“ I don’t wanna be me anymore “
Welcome to Aurora Bay, [SULLIVAN “SULLY “ SHAW!] I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [ROHAN CAMPBELL]. You must be the [TWENTY-FOUR] year old [DELIVERY AT SWEET NOTHINGS BAKERY ]. Word is you’re [PROTECTIVE] but can also be a bit [ANXIOUS] and your favorite song is [I DONT WANNA BE ME BY TYPE O NEGATIVE ]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [OCEAN CREST APARTMENTS ]. I’m sure you’ll love it!
Tw: Death, Anxiety,Physical Abuse, Alcoholism Drug addiction
FAMILY
Step Father: Nicholas Stephensen(deceased )
Mother: Annie Shaw (deceased)
Biological Father: Peter Shaw
Sister: Summer Shaw (21 yrs old)
Half Sister: Selena Shaw (15 years old)
Half Sister:Sera Shaw (6 yrs old)
WANTED CONNECTIONS
Coworkers: Liza Levin, Noelle Driscoll
Friends: Emerson Cassidy, Kylee Anthony, Sage Williams, Aubrey Carson
Former Crush On: Liza Levin
Exes: Sage Williams
Current Crush On: Sage Williams
Someone With Crush On Him:UTP
Former Friends: UTP
The Bad Habit Connection:
Mentor Figures: Noelle Driscoll, Ann Thompson, Calin Sava
BIOGRAPHY
Raised on Aurora Bay Drive, Sullivan Shaws family seemed perfect from the outside. His mom owned a small business in town and was a large part of the community. Everyone knew the Shaw family and everything seemed idyllic to the untrained eye. Sully graduated high school near the top of his class and was saving up money for the next couple of years working in town and attending the local college so that he could go to med school. He was the oldest of four and felt like he had to set the standard; especially considering that their father was a horrible drunk who had a tendency to disappear for days on end; leaving his mom to not only run her shop but to leave her raising four kids. Sully wasn’t the type to sit back and let things happen though and began helping his mom with work. It was aways instilled in him to take care of those who needed it most and he was why he wanted to also attend med school. He also had the grades to make it pretty far in life, but wasnt in a rush to leave and attend an Ivy League school yet.
Whether it was helping one of his sisters with school work or stepping in the middle of a bullying situation, Sully felt like he was always supposed to offer his help. He wasn’t a very confrontational person naturally though and would only ever step in based on impulse to protect the people he never wanted to see hurt. That was quickly followed with the realization he was in over his head and about to get beat up. Which happened a fair amount. But as long as his family was safe he would always step up for them.
Sully always felt like he always had to be the the one to keep things together, especially in response to his dad. For most of his early life he felt like being the big brother was something to always take seriously. And when he got into it with his biological father he came home and saw the man attempting to hurt his mom, Sully acted in pure impulse and stood up to him. Despite getting a broken nose for his interference, Sully made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t going to let anyone hurt his family. From his mom to his littlest sister Eloise everyone was going to be safe from his dad. His dad wasn’t required in their family to be complete and the man finally walked out on his mom officially. Eloise was only a couple of months old at the time, but none of it mattered when your father would rather throw a punch and ran off to find himself at the bottom of a liquor bottle. He sent nothing but divorce papers as a goodbye to the Shaws and Sully finally felt like things were going to be okay.
His mom struggled a bit to find her footing for a couple years but eventually fell in love again with a longtime friend and remarried. The man was someone that had gone above and beyond what so many others wouldn’t do and took on dating a single mother of four and treated them as his own. It didn’t matter that Sully was already a legal adult by that point, he still wanted to feel like they could be one big and happy family. He wasn’t scared anymore that someone could hurt his mom like his bio dad had, but he still felt this need in his family to look after things when he could. Sully was just relieved he could finally let his guard down and start to focus on what he really wanted to do in life.
The world had a habit of changing so fast though.
His oldest sister was helping keep an eye on Annalise and Eloise, while Sully was out at work all night at his moms shop. His mom and step dad had gone out for their anniversary and the oldest Shaw siblings were helping out with the family obligations. When he came home and noticed the police cars that surrounded his home he knew something had gone horribly wrong. It was a drunk driver on the road and his parents died on impact. Sully was beside himself over what had happened and before he could really process any of his grief, they had to bury his mom and step-dad
In the months that followed, Sully felt like he wasn’t really existing; instead just going through the motions of his life and unable to truly let himself fall apart. He would just smile and accept other’s condolences and hope to God they would stop talking to him about his dead parents. He felt incredibly overwhelmed and in over his head but he was trying to keep it all together. He had to stay a strong front for his siblings though. He had to make sure they could come to him even though he was trying hard not to spiral. He couldn’t let him see himself slipping. After all he was always going to be the protector, whether it was standing up to their dad or their bullies, Sully would always be there for them.
He was the oldest.
He was the big brother.
He had to keep it all together.
He had no choice.
When the town decided they were done morning the Shaws and moved on with their lives it was both frustrating and a relief. Sully hated being reminded of his families loss, so he was more than grateful to stop hearing “ Sorry about your parents “ but it did frustrate him that just because they were done mourning for his family it didn’t mean the Shaw kids weren’t done mourning their loss. People say a lot of pretty and nice things when it is right in front of them, but they move on rather quick; especially when things started to go south for the Shaw family. Those helping hands that were once offered were nowhere in sight.
And as the Shaw family had to close down the business, and CPS came and tried to split up the family or send his sister to live with their dad. None of the well wishers had tried to intervene on their behalf. It was all on Sullys shoulders and he had to act fast. He went to the few people in town he knew could help him and tried to build a case to be granted him custody of his two youngest sisters. With his oldest sisters help and a few faces he held dear to him on the outside he went to court and fought for the legal guardianship of his sisters Eloise and Annalise. When his father walked in and tried to portray himself as a good man and not the abusive alcoholic he really was; Sully had enough and stood his ground. It was emotionally taxing but by the time they had reached an agreement, Sully was granted custody of his two youngest sisters with his other sister staying with them to help out. He also vowed if he ever saw his father back in Aurora Bay, he would make sure he never saw his kids again.
While he was out of the woods in some ways, a whole new battle was taking place. Without the income of the shop, the legal fees, and four mouths to feed, the money left from his mom and step dad was drying up fast and, in order to save money, the four moved to Ocean Crest and both Sully and his sister took jobs in town to help.
It’s been a couple of years and even though the Shaws aren’t living the way they used to, they were as happy as they could be considering the circumstances. His sister Annalise might be in her angsty teen years and his little sister Eloise seems to think Sully is her dad, but they’re making it all work. He likes to think he’s doing the best job he can, but his issues with anxiety started to magnify ever since the death of his mother and step dad. He’s never had a moment to breathe since the accident and it’s only building up in him and had nowhere to go. The mourning he never did, the anger he felt toward his dad, the overwhelming sense of having to always appear perfect so he doesn’t lose his siblings, it was all starting to weigh down on Sully. It never ended. It never slowed down. And he just always smiled through it and hoped they didn’t see the ball of nerves he’d become. At a certain point Sully had started to be unable to sleep at night and would chemical ways to help him just so that he was able to get through the day. He was never going to touch alcohol because of his dad, and because of what had killed his mom, but Sully is aware he’s playing a dangerous game as he slowly slides into addiction and is hoping someone can give him the help he’s always been too scared to ask for his whole life. He was always going to be a protector, but what do you do when you can’t protect yourself ?
@aurorabayaesthetic
