Elizabeth Alexander

[elizabethalexander]

ELIZABETH JANE ALEXANDER

....the mask

Your Name: Amber
Where did you find us?: Marc. <3
How long have you been roleplaying?: 6 May 2005 – present
Password: [admin edit!]

...basic character information

Birth Name: Elizabeth Jane Hadley-Alexander
Nickname: El, Ellie, Liz, Beth, EJ (not in any particular order; she gets called everything under the sun)
Gender: Female
Age: Sixty-one
Birth date: 22 June
Major: Music, specifically vocal
Classes: Vocal 101 & 102 and Choir Practice
Animal Identity: A perky golden retriever

...personality

Likes:
× Sleeping in late on weekends
× Cooking and baking
× Spending time with family and friends
× Thanksgiving and Christmas
× Singing
× Playing piano
× Classical music
× Relaxing
× Diet Coke
× Most animals
× Various types of weather
× Swimming
× Her age
× Smiling and laughing
× Knitting, mostly blankets
× Watching the sun rise/set
× Taking walks on the beach
× Kissing and making love
× Teaching students
× Driving fast/speeding
× Pictures of family and friends
× Reminiscing
× Talking about her family
× Comfortable/relaxed environments
× Taking warm baths
× Chocolate
× Vanilla ice cream
× Babysitting her grandchildren
× Having fun
× Wearing glasses

Dislikes:
× Housework/cleaning
× Organization
× Wearing heeled shoes
× Uncomfortable clothing
× Being alone
× Complete silence
× Mathematics
× Raising her voice (other than to sing)
× Reprimanding people/students
× Waking up early on weekends
× Being underestimated
× Surprises/waiting for things
× Violence and brute force
× Domestic abuse
× Being left-handed, sometimes
× Wearing a lot of jewelry
× Riding roller coasters
× Being complimented
× Insects and spiders
× Being tickled
× Being photographed
× Rap/heavy metal/screamo music
× Being hot/dehydrated
× Bland and boring things
× Forgetting things
× Getting lost
× Brussel sprouts
× Wearing a lot of makeup
× Shopping for clothes
× Small purses

Strengths:
× Cooking and baking, learned via trial-and-error
× Forgiving, even towards those who do not deserve it
× Seemingly infinite amount of patience with people
× Listening to and understanding others
× Being a wife, mother, and grandmother
× Extremely knowledgeable and intelligent/wise
× Outgoing and optimistic, to the point of annoyingness

Weaknesses:
× Arrives late to almost everything
× Extremely gullible/naïve, especially with kids
× Impatient with everything but people
× Smoking/cigarettes, a habit she started years ago
× Cleaning/housekeeping, as she was “never taught”
× Lying, it shows in her eyes every time
× Too trusting for her own good
× Reprimanding/disciplining, especially with kids
× Tends to sweat a lot
× Cannot sit still for more than five minutes

Fears:
× Losing a loved one
× Losing any of her five senses
× Being alone for the rest of her life
× Getting lost in the dark
× Flying in airplanes/heights
× Riding in elevators

Habits:
× Cannot sit still for more than five minutes
× Runs a hand through her hair constantly
× Humming while cooking or doing housework
× Talking in a baby voice to her cat, Gabriel
× Snorting when she laughs really hard
× Getting lost in her thoughts/own world
× Biting her nails
× Smoking

Overall: Elizabeth is a woman of sixty-one with the attention span of a five-year-old. Well, not really, but she has her moments. One of her biggest weaknesses is that she cannot sit still for more than five minutes; she has a habitual need to move around and occupy herself with something. She was not an honor student during her years in college because she had trouble paying attention to her teachers’ lessons, but she managed to make average grades because of how well she did on her homework. Despite that, however, her inability to sit still for more than a few minutes still exists, which is one of the reasons why she has a hands-on and practical classroom environment. Elizabeth maintains a laidback and relaxed classroom environment in an attempt to keep her students’ attention and to motivate them to do well. She knows and understands how difficult it is to sit still and listen to a lecture for over an hour, so she tries to make things as fun and interesting as possible.

The need for her to move around every five minutes is caused by the excess amount of energy in her body; she drinks far too much caffeine to be calm and collected. Elizabeth is an energetic sixty-one-year-old and takes pride in the fact; she is willing (and almost determined) to show people how energetic she is—and that not all “old people” are sticks in the mud. Granted, she knows where to draw the line in most situations, but she still finds ways or proving her point. Elizabeth sees age merely as a number and does not let it hinder her abilities. Her favorite quote states that “you’re only as old as you feel”—and Elizabeth rarely feels older than thirty-five. Never once has she let her age get in the way of having fun.

In addition to the excess amount of energy she has, Elizabeth is a generally happy person, which is apparent in the way she welcomes each day with a smile. Her happiness is genuine, and not a mask of how she really feels. Elizabeth is optimistic and believes that everyone should be happy from the time he wakes up until the time he goes to sleep at night. She knows that this is not the case, but she believes that everyone deserves to be happy on some level; however, she does not believe that drugs bring happiness and refuses to use drugs (illegal or prescription) as a remedy for any problem, unless, of course, a licensed doctor prescribes them. Her honest opinion is that there is no happy pill. Not that she needs one—but Elizabeth would never take a happy pill even if there were one.

