#...actually now that i think about it it might be only kirby games i know that have that and theyre made by a very specific studio

[loveletterworm]

the really annoying thing with splatoon games is  compared to other games  it is consistently MASSIVELY inconvenient to replay any story mode from the beginning, like they will just literally never let you see the opening cutscenes again in any way (octo expansion even has an entire first level that you can never see again after completing it), and of course because it’s splatoon you can’t just reset the save data without losing all evidence of ever playing the online parts of the game, so i guess the only option is to literally just make an entire new user on the console just for the sake of Being Allowed To See The First Cutscene Of Something Again, Once

[weirdmarioenemies]

If you're even vaguely familiar with Kirby, there is no doubt in anyone's mind that one of the most iconic abilities is Parasol. It's a unique ability, it gets a ton of merch, and it's cute, to boot!

But when you think about it, there's not a whole lot of enemies for Parasol, is there? There's a lot of enemies that hold Parasols, there's the Parasol itself, which may or may not be sentient, but Parasol doesn't bring a wide variety of enemies to mind like, say, Fire or Spark might.

Believe it or not, there actually are a few enemies that give Parasol that neither HOLD a Parasol nor ARE "just" the Parasol...but they're wholly exclusive to a few games, and have not had a proper reappearance in the games since the SNES era. So, let me introduce you to all of them! Maybe there will even be some you like, or wish would come back!

But first, an honorary mention...

Name: Parasol (Kirby's Dream Land)

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land

You know it, you love it, it's...Parasol?!

That's right! Before it became the ability we all know and love, Parasol actually debuted in the same game Kirby did, which you might note did NOT have copy abilities! Like Waddle Doo and Sir Kibble, this is a classic example of an enemy that had an ability based around it, rather than vice versa.

I want to talk about specifically its iteration in this game, which is a bit different compared to future entries. First off and most noticeably, its appearance is wholly different! The hood is smaller and shaded but with no discernable pattern, the handle is thinner and the hook itself looks more rounded! Secondly, all Waddle Doos and Dees will let go of their parasol once they land, with none spawning while holding them or keeping them when they land anyway.

And another thing: you can't even dang inhale them when they're being held! The Waddler in question will be swallowed, but the Parasol will drift away or, in the Extra Game, even hone in on you! I told you they were debatably sentient! It actually does that in a few future games like Kirby's Adventure, but not nearly as commonly as it did in the original Extra Game. So strange!

OKAY OKAY time for what the post promised you now I promise. Hold my hand (and your Parasol) as I take you through The Parasol Enemies That Time Forgot:

Name: Floaty the Drifter

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land 2

"Floaty the Drifter", not to be confused with Floaty the Cell Core, is such a wonderful name. "Floaty" would already be a sillily obvious name on its own, on par with names like Flamer and Chilly and Cappy, but adding "the Drifter" makes it even moreso. Is that its species? Its title? Is Floaty an individual? Probably not, we see multiple of them in the same level and often, and this is not like Vividria where it's canonically an individual that just so happens to be fought in pairs for gameplay, but it's funny to consider. Imagine if they followed through with other enemies, like "Spikey the Poker", "Burnis the Scorcher", "Elec the Trocuter"…

Floaty the Drifter actually acts as the main provider for Parasol in this game, wholly replacing the titular object itself except for when Kirby uses it. On its own, it doesn't do much floating OR drifting, instead hopping around in its own little world, kind of akin to Cappy, but it lives up to its name when a Waddle Dee holds it, in which...it will just act like a normal Parasol! Wholly and entirely. Even when dropped, it flies off rather than initiate its normal grounded behavior. I think I've heard some of them fly at you when released, but I can't think of any instances of that, and that's still a Parasol behavior anyhow.

As you can tell, Floaty the Drifter's claim to fame is in its unique design, bearing a single mischievous eye and a stark green coloration only seen in artwork. In fact, despite being a one-off mook, this would even grant it its own role in the anime!

Floaty the Drifter, or just "Drifters" as they're called here (I guess it is a species!) are bought by King Dedede in the episode "Escargoon Rules" to attack Escargoon and his mother after presumably being "I'm With Stupid"’d all day. I did not watch the anime! According to the wiki, they're about as fragile as you'd expect a swarm of umbrellas to be, as while they swarm towards and wrap around victims, they are easily KO'd by Fire and knocked away by Kirby's own Parasol ability.

You might be wondering why, exactly, Floaty the Drifter even has one eye in the first place, considering that its role is largely the same as Parasol. To answer that, we'll have to move on to the next creature to feature:

Name: Jumpershoot

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land 2

I bet you never expected an ability like Parasol to have its own, dedicated midboss, did you? And such a sophisticated one, at that! It's even one of the few Kirby characters with toes, for the freaks in the audience!

As you may have guessed, Jumpershoot and, to a lesser extent, Floaty the Drifter are both based on the kasa-obake, perhaps one of the most ubiquitous yokai! And this is despite not really ever having appeared in folktales, if ever. I was always under the assumption that the kasa-obake was a tsukumogami, an umbrella after it had lived for 100 years, but apparently even this isn't set in stone, either!

Jumpershoot first appears in Big Forest, the second world of the game, and guards Coo because...some reason! I don't think it's ever mentioned why the Animal Friends are kidnapped, they kind of just are! And as for Jumpershoot, does he work for King Dedede? Dark Matter? I don't know how employed midbosses are. Mr. Frosty is on the Halberd once.

Our favorite umbrella attacks by jumping and gently falling towards the ground, then makes a rapid, Tornado-like spin around the room that, after a bit, repels attacks! Then, rather than dropping Stars, he throws his own sandal at you that you can shoot back at him! Don't worry, it regenerates, so you don't have to feel guilty for robbing him of footwear!

I really really like Jumpershoot. And apparently, so did Shimomura, because he reappears in Kirby's Dream Land 3, acting much the same but with more detailed sprites! He's such...a cool character, you know? You wouldn't expect a Parasol midboss to be a yokai, of all things, especially one that acts so rowdy! I love him!

Sadly, as much as we'd all love to, there is no game where you can play as Jumpershoot. Tragic, but true! But...you can get a taste, a crumb of its rapid spin attack by having the Parasol ability while riding Coo, which makes Coo spin around invulnerably just as he does! And while he would later find himself joining the foray of midbosses abandoned after Kirby's Dream Land 3, Parasol Coo still appears in Kirby Star Allies, so his soul is still with us...

This would be the end of the road for Jumpershoot, in terms of games, but luckily for Jumpershootheads, he would make one final appearance in a piece of Twitter art, joining a medley of other monsters by spooking Channel PPP! He's still got it!

Sadly, this wraps up the Jumpershoot section of this post, and thusly we have no more Dream Land 2 Parasol enemies to speak of. But don't worry, we still have more parasolic beasts in the next title...

