Post by Taiwan - Xiao Mei on Mar 27, 2019 6:16:18 GMT
TAIWAN  general info FULL NAME • Xiao Mei AGE • Around 300 years (appears 16) BIRTHDAY • October 25 GENDER • Female SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Heterosexual FACE CLAIM • N/A appearance HAIR COLOR • Brown EYE COLOR • Brown HEIGHT • 150 cm (4’11) WEIGHT • 102 lbs. TATTOOS • She has a small tattoo on her left thigh in the shape of a plum blossom, received within the last 20 years. OVERALL APPEARANCE • Mei presents as an incredibly feminine nation, with her preference for anything peach, pink, and gold in her wardrobe. She tends to wear flowers in her hair, either silk representations of flowers or actual flowers. Mei tends to stray from the idea of wearing real flowers due to the idea of wearing anything that’s in the process of decaying. A part of her feels remorse for selfishly ending the life of a flower too soon. Her clothing choices can vary from the more traditional qipao dresses or a mixture of Western fashions; she enjoys both. Mei keeps her dark hair long and unbound most of the time, although she’ll clip hair adornments occasionally. She harbors light brown eyes that have a general look of innocence about them—wide, bright, and curious. Her frame is incredibly small, standing only at 4’11, but she still tries to be heard and seen despite her slight stature and young appearance. personality LIKES
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OVERALL PERSONALITY • The first noticeable thing about Mei is her sweet disposition. Everything that she does and says is with a thoughtful kind of purpose. She tries to show at least a bit of kindness to anyone that she crosses paths with, especially if she feels anyone is being left out, including any siblings or outside nations that tend to be the least liked of the group. She’s the sort of person who attempts to understand a person instead of judging them based on the opinions of others. Mei has a great love for all things cute, especially animals, and tends to treat them just as tenderly. However, it’s important not to mistake sweetness for passiveness, as this girl is rather smart-mouthed and can hold her own in a disagreement. The girl can have a bit of a temper if invoked. She’s also been quick to defend others when she feels that they’re not being treated well. Despite harboring that sweeter side, she is also extraordinarily strong-willed once she’s made up her mind. This likely comes as a great irritation to her current Chinese overlord, as she continues to resist and adapt to doing things her own way as much as possible within the constraints that have been placed around her. Mei has vision, ideas of personal growth, and the encouragement of creative thought. This can be seen in the way that Mei presents herself as well. She greatly enjoys fashion, starting small trends, putting together new outfits, trying new beauty routines, and sharing all of this with others. It isn’t unheard of for Mei to drag someone with her for shopping, trying on cute clothes, and taking pictures. (Her older sister tends to be a frequent favorite choice for this kind of torment.) Overall, she does tend to be very feminine in her choices, with dresses, skirts, softer shades, and flowing styles. While some might view this overall look as a symptom of weakness, she chooses to fully embrace her femininity and chooses to remain empowered. It's entirely possible to be feminine and strong; and she hopes to prove that to the world. Beneath her more lighthearted and sometimes naïve nature, Mei hides some scars from her past. In the three hundred years of her existence, she’s experienced quite a bit of slaughter, war, and maltreatment. Two events that stand out in particular are 1895, when Japan had taken her in the aftermath of a war and held onto her for many years, and in 1947 during a massive-scale massacre, along with the White Terror that followed, the longest period of martial law ever imposed in the world. It was from these events that Mei began to develop brutal bouts of anxiety. These bouts can vary from mild to severe depending on the circumstances, with various symptoms. These days, she finds herself perpetually worrying about things far more than she used to when she was younger. Even so, she tries very hard to keep this a secret from even her siblings. Despite what she’s been through; however, Mei tries very hard to find a smile each day, along with reasons to be happy. She feels that it’s easier to face the days with a cheerful disposition as opposed to a darkened and negative outlook. She tries to focus on things that give her hope, such as her dreams, her goal of being autonomous, and inputting love into all her relationships with the important people in her life. history IDENTIFIABLE PARENTS • Unknown GUARDIAN(S) OR MENTOR(S) • China (raised by him, very complicated), Japan (a part of his household for 50 years) SIBLING(S) • Japan, Vietnam, North Korea, South