make sure to let them know about you guys joining in aswell, even though Bowser may not like it.” Okay, Kamek is going to try to keep them busy. Let’s get this battle over with. (at Koopa Inc. office) “Iggy you better explain yourself on why you need Kamek to keep us here? Look Bowser I know you guys are very tired and wanted to go back home but this is very important that the Koopa army needed to hear. The Bean Beam Kingdom is going to invade our kingdom, because what we did Fawful and his bodyguard. If we don’t prepare for battle we all going to end up 6 feet underground, the only reason how I know about this his King and Queen had sent me a message and it was legit checked it so many damn times till the point I lost count. They may come by next week.” Kamek and Ludwig, grab the rest of the Koopalings and prepared for battle.

[giantcatcrackers]

04 March 2017

What a three weeks it has been.

Through it all I never expected to be where I am now. We started out as unknowns (as SPP always is), but ended up stronger than we ever thought we could be; we always expected to be in the minority, but realized that more people are with us than we ever dreamed of. This election, we stopped playing the victim.

With a name like mine there will always be positive and negative associations: strong but stubborn, hardworking but hard-headed, unflappable but unapproachable. Until now it's a wonder that my party allowed me to run as president, knowing about all my issues in the council.

I gave my slate one rule: don't lose yourself. Once we lose ourselves we stop being different; being ourselves kept us sane throughout the purgatory we put ourselves through. There were times when I stopped trusting myself even when my slate trusted in me, times when I didn't want to get out of my bed because campaigning was tiring, times when I didn't think we had a chance because we were up against a machine. When the going gets tough, though, the tough get going. In spite of all the inherent disadvantages our party had, we kept going, steady in our conviction that we'd rather lose as ourselves than win as someone else.

And be ourselves we did. I kept the faith and told the truth, even in the face of stiff opposition. My vice-president kept the faith and stayed strong through the campaign period, even in the face of self-doubt. My councilors kept the faith and maintained their sense of humor, even in the face of people telling them student politics can't be fun. If there is anything we can claim as an accomplishment during this campaign, it's this: we showed everyone that student politics can be fun. I always knew student politics could be fun, it was always just a matter of showing students it could be. When everyone else took it seriously, we approached it with a light-hearted touch that surprised even myself.

We were reaching more people, we were expressing the frustrations of real Carolinian students, and we were being ourselves and not trying to be anyone else. The results are of course disappointing, most of all to me. I really did think SPP had a chance this year. Unfortunately for us, the Carolinian electorate didn't agree; that is often the way with democracy. The most we can do at this point is wish the incoming administration well and hope they perform as promised.

Yes, this was an election campaign but I also made lots of friends. Shawn Michael Go you were someone I never expected to befriend during this campaign, but trust me when I say I do consider you a friend at this point. You were a worthy adversary and a good sport, and your opportunities don't stop here. Joahanna Veloso congratulations on your victory! I know I speak for my party when I say I wish you all the best and that I hope you fight for all of us who still don't have voices in the council.

To my bibis (Christian Aldrich Rapada Albaño Nhanina Ballesteros AsupanNiña Collamat Dmitri Cortes Abe Damuag Waverlee Wave Delfino Christian Ray Delos Santos Kate Danielle Anne Dy Niño Philip Fernandez Kamille Geson Shayne Go Niccolie Roble Junsay Zeke Ian Lebumfacil Brian Kenneth Miole Naomie Lee Oplado Geo Peig Ronel Querobin Alejandro Sabarre Jill Sabarre Almira Caryl Tangpos) you put up a good fight! You stayed true to yourselves, kept your senses of humor, and never wavered even in the face of insurmountable odds. I would never have met you guys if not for this election. I could not have asked for a better team.

Krisha Viado, I know this time was hard for you. You never wanted this responsibility, but you took it anyway; the slate, the alumni and myself have enormous respect for your sacrifice. As a re-run, you were stuck between the new slate and the training committee; we want you to know that we understand your dilemma and that we never thought ill of you for it. You were amazing in your role and I could not think of anyone better suited for what you did.

