Satsuki Matoi, the hero of our story, doing her favorite recreational activity until things go awry halfway through.
Maim de Maim
is a Kill la Kill fanfic written by GasmaskAvenger
And it goes like this: Satsuki Matoi is a regular Japanese girl who discovers there's more to her than she thought after a chance discovery of a very special school uniform and a blue, scissor looking blade. Along with her classical music loving BFF Nonon Jakuzure, she sets out in an adventure that will ultimately result in saving the world.
Wait, sounds familiar?
As of 09/10/2015, an official omake side fic set during the events of Chapter 9 entitled "Remedies for Loneliness" was released by 99-Cells and is recommended reading for fans of the fic craving for more adventures set during the earlier days of the fic. Later, by the same author as the omake, we have a prequel fic called Days Zero
Last updated July 2017, with a four chapter epilogue soon to be in the works.
Tropes for Maim de Maim:
- Abusive Parents: Played with. Ragyou, true to canon, however, she didn't entirely start out that way, actually, she got to be abusive in some ways after being exposed to the Original Life Fiber. However, before that she experimented on a ten year old girl. Interestingly, she did seem to be or was very close to being a good mother to Ryuuko, referring to her as her "darling sugar cube" and the like,
then again... - The Alcoholic:
- Ragyou is mentioned to be drinking red wine on a semi-regular basis until Chapter 14. She returns to that habit afterward.
- Ryuuko is too, to a lesser extent. Considering that the Kiryuuins were revealed to have a large alcohol collection, it would safe to say that they all were or are
- Badass Pacifist: Played with in Satsuki's case, in that she is mostly pacifistic, as in not preferring to fight, however, if peace and diplomacy won't work, then she will resort to violence.
- As of Chapter 22, she has officially foregone this trope as she is preparing to help raise an army for Nudist Beach to storm REVOCS owned Tokyo.
- Chapter 25, however, has her reverting back to this policy after she snaps out of her tyrant-like mental state.
- Bloodier and Gorier: Unlike the original anime, many people throughout the story die in very gory ways that can definitely make some readers queasy.
- Brainwashed and Crazy:
- Ryuuko and Senketsu. Through some help, they get better.
- Izanami Nishimura, the fiance of Satsuki's late ex-bofriend Masanori Kakinomoto, is also this in the second half of the fic and is convinced by Dr. Richard Batty that Satsuki killed her lover out of jealousy.
- Curbstomp Battle: Satsuki's has won her fair share of these. However there are also times where she was in the receiving end of this trope
- One time is when she underestimated Uzu's fighting style.....and paid dearly for it.
- Second time is after a supposedly peaceful negotiation with Ragyo which turned into a bloodbath that ended with Satsuki's short lived capture. Even Isshin was unprepared for how strong his ex-wife got since the last time they saw each other.
- Dark and Troubled Past:
- Nui's
- As we find out later, Ragyou also has one. To elaborate further, Ragyou's father, Gaoh, apparently passed away when she was in her teens (he was mentioned to have died before she met Soichiro) and, apparently, his experiments with life fibers lead to his demise, along with that of his wife's Dietricha, as the aftermath of one of such experiment left her with missing limbs, which life-fiber prosthetics were made to replace. Unfortunately, said limbs routinely left her with severe staph infections because they didn't sync with properly, which was mentioned to have physically aged her "worse than an average chain smoker", to which Soichiro confirms in a conversation with Gi Man.
- Darker and Edgier: Zig-Zagged quite a bit in that while much of the first half of the story would only get dark when it needed to in certain moments, much of the entire mid-section of the fic (starting with Chapter 18 on) makes the original anime look pretty lighthearted in comparison.
- Darkest Hour:
- Things truly get go downhill for Tokyo ever since Ragyo abruptly cancelled Nui's potent psychological prescription drug, reverting her back to her childish yet bloodthirsty self and costing Tokyo PD one hell of a good cop.
- Just when things couldn't get worse than that, it does when Ragyo lays siege on Tokyo, forcing everyone to either submit to her new rule, face death at her hands, or to run for their lives to seek refuge outside of the city.
- It didn't exactly help matters when Satsuki snaps into a dictator-like mental state when she discovered that the killer of her ex-boyfriend was still kicking, both of which severely crippling the morale of Nudist Beach; the very military organization that she unknowingly fought alongside with since Chapter 12.
- But with the issues regarding Satsuki and Nui's mental states chronologically resolved at Chapter 25, things are no doubt looking back up for the good guys again.
- Destructive Romance: What became of Ryuko and Sanageyama's relationship until the latter finally broke up with the former in front of her face in Chapter 12
- The Dreaded: "The Chancellor", whoever she is. From we get in chapter 22, Ragyou seems to not like interacting with her too much (which retroactively makes Ragyou's phone conversation with her ten chapters earlier look much Harsher in Hindsight). It's particularly telling if she warns Dr. Batty to steer clear of her.
