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multisfabulis · 4 years ago

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Love’s Descent into Madness

Dethronement (Chapter 3/3)

Word Count: 3627

TW: Graphic depictions of violence, gore, decapitation, and major character death

Happy holidays!

I hope everyone likes the ending because writing this was suffering. Winter decided to come early this year and I absolutely hate the cold so a lot of this was written with numb fingers. The past few days have also been tiring and, because I wanted to get this out before Christmas, I had to pull an all-nighter to finish this and rewrite it to make it look pretty so this was a sleep-deprived fic.

Okay, so I have some things I need to explain:

First off, that line about Ayano needing to apply herself more to her schoolwork was actually a reference to a piece of fanart I saw of Saeru (in disguise as Kenjirou) helping Ayano with her homework and subtly taking digs at her the whole time. I just thought of it while I was writing that paragraph and thought it'd be a neat reference. I can't find the Tweet but I'm hoping someone has a link to it!

Second off, that instance of Kenjirou almost ruining Saeru's plan is a bit of foreshadowing to another Kagepro fic I'm in the works of writing. It may not be the next Kagepro fic I write but it IS coming.

Thirdly, the whole meaning behind Azami not being able to die but still being killed. I know it sounds like the "People die when they are killed" meme but let me explain. I needed to think of a way Azami could still die but without anyone telling me "She's immortal, she can't die" so the way I went about it is, the Queen Snake was what let her be immortal. Because that was the snake that, in my fic, marked her as a god, she couldn't die. Once she gave that snake to Marry, she lost her god status, bringing her down to our level. However, because she was still a Gorgon, I made it so that she couldn't die by natural causes, I.E. starvation, sleep deprivation, etc. She was now an immortal mortal, meaning she couldn't die from natural causes BUT she could now be killed. I don't know if this makes a lot of sense but this is the best way I can describe it.

Finally, the ending. It only occurred to me when I was writing the build-up to it that I wanted to make it a sort of dark twist on Kagepro's themes of moving on after a loved one's death. Saeru decides to move on after Azami's death but he regarded her as dead years ago and was the one to kill her. I don't know if it worked the way I wanted it to but I tried my best.

I'm happy this didn't take that long unlike another past project of mine and I hope everyone who's read this enjoyed it!

Read on AO3 | Read on DA | Support me on Ko-fi!

The never-ending world, or the Daze as it was now called, had undergone many changes over the years. It was only natural since it was ordered to swallow up any unfortunate souls that were unlucky enough to die on August 15th and the world needed to accommodate for its ever increasing number of occupants. Yet there were some things that never changed, no matter how much time had passed. Absence truly did make the heart grow fonder.

He was in very familiar territory. Casually strolling through the dark woods revealed a large clearing where a small decrepit house stood. The moon’s radiance acted as if it were a spotlight, shining down upon it to let him know she was here. It may be an inferior replica but there was no mistaking it. Saeru was home.

It had been several years since his departure from the Daze. The rest of his siblings were gone, having ventured out to the real world in their human vessels and he couldn’t blame them for leaving. Who’d want to stay in a place where the only company you had was a good-for-nothing has-been of a queen? That’s why he followed the example his four siblings set and escaped when the opportunity presented itself. He really wanted to thank them when he had the chance.

The body he left in was a person by the name of Tateyama Kenjirou. A hardworking teacher and devoted family man, he and Saeru met when he and his wife were caught in a landslide. Saeru promised to bring her back if the man allowed him to reside in his body and he accepted his terms of the bargain. That was how their unlikely partnership began, union between human and snake.

It felt simply amazing to have a body to control. While it had taken him some time to adapt and familiarize himself with human behavior, he nevertheless reveled in it. No longer was he a snake relegated to devising plans. He had the means to carry them out himself and no one would be none the wiser. At least, that’s what he believed before a certain idiotic girl proved him wrong.

He had to give her some credit. Not only did she figure out most of his plan just by reading her father’s research but she learned of his existence all due to a small yet sloppy mistake. If she only applied that amount of effort into her schoolwork, then she wouldn’t have been as stupid as she led herself to believe. There was, however, one thing she didn’t take into account.

She thought killing herself would stop him from going after everyone. What she didn’t think about was the advantage her death would give him. One less person to worry about ruining his plan and she left behind a perfectly traumatized helper. The damn brat was like putty in his hands; a few convincing threats to his precious “family” and a deal with the devil was made.

But then the dear old professor kept butting into his business. There were several times over the past two years where he came out because he wanted to spend some “quality time” with the remainder of his family. There was one instance he could recall in which his plan was almost thwarted but Saeru was able to take back the reins. It was too easy to pull the wool over his partner’s eyes and trick him into thinking he was dreaming. It wasn’t like he was lying to him, he was just using the information he knew about humans to his benefit.

Today was when his plan was truly enacted. All the necessary people had arrived, including his traitorous sibling. Konoha, as they were now called, seemed to have forgotten what the humans did to their real family all those years ago and had allied with them. Their compassion for them had its perks, though. It only took one well-aimed bullet to strike them down, leaving them open for a permanent takeover.

The resulting bloodbath was nothing short of marvelous. Having a body, especially one such as his, meant much more fun and creative ways to play with his toys. Spines breaking as they hit concrete walls and organs hitting the floor with a wet slap was like music to his ears. He even ripped out a pathetic shut-in’s throat with his bare hands just because he could and it was oh so enjoyable to hear him choke on his own blood. Too bad it was over all too soon.