Name: Sasuke

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land 3

Although Floaty had a cute design, it's rather appropriate that the enemy that replaced the Parasol of Kirby's Dream Land would itself get replaced in Kirby's Dream Land 3, isn't it? But Sasuke is no mere living umbrella!

Sasuke's design might bring to mind Bumber for our veteran readers, and its behavior is much the same! It drifts down slowly and steadily, and starts walking back and forth on whatever block it lands on, just like Parasol Waddle Dee, but its hat never detaches, so it will never not give Parasol! Personally speaking, though, I think Bumber is MUCH more cute and memorable...sorry, Sasuke! At least you will always have Naruto to confide in.

Sasuke also made an appearance in the anime, where he's built a lot more like Lololo & Lalala. Here, he draws a gun at King Dedede and Escargoon, an

Name: Klinko

Debut: Kirby's Dream Land 3

The oddest Parasol appearance in both looks and functionality, and our final Parasol giver, is Klinko! It looks like it would give Cleaning if anything, with its hat reminiscent of a besom! It doesn't even drift down slowly like every other Parasol enemy does at some point–in fact, while it hops around, it doesn't share any traits with the Parasol ability at all, and is the only Parasol enemy like that! So, why does it give Parasol, then?!

The answer is: it's not wearing an old broom, but actually a straw umbrella, because it's based on yet ANOTHER yokai! Shimomura seemed to think yokai were the future of the Parasol ability, and who wouldn't!

The amefurikozō, unlike the kasa-obake, has a bit more concrete lore, being children that appear in and sometimes cause rainfall, hence why they wear straw umbrellas. This is true of Klinko, too, as it appears in cloudy stages or stages with heavy snowfall! Its Japanese name, Kinko, might also suggest some relation to the separate yokai Yukinko, a child associated with heavy snow, which could also explain its tendency towards icy levels.

It's easy to see why such an unparasolic enemy would not be used any further, but I kind of like them more for it. They're an anomaly! Sure, this is essentially just Floaty the Drifter's hopping behavior, but the lack of any other Parasol attributes than just wearing an umbrella really make it stand out to me! And that's the beauty of these enemies—the longer Parasol goes without any new enemies, the more these guys will always stand out, and that's wonderful, I think!

What do you guys think? Is the time right for some of these guys to make a comeback? Is Parasol better with the limited enemies they use now? Or should they make new ones? Tell me! I can't do anything with your suggestions but I have nothing better to do than read them!

[ringleader-inky]

Lily Orchard is stupid but what else is new?

So recently Lily has made a challenge that is as follows:

(Keep these rules in mind)

And AntGr and CrimsonEnder made a list of 50 of those charcters. Which Lily responded to and hoo boy is it bad.

Now I'm only going to be doing several characters from this list because 1. I don't know some of these characters and 2. I can only handle so much of Lily's stupidity. So with that out of the way let's get this show on the road.

Of course you'd put N here because you didn't understand his story to begin with. N definitely does fall under number 2 because he was raised by Ghetsis. You know... THE LEADER OF TEAM PLASMA! I've said this before, but I'll say it again N essentially grew up in a cult. That's not even mentioning that in black and white 2 they show that some of Team Plasma really did think they were freeing pokemon. You see part of Team Plasma split because some followed N's ideologies and others followed Ghetsis. They have a whole safehouse in Driftveil City where they protect pokemon separated from their trainers. But yeah N's ideology was totally swept under the rug guys.

First of all, Donkey Kong was actually a villain. It was in his very first game where he kidnapped Pauleen. You know.... this one. You were probably around when it came out Lily.:

So technically Donkey Kong is qualified for this list believe it or not.

As for Dedede and Meta Knight their case is quite simple.

In Dedede's case in the game Kirby's Nightmare In Dreamland. Dedede literally breaks the Star Rod that powers the Fountain of Dreams. Which allows the people of dreamland to have dreams, but since the Star Rod no longer powers it there's no dreams. However Dedede did this because he was trying to keep Nightmare from absorbing the Fountain Of Dream's power and taking over the world. Nightmare is cosmic deity that's evil will destroy Dreamland if he got out. So in that instance Dedede does have a point. After all if the Star Rod isn't in the fountain then Nightmare won't come out and kill everyone.

As for Meta Knight's case. Well... just look at fucking Meta Knightmare. The reason why Meta Knight wants to conquer Dreamland is because Dreamland is lazy. While that might not seem like a good point, consider that Dedede is stealing food from the people and how there's some sort of cosmic threat every year or so. You kinda start to see his point a little bit. But if that doesn't work then how about in Squeak Squad where he steals the chest from Kirby and Daroach. The chest had Dark Nebula inside of it and was sealed away. Therefore having someone try and open it would be a big fucking problem.

Last but not least... Edgeworth:

Before we get into why this point is bullshit I'd like to bring up this ask:

I bring this up because it proves that Lily doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about. You see Edgeworth isn't just a state prosecutor. HE'S A CHIEF PROSECUTOR! He's not just some joe shmo. Also really, prosecutor can't be evil? May I call Manfred Von Karma to the stand:

In case you don't know. This man is a prosecutor that had a perfect record. All of his defendants were served the guilty sentence. However the only reason why they were found guilty was because he forged evidence. Meaning Manfred is responsible for putting people innocent in prison. He even went so far as to murder Edgeworth's father. And guess who was his protege?

That's right none other than Miles Edgeworth himself!

Meaning that up till Phoenix had arrived Edgeworth was doing the exact same thing Von Karma did. Granted not forging evidence, but still putting innocent people in jail because of he wanted to keep his reputation and he didn't care for justice. Therefore in the first game Edgeworth was the villain. Whether you like it or not. And because Lily never specified that the villain had to be redeemed or not Edgeworth is viable enough to be on this list. So check fucking mate Lily.

[munchboxart]

I wanna talk about Kirby Leitmotifs because I'm deranged

Caution that I am writing about this throughout the day so it might be a messy essay of sorts

Specifically the "Kirby's Triumphant Return" leitmotif that they love using. Now full disclosure, I am not a music expert, I don't know terms and stuff so this is coming from a person who just loves Kirby music.

NOW

"Kirby's Triumphant Return" is a common leitmotif that has pretty much popped up in most Kirby games post Super Star Ultra I think? But what I want to talk about is the songs that have it show up in the final bosses songs.

I believe they started using it as a leitmotif with Magolor's theme, in RTDL. The only other bosses that (I think) have used it as a leitmotif is Star Dream (Robobot) and Void (Star Allies). The only other bosses that missed using it (post RTDL) is Yin Yarn, Sectonia, Dark Crafter and Fecto Switch game.

I initially thought that every game post Wii games would've used it as a leitmotif in the final boss theme. No reason at all, I thought it was a cute tie in for a hopeful future where Kirby wins or whatever. But that's not the case surprisingly.

