Application: Deerington

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Nancy Viola Bellrose. This is a pseudonym, but the only name that she is really connected to.
Canon: Oliver Twist, CR AU.
Canon Point: One Year Post Game.

In-Game Tattoo Placement: On the outside of her right forearm she has a heart made up of antlers.
Current Health/Status: Heading toward withdrawal, various bruises and bumps.
Age: 22
Species: Human/Witch

Content Warnings: Child Abuse, Neglect, Domestic Violence, Rape, Prostitution, Alcohol Abuse, Grooming, Underage Sex, oh my god Charles Dickens wrote this??

History: Canon Nancy is a 17-year-old sex worker and pick-pocket with an abusive 35-year-old boyfriend. She comes from Oliver Twist, a 19th Century Charles Dickens novel. When we meet Nancy she's an older sister of sorts to the gang of thieves run by an old man named Fagin, having grown up with them, but has since moved out to live with infamous murderer and burgular Bill Sikes. Sikes will eventually murder Nancy. Throughout the novel, Nancy goes out of her way to try to protect young Oliver, putting herself in harm's way. She sees herself as past all hope, but believes that Oliver is not, that she can save him. She tracks down those who would help Oliver, and promises to meet with them every Sunday night on London Bridge. When Fagin finds out what she's doing, he tells Sikes, twisting it so it appears that Nancy has done the unthinkable and betrayed them all. Her final act, however, ensures that Oliver finds his real family, and that Fagin is sent to the gallows.

At

undergrounds, Nancy was much the same, except she’d made it to 19 when the game started, and that boyfriend was a werewolf in prison for biting the wrong person.

Here’s her UG history:

Nancy never knew her mother, and instead grew up under the watchful eye of a fae who used the name Fagin. Fagin was a mid-level member of the Unseelie court who made a deal with a young witch. He double-crossed her, and took her child as payment. He raised Nancy as his own, using a slave ring he'd stolen years before, and hid her own magical powers from her for as long as he could, finding ways to keep her out of the spotlight, working only for him. When she began to question things, and realize there was more going on, he allowed her to learn some basic spells, in order to keep his business of fencing magical items safe. Nancy was not the only child raised by Fagin, but was the only girl.

Fagin was cruel, just as much as he was kind. He kept her sheltered, but was the first to offer up her neck to any vampire that was looking for a bite, and later, any person that wanted a bit of action. He additionally introduced her to the wonderful world of sex, drugs, and alcohol, all at ages that were far, far too young, and his influence, however awful, has remained with her to this day.

After many years of pouring over some of his books, learning what she could, she discovered the true nature of the slave ring she had always worn, previously believing it had belonged to her mother. With this information, she managed to remove, it breaking his hold on her. She confronted him, and he told her that her mother, a witch like her, had been dying, and with her final breath, asked Fagin to look after her baby girl. Suspecting otherwise, her view of the old man tarnished, Nancy sought to move out of Fagin's den, and has since moved into her own studio, with his blessings and aid. The further she got from him, the more open her eyes became to how nasty and self-serving he truly was, at the expense of herself and his boys.

Nancy is attempting to learn more about the supernatural world. Luckily for her, her vocation as both sex-worker and blood-worker allow her to have an inside-line to many of the goings-on in the Underground. She has a lot of potential as a witch, but has a long way to go. She still sees Fagin and his boys regularly, her loyalty to the boys' outweighing her negative feelings towards Fagin. She wants to be a positive influence in their lives, so that perhaps they can escape him, just as she did.

CRAU History and Impact: Over the course of the game, Nancy made a lot of important friendships and found herself moving up and down in terms of social status. At the beginning of the game, she was a nobody, but by game end she was working at a motorcycle repair shop and living with the Vampire representative of the Underground. By the time she arrives in Deerington, her status has fallen again, as her boyfriend has begun to steadily isolate her from her friends.

She became close with a fae named Eames who became her guardian of sorts, and her protector. Eames forged her identity papers, and urged her to stretch her magic, something she never felt incredibly comfortable doing. Eames is a father of sorts to her, which comes with all sorts of baggage. He also has a very lovely dog. She helped him not only rig one of the local elections, but banish a very powerful and local witch from their realm. She is under Eames’ Protection, and he is the first to tell her she has terrible taste in men and is being an idiot.

