Amy-Rose Cisneros
From Changeling Venue
| Seeming | Elemental Manikin |
|---|---|
| Court | Winter Court |
| Freehold | Stormwatch (Richmond, VA) |
| Player | Brenna Beattie |
Contents |
Overview
Alias(es): Amy Clockson (Pen Name), DJ Gearhead Sally (on Radio Free Fae)
Real Name: Maria Cleofilas "Cleo" Callahan
Location: Richmond, VA
Age: 23
Seeming: Elemental
Kith:Manikin
Court: Winter
Virtue: Fortitude
Vice: Envy
Concept: Clockwork Counselor
Physical description:
Mask: Amy, from behind, at least, doesn't look very Hispanic at all. But her blunt, round face makes it obvious. Her strawberry blond hair reaches past her waist in soft waves and her almond-shaped, sage green eyes are sad and weary. Her skin is golden, tinged bronze by the sun and freckled. She's tall and curvy, with graceful hands and feet. When not at work, she is fond of ruffles and lace, favoring an antique mode of attire. At work, she wears the stylish and sophisticated garb of any other businesswoman. Yet somehow, it seems somewhat wrong and out of place.
Mien: Beneath the "California Girl" facade, Amy appears as an intricate clockwork robot. Her skin is patched together from random precious metal plates, except for her face, which seems to be the part most of the craftsmanship went into, made of a single gold plate. Her face is airbrushed to have a doll-like rosy glow, with tiny jewels set to make a tear design down one cheek. Her eyes are mother of pearl, black opal and green amber, with her hair made of gold and copper wire and silk threads.
Mantle: Amy's mantle appears as the sharp, metallic scent of the first snow of winter and the taste of snow on the tongue. A faint heartbeat-like ticking can be heard.
Relevant Mechanics:
Character Livejournal: The Girl with the Clockwork Heart [[1]]
History
Basic Timeline:
October 14th, 1972-- Born to Michael and Lucia Callahan
April 6th, 1984-- Younger brother Ethan Connor Callahan is born.
December 24th, 1986-- Callahan family dies in car accident. Cleo survives and is captured by the Others. Reported as dead when fetch is found and, later, buried alive.
December 25th, 2000-- A homeless teenage girl appears alongside I 95 with two older men walking towards Richmond.
January 6th, 2000-- Picked up by Child Services in a cemetary, where she is found alone, clutching an old pair of child's boots and screaming at the grave of Ethan Connor Callahan about "duckies". Further investigation reveals that she claims to be Maria Cleofilas Callahan, a girl who died in the 80's. She is placed in the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls, under the name "Amy-Rose".
February 14th, 2000-- Placed into foster care under Tristis Venia of Richmond.
Early 2001-- Admitted to Willow Oaks Rehab Center 6 times for various drug-related illnesses.
September 2001 -- June 2004-- Enrolled at Lucy Snow Academy
August 2004 -- May 2006-- Attends VCU
Current Activities: Working for the City of Richmond's Forensic Lab as a Grief Counselor
Merit Details:
Background:
Once upon a time, there was a child called Cleo. She was as lovely as Christmas and as dark as a secret and her family loved her. She was petted and spoiled, growing into a beautiful but prideful girl. It seemed that she would always be proud and spoiled.
But then her mother had another child, a boy with golden curls they called Ethan. Soon the family's attentions turned elsewhere and Cleo began to resent the presence of her younger brother. She longed to be fawned over again and her resentment might have turned to loathing, had Fate not intervened.
It was Christmas Eve and the family had gone to visit the father's mother in another town. There was no heat in the car, so everyone stayed bundled up. Everyone, that is, except Ethan. He removed his boots and tossed them aside. Cleo was forced to retrive them and put them back on him. Once he threw them too far for Cleo to get them and her father at the wheel had to grab them.
The next thing Cleo knew, she was waking with her head throbbing and death in the air. She looked around and, although her eyes were open, she couldn't understand that her mother and father, her sister and eldest brother were dead. All she saw was a string of small bare footprints in the snow and all her mind understood was that she would be in trouble if her brother became ill by not having his boots on.
She ran through snow and wind, screaming her brother's name, until she began to tumble down the steep hill beside the highway. When she came to a stop, she was in a clearing facing four people of great beauty. The two ladies, garbed in blue and green, and two lords in gray and black. The Lord in Gray held Ethan in his arms.
As one, they began to honor her, bowing and kissing her hand, calling her "My Lady", "Your Highness", and "Star of Arcadia". The Lord in Gray smiled charmingly at her, like a gemcutter might smile at a flawless, but rough diamond.
"My lady, we've found you at last!" he cried, "Your lady mother, the Queen of Arcadia, died bringing you to life and it brought your father such pain to look upon you, he sent you to be raised by mortal men. But His Majesty is dead now! It's time you took your place as our Queen. We are yours to command, My Lady."
