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/ orv epilogue + sp identity spoilers , cw blood

!! Please do NOT reupload my comics / works anywhere !!

(Read right to left)

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[Yu Jonghyuk's "▪️▪️" is "Open Ending"]

Lil theory of mine :) his story has no end written out for him. Instead, it's decided by the reader... dokja. Kim dokja chooses his Ending, which is also most fitting because we don't know it, and it was never revealed. Therefore open ended~

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"When something fucked up is treated as a joke but later it's recognised how fucked up it was and the audience feels guilty for finding it funny" haha "I'm the protagonist" cringe

I love when fiction makes the audience feel guilty about their role as the audience. When something fucked up is treated as a joke but later it's recognised how fucked up it was and the audience feels guilty for finding it funny. When a character breaks the fourth wall to plead for help, and you can't do anything so you just watch. And you know that the characters pain isn't real, but they're begging for help and you're not helping because their suffering is entertainment for you

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I haven't really said much about what I think of him from a writing perspective, though I certainly have a lot to say - but I really think it goes underappreciated just how logistically impressive of a character Mikoto is besides his VA's performance. Despite being presented as a wild card, he fits seamlessly into the wider MILGRAM narrative. He's the most obvious demonstration of one of MILGRAM's major themes - plurality, which I'd argue is as much of a repeating theme as love or punishment. He's also a reflection of Es on a personal level and a great foil to Kotoko.

Whenever someone says that Mikoto having DID is bad writing, it annoys me so much because that I really do not think it is. Mikoto of all prisoners being a system makes so much sense because it fits him so well you simply cannot subtract it from him - two of the central themes of Mikoto’s character is built around identity and lack of power - e.g. building his identity around what others want of him. Exploited as an employee by his boss - and that’s echoed with DID. Uncertain sense of identity due to dissociation. Not having complete control over his own body.

All of the alters have their own reasoning behind what they do that may contradict each other's and cause them to clash. However, MILGRAM doesn't present any of them as being in the wrong. We're given enough reason to sympathize with any of them and understand them. And again, this is impressive because these are two or three different characters that make up Mikoto as a whole, all of them having a place in the story.

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The thing about milgram is that at the end of the day no matter what heinous actions got them in this situation all these characters are a victim of a system that has done more harm than it proclaims to do good. The characters are flawed people with selfdestructive tendencies that end(ed) up affecting others and i will nawt be persuaded into ostracizing them because some mysogynistic bunny with horns told me theyre murderers that deserve to be punished and thats independent on whether i approve/condone/excuse their actions or not

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i think the way the book became 3rd person pov when kim dokja got off the train is one of the most fucking genius literary moves ive seen in years

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「The story 'Life and Death Companions' wants to continue.」

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Shidou Kirisaki killed for his son, not his wife

After a lot of thinking, I think I've got a solid theory for how Shidou's crime went. Stick with me here

His wife and 2 kids get into a car crash, and only his oldest child survives. He needs organ transplants, but due to the complicated perception of brain death in Japan, there's not enough organ donors.

Shidou starts trying to convince families of brain dead patients to sign them up as organ donors, but doesn't get the organs he needs for his son because he's not in control of what goes where obviously.

He gets more desperate as time goes on and his child's state worsens, and just kills braindead patients himself, making it seem like an accident. Again he's not in control of where the organs go, so he has to kill many people so that the organs can go to his surviving family.

His son dies during the organ transplant, or shortly after.

Shidou turns himself in because he has nothing to live for anymore.

Evidence & other details under the cut v

The car crash

In the intro of Triage, Shidou is walking home with groceries. By itself it's not weird or anything, but it could imply that his wife had the car to drive the kids to or from school at that moment.

In the scene of Throw Down where Shidou wakes up (alone, in a double bed), it zooms on broken glass on the floor. Glass in cars are made to break into pieces when they suffer shock.

In his T2 interrogation, Shidou is asked that question.

