OC: Nova Parker

[Nova is canonically part of the same universe as Este Belyakov, often posing as his current/ex-/on-and-off girlfriend, but can be detached if that is preferred.]


Full name: Nova Grace Parker

Nickname(s): Nana

Species: Human

Age: 23

Birthday: August 8th

Orientation: assumed straight, closeted bisexual

Nationality: US-American

Place of Birth: Dallas (Oregon), USA

Currently Lives: Portland (Oregon), USA

Languages Spoken: English

Native Language: English

Relationship Status: complicated

Hair Color: naturally hazel, currently dyed black with bleached strands in the front

Eye Color: hazel

Face Claim / Playby: (loosely:) Renée Rapp

Appearance: round features in body and face, curvy; pouty lips and hazel eyes with a permanent bitchy look, dyed and bleached hair. Likes feminine clothing, but enjoys toeing the line and incorporating more edgy elements, too.

Personality: perceptive, rebellious, headstrong, smart, energetic, loyal, creative / jealous, petty, self-conscious, argumentative, self-sabotaging

Likes: wine, staying in, cats, everything purple, spirituality, Lana del Rey, gossip, picking fights, a project (especially regarding the men she dates), makeup, crocheting, flirting, roughness, control

Dislikes: most people, especially men, the summer, spiders, bright, hot and crowded places, lack of reassurance, pressure, boredom, conservatives, small-talk

Smoker: Yes

Drinker: Heavily

Medication: relies on strong anxiety medication

Hobbies: crocheting

Occupation: English student

Parents: Hank and Christine Parker

Siblings: -

Backstory:
Nova was raised in the sheltered small-town home of her parents Christine and Hank in Dallas, Oregon. Christine, staunchly religious and dreaming of the perfect, godly life, had Nova when she was barely twenty years old, and often struggled to manage Nova’s fiery temper all by herself. Lacking support from her family, who ostracized Christine, and her husband Hank, a US army soldier who was on the frontlines most times, Christine developed a tight, controlling bond with her daughter that bordered on co-dependence. From a young age, Nova learned to absorb the fears of her mother.

And she came to assume that being scared was right – because life did take a harsh turn for the Parkers when Nova was only five years old. Injured and disabled in Iraq, Hank was suddenly a veteran, and paychecks turned to scarce, unreliable disability checks. To keep them alive and afloat, Christine had to pick up work, leaving Nova with a father she barely knew, and who never really made an effort to change the fact.

Despite begging for a sibling, Nova would always remain an only child, struggling to fill a restless need for attention and affection with that of her parents. She developed ways of coping, pouring her creative energy into arts and crafts, enjoying self-expression through clothing and make-up from a young age, something that made her stick out like a sore thumb in the small-town world of gendered expectations. There was nothing that Nova desired more than to be truly seen, but her self-expression was rejected and punished by almost everyone around. During her teenage years, this desire led her to pick up a pattern of chasing unavailable men, entangling herself in a tragic self-fulfilling prophecy.

Only her childhood friend Ray became a source of comfort and consistency, sticking by her side as they both moved to Portland. Ray began to study geophysics, Nova picked up English studies. The change of pace triggered an anxiety disorder that had long been dormant, along with doubts about her identity, sexuality and capability.

Here’s where you’ll find Nova now: Somewhere in between, about one year away from graduation. Likely still involved with or chasing after someone who will never really love her. Struggling to justify a therapy bill for her intense anxiety towards her parents, and fearing financial cut-off any second. Unsure who she is when she isn’t just fearing the future, preparing to react, always wary, always afraid, always distracting herself with a chase that will always yank her back to the start.