Profile
Su Fei picked up an axe when she was young to keep the fires going during the winter her father injured his back, and never really put it back down; there was always work to be done, and she was ever eager to help. Raised full of love in humble means by her two fathers—a priest of the anima sect of the three-branched church, and a tinkerer and craftsman—Su Fei lived quietly at the edge of the kingdom for a long time, dimly aware of the ruling empire's crimes but never entirely believing they would interfere with her quiet life, until they did. When revolutionary forces rose up against the empire's move to violently separate the church's sects, Su Fei took up her axe alongside them to protect her home and family. She spent some years as a soldier, dependable, but ashamed at how long she'd let herself live in ignorance. Despite the empire's best efforts, the revolution did succeed, but Su Fei couldn't be there for the final battle—an awful, fiery injury at the climax of the final push against the palace left her near dead, and while stubborn force of will over too much time left her alive, she lost a leg for her troubles.
The kingdom is still fresh out of their uprising, and there's much rebuilding to be done, but for now, the future seems hopeful. No one would have faulted Su Fei for returning completely to her quiet life—her higher-ups tried to encourage it, if anything—but she'd discovered a sense of responsibility somewhere along the way and couldn't let herself sit idly when there was work to be done, number of functional limbs be damned. Her pegasus, Lairen, was imperial property, but without an empire to decide who does and doesn't get pegasi, it was decided that the least she could get in exchange for her troubles was a friend-shaped new way to get around. These days, she works with a courier service, primarily flying messages across the kingdom to regarding the rebuilding and restructuring efforts between new leadership and other important figures, but she's too soft-hearted to say no to bringing letters and packages to faraway friends, too.
Su Fei is generally calm and kind, cheerfully encouraging enthusiasm and playfully teasing those she likes—a big sisterly sort, if anything—and while she much prefers to solve problems without conflict, if you absolutely insist that she solves the problem you're making by kicking your ass, she's gonna make you regret it. When you get her going, she gets really intense, and between this, her insistence on getting involved in Situations and Problems, how difficult she is to truly rattle, and her determination to do a thing called What She Wants, she very quickly becomes a force to be reckoned with when she sets her mind to something. Although the war hasn't quite been taken out of the woman, and she carries her losses and fear of her own capacity for violence more heavily than she prefers to let on, Su Fei really just wants to live a quiet life. She happily encourages those around her to be kind to those around them and do what makes them happy so people can live in peace together and make the most of their own lives, but her strong sense of right and wrong and vague feelings of atonement won't let her settle while there's still problems she can help fix.
Su Fei was originally a Fire Emblem fan character for a tabletop campaign. Those unfamiliar with the series should understand it as a JRPG set in medieval fantasy Europe and focused on the conflict of a war. Su Fei's setting, based on vaguely medieval-era China, instead takes place after a war which Su Fei took place in: a revolutionary uprising against a violent, oppressive empire. Her story takes place a few years after, while the country still works on rebuilding but has settled into something like stability, establishing a government run by the people instead of any kind of individual imperial force.
Please use this piece as an official reference, but this one as a reference for her body type. I also have these notes on her "default" hair style!
- Heavily scarred, but take particular note of the scar across the left side of her nose, the two scars across the left side of her lips, the wide scar at and going under her left collarbone, the lightning burn down her left shoulder and upper arm, and of course the burn scars at her leg and lower torso.
- Almost never without her decorative hair comb; it sits at the top of her ponytail. It's hand-carved out of wood and the top is made to look like pink plum blossoms bunched together. They're painted so well that they look real until she takes the accessory out to show it's attached to the comb.
- Alternate outfit notes:
- Enormous preference for dresses over pants. Most have slits up the left side to offer the best range of movement for her. If it's cold, she's not too proud to wear pants, though; she sews the loose leg closed up instead of tying them off.
- Feminine-leaning fashion style: likes jewelry, and always wears a set of earrings, sometimes necklaces; regularly wears a little bit of makeup; long hair is often kept in styles that are more stylish than functional.
- Preference for bold, warm colors, especially red.
- Her wheelchair and crutches (forearm as opposed to underarm) are both made out of wood and bamboo, with flower designs meticulously painted and carved into them.
- While her preferred method of transportation is pegasusback, obviously this isn't always plausible; most places are more easily gotten to with her crutches so she has them with her even if she's using something else as a primary mobility aid, but she uses her wheelchair in any instance she's expecting to be out and about for long.
- She has a prosthesis with the same matching floral design, but it doesn't get much use; she'll wear it if she expects to be in her wheelchair for a while because it's easier for standing up briefly than finagling with her crutches, but otherwise it's more trouble than it's worth.
i'll write out something real later but for now you get bullet points!!!
