Our Peeps.
Princess Andini
Legend has it that Princess Andini was born during a typhoon (actually it’s not just legend, it’s literally in the weather records). Andini’s royal doula told her mother Queen Rawita Kelly that Andini had the hardest head of any baby she’d ever delivered (the queen was well aware because she’d been the one doing the birthing). What followed was a wild and rebellious childhood. First came The Great Persian Rug Incident, wherein two-year-old Andini tried to figure out how fires worked and definitely learned. Then there was The Colossal Broth Debacle, in which six-year-old Andini “livened-up” the staff’s dinner by adding colorful flowers to their chicken soup and gave half of them food poisoning. Next came The Great Persian Pug Incident (not to be confused with The Great Persian Rug Incident), when Andini briefly dognapped a visiting Iranian attaché’s pet pug, Michael Puglé.
At her best, Andini is outspoken, passionate, and witty. At her worst, she’s impulsive, stubborn, and abrasive, which doesn’t come from a place of unkindness, but rather from one of self-doubt and deep vulnerability. Andini feels like she lives under her older sister’s perfectionist thumb, while simultaneously being underestimated and minimized by her sometimes too chill royal parents. Andini is expected to become an ambassador who works with her sister when she turns 18, and the fact that no one seems to believe she’ll be a good one prevents her from believing it herself. At the start of our story, Andini wants to escape her responsibilities -- but over the course of her journey she’ll realize that she needs to embrace them in order to discover her true self and to use her privilege to make things better at home and abroad.
Yati
Yati may have been born in a humble tenement in Putrijaya’s capital city, but she’s had the baddie energy and “it” factor of Beyoncé from day one. As a kid, Yati chased down criminals who tried to rob her parents’ bootleg DVD stall -- which was also where tween Yati happened across Asian American pop star Fanny de la Chica’s iconic music video for her hit “Gimme C**k”. The video not only ignited Yati’s loins -- she’s def into chicks -- but also gave her hope that one day she might also become something more than what she was born into (#RepresentationMatters). By studying and working hard, Yati got into a highly sought-after royal handmaiden training program and was then hired at the Putrijaya Palace at 16 (a gig that comes with a pension and healthcare plan, including dental!). When Yati was assigned to Andini, many at the palace took bets on how long she’d last with the stubborn princess. However, they didn’t count on Yati’s “it” factor and empathic abilities. After a rocky start, Yati began to understand Andini: specifically, that her stubbornness is a defense mechanism to hide her insecurity and tender heart. Yati has been Andini’s ally and best friend ever since she managed to peel away Andini’s layers and introduced her to Fanny de la Chica. Yati also aspires to go to college and become a teacher, so that she can empower the next generation of young women to know what kinds of options they have in life (something she feels like she missed out on). As our story progresses, we’ll see that Yati and Andini don’t necessarily have the healthiest best friendship thanks to their vast differences in privilege. Yati will realize that she needs to initiate change within their relationship by finally fully standing up for herself, which will in turn inspire Andini to also change for the better by embracing her responsibilities.
Jason Ut
While Jason possesses all the hallmarks of a hipster (curtain bangs, tortoise-shell Warbys, oversized plaid shirts, lover of ramen, hater of being called a “hipster”), he doesn’t have the privilege that usually accompanies the title. Perhaps it’s because he’s not of the Caucasian variety and was instead born to Cambodian immigrants who sought asylum in the US. And he’s definitely not rich: Jason’s parents were owners of a humble convenience store in Oakland’s Chinatown, but had to shut down and move to less cool, less expensive El Cerrito when Oakland’s rent got too high. Jason misses many things about living in Oakland, but most of all he misses the proximity of Mama Siu’s Diner where he used to go with his mom before she passed away when he was 13. They’d always order corned beef hash with kimchi fried rice and Jason would listen to her stories about Cambodia and how she would love to take him back there someday. Ever since his mother’s death and leaving Oakland, Jason has been dead-set on helping his community, particularly to prevent families like his from continuing to be forced out of their hometowns. Unfortunately, at the start of our story, Jason doesn’t have the confidence to fully go after this goal. Although Jason’s relationship with Andini is destined to be rocky from the start (the girl is A Lot), Andini will unexpectedly wind up pushing him to come into his own as a leader.
Phoenix Barron-Kline
As an expensive test tube baby that his intense moms literally spent a fortune on, Phoenix’s problem has never been feeling desired. His moms run the gender studies departments at UC Berkeley and Stanford, and their feminist influence has been a huge part of Phoenix’s upbringing: instead of bedtime stories, he learned all about Maya Angelou, RGB, and Cher. Phoenix has grown into quite a feminist himself and cites “The Feminine Mystique” as the greatest work of the last two centuries. His other interests include listening to his favorite band Mumford & Sons and explaining why French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve is a true auteur. Phoenix would also describe himself as an artiste: his passion project is his band The Gentrifiers (the name is supposed to be ironic). The Gentrifiers’ mission is to cover “problematic” songs to reclaim/reinterpret them for a woke-r Gen-Z sensibility. The problem is, while Phoenix could see himself playing music for the rest of his life, his moms expect him to go full academic in college. Over the course of the story, Phoenix will learn to advocate for himself by finally being honest about his true passion. And -- you guessed it -- his relationship with Andini is going to be what finally gets him there.
