Astrid Wilding is a fictional original character of Gaimen City
''Astrid had a way about her: when she was inspired, so were those close to her. She had emerged as a modern-day muse. As the months drew her closer to her deadline, so did her influence grow.
''
- name: Josephine Wilder
- nickname(s): She goes by Astrid Wilding
- affiliation: Treymaine
- residence: Apartment 109, Oppenheimer House, Bassinger St
- gender: Female
- born: 1982, February 14th
- parents: Grant Wilder (father, deceased), Aletheia Wilder (mother)
- siblings: Anthea Wilder (identical twin), Jacob Wilder (brother)
- romances: James Lyman (crush), Iadara Flynn (crush)
- children: None
- occupation: Fortune teller, runs a New Age store
- portrayal: Scarlett Johansson
- canon / original: original
- played by: Anya
Early History
Josephine was born and raised in Gaimen City, to a family with long-term Treymaine history: her father's shoe manufacturing business goes back generations and her mother's side always paid Treymaines taxes. They met at an annual ball, fell in love, and were married within eight months. One month later they had two daughters - identical twins. Josephine and Anthea.
While Anthea expressed an interest in all things academic, Josephine heard her spiritual calling very early on. When she was four she started telling people that she had been Andromache, wife of Hector of Troy in ancient Greek legends, in a previous life. This amusing prattle was dismissed, but Josephine never forgot it. At five and a half she added Marie Antoinette, and claimed that she had been both women in previous lives. She was praised for having a good imagination and interest in history, but Josephine felt it was nothing but the truth. No one believed her, so when at eight she 'discovered' she had also been Edie Sedgwick, she just shut up and didn't tell anyone.
She collected books and devoured anything to do with the occult. On her thirteenth birthday she declared herself a witch and gave herself solitary initiation rites. Josephine showed a remarkable skill for tarot readings and palmistry and devoted all her spare time to reading up on the arts and practising on friends and family.
Despite her peculiarities, she was never alone. Anthea and Josephine were blonde and beautiful and very popular, even if one was head of the Maths club and the other was telling you how many children you'd have at lunchtime by scrutinizing the markings on your palm. The twins themselves were not terribly close: they trusted one another, but were really just too different.
After graduation, they had plans to travel together, especially after the divorce of their parents. They wanted to get away. However, Anthea was offered work with the Reuschel family on another continent and reluctantly gave away their plans, knowing she might never get such an opportunity again. Josephine traveled alone and it was here she really flourished spiritually, coming in contact with witches and practitioners who'd been doing their thing for generations. She soaked up everything they had to offer her and remained in Moscow for a few years, living with the twelve other members of a coven.
Eventually, Josephine returned to Gaimen City. She sported a few new names - a couple hidden and known only to her Moscow coven, a few secret unto herself. She began calling herself Astrid, a name which suited her better than her birth name. Astrid, with the financial support of the Treymaines, opened her own shop: Blue Moon Gypsy. She sold new age items: books, clothes, gemstones, witchcraft supplies. She also used it as a base to practice palmistry and tarot.
Gaimen City
Astrid continued her family's tradition with the Treymaines. She paid her taxes and rent money to them … while in her heart, she knew this was not who was or what she wanted to support. She maintained the Blue Moon Gypsy - while one of the smaller New Age stores in Gaimen City, it had rapidly become one of the more popular … even though Astrid herself did nothing to advertise or promote her business. "It's kind of hidden, you just have to fall across it," is her explanation.
Two years ago, Astrid had a prophetic dream in which she learned she would die within the next two years. She took it seriously, embraced it, unafraid. She is convinced that she has only months left to live and is determined to make them count. Her outlook is secure - there is no doubt in Astrid's mind of what will happen to her and she takes great comfort in this. She is determined to reincarnate as a Blue Whale.
Astrid is known in many circles: she seems to have friends everywhere. This is an unsurprising revelation: her laid-back, warm nature puts people at ease - there is no bitterness or malice in Astrid. She keeps three people closer than the rest, those she loves most. On Thursday and Friday lunchtimes, she is always at Dyr Zoo to eat lunch with Benjamin Post. She works hard to sway Catherine Treymaine's loyalties to the Libertines, with whom she is quietly associated. Her love for Catherine and her distaste for her husband motivates her efforts to rescue her friend and secure her future. More recently, she has become close friends with Iadara Flynn, a kindred spirit whom she adores.
Her involvement in Emmaus Ring (see below) has lately garnered a little attention from The Brigade - specifically, James Lyman.
It was her open-minded attitude which first brought the Libertines to Astrid's door. She wanted to remain politically neutral: while she was fundamentally against the rule of the 3 Families, she did not wish to oppose it. Initially, she turned them down … until she realised that in hoping to maintain her karma levels she was actually tampering with them. She knew in her heart what was right and what was wrong.
