Post by jialin on May 3, 2008 16:40:47 GMT -5
Name:
Xiaoli Meilan
Age:
7
Gender:
Female
Group:
Fire Nation Citizen
Nation:
Fire Nation
Bender?:
No
Physical Appearance:
Meilan is a petite young child with soft curves to her body, reminiscent of youth. She is short for her age, and as such is often believed to be a couple of years younger than she truely is.
Meilan's hair is a vivid auburn shade and when let down, hangs to her shoulder blades. She most commonly wears it in a high set ponytail pulled up with a mulberry coloured ribbon, not in an extravagent bow, but simply, with the ends hanging down underneath her ponytail. Her bangs are cut straight across and come to a rest just above her eyebrows, but she does allow two chunks of hair to fall to her chin, in front of her ears. Her hair is thick and coarse, but Meilan takes pride in keeping it as neat as possible with the help of her older sister.
As for her facial features, Meilan has a very soft and fluid appearance. Her round dark amber eyes speak of innocence and youth. One can look at her eyes and almost always see them wide and curious. The only time they are not wide open is when she is upset, during which her eyes narrow considerably. Her face is rounded and very full. Her lower lip has a bit of a pout to it due to her constant crying schemes. Finally, her skin tone is very pale, almost a cream shade.
Being so young, Meilan has not developed feminine parts yet. Her body is straight all the way down to her small feet. Her hands a slightly roughed up from helping on her family farm, as are her feet from running around barefoot.
In every essence, Meilan still has her youthful innocent appearance.
Clothing/Armor:
If Meilan did not wear one of three basic outfits in public, there would be questions asked,
First of all, Meilan has her farm clothing. She startswith a basic under layer of plain white woolen undergarments. Nothing special, just plain. Next, she wears a layer of a goldenrod coloured cotton shirt with the Fire Nation symbol on it in the form of rich carmine coloured embroidery, an almost trident shaped red flame and solid roan red leggings of a very thin material her mother makes from the feathers of the Ostrich Horses they raise. Over this is a deep chestnut woven high-necked tunic, very plain save for rich carmine coloured embroidery design of a messenger hawk on the back, the symbol of her family's farm. On the front of the tunic is a cleverly added pouch, sewn on with tough yarn woven from the wool of her family's sheep pigs. The Fire Nation symbol is also embroidered with rich carmine coloured threads on the pouch to show her family's loyalty. The top of this pouch is left open to collect the eggs of Chicken Pigs. Also in this layer is a auburn coloured cotton silk skirt that hangs past her leggings and down to her ankles. When outside, Meilan wears a conical shaped hat woven from straw and held onto her head using a simple coral dyed strip of cloth to keep the sun out of her eyes. For shoes, she wears straw sandals with soft leather from the hides of her farm's Sheep Pigs forming around her toes. If the weather is unfavourable, Meilan adds a slate grey cloth cloak with the Fire Nation symbol embroidered onto the back and her family emblem embroidered onto the front with carmine threads.
Secondly, Meilan could be wearing her school uniform which consists of a crimsom long sleeved shirt with a black strip down the front of the arm. The sleeves taper to a point over the back of the hands, and at the wrists are leather bracelets to keep the already skin tight sleeves from lifting in any wind. Over top of this is a darker sjirt with the sleeves only falling down to the elbows. This shirt is mostly plain, but has a high neck with golden embroidery around the endges at the neck. She also wears a pair of pants the same colour as this shirt. Finally, her school uniform consists of a mostly black tunic that ends at the shoulders. The neck does not rise at all (the shirt directly underneath rises about three inches above the neck of the tunic). There is crimsom embroidery at every edge of the tunic and also a strip down the back, but there is no embroidery around the edge of the sleeves. The tunic is held in place by a crimsom silk belt around the waist with the school's emblem directly in the middle of the front. Her entire school uniform is made of cloth, with each layer getting slightly thicker, with the exception of the neck of the second shirt which is underlined with leather to make it stand up. She also carries around a leather schoolbag with a strap designed to go over her shoulder and hang at the opposite hip. The flap opens up, and has the Fire Nation symbol embroidered on. For shoes, she wears leather sandals.
Meilan's most formal outfit is what people see her in if she visits town with her father on an errant. She wears a casual yukata, amber coloured. There is nothing special about this yukata, it is made of cotton and has a peach orange colored sash that is tied around her waist in a bow at the back. A pair of slim silk slippers adorn her feet, amber coloured. Although she calls it formal, it isn't much. However, it suits her youth. This yukata is slightly long in both her arms and her body, having once belonged to Min. When Min outgrew it, she passed it on to Meilan. Like her farm outfit, her yukata has a messenger hawk embroidered on the back in carmine coloured thread. Other than the embroidery, it is very plain
Weapons:
While not having any material weapons, Meilan's best weapons are her tears.
