shen jiu & liburutegia
Nov. 23rd, 2020 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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meowthpuppiesPLEASE PUT Character Name | Canon | Reserve/Challenge/Not Reserved IN THE SUBJECT LINE
Player Info
⬢ Name: Kes
⬢ Over 18? Yes
⬢ Contact![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
rikoren
⬢ Characters Currently In Game: n/a
Character Info
⬢ Name: Shen Jiu
⬢ Canon: Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
⬢ Canon Point: Before getting sold to the Qius
⬢ History: Once upon a time, there was a pair of young orphans named Shen Jiu and Yue Qi. The two belonged to slave traders along with a bunch of other orphans, and were made to beg for money in the streets until they managed to be sold. Their main ploy was to sit by the side of the road, Shen Jiu bawling his eyes out, with a sign saying their parents had died, they'd run out of money on the way to meet distant relatives, etc etc please donate. This life went on until Yue Qi reached an age where he was no longer willing to beg, at which point he was moved to lookout duty and Shen Jiu kept up the begging on his own.
At some point during their years together, the two children discovered a talent for cultivation (the fantasy Chinese equivalent of magic), though sadly their world is not one that includes magical child detectors or messenger owls, and for the sake of survival they chose to hide their abilities instead.
When Shen Jiu is twelve years old, one of the other orphans makes the mistake of challenging a particularly vicious local rich boy named Qiu Jianluo. Yue Qi, ever the responsible one, rushes there in an attempt to save their wayward younger "sibling" and is nearly trampled under young master Qiu's horse; in that moment, Shen Jiu forgets everything about hiding his powers, and proceeds to stab the horse with a magically-sharpened scrap of gold (likely fallen from one of the horse's accessories). This disruption to master Qiu's day leads him to buy the offending child—and thus Shen Jiu gets to have a taste of hell.
⬢ Personality: With his background, it's probably to be expected that Shen Jiu is a tough and ruthless child, threatening murder when kids try to steal his chosen begging corner, and laughing at the news that fellow orphan Shiwu is getting literally whipped by an irritated noble. He has no qualms with swindling strangers out of food or money, his interests focused more on survival than anything else. This isn't to say that he has no bottom line, or lacks any shame—he is shown stubbornly defending his space, people, and property, and it takes years of consistent abuse before he snaps and kills his abuser. His unfortunate upbringing has also led him to become easily jealous of anyone he perceives to have something he himself may never be able to obtain, particularly those with loving families. Having been constantly beaten down and bullied as a child, he follows the belief that it's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and the less you care for others, the less you'll be hurt or weighed down.
That being said, his cruelty isn't the only existing aspect of his personality—it's just the aspect which gets the most publicity. Shen Jiu's ability to love is, in fact, as intense as his hate; he trusts implicitly in Yue Qi, accepts him for all his perceived faults, and - after getting bought by the Qiu family - waits loyally for his Qi-ge to rescue him. When the rescue fails to happen, rather than blaming his brother, he starts making up excuses, eventually convincing himself that he will one day escape to find Qi-ge's remains and give him a proper burial (because surely the only thing that would keep him from returning would be death). Even after the destruction of their relationship years later, and treating Yue Qi with cold detachment for the rest of their years together, he sacrifices what little remains of their bond in an attempt to save the man's life, and subsequently breaks down for the first time in his life when it turns out his attempt had failed. (This is in fact the only instance of love or trust he ever shows throughout the series, though an older girl slave who'd cared for a young Jiu before getting sold leads to him being soft on women in general.)
Shen Jiu is also a very intelligent kid, the kind who'd end up in a gifted class if he was ever allowed to go to school. He's illiterate when the Qius buy him at age 12, but even then he can perfectly copy out characters he'd memorized by sight, despite not knowing what they said. By age 15 he's well-versed in reading, writing, etiquette, etc., and when he finally becomes a cultivator at the late age of 16 (imagine starting middle school at that age) he shoots up through the ranks to Head Disciple at a surprisingly fast speed, mastering all the required skills of martial arts, music, and all the rest - though he never manages to keep up with the others in terms of magical strength.
Speaking of magical strength, Shen Jiu suffers from a severe inferiority complex! As a homeless orphan slave he grows up recognizing his position as being as low as low can be on the societal ladder, and with all the things that happen to him over the years, that complex only manages to worsen. He feared Qiu Jianluo, ultimately killing him in a moment of panicked terror; he feared the rogue cultivator who "apprenticed" him after the incident, killing and robbing innocents under his orders because the idea of successfully escaping was unthinkable; part of the reason he breaks off relations with Yue Qi is because his big brother has become this powerful, well-known cultivator with a bright future ahead of him, and Shen Jiu is the scum of the earth. A line from the Jiu-focused bonus chapter exemplifies this: "In the beginning he’d always suffered in silence, a rat who could do nothing but cover his head and take whatever beatings came his way; later he was a rat who ran wildly through dark ravines, as everyone around called out their desire to beat him. No matter how he changed, he was always a rat. Cowering with tail tucked between his legs, unable to see the light of day. Squandering away the years, wasting what time he had. Meanwhile, Yue Qingyuan was the epitome of a swallow transformed into a phoenix, or a carp who’d successfully leapt through the Dragon gate."
To sum it up, Shen Jiu is a kid who bullies the weak, fears the strong, secretly has an incredibly low opinion of himself, and is subsequently willing to give up his life for the incredibly few people who manage to find a place in his fragile grinch-sized heart.
⬢ Powers:
- Can cry on command
- Great at acting cute and/or pitiful
- Can pick the best street corners to beg on
- Capable of cultivation (at present he can make objects sharp if he concentrates, but with training this can also involve creating magic talismans, conjuring fire, enchanting things, it's basically Harry Potter)
⬢ Inventory: A small begging bowl
⬢ Sample 1: [Link]
⬢ Sample 2: [Link]
Application
⬢ Name: Kes
⬢ Over 18? Yes
⬢ Contact
⬢ Characters Currently In Game: n/a
⬢ Name: Shen Jiu
⬢ Canon: Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
⬢ Canon Point: Before getting sold to the Qius
⬢ History: Once upon a time, there was a pair of young orphans named Shen Jiu and Yue Qi. The two belonged to slave traders along with a bunch of other orphans, and were made to beg for money in the streets until they managed to be sold. Their main ploy was to sit by the side of the road, Shen Jiu bawling his eyes out, with a sign saying their parents had died, they'd run out of money on the way to meet distant relatives, etc etc please donate. This life went on until Yue Qi reached an age where he was no longer willing to beg, at which point he was moved to lookout duty and Shen Jiu kept up the begging on his own.
At some point during their years together, the two children discovered a talent for cultivation (the fantasy Chinese equivalent of magic), though sadly their world is not one that includes magical child detectors or messenger owls, and for the sake of survival they chose to hide their abilities instead.
When Shen Jiu is twelve years old, one of the other orphans makes the mistake of challenging a particularly vicious local rich boy named Qiu Jianluo. Yue Qi, ever the responsible one, rushes there in an attempt to save their wayward younger "sibling" and is nearly trampled under young master Qiu's horse; in that moment, Shen Jiu forgets everything about hiding his powers, and proceeds to stab the horse with a magically-sharpened scrap of gold (likely fallen from one of the horse's accessories). This disruption to master Qiu's day leads him to buy the offending child—and thus Shen Jiu gets to have a taste of hell.
⬢ Personality: With his background, it's probably to be expected that Shen Jiu is a tough and ruthless child, threatening murder when kids try to steal his chosen begging corner, and laughing at the news that fellow orphan Shiwu is getting literally whipped by an irritated noble. He has no qualms with swindling strangers out of food or money, his interests focused more on survival than anything else. This isn't to say that he has no bottom line, or lacks any shame—he is shown stubbornly defending his space, people, and property, and it takes years of consistent abuse before he snaps and kills his abuser. His unfortunate upbringing has also led him to become easily jealous of anyone he perceives to have something he himself may never be able to obtain, particularly those with loving families. Having been constantly beaten down and bullied as a child, he follows the belief that it's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and the less you care for others, the less you'll be hurt or weighed down.
That being said, his cruelty isn't the only existing aspect of his personality—it's just the aspect which gets the most publicity. Shen Jiu's ability to love is, in fact, as intense as his hate; he trusts implicitly in Yue Qi, accepts him for all his perceived faults, and - after getting bought by the Qiu family - waits loyally for his Qi-ge to rescue him. When the rescue fails to happen, rather than blaming his brother, he starts making up excuses, eventually convincing himself that he will one day escape to find Qi-ge's remains and give him a proper burial (because surely the only thing that would keep him from returning would be death). Even after the destruction of their relationship years later, and treating Yue Qi with cold detachment for the rest of their years together, he sacrifices what little remains of their bond in an attempt to save the man's life, and subsequently breaks down for the first time in his life when it turns out his attempt had failed. (This is in fact the only instance of love or trust he ever shows throughout the series, though an older girl slave who'd cared for a young Jiu before getting sold leads to him being soft on women in general.)
Shen Jiu is also a very intelligent kid, the kind who'd end up in a gifted class if he was ever allowed to go to school. He's illiterate when the Qius buy him at age 12, but even then he can perfectly copy out characters he'd memorized by sight, despite not knowing what they said. By age 15 he's well-versed in reading, writing, etiquette, etc., and when he finally becomes a cultivator at the late age of 16 (imagine starting middle school at that age) he shoots up through the ranks to Head Disciple at a surprisingly fast speed, mastering all the required skills of martial arts, music, and all the rest - though he never manages to keep up with the others in terms of magical strength.
Speaking of magical strength, Shen Jiu suffers from a severe inferiority complex! As a homeless orphan slave he grows up recognizing his position as being as low as low can be on the societal ladder, and with all the things that happen to him over the years, that complex only manages to worsen. He feared Qiu Jianluo, ultimately killing him in a moment of panicked terror; he feared the rogue cultivator who "apprenticed" him after the incident, killing and robbing innocents under his orders because the idea of successfully escaping was unthinkable; part of the reason he breaks off relations with Yue Qi is because his big brother has become this powerful, well-known cultivator with a bright future ahead of him, and Shen Jiu is the scum of the earth. A line from the Jiu-focused bonus chapter exemplifies this: "In the beginning he’d always suffered in silence, a rat who could do nothing but cover his head and take whatever beatings came his way; later he was a rat who ran wildly through dark ravines, as everyone around called out their desire to beat him. No matter how he changed, he was always a rat. Cowering with tail tucked between his legs, unable to see the light of day. Squandering away the years, wasting what time he had. Meanwhile, Yue Qingyuan was the epitome of a swallow transformed into a phoenix, or a carp who’d successfully leapt through the Dragon gate."
To sum it up, Shen Jiu is a kid who bullies the weak, fears the strong, secretly has an incredibly low opinion of himself, and is subsequently willing to give up his life for the incredibly few people who manage to find a place in his fragile grinch-sized heart.
⬢ Powers:
- Can cry on command
- Great at acting cute and/or pitiful
- Can pick the best street corners to beg on
- Capable of cultivation (at present he can make objects sharp if he concentrates, but with training this can also involve creating magic talismans, conjuring fire, enchanting things, it's basically Harry Potter)
⬢ Inventory: A small begging bowl
⬢ Sample 1: [Link]
⬢ Sample 2: [Link]