#gihijinks rambles

[gihijinks]

Marx and Magolor and their "it's complicated" thing. I keep promising to actually dissect their dynamic but then I get emotionally burnt out and just make them cuddle instead.

The general binding theme of "the way we interact with others makes us fundamentally isolated, and the existence of the Soul is so inherently frightening and a profoundly lonely experience, and you are the only one who can fully understand this facet of myself" paired against their conflicting feelings.

Marx's "you're a hypocrite, your double standards are infuriating, you make me want to pull my hair out. You make me laugh, you're fun, I miss you when you're gone."

Magolor's "I changed, you didn't, you don't get to judge me. I wish I was a better friend to you. You seem to know me better than I know myself and that scares me. I hate you. I lovingly dedicate this hat to you."

It gets worse before it gets better but it gets better.

[gihijinks]

MetaDede Week 2023: Day 2, First Meeting

“Long before he was king, Dedede lived in a small Waddle Dee village close to the Rainbow Resort. It was a simple life, safe and mundane, yet uninteresting. That is, until one fateful sunset evening. Just as the rest of the village was preparing for their nighttime routine, Dedede spotted a spark in the sky. The spark quickly turned into a brilliant shooting star that careened down towards the forest at the village’s edge. Swallowing his fear to satiate his curiosity, Dedede took hold of one of the stone hammers the village architects had left unsupervised, and crept towards the crash site. Just as he neared the first line of trees, a figure - that Dedede immediately clocked as the origin of the shooting star - stumbled through the undergrowth. It was a boy his age with most of his face covered by a dark hood, who, upon realizing he wasn’t alone, lifted his very real sword and pointed it at his assumed attacker. His hair was full of stars, and his eyes seemed to contain galaxies.”

“It took Dedede some time to convince the stranger that he wasn’t a threat. Once he succeeded, the other lowered his weapon and apologized for the scare, explaining it was his duty to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves, not to harm them. Dedede felt a bit ruffled at the insinuation he couldn’t protect himself, but invited the stranger to come stay at the village, at least for the night. Though touched by the unfamiliar hospitality, the stranger declined the offer, insisting that he could handle himself. Before the newcomer disappeared from view - upwards, as if he was flying - Dedede called out, asked for his name and if they’d see each other again. The stranger’s response to the second question was ‘maybe.’ The first: ‘Meta Knight.’”

This probably the only thing I'll do for MetaDede week, but this was fun!

[gihijinks]

Before fusing with NOVA, Marx would experience long bouts of severe insomnia, sometimes going entire days without sleeping. This would be highly unusual for anyone, but especially a Noddy, creatures that thrived on sleep and dream magic. Marx never seemed to mind the lack of sleep, and the insomnia did not seem to have any - significant - impacts on his mental health. After the fusion with NOVA, Marx seemingly lost the ability to fall asleep entirely. Again, this didn’t seem to bother him. He claimed that this just meant that he had more hours in the day to have fun and sow chaos, and that sleep was a boring waste of time. However, on certain occasions, Marx would partake in the activity of “laying down and acting out the functions of sleep.” This occurs when his partner is experiencing stronger bouts of her usual restless sleep cycle, in which case Marx would gather her up in his wings, brush his claws through his hair, and soothe the stressed out mage back to sleep.

I promise one day I'll actually do that post dissecting the more complex/mixed feelings thing they have that I keep talking about. But until then they get to cuddle, as a treat.

[gihijinks]

Kirby considers Marx to be their first genuine friend.

Marx considers Magolor to be his first genuine friend.

Magolor considers Kirby to be his first genuine friend.

[gihijinks]

something something Taranza and Susie and their very divergent methods of grief.

Taranza, who lives for what once was and what could have been, hanging onto every last remainder of the past, never truly moving forward and always looking back.

Susie, who pushes ahead with single minded resolution and a "business as usual" attitude, determined to at least try to turn the daunting legacy her father left behind into something more positive, so fixated on moving forward she doesn't have the opportunity to look back.

One is past-oriented, the other is future-oriented.

[gihijinks]

Let's Always Stay Friends, Kirby!

"I guess what I'm saying is... no matter where you go and no matter where we may meet... Let's always stay the best of Friends, Kirby!"

That moment when you and the person you betrayed both get isekaied into the same alternate universe.

So this line of dialogue from RtDL Deluxe makes me really want to take the light novel route of “our Kirby gets isekai’d into the Clash universe.” I’ve been going back and forth on this for a while. Both “our Kirby gets isekai’d” and “Clash Kirby is just an alternate version” have their own appeal. But the first option really helps Kirby’s character arc.

For Kirby, this point in the timeline is one of the low points for them. Because of the types of threats he’d been facing recently, the encounters weigh on him a lot more. The “final bosses” have been “human” as opposed to “eyeball entities of the void.” The consequences feel more profound. Dedede got possessed all the time, but he’d bounce back. No such luck with this new wave of antagonists that started with Marx. As far as Kirby is aware, Marx and Magolor are dead, and Taranza and Susie have lost loved ones. They can’t help but ruminate over what happened and this results in a very negative thought pattern. If they paid a bit more attention, maybe they could have noticed something was off about Marx. If they tried a bit harder, maybe Magolor wouldn’t have lost himself to the Crown. If things were just a bit different, maybe Taranza wouldn’t have lost Sectonia and Susie wouldn’t have lost her dad. It’s overwhelming.