- su fei is the only child of her fathers, a craftsman/tinkerer and a priest. she grows up helping run the town temple, and otherwise being part of a fixture of the community
- when she's young, the temple acquires an orphan boy, jian, only two years older than her—where else is an abandoned child to go? he's taken in as a ward of the temple, all but officially adopted by her parents—there is always a difference in how they are presented, but jian is su fei's sibling in all but name
- su fei's father hurts his back when she is a young teen, and she opts to take up, among other duties, his axe and his job chopping wood to keep the fires going herself. he never fully recovers, and she keeps this task as hers, among others—when physical labor is necessary, the village ends up going to su fei, and she grows strong
- revolution has been brewing for most of su fei's life, and when fighting breaks out, it is far from her town. su fei opts to continue living her quiet life, assuming things will resolve themselves before they get to her
- surprise! they don't! the empire encroaches on her town, albeit in small ways, as they plan to forcibly split the three-branched church her father serves. when su fei learns this, she also learns that her parents and jian have been serving the revolutionary efforts in small ways behind her back: they harbor fugitives in the temple and ensure safe passage and supplies as they can. they left su fei out of all of this for her own safety
- su fei is overwhelmed by guilt and shame, that her loved ones were working so hard while she did absolutely nothing—she insists on joining in on their work herself. jian intends to join in on the fighting himself, serving the war effort directly as a medic, and su fei decides that she's going to go with him, lending her axe and strength to combat
- su fei goes to war! it sucks! the revolution is surprisingly well-equipped for being essentially a peasant uprising, having been building up over time, and with ire against the empire increasing so much as to give them a major numbers advantage. still, combat is, of course, difficult and awful. despite her struggles to adapt, su fei continues to press on, feeling that it is her duty to serve where she can
- most of su fei's squadron dies over time. in particular, jian falls victim to a trap set with huoyao, fire medicine—gunpowder—a new invention from the empire, and is burned to death. su fei takes most of the deaths hard, but jian's is the worst of all
- on the battlefield, late into the war, a fire mage using huoyao targets su fei's closest friend (and, at this stage, lover), meili. meili is a lion shifter—she can transform into a lion with enhanced strength and ability and fight in that form. beast shifters are particularly susceptible to fire, so su fei takes one look at the spell about to strike her and gets in the way, taking the hit herself
- her injuries are massively severe. su fei is barely alive when she's taken off the battlefield, and spends a long time being treated. in the end, most of her right leg is amputated due to the severity of her burns. she nearly dies, but presses on through, making it out alive
- the war has ended by the time su fei is in the vicinity of up and running again. the empire has successfully been brought down, and new governments run by and for the people are starting to rise. su fei is given a qilin, later named lairen, to serve as a service animal for her troubles—qilins as steeds were formerly exclusively imperial property
- most of the rest of her squadron died while su fei was out of it, leaving her, meili, and shoshanna as the only survivors. shoshanna commits suicide not long after the war's end.
- su fei takes time to get to know lairen and figure out how they can help each other, as well as just generally recover. as soon as she is capable of function, she decides that she can't just sit idly around while the world is recovering and changing. she decides to help with deliveries: she acts as a courier for those newly-forming governments, flying across the country on lairen's back. she's a softie, though, and happily delivers letters and packages to people with faraway friends, too
- meili starts a family of her own and declares su fei the gan ma, godmother, of the children she has
- su fei does not see a lot of home, deciding to travel as often as possible, in part to escape feelings of guilt and her inability to face her trauma directly
- boisterous and friendly
- a little foul-mouthed and rude
- everyone's big sister
- weighed down by her past
- a bit of a bully
- dealing with her trauma in any sort of healthy manner
- holding herself in high esteem
- genuinely mean-spirited
- Horseback riding and pegasus-flying.
- Combat, especially with an axe.
- Basic medical treatment.
- An excellent sense of direction: Su Fei remembers and follows given directions easily, can find her way back from where she came without much trouble, and rarely gets lost.
Her Parents
description
Meili
The last of Su Fei's old war buddies who made it out alive. To call them close doesn't quite do their relationship justice.
Meili's Children
Su Fei serves as gan ma to all three of Meili's children. They absolutely adore her, as well as "Auntie Lairen."
Deceased
Jian
description
Shoshanna
description
Sying
description
Fulin
description
Null
description
Shuren De
A courier who worked closely with her squad, particularly Fulin. While they never took much notice of Su Fei, she admired them deeply for their work, and while she took their death hard, it was also a stark reminder of how they hadn't been especially close at all after seeing Fulin's grief. Despite that, she thinks of herself as continuing their important work now that she's become a messenger herself.
