Jiang Yanli | 江厌离

"Ah, this is Jiang Yanli. I'm sorry that I'm away right now. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

Placecmarker. TBD.

CHARACTER NAME: Jiang Yanli
CHARACTER SERIES: Mo Dao Zu Shi

[OOC]

Backtagging: Yes!
Threadhopping: Ask first just to make sure! However, threadhopping network threads is totally okay with me!
Fourthwalling: No, please.
Offensive subjects (elaborate): Graphic depictions of extreme and brutal sexual assault, cannibalism, pedophilia, necrophilia, and extreme gore are all sensitive subjects for me so please use content warnings in the subject line of your tags so I don't get blindsided by upsetting content. If there's something not listed here that you're unsure I'l be okay with, please just ask me about it directly. I won't bite if you do.

[IC]

Hugging this character: Sure! Yanli's not used to being hugged by anyone who isn't immediate family, though, so expect her to be uncertain of how to respond.
Kissing this character: Sure! A kiss on the hand is typically fine. Kisses on the cheek will be best received if they from family or close CR. Her lips are reserved for her romantic partners though, and crossing that line will likely make her very upset and angry with your character. Not saying don't do it, just giving a heads up that'll probably get mad.
Flirting with this character: Sure! Don't expect her to reciprocate much if at all though; if somebody else has caught her eye.
Fighting with this character: Sure! She won't be able to put up much of a fight though and there may be serious repercussions from very angry Chinese men on her behalf.
Injuring this character (include limits and severity): Minor cuts and injuries are fine. Anything really major that could potentially lay him up for a while, please ask first.
Killing this character: Possibly but ask me first!
Using telepathy/mind reading abilities on this character: Sure. As a general rule, introspection referenced in tags is fair game for characters who have this sort of ability. If your character's probing any deeper than that, we'll need to discuss it.

Warnings: Yanli's canon deals with heavy war and political themes including genocide and mass murder. Most of Yanli's knowledge of events is secondhand. Aside from that, Yanli's backstory involves her entering a betrothal before she was born.

▶ PLAYER
HANDLE: Alice
CONTACT: Plurk: Mimarin; Discord: Mimarin#7493
OVER 18? Yes!
CHARACTERS IN-GAME: None.

▶ CHARACTER
NAME: Jiang Yanli
CANON: Mo Dao Zu Shi (novel/donghua)
CANON POINT: Chapter 78, before her death.
AGE: 25. Estimated.
BACKGROUND: For the most part, Yanli's timeline follows the novel but since the donghua adaptation includes additional scenes that flesh her story out in greater detail, I've included them as part of her background.

- The firstborn child and only daughter of Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan, leaders of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect. Older sister to Jiang Cheng.

- Betrothed to Jin Zixuan, heir to the Lanling Jin Sect, in an arranged marriage after their mothers promised each other that if they had a son and daughter, they'd wed.

- Meets Jin Zixuan several times throughout their childhood and adolescence and develops unreciprocated affection for him.

- Jiang Fengmian brings home the orphaned son of a former servant, Wei Wuxian, when Yanli is 12-13. She quickly assumes the maternal role of caregiver for the boy as well as becomes a mediating influence between Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Yu Ziyuan. She also becomes her brothers' pillar of emotional support.

- Yu Ziyuan scolds Yanli for treating Wei Wuxian as a member of the family instead of the servant that she sees him as. She also scolds Yanli for doing chores beneath her station, insisting that she's the mistress, not a servant.

- When she's about 17, her betrothal to Jin Zixuan is cancelled after a fight breaks out between her fiance and Wei Wuxian after the former insults Yanli. Yu Ziyuan blames Wei Wuxian for the cancellation; Yanli does not. She decides that she doesn't want to marry Jin Zixuan if their feelings aren't mutual and chooses to pursue her one true love instead.

- The Qishan Wen Sect demands that each of the other sects send one of blood disciples. Yu Ziyuan chooses to send Jiang Cheng in order to spare Yanli from a hostage situation.

- Yanli's home of Lotus Pier is attacked by the Qishan Wen Sect when she is enroute to visit maternal relatives in Meishan. She and her brothers are the sole survivors of the assault and a bounty is placed on their heads. During the chaos, Yanli is intercepted by survivors of the Gusu Lan Sect, who had also been attacked by the same enemy. She's placed under protective detail and escorted east, out of harms way. Yanli goes with them to prevent her relatives in Meishan from being dragged into armed conflict.

- The Sunshot Campaign begins when the other remaining sects ally with one another and go to war against the Qishan Wen Sect. Yanli remains in protective custody, out of harms way, for much of the fighting, until she's escorted to a rebel camp and reunited with Jiang Cheng. She learns of her parents deaths, Wei Wuxian's disappearance, and Jiang Cheng's intent to avenge them. Yanli remains faithful that her adopted brother will turn up and acts as a stabilizing influence.

- Wei Wuxian turns up soon after, a changed man and demonic cultivator. After more fighting, Lotus Pier is liberated from the Wen and the trio return to their empty devastated home. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng focus on winning the war while Yanli focuses on taking care of them, putting aside her own sorrow in order to support them.

