2. Assignment ONE
Umairah Huda Bte Sahri
1203720F
CHARACTER DESIGN
Main character: Tay.
Physical traits: Skater.
17 years old angsty Chinese teenager.
Average features & body type.
Natural straight, dark brown, medium length hair.
Has tan Asian skin due to being outdoors often.
Rugged looking; “skater girl” look.
Dressed rather boyish; t-shirt, jeans & sneakers.
Has a slouchy posture.
(TRAITS OF UNIVERSAL EMPATHY)
Psychological background:
Extrovert.
Freethinker.
Middle child of an average family.
Only daughter of two working parents.
Has brothers of aged 23 & 13.
Middle Child Syndrome.
Hardly finds peace at home.
Skate as a little getaway from problems.
Closest to bestfriend, Jade & grandmother, PoPo.
Always feels inferior; lack of self-confidence.
Sees beauty in others but not herself.
Loves people around her more than herself.
Great connection with elderly people because of
great relationship with her own grandmother.
A walking travesty; hides her sorrows behind her
happy & smiley mask.
Struggles through insecurities.
Struggles with self-loathe.
Struggles with self-mutilation
Lesbian.
3. Assignment ONE
Umairah Huda Bte Sahri
1203720F
Supporting character(1): Jade.
Physical traits: Skater.
18 years old Chinese teenager.
Monotonous.
Skinny & tall.
Natural straight, black, short hair.
Pale skin & dark lips.
Rugged looking; “skater girl” look.
Dressed rather boyish; t-shirt, jeans & sneakers.
Has an awkward slouchy posture.
(TRAITS OF UNIVERSAL EMPATHY)
Psychological background:
Introvert.
Freethinker.
Only child in an average family.
Has 2 working parents.
Lonely.
Heavy smoker.
Took up drinking, becoming an addict.
„man with little words‟.
Humble, quiet & shy.
A listener, gives wise words.
As much as she‟s wise in words, she never really
follows her own advice.
Socially awkward.
Had her first break up.
Silent depression.
Silent struggles.
Can only open up to Tay.
4. Assignment ONE
Umairah Huda Bte Sahri
1203720F
Supporting character(2): PoPo. (Tay‟s grandmother)
Physical traits: 75 years old wise old lady.
weak & wrinkly.
Can only walk short distance.
Depending on walking stick when walking.
Always at home because not physically fit.
Diabetic.
(TRAITS OF UNIVERSAL EMPATHY)
Psychological background:
Wise.
A mother figure to Tay.
Loving & caring grandmother.
Tay‟s only living grandparent.
Loves her grandchildren a lot; takes care of them.
Still holds on to past memories of late husband.
Gives words of wisdom.
Wise words are from personal experiences.
Gives out positive vibes in the family.
A very happy elderly, that‟ll soften one‟s heart
by just her smile or her little words or actions.
5. Assignment ONE
Umairah Huda Bte Sahri
1203720F
OUTLINE
ACT #1
Tay, so troubled over her insecurities & her parents‟ frequent
quarrels, she self-harms. Parents are on the verge of a divorce. Tay
blames herself for the situation. She meet up to skate with Jade to
have a little getaway from her problems.
Jade also has her own problems, she‟s a heavy smoker & recently had
her first break up with her first boyfriend & under depression. She
starts drinking & becoming an alcoholic.
Other than Jade, Tay is only comfortable talking to her grandmother,
PoPo but she‟d rather not trouble the old lady with her problems, so
she decides to „runaway‟ from home & stay over at Jade‟s place.
Jade approves with no hesitation.
Tay began to build an affection towards Jade. They‟re too
comfortable together, they openly change in the room together.
Situation then got awkward.
ACT #2
Tay got physically moved by Jade. So many questions rushing through
her head, Tay felt confused & curious about herself. Jade notices
Tay‟s body language & felt rather uncomfortable. Tay moved towards
Jade & held her hands. Jade went speechless. Tay leaned for a kiss &
Jade pushed her away. The atmosphere was silent & awkward, yet loud
with confusion.
With no words, Tay left with her skateboard, & went to skate alone.
Jade took quite some time to go out & search for Tay. While then,
Tay went through a great journey of self-questioning. Decides to
head home & talk it out to PoPo. Uneasy. Talked it out yet felt
great frustration & starts to self-harm. Jade came over & consoled
Tay. Both of them decides to go out & skate as they talk.
They felt no comfort in between anymore. All awkward.
Tay got a phone call from home, its PoPo. A rare phone call.
6. Assignment ONE
Umairah Huda Bte Sahri
1203720F
Continue skating till sunset. As she reached home, got a bad news.
Death of PoPo.
ACT #3
PoPo left a letter for the family before she had her last breath.
Through her last words, she‟s putting the family together. Tay got
stronger, & sees things in a positive way. Situations changed for
the better. Just by PoPo‟s last words. Tay learnt to love herself.
From then on, SELF-ACCEPTANCE was learnt, not only Tay but also her
family.
7. Assignment ONE
Umairah Huda Bte Sahri
1203720F
“LOVE, ME.”
ACT #1
Tay, a typical angsty 17 years old teenager, being a middle child &
the only daughter of two working parents. Other than facing the
Middle Child Syndrome in the family, she struggles through even more
than what other middle child would struggle about. Being the only
girl in the siblings, she finds it hard to open up to anyone in the
house. Keeping so much to herself & only expressing it to two of her
only trusted ones. Her bestfriend, Jade & her only living
grandparent, PoPo.
Tay tends to self-harm as she struggles with self-loathe. She never
felt comfortable in her own skin & every bit of hurt she put herself
into, she feels like she deserves it. She‟s insecure & has a very
low self esteem. Its all in her head but she never understands. She
tends to take out her emotional pain into physical pain. People
around her could not tell how much pain she went through as she
seems like a happy person with great humour, always joking & fooling
around. She hides so much. Her true colours only shown around her
family members & Jade.
Hardly any peace found at home, Tay always finds herself skating
around the streets of her neighbourhood, either alone or with her
bestfriend, Jade. Skating seems to free their minds off things &
just let it roll, like a little getaway.
Jade, an introvert, barely talks about her problems but she‟s a
great listener. Even with her wise words said, she does not apply it
to herself. She runs away from her problems, trying to be
indifferent about everything. She kind of got through her problems
through excessive smoking. Every puff she takes in, she feels a
little release of weight off her shoulder. She‟s addicted & now, a
heavy smoker. To think that Tay hides so much behind her jokes &
laughter, Jade is just a mystery to everyone. She is so quiet, she
8. Assignment ONE
Umairah Huda Bte Sahri
1203720F
seems dangerous, as we wonder whats going through her head. Her
monotonous vibe just adds on to her mysterious personality.
Recently, Jade just got through her first break up with her first
boyfriend. She got into depression, silently. She started drinking
since then & got addicted to it. Its been about a month as she
became an alcoholic. Tay tried to help her through her addictions,
it is just not that easy. Both of them are so close, knowing each
other since day one of their secondary school life, they‟re
comfortable together. They‟re always there for one another no matter
what each of them are facing, they watch each other grow & they go
through so much together. It has been 4 years of great friendship.
Tay faces problems at home, having her parents quarrelling almost
every night & on the verge of filing for divorce. She blames herself
for all the negativity happening in the house, even though it has
got nothing to do with her. As per usual, she locks herself in her
room, curled up behind the door, pushing fingernails into her flesh,
hard enough to leave marks & bruises. She cries herself to sleep.
Hating herself & hurting herself as she overthinks about everything.
These two troubled teenagers, would have an aimless skating meet up
just as a getaway from all their problems. They‟d sit down & talk
about almost everything & sometimes nothing at all. Each other is
sometimes all they have to stay sane in this “vicious little world”
they live in. Teen angst.
Tay thought about how she seemed to be troubling PoPo with her
problems & the fact that PoPo is ill, she felt guilty. She then
decides to run away from home, by staying over at Jade‟s place. Jade
approves with no hesitation. As Jade comforts Tay with a little hug
& her touch of words, Tay felt something she knew she shouldn‟t.
That is when she questions herself.
As they reached Jade‟s place & into Jade‟s room, Tay had moments of
inappropriate urges & feeling really uncomfortable with herself. The
girls had their clothes changed openly in front of each other in the
9. Assignment ONE
Umairah Huda Bte Sahri
1203720F
room, locked. Tay felt a growth of affection, a discovery of
herself. Tay finds herself physically moved by Jade. Situation then
got awkward.
ACT #2
Jade caught the look in Tay‟s eyes as she stares at her. Tay moves
nearer towards Jade, held her hands & stares into Jade‟s eyes. Jade
went speechless. Tay then leaned in for a kiss & Jade pushed her
away. The atmosphere was silent & awkward, yet loud with confusion.
None of them uttered a single word.
