#also i made this a few days ago and forgot to post it-

[offensiunculaee]

Even When I'm Not With You

Chapter Two: Six Months Later

modern!Eddie Munson x AFAB!reader, college AU, strangers to friends to lovers

Summary: the new semester is starting and you meet a lot of new faces, plus a very familiar one

content warnings: none, at least not that I can find!

word count: 5.8k

authors note: thank you so much for the love on my first chapter, this one is a little lighter ❤️ thanks again to @corroded-hellfire and @munson-blurbs. At the time this is being posted I'm either mentally preparing to meet Joseph Quinn again or I've already met him and hopefully haven't thrown up on him.

divider by @saradika

The last five months had been nothing short of torture for you. You never realized how much you took in-person classes for granted. You missed the lively group discussions, walking around your campus with friends, breakfast with your roommate. Your D&D group tried playing together over Discord but you all agreed it didn’t feel the same so you just stopped playing altogether. The worst day was when you had to go pack up your dorm room and say goodbye to your roommate. Elena was the first person you made friends with in college and she was graduating this year with plans to move to Massachusetts and get her masters degree. You two hugged and cried and didn’t want to let each other go. 

You also never forgot about Eddie. Some days as you’d wait for your classes to start you’d wonder if Eddie was in class today and wondering how he was faring. Was he staying safe? How were his friends doing? 

Would you ever see him again?

Did he even remember you?

Your anthropology professor was very reluctant to use technology. She used an old school projector and would write out her tests then copy them. It was a miracle whenever she managed to use the computer for something without help from the IT department or one of her students. Needless to say, you weren’t surprised when your professor decided to just assign weekly readings or videos and then give you a multiple choice  quiz at the end of the week. No discussion boards, no presentations, and no zoom classes. This was the final nail in the coffin that made you realize you’d truly never see Eddie again. When you met him, you were hopeful  and believed you might be able to call him your boyfriend one day. That dream was crushed within three weeks. 

Summer went by in the blink of an eye and you were more than ready to get back to school. The school’s administration made the decision to reopen campus with all classes offering a hybrid option for those  who chose not to return to in-person learning. You chose to move back into the dorms as most of your friends were doing the same and you also needed to have your own space again. You went with the same room layout as last year, two small bedrooms connected by a small “common area”, basically a hallway with a sink and a small bathroom on the other side of it. You didn’t decorate the common area too much, just adding a rug in front of the door to the hallways and plugging your shared mini-fridge and microwave in near the entrance so you both could use it. There was one last minute addition that you hadn’t told your roommate about, a little dry erase board that hung on the wall between your room and hers.

You didn’t get the chance to talk to your roommate that much since room assignments only went out a week ago. All you really knew was her name was Robin and that she lived a few towns over in Hawkins. She was a creative writing major and was probably the funniest person you had ever met. You offered to help her move in the next day but she politely declined, saying she had friends who had also moved in and were going to help her with everything. There wasn’t much to do the next day - classes didn’t start for another few days and all your friends that were returning to campus hadn’t moved in yet. That morning you decided to grab a quick breakfast from the dining hall and add the finishing touches to your room. You had a Fall Out Boy poster from years ago that you happily hung above your bed as well as a Ghost poster that your friend had bought for you for Christmas last year. There were also a few postcards with ancient art that you put right at your desk. Once everything was up, you opened up your window that had a view of the campus walkways and took out a book. You had a pretty good idea of what readings would be assigned to your classes (you asked the professor before the last semester ended) and figured you’d get a head start on it since you had nothing better to do. 

The late summer breeze filled your room as you began pulling out your notebook and pens to start taking notes down. It was just warm enough to still be wearing a tank top so you chose one in your favorite color and a basic pair of shorts. The tank top showed just enough cleavage to make you feel good about yourself but not enough that you’d consider it to be too revealing. The next two hours went by relatively quickly. The texts in question were new to you, but you had a general idea of what was going on so things didn’t get too confusing.

Sometime later, your focus is broken by the muffled sound of voices coming from outside your dorm room. You notice the telltale rolling of a moving bin moving closer, chatter, then a moment of silence until you hear, “Ow!”

Out of curiosity, you got up from your seat and approached your dorm door to open it and stick your head out. Outside in the brightly colored carpeted hallway was Robin along with a man. Robin was carrying a laundry basket with what you assumed to be her bed sheets inside of it. The first thing you noticed were her earrings with worms on strings. The guy with her had perfectly styled chestnut hair, large wire-rimmed glasses, and a Hawkins Basketball shirt on. You kept silent and watched them bicker like siblings.

“Hey dingus, that's my FOOT you just ran over!” 

The man takes a step back from the bin with his hands up. “You stopped right in front of me!”

“Of course I stopped right here, this is my room!”

“How the hell am I supposed to know that?!”

A laugh is threatening to escape as you watch the two argue. There are other residents moving in that say nothing as they simply push past them, everyone completely used to the chaos of college move-in day. 

Robin turns around, about to motion to the summer-themed name tags taped to the door but instead she sees you watching everything unfold. Thankfully, she’s amused at how you caught her and her friend bickering and sputters out a laugh, which then spreads to her friend and over to you. 

The three of you hear another moving bin rolling through the carpeted halls and you all look over to see who it is, and you’re pretty sure you’re imagining things when you realize who it is.

It’s Eddie.

The last time you saw him - and the only time you saw him - was during the winter when he was wearing a hoodie so you didn’t get a good look at his tattoos, and you’re now learning just how many he has. One arm has a few tattoos - the most notable on his  right arm are the bats on his forearm and a wyvern , with a snake that winds its way up his arm. The left arm only has one tattoo and it's the one you saw the day you first met him, the goat skull on his hand. There are at least two tattoos on his chest, that you can tell from the stretched out muscle tank he was wearing, but again you wouldn’t be able to see exactly what they were until he got closer - or if he just took off his shirt. His hair was up in a high bun, most likely styled that way to help with the summer heat.

You’re staring at him as he continues down the hallway with the bin, and you notice just how much stuff is in it. The lighter haired man had the lighter load, it seemed, only containing two large sterilite containers full of clothing and a rug. Eddie had what looked like shelving, a TV, room decor, and one sterilite bin with shoes in it.  He’s not really looking at where he’s going, instead looking around at the bulletin boards on the wall and the name tags on every door. The entire hall had an overall summer theme to it. The RA’s put a lot of work into decorating when they were going to be changing it in a month. 

