I'm really winging it, here

Might post about Milgram??

[sonobeunitsarecool]

Pain lyrics

Not cool, to paint a queen in your “villainry”, Not cool, to defy me and my vibrancy, I’m so let down by you, it made me laugh, And even if you flip your judgement on its head, it’s too late For real, thought you’d be giving justice with grace, For real, if you kept up the forgiveness pace, He’d have no reason to die, poor little thing, It’s not my fault, from the start was just frivolity Right, right, you worker bees beneath, Hey, with this now don’t you see, Haven’t I taught you enough with my gentle sting? Ah, right, right, a hopeless kid indeed, But you got no pass from me, All that pain, on your tongue, bittersweet honey That “I’m so sorry!” you say can’t be heard at aaaaall~ That’s totally gross, did that strike as true? That “I’m so sorry!” you say can’t be heard at aaaaall~ You can’t read the room so I got no room for you Not cool, so irksome that the villain? can breathe, Not cool, things like justice? dying makes me seethe, You’re a killer, same as me, oh-so-scary, eek, That was folly, yet doing naught but as we please Look at me, am I all-knowing, supreme? “Yes” or “Indeed” I will bear chanting, Mama and Papa love their cute little queen, playing friends softly, no plays pass me now grieve, I’m the strong and weakness I consume, wouldn’t eat another bee, today’s again carefree, Below, fading like so, so low, bleh, zip your mouth, never gave you pause to speak Right, right, you worker bees beneath, Hey, with this now don’t you see, Haven’t I taught you enough with my gentle sting? Ah, right, right, a hopeless kid indeed, But you got no pass from me, All that pain, on your tongue, bittersweet honey That “I’m so sorry!” you say can’t be heard at aaaaall~ Tears may fall but punishment will never end, That “I’m so sorry!” you say can’t be heard at aaaaall~ And really I’ll never end this, That hurt and pain and shame I’ll return without a single break, Guess that I'm a bully after all, What that child felt as I saw him dying, You don’t know more than the surface you saw I’ve had enough, If making myself the villain can get you to give an apology that he Can’t accept then that pain is fine by me! You’re the reason that my friend is dead and, That’s something I can never forgive! All this, now know, it’s not his fault.

[sonobeunitsarecool]

Thoughts on Pain

Spoilers, maybe? Some spoilers from the VD, most likely. MV details: - the green "honey" that's been used as various liquids turns blue when Muu is talking more directly to us/Es at the end; it's probably the ultramarine blue that is Haruka's associated colour. - during the spotlight scene, Muu has a piece of paper taped to her back at one point. It reads "ゲロ女", or "vomit girl". - use of various musical terms. In order: maestoso, animato, grazioso, cantabile, scherzando, agitato, feroce, alla marcia, smorzando, lamentoso, pesante, morendo, G.P (general pause), accelerando, and then there is "to 𝄌 (coda)" and "coda 𝄌 (still coda)", followed by a handful of s, f, and z's. - uses Haruka's song titles as lyrics during the scene where Muu stands on a platform with a light on her ("私って全知全能?"/"Am I all-knowing and all-mighty?" and "弱肉強食の強のほう"/"Weakness? I'm all strength"). This is harder to spot for English speakers, because the names of Haruka's songs were both puns on four-character idioms/yojijukugo that were actually homophonous to the actual phrases. Weakness was certainly a choice for the official English translation of 弱肉共食, which could mean "the weak we eat together" instead of "the weak are meat the strong will eat"/survival of the fittest. AKAA was a pretty faithful translation of 全知全悩, the original phrase meaning "omniscient and omnipotent", as in, the Christian god. - the report states that she was born in 2001. This puts her at three years older than Yuno in real time and two years younger in subjective time (that bit we already knew). Fuuta was 1999, 20 at the start of Milgram, and Haruka was 1997, and probably 17 at the start of Milgram. Because of her birthday, we can infer that Muu's crime was committed in the first term of the Japanese school year, which runs from early April to mid-late July (her birthday is July 5th), during her first year of senior high school. Similar inferences can be made for the other characters, but that sounds like a later thing to me. VD details: - Muu calls herself "an idiot/バカ" just before Es starts crying. She also says she "doesn't understand/わかんない" a few times (mostly when discussing how she wasn't taught about building relationships on mutual care and thought instead of mere tangible transaction), and that some of what Es is saying about Muu's pain being valid regardless of her response and about them confronting their own feelings regarding Milgram is "hard (to do/understand)/難しい". - Muu also shows proper empathy to Es for the first time, telling them that it's okay to cry, but it's not a struggle for her. Instead, it's more like we haven't had a chance to see her actually let herself see someone as an equal/"friend", and thus be capable of empathising with that person. As in, it really has just been nurture rather than nature/any neurological matters that resulted in her seemingly callous and self-centred outlook. When Es shared their own weaknesses and doubts, and told her that she was both wrong and right at the same time, that enabled her to connect with Es properly. She also apologised to both Haruka and Rei, though both were already dead. - That, and how it's pretty clear that she's been both doted on/praised without prompt from her parents, make it seem like a very different type of emotional neglect than Haruka faced, and the reasons why they became close are clearer (as well as the parallels). Their stories follow rather similar routes, as well. Might talk about that later. Used milgram-en's translation for the VD here. Final note to self: There is still no clarification on the "あなたが好きよ"/"I love YOU" line from After Pain. Combined with her pupil dilation, it's implied that Muu felt some kind of attraction towards Rei, but there isn't much (or anything at all) in the report or from Muu herself that outright confirms this. It also doesn't factor into the crime itself as an obvious motive, based on that omittance from the report; hopefully interro. questions will be asked that prompt an answer. Seems like a loose end.