The crybaby brat was left as the sole survivor. He knew what she was capable of and she was the essential component. Yet, he couldn’t help feeling a small sort of kinship with her, which he found funny. He was, in a way, her subject and she his queen but it felt as if they were equals. Perhaps, if he had her powers, he too could rewind time to the point he would’ve taken a different path. To spend more time with the one he loved above all else… That was a dream best left in the past.

He decided to leave her be so she’d be able to mourn her losses. He needed to use the little time he had to take care of unfinished business. He fled from the scene by going through the portal she created in the midst of her despair.

He found himself in what seemed to be a white void. The floor beneath him rippled when his feet touched the surface and he realized he was standing on water. His reflection stared back at him when he cast his eyes downward. The body his sibling graciously gifted to him allowed him to change it however he wanted and he liked the changes he made. A vessel specifically tailored just for him was such a wonderful thing and it was a shame to have to give it up.

A pair of small black horns stuck out of long dark hair tied into a braid. Black scales painted the edges of his face and eyes, trailing down his neck before concealing themselves under the layers of clothes. He kept his red eyes and fangs from when he was a snake so he’d still be recognizable. Blood coated his hands and stained the only article of pristine white clothing he wore, which he hoped would intimidate his prey. She’d never see this coming.

Finding an exit out of the void was simple. All he had to do was take a step and he was in an entirely different place. There were an endless amount of stairs and corridors leading to doors, most of what he could see on fire. The heat was surprisingly pleasant as he wandered around the seemingly limitless labyrinth. It was then he spotted a tangle of black hair with a sliver of red hastily entering one of the doors. With a rush of adrenaline running through his veins, he ran towards the door. It had been so long since he played his favorite game of cat and mouse.

He chased her through many areas of the Daze. One was of a ruined city where the setting sun gave way too many shadows for her to hide in. Another was of an urban landscape, not unlike a major street intersection, where there were dozens of blood splatters decorating the asphalt. It was after he cut across a nighttime city he arrived at his destination.

Mother was inside. The house she and her wretched human “family” lived and laughed in for the few years they stayed there. It was fitting for her and him to settle their issues in the same place their troubles began. She’ll regret leaving behind the ones that truly loved her.

He walked up to the house. Overgrown grass crept over the foundation and ivy crawled all along the flaky walls. There were broken shards of glass inside the windows, which would make it hard for trespassers to sneak in without alerting anyone. Parts of the roof had collapsed inward and the front door was hanging on by a thread. Mother’s really let the place go, hasn’t she?

He stopped just before the door. How did he want to approach this? She had to know he was here so there was no need in being stealthy. He then did the next best thing, which was to kick the door down till he was inside. He smashed through it, reducing it to mere splinters. That was easy.

The room he was in now was the same room he proposed the idea of creating this world to Mother. It was empty, save for a few pieces of overturned furniture scattered about the place and debris from the roof. Moonlight shone down from above, illuminating the room, though it wasn’t necessary. He could see perfectly well in the dark, despite the limitations of his “human” body.

There were two doors that stood in front of him. Beyond them were bedrooms, one being that brat Shion’s and the other Mother’s. It was a coin toss as to which room she was hiding in and he hated wasting time with trivial matters like this. Besides, even if he did end up picking the wrong choice, she wouldn’t get away undetected. His hearing was almost as good as hers and she knew that.

An idea sprang into his mind to try luring her out. He stood at the wall separating the two rooms, wound up his fist, and punched it. The sheer power in the hit caused a crater to form in the wall as dust sprinkled down from the ceiling. He heard something fall from behind the left door and a sharp intake of breath. The corners of his mouth curved up as he tried to fight back a laugh. There she was.

Keeping his excitement in check, he pushed open the door. Inside the room were the remains of a bed with two nightstands on either side of it and an empty window over to the right. He didn’t need the light coming in from a hole in the ceiling to see her. Mother sat in a corner of the room, her whole body shaking.

She hadn’t changed at all. She still had the same cascade of raven hair tied up with a red ribbon, the same black dress. The same red eyes resembling his own were now staring at him in pure fear. It must’ve been quite the shock for her to see Saeru walking around and being able to express his moods in a more effective way. She’d finally know how much and how deep his feelings ran.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Mother?” he asked, putting on a fake smile.

When she didn’t respond, he continued on with, “Nothing to say to me? Not even a welcome home? I know the last time we talked was years ago but I thought you’d still have some love in your heart for me. But I guess not.”

She still hadn’t said anything. He was getting rather annoyed at the silent treatment, even if it did bring him a modicum of amusement. Does she really think staying quiet in this situation will save her? Well, he had a way of making her talk and he deserved to brag about his accomplishments.

“If you can’t already tell, I paid a visit to the real world,” he said, noting the sudden pique of interest. “It’s changed so much since our time out there. I’ve met so many interesting people during my trip, including the kids my siblings are inhabiting the bodies of. I even got the chance to meet your successor, what was her name again? Ah, right, Marry.”

He saw the quick flash of anger across her face as she asked, “What did you do to her?”

“You can rest easy,” he replied, his temper beginning to flare up. “I haven’t laid a finger on that crybaby brat’s head. She’s all right, physically, at least.”

