•First name•

Marilyn - a Hebrew name that can mean 'sea of bitterness', 'wished for child' or 'rebellion'

•Middle name•

Adelaide - an old English name, meaning 'noble natured'

•Last name•

Lambert - meaning bright home; sweet home.

•Nicknames•

Mary - standard nickname, which she doesn't feel one way or the other about. A lot of people she doesn't know that well call her this, which Marilyn is fine enough with.

Mary-Lynn - Steve is the only person who calls her this. When they first met, before their fated and meaningless summer romance, Steve had misheard her name and thought she introduced herself as 'Mary-Lynn'. So, for the longest time this is what he called her without realizing it was incorrect. Marilyn never clarified simply because she didn't care enough, until they actually became somewhat... friends. When this happened she said her real name, and Steve kept calling her Mary-Lynn instead.

Jack - Nancy calls her this because Marilyn has a knack for picking up on things quickly. After a few years of friendship Nancy took notice of this, and compared Marilyn to the famous saying 'Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one' which then got shortened to Marilyn being called Jack.

•Age•

16 years old in season one.

•Birthday•

October 30th, 1967.

•Gender•

Female.

•Pronouns•

She/her/ her's.

•Sexuality•

Closeted lesbian.

•Face claim•

Madchen Amick as pictured above and below.

•looks in more detail+ any differences to the face claim•

By virtue of the traumas that Marilyn has suffered, she appears older than she really is. With her wise weeping willow tree of a mind, with branches of knowledge and leaves of rationalities, and her checkered history she is much more mature than someone her age should be.

This bleeds into her demeanor as well, and gives her a much older nature. There's something about her that is a bit hardened, a bit roughed up, a bit scarred by the hand's of her mutilated childhood that seemed to end before it really began. This can be seen in her azure irises, that glint in sunlight with the luminance of a sea reflecting the sky, but hold no youthful innocence. There is no mirthful murmur hiding in the little aqua flecks that live within her eyes, nothing besides the traces of a cynic.

Her hair falls over her shoulders like the sun creeping back into day after night. The hazel curls form naturally, and are generally quite messily thrown into an easy style to she can get out the door quickly. There are also lighter pieces strewn through her mane of waves, which can be seen especially well in the sunlight. The hue is the same as her structured, and angular eyebrows and her long, soft eyelashes.

Her face is sculpted well, with very prominent jaw and cheekbones. She got that from her father, the whole chiseled jaw, long legged thing. Lord knows her mom was barely 5'3, which contrasts Marilyn's height of 5'9. This makes her appear intimidating, mixed with her stoicism and general reserved demeanor. However, beneath the looming clouds of darkness lingering above her, beneath there is the kid she was once. On the very rare occasion someone can draw out this part of herself, it's like her smile draws out the darkness for a moment and replaces it was pure light.

She is also generally a bit roughed up, and it's more than normal to see her blue eyes accentuated by a dark bruise. A split lip is also a common occurrence for her, hell sometimes she's even got marks decorating her arms. These bruises, these cuts, these wounds weep on her skin like sad prose. The handsome sapphires, and rampant crimsons hues are traces of hushed pain along her body, almost always there in some form.

•Tattoos/ marks/ scars•

She actually does have a tattoo, mostly out of idiotic rebellion and spite. Her father once told her that women shouldn't have tattoos, because it took away from her femininity. It just so happened that she went to a party that very same night, where one of the other teens had a stick and poke tattoo set. And so, what did Marilyn let her dumb friend do, when she was a bit under the influence? She let him give her a tattoo, while he was also drunk out of his mind. It's quite small, just a little sunflower outline on her forearm. She figures that when she's old enough she'll get it fixed up, but there is actually something quite charming about the soft little floral silhouette. Plus, it has a sentimental meaning for her.

Marilyn has a birthmark on her collarbone, that usually peeks out from the collar of her shirt. It's a set of dots, three little blobs a few shades deeper than her regular fair complexion. Nothing too big, but noticeable usually.

