shen jiu & ximilia
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meowthpuppiesOOC
Name: Kes
Contact:rikoren
Other characters: n/a
IC
Name: Shen Jiu
Canon: Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
Canon point: Shortly after burning down the Qiu manor
Age: 15
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. Unlike the other orphans, however, these two had the talent to cultivate - basically the Chinese xianxia equivalent of having the qualifications for magic school. They hid their spiritual powers for the sake of survival though, and continued the grubby life they were living until, at the age of twelve, Shen Jiu used his powers to injure a rich man's horse and help save one of his companions, only to get sold out by the kid he'd saved and consequently bought by the man he'd inconvenienced: Qiu Jianluo. Beaten and abused for fun by this young master of the Qiu family, he was eventually unwillingly engaged to the man's sister for the sake of keeping her close to him, and - having given up on ever seeing Yue Qi return to fulfill his promise of becoming a cultivator and rescuing him - he finally snapped and killed every man in the house, running off to become the disciple of an itinerant cultivator named Wu Yanzi. In keeping with his luck so far, however, this cultivator turned out to be a highly dangerous criminal with a huge bounty on his head. The months following his escape from slavery where therefore filled with nothing but murder, theft, and probably more abuse, before he finally finds himself in Ximilia.
Personality:
Loyal: Shen Jiu was absolutely faithful to Yue Qi, believing that the other boy would save him and, when he didn't, believing that at the very least he'd one day find his Qi-ge's corpse and give him a proper burial. Decades later, despite betrayals and loss of faith, he still tries to warn Yue Qingyuan away from danger, leaving himself to die in the beast's clutches alone. He's also loyal to his sect, his teammates, and anyone who's ever been kind to him; his "massacre" of the Qiu household only included the men, sparing all the female residents who were innocent of his suffering, and he saves his sectmate Liu Qingge's life once, though the man mistakes it for a murder attempt. (He tried to save him again later on, but that attempt sadly ended in failure.)
Determined: Shen Jiu is a survivor - he's the kid who fought the fiercest for alms on the streets, the slave who stubbornly weathered years of abuse even when all hope had waned, the disciple who worked harder than all the rest to earn his place as lord of the peak. No matter what terrible things he goes through, he refuses to go down without a fight. Likewise, when he gets imprisoned in Luo Binghe's dungeon and subjected to crueler tortures than he's ever experienced before, he continues to refuse to show any sort of weakness, feigning disdain to try to keep Yue Qingyuan away and staying stubbornly strong with the belief that his actions might have kept the man alive; it isn't until he's shown proof of his brother's death that he finally breaks down, for both the first and last time in his life.
Intelligent: He's shown to be smart from an early age, choosing the best places to beg and proving himself an amazing actor as a beggar, as an obedient slave, and - much later on - as an elegant and untouchable cultivator. He can cry on cue or hide a cascade of feelings behind a mask of indifference, with nobody at all the wiser. Also, despite having been completely illiterate when he was 12, he becomes well-read enough by the age of 16-19 that as a teenage disciple he manages to earn the old peak lord's favor, becoming a master of calligraphy, poetry, and all the other arts expected for Chinese scholars to know, and eventually becoming the master (and therefore head teacher) of the peak which prides itself on arts over all else.
Low Self-Esteem: The whole reason he envies others so much is because he thinks of himself as worthless; his cultivation is stunted, he started school late, he doesn't have a single friend in the world, he's become a criminal instead of the cultivator he dreamed of becoming, so on and so forth. This lends itself to a defeatist sort of personality; despite how hard he tries, and how far he's capable of getting, Shen Jiu is ultimately never able to overcome his self-esteem and trust issues. Throughout the book, he never denies when someone accuses him of anything, regardless of whether or not it's true, because he's convinced that nobody would believe him anyway. He knows he's a terrible person, and refuses to waste effort in convincing people otherwise.
Vindictive: He's prone to acting out on his jealousy and anger towards others, a habit which as a child involved getting into active brawls and as an adult means he can get very creative about making life difficult for people he dislikes. Punishing a disciple for weak or trumped-up charges for example, or attempting a variety of traps and sneak attacks for his good ol' shidi Liu Qingge.
Closed-Off: Shen Jiu is constantly on guard, rarely finding a place or time where he can feel safe enough to truly relax. Men in general put him on edge, people are not to be trusted, his own companions surely feel no love for him, and he in turn is both unable and unwilling to open up to them. As a disciple he ends up gaining a reputation as a lecher because of his refusal to sleep in the dorms with the other boys and his constant visits to the local brothel, which is - coincidentally - the only place he feels relaxed enough to get a good night's sleep, surrounded by unassuming women whose entire job description is to comfort rather than hurt.
