Callisto Perry

the supervisor, the protector. my favorite.

Callie, Izz, Izzy.

cis woman (she/her,) aro ace.

17y 11mo as of the story's beginning.

~5'10, 5'11

brown with highlights from the sun.

long and wavy, usually left down but occasionally in a fancy half-up style.

china blue with green and grey streaks.

biracial/mixed

warm light beige with lots of freckles.

she's thin, muscled like a runner.

assorted scars, a few diy tattoos.

crossing her arms, tapping her feet, folding her hands like a CEO, "manspreading," checking her watch (whether she has one on or not,) drumming her fingers on any nearby surface, flipping people off, looking through her bag to avoid eye contact. She's very vigilant and often stubborn, where she will recognize a threat and pretend she doesn't, just to be willful. She tends to goad people into becoming her problem, but won't outright start a problem. She also often pushes people's buttons, saying unusual or off color things to test their limits. This comes out especially when she feels threatened.

to protect, to maintain, to keep hold of. she's not traditional in any sense but she's very sentimental and her past means a lot to her. she wants a good life for her sisters and for her close friends. Lou is probably comparable to her sisters or father in terms of her protectiveness towards him. even subconsciously, she always keeps him and her family in mind when making choices.

very very angry, just doesn't know how to deal with many strong emotions. watches her own life from the sidelines, doesn't know how to be ok.

anyone who's hurt someone she cares about is public enemy number one to her.

can skateboard, actually good at driving, and she's very good at comforting people.

fixing or reinforcing things (she sometimes modifies her furniture so it's sturdier/more functional,) skating, going on adventures.

libra sun, sag moon, cap rising, intj and her love language is physical touch.

atheist

she doesn't think about politics all too much.

aspiring trucker but currently in her senior year of highschool.

yooperlite orange, dark brown, indigo blue.

pretzels. salty, sweet, flavored, it doesn't matter. she basically likes anything salty. also enjoys sparkling water (monster.)

her ouija board. alternately, her hairties. she also very much values her backpack.

mmm the girl has no patience I think she'd want a gun.

ferrets!

she works as a bagger at a grocery store. she hates it.

october 18th

currently in her senior year of highschool.

TW!! Callisto is groomed as part of her backstory, proceed with caution.

Callisto's mother, Malinda, is a serial cheater who tends to have a lax attitude towards personal responsibility. She uses pregnancy and children as a sort of inevitability and relationship insurance, though she certainly doesn't want any. Through her relationships, her desire to use any form of birth control tends to vanish, and lo and behold, there's suddenly a baby on the way.

Callisto's father Devon is the complete opposite. He is very loyal and always wanted children. Because of his disability, he has a hard time working and doesn't often end up leaving the house. When he begins dating Callisto's mother, he begins relying on her somewhat as his long-term girlfriend, the one who goes shopping and generates a bit of extra income for them, etc. He relies on her for stability, and he still loves her. He is aware of her cheating, but at that point, he would have to move out, take a huge financial loss, and essentially start all over. He resigns himself to her cheating even further when she tells him she is pregnant with his child. At this point, he would take her cheating until the day he dies if that means she'll stay with him and their daughter, and actually be a mother to her. He wants the kid to have a stable family. Unfortunately for him, it's not even three years into raising Callisto that she gets pregnant again, and this time there is no announcement. By the time Devon realizes she's hiding a pregnancy, he also realizes there's only one reason she could be doing so-- her long term AP is the father. He kicks her out to go live with him, and she does, leaving Callisto behind.

For the next four years, Callisto's childhood is pretty normal. Her father is attentive to her and tries his best to be a good dad. She is happy. But unfortunately for them, because I'm writing this, it doesn't last. Shortly after Callisto turns seven, Devon's disability has progressed enough that he can no longer take care of Callisto full-time by himself. He forces himself to suck up his pride, hire a lawyer, and negotiate custody with Callisto's mother.

The agreement they land on is this- Callisto spends weekends at her dad's, but she will have to spend weekdays with her mother, her mother's boyfriend, and her two (soon to be three) little sisters. (For any future reference, their names are Eleanor, Lilian, and Elizabeth, in age order. Or: Nora, Lily, and Elizabeth)

Callisto is only seven, but she was raised (and naturally is) very family oriented, so she immediately takes to babysitting. This means that her mother and "stepfather" (they're not married but for brevity I will call him that) see her as a very convenient live-in nanny. Their approach to parenting is this: only intervene when you absolutely have to. The walls can be covered in crayon, food can be rotting through the seals of the fridge, and all four kids can have raging fevers, but until one of the parents hears a noise they don't like, it will all go ignored. Of course, when they do hear a noise they don't like, it's not like they man up and do a good job of it. Callisto's stepfather, considering himself the man of the house, and considering her "not his kid, not his problem," takes out much of his frustration with the house, the girls, even his girlfriend, on Callisto. But because she isn't his child, he never hits her. The abuse is purely emotional. The same can't be said for Callisto's sisters.

