Jia Li Qiáo

[AnimeNerd]

Name: Jia Li Qiáo
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Place of Residence: Auckland City, Auckland Region, New Zealand
Languages: English, Mandarin, Hindi, Spanish, and French
Hobbies and Interests: Language, Design, Sewing, Fashion, Yoga, Violin

Appearance: Jia Li is a girl of Chinese descent. She stands at 4’ 11” and weighs 90lbs. Her body is slim, with only slight muscle definition visible. Her olive skin is unblemished thanks to various skin creams. Her head is oval shaped, with high cheekbones, a somewhat small mouth, hazel eyes, thin arched eyebrows, and a small, refined nose. Her straight black hair reaches all the way to her waist at full length, and she tends to style it whenever she goes out.

Jia Li tries to stay as up to date with fashion trends as possible, but also stylish and generally good enough that people find it appealing no matter what the times are like. She prefers formal wear, but will wear more casual clothing to avoid seeming overly pretentious. She also favors more vibrant colors, like reds, blues, pinks, purples, among others. It’s for this reason she despises school uniforms, and only barely tolerates her own.

On the day of her abduction, Jia Li wasn’t able to style her hair as much as she would’ve liked, only able to put in a high ponytail with flipped ends, held in place by a white ribbon. She had been walking home after school when taken, planning to change and hang out with friends later. She was mostly stuck in her school uniform, consisting of a fitted white button-up blouse, an unbuttoned dark blue blazer with the Saint Kentigern crest on the left breast pocket, and black mary jane shoes with a slight heel, paired with white leggings. Additionally, she changed her skirt after school ended, and thus was wearing a high waist pleated knee skirt the same shade of blue as her blazer.

Biography: Jia Li was the only child born to Kun and Ming Yue Qiáo on February 14th, 2003, in Auckland, New Zealand. The two were set up by their own parents, following family traditions despite both families having migrated to the country themselves, and after finding that they really loved each other, the two married after courting for two years. While the couple had planned to name their first child a more traditional New Zealand name, the sudden death via heart attack of Ming Yue’s mother changed their decision, choosing to name the baby girl after her now deceased grandmother.

With her father Kun being a cardiologist and her mother Ming Yue being an anesthesiologist, Jia Li lived a pampered life. While her parents attempted to avoid spoiling her completely, more often than not Jia Li simply had to ask nicely, keep her eyes open wide and watery, and they would do what she asked. It didn’t help that they would regularly buy presents for Jia Li unprompted, from toys to make-up, to even more glamorous ones later on in life. With the varying levels of difficulty she had in manipulating her parents, though, Jia Li quickly learned she would have to make compromises with everything she got.

The first example of such compromises became obvious when she learned of the school she would be attending: Saint Kentigerns, a private school that required a uniform. This was despite Jia Li showing an early interest in fashion, as well as a distaste for uniforms when she saw them. However, finding the uniforms tolerable thanks to their dark blue coloring, Jia Li decided to avoid making a fuss, lest she was sent to a school that was somehow worse.

So while Jia Li was able to create an impressive wardrobe, each outfit having some measure of charm to it, she was unable to wear it during the majority of school days. After school and weekends were free reign, but during school hours she was stuck in blue.

Instead of letting this upset her, Jia Li decided to throw herself more passionately into her interest in fashion. After convincing her parents to hire a temporary tutor for her, Jia Li learned how to sew, and began designing things on her own, finding it thrilling to wear her own work, even if she only started out with simple things like face masks and upcycled fabrics, showing it off and telling people she had made it herself. Each compliment she got made her prouder and prouder.

While they believed Jia Li could make a considerable profit from her work in the future, Kun and Ming Yue still wanted their daughter to have her interests go beyond just fashion. So, when Jia Li was ten, after she designed and sewed her first gown from scratch, they decided to have her learn to play the violin. It was a traditional, respected instrument, and they believed it to be a sign of intellectualism to know how to play one. So another temporary tutor was hired, and Jia Li began learning.

While initially reluctant, Jia Li quickly grew a fondness for the instrument, regularly losing focus of the world around her as her main goal became creating beautiful music. She became so passionate in playing that Kun bought her the most captivating present Jia Li ever received-a cherry red violin made personally for her, her most prized possession that she has used exclusively since she received it. Though both she and her parents wanted her to try and write her own music, she quickly realized how difficult the task really was, as despite her determination to create music, not only did she find it much less rewarding compared to playing music, but she generally didn’t have as much inspiration in music composition as she did with sewing designs, and chose to stick with playing already existing pieces.

