#milkly ramble

[milk-ly]

Quick thing about the new Muu art.

Muu has red ribbon wrapped loosely around her neck. While I have seen people compare it to a noose I want to propose something else:

After the French Revolution, some people tended to wear red ribbons around their neck to symbolize the guillotine beheadings that took place during that period.

Of course, Muu already has some French background that’s been referenced in a lot of symbolism already, but Muu’s story also seemingly reflects certain aspects of the French Revolution; when the French Monarchy was overthrown and many people were guillotined, including the king and queen.

Muu was the “Queen bee” who’s power and monarchy was overthrown by her “subjects,” symbolized by the red ribbon around her neck that could represent the beheading.

[haeroniel-doliet]

thoughts on ice skating

supposed to be under read more, sorry if mobile is weird! 

i mean ive missed multiple weeks and alll in all the society/ practice is quite weird like the beginners teacher dude keeps rambling off about like olympics skating or how higher levels have this and this move and look ive taught that advanced kid over there and heres how they do that technique rather than concretely helping us develop those basic skills that were apparently flawed at. like how do i do that correction youre just showing me bc clearly im about to fall over bc idk how to do it. and i tried being all professional and interested and make the most of it for myself, but cant help the frustration when it goes out of the easy shit into the stupid spins because apparently i just cant do it. be it my skates are too thin or too sharp blades or my ankle is not strong enough  or enough support thats why its going bad? idk even but i cant spin. cant do it. idk i kinda know multiple things that are fucking up and its frustrating and annoying and its just not gonna work yknow i can kinda turn 180. no i cant do the multiple spin spin spin that seems so easy. is it my skates or is it my inadequacy? im not getting new skates tho, im only here because i have my own skates a while back, im clearly so shit that im not even gonna be a milkly good figure skater im not gonna get in on that. i might as well do fuckin ballet rather than this. im actually looking into that kinda now id love to try. 

ice skating is dumb in the way that ive done it since im a child but never as a hobby, like ive done it with most the time my own owned skates since like 3-4 yrs old like young. but school only ever teaches forwards and basic backwards (apparently its cheating backwards) and basic stop and turns and idk things you learn somewhat naturally and my coolest tricks always been sausages (or bubbles as they call them here) and those are apparently baby level beginner stuff and im just :| yeah i can do those tho. and now ic an do them backwards which is kinda cool, and im more confident one foor skating/gliding. but like never as a hobby so i guess none of that matters, i did try to do intermediate and could keep up to an extent but i guess my basics are so shoddy i wasnt doing well enough for my own standards, and even now looking over tho the teacher is better and more encouraging, everyone seems to be doing crazy tricks and jumps and spins and one leg up fancy shit and im just... ya. guess i cant be over there. cant do it. lemme just stand with mr blabber mouth. it is frustrating bc yeah maybe i wanna be that intermediate level, maybe i wanna go skate with my family/old friends and show off bc look i can do like 3 4 cool things im almost a real skater. but fuck i guess my skates are limiting me and i should try use the rental skates? that are dull af but have better support? idk, ive got blisters from them the last i used them and i dont particularly wanna use shitty skates. but i dunno even what to do, i dont particularly wanna drop on some fancy skates just to find smths wrong again and im shit and cant do it. maybe id suddenly improve and feel a lot better about myself and take it as a proper hobby but realistically nah. im actually kinda frustrated i dont even know if i wanna continue. yes i have a friend that goes, yes i have skates and you only get better by spending time on ice and id like to be better bc only recently ive realised how shit i am, (trust me its confidence boosting to have skated with bambis on ice who are afraid of moving at all and then i can at least go kinda fast if i want) but i cant even turn properly, cant stop properly neither. its just ugh, i dont think im getting as much out of it as i should be, i dont know if its the teachers fault, my skates fault, or my own personality/inability. 

no im not doing the dumb kinda competition theyre organising in a few weeks. the criteria for intermediate (that i havent participated in enough anyway recently) is fuckin hops and drags (my skates do not drag! to sharp? idk) and spins and fancy shit i havent even ever tried to. yeah sure i could for the fucks of it do the beginners bc its uh, bubbles forward and backwards that i can do, and i can kind of do the chassee thing kind of. but i cant do a god damn spin for the life of me apparently so i might as well save my 5 pound and ‘pride’. ugh. besides the fun part was that he was talking abt the higher levels leg up glide thing, and had us do it against the wall bc ‘afraid well just face plant’ and i guess i can bring my leg up decently high when supported by the wall which is fun, and otherwise im not the worst of the 5 beginners that showed up. but yeah im just frustrated with it over all. dunno how long the clubs even gonna continue for, theres only one friend there that i would continue for which isnt great considering means i dont consider the others easy to make friends with or ones i could be fond of enough to over look the struggle of the hobby. 

