The Blogtiful

This here's a reworking pf my old Black Dahlia sheet, however the reason I'm posting it here rather than in Create-a-Servant is well, because this technically isn't a Servant sheet

I've modified my regular Servant sheet format for using legendary figures as characters in non-Type-Moon settings, and wanted to run Black Dahlia through it as I felt de-Fate/-ifying her would involve more than just a simple copypaste.
Basically, I wanted to bring the fun of what is essentially Servant sheet, but into my own settings where I call the shots. Admittedly there's still a couple of things here which are obviously Type-Moon, one Skill's basically still Innocent Monster, which may need further revising and 'Signature Power' is basically a setting-neutral way of saying Noble Phantasm

True, I could've still included Zushakon since he's an existing Lovecraft character, but eh, he was only ever there to fit her into the Foreigner class, and I don't have that much interest in going into Lovecraft stuff in my own settings

The Black Dahlia



(Artist: Kaoru Kun)


"Am I just another body for you to cut open? Like how everyone else sees me…"

Real Name: Elizabeth Short
Setting: Original, ones involving AI during a post-apocalypse or a guerrilla war set in predicted future worlds are two I had in mind
Roles: Espionage, Infantry, Artistic*
Source: History
Region: USA, 20th century
Summoning: Her death certificate acts as a catalyst, and her spirit gets pulled in by unsolved mysteries.
Equipment: Detachable body parts as weapons.

Character: "I'm nobody special, but now everyone knows who I am. I wanted to be remembered, to be 'someone'… but for this? People care more about me dead than alive."

A woman who tried to take control of her life, only to have life slam that door right in front of her. She ironically only achieved the fame she (may have) sought upon death, becoming most known for the horror that was done to her, not anything she did.

Elizabeth Short's life saw her roaming, or being shunted depending how you look at it, back and forth across the USA. Born in Boston, her troubled family life saw her end up a high school dropout. She went back and forth from Florida to improve her health after lung surgery, where she'd meet the Air Force pilot who would've been her husband had he not died in a plane crash. She also travelled back and forth from California, first to be with her father before a falling out, then for a relationship with someone who soon turned abusive, then finally working as a waitress with, reportedly, Hollywood actress aspirations.

After disappearing for a week, she was later found dead and horribly disfigured. Mistaken for a mannequin by the one who found her, she'd been ruthlessly vivisected with a 'Glasgow smile' slashed into her face. Her killer to this day has never been found, and with the case being called the 'Black Dahlia' after the then-current film Blue Dahlia, she would become possibly the single most famous murder victim ever, definitely of the 20th century.

She of all people has no real desire to find out who killed her (well, so she insists), in fact she'd rather just move on from the whole thing and not have to deal any further with whoever it was. Unfortunately, the media frenzy that sprang up after her death does not make this easy, and while partly giddy that she achieved fame in some way, also can't help but feel embarrassed over the whole thing.


Species: Undead (mannequinlike)
Faction: Likely none for very long.
Relationships:

• Baudelaire: "Perhaps you're so in love with squalor and morbidity of the city because you no longer had to live it…"
• Berlioz: "A 'lover' of mine already put me through Hell when alive."
• Estella: "Born into wealth, got to live, yet you're just as much of a soul-trodden mannequin as I am."
• Cesare: "Really, you're more mannequin than I am. Huh, you also weirdly remind me of that Casablanca actor."
• Dorothy Gale: "You got your fairy-tale adventure, what do you have to be so moody about? Now, if you went what the actual Judy Garland went through, then I'd understand."
• Jafar: "The 'first detective'? Your kind don't seem to have improved much…"
• Carmen Miranda: "To think you actually made it into Hollywood, only to get your identity vivisected even when your body remained intact."
• Vlad Tepes: "To think some great warlord would suffer the execution as me. But you more than know who killed you…"
• 'Jeeves': "If it was the butler who killed me all along, well, perhaps the universe does hold a sense of humour."

Compatibility: One who would naturally connect with the Black Dahlia would not likely feel they are in control of their own life, be this due to bad luck or the people around them.