It was then her eyes wandered down to his blood-soaked hands. Gone was the anger as horror came to replace it at the grisly sight. He wondered when she’d notice that and he was pleased to know her reaction was how he predicted it to be. Her imagination had to be running wild with all the ways that blood got on his hands. The temptation of telling her his gruesome acts was there but this was more fun.

“Her mind, though, must be forever scarred,” he said with a dissonant smile. “I imagine her heart shattered to pieces after I killed her friends.”

“Why are you doing this?!” she demanded, her teary eyes full of fury. “Why must you hurt me so?”

All the fun he was having at her expense evaporated. Was she being serious? Did she really have the gall to ask why he was doing all this? Maybe it was time to remind her of the fault she held in this.

“I think the better question is, why did you choose them over us? Why did you abandon us?” He crouched down and rested his cheek on his hand.

“What are you talking about? I never abandoned you or your siblings! I tried my best to have the two most important things in my life get along without any issue.” She gestured to him with her hand. “You were the only one who had a problem with it!”

His eyes narrowing, he asked in indignation, “How could you expect me to not have a problem with it? How could you forget all the pain, all the suffering, all the torment the humans dealt on to you? How could you run off with that man and bear his child after everything they’ve done to you?”

It was at this point she stood up. He did as well, noticing the hard glint of stubbornness in her eyes. He already knew what was coming and he didn’t want to hear the same old, tired speech.

“Tsukihiko was different. He was kind to me, he cared for me.” She put a hand on her chest, where her heart was. “He loved me. He was treated the same way I was so---”

“So you thought you and him were the same? Please,” he interrupted, scoffing at the ridiculousness of the thought. “You and that man were never the same and you know why? He was but a mere mortal and you a god. You will never belong with the humans, no matter how much you try and forget that fact.”

“What do you want from me? An apology, is that it?” she asked, exasperated. He wanted much more than empty platitudes.

“What I want is for you to understand exactly how much you’ve hurt me.” He took a couple steps toward her, causing dust to rain down on top of him. “You refused to heed my warnings, took that brat’s side over mine, and you tried to leave me behind in this world. Who does that to someone they once claimed to love? Someone whose only crime was loving them?

“You’ve become the very thing you’ve never wanted to be.” He locked eyes with her and gave voice to all the pain and scorn he felt. “You’re a monster.”

It was as if he stabbed her through the gut with a knife. Tears spilled over as she fell to her knees, holding her head in her hands. It was bad enough for the humans to call her that when they knew nothing about her. It must’ve been like a betrayal to hear that come from someone she once considered to be her closest friend. Still, he got a dark sense of satisfaction seeing her break down. It served her right to feel only a fraction of the pain he’s dealt with for years.

“And yet--” he paused as she looked up at him-- “despite everything you did to me, I still love you. I was created to serve you and be with you for however long you wanted but I grew to genuinely love you. How could I not?”

She withdrew further into the corner after he stepped closer. The question he wanted, needed to ask leapt into his mind. A simple yes or no question and whatever her answer was would determine what he’d do next.

“It’s because of my love for you I ask,” he began, paying close attention to her face, “if you still hold some fondness for the humans. Do you still love your family?”

Without any hesitance in her voice, she replied with, “Of course I do. I’ll always love them. Tsukihiko, Shion, Marry…I love them all from the bottom of my heart.”

That was the answer he feared to hear. Her saying that proved to him she was too far gone and needed to be put out of her misery. They took everything away from her, from her happiness to her sanity. It’s because he loved her he’d be willing to give her the sweet release she deserved.

He started walking towards her. She tried to crawl away from him but found herself cornered with no means of escape. A wicked grin split across his face as he came into the moon’s silvery ray of light. He stopped just short of her, towering above her small, trembling form.

“What are you going to do to me?” she asked, scared for her life. “Whatever it is, I can’t die.”

“Oh, Mother…” He knelt down in front of her and cupped her cheeks. Her scales were smooth to the touch as he wiped away her tears. “You’re right in that you can’t die. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be killed.”

His smile growing ever larger, he said, “You lost your immortality the moment you passed on your crown.”

Her eyes widened in horror as his hands slid down to her neck. He could feel her pulse thudding against his palms, his slender fingers wrapped around her throat. She softly whimpered and he leaned in close. He whispered into her ear his final words before her denouement.

“Goodnight, Mother.”

It wasn’t hard to crush her windpipe. Her nails dug into his arms in a desperate attempt to fight back but he merely brushed them off. He knew she was close to death when her eyes started to roll to the back of her head. Then he had an idea to end this in something more similar to his style.

Her skin began to tear apart as he pulled her head up like a weed. The sound of her neck breaking echoed in the empty house. He finally ripped her head off her shoulders, blood pouring out of the stump as he stood up. Her body slumped onto the floor, the moon’s light reflected off the crimson pool.

Mother’s bright red eyes were now dull and lifeless. Her mouth lolled open and what little saliva she had trickled out of the corners. He could see just a sliver of her vertebrae sticking out of the bottom of her neck. He untied the ribbon holding her hair up, wiped the spit away with his sleeve, and shut her eyes. Her dark tresses felt soft on his skin as he touched their foreheads together.

“We’ll be together forever, right, Mother?” he said with a depraved smile before crazed laughter spilled out of his mouth like a stream.

