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Me: I should be writing
Also me:
Also me:
I am most productive when I can procrastinate one task with another task. If I have eight things to accomplish in a day, I’ll do them all and also clean my kitchen. If I have one thing to do in a day, it will take until 3AM.
The thing I wrote that I’m most proud of is probably a play titled “Surface.”
The thing I’ve written that I am most proud of that has had a wide audience is probably Yone (though my current project might tie that for very different reasons)
The thing I’ve written that I am most proud of that has had a wide audience is probably Yone (though my current project might tie that for very different reasons)
I once drove across the country from Los Angeles to NYC with three stand up comedians who were basically strangers as part of a gig to document their trip. It was all so I had an excuse/reason/money to visit my then girlfriend.
The comedians abandoned me in Chicago.
The comedians abandoned me in Chicago.
I used to teach theater summer camps for kids! I've been director, music director, improv teacher, and more. Teaching is still one of my favorite things and something I miss a lot.
I've taken vacation at Riot just so I could teach for a week or two in the summer still.
I've taken vacation at Riot just so I could teach for a week or two in the summer still.
5) Numbering these now so I don't have to count when I come back to it later: before the pandemic, I still traveled often to perform improv and stand up! I'd take weekend gigs in various cities in between the game dev stuff.
6) I have acted in several different webseries that I hope never resurface again. I have made a few podcasts that have 2-3 episodes each that I'm slightly less embarrassed about people discovering. Student films are... made with such passion (and so often so, so bad 
)
)
7) When I was a student, I was constantly amazed when teachers would be like "ah yes I know X artistic director" or "I studied with Y famous teacher" or "I was roommates with Jennifer Garner". Now some friends of mine are famous or wrote for cool stuff! (...oh no am I old now)
8) Oh no there are too many likes, some fast facts I guess:
my favorite animal as a kid was turtles.
my favorite animal as a kid was turtles.
9) My favorite color is blue. All shades.
10) I was a nerd in high school. Valedictorian, honors student, swim team nerd, etc. etc.
11) Parents of friends and some relations were very upset to learn I majored in English and Theater instead of "doing something with all that potential." My mom was chill about me pursuing my passions. Now I make stuff up about fantasy worlds for a living, so it all worked out.
12) I have idiopathic hypersomnia: that means I fall asleep often w/o being tired. I also fall asleep very quickly. In high school this meant passing out in classes, much to folks' amusement. This was less cute in grad school 10 person seminars (which led to getting diagnosed.)
13) Current favorite dumb tweets are retweeting awesome fanart and claiming it's canon, and claiming Clump of Whumps is the next League Champion. (JUST YOU WAIT)
14) Once in college, my friends insisted a girl liked me and I doubted them even when she invited me over after rehearsal to "run lines" and then said she "forgot her script at the theater" and then "made me dinner instead". It wasn't until she kissed me that I figured it out.
15) I have driven an embarrassing number of miles in pursuit of folks who live very far away in cities I decidedly do not live in.
16) I work in games bc I met @alisontheperson via improv and she said “you should come to Seattle it has a cool improv scene” and I said “if there’s a job there sure” and she said “we’re hiring a copywriter” and 2 months and 3 interviews later I moved to Seattle to work @ Wizards
17) I am older than I look according to most folks who guess. (Except when I taught adult improv or writing classes. Then everyone guessed I was older than them, even when I was 20 and looked 12.)
18) this is a picture of me from my 8th grade promotion dance. This was the student council photo. All the popular girls all won their elections, and me, who won secretary by running on the slogan “Yichao: that’s a funny name, you should circle it”
19) ...I really should be writing.
20) I make tweets like these and then meet people in person and wonder how they know so much about me
21) I “met” one of my best friends via OKC after sitting next to her in an English class for most of a semester and never saying more than “can I borrow a pencil”. Then she messaged me and said “I think I know you lol”
@theRachul has somehow has put up w me since then
@theRachul has somehow has put up w me since then
22) as a kid, I had a collection of little trinkets and gifts that I got for friends while traveling then got too embarrassed to actually give them in person.
23) I’m pro pineapples on pizza. I’m also pro anchovies on pizza. I am not pro pineapples and anchovies on pizza.
