Leather jackets and chipped nails reveal Hinton’s ulterior motives, or lack thereof. Given her plain language and lack of Ability User pedigree most suspect her of a criminal background, but she considers it a bigger reflection of her peers than herself. She acts according to her own tastes and does little to dissuade people’s opinions of her in favor of walking her own path. If someone asks for the truth she will give it, but never tries to glamorize or demonize her past.

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she found her family not in her parents, but in her ragtag group of friends. Monday nights they’d smoke by the window, Wednesdays they would drink on the porch, and if they’d saved enough money, they would hit the theaters once a month (and if they didn’t, well there was always the back door). Compared to her peers, she never saw herself as “hood” but supposes that she was who she hung out with. That’s where she drew her inspiration after all.

For that reason, she values her independence and the self-sufficiency that her ability affords her (even in the context of her squad). When she discovered her ability, she was training to become a student. She found that she could delay any pain or physical troubles she had during stressful moments and work at an unparalleled capacity, but it did little to assuage her personal anxiety. As much as she wanted to lead a new generation of writers, she had an itch for personal writing and a constant worry for her students after leaving the classroom. It seemed that despite her penchant for toughening her exterior, she still had a soft spot for the younger generation.

Making the decision to drop out of her program, she became a full-time writer and lived off the money she received from selling an old manuscript she’d written in high school. Her continued interest in writing and traction as a young adult novelist focusing on the disenfranchisement of Ability Users caught the eye of American IQ84 recruiters who suspected tracked her down from her pseudonym, S.E. Hinton. With the promise of money and travel, she headed to Yokohama and was assigned to Malory’s squad where she felt herself immersed in a new world.

At first she did not understand her squadmates and idly wondered whether it was simply due to hair color that she was stuck with Sylvia Plath. Where she was this bourgeois, edumacated girl, Hinton lacked the social grace necessary for formal meetings. Compared to Plath, Hinton felt like less of a knight and more of a bandit. Her answer only came, not in battle, but during the aftermath.

With bloodied hands and quaking legs, Hinton gave Plath a long, tired earful of how reckless and selfish she’d been endangering their mark for the sake of feeding off of his pain.

It was one of Hinton’s more protective moments to say the least.

As her time on the squad unfolded, Hinton realized that Malory had chosen her specifically because of her capacity for pain. Whether it was delayed or immediate, Hinton could take a beating while retaining her composure. She embodies the beauty of tolerance, of roughness, and a scratched-up old Mustang. Like the sun her ability was named for, one can always trust Hinton to rise up.
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Stay Gold temporarily suppresses all pain signals and wounds (including those that are fatal) for ten minutes, giving its target a "golden" sheen. Unfortunately, once the ability wears off, the user will be overwhelmed with all of the wounds and pain inflicted during the time span regardless of other healing or shielding effects used on them during the interim. Hinton may imbue this effect on any person or object of her choosing within a sight or herself.

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The life of an athlete is never easy, but it's what keeps [name] sane. Healthy streams of activity keep her mind on track because without them she'd be well, a couch potato. When she isn't practicing, hanging out with friends, or doing homework, one can find her decompressing in front of her computer. Despite enjoying validation, big events tax her mental reservoir and cause her to retreat once she finishes playing "[Name] the High Jump Queen." Acting isn't her strong suit so she often comes off more reluctant than she actually is, but makes up for it by asking as many questions as she can to better get to know those she interacts with.

She gravitates toward strong personalities who can match her thirst for excitement and entertain her whether it's in positive or negative ways. Outwardly, nobody could call her a "drama queen", but inwardly she enjoys watching train wrecks. People often ask how she manages to maintain relationships with such volatile people, but she assures everyone of her emotional stability (which really means emotional lethargy). Mental stimulation is key for her to function and idleness leads her to rather questionable decisions. She doesn't enjoy thinking about the darker implications of her personality so when faced with conflict she retreats in to herself. She's only ever comfortable playing the mediator, never the one of the conflicting parties as it requires more introspection than she's equipped with.
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