(no subject)
APPLICANT INFO.
NAME: TK
CONTACT:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
crawly
CURRENT CHARACTERS: None
CHARACTER INFO.
NAME: He Ming Wang
CANON: Original character
AGE: 20
APPEARANCE: Here is a commissioned piece from bristeryo on tumblr! He's about 5'8", east Asian with a light complexion and hair dyed medium blonde.
CANON POINT: Right after his twelfth fight.
BACKGROUND:
World Background
In 2001, Earth made contact with alien life for the first time. Strange, tentacled forms landed, surviving descent through the atmosphere by virtue of their astoundingly thick shells that burned away and then cracked open when they hit the ground. The day so many had been dreading had arrived. Aliens were on Earth.
But things didn't go bad immediately. The biggest aliens in the first wave were the size of a large dog. They were not adjusted to the many biomes on earth, and those that weren't killed by frightened humans or animals died within a week or two of exposure.
Each wave grew in size and threat. The threat of war pushed scientific development and research into overdrive, and technology in all fields advanced at a breakneck pace as a ripple effect. Medication based on new compounds found in alien bodies cured diseases and created new weaponry to fight these strange beasts. Technology was pushed to new frontiers when in 2013, the largest intruders yet (40m to 60m) appeared off the west coast of the United Kingdom. From 2020 onwards, defense ministries developed mecha to combat the invaders.
As time continued to pass, and humanity continued to beat back the waves with only moderate difficulty, some people began to feel that events were too... scripted.
They were right, as it turned out. The introduction of alien life to good ol' Planet Earth was part of an eons-long competition between enormous beings of indeterminable sentience (or whatever passes as a competition between those guys, anyway) living partially outside of this universe. One would introduce a stressor (in this case, the intruders), and the other would place a bet on the other side of the conflict. The others spectate. Beginning with small engagements, the conflict steps up as time goes on. In the process, if making a conflict of this level requires opening a few dimensional wormholes, well, so what? If the universe collapses, they'll find another one.
THE EARTH TODAY (2032 C.E.)
As a whole, people are so confident in their ability to fend off intruders that they've made celebrities out of the mecha pilots and fighters who protect the planet.
The weaponized mecha run on an operating system derived from the pilot's nervous system. Less advanced units may act as backup if there are multiple intruders, but one is usually enough. Pilots are chosen based on their responses to an aptitude test, which is required for every person to take at the age of 18.
The units are in fact limited in their power by certain regulations that are only known to a few. All of them have an override system controlled by either the sponsors or the military officials in command of that unit; the pilots have thus far been able to handle most their engagements with relatively little difficulty, and no unit has been forced to use the override yet. The few pilots that have died were caught in situations that were not properly analyzed before deployment and in the early stages of the intruders' invasion. No pilots have died in action in the last ten years.
Character History
The early years of Hé Míng's life were of little note. He went to school in China, lived with both parents, and didn't see any aliens. His mother, a Korean businesswoman, and his father, a music producer from China, were kind but too distant to offer much guidance as he entered high school. Peers tended to like him because he was friendly and went out of his way to include people who were left out.
Despite not being a particularly motivated student, he pulled through on high school exams and had a small circle of close friends at a good high school. The drops had started before he was born, and by the time he was an adult regulations had settled in place around them, including the piloting aptitude test. He took the test with the rest of his friends when he turned 18, not expecting anything out of it, but ended up qualifying for basic training. At this point, he was a carefree teenager, looking forward to college without knowing what he would do after or even during it. But he had a knack for making the right choice when faced with them, despite the fact that he rarely had a concrete plan, and once he had the results for the piloting aptitude test he decided to go into the program. As part of the benefit package, he also began to take classes at the university closest to the seaside base for computer science and mechanical engineering. It took a few months for him to go through diagnostics testing and get background-checked and cleared for piloting a robot.
His first mission, two weeks after he'd first stepped into the cockpit of KOPSCHI18 (newly painted, stenciled with the logo of the company that'd picked up sponsoring him after the military had given him pilot status), took place off the coast of Guang Dong in late January. After it dropped, Hé Míng waited about a mile off of the coast where it was predicted to fall, then shot its weak points as directed by his commanding officer and the measurements of the team at base. It was a strange, dog-like alien, and upon the recommendation that he shoot it in its underside, he kneed it in the chin as soon as it finished hatching, rolled it over onto its back while it was stunned, and unloaded half a cartridge into its stomach. Hé Míng didn't stay long enough to see it stop twitching; the unit had to be cleaned up and put under the control of maintenance crew to recharge and repair as soon as possible. He wasn't interested in staying, anyway.
The waves of intruders were increasing in frequency but not so much in strength. While on base, he kept up with basic military training and a physical regimen based on suggestions of his superior officers; the military and sponsor companies sink thousands into their units and pilots, and they need their investments to stay alive and as in-shape as possible. He became complacent, and though by his 20th birthday the next year he'd been assigned twelve drops (succeeding in ten solo, two with assists), he'd taken to piloting like a part-time job and his public promotions as a more time-consuming part-time job. He didn't care to ask for more responsibilities—school was hard enough, he figured.
In the meantime, once he got started, he became a popular pilot, due to his looks, charisma, and success rate. He was first assigned to easier drops and in the process found following orders from his commanding officers easy, like he had found agreeing with teachers easy in school. He gained sponsorship from both the military and commercial companies. Marketed as a wholesome, charming young man you can take home to your parents, his public image is kept up with light-hearted interviews on talk shows. There's downtime between drops, after all, and there's no place like earth to make a commercial industry out of people defending the planet.
The last drop he faces before being brought by ALASTAIR is a Class 12 intruder called Corona (not after the beer but the fleshy spikes on its head, though it's probably only a matter of time before corporations start buying naming rights). It's one of the bigger ones in the class, but Hé Míng still finishes it off in under two hours. It goes for the head of the unit before the mission team can tell him how to engage on the offense, and Hé Míng is quick enough to respond. Scientists move in on Corona's corpse to start their research. Hé Míng returns to base to debrief and find something to eat ASAP.
He's still very much an admirer of his parents, even if he rarely sees them; they're financially successful and they at least seem happy with each other. His friendships are genuine, but of little depth. The one constant in his life right now is the chief engineer of his unit (KOPSCHI18), Dr. Veergandham, who has to spend most of her working hours around the unit and by extension, him.
PERSONALITY:
Charismatic, cheerful, and possessing an uncanny ability to make whoever he's talking to feel like the sole object of his attention, Hé Míng seems made for television. He's good at finding things to talk about when he wants to carry on a conversation, and also good at cutting things short without hurting people's feelings. He makes friends quickly, even if he doesn't hang out with most of them them too much. He's respectful to his elders, doesn't brag, and is basically a nice person, if a little scatterbrained. He has a simple confidence and an aura of self-assurance that makes people trust him. And while these traits are genuine, they're also usually only witnessed during his publicity appearances.
To his closer friends, Hé Míng's popularity can only be attributed to black magic. While not malicious, he is self-absorbed, naive, and can be cruel without meaning to when he doesn't have a general script to follow. His parents were too distant and absent to teach him anything beyond showing deference to those older than him and a basic sense of morals. Hé Míng, an adult at twenty, has a tendency to do and say things that are about as sensitive as what you'd expect from a fifteen year old.
His friends are just used to it, which is why they put up with him. He often says what he thinks without bothering to censor himself, and what's considered "refreshing honesty" on television becomes being blunt to the point of rudeness in real life. He sees no point in lying to spare someone's feelings, figuring that they'll have to know eventually anyway. In that vein, he doesn't say things with the intention of hurting people, though things often turn out that way. Fortunately (or unfortunately, in the long run), he also isn't the sort to share his opinion without prompting or reason, or else he'd probably get told off more often.