- Midway into the Sunshot Campaign, the Yunmeng Jiang Sect is called to assist the Lanling Jin Sect in an area. Due to a shortage of cultivators, Yanli goes to the battlefield with the rest of her sect in order to help against Jiang Cheng's and Wei Wuxian's initial disapproval. She handles the cooking around the camp, making special meals for her brothers and Jin Zixuan, who is also present at the camp. A misunderstanding occurs leading to Jin Zixuan mistreating Yanli which in turn results in Wei Wuxian fighting with her former fiance once more. Afterward, Jin Zixuan apologizes but Yanli refuses to interact with him in any way, believing that he didn't understand her or even want to. Once the area is cleared, Yanli returns home to Lotus Pier.

- Over the years, Yanli remained good friends with Madam Jin, Jin Zixuan's mother, Madam Jin, still holding out hope that her son and Yu Ziyuan's daughter could still be married one day, began to matchmake between the two. In the process, Yanli forgave Jin Zixuan for his past mistreatment and her affections for him rekindled. However, she feared that any positive attention he showed her was coerced by his mother and had some reservations about the relationship.

- After the end of the Sunshot Campaign, the sects celebrate with a hunt at Phoenix Mountain. Jin Zixuan invites Yanli to attend, which she reluctantly does. Numerous conflicts occur at the during the hunt: Wei Wuxian uses his demonic cultivation to 'steal' a third of the prey for himself which caused a ruckus with the other cultivators, Jin Zixuan and Yanli have an awkward conversation that ends poorly with him trying to stop her from walking away in the middle of the hunting ground. Yanli and Wei Wuxian wind up defending each other: he steps to protect her from Jin Zixuan and she steps in to protect him politically from other cultivators seeking to insult and discredit him. The pair go to leave and Jin Zixuan publicly confesses that he invited her to the hunt then runs off in embarrassment. Yanli and Wei Wuxian leave.

- Sometime after this, Jin Zixuan begins courting Yanli. No details are given about their courtship only that it resulted in the pair falling in love and resuming their engagement of their own free well. During this period, Wei Wuxian becomes an outcast of the cultivation world and leaves the Yunmeng Jiang Sect. There is no information in canon on Yanli's reaction to this.

- Shortly before her wedding, Yanli, accompanied by Jiang Cheng, shows up in Yiling in her wedding robes to show Wei Wuxian what she'll look like on her wedding since it's a high profile event he wasn't invited to. She brings soup to share with her brothers. She also offers Wen Ning a bowl of soup and chats with him a bit before she has to return to Lotus Pier.

- Within the week, Yanli marries Jin Zixuan. A few months into the marriage, she conceives Jin Ling. Over the course of their marriage, it becomes well-known that the couple is close and affectionate with one another and that Jin Zixuan tells his wife everything, matters both great and small. It's implied that some of her in-laws have come to fear her so they make efforts to keep things from her husband out of worry that it'll get back to her. Other residents talk about her behind her back, echoing old sentiments that she's an unworthy match for her husband.

- About a year after the wedding, Yanli gives birth to Jin Ling.

- A month later, a celebration is held. Wei Wuxian is invited, presumably through the efforts of Yanli and her husband. She waits at Carp Tower for her brother to arrive but he never comes. Wei Wuxian is ambushed at Qiongi Path by Yanli's in-law, Jin Zixun, and in the resulting conflict her husband, Jin Zixuan, is killed.

- While Yanli is in vigil at her husband's coffin, Wei Wuxian arrives at Carp Tower, causing an uproar. She sees her brother but he runs away before she can talk to him.

- An event celebrating the demise of the remnants of the Qishan Wen Sect is held at Nightless City. The leaders of the Great Sects scatters the ashes of Wen Qing and what's assumed to be her brother, Wen Ning. Wei Wuxian arrives, gets attacked, and raises corpses in retaliation. A battle ensues.

- Yanli runs onto the battlefield, unarmed and in her mourning whites, and starts calling for Wei Wuxian. Her brothers hear her calling and try to track her down in the chaos. They reach her just in time to see her get cut down by an undead. This is the point that I'm taking her from: just after she gets wounded but before her brothers can reach her side.

PERSONALITY: Mild Mannered - Yanli exhibits a gentle, soft-spoken persona. The first time Yanli's character is introduced in the novel, she's described as being exceedingly average with nothing too notable about her personality or talents. At one point, Wei Wuxian also mentions that she has a very easy temper and that she seldom gives in to dramatic displays of emotion. That she's crying so badly that she can't speak after Jin Zixuan tears her down verbally during the Sunshot Campaign is viewed as highly unusual and cause for alarm. Similarly, when Jin Zixun angers her by insulting Wei Wuxian, the people who know her are shocked by her relentless defense of him.

Calm - Generally speaking, Yanli is diplomatic and stable. She's one of the more reasonable and level-headed characters in the cast, often observing others before speaking or acting in their presence, particularly when conflicts arise. There's a sense that among the siblings, Yanli is the one driven most by rational thought and sensibility. When Jiang Cheng gives in to conjecture about what could happened to their missing brother, Yanli reprimands him for making wild guesses.

