#Luigi just happens to have a vacation home he hangs out in when he needs a little alone time

[pianokantzart]

There is some speculation that, due to their similarities in structure, the house in the beginning of Luigi's Mansion 2 is the rank D "mansion" Luigi earned in the original Luigi's Mansion game (which, in my opinion, would mean Luigi canonically put very little effort into searching for money while trying to rescue Mario.)

However, I then stumbled on a different theory that Luigi actually earned a rank A mansion, but eventually downgraded to better suit his needs, evidenced by the rank A mansion in the Luigi Circuit of Mario Kart Double Dash.

Then again, there is always the possibility that the house Luigi is hanging out in in the opening cutscene of Dark Moon is completely unrelated to the original Luigi's Mansion, and all similarities are purely incidental.

So... with that said...

[superluigiglitchy]

Some more stuff on my "Meggy gets raised by Mario and Luigi" au that I still haven't figured out the name of

Because of her being present Mario is considerably less chaotic and less of an asshole when he gets a face full of meme energy from the guardian pod but still pretty chaotic and stupid (basically a himbo)

This also has me making up dumb lore and I can't help but stuff @duckapus Splatoon ocs into Splatoon related aus so Paige basically runs away from home a lot sooner and ends up running into a disguised Callie and Marie upon arriving into Inkopolis after sneaking onto a metro train at the tender age of 10 whilst on the hunt for their missing older sister, Meggy whom was always talked about in hushed voices by their parents

Obviously this leads to Paige getting taking in by the Cuttlefishes

Yes this does in fact have the Cuttlefishes desperately hide the fact their essentially secret agents in increasingly more ridiculous ways on to lead to Paige following them sneakily into the manhole and finding out themselves cause why not

Mario and Luigi as I said decided to take a vacation to Inkadia with Meggy in order to learn more about her and her culture, this takes place when she's like 8 and during this she also meets Sam, Heavy and Kenji and ends up hitting off with them instantly whilst Luigi and Mario were discussing with a CPS member on how to care for a cephalopod child they were causing mayhem and chaos as toddlers do, go figure

Also during this trip the Superstar Siblings decide to watch and ongoing Turf War match and watch the Splatfest Champion Wren tear up the competition and little Meggy is instantly star strucked, silently slipping through the safety bars of the stands while Luigi and Mario were distracted to rush over to the champ himself when the bros. Found out they immediately had a heart attack and end up thanking Wren after he saved Meggy from being indirectly splatted

As a direct effect of Mario not being stupid, Peach is more tolerable of his shenanigans and not much of a prissy bitch so the Anime Ban doesn't happen however this does lead to a different arc

The Anime Cases Arc

In which Tari ends up put into a lead role and has to figure out a strange mystery in Inkopolis where dozens upon dozens of inklings have been disappearing over the last few weeks and ends up helping a Koopa Troopa named Detective Koopric and his adopted mouser daughter Daisybelle or Belle for short in solving this case after both Kenji, Sam and Heavy telk her they havent seen her in awhike and thought she was just hanging out with the glitchy gang (which was obviously not the case considering the fact the reason Tari asked about Meggy was because Mario worryingly asked her to help them find the missing inkling since she didn't come home on time) which obviously leads to some... Must justified panic

Not only that but Axol seems to be missing as well, which is understandably suspicious considering it lining up with the beginning of the disappearances

The events of the rest of the arc mimic that of the anime arc only with one difference

Desti doesn't die but is instead heavily crippled no thanks to Sephiroth piercing an area of nerves that mimic the spine leaving her in a coma, and even if she does its likely she'll never be able to walk normally again not with the state her nerves were left in, she'll need to use crutches for the rest of her life or a wheelchair even

Meggy now human (and recently reunited with the sibling she never knew she had, boy that was a reunion that's for sure) is extremely guilty over the state her friend has been left decides to fulfill her promise she made with the octoling

Win the Turf War Tournament

[theonceoverthinker]

6. Yep. I’m doing more miscellaneous Bowuigi HCs, and I’m numbering them now!

-The two of them snore. Loudly. Luigi's snores can be heard from two or so doors away, and Bowser's? You can hear it from the other side of the hallway. Everyone knows when Bowser is asleep. It's a total boon for his staff and minions because they know exactly when they need to return to their posts and start getting work done. Their individual snores don’t bother each other. Like, Luigi might have had to get used to the loudness of Bowser’s snores and I think Bowser was just surprised for a few days that Luigi snored at all, but they quickly got over those feelings and adapted to their partner’s quirks.

-Bowser adores Poulterpup. He’s a dog-loving koopa at heart and Poulterpup has that mischievous energy that really vibes with Bowser. Whenever he can, Luigi bring Poulterpup to Bowser’s castle so he can hang out with Bowser, the kids, and himself. Luigi likes giving Poulterpup another place to run around in and others for him to socialize with. Kamek’s...less than enthused because Poulterpup always manages to distract Bowser from his kingly duties or is causing chaos in the castle. However, Kamek just has to suck it up because Bowser’s not having anything happen to his favorite pooch.

-Bowser has accidentally lit Luigi on fire in the past. Some things outside of Bowser’s control just have a way of setting off his fire breath, and poor Luigi has occasionally gotten the burnt end of the stick. It definitely happened on one of their first few dates, and Bowser was convinced he’d blown it with Luigi forever...right after he’d...blown it (Look, I like puns, okay?). It was only when Luigi came to the castle the following day to check on Bowser that Bowser knew that he still had a fighting chance with him. I could also see Bowser trying to light a candle, sneezing while doing so, and Luigi’s clothes catching on fire. Luigi’s used to pain and always forgives Bowser because he knows they’re accidents. Still, Bowser does feel bad, and on the plus side, he does make more of an effort to be safe with his fire abilities around Luigi in the future, learning how to control his abilities better because of it.