It was only a matter of waiting now before time was reset. How far back it’d go, he didn’t know. Even if it was as far back to the beginning, he’d remember the events of this loop an do them again. He’d do them again and again to his heart’s content and no one would be able to stop him.

The only thing he wouldn’t commit again was his act of matricide. It was a one time thing and it was done to give him “closure” or whatever the humans called it. Mother warped into someone he didn’t recognize and he needed to accept that the person he knew had died a long time ago. At least he’ll always have his memories of her kept close to his heart.

It was time to look forward and move ahead to the future. Whatever the next summers brought, he was sure to enjoy every last bit.

#airi's writing #snake of clearing eyes #azami #fanfiction #kagerou project #canon divergence #violence tw #gore tw #decapitation tw #major character death tw

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meosaeru · 6 years ago

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don't look now but there's a familiar and unwanted figurette sitting on high ground behind saeru. mocking him? probably, since this is one of those timelines that gattai failed to awaken thanks to a certain stonehearted bitch. who knows when it'll reset??? if at all??? lmao lmao, // ur fav son , yakitsu

this reply has no business being this long, why did u enable me,, THIS DOESNT EVEN FEEL LIKE A REPYL,, ITS LIKE A DRABBLE,,,, WH Y DID YOU DO TH IS,

RED IS THE COLOR OF MANY THINGS ; AT TIMES IT CAN BE REGARDED AS LONELY, BUT MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH BURNING EMOTIONS THAT SCORCH THE SOUL, A TASTE FOR BLOODSHED & WAR RUNNING THROUGH THE VEINS IN A FIT OF WRATH. tension had already been strung in his shoulders & manifested itself in his body as if it were a disease ; ever-spreading & unstoppable, a virus, a cancer of far beyond irritation. knowing the fact that everything had slipped through his fingers when he had been so tantalizingly close that he could taste it – ah, well, it would have been foolish of him to expect success every time, wouldn’t it? timelines had been timelines ; some had swept in his favor, the pieces on his chess board moved perfectly & endless pawns were knocked aside. & yet other times, he had been thoroughly beaten by the sheer matters of circumstances ; he had always taken a gambit, & the anger never subsided when things had been torn from his favor by the mere factor of weak, bleeding hearts staining his trump card with their rotten ideologies.

someone so composed couldn’t of surely crumbled so easily ; & yet, saeru did. oh, he had crumbled with bared teeth & shrinking pupils & fingers that twitched & ached to tear, tear, tear. above all else, saeru considered himself ‘special’ – different, from those of his so-called bretheren. he had been much more than a lowly creature ; he was far too calculating, far too intelligent for those kinds of things. he kept himself above things, & sneered down at them as if they were nothing more than pathetic stories, & he was only flipping through the pages & cackling at the outcomes & the woes of the helpless souls involved in it. yet here he had been ; nothing more than an animal, cornered – of course, that had done little to negate his intelligence. his plan had gone awry – this had not been the queen who would turn back time once more, but instead, the opposite ; a foil, a pest, an insect that had deserved nothing more than to be crushed between his hands.

( of course, of course, there is always a loophole ; he would find it, he’s certain. his mind could consider, ponder, calculate ; this was not the first time he had been duped & locked in a stalemate, but he had been resourceful & stopping at no means to carry out his plans & what was necessary, no matter the cost. )

so saeru formulates — but any construction of an idea is cut short, & he can feel rage’s heat consuming him again in persuasive whispers against his headphones. it comes in a cackle, a chortle, a hiss in his ear, & his head whips around to find the source, yellowing eyes sliding around & flickering from area to area until landing upon the object of his disgust.

( retaining eyes. of course, of course ; what an ugly existence he had, so smug & self-satisfied, ever-abstaining away from the spotlight until it was time to do damage. the boy was always a gnat upon his skin, an annoyance in the back of his skull. for such trouble he caused, he should’ve been eradicated. )

in the case of being cornered, an animal acts accordingly ; it flies into a frenzy for self-defense & acts on impulse & rage to ensure survival. saeru, in moments like these, is no better than your average animal.

shoulders shake & tremble as he laughs at first ; the grin he wears is unstable, eyes widened & pupils mere threatening slits ; they hold a warning that would surely hold no regard, so his smile twists, tears itself apart as fangs bear themselves in a grimace ; his vision is as red as the scarf the other snakes wears for the sake of torment. ( cliche, really. child’s play. )

words fail to present themselves, & instead he releases a snarl through clenched teeth ; in every way, it’s like an animal, no longer his typical hissed or breezy hums & laughter that regards things with such a twang of belittlement. despite the position he’s in, he holds some upper hand ; the modifications in his body allow him speed, & it’s speed that he acts upon as he lunges for the other snake from down below ; a miracle that he can jump so high too, & land with ease. it’s there that he takes a fistful of hair & roughly yanks the other up for enough leverage to lock a hand onto his throat & squeeze. he’s certain, of course, that yakitsuru would enjoy this ; he’s nothing more than a disgusting masochist, fueled by pain & suffering, & a sadist like himself finds it to be revolting.

still, when one’s eyes are that of bloodshed & as red as a demon’s, does logic really matter? no. all there is is a mantra of kill, kill, kill, survive.

“do you feel like you’ve won, you shitty ingrate?”

it’s barked & growled, guttural & wild ; rhetorical, of course, & it almost sounds as if there’s bitter laughter stuck in his throat. fingers tremble as they clench harder against retaining’s neck & nails press until they’ve mined & found blood that they deserve to be stained with, but they tremble with anger & nothing else.

