#tbh judging fuuta here is (for me) like judging me from a bit into the past so sorry if i'm really fired up about this.

[justhereformilgram]

Why yes I do find myself becoming enthralled with multimedia stories primarily told through songs and sometimes manga and other ways with characters labeled numbers one to ten who are all so complicated and deep <3

Under the cut is spoilers/speculation for the Kagerou Project and trial one and trial two of the MILGRAM project! If you’re a fan of one of these I recommend checking the other two out! Also discussion of suicide topics and general dark content considering these tragic characters

Ok those up above are just paired by number (prison number and order of joining the mekkakushi dan) but here is how I’d pair them based on power/themes + explanations, maybe even if there was a crossover or au sort of thing. The ones with the blue squares are what I think definitely fit while the others I had to go back and forth on

prepare for a ton of yapping. Lol. Lmao.

Kido and Haruka: Abandonment and attention issues + the power to conceal yourself so you don’t get noticed is really interesting to me… Kido is more confident and blunt than Haruka, and yet, I do think they match up fairly well.

Seto and Mahiru: I was debating on giving Seto’s power to Yuno or even Es since it’s like. I don’t know people pleasing/the whole motif of trying to see inside of people’s minds but Mahiru having mind reading powers compels me, since she’s so empathetic. It would also make her indirect murder so much more messy since she would have likely tried to show her love more if she could viscerally sense her boyfriend struggling, but ough.

Kano and Kazui: now this. This fits like a glove. They’re all about lies and pain baybeee… Yobanashi Decieve is such a perfect Kazui song it’s not even funny. (Using the Will Stetson Eng Lyrics but like. Come on)

“Act normal and all of that, but my heart’s still rushing fast so easily”

“I bit the fruit (apple motif!!) and the snake burrowed inside of me”

“But that’s only right, cause I’m a monster in kind”

“Listen closely to this coward’s beating heart, a selfish face that’s seeped in pain, the only me that remains”

“Though I say I’m really lonely, nothing’s ever gonna change”

Mary and Amane : Okay this is a more of a hear me out but hear me out. Both sheltered from the outside/real world, albeit for different reasons, Amane by her religious organization, Mary by her mom since she has Medusa blood. Petrification as a power would be helpful for amane in that murder and/or not getting hurt again, and/or punishing sinners. Also I think Amane would judge Mary since she’s all about stopping the natural cycle of death with all those timeloops

Muu and Momo: Simply they are both popular and that power of drawing eyes is so perfect for that. Less good for Muu once everyone turns on her but it still works.

Ene and Fuuta: This is so just because digital media like video games and twitter are so important to Fuuta like yes go into the computer buddy and cyberbully on another level. They also have similar outward prickliness <3

Shintaro and ES: this is really just about main characters and retaining eyes probably going to Es…? Wasn’t too sure of this one myself tbh

Hibiya and Mikoto (and John): Ok Focusing eyes I couldn’t really think of anyone since it’s very niche but ehh..? Graphic artist??? I do think a kagerou daze situation with Mikoto and John of John trying to save Mikoto in a death loop would fit them before the twist that oh no, sacrificing yourself just continues a different cycle…

Konoha and Kotoko: they can PUNCH. mostly did this one because kotoko would love to have the power to punch people to death and also. Well. Most inter-party kills. In konoha’s case due to possession but Kotoko would prob use hers for cold hard Justice

Hiyori and Shidou: ok this was Clearing Eyes since timeline shenanigans makes it so that Hiyori isn’t part of the group most loops. Maybe I should’ve put Kenjirou instead… well… welp. Shidou would go that far for his wife, that’s all I’ll say, and also the snake of knowledge fits him

Ayano and Yuno: Wasn’t sure about this one, since tbh Novel ES (the girl one) probably fits Ayano better, but Yuno having such a emotional power, able to express her feelings to another, while having everything she has going on could be interesting. Maybe Yuno matches Hiyori better I don’t know LOL Ayano is my favorite of the kagepro bunch though

[euxeris]

Ranking Milgram Trial 1 Songs

(I'll do covers in another post)

Note: I like all the songs, just some more than others!

Weakness - HIMEI WO SHITEITA, HIMEI WO SHITEITA. I have no idea if this is a loved song within the fandom but if it isn't... what are you guys thinking/lh? It's so catchy, sad and touching, and Shun Horie's falsetto? *chefs kiss*

This is How To Be in Love With You - this song just makes me want to get up and dance. Mappi killed it and served, ofc! (I was going to put this as no. 1 and changed my mind last minute)

half - I feel like this is an unpopular opinion.... ah fuck it. This song needs to get to the 1M views it deserves and I will forever stand by that. Okay, *maybe* I like depressing songs more than happy ones...

After Pain - the chorus.... hits SO HARD. and the bridge oh my god. Arisa Kori did a great job with this and I love the softness of her voice!

MeMe - fun fact: putting this song in 5th resulted in me gripping the wall in agony... I wanted to put it way higher... Hanae Natsuki you are amazing. Also extra points for the shock factor when I heard the metal part.

Undercover - I am an Es lover first and a human second and I love this song to pieces. However for some reason I couldn't bring myself to put it in top 5? Oh well, it's still good, it can settle for the middle.

Umbilical - Yuno is a queen and I love her. This song is very catchy and the lyrics are fun to analyze! However it feels a bit lacking somehow, so I couldn't move it up more.

Throw Down - to be completely honest I wasn't too fond of Shidou's voice... nothing was wrong with it it just didn't stick with me? idk- but Throw Down is a bop and my eyes have been OPENED. I wish I could move it up but it's less memorable than the songs above.

