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sid_guardian2020-05-15 02:06 pm
solo) wrote in sid_guardian2020-05-15 02:06 pm
Entry tags:
Focus on: Zhu Jiu
(Zhu Jiu, and as a result the entire following discussion, are drama-only)
Zhu Jiu, our first and most interesting antagonist in the series, has questionable taste in accessories, and multi-coloured hair. He believes he's fighting the good fight, wants to be a hero, and is unflinchingly loyal. Also he is a-OK with killing people.
Backstory:
Zhu Jiu is first mentioned in episode 4, where the face-stealing girl says that he gave her and her boyfriend a 'task'. Later in the episode, he tries to glue Shen Wei's foot to the ground with dark energy. Shen Wei can't catch him, and we get to see him gloat.
Zhu Jiu, our first and most interesting antagonist in the series, has questionable taste in accessories, and multi-coloured hair. He believes he's fighting the good fight, wants to be a hero, and is unflinchingly loyal. Also he is a-OK with killing people.
Backstory:
- Joins the Dixing palace guard, wants to be a hero, looks up to the Black-Cloaked Envoy. His power hasn't awakened yet.
- Stumbles upon Ye Zun's pillar one day and gets his head filled with nonsense about how the Black-Cloaked Envoy is a traitor.
- Acts weirdly around the bully that is his captain, who asks what's up, so he tells him what he heard. Captain has a fit, tells him he's trash and sends him packing.
- Stumbles back into Ye Zun's purview, who tells him he can be a hero of Dixing if he can prove his 'determination'.
- So he kills the Captain, and when the Black-Cloaked Envoy questions him, he says it's because the Captain was a bully.
- He also asks the Black-Cloaked Envoy if the tale about him being a traitor and having condemned them to live in darkness is true.
- The Black-Cloaked Envoy tries to explain but when that's not good enough, he realizes Ye Zun got to this one, and decides to 'nip the evil in the bud' by cutting open his cheek.
- At some point after that, Ye Zun enlists him in his crusade to exit the pillar and take over the world. For justice!
Zhu Jiu is first mentioned in episode 4, where the face-stealing girl says that he gave her and her boyfriend a 'task'. Later in the episode, he tries to glue Shen Wei's foot to the ground with dark energy. Shen Wei can't catch him, and we get to see him gloat.
Even later, he appears as a spectral voice and a little flash of static, in a dark alley Shen Wei is walking through. He taunts Shen Wei by threatening to give his secret away to Zhao Yunlan, and gets hit by some dark energy for his pains. At the end of the episode he's dramatically upset that his plan has been foiled so easily, and I guess that's what connects the face to the name, for people who still remember the earlier moment.
A few episodes later (ep 7) he tries to break into the SID and is repelled by the shield. We learn he's after the Holy Tools.
Next episode he uses Ding Dun to get to Wang Zheng but kills him when he becomes inconvenient. Then he gatecrashes Shen Wei's meeting with Ms Forsythia, they fight, and he disappears with a 'you won't be able to stop us'. First indication that he's not working alone. We also notice that his power is teleportation of some sort.
Later in the episode he's trying to find the Hanga ruins and kills(?) the cop who tries to interfere. He really doesn't like humans.
Behold, my pretty locks.
In the Hanga cave (ep 10) he tortures Wang Zheng in order for her screams to attract Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, who can free the Mountain-River-Awl. We learn that he's working for someone else. He manipulates Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi in order to get the Mountain-River Awl in ep 11, causes the wedding disaster in ep 12, and gives us two delightful moments in ep 13.
It's always so lovely when a bystander wonders that.
We don't see him for a while, but by ep 16 he is back, manipulating Bao Laosan into trying to destroy the SID building with his Dixing power, and failing to back him up in episode 17. Later in the episode, Ya Qing confronts him about that and asks him how he'd feel if 'the boss' betrayed him like that. Zhu Jiu says he'd be fine with whatever the boss does: "He's the one who let me know the true voice of my heart." Cue ecstatic look.
Meanwhile, in Dixing, Zhao Yunlan finds out how Zhu Jiu's power works.
Next we get to the 'harvesting dark energy' arc and the underground fighting ring, where we find out that his boss is in need of great quantities of life energy from fit young people, which can be collected in a little flask. At the end of the episode he's very pleased with how his plan is coming together, but he's also slowly dying from the wound inflicted by Zhao Yunlan's gun, so he's making a final cunning plan.