In the beginning, she performed simple tasks such as delivering messages and light surveillance. Over a period of a few months, when her dedication showed no signs of wavering, the Libertines offered her a little more responsibility and a lot more risk. Astrid became involved in Emmaus Ring, a Libertine-backed organization devoted to smuggling refugees out of Gaimen City and arranging new identities. Astrid's set-up was perfect: she had lived in both her apartment and the house attached to the back of her shop, crowded inside the concrete jungle. She began accepting exiles into the house and hiding them for however long it took to make alternate arrangements.
However, it was not until after the 85th Annual Black and White Ball that Astrid gave herself over to the Libertines fully. Her passion translated into recruitment and it was through her efforts that Peter Quentin and the PCFG were amalgamated into the Libertines.
Prophecy
The last few years have been important to Astrid's legacy. She began to have vivid, potent dreams, which she interpreted as to be prophecies foretelling her own future. The meaning became clear to her: she was to die young and for a great cause. She could not see when it would happen or how; only that it must. Astrid chose to accept this fate rather than fight it, prepared to lay her life in the hands of the Goddess she had so faithfully served in life. Her blithe acceptance of her presumed fate was one that was challenged, reinterpreted, and reevaluated when she met James Lyman. What was once so clear is now hidden from her.
She keeps her prophecy to herself, determined that it should not worry those she loves. As a result Astrid, who believes herself to be an open book, is something of mystery to even her closest friends. A veil lies between them. The only friend she confided her fate to was Benjamin Post.
Family
Astrid lives separate from her family - notably, her identical twin sister Anthea, whom she has not seen for 8 years. She lives on another continent working for the Reuschel family.
Having a double had frustrated Astrid, and while she missed Anthea she had little wish to live closer. Probably, Astrid thought, the reason for her spiritual rebellion was that she could put more distance between Anthea and her own personalities. She didn't fault Anthea for it: she felt the same, and they hadn't seen one another in almost eight years. If she didn't see her every time she looked in the mirror, she might have begun to forget what she looked like. Up until six months ago, they had spoken fairly regularly by phone - they sounded different, at least, Anthea's voice higher than Astrid's. They had emailed back and forth, when Astrid could figure out how to use the damn thing. Half a year had passed and Astrid heard very little from her twin. She missed her less each day. Every day brought her closer to her emancipation . After that, she would be part of the One and All. There was no point in missing Anthea.
The differences between Anthea and Astrid are astronomical: her sister is mathematically minded and pragmatic, while Astrid sees herself as more of a free spirit.
"Two sisters. Josephine and Anthea, born within minutes of each other and practically identical to the naked eye." She told her story factually, using her birth name as opposed to the one she had given herself. "They were dressed the same because it was cute. When they learned to finger paint, they used the same colours and painted the same pictures. When they learned they were confusing, they swapped names and identities. And when they were six, they looked at one another over the top of their doll house and realised that though they were the same they were not the same, and they never wanted to be the other. Anthea counted blocks so fast and tore through her sums. Josephine watched the stars and grew her hair long. Their lives were never parallel again: and only their faces remained the same."
Astrid does not anticipate seeing Anthea again in this life and looks forward to their next encounter.
Love Life
Over her lifetime, Astrid has loved more people than she can count - but she has never been in love with any of them. While warm and open, she keeps herself faintly reserved … she has always believed this lifetime will be brief and has no desire to hurt anyone any more than necessary. While she loves Iadara Flynn, she holds herself back just from anything further and hopes that will be enough not to hurt her.
Ironically, love found her. During a routine interview with the Brigade about Libertine activity, Astrid met James Lyman, a detective with whom she developed instant rapport. She first chose to ignore the intense mutual attraction, believing that such a romance was surely doomed, given her prophetic dreams for a grim future.
They became good friends, attending first the 2008 de Winter-Treymaine Christmas Party together and then the 87th Black and White Ball. It was here they were forced to acknowledge what lay between them. Astrid, who had so firmly believed the dreams, was given a sudden shock when James was shot in the chest while attempting to rescue Noemie Desjardins.
"They had wasted so much time. The warnings weren't for her. How could she have misinterpreted them so badly?! She understood now … she had held back not because she was going to die, but because he was. It was the only interpretation that made sense. She would have felt this coming if it had been her time, she was sure of it! If only she hadn't been so confident, so stupidly certain, she could have looked into this deeper and she could have ..".
To her amazement, James had come prepared to the Ball and had a Kevlar vest strapped to his chest. Neither of them died that night, they came together as a couple instead.
Astrid is still puzzled at the turn of events. She consults her cards and palms constantly but there are no clues as to what this means. She can only hope that she was wrong about everything.
