#MIKOTO INNOCENT

[iris-drawing-stuff]

Mikoto on the train

[the-dragon-girl-27]

this is one of those things where it was funny in my head but now that i drew it i realize it was probably not worth the effort  but no point in not posting it i guess i find watching the Mu saga unfold extreamilly funny for some reason i wish i had a quality pic of the % being even lower

[dreamii-yume]

Aight, for my first proper thirst post after my long vacation, I present to you :

This fucking music video. Oh, Kayano Mikoto, the woman that you have made me 🧎‍♀️

But no, this music video is actually very sad 😭 Because not only does it confirms Mikoto having another personality, but this song is sung almost entirely by that other personality—“John” as Es calls him, short for “John Doe”

Mikoto is a tragic character y’all, I know we were all hornii about him during his first trial ☠️ But goddamn, his story is one of my favorites to dissect.

I really believed Mikoto when he said that he couldn’t remember a thing about his murders, because he doesn’t seem like he’s lying and seemed genuinely confused—So, I ended up entertaining the theory that his brain is actually erasing the memory due to trauma ☠️ One anon even theorized that Mikoto himself is the one doing the murder, and “John” is the one trying to protect him, which was something I started to believe in for a while—BUT THEN HIS SECOND TRIAL DROPPED AND HOO BOI, there’s a lot to unpack here lol

First of all, contrary to popular belief, Mikoto is now proven to be a kind character, he doesn’t have ill intentions. He’s a people-pleaser, who always bottles up his feelings and would end up suffering because of this. You could tell from how exhausted he looks, yet he keeps up a smile when talking to other people like his mom so they wouldn’t worry about him. But he’s not okay 😭

Eventually, the stress from his job got to him so bad that “John” was born to protect him from breaking. It’s currently unknown who or how many he killed, but it seems to imply from the Drama CD that it was a bunch of strangers that happened to irritate “John”, so he came out and killed them.

One thing to point out most of all here is that “John” is not evil—He didn’t kill just for laughs, he killed to protect Mikoto. He knows how kind Mikoto is, but just couldn’t handle the fact that the world mistreats Mikoto so much, taking advantage of his kindness. “John” cares for Mikoto, he was born to do things that Mikoto couldn’t do, because he just can’t sit there and watch as Mikoto break down.

“John” even expresses his distaste for us, the viewers/voters, for calling Mikoto a liar and making him seem like a villain in the first trial. Us, voting him Guilty/Unforgivable only made Mikoto’s stress-level sky-rocket so “John” comes out more in Milgram.

But his music video tells us that “John” does regret his actions. But I don’t think it’s the “I regret killing those people” kind of regret, it’s the “I regret making Mikoto suffer even more by killing those people” kind of regret, because look where that got the both of them. “John” practically ruined Mikoto’s life by trying to save/protect him, hence why I think he was apologizing to Mikoto at the end instead, not to us.

In the Drama CD, “John” basically admits to his murders, but begs Es to forgive/vote Mikoto innocent/forgivable because Mikoto is technically not the one who did the crime. Milgram is judging Mikoto as the Prisoner and not “John”, so he wants to at least put Mikoto at ease by telling him that he is innocent/forgivable. He tells Es that he’s afraid that if Mikoto is voted Guilty again this time around, the “Original kind Mikoto” will soon disappear, and that “John” will have take over. But on the contrary, if we vote Mikoto innocent, then “John” promises that he will be the one disappear.

I feel extremely unwell about their dynamic 🧎‍♀️Mikoto and even “John” deserved better than this. Mikoto doesn’t even know “John” exist bro 😭

[0809sysblings]

how could you vote Amane to not be forgiven. Look At Her ↑

[good-beanswrites]

Any headcanons about Yuno, Muu, and Shidou being guilty in T1, for a total of 7 guilty prisoners? If it means anything, none of them have a higher guilty percent than Amane. (Yuno is 50.85%, Muu is 51.26%, Shidou is 50.96%, based on Pai's graph)

(I see what you're currently working on)

Haha, well I hoped you enjoyed a bit of comedy before I post some dramatic headcanons :3 Thank you for the request, this is a really interesting switch-up for the prison 👀👀👀 A majority guilty cast would carry a much darker tone, but allow for a few people to really shine.

Major guilty reactions:

Yuno: She’s just as bitter about her guilty verdict as she was in canon, becoming cold and isolated. She’s tired of people making judgements about things that are none of their business, and separates herself from everyone. There’s the subtle difference from canon because she actually agrees with this verdict, but still doesn’t think Es should be the one to give it out. Her video has more focus on Es/the audience, we see more people who may judge her (friends, family, etc). More stuffed animals, more crowds, all growing hostile. The video had more substantial hints towards her sadness at the way society looks down on people like her. 

Muu: She becomes panicked and defensive with her judgment. She's flighty, startles easy, and lashes out in fear all the time. Now, she’s the one to consider ending everything – to her, the verdict essentially means “if it was really down to you or her, it shouldn’t have been her.” Her video really highlights that duality, turning both she and Rei into monsters battling for/with the hourglass. Her panicky attitude is reflected in it, feeling like everyone in the world must be out to get her now.

Shidou: He’s at peace with the verdict, and allows himself to fall into misery. He's thankful to be punished for all the guilt he’s been feeling. Kotoko’s attacks only plunge him deeper into despair. He feels helpless and once again can’t save people the way he wanted to. He’s disillusioned with his career and becomes pessimistic and bitter. He takes it out on Es, telling them there’s no way they can save anyone either. His video is full of unavoidable death in nature, like rotting food, changing seasons, and wilting flowers. 

The attacks:

Since the guilty percentage order didn’t change, I’m going to say the attacks themselves happen exactly the same – it’s the aftermath that’s different. Whether it’s due to restraints or locked cells, Shidou isn’t able to offer aid. He has to sit back and talk the others through instruction: Haruka, Kazui, and Mikoto if he can get him to focus. They do their best, but they’ve never done anything like this before. Despite his calm attitude, Shidou isn’t good at explaining things he knows innately under pressure. Fuuta and Mahiru end up in a much worse state, since proper care was denied for so long. (I don’t think they’d kill anyone t2, but if they were willing to, she would have died here). Fuuta’s eye is gone for sure, and he has trouble getting around with his other injuries. Mahiru is barely scraping by, not allowed to leave her bed. Her video is glitchy and confusing due to the unhealed head injury and overall weakness.

Other character details:

Haruka grows even more confident than canon, seeing himself as Muu’s protector as well as the object of her affection. He helps her through her self-harming thoughts, feeling like a hero and a model son again. He threatens Es to vote her innocent, but with his newfound feeling of importance he threatens anothers’ safety, not his own (maybe Amane or Mahiru because they're smaller than him.)

Amane’s hatred for Shidou is actually dulled because he got a guilty verdict too. She believes he’s getting the punishment he deserves, and doesn't need to interfere. She's a little annoyed he's taking the punishment with open arms, though.

Fuuta’s line in Backdraft is just about Kotoko – “why is she innocent?” He feels less singled out among so many guilty prisoners, but he recognizes his parallels with her and it drives him crazy that they got different verdicts.

I won’t spoil anything for Kotoko’s stuff, but she’s a bit less harsh since she believes Es really is just like her, giving unattached, severe judgements. 

Since he was able to help a lot in the attacks, both protecting Fuuta and offering care afterwards, Kazui really leans in the hero role. Whether he enjoyed being a cop before or not, he's consumed by that responsibility now. It gives him purpose and he really takes charge of everyone. He and Kotoko butt heads a lot now that he's speaking up more.

There are conflicted emotions between the innocent prisoners and patients – they know they’re not medically trained, but there’s still a bit of hostility that they didn’t do a good job. There’s a mix of feeling grateful for their aid and bitter it’s not perfect. The innocent ones get a confidence boost that they were able to be useful and protect others instead of hurt them, as well as get crushed by the guilty that they failed at offering great care. 

I'll need more time to ruminate on it, but I wonder if given enough time, would the guilty prisoners band together and attack Kotoko back? It was hard for the canon four, but now they have the numbers...

[mitternacht]

This is the cutest boy in the whole world you WILL give him all of your pocket money

[mayoiayasep]

Can you tell me why you think muu deserved to be innocented in the second trial? Its been a year and I still don't really see a reason to why she should tbh (btw I'm not trying to argue or anything I just want to know your point of view)

the first and the more silly answer is bc i like her i kinda relate to her and she's a 16 y.o girl. being 16 is full of horrors and considering her conditions i don't blame her for snapping and for her attitude in milgram itself ^^

more serious answer is that while like. yea i don't think she's entirely innocent in this scenario especially w the reveal that she was something of a mean girl too, i'm just more mad with like. how guilty she got in comparison with some of the other prisoners. like if she had gotten a almost 50/50 guilty i would've been less bitter about that is more the fact that she got a 74% guilty vote when a character like mikoto got the same percentage in the opposite direction. like atp i'm team "vote all innocent so that no one has to go through the mental torment of the guilty vote" but there's actually no way in hell that the 16 y.o girl who very likely on accident stabbed someone in a state of extreme distress and was shown to be distraught after the fact is more unforgivable than the 23 y.o who has killed at least 2 people bc of the stress of his job👍🏾 idc how hot mikoto is or how much i like natsuki hanae, mans did not deserve all that

[lostxmelody]

NO BECAUSE HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO TURN AROUND A 68% GUILTY VOTE WITH A 2:35 LONG SONG

[theartisticintrovert]

me before double/neoplasm: niko is innocent! mikoto is putting on a mask so people will like him!!! (righteous fury)

me after double/neoplasm: niko is innocent.... mikoto is putting on a mask so people will like him........ (sobbing incoherently)

[iris-drawing-stuff]

I just found a translation by doctorbunny of the voice lines in the Milgram earphone collab, so here's some doodles of the prisoners recording their lines. I imagine that Es just handed them the script and then shoved them into a recording booth.

[faceless-es]

Theoretically, if Mikoto continues to suffer, I may lose it

[noscomnias]

and if i said mikoto t2 innocent. then what

[lunaryuwu]

the interrogation questions dont help with progressing the theories but it does help with progressing the angst and honestly im all for it

[cristhine-inkwell]

Is there any possibility that this blonde dude will have any relevance in mikoto's story? I mean he is the only other human who appears in his mvs besides mikoto and John (I hate calling him that) themselves, maybe he is important?? Idk

[good-beans]

I know that Mikoto’s character carries so many themes of mental illness and stereotyped/stigmatized people and this post is not dissmissing that!! I just also feel like there’s another important metaphor he could represent. If we do take Orekoto at his word that he committed the full crime and Bokukoto is completely innocent, then this brings up an equally powerful morality debate when viewed under the lens of collective punishment.

Mikoto’s DID gives Milgram the chance to experiment on our views of collective punishment. When compared with the other 9 cases, Orekoto’s murders leans heavily unforgivable: “I killed a lot of people just because I was annoyed and I don’t feel remorse.” Thus, the debate becomes something new: should an innocent person be punished for another’s mistakes if there’s no way to separate them? 

It works for the individual, but the metaphor covers comparisons about whole groups of people and communities. If it’s clear that one individual has done something wrong, but the only way to punish them involves hurting innocents, is it worth it? Orekoto assures us he won’t kill again, so it’s not a question of public safety, it’s just the question of assigning consequences. Is punishment worth the cost of that innocent person getting hurt? Is mercy worth a remorseless killer escaping without paying for it?