Elizabeth’s opinions are simple and straightforward, and she has absolutely no problem sharing them with those around her. In fact, she will tell you anything you want to know, even if it is personal. Elizabeth is open and shares almost every piece of information about herself and her family with those around her, including those she does not know very well. Part of this is her naïveté. She believes what most people tell her and rarely questions other people’s opinions, unless, of course, they have to do with other people. (She does not take sides or form opinions of people based on what one or two people say; she gets to know people first.) Elizabeth’s opinion of people is that there is good in every person as well as bad, but she always tries to see the good, even if it seems like there is no good at all. She will make excuses inside her head for those who seem confused or conflicted. When people treat her poorly, she takes no offense and understands that some people are not as social as she is.

With her sunny disposition, it is no surprise that Elizabeth is a friendly person. Without reason, she puts a smile on her face and communicates open with people as if she has known them for years. She makes acquaintances easily, though not always ideally, and befriends as many people as she can. She has a holistic need to be surrounded by people at all times; she cannot stand being alone for extended periods of time or without something to do. She goes crazy if left alone, often resorting to holding conversations with herself or her cat, Gabriel, which makes her question her own sanity. Rarely is she left alone for that reason, but there have been occasions during which she has resorted to doing just that.

In her youth, she never forced herself to need anyone or anything. After she married and had her children, she realized that she was no longer dependent on herself: she was dependent on her family. Never once did she have such a strong connection to a person or persons. Her maternal side is ever-present in all the conversations she has and all the movements she makes. She is motherly, which is comforting to the people she meets. She is relaxed and easy to talk to, which makes her the perfect person to go to when you are in need of guidance or just heavy conversation. She is honest, but never brutally, and she is trustworthy. If you tell her a secret, she will never tell anyone else. As a mother and as a friend, she understands the importance of trust in relationships and maintains a sense of trust with anyone and everything. That is who she is and always has been. This is the calmest side you will ever see of her, regardless of the situation. Elizabeth will always take the roll of mother in any situation; she will always set aside what is best for her and support those who need it more.

Unlike most mothers, Elizabeth struggles to reprimand and discipline her children and students. With such a free spirit such as her own, it comes as no shock to her friends and colleagues that she cannot maintain perfect order at home or in her classroom. Her parents never disciplined her much as a child in fear of sheltering her too much, so they let her run freely as she grew into an adult. Her parents were criticized for raining their children with few set rules, but neither of them became devilish or lacked the necessary skills to become successful employees and parents. While Elizabeth lacks guidance in terms of discipline, she is not a horrible parent or teacher. Her energy combined with her openness gains respect from those around her, which is a guideline in itself. Most people respect her because she demands it unintentionally, but that does not mean everyone does. If it comes down to it, Elizabeth will enforce rules and take disciplinary action, but this is rarer than eyeglasses on a cartoon rabbit—they are usually worn by a turtle. It is both a strength and a weakness that she managed to recognize a long time ago, but Elizabeth is forgiving even of those who do not deserve it. She always gives second chances and struggles to hold grudges against people.

Yet another strength and weakness is her modesty. Elizabeth is both modest and vain, but never at the wrong times. If someone compliments her physical appearance, Elizabeth goes into a fit of schoolgirl girlishness that is recognizable by anyone. Her cheeks rise high on her face and flush a light shade of pink while her eyes show every bit of embarrassment possible. She has never had a high opinion of herself; the word attractive was never in her vocabulary. She has come to love her age over the years, but that does not give her a higher level of self-esteem. If someone compliments her cooking, however, she becomes vain. She knows that she is a good cook and will not deny the fact. She learned to cook from various cookbooks and through trial-and-error, she and knows that every meal she makes is perfect as long as she has cooked it previously. She has mixed feelings when it comes to her voice; she used to think of herself as an amazing singer, but she lost the timbre in her voice and has not thought quite highly of it since.

Elizabeth is a plethora of emotions and personality traits that make her spontaneous and almost impossible to predict. One thing is constant, though, and that would be her happiness and joy of life. She lives each day as if it is her last and encourages others to do so no matter how much the thought scares her. She wants to feel fulfilled by the time of her death and know that she spent her time wisely and did not waste a moment of her life. She wants to be proud of the things she has done and accomplished; she wants to be proud of the life she created and lived.

...appearance

x x

Celebrity Play By: Meryl Streep

Appearance: Elizabeth is a woman of undeniable grace and natural beauty. Her features are neither dull nor too outstanding. She is simple, ordinary—a “Plain Jane.” The simplicity of her features allows her to fit in with the crowd, but it also gives her a reason to stand out. Not everyone can say the same in regards to their features. For a woman of sixty-one, Elizabeth is attractive and carries her age well, but she is not without her flaws. In fact, she takes pride in her flaws and does not consider them “flaws,” per say.

It is hard to say which of the woman’s features is the most apparent. Nothing about her appearance stands out, but the first thing people usually see is her hair. Elizabeth is unlike most women her age. She wears her hair long and keeps it maintained, to a certain extent. Of course, the word “maintained” does not carry the same meaning for her as it does for most people. Most people think of “maintained” as clean and well kempt. For Elizabeth, “maintained” is, almost literally, whatever she can do with it in what little time she has to get ready. The extent of her hair maintenance is usually running a brush through it and pulling it back in a barrette or flip-clip; sometimes she does not even brush her hair. It does not matter whether or not she brushes her hair, though, seeing as it stands up all over her head anyway. Her hair adds the perfect touch of disorganized and chaotic, which seems to suit her personality almost perfectly.