-Bowser and Luigi both swim, and they do it well. On Bowser’s half, not counting stuff like the Sonic Olympic games, that might come across as surprising because, you know, he’s big and breathes fire. However, those qualities don’t end up limiting him all that much. Sure, he’s not as fast or controlled as Luigi is in the water, but his stamina is not to be underestimated. And Luigi is so good at swimming that it’s a running joke between himself and Bowser that he’s part Cheep Cheep. He’s fast in the water and is able to practically turn on a dime. He and Bowser are able to swim pretty deep underwater and are good at holding their breaths, and if they go to like a beach for a vacation, they’ll definitely go snorkeling, looking for fish, shells, and treasures.

I’m only gonna do four this time, but it’s because I have been doing a LOT of work on a new Bowuigi project of mine today.

How about I give you a preview to get you excited?

Yes, let’s do that.

When Luigi and Bowser find themselves stranded together in the Lost Kingdom, a busted up Odyssey becomes their unlikeliest of saviors. Now reluctant traveling companions doomed to remain marooned without the other’s help, the two gather power moons and embark on a globe-trotting adventure home. However, as they fly and hunt for moons together, bonding all the while, Bowser and Luigi find their reservations and preconceived notions about the other start to wither away, and a fondness instead grows in its place. Will that fondness and what more it might birth stay bound to the confines of a temporary truce or will it become something far stronger and impossible to ignore?

Coming soon to a Tumblr near you:

Super Bowuigi Odyssey!

[anomander-dragnipurake]

Possessed Part 2: Chapter One: Bored

Originally I was going have the fic end on the open ended bad ending of King Boo winning but while I was writing the penultimate chapter of that I had an evil idea occur to me and felt called to do it so I did. (This next part is kinda spoilers for said evil idea which is revealed in fic at the very start of chapter 3, meaning 7 overall, this part 2 revolves around it so it's not a huge deal for it to be spoiled but if you want to find out what's up with what's happening when our characters do don't read the next paragraph.)

While writing the part where Luigi feels King Boo's emotions about his victory over the Mario bros in such a way that I wrote it as if I were writing from King Boo's POV, I had the thought of what if overtime because of this possession arrangement, their minds became closer and closer so that they started experiencing each other's thoughts and emotions in that way more and more until they essentially felt like or became the one entity instead of two? And then I was like, oh that's like fusion from Steven Universe but very much unwanted from both parties and very, very bad for poor Luigi because he's fusing with evil, violent King Boo. And then I had the idea for the scene that requires the new 'attempted murder that looks like attempt suicide' tag (happens next chapter, I'll probably put a thing at the top, saying how to skip it if you want) and that sealed the deal on me writing this.

I don't know if everything in it makes complete sense or if everyone's completely in character (especially E. Gadd, I never feel like I know what I'm doing when writing him but I do my best and that's all I can ask of myself) but it was a lot of fun to write regardless so I hope y'all enjoy it too. :)

‘I think I’m starting to get bored of this,’ King Boo said as they woke up.

Groggy and hungover from last night’s drinking, it took Luigi a couple seconds to parse what King Boo had just implied. Really? He didn’t dare hope… did he? He’d just about given up on this nightmare ever ending. The only solace he’d found was that King Boo liked to ‘escape proper consciousness’ as he liked to put it, meaning sleep, alcohol, and whatever drugs he could find to experiment with. It was highly unpleasant but at least Luigi was only partially aware of his situation for sometimes hours at a time.

‘Yep.” King Boo sat up and looked around. They were on a rooftop, neither of them remembered how they’d gotten here. King Boo didn’t care though and Luigi was having trouble doing so either. ‘I think I experimented with about everything I can get my hands on. Also, you’ve stopped caring about stuff and that’s just plain boring.’ And as nice as this little vacation was, he really needed to get back to his boos soon, he was their king after all. … That wasn’t a thought Luigi was supposed to be privy to. ‘That’s another reason I want done with this.’ King Boo couldn’t be having Luigi knowing all his thoughts and feelings and the longer they shared a body, the more often that was occurring when he didn’t want it to. He couldn’t seem to do anything about it which was why this arrangement needed to end sooner rather than later.

He stood and walked them over the edge of the roof to look down at the street below. It wasn’t a super long fall but it would probably hurt quite a bit. King Boo was tempted to jump off to see just how bad it would be.

Please don’t. Luigi would rather not take any more injuries than he already had. Even if lately King Boo possessing him seemed to make his body heal faster than normal, it still hurt. You were thinking about letting me go?

‘I didn’t say that, just that I’m getting bored of this. I need to decide if I should let you go or kill you.’ As far as Luigi could tell, he was honestly undecided. He could probably press at King Boo’s mind to find out why but didn’t dare. … If he did, that’d be weighing the odds against him.

Uh… all righty then. I vote you let me go.

‘Killing you would be fun though.’

Not like this. You’ve already defeated me. And Luigi was still ashamed of it. He should’ve been able to fight back but… it had just happened so fast. Wouldn’t it be better if you… let me live to be tormented by that and… the fear that you’ll… come back and do it again? He understood King Boo far too well for his liking at this point. Being dead himself, he didn’t consider death to be a horrible fate.

He laughed out loud. ‘True. I could also turn you into a painting to crown this victory for ever.’ And if he ever wanted a meat suit to play around in again, he’d have it right there.

Luigi did the mental equivalent of a gulp. You could do that too. It’d be easier to rescue him from a painting though, right? … Theoretically yes, but King Boo wouldn’t let that happen. … It might be the best Luigi could hope for though.

Another laugh from King Boo, this one only Luigi could hear. ‘I guess it’s decided then, a painting it is.’ He stepped back from the edge at last and started for the door that should lead into whatever building this was. Luigi groaned and pulled his mind in on itself as much as he could. Being turned into a painting was better than death though and probably better than his current circumstances so… maybe this wasn’t so bad?

