Min Ruan

Her past isn't anything all that exciting. At least, not what one would expect out of someone as popular as that of her celeb persona. She lived a pretty ordinary childhood and was fortunate enough to be blessed with both parents. Early on in her life, her mother recognized her intellect in certain areas of school and put her into a special Catholic school where she learned mathematics at a rapid rate. She was always in the top of her class with a few exceptions, but math wasn't something she personally enjoyed pursuing. She had already found an interest in training her voice and also in English.

So, she made her hobby self-studying English. She thoroughly enjoyed it and once she was into University, she made it her major. Though her mother would consider singing her daughter's only hobby growing up, Min would say music was just something she enjoyed and didn't pay any mind until she was in her late teens. Eventually, she tried out for a singing competition at eighteen and won the top prize thus beginning her musical career began. A once verily shy Min found herself in the spotlight and was honestly surprised by how much she originally embraced it.

Opting to change her name to protect her past like all others preceding her, she made a preference for going by her chosen English name of Jolin. It has since become a household name in Taiwan. Her career saw a slew of ups and downs, but the highs were tremendously better than the lows. She was always constantly trying to find ways to reinvent herself to stay on top, and it wasn't until recent times that she became truly recognized for her being more than just the cute teenage girl heartthrob everyone first knew her as at the start of her career. Breaking out of that image wasn't easy, but she found her way out of it with some fine-tuned dance moves gained while in London.

Typical to her personality, she set about reinventing herself all over again. She refused to be known as any sort of copycat or unoriginal pop star. While preserving her dancer image, she also tried very hard to keep a clean one for her younger fans that stayed faithful, too. As an idol, she acknowledged the role she played to young people and worked hard to keep her image at least semi-pure even in her later years. She has been a little oblivious of some of her dances being bad, but it hasn't gotten her into any trouble.

Once the outbreak occurred, she took charge in keeping her friends and family safe. Until her powers manifested on her, she was getting along bravely with holding down the fort inside her parents' house. Terrified of what she had done, she almost brought the house down in flames until she figured out how to manipulate her flames to her own will. Even then, it still scared her and sent her to her own closet for days at a time just to avoid even touching others. It took her months to get over it, months she didn't realize had gone by and so when she resurfaced she felt tremendously guilty.

Getting in touch with everyone became her priority, like knowing who was still alive and who wasn't. She pushed the past year out of her mind in favor of having some semblance of normalcy in an upside down world.

after the pulse

2009

• 06/07 — Got her first visit since the outbreak from Alan and painted his nails.

• 08/24 — Her virtual marriage to Alan!

• 08/25 — Went with Alan to visit his father's grave only to be attacked by infected.

• 09/25 — Alan took her up to eat dinner in the Eiffel Tower to convince her that he loved her.

• 10/31 — Attended Vanness' Halloween party in Taipei.

• 11/27 — Had Thanksgiving dinner with Vanness, Vivian, his family, and their friends.

• 12/31 — New Years party in Rome at the club suggested by Noemi!

2010

• 01/02 — Decided to support Viv with Choon-Hee and Barbie by also being abstinent.

• 01/04 — Visited Stef to check out the stage for the tour and other things.

• 01/10 — Kicked off the Girls Abroad Tour in Los Angeles, California.

• 01/19 — Participated in the Dodge Bowl.

• 02/14 — Finished off the Girls Abroad Tour that started with a bad fight with Alan.

• 03/14 — Performed with Show Luo in the Daylight Speshow.

• 03/16 — Went to visit Stef, though inevitably skirted the subject of Jay Chou.

• 03/20 — Attended the Double V Wedding.

• 03/21 — Launched herself straight into music production.

• 03/22 — Helped out fighting infected when the hospitals were overrun. She was picked up by Alan and stayed with him awhile.

• 03/24 — Went to Singapore with Alan to try and help JJ with Angela.

• 03/27 — Resumed work on her music.

• 03/28 — Turned up in Lubbock to stay the night with Tucker.

• 03/31 — Went to Seoul to wrap up the filming of her MV and begin rehearsing for her next show.