Eddie sees his friends out of the corner of his eye so he slows down before he hits the other man, and that’s when he looks up and finally sees you. He stares for a moment in disbelief before breaking out into a big, toothy smile. He’s got a smile that would light up an entire room. All you’re able to do in that moment is give him a smile and a little wave, mouthing ‘hi’ to him. Robin turns around and sees Eddie, saying, “Oh hey, you’re here!” She turns back to you and begins introducing the two guys to you. “This dingus –” she motions over to the first man you met and he nods to you with a wave“– is Steve, we worked at this ice cream place at the mall together and now he’s my best friend.” Robin then turns to Eddie, who stands up a little straighter now that all the attention is on him. He’s trying to make himself look a little more presentable, tucking some strands of hair that were sticking to his face away behind his ear as he’s introduced to you. “This is dingus number two, Eddie. He’s really obnoxious and brash, like dingus over here, so I call him bingus. Y’know, like the cat. They’re living together in the apartments across campus.”

You try to hold back a laugh at Eddie’s nickname but it doesn’t work. All you can picture is a sphynx cat with a head of curly hair. Eddie is enjoying every second of this, even if Robin is poking fun at him. He couldn’t get enough of your laugh the first time you two met and he’s just now realizing that he might get the chance to hear it more often. Once you calm yourself down, you chime in saying, “Actually, I already knew Eddie. We were in the same anthropology class last semester, albeit for like one class before break but it was fun.”

Eddie could have sworn he heard Steve’s neck crack from how fast he turned to look at him. He’s looking back at his roommate in shock. Steve mouth, ‘Is that her? The girl?’ and Eddie nods with a smile before looking back at you in adoration while you’re chatting away with Robin.

After some more small talk about moving day, complaining about how hard it was to get on campus despite the low number of residents this year, you two decide you’ve had enough of standing in the cold hallway and go inside. You hold your dorm door open so everyone can go through. Robin and Steve thank you as they go inside and you can hear Robin digging in her tote bag before finding her room key and unlocking it. Eddie comes in a few seconds later with his bin, flashing you another beautiful smile before he abandons the bin in front of Robin’s room. The small size of the bedrooms combined with the furniture only allows room for one bin at a time so he just leaves it for them to grab when the first bin is empty. You move to close the heavy door behind you and squeeze between the bin and a wall to get over to your room. Eddie watches and follows you, casually leaning against the metal door frame when you hop up onto your bed. He’s fiddling with his rings as he looks at you, specifically your legs. He has never really been into legs, Eddie has always been more of a boob guy if he’s being honest, but in that moment he realized how good yours looked and wanted nothing more than to have them around his waist, over his shoulders…

He catches himself before his thoughts become clouded with his growing number of fantasies about you, and before his pants start to get uncomfortably tight. Instead, he tries to play catch up.

“So, I really didn’t think I’d ever see you again… how did that campaign with your friends go? Did you save that Barnes guy or did he eventually become goblin lunch?”

You’re shocked that Eddie remembered your D&D campaign. The pessimistic part of you assumed he quickly forgot about you since there were more important events going on at the time but he seemed to remember you just as you remembered him. A small smile grows on your face at the thought. You grab a pillow off your bed and put it in your lap to pull at the loose strings on it as Eddie removes himself from the doorframe and takes a seat in your desk chair. He’s sitting casually, opting to sit in it backwards with his arms on top of the backrest. He’s making himself comfortable and acting like he comes in here all the time. You wouldn’t mind if he did come here all the time. You’re unsure if its the warm air coming in through the window or the way that Eddie is looking at you, but you’re starting to feel flush and a little giddy. Usually people would become disinterested when you begin talking about your interests but he seems to want to learn more, so you begin to retell the story.

“We saved him from the goblins but then we were ambushed by a band of mercenaries on the way out of the forest. They were hiding in the trees and Barnes was low on HP so uh… he never made it back to town.” You wipe a fake tear from your eye as you continue on. “And his wife was expecting too. He never got to meet his little boy…” Eddie’s genuine shocked expression makes you laugh. The world that you and your friends had only begun creating felt so silly to you but Eddie was captivated by just one session’s worth of storytelling. He was so captivated that he somehow forgot that the desk chairs provided by the university were rocking chairs so he felt himself fall forward once he put too much of his weight on the back of the chair. Eddie could have sworn he saw his life flash before his eyes in that moment as he felt the chair tip over. He still had so much to do in his life. Eddie dreamt of being the first in his family to graduate from college. He wanted to make something of his life to show everyone back in Hawkins that he wasn’t just another failure like his father. He wanted to see Metallica again, maybe go to Europe. Hell, he wanted to try and find love and he’s pretty sure he found it  but he can’t be with you if he cracks his skull open on your dorm floor.

You reach out to grab Eddie as soon as you realize that he’s about to fall and you end up grabbing onto his bicep. He looks up at you once he realizes that he’s no longer falling and your faces are three inches away from each other. Neither of you are saying anything and just looking into each other’s eyes. The only sounds you two hear are Steve and Robin struggling to hang string lights up on Robin’s walls and the traffic from outside your open window. 

You realize a few things during those few seconds. Number one, Eddie’s eyes look even more beautiful up close, especially with how the light is hitting them. Number two, he has faint freckles dotted across his nose, most likely from being outside during the summer. Number three, you’re definitely in love with Eddie. You barely knew him still but the more you were around him, the more infatuated you were with him. Also, he looked really lanky the first time you met him, but now that you’ve seen him up close and touched his arm you know he must be working out.

Eddie is just happy that you’re this close to him. He could finally kiss you after all these months of longing, but he has to restrain himself lest he ruin your blossoming friendship.

The moment is interrupted by yelling and cars honking outside from the street below. You both  process what has just happened and neither of you are able to contain the giggles that ensue. To Eddie’s disappointment, you pull your hand away and instead clutch your stomach. Eddie now has his head on the backrest of the chair as the two of you try to calm yourselves down.

On the other side of the wall, Robin is standing atop her desk with string lights in hand, almost done hanging them all up. Steve is busy trying to detangle all the wires for her TV when they hear a thud from next door followed by your muffled laughter. Confused, Robin looks down at Steve and they exchange looks of confusion. Carefully, Robin steps down from her desk, onto her desk chair, and then on solid ground. Without speaking a word to her friend, she tiptoes out of the room and peeks her head into your room. From where she’s standing, all she can see is one of her best friends hanging out with her roommate as they try to speak without erupting into laughter again.

“Oh my god, you should have seen your face! It was hilarious!” 

“Oh be quiet, like you haven’t done that before!”

“We’ve all leaned too far back! I’ve never seen someone fall forward in these death traps! Besides, these chairs are made to tip like that! Have you never used them before??”

Having seen enough, Robin turns around and steps back into her room. Steve is still sitting there cross-legged on the floor with the wires in his lap and raises a questioning brow. All she can do is shrug and say, “They seem to be getting along” before going back to work on the lights.