To the SPP alumni and supporters (Agielou Frances Janelle Ruiz Resdale Venz Palabrica Pj Perez Gleanzzy Pauline Reyes Andrew Vincent Pesons Alcantara Farres Mantilla Yalung Serge Luigi Kho Christine Perez Goody Caesarr Mendoza Ypanto Lucille Yu Velasco Angelica Rose Ranile Charles Augustine Albaño Emmanuel Mendoza Hernandez Denise Marie Espina Theriault Serge Luigi Kho and others I'm not friends in FB with or forgot to tag) you have been indispensable in our journey. We wouldn't get as far as we have without your monetary, technical and emotional support. From paying for our meals, to the tarps, to the flyers and the sample ballots; the endless nights of training; the campaigning for us when we were in class. Please know that we deeply appreciate your efforts, and God knows we needed it.

Christian Talens Cubillan THANK YOU SO MUCH! I wouldn't be here if you never recruited me. The slate would never have met each other if you didn't recruit them. You paved the way for all the opportunities I have now. You gave me a chance to let people hear my message. You gave me the voice I needed to express all of our frustrations. No words can express just how much you gave up for us; you often don't have money to eat dinner because you spent it all on us. We all thank you for your sacrifice, and your efforts will be duly repaid in full once we get the chance to do so. The Empowered 19 would not be the same without you.

Finally, Carl Anthony Albaño. I never thought my past would come back to haunt me so badly. Where do I start? Who would have thought a person I last met in Grade 4 (I'm not even sure anymore) would be my friend 10 years later? You don't know how surprised and touched I was by your introduction to my speech during the debates. Your support has been overwhelming. We are complete opposites: you are quiet, reserved, keep to yourself and full of inspirational bullshit; I'm loud, brash, unafraid to speak my mind and cried when you talked me into doing a ballpen-selling activity. I honestly don't know how I could have gone through all of this without your help. By extension, thank you Darylle Jade Cabataña for keeping this guy sane when I needed him the most. He can be moody, ill-tempered, insecure and self-defeating at times, but I know you helped him through the dark moments we saw and the moments we didn't see. Carl, I hope you realize I did all of this because I wanted to prove I could be better than you. It turns out I'm not, but at least you now have a companion in the losing department!

Student Power Party, I'm honored to have been your standard bearer. I hope I was able to live up to the party's expectations and embody its principles. I'm sorry I couldn't do what Marc Raphael Ong did two years ago and win the presidency, but I think I'm leaving the election with a party that finally knows its place and has a distinct identity. I am disappointed, naturally, but I am confident that this election will be the foundation for greater things to come for this party. I concede this election to my opponent Deodatus Paulo Burgos: congratulations on your victory! It was a closer fight than anyone thought, and I'm glad to have been your competitor in this fight. Bring the SSC to greater heights!

This has been Jan Rommel Duterte, an incoming 4th year Chemistry druglord, who ran to be your next SSC president. I failed to do this, but the multitude of Carolinians who sent their messages of support over the past two days have convinced me that our message did get through. People do want a friendlier SSC, an SSC that doesn't think too highly of itself, and an SSC that is open to discourse. People do want honesty, sincerity and pure intentions in their candidates. All it will take now is the right set of people to fulfill this dream of ours.

Until that day arrives, we will continue our fight.

We are the Student Power Party. Where students unite, fight for our rights! Pagsulti ug baruganan, gahum sa tinun-an!

#SPP #BeTheReds

[anomander-dragnipurake]

Possessed Part 2 Chapter Eight: Free?

He woke up slowly, feeling groggy and heavy. He hated it already and wasn’t in the mood for it. So he rolled over and… fell of whatever he’d been lying on.

Suddenly very much awake, his eyes flew open as he landed on the floor. Thankfully the fall had been short because it was uncarpeted concrete. Awake now, whether he liked it or not, he took a deep breath as he sat up to examine his surroundings.

It was a small room that almost resembled a living room. He’d been lying on the couch in the middle of the room that faced an old coffee table that supported and even older looking TV. Those were the only items in the room other than for a flashlight on the coffee table and a chair placed by the couch. It was from E. Gadd’s lab, meaning this room was probably one of the back rooms that acted as E. Gadd’s living space. Given that, it was unsurprising how sparse the room was, E. Gadd wouldn’t be spending much time in it.

Speaking of the lab though, it was the last thing he remembered. He’d been strapped into the KBE, the door had closed and then… nothing. … Had it worked? …

His mind was quiet; no thoughts but his own, no internal voice but his own, no emotions but his own, and most of all no contention between himself and another being. It was just him alone in his mind and it was amazing. Peace and quiet at long last, he’d forgotten what that was like. … There was a problem though.