• 04/14 — Performed with Hyori Lee in the Single Divas Special where she released the music video to her new song Real Man. Later that night, after celebrating with some drinks, they were attacked. She managed to drag herself, severely injured, to Alan's home despite him not being there. Mama Liao took her in.

• 04/16 — After returning home, she asked Alan to visit her for a talk.

• 04/19 — The toxic water made her brutally honest and also ridiculously happy. Divulged a lot of regrettable things.

• 04/22 — Went back to the studio to inevitably finish the Flower Butterfly MV and cut the album.

• 05/05 — Went to Hong Kong with Alan.

• 05/09 — Was the first guest for the first live variety show in Taipei hosted by her best friend Alan and friend Rainie Yang. She performed new songs off her album, Flower Butterfly in order to promote its release!

• 05/10 — Participated in the Lee Hyori Charity Games.

• 05/11 — Went to closing night of Les Misérables.

• 05/13 — Had photography done of her new designs in New York by Daniel in order to launch her fashion line 72 Changes.

• 05/15 — Returned to Taipei for her "surprise" of getting rejected by a blind date. Alan came to visit her right after.

• 06/01 — Began doing concert tours throughout Asia to promote her album Flower Butterfly.

• 06/13 — Played the harp for the International Classical Music Night in Paris.

• 07/01 — Pit stop to watch A Trendy Declaration in Singapore!

• 07/10 — Did her last campus show at Taipei Normal University.

• 07/16 — Guest artist for the Funhouse Tour in Beijing. During her performance, she injured her waist though kept on until her parts were over. She is now on bed rest, and costing her label a lot of money.

• 07/20 — Helped out where she could Taipei during the attacks.

• 07/30 — Celebrated Alan's birthday with him and his mommy!

• 08/10 — Tried, despite her injury, to help fan the flames in Taipei during the second WDD.

• 08/24 — Went to New York to do more designs and modeling for 72 Changes.

• 08/29 — Returned to Taipei!

• 09/05 — Cupid made her fall in love with Alan for a day, but she got ditched for freakin' Rainie Yang.

• 09/13 — Left for Cannes to have a sleepover with Shun.

• 09/15 — Was given three months vacation from all concerts and filming from her company.

• 10/02 — Forced away from her home due to Woohoo being possessed and amassing an army of dogs against her.

• 10/08 — Had a spat with Alan, and he came over the next day to talk it out.

• 10/24 — Performed at the Beautiful World Concert!

• 10/31 — Inevitably was possessed by a succubus, but had some control of herself. So, she got a little hurt while trying to keep herself inside.

• 11/06 — Attended the Vanness and Vivian Halloween party in Taipei.

• 11/13 — After arriving in Vegas, she got settled in her Bellagio villa and was attacked by strange men.

• 11/14 — Oh shit. She's married to Alan.

• 11/21 — Finally came back to Taipei.

• 12/03 — She got kidnapped by her attackers from Las Vegas.

• 12/05 — Rescued by Alan and Vic. Her attackers were thankfully killed. She just knows it's "taken care of".

• 12/14 — Ariel threw her and Alan a surprise anniversary party!

• 12/15 — Back to work!

• 12/24 — Performed for On A Winter's Night.

• 12/31 — Went wild partying with the girls in Hong Kong.

Girly, Min is very, very girly; rather, she's incredibly feminine without being obnoxious. Well, she hopes she isn't obnoxious anyway. Not necessarily an extrovert, she could hardly be considered a complete introvert either. She's confident and outspoken in her own way while still trying to maintain a semi-humble persona for the sake of preserving a proper public image. She can jump from one end of the spectrum to another in a manner of seconds depending on the circumstances. Although preferring to remain cheerful and upbeat, she isn't one to get all that hyper even if she's in a wonderful mood.

For the most part, she's a fun-loving person to be around. She cares greatly about her friends and family. She treats everyone regardless of their status with the utmost respect the majority of the time. Certainly the opposite in personality of what a diva ought to be on her good days, she has enough determination to wear the title with pride. She is constantly pushing forward and adapting with the times to stay afloat, as she always feels she has something to prove. In this respect, she's fiercely determined and isn't known for giving up. Her aggressiveness in all things is partly what's helped her persevere.

