Ned James

Ned James is a character played by aurvinR.
== General Description ==
Ned James is a civilian, who arrived to Los Santos very recently.
== Background Information ==
Ned James was born on February 11th 2000. His place of birth is not known by anyone, including Ned himself. It is the same situation as with his parents - apart from the name of his father, Peter James, no one knows who or where they are. 
Ned is only aware of the fact that he was left in a basket in front of “Bright Future” orphanage on North 18th Place 41, in U.S., Arizona, Phoenix, on his 1st birthday - which was told to him by one of the orphanage workers, John Brown, on Ned’s 6th birthday.
The 6 years that Ned spent in the orphanage were rather uneventful for him; as a quiet kid, he didn’t really draw much attention. One thing that Ned retained from his stay there was the true value of being careful with your words and peaceful conflict resolution - he has seen too many fights between the kids, narrowly avoiding a couple of them.
On Ned’s 7th birthday, a 30 year old man called Bryce James arrived at the orphanage and adopted him. Bryce James took him to a standard one-story house with a sizable garden, on Biltmore Estates Drive 23 (Biltmore District), in U.S., Arizona, Phoenix - which then became Ned’s house for the next 15 years.
Ned quickly learned that Bryce was a warm and kind person. He seemed truly devoted to helping other people move onto the “right path” in life, where they only do good - something that he continuously taught Ned. Bryce’s main approach was educating people, but also without shying away from showing them the consequences of their actions.
Bryce never got mad, even if Ned did something that he disapproved of; he only seemed to get sad and become disappointed - which worked wonders on Ned’s dedication to the lifestyle Bryce was teaching him. In just a few years, Ned began to share the same calm determination and hope Bryce did.
Immediately after the adoption, Bryce began to homeschool Ned. He had vast amounts of knowledge about a variety of subjects and what he didn’t know was taught to Ned by specialised tutors. Bryce was frequently engaged with phone calls and worked in his home office quite a bit. Despite Ned’s frequent questions, Bryce never told him what exactly was his job - the only explanation he has ever heard was “It’s safer for you this way”.
In their free time, Ned and Bryce would frequently walk around the nearby parks and gardens, as well as frequently visit Phoenix Mountains off of Piestewa Freeway (central Phoenix) and mountains close to South Phoenix. Those frequent activities, as well as regular flexibility training and running, kept Ned in a very good shape. Additionally, with time, they made Ned love nature and further solidified his quiet and peaceful demeanour.
When Ned was 12, Bryce began taking him on regular trips all around Phoenix, during which they visited and delivered supplies to less fortunate, hospitals, orphanages, and so on. During all of those trips, Bryce constantly reminded him to always put other people’s needs over his', as long as it would serve the goal of their reformation / betterment.
Around this time, Bryce also started teaching Ned about the importance of having his own opinion, while also keeping an open mind to what other people may think / other people’s views. Bryce frequently warned Ned that by only absorbing other people’s opinions, or keeping his mind closed to anything that was not his own opinion, he risked becoming someone he would, with time, hate.
On Ned’s 15th birthday, Bryce had a serious conversation with Ned, during which he explained that he would begin the last stage of his lessons on that day and that, after he was eventually done with his part, he would have nothing else to teach Ned. However, Bryce emphasised that Ned should act as he was taught for the rest of his life, behaving as if the training never stopped. 
As a gift, Bryce gave Ned a simple black watch. Bryce also told him that it was one of the few remaining items he had from when his wife was still alive, which made it a treasure for Ned - something he hasn’t parted with ever since.
Bryce then began teaching Ned about the role of the official law in the “right path” that he was always talking about, citing it as a core of everything he taught Ned about, as well as the general importance of always seeking knowledge. During those lessons, Ned frequently heard the following Bryce’s quote, which stayed with him ever since - “Without knowledge, there's no progress. And without progress, there's no peace.”.
When Ned was 18, Bryce began slowly involving him in his job, mostly to handle paperwork, but still refused to elaborate what it was exactly. For the next 4 years, Ned continued helping, slowly figuring out that Bryce was involved in managing a large-scale goods transporting operation with semi trucks. Several times, Ned did wonder why Bryce was so worried in the past about him knowing about such a job, but he always eventually decided to just trust Bryce.
On February 11th 2022, Ned’s 22nd birthday, Bryce went a couple of blocks away from home, to East Hazelwood St 5 (between Biltmore District and Camelback East), to meet with one of the semi truck drivers working for the company and “have a business-related conversation with him”, as Bryce told Ned. 
After an hour, Bryce called Ned and, in an unusually tense voice, told him to drop whatever he was doing at the time and come to where he was. Bryce claimed it to be incredibly important. Worried, Ned complied and headed to the location.
When Ned arrived, he saw a semi truck parked in one of the driveways, with its back open. Next to it, Ned saw Bryce sitting on a sidewalk, surrounded by a few open boxes. Upon getting closer, Ned noticed several bullet wounds on Bryce, from which he was bleeding severely.
Crying, Ned started asking Bryce what happened, but he interrupted him, saying that he didn’t have much time. Bryce gestured at the open boxes, in which Ned then noticed several guns. Bryce stated that he was sorry for hiding the truth from Ned, but, as he was worried, it could have brought misfortune on him.
With visible effort, Bryce told Ned to be better than him and to remember what he taught him. Bryce then asked Ned to promise him that he wouldn’t mourn him, nor seek revenge on whoever hurt him. Only after Ned made such a promise, Bryce reached out to Ned, hugged him, and stated with a weak voice “Remember, we are better than this. I love you.”. 