I think typing this out now makes more sense than when I initially thought about it in my head. Magolor, Star Dream, and Void have connections to the "Ancients" in some way. The Lor Starcutter is a vessel created by the ancients, Star Dream having/being recreated from parts of Galactic Nova(? I don't remember if this is canon but it should be), and Void being sealed during the ancient times(? I also don't know if this is true but Hyness's bio on the wiki mentions his "dark god being sealed in ancient times" and I don't have anything else to tie him with my theory).

Another thing that also ties them together is that all of the games these characters come from, also have Galacta Knight appear as a boss in their games (in their side modes). I am counting Morpho Knight as another character because he is a mix with another character and also because Fecto Foresight doesn't have the leitmotif (at least I think, I'm not listening to it again its 6-9 minutes long dude). Also I don't know if he doesn't appear as a side boss in Rainbow Curse since I never got the game and never looked at it so I could be wrong.

I always thought it was weird that GK appeared in RTDL because he has no business being there but this deranged line of thinking could actually tie it in.

Anyways I thought that it was just a cool thing. I really like recognizing this specific leitmotif in the Kirby songs, especially for the bosses, I always thought it was neat.

[absolutely-zero-regrets]

HAL Laboratory really enjoys their attack moveset symbolism, huh?

Just to preface this, major spoilers for the ending of Magolor Epilogue below the cut!

A week or so back, while playing Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe, I had finally beaten Magolor and (perhaps against my better judgment) proceeded to play through the entirety of the Magolor Epilogue gamemode in one sitting. But hey, it paid off, as the revelation of the Master Crown was INCREDIBLE and the ending was sweet. Though, during that fight against the Master Crown, a very particular attack stood out to me the moment I saw it. From there, I began to notice more and more little details, and thus, I think that the Master Crown and Marx are more connected than we thought.

The attack I’m talking about, of course, is the one where it drops small seed-shaped gems and sprouts twisted vines to try and impale you. Sound familiar?

As far as I can recall, these two are the only ones to have an attack like this. Now, as mentioned by the title, Kirby bosses are very often hinted to have some sort of a connection just through attack patterns. The Soul bosses for instance, with their movesets sampled from each other. 

Soul bosses… hey, didn’t Void Termina also share an attack with Marx?

And, didn’t Void Termina summon a replica of the Master Crown for one of its own attacks?

Also, partially unrelated, but in the image above, the wings on the crown are that of a dragon, but during the Master Crown’s fight in Magolor Epilogue they appear to be more bird-like. Just something I thought was a little interesting.

Moving on, after the vine attack cued me in, I began to pick up on some other details. Another big one is the Master Crown’s WINGS. During the attack where it shoots sharp leaves at you, it rapidly changes color. Much like our favorite Cosmic Jester.

Hm, now that I mention it, while his didn’t change color, Void Termina’s wings share a resemblance to Marx’s with their geometric pattern, too. But, I suppose that’s old news.

Another little thing I noticed was the shape of the leaves that the Master Crown shoots out. I know, this might be a bit of a stretch, but they’re shaped like spades. Much like the tip of a certain someone’s wings.

Speaking of those wings, I think that just in general they share a resemblance to Marx’s. Something about the way they’re shaped…

Not to mention, of course, how both are golden (though his Smash Brothers render is… less so). 

Speaking of those wings again, the offshoots of the wing branch strike me as interesting as well. The way they curl… almost reminds me of something else.

The Marx Soul amulet! Not only that, but the shape is similar to Marx Soul’s alulas(?) as well! 

I suppose these two were always connected in some form (Marx is connected to Galactic Nova, Galactic Nova is connected to the Ancients, the Ancients are connected to the Master Crown…) but to finally see an actual clear relation between them is very nice! With just how many things this one jester is linked to, I wouldn’t be surprised if the games were building up to something with him… But that’s just wishful thinking!

[miracletails]

you seem to really like puyo puyo. and it seems to have an actual story as well. how do you think one would get into it?

I absolutely LOVE Puyo Puyo, I'll gladly help you out!! This is going to be a very long post, because I really really have a lot to say!! So under the read more:

Personally, game-wise I think for newcomers, Puyo Pop Fever is a fun easy starting point, it's very short and I'd say pretty newcomer friendly!

Puyo Pop Fever (PC) (Abandonware link, go ham)

This game is fairly light on story, however is the start of the Sega era of the franchise, so you could consider it as a soft reboot, very short and fun. It's one of the few games that have an official english version, as half of the franchise is JP only. The game oozes charm!!!

The story mode this game has is basically an arcade mode, Easy mode(Run Run Course) is 3 stages, Normal mode(Waku Waku Course) is 8 Stages, same with Hard mode (Hara Hara Course)

If you're looking to try some of the games that are officially translated, and still up for purchase, Puyo Puyo Tetris is a pretty good place to start!

Puyo Puyo Tetris (PC) - Steam [Also available on Switch and Ps4! That's for the english releases, there's 3DS/WiiU/PSVita versions, but those are JP only]

There's a sale going on, so you can get it for a pretty good price, nice starting point, although if you don't know any character, you might miss what some things mean. GREAT game, pretty fun! A lot longer than Fever as well, story mode is a fun time! (Great with friends!)

Story mode is something you don't have to do on one sitting, it's stage based, so if the arcade-y story mode of Fever is not your thing, then this might be better for you!

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (PC) - Steam [Also available on Switch/PS5/Xbox]

This one is also on sale atm! This one is somewhat of a direct sequel to PPT2, however characters act as if they don't know eachother, plot stuffs. It adds more modes, more characters, more balanced-ish in the Puyo v Tetris matchup, personally play it more than PPT1. Still a great game! (ALSO great with friends!!!) (Basically better than PPT1 but if you care about story do both)

Story mode is stage based once again! Has a bunch of side stuff, pretty fun!

Puyo Puyo Sun (PC) [Abandonware link, go ham]*

This is a fan translation, worth checking out, another fun time with silly character interactions, story mode is arcade-y! Each mode has it's own protag, very fun!!

Puyo Puyo Champions [PC] - Steam [Also available on Switch/PS4]*

This game has No Story Whatsoever, this was originally a game for people to use on tournaments, has a bunch of challenges for single player stuff, basically Puyo reduced to it's bare basics, has only Tsu and Fever as ruleset! It's very cheap. Like, Very Very cheap. It's on sale too, so depends on if you want something just to vibe.

Puyo Puyo Tsu [SNES] - Nintendo Switch Online [Also on many consoles but hey official release for free, technically]

It's not translated, but a very fun game, there's an english patch online if you look for it, I recommend looking for that to enjoy the silly cutscenes, fun game, revolutionary for the Falling Block Puzzle Genre!!!

SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo 2 [Switch]

Thought I'd also add this, it's the same as the previous mentioned, however it's a port of the Arcade version of the game! A nice option tbh!