- Her parents are "papa" (the priest) and "dad" (the wood carver), but they just as frequently answer to either.
- Su Fei has picked up a few small habits from her parents, none of which she notices until she's doing them, and all of which exasperate her endlessly. She's very fond of her parents, but there's an inherent horror involved in turning into them.
- She has little patience for puns, having grown up surrounded by Dad Jokes(tm), and she's quick to express it, but every now and again she lets a stupid wisecrack slip and immediately regrets it.
- So far as her papa is concerned, there's a tea to cure all that ails you, and brewing a cup has become Su Fei's go-to problem solver.
- In her truest times of annoyance, Su Fei will let one of the "ai ya"s her papa is absolutely full of slip through, and think about it hours later and have to think long and hard at who and what she has become.
- Her sense of direction is impeccable. She rarely gets lost, easily remembers and interprets given instructions, and is phenomenal at retracing her steps.
- Her western Zodiac sign is Pisces, and her Chinese zodiac sign is Ox.
- Her birthday is March 20th, the spring equinox. Every year on both the spring and autumn equinoxes, her parents make her a gift: her dad carves a wooden figurine of an animal, and her papa paints it. She keeps the massive collection in her bedroom.
- While she has no strong preferences about animals overall (Lairen excepted), she's more of a cat person than a dog person by leagues. Cats are chillers; you can just leave a cat to chill. You have to figure out what to do with a dog and Su Fei doesn't know what to do with them.
- She used to be scared of heights—or, more like the idea of them, as she almost never had to actually experience being up very high. Once she worked herself up to flying on Lairen's back, she instantly fell in love with the experience.
- Despite being raised religiously, Su Fei identifies most closely as an atheist. The war shook her faith terribly and she never recovered it. Even so, she happily performs her duties at the family temple. She hasn't discussed this with much of anyone—certainly not her parents and certainly not her papa, who would be heartbroken.
Likes
FlyingThe color red
Alcohol
Spicy foods
Jewelry
Flowers and floral patterns
Dislikes
FireDogs
Any kind of magic study one could equate to "mad science"
Immortality as a concept
Lances
Swords
- Crutches. Forearm crutches made of bamboo and wood, designed by her dad. They've been painted with lovely, intricate floral designs. Her preferred mode of transportation; ideally she'll ride Lairen and use the crutches to get up and move about briefly when necessary.
- Wheelchair. Made of wood and bamboo, and again designed by her dad. For use in instances where she isn't able to ride Lairen, but will need to move a fair amount. Generally she prefers to ride Lairen, though, for a variety of reasons including ease of getting up stairs.
- Prosthesis. Su Fei has a prosthetic leg made, again by her dad, of wood and painted with the same floral designs as her crutches. It gets little use, as the trouble of not having a properly bendable knee is rarely worth it, but sometimes makes an appearance while she's using her wheelchair.
- Mail Bag. A heavy messenger bag slung easily over a shoulder or clipped onto Lairen's saddle. Surprisingly beat up for only being a few years old, but it's received very consistent use all that time.
- Woodcutter's Axe. An axe that's served Su Fei well, from her service to her family to her time on the battlefield. It stays put away at home, never too far from easy access—just in case.
♫ Monster Hospital - Metric
i fought the war, but the war won
♫ In Our Bedroom After the War - Stars
listen, the birds sing; listen, the bells ring; all the living are dead, and the dead are all living, the war is over and we are beginning
♫ Iron - Woodkid
i'm frozen to the bones, i am a soldier on my own, i don't know the way
♫ Only if for a Night - Florence and the Machine
and the only solution was to stand and fight, and my body was bruised and i was set alight, but you came over me like some holy rite, and although i was burning, you're the only light
♫ Lewis Takes Action - Owen Pallett
i close my eyes and spur imelda down the mountainside for a liberated spectrum
♫ Jackrabbit - San Fermin
wanna live like an animal, by the skin of your teeth, put your good face on, not foolin' no one, you're a jackrabbit underneath
♫ Younger - The Mountain Goats
it never hurts to give thanks to the broken bones you had to use to build your ladder; moment close at hand, half of you will never understand, and it doesn't really matter
♫ Sax Rohmer #1 - The Mountain Goats
every battle heads toward surrender on both sides, and i am coming home to you with my own blood in my mouth
♫ Every Planet We Reach is Dead - Gorillaz
i lost my leg like i lost my way; so no loose ends, nothing to see me down, how are we going to work this out?