[sonobeunitsarecool]

This likely has no significant meaning to it.

This is the personalised Pasmo card (used around the Tokyo area; where Yuno lives) that Yuno uses, and we get a full shot of it. It's mostly typical, it doesn't have Pasmo on it because it's Milgram and you can't do that, or something, it's got her name and age and presumably other info on the back but we don't see that. It's a "continuation" because you can re-use the same card by just changing the details on it, and ¥8120 being the pre-paid cost of 6 months' worth of train rides on a card used just for school is fairly accurate. The card no. being six 0's is probably because you can't have a real number shown because it might be someone's actual card number. The あたし<-->あたし part is in place of the pre-selected destinations the user travels between (this card would be used by Yuno exclusively for school commute) and occurs when Yuno is saying あたしはあたし, or "I am me". Fairly standard, and the dates are almost 6 months apart (if the calculators used with the cards use 183 days = 6 months, then it matches perfectly), so assuming that Yuno got the card at the start of the school year (school in Japan starts in early April, to coincide with the cherry blossoms), it does seem less random than at first glance. There is likely no other meaning behind it, since my initial theory (it having something to do with start of pregnancy/how long she was pregnant) is wrong simply because she would have been visibly pregnant at 6 months, and she wouldn't have been starting to contemplate the matter (only recently having it been confirmed by the time she lost the child).

[sonobeunitsarecool]

Thoughts on "Life"

Thoughts on life, and, well, the new Milgram song! It's quite lengthy, and possibly poorly formatted, so bear with me. Spoilers, most assuredly, for both Life and Melting Temperature, so I'll keep it under the cut.

To clarify what Yuno's "crime" is, during a moment where Yuno was thinking about the matter of her foetus on a staircase fairly high up, she fell back (due to a dizziness) and hit a lower platform. This resulted in a brief hospitalisation, and due to the physical trauma of the event the foetus within Yuno at the time was lost. What is very, very important in terms of Yuno's character, and the discussion around her, is that this was not voluntary. She fell due to having, as referred to in the English subtitles of Life, "freaked out" (about becoming a mother), but is just "feared" in Japanese. In the Voice Drama, she notes that she thought about it and felt dizzy. This is more likely to do with a combination of mental and emotional stress, and possible lack of sufficient nutrition for both herself and the growing, living organism within her; whatever the cause, she lost consciousness, and fell. She could have been more careful, true, but that's the same with any accident (because this was an accident), and it's unlikely that she would have even considered looking into official pregnancy care by this point. Losing the foetus was not within her direct control. At the start of Milgram, and presumably for some amount of time afterwards, she only remembered getting dizzy and falling, later able to recall her brief hospitalisation and returning back to school, but it was the fact that she only remember falling that initially made her think this was some kind of afterlife (being in Milgram means being told you're a killer, the only thing that fits is losing her child, if the child is dead the chance she died from the fall since she can't remember anything else is high). Even after remembering everything, she still had no control over the fall and losing the child. This is really important. Much of Yuno's character, in terms of what we hear from her in her Voice Dramas, is heavily linked to the themes of personal choice, autonomy in one's own life, and if not acceptance then some kind of unjudging neutrality towards the actions of others you aren't involved in. Typically, a voluntary abortion is a decision that has a lot of deliberate choice involved, something that the difficulty in obtaining one plays a part in. If Yuno had an abortion, there would have been a lot of deliberation in advance, and she would have come to terms with not carrying the child to term. Should that have been the case, I don't think she would have "qualified" for Milgram. Instead, she had an accident in the middle of a moment of considering the matter, and had that choice brutally ripped out of her hands. The entirety of Life shows that she regrets the death of her foetus (and does it really matter when it wasn't yet born? Not to Yuno, and that's what matters: to her, it was a life she had a part in).