So, how does Kirby Clash fit into this? Well, Magolor is there, and while he can’t be direct with his emotions to save his life, he could help Kirby correct some of those negative misconceptions. As unfortunate as it is, you can’t save everyone, and not everyone wants to be saved. But what matters is that you are trying. You care so much, you love so much. Don’t lose sight of that, it’s what makes you special.

“I’m sure if your Magolor was here, he’d say ‘thank you.’”

I think Kirby hearing that from the mouth of one of the people he “failed” would mean a lot to him.

And of course this would eventually culminate in Kirby realizing that the Shoppekeeper was their Magolor all along, and them finding a way back to Dreamland together.

[gihijinks]

Ah yes, Dark Nebula, the original girlfailure. Pretty happy with this design. The hair moves and shifts like plasma, it was fun giving it a vaguely star-shaped design in a way that was distinct from Kirby. It's also got a small tiara, both as a nod to her title as "Ruler of the Underworld," and perhaps as a tie-in to another crown. Still wondering how to characterize her, given how much Dark Nebula's been memed on in general. Do I ignore how lackluster its battle is on a technical level and make her a more imposing presence, or do I lean into the memes and make her a joke villain? A combo of both? Beyond that, I do actually want to make Dark Nebula's possession powers much more threatening. With more unique and threatening types of possession being what sets the "main" Dark Matters apart from the drones. This also ties in neatly with Wave Two of Star Allies. I want to separate the waves out and give them unique binding ties which somewhat justifies them being grouped together. Wave One is "exploring the intricacies of Dreamlandic culture through the eyes of normal citizens." Wave Three is "the intersection of magic and technology" and "long hard road to redemption." Wave Two is "those who dealt with the Eyeball Horrors." As such, giving those main Dark Matters more imposing possession magic helps tie that point in. Zero/Zero Two leaves the host body very physically frail, which is what happened to Queen Ripple. This serves as an important motivator for Ribbon (and Adeleine to a smaller extent) as she tries to learn more about the effects of possession and see if there's anything that could ease the queen's pain. Dark Mind rarely directly possesses people (RIP King D-Mind), but his corrupting influence leaves a lot of scars on a person's mind, most explored through DMK. To complete the body/mind/heart trifecta, perhaps Dark Nebula's possession could have increased emotional ramifications. In that case, Daroach is either a) built different and just shrugged the possession off, b) greatly effected but just doesn't talk about it, or c) greatly effected but coping pretty well because he has a great support system with the rest of the Squeaks. Tell me what you think!

[gihijinks]

Marx and Magolor's First Meeting

“So… this is how it ends.”

Marx’s body felt numb as he looked out into the starry depths of space, his eyes out of focus and misaligned. The left side of his body burned, the skin stretched uncomfortably tight. Thin, frozen strands of unnaturally colored blood connected the two halves of his body. His wings were shattered, useless.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go! His prank had worked flawlessly. He got Kirby to space, he summoned NOVA, he made his wish. Everything had been perfect!

And then… and then…

Kirby had to go and ruin everything.

Marx’s prank, his wish to turn the world on his head, had all gone awry because of that pest. The source of his entertainment had turned against him. The granter of his deepest wish became the source of his greatest pain.

And then… that! Whatever that was, the feeling that burned into his very soul… and threatened to turn his body to shreds. It was unlike anything that Marx had ever fathomed. A sharp split that traveled through his mind, his body, his soul.

And he would be left with this torn sensation for the last few hours of his meager life. Out here, drifting in some dark corner of the galaxy, it was as inevitable as Kirby’s victory. Be it starvation, or dehydration, or deep space hypothermia, he was going to die.

Marx never imagined death would be so boring.

“Yoohoo, sad little clown boy!”

Marx was sure he was hearing things. Who else could be out here? He did not recognize the voice. He tried to tilt his head and look in the direction of the sound. He could barely manage to move an inch. Still, he shifted just enough to spot a figure waving to him from a nearby block of land.

A boy in a comically oversized cloak and hood, the two ear extensions flopping against the back of his head. His lopsided grin grew wider as they made eye contact.

“You look like you could use a hand!” he spoke with an unfamiliar accent. “Or maybe two.”

Marx took a second to process the words, then burst out in laughter. It hurt, and every sound came out raspy. Still, he couldn’t stop.

“Really?” he managed to speak, voice cracked and dry. “You see an armless jester, and that’s the first joke you think of?”

The stranger laughed in return. It was a light, airy sound. Marx couldn’t help but laugh along, despite the pain it caused.

Maybe dying with a fellow comedian by his side would liven the mood.

“But seriously, you need help?” the stranger said as he wiped at his eyes. “I can patch you up. You seem a bit too calm for someone sliced in half.”

Marx did not answer right away. The gravity of the situation weighed on him again.

“What are you even doing out here?” he asked. “It’s not exactly a nice place for a midnight stoll.”

“I wanted to examine the wreckage of the NOVA explosion that occurred nearby.” In an instant, the stranger’s ever present grin shifted. It held a familiar sinisterness. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about it, would you?”

“... Tell you what, you patch me up, and I’ll tell you what I know.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

The stranger grinned again. He shifted his pack of supplies to the ground and began rummaging through it, eventually extracting a bundle of rope. He tossed the end out, letting it unravel and float towards Marx. He managed to twitch one of his claws and secure a hold against the noose.

“What am I supposed to call you, anyway?” Marx asked as the stranger reeled him in.

He got a hum in response. “Well, I suppose you can call me a friend.”