Of Zhu Rong’s Fire

This Blue Flame represents the courage, the vigor, the physical energy, the masculine part of me. It’s the desire to taste adrenaline, to meet adventures and to grant my body the pleasures it desires. The music that represents Zhu Rong are engaging and give me energy to stand up. They can be some good old rock ‘n roll or heavy and power metal. Here I Am by Shaman, Soulrace by Virus IV and Easily by Red Hot Chili Peppers are some of my hymns to Zhu Rong.

As a character, Zhu Rong is a robust man, a warrior wearing impressing chinese-looking armor. He could be a horserider that gallops through the night, an adventurer that makes his march relentless, breaking through the obstacles that dare to stand in his way.

The role of Zhu Rong in this ensemble is to make things work, to have them started, to spring some attitude and to be brave to take the first step. It’s also the strength to maintain the energy and to keep pressing on, trying to keep a steady pace.
 
As it represents my manly side, it also brings with it my boyish past. And it brings more along with it: in the whole it feels to me like it represents the simple things. It is, unlike the other flames, far from dealing with existential matters and troubling concepts. It’s in the idea of making fun of our insignificance, to learn about the vastness of the space and transform it into something playful. It’s the idea of eating like it’s the only thing that matters, and complaining about having the stomach too full like it’s the worst problem in the world. It’s about stealing apples and running away from the dogs. It’s the valorization of the trivial life.

If Áine could represent my Anima archetype and Trygve would be my agent to face my Shadow archetype, then Zhu Rong would pretty much be the closer of them to be the Persona archetype, as it’s easily the flame that makes me connected to the person I was raised to be, all the boyish activities, all the badass robot toys, these bicycle and tree-climbing adventures, the hilarious conversations about bullshit, or this unquenchable masculine libido. 

And it is, after all, a flame that gives the ensemble this interesting tonality all because of this acceptance, and it’s hardly something that really stands in the way: my raisings also compose my identity. And I think, honestly, that this is what made me a real man.

Zhu Rong shares Hephaestus’ desire to go out exploring and meeting strange novel worlds and Aine’s love for the little things. He is also very close to Vesta when it comes to knowing when I have to grow mature and face responsibility, and to Trygve when I must carry on. He’s also a regulating force that is meant to balance the weariness of the mental effort that those other flames overuse, so it’s great to create some slingshotting effects.