i think my plan was to call my dad not only to ask if they had a preference for when my friend would fly down to visit  so she could buy her tickets, but i guess also i was going to say about the skate apparently being too soft and too thin/too sharp and express this frustration that i still cant do shit, that maybe even using unsharpened (and uncomfortable) rental skates could be better for skating and just wonder what im even doing abt this all. clearly not competing but idk even if we could just come to observe/skate for fun during the competition etc or if i should just skip to catch up/pack and clean idk. also im kinda annoyed at myself otherwise bc i just tuesday saw with J and shes off for a few weeks and i made such a good verbal plan saying id do an email and a summary im weeeeeks behind on on tuesday evening and prep for class today (didnt prep but it went okay anyway) and today i would have gone to class and to skating with a healthy meal (check check check) and come home to sign up and send the other email thats been bugging me, and then do my report due midnight i havent even started on. said id work after midnight if it was taking so long so id have it done..... i had a nap instead. not even a god damn shower i was planning to have tuesday and now its 3 am on thursday. ayy. sure i could skip classes tomorrow to shower and clean my room and maybe complete a task before i drag myself to an archery arrow lesson and badminton after (no thatll be fun, but ill be back rly late) but ive skipped so many classes and i wana see and be with my friends i might as well go, and if i get abandoned work on work somewhere in between classes and maybe actually get something done? gasp. shock. and still get home and do smth like clean and do dishes to be productive while anticipating fun thing, do it and come home and actually sleep bc im fuckin that over eh. but fuck. its not just that i have 1 overdue summary from two weeks ago, i have another summary due thursday night. maybe, in between classes i could do both, miraculous i guess yes but would be cool. do two summaries, send off both and an apology email for the other, take the spare chance to book myself another experiment if theyre still running and if not send an apology email bc i missed one in class one and ask what now. and then maybe even since the calendar is out get my 3 planned viewings booked so that i can see them b4 going back home and dont get fucked. maybe even add the corrections i got yesterday to my other report. wow wouldnt that be great. i could do them now but i should get to sleep right now heres hoping ill remember the corrections then. and then id need to look at the video for the assignment that was due yesterday and bring up the files and find the debrief and begin filling it in and maybe email researcher if i need to, and do the easy part. so that maybe logical me in a clean room will fill in the ethics part between classes on friday or after class or gasp on saturday bc im not going to st andrews after all... its a lot.. i hate that two days are wasted already. ugh. uGH. well get by. lets just try stay positive, now im going to sleep and wake up to go to my 11 class prepared to do some easy work between classes. yes yes. its probably weird that who ever has read this far has read all this shit and maybe i should just keep my shit personal and not post on my main blog bc surprisingly its open to anyone who just slightly would wanna see it,and though you likely dont know me in person its a bit weird huh idk. maybe this is here so my cousin can read it if she happens to , maybe its so that you can read it and be like ya i do that and i think like that too pretty cool im not alone, maybe its for me to read back and not have to be exposed to my worst ugly vents on my plain vent blog and can remain positive thomaybe not. its under read more anyway. lets try bury it guys. 

[milk-ly]

Lets talk about this awesome commissioned official art of Fuuta because I haven’t seen it discussed yet!

One thing I love is how the swords are stuck into the ground in a way that plays into the trope of weapon tombstones on a battlefield. The trope is basically when a comrade dies on the battlefield and are buried with their weapon acting as a tombstone. In this Fuuta piece, the swords also resemble crosses in a way!

Going even further, it also plays into the trope of a “field of blades.” The symbolic idea that is created from this kind of trope/image is an unending war/struggle and it also acts as a graveyard.

Of course, these tropes fit wonderfully with Fuuta and his knight symbolism, but it also further plays into Fuuta’s themes of comparing participation in the kind of hostile communities Fuuta was in on twitter to a battlefield.

Another important detail is the fact that the swords are Fuuta’s prisoner colour: Scarlet. Now, bear with me here, scarlet is particularly significant due to its common association with Christianity because it is the colour of Christ’s blood. (Thank you to muu_kusunoki on twt for bringing this up!) I’ll only get into it briefly because I am definitely not qualified to talk about this, but Fuuta’s got a TON of religious symbolism, mostly Christian. His t2 VD is named “Baptism by fire,” and fire itself is associated with punishment and judging sin in the Bible. Scarlet, Christ’s blood, is known to offer forgiveness, and therefore purifies sin. The fact that Fuuta’s sword is this colour is an interesting detail!

Another thing is that Fuuta seems to be referencing Lady Justice here, a metaphorical personification of the morality of the Justice system, as she also wields a sword and a scale. However a crucial identifying feature about Lady Justice is her blindfold, which represents impartiality and the idea of “Justice is blind.” But Fuuta isn’t wearing one here.

Additionally, typically, the scale Lady Justice wields is meant to be balanced which represents considering all sides to the story. But in this Fuuta piece, it’s unbalanced. At the end of the day, upholding morality was never Fuuta’s main objective. But it’s also important to note that Fuuta isn’t the one holding the scale either.

I’m ending things a little unceremoniously here but I’m not sure how to talk about the thing below Fuuta’s feet. I assume it represents the “sinners” fuuta has punished in a way but I’m not sure how exactly? Is it a training dummy? Or rag doll? With bandages? Representing how he didn’t see them as humans at first? I would love to hear more thoughts if anyone has any!

[milk-ly]

I wanna quickly point out something about Kotoko and Jacques Roulet.

(You can read 1moremilgram-enjoyer’s post for info about Jacques Roulette here)

Something important to understand is that the case of Jacques Roulet actually happened during the Werewolf trials in the 15th-17th century.

If you don’t know what werewolf trials were, they’re linked to witch trials where mainly women were convicted and killed for practicing witchcraft. The werewolf trials however, were mostly men being convicted and killed for being werewolves that ate children. Jacques Roulet’s case specifically happened during the werewolf witch trials, which was a combination of the two.

The reason I bring this up is because this paints another parallel between Kotoko and Fuuta because of his connection to the Salem witch trials. Since his victim (kilcheroy) seems to take on the appearance of a witch, he quite literally sent a witch hunt after her and burned her at the stake. (Fuuta’s fire symbolism)

Witch’s were accused of witchcraft and devil worship but most of them were actually innocent, like how Fuuta’s victim was accused of wrong doing but in actuality didn’t do any thing wrong.

In contrast, Jacques Roulet actually did kill and hurt children, similar to Kotoko’s victim.

Kotoko’s victim was also male, which further adds to the link to werewolf trials of mostly men. Fuuta’s victim was female, and the witch trials were mostly women.

Their pursuits for Justice were witch/werewolf hunts.

And like people have pointed out, they became what they sought to destroy. Fuuta became the witch burned at the stake. Kotoko became the beast that mauled people.

(You could also argue that it kinda ties to both their relationship to gender and masculinity. But I’m not the most well versed in that topic)

[milk-ly]

Do you ever think about how Kotoko was pretty much Fuuta’s ideal self.

They both wanted to be the same thing, a long-awaited hero, but Kotoko actually “succeeded” while Fuuta “failed.” And that’s also how we judged them in t1. The fanbase thought of Kotoko as the strong, cool vigilante who took down a bad guy, but Fuuta was viewed as a brutish coward who hid behind a screen and killed an innocent teenager.

You could partially link that to the fact that in the end, their convictions were very different. Kotoko has supposed strong convictions but Fuuta seems to parrot things he probably heard on twitter to reinforce himself that he DOES have "strong convictions" like a hero/vigilante (like kotoko) does. Yet, his actual goal was never really Justice at all. Rather, it was all just to gain acceptance and connection. You can especially see that with how Fuuta stands firm in his ideals like he does with others but then immediately jumps to try and connect with Kotoko and impress her by parroting her words and opinions because he craves acceptance from someone whom he respects in some way.

Fuuta: "Ahh, yeah, Norway! The famous thing they have there!" This man clearly had absolutely never heard of it before until Kotoko brought it up. And he immediately pretended like he knew what she was talking about.

Another aspect is Fuuta's insecurities about how he doesn’t measure up to his ideals of being a strong, independent and responsible man. Like his want to protect others despite his cowardice. Or like how his ideal self in bring it on is seemingly taller and more confident.

Yet, Kotoko has constant traits and connections to masculinity (here's a great post about it by purgemarchlockdown) such as being tall, possessing fighting ability, not wearing more traditionally feminine clothes, and possessing traditionally masculine traits like strength and stoicism. Even stories about werewolves were traditionally more about men. While witch hunts, which Fuuta is connected to, mainly convicted women.

There's also the fact that Fuuta craves ally ship and Kotoko seems to be more well-liked than Fuuta even though they’re both rather standoffish. In fact, you actually see Fuuta going out of his way to interact with others (in his own way) more than Kotoko is throughout t1. (I believe he's the first character to give someone else a physical gift, even if it's just a tomato. And insists on giving Shidou his spinach in return when Shidou wants to give him his natto)

Here, Fuuta is the one who actually approached Mikoto to check on him. Fuuta cares and makes SOME effort to have a good relationship with others he's just uh. He's trying, okay.

Yet, in t1 at least, a good portion of the others generally disliked him or looked down on him in some way. Kotoko on the other hand was in pretty good terms with everyone until t2. (Aside from Mikoto, but that's because Kotoko doesn't like him, not the other way around) And considering the fact that Fuuta wants that acceptance so bad, Kotoko has that ideal.

And side note, do you ever think about how their murders frame both Kotoko and Fuuta’s ideal self as fallen heroes tainted by blood?

Or how these two saw each other as pretty similar at first before their true differences hit them both in the face?

And also how Fuuta starts t1 by seeing Es (and you) as the enemy but then draws a direct parallel between him and Es (and you) in t2? But Kotoko does the exact opposite, starting out in T1 and T2 trying to team up because of your similarities, and then ends up seeing you as weak by the end?

Ohhh 03 + 10 character foils…

[milk-ly]

Fuuta and Mikoto as Character Foils

This amazing post talks about Fuuta's people pleasing tendencies and they mentioned how Mikoto is simillar, but does it in a different way. And I have NOT been able to stop thinking about it so I want to get my thoughts out about how Fuuta and Mikoto are character foils to each other.

Fuuta and Mikoto are pretty much complete opposites. They parallel in that they both desperately crave societal acceptance, but they differ in how they go about it. Mikoto tries to read the room and changes every aspect of himself in order to seem more friendly and amicable to fit in. He does things based on what he SHOULD do because it’s the societally accepted way to do things and he’ll be liked for it.

Fuuta doesn’t because it’s just how he is, his naturally fiery and argumentative temperament makes it hard for people to like him. It’s not that he doesn’t want to fit in but he isn’t willing to change himself the same way Mikoto is. Mikoto is friendly and approachable while Fuuta is the complete opposite.

But here’s the thing, he IS also like Mikoto in that regard because he is seen in MILGRAM actively changing himself in order to believe that he is that idealized self in Bring It On. He tries to be a representative for everyone and confronts Es for hurting Yuno during his t1 VD, despite having to hype himself up before charging up at them.

But still, no matter how hard he tries he can’t be that idealized self. He can’t fit in, because it’s not who he is. He wants to be accepted as himself! He wants friends he can share the same interests and opinions with to feel validated.

Portal Timeline conversation (2023/07/05):

Fuuta: "Oh, well. I guess I can understand a bit now. When you're feeling down, it's nice to have someone to rely on, someone who accepts you."

It's why Mikoto thinks Fuuta’s immature because Fuuta's unable to fit into society and "be an adult" like Mikoto can. Mikoto thinks that once you grow up, you need to buckle down and start conforming or else you'll never get anywhere in life. To him, it's disgraceful to be angry because it's frowned upon, and Fuuta's pretty much in a constant state of rage, which is why Fuuta has such a hard time finding acceptance. Every time they talk, they’re criticizing each other. Their first ever conversation starts with Mikoto lecturing Fuuta about how he can’t and won’t fit in and it (rightfully) ticks him off, especially since Mikoto can. It’s why they’re at each other's throats like every time they interact (which is pretty little). Mikoto even straight up has a line in the earbud collab about how Fuuta will never get any girls.

Fuuta is constantly considered by others as “immature” and “childish” such as Kazui saying that it's okay for Fuuta to be cocky because he's young or how Fuuta is constantly linked to games (typically associated with children). Or the fact that the lyrics from Bring It On: ""Kono yubi tomare" [is] a traditional saying from a traditional kid’s game."

On the flip side, Mikoto is constantly reminding people that he’s a working adult. Not to mention, Mikoto tends to hang around the older prisoners more (the smoker trio) while Fuuta interacts with the younger prisoners the most. (Amane, Haruka, and sometimes Muu)

Mikoto wants to be a cog in the machine and believes that if he works hard enough, he'll be able to make it in the workforce. Fuuta actively criticizes the workforce and how it's useless to work too hard, so he "goes with the flow."

There are so many smaller details too that emphasize their foil. Mikoto smokes, Fuuta hates smoking. Mikoto's voice is high and whiney while Fuuta's is deep and aggressive. Fuuta has an older sister while Mikoto has a younger sister. Both their parents are divorced but Fuuta is missing his mother while Mikoto is missing his father. However, one similarity is that they both SEEM to have good opinions about their moms while having questionable ones with their dads.

Something else I think about a lot is how Fuuta parallels with John. Especially concerning these lines from John when you realize John is pretty much the opposite of Mikoto too:

John might be the person Mikoto wishes he was. Someone who stubbornly stands their ground, someone who tries stand up for themselves and “gives people their just desserts.” Sounds rather familiar to a certain red-head, I must say.

In addition, they share a lot more similarities too, like their connection to the bright colour red, contrasted by Mikoto's light blue. They both have short tempers and jump at Es as a defence mechanism, in contrast to Mikoto having a fawn response and laughing everything off. They both use the first-person pronoun "ore" while Mikoto uses "boku." Both Fuuta and John have a deeper and more aggressive tone in comparison to Mikoto. Fuuta's symbolism as a brave knight protecting the weak and punishing evil parallels John protecting the "weak" (Mikoto) and acting as his saviour from threats. Mikoto couldn't stand up for himself so John did it for him, Fuuta "stood up" for the people hurt by the actions of the people he cancelled.

To add on to that, Mikoto’s name in kanji means “noble” or “revered.” Words that remind you of royalty, or a prince. (Boy princess fr fr) John being his saviour makes him his knight in shining armour. Matching with Fuuta’s knight symbolism!

Mikoto envies these traits in Fuuta yet hates them and purposefully suppresses them within himself because it's not socially acceptable to act like him. Fuuta likely similarity envies people who can fit in, like Mikoto. Perhaps the reason why the two are so irked by the other is that they each embody traits the other admires yet can't have.

But in the end, they both can’t really fit into “normal” society. Mikoto, who claims he can, is suffering to the point of breaking. Fuuta, who tried and finally found an ounce of acceptance and ally ship in his online buddies, ended up getting carried away and causing the death of someone.

I'm really surprised I haven’t really seen this mentioned or discussed very much. Sorry if it’s really obvious, I just wanted to point some stuff out. Anyway man, I love these two a lot and I would love to see more stuff diving into these two in a canon context too.

[milk-ly]

Kotoko and her connection to Dante’s Inferno’s Satan

Disclaimer: This is just about symbolism and I know how it sounds but I promise I’m not trying to imply anything or demonize her! I love Kotoko! Ive just been repeatedly noticing details about the parallel for several months now and I just really want to bring it up! This is just an analysis of the details MILGRAM has provided for it. I’m incredibly sorry if I make a mistake!

Kotoko has a lot of parallels to Dante’s Inferno Satan, especially in relation to Es.

To make sure we’re all on the same page, Dante’s Inferno is a Christian poem that outlines the 9 circles of hell. MILGRAM directly references Dante’s Inferno by quoting it in all the t2 door arts.

“Abandon all hope, ye who enter.” A quote derived from a sign at the gate of hell in the poem.

Each ring of Hell contains sinners with different levels of sins, and each ring’s sin was meant to be worse the further inside you go. Ive seen a couple theories that each prisoner correlates with a specific ring of hell. (Ex: Haruka is ring 1, Limbo; Yuno is ring 2, lust; etc)

But Dante’s Inferno only outlines 9 rings, what about our 10th prisoner, Kotoko?

While it could be that she’s again the “outsider” to the other prisoners, the last section of the 9th ring of Hell is significant because it is the center of Hell, containing Satan. So it could be reasonably argued that Kotoko correlates with it.

MILGRAM already has a TON of religious references. One that I’ve seen pointed out is how it seems the cover art of each novel is a reference to a famous Christian art piece.

The Es in each novel seems to be where Jesus relatively is. Remember that Jesus is both the son of God AND God. God gives sinners their judgements which sounds very similar to Es and how they're giving the prisoners (the human sinners) their verdicts.

Plus, the quote Milgram quotes is on the doors the prisoners are entering, and in Dante’s inferno, it’s on the gate of hell so you can compare or theorize that MILGRAM is a parallel to (or straight up is) purgatory. And Es, being the one who decides the verdict, parallels God.

Also, her t2 VD is named “YONAH,” which is the masculine version of the name Jonah. Not only does this relate to her themes of masculinity again, Jonah is a name that originates from Hebrew origins which means “dove.”

It is also a reference to the book of Jonah. A main theme of this book is “Jonah wants God to operate on his timeline [...] He wanted God to dole out punishment on his clock instead of according to God's plan. Yet God showed Jonah that in his infinite wisdom, he can't and will not be rushed.” Which is pretty much exactly what happens in YONAH, and also once again compares Es to God.

Dante’s Inferno’s Satan was an angel, a splendid being, apparently the most perfect of God's creatures… an “Angel of light.” We/Es deemed Kotoko innocent in t1. She had the highest innocent percentage in t1 too because a lot of people thought her murder was justified. You know, the most perfect of God’s creatures. The most perfect out of the prisoners.

“We really can work together.”

But then Satan tried to usurp God.

“If you don’t have the strength on your own, let me take care of it. Es! I can do it in MILGRAM!”

Kotoko wants to be the prison guard because Es isn’t capable in her eyes.

Satan was ultimately sent to Hell and punished as "the ultimate sinner" for his betrayal of trying to usurp God.

We are now punishing Kotoko for her attempts to judge the prisoners herself and “usurp” Es. It works even better now that she has the highest guilty percentage in all of MILGRAM so far as the “ultimate sinner.”

As a lot know, Fuuta also has tons of religious references too. (Ex. His VD is titled Baptism by Fire) By him also passing judgements onto people, you could say that he was trying to play God.

What is that saying about us, the audience, then? And our parallel/foil to Fuuta/Kotoko?

Dante’s Inferno as a whole is very much based around the idea of “evil will be punished,” which not only encapsulates Kotoko’s ideals but MILGRAM’s as well. It makes sense that MILGRAM says that Kotoko is a perfect parallel to the facility.

