[hider=James Xiao][center][img] https://puu.sh/H7oPH/5170ea24ea.png [/img] [url=https://fontmeme.com/flexicution-logic-font/][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/210116/1af9ee2d96b9f8ee9818325fe193fbe0.png[/img][/url] [sub][color=f7976a](FC: Gaku Oshida, Dialogue Color: #f7976a)[/color][/sub] [color=f7976a]____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________[/color][/center] [center][h3][color=f7976a]F O R T H E R E C O R D[/color][/h3][/center] [indent][color=f7976a][b]| |[u] N I C K N A M E (S) [/u]| |[/b][/color] [list][*]Jam, as his parents, relatives and… old friends would call him. [/list] [/indent] [indent][color=f7976a][b]| |[u] A G E [/u]| |[/b][/color] [indent]17 (July 16) [/indent][/indent] [indent][color=f7976a][b]| |[u] G E N D E R [/u]| |[/b][/color] [indent]Male (He/They) [/indent][/indent] [indent][color=f7976a][b]| |[u] S E X U A L I T Y [/u]| |[/b][/color] [indent]Demisexual [/indent][/indent] [indent][color=f7976a][b]| |[u] R E L A T I O N S H I P S T A T U S [/u]| |[/b][/color] [indent]Recently single. [/indent][/indent] [indent][color=f7976a][b]| |[u] C L A S S I F I C A T I O N [/u]| |[/b][/color] [indent]Senior [/indent][/indent] [center][color=f7976a]____________________________________________________________[/color] [h3][color=f7976a]A T F I R S T G L A N C E[/color][/h3][/center] [indent][color=f7976a][b]| |[u] I N D E P T H A P P E A R A N C E [/u]| |[/b][/color] [indent]James doesn’t seem very well put together. Every morning he arrives with a bedhead that only worsens throughout the day, especially in Chemistry class with the confused head-scratches it generates. His tie is always crooked, if not entirely forgotten. His blazer hasn’t been sighted in months, the boy opting instead for his school sweater when he gets cold. The uniform’s signature colors are made quite unfortunate by the patches of white dust that can always be seen staining his clothes. His hands and face are not exempt from plaster residue either, and it often takes a scolding from a teacher for him to remember to wash it off. James himself is more noticeable than he’d like to be. Though his eyes and hair are both a natural black, he has thick expressive eyebrows that balance all his features, including the fractured nose that has since been set in place. There still remains a pale scar however, and the angle of his nose is ever so slightly off. Numbers of small scars – and subsequent bandaids – litter the pads of his fingers, all gained from his wire working. The ones on his knuckles had faded years prior. James stands at a wiry 5’ 10” but over the years at Marble Heights his posture seems to be shrinking in, as if he’s consciously trying to make himself smaller. His casual attire indicates a modest, urban upbringing. Sneakers, sweatpants and a large plain tee is his go-to. He generally prefers looser clothing, or anything that won’t be beyond saving when they inevitably get stained by his art process.[/indent][/indent] [indent][color=f7976a][b]| |[u] R E P U T A T I O N [/u]| |[/b][/color] [indent]Within a few seconds of talking with him, anyone would be able to tell that this guy doesn’t really… fit. Not at an academy for the offspring of upper-class society anyway. James is too rough around the edges. A little too loud. Too blunt, too honest, almost to a point of ineptitude. It’d be hard for most to believe that he was once one of the kings of the soccer field. The audience at his games would be hard-pressed to not notice the tight unit he’d formed with the captain and center forward. An unstoppable trio, despite all the yellow cards only he seemed to get. This, along with the art awards he’d net for the school, granted him quite the reputation. There was a time when he sat happily at the top of the food chain. These days he’s just the guy that ‘stole’ the captain’s girlfriend. [/indent][/indent] [center][color=f7976a]____________________________________________________________[/color] [h3][color=f7976a]O F F T H E R E C O R D[/color][/h3][/center] [indent][color=f7976a][b]| |[u] H I S T O R Y [/u]| |[/b][/color] [indent]James was born and raised in San Francisco by immigrant parents determined to thrust the American Dream upon their children. Whatever their children needed for success; they were willing to spend above their pay grade for it. Piano and violin lessons, tutors, weekend sports. The Xiao brothers were decently occupied, but were they engaged by these extracurricular whims? Not exactly. They would rather spend their afternoons practicing kung fu moves on each other. The word James would have used for him and his brother was ‘unsuited’. Their parents and relatives would use something closer to ‘ungrateful’. Even from the age of seven and eight, their lack of interest in academics was clear, and it would lead to an increasingly tense home atmosphere for the decade to come. Among the last attempts at hooking the boys on an Ivy League approved extracurricular, James found something that enraptured him: a community hall pottery class. Although the pottery wheel held little interest to him, it was the act of shaping wire and clay that really took hold. He first made a crocodile with his small, eager hands. Then a dog. Then a Bruce Lee doing a flying kick. The materials were readily available enough for him to purchase for practice at home, even if he was limited to only small figures. As soon as he returned home from school he’d rush to his shared room and open his supplies. He’d spend hours at the home computer following tutorials but, in the end, always experiment on his own. The thing about