A few days later

King Boo’s kingdom was unsurprisingly a haunted forest.  One could tell at a glance it was haunted due to the tall spindly trees being dead and dark. There even seemed to be an almost visible murky atmosphere to the place before they’d even stepped foot into it. Which they had had to do because there weren’t any roads that led into it and certainly not enough space between the trees to allow for a car to pass through.

There didn’t even seem to be any path leading in. King Boo ditched Luigi’s car and strode right in, ducking underneath a low hanging branch.

The pace he set was steady but slow, he was in no hurry. Which was fine, it delayed how long it would be before Luigi ended up as a painting. … It was night though; the woods were spooky and dark, lit only by the partly clouded moon overhead and King Boo’s crown. And it was absolutely crawling with phantoms, fleeting past Luigi’s peripheral vision and making all sorts of spooky noises just out of sight. If he had any control of his body, he’d have been shivering and jumping at every single sound, real or imagined and probably running the exact opposite direction

King Boo of course wasn’t bothered, he strode confidently through the dead underbrush and around the scary looking trees. ‘How are you still afraid of ghosts? You’ve defeated how many with E. Gadd’s stinky vacuum?’ He made a loud exaggerated gagging noise to emphasize exactly how the felt about said vacuum. ‘And we’re not even that scary to begin with.’

Luigi didn’t get it either. It was illogical but they were still scary. He’d been working on that with Polterpup but then… this happened. King Boo scoffed and kept going.

Eventually they reached the clearing in which King Boo’s mansion took up majority of the available space. It was old and scary looking but not as large as Luigi would’ve thought it would be. Which didn’t mean it was small by any means but definitely not as big as Peach’s castle.

As they approached the entrance, three boos came shooting out, phasing through the door. Internally Luigi jumped and screamed, the only thing worse than ghost creeping through the shadows was ghosts popping out at him. … King Boo found that was funny, he should’ve tried jump scaring Luigi more, maybe one of his past schemes would’ve been successful if he had.

The boos looped around, slowing to a rest in front of King Boo and Luigi. “Welcome back boss,” the boo on the left said.

“You still have Luigi,” the middle added.

“What are you going to do with him?” the right boo finished.

King Boo gave them a genuine smile, not his typical evil one but one that felt as if he was just happy to see his boos again. Which was such a strange feeling from him, it was actually creepy.

“I’ve decided to turn him into a painting,” King Boo said, pushing down his annoyance that Luigi was more privy to his thoughts and feelings than he was supposed to be.

The boos laughed in near unnerving unison that sent a shiver down Luigi’s metaphorical spine. They followed King Boo back in as he entered.

Inside was a surprisingly grand living room. A large cushy sofa with matching chairs and cushions took up the bulk of the floorspace on top of a thick rug covered in intricate designs. A gorgeous crystal chandelier huge down from the ceiling, the dancing light from the fireplace, reflecting off its dangling bits, giving it an almost sparkly look. There was a large painting of an abstract night sky hung above the fireplace, completing the fancy feel of the room. If it wasn’t for the many boos and even a few standard ghosts suddenly all turning to look at him, Luigi probably would’ve found the place quite nice.

Abandoning their comfy seats, all the boos and ghosts rushed to crowd around King Boo. Being surround by a horde of boos was perhaps the scariest thing Luigi had encountered in a while. … All they did though was welcome King Boo home and congratulate him on his victory over the Mario bros. They all seemed happy to have their ‘boss’ back and King Boo was glad to be back.

‘See? Not so scary.’ Well… Luigi still didn’t like it no matter how ridiculous King Boo thought he was being.

Once all the ghosts had finally had their say, King Boo ordered them to take down the night sky portrait and put it in the music room. He then ordered another boo to bring down an empty painting frame that would take its place. It was rather obvious what that empty painting frame was for.

How aware would Luigi be in the painting? Mario and the toads had all said they didn’t remember anything of it so maybe it’d just be like a long sleep. Which honestly wouldn’t be so bad even if it lasted for forever. But… what if one was aware while in a painting but didn’t remember anything of it when they came out? Did that even make sense?

‘When I was trapped in that painting you and E. Gadd put me in, I was aware of every moment of it,’ King Boo cut in with an inward snarl. ‘So I really hope you will be to.’

Luigi whimpered but did his best not to think about it anymore. … Except the boo ordered to retrieve the empty painting frame choose that moment to swoop back into the room and present it to King Boo, holding it ready for him.

‘Anything else you want to say to me? Beg for mercy perhaps?’ King Boo hoped he would, it’d be a great send off. If Luigi was convincing enough, he might even…

No! Luigi could feel the lie in that thought. He wasn’t going to get mercy no matter how much he begged so he wasn’t going to. Just get it over with already. It’d be better than having his body controlled by King Boo for even a second longer.

King Boo chuckled. ‘Finally, some backbone. Very well though, this was fun. Maybe I’ll pull you out occasionally to play around some more. For now though, goodbye.’

He called on his power, causing his crown to glow brighter. There was an uncomfortable pulling sensation on Luigi’s soul and… King Boo’s magic sparked and fizzled out. … They were suddenly both very worried and Luigi couldn’t tell where his concern ended and King Boo’s began. … King Boo pushed that aside though and tried again, putting more force behind it. … It still didn’t work, the same thing happened as before, only more intense.

Growing desperate now, King Boo tried again. This time he kept pulling past the point of discomfort until… it felt kind of like their souls were struck by lightning as his magic sparked again, sending a tremor through both of them that translated into a physical shudder.

“What’s wrong boss?” the boo holding the empty painting asked as they all crowded a bit closer.

King Boo looked up at him, his hands trembling a little as he forced an unsteady smile. “I think I might be stuck in here.”

