S082 - Lee, Angelo [DECEASED]

[Ruggahissy]

Name: Angelo José Rizal Mendoza Lee
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Grade: 12
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Tabletop games, live-action roleplaying games, archery, cosplay, social justice

Appearance: Angelo is 5’4” tall and 146 pounds. Though he is one of the shorter boys in his class, he has an athletic figure, with muscle evident especially in his arms, chest, and back. Angelo is of Filipino descent, ethnically Tagalog, and has a light tan skin tone, medium-brown eyes, and unruly, shoulder-length black hair. He has a blunt nose, full lips, and a rounded jaw.

Most of the time, Angelo dresses quite casually. He tends to wear tank tops or t-shirts underneath a lightweight jacket, and jeans. He sometimes wears shoes with a slight platform sole to make himself appear taller, but generally prefers comfortable trainers. He favors the color blue in his wardrobe. His right ear is pierced once in the lobe; usually, he wears a dangling cross-shaped earring in it, but he has a variety of other earrings that he will switch to for costumes, and he goes without during formal occasions at his parents’ behest.

On the day of the abduction, Angelo was wearing a light blue hooded sweatshirt layered over a black thermal tank top and a white t-shirt depicting the theatrical poster of the movie Jaws, bootcut blue jeans, and worn, light gray tennis shoes. He had his usual earring in his right ear.

Biography: Angelo Lee was born on December 9, 2003, to Angelica Mendoza Lee and Juan Carlos Lee in Manila, Philippines. While Angelica and Juan Carlos were married and had planned to have a child eventually, Angelo was an accident, and the timing of his birth was inconvenient to his parents, as they had been trying to save money for some time in order to immigrate to the United States where much of Angelica’s extended family lived. The addition of a baby set them back financially; both made decent income working as hospital nurses, but Angelica had to take extended time off work to care for Angelo. This caused a strain in their marriage, and while they did separate for a while, they eventually reconciled once things stabilized.

As the couple continued trying to balance saving money with caring for their son, Angelica's family offered to lend them money in order to fund their immigration to the US. Angelo's parents initially refused, both out of pride and concern for their extended family, but their relatives insisted. Eventually, Angelica and Juan Carlos determined that they would likely not get an opportunity as good as that offered by this financial help, and they finally accepted and made the overseas move when Angelo was two. Though their relatives insisted that they didn’t need to be paid back, Angelo’s parents have endeavored to make it up to the extended family via hosting large parties and doing other favors for their relatives over the years.

Angelo adjusted well to the move, even when both his parents began working long and irregular hours on nursing shifts; when they were at work, he got to stay with his relatives, who easily kept him happy and occupied. Having to take time off from her job for so long had frustrated Angelica, and she was much happier and more affectionate towards Angelo and her husband once she was able to resume working, even with the time and effort that her job required. These adjustments made the transition to living in Salem and eventually starting preschool an overall positive time for Angelo, especially once his immediate family's finances were stable enough to move into an apartment of their own.

From a young age, Angelo was a rambunctious and outgoing person who loved to play games and sports with others. His family also befriended other Filipino-American residents in the Salem area who had children around Angelo’s age. Angelo himself made strong and long-lasting friendships with many of these children, especially as they continued into the same schools together and frequently saw each other at get-togethers and on holidays that their families celebrated as a community.

Angelo was drawn to activities that let him indulge his creativity and social side. As a younger child, he enjoyed games of make-believe with other children, and this inclination naturally grew into an interest in more structured roleplaying games. Some of his older cousins and acquaintances played tabletop games such as Dungeons & Dragons with each other, and they were happy to introduce Angelo to the hobby. While at first the numbers side of the game was a bit beyond him, Angelo immediately took to the idea of creating a character through which to play out adventures, and he enjoyed reading the lore and backstories of the various worlds that could be played in.

Angelo’s interest in fantasy and specifically fantasy roleplaying would grow throughout his childhood and adolescence. In addition to trying new tabletop systems and even beginning to craft some of his own adventures to play in them, he was introduced in early middle school to the idea of live-action roleplaying, in which players would fully take on the roles of their characters and act out their adventures in real time. He fell in love with the idea immediately, but his parents refused to let him take part upon learning that LARP involved simulated combat with weapons, concerned that Angelo could get hurt. They did allow him to hold much smaller-scale roleplaying games with friends and relatives at their homes, including helping him make costumes for his various character personas.

School life went much the same as Angelo’s home life in elementary and middle school. He was regularly asked by teachers to quiet down and needed to be reminded to focus on his classwork, but he did manage good grades with guidance. His parents had impressed upon him the importance of doing well in school, which he tried to take to heart, but traditional classroom learning often bored him. He excelled in PE and did well in any class activities that allowed him to talk and present ideas, which somewhat balanced out his weaknesses in other areas.