Her positive traits aside, Min can also come across as a terse and high-maintenance person when she's caught off guard. The diva title goes to her head sometimes, and has been reflected in her personality unfavorably on more than one occasion. She has had to lick her wounds and come back to find a way to make up for it, but she almost always makes up for it. She is only human, and public image facade aside - her true self can come out in front of others. Due to some of her bad experiences, it's rarely a pleasant one.

Min also has her sad side just like anybody else. Failure is not something she takes very well, and she can take bad situations fairly hard when they're personal. She tries to avoid having complete sob fests, however, and is even more averse to the idea of being alone. She is in fact an overly dependent person and has yet to shake that way of being. To have her closest friends accommodate for her in every way possible so she can get the sadness out of her system and move on with the feeling forgotten is one of the only ways she's found herself able to try and let go of an issue. Whether she does that depends on what happened to her, and how much it affected her.

Her biggest downfall is that at her worst, she just doesn't know how to fully express herself. So, she ends up pushing people away without intending to do that. She doesn't want to be alone, no, but she's also leery of trusting too many people anymore. She's afraid that, once someone knows her worst thoughts, she'll lose them. Min is well aware of how she tries to avoid talking about the heart of her problem, but believes it's such a tired issue that it's not even worth discussing because she feels she's incredibly foolish - and she is. It's bringing out some of her less than glamorous traits, but as in all things: she'll find her way eventually.

Solar Flare — Min's powers enable her to absorb solar and other radiation to generate the process of ionized matter (usually air) through a mentally-triggered biochemical process so that it is converted to plasma, the superheated state of matter. Plasma is the state in which matter making up the sun exists; hence, solar flare. She is capable of immersing her body in living flame. So yes, she is immune to flames.

flight — Min can use her powers to create super-heated air currents which push her forward through the air, enabling her to fly. Sometimes this super-heated air is visible as a trail of flame behind her, but for the most part it is viewed as displaced heat when under a bright sun. If pressed, she can fly up to 150mph.

plasma blasts — The ability to project the flames she generates at powerful blasts of energy.

plasma emanation — Min can generate plasma temperatures reaching about 1,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit at maximum level. She can also use her power in a massive radial blast.

heat signature sense — The ability to sense beings by the heat signature that they give off.

plasma shield — The ability to manipulate the plasma around her to form an aura that can melt incoming bullets or stave off other lesser physical attacks.

solar shielding psi-field — Min is protected from the heat and radiation she emits by a short-range psionic force field which automatically comes into being whenever there's air friction, and it also prevents excessive amounts of light from the plasma from reaching her eyes so as to blind or damage them. Min's body emits a protective field whenever she uses these powers.

flame teleportation — Once her body is completely immersed inflames, she can "put herself out" so to speak and spark the flame anywhere she desires. It appears small and grows in intensity until she's completely reformed. She's extremely susceptible to water in this state until she can fully form herself. Now she can reform with some remarkable speed if she focuses hard enough, but there is still a window of opportunity to douse her.

Fire Manipulation — The psionic ability to cause any fire, however small, to grow in size and intensity and to take any form that she desires, even that of a living creature. This is limited to within a 100 yard radius. Any of her fiery creations will immediately turn to ordinary, amorphous fire if she turns her interest from them.

special note — Her favorite thing to do is to form the fire into a whip (think The Balrog).

Superhuman Flexibility — Her body is extraordinarily limber and her tendons and connective tissues are twice as flexible as the average human being's.

Mother — Living.
Father — Living.
Qing Ruan — Older sister.

