#dee-tective work

[graycoin]

Okay so like a lot is in the tags, but

I love the little story. Confused meeting. Morpho playfully circles Star. But then boom, man. Orb. Mid-reach, judging by Star's pose. (Conveniently already leaning up, because man, like. The size difference? He could fucking chuck her like a ball. I love the contrast, and how they're both set up with wings and bow matching each other. That feels like a smooth art thing to do.)

He picks her up, she is Starstruck but also starstruck (look at that glow in her eyes, that's so expressive man). Tender, intimate buildup leading to...

Orb kissing.

(Man, look at Morpho's romantic pose. I am incapable of missing you but I will totally strike a dramatic romantic pose as I smooch)

Actually, speaking of, the tags!

It's canon? Like...it's obvious Star means something to Morpho, and the quotes suggest not taking it too serious. Like a what-if, I suppose. But also the answer defaults to classical romance, and that sure is interesting. If they did, he'd just, sweep her off her feet. Which is interesting, because...

Canonically, Morpho is a Thing. Which very much fits his vibe as portrayed in these AUs - mysterious, otherworldly. Distant yet profoundly weighty. He very much feels like an entity. A Thing. Something other, and yet...

It would miss her, if it could. Once again I am pondering why Star means so much to Morpho. Probably moreso, now.

Mans knows how to smooch proper, tho.

would morpho knight be eligible for the shipagaza 👀

ah, yes, it sure is! in fact,

dancing with death seems like something she's a little too comfortable doing

*✩˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ valentines shipaganza masterpost ✩˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ ⋆˙⟡

[starflungwaddledee]

On one hand i want to theorize and speculate about starstruck but on the other doing so would risk going against the moral of her story.... starstruck dee is so well written og my godddddddd

i am actively encouraging people to theorise and to work together-- in reblogs or comments-- with deductions and problem solving!! folks are coming up with some utterly amazing theory work, regardless of accuracies (i do not confirm or deny anything significant unless i've offered the confirmation as a 'prize' on a post, though i do openly clarify things if there's a risk of miscommunication) and it's been really delightful for me, as an author, to see this sort of enthusiastic engagement?!

i agree it is maybe not what she would want, but i am purposefully setting her story up in this way as a sort of interactive game for readers! i'm so glad that you're enjoying it, thank you!

[starflungwaddledee]

Wait.........?! So is that NOT Galacta Knight?!?!?!?

no doubt being asked in response to this recent comic and the following dee-tective work.... and well...

(a selection of delightful tags and comments left by others in response to the comic)

in my defence,

i never said that it was...

[graycoin]

Okay.

Okay, like.

Okay.

So I do believe we just got an answer to one of the Big Questions in this story - who was Starstruck, before she was Starstruck?

Galacta Knight's small cheeky one, of course.

This feels so obvious to me that elaborating on it feels genuinely awkward. I've re-written this like three times now to try and avoid sounding like an overdramatic lunatic, but maybe I'll just risk sounding like an overdramatic lunatic:

This Celestial on the right is 100 percent Starstruck's past self. She has the same forehead symbol. A mask shaped like a Waddle Dee's face - that heart-motif that is Galacta's motif, isn't it? That's his symbol she's wearing on her face. They're sharing marriage ribbons - the way they're talking, the names for each other.

This is clearly someone significant from Galacta's past. Someone he'd come to try and kill, if he wanted to sever ties for further strength.

That is just flowery speculation on my part, that last observation, but! I am gesticulating wildly at the silly feathered orb and declaring her Bigger Starstruck. Smaller Starstruck can't even look at her - she's dreading the sight of these two so much, but her vision is breaking around the Celestial on the right specifically. And it makes sense, that she'd dread the sight of her. What's the thing Starstruck is afraid she might have been, after all?

Someone bad.

And the ancient Celestials don't sound like they were especially nice folk. And one that's tight with Galacta? We've seen in other AUs what kind of person Galacta is. Maybe it's different in the past, but he's consistently been an asshole. Probably a war criminal. Absolutely a manipulative, conniving villain.

And Big Starstruck is in a villain couple with him.

She was someone bad.

No wonder she's in tears. No wonder she can't look at her old self's face.

