Post by Ai Fen Fàn on Aug 2, 2012 19:34:33 GMT -5
Name: Ai Fen Fàn
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Nation of Origin: United Republic
Bender? What Element?: Nonbender
Physical Appearance:
With a slight figure, short for her age at 5’2” and quite slender as a result of working to keep the most feminine shape she can, Ai Fen is hardly an imposing figure at all. She has managed to keep herself at a healthy weight for her height, and has a rather hourglass shaped figure. She eats well enough to keep a healthy metabolism and although she doesn’t have visible muscles, she is no waif. Her arms and legs are proportionately sized to her torso, and her hands are narrow with long, dainty fingers. She paints her nails a bold red, almost the colour of tomatoes, but leaves the nail tips white and takes care to keep her nails shaped to perfection.
Her face is heart-shaped, with a deep widow’s peak hair line, a broad forehead, high cheekbones, and a pointed chin. Her golden brown eyes, indicative of her Fire Nation heritage, are often wide and inquisitive, despite being narrow set and rather small. Her petite nose sits just above a deep cupid’s bow, giving way to full thulian pink lips. When Ai Fen smiles, she is graced with deep dimples on either side of her mouth. She is lucky enough to have bypassed the awkward teenage acne stage quickly, although she has a couple of acne scars on her forehead. These are most often covered with makeup when she is out and about.
Speaking of makeup, Ai Fen has adopted the most modern of makeup styles. She of course uses basic makeup to cover up her acne scars, using a shade that is a bit brighter than her natural cream skin tone (further indicative of her Fire Nation heritage), and adds a coral red blush to accent her high cheekbones. She then lines her eyes with arsenic coloured khol, paints on a dim grey shadow and adds an equally dark mascara, newly invented (she loves the new makeup look). If she is feeling adventurous one day, she adds a turquoise shadow instead of the grey. Finally, she tops it all off with a carmine red lipstick, taking care to shape her lips and emphasize her already deep cupid’s bow.
Her vivid auburn hair, passed down from her grandmother, is naturally thick and wavy, and is about as long as her shoulders. She works intently in the mornings to tame her locks, most commonly parting her hair in the centre. She then gathers her hair close to the nape of her neck and creates a chignonned bun, allowing curls to fall freely outside the bun on the sides of her head; this imitates a close bob cut. Her bangs have grown out, framing her face on either side. For an evening event, Ai Fen would create the bun to one side of her hair and add a straight, silver pin with a small cloth white lily attached to it.
Ai Fen has worked hard to develop her appearance so that she appears to be the most modern she can be. She keeps herself clean and holds herself with dignity. Above all, she takes pride in her appearance.
Clothing:
Ai Fen loves to wear the newest fashions, and loves to shop for new clothes. In fact, to go over her entire wardrobe would take pages.
Her most common outfit has a palatinate purple long sleeved silk shirt, plain with no embellishments, and a maroon skirt that fits close to her legs and cuts off below the knees. Over top of this, she wears a sleeveless, mid thigh length cheongsam-inspired tunic that closes in a crossover pattern with slits to her hips up each side, fitted so that it emphasizes her waist. The tunic, made from an expensive fabric, is a base sangria colour, and embellished with a floral pattern in varying hues of pink and red. The crossover as well as the bottom of the tunic is hemmed with a rose quartz strip of cotton. The tunic also has a high collar lined with ivory lace that allows the sangria fabric to show through. She wears ivory stockings that can be pulled up to her mid calves, and pansy purple high heeled, closed toe shoes, although she has the same pair of shoes in many fashionable colours. She also has many tunics in the same style, in varying colours and patterns. On a day where she does not feel like wearing a skirt, she also has a pair of maroon pants that fit closely all the way down her legs to her ankles, and will wear mid calf length flat black boots. The main attraction of her most common outfit is her tunic.
Evening affairs will find Ai Fen wearing a hip length ‘lampshade’ silk tunic, flowing out from her waist to her hips. These tunics are sleeveless as well, but have a low neckline lined with ivory lace. Underneath the tunic, she wears a hobble skirt that rests on her hips and flows out, gathering in again at the ankles, limiting her mobility. Again, she has several of these pieces, ranging in colour from shades of red to purple, and has even been bold enough to wear a cornflower blue silk tunic to an affair, once. With these ensembles, she wears black stockings and dainty shoes with high, slightly curved heels, mostly in neutral shades. She completes her ensemble with a wide brimmed, fashionable hat, often with a ribbon matching her tunic, and ivory silk elbow length gloves.
On a cold day, Ai Fen will bring out her fur-lined long coat, once again, in varying colours. As for jewellery, Ai Fen can commonly be seen wearing bracelets and a single drop necklace with a silver chain and a ruby set in it, a reminder of her Fire Nation heritage. She has other jewellery that she occasionally dons, and prefers silver over gold, but for the most part sticks to her drop necklace.
Equipment?:
Ai Fen was lucky enough to recently have a Satomobile bought for her. It is a standard model, and the body is painted falu pink, dark enough to be observed as brown from a distance, but recognizable as pink up close. The windows have an overlapping box pattern around the edges. Inside, Ai Fen has fully decorated the car. She has shocking pink seat covers with a messenger hawk emblem embroidered with carmine silk threads on them, clearly a gift from the family industry, along with other pink and purple accent pieces throughout. There is a box beside the driver’s seat, where Ai Fen stores touch up makeup items. She keeps a strict no food rule, making sure that absolutely no one dirties her baby, which she has named Pink Hawk, Pikky for short.
Personality:
One need not look too deeply to get a basic overview of Ai Fen. From the confident way she holds herself to her highly modern and glamorous style, Ai Fen can be perceived as comfortable in her own skin and ready to tackle whatever Republic City has to throw at her.
It isn’t clear which resulted from which, but in addition to her high maintenance appearance, Ai Fen is quite vapid and shallow. She cares deeply about her appearance, and the slightest discrepancy can and will leave her in a panic. One of her habits includes pulling out her compact and checking her appearance during quiet moments, and she tends to whine if she is broken out of this ritual to focus on something else. Her looks mean everything to her, and it is hard for her to comprehend when someone else dismisses her concerns. In fact, the word shallow is highly offensive to Ai Fen, and anyone using it in reference to her will be on the receiving end of her anger.