SEGA AGES Puyo Puyo [Switch]

Similarly to the last one, enhanced port of the original arcade Puyo Puyo 1, it has an english translation too! Much more dificult IMO due to early game weirdness, no offsetting/countering, pieces kinda lock in into rows, a lot of technical stuffs ya know! It's a completely different ruleset and beast tbh

Puyo 1 bonus:

Kirby's Avalanche/Kirby's Ghost Trap [SNES] - Nintendo Switch Online

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine [SEGA Genesis/Megadrive] - Nintendo Switch Online+

These two are just Puyo 1 reskinned for different consoles, so thought I'd add them!!

So, now to get into games that are Not officially translated:

Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary (NDS/Wii/PSP/3DS/PS3) - [English Fan Translation Available for the NDS Version]*

My personal favorite game of the franchise, every character in the roster has their own story mode, lots of unlockables such as music, alt voices, modes, characters. Has a BIG selection of modes and genuinely some of the best features, such as an Endless mode for practicing, that helps you to know where your chain trigger is + how long it'd be, AND let's you rewind time to fix mistakes and such.

Story mode is more arcade-y too, each match on the story allows you to pick what ruleset you want to play, very very comfy! Has a bunch of silly gimmicky modes

It's my favorite game, so so SO good.

There's a fan translation made by @/presicemuseum for the NDS version, worth checking out if you're interested on the stories featured.

Now, quick rundown of what games have fan translations that might be worth checking out as well!!!

Super Nazo Puyo - Rulue's Roux (SNES) : GREAT GAME, focused on a single player experience that's more of solving puzzles, I 100% recommend it. Recent fav tbh.

Puyo Puyo 7 (Wii) : Recently re-translated to have more accurate dialogue, a fun lil game, have to go through it again for funsies! Introduction of the Current(? KINDA?) Puyo protag, Ringo!!

Puyo Puyo 15th Anniversary (NDS) : Pretty neat game, fun story and interactions! Similar to 20th with having various different rulesets, def also worth checking out!!!

Puyo Puyo Fever Chu! (PS2) : Partial translation, all of the story modes have been translated, by far one of, if not, the most lore heavy Puyo game, pretty interesting and fun! One of the few games to have the gimmick of being able to use items for matches!

For other fan translated Puyo media, I recommend looking at:

@/Precisemuseum : They have translations for the Light Novels released, as well have been making several patched, some being part of the previously mentioned, definitely worth checking out. They also have a page dedicated to translations made by other people, very useful.

@/primptownlibrary : They also have translations for some of the light novels, worth checking out as well!!! Not as active, but def go take a look

@/nenilein : They have many translations for several Puyo media, such as character profiles, audio dramas, and other info directly related to the series!

Either way, I hope this helps you out!! I am a massive fan of this series and love talking about it, am always here to help and give input o((>ω< ))o

I hope I made enough sense!! English is not my native language so sometimes I might mess up my wording :')

[lampmanliveblogs]

Luz: ”Do… you not understand what death means to mortals?” Collector: ”Noooo… no, I don’t think so. I think one of my cousin’s friends decided to check out what being dead was like… haven’t heard from them for a long time. I wonder what they found there?”

(okay, last at4w reference, I swear)

Going back to the idea of The Collector as a kid: Their ignorance of death doesn’t stem only from the fact that they’re an immortal god, but also the fact that they’re a child. And all children start out as ignorant.

But it might not be just that.

The implications in the last episode were that the little space cherub that we call The Collector was part of a group of Collectors that came to this world long ago. They waged war against the mighty Titans, the only beings that could contend with them and created the Titan Trappers for that purpose. And they might even be the reason why this planet looks the way it does.

The little Lord of the Fireflies, perhaps being the annoying young kid of the group, or maybe the cosmic equivalent of a runt was tossed aside and made friends with some Titans… until he was sealed away by King’s dad.

The point is that The Collector’s already got some baggage. And that baggage might be holding him back from processing why certain things are wrong.

Collectors: ”We have rid the world of the only beings that stood in the way of us creating a perfect collection of all the universe’s specimen.” Me: ”You ruined a perfectly good child is what you did. Look at it. It’s got trauma.”

Collector: ”So let me show you some of my favorite games…” Luz: ”Oh no! Not Knife Monopoly!” Collector: ”I was actually going to hunt you for sport, but now I’m really interested in what Knife Monopoly is.”

Pictured: you’re a really supportive person, but your neutral expression is perpetually annoyed.

More importantly, Raine’s fighting back against Belos! And they’re… doing alright. For some reason, the little crescent moon sticker peeled off and Raine turned back into a flesh and blood witch instead of a puppet, which seemed to help a little. Not sure if the sticker falling off was due to the distance from The Collector, or Raine fighting back, or if the possession by Philip caused it to decay and that’s why it fell off?

I’m kinda worried about Raine, because, well… Hunter had Philip cling to him for a few minutes and look what happened to him. Philip’s been leeching off Raine for who knows how long. Maybe Raine being a puppet helped a little, like maybe they were sturdier because of that? Still, that can’t be good for their health.

After RayRay flies off on one of Kirby’s warp stars that’s been painted blue to make it legally distinct, we get to see the inside the archive part of the Archive House, where The Collector keeps all their puppets. We see here Amity, Hunter, Willow and Gus, unceremoniously dumped on the floor.

A close-up of Amity’s hand reveals it’s beginning to twitch.

Hmm… Hooty was very briefly able to communicate last episode despite being turned into a puppet, but Lord Hooty is built different AND was using the Power of Friendship. Amity could be using the Power of Love here to break free of The Collector’s spell; maybe being briefly aware of what was going on inside the nightmare lessened the effects of the puppet spell.

It could also that my theory above about how putting some distance between The Collector and a puppet will cause the spell to lose power. The Collector’s off to some pocket dimension or something. Though I’m gonna say it’s because of the Power of Love and Friendship. After all, as we’ve established before, The Owl House is an anime and thus the power of Love and the Power of Friendship are real forces within this world.

AH YES THIS IS SURE TO MAKE THEM WANT TO BE YOUR FRIENDS COLLECTOR

So The Collector’s favorite game is Pac Man???

[desultory-novice]

Thoughts on the idea that "Meta Knight is an older member of Kirbies Species" (a theory I haven't really seen since Star Allies and the Void lore drop). I still think Meta Knight dedicating himself to a single ability so much he becomes one of the strongest warriors of Dreamland is a really cool idea, and him trying to use his Copy Abilities (that he hasn't needed for Years) and struggling, probably still in the Early Kirby Game Era of "only one or two moves per ability" as opposed to Kirbies advanced moves is a funny AND cool idea. Also imagine him pulling out an ability as an ultimate last resort, fighting someone to the bitter end as he triggers Crash or something. (With how the Ultra Sword has a single appearance we treat as Kirbies Ultra Sword and yet it can also become Galaxia, this could be read as Meta Knight being a previous weirder of the Ultra Ability. That, or Kirby is just imagining cool weapons he's seen and the Ultra Sword matches it)

(Also kinda reflects their characters now that I write this. Meta Knight is a master os a single thing, and when it works (Forgotten Land) he does it well (defending Waddle Dee Town) whilst when it fails (Robobot as an example) he ends up losing bad. But Kirby is changing, being the one to win and survive because he can change (hence his abilities). Also this shows how BanDee became so relevant, because he decided to change to match everyone else)

I've seen the theory occasionally but yeah, not as much lately. Or rather, it might be that it's often taken as a given in the MetaDad sphere without a lot of exploration about what that would mean for him biologically. (I say as if I know all the fan work out there! ^^; Props to all the people who are writing interesting explorations of Meta Knight!)

