Hey, I'm Autumn Clarke. You can call me Sunshine, Butterfly, Clarke, Petal, or whatever else you come up with.
Don't let my name, and appearance fool you. I'm no sweet thing. The season Autumn brings about death, and don't you think for a split second that I won't do the same.
I spent a near damn eternity in that mirror, and now I'm out for revenge.
And if I get anything wrong, please do let me know. I want this to be correct.
First, my personal theory (that might not be correct in the slightest) is the DA and the heist character we play as are the same character. AHWM and ADWM are just stories being told to the DA by Actor! Mark. I’m not that deep into the lore to know if this is possible. I think it is?
This means that the new egos (Yancy, Magnum, and Illinois) are either roles that the Actor has played before, or real in reality and the Actor is just using their likeness for a bit. I’m leaning toward the second option. It’s less sad.
This is a long one.
Her name is Nadezhda “Nadya” Sakharova Alexeeva, and she’s a Russian immigrant who fled to America in 1921 in the aftermath of the Russian civil war and during the Povolzhye famine.
Appearance:
She’s a 32-year old woman (as of the events of WKM) that stands at 5 ft 1in (about 154 cm) and has a short bob cut with soft blonde curls. Her eyes are dark brown. Nadezhda is often wearing a blouse, a skirt, and a suit jacket in mostly neutral tones as the District Attorney. She’s not fond of the hats and doesn’t wear them often. At the party, she’s wearing a black dress with a string of pearls.
In AHWM, her ‘casual’ outfit would be a green knit sweater and jeans. She’d keep the short hair.
Personality:
INFJ-The Advocate
Nadezhda is a passionate woman who cares deeply and is dedicated to her work and her few friends (Damien, Robert Smith, Marie Jones) in America, and her friends/family in Russia (including Daniil Raspopov, a childhood friend). She will often write letters to her friends and family back home. Communication is a bit slow, and she keeps every letter she receives, reading them multiple times throughout the months and some even years. (Note that she is well-spoken and is eloquent in both Russian and English, once she gets a hold of the language.)
She has a strong sense of justice and the will to execute it. It is the main reason she became a lawyer, which had been a dream for her for many years. Nadezhda had started her college career to become a lawyer before coming to America.
Nadezhda is also very eager to make a difference in the world and wants to see the best in people. She loves having a plan in place with clear direction to her goals. In this way, she believes, she can best make a difference. This can manifest itself into perfectionism and Nadya looking for a better solution, even when the best one is staring her in the face.
Often times her dedication to her friends can blind her to the truth of the matter. “They can’t be wrong, they’re my friend” kind of deal. Her sense of justice can be skewed a bit, and she’d be too stubborn to admit it. She’s quite sensitive, deep down, and will hide it from everybody. This leads to emotions building up and spilling over.
Backstories
WKM
After moving into a small apartment in California in 1921, Nadezhda works as a waitress while attending college. Here she meets Damien, and it turns out they go to the same college, Damien is going to graduate in 3 years, studying economics. During this time she takes on the nickname Nellie, as the tail-end of the Red Scare was going on and she felt it would be better to try and “fit in”. This includes trying to hide her accent, though it is still detectable. A couple years later, she gets rid of the nickname and stops bothering with the accent.
Nadezhda decides to study law and gets a degree in economics almost immediately, as in it was her plan before she came to America. She attends law school, passes the bar, etc. Then she’s voted into the District Attorney office in 1928. Damien had been elected as mayor in 1926.
AHWM and ADWM (the false backstory)
The third generation of Russian immigrants. Her family is doing well for themselves. She lives with Mark in a semi-large house where they split the rent. Mark convinces her to go on a heist with him for some extra cash. She’s hesitant but agrees. (Mostly because the Actor’s plot calls for it).
What’s going on in the mirror (infodump warning)
As stated before, AHWM and ADWM (and possibly the barrel videos??? IDK) are all stories that Actor!Mark (who inserts himself in as Heist!Mark) has constructed for Nadezhda within the mirror. Why? I figure he a) wants to paint himself as the good guy to her for later manipulation and b) he wants a friend. I imagine manipulating your friends to fit your story is lonely.
In the mirror, to start, Nadezhda is completely immersed in the story, fully believing the lies being told until she happens upon ending 31. The portraits are enough to tell her something is wrong, that she remembers something. It’s like an itch in the back of her mind. She mistakes Dark for Damien, though this is truly the Actor pretending (He slips up and calls her Nellie, a nickname that Damien never used in private. Nadezhda is not happy about this development). Memories start to resurface and the truth of the matter is revealed. She’s living a lie.
She decides to continue living this false reality. It’s better than the endless void of the mirror. However, Nadezhda is in a little more control. At the end of scenes/ending, she can tack on some of her own stories, even outright reject the scenario if she pleases. It becomes an ebb and flow between Actor!Mark and Nadezhda made up of a series of non-explicit conversations between the two, as neither wants to break the 4th wall and acknowledge it as fiction. The story crumbles if they do. It’s a weird friendship, one created out of necessity and overall loneliness.
Anytime Wilford shows up, it’s just him. He breaks rules, he’s fine. Actor!Mark doesn’t want to touch his likeness with a 10-foot pole.
The instance where Dark shows up in ADWM, he’s trying to communicate with Nadezhda but is being forced into the confines of the story. It’s why he continues to buy ice cream after shooting Actor!Mark. It’s through the combined efforts of Nadezhda and the Actor.
Eventually, she gets tired of the stories and watches the shadows in the mirror.
---------
So that’s my oc.
Any and all feedback is appreciated. I want to know what you think!
Well, I suppose now would be as good a time as any to say that you guys can...ask me whatever you want. Just be aware that you may not receive the answer you expecting.