(I also wanna mention that there's something that could be said about the holy trinity in relation to Es + the audience + jackalope. For example, how Jesus is God in the flesh and Es is the audience "in the flesh," by acting as a personified version of us to interact with the "human sinnners" but I feel like I might be going into tinfoil hat territory.)

[milk-ly]

I really love how in Backdraft, the spray paint is used to mimic spotlights!!

The smoke mimics smoke machines in performances too!

Spotlights are used in theatrical performances to direct attention to a particular thing. By spraying the image on the wall, Fuuta was casting a spotlight on her work, her image. But it’s also basically casting a spotlight on her, behind the screen.

Yet, Fuuta didn’t realize that until it was too late. The spotlight casted too much judgement and eyes on her, metaphorically burning her alive.

I find it so interesting because if you’ve ever been under a spotlight on stage, it’s HOT up there. Just really neat details!

Plus, based on the lyrics, there’s a sense that this is meant to be like a theatrical performance. Like a battle for others to see!

Lines from backdraft that show this:

“Tolerate, impress those spectators”

“The fight’s up here! Come up to the ring and face me!”

“Applause receding far away”

If you turn up your volume in the second verse, you can actually faintly hear an audience cheering and clapping.

Not to mention, there’s also the lyrics “pick up your mouth piece, grind your teeth and strike a pose” being a pun! I don’t know Japanese so I don’t know how it works exactly, but it’s a Japanese pun that basically juxtaposes a big boxer in a ring with a small mouse eating cheese. The boxer makes a lot of sense considering the lyrics “come up to the ring and face me!” Boxing is akin to a theatrical performance after all. Plus, you COULD argue that the victim is the mouse and Fuuta is the boxer.

Edit: thinking more about the pun (thanks doctorbunny!!) it’s probably meant to be referring to fuuta

[milk-ly]

Just a small thing but back to talking about Fuuta and his themes of immaturity and childishness, I really like the detail that he makes certain sounds in both his songs that remind you of that.

I’m specifically talking about the “Dan Dan Dan” lyrics he sings in both Bring it on and Backdraft! Additionally also the “ban-ba-bang” in Bring It On!

Both those kinds of lyrics kinda remind you of a child singing along to a song they don’t know the lyrics of and trying to fill the space. Or kinda just making something up.

He isn’t the only character that has something like this either. His songs shares similar traits like this to Amane and Yuno, the other characters who also actively don’t want to be seen as childish/immature.

Yuno has the “Fu Fu” in umbilical and the cute humming after the chorus in Tear Drop.

Amane has the sounds she makes near the beginning of Magic and the random sounds she makes during the first chorus in Purge March.

Anyway my prediction for all their t3 songs is that they’ll have something similar to this again. I’m specifically betting on another variation of “Dan Dan Dan” in Fuuta’s lyrics!!

[milk-ly]

Fuuta’s accusations about Es(and us) being the same as him makes me think. Because most of us have realized that he’s right, but I need to talk about the extent of it. From his point of view, he is 100% right.

We started by judging COMPLETE strangers on things they did. The fact the prisoners can hear what we’re saying about them parallels the comments you would obviously receive when cancelled. We could simply back away from punishing these random people, but we don’t. Because it’s entertaining to us. Because some of us feel morally superior. Because some of us think they “deserve it.”

Really sounds familiar.

Yet, in another way, he’s not right at all. And really, the only reason I can think of as to why is simply because the milgram characters aren’t real.

And that 4th wall barrier has so many interesting implications to me.

In a way, the fact that we see them as fictional characters add more credibility to Fuuta argument. He also didn’t see the people he bashed on twitter as real people at first. To Fuuta, they were video game bosses to defeat. Just like us, It’s hard to see them as real when we’re all behind a screen, huh? Even though MILGRAM characters aren’t exactly real, all their stories are.

Yamanaka: I do not want my characters to be perceived as two-dimensional beings. I stick to the idea that they are based on real people who happen to have a two-dimensional appearance. That's one of my rules when creating characters. […] So, even though the setting of the story in MILGRAM is a fantasy space, I wanted the characters themselves to feel like they could exist right beside you.

(This is a quote from an interview Yamanaka and Deco*27 did back in 2020)

There are tons of people in our reality like Haruka or Mikoto or Amane or Yuno, etc. there are many people with similar stories as these characters. It’s why so many people can relate to them, why so many people have more expertise on certain characters. This relatability and understanding is why we care so much about them.

Not to mention, there’s the theory that all MILGRAM characters are based on Japanese societal issues.

So exteme hypothetical example here. Lets say someone says something grossly ableist about Mikoto. That ableist comment isn’t truly only specifically towards Mikoto, the fictional character. That ableist comment also becomes directed towards those who relate to him. And the same goes for any kind of comment really.

Yamanaka: The story progresses realistically based on the presence of the audience. […] I'm currently trying to turn the audience into characters in my work.

(Translation done by Ryuuzu (omake_ryuzu on Twitter / uzuuryu on Discord) This is a quote from the Clock over ORQUESTA collab)

In a way, we ARE judging real people. Our judgements and comments do not only reach and affect the characters, but the people in our reality too.

So, that being said, are we really that different than Fuuta?

[milk-ly]

Okay I am so confused about some details I noticed in Double and I want to hear more opinions. I saw someone else also post something similar so I thought I’d throw this out there.

Genuinely can not tell if I’m just being stupid but feel free to answer if you’ve got any ideas!

So first of all, the shade of the windows is meant to represent who exactly we’re looking at right?

White represents Mikoto.

Black represents John.

But like. Wtf does this scene mean then???

Why is the background of the first scene where Mikoto is killing white, and the second black?

Did they both kill???

I mean I guess the white background doesn’t fully look like it’s from the window’s of the train, it looks like the same background as when Mikoto was answering his mom’s call.

But that makes it more suspicious- why would they choose to colour the background white when it’s been clearly established that Mikoto represents white and John represents black?

I’m not saying I 100% believe they’re both the killers but just something to look out for.

And another thing, these two scenes confuse tf out of me.

First of all, they’re mirrored images of each other, the only difference being the colour of the windows.