Contrary to popular belief, Elizabeth is not a natural blonde. She was born with dark brown hair, but put peroxide in it during her freshman year of high school because she wanted to “fit in.” She realized shortly after that it was probably a mistake since she would have to maintain the color of her hair. Nonetheless, she kept the blonde coloring and made sure the roots of her hair never became too apparent. Over the years, and especially after she had her first two children, she began slacking in the upkeep of her hair. She let the roots grow several centimeters before dying them, and, at one point, she even dyed her hair brown and returned it to its natural color (but that was not until her youngest child was two or three years of age). The natural color of her hair was short-lived because, a few years later, she dyed it blonde again. A few years after that, she dyed it strawberry blonde, which she liked until the color faded. Now, she only dyes her hair occasionally. Her hair looks blonde but if you look closely at individual strands or pay particular attention to the roots, you will find that her hair has begun to gray and she is making no effort to dye it again.

From afar, the woman’s hair looks healthy, but the opposite is true. Elizabeth’s hair is naturally very dry, which is one of the reasons why she does not bother to style it every day. It is also the reason why her hair is coarse and hard to maintain. The only way to maintain moisture in her hair is by using moisturizing shampoos and conditioners, but none of the products she buys seems to work. For this reason, she does not wash her hair as often as most people. To many, it seems that she lacks hygiene, but the opposite is true. Elizabeth showers every day; she does not wash her hair very often, though. Despite that, her hair does not smell bad, nor does it look dirty. It lacks natural oils that cause it to smell or look greasy. She has gone as long as three weeks without washing her hair (when she was in her junior year of college).

Moving on, we have the eyes. Elizabeth’s eyes are a mystery, although there is nothing too mysterious about them. Her eyes are neither too round nor too narrow, and they are dull, to say the least. There is nothing particularly special about them, aside from the fact that they change color on occasion. The color change depends on the weather as well as the color she is wearing. Her eyes are naturally blue with flakes of green scattered throughout her irises. In photographs, you will see both colors reflected. Sometimes her eyes are a medium to dark shade of blue, and sometimes they are a medium shade of green. Her husband has commented once or twice that her eyes looked brown, but this is a rare occurrence.

It is around her eyes that you will see Elizabeth’s age. The corners of her eyes are heavily wrinkled; they form what man refer to as “crow’s feet.” When she first began to get wrinkles around her eyes, she complained to her husband about it. That was when she had a fear of growing older. Now that she is sixty-one and has had wrinkles for years, she is actually proud of them. She considers them her own personal roadmap to life; they mark every task she has accomplished, trial she had overcome, and hardship she has faced. No longer does she see aging as a bad thing, but instead, she welcomes it with open arms. In addition to the heavy wrinkles around her eyes, her eyelids are also a bit baggy. The bagginess adds to her age as well. As mentioned previously, she is no longer ashamed of the wrinkles or bagginess, but instead, welcomes them with open arms.

Elizabeth has worn glasses since the age of four. She used to hate wearing them because people made fun of her, so she hid them after she left her house and was halfway to school, just to make sure her mother would not see her. As glasses began to evolve and frames grew smaller, she began to like wearing her glasses more and more. She did go through a phase of wearing contacts, but now she cannot stand it because they irritate her eyes. She has a few pairs of glasses that she wears often, but her favorite are the rectangular-shaped frames with a purple tint to them.

Above her oh-too-ordinary eyes is a set of thin and finely arched eyebrows. Elizabeth has always had thin eyebrows, which she spent a lot of time penciling in during high school. She has long since abandoned the eyebrow pencil and just lets her eyebrow do as they please. She does keep them plucked, which is not hard since her brows are naturally arched and thin. She refuses to do it herself and, for that reason, gets them done professionally at the local salon for ten dollars.

As we continue exploring the ins and outs of Elizabeth’s physical appearance, we make our next stop at her nose. Surely, everyone wonders why I chose to highlight her nose, of all things, in the appearance section of this application. Well, I feel that it is important in proving that she, like all people, is not perfect. While it may seem like nothing more than a nose, Elizabeth’s nose is specific to her and, in its way, adds to her personality. Approximately eight percent of people have a deviated septum, either genetically transferred or received due to a fracture or break of the nose. In Elizabeth’s case, the mutation is genetic. A deviated septum is an unnatural curve to the nose. There are various cases, but Elizabeth’s is one of the minor ones. Unless you are looking at her directly and paying particular attention to her nose, you will not notice the deviated septum. Elizabeth’s nose is aligned slightly more to the right. This genetic mutation poses problems at times, but Elizabeth has never experienced many of these problems. Occasionally, a sinus infection will hit her, or a chest cold is worse than it should be. Her voice sounds nasally at times, both in speech and in song. When she laughs hysterically, she snorts loudly. And, no matter what, she snores loudly every night. (This could be because she just snores, or it could be because of the deviated septum.) Additionally, Elizabeth’s nose is slightly larger than it should be, but that has nothing to do with mutations. It is just a gene she got from her father.

