Xie Lian | TGCF

Pet Shaming Signs

'I thought that someone who I made out with multiple times was acting for practical reasons'

'I keep saying my husband isn't dead even though he was dead when we were married'

'I've been buried alive multiple times'

'I believe that stabbing myself solves a lot of problems'

'I've gotten so lost that I ended up in the desert instead of the ocean'

'I haven't actually poisoned someone with my cooking, yet'

'I once tied my shoes so tightly that I fainted'

'I've broken into multiple houses'

'I don't need to sleep, I just think it's fun'

'I'm probably judging your hair' [men]

'I still think a lot of my horrifying deaths are kind of funny, even if I try not to joke about it these days'

“Just recite the Ethics Sutra a thousand times.”

User Name/Nick: Sy
User DW: N/A
E-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM/to a character journal/alternate method of contact: anstaar on plurk
Other Characters Currently In-Game: Fitz Kreiner

Character Name: Xie Lian
Series: Heaven's Official Blessing
Age: c. 800 years old
From When?: the beginning of chapter 126

Warden Justification: Xie Lian is a deeply compassionate person who is willing to help anyone who needs it, without care for other people's opinion or the weight it can put on him. Even when he doesn't agree with someone he's usually able to understand their motives and treats them with respect. Possibly most importantly, he is intimately aware of what it is to reach the lowest point in your life, to do terrible things, and how you can turn away from that and chose to do better going forward.

Item: Ruoye

Abilities/Powers: Xie Lian's full spiritual powers are blocked by cursed shackles but as well as his immortality he still has physical strength and agility that's far greater than human. He can hear prayers if they're directed to him, but is more likely to if they're accompanied by burning incense or writing it down.

Wardening Strategies and Philosophies:

Xie Lian ascended to godhood at seventeen, fell, ascended and fell again before spending the next eight hundred years wandering the mortal world collecting scrap, busking and generally falling into any unfortunate situation possible. This won't make the barge any less strange to him, but it does mean he has centuries worth of experience dealing with that. While a lot of the specifics of the barge environment will be new to him, the oddest will be the other people. He's a friendly person who has gotten used to not having friends. However, he adjusts quickly. He respects the idea that it's not his place to interfere with other people's business specifically, but if given the opening he has a very hard time not trying to help.

When it comes to the role of a warden, Xie Lian believes deeply in the impact one person can have on another's life through kindness and understanding. His conception of redemption is less making up for the past and more trying to move forward. It's not that the past doesn't matter, but what's more important is what you do next. How he'll engage his inmate would vary somewhat depending on specifics, but the overall pattern would remain working to understand his inmate’s motivations, and then what sort of life they want to lead. He's acted as a mentor of sorts at various times, and the repeated motif is that he tries to teach his students to take care of the common people, though he’s somewhat embarrassed when this is brought up directly as it reminds him of his youthful idealism.

‘I want to save the common people,’ was Xie Lian’s refrain as a prince and over time he repeatedly saw how complicated it was to actually help get at the root of people’s problems. There are situations without easy answers, and he doesn’t want to make it seem like he’s offering that as one. It seemed like no matter what he did, the outcomes were always terrible. There were times he knew he was doing wrong, and yet can’t say where he went wrong or how it could have gone better. Yet, still, even knowing he doesn’t have an answer it’s still a dream he shares with the children he mentors. He’s embarrassed because he feels that if you dare to talk about something you have to be able to follow it up and achieve it, which isn’t something he feels he’s ever done.

In contrast to this embarrassment, he doesn’t care about accusations about his character being underhanded or despicable. If a situation calls for it, he has no trouble attacking one person with many. He’s more than willing to lie if he thinks he can get away with it. He’ll ‘cheat’ in a fight, taking any loophole. He’ll ambush someone or using cunning tactics and what matters is if he succeeded. He’ll admit to murder that he didn’t do in order to stop someone else being dragged down. He believes that people have a right to vengeance, he just worries what consequence taking that revenge will have on their character. He believes that he’s a failure who brings misfortune, so all the blame lies on him. In turn, if he can take the blame on himself to be the only one who’s hated instead of starting a larger fight where innocents would be caught up, he thinks it’s better than clearing the air with a more complicated truth. Xie Lian tried very hard to be kind and do the right thing, and he doesn’t want other people who do the same to receive the bad end he did. He doesn’t want them to stop believing that doing the right thing will always produce a right outcome.