To broaden her interests even more, after seeing that violin was a success, Jia Li’s parents decided to have her learn how to cook when she was twelve. Not only did they think it was a good skill to have in general, but they believed that a second outlet for her creativity would always be useful, as Jia Li could have more freedom in the kitchen than with the violin.

This time, however, Jia Li did not become as enthusiastic about the activity. While she would go on to cook regularly, as well as experiment with some foods, she just wouldn’t be as interested in cooking as she became with violin.

Around the same time, Jia Li became more body conscious, as puberty hit and she thought her body didn’t look as it should. So, with promises made that it would be the last temporary tutor she would ask for, a yoga instructor was hired to teach her. She took to the exercise like a fish to water, finding it much more appealing to other forms of exercise she had seen, and continues practicing it to this day.

As time went on, Jia Li’s home life didn’t change much. Her skill with designing and sewing grew, to the point that friends regularly asked for clothes of their own. She regularly told her parents that she planned to go into the fashion industry full-time once she was able to, and both of them could believe it.

Jia Li’s school life was different from her home life. From the very beginning she was part of the popular clique, with her rich background and generally peppy demeanor fitting right in. As time went on, and she got more and more of her demands at home, her attitude soured, still keeping the peppy tone, but generally becoming more rude and mean to those she didn’t like. While some classmates tried to get her to behave, the fact that she acted civil in the presence of authority figures and in public, as well as her rich family meant that she’s yet to receive any real punishment for her actions. Worse still, with each time she’s escaped punishment, she became more bold with her cruelty. Never going to outright physical bullying, but many of Jia Li’s classmates had been brought to tears by her words.

Despite her cruelty to their classmates, few of her friends tried to distance themselves from Jia Li. She had essentially become the leader of the group, and most joined her in insulting their classmates, either finding it amusing as well or fearing her wrath if they chose to stand up to her. Indeed, the two that did as much were not only kicked out of the group, but ostracized by the majority of the school. Jia Li’s high social standing meant that if anyone was considered an outcast by her, few would associate with them, let alone be willing to interact with them.

Academically, Jia Li is a good student. While not valedictorian worthy, she regularly received As and Bs, with only the occasional C. Where she really thrived was when she was learning different languages, however. Already being bilingual, growing up speaking both English and Mandarin, when she first took a Spanish class she realized she had a knack for it. Figuring that it wouldn’t hurt to learn more, as she’d likely have to speak with people from many countries if her fashion career took off, she decided to also learn Hindi and French, believing that with them, she would know the five most common languages. Unsurprisingly, she passed those classes with flying colors as well. Just to make sure she was fluent in those languages, Jia Li also took online courses, as well as occasionally found native speakers to converse with, both in person and online, to assure she knew the languages in written form as well as in spoken form.

Jia Li’s relationship with her parents is a positive one. While she sees them as occasionally pushy, their willingness to give her most anything she wants has ingrained themselves as some of the most important people in her life. She loves them both dearly, and is willing to do a lot for them, even if she knows she won’t enjoy it.

Jia Li has made concrete plans to become a professional fashion designer once she graduates, including attending the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, New York State, in America, though her parents also had her come up with backup plans in the event she didn’t succeed in the industry, despite how doubtful Jia Li is of the idea. Of the two backup plans Jia Li has made, the first backup is becoming a violinist, believing that her skill with the instrument would be enough to get a steady income. If that somehow also failed her, the final plan was for her to become a translator, as it was a skill Jia Li already had, and Ming Yue and Kun both believed it was an industry that always had potential.

Advantages: Jia Li is a determined girl, setting plans for herself that she never strays from, and will likely be very motivated to survive. She’s in decent shape, and her knowledge of multiple languages will most certainly prove useful in the situation at hand, with the potential to converse with other students covertly, including through written messages just as much as words spoken.
Disadvantages: Jia Li’s pampered life is one very different from the environment of the game, and the culture shock of the sudden change will most certainly affect her in some way. Her small stature means that she is likely to be overpowered if faced with anyone considerably stronger than her, and her belief in herself may be a poison as much as it is a positive, as she may believe she is more capable than she really is.

[Cicadan]

I appear with critiques in hand:

[+] in here

Auckland (City), Auckland (Region), New Zealand

For the sake of consistency with other profiles, I'd prefer to not have the city/region indicators in parentheticals. Perhaps call the region itself Auckland Region?

