(no subject)
Name: Shelley Pamela Peterson
Age/Birthdate: 29/March 29, 1979
Occupation: New York Police Detective with the Special Victims Unit (this is because I watch too much Law & Order... I know you just accepted a homicide detective, but I started this before then!)
Fairytale: Peter's Wife from the nursery rhyme "Peter Pumpkin Eater"
Peter Peter pumpkin eater,Had a wife but couldn't keep her. He put her in a pumpkin shell,And there he kept her very well.
Ability: None
History: Born and raised in an inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Michigan the young Shelley Pamela Peterson never believed that she would accomplish anything extraordinary. With John Peterson - the father, husband, and unquestioned head of the household - working for General Motors, the Peterson family shared the typical blue-collar roots of their neighbors. John never saw any reason to change this. He was quite content with his place in life, and made constant action to ensure that it remained more-or-less static, taking great pains to control his wife Candace's career. When she was pregnant, he only let her take the minimum amount of time off, claiming that the family needed the money, and bombarding her with guilt. When she protested that the children needed her, he said that what they really needed was financial support, and she couldn't expect him to support the family on his own.
Conversely, when Candace's paycheck for her work as an "administrative assistant" threatened to swell to a level John Peterson deemed too high (it couldn't get close to rivaling his own), he pressured her into resigning and then applying for work elsewhere. After the birth of the fourth and final child, John convinced Candace, despite what he said before, that she was needed at home and forced her to retire and become a stay-at-home mother. This despite the fact that Shelley, the oldest, had by that point reached her pre-teen years. She was old enough to watch over her siblings and Candace would have been needed far more when the older three were still infants. However, the home situation could have been far worse. John Peterson was not an alcoholic and, despite his controlling ways, he never actually beat Candace. He could be sweet to her at times, in private, which meant that she remained as in love with him as ever. This, combined with her desire to give her children - Shelley, Wendy, Andrew, and Simon - the best childhood they could possibly have, ensured that she never left. A divorce did not fit in with what she thought was the ideal upbringing.
Shelley grew protective of her younger siblings as she grew older and more aware of what was happening. Whenever her parents fought, she ushered her sister and brothers out of the room to play games, and tried her hardest to keep them as ignorant of the truth as possible. She never wanted to end up like her mother, married to a man who wouldn't treat her right, so she was actually somewhat relieved when she started having feeling for other girls. Despite the confusion, Shelley believed it meant that she would never let a man control her, but growing up gay in the Midwest in the early nineties was no walk in the park. She faced the sense of isolation and fear of being found out, either at school to be shunned or at home to be rejected. Even out and proud at 28, Shelley still hasn't quite told her parents yet.
She even tried to have a boyfriend in college. Entering the relationship knowing that it wouldn't work out, Shelley had, unwittingly, chosen a man quite similar to her own father. Although he was sweet, he had very specific ideas about what he wanted in a girlfriend, and tried to mold Shelley to fit them. She felt trapped in the relationship, which was fraught with fights, and in their final fight, she screamed at him that she was tired of feeling like she was locked up in a cage or a pumpkin shell.
"What do you take me for?" the boy demanded, stunned at the bizarre literary reference his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend had just made. "Peter the Pumpkin Eater?"
"Yes!" Shelley screamed in the heat of the moment, before running out of the room, confused and in tears, leaving him as lost as she felt. Only later did she realize she had actually meant to compare her now-ex-boyfriend to a pumpkin-eating, abusive husband. In fact, she felt as though she had experienced that very thing. She came out shortly thereafter, cutting her hair short and throwing out all of her high-heeled shoes in the process (except her Ass Kicking Boots - those could stay).
When she heard that someone in the student services offices wanted to see her, she assumed that it had something to do with her rush out of the closet, and she was only partly correct. She found a grumpy, middle aged man, who asked her about the strange feelings she was having - not the ones about girls, but the ones about having been married to a controlling pumpkin eater. Anser bestowed a strange journal upon Shelley Peterson and explained that she was having these bizarre thoughts because she actually was the reincarnation of Peter the Pumpkin Eater's wife. The news hit Shelley hard, but it steeled her resolve. She had let a man control her in past lives, so she vowed to be even more independent of men in this one, to make up for it.