Shortly afterwards, Bryce has fallen on the ground and grown still. Ned called EMS and police, and waited next to Bryce’s body. Shortly after they arrived, Bryce was pronounced dead. Police then took Ned in for questioning. 
Police questioned Ned on what happened, asking many questions regarding Bryce - to all of which he answered truthfully. Eventually, Ned was released by police.
For the next several months, Ned organised his documents and matters, as well as attended many other police questioning sessions. Eventually, after Ned was done with everything he wanted to finish, he sold the house, donated the money obtained via that transaction, as well as majority of his savings, to various charities and hospitals in Phoenix and then flew to Los Santos, with the firm goal of continuing Bryce’s lessons and ideology.
== Personality ==
Ned is a quiet and soft-spoken individual. He doesn't like to argue, nor raise his voice in general. Ned prefers peaceful resolution of conflicts when possible; however, it doesn’t mean that he’s not determined to achieve his goals. Quite the contrary in fact - Ned is patient, resistant to being turned away from his goals, and incredibly determined to stay on the “right path” his entire life is concentrated on.
Ned has a single mission in his entire life, to make sure everyone he knows only does good things. This belief / goal is what makes Ned who he is. It does not focus on anyone in particular - regardless of who someone may be, Ned would definitely try to steer them onto the path he believes to be right.
This belief, as well as Ned’s own experiences with the importance and beauty of peace and quiet, is the thing keeping him positive and energised every single new day. Regardless of what other people might do or say to him, Ned truly believes that any sacrifice from him is just a required part of his mission. Ned also wants to motivate people to behave similar to his, leading by example when it comes to showing what is possible with an attitude like his'.
Ned knows that people may struggle to become better if they are trying to do it alone. That’s why he constantly seeks to help others, even if it’s just a small thing. By getting close to people and earning their trust, Ned wants to show them in a very gentle way that by doing only good things, they are contributing to a better future for everyone and that it’s a goal worth fighting for.
However, there are limits to Ned’s help. As abiding by the official law, as well as always following Bryce’s lessons, is at the very core of the “right path” mentality Ned has, he will not do anything that would contradict that (at least knowingly). Ned will educate people when able to, but also won’t shy away from showing people the consequences of their actions.
As the closest person Ned has ever had in his life, Bryce (and by extension, his lessons) plays a big part in Ned’s everyday behaviour. Ned frequently mentions him in conversations (usually as “Father”) and always in the positive light. Ned is proud of having had a father like that, and it saddens him greatly if people laugh at or insult him. Ned frequently visits any nearby graveyards and “updates” Bryce on his progress with the goal he has.
Ned doesn’t get angry with people, no matter what. After the lessons with Bryce, his experiences at the orphanage and during nature walks, Ned is always able to maintain a calm and collected demeanour. At its worst, Ned just gets sad and / or disappointed. However, Ned’s behaviour isn’t always beneficial to him - always being calm and collected means that he doesn’t have the urgency needed in certain situations.
Due to spending the vast majority of his life in peace and safely, Ned doesn’t have good situational awareness, nor is he good at making split second decisions. However, if Ned does manage to notice something important, he will analyse it and, a lot of the time, will make a good decision - but again, it takes a very long time.
As a direct outcome of having a relatively busy life, Ned isn’t well-versed with pop-culture references, nor has he watched the majority of “known / famous” movies, nor has he read the majority of “known / famous” books. Additionally, Ned hasn’t had much contact with people his age (or, to be honest, many people at all) due to his upbringing by Bryce. As a result, Ned doesn’t expect many answers people may provide during day-to-day conversations.
Countless walks and runs with Bryce in gardens, parks, and on mountains, made Ned fall in love with nature. Ned will always do his best to protect it. It’s also why green is his favourite colour.
As a result of his upbringing by Bryce, Ned doesn't have any hobbies per se. Any time he’s not working, Ned goes on walks and runs, continues to try and help other people, as well as strives to broaden his knowledge.
Ned is not a vegetarian, but he rarely eats meat. Majority of his diet consists of different combinations of vegetables, fruit, and fish. This is due to one of Bryce’s lessons and recurring quote - “Healthy body, healthy mind”. Also, as a result of that, Ned rarely drinks alcohol or smokes marijuana.
Ned is not religious. Bryce regularly taught him that believing in “higher beings” was the first step to justifying your actions, no matter how terrible they were. Bryce also emphasised to Ned that doing / not doing something due to “fear of divine punishment”, and not because a person just wanted to be better, was a sign of a weak mind. However, Bryce also told Ned to be open to what other people believe in and not be ignorant / disrespectful just because it was not his belief.
Living his life in a very simple way, with all of the necessities provided by Bryce or himself, but without much luxury, Ned likes to keep things simple - especially if they are purely aesthetical. He applies this way of thinking to all things in his life - how he dresses, the items he owns, the vehicles he uses, and so on. This is also why Ned doesn’t value money a lot - he understands its necessity, but he usually shares the spare money with others who he believes need it more.
Having maintained regular training, as well as charity and company work alongside Bryce, for many years, Ned is a hard-working person, who is not scared to put a lot of effort and time into something to achieve his goal. Thanks to his patience and determination, even long-term projects are not an impossible obstacle to Ned.
== Frequent quotes ==
* Hey, I’m Ned James; how are you?
* I’m doing this for your own good, trust me.
* I just want to help you move onto the right path.
* As my father used to say; Without knowledge, there's no progress. And without progress, there's no peace. (modified Bryce’s quote)
* As my father used to say; Healthy body, healthy mind. (modified Bryce’s quote)
* As my father once told me; Remember, we are better than this. (modified Bryce’s quote)