Powers/Abilities:
- Great at acting
- Fast learner
- 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)
- Pickpocketing/sneaking
- He can use a sword, though he doesn't know any fancy moves
Regret: Saving Shiwu
Inventory:
- One plain sword
- The clothes on his back
- A stale grain cake he was saving
Sample: TDM thread
Older AU sample
Name: Kes
Contact:
rikorenOther characters: n/a
IC
Name: Shen Jiu
Canon: Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
Canon point: Shortly after burning down the Qiu manor
Age: 15
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. Unlike the other orphans, however, these two had the talent to cultivate - basically the Chinese xianxia equivalent of having the qualifications for magic school. They hid their spiritual powers for the sake of survival though, and continued the grubby life they were living until, at the age of twelve, Shen Jiu used his powers to injure a rich man's horse and help save one of his companions, only to get sold out by the kid he'd saved and consequently bought by the man he'd inconvenienced: Qiu Jianluo. Beaten and abused for fun by this young master of the Qiu family, he was eventually unwillingly engaged to the man's sister for the sake of keeping her close to him, and - having given up on ever seeing Yue Qi return to fulfill his promise of becoming a cultivator and rescuing him - he finally snapped and killed every man in the house, running off to become the disciple of an itinerant cultivator named Wu Yanzi. In keeping with his luck so far, however, this cultivator turned out to be a highly dangerous criminal with a huge bounty on his head. The months following his escape from slavery where therefore filled with nothing but murder, theft, and probably more abuse, before he finally finds himself in Ximilia.
Personality:
Loyal: Shen Jiu was absolutely faithful to Yue Qi, believing that the other boy would save him and, when he didn't, believing that at the very least he'd one day find his Qi-ge's corpse and give him a proper burial. Decades later, despite betrayals and loss of faith, he still tries to warn Yue Qingyuan away from danger, leaving himself to die in the beast's clutches alone. He's also loyal to his sect, his teammates, and anyone who's ever been kind to him; his "massacre" of the Qiu household only included the men, sparing all the female residents who were innocent of his suffering, and he saves his sectmate Liu Qingge's life once, though the man mistakes it for a murder attempt. (He tried to save him again later on, but that attempt sadly ended in failure.)
Determined: Shen Jiu is a survivor - he's the kid who fought the fiercest for alms on the streets, the slave who stubbornly weathered years of abuse even when all hope had waned, the disciple who worked harder than all the rest to earn his place as lord of the peak. No matter what terrible things he goes through, he refuses to go down without a fight. Likewise, when he gets imprisoned in Luo Binghe's dungeon and subjected to crueler tortures than he's ever experienced before, he continues to refuse to show any sort of weakness, feigning disdain to try to keep Yue Qingyuan away and staying stubbornly strong with the belief that his actions might have kept the man alive; it isn't until he's shown proof of his brother's death that he finally breaks down, for both the first and last time in his life.
Intelligent: He's shown to be smart from an early age, choosing the best places to beg and proving himself an amazing actor as a beggar, as an obedient slave, and - much later on - as an elegant and untouchable cultivator. He can cry on cue or hide a cascade of feelings behind a mask of indifference, with nobody at all the wiser. Also, despite having been completely illiterate when he was 12, he becomes well-read enough by the age of 16-19 that as a teenage disciple he manages to earn the old peak lord's favor, becoming a master of calligraphy, poetry, and all the other arts expected for Chinese scholars to know, and eventually becoming the master (and therefore head teacher) of the peak which prides itself on arts over all else.
Low Self-Esteem: The whole reason he envies others so much is because he thinks of himself as worthless; his cultivation is stunted, he started school late, he doesn't have a single friend in the world, he's become a criminal instead of the cultivator he dreamed of becoming, so on and so forth. This lends itself to a defeatist sort of personality; despite how hard he tries, and how far he's capable of getting, Shen Jiu is ultimately never able to overcome his self-esteem and trust issues. Throughout the book, he never denies when someone accuses him of anything, regardless of whether or not it's true, because he's convinced that nobody would believe him anyway. He knows he's a terrible person, and refuses to waste effort in convincing people otherwise.
Vindictive: He's prone to acting out on his jealousy and anger towards others, a habit which as a child involved getting into active brawls and as an adult means he can get very creative about making life difficult for people he dislikes. Punishing a disciple for weak or trumped-up charges for example, or attempting a variety of traps and sneak attacks for his good ol' shidi Liu Qingge.
Closed-Off: Shen Jiu is constantly on guard, rarely finding a place or time where he can feel safe enough to truly relax. Men in general put him on edge, people are not to be trusted, his own companions surely feel no love for him, and he in turn is both unable and unwilling to open up to them. As a disciple he ends up gaining a reputation as a lecher because of his refusal to sleep in the dorms with the other boys and his constant visits to the local brothel, which is - coincidentally - the only place he feels relaxed enough to get a good night's sleep, surrounded by unassuming women whose entire job description is to comfort rather than hurt.
Powers/Abilities:
- Great at acting
- Fast learner
- 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)
- Pickpocketing/sneaking
- He can use a sword, though he doesn't know any fancy moves
Regret: Saving Shiwu
Inventory:
- One plain sword
- The clothes on his back
- A stale grain cake he was saving
Sample: TDM thread
Older AU sample