Prep Challenge Day 5: Beauty is Blind

Some of the Basics First:
Full Name –Calista Rose Shepherd
Meaning of Name –Most Beautiful Rose
Nickname –Callie (she hates it, but Briony occasionally uses it); Rose (Damien's pet name for her)
Birth Date – Wintersong (December) 21, year of the Lion
Astrological Sign and Details –Sagittarius, like me. “Few people have such power of self-determination as a Sagittarius born on December 21. They can transform themselves from ugly duckling to beautiful swan. When an idea grabs them, they can make their dreams reality. They quickly spot intellectual dishonesty. These men and women subconsciously seek out friends who can give them validation. They seldom become romantically involved with someone who lacks the potential to be a friend. They place great importance on partnership in marriage. The relationships made in childhood affect lives of December 21 people forever. All the baggage that comes with a difficult childhood can weigh on their emotional health. Despite this, they are excellent parents who can transcend their negative experiences. 
These individuals have the ability to reach the very top of their field once they learn to have confidence in their abilities. Enormously talented, they can nevertheless be hamstrung unless they appreciate their gifts. When they learn how not to be their own worst enemy, their goals are apt to materialize.”
Birth Place –her house
Age --16
Nationality – Leandan
Race – white
Hair Color --brown
Hair Style –curly, just past shoulder length.  Usually braided by Aurelia in one braid so that it stays out of the way.  Calista hates the braid.
Shape and Features of Face – a pleasant shape and features.  Nothing obnoxiously ugly.  Not that she'd know.
Glasses or Contacts –no.
Eye Color --violet
Skin Tone –pale
Scars or Distinguishing Marks --
Disabilities –blind, cursed with it.
Build or Body Type --average
Height – 5'1”
Weight –115 lb
Special Abilities or Powers –the ability to see “life smudges”

Family and Childhood:
Mother – Elani Mercer Shepherd
Father – Flavian Shepherd
Mother's Occupation – Daughter of a wealthy merchant
Father's Occupation – Shepherd dreaming of being a merchant
Family Finances – low middle class.  Elani comes from a mid-upper class family.
Birth Order – youngest
Brothers – Gabriel, twin, deceased.
Sisters – Aurelia Dawn (+5 years) and Briony Sage (+3 years)
Other Close Family – grandfather Quentyn
Best Friend – her sister Briony...does that count?  She doesn't get out much.
Other Friends – her other sister Aurelia, on a good day.  They're closer than most sisters, but not quite friends, if you know what I mean.
Enemies – Her father, at times.  Julian, at times.  Damien, at times.  And Ignatius, though she doesn't realize it at first.
Pets – Not really.  She has sheep.
Home Life During Childhood – She likes to cook (sometimes) and play the tin whistle and sing.  Her chores include weaving and knitting.
Town or City Name(s) – She lives in the province of Leander in Gaiane.
Details of Town(s) or City(s) – Leander is ruled by the neighboring kingdom of Sanglier. 
What Did His or Her Bedroom Look Like – she shares a loft with her sisters.  It's clean and tidy and is always the same.  She doesn't move anything.
Any Sports or Clubs – no
Favorite Toy or Game – “Bread and Butter” a game she made up with her sisters.  A type of everyone's-blind Marco Polo, until it ends in her nearly drowning.  Her whistle is her favorite toy.
Schooling – None, really.  Her sisters and occasionally, her father, tell her stories and teach her how to do math in her head and memorize things.
Favorite Subject – She likes stories, and wishes she could read.
Popular or Loner – loner
Important Experiences or Events – Almost drowns at age 8 while playing “Bread and Butter”  13 year old Aurelia saves her.  She falls into a watering hole.  When Calista turns 13, Briony gives uses rare purple dye to make purple thread to embroider the edge of Calista's brown hand-me-down cloak.  Flavian is less than happy.
Health Problems – she's blind.
Culture – magic exists, but is not widely practiced.  Only a few know how to use it and fewer still use it for good.
Religion and beliefs – believes in God and uses prayer beads.  Also believes in angels and magic.

