#<- “high society” as in on my blog. on tumblr dot com.

[p1ckthep01son]

my losing jesus story will never not be deeply hilarious to me. i literally just . learned that you could be gay in real life like all of the time not just in your imagination or in the sims or whatever like you could just be gay in real life. and i immediately went "okay yeah. that explains everything." and instantly became an atheist. 9 years (almost at that point) of catholic education, good old fashioned indoctrination, down the drain in like one afternoon of hanging out on the internet.

[elliealdenkamp]

(grace elizabeth, cis female) - have you seen elizabeth aldenkamp? ellie is in her sophomore year. the theatre major is 20 years old & is a capricorn. people say she is lively, kind, opinionated and idealistic. rumors say they’re a member of calloway society. i heard from the gossip blog that she killed her stalker in high school. (tessa. 23. pst. she/her.)

hi, babes! i’m tessa and i’ve been roleplaying on tumblr dot com for way too long (you couldn’t pull me away if you tried). in short, i love cinema, anakin skywalker, watching tik toks for far too long, and plotting angst, drama, heartbreak, complicated relationships fun! that being said, elizabeth’s bio is below! always feel free to message me on here or discord (stella artois#1745) if you’d like to plot and/or figure out connections! also feel free to ask for a TLDR; bc my bios always end up *much* longer than i want them to be. that being said...

name: elizabeth annabeth aldenkamp nicknames: ellie, ella, elsie age, birth date: 20; december 31, 1999 hometowns: new york city, new york & portsmouth, new hampshire major, university: theatre, yates university sexuality: bisexual

childhood

elizabeth aldenkamp was born late one new year’s eve in new york city. she was the much anticipated daughter of silas—the latest in a long line of prominent new york city architects—and arabella—one of the city’s most successful real estate agents. the aldenkamp’s fingerprints were all over their beloved city. if they didn’t design a notable building, they’d sold it to the 1%. ellie’s parents adored the city and it was their dream to bring a child into that world.

yes, the world of museum openings, private events at the NYCB, and top tier private schools; but also the world of musicians playing at bethesda terrace, the rowboats at the loeb, and beautiful bookstores tucked into the streets around the flatiron building (cough, rizzoli). the little things, often glanced over by the wealthy and common alike.

though both parents were constantly busy with their careers (to the point of hiring a lovely extra set of hands by the name of allie), they prioritized quality time as a family.

they encouraged ellie as she developed a young passion for performing, taking her to see broadway and off-broadway shows whenever possible.

TW: DEATH — it was all quite lovely until, at the age of thirteen, both of the girl’s parents passed in a car accident on the way home from a dinner meeting. the last memory ellie has of them is her father ruffling her hair and mother bending down to press a kiss to her forehead before heading out the door and saying they’d see her and allie later.

new hampshire

ellie’s entire world collapsed. the next few months were a blur of little black funeral dresses and packing things into suitcases, with her ultimately moving in with her aunt and uncle in new hampshire.

the next several years were spent living with them and her four (!!) male cousins—now, affectionately, “brothers”—in their multi-million dollar waterfront house.

without much of a choice, ellie traded walks in central park for sailing. private schools in the city for phillips exeter academy.

not that she could complain—though she greatly missed her parents and friends she left behind in new york. so when she entered high school at the academy she did all she could to fill the void in her chest.

ellie was great at making friends and getting involved. like her family, she didn’t flash her wealth (there’d be little point, anyway, since everyone she encountered came from money) and relied heavily on cultivating a positive personality in order the move forward.

she maintained her love of acting and, by the time she’d graduated high school, had performed in too many productions to count.

her secret

TW: DROWNING. the last semester of senior year, ellie discovered she had a stalker from school. at first he was subtle, but “chance” encounters turned into eerie texts with photos of her that were taken unknowingly. corning her in the hallway. letters he somehow managed to get into her room. at one point he even showed up at her house—ellie walking in on him sitting at the dining table with her uncle, claiming to be her boyfriend.

it all culminated the night of their graduation. late into the night after the party her aunt and uncle allowed her to throw, ellie decided to take the boat out onto the water alone. call it premature nostalgia, but she would be moving to vermont soon for college. after summer, she didn’t know the next time she’d be able to do this.

once she’d gotten out onto the water and stopped the motor, he stepped out of the lower compartment.

