History: Born to the children of doctors, who were also children of doctors, who were also children of doctors, Aibao "Abbey" Li was always going to be a doctor. But while her elder siblings (five and seven years older than she, respectively) enjoyed playing with their doctor kits and accompanying their parents to work, Abbey hated it. Hated it. And so she drifted through life, learning the piano and dancing ballet and playing soccer, until at the ripe old age of nine she chanced upon a PBS replay of Carl Sagan's Cosmos. She. Was. Fascinated. And for her next birthday, she asked for Cosmos--the entire run.
She got a violin. (And lessons!)
So what astronomical knowledge she acquired was on the "down low". She accumulated an encyclopedic knowledge of when, exactly, PBS would air Cosmos, when NPR was going to be featuring talks with astronauts or scientists--she wasn't allowed to watch anything not educational, everything was limited to what would improve Abbey as a child and a future professional, but she could argue: It's on PBS! It's fine. It's on NPR! I promise it's okay! And her parents, usually, would let it be.
A particular influence was her middle school science teacher. Mr. Middlesex had a degree in astronomy, but taught the Gifted science classes at the school simply for love of kids; he also ran the Science Olympiad, a team which Abbey was obliged to join by her parents (who had already begun asking if she didn't appreciate them, because if she did, she'd pay more attention in school). And the moment he listed Cosmos as one of his favorite TV series of all time, she knew she just had to impress him. So she did. Middle school was a high time in the life of Abbey Li; her grades went up high enough for her to compete in each of the ten Olympiad events, pleasing her parents to no end. She medaled in every single competition she was in, and won Decathlon Gold in eighth grade. But her joy in life wasn't in the medals, or in the recognition, although that was nice. It was in picking Mr. Middlesex's brain for facts about astronomy she currently had no way of otherwise learning. He sent her home with suggestions for different camps she might try; Abbey, who had always attended math camp, found herself attending a generalized science camp once for a whole summer. (It was the best summer ever.)
All good things had to come to an end, though, and one of them was the Science Decathlon and her time in middle school. With a heavy heart, she bid farewell to Mr. Middlesex and Cosmos after-school, and proceeded to Adessi. Her mother and father had met there, her elder siblings had attended as well, and now it was her turn. For the first few weeks, Abbey languished; she was unfamiliar with the expectations of dorm life, uncertain of how to proceed without a parent or sibling haranguing her. When she realized her time, and her space, was now her own…
Well.
She accumulated space memorabilia like it was going out of style. Her parents provided an allowance for room decorations: She bought a log scale chart of the world and a subway map-esque rendition of the Milky Way. She got glow-in-the-dark stars and stuck them to her ceiling in the shapes of constellations. She bought a subscription to Astronomy Now and Sky and Telescope. She bought a calendar with the lists of major astronomy events and she stuck it on her wall and she held to it like her personal life depended on it because she'd never been allowed to before.
Her parents commented on it when they came to pick her up for Christmas. Of course they were disappointed, but for once, it seemed to roll off her back. For once--for once--she could learn as much about space as she wanted and she wasn't going to deny herself that chance just to please her parents. Which made her think: what else was she doing just because?
She rebelled, and hard. They came back with a guilt trip that slapped her back, and that she's still recovering from, based on her mother's health, which became poor around Christmas break when she had a heart attack; how could you do this to your mother, you know she's unwell, how can you want to do something when we've already given you so much!
Abbey has not been pressing herself to succeed much lately, having been reminded that she can daydream all she wants, but space is not something in her reach.
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Born to the children of doctors, who were also children of doctors, who were also children of doctors, Aibao "Abbey" Li was always going to be a doctor. But while her elder siblings (five and seven years older than she, respectively) enjoyed playing with their doctor kits and accompanying their parents to work, Abbey hated it. Hated it. And so she drifted through life, learning the piano and dancing ballet and playing soccer, until at the ripe old age of nine she chanced upon a PBS replay of Carl Sagan's Cosmos. She. Was. Fascinated. And for her next birthday, she asked for Cosmos--the entire run.
She got a violin. (And lessons!)
So what astronomical knowledge she acquired was on the "down low". She accumulated an encyclopedic knowledge of when, exactly, PBS would air Cosmos, when NPR was going to be featuring talks with astronauts or scientists--she wasn't allowed to watch anything not educational, everything was limited to what would improve Abbey as a child and a future professional, but she could argue: It's on PBS! It's fine. It's on NPR! I promise it's okay! And her parents, usually, would let it be.
A particular influence was her middle school science teacher. Mr. Middlesex had a degree in astronomy, but taught the Gifted science classes at the school simply for love of kids; he also ran the Science Olympiad, a team which Abbey was obliged to join by her parents (who had already begun asking if she didn't appreciate them, because if she did, she'd pay more attention in school). And the moment he listed Cosmos as one of his favorite TV series of all time, she knew she just had to impress him. So she did. Middle school was a high time in the life of Abbey Li; her grades went up high enough for her to compete in each of the ten Olympiad events, pleasing her parents to no end. She medaled in every single competition she was in, and won Decathlon Gold in eighth grade. But her joy in life wasn't in the medals, or in the recognition, although that was nice. It was in picking Mr. Middlesex's brain for facts about astronomy she currently had no way of otherwise learning. He sent her home with suggestions for different camps she might try; Abbey, who had always attended math camp, found herself attending a generalized science camp once for a whole summer. (It was the best summer ever.)
(CONT. BECAUSE I'M A LOSER)
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Well.
She accumulated space memorabilia like it was going out of style. Her parents provided an allowance for room decorations: She bought a log scale chart of the world and a subway map-esque rendition of the Milky Way. She got glow-in-the-dark stars and stuck them to her ceiling in the shapes of constellations. She bought a subscription to Astronomy Now and Sky and Telescope. She bought a calendar with the lists of major astronomy events and she stuck it on her wall and she held to it like her personal life depended on it because she'd never been allowed to before.
Her parents commented on it when they came to pick her up for Christmas. Of course they were disappointed, but for once, it seemed to roll off her back. For once--for once--she could learn as much about space as she wanted and she wasn't going to deny herself that chance just to please her parents. Which made her think: what else was she doing just because?
She rebelled, and hard. They came back with a guilt trip that slapped her back, and that she's still recovering from, based on her mother's health, which became poor around Christmas break when she had a heart attack; how could you do this to your mother, you know she's unwell, how can you want to do something when we've already given you so much!
Abbey has not been pressing herself to succeed much lately, having been reminded that she can daydream all she wants, but space is not something in her reach.
Weapon: Soccer ball (Meteor hammer)
Stats: Luck, Strength, Vitality, Agility, Magic
Persona: Urania (Theia)
Strength: Electricity (Nuclear)
Weakness: Strike physical
Primary Skillset: Electric (Nuclear)
Secondary Skillset: Fire
Other: Orange you glad I didn't say banana
I worked on this for knights and daze
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