Canon Issues Explained, Part I: Ken and Violence Addiction
So!
People have asked me about Ken's Soul of Ice training. I'm getting a lot of, "Why?' Yeah, he's got some anger issues (fist fights are not the most socially acceptable way to greet a new teammate), but insanity? Come on now. What the hell is going on, Ana? What are you doing to this character? He coaches kiddie soccer, for chrissakes."
...alright, so you guys are more polite than that. But I'm sure someone's thinking it! Thus. An essay, on Ken and the long road to violence addiction.
Spoiler warning: The drama CDs are not integral to Weiss continuity, but if you want to remain unspoiled for Gluhen (hah!) maybe this isn't something you should be reading. Gluhen, however, is not discussed here.. that's Part II. ^_~
Let it be known now that I pulled Ken from before the worst of this (and I squish the timeline---if Koyasu can do it, so can I!), but it's still in him. When he first arrived at camp, he was craving violence, but that's more or less settled out now. He lost his temper a few times and that was enough of a wake up call... he's working on it now. Seriously working on it. Because if he doesn't, this is what he canonically becomes... dun dun duuuuun~~~~~!
I once wrote, in a series of drabbles,
Kase: All he wanted was to be good at something. Everyone else had someone to tell them they were special. They were loved. They were someone. He didn’t have that. And he thought that if he was good at something, he wouldn’t need that reassurance.
You knew he’d need it anyway.
Ken: Now you sit in your room, flexing your fist, watching the blades snap out of your glove. The smell of flowers makes your head spin, and no one could love you now, but you tell yourself you can be good at this.
Because you have to be good at something.
I think that's how the spiral began, for Ken. He's got a somewhat easily addicted personality... he was good at soccer, that was his thing, so he latched onto it, became sort of obsessed with it, and made himself one of the best at it. When that was taken from him, he felt lost. Kritiker approached him, and there was the hope of revenge, so he signed up for Weiss. I don't think he dealt well with killing, at first. Have another writing sample:
It made me sick the first time I killed. Three days out of training, and they sent me on a mission, and I managed to get the target, just barely. My claws got stuck when he toppled towards me, and I panicked. My fist tightened on reflex, digging the blades in deeper, hooking them, connecting me to my first kill in a way I never should have been. He wasn't dead yet, still gagging and twitching, smelling of shit and blood. The latter spilled onto my chest as I struggled, frantic and weakened by it, to get free. It took me an eternity of fumbling to roll him off and yank my blades out; I got to my feet and managed to stagger about a meter away before I collapsed to my knees again, emptying the little I'd eaten that day from my stomach.
The next thing I remember Omi was there, face kind and eyes worried, helping me to stand up. He said it happened to everyone, and that I'd get used to it. Learn to deal with killing, because it was for the right reasons. Weiss was noble enough, good enough for me, a dead man at seventeen. I told myself, yes, I would adjust because I had to. I would adjust...
But I never thought I would learn to like it.
And there is no doubt that Ken enjoys killing, at least in post-Kapitel canon. You can see, throughout the series, his numbing to it.. he begins to not show as much regret, then none at all. But post-Kapitel, he starts to get a rush from it, from the sense of power it brings him.
It's Drama CD time.
Dramatic Precious is the drama CD series that falls between Kapitel and Gluhen that all Weiss fans should read. (DC I: The Holy Children, while I love it dearly for its crack value, takes place before Kapitel and won't be discussed further here. Sister and her brainwashing endeavors are discussed in my canon relationships essay.) The DP series follows Weiss after the end of the main series arc, and discusses Aya's neverending angst, Omi's daddy issues family trauma, and Youji and Ken's respective spirals to insanity. I could essay on all of these things at length, because I'm a WHORE for WK, but I'm going to try and keep it to Ken. (As a note, Youji's crazy is even more special.. he can't fuck anyone without strangling them. Good times.)
