Hey there!
I've just read the new chapters of Bound to you (you really made my day, chapter 5 and 7 are so, so, sooo sweet!) and I wanted to ask you: the idea of Clover being an imp comes just from his backstory or do you have other influences? (idk maybe it has something to do with future events or maybe you like the aestethic of demons)
(Btw while reading chapter 5 I've also imagined for a moment Clover as a sea monster from the movie Luca, and now I can hear him screaming "Silenzio Bruno!" sometimes, sorry 😅)
Any resemblances to Luca were not intentional. Clover being a sea witch was always the plan, as this version of him gets a lot of influence from his grandfather, who was a fisherman. Clover being an imp was unplanned but developed as I wrote these chapters and I will try to remember to put it in future chapters as well.
I mentioned this in the chapter note but Clover being an imp just comes from his backstory. A lot of iterations I thought up while trying to give Clover some depth to why he is driven to find purpose in his life is that his family was very superficial and only cared about appearances. Quite a few of these backstories had Clover be a bastard child and suffer because of it, and having traits for a fantasy race that are very visible and distinctly non-human highlight the fact that he is the “other,” the unwanted, just like his sibling that was given away.
I picked an imp because while the traits are very simplistic - pointed ears, sharp teeth, patchy skin - they are still very otherworldly and Clover knew that anything that wasn’t human like his mother or step-father would be frowned upon. The slightest “blemish” in his human image would have gotten him into trouble. So while he wasn’t completely green like his sibling, it was clear that he is a bastard child in what was supposed to be a purely human family. Just enough to cause a scandal if discovered, just enough to have him constantly worry about looking completely human, just enough to question if he would be able to be good enough. All this fear and worry contributed to why he never told Qrow, his fiancé, until it kinda slipped out.
