Shelley van Lowe is the former owner of Van Lowe Taxidermy in Lewisburg.
Background[]
Growing up in strange old Lewisburg, Shelley's life was tied closely to the business she and her brother, Calvin van Lowe, eventually inherited. Living alongside her brother and witnessing how he struggled with his obsessions and especially the cryptid mythology tied to Appalachia resulted in a protective streak towards her brother. After Calvin finished college and left to work for Bysshe Company out of state, she focused on running the shop as its main proprietor.[2] She continued many of the business relationships started by her parents, including a fateful one with Clark Interior and Furniture.[3]
Flirting with Deborah Timmerman, one of the co-owners, using the receipt system comments since at least January 2076,[4] Shelley developed feelings for Deborah, which were reciprocated and blossomed into genuine affection by April. As Deborah was married to Gregory Timmerman, the women decided to use the comment system on the Van Lowe receipts for communication, seemingly afraid of Greg's reaction.[5]
As a side-effect, the receipts were withheld from bookkeeping for a year, leading Gregory to contact Shelley directly about the matter in August 2077.[3] Shelley immediately broke contact, afraid for Deborah, who reached out again on October 7, after switching to paper copies of receipts with the comments omitted. Shelley missed Deborah greatly and genuinely needed her support. Her brother recently returned to Lewisburg, in a worse shape than he left and seemed to relapse into old habits. Shelley settled on a birthday trip the following Friday to take her mind off things,[6] especially since she didn't believe that Calvin was back on a contract for his company.[2]
She was completely unaware of the extent of Calvin's involvement with Bysshe and the horrific face of American capitalism, or the fact the foundations of the taxidermy shop were converted into a robotic development lab focused on the Imposter Sheepsquatch after Calvin sold the shop to Bysshe literally from out under her.[7] When Calvin disappeared on October 19 after suffering an assault by the rogue robot, Shelley reached out to Deborah. The two contacted the police and set out look for Calvin, pinning up posters across Appalachian railway stations and hoping to find a trace of where Aries has gone to.[8][9] Shelley pursued her own investigation, struggling with the weird code set up by Bysshe.[10]
The Great War occurred just four days later, changing priorities for everyone. Shelley stuck with Deborah, Gregory, and the young Carver. While Gregory realized what was going on between his wife and Shelley, he accepted their relationship.[11] Tragedy struck in November, shortly after the bombs,[12] as Gregory disappeared while following up a lead on a stash in the Burning Mine.[13] Together with Carver's health failing due to the Ash Heap's corrosive environment,[14] Deborah reached out to Shelley and the two abandoned Appalachia for Kentucky in the west.[15] She left a farewell tape for Calvin, hoping that one day he'd reach out to her.[16]
Shelley, Deborah, and Carver moved to "where Mom and Dad said [they]'d always live some day": Kentucky.[16] Shelley, using her skills at working with animals and taxidermy, became a trapper, providing Deborah with furs for trade, and eventually forming business ties with Blue Ridge Caravan Company. She adopted and raised Carver Timmerman as her son,[15][12] and despite the passage of time, she keeps a spot for her brother close in her heart. He's her one soft spot: While she's normally brave and strong, Carver can't help but notice that she behaves in a different fashion whenever she talks of Calvin - and she does that a lot, sharing stories with Carver.[17]
Both Shelley and Deborah are still alive and together as of 2104,[18] though Deborah came down with sickness. With Shelley required to maintain the fur supply chains, the young Carver was sent to Appalachia to work with Vinny Costa as merchant. Struggling with an identity crisis,[12] and potentially open up a path towards reconciliation between the siblings after 25 years of separation.[19]
Notes[]
- The spelling of her first name is inconsistent, as both "Shelley" and "Shelly" are used at different points.
- As a lesbian character, Shelley is an example of the representation of LGBT people in the Fallout series.
Appearances[]
Shelley van Lowe is mentioned only in Fallout 76, introduced in the Wild Appalachia update.
Behind the scenes[]
- Shelley is voiced by Rachel Butera, who also voiced Anne Litzinger and Trish in Wild Appalachia. In localized versions of the game, her voice is dubbed by Anni Sultany (German).
- Shelley and Deborah's relationship was previously only hinted at in-game, although designer Carl McKevitt confirmed that Shelley is Deborah's significant other and that Shelley is Carver's stepmother.[Non-game 1] These family dynamics were later confirmed in-game with the Once in a Blue Moon update.
References[]
- ↑ Libby Wen: "Is there no one else from your family that can run shipments for you, Carver?"
Carver Timmerman: "Well my mom used to do this before she got sick. And I guess Shelley could, but then we'd be down a trapper. Why do you ask? I'm not very good at this, am I?"
(Carver Timmerman and Libby Wen's dialogue) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Life with Calvin
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Van Lowe Taxidermy terminal entries; terminal, Receipt: 8/2/2077
- ↑ Van Lowe Taxidermy terminal entries; terminal, Receipt: 1/11/2076
- ↑ Van Lowe Taxidermy terminal entries; terminal, Receipt: 4/2/2076
- ↑ Van Lowe Taxidermy terminal entries; terminal, Receipt: 10/7/2077
- ↑ Property deed
- ↑ Wanted: Sheepsquatch
- ↑ Van Lowe Taxidermy terminal entries; terminal, Refund Order: 10/19/2077
- ↑ Where is it?
- ↑ G. Timmerman, last words
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Carver Timmerman: "Oh, ha. Yeah, I guess that can get pretty confusing. So my mom-- my birth mom, I mean-- is Debbie. She handles all the orders and stuff for our stock. My other mom is Shelley-- she's from Lewisburg too. They both left town during the war and fell in love, I think. As long as I can remember, Shelley's been my mom, too. She's helped raised me since I was a baby. But mom says that dad died just after the bombs. He never made it out of Lewisburg. That's all I know. And... don't get me wrong. My family is perfect. I wouldn't trade it for anything. But, learning about him could be like... learning about me? Maybe?"
(Carver Timmerman's dialogue) - ↑ Note from Greg
- ↑ Van Lowe Taxidermy terminal entries; terminal, Pending Response: 11/17/2077
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Vault 76 dweller: "Where are you from?"
Carver Timmerman: "Well I was born around here actually, but my mom moved us sometime after the war. Now we've
live in a settlement out in what used to be Kentucky, I guess. Maybe it still is Kentucky? I don't know, I tried reading some old geography text books as a kid, seemed like a waste of time now, though."
(Carver Timmerman's dialogue) - ↑ 16.0 16.1 Van Lowe Taxidermy terminal entries; terminal, Please Read, From Shelley
- ↑ Vault 76 dweller: "Shelley from Lewisburg? Like Shelley van Lowe?"
Carver Timmerman: "Oh! You must have followed those posters. Yep! That's Shelley. She tells me stories about her brother, Calvin, all the time. Sheepsquatch excluded. Shelley is normally so brave and strong all the time, but I love to see how she gets when she talks about him... Her eyes are just... different. Would have been cool to have an uncle, too, but I guess a Sheepsquatch ate him or something! ... Oh, that's probably kind of dark. Sorry."
(Carver Timmerman's dialogue) - ↑ Discarded letter
- ↑ Vault 76 dweller: "How are things with your family?"
Aries: "I don't have the courage to face Shelley in person just yet... But I did leave a letter with Carver. Next time he heads back, I asked him to deliver it to her... He's a good kid. Spending time with him has been... pretty fulfilling, actually. He's more of a fainting lamb than a Sheepsquatch, and that's all right by me. Preferable, actually."
(Aries' dialogue)
Non-game