I've seen so many different iterations of Shinsou's quirk in fanfiction. Some are nightmarish (watching your body move against your will), some are cathartic (immediately silences a busy mind and stomps panic attacks instantly), and others claim you're totally unconscious under its effects and thus don't remember a thing. What's your take on Brainwash, specifically for Trial by Fire? (Is it reasonable to look forward to Shinsou using Brainwash to help Kacchan ride out an anxiety attack?)
Honestly, itās a difficult question, because itās not like we really know all that much about Brainwashing. We know how it works in general (people being affected after responding verbally and doing what Shinsou tells them to as long as it doesnāt require actively thinking/accessing knowledge or memories they have to do it), but not much about how a person affected feels. Thereās only two accounts we really get of how it may work.
The first is, of course, Izuku.
Heās under Shinsouās Brainwashing here, but heās very obviously thinking clearly. Heās aware of whatās going on and is trying and failing to control his body, although he notes that āhis head is fuzzyā. However, considering the involvment of OfAās vestiges shortly thereafter, this seems to be an exception to the rule. Every other person affected didnāt remember what happened during the time they were brainwashed. Izuku does.
The other account we have for certain is Ojirou.
He says after he āsnapped out of itā, he was āsuddenly aware of what was happeningā. This implies that unlike Izuku, he hasnāt been aware before. He was basically knocked out and his body was a puppet. And thatās how it seems to work in all cases except for Izukuās, who had the nightmarish version of being aware, but not in control of his body.
Since that is how I interpret the Quirk to work with the current, available information (I donāt seem to recall anything more specific on the subject being given in the joint training arc), this is how I will be portraying this Quirk in any fics I write in which Shinsou might be present. For āTrial by Fireā specifically, I suppose it could be used on Katsuki to forcibly calm him down, since it would immitate him āpassing out from panicā without the actual passing out. Question is, how will Shinsou use it on a boy who canāt verbally respond to him? Because thus far?
Yeah, seems like it really has to be a verbal response. Canāt get around that XD
