How the House Burned Down

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Someone snapped, that is all. —AO3 summary

How the house burned down. is a short Kill la Kill AU fic, where, as the authoress put it, "someone snapped".

Tropes used in How the House Burned Down include:

• Abusive Parents: Ragyo, though, unlike some portrayals, she's abusive to all of her daughters, as she beat and starved them, but Satsuki got it worse. Said abuse gets to a head to where Satsuki snaps.
• Affectionate Nickname: Satsuki's dubbed "Sissie". It acts as an in-story alias, as she doesn't go by her real name.
• Artistic License Law: Played with, as Amoridere admitted in a note that she wasn't sure how plea deals work.
  • With Satsuki implied to have taken an insanity defense, she would be declared mentally unfit to stand trial. However, as what would happen with an insanity defense, mitigating circumstances or not, Satsuki isn't let off scott free.
  • Related to the above, people who accept plea deals usually get sentenced without trial. Satsuki's mentioned to have a trial, though a plea deal can come up at any time.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: At one point, in chapter 19: Ryuuko tells Satsuki, "I wish I ain't have to deal with you anymore, Sats." Sure enough, four or five chapters after that, she regrets it when she sees that Satsuki was hit by a car, deliberately. She wanted to, quote, "live like normal" but she didn't want her sister to get hit by cars.
• Big Sister Instinct: Satsuki, though in a more promoted to parent way. As Nonon puts it, Satsuki loves her sisters so much that they may as well be her babies. However, there's a deconstruction, as her protection of her sisters really affects their dynamic, with Ryuuko going against her at points, while Nui remaining more compliant.
• Broken Bird: Satsuki and a sign of her being broken manifests in her mental problems. By a point, she doesn't completely understand second chances or people being kind or patient with her. At different points, Nonon describes Satsuki as "mixed-up".
• Children Are Innocent: Ryuuko and Nui don't know what the implications of Nonon asking if Satsuki left a note are, nor did Ryuuko know what gunshots are, only describing them as a "loud popping noise".
• Creator Provincialism Unlike the original canon, the fic How the House Burned Down takes place in the US.
• The Dog Bites Back: What kicks off the fic is Satsuki snapping from the abuse and shooting Ragyo.
• Driven to Madness: Nonon testifies at Satsuki's trial that being abused severely affected her mental wellbeing and asks that Satsuki be granted leniency for it.
• Driven to Suicide: In chapter 14, Satsuki initially contemplates it, while thinking of taking that night with her to the grave. She decides against it but reconsiders, later, as she does attempt suicide by car. However, she fails at this, rendering her with limited mobility.
• House Fire: Courtesy of Satsuki and the house wasn't the only thing that burned, as she got scars from that event.
• Insanity Defense: At her trial, Satsuki, apparently took one. However, unlike a lot of portrayals, she's not completely let go, no, as she gets a sentence of approximately 18 years, 5-10 of those years are to be spent in a mental hospital.
• Reality Ensues: Acting in self-defense would be rather traumatic for the child, as Satsuki demonstrates.
• Scars Are Forever/Every Scar Has a Story: Satsuki's burn scars, which are rather prominent, prominent enough to hide them.
• Shown Their Work: Satsuki's PTSD symptoms are shown to be rather accurate, as she has triggers (like loud noises and fire) and she's sensitive to loud noises.
• Vague Age: Everyone's ages, considering that the story didn't say how many years have passed but they are still minors, though the only thing concrete is that Nui's the youngest. As Amoridere said in her notes, this was deliberate.
• Virtual Soundtrack
  • "Ethereal" by Txmy (Chapter 23)
  • "Goodbye, my friend" by Hiroyuki Sawano (Chapter 24)
  • "The House" by Jeff Ruso (Chapter 25)
    • "The Finale" by Jeff Russo (chapter 26)
  • "Certainty" by FELT (Ch. 27)
  • "Eclipse of the Sun" by Tom Quick (Epilogue I)
  • "Sentient" by Gavin Luke (Epilogue II)
  • "Reminiscence" by Johannes Bornlof (Epilogue II)