Yù-Míng 聿铭

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Full Name: Yù-Míng Liú 聿铭劉
Age: 16
Birthday: 6th Xuyuè 155AG
Gender: Female
Pronouns: She/Her
Origin: Gintong - Earth KingdomHeight: 5'7 / 170cm
Weight: 115lbs / 52kg
Build: Slim
Skin Colour: Tan/Olive
Hair Colour: Brown
Hair Style: Short, with bangs and braids.
Eye Colour: Hazel
Eye Shape: SharpPlaylist: Spotify
Voice: Jennifer Cook
MBTI: ENFJ
Alignment: Neutral Good

Yù-Míng is an outspoken, compassionate and ambitious girl who loves to go out of her way to help others, rarely seeing anything but the best in people, she's the kind of person that would complement a mute person on their listening skills, believing everyone has something that makes them exceptional and makes it her mission to help them thrive. Whether it's subtle encouragement or confronting their biggest fears for them, Yù-Míng always strives to put in the work for her friends, family or the world at large, and feels selfish for having any desires or ambitions that are frivolous or self-interested.

This altruism however, can sometimes come across as patronising or overbearing, as Yù-Míng fully believes she can understand and solve other peoples' problems, and it's her responsibility to do so, even when she's way out of her depth, though that won't stop her from trying with the same headstrong attitude she tackles everything with. As a result, she also finds it difficult to view herself capable of harm, and isn't afraid to make her opinions, or her disapproval of other's opinions, known. However, once the acknowledgement that she's messed up hits, it'll weigh heavily on her and she'll feel terribly guilty and embarrassed for a good while, often isolating herself.Yù-Míng welcomes other people into her circle easily, and even if she might take things a bit personally at times, she's quick to forgive, and it'll take a lot to fully break her trust, however if you do it's unlikely you'll ever win it back and she'll view you as public enemy number one, probably making it her personal mission to have absolutely nothing to do with you.

While Yù-Míng usually views herself as competent, giving unsolicited comments like it's her job, she can't exactly take what she dishes out, being very sensitive to criticism, but none more than her own. She's a huge perfectionist and is hypercritical of her own shortcomings, after all, how can she know what's best for people if she's fallible or making mistakes.Despite her soft skin, Yù-Míng is very mentally resilient, persisting through any and all difficulty to prove she's capable of overcoming it, and to show others that she's qualified to help them through their own difficulties, and she'll typically shoulder others' hardships for them, overlooking when she's potentially being taken advantage of.Above all, Yù-Míng just loves to make friends, and hates to lose them, giving so much of herself to someone else just to have them reject it entirely makes her feel worthless and purposeless, so she'll do anything to show her friends that she's someone worth sticking close to.

Yu-Ming was born and raised in Zhuzi, a quiet village hidden in the bamboo jungles of Gintong, Earth Kingdom, to Engiin and Chánxīn Liú. She’s the second of two children, after her older brother, Xīnyú.Yu-Ming had a pleasant upbringing for the most part; She enjoyed swinging through the trees with her brother, playing with the other kids by making mazes and carving animal statues then moving them with her bending, and particularly goofing off and playing pranks with her Dad.She was also naturally gifted, be it physically, showing an intuitive understanding of earthbending, socially, striking up conversation and making friends with ease, or even spiritually, treating the jungle like a close companion, always reverting her earthbending and being mindful of the bamboo stems she cut so she didn't harm it.

In many respects, Yù-Míng’s childhood was filled with ample joy, she and her family used to travel the world together often, from Kyoshi to the Northern Air Temple. She always visited her grandparents, Shraan, who always had a warm meal ready and a story to tell, and Osuul, who made her beloved music box, and fixed in when she got too ambitious trying to take it apart. But at the same time, it was layered with subtle deficiencies, which rose to the surface as time went on.Yù-Míng’s mother, Chánxīn, while a responsible and hardworking caretaker, making the effort to educate and provide for her daughter, never showed much in the way of physical affection or spoken encouragement, and always had a much closer bond with her first child, Xīnyú.

In Chánxīn's youth she was an ambitious and promising writer from Gaoling, and after settling in Zhuzi with Engiin and having children, she shared her passion with Xīnyú, and treated him like the golden child, with Yù-Míng forever in his shadow, despite her constant efforts to be noticed.Yù-Míng was much closer with her energetic father, Engiin. A travelling musician in his youth, he always encouraged Yù-Míng when she was excited, comforted her when she was upset, and always told her how much he loved her. He joked often, and taught her not to take life too seriously and to remember to enjoy it. However 3 years ago, Engiin fell ill, putting a stop in the family's vacations and causing them to drift apart.And when things didn't seem they could get much worse, Xīnyú suddenly left, leaving the already struggling family, and especially Chanxin, heartbroken, with Yù-Míng trying to fill the impossibly large hole he left behind.