DP I: Sleepless Night - Ken is losing it. That's basically his entire plot here. He's obsessed with violence, with killing, and all he can think about is his next fix. It's an addiction, one that he's aware of but doesn't know how to stop, and it's slowly destroying him. He's anxious for the next mission; he claims the target right off the bat; he suggests that Weiss make up their own missions, because they aren't getting enough kills in. And when they go on their mission and discover the targets are already dead, he begins shredding a corpse in frustration. He later goes out hunting for someone to beat on, and comes across a woman being attacked by rapists. She stops him from killing them, barely. Below are some (edited, for relevance and because the translator decided to make Ken sound like a gangsta) selections from DP I.
Ken: I only did it 'cause I felt like whaling their asses. Just felt like punching someone's lights out, no... felt like killing someone. If you hadn't stopped me, I would've.
Ken: I'm... a murderer....
Reiko: [...] I thought so. You and I... both have that same scent...
Ken: [...] I can feel their heartbeat through my hands... can feel it stopping. That instant! It's like... an electric shock just shot through my spine... I'd thought it was just apprehension, but no, now I know it's not that at all. It was joy! Just for that split second, I feel like I'm alive!
Ken later has to kill Reiko, as she's the leader of the crime ring Weiss is after this week. And with her end, so too fades any hope Ken may have had of stopping this downward spiral. We move on...
DP II: Hey look, alcohol is nice.
DP III: Ken doesn't seem to care when he gets seriously injured on missions.
DP IV, I'm going to quote again, because... well... I think it would be easier than summarizing. DP IV is when Ken develops his death wish.
Youji: ... Ken... you've been freakishly cheerful lately.
Ken: [...] Thanks to [Azami and Ayame, characters Ken bonded with and murdered in II and III], I saw how much further I could fall from where I'd fallen. Honestly, I was relieved...
Youji: [doubtful] Relieved?
Ken: Yeah, they had the same kinda future as us, so we--I'll fall in the same way. We'll be murdering killers, and just be killed by someone in turn. Heh... Can't help thinking that that wouldn't be such a bad thing...
Youji: You...
Ken: Heh, worry not. I've not killed anyone outside missions, at least... not yet.
Other relevant points in DP IV are: When Ken says that he doesn't want any sort of guardian job, Weiss is meant to kill. And if they shift gears, he's considering being a mercenary, because that's not what he's in it for. And when Omi leaves. Which.. I won't discuss here, but it's the stopping point for what I consider to be Weiss proper. Again, we move on...
To Fight Fire With Fire, the pre-Gluhen drama CD, taking place two years after the DP arc and before Gluhen proper. This is two years since Weiss dissolved. Two years of Ken going slowly and steadily BONKERS. Just... yeah. He's been spending his time beating on thugs, hanging out in back alleys, making his own missions. He doesn't have a job. Hell, the translations are ambiguous, but he might not even have an apartment. He doesn't seem to care anymore that he's a murderer, he doesn't angst over it like he used to. He doesn't care about dying. He fights Kyou (for those of you who've seen Gluhen, Kyou's first appearance is in FFwF, getting beaten down by Ken), demanding to know why he still wants to live, why he's scared to die. Screaming that he can't hold back.
Ken: [...] I won't deny it. When I cut an opponent to ribbons, my body gets hot enough to burn. My minds goes black with satisfaction. Murder is probably my calling. It's not that I fell to disgrace, it's that I've always been there.
[Aya has just walked in on Ken beating Kyou to a pulp.]
Ken: You . . . [...] You caught me at a bad time. This isn't what I've been doing. But . . . it's useless. I'm useless. Totally useless and I don't get it. I tried to understand it but I couldn't because I'm stupid. Even if I think about it I don't get it. I . . . I'm . . . useless on my own. Shit! Hey. won't you work with me? That's it! You take Persia's place and give me missions. It'll be great! Right?
Anyone who's seen Gluhen knows that isn't what happens... Aya, Ken, and Youji go back to working for Kritiker, which is being run by Mamoru Takatori (Omi), the new Persia. And, uh... I sorta need a typing break now, so I'm going to post this much and continue on, rambling about Gluhen and Side B in a second essay.