He certainly isn't shy, though. He's outgoing on and offscreen, feeling a responsibility to include everyone in the conversation whether they want to be included or not. It's useful on a talk show, but pretty obnoxious in normal situations with people who want to be left alone. He thrives in social situations. He doesn't want to be Best Friends Forever™ with everyone, but he doesn't see why he should be prejudiced in favor of or against people before he at least tries to talk to them. He makes friends easily because he's nice to nearly everyone, and he thinks, why not be nice to people? He doesn't have it in him to hold a grudge for very long once the other person apologizes.
In turn, this is a trait that makes him gullible and keeps him in contact with people that might not have his best interests in mind. Even though he has a good memory, he'll let things go if he feels like it's been long enough. Hé Míng thinks everyone deserves a second chance, unless they've killed his mother or something. Even then, if they did so because they were desperate or they did in in self-defense, he wouldn't go after them for vengeance. He'd just put them down as someone he doesn't really want to talk to anymore and let them be. If a friend or someone he trusted told him flat-out that so-and-so was an evil, lying bastard, he'd still at least try a conversation with them first. It's kind of a miracle no one's taken advantage of that yet (or just a combination of privilege and special circumstances).
This is due both to the fact that he doesn't generally care about other people enough to try and better them, and also because sheltered as he was from real hardship, he operates on a system of what are basically elementary school rules. Don't lie, don't hurt people unless they really deserve it—and even if they do, you should probably just tell the teacher. Listen to your parents, listen to anyone older than you, sharing is caring, etc.
He feels a heavy obligation towards his parents for giving him a good upbringing and always providing for them. He feels that everyone should have an equal chance at success. He knows what cruelty is, and that everyone should always work hard and play fair but that that isn't always how the world works. For what it's worth, he does his best to do good, he just doesn't go very far out of his way to help people, and he hasn't yet been in a situation that's called for that yet.
Still, what he does have is a strong sense of duty to his family and to 'good'—he never once considered turning down the position of pilot once he passed the test. He wants to protect and do what he can for the better of the human race. He has wanted that since he was young, and piloting was simply a convenient way of doing it. To be honest, he probably wouldn't have been able to find another way on his own. Hé Míng has very little sense of ambition or direction; he passed school exams by having a good memory and the ability to focus in on specific tasks. When he was graduating high school, he figured he'd go to med school or something like it, then move onto a career that wasn't too difficult and made a lot of money (but was still legal, of course).
He became a pilot, instead. As a pilot, he gets a lot of attention. More than he knows what to do with, because although he'd always been popular in his age group, he was suddenly visible to people all over the world, and had the responsibility of protecting those people on top of that. He adjusted quickly without really maturing. It isn't that he's too young to take advantage of his position for something greater. He knows it's important and he treats it with respect, but he just sees it as a duty and not an opportunity. He can't see beyond himself for the greater good and simply assumes that following orders and killing aliens is the greater good.
Actual piloting requires not just physical ability, but a willingness to trust in the team back at base. The majority of data during the battle is handled by a team of engineers, scientists, and actual military officers, while the pilot is required to be a good balance of flexible and obedient—flexible and intelligent enough to make their own choices in the face of pressing danger, obedient enough to defer to their commanding officers at all other times. Hé Míng fit that profile, and equally importantly, worked well with his supervisor Dr. Veergandham, passing the final tests to fill the position of pilot.
Ultimately, he's easy enough to have a conversation with, but difficult to stay friends with. The shallowness of his current relationships and general isolation proves that. Even though he feels fine without close friends, it's partially what contributes to his lack of development. No one has bothered pointing out that his habitual chattiness is a weakness as well as a strength; he doesn't talk about himself to people, and he doesn't know that not really caring about people beyond their basic safety and superficial happiness is, at his age, weird. Due to his tendency to just try and please people, he's bad at relationships and good at leading people on by accident. He won't bring up problems if he has them, but if they ask, he'll spill every flaw he's noticed immediately. This has not made him popular for long-term relationships, except in high school, where most people are equally self-absorbed teenagers. He hasn't had any opportunities for romance in the past two years or so, which is probably for the better and also because his sponsors heavily discourage real romantic relationships.