Using the couch’s armrest, he pulled himself up to his feet. He then looked down at his hands and body; the meatsuit. It felt both right and wrong to have it even if he was used to it by now. … If the KBE had worked, he was supposed to be a free-floating ghost again, right? … No, actually this was right, he was still alive and it was his body and it was finally entirely his again as it should be. … Both of those couldn’t be true and yet they were meaning… … … …

“It failed,” he mumbled aloud to himself, unable to stop staring at his hands. E. Gadd had warned that it might pull their souls closer instead. He was both King Boo and Luigi and while also neither of them. Try as he might he couldn’t find any separation between them in his mind. Their souls had merged into one and that soul was his.

With a heavy sigh, he flopped back onto the couch. He wanted to be angry about this and kind of was but also… his mind was so quiet. No anger but his own, no fear but his own, no fighting with words or for control, no one leeching off his magic anymore, it was finally just his again, just as his body was solely his own again as well. This wasn’t the outcome either side of him had wanted but it wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d thought it’d be. … Both Luigi and King Boo would’ve been horrified and disgusted by it but he didn’t care.

What now though? What kind of existence would he have now? Who exactly was he? He needed a new name for sure, right? Neither ‘Luigi’ or ‘King Boo’ felt right anymore. And… he needed to tell people.

How would the boos react? How would Mario react? What about E. Gadd and Gooigi? Or Peach? Was he still technically king of the Boo Kingdom? Would they want him as their king still? … Would he be abandoned by everyone he’d ever loved?

With an angry growl he stood up and physically shook those thoughts away. He wouldn’t know how they all felt about him now until he told them and if they all didn’t like him and/or didn’t want to follow him anymore then… so be it. He couldn’t blame them for that given the circumstances and he wasn’t pathetic and whiny anymore so he’d deal with it… or he’d try to at least.

Before his thoughts could spiral any further, he stood back up and located the door that probably led back to the lab. He strode over to it and carefully opened to peek through.

Yep, it was E. Gadd’s lab all right. And E. Gadd was in. His back was to King Boo/Luigi as he worked on the KBE. Its paneling was open and he was digging around its insides with the help of Gooigi’s flashlight.

Silently as possible, Luigi/King Boo stepped through the door and gently closed it behind him. He crept over until he was right behind E. Gadd and Gooigi, still unnoticed. “Boo!” he shouted, loudly clapping his hands together as well.

E. Gadd startled, making an undignified yelp of surprise before he snapped around. Gooigi didn’t flinch – disappointing but not surprising –they did turn around as well though.

“Luigi!” E. Gadd said, holding a hand to his chest as he let out a breath. “Or I guess King Boo, don’t do that. But uh… you’re finally awake. It’s been…” he glanced at his wrist watch, “almost twenty-four hours now. We were starting to get worried.”

He clearly didn’t know how badly his machine had failed so… “What happened?”

“Well the KBE failed obviously and in doing so it drew too much power and almost exploded. The power surge fried pretty much everything else too, I just got the power back on a few hours ago. The KBE is in a poor state now as you can see but I’m confident that I can get it working again in a day or two and improve it so that it has a higher chance of working this time. So uh… don’t worry Luigi, you’ll be free of King Boo soon still, just a few more days.” He wasn’t very good at being comforting but he was trying and that was nice. Too bad it was for nothing though.

“Don’t bother, you’ll just be wasting your time.” There was no way this could be undone.

E. Gadd had started to turn back to his work but froze. “What do mean?”

“I’ll say it like this: you’re prediction was right, my kindness does outweigh my bloodlust,” in this instance anyway, he doubted that would always be the case, “and thus I have no desire to kill you even if I am mad at you for failing.”

For a second or two E. Gadd looked confused but then with a small gasp it seemed to click. He opened his mouth as if to say something but nothing came out.

It was Gooigi that broke the silence with an “Uh-oh.” Their face was expressionless as always but their voice was distraught.

“Yeah, ‘uh-oh’, indeed,” King Boo/Luigi said with a sigh.