“did you feel proud, as if you were leagues above the worm in the dirt that you are, watching & waiting for my downfall? ha!”

one hand applies only further pressure & the other presses a thumb just beneath one of his eyes, apply light pressure to the ridiculously fragile skin.

“you think this is funny, right? as if this worthless timeline won’t start from the beginning once more?!locking eyes be damned – not even she can stop this helplessly unfolding tragedy, & neither will you, even if i have to maim you over–”

the fingers near his eye dig in – they hold disregard for skin & flesh & the eye in itself.

“– & over & over again, until your existence fades away entirely!”

& so his fears dig & claw their way in, fueled by nothing but the need to hurt & harm & make him SUFFER.

#Anonymous #accidentally writes u a SHIT TON #ITS TOO LONG IM PUTTIN IT UNDER A R/M #henlo u NASTY boi #yakitsu #「ˡᵉᵗ'ˢ ᵍʳᵃᶰᵗ ʷᶤˢʰᵉˢ ; ᶰᵒʷ ᵇᵉᵍ ᶠᵒʳ ʸᵒᵘʳ ˡᶤᶠᵉ」┆✉ ; ASKS #eye trauma tw #gore tw #like... lightly #long post

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serpensiege · 6 years ago

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▲ so talk to me about your unpopular opinions about snekkun saeru

send me a ▲ for an unpopular opinion || accepting! || TARGET: @fivenightsleft

where do i begin? ( i say that, but you know what subject i’m going to talk about here with saeru since i mentioned it in the gc, but, ya know. )

one thing i absolutely cannot stand–& i’m thankful isn’t really a prominent fandom trope anymore, i would think–is this idea of shipping saeru with everyone in the mekadan / every character / implying that he’d fuck / have interest in the lot of them. like, i understand ; saeru is kind of a creep. he’s often portrayed as a character who is arrogant, teasing in a way ( except in canon, this isn’t flirtatious teasing. it’s vile, ego-fueled, superiority-complexed drunk-on-power taunting that he does, but ), this snman ( snake man ) licks blood off his fingers in canon & adores seeing people afraid / in pain. it’s disgusting, he’s gross, i hate him, we know this.

but where does this idea that he would fuck everyone come from? is it because he’s the pretty boy villain who’s often portrayed as having no boundaries? it’s endlessly frustrating to me, because it kind of goes against his character 100% ; he doesn’t care about anyone in the dan ( or at all, he doesn’t even care about the other snakes dying except for the queen ) unless it’s say, marry, & even then that’s not fully care — that’s a matter of her being an essential chess piece for him above a pawn. her body hosts the queen snake, so he needs her, but it’s not as if he doesn’t manipulate her either. the rest of the dan? pawns, if not target practice for him, or spare bodies to hop from ; yeah, he uses ka.no for instance, but do you think he was interested in him? no — he just hung a weakness over his head & got him to do his dirty work. shint.aro? probably thought his death to ‘save’ kono.ha in LTM was stupid, not touching — risking a life for a friend? pathetic, in his eyes. they don’t matter to him, what attraction would he hold to them?

shipping is fine, like what you like? but if you’re going to tell me to my face that saeru would be interested in & fuck anyone in the cast — i think you’ve severely misjudged his character. yes, he’s bored, yes, he loves taunting people & causing them to suffer from despair so he can feed off of it & delight in their misery — but he’s not going to be hopping into bed with the nearest brat that he, you know, murdered countless times over & over for his own sick fun / plan.

#fivenightsleft #[ i cant wait to fucking die ]#「ˡᵉᵗ'ˢ ᵍʳᵃᶰᵗ ʷᶤˢʰᵉˢ ; ᶰᵒʷ ᵇᵉᵍ ᶠᵒʳ ʸᵒᵘʳ ˡᶤᶠᵉ」┆✉ ; ASKS #「ˡᵉᵗ'ˢ ᶜʰᵃᶰᵗ ᵇᵃᵇᵇˡᵉᵈ ᶰᵒᶰˢᵉᶰˢᵉᵎ」┆🔇 ; OOC #unpopular opinion tw #negativity tw

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giantchasm · 7 years ago

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Let’s Talk About Some Common Kagepro Misconceptions

Claim: Takane collapsed due to poison Why it’s false:

Although we do not know how Saeru killed Takane for real (It could be anything, overdosing or poisons included. But we have no canon info on it yet.) Actually I’ve been corrected. She was explicitly poisoned to die, but it’s likely her fall prior did not come from that. Takane’s collapse was not caused by prior poisoning from Saeru or Kenjirou. Takane suffers from a fictionalized version of Narcolepsy, one of which’s symptoms is catalepsy, which is defined as:

Cataleptic attacks are a sudden loss of muscle control. This may be just a slight feeling of weakness, such as sagging facial muscles. The head might drop forward or worse, buckling of the knees resulting in total collapse of the person.

In severe cases, the patient can become completed paralysed, lasting for a few seconds to several minutes. During this time, the patient may seem to be unconscious, but can be fully awake and temporarily unable to move. A very frightening situation to be in. These attacks can be brought on by emotions: anger, surprise, fear or even laughter.

Note the mention of emotions. Takane was not only straining her body by running as fast as she could, but she was also under a lot of emotional pressure. She was stressed, anxious, and generally a complete mess. This led to her collapse.

Another interesting thing to note is that: Yes, this means she was likely awake and conscious during however Saeru killed her.

Claim: Haruka and Konoha are one in the same Why it’s false:

Konoha is not Haruka with amnesia, but rather his own entity. Haruka’s mind was left in the Haze, while his body was sent back out and made ‘ideal’. Since it had nothing to control it, Konoha was the... Go to response of his snake and his body. A new consciousness. An autopilot of sorts. Haruka can see everything Konoha does, but has no control over it.

This is discussed during the sixth novel, and implied in MCA.

Kano is the cat in Kagerou Days: Why it’s (Partially) false:

This is a piece of misinfo even listed on the wiki. But there’s no reasonable way it could have happened. Kano is not the cat in Kageou Days, as there is no chronological way for him to have been in the Haze at that time.

Kano DID, however, kill Hibiya and Hiyori in the novel route, as a cat with suspiciously red eyes that gave Hibiya the creeps is described. This cat attempted to lure them near traffic, until the argument ensued, and Hiyori ran into the road.

It is likely that the cat in Kagerou Days is inspired by Kano being a factor in their deaths in some timelines. Much like how there’s fire in Kido’s haze, or medical equipment in Haruka’s. Kano, being an element in their death, is recreated to simulate their deaths over and over again. That said, this is not the actual Kano.

The woman in Shintaro’s nightmares is Ayano: Why it’s (Partially) false:

The girl in the following scenes is not Ayano, but a creature fairly unknown by the western fandom called Yakisukeru. Aka the Snake of Retaining Eyes, and Shintaro’s snake.

The easiest way to tell Yaki and Ayano apart is that Yaki NEVER wears Ayano’s scarf. Even in other weird situations or memories Ayano typically has her iconic red scarf.

As for why Yaki takes the appearance of Ayano: It’s likely because Ayano is such a prominent and traumatizing figure in Shintaro’s life. Yaki’s duty as a snake is different than the others. She is not made by Azami, but rather by Mary, so “No-one would ever forget this tragedy.” She acts as a vessel for Shintaro to remember past timelines, and tries time and time again for the memories to click. Ayano is the easiest way to do that, likely.

Yaki appears across MCA (And was the key to the happy ending of it), in the novels, typically on darkened pages, and in Lost Time Memory.

#kagepro #kagerou project #mekakucity actors #posting this on the 14th instead of the 15th cause itll still get attention but hopefully wont get buried

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lvmtyr · 5 years ago

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i have icons! it’s meta time :) tw for brief suicide mentions under the cut. does ayano really view herself as a hero.

personally, after the events of the haze, i don’t think ayano sees herself as a hero. i don’t think in the moment of her actions that threw her into the haze (ayano killing herself) that she thought she was a hero either.

she was a fool, she was dumb, stupid, and desperate to do something to save her younger siblings. maybe sacrificing her life wasn’t the greatest option. because in the end, she left them alone. ayano, as an older sister, promised to always be there for her siblings, she promised to be a hero to them. and i personally don’t think she was, and i don’t think ayano views herself as one either. being called a hero for her actions is a rough topic -- a sensitive one. because in the end she never stopped saeru. he continued to use her father’s body to carry out his plans and he continued using marry to reset the timelines and kill everyone. her siblings suffered through this without her, her friends suffered without her.

so, was ayano tateyama a hero? no, she doesn’t think she was. the concept of a hero was something she believed her to be as a child, something fun to be for her siblings. but she can no longer be that for them.

#( i don't know exactly how to phrase this because it is a bit late and i DO have a headache but i really don't think ayano truly sees #herself as a hero. maybe it's a desire she has /to/ be a hero to those around her #to do whatever she can for them -- i also think this comes thru when she tells takane she can be the type of person shintaro needs #in i think ep 8 or 9 of the anime?#but tl;dr ayano wants to be a hero to those around her but she doesn't view the actions she took as heroic #and after everything she doesn't think she can consider herself to be one either )#( but it's not something she's talked about with anyone. it's something she's kept quiet about #kept it to herself -- not wanting to burden anyone #cries )#meta / this story is a long one ; but i hope you'll listen .#study / what makes a hero ; i wonder .

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fandomsalty · 4 years ago

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this got long sorry and it might just be me connecting lines where they’re not supposed to be...

I think Kagerou Project does have weak writing with girl characters. But it isn’t necessarily because Jin is misogynistic.

The ones who drive the plot are ultimately Saeru and Shintaro. Saeru goes and kills people and the Dan kinda just have to react bc they have no clue wtf is happening. Shintaro is in charge of remembering what happened in the timeline and that was made possible via Ayano’s sacrifice.

Ayano doesn’t have much agency since she just the snake Shintaro uses to remember so she can’t fix it on her own. I can probably make a case for why it was shitty to have a male character fix mistakes that female characters made instead of having them do it. But Shintaro wouldn’t have been able save anything if it wasn’t for Ayano and Mary giving him the tools to do so.

But as for the characters in themselves and their relationships to each other... Most of the Dan’s interactions are about the kids helping each other and not just the girls helping their love interests. For example, Kido helps Momo, Seto helps Mary, Ayano helping the trio but especially Kano.

