Xiang Chang

PLAYER INFORMATION
Name: Jormy
Timezone: GMT
Personal Journal: jormandugr
Player Contact: jormandugr
Characters in Game: Éowyn

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Xiang Chang
Canon: Harry Potter fandom OC
Age: 18
Suitability: Xiang is fundamentally a people-pleaser, and will throw herself whole-heartedly into assimilating in this setting. While she might be uncomfortable with some aspects of it, she'll also be very interested in the culture and society. She's always sought validation, often through sex, so that won't change here, and she'll probably manage quite well altogether.
Species: Human/witch
Canon Point: 1978, having just finished her final year at Hogwarts.

History: Xiang's parents were both native Chinese, but she considers herself Scottish first and foremost - she was born and raised just outside Glasgow, and all her schooling and background were there. Despite being a pureblood witch, a lot of her childhood was also spent with Muggles, as her mother (a Ministry liason officer) thought the traditional approach of home-schooling was a bad idea, and sent her to a local primary school. As a result, Xiang grew up with a foot in both worlds, and never fully comfortable in either.

With her parents working full-time, Xiang was raised largely by her Ye-ye, her maternal grandfather, who had moved from China with his wife and teenaged daughter in the 1950s. A traditional sort of man, he was quiet and taciturn, rarely offering praise - but they loved each other very much, and bonded from an early age over traditional poetry, music, and their shared intellectual curiosity.

At eleven, she received her Hogwarts letter. By this point, she was already showing a lot of promise as a school student, reading well above her age grade and taking an active role in sports and amateur dramatics. It came as no surprise to anyone who knew her, therefore, when she was Sorted into Ravenclaw.

Hogwarts in the 1970s, however, wasn't the most peaceful place to be. By the time Xiang arrived at Hogwarts, there were already rumblings of war, and coming from an accepting kind of household, she was horrified to find how many of her fellow purebloods treated Muggleborns and halfbloods. She was too self-conscious, for the most part, to speak out against it, but made a point of befriending the people at risk of bullying. She also very much admired people more willing to speak out. Xiang herself struggled to speak out about anything that really mattered to her personally, from the war to her mental health issues to her ongoing crush on Remus Lupin, which she's been quietly nurturing since she was thirteen.

In second year, she joined the Quidditch team, playing as a Chaser. Her perfectionism made her formidable on the pitch - mostly because she spent hours a week practising even when the team wasn't - and by fifth year, she was the Ravenclaw team captain.

As the war grew closer and started to threaten people she cared personally about, Xiang coped by channelling all her anxiety even more strongly into being adequate in her own eyes. By the age of sixteen, things were starting to get out of control - besides constantly practising for Quidditch and keeping her grades close to perfect, she had joined every extracurricular she could fit in her timetable, was fastidious about keeping her appearance perfect, and seemed to have a new boyfriend every other week. If that seems like an impossible workload for one person, that's only because it was - she slept perhaps five hours a night, and lived mostly on a combination of caffeine and Pep-Up Potions. She was constantly concerned about her parents, who were considered blood traitors by most of the purists, and about the safety of the people around her. By seventh year, her health was suffering, and she had to drop out of Quidditch.

She graduated without a job lined up, with poorer grades than she'd hoped for, and without any more idea of how to help in the war effort. Feeling like a failure, she retreated - hopefully temporarily - into Muggle life, pulling pints in a Glasgow bar and living with her parents. Her excuse to herself, which doesn't hold much water no matter how much she repeats it, is that she's trying to protect the Muggles in her area by making sure there's a witch around to spring into action if the Death Eaters attack. The truth, though, is that she's burnt herself out, and rather given up - though not enough to let go of her brutal beauty regimen or her need to be liked.

Personality: Xiang has always found herself rather caught between worlds - her mother's liberalism and her grandfather's relative traditionalism, her Chinese ancestry and her Scottish upbringing, her Muggle background and her wizarding life. She's dealt with this, and with her crippling self-esteem problems, by striving to be enough for everybody. This expresses itself as immense perfectionism and a very strong sense of appearances. In Xiang's mind, a failure at anything is a failure at everything - and anything less than perfection is a failure. Her intelligence and strong constitution have allowed this to persist into adulthood, as she genuinely believes she should be capable of everything.

Underneath her overenthusiastic, overachieving appearance, Xiang is really quite emotionally delicate. She likes to listen to other people's problems and help them, but when it comes to talking about her own feelings, she clams up immediately. She finds refuge in poetry and literature, and although she'd never show them to anyone, she writes stories and poems in both English and Mandarin. She loves to read, too, and while her love for Shakespeare may have started as a pretension, his sonnets and plays hold a particular place in her heart.

She isn't just a Ravenclaw because she's well-read, though. Underlying the need to be everything is the need to know everything. Xiang is fascinated by puzzles and problem-solving, and loves to piece together history and cultural information, to make connections and to understand the world around her. She's genuinely interested in everything, from people's personal experiences to theoretical writings. The downside of this, combined with her need to prove herself, is that she can be a pain in the arse to talk to, as she references all kinds of things and often jumps from topic to topic.

Being pretty, intelligent, and sporty, Xiang learnt quite early on that her sexuality could be used as leverage in getting people to like her. She's never yet had a serious, long-term relationship, despite wanting to, but she's had a lot of flirtatious and sexual relationships, mostly with boys but with a few girls as well. She's confident in her body (at least, as long as she's had the chance to work out and make a few adjustments first), and not obviously shy - in fact, she can be intimidatingly forward at times, jumping on any indication that someone likes her or wants her.

She has strongly-held convictions as they apply to her, but struggles to express them, not wanting to turn people off her. She hates arguing, and while she struggles to admit to being wrong about facts, she easily gives way when someone suggests her actions are wrong.

Most of all, Xiang is... full-on. She's never managed to do anything halfway. From sports to study to sex, if she's going to do something, she'll jump into it feet-first and give it her all, regardless of how that affects her. As a result, she lives in a constant state of stress and anxiety. But, hey, she's good at hiding that with a stunning smile, and she looks damn good doing it!

Abilities/Weaknesses: Xiang is a very competent person. She's intelligent, skilled at magic, very fit, and while her instincts for people aren't fantastic, she's taught herself to be very good at socialising. As a witch, she can perform various spells if she has her wand, with her specialism being conjuring and beauty charms.

On the other hand, emotionally she's basically nothing but weakness. Any insult or criticism sticks with her, she has cripplingly poor emotional self-awareness and low self-esteem, and she can't say no to people. She's unwilling to commit to controversial courses of action, and desperately wants to be accepted and loved.

RP Samples: First sample (TDM)

Second sample:
She's been very self-conscious, for months now, about a lot of things. She's been self-conscious about not getting the grades she needed, about doing a Muggle job, about it not even being a good Muggle job...

Funny thing is, all of that seems a lot less embarrassing compared to polishing dicks in a castle corridor. When she signed up for this whole apprenticeship thing, she definitely imagined more opportunities to show off her magical skills and talents, and less of... well, this. Menial jobs, apparently designed to make you look as stupid as possible. She wanted to learn the secrets of a new world, not kneel on stone and try to buff up alarmingly-realistic brass genitals.

The library is just down the hall. She could get there if she tried, she's pretty sure. Just for a few moments, just long enough to flick through some of the books. She's quick on her feet - she could pop in, pop out, nobody would have to be any the wiser.

But if they were...

Xiang sighs, flicking her (perfect, as always) hair back over one bare shoulder, and shakes her head. It's going to be a long, long apprenticeship.