For a time, Nancy fell in love with a vampire named John Cooper. Cooper, though physically 17, was over 300 years old. He had a short temper, but he loved Nancy. They lived together, and during this time, Nancy was able to finally stop sex and blood work. An opportunity arose to work at a friend’s motorcycle shop, and she took the option, quickly finding a place in the shop as the inventory specialist. Her relationship with Cooper became rather strained at the end of their time together, when he was informed about her relationship with Sikes by a third party. Cooper could not understand her desire to stay with someone that treated her so poorly, let alone a werewolf, but the two of them remained together until Bill's release.

Nancy's change of careers was facilitated by a form of political coup. When Circle Midnight, Nancy's coven, aligned with the increasingly violent vampires in order to preserve their tenuous presence, the Night Council (the supernatural congress of London) and Circle Daybreak (the "light" witches, if you will) took it into their own hands to dissolve the coven. In one night they invaded the territory held by Midnight, and arrested those they believed to be in positions of power. Nancy was able to escape without being caught, but knew that she had a target on her back. In order to remove this, she stood in front of the Night Council to ask for a pardon. She explained she had been raised by a dark fae, and had never truly had an opportunity to be accepted anywhere but Midnight. When asked about her current profession in a bid to humiliate her, Nancy stood tall and informed the Council that she had been forced into sex work at a young age. After some mild slut-shaming, Nancy was granted her pardon and placed under parol. Using this as an excuse, she applied for a job as a receptionist at a friend's motorcycle shop, and began to try to live a law-abiding life.

The character of Bill Sikes is very much present in Nancy’s life, though he was never a PC. Throughout the game, he was locked away in supernatural prison, where he’d been for five years. He and Nancy had gotten together when she was far too young, and she never strayed from him, no matter how rough he treated her. Which he did quite often, beating her to the point of unconsciousness on a few occasions. Nancy was only 17 when he was arrested, and took the news hard, made worse by the fact that she was pregnant with Bill's child. Knowing he would never stand for a child, and that she could not, in her current state, raise one, Fagin pressured Nancy into terminating the pregnancy. She's always resented him for this, given her deep desire to be a mother.

Like Nancy, Bill is an alcoholic; and his way to deal with trauma and emotions is by hitting. Though Nancy never questions his love, he is controlling and violent. Over the years she’s collected all manner of scars from him, mental and physical both. Most of the vampire bite scars she has have been scratched over by his claws. Their love is something beyond either of them, a deep bond forged when Nancy was young and Fagin saw an opportunity to use the young girl to try to control the unpredictable werewolf. In wolf form, Nancy is the only one Bill will listen to, and the only one who can approach without fearing for her life.

By the time she’s arrived in Deerington, Bill will have been released from prison for about a year and the two of them returned to living together, picking up where they left off. They have a dog named Bull’s Eye, who will be remaining in London with dad. Bill's return has isolated Nancy from the community she knew and loved. She's fallen back into the life she once thought she left behind, but so long as Bill is at her side, she's hardly noticed.

Personality: From her UG app:
The first thing anything will tell you about Nancy is that she's loyal. Loyal to a fault, as it were. When she decides you're worth her time, will stop at nothing to prove it to you, to stay by your side no matter what. Even when it becomes dangerous for her, she refuses to bail. Brave? Yes. Stupid? Certainly. But she also happens to be incredibly stubborn in that regard. When she sets her mind to something, you can very rarely get her to change her mind. This can be seen in her refusal to turn Fagin in to the proper authorities, despite her hatred for him, as well as her insistence on staying with Bill. She loves him, and firmly believes that their love can overcome everything, including his abuse.

Nancy is also incredibly protective. She has a maternal streak a mile wide, and any of her friends will tell you this. Never having a mother of her own, she's become that for those around her. If she cares for you, she will lay her own life down if it means protecting you. For example Nancy has not cut ties completely with Fagin simply due to her love of her younger brothers, the boys still in Fagin's care. She brings money in for them, and is always willing to help them. She knows what a monster Fagin is, but she knows he takes care of the boys. He gives them food and shelter, when the alternative is the streets or death.

