Yù-Míng Liú

Yù-Míng Liú (刘玉明; Liú Yùmíng), born 6 Xuyuè 155 AG, is the current Avatar from the Earth Kingdom, succeeding Avatar Nakoa Aeluq. Yu-Ming was identified in 172 AG by the 82nd Earth Monarch Huang Ling and former Dai Li Head Raohen Huo, alongside members of the Earth Sages. She was approximately 16 to 17 years old at the time of discovery.

Early Life

Yù-Míng Liú was born and raised in the village Zhuzi of the Gintong province in the Earth Kingdom, to Engiin and Chánxīn Liú. She was the younger of their two children, with an older brother named Xīnyú Liú. From a young age, Yù-Míng showed a natural aptitude for earthbending and spirituality. Particularly, she was mindful of the environment surrounding Zhuzi, taking care not to damage the bamboo when practising earthbending.

Yù-Míng was considerably closer to her father, Engiin, who had been a travelling musician in his youth. Before settling in Zhuzi, Chánxīn had been an ambitious writer from Gaoling. Following her marriage to Engiin and the birth of their children, she shared her passion for writing primarily with Xīnyú, whom she regarded as her more promising child.

Three years before Yù-Míng's emergence as the Avatar, Engiin became ill, bringing an end to the family's frequent travels. The situation worsened when Xīnyú unexpectedly left the family, leaving Chánxīn deeply affected by his departure. Yù-Míng subsequently attempted to fill the role left by her brother, bringing additional pressure upon herself within an already strained family.

Personality

Yù-Míng is an outspoken, compassionate and ambitious girl who loves to go out of her way to help others, rarely seeing anything but the best in people, she's the kind of person that would complement a mute person on their listening skills, believing everyone has something that makes them exceptional and makes it her mission to help them thrive. Whether it's subtle encouragement or confronting their biggest fears for them, Yù-Míng always strives to put in the work for her friends, family or the world at large, and feels selfish for having any desires or ambitions that are frivolous or self-interested.

This altruism however, can sometimes come across as patronising or overbearing, as Yù-Míng fully believes she can understand and solve other peoples' problems, and it's her responsibility to do so, even when she's way out of her depth, though that won't stop her from trying with the same headstrong attitude she tackles everything with. As a result, she also finds it difficult to view herself capable of harm, and isn't afraid to make her opinions, or her disapproval of other's opinions, known. However, once the acknowledgement that she's messed up hits, it'll weigh heavily on her and she'll feel terribly guilty and embarrassed for a good while, often isolating herself. Yù-Míng welcomes other people into her circle easily, and even if she might take things a bit personally at times, she's quick to forgive, and it'll take a lot to fully break her trust, however if you do it's unlikely you'll ever win it back and she'll view you as public enemy number one, probably making it her personal mission to have absolutely nothing to do with you.

Above all, Yù-Míng just loves to make friends, and hates to lose them, giving so much of herself to someone else just to have them reject it entirely makes her feel worthless and purposeless, so she'll do anything to show her friends that she's someone worth sticking close to.