Most of the time, though, Ai Fen is warm, outgoing and friendly. She loves talking to other people, although most would say she loves to hear herself talk to other people. She is quite lively and enthusiastic, always with a smile on her face and a story to tell. She loves gossip, and will animatedly tell any story she has heard. Social situations don’t scare her in the least – by the contrary, Ai Fen thrives in groups and is uninhibited in her reactions. She's also a huge flirt and will take the time to flirt with guys whom she thinks are cute. Most often, she gravitates towards probenders or other athletes.
She isn’t the most sensitive to the feelings of others. In fact, she can be quite oblivious. Most of the time, she simply bounds forward without taking the time to consider how others are feeling. On the flip side, she is immensely loyal to those whom she considers her friends. She is incredibly modern with her thinking, taking easily to new inventions and products, and finding the old, traditional way of life to be boring. She prefers the excitement of her time period, which draws her into contrast with her grandmother, who loves the simple life.
Probending is Ai Fen’s life. She could not live without her probending matches, and never misses a match if she can help it. Adamantly supporting various teams that purposely oppose her bff, Sarika, for a while, she always goes all out in her support. When she is in the stands, she becomes a whole different person. She screams and cheers and curses quite loudly if someone from her team gets knocked out. It is one of the few situations in which she would break out of her ‘nice girl’ façade. Even though she is not a bender herself, probending is her source of entertainment, and a modern source at that. It’s how she gets involved with the world and expresses herself.
When it comes to politics, Ai Fen couldn’t care less. As long as probending stays legal, she is fine. She has heard the Equalist propaganda, and sees some sense in it all, but can’t see much reason to overthrow a system that has given her the ability to have fun and live life the way she wants to.
As for her family, Ai Fen loves them, she truly does. She is highly grateful for the family company, considering it means that she is gifted with a lot of money to get whatever she wants. However, she finds many of her relatives old fashioned and traditional, which doesn’t fit her image of the world. She prefers the modern times. There are times when her grandmother tells stories of the old days on the small farm in the Fire Nation, but Ai Fen wants nothing of it. She was born in Republic City, and that’s where she feels comfortable. Besides, she heard about the Fire Nation in school, and it didn’t sound like a place she would enjoy living in.
Speaking of school, while Ai Fen is eager to hang out with her friends and flirt with all of the boys, she isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, and her classes often left her flustered. She made it through, though, and is grateful for the extra knowledge. Uncharacteristically, and therefore secretly, she is a fan of reading, particularly romance novels, and secretly dreams of a prince who will come and sweep her off her feet.
All in all, Ai Fen is a highly social young lady with a passion for all things modern. While she is shallow and almost unbearable upon meeting her, once one gets to know her, one finds an immensely loyal friend who will always be there to cheer you up with one of her stories.
Background:
Ai Fen’s story begins in on the streets of Yin Rei, several years after the end of the war. Meilan Xiaoli, now a young woman with a steadily growing family business behind her, met Liqin Fàn on a trip to the town. The two bonded over a shared love of cow hippos, and Meilan learned that Liqin, although he had lived in town, was pining for a life on the farm. The two grew close, and eventually Liqin asked Meilan to marry him. The couple was blessed with two sons, Xhiqiang and XunBao before Meilan was approached by her entrepreneur of a brother, Fu Chang. Fu Chang had been passed down the family farm, and was slowly turning it into a corporation. He was looking to expand the business, and asked Meilan to act as an ambassador for the Xiaoli Produce Corporation in the United Republic. Meilan and Liqin agreed, being invested in the family business, and moved to a small estate just outside of Republic City where Meilan quickly became a shrewd businesswoman while also giving birth to a daughter and a final son.
Here, the story turns to Meilan’s eldest son, Xhiqiang. Xhiqiang was raised as the heir to his mother’s position in the family business, and was fully absorbed with his family’s growing wealth. He grew up to be a businessman. As the family business grew, with Meilan’s brother Zan having moved to the Earth Kingdom to do what Meilan had done in the United Republic, Xhiqiang began to realize exactly what being the eldest son of Meilan Fàn meant, and began searching for a wife. He found one in the form of a young socialite with Fire Nation origins, born in Republic City, a certain Jiayi Feng. The two wedded after a year of proper courtship, although it was nowhere near as tender as his brother, XunBao. It was an unspoken agreement that Jiayi really liked Xhiqiang for his money, and that Xhiqiang was looking for a son to carry on the family business.
The couple was graced with their first child, a daughter by the name of Fu Chun, a year after their wedding. Two years later came the second child, yet another daughter Jiayi named An Huan. By this point, Jiayi was content with her two daughters, but Xhiqiang expressed interest in trying for one more child in the hopes of having a son. Jiayi relented, and two years after An Huan, a third child was born into the wealthy family. Xhiqiang was disheartened by the fact that the child, named Ai Fen was yet another daughter, but drew solace in the fact that his brother had a son to carry on the Fàn name, his nephew, Shen Fàn.
Ai Fen was raised to be spoiled, and in fact, many compared her temperament in her early years to her grandmother, who had also wanted attention more than anything else in the world. As an heiress to the Xiaoli Produce Corporation, Ai Fen was given whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it, and it had better have been top quality, too. It was not uncommon in her infant years for Ai Fen to scream at the top of her lungs until she received exactly what she wanted. It was made even harder for her family to determine what she wanted because she had not yet mastered the power of speech. But she always got it in the end. As a result of this early pampering, as Ai Fen moved on into her toddler years, she grew even more spoiled. Being the baby of the family, it was easy for Ai Fen to garner attention and praise. She never did anything wrong, in her parents’ eyes. She was their princess, the apple in her father’s eye, the precious gem for her mother. This was not to say that Fu Chun and An Huan were not spoiled; they received everything they wanted also. It was simply that Ai Fen, being the youngest, was also the most fragile in her parents’ mind, and thus needed the most attention.
