PERSONALITY TRAITS: charming, competitive, perfectionist, patient, eloquent, self-decieving, confident but also needs to feel appreciated,  level-headed, needs to be in control
PERSONALITY:

If there was one word to describe Lian with, it'd be instagram. Seemingly perfect on the outside, with beautiful appearances and filters, hiding the depths that are far from the "perfect" you are showcased. She is beautiful and charming and eloquent and you never know that she is anything perfect, that is until you peer inside of her and see the mess that is her head.

Eloquence and charm are her thing, if you didn't notice from the way she dresses. She charms her way through almost everything. She has the looks, she has the body, she has the eloquence; she gets away with the things she wants because she knows how to. Confidence is also an important ingredient to success, and Lian has enough for show (but just for show. Inside her head it gets more complicated). Some might say what she does is borderline-manipulative. Lian calls it charming. All is fair in love and war, and life is but one big messy combination of these two. She is also very patient and encouraging of others, and will tell you how great you're doing so that you would feel better and try harder. 

These traits can be quite convinient in an emergency - Lian is collected and doesn't lose her head and can provide a solution (most likely one that involves talking of some sorts). Her sense of responsibility is one of the main factors in her level-headedness; she doesn't like dissapointing neither others nor herself and feels the need to be in control of the situation. Most times she thinks she succeeds. Some times that's not the case.

On the outside she might look like the perfect babysitter, but that really isn't the case. Lian loves to pretend all is well, that she can simply talk her way through everything, that she has everything under control.She deceives herself with her perfect image as much as she deceives others, because once you tell a lie enough times you start believing in it.  So confident she is in the little bubble she created that it's easy even for her to forgot that one small trigger and everything comes crashing down like a wrecking ball. 

Lian needs to be in control, and when things don't go her way she'll force them to. Criticism puts her in a limbo of anger and despair where she constantly asks herself if she has not done enough? Or perhaps the person saying these things is simply wrong? Or perhaps her looks outshine her skills once again? These thoughts make her discouraged in her mind, but she must maintain the perfect image that is Lam Qiaolian and so she tries to act as if nothing's wrong. But everything is wrong. But she won't talk to anyone about it because she must maintain her perfect image, and the circle goes on and on. It's a corner she pushes herself into and there is no way for her to get out of it unless she admits that everything is not as perfect as it seems, that she is not the picture perfect hongkongese foreign girl, and she is not the SM trainee who is living her life because she's from SM, and not everything works out for her simply because she's beautiful. But she cannot admit it because that would mean that these things are all true. 

Ever since she was a child there was a constant need to be the very best, no matter in what. It makes Lian a perfectionist and also a bit competitive. One of her most carnal desires is to be recognized as more than just beautiful, and that is her main drive. She tries her best, but of course a lot of times she simply can't be. When she sees someone who's so effortlessly good at the very same thing she failed, she can't help getting a little jealous but mostly disappointed in herself. Same thing when people notice others skills, while all people see her as is the visual. She keeps it all inside, of course - everything must be under control - but one day it shall explode. And all hell would break loose.

BACKGROUND: 

She was born pretty, raised pretty, and is pretty to her core. Pretty was what people defined her with since her birth, and pretty is basically all there is for her. And she hates it. She hates it with all of her heart.

From the moment Lian was born, people told her she was beautiful. She was a beautiful baby, and a beautiful child. The first thing people always noticed about her was her looks, and that impression stuck. And while Lian quickly learned that being pretty could give you a huge advantage, she also learned that once people saw you as "pretty" it was hard for them to see you as anything else.

It was always "Qiaolian you're so pretty!" instead of "What a good job, Qiaolian!" or "Woah Qiaolian is so smart!" and while she liked being called pretty, it was not enough for her. 