The plan involves kidnapping Xiao Guo and Lao Chu and sticking them in a freezer, in order to blackmail Zhao Yunlan into handing over the Holy Tools. An injured Ye Huo is part of the captured team, and Xiao Guo's demand that he be treated brings us one of Zhu Jiu's best lines.
He also tries to get Lao Chu on-side out of a mistaken notion of kinship.
His plan misfires and he gets caught by the SID, badly injured. he has no regrets except one:
This leads into the whole backstory thing which I couldn't be bothered to cap.
He manages to dupe Xiao Guo and escape, but only in order to let his life energy be absorbed into the flask, to be the final piece to bring his boss back. Contented smiling.
RIP, Wig Boy, you were fun.
Fanworks
The Zhu Jiu tag on AO3 isn't used much, but there are some nice stories there. (Caveat, I only discovered the long one by demitas while researching this, and haven't had time to read the full story yet.)
Voice of the Heart (2909 words) by Wei
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Yè Zūn & Zhú Jiǔ
Characters: Yè Zūn, Zhú Jiǔ
Ye Zun cannot say for certain if he's ever had a friend, but there is no doubt in his mind that the closest to it was Zhu Jiu.
Calling the Lost Sheep Home (3500 words) by ExtraPenguin
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Yè Zūn & Zhú Jiǔ
Characters: Zhú Jiǔ, Zhào Yúnlán, Yè Zūn, Shěn Wēi, Chǔ Shùzhī
Zhu Jiu joined Ye Zun because he wanted to make Dixing a better place. Then he discovers that the Boss doesn't want to make Dixing a better place or improve the lot of Dixingians, but rather destroy the world and everyone in it, Dixingians included.
Overwritable (2444 words) by ExtraPenguin
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Yè Zūn, Zhú Jiǔ, Zhào Yúnlán, Shěn Wēi
When he returns to the SID from capturing Zhu Jiu, Zhao Yunlan learns that the Sky Pillar has exploded. He is obviously worried at what this potentially-escaped criminal is going to do next.
(Ye Zun has unexpected plans.)
Rootless (10554 words) by demitas
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Yè Zūn/Zhú Jiǔ
Characters: Yè Zūn, Zhú Jiǔ
The Hallows send Zhu Jiu back in time, where he finds a Ye Zun who is little like the Boss he's familiar with, but who needs his help all the same.
So - come and talk about Zhu Jiu! Share links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, new or old! Self-recs whole-heartedly encouraged. Basically, this is the place for anything you want to say or link to about Zhu Jiu.
Clenched fist of emo.
A few episodes later (ep 7) he tries to break into the SID and is repelled by the shield. We learn he's after the Holy Tools.
Next episode he uses Ding Dun to get to Wang Zheng but kills him when he becomes inconvenient. Then he gatecrashes Shen Wei's meeting with Ms Forsythia, they fight, and he disappears with a 'you won't be able to stop us'. First indication that he's not working alone. We also notice that his power is teleportation of some sort.
Later in the episode he's trying to find the Hanga ruins and kills(?) the cop who tries to interfere. He really doesn't like humans.
Behold, my pretty locks.
In the Hanga cave (ep 10) he tortures Wang Zheng in order for her screams to attract Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, who can free the Mountain-River-Awl. We learn that he's working for someone else. He manipulates Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi in order to get the Mountain-River Awl in ep 11, causes the wedding disaster in ep 12, and gives us two delightful moments in ep 13.
It's always so lovely when a bystander wonders that.
Oh yes, I will.
Zhao Yunlan gets him with his gun. Ya Qing helps him get away but is quite unsympathetic at the Warehouse of Emo in the next episode, informing him that his energy is draining, that he won't be able to do much for a bit, and that he needs to explain himself to the boss. He is largely annoyed that a mere human was able to hurt him.
We don't see him for a while, but by ep 16 he is back, manipulating Bao Laosan into trying to destroy the SID building with his Dixing power, and failing to back him up in episode 17. Later in the episode, Ya Qing confronts him about that and asks him how he'd feel if 'the boss' betrayed him like that. Zhu Jiu says he'd be fine with whatever the boss does: "He's the one who let me know the true voice of my heart." Cue ecstatic look.
Meanwhile, in Dixing, Zhao Yunlan finds out how Zhu Jiu's power works.
