It's May 10th, The One Year Anniversary Of The Effective "start" Of The 2024 Kirby OC Tournament, An

[Update]

I'll try to keep this short, but I'm alive and safe. There is no threat of harm upon my person, either by myself or others. Sorry it took so long to state that. While I considered this move for long time, my execution of it was hastily done and poorly planned.

I have no plans to restore my blog to its former state at present. To the three collabs I was a part of at the time of closing my blog + Discord, you may take this post as a formal withdrawal notice.

The only explanation I can provide at this time is that I desired freedom and healing, and this is part of that process.

That being said...

...I have one last post to share, only because I spent over 40 hours working on it and I thought it might entertain some folks. Look forward to it dropping this evening. 

Take care, everyone. Till we meet again.

Lastly, to K + B, I'm sorry I forgot to say anything to you. Thank you both especially for all the patience and care.

...Did everyone Read The Announcement Post Very Carefully?

That's right. Kirby of the Stars: The Magic Crystal and The Mysterious Maze was my "A.P.R.I.L. F.O.O.L.S" joke! Sorry! XD

It started at the end of January when I remembered that I'd made a joke grouping of the four Dream Friends that get consistently left out of the novels: Marx, Adeleine, Ribbon, and Dark Meta Knight. I wanted to do something special for them and, partly inspired by Jojo's roleswap cover emulating the FL novels, I thought to make a fake novel cover just for MY forgotten favorites! Gryll and the Fairy Queen are a bonus, because if I was doing this, I would go all out!

I took a huge amount of reference photos, both from the novels and from Tau and Poto's "Find Kirby" books (the only place they've ever drawn Gryll! The Fairy Queen I referenced from Wave 2's ending picture in Star Allies - that's why her crown looks slightly different. Speaking of, Ripple Star Castle (?) is WEIRD looking, y'all!)

At ~40 hours~ of sketching, drawing, painting, refining, trying to get those distinctive Kirby novel touches right (don't get me started on emulating the cover's texture. I was a dumb bunny and remade it by HAND out of a clean scrap about the size of Kirby's body!) this was an immense challenge and the most time I’ve ever put into any illustration, but it was also a huge labor of love for Kirby and its cast!

For what it's worth, I actually did come up with a full on "plot" for this fake novel of mine! (And yes, it was a big stretch to combine Kirby 64 with Amazing Mirror, Milky Way Wishes, and Star Stacker!!)

Here is the "chapter list" (in English and Japanese!)

1 / "Marx the Magician Comes to Town!" 魔法使いマルクがやってきたのサ！

2 / "Into The Mysterious Mirror Maze" いざ！不思議なミラー迷宮へ

3/ "Ribbon The Fairy and The Missing Crystal" 妖精リボンちゃんと失われたクリスタル

4 / "Moving Reflections?! The Maze's Secret!" 動く反映？！迷宮の秘密！

5 / "Adeleine and The Path Leading Out" アドレーヌと出口への道

6 / "Oh No! The Jumbled Dimensions!" 大変！バラバラの次元回路！

7 / "Marx's Mocking Laughter?!" マルクの嘲笑？！

8 / "Catch That Clown!" あの道化師を捕まえろ！

9 / "A Day Packed Full of Delights" 楽しい満喫な一日

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In the "backstory" Marx attempted to steal/use the large Crystal from Ripple Star ("It's just a prank, bro!") but something happened (maybe the Queen did something) and the Crystal split into shards.

So Marx makes up a fake show and comes to Popstar to dupe all the simpletons there (his words, not mine) to do the bothersome task of gathering all the shards for him to fix the crystal while he sits back and waits, disguising this arduous task as a "fun game."

Kirby and the rest fall for it and start to do Marx's dirty work, going into the mirror maze (related to the Mirror World?) But there, Kirby meets the hardworking fairy, Ribbon, who is working all on her own to try and get the crystals back before Marx can. (Or, if Marx duped the folks of Ripple Star that he'd fix his own mess, he then trapped Ribbon in the maze once they were out of sight!) But so far, she has failed to convince any of his "guests" that she is anything other than a clever attraction. Kirby believes her though and offers his help!

I hadn't fully figured out how the mirror worlders were connected, but I thought it might have been possible they were working with Ripple Star/the good guys (but seemed to be "bad" because they were "scaring" the carnival attendees) or maybe, DMK and Shadow Kirby (who I was originally going to put in the cover as well but it got too crowded for him) were there as guardians to warn everyone to stop messing around with powers they don't understand.