24) when I was a kid I wanted to be a marine biologist when I grew up
25) I once accidentally stole a futon from Target
26) The 1st time I got drunk was in high school as a senior at a house party. I showed up thinking it was a swim team party (parent sponsored event where kids eat lots of pasta the day before a meet), and someone said “whoa the valedictorian is here, someone get this man WASTED”
27) my senior year in high school I took a ceramics class second semester and the teacher was somehow CONVINCED this was the first “art” form I had experienced and that she changed my life with art and I didn’t have the heart to tell her I had been playing piano since age 6
28) one of the coolest moments of my career was probably still workshopping a script and having an Emmy award winning composer casually set my lyrics to rough song
29) I’m often on my phone while I walk my dog and sometimes Nyx will stop and just sit and judge me and make me pay attention to him
30) I loved reading as a kid and would find the thickest fantasy books at the library and devour them one after another. I always looked for the longest ones bc they let me stay in the world for the longest.
31) Once upon a time I wrote Diablo 2 fan fiction.
32) Love That Dog is one of my favorite books - for its elegant simplicity, beautiful language, and accessible poetry. I usually keep an extra copy or two to give away.
33) Billy Collins is one of my favorite poets. I wrote a short play that centers around two kids reading one of his plays for class. His MasterClass is also one of the most troll master classes I’ve watched.
Also, go read this and weep. https://upittpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/9780822938934exr.pdf
Also, go read this and weep. https://upittpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/9780822938934exr.pdf
34) one of my favorite short stories is “Essay #3: Leda and the Swan” by Eric Puchner. It’s hilarious and a gut punch. I first read it as part of (my favorite) writing class. https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/363/essay-3-leda-and-the-swan
35) It took me years of doing the things I do to think “maybe I don’t suck at this.”
36) I like lists. (Can you tell?)
37) when I worked as a McDonald’s cashier, I so judged the people who would buy 20 nuggets for their dogs.
Now, I buy 20 nuggets for my dog when I go to McDonalds.
Now, I buy 20 nuggets for my dog when I go to McDonalds.
38) it’s surprisingly cathartic to whisper your tiny secrets to the internet. (Especially when you’re 38 confessions in and you don’t think anyone’s really still reading.)
39) I like fast food... for the 15 minutes I’m eating it. :V
40) I once was a very mediocre Cutco Knives salesman and a pretty decent telemarketer. (You’re not making many long distance calls these days, right?)
41) The 1st time I ever broke a bone was playing Snoopy in a community theater production of "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown." Someone removed a platform w/o telling the actors, and I ate it HARD - then danced right back on stage w/ a broken foot for the 50 min left in the show
42) In grad school I got paid the same amount to prep and teach an entire semester long course with BFA's and MFA's as I did to "bartend" gallery openings. Said bartending involved pouring wine and beer for a few hours.
43) 2nd grade. These 4th grade girls kept saying how cute I was and pinching my cheeks. I started crying, and the teacher asked what happened. I didn't know the word for "cheek" in English so I said "She touched my...I don't know how to say it" and cried harder. That poor teacher
44) I KonMari'ed JUST before she was cool (and her Netflix show dropped).
45) My favorite road trip snack is flaming hot cheetos.
46) I bought a used Mini Cooper convertible last year as my new car and it is still the least practical and most enjoyable big purchase I've made in my life so far.
47) ...I would trade it in a heartbeat if an all-electric Honda Fit (or similar hatchback) came on the market though.
48) An embarrassing amount of my big life purchases or financial commitments (home, car, location) has been made for my dog.
49) My first big crush happened in sixth grade and I liked them on and off for my entire middle school existence and wrote some VERY ANGSTY short stories inspired by it all
50) I am unfairly resentful towards every notification I get right now about someone else liking the first post in this thread
51 a) I've shared this story before, but it is one of my greatest shames: in high school, I found a love letter addressed to me. I read it, then laughed out loud and asked the room who was pranking me with this fake letter. I READ IT OUT LOUD to the room, to much laughter.
51 b) Only when no one took credit did I stop to consider that it might have been genuine.
All high school boys are dense as rocks and deserve to be pushed off a cliff.
All high school boys are dense as rocks and deserve to be pushed off a cliff.
52) Y'all I know there was a whole THREAD about crushes but ugh I have such a non-helpful crush on like half the people I work with and love the other 48% so much
53) Once I had a big crush on someone and thought I was feeling the same vibes back, but as I was working up the conviction to say something, they turned to me and said "hey I think you're really cute, do you wanna make out?"