Nora, the oldest (three years younger than Callisto) does try to help as she grows up. She and Callisto have the closest thing to a sister relationship out of all four children. Lily was only a year old when Callisto moved in, as opposed to Nora's four years. And Elizabeth is only a year younger than Lily. So, with the two youngest, Callisto is more of a mother figure to them.

As she ages, she grows closer to her sisters and much more resentful of her mother. The obligation she feels to her sisters keeps her from telling her father or anyone at school, and she resists moving back in with him despite knowing he would say yes if she asked. She feels older than she is, and can't relate to her classmates. Because of this, she starts spending time with older people, especially older men, and this is how she meets her first (and last) ever boyfriend, Cyrus. He's 17, and she's 12, and at first they're not much more than friends who hang out and watch his friends get high behind the highschool. She feels protected by the idea of having an older boy around. Maybe he would even stand up to her stepfather. Cyrus has a very specific idea of his relationship with Callisto. He wants them to date the way 17-year-olds date, and she's only 12 with no concept of or desire for romance. At his persuasion and the goading of his friends, she starts being more affectionate with him. For reasons she doesn't understand, he and his friends think this is hilarious. She feels like a dog or some type of circus animal. She wants him to be nice to her the way he was before the dating element was brought in, so she asks him if they can hang out more without his friends. He is very on board with this idea.

When they start spending time alone, the laughing and prodding at her stops. Instead, it's a lot of watching movies and playing video games together, and emergency sleepovers at his house. It's also a lot of being shaken awake in the middle of the night and asked to "take care of something" for him, and even more protest when she rolls over and ignores him. The demands grow more frequent, then harsher, and the protests become louder and eventually violent. When Callisto, who is now 13, tells him she read about something called "asexual" and thinks it might describe her, he decides it's his job to "fix that" for her. His coercion becomes outright violence and one day, in the process, he cuts much of Callisto's hair off. (This leads to a strong fixation on growing out her hair, and the ability to care for it.) Callisto doesn't know how to manage two abusive households and her little sisters. She just shuts down. Nora, now 10, tries her best to pick up the slack, but she's never had to do this before and her parents are much harsher when she can't pull it off. This, of course, only makes Callisto feel worse.

Eventually, when Callisto is nearly 15, Cyrus is arrested on an unrelated charge of assault and battery. With him in jail, she has neither the sexual abuse nor the place to hide from her home life. Her mother's nagging and pestering gets worse and worse until she finally admits to everything that's been happening over the last 2, almost 3 years. And her mother doesn't believe her. Not only that, she tells everyone she can find what a liar her daughter is. This marks a shift for Callisto-- as a child, she was emotionally receptive and almost meek. Now, she's angry, closed off, and quiet. She dedicates herself to growing stronger, both physically and emotionally, so no one could overpower her. Even still, there's a nagging thought in the back of her mind that Cyrus is only less powerful than her now because he's locked up. Were they to meet, he might still be able to take her in a fight. Or worse than a fight.

She starts getting into fights with her stepfather, physically attacking him when he gets violent toward her sisters. They become her motivation, and he her scapegoat. Not that it isn't deserved. The constant fights escalate until she finally insists on moving out at 17. She visits on weekends to find the house trashed and the girls helpless to do much about it. Nora (14) turns inwards, open only to her sisters and a few close friends. Lily (12) focuses on daydreams and creative outlets. And Elizabeth (11) tries to get attention in any way she can think to. The calm of her father's house may have upended her life if not for the chaos she still found every weekend. Still, it is an improvement for her. She gradually gets into fewer fights, gets back to attending a few classes, and is on good enough terms with those teachers. This is when we meet her at the Owl Camp.

(disclaimer: this is not based on me, don't call anyone. Cyrus is based on a whole bunch of people I did or do know, but he isn't a 1:1 of anyone. and her home life is not based off mine at all, it just felt like her backstory. excuse the essay, I love Callisto and I want everything good for her.)

playlist!

⏯ Sweet Talk - Saint Motel
⏯ Know Me - The Band CAMINO
⏯ Oh Klahoma - Jack Stauber
⏯ Good Grief - Bastille
⏯ Everybody Lost Somebody - Bleachers
⏯ Mind Over Matter - Young the Giant
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