ex-boyfriends

Jay Chou — They dated for a long time, and he helped further her career like no other. If she could think of anything good to say about him now it would simply be that. After a year or so of dating, she found a picture of him with famous news anchor Patty Hou in the newspaper. First, she asked him about it and he denied it with a flimsy excuse. She broke up with him, but it really hurt her as she did love him. Her song The Prologue was written by her about him. Early on in 2010, he touched base with her with a friendly guise, only to more or less tear her down the day after the Daylight Speshow. She began to believe that he ruined her for other men, but eventually retaliated with another song, Real Man. Now, she feels like she can say she's over him with confidence. Still bitter, but over it.
Will — They broke up because they were going in different directions in life due to work. She couldn't keep in touch with him as much as she wanted, and worried she was just using him as rebound over Jay. Min felt he deserved better than that. He's a fun-loving guy to have around, and even more fun to dance with!
Eddie Peng — The guy gets around, but he's not a bad person. Their managers actually put the end to their relationship right when Min was seeing a pretty hard time in the entertainment field. She doesn't speak to him anymore, though she doesn't harbor any ill will toward him. She actually has no real desire to date him ever again nonetheless. It was too much trouble, particularly for him. After Jay, however, he was her longest relationship ending in September of 2008 after nearly three years of seeing each other in an on again/off again manner. She had no idea he put his career on the line for her, as her manager kept that information from her. She has decided to try and be a friend to him.

husband?!

Alan — A friendship that started off on the rocks and wound up her saving grace. Originally the one to introduce her to Jay, he was also there to pick up the pieces. To her, he is the epitome of a knight in shining armor and guardian angel alike, and someone she couldn't possibly deal without. Who else is going to let her paint their nails when she's depressed? While vacationing in Paris, he tried to tell her he really loved her. Although she didn't reciprocate those feelings, it didn't make things awkward in their friendship for her. She decided to stay ignorant in that regard until life settled down again, but that ended up straining their friendship. Now she's married to him, which threw her for a loop. After talking with some friends, however, she's seen a different side of the ordeal and is more or less okay with the way things are. It's not what she wanted or expected, but it doesn't seem so bad either. She promised his father she'd always be there for him, but for more than just that reason - she wants him to always be happy.

favorites

Alien — He is amazing. Alan's bff was someone she was bound to meet and did so early on. She thinks he's just as funny as Alan most of the time. He's not nearly as crazy as his counterpart, but he's no less fun. She gets a kick out of him, especially when they dance Bravo Lover together. She can barely do it without laughing.
Daniel — For the Day of Peace Concert, she offered to let him watch some of her rehearsals. Afterward she gave him some advice on a semi-awkward subject matter, but she didn't mind since she had unintentionally vented on him indirectly about Jay. Since then, she's became a confidante for him in his love troubles and vice versa. He's very much like a little brother to her, so she tries to look out for him and values his opinions. Plus, she really likes the videos he posts.
Noe — Met awhile back at a celeb function and she found her personality to be terribly endearing. She's been stuck with Min ever since. She was really glad that after breaking up with Jay their friendship didn't suffer like so many of her other ones did. She is near and dear to Min's heart. They talk smack about Edison Chen together.

close famous friends

Choon-Hee — Made friends with her on the community. She likes her tremendously. She seems like such a fun-loving and upbeat person and she's a fantastic dancer! Min has a blast hanging out with her whenever she can. She's also been really good at putting things into perspective for her, which is something she doesn't get out of her own gender often.
Dee — The other half of ASOS, and someone she knows well. The gossip queen and overall nice person. Often gets advice of the sexuality variety from her, and they've even gone to sex shops together before. Min's a little prudish about it, but she won't deny it.
Stef — Next to Alan, she's her closest friend. She's also someone she's worked hard to make sure that she gets properly recognized in the industry. She can usually count on her for a listening ear. Aside from Alan and Rainie, she was the only one of her closest friends to stick beside her after what happened with Jay. She knows she can trust her with most anything, though she has trouble talking to her about some things.

famous friends

Barbie — Barbie is a nice person that Min is somewhat close to at times. Always leaves the scolding of Alan to her, though she's not usually very pleased with it. Min is protective of him, after all. She doesn't usually mind her though.
JJ — A cute guy that she performs with regularly. He's a blast to be around. She really adores singing David Tao songs with him live. She also gets a kick out of flustering him with surprise flashy outfits.
Megan — How far back do they go? Honestly, Min can't remember. She just knows she has always been a down to earth and nice person and likes her lots.
Mike — He's been really nice to her! She even took him dancing. He's more serious than what she's used to, but certainly not in a bad way. She thinks highly of him.
Rainie — Min used to be really good friends with Rainie. Then Rainie befriended Patty Hou, and Min wasn't too happy about it, but didn't let it affect their friendship too much. After the outbreak, however, they talked less and less, but she still considers her a friend.
Se7en — And somewhere along the way, she caught the eye of Korea's famous dancer, Se7en. She somehow got tangled up in a bet with him and ended up losing (which is typical of her) and owes him a performance in Korea now. He's also become something of a random friend along the way. It's nice to be reminded that there's other good guys out there.
Terri — Boy can this girl party! Min almost wishes she didn't have such an idol image to uphold, otherwise she would party with her more. She's so nice!
Vanness — Style award winner like herself. He's also an awesome dancer and a friendly guy to boot, no matter what people might say about him. They often discuss how to take care of business like Jay Chou, and Min's come to consider him a pretty good friend.

