Yian Griffiths

[Frozen Smoke]

Name: Yian Griffiths
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Grade: 12
School: Saint Editha Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Languages, foreign cultures, charity work,  medical science.

Appearance: Yian is short and stocky, being 5’7” tall and 170 pounds, a large amount of which is fat, which is especially visible around his neck and on his face, giving him an outwardly chubby appearance despite only being slightly overweight. He is of Caucasian descent, and has a light tan from spending a significant amount of time outside.

His dark brown hair is styled in the fashion of curtained hair, parted on each side, reaching a few inches above his collar. His cheeks are a little ruddy and pockmarked with chickenpox scars and are noticeably fat, giving his face a naturally soft, jolly quality. His nose is also lightly pockmarked on the right side with similar scarring, and is larger than the norm and hooks down at the end of the nasal bone, adding a distinctly angular feature to his otherwise wide and rounded face. His eyes are set widely apart, and are a light hazel.

Typically Yian wears simple, cheap clothing bought from George or other supermarket based clothing brands, preferring simple unbranded clothes to more expensive labels. On the day of his abduction he was wearing his school uniform, as well as a pair of rubber wristbands, one for “Help our Heroes” (a UK based veterans charity) and another for “Doctors without Borders”. His uniform was also ill fitting and threadbare, having been handed down to him from an older sibling, giving him a shabby appearance.

Biography: Yian Griffiths was born the second son to the at the time unmarried couple of Colwyn Griffiths and Lilon Evans, just two years after their first son, Cai. Both children had been accidental, but rather than be crushed under the pressure of two unexpected strains on their relationship, Colywn and Lilon thrived, quickly marrying and - with support from the both of their famillies - moving from Plwmp to Bellington so that Lilon could pursue an opportunity as a French teacher in the town. Colwyn also quickly found a part time job at a local library that allowed him to help contribute the household, whilst still focusing on raising their two children, making sure their children rarely spent time without one of the two parents around them.

This physical distance from their homeland didn’t stop both Colwyn and Lilon from teaching Yian not only the culture of their Welsh ancestry, but also the language, making sure to speak Welsh in the home in order to give their children what they felt was an important part of their heritage. This set Yian up well with the skills to succeed in language, and often pestered his mother to teach him more about what things were called in other languages as he grew up, picking up fragments of French, Spanish and German. As a result of this, Colwyn eventually began teaching Yian from Lilon’s French textbooks himself to at the very least entertain the curious child, instead of more traditional bedtime stories.

Yian’s early school life was less than ideal however, with the heritage he was so proudly immersed in at home being mocked relentlessly by his classmates. This caused Yian to become a relatively quiet child in school, preferring to mind his own business. The few friends he did have however, he treasured, going out of his way to invite them round to his house and talk with them at every opportunity. His school grades were passable, with the only classes he excelled in being French, thanks to his considerable head start.

Upon graduating to secondary school, Yian came out of his shell a little more, learning to take the ribbing from his classmates in his stride, laughing it off rather than taking it seriously. His naturally good natured and friendly attitude earning him more friends than enemies in the academy, although he was the subject of a little mockery when the fact that “Mrs. Griffiths” was also “Yian’s Mum” filtered into the domain of schoolyard gossip, before eventually passing and becoming a fact of life.

In Year 8, Yian was first introduced to charity work by his Mom, who encouraged him to sign up to help in a local food bank during a funding drive. Yian worked hard throughout the event to do what he could, despite his age, enjoying the chance to make a difference and help people who needed it the most. Ever since then, he has regularly looked for opportunities to volunteer with local humanitarian or animal welfare causes, helping to man stands, collect change and hand out meals. His favourite activities involve ones where he’s able to see someone's - or somethings - situation turn around due to him being there, such as working in soup kitchens or helping walk dogs with the local Greyhound rescue centre. This volunteer work comes at a cost to Yian in terms of his ability to take part in more traditional after-school activities, and as such he often declines invitations to go to social events in favour of not disappointing the people he feels need his support the most.

This charity drive helped Yian really think about what he wanted to do with his future, often discussing ideas with fellow volunteers, one of whom eventually pointed Yian in the direction of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), an NGO which aimed to provide emergency healthcare to disadvantaged people and those affected by war or natural disasters around the globe. After looking up some of the stories of the work they performed, and hearing the plight of those who the group assisted, Yian finally had something to aim for in life.

This motivation helped Yian’s school work tremendously, as where he had once been quiet and meek in class, now he asked questions and tried his best to understand the subjects in front of him. He was still not the brightest student, only excelling in Biology and French, whilst barely scraping a C in Maths and IT, but his teachers (and parents) were happy to see him trying his best at school for once.