A lot of the girls may seem to only interact with their love interest, but that might be a lie. Takane would then only be concerned with Haruka but both she and Shintaro create a deadly duo that’s basically “depressed assholes union”. Momo and Kido are obvious foils but good friends since their abilities are direct opposites. Mary puts hella faith in Shintaro to fix the situation. While Ene and Konoha barely interact and they’re basically love interests (Until you figure out the fact that Konoha is a snake and not amnesiac Haruka).

Momo is there to support Hibiya in Otsukimi Recital, but only after Dan reach out to help her in Kisaragi Attention. And they were only able to support Momo after Ayano did her whole “red is a hero” thing. Similarly with her helping Seto to help Mary. All in all, it may seem like they are shallow characters who only exist for the male characters to angst over, but that’s because they fill a similar role.

Basically Ayano is to Shintaro as Haruka is to Takane. Ayano is to Seto as Seto is to Mary. It doesn’t have to be just romantic attraction. Instead it’s more of being someone else’s light and inspiring them to help others.

Some of the boys also are fixated on a girl. Both of Hibiya’s songs are strongly about his feelings and regret for Hiyori. Shintaro’s songs are about Ayano. Kenjiro messes up every thing because he just wants his wife back.

Ayano is basically the heart that connected many of the Dan. Her life and subsequent suicide were key factors in the development of the other characters. However, in the manga, she wasn’t even a huge part of Shintaro’s life and it was Haruka’s death that caused Shintaro’s spiral and Neet behavior. Ayano isn’t just an object of Shintaro’s grief and Ayano still sacrifices herself in this timeline to create a better future, showing that love is ingrained into her character.

Azami and Mary are two almost immortal people who will outlive everyone they love but they don’t ever want to let go. Azami does it for They want to cheat death and suffer for it. Azami being stuck in the daze and Mary having to watch everyone she lives die on loop. But they don’t do it just for their love interest. Azami does it for both Shion and Tsukihiko while Mary does it for the whole Dan. The only reason any of this gets solved is because of the combined effort of her, Ayano, Shintaro, and Konoha. Because of the bonds Mary grew that Azami was never able to.

Summertime record is where they say goodbye because nothing can last forever and it shows that even Mary is ready to move on. But it’s a reminder that the bonds they made don’t mean any less in the end.

Tl:dr the reason why the females are underwritten isn’t misogyny but because they fill roles instead of characters. The same can be said for the male characters.

Honestly, if KagePro had made an effort not to leave the majority of its female characters horrifically underwritten, it could’ve been remembered as a genuinely great series, instead of an (admittedly, deeply personal) depressioncore internet poisoned Bro, We Are Teens media.

KagePro continually puts female characters at the center of its plotlines- in fact, practically every major event in the series was set off by a female character, including the plot itself. Kagerou Project is a story about a young girl’s continual attempts to gain friendship (Marry), or if not that, a story about a woman’s desire to gain a place in the world she herself created (Azami), or if not that, a story about a girl who committed suicide (Ayano). What male characters there are are supplements to overarching plotlines created by female characters.

And yet… of the characters I listed, none of them really have much writing beyond their fixation on a boy. Believe me, I want to be able to love Marry, and Azami, and Ayano… but aside from their feelings for their male counterpart, they’re given very little consistent characterization. Despite being a story undoubtedly built on the suffering of women and girls, this suffering is constantly framed around their male counterparts, while the women in question sort of fade into the background.

Imagine, how great would it be if KagePro had actually remembered that the world is a literal manifestation of Marry’s psyche, and been written as such? If it had committed to how the continual expectation placed upon girls to be emotionally supportive of their male counterparts (as in Ayano/Shintarou’s case) is directly damaging to those girls? If it had actually decided not to make the social isolation of women and girls something for men to angst over, while the girls themselves are left behind?

I love KagePro deeply and probably always will as a series that has genuinely connected with me in its portrayal of mental illness and youth, and when it does actually write characters, it’s great. But I can’t help but mourn the potential lost to Jin’s misogyny.

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maybeinthefuture · 8 years ago

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Shit, I wasn't done. (1, 5, 22, 31, 45)

1. Your first OC ever?

Weeeell, if you want to get real technical, my first OC was probably the protagonist of ‘The Day it Rained Mattresses in Flipper Town’ (the first story I remember writing, don’t think it’s actually the first, though). She was known to be, brave, caring, and killed by a mattress. (first OC for a series I made was Cassandra/Willow, for Teen Titans)

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

AAAAAAAAAAa, this is hard. I want people to know about and love all my children. I’m really leaning towards Beryl (though I think that’s more about wanting people to know about your story), Viktor (cuz he’s one of my more fleshed out OC’s that I’ve invested a lot of time and effort into) or Ahri (because ideally I want to turn her story into a cool novel). HMMM, the question says one though. I guess I’ll go with Viktor, since for the other two, it’s more an attachment to the story than the character themselves in this case (not to say I don’t love them to bits and pieces).

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?

SPEAKING OF VIKTOR, people tend to characterize him as lighter skinned than he actually is (when talking about/creating visuals) and also kind of more... classless (?) than he is. Like, he is chaotic neutral, and isn’t you know, an upstanding citizen, but he likes to go about his life in a decent manner. Hisoka’s also suffered some mischaracterization of being more immature than she is. That’s all I can think of at the moment.

