#(BEING SAERU IS SUFFERING)

[yuukei-yikes]

idr if ive sent an ask like this before but. im sending it again if so.

forever thinking about how shintaro lost all three of his only friends on the same day. the anniversary of his dad dying, too.

so yeah. while he is extremely cringefail. i would shut myself in for four years too if that happened to me. like understandable have a nice day.

shintaro goes thru the horrors and we should talk about that more. like almost every route, on or near the anniversary of his dad and three of his only friends dying, he has to like. we all know it varies on who dies but in general he has to witness at least some of his new friends die.

paired with retaining. top ten characters that go thru it. shintaro wouldnt be number one bc hibiya and kano but hed be like. number three? i guess?

deciding on Who suffers more is a little pointless because it feels kind of bad to be like so what's worse? pretending to be your sister's corpse or a timeloop of 10 years? Like both are bad

however ur so right. shintaro is my little meow meow cringe fail idiot prince. something i love about kagepro and i think it's genuinely really well done is the representation of mental health. shintaro loses all 3 of his friends in one day, of course he's going to react like this. he's even under the impression one of them killed herself directly because of him. this guy's a messssss. iirc, in the novels at one point he even says why was i the only one left? so he definitely also had a bit of survivor's guilt there as well. tbh i think everyone in the dan had some survivor's guilt in regards to the person they died with. why was i chosen and not them? cause in kido's pov it also sounds like that when talking abt rin.

anywaysss. so shintaro is a funny guy. depressed king and with reasons to be sad and traumatized, he's got a strong sense of justice and always acts on what he thinks is right. it's funny that he's also so painfully awkward and anxious, but i think the whole beginning arc of kagepro really tells u who he is. shintaro is shown not being able to even TALK to customer service employees, cause he mumbles everything and stumbles over his words, yet like an hour later he's YELLING AT AN ARMED ROBBER THATS GRABBING HIM BY THE NECK. BOY WHAT😭 shintaro's principles always coming on top of anything else he might be feeling is awesome. it shows again in novel 7 when he's kinda awesome and smooth facing saeru and right after falls to his knees bc mary and kido said it wasn't That cool.

and this is all without mentioning retaining eyes. bro post str shintaro. what a delight. i love him. i wrote a stupid shintaro&takane fanfic once where i sorta go into it of how weird it is for him to live past That august, with everything he knows now. if u care here's a link *kicks rock*

shintaro is already pretty self centered as is. but i think very early on post str, now that retaining has been activated, all the routes bleed together and makes him very confused. and this time forever because retaining has been activated and he's. going to be alive from now on. no more resets. so he HAS to deal with it.

a genius or not, a human brain isn't Made to hold onto different memories of different lifetimes like this, so i think post str shintaro can't help being insensitive to others (in that fanfic i wrote, shintaro realizes him and takane in this final route never talked about her as ene, so while to him it was normal bc of retaining, she was still needing some closure on it)

and now ill mention my kagefuture bullshit SORRY!!! SORRY!!! idk if u even read my fancomic but basically shintaro is acting a little stupid in there. like acting without thinking stupid. i find it very fun to imagine an older shintaro doing that because he's spent so much time Stressing about what's happening and what's going to happen because it's finally different from other routes and that's scary, that to get to the point where he's a little more chill about it, it's inadvertently accomplished by Not Thinking. i like to imagine him living day to day without thinking of what will happen later because if he does that he'll spiral. so he sort of ends up in these weird situations like man. how did i not see this one coming

[childrenrecord]

rant about this novel cover under read more

just want to talk abt this novel cover for a second because it's one of my favorite kagepro official arts ever sorry if this sounds insane or doesnt make sense im just ranting kagepros everywher. anyway. the use of negative and positive space is used so well here by sidu idk art terms all that well (fake artist) butttt i just think the placement of the objects along with shadows really place the focus on marry's expression here. my eyes go from marry's face to the blood splatter, and because the red is reaching to each corner of the page, it lets me see all of the painting as a whole. it allows you to take in the full drawing, and understand what's going on even though at a first glance this drawing seems cluttered and messy. the longer u look at it though that's definitely not the case. the objects around marry are meant to be circling around her, the stop sigsn taking up the foreground, then her spike things??? taking up the background to form a sphere like image. in a way it reminds me of the golden spiral. uhmmm disregarding that the symbolism here is crazy i guess you could also consider the composition a symbol in itself since it's supposed to be circle like and time loops etc but besides that the bandages, or ribbons idk either one is possible since theyre both facets of marry's design or it's just inconspicuous cloth. it's grabbing onto her and holding her down or possibly dragging her down. i think holding down might be more accurate because of the way marry is posed? looking up entirely focused on a specific point, as if she's trying to reach something, yearning for it. the stop signs are supposed to be representative of the kagerou daze obviously, so in a way i guess this could be interpreted as the daze is the thing holding her back, which makes sense as her role as the medusa. being a medusa means you are tied to tragedy, and the kagerou daze is a literal representation of tragedy, and here marry is being tied down to it. moving on to the red blood splatter, like i said in the first part it's spread to every corner of the drawing, so basically all encompassing. basically i think it's to do with marry's role as the medusa, death will follow her everywhere she goes. on top of that, the splatter is shaped like an X, like marry is a target. she literally is being marked for tragedy here. the splatter is bursting from her heart specifically as well, alluding to how saeru believes it's love that put marry, and azami, in such a state of suffering. it's their fault for loving too much, for allowing their heart to be seen. last thing, the spike things form a half circle around marry almost like a protective shell. i think those r supposed to represent the mekakushi dan, and in turn their snakes, because there's 8 of them. so here they surround marry, to marry the mekakushi dan are what protect her from falling into despair. it's the main reason why she resets every time they are killed at the end of each route. but noticing here, they arent completely circling her, which makes sense because in this novel do we see specifically marry's strength. how because simply the mekakushi dan gave her their love, she can keep fighting for the happy future she has learned she deserves. she can keep going, even without them, because she remembers the feelings she experienced during their time together. i guess put simply they have her back, almost literally in this art.

[stepswowdsen]

【KagePro】 KuroEne AU: Ene tells Saeru he isn't infallible 🖤💙

The state of knowledge. An animal being who exists as someone closer to nature.

This post is mainly Kuroha and KuroEne centric, but I mentioned my other ships and faves from other series to draw parallels and point out similarities and differences.

A collection of KuroEne centric rambles:

Kuroha's state of knowledge

KuroEne AU: Ene confronts Kuroha, telling him he's not as infallible as he claims to be

Kuroha's existence as an animal being who exists as someone closer to nature

KuroEne is SUUUUCH an interesting and fascinating ship to think about and analyze. They give me immense brainrot

The nature of their complicated complex messy relationship due to their characters' context.

Kuroha's role as the big bad villain and main source of conflict and tension in KagePro's plot, Takane/Ene's relationships with Haruka and Konoha, HaruTaka and KonoEne's contexts, and how he possesses the vessel of someone that Takane/Ene has a unique special relationship with and uses the knowledge of their memories as an advantage for him.

The truly evil monster who wears the face of a former (lost) love (lover), and how their relationship is clearly infused with love, obsession, desire, passion, and attachment (for the both of them).

(Ene feels all of these things, as well as a mix of love and hatred and conflicting emotions.)

It all comes together to create a really fascinating dynamic.

...

I really need to start posting more of the meta/analysis ramble posts I have of my other faves. As well as my other ship AUs' dialogue scripts.

I have SOOO many dialogue scripts and ramble posts I haven't posted. I love all of my top 5 main ships dearly.

I've mainly been posting about KuroEne, just cuz I only have the KuroEne ones ready and prepared to post LMAO

Cuz again, these types of posts take time to format. I write them in my Notion docs and then cross-post them to my socials (Insta, Tumblr) and sometimes Twitter.

Twitter is terrible for long ramble posts, my style of posting, so I tend to just post the screenshots

LimGuda

Source: (X)

“An increase in knowledge burns up the ‘state of ignorance’ as sacrifice. Those who gain more wisdom are compensated for it by facing more pain and suffering. Even more so, for those who try to reach the gods’ wisdom. This is what it means ‘to know’”

Reminds me of when I was rereading the Ashiya Douman vs. Dioscuri Anthology comic by AU (@/delete_au), that has huge amounts of LimGuda (Douman/Ritsuka) crumbs.

AU’s art style is so intricately detailed and gorgeous. The perspectives, inking, and shading are so gorgeous. Huge art goals for me.

I have a lot more to say but I haven’t finished my commentary rambles on the whole thing yet, but just know that the characterization surplus (Douman meta analysis) and LimGuda crumbs in this anthology comic truly drive me crazy.