“I’m sorry,” E. Gadd finally found his voice. “I… didn’t… I failed… I’m sorry.” He looked away, pulling his arms in on himself. He was far more upset than Luigi or King Boo had ever seen him before. … There was no excitement about the potential test subject he’d just got; he really did care more for Luigi than his ghost studies. That had already been made pretty clear but… the full confirmation of it was something else entirely. Luigi had had a good friend.

“It’s uh… really not so bad.” Luigi/King Boo forced a smile for him. “My mind is finally at peace. No more pathetic whining and whimpering and no more being hurt or tormented with literally no escape. It’s finally over. This is far better than staying as two separate minds stuck in the same body.”

E. Gadd’s shoulders slumped. “I know but… you deserved better. I thought I could fix it but… I guess not.”

This was the worst. How was one supposed to comfort someone when it was their own existence that was the problem? It was impossible, wasn’t it? So… “Where’s Mario?” he asked because he needed to get the whole telling everyone he cared about that he was a combination of someone they loved and someone they hated before he could figure out what to do next. He wasn’t looking forward to it and part of him would prefer to hide from everyone and everything instead. He’d never liked being a coward and now he just hated it more.

“I sent him out to take Polterpup for a walk,” E. Gadd answered as he abandoned the KBE to sit at his desk instead. Gooigi just sat down on the floor where they were already. “He wouldn’t sleep and he’s been hovering around you a lot so I figured some fresh air would do him some good. He should be back soon though.”

With nothing more to say to either him or Gooigi, Luigi/King Boo strode out to wait in the front part of the lab. He thankfully didn’t have to wait long, not even five minutes passed before the door opened and Polterpup came bounding in following shortly after by Mario.

“Puppy,” King Boo/Luigi greeted Polterpup as he came running up for a pet.

“Luigi?” Mario said, his voice full of worry and hope, making it impossible to stay focusing on Polterpup. Oh gosh, there were bags under his eyes too, he indeed clearly hadn’t slept. “How do you feel?”

“Not too bad actually.”

“Oh, that’s good. E. Gadd said that he can fix the KBE pretty fast and that next time it should work so don’t…”

“There won’t be a next time,” King Boo/Luigi interrupted. “It’d be a waste of time.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean Luigi and King Boo have become one person and that person is me.” He pointed to himself, putting on a slight smirk to hide his true feelings about revealing this. “I doubt it can be undone at this point so refer to me as… ‘Booigi’ should do for now. I might change it later but I need a new name, a combination of my two old ones isn’t a bad choice.”

The despair that took over Mario’s face as those words sunk in would’ve greatly pleased King Boo but King Boo’s hate for him had never been as strong as Luigi’s love. As a whole, the stronger feeling won over, leaving Booigi feeling kind of awful.

The silence stretched as Booigi waited for Mario to say something. He didn’t though, instead he just looked at Booigi, tired and… sad; grieving.

“I’m sorry,” Booigi finally said, letting his shoulders slump. He didn’t want to show weakness but caring for someone wasn’t weak, right? “For what it’s worth though, this is far better than what I was going through before. For both my halves honestly but especially the half of me that is Luigi. I’m not suffering anymore, that’s good, right?” Right now, it was enough for him.

Mario thought about it for a few long seconds before slowly nodding. “Yeah, that’s better then… what he was going through before. But… but… it’s just wrong. How could that… happen? I was supposed to… protect him and now…” he trailed off with a vague hand gesture, not even looking at Booigi anymore.

“You need some sleep. What me to take you home?” He needed to go see the boos and ghosts that had followed King Boo for countless years now and tell them the news too but he could take some time to drive Mario home at least.

Mario mumbled something unintelligible in response. With a sigh, Booigi decided to take it as assent. He put a hand on Mario’s shoulder to guide him back out the door.

“You want to come too puppy?” he asked, pausing with the door open to look back at Polterpup. “Come back to where you belong and stop being a traitor?” Ghost animals were rare so he’d be very welcome back at the mansion.

Polterpup whined and got up but it was only to run in a little circle before sitting down again. He probably hadn’t understood the offer but regardless, he clearly wanted to stay here.

“All right, take good care of E. Gadd and Gooigi for me then.”

 -

Mario was asleep long before Booigi pulled up into the driveway of his house. Not wanting to bother with carrying him, Booigi levitated him into the house and to his bed instead. Using the same magic, he even pulled off his shoes and tucked him in. Hopefully he’d sleep for a long time and wake up feeling a bit better about all this… probably not though.