From the moment Ai Fen could talk in complete sentences and walk without stumbling, she was thrown into etiquette school, learning exactly what it meant to be a young lady. In addition to learning etiquette, she also attended lessons in history, literature, and basic arithmetic. History was an interesting subject for her, since she had heard so many stories about the Fire Nation from her grandmother, and what the teachers were teaching her was different. The fact that took her the most by surprise was that Fire Lord Ozai had been a tyrant. Her grandmother, having lived on a farm quite removed from the repercussions of the war, had admired Ozai, or rather, had been conditioned to admire him. It was hard for Meilan to accept the different point of view. Ai Fen took well to the social aspect of her lessons at school, making friends quickly and easily. However, the academic aspect escaped her. She wasn’t the brightest bulb, and most of what she was supposed to be learning escaped her for the longest time. Her schooling continued well into her teenage years.
Ai Fen had been raised by a family of nonbenders. In fact, her cousin Shen was one of the only benders in Meilan’s branch of the Xiaoli family, although there were extensions in other branches where bending had been introduced. Ai Fen never had a problem with being a nonbender, despite seeing other children showing off firebending, earthbending and waterbending. She was content with who she was, and didn’t worry about not fitting in. Besides, she had money. She could buy whatever she wanted.
When she wasn’t in classes, Ai Fen loved to spend her time being social, a characteristic she inherited from her mother. She quickly got to know other children. Despite not being athletic, Ai Fen was an avid spectator of sports, cheering on her picks with exuberance. She soon became quite competitive on the sidelines, and gained a reputation for being a poor loser when her pick lost. When she wasn’t with her friends or at school, she would be taking additional lessons at home in the history of the Xiaoli Produce Corporation or attending high class functions with her family. One of her favourite hobbies was fashion. Jiayi was perceived by Ai Fen as being on the cutting edge of fashion, and all three of the Fàn daughters were highly interested in looking their best. Ai Fen proved to be the most interested, however, and would carefully observe what distinguished ladies in Republic City were wearing and request the same sorts of clothing for herself.
Her least favourite pastime as a child was when she visited her grandmother. Soon before Ai Fen was born, Meilan was in an accident and lost the use of her legs, leaving her in a wheelchair. Therefore, Ai Fen only ever perceived her as an old lady with limited mobility, and not as the vibrant lady Meilan had been before her accident. Without the ability to go wherever she wanted, Meilan had settled for passing the time with stories of her youth. Whenever Ai Fen visited Meilan, she would be forced to sit on a couch with her older sisters and simply listen to her grandmother tell stories. Over time, Ai Fen found she enjoyed picking out when Meilan made a mistake in her stories instead of tuning her out. Other ways she endured Boring Story Time was by silently critiquing the clothing worn by everyone in the room, counting steadily until it was time to leave, or daydreaming. Daydreaming was easily her favourite of the options, and as she grew older, that translated into her love of reading romance stories.
Heading into her teen years, Ai Fen began to take an active role in making her appearance the best it could be. She discovered makeup and began wearing it on a daily basis as well as being far pickier about the clothes she wore. It would seem that Ai Fen was destined to be a socialite forever, as she showed no interest in anything but fashion and outward appearances. In fact, she proved to be quite shallow. This was until the one moment that changed everything for her.
It all happened one night, when Ai Fen was 16 years of age. She was lounging in her room, playing with the radio, switching it between different stations. She had heard about probending, but had never really been exposed to it beyond hearsay. But when she tuned into the channel where Shiro Shinobi was broadcasting the latest probending match, Ai Fen was enraptured by the excitement of it all. It all seemed so amazing to her! The next morning, she broke the calmness of the morning meal by announcing that she wanted tickets to the next probending match. Of course, Xhiqiang made it happen, and Ai Fen soon found herself sitting in the stands, watching as an earthbender, a waterbender, and a firebender took on an equal team in the most exciting sport she had ever witnessed. It was fascinating to her. After the match, she decided then and there that even though she couldn’t bend anything herself, probending was the most amazing thing in the world. Watching it gave her a thrill nothing else in her life had ever done before. She attended the next several games, slowly learning the rules and picking out teams who she felt were the ones to support. By the time that year’s tournament came along, she had her picks and she supported them with fervour. No one got in the way of her team winning!
Over the next couple of years, Ai Fen continued to grow into the young woman that everyone who knew her expected her to be. Coming up on her fifteenth birthday, Meilan passed full management of the Uniter Republic branch of the XPC to Xhiqiang. This meant that Ai Fen was cemented as the heiress, and received even more money and whatever she wanted. The family was also permitted to move into the Fàn manor, just outside of Republic City, where Xhiqiang had grown up. Up until this point, they had been living in an upscale home in the city. Meilan and Liqin moved to an apartment within the city, and Ai Fen’s family moved into the manor. Ai Fen was ecstatic to finally have the manor, and made a point of inviting all of her friends out to see her new home.
On her eighteenth birthday, her father took her out to the garage and unveiled a brand new Satomobile solely for her. She practically flew into the moon over her newfound freedom. She could now drive herself to her probending matches or, in fact, anywhere she wanted! The only problem was that it was a generic model in boring colours that didn’t appeal to the young woman. However, she accepted it gracefully and soon was driving down the streets of Republic City, picking up her friends and taking them places. She was lax about the rules of the car, since it wasn’t the most beautiful thing in the world.
The next couple of years passed without incident. Then, the next event that changed her life occurred. Standing in the crowds at a probending match between the Kolau Komodo Rhinos (Ai Fen’s current team) and the Harbor Town Hog Monkeys, Ai Fen suddenly noticed that a young lady just down the row from her was passionately cheering on the Hog Monkeys. Ai Fen doubled her cheers, trying to out-cheer the girl. The other girl obviously took notice of Ai Fen, since the two engaged in a silent agreement to cheer as loudly as they could in order to drown the other out. When the match was over and the Komodo Rhinos won, much to Ai Fen’s pleasure, the two girls walked out of the arena, Ai Fen gloating and the other girl complaining. Once they reached Ai Fen’s car, she very kindly offered to drive the girl, who had introduced herself as Sarika, home. Sarika accepted, and they climbed into the car only to start fighting again. Little did Ai Fen know that she had met her BFF that day.
