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the-bloody-sadist · 6 months ago

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Oooooo, could you do Yosano, Dazai, Kenji, Kyoka, and Atsushi?

Ps im ngl i always spell "actually" wrong 😣 i type so fast my autocorrect just cant keep up

CRACKS KNUCKLES OBNOXIOUSLY

(p.s. TYPE SLOWER. no jk that's actually so cute patpat it's okay little guy)

disclaimer first: a few of these characters I know very little about past what the anime offered and what my attention span was during their screen time, so forgive me if some of this trauma tie-in happens to be an element that already exists in some fashion (but isn't focused on) that I just didn't catch. Most of the ability stuff is just so fucking confusing and weird that I got used to dismissing any deeper looks into the possible meanings to their characters. REGARDLESS! I'm going to act as if I'm the co-writer of BSD and I have a skeleton of what their abilities/characters are supposed to be like.

other side note, I would make it the world rule of BSD that abilities are born out of either trauma or desperation, not inherent at birth. Each character has a past that involves how their ability was born.

Yosano

Ability birth:

I'd change her past to be that she was Mori's "favorite" (yes, in the inappropriate way) from wherever he met her, and he took her along to the war for company along with the other ability users, hoping to traumatize her enough to create some sort of ability birth in her. I'd make Mori, as a villain, someone who does this to children as a job, basically, unethically creating the birth of abilities by giving them trauma. Every mafia member is either an existing ability haver that he's hired to help him or a child he raised and traumatized to become ability users.

While in the war, Yosano would be a sensitive child obviously who hates seeing the mass deaths, and this would be the trigger for her healing ability to be born, because whenever she sees someone dying, she goes mad trying to save them.

Trauma history:

So she has a fairly traumatic backstory already that I think - out of all the characters in BSD - was portrayed pretty well, comparative to the others. However, with her ability to heal, and the wartime past with Mori arc, I would keep her deeply affected by that past event to the point where she's not proud of being a healer, even though it was born because she wanted people to stop dying. Mori soured that when he abused her ability after it was born to the point that she never wanted to see people revive again just to keep fighting.

Character change:

I would change Yosano to be a morbid character obsessed with death (and give her a metal goth-inspired design) who is dedicated to the idea that death is important, inevitable, and should not be prevented. Death is the ultimate rest, and Yosano would see herself as a perversion of nature who would be hindering that process if she were to heal anyone. This worldview would be entirely based on her experience in the war and how she kept soldiers on the battlefield so long that they went mad and only wished for death to escape their hell.

Relationships:

I would give her a close bond with Dazai because of this, seeing as that would make for some interesting partnerships. I would have her be sensitive to suicidal people because it triggers those memories, and she'd be undecided about whether she'd encourage Dazai in his wish to end things or stop him because she's attached to him.

Arc:

Her emotional arc for change (from refusing to heal to embracing her healing abilities for certain exceptions) could involve some sort of innocent NPC character (say, a child) who has a terminal illness and does not want to die. This could change her mind and she would choose to heal them before the end so that they could live a full life, and then decide that she'd use her healing abilities from then on only when death was an uncontrollable circumstance and an unwanted end, and only to prevent it until the character got the death they preferred. IDK, SOMETHING LIKE THAT. JUST OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.

Dazai

Ability birth:

With Mori established as the prime abuser/villain, Dazai would've been born a normal but sheltered boy, neglected by his parents (leading into the sensitivity of being "invisible" or "not human") who comes across Mori somehow and is lured to run away from home (because grooming, and the fact that he receives attention from Mori and thus believes it's "love", becoming convinced his parents don't love him). Then thrust into the mafia, Mori routinely abuses him to get him to form an ability. The focus on his abuse would be sexual and medical. Mori would be curious to see what would form out of someone with the fear of being invisible being told that they're inhuman and alone. He would isolate Dazai and leave him in dark rooms for hours if he showed emotion, and force him to murder and maim other people (or children) to make him as antisocial as possible. This would create the self-eating void of No Longer Human. It would be both a manifestation of Dazai's loss of self-worth as well as a shield against Mori's use of abilities on him to hurt him.

Character change:

NYEHEHEHEHEHEHE MY FAVORITE! Although I usually write Dazai in my fanfics with these elements, just realistic-ized instead of supernatural-based, here's what I'd do for him in the canon, disregarding all fanon portrayals of him as this sort of character, already: No Longer Human is, by nature, an ability that destroys and makes the abnormal "normal". Dazai would be the ultimate contradiction to the "normal", being a human devoid of emotional expression entirely, himself a void to give only other people normality. Basing him more heavily off of his ability's namesake book (and the protagonist, Yozo), Dazai would be in a constant state of severe depression to the point of antisocial behaviors and sociopathic inclinations. Any attempts to help him escape this would be impossible, as his ability is so inherently parasitical that Dazai is subhuman, only able to "cure" others (by robbing them of their abilities while he is in contact with them). I would focus on him as a moral grey, the unpredictable character in the show who'd be more likely to join the villains at a moments notice and forsake our protagonist.

Trauma history:

His trauma history, other than Mori - namely, Odasaku's death - would be a major part of his character. Because of Oda, who was his first and only companion that didn't care about how strange and inhuman he was, died at what he sees to be his own failures, Dazai would think of himself as incapable of human connection without the threat of annihilating either the humanity of the other person or the literal life of the other person. To try and be more simple (sorry I'm so wordy, I hope it's not confusing), I'd say he'd be paranoid of falling into the "trap" of human connection now (thus leading to the antisocial behavior) and would attempt to push people away because he's convinced the past would repeat itself. "Anything worth having will be lost" and all that.

Current behaviors (in relation to the trauma):

Mr. touch-starved, touch-averse. Since his ability is based on contact, I'd make a Dazai who wears bandages not only to cover the egregious self-harm, but to cover up as much skin as possible, because he's convinced it will help him not touch people. I'd add a dash of reverse-mysophobia in there (mysophobia is the extreme phobia of germs) to add to how he feels as though he contaminates anyone he touches because of NLH. Since I'd keep Oda's last wish in his trauma history, Dazai would be in the ADA, but the complete detachment of his coworkers from emotionally caring for him would make Dazai a machine driven by the necessity to carry out Oda's last wish - to use his ability for good. Since he doesn't want to think about his time with Mori or be alone (even though he believes he deserves to be alone), he is staying with the agency out of duty and escapism from himself. His single use is to be a weapon to stop villains from abusing their powers. God, I'm so sorry, I have WAY too many thoughts about how I'd use this for Dazai, I hope it isn't coming out like the jumbled mess I think it is. Anyway, I'd also make him asexual, monotone-voiced, and brooding. He'd be a walking representation of how sexual trauma in particular can affect someone, making them feel worthless.

Relationships:

As mentioned with my version of Yosano, I think I'd pair them as acquaintances who work well together. Dazai likes anyone who thinks he should die, and his suicide attempts would remain a part of his character as well, just treated with actual weight. He interprets Yosano's love of death as a wish for him to kill himself, so when he has the time, he tries his best, but is notoriously bad at going all the way through. I'd give him one thing hindering him: the insatiable wish to not be lonely before he dies. The wish to find one friend to relive his Oda trauma, except this time with him dying happy instead of the other person, thus leaving them to live their life in peace without his burden.

Arc:

The chance to have his wish fulfilled would come in the form of Atsushi. Atsushi being oblivious, socially unaware, and unbothered by how strange Dazai is - as well as genuinely caring about his wellbeing - would trigger those old feelings about Oda, forcing Dazai to unconsciously seek out a repetition of his trauma. This time, however, he'd succeed. Atsushi would become close to him, and Dazai would protect him, and once it got to the part where he's ready to kill himself to relieve Atsushi of the burden of his existence, Atsushi would stop him and make it known how little of a burden he is, and how much good Atsushi sees in him.