His wife and youngest kid die in the crash, his oldest kid is the only one that survives

In Triage, his youngest child is always clinging to their mother, implying a certain connection between them. (this is going somewhere I swear)

The theme of receipts being patient files is present in both Throw Down and Triage; so when this scene in Triage happens, it implies that he's giving those lives to his son. He does not do the same for his wife, or his youngest kid.

In the part where he puts his hand over his face in Triage, you can see that. Again with the 2 groups.

In Throw Down, 2 wilted flowers are under a glass case, while one wilted flower isn't. That could symbolize that 2 of them are enclosed in a coffin, and the last one isn't, even though he's already wilted.

The receipt/patient file that Shidou rips up at the end of Throw Down: it's hard to see what it says exactly (what organ IS that), but you can see that the XY chromosomes are ticked off. So unless his wife is trans (which would be great), the last file to expire, or be destroyed, or the life to die, is a boy's. That's why I keep referring to his oldest child as a boy (unless that child is trans which would be great again, but I doubt that milgram would do that). The name there says something like Rei/Kei/Kai Kirisaki. It would be confusing if both Shidou's son and Mu's victim are named Rei, but that might be the case.

Shidou tries to convince families to sign their braindead relatives as organ donors

Aesculapius:

Shidou stops asking and just takes the organs (or kills the braindead patients) himself, passing it off as accidents

Throw Down: You can see him reassuring a grieving family, and "sniffing out lies"

Aesculapius:

I think it would be weird if his "murder" was just convincing families to sign their relatives up as organ donors (even though that does count as medical malpractice)

His son dies during the organ transplant, or shortly after

Throw Down: His human-shaped flower abomination starts moving again, but after stepping out of the hospital bed, it crumbles into pieces, and Shidou is horrified. Flowers represent the lives he's cutting to add to it.

Shidou turns himself in

I have no evidence for that one, but what else would he even do. In the start of T1, he's asking for the death sentence.

Other Fun Facts:

Shidou used to cook pancakes for his kids. That's why he's so insistant on Amane trying them in minigram. (There are two plates of them on the floor.)

His children liked to draw. probably why he's started drawing as a hobby in milgram.

The intro of Triage where he's walking home with groceries is (according to me) a memory of the day he got the news of the car crash. You can see the groceries through the MV, discarded on the floor or rotting. They're pomegranates, whose insides look like human organs - and he gives the receipts for them to his son. At first it's just groceries, but then they're human lives.

The phone call translates to "Hi this is Kirisaki, I'm busy right now, please call later" or something like that, implying he was busy when someone called to inform him of the deaths.

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IK IT'S SUS LOOKIN, but literal definition of "don't judge a book by its cover" or title in this case. It's a beautiful story about 2 outcasts of society and how they're seen as dirty and it's prequel where a gay man doesn't want a boy to think he has two dads. Ugh the prequel brooo TT^TT

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Imagine getting isekai’ed into otome game as a background character, watching the main character going down routes as you live your peaceful, mundane life, but you’ve unknowingly been going down a route as well, a route for a hidden character that you didn’t discover during your time playing the game.

That character being the reason the game has a dark content warning.

Gosh anon, that idea is so good!!!! I didn't know it would tickle all the right places in my brain, but when I started I couldn't stop lol. Love it, thank you for sending it in ♥

If this had one of these super long titles that are tmi it would be:

I got Isekai'ed into an Otome Game as a Background Character and now I Have to Finish It with the Secret Yandere Love Interest!!

»»———————— ♡ ————————««     

A serene smile spread over your lips as you watched the two lovebirds in the corner of your coffee shop.

Swirling the milk into a cup, it created a little white heart surrounded by foamy coffee, its aroma drifting into your nose. Had someone told you that the little things like a cup of coffee made with love and care were enough to give you the peace of mind you always wanted in your previous life, you would have laughed at them. For you, it had always been the hustle, the making money, finding a partner, and creating a family. Make everyone proud while being successful, whether it costs you nights of sleep or days without proper meals. But looking at yourself now, it all seemed so far away now, and you let out a content sigh before setting down the cup in front of the customer at the bar. 

