#privchang

Wait, are they related? If they are, then yeah, obviously…

ALICE CHANG ➝ SECOND SIBLING

I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN

❖ FULL NAME: Alice Margaret Chang. ❖ PRONOUNS: She/Her. ❖ AGE: 22. (September 2nd). ❖ BIRTH ORDER: Second. Twin to First Chang. ❖ GRADE: Senior. ❖ MAJOR: History, with a minor in Dance. ❖ SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Asexual. ❖ ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Biromantic. ❖ FACECLAIM: Shuang Zheng.

I'LL FOLLOW YOU UNTIL YOU LOVE ME

[depression, self harm tw]

If there was one teaching that Alice Chang has carried with her throughout her life, it’s that nothing short of perfection should ever be accepted. With a family like hers, it was impossible for her to be anything less than the absolute best, and Alice has never desired to be. And why shouldn’t she strive for it? She saw both students and professionals alike flock to her father with praise and seeking his opinions, while hearing beautiful young ingénues talk about how, even in her retirement, her mother was still one of the most renowned ballerinas of the modern age. In her young eyes, her parents were nothing but absolute perfection, and as their daughter, it was assumed that she would be the exact same. From the time she was a child, she has always thought herself the epitome of ladylike. She would walk with her spine straight and her clothes as neat as could be, generally remaining quiet unless spoken to without a single hair out of place. Alice never wanted anything but to make her parents proud of her, which lead to her giving her all in everything from academics (always making the honor roll and scoring in the top 5% of her class) to social involvement (stockpiling her resume with plenty of volunteer work) to dance.

Following in her mother’s graceful, pointe-shoe wearing footsteps, Alice was involved in ballet for as long as she can remember and while it definitely carries a special place in her heart, Alice much more appreciates ballet for the simple fact that it allowed her to grow so close to her mother. Julia Chang is not only Alice’s role model, but one of her best friends to this day. In a family of four (which suddenly and unexpectedly became five upon the adoption of her sister when Alice was 14), it wasn’t rare for Alice to be overlooked by her father, distant as he might have been. But her mother… oh how her mother was her saving grace, her rock in a family that Alice could’ve very easily fallen to the side of. To Alice, this bond was both a blessing and a curse. In hindsight, maybe it was this close relationship that made her even more determined to be someone her parents – her mother – could be proud of.

That amount of pressure can be dangerous, and on a young girl who already has the eyes of the media on her, it is of no surprise that it can become too much. It was in her early teenage years that she first felt the tightness in her chest some days, and the almost overwhelming sense of worthlessness more often than not, afraid that no matter what she did or how much she worked, something in her would still never be fully perfect. All Alice wanted was an escape, something to help take the edge off in-between studying, rehearsals, and the change in her father’s demeanor once Elise came into the home. What she found was an exacto blade and a sense of relief she’d never thought possible.

It started off inconspicuous enough: a little nick to her thigh if she didn’t do as well as she should have on an exam, a bruise or two on her hand if she missed a step during rehearsal. Her family had so much exposure in the public eye, it was hard to feel she had any sense of privacy. This, though… this was something that was entirely her own. A secret in a world that rarely allowed such things, and maybe her want to keep that secret made her grow careless, and dare her to go further every time until she could no longer wear shorts or a bathing suit, terrified someone would question the marks and there would be no believable explanation she could give besides the obvious. Alice can’t pinpoint when things took a turn, when she needed more and more to get the same sense of relief from hurting herself as she did before. What she does remember is the look of complete and utter disappointment on her father’s face when her parents found out, courtesy of a concerned friend who Alice promptly shut out of her life. Her 16th summer was spent in a psychiatric unit, the staff getting paid with an extra incentive to keep word of her placement there quiet. While her siblings and extended family were told she was at a leadership program, Alice spent seven weeks in an inpatient program, leaving with a diagnosis of persistent depressive disorder, a prescription for Zoloft, and the knowledge that she had brought shame to her family without most of them even knowing it.