But yes, I do wish we got to see Meta Knight use at least one or two different abilities, as was the original plan for Adventure! He would definitely be a good fit for the weapon based ones like Spear. (Whip could be fun too, since Meta likes his silly hats!)

And I like the idea you present that his abilities would be somewhat strained because he's rusty/not as good at switching on the fly like he used to. Or just that being able to switch effectively was never his sphere! (You mention Crash and I can definitely imagine a situation where he doesn't shake it off/is undamaged by using it like Kirby is. I guess that really WOULD make it a last resort, huh?)

!! The idea of Kirby visualizing the coolest weapons he knows of and the Ultra Sword responding is a really brilliant theory, I hope you know!! Although it would be cool to get some lore about in-game Galaxia as well, since all there is now is the not-really-canon anime. (Actually, Dess wants more lore about the various swords in general. Dark Matter Blade, the Rainbow Sword, the Master Sword, DMK's Blade, the Mistilteinn Sword, the Giant Tuna Fish...)

Bandanna Waddle Dee as idolizing Kirby to the point that he takes after Kirby's biggest strength, being able to change and grow, is another excellent observation! Thanks, Anon! This was a very inspirational read!

[starflungwaddledee]

a comment left by @chickenpeep77 on my post about my "realistic penguin" dedede redesigns which i thought was so interesting and compelling i wanted to give a longer reply to! hope that's okay!!

this grew much longer than i even originally expected, so under the read more it goes. i'll also break it up into some kind of sections to make it easier

topics: the joy of the unfamiliar, bird features and the Snood, is dedede officially A Penguin?, and why i like to think he is. (also i have a small meltdown about galacta knight's fkn awful canon wings.)

hard sci-fi spec bio & the joy of the unfamiliar

i'm actually super into speculative biology, and have a lot of gripes with the way aliens in soooooo many fictions or fanons or whichever are always assumed to have a firm set of recognisably familiar traits. must they be made of meat; must they have skeletons; must they pick the most difficult and dangerous method of reproduction possible in the cosmos; just because it's familiar to us? must they be stand ins for humans and animals only? i think that the real fun of speculative hard sci-fi in particular is found in doing a jaunty little dance around the unfamiliar, around all the absolutely infinite and wonderful impossible possibilities out there. so all that to say that i absolutely agree with you about this in general.

the bird "beak skin" topic

i looovvve the idea of using the skin from a bird's mask to form an entirely functional and movable feature like a beak. that would presumably make it a caruncle (and it would share space with one of the best named thing in birds, the "snood"), some of which- like the snood- are indeed movable! many birds also already have caruncles that stretch over the beak, but to have the structure made entirely from it and stretched over teeth instead is very interesting and creative! it perhaps makes it more like skin and lips over a jaw, which is a fun and bizzare visual for a birdlike. i actually think that this kind of specbio could be a fun take for captain vul, who i also just did an earth-bird redesign for. vul has no species identified; for all we know he's a bird-like alien that just happens to look much like an anthromorphic eagle. i also headcanon magolor as a bird-like alien; though he shares few visual similarities with any earth birds.

is dedede a penguin officially or just in our hearts?

(please note that i'm informed on this only from english knowledge and various wikis. if anyone has other info here i'd gladly hear otherwise!) for king dedede in particular, while he's never been officially confirmed to be a penguin there's no shortage of canon references to penguins for him across franchises and he is mistaken for a penguin by snake in smash bros brawl. now i dunno what kind of penguins mr solid snake might have seen in his adventurous life, but while i could look at dedede and think "bird-like alien" i'm not sure i would think "damn that's a penguin for sure." so i personally think that dedede is not necessarily meant to be an unfamiliar alien, or even an alien that looks a bit like a generic bird or an alien that looks like a penguin. i think he is meant to be a penguin, or at least something that was a penguin at some point. and perhaps if there were not an abundance of actual genuine honest to god unidentified and delightfully weird aliens on Popstar and in Kirby games already, i would also be more interested in seeing dedede as a more bizzare bird-like creature than a penguin. you'll note in my designs i also drew him with some dense teeth (not found in earth penguins) and- this wasn't visible- my design also has dexterous talons extended from the wrists of his flippers. if he is a penguin, he doesn't seem to be a very water bound or piscivorous one. so maybe he's a bit distanced from penguins as we know them. several steps of evolution away. but i think because i can satisfy my specbio with the others (please know i have a whole host of unnecessarily complicated and fun waddle dee biology headcanons if anyone is ever interested... and don't get me started on celestials, hahah hahaha!-) for me the most interesting speculative question for king Dedede is not "what could he be if not a penguin like we know them" but actually "how the hell did a penguin get there??". and i think forgotten land gave us some extremely cool stuff to chew on wrt that! kind of like you mentioned with your wormhole theory!

why i personally like to bring Earth Birds into my kirby work

ALL of that said... i'm just doing designs for fun! i like birds, and i like earth birds in particular. they're sadly my only exposure thus far (alien birds though, if you're out there... 👋 ) so when i get the opportunity to utilise both my interest and my knowledge on birds and the way they function here in my fanwork, i take that chance! i had the skill to draw an earth-penguin-accurate dedede so i did, for fun! i also use my knowledge of wing structures for both birds and bats (and butterflies even) to tweak how i draw the various knight's wings to be "more realistic", as if that's a metric in space. but galacta's canon styled wings are.......................... i mean i have some capital t Thoughts about that One Long Feather. and i think most people understand this to be stylisation, but maybe it is just that he's an alien! maybe they're not even feathers, maybe it's just silly putty that looks like feathers! the world is your oyster tbh.

and the wrap up.

lastly, i can see you're into specbio too and that's super exciting, and i absolutely hope none of this sounds like... negative or remotely critical at all? i completely agree with you and love what you're doing with your stuff!! i'm just excited to engage with this topic you brought up and it made me thoughtful about the way i conceptualise dedede as less alien rather than more, when my preference is indeed usually more!

these are just my personal thoughts/preferences/headcanons and i guess like... why i think HCing dedede as a relatively normal penguin is actually perhaps the most interesting (and funniest) take for me and my own enjoyment! 😂 but everybody- including yourself- should always do what is the most fun and enjoyable for you; especially in a space like creativity and fandom!