Kenji

Character change:

OKAY THIS ONE IS ACTUALLY HARD. Kenji is such a bright character, and for the sake of contrast if I were to rewrite BSD, I would keep him that way, because a story filled with characters who are all as bleak and depressed as each other makes for a boring portrayal of trauma. Because, if everyone has trauma, NOBODY has trauma. Syndrome reference. They all cancel each other out and become far less important. HOWEVER. In a void, if I were to keep Kenji in line with my ability = trauma, I would give him the archetype of "the smiling goofball with the most crushing backstory who somehow made it through and came out the other side without mental illnesses and a love for humanity" if that....isn't too wordy. Does that make sense? Like Vash the Stampede in Trigun Stampede, basically. You'd have no idea this guy suffered until he told you his backstory while grinning ear to ear in the special side episode that you thought was going to be filler. He'd have the "yeah it was rough but I don't mind! I'm just sad for the other people who got hurt!" type beat and there would be 300 fanfics made about him breaking down because the fandom never got to see him cry in canon.

Ability birth/trauma history:

Kenji's superhuman strength would be born out of the landslides incident in his village. I wouldn't make it too deep, really, just your usual natural disaster trauma. I don't remember anything about Kenji's family if they were mentioned in BSD, but let's just say he lived with his family in the village very happily until the landslide incident. One of his family members got crushed under a falling tree (not dead, just trapped and injured), and Kenji's ability manifested out of the desperation to save them because nobody else could. Family member survived but was left disabled for the rest of their life. Kenji would be triggered in current day if he were to see anyone in life-threatening situations, but he would have the fight response and would be confident in his ability to save them.

Arc:

No arc for him, he's emotionally stable and would be there to assist other characters in their arcs!

Kyouka

I love Kyouka's current character type, so I wouldn't change anything about how she's written in the main storyline, BUT SHE DOES HAVE A WELL OF TRAUMA TO DRAW FROM! This is what I'd do with that:

Ability birth:

First of all, Kyouka's backstory is a bit weird to understand in relation to her ability itself, so I would simplify and change a few details, even though I do like some of the elements of its portrayal in the anime. Second of all, I love the Kouyou (I'm trying hard to spell everyone's names right) mother-daughter relationship going on with her, so I'd first of all have to build up my version of Kouyou.

Kouyou in canon wanted to leave the mafia with a man she admired, so let me harp on that by saying her motivation was that she wanted to have a family with him. Classic. Okay, so she fails in that in canon, the man gets killed, and she holds a grudge against the head of the mafia at that time (not Mori). Once the mafia is taken over by Mori, she was involved with the killing of the former mafia leader, so she becomes enthralled by Mori's sick passion and attached to the children he brings in. This is her own perverse version of a family, the only kind she'll get. She forgives herself for being Mori's enabler by convincing herself that she's the refuge for all the hurting children he brings into the mafia. She is their mother figure. To Chuuya, to Dazai, to Kouyou, etc.

Okay, NOW enter Kyouka, the new target of Mori's current attempt to make yet another ability user. Kouyou wants a little girl to take care of (she hates Elise, we all hate Elise), tired of all the boys. Mori preys on this and uses that motivation to convince Kouyou to kill Kyouka's mother and take the mother's place. This will bond her to the child.

Kouyou is all for this. Kouyou would become Kyouka's mother's assassin.

Once in the mafia, Kyouka is not like the others because she's basically a kidnapping victim instead of a grooming victim lured into the mafia. Stockholm syndrome manifests while Kouyou spoils Kyouka, but Mori is ofc determined to traumatize her. However, they underestimate how much smarter Kyouka is than some of the other children, and she is aware that Kouyou is only being kind to her to try and replace her mother. Her ability manifests as a way to preserve her mother's memory. Her ability would BE a ghost of her mother, basically, here to protect Kyouka from the fakers.