Marilyn has quite a few scars she's gained from over the years. She has a few very prominent ones, one of which lies on her face blatantly. On the right side of her face she has a maybe two or three inch scar adorning her otherwise clear cheek. It's a jagged line, that unravels along her skin loudly. It's from a bottle being thrown at her, which will be explained in the backstory.

On her left hand she got a similar make from a cut along her palm. This will also be explained in the backstory, but it's a thin pale line stretching across her skin.

•Personality•

Loyal. Marilyn's perhaps main trait is her absolute loyalty to the people she loves, and her loyalty to doing whatever she can to help them. She could walk the thinest wire, suspended over a churning sea filled with bloodthirsty creatures if it meant protecting her found family. She'd steal, cheat, kill, borrow, beg and die for someone she loved if it meant they were kept safe.

Marilyn is troubled, and burdened to say the least. Her eyes have been witness to the wicked, and her mouth is laden with screams she could never seem to cry. This manifests in her being, by projecting her problems into other issues. She picks fights at school, drinks, smokes and sleeps around which gives her quite the unsavory reputation. It's hard because no one around her really seems to be able to understand what she's been through, and how it destroys your ability to really care about anything besides your guilt and own fear. Other peoples opinions are whispers behind her back, and nothing more most of the time.

Now, despite the fact that most would label her as 'a bad influence' she is actually pretty caring and preceptive about those around her. In her silence, she observes the world around her and the emotions of others seem to seep into her and latch on until their worries are her own. If it's someone she cares about she will do nearly anything to vanquish their demons for them and help them in any form possible.

She may be a bit of an asshole, but she can also be the best friend a person could have. If one doesn't love themself, their adoration and love has to go somewhere, right? Whether or not this is healthy-it's not- Marilyn would let herself waste away and suffer in silence while listening to someone else rattle off their problems. She could be dying inside, with a mask on the verge of collapse, but if you need someone to talk to she is there to listen. A true ride or die, really.

She is snarky, and bites back with ferocity as if her life depends on it. She's used to be yelled at, insults and general lack of love thrown her way and her coping mechanism is to be a humorous cynic. Her tongue is poisoned by her ability to use words like daggers when needed, and sometimes she says meaner things than she means to.

She's a pretty liar, a slick son of a bitch you can work her way out of bad situations when she wants to. She gets a thrill from a fight, and will never let alone know of how she's falling apart. Her tears are shed on her lonesome, and her fears are demons for her to face on her own. She is genuinely very funny, and very witty in every way. She could crack a joke about her deepest traumas, and it would still be hilarious despite the morbid nature. This trait can be kinda annoying as well, depending on the situation.

She is the feeling dancing under the stars, with cold hands intertwined, with the grass grazing your feet and fireflies lighting your way. Marilyn is the way the sun sparks across the horizon at the burst of day. She is vines growing through broken windows of abandoned cabins, stellar life growing from a dingy habitat. She's familiar as your favorite song, yet mysterious as a smokey silhouette.

•Strengths•

Marilyn is an intelligent individual. She is a faster learner, and can pick up on things in a snap. Her mind is bright, and brimming with brilliants ideas and thoughts and she has a general tendency to excel academically. Her smarts mixed well with her capability to have a broad skillset. She is talented in picking up things, whether it's fixing a car, making a cake, college level calculus, or anything in between.

Her independence. This is a double sided coin, and double edged sword. This quality of her's allows her to thrive when she's alone, and she's good at the whole independent thing. She can take care of herself, and she can shoulder her own worries without burdening others with them. However, there are instances in which this trait isn't so glamorous, which i'll explain in her weaknesses.

She's very brave, truly. Maybe this is because she stopped worrying about her own life awhile ago, or maybe it's just her bold spirit. But Marilyn is always willing to try new things, or thrust herself into danger if there's a good reason. There are things she fears, however bravery is more about facing those fears and meeting them like water meets the shore. And this is exactly what Marilyn does.

