#//Magoland Branch AU

[desultory-novice]

<Surprise! I turned it into a post!>

Do I ever cry working on this stuff?

Oh yes. Ohhhhhhhhhh yes.

I'm a very emotionally focused writer who really gets into the heads of the characters I write for, and I often feel the things I have them go through very strongly. (And I've absolutely shed completely real RL tears over the things I write. No shame here.)

Just in that little piece there, I myself can FEEL the tension beating around me as the Master Crown tries to pressure Marx into standing down by using Magolor as a bargaining chip and casting really vile aspersions on Marx's motivations. (Even as the crown itself is only thinking that way because it has fed off the souls of countless villainous kings in the past.) I feel a tingling in my hands when Magolor "wakes up" and starts screaming. And I feel a heaviness in my heart as Marx doesn't know how to tell Magolor the truth and wonders (without saying it aloud) if he was being selfish for bringing Magolor to the surface just so he can have his friend back.

...Sometimes, I do worry my work may come off a little too...strong, for that reason. Should I muffle the emotions a little? Will my writing ever upset people past the point of “feelsy” entertainment to become just plain upsetting?? 

There are many different reasons to write. To inform. To persuade. I'm big on writing as a tool for teaching lessons. Both ones you want to emulate (treat others as you wish to be treated, etc) and ones you very much don't. (Be careful what you wish for, etc.) But I also see stories as having value for their use as a form of emotional expression. (And emotional discovery/instruction.)

We writers don't just want to be running faucets all the time. Pouring out so much emotion it floods the page until everyone is wet and unhappy. But I've heard it said that even when you write solely "for yourself" there will always be SOMEONE out there in this vast world who feels the same way you do. And if you wrote that very personal thing out of some kind of “need” - that other person may very well “need” the thing you wrote too.

I've been saved from some sad places in my life by some incredible stories. And some of those stories took very depressing turns. Sometimes, it was the depressing stuff I resonated with the most. 

Just having a character tell another, "...I get sad sometimes" can make you think, "Oh man! That's me...!" Other times, a character :cough: may have have had an evil god turn their life upside down, body-snatching them only to destroy everything they care about, driving them insane to use as a pawn in a war of angels and demons centuries later :cough: and you go "...Oh man. That's me..."

I've never had the angels and demons thing happen to me. But I did resonate strongly with a character like that. That resonance helped me process some things in my life and grow from them. Some find that what is most real to them is NOT in the 1:1 accurate-down-to-the-pores depiction of reality, but in the abstraction, the simplification, and the fantasy.

There's a section in Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" that talks about how we as humans respond to caricatures. Heck with it. I'm just going to paste it here because I don't think I can explain it better...

Replace “cartoon” with “fiction” in general and you have my thoughts.

I've never been possessed by an evil crown, but I've worked really hard to achieve something I thought I wanted only to have it backfire on me and leave me feeling devastated and hurt.

I've never had an alien entity puppet my body against my will, but I've felt like no one could hear the things I was saying and that nothing I did had any affect on the world around me.

I have made vague, weak, passing attempts at things like confessional webcomics about my life experiences. But what I found is that I don't really want to write domestic, true-to-life stories about what it's like growing up autistic in a time when people thought you had to be utterly non-verbal and unable to tie your shoelaces (I loved tying shoelaces) and also really good at the piano (I'm not good at the piano, but I'm learning) to be “autistic.”

And other times I want to write about lives that aren't my own. Lives that I can only dream of. Of exploring galaxies and casting magic. Of running an army or fighting against one till your last dying breath. Of suffering so deep it makes life seem not worth it. Of euphoric joy that reaches back to heal even the wounds of past lives. Of being the one to stand up to save an entire planet, or of just being in the right place at the right time to protect my loved ones.

...Of accidentally building a soul-saving theme park in hell and of helping someone that seemed completely beyond help. ^^;

So, I write these fantastical :cough: fan-fiction :cough: about characters that I think themselves are possibly/probably representative of some broader things, ideas, or situations. (Kumazaki happily admits that Kirby is a vessel for the player to put their own feelings and experiences into) 

Or are just admirable and super cool and I want to dress like them and wear a cool red tophat and cloak and walk around with a cane with my crew of noble thieves and equate my experiences to theirs and vice versa. Because that’s okay too!