More about the actual college experience? Shelley broke out of the mold set by both of her parents, neither of them college graduates, and received a full ride to Michigan State, where she majored in criminal justice with a minor in child psychology. Her sights set on the NYPD, Shelley wanted to make sure that nothing bad ever happened to children. She knew what even a little bit of abuse could do to a family, and the idea of blatant harm to a child horrified her. Shelley went to New York City immediately upon graduation, took any job that the NYPD would throw at her, including inane clerical work, and lived in a mess of a studio flat that couldn't have been much more comfortable than a pumpkiny prison. Finally, she made officer, and then detective, and then moved into a nicer apartment with more than one room, a real kitchen, a heater, and a toilet that she didn't have to un-stop every other day.
Personality: If Shelley were to describe herself in one word, she would almost certainly choose "independent." She thinks of herself as a tough and self-reliant person and, to an extent, this is true. She truly believes that, if she wants to get something done right, she has to do it herself. However, she often takes this a step further and does things for others, even when her help is unnecessary. Even though Shelley has been reincarnated several times and bears brief memories spanning hundreds of years, she isn't as self-aware as she likes to thinks she is, and she has her failings and weaknesses, as anyone. She has, for instance, tried with only moderate success to inure herself to tragedy. Considering that she deals with some of the most heinous crimes committed in New York City every day, one can understand why she does this. She joined SVU because of a sense that she wanted to prevent awful things from happening to anyone else, knowing first-hand what even a minor abusive situation can do to a family, but this has actually created a source of empathy for many of the victims she meets. Her childhood forced her to grow up more quickly than the majority of her peers, but it also fostered a maternal instinct in her; she can be protective of those she loves and complete strangers. Many times, her partner has had to talk her down from getting too emotionally involved in a case.
Shelley tends to put her friends and loved ones on pedestals. She finds less fault with them than others, and has an unfortunate habit of ignoring failings in those she likes. On the flip side, she has a keen sense of weaknesses in people she dislikes, and anyone she disagrees with will find him or herself subject to Shelley's nitpicking. She can be self-righteous and intolerant of those who disagree with her moral perspective. This is understandable, considering she deals with child molesters and rapists on an everyday basis, but she often carries the attitude over into simple disagreements. Shelley gets jealous easily, and she has a quick temper. She lashes out when people wrong her friends and family far more than when they cross her, again because of how protective she can be. When provoked, she will listen to nobody except her close friends. Confident nearly to the point of arrogance, she always feels that her temper is justified, but she rarely holds grudges or seeks revenge once she calms down.
Shelley is an outgoing, extroverted person, but she isn't as quick to make friends as many other extroverts, in part because of her outspoken attitudes about life. She isn't shy about what she believes (often having to do with the capability of women versus men) and she is loath to hold anything back. Straightforward and assertive, she does not tolerate bullshit or excuses from anyone, and can't stand it when people beat around the bush, or even when they simply aren't as blunt as she is. An action-oriented person, Shelley is reluctant to sit around and do nothing, and one of her dominating traits is her willingness to take initiative. Forceful and headstrong as well as impatient, she refuses to wait while other people deliberate, instead taking action upon her own shoulders. Naturally, she is both an efficient and ambitious worker, not afraid to tackle obstacles. In fact, she relishes the feeling of being challenged in different ways, but she can sabotage herself by being impulsive and focused on the present. Her tendency to make decisions in a snap also applies to more aspects of her life than just her work: her personal life is also affected, including her friends, her love life, and her place within the tale community.
Naturally, as one might guess, a good portion of Shelley's tough exterior is a front - a shell, if you will. Yes, one person can put herself out there as constantly and forcefully as Shelley does, but it doesn't always come easily to her. A romantic at heart, she fears getting hurt, and feels that acting strong makes her stronger. Sometimes, despite herself, she feels like a little girl growing up in the Midwest. She fears commitment and tying herself down for the very same reason, but she constantly yearns for someone upon whom she can depend. She doesn't want someone to fight her battles for her, but she wants someone who'll have her back and fight at her side. As such, when she feels an initial connection with another person, she'll latch on quickly. She constantly finds herself all over the emotional map in many of her interpersonal relationships.
Played-By: Katee Sackhoff
the obligatory bit
What's the relationship between your character and their tale? Most obviously, Shelley, as a result of both her tale and her childhood, distrusts men greatly. She takes great pains never to put herself in a position where she'd be controlled by a man, although she's not always successful. Part of her job even includes dealing with abusive men. She has become quite an asset to The Man in the process of fighting the bepenised people, although that is neither here nor there. She also has an unfortunate tendency to find herself in romantic relationships where she's put in a more submissive position. She ends them as soon as she realizes this, and she blames her tale for it more than she does her parents.
Also, she can't stand pumpkins. Understandably, Halloween season is rough on her.