Korea, Thailand (close to most of her siblings) OTHER IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS • Hong Kong (grew up with, close), America (current protector and advocate) OVERALL HISTORY • China’s annexation (1683 – 1895) She formally came about in 1683 when China annexed the island which had previously been a smattering of aboriginal tribes and random European outposts, predominately Dutch and some Portuguese. The Portuguese had simply called her a beautiful island, not formally giving her a name. The first two hundred years of her life had been a mostly happy time for her, as she was very young and small, and wanted for little, starting out. The Chinese considered her original people to be savage and steadily placed a series of edicts on the land to manage it. Living with Japan (1895 – 1945) With a bit of growth later on, everything changed when China was defeated by Japan during the first Sino-Japanese War that forced China to give the Japanese Empire Taiwan along with other lands. She loathed this change and there was an official proclamation of Taiwan resisting impending Japanese rule. Japan responded by quelling this rebellion by killing thousands of her people. This didn’t dissuade further rebellions from accruing (the Beipu uprising, the Tapani incident, and the Musha incident) throughout the entirety of her stay with Japan. All of these were unsuccessful, but she still continued to demonstrate her disapproval of Japanese colonial rule. Even despite her resistance, there were some positive changes in the way that she was run. Japan industrialized her land, extending the railroads and other transportation networks, taught her the importance of sanitation, and establishing a formal education system. Headhunting had finally also been banned. However, she was still only classified as a second class citizen and Japan engaged in some brutal campaigns against her remaining aboriginals. In time, Japan wanted Taiwan to see herself as Japanese and had even outlawed all practices of Taiwanese culture and religions. She held strategic wartime importance to him among other resources. During the second World War, thousands of Taiwanese women were forced into sexual slavery for Imperial Japanese troops, oftentimes called ‘comfort women’ during this era. Being stuck in Japan’s household throughout the war, Taiwan had also endured heavy raids by American bombers. Once Japan surrendered during the war, she was finally relieved of his presence and all of the Japanese residents were expelled and sent back to Japan. Contention with China (1947 – present) When the Allies had given Taiwan back to China following the war, she found herself with a woefully unstable China as her guardian, as there were two different Chinese parties warring with each other, the Republic of China and the Communist Party. And Taiwan was unfortunately in the middle of that mess. The tensions rising from the Taiwanese being back under Chinese rule along with the compounding strain between these two Chinese parties caused the February 28 Massacre, in which mainly Taiwanese civilians were killed. It was this disciplinary action from China that left some substantial scars on Taiwan. Taiwan also became the place of refuge for the Republic of China officials who made Taipei the temporary capital of China as they fled the Communist party. Once they arrived, this party declared martial law in Taiwan in 1949, which was not repealed until 1987. This was used as a way to suppress any opposition following the massacre. It was also when the White Terror commenced, which resulted in well over a hundred thousand people being imprisoned or executed. Initially, America had abandoned Taiwan, expecting her to fall to the Communists. However, during the Cold War, along with the conflict between North Korea and South Korea, America was once again present on the Taiwan Strait to prevent further hostilities between Taiwan and China. America and England, the two with the heaviest presence in the South China Sea at this point, were also in disagreement whether the Communist party or the Republic of China was the legitimate government of China. Much of her growth in the later years was attributed to her financial management being independent from China and backed by several other nations, including the large support of US funds for Taiwanese products. She became the second fastest growing state in Asia after Japan. It wasn’t until the 1990’s when Taiwan went through many reforms and social changes that transformed her from an authoritarian state to a democracy. In a nutshell, Taiwan maintains that she won’t officially declare her independence as long as China doesn’t attack her. And with the US backing her this closely, China presently hasn’t made any moves to outright attack and force her back into the fold. roleplayer OOC NAME • Rye TIME ZONE • MST EXPERIENCE • Many years OTHER CHARACTERS • England - Arthur Kirkland |
