HEADCANONS

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Demon Vocalizations (Purrs/Growls/Etc)
There are times where Jinu will make a continuous quiet noise that is a strange blend of rumble and melodic trill. It can be unpleasant and unnerving to the ears of non-demons, sometimes activating the "warning: predator in area" alert response. Much like the purr of a cat it is a noise that is most often heard when he is relaxed, content and/or deeply satisfied. However, a broken version of it can also be heard if he is severely injured or distressed as a method of self soothing after he has dragged himself to relative safety. Only those in his tiny inner circle get the chance to hear this sound, happy or otherwise.

There is a wide range of other non-human vocalizations he may use in addition to this purr. Growls used to express frustration or satisfaction, hisses to warn that his patience is wearing thin, snarls to indicate that violence is the next step if other warnings go unheeded. Hair-raising keens of distress or anguish. Murrs of appeasement. Chuffs of greeting. High pitched whistles that are just on the edge of human hearing range, meant to carry over long distances to contact demon allies for location or summoning purposes.

Hunger
As a demon Jinu has an inherent hunger for human souls. While the majority of the souls he has stolen over the centuries were funneled back to Gwi-Ma he has consumed his fair share, with varying levels of guilt associated with the act. After four hundred years he has grown more or less numb to the process. It is a necessity of his existence and he has experienced what ignoring that hunger can result in (see: feral state). When he is feeling particularly demonic he even enjoys the hunts, though is merciful enough to dispatch victims quickly. Usually. He is also not above scavenging souls from sites of human conflict and/or tragedy, being an opportunistic predator like all demons.

In more recent years he has learned how to manage the soul hunger to extend the amount of time he can go between feedings. He has found that by ensuring other sources of hunger are kept satisfied he can go longer without needing to hunt. Other sources of hunger can range from consuming human food, to indulging in other pleasures of the flesh. In post-Honmoon AU verses where he has not been turned fully back to human he can feed directly off the Honmoon to satisfy the soul hunger.

Feral State
Feral: a state of existence in which Jinu has very little if any control over his actions. When trapped in the depths of this state he operates purely on instinct. There is no rationalizing with him - there is only surviving him. A feral state will eventually pass and he will return to lucidity once the root trigger for the condition has been dealt with. Have fun picking up the pieces in the aftermath and fall out.

What causes a feral state? Luckily, it is a condition that is very difficult to trigger and there are many stages along the way in which it can be reversed. The most common cause is being put in a situation of extreme life-and-death stress (ie: the time Gwi-Ma starved him to the point of ferality to break one of his earliest rebellious streaks). Bringing his stress levels down is (usually) enough to head off a full episode of savage reactivity. For spicier AU verses a spike in hormones leading up to a demonic rut/heat cycle can put him on the road to ferality; having a partner(s) to assist with said hormone spike rollercoaster will keep him lucid.

Strong Emotions = Gold Eyes
Jinu's eyes will flash gold when he is wearing his human disguise in response to strong emotions. It can be any emotion, both positive and negative. While he sometimes purposely does this as a form of taunting the emotions caused flashes are involuntary. Usually the change will only last for a second or two but in times of extremely elevated emotions it may become a more prominent change and fully revert to his demon form's eyes until he has calmed down.

Nervous Energy
While Jinu is well practiced at the art of playing the long game, when it comes to short term waiting he has all the patience of a horse before a race. He will be fine once the action starts but in the lead up to the main event he gets restless and fidgety. Having a task list he can immediately tackle helps (so long as it is an interesting task list and not full of minutiae). Having company to distract him also helps. This can be someone who redirects his nervous energy, or Derpy, who keeps him calm simply by being serenely unbothered by any and everything.

Gwi-Ma's Favorite
For better or much worse, Jinu is one of Gwi-Ma's favorite pawns. The demon lord gives him more leash than most demons get. This is partially due to Jinu being one of his more skilled soldiers who is capable of accomplishing most missions given to him. This reputation has certainly elevated Jinu to a certain level of status amongst demonkind. The larger driving force behind Gwi-Ma's tolerance for him is the knowledge that sooner or later Jinu will inevitably hang himself with that leash. The amusement this provides Gwi-Ma with is worth him putting up with the saja's antics. The resulting punishments are brutal, retraumatizing even, and bring Jinu back to order for a while.