Writeup of several lorejams about Willowtree. The idea would be to install the following outside of IRM, then have a section for IRMs at the bottom as the current IRMs are fairly surface level.
The proposed update features sections on appearance (tree cowboy person), personality (gruff, somewhat intimidating, often forced into leadership roles), background (unknown - discussion of symbiotic tree and the very vaguely lored Sun War), life in the Core and work with F.R.O.N.T., as well as the writer (me) having thoughts about tree diseases and using fake technology to cure them. Also discussion of her friendships, rivalries and relationship to Blaseball.
Appearance
Jolene Willowtree is somewhere over 6 feet tall, not including the tree. She has a hole in his chest containing a shard of Sun 1. She has Dene Ancestry, and has an 1800’s Western Aesthetic including a cowboy hat.
Personality
He is somewhat old-fashioned and tends to be a touch isolated. She tends to be seen as an unofficial leader figure by the rest of the Mechanics, though he doesn’t seek out leadership roles and at one point carried a sign everywhere which read ‘Not A Captain Too Busy Ask Someone Else’. Nevertheless, she has a reputation for wisdom and a notable protective streak. He is not particularly talkative and tends to keep her voice low but is also feared for his ability to glare opposing batters into giving up before she even pitches.
Origin
Willowtree is one of the older inhabitants of the Core, though his exact time of arrival is unknown. She lived in the Core prior to his involvement in the war between Sun1 and Sol. It’s also unclear whether her symbiotic tree, Will, was with him at time of arrival or joined with her later.
Will and the Heartsun
Willowtree’s left arm is a living tree named Will which also grows up over his head. The pair share nutrients, including those made by Will from photosynthesising, and Will is sustained by the shard of Sun 1 in her chest. While Will is not sentient or conscious in the way that a member of the animal kingdom might be, it has its own floric version of intelligence which exists as an extension of Willowtree’s own more faunic mind.
It is believed that Will might be able to survive the Incineration of Willowtree, and she has stated that should he die he wants the Heartsun to be used to power a greenhouse in which Will can be kept.
Sun War
No one really knows what side Willowtree was actually on in the conflict between Sol and Sun 1. A cosmic battle on that scale often has ripple effects through reality and so Willowtree could have simultaneously been on both and no side. Some rumours have that she defected part way through to protect Sun 1. Whatever the case, by the end of the war he had a shard of Sun 1 embedded in her chest which she went on to protect and shelter. Following the destruction of Sun 1 by Tot Fox, he felt that her duty had become even more important and held a grudge against all those he believed to be involved for much of the Expansion Era.
Life in the Core
Willowtree works with Core Organization F.R.O.N.T. to help with research and protection of indigenous Core plantlife. They work to create pockets of Core plantlife to serve as homes for creatures such as minor Core Fairies and other Core Critters to help boost biodiversity around DownTown.
Her speciality is in non-standard trees, and he has co-authored several research papers on the topic including one in metallic ash-oak fusion trees which are capable of boosting Wi-Fi signals. She also works on studying surface tree diseases and how to create resilience among tree species, hoping that some of the unique characteristics of Core Flora can help prevent the illnesses that frequently sweep tree populations. He currently believes that her ash-oak fusion Wi-Fi trees might hold a method to mass transmit immunity to Ash dieback, though the research is ongoing.
He enjoys playing music and is a regular fixture in the Foxhole. He plays acoustic guitar and sings, and uses her music as a way to express his emotions. While insisting that she tends to prefer more mellow Country or Folk music, he is often seen furiously air drumming along to rock or metal and tends to listen to these genres to hype her up before games.
While he is close with all of ‘Pitch Perfect’, she notably took fellow Mechanics pitcher Shirai McElroy under his wing and helped her integrate into Core society. The pair enjoy collaborating to make bio-tech fabrics and McElroy is convinced that she is on the edge of convincing Willowtree to let her give him a makeover. Willowtree declined to comment.
Blaseball
Willowtree takes her commitment to the team very seriously, arranging and leading pitching practice. He can be fairly competitive. She enjoyed being underestimated just following the Descension, but worked incredibly hard to keep up with, and then eventually reach the peak of, elite pitching performance.
He has been one of the most active members of the team and has been in active play on the roster the second most out of any Core Mechanics. She has a complicated relationship with the most active Core Mechanic, Kelvin Drumsolo. Willowtree was pitching on Season 19 Day 69 where the pair broke a significant number of records but overall he has struggled to relate to Drumsolo, who does not take Blaseball particularly seriously.
Alternate Interpretations Other versions of Willowtree have been seen around the Core, recorded here:
