Nell
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Nell |
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|---|---|
|
Dorley girl |
|
| Gender | Female |
| Year of intake | 2012 |
| Year of graduation | 2015 |
| Sponsor | unknown |
| Gender at intake | Cis male |
| Date of birth | unknown |
| Name at intake | unknown |
| edit this box | |
Nell is a graduate of the 2012 intake. She initially sponsored Faye in the 2018 intake, but was removed in 2019 for being too aggressive.
Prior to her suspension, Nell was not well-liked around the Hall, though she has since adjusted her attitude and has made amends with her intake and Sisters. She now prefers making apologies to having "rage-outs". [SD 32]
She is planned to return to sponsoring in the 2020 intake under Indira's supervision. [SD 27]
Nell has a cis NPH. [SD 46]
In the programme
Melissa recalls that Nell was "perpetually angry, unconsciously intimidating and, when she wanted to be, actively threatening" at intake. [SD 32] By her own admission, Nell was "a bitch" to Melissa in particular [SD 27] and the two were not on good terms while in the programme. [SD 23]
Nell, Autumn, and Tash took "a lot longer to get used to things" in the programme compared to the more well-adjusted and amiable second years in the newer 2018 intake. [SD 26] Melissa recalls that some of the intake, "especially Nell", were still in and out of the cells three months into the first year in the programme. [SD 34]
During their first year, Nell threateningly "cornered" Melissa a few times. [SD 24] Later, possibly in their second year, Nell approached Melissa in her bedroom with a lengthy written apology; to her chagrin, Melissa closed the door in her face. Afterward, Melissa changed her mind and sought her out to accept the apology; the two made up and Nell gave her a hug and a "meek little cheek kiss". [SD 24] When Melissa returns to the Hall in December 2019, Nell avoids her, believing that "so much has happened since then" that the apology "doesn't count any more". [SD 27]
Melissa recalls that it took Nell "a long time to get her anger under control", but privately used to envy her ability to turn "turn her rage outward, to not have it fester inside." [SD 24]
Sponsoring Faye
At intake
Christine recalls that Nell and Faye were "butting heads" from the start of the intake. [SD 43]
At intake, Faye struggled with anger issues; she recalls that in the basement she hated Nell but was also "kind of everyone's enemy", continually reverting to anger and violence and wiping out her own progress at each new step of the programme. Nell used physical and verbal abuse to reign in Faye's behavior, which worked for a time; sometime towards the end of her first year, Faye was pushed to the limit and punched Nell in the stomach, spending a week in a cell afterward. [SD 9] In hindsight, Nell believes that Faye was "basically a tiny version" of her, which led to her perpetuating the same abuse on Faye that she had been subjected to before the Hall. [SD 27]
Relieved of duty
In Faye's second year, Nell has not changed her abrasive attitude towards her, and still treats her like a first year, [SD 9] which is triggering her [SD 10] and causing her to regress in her progress. [SD 9]
On October 25th, Faye is in the kitchen helping prepare a meal for Aunt Bea's birthday party when Pippa charges into the kitchen in a bad mood. Faye, unnerved, accidentally slips in her unsuitably tall heels (which she is wearing at Nell's command) and drops a mixing bowl full of batter, inciting an angry blowup from Nell. Faye flees the kitchen to the ground floor conservatory, where Christine follows her. Christine consoles her and Faye reveals the extent of Nell's antagonistic approach to sponsoring; Christine offers to intercede on her behalf. [SD 9] Discussing the situation with Aunt Bea, Christine states that she believes the Hall "fucked up" and that Faye, as a traumatized child from an abusive home, needed a "completely different sponsor" who could better meet her needs and that Faye somehow managed to reform herself despite Nell recreating "the circumstances of her abuse". [SD 10]
By November 10th, Nell has been "effectively suspended with pay, reduced to filling in on the basement rota" [SD 16] and is mainly working night shifts, [SD 21] following a re-evaluation of her performance. Indira and Bella take over as Faye's co-sponsors in her place. [SD 16] Aside from being placed on "shit duty", Nell is also required to shadow the other sponsors. [SD 20] Despite the punishing hours of the graveyard shift, Nell seems fairly adept at the job. [SD 27]
Making amends
By December 5th, Nell has asked Bella to apologize to Faye on her behalf; [SD 21] Faye is slow to forgive her. [SD 22] Nell has also thanked Christine for "pulling her out of a destructive spiral" and the two make up. [SD 21]
Aaron experiences a moment of ego death alone in his room on December 11th. When Nell spots him staring at his reflection on the security feed, word gets to Maria, who goes to check on him. [SD 23]
By the 16th of December, Nell has been doing less night shifts, taking over odd jobs around the Hall, "mostly more security shifts, but during waking hours". She is still kept separate from the second years. A few days after Melissa's return to the Hall, Nell confesses to Christine that she has been avoiding her, believing her apology for her behavior during the programme "doesn't count any more". Nell admits that she is deliberately staying "out of the loop" and is "taking everything real slow", including socializing, believing that even her friends at the Hall were "getting kinda sick" of her behavior. Christine encourages Nell to find Melissa and apologize again. Nell has a "sort of a get-to-know-you-again" day out with Rabia and Bella the next weekend. [SD 27]
A few days later on December 24th, Rabia arranges a meeting between herself, Nell, Melissa, Autumn, Tash, and Bella with the seeming intention of mending the relationships within the group. [SD 31] Nell and Melissa speak at length during the Christmas Eve party, mainly making small talk, and Melissa notes that she seems more "approachable" and "at peace"; Nell admits that it is a recent development that "came at great cost to her pride". The full group meets up towards the end of the party and Nell thanks Melissa for the small talk and the opportunity to apologize again, confessing that she "never moved on" from her time in the basement and had been "carrying a lot of guilt". Melissa offers to add Nell on Consensus, admitting that she wants to reconnect with the group and that Nell was "not the only one who never actually moved on". The group departs on good terms. [SD 32]
Further adventures
Nell is on duty in the security room on Christmas morning when Leigh (still going by Will at the time) has an angry outburst. Nell assists Tabitha and Monica with Will in the basement, directing Christine to extricate Steph and Beth upstairs to get some coffee. [SD 32]
Following Ollie's suicide attempt and the arrival of the Stenordale escapees on January 5th, Nell and Harmony keep watch over Ollie and Trevor in the Peckinville medical portakabin. [SD 38]
On January 11th, Nell joins a large group of other Dorley girls in the dining room after Christine and Steph light a fire in the fireplace. [SD 39]
On January 26th, Nell leaves her overnight post in the security room early to hang out in the basement following an undisclosed event going on with Martin. The two speak together but afterward neither explain what happened to the other members of the intake. [SD 45]
On the 28th, Nell is in the security room as Steph re-enters the basement following her makeover upstairs in preparation to leave the Hall. She confesses that having all the soldiers around (in the wake of escalating tensions with the Smyth-Farrows and Silver River) makes her uncomfortable. Afterward, Nell instructs Steph to call her or anyone at the Hall if things "get weird" while out in "the real world". [SD 46]
Trivia
- Nell seems familiar with Francesca's actual personality outside of the persona she assumed when sponsoring. [SD 34]
- After Bella leaves her Switch downstairs, Nell states that she has been getting "really good" at Mario. [SD 39]
- Nell wears 8 Wide size shoes. She reports that she lost two shoe sizes after starting HRT. [SD 39]
| Dorley girls (and a few non-girls) | |
|---|---|
| 2012 intake | Autumn, Melissa (Abby), Nell, Tash |
| 2018 intake | Aisha (Charlie), Anne, Faye (Nell), Fiona, Mia (Nadine), Rebecca (Bella) |