♡ ◞ lizeth selene. twenty-three. genderfluid. they/she.⠀⠀⠀— hold your f*** horses ! adela “addie” ortega has just been spotted walking into revolution headquarters. they are best known for being the bassist in r.a.d. and have been signed with the label for six months. they share a lot of interesting things about life in the music industry on their social media, so make sure you don’t forget to follow them at @callmedaddie. fans know them for being recalcitrant but swear they’ve got a zealous side as well. maybe that explains why they’re always associated with handing out leaflets to your local protest, growing fresh herbs by the kitchen window, scribbling drafts for new song lyrics on the inside of her arm. stan twitter even voted them most likely to get kicked out of the grammy’s. we’ll see how they live up to that reputation.
♡ ◞ statistics.
full name: adela ximena ortega. nickname: addie, other nickname rights reserved for a special few. date of birth: november 4, 1999 (23 yrs). zodiac sign: scorpio. place of birth: los angeles, california. current location: new york city, new york. gender: genderfluid, uses they / she pronouns. sexuality: bisexual. languages: english (native), spanish (native).
♡ ◞ bits and bops.
character tropes: the activist. traits: assertive, righteous, devoted, tenacious, recalcitrant, rowdy. habits: being late, tapping pens and pencils on anything, not taking off their makeup before bed, scribbling lyrics onto hands and arms, always thinking she’s right, not being able to sleep at night, rolling their eyes excessively. likes: house plants, arguing, guitar solos that are multiple minutes long, thrift stores, iced drinks, sour candy that makes your face scrunch, the moon, road trips, halloween, cold breeze outside, cooking & baking, faux leather, pyrotechnics, rollercoasters, women’s history, mosh pits, neck kisses, growing your own vegetables, their mother’s vintage denim jacket. dislikes: waking up early, animal cruelty, being unexpectedly touched by strangers, sports, engaging with her father in any way, formal attire, strict agendas, being told they’re wrong, dating apps, being wasteful, surprises, practical jokes, people having no opinions, romantic comedies, ketchup, being too short to reach the top shelf. notable skills: self-taught in playing guitar & bass, songwriting, cooking & baking, green thumb, stick & poke tattoos, extreme flexibility.
♡ ◞ background.
tw: brief mention of alcohol & drugs, abandonment.
the epitome of kids in love. that is what one would call luisa ortega & tomas “tommy” ramos. two high school sweethearts who fell head over heels in love in a rush, of adrenaline, of late nights spent high off a blunt they shared amongst the two of them while listening to lucy in the sky with diamonds playing from the car radio. completely dazed at the image of life as it was, promposals turned into proposals, and they were barely eighteen years old as they tied the knot.
you could imagine their love like a flame — sometimes a wildfire having lost control, sparks flying with passion. another time it manifests as a calming flame, spreading its warmth and comfort. however soon enough the flame had dimmed entirely. abruptly, you could say, as if the flame had suddenly been drained of its source of oxygen. that moment marks the beginning of the story of adela ortega, or should you say ramos.
barely a year into marriage, the fantasy of their picture perfect lives came crashing down with a positive pregnancy test. relying on jobs that barely supported the two of them as is, another mouth to feed presented a reality neither of them wanted to face. tommy got cold feet soon enough — the news of luisa carrying his child may not have settled in properly until he got to hold his baby for the very first time. counting from that moment onwards, it took him mere days to pack his bags. he was too young, did not want to throw away his life at twenty when the entire world lay at his feet, or so the memories claim. the life of californian suburbia was exchanged for the big world. and you truly had to give it to the man — little funds to spend soon enough turned into big bucks, working his way up in rank in multinationals. oh, and his new wife and baby to enjoy it with. that too.
motherhood, a rundown one bedroom apartment rental in downtown los angeles & a couple hundred dollars to her name. that is all luisa received upon finalizing the divorce. tommy had opportunity, and the money from the suburban family home they bought in his name, but divorce had little to do with fairness, now did it? she did not even need money, or anything more than a single bedroom to continue living even when love was dead. it was the unavoidable motherhood that determined her future for the years to come. she wasn’t even certain she wanted to fulfill the role of mother. forever young at heart, the thought of inevitably having responsibility over not only herself, but another vulnerable being caused her great terror. adela may have taken to calling her mom, yet it is questionable luisa ever felt as if the term applied to her.