She is sly as a black cat at night, and keen like no other. She is perceptive, and good at putting herself in the shoes of other people in order to weigh all the sides.

•Weaknesses•

The main weakness she has is the very chink in her amour that represents her self loathing. She hates herself in most respects. Everything in her life thus far has been an onslaught of reasons for her to hate the very heart that beats in order to keep her alive. This is why she's so reckless with her personal life, because sometimes the bad habits are the only way to tune out her guilt. She is in a constant state of thinking the world would be far better without her in it, and this makes her stupid sometimes.

Anger. Marilyn has quite the temper, but not in the way one would think. She doesn't get mad when someone says one bad thing to her, or over spilled milk. But when she gets mad, she sees red. This has pushed a couple people in her life away accidentally, so she tries to keep conscious of her anger and push the feeling down.

Her independence. As mentioned above, this quality can be seen as both a positive and negative trait. It has good aspects, but it also has bad ones. Due to her independent nature, Marilyn never asks to help. She attempts to keep all her hard emotions, and heart shattering problems to herself in order to make it seem like she's strong enough to never need to reach out. I think it's fairly obvious why this is not a good thing.

An angry drunk, just like her dear old daddy. Reckless on occasion, and horrible at navigating her personal relationships. Oh, yeah, and very secretive.

•Fears•

Becoming like her father.
Marilyn doesn't necessarily fear death, or danger at this point in her life. In fact, sometimes she welcomes it when she's driving 95 down the dark interstate alone. However the things she does fear are things like becoming like her father. Her worst nightmare is treating someone, whether her sibling or just friends, like her father treats her. The obsessive drinking, the broken bottles, the slurs through slurred speech... Marilyn refuses to become like him.

Her secrets surfacing. Marilyn is in the closet, in a word where loving who she wants is nothing more than some kind of disease. Her trusts issues have kept her from even uttering her truth to herself, and her sexuality is a guarded secret. She's gay, but as far as the world is concerned she's just like every other girl who thinks about boys instead of girls. Even though one Nancy Wheeler is the only interest who takes up her mind.

Ever having to talk about her history. Hawkins is a small town, people know about the things she's been through and not a day goes by where she doesn't hear an insult referencing her past. However she ignores these words, and stuffs down the ache they bring so she doesn't have to talk about them. It makes her slim crawl to recall events she hoped would be long forgotten by now.

Heights, losing herself, her baby sister feeling the same neglect as her, losing the few people she still loves.

•Likes•

Spending time with her little sister, even though sometimes Marilyn wishes she didn't have to be the only one who took care of her. Lorelai is the light of Marilyn's life, and genuinely the person she loves most in the world. Marilyn loves spending time with her little sister, even if it's with a more parental role than a sisterly one.

Writing. Marilyn's major talent is writing, and creating stories. Marilyn is a child of the muse's despair. There is something in the stories she can tell, and the way the girl can conjure the perfect words to describe a tragedy that is a sign of this. This is so often expressed in the comfort of her creativity, when no one is around to see the things she writes in her numerous journals. She also just loves the art of expressing oneself through writing, as it allows her to dawn the hat of many.

Music. Marilyn adores music in every state, and nothing can comfort her like a familiar song. She's got a beat up old record player in her room that belonged to her mom before, and now lives on her dresser. Crates and crates of records decorate her bedroom floor, from all the bands that bring her joy. When her father's tongue gets a bit too cruel, or his voice a bit too loud nothing can tune out the yelling like an old record.

Listening to music while writing song little stories in her tiny room, the scent of the cinnamon candle that so often warms it's place on her desk. Cold weather against a warm fire-pit, sweet foods and Saturday nights.

•Dislikes•

Being vulnerable, or honest. There is so much of her life that she never speaks about, and when a situation arises where she needs to she loathes it. She doesn't like getting personal, or truthful if it's about her emotion or anything of the sort. It makes her feel like the walls around her are closing in, and she is penning herself into a box of horrid opportunity for others to hurt her.