Princess Maharani III
Named after her famous great-great-great grandmother, Maharani’s birth was a joyous occasion for all of Putrijaya. It’s rumored that as she was being delivered, her royal doula wailed in euphoric joy at how perfect she was. And perfect she continued to be. As soon as she could walk, Maharani accompanied her mother to all the functions, all the galas, and all the diplomatic talks with diplomatic attachés. The public admired her elegant demeanor and sense of style, which former Vogue editor-at-large/ANTM judge André Leon Talley would describe as High Fáshión (at 4 she was named best dressed in all of Putrijaya). Intelligent and insightful, Maharani probably would’ve beat chess prodigy Beth Harmon if they lived in the same decade. At 16, she rejected offers of admissions to Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard and instead went to Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich for its “much stronger” International Relations program, from which she graduated summa cum laude. In Germany, Maharani was able to get in touch with herself for the first time (it helped that people couldn’t find Putrijaya on a map). Senior year, she fell in love with West African PRINCE OMAR at a warehouse poetry slam in Berlin. Though living in a matriarchal monarchy on a liberal island-nation is as freeing as one would imagine, Maharani has accepted the fact that she’ll never have the same liberties as her people. She was and will always be the public face of Putrijaya and with such a privilege came expectations to follow certain strict protocols. While most would find this too suffocating, Maharani takes great pride in her duty and responsibility. After all, she was born royal, and she’s made it her mission to be great at it.
Zola Reese
Zola’s parents have always told her that success happens when hard work meets opportunity. For a long time she thought this adage was from some generic “inspirational” poster her parents saw on a misguided sojourn to Pier 1 Imports. But as she got older, after working her ass off and being passed up for many opportunities (lunch line leader in kindergarten, hall monitor in 3rd grade, table tennis captain in 7th), she started to see the truth in her parents’ mantra. The thing her parents didn’t tell her at the time was that for someone like Zola (the opposite of a straight white man), success requires triple the hard work, and opportunity will only come once in a blue moon. Realizing this unfortunate truth in the middle of puberty totally blew. And it didn’t help that it coincided with her friends and neighbors starting to get bought out of their homes in Oakland. What was once a vibrant and diverse neighborhood began to slowly turn into, well... Pier 1 Imports. Luckily for Zola, her parents had invested a shit ton of dough in Tesla’s IPO back in 2010. This investment allowed them to stay by Lake Merritt and afforded them other opportunities -- none of which Zola has taken for granted. She’s set her goals high, hoping to be the country’s president someday, à la her idol, Kamala Harris. Following her table tennis letdown, Zola pivoted to lacrosse freshman year and trained 10 times as hard as anyone else. Opportunity finally came knocking when the captain came down with mono. Zola became the interim captain and the powers that be (Coach Alperstein) were finally able to see Zola’s skill, talent, and interminable drive that made her deserving of leading the team permanently. After being appointed official captain, Zola led her team to record-breaking championships, which also made her one of the most popular kids at now-gentrified Oakland High. With her near-perfect academic record and stellar extracurriculars, she’s poised to become her school’s valedictorian and will be one step closer to becoming the future President of the United States -- provided that the opportunity comes, that is.
Queen Rawita Kelly
Coming from a succession of other famous and well-loved queens isn’t always easy (Rawita Kelly’s great-great-grandmother, Queen Maharani I, diplomatically fought off the British, French, and Dutch colonizers with her feminine wiles and world-class charm). Still, Queen Rawita Kelly more than holds up her family’s legacy. Educated at Oxford like her mom and grandma -- Queen Maharani I famously sent her offsprings to study abroad because she believed in the old adage of keeping your friends close and colonizers even closer -- Rawita Kelly ascended to the throne shortly before her 20th birthday, after her family passed away in a cataclysmic 12-yacht-pileup. Though this high-pressure, public job was suddenly and tragically thrust upon her, she was able to maneuver it with the same maturity, charm, and grace as her famous ancestor, Maharani I. Of course she had moments of doubt and loneliness, but Rawita Kelly was able to conquer insecurities and excel at her duties. She was instrumental in the re-development of Ratna Djuwita University (named after her late mother), which became a top university in Asia and free K to College education for qualified citizens of Putrijaya. At the height of her popularity, Rawita attended the Venice Film Festival, where she was set up on a blind date with Indonesian film star, Karl Setiawan. Their whirlwind romance and subsequent royal wedding made them untouchable supernovas (à la Prince Rainier of Monaco and Rawita’s godmother Grace Kelly, or Nick and Priyanka Chopra Jonas -- depending on who you ask). Of course, none of this mattered to Rawita Kelly, because shortly after her wedding she began her toughest and greatest job of all: being a mother and matriarch to the family that she had always dreamed of.