HARROW - tbh I don't know why Harrow is all the way down here. It's a good song and the va's voice is powerful and addicting. However I judge a song based off memorability, and I can't remember anything apart from the chorus, so... sorry Kotoko.

Bring it On - I feel the aura of questioning Fuuta stans coming from a mile away... and honestly I don't blame them. This song just won't go up any higher for me, it's not my thing. but the chant part is nice!

Magic - it's very catchy don't get me wrong. however the overall vibe isn't something I'm into. also the part at the end scared the shit out of me.

[weather-cluddy]

This post actually got me to look into The Magnus Archives! I haven't managed to check out all of it yet (tho I've looked through the Domains, because they're SO COOL), but here's my current ideas for the rest of the prisoners:

Haruka: The Lonely. Betcha didn't see that coming. Possibly coupled with The Stranger, if Haruka thinks of the girl as having stolen his place.

Muu: Honestly for her I'm thinking less of a Fear and more the Prison Domain, what with the insistence that the protagonist is a decent person unfairly judged by an unsympathetic system. Still, I'd say a mix of the Lonely and the Buried, what with her feeling she had no way out except murder.

Shidou: Probably The Corruption in its "toxic relationships" aspect and The End. I think you could also fit in The Flesh in its dehumanizing aspects, like we see in the Mortal Garden and the Processing Line. Though that would be him inflicting the fear, rather than as a victim of it.

Mahiru: Corruption again. You could do something with aspects of the Lonely too, but I don't think pure Lonely would fit her, since she does seem like her moments of doubt towards her partner are intersped with feelings of genuine, joyful connection. Sometimes the Fears give you a little false hope to avoid numbness, but it still feels a bit much imo.

Kazui: The Lonely probably, not as in "there's literally nobody around me" but as in "My bonds don't feel real because I lie all the time". The Eye too, both in the fear of being exposed and finding out something you didn't want to know.

Mikoto: TBH the Magnus Archives bit that gave me the most Mikoto vibes was definitely the Processing Line. All this talk about how being useless is literally worse than death, to the point of actively collaborating with your own murder because you can barely imagine the alternative, only to be deemed a failure anyways… There are themes of perfectionism for The Flesh in Bodybuilder and Mortal Garden too. But the more primal aspects of it don't fit all that well.

He'd probably be The Spiral or The Stranger, in terms of not trusting himself. But if you go with his work-life balance issues and constant need to be a seen as a "good member of society", you could go with The Eye, The Buried, The Web… Yeah, I ended up naming almost half the Fears. Mikoto has a lot of issues is multifaceted like that.

(Speaking of Domains, the absolutely biggest "This is literally him" was definitely The Forest and Fuuta. It's legiterally just Backdraft but with less fire motifs. But also The Monument reminded me a bit of Kotoko? Like replace "I must be (factually) correct and violently reject anything that contradicts it because otherwise my entire identity collapses" with "I must be (morally) correct and…".

That doesn't really work as well with the whole labyrinth motif, though. Maybe you could adapt it to her in particular by reframing it as her big wall of evidence? Like every time she feels confident enough to attack somebody, suddenly a whole lot of exonerating information starts appearing everywhere. Maybe even the data she's already gathered now looks completely mundane and inconclusive. She then goes through the three stages of grief, namely "Next time! Next time I will stalk and obsess investigate much more thoroughly! This will not happen again", "Well, actually, I got really bad vibes from that guy, so maybe it's everyone else that's wrong." and finally "Mistakes? Me? I'm the harbinger of justice! If you criticize me you're against me! (tries to cover up smoldering doubts with bravado)".

The most obvious choice for Shidou would be the Wellbeing Center, and I'm not saying it wouldn't cause him a lot of pain to be forcibly recruited as an orderly (being a victim would probably just give him a grim satisfaction), but my personal choice would be The Oxford Street It's not exactly the same situation as his crime (active vs passive harm), but it's got similar vibes of 'better you than me, wait no, I should care for you, it's my duty due to my position, but I…'

I already talked about Mikoto, but I'd like to add Wonderland House for him. The most obvious route to explot is his DID, of course, but there's plenty more material available. Like "Oh, so you don't feel excited at the prospect of working 18 hours a day? That's really strange. Why not? Laziness? Or do you just love to self-sabotage? Perhaps because you hate yourself as much as other people hate you? You're the one choosing to be like this, though. Think a bit more about everyone you're dragging down, alright?"

I think Mahiru would be there too. If they ever met, I bet Dr David would be alternating between feeding Mikoto stories about what a deranged, murderous wretch she is, not even wanting to recover from her delusions, totally unlike his little star patient who's always trying so hard to get better, riiiight Mikoto?; and later scolding him for thinking poorly of a mentally ill woman. You know, a person with real problems, not somebody who thinks a clinic is a holiday retreat. Don't you know how much discrimination they already face by assholes like you?

Dr. David might be forced to play good cop more often than usual just to keep Mikoto from becoming a husk that can't even be properly terrified anymore, tbh. That or eventually Mikoto would just become eerily obedient and just abandon any pretenses of objective reality. Whatever the Doctor is saying right now is correct. We always have been at war with Eastasia. At least accepting the doctor's meager praise without reservations lets him enjoy a brief flicker of happiness, so he's just not gonna question anything anymore. Much easier to cry when it's time to cry and smile when it's time to smile, without trying to form a logical connection between those two states.

The Milgram Archives ft. Head archivist Es and their three assistants Yuno, Kotoko and Fuuta