"You seem happy today," your regular at the counter noted, picking up the cup and taking a moment to appreciate the aroma just like you had. A smile sneaked onto their lips, too, after they took a sip, and you couldn't help but feel your heart swell with pride and happiness when they gave you a satisfied nod. 

"I am! I'm really getting accustomed to my new life here, it's... been a while since I've been so content."

The truth behind everything that happened to you was something you couldn't speak about lightly. Not when it turned the life you knew upside down, leaving you to start over completely. One day you were an employee of a well-known company, responsible for sales and reports and everything stressful. And the next, you were in your favorite, cozy video game, running the coffee shop the main character liked to visit with all the romance options in the game.

Isekai was the genre that came to mind when you thought about your situation. Luckily you were spared the memories of your death in the real world, the circumstances blurry as you barely remembered going home late from work, only to wake up in this very different universe. Perhaps you were just comatose, and this was a dream. Still, by now, you had managed to slip into your role as the barista of the small coffee shop, a barely mentioned background character, just fine.

Your eyes jumped back to the couple in the corner, giggling and teasing each other over a group project, and you felt an immense relief you weren't reincarnated as the main protagonist and had to go through the years of studying and trying to establish connections with the love interests again. You already did that in your old life, and it wasn't as romantic and fun as the game made it out to be. You only played it because it got your mind off things, the art was pretty, and it had the exact amount of cozy time management you needed to relax. But living as the main character in it? No, thank you!

"Jealous?" your regular teased, and you chuckled, shaking your head. They tapped their—now empty—cup, and you took it from them, replacing it with some water until you had the next cup of coffee ready for them.

"I just think it's cute. I never had someone so interested in me they'd take me out for coffee and share their cake with me when I was younger."

Your words tasted a little bitter on your tongue. Still, you genuinely couldn't wish for anything but the main character's happiness. It was just the feeling of being loved, desired, and wanted that you missed, even though your new life was more than satisfactory despite you feeling a little lonely sometimes.

"Well, it's never too late to start," they chuckled, taking up their fork and cutting off the tip of their strawberry shortcake, including the big chunk of strawberry on top, picking it up and holding it out towards you. 

"Oh, I wouldn't dare--"

"I insist! As thanks for the amazing coffee every time I come here."

Nudging your lips with their fork, you let out an awkward chuckle. It was okay, right? They wouldn't sue you for eating the cake they paid for, would they? This was just a silly little game. What could go wrong with you accepting their kindness?

Opening your lips, you let them feed you the cake, taking a moment to let the sweet and fruity notes mix with the fluffy whip cream before you were sent straight to heaven. Not to toot your own horn, but your baking skills had improved so much since you started working at the shop. Who knew you had that in you?

Occupied with the moment of bliss as you let the cake flavor mix in your mouth, you hummed happily before devoting yourself back to making the coffee with a smile on your face. Unaware of your regular fixating on the fork you had just eaten from, staring at it like it was some strange artifact. Your phone dinged softly in its drawer, and you checked it briefly to see the notification pinging up, saying, "Achievement unlocked: Cake-Master - Provide the most delicious cake to your customers."

"Excuse me!" the main character called out to you, stepping up to the counter, and you directed your attention to her, ignoring the little game notification you've been receiving since starting your new life here, the love interest not far away before the two began fighting over who was going to pay the bill this time lovingly. Of course, the love interest won, but you wouldn't have expected it any other way. Seeing the blush on the main character's face after her romance option told her he'd "always take care" of her made you grin like a little fan, and you cheered them on in your head. 

By the time you returned to your regular, their knuckles had gone white with how hard they were gripping the fork in their hand, their eyes following the couple who was about to leave. For a moment, it made you wonder if they had a crush on either of them, their sweet interaction surely uncomfortable if that was the case. But you didn't remember there being a jealousy scene in the game. You'd know, almost playing it 100% before your death. There apparently was a secret route you never got but were trying your hardest to achieve. Now you were left to wonder what it entailed.

But the second you returned, they looked up at you, expression softening and the tension disappearing, and you chalked it up to having witnessed a cringe moment that they had gotten so awkward. "Thank you for the cake, that was really nice of you! Do you want another fork?" you asked and were met with a headshake and a smile. 

They quickly began eating their cake and complimenting your baking skills, stroking your growing ego when they rubbed their belly. 

"I never had a cake that good!" they proclaimed, and you laughed out loud, overjoyed that you had made them so happy. 

"Say..." they suddenly spoke up again, leaning on the counter and watching you with gentle eyes. Your heart set out for a second, tension rising as you didn't know what they were going to ask. Ever since you opened the coffee shop, the main character, love interests, and this regular had come by constantly. If you were honest, you enjoyed their visits more and more. Their presence felt like it belonged here with you, and you were a part of something bigger after all, washing away the small, lonely part of you. 

And maybe... just maybe... this was how your happy end would play out.

"Are you this nice to every customer?"

Halting your movements, you set aside the brew head that you used on the espresso machine, despite having to clean it, thinking about your answer for a moment. It was a strange question to ask someone who worked in customer service. Still, you appreciated your regular, so you didn't want to give them a snarky answer.

"Uhm, well, I am just trying to make everyone feel welcome! But of course, it's a bit different with my regulars! After all, they come here often, like a second family. So I guess I'm a bit nicer because you really get to know and appreciate these people that stay to chat and tell stories."

"I see," they muttered. "Family, huh..."

After that, you suddenly were swamped with sudden orders, excusing yourself to fulfill them, chatting and laughing with even the people that were just passing by. Maybe you really were just nice? Perhaps this new environment had made you more relaxed and gentle than the harsh world you lived in, and it was showing? But their question was shoved into the back of your mind as you kept fulfilling orders and earning your keep.

Once the rush was over, you returned to your regular, only to find their seat empty. Strange, you thought. You could have sworn that you felt their eyes on you the whole time you were away, but luckily, they didn't walk out on their tab, leaving the money and a folded-up napkin beneath their empty cup for you to find. You quickly stored away the bills, trusting your regular with knowing what they had to pay after so many weeks of the same order.

You were about to throw away their napkin when you noticed some red marks on them, unwrapping the paper to find a note scribbled in what you had to assume was ink. 

"You're so beautiful when you laugh."

The surprise wore off quite fast, and you smiled, thinking nothing of it but that it was a nice compliment from your regular. Still, you ended up throwing the napkin away—not knowing if it was dirty, after all—taking the coffee cup and plate to the sink to clean them, overseeing the red tip on the fork that was too dark to be from the strawberry.

The rest of your day was uneventful, and by the time you were closing, you were tired and ready to tug in for the night, wrapping up your business at the shop quickly before walking home. You didn't have a chance to look at your phone since you glanced at the achievement notification, so you took it out, startled when you saw a dozen new messages. 

Achievement unlocked: Happy new life - Be content with your new life

Achievement unlocked: A fork for two! - Share a fork with someone special

Achievement unlocked: Jealousy - Make someone special jealous

Achievement unlocked: Soothing - Calm someone special down with your presence

Achievement unlocked: Family - Have someone be moved by your words

Achievement unlocked: The nicest person in town - Be beloved by all, but especially by someone special

Achievement unlocked: Blood in the cup - Have someone hurt themselves at your coffee shop

Achievement unlocked: Wonder-Barista - Complete twenty orders in less than thirty minutes

Achievement unlocked: Strange compliment - Receive a compliment through unusual means

Achievement unlocked: Blooming infatuation - Have someone special fall in love with you

Achievement unlocked: Shop-Pro! - Close the shop twenty times after making a profit from your work

Achievement unlocked: Tired - Hard workers deserve to relax

You blinked a few times, surprised by what you were reading and a little weirded out by some of these achievements. They gave you some extra coins in your shop till and reputation with the townspeople, so you usually didn't mind them. But to say some of their descriptions were weird was an understatement. You couldn't even remember someone getting hurt at your workplace that day.