(Also notice how those trailing feathers look an awful lot like Starstruck's ribbons? Or how this explains Starstuck's bird autism? Or how the "room for your phantom limbs" line makes an awful lot of sense if she used to have wings? Or - look -

She has a star symbol on her pauldrons. She has a star motif.

Like Starstruck's spears do in all the Galastruck art)

That's Starstruck. That is just Starstruck.

And she's devestated by that.

No wonder she doesn't sleep much.

🐛 (Caterpillar) - What are your OC’s greatest fears, and why? How do they act or react when they’re afraid?

For starstruck

her fears and tears certainly drown out her comforts. requested fear response loading in 3, 2, 1....

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[graycoin]

Okay. Okay, I've got my detective hat with a pink bow on, let's take this panel by panel.

Panels 1 (I know this one is segmented for artistic effect, but let's just pretend it's one panel.) Morpho thinks that something went wrong with whatever process resulted in Starstruck? Specifically, that she's almost unrecognizable from...whatever she was? Whatever she's supposed to be? Was she supposed to look like what she used to be, or...is she just deviating from a standard? Either way, she's not what Morpho expects.

Panel 2

Morpho is equally surprised that he recognizes her, seemingly. He doesn't see many of what Starstruck...is? That is bolded, but I'm not quite sure how to read this dialogue - Morpho's got a lot of thoughts, and isn't expositing in an easily digestible way.

Panel 3

Okay, this is interesting. Popstar is a she? Or...something in Popstar? Something that would make something in their image...and end up with a Waddle Dee, of all things? Or maybe this goes deeper than appearances...

Something that might hope Starstruck could be...a Waddle Dee? Normal? Part of the group...? This entity hoping Starstruck could be what she is implies a...whole lot of things, potentially. A relationship, emotional investment, a desire for Star to be something specific...maybe not be something else?

Panel 4

Or maybe it's just been a long time. Eons since something like Starstruck occurred, apparently. Eons for an immortal being. It must have been a very, very long time indeed since something like Starstruck happened, if this is the case.

Panel 5

By Nova, she's of the Joestar lineage...! (We now know what's under that bow! It's...a star. How apt, really...but is it a birthmark, a scar? It's kinda dark at the tips...)

(Is she the last one? Were there more? Was this...this more frequent, before? Does there being only one now, after so long, imply an ending to...whatever process made Starstruck what she is?)

Panel 6

He can't let himself be afraid. Even if he doesn't know...

...assuming Morpho is referring to Starstruck here, that implies he uh...cares a lot about whatever process made Star. It's a miracle this happened?

(Shoutouts to how splayed out they are. Reminds me of the sleeping animations in Forgotten Land. Also shoutouts to Morpho's menacing shadow...)

Panel 7

...which of course wakes Bandee up. Heroic instinct... T_T (Or maybe he just remembers that one possession AU and isn't about that life, thank you very much)

And Morpho doesn't like not knowing...wonder what he's doing to dip his feet into, to find an answer?

Conclusions!

...man, a ton gets implied about Morpho's relationship with...whatever made Starstruck. It really, really makes me wonder what his emotions are towards Star herself...I imagine they're quite complicated.

Miracle. Phantom. Magic...miracle seems obvious enough, phantom...phantom of the past, for Morpho? Magic...well. All of this surely involves some kind of magic.

But it must involve it in an important way, specifically, to qualify for the prompt. How interesting.

(Shoutouts to the last line. Space for all your phantom limbs, what a raw fuckin' line. Who is that talking to. Star? Does Star have phantom limbs? Is she reduced from what she was? Did she leave space for whatever she lost...)

(...that's a really raw line. Also, most critically of all?)

Bald :)

did you remember to leave space for all your phantom limbs?

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☀︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ˚★⋆｡˚ ┊ ┊ ⋆ ┊ ★⋆ ┊ ◦ kirbytober 2024 #03 ★⋆ miracle // phantom // magic

[graycoin]

Also just gonna reblog this with a general Dee-tective lens, and it was gonna be in tags but I guess there's a limit on how many tags you can do? Oh well.