Afraid, confused & broken, Tay felt that great weight of regret on
her. Everything felt so heavy within. She knew she shouldn‟t have
made a move. She knew she‟s falling into a hole she dug herself
into. She‟s at her lowest point, regretting that last moments she
thought was almost magical. She swallowed that lump of sorrow in
her, sucking it up, she grabbed her skateboard & ran out of Jade‟s
house. The speechless Jade, stayed frozen in confusion, not knowing
what to do. It took some time for Jade to open up her heart into the
decision of searching for Tay & talking it out with her.
While then, Tay skates alone, weeping bitter tears of remorse. She
felt like she might have just lost a huge part of her life. As she
skate around her neighbourhood, her heart & mind was never at peace.
Infinity questions filled her head. Thinking so much, questioning so
much, she got lost in her own thoughts, feeling unconscious in
reality, she almost got hit by a car, not realising the red man on
the traffic light. The screeching sound of when the car brakes
brought her back to reality. Close call. But she was too troubled
that she couldn‟t care less about getting hit by a car. She seemed
expressionless when passer-by was actually shock by the incident.
She skate away & drown into her thoughts again.
10. Assignment ONE
Umairah Huda Bte Sahri
1203720F
“Am I really what I think I am?”
“Why did it felt so right, being so wrong?”
“What was I thinking?”
“Is this even right? Why am I feeling this way?”
“Can I change this?”
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!”
So much going through her head. So much to take in, so much to let
out. All that while having an adrenaline rush from skating down a
slope. As she was reaching the end of the slope, she lose her
balance & rolled off her skateboard. Scraped knees & elbows, too
numb to feel any pain, she stopped skating, carries her skateboard &
sat alone on the nearest grass patch. She then lay flat on her back,
staring into the sky. She starts to ponder upon everything that made
her feel this way. Her past, her present.
She actually knew this moment will eventually come. She was just not
strong enough to face it, she thought. Her sexual orientation had
always been a question to her. At such a young age, she knew that
she doesn‟t like boys. Her reason so was because she thought she had
had enough of boys & their big ego. Living with two brothers & a
hot-tempered father, she finds it hard to be attracted to boys.
Growing up with the brothers, she find herself dressing like them
too. She knows no make up, no dresses, no heels. She‟s all t-shirt,
jeans & sneakers. She never had a boyfriend. She never had crushes..
on boys. Always attracted to girls but always in denial.
Its clear, she‟s lesbian. She just could not accept that herself.
She hates herself & this is one of the biggest reasons why. She
hates how she‟s different.
Feeling very uneasy & uncomfortable with herself, she just want
someone to talk to. This time, it cant be Jade. PoPo is all she‟s
got now. As much as how she didn‟t want to trouble PoPo, she didn‟t
want to stay troubled as she is. Tay then decides to head home &
talked it out to PoPo.
11. Assignment ONE
Umairah Huda Bte Sahri
1203720F
Coming out is never easy. She hesitated so much, PoPo could just
sense it. Heavy heart, heavy words. A truckload of courage needed
for Tay to open up to PoPo about her sexual orientation. Before she
could even say a word, PoPo asks,
“Is it Jade?”
Tay felt the chills being asked that way. Does PoPo actually knew
this all along? Not knowing how to answer, Tay just went towards
PoPo & hugged her tight, not letting go. Tears rolled down her
cheeks, she sobbed so hard, she couldn‟t utter a word. She‟s afraid.
Afraid she might lose PoPo & there goes everything in her life,
crumbling down right in front of her eyes. PoPo just hugged Tay
telling her that its alright, stroking her back as she started to
tear up. Tay had never seen PoPo‟s tears. Seeing PoPo weeping, it
breaks her heart.
“I love her.. a lot” Tay blurts out her courage.
To her surprise, PoPo actually expected this. PoPo knew it all
along. She was waiting for this moment to happen. When it finally
happens, PoPo couldn‟t find any word to comfort Tay this time. PoPo
just nodded as she hold back her bucketful of tears.
Tay decides to let go of the hug & leaves to her room, locked. She
began to wonder why PoPo didn‟t have anything to say. As she sobs,
the picture of PoPo weeping just makes her cry more. She feels the
guilt over PoPo‟s health. PoPo had been on her bed for so long,
looking weaker & weaker. Tay couldn‟t help but to take out her
blades, thinking about how she‟s a wreck, a trouble & a mess.