In the scene after Ritsuka calls on the Dioscuri, Douman tells Ritsuka that the one who gets closer to the stars and obtains more knowledge/wisdom, isolates themselves further and is “compensated by facing more pain and suffering” as a reference to Abe no Seimei, who is the fated nemesis/rival of Ashiya Douman, and how Douman had been worried about Seimei’s isolation.

Seimei hasn't been released as a playable character in FGO, nor does he have a design, but I'm waiting for it... Hopefully it happens one day cuz it sucks not knowing whether he'll ever be released or not.

AU (@/delete_au) has a massive brain since the scenes, visuals, story and dialogue of this Anthology Comic were decided by them. It’s also no surprise that this comic, which is a characterization surplus for Douman, has huge amounts of LimGuda (Douman/Ritsuka) and SeiDou (Seimei/Douman) food, considering Douman’s obsession with them (Seimei and Ritsuka)

Limbo/Douman x Ritsuka is SOOO good... NB evil clown demon and the human they're deadly obsessed with...

In-game, in Douman's dialogue lines in FGO, he tells Ritsuka that he longs to see them fall into hell, and will follow them there.

In AU's anthology comic, Ritsuka invites Douman to fall into hell with them. They tell him that even if they fall into hell with him laughing beside them, that they will drag him down and take him with them.

Douman then laughs, sarcastically saying that Ritsuka's determination and declaration are admirable by comparing them to "Buddha's Great Vows" (弘誓, guzei), but he also acknowledges that with their tenacity, that they may just be able to pull it off.

Budha's great vows: (X)

He then makes this grandiose, deadly romantic speech back, telling them that they [Douman and Ritsuka] are "bound together by an unbreakable fate" (inseparable fate/karma).

LimGuda inspired SO much of my KuroEne writings. The ship dynamic is completely different, but a lot of FGO stuff, especially the LimGuda ship, inspired my KuroEne AU writings.

"Black/white colour schemed meow meow mf with a bloodthirsty personality or violent tendencies or deadly love/obsession, paired with a warm empathetic s/o with a brighter disposition"

This Sen-core ship trope is present in all of my ships LMAO

Kuroha/Saeru: The embodiment of "Knowledge/Wisdom"

The major difference between Kuroha/Saeru and what was mentioned in AU’s Anthology Comic is that Kuroha/Saeru is VERY distanced from humanity.

Unlike my FGO faves, he lacks humanity and softer traits. He considers himself above humans (and also considers himself to be above human emotions and human sentimentality). But not entirely.

I thought about it since Kuroha/Saeru is the embodiment of “Knowledge/Wisdom” as a dark evil cunning and malicious entity in KagePro. Though I think what’s interesting is that a Kuroha ship AU actually gives him more of a semblance of humanity…

Cuz he would’ve learned and gained more human desires and sentiments and learned slightly softer tendencies. Though, compared to my other faves, canon-verse Kuroha/Saeru lacks humanity

KuroEne AU: Dialogue Script

Anyways I had been thinking about this separate idea based on the concept of Ene wondering about the extent of Kuroha/Saeru's knowledge.

It's natural to be curious about that kind of thing. She hardly knows anything about him so she asks him about the kinds of things that he's seen and observed all this time.

I thought about it after seeing the FGO: Anthology comic at how acquiring more knowledge distances you from humanity and causes to further isolate yourself from others.

Kuroha's case is different since he lacks humanity and looks down on all things. He won't be affected by it the same way others would.

He wouldn't be compensated with facing more pain and suffering cuz he is above that (for the most part, not entirely), and THE root cause of other peoples' pain and suffering. But it's still interesting to think about...

KuroEne AU: Ene confronts Kuroha

The post is mainly about Kuroha/Saeru, but I decided to give context cuz I thought it was relevant, since my top FGO faves inspired me to make these rambles.

In my KuroEne AU, Kuroha/Saeru refers to his intimate encounters/trysts with Ene as “games.”

I actually DO think that Ene can manage to provoke him and get under his skin with her bratty provocations.

Kuroha would constantly flaunt his own knowledge of how he knows her and her desires intimately due to his confidence and ego, telling her that he’s been with the Enes of previous Routes before.

Ene, who’s constantly annoyed by her own feelings and has trouble facing more honest feelings, rationalizes their intimate encounters as not trysts, but just playing the game with him so she can defeat him.

Kuroha gets especially amused by this, since he’s aware of Ene’s tendency to avoid confronting how she really feels, and tells her that she can believe whatever she wants.

Kuroha would point out to her that “her own curiosity has led her here” irt the games they play (spending time with and being intimate with each other), and that, whether she realizes it or not, she’s searching for something from him (ie. the desire for warmth and companionship), beyond just “wanting to defeat him and win at the game”

Source: Kagerou Daze Manga: Vol. 12 - Ch. 64 - Imaginary Reload I - Mary confronts Kuroha/Saeru

(Anyways, I put images to imagine his expressions, how he goes from his usual smug and composed demeanour to lowkey annoyed when Ene finally manages to rile him up and get under his skin.)

Ene probably bites back at him that the same applies to him as well. His own curiosity has led him here. He’s the one that started this in the first place. He chooses to play this game with her and is the one that initiates it every single time. He could end it if he wished. But he won’t.

Because no matter what, he's gonna hold onto the concept of “Eternity” that he created by causing the time loops. Because he wants to live forever and prioritizes his self-preservation above all else (as his main goal).

And in the context of a Kuroha ship AU, wants his S/O to be with him forever as his form of twisted selfish obsessive love (as his secondary goal).

Given what he’s told her about his experiences with the Enes of past Routes, Ene tells him that, at some point he got bored of killing everyone and wanted to try something new to keep things interesting.

Ene tells him to his face that he has a twisted disposition for building up relationships with people he plans to kill eventually. It’s even more cruel than just killing them.

Still unfazed, Kuroha nods and reaffirms her words that it was curiosity that led him here in the first place, and was what got him to approach her and come up with the idea of tinkering with human tech and indulging in human carnal pleasures.

...

At some point, Ene would have a realization about Kuroha/Saeru.

Kuroha relinquishes control in their bedroom intimacy and allows her to have these little victories just to appease her. He lets her win and grants the victories to her on purpose. He doesn’t mind letting her take the reigns in their bedroom intimacy because it just proves that she wants to continue doing this (playing the game) with him.

It still aligns with what he wants. And so, he considers all the games they play, victories for him as well. He always wins, no matter the outcome.

She thought she had been reigning him in to an extent (putting this cat snake on a leash) by being more assertive and dominant, but the truth is that he only chooses to act tamer, and still fundamentally holds the power in their dynamic.

He dangles control (in intimacy) over her head and lets her have it, but can also take it back at any time, if he so pleases.

Ene gets frustrated when the realization dawns on her. Kuroha/Saeru can continue to remain so calm and confident and smug, because he fundamentally holds control and power over all others (irt his overwhelming advantage in strength and knowledge). So, his control and power aren’t ever actually being threatened.

But Ene really wants to get under his skin and wipe the smug look off his face and get a leg up on him, just this once. She wants to have a true victory over him, not just because he let her win. But she doesn’t want to do anything to Konoha (Haruka’s body).

Ene realizes that there IS something that she can use and get over him. So she decides to take her shot at him in the way she knows how to do best — bratty provocations.

...

Ene tells him that Kuroha/Saeru can only afford to act so high and mighty because he’s never actually being threatened.

Ene tells him that he’s not as infallible as he thinks he is. And that despite what he believes, he is not immune to, or above, human emotion, and human sentimentality.

Kuroha/Saeru recognizes that Ene is clearly trying to provoke him on purpose to try and make him lose his control and composure for once, even if just for a bit. He calmly raises an eyebrow and goes like, “Oh? Do tell. How so?”

If Ene is aware of his origins (maybe Kuroha/Saeru decided to open up about it and tell her on his own accord when she was curious and wanted to know more about him, before), then Ene tells him how he’s clearly not above human emotion when he witnessed the love Azami experienced with her family and spited the world and humanity for it.

And, for the first time, this manages to wipe the smirk off his face.

And imo, Ene biting back at him with this, WOULD manage to get under his skin.

FGO: Tunguska Sanctuary

Source: (X)

In the Tunguska Sanctuary event, Koyanskaya, a Nature Spirit born as an incarnation of the thoughts and feelings of animals persecuted by mankind, tells Chaldea what makes humanity so incorrigible, what she finds so despicable and loathes about humanity, and all their virtues and vices.

Koyanskaya: Creatures who will expire in a few millenia despite gaining wonderful technologies and knowledge. Koyanskaya: Multiplying without caring for their brethren, without healing the earth— Koyanskaya: An ecosphere where the ignorant strong ultimately trample on the ignorant weak.

Chaldea's crew reacts to Koyanskaya's speech with disbelief. Nikitich criticizes Koyanskaya for “mocking the failures of others, just like a human would.”

The whole thing is fascinating. Koyanskaya's dialogues are all SO good.