But if you look closely, even though John literally swings his bat in the second scene and blood splatters inside the train, the broken mannequin parts are OUTSIDE the train.

I have NO idea what this means.

I feel like this specific “kill” is probably a metaphor then right? What would the train mean in that context then? What would John be doing? Idk man, I feel like there’s something missing about my understanding of the train’s role as a metaphor.

Man… I feel like the more I look into the mv, the more I’m left scratching my head.

Anyway sorry if I am just missing something and my points are actually just dumb lmao

[milk-ly]

Fuuta and Wind

I was reading this post (super interesting btw!) and I want to address Fuuta’s connection to wind!

That post brings up that Fuuta’s Twitter name is “Pazupazu_Soccer” and if you didn’t know, Pazuzu is a God of wind.

More specifically, Pazuzu is the king of wind demons in Mesopotamian religion. He is believed to help and protect humans from other dangerous wind demons.

Now, that’s already painting a connection between Fuuta and Pazuzu. Some powerful and heroic person/creature that’s protecting the common folk from evil! But there’s MUCH more.

V more below the cut!! V

What is wind? Well, it’s a natural force that represents power. When it’s a simple breeze, it’s pleasant, it can bring about change such as the weather! But what happens when gusts of wind become too powerful or intense? Destruction.

Despite Pazuzu being a creature that wards of other wind demons, he too is still a wind demon. Specifically, one that was known to be destructive and powerful.

Fuuta wanted to be a hero that protects others from evil like Pazuzu! And yet, Pazuzu is a personification of the southwest winds, which associated with droughts, plagues, locust and famine.

Fuuta ends up being not much better than the people he’s attempting to punish. He is a wind demon too in the end. Like wind, Fuuta was powerful, causing destruction and ultimately, the death of a young girl.

And remember Fuuta’s whole fire symbolism? Keep in mind that Pazuzu is the personification of the southern west wind. So hey, what does wind do to a fire? It helps fire spread.

Fuuta wielded a fire sword, the fire being used to symbolize his justice and judgment. Fuuta, being the representation of wind, spread the flames until they were out of control.

Pazuzu also had an arch rival named “Lamashtu,” known as the goddess of monsters/demons.

I’m not sure of my interpretation here but since she is the Goddess of Demons, I believe she might be a representation of those who Fuuta believes have wronged in general. Lamashtu is often associated with very evil deeds. The most famous is how she would pray on children and pregnant woman and eat them.

BUT THERES MORE.

Kajiyama Fuuta written in Kanji is “梶山 風汰”

The “ta” (汰 )in “Fuuta” is pretty straightforward. It means "select," or “scour.” Scour means to clean something by rubbing it really hard. Pretty much what Fuuta is trying to do in a way. Trying to remove the scum, the dirt, plaguing society.

Bring it On quote: “I give up. Need to make it clean since it’s so dirty.”

However the “Fuu” (風 )in Fuuta’s name means “wind.” Sound familiar?

Another fun fact I want to share! From my knowledge, I believe in Japan, “Fuu” is the sound of blowing on something to cool it down. Hmm, now where have I heard that?

Salamander!!

A part of the lyrics in the song is

“Make sure to cool it down so you don’t get burned!”

And in Romaji, it’s:

“chanto fuu shite yakedo shitakunai nara”

Yup!! The Fuu used here means to blow on something to cool it down, the same kanji as Fuuta’s name.

And I just think that’s really neat even if it was probably only half intentional lmao.

Another thing is that that “Yama” (山) in “Kajiyama,” Fuuta’s last name means mountain.

In a lot of written sources, Pazuzu climbs a great mountain and fought other powerful wind demons, coming out victorious. It was a show of his power.

Anyway, kind of an abrupt ending but I just thought this was really interesting!! Thanks for reading!:D

Edit: somebody pointed out that it’s Pazuzu and not Pazupazu. Completely my bad, that is incredibly embarrassing💀I’ve fixed it all now, thank you for the correction @moibakadesu !!

[milk-ly]

your 0309 post is really good, thank you for sharing your thoughts! i have a question about something you mentioned —how fuuta hangs out with the younger prisoners more, could it be that he feels less intimated and less scared of being rejected when the people he's around are younger or have weaker opinions than him? i don't know how to word this right, i'm sorry :( (on the other side, mikoto hanging out with people older than him gives me the image of, how do i say this, someone's who's rushing their way into adulthood, perhaps because of harboring an idolized version of an adult who is always Respected and Accepted and has Agency? if that makes sense?)

Aa thank you so much and thank you for the ask!!! :D (My bad, I didn't intend for this to be this long omg jfdklj I just like talking about them and I guess I had more to say than I thought)

Don't be sorry! I think you worded this wonderfully and it's about what I was thinking too! I agree with your thoughts on Fuuta! To add on, maybe he might feel like he doesn’t have a choice either? Whenever Fuuta interacted with people around his age or older pre-trial 2, they didn't really seem to like him or brushed him off because of his attitude/immaturity. Mahiru didn't like him, both Yuno and Kotoko seem like they don’t enjoy conversing with him, and the smoker trio see him as immature.

Not only is there less fear of rejection when hanging out with the younger prisoners, but they either seem to accept him more or he's able to take on an older and more adult role like he wants. For example, Amane and Fuuta are getting closer because of her acceptance of him. Fuuta also tried to befriend Haruka early on since they're around the same age but realizes they don't have much in common. So since Haruka is still younger, Fuuta tries to take on an older brother/caretaker role instead.

Fuuta looks down on the older prisoners because he thinks they should be taking charge and leading. And when none of them were "acting their age" he tries to take charge instead. He values that he’s an adult and he wants to be seen as one. (There's an amazing post about it by Tsumi here) This again, might be why he's around the younger prisoners more because it's easier to take on an older figure role.

I also think it's just a neat symbolic association with Fuuta and his connection to childishness.

And like you said, I also feel like Mikoto is trying to rush into adulthood, or rather feels like he HAS to. Hanging around the other two oldest perhaps makes him feel like he's one of them, an adult who's got their stuff figured out (even if Kazui and Shidou don't really either). Something that reminds me of this is when Mikoto asks Kazui for more "mature" hobbies to get into.

