#starting to think that maybe THIIIIIS post is the one getting me blocked by milgrammies

[mukuharakazui]

Never mind, I've decided that this actually is a problem. Kazui is quite clear about his situation in his T2 voice drama--at least as clear as he could bring himself to be at that point. He clearly sings about love and wanting to be loved, even in ways with no sexual undertones or innuendo. He's said that he's had romantic crushes on people.

The fact that there are people who are MORE adamant on expressing their ideas of him as aromantic than as gay is absolutely batshit. As I mentioned before, readings of characters like Yuno or Mahiru through an aromantic lens deeply enhance their stories and themes, plus add to the tragedy of the way cultural values have affected their realities.

However, being willing to erase a core facet of Kazui's character in order to interpret him in a way that contradicts a very clearly-expressed and very marginalized sense of self that he grappes with as his primary character conflict is some sort of fandom-brained supervillain behavior to me.

"People can have whatever interpretations they want" is a statement that doesn't work in Milgram as it does with other art. No amount of repeating that will change that some characters have VERY clear core traits that relate to their "sins" that Otoiro has hammered down on us for the second trial to make sure that we understand what we're voting on in the 3rd trial, because that's the vote that really matters.

The gender-based pressures on Kazui DO change based on the full nature of his attraction, too, by the way. That's something nobody cares to touch in because. Well. I first assumed they have some internal alarms that sound as they realize it'll crumble their ideas to dust and therefore just don't acknowledge it at all. But then I realized they're probably not that smart on a sociocultural level and just genuinely haven't even considered that perspective despite gender norms being THE major pressure in Kazui's life (which, of course, his sexuality opposes). However, if you don't understand the real-life gay scenes that aren't mostly made up of terminally online people over 30, especially those in Japan, that would be a whole new thread in my "explain Kazui to Milgram fans like they're toddlers" series.

This feels like the same thing Eng fans keep pulling with Haruka, but that's other people's soapboxes to stand on regarding his developmental disability/ies. More on the autism-is-the-only-developmental-disability-or-disorder-I-know rocks that Eng Milgram fans live their whole lives and write every idea they have about Haruka using melted wax under on other people's posts.

At this point, if you cannot manage to get it through your thick skulls that Kazui is gay---if you are surrounded by gay people in your internet circles but your head is so far up your own ass that you somehow think that Kazui being gay isn't "enough" or that ignoring the distress he expresses over his romantic AND sexual wants is somehow "more progressive" than what Milgram is already giving to us with Kazui, then I suggest you pick up a book, look at some art, touch some grass, delete Tiktok, or do SOMETHING that will improve your media literacy skills and/or decrease your "I feel uncomfortable when we are not about me?" complexes I talked about in the first post.

sorry but eng milgram fans are stupid as fuck sometimes. "i feel uncomfortable when we are not about me" people will have their heads so far up their own asses when talking about a character who represents real issues that real people go through. but yeah having a gay man who struggles with his sexuality because of sociocultural (and parental, by extension) pressures isn't "inclusive enough" because he's.....not aromantic? "arophobia in the milgram fandom" and it's acknowledging that the gay man is gay. what kind of echo chamber do you have to isolate yourself inside to say things like this on the internet. do you realize that you can make your own nuanced aromantic characters. do you realize how cartoonishly homophobic it is to wrap your head around 180 degrees and call an incredibly true-to-life story of a gay man ridden with shame and guilt that includes the nuance that come with potentially hurting other people not "inclusive enough"