ASTRID LIU
full name: astrid grace liu
pronouns & gender: she/they, non-binary
birthday & birthplace: september 16, 1997 (27); oakland, ca
location: ocean crest apartments
time in aurora bay: 20 years
sexuality: bisexual
occupation: striker at angel city fc
@aurorabayaesthetic
about.
born the younger of two in oakland, california, astrid can't really remember a time in early childhood when she wasn't following her big brother around. she was maverick's little shadow for most of her childhood; anything he did, she wanted to do. when he started homeschooling, she threw a fit because her parents wouldn't homeschool her as well. the family moved to AB when she was six.
she was always loud and gregarious, great with people, and her childhood was happy but not totally without complications. from an early age, her parents could tell that she was having trouble in school, and she knew that she wasn't getting things but had no way to put a name to her struggles. she had a hard time staying attentive, even when she really tried, and her reading was getting along a lot slower than her classmates.
in middle school, her parents eventually took her to a psychologist and pushed for a diagnosis, which ended up being adhd and mild dyslexia. she had no idea what to do with that information and thought it just made her stupid. it was a blow at first, but by the time she got to freshman year of high school, it'd turned into a chip on her shoulder. if people thought she was dumb, let them, because there were other things she was going to be the best at.
medication, therapy, extra reading classes helped her work with the adhd and dyslexia, but the hobbies she picked up were much more helpful to her development. from a young age, she was throwing herself into anything physical ā her parents put her in dance first, and she was okay at it but didn't love it, but then try tried sports, and something clicked. with every new season, she was in a new sport; she even did co-ed flag football until she was six and the rec league became boys only (which she still sort of resents)
soccer eventually pulled out, and by high school she was good, and she knew it. rec soccer had turned to club by middle school, and she was a varsity starter by the time she was a freshman. in junior year, her coaches started making videos to send to colleges who might want to recruit her, and things got serious. scouts started coming and she started having conversations with schools. meanwhile, her grades completely tanked. she had started to coast on the belief that she was going to get into a college on a full scholarship for soccer.
and great schools were interested enough to extend offers in her senior year āĀ contingent on a certain level of academic performance, which astrid wasn't meeting toward the end of the school year. in full panic mode, she retook classes in the summer and did marginally better, but by the time the summer was over, the offers were gone.
astrid was inconsolable. she graduated alone after summer school, which really entailed her picking up her diploma on a random wednesday, and then pretty much locked herself in her room for most of the summer. somewhere in the middle of her heartbroken spiral, her parents told her they'd begged for a few favors from friends in the admissions department at AB college, and she could attend in the fall if she wanted.
she didn't make a decision until three days before classes started, and what really pushed her to it was that she was just tired of being sad. she lived at home and commuted, picked up communications as a major because everyone told her it was easy, and promptly got onto AB college's women's soccer team. it wasn't, but it was good enough.
she shaped up a little academically and actually did okay in college, even though her main focus was always soccer. she didn't expect anything to come of it, figured that there wouldn't be many eyes on her if she wasn't at a school like ucla or stanford, but a scout for angel city fc in LA who lived in the area just happened to be bored one day and figured he check out the local women's team. it also just happened to be the game when astrid got the first hat trick of her college career.
the scout contacted her after the game and told her he'd keep an eye on her progress. it was like a shot of adrenaline, and she worked harder, harder, harder. eventually, senior year, angel city fc put it in writing that they would take her in the fourth round of the 2020 NWSL draft. she signed officially ahead of the 2021 season. she decided to use the money to buy a car and rent an apartment in ocean crest to commute to work and stay in her hometown.
she redshirted for most of her first season but became a regular and a standout by the end of 2022. she was hitting a real stride during the 2023 season, becoming a star on a somewhat mediocre team and was even being eyed to join the USNWT, and then she tore her ACL in the middle of the season, which immediately doomed her to losing out on entirety of 2024.
she's been back at home since then, recovering from the surgery and doing her damnedest to get back ahead of schedule.
family.
mother: ingrid liu (nee eriksson)
father: kenneth liu
brother: maverick liu
tidbits.
astrid is very self-aware and knows herself well, but sometimes (maybe more than sometimes) her self-assuredness makes her cocky. she's confident and she knows what she's good at, but she's also sensitive to criticism and hates being told that she can't do something. nobody calls her chicken.
she's been coaching girls' soccer in AB since she got hurt. the kids are 7-11 and most of them are terrible at the game, but she loves doing it
her car, a green porsche 911 F, is still the most expensive thing she's ever purchased. the car's name is genevieve and is astrid's most prized possession
she's almost annoyingly dedicated to her workout and food regimens, but she'll literally always make an exception for nerds gummy clusters
actually kind of incredible at texting back promptly. unanswered texts give her anxiety
connections.
younger sister of @maverick-liu
kinda sorta maybe ex of @cricketcampbell
ex fwbs/current bro of @mackmontgomery
older sister vibes w/ @cassidyxcooke
former teammate of @sagexwilliams
little smiling devil emoji @lorelailewis
friend turned enemy of @aiden-stevens