In contrast to the rest of his carefree childhood, Angelo was introduced to conflicting political views just a few years into school. During a discussion in class on the history of the United States and how it was known as a melting pot and a haven for immigrants, one of Angelo’s classmates spoke up to relate how their parents had expressed anti-immigrant sentiment to them. Angelo jumped in to say that his own family were immigrants, and the discussion quickly grew heated with more classmates joining in and none of them being very nuanced in their arguments, given that they were elementary school students. The teacher had to end the lesson early in order to shut down the conversation before it got out of hand, and several people, Angelo included, were left with confused and hurt feelings over what had come out. It was the first time that Angelo had ever been exposed to the idea that he and his family could be discriminated against for being non-white and born outside of the US.

When he told his parents what had happened in class, Angelica and Juan Carlos were concerned but unsurprised. They explained to Angelo that some people were simply prejudiced, and that he needed to just focus on being the best person that he could be and work hard, and he would be able to achieve a good life regardless of where he came from. While this was somewhat reassuring to Angelo, he understood even at a young age that it didn’t resolve the root of the issue, and his frustration with that would stick with him throughout his life. As he grew older, the issue of citizenship especially began to bother him; his parents had applied for naturalized citizenship within a few years of immigrating, and citizenship had been granted by the time he finished elementary school. Angelo would, however, always remember the uncertainty he felt upon realizing that he wasn't a full citizen, and even afterwards, the occasional cruel joke about immigrant families being deported would never fail to get a rise out of him.

Over the years, Angelo would continue to develop his interests and branch out into related hobbies. His roleplaying efforts grew from having his parents make simple costumes for him to making his own, including having his mother teach him to sew. He began taking inspiration from various fantasy media for his costume ideas, and this led him to discover cosplay. He was instantly inspired by the elaborate costumes that fans of games, shows, and comics created to imitate their favorite characters and wanted to achieve the level of detail and quality that the cosplayers he saw online did. Though daunted when he found out how expensive the hobby could be, Angelo started small, buying costume pieces and secondhand clothes with his allowance and altering them through sewing or painting. While he isn’t a hardcore fan of many pop culture properties, Angelo was able to find characters that were similar in nature to the ones he liked to play in tabletops, usually dashing and heroic types, and these were the ones he most often emulated. As his skill improved, he grew confident enough to wear his costumes to fan events and conventions that happened in Salem and later the greater Boston area.

Angelo’s combined hobbies of tabletop and cosplay eventually led him back to LARP. By the time he was in high school, he felt that he was mature enough that he should be allowed to participate, as the risk of getting injured was lower in his mind. His parents did not necessarily agree, and it took much wheedling on Angelo’s part for them to even consider it. When it became clear that he wouldn’t be able to convince them on his own, he turned to badgering his older cousins until one of them agreed to attend a LARP session along with Angelo in order to keep an eye on him.

The promise of extra supervision comforted his parents enough that they finally relented. They hoped that he would find the effort of live-action roleplay less glamorous than his tabletop games and grow tired of it after a session or two, but this proved not to be the case. Angelo loved his initial experience in getting to fully assume the role of his character, and he begged his parents to let him get more involved, even promising to bring more relatives and friends in on it if that would help them feel more secure about his safety. The argument dragged on for longer than either Angelo or his parents expected, as both parties were very stubborn and believed they were firmly in the right; eventually Angelo got his way through sheer attrition.

Unfortunately for Angelo’s parents’ peace of mind, this victory made him more confident in exploring other activities that they considered risky, in part to supplement his LARPing. Juan Carlos and Angelica refused point-blank to let him take up any sort of martial arts or combat sport when he asked, but they reluctantly allowed him to try out archery at a local sports club, since it was a controlled sport that still somewhat fulfilled the niche he was looking for. While it wasn’t quite as exciting as he’d hoped it would be, Angelo grew to enjoy archery for being a slower and more focused activity than most of his other hobbies, requiring him to take his time practicing form and keeping his attention on a goal in order to improve. The combination of archery and his time spent running around with others for LARP also helped him keep fit throughout high school, which softened his parents’ attitudes towards these activities somewhat when they saw the positive effects.

One area where Angelo and his parents have had increasing trouble seeing eye-to-eye over time is in regards to his interest in social justice. His parents are socially conservative in many areas, holding to popular views in their home country regarding gender roles, LGBTQ rights, and social class; additionally, they are still quite patriotic about the Philippines. Angelo himself was partially named after José Rizal, a national hero of Filipino independence, and his parents’ attention to current events is usually focused on events in the Philippines just as much as, if not more than, those happening in the US.

Angelo, on the other hand, has embraced more progressive and liberal ideals as he grew more socially-conscious. He is outspoken about his beliefs regarding racial equality and immigration in particular, as those topics have personally affected him throughout his life, but he is a proponent of gender equality, LGBTQ rights, and greater socioeconomic equity as well. While his takes are not always nuanced, he makes an earnest effort to continually educate himself on pertinent issues and keep up to speed on the political landscape and movements in the US.