How does that sound? Continue, Y/N?
People have asked me about Ken's Soul of Ice training. I'm getting a lot of, "Why?' Yeah, he's got some anger issues (fist fights are not the most socially acceptable way to greet a new teammate), but insanity? Come on now. What the hell is going on, Ana? What are you doing to this character? He coaches kiddie soccer, for chrissakes."
...alright, so you guys are more polite than that. But I'm sure someone's thinking it! Thus. An essay, on Ken and the long road to violence addiction.
Spoiler warning: The drama CDs are not integral to Weiss continuity, but if you want to remain unspoiled for Gluhen (hah!) maybe this isn't something you should be reading. Gluhen, however, is not discussed here.. that's Part II. ^_~
Let it be known now that I pulled Ken from before the worst of this (and I squish the timeline---if Koyasu can do it, so can I!), but it's still in him. When he first arrived at camp, he was craving violence, but that's more or less settled out now. He lost his temper a few times and that was enough of a wake up call... he's working on it now. Seriously working on it. Because if he doesn't, this is what he canonically becomes... dun dun duuuuun~~~~~!
I once wrote, in a series of drabbles,
Kase: All he wanted was to be good at something. Everyone else had someone to tell them they were special. They were loved. They were someone. He didn’t have that. And he thought that if he was good at something, he wouldn’t need that reassurance.
You knew he’d need it anyway.
Ken: Now you sit in your room, flexing your fist, watching the blades snap out of your glove. The smell of flowers makes your head spin, and no one could love you now, but you tell yourself you can be good at this.
Because you have to be good at something.
I think that's how the spiral began, for Ken. He's got a somewhat easily addicted personality... he was good at soccer, that was his thing, so he latched onto it, became sort of obsessed with it, and made himself one of the best at it. When that was taken from him, he felt lost. Kritiker approached him, and there was the hope of revenge, so he signed up for Weiss. I don't think he dealt well with killing, at first. Have another writing sample:
It made me sick the first time I killed. Three days out of training, and they sent me on a mission, and I managed to get the target, just barely. My claws got stuck when he toppled towards me, and I panicked. My fist tightened on reflex, digging the blades in deeper, hooking them, connecting me to my first kill in a way I never should have been. He wasn't dead yet, still gagging and twitching, smelling of shit and blood. The latter spilled onto my chest as I struggled, frantic and weakened by it, to get free. It took me an eternity of fumbling to roll him off and yank my blades out; I got to my feet and managed to stagger about a meter away before I collapsed to my knees again, emptying the little I'd eaten that day from my stomach.
The next thing I remember Omi was there, face kind and eyes worried, helping me to stand up. He said it happened to everyone, and that I'd get used to it. Learn to deal with killing, because it was for the right reasons. Weiss was noble enough, good enough for me, a dead man at seventeen. I told myself, yes, I would adjust because I had to. I would adjust...
But I never thought I would learn to like it.
And there is no doubt that Ken enjoys killing, at least in post-Kapitel canon. You can see, throughout the series, his numbing to it.. he begins to not show as much regret, then none at all. But post-Kapitel, he starts to get a rush from it, from the sense of power it brings him.
It's Drama CD time.
Dramatic Precious is the drama CD series that falls between Kapitel and Gluhen that all Weiss fans should read. (DC I: The Holy Children, while I love it dearly for its crack value, takes place before Kapitel and won't be discussed further here. Sister and her brainwashing endeavors are discussed in my canon relationships essay.) The DP series follows Weiss after the end of the main series arc, and discusses Aya's neverending angst, Omi's daddy issues family trauma, and Youji and Ken's respective spirals to insanity. I could essay on all of these things at length, because I'm a WHORE for WK, but I'm going to try and keep it to Ken. (As a note, Youji's crazy is even more special.. he can't fuck anyone without strangling them. Good times.)