- Drowning My Sorrows:
- Ryuuko in chapter 22. She even mentioned this to be such.
- At first, it looked like Nui was doing this, however, it was subverted, when it was she stated that she was combining the alcohols from the collection to commit suicide with.
- Dying as Yourself: Nui, when she tries to commit suicide, to stop her split personality from taking over. It ends in failure.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male /Female: Averted in the case of a brainwashed Ryuuko and, naturally, it is seen as horrifying, especially when she has sex with a very reluctant Uzu.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Ragyo's interaction with the Chancellor seems to be laced with this, although, this is somewhat justified, seeing as the latter did mess with her head during that point by impersonating her deceased father.
- Eye Scream: A particularly nasty example of this happens in Chapter 18 when Maiko Ogure loses her right eye after it got blown off by a shotgun shrapnel shell during her fight against some of Ragyo Kiryuin's troopers.
- Facial Horror: When Ryuuko had her jaw blown off with a shotgun blast.
- Face–Heel Turn: Jiro Wakamoto, Houka Inumuta's friend introduced in Chapter 8, turns on him out of jealously. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on the reader), his betrayal indirectly costs him his life three chapters later.
- Feel No Pain: Everything that Evelyn tried to do to kill Satsuki, even going as far as throwing the latter into a furnace, had zero effect.
- For Want Of A Nail
- Good Parents: Gi Man tries to be a good father to Ryuuko (In spite of the occasional slip up), however, Mako's parents seem to be very much like their canon counterparts
- Gosh Dang It to Heck!: Both Mako and Satsuki clearly don't use as much profanity as their respective friends do.
- One notable exception for Mako is when she compared Ryuko's body to that of Satsuki over the phone.
- As for Satsuki, she is capable of using the big three, but only when rightfully deserved or prompt, such as when she thought she accidentally ripped Ragyo's face off prior to the curbstomp or while Satsuki was being "purified". She even elaborated on the subject herself after Ryuko told her rival that she suffered the same fate. Later, she rightfully curses a few more times in Chapter 22 during her confrontation with The Staple Eyed Gentleman.
- Horrifying the Horror: What a twelve-year old Nui did gave even Ragyou, her mother, the one that created her, pause.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Satsuki does this against Nui after the latter's prescription drug of nearly 18 years has been cancelled. Thus, reverting back to psychotic self.
- Satsuki does the same thing later in Chapter 22 with the same individual , only this time it was much more successful
- Instant Expert: Satsuki already had the glove, the positive relationship with her Kamui, and the love for the sexy. All that was left was to know the words and BAM! Life Fiber Synchronization!
- Love at First Punch: Implied to be what eventually led Ryuko and Sanageyama to falling in love with each other.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Nui gets two of these, one is from when skinned a girl alive to make a kamui and another is after Ryuuko and Senketsu are brainwashed.
- No Name Given /Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The Chancellor is called, well, the aforementioned. Her name is never given.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Ryuuko and various other minor characters first notice Ragyou's odd behavior. After the events in chapter fourteen, it also a tad strange if Ragyou shows any tinge of genuine emotion after.
- Satsuki doesn't upset pretty easily and is rather one of the nicest people one could meet, however, she does show a burst of anger and venom in Chapter 20. Her being depressed is likely to have this effect.
- Original Flavour
- Powered Armor: Maiko Ogure's cybernetic suit.
- Role Swap AU: In this universe, Satsuki is the rebellious student investigating her father's death and Ryuko is the Student Council President at Honnouji Academy.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Senketsu tries to pull this but he fails and Nui's done this in the past when she was a child after her My God, What Have I Done? moment
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: Satsuki never had a problem with how much skin she shows, Kamui or otherwise.
- However, when Satsuki finally snapped out of her tyrant-like mental state, she turned it up to eleven by ripping off her military like suit during dinner in full view for everyone to see, with naught but a Nudist Beach uniform underneath.
- Split Personality: Nui and said personalities are more akin to Two Beings, One Body, are often at odds with one another.
- As of Chapter 25, the two halves now have their own separate bodies. Talk about duality.
- Switched at Birth: This is implied to be the case with Satsuki and Ryuuko. It's complicated.
- The Stoner: Satsuki was literally this throughout most of the fiction until her Kamui partner told her that the very last batch she acquired and ingested was salvia, which is far more dangerous than the real thing. Now upholding her promise to Junketsu, she has now decided to quit weed for a while; which will only, in turn, improve her already astonishing performance with Junketsu.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Again, Nui and, to elaborate, she skinned a girl alive.
- Unknown Character: "The Chancellor" and the question that comes up is: "Who is she?"
- Woman Scorned: Ryuuko doesn't take break up well.
