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General Disclaimer
Jun. 11th, 2014 09:14 pmFor the purposes of playing with/exploring the various connections between Ancient Egypt and Greece, Callie's history blends and plays with various myths. This is done with love and research, but there are bound to be flaws. In the same respect, she's generally being used as a way to explore the intersection between the divine and the monsters in ancient myths.
Callie's Parentage
Jun. 11th, 2014 03:36 amTwo Possible Dads
There are two different candidates for Callie's father as her mother only ever said he was of the Nile. It gets a bit murky when further complicated by the fact cultural exchange between Greece and Egypt of the era means they could be the same god in different aspects, especially considering that the Egyptian candidate was frequently depicted as having two bodies at one point in time. Neilos (Nilus) is the Greek god of the Nile, depicted as a beautiful, dark skinned man who embodies everything the Nile has offered to its people and civilization and married Io after giving her shelter from both Zeus and Hera. His importance varied greatly and was more likely to be acknowledged in areas of high Ptolemaic
The truly Egyptian option is Hapi, who is one of multiple Egyptian river gods who primarily represents the fertility provided by the flooding of the Nile and how it united Upper and Lower Egypt. His fertility is depicted with large breasts and a belly, and his skin varies from that of a native Egyptian, blue, or green as part of his connection with the river. He has two different physical incarnations, one upper and one lower Egypt, and each married to Nekhbet and Wadjet respectively.
The problem lies in the fact that given the timeline and certain aspects of Callie's nature, it's very unlikely that Neilos is her father unless being born in Egypt during a height of the religion altered some part of her nature. If Nilus is her father, it's not such a big deal, but generally speaking she isn't much like him. If Hapi is her father, she might represent his infidelity from the marriages with ceremonial importance, which could be an issue in an old and very established pantheon. As such, neither can or would acknowledge her. They are still pleasant enough to her.
Egyptian Influences
Callie is subject to a blending and blurring of the two religions to a degree. Specifically, in regards to what happened when Demeter gave the Sirens wings in the hopes of finding her daughter Persephone. Callie was not simply given wings, she was given the ability to tap into a part of her soul and identity as a goddess, called the Ba. Ba, specifically, is a part of the Egyptian religion's concept of the soul that represented the purest essence of what makes that person unique.This essense is found in the form of a bird with a human head, which is remarkably similar to early depictions of sirens. Powerful gods were often shown as being able to manifest this either as their actual form and independently from themselves. Lesser gods were often depicted as only being able to take this form. Callie, when she was Ligeia, was able to tap into the transformation to various degrees.
Because of this, when she lost her wings, she lost a lot more than just her wings. She lost a part of her soul and identity as something divine, and when that was broken, something monstrous came out of her. The consequences of that break have never gone away, but time has allowed her to recover and build new parts of herself. That is where the identities of Callie and the ones before that allow her to move through the human without being dissected or destroyed get their depth and vigor. Given enough time or actual worshipers, she might be able to entirely recover as a slightly different goddess than she would have been.
There are two different candidates for Callie's father as her mother only ever said he was of the Nile. It gets a bit murky when further complicated by the fact cultural exchange between Greece and Egypt of the era means they could be the same god in different aspects, especially considering that the Egyptian candidate was frequently depicted as having two bodies at one point in time. Neilos (Nilus) is the Greek god of the Nile, depicted as a beautiful, dark skinned man who embodies everything the Nile has offered to its people and civilization and married Io after giving her shelter from both Zeus and Hera. His importance varied greatly and was more likely to be acknowledged in areas of high Ptolemaic
The truly Egyptian option is Hapi, who is one of multiple Egyptian river gods who primarily represents the fertility provided by the flooding of the Nile and how it united Upper and Lower Egypt. His fertility is depicted with large breasts and a belly, and his skin varies from that of a native Egyptian, blue, or green as part of his connection with the river. He has two different physical incarnations, one upper and one lower Egypt, and each married to Nekhbet and Wadjet respectively.
The problem lies in the fact that given the timeline and certain aspects of Callie's nature, it's very unlikely that Neilos is her father unless being born in Egypt during a height of the religion altered some part of her nature. If Nilus is her father, it's not such a big deal, but generally speaking she isn't much like him. If Hapi is her father, she might represent his infidelity from the marriages with ceremonial importance, which could be an issue in an old and very established pantheon. As such, neither can or would acknowledge her. They are still pleasant enough to her.
