Name: Xinyi Liu / 刘 心怡 (Liu Xinyi)
Gender: Non-binary (they/them/theirs; he/him/his)
Age: 17
Background:
Because of their parents’ jobs, Xinyi has been traveling all over the world since before they remember; they got to see the world before he could even comprehend how wonderful it was to travel and explore different countries and cultures. His world was so big, the possibilities were endless, and each trip meant a new adventure, a new world to discover, a new playground for them to enjoy. Xinyi welcomed this as part of his life; they knew it wasn’t the norm to move as much as their family did, but they never longed for the kind of life other kids his age seemed to have. They could explore all they wanted, knew about countries and cultures a lot of people could only read or dream about. It was everything a kid like them could wish for.
Or well- “everything” except for a stable group of friends.
Ever since he started kindergarten to third grade, joining a place where people had already formed established groups was part of the routine to Xinyi. One of the only constants in his life, actually. Not that they minded, not at first; they had their parents and trips and anything else they could want; and leaving any friends behind would probably hurt anyway. Just as much as having no friends began to hurt when they started elementary school, maybe even more. But the pain, the loneliness he felt was already becoming too much, so starting third grade, they decided that aside from doing his best at catching up in school, and getting the best grades they could, they would have the best of friends that year, even if it was only for one year.
Ever since then, Xinyi has been a social butterfly, quick to integrate himself to already established friend groups and being generally friendly to everyone they met.
Having friends, even if he always ended up leaving after a year at most, helped ease the feeling that kept threatening to grow in Xinyi’s chest, the feeling that they may be missing out on important aspects of their life, but no matter how many people they got along with, the feeling didn’t disappear completely. Not until, at age ten, and talking with a tour guide at a mountain biking place, Xinyi learnt about the adrenaline of extreme sports for the first time in his life. He soon came to love any and all extreme activities they could try at their age, but biking always kept a special place in their life, the sport that had made him feel truly alive. After that, no matter where their family moved, Xinyi insisted on going to at least one mountain biking trail wherever they were, and when they weren’t practicing his cycling or studying, he spent his free time on whatever extreme sport he could try, always chasing that adrenaline rush.
That is, until Xinyi turned thirteen and was deemed old enough by their parents to spend a couple weeks without them. That’s when the traveling stopped completely. The Liu parents kept traveling for their work, but they were now located back in Taoyuan, Taiwan, and on the days they couldn’t take care of their kid, his father’s siblings would take turns to take the kid in. At Taoyuan Xinyi did what he would normally do when being new to a place, and in the matter of weeks, they seemed to have a pretty solid group of friends. However, they started noticing how most kids there had something -something he couldn’t quite name- that he didn’t have, which led them to start feeling like they weren’t “Taiwanese enough”, like an outsider at their own home country. They chose to ignore these feelings, told themself that they were going to go back to traveling a lot anyway as soon as they had the chance, and chose to focus on their cycling, as well as enjoying all the opportunities Taiwan offered as if they were a tourist, no matter the guilt growing in their chest.
If their family noticed, no one said anything to him, despite dining together every night and insisting on how important it was for them to stick together.
Because of that lack of communication, Xinyi didn’t feel guilty when, at fifteen, he expressed he wanted to go to an overseas school, insisting Kalopsia Academy would be for the best considering his love for mountain biking. Despite a lot of protests from his aunt and uncles, and his parents’ surprise, Xinyi got them all on board with allowing them to attend said school, and a couple weeks before turning sixteen, they were joining the academy as a sophomore.
That year was the first time Xinyi ever felt homesick, not that they would let that show, or stop them from being their usual friendly, energetic and cheerful self. Despite missing his home -and no matter how weird it was for him to think he had a home to go back to-, Xinyi is doing his best at Kalopsia, pushing themself to surpass their own limits every day. No bad thoughts should catch up to him that way, right?
Personality:
“Loud” is probably the best way anyone who’s just met Xinyi could describe them as. They are loud: their laugh is loud; the way they dress is loud; the magnetic pull he has on people is loud; their entire existence is loud. They know how to make their presence noticed as soon as he walks into a room, that’s just how they are. Their sociable nature makes it easier for them to start a conversation with anyone and about anything, even if he’s just arrived at a room, but no amount of charisma has stopped people from joking about him needing a ‘mute’ button. Not that he would ever mind, instead, he just laughs along anytime a comment like that is made and moves on with their conversation. They seem unstoppable whenever it comes to exploring, both socially and physically; their upbeat personality and enthusiasm rarely ever seem to change, and even when they do, it would be just a scratch to his persona. Xinyi may not have a clear destination in mind most of the time, but they know how to make the best of the “getting towards it” part, setbacks and mistakes are part of the fun in the journey to him.
Those who have known him for a while will know how impulsive and spontaneous they can be, indulging in anything from silly dares to trying a new sport or activity to “put his life in danger” -as his uncle used to say- every week, which sometimes lands them (and whoever decides to join in his schemes) in detention. But even then, their friends know they can count on them to listen and offer a shoulder to cry on when things start getting bad. He may not always have the best advice, but they’re a master at hugs and taking the other person’s mind off of things, which is something they value more than always knowing what to do or what to say. They value enjoying life the most, and they will try and help others enjoy theirs, no matter what they may be going through. However, in that search for enjoyment, they sometimes delve into hedonistic tendencies, and they often need someone to knock some sense into them to realise he may have veered off-track seeking immediate pleasure. Still, no one has seen Xinyi look legitimately upset, not until now, and he plans to keep it that way.
One would think they keep their “bad” moments to their alone time. However, it is rare -if not unheard of- to see Xinyi without at least one person around, even when there’s one minute before curfew he’ll be chatting away with someone. Some rumour he even breaks the rules every night to sneak someone into their room in order to have some company. What he keeps to himself and lets out when no one is watching may as well not exist, in the minds of his classmates.
Their need to be active all the time has made them into a very productive person, and they somehow manage to stay on top of school and social life, as well as cycling. Even when due dates catch him off guard, his seemingly unending energy keeps them going until he manages to hand in and finish everything on time. This shines through the most when it comes to teamwork, their social skills help organise everything, and he’ll always be ready to help his teammates in anything they could need -that is, if someone instructs what he needs to do-. Their sense of community helps him identify when someone he cares about may not be feeling well, but in most cases, they prefer letting people approach them if they want, instead of coming to them. That said, they somehow manage to remain optimistic in most -if not all- situations, and try to make it so his optimism will be contagious.
That said, sometimes others affect him more than he affects others. Mostly when it comes to decision-making or any group plans, someone expressing disapproval towards one of the possible choices will quickly make Xinyi dismiss the option without even considering it themself. Letting people have that sort of power over them makes their day to day plans messy and disorganised sometimes, to the point of being forgetful of some compromises until they’re right in front of him. Not that they seem to mind. Maybe they don’t mind messes, as their notes and room would suggest, but the fact that he sometimes chooses to organise everything on a whim can make one wonder about it. Still, they can be a messy person, and even their activities suffer from this, as they’re the kind of person who will pick a hobby for a while only to drop it as soon as it’s not as exciting as it was at the beginning. They have more unfinished projects than they can count. Maybe that’s a result from having to move so often and not minding the loose ends they left in another country.
But most of all, he’s a person who does not know what boredom is, and their extremely packed schedules leave no time for them to sit back and think about their life. Not that they need to do that, anyway, they’ll just enjoy whatever life throws at them or die trying.
Additional Information: they do mountain biking
FC:
