Name: Xiuying Zhu
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Height: 5'2"
Facial expression: Sweet/relaxed smile
Hair: White, with some hair pulled back with a ribbon Also, a red flower behind her ear/red flower hairclip in her hair, please!
Eye color: Pink
Skin color: Pale, light blush on cheeks
Profession: Noble (but occasionally likes to drop by to help in her uncle's cafe)
Outfit: No uniform
Civ outfit: See ref, please! *u* Her dress is basically this + a (maybe slightly translucent) shawl! Feel free to make little tweaks here and there? If her ears are exposed, she wears red stud earrings!
Personality:
Sweet, polite, and docile, Xiu is the very picture of the perfect lady…or at least, that’s the picture that her parents would like her to live up to, at least. While she undoubtedly possesses a kind heart and knows when to mind her manners, she is most definitely not as docile as her mother and father would like her to be. Her parents tell her she’s too headstrong, but in reality, she simply has her own ways of thinking and her own opinions on different matters—she just isn’t the type of person who will do something or act in such a way if she herself is not comfortable with it.
That being said, she doesn’t always listen when she’s told not to do something either. As one may expect, Xiu has lived a rather sheltered life, kept away from things that were deemed “inappropriate” for a girl of her status. Now that she’s older, she’s allowed a little more freedom, and frequently tries to make up for lost time by experiencing as much as she can. Curious to a fault, she oftentimes finds herself sticking her nose in places where they shouldn’t be, exploring the nooks and crannies throughout town that her parents specifically forbade her to go to—and usually for good reason too. She can be a little too bold for her own good sometimes.
Xiu knows she’s privileged, and has never lost sight of how fortunate she is, especially compared to the majority of the population. She tries to differentiate herself from the black and white thinking that many nobles possess, choosing to acknowledge that things are not so simple. She does not believe that someone can be entirely bad, just as she doesn’t believe that someone can be entirely good, and realizes that there are a number of different factors that affect how other people act or see the world. As such, she tries to remain as nonjudgmental as possible when meeting others, whether they are from the slums or from the capital as she is. Initially, she will always try to treat others with a polite and friendly attitude, and—naïve as it may be—she will actively strive to see the best in everyone. This by no means indicates that she will like everyone, but it does mean that she will always be willing to give others a chance rather than immediately judge them.
On the other hand, Xiu does tend to be a bit of a people-pleaser. Although, as previously stated, she does not always act how her parents or others may want her to, she unconsciously places great importance on being liked by others, particularly people who she may especially look up to or like. Unfortunately, this may result in her kindness easily being taken advantage of, and is undoubtedly something that she needs to strive to fix in the future.
Those who she does manage to befriend or get close to will find that she’s a very maternal individual who makes a great effort to take care of others. Xiu likes to make sure that the people she cares about (and, by extension, the people that they care about) are all healthy and well, whether her concerns are how they are eating, how they’re sleeping, or so on. Of course, this does result in her becoming a bit of a nag—and hypocritical, as she does not always follow her own advice—but she does mean well by her actions despite how irritating she can be.
History:
Xiu’s mother comes from a family of wealthy tea merchants, while her father is the eldest son of a noble house. As their only daughter, Xiu has received only the best, whether it be in the food she eats or the silk clothing that she wears. Unfortunately, as a young child, Xiu also learned that her noble status—although very nice in many ways—apparently put her in some invisible tier above some of the other children. While she would hear their yells and laughter as they played outside, she herself would be confined to her room, listening to some boring old woman drone on about etiquette. Her days were spent attending lessons after lessons—she had so many expensive and beautiful toys, but very little time to actually play with them.
When she actually did have some time to spare, she would visit her uncle’s café. Although he was her uncle on her mother’s side, Xiu always thought of him as more of an older brother, and so she would frequently drop by to help out whenever she could. When she was very young, she usually (clumsily) washed the dishes and wiped down tables, but as she grew older, he eventually began to teach her a little about baking and tea blends and brews. Her helping out around the café now essentially involves her doing a good part of the baking and tea brewing, two things that she is not only good at, but that she genuinely enjoys doing as well.
Now that she has a little more lenience since she’s older—albeit with a series of different responsibilities to deal with—Xiu is allowed a little more freedom. When she has free time and isn’t at the café, she enjoys adventuring out into the town, usually with someone escorting her, if not tailing her for her own safety (at her parents’ order, of course).
When it comes to the military, Xiu has no dreams in joining them—she knows that she’s not suited for that life—but she does hold a deep respect for them and for what they do. She holds a bit of reservation when it comes to the Military Police due to what she’s heard, but she believes them to be a skilled group of people—after all, they were all in the top ten of the trainee ranks once. As for the Scouting Legion and the Stationary Guard, she believes that both play incredibly important roles in maintaining the peace for those who live within the walls. The former get a lot of flak from taxpayers for being “useless” and a “waste of money”, but she likes to see them more as the main force that is trying to move society forward rather than keep it confined in stasis forever.