Her dad. As awful as it sounds, Marilyn doesn't like her dad though she loves him, if that makes sense. He's done awful things to her, hurt her in more ways than you could count and for that she resents him and the way he changed after her mom and brother's death. She has done things to try and help, but it only ever seems to make him mad at her.

The city. Hawkins is somewhat a haven compared to the city she knew when she was really small. Ever since she left, she's never wanted to turn back to the glamorous city lights and high crimes rates. Cities are nothing besides dangerous, and too crowded for Marilyn at this point in her life.

Olives, stories with happy endings, letting people in as easily as puppy love forms. blistering summer heat, and publics pools.

•Occupation•

She works at a roller-rink part time.

•Character relationships•

Steve Harrington - former flame, current estranged friend. Marilyn and Steve picked up a little romance, one that acted for Marilyn as a shield from her true self, and a bit of fun for Steve. Both were sort of assholes, but in a very different ways that they found didn't work well together in a loving way. They don't hate one another now, and will have each other's backs, but they don't hang around much.

Nancy Wheeler - crush. Marilyn has liked Nancy since she realized she was gay, but of course has never acted on this. The two have been friends for years, and at a certain point Marilyn decided it would be better to distance herself from Nancy because it just kinda hurt to be around her, plus Marilyn figured that if Nancy ever figured out the truth she'd want nothing to do with Marilyn.

Jonathan Byers - he is probably the best friend Marilyn has. Honestly though, she didn't really like him at first because she thought he was weird. She eventually learned he was just kinds awkward, but also very sweet and endearing. They became friends early on, and have been for many years now.

Jim Hopper - weird is the only way to describe their little bond. Hopper only knows Marilyn through her visits to the police station for various things. Fights, and underage drinking being the main proprietors. He's read her file before, knows the shit she's been through and hits her with some tough love whenever he sees her. Kind of in a begrudging sense.

(As this is meant for her at the start of the series, she has had pretty much no interaction with the kids. This will probably be updated once i'm further in though!)

Marcus Lambert - her father, of course. Marcus and her have maybe the worst possible relationship once could have in a father daughter scenario. Estranged doesn't begin to cover to gap between them, but this will be explained further in the backstory portion.

Penelope Lambert - her mother, who is mow deceased.

Lorelai Lambert - her half- baby sister, just fives years older at the start of the show. Marilyn has assumed complete responsibility of her younger sister, not like their dad would ever be much help. She loves the kid more than anything else in the world, and will never allow her to face the same things as herself.

Joseph Lambert - her younger brother, who is also deceased.

•Backstory•

Marilyn was born in the city of dreamers and cynics alike, New York City. A long way from Hawkins Indiana, with a sweet family of four who looked forward to the rest of their lives with glittering eyes. A young pair of siblings, an elder sister and little brother who were bonded as fused metal. Their parents were the simple, seventies expectation. A loving mom who took care of the kids and stayed home, while their dad trekked into the world and provided for them.

Their parents were utterly, and blissfully in love as two birds of a feather. They lived within the frail walls of a New York apartment, where Marilyn's lullaby was so often the wail of sirens and car horns. For awhile they were nothing besides another family with financial struggles a lot of love.

Marilyn and Joseph were trouble makers even as children. They'd whisk themselves away on their bikes, and pedal out towards the woods that skirted city limits, much to their parents disapproval. They'd sneak out to a sunflower field, where the scent of the city was washed away and replaced with a sweet perfume. They'd spend the day perched outside, running amuck along the field while basking in the rays of the glowing sun.

Their lives carried on likes this until Marilyn was nine years old. This is when darkness decided to invade her life, and cause her plummet into despair. The day was fading into the dusk, with bleeding hues traveling across the sky in a rhythmic dance. Marilyn's small hands were laced with her mothers, and her brother's hand was kept in her mom's other hand.

