Application to Eastbound

[thesuspense]

PLAYER NAME: Rei
CONTACT: reineke
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: ruxi (she has great hair btw)

CHARACTER: Xue Yang
CANON: Mo Dao Zu Shi
CANON POINT: end of Yi City arc – his death

BACKGROUND: Here’s the history section in the wiki.

ABILITIES | POWERS: As per the wiki. Also they didn’t write it in there for some unforgivable reason, but he can carve apple bunnies. He can probably carve other things too. He is so talented.

PERSONALITY: When it comes to Xue Yang’s personality, the word ‘childish’ comes to mind, which has to very firmly be pried away from the usual implication of ‘innocent’ that tends to go hand in hand. Xue Yang is childish in so far as that he perceives the world in his own, self-centred way, both unwilling and seemingly incapable of straying away from that twisted and often delusional viewpoint. However, that does not excuse his actions, as while it is debatable how much it sinks in until the moment they happen, he is aware of consequences, he simply elects not to care about them.

Even his virtues, such as they are, can be traced back to his unique disposition. It is less that he is brave and more that fear does not appear to register with him. Similarly, he seems unbothered by pain, at least as a momentary reaction. He is very willing to indulge in it if he can score some pity.

In spite of not belonging to any cultivation clan and growing up on the streets as a delinquent, Xue Yang has managed to persevere and reach a relatively high cultivation level as well as, even more significantly, mastering demonic cultivation in a way no one other than its founder has. This might be fuelling his contempt towards virtually everyone else, especially cultivators that would be considered above him in status. This perception of himself seems to be somewhat fragile, at least insofar as that he is quite sensitive towards any actual or imagined slight, any inkling that someone might be looking down on him.

His love for sweets of all sorts – pastries, candy, etc. – goes beyond a simple character quirk, as the indulgence in sweets symbolises the freedom and luxury he has earned by becoming as powerful and being as ruthless as he had to.

As a small child, he was naïve and trusting – at least by his own account – and in a very twisted way, that naivety hasn’t truly left him. Only instead of believing the world to be good, he has come to consider it and everyone in it evil, which probably enables him to consider any and all of his actions, however twisted they might be, as justified. He expects the worst of the world and proves himself right frequently, lashing out himself to show the unfairness of the world to others. Finally, when encountering something – or someone – who messes with that perception, he is thrown for a loop.

This someone is Xiao Xingchen, a rogue cultivator who has come down from the mountain to haunt him. After their initial meeting, Xue Yang thought of him as self-righteous, pretentious, and sanctimonious, so over the course of years, he makes it a goal to undo all of that. Ultimately, it can be said, that he does succeed to his own chagrin, although obviously the debt other people had to pay for this absurd idea of revenge was far more tragic. Still, while it is obvious that Xue Yang does care about Xiao Xingchen as much as he possibly can, even if in a terrible way, it never seems to sink in. Throughout his life, up until his death, he displays a severe lack of awareness of his own emotions, at least any other than anger and a surface level cheer and teasing disposition. How much pain he must have felt over his attachment to Xiao Xingchen comes out in his actions, looking at the massacres committed in his name as well as how insulting he finds it that his plan actually worked to split Song Lan from him. Arguably, he loves him more than anything, but he has neither the awareness nor the emotional tools to deal with this in any other way than total ruin.

Other than the immense impact that Xiao Xingchen had on his personal journey, a more steady and less agonising presence is Meng Yao – Jin Guangyao – who was the one to recruit him to the Lanling Jin Clan where he proceeded to become the only junior to show any talent for demonic cultivation. (Possibly bar Mo Xuanyu, but that’s a bit of a confusing mess, so who even knows.) His feelings towards Meng Yao remain steadily the same, he is loyal to him, considers him a friend, admires his talents, even if he doesn’t understand his way of handling things, and he shows his positive feelings towards him by acting under his orders, as well as enacting or at least threatening revenge on his behalf without being told. He seems to defer to his authority ultimately, even if he may still act like a brat about it.

SAMPLE: with Xiao Xingchen on the TDM

with Meng Yao for some canon-divergence

INVENTORY: his sword Jiangzai (降灾, Jiàngzāi), hidden in a modified Qiankun sleeve
Yin Tiger Tally, used to control a large number of fierce corpses
some pieces of candy, but not that one piece of candy™ given by Xiao Xingchen
corpse powder – causes an illness that results in death and the victim turning into a fierce corpse if untreated
antidote to corpse powder – made into as sweet potion <3
skull-piercing nails, used to control conscious fierce corpses
two daggers

NOTES: Xiao Xingchen’s player’s approval to come and likely ruin his life a couple more times has been received. Sorry. He’s awful.

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? I don’t know, how related is plot-heavy to the bear? Honestly, I don’t have a preference, I’ll go with the flow and it will probably be terrible, because it’s him.