Supportive - Yanli supports her family emotionally. At the Phoenix Mountain hunt, she throws flowers to show admiration and support for her brothers. When Wei Wuxian gets in trouble, Yanli soon comes along with reassurances or direct intervention. She speaks on his behalf with Yu Ziyuan during scoldings or when others in the cultivation world insult or shame him. When her brothers plan out war strategy during the Sunshot Campaign, Yanli attends to their physical and emotional needs.

Humble - Despite being the daughter of a prominent sect, Yanli is a far cry from a typical noblewoman. She's perfectly happy doing what her mother refers to as "servant's work" - domestic chores like cooking, sewing, mending, etc, and gets scolded for not behaving like the mistress she is. When she's making special meals for Jin Zixuan at Langya, she leaves them in his room anonymously which unfortunately allows another female cultivator to take credit for it.

Maternal - Yanli's nurturing toward her brothers. She acts more like a surrogate mother for Wei Wuxian than an older sister to the point that even outsiders outside their sect comment that she raised him, a remarkable feat given that Yanli's only two or three years his elder. Yanli spoils Wei Wuxian, making him his favorite soup just the way he likes it, guides his behavior, and engages in babytalk with him.

Empathetic - Yanli's greatest strengths are her emotional intelligence and powers of perception. She often accurately perceives the true feelings and motivations behind her brothers words and actions, such as when she realizes that even though Jiang Cheng was upset about having to rehome his dogs because of Wei Wuxian's cynophobia, he was lonely for companionship or when she accurately intuits the true motivations behind Wei Wuxian's fight with Jin Zixuan at the Cloud Recesses. She's can also emotionally manipulate as witnessed at Phoenix Mountain with how she cleverly played the crowd to restrict her opponent's political movements against her and her brother.

Resilient - Yanli possesses a great deal of inner strength and resilience. Unlike her brothers who had each other for support and protection after the fall of Lotus Pier, Yanli had only herself and the scattered remnants of the Gusu Lan Sect clan to rely upon. Not wanting to burden her protectors who were recovering from the loss of their own home, the death of their sect leader, and the disappearance of his heir, Yanli learned to rely on her own inner strength for emotional survival during a period where she was being hunted down by the Qishan Wen Sect and knew little to nothing about the safety or whereabouts of her family. The tension and uncertainty of the experience tempered Yanli in spirit.

Internalization - Due to being somewhat shy and her wartime experiences, Yanli has a habit of yielding and bottling up her feelings. In the novel, it states that she seldom cries or displays intense emotion around other people; that she breaks down to the point she can't speak at Langya during the Sunshot Campaign is cause for alarm and fear for her brothers. After the end of her engagement with Jin Zixuan, she put on a mask of normalcy that led her brothers to believe that she'd moved on, not realizing that she was still coping with unrequited feelings or that she felt bad about being seen as such a disappointing match in his eyes. When she returns to Lotus Pier with her brothers, there's a scene in the donghua that shows Yanli looking very sad and then forcing a smile before walking into a room with them and acting as if she's okay. Simply put, Yanli doesn't open up about her thoughts or feelings easily except to her closest of loved ones, even when it's detrimental to her.

Stubborn - Yanli has a pattern of stubbornness. She quietly resists all her mother's attempts at getting her to act like a proper mistress or treat Wei Wuxian as a servant instead of a brother. She doggedly pursues Jin Zixuan by trying to get him to eat her soup when they're children despite him constantly ignoring her. Even after he openly insults her and their betrothal's cancelled, she still wants to be with him until they're both 'old and grey' though she respects that their feelings aren't mutual and decides to seek her one true love. It's implied that she never gave up her feelings for Jin Zixuan so they were easily rekindled after the war.

Reckless - Yanli disregards her personal safety sometimes. In the donghua, she visits a rebel camp close to the enemy to see her brother that winds up attacked. In the novel, Yanli seeks out Wei Wuxian on a violent battlefield because she wants to see him once more, a decision that results in her eventual death.

POWERS/ABILITIES: Cultivation - A type of mysticism and martial art in xianxia novels with the eventual goal of the practitioner gaining immortality. In canon, Yanli is said to be a low level cultivator and most likely, hasn't developed her golden core yet. While it's never explicitly shown what Yanli's specific skills in this area are, it can be assumed that she possesses the same abilities other low level cultivators possess, mainly a somewhat sturdier constitution than an ordinary human has, the ability to heal minor wounds such as cuts, scrapes, and bruises, and the ability to pass along spiritual energy to another cultivator. She also likely has basic skills with the talismans and arrays used by her own sect, given that she's its senior sister. All in all, her cultivation abilities are very weak compared to other characters in the series. It's also worth noting that unlike most cultivators, Yanli doesn't seem to carry a sword, suggesting that her cultivation falls more on the mysticism side of things than the martial arts side.

INVENTORY: Nothing of note.

MOONBLESSING: Sanguis

▶ SAMPLES

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