16: [OC] What gave you the inspiration for your muse?
I honestly don’t really know (refer to 18). With Meryl it was my first time playing a Saints Row game and I was just “let’s make the coolest looking female gang Boss. In PURPLE!” xD. For Colin a lot of it came from his voice and appearance. He seemed smooth and classy on the outside, but I could sense there had once been/still was a different sort of man inside.
Eli’s inspiration actually came from Tumblr. I hadn’t planned on making any new Bosses quite so soon after Meryl, Jack and Colin, but then I saw everyone’s submissions to that one big Boss montage and I realized just how varied and unique a lot of them were. I had also learned a lot about LGBTQ topics from just my time here on Tumblr and from following certain blogs, so I was really interested in creating a character whose headspace I could get into to explore these themes. And I guess I poured some of my own insecurities into him as well.
17: [OC] What made you choose their faceclaim/appearance?
With Meryl as soon as I saw the Anime hairstyle and the dark purple color option I was like ‘this needs to happen’. Everything else had to be purple too because it was the Saints’ color after all (that was pretty much all I knew about the series at the time really). And the kind of punk-y, rocker chic outfit was something I figured she’d just like wearing, even to combat situations.
I fell in love with the Loose Ponytail hair (and seeing how popular that particular style is with many male Bosses, apparently I wasn’t the only one). And I really liked the business jacket the Caucasian male Bosses start out with in 3, though I hated the colors, so I went on a suit shopping spree as soon as I could. Btw I almost didn’t go with the British voice for Colin because I was afraid it’d be too low and growly for him since I imagined him as sort of a dandy. But now I can’t imagine him without it. :D
Jack, well, the Hispanic female default in SR2 already looks a lot like her, as I flipped through the hair options I realized there was no way I shouldn’t recreate her from Mass Effect. :)
I had noooo idea what I wanted my newest character to look like, so for Eli I literally just kept clicking the ‘Randomize’ button for a while until I saw his face. I really only needed to tweak him a little, he was already kind of adorkable looking :)
18: [OC] Was their background decided from the start or developed over time?
All of them developed over time. I very very rarely have a clear idea of what I want a new character to be like. Sometimes I just start out with the vaguest of inklings what I’d like to go for eventually and just let the character “write themselves”. When I have a certain character on my mind, I start getting random flashes of inspiration for them throughout the day. Eventually the various pieces start clicking together to for a more cohesive understanding of who they are as a person.