The blistering summer heat was raining down like a shower of warmth, not falling into slumber even when the sunshine did. The air was plagued by the odor of the city, and the feeling in the air was nothing short of sinister. Marilyn's rosy cheeks had been touched with sunburn, and her blue eyes had kept glancing around as though she knew something bad was going to happen.

They were in a crowd, with people bustling by just as they always did. The sound of shoes tapping across concrete and angry blabbers could have been heard from miles away. Then it happened... the sound of gunfire popped up just a street down. Marilyn, for just a moment, heard nothing besides silence. Absolute vile quiet infiltrated the streets, as everyone seemed to still in the split second before panic ensued.

The streets flooded with running people, all trying to push past one another. Then another round of shots shuttered through the air, closer this time. The bullets hit people just behind her family's running feet, causing their bodies to clatter behind them. Everyone was screaming, trying to locate the person responsible for the tragedy. Marilyn had tears running down her delicate cheeks, before her eyes landed on him.

A man, tall as a column, with eyes dark as shadows rushing forward with red and blue cop lights flaring him in an outline. She would never be able to forget the little scar on his thin bottom lip, or the sweat pouring from his forehead. And she would never forget the gun in his hand, or the way he pointed it as her mother, and then her brother.

They'd both dropped beside her, her mother's hand going limp in her grasp. Everything after that was a blur of screaming and crying, until an adult grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her away from the danger. But nothing could shake the paralyzing fear she would hear at loud noises for years to come, or the image of her brother and mothers dead bodies laying before her.

No one ever explained to her why he had been shooting people, in fact as far she knew he'd never even been identified. She always assumed he had been caught doing something bad, robbing somewhere maybe. Hell, maybe someone did tell her and she just blocked it out.

But either way, after the incident there were police reports, and funerals before she and her dad moved to Hawkins in hopes to take refuge somewhere safer. But he wasn't the same after that. It was like a haze of grief clouded his every movement, and judgement. Marilyn was broken just the same, except her dad decided to cope by the power of drinking.

He took up the habit like a hobby and soon his bright smile became nothing but a ghost, and the man Marilyn knew as her dad was just a figment of her memories. At first he never laid a hand on her, but as time went on things progressed and she learned not to trust the swing of his arm. He would cause her bruises, and tears but Marilyn never really told anyone.

There were doctor's visits, she was really 'clumsy', that was always the lie when her dad went a bit too far. He also got around quite a bit, in particular with a woman named Petra who he eventually knocked up. She left the kid, Lorelai, on their front step and turned away without looking back.

There was a time when he was so mad at her for being late to pick up Lorelai from pre-school that he'd went ballistic. He threw an empty beer bottle at her face, where it shattered across her cheek and she had to get stitches. This was the same time that he had went into her room and broke some of the things she cared for most. A little necklace that used to be her mother's, some records she and her brother used to share, among other things.

Watching her grow up like this was like watching someone die inside, a little bit each day.

When she was a teenager this only happened more, and got worse, but there was also the general excuse of her picking fights at school. She started figuring out that she didn't like boys at 13, but wouldn't acknowledge it to save her life. Of course, this fact added to her frustration and caused her to act out more. She took care of her sister, and sort of vowed to never let Lorelai be treated like she was. She refused to let her father touch Lorelai, or even talk to her most times. Generally this ended up with him hitting Marilyn in some way, but she really didn't care if it meant he stayed away from Lorelai.

She dated quite a few boys, trying to uphold this idea of her being straight. She slept around, hoping to convince herself that she could love a man, but it never worked. She was in and out of the police station, usually with a gaggle of other kids who'd been caught drinking or whatever else as well. One time Hopper saw some of the severe bruises on her arm and asked about it, but she'd made a petty excuse to move on. He's had suspicions about her dad since then but he never acted on any of them.

This pretty much catches is up to date~

•Theme songs•

Michelle - by Sir Chloe

Firearm - by Lizzy McAlpine

Brother(acoustic) - by Kodaline

Forgiveness - by Landscapes

All the Pretty Girls - by KALEO

Used to the Darkness - by Des Rocs