The two girls became fast friends, although probending matches remained a point of contention for them. They supported opposite teams, so they were bitter rivals in the arena. However, outside the arena, they spent quite a lot of time together, eating out, walking around the city (with Ai Fen’s car acting as a ‘getaway’ vehicle whenever Sarika got them into trouble), going to Ai Fen’s upscale parties, and going to Sarika’s street parties. The two were close, and it showed.
About midway between her twenty first and twenty second birthdays, Ai Fen decided that her car was too generic. Much to Sarika’s dismay, she simply gave the car to one of her cousins (not Shen, sadly) and began to search for a new car. When none she could find fit what she wanted, she went to daddy dearest, who went to Hiroshi Sato, and ordered a custom made Satomobile for his precious youngest daughter. Soon, for her twenty second birthday, Ai Fen was gifted with a Satomobile with a pink exterior, and a custom interior fit for her girly delights. Ai Fen fell in love with the car, calling it the Pink Hawk at first. However, shortly after she received the car, she found that Pink Hawk was too long, and nicknamed it Pikky. Pikky stuck, and became the new ‘getaway’ vehicle for Sarika’s escapades. However, Pikky also came with strict rules. Ai Fen was adamant about them. Only she drove the car. No food was allowed in the car. And everyone must be careful around the car. Anyone who didn’t abide by the rules was not permitted to ride in the car.
Now, just months after she turned twenty two, Ai Fen is truly a young lady of high class and a shallow mind. She is obsessed with her appearance and probending, and not much else. However, cruising high through life, she knows one thing for certain. Shotgun’s always reserved for her BFF. She isn’t concerned with finding a job, since she is given money almost every day, and tends to hang out in places where she’ll get noticed by boys, preferable probending boys. However, she can’t help but notice the Equalist protestors around Republic City. Even though she pretends to find them appalling, especially when she is with Sarika, secretly, she sees their point. Benders do have all of the power in Republic City, and where does that leave nonbenders like herself? She sometimes finds herself wondering if she would benefit from allying with the protestors…
Sample RP:
The radio was on, broadcasting a recap of the latest probending match. She had been there, of course, but she enjoyed listening to it, regardless. She pulled out her compact, a recent invention and one that she, of course, loved, and checked her hair and makeup. She looked great, as usual. But wait. Was that… a hair? Out of place? Ai Fen gasped loudly, bringing her free hand up to her hairline. She used her fingers to pull the offending piece of hair into place as quickly as possible, her experienced fingers working efficiently. She had become a master of her appearance, knowing exactly what to do to make herself look the best she could.
Once the hair mishap was dealt with, Ai Fen resumed her former activity, which was sitting in her best friend’s workplace, Narook’s Seaweed Noodlery. Sarika was worked at the moment, and Ai Fen was content to sit and wait for her to finish her shift. Besides, there were a lot of cute boys in the Noodlery at the moment. Taking a piece of her bangs and twisting it around her finger, she smiled at the nearest young man. He was quite attractive. But he also was slurping his noodles so quickly and disgustingly, so she turned her attention away. That wasn’t the type of man she wanted. She wanted a dreamy, cute, muscular, well mannered probender with a good personality. How many of those lived in Republic City? She wasn’t quite sure. But she was sure that she would one day find what she was looking for.
Checking her mirror again, Ai Fen was content to see that she still looked great; not a hair was out of place. She smoothed down her tunic, revelling in the feel of the material. She had tried a new fabric today, and it was sooooo comfortable! Leaning back in her chair, she breathed in deeply and took in the smell of all the noodles while Shiro Shinobi’s voice acted as ambient noise in the establishment. Suddenly, she bolted up straight. The delicious smell of noodles had reminded her…
“HEY! Where’s my noodles? I ordered like, hours ago!” she cried out, exaggerating as per usual. She wasn’t angry, just hoping to capture the attention of that hot guy in the corner. Hopefully Sarika would understand when she explained. Later. Much later.
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Name: Meilan Xiaoli (78 years old)
Physical Appearance:
Meilan has long since lost her auburn hair in her old days, giving way to coarse grey locks that fall in loose curls all over her head. She doesn’t take much effort to keep it styled, simply letting it hang, but will keep it as clean and detangled as she can. Her once clear, dark amber eyes are clouded with cataracts, and her cream skin is covered in deep wrinkles, displaying her age. Never tall for her age, Meilan completed her youth growth spurt at 5’3” and due to arthritis, huddles over, reducing her height by about three inches. Due to an accident in her fifties, Meilan is bound to a wheelchair, and chose a simple design with maroon cushions.
As for clothing, Meilan often wears a simple, pullover cotton robe in the colour carmine red, clinging to her Fire Nation heritage. It has a modest neckline lined with cream lace, and long sleeves that cover her constantly shaking arms. It also hangs straight down to her ankles. On the front is embroidered a messenger hawk in carmine threads. On her feet, she wears sangria silk slippers. Occasionally, she will add a dark magenta woolen shawl over her robe.
Personality:
Meilan has mellowed out quite a bit in her elder days. Gone are the days when she would purposely manipulate people just to get what she wanted. A lifetime of living a simple life has left the elderly woman with a deep belief in the power of simplicity. She is not terribly fond of the city, believing that it is too loud and busy, and longs deeply to return to the country where she grew up. For the most part, Meilan is a kindly lady who loves to tell stories of her youth to her grandchildren, much to Ai Fen’s dismay.
Meilan can be unbearable at times, especially when she insists on someone pushing her wheelchair across the city instead of taking her in a car, but it really is all due to her belief in tradition and the power of remembering one’s past. She doesn’t live in the present or future, but rather tends to forget the time and think she’s back on the farm in her youth.
Despite being a nonbender herself, Meilan is highly spiritual, and when she isn’t telling stories about the farm, she often will talk about spirituality. She is incredibly slow to anger, preferring to settle disputes quietly and calmly.