Age/Birthdate: 29/March 29, 1979
Occupation: New York Police Detective with the Special Victims Unit (this is because I watch too much Law & Order... I know you just accepted a homicide detective, but I started this before then!)
Fairytale: Peter's Wife from the nursery rhyme "Peter Pumpkin Eater"
Peter Peter pumpkin eater,Had a wife but couldn't keep her. He put her in a pumpkin shell,And there he kept her very well.
Ability: None
History: Born and raised in an inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Michigan the young Shelley Pamela Peterson never believed that she would accomplish anything extraordinary. With John Peterson - the father, husband, and unquestioned head of the household - working for General Motors, the Peterson family shared the typical blue-collar roots of their neighbors. John never saw any reason to change this. He was quite content with his place in life, and made constant action to ensure that it remained more-or-less static, taking great pains to control his wife Candace's career. When she was pregnant, he only let her take the minimum amount of time off, claiming that the family needed the money, and bombarding her with guilt. When she protested that the children needed her, he said that what they really needed was financial support, and she couldn't expect him to support the family on his own.
Conversely, when Candace's paycheck for her work as an "administrative assistant" threatened to swell to a level John Peterson deemed too high (it couldn't get close to rivaling his own), he pressured her into resigning and then applying for work elsewhere. After the birth of the fourth and final child, John convinced Candace, despite what he said before, that she was needed at home and forced her to retire and become a stay-at-home mother. This despite the fact that Shelley, the oldest, had by that point reached her pre-teen years. She was old enough to watch over her siblings and Candace would have been needed far more when the older three were still infants. However, the home situation could have been far worse. John Peterson was not an alcoholic and, despite his controlling ways, he never actually beat Candace. He could be sweet to her at times, in private, which meant that she remained as in love with him as ever. This, combined with her desire to give her children - Shelley, Wendy, Andrew, and Simon - the best childhood they could possibly have, ensured that she never left. A divorce did not fit in with what she thought was the ideal upbringing.
Shelley grew protective of her younger siblings as she grew older and more aware of what was happening. Whenever her parents fought, she ushered her sister and brothers out of the room to play games, and tried her hardest to keep them as ignorant of the truth as possible. She never wanted to end up like her mother, married to a man who wouldn't treat her right, so she was actually somewhat relieved when she started having feeling for other girls. Despite the confusion, Shelley believed it meant that she would never let a man control her, but growing up gay in the Midwest in the early nineties was no walk in the park. She faced the sense of isolation and fear of being found out, either at school to be shunned or at home to be rejected. Even out and proud at 28, Shelley still hasn't quite told her parents yet.
She even tried to have a boyfriend in college. Entering the relationship knowing that it wouldn't work out, Shelley had, unwittingly, chosen a man quite similar to her own father. Although he was sweet, he had very specific ideas about what he wanted in a girlfriend, and tried to mold Shelley to fit them. She felt trapped in the relationship, which was fraught with fights, and in their final fight, she screamed at him that she was tired of feeling like she was locked up in a cage or a pumpkin shell.
"What do you take me for?" the boy demanded, stunned at the bizarre literary reference his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend had just made. "Peter the Pumpkin Eater?"
"Yes!" Shelley screamed in the heat of the moment, before running out of the room, confused and in tears, leaving him as lost as she felt. Only later did she realize she had actually meant to compare her now-ex-boyfriend to a pumpkin-eating, abusive husband. In fact, she felt as though she had experienced that very thing. She came out shortly thereafter, cutting her hair short and throwing out all of her high-heeled shoes in the process (except her Ass Kicking Boots - those could stay).
When she heard that someone in the student services offices wanted to see her, she assumed that it had something to do with her rush out of the closet, and she was only partly correct. She found a grumpy, middle aged man, who asked her about the strange feelings she was having - not the ones about girls, but the ones about having been married to a controlling pumpkin eater. Anser bestowed a strange journal upon Shelley Peterson and explained that she was having these bizarre thoughts because she actually was the reincarnation of Peter the Pumpkin Eater's wife. The news hit Shelley hard, but it steeled her resolve. She had let a man control her in past lives, so she vowed to be even more independent of men in this one, to make up for it.
