shen jiu & folkmore

[rikoren]

★ Character Information ★

Character Name: Shen Jiu (last name first)
Character Age: 13
Character Species: Human
Current Health: Badly bruised under his clothes, but otherwise fine
Outfit: A plain servant's outfit (something like this)

Character Canon: Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
Link to History: Wiki because I'm tired
Canon Point: Pre-canon
Canon Iteration: Original canon
Canon Iteration Explanation: n/a

★ Folkmore Roles & Attributes ★

Skills: Lying, crying on command, elementary-level literacy,
Canon Abilities: Shen Jiu at 13 has no recognizable powers to speak of, but like a cooler version of baby Harry Potter, he does have innate powers which he's managed, without any education of any kind, to control enough that he can make the random things he picks up sharp at will, and maybe make things float if he focuses really hard. With actual training though, he can potentially control his qi to do all the usual cultivator things like flying on swords, shooting energy blasts, delayed aging, a lessened need for physical nutrients...his potential has been somewhat handicapped by the abuse he's suffered over the past year, but he'll still grow to be a reasonably powerful fighter.
Role: Familiar
Role Qualities/Attributes: Fox
Role Reasoning: Shen Jiu is fiercely loyal but selfishly so; he tries his best to help others, but will be heartless and cruel if he finds that the best option for survival. Though he's yet to do anything severe at this point in canon, he'll have committed a good many crimes by adulthood, and saved a few lives as well. He's a very grey-scaled character, not "good" enough to be a legend or "bad" enough to be a myth, despite what people may say about him in the future. Aside from his neutrality, I also feel he does best in a subordinate/support position: As much as he may talk big, he canonically never makes a move to escape his position without the certainty that his brother will be there with him, only finally snapping when it was literally life or death, and as an adult he continues to abandon his own pride and safety for the sake of that same man, up until the day he dies.

★ Personality ★

Option 1. Summarize your character's personality in general and what their full potential would look like to them and what they would be willing to go through to meet that potential and what gaining that potential would mean to them. 400-800 word requirement.

Shen Jiu is a tough and ruthless child, threatening murder when kids try to steal his chosen begging corner, and laughing when he hears about someone he was at odds with getting hurt. 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 to make him snap. His unfortunate upbringing has also led him to have a severe inferiority complex, and an easy tendency towards jealousy. 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.)

From his point of view, reaching his full potential would be something along the lines of becoming a cultivator powerful enough that he'll never have to worry about himself or his family's safety and comfort again; to be more specific, what he wants is the power to protect. As for what he'd go through to meet that potential...he's willing to put himself through all kinds of suffering if it will get him to his goal, and canonically does in fact keep pushing himself to the point that he's described as constantly giving himself cultivation-related health issues due to overexertion long after he's already gotten pretty high up on the cultivation ladder. Gaining this potential would mean the world to him - it would mean he can finally keep safe the ones he cares for, and he'll never feel helpless again.

★ Player Information ★

Player Name: Kes
Pronouns: She/her
Are you over 18?: Yes
Contact(s): rikoren
Who Invited You?: Link please.
Current Characters: n/a
Permissions: Here
Writing Samples: TDM threads, ancient game thread