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Name: Chánxīn Liú
Relation: Mother
Age: 43 / Born 129AG
Relationship: 5/10

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Name: Engiin Liú
Relation: Father
Age: 41 / Born: 131AG
Relationship: 10/10

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Former writer Chánxīn is the hardworking, responsible backbone of the family. She's originally from Gaoling, born into the moderately wealthy Liú household, who prioritised discipline and attention to detail, which produced Chanxin's work ethic when it came to her passion and career of writing, as well as parenting.Unlike her husband, Engiin, Chánxīn is more or less emotionally absent, more concerned with keeping her family fed than giving them hugs, though it wasn't always this way.When Yù-Míng was younger, Chánxīn was much more cheerful, she loved to write, and did so professionally in Gaoling before meeting Engiin, after which she travelled the world with him, gathering inspiration to write her most successful novel: 'Behind the Lingbi Stone'. Even after settling in Zhuzi she continued to write, and shared that passion with her beloved son Xinyu, though since he left, and Engiin fell ill, she's buried herself in work, with no room for her other child, Yù-Míng.Chanxin values work and material support over emotional affection, which isn’t saying she doesn’t love her family, but it’s more like she’d cook up a delicious stew instead of saying “I love you.” The issue is that Yù-Míng's values are the exact opposite, and sometimes she really just needs to hear that she's loved.

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Engiin is Yù-Míng’s enigmatic, musical father. Born in Zhuzi, as soon as he could speak Engiin wanted to travel the world and see everything it had to offer, and after his father, Osuul, fixed up a broken dramyin (6 string lute) for him, his future as a nomadic musician was set. He soon joined a circus, and made many friends across the world, eventually meeting his wife, Chánxīn, who he fell hopelessly in love with, even taking her last name.Engiin takes charge when it comes to lightening the mood, and often embodies being a beacon of positivity, which gravitated Chánxīn towards him. He makes jokes almost religiously, and sometimes finds it difficult to actually take things seriously, which often frustrates Chánxīn.Engiin is an absolutely doting father to Yù-Míng, besides naming her 'brilliant jade' for how he views her, he nicknames her, “boop” to tease her and juxtapose her headstrong nature. He tries his best to relate to his daughter, despite being a non-bender, and encourages her with everything she does. He has a large collection of all of Yù-Míng's attempts at different hobbies, and treats them all like priceless treasures, much to her embarrassment.He’s Yù-Míng’s safe place in a way, he's one of the only people in her life that will love her fully and unconditionally, and show her that. Even though he tends to stray away from conflict, and keep things cool and collected, when it comes to his daughter he’d move mountains.

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Name: Osuul
Relation: Grandfather
Age: 70 / Born 102AG
Relationship: 6/10

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Name: Shraan
Relation: Grandmother
Age: 69 / Born 103AG
Relationship: 8/10

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Stoic and disciplined, Osuul is Yu-Ming's reserved engineering grandfather. He and his wife Shraan are from the Tomor Tribe, following the breakout of the Great Sand War among the Sand Tribes around 120 AG, they fled north to the Earth Kingdom, settling in Zhuzi, where they had their only son, Engiin.Osuul used his tinkering expertise to support his family financially, be it by providing utilities to the village like radio or completing large-scale projects for wealthy nobles in other provinces. In his spare time, he also finds broken devices and repairs them, such as a music box he gifted to Yù-Míng when she was young, which she enjoyed listening to just as much as taking it apart and seeing how it worked.Osuul prefers to keep to himself and doesn't care what people think about him, focussing on the concrete over the conceptual. He speaks very little, only when there's some harsh truth that those around him are pretending doesn't exist. Yù-Míng on the other hand values her close relationships highly, and goes out of her way to spend time with others. She's an idealist and very sensitive to criticism, so they naturally tend to clash. However, Osuul's technical knowledge and advice often turn out to be invaluable, and maybe some sentimental attachment from her beloved music box means there's always a part of Yù-Míng that cherishes her grandpa, even if he's rough around the edges.

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Shraan is Yù-Míng's warm and comforting Grandma. Whether it's telling stories or cooking homemade delights, she's always pleasant to be around.Shraan was a seamstress from the Tomor Sand Tribe before fleeing to Zhuzi with Osuul following the breakout of the Great Sand War, tragically leaving her close sister behind. When she and Osuul had their son, Engiin, Shraan named him after Engiin Inekh, a fictional adventurer from a series of poems and songs Shraan and her sister used to sing together.Shraan's demeanour could be described as quiet strength, her life has never been far from hardship of drudgery, but she never complains and devotes all of her attention to soothing the anxieties of those around her. However, her tendency to avoid confront her own negative experiences leaves her lost when others require pragmatism for their real problems, instead excelling in listening and soft encouragement, to make their struggles as bearable a possible.This soft aspect pairs well with the sensitive Yù-Míng, who similarly avoids the difficulties of mundane reality, though Shraan's notable emotional intelligence prevents her from indulging Yù-Míng's frustrations when it's clear she needs someone proactive, nudging her towards Chanxin or Osuul. Regardless, Yù-Míng and her Grandma are very close, and Yu-Ming will always seek her our regardless of mood.

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Name: Xīnyú Liú
Relation: Brother
Age: 19 / Born 153 AG
Relationship: 1/10

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It's complicated...

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Hobbies:

Traits:

Engineering

This might seem strange considering Yù-Míng's spiritual side, but to her the wires in a machine are the same as the roots in a tree, and she just loves seeing how it all works.

Strengths

- Ambitious
- Charismatic
- Organized
- Compassionate
- Tenacious

Bending

Yù-Míng's control of her earthbending is very precise, a talent she uses to carve intricate animal statues and play games by moving them around to chase the village kids through the jungle.

Flaws

- Unrealistic
- Stubborn
- Patronising
- Sensitive
- Self-Critical

Exploration

Despite Yù-Míng's dedication to her family and friends, she loves to sneak out to see the world and meet new people, a habit she picked up from her dad, and one she feels guilty for indulging.

Fears

- Being inadequate
- Abandonment
- Being misunderstood