famous acquaintances

Alan #2 — Though she isn't close to him, she has performed with him in the past. Min has nothing but nice things to say about him from those experiences. Definitely one of the most talented people she has met.
Ariel — Though Min doesn't know her as well as everyone should, she does find her to be an incredibly lovable person.
BoA — She's BoA! Min loves her dancing! She is also really nice and is glad they had a chance to talk more after the Lee Hyori Charity Games.
Hélène — Not someone she knows well, especially since her French is definitely a catastrophe. But she met her backstage at a concert in Paris awhile back and has nothing but nice things to say of her.
Jerry — Met him at the same time she met Rain, coincidentally. He's always incredibly gracious, and she appreciates that.
Joey — Talented lady! She met her through Alan! She ended up being very down to earth and nice to boot, which is an extra plus!
Katie — Met her in Beijing once upon a time. Min has a knack for getting to know western artists randomly, and she was no exception. Pretty cool and overall talented lady!
P!nk — Pink! She met her through Stefanie awhile back. She admires her a lot, and man does she have a rockin' voice!
Rain — She met him when she did Pepsi commercials. He's an awesome dancer!
Rihanna — They both endorse Cartier! So, she met her eventually! She thought she was a cool chick with a neat accent! She was shocked to find out she broke up with Chris, because she seriously supported them (what a surprise).
Victoria — She met her through Alan a little while back! They don't really talk, but Min enjoys her presence whenever she's around.

more brushes with fame

Daniel Powter — Another famous singer that she's met, and he gave her a surprise kiss on the cheek that flustered her tremendously.
Edison Chen — LIES. She never banged him. They were friends for a long time, but now they're completely out of contact because of his crazy scandal.
Kylie Minogue — So cool and so nice.
Nick — She met him recently thanks to her company offering him as the rapper to the new music they had begun to produce. He was unknown, but looking for a break and gave him to her. He's a little weird, but she didn't mind working with him for the song.

friendships

Christine — On one of her trips to New York in the past, Min took some extra dance classes to get the feel of other styles in the states. Along the way, she met Christine and they hit it off. She's a sweet girl and Min adores her. She makes a lot of effort to try to keep in touch with her, but it doesn't seem like enough to Min. She's trying to get better!
Mina — A lady she met through Christine Rousseau while in New York City, New York. She had to meet her, she's a dancer! Nice girl! While they weren't the closest of friends, Min still thought of her as a friend and was shaken up over her death. Has no idea she's alive in a new body now.
Shun — Tucker is an amazing English name. She's one of Stef's sisters, and she's super cute! Min has a lot of fun doing girly things with her like painting nails and the like. It's like having a younger sister of her own to dote on.

friendly acquaintances

Haneul Chwa — Boy did she make an ass of herself in front of him. But he kinda scared her, so she can't help it.
Melody — Min knows more about Melody than she probably realizes. She has mixed feelings toward her just because she was there for Daniel when he was issuing about her, and she thinks of Daniel as a younger brother so she takes his side as a rule. She tried to be a friend, but gets the feeling she's not too welcome in that area, which is fine. Melody isn't a bad person.
Noemi — Min's talked to her a couple of times now and finds her to be very pleasant! She also had a lot of fun at Noemi's New Years party at the club!
Shira — Met her backstage at the Girls Abroad Tour in New York!
Stasya — She was on her volleyball team for the Lee Hyori Charity Games! She was super nice and easy to get along with!

Categories: Taipei, Taiwan | Characters