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Nation of Origin: United Republic
Bender? What Element?: Nonbender
Physical Appearance:
With a slight figure, short for her age at 5’2” and quite slender as a result of working to keep the most feminine shape she can, Ai Fen is hardly an imposing figure at all. She has managed to keep herself at a healthy weight for her height, and has a rather hourglass shaped figure. She eats well enough to keep a healthy metabolism and although she doesn’t have visible muscles, she is no waif. Her arms and legs are proportionately sized to her torso, and her hands are narrow with long, dainty fingers. She paints her nails a bold red, almost the colour of tomatoes, but leaves the nail tips white and takes care to keep her nails shaped to perfection.
Her face is heart-shaped, with a deep widow’s peak hair line, a broad forehead, high cheekbones, and a pointed chin. Her golden brown eyes, indicative of her Fire Nation heritage, are often wide and inquisitive, despite being narrow set and rather small. Her petite nose sits just above a deep cupid’s bow, giving way to full thulian pink lips. When Ai Fen smiles, she is graced with deep dimples on either side of her mouth. She is lucky enough to have bypassed the awkward teenage acne stage quickly, although she has a couple of acne scars on her forehead. These are most often covered with makeup when she is out and about.
Speaking of makeup, Ai Fen has adopted the most modern of makeup styles. She of course uses basic makeup to cover up her acne scars, using a shade that is a bit brighter than her natural cream skin tone (further indicative of her Fire Nation heritage), and adds a coral red blush to accent her high cheekbones. She then lines her eyes with arsenic coloured khol, paints on a dim grey shadow and adds an equally dark mascara, newly invented (she loves the new makeup look). If she is feeling adventurous one day, she adds a turquoise shadow instead of the grey. Finally, she tops it all off with a carmine red lipstick, taking care to shape her lips and emphasize her already deep cupid’s bow.
Her vivid auburn hair, passed down from her grandmother, is naturally thick and wavy, and is about as long as her shoulders. She works intently in the mornings to tame her locks, most commonly parting her hair in the centre. She then gathers her hair close to the nape of her neck and creates a chignonned bun, allowing curls to fall freely outside the bun on the sides of her head; this imitates a close bob cut. Her bangs have grown out, framing her face on either side. For an evening event, Ai Fen would create the bun to one side of her hair and add a straight, silver pin with a small cloth white lily attached to it.
Ai Fen has worked hard to develop her appearance so that she appears to be the most modern she can be. She keeps herself clean and holds herself with dignity. Above all, she takes pride in her appearance.
Clothing:
Ai Fen loves to wear the newest fashions, and loves to shop for new clothes. In fact, to go over her entire wardrobe would take pages.
Her most common outfit has a palatinate purple long sleeved silk shirt, plain with no embellishments, and a maroon skirt that fits close to her legs and cuts off below the knees. Over top of this, she wears a sleeveless, mid thigh length cheongsam-inspired tunic that closes in a crossover pattern with slits to her hips up each side, fitted so that it emphasizes her waist. The tunic, made from an expensive fabric, is a base sangria colour, and embellished with a floral pattern in varying hues of pink and red. The crossover as well as the bottom of the tunic is hemmed with a rose quartz strip of cotton. The tunic also has a high collar lined with ivory lace that allows the sangria fabric to show through. She wears ivory stockings that can be pulled up to her mid calves, and pansy purple high heeled, closed toe shoes, although she has the same pair of shoes in many fashionable colours. She also has many tunics in the same style, in varying colours and patterns. On a day where she does not feel like wearing a skirt, she also has a pair of maroon pants that fit closely all the way down her legs to her ankles, and will wear mid calf length flat black boots. The main attraction of her most common outfit is her tunic.
Evening affairs will find Ai Fen wearing a hip length ‘lampshade’ silk tunic, flowing out from her waist to her hips. These tunics are sleeveless as well, but have a low neckline lined with ivory lace. Underneath the tunic, she wears a hobble skirt that rests on her hips and flows out, gathering in again at the ankles, limiting her mobility. Again, she has several of these pieces, ranging in colour from shades of red to purple, and has even been bold enough to wear a cornflower blue silk tunic to an affair, once. With these ensembles, she wears black stockings and dainty shoes with high, slightly curved heels, mostly in neutral shades. She completes her ensemble with a wide brimmed, fashionable hat, often with a ribbon matching her tunic, and ivory silk elbow length gloves.
On a cold day, Ai Fen will bring out her fur-lined long coat, once again, in varying colours. As for jewellery, Ai Fen can commonly be seen wearing bracelets and a single drop necklace with a silver chain and a ruby set in it, a reminder of her Fire Nation heritage. She has other jewellery that she occasionally dons, and prefers silver over gold, but for the most part sticks to her drop necklace.
Equipment?:
Ai Fen was lucky enough to recently have a Satomobile bought for her. It is a standard model, and the body is painted falu pink, dark enough to be observed as brown from a distance, but recognizable as pink up close. The windows have an overlapping box pattern around the edges. Inside, Ai Fen has fully decorated the car. She has shocking pink seat covers with a messenger hawk emblem embroidered with carmine silk threads on them, clearly a gift from the family industry, along with other pink and purple accent pieces throughout. There is a box beside the driver’s seat, where Ai Fen stores touch up makeup items. She keeps a strict no food rule, making sure that absolutely no one dirties her baby, which she has named Pink Hawk, Pikky for short.
Personality:
One need not look too deeply to get a basic overview of Ai Fen. From the confident way she holds herself to her highly modern and glamorous style, Ai Fen can be perceived as comfortable in her own skin and ready to tackle whatever Republic City has to throw at her.
It isn’t clear which resulted from which, but in addition to her high maintenance appearance, Ai Fen is quite vapid and shallow. She cares deeply about her appearance, and the slightest discrepancy can and will leave her in a panic. One of her habits includes pulling out her compact and checking her appearance during quiet moments, and she tends to whine if she is broken out of this ritual to focus on something else. Her looks mean everything to her, and it is hard for her to comprehend when someone else dismisses her concerns. In fact, the word shallow is highly offensive to Ai Fen, and anyone using it in reference to her will be on the receiving end of her anger.
Most of the time, though, Ai Fen is warm, outgoing and friendly. She loves talking to other people, although most would say she loves to hear herself talk to other people. She is quite lively and enthusiastic, always with a smile on her face and a story to tell. She loves gossip, and will animatedly tell any story she has heard. Social situations don’t scare her in the least – by the contrary, Ai Fen thrives in groups and is uninhibited in her reactions. She's also a huge flirt and will take the time to flirt with guys whom she thinks are cute. Most often, she gravitates towards probenders or other athletes.
She isn’t the most sensitive to the feelings of others. In fact, she can be quite oblivious. Most of the time, she simply bounds forward without taking the time to consider how others are feeling. On the flip side, she is immensely loyal to those whom she considers her friends. She is incredibly modern with her thinking, taking easily to new inventions and products, and finding the old, traditional way of life to be boring. She prefers the excitement of her time period, which draws her into contrast with her grandmother, who loves the simple life.
Probending is Ai Fen’s life. She could not live without her probending matches, and never misses a match if she can help it. Adamantly supporting various teams that purposely oppose her bff, Sarika, for a while, she always goes all out in her support. When she is in the stands, she becomes a whole different person. She screams and cheers and curses quite loudly if someone from her team gets knocked out. It is one of the few situations in which she would break out of her ‘nice girl’ façade. Even though she is not a bender herself, probending is her source of entertainment, and a modern source at that. It’s how she gets involved with the world and expresses herself.
When it comes to politics, Ai Fen couldn’t care less. As long as probending stays legal, she is fine. She has heard the Equalist propaganda, and sees some sense in it all, but can’t see much reason to overthrow a system that has given her the ability to have fun and live life the way she wants to.
As for her family, Ai Fen loves them, she truly does. She is highly grateful for the family company, considering it means that she is gifted with a lot of money to get whatever she wants. However, she finds many of her relatives old fashioned and traditional, which doesn’t fit her image of the world. She prefers the modern times. There are times when her grandmother tells stories of the old days on the small farm in the Fire Nation, but Ai Fen wants nothing of it. She was born in Republic City, and that’s where she feels comfortable. Besides, she heard about the Fire Nation in school, and it didn’t sound like a place she would enjoy living in.
Speaking of school, while Ai Fen is eager to hang out with her friends and flirt with all of the boys, she isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, and her classes often left her flustered. She made it through, though, and is grateful for the extra knowledge. Uncharacteristically, and therefore secretly, she is a fan of reading, particularly romance novels, and secretly dreams of a prince who will come and sweep her off her feet.
All in all, Ai Fen is a highly social young lady with a passion for all things modern. While she is shallow and almost unbearable upon meeting her, once one gets to know her, one finds an immensely loyal friend who will always be there to cheer you up with one of her stories.
Background:
Ai Fen’s story begins in on the streets of Yin Rei, several years after the end of the war. Meilan Xiaoli, now a young woman with a steadily growing family business behind her, met Liqin Fàn on a trip to the town. The two bonded over a shared love of cow hippos, and Meilan learned that Liqin, although he had lived in town, was pining for a life on the farm. The two grew close, and eventually Liqin asked Meilan to marry him. The couple was blessed with two sons, Xhiqiang and XunBao before Meilan was approached by her entrepreneur of a brother, Fu Chang. Fu Chang had been passed down the family farm, and was slowly turning it into a corporation. He was looking to expand the business, and asked Meilan to act as an ambassador for the Xiaoli Produce Corporation in the United Republic. Meilan and Liqin agreed, being invested in the family business, and moved to a small estate just outside of Republic City where Meilan quickly became a shrewd businesswoman while also giving birth to a daughter and a final son.
Here, the story turns to Meilan’s eldest son, Xhiqiang. Xhiqiang was raised as the heir to his mother’s position in the family business, and was fully absorbed with his family’s growing wealth. He grew up to be a businessman. As the family business grew, with Meilan’s brother Zan having moved to the Earth Kingdom to do what Meilan had done in the United Republic, Xhiqiang began to realize exactly what being the eldest son of Meilan Fàn meant, and began searching for a wife. He found one in the form of a young socialite with Fire Nation origins, born in Republic City, a certain Jiayi Feng. The two wedded after a year of proper courtship, although it was nowhere near as tender as his brother, XunBao. It was an unspoken agreement that Jiayi really liked Xhiqiang for his money, and that Xhiqiang was looking for a son to carry on the family business.
The couple was graced with their first child, a daughter by the name of Fu Chun, a year after their wedding. Two years later came the second child, yet another daughter Jiayi named An Huan. By this point, Jiayi was content with her two daughters, but Xhiqiang expressed interest in trying for one more child in the hopes of having a son. Jiayi relented, and two years after An Huan, a third child was born into the wealthy family. Xhiqiang was disheartened by the fact that the child, named Ai Fen was yet another daughter, but drew solace in the fact that his brother had a son to carry on the Fàn name, his nephew, Shen Fàn.
Ai Fen was raised to be spoiled, and in fact, many compared her temperament in her early years to her grandmother, who had also wanted attention more than anything else in the world. As an heiress to the Xiaoli Produce Corporation, Ai Fen was given whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it, and it had better have been top quality, too. It was not uncommon in her infant years for Ai Fen to scream at the top of her lungs until she received exactly what she wanted. It was made even harder for her family to determine what she wanted because she had not yet mastered the power of speech. But she always got it in the end. As a result of this early pampering, as Ai Fen moved on into her toddler years, she grew even more spoiled. Being the baby of the family, it was easy for Ai Fen to garner attention and praise. She never did anything wrong, in her parents’ eyes. She was their princess, the apple in her father’s eye, the precious gem for her mother. This was not to say that Fu Chun and An Huan were not spoiled; they received everything they wanted also. It was simply that Ai Fen, being the youngest, was also the most fragile in her parents’ mind, and thus needed the most attention.
From the moment Ai Fen could talk in complete sentences and walk without stumbling, she was thrown into etiquette school, learning exactly what it meant to be a young lady. In addition to learning etiquette, she also attended lessons in history, literature, and basic arithmetic. History was an interesting subject for her, since she had heard so many stories about the Fire Nation from her grandmother, and what the teachers were teaching her was different. The fact that took her the most by surprise was that Fire Lord Ozai had been a tyrant. Her grandmother, having lived on a farm quite removed from the repercussions of the war, had admired Ozai, or rather, had been conditioned to admire him. It was hard for Meilan to accept the different point of view. Ai Fen took well to the social aspect of her lessons at school, making friends quickly and easily. However, the academic aspect escaped her. She wasn’t the brightest bulb, and most of what she was supposed to be learning escaped her for the longest time. Her schooling continued well into her teenage years.
Ai Fen had been raised by a family of nonbenders. In fact, her cousin Shen was one of the only benders in Meilan’s branch of the Xiaoli family, although there were extensions in other branches where bending had been introduced. Ai Fen never had a problem with being a nonbender, despite seeing other children showing off firebending, earthbending and waterbending. She was content with who she was, and didn’t worry about not fitting in. Besides, she had money. She could buy whatever she wanted.
When she wasn’t in classes, Ai Fen loved to spend her time being social, a characteristic she inherited from her mother. She quickly got to know other children. Despite not being athletic, Ai Fen was an avid spectator of sports, cheering on her picks with exuberance. She soon became quite competitive on the sidelines, and gained a reputation for being a poor loser when her pick lost. When she wasn’t with her friends or at school, she would be taking additional lessons at home in the history of the Xiaoli Produce Corporation or attending high class functions with her family. One of her favourite hobbies was fashion. Jiayi was perceived by Ai Fen as being on the cutting edge of fashion, and all three of the Fàn daughters were highly interested in looking their best. Ai Fen proved to be the most interested, however, and would carefully observe what distinguished ladies in Republic City were wearing and request the same sorts of clothing for herself.
Her least favourite pastime as a child was when she visited her grandmother. Soon before Ai Fen was born, Meilan was in an accident and lost the use of her legs, leaving her in a wheelchair. Therefore, Ai Fen only ever perceived her as an old lady with limited mobility, and not as the vibrant lady Meilan had been before her accident. Without the ability to go wherever she wanted, Meilan had settled for passing the time with stories of her youth. Whenever Ai Fen visited Meilan, she would be forced to sit on a couch with her older sisters and simply listen to her grandmother tell stories. Over time, Ai Fen found she enjoyed picking out when Meilan made a mistake in her stories instead of tuning her out. Other ways she endured Boring Story Time was by silently critiquing the clothing worn by everyone in the room, counting steadily until it was time to leave, or daydreaming. Daydreaming was easily her favourite of the options, and as she grew older, that translated into her love of reading romance stories.
Heading into her teen years, Ai Fen began to take an active role in making her appearance the best it could be. She discovered makeup and began wearing it on a daily basis as well as being far pickier about the clothes she wore. It would seem that Ai Fen was destined to be a socialite forever, as she showed no interest in anything but fashion and outward appearances. In fact, she proved to be quite shallow. This was until the one moment that changed everything for her.
It all happened one night, when Ai Fen was 16 years of age. She was lounging in her room, playing with the radio, switching it between different stations. She had heard about probending, but had never really been exposed to it beyond hearsay. But when she tuned into the channel where Shiro Shinobi was broadcasting the latest probending match, Ai Fen was enraptured by the excitement of it all. It all seemed so amazing to her! The next morning, she broke the calmness of the morning meal by announcing that she wanted tickets to the next probending match. Of course, Xhiqiang made it happen, and Ai Fen soon found herself sitting in the stands, watching as an earthbender, a waterbender, and a firebender took on an equal team in the most exciting sport she had ever witnessed. It was fascinating to her. After the match, she decided then and there that even though she couldn’t bend anything herself, probending was the most amazing thing in the world. Watching it gave her a thrill nothing else in her life had ever done before. She attended the next several games, slowly learning the rules and picking out teams who she felt were the ones to support. By the time that year’s tournament came along, she had her picks and she supported them with fervour. No one got in the way of her team winning!
Over the next couple of years, Ai Fen continued to grow into the young woman that everyone who knew her expected her to be. Coming up on her fifteenth birthday, Meilan passed full management of the Uniter Republic branch of the XPC to Xhiqiang. This meant that Ai Fen was cemented as the heiress, and received even more money and whatever she wanted. The family was also permitted to move into the Fàn manor, just outside of Republic City, where Xhiqiang had grown up. Up until this point, they had been living in an upscale home in the city. Meilan and Liqin moved to an apartment within the city, and Ai Fen’s family moved into the manor. Ai Fen was ecstatic to finally have the manor, and made a point of inviting all of her friends out to see her new home.
On her eighteenth birthday, her father took her out to the garage and unveiled a brand new Satomobile solely for her. She practically flew into the moon over her newfound freedom. She could now drive herself to her probending matches or, in fact, anywhere she wanted! The only problem was that it was a generic model in boring colours that didn’t appeal to the young woman. However, she accepted it gracefully and soon was driving down the streets of Republic City, picking up her friends and taking them places. She was lax about the rules of the car, since it wasn’t the most beautiful thing in the world.
The next couple of years passed without incident. Then, the next event that changed her life occurred. Standing in the crowds at a probending match between the Kolau Komodo Rhinos (Ai Fen’s current team) and the Harbor Town Hog Monkeys, Ai Fen suddenly noticed that a young lady just down the row from her was passionately cheering on the Hog Monkeys. Ai Fen doubled her cheers, trying to out-cheer the girl. The other girl obviously took notice of Ai Fen, since the two engaged in a silent agreement to cheer as loudly as they could in order to drown the other out. When the match was over and the Komodo Rhinos won, much to Ai Fen’s pleasure, the two girls walked out of the arena, Ai Fen gloating and the other girl complaining. Once they reached Ai Fen’s car, she very kindly offered to drive the girl, who had introduced herself as Sarika, home. Sarika accepted, and they climbed into the car only to start fighting again. Little did Ai Fen know that she had met her BFF that day.
The two girls became fast friends, although probending matches remained a point of contention for them. They supported opposite teams, so they were bitter rivals in the arena. However, outside the arena, they spent quite a lot of time together, eating out, walking around the city (with Ai Fen’s car acting as a ‘getaway’ vehicle whenever Sarika got them into trouble), going to Ai Fen’s upscale parties, and going to Sarika’s street parties. The two were close, and it showed.
About midway between her twenty first and twenty second birthdays, Ai Fen decided that her car was too generic. Much to Sarika’s dismay, she simply gave the car to one of her cousins (not Shen, sadly) and began to search for a new car. When none she could find fit what she wanted, she went to daddy dearest, who went to Hiroshi Sato, and ordered a custom made Satomobile for his precious youngest daughter. Soon, for her twenty second birthday, Ai Fen was gifted with a Satomobile with a pink exterior, and a custom interior fit for her girly delights. Ai Fen fell in love with the car, calling it the Pink Hawk at first. However, shortly after she received the car, she found that Pink Hawk was too long, and nicknamed it Pikky. Pikky stuck, and became the new ‘getaway’ vehicle for Sarika’s escapades. However, Pikky also came with strict rules. Ai Fen was adamant about them. Only she drove the car. No food was allowed in the car. And everyone must be careful around the car. Anyone who didn’t abide by the rules was not permitted to ride in the car.
Now, just months after she turned twenty two, Ai Fen is truly a young lady of high class and a shallow mind. She is obsessed with her appearance and probending, and not much else. However, cruising high through life, she knows one thing for certain. Shotgun’s always reserved for her BFF. She isn’t concerned with finding a job, since she is given money almost every day, and tends to hang out in places where she’ll get noticed by boys, preferable probending boys. However, she can’t help but notice the Equalist protestors around Republic City. Even though she pretends to find them appalling, especially when she is with Sarika, secretly, she sees their point. Benders do have all of the power in Republic City, and where does that leave nonbenders like herself? She sometimes finds herself wondering if she would benefit from allying with the protestors…
Sample RP:
The radio was on, broadcasting a recap of the latest probending match. She had been there, of course, but she enjoyed listening to it, regardless. She pulled out her compact, a recent invention and one that she, of course, loved, and checked her hair and makeup. She looked great, as usual. But wait. Was that… a hair? Out of place? Ai Fen gasped loudly, bringing her free hand up to her hairline. She used her fingers to pull the offending piece of hair into place as quickly as possible, her experienced fingers working efficiently. She had become a master of her appearance, knowing exactly what to do to make herself look the best she could.
Once the hair mishap was dealt with, Ai Fen resumed her former activity, which was sitting in her best friend’s workplace, Narook’s Seaweed Noodlery. Sarika was worked at the moment, and Ai Fen was content to sit and wait for her to finish her shift. Besides, there were a lot of cute boys in the Noodlery at the moment. Taking a piece of her bangs and twisting it around her finger, she smiled at the nearest young man. He was quite attractive. But he also was slurping his noodles so quickly and disgustingly, so she turned her attention away. That wasn’t the type of man she wanted. She wanted a dreamy, cute, muscular, well mannered probender with a good personality. How many of those lived in Republic City? She wasn’t quite sure. But she was sure that she would one day find what she was looking for.
Checking her mirror again, Ai Fen was content to see that she still looked great; not a hair was out of place. She smoothed down her tunic, revelling in the feel of the material. She had tried a new fabric today, and it was sooooo comfortable! Leaning back in her chair, she breathed in deeply and took in the smell of all the noodles while Shiro Shinobi’s voice acted as ambient noise in the establishment. Suddenly, she bolted up straight. The delicious smell of noodles had reminded her…
“HEY! Where’s my noodles? I ordered like, hours ago!” she cried out, exaggerating as per usual. She wasn’t angry, just hoping to capture the attention of that hot guy in the corner. Hopefully Sarika would understand when she explained. Later. Much later.
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Name: Meilan Xiaoli (78 years old)
Physical Appearance:
Meilan has long since lost her auburn hair in her old days, giving way to coarse grey locks that fall in loose curls all over her head. She doesn’t take much effort to keep it styled, simply letting it hang, but will keep it as clean and detangled as she can. Her once clear, dark amber eyes are clouded with cataracts, and her cream skin is covered in deep wrinkles, displaying her age. Never tall for her age, Meilan completed her youth growth spurt at 5’3” and due to arthritis, huddles over, reducing her height by about three inches. Due to an accident in her fifties, Meilan is bound to a wheelchair, and chose a simple design with maroon cushions.
As for clothing, Meilan often wears a simple, pullover cotton robe in the colour carmine red, clinging to her Fire Nation heritage. It has a modest neckline lined with cream lace, and long sleeves that cover her constantly shaking arms. It also hangs straight down to her ankles. On the front is embroidered a messenger hawk in carmine threads. On her feet, she wears sangria silk slippers. Occasionally, she will add a dark magenta woolen shawl over her robe.
Personality:
Meilan has mellowed out quite a bit in her elder days. Gone are the days when she would purposely manipulate people just to get what she wanted. A lifetime of living a simple life has left the elderly woman with a deep belief in the power of simplicity. She is not terribly fond of the city, believing that it is too loud and busy, and longs deeply to return to the country where she grew up. For the most part, Meilan is a kindly lady who loves to tell stories of her youth to her grandchildren, much to Ai Fen’s dismay.
Meilan can be unbearable at times, especially when she insists on someone pushing her wheelchair across the city instead of taking her in a car, but it really is all due to her belief in tradition and the power of remembering one’s past. She doesn’t live in the present or future, but rather tends to forget the time and think she’s back on the farm in her youth.
Despite being a nonbender herself, Meilan is highly spiritual, and when she isn’t telling stories about the farm, she often will talk about spirituality. She is incredibly slow to anger, preferring to settle disputes quietly and calmly.