By the time you reached your apartment, you decided to ignore the strange notifications and just let the day come to an end with a hot bath and your favorite show. But you were startled when your phone suddenly began ringing loudly, even though you had turned off the sound back at the coffee shop after the first notification. The first messages that appeared before you were more achievements, and you stopped turning the key in your door as you read them.

Achievement unlocked: Follower - Have someone special follow you home

Achievement unlocked: Welcome home! - Arrive at home, not alone

Achievement unlocked: Wherever you go, I'll be watching you - Ɨ ΔΜ ΔŁŴΔ¥Ş ŴΔŦĆĦƗŇǤ ¥ØỮ

Lifting your head, you looked around you, glancing over your shoulder and into the courtyard below. No one was out; everyone was at home eating dinner and occupied with their lives. Confused, you swiped all the notifications away before another pop-up appeared.

ALERT! You're about to enter X's route. Do you want to continue?

> Yes > No

Panicked at this point, you pressed "No," but nothing happened. You kept tapping it repeatedly, not understanding what was happening with your phone. But nothing changed, the notification staying in place. The sound of something breaking inside your apartment tore your focus away from your phone, startling you. 

You must have finally managed to close it, the pop-up disappearing just as you unlocked the door to your apartment, still having held on to the key when you were surprised by the sound. Darkness and silence greeted you from inside, everything seemingly normal.

Majorly confused, you shook your head, slowly entering the hallway leading inside. "Hello?" you called out, reaching for the light switch. The light flickered on, and... there was no one. Holding your breath, no sound reached your ears, and you groaned, realizing you got freaked out about... nothing. 

This wasn't some kind of horror game, and the story never had a murder-solving subplot. True, the ratings for it were kind of strange—it being rated as 18+ on the website—but seriously, what should happen in a cozy little city like the one the game played in? You didn't even think they had a police station here.

Pushing off your shoes as you shrugged off the weird feeling from before, you walked up the hallway to your living room, turning on the light before coming to an abrupt halt. There were broken pieces of glass underneath your living room window, but what really freaked you out came into view only when you lifted your head. You could look into the mirror of your cabinet door from your position, red marker dripping from it as if someone had hastily scribbled on it just seconds ago. You weren't sure it was a pen anymore, judging by its deep red color and the fluidity of it.

"𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺"

Your phone pinged.

Achievement unlocked: 

On the Highway to Hell - Unlock the secret route

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just been thinking about them once in a while… this anime really made me feel so introspective about my past and present relationships (in a good way)

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I’m tired of people acting like Zhongli is a serious and chill guy who would never cause problems on purpose as if he isn’t one of the biggest menaces out of the Seven. He used to throw mountains at Venti for annoying him. He, the god of history, starts fights among historians for shits and giggles. He tried to gaslight the Traveler into thinking he was totally not at the Chasm guys really Aether/Lumine you must be seeing things maybe you should go see Baizhu. When Qiqi wanted “Cocogoat” milk he was like “Oh yeah sure totally let’s go look for it” knowing damn well it was a wild goose chase. He made the Traveler sing to a flower and then was like “Oh would you look at that” when a Whooperflower jumped out to maul them. I love him. He’s like a cat pushing things off the counter to see how people react. I would pay to see him interact directly with Neuvillette because I know for a fact he’d get on that man’s nerves and argue about water tasting just to feel something. Furina used freedom from godhood to take a nap and Zhongli used it to give psychic damage to anyone who talks to him longer than 5 minutes. Iconic.

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an escort, a yakuza, and a manga artist walk into a kindergarten class

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happy birthday dear reader