(rightfully) shocked and afraid, ellie immediately went into defense mode. in short: he insistingly approached her, she dodged, he fell overboard into the water, and she sped off.

two days later his body was found, washed up. she never told anyone of her involvement (save for one felix lesser she called in an absolute panic).

not soon enough, she packed up her things and went to yates. many expected her to go to juilliard or tisch, but she chose yates—her father, mother, and uncle’s alma mater.

personality + facts

+ soft as fuck, lively, kind, easygoing, honest

- opinionated, a bit stubborn, positive to a fault

tik toks for the vibe!! one, two, three

you’d probably expect her to be pretty aloof, but she really isn’t

outgoing, outdoorsy, and adventurous thanks to living with her rowdy cousins

idealizes just about everything, including people

loves love. wants a relationship like her parents had. crushes aren’t hard to come by, because she wants to see the good in everyone and genuinely loves people

would probably marry you if you asked, idk

sarcastic banter with someone she knows truly cares about her that’s only reinforced by the joking around? her type of friendship.

has a lot of inner turmoil and buried emotions, but why be transparent about that when you can act like everything’s okay?

wants to pursue a stage career back in new york, if not a film career elsewhere

connection ideas

honestly, i’m down to plot just about anything. i live for the angst. that being said, here are some ideas if you can’t think of something!

childhood friends; since quite a few muses grew up in new york, it’s not a stretch to say these two probably ran in the same circles. perhaps they went to school together or their parents were friends. regardless, they were close until elizabeth moved away.

did they maintain a strong bond and keep in touch? write each other letters and take weekend trips to each other’s cities?

did they lose contact? did communication die out when one or both of them entered high school? does one of them feel ghosted? so many possibilities!!

did one of them have a crush on the other and now they’re reconnecting as young adults??

romantic exes; maybe they weren’t feeling the relationship as much as she was?

ex friends!!

mutual confidants; one of the only people, if not the only person, she lets see her ugly emotions. or maybe they confide in her, but she finds in hard to open up in return and ???? it’s a whole thing ???? like “take off the mask when you’re talking to me” ???? wow

you probably know all the typical rest. but, really, if you have any ideas and want to toss them at each other, let me know! let’s go freaking wild -shrug-

fin

[baileysouth]

PITCH WARS 2017 #PimpMyBio

WELCOME, FRIENDS.

First, I’ve gotta say: all the other mentee hopefuls are slaying their bios with ACTUAL WEBSITES and gifs galore. I am not so skilled in the ways of being Boss as Fuck, so I welcome one and all to my humble Tumblr Dot Com space on the Internet.

My nom de plume is Bailey South, but a quick search will return woefully little on my exploits and infamy. Thus, the evil plan succeeds. You see, I’ve spent the last ten years writing all kinds of sordid fan fiction under another name.

The kind of fanfic that received thousands of reviews and endless amounts of lovingly rendered fan art. People tattooed my words on their bodies. That is nuts. All over two college dudes doing drugs and really wanting to suck each others Ds.

Sure, there was a fair amount of crippling depression and chaotic memetic desire thrown in, but I had no idea, when I was writing it, what sort of beast it would become. In order to gain some distance, I developed a shiny new name and brushed off the dusty outlines and painstaking map-making I made way back in 2005. There was magic! And a boarding school! It was basically Harry Potter! I tried for years to get things rolling with the manuscript, but I lost focus, then I lost interest.

Fast forward to 2014. I have an idea one night, hating the mundanity of my existence and loathing the sight of the restaurant I force myself into day in and day out, smiling at strangers and putting on the Grand Show of hospitality. I’m angry and educated and tired, so tired, of doing nothing. I open a Word document and words begin pouring out. Those words eventually became my Pitch Wars 2017 submission: MINNOWS, speculative contemporary YA that is furious and philosophical and probably going to end up buried on my hard drive never seeing the light of day because agents hate post-apocalyptic YA right now. But I did it. I wrote it.

I remember being in fourth grade and reading Bruce Coville’s Into the Land of Unicorns. I was all batshit about it and made a teeny-tiny pocket-sized book about unicorns, crayon-scrawled hard cardboard cover and all. In essence, I wrote fanfic. I wanted to create more, wanted to know more about these different worlds and characters. Even now, when I really love something and it ends, I just want more. Writing MINNOWS, for me, was about learning to love what I create, about wanting more of the worlds and characters I’ve created. 

