Do You Know What Is The Magazine That The Artwork "emerged" Comes From? (related, I Feel So Robed That

Celebrating 30 years of Shin Megami Tensei

King Dedede gijinka! So now, the full RTDL set is complete! (unless you count the other 3 kirbys. Idk how to portray them though, I don’t think they should just be recolored Kirby clones bc I like the idea that Kirby changes color when using abilities like in NIDL and Super Star… so it’d get confusing if the other Kirbys looked exactly like the main Kirby)

As you could probably guess, Dedede is the oldest of the group. I imagine he’s something like a father figure to Bandanna Dee (and all the other Waddle Dees perhaps, since they are mostly his henchmen). Unlike the other 3, Dedede doesn’t tend to dress lighter for adventures & usually just wears the same outfit. He is prone to changing hammers though, since he’s always open to improve his weapon’s functionality. The hammer he’s got here is actually pretty small by his standards, he usually prefers to keep a heavier one on hand. 

I like to think of Dedede as a part-time hero, part-time villain. I think he’s capable of being a good guy when he wants to, and when Dreamland is in danger from an outside force, but… sometimes he just likes to cause trouble when things get too peaceful, because he finds it boring. LOL. Tbh I still like the idea that he’s the self-proclaimed king of Dreamland (like they didn’t have a monarchy before he arrived LOL) so I think I’ll keep it. Plus, clearly he’s at least semi-decent at being king, since even outside threats from elsewhere in the universe can recognize him as one (…even if they do end up kidnapping or possessing him because of it)! Also,

Dedede is balding, so he’s really adamant about keeping the hat on, even underwater. Though I’m still trying to string together a kirby series timeline (Super Star, Squeak Squad, & Amazing Mirror are RLLY hard to place for me) I imagine Dedede used to have a full head of hair back in his old days (Dreamland thru Dreamland 3 perhaps? Since I imagine they took place in succession) but it eventually fell out over time. Perhaps as a result of stress from Dark Matter possession? since that happens to him a lot.

Speaking of the Kirby timeline, do you see Kirby’s Dreamland and Kirby Super Star Ultra’s Spring Breeze subgame as separate events or the same event? Personally, I think they’re different enough to be separate & perhaps when Kirby finds out about Dedede’s plan in Spring Breeze he’s like “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS AGAIN??” & Dedede’s like “I was bored, okay??!!” or smth lol

everyone is Square now

Alternate timeline where Meta Knight is mistaken for the hero of the lower world, and Dedede gets mechanized by Haltmann Co. How would the climaxes of Triple Deluxe and Robobot play out?

That's an interesting role-switch! If I may, I want to ramble how that would affect entire plots of both games, because, I feel like both of these characters aren't TOO interchangeable for both premises to play out exactly the same.

Triple Deluxe

Meta Knight would likely not get captured, because he doesn't seem to have any sort of fear of bugs, therefore Taranza wouldn't be able to catch him off guard like he did with Dedede.

Therefore, Meta Knight and Kirby would team up together to go upwards to Dreamstalk purely out of curiosity of why said attack even happened to begin with. Taranza would realize that he done fucked up and tries to run away from them to warn the queen, but the duo will always manage to catch up and he would have to try to stop them with those classic Triple Deluxe bosses as per usual. When we reach Royal Road we would have to face against Meta Knight which Taranza briefly managed to get under control. Of course, this is futile and Kirby helps him out and breaks him away from Taranza's magic. After that everything plays out similarly to the actual final game, with few notable differences. Cannon section will probably be entirely different, since I see no reason on why Meta wouldn't want to fly out and try to slash those buds with galaxia, considering he literally has wings and he is about as big as Kirby. Meta then frees Kirby from Sectonia's vines thanks to his tornado attack instead of a hammer smack.

I don't think anything else would change, considering both Meta and Dedede are heroes in their own right, so their actions in the climax would parallel each other, with main difference being their approach to heroics.

Planet Robobot

Robobot is interesting, because, provided Susie is completely unchanged otherwise, I think she wouldn't have too much interest in Dedede compared to Meta Knight. She seems to have certain affinity for swordsmen in particular. Plus, Dedede, unlike Meta, isn't as impulsive so he wouldn't go out and try fight off entire army on his own if there are alternative options. So I feel like HWC would capture him as early as the intro cutscene and Kirby's goal would be similar to TDX's where he clearly knows that one of his friends is kidnapped so he goes out to save them as well as free the planet from the Invasion. Let's make it so he wakes up from the noise of the flying cage Dedede put into that leads into HWC Labs.

I'd assume he would become something like Mecha Masked Dedede and due to Susie's affinity for swordsmen she decides that "hammers are too barbaric, compared to the elegance of sword fighting" so she forcibly gives Dedede a laser saber. After we beat him, he falls off the arena shocking Kirby with Susie expressing general disinterest "Oh, I guess even Mother Computer can't teach barbarians of these planet some proper manners. Ciao" and leaves, leaving Kirby and the player for a while to believe that Dedede is done for. In the climax any analogue for Mecha Knight+ fight is absent, we instead fight Haltmann right away.