Upon her return home, Alice became quieter than she’d been before, shuffling to and from her bedroom and leaving little time for fun. She still performed well in school and she still danced as if her life depended on it, but there was a distinct change in her. She could no longer look her parents in the eyes, and a huge part of her felt guilty that she couldn’t tell her own siblings the reason why. It wasn’t until she started university that she began to open up more, majoring in history (practical enough for her father to approve of, but interesting enough that Alice knew she wouldn’t get bored) while still maintaining her interest in dance. Being out of the home was enough for Alice, and PSU came as a breath of fresh air knowing that she was around people who were in the same light as her. Relapse isn’t unknown to her, but at least now Alice feels she has the strength to pull herself back up and move forward, slowly trying to rid herself of her own guilt over her illness.

When she first heard that her parents were divorcing, she was devastated. But when she found out via gossip columns that the reason was due to her father’s infidelity, all Alice could see was red. Watching how heartbroken the revelation left her mother made her angry enough, but to have it be so highly publicized pushed her to her limits. For the first time in her life, Alice had no trouble speaking her mind when she called her father up and let him know exactly what kind of man she thought he was. The next time she saw him (a necessary evil, as Alice still very much believes in maintaining a certain image), he was now the one who couldn’t meet her eyes. She avoids parts of campus where she might see so much as an image of him outside what she has to, and it is clear to anyone who meets her that she is still on her mother’s side after the divorce. At this point in her life, as she prepares to graduate undergrad, all Alice wants is to move forward – with her education, her past, and the people who truly mean something to her.

BABY, THERE'S NO OTHER SUPERSTAR

Alice prefers to keep her dark hair long, very rarely tying it back or doing much in the way of putting it up. She is rarely seen without at least a touch of blush and mascara, always wanting to be the picture of grace and charm. The same desire is reflected in her clothes –well fitted and stylish any time she goes out for any sort of reason, donned almost exclusively in either neutral or light shades. She has two tattoos, both small and hidden enough to hide so as to keep herself looking prim and proper. There’s a tattoo of the four cardinal directions in black ink on her left shoulder and a lotus flower on her right ankle.

YOU KNOW THAT I'LL BE YOUR PAPARAZZI

ELISE CHANG ➝ THIRD SIBLING

I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN

❖ FULL NAME: Elise Delilah Chang. ❖ PRONOUNS: She/Her. ❖ AGE: 20. (May 29th). ❖ BIRTH ORDER: Third. Half-Sibling. ❖ GRADE: Sophomore. ❖ MAJOR: Aerospace Engineering, with a minor in History. ❖ SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Polysexual. ❖ ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Polyromantic. ❖ FACECLAIM: Janel Parrish.

I'LL FOLLOW YOU UNTIL YOU LOVE ME

[TRIGGER WARNING: DEATH]

Michael Chang never meant for what happened to get so out of hand.

To say that it was just one of those things would have done a disservice to the affair that happened. Marlee Roberts was many things– but above all things, she was Julia Chang’s best friend, which made the sordid details that much trickier. Marlee was also a doctor at LA Memorial Hospital, worked closely alongside Michael Chang, and was, in fact, the person who introduced him to Julia Lin. Their sordid affair lasted the better part of ten years, and they didn’t think much else of it until Marlee became pregnant. Considering her own intimate relationship with her husband had been quite stagnant for the better part of two years, she was forced to come clean about having an affair.

Of course, the fall-out was immediate. Marlee’s husband promptly divorced her, and the strain all of that put on the Chang’s marriage could have been irreversible, if Marlee had revealed that Michael, was in fact, the father. Michael swore her to secrecy, and Marlee didn’t have the heart to destroy her relationship with her best friend. With her husband gone, no family to support her, and now a single mother to boot, Marlee was very much alone in the world with a daughter on her hands, now. The thought of giving her up for adoption crossed her mind, but because she was so in love with Michael (a love that quickly went from playful to obsessive), she wanted a piece of him to be with her, always.

So she named the baby girl Elise, and moved up to Seattle, Washington, where the truth would never be discovered. The day she took Elise home from the hospital, she wrote Elise a letter, which revealed the truth of her birth and the circumstances behind it. She tucked it away in a safe and, for the most part, forgot about it. Meanwhile, Elise completely thrived, and she grew up as a very happy only child. From a young age, it was determined that she was quite intelligent, and she always harbored a love for the way in which things worked. Marlee could often find her atop the roof of their home in Seattle with a tiny telescope, trying to make sense of the puzzles that were the stars above.

She was twelve years old when her mother was killed. They were mugged while waiting for the subway train to arrive by a gang. After giving members of the gang her purse, and all of her jewelry, she thought they were in the clear. Their attackers got on the train, and for whatever reason, the door opened up again. As soon as they had a shot, they took it, and little Elise was left to watch the entire thing transpire. It’s left a profound effect on her, as have other things.

As the social workers tore apart Marlee’s house, it was then that she met Julia Chang. Her mother’s best friend had been absent for the majority of Elise’s life, only coming to visit on her birthday, and while Elise recognized her, she was still going to live with a stranger. Elise was adopted shortly after, but for whatever reason, felt the chilled wrath of her adoptive father. It was something that would plague her for years after her adoption. It probably was for the best that Elise’s mind was so sharp, as that was the only way she could feasibly make something for herself. Her head was constantly in the clouds– working through the inner mechanics of airplanes, rocketships, and studying the sky above her. She was known in school to be incredibly talented when it came to the sciences, but she specifically excelled in physics and astrophysics.

So when it came time to apply for college, obviously, her only option was MIT. Or Harvard, but she had her heart set on MIT. Even though her parents were both on the faculty of PSU, Elise really wanted a means to get away from her adoptive father for a bit. Elise was beyond thrilled when she received her acceptance letter into MIT, and was hoping that somehow she’d be able to swing the money, somehow. It was then, when she turned eighteen, that the contents of Marlee’s safe were given to her, as she’d become of age. There was money there, but not nearly enough to pay for the tuition, or to get herself a loan. Most importantly, there was the letter. Upon reading the letter from her mother, that which explained the exact circumstances of her birth, Elise immediately demanded the truth from who she presumed was her biological father.

Of course, it turned out to be the truth, and prompted the immediate, highly publicized divorce of Michael and Julia. With quite literally no one to turn to, and with no money to pay for college, Elise wrote to the Dean of PSU and managed to get herself a work-study so that she could afford to go. Now, alienated by both her biological father and adoptive mother, Elise harbors a certain amount of resentment for the Changs, including her half-siblings. She doesn’t feel like she belongs, nor is she a real part of their family. Now that she’s past eighteen years old, she’s free to do as she pleases, so she does. Elise is bitter, but she works part-time at a children’s science center in the mornings, and takes her classes in the evening. Elise also has two other part time jobs in order to pay for school, but she’s extremely organized and manages to get it all done. Her least favorite part of attending PSU is the fact that she’s near her siblings, who she feels very awkward around, because she wonders if they resent her, too.

BABY, THERE'S NO OTHER SUPERSTAR

Elise is far too busy to put work into her appearance. Working three jobs, plus an engineering major is beyond any kind of cute outfit. Elise swaps between wearing glasses and contacts, her hair is sometimes pulled back for when she works at a coffee shop. On the weekends, at her Bath and Body Works gig, Elise puts in more of an effort, because she’s supposed to look stylish, but her aesthetic is comfortable sweats. On her rare day off, she’ll doll herself up. Even though she’s tiny, she packs a punch in confidence and expression.

YOU KNOW THAT I'LL BE YOUR PAPARAZZI