Name: David Liang
Age: 17
Gender|Sex|Identity: Male
Personality Description: He generally comes off as a serious person, even though it is not exactly the case, mainly due to his language barrier. While his communication for the most part get his point across, he is still fitting in when it comes to the nuances like jokes and slangs, often choosing not to make them due to fear of being insensitive. When it comes to it, this boy from a distant land is actually rather friendly and polite, maybe a little uptight, but would love to talk to and get to know his friends around him. His number one desire is to fit in and be accepted, wanting to be part of everyone's friend group.
Physical Description:David is a tall person by his home country's standard, but rather average around New Hope (5'7"/175cm), with average physique. He enjoyed a neat crew cut hairstyle for his convenience. His clothing preference is rather conservative, often picking long-sleeves, collared and darker clothes due to the more temperate climate than what he's used to, and also because he does like the style.
Backstory:David feels culturally adrift. His legal name is An Liang, born to a middle-class family, whose father, Wong Liang, worked as a computer technician. His mother unfortunately passed away to illness before he could recognize himself in the mirror, and the single father was forced to raise his only son alone. Living around his father, who often surrounded himself with computers, got An acquainted with technology, and being a curious child, An used these machines a lot, much to his father's initial reservation. However, his father being a little bit too busy in his life did allow An to roam free on the zeroes and ones, as well as accessing information a young adolescent could find on the Internet. He'd gradually get in touch with foreign games, foreign cartoons, books or media, which introduced him to a culture entirely different from his own, at a time of crucial personality development nonetheless. Soon, unbeknownst to him, his mannerism and behaviour shifted. He found himself code-switching from a traditional culture at school and with friends, to a foreign one at home when he immersed himself in the wonders of the Internet, slowly identifying with the latter as his curiosity grew.
For the Liang family, his father who felt listless after his wife's passing, being reminded too much of a home that he missed, decided to immigrate. This actually was an exciting opportunity for An, who's always been mesmerized by a foreign land. When he arrived, he took on the first name David and got enrolled in middle school in a metropolitan area. However, this city was not exactly kind towards immigrants like David. The school that he enrolled in did not have much contact with immigrants, with nine out of ten students being locals. As a result, someone who couldn't speak English that well, quite nerdy with computers at best did not fit with the school's social group, or at worst, a target of bullying and harassment. Only after a year in the city, the two moved away to New Hope, a small village that from word of mouth was a lot more welcoming to people of different background. His father found work in the Armstrong PC Shop, ran by the Armstrong family, who was eager to have experienced hands in the shop, and David would often help out the shop as well.
David is a year behind school due to all the moving around, but is always eager to be a part of the school community. He is a member of the school computer club, has high academic performance, especially mathematics and informatics.
Notable Connection:Wong Liang: His father, whom David felt great sympathies for. He was not exactly there all the time, but who could blame him. David looked up to him and hoped to help him in any way he could.
Nicolas & Sarah Armstrong: The two owners of the Armstrong PC Shop, and his dad's boss. David owes much to these two for the things they give to his family, and they too appreciated David's help, especially the scripts he write to make their job a lot easier.
Respond to these prompts in character: You're in class and the Fire Alarm goes off. Everyone begins to panic.
"If teacher is around, I would listen to them. If not, I would help my friend(s) to escape. Then I would go. That is what I think I would do, but I might panic too." You've made plans to go to the festival and are running late, but may make it in time to see the fireworks with your friends. On your way, you see a stranger with a flat tire on the side of the road.
"I don't like it, but I would have to leave them. I made a promise to a friend, I do not want them disappointed that I couldn't be there."You fall asleep in class and begin to dream; you're atop a ruined tower and a massive dragon circles overhead. You reach for...
"Umm...a book? I like to learn about the dragon; how it behaves. I don't want to make it angry. If I could understand it, maybe I could be friends with it."The world is so boring; you wish you had a super power. What do you wish for?
"I like to talk to computers, but using codes and commands feel a little cold. I would like to talk to it more personally, intimately."You are suddenly reminded that tomorrow is the Midterm Exam.
"I should have remembered the main points of each lesson from going to class. I don't mind losing a few marks from not memorizing."