More about the actual college experience? Shelley broke out of the mold set by both of her parents, neither of them college graduates, and received a full ride to Michigan State, where she majored in criminal justice with a minor in child psychology. Her sights set on the NYPD, Shelley wanted to make sure that nothing bad ever happened to children. She knew what even a little bit of abuse could do to a family, and the idea of blatant harm to a child horrified her. Shelley went to New York City immediately upon graduation, took any job that the NYPD would throw at her, including inane clerical work, and lived in a mess of a studio flat that couldn't have been much more comfortable than a pumpkiny prison. Finally, she made officer, and then detective, and then moved into a nicer apartment with more than one room, a real kitchen, a heater, and a toilet that she didn't have to un-stop every other day.
Personality: If Shelley were to describe herself in one word, she would almost certainly choose "independent." She thinks of herself as a tough and self-reliant person and, to an extent, this is true. She truly believes that, if she wants to get something done right, she has to do it herself. However, she often takes this a step further and does things for others, even when her help is unnecessary. Even though Shelley has been reincarnated several times and bears brief memories spanning hundreds of years, she isn't as self-aware as she likes to thinks she is, and she has her failings and weaknesses, as anyone. She has, for instance, tried with only moderate success to inure herself to tragedy. Considering that she deals with some of the most heinous crimes committed in New York City every day, one can understand why she does this. She joined SVU because of a sense that she wanted to prevent awful things from happening to anyone else, knowing first-hand what even a minor abusive situation can do to a family, but this has actually created a source of empathy for many of the victims she meets. Her childhood forced her to grow up more quickly than the majority of her peers, but it also fostered a maternal instinct in her; she can be protective of those she loves and complete strangers. Many times, her partner has had to talk her down from getting too emotionally involved in a case.
Shelley tends to put her friends and loved ones on pedestals. She finds less fault with them than others, and has an unfortunate habit of ignoring failings in those she likes. On the flip side, she has a keen sense of weaknesses in people she dislikes, and anyone she disagrees with will find him or herself subject to Shelley's nitpicking. She can be self-righteous and intolerant of those who disagree with her moral perspective. This is understandable, considering she deals with child molesters and rapists on an everyday basis, but she often carries the attitude over into simple disagreements. Shelley gets jealous easily, and she has a quick temper. She lashes out when people wrong her friends and family far more than when they cross her, again because of how protective she can be. When provoked, she will listen to nobody except her close friends. Confident nearly to the point of arrogance, she always feels that her temper is justified, but she rarely holds grudges or seeks revenge once she calms down.
Shelley is an outgoing, extroverted person, but she isn't as quick to make friends as many other extroverts, in part because of her outspoken attitudes about life. She isn't shy about what she believes (often having to do with the capability of women versus men) and she is loath to hold anything back. Straightforward and assertive, she does not tolerate bullshit or excuses from anyone, and can't stand it when people beat around the bush, or even when they simply aren't as blunt as she is. An action-oriented person, Shelley is reluctant to sit around and do nothing, and one of her dominating traits is her willingness to take initiative. Forceful and headstrong as well as impatient, she refuses to wait while other people deliberate, instead taking action upon her own shoulders. Naturally, she is both an efficient and ambitious worker, not afraid to tackle obstacles. In fact, she relishes the feeling of being challenged in different ways, but she can sabotage herself by being impulsive and focused on the present. Her tendency to make decisions in a snap also applies to more aspects of her life than just her work: her personal life is also affected, including her friends, her love life, and her place within the tale community.
Naturally, as one might guess, a good portion of Shelley's tough exterior is a front - a shell, if you will. Yes, one person can put herself out there as constantly and forcefully as Shelley does, but it doesn't always come easily to her. A romantic at heart, she fears getting hurt, and feels that acting strong makes her stronger. Sometimes, despite herself, she feels like a little girl growing up in the Midwest. She fears commitment and tying herself down for the very same reason, but she constantly yearns for someone upon whom she can depend. She doesn't want someone to fight her battles for her, but she wants someone who'll have her back and fight at her side. As such, when she feels an initial connection with another person, she'll latch on quickly. She constantly finds herself all over the emotional map in many of her interpersonal relationships.
Played-By: Katee Sackhoff
the obligatory bit
What's the relationship between your character and their tale? Most obviously, Shelley, as a result of both her tale and her childhood, distrusts men greatly. She takes great pains never to put herself in a position where she'd be controlled by a man, although she's not always successful. Part of her job even includes dealing with abusive men. She has become quite an asset to The Man in the process of fighting the bepenised people, although that is neither here nor there. She also has an unfortunate tendency to find herself in romantic relationships where she's put in a more submissive position. She ends them as soon as she realizes this, and she blames her tale for it more than she does her parents.
Also, she can't stand pumpkins. Understandably, Halloween season is rough on her.