Carlos Lazaro

Name: Carlos "The Laz" Lazaro Gender: Male Age: 18 Grade: 12 School: Aurora High School Hobbies and Interests: Online Roleplaying Forums/Boards, writing stories/worldbuilding primarily for roleplaying, video games, internet humor

Appearance: At 5'9" and 150 lbs, Carlos looks like he's just started working out although he remains quite skinny. He has a relatively fair complexion and slightly tanned skin. His arms are the skinniest part of his body, being almost stick-like with larger-than-normal hands at the end.

He has black hair that is cut close to buzzcut, and deep brown eyes that look almost black in low lighting. His nose, once plainly rounded, is lumpy with the scars of withdrawing acne. Although the acne was once severe enough that his siblings had nicknamed him "Minefield," he is withdrawing well and acne scars and pimples cover no more than 10% of his face. The right side of his face looks a little caved in on closer inspection.

His facial expressions either indicate boredom or anger, depending on the mood. That is not to say he doesn't smile (or can't when asked/directed to). He does find his own sources of humor primarily online, so it's a fairly rare occurrence to be seen smiling in public.

Carlos' wardrobe on the day of the school trip is nothing particularly out of the ordinary. He is observed wearing a dark-gray T-shirt and loose-fitting jeans with hiking boots on the bus.

Biography: Carlos Lazaro was born to Honesto and Norma Lazaro in San Francisco. He also has two older siblings, Philip and Julian.

His parents had moved to the United States from the Philippines in the late 1980s, starting a small Asian food store. Carlos spent his infancy and early childhood in San Francisco, spending preschool and kindergarten in a Catholic private school. He was briefly considered for gifted classes, however his tendency to become distracted was ultimately cause for his rejection.

In 2000 the Lazaros closed up shop and moved back to the Philippines, taking Carlos and his then-infant siblings with them. His parents took advantage of the then-weak currency exchange rates to put their son into the Manila Global Academy, a prominent secular international school attended by the children of the Filipino social and business elite as well as the children of foreign nationals living there. They believed that he would better adjust to a more homogenous society where he would feel less discriminated against, and at the same time an education at one of the country's most prestigious schools would provide a more healthy environment for a gifted mind.

At that point, Carlos was described by others as cheerful and curious.

At the MGA Carlos was exposed firsthand to the social pressures predominant in the student hierarchy, which included bullying and being ostracized from social circles. Carlos was particularly singled out for his inability to speak Tagalog, something he continues to hold a grudge against his countrymen from. He also grew envious of Philip and Julian, who were attending a Jesuit Catholic school elsewhere in the city. Their ability to adapt and learn as well as integrate into the social hierarchy easier fueled jealousy within Carlos, resulting in lower grades.

His parents remained relatively supportive throughout this ordeal, frequently setting up meetings between him and psychologists. This was especially brought to the family's attention in 2006, when he was discovered watching archive V1 footage and V2 live-streamed on the family computer (as Philippine television was not affected) while in drag. It is believed he was attracted primarily to the ACTs' vengeance personae, the drag incident in particular stemming from bullying related to his then-lanky and effeminate figure - something not considered desirable the traditionally macho Filipino society.

As time wore on he quickly developed an aversion to such therapy, although he continued to attend and feign cooperation in order to please his parents. He also ceased to dress in drag, and does not look back on that memory with any fondness whatsoever.

That he continued to push through his education in that particular school was ironically of his own volition; he believed that only that school - through its regular hosting of international standardized testing - could help him graduate into a prestigious college back in the United States. However, such ambitions eventually turned out futile.

On 10 February 2008 Carlos was involved in an altercation with the son of a prominent family during his freshman year in the school's 9th grade. It is believed that the wealthier student provoked him into retaliating and got the upper hand during the altercation and left Carlos with a concussion. Transcripts from the school show that both students were voluntarily withdrawn in order to avoid publicly staining either family's reputation with an expulsion. Carlos was later officially diagnosed with bipolar disorder and Asperger syndrome, the latter whose existence he vehemently denies as a fabrication.

Following the conclusion of the school year, Carlos was sent back to the United States and left in the care of his aunt and uncle (Norma's brother), both evangelical Christians living with the Filipino community in Tukwila. These relatives had three children all attending college, and he was allowed to stay in a room vacated by one of them.

