hello! my name is lina (she/her), and i play (for now..because knowing me and my self-control..) the eldest child of house zhao, lord zhao xuanyu. when this rp was first introduced to me i was like O-O because as someone who loves themes like this, this was right up my alley. so i...ahem..went to take a look at everyone’s blogs T-T and was just blown away by how amazing each and every thread was (kudos to all of you, they were truly, SUCH amazing reads T-T). so...out of pure impulse and maybe some convincing, i am here to present to you xuanyu, and if you’d like to plot with him, please give this post a like! (feel free to dm me first as well, or ask for my discord!)
while some of xuanyu’s things i’m still slowly thinking about, under the cut is some info about him!
eldest son of admiral and lady zhao, oldest of three siblings, lord zhao xuanyu.
32 yrs old, firebender, captain in the military & yuyan archers’ commander
xuanyu is both diplomatic and affable (owing, in part to his looks), but he is also both reticent and ambitious. the fact that both of the latter traits exist makes him difficult to read, because he seems as calm as water, and the fact that he withholds much of his thoughts to himself. what xuanyu says may often not be what he thinks, and most people see him as the warm but diligent eldest, both honest and kind. (what a joke, really)
was raised with closely with the sang family’s children.
prefers spending time somewhere quiet compared to loud places / gatherings
likes plants
he’s also vry spiritual aka he has a habit of meditating and praying (though of course, none of that is genuine..it’s merely a habit of his to be able to obtain the serenity he needs to think.
he also likes music, and went out of his way to learn the dizi (chinese flute)
prefers keeping his hair up in a ponytail, alternates in dressing in blue or black
he’s known for his handsome looks, and the quiet elegance he tends to exude. almost no one has ever seen him lose his temper (save for his subordinates). sadly these days, it seems that his capabilities have been overshadowed by gossip about his looks
funny thing is, his parents thought that he would be a girl, and that’s why he was named 瑄羽 (xuanyu). his nickname amongst his family and their close friends was even xuan xuan (bring it up and you’ll see his face twitch.) [his name also means jaded feathers/wings which came as a lil surprise to me cuz it is ironic considering house sang’s emblem and things...]
he can be very charming if he wants to, and if he’s interested enough in someone / finds it interesting to poke their buttons, he will teasingly do so. he tends to show that charming & teasing side a little more towards nobility, the more contemplative side of him reserved for his quiet moments: so most people do have an impression of him as outgoing, charming and diplomatically friendly.
he has unfortunately, not have had any prior romances or crushes (he probably didn’t understand much of why he needed to have one and was more worried over the growing loyalties he saw of his house towards the vassals they were pledged to), though there is a possibility that quite a number of pple have had crushes on him.
xuanyu disagrees beneath the surface with a lot of what house zhao values--or the soldier mentality that has kept their house trapped in foolish loyalty to the declining house sang. (or what he thinks is a declining house sang) and with the recent assassination + exile of some of house sang’s daughters, that sentiment has only grown stronger, which makes him all the more apprehensive of the fire lord’s reign : because who knows what the fire lord would do to them in the future, with house sang no longer ontop of their heads?
xuanyu disagrees as well (rather DEEPLY) with house sang’s pacifistic ideals--to him, things that you want ought to be grasped tightly in your fist, and sometimes regardless of the process of how you obtain what you want, as long as the end/bigger picture is attained, everything you do, no matter how uncomfortable it is--is right.
and so xuanyu secretly seeks emancipation of his house from house sang, something he hides from all members of his family. there’s no telling what he’ll really do to be emancipated from them, truly.
considering that his family presides over being house sang’s personal military, bodyguards as well as being the guards of the city...we can all assume of the possibility of something going really wrong if they’re not held in check.
for someone who dislikes the idea of his house’s blind faith and loyalty towards house sang, it’s ironic that xuanyu himself demands such faith and loyalty from the yuyan archers that he commands. he’s efficient, ruthless and cold-blooded when needed--which was one of the reasons why many were surprised that even at the age of 30, despite his genius in his younger days for firebending, xuanyu has yet to reach the ability of lightening bending, something of which he does get scathed for.
he has long fallen from being a genius in the eyes of many, due to his inability to lightening bend, even though his many other accolades attest to his capabilities as both a diplomat and a commander.
in fact, xuanyu’s latent talent is shown by the fact that he has in fact, mastered almost all kinds of weapons that he has come across. he is both an incredible marksman and blademaster, a skilled spear and halberd user, all of which, he had come across and mastered in his youth, with the latter two having been learnt partially out of interest and boredom. he is also adept in terrain + military strategies, and has a pretty good knowledge of utilizing traps and botany, something that he’s still conscientiously studying.
despite being talented, what a lot of people don’t know is that xuanyu spends a lot of time and effort in honing his skills. he is the kind of person that is like 90% talent and 110% hardwork, which is why many (including his dad) are disappointed that he hasn’t reached the threshold of being able to use lightning bending.
