Chloe Zhao, Programmer

[Chloe Zhao]

The Big Damn Original Characters Application For Chloe Zhao


Your ‘Real’ Name (or preferred 'out of character' Handle):
Haha, well my “real” name is “Veronica”, but I also go by Chronica. =P

How Often You Can Post:
About once a day until mid-September, after which it’ll go down to once every other day/every three days.

Tell Us About Your Roleplay Past/Abilities:
I used to RP in Lost in Serenity (now Finding Serenity I suppose) and had a character on here, too (Beatrix something or other). But the sadly, I lost track.

How Familiar Are You With The Firefly 'Verse?:
Pretty familiar – seen all the shows and the film.

How Did You Hear About The BDV Site?:
Can’t remember, sorry.

____________________________________________________________________


If you could 'cast' the role of your OC, who would play the part:
Zooey Deschanel

What BDV ship/location do want to be assigned to:
Uh, anywhere that a hacker/communications person is needed.

Character Name:
Chloe Zhao

Character Occupation:
Telecommunications/Programming

Gender:
Female

Age (the character, not the actor/actress):
27

Detailed Physical Description (2 PARAGRAPHS):
Chloe Zhao is about 5'6” in height, has long, wavy, black hair, brilliantly blue eyes and naturally red lips, yet also has a rather pallid complexion. Her frame is fairly scrawny, but even though she may not have muscle tone, she does have a runner’s body and can therefore jog very long distances, having a considerably high level of endurance.

Nothing about Chloe’s physical features stands out particularly, except perhaps her relatively striking eyes. She has no tattoos or scars to identify herself with, though something specific to her character is her wardrobe’s tendencies towards light blues and outfits whose goal is to leave those surrounding her with an impression of naiveté or simplicity. In terms of manner, Chloe may slouch upon occasion, though she generally carries herself with an aloof elegance, keeping a statically calm nature to her and usually appearing quite at ease.

Detailed Personality (2 PARAGRAPHS):
Getting to know Chloe would be a bit difficult simply because she’s always on the move, so she tends to appear detached and standoffish at first, though that is not necessarily her intention. She seems pensive when left to her own devices, most likely because she’s lost in the planning of some intricate plot to steal some coveted treasure or con her way into quick cash.

Profession and interests aside however, Chloe still has some trust issues. While she can be very charming in a social situation, one can never really tell if she’s kidding or being serious - an element of intrigue that can attract some, and cause suspicion in others when she’s in a mischievous or playful mood. Chloe might also seem a bit flaky because she still considers her identity, even to herself, as something elusive and hard to categorize, hence the common perception of her being two-faced or misleading. The only thing that’s obvious to everyone is Chloe’s passion and lust for life when they hit upon the right topic of discussion.

Detailed History (2 OR MORE PARAGRAPHS):
Born and raised on Rhinemark, Chloe comes from a family of blue-collar workers. Her father Bohai works in the planet’s fishing industry while her mother is a supervisor in one of Rhinemark’s many factories. Both her parents had high aspirations for Chloe as a young girl, which is why they saved all the money they could to get her into proper schools – so as to give her a chance to progress in life the way they never could.

Ever since Chloe was young, she was a natural in breaking down electronics and playing with modern technological advances, signaling her parents to push her towards a career to do with electronics. Not wanting to disappoint her parents after all they sacrificed for her, Chloe went with the flow and excelled in her studies such that it even landed her at the Osiris Technical Academy completing her Masters in IT and Computer Sciences. During her time in school though, Chloe did the bare minimum to get by, concentrating most of her extra-curricular efforts on her real passion; thieving. The young woman from Rhinemark loved nothing more than the feeling of exhilaration she got when physically breaking into a facility and stealing the odd valuable jewel or antique.

Finishing school and leading her parents into believing she was now a technical analyst for some department in Tele Fonix, Chloe instead made a few friends in her real line of business and set out on a few full-time cons and heists here and there under a new name (Florence “Flo” Tsou) – but nothing too advanced. However after a year or two of the same old job, and getting the impression that her current cohorts weren’t interested in upping the ante, Chloe decided to partner up with a more serious group to seek more advanced challenges.

Things went well for a while, and she got what she wanted; higher stakes and real thefts. Everything went south though when one of their crowd went missing for a few days, then was found in his room again, tortured and murdered, with a death threat holographed, demanding the return of certain objects. Leaving it up to the head of the outfit to return the stolen goods since it was in his possession anyway, Chloe deviated immediately from her partners, and set up every precaution possible to separate herself from her criminal history.

For a while, Chloe even deliberated faking her own death so as to avoid getting her family involved, however she felt it was safe considering the amount of safeguards taken prior to her even entering school and the system in general to be able to remain with her birth name. A feeling of paranoia still permeated her everyday life though, so she set off in search of more mobile commissions until she felt the heat had died down.


Strengths (1 paragraph):
Most of Chloe’s strengths are related to her former career in one way or another - habits and qualities she developed to aid in her endeavors, them being higher than average capabilities in terms of agility, observation and deception. Yet, Chloe’s real strengths lie in her hacking and programming skills.

Weaknesses (1 paragraph):
Since Chloe has never actually been close to anyone, she finds it difficult to remain loyal to any other but her family. So she’s not trustworthy, she’s no good in a fight either (unless it’s to run away), and not to mention a bit of a kleptomaniac. Her want of independence has also led her to react a bit childishly or illogically in some situations, most likely leading to the “life of crime” she just abandoned. Lastly, because of previous events, Chloe's a bit secretive and paranoid – things she goes out of her way to hide so as to blend in.