Something else I noticed but idk if I'm just thinking too much into it: Mikoto lists darts as a hobby in his interrogation questions, yet here he talks about darts as if he's only played it like once or twice? This conversation takes place before his interrogation questions so is it possible that he listed darts as a hobby in his interro questions to seem more mature, despite not actually liking darts that much?

Anyway, similarly to Fuuta though, both of them don't seem to get along too well with their own age group. Both Kotoko and Mahiru have outwardly stated that they don't like Mikoto either. Feel bad for both of them 😭

[milk-ly]

This has been on my mind since Kazui’s VD came out.

Despite Es being presented as a blank slate at the start, we all know that Es obviously DOES have their own traits.

And I found this specific line from Kazui’s t2 VD really interesting:

Es: It's a personal dislike of mine. People who act based on their sexual urges like that, that is.

Kazui: It's personal?

Es: Yeah. That's right.

Es emphasizes that it’s a personal dislike.

And because Es’ theories are basically ours, they assumed that Kazui cheated on his wife.

Es shows clear distaste for the crime throughout the VD, as they do for all the prisoners. However, I would argue that they had much more distaste for Kazui than they did for the other prisoners’ crimes so far, even though they forgave Kazui. (They state that they forgave him purely because of a lack of information)

Here are some interesting direct quotes:

Es: Marriage is something that both partners want equally, isn't it? It's something you can't do if only one person wants it. Deciding to treat it as a punishment all on your own... You're making a mockery out of it.

Es: Hah? Stop staring at me so openly. It's disgusting.

Kazui: ...

Es: ...! (punches him) (clattering)

Es: (sighs) Now I feel better.

Kazui: - Ow...! What are you doing all of a sudden..?!

Es: It was an instinctive reaction. Don't take it personally.

Es: In short - between love and hate, [I would say] I hate you. Remember that.

It really does seem like a personal thing rather than what we, the audience, think.

The VD ends up rather emotional though because of Es empathizing with Kazui more after he broke down. However, before then, Es was openly hostile.

You probably already see what I’m getting at.

Es has a pre-existing bias against these things that possibly relate to their past.

And an “instinctive reaction”? Interesting.

Es also has always hated when the older prisoners looked down on his for his age. Not to mention, this is also the 2nd time Es has slapped Kazui.

Es has so far slapped, punched or kicked a handful of the prisoners multiple times throughout the VDs. Though, it’s been exclusively the dudes. The only dude who hasn’t been violently hit by Es is Fuuta, funnily enough. Off topic but I find Es and Fuuta’s relationship during t1 super funny like Es did not take Fuuta seriously at all😭

Okay, I know everything I’ve shown here is alluding to something possibly very dark about Es’ past but I would like to remind you to take what I’m saying with a grain of salt. I just compiled some info about the VD’s I noticed, so it’s possible that I’m jumping the gun here.

In fact, I don’t think all of this is enough info about Es for me to confidently base a solid theory off of. So I’m not going to try to… yet, at least.

But I just thought this was an interesting tidbit to point out!

[milk-ly]

So fellas, it seems as though Kazui likely won’t make it back up to the innocent pool this trial💀

This is definitely one of the biggest situations the community has had with voting, and there’s apparently already been a few over the years.

So I want to talk about it, but with speculation in regards to in universe Milgram lore and themes!

First off, I’m not sure what the creators can do at this point. Because Kazui’s votes have long since dipped into the unforgiven pool, ending the voting early like they did with Shidou’s in trial 1 likely won’t accomplish much. The damage has already been done.

It’s not like they can remove the faulty votes like they did with Fuuta’s Trial 1 botting incident either. They can’t exactly hunt hundreds of people all down and remove their votes. So, I don’t think there’s much they can do.

My best guess is that they’re going to try to make it work in the story as much as they can.

Not sure how it’s gonna work, but they kinda did it with T1 Mikoto, no? They had jackalope bring up the fact that he caused quite a stir, referring to the tiktok incident.

A friend brought something to my attention a while back when I told them what was happening.

Obviously what’s happening sucks and is disingenuous to the project. However, this situation says a lot about people’s biases and psychology as well. It ironically fits the theme of the project.

How far are you willing to defend your favourites? How far are you willing to screw over your most detested characters?

Also this line in undercover:

“the fine line between “hate and OK”

Poetically enough, the person who started gathering people to mass vote Kazui guilty was a Kazui FAN was it not? And it was then some people who hated Kazui and what he did that jumped onto the opportunity to ensure Kazui being voted guilty.

We really are treading a fine line. Despite the wildly different opinions towards Kazui between the people voting him guilty, they’re still coming to the same verdict.

People are literally monetarily bribing people completely unrelated to vote. Like they are going REALLY far to just screw over a character, aren’t they?

The story of how the votes pan out is important too, not just the results. This is why Jackalope brought up how the votes actually played out during trial 1. It tells a story. It shows how we came to different conclusions during the voting sessions. It shows how strong our verdicts are. It shows our biases.

Here’s a quote from Jackalope’s report of the end of the first trial that’ll probably show what I mean better:

“Prisoner no. 04, Mu. Innocent […] but what’s with this one? You were completely on the road to forgive, but decided to change the judgement at the end. Seems you were bent on making a judgement until the end. Did you notice something with this one?”

While Muu still ended up with an innocent judgement in trial 1, this line shows how important the trip to getting there is no matter what the final verdict turns out to be. What happened in history can not be changed.

I wasn’t there for Muu’s t1 voting so I can’t say for sure what Jackalope was referring to, but I assume it’s talking about more people catching on to her “true self.” There were always hints of it in trial 1, you could deduce it from the messages written on the chalkboard and her phone messages. (Granted, non-Japanese speakers would have more trouble)

In our current situation, it’s the people with the most power and influence that’s affecting the votes the most. And that in of itself is saying a lot too. People are feeling so strongly about wanting their verdict to prevail that they’re using their influence to ensure it.