Eddie has a routine when prepping for Hellfire. Yes, he would take time after each session to tweak next week’s plans according to the players actions, but he also had an entire day centered around planning. 

Ever since he started college, Eddie would always make Wednesday his planning day. He made sure that he wasn’t scheduled for a shift down at Moe’s Motors, the auto shop that both he and his Uncle Wayne worked at. He also tried to have as few classes as possible that day. Luckily for him, he didn’t have any classes on Wednesday this semester so he decided early on that he’d dedicate his entire day to his campaigns. If he stayed consistent with his routine, each session would be fully fleshed out roughly one month in advance. 

He found it easiest to work in the comfort of his dorm room. It was a quiet, controlled environment where Eddie could take up as much space as he wanted and nobody would ever bother him. Steve learned pretty quickly that if Eddie’s door was shut on Wednesday then it was best to not bother him. 

Steve was expecting to see Eddie’s door shut when he got back from the gym, so he was surprised to walk into their apartment and see his door wide open and his room empty. He got up to go to the gym at around 7am before Eddie woke up and knew he was there based on the snoring that he heard through the door. The only sign that Eddie was even in there today was his unmade bed with gray plaid bedding and his phone wasn’t charging on his desk. His backpack was missing too. Confused and a little worried, Steve dug out his phone and scrolled through his contacts before he found Eddie’s name and clicked on it. His contact picture was from a past Christmas party where Jonathan had managed to convince Eddie to wear reindeer antlers the entire night and Steve managed to sneak one photo in before he got caught. 

Steve hits the facetime button and waits for Eddie to answer. Something important must be happening for Eddie to disrupt his routine like this. The metalhead answers after a few rings. His hair is tied into a low bun with earbuds in and chewing some gum. He’s answering the call from his phone propped up on something, probably his laptop. Steve can see one of Eddie’s many D&D books in front of him, proving that he just went somewhere else to do his work, but where? Eddie is definitely inside, that he can tell. He’s in front of some windows and there’s a lot of background noise. Eddie is sitting there casually and pops a pretzel into his mouth and goes, “Hey, what’s up?”

Steve, confused, asks, “Where the hell are you? Why aren’t you working in your room?” He’s looking around at the background to try and decipher where on Earth Eddie could be. He can hear the campus bell ringing since it’s the top of the hour, but all that tells him is that Eddie is still on campus. The students walking outside the window are another clue. 

Eddie keeps looking down to his books and then back up like he’s looking for someone. “Oh, I decided to try a change of scenery. That’s all.” Steve is still suspicious about all this and quickly changes out of his sweaty gym clothes and into something clean. He’s looking more at the background and is able to read one of the signs in the background. He’s beating himself up because he should have recognized that building immediately. That’s the back of the nursing building, meaning Eddie had to be in one of the study areas in the biggest academic building on campus. Everyone had classes there at one point, so maybe Eddie decided to try working there? 

Steve hangs up on Eddie without another word and makes his way outside to take the crowded shuttle bus to the main area of campus. The late-August heat was relentless so everyone was trying to spend as little time as possible outside, leaving Steve standing on the bus as it slowly sputtered up the hills to the school. The bus stops right next to the building he suspects Eddie is in so he runs through the entrance to the study area. It’s all wood and tile with a small coffee shop next to the rows of tables and chairs. The area is pretty full so Steve had to look around a bit before he spots his roommate. He’s wearing a green flannel with a black shirt underneath and a pair of sweatpants, probably dressed for the AC blasting in the building rather than the torturous heat.. On the table he has all his usual D&D materials spread out with an open can of Monster next to him. He weaves through the tables of people to get to Eddie and is amazed how his roommate, who always needed absolute silence and zero distractions, was working in such a loud and crowded space. Without a word, he grabs a chair from the table Eddie is sitting at and sits down next to him. 

Eddie sees the movement out of the corner of his eye and looks over to Steve, surprised, and pulls his earbud out of his ear to pause the Gojira song he was just listening to greet him with a confused, “Uh, hey. What are you doing here?” 

Steve leans back in the chair, tipping it back and crosses his arms. He’s looking over in the direction Eddie seemed to be looking during their brief facetime call. He was looking over into one of the main hallways with classes on either side. Steve then looks back to him and replies, “I wanted to see why you weren’t in your room. You always do your Hellfire prep in there and I had to see what made you want to work here…” Steve looks around, noting the smell of burnt coffee and music blaring from people’s phones and laptops. There’s also a group of students having a loud, heated discussion two tables away. 

Eddie hesitates as he’s looking around and trying to come up with a good excuse. No amount of music can help him focus here, but he’d rather give his friend a shitty excuse than tell the truth. “I wanted to try something new?”

Before Steve can respond, Eddie looks up towards those hallways again and smiles. Steve looks in that direction and finally realizes what was going on. He sees you exiting a classroom with an older lady with a messy gray bun and tiny glasses, almost the same size as her eyes. You two are talking passionately about something, just going by your erratic hand movements and how much you two are smiling. The two of you part ways with a wave and “I’ll email you some other ideas I’ve had!” as the hallway ends and opens up to the lobby and study area. You look over to the study area, thinking about doing some research on one of the worn couches near the entrance, before you and Eddie lock eyes with each other. Eddie reaches over to the empty chair next to him and across from Steve and pulls it out for you. Steve slowly turns to Eddie and raises a brow at him. He leans in to Eddie who is watching you hurry over and whispers,

“Were you waiting out here for her?”

Eddie doesn’t answer him, just whacking his shoulder and says “Shut up…” as gets up to greet you, moving some of his books over to behind his laptop and moving his half-empty Monster to the other side of his laptop. When you take the seat and sit down, Eddie excitedly asks, “ Hey sweetheart, how are you?” as you set your bag down under the table. Once you’ve sat down, Eddie casually puts his arm around the back of your chair, his thumb barely grazing your shoulder. The sun wasn’t hitting this part of the building yet, but you swore you felt your body heat up at that moment. The new nickname certainly wasn’t helping. Surely he must be like this with all his friends, always touchy,  giving them his undivided attention, the pet names. You couldn’t fathom anything else. The way he looked at you made you feel too special and that made you a little nervous. Steve greets you with a friendly smile and nod, trying hard to hold back a remark on how convenient that Eddie was sitting right here as you were leaving that classroom. He’d mock Eddie and talk about how weird it was later. Besides, judging on how Eddie was looking at you, he seemed a bit busy with other things.

Unlike Eddie who was donning layers to keep from getting cold inside, you were dressed appropriately for the reason with a pair of well-fitting dolphin shorts and a faded Fall Out Boy shirt that was tied in the front, revealing just a little bit of your belly and your stretch marks. It wasn’t what you originally planned on wearing today, but you were running out of clean clothes and needed to get your laundry done soon. You were a little insecure about the outfit at first, but Robin gave you a boost in confidence when she stepped into the common area of your dorm room as you were brushing your teeth and asked, “Why do you have to look so hot at 8 in the morning??”

 Eddie didn’t know what part of you to look at first. His eyes were instantly drawn to your legs again, but now he gets to see how your thighs look in those tight shorts. Then there’s your midriff - he wanted nothing more than to get you all alone and get his hands on you, to knead at your skin and learn what kinds of sounds you’d make when his hands inevitably moved underneath your shorts and into your panties.

Again, he had to catch himself before his thoughts became too explicit and tried to focus on what you’re saying as the three of you get into a heated discussion about horrible classmates, initiated by you complaining about a guy in your class who went on so many tangents during the class discussion that he wasted maybe twenty minutes of class time. Eventually, the conversation dies down and Eddie switches the topic to you.

“So, uh, how was class? Do anything interesting?”

“I, well -” you look down at your lap and your shoulders droop- “I wouldn’t say it was interesting, but I was talking to my advisor about my senior thesis. I had an idea over the summer and she really likes it so I’m gonna get started on that soon. We’re translating sections of the Odyssey and I wanted to discuss the sounds that the spirits make and then try to draw some connections to the spirits in other pieces of Homeric legend.. I’m excited for it. We also talked a little about grad school and it’s kind of nerve wracking…” Eddie hummed in approval and watched your expression as you explained your options. He may not have known you for very long, but he could tell there were some mixed feelings about this. He takes the hand that's on your chair and moves it in order to reassuringly rub at your shoulder. 

Eddie’s voice softens when he speaks up, “Hey, don’t worry about all that. Like, the idea that you’re even thinking about grad school screams ‘genius’ to me. You’ll do great no matter where you go. Any school would be lucky to have you.” His little pep talk eased your anxiety for the most part, but you decided to quickly change the subject before you began to worry again. You look up at both him and Steve, who you notice didn’t bring anything with him apart from his phone and a half-empty bottle of water. 

“What are you guys up to? Is Steve helping you with your campaign planning?” 

Steve shakes his head, looking at Eddie out of the corner of his eye. Eddie is looking back at him and silently pleading for him to not tell you the truth, that he’s only here because he knew you’d be here. Thankfully, Steve isn’t cruel and replies, “Nah, I could never get into Dungeons & Dragons. The most I’ll ever do is give him feedback when he needs it. You play, right? I think I overheard you guys talking about it on move-in day.” 

Much to your enjoyment, Eddie’s hand never left your shoulder as the three of you talked. You explained how you and your friends had finished your first campaign in May but it didn’t feel the same playing over Discord. “I never realized how important it was to be in the same room when you’re playing. We all live in different parts of the state so we couldn’t meet up anywhere. Also there were technical issues which made things difficult. Honestly, I’d love to play again. Maybe I’ll see if there are any groups on campus that are accepting new members.”

You pull one of Eddie’s books toward you and open up to a bookmarked page out of curiosity. It's cover was partially held together by tape and its pages were either dog-eared or filled with post-it notes. While you’re distracted, Steve kicks Eddie under the table and mouths, “You should ask her” before getting up. You barely register his departure as you flip through the pages. Eddie found it cute how interested you were in the book, laughing to himself when you make a look of disgust after flipping to a page with a Beholder, a fleshy orb with one giant eye and multiple eyestalks sticking out of it. “Eugh… I can never get used to him.”

Eddie clears his throat to get your attention, having already taken his hand away from your shoulder and once again tapping his pen against the table. “You know, we’re actually down two members right now. We usually have seven people but one of our members transferred and one graduated so we have some seats open… if you’re interested, of course.” He’s trying to read your face right now. You seemed excited but he wasn’t completely sure and once he starts talking about Dungeons & Dragons he can’t seem to stop. “We’re almost done with our introduction campaign since we’ve got three new members and if I can get everything done in time then we’ll start up again in…  mid-October, maybe?” 

You begin to smile as he’s explaining everything, and that’s more than enough proof that you’re interested in joining. Either that or you like how much he’s rambling. You’re nearly bouncing out of excitement and get up to hug him when he finishes speaking. Both men are shocked by your reaction, but Steve is more entertained by how stunned Eddie looks. His eyes look like they’re bulging out of his skull and his hands are hovering over your back, scared to touch you as if any movement would cause you to pull away. He’s struggling to even get any words out.

“I… so that’s a yes?”

You nod, still holding onto him and reply, “Of course it’s a yes!” 

Eddie felt so relieved and just basked in the moment, finally wrapping his arms around you to return the hug. He’s taking advantage of the hug to take in your scent, immediately obsessed with the coconut scent he’s picking up in your shampoo. It’s so… so you, and he loves it.

You glance over to Eddie’s laptop, curious to see what he was working on - and to possibly get some hints on his future campaign that you’ll be involved in - but the first thing you notice is the time. You had work in an hour and had to get across campus to change and hopefully get there without any traffic. You pull away from him, much to his dismay and go, “Shit–”, and grab your bag before turning to Steve and Eddie, “–I have to get ready for work, I’m sorry. I should have been keeping track of time.” 

Eddie is saddened by this but lets you go anyway, placing his hands on the table and instinctively grabbing a pen to fidget with. Steve gets up with you, stating, “Yeah I actually have to go meet some guys from class to study for an exam so I’m gonna get going too.” 

Before you head out, you turn to Eddie and say, “I’ll send you my character sheet during my lunch break later and you can look it over for me?” and Eddie nods. You’re anxious to get going, still haunted by the amount of time it took you to get home that fateful February day, so you say your goodbyes and head out.

[sapphire-heart-tippy]

I ascended into another dimension and made this-

[theswedishpajas]

I've been very busy with a game and might've stumbled into a favorite guy, as you might know from the "hear me out" tag game

[awerzo]

he's right behind me isn't he

[moodlesmain]

Hi. Look at this.

I just spent two days straight making a digital conspiracy board trying to piece together my favourite genre that isn't really a genre and more just a very particular niche which doesn't really have a name.

If you want to look I reccomend downloading and zooming in on the image to read everything LMAO, I want to try and convert it to a page on my neocities at some point so its easier to view but for now you guys just get a big ol' jpeg. You're welcome :)

[renirae]

FABLEHAVEN MOVIE IS REAL??? oh my god that is my FAVOURITE book series. please god I hope it ends up being good <3

(I'm keeping my expectations very low of course lmao, I've been burned wayyy too many times by bad movie adaptations. but honestly I'll just be happy if it brings more people into reading the book series!!

other than one or two things (*cough cough the horrific disaster of Brackendra cough cough*) it's such a SEVERELY underrated series and one of the only childhood favourites of mine that has actually held up enough that I enjoy rereading it to this day!!!) (also hands-down the best inclusion of indigenous peoples into worldbuilding that I've ever seen, which is really cool!!)