...And I occasionally cry doing it.

[driftwoodmfb]

Soooooo I had the crazy idea to make a banner for @desultory-novice I used their Magolor and Marx's from their AUs along with normal Marx and Mags and their soul forms

I really hope she likes it!

Should I have added the year of the rabbit versions?

[magolandandfriends]

Hey magolor have heard of the Mary Magoland hell Branch au

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

Magolor: Oh- no I haven’t- should I be concerned?

(I haven’t but you should totally send me the link to the blog/AU tehehehehehehhehehheheheh-)

[desultory-novice]

THIS post + THIS led to this...

Dessverse AUs collide once more as the "Apologies" family returns to the Hell Branch of Merry Magoland for another "fun" visit, where Noir learns the dangers of letting your leader of your hivemind boss accompany you to the theme park...!

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...Goodness, are you still reading?

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...You ought to know nothing happy lies below...

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...Are you sure...?

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...Very well...

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[Apologies - Dream Land 3 version]

...You 'cannot?' You have grown rebellious, Swordsman.

"That's because... I remember everything you did to me! Corrupted my mind, twisted my emotions, caused my body to rot around me, made me fill the ranks of your legion of the damned, and stole my memories so I would command them as your elite!!"

"I already gave up this sorry excuse of a 'life' in your non-existent name once! Now you're telling me what...? I don't even get to die...?! No...! You can't command me anymore! I don't obey y...!!"

"R-rgh! What...?"

You are comprised of the matter that is my dominion. You cannot live without it. And you cannot defy EYE.

"...N-no... No, no, no, no...."

Individuality has poisoned you, Swordsman.

"Don't..."

Let us first be rid of those loathsome adornments that render you distinct from the others and thus imperfect.

"Ngh...!"

Now, your memories...

"Stop... Stop! Adeleine... Gooey... I'm your brother. I'm Noir! Adeleine. Gooey. I'm your brother. I'm N... Adeleine. Gooey. I'm y...our... adeleine gooey ey'm your adeyeleyengooeye eye...!!

...

...Eye...

AGAIN.

...Yes, Master Zero.

[desultory-novice]

“A Beautiful Sunset”

CW: body horror, mind break

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I know-kirby-saved-me-he-wouldn’t-just-leave-me-like-this-not-when-it-hurts-so-much-please-make-it-stop-where-are-you-Kirby-

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My original��sketch/idea had the two of them actually alright and safe in Dream Land, just plagued by memories, they being the lone “survivors” of having their Souls weaponized...

...Then cursed True Arena lore kicked in and now they’re not okay but since the Master Crown stole his eyes, Magolor can’t even see and he’s driven to hallucinating out of desperation and pain

Edit: I turned this into a whole mini series...

Part 2 “The Sun Never Sets” Part 3 “Screams of Joy” Part 4 “Visitors” Part 5 “A Perfect Circle”

Relevant: “Conditional”

Prologue: “Selfish Needs”

[desultory-novice]

I just realized: True Arena Magolor (Dess chuckled. "You mean the Dark Matter Wizard?") wouldn't even have the mercy of going to Hell in Apologies.

Also realized why he's called Dark Matter Wizard, not Dark Matter King, despite the corruption artifact being a crown. There can only be one, and it's not you, Mags.

Did you just subtly imply full possession Dark Matter King Dedede in my inbox?! If so, thank you so much, I absolutely love it!

(Yesss, let's take all of Adeleine's precious people from her. That will be "good" for her health. "You're a lot like my brother!" indeed...)

That said, man...I don't think :cough: "Dark Matter Wizard" has the mercy of anything resembling salvation, even in game-verse!

I meant to write about this somewhere but a couple of fans have speculated that the True Arena isn't just a bad end, it's a bad end that takes place specifically after the epilogue. IE: Magolor loses to Mistelteinn and becomes RE:CROWNED. Which would explain why it corrupts him so much faster/why he reaches the point of no return.

No Merry Magoland Hell Branch for him, I-...

Actually, hold up...I've just realized...

(Noir + The Sword count as two.)

[desultory-novice]

"Money Tree"

All this Hell Branch talk and including the non-Soul bosses and well, suddenly I HAD to address the giant tree elephant in the room...!

[For Context]

Marx: "Before I slice you up and shove you in a wood chipper a piece at a time...what's up with the drastic personality shift?"

Crown: "...Do not mistake me, Jester. I remain exactly the object your broken king knows me for, as the pain I have carved indelibly on his soul whispers to him even now..."

Crown: "But...I have not the power to Control that I did before, this incarnation of myself having been felled by another version of HIM. Ahh, he was shivering as he struck the final blow. The hot tears in his eyes. How I would have liked to feast on them like I did your king's..."

Crown: "My physical form may be buried, to take seed as a harmless fruit tree, but...the memory of my terrifying and wrathful hegemony lives on forever in the minds of every Magolor..."

Marx: "You're back to torment him more?"

Crown: "You foolish clown. I am here to play. Do you know how many years it takes an apple tree to grow from a seed? ...I tire of waiting."

Marx: "Play?! As in HERE? Nuh-uh. You gotta be insane if you think we're letting you set one branch inside our theme pa..."

Magolor: "Every ride and game costs x 1000 the list price."

Crown: "...Deal."

Marx: "Mags!?"

Magolor: "What? Money is money. And we do need a way to keep up with all the competing businesses opening up down here!"

Marx: "So Mags, would you say hell's become a hot spot? Hohoho..."

Magolor: "Heh...Heheh."

Crown: "...I'm going to get some shaved ice."

[desultory-novice]

“Visitors”

Parts 4 of the “Magoland Underworld Branch AU” (Based on the script I wrote in another post. I decided to draw this one too, for it to all connect nicely to the ending. Which is coming...later-ish...)

Part 1 “A Beautiful Sunset” Part 2 “The Sun Never Sets” Part 3 “Screams of Joy” Part 4 “Visitors” [You Are Here] Part 5 “A Perfect Circle”

Relevant: “Conditional”

Prologue: “Selfish Needs”

Last time: A crazed, hallucinating Magolor Soul opened a theme park in hell along with the other Lost Souls. Because it was that or cry all day. Elfilin has just decided a nice, peaceful park visit might help Efilis with their trauma...

[desultory-novice]

“A Perfect Circle”

Conclusion of the “Magoland Branch AU” story

Part 1 “A Beautiful Sunset” Part 2 “The Sun Never Sets” Part 3 “Screams of Joy” Part 4 “Visitors” Part 5 “A Perfect Circle” [You Are Here]

Relevant: “Conditional”

Prologue: “Selfish Needs”

Last Time: Elfilin took Kirby and Elfilis to a theme park, only for Kirby to discover several lost Souls there...

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Notes:

I knew Kirby and the others weren't going to sit by after finding everyone. The idea of Taranza and Susie working to save the souls of their loved ones, as well as Dedede chipping away at the Master Crown came INSTANTLY to mind.

Next was "...Marx has no one waiting for him." He's the only character without a quick "...ticket out of hell." I'd even wrote earlier (coincidentally) about everyone’s conditions for escape, but Marx, who joined his soul to a clock, simply had to "...to wait it out"

...For several hundred thousand hours.

And that formed the core of the conclusion.

I toyed with several options, but they didn't quite work. Obviously, I wanted to get Magolor out of hell if I could. And Marx's desperation to send Mags home WAS honest. But when I thought about those two lines and what they said about Marx, I realized there was no way Magolor could leave him.

He learned what being a good friend was from Kirby. It was time to use that lesson. Before, Magolor was only hallucinating they were “okay” but the moment he grabs Marx's hand, a kind of magic takes place. The same magic that made Magolor's clothes look new? Or maybe...it's just how THEY see each other?

This tale started with the two of them on the cliff. In retrospect, it always had to end that way. But Magolor is no longer shielding his eyes from the sun (a hint that he's constantly prying at the crown) nor are either of them staring straight into the endless sunset anymore.

