#zazu

What was the first thing you settled on for her character: Her name, appearance, personality, or position in Twst?

I think intention and having a goal were the first and most important things to me when I considered making a Twst OC. Everyone has their own process and priorities when creating, and I had to decide what I wanted for myself before even starting on name, design, personality, etc. For example, some creators want to follow canon as closely as possible while others disregard canon entirely. Some make self-inserts while others make characters entirely separate from themselves. Some have Yuusonas and others have characters that are native to Twisted Wonderland. Some choose to indulge in wish fulfillment so the OC stays relatively static and others want to give their character a story and see them change drastically. Some ship their OCs and others don’t. As you can see, there’s a lot of preemptive work that goes into making an OC before they’re ever labelled or given a face.

For me personally, I’ve always had my heart set on a character that integrates well with the canon cast but also has an identity that stands on its own. She would have relationships with canon characters, but isn’t solely defined by those relationships, least of all any romantic ones. And because Twst centers around the idea of characters being granted second chances and characters improving themselves, I also wanted these themes to be reflected in my OC.

I had zero interest in making a Yuu character at the time. I found the idea of Yuu too restrictive if I wanted to stay as close to the canon lore as possible. They’re from another world, they don’t have magic, they already have everything they do in the main story spelled out for them and yet also not super defined at all… I also find it highly uncomfortable to put so much of myself in a character (which the game all but encourages you to do, even going so far as to name the default name for the player character “Yuu”/you). I instead chose to go in the direction of a separate character so that I could have more overall creative liberty.

I noticed that many OC creators would twist said OCs from preexisting Disney characters, so I tried that out myself for a while. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really find a single Disney character I could consistently stay excited about and interested in. This, too, I’d discover, was limiting me—so I abandoned the idea of creating a character from something concrete altogether and looked for the abstract. As it turns out, the answer was staring at me right in the face this entire time; the name of my blog, a reference to an Alice in Wonderland riddle which infamously was intended to not truly have an answer (although many fans have offered their own interpretations). The raven that is briefly mentioned but never actually depicted as a character in many Alice in Wonderland projects became my inspiration for my OC’s personality, design, and more.

I guess you can say that, before Miss Raven was herself, she was an idea. That’s what all OCs start off as, these little seeds with all the potential in the world to become beautiful flowers.

What is an aspect of her appearance that you like the most?

I like a lot of things about Miss Raven’s design but I’m biased since I designed her! I find her big and expressive eyes, sharp lashes, thick brows, and little snaggle tooth make her expressions very defined.

I guess if I had to choose one element of her appearance that I like the most, it’d be her hair. There’s just so much of it that it lends itself to many different hairstyles, so it’s fun for me to experiment with to go with new outfits. I love her standard low pigtails a lot too!! They were designed that way to emulate the way a bird’s wings usually start right around where their backs do.

Is there any existing character from other media that she resembles?

Since Twst characters often borrow ideas from multiple Disney sources, I wanted to do with same with Miss Raven. I pulled elements from various fairy tales and ballets such as The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid, and Swan Lake, so she has overlap in traits with the titular Ugly Duckling and Little Mermaid, Odette and Odile, and more. She also has some of Alice’s curiosity and pragmatism as a homage to the story her main inspiration comes from.

I look to many Disney birds for guidance on how to write Miss Raven’s relationships with other characters. For example, her inner Zazu comes out in her dynamic with Leona. She has a relatively professional relationship with Malleus (inspired by Diablo). Kalim force feeds her crackers a la Sultan to Iago in an effort to be a good host. This also extends to Miss Raven’s relationships with non-NRC characters. She surprisingly gets along well with the RSA boys, since many Disney princesses have songbird companions. In that sense, I guess she also has a little bit of every Disney bird every in her 😂

In terms of media outside of that realm, Miss Raven is very similar to Ahiru/Duck, the main character from Princess Tutu. Their backstories are basically the same (aside from Miss Raven taking up the craft of writing), and they also both go through their own arcs of finding their freedom in a world that tries to determine their destinies for them. Does this make Miss Raven a magical girl by proxy? Maybe…

Do you have a playlist for Miss Raven? Which songs do you connect with her, and why?

I realize this may be a boring answer, but 😭 I don’t have a playlist dedicated to specific characters. Will pulling some songs from what I normally listen to work…? That’s the closest thing I’ve got.

Please note, many of these songs come from particular media or groups rather than independent or unaffiliated artists. This does not mean I necessarily engage with or like all the media or groups from which the songs originate. This is purely a measure of how much I enjoy the songs and nothing more than that.

Cinderella Step by DAOKO

WONDERLAND from Taisho Alice

Memory from Super Paper Mario

Holding Out For a Hero, specifically the Shrek 2 version

Comedy from Spy x Family

Secret Princess from Shugo Chara

Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Waltz of the Hours from Coppelia by Léo Delibes

Waiting in the Wings from Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure

The Beginning of the Day from Princess Tutu

I’m Mad at Disney by Salem Ilese

Sirius, Don’t Lose Your Way, Blumenkranz, and Sorry I Can’t be a Good Child from Kill la Kill

Together forever, my lovely lovely video game cartridges by Camellia Official

Love Me Not, Citrus Love, and Ojousama by Bao the Whale

Sweet Dreams, Blink Gone, Till the End, and Ruler of My Heart from Alien Stage

DISTANT by Nijisanji EN talents Finana Ryugu and Kyo Kaneko

Lay Your Hands on Me from Kiznaiver

Breaking Dimensions by Hololive EN talents

Fly High!!! from Paradox Live

Divine from Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt 2

Heart Of Glass by Alohaii

Monsters and Men by Shori Novella

Let’s Get It Started by Nijisanji EN ILUNA

Edge of Dawn from Fire Emblem 3 Houses

Genesis and Rebellion by Hololive EN Advent

Who I’d Be, Big Bright Beautiful World, and I Know it’s Today from the Shrek musical

Butter-Fly from Digimon

To Know the Unknown from Pokémon: Spell of the Unknown

This Side of Paradise from Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys

This is what it sounds like from Kpop Demon Hunters

World is Mine by ryo

More Than Anything from Hazbin Hotel

La vaguelette from Genshin Impact

Your Reality from Doki Doki Literature Club

Waiting in the Wings from Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure

Kiss of Death from Darling in the Franxx

Like, Dislike by Honeyworks

Love Trial by 40mP

Reborn by Girl Archives

Beautiful Days from Danganronpa (both the original and the piano arrangement)

White Night from Honkai Star Rail

Golden Age by Rin Penrose

Legend of Mermaid from Mermaid Melody

Siren by Amalee

The Whims of Fate from Persona 5

Various songs from Disney films (not going to list them all)

Ace Attorney OST

Ever After High OST

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers OST

… Twisted Wonderland OST ;)

I think these tracks share some general themes: fighting fate, finding freedom, fairy tales, and/or having troubles expressing one’s true emotions. For the ones which are purely instrumental, they do a good job of building the atmosphere or setting a scene. Very good to set narration to www

How long was the process before Miss Raven reached its final version?

I think it only took me a handful of weeks (maybe a month or two?) from conception of the idea to soft launching her to the public. I don’t recall exactly; it’s been almost 6 years now.

Have you ever made a moodboard for her?