Personality:
((Note: it would be best to read the background before this so you understand why her personality changes so dramatically))
Meilan is very extroverted and optimistic... when she gets her way.
As an infant, Meilan was loud and cranky. She had to be heard, or she wouldn't be happy. She acted like this to everyone, regardless of who they were. She even was cranky towards her mother. Despite this, her parents were so happy to have another female child that they spoiled little Meilan.
In her infant years, Meilan loved anything to do with her getting attention. She would do something she thought was amazing, and hollar until she was recognized for it. A common statement throughout her first three years of life was: "Yes, Meilan, that's wonderful! Good job!"
Once Meilan reached three and a half, she started to shift her personality. She calmed down a bit, but still did things for attention. While her brothers sighed with relief and her sister congratulated her mother on getting through the 'terrible two' year, her parents almost missed her crying at night. They had been that adjusted to it.
After an incident at the age of four, Meilan became withdrawn. Instead of running around outside, she spent her time inside reading childrens' books and 'helping' her mother with house chores. She developed several irrational fears such as if Zan or someone else ran down the stairs in the farm house, she would start crying and run to a different room, looking for Min or her mother. She also stopped talking unless neccessary, although she had just started getting out of severe baby talk and had started to make some sense with her words.
The next year, after another incident, Meilan started to develop a strong love for animals, in particular, her favourite cow hippo. She started to brighten up and signs of an extrovert started to emerge. After starting school and meeting her first close friend, Meilan really burst out into a highly optimistic behaviour. She found good in every situation, and did well in her studies. She quickly developed a strong feeling of loyalty to Fire Lord Ozai, and it showed, making a spaghetti image of Ozai in her third month of school and proudly showing it to anyone who would listen to her, which was her whole family.
She weakened slightly at age six. Going back into her shell, she focussed completely on her schoolwork and nothing more. The only 'person' who could cheer her up was Feizhi, and even then it was hard to do so.
After a month, she opened up again after meeting a new friend. Her extroverted and optimistic behaviour showed up again, and one couldn't wipe a smile from her face.
Meilan loves to read, even at such a low age. She also has an affinity for art, albeit very childish art.
When it comes to her family, Meilan has different opinions of all of them:
She loves her mother to no end and will trust her in anything. When around her mother, Meilan will do all she can to please the woman. Her most cheerful side comes out around her mother.
As for her father, she still loves him, but not as much as she loves her mother. She still is wary after what happened when she was four, but she still realizes that she should love her parents. When around her father, Meilan gets jumpy, as she knows that her father will respond to her pleas for attention that she still employs.
She almost fears her oldest brother, Fu Cheng, because of his size and formidable appearance. When in his presence, she calms down, almost afraid to do anything out of line. She still loves him, she just gets uneasy around him.
Min is Meilan's role model. She wants to be just like her older sister, and will do whatever it takes. Her family has noted that the times that Meilan acts the most mature is when Min is in the room.
Zan and Meilan are constantly bickering. Zan was always the attention grabber of the family until Meilan was born. Thus, with Meilan's personality, the two clashed. Meilan takes on a heavy teasing attitude when alone with Zan, but when with other people in the room, she does what she can to get him into trouble.
Meilan is for the most part neutral with Zheng Yi. He doesn't mind her, she doesn't mind him. Nothing really changes about her when around him.
Now, all this is when Meilan is in a good mood...
When in a bad mood, Meilan has learned that tears get her anything from her family. Her tears can even get Zan to feel for her. However, once she started to realize this, she started to use it to her advantage. If she wanted to get Zan in trouble over even the smallest thing, she would start to cry in front of their parents, and as they loved their little daughter, they would listen to her and Zan would pay the price. Then, when she is certain that Zan is punished, she continues crying and walks out of the room. However, when she is sure that her parents won't see her but Zan will, she sticks her tongue out at him, so he knows that it wasn't real. However, Meilan often cries unwillingly, so Zan can never tell until the last moment whether she is actually upset or just wanting to get him in trouble.
Finally, when out with her father in the markets, she takes on the mature attitude she normally shows around Min. This is to ensure that no one doesn't take her seriously.
Background:
In the country to the east of Yin Rei, a family of farmers anxiously awaited the birth of the fifth child in the family. When Meilan was finally born, her family rejoiced, and raised her with kindness. Meilan's family's farm is a major supplier of goods to Yin Rei, and also raises a number of animals for food, by-products, and to sell to Fire Nation nobles. With such large exports to various places in the Fire Nation, the family is quite wealthy for a farming family. They hire several hands from around the area as well as enlist the aid of nearby family members to help run the farm, especially when the family is away. The Xiaoli family raises several animals, such as Chicken Pigs (raised for food/eggs), Cow Hippos (raised for food, one is Meilan's pet), Cow Pigs (raised for food), Dragon Moose (raised to sell to nobles for transportation), Kimodo Rhinoceros (raised for FN calvary, Meilan is not allowed near them), Koala Sheep (raised for their wool), Messenger Hawks (raised to sell to anyone, main clients are FN militia), Mongoose Dragons (only have one, very old, a tourist attraction), Ostrich Horses (while it is true that they are mainly an EK species, Meilan's family owns about ten breeding pair, and raise them to sell to FN nobles as exotic pets), Sheep Pigs (raised for their wool), andTurtle Duck (raised for eggs and to sell to nobles).
Within the family itself, besides both parents, five children live in the house. The eldest, Fu Chang helps his father out with the heaviest of farm duties, being 19. Then, there is Min, one of the two female children. At 18, she carries out the bulk of the feminine work on the farm with her mother. Then there is Zan, who at the age of 16 helps out at the farm while attending school regularily. Next is Zheng Yi who, at 13 and blind in both eyes, learns from their mother. Finally there is Meilan. Being the youngest child, she is heavily spoiled.
Meilan was a loud and boisterous baby. She kept her mother up late every night with her tears, and Zan was constantly complaining about the lack of sleep. However, her family learned to accept that Meilan was a loud one, and eventually settled in to her nightly serenades.
Meilan's first real memory was when she was four, and her father first took her out to meet the farm animals. She immediately took a fond liking to the koala sheep, and as for the the turtle ducks, she was laughing and asking her father to get closer to them. However, her father refused. On the other hand, when the two passed by the cow hippo pen, one of the large meat eaters near the fence roared his displeasure at being interrupted from meal time. Meilan was so scared from this event that she ran back into the house and refused to go near any animal pens.
This lasted for a year. During this year, Meilan acted differently. It would almost seem that she had been scarred for life from her frightening encounter. Her parents, worried, tried to get her interested in other things. This worked; Meilan became interested in reading children's books. However, she did not step outside for anything, unless she could be reassured that she would not pass the animal pens.
One day the following year, just before dinner, Meilan's father ran into the house calling for Fu Chang. One of the cow hippos was giving birth, and there were severe conplications. After an hour of anxiously waiting to learn whether their best breeding cow hippo would die during birth, Fu Cheng and Meilan's father walked into the house carrying a runt baby cow hippo. Meilan, hearing what it was, ran to hide behind Min. However, her father spoke gently to her, explaining that this poor little animal had lost it's 'Mama' and needed a friend. Even though her mother disapproved of this bribery to get Meilan out of her fear of the farm animals, Meilan felt sorry for the little one and started to look after it. That was the day she started to help out around the farm by collecting eggs and looking after Feizhi, her baby cow hippo.
About three months later, Meilan's parents decided that she was ready for school. Sending her with Zan, Min and Fu Cheng, they hoped that Meilan, who had started to brighten up a bit would quickly make friends. Their wish was granted as on the first day of school, Meilan met Jin Li, a perky child of the same age. Over the next year, Jin Li and Meilan became close friends and spent hours together, whether it be on Meilan's farm or at Jin Li's house in the city.
At six years old, Jin Li's father was called to fight for the Fire Nation. Jin Li became very withdrawn, sad that she couldn't see her father as he was constantly away. Meilan tried her best to help her friend get through the hard times, but one day, all of her efforts collapsed. News came that Jin Li's father had died during a battle. Devestated, Jin Li stopped coming to school. Meilan went to her friend's house and tried to talk to her, but to no avail. Jin Li and her mother were simply in too much grief. With tears, Meilan decided to leave Jin Li to her grieving until she got over it. Min was very influential in her decision.
For a month, Meilan went to school, talking to the other girls, but not making a strong effort to make a close friendship. This ended one day when a new girl, Ping, introduced herself to Meilan, and brought up the fact that koala sheep were her favourite animals. Having regained her love of the wooly little animals, Meilan felt an immediate connection to Ping. The two became friends, and Meilan was once again her perky self. Throughout the next year, Meilan started to get to know the other girls at her school. As of current, she is good friends with just about all of the girls in her class.
Also at six years old, Meilan's father started taking her to the Yin Rei markets to sell their crops and meat products once a month As well, once every six months, the whole family travels to other major cities in the Fire Nation to sell their goods. Even though she could not walk or talk, Meilan was taken with the family every time.
Meilan has attended the Yin Rei Academy for Young Girls, a private school in Yin Rei for girls ages five to fifteen, for her entire school life. She loves it there. Within the first year, mostly due to her family's loyalty to the Fire Lord, she was molded into a typical Fire Nation child, completely loyal to Fire Lord Ozai.
Her family over the course of her friendship with Jin Li had also gotten to know Jin Li's parents, so when Jin Li's father was called to war, her mother often talked to Meilan's mother about what was happening. Thus, Meilan's family knows a lot about the Fire Nation's viewpoints on the war and supports it. Even though they openly support the Fire Lord, they know that if they ever changed their opinions, they would have to at least fake their loyalty to keep their family business. Their farm is their only source of income, albeit a large one due to the variety of goods, including the tourism.
Meilan, being young, has never been out of the Fire Nation for anything, but she has gone with her father to Yin Rei and other close Fire Nation cities.
Sample RP:
Outside the Yin Rei Academy for Young Girls, the wind was blowing. Noise could be heard from the street, workers heading home after the shift, and workers headed towards their place of work for their shift. However, this all meant nothing for the small figure standing in front of the Academy.
"Here he comes. Oh, he is so going to get it. Just you wait, you creep! I'm going to use my secret weapon on you!"
As a young man of 16 years walked briskly to the Academy, he stopped short, seeing the figure. Breaking into a run, he managed to reach the young girl quickly.
"I am SO sorry, Meilan! I completely forgot that it was my turn to pick you up!" he gasped, a sorry look on his face.
Meilan stared at him for a moment. Her lower lip, which seemed to be in a permenant little pout, began to quiver. Her whole body started to shake, and tears started to drip from the corner of her eyes. The wind blew her little auburn ponytail to the side as she lowered her head, yet raised her eyes so she was still looking at the young man. Her gaze sharpened into a glare for only a second, then fell back into a look of sadness.
"Time to unleash my secret weapon!" she thought, almost smiling. Then she remembered and composed herself again.
Finally, she judged that it was time. Letting the tears flow, she threw herself into her older brother's arms.
"You forgot about me! How could you do such a thing! You are such a meanie; I'll never forgive you!"
Her brother, shocked, tried to calm her down. However, this was to no avail. Meilan continued crying, drawing the attention of people from the street. Women shook their heads in disbelief over what this young man had apparently done. Digging her face into Zan, her brother's chest, she snuck a small smile.
"That will get his attention!" she thought, envisioning the scene at home. Zan was standing in front of their mother, and she was reproaching him. In her mind's eye, she could see herself dragging her feet out of the room, still crying, and starting up the stairs. When she was halfway up, she made direct eye contant with Zan, and stuck out her tongue. Giggling at his disbelief, she continued up the stairs.
Zan's words brought her back to the present.
"Listen, Meilan, I'm really sorry. This won't happen again, okay?" he told her, breathlessly, sincerely. Meilan almost stopped to consider his words, then remembered that he teased her as well. So she continued to cry.
"Him getting in trouble... it's worth it..."
~~~
Name
Feizhi
Age
3
Species
Cow Hippo
Personality
Feizhi is very understanding for a cow hippo. She seems to know when Meilan is feeling blue, and will comfort her. However, Feizhi, being a typical cow hippo, also loves meat and will drop all of her sweetness to chow down on a chunk of cow pig meat.
Feizhi is a good friend to Meilan. She is sweet and gentle, despite never knowing her mother, who died during birth.
Appearance:
Born a runt, Feizhi is a lot smaller than other cow hippos even when her low age is taken into consideration. She is white with black spots, and her body shape resembles a hippopotamus. Her ears are floppy, and she has not yet started to grow horns. Her short. stubby legs end in hoofs. Her tail looks like a cow's, long, narrow and ending in a black tuft.
Feizhi's spots are irregular, in keeping with the look of her species. Notable spots include a completely black face, one completely black ear (her right ear), and the sole black spot on her underbelly, just behind the front legs
History
Feizhi's mother was the best breeding cow hippo on the Xiaoli farm. However, one fateful evening, she died giving birth to a single runt. Although Meilan had decided that she hated cow hippos, she was drawn in by Feizhi's look of innocence and the fact that the baby had lost it's mother. Nothing of importance has happened to Feizhi since she was 'adopted' by Meilan.
Xiaoli Meilan
Age:
7
Gender:
Female
Group:
Fire Nation Citizen
Nation:
Fire Nation
Bender?:
No
Physical Appearance:
Meilan is a petite young child with soft curves to her body, reminiscent of youth. She is short for her age, and as such is often believed to be a couple of years younger than she truely is.
Meilan's hair is a vivid auburn shade and when let down, hangs to her shoulder blades. She most commonly wears it in a high set ponytail pulled up with a mulberry coloured ribbon, not in an extravagent bow, but simply, with the ends hanging down underneath her ponytail. Her bangs are cut straight across and come to a rest just above her eyebrows, but she does allow two chunks of hair to fall to her chin, in front of her ears. Her hair is thick and coarse, but Meilan takes pride in keeping it as neat as possible with the help of her older sister.
As for her facial features, Meilan has a very soft and fluid appearance. Her round dark amber eyes speak of innocence and youth. One can look at her eyes and almost always see them wide and curious. The only time they are not wide open is when she is upset, during which her eyes narrow considerably. Her face is rounded and very full. Her lower lip has a bit of a pout to it due to her constant crying schemes. Finally, her skin tone is very pale, almost a cream shade.
Being so young, Meilan has not developed feminine parts yet. Her body is straight all the way down to her small feet. Her hands a slightly roughed up from helping on her family farm, as are her feet from running around barefoot.
In every essence, Meilan still has her youthful innocent appearance.
Clothing/Armor:
If Meilan did not wear one of three basic outfits in public, there would be questions asked,
First of all, Meilan has her farm clothing. She startswith a basic under layer of plain white woolen undergarments. Nothing special, just plain. Next, she wears a layer of a goldenrod coloured cotton shirt with the Fire Nation symbol on it in the form of rich carmine coloured embroidery, an almost trident shaped red flame and solid roan red leggings of a very thin material her mother makes from the feathers of the Ostrich Horses they raise. Over this is a deep chestnut woven high-necked tunic, very plain save for rich carmine coloured embroidery design of a messenger hawk on the back, the symbol of her family's farm. On the front of the tunic is a cleverly added pouch, sewn on with tough yarn woven from the wool of her family's sheep pigs. The Fire Nation symbol is also embroidered with rich carmine coloured threads on the pouch to show her family's loyalty. The top of this pouch is left open to collect the eggs of Chicken Pigs. Also in this layer is a auburn coloured cotton silk skirt that hangs past her leggings and down to her ankles. When outside, Meilan wears a conical shaped hat woven from straw and held onto her head using a simple coral dyed strip of cloth to keep the sun out of her eyes. For shoes, she wears straw sandals with soft leather from the hides of her farm's Sheep Pigs forming around her toes. If the weather is unfavourable, Meilan adds a slate grey cloth cloak with the Fire Nation symbol embroidered onto the back and her family emblem embroidered onto the front with carmine threads.
Secondly, Meilan could be wearing her school uniform which consists of a crimsom long sleeved shirt with a black strip down the front of the arm. The sleeves taper to a point over the back of the hands, and at the wrists are leather bracelets to keep the already skin tight sleeves from lifting in any wind. Over top of this is a darker sjirt with the sleeves only falling down to the elbows. This shirt is mostly plain, but has a high neck with golden embroidery around the endges at the neck. She also wears a pair of pants the same colour as this shirt. Finally, her school uniform consists of a mostly black tunic that ends at the shoulders. The neck does not rise at all (the shirt directly underneath rises about three inches above the neck of the tunic). There is crimsom embroidery at every edge of the tunic and also a strip down the back, but there is no embroidery around the edge of the sleeves. The tunic is held in place by a crimsom silk belt around the waist with the school's emblem directly in the middle of the front. Her entire school uniform is made of cloth, with each layer getting slightly thicker, with the exception of the neck of the second shirt which is underlined with leather to make it stand up. She also carries around a leather schoolbag with a strap designed to go over her shoulder and hang at the opposite hip. The flap opens up, and has the Fire Nation symbol embroidered on. For shoes, she wears leather sandals.
Meilan's most formal outfit is what people see her in if she visits town with her father on an errant. She wears a casual yukata, amber coloured. There is nothing special about this yukata, it is made of cotton and has a peach orange colored sash that is tied around her waist in a bow at the back. A pair of slim silk slippers adorn her feet, amber coloured. Although she calls it formal, it isn't much. However, it suits her youth. This yukata is slightly long in both her arms and her body, having once belonged to Min. When Min outgrew it, she passed it on to Meilan. Like her farm outfit, her yukata has a messenger hawk embroidered on the back in carmine coloured thread. Other than the embroidery, it is very plain
Weapons:
While not having any material weapons, Meilan's best weapons are her tears.
Personality:
((Note: it would be best to read the background before this so you understand why her personality changes so dramatically))
Meilan is very extroverted and optimistic... when she gets her way.
As an infant, Meilan was loud and cranky. She had to be heard, or she wouldn't be happy. She acted like this to everyone, regardless of who they were. She even was cranky towards her mother. Despite this, her parents were so happy to have another female child that they spoiled little Meilan.
In her infant years, Meilan loved anything to do with her getting attention. She would do something she thought was amazing, and hollar until she was recognized for it. A common statement throughout her first three years of life was: "Yes, Meilan, that's wonderful! Good job!"
Once Meilan reached three and a half, she started to shift her personality. She calmed down a bit, but still did things for attention. While her brothers sighed with relief and her sister congratulated her mother on getting through the 'terrible two' year, her parents almost missed her crying at night. They had been that adjusted to it.
After an incident at the age of four, Meilan became withdrawn. Instead of running around outside, she spent her time inside reading childrens' books and 'helping' her mother with house chores. She developed several irrational fears such as if Zan or someone else ran down the stairs in the farm house, she would start crying and run to a different room, looking for Min or her mother. She also stopped talking unless neccessary, although she had just started getting out of severe baby talk and had started to make some sense with her words.
The next year, after another incident, Meilan started to develop a strong love for animals, in particular, her favourite cow hippo. She started to brighten up and signs of an extrovert started to emerge. After starting school and meeting her first close friend, Meilan really burst out into a highly optimistic behaviour. She found good in every situation, and did well in her studies. She quickly developed a strong feeling of loyalty to Fire Lord Ozai, and it showed, making a spaghetti image of Ozai in her third month of school and proudly showing it to anyone who would listen to her, which was her whole family.
She weakened slightly at age six. Going back into her shell, she focussed completely on her schoolwork and nothing more. The only 'person' who could cheer her up was Feizhi, and even then it was hard to do so.
After a month, she opened up again after meeting a new friend. Her extroverted and optimistic behaviour showed up again, and one couldn't wipe a smile from her face.
Meilan loves to read, even at such a low age. She also has an affinity for art, albeit very childish art.
When it comes to her family, Meilan has different opinions of all of them:
She loves her mother to no end and will trust her in anything. When around her mother, Meilan will do all she can to please the woman. Her most cheerful side comes out around her mother.
As for her father, she still loves him, but not as much as she loves her mother. She still is wary after what happened when she was four, but she still realizes that she should love her parents. When around her father, Meilan gets jumpy, as she knows that her father will respond to her pleas for attention that she still employs.
She almost fears her oldest brother, Fu Cheng, because of his size and formidable appearance. When in his presence, she calms down, almost afraid to do anything out of line. She still loves him, she just gets uneasy around him.
Min is Meilan's role model. She wants to be just like her older sister, and will do whatever it takes. Her family has noted that the times that Meilan acts the most mature is when Min is in the room.
Zan and Meilan are constantly bickering. Zan was always the attention grabber of the family until Meilan was born. Thus, with Meilan's personality, the two clashed. Meilan takes on a heavy teasing attitude when alone with Zan, but when with other people in the room, she does what she can to get him into trouble.
Meilan is for the most part neutral with Zheng Yi. He doesn't mind her, she doesn't mind him. Nothing really changes about her when around him.
Now, all this is when Meilan is in a good mood...
When in a bad mood, Meilan has learned that tears get her anything from her family. Her tears can even get Zan to feel for her. However, once she started to realize this, she started to use it to her advantage. If she wanted to get Zan in trouble over even the smallest thing, she would start to cry in front of their parents, and as they loved their little daughter, they would listen to her and Zan would pay the price. Then, when she is certain that Zan is punished, she continues crying and walks out of the room. However, when she is sure that her parents won't see her but Zan will, she sticks her tongue out at him, so he knows that it wasn't real. However, Meilan often cries unwillingly, so Zan can never tell until the last moment whether she is actually upset or just wanting to get him in trouble.
Finally, when out with her father in the markets, she takes on the mature attitude she normally shows around Min. This is to ensure that no one doesn't take her seriously.
Background:
In the country to the east of Yin Rei, a family of farmers anxiously awaited the birth of the fifth child in the family. When Meilan was finally born, her family rejoiced, and raised her with kindness. Meilan's family's farm is a major supplier of goods to Yin Rei, and also raises a number of animals for food, by-products, and to sell to Fire Nation nobles. With such large exports to various places in the Fire Nation, the family is quite wealthy for a farming family. They hire several hands from around the area as well as enlist the aid of nearby family members to help run the farm, especially when the family is away. The Xiaoli family raises several animals, such as Chicken Pigs (raised for food/eggs), Cow Hippos (raised for food, one is Meilan's pet), Cow Pigs (raised for food), Dragon Moose (raised to sell to nobles for transportation), Kimodo Rhinoceros (raised for FN calvary, Meilan is not allowed near them), Koala Sheep (raised for their wool), Messenger Hawks (raised to sell to anyone, main clients are FN militia), Mongoose Dragons (only have one, very old, a tourist attraction), Ostrich Horses (while it is true that they are mainly an EK species, Meilan's family owns about ten breeding pair, and raise them to sell to FN nobles as exotic pets), Sheep Pigs (raised for their wool), andTurtle Duck (raised for eggs and to sell to nobles).
Within the family itself, besides both parents, five children live in the house. The eldest, Fu Chang helps his father out with the heaviest of farm duties, being 19. Then, there is Min, one of the two female children. At 18, she carries out the bulk of the feminine work on the farm with her mother. Then there is Zan, who at the age of 16 helps out at the farm while attending school regularily. Next is Zheng Yi who, at 13 and blind in both eyes, learns from their mother. Finally there is Meilan. Being the youngest child, she is heavily spoiled.
Meilan was a loud and boisterous baby. She kept her mother up late every night with her tears, and Zan was constantly complaining about the lack of sleep. However, her family learned to accept that Meilan was a loud one, and eventually settled in to her nightly serenades.
Meilan's first real memory was when she was four, and her father first took her out to meet the farm animals. She immediately took a fond liking to the koala sheep, and as for the the turtle ducks, she was laughing and asking her father to get closer to them. However, her father refused. On the other hand, when the two passed by the cow hippo pen, one of the large meat eaters near the fence roared his displeasure at being interrupted from meal time. Meilan was so scared from this event that she ran back into the house and refused to go near any animal pens.
This lasted for a year. During this year, Meilan acted differently. It would almost seem that she had been scarred for life from her frightening encounter. Her parents, worried, tried to get her interested in other things. This worked; Meilan became interested in reading children's books. However, she did not step outside for anything, unless she could be reassured that she would not pass the animal pens.
One day the following year, just before dinner, Meilan's father ran into the house calling for Fu Chang. One of the cow hippos was giving birth, and there were severe conplications. After an hour of anxiously waiting to learn whether their best breeding cow hippo would die during birth, Fu Cheng and Meilan's father walked into the house carrying a runt baby cow hippo. Meilan, hearing what it was, ran to hide behind Min. However, her father spoke gently to her, explaining that this poor little animal had lost it's 'Mama' and needed a friend. Even though her mother disapproved of this bribery to get Meilan out of her fear of the farm animals, Meilan felt sorry for the little one and started to look after it. That was the day she started to help out around the farm by collecting eggs and looking after Feizhi, her baby cow hippo.
About three months later, Meilan's parents decided that she was ready for school. Sending her with Zan, Min and Fu Cheng, they hoped that Meilan, who had started to brighten up a bit would quickly make friends. Their wish was granted as on the first day of school, Meilan met Jin Li, a perky child of the same age. Over the next year, Jin Li and Meilan became close friends and spent hours together, whether it be on Meilan's farm or at Jin Li's house in the city.
At six years old, Jin Li's father was called to fight for the Fire Nation. Jin Li became very withdrawn, sad that she couldn't see her father as he was constantly away. Meilan tried her best to help her friend get through the hard times, but one day, all of her efforts collapsed. News came that Jin Li's father had died during a battle. Devestated, Jin Li stopped coming to school. Meilan went to her friend's house and tried to talk to her, but to no avail. Jin Li and her mother were simply in too much grief. With tears, Meilan decided to leave Jin Li to her grieving until she got over it. Min was very influential in her decision.
For a month, Meilan went to school, talking to the other girls, but not making a strong effort to make a close friendship. This ended one day when a new girl, Ping, introduced herself to Meilan, and brought up the fact that koala sheep were her favourite animals. Having regained her love of the wooly little animals, Meilan felt an immediate connection to Ping. The two became friends, and Meilan was once again her perky self. Throughout the next year, Meilan started to get to know the other girls at her school. As of current, she is good friends with just about all of the girls in her class.