Xie Lian very much doesn’t want to be seen as a better or incorruptible figure. He believes that will only disappoint people. He doesn’t think it’s good for a person to have too much hope in another, or to think them overly perfect, especially if they’re close. He believes that one day they’ll find out that the person wasn’t as imagined and therefore be deeply disappointed, as rooted by his own experiences after his first fall from godhood. He knows what he’s done and would always go to an inmate fully open to listening to them without considering himself better.

Xie Lian has seen the worst in people, repeatedly, at both a personal and systematic level. His kindness and his ability to see the best in people are very much choices. He's actually often quite suspicious of people, he just keeps it hidden and doesn't act on it without proof or if there isn't reason to, which from the outside might make people think him gullible or easily led until it gets to a point where he thinks someone will be hurt. He's willing to face down the politics of making an enemy of a much more powerful and well-connected god rather than let someone else be used as a scapegoat because he doesn't trust in heaven, and it goes entirely against his expectations to have support instead.

He believes that the rights and wrongs of earthly affairs can never be clearly grasped, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences. He thinks that people should accept the punishment for their crimes, but that punishment should be a loss of power and prestige, not violence. A person’s actions are their own. A murder is a murder, no matter the reasons, but the reasons still matter.

Xie Lian is very kind. He thinks deeply about things. While he might be momentarily amused by someone as powerful as a ghost king caring about their appearance, he’ll think about why that might be and have sympathy instead. When a prostitute is made fun of because he turned her down, he immediately says that the problem is that he’s impotent. When faced with a sword said to be an object of evil, he worries about hurting it. He has the patience and willingness to offer guidance and safety to someone even if they’re a reminder of his greatest fear. When he sees a play ridiculing someone, he brings down the curtain.

Xie Lian might be a little too willing to let things go if they hurt him. He’s hurt by his history and other people’s opinion, but he suppresses it and says it’s alright or agrees that it’s funny. He’s extremely polite as well as kind so he doesn’t like to dig too deep on a topic that might touch something sensitive. He has a hard time talk about certain things he considers overstepping, and even when he does push, he’ll retreat after being given an answer.

Xie Lian would do well with an inmate who needs someone who understands them and who will be a loyal friend. Someone who responds to someone who will believe in their intentions even while holding them accountable for actions. He would be helpful for dealing with what it means to forgive others. He’s there for talking about situations where there’s no good solutions and how it can be complicated to know what it means to do the right thing when it can hurt people. He wouldn’t necessarily do well with an inmate who’s good at avoiding talking about things. He’s also unlikely to be a good fit for an inmate who needs to be pushed hard or see strict moral lines.

Deal: permanent eradication of the Human Face plague

History: link

Sample Journal Entry:

[Text]

[No matter how many times he uses the network, Xie Lian has a certain unshakable vibe. That is, of someone still struggling to understand how it works. For someone who doesn't look more than twenty-one, his age always seems to come out with his messages.]

Hello! I hope everyone is doing well. Please remember the importance of a good breakfast! The tone for the day is set by how you start, hunger doesn't improve the mood. Please have consideration! The kitchen staff is working very hard.

[Xie Lian has been forbidden from going anywhere near the kitchens, which only gives him more respect for their efforts.]

As to recent matters: I wish to apologize for recent actions when not myself. I think it is better to regard it as a long time ago, but I understand if anyone wishes a more formal reckoning. Most sincere apologies to the library staff, I did not mean to bleed so freely on the books!

Xie Lian


5-10 sentences of spoken/written monologue, not including narration. This sample should reflect the character's day-to-day behavior and a distinctive voice, and must be Barge setting specific. You are permitted to link a thread from the Test Drive Meme, as long as it's recent (within 3 months of application date) and in journal style.

Sample RP: thread

Special Notes: