#birdko

3. What was the first thing you decided on, the character's name, appearance, personality or their role in the story?

His role in the story was the first thing I decided! I made Flint first for a dnd oneshot. After it concluded, I liked the character so much that I wanted to build a world around them; since Flint is a character who frequently makes reckless decisions and has no sense of self preservation, I wanted to make a character to contrast that attitude. A cowboy and an undertaker seemed like a really fun dynamic, so I made Willow as a way to constantly remind Flint of their mortality. Willow started as more of a sleezy coffin salesman waiting for Flint to drop dead, but that quickly changed when I realized I could add romantic tension by making him sad and old and desperate for connection instead ♥

4. And reverse, which one of the four things did you struggle with the most?

HAHA Probably his name! I'm just terrible with naming ocs in general, it takes me forever to decide on anything! Although I also went very back and forth on what kind of personality I wanted him to have, between being slimy and out for a quick buck or kind and tortured. I love it when my characters are broken and beaten down so I went with the latter! (Unsurprising)

5. How did you choose their name and why? Was it simply based on vibes or is there any specific meaning behind the name? Are the reasons behind their name different in- and out of universe?

It was mostly vibes based! I ended up tying it into his story (or vis versa) after the fact. His full name is Willow Everelm, he's very... Tree, lol. I leaned on the fantasy trope of elves being nature-loving because I had SUCH a hard time coming up with a name for him, but it sounded kind of elegant and pretty so I grew on it fast. Willow comes mostly from his long hair, and Everelm is a portmanteau of "evergreen" to play on his longevity and his desire to keep people's memories alive, and "elm" for the pastoral association with tranquility and peace, which I thought was fitting for someone whose whole business was in death. I like stories where death isn't feared or harmful but is rather treated as natural and peaceful, and I wanted to make Willow representative of that too!

6. What was the thought process behind their appearance? Did you go mostly for the aesthetic or are there other reasons they look the way they do?

Oooh, I actually put a lot of thought into what he looked like and what he wore, since I was aiming for function and form with him. His appearance is mostly just a quirky take on classic undertaker garb from various westerns, with extra inspiration taken from other historic figures associated with death, medicine, and disease. Plague doctors, for instance, were the inspiration for his clothes! His skirt isn't waxed but it is meant to act as an apron of sorts to keep his clothing clean when working, the white wraps on his wrists are stuffed with herbs and perfumed to prevent that creeping smell of death from sticking to him, etc. I also tried to incorporate a lot of "as above, so below" symbolism with him like with the brim of his hat (that I never draw lmao), the tassels off his belt, etc. to sort of drive in that "this guy is associated with unstoppable macrocosms" vibe he's got. As for why he wears all black in an arid western desert setting... um, he doesn't feel the heat for weird biology reasons. And I need him to be emo. I'm making new wild weast gang refs for artfight this year so I do have a rough sketch of his outfit(s)... aheehee