[we-are-not-afraid-92]

anyone else out there who can’t stop thinking about orlok in the sunlight and going kind of feral because oh my god he looks so beautiful but also he’s about to die horribly ;_;

[miciiq]

Got Aventurine in 60 pulls!

He’s so auxhuehuche I’m so happy I have him now

[kazzsk2]

Extra doodle i did earlier

[wormy-worm]

ok poll time

[alangdorf]

Aaaaand next off the checklist is Manager Magolor, it seems! I feel the need to clarify this is a while post-RtDL and most likely post-Star Allies too (and probably post-much-needed-therapy) given the temporally anomalous nature of Merry Magoland.

I also feel the need to clarify something weird I said in the initial theory post, even though it most likely goes without saying given some of the design decisions I made here and the sheer power of saying “you know what I mean”, but I think I finally have my thoughts coherently together about The Discourse. Going under the cut given that it is about The Discourse, and also about my personal experience with gender, transition, and internalized misogyny.

First off, if you don’t know what I mean by The Discourse, or why the heck I’m drawing Magolor as a Doomer and not a catboy, in the latter case see my previous posts, and in the former case, there was a line added in Return to Dream Land Deluxe for 100%ing the game where Magolor says he was lying about being from Halcandra. Now I’m not particularly entrenched in the Kirby fandom and generally avoid discourse, but even I’ve seen a lot of people say they think this lore addition was bad and stupid. I totally understand wanting to ignore it, given that the fanbase at large is full of Magolor likers that have elaborate headcanons about Magolor as a Halcandran, and various worldbuilding about Halcandra and the Ancients as informed by the concept. Personally, I had no previous stake in this given that the lore addition was actually the catalyst that got me to really care about Magolor in the first place, and obviously I think it’s interesting to extrapolate from.

Now, the ostensible gut reaction to finding out that Magolor has just been dressing up as an Ancient this whole time is to get really nervous about cultural appropriation. I personally think it’s likely to be more nuanced than a cut-and-dry case of an oppressor stealing from the culture of the oppressed, but given how little we actually know about the Ancients’ place in the Kirby universe both at their height and in the present day, and the fact that I myself am a white American, I’ll just cite Metal General’s RtDLdx pause screen lore, whatever the heck Grand Doomer has going on, and the short story Passing by Nella Larsen (Ok hi! Anxiety-ridden Kit from a week and a half later coming in to clarify that I’m not trying to equate funny little video game aliens to the severity of real life race struggles. As with everything please give me the benefit of the doubt in believing that I have good intentions and understand that there’s nuance but am just not the greatest at talking or thinking and I’m fighting for my life in here[my brain] ok thx bye) that I read in high school as sources for my personal thoughts, and leave the discussion on that subject there. (Oh, I also do like to think about the fact that he said he’s been studying the remnants of the Ancient civilization in Halcandra, for years, alone. Not much of anything with a concrete point to say about that though)

When I last talked about this in my theory post I said I saw it “more like uhhhh trans coding, kinda” and of course drawing this design forced me to confront the question of: now what the heck did I mean I mean by that, exactly?? Well, I thought about it more, and I realized that the much simpler thing to compare it to would be any teen coming-of-age movie where the protagonist dresses up as someone they aren’t because they don’t like who they are until they learn to accept and express themself for who they really are, though this message’s impact is often obfuscated somewhat in practice by Hollywood’s double gut-punch of beauty standards and misogyny. But as for what I was more closely reminded of when I called it trans coding, it was, as it often is, my own complicated journey with gender.

Speaking of, I realize I haven’t been very talkative on tumblr in several years, preferring to talk with close friends on discord rather than with the wider internet and you all know me as afab nb, so I suppose this is the time to come out as… cis, actually. Or rather, uh, transgender/cisgender/genderqueer/nonbinary/female. (Perhaps you can tell why I generally talk about this with people who already know me.) You know how it starts. I never really felt like I fit in with girls growing up, I held disdain for people who were “too girly”, I generally only made friends with nerdy guys, avoided wearing makeup, didn’t care overly much about how I dressed.

Then, five years ago, I discovered that being referred to as “they” made me really happy. I never experienced body dysphoria, but I liked to be able to have a flat chest sometimes. These are things that are still true about me. But feeling decoupled from the concept of womanhood, and, of course, simply growing as a person over time, allowed me to reassess my feelings and internal biases on it. I discovered I have very particular aesthetic preferences, some of which are traditionally very feminine. I started getting into fashion and sewing and started to be happy rather than ambivalent about the way I present myself. (I still don’t wear makeup barely at all.) I realized that what gender you are doesn’t have to mean anything about your particular gender presentation, and that your particular gender presentation doesn’t have to mean anything about what gender you are. I’m still addressing my own internalized misogyny every day, though I like to think I’ve gotten better about it. I’ve learned more about being queer and I’ve learned more about myself.

Over the years I’ve been slowly swinging back around to being comfortable identifying as a woman, and I’m not 100% there yet (I still have a bit of a dysphoric gut reaction to other people referring to me as female, I’ll likely always prefer they/them on the internet at least, and man oh man don’t even get me started on the religion thing. It’s even more complicated somehow and I have trouble talking about it even with close friends and family. I often feel caught between sides on a lot of things just because there’s just very few people who understand wholly where I’m coming from. For one thing, do you know how many weird reactions I’ve gotten to telling people I’m aroace and also getting married in two months? From all kinds of folks), but yeah. That’s how it is. Definitely genderqueer regardless what happens.

So uh, what the heck does any of this have to do with Maggie? I just have a relatively similar thought process regarding him. Uh, metaphorically, I mean; not necessarily with regards to gender. His gijinka designs have definitely turned out really genderqueer but as I’ve said before, this is just what happens whenever I get my little baby hands on new favorite male characters, especially given my penchant for selectively feminine aesthetics and the fact that I’ve never really learned how to draw cis men all that well. He’s also just really hard to put in pants & I wanna show the legs off, I paid money for those

Now for the million dollar question. Do I think any of my interpretation is how HAL actually intended it? Perhaps, but they seem to often leave deep lore things like this deliberately open-ended. So do I think they’re gonna actually do anything with it and make Magolor stop dressing up like an Ancient? Probably not, especially given that the lore bit is a reward for 100%ing the game, practically an easter egg at that point. Magolor is probably the one character who they’re most willing to give new outfits to, but I don’t see that extending to his mainline canon appearance. I think Kirby is a bit too much of a mascot-based franchise to comfortably depart from iconic aspects of their characters for that. They still haven’t given poor Taranza his own theme that isn’t a remix of Dedede’s, for crying out loud.