Even as a child she strived to be the best at everything - sports, music, education, and of course looks. That resulted in her asking her parents to be signed to as many after-school activities as she could. They, of course, were ecstatic that their little girl was curious and ambitious, and thus Lian was introduced to drawing, the piano, singing, acting and ballet. All she enjoyed, but none actually excelled. Her looks remained, as always, her best asset. And it wasn't like she didn't enjoy it - the attention she recieved (from highe-rups, students or just plain strangers) was flattering, but also full of opportunities. Girls offered her to hang with them, guys offered her their homework in exchange for a smile. But at the same time she was getting tired of being just the pretty one. She was trying so hard to be the best at everything, but the only time she was being aknowledged was when it had to do with beauty. And so years went by, and Lian kept on being beautiful. There was nothing to her other than being beautiful, no matter how much she tried.

She continued her after-school activities in high school as well, partly because she enjoyed singing and performing and partly because she couldn't let go - she knew that if she stopped those without getting appreciated for her skills she'd be disappointed in herself. 

Then, in her senior year of high school she was scouted by an SM representative who saw her coming back from singing practice. She was told to come audition for SM Entertainment, and Lian finally felt like she was appreciated. It only occured to her later, when she was already a trainee, that she was scouted because of her looks rather than the fact that she took singing lessons, but at the time Lian thought that the scout heard her sing and found her worthy of SM's time. She all but begged her parents to allow her to fly to Korea and audition, and they agreed. She passed her audition mostly thanks to her looks, but Lian didn't think of it that way. Ever self-decieving, she convinced herself that she was there thanks to her skills, and finally, for the first time in her life, she was appreciated not only because of her visuals.

TRIVIA:

✩ Likes :

– Sweets Especially creamy cakes and red velvet cupcakes. The problem is she can't eat them because then she'll become fat (or like, 50kgs, the horror!). The last time she's eaten a cupcake was her birthday last year.
– Being told she's pretty Even her ego needs a boost from time to time.
– But also being told she's good at something That's even better. Not many people aknowledge her for her skills, and if you will consider yourself her new friend.
– The Ocean back in Hong Kong, she lived by the sea, and used to go to the shore and watch the waves when she was upset. It's one of the things she misses most in Korea.
– Jackson Wang who is basically her idol. As the only other idol from Hong Kong, she really want to get to know him in the future if she gets to debut, because he seems so fun and nice and he's from Hong Kong! 

✩ Dislikes :

– Clowns Ugh nope, they're way too creepy, especially with those toothy smiles. If she's startled enough by one she'll cry like a little girl.
– Walking alone in the night Some enjoy this. Lian can't for the life of her get why. It's scary and creepy and she could get lost or even get kidnapped!
– Constantly being told she's pretty One or Two times are enough, thank you. She has more to her than a pretty face.
– Language barrier She's still new to Korean language, and even though she's a quick language learner, language barrier is still very much a thing. It's not really bad since Lian can casually converse in Korean and she's not afraid to ask you to repeat what you've said, but the lack of ability to properly communicate her thoughts can get a bit annoying.
– Jajangmyeon in Korea Lian does not understand why koreans think the abomination they are eating is jajangmyeon. Clearly they have not tasted what a proper chinese jajangmyeon should taste like. Because if they would've they would've never, ever consider the thing they order as the authentic chinese dish.
– When she feels like she's stuck in the same place and isn't getting anywhere Because that's how mind ing bombs start and poof she's in the self loathing circle again and she can't do anything about it.

✩ Habits and hobbies :

– Either blinking rapidly or barely blinking when she's in deep thought
– Yoga
– Running her hand through her hair when nervous or in despair
– getting into the ferocious circle of self loathing, because what's a better hobby than that?

✩ Trivia:

– Her favorite color is yellow.
– And her favorite korean groups are GOT7, Gfriend and Blackpink.
– She reads books in the language she tries to learn. Currently reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Korean, as she still tries to get better at it.
– She feels like she should represent Hong Kong well in Korea and promised herself not to get into controversies so that Hong Kong's image woudln't suffer (it never occured to her that idol behavior are not the only factor in controversies).
– She's good with little kids.

RETURN TO the STORY

Sorceressdream ✩ Lara

LAST COMMENT: So this broke my heart (SNSD is one of my favorite groups and it will never be the same TT), so of course I had to apply.

SCENE REQUEST: 

✩ here

✩ here

PASSWORD: seeing how this is a fresh adventure and a fresh generation, Fresh Adventure by Laboum would fit :)