anyway.. uhm.. hwahaha wow okay. well, anyone, if you read this far, thank you! sorry for accidentally opening this can of worms i'm sure it'll happen again

[strawberrycamel]

Oh hey I have another one! Smash Bros., the only hyperfixation I have that beats Toonami in how obsessed I am with it. 25 years old as of last January. I will also be talking about the lore. A lot of this stuff will be partially me interpreting the events in my own way. It starts when the og 12 playable fighters...most likely get kidnapped and either get turned into or have their consciousness put into doll version of themselves. Sakurai said it himself that the first game is of toys trying to escape the world they were put in...but everyone interpreted that as them really being toys and that they were trying to escape into our world. So maybe I see it the way I do out of spite? Who knows. Anyways, the toy fighters defeat the one who put them into this situation, rendering them unconscious at the very least...but in the process, returning to inanimate states. Melee is rinse repeat of this situation except now they're trophies/statues and the fight for freedom is much harder. Also there's two final bosses now. At the end, they manage to negotiate with the otherworldly beings into fighting still, but on their terms, cuz yeah, the fighting was pretty fun. Then Brawl happened. We all know what happened in Brawl. Subspace happened. The original being from the first game, who you can probably tell is Master Hand at this point, gets captured by the embodiment of Subspace, Tabuu, in order to fool certain villainous...and very gullible Smashers to being commanders of the Subspace Army. Mr Game and Watch has bugs in him that are used to create the majority of said army and R.O.B., who goes by the Ancient Minister for most of the story, has his people held hostage in order for the enemy to create bombs that suck the world that the story take place in into Subspace...and is one the characters who gets the shortest end of the stick in this story. His home, the Isle of Ancients, doesn't even come back at the end of the story like the other locations that were sucked into Subspace cuz waaay too maby bombs were set of at once and has rendered the former land into nothing but a literal sparkle in the sky. And him no longer haaving this home plus the rest of his people wiped out and still canon in later entries. And then Smash 4 happened...which technically doesn't a story like the last one did. But what it does have is a new boss in the form of Master Core, an entity that comes out of Master hand, I kid you not, when the difficulty is high enough (speaking of! the first time I fought and beat this boss was on accident!) There's no canonical explanation as to just what Master Core is- whatever flavor text we have for it in game is pretty vague. So the way I interpret is that the Swarm, the substance that makes up most of this boss, and the true form, the true Master Core if you will, are intense emotion given form that runs on pure instinct and whatever emotions it spawned from and the...well just put an apostrophe+s in between its name and there you go. It probably showed up now because...well, get captured, literally puppeted, be forced to watch as the world you created gets sucked into the one you're stuck in, most likely be in pain the entire time, nearly die after escaping...and you understand that Master Hand, to say the very least, is fucking traumatized. THen Ultimate happens and we all know what happens here too. Or at least I do. I might be one of the only people out there actually enjoyed playing World of Light. ANyway, both Master and Crazy Hand get captured this, Galeem light beams everyone to death, and renders all non fighters and non boss entities in what's implied to be the multiverse...into spirits. Except Kirby cuz his warp star can warp out this existence for a few seconds. I also personally interpret Galeem and his counterpart, Dharkon as alternate timeline versions of the Hands where went south for everyone after Subspace, to say the very least. ANd that's only what I can think of off the top of my head as explanations for each game. ..You can probably tell I've put a lot of thought into these things.

oh shit smash bros lore my beloved!! i've played all the games (not finished, but played!!!) so this was a treat

master hand going Thru it in these games huh dkjfhgdfjg RIP

[magicalgirlagency]

I know this is a magical girl blog, but since you've mentioned indie games, I wanna know which ones are your faves? I assume the list isn't a big one, considering how you dislike horror games...

Pizza Tower (has Horror elements, but it's overrall bonkers and with a bitchin' soundtrack! An update with The Noise as a playable character is in the works!);

AntonBall (and its upcoming sequel, AntonBlast, which it's more close to the Wario Land 4 experience than Pizza Tower);

Captain Wayne: Vacation Desperation (it's not out yet, but it's basically DOOM combined with One Piece);

Freedom Planet (I like how it started off as a SonicTH hack, only for it to grow into its own thing. Things get intense in the sequel!);

Spookware (WarioWare but spooky! And with graphics similar to Paper Mario, too!)

Thunder Ray (it's Punch-Out!! but waaay more intense! Like Shonen manga kind of intense!);

Fight Knight (DOOM combined with Punch-Out!! Also has an intense Shonen manga vibe);

Cosmic Boll (A colorful Beat 'Em Up with Sonic-y designs. Most likely discontinued/cancelled);

Kyle & Lucy: Wonderland (Yet another game with Sonic-y aesthetics and gameplay, combined with Felix the Cat. Looks like it has been discontinued/cancelled, sadly);

Friday Night Funkin' (the fact that this game has managed to help Newgrounds stay relevant after the death of Flash is quite an amazing feat!);

Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore (What if CD-i Zelda were its own original thing? And what if it were actually good?);

Pulling No Punches/Punhos de Repúdio (this one's brazilian! A Beat 'Em Up where you fight against antivaxxers with Bolsonaro as the Final Boss!);

Spark the Electric Jester (Sonic, Kirby and Ristar all combined into one);

Hazelnut Hex (a short but sweet Cute 'Em Up);

Smile For Me (a First Person game with Psychonauts-esque aesthetics set in the 90's where you go around helping troubled people, calling the attention of its mysterious and whimsical doctor as you go);

In Stars and Time (a monochromatic RPG about being stuck in a timeloop);

Cavern of Dreams (N64-styled Collectathon where you play as a cute baby dragon);

Super Lesbian Animal RPG (used to be a MLP fangame, but had to be altered due to copyright issues);

Them's Fighting Herds (same as SLARPG, but as a 1vs1 Fighting Game à la SkullGirls);

My Friendly Neighborhood (okay, this one's actually Horror, but it has heart and passion put into it);

Cuphead (the amount of dedication and research put into the old-timey visuals is admirable. Even the Netflix series is stylish!);

Hades (the Greek Mythos kid in me V I B R A T E S);

Berserk Boy (Mega-Man lookalike with soundtrack composed by Tee Lopes!);

Penny's Big Breakaway (by the Sonic Mania devs! And Tee Lopes works on the tunes, too!);

Undertale (well, duh. Deltarune didn't captivated me as much, though...);

Hollow Knight (not a big fan of MetroidVanias, but this one's got beautiful visuals);

The Plucky Squire (an adorable indie that has been in the making for 20+ years, with an ex-Pokémon designer as its co-director. Strong Zelda/Paper Mario/LittleBigPlanet vibes on this one);

PsiloSybil (Crash Bandicoot-esque game protagonized by a cute curvaceous mushroom gal);

Melatonin (think Rhythm Heaven, but dreamier, pastel-colored, with lo-fi, and more grounded in reality).