Egyptian Influences
Callie is subject to a blending and blurring of the two religions to a degree. Specifically, in regards to what happened when Demeter gave the Sirens wings in the hopes of finding her daughter Persephone. Callie was not simply given wings, she was given the ability to tap into a part of her soul and identity as a goddess, called the Ba. Ba, specifically, is a part of the Egyptian religion's concept of the soul that represented the purest essence of what makes that person unique.This essense is found in the form of a bird with a human head, which is remarkably similar to early depictions of sirens. Powerful gods were often shown as being able to manifest this either as their actual form and independently from themselves. Lesser gods were often depicted as only being able to take this form. Callie, when she was Ligeia, was able to tap into the transformation to various degrees.
Because of this, when she lost her wings, she lost a lot more than just her wings. She lost a part of her soul and identity as something divine, and when that was broken, something monstrous came out of her. The consequences of that break have never gone away, but time has allowed her to recover and build new parts of herself. That is where the identities of Callie and the ones before that allow her to move through the human without being dissected or destroyed get their depth and vigor. Given enough time or actual worshipers, she might be able to entirely recover as a slightly different goddess than she would have been.
The Origins of The Sirens
May. 26th, 2014 01:55 am[This is the origin of sirens as of how Callie remembers it. It's more or less accurate, but timing, number, and names all have a bit of flex to them.]
Zeus was never a faithfully married man, or at least not for long enough to make a difference, and spent nine eventful nights with the titaness Mnemosyne, who never forgot. That being not just because she was memory embodied, but because she gave birth to nine rather impressive daughters who would be named the Muses. Between the nine daughters, they were supposed to encompass all that was knowledge and art. Being more or less successful, they were not unnoticed.
According to family legend, it was Osiris who first took action, and gathered up the sisters, when he traveled the world to teach humanity how to tend the land and build civilizations until Zeus said enough is enough and called his girls home to work and answer to Apollo. Now, whether that's how it really worked or not, there can be no doubt that at least Melpomene spent a little time exploring in Egypt, given the daughter she bought back with her, named Ligeia.
Ligeia, who would become Callie, grew up with the several other daughters of the muses and river gods, raised more or less communally with the detached affection gods are capable of. In their turn, they because the attendants of Persephone while she lived on earth. Things were peaceful and joyous days, and the end was sad but not devastating. Persephone was ready to become something in her own right, and Ligeia, hitting her own adolescence of sorts, understood. When Demeter asked them to search the world for her, gifting them with wings for speed and stronger voices, they promised to search the face of the earth for her, without ever lying.
The fall, though, of these young goddesses, came after those matters were settled. No longer children, not recognized as wholly independent, the sirens grew cocky. Not only did they have the music that was their birthright and more from the harvest goddess. Goaded by Hera, they challenged their mothers and aunts to a singing contest, and failed. The cost for their loss was impossibly high. The siren's were stripped of their wings to make crowns for the wings, and abandoned to the islands that would take on their names as they became the monsters that lured men to their deaths in the effort of sustaining themselves on something more than their divine natures.
Zeus was never a faithfully married man, or at least not for long enough to make a difference, and spent nine eventful nights with the titaness Mnemosyne, who never forgot. That being not just because she was memory embodied, but because she gave birth to nine rather impressive daughters who would be named the Muses. Between the nine daughters, they were supposed to encompass all that was knowledge and art. Being more or less successful, they were not unnoticed.
According to family legend, it was Osiris who first took action, and gathered up the sisters, when he traveled the world to teach humanity how to tend the land and build civilizations until Zeus said enough is enough and called his girls home to work and answer to Apollo. Now, whether that's how it really worked or not, there can be no doubt that at least Melpomene spent a little time exploring in Egypt, given the daughter she bought back with her, named Ligeia.
Ligeia, who would become Callie, grew up with the several other daughters of the muses and river gods, raised more or less communally with the detached affection gods are capable of. In their turn, they because the attendants of Persephone while she lived on earth. Things were peaceful and joyous days, and the end was sad but not devastating. Persephone was ready to become something in her own right, and Ligeia, hitting her own adolescence of sorts, understood. When Demeter asked them to search the world for her, gifting them with wings for speed and stronger voices, they promised to search the face of the earth for her, without ever lying.