Chaldea's confrontation with Koyanskaya (pre final boss battle): (19:00 - 30:00)

Koyanskaya's speech: (19:00 - 23:30)

KuroEne AU: Ene confronts Kuroha

Coming back to KuroEne, I think Ene can use this against him as well.

In the Mekakucity Records Booklet, Outer Science’s section describes Kuroha/Saeru as a “monster that overlooks everything — peoples’ lives, hearts, meetings, memories, deaths, and looks down on it all, and how “he started influencing peoples’ everyday lives merely to kill time.”

He thinks he’s above everything, humanity, human emotion and human sentimentality. But in reality, he’s not. He’s still prone and susceptible to it.

With his actions, he’s just “mocking the failures of others, just like a human would.” Ene tells him he’s not the supreme being he thinks he is, but doing exactly what a human would.

...

In the context of a Kuroha ship AU, specifically KuroEne AU in this case, Kuroha’s selfish, twisted desire to continue the time loop tragedy out of self-preservation (as his main goal above all else), and then on a secondary level, being motivated by a twisted obsession to keep up the game with his partner for eternity, also creates a human-like irony/contradiction in him.

Ene goes like, “I told you before, didn’t I? How you started all of this in the first place.”

Ene comes back to her point of how he started doing all of this (playing the “game” and being intimate with her) out of curiosity.

Even though he mocked Azami’s love for his family… At some point, in his desire to make the Routes more fun and interesting, he started indulging in carnal pleasures and craving the touch of a human (the very beings he claimed to both love and look down upon for their foolishness, etc.)

The one that started this game was him. The one that went through the efforts of tinkering with human tech, making the android body and improving upon it everytime with each rendition, was him. The one who approached her to propose the game with her, and even after this many times, still chooses to do this with her, is him.

Source: Sidu's Playing Card Set (Kuroha Joker Playing Card)

(This is how I imagined his expressions. For the first time, his smug grin drops to a neutral expression, almost annoyed, even... She's clearly gotten under his skin.)

Ene then asks him, “When did you finally start becoming a little more human?”

When Ene’s done her speech, Kuroha’s expression finally drops to a silent (…)

Ene revels in her victory after seeing Kuroha’s momentary loss of composure.

She managed to get under his skin like she wanted. This is a true victory for her, and they both know it. She won this time, and not because he let her win.

Ene feels proud and triumphant for finally being able to strike a nerve in him and “winning” against him. She then gives him a cheeky grin like, “Finally wiped the smug look off your face!”

...

Kuroha/Saeru feels a tinge of annoyance.

Still, though, he doesn’t want to let her bask in the victory for too long, so he quickly recovers and regains his composure and usual smug demeanour, and scoffs at how ridiculous and absurd the notion of him becoming more human is.

He congratulates Ene for her victory and tells her that her predictable unpredictability has always kept things interesting between the two of them. He didn’t expect her to bring up his Master (Azami) as leverage against him in their verbal confrontation.

KuroEne AU: Dialogue Script

KuroEne, IdaTatsu, and FGO Rambles

When I saw Feila's KuroEne x IdaTatsu crossover, I felt inspired to make some rambles for it:

I went on a tangent when I added to this omfg. KuroEne and IdaTatsu rambles. Everytime I write about my meow meow mf faves, out comes an essay. I can't even stop the urge omfg

KUROENE AS IDATATSU OMGGG

The ultimate crossover hehe

This is honestly really funny to think about

The thing is, is that all of my faves have this level of elegance and refinement and composure (except for Judar). Which is completely fine. It's not necessary to have but it's usually present in my faves

The difference between charas like Douman and Kuroha/Saeru, who are the most mature of my main faves (which makes sense since they’re ancient beings or at least originate/come from an ancient era) and Idate, is that, while Idate has adult-like mannerisms, he has a child-like sense of entitlement.

What makes Idate so dangerous is how quickly he can switch from cheerful to deadly, at the drop of a hat, basically. Idate has a level of refinement and composure in his usual mannerisms, like he tries to appear “dainty” and gentlemanly to Tatsumiya to impress her since she’s very soft.

But he’s less mature and refined/composed than Douman and Kuroha cuz he's like... dignified, but also a rough, "elegant delinquent," a mafia type, basically. Idate is playful and dangerous but with a childlike sense of entitlement. So Idate is more casual, less formal than the two of them .

Like Idate is so: "I want that!" (^-^)

Because he just purely goes off on instinct/emotion-based feelings. And how he just murders and eats people on a whim. He’s motivated by “interesting things,” and things that can challenge him.