Would she have chosen to have kept the child? Maybe. Evidence points to "probably, in an ideal world", what with her regrets and her adamant stance on being fully responsible for her own actions (the likelihood of actually carrying the child to term is lower; it is not medically advisable for an 18-year-old girl to birth a child in terms of both the mother's and the child's health). But that doesn't matter. Yuno's opinion doesn't matter. This huge, life-changing decision was not hers to make, but fate's. And to her, that would be... heart-breaking. A fear out of the worst nightmares a brain can conjure up, to have the autonomy of choice stolen out of your hands because of an *accident*. And that is what the discussion of her character should be around, because her "sin" is simply... she could have done better in hindsight. Tragedy is what Milgram is all about. Did she make choices that led to having a child to carry? Yes. She has told us exactly what those choices were and why she chose them; she will not say sorry for that nor has Es asked her to. But did she have a choice in losing the child? Not at all. And that, ultimately, is what her character is about, choices made without apology and the lack of choice to forgive or not forgive.

[sonobeunitsarecool]

Are those... are those Haruka's hair clips?

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Trial 3 voice lines

Note that I'm not fluent in Japanese yet. Yuno - Kashiki Yuno. It's been a while, Warden-san. I missed you. - Thanks for forgiving me. Are those your true feelings? I don't know. - Mahiru-san died, right in front of my eyes. I now know what it means to be robbed of your own meaning. - Someone died. "If it was just a killer that died, then I don't care", that's what I thought, up until now. I guess we spent too long together. - People forgiving other people... what is that? It's not something I understand. What do you think? Warden-san, probably understands now. Fuuta - Kajiyama Fuuta. Ha, hahahaha! I see... just now, perhaps it wasn't too late. - Forgiven, not forgiven, it's all whatever. I heard all those annoying voices the whole time, it has no connection. Your standards are already in different places. - I'm different from the me from up 'till now. That person taught me. Faith, a new world. It was up to me... all of it. - Those two who broke the commandments couldn't be helped. It's a shame about Haruka. He could've perhaps been saved like me. - Losing to that person's fine. I have surely been saved by this prison. Look...! My real self has been saved! Muu - Kusunoki Muu. What, you lying Warden-san? -shudder- Was Muu being like this what you wanted? - You said I was forgiven. Even though you said that Muu was forgiven...! Just going back on what you say... the worst. - Tying up Muu... making me suffer, enjoying making me look terrible... Warden-san and everyone else all make Muu suffer without care. - What should I do? Haruka-kun ended up dying. Hey, Warden-san, you knew this would happen, right? - Muu just doesn't understand. I don't like it, I want to go home. I don't wanna talk with Warden-san. Kazui - Mukuhara Kazui. There's nothing else I need to say. I'm just another killer. - Forgiven, huh, all the same. I can't forgive myself. Nothing has changed. Nothing can change. - Blame yourself/myself. Always. There's no one else I could blame. The one who I could blame... is no longer here. - In the end, people died. Even though was vigilant against Yuzuriha-chan. There was no one I could protect. You thought I could help, so you forgave me... Sorry. For not being useful. - What went wrong? Where was I mistaken? How... did I fool myself? How... can I not have cared? Amane - I am Amane. Warden-san, for the you that is lost within this chaotic prison, why don't you follow me? Let me guide the way. - Thank you very much for forgiving me. What's more, thanks to you I have been able to build my own faith. And at the same time... I have realised my mistake. - Kajiyama Fuuta... he is my number one. Is there a problem with that? The lost, fallen him, he has achieved the light of faith with me, not you. So long as there is something to believe in, people can withstand anything. - Kirisaki Shidou... yes, I purged him. What is it? I warned him many times. Many, many, many, many, maNY, MANY TIMES! You should've stopped him!! YOU, OF ALL PEOPLE! - I was wrong. The faith I believed in was incomplete! That's why there are people who break it, people who go against it. And Milgram, too, cannot be relied upon. So! I've made my own! An original...! Hahahaha! Hahahahaha! Mikoto - Kayano... Mikoto, huh. Yeah, that's right, that's me. Haha, what am I saying? - I was forgiven, right? I see... Ah, no, I'm happy. But I didn't do anything... yeah? - Hey, it feels like something inside of me died... I'm uneasy. Anxious. I'm tired, I just want to stop. Everything... - Haha. I said, three strikes, nothing more to say. That's why I- it all- ...right. But, then, is this... killed? I killed...? - (throws up) I killed... I really... killed someone... me, while I didn't know... why... how... could this have been... alone...! Kotoko - Yuzuriha Kotoko. You've shown your face in front of me, hm. Don't come any closer, or I'll bite.