There is much mutual frustration between himself and his parents stemming from these differing views. Angelo’s parents feel that he has forgotten his cultural roots, something which they partially blame themselves for. Though involved in Filipino-American culture through his relatives and friends, Angelo does not engage with much of it in-depth to the degree his parents would like. He has also retained little of his native Tagalog language, while his parents are both fluent in it and struggle more with English. He doesn’t understand why his parents are still so fixated on the political happenings of a country that they left behind 15 years ago, as opposed to those of the country they live in now; conversely, they find his attitude dismissive and disrespectful of his homeland. In general, politics has become something that the Lee family simply do not discuss with each other if they want to maintain the peace in their household.

Another politics-related issue that Angelo’s parents dislike is his interest in attending demonstrations and direct-action movements. Like their concerns about his participation in potentially-dangerous sports, this stems from worries about his safety. They worry that his passion and attitude will get him in trouble with the authorities and fear what could happen if he ever has to interact with police in particular. Angelica and Juan Carlos also believe in rumors about groups such as ANTIFA that portray them as anarchist vandals, and they additionally believe that Angelo is too young to really have a full understanding of the issues on which he wants to take a stand. While they initially forbid him from attending any demonstrations, this pushed Angelo into outright defiance for the first time and led to several incidents where he lied about where he was going or even snuck out of the house in order to attend protests and sit-ins with friends.

When his deceptions were discovered, his parents were furious and grounded him for several weeks, making sure that he was with relatives who would keep an eye on him whenever Juan Carlos and Angelica were at work and couldn’t supervise him themselves. When they had calmed down, Angelo’s parents did have to acknowledge that they couldn’t sustain that kind of surveillance on him and that doing so would only push him away. They still strongly disapprove of his political activism and discourage him from attending large-scale events, but it has become another thing that the family mostly doesn’t bring up in order to keep things civil.

Despite these tense topics, Angelo does have a loving relationship with both of his parents. The three of them don’t often get to spend quality time together given his parents’ busy schedules as nurses, and he enjoys the positive time that he does get to spend with them at family events. He maintains positive relationships with their extended family and friends as well, though many of the older members of those groups hold similar views towards Angelo’s hobbies as his parents. The COVID-19 pandemic was hard on his family, with several of his relatives falling ill; a few of his older relatives ended up passing away due to later complications. Angelo’s parents also had to deal with the highly stressful work environment at their hospital and the resulting concerns about both their and Angelo’s health. Conspiracy theories about the pandemic and anti-vaccine sentiment have become particularly sore topics for Angelo due to how his family was and continues to be affected, and he has gotten into more than one argument because of this.

Angelo does well in school, though his issues of finding standard lecture and class styles unengaging have persisted. He performs best in English and social studies, routinely achieving high A’s there, and getting lower A’s and high B’s in math and the sciences. He has plenty of friends, but also a number of enemies, given his outspoken personality and his stubbornness and unwillingness to compromise on many things. His socialization and class performance slipped a bit during quarantine, as the structure of online class only made his existing troubles worse, and quarantine restricted him from participating in most of his hobbies, but he has managed to mostly get back on track with the start of his senior year.

He has had a couple of short-lived relationships with girls, but nothing serious. While he considers himself straight, this is mostly due to a lack of exploration of other options. He isn’t very interested in either dating or sex, and his previous relationships happened because the other person approached him. While aware of the concepts of asexual and aromantic orientations, Angelo has yet to consider that either label might fit him and only thinks of himself as an ally in LGBTQ matters. At the moment, he believes that he’ll eventually meet the right person and feel a spark, and the rest will take care of itself.

Angelo has applied to several universities, though with more of a focus on the campus lifestyles and extracurriculars that they offer than their academic programs. He intends to major in humanities or social sciences, but he is undecided on what exactly he wants to focus in and believes that most colleges will offer the same quality experience as an undergraduate. He has begun thinking about the possibility of attending law school after completing his bachelor’s degree, but intends to not worry about committing to that until it becomes necessary.

Advantages: Angelo is athletic and stronger than one might guess based on his smaller stature. He is passionate and motivated, and he is not easily discouraged once he sets his mind to a task. In addition to being skilled at archery, he has some limited experience handling melee weapons thanks to LARPing.
Disadvantages: Some find Angelo’s boisterous personality overbearing or annoying, which could drive away potential allies. He is inclined to rush into a fight or refuse to compromise when it would be better to do so because of his stubbornness. Though fit, he is smaller than average for a boy his age and could still be overpowered by someone bigger.

Designated Number: Student No. 082

---

Designated Weapon: Khanda

Conclusion: I've tried looking up what this live-action roleplaying thing is and it seems like this is a good match with the weapon? I think he khan do it! - Abby Soto