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In an interview with NPR, Greta Gerwig claims that Jo March is a character that has always been with her, “But I don’t remember when I first encountered it. But I do – I read it, and I read it again multiple times when I was young. And then I hadn’t read it until I was around 30.” Is there a character in your life that has always been with you, do you feel a kinship with this character?
There are so many, but if I had to choose I would say that they’re Luna Lovegood from “Harry Potter” and Annabeth Chase from “Percy Jackson”. These books were big parts of my childhood and these characters always connected to me. Luna is quirky and not afraid to be herself despite judgement. Annabeth is smart and keeps a tough shell around her but isn’t afraid to be vulnerable to those close to her. I strive to be like them one day, especially since they are both neurodivergent coded (I believe Annabeth canonically has ADHD). There prove all the barriers that girls can break and have been my inspiration. When I’m in a situation where I feel insecure or second-guessing about being myself, I think “what would Luna do?” Similarly, when I’m in situations that require tough problem solving or I feel like I need to let out my feelings, I think “what would Annabeth do?”
I am unsure if I have just one specific character that has been with me. I think I have a mixed-up group of characters in which different parts of their personalities I enjoy and can relate to. As I get older, more characters get added to the group and I feel a connection to each one differently that helps me shape my voice as a writer. One of my favorites is Zelie from Children of Blood and Bone because of her strength and courage, but it was also the real first encounter I had with magical Black leads. I think that this book was a true turning point in discovering myself as a writer. I think that she was probably the first member of this group because of how I could see myself/ someone who looks like me in a fantasy book.
Okay, I had to think about this question for a little bit and I thought of two characters, one from a movie and one from a book series I loved in second grade. The first character is Tiana from Princess and The Frog. When I was about 5-6 years old, I ended up watching that movie religiously (like to the point I was watching it pretty much everyday) because I loved Tiana so much! For me, it was awesome to see a hardworking girl that didn’t need a man to get to her happily ever after. As I got older, I grew to appreciate Tiana for that even more and realized how awesome it was to have an amazing princess that looked like me.
My second character is Babymouse and I mainly love her because of how relatable she is. I could identify a lot with Babymouse myself when I was younger since we were both bookworms with annoying siblings, didn’t really like going to school (or math), and we both had out Felicia’s that made our lives pretty difficult. I still find myself thinking a lot about her a decade later (and some stuff from the story is ringing more true than it had before).
A character I feel kinship with is Hinata from Haikyuu!! When I first watched the series as a 13 year old, I was at a point where I didn’t know what I wanted. I didn’t feel like I had any sort of talent or strength and it felt like everyone around me just knew who they were. I had friends who were better artists, better students, or better socializers than me. So, when Haikyuu!! opened up with Hinata’s monologue about the obstacle that keeps him from his greatest passion, I felt an immediate kinship with him. His outlook was more positive, filled with infectious energy that I couldn’t help but be affected by. Watching him grow was like watching someone I truly loved become their best self and it motivated me to try harder and think more about “when” and not “if”. We didn’t have similar personalities by any means but I felt deeply compelled to care less about what others thought and more about doing things I wanted to and growing at my own pace.
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