LONG WAY TO SAY THAT BUT HEY, KYOUKA HAD A GOOD BASELINE TO DRAW FROM. I would also tie in the phone by putting that into the trauma of her mother's death. During the assassination, Kyouka was on the phone with her mother, coming home from school. Since her mother was attacked while she was apart from her and she heard her mother's death on the phone, her trauma links directly to that, and Demon Snow would have a consistent phone-voice if it were to speak to represent those last moments of her life.

Current behavior (in relation to the trauma):

In joining the ADA and that whole thing, the one trigger I'd focus on would be that Kyouka refuses to talk on the phone with anybody. Everyone who works with her has to work around this, because she's internally convinced that talking on the phone will 1) cause someone to be compelled by her words (since Demon Snow follows phone commands) and 2) make her afraid that person will somehow meet misfortune if they speak over the phone. She'd retain that superstition.

Arc/relationships:

I would make an episode where Kyouka has to overcome her fear of talking on the phone. She'd still be close with Atsushi mainly but I would probably add a dash of Yosano in there as well, helping Kyouka process death as a whole and especially in relation to her mother. I would present a main conflict where Kyouka could put others in danger if she doesn't use a phone (say, a 911 call), and no other character is there to do it for her. She sees how her superstition doesn't come to pass because the 911 call brings only help and solves the situation, and then could grow when she realizes that she's allowed to be angry for her mother's death, and allowed to keep Demon Snow in honor of her memory, helping instead of harming others. She is also allowed to protect herself from harm. Basically Demon Snow would represent the grieving process in some way.

Atsushi

I really hate this guy in canon, I do apologize for how much I'm going to change him.

Character change:

To start, I'm a huge hater of canon Atsushi (as mentioned), but quite a fan of BEAST Atsushi, in comparison. I would rebuild his character based more on BEAST than BSD. Okay, so it's widely tossed around that Atsushi is a good representation of PTSD (he's not, from an officially diagnosed CPTSD haver, I'm sorry, though if anyone who has PTSD likes his representation, I'm happy for you <3 live in peace). I would shift him to be a representation for survivor's guilt. Why this choice? First of all, my changes would already make almost every character a representation of PTSD because all abilities would be a metaphor for PTSD. I'll get into the changes for his backstory to fit this narrative in a second. But I want to merge his BSD and BEAST personalities together. In BSD, he's always making everything his fault somehow and using self-blame like it's a personality quirk. I want to use this, and mesh it with the more serious personality he has in BEAST. He'd remain an ADA member, but he'd be less... comedically brainless. First of all, autism. Yay!!! I love socially awkward characters if they're not overdone, so I would give Atsushi the "not labelled but definitely autistic" character type. Social cues are hard, he struggles to make genuine connections or "correctly" convey his emotions, all that. This would make him a better match-up for Dazai since they would find some common ground in the emotions department, with Dazai being keen on understanding the way others act socially but not WISHING to participate, and Atsushi just not knowing how to participate "properly". He would feel bad about this as a main character conflict, wishing to assimilate into "normal" society better when he feels so alienated. This would also fit his um....unique? eccentric? Character design and haircut. JUST SAYING. The arc (which I'll talk about in a second) would be about accepting himself the way he is instead of forcing himself to assimilate to society, so don't think I'm making him autistic as some sort of derogatory thing. Not at all.

Trauma history:

So I mentioned I would give him the survivors guilt theme. For his orphanage backstory, I would build up the fact that he was "the weird kid" but he really loved the children he was around and desired to connect with them. The abusive caretakers I would tone down a bit to give some more realism to the abuse, because I find the backstory ridiculous and tacky in canon. I'd take inspiration from real life horror houses and camp counselor stories, especially the psychological manipulation of making kids tattletales on each other, essentially, as a way to protect themselves. If anyone does anything "wrong", the kids can earn themselves a day of rest from the abuse by being the caretaker's "pet" and telling them who transgressed. I'd keep the elements of Atsushi being put in solitary confinement situations (but not chained up), starvation, physical abuse and threats to permanently maim any children that ran away (crushing their legs/ankles etc.).