Just below her mutated nose is a set of non-voluptuous lips. Elizabeth takes no pride in her lips and feels that she has the right not to. Her lips are average in size, giving them no reason to stand out against the rest of her plain features; her upper lip is barely curved to form the heart shape in the center. Both of her lips are worm from age and appear to recede into the skin surrounding them because of that. Her lips are cracked due to the lack of moisture they received and because she licks her lips often. The inside of her lower lip has two or three distinct marks on it from where she bits absentmindedly on her lip, usually hard enough to make it bleed.

Behind her lips is a beautiful set of teeth. It may be a stretch to say that she has a set of pearly whites, but it is the truth. She smokes a decent amount of cigarettes daily, but that does not mean she has to have yellow or brown teeth. Elizabeth takes a toothbrush everywhere she goes so that she can brush her teeth after eating and, if she is going somewhere that requires contact with many people, so that she can brush her teeth after smoking. Her teeth are average in size and there are no visible gaps, but her incisors are a little unusual. The incisor on the right side of her mouth is longer than most of her teeth and has a point to it, but the one on the left side of her mouth is about average in length and does not have much of a point. It is not visible until she smiles.

The most distinguishing feature in terms of Elizabeth’s mouth is her smile. When Elizabeth smiles, she smiles wide, bearing all of her teeth and revealing a high level of happiness and delight. Her smiles are all genuine, and it is rare that you will see her without a smile on her face. She seems to brighten up a room upon entering, and it is because of her smile. Despite the genuineness and brightness of her smile, it also reveals another part of her age. When she smiles, wrinkles form around the corners of her mouth, adding to the fact that she is no longer in her prime. As stated previously, she is not ashamed of it.

Elizabeth’s face is rounded, including her chin, giving her face an almost masculine touch. As you could have guessed, her face is where most of her age is present, but that does not keep other minor features from standing out. Possibly the most distinguishing feature on her entire face is the bone structure, which is visible in her high cheekbones. Even when she is not smiling, Elizabeth has unbelievably high cheekbones. When she smiles, they become even higher and inflate with happiness. Her high cheekbones are always visible, but they were the most visible during each of her pregnancies, during which time she looked like a chipmunk with nuts in its cheeks.

Moving on, we have the remainder of Elizabeth’s body. As is the case with her cheekbones, Elizabeth has overall great bone structure. Her bones are well defined, but that does not mean she has curves like one might expect. In fact, almost the exact opposite is true. Elizabeth was not blessed with a butt out to there or breasts too large to fill your average bra. She is quite flat, in terms of shape, and almost seems two-dimensional. She wears a small bra size, not that she minds, and her rear is not at all cushiony. Her hips have very little curve; the only way she can accentuate her waist is if she wears low-cut shirts with belts that accentuate the smallest part of her waist. She has no shame in wearing low-cut shirts, but she refrains from doing so because she is a decent, modest woman. Of course, if she particularly likes a shirt, she will not hesitate to wear it. She loves wearing wide belts around her waist because they make her look thinner. She loves her overall shape, though and does not intend to alter it drastically. She stands at approximately 5’6” and weighs about 131 pounds.

Alright, so now we have the clothes that cover the body. Let’s just say that Elizabeth is no fashionista. She still wears clothes from the 70s and 80s, for goodness sake. The only reason she has any sense of style is her daughters; they were tired of walking around with a woman who looked completely out of date. It is only with her daughters that Elizabeth shops for clothes. When she buys clothes, she usually sticks to thinks she feels comfortable wearing, which includes jeans and simple blouses. There is nothing flashy about her clothing, unless you count her shirts, some of which are brightly colored. She hates wearing suits and getting dressed up, but she does so for the purpose of looking professional. She usually wears tennis shoes or flat dress shoes, although she always wears heels during the first week of school—“to make sure the students know who’s boss,” she says.

And finally we have her animal form. When Elizabeth changes into her animal form, she takes the shape of a golden retriever. Her fur is medium length and flows gracefully when she walks or runs, but it is not as bright as it once was. When she was younger, her fur was brightly colored, but it has faded into a dull shade of yellow-gray, which seems to suit her because of her age. She has a medium-sized body but is obviously and overweight dog. Out of all her features, though, her eyes would have to be the most apparent. Her eyes are brown, which does not match their usual color when in her human state, but they shine with happiness even in her dog form.[/size]

...history

Parents: Joan Mary Johnston [deceased]; Samuel James Hadley [deceased]

Siblings: Daniel Everett Hadley [67]; Caroline Grace Dalton [63]

Spouse: Michael Alexander [68]

Children: Truman [35]; Cassidy [32]; Abigail [30]; Theodore [26]; Kennedy [17]

Others: Maribel (mother-in-law)

Pets: Gabriel, thirteen-year-old Maine Coon with an ornery disposition.