Hé Míng is now a self-absorbed pilot of a robot with an incredible AI that could blow up a city block with one shot at its lowest setting. This does not end well in the long run, but for the moment, he has no motivation to cause harm.
ABILITIES:
INVENTORY:
WRITING SAMPLES.
NETWORK SAMPLE:
[ Hello, everyone, this is your local excitable ex-celebrity here, lying on his stomach somewhere, kicking his feet, and looking generally as sunny as usual. ]
Fish are cute, right? But I was looking at pictures, for research, and I found out that they used to not be cute. This one [ pointing at something else on the screen, even as the camera is pointed at his face ] is all smooth and boring, and these are flat and have both of their eyes on one side.
I guess these... um, gulper eels are pretty cute, though. Heh, their mouths open so big!
[ He Ming is promptly distracted by watching a video clip play for about two seconds before he remembers himself. ]
I was researching for a reason, right! I need to make a present for a friend of mine who's really important to me, and I thought a stuffed fish toy might be nice. [ Does this person even care about fish... doubtful. ] Can you recommend a cute fish? Or, if you can think of a better present idea, tell me that too! Thanks!
LOG SAMPLE: "In-game" sample: TDM top level + first subthread here
NAME: TK
CONTACT:
crawlyCURRENT CHARACTERS: None
CHARACTER INFO.
NAME: He Ming Wang
CANON: Original character
AGE: 20
APPEARANCE: Here is a commissioned piece from bristeryo on tumblr! He's about 5'8", east Asian with a light complexion and hair dyed medium blonde.
CANON POINT: Right after his twelfth fight.
BACKGROUND:
World Background
In 2001, Earth made contact with alien life for the first time. Strange, tentacled forms landed, surviving descent through the atmosphere by virtue of their astoundingly thick shells that burned away and then cracked open when they hit the ground. The day so many had been dreading had arrived. Aliens were on Earth.
But things didn't go bad immediately. The biggest aliens in the first wave were the size of a large dog. They were not adjusted to the many biomes on earth, and those that weren't killed by frightened humans or animals died within a week or two of exposure.
Each wave grew in size and threat. The threat of war pushed scientific development and research into overdrive, and technology in all fields advanced at a breakneck pace as a ripple effect. Medication based on new compounds found in alien bodies cured diseases and created new weaponry to fight these strange beasts. Technology was pushed to new frontiers when in 2013, the largest intruders yet (40m to 60m) appeared off the west coast of the United Kingdom. From 2020 onwards, defense ministries developed mecha to combat the invaders.
As time continued to pass, and humanity continued to beat back the waves with only moderate difficulty, some people began to feel that events were too... scripted.
They were right, as it turned out. The introduction of alien life to good ol' Planet Earth was part of an eons-long competition between enormous beings of indeterminable sentience (or whatever passes as a competition between those guys, anyway) living partially outside of this universe. One would introduce a stressor (in this case, the intruders), and the other would place a bet on the other side of the conflict. The others spectate. Beginning with small engagements, the conflict steps up as time goes on. In the process, if making a conflict of this level requires opening a few dimensional wormholes, well, so what? If the universe collapses, they'll find another one.
As a whole, people are so confident in their ability to fend off intruders that they've made celebrities out of the mecha pilots and fighters who protect the planet.
The weaponized mecha run on an operating system derived from the pilot's nervous system. Less advanced units may act as backup if there are multiple intruders, but one is usually enough. Pilots are chosen based on their responses to an aptitude test, which is required for every person to take at the age of 18.