adela grew up hard and fast. despite sharing a room with their mother, they were often the one setting the alarm early in the morning so she would wake up in time to catch the school bus. oftentimes they would come home to their mother & her best friend, feet propped onto the coffee table sipping from a bottle of red wine they passed back and forth while the place reeked of weed. she fetched himself dinner most nights of the week — picked up cooking as a mandatory hobby once she got sick of the endless peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. took themselves to bed every single night, laying wide awake staring at the ceiling to wonder if her mother had a proper meal that night after finishing work.
she didn’t love her any less, regardless of the circumstances. countless of fond memories still twitch the corners of her mouth into a grin, from their habit to use takeout chopsticks to do a drum solo along to their mother’s records. or the times their mom & her friends invited her along for their spa days, a home concoction of a face mask accompanied by the reminiscence of their teenage dreams. even the movie nights for halloween, that left her somewhat terrified to the bone and unable to sleep, until she dozed off on top of her mother’s shoulder. luisa ortega is their role model — adela still believes every bit of wisdom, she has gotten from her mother. she is a woman bursting with warmth and positive energy, who hums along with fleetwood mac tunes sprawled out upon the couch as if nothing worried her pretty little head. she is a woman that believes in something so fiercely, in equality, in honesty, in diligence. who took adela to the front lines of peaceful protests against climate change while she was still in diapers. she taught them right from wrong, good from bad. perhaps adela considers her mom the sun to her moon, and maybe not the mother to her child, but certainly her best friend.
they take after her, in some ways more than others. but undoubtedly, luisa made a lasting impact on her kid, regardless of her achievements in the realm of motherhood. adela bursts with a passion that only her mother recognizes — an activist, fiery personality that burns you if you cannot take the heat. ever skeptical of everything they’re told, always following a statement by a question, and their answer by another. never too fond of authority figures. neither was her mother. and really, who would expect adela to? a strong, young mind able to set her own rules from a young age would never mindlessly accept what others tell her to do, to say or to believe. they have a strong moral compass, a sense of right and wrong, with their mom’s values being the true north. she has a sharp mouth, that rarely ever shuts, but always seems to know what to say. she is opinionated, and strong enough to take a stance without backing down. they aren’t easily convinced otherwise either. perhaps one would call it stubborn, mother & herself would prefer the word determination.
growing up may have never been easy, adela would never have claimed that it was. neither would they ever leave their mother under the impression that she succeeded in being a parent — because, well, perhaps she hadn’t in the traditional sense of the word. but neither would she complain. sleeping in the same room for eighteen years provided her with a shoulder to cry on without questions asked, or attempts to swallow their giggles as they spent the night exchanging stories. dancing along to the vinyl records playing in the living room inspired her to make music. her mother gifted her a cheap second hand guitar on her tenth birthday ( bought with every last penny they owned ) and even agreed to rearrange their bedroom to fit the collection of electric and bass guitars they got gifted by her music teacher, even despite the continuous complaints coming from the neighbours. her mother taught her the value of hard work, and solidarity, leading her to take on multiple volunteer roles throughout her teenage years. from running the ticket booths at local concert venues on a volunteer basis, to leading community initiatives to clean up the town, leading climate protests, and helping run the community gardening spaces. even if the two of them did not take the traditional route, and were anything but traditional in their dynamics, adela counts her blessings daily to have her in her life.
and even their mother was more of a parent to them than their father ever was. their relationship was a stark contrast to that with their mother — for years she didn’t even know what he looked like anymore, what his voice sounded like, what he did or where he lived. tommy ramos briefly re-entered her life when she was eight years old. he claimed curiosity, curious to see what had come of them, if they were anything like him. the reappearance didn’t last all too long, after all, his family surely didn’t know of the daughter he had in los angeles, and neither should they have figured that out. ever. adela and her father didn’t see each other face to face, barely even spoke over the phone whenever he called. she would simply purse her lips and remain silent for as long as she could, until she could not bite her tongue for a second longer, unwilling to allow her father the pleasure of even knowing how her day was. they haven’t called him since they turned eighteen, in spite of the voice mails he has left them, or the birthday cards he still sends to their mother’s address occasionally. she still resents him, for ruining her as he had. her mother, they mean. for choosing the selfish path with the knowledge he was leaving her behind to deal with his problems, as well as her own, while he chased after a brighter future.