She also favors more well liked colors, like reds, blues, pinks, purples, among others.

'Well liked' seems like an odd descriptor to use here. Tastes in colors are fairly subjective, after all.

Instead of letting this upset her, Jia Li decided to throw herself more passionately into her interest in fashion.

I'm a bit intrigued in something here. Jia Li makes her first shirt at ten. She realistically entered Saint Kentigerns anywhere from 3-6, depending (no need to specify this, that part is fine). As far as I can tell, Jia Li had this one hobby (at least as far as we the reader can tell, as no other hobbies or distractions are given any weight in the profile) in sewing designs and constructing apparel that she was super passionate about for a period of at least four years. Would she really have not attempted to sew clothes that whole time? I just think this needs a bit more elaboration: was she too busy studying in school? Was she an extreme perfectionist who refused to move onto new projects until she was convinced she'd mastered an easier one? It just stood out to me as something a bit odd seeming in context.

she quickly realized how difficult the task really

What, specifically, about the difficulty put her off? She has her determined nature being a listed Advantage, and her long devotion to her prior hobby in fashion sewing implies she can definitely stick to things she wants to do. Did she not have the time to split between all her hobbies inclusive of trying to develop compositional skills (not easy for sure, but again, Jia Li is being sold to us the reader as DeTerminator)? Did she just not enjoy composition as contrasted to the art of playing itself? Again, a little elaboration would help this trait feel more coherent and part of the whole of her character.

While she would go on to cook regularly, as well as experiment with some foods, she just wouldn’t be as interested in cooking as she became with violin.

Elaborate? It is still listed as a specific hobby. For what reason does she take time out of her schedule to stick with it?

And here's a more general thing that I'd like a little elaboration on, how specifically did and do her parents spoil her at her behest? Since they at least seem willing to regularly make her do things she might not have been interested in for the purpose of expanding her worldview. Do they shower her in material things? Inflate her ego with a lot of compliments and agreeing with most everything she says (perhaps also including taking her side all the time when she complains about/shits on classmates, if she feels she can do that at home)? Just a bit of explanation there would help me get what sort of feedback cycle at home is allowing her to get tyrannical at school.

Another thing regarding languages spoken- bit leery of the idea that just taking classes would be enough to develop fluency in three languages solely in the timeframe of her high school career, unless she's also doing a lot of extra-curricular investment into doing things like finding native speakers to chat with, so on. I'd request here you indicate her fluency levels in each other language she developed post childhood and justify them if they're conversational-level or above.

She’s in decent shape, and her knowledge of multiple languages could prove useful in the situation at hand

Missing a period at the end there.

Her small stature means that she is likely to be overpowered if faced with anyone considerably stronger than her

She's average height and weight and fairly fit. This, as a disadvantage, technically applies to like, all girls at her BMI, when compared to men/women who are still in the average height range, so I don't think it's necessary to elaborate on. You'd save a disadvantage for this for someone who is below 5'0", in my opinion, someone so small even someone of average height could leverage that over them.

Good looking profile, interesting character concept! Feel free to ping me for questions as needed, otherwise I'll get to you as soon as I can when those edits are done.

[AnimeNerd]

Updated!

-Got rid of the parenthesis
-Changed it to just vibrant colors
-Went to my original idea of her making a gown at age ten instead, since that’s more intricate than a shirt
-Explained Jia Li’s difficulty with composing music
-Took off cooking as one of her hobbies, just a skill that is mentioned now
-Went into detail of how Jia Li became spoiled
-Went into detail of how she became fluent in the other languages
-Put the period where it belongs
-Changed her height and weight so that she is smaller

Hope it’s acceptable now!

[Cicadan]

Pretty close! I'm more or less happy with this now, but I do still have one final quibble with her lingual skills.

I believe her level of mastery is in the realm of possibility given her determined nature and perhaps a level of natural aptitude, and you've decently outlined how much work she put into it. But written + spoken fluency in that many widely spoken languages, to me at least, should probably be properly notated as an Advantage. I believe being able to flip languages to communicate covertly with a wide range of potential other students in the game, plus the potential of written communications, is a pretty big deal.

That being resolved should do it for acceptance!

[AnimeNerd]

Alright, added it properly! Hope this is it officially.

[Cicadan]

Yes, it indeed is! Accepted.