IVANA ‘VANYA’ LI. 31. she/her. it consultant. apt 801.
VITALS.
FULL NAME: ivana li
NICKNAME: vanya. van. vali. vee. anything v-sounding. like va—[sirens]
GENDER & PRONOUNS: cis woman, she/her
AGE / DOB: 31 / march 8, 1994 (pisces ☼ aries ☾ aries ↑)
OCCUPATION: it consultant
APARTMENT NUMBER: 801
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single
SEXUALITY: lesbian
CHARACTER INSPIRATIONS: poppy li + brad bakshi (mythic quest), root (person of interest), penelope stamp (the brothers bloom), wilhelmina pang (saving face), ivan (intermezzo)
SUMMARY ( note: substance abuse, mental health )
ivana (henceforth vanya) is the only daughter of marlene, a public school teacher, and ivan—we don't care about ivan—who left the family when vanya was three years old. born and raised in her early years in reno, nevada, the mother and daughter lived a relatively quiet life despite the former’s burgeoning addiction and mental health issues. in the absence of a firm hand to hold, vanya turned, as any millennial had at the time, to video games and computers. her relationship with tech was squashed when the pair had to move around the continental united states… a rather tumultuous three years until her mom finally lands a permanent job as a math teacher at new york state. in the absence of her former bff microsoft encarta (rip queen) and a real knowledge of internet proxies that could’ve worked on public school computers, vanya instead turns to chess.com and becomes something of a local prodigy. she continues her (half-decent) chess career all throughout college in chicago. after a stint in silicon valley, vanya moved to new york city to be closer to her mother, who remarried and relocated to manhattan. calling herself an "it consultant", she's mostly spent the last few years in semi-hibernation doing odd jobs, moonlighting, and doing some minor tax evasion wyd. she's yet to figure out the next few steps in her life, but in the interim, she’s been vibing—no smoking, no drinking, no drugs, just high on life 💕
FULL BIOGRAPHY. trigger + content warnings apply.
CONNECTIONS. tbd.
PERSONALITY & HEADCANONS.
found out she was named after her dad (ivan -> ivana... groundbreaking) when she was eight years old, after looting her birth certificate amid the papers her mother asked her to sift through while she filled out a tax form. has gone by "vanya" ever since to give her some distance from the name, but also because it sounds... cooler.
diversity win! worst tech bro you know is an asian lesbian.
woman in stem (derogatoryaffectionate). girl who got into CS for the money only to find the job market so saturated that she now resorts to contract work instead? hmm more likely thank you think 💕 the less said about the net good she puts out in the world, the better, though.
her tagline in life is "everyone's always judging capitalism. but what are you going to do? die poor?" etc. that said. she does hate Big Tech. she profits from it tho and redistributes it to. ah… herself. i never said she isn't a hypocrite <3
she does have a few things she cares about. her mom. her bestie. a couple of friends who've managed to stick by her. and, uh... are you familiar with… the tv show ducktales?
takes up random hobbies when she decides she's interested in them. the results aren't always fortuitous. last failed attempt: woodworking.
honestly only has 3 real skills. the three c's, if you would. computer science, chess, and being a cu—[i am whisked away into the night]
she will read just about anything. nonfiction. policy memos. building codes. training manuals for dogs (she's half-convinced she's a dog whisperer ATP). even fanfiction for fandoms she doesn't even go to. the worst beta reader you will ever know is the understimulated girl who went to nerd college.
tone-deaf in a way that's kind of grating. please do not invite her to karaoke night.
does not have any social media beyond instagram (to follow Hot Singles in Her Area), reddit (has 50k+ karma and everyone thinks she's a tech nerd from italy and dedicates herself to the bit by adding a beard to her avatar and logging in on cet hours), and upwork (has a perfectly respectable headshot and everything)
her current FIDE rating is at a respectable 2106, and holds a WFM title that she'd gotten back in college. doesn't have any real interest in taking up the open titles and has been,,,, humbled by the competition really over the past few years. it's not as if she has no interest in the sport anymore, or no longer follows the competition circuit. but the light has died out... but also never say never...