At first, Cleo was delighted. But perhaps a part of her still loved her brother, for she found she could only think of his safety.
"Please, sir," she said, "If we can return my little brother to the top of the hill and to my parents first, I'll gladly go with you."
Something she said or did just then enraged the Lords and Ladies. They screamed and howled, circling her and brandishing knives. The Lord in Gray snarled at her.
"Then, foolish girl, you must choose!" he said, "One shall go and one shall remain. Which shall it be, your brother or yourself?"
The cold, the crash and the fear made Cleo confused. "But if I choose, does the one I choose stay?"
"Choose!" He snapped, "Your brother or yourself?"
"But, if I choose, does the one I choose go?"
"Choose! Your brother or yourself?"
"Myself!" She screamed, "I choose myself!"
The Lord in Gray then handed Ethan to the Lady in Blue and said, "A bargain is a bargain, my lady." The Lady cursed and swept away in a swirl of azure silk. The Lord sprang upon Cleo and, with a sweep of his gray wolf-fur cloak, they were gone.
The girl was taken to Arcadia. Her mind clouded and her skin hardened to marble. She was made to work long and hard, cooking, cleaning, mending and toting for the Lord of the Gray Cloak and his Chatelaines, cold, shriveled creatures who whipped and screamed at her if she slowed or grew tired. Yet, she seemed not to notice. Only one thing occupied her mind; the desire to know what had happened to little Ethan. When another Faerie came with their entourage, she would creep out to try and glimpse a head of golden curls and a little pair of bare feet. And with each look, she was disappointed. Yet, she refused to give up.
The girl was a living statue and ice is not kind to stone. Water crept into the cracks of her marble skin and froze, thawing with each cookfire and freezing again with each floor scrubbed. The grinding of her movements turned her skin to dust, which turned to mud and washed away. One day, the stone cracked away from her fingers, leaving only bone and a screeching pain. But, she was put back to work and, with each passing day, the beautiful young girl became horrifying. Her beautiful black hair fell out in clumps, the cracks crept up her arms and began at her feet, inching up her legs. Her eyes shattered and fell out bit by bit. Soon, there was only the smallest portion of face left and she was useless.
As she lay abandoned in a dark room, she felt sure the pain would kill her. But soon, someone came, someone with a voice like a serpent and scaly skin, and carried her away. They traveled for several days, all the while with him complaining how he wasn't suited to this, he was no errand boy. Despite his irritation, he did show Cleo one moment of kindness.
One night, as they camped, Cleo felt a rim being pressed to the remains of her lips and liquid wetting the dusty rock. She drank and tried to give him a smile of thanks. She was amazed to find that, not only was she no longer thirsty, but she no longer felt the pain.
Soon, he left her in a heap by a door. As he walked away, another of similar making crept near and looked upon her with pity.
"You don't have to suffer," he whispered, "I have a knife. It wouldn't hurt at all. One quick stab and it's over." But Cleo shook her head. She couldn't give up. She had to find Ethan. Another voice, quavering with age, shooed the lizard away and carried the girl inside.
She felt him knock on her joints, feel along her bones, and poke between her ribs, then, there was a sound of chalk on parchment. A door opened and a voice she remembered from what seemed like a long time ago began questioning when her doll would be ready and would she be pretty again. The older voice replied solemnly, but complained after she left. He didn't think it fair that a slip of a half-grown girl should be treated this way.
She stirred up the last of her voice and managed to ask, "Please, sir, have you seen a little boy with yellow hair and bare feet?"
The old man sighed. "No, girl," he said, "I haven't seen him." Cleo fell silent again. But, as he turned back to his duties, he could hear her heart breaking.
Her heart was replaced with an old pocket watch that ticked just right. He made her new flesh of wires and gears and skin of gold, silver and copper. Her hair was made of gold and copper silk and wire. He crafted eyes of green amber, alabaster and black opal. He made her as beautiful, perhaps more than she had been. But, she was missing something of the life that she'd had. For the Lady in Blue didn't have her brother after all.
Cleo was well-treated, at first. Her hair was brushed, her clothes were clean and she was talked to at parties. All she had to do was be beautiful and smile and laugh. But soon, the Lady grew tired of her and demanded she be put away on a high shelf to make room for a new amusement. For many days, she lay alone, weeping and sighing. But, she had not been forgotten completely.
The old smith who had felt such pity for her came and tended to her everyday. Soon he began to neglect other duties. The Lady became suspicious and sent the lizard, her assassin and hunter, to eliminate whatever distraction he had.