The units are in fact limited in their power by certain regulations that are only known to a few. All of them have an override system controlled by either the sponsors or the military officials in command of that unit; the pilots have thus far been able to handle most their engagements with relatively little difficulty, and no unit has been forced to use the override yet. The few pilots that have died were caught in situations that were not properly analyzed before deployment and in the early stages of the intruders' invasion. No pilots have died in action in the last ten years.
Character History
The early years of Hé Míng's life were of little note. He went to school in China, lived with both parents, and didn't see any aliens. His mother, a Korean businesswoman, and his father, a music producer from China, were kind but too distant to offer much guidance as he entered high school. Peers tended to like him because he was friendly and went out of his way to include people who were left out.
Despite not being a particularly motivated student, he pulled through on high school exams and had a small circle of close friends at a good high school. The drops had started before he was born, and by the time he was an adult regulations had settled in place around them, including the piloting aptitude test. He took the test with the rest of his friends when he turned 18, not expecting anything out of it, but ended up qualifying for basic training. At this point, he was a carefree teenager, looking forward to college without knowing what he would do after or even during it. But he had a knack for making the right choice when faced with them, despite the fact that he rarely had a concrete plan, and once he had the results for the piloting aptitude test he decided to go into the program. As part of the benefit package, he also began to take classes at the university closest to the seaside base for computer science and mechanical engineering. It took a few months for him to go through diagnostics testing and get background-checked and cleared for piloting a robot.
His first mission, two weeks after he'd first stepped into the cockpit of KOPSCHI18 (newly painted, stenciled with the logo of the company that'd picked up sponsoring him after the military had given him pilot status), took place off the coast of Guang Dong in late January. After it dropped, Hé Míng waited about a mile off of the coast where it was predicted to fall, then shot its weak points as directed by his commanding officer and the measurements of the team at base. It was a strange, dog-like alien, and upon the recommendation that he shoot it in its underside, he kneed it in the chin as soon as it finished hatching, rolled it over onto its back while it was stunned, and unloaded half a cartridge into its stomach. Hé Míng didn't stay long enough to see it stop twitching; the unit had to be cleaned up and put under the control of maintenance crew to recharge and repair as soon as possible. He wasn't interested in staying, anyway.
The waves of intruders were increasing in frequency but not so much in strength. While on base, he kept up with basic military training and a physical regimen based on suggestions of his superior officers; the military and sponsor companies sink thousands into their units and pilots, and they need their investments to stay alive and as in-shape as possible. He became complacent, and though by his 20th birthday the next year he'd been assigned twelve drops (succeeding in ten solo, two with assists), he'd taken to piloting like a part-time job and his public promotions as a more time-consuming part-time job. He didn't care to ask for more responsibilities—school was hard enough, he figured.
In the meantime, once he got started, he became a popular pilot, due to his looks, charisma, and success rate. He was first assigned to easier drops and in the process found following orders from his commanding officers easy, like he had found agreeing with teachers easy in school. He gained sponsorship from both the military and commercial companies. Marketed as a wholesome, charming young man you can take home to your parents, his public image is kept up with light-hearted interviews on talk shows. There's downtime between drops, after all, and there's no place like earth to make a commercial industry out of people defending the planet.
The last drop he faces before being brought by ALASTAIR is a Class 12 intruder called Corona (not after the beer but the fleshy spikes on its head, though it's probably only a matter of time before corporations start buying naming rights). It's one of the bigger ones in the class, but Hé Míng still finishes it off in under two hours. It goes for the head of the unit before the mission team can tell him how to engage on the offense, and Hé Míng is quick enough to respond. Scientists move in on Corona's corpse to start their research. Hé Míng returns to base to debrief and find something to eat ASAP.
He's still very much an admirer of his parents, even if he rarely sees them; they're financially successful and they at least seem happy with each other. His friendships are genuine, but of little depth. The one constant in his life right now is the chief engineer of his unit (KOPSCHI18), Dr. Veergandham, who has to spend most of her working hours around the unit and by extension, him.