Before leaving, Booigi popped back into Luigi’s old room to gather his clothes and the L hat that had appeared on the bedside table overnight one night. King Boo hadn’t liked it and thus they hadn’t worn it ever but even if it didn’t match his sense of style, Booigi wanted to keep it for old time’s sake.

 -

Luigi’s fear of the haunted woods and King Boo’s enjoyment of them combined into a peculiar feeling. It was kind of like fear but the kind of fear one got while enjoying a horror movie; not necessarily pleasant but not at all bad either. Overall, Booigi would say he liked them but he wouldn’t want to spend a long time in them.

What he didn’t like though was the jump-scare he got when a group of boos jumped out into his path. He flinched and jumped back a little before he could reign it in, ugh! Thankfully the boos didn’t seem to notice as they launched right into talking to him.

“You’re back boss!”

“And you’re still in Luigi!”

“We heard about the soul merging thing does this mean that… that happened?”

“It can’t have happened, right? What would we do without you?”

“You’re just here to turn him into a painting, right? Like how you were going…”

“Hush,” Booigi cut in, needing to only raise his voice a little to make them all fall silent immediately. “That’s what I’m here to discuss with you. Gather everyone currently around just outside the mansion.”

Most of the boos seemed to relax, a few seemed to gather that something was wrong though as their worried expressions deepened. All of them obeyed though, quickly scattering.

With a sigh, Booigi continued on. Just telling E. Gadd and Mario had been bad, now he had to tell all his followers. Would they still want to follow him? … Did he still even want to lead them? … Yes, how much King Boo cared for them, dampened the remaining dregs of Luigi’s fear of them. And he still had ambition, not as much as King Boo had for sure, but he wouldn’t be content wondering around doing nothing. He was going to accomplish things, he just didn’t know what anymore.

By the time he reached the mansion, many ghosts had already gathered just outside it, waiting for him. He levitated himself up to float above them all, putting himself in a relaxed posture that he did his best to make look not forced. All their murmuring quieted as everyone turned to look at him. He didn’t say anything yet though, more were still coming.

He hid his not so newfound nervousness well when he did finally address them a short time later when it seemed everyone around was present. “All of you have heard about my situation by now I’m sure.” King Boo had made sure of that. “Every attempt to fix it has failed and now I exist; half your King Boo and half Luigi.”

Audible gasps of course answered that followed by many bursting into questions. There were so many talking at once it was impossible to pick out any one voice.

“Hush.” He had to raise his voice a bit louder this time but it still mostly worked, there were still a few murmurs. “I really don’t know how to proceed from here but…” But what? He hadn’t really planned this speech out, trusting that it would just come to him. That’s how King Boo had always done speeches, apparently that ability didn’t carry over. “… but… you guys still need a king; I could still be that if everyone’s all right with it.”

He could just about kick himself for how he’d worded that, making it almost sound like a meek request. But their opinion was important, he’d never had to enforce his rule with violence and wouldn’t do so now. If they didn’t want him as their ruler anymore, he’d just have to deal with it.

The crowd erupted into more talking. Everyone was concerned and wanted to have a say about something or ask a question. None of it was helpful though, especially with it all being thrown out at once.

“You have a month to decide if you still think I’m fit to rule, then we’ll hold a vote.” He had to use to magic to make his voice louder now so he could be heard over the crowd. “For now, I have some stuff I need to attend to privately.”

And with that, he fled. He tried to disguise it as merely leaving but… he was fleeing and he hated it. He had a lot to think about though, the kind best done in private. Like who was he now? Was Mario still his brother? E. Gadd his friend? What about his boos, did he still have a right to be their king when he was only half dead? What did he even want now? He didn’t know but he intended to find out.

~

I thought long and hard about doing two endings; this one and one where the KBE works and they're free. I decided to just go with this one because it's what felt the most right for the story. However if y'all want me to, I could see what I can do about writing an alternate happy ending too. It wouldn't be much of a bother at all, I do have some pretty solid ideas for one.

And I might already be writing a thing that leads to a happier ending. It's a split path thing though, not an alternate ending. It splits at the end of part 1 and goes in a drastically different direction. I don't know when it'll be done though because I only have the 1st chapter written and I have no clue how long it's gonna be because I have no clue what all even happens in it. So that's gonna be a thing maybe eventually, we'll see.