I aspire to that level of confidence and directness.
I aspire to that level of confidence and directness.
54) It's hard to receive a genuine compliment. In the past I've always tried to deflect it, but I'm working on saying "thank you" instead.
(...okay y'all but actually pls stop liking the first tweet)
55) I created a solo show where I eat a pint of ice cream with a stranger then improvise a one man musical celebrating them and their dreams and aspirations. It came about bc I 1) wanted to try to forge a genuine connection w a stranger, and 2) wanted to eat ice cream on stage.
56) I got to perform that show all over the US and Canada, including the Canadian Fringe in Vancouver! Normally I dread solo shows (watching and performing), but this one always sparked joy.
57) When I was a kid, my mom always amazed me with how she did everything to empower me to pursue my interests and dreams. I wanted to learn piano but we couldn't afford one, so until she saved up enough, she drew a piano keyboard on cardboard that I practiced on between lessons.
58) I stay up too late.
59) I super admire Matt of WeRateDogs and dog_feelings. I think his tweets are clever and well written. He’s invented new words and influenced pop culture. He’s honed the voice of both accounts to be so sharp. He’s had missteps but always learned and leaned into doing good.
60) I play the piano.
61) I played clarinet in middle school bc I was too chicken to pick the flute bc there were zero boy flute players.
62) my first team I worked on at Riot was LoR!
63) my first champion was Mordekaiser. I picked up writing him where two other writers left off, and it was super fun fleshing out his character, lore, and in game VO. It was also my first time working with EndlessPillows, who I’d get to work w again on Yone.
64) writing on Skins has been some of my favorite projects. Dawnbringer/Nightbringer Karma was my first skin.
65) writing for Dark Cosmic / Cosmic Lux was a blast, and the voice actor is just SO GOOD and nails the character. I also loved getting to write a story in that world.
66) humble brag - I was on the winning team for Rumble, our internal LoL tournament, last year! (...bronze division. 
)
)
67) my highest rank in a Riot game was Plat 1, season 2 of TFT.
68) I am SO bad at Valorant.
69) nice.
70) I can be stubborn and overcommit to a bit or joke (or twitter meme)
71) I’m optimistic by nature. I evaluate opportunities for what’s possible, not what could possibly go wrong. I’d rather weather the disappointments of things falling short of their potential than be satisfied in being “right” about things being worse than I could’ve made them.
72) I wear glasses but usually I wear contacts (esp now since masks often fog up my glasses)
73) I tend to default to trust: I’ll take you at your word until you break it.
74) I consider folks friends pretty quickly. I think we had it right in kindergarten when the threshold for friend was “you’re there and we have said hello”
75) I love puns.
76) When I was performing a show I wrote in the Edinburgh Fringe, we had sold out houses and also audiences of 2. But one of my favorite performances was for such an audience.
77) The play was about a boy and his relationship to his dad, and the audience was just a father and son. They watched, quiet and smiling, and at the end, they applauded long and loud. On their way out, I heard the boy say to his dad, “that’s just like us, isn’t it?”
78) I believe in the power of seeing yourself in art, in media, reflected in the world. I believe in the power of inspiring, moving, affecting folks, of sharing the truth: you are seen, you matter, and you are enough.
79) okay y’all I appreciate those who liked the original tweet bc really I did this to myself but those of you RETWEETING THIS are the real monsters
80) I once drove from LA to Alaska to get donuts with two friends. It started as a joke then turned into a project (that got an arts grant!) where we performed improv at theaters along the way and filmed short videos of our journey.
81) I went to California Institute of the Arts for my MFA in acting and one of the most fun parts was getting to audition and provide voices for the incredible shorts the animation students made. http://vimeo.com/92694833
82) Feeling keenly aware of the sunk cost fallacy at the moment. WE CONTINUE ONWARDS.
83) I’m 5’6”.
84) my hair is black (though it’s been blue, red, blonde, and all gone at various points in my life)
85) I have a tattoo and two piercings.
86) My favorite food is probably ramen.
87) Chinese was my first language.
88) Im an Aries / Pisces cusp and my astrology knowledge ends there.
89) I don’t believe in soul mates. I do believe in love.
*scrolls up to check numbers*
oh no
oh no
90) The first Pokémon game I ever owned was Pokémon Sun
91) I’ve never played Portal.
91) I’ve never read Dune.