They wouldn't be on the side of the law, but not have the opportunity to go full rebel. It'd be an unusual summoner who'd intentionally seek out Black Dahlia's spirit, but for anyone with a deep interest in unsolved mysteries, say a descendant of the Doyle line, it'd be hard to resist contacting her, even if she remembers little more about her killer than anyone else.

Incompatibility: However, she'd quickly get sick of anyone too interested in her death, such as anyone won't shut up about it. She's also uncomfortable with soldiers, given her boyfriends both were and became abusive and dead respectively.

Motivation: Self-determination. To truly be in control of her life, unburdened by illness, poverty, or those who'd take advantage of her. To be famous as Elizabeth Short and not just 'The Black Dahlia', for who she is rather than what happened to her.
Keywords: Murder, Unsolved, Mannequin, Media Frenzy

BGM: Blue Dahlia - YouTube

Pros/Cons

• + Stealth
• + Secret-keeping
• + Erases other identities
• - Restlessness, disobedience
• - Doesn't have all the answers people think she would
• - Powers can backfire and erase her summoner's identity

Skill List

Lone Drifter

A restlessness that sees one never staying in one place or obeying a single authority. Makes one more accustomed to travel, more able to appear and disappear, and raises skepticism of authority.

The Black Dahlia travelled the length and breadth of her country within her 'short' life, continuously distancing herself from those who tried to control her, like her father or abusive boyfriend. Cancels out any authority a civilian may wield but would not be equipped to rebuff kings and generals.

Missile Body Parts

Ability to detach and reattach one's own body parts, maintaining consciousness and mobility despite vivisection.

One of the most famous victims of vivisection, Foreigner can split herself in two at the torso, fire off her limbs, open her head like a snake, and even wield her own intestines like a lasso. She is additionally able to immediately recall her body parts likely due to their sympathetic connection with her, saving herself the trouble of picking them up. Her now mannequin-like flesh helps her joints connect and disconnect near instantly, while the hollowing of her veins and arteries has increased agility.

Rumour Magnet

One who has attracted rumours and an infamous reputation unlike who they originally were, becoming as known for the stories that sprung up around them as for any solid facts.

Many of the rumours that emerged after the Black Dahlia murder, being the cause of a modern media frenzy, have never been confirmed nor disproven. As a result, her own flesh has become closer to that of a mannequin (how she's pictured due to her death), she's gained basic knowledge of the Tantric Arts, and has more acting ability than she may have had.

Vanishing Act

The ability to vanish and hide for extended periods of time.

It is possible to disappear and remain difficult to detect for around a week. The Black Dahlia notably spent a week completely missing before she was found dead.

Signature Power

Don't Try to Find Me

Cold Case Stonewalled

Range: Single target, can be multi-target if simultaneously attacked

Basis: The manifestation of what may be the most famous unsolved murder of the 20th century. This Noble Phantasm takes the fact that her killer, the 'Black Dahlia Avenger' was never found, and weaponises this against future would-be killers.

Effect: The full extent of this Power would activate upon Dahlia (again) being killed. This death would automatically gain the status of 'unsolved', which in turn erasing her killer's identity, blanking out their own identity and history and replacing it with the 'Black Dahlia Avenger'. Essentially a 'taking you with me' power, though targeting identity rather than life, which for some legendary figures may be worse.

In the case of death from mana loss, this erasure of identity is instead inflicted upon Dahlia's last summoner. Should anyone else but her killer witness her 'murder', their memory of the killer will too be erased.

Given how extreme its activation conditions are, this Power does for Dahlia at least have a more contained form. Its effect can also be partially activated whenever she takes damage from another, removing part of their identity in proportion to the damage dealt, e.g., blacking out a weapon should it hit Dahlia, or her attacker's own Skills and Signature Power should Dahlia sustain damage from it.


* Roles at the moment include Infantry, Cavalry, Command, Espionage, Speaker, Artistic, Wizard and Scientist. They're after-the-fact assessments instead of core traits like Servant Classes are, it's possible to qualify for more than one at once, though most will gravitate to a single main Role