Michael Wang [Hong Kong]

These streets so fixed and solid
Were shimming with hate

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"If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however, if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I can help you become that."[/center][/size]

And everything that I relied on
Disappeared

Country: The People’s Republic of China’s Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong (SARHK, or Hong Kong, for short)
Name: Michael Wang
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Profession: Receives interest as he is a ‘heir’ to Yao Wang, but invests it in the bettering of the Lowlanders as he still holds connection. Currently has a side job as a delivery boy as his shift begins early morning as does not conflict with his other duties.
Highlander or Lowlander?: Born into the Lowland but was ‘adopted’ by his now older brother and resides in the Highland.

All the strangers look like family
All the family look so strange

Appearance:Standing tall at 171 cm, Michael gains notice not for his height, but his eyebrows. Obviously of Asian descent, he holds a lanky stature and tends to arch his back not out of bad conscience, but discomfort. His expression refuses emotion other than a thoughtful stare. He rarely looks to a person when talking to them and tends to refer to the world in third person.
Michael has dark brown hair, seemingly black, but with natural highlights that glimmer during the summer months. His eyes are a dark chestnut colour that keeps the majority of attention from his rather large and puffy eyebrows. You will usually find him in patterned clothing, finding a mix of natural hues to his liking early on in his life at the Highland. However, every once and a while you’ll see him dressed just as any other teenager wanting to have a little fun.

Personality: Having been sheltered as a child from outside relationships, Michael tends to keep to himself with the exception of his older brother and the grave of his father. For obvious reasons, you would never want to anger him. But as for a simple reply, it takes a few seconds, even a minute, for a one-word answer. Michael tends to keep things simple, but can sometimes confuse you with his unique and diverse vocabulary. He does, however, find curiosity in the actions of others and may be found staring at more than one other person at a time. But don’t be afraid, he’s only analyzing your every word and action.

History: Michael was born into a low class family, even for the Lowland. He would work alongside his adopted father, an assumingly ‘British’ man that took him in after his parents had died from an unknown illness. Michael, however, was born weak, and for many years was feared to suffer the same death as his descendants. He was kept inside throughout his childhood and never was able to develop the friendships most childhoods include.
The majority of that time was put to an education. Unlike other Lowlanders, his one-man ‘family’ held close to traditional ideals when it came to formal education. Although Michael struggled with straight-book learning, the practice has brought him to become quite fond of pleasure reading today. However, the time put into the hopes he would be able to enter into a Highlander position backfired when his second father fell ill, leaving Michael on his own once again.
Up until the age of thirteen, he was registered in the Lowland orphanage. With no other relatives or friends to turn to, he was left alone to what seemed like a pointless purpose. One day, however, he was introduced to a Highlander that although appeared as a woman, happened to be a business man. Michael refused to go near him, despite the man’s part in funding the orphanage, and again developed anger towards the Highlands.
As fate would have it, the two later developed a bond; at age thirteen, Michael was adopted into the mysterious ‘Wang’ family of the Highland and lived in the comfort of Yao Wang’s residence. Although he received a mix of opinions from the rest of Yao’s family, he remains safe under the protection of whom he now refers to as ‘Aniki’. Today he spends the majority of his time inside except when dragged out by his new ‘family’. He spends his time at night outside, finding the forestry of the ocean rather calming compared to the bustle of city-life.

Recurring nightmare: Playing along with his intolerance of smoke or any sort of artificial ‘substance’, the Opium Wars hold Michael’s dreams in a twist. The aftermath of the port city’s occupation as well as the Japanese invasion(s) hold him to the remains of his people. Having been burned and exploited for years, Hong Kong’s virginity remains unsure.

The only constant I am sure of
Is this accelerating rate of change

Likes:
Aniki – Taught that for only by joy and sorrow can one learn of themselves, ‘Aniki’, formally known as Yao Wang, took in Michael at a young age, giving him the nickname ‘Shang’.
Fireworks – Having seen such thunderous ‘monsters’, as he called them, kept Michael far from the borders of the Highlands. But after a reintroduction later on in his childhood, he developed a love for the sky’s inconclusive decorations as well as sound.
Solitude – Isolation was something Michael never could take for granted. He would often wander off by himself when he was younger, which later resulted in him never gaining a sure memory of his parents’ death. But still, to this day, he continues to exist in his own ‘little world’, without the worry of any sort ‘family’ bothering him.
Nature – While he does reside in the centralized part of the island, he does have a strong love for the creatures of the region as well as outside it. Michael also has a habit of lecturing those who don’t treat the ‘beauty of the island’ properly.
Violin – One of the positive things of being a Highlander is leisure time. Michael learned of the violin while he was being taught the ‘ropes’ of the higher-ups by his Aniki and was quick to learn. Though he refuses actual competition or audiences, you can find him performing at sunset. Of course, you have to find where first.

Dislikes:
Shoes – Michael refuses to wear shoes which not only gets his Aniki in a worried bunch, but has caused the soles of his feet to harden up. No one is sure why he’s done this exactly, nor is he sure he knows himself.
Long Conversations – With Michael, they won’t last anyways. Unless, of course, you happen to be a bird.
Heat – Although he does find fire rather enthralling, can’t stand the thick, still island air, especially during the summer months.
Smoke – Tends to steer clear of anything having to do with it, including factories, cigarettes, and large artificial fires.

Downside up, upside down
Take my weight from the ground

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Roleplay Sample:
Living close to the ocean meant damp, piquant air. During the day, it would hang over your head as a sweat towel. No matter where you went, a brume of thick murkiness would hold down your shoulders, magnifying the already hammering sun-rays. Lucky for Michael, he didn’t work in the fields or have to partake in the ‘dirty work’. He was a highlander now, and highlanders didn’t do ‘dirty work’.
But even if that was so, Michael would come to the cliff, a certain cliff that only he knew of. Or at least, that was how it appeared. The sun had set and crickets had once again begun their dynastic call for another. The air was beginning to grow thin, but still refused to move along with the northern winds. It was late summer and the flooding season was long over; now was a time for peace.
The soft breeze was buffeted by what appeared to be tropical plants that overtook the population of the island. The sky had fallen into a mix of navy gradient; impetuously bordering the last of the sun's rays were the 'eyes of heaven' that provided light and guidance throughout moon's phasing. Michael sat down at the edge of the cliff and kicked off his sole-bound shoes. He let them fall into the ocean and the sea selfishly swallowed them up, taking no mercy on what could have fallen in as recusant.
“Ho-i” He said with what in his mind would be considered a smile.
That was the name he had given the sea. Sometimes there were emotions and feelings out there that could not be portrayed using the simple English he was raised under. His parents hadn’t spoken the island’s central language so he could only assume that was why it didn’t just ‘fit’ in his mouth. It was, however, only a dream to believe there was anyone else out there such as him. He enjoyed time to himself, but the world seemed without purpose when there was no one to hold you to this ‘natural order’ he so questioned.
Why did things have to go the way they are now?
Michael would often call out the ocean. In response would only be a mix of breaking tides and the lapse of ocean foam that came along with it, leaving an acidic spray that tickled his feet.
Will there ever be change?
While his face showed nothing but a blank slate, his heart was burdened with whatever memories he dared still hold. He was tired of how things were – and all his life, had refused to play a victim of circumstance. But when he looked back, all he could see was a confused other self in a world that had already made up its mind.
Or is the only one left to do so…me?

Falling deep in the sky
Slipping into the unknown

Out of Character
Name/Nickname: Katherine – or anything else you’d like, names are hard to remember, no?
Timezone: EST
Any other information: Just ask.

You pull me in…
P u l l

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