After Star Dream hijacks Haltmann's body and soul, everything plays out similarly up until instead of the Halberd, what shows up is KABULA! It is Dedede's ship, after all. Revealing that he is not dead at all and he spent all the time in his absence to repair it just in time to help out Kirby! Of course, Dedede does shocked expression as he realizes that instead of jumping into Kabula, Robobot armor absorbs it instead, giving us Kabula mode.

Fight against Star Dream would play out similarly to Halberd mode counterpart, but the way it segways into final sequence is completely different. There is no lever for Dedede to pull. So he does the climax move, gives Kirby a lift with his hammer. With all his strength he smash the Robobot armor with Kirby out of Kabula and on highest speeds he manages to pierce through Star Dream.

Both Dedede and Kirby is later saved by Meta Knight who picked them up with Halberd.

HEARTBREAKING ANNOUNCEMENT: Kaneko is back and he's making art for a fucking NFT/blockchain game

Mundane Design Detail of Digital Devil Saga: Tag Rings

(Spoilers for both DDS + DDS2.)

I have a tendency to look way too deep into little details of character designs in media, and when it comes to DDS where uniform designs are common, it gets even more fun for me. One of the things that first stood out was tag rings; the Junkyard invention that is introduced briefly and very early in the game as identifiable objects used simultaneously as trackers for downloadable mantras and can also act as digital wallets. I always wondered though, how much more they can represent for a character's actual design rather than just being a game tool for logging progress.

Rings on different fingers (and hands) represent different ideas on how we wish to present ourselves; these ideas can change from culture to culture, and in observing these differences, I looked both at general Western culture and of course, Hinduism. I was able to find more information in Western cultures with more commonalities. However, in Hinduism, by looking into mudras, you'll find rings on each finger can still hold different meanings. The middle finger is "ego", the pinky is "illusion", the ring finger is "karma". The index finger is Jiva-Atman - the individual soul or self. The thumb is Paramatman - the universal, eternal soul.

And if you've noticed, most individuals of the Junkyard wear their tag rings on their middle finger (on their left hand). In Western culture, the middle finger, similar to "ego" in Hinduism, represents "individuality". And hey, what do you know? That's a pretty important theme brought up later on.

The Samsara Tunnels scene with Lupa is actually what drove me to research further into this. Lupa removes his tag ring before performing an inevitable act of self-sacrifice, and at first, I thought it meant he was giving up his individuality. Until I noticed that no, Lupa wears his ring on his index finger on his right hand, rather than his middle finger on his left hand like almost everyone else. In Western culture, the index finger on the right hand instead represents the "potential for leadership". Fitting, for the Leader of the Wolves, who has offered his own head to the dominating tribe of the Embryon.

And then he hands it to Gale - who slips it onto his left hand next to his other ring, and he puts it on his index. And what does that represent? Comradery. Ohhhhhhhhh man. Let's go, gay subtext!!!

Irrelevant comment: (The funny thing is Lupa's ring literally does not pop up on his hand until the camera focuses on his hand and then it disappears. For the rest of the scene and the rest of the game and DDS2 it is gone. I don't know if that was an intentional choice - I doubt it - perhaps the animators didn't want to make a whole other Gale model with the two rings. I like to think he kept the ring...)

Moving onto DDS2, and Serph sells his tag ring at the Mad Mart to make some cash. Nobody else sells their rings. With the hacking disk, they are no longer needed, so it seems everyone just keeps it for sentiments. Serph himself also wears his ring on his middle finger, so was it a story choice for him to give it away - to represent him giving up his individuality? Of course, maybe not immediately, but eventually, Serph's individuality blends with another soul - being Sera's - in order to become Seraph. And no, they do not wear any rings, because neither Sera nor Serph did at the point of fusing.

Yeah.

Some additional points:

Cielo doesn't wear his tag ring as a ring, he wears it as a necklace. Similar to Lupa and his layers of necklaces with several tag rings. I'm not sure what that means - usually, necklaces with rings represent vows, most commonly found for promise rings. They can also represent deceased loved ones. Which is quite heartbreaking when you think about Lupa's necklaces...

Generally, the right hand for rings is the "action" hand while the left is the "thinking" hand.

If I ever find more information and more opportunities to extend this drabble, I will. I'm not sure how interesting this essay is for others, but some friends were interested in hearing it. I really do wonder how much thought was put into this design aspect, and if anyone has their own knowledge to bring to the table, I'd love to hear it.

What would prisma think of Kirby saving the universe from dark matter?

"Woah."

Edgy bastard

Sburb, as a game, is primarily geared towards bastards

Tag yourself! -mod Voidseer

(almost) the entire intro cutscene!!!

the whole squad