- I punished the people that you did not forgive. The fact that you give me up now is proof that you've realised that. If you are not prepared to give out the punishment, then there is no way you can hand out the judgement! - Someone died. Even though you stopped me, the people you wanted to save... At least I'll take my sins with my own hands... it's a shame. - Isn't it sad? It's painful, isn't it? That's the feeling of loss at the hands of evil. It just affirms me. Es! Your anger and sadness, I'll return that back to you! - Heh. Well, whatever. Crying or laughing, it ends up like this anyways. Let's do our settlement of this, Es.

[sonobeunitsarecool]

Hhhhh

Quick thoughts on… everything…

I think Mahiru died first. Partially because she said she needed to thank Shidou on Kotoko’s birthday timeline, but also because I can totally see Mahiru dying as an incentive for Haruka to decide, oh, don’t want that to happen to Muu/the chaos means no one will be watching. That, and Shidou would not have tried very hard to stay alive (assuming Amane killed him) if Mahiru and Haruka died; the whole reason he lives is because he thinks he’s needed. Should that purpose go away, well, passive suicidal ideation could have made him fairly willing to die.

I’m not sure what Kazui was doing. Violence on the part of the others was something he’d have been in a very good position to stop, and it’s one of the more meta voting reasons to have voted him forgiven in T2. Keep him alive and violence won’t happen, right? Well, wrong.

Muu won’t be happy with Es. She was unforgiven. So was the only person she built a connection with, and he even died after he’d warned Es that that’s exactly what he’s do. The restraints weren’t enough to keep him from hurting himself, that or he found another way…? Either way, to Muu, Es is at fault. Not her. She’s in a terrible situation, and it’s gotten worse after she thought she’d be safe.

Kotoko probably won’t double down on violence as a solution. She seemed affected by Mahiru’s position and likely her subsequent death, plus she’s restrained. I’m not sure if Shidou would have hurt her (I still think that his second verdict may have given him a bit of a saviour complex), but she’s alive. She has to see the consequences of her actions up close, and considering that Milgram started almost immediately after all of the respective crimes occurred, it’d be the first time. Her victim wouldn’t have been something she saw too much in detail after, but this was a drawn out event.

I’m honestly terribly affected by this, mostly Shidou. He’s been a comfort character of sorts ever since I got into Milgram a few weeks before Triage came out. I also think it may be because I didn’t expect him to die. Since Muu’s voting ended before I could vote myself, he was never likely to survive, in my head. Same with Mahiru, an unstable condition means that anything could have happened, and so I wasn’t certain she’d survive. But Shidou? I assumed that, at the very least, he wouldn’t actively try to die because of his desire to help the others, and that Kazui would be able to protect him from Kotoko or Amane, or anyone else. It’s proof that two consecutive forgiven verdicts were not guarantees to stay alive.

In line with the Milgram studies, I think that this was a doomed scenario from the start. Looking at the T2 results, nothing would have saved Mahiru. Haruka had a chance to live. Shidou and Amane, after looking through other posts and thinking about it, may have been “mutually exclusive routes”. But, hang on, those were things that happened because of the T1 results.

If anyone but Kotoko was unforgiven, they’d have been attacked and injured. If Kotoko was unforgiven in T1, she’d have been more hostile. If, if, if.

No matter which way you go, whatever permutations are picked, it’s all a “bad end”. Someone gets hurt. Someone dies. It’s a lot like the cases for each of the people being judged; things just spiral. Anything that looked like a good option at the time has turned out to be the “wrong” choice to make. And maybe that’s supposed to be how it is, after all, Es fits the criteria for being a prisoner of Milgram themselves now. The warden is now a killer due to our actions.

I don’t think there ever was a happy ending for Milgram from the start. I think that’s by design, because much like the initial studies this is named after, choosing to participate means you hurt someone. And then you keep going. And then we all, using Es as the extension of our will, played into the game. And from there on out it would all be bad.

The only way we could have “won” would be if we never played. The way Milgram is set up, the way we are able to interact with the cast, it’s set up on purpose to be a trap, black-and-white.

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Kotoko's birthday timeline convo

Mahiru: Kotoko-chan... are you there...? Hey, I'm sorry for calling for you. I'm... having a bit of a hard time moving. I've got to... say thank you... to Shidou-san too. Kotoko: You went out of your way to call for me, But I can't even laugh at how carefree and happy-go-lucky it is. Well... if it's a grudge in your parting words, I thought I'd hear you out. Mahiru: A... grudge? No, it's not that... ...happy birthday. Kotoko: ... You've gotta be insane. The implication here is that Mahiru is actually dying, and called for Kotoko on her deathbed, and is yet to say farewell and thank you to Shidou. And Kotoko can't even laugh at it, not when all Mahiru wanted to say is "happy birthday", not anything about how Kotoko beat her up.

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Shidou's birthday timeline convo

Kazui: Hey, you know… aren’t kids good to have? Don’t you have two yourself, Shidou-kun? ‘Cause I could never. For some reason, I’m sort of longing for that. Shidou: Yes, they’re great, and that’s no exaggeration. Even if they aren’t your own child, don’t you think it’s nice to have some kind of connection to the future? If you’re able to leave behind something for them in your own life, Then I think there’s meaning in having been born. And that, that is hope. Kazui: You really are admirable. I can’t help but find it dazzling. …but, I guess I can kind of understand. Sometimes I get oddly sentimental, thinking that my existence is nothing but adding one more person to the population of the earth, then taking that one person away. I guess that being able to do something for the bad kids here would be the same kind of hope that Shidou-kun said. But I feel that I won’t be able to do it. Shidou: …haha. I’ll ask you for a favour, Mukuhara-san. Please, protect the children. Oh because none of these timeline conversations are ominous in the slightest, nope. Seems like Kazui is again being set up as a "protector" of sorts, being both the oldest and also better with the kids than Shidou is. Shidou seems like he's implying that he won't be able to "protect the children", does he think that Amane or someone else is going to hurt him? Or, does he realise that he's too blinded by his own grief to see the younger prisoners as themselves and not a living reminder of his own family? A while ago I made a comment where I said that Shidou looked like he was heading in the direction of depressed god/saviour complex, with his focus on "saving" people (i.e, his patients, his family, the prisoners, at the expense of his own stability). I still think his character is heading in that direction, and in a way I think his mindset is kind of frozen in time. He's still stuck in his efforts to save his family, and I wonder if he's actually grieved them. Kazui, on the other hand, has a long history of pretending it's all fine and laughing it off, with him choosing to enter a relationship with Hinako, and then later (after a period of time where, I presume, he still didn't develop the feelings for her he thought he would) chose to marry her. Unlike Shidou, who's actions were driven by a desperate desire to protect his (genuinely, it seems) happy family life that fit in with Japanese societal standards, Kazui's tragedy was one that was of his own making. Years before Milgram, he chose to pretend to love someone, whereas Shidou had his family taken from him from an accident. Kazui saw this coming, that is to say, and is used to knowing that any sense of peace and happiness is either temporary or a lie. Shidou isn't used to it, but they both know what it's like to lie to someone you're obligated to care for, and chose to care for. ...I'm sure I started off with a point, but I've lost it.

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Mikoto's birthday timeline conve

Amane: ...Who are you? I'm deeply interested. Are you saying that you are not "Kayano Mikoto"? Mikoto: Hah, who "I" am? Yeah, that's what "I" wanna know. Whoa, don't get any closer than that. "I'm" in my rebellious phase, can't guarantee I won't kill ya, kid or not. Just keep being quiet and leave. Amane: ...I will follow your advice. However, if you wish for salvation, you should come to us. We shall pray together. Whoever you may be, salvation exists for all. Mikoto: Tch, as if. If God really exists, let him try be a saviour. For us. "I'll" pray as much as "I" like.

Haha identity crisis go brrr

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Yuno's birthday timeline convo

Shidou: Thank you, for keeping Shiina-kun company and helping her during her treatment. It's thanks to your aid, Kashiki-kun, that I can help. Both her, and myself. Even if something were to happen to me, so long as Kashiki-kun is here then I can rest easy. Yuno: No way, I could never. I can't really do anything on my own. Helping Shidou-san is about all I can do. It's just a pretense of make-believe nursing. Shidou: No, Kashiki-kun has a real knack for this. You're perceptive, able to keep a cool head, and you have the guts for it. If you haven't yet decided on your prospects for after graduation, how about aiming for a career in healthcare? Yuno: Really? ...hahah, c'mon. I don't want to think about anything like the future. 'Sides, my current involvement in people's lives... I can't find that funny.

Oh? Yuno's being set up as a possible pillar for the others to lean on, particularly if something bad were to happen to Shidou. It's a part to play, and a heavy mantle. It seems to have many similarities with what is known about her story; it was something that is an "adult's task", and yet, she's performing more than admirably. I don't think she's quite sure why she's doing all this to help out the other prisoners, since she appears to have more of a knack for knowing the emotions behind other people's actions and words rather than her own. I may just be projecting, but it reminds me of alexithymia. Yuno seems to downplay her helpfulness and capabilities, dismissing the future as something dull and unsavoury to think of ("I think 40 years would be just right", much?). She has a lack of care for the future, a type of "who gives a damn" attitude, and a desire to fill that lacking "warmth" that appears to be akin to chronic depression. It's not an actively suicidal type, but more... if Yuno got executed in Milgram, I don't think she'd panic, and give a bitter, cutting remark to Es. It's also interesting how Shidou is also setting Yuno up as a makeshift nurse. He doesn't seem to treat her like a child, unlike those not too much younger than her, acknowledging that working in healthcare could be a field of study that she may have an inclination towards. I had thought that Shidou would more or less develop some kind of god complex in trial 3, based off of some of the lyrics in Triage. Here though, he's attributing much of Mahiru's recovery to Yuno, but still seems to set her at more of an arms' distance. Perhaps he's too deep in "doctor mode"?

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Kazui's birthday timeline convo

Mikoto: --No, y'know. I appreciate the sentiment, but... Not even I know what I'm gonna do. Best I don't stay with everyone for a bit. I mean... ahaha, aren't you scared, Kazu-san? Kazui: Mm, 'cause of my job, I'm used to dealing with the more stormy youth. There'll be a reason for it. I got no interest into prying, though. Well, if you feel like it, talk to me whenever. It's gotta be depressing to be alone all the time. I'll hang out with you*, if you need to reduce your stress. Mikoto: Yeah... when it comes to relying on others, I'm, y'know, not used to it. What can I say, I just feel like I'm a bother. That pathetic feeling, I just can't stand it... Gotta say, that all makes me feel very Japanese, ahaha... Kazui: Hmm... Well, that's fine. If it's easier like that, I won't push. It's just, hey, even in your twenties you're still a child. Being so hard on yourself is admirable, sure, but I don't mind if you're a little troublesome to me. I mean, I'm nearing forty and I'll always be a kid, yeah? *Can be interpreted as either "going out with friends" or "going out (as in, steady romantic relationship)". I assume it's somewhat meant to be ambiguous, since the conversation is kinda just... Mikoto: Appreciate the concern but I'm probably not good to be around. Kazui: Yep, kids, I'm used to it, no problem. Here's some reassurance that I don't secretly hate you, because you look like your blood is made of energy drinks at this point. Mikoto: Ahaha I really don't want to be a bother. Like, at all. Super passive and diligent Japanese office worker, that's me, nothing else... Kazui: ...okay, you're really not a bother, but I won't place you under even more stress. It's fine to be childish, I'm almost 40 and look, I too am a disaster.

[sonobeunitsarecool]

Muu birthday timeline convo

Muu: Muu thinks that it's all Kotoko-san's fault in the end. Everyone's so desperate 'cause Kotoko-san went berserk. No one really cares about Muu anymore. It's kinda boring. I don't understand the meaning of it. Kotoko: ...did you come here just to tell me that? Hey you, you aren't afraid of me? My "fangs" might point in your direction next. Muu: Why? Kotoko-san, you punish the bad people, right? Muu... did nothing wrong. I mean, fufu, you talk like you're okay, but... Kotoko-san's the one who won't be forgiven, right? What'll you do then? Will your "fangs" bite into yourself? Fufu, how interesting. I wanna see that~ Kotoko: ...you're good at provokation. I pray that you won't be forgiven. When that time comes, I'll crush you. Thoroughly. Muu's got that ability to strike right at the heart of the issue, doesn't she? Unlike that minigram where Muu is literally trembling in fear of Kotoko, here it seems that she thinks that she's untouchable. I reckon Muu knows what she's doing, she knows it's getting under Kotoko's skin, and she came to talk to Kotoko just to make a point. And yes, Kotoko's affected! Commenting on how good Muu is at provoking people, and then proving it by saying that she hopes that Muu isn't forgiven, just so she can hurt her. Muu and Mahiru both like to play into that, don't they? Mahiru into the "airhead" image when she's clearly more understanding of the situation than she appears, and Muu into the "innocent, naive schoolgirl" image when she already knows how to play this game. It's a game of blame, accusation, fault, and so on, and Muu is good at that. Her actions make a lot of sense, she knows she's physically weak and young, so instead she tries to maintain a degree of power and control over the situation, confirming in her first VD that Es does, indeed, have weaknesses, and isn't the "all-powerful warden" they came off as. She's 16. 16-year-olds can be ruthless.

[prisoner-000]

i wonder... would anyone be interested in ever having a 'localization' of certain milgram texts? i think while its great to have a very accurate translation, sometimes the translated texts tend to be very odd in tone by trying to be super accurate, and i have trouble understanding them sometimes. would that be something anyone would be interested in?

[sonobeunitsarecool]

Yeah it's super interesting, because even if a translation is "more accurate/preserves the concepts better", it can often miss out on a lot of personality! Like, the way Fuuta talks is kind of rough ("the hell're ya talkin' 'bout!?"), and the way John/Mikoto/whoever else talks is different to each other. Plus, just, stressed Es vocab shifts.

[sonobeunitsarecool]

Amane birthday timeline convo

Kazui: This old man never really thought about having kids, before ending up here. It's why I was a bit dazzled by you, Amane. Ah, but even with all this, I do care about you. If things were a little different, maybe I coulda had a kid around Amane's age. Amane: ...to be without children is also one shape your life may take. To raise a child is most respectable, however it is should not be a promise of, nor a barometer indicating, absolute happiness. If you make your own choice to carry out the duties that you can, then that is a life to be proud of. Kazui: Ah, true. But no, even if it were hoped for. The way a child is raised and taught by their parents can easily shape the course of their entire life. I know it first-hand. You can't really hold the responsibility here. Yeah. Well, there are things I guess this old man can say to you younger ones. I reckon you should do the things you like. Do what you wanna do. It's not a matter of if you're a kid or not. Just, don't lie about your own feelings. Amane: Who it is I am preaching to... isn't something I need to be told. For I am following my own feelings. I am my own.

Hm. Lot longer than the one about Haruka (didn't even get to talk on his own birthday). Kazui does get along well with Amane, particularly in comparison to Shidou. It could be that one sees himself as a parent, and can only see his own children in place of Amane (Shidou), while the other sees himself as an outsider to the topic of "family", just going off of the more familiar "older guides, younger listens" idea that's a little more prevalent in Japan. Kazui seems to both say that her actions are her own, but that she was not responsible for the circumstances in which she ended up in. It shows how both of them have grown, especially in regards to the idea of accountability. Kazui is beginning to admit to himself (and maybe hinting to others) at his own feelings, while Amane here is quite notably putting emphasis on herself, as in, she admits to following her own feelings and not being a mere vessel for her "god". She is self-possessed, that last part of "I am my own" is "私は、私の", which may be translated as "Myself belongs to me". I like it.

[sonobeunitsarecool]

Haruka birthday timeline convo

Shidou: I'm worried about Sakurai-kun. I haven't seen him for quite some time. Have you been able to talk to him at all, Kusunoki-kun? Muu: It's just fine. Look, look, Muu is bringing him food every day, just like this. Isn't it so admirable of me? Shidou: Yes, very much so. About Sakurai-kun, I apologise for leaving him in your care. It should be the responsibility of the adults, however I've ended up placing a huge burden on your backs... Muu: Oh, don't worry about it. 'Cause, Muu and Haruka are friends, after all.

[sonobeunitsarecool]

Fake meme translyrics (PinocchioP)

See that’s a lie This too’s a lie You too are a lie, you too, you too What is “true”, holds no grace, won’t even try What is “true”, feels so cold, making me cry A single bite, the venom flows, can no longer breathe Desperately, confuse the fangs, with mimicry What is “true”, about myself, I cannot abide What is “true”, about myself, I simply must hide Say it like it is, they all turn away, it happens all the time Desperately, say it’s okay, and fall in line Desperately, cover my torn seam, and say it’s fine Pan Am, see me laughing; Filtered, candid picture Embellished, journal entry; Bought, social likes It’s fair-weather, let’s go and play Up on the stage, we dance away Food models, take a bite; Watered down, take a sip Counterfeit, making bank; Knock-off, wear all day I’ll soothe this withered heart, with the lies we all say Spinning globe in our hands; Uneasy peace in our hearts Under the artificial sky; Bought, social likes Pulling the strings of the puppet that’s me This fake meme’s all that I can see I hold to me, a doll, empty and made to look like me And hoped to find, a warm “truth” I could believe Yet all I’d find, was a fake “truth”, I couldn’t believe

See that’s a lie But here is a truth That’s right, an untruth, untruth

What is “true”, about yourself, do you even know? What is “true”, that you feel, is quite strange, no? You could say that it’s love, could say that it’s kind But roses have thorns, and so Without a word, my garden wilt, as I watched you go

I’ll Love a fake love and tour a fake tour and Work a fake work and rest a fake rest and- Crocodile tears, so touched; Pseudo-news, swallowed up Silk flowers, a nice touch; Emperor’s clothes, it’s in style Totes new trend, let’s follow; Saying “it’s me, PinocchioP”* From a bud that was burned down, a lie began to sprout

Spinning globe in our hands; Uneasy peace in our hearts Under the artificial sky; Bought, social likes Whoever’s pulling the strings of “me”, This fake meme’s all I wanna see A forgery of who I want to be, and the process is simply A “truth”-ectomy, cures the pain, and left empty

Pan Am, see me laughing; Filtered, candid picture Embellished, journal entry; Bought, social likes It’s fair-weather, let’s go and play Up on the stage, we dance away Food models, take a bite; Watered down, take a sip Counterfeit, making bank; Knock-off, wear all day I’ll soothe this withered heart, with the lies we sing again, today

Spinning globe in our hands; Uneasy peace in our hearts Under the artificial sky; Bought, social likes Pulling my strings with every pluck This fake meme’s just not enough I hold to me, a doll, empty and made to look like me And hoped to find, a warm “truth” I could believe Yet all I’d find, was a fake “truth”, I couldn’t believe ‘Cause my old “truth”, that I believed, was lying to me

Untrue, so pointlessly untrue, Falsehood, tragic, cowardly useless falsehood, A lie, though we’ve saved hearts with this lie, Yet in the end, there’s no “truth”, could you believe? * (please note that I am not actually PinocchioP, I just thought it'd be funny for the "singing fake songs" part)