End of thoughts. Usual disclaimer that I am just one person with limited knowledge and judgement. I wanted to write out this clarification because I was worried my previous comments might look weird in isolation and because I know my Magolor headcanons are very intrinsically tied to The Discourse. It honestly kinda sucks a bit cause while it has been nice to be drawing again, I’ve also been relentlessly serotonin-seeking and I’m way too hungry for interaction & engagement on this, especially given how niche its particular appeal is. Ask box is always open but be warned I have no qualms about setting boundaries and won’t answer anything I don’t want to. Thanks for reading! - Love, Catboy “🪺” Discourse

[tothelasthoursofmylife]

Character Profiles: Cloudia’s paternal extended family (and Florentin)

Index: Aurèle, Jacques, Arnaud, Anaïs, Gérard, the Marquis, Anselme, Sylviane, Amélie, Firmin, Florentin, Horace, Quincy, Abigail (Percival's siblings)

(All character ages are as of the latest chapter, or when they died. All information as of the latest chapter too.)

Navigation: Main and extras | Cloudia's grandparents and maternal extended family | Cloudia's paternal extended family (and Florentin) | Other servants and employees | Antagonists | Scotland Yard and misc.

Name: Aurèle Beauchene

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: May 20, 1829

Age: 19

Physical description: dark brown hair, brown eyes; he resembles his grandfather the most out of all grandchildren

Affiliation: Beauchene family; Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Favourite Colour: grey, blue

Favourite Flower: lavender

Favourite Dessert: chocolate cake, pain d’épices

What is in his bag? knife, handkerchief, bandage, sharpening stone, another softer handkerchief for glasses, another knife, comb, more knives

Random fact(s):

His favourite dish is quiche Lorraine.

Because his uncle took rather long to get married and have children, Aurèle was regarded as his eventual successor and educated as such. This was only phased out when Gérard was born. (All Beauchene/Dupont children receive excellent, special education nonetheless.) If Aurèle had remained his uncle’s heir, he would have taken the Dupont surname upon succeeding him.

Aurèle was relieved when Gérard was born because he always thought he was unfit to become the Marquis one day. (He also worries about his little cousin in that regard.)

Background info: He was originally named Gervais before I accidentally named the original Clockmaker character that too. I then changed his name to Aurèle, but Gervais the Clockmaker ended up getting replaced by Florentin.

First appearance: The Countess, Travelling (Chapter 21)

----

Name: Jacques Beauchene

Nickname(s): Jacky

Birthday: February 12, 1835

Age: 13

Physical description: brown hair, brown eyes, glasses

Affiliation: Beauchene family; Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Favourite Colour: green

Favourite Flower: very difficult to choose!

Favourite Dessert: cakes with fruits, particularly strawberry cake

What is in his bag? book, notebook, pencil, glasses case, handkerchief, a secondary notebook, a little telescope, compass

Random fact(s):

He used to be a bit afraid of ghosts when he was little. Now, he does not believe in anything paranormal or supernatural.

He wants to be a researcher and author for wildlife and nature. Although his parents assured him it was fine to pursue this goal, Jacques still feels odd not to help with/take part in the “family business” at all in the future.

He’s a bit embarrassed that he still occasionally requires a night light.

Background info: None.

First appearance: The Countess, Mystery (Chapter 22)

----

Name: Arnaud Beauchene

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: October 15, 1839

Age: 8

Physical description: black hair, green-blue eyes

Affiliation: Beauchene family; Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Favourite Colour: red, blue

Favourite Flower: marguerite, purple hyacinth

Favourite Dessert: soufflé

What is in his bag? marbles, card game, notebook, pencil, small toy train, hair ribbons, handkerchief, tissues, small whetstone

Random fact(s):

Because he has always been so quiet and unintentionally blends in with the wallpaper, Jacques used to believe in ghosts for a while.

Arnaud hears and sees quite a lot but prefers to keep his discoveries and observations to himself.

He’s set to become Gérard’s right-hand man when he becomes the Marquis.

Background info: None.

First appearance: The Countess, Mystery (Chapter 22)

----

Name: Anaïs Dupont

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: September 21, 1840

Age: 7

Physical description: red-brown hair, blue eyes

Affiliation: Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Favourite Colour: red, purple

Favourite Flower: iris, anemone

Favourite Dessert: everything with pomegranate

What is in her bag? handkerchief, small faerie doll; she has the habit of not carrying around a lot (i.a. because she sometimes loses things)

Random fact(s):

She liked faeries before her near-fatal fever.

While she likes faerie stories the best, she is very enthusiastic about myths and legends in general. She is particularly interested in Celtic (because of the faeries) and Greek mythology; her favourite Greek myth is that of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Background info: She was originally named Amable and is now named after Anaïs from The Amazing World of Gumball. (She gets a bit of her personality from her too!)

First appearance: The Countess, Mystery (Chapter 22)

----

Name: Gérard Dupont

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: March 22, 1845

Age: 3

Physical description: light brown hair, blue eyes

Affiliation: Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Favourite Colour: blue, yellow

Favourite Flower: the colourful ones

Favourite Dessert: chocolate cake

What is in his bag? too small to carry a bag, but keeps a stuffed toy close by and his pockets are filled with all sorts of things

Random fact(s): By 1889, no one calls him by his given name anymore as he has become the new Marquis.

Background info:

He was originally meant to be five, not three years old.

Gérard was originally set to become the Aristocrat of Evil with the scarred eye before I changed my mind.

First appearance: The Countess, Mystery (Chapter 22)

----

Name: ??? Dupont

Nickname(s): The Marquis

Birthday: 1762

Age: 86

Physical description: grey, formerly brown hair, green eyes

Affiliation: Dupont family

Occupation: The Marquis

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Random fact(s):

He had a very happy and loving marriage with his wife Séphora. (She had red hair which her son and granddaughter inherited.) She passed away in 1840.

He tried his hand at clockmaking too which frustrated Florentin because the Marquis was not good at it, and Florentin feared for his workshop and utensils. (The Marquis wasn’t being serious and only wanted to annoy Florentin; he was actually bad at watchmaking though.)

He grew up without any cousins. Because of this and the fact that he is a decade older than his sister and only lived with her for about ten years, the Marquis was a bit lonely in his childhood and youth. He’s rather happy that his grandchildren are so close-knit and get along well (most of the time).

Background info:

The Dupont family’s title was meant to be longer “The Marquis of […],” but I decided to scrap it because it was a very dumb reference to something. There was also meant to be a title for the heir which was cut as well.