Samuel Hadley and Joan Johnston were the ideal couple. After graduation from high school, the couple eloped and moved to a rural town in Connecticut, where they lived until their eldest child and only son shifted into his animal form and was required to attend a special school located on a remote island of Hawaii. They were both attractive in their youth; both had brown hair and blue eyes. Samuel had a well-defined nose and a square jaw, and Joan had bright blue eyes and fair skin. The combination of the two produced three beautiful children, all born in the forties, and all with their parents’ prominent features. But this story is not about Samuel and Joan; this story is about their youngest child, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Jane Hadley was born on Wednesday, 22 June 1949 at eight-oh-five in the morning. Her mother was in labor for no more than eighteen hours before the baby girl was born; Elizabeth was twenty inches long and weighed seven pounds exactly. She was healthy, according to the doctors, and was able to go home with her parents three days later. Upon her arrival home, she was welcomed by her maternal grandparents and two older siblings, Daniel and Caroline.

Aside from the occasional temper tantrum and joust of sibling rivalry, Elizabeth had a happy childhood. Her family was well off—thanks to a substantial amount of money that her paternal grandparents left upon their suicides. Samuel worked as a drug company executive for most of his life, which allowed him to bring in an additional amount of money to support his family. Joan, on the other hand, was unemployed; she was an artist-turned-housewife and had been since the birth of her first child. She no longer had time to paint and sculpt as she once did, but she still managed to do an occasional drawing when her children were not nagging her about being hungry or so-and-so picking on them.

Her parents were open about their abilities to change from a human to animal. In fact, they shifted into their animal forms on various occasions to cheer their children up. When it came time for her brother to shift into his animal form—at the age of thirteen—she was not surprised. She was so used to seeing her father’s penguin form and her mother’s parrot form that it was almost routine to her. What surprised her, though, was her parents’ decision to move to Hawaii instead of paying for their son to attend the school and live there, too. The Hadley family moved into a three-bedroom house not far from the school; Daniel walked to school each morning and returned home in the afternoon, once his classes were finished. Her sister followed suit six years later, at the age of fourteen.

Elizabeth was the only one in her family who felt left out. She was only two years younger than her sister but had not experienced her animal transformation at the age of thirteen or fourteen. Her mother explained that some people experienced their transformation later than others and suggested that Elizabeth could easily be one of those “late bloomers.” Elizabeth began to wonder if she had even inherited the gene from her parents. The final day of her first year of high school answered her question: she was a shape-shifter.

The final day of her freshman year was also the seniors’ graduation day. Although it was a scandalous thing to do, Elizabeth began dating a senior on the high school football team within the first months of starting high school. Few people approved, but they eventually warmed up to the idea. Because he was graduating that year, the boy Elizabeth was dating broke up with her. Elizabeth went home upset and crying; the sudden spark of emotions caused something strange to happen. Her bones began to pop; they felt like they were breaking. She began to feel strange, nauseous. It was not long before she had completely transformed and was sitting on the bathroom floor in the shape of a golden retriever. Her mother came to find her after hearing about what happened and discovered that she had finally shifted into her animal form. Emotions were high in the household that evening. She was sent to Shifter Academy in 1965, just a few months after she turned sixteen.

Shifter Academy was different from the previous school she had attended. She no longer had to hide her special ability from those around her, nor did she have to worry about anyone finding out. It was refreshing being around people like her, but she missed her friends and the teachers at the school she used to attend. Despite that, she made plenty of friends with her outgoing personality and naturally friendly nature. She made friends with students and teachers alike.

As far as academics were concerned, Elizabeth did as well as she could. Upon her arrival to the academy, she did not know what she wanted to study until she spoke with the guidance counselor about her abilities. Soon thereafter, she decided that she wanted to study vocal music. Her parents always told her she had a lovely voice and that she should use it; it helped that she enjoyed singing. After she began taking classes, she began to realize that learning vocal music was not as easy as she had originally thought. She had trouble paying attention in class, which made her homework difficult. She eventually sought help from her teachers, who were willing to assist her. After that, her class work and homework became easier and she managed to keep average grades in all of her classes. She graduated three years later.

After graduating from Shifter Academy, she attended a college that housed shape-shifters and was located in Hawaii. It was further away than the academy, so Elizabeth was given a car for graduation so that she could drive fifteen minutes and attend all of her classes. Her parents expected her to do something greater with her voice, but Elizabeth had settled for teaching students, probably at Shifter Academy, in hopes that they might feel inspired and learn something from her, about not only music, but life in general. She enjoyed all of her classes, save the math class she was required to take, and spent a lot of her time studying for those classes because they dealt with music. She wanted to do well because she wanted to become a teacher, which meant that she had to study—a lot.

Something unexpected happened during her first year in college. It was just after Thanksgiving, and Elizabeth was running late to one of her classes. As she hurried along the wet sidewalk, a man stopped her and asked her if he could take a picture. As she tried to explain that she was running late, he introduced himself as Michael Alexander and said that it would only take a few seconds. She was hesitant, since she had never met this man before (and because he looked considerably older than her), but she agreed. She felt awkward and a little strange taking a picture for some random person, but he had explained that it was for his photography class. After he took the picture, they both went in opposite directions.

The pair did not see each other for several weeks. In fact, it was not until after Christmas that they saw each other. Yet again, Elizabeth was running late to class, and he asked to take another picture of her. Again, she felt strange but gave him permission to do so. She was usually a good judge of character and did not feel uncomfortable that he asked to take pictures of her, just a little strange since she was not the photogenic type. Once he took the picture, she hurried off to class. That was not the last time they saw each other.