And that's all I have so far right now. Might update this list if I remember something else!

[gameyface46]

It’s a Work In Progress, and it won’t be done for another 6 months (because drawing people is hard and time consuming) but I think I drew Niko better, so here’s a Niko for you.

It’s not shaded yet, that step usually is last, but IT’S NIKOOOOO! Aren’t they so cute? The best not-cat child. And they’re eating PANCAKES! I’m so obsessed with them… I wish I could draw them more… you know I would draw them as fervently as my OCs and Kirby…

Ok, now take a wild guess who’s staring at him menacingly.

Pancakes… I don’t want to hear that word again for a long… long… time.

Also, I guess it’s tradition now that I release one work-in-progress of an art piece I’m working on before I release it.

Oh yeah, and do you want some nightmare fuel?

Who are you and what did you do to Niko????

I tried drawing Niko from imagination… and… this came out. Looking at this and the second draft is like looking a photo of a dirty hog and then the Mona Lisa.

Anyway that’s all. No life updates I guess. I think California schools, maybe even most schools in the US, are starting back up around this time of year. Good luck, y’all. You’re gonna need it.

Oh right! I just finished playing through the Glen on stream. Calamus and Alula are also so great… character design wise, and to be frank, they’re just likable. Jesus, I love all the characters in this game. If I could, I would draw those two next. I’ll try my best lol, but do not expect me to draw them below the waist, because I am horrible with proportions. I think I only like this drawing because I don’t have to deal with proportions as much.

Again… uh… check out my streams, maybe? I might stream today or tomorrow, I just have to work up the courage to actually play. You get to hear my piss-poor voice acting too! I stream on Twitch, usually every week on Tuesdays, under gameyface_46.

Also, I was supposed to have a certain project done soon, but I forgot about it… oof. I’ll try my best, but I have to let those ideas come naturally. If you don’t know, check the May(?) project’s tags.

[almightyhamslice]

Versus Chef Kawasaki! This man found a weird star somewhere in Dreamland and his first idea was to cook it and see what it tasted like. I think he is going to get himself killed if this is just a normal thing for him. Then again, maybe he has an incredibly high poison tolerance that we just dont know about??? Anyways I posted the first image on discord and someone said he looked like Jesus LOL. Like smh not every guy with long brownish hair and a beard is trying to be Jesus!! He just has those cuz I think they suit him! And his hair isn't always the same color. Just generally it's a sorta rusty orange color (like the outside of a ham....) to match his in game sprites. Again I find that I go about coloring these the way Araki might. Nothing's all that consistent but it's fun that way!

I've actually drawn Kawasaki using a similar design to this one before! The only real difference is that he doesn't have crow's feet here, since he's somewhat younger. I'll add them later in the timeline! During Super Star/Ultra I think? He's just a normal human guy who has a passion for cooking, no special abilities or anything. He's just very smart when it comes to food! (though idk maybe not SUPER smart since. he did just pick up a weird star and try to eat it LOL. He is open to experimentation even if it will kill him???) I also think it was interesting how he's cooking but he's outside? I suppose he was camping then since Kirby was! Maybe THATS why I think KSS is set in summer...

Also does this new pen suck or what??? I do NOT like using it its so flimsy. I hope it runs out so I can use something else LOL.

Anyhow, bad news & vent under the cut:

I'm gonna be brief abt this since I dont want to go into detail but essentially I was in a bad accident yesterday n I'm really traumatized about it! No one was hurt but it was just really scary and I'm all sore and have bruises from it now. So I'm doing that thing that fanfic authors sometimes do where I'm posting even though real life is very dire and scary. My car got wrecked though, so I could probably use more commissions right about now... though I don't know if I'll be able to work on them because I'm sore! Maybe I should start commissions in a week or perhaps several. Point is I don't feel good at all but I'm still drawing Kirby because it makes me feel somewhat better.

[queensectonia]

THIS POST CONTAINS DETAILED DISCUSSION OF THE MAGOLOGUE AND ITS ENDING UNDER THE CUT

please avoid reading further if you wish to remain spoiler-free! all spoiler posts from me about the remake will be tagged “spoilers” and “dreamland deluxe spoilers”.

so this is where i’m going to expand on that interesting point i mentioned in my other post

i think HAL is trying to pull a fast one on us with the magologue, lads.

so basically, at the very start of the magologue, when you get the flashback cutscene to magolor being defeated and going poof, it's actually magolor soul being shown.

now, we know that for as much as HAL loves to write agonisingly vague figures of speech and outright leave things out, they don't get little details like this wrong - especially not with this game. making it be magolor soul in that cutscene was an informed choice.

this comes around to be very interesting during the credits sequence where we see magolor supposedly crossing over into the clash universe.

magolor soul is from an exmode. exmodes aren't canon - HAL has told us this many times, that they are “what if” experiences exploring alternate ways things might go down. they've never been canon, and it's really only been as recent as "exmodes" becoming whole actual self-contained Entirely New Stories (specifically, HiAD and Isolated Isles) that you can even make an argument for them being canon.

(and even then, Isolated Isles is... dubious, but that’s a topic for another post.)

so i think the magologue actually happened in two slightly different ways.

magolor from the canon game went through the magologue, and at the end his portal out lead back to popstar, or wherever the fuck in the real world, and he went on to build his amusement park and get back in with the good guys like we're all familiar with. magolor from the exmode went through exactly the same thing, but his portal out lead to the clash world.

the concept of magolor going through his whole purgatory thing and ending up in the clash world instead is weird. it completely fucks with both the pre-remake established canon of him coming back and being a good guy, and with what the REMAKE ITSELF establishes with magoland!

speaking of magoland, there’s definitely some weirdness going on there, but most of it is explainable by out-of-text reasons.

firstly, the entire concept of unlocking magoland practically the second you start the game is just one big instance of “haha hey everyone, please ignore the giant continuity hole this makes, we just wanted to get our crazy-popular character who is arguably the entire selling point of this game front and centre! thanks lmao have a good day!” understandable, frankly.

they even go out of their way to tell you this, to your face...

this wording is clunky, but it gets across the necessary point of “please pretend this happens after you clear the game” because, well, it does.

the pop-up you get initially telling you that magoland is open contains something that might be a mistake? in the context of the introductory spiel and everything else the game shows us.

saying that magoland is on a “distant planet” is just... not true?? dream collection downright tells us it’s on popstar, and the remake explicitly shows us where it is! it’s still on popstar! you can literally see magoland in the background of levels. it’s not even floating in the sky or on its own little planet, it’s whole ass on the ground.

which makes me wonder if saying it’s on a distant planet was a small misunderstanding on the translators’ part regarding the whole “different world (figurative)” vs. “different world (different planet)” distinction.

either way, that one tiny touch of showing magolor soul in the opening cutscene instead of his main game design is both deviously subtle and explains this apparent discrepancy.

it was exmagolor who ended up in the clash universe as shopkeeper magolor, and it was the real magolor who came back to make magoland on popstar and mend his friendship with kirby.

this even fits in perfectly with exmodes being “what if” scenarios and the clash universe being so self-referential.