I decided on his given name early on. It’s a funny one.

First appearance: The Countess, Mystery (Chapter 22)

----

Name: Anselme Dupont

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: 1800

Age: 48

Physical description: red-brown hair, green-blue eyes

Affiliation: Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Random fact(s): He was quite the lady-killer for a long time and already marked off as an “eternal bachelor” until he met his wife ten years ago.

Background info: He was originally named André. I changed his name because that was the name of one of my driving instructors, and I did not like driving lessons. (I did not end up getting my license.)

First appearance: The Countess, Malady - Part 4 (Chapter 23)

----

Name: Sylviane Dupont (née Lavoie)

Nickname(s): Sylvi

Birthday: 1805

Age: 43

Physical description: blonde hair, blue eyes

Affiliation: Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Random fact(s): She was tragically widowed twice before she met Anselme. (One fiancé also died before they got married.) Men began avoiding her after her second husband’s accidental death, believing she was a black widow. (In reality, she really was just that unlucky.) Sylviane had made peace with never marrying again or having children until she encountered Anselme.

Background info: She was originally named Renée. I changed her name because I didn’t like it and because I wanted to have as few names with accents as possible.

First appearance: The Countess, Malady - Part 4 (Chapter 23)

----

Name: Amélie Beauchene (née Dupont)

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: 1802

Age: 46

Physical description: brown hair, green-blue eyes

Affiliation: Beauchene family; Dupont family

Occupation: Baronne

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Random fact(s): She’s secretly a little nature nerd as well for which her brother used to tease her (and still does sometimes to this day). It was very refreshing to her when she met Firmin, and he treated her the same as everyone else.

Background info: Her name was always “Amelie,” but it was initially spelled differently and weirdly as a silly nod to her father’s given name. Because I didn’t know how the odd spelling would affect the name’s pronunciation, I settled on the more normal “Amélie.”

First appearance: The Countess, Malady - Part 4 (Chapter 23)

----

Name: Firmin Beauchene

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: 1798

Age: 50

Physical description: black hair, light brown eyes, glasses

Affiliation: Beauchene family; Dupont family

Occupation: Baron

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Random fact(s): When Amélie expressed her wish to marry him, her entire family was unsupportive because they thought they were an odd match and that Firmin would not fit into the family. The Marquis was the only one who approved him; the others eventually warmed up to him.

Background info: Like with the Marquis, he had a “full” title early on until I decided to leave it out. It was “Baron de Lorraine-Lillebonne,” and I got it from a random title generator.

First appearance: The Countess, Malady - Part 4 (Chapter 23)

----

Name: Florentin Chastain

Nickname(s): The Clockmaker

Birthday: September 9, around 1400

Age: 400+ (about 30 physically)

Physical description: short brown hair, phosphorescent chartreuse eyes, tall and lean; occasionally wears tinted glasses but dislikes them

Affiliation: Grim Reaper Dispatch (former); the Marquis (sort of begrudgingly)

Occupation: Grim Reaper (deserted); Clockmaker

Base of Operations: Grim Reaper Dispatch (former); his workshop in the woods

Favourite Colour: everything except green

Favourite Flower: doesn’t care

Favourite Dessert: angel wings, beignet

What is in his bag? various tools, some loose gears, a glasses case, a small pocket knife, very old Ohropax (he wished he had taken more)

Random fact(s):

He deserted at some point during the witch trials (they were poorly documented in France; very few executions were officially confirmed, but many, many more are presumed). It was a bleak time all over Europe (that the witch trials overlapped with constant recurrences of the plague did not help), and it made him realise the endlessness and pointlessness of his job.

Florentin became a clockmaker not long after deserting. He also became a matchmaker when he (by chance) introduced the Marquis to his wife.

He went on many adventures with the Marquis and although he would never admit it, he enjoyed some of them at least.

Background info:

The bare bones of his character come from a scrapped one-shot about Cloudia and Undertaker, with Undertaker being a very odd “clockmaker” living in the woods, and Cloudia the person who delivers his “goods.” Because I had difficulties writing it, it was eventually replaced by my one-shot “Warming” (which I wrote for a Christmas event). As I still liked the idea, I added a clockmaker Grim Reaper to WotQ (though the situation and details differ from the original one-shot idea).

The original WotQ Clockmaker character Gervais was very, very different to Florentin. I decided to replace him with Florentin because while Gervais did have ties to Grim Reapers, the story ultimately required a different kind of character – a deserted Grim Reaper. (I still like Gervais though.)

First appearance: The Countess, Clockmaker - Part 2 (Chapter 24)

----

Name: Horace Phantomhive

Nickname(s): Hoho (only his sister called him that)

Birthday: 1761

Age: 24 (at time of death; 1785)

Physical description: black hair, green-blue eyes

Affiliation: Phantomhive family; Weston College (former)

Occupation: Lord of Phantomhive; Prefect of Sapphire Owl (former)

Base of Operations: Phantomhive Manor; Phantomhive townhouse

Random fact(s):

The eldest of Octavius and Florence Phantomhive’s four children. He was “the perfect heir and son” in every way. Unfortunately, he and his twin died in a carriage “accident,” and he never succeeded his father as Earl and Watchdog.

Horace and his twin were rather aloof, keeping away from their younger siblings, so he was, despite his other qualities not a “perfect brother.” When Percival became family head, he found some interesting things his brothers had hidden away in the manor.

His middle name was “Greyson” which, just like Percival’s middle name, was never used by his parents. Horace occasionally used it as a fake surname.

Background info: I’m very for “all Phantomhives’ names contain a ‘c’” but then went and completely failed with Percival’s siblings because his original name was Horatio. However, I just noticed that I’ve never stated his name in WotQ so far although he was briefly mentioned, so I’m very quickly and sneakily fixing his name.

First appearance: Mentioned only (First: The Lady, First Training; Chapter 10)

----

Name: Quincy Phantomhive

Nickname(s): Q, Queeny (only his sister called him that)

Birthday: 1761

Age: 24 (at time of death; 1785)

Physical description: black hair, green-blue eyes

Affiliation: Phantomhive family; Weston College (former)

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Phantomhive Manor; Phantomhive townhouse

Random fact(s):

As he was younger than Horace by a few minutes, he was the spare. He never minded it much though because he liked being “in the shadows.” He and his twin were very close and secretive.

His middle name was “Farran” which, again, was never used by his parents. He and his siblings were united in their confusion at least.

While Horace could be a bit stuck-up, Quincy was only a bit more relaxed. He was not much of a jokester but could at least crack some jokes every once in a while.

Background info:

His original name was Joseph which I just changed to adhere to my own little naming rules. I decided to rename him “Quincy” so that he and his brother could be theme-named after the poet Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus).