Girl. You are contradicting yourself! Who you are now is most important!!!! It does not matter if you were a friendless princess-warrior-politician-war-criminal in the past! (If anything, you fit right in with some of Kirby's friends!)

Or, you know...whatever she was. It was clearly something, and it...seems like it must have been rough. Why else would the notion bring her this much dread? Is it just worry over losing her friends? She seems like a...straightforward enough character for that, but is she remembering, in some way, what she once was? Does she not like it?

...like I said in the tags, that could be my own AU work talking. ^^; Could well be projecting.

I love how much mileage Starflung gets out of simple shapes. The Waddlefeets curving into tip-toes. It's so good. I have used that as a mental image in my own writing admittedly. I am inspired. By tippy-toes.

I wonder if Starstruck ever gets stuff stuck in the grooves of her foot-star designs. Seems like that could happen.

I also wonder where she's getting this notion of things being better left in the past. Popstar? She's a character very influenced by her environment, and it's not like, y'know...Magolor doesn't exist. Or the Great King himself. Ah, I'll think I'm onto something evidence of her past, but it's easy to second-guess...I wonder how the poll will go. Be brave, little wawa...

Hi there, Starstruck! I've heard you're a very very super normal totally average Waddle Dee.

You don't remember much of your life before arriving on Popstar, correct? And I think that's pretty alright- it seems like you've created a wonderful life for yourself! But if you had the choice to decide what sort of past you had, what sort of history do you think you'd choose?

we were all a little cringe in our younger years. ‼️ new mechanic: vote carefully! ‼️ starstruck wants to run!! you'll have to work together on one option if you want her to approach.

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[graycoin]

So I literally just went from a post where the artist points out her propensity for sliding stuff under the radar, so forgive me reading a lot into a very cute, mundane sentiment, but, like...

...is she actually good at eating stars? Like you park her in front of UY Scuti, would she at least make an honest go of it? Does she have the appetite of a black hole...

...well, no. But maybe the stomach of one...?

Mmm... Does Starstruck Dee like Carambola(also known as Starfruit)?

starstruck has quite a complicated relationship with food in general, and while she is incredibly unfussy with flavours/textures/general-edibility-of-food she typically does not enjoy eating too much of anything.

but i think, if nothing else, she'd absolutely love the novelty of carambola/starfruit!

a star you can (legally) eat!!! what's not to enjoy about that!! stars are perhaps one of the few things she's good at eating!

[graycoin]

So,

Does anyone else notice the star in the headband looks like the Plot Star Starstruck has at times? And how her horns are basically the same shape as the horns she has in the flashback we're on at the time of this reblog?

Did anyone else catch that the tips of her feathers in that look like peacock feathers

And how the hat looks a lot like the powerup Kirby gets in that one hypothetical "what if she gave a power" answer

That is a significant design for her. Even if she doesn't know it.

She is remembering herself, in some small, Waddle Dee sort of way. Isn't she.

7. 🧙‍♂️: If your OC had armor and a weapon themed after them for Super Kirby Clash, which of the roles (Sword Hero, Hammer Lord, Doctor Healmore, or Beam Mage) would the armor and weapon be for and what would it look like?

and

20. 🥀: What is your OC’s favorite kind of flower/plant?

helloooo heiress!!! thank you so much for sending some asks in for the ask game!

7. 🧙‍♂️: If your OC had armor and a weapon themed after them for Super Kirby Clash, which of the roles (Sword Hero, Hammer Lord, Doctor Healmore, or Beam Mage) would the armor and weapon be for and what would it look like?

i think that if i were to design an outfit for super kirby clash, it would probably wind up similar to what i designed for the forgotten land copy ability yesterday. starstruck's design is fairly basic as a starting point 😂 so instead i asked her to pick her own favourite!

i'll also take this opportunity to answer this one from a previous set of asks that i never got around to replying to:

secret fifth thing beam mage.

20. 🥀: What is your OC’s favorite kind of flower/plant?

(copying this answer from here. she gets this question shockingly often!) she likes pop flowers, of course! she has a nice memory of receiving some from kirby, king dedede and bandee while she was in hospital, but now that she's out she just thinks they're so fun! and sometimes bonus food; what's not to love! her favourite variants are the ones from fine fields in floralia and the sparkly crystal-like ones from white wafers, though understandably she doesn't see them as often on the topic of her enjoying the white wafers pop flowers, for artfight she received a stunningly gorgeous attack from kamalemons that took this fact into account! just wanna highlight it because it's so beautiful!