And now, AN ABBREVIATED LIST OF THINGS I LOVE:

books

Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab because holy world creating and Kell and the Londons and Rhy and it’s the first series since Harry Potter that had me THERE. You know where I mean. RIGHT THERE.

The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare because H/D fanfic writer turned YA fantasy dominator who the haters are gunna hate, but I love wholly anyway. Because HERONDALES and angels and demons and the entire chronology of Jem and Will as parabatai. I think about Will Herondale even now, years later, and hurt.

The Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman because gritty magical boarding school? Fuck yes.

Harry Potter series by…. you know who it’s by. Because I don’t care how problematic it’s supposed to be or why XYZ is wrong because of varyingly valid reasons. I love it because it changed my life as a junior in high school when I felt like the whole world was against me. Harry’s entire life, from his childhood to his destiny, was and is the most moving, soul-encompassing experience of my life thus far. I’m a Hogwarts Ravenclaw and Ilvermorny Thunderbird. My wand is 10 ¾" elm wood with a unicorn hair core. My patronus is a wild boar. (Which is HILARIOUS). I went to the California Wizarding World of Harry Potter last October and did magic in the streets of Hogsmeade with a bunch of ten-year-olds and LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

Fight Club and Survivor and Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. Instrumental in crafting my idea of what it means to write.

films

The Social Network by David Fincher. I tend to like directors’ entire filmography and this is definitely true for Fincher. Se7en, anyone? But TSN is spectacularly cast, searingly written by Sorkin, and just fantastic filmmaking. It’s smart and devastating. It’s compellingly told and so realistically depicted. And it’s a film about Facebook of all things. I was in Speech 101 in college and for our final we had to give a persuasive speech on any topic. The professor joked that it could be about saving the whales, politics, or even simply being a good person. The last bit got a huge laugh out of the class, like it’s somehow a joke to be a good person. Wrong. I picked compassion as my topic and received a standing ovation. Making something Big out of something not so big, making it into an amazing piece of art, that’s why I love The Social Network.

The Fountain by Darren Aronofsky. Another amazing filmmaker with an impressive oeuvre (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, etc). It’s a love story at heart, but woven so intricately and directed so hauntingly. A true cinematic work of art.

Sunshine by Danny Boyle. Great ensemble cast and a powerful message about awe. Boyle is another director with all sorts of staggering achievements under his belt (Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later, Trainspotting).

Dead Poets Society. Because gather ye rosebuds while ye may, carpe diem, O’ captain my captain, etc.

music

Brand New. Literally my favorite band of all time. Jesse Lacey, you are beyond words.

The Receiving End of Sirens. Sheer beauty.

Gatsby’s American Dream. Thematically astounding with lyrical elements embedded both in my soul and in my manuscript! A band that writes practically a whole record on Ursula Le Guin’s The Wizard of Earthsea can do no wrong. 

and a whole slew of 2000s emo/punk/pop-punk/post-punk/melodic hardcore/pop-core like New Found Glory, Say Anything,The Starting Line, All Time Low, Fall Out Boy, Set Your Goals, Four Year Strong, Forgive Durden, This Providence, The Juliana Theory, Taking Back Sunday, Dashboard Confessional, Allister, Further Seems Forever, Blink 182, Green Day. I lived in Los Angeles for the first twenty-six years of my life; I cut my teeth on Hollywood club shows.

SOME TRU FUN FAX ABT ME:

I can’t whistle. So whenever Sabriel whistled instead of using her dope ass bells in the Garth Nix books, I was sad.

I wanted to be an English professor. I graduated summa cum laude from the University of California Santa Barbara (right on the beach, which was the setting of my aforementioned massive 133k fanfic). Then I went to a graduate school I hated because they offered me a scholarship, and I promptly dropped out after a semester.

I moved away from the endless independent contracting offered to me in Los Angeles and moved to Greenville, South Carolina for absolutely no reason at all other than I thought the Dawson’s Creek scenes shot in North Carolina looked pretty. Really.

And that’s it. The gif threshold has been reached. Check out the other hopefuls on the Blog Hop HERE. Best of luck to all other Pitch Wars participants–we really are all winners. I mean, come on, WE WROTE BOOKS! WHOLE ACTUAL BOOKS!