Hiya, Chordies! Bowser again.

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm bringing you a new character design reflection. Patrons got to see this one a month early, so if you want early access to content like this, please consider making a pledge!

I hope you enjoyed the last deep-dive for my character design process for Chester and Dave. Today, we'll be dissecting everyone's favorite fox, Eddy. Get the scalpel! 🔪👀

Making this devlog now is as good of a time as ever. I recently canonized the main character's name as only "Eddy." If you read my Build 6 Errata, you already know why I did this. To recap, there was three main reasons. Ease of voice acting, ease of script writing, and the fact that Eddy is a well-defined character. He's no longer the blank-slated character I originally envisioned.

With that said, let's start by discussing my original vision for our foxy protagonist!

When I was first designing him, I had one simple idea in mind: make him relatable to the target audience. One common theme I observed in furry VN's was main characters being written as a vessel for the reader to project themselves onto. Adastra is a great example. The main character, Marco (or whatever you decided to name him), didn't have a rigidly defined past or an appearance that distinguished him too much from the target audience. For the most part, things happened to Marco, and he reacts in ways most rational people would in his situation.

I don't make it any secret that I love Adastra. It's the first furry VN I've ever read and inspired me to be a creator myself. I don't think Howly or anyone else who worked on Adastra read my devlogs. But in case you do, thank you. Your project changed my life. That's not an exaggeration or hyperbole. I wouldn't be an author, I wouldn't be running a successful Patreon page, and I wouldn't be hosting FVN related events at conventions had I not read your work. FVN's are one of my life's callings, and you inspired me to find it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Sappy stuff aside, I wanted Chord Progressions' main character to operate on a slightly different axis than Adastra. On the gradient of "blank slate" to "rigidly defined", I wanted my MC to fall somewhere in the middle. Blank enough that the player can project themselves onto him, but rigid enough to be interesting.

With that design philosophy in mind, I got to work on designing him. I started with the basics. I wanted a fox, since that's a species many furries relate to. I also wanted him to be tan, to make his appearance more distinct. For my original vision, I wanted to give him an average body build to make him relatable to as many people as possible.

So, I commissioned Zun! I asked him to design me a fox and he did an amazing job!

After design, it was time to get to work on the very first character scene (or CG, as it's often referred to). I had just hired Cream for the job, and we got to work making our fox come to life.

I knew that nailing the first character scene was important. Everybody was going to see Eddy for the first time, and we had to make it count. So, I did what most slice-of-life's do and I introduced the main character by having him look at his own reflection. I wanted the reader to see him nude during this scene. Showing him in such a vulnerable moment allows the audience to get to know everything about him.

After Cream cooked up some sketches for me. I was rapidly falling in love, but I knew he needed some tweaks. I really want to make a statement and ensure it was as impactful as possible.

If you don't know, Cream and Zun are experts when it comes to drawing big, gorgeous men. The way they shape larger men's bodies is just immaculate, which was part of what drew me to them in the first place.

I was now at an impasse. I could keep Eddy the way he was, or I could lean into Cream's strengths at the risk of losing my original vision for the character. After a lot of thought, I took the risk, and it paid off immensely.

We added more chonk, and by God, was that the correct decision. He was designed, illustrated, and written by men who love and celebrate large male figures. Looking back on it now, it was obvious that he was meant to be this way. The extra pudge suits him perfectly. For my last character design reflection, I mentioned that sometimes my characters tell me who they are. It was loud and clear to me, and everyone on my team, that this is who Eddy is. I'm forever grateful I listened to my gut.

The first Twitter post featuring him gained a surprising amount of attention. The reception to him was a lot more positive than I could have predicted. I didn't know just how much FVN readers were craving a chubby protagonist. People often mention how they find Eddy to be the most attractive one in the cast. I don't think that's a bad thing, though. After all, that just means most of the sex scenes are going to include him 😜.

Based on the overwhelmingly positive reception, the original vision for Eddy was now officially abandoned. Now, he serves a new purpose: to be my love letter to the chubby men in the furry community.

If you know me, you'll know that I'm a fat man myself. I haven't always been, though. During my childhood, my weight fluctuated quite a bit, as is natural for children. During my teen years, I was quite lean. After starting college, the freshman 15 turned into the freshman 50. I've seen firsthand how respect from others proportionally decreases as your body mass increases. It's a truly uncomfortable thing to experience and it's the kind of experience I want to discuss using Eddy as my vessel.

Canonically, he's been a life-long fat boy. As such, that comes with a lot of insecurities and body-dysmorphia. The resulting sexual and romantic frustrations from living as a fat person are also compounded by him being gay as well. The intersection of these two things is a complicated topic, but it's one I want to tackle head-on.

As stated several times in the past, Chord Progressions is, in part, cultural commentary of American life. Obesity is heavily politicized here, so much so that it's a part of American iconography. When you ask foreigners what they think about the US, the word "fat" often comes to mind. Eddy isn't only a vector to discuss the personal implications of living in a fat body, but the social and political implications as well.

When you exist as a fat American, you constantly have to deal with the well-meaning microaggressions, the weight-loss ads, and the occasional unfiltered vitriol of fatphobes. I could go on-and-on-and-on about how being a fat person in the US (or anywhere, for that matter) can create so much trauma for people. But that's what Chord Progressions is for. I want Eddy's story to be the lens through which you can see it for yourself.

The last thing I want to address are my plans for the character. You're already starting to see it, but he's slowly but surely gaining some confidence and self-love. Keep in mind, despite Chord Progressions already being 150k words long, we've only glimpsed at a single week in his life. It takes time to overcome lifelong insecurities. Be patient with him, please 💖.

To the lovely, fat, queer men out there who feel like they need to wear a shirt at the pool because they're horrified at the thought of others seeing their body, or the ones who can't bring themselves to go to the gym because they're scared that strangers will gawk and laugh, or the ones who are too nervous to go to gay bars because they don't want to be judged by catty twinks, Eddy is my love letter to you.

I see you.

You're not alone.

You're gorgeous.

You're sexy.

You're beautiful.

Just like Eddy is.

Thanks for reading 💖.