Library Squid

@plaguesquid.bsky.social

Vi | 26 | he/they | library trans autism bi | all ships are good ships | 🔞 dead dove | married to @navinn.bsky.social

wanted to draw tonight but i feel a bit rusty so i don't think i'll be able to draw what i want to but here is a half dressed shen jiu. i HAVE been oiling him up in my head recently. demolishing that twink in my minds eye.

a sketch of shen jiu in a transparent robe putting his hair up

Xiu Ya being able to tell the difference instantly because Shen Jiu has really high support needs and relies on his sword for qi regulation and to stop spiraling thoughts while Shen Yuan is just normal.

Mu Qingfang looks at him with the sort of gentle expression that Shen Jiu knows will never be genuinely meant for him and says, “Do you think that maybe what happened to you in the past is affecting how you see things now?” “No,” Shen Jiu says. “It was nothing. Nothing happened to me.”

Library Squid@plaguesquid.bsky.social · 9mo ago

He's only saying this because Yue Qingyuan isn't here, the one person who would understand why it happened when he was twelve, who would know it wasn't something he wanted and would see that it was a result of his weakness. Yue Qingyuan is off visiting another sect.

Shen Yuan transmigrating into a world with Shen Jiu still in it (as an NPC Peak Lord or something) and figuring that something isn’t quite right with him. Shen Jiu isn’t just an asshole, he’s hard to get along with on purpose. He’s hiding something.

Fanfiction doesn’t exist to be “good” it exists because something went horribly wrong with you while you were watching a tv show and you’re gripped by madness

It's funny writing fic about a Chinese series written in Chinese set entirely in fantasy China as a non-Chinese American because like, the characters are speaking Chinese but also they aren't. They are familiar with the Chinese cultural landscape but also I'm an American writing for Anglophones.

Shen Jiu having a ton of completely unprocessed shit going on in his head. He understands that his past was worse than normal but also doesn’t really understand it. So he doesn’t know the boundaries for things like physical discipline or expecting too much out of his disciples.

Shen Jiu being the absolute worst as a teacher because he 100% lives vicariously through his disciples (well, the ones he actually tolerates) and expects them to work just as hard as he did at their age. Never mind the fact that he kinda destroyed him doing that…

I think an important part of Shen Jiu’s character is that he is Miserable. He does horrible things but he doesn’t enjoy them because he doesn’t seem to enjoy much of anything. The closest he gets to happy is when he’s being comforted by women. And is that really happpiness or just need?

Deeply codependent qijiu where Shen Jiu just doesn’t eat or sleep without Yue Qingyuan being there for him. He’s too paranoid and just plain scared alone. But nobody would poison Yue Qingyuan or sneak into his bedroom to hurt him so it’s safe to eat his food and sleep in his bed.

Shentwins where they go through the Qiu manor together and then join the sect and Shen Yuan is able to make friends and work through his trauma and be happy and Shen Jiu just can’t. He’s always going to be living with the aftermath of what happened.