@desultory-novice this probably got lost in the notification sauce, so here it is again: the 1980s Girl's Cartoon AU!
The Kirby games are fan continuation/fan reboot of Kirby's Starry Tales, itself a spinoff of The Waddles; Kirby made his first appearance in the second episode of the three-parter, Waddle in the Wasteland. The episodes involve Waddle Town suffering a dreadful famine. Bandana Dee leads a small party of Waddle Dees across the Wild Wastes in search of the Mystical Soil that can grow any crop, and withstand any weather; their journey brings them to the oasis-garden of Kirby, keeper of the Soil. After the three-parter's conclusion, Kirby made regular appearances in the show, and gained enough popularity to get his own show.
(Incidentally, Kirby is white here, as my cute little nod to the NA Kirby's Dream Land box art! ๐)
The Waddles made their first appearance in the hour-long TV special, The Meta-Knights in the Cursed Country. On the orders of the Queen of Gibbous (a character made specifically for the show), Sir Meta and his misfit crew seek out the Rainbow Blade in order to cast the Dark Knight down. Sailor Dee knows of the Blade (specifically that it's shattered into seven pieces) and suggests they go to her old home (the eponymous Cursed Country) and ask the Wise Elder Dee for the yellow piece. Sailor's people made sporadic appearances for the remainder of the show's run.
And finally, the show all these other shows spun off from: Adeleine the Magic Painter! The first episode (a two-parter, natch), Paint Me a Problem, has the eponymous Adeleine (wearing regular 80s girl street clothes) worrying about what to make for an upcoming art fair. While on her way to get art supplies, she finds an unusual Paintbrush that sends her to the magical world of Pop Star, besieged by the Wizard of Nightmares. With the aid of some unusual characters, she is able to kill the Wizard in an explosion of colors (you could get away with straight up killing baddies in 80s girl's cartoons as long as it's all sparkly and stuff)!
Every subsequent episode has Adeleine entering the portal picture in her room to take her to a random place on Pop Star, helping whoever needs help and defeating various villains of the week; the iconic look she sports from DL3 onward actually originates from the Super Art Studio Adeleine playset. Sir Meta and his misfit Knights made their first appearance in the 20th episode, Never Meta Knight I Didn't Like.
Side note: Magolor makes sporadic appearances in all of these cartoons as the owner of the traveling carnival, Merry Magoland. His design is more explicitly "wizard kitty cat" here, and has vibes I can only describe as "a mix of carnival barker and used car salesman," so of course he steals the show ๐.
(Of course I had to include Magolor; he is everywhere, and also it would be super funny if this is the exact same Magolor from the games. Think of all the stories he could tell!)
My only problem now is figuring out how everyone else can fit in these cartoons. Maybe you have some ideas?