[jakelionstumblr]

Thoughts about Luigi’s Mansion, 3, and why it lacks the magic 1 had.

below the cut, may be some spoilers but I’m only at floor 9

As I’ve been playing through Luigi’s Mansion 3 in the way I play games with collectibles (at least these days,) trying to marathon rooms, looking for every type of secret or collectible in one run, I find myself getting bored, only putting in an hour to two at a time, before needing to get a bit of space. I may have had similar breaks on my first playthrough of the first game in the series, though it’s been too long to really remember. But what I’m focusing on here is what I’m coming away from the play experience with, what I’m thinking about between sessions, as well as what makes me want to take a break.

In the long distant memories of those first experiences on the gamecube, I recall spending so much time thinking about individual rooms in the house. What do I need to do in the exercise room? How do I light up the fortune teller’s room? What will get me to the next floor?

These sorts of thoughts, memories highlights a key difference between games 1 and 3. Luigi’s Mansion 1 was about the house, the whole house, and nothing but the house.

When thinking about the first Luigi’s Mansion, I think back to some of the early 3d platformers and their allure, which I find has been lost on a lot of modern attempts. Especially in Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie, I feel developers had mastered what I called the Vignette worlds. or maybe Playgrounds. These were levels that were very finite, really quite small if seen from a distance, but had so much to do in them.

This may have been due to limitations of the hardware that forced this type of world and gameplay, but I feel it had a huge impact on the way players would relate to a world. Because you spend so much time in so small a place, you start to become incredibly familiar with all the features of the world. You know by heart where the ramps are, you recognize the tower in the distance. These worlds all became like homes in a sense, and a game featuring 15 or more of these “worlds” felt huge, because of the amount of time you spent in each helped to make the move between different ones feel like a powerful move, like the feeling of leaving home for college, or taking a month long vacation.

When we saw these developers try to move to larger worlds, like Banjo Tooie or Super Mario Sunshine, that feeling of home was lost. We zip past details, we’re on a long trek to somewhere with nothing in between. Take a look at how far apart things are in Super Mario Odyssey, and how little the space in between means.

Coming back to Luigi’s Mansion, one might infer that a similar forced hand was occurring, albeit at a next gen level. They were trying to showcase the step up in graphics, which Nintendo was never a huge player in. Their solution, was something incredibly beautiful to look at, and yet incredibly small. There weren’t even 15 separate worlds, maybe... 30 rooms in a house?

So what made this a playable game? How many times can you do the ghost mechanic before it feels like you’re just bumping into the same 4 walls?

It was the mystery, the uncovering of all these many mysteries, in such a small space. Within this house were so many unique ghosts, and each one had some sort of trigger to allow you to actually catch them. You had to watch, observe, try to figure out. You would read the whole room, where any object could be important.

You might fail, you might not figure it out, and start running about the house, thinking or looking for clues or inspiration. The game played to this. Rooms you had ‘cleared’ of ghosts remained safe places, where you could think, look for money. Maybe read a book off a bookshelf. Dark rooms might always spawn ghosts, they were always a source of danger, and were never lit until cleared - you wanted to see how lovely these rooms could be. You wanted them to be safe. It was a HUGE motivator.

There were the elements of fire, ice and water. Objects in the room could relate to that, and be part of the problem solving. But you might not notice these things in a room until much later, when you got the power to do something with them. This instilled the idea that every room was important - everything in the room is important - and learning each room was as valuable a play experience as learning every world in a platformer might be.

What a huge idea! Showing us how magical rooms in a house and things in a house could be. Secret passageways, basements, attics. A candle might be magical if only you had the fire to light it.

Another important thing was feeling alone. You might get a bit of advice from E. Gadd, and you would come across Toads, but they never went with you. You could visit them, but the mystery and adventure was yours alone to unravel and discover, call out as you might for your brother. You were also never trapped in the mansion, but bound by a sense of duty.

----

When you get into Luigi’s Mansion 3, you might not notice a few things right off the bat, but maybe feel something is different. The battle mechanics feel... a bit more like a beat-em-up? The introduction of the slam mechanic makes dealing with ghosts a lot quicker. Which is a good thing... right?

Not really. Ghosts aren’t a threat to fear and a motivator to “clear a room.” There’s no way to actually clear a room of ghosts - sometimes they’re in there, sometimes they’re not, but - either way, you just slam them and move on. A nuisance at best. In the first game, you could flee from a fight by entering another room - you could double back quickly, and it still might be going on. In this game, if you’re not locked to a zone for a meaningless fight, there’s no feeling of fear like you’re running away - you’re just moving past them.

The slam mechanic, though, as well as the plunger move, highlights what I feel is the most - literally- destructive move the series has made - you can destroy everything in a room. It’s fun a hell and looks cool as hell, but what does it imply?

Rooms don’t matter. The things in rooms don’t matter.

Really, if you can’t break something in a room, then it’s obviously used as a puzzle mechanic. But in this game, if it’s not a grate that gooigi can walk through, or a tube gooigi can go through, or a big thing you can stick a plunger to and yank away, it doesn’t mean shit.

There’s no bookshelves on a book you can read, no candles that might light up with fire. There are ‘things’ yes, like a fan you can blow, but they stick out like a sore thumb. A few clever things, like seeing two cymbals and being rewarded for crashing them together, hearkens to the sort of smarts this game could have more of. But you’re not in a  house where every room is special, you’re not exploring what the parts of a house are and what they do.

I’d actually say that the first 5 floors of this game, -almost- do that. Because, in the first 5 floors, you are exploring a traditional hotel. Bathrooms, dining halls, some actual hotel rooms. That has the magic that the home-snooping 1st game had. You get to see the first rooms you were in change drastically. You get elevator buttons in a random order, sending you to 3, then 5, then finally 4.

Floor 6 is where the game pretty much tells you “nah, this isn’t it.” It’s a thematic castle floor. All the rooms are linear, castle themed puzzles. Besides looking pretty, there’s no reason you would want to come back to them. You’ll need to, if they didn’t obviously place all the thematic gems, but you won’t feel rewarded for “reading the room.” You’ll feel rewarded for noticing the puzzle, framed by a boring ass room.

Then, you start getting elevator buttons linearly. 6, then 7, then 8, then 9. Each floor is themed, but even worse then having a linear arrangement of rooms, some floors are only 4-5 rooms, with hardly any amount of play value in them. The “museum of history” which would be RIFE with nooks and crannies, moving through displays, ending up in the gift shop - is one big, boring, lifeless room.

It brings some nice things from the 2nd game - the light to reveal invisible objects, though - you just end up passing through a room twice, once with the vacuum, the other time with that light. Not as rewarding as, say, having to learn that an object in the room is obscuring something. But the way spiders move and react, the way some small animated interactions happen, give little bits of life.

Every ghost encounter, though - of which there’s like 15, talking main ghosts - is pretty much dictated to you, through a series of cinematics if not just a boss fight delivered on a silver platter _at least up to floor 9). There’s no time spent uncovering a solution, giving these bosses character and meaning - it’s just something you’re progressing to on a linear basis. Even the cat segment was boring, as it didn’t take long for you to reach the end of that arc.

Even as point a-to-b as the game is, you never feel alone, and that’s a huge detriment to the motivation the first game gave you. You don’t feel like Luigi, the under appreciated brother using his wits to figure out a situation. You feel like Luigi, the pawn that does what he’s told. E.gadd isn’t just checking in with you at the end of each floor, or maybe after a big event with a few tips. Unless you turn it off, he’s calling, constantly. If it’s not him, it’s the ghost dog. You can’t even walk down some hallways without the dog popping out and arbitrarily halting your exploration, so you can watch him walk through the door you’re SUPPOSED to go through. Or, fail a few times getting the hang of a mechanic, or try the wrong thing - never fear! Your ghost dog friend will show you how to do it!

A few instances of this can feel charming, a refreshing break between the tenser times of a trickier game. But this game floods you with it. When you finally get to some periods of silence in between, though, there’s not much for you to discover yourself that feels cumulative, feels like you’re really figuring it out - you almost rush to the next context sensitive moment, because that’s obviously where the game is.

I can see where a hotel setting for this game would have worked really well. It could have expanded in a larger sense, if it was inside of these rooms, that secret passageways took you to unbelievable areas. But you would still be exploring a hotel, the architecture, the way a hotel works, and trying to understand how to awaken and capture the tenants that otherwise would just ignore and pester you - not just be the obvious point at the end of an obvious line.

[surveysonfleek]

191.

Are you an official couple with the last person you kissed? yes,

Looking back, did you ever think you would be where you are now? hell no. i thought i’d be in a better place.

Do you like someone? looove.

Is a best friend pissing you off right now? no.

Are you happier now or three months ago? three months ago i was vacationing in usa. so definitely happier back then.

What’s the greatest thing that happened to you today? i washed my car. i’ve been telling myself to wash it for months. so happy it’s beautiful and clean again haha.

How old do you think you will be when you finally have kids? no idea. probably around 30+.

Are you waiting for something? nope.

If you could change your eye color would you? only if it were painless. sure, why not.

What was the weather like today? sunny but cold.

Do you think you’ll be married in ten years? hopefully.

Does your ex still love/like you? no.

Are you stubborn? kinda. depends what the situation is.

Do you tend to hold a grudge? yes.

Where were you at 9am this morning? sleeping.

How has the week been? boring.

Did you go out or stay in last night? i went out.

Something you do a lot? sleep.

How many states have you lived in? one.

Can you commit to one person? yup.

Who was the last person to hold your hand? my boyfriend.

How many chances do you tend to give people before enough is enough? hmmm. it depends how much they mean to me. i’ll give someone i care about plenty of chances until it hits me that i’ve had enough.

Do you think you and your best friend will be friends in 10 years? well it’s been 8 years so far, so i hope so!

What do you miss most about your ex? nothing.

Are you attracted to the last person that kissed you? yes.

What’s a fact about the last person you kissed? he can drink coke warm. so gross haha.

Something you really want right now? sleep.

How long have you liked the person you like? 2009.

Does any part of your body hurt right now? no.

Did anyone see you kiss the last person you kissed? no.

Can you recall the last time you liked someone? now.

Are you happy with the way things are going? nope.

Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now? yes.

What plans do you have for tomorrow? hanging out with my dad then seeing my boyfriend at night.

Has a friendship ended recently that you wish hadn’t? no.

Ever given your ALL to someone who walked away? no.

Have you ever kissed the last person you texted? no.

Do you and your last ex hate each other? no.

When was the last time you were sick? yesterday.

Are you one of those people who are always cold? not usually. but lately yeah, it’s been freezing.

Do you tend to waste a lot of money? yep. i need to stop that.

Have you ever regretted kissing someone? no.

When was the last time you got a haircut? two weeks ago.

Did you sing at all today? no.

Would you rather be able to control the weather or control traffic? hmmmmm. i drive a lot so probably traffic.

Do you own any articles of clothing with skulls on it? no.

Are you faster at text messaging or typing on the computer? typing on the computer.

If you won a trip to a nude beach would you go or give the trip away? give it away omg.

In your opinion which is the stronger emotion: love or hate? love.

Tongue piercings - cute or trashy? don’t really care.

When it comes to jeans: skinny, flared or boot cut? skinny.

Would you rather be a star ballerina or a star break dancer? ballerina.

Honestly - can you say that looks don’t matter at ALL? they do. to an extent.

When it comes to Baseball would you rather be on the field or in the stands? stands.

I’ve got to know, who do you prefer: Mario or Luigi? mario.

Have you ever changed clothes in a public area (not a dressing room)? yeah, like in my car in a parking lot.