[graycoin]

See, I'm reviewing Starstruck-related things and now I'm wondering: did she cause a political crisis of some kind, back in the day? Back when she was a soldier, and not a politician, and very likely not a Waddle Dee?

Was she always dense like a neutron star...I hope we get to see the Ancients in this sooner or later. They seem super-interesting.

Does starstruck have teeth?! Also, political backstory?! Why is she in politics???

i think that all waddle dees have teeth, but i would say that hers are particularly unusual and make her even more resistant than most when it comes to opening her mouth.

and good catch on that one, i actually tried to sneak it past! 😂✌️ but you're right to be dubious about the idea!!

politics is probably not a particularly good place for someone of her uhhh... intellectual calibre. i admittedly can't really see it resulting in anything less than a crisis of some kind

[graycoin]

Hold the full cup.

We never actually found out what this machine was. Which obviously doesn't exist! But if it did, then what would it even be? Doesn't she give the Dream Fountain trouble...?

hypothetically speaking, how much magic is inside starstruck's body? would a hypothetical machine designed to act as a hypothetical detector but for magic go crazy when starstruck is in the vicinity? (hypothetically.)

from a totally hypothetical standpoint of just purely philosophical hypothetical rhetorical interest this imaginary hypothetical machine would go absolutely hypothetically bonkers and lose it's (hypothetical) mind, yeah.

[graycoin]

Just saying, given the Morpho comic I just pontificated on, this last answer sure does get a lot more interesting. If we assume whatever made Starstruck made other entities, and hasn't for a long time...

...they'd have to be very old. And we know of one.

But it's bad luck for Starstruck specifically if there's two. One's not so bad? And who's the one we know? Galacta? He's old as balls, probably. And we've certainly seen future art of them throwing down...

...but each time has implied a mismatch, so maybe this is the wrong tree up which to bark?

Morpho? It would certainly explain why he's so invested in whatever's going on...why it's a miracle for him.

...but if there's another one, it's bad luck for Starstruck. I still don't have any idea what that means, honestly.

🦄: Is your OC the only one of their kind, or are there others like them?

the fabled unicorn!! from this ask meme!

8. 🦄: Is your OC the only one of their kind, or are there others like them?

as you might imagine, waddle dees are a dime a dozen on popstar! hundreds of them. thousands, millions! a countless amount, the kind of thing most intergalactic visitors would hardly notice underfoot. they're the busy bees of the planet, though the best and brightest of them always seem to choose to live in dream land near King Dedede. starstruck is, as we know, a bit of an oddity among waddle dees- even totally ignoring her weird magical signature and lack of memory. her colouration, skin texture, feet, and facial markings are all highly abnormal for a species that (in my world building) generally conforms to a fairly narrow range of appearances. most folks just put this down to her accident; some waddle dees have changed colours a bit in the past, especially when exposed to unusual magics or environments, and to hold all this against her would be unkind so nobody does, not even other waddle dees! so, there are plenty of waddle dees, which she supposedly is! are there any waddle dees quite like her? no. so you could technically say she's the only one of her kind, as a weirdo waddle dee. but i'd actually say there are a couple of others out there who are just like her! not many. almost none. but at least one that we know of! maybe even two, if she's unlucky

[graycoin]

Ah, I might be dumb, but I can't quite parse what the Morphostruck part of this is driving at. Would teaming up with Starstruck for a fight being out the worst in Morpho...? What is even worst, for a being so...alien? What horrors is the tiny butterfly capable of...

But like, Galastruck? Totally obvious. Of course they've been in combat together before! She used to be a soldier, after all. :) And of course they would fight each other! It's like, their favorite activity other than smooching, and holding each other while being impaled by spears. But...

...teaming up to take on someone else? That's new. We've never seen them fighting together, in any art at all. Since the answer to two mutally-exclusive questions was yes, we can safely assume they did this while also fighting each other, and maybe smooching?