Next we get to the 'harvesting dark energy' arc and the underground fighting ring, where we find out that his boss is in need of great quantities of life energy from fit young people, which can be collected in a little flask. At the end of the episode he's very pleased with how his plan is coming together, but he's also slowly dying from the wound inflicted by Zhao Yunlan's gun, so he's making a final cunning plan.
The plan involves kidnapping Xiao Guo and Lao Chu and sticking them in a freezer, in order to blackmail Zhao Yunlan into handing over the Holy Tools. An injured Ye Huo is part of the captured team, and Xiao Guo's demand that he be treated brings us one of Zhu Jiu's best lines.
He also tries to get Lao Chu on-side out of a mistaken notion of kinship.
Yeah, wrong address.
His plan misfires and he gets caught by the SID, badly injured. he has no regrets except one:
This leads into the whole backstory thing which I couldn't be bothered to cap.
He manages to dupe Xiao Guo and escape, but only in order to let his life energy be absorbed into the flask, to be the final piece to bring his boss back. Contented smiling.
RIP, Wig Boy, you were fun.
Questions:
- How different would his story have been if the Black-Cloaked Envoy had sat him down for a talk?
- He has pretty standard, not bad looks in Dixing. What made him decide that straggly purple hair and Final Fantasy accessories were a good look for him? Just the scar or some goth emo thing?
- Could he have been redeemed in the show timeline if he had lived?
- Does Ya Qing regret his death once she has to work with the master of the Merit Brush?
- Chu Shuzhi follows the Black-Cloaked Envoy; Zhu Jiu follows Ye Zun. Both grew up wanting to be heroes. Both fell foul of authority. Discuss.
- How long has Ye Zun been playing the 'true voice of your heart' card and how did he ever come up with that?
Fanworks
The Zhu Jiu tag on AO3 isn't used much, but there are some nice stories there. (Caveat, I only discovered the long one by demitas while researching this, and haven't had time to read the full story yet.)
Voice of the Heart (2909 words) by Wei
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Yè Zūn & Zhú Jiǔ
Characters: Yè Zūn, Zhú Jiǔ
Ye Zun cannot say for certain if he's ever had a friend, but there is no doubt in his mind that the closest to it was Zhu Jiu.
Calling the Lost Sheep Home (3500 words) by ExtraPenguin
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Yè Zūn & Zhú Jiǔ
Characters: Zhú Jiǔ, Zhào Yúnlán, Yè Zūn, Shěn Wēi, Chǔ Shùzhī
Zhu Jiu joined Ye Zun because he wanted to make Dixing a better place. Then he discovers that the Boss doesn't want to make Dixing a better place or improve the lot of Dixingians, but rather destroy the world and everyone in it, Dixingians included.
Overwritable (2444 words) by ExtraPenguin
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Yè Zūn, Zhú Jiǔ, Zhào Yúnlán, Shěn Wēi
When he returns to the SID from capturing Zhu Jiu, Zhao Yunlan learns that the Sky Pillar has exploded. He is obviously worried at what this potentially-escaped criminal is going to do next.
(Ye Zun has unexpected plans.)
Rootless (10554 words) by demitas
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Yè Zūn/Zhú Jiǔ
Characters: Yè Zūn, Zhú Jiǔ
The Hallows send Zhu Jiu back in time, where he finds a Ye Zun who is little like the Boss he's familiar with, but who needs his help all the same.
So - come and talk about Zhu Jiu! Share links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, new or old! Self-recs whole-heartedly encouraged. Basically, this is the place for anything you want to say or link to about Zhu Jiu.
no subject
I think this depends on the place it happens in canon. If it's before the second visit to Ye Zun (and consequent murder), it'd probably succeed in making Zhu Jiu stop going down that path. Especially if it's before the first visit, it'd end with Zhu Jiu being the head of the Envoy fanclub and following him around like an overzealous puppy.
Dixing is made of lava and melodrama. Its denizens likewise. Once he was free of the confines of uniform, he could indulge in his natural love of melodrama! Alternatively, he got really into Final Fantasy.
Assuming that the only divergence would be episode 20, it ... would be hard, and would require certain takes (like Zhu Jiu being under some manner of mind control) to work, but it should be possible to send him to Dixing to improve his compatriots' lives. He's an idealist who joined up with Ye Zun in part due to wanting to be a hero; he'd make a decent enough reformer, if given some backup.