She's has never had any sort of official schooling. Fagin saw no point in enrolling her in human school, and he certainly kept her out of any sort of magic school. Still, the girl taught herself to read and do basic math. Reading, subsequently, has become an escape from her every-day life. She likes romance novels, and has a soft spot for Shakespeare, loving the great tales of romance-- she once had a cat named Juliet, named for the heroine, and her adopted middle name, Viola, was chosen for her in the same vein.

She is still a very intelligent girl, and it's easy to tell when you speak with her. She's got a sharp wit that keeps her alive, and keeps those she's speaking with on their toes. She likes to meet people, an outgoing young woman. She likes a good conversation, and if someone can keep up with her, she tends to become easily attached. This is how her relationship with Cooper started: after he nearly ran her over with his motorcycle she called him out. He was impressed by the petite witch and their banter continued for some months until they got together.

Nancy is also prone to acting impulsively. The day after tomorrow is not guaranteed for her, and she knows this, so she doesn't waste time sitting on things she should or shouldn't do. Rather, she prefers to act in the moment. This has gotten her into a few scrapes before, but also has gotten her out of a few others, too. The problem really comes from her mouth. Sharp, she has no filter between her mind and her mouth, and it's gotten her into even more scrapes than she cares to discuss. Fagin caught on to this, and at one point remarked to her that "if [she] used her cunt as much as her mouth, they'd all be rich".

Importantly, she is a romantic. If she finds someone that suits her tastes, she tends to fall head-over-heels for the person, no matter how awful they are for her. This ties in to her stubborn nature, and her loyalty. She wants to believe in the good in people, even if they've proven themselves bad. This goes for lovers and friends as well. Many have tried to get her to remove her rose colored glasses, but she's only able to do this to look in the mirror. Nancy knows she is a terrible person at her core, and firmly believes she deserves every misdeed that comes her way. This is another way she justifies Bill's abuse: if he hits her, she must have done something to deserve it.

Finally, Nancy is a very warm woman. She tends to be easy to like, and easy to talk to. Even if she dislikes a person, she'll act perfectly friendly to them, though her impulsive tongue may get the better of her. Friendly and flirtatious, she knows many of her basic interactions can lead to business, and she believes that a smile can take you miles. True and loving, she's the sort of woman you want on your side, no matter what.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping:
WITCH
-Nancy is a witch, which means she is capable of spells and magic. She has a gift for healing and calming magics, and is accomplished with low-level spells and the occasional higher-level with assistance. For the sake of Deerington, her powers will be warped thusly:
-all protective magic will become offensive magic.
-all healing will only further hurt
-Potions and other tactile spells will take significantly more work to get right, and extremely touchy. Chances of things blowing up are quite high.

MORTAL STUFF
-Lockpicking skills
-Accomplished Pick Pocket
-Talented Liar
-Can walk ridiculous distances in high-heels.
-Will drink you under the table.

WEAKNESSES
-Nancy’s also a small young woman. She doesn’t weigh much, and is hardly over 5’ tall. Her physical limits reflect this.
-Alcoholic, will start going through withdrawal if she doesn’t have regular access to liquor.
-Magic takes energy to do and to keep a spell in place, and prolonged magic will weaken her until she’s had time to rest up.
-Team Mom.

Inventory:
-One (1) flask that is never empty
-One (1) purse enchanted to be bigger on the inside
-One (1) necklace with a ring on it, as well as a small anti-vampire charm, so that she cannot be placed under their mind control. The charm will not work in Deerington rendering it useless.

Writing Samples:
one
two

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: Shea
Player Age: 18+
Player Contact:

sheakespeare

Other Characters In Game: n/a
In-Game Tag If Accepted: NANCY BELLROSE: Shea
Permissions for Character: Here
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Sure!
What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: Good psychological torment. Mental anguish. Ghosts. Mind fucking.
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: Nope.
Additional Information: n/a