xuanyu also holds little attachment to his family, despite having a good familial background and a loving family. while he plays a wonderful older sibling and a duitful son, xuanyu is not tied down by ideas of loyalty towards his family or clan, and with the ability to see beyond the trappings of a house’s benefits and loyalty, it is from there where his conflict stems. despite his ambition, he is a free spirit, although he is currently chained down by his father’s determination to be loyal to the sang family.
xuanyu’s father may be the head of the household, but he has been managing the financial assets and diplomatic relations of house zhao for quite some time ever since he turned 18. however, the final say still remains with his dad, though that isn’t to say that he’s not above doing suspicious stuff without anyone knowing.
he has a burn across his collarbone close enough to his neck from a slight mishap in a firebending spar in his youth, when he was still considered a firebending genius. admittedly, in his younger days he showed off a bit more, and that burn is a reminder when someone older & more advanced than him in firebending decided to put him in his place in a spar. since then he’s learned to keep mum about his talents, just quietly letting them grow without anyone knowing.
the burn actually ended up festering and turning him feverish, so xuanyu had a lot of time in bed by himself feverishly thinking abt things and replaying that match in his head...so...the unfairness / underhanded tactics in that one battle actually set the stage for him learning to be underhanded and sly in his own battles. strike first before the enemy can make a move, and when you strike--make it hurt.
he has quite a lot of scars on his body that were from his time in the army as well as the battles he went thru.
wanted connections:
CHILDHOOD FRIENDS, ENEMIES, FRENEMIES -- probably nobility, and maybe by extension some royals, considering that they’re of a lesser noble house? young xuanyu still hides a lot of his countenance behind the mask of being dutiful and affable, and he was known as a genius back in his younger days (though that sentiment seems to have long faded into disappointment). he was also a little bit of a showoff, especially when his parents were around, believing that that was what was expected of him--until a particular spar that left a scar on the side of his neck told him that sometimes less is a little more.
EX-BODYGUARD? -- considering that xuanyu is a part of the zhao family, i’m sure he was sent out perhaps a couple of times to gain experience in being bodyguards for some nobles or royalty. he joined the military at a pretty young age considering that his family is of military, so you might hv had a teen xuanyu being responsible for your wellbeing. whether or not that connection remains as good or as bad as its suppose to be is up to you.
BEING THE SUBJECT OF ONE-SIDED CRUSHES -- despite having no experience of romances himself, and oblivious as hell about things related to it, xuanyu’s good looks and the affable disposition that he shows in front of many probably made him one of the most yearned for noble bachelors in the vicinity. unfortunately, none of these one sided crushes have ever come into fruition, and xuanyu might or might not have broken a couple of hearts both intentionally and unintentionally somewhere along the way with his obliviousness.
RIVALS / SUBORDINATES/ SUPERIORS -- despite his affableness, xuanyu will often butt heads with people that he believes aren’t right, or if he disagrees with their ideas, especially when it comes to the yuyan archers or if you are his superior in military. not that he questions your capabilities of course, he just doesn’t like being told what to do, even though he ends up doing it accordingly and well. and he’ll probably make sure you know that he’s not happy with that.
PARTNERS IN CRIME / MAYBE NOT IN CRIME -- there are a lot of things that xuanyu keeps hidden, not just from everyone, but also family. but it is also what enables him to have unlikely partnerships with a lot of people, though keeping it deeply under the wraps is something that he values heavily. his trust is not easily earned, and whether or not he enjoys your partnership enough to continue it is also another thing entirely.
MORAL COMPLEXITIES -- being the subordinate / working closely in the military with xuanyu also means that in one way or another, you are given more insight into the seemingly dutiful and affable eldest of the zhaos. you’ve seen him at his worst, and at his best, quarreled over the niftiest of things to the greatest moral complexities in war--and perhaps you are slowly realizing that perhaps, zhao xuanyu’s moral values don’t seem to align much with what he seemingly portrays himself to be.
RED STRINGS OF FATE -- xuanyu not having experience in love doesn’t mean that he’s incapable of love. in fact -- he’s just never really thought about it in particular detail. he’s either never formed a close enough attachment to someone for such an attraction to occur, or he’s always had something on his mind that takes priority over fiscal things like finding love. you’ve either caught his attention from the get go or he’s found himself having a slow liking for you. i’m also much of an angst lover, so 👀 i believe i’ve pretty much set him up for misunderstandings and lack of communication or maybe even perhaps him falling in love but not saying / confessing himself because of his nature to keep things close to his heart and barred from anyone else. perhaps this red string of fate will crash and burn or consume both of them in flames, or maybe it will be one of gradual longing but never attaining, snipped short by either one of their own doings. who knows? give me moments where xuanyu compromises his morals and does things he usually won’t do all for them!!! but god does he not know how and what is love and i am so ready for him to just be slammed into it without any preparation before hand. of all the things that xuanyu likes to control, romance is probably something he never thought would slip out of his control...




