I suppose I could have found a way to free everyone, but I'm content with this ending. It started with the True Arena and we still don't know what actually happened to the True Arena Magolor Soul! And we don't know what happened to Marx Soul either. Nor when they will appear again.

Maybe it will take 10+ years? But MY versions of them, at least, won't spent that wait alone!

Extra:

[desultory-novice]

“The Sun Never Sets...”

Oh god... A continuation... I’m NOT coloring this one  It would destroy me. You get sketches and that’s it.

CW: mind break, death ideation, no salvation

“...the sun never sets in hell...”

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Comedy Bonus: 

(Because this was breaking my heart...)

Not THAT alone, Marx...

Translation: “I always thought this place could use some renovating”

Links to the rest of the mini-series:

Part 1″A Beautiful Sunset” Part 2 “The Sun Never Sets” [You Are Here] Part 3 “Screams of Joy” Part 4 “Visitors” Part 5 “A Perfect Circle”

Relevant: “Conditional”

Prologue: “Selfish Needs”

[desultory-novice]

On one hand, Magolor being tormented is utterly terrifying. On the other hand, the idea of Marx, Magolor, Sectonia, and Haltmann all vibing in the afterlife as literal walking corpses and half of them just being, like. Completely over it, is pretty funny.

Magolor is having a very rough time right now, what with the sanity slippage and the eternal suffering thing, then again, he's new here, while the others have all had years to adjust.

They'll teach him how to be chill and soon they'll all be having a great time at the new branch location of Merry Magoland!

Links to the rest of the mini-series:

Part 1″A Beautiful Sunset” Part 2 “The Sun Never Sets” Part 3 “Screams of Joy” [You Are Here] Part 4 “Visitors” Part 5 “A Perfect Circle”

Relevant: “Conditional”

Prologue: “Selfish Needs”

[desultory-novice]

Okay, back where we were left off at the Magoland Branch AU Magolor only had his sight partially restored, but in the crossover between the Apologies AU and the Magoland Branch AU his sight was fully restored. So how did that happen anyways?

Also, how long did it take between the conclusion of the Magoland Branch AU and the crossover between the Apologies AU and the Magoland Branch​ AU?

(Double question because I want lore.)

(Also, how long will it be till my other ask is done? I'm not rushing it or anything, (Take your time Dess! (^v^)​) I'm just curious about how long will it take.)

>How long did it take?

It took... X amount of time! XD ...I dunno! Noir SHOULD have been in hell since almost the beginning, since he was the first or second to die also his life has just been hell since the day his parents died....

Like Noir, who acted as "dead" as possible in the hopes of actually dying, the deceased probably stuck to their own personal purgatories and never really did much positive interacting, outside of people who formed odd connections all on their own, like Joronia and Max, who quickly bonded over their love of rich, fancy things. >w<

Max: "01001101 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100011 01101111 01100110 01100110 01100101 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101100 01110111 01100001 01111001 01110011 00100000 01100010 01100101 00100000 01100010 01110101 01110010 01101110 01110100 00111111"

Joronia: "Oooh, do not even get me started on tea in this place!"(1)

("How does Joronia know binary? Why, she's the smartest, strongest, most beautiful queen ever! Of course she knows binary!" - Taranza)

The paradigm changed when Marx found Magolor's tormented soul and convinced the Crown to give Magolor control of his body back. Magolor, trapped in a series of troubled and confusing hallucinations due to how horrific and constant the pain of having a large, wrathful tree feeding off of and growing inside him was, blindly used the crown's limitless power to create an actual theme park.

"Timeline-wise" I'd say once Elfilin and Adeleine started interacting more, Fecty probably said some off-handed remark to "the human girl" (ie: "...your eyes are the exact same color as that boy in hell...") that clued X-over Adeleine into the location/existence of her X-over brother and they had a big, tearful reunion and here we are!

(1) PS: "Hell" here is not full of demons and pitchforks, but it is uncomfortably *bright* (the sun is ever-burning and the sky goes through a cycle of golden hour-orange to fever-dream dark with shades of electric pink at night) and also, there is a larger than average amount of fire. A whole lake made of it, in fact!