Sample Post (3 paragraphs minimum/Third Person Past Tense):

”What do you mean ‘you’re gonna cut out?’” Demanded Vince. He stood up menacingly to look Chloe in the face – or Flo, as she made herself known in this industry. She just crossed her arms and stared right back. ”This is your problem now, Vince. You took on this job as a vendetta against Wao, and I’m not going to pay the price for it. It’s simple.” Vince stepped back and looked at the other two incredulously. Ronny and Mei-Li responded by staring at the floor, despondent. ”Look – this isn’t about ditching when the going gets tough – but that was the deal; we do a con, we do it right and we do it safe. You compromised the whole group with this crusade that we did as a favour to you, and I’m done. I’m sorry guys,” she gestured to the others, ”but I’m done. Besides, you don’t need me to return anything since you hid the envelope so that none of us could find it.”

Chloe looked at Vince and the others expectantly. When no one replied, confirming the validity of her argument, she concluded her goodbyes. ”Look, I’m sorry things went down the way they did, and I sincerely hope you get out of this alright.” She started heading for the exit. ” Yi lu shwen fohn.” As she opened the door, Vince lunged for it, slamming the door shut with his weight. ”Ya know they’re gonna come after you anyway, dontcha Flo? This ain’t a game you can just toss when things get fong luh you stupid po fu.”

Chloe had never seen Vince this desperate, at least not with (former) members of the same crew. ”Well, if you can’t do your job, then I’ll figure out a way to get myself out of hot water, thanks. Now, please get off the door.” There was a beat of silence as she challenged his sanity. ”Argh! Let her go!” Exploded Ronny with exasperation. ”She’s right, this is YOUR fault Vince.” Chloe finally looked at her partners one last time. You could see the exhaustion in Ronny’s face, but Mei-Li’s expression haunted Chloe – so saddened and betrayed, she couldn’t even look at up from the orange shag carpet. Finally, Vince stood straight and pointed at Chloe. ”Be that as it may; I don’t take kindly to desertion.” He then turned and headed for the couch running his hand through his hair with force.

At that moment, it took all her self-control for Chloe to just clamp her mouth shut, turn around and walk out the door. As she slowly closed it behind her, she heard the argument rage on between Vince and Ronny, and heaving a sigh, Chloe walked off, glancing through the window once more to see Mei-Li sinking in to a chair like a ragdoll, void of life.

”Maybe…” a voice squeaked in her mind. ”No! Not my problem.” It’s done, and yet – Chloe couldn’t get Ronny and Mei-Li out her head. So preoccupied she was, that she didn’t even notice she was being followed until she reached the street to hail for a cab. Looking back, she saw three men clad in black converge on the motel room she just left, and a fourth rounding the parking lot, headed her way. Without a moment’s hesitation, she made a mad dash through traffic and bolted into an alley, her heart thumping all the way up in her throat. She kept running, pushed forward by the faint footsteps behind her - but escape was her specialty. Chloe dodged through multiple doorways and even more labyrinthine alleys, and continued to run for what felt like hours. Running and running - until she heard just her own steps on the pavement and found a suitably seedy eating establishment to duck into.

”I’m done,” Chloe realized finally as she hid behind a menu in a dark booth.

This post has been edited by Chloe Zhao on Aug 10 2010, 09:38 AM

[ComradeCharlie]

I like her and you have my stamp of approval (although you'll still need to admin okays).

I think maybe Epiphany or Route 66 might be a good place to start, seeing as she's on the run? Don't know how you feel about her hiding out in a whore-house; if you're okay with it, she might head out to The Heart of Gold on Jinye, though. Nice friendly place when people aren't shooting each other. ;)

[Jeth Fiction]

I wouldn't want to double up Pew's skillset at Route 66, however there would be a chance for her to play for the other side in a guest stint if that interested you, which could either lead to more R66 play or hopping on to another ship when it's done.

It's pretty slow over there right now, and the station can be daunting for new people (although I intend to shrink it down to one or two threads in the next couple of weeks), so that is just one option available to you.

I'm tempted to recommend the Shangren as they once had a hacker who left, and also it would be funny because oath has expressed to me on multiple ocassions how he does not like Zooey Deschanel (are you crazy dude just look at those eyes), but that might be throwing her back into her life of crime a little quicker than you want.

Charlie's already mentioned the Endless and the Heart, and I'm sure somebody else will have other suggestsions, so you have lots to choose from.

[Synthia Lyndon Heller]

I'll put in a yes on this one :)

[Chloe Zhao]

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice! I'm checking out all the options and am really looking forward to rping with everyone. :)

[Ertia]

'm approving this post-haste! ;) Feel free to hop on into the action in the Heart of Gold forum, either in Burgesstown or Heart of Gold if you'd like. (In fact, I've got a nifty idea for your intro down there, if you're interested!

Beatrix was a member of a Kasern's crew once upon a time, long long ago. After being abandoned the character was presumably spaced in the encounter with Captain Henry, but it's just possible that she survived in the launched shuttle and is out there somewhere if you ever want to bring her back. (IF not, she's probably haunting Kasern along with Boa's ghost.) :)

[Chloe Zhao]

PM on Burgesstown REplied. =)

As for Beatrix ... I was thinking of updating her a bit because I was a bit younger when I wrote her up. However I was gonna do that later, after I get a good foot hold with this character; make sure I can keep up with you talented people.