Mr. Ahn
Growing up as gay in the 1940s and ’50s is already tough. Doing it in New Jersey… yikes. For Albert Ahn (née Edwards), it’s always been a challenge to feel safe and fully be able to express himself. Wanting to get away from his hometown, he graduated high school a year early and hauled his butt from Hackensack, NJ to study business administration at UC Berkeley. Unfortunately, seeing that it was 1954, the Bay Area wasn’t much better. Luckily, he was a short distance away from San Francisco, where he found refuge with the queer community on Polk Street (the city’s gay center at the time). While out at a drag speakeasy one weekend, young Albert met and fell in love with Chester Siu Ahn, who was the headlining drag queen of the night (under the moniker “Mama Siu”). Albert and Chester wound up moving in together in the city, where they lived happily for several years… until Chester’s estranged uncle mysteriously disappeared (some say he was involved in the Bay Area mafia) and Chester inherited his uncle’s Chinese restaurant in Oakland’s Chinatown. Having no idea how to cook, let alone run a business, Chester enlisted Albert’s help. At first Chester was disappointed to be in a different neighborhood than his usual drag stomping grounds, but eventually the couple turned the diner into a popular restaurant by day and a queer drag bar for everyone -- including the soon-to-be famous Fanny de la Chica -- by night. After Chester’s tragic death during the AIDS crisis, Albert closed the nightly drag bar and renamed the diner “Mama Siu’s'' after his beloved. The diner has lived through so much already, but unfortunately it’s struggling more than it ever has because of Oakland’s gentrification.
Coach Alperstein
History teacher and women’s lacrosse coach at Oakland High, some (read: no one) would be shocked to know that Ms. Alperstein wasn’t particularly popular herself back when she was a student. Fortunately, Ms. Alperstein has gotten a second chance to experience the American teenage dream as a grown-ass woman -- and honestly she is lo-ving it due to the fact that she has perspective and doesn’t feel mortified by her every move. Ms. Alperstein’s two favorite things in the world are sports and gossip, which makes her the perfect fit for her job. She actually played for the US Women’s Lacrosse Team after being recruited to University of Maryland (white girls have literally tried to murder each other for those spots). Another fun fact is that according to her IQ she’s technically a genius, which is maybe why she always seems to have so much time on her hands to keep up with the Oakland High social scene on top of grading papers and drawing up plays. Over the course of our story, Ms. Alperstein will keep a watchful, prying eye on Andini as she navigates the American public school system. However, as drama-oriented as she might be, at the end of the day Ms. Alperstein is a responsible adult who’s not going to let any of her charges fall too far off the deep end. She could probably be running a hedge fund and/or NASA if she wanted to, and the fact that she gives so much to Oakland High is truly a product of how much she cares about her kids.
King Karl Setiawan
Karl was born in Batam, a tiny Indonesian island south of Singapore, and was named after his father’s 2nd favorite philosopher, Karl Marx. When he was three, Karl’s father abandoned his family after being chased out of town for not being able to pay his gambling debts. His mother took a domestic (read: maid) job in nearby Singapore to keep them afloat. This meant that Karl and his older brother, Plato (named after his dad’s 1st favorite philosopher), had to be shipped to Medan to live with their Cinderella-stepmother-horrible aunt. Luckily for Karl, at age nine he was scouted at a local KFC by renowned Indonesian auteur Tumpal Tampubolon to star in a coming of age story in the vein of The 400 Blows. The performance garnered Karl a Piala Citra (an Indonesian Oscar) for Best Supporting Actor, making him the youngest winner of said category. Karl soon became a teen idol à la 90s heartthrob JTT (Jonathan Taylor Thomas, for the uninitiated). After starring in a YA pirate-werewolf franchise, Karl took a break and went to college. He was able to reconnect with his estranged father while still having good boundaries, bought his mother a nice penthouse in Singapore, and invested in his brother’s startup. However, before long, the now aging auteur Tampubolon came calling and cast him in his provocative final masterpiece, Crocodile Tears. Karl’s transformative performance in the titular role of a crocodile having an existential crisis earned him his second Piala Citra. He became the first person to win for a motion capture performance (Andy Serkis called to congratulate him personally). The film re-conceptualized Karl’s teen beat image into that of a “serious” actor (think Safdie-Brothers-era RPatz). At the 55th annual Venice Film Festival, Karl was set up on a blind date by Caroline, Princess of Hanover. His date, of course, was the ravishing Queen Rawita Kelly of Putrijaya. Karl fell madly in love and decided to become the Queen’s consort after only three months. To the dismay of his many adoring (read: horny) fans, he left the public eye once more to spend more time with his young daughters on the Putrijaya palace grounds.