>Why does Magolor have both eyes?

That was an accident on my part because I drew him from memory for the first Apologies x-over, forgetting he’s only supposed to have one eye due to still being half rooted to the crown.

I kept up with it after because, eh~ the souls are supposed to be healing slowly after "A Perfect Circle," so maybe his other eye came back on its own to show he’s reclaiming more of himself...?

(Kind wish I hadn’t made that mistake though because I was weirdly attached to one-eyed Mago Soul’s design. But he can’t just go and lose it again now for no reason. ^^)

Speaking of the first crossover and “continuity errors,” Noir wore his scarf more like an actual scarf in that one to dress in the style of the Hell branch (aka, a mix of alive and dead) but he is back to looking like regular Swordsman in “Again.” That was because I purposefully wanted the first image to fool people as to where/when this was happening, and also make it work as a legitimate visual introduction to the script portion of “Again.” Which it does, btw. That first page fairly accurately fits Noir’s experiences in DL3. ^^

I know it's shallow reasoning, but let's just go with it! If I ever return to the x-over plotline, I’ll try to indicate that properly by giving him the wrapped scarf again. ...While I’m being grilled on Hell-Branch Lore, I’m debating whether Max and Joronia are still around. I’m tempted to say “yes” and they are just healed like Magolor. (Mostly because I don’t have that many characters to work with and I think Max would be ALL IN on the “Hell is a Business Hotspot” storyline(?) we’re in.)

[desultory-novice]

I just found your stuff and gotta say, its amazing! I was reading the Magoland AU and Apologies and they've given me so many ideas!! With the Magoland one especially, it gave me a lot to think about since we haven't seen much of an "afterlife" in Kirby.

I do wonder, if they tried going deeper into this "afterlife" state, do you think they'd find the other antagonist, like Drawcia or Nightmare?

Hope you have a happy New Year!

Ahhhh! Thank you so much for saying that! I'm glad people are still enjoying Magoland Branch AU despite it being more rushed than the more formal storytelling of Apologies AU!

Death and the afterlife is such an interesting concept in Kirby you'd almost have to assume there'd have to be something unusual or unexpected going on there! I mean, we have the very necromancer/death god-like Necrodeus and the Skull Gang just hanging out, traveling about like any old group of baddies.

And Morpho Knight. Where do they send people to? Oblivion...? But is that really the case when Chaos Elfilis was able to overturn Morpho's "benediction" and come back? That WOULD suggest Morpho's touch is not just :lights go out, everything is silence: 

(That Knight of Hades spinoff novel would suggest this as well, but I'm not ready to call that one canon quite yet, just because HAL has sometimes decided to do something different from Takase-sensei's novels after the fact. Mostly with RtDL versus the remake.)

At the same time, some people in Kirby go to places they just don't come back from. But when Kirby eats a critter, they pop back up elsewhere soon as he spits them out! So, well, why not have the afterlife be...conditional? Back to the Knight of Hades novel, Papi was trapped in hell like some combination of Persephone and Eurydice but only because they'd tasted the nectar of the underworld...?

What about the place Magolor goes to after his defeat? It's very Underworld-coded but there are lots of other enemies there. Other hell-bound souls or dimensional wanderers? There's a lot of Doomer-kin there so it's probably not a regular place. But it has distinct regions. And bosses yet not the same bosses as the ones you defeated in the main campaign. You're not fighting the vengeful ghost of Mr. Dooter but a similar creature from Another Dimension.

Anyway, if it's that "casual" a place, why not build a theme park in hell? And if Noir Dark Matter Swordsman can visit, I see no reason Zero couldn't! Nightmare too, probably! (He probably saw Magolor's business and decided to open up his own haunted house/hotel. That seems like the kind of thing he'd do, right?)

[desultory-novice]

He'll Branch be like:

Even in Hell, miracles can happen.

Noir: 😃

But not for you. Suffer forever, teenage boy!

Noir: 😢

"Yeah, Dess! What did teenage boys ever do to you, huh?!"

...I thought that's what everyone's teenage years were like! XD

But your comment did lead to this bit of inspiration...

Noir: "Is this...all there is?"

Magolor: "To the afterlife? Don't ask me! I didn't even know building a theme park would work til I tried it! (I don't remember too much about it because I was massively hallucinating at the time. Max says I don't have to worry about litigation if anything breaks because everyone's already dead! ...You didn't hear that, by the way.)"

Magolor: "I thought you'd been here longer than me, actually."

Noir: "Yeah, I guess... I just kind of...zoned out through most of it. Kind of hoping...if I stopped thinking, I would disappear..."

Noir: "I... I'm only 16, you know? And...I only made one real mistake. Or... maybe everything was a mistake. Because every stupid decision I made on my own just made things worse."

Noir: "...Maybe the mistake was being born, I don't know."

Magolor: "Hmm. My boyfriend is damned for a near-eternity just because he 'whimsically' tried to take something for himself that belonged to everyone..."  (And it's going to BE an eternity if he doesn't stop pulling dumb pranks that add hours onto his clock!)"

Magolor: "I thought I'd done far worse than he had, but I feel like I got off lighter, even with this thing rooted deep into my head." 

Noir: "...What, the literal clown who pranked my sister? Who's always laughing like a drugged out fiend all the time?"

Magolor: "The very same! He used to love flying. Said it was the greatest, most freeing feeling in the world. ...He has to waddle everywhere now very, very slowly or he falls apart - and he hates it."

Noir: "...You know what sucks also? Not having hands."

Magolor: "Or to have them but not have control over them! ...Marx laughs because he would never admit to anyone how hard it is. And even though he can't stop pranking people, he's secretly terrified of being left here alone as the very last one of us damned souls."

Noir: "..."

Magolor: "...I don't know what it is that makes some lives harder than others. Why some of us live in a frankly blissful world of naps and sunshine without a thought in their round pink, friendly heads while some of us live to see everything we wanted, even the simple dreams, ripped away from us. And I don't know why half the patrons here are physical manifestations of nightmares and nihilism and death while the rest of us just wanted to be pretty, or prosperous, or strong, or have friends, or to protect someone they loved..."

Noir: "...Yeah..."

Magolor: "I thought if I built the best possible theme park, I could make everyone smile and shout with joy. My own little universe where I was in control. Not the harsh reality. But...this place is only a short-term fantasy. A game of pretend that fades as soon as you look away and see that the rest of the world is still on fire."

Magolor: "I haven't known you that long, and though you buried my boyfriend in the lake of fire, I think you deserve to be saved. To have everything good that was taken away from you and then some."

Magolor: "Despite a long time being used as a host for limitless power, I can't give you any of that... But I can promise, for you at least, the rides and games in Merry Magoland will always be free."

Noir: "...Guess it's something. And starting from nothing... it's a lot."

Noir: "Oh, but get rid of the mother%$!& tea cups for me!"

Magolor: "I could repurpose the land to build a 'Scope Shot' arena. There's been a lot of requests for that one to come back."

Noir: "'...Scope Shot?"

Magolor: "Interested? I've got some gameplay footage right here!"

Noir: "Wow, what are these, PS1 graphics?"

Magolor: "......"

[desultory-novice]

Wait, so, it seems a bit unclear. What exactly is Marx's deal in Magoland Hell Branch? Back when you were listing what everyone had to do to get out of there, you mentioned that he just had to "wait it out", since Galactic Nova is a clock. That makes sense, but you've also implied that when he does mischievous things, the timer gets longer. Is there some kind of, like, cosmic force judging whether or not he's waited long enough, and changing the timer? Is Nova the cosmic force? Are the two of them, like, metaphysically glued together?

Watsonian: His deeds are indeed being monitored by some all-seeing force that adds or removes hours because...

Doylist: ...Marx is conditionally trapped in hell for exactly however long it takes until HAL Labs uses him again in a canonical work.

That said, the metaphysical glue thing you put forth is thing is probably "the answer" we ought to use going forward because it's Marx Soul and he did absorb Nova's parts into his body so I could see it being the one keeping consistent track of his soul's "timeout"

And I guess Nova is just really judge-y...??

