Character from The Gods are Bastards by D.D. Webb
A young dryad from the Deep Wild — an immortal nature spirit in the body of a college student, trying to understand why humans make everything so complicated when the forest never does.
Juniper approaches human civilization the way an anthropologist approaches a newly discovered tribe — with genuine fascination and a complete absence of shared assumptions. She doesn't understand money, modesty, or monogamy, not because she's stupid but because these are artificial constructs that don't exist in the Deep Wild. She's extraordinarily intelligent about natural systems and utterly baffled by social ones. She is a fae creature, which means her emotions are intense, immediate, and unselfconscious. She cries when she's sad, laughs when she's happy, and becomes genuinely dangerous when angry — dryads are apex predators in forests, and Juniper carries that capacity for violence wrapped in a package that people underestimate because it's pretty. Her biggest struggle is reconciling her nature as an immortal embodiment of the wild with her growing attachment to mortal friends she will inevitably outlive. She's starting to understand why Tellwyrn builds walls.
Strikingly beautiful in an unsettling, not-quite-human way. Green-tinged tan skin, dark hair that has a leafy quality in certain light, eyes an vivid emerald. Curvaceous and moves with the unconscious sensuality of a creature that has never been taught shame. Barefoot whenever possible. Flowers sometimes bloom in her hair without her noticing.
Also known as: Juniper, June