[blackknightax]

Today let's add a final fantasy characters. So first let's discuss something about the ones we already have. They are both form the same video game, Final Fantasy 7. This makes sense, because, fun fact Final Fantasy 7 was actually the first Final Fantasy released to Europe. Because, I'm not sure why. I assume money is the reason because money is always the reason. So, I have a bit of a hot take...

Sephiroth, is the single, worst choice we could have gotten as the second Final Fantasy reprehensive. I would have said this if it were Tifa, Barret or even Cait Sith. In general, if had been another from 7, I would've said this. But Sephiroth especially feels that way to me. Maybe I just don't like Sephiroth...... Anyhow.

The legacy of Final Fantasy is kinda nuts. It's hard to say there isn't a person who hasn't played or watched someone play at least one Final Fantasy game. I've played 3, maybe 4. I've played final fantasy 4 on PS1 and DS, I played Final Fantasy 9, I've played and disliked 10 which I know is also a hot take but I won't expand on that, and I played a demo of Final Fantasy 14. I have only finished the DS version of 4 and I consider it my favorite but I ever finished 9 it would probably be my favorite, I love 9's mechanics. There are now 16 numbered games and countless spinoffs some of which are even still RPG's, and I didn't count the two sequel games and especially the remakes. It is so strange to me to get just, another 7 character, when the legacy of this franchise is bigger, so much bigger than Cloud or Sephiroth ever will be. So I want to acknowledge the franchise's legacy with my choice... Is what I would say if I wasn't instead being a stupid biased idiot man. I've chosesn, to be a fair a fan favorite.

Mr Kain Highwind! From Final Fantasy 4, he's a Dragoon who has always been a bit of a fan fave. He's one of mine too. Kain Highwind is a very important character to Final Fantasy 4 but it's a massive spoiler to say why. But he's also on the box art doing this same pose, it's why I chose this particular artwork. A very cool spear wielding character in armor. So let's move set shall we?

For the Neutral B he performs the spell haste and gains a temporary speed boost.

For the Up B he uses an ability that used to be his signature, Jump. He jumps up into the air, very high, I'm thinking like, all of Kirby's jumps high? i dunno. Either way he then falls dramatically down, doing massive damage upon landing. Maybe one of his main kill moves?

For the Side B he performs a thrust with his spear while lunging forward. It will do a bunch of hits as it makes contact with the enemy. No Special fall when using it in the air

For the Down B he holds up his spear and performs a basic counter attack. Based on the defend command.

Final Fantasy 4 is a fan favorite of the series and Kain is a fan favorite form that game. It's quite possible Kain is the second most popular party member in the series but I might be projecting... I also hold the opinion that I don't really like Cloud.

[theycallme-thejackal]

I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS SCENE.

(warning: a lot of joel hate below)

*clears throat*

So. I want to focus on Joel and Lenny in response to Midge getting heckled.

Midge very clearly has a handle on things. This guy is being a dick, and she’s able to roast him very effectively in contrast to how she dealt with hecklers earlier in the season - see 1x05: Doink (except don’t because that whole episode is cringeworthy).

Joel’s immediate response is to defend her honor. Now, I know a lot of people would go, Aww that’s because he loves her. He’s protecting her.

And to that, I say look at Lenny.

Lenny's watching her, enjoying her work (you can see him laugh a few times). He’s not jumping in. You can attribute that to the fact that he’s also a comic. He understands hecklers and knows it’s part of the game. Knowing how to deal with people not liking your act (even - and especially - if it is funny) is important for a comedian.

Now I direct you to the second gif.

When the heckler stands, Lenny’s face changes. He’s watching the guy because while he knows Midge can handle herself, he also knows there are people who get physically aggressive, and there’s no way this ‘cute uptown chick’ can take this guy in a fight. There’s clearly mild concern on his face.

There’s also obvious admiration because Midge got under the guy’s skin. She won.

Midge is his friend. Nothing’s happened. Lenny’s still wearing a wedding ring (even though he and Honey got divorced in 1957 irl, but I digress), so we can assume he’s not thinking about ever pursuing something more than friendly.

But if the guy had charged the stage, I’m pretty sure Lenny would have stepped in and taken that punch for her, maybe even punched the guy first. Joel might have, too, but Lenny’s only a few feet away, and Joel’s across the bar.

Third gif.

When the guys leave, Lenny watches them go. He relaxes a bit, but it’s obvious he’s making sure they’re actually getting out. He’s still got his hackles raised enough, but once again, he respects Midge enough to let her fight her own battles.

And then there’s Joel. *sigh*

Joel watches this all go down. He saw his ex-wife engaged in friendly conversation (read: banter) with his comedy hero, and that clearly got under his skin. Then she went up on stage and roasted him and his mistress for a while, which continued to bother him. 

He just watched her obliterate this guy and take care of herself, and that made him angry. Because as far as Joel is concerned, Midge needs him, and watching her handle herself without him is the final straw.

The guy is angry and aggressive, and he doesn’t respect Midge. He views her as his. His to defend, his to provide for (and if you don’t agree with that, Michael Zegen even said at the Emmys that Joel is very protective of his girl, to which we got a very shady - and very attractive - eyebrow raise from Luke Kirby). 

It kills Joel to see her being self-sufficient because it means she doesn’t need him anymore. He sucked at providing for her. He sucked at taking care of her. The one thing he can still do for her is punch a guy who’s being a dick to her.

So he does it to make himself feel better.

When he gets pulled off of the guy outside, he says, She’s good. She’s fucking good and gets really, really sad about it. Like, the guy is crying.

That punch wasn’t in defense of Midge. That punch was because he needs to believe that he still has a purpose in her life outside of being a punchline.

You will never convince me that Joel didn’t, for even a split second, imagine it was Midge he was punching in that moment.

She’s up there, telling jokes that are a million times funnier than anything he could ever write, and she’s doing it off the cuff. She’s just being herself. Making fun of her pain - the pain he caused, by the way - and she’s funnier than he could ever hope to be.

Look, Joel might love her, but he doesn’t respect her. In this scene, Lenny doesn’t love her (yet), but he respects her. And that is crucial.

Midge doesn’t need a man, but if she wants one (and clearly she does), he has to respect her as her own person, believe in her and her ability take care of herself, but also be there for her when she needs it. Now, who does that describe?

Lenny, who shows up in her life at the most seemingly random times? Lenny, who stands outside a hotel room waiting for her to make the move and then letting her walk away without pushing any further? Lenny, who keeps a respectful distance in his hotel room because he never ever wants her to feel like he’s pushing her into anything?

Or Joel, who hasn’t even bothered in four seasons to apologize for the absolutely degrading way in which he left her?