I mean, he was pretty racist about Yashou and OTT, but I think she did, if only because Wang Xiangyang is ... Wang Xiangyang.
I actually think they're foils of each other: Chu Shuzhi is the criminal Shen Wei turned into a respectable man, while Zhu Jiu is the respectable man Ye Zun turned into a criminal.
He's been there for 10k years, so I assume he's had time to refine his spiel. Or try lots of them out of boredom. TBH I think he's gone insane in his oubliette, and thus terrible decisions
I greatly enjoyed the demitas fic and would second the rec. Some others I've enjoyed, all by
The Great Goose Heist, Zhu Jiu & Ya Qing, where they try to get geese to steal the Hallows for them.
Believe in You, Zhu Jiu/Ye Zun, where Zhu Jiu gets the Boss out of the pillar, but he has amnesia.
Waiting for a Goose Like You, Zhu Jiu/Ye Zun, where Ye Zun gets out of the pillar but gets temporarily transformed into a goose.
(And thank you for the recs!)
no subject
Oh, I love that. I never thought about it that way, but yes, I agree.
no subject
I agree, but I wonder how long it would last... I think Zhu Jiu could easily have been recruited to the Envoy's cause at that point, and would definitely have been all-in and manically aglow for the cause. But I tend to think that what we see of his personality is not all mind control, but partly just who he is as a person, and so I imagine he would eventually have problems and grow discontent, simply because he would not fit in well with the Envoy's crowd - and so would not receive the validation and sense of importance that he craves.
Chu Shuzhi is the criminal Shen Wei turned into a respectable man, while Zhu Jiu is the respectable man Ye Zun turned into a criminal.
Ooh, I like this - yes, absolutely. And their personalities are opposites, as well, which completes the dichotomy.
no subject
He's an idealist who wants validation, but I don't think the violence is inherent to him – if he threw his lot in with Shen Wei, he could end up just as wholeheartedly throwing himself at politics. (Depending on how Shen Wei dealt with this earnest youth asking him about how to reform Dixing/how he could best help the Black-Cloaked Envoy. This would depend on Shen Wei's political and social acumen a bit, but if he does anything but tells Zhu Jiu to keep everything as it is, it'll probably end without much disillusionment on Zhu Jiu's part.)
no subject
no subject
Right? Wang Xiangyang is just... so, so boring. I feel for him and all, but.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. He never started out actually wanting to be a 'bad guy'. I was wondering if it would work if someone could just credibly persuade him that he's not helping anyone but a murderous megalomaniac... I guess a bit like in that one story of yours... He strikes me as a fundamentally decent guy. (A bit like Ya Qing, really...)
YES! So well said.
I agree, and the deranged way he sometimes looks fully supports that hypothesis.
Thank you for the additional recs.
no subject
I think the big difference between him and all the other villains is that he's an idealist at heart. Ya Qing's also driven by principles, but she's much more of a pragmatist IMO. (And everyone else seems to be driven by misplaced revenge...) So give him someone with a pragmatic streak to sanity check his proposals and give him free rein over Dixing, boom, stuff improves! He'd have to learn some administration-related skills, but make him part of a team and he could effect change.
no subject
Imagine the tourism posters!
no subject
Do we ever see Zhu Jiu try to make anyone's life better? Or even show sympathy to them? He seems to use and discard his fellow Dixingren very easily, and I'd expect that attitude to come through no matter what goal he's working for ...
Chu Shuzhi is the criminal Shen Wei turned into a respectable man, while Zhu Jiu is the respectable man Ye Zun turned into a criminal.
I like this parallel! They're definitely foils in that sense.
no subject
He's a zealot who wants to be a hero to his people. Converting him (especially baby him) into someone who's out to improve his people's lives on the mass level (legal reform, Treaty renegotiations, etc) would be relatively easy work, even if he wouldn't be the best colleague to anyone.
no subject
ETA: There are a lot of reformers out there who care very much about their idea of how the world should be made better, but don't listen to what the people affected would want. And then they react badly when those people are insufficiently grateful for their efforts ...
no subject
Yeah, this. I just looked up his backstory from ep 17, where he says, "I want to be like the Black-Cloaked Envoy and other seniors. Play my part in society." To me, that sounds like he's at least as motivated by a quest for respect, power and glory as a chance to do good for Dixing.
no subject