#mahiru’s boyfriend

[himawari-candyy]

i drew some of the victim characters in the minigram style! 😊 i used some of the original prisoner drawings as a base so that i could get the sizes right but i added variety so that i wasn’t outright tracing the bodies. i am so proud of the hinako one 😭

i have muu’s, mahiru’s, and kazui’s victims and then shidou’s wife. i might also do lucky and the bartender in the future or the other prisoners’ victims when we learn more about them! 🙂

(black/white + alt!)

[hinako-mukuhara-askblog]

beside Shidou wife who else are you friends with🕊️

I've befriended a lot of the others. Some are a little standoff-ish and it might take a bit of time to get them to warm up to us, but I've made some progress. I am the oldest here so I feel like it's my responsibility to take care of everyone. I don't want anyone to feel excluded or left alone for too long.

I noticed that some of the younger ones have been depending on me like I am a mother, alongside Mrs. Kirisaki... I've been learning a lot about parenting from her. I never had kids of my own but it's such a special feeling to be able to care for them. Even though I'm no longer alive, I'm still experiencing and learning about things that I hadn't before, and I'm so grateful for that. It feels like a second chance, in a way. Without the others’ company, I don't know where I'd be!

Here is the full picture of us but please be aware that our hearts imply how we died. I understand that it might be disturbing to some people so I thought that I'd do this just in case. Please take care of yourselves, everyone. 💙

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

(x) Mahiru: I just normally loved someone. I don't think I've done anything wrong. And besides, I... can't live without love.

I hope Mahiru's T2 forgiven vote makes her worse. I hope she becomes the T2 Muu of Trial 3. I want to see her in full "I didn't do anything wrong" mode. I want her to get an It's Not My Fault-adjacent song I support women's wrongs.

[coficarameru]

My ass trying to post more on Tumblr because I realize I just like post art and leave randomly

Anyways Sketchbook art

[doctorbunny]

Mahiru's birthday flower tweet

(Tweet Links)

I'm terribly sorry for being a few days late again, there were several project updates coming out around the same time...

Happy Birthday to everyone born on the 17th of January. Today is also the birthday of Mahiru Shiina from #MILGRAM. Her birthday flower is Capsella bursa-pastoris (Shepard's Purse/Nazuna). It is one of the seven spring herbs. For aeons, Shepard's Purse has been an invaluble source of food and medicine to humans, because it is able to flower and fruit in all sorts of inhospitable environments, as long as there is sunlight. It's hanakotoba is "I will devote everything to you."

色んな更新で漏れてしまって。数日遅れで大変申し訳ないですが改めて… 1月17日お誕生日の方おめでとうございます。 #ミルグラム では椎奈真昼の誕生日でもあります。 誕生花はナズナ。春の七草のひとつ。陽当たりさえあれば、どんな荒地にも花と果実をつけ、冬の貴重な食糧としても生薬としても古くから人々に重用されてきました。花言葉は『あなたにすべてを捧げます』。

[Yay the task I put off for months was completed in one evening! Between me and Maristelina, I think this is all the birthday tweets translated, I'll try to compile a masterpost of links some time]

[cycle-hit]

analysis of potential negative aspects of mahiru's boyfriend

i've seen a lot of people curious about why there are of interpretations of such. so. here we go (as a disclaimer, i'm writing this under the pretense that everyone already knows the lengths of which mahiru was not great in their relationship, so that wont be talked about as much as the flaws of mahiru's boyfriend. also, please keep in mind that focusing on his flaws IS the point of this post- but still try to remember that, in the end, mahiru's boyfriend is still very much human! even if i dont appear to be the most sympathetic towards him in text, lend as much credit to him as you deem fit)

1. Lