#so i wanted to do kazui instead

[kuneko-kokono]

mikoto stuck in a daze. wouldve posted 3 days before but i was stuck in a time loop. sorry bout that....

[blueepink07]

I'm sure that it is a well-known thing, but I want to talk a little about it anyway!

Trial 1 voice trailers -> future (after murder)

Haruka: "Then what should I have done instead?! Tell me! Tell me so even I can understand!"

Yuno: "Hah... I can't be bothered."

Fuuta: "Everyone else was having fun, weren't they? What about them? Was it just me?"

Muu: "Fufufu... It's your fault... for doing horrible things to me."

Shidou: "(laugh) Not dead... Yeah, she's definitely not dead... I finally understand the value of what I've been robbing people of..."

Mahiru: "Is this... love? This is love...!"

Kazui: "I'm so dumb... Why did I have to dream?"

Amane: "Ahh! I'm so sorry...! I'm sorry...! I'm sorry for breaking the rules!"

Mikoto: "My life... It wasn't supposed to be this way..."

Kotoko: "...Fufu... This feels so good."

Trial 2 voice trailers -> past (before muder)

Haruka: "I'm sorry!! I'm sorry!!! Making you waste your life on someone like me...!! "

Yuno: "Nice to meet you, my name is Kashiwagi Yuuko! Well then, where shall we go?"

Fuuta: "Hahaha you think just because you’re a brat I’ll forgive you? You’ll pay for this"

Muu: "Hey..why don't you listen to me...? I'm telling you... Hey...HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU"

Shidou: "You're in my way...hurry up and die"

Mahiru: "Ehehe...I love, love, LOVE YOU!! Don't ever let me go, ok!"

Kazui: "Hinako, I love you more than anything."

Amane: "Father is a very praiseworthy person. Once his virtue increases, he'll come back home, right? It's a little lonely, but I'm fine!"

Mikoto: "AAAHHHHHHHHHH!! DESTROY EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING!!"

Kotoko: "From the begin I've never asked for your understanding! My actions, one by one, are bringing earth closer to peace. Useless Weaklings should just shut up and let me protect them!"

Meaning that it is very possible to be like this:

Trial 3 voice trailers -> present (during murder)

[explosionkatsu]

"Age doesn't matter" 15

Dad!Bakugo x F!Babysitter!Teacher!Reader

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

It’s been days since Y/n started babysitting Kazui. After the administration suspended the class due to the villain attack, Y/n had to email every parent about what would happen and how can the children still catch up with their lessons, as well as mail them the day-to-day school activities. But for Kazui, instead of mailing Katsuki the manuscripts, she has Kazui’s daily school activity printed out and hands it to him personally.

No, she won't teach him at all. It may be part of her babysitting job but being his school instructor, she treats her pupils equally. That implies no special treatment for Kazui.

Although almost every day she can hear Katsuki lecturing Kazui whenever he sees him writing down the wrong answer. Sometimes she’ll catch him smacking his head which will earn him a lecture from her.

She remembered when she first did it in front of Eijiro. The guy was taken aback of course, but surprisingly, Katsuki behaved which made Eijiro taken back more.

“Did you just...- What?” The poor guy was confused.

Today, Katsuki’s on his daily pratol and you were working in the Dining area where you can keep an eye on Kazui who completed his homework and was just watching tv now.

All of a sudden you received an email from the school principal. Clicking it open, Y/n read the content. It was apparently an email about the new employee since some of the kindergarten teachers resigned after the incident. The principal is basically relying on her since she’s one of those who stayed.

“Another work, then.” Y/n mumbled but started responding to the email anyway. It’s not like she has a choice not to. But deep down, she wanted to leave her job as well, not because she was hired as a babysitter, it’s because of the workload which has been keeping her up till midnight.

And yes, Katsuki noticed this. He has very observant eyes, we all know that. He can see her strained smile whenever Kazui comes up to her to show anything he drew.

“Ah. I guess that’s it for now.” Y/n yawned as she stretched her limbs. Once done stretching, she checked the time to see it was almost dinner. Which means, he’ll be here anytime now.

“Time to make dinner, Kazui-chan.”

Kazui beamed once he heard Y/n. He always wanted to be a great good like his dad, so Y/n agreed that Kazui can help her or watch beside her.

“What will we be cooking today, Miss Y/n?” Kazui asked while rocking on his heels. A mannerism Y/n found out whenever he’s excited.

“Well, I always wanted to try something new. I just need to see if we have all the ingredients.” Y/n smiled as soon as she finished packing her things before proceeding to the kitchen.

Once she checked the fridge, “Huh. It seems like we’re missing one ingredient.” Y/n pouted. “I guess another dish, then.”

…

“Tadaima.”

Very uneventful, is what in his mind. Katsuki groaned as he stepped in and set his boots aside.

“Papa!”

Well, at least he got home unharmed.

“Hey, brat.” Katsuki grinned and picked up Kazui who dashed towards him.

“How was your day, papa? Miss Y/n is cooking dinner!” Kazui beamed while being carried by his father.

“What the hell? Again? I swear to God.” Katsuki tsked after knowing this. Careful, he put Kazui down and marched toward the kitchen where he saw you cooking.

“What did I tell you, hah?” He was pissed, alright.

By accident, you dropped the spatula you were using startled by his voice. You didn’t expect him to come home this early, way too early actually.

“W-what are you doing here?” You said while trying to use your body to cover the dish you were cooking from his view.

“What the hell do you mean? This is my house.” Katsuki pointed out, arms crossed over his chest with Kazui beside him, holding him by his pants. “Didn’t I tell you to not cook? That ain’t part of your job.” He groaned.

“If I didn’t cook us our meal, we won’t be able to eat supper and you’ll come home with an empty stomach.” You pouted while slowly picking up the spatula.

“I said you can order out. Didn’t I leave you enough money for that?”

“Well, I’m sorry but inside of ordering unhealthy food, I used the money to buy something healthy since Kazui is still a growing boy.” You said after successfully picking the spatula. “Besides, you should know this. You’re a hero. You need to maintain a proper diet and have a healthy meal.” You said before turning your back at him to focus on finishing your cooking.

Katsuki’s lips twitched at your response.

“Hey brat.”

Kazui looked up at him curiously. “Yes papa?”

“Take my bag to my room. Bring me a clean pair of comfortable clothes. I just need to talk to Miss Y/n.” Katsuki handed Kazui his bag without looking at him which he took, obviously struggling.

“E-eh?” Your attention was now focused on the struggling Kazui who was hauling his father’s obviously heavy bag.

“It’s alright. This is how I train him.” Katsuki said to you, but eyes still engaged on you.

“O-okay.” You responded still concerned.

“I can’t pay you more if you keep doing this.” Katsuki said out of nowhere when he heard Kazui reach the stairs. He doesn’t want his child to overhear this.

“I don’t care.” You responded to him as turned your attention back to the sizzling food in front of you.

“What do you-

“Look.” You started before slightly reducing the heat to prevent the food from burning and set your attention completely on him. “At this point, I don’t care about the extra stuff I don’t have to do. You are a hero and Kazui’s a kid. Both of you need something nutritious since, like I said, Kazui’s a growing kid, and you, for your diet.” You instructed. “You are a parent, and you should know this.”

Katsuki was outraged at your last statement.

“What the hell do you know about being a parent, huh.” He spat, taking Y/n aback. “You are not a mother, so stop nagging me.”

But you’re not backing down.

“I may not be a parent, but I know things about being a good one.” You responded calmly.

“What? You’re saying I’m not a good parent? Hah?” Katsuki dropped his crossed arms and took a step closer to Y/n who didn’t even flinch. “You know nothing, woman.”

Y/n even challenged him by stepping closer to him, almost nose to nose. “I know everything, Katsuki. I also know that you needed help.”

“I don’t.”

“You do. You’re just too prideful to accept one.” You said quietly, almost a whisper.

The space between both of you was enough for Katsuki to study your features. Your (e/c) eyes, your lashes, your nose, and your glossy lips that he’s tempted to touch with his own.

Screw it.

Following his thoughts, Katsuki wrapped his arm around you, taking you by surprise and pulled by your waist as he placed a finger under your chin, tilting your head upwards and as gently as possible, placed his lips onto yours.

He was right about your lips being soft and tender.

You on the other hand were still in shock. You didn’t expect this to happen. Never in your life did you expect Dynamight to kiss you.

When you felt him pull away, you were speechless. Your eyes were looking straight on his, as his to yours. As if everything around you was blurry.

Katsuki was the same as you are though. He was shocked by what he did. Hell, he didn’t even know why he did it. All he knew was your lips looked so glossy.

“Fuck.” He muttered.

“Papa. I hope this is okay.”

Kazui’s voice jolted both of you making you push him away, and him releasing you.

“I- That’s fine.” Katsuki said out loud as he glanced behind him. When he turns to look back at you, you were touching your lips, face flushed while your eyes stare into nothing. “I-“ he was trying, okay? He doesn’t know where to start.

“I-I’ll go back to cooking.” You stuttered and turned back to the stove.

“Y-yeah.” Katsuki agreed as he scratched the back of his head, slightly blushing. “I guess.”

…

It was finally time for Y/n to go back to her apartment and She was a glad about this.

After what happened earlier, the dinner was awkward. Both adults didn’t even glance at each other. Thankfully, Kazui was telling them stuff making the tension in the air light.

When Y/n finally got her things, a knock on the door caught her attention. “Who is it?” She called out. But before she could reach the door, it swung open, revealing Eijiro and Denki.

“Oh. Hey Miss Y/n!”

“Yo!”

“Oh? Good evening.” You bowed and let them in the house.

“Were you about to leave?” Denki asked while eyeing your things lying on the ground.

“Oh. Yes. I was about to.” You smiled at them as you closed the door behind.

“What’re you two idiots doing here, hah.” Katsuki’s emerged from the kitchen while wiping his hands dry. He did the dishes, okay? “And keep it down, Kazui’s asleep.”

“We’re just stopping by. Kaminari here wanted to visit Kazui and have a little drink with you, so I joined him.” Eijiro grinned at Katsuki and sat on the couch.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit late to drink? We have an early patrol tomorrow, morons.” Katsuki said while hanging the wet towel on its rack and joining them in the living room.

“Come on, man. We drove all the here to see you.” Denki pouted. “I wanted to see the kid as well.”

“Tsk. Fine.” Katsuki agreed. “After I drop Y/n to her place, and don’t wake Kazui, got it.”

“I’m sorry?” You were obviously not listening.

“I said, I’ll drop you to your place.” Katsuki repeated as he grabbed his jacket from the bracket near the entrance and wore it. “As if I’d let you leave this house at this hour, idiot.”

“I can just ride a bus.” You said as you watched Katsuki pick your things and left. “Bakugo.” You called, only to get ignored.

“You can’t change his mind, Miss Y/n.” Eijiro chuckled as he watched you try. “He’s one stubborn man.”

“Its not bad to try, right?” You slightly pouted.

“And you’ll only go unnoticed.” Denki smiled at you.

“Sigh. Alright. H-have a great evening to you both.” Once again, you bowed and left the house. “Bakugo!”

Eijiro and Denki were smiling like idiots as they watched your figure disappear from their sight.

“What do you think about her?” Eijiro suddenly asked as he stood up and grab himself a drink.

“Miss Y/N?” Denki asked not making an effort to look at Eijiro. “She seems really nice to me, way too soft for Kacchan.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, bro. She seems like a gentle woman to me. Completely opposite to, you know.” Denki said, this time looking at Eijiro.

“I think they look good together.” Eijiro said as he handed Denki his drink.

…

“Bakugo-san-

“What did I say about formalities?” Katsuki tsked as he placed your things inside the car.

“You don’t have to-

“Sigh.” He was obviously tired of your attempts.

You watched him groan and put both his palm over his face.

“God you’re more stubborn than Kazui.” Katsuki groaned.

“I-I’m sorry.” You murmured to yourself as you play with your fingers.

“Do you want me to kiss you again?”

“W-what?!” “Relax, it’s a joke,” Katsuki smirked at you. “Get in the car.”

-

Hello, my lovelies! I am glad to be back. I am once again apologizing for disappearing like that. But here's part 15. I do hope you like this and stay tuned for 16. Thank you for all your patience.

[fuutaprotectionsquad]

Am I the only one who doesn't think Shidou's gonna snap at Amane? Like ive seen so many people taking his "it's my job as an adult to teach you that throwing a temper tantrum isn’t going to make everything go your way" line as indication that he's going to hurt her in some way and like?? What, is he not allowed to be annoyed that she's literally threatening him? That doesn't mean he's gonna beat her up. He literally follows this by saying "If it’s a test of endurance you want, I’m happy to oblige." Aka "I'll continue as I have been." I don't think he's going to do anything to her. In fact, it'd be more in character if he let her kill him. Which, with the way he's making sure theres someone else to handle Mahiru + the kids if he's not there (Yuno / Kazui), it's totally possible he's preparing to die or be gravely injured by her.

I've seen a few people dismiss Amane's threats towards him because "if he can't defend himself against a child, thats on him" and I- Firstly, the victim blaming mentality on that one is baffling. Secondly, has Milgram taught you nothing about underestimating children?? And finally, Shidou still sees Amane as a kid, he's not gonna fight back. Do you know how hard a fight is when you're trying not to hurt the other person, who has a weapon and also will not hold back like you are? I'd imagine it's pretty difficult.

The Shidou hate has gotten so unreal its almost funny. Like the people saying he doesn't actually care about / value the opinions of children. As though he doesn't go out of his way to ask Muu how Haruka (a child) is doing because he's worried about him. As though he doesn't have two timeline conversations about how he believes children are hope for the future. As though he doesn't admit to being upset that Amane doesn't like him, and then proceed to get sentimental on her birthday. Not to mention that he says he specifically wants a child like Es to tell him he's guilty, instead of the law.

And people saying he doesn't care about Mahiru / is being forced to help her. Meanwhile he's literally risking his life to do so, and has no reason to listen to anyone telling him to if he didn't genuinely want to. Someone said something about his smoke break with Kazui showing that he didn't value Mahiru's health because he was... taking a break?? And that if she was in such dire health that he couldn't handle much else in the prison, he shouldn't be taking that break. Even though we've seen that Mahiru doesn't need to be monitored 24/7, and has Yuno to help even if she did. Because news flash, people need to take breaks in order to function? That's the point of the timeline, Kazui telling him to rest and not overwork himself.

I just. take psychic damage every time someone grabs a random Shidou line/action and twists it to make him seems like a selfish asshole. Like by all means, you can hate Shidou, I don't particularly care for him myself. But at least hate him for reasons that are actually canon to his character.

Its likely something will happen with Shidou in T3 that makes him seem more guilty. Thats just how Milgram is, he seems really innocent now so they'll sprinkle in a lil guilty to keep it balanced. But Milgram also doesn't switch up characters out of the blue, every new reveal is led up to. I'll be genuinely surprised and probably kinda annoyed if he ends up hurting Amane or Mahiru purposefully.

[roserunodays]

@greenbetula This is in response to your post, but I wanted to say my own thoughts here instead of a reblog!

The Mahiru Undercover shot is really interesting tbh because it seems more unclear compared to the other shots shown. Just what is happening here? Is it a shadow of them holding hands while they’re walking like in ILY? Well, I think it could be, but the angle seems to suggest that Mahiru’s bf’s hand is flat on the ground, which would mean his body is laying there as well. If that were the case, Mahiru would either be reaching down to take his hand, or she’s laying on top of him and taking his hand like that instead. Either way, I don’t think that really matters because it’s clear she’s holding his hand somehow, but why? What’s the reason for her doing that? Imo, I think it’s because she was grieving.

At least with how I interpret this, this seems to be right after he died (which would parallel the rest of the Undercover shots seemingly taking place after the prisoners’ murders, most notably Kazui’s where it’s clear that’s right after Hinako killed herself), and Mahiru, who survived the aftermath of her bf’s death, is trying to compensate for him being dead, either being in complete denial in that moment, or she’s coping because she just…doesn’t know what to do. And who wouldn’t know what to do in that kind of situation? What can she do, now that the person she loved is gone? Try and "bring him back" somehow? I don't think these two things are mutually exclusive btw, it really could've been both. I just think she, especially in her grief like state, would do this sort of thing (aka hold hands with a corpse) for two main reasons:

One: Mahiru is a person who wants to be together forever with her partner. Especially in that moment after he literally just died, she would try to be together with him (which is why she holds his hand). She wants that closeness with him, to continue being with him and loving him despite being dead, because that is what love is to her, after all:

She also believes in the afterlife and yet she still wishes to bring the one she loved back to life. In that grief stricken moment, did she try to do such a thing? Did she have some kind of thought that he would come back somehow if she was together with him? Or was it something much darker, where she wanted to join him in death, because living without him and in a world where she had nothing was much more painful than dying?

This is further supported by the name of this drink in TIHTBILWY, which is called “Corpse Reviver” interestingly enough. To be honest, the worst I can see Mahiru do is somehow keep her bf’s corpse around (which would mirror Shidou heavily), although I highly doubt this because I don’t think it’s realistic, and I feel like it should’ve been hinted at more by now if that was the case. Again, I can’t completely rule that out, but it’s a scenario I could see happening in the short term (in the moment where he just died) compared to Shidou’s long term actions with his patients to try and bring back his family.

I think in that moment right after he died, Mahiru just wanted to be together with him somehow, so she's coping with that loss by being close to him, even if he's...already gone. Hell, she's still having trouble even now with fully accepting her boyfriend's death:

There is nothing that can bring him back, so what else can she do, other than hold his lifeless hand out of a quiet moment of respite?

Two: Shidou Kirisaki parallels

The character she is paired with for prisoner pairs, the one who has many similarities with her in regards to grief and not being to accept death that’s right in front of them — it really highlights just how similar they are in that sense. They are both people who have been overtaken by grief before:

Shidou tries to bring back his loved ones, who are nothing but “corpses” at this point, back at the expense of others so they could be together again. Mahiru, even if it was just in that moment, also wanted to try and “bring the person she loved back”, even if she knew deep down it wouldn’t work. But at least they could be together again, right?

That is why I think Mahiru’s reaction to her boyfriend’s death would also be along the lines of Shidou’s reaction to the death of his family: in a state of complete grief and partial denial that drives them to try and “get them back” somehow. And along with that, a horrible realization that they both have to accept that death because nothing they can do will ever bring their loved ones back from it.

[archivalofsins]

For Futa Jackalope really did just turn to camera and say chicken says what. Like he called the audience cowards. Too afraid to judge Futa because it would mean judging themselves.

Jackalope was on it. This end of trial report he hit all the right notes- He was in all the right places. He saw the audiences weaknesses and he hit them over and over.

He said you had your fun sowing lets chat before the reaping starts and he went in.

Like damn no remorse.

"Or……maybe you just couldn’t bring yourself to find him “guilty”, because he reminded you too much of yourself……I’m just blabbing."

Even down to highlighting the faceless Futa showing that he could easily be any of us as he said it. Jackalope said,

"I take no prisoners; you will see an ending before the end. It will be shaped like every door you did not open and every life you did not live. Then in the face of your doubts you will keep walking forward because where you came from no longer exists. Time has an insatiable appetite and we are all on it's menu. Hahaha I'm such a kidder."

Back to what he really said and the thing that intrigues me the most. Jackalope throughout the second trial report kept highlighting that despite finding Kotoko guilty we proved through our verdict that her actions do work.

By finding everyone who she attacked/threatened Innocent. This continues the trend of Kotoko jumping on any sign of agreement to get to the conclusion she wants to end up at. That being her methods are correct. So just because we found her guilty doesn't necessarily mean we found her methods wrong.

The way Jackalope interprets the guilty prisoners change in verdict may be exactly how Kotoko will view it herself.

"But, to put it another way, if this is because he showed remorse, you could also say his “innocent” verdict was thanks to the actions of Kotoko Yuzuriha, right?"

Cuz think about it…….who knows how he would have acted without the pain, right?

Q.04 Would you make the same mistake again?

Futa: I don’t think so. I don’t think I could take this kind of pain again.

Q.07 What have you been into lately?

Futa: Finding a way to distract myself from the pain.

Well next up Kazui~

He’s a self-admitted liar, have you been able to solve the mystery?

Well given the little amount of information provided in contrast to Jackalope's statement on Yuno... I would have to say we haven't. Instead Jackalope just reiterates things that Es brought to attention in Kazui's second voice drama.

Not mentioning anything about cheating or marriage in the slightest.

Again very interesting in comparison to Yuno who Jackalope admits told us what she did herself without ever really honing in on what part of what she told us should be considered.

Just stating,

"She said it herself, so her crime became quite clear, hasn’t it? And that crime didn’t raise to the level of murder to you, I take it. Interesting. I guess that’s how it is in your era."

Yet in Yuno's second trial interrogation she said a lot of things. Including dismissing the audience previous judgments on her and the guards desire to project a sob story onto her.

Yuno Second Trial Interrogation

This situations bothersome-ness has won out./I won't be bothered.

"So, I am extremely cooled off." (-273.15°C) "That is all."

"That’s the real Yuno Kashiki, you could say. Cold and logical. Practical and unromantic. Getting her to interact is gonna be a heavy lift, I’d say."

"You want to make clear the truth...huh? Fu... Haha!"

"The result of doing looots of sugar-daddying: ...abortion."

...!

"That's probably my murder. Well, please go ahead and partake of the truth."

...

"How is it? Satisfied? Then, can we be done already?"

Yuno...you...

"You don't surprise much, do you? As I thought, you knew it from the song extraction."

Cold and Logical

Well, yes. As one possibility, I thought it was likely. That, going by Milgram's scope of interpretation for murder, it was possible.

"I'm sure. Well, I generally got the sense that that's how it was. I could feel it."

You could feel it...you say?

"I can hear it, while I'm in Milgram. It's probably the same for everyone else."

Practical and unromantic.

"Voices peeking in, digging around, and discussing my sins."

Interesting that she uses sins plural here not singular. Didn't note this previously but probably should have.

Something like that...

"Are those not the thoughts you were having? Not that I would know."

But you get my point Jackalope's end of trial report on Yuno confirms that what she said in her second interrogation was in fact the truth and nothing but it. However, he speaks very little on how we interpreted what we were told in contrast to other prisoners.

Just making a sweeping statement,

Interesting. I guess that’s how it is in your era.

But he does ponder an interesting thing,

"I wonder though, what decides the worth of a life?"

Playing on the abortion debate that her trial turned into before plainly asking,

"……don’t tell me, did this murder seem smaller to you than the murders of the other prisoners? Thought-provoking!"

Again playing on the idea the fans have ran with that Yuno should not even be here because she hasn't committed murder like the other prisoners. He says a lot and not that much while discussing Yuno but Jackalope's statements on her can be used to further scrutinize what's not said about Kazui.

Like I said he basically confirms Yuno was in fact telling the truth throughout her second voice drama but doesn't mention any of what was brought up in Kazui's outside of reiterating Es' points.

Of Kazui being a liar and self-pitying going as far as to call him emo and even praise us for being so accommodating to him despite his woe is me routine.

Jackalope even comments that he can't bring himself to be interested in Kazui,

"It all feels very emo and I can’t bring myself to be very interested in him, but the fact that you’re so accommodating to him, is commendable."

However, he reiterates another point one that he brought up from the beginning that directly contradicts a statement that Kazui made in his second voice drama,

"He’s the only one who has the strength to fight off Kotoko and Mikoto after all."

Kazui states in his second voice drama that if Kotoko and Mikoto were to team up that would be the end of him and Milgram. Contradicting Jackalope's statement in Es' voice drama that if Milgram were an all out brawl then Kazui would come out victorious.

So Jackalope basically goes he's still lying have you figured out what the lies are and then just goes here's one of them for free.

Now onto the other interesting one- Amane.

Amane's is interesting because Jackalope basically goes her life would be this way in and out of Milgram. Showing that his focus with Amane is not us being tricked into going easier on her because she's a child but a desire for the audience to go harder on her because she is a child.

Coddling isn't going to prepare her for the real world but neither is being unnecessarily cruel to her either. Even admitting that he himself doesn't know what made the audience find Amane innocent this time around and stating he's curious about the judgement.

Despite how vocal people said Amane fans were being- This again highlights that no, they weren't. Amane fans weren't pushing super hard or really loud. They weren't going around shouting at people to vote her innocent or bribing people to. Hell, the staff couldn't even write a decent bit for her part of the video because they don't know what caused this.

"I remember feeling a sort of awe at your resoluteness to your duties, being a kid didn’t mean you couldn’t be “guilty”, right? So, what was it that made you choose “innocent” this time? I’m very curious. Is it her, or her beliefs, or her birthright, or her fate…."

Whatever the circumstances may be, she is the one that has to bear the blame. That’s just how it is. Both in and out of MILGRAM, isn’t that right?

They were wrong for highlighting the tasing scene like this again. They went I'm about to make you feel bad if you voted this kid guilty fucking suffer rip to you I guess- you are the problem. Like there was no joking here Jackalope looked at the camera and went,

Jackalope: This is just how it is everywhere. Your vote won't change that. It won't lessen the weight of the blame on her shoulders. In or outside of Milgram.

The “It can’t be helped”, from the scum that can’t be helped. That makes them doubtlessly, clearly, absolutely, unequivocally, beyond any doubt, categorically, emphatically, GUILTY.

Then just went to Mikoto like that shit was nothing like it didn't just destroy my soul.

That concludes my fucked up things from the end of trial two report.

[good-beans]

Concept that just popped into my head: Milgram characters doing "get ready with me" videos

Aw, this was so fun!! I always love your hc style of normal au/everyone's chilling, and tried to go the same route -- it was so cute to think about :D

Haruka: Puts on his outfit for the day and explains everything in great detail. He has lots of comfortable items and fun colors. At the very end he speaks off-camera and you realize Muu was standing there cheering him on the whole time. He gets a lot of encouraging comments, and Muu and Fuuta keep an eye on the account to delete any nasty ones that may come in.

Yuno: Shows her outfit, makeup, nails, and bag she’s taking with her. She tries out a variety of styles (not just sticking to the more feminine looks we see in canon). She gives a bit of a tutorial and tips as well as showing things off. Has a main account for her daytime outfits, and a more private one for her nighttime looks. Mahiru is the only one aware of the latter account.

Fuuta: Layers. Lots of layers. There will be three sweatshirts laid out in front of him and you wonder which he’s going to choose before realizing he’s putting them all on. He focuses most on his sneakers and sportswear. He plays loud music over the videos, not knowing what to say. Has gotten into comment-section arguments over those yellow socks.

Muu: Also does a full look at her appearance: nails, accessories, etc. She mentions where you can buy everything, and it’s unclear whether she was sponsored by these brands or is just excited to talk about them. (Whether they’re actually together or not,) she’ll have Haruka on as a guest a lot to show off couple’s outfit ideas. She definitely has the biggest following, and loves recommending Haruka and the others’ accounts.  

Shidou: He doesn’t really know what he’s doing, but his account is getting tons of views so the others keep encouraging him to make videos. He’s just glad to be connecting with the other prisoners as they show him how to do it. He dresses in a mix of the sleek patterned shirts and dad fits, and both types of videos are equally popular. 

Mahiru: None of the serious-faced flirts or little pouty faces – it’s all smiles for her. Every video is basically a full tutorial – she has captions and a voiceover giving commentary on everything. She has the next biggest following, and interacts constantly. She loves getting questions “what should I wear on an x type date?” “How do I dress to impress x type of person?” because she always comes up with the perfect outfit to help. 

Kazui: A bit confused as well, though he does know a lot about style. His interro question makes it seem like he wanted kids – I think he’d really get into the account as one of those “Dad How Do I” types. He talks about matching things, clothes upkeep, shaving/hairstyling. 

Amane: Also wouldn’t have made the videos without prompting from the others, but enjoys it a lot. She usually talks about practical things instead of “vain” fashion: she’s excited to show off a new raincoat, sturdy shoes, useful pockets, etc. Over time, she leans into outfits that are more cute and colorful, gaining confidence in them. 

Mikoto: He started the account as something for one of his design classes, and got really into it. He likes to challenge himself with unique styles and clothing articles, making pretty much anything work. He keeps everything professional in case an employer/coworker sees, but isn’t afraid to add some flirting and flaunting in there. If he’s open about his plurality, he’ll have some special videos, “choosing an outfit for John today!”

Kotoko: Like Amane, she’s more excited about practical outfits. She’ll show off clothes that have good flexibility, places to store and conceal objects, and heavy duty materials. She’ll rate jackets, boots, and other “military-grade” things for what has worked best for her. She’s very attentive to the accounts that follow her – she does full background checks to make sure her info is being used for justice, not more crime. Mahiru convinces her to do a special where she puts all her piercings in and talks about why she chose them/what they mean.

Es: Experiments with a lot of new styles, trying to figure out what they like. They also just play music in the back, not having much to say about each outfit. They'd rather focus on their series of dressing-up-Jackalope videos, much to his dismay...

[vampirevatican]

Milgram and The Court of Public Opinion.

this analysis will be about milgram's voting system, nuance and a whole lot of my own opinions mixed with eng fandoms translations, theories, and observations.

t1 = trial one / t2 = trial two

mv = music video

vd = video drama

voting and verdicts:

voting forgiven/unforgiven or innocent/guilty from the standards milgram sets for us (including es) isn't enough or easy.

being that milgram is set towards the court of public opinion and judgement can come from:

"sensibility, morality, ethics, legality, preference, taste, or sexual inclination..."

we end up arguing semantics, trying to find specifics in the crimes and making the best judgement possible. although in doing that the only conclusion anyone can come to is innocent when all is considered.

if we were doing it based on guilty and innocent then 5 are guilty, 2 are guilty on technicality and 3 are innocent

just in case you're curious, in guilty to innocent order as i just stated.

haruka, muu, amane, mikoto, kotoko, shido, fuuta, kazui, mahiru and yuno

it'd be over so quickly. but this... is milgram.

nuance/the grey area:

as the undercover song says, can you really judge them?

001. haruka did it for attention. with how he's coded - intellectual disability - and his mother being extremely neglectful after a certain age which prevented the possibility of his growth in intellect (understanding cause and effect/actions and consequences, along with many other things) it's easier to claim he's innocent. even more easier to forgive him due to this and extremely so if looking at it from his view point, albeit flawed. killing = attention = "affection", even if that attention/"affection" is negative it what he wanted. for someone, anyone to acknowledge him. he's innocent/forgiven because of his circumstances but if he's forgiven then he's being told it was his only option, and he was right, when the fault is on his mother.

002. yuno, as for now, doesn't have a reason. ofc in western (american specifically) public opinion or at least those who view abortion as a choice. she's been innocent from the start. this is her autonomy, her choice, even if she's 18. i won't deny she is so young to be doing sex work, or more specifically compensated dating, and yes it may be common in japan but that doesn't take away the age being factored into what she decided to do. it wasn't for money and she has a good home life. with how analytical and cold she can be, im assuming her desire to be loved in this way comes from somewhere and she's become jaded towards actual relationships. opting for the material and superficial. even without pitying her, she'd still be forgiven/innocent since t1.

003. fuuta was only trying to call out liars and scumbags. he is well versed in the court of public opinion, but he has never seen or experienced a result that lead to someone's death. looking at the undercover mv, then we can see he possibly doxxed his victim. if we take a nuanced approach here then we'd be looking at how he feels after the fact. he remembers the victims name, the fear in his eyes in his t1 and t2 mv, his voice drama after the first trial, him not approving of violence as a solution are all evidence of him feeling horrible. if he could go back, if he would've known. sure he did question why he's there instead of the people who actually killed the victim, but he also recognizes that he lead the charge. his innocence/forgiveness comes in the form of recognizing his actions were wrong. him being guilty/unforgiven is the action in itself.

004. muu is a love/attention reason. she's always been adored, admired, and cherished. she's always had her way. she also has never had to face heavy adversity. sure she was a bully, the queen bee, and a drama queen but didn't her school's culture allow her that? infact with us/es forgiving her, in the second trial song she claims as such, she'll always be queen. and for the t1 mv she says, "my 'im sorry' spells aren't working anymore." which leads me to believe that she's cried and apologized so many times that her old friends couldn't believe her. not forgiving her affirms to her that "two wrongs don't make a right" but forgiving her says the opposite to her. if she's to be forgiven/innocent the blame is tossed to the school, not her, but she won't see it that way.

005. shido is a love case, but for family. im thinking son because of a theory i saw, but either way when looking at it with nuance it gets heavier here. is taking from brain dead patients to save someone wrong? are the brain dead really dead? in my opinion yes, but that's the crux of the situation right? same goes for all the other inmates in this court of public opinion. he can be innocent from the view point that brain dead patients are already dead, and forgiven for his motive.

006. mahiru is another love case, romantic, and in a roundabout way she never committed a crime in the first place. from the voice drama and interrogation q&a slips, we find out that she's a sheltered girl and loves/idolizes soap opera and shoujo mangas. from her mv's we see she romanticizes everything, especially with her t1 mv. she's innocent because of not actually committing murder and forgiven because this is her first love, she wouldn't have known that it was toxic and messed up.

007. kazui did it in hopes of a dream, righting a mistake, being free. although he deeply regrets it, although he says he loves his wife? that love is mainly platonic. from his second trial mv, we see that he met her through his job - most likely police officer - so they had some kind of amicable relationship through their job. he only married her out of societal obligation, and noticing she liked him. not to mention in his t1 mv he says he messed up from the beginning. he is innocent because his crime is indirect, and forgiven because being gay isn't a crime and the regret he feels shows he never had negative intentions.

008. amane did it out of obligation. now, listen to me. i know she's literally 12 and was raised in a cult but notice how im stating the motive of each of these as they are from being stated in vd or pure observations from the mv's. now to any grown up it's self defense, but also imagine having gone through the worst hell imaginable all because you did something "wrong" stated by the adults around you. wouldn't the revenge be sweet? justice in its purest form. now take that and double it down with what you were taught. amane is not only forgiven/innocent because she was just a child, but because of the circumstances surrounding the murder.

009. mikoto (miko from here on) did it out of pent up stress an emotions, in turn creating john (koto from here on). miko is innocent without a doubt, and no i am not taking on the theory he actually did it til we get trial three. if koto was supposed to be his protector, and if he was born from a sudden explosion of pent up anger then (at least to me) it makes sense that he reacted the way he did. imagine being a corporate slave - no actually double it down, again, with growing up always trying to keep the peace. miko has a habit of laughing when he's upset. he laughs it off in hopes that things get better, his vd affirms this and even his mv after that. miko's smile that shifts to an extremely tired expression right before koto is born and a mirror shatters, right at the start. an intolerable stress from working so hard he grew grey hairs, cried himself to sleep, and yet continued to work, hold it in, and endure. the fault isn't on him or on koto. it's japan's work culture and the endure it mentality. koto is innocent/forgiven in the sense of motive. miko is innocent/forgiven because he's never killed to begin with.

010. kotoko did it to save the innocent. though she doesn't deal in nuance, much like fuuta. a key difference between the two is kotoko chooses violence because the justice system failed her. infact she's been hunting down the awful criminals of the world so much that she even has a covered bulletin board with pinned strings on it. on top of that, from the interrogation cards, we find out she dropped out of college and she was studying law. she'd be innocent for what she was seeking to do, in the court of public opinion, many would agree that awful people deserve a murderous punishment and she'd be even forgiven with that same reason. the nuance appears when considering the criminal, the crime and the reason. factoring those in then she can easily become guilty and unforgiven in the eyes of many, see the results after t1.

when it's all said and done:

they all had their reason, it all has a reason. who are we to say their crimes weren't just or fair? we're the judge, the jury, the executioner, and warden. in milgram whatever we says goes.

i'd love to see them all innocent, but at the same time do each of them deserve that? are their ideas being affirmed a detriment to them or their saving grace?? will they kill again?? will some of them be able to get the therapy and treatment they desperately need??? will they go back into society with an improved outlook on life or will they remain the same?

ofc i already have who i'd like to see forgiven and have already forgiven them myself, same as you reading this and those in the jpn fandom (where it originates)

anyway. moving forward please vote with this in mind, and check out the audio dramas i beg you all. i hope that there are nuance voters and voters with sympathy but with how amane was guilty in t1, i have a strong feeling it's not gonna end well. but if it does, you'll see me rejoice.

[plan-3-tmars]

Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart.

Hey I think the framing of this scene is really fucking cool and I wanna talk about it because I haven't seen anybody do that. yet so. yahooo!! let's get into it

BUT FIRST. Symbolism:

an empty chair can symbolise the absence or memory of someone dear who has passed away. This is very obviously meant to represent Hinako in this scenario

In my interpretation, this scene is Kazui saying goodbye to Hinako and apologising for the circumstances of her death.

The lyrics that play are:

"I’m sure nothing will change and we’ll laugh together and call each other stupid names, so many things I wish i hadn't known, I'm just a coward."

The first part of this verse sounds like he's wishfully thinking about what could've happened after he told her the truth - if anything a bit naively.

Kazui wanted (and still wants) to get the weight of his lies off his chest, but he wasn't ready to face the consequences of that confession, most likely making Hinako's death hit even harder.

Here, he bows to the chair before turning around leaving, a silent goodbye.

~

But what about what's going on in the background of this scene? Well!

As Kazui leaves, these two scenes flash in the background. On the table in the first shot is our good friend the green apple, and Background Kazui picks it up, analyses it, before biting it.

So let's go for another symbolism refresher!!

Green apples can sometimes represent platonic relationships, like friendship, but in Kazui's case this takes the form of a sin - as not loving Hinako romantically is what he's lying about - making it a reference to the Garden of Eden story.

Going from that, biting into an apple can represent feeding into temptation.

My interpretation of this scene is Pre-Marriage Kazui indulging in his 'sin', which in my opinion is the fact he's gay.

Let's go back to that lyric shall we:

"I’m sure nothing will change and we’ll laugh together and call each other stupid names, so many things I wish i hadn't known, I'm just a coward."

So many things you wish you hadn't known huh.. Not knowing you were gay would sure make lying to your wife a whole lot easier wouldn't it?

"What I gave up a long time ago, why is it questioning me now? So many things that I should now have known, I'm just a coward"

Woohoo evidence for Background Kazui being Pre-Marriage Kazui!!!

I think this scene is the last time Kazui let himself be free before marrying Hinako. This could possibly have been when he noticed she had a crush on him at their work.

He's indulging one last time. Embracing his sin instead of hiding it away one. last. time. before giving it up for good, almost like a. goodbye.

~

So. I think this scene is framed this way in order to show the parallel of Kazui giving up his sin, and Kazui mourning Hinako's death.

As established, they both have a "goodbye, I'm sorry things turned out this way" atmosphere to them. Kazui is apologetic, in a way, that he has to give up on being his true self and he is apologetic of his lies murdering Hinako, so Milgram conveys this by showing the two scenes posed the same way in front of one another.

This framing also gives the scene a Beginning Vs End feeling that I think is really cool, and the use of Dark Vs Light colours only heightens that! (Though that's slightly off topic rip)

Conclusion? I love this scene it's awesome and amazing and super cool

[complexsaviour]

Milgram Eeo Store Collab Art Analysis Part 2/4: Yuno, Kazui and Kotoko

Pictured above are the forgiven prisoners depicted not using their umbrellas — Yuno, Kazui and Kotoko. My theory is that their choice not to use their umbrellas represents the fact that these three were either neutral to their verdicts or rejected them. In Yuno and Kazui's case, facing away from their umbrellas, they reject Milgram's protection, turning away from the comfort of believing in their innocence just because the audience tells them it is so. In Kotoko's case, she aligns herself beside her umbrella rather than allowing it to protect her — placing herself alongside Milgram's power instead of beneath it. In doing so, she refuses to take comfort in it, but she also hasn't rejected it entirely — because although she operates on her own terms, at the time, she wanted to be Milgram's equal and work alongside it.

Edit: I also can't help but notice the way Yuno and Amane, the characters who most vocally resisted their verdicts in Trial 2, are the only ones who were depicted wearing hoods. In the same way that wearing a hood often restricts one's vision and ability to hear clearly, they both turned inwards and away from those around them upon learning how they'd been voted, refusing to listen to anyone else and becoming distant.

[amugoffandoms]

BURTS DOOR OPEN

HOLY SHIT HOLY DUCKING SHIT

im doing a drawing for kazui right now and I was like haha what if I threw in an ace of spades

and then got flashbacks to the one scene where he's talking to hinako with various magic tricks above him and GUESS WHAT FUCKING CARD WAD ABOVE HIM

THE GODDAMN ACE OF SPADES

so something I learned about while playing EXIT/Corners a long time ago is that the Ace of Spades is commonly regarded as the Card of Death

Now, what if this was a prediction of what was to come?

Kazui was explaining what he could do in this scene, with all the cards and magic wands and whatnot. He did not realize that lying would end in her death.

Kazui seems more content in talking/explaining instead of how you do the trick (A common phrase is, "A magician never tells their secrets."), which is why he never noticed the Card of Death from the get-go.

He never wanted to harm her, only impress her in some ways, which is why he's showing off his tricks/lies. But, when he finally tells the truth, he never noticed that Card of Death – he never realized she would die.

And, I feel as though this is probably a deliberate choice of MILGRAM's part because there's loads of detail into the A and the Spade itself.

Now, we can move past the Card of Death thing for just a moment and look more into the Ace of Spades.

While looking into this, I found a website that says the Ace of Spades means change.

Now, I don't know how well it fits, but the words "inherent power each of us possesses to mold and shape our reality, irrespective of the external conditions we face" somehow remind me of Kazui. How he lied to protect his wife.

To make sure his wife felt loved, even when he wasn't sure of himself/of the marriage.

Unknowingly, he lied to protect Hinako even when he wasn't sure of anything, but, in the end, Hinako's death would always come to be.

It’s for the sake of true love, who wouldn’t lie for that?

[good-beanswrites]

I put together a few Lights, Camera, Sing Your Sins thoughts! Details about characters, filming, reactions, etc. I doubt I'll get the chance to smoothly work some of them into the drabbles, but I still wanted to share them :)

Post-T1 thoughts:

The first few days out of the prison are really weird and awkward – the prisoners got too deep in the immersion and are slowly remembering what’s real and talking some things out. Before these major emotions can wear off, they’re pulled aside by various writers and teams to make a plan for the next trial. They meet up with deco*27 himself and the songwriting begins

They each have a private bedroom in the facility. The first night, they’re all super excited to not be sleeping in those uncomfortable cells, and then immediately feel really closed off to the others. For some it remains a good thing – Yuno is glad for the isolation, Fuuta’s paranoia about judgment is eased, etc. Still, it’s strange to be separated from the people they’ve been side-by-side with for a year and a half, 24/7. Many of them end up sleeping on the floor of one another’s room or leaving their doors wide open. 

Jackalope is using long distance tech to project his voice into the prison, but the animal in the prison is just a well-trained pet with some hardcore costuming. Freed from its little uniform, the rabbit gets lots of pets and pampering from the prisoners. 

They aren’t allowed to leave and visitors must be for filming purposes only, but each prisoner is allowed a phone call (“hey, just like a real prison!” Jackalope laughs). Haruka calls his sister, and so does Fuuta. They stay on the phone for a really long time. Yuno calls her parents, making sure to say hi to Yura. Muu calls her parents too, and cries hearing their voices. Shidou calls his family; being separated from them for so long only confirms his near-miss intentions. Mahiru realizes too late she should have called her family – instead, fresh off the guilty verdict, she calls her ex to apologize profusely. Kazui considers a few people he could call, but doesn’t take Jackalope up on the offer right away. Later in the hiatus he calls his childhood friend just to say hi; he doesn’t mention any of the experiment stuff going on. Amane wanted to call her father, but she doesn’t want to break the news that she’s not doing a good job because of her verdict. She waits until she knows he’ll be out per his usual schedule, and leaves a brief and formal message on the machine. Mikoto calls his mom and sister, asking about how everyone’s doing (and largely avoiding talking about himself). Kotoko calls her family, surprised at how emotional she gets hearing their voices. 

Jackalope makes the mistake of mentioning updated guilty uniforms in front of the prisoners. Fashion expert Mahiru, designer Mikoto, and just simply nosy Yuno and Muu track down the costuming team to “help.” Though there’s not a ton of alterations to be made, they enjoy being a part of the process. They end up sticking around and chatting about mv outfits.  Mahiru enjoys everyone’s choices and fittings, and promises Amane they’ll go shopping someday and have a proper dress fitting. She asks if Es is going to get a new uniform as well. When told no, she vows she’ll take them shopping as well.

Though not allowed to leave, they’re at least allowed to step outside in designated areas. They enjoy the sun and rain and stars. The smoking group is excited to meet outside. Mikoto makes sure to hang out with them a bit extra seeing as he’s going to leave the group a bit come T2.  

I wrote the drabbles as individual scenes since it was nice to give each prisoner their own time like that, but logically some filming would be overlapped a bit. Jackalope would still want to direct everything as best he could, but there may be multiple scenes filming at once. I just really liked the idea of the mixing of props and costumes. They yell “cut!” as Bee Muu takes a shortcut through the Backdraft set. Yuno accidentally leaves her pink-glasses rabbit in one of the AKAA chairs and Haruka laughs in the middle of a take as he moves it out of frame. Amane is on a quick break from her scene and Mikoto shows her around the train still in full marching band getup. (I just realized these were all back to back videos, but I think any and all can overlap lol)

Shidou is still the one to administer Mahiru and Fuuta’s bandages. Even though it’s fake, he wants it a) to be his real handiwork and b) to be accurate, given the disaster of Throw Down. He’s excited to share his knowledge and explain exactly how each of their imagined injuries would affect them, telling them the proper way to act. Mahiru listens intently, all but taking notes, while Fuuta is bored to death of his doctor-jargon ramble.

Back pre-T1, Jackalope started off telling the prisoners they can choose their song titles (just for organization's sake, Es won’t see them) but he ends up taking over because their titles are really, really bad. It’s a mix of those really long sentence-style titles and cool words/phrases that have absolutely nothing to do with the song itself. Jackalope goes through the files renaming “The Sweet Whispers of A Lost Love,” “Fuck You,” “They say three strikes and you’re out but clearly they’ve never met me before” and “Kotokos_song.mp3”. By the time they start filming second trial videos, it doesn’t phase him to open up files titled “Elegy to a Broken Heart,” “I checked the train schedule five times and still missed my stop,” “I Can’t Be Normal,” and “Kotokos_song(1).mp3”. 

And some post-T2 thoughts:

The verdicts are both easier and harder to handle this time around. This is the second break from the immersion, and it’s easier to separate reality from experiment. However, the videos and interrogations this time around were a lot more raw, so there’s an extra sting of betrayal to them. Es got to look deep – much deeper than most – and still chose not to forgive.

Haruka isn’t really worried about death or harm from the verdict, but he does feel betrayed that Es would throw his life away like that. Muu doesn’t fear the consequences, but is saddened that once again she made someone like her only to turn against her when they saw her true self. The t1 guilties have a little meetup where they breathe a collective sigh of relief and congratulate one another on making it through. Fuuta just kind of sinks in relief, while Mikoto is giving out high-fives. Then they make a beeline for the current guilties to see how they can help.

Mahiru and Mikoto were always helpful to the others, but Fuuta surprises everyone by constantly checking in with the guilty prisoners. He remembers how much the verdict sucked and wants to try and help/prepare them as much as he can.

Red appears every once and a while to force people to take breaks when filming gets very involved/tiring. While Blue is pretty chill and cheery about everyone staying hydrated and getting good sleep, Red is a bit more serious with his approach. 

I think with another innocent verdict and seeing everyone 'behind the scenes,' Kazui would finally, finally start opening up to people. I like to think, as Yuno starts filming another video about very comfortable with her sexuality, he approaches her first with the topic.

When given the chance to make phone calls, most of the prisoners choose the same people as before. Haruka doesn’t want to call anyone at first, but is glad when Muu forces him to call his sister. He’s by her side when she calls her parents. Mahiru remembers to call her parents first, telling them to pass along her well wishes to others. She got the verdict she was hoping for, but Amane can’t bring herself to call home. 

The upcoming videos will likely be even more intense, but that just makes everyone band together more. They give each other confidence. They work extra hard to get silly goofy when it’s in good taste. 

[randomidiocyncrazies]

alskjfhlajsajfklsaflfsdaj the depressed repressed potentially gay middle-aged man sure got me good............................

from his Interrogation questions, the Thing that Kazui is lying about since he was a child (and telling the truth about killed his wife) is at least partially related to gender roles, at least in his own mind. We know his father had expectations of him being a "strong manly man" and had him follow in his footsteps in being a police officer. His T1 answer about wanting to ride a carousel also hints that, for whatever reason, he never had the chance to do so as a child. While carousels are not inherently feminine or emasculating, they are kind of seen as kiddie or girly rides, especially back when Kazui would've been a kid himself. The fact that even as a child he had never been on one, while wanting it enough to still think about getting on one as a adult, implies that he probably had been forbidden or pressured into not going on it due to it's 'emasculating' reputation (even though there's nothing about it that's inherently emasculating)... just like how being gay isn't emasculating, but was seen as such until relatively recently (and in some places still has that reputation).

Now, imo Kazui enjoys/prefers being the one who is pursued and pampered, if he was free to take part in the kinds of relationships he craved*; this would, again, go against the traditional gender role of the 'proper man' being the one who provides, who pursues, who takes action—in Cat we see that even though Hinako is the one who fell in love first, Kazui is the one who initiates the dating and proposal. She doesn't ask him out; he does. Not only is he playing the role of a heterosexual man, he's playing the heterosexual man who is assertive in demonstrating his desire for his romantic partner, when I think his inclination is to be the one who is wanted/courted. Even if he was straight, the desire to be the pursued pampered partner is already something that wouldn't fit in with the traditional gender role of what a 'proper' man should be like... and then on top of that he likes men. Liking men by itself is already considered 'emasculating' by his parents and/or society, and wanting to be the receptive partner who is courted and desired would be another strike against his masculinity (because a strong manly man is the one who is supposed to articulate/express his wants and desires assertively, or so society says).

I really do think "wanting to be loved like a cat" (猫 which sounds the same as ネコ) is a pun that gives additional context about why he's so ashamed of his desires—in his mind he's a failure of a man because he not only is (most likely) attracted to men, but he wants to be the receptive/courted partner. Him being so so so torn up by this is really sad because like... being the receptive partner in a gay relationship doesn't make one "less of a real man" or whatever, but he can't let go of that idea (that his parents/society drilled into him) even though it's not actually true.

*if we apply 0506's "confessing or being confessed to" question to Kazui, I really think he'd prefer to be confessed to—he wants to be known and accepted and loved, but he cannot bear to tell us the truth himself and instead begs Es (us) to free him. He wants someone else to articulate the truth of his desires for him but is unable or reluctant to state them plainly. This is not a guy who wants to confess; this is a guy who wants the option to decide whether he'd go along with his partner's desires, but doesn't want to be the one to lay his desires out in the open.

[nomeniko]

hi :D for the ask game What do you wish more people understood about kazui? Which trial 2 MV do you enjoy the most, and why?

thank you for the ask i would grovel at ur feet in gratitude i hope the sun shines down and makes the light dance for u and you only today

1. if anything ive seen a few theories of kazui possibly revealing himself to be a two faced manipulator of sorts due to his self proclaimed liarness…. like ‘ohh u cant trust what he says he cld be trying to make himself look pitiable to the audience to get voted inno’ sort of theories which is. no he wont do that???

is he a liar? to a degree yes—liar not in the sense that what he says are direct falsities, but more like hes built much of his character to constantly disguise his true intentions/feelings as a defense mechanism. the lies he says are less of words from a schemer and more of redirections from someone who is, all in all, an insecure adult scared of what will happen if he isnt able to meet peoples expectations of him

as much as he calls himself a liar hes mad honest about where he thinks his capabilities lie, which is to say he doesnt believe in his capabilities at all lol. when amane asks him for help with her studies, he turns her down after some consideration bc he doesnt believe himself to be smart enough to help (despite having graduated from a university; sports degree or not credit shld be given where credit is due). when he talks to shidou post ktk attack, he refuses to admit doing any of the work in taking care of the situation and instead puts all the praise onto shidou. even his physical strength and skill (which is arguably the one part of him he does acknowledge and take some sort of belief in) is something he treats as less of something that he has achieved himself and more of an obligation of his—like, hes strong bc to him he HAS to be, bc it is expected of him to protect those who need protecting. he does want to protect others, sure, but much of that wanting comes frm how ingrained it is in him that thats what hes good for, thats what his strength is for (his timeline w/ yuno on her bday says as much nyway)

the way i see it, that self deprication of his plays back into his obsession with meeting the expectations placed onto him, or at least lessening the disappointment of others by lessening those expectations in the first place. if u tell someone that u didnt go to the right university, that u didnt do much to help anyway, that u were born so fundamentally wrong as a person that everything is bound to go to shit as long as ur there (he basically said this to es in his t1 vd im not even kidding), wouldnt that ensure the safety that youre less likely to ruin someone elses confidence in you? less likely to ruin bc in the small chance that u still fuck up, theres not much left to ruin at that point

in the end ig what i wish more ppl understood abt kazui is that hes a liar yes, but not a manipulator. he lies to stay safe, not to be a sadist or whatever. you cant take what he says at face value (in much the same way u cant do the same for any other prisoner tbh), but that does not mean u shldnt take anything he says srsly at all!!!

2. ok this one i have to give a bit of thought, mostly bc i cant pick just one

if the standards were which t2 mv do i enjoy for its direction music n visual wise, purge march takes the cake so quickly. the music itself is so bomb (which like, i cant even find a logical explanation as to why… its just so good to listen to) n the mv itself does such a great job at creating the right atmosphere, both in its flashy theatrics and the subtle uncanniness under it. mayb i have a slight bias bc tpm was the whole reason i got into milgram in the first place, but i stand by it idccc

aesthetic wise, def all knowing and all agony. the horror elements r genuinely disturbing, but not so overbearing that it overwrites the pop style that milgram has going on. i luove the use of amber for blood, plus the filters that remind me of found footage u usually see show up in asian horror movies. i think i was actually terrified the first time i watched the mv

symbolic wise, its cat always and forever god bless. it takes advantage of its aesthetics to hint at subtle secrets so well that it makes me giddy as hell. the use of colors as a part of the set, the transitions frm scene to scene having its own part in making the story, n honestly making the bg more blank than usual readjusts the focus of the mv on what matters p well. i cant mention every detail rn or else id be here all day

[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 😭

[oboetemasuka]

A much more restricted existence

(An "Order of Attack" side story)

How Amane and the other unforgiven prisoners dealt with the physical restrictions prior to Kotoko's attacks.

Only knowledge of the high concept is needed (that the injuries are swapped around so Amane loses an eye). Actually, if not for the last two sections, this could stand entirely on its own.

This one... This one's 2300 words! How? This is supposed to be a side story. Yet I've edited this with even more scrutiny than the Fuuta VD.

Huge thanks to @good-beans, @purgemarchlockdown, @lostxmelody, and @amugoffandoms for going over it multiple times and helping me figure out words. I also dragged two Discord servers into the making of John's dialogue (which I posted about earlier).

(cws: cults, child abuse, canon-typical violence)

(Sorry for the inconsistencies in quotes. I finally caved and switched from TextEdit to Google Docs so updating the preview would be less of a hassle.)

-

Two weeks after Kotoko's verdict was finalized, the new restrictions were put in place. Everyone else had long been aware of their verdicts, but having it manifest in such a concrete manner was much more distressing.

Amane was unnerved to wake up with her arms wrapped up in front of her, but she shrugged the feeling off and shifted to her knees to pray. She would soon find out she was taking it the best of anyone. 

In the next cell over, Mikoto was loudly freaking out and asking for someone, anyone to help. His cries soon gave way to screams of unfiltered rage. 

From across the panopticon, Amane could hear Fuuta's panicked shouts and swears directed at Yuno.

None of this was her business. In times like this, she had to focus on herself. She tried to tune out the voices and continue praying, only to realize quickly that Mikoto and Fuuta's voices weren't the only ones she could hear. No, these voices were coming from inside her head. 

“She was just following orders, no?”

“But those orders were morally wrong.”

“She needs to understand that she was in a cult.”

“We can’t support the ideology imposed on her.”

“We have to give her tough love.”

“The only way she can break away is if we deny her beliefs.”

No, they got it all wrong! It was an obligation of faith that she willingly carried out. It was a trial that she had passed.

…Had she passed it?

She looked down at the straps binding her arms. The only things she was going to "break away" from were these.

Eventually, Mikoto quieted down. But before Amane could refocus on her prayer, the door opened. Kazui.

"Amane-chan, are you okay in there?"

"Yes, I am fine."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Kazui sounded like he was choosing his words carefully, which Amane thought was pointless.

"I just told you I am fine." But instead of shooing Kazui away, Amane stood up and walked towards the door to observe the commotion in the panopticon.

Yuno was trying to calm Fuuta down in an embrace, but he continued to swear at her just loudly enough to be heard from the other side of the panopticon. Mahiru had her face buried in Shidou's shoulder, and her shoulders were shaking.

"Kazui-san, your efforts would be better spent helping Fuuta-san over there."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to leave you alone in here. What if you need something later and can't open the-"

"I can figure out how to open the door on my own. You should leave me alone." 

Kazui conceded and left. Amane tried her best to ignore the voices and pray that this trial too would come to pass.

-

Amane felt a surge of relief as the restraints disengaged and her hands dropped to her lap. She shook her arms to ensure they hadn't gone numb and noticed her sleeves had gotten considerably longer. After she spent a few minutes trying to get her hands out, the door to her cell opened.

"Oi, Amane." Fuuta still looked tense from the events of that morning.

"Fuuta-san, what are you doing here?"

"Everyone's in the dining hall except you. Come on, you've got to eat. You're still growing."

"Very well." Amane stood up and headed out with Fuuta.

A few paces later, Fuuta looked down at Amane's sleeves. "You need help with those?"

"I can figure out how to pull the sleeves up on my own."

"Well, I wouldn't want you to take too long. Breakfast won't wait for you forever, ya know?"

"If I fail to figure it out after a few minutes, then you can help." More paces. "By the way, I was expecting Mahiru-san or-" Amane cleared her throat. "-Shidou-san to come and bother me. Why did you?"

"I'll be damned if I let anyone miss breakfast."

-

Not long after Amane retreated to her cell, her uniform buckled itself, trapping her arms again.

That was the beginning of the strict routine of the unforgiven prisoners. The straps would disengage at specific times throughout the day so they could tend to their basic necessities. The others didn’t take well to being ushered into a schedule. Fuuta in particular complained vocally about having his day dictated for him. But Amane got used to it pretty quickly. She had been living according to routines all her life, so she didn't mind.

Moving around wasn't too much of a hassle. The doorknobs were easy to turn, and it didn't take much to push doors open. Pulling doors open was more of a challenge, but Amane quickly figured out how to hook the handles onto her sleeve strap and lean away until she could prop the door with her foot.

In the moments she had her arms free, she found that biting the sleeves was the most efficient way to get her hands out. (Looking over at Mikoto, she realized she wasn't the only one who thought to bite the uniform.)

And so she used this free time to make more free time. From the dining hall and the warehouse, she pocketed some scissors, straws, and skewers, among other things.

She tried to cut her sleeves, but the scissors were too flimsy to make more than a little slit in the elbows. Better than nothing, she supposed. She wasn't about to go for the kitchen scissors and draw attention to herself. She would just have to make do with the other items to extend her reach. Soon enough, she had a system to open books and turn pages and write. Despite all the restrictions, it worked out really well.

-

After Amane settled into the new daily rhythm, she figured she could impart her knowledge to the other unforgiven prisoners.

Excluding Mikoto. He seemed to be fine and free, and he held that over her the one time she visited him. 

“Oi, pipsqueak, you take one more step in and I'll crush your skull. Don’t think I’d let you off just ‘cause you’re a helpless little cocoon. Didn’t your parents ever teach you manners?”

She turned around and left right then and there, bristling at the remark about her parents. It was all she could do not to charge in and headbutt him. She wasn't about to find out the hard way if the threat wasn’t just a bluff.

She thought Fuuta might be more receptive, but he wasn't interested in becoming a laughing stock.

"Come to mock me? No thanks. I'm not going out there to be seen like this."

But, of course, he would always get her whenever she was just a few minutes late for any meal, so that was her invitation to keep bothering him. He always let her in anyway.

Mahiru was the most agreeable one, unsurprisingly. She was glad to accept Amane's help in figuring out how to pull her cell door open. The difference in uniforms made it a bit more difficult, but the girls were crafty enough to figure it out. Mahiru was more than content to be able to go around the panopticon on her own, regardless of the restraints.

"Oh, these? They don't really bother me anymore. It's like I'm giving myself a nice, big hug."

For some reason, though, Amane found it draining to be cared for in turn, so she spaced out the visits with Mahiru more.

Talking to the forgiven prisoners was more of a hassle. She was especially exasperated with the older adults. They would always look at her with pity whenever she walked around, so she went out of her way to avoid them. Unfortunately, the schedule imposed on the unforgiven prisoners made it impossible for her to stay away entirely.

“Amane, how are you holding up?”

“I am fine,” she would say, settling at the far end of the table.

“Do you need any help with those sleeves?”

In response, Amane bit her sleeve and yanked it up to her elbow in an exaggerated motion.

“Are there any items you would like? I can fill out a request on your behalf.”

Amane stopped answering.

“If there is anything-”

“Oi, Shidou, this steak is undercooked. You mind fixing that?”

Amane was glad Fuuta had caught on quickly. Mahiru and Yuno too.

And yet.

“It’s quiet around here. Have a chat with me.”

Amane thought Yuno was staying away from everyone. Why would Yuno talk to her of all people?

Amane responded with curt phrases to kill the momentum of the conversation.

-

It was supposed to be another normal visit. Amane was supposed to stroll into Fuuta's cell unannounced and preach to him until he cussed her out the door. She never thought she'd find him bloody and beaten on the ground, under Kotoko's shadow. 

Kotoko didn’t even need any descriptive threats. Fuuta’s sorry state clearly conveyed what she was about to do.

Amane was caught in a chokehold of fear. Running was no option (even if she physically could), but she wished she had the willpower to stand or at least speak.

She finally snapped out of it at the first strike. By then, it was already too late.

Adults would get on her case for raising an arm to defend herself from being hit. They would punish her for taking a quick detour to get her bearings. Surely they wouldn't have approved of her crafting her idle time to fulfill her frivolous desires.

Maybe this was her ultimate punishment. For running and avoiding pain all the time, now she was trapped completely. For meddling in other people’s business, she’d have no more nose to stick where it didn’t belong.

-

It turned out that the solution to cutting the fabric was the kitchen scissors after all. Amane was miffed that Kirisaki Shidou did that for her. She would rather have done it herself.

When was he going to let her leave his watch? It was so suffocating. If he was going to steal people's trials, the least he could do was leave her out of it.

At least Shidou wasn't the one cutting the straps when they engaged again. He was preoccupied with Fuuta. Yuno was the one tending to Amane.

Once Amane was deemed fit enough to move out of the doctor's cell, Mahiru wasted no time making permanent sleepover arrangements in her cell. She and Yuno weren't going to let Amane stay so close to the two that had gotten in a brawl, ceasefire or not.

Tired of the overbearing attention, Amane snuck back to her cell while her new roommates were asleep. She pulled off the eyepatch and all the bandages and went to lie down.

She was still awake when the day turned over, lying on her side and staring into the void. 

All of a sudden, her arms were yanked in front of her again. The sleeves were intact again. Her ribs were squeezed so tightly that it would hurt more to scream.

It was quiet. So quiet. She could hear her breath catching in her throat. The voices started up again, loud and clear in her mind.

“She has to be held accountable for her actions.”

“So what if she is a child? The sooner she learns, the better.”

“Even if it wasn’t her fault, we can’t get behind what she did.”

“It’s the only way she can be forgiven later on.”

Those wretched voices only compounded the suffocating feeling.

There were no sounds to ground her to reality. Mikoto must have been oddly at peace since he was free. Fuuta was in no shape to complain loudly enough to be heard across the panopticon. Mahiru no longer worried about the restraints.

Amane was all alone.

In the darkness, she could make out the shape of Kotoko's boots. She could see Fuuta lying nearby. She blinked, trying to get rid of the vision, but there was no light to dispel it.

Kotoko was attacking her, and she could not run.

The opening of the cell door startled her out of her trance, but all she let out was a whimper.

"Amane-chan! There you are!" Mahiru rushed to her side. "Hold on. I'll get those off." She fumbled with the kitchen scissors. 

Amane continued to stare blankly.

"The uniforms reset, but you weren't with us, and I was so afraid of what that meant for you-"

"Mahiru… san… I'm fine…"

Mahiru finished cutting Amane's arms free. "Now you are." 

Amane tried to breathe slowly, making up for lost air without agitating her injuries. Mahiru waited for her to speak.

"W-why did you…" Amane had no real question in mind, just a sentiment.

Mahiru extended a hand to help Amane sit up. "Look, I get that I can be… overbearing at times… all of us, really. But I really can't bear to see you so distant.”

The way Amane averted her eye only proved Mahiru’s point.

“So afraid.” 

The light from the door shone on Amane’s face. She hated that it let Mahiru see her expression.

“So hurt.” 

Amane moved her hand to cover her right eye, but Mahiru gently pushed it away and clasped it in both of her hands. Despite Mahiru’s calm demeanor, Amane could feel her hands trembling.

“If you could just let us in, wouldn't it help us all?"

Amane didn’t respond for several minutes. She thought she would break if she said anything. She just let Mahiru hold her hand in silence.

Until.

She leaned forward and rested her head on Mahiru’s shoulder, gripping the sleeve with her free hand. If anyone asked, she was not crying. Not even a little. Mahiru softly patted her on the back.

Amane used to be the one who went around offering help. Why was she the one relying on others now?