#willfulwilma

PHOENIX: What does your character think about when they think about love?

She tries not to think about it. Love, these days, means nothing but heartbreak. If someone asked her what the word meant to her, the only answer she would be able to think of is Hayden. In reality, there was a time when her heart was full and her love was unbridled. She’s all but forgotten about it now. There was a time she loved her brother, her foster mother, her friends, a boy with hazel eyes, herself--all with a fierceness she now reserves for survival. 

But if she had to associate the word with anything, it would be her brother. She would think of his crooked teeth, his self-deprecating jokes, his distaste for authority, his mismatched socks, his softness. And if she had to think of any of this, her heart would surely break all over again.

PIONEER: How does your character contribute to the group and its survival?

Hunter refuses to feel useless, and she tends to feel useless if she’s not doing the most. She’s always had a tendency to spread herself too thin, and doting on others keeps her outside of her own head, so she tries to contribute in every way possible. If someone needs to stand guard, she’ll do it. If there’s a spot open in a scavenging group, she’ll take it--despite how awful she is at scavenging. Mostly, she acts as the group’s medic. She keeps track of the medical supplies, and tries to do frequent checkups with everyone. She sees everyone in the group as her responsibility, despite how inaccurate and toxic that is. 

PISTOL: What was the relationship between your character and their parents? Do they ever miss them?

Hunter never met her birth parents, but she still resents them. She has no right to hate her mother, really, but she always did. It was easier to be a foster kid if she imagined that her birth parents were the most awful people to have ever existed. When she was sixteen, she found the mother figure that she’d never known she needed. June was kind, and warm, and even when Hunter aged out of the foster system she considered June her home. 

PHOENIX: What does your character think about when they think about love?

Cheesy hearts, kids passing out Valentine’s cards, and holding hands is the only thing that James thinks about when the word love comes up. He has a skewed concept of it; watching his parents was like watching a train wreck in progress. It was all shouting and hiding bruises. “to love is to destroy, and that to be loved is to be the one destroyed.” Cassandra Clare

HALCYON: What kind of humor does your character have?

Dark, sarcastic humor has always been a coping mechanism for James. He has gotten so good at it that people cannot tell if he is being sarcastic or serious. Sometimes he can’t tell himself.

PISTOL: What was the relationship between your character and their parents? Do they ever miss them?