The fall, though, of these young goddesses, came after those matters were settled. No longer children, not recognized as wholly independent, the sirens grew cocky. Not only did they have the music that was their birthright and more from the harvest goddess. Goaded by Hera, they challenged their mothers and aunts to a singing contest, and failed. The cost for their loss was impossibly high. The siren's were stripped of their wings to make crowns for the wings, and abandoned to the islands that would take on their names as they became the monsters that lured men to their deaths in the effort of sustaining themselves on something more than their divine natures.
Human Persona: Callie Bell
Gender: Female
Apparent Ethnicity: Black/Mixed Race
Hair color/style: Well known for wearing a wide variety of wigs in various styles and colors, most commonly black or blond in day to day.
Eye color: Brown, occasionally altered with contacts
Height: 5'2"
Weight: She well never, ever tell you.
Tattoos: A line of Greek Text down her arm that translates to: 'Wine dark sea'
Piercings: Both ears
Physical Quirks: Her long acrylic nails and wigs hide the tendency for the former to become talon-like and her scalp to be covered in short, fine feathers when she's stressed. Her divine parentage prevents her from forming scars.
Normal Mode of Dress: Generally low cut tops, though she accomodates the necessities of professionalism. Always bright colors, though they may be toned down with a dark jacket while interviewing or at work. Day to day, she wears a lot of dresses and leggings with occasional Jeans and bright shirts. There are very few regular patterns to what she wars as she just collects based on a whims over time.
Jewelry: She's always wearing some, and generally that means a fair a mount that glitters brightly.
Scent: While animals and those with similar gifts at smell will detect an undertone of feathers, she generally uses soaps and subtle perfumes with a myrrh base because it tends to blend out the smell to human senses.
Habits: She tends to play with long wigs or run her fingers to through short wigs like she's forgotten it was short, but will quickly warn other people off anything more than the lightest touch. She's constantly testing her own dexterity with the acrylics but playing with small objects in her hands if given half a chance and has a bad habit of picking up valueless items just because they shine.
Hobbies: She tends to raise birds of some kind, when her living space is big enough. Typically songbirds or chickens. She makes her own cosplay outfits of the characters she voices for Cons. Shopping, mostly to collect brightly colored and weird objects for her shelves, or update her wardrobe.
Occupation: Voice actress. She also supplements her income by working cons, occasional voice over work, and commercials. Utterly lacks the physical acting ability to transition to the screen as well.
Other Sources of Income: A rather tidy 'inheritance' from an 'aunt' who was her previous identity. Her work life is more about her supernatural needs than financial ones.
Siren Persona: Ligeia
Vocal Abilities (Non-Supernatural): She's an accomplished mimic with very distinctly differentiated vocal personas. Her voice is, simply put, beautiful, whether speaking or singing. Her range is extreme, falling far outside of a normal person's.
Vocal Abilities (Supernatural): Her voice is innately compelling. This is a divine ability and not something she can stop, though she can turn down the volume, so to speak, and whether it focuses on making the listener feel lust, overwhelming curiosity, or paralyzing contentment at the max or medium levels. When she's just talking, it's just a matter of whatever the listener is most likely to feel in response to her. The longer a person is exposed to her, the more influence she can exert. Because it's an aspect of divinity/magic, it's more about the transaction of speaking and being heard than any specific aspect of the sound itself.
Worship and Inhuman Aspect: This is her biggest weakness. As the daughter of a muse and bearing the weight of certain curses laid down by greater gods, she needs to be worshiped in certain ways or her inhuman aspects take over, turning her into a monster somewhere between human and bird that would end up living on a river bank or island, drowning people to sustain itself with their sacrifices until a hero showed up and killed her. The attention and affection of the people who listen to her through events like cons and the series she works on manages to sustain her at nearly human levels. Overly obsessive and potentially dangerous fans have on two occasions had to be talked into sacrificing themselves for her glory to keep them from becoming an actual danger to her. Those deaths have made it easier maintain her human physical aspects other than occasional talons and feathers when she's worn down.
Healing: As a semi-/divine being, she heals entirely and quickly from almost any given wound enough time and attention. However, sufficiently violent acts such as decapitation or dismemberment can end in her death.
Memory: There are gaps and blurred spots in her memory that can't simply be explained by the fact she's a very old being. Periods of little or poor worship as well transitioning between requiring the regular deaths of sailors to finding other methods of sacrifice and power have had a cost on her general health. She's lost large portions of her past and a sense of connection to big portions of it. As a result, she tends to focus more on the present and the new shiny things than the discomfort of her past.