Cuz Idate is basically an elegant “mafia esque” type delinquent

So it's just funny to think of Kuroha in Idate's role bullying other animals (or teasing in Ene's case)

It would also be interesting to

Especially since the WATGBS AU versions of Idate is even more cruel than the F*na-verse one.

Even more cruel, but actually well-written, unlike F*na LMAO.

100000x better written but it's not harder to write better than F*na

WATGBS AU: IdaTatsu

WATGBS AU Idate (written by me and friends) steals peoples' souls and drinks and drains people of their blood and eats them, to use them as a power source and add to his power by absorbing them as a form of dark energy, then throwing the rest of the souls to light up his space void hell-scape that’s lit up by the dead souls of all the people he’s ever eaten. He is extremely cruel.

Idate knows that he's evil with inner, dormant, negative tendencies and "unpleasant" personality traits but he just wholly dismisses it out of a sense of apathy. He doesn't care about his victims. He sees them as "toys," "playthings," "sustenance" for him. It very much has this sense of “Yes? I did that? I’m evil! Don’t you see I’m evil?” (^-^)

I do think that the 7 Deadly Sins are split between Idate (and his older brother) Takama’s characters in the WATGBS AU, but I think the Deadly Sin that Idate represents most is "Greed," because his character is all about the pursuit of pleasure and desire for more. Tho he also has an apathy to other people and their suffering

Tatsumiya's role as "Messenger of the Dragon Palace" seems similar to a shrine maiden's duties, so I guess Ene in this AU is like a shrine maiden or princess consort.

Kuroha acting with Idate's carefree and laidback delinquent esque behaviour is sooo funny to think about.

Kuroha and Douman have similarities in terms of their basics, actually, but there's a huge difference in that canon-verse Kuroha lacks the tenderness and vulnerabilities that Douman's character has.

Also this is soooo funny to think about, cuz canon-verse Kuroha would not like cigarettes.

But Idate does, as an animal, cuz his character (at least in our WATGBS AU) is about his selfishness cruelty and general lack of care and apathy to other peoples' suffering and (metaphorically) drowning in momentary pleasures and chasing highs, because the pleasure is "not enough" for him. He needs something/someone more than that, someone who can connect and understand him, for once

And that's why finding Tatsu is a miracle for him. He and his older twin brother Takama never knew soft love before meeting their wives, only survival and death 💀 Idate doesn't care about others except for a select few that he loves (as his wife, Tatsu later becomes apart of his family)

Combined with the traumas from their backstories (that we made up for them in our AU), they just completely lacked proper childhoods and spent their entire lives just trying to survive.

Kagerou Daze Manga

In the KagePro manga, Kuroha/Saeru looks over the city from a rooftop and comments about the “muddy dirt stained (polluted) sky” and “humans spreading their greed wherever they go.”

He asks Konoha if he agrees with him (after overtaking/possessing his body and suppressing his consciousness). Since they're both Eye Ability snakes born from Azami, he calls him 兄弟 (Kyoudai, "Brother; mate; friend")

It means "Brother," but it can also be used in casual/informally contexts between guy friends such as "My man; mate; friend"

(Kagerou Daze Manga: Ch. 62 - NO TITLE)

Kuroha: ...No wonder this world we made is so irksome.

Kuroha: This disgusting, glittering town...

Kuroha: This muddy, dirt-stained sky...

Kuroha: These people, spreading their greed wherever they go...

Kuroha: It's all so foolish...

Kuroha: ...And so lovely.

Kuroha: You agree, don't you...

Kuroha: ...My brother?

...

As someone who was there before the world was created, and observed the world from the very beginning and got to see it develop to the modern age, as a being who is close to Nature...

Like of course canon-verse Kuroha/Saeru would feel that way about pollution, as an animal (being who lived as apart of Nature, alongside Azami).

The KagePro manga art is weak and not dynamic imo but I appreciate that it exists since it gave us lots of interesting scenes, like Kuroha's backstory, and a bunch of cute little moments with the MekaDan.

An animal being who exists as someone closer to nature

Going on a tangent:

Kuroha seems to resent the world/mankind for changing the nature of his Master's wish, but claims to love humans (especially their foolishness).

Kuroha has a few base similarities with one of my FGO wives Koyanskaya (FGO), the "contradictory nature of loving while hating [humanity]" but the difference between them, is that he doesn't really hold as much of a vengeful grudge against humanity.