Elizabeth sat under her favorite tree on campus later that afternoon in an attempt to study for a test she had coming up. Of course, she was not getting much done since she was too busy paying attention to everything else around her. By chance, she happened to see Michael walking nearby and called him over. She invited him to join her beneath the tree since she was not getting anything done anyway. The two introduced themselves and learned simple facts about each other. It was not long before Elizabeth asked Michael why he chose her, of all people, to photograph. He told her it was the lighting, and she was gullible enough to believe him—although it could have very well been true.

The two eventually began to date, though neither of them are really sure when their “dating phase” really started. They went to see drive-in movies and had dinner at a local pizza place. The most important thing, however, was that they enjoyed each other’s company. Neither of them got in the way of the other’s schoolwork, and they understood each other’s feelings in terms of how quickly or slowly their relationship moved. They never pressured each other into doing things that the other feel uncomfortable—unless you count Michael’s constant photographing of Elizabeth; she never got used to being photographed and still feels strange about it.

Finally, four years after she began taking college classes, she graduated; but that was not the only thing that happened. After the graduation ceremony and the brief goodbyes shared among the graduates, Elizabeth and her family—and Michael, of course—went out to dinner at a medium-priced restaurant. After they finished eating, she opened everyone’s graduation gifts. Michael then took his hand in hers and, after pulling a ring from his pocket, proposed to her in front of her family and close friends. Elizabeth was surprised, to say the least, and almost forgot to give him an answer until her mother nudged her. She nodded in response because she was too surprised to speak. He slipped the ring on her finger, and they were officially engaged.

Her parents offered to give her an expensive wedding, but she argued that she only wanted family and close friends there to witness the event. Her wedding took a lot of planning despite its simplicity. In the meantime, she found a job at Shifter Academy as a teaching assistant in the music department. Her job was not necessarily to teach, but to assist the teacher (obviously…). She did not like her job as much as she thought she would, but she knew she had to start somewhere. Besides, she needed to work and make money so that she could pay for her personal expenses. She offered to help pay for the wedding, but her parents refused and wanted to take care of it. After all, their youngest child was getting married, and they wanted her to have the perfect wedding.

The wedding took almost two years to plan. In that time, Elizabeth began having second thoughts about her relationship with Michael. Nothing forced her to question it; she just felt young and inexperienced despite everything they had been through together. She had insecurities about their wedding night even though they had slept together before; she just wondered if he would tire of her. The only person who managed to calm her and reassure her of everything was her mother, who explained that there would always be problems but that they would always be resolved as long as they loved each other. The wedding took place on April 27, 1973.

In the months following their wedding, Elizabeth received news that the vocal teacher, whom she had worked for as a teacher’s assistant, was retiring. With the previous teacher out of the way, she was given the opportunity to work as a regular fulltime teacher instead of a part-time teacher’s assistant. She took over the lower level classes while the other music teacher taught the upper level classes. She was glad that she no longer had to assist the previous teacher, but instead teaching her own classes and running things how she wanted. Elizabeth wanted to teach, not assist.

Her first year of teaching did not go as expected. She knew the students would treat her differently because she was a first-year teacher and because she was young, but she had not expected them to be downright rude and disrespectful. The headmaster of the school constantly reminded the students of the school’s code of conduct and urged them to respect Elizabeth as a superior. Of course, Elizabeth never reinforced the rule, which was one of the reasons why she had so much trouble teaching. Her second year of teaching was easier since she knew most of the students from the previous year; they had learned to respect her over time.

It was also during her second year of teaching that Elizabeth got pregnant with hers and Michael’s first child. A friend invited them to a New Year’s party, where they drank slightly more alcohol than they could hold. Their designated driver, a close friend, drove them home the next morning. They were still hung over, but that did not stop them from having a midday rendezvous. Approximately three months later, Elizabeth visited a doctor and confirmed that she was pregnant. She and Michael were nervous, as they had never discussed the option of having children, and it was clear that they were not prepared. They had only been married two years, and a baby was never in their plans—at least not any of the plans they had discussed. Nonetheless, they kept the baby. On October 5, 1975, a baby boy was born; they named him Truman after Michael’s father. Elizabeth and Michael fell in love with Truman as soon as they saw him, and it was obvious by the looks on their faces that more children were being added to their plans.

As much as Elizabeth wanted to stay at home with her newborn baby, she returned to work five weeks after her son was born. This time was sufficient in allowing her to readjust to her life at home—and to learn to function on lower levels of sleep. Michael was helpful when it came to the baby, especially when he woke up in the middle of the night because he was hungry or wanted to be held. The couple had a system, and it worked well. They both lost sleep, but it was not as much as it could have been. Joan watched the baby during the day while she and Michael worked.

Upon her return to the school, her students were excited to see pictures of the baby and hear about everything that had happened since she had him. Elizabeth talked about Truman a lot, but she quickly began to realize that she lost valuable class time doing so. The students had tricked her into talking about her baby so she would not teach, thus leaving them with no homework. After she realized this, she lessened the amount of time she spent talking about her baby and taught her students as she was supposed to. The students were not appreciative, but she had a job to do.