He remains in frequent contact and in relatively good terms with both his parents as well as his siblings, although he does not particularly enjoy them contacting him. Both his parents and his Seattle relatives are keen on helping him grow as a person. He is often called to regular video messaging sessions with them in the evenings due to timezone differences. Although he begrudgingly refuses their help, he does help out around the house to ensure a minimum level of trust. He is also medicated for his psychological conditions.

The family also expect Norma to move in with them to help support the family back home, following troubling financial straits that the Lazaros fell into following the recession.

Carlos has otherwise adapted well to life in Seattle, quickly memorizing the routes and times needed for his commutes to places he frequents. The same could not be said about Aurora High School adjusting to his new personality.

Carlos was quickly enrolled in Aurora High School for the 2008-2009 school year, and appears to have taken lessons he believed he learned from the MGA to heart. His personality has grown extremely snarky and cynical, and he verbally lashes out at any student or faculty member that tries to engage in conversation with him. Although he maintains grades that barely keep him on the honor roll, he has several detentions and at least one suspension to his record for verbally abusing school staff.

The reactions from other students to his provocations vary from ignoring him to outright violence. How pointed his insults to other students are varies depending on what he knows about them, often from gossip or other observation. This verbal abuse is based more on luck than deliberate targeting; no social clique tends to be more affected than the other, and individual reactions depend on how well they are familiar with the insult.

Shortly after the start of his first school year in Aurora, he purchased a laptop of his own for his birthday from money sent from the Philippines by his parents. He soon found himself immersed in the then-nascent internet "meme" culture, picking up on the satirically anti-social norms of popular imageboards. He also began writing and worldbuilding in several different popular and niche fandoms. He also frequently takes part in online roleplaying forums and other video games, spending the majority of his free time there when not at school or work. Carlos clearly appears to enjoy this creative activity as a sort of escape, a trait not uncommon among others in his social situation.

It is however observed that his online personality when interacting with others outside of imageboards contrasts starkly with his offline personality. He is demonstratively willing to offer thoughtful advice to newcomers and those needing help, and is quite adept to handling criticism as well as the inevitable insults. Of course, the fact that he chooses usernames and other handles that do not directly connect or identify him in any way has helped to ensure that such an association is never made. His online identities are otherwise known to only very few individuals, whom he does not believe are at high risk of using them against him.

Nevertheless it can still be surmised that his indulgence in online culture is both a release from his current situation at school as well as a way for him to further exacerbate it. He has recently attempted to branch out his offline interests to other clubs such as the volunteer club, though it may simply be that he is looking for different ways to dig up dirt.

One area of his life where a connection may be made between the offline and online personalities is his part-time job. He currently works part-time as a cashier at a supermarket, in the opposite direction of his current residence from Aurora High School. Hired in the summer of 2011, the job was a result of pressure from both his local and remote sets of relatives to improve his social skills. Despite a few mistakes made during his initial probation period, he appears to have become a respected employee, utilizing much of the same helpful nature he demonstrates online toward customers, even the occasional classmate.

Nevertheless, further observation implies that he simply believes he is repeating scripted behavior for a $9.14/hr paycheck, behavior he is fairly content with.

In terms of post high-school plans, Carlos is relatively unambitious. He has recently applied to the Mathematics program at South Seattle Community College, and hopes to move up to a 4-year-institution out of state. Regardless of where he intends to go, he primarily hopes for a more permanent escape from his relatives, and especially his past.

Advantages: Carlos has a knack for getting the "lay of the land" fairly quickly. It worked in helping him get settled in Seattle, and under duress it could help him keep track of things when the game starts. His recent attempt to branch out to other people - albeit initially duplicitous - might turn genuine in terms of aiding his survival chances. Disadvantages: He will have few if any allies to start with, and his habit of wanton verbal abuse will almost certainly prove fatal for those with proverbial and literal axes to grind, particularly those whom he has exposed his online identity to. Without his medication he will be especially vulnerable to panic attacks under enough duress.

Designated Number: Male student No. 015

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Designated Weapon: Pull-saw Conclusion: A skinny kid with no friends. What a winner. B015 doesn't stand a chance and even worse, I'll be his last words are something about how he never even saw it coming. - Abby Soto

'The above biography is as written by laZardo. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

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Threads
Below is a list of threads that contain Carlos, in chronological order.

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V5:

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