Also at six years old, Meilan's father started taking her to the Yin Rei markets to sell their crops and meat products once a month As well, once every six months, the whole family travels to other major cities in the Fire Nation to sell their goods. Even though she could not walk or talk, Meilan was taken with the family every time.
Meilan has attended the Yin Rei Academy for Young Girls, a private school in Yin Rei for girls ages five to fifteen, for her entire school life. She loves it there. Within the first year, mostly due to her family's loyalty to the Fire Lord, she was molded into a typical Fire Nation child, completely loyal to Fire Lord Ozai.
Her family over the course of her friendship with Jin Li had also gotten to know Jin Li's parents, so when Jin Li's father was called to war, her mother often talked to Meilan's mother about what was happening. Thus, Meilan's family knows a lot about the Fire Nation's viewpoints on the war and supports it. Even though they openly support the Fire Lord, they know that if they ever changed their opinions, they would have to at least fake their loyalty to keep their family business. Their farm is their only source of income, albeit a large one due to the variety of goods, including the tourism.
Meilan, being young, has never been out of the Fire Nation for anything, but she has gone with her father to Yin Rei and other close Fire Nation cities.
Sample RP:
Outside the Yin Rei Academy for Young Girls, the wind was blowing. Noise could be heard from the street, workers heading home after the shift, and workers headed towards their place of work for their shift. However, this all meant nothing for the small figure standing in front of the Academy.
"Here he comes. Oh, he is so going to get it. Just you wait, you creep! I'm going to use my secret weapon on you!"
As a young man of 16 years walked briskly to the Academy, he stopped short, seeing the figure. Breaking into a run, he managed to reach the young girl quickly.
"I am SO sorry, Meilan! I completely forgot that it was my turn to pick you up!" he gasped, a sorry look on his face.
Meilan stared at him for a moment. Her lower lip, which seemed to be in a permenant little pout, began to quiver. Her whole body started to shake, and tears started to drip from the corner of her eyes. The wind blew her little auburn ponytail to the side as she lowered her head, yet raised her eyes so she was still looking at the young man. Her gaze sharpened into a glare for only a second, then fell back into a look of sadness.
"Time to unleash my secret weapon!" she thought, almost smiling. Then she remembered and composed herself again.
Finally, she judged that it was time. Letting the tears flow, she threw herself into her older brother's arms.
"You forgot about me! How could you do such a thing! You are such a meanie; I'll never forgive you!"
Her brother, shocked, tried to calm her down. However, this was to no avail. Meilan continued crying, drawing the attention of people from the street. Women shook their heads in disbelief over what this young man had apparently done. Digging her face into Zan, her brother's chest, she snuck a small smile.
"That will get his attention!" she thought, envisioning the scene at home. Zan was standing in front of their mother, and she was reproaching him. In her mind's eye, she could see herself dragging her feet out of the room, still crying, and starting up the stairs. When she was halfway up, she made direct eye contant with Zan, and stuck out her tongue. Giggling at his disbelief, she continued up the stairs.
Zan's words brought her back to the present.
"Listen, Meilan, I'm really sorry. This won't happen again, okay?" he told her, breathlessly, sincerely. Meilan almost stopped to consider his words, then remembered that he teased her as well. So she continued to cry.
"Him getting in trouble... it's worth it..."
~~~
Name
Feizhi
Age
3
Species
Cow Hippo
Personality
Feizhi is very understanding for a cow hippo. She seems to know when Meilan is feeling blue, and will comfort her. However, Feizhi, being a typical cow hippo, also loves meat and will drop all of her sweetness to chow down on a chunk of cow pig meat.
Feizhi is a good friend to Meilan. She is sweet and gentle, despite never knowing her mother, who died during birth.
Appearance:
Born a runt, Feizhi is a lot smaller than other cow hippos even when her low age is taken into consideration. She is white with black spots, and her body shape resembles a hippopotamus. Her ears are floppy, and she has not yet started to grow horns. Her short. stubby legs end in hoofs. Her tail looks like a cow's, long, narrow and ending in a black tuft.
Feizhi's spots are irregular, in keeping with the look of her species. Notable spots include a completely black face, one completely black ear (her right ear), and the sole black spot on her underbelly, just behind the front legs
History
Feizhi's mother was the best breeding cow hippo on the Xiaoli farm. However, one fateful evening, she died giving birth to a single runt. Although Meilan had decided that she hated cow hippos, she was drawn in by Feizhi's look of innocence and the fact that the baby had lost it's mother. Nothing of importance has happened to Feizhi since she was 'adopted' by Meilan.