PERSONALITY:
Charismatic, cheerful, and possessing an uncanny ability to make whoever he's talking to feel like the sole object of his attention, Hé Míng seems made for television. He's good at finding things to talk about when he wants to carry on a conversation, and also good at cutting things short without hurting people's feelings. He makes friends quickly, even if he doesn't hang out with most of them them too much. He's respectful to his elders, doesn't brag, and is basically a nice person, if a little scatterbrained. He has a simple confidence and an aura of self-assurance that makes people trust him. And while these traits are genuine, they're also usually only witnessed during his publicity appearances.
To his closer friends, Hé Míng's popularity can only be attributed to black magic. While not malicious, he is self-absorbed, naive, and can be cruel without meaning to when he doesn't have a general script to follow. His parents were too distant and absent to teach him anything beyond showing deference to those older than him and a basic sense of morals. Hé Míng, an adult at twenty, has a tendency to do and say things that are about as sensitive as what you'd expect from a fifteen year old.
His friends are just used to it, which is why they put up with him. He often says what he thinks without bothering to censor himself, and what's considered "refreshing honesty" on television becomes being blunt to the point of rudeness in real life. He sees no point in lying to spare someone's feelings, figuring that they'll have to know eventually anyway. In that vein, he doesn't say things with the intention of hurting people, though things often turn out that way. Fortunately (or unfortunately, in the long run), he also isn't the sort to share his opinion without prompting or reason, or else he'd probably get told off more often.
He certainly isn't shy, though. He's outgoing on and offscreen, feeling a responsibility to include everyone in the conversation whether they want to be included or not. It's useful on a talk show, but pretty obnoxious in normal situations with people who want to be left alone. He thrives in social situations. He doesn't want to be Best Friends Forever™ with everyone, but he doesn't see why he should be prejudiced in favor of or against people before he at least tries to talk to them. He makes friends easily because he's nice to nearly everyone, and he thinks, why not be nice to people? He doesn't have it in him to hold a grudge for very long once the other person apologizes.
In turn, this is a trait that makes him gullible and keeps him in contact with people that might not have his best interests in mind. Even though he has a good memory, he'll let things go if he feels like it's been long enough. Hé Míng thinks everyone deserves a second chance, unless they've killed his mother or something. Even then, if they did so because they were desperate or they did in in self-defense, he wouldn't go after them for vengeance. He'd just put them down as someone he doesn't really want to talk to anymore and let them be. If a friend or someone he trusted told him flat-out that so-and-so was an evil, lying bastard, he'd still at least try a conversation with them first. It's kind of a miracle no one's taken advantage of that yet (or just a combination of privilege and special circumstances).
This is due both to the fact that he doesn't generally care about other people enough to try and better them, and also because sheltered as he was from real hardship, he operates on a system of what are basically elementary school rules. Don't lie, don't hurt people unless they really deserve it—and even if they do, you should probably just tell the teacher. Listen to your parents, listen to anyone older than you, sharing is caring, etc.
He feels a heavy obligation towards his parents for giving him a good upbringing and always providing for them. He feels that everyone should have an equal chance at success. He knows what cruelty is, and that everyone should always work hard and play fair but that that isn't always how the world works. For what it's worth, he does his best to do good, he just doesn't go very far out of his way to help people, and he hasn't yet been in a situation that's called for that yet.
Still, what he does have is a strong sense of duty to his family and to 'good'—he never once considered turning down the position of pilot once he passed the test. He wants to protect and do what he can for the better of the human race. He has wanted that since he was young, and piloting was simply a convenient way of doing it. To be honest, he probably wouldn't have been able to find another way on his own. Hé Míng has very little sense of ambition or direction; he passed school exams by having a good memory and the ability to focus in on specific tasks. When he was graduating high school, he figured he'd go to med school or something like it, then move onto a career that wasn't too difficult and made a lot of money (but was still legal, of course).