...maybe just while fighting each other. I'm sure The Past has plenty of fun things they could've gotten into a melee a trois with. But, ah...

...it obviously isn't over yet. But man. How you gonna beef with an especially-small Waddle Dee that is pink and socially anxious and eats a local country's GDP in treasure if left unsupervised? Gala's gonna get glitter all over himself if he fights her.

And possibly spears.

⚔️ for Morphostruck and/or Galastruck!! Oohhh you wanna tease some potential lore ssooo badly 🪄✨️💫

>>> kirby ship ask game here જ⁀➴ ♡!

19. ⚔️ Have they ever been in combat together? If so, were they fighting each other, or teaming up to fight against someone else? How did the fight end?

for 🦋morphostruck🍑, as far as i know they've never been in combat together.

morpho, as supreme arbiter of the universe, is notoriously hard to get a hold of for a duel; it typically only deals with those passing through the veil between life and death. morpho knight, when it appears to battle, is usually there to settle disputes relevant to itself. it cares little- if at all- for the comings and goings of others, be they individuals or entire civilisations.

war and time and hate passes it by like a leaf in the stream.

if they were to team up, i'm sure it would be both spectacular and catastrophic! might unlock the worst in morpho, though if it took starstruck how she is now she'd do her best to be a good influence. unfortunately i can't think of any reason why they would; morpho would be more likely just to try and keep her, if it could.

as for 🦢galastruck🍑 ...

yes, yes, yes, and it isn't over yet. but don't worry, you won't be able to miss it!

[graycoin]

So, let's just start with: that hat is regal as hell. Got dang tho. Crown-like, fancy headband. A distinctive samurai flair with those wings. The uh, the black hole ornament in the center. This design is really cool! I'll just add it to the bin full of evidence that Starstruck was an important princess of space or something in her past, because man, regality just seems to be a recurring theme.

(This is delightful, given what a simple glittery beast she is in practice.)

Kirby looks so delighted to be using that Star Shower ability. :> Wholesome fun, summoning a rain of deadly spears.

North Star Guide...maybe I'm reading too much in, but this seems very...I half-jokingly accused Star of being a princess, but summoning another entity to use as a battering ram independent of you feels very much in the moveset of a magical princess. (Of course, we know she's a soldier, if I'm recalling my lore correctly. But surely one could be both. Look at that silly hat!)

And then Dark Gravity is just, oooh. Yes. The hidden power that obliterates all. What a cool hidden thing. Black holes, like that one non-canon time she became a very cheerful black hole. Black hole like the hole sitting there atop the crown.

How very interesting.

And it seems Star is a sovereign entity - even he can't possess her. Who is he? Ah...well, I'd assume Morpho, given we haven't really heard a peep about Dark Matter in this whole setup. I guess that bit where he rides her around like a mecha is sadly non-canon. Pity really. He looked like he was having so much fun!

(Shoutouts to Kirby with a big giant bow. n_n He rocks it.)

🐾📺👻

Just in case if I didn't put in the right ones, it's "if your character had a copy ability in KAFTL what would it look like" "If your OC was in the anime, how would they work" and "has your oc been possessed before?"

Thank you and keep up the amazing work!

hey there hyperz0ne!! these are really fun ones, thank you! i went a little overboard for the copy ability upgrade one, so i'll answer the anime one in another post; but it's coming up soon! from this ask meme!

11. 🐾: If there was a Forgotten Land copy ability upgrade themed after your OC, which ability would it be for? What would the hat for it look like and how would it upgrade the base ability?

this is SUCH a cool question!! i LOVE hypothetical game mechanics, especially forgotten land copy ability upgrades and designs. took my time to think through this one good and proper! i've previously hinted that if starstruck gave an ability it would probably be crash, so continuing off that i think she would give a third evolution to the crash ability, following on from Time Crash, called Supernovic Crash. it would be unlocked at the end of the game, when starstruck shows up in waddle dee town to hang out with her friends.

i've also previously described a moveset she might have as a dream friend, and i think this one would have some similar caveats. > in each new stage in order to power-up the ability kirby must find four collectables. prior to this he can inhale and use star-bullets as usual, but cannot discard the ability except by going back to town, or dying. > once he's collected the items, the Supernovic Crash ability gains its silly little hat. after that it has unlimited uses of its first attack, "star shower", which summons a rain of starspears across the entire screen which will 1hKO most enemies.