He was originally four years younger than Horace before I decided to make them twins.

First appearance: Mentioned only (First: The Lady, First Training; Chapter 10)

----

Name: Abigail Stafford (née Phantomhive)

Nickname(s): Abby

Birthday: 1770

Age: 29 (at time of death; 1799)

Physical description: light brown (on the verge of dark blonde) hair, grey eyes

Affiliation: Stafford family; Phantomhive family

Occupation: Baroness; Lady of Phantomhive (former)

Base of Operations: Stafford Manor; Stafford townhouse; Phantomhive Manor (former); Phantomhive townhouse (former)

Random fact(s):

She always appreciated the fact that she looked very different from her black-haired (blue)-green-eyed brothers and that her grey eyes were “all hers.”

The jokester of her sibling group, much to the annoyance of her brothers (especially Percival to whom she was the closest).

Abigail married in her early twenties but did not immediately want children. In the end, she never had any because she died in a terrible incident related to Watchdog work. (It shook up Genevieve and Percival a lot, and they didn’t speak (much) of Abigail afterwards.)

Like her brothers, she had an “unused” middle name: Delora.

Background info:

Unfortunately for me, I did mention her before by name, so I cannot sneakily change it to something that contains a “c.” At any rate, I did like the fact a bit that I messed up the (original) names of Percival’s siblings because they all died before him. Only the one sibling whose name always had a “c” in it became the successor and reached his thirties (and even his fifties!). A little accidental “curse” on my side.

Her husband’s given name is “Abraham” in my notes. I do have some name overlaps (Theodore Clifford and Theodore Sycamore, for example), so I’m a little undecided whether to change his name or not. But then, it does not really matter because he has no bearing on anything whatsoever.

First appearance: Mentioned only (First: The Lady, First Training; Chapter 10)

[girlwiththegreenhat]

seeing that someone I follow was also at anime Midwest makes me wonder if we passed at some point at the con? how many people I follow on Tumblr have I passed in person but didn't know? If you were win cosplay I may have even taken a picture with you? Small world huh?

small world! :V i was not in the cosplay contest as a cosplayer, but my brother was and you can spot him from a mile away (HE WAS IN THE CONTEST AND WON BEST PROP AND I WILL CONTINUE TO SHOVE IT IN EVERYONES FACE HEEHEE)

(... if you saw a scrungy looking lilith clawthorne guiding him around like a blind puppy because he can't see for Shit with this thing on, dat me :3)

[thebuttsmcgee]

so. um. 👉👈

hi guysies.

Ig I should just say like. Hi

I haven't been posting here as much cause. Idk. Might be depression? I keep thinking its cause I've been so busy, which also wouldn't be not untrue, but these past, like, 3 weeks I think so far? I've had some free time but I haven't cause. I dunno, then again, I haven't been doing too much in general? I gues, besides very mandatory things, hell I've even been lacking in my regular skyrim hours of playing.

That, and as said, I get super melancholic when I remember just how sad and bittersweet it is that t0h is. Actually legit over. The show and experience, that is.

Oh all that and also becuz my headphones broke! Fuck! That's like number 2 in my bare necessities for when I post, do almost anything really! It's seriously been painful this past month going without headphones holy shit. Dude I've been scratching at the bit for some relief for headphones, I NEED music legitimately. Even right now, as I'm typing this on my phone, my music is on low levels.

But yerp. Its been. Rough. Really rough. I really do appreciate yall, everyone of yall. Have a sweet week everyone, ✌️!

[remxedmoon]

your friends don’t know what to do.

so!! i redrew every single enemy in the game. in the span of like 9 days (excluding the king i made him right after the last update). that’s abbbout 79* drawings total, with only 3 custom ones for once!! i’m so normal. as always, these are free to use with credit!! go nuts!! spritesheets are included <3

got some notes under the cut, along with As Many Enemies As I Could Fit without making this post obnoxiously long. and i failed. i had to swap between the app and browser several times and i still couldn’t fit every drawing. open this post at your own risk (silly).

okay so first of all. what’s with the asterisk. well. I Drew A Lot More Than 79 Assets Actually. they’re getting posted separately, because this post is ABSURDLY long. you can find most of them in the miscellaneous folder, but for a bit of clarity, i added the teleport map and a bunch of ui elements that reference sprites from the icon sheet. and also the game over and loop back animations but i haven’t finished the spritesheets for those because they’re a pain in the ass so they’re not in the drive yet

if you missed my complaining a few days ago, a few enemies might look a bit crunchy in the actual game? specifically, calamité and désespoir were drawn at the wrong size, because their images in the files do not match the spritesheets! i avoided the issue with most of the other enemies, those two just blindsided me. sorry about that!

^sadnesses having inconsistent designs was actually a running theme with these. détresse rock has an unused design in the files (which i managed to catch before having to redo it thankfully), anxiété has extra spikes that don’t appear on the spritesheet (sorry i was too lazy to fix that one), even the version of the friend rescue in the files doesn’t match any of the frames in the spritesheet. hfjfhfj. sorry about the quality issues.

tangentially related to that, massive thank you to @riggedbones for grabbing the individual frames for the animations for me!! they made my life so much easier. vs friends would’ve been so annoying…

speaking of the animations! hi can you tell i’m not an animator. these were my first time doing Anything animation related since, like, middle school. super sorry for the Jank in some of these! the friend rescue looked way better when i drew it 💔💔.

bourdon’s hands also might act a bit odd, my apologies. the sizing ingame is SUPER inconsistent (why is one of the hands SMALLER than the other????). once i’m able to actually test the mod, i’ll try to fix it wauaua.

the 3 custom sprites are for the triplets! i ended up making two versions for each, one that follows the ingame art, and one with my personal designs for them. i like my own designs for them, but they’re a lot easier to tell apart? so if you want to use the ones that fit the gimmick better, they’re also in the drive 👍

this update. was originally going to have way more custom art. i’ve actually got an act 6 siffrin enemy asset in my art program! but school started and i decided it’d be better to just get the normal stuff done. so the mod can actually come out in a reasonable timeframe. promise that’ll all come out Later! sorry about the wait 😓😓😓

also adding this because i almost forgot: no i don’t know if these are compatible with sasasaap. i don’t have the game still and it’s not my main priority atm, apologies!

okay! that was a lot! and there’s a ton of art down here! thank you for reading all this, i’ll be back with the game over animations and teleport map pretty soon! like. within the weekend. enjoy!!!

[ghost-y-toast-y]

Yes the neon cat thingies are 100% necessary in my Joehills design

RAHHHH GIVE ME YOUR JOE DESIGNS!!!! I NEED TO DRAW ALL THE JOES