#like trying to be the best to get Kisa's attention bc she only notices when he's successful

[ridiasfangirlings]

Do you think Fushimi's personality/way of dealing with these would have changed at all (re: been better) if Niki had died earlier in his life? Like when Saru was in elementary school or even before then. Would his coping methods would have been healthier and would he have been able to express himself more freely?

I don't think Fushimi would have ultimately been much better off even if Niki had died before the anthill incident because even though it would lessen the actual emotional abuse happening there would still be Kisa's neglect stunting Fushimi's emotional growth. I could see his mental issues developing somewhat differently, like rather than taking on that whole 'Niki' persona he might model himself after Kisa instead and ignore Yata post-betrayal because that's what he's familiar with, but I think there would still be a betrayal and he'd still have all the low self esteem and abandonment issues. Niki obviously made Fushimi's issues worse with his constant mockery and destruction of the things Fushimi loved but even without him Fushimi still lacks an actual good adult role model to help him develop emotionally. The biggest issue with Fushimi's childhood in general is that he was never able to develop any type of emotional maturity due to both the abuse and neglect, and getting rid of just one of those factors wouldn't do much to help him become healthier. And in some ways he'd probably be reaching the same conclusion but by a different path, like rather than assuming that his relationship with Yata will be destroyed because that's what happens to everything that's precious to him Fushimi assumes their relationship will crumble because after all no one wants to stay close to Fushimi and everyone abandons him eventually so why should he have expected Yata to be any different. I think for Fushimi to have grown up into a healthier person who's better able to express himself he'd probably have to be removed from that house entirely at a young age and to actually be loved and cared for right from the start. If Niki's not there but Kisa's still not an active loving parent it wouldn't help Fushimi much beyond giving him a slightly different but ultimately still unhealthy set of behaviors and mental issues.

#Fushimi Saruhiko #Talking K #I suppose the question would be would Kisa take a more active role in raising Saru without Niki there #and tbh I tend to guess no she just doesn't seem interested in being a mom #like even with Niki not around much it doesn't seem like she tried to take care of Fushimi in his absence #so he'd still grow up with the unspoken belief that no one cares about him and that he's worthless #I could see him maybe being more motivated school and work wise #like trying to be the best to get Kisa's attention bc she only notices when he's successful #which still leaves him with a crippling fear of failure and unable to deal with it #basically to get healthy Fushimi we just need to throw both parents right out #and give Fushimi to the Yata family or the Munakata family to be raised properly