> after powering up the ability, kirby can get rid of it by activating its second attack, "north star guide". opening a portal, kirby pulls through a massive star-shaped meteor, which he can run behind. so long as he keeps up, it'll clear the path for him until the end of the area. once the star explodes, the ability vanishes like normal crash

> lastly, if kirby reaches 0hp while the upgrade is active, a third secret ability called "dark gravity" activates. the dark sphere on top of his crown explodes outward, filling the screen with black. when it clears, all on screen enemies are gone, and kirby is left alive with 1hp and no copy ability

22. 👻: Has your OC ever been possessed or mind controlled? If yes, how did it happen?

i know this was an extremely popular theory early on, but she has never been possessed. and i'm not even sure she ever could be.

[graycoin]

I did not catch sight of this theory before! Ah, if you don't mind? I imagine this is fairly obvious but:

Kinda Void Termina colors from her stress-induced vaporwave mouth, yeah? It does seem like kind of a consistent color scheme for the character, and I personally can't think of anything else to relate it to in the existing lore.

Edit: Just saying the dialogue bubble is literally popping out from a little stripe of color. I was like, man, could this be something else? I dunno, man.

(It's really sick how the mouth is drooling, though.)

What's the story with the star spears in the galacta knight and starstruck drawing?

haha. well that is the question, isn't it?

[starflungwaddledee]

oooooooh! yesyesyes!!

as far as i'm aware you're the first person to notice, or at the very least the first to comment on, the coronation chicken sandwiches! many of the foods on there were just for aesthetics/vibes/flavours, but i'm glad to see that one in particular being noticed. with a name like that and presented Just So, it's gotta be something.... right?

actually while i'm here, gray is doing some really cool dee-tective work on their blog! i won't reblog every single thing immediately to avoid spamming too much, but i really want to direct folks over to it because... 👀👀🎀🔍

🔮for the oc ask thing!

[ >>> kirby oc ask meme <<< ]

🔮 (Crystal Ball) - Out of all the treasures in the Great Cave Offensive, Kirby is letting your OC pick one from his stash to keep! Which one do they pick, and why?

kirby actually knows that making decisions, even quite innocent ones about choosing a gift when it's offered, stresses starstruck out more than most folks. so he picked this one out for her himself; knowing it would match her aesthetic and simply because he correctly intuited that she would enjoy it!

left to her own devices, if not the above, she might-- after no small amount of stress and tears-- have eventually selected one of these:

because it reminded her of kirby's warpstar,

because it reminds her of her dream of travelling space,

for reasons she doesn't understand.

[graycoin]

Ayo why am I getting namedropped!? X) I just say dumb shit while pointing at things and going "OOOOGH O:" like a caveman seeing a monolith with a pink ribbon attached.

I will say I'm also flummoxed by Morpho's, like...everything, and I think this is perfectly understandable. He speaks oddly. We don't really know what he is, or what his perspective really is on things. What does it mean, for him to find Starstruck "almost unrecognizable"? We don't really know - but the idea she had a jaunt through the underworld is a cool one I never would've happened upon on my own.

Same for the color theory! Now that you point it out, it's in plain sight and I never would've realized. Man, it's actually really obvious!

...and um, y'know? That's. That's a good point! Starstruck is right in the middle of talking about the past...and it's a perfectly fair assumption that it's Gala, because, duh. But...

...what if it was her? Her past self is even more relevant. Does...does that figure have a swallowtail, actually?

Come to think of it, don't those horns look...different?

...well now I'm curious. :D

Hi there, Starstruck! I've heard you're a very very super normal totally average Waddle Dee.

You don't remember much of your life before arriving on Popstar, correct? And I think that's pretty alright- it seems like you've created a wonderful life for yourself! But if you had the choice to decide what sort of past you had, what sort of history do you think you'd choose?

we were all a little cringe in our younger years. ‼️ new mechanic: vote carefully! ‼️ starstruck wants to run!! you'll have to work together on one option if you want her to approach.

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