creativity is that it’s only limited by skill, and even then, James would overcome that barrier at a prodigious rate. His work was paying off. His community class teacher would lend him books for extra study. His parents noticed his skill, and things at home were becoming bearable. School was an entirely different matter. While James had finally found a passion to occupy his time, the younger Cameron Xiao was not so fortunate. Where James would sit with a grimace and take the brunt of their parents’ former disapproval, Cameron would reject it completely, often storming out of the flat to parts unknown. This behavior manifested in the latter half of middle school, and his disobedience would only escalate to fights with his classmates. But James, an ever-loyal brother, would come to back him up every time. It wouldn’t last, as James would have to take his freshman year of high school alone, but the Xiao brothers gained a reputation among the inner-city schools. James’ freshman year was interesting to say the least. The ones who knew of the brothers’ escapades assumed he would be as much of a delinquent as Cameron, but they would soon find out for themselves. Getting into fights and only winning half of them didn’t make him a delinquent, it made him a dumb musclehead with an even dumber mouth. Besides the strange fights he would get into, freshman year was an enlightening experience. More and more of his out-of-school time was being spent getting Cameron out of trouble. His disinterest in his studies was growing too. As he sat in lamplight, working on his sculptures, James wondered if the rest of his time on Earth was going to be like this; a growing listlessness towards the duties of his daily life while his passions would sit on his desk with no one but his family to view them. His salvation once again came from community class teacher. She suggested some youth art contests for him to enter, as well as a scholarship program for some bougie school outside of his district. He placed high in the former but more importantly, he won the latter. He wasn’t sure about the school itself but it felt really, crazily good to have his art recognized by San Francisco’s elites. He accepted the scholarship offer, a decision that Cameron would hold against him to this day. Transferring for sophomore year may be a challenge but James was willing to put in the work. He’d leave his fights behind, work on his grades and most importantly, continue his sculpting work in a supportive environment. His school life was going to change for the better. Indeed it did, for the most part. But he’s starting to notice a lot of bumps in the road ahead. [/indent][/indent] [indent][color=f7976a][b]| |[u] B E Y O N D M Y R E P U T A T I O N [/u]| |[/b][/color] [indent]James sits outside of the hierarchy. He’s too loud for an art geek. Doesn’t eat lunch with the jocks anymore. Impulsive. Quickly shovels his food in the first ten minutes then spends the rest of his break in the art studio. He’s still got the energy of a Great Dane but there’s a spark missing in his eyes these days. He finds it hard to say ‘no’ to requests asked of him. Even if there’s no gain, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone, it’s fine to put in an extra bit of effort for others, right? People in his proximity will notice that he rarely takes action without making sure he’s got approval for it first. It’s hard to tell who his friends are these days, if he even has any. Ever since that incident right before the end of his Junior year, things have been different. Harder to trust. The truth of the matter is that maybe he never really had any friends on the soccer team. He wasn’t a prodigy like a lot of the guys on there, he was just decently fit. Maybe they saw the kid that had just transferred in, some middle-class guy in ratty sneakers whose conversations were always a little tilted and awkward, the odd one out, and invited him to their table out of pity. Perhaps it could have grown into something genuine. But pity is pity, and in the end, he forfeited it when he decided to follow his heart. No one’s bothered to ask if he regrets what he did. But if they did, he’d answer firmly. [color=f7976a]“She was my friend. Still is. Those guys aren’t. I made the right choice.”[/color] [/indent][/indent] [center][color=f7976a]____________________________________________________________[/color] [h3][color=f7976a]A C A D E M I C S[/color][/h3][/center] [indent][color=f7976a][b]| |[u] E X T R A C U R R I C U L A R A C T I V I T I E S [/u]| |[/b][/color] [indent][list][*]Fine Arts Club [*]Not an official member of the Photography Club but often runs errands for them in exchange for assistance shooting his sculptures for his portfolio. [*]Lead benchwarmer of the Soccer Team. Eternal second-string member ever since the mess.[/list] [/indent][/indent] [indent][color=f7976a][b]| |[u] B E S T & W O R S T S U B J E C T S [/u]| |[/b][/color] [indent][b]| B E S T |[/b] [list][*]Art [*]P.E [*]Math[/list] [b]| W O R S T |[/b] [list][*]History [*]English [*]Chemistry – Yeah, turns out those math skills don’t transfer. Crazy.[/list][/indent][/indent] [indent][color=f7976a][b]| |[u] E X T R A N O T E S [/u]| |[/b][/color] [list][*]A plaster sculpture of a sea lion posing on an ocean-thrashed boulder is on display in a glass case in the front office, beside the student body’s many accolades. Several other pieces created by James can be found displayed around the school too, albeit smaller than the sea lion. [*]The only social media he has is Facebook and an Instagram for his works @xiaojamarts.[/list][/indent][/hider]