But on the other hand, this is definitely not what was intended when they said that we could vote however we wanted💀 still praying that the unforgiveness shrine will die out. And that people will stop trying to bot or bribe people. But I don’t think that there’s really anything we can do aside from just continuing to vote how we want.

Related to that, I want to give a wild prediction for trial 3, hear me out.

I am slightly concerned about what’s gonna happen to Kotoko in t3. Kotoko ticked off most of the community when the t2 designs were released. And because of that, I know a lot of people are already planning to vote her guilty.

Hypothetically, if she is voted guilty, she’ll be restrained right? But you know who won’t be restrained?

Orekoto.

We’ve learned that even if Mikoto is restrained, orekoto will not be.

This is a huge problem for Kotoko because if you saw their timeline conversation, they literally directly threatened to kill each other.

Here’s a snippet of the timeline conversation on Kotoko’s birthday during t2:

Mikoto: Ah, Koto-chan. It's been a while. We were isolated for some time but, how are you doing? Lots of things happened, but for now let's get along. Here, it's your birthday right? I figured that noone would come celebrate it for you, so I came to wish you a happy birthday.

Kotoko: ...What a carefree person you are. Someone as atrocious as you won't be forgiven next time too, surely. When that time comes, it'll be your last. Next time, I'll kill you.

Mikoto: Haah? Why don't you try it then, you lunatic. I'll crush anyone who tries to harm me.... I'll make sure to thoroughly beat you at your own game...!!

It’s pretty implied that the one talking in that conversation isn’t Mikoto. Mikoto has never talked like that from what we’ve seen. (I’m actually not sure if he uses Ore pronouns there, I’m assuming he did, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!)

So if Kotoko IS attacked by Orekoto because of the beef they have from the two fist fights they’ve had, Kotoko will not be able to defend herself.

Originally, the only caveat I had to this thought was “well, if it comes down to that, won’t Kazui be able to protect her?”

However, now that Kazui’s likely heading into a guilty verdict because of everything’s that’s been happening, he may be physically restrained in t3. Which means that if a prisoner is being attacked and Kazui wanted to help, he won’t be able to.

It’s already pretty likely that we might lose someone when t3 rolls around. Through Mahiru’s condition, Milgram has already warned us that death is indeed possible. So there are a lot of characters that are already showing slight death flags.

Also this line:

This line about Jackalope taking action if Mikoto “becomes an obstacle for all” is peculiar. I’m not sure if they would put this line in here if it wasn’t ever gonna play in somewhere.

It’s totally possible that Orekoto wouldn’t actually go for Kotoko unless she was going for him first though. So I guess we’ll see.

Sorry this isn’t written the most clearly, I just wanted to get this out there. I’m very open to hearing what others think too! I’m hoping for the best once t3 rolls around. I personally don’t want anyone to die, but I know it might be inevitable. Maybe this post will age poorly though, I don’t know. Just some thoughts!

[milk-ly]

Ooh, if you want, 1, 6, 7 and 8 for the general Milgram questions :3

Aaa thank you so much for the ask!!🥲

1. Which Milgram character is your favourite, and why?

To no one’s surprise, it’s Fuuta LMAO

As for why, honestly, I just simply have a type when it comes to fav characters and I knew Fuuta was gonna be my fav as soon as I saw him. Aside from that though, I do REALLY love his character and the direction it’s going. I think his character and his crime being so specifically modern really does add an extra bit of fondness too, because the internet and the idea of cancel culture is so prevalent in our lives. It’s a really interesting topic

I especially like how his story tackles guilt and forgiveness as well. Because his inherent reaction to his guilt isn’t as palatable as Haruka, for example.

His reaction to being labelled as a murderer and realizing he did something awful is aggression. I think it’s why he’s often construed for not feeling guilt at all. It’s hard to sympathize or humanize someone who’s attitude/actions you don’t like. There’s a reason he’s so desperate for unity and belonging because his natural temperament isn’t typically acceptable within societal norms and leaves people with a bad taste in their mouths, which is why he lacks belonging. And the MILGRAM audience being a reflection of society reinforcing societal norms onto the MILGRAM characters again which throws them back into the cycles and situations that led them to their murders in the first place is so interesting!

Also his intense guilt and the idea of wanting to be “blessed” with forgiveness and another chance is a topic I really enjoy and feel for. And it’s especially interesting considering the “bless me with one more chance” line in Backdraft when thinking about why he found his salvation in Amane and her religion, because he DID finally get blessed with a second chance; a chance to be reborn. And his spiritual rebirth is especially highlighted with how seemingly different Fuuta is now. He’s much softer and kinder after finding his “salvation” and it’s so ough.

Sorry for the sudden fuuta rant💀 I really love him.

6. Which MV is your favourite and why?

Ooohhh this is hard. I haven’t thought about it. I have to say I really love After Pain and MeMe! For After Pain, it’s mainly the aesthetics. I LOVE the location and colour palette. The details of how Mu’s bullying is being portrayed as an unending cycle and the shoes and blackboard notes giving hints that Muu wasn’t a pure victim is really cool!! The detail of the MV being out of order too ooof

As for MeMe I’m not sure what it is I love about it but I really do! I love the aesthetics and location, especially paired with the song. Tbh Its been a while since I looked at the tarot cards but I think it’s really neat as well!! Also I really like Mikoto’s outfit-

7. Which prisoner do you think you would get along with the most if you met them in person, and why?

I think I’d probably get along the best with Yuno? I think we could go out and have fun dkdbdk I don’t know if we have that many common hobbies but I’d probably still get along well with her!

I also find I relate to Mikoto a lot but not in the similar hobbies way💀 so I think we’d get along but I feel like actually hanging out might be a little awkward. But it’d probably be fine after some time!

8. Which prisoner do you think you would get on with the least if you met in person, and why?

Oooof I really love everyone and I don’t think I would have any major problems with anyone or anything like that. But if I had to pick then probably Muu? I love her a lot but I don’t know if I’d have a fun time with her IRL😭

Aside from that, I think I’d get along with everyone else relatively fine aside from some awkwardness🥲