once eighteen, they exchanged one tiny home for another. for a while, home was a cramped dorm room at ucla, where for about three semesters she combined waitressing with a double major in gender studies and sociology. that is until their night shifts at the local diner simply couldn’t pay their monthly bills anymore, and they noticed themselves sinking further and further into insurmountable debt. no more of that, she had since then decided. for a person so full of decisiveness, she took quite a while making up her mind about what she wanted to do with her life moving forward. for months her life existed of hopping from one waitressing job to another and countless of unsuccessful job applications. at last they took the bold choice of writing an unsolicited job application to a local la radio station. they landed themselves the late night shift, on air from eight until midnight every monday through friday. you’d be surprised to hear they never fired her, considering the number of times she played the demos of her own underground feminist punk band r.a.d. without permission. perhaps that led to the eventual contract at revolution, that’s what they like to tell themselves at the very least. but now los angeles has been exchanged for new york & the basement at lead singer erika’s job has been exchanged for fully equipped studios. it has been an adjustment, but one that addie is decisive she wants to make the most of.
♡ ◞ personality.
i headcanon them to have been in a bunch of little bands from middle school onwards. definitely was that one person in high school who got together a few people who could play the drums & could sing a little, but broke up a week later because they were terrified of addie or couldn’t agree on a sound they wanted to play. now in r.a.d. she’s a bassist, does some of the backing vocals and is heavily invested in the songwriting process. would constantly scribble lyrics on their arms, on spare napkins, keeping notes on their desktop in the radio studios. she’s self taught in her instruments, at least in guitar & bass, but they’ve been dabbling in forcing dawn to teach them drums or teaching themselves a bit of piano or even ukelele. is an absolutely huge environmentalist. goes to practically every climate protest she can make it to & has been known for co-organizing some of them, as well. they were quite the familiar face in some environmentalist groups in los angeles but they are still trying to feel a bit more at home in new york, and also trying not to get into too much trouble with the pr department at revolution. they’re vegan for environmental reasons, will usually thrift clothes & grows some veggies and herbs in the kitchen of their small apartment. still calls her mother every single day and it’s disgusting. used to visit her basically every other day when she was in los angeles & it’s been hard being away. has sworn to send their mother a postcard from every single city they ever visit on tour & will keep that promise. she’s surprisingly selfish when it isn’t about the greater good. will have an opinion about anything & is painfully honest about it. they’ll tell you if your new pair of trousers looks good or not, also don’t ask them what they want to eat or what they want to watch on netflix because they’ll have an answer ready and you better like it, because you’ll have no other choice. also very hard to change her mind because she thinks she’s always right. she’s not, news flash, but she doesn’t enjoy hearing that fact.
♡ ◞ plots.
okayyyyy, you’ll be able to find addie’s connections blog @calllmedaddie filled with a bunch of ideas, tropes, gif sets and other ideas. but find some more down below ! roommates maybe out of necessity who don’t like each other at all or who met on craigslist and are actually a really good pairing, someone she cooks for regularly and who tries out all her newest vegan recipes even if they turn out crappy, ride or dies please, hate / love connection that could work either as platonic negative & romantic negative where they’re driving each other insane and they can’t stand the sight of each other but you also learn a lot about each other through arguing right and it technically still counts as dislike when you can’t stop thinking about them in bad ways right, i would love to see someone who knows her mom, or maybe potentially even knows her dad because that’d be juicy. someone who teaches her how to play the piano. enemies to friends, someone she couldn’t stand until they kinda realized that each of them wasn’t as bad as some other people out there. childhood friends with anyone who grew up in los angeles? maybe they went to primary school together, maybe they were even in that one band that had one performance before breaking up because they were all too stubborn and couldn’t stop fighting about what genre they’re playing. also flings could be fun not even necessarily friends with benefits but even just two people who like flirting with each other & every conversation they have is suggestive but they don’t really act on it, or they do act on it but they don’t count on it to last in the slightest. enemies with benefits i will also give everything for. crushes because i don’t assume addie has the tact to shut someone down but also will fiercely hate the whole crushing on some unattainable thing, so both sides are fun. online feuds because they definitely won’t shut their mouth & it’ll undoubtedly lead to trouble. bad influences who give the pr department a run for their money with the stunts they pull. maybe more of a nepo baby or artist that grew up rich or with connections that addie kinda frowns upon. and honestly, we’ll think of so many more things together while brainstorming?