DP I: Sleepless Night - Ken is losing it. That's basically his entire plot here. He's obsessed with violence, with killing, and all he can think about is his next fix. It's an addiction, one that he's aware of but doesn't know how to stop, and it's slowly destroying him. He's anxious for the next mission; he claims the target right off the bat; he suggests that Weiss make up their own missions, because they aren't getting enough kills in. And when they go on their mission and discover the targets are already dead, he begins shredding a corpse in frustration. He later goes out hunting for someone to beat on, and comes across a woman being attacked by rapists. She stops him from killing them, barely. Below are some (edited, for relevance and because the translator decided to make Ken sound like a gangsta) selections from DP I.
Ken: I only did it 'cause I felt like whaling their asses. Just felt like punching someone's lights out, no... felt like killing someone. If you hadn't stopped me, I would've.
Ken: I'm... a murderer....
Reiko: [...] I thought so. You and I... both have that same scent...
Ken: [...] I can feel their heartbeat through my hands... can feel it stopping. That instant! It's like... an electric shock just shot through my spine... I'd thought it was just apprehension, but no, now I know it's not that at all. It was joy! Just for that split second, I feel like I'm alive!
Ken later has to kill Reiko, as she's the leader of the crime ring Weiss is after this week. And with her end, so too fades any hope Ken may have had of stopping this downward spiral. We move on...
DP II: Hey look, alcohol is nice.
DP III: Ken doesn't seem to care when he gets seriously injured on missions.
DP IV, I'm going to quote again, because... well... I think it would be easier than summarizing. DP IV is when Ken develops his death wish.
Youji: ... Ken... you've been freakishly cheerful lately.
Ken: [...] Thanks to [Azami and Ayame, characters Ken bonded with and murdered in II and III], I saw how much further I could fall from where I'd fallen. Honestly, I was relieved...
Youji: [doubtful] Relieved?
Ken: Yeah, they had the same kinda future as us, so we--I'll fall in the same way. We'll be murdering killers, and just be killed by someone in turn. Heh... Can't help thinking that that wouldn't be such a bad thing...
Youji: You...
Ken: Heh, worry not. I've not killed anyone outside missions, at least... not yet.
Other relevant points in DP IV are: When Ken says that he doesn't want any sort of guardian job, Weiss is meant to kill. And if they shift gears, he's considering being a mercenary, because that's not what he's in it for. And when Omi leaves. Which.. I won't discuss here, but it's the stopping point for what I consider to be Weiss proper. Again, we move on...
To Fight Fire With Fire, the pre-Gluhen drama CD, taking place two years after the DP arc and before Gluhen proper. This is two years since Weiss dissolved. Two years of Ken going slowly and steadily BONKERS. Just... yeah. He's been spending his time beating on thugs, hanging out in back alleys, making his own missions. He doesn't have a job. Hell, the translations are ambiguous, but he might not even have an apartment. He doesn't seem to care anymore that he's a murderer, he doesn't angst over it like he used to. He doesn't care about dying. He fights Kyou (for those of you who've seen Gluhen, Kyou's first appearance is in FFwF, getting beaten down by Ken), demanding to know why he still wants to live, why he's scared to die. Screaming that he can't hold back.
Ken: [...] I won't deny it. When I cut an opponent to ribbons, my body gets hot enough to burn. My minds goes black with satisfaction. Murder is probably my calling. It's not that I fell to disgrace, it's that I've always been there.
[Aya has just walked in on Ken beating Kyou to a pulp.]
Ken: You . . . [...] You caught me at a bad time. This isn't what I've been doing. But . . . it's useless. I'm useless. Totally useless and I don't get it. I tried to understand it but I couldn't because I'm stupid. Even if I think about it I don't get it. I . . . I'm . . . useless on my own. Shit! Hey. won't you work with me? That's it! You take Persia's place and give me missions. It'll be great! Right?
Anyone who's seen Gluhen knows that isn't what happens... Aya, Ken, and Youji go back to working for Kritiker, which is being run by Mamoru Takatori (Omi), the new Persia. And, uh... I sorta need a typing break now, so I'm going to post this much and continue on, rambling about Gluhen and Side B in a second essay.
How does that sound? Continue, Y/N?