Your Character's Character:
Habits – Trying to look at whoever is speaking.
Best Characteristic – fairly optimistic.
Worst Characteristic – doesn't believe that she's equal in worth to her sisters because of her blindness.  It's not necessarily a bad thing to her; she accepts it as a fact of life.  It doesn't bother her much. Treats herself like a throw-away.
Worst Memory – Almost drowning at the age of 8.
Best Memory – The red (unconditional love) life smudge of her mother before she died.  Th only time Calista has seen red.
Proud of – her music.  Her singing voice.
Embarrassed by – her actions, clothing when she dresses herself, things caused by her disability.
Driving Style – she doesn't drive for 2 obvious reasons: no cars, and she's blind.
Fear/Phobias – unfamiliar places.  And water.  An extreme fear and water
Secrets – Her ability to “see” life smudges.  Doesn't really tell people about it.
Regrets – that she hadn't “killed” her mother and twin brother. 
Feels Vulnerable When – in a place she is unfamiliar with; doesn't know where she is.
Pet Peeves – “Are you blind?”  Having to tell people she's blind, people thinking that since she can't see them, she can't hear them or she isn't really there.
Conflicts – her father has condemned himself to death or one of his daughters to lifelong imprisonment.
Motivation – to save her father.
Short Term Goals and Hopes – After the main conflict, to save her father.  To prove to him and her sisters that she's worth something.  To survive living in the castle with Damien. To see so she can learn to read.
Long Term Goals and Hopes – To find love, which she believes is impossible.  To prove to her family that she's worth something, despite her blindness.  To discover what this “curse” her father keep mentioning is, and how she can break it, what it's doing to her.
Sexuality – she's straight.  Seriously?
Exercise Routine – none.
Day or Night Person – It's always night on Planet Calista, so night person.
Introvert or Extrovert – usually forced to be an introvert because she's afraid to go out, but would rather be an extrovert.
Optimist or Pessimist – Optimist.  Insanely and oddly so.

Likes and Styles:
Music – playing it.  Making it up.
Books – can't read, but loves stories of all kinds.  Especially fairy tales.
Foods – lamb stew
Drinks – milk, water- the only time she likes water.
Animals – birds and sheep.  She's a shepherd.
Sports – “Bread and Butter”
Social Issues – doesn't really know of any.  Lives “under a rock”
Favorite Saying – “Pox it!”
Color – Red. Because it means unconditional love to her.
Clothing – Her dress and cloak.  Hates her apron.
Jewelry – the rose ring her mother gave her before she died.
Games – Bread and Butter
Greatest Want –
Greatest Need –

Where and How Does Your Character Live Now:
Home – her cottage in Leander.
Household furnishings – just a bit more than the basics.  She and her 2 sisters share two beds in one room in the loft.
Favorite Possession – her tin whistle
Most Cherished Possession – her mother's rose ring
Neighborhood – live out in the boonies.  Don't really have a neighborhood.
Town or City Name – Leander.
Details of Town or City – got taken over by Sanglier.  Is ruled by King Haemon and Queen Olympia.
Married Before – no.
Significant Other Before – no.
Children – no.
Hobbies – music.
Guilty Pleasure – colors.  She's extremely fascinated with colors.
Talents or Skills – music.  And memorizing things.  Anything she hears, she remembers.
Intelligence Level – she's very smart, just limited by her blindness.
Greatest Strength – her optimism.
Greatest Weakness – her throw-away attitude of herself.
Health Problems – blindness.
Biggest Mistakes – asking for a rose.  Treating herself like a throw-away
Biggest Achievements – breaking two curses at once. Take that! Boo-ya!

If you could bring one person back to life and spend a whole day with him or her, who would it be and why?
My mother.  I never got to meet her.  I want to ask her about this curse.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I want to see.  And my purple eyes draw a ton of attention. Why can't they be some normal color, like brown?
What do you do to relax after a bad day?
Sing.  Play my whistle.  Make music.  I get lost in it.
Where would you go to hang out if you wanted to feel comfortable?
My loft. Or outside under my tree, far away from water.
What do you do when you are angry?
I play music.  One time I tried to run away.  It didn't end well.
Do you have a secret passion? What? Why is it a passion? And why is it a secret?
I want to see.  I want to ask my mother about the curse.  If I say anything about it though, my dad will blow a gasket.  He doesn't like me.
How do you feel in a crowd? How do you feel alone?
I hate crowds.  Life smudges and bodies everywhere... it's scary.  And loud.  I can't hear where I am. And I always feel alone.  All the time.
Deep down, what does you really think of yourself? Are you fair, moral, honest, ect...
I'm too optimistic for my own good.  And I'm extremely resilient. 
How important is money to you? Why?
I'm a Shepherd.  I never had much.  I could care less.  Especially about lavish homes- I can't see any of is.  Not important at all.
What do you consider romantic?
Honesty.  So many people try to trick blind girls, because apparently we're gullible.  But I don't know how you look.  I'm easy to trick, not because I want to be, though.
How do you deal with anger, sadness, external/internal conflict, change, loss, jealousy, hurt, ect...? Why?
I play music.  That's it.
How do you think others see you as a person? How do you think other see you when it comes to looks and clothes?
I'm not sure.  I'm blind.