Just under two years later, the couple discussed the possibility of having another baby. They both agreed that they were ready to add onto their family, but they made sure they were financially stable and that Elizabeth was physically ready to mother a second child. Once everything was in order, they began trying to conceive. After their third try, Elizabeth was pregnant with their second child. Cassidy was born on August 30, 1978, bright and early in the morning. Elizabeth was given six weeks off from work to readjust her life at home and to prepare herself for work. It was strange for her to return to work after missing the entire first month, but her students managed to adjust and asked her few questions about her baby at home. Joan continued watching her grandchildren while her daughter and son-in-law worked; she took her role of grandmother seriously and adored her two young grandchildren.

The couple’s third child was a “planned accident.” Michael and Elizabeth began discussing a third child, but their instinctual need for “love” got ahead of them. Just over a year after their second child was born, Elizabeth was pregnant with their third. Abigail was born on leap day, February 29, 1980. At first, Elizabeth and Michael thought it was cute but eventually realized (once their daughter got older) that it was not as cute as it once was. Technically, she did not have a birthday every year, and this upset her. The family celebrated her birthday on March 1 when it was not a leap year. As was the case with her previous two children, Elizabeth had a month-long maternity leave and returned to school to teach; Joan continued babysitting.

Following the birth of their third child, Elizabeth and Michael agreed that it was best to wait a while before having another baby. Instead, they consumed themselves in their eldest child’s interest in fire engines and their daughters’ tendencies to pull each other’s hair whenever they were in reach. It seemed that they had become masters at managing chaos, but they were just like other parents. They had trouble keeping their young children from arguing—and from going crazy in the process. Elizabeth was the lax one of the two, leaving the reprimanding and disciplining to Michael. Their children were admittedly brats beyond measure, but their neighbors always commented on how good their children were and often asked what they did to raise such great kids. Little did they know…

Nineteen-eighty-two proved to be a good year. Elizabeth was given the opportunity to choose which class levels she wanted to teach. Even though she enjoyed teaching the beginning levels, she wanted to try her hand at teaching the upper levels. She liked it better because the students’ maturity level was higher and they understood more concepts than her lower level students did. She even assisted the head vocal instructor during choir practice, but she never stayed for the afternoon sessions because she had obligations at home. She had a husband and children to feed. She did take note of the practice times and considered helping instruct choir practice after school if she ever found the time. In 1982, though, she had three children, ages two to seven.

A few months after Abigail turned three, Elizabeth told Michael that she was pregnant with their fourth child. He was not surprised by the news since they had tried for six months to get pregnant; he was just happy that it had happened. Theodore was born on March 1, 1984, just after lunch. Because she went into labor so quickly and got to the hospital just in time, Elizabeth had a natural birth, which was something she had not done for either of her previous three children. After experiencing it, she understood why so many women chose to deliver with an epidural or through a cesarean section. All that talk about pain was no joke.

The couple agreed that they would not try to have any more children following the birth of their son. Four was more than enough, and they were happy with two boys and two girls. However, they both stated that they would not dismiss the idea entirely in case an “accident” happened. They did agree, however, that they would be careful not to get pregnant again. (Elizabeth did not want to get her tubes tied, and Michael was not about to get a vasectomy—even Elizabeth agreed that that would be cruel.)

The next few years went by smoothly. Elizabeth continued teaching at Shifter Academy, but she was asked to teach the beginning level classes because she was one of the few patient teachers they had. Although she wanted to teach the upper level classes, she agreed and went back to teaching the beginning classes. She occasionally sat in on choir practice, but rarely stayed after school because she still had prior commitments at home with her family. It wasn’t until after her youngest started school that she sat in on choir practice more often. She eventually took over the choir practice class and after school practices in 1992.

Unexpected news arrived at the Alexander residence during the first few days of February 1997. Apparently, Elizabeth was pregnant at the age of forty-six with their fifth child. She and Michael were hesitant about the pregnancy because of her age and because they had not planned it, but they went along with it anyway. Elizabeth’s doctor, who had delivered all of her previous children, stated that he would be on call in case anything happened and made sure she had all necessary contact information. He was not worried about her physical health because he knew Elizabeth was healthy, but he was concerned about her age.

Elizabeth went into labor at 31 weeks and gave birth to a premature baby girl on July 16. Even though the baby was the appropriate size for how far along the pregnancy was, they doctors and nurses took precaution and made sure the baby was taken to INCU for a few days. After five days, Kennedy was allowed to go home with her mother. She was a strong, healthy baby with a very good chance of making it—and she did.

About a month after Kennedy was born, Michael told Elizabeth that he was the new photography teacher at the academy. Although she was excited, she was upset that he had not told her until after he got the job. He said that he wanted to work regular hours and come home at the same time she did, instead of a few hours later. While the couple worked at the school, their oldest child offered to take care of his baby sister; their other siblings helped after they got home from school. The family was close and worked hard to make sure everyone was cared for.

Three years after Kennedy was born, the family moved into Michael’s family house, where his mother still lived. Her husband had passed away and, during the months following, she began to forget things and had trouble taking care of herself. Elizabeth and Michael were there to help her, and their children kept her company whenever they could.

In 2001, Elizabeth’s mother passed away. No one really knows what caused it, so everyone claims it was of natural causes. Three years later, her father joined her mother in heaven; Elizabeth says that her father died of a broken heart and went to keep her mother company. Although Elizabeth was sad about her parents’ deaths, she did not let the thought linger in her head. She knew her parents were happier wherever they were.