He became a pilot, instead. As a pilot, he gets a lot of attention. More than he knows what to do with, because although he'd always been popular in his age group, he was suddenly visible to people all over the world, and had the responsibility of protecting those people on top of that. He adjusted quickly without really maturing. It isn't that he's too young to take advantage of his position for something greater. He knows it's important and he treats it with respect, but he just sees it as a duty and not an opportunity. He can't see beyond himself for the greater good and simply assumes that following orders and killing aliens is the greater good.
Actual piloting requires not just physical ability, but a willingness to trust in the team back at base. The majority of data during the battle is handled by a team of engineers, scientists, and actual military officers, while the pilot is required to be a good balance of flexible and obedient—flexible and intelligent enough to make their own choices in the face of pressing danger, obedient enough to defer to their commanding officers at all other times. Hé Míng fit that profile, and equally importantly, worked well with his supervisor Dr. Veergandham, passing the final tests to fill the position of pilot.
Ultimately, he's easy enough to have a conversation with, but difficult to stay friends with. The shallowness of his current relationships and general isolation proves that. Even though he feels fine without close friends, it's partially what contributes to his lack of development. No one has bothered pointing out that his habitual chattiness is a weakness as well as a strength; he doesn't talk about himself to people, and he doesn't know that not really caring about people beyond their basic safety and superficial happiness is, at his age, weird. Due to his tendency to just try and please people, he's bad at relationships and good at leading people on by accident. He won't bring up problems if he has them, but if they ask, he'll spill every flaw he's noticed immediately. This has not made him popular for long-term relationships, except in high school, where most people are equally self-absorbed teenagers. He hasn't had any opportunities for romance in the past two years or so, which is probably for the better and also because his sponsors heavily discourage real romantic relationships.
Hé Míng is now a self-absorbed pilot of a robot with an incredible AI that could blow up a city block with one shot at its lowest setting. This does not end well in the long run, but for the moment, he has no motivation to cause harm.
ABILITIES:
✖ Basic military training in firearms and melee combat, but his strong point is general accuracy and piloting.
✖ Conflict experience. For a twenty-year-old, he has seen a lot of explosions, heavy weaponry, and weird-looking organisms up close.
✖ Understands and speaks Chinese (fluently), English (semi-fluently, his writing still isn't very good), and Korean (mostly fluently).
✖ Good with computers and most tech, partially because he's in related majors but also because he's part of a generation obsessed with the newest and the fastest. (He uses emoticons a lot. It's probably kind of annoying.)
✖ *~*~STAR QUALITY~*~*!!! Or whatever you want to call it. Hé Míng is popular for more reasons than just good PR. He's charismatic, and his friendliness helps him connect emotionally to even people he talks to only briefly. Whether those emotional connections are genuine or not, though... that's a different matter.
INVENTORY:
WRITING SAMPLES.
NETWORK SAMPLE:
[ Hello, everyone, this is your local excitable ex-celebrity here, lying on his stomach somewhere, kicking his feet, and looking generally as sunny as usual. ]
Fish are cute, right? But I was looking at pictures, for research, and I found out that they used to not be cute. This one [ pointing at something else on the screen, even as the camera is pointed at his face ] is all smooth and boring, and these are flat and have both of their eyes on one side.
I guess these... um, gulper eels are pretty cute, though. Heh, their mouths open so big!
[ He Ming is promptly distracted by watching a video clip play for about two seconds before he remembers himself. ]
I was researching for a reason, right! I need to make a present for a friend of mine who's really important to me, and I thought a stuffed fish toy might be nice. [ Does this person even care about fish... doubtful. ] Can you recommend a cute fish? Or, if you can think of a better present idea, tell me that too! Thanks!
LOG SAMPLE: "In-game" sample: TDM top level + first subthread here