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

I think I made a passing reference to this at some point before, but I could really see Saeru running one of those pastel pink aesthetic blogs. She’d have a kind of soft looking layout, with like, some sort of photo of someone holding a mug of hot cocoa or something as a visual on there. Would post a lot of like, comfortable imagery (blankets, fireplaces, couches, beds, fuzzy socks, hot chocolate) and cute things.

45. A character you no longer use?

There’s definitely a lot of these, but most of them are because either A: their roleplay/campaign died and I haven’t found somewhere to put them yet or B: I forgot them. One that I probably won’t ever use again is Sabaku Chii. Mostly because A: she’s from a series I don’t care about anymore (Naruto) B: poorly fleshed out middle school OC and C: child of a pairing that makes no sense.

#maybeitsmyoc #askbox meme #wokefromdreaming #thanks my bro!!#yetanotherOCmeme #willow #viktor kinzer #hisoka ran #saeru eihi #chii sabaku

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yuukei-yikes · 1 year ago

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ive been thinking abt ayaki and shintaro post str lately. like i know realistically ayaki would dissapear since in theory the wish she was created from was fulfilled but i just think her staying creates an interesting idea on shintaro's problem with isolation and tendency to retreat into his own head. bc ayaki literally lives in his head. like ayaki and shintaro are the only two people in the whole world who will ever understand the things theyve seen at a truly deep level. so who else could shintaro go to when he gets flashbacks of previous routes. also the guilt he would probably feel for feeling more attached to the ayano in his head then the one actually there. a literal reflection of his actual feelings towards ayano i think. i kind of lost my train of thought uhm shrugs. i should probably write a google doc abt this

UGH UGH UGH.... THE BIT ABT SHINTARO FEELING MORE ATTACHED TO THE AYANO IN HIS HEAD INSTEAD OF THE ONE ACTUALLY HERE BEING THE SAME AS HOW HE LOVES THE AYANO HE MADE UP IN HIS MIND MORE THAN THE REAL ONE.... THATS SO FUCKING COOL AND REAL AND AWESOME..... YESSSSS shinyaki gets me so badly like. ough. they have been together for so long. i imagine yaki trying so hard to fight her humanity and even be cold to shintaro like!! ACT LIKE THE SNAKE EYE POWER SHE IS. and she does for the most part but Shintaro.... he is so difficult. he keeps being reborn and she keeps watching him grow up til activating her and remembering her again, and every single time shintaro's like Im so sorry for forgetting you again. and ayaki's like. AUGH. STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT. sorry they drive me a little crazy.

yeah i know ayaki would disappear but i dont like thatttt i think❤️❤️❤️ she should stay❤️❤️❤️ i think its a miserable existence and rly speaks abt ayano's character that she just stays there forever. i think there's something very cool abt an ayano tateyama who gets a happy ending in a mortal life at the cost of an suffering ayano who is alone for eternity, who sacrificed everything to be exactly where she is, watching another version of herself be happy. i dont think ayaki jumped into it knowing she'd find peace one day. i think once she is a snake she Is A Snake. Ur ass isnt dying. like she has a damn soul??

sorry the bit abt souls in kagepro drives me crazy. we dont know it with any other snakes other than awakening/konoha and haruka(and saeru but we dont talk abt it). the ending of mca is MESSY messy. personally i dont know if i Really understand it, I've always explained it to myself like konoha/awakening GETS ITS OWN wish bc despite being just a snake, it became its own person, and its wish is to have hiyori live which is how saeru "dies" bc it has to resign to be a surrogate life for hiyori right?? its never explained Why konoha gets a wish but that's it to me. awakening and retaining being opposites bc one is a snake that became a person and the other a person who became a snake.

anyways coming back to the soul thing, it's rly all in haruka and konoha's situation bc konoha becomes its own person, "gains a soul" lets say, and that very soul puts it in conditions of making a wish. haruka was the only one in the daze who wasn't PHYSICALLY there, and his wish never finished getting there bc awakening was like My body now. <- like this is so interesting there's a lot of potential to konoha being even more interesting, maybe being a snake that's always wanted its own body or something. i KNOW its bc haruka's personality wasn't strong for it but that's an ass explanation and it always has been😘

anywyas so haruka coming back by the end to me is explained thru his wish being Actually listened to and konoha retreating back to its original role though it is still a person. i think it becomes a case of reverse, from str onwards it is konoha watching through haruka instead of the other way around. this is kinda the logic behind why ive always loved the konoha reborn hc... with the whole soul thing. like konoha finally cutting ties with being a snake and not being awakening anymore, just konoha!!

god i got super sidetracked. basically ayaki is also a snake with a soul. yes she would disappear by all this logic, once shintaro's wish (and her own) is fulfilled. HOWEVER. i dont want to❤️ however if she DID. there is a HUGE prompt in here about shintaro dealing with the disappearance of ayaki. she has been with him for so long and he remembers it all bc just cuz retaining is away it doesnt mean he just unsees all the routes, yknow? just cant see them again but theyre still in his memory. so he remembers how he's been with her for so many lives and now she's just gone... and there's this other real ayano here. who isn't really another ayano she is the same person. he knows she is but she's still another. augh. augh augh augh. anyways no i dont like to think abt ayaki disappearing She needs to give the mekakushi dan a tour when they all jump in shintaro's brain to look at his memories western cartoon style

#ask tag #headcanons #kagexplain #? idk.#shintaro kisaragi #ayano tateyama #konoha

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