He also signed up to the St John’s Ambulance’s RISE youth program after reaching the appropriate age of 14, learning First Aid and other basic medical skills, though the leadership aspects of the program were something he felt put too much pressure on him, most notably freezing up and failing to give instructions to his team when going through an exercise with multiple injured parties, as he found it daunting trying to prioritise the tasks involved. He is currently still part of the RISE program, often helping the instructors by portraying injuries or helping set up demonstrations for newer members, having already achieved his BTEC in Peer Education, but not wanting to stop meeting up with the friends he made in the program. Yian has never been in a situation where he needed to put his medical knowledge into practice in the real world, although he has simulated experience from attending regular workshops with the RISE program.

The other main driving force in Yian’s life at this time was his continued fascination with languages, wanting to learn more than he was able to in the school curriculum, and practicing French with his mother after school, becoming nearly fluent in the language, though with a strong welsh accent, and often having to pause for a few seconds to find the correct word. This is something Yian is incredibly proud of, though he doesn’t go out of his way to show it off.

This fascination with languages also follows over into the cultures associated with those languages, and Yian began to enjoy foreign language media - especially french music and film - extensively in this period, using his basic Spanish and German knowledge to get the gist of untranslated shows and films. He especially enjoys watching foreign romantic comedies, enjoying the quirks of both what's considered romantic and funny in the various countries by contrast.

Yian’s relationship with his familly is relatively stress free, with their financial situation being mostly secure, and his older brother Cai having moved out recently to take a job and an electrician’s apprentice in another nearby town. Discipline in the home is relatively lax, but Yian goes out of his way to ensure that his parents have no reason to tighten it up, almost always doing his chores and making sure to be home before his parents worry when out with friends.

Yian hopes to go to College and study an International Baccalaureate, intending to focus his studies on both Biology and Languages. He hopes to be able to study Portuguese and Spanish within this, due to his experiences working with the various refugees from the US occupied Southern America, wishing to be able to better communicate and assist them in his future career.

Advantages: Yian’s medical training includes a wide array of injuries, including cursory training on stab and bullet wounds, allowing him to perform basic emergency triage, as well as simple first aid. His experience with various languages may also allow him to communicate with allies in a way others will not be able to understand.
Disadvantages: Yian has next to no physical training, being slightly overweight and having no experience running long distances, making him easy to catch and overpower if on his own. He also lacks natural leadership capabilities, and often freezes up in stressful situations, being unable to make a decision of how to proceed. Yian is also naturally very empathetic, and driven to help others in poor situations, even at cost to himself.

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Hey Frozen! Yian looks good but is temporarily DENIED pending some edits.

What does Colwyn do for a living? Is he a stay-at-home dad?

I'd like a bit more detail on Yian's first-aid training since it's specified that he's seen and treated stab and bullet wounds; has he actually encountered these in the field, or simply had theoretical knowledge of them? Both Yian's advantages and disadvantages relating to his personality could stand to be expanded as well, since they're more implied than outright stated in the biography.

There are a few grammar errors throughout the profile, mainly proper nouns not being capitalized when they should be. For example:

He is of Caucasian descent,

opportunity as a French teacher

You're also missing apostrophes here:

able to see someone's - or something's

Make those changes and post in here once you're through, and I'll take another look at Yian!

[Frozen Smoke]

• What does Colwyn do for a living? Is he a stay-at-home dad?

Added -

Colwyn also quickly found a part time job at a local library that allowed him to help contribute the household, whilst still focusing on raising their two children, making sure their children rarely spent time without one of the two parents around them.

• I'd like a bit more detail on Yian's first-aid training since it's specified that he's seen and treated stab and bullet wounds; has he actually encountered these in the field, or simply had theoretical knowledge of them?

Clarified this -

Yian has never been in a situation where he needed to put his medical knowledge into practice in the real world, although he has simulated experience from attending regular workshops with the RISE program.

This is in reference to the information presented on the RISE website, which notes a one day knife/gun wound workshop. I don't imagine it is going to be enough to make him an expert, but it's an important note in terms of advantages.

• Both Yian's advantages and disadvantages relating to his personality could stand to be expanded as well, since they're more implied than outright stated in the biography.

Added some small "pointers" towards the disadvantages;

This volunteer work comes at a cost to Yian in terms of his ability to take part in more traditional after-school activities, and as such he often declines invitations to go to social events in favour of not disappointing the people he feels need his support the most.

[...] the leadership aspects of the program were something he felt put too much pressure on him, most notably freezing up and failing to give instructions to his team when going through an exercise with multiple injured parties, as he found it daunting trying to prioritise the tasks involved.

I couldn't think of a good way to properly point at the other personality advantage, so I removed it for now.

I also hit up all the minor grammar issues noted, sorry about that!

Let me know if there's anything more you need me to fix

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