By the Nine Shards

I imagine Mary like Sally Hawkins in Paddington. She's much older now but I haven't found a new casting choice for her. Nell is Rooney Mara in Carol. Frivol is Troy Doherty as Hermes but even more extra.

Mary Nackle's parents were injured and dying when she made a deal with Puck to save them. His price was her firstborn (a classic). She promptly agreed and asked when they would get started? Taken by her gumption, Puck agreed to father the child with her. Mary gave birth to twins. The firstborn was a boy that Puck took immediately and named Frivolous or Frivol. Leaving Mary with her second born, a girl she named Elinor which was later nicknamed down to Nell.

Despite being raised in the Nevernever, Frivol snuck out (later revealed to be let out by his father) to see his sister in England. The twins grew up very close though for a long time, Nell thought Frivol might not be real and just an imaginary friend.

As Nell got to her teens she began to show promise as a wizard. She was excited to apprentice under her mother and one day join the White Council.

Then Changeling puberty happened.

Nell has very few faerie traits. Her ears grew pointed and her eyes went from blue to violet. Her third trait, a pair of dragonfly wings, grew in malformed and weak. They caused her intense pain as they constantly cramped. After immense research and discussion with the Senior Council, the decision was made to surgically remove the wings using iron tools.

Shortly after that, they were visited by either Aurora and Maeve or Titania and Mab to have it explained that they needed to pick if they wanted to be Mortal or Fae. And if they were Fae they need to keep balance in mind. The twins took this to mean that if they were Fae, they needed to pick opposite courts and they both had to be Fae or both human.

Now, Nell wanted to be mortal but that would mean forcing Frivol to live a lifespan that was dwarfed compared to the one he wanted as Fae. Nell couldn't bring herself to do that. In making that choice it was said that she, in fairness, should pick her Court first. Again... she would've preferred to be Summer. But looking at her eccentric brother, she couldn't condemn him to life as a Winter Court faerie. So Nell chose Winter. In one conversation, giving up her dream of being a wizard and adopting a Court that mocks her relentlessly. Frivol has not forgotten this.

It gets worse after the events of Cold Days where Harry breaks it to Nell that this situation was a trick to separate the twins and the choice she made wasn't necessary. It was ploy to keep Nell and Frivol from doing anything for their father. He might’ve been planning something.

Now, the balance thing is sorta funny because Frivol is gorgeous but has very little magic. Nell is plain by Faerie standards but is an absolute powerhouse when it comes to magic. She has an innate storm sorcery (lightning, thunderwaves, riding currents of wind she summons). This magic is her Mary Sue-ism that I've indulged in. The implication of it being storm related is she is just packing raw power all the time. She's not the level of the Fae Queens but enough to get the side-eye.

Once becoming Fae, Nell spent her time becoming a historian and now is the head historian of a museum in Chicago. I'm not sure if it's the same museum that has Sue the T-Rex but I wouldn't mind that. She loves her job. She's always jazzed to stay late to examine new artifacts and write the script for the tour guides.

She met Harry pre-Storm Front when the museum was having a problem with a poltergeist. He didn't quite trust her but over a few years, she became a friend and ally. Harry doesn't remember when but she began to call him "dearest" early on. He doesn't think anything of it because she calls people dear, luv, and dearie frequently and it flows with her accent in a nonchalant manner.

She loves his abrasiveness, his love for the craft of magic, the fact that he does the right thing and chivalrous views. There's also the fact he's one of a small group of men within the community that don't treat her like crap. She doesn't have to use glamour with him to appear fully human and doesn't have to open up the Supernatural Community to him because he's already apart of it. Any time he asks for her help it's an adventure.

However, she sees the women around him (Supernatural or human) and how she lacks in comparison. Being Fae, she doesn't have a soul and even as Fae she's uninteresting to look at. The only thing she has is a heart. She doesn't see that as good enough. He deserves someone with all three. So she's never told him. She's a trusted ally and good friend.

I'm not sure when her relationship with Goodman Grey started exactly but he was hired by her boss when someone stole an artifact from the museum or was embezzling money. Nell was helping him and they sorta hit it off after he knocked her off the suspect list. She'd been the top of the list but it didn't take long for him to realize she makes good money, loves the museum and discovered she gets offers from other museums a few times a year. If she wanted more money, there are easier ways.

Their physical relationship starts with a small headcannon I have about the Fae having a mating season/heat or increased libido at the start of their Court's turn in power. So when Grey was hired, it was during that and Nell was supposed to be on vacation to keep herself away from people. Grey offered to... help. This goes from hook-ups to a friends with benefits relationship pretty fast.

He knows how she feels about Harry but doesn't care until the events of Skin Game where he finally meets him and basically lays it out for her. Pointing how good they are together and how she deserves to be loved no matter how little she thinks of herself. And from where he stands, it's not Dresden that could do better, it's Nell who deserves better. It takes her a little time but she agrees and they've stepped into exclusivity.

As of the current book, she's helping where she can, teaching the displaced children in the castle, helping with Fitz (she's a durable target for training), ghoul hunting at night with Grey, becoming friends with Bear and furthering her acquaintance with Lara. There's a little bit of a problem with normies harassing her recently but she's letting it blow over.

She's often seen as cold and aloof but it's a mask for the awkward history nerd she is.

Other small trivia things include:

-she's somewhere between 100-200 years old and won't say an exact number.

-During Changes she was asked by Harry to be Maggie's Fairy Godmother so that Lea might leave her alone. Nell agreed but doesn't think it would stop Lea or Mab from getting to her.

-She was forced into secrecy by Mab about Harry being alive before his return in Cold Days.

-Her brother is a gigolo and has found great wealth in it.

-She still has scars on her back from where her wings were removed.

-She has an excellent singing voice

-Frivol doesn't actually have an English accent, he uses one around Nell because he thinks it makes him closer to her. I got this idea from a video Danny Motta did with Troy Doherty for Epic's Dangerous.