How many months apart is your birthday from your best friends? six months.

Yes or no: Techno music? noooo.

Yes or no: pigtails? no.

They say diamonds are a girls best friend; what do you say? yeah, sure.

Has anybody ever told somebody one of your secrets? yes.

Have you ever kissed anybody who had a mustache? yes.

If you were famous do you think you could handle the popularity? nope lol. i’d probably turn into a snob. i don’t like attention.

Have you ever kissed someone whose name started with a letter P? no.

Did you talk to one of your best friends today? What did you talk about? yes. just about our day.

Do you get on better with funny or serious people? funny, of course.

Do you have mood swings around the time of the month? i say i don’t but my boyfriend says otherwise.

Have your friends met the last person you kissed? yes.

How old is your oldest cousin? 30s?

What if you saw your best friend holding hands with your ex? weird.

How old were you when you had your first boyfriend/girlfriend? 18. 

Is your home town nice? yes. it’s decent.

What if you got stuck in a lift with the last person who Facebook messaged you? we’d be paranoid together lol.

When/where did your last hug take place? in a parking lot.

Do you consider yourself mature enough to make your own decisions? definitely.

Have your parents ever told you about their love lives, and any previous relationships they had before they met? haha yes, but not in any detail. i wouldn’t wna know anyway.

You get a text from someone saying that they want to hang out - who would you most like it to be from? my boyfriend.

Do you and your friends have any inside jokes? plenty.

Do you think someone has feelings for you? Are these feelings returned? yes and yes.

What if the last person you texted were to ask you out? haha i’d be shocked and turn them down.

Do you believe in love at first sight? nope.

Would you prefer to be somewhere else right now? If so, where? And why would you prefer to be there? no, i’m glad to be in bed.

When you listen to music, do you ever find that the songs affect your moods and change how you feel? yes.

Can you remember what you dreamt about last night? no.

[lovemesomesurveys]

Are you an official couple with the last person you kissed? Nope.

Looking back, did you ever think you would be where you are now? Nooo.

Do you like someone? Alexander Skarsgård, ya’ll should know this by now!

Is a best friend pissing you off right now? No.

Are you happier now or three months ago? Neither then or now.

What’s the greatest thing that happened to you today? I always do these surveys in the middle of the night so not much has happened.

How old do you think you will be when you finally have kids? I don’t know if I ever will have kids.

Are you waiting for something? Yes.

If you could change your eye color would you? Yeah. I’d like blue or green.

What was the weather like today? It’ll be warm probably. Bleh.

Do you think you’ll be married in ten years? No.

Does your ex still love/like you? Nope.

Are you stubborn? Veryyyy.

Do you tend to hold a grudge? Kinda.

Where were you at 9am this morning? I’ll be asleep.

How has the week been? Yesterday I was have an extremely irritating day. Like I was so irritated about everything.

Did you go out or stay in last night? Stayed in like always.

Something you do a lot? Sleep.

How many states have you lived in? One.

Can you commit to one person? Yes.

Who was the last person to hold your hand? My mom.

How many chances do you tend to give people before enough is enough? When is enough finally enough?

Do you think you and your best friend will be friends in 10 years? My mom will always be my best friend.

What do you miss most about your ex? I miss having him in my life, not gonna lie.

Are you attracted to the last person that kissed you? I don’t feel that way about him anymore, but he’s attractive, yes.

What’s a fact about the last person you kissed? He wants to be a film writer.

Something you really want right now? To not be dealing with this stuff.

How long have you liked the person you like? Since 2011.

Does any part of your body hurt right now? Yes.

Did anyone see you kiss the last person you kissed? Probably.

Can you recall the last time you liked someone? We’ve been over this, my friend.

Are you happy with the way things are going? N o.

Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now? No.

What plans do you have for tomorrow? Doctor appointment. Yippie...

Has a friendship ended recently that you wish hadn’t? I’ve drifted apart from everyone because I became really distant and withdrawn.

Ever given your ALL to someone who walked away? Yes.

Have you ever kissed the last person you texted? No.

Do you and your last ex hate each other? No.

When was the last time you were sick? I’m always not feeling well for one reason or another on some level or another. I haven’t had a cold or anything of that sort; though, for a couple years now.

Are you one of those people who are always cold? I’m always hot. I was one of those people this past winter, though. I’m usually not that cold that often, but this past winter was bad. I was also going through some other health stuff that probably contributed to that.

Do you tend to waste a lot of money? I feel like I do sometimes.

Have you ever regretted kissing someone? No.

When was the last time you got a haircut? Like 2 years ago.

Did you sing at all today? Not so far.

Would you rather be able to control the weather or control traffic? Weather, definitely.

Do you own any articles of clothing with skulls on it? Yes.

Are you faster at text messaging or typing on the computer? Typing.

If you won a trip to a nude beach would you go or give the trip away? I’d give it away.

In your opinion which is the stronger emotion: love or hate? Love.

Tongue piercings - cute or trashy? I don’t feel any way towards them.

When it comes to jeans: skinny, flared or boot cut? Skinny.

Would you rather be a star ballerina or a star break dancer? Break dancer, ha.

Honestly - can you say that looks don’t matter at ALL? No, I wouldn’t say they don’t at all.

When it comes to Baseball would you rather be on the field or in the stands? Neither.

I’ve got to know, who do you prefer: Mario or Luigi? Luigi.

Have you ever changed clothes in a public area (not a dressing room)? In a car.

How many months apart is your birthday from your best friends? Two.

Yes or no: Techno music? Not really.

Yes or no: pigtails? Sure.

They say diamonds are a girls best friend; what do you say? I mean they’re gorgeous, but I don’t need to have it.

Has anybody ever told somebody one of your secrets? Yes.

Have you ever kissed anybody who had a mustache? No.

If you were famous do you think you could handle the popularity? Noooo.  People are so mean.