Because of this, Atsushi's personality would form around the desire to be the savior of all the other children. Tokyo Ghoul ahh sentiments like "it's better to be hurt than to hurt others" would be his motto. Self-sacrificing little guy. He would get himself in trouble just to redirect attention from other, more fragile kids, and thus become the main target of the abusers. However, as what usually happens in reality with hero-minded people in groups like this, the abusers would convince the kids that this was because Atsushi thought he was better than them, so the kids would alienate him since it gets them rewards from their abusers and relief from abuse. If Atsushi wants to take the fall for them, by all means, let him take the fall. Atsushi gets blamed for everything. (This is how it can make his current self-blame behavior make more sense)

Ability birth:

Atsushi's Beast Beneath the Moonlight would birth under the extreme stress of being everyone's punching bag. Atsushi, like any victim of abuse, would be bothered at first by the reaction of anger and hatred he has in his heart when kids blame him and when abusers go after him again and again. Even though a lot of this hatred is self-focused, there's a growing rage against the monsters hurting him, and a need to become a monster to hurt them back. Also, the need to fulfill their accusations that he is the monster. AKA "fine, I'll be the villain you want me to be" arc. Atsushi is abused until he hits a breaking point, finally, and can't take it anymore. He accepts that instead of being hurt constantly, he does want to hurt his abusers back, he does want to kill them, and the Beast is born, a trauma holder that is out of his control. On the day of its birth, it destroys the entire orphanage in a blind rage, and Atsushi blanks out during the attack. The main drive of his current story would be him trying to figure out what actually happened that day after waking up where he does in BSD's first scene.

Current behavior, relationships, & arc:

Since Atsushi would theoretically be the main character, still, his ability would stand as more unique since he has zero control of it. This would be because he refuses to process his trauma in the orphanage, only retaining the survivor's guilt about "a disaster happened and I was the only survivor, but I don't know what the disaster was caused by, only that I blame myself". I would have Fukuzawa, Kyouka, and Dazai be the main accomplices to solving this for him as well as emotionally assisting in his arc to accepting what he did and understanding the nature of his beast. It would be a nice way to explore the rage that survivors of childhood abuse retain for their abusers, and how dangerous it can be if you don't process that trauma in a healthy way. The whole goal would be to keep Atsushi from denying that his childhood abuse hurt him and that it was fucked up. The other characters would be motivated to do this because of the disaster that would come of Atsushi losing himself to his beast and going on a rampage.

This is probably why Atsushi in canon makes me so annoyed, by the way, because he had such POTENTIAL with the metaphors to really represent PTSD and trauma, but failed miserably and instead just repeated a single scene on a loop until I wanted to blow my brains out. "it would've been better if you'd just died in a ditch somewhere" is my winter soldier trigger phrase now.

....

OH MY GOD I'M DONNEEEEEE, THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME THE CHANCE TO RAMBLE MY ASS OFF!!! Clearly I love the chance to do it, so if you want to give me any other characters (if I didn't make you regret asking), PLEASE FEEL FREE! I would love to see what rolls out of my head with the right prompts! I spend so much time focusing on Dazai that I've forgotten about how much unused potential lies in the other cast.

THANK YOU AGAIN, I HOPE ANYONE WHO READS THIS FINDS THEMSELVES ENTERTAINED! And if it happens to be of any quality, you have my full permission to use this shit for your own fanfics if you'd like, just credit me if you please! I'd never spend enough time on characters aside from Dazai to actually use these ideas, so I'd be thrilled to see what others come up with. Please oh please write me an AU so I don't have to, I want to indulge....

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