92) I’ve read all of the Twilight series.
93) Bojack Horseman is one of my favorite TV shows of all time
95**) the first time I rode a horse was when I was 12 on vacation on the plains of northern China. No lessons, just plopped on a horse. My horse split off from our group and started GALLOPING away and no one noticed for several minutes and I was sure I was gonna die
96) The I Love You song from Spelling Bee might be my favorite musical theater song.
97) Me: I don’t understand celebrity crushes
Ellen Page: *exists*
Me: I was wrong
Ellen Page: *exists*
Me: I was wrong
98) I still am in loose touch with my first and best friend from kindergarten
99) As a kid I loved getting invites to stay over for meals at friends’ houses bc I couldn’t believe that people actually ate things like SANDWICHES and PIZZA outside of school
100) someone once messaged me “going to Whole Foods, need anything” on a dating site and I had not seen the Aziz Ansari show at that point, and I just replied “no”
101) There was a brief window of time after getting rid of clutter where every piece of clothing I owned I either had since high school or had gotten it for free from a game studio I worked at
102) If you're still liking the original post in this thread, why do you hate me
103) I keep meaning to follow up with @JotaGuinsoo and @wandakunpls about guesting on the Lore Show but I keep forgetting so here it is
104) The first story I wrote for Magic was "All the Cairns of Jund." https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/all-cairns-jund-2015-11-04
105) The first story I wrote for League was "Message on a Blade's Edge." https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_GB/story/katarina-color-story/
106) the first bio I wrote for League was Soraka's. https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_GB/story/champion/soraka/
107) The flavor text that I'm most proud of from Legends of Runeterra that made it to print was Cithria's, across her cards.
108) The flavor text I'm most proud of from Legends of Runeterra that DIDN'T make to print? An epic ballad poem about poros that spanned every poro card.
109) The only line cut from Mordekaiser's script that I am sad about: a reaction line when he sees Kled, where he just says, "What is... a taco?" We had it recorded from Fred Tatasciore and everything. T_T
110) I met @MaliciousMetal in person when he came to visit Riot, but I was relatively new to the Mordekaiser team and a bit shy, so we didn't talk much in person (we've prob definitely talked more via Twitter at this point!)
111) From personal aesthetics and as a fan, I probably like yordles and Bandle City the most. As a writer, I adore Piltover/Zaun, Ixtal, Ionia, and, believe it or not, Demacia.
112) As a Lux main... I'm here for Moar Lux Skins (sorry)
113) From MTG, though it's basic, I really liked writing for Jace, and loved what Alison did with his character.
Would die for Chandra tho.
(Mowu spinoff solo movie when)
Would die for Chandra tho.
(Mowu spinoff solo movie when)
114) Zootopia is probably my favorite Disney movie.
115) How to Train Your Dragon is definitely my favorite Dreamworks movie.
116) Lord I’m running out of facts I’m not that interesting y’all
117) I love travel but recently have gotten really bad claustrophobia on planes, which is a real bummer.
118) I am allergic to cats. This has done little to deter me from petting and snuggling every cat I meet.
119) I love teaching for the rare moments of genuine breakthrough that you get to witness from time to time.
120) I love acting for those rarified moments where you’re fully in a character and emotion that is not your own, yet can also palpably feel how you have the entire audience in your hands.
121) the rewards of writing are invisible as the audience’s experience of your work is often personal and individual, but occasionally you get to be the playwright in the back of the theater (or the game writer reading a YouTube comment).
122) every time I’ve built skills in a different artistic medium, it’s strengthened or given me new perspectives on my primary expressions.
123) I’ve had a few big leap of faith moves in my life to pursue opportunities.
124) I was once homeless in NYC for a week.
125) I was assigned to read the Great Gastby 6 times in my 4 year undergrad. ASU Professors really liked the Great Gatsby.
126) I then watched an 8 hour theater production of the Great Gatsby by Elevator Repair Service in grad school.
127) I have seen the movie w Leo DiCaprio. For a span of time I was more Gatsby than man.
128) if I had any stalkers they would 100% be able to track when I was walking my dog (and for how long) by following this thread.
129) I went to school in China for second grade.
130) I had the nickname “Bridge” as a kid bc the Chao (侨) in my name is a homonym for bridge in Chinese.
131) other nicknames over the years include: Itchy, Yichy, 小豆芽, chaochao, chowder.