Have you ever kissed someone whose name started with a letter P? No.

Did you talk to one of your best friends today? What did you talk about? Not so far.

Do you get on better with funny or serious people? Funny.

Do you have mood swings around the time of the month? I have mood swings daily.

Have your friends met the last person you kissed? Yeah. Plus, it was a mutual friend introduced us.

How old is your oldest cousin? 30 something.

What if you saw your best friend holding hands with your ex? My mom would not do that.

Your last relationship, who dumped who? He did.

How old were you when you had your first boyfriend/girlfriend? 16.

Is your home town nice? Not really.

What if you got stuck in a lift with the last person who Facebook messaged you? We’d be able to catch up.

When/where did your last hug take place? The other day at home.

Do you consider yourself mature enough to make your own decisions? I just suck at it.

Have your parents ever told you about their love lives, and any previous relationships they had before they met? Yeah. I mean, not like in detail or anything, but I’ve heard stuff about a relationship they had in high school.

You get a text from someone saying that they want to hang out - who would you most like it to be from? Ty. But I’m so messed up that I probably wouldn’t respond. I don’t know what the heck is wrong with me. I get upset about how things have changed and how I want it to be like it used to be, and then he’ll call and I don’t answer. WHY??

Do you and your friends have any inside jokes? What friends?

Do you think someone has feelings for you? Are these feelings returned? Not romantic feelings, no.

What if the last person you texted were to ask you out? If my mom wanted to ask me out to get lunch or breakfast, I’d be down. ha.

Do you believe in love at first sight? Explain. No.

Would you prefer to be somewhere else right now? If so, where? And why would you prefer to be there? Yes, on my vacation.

When you listen to music, do you ever find that the songs affect your moods and change how you feel? Yes.

Can you remember what you dreamt about last night? Nope.

[jackywroteabook]

5 Minute Fiction: “SUPERMAN”

{Just a little taste of the writing you can expect in one of my full-length novels, without the sheer number of hours, willpower, & commitment it takes to finish it. All short stories are representative of my writing voice, content, characters, settings, moods, & themes of my general fiction. Enjoy a quick snapshot of the kind of writing a genuine, award-winning Jacquelyn Eubanks Novel™ has to offer. All short stories take approximately 5 minutes or less to read. Like what you read? Buy my books on Amazon (The Last Summer & The Last Time) and follow me on social media (@JackyWroteABook).}

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I remember him in flashbacks. It’s the little things that trigger memories. Last weekend, I was cleaning out his basement and came across a box full of cassette tapes from the nineties. I pulled out each rectangular tape and examined the labels running along the side, noting the bands and album names written in his blocky handwriting, now faded or smudged. One particular tape caught my eye: Crash Test Dummies’ “The Ghosts That Haunt Me”.

           His favorite.

           Tearing through the boxes almost in a mania, I finally uncovered his old stereo system, the one with three CD slots, huge speakers, and two cassette tape places. I plugged it into an outlet and blew the dust off the tape slot, placed the cassette in, clicked the door shut, and pressed ‘play’.

           A sob caught in my throat as the baritone’s voice wafted through the room, crooning to the piano ballad about Superman.

           I close my eyes and am plunged into a memory of sitting in Daddy’s lap, listening to this song while he sings along, my curly red hair tucked under his chin. I can feel his throat vibrate with the notes and his whiskers scratch like sandpaper against my cheek. He smells of cigar smoke and some kind of cologne that I never learned the name of, but he always wore it. I’m no older than three.

           The hot, silent tears slide down my cheeks like that moment when you reach the top of the rollercoaster and the only place you can go is down, down, faster and faster, at such a steep incline that your stomach drops and you feel like you’re falling and suddenly you can’t contain it anymore, and you just scream.

           My father was a man who didn’t say much, but he didn’t need to. His actions spoke volumes.

           We were never rich, but my dad made enough to provide a good life for his family. I remember one Christmas, my family was ready to go on our first real vacation – as in, no tents, sleeping bags, or dehydrated backpacking food. We were going to a ski resort in Montreal, and my sisters and I were so excited to finally see real snow after living in southern Arizona our whole lives. I packed my suitcase full of the essentials days before we had to leave – my stuffed animals, a nightgown with Barbie on it, my blankie, and some Froot Loops – and I was so excited that I could hardly sleep. Two nights before Christmas, Dad called everyone into the living room for a family meeting. He explained that we weren’t going on the trip anymore. He looked somberly down at me and my two little sisters, reached for our mother’s hand, and drew in a breath. He then explained that there are a lot of people less fortunate than us. As simply as possible, he told us that the Bank was going to take away another family’s house if they didn’t pay money.

           “How much money, daddy?”

           “A lot.”

           He explained that rather than go on a trip this Christmas, we were giving the money we would’ve spent on vacation to the Bank so the family, who had little girls just like me, could keep their house.

           He never told us who the family was.

           I never learned how much money he gave them…but, as an adult with a job and children of my own, I can take an educated guess.

           Dad spent decades working for the same company, and he hated it. He told me he’d dreamt of being a jet fighter pilot, but his eyesight was so horrendous that it was impossible. So he settled for a job he didn’t enjoy, and it drained him. Hours upon hours, he labored in a DuPont plant mixing chemicals to create car paint. He couldn’t stand the wrath of his superiors on the corporate end, and he never could get close to his coworkers. He was a natural introvert, yes, but he didn’t associate himself with people who degraded his integrity. The men at his job smoked pot during lunch breaks, blew all their Friday paychecks on hard liquor, and frequently invited him into a prostitute trailer parked behind the factory. He didn’t agree with that lifestyle and was persecuted for it mercilessly. Often, the only companionship he found at work was from the radio, which he listened to while eating lunch in the car.  