Michael retired from his teaching job in 2007, deciding that he would focus his attention solely on his photography business. Elizabeth was not old enough, nor did she want, to retire. She wants to teach until the day she dies, if God allows it. She and Michael have been married for thirty-seven years. Their three oldest children are married and have children of their own, making them the proud grandparents of seven. Theodore moved across the country to fulfill his dream of becoming an editor in New York City; he visits during the holidays and calls at least once a week. As for Kennedy, she is fifteen and recently started her freshman year at Shifter Academy.

...connecting human to animal

Is it not obvious? Elizabeth shifts into a golden retriever because she shares its stereotypical personality. She is outgoing, friendly, and energetic. She enjoys being around people and receiving a certain extent of attention, but never too much. She is also very helpful and instinctive; her helpfulness extends to anyone who needs it. Not only does her personality match that of a golden retriever, but her outward appearance does, too. She has (artificially dyed) blonde hair and golden retrievers have yellow-colored fur. Her build is also similar, not too large or too small, and she walks similarly in both forms (with a slight bounce in her step).

...literacy

RP Sample[/i] Response post using another character, set in 1976 on a marauder's site.

Angela knew that Alastor Moody had a temper, but she would never admit that to his face unless he needed a smack into reality. Despite that, it was surprising to hear him raising his voice at her. All she had asked was whether or not he needed something. She would have to remember not to ask such questions to someone who was apparently unaware of the entire situation. She knew that Joseph, the Head Auror, could make people mad simply by looking at them, but she could only imagine what he had done to the young auror standing in front of her desk. She glanced at her desk and caught a glimpse of the note he had written to her and stuffed inside the manila folder full of papers. He’s all yours. Enjoy. She thought for a moment and realized that it had been his intention to send an angered young auror to her office. It was his “way” of doing things. He was putting her to the test again, but she knew she would fail, as usual.

She knew what he wanted her to do. He wanted her to stand to her feet and yell in his face. Angela had never done that to her own kids, and she did not intend to do it to anyone else’s. A small sigh escaped through her nose, but it was barely audible, what with the temperature of the room and the intense glare he was giving her from his place in her office. She felt a little intimidated by it, especially since he was standing up and she was sitting down, but she did not let the awkward situation faze her. She lifted her chocolate eyes to gaze at him and began to speak.

“Sweetheart, you haven’t been an auror very long, so I don’t think you can be classified as the best in the department; however, I don’t doubt your abilities. I watched some of your training sessions. I know you’re good.” She finalized her statement with a simple nod of her head. A small smile was present on her face; her gaze seemed almost sympathetic with a touch of amusement. She was not showing him pity, nor was she making fun of him; she was simply stating that there were aurors who had been there for many years and had more experience than him. She was not implying that she was one of those aurors because she knew she wasn’t. She lacked certain skills and abilities that many of her colleagues had. The truth was, Angela was not an auror at heart or even by definition. That was why the Head Auror saw it fit to leave her lounging in her office as opposed to doing assignments. He occasionally gave her an assignment to keep her busy or to put her to the test—and she knew it—but she never changed. She just didn’t have what it took to be an auror. She was better suited for a secretarial position, which was why he had recommended on various occasions that she return to her job as the Court Scribe. Her argument was that the Court Scribe made just over half of what aurors did each month, and she could not afford, literally, to take a pay cut. So there she was, an auror.

“And no,” she stated, shaking her head. A smile was still present on her face. “No, Joe doesn’t have you doing anything of that. He wouldn’t have you signing papers or scrubbing floors. He’s ignorant, but…that’s not something he would do. No, actually, I think he wants you to come with me.” The woman reached for the manila folder on her desk and opened it in search of the paper she was reading earlier with the assignment scrawled across it. When she found it, she held the paper up for him to see. “They’ve stationed us at Hogwarts. We’re going to be staying there until things are secure.” A look of both regret and sadness took hold of her face. She placed the paper neatly in the folder and closed it, taking a moment to glance at a photograph of her husband before looking back up at him. “I guess this is your initiation, working with me.” The woman’s fingers messed with the tips of her curled hair absentmindedly as she spoke to the young man standing on the opposite side of her desk. She lowered both her hands to her lap and let her shoulders slouch forward. She knew it was not perfect posture, but she was not concerned with that. Right now, she was concerned with creating a calm atmosphere in her office so they could talk like two civilized adults.

The brunette nodded her head at the seat opposite her at the desk. It was less comfortable than her own, but it was not entirely wretched to sit on. In fact, there were times when Angela would much rather have had one of those seats behind her desk as opposed to her nice executive seat. Her executive seat was wider, though, and sometimes she liked to cross her legs when she was working. It was one of the only reasons why she kept the seat in her office; she liked being able to sit cross-legged while she worked. “You can sit if you want. Or you can stand. You can sit or you can stand. I don’t care.” She shrugged her shoulder gently and sat back against her seat. She seemed comfortable, despite the entrance her colleague had made. She was sure the Head Auror would have something to say about the way she was handling the situation, but she didn’t care. She was her own person and had the freedom to handle situations however she wanted. If he were truly unhappy with her performance, he would have fired her already anyway. She knew that; she wasn’t stupid. He was keeping her for some unknown reason, not that she was complaining. She liked working as an auror and hoped to do so until she could no longer lift her wand or move a leg.
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