THOSE LAST COUPLE CHAPTERS HIT HARD
I just got caught up on your fic and I always oh so love the interactions between the three knight bros. I also adored how you wrote the interactions between Meta Knight and Dedede. I'm a huge fan of redededemption arc and it's why in my hcs I count (an altered version of) the anime as a precursor to the games. I really think that anime Dedede gets a little more hate than he should. He's selfish and a jerk but he's been like that in the games too. I don't like it when people characterize anime Dedede as truly evil and undeserving of redemption because he's meant to be seen more as downright childlike to a fault, even having fits and not being able to read. He's more negligent of real danger even when he's the one causing it than he is downright cruel, and that was proven in the episode where he really thought Kirby died (which was actually a pretty fucked up thing to pull imo). My point is that I think that's exactly how Meta Knight sees him in the anime. Bothersome, spoiled, and a conductor for events that become far more serious than he ever thinks they are. Truly, Dedede has no idea what he's up against with Nightmare, and Meta Knight doesn't hold him responsible for that. He's just there to make sure nothing goes too wrong and shrugs off the childlike berating Dedede gives him afterwards. But for all of that Dedede never stays mad at Meta Knight, and likewise Meta Knight looks out for Dedede in a way by also making sure his exploits don't go out of hand and harm him (since he knows Dedede is playing with fire when it comes to the monsters). Even for the flawed parts of anime Dedede's characterization he's just an immature king who isn't actually that much of a feal threat, just like in the games -- and Meta Knight is his loyal knight who puts up with his antics. Sorry for the drabble but again my point is I just felt like you nailed their interactions PERFECTLY. I can absolutely see in your writing the potential for how their friendship would grow overtime. All the characters really are just silly fellas, reading them gives off those same vibes from the anime. Anyway, I just wanted to compliment you over that .o.
uwhjg. thank you !!š dedede has always been a fun character to write whether itās a serious scene or a silly one, and i wanted to set them on the same course they take in the games. of course, itāll still be a long time before everyone sets aside their differences enough to become friends, but itās a start. matching the characterization of the show while doing everything i wanted to was a challenge, but itās good to hear it paid off! dedede is misled and inexperienced, but heās still dedede. there are inklings of the character we know today, itāll just take time for him to grow from his original characterization. like, it takes until triple deluxe for kirby and dedede to really work together. now that nightmareās gone, itāll probably follow a similar course.
iāve had one or two people mention leading up to 93 that not a lot of writers look at mk & dddās relationship in too much depth, and i agree. i didnāt get into is as much as i wouldāve liked to, but i tried to include it whenever i could because theyāre so interesting. you see them hanging out like friends but you also see them constantly denying the otherās wishes and fighting about it later. not to mention the whole āletās blow up the halberdā debacle. weāll talk about that another day. but to my original point, dedede gets shelved a lot in favor of developing other characters and itās a shame. heād be just as important after nmeās destruction. heās still got kirby to deal with, after all. itās not like he and meta knight never interact, either. iāve inserted a lot of scenes but there are plenty of times mk just shows up in the throne room to ask about something. even things like mk helping dedede with his plan to get kirby into the grand prix in 35/36 are suggested by the fact dedede and escargoon are in the storage room with him when he talks to kirby. these scenes are really only baseless in episodes where the knights donāt appear at all (iām pretty sure they arenāt actually in 93).
iād like to say dedede starts to realize just how serious things are after 89 because of the wholeā¦incident with mk, but because that didnāt really happen, itās not reflected in the show. maybe itās more in the back of his mind, sort of a āno, that canāt be right!ā thought that he canāt quite dismiss. by the time the destroya come along, he just goes along with things because he wants to stop the attack. he certainly understands the danger once theyāre at there fortress, so he has to have realized at some point. i think meta knight also starts to gain a level of respect for him after my made-up 89 epilogue, if only because he brought him back to sword and blade to make sure he was safe after. they wouldnāt have fought so openly in 93 if it were the beginning of the showādedede mightāve been a little upset, but whatās it matter? meta knight is just another soldier under his lead. theyāve been through a lot by the end, and theyāre going to go through more.
i wish the show gave them more interactions. i think thatās part of the problem. all you really see of them is mk asking questions from time to time, and it doesnāt establish anything beyond their usual fronts. it feels uninteresting and surface-level. but thereās so much more there that can be brought out simply by removing them from the situation and letting them talk on their own.
shit i just thought of something so iām gonna talk a little moreāthe opening of 60 is sort of a fun example. their interaction is very short, but shows a lot. dedede and escargoon come into the courtyard with their destroyed car, and dedede shouts for meta knight to get down there and help. sure, it can be read as a nothing command, but itās also a declaration of āthis is serious, we need /your/ help because i know you know what youāre doing.ā he doesnāt call for the waddle dees to line up at the gate and prepare to battle, he calls for meta knightās help specifically. (iām pretty sure sirica asks about star warriors before blasting them, but iām not sure she ever says mkās name. they probably donāt know sheās actively looking for him at this point.)
i wanted to express everyone as having room to change, because thatās part of what the series is about. itās about love and itās about change, and even if the anime isnāt so bubbly bright and happy as the games, the anime is about that, too. they all have their own lives and they all have places theyāre going, even if we donāt get to see what happens after they get home to dreamland. these arenāt static characters, as simple as they seem. they have history, theyāre layered, and yes, they are very, very silly. letting that potential go ignored would be a crime, wouldnāt it?