           There are things I distinctly inherited from Dad. His passion for politics is a perfect example. I remember nights spent in front of the TV, Tom Brokaw broadcasting the news, my dad and I sharing pita bread and hummus or crackers with canned sardines or smoked oysters. The salty, oily taste of fish in a tin acts as a trigger. During those quiet times spent together, he liked to pass on thoughts and wisdom.

           The only person he ever hated was Bill Clinton. He despised that man, and whenever the president appeared on our screen, Dad would shut the television off in a huff. When I asked him why President Clinton bothered him so much, he just shook his head and uttered, “I can’t respect a man who cheats on his wife. How do you trust someone who lies to the very person they promised to always be faithful to?”

           I never questioned the morality of my dad. He was a righteous man who read the Bible, attended church, and believed that beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy.  

           He had that exact phrase – it’s a Ben Franklin quote – on a T-shirt. His best friend, Robert, had a shirt to match it. They were closer than brothers, and I remember Uncle Bob was always at our house bearing gifts and pearls of wisdom for us girls. He and Dad joked that the hope of America rested on my shoulders, and that it was my duty to keep my reputation as spotless as possible so I could be president one day. I never forgot their faith in me, long after Uncle Bob waded into the deep end of atheism and then went under, completely submerged and drowning in the bitterness of his refusal to acknowledge a god. We never saw him again, and even though Dad said nothing, I know losing his best friend like that was worse than if he had died.

           Dad’s father died when he was fourteen, and from that moment on he took on the roll of Superman for his mother and brother during their grieving. He loved his father more than words can express, and I knew it; spread throughout my childhood were bits and pieces of Papa, appearing in the forms of a watch Dad always wore, a Free Masons ring, a case full of World War II medals, and a brown leather recliner that he and I always sat in. Dad always loved World War II movies. I never said it aloud, but I always figured those movies helped him feel connected to his father.

           In high school, I was bullied and sexually harassed by a gang of undersexed pubescent boys. Every day I would make up outlandish excuses to stay home, or halfway through the day fake sick and get sent home early. Finally, Dad caught on to what was happening, so he went directly to the principal so the harassment would stop. To our dismay, my sexist principal simply had a chat with each of the boys that consisted of approximately two sentences: “She’s obviously mentally unstable. Just leave her alone and the school won’t have to deal with her problems anymore.” Needless to say, this didn’t help the situation; if anything, it was reassurance to the boys that our principal was on their side, and they could continue torturing me without fear of punishment. That’s when Dad decided to take things into his own hands: he signed me up for taekwondo and taught me everything I needed to know about dealing with assholes. By the time I’d reached a black belt and gotten in two fights at school (both in self-defense, of course), I may not have been well-liked, but at least I was left alone. Dad taught me that I didn’t have to be afraid because all the strength, courage, and confidence I’d ever need was already within me.      

           When I was twelve, I decided that baseball was my favorite sport and I promptly became obsessed with it. In fact, rarely a day went by that I wasn’t glued to the TV, engulfed in a Dodger’s game. I came to know every player, every team, every score, stat, and skill in Major League Baseball. And before I knew it, Dad was joining me. He never, to my recollection, was a baseball fan. But something changed, and all of a sudden he was the one keeping track of scores and standings and waiting for me to join him in watching the game. On my birthday every year, we drove all the way to Los Angeles to watch a Dodger’s game. Just me and him. It was wonderful. On the way home from one of those birthday games, I was falling asleep in the shotgun seat when I heard him whisper, “Thanks, Mack-ster, for reminding me of how much I love baseball.”

           I later learned that baseball was his dad’s favorite sport, and the two of them bonded over listening to Dodgers games on the radio when he was a child. After his father died, his love of baseball died, too.  I promised myself that I wouldn’t let the same thing happen to me when my dad died. If  he ever died.

To me, Dad was more invincible than Superman. He never showed weakness, but he had a quiet empathy that bred an old-world, gentlemanly air about him. He seemed timeless, and even as the years passed he was consistent in character and looks. That’s why our last Daddy-Daughter Night left me numb and disbelieving, as if reality could not be as frigid as the touch of his words.

It was a Tuesday night. He called me up and suggested we go out to Luigi’s, our favorite Italian restaurant. I met him at our usual booth, situated under a wooden overhang covered in fake grapes hanging from vines. It smelled like tomato sauce, basil and garlic. A basket full of breadsticks sat in front of him on the red-and-white-checkered tablecloth, a dish of olive oil and parmesan cheese next to it. We carried on our usual conversation through the appetizer – calamari – and the salad course – with bleu cheese dressing, like always – when the air thickened with words not yet uttered, suppressed and even withheld. I could sense this cloud suffocating and separating us. There was something he wasn’t telling me, I knew, but I couldn’t reach him through the smog of sensitive silence. Finally, when the waiter delivered our entrees (eggplant parmesan for me, veal parmesan for him), he spoke.

“I’m dying.”

His words made the cloud evaporate so quickly that it created a vacuum, a black hole sucking out every emotion, every word, every thought, every sense until I was left with only shock. The breath caught in my throat, and I could feel my chest tighten with the realization that Superman had a kryptonite: Cancer.

I broke down sobbing within a matter of seconds, the tears flooding my eyes and pouring down my face as if a dam burst, throwing away all lessons he’d given me on “mental toughness”. And, to my absolute horror, he started crying, too.

It was the first – and the last – time I ever saw my father cry.

He died that spring.

And the man who shaped me into the person I am, the legacy he left behind, the impact he made on other lives – they are still a part of me, a part of the world, even though he’s no longer physically here. I feel his presence in objects, in sounds, in scents that trigger memories and bring him back to me intangibly. He did everything he could to leave this world better than he found it. He was the greatest man I ever knew.

The last notes of the song echoed in the basement, spreading a warm, bittersweet wave of nostalgia through my body reverberating in my soul as I hung on to the last line of lyrics:

And sometimes I despair the world will never see another man like him…