Kuroha wants to destroy the world to redo it all over again from the very beginning. But in comparison, he's not really that vengeful or serious about that hatred/grudge, as some of my FGO faves that want to destroy/exterminate humanity.

I got reminded of Koyanskaya specifically cuz like, as a Servant, she's a being who's a manifestation of a concept. She's a "Nature Spirit who's basically the incarnation of the thoughts and feelings of all animals who were persecuted by humanity," a being that "exists for revenge against humans" and "wishes for humanity's demise while loving them as beings apart of nature"

And even Koyanskaya is still "not as serious" (in her own words), about wanting to destroy humanity as others. She wants to witness humanity's destruction as entertainment, but wants to leave the actual extermination to someone else.

There's a line about Koyanskaya in the Tunguska Sanctuary event story in FGO (Koyanskaya's major story chapter focus) that's like "She wields the inventions and weapons of man, better than man ever could," due to her Beast's Authority as someone who can summon unlimited Lost Familiars (Mass produced creations by Koyanskaya).

And that does remind me of Kuroha/Saeru. And how like... He wields both words (ie. weaponizing knowledge), and humanity's tools/inventions (ie. guns) as weapons.

Koyanskaya's entire concept and character is so peak imo. I find her incredibly interesting and compelling. One of my top fave FGO wives and femme characters easily.

Source:

[sukifoof-art]

mommy issues villains brainrot wont go away help

[fuckyeahkagepro]

a quick summary of Mary+Seto + Saeru (+Azami?) (+HIBIYA?!) theories, pt. 1

PREVIOUSLY:

Saeru: am snake

Saeru: snakes are NOT HUMAN

Saeru: snakes don't know "feelings"

Saeru: snake DO find humans "interesting" (see: Novel 2, Azami's earliest MEMORY is a chat with a SNAKE)

Saeru: not me though

Saeru: humans irritating. do not like

Azami: hi.

SAERU:

Saeru:

Saeru: maybe I'll stick by her for a whi-----

AZAMI: I HATE EVERYONE

AZAMI: WHY IS IT ALWAYS JUST ME

AZAMI: DON'T WANNA LIVE IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE

SAERU:

SAERU:

FAST FORWARD TO THE PRESENT DAY.....:

Saeru: am snake

Saeru: snakes are NOT HUMAN

Saeru: snakes don't know "feelings"

Saeru: snake DO find humans "interesting"

Saeru: not me though

Saeru: snakes DO like "WISHES" though

Saeru: like "wishes". gonna eat them

Saeru: do not like "humans" though------

MARY: ..... need ... help ....

SAERU:

MARY: REWIND ..... TIME ........ p-please ???

Saeru:

Mary: PLEASE

SAERU:

Saeru: but if I do that I have to make you

Saeru: "DESPAIR"

Mary: DO IT

Saeru:

Saeru: ... fine ?

MARY:

TIME: ***** REPEATS *****

Saeru: am snake. snakes are NOT HUMAN snakes don't KNOW "FEELINGS" SNAKES DO-----

MARY:

SAERU:

TIME: ***** REPEATS *****

Saeru: humans irritating. do not lik-----

MARY:

SAERU:

Saeru: ....

MARY: I'M NOT INTERESTED IN A WORLD WHERE I CAN'T LIVE TOGETHER WITH "FRIENDS"

MARY: I ... WANT TO SEE ... [H I M] AGAIN .....

SAERU:

SAERU:

MARY: PLEASE

TIME: ***** REPEATS *****

SAERU: HUMANS IRRITATING. DO NOT LIK-----

SETO:

SAERU:

SETO: ... *** MEKAKUSHI-DAN CHARGE !!! ***

SAERU:

SAERU: :) IF YOU CARE ABOUT HIM THEN USE YOUR MONSTEROUS POWERS

MARY:

SETO:

SAERU: :)

SETO, ONE OF THE MOST BRUTALLY MURDERED IN MOST ROUTES:

MARY: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

TIME: ***** REPEATS *****

Saeru: HUMANS VERY IRRITATING. /DO NOT LIKE/

Mary:

SAERU:

Mary:

SAERU:

Mary: .... p l e a s e

SAERU:

Saeru: am very evil snake

TIME: ***** REPEATS *****

SAERU: CONCLUSION: HUMANS ARE EXTREMELY IRRITATING

SAERU: SNAKES LIKE "WISHES"

SAERU: GONNA EAT THEM

SAERU: HOW DO I ACCOMPLI-----------

HIBIYA, AFTER LOOPING FOR D E C A D E S,:

HIBIYA, AFTER SEEING HIYORI +CO. DIE FOR D E C A D E S,:

HIBIYA, V. V. FAILING TO CONVEY "WISHES":

HIBIYA, NOW A "FUTURE EDITION":

HIBIYA, NOW EVEN AN "ARCHAEOLOGIST"?!!?:

SAERU:

SAERU:

SAERU: B I N G O

TIME: ***** REPEATS *****

Saeru:

Saeru: am very evil snake

HIYORI AND/OR HIBIYA:

SAERU:

HIYORI AND/OR HIBIYA (BOTH): P L E A S E

SAERU:

TIME: **** REPEATS *****

SAERU:

SAERU, REMEMBERING EVERYTHING WITH EACH LOOP:

SAERU:

SAERU: CONCLUSION: KILL

SAERU: KILL ALL -----------

Shintaro: STOP

SAERU:

[serpensiege]

▲ 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. 

[giantchasm]

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.

[maybeinthefuture]

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.

[yuukei-yikes]

i truly do think the tsukiaza / harutaka similarities are unintentional but i also think THEY DO EXIST and i LOVE BEING DELUSIONAL

saeru resents humanity for changing azami, right?? originated from tsukihiko and azami having fallen in love, RIGHT?? kagepro being about love, all types of love. haruka and takane as a pair having a romantic situation, and saeru playing such a personal direct role in their demise...

i do not mean saeru sees tsukiaza in harutaka, because it would never do something like comparing azami to a human like that is the opposite saeru wants to do. saeru represents everything love is not. it hates humanity and its warmth and love just in general, for example it is just as cruel to ayano and kano and their familial love and even weaponizes it

i doubt saeru grasps the concept of different types of love, be it familial platonic romantic or whatever else. doesnt grasp it or doesn't care. it just hates it and humanity as a whole basically. but.... specifically with romantic love. having seen azami's love origin with tsukihiko, then using kenjirou's love for ayaka as a means to do what it does, AND THEN getting to destroy haruka and takane first hand.....

saeru does what it does to haruka and takane because it's part of the plan/narrative. like yeah, it needed the snakes. also yeah it looooves ppl suffering in General. BUT i think it also finds extra satisfaction in separating haruka and takane bc of the romantic nature of their relationship, even taunting haruka/konoha with saying "the friend [takane] you wanted to play with so much. well, she's dead"

yeah other characters are in love, but haruka and takane's arcs/deaths/motivations are deeply intertwined and the fact they were separated from each other is like, almost the main reason their arcs are so sad. they die the same day at the same time and to the last moment they are wishing to be together. haruka and takane are truly the romantic aspect of all the loves presented in the mekakushi dan.

and to me, Forever Delusional, there is Something about saeru taking specific orchestrated intervention against haruka and takane out of all characters, the mekakushi dan's main romance and a pair with such irrefutable similarities to tsukihiko and azami. idk what..but there is Something...

sorey if this is incomprehensible. harutaka❤️

[yuukei-yikes]

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

[serpensiege]

📂📂

send me a  📂 for a completely mostly useless headcanon!! || always accepting!

✘ saeru’s preference towards using a gun, specifically a pistol, isn’t simply for the matter of it being available. he’s been alive for what can be assumed hundreds if not thousands of years & has seen many weapons come & go ; they’re all proficient in their own ways, he reasons. however, guns offer him certain features that other weapons can’t exactly matter ; knives, for instance, can be difficult to finish the job. guns can take a single shot ( & even if he misses, gunshot wounds can be fatal & difficult to treat ), & can tear away someone’s life immediately. the spark of fear people have in their eyes when having a gun pointed at them is much more prominent ; a knife is dangerous, but can be disregarded. a gun is a looming threat ; accurate, a single motion of his finger away from another murder. it’s more efficient, & it’s more fun. especially when the sound of gunshots can strike utter terror into the world.

( of course, that isn’t to say that he doesn’t enjoy other weapons. from his own actual hands to anything he can get his hands on --- as long as it works & adds to his victim’s suffering, then it’s considered. )

✘ sometimes he likes to take the corpses of a slaughter ( typically of the dan ) & pile them up into a sickening caricature of a throne --- he sits on it, as if he’s proud of his handiwork, as if this world is his & here he sits at the very top, overseeing all the foolish events. it’s a grand display that he controls people’s fates, that their lives are easily torn apart with a flick of his hand. ... that & he’s a disgusting creep, generally speaking here.