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[keenely]

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Nancy Wheeler
Canon: Stranger Things
Canon Point: End of s3, after the Byers leave town.

In-Game Tattoo Placement:

Current Health/Status: She went to bed a little bit brokenhearted, but physically fine!
Age: 18
Species: Human

Content Warnings: n/a!

History: link & link

Personality:

Oh, Nancy Wheeler. For most of her life she was a stereotypical "good girl" - 3.9 GPA, member of the cheerleading squad, French club, and an English tutor in her free time. She had a reputation of being a bit of a priss, Miss Perfect. She dressed modestly and went quietly about her day. She spent a long time being more concerned about her grades than anything else, until one day-

Well, it started with a guy. Technically. Steve Harrington, the King of Hawkins High, started paying attention to her. And then she started paying attention to what people thought of her, what she wore, how she acted. She went to a party at his house on a Tuesday, dragged her best friend Barbara with her, shotgunned a beer, and lost her virginity. It was a big night for Miss Perfect! But the next morning, Barb was missing. And one day her car was still abandoned on Steve's street and the next day it was gone, with no explanation. Nancy had so many questions and worries, but no one would listen to her. No one. Everyone pretended everything was fine, and that Barb would come back eventually, since she clearly just ran away from home. But Nancy knew there was more to it, and that was what started the shift for her to become the young woman she is today.

She realized being popular didn't mean anything, that doing what everyone else wanted her to do didn't matter, and above all else, staying true to herself was more important than all of it. Now, Nancy strives for truth above everything else. She's an aspiring journalist, curious to a fault, and relentless in digging and digging until she discovers the facts of a situation. In season one, all she cared about was killing the monster, and in season two, she wanted to get to the truth of where it came from. She's outspoken about the fact that she has no time for bullshit, and at this point she's given up on playing nice with people who try to silence her or anybody else that's asking for help.

She's good, and gives a shit about people, and she's unwilling to compromise what she believes is the right thing to do. Even if it means putting herself in immediate danger. The events of season two were what really showcased all of this, showing just how far she was willing to go in search of the truth and keeping her friends and family safe. While season one focused on her growth personally, season two showed us exactly what she's capable of, and where her new priorities landed her, as a person. Season three, even with the Upside Down yet again causing a threat to Hawkins, was where we got to see Nancy as her fully realized self in a more normal setting - her first internship as a journalist. She needed all the tough-skin and nerves she built up over the last two years to deal with the amount of misogyny in the workplace she was subjected to, and we see all of it get put to the test every time she has to deal with her awful coworkers. It's a very normal, real life situation, but the Nancy from 2/3 years prior wouldn't have been able to handle it at all, and it shows a lot about how far she's come.

The bulk of Nancy's struggles, outside of the 1980s period-typical misogyny and the fact that she's "just" a teenager, is caused by her own very high expectations of herself. There really is no pressure outside of that - if anything there's more pressure to be something she's not - so what she struggles with the most is living up to who she really wants to be. There are a number of moments when she feels like she has something to prove in one way or another, but her main motivation, outside of seeking the truth, is to prove that she isn't what, or who, everyone thinks she is. She's learned not to care about if people like her or not, but instead fixates on being seen as competent at the very least, if not a force to be reckoned with. Her frustrations always come to a head when it seems like she's "lost" her battle, didn't prove her point, or didn't discover all the answers she was looking for.

She's very, very lucky in that her mother ( despite the fact that she married young, to someone she might not have been in love with - something Nancy resentfully talks about in season one ) ended up being one of her biggest allies through everything she's been through, giving her support when she had reasons to doubt her instincts. For a long time she believed her mother was more than happy to settle for a boring, typical life, but in season three we find out that she's maybe not as sheltered as she lead Nancy to believe. She's the one that reminds Nancy to trust her gut and truly ignore anybody who makes her feel like she isn't good enough, reminds her that she's a fighter and she shouldn't lose that just because fighting isn't always the easiest thing to do. Jonathan shares that sentiment with her as well, but I really do believe it's her meaningful talks with her mother that end up landing with her a little more intensely than anyone else she has in her life. Mrs. Wheeler ends up being the one to, more than once, remind her to finish what she started, and to keep fighting. ..Even if she totally doesn't realize she's encouraging her daughter to fight monsters. Totally not the point!

Nancy's growth throughout the three seasons really does focus around the fact that she doesn't want to pretend to be anything she isn't. Whether it's pretending to be happy when she's sad, or frustrated, or mad. Pretending to be meek or shy when she actually has a lot of opinions she wants to voice, and most of all, she never wants to sit on the sidelines when she could be fighting to protect the ones she loves, and do what she knows is right. In the first season she is so shy, and so cautious, and we really don't get to see a lot of what she was like before she got Steve's attention, but it's safe to assume she kept to herself and focused on her studies. Season one showed her learning to be more brave and valuing herself and being a genuine person, season two showed us just how dedicated she is to just that - as she spent most of her time honing her journalism and investigation skills while she and Jonathan hunted for answers - and season three showed us just how brave she can be in the face of a very real, physical monster, as well as that damn misogynistic/chauvinistic monster as well.

I do think Jonathan is an important person in her life, but I don't think he actually contributed to her becoming who she is, beyond just being a part of her immediate support system. He helped her realize that being seen as an "outsider" isn't as bad as people make it out to be, and consistently supports her and her need for truth, even if it does cause a little friction in their relationship. Ultimately they're just very supportive of each other, which is super important to have in a relationship, but I don't credit much of Nancy's actual character growth to her relationship with him, at least not in the same way her relationship with Steve made her realize a lot about herself and her priorities, socially and personally.

Underneath all the tough exterior and no-bullshit attitude, what Nancy wants most is to be respected. She knows what she's worth, and she only makes time for people who want to work with her, and trust her to be able to handle herself. She gravitates towards individuals with the same mindset - people who are willing to work hard for what they get, and follow their own instincts. She's sarcastic and light-hearted around people she trusts ( in normal situations, maybe a little less light-hearted when there's a monster to hunt ) but it takes a little bit of time before she trusts people with her loyalty. Luckily for everyone she meets, she doesn't need to be your best friend for her to want to look out for you. She really does give a shit about people on a molecular level, so she'll have your back no matter who you are.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping:

- Nancy's a GIANT nerd, 3.9 GPA in school, and Nancy Drew tendencies to dig and do whatever it takes to get to the truth of a situation.
- Incredible marksmanship - she's highly proficient in using firearms, despite not having any formal training. Through the three seasons we've seen her use a pistol and a shotgun with scary accuracy.

Inventory:

- her jammies
- two outfits
-her school messenger bag with:
her history textbook, and a biochem text book
a couple notebooks and pens
and her tape recorder. because you never know.
and her gun, with two rounds of ammo. because you never know.

Writing Samples: deer tdm & text spam

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: chrissy
Player Age: 31
Player Contact: sexbang

Other Characters In Game: n/a
In-Game Tag If Accepted: nancy wheeler: chrissy
Permissions for Character: umm i don't have it set up yet, but the post will go here
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: on a meta/ooc/plot level, sure. on an ic interactions level, with permission!
What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: bad dreams are great, so, yay for the whole premise of the game. i love high stakes/life or death level puzzle solving for nancy to have to deal with, and i do genuinely like throwing her up against monsters. all kinds of monsters.
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: body horror!!!!!!! that's the main one. especially if it's bugs/plants.. related. which sounds so weird, but like. the zombies from the last of us give me the ultimate jeebies. yis.
Additional Information: i gots nothin'.