Bandee spends most of his time in the novel outside the maze (to skirt any questions of a mirror Bandanna Waddle Dee) waiting for everyone alongside Marx, where he will eventually figure the jester's game and goes into the maze to warn Kirby and friends. Just as the group seems lost, they will encounter Adeleine, who will be all big sister like and help guide the kids to the exit (using the never fail maze escape strategy of "keep your hand on the right-hand wall")

However, just as things seem to be going well, Marx has used what pieces of the crystal the Popstarians have collected for him to pull his prank, and the gang find themselves lost not in the maze, but in a cartoonish jumble of dimensions!! (Picture each door you go through, whether it's to the kitchen or the castle, leading you to an entirely different planet!) It's amidst this wacky dimensional comedy, trying to grab Marx to get him to Cut! It! Out! that they meet Gryll, who knows Marx well and gives the gang a tip to lure him out (probably involving them all NOT panicking and instead sitting down amidst the chaos and enjoying a simple Adeleine-sponsored picnic, pretending like they're having a great time without him.)

They defeat Marx once he shows up to confront them, complaining they aren't "playing along right" and Gryll takes the battered, bruised jester back for "remedial magic training" or something equally embarrassing for Marx. Back home at last, they find it's sunset now and Marx's One Day Carnival (now being run by the Waddle Dees, who just can't help from helping out) is coming to an end!

However, Kirby, Bandee, Meta Knight, and King Dedede invite Ribbon (and Adeleine and the Mirror Worlders) to enjoy the last hours of the carnival with them before bidding everyone goodbye.

They promise to remain friends, however!

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Speaking of friends...

I'm taking a long break from fandom to tackle some new things and take on a new direction in my life. As such, I have taken down all my old work from this blog to get some much needed emotional distance from certain things. That said, I don't require anyone who reblogged any of it in the past to delete those reblogs, nor do you have to cease sharing/distributing things of mine. Just know that if you ask questions, I probably won't be here to answer them.

My love for Kirby and its cast will continue, despite this change. And I do hope the fandom will continue to bloom in my absence.

To everyone who left me such beautiful messages on my previous post, thank you so, so much. I won't forget you all. I hope if our paths cross again, it will be as friends once more. And if not...rest assured that you will forever be a part of my precious memories.

!!NEW KIRBY NOVEL ALERT!!

Am I dreaming?!?

Pinch me if so, because this is...it's-...! IT'S...!!

RRGGGGHHH!! :sobbing clawing screaming:

I...phew... I gotta rein my enthusiasm in for a sec!! (Ahhhhhhhhh!) T-The title is (roughly) "Kirby of the Stars: The Magic Crystal and The Mystery of the Mirror Maze!" To be honest, I'm getting flashbacks to that other maze-themed novel with them cramming in a bunch of unrelated plots and characters except...EXCEPT-...!!

LOOK AT THEMMMM! It's almost everyone who was missing till now?! (At least among the Dream Friends) plus Gryll (!?!) plus the Fairy Queen?!?! (Name drop? Name drop at last?!?) Also EVERYONE IS SOOO CUTE!! (Except Marx, lol but I don't even mind! The fact that he seems to be the antagonist of this piece means we'll probably get more pictures of him anyway! :fingers crossed:)

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Finally...! My beloved Salty French Bread getting the spotlight! And to think, I was just telling myself earlier this year that I need to draw something BIG for them for their anniversary as well! >w<

Oh, right! ^^; The summary! Not every character or plot point is mentioned, so I don't know what the explanation is for Dark Meta Knight or if he'll be an illusion (which would be sad...) nor why they're doing Crystal Shards (??) plot with Marx (except they already used Nova in Dreamy Gear...) but even if everyone only makes cameo appearances it could still be the Best Novel Ever?! Anyway--!

One snooze-filled morning in Dream Land, the magician, Marx arrives, inviting everyone to attend his special one-day only traveling carnival! There's food, fun, and games to be had. Best of all, it's free to everyone?! An excited Kirby and King Dedede race each other to see who can pack in the most attractions in before sunset! The biggest challenge? A gigantic maze made of mirrors!

Locate one of the crystals hidden deep in the maze and make your way out to win. But not only is the maze filled with strange, scary reflections that chase you on their own, some say they've seen what look like distant worlds in the mirrors as well?!

Stranger still, Kirby encounters a young fairy girl while wandering the maze who says these crystals are vital to her planet! Is there more to this tricky carnival game than meets the eye?!