Before she could hurt herself, someone knocks on her door. That
voice. Its Jade. Mixed feelings, she felt relieved that Jade
actually came to find her but at the same time embarrassed about
what happen earlier & scared about what is about to happen. To say a
word or not, to open the door or not. Before she could even make her
decision, Jade opens the door. Too stunned over her presence to even
12. Assignment ONE
Umairah Huda Bte Sahri
1203720F
care about how she got the key to the room. Tay dropped her blades.
Jade sat beside Tay, held her hands, stared into each others‟ eyes
as she apologises to Tay. Tay didn‟t see it as her fault &
apologises about her actions instead. Both had so much to say, just
no words to convey. They sat in silence for a moment, still holding
hands. Awkward but it felt so right. Out of nowhere, Jade started
talking.
“I‟m sorry I pushed you away, I just didn‟t expect that & it was all
happening way too fast. I didn‟t know what to do. I was shocked &
confused at that moment. Don‟t get me wrong, I love you for who you
are. I love you like my own sister. Never thought of anything more.
But please, stop, stop hurting yourself. You‟re too hard on
yourself, it hurts me too. Its okay. Its okay to be different. Its
okay to make mistakes. Its ok to feel the way that you do. Its okay
to be yourself. Stop bullying yourself. I wouldn‟t want to lose you,
you‟re all I have.”
Jade never said so much before. Tay was speechless & just gave Jade
a tight hug. They then decide to go for a skate.
Skating aimlessly, they felt freedom for a while. Suddenly, Tay got
a phone call from home, which is rare. Its PoPo, asking about her
whereabouts & how she‟s holding on. Listening to her voice, with her
care & concern, it warms Tay‟s heart. PoPo then ended the call with
some wise words, she said “Choices & consequences. Everything is up
to you. It is just the matter of how you look at it.”
Those little precious words by PoPo are words that helped Tay
through her hard times. Those words she treasures.
Never keeping track of the time as they skate, its getting late. As
the sunsets, they head home. Just when Tay felt at ease after so
long, she reached home to a bad news. Her heart sank.
13. Assignment ONE
Umairah Huda Bte Sahri
1203720F
ACT #3
Its PoPo. She‟s gone. She‟s gone to a better place. Tay fell to her
knees, so weak, she couldn‟t carry herself. She didn‟t think too
much about that phone call then, but its starting to all make sense.
PoPo knew she was going to take her last breath. She knew. Tay then
realised how PoPo didn‟t say much when she comes out to her. She
should have known.
Tay started reminiscing so much as she‟s grieving. She then began to
find guilt in herself, blames herself for PoPo‟s death & starts
self-loathing. She‟d continue with her self-mutilation if she had
the strength to even move. She was so weak in sadness, she just felt
helpless & couldn‟t move.
Tay‟s elder brother, Jake then handed her a piece of note as he
weeps & hugged her, for the first time. It‟s a letter, PoPo wrote it
before she had her last breath.
“ To my loved ones,
By the time you read this, I might not be here anymore.
I’ve always wanted to say all these things but I never did because
I find it hard to say it. Nobody listens, everybody talks.
Whenever I’m in this house, I never felt family. No love in the
air. So much angst, so much sadness. I’ve always wanted to change
the atmosphere but I don’t know how. I love all of you.
I know deep inside all of you, theres love you want to share.
Share it & if you have something nice to say, say it.
I might not be there anymore but a part of me stays, that part
of me don’t ask for so much, just happiness, peace & love in the
family. I hope all my loved ones reading this will do me that
favour. Bring in joy to the family. Learn to love one another,
most importantly, learn to love yourself. Accept who you are,
who you’re with, who came into your life & who left. Learn the
beauty of acceptance. Choices & consequences. Everything is up to
you. It is just the matter of how you look at it.
14. Assignment ONE
Umairah Huda Bte Sahri
1203720F
Remember, Happiness is a choice.
I wish for Happiness, Peace & Love in all of you.
Farewell.
Love,
Me.”
That farewell letter brought tears & realisation to the family. For
the first time, they held on each other, & hugged in grief. The loss
of PoPo had put a great impact on everyone in the family, moreover
after the letter.
It takes time to hold themselves up together. Especially to Tay,
having a hard time pushing boundaries, one after another but she
learnt. She listened. Tay also realised how PoPo signed off her
letter with “Love, Me.”, significant in enhancing her message of
self acceptance.
With that, Tay learns to accept herself, with the help of her
bestfriend, Jade, she turns to positivity. Jade also made an effort
in seeking help about her addictions. Living by the positive, the
relationship in the family got better, as well as the relationship
of every individual. It is just a matter of time, & a matter of
perspective. The beauty of acceptance.