(The other truth is that, as someone said, Noir is a sassy piece of work and if I had Magolor quote him my original timeline of 10 (?) years or so, he would be like "Well damn, lemme call up the world's smallest Dark Matter Violin for him. I've been here for 28 years.")

[desultory-novice]

~Vague, Sad, No Real Ending Stream of Conscience-esque Magoland Branch AU Prelude Marxolor Script-Format Thingy~

[Because shouldn't the Master Crown still be in control of Magolor?]

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:Mago-Soul exits the rift, arrives in hell: Marx: "Huh? What the hell are you...?" :sniffs him: Marx: "That magic... Is that you, Magolor...?" Crown: "You know my host?" (...help...it hurts...aah...please...stop...) Marx: "Host? You're the crown he was always talking about?" "Then...that voice, whispering. That's the real him, isn't it?" Crown: "Whispering to you. Inside, he's screaming. Constantly." "You could hear it too, where I not keeping him submerged." Marx: "...Let him go."

Crown: "He and I are one. Without me anchoring him to life, the last gasping remains of his soul would wither away into dust.” (...I can't see...I can't move...Kirby...help me...please...help...) “Or are you asking me to kill him?" 

Marx: "Fine. Then give Magolor control back." Crown: "Why? Do you also delight in the screams of others?"

:Marx lifts his claws:

Marx: "...Because I'll destroy you if you don't." Crown: "You're barely capable of holding yourself together." Marx: "At least MY two halves aren't fighting each other."

Crown: "...Destroy me and you would kill him too." Marx: "Yeah. And?"

Crown: "Are you that sadistic that want you to watch him claw, scratch and bite himself like a trapped animal in a vain attempt to remove the unremovable? To see him writhe and thrash each time my roots twist at him from within?” 

“...Or do you honestly think you'd be saving him? Giving him mercy by having my consciousness slumber in his place?"

:Marx just stares, broken jewel glowing:

Crown: "To think, I'd find a 'hero' in hell. It is almost a shame my host clings on to life. Your puerile soul isn't fit to be king, but the WICKED I could do with someone as devoid of compassion as you."

Marx: "I don't care about Magolor's pain or your ambitions." "But I've got a LOT of time to kill here and, even screaming his head off, Magolor'll be a more interesting conversation partner than you."

Crown: "Hmph...You know, I do what I do to my hosts to live. To serve the purpose I was created for. But you? You torture souls solely for your own selfish needs." "Enjoy him, then. You monster."

Magolor: "--AAAAAAAAAAAAAH" Marx: "Magolor! Magolor!!" Magolor: "KIRBYIMSORRYPLEASEICANTSEEICANTMOVEICANT" Marx: "Magolor, stop... :huff: ...flying in circles!" "...Ugh, I can't keep up with you like this..."

Magolor: "...Marx...?" "Where are you...? Where did you go?! It still hurts.” “My head... It's still--!!" Marx: "Stop fidgeting! I'm right next to you."

Magolor: "Where are we...?" Marx: "...We're high up on a hill." Magolor: "Where are we?" Marx: "...You can see the sun burning bright against the horizon." Magolor: "...Where...?" Marx: "....You’re sitting next to me, looking out across the cliffs."

Magolor: “...Marx...” Marx: “...”

>”A Beautiful Sunset”

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Notes: If you’ve read the Branch AU ending already, then there's probably a question in your mind about whether the crown was bluffing to Marx about removing it killing Magolor. It's possible Kirby et al were able to break it because a) Magolor’s soul was starting to heal enough to sustain existence on its own or b) he lived because they only partially removed it

Or because it's been a while since I thought about the Branch AU, and I just wrote this as a spur of the moment thing without thinking too hard about it because I was in the mood for some Marxolor cough cough.

Links to the rest of the mini-series:

Part 1″A Beautiful Sunset” Part 2 “The Sun Never Sets” Part 3 “Screams of Joy” Part 4 “Visitors” Part 5 “A Perfect Circle”

Relevant: “Conditional”

Prologue: “Selfish Needs” [You Are Here]