One night, as the smith tended to her rusting joints, he told her he was escaping. At first, she wept. But he told her they were escaping together. "And so will you, Master Lizard, if you keep your mouth closed," He said. Though there was no answer, other voices rose up, begging to come along. They all knew that none of them would be free unless they worked together to escape.
That night, as they waited, the Lizard killed the goblin guards. They avoided traps, stumbled over stone and root as they ran quietly from the beautiful horror that was the Lady in Blue.
Cleo remembered little that happened next until she was waking up in a cemetary, weeping over her brother's grave. Two men in uniforms were pulling her away and trying to take away her brother's boots. Women in suits told her that the "real Cleo" had died many years ago, and she was either mad or a liar. And with that, Cleo was forced to choose a name for herself. Though she would always be Cleo, she would never speak the name again. She chose a name out of teenaged fancy, "Amy-Rose Thorne", and it was accepted.
They put her among other orphans and abandoned toys, who teased and bullied her for dominance. She allowed it and, when odd things happened around her, she ignored the cries of "witch". She simply didn't care anymore.
One day, a woman came to take her away, a beautiful woman, just like her. Her skin was like bark and her hair was raven black. They called her "Tristis", she who sorrows. She knew the pain of Arcadia and the pain of returning from it. She gave Amy a home, shelter, and the love of a friend. But it was only half of what she needed to heal her broken heart.
The girl fell in with a crowd of wicked youths, who drank and poisoned themselves, doing as they pleased and taking special joy in treating Amy as a lackey. Whatever new foulness they wanted to test they gave to her. Lacking the will to refuse, she did, often with awful results. As she stumbled home, high and dreaming, she was saved from a horrible fate by the Lizard, who had been watching out for her and who had seen and had enough of her foolishness. She remembered herself and understood she had to change.
And change she did. She found new, truer friends, followed the call of a new freehold and sought a calling, a calling found in salving the sorrows of others.
Perhaps her heart is still not whole and her dreams are still filled with the cries of her lost brother. But, at least now, she has a purpose.
Associations & Associates
Adia--"I know we knew each other. But I don't remember how. Maybe the Bitch in Blue kept her."
Mavis Thornsby--"She saved my life. She helped me get home and she put in a good word when I found a place for myself in the Onyx Court. She's a good woman, for, y'know, a bit of a curmudgeon."
Kirk--"I loved him once. I wouldn't say no to coffee with him, but I learned more from him when he left than when he was around. I just hope that wasn't my last chance for romance. This life sucks as it is."
Lilium--"I swear I know her. Don't ask me how, but her face is in my dreams of the Shelves. It's spooky."
Ryhoz_Whately--"Ever meet someone on the street and swear to God you've met them before but can't figure out where? Yeah, that's what I get off of him."
Character Inspirations
Lily Lebowsky--Crossing Jordan (TV series by Tim Kring)
Hunter--"As If" (webcomic, written by Amy Mebberson)
Sarah--"Labyrinth" (Jim Henson and Brian Froud)
The Ballet "Coppelia"
The Tinman--The Wizard of Oz (Children's Story by L. Frank Baum)
"When You Were Young"--The Killers
Soundtrack
"Haunted"--Poe
"I'm Not Okay"--My Chemical Romance
"Us"--Regina Spektor
"Music Box"--Regina Spektor
"Away from the Sun"--3 Doors Down
"Tear You Apart"--She Wants Revenge
The Myst III: Exile Soundtrack--Jack Wall
"Twilight"-Vanessa Carlton
"Even In Death"-Evanescence
"Sweet Sacrifice"-Evanescence
"Passion"--Utada Hikaru
"Simple and Clean"--Utada Hikaru
"Amphetamine"--Everclear
"Still Alive"--Portal Soundtrack
"When You Were Young"--The Killers
"Fairy Tale"-Sara Bareilles
((Still under development))
Quotes
"I'm so sorry for your loss."
"Okay, which one of you Wizened jerk-offs has been playing Jesus Christ with my coffee?"
(completely deadpan) "Ha. You made a funny."
"You think you're SO cute!"
"Will you PLEASE not do that? My heart can only tick so fast!"
(Soft, pensive ticking) "What? What noise?"
(After being shocked out of "running down") "Huh-wha? What? I'm fine!"
Rumors
Amy-Rose is a recovering drug addict, but what drugs exactly are a source of speculation.
The gems on Amy's cheek will turn black when her Keeper is near.
Amy's heart isn't a pocket watch. It's a time bomb.
Amy's collection of pocket watches and rubber ducks is some kind of ward against being recaptured.
Clockwork made one of her pocket watches. Sometimes it even talks to her... (drop me an email!)
The "Toy Story" movies make her cry hysterically.
Her doll collection was rescued from Arcadia, because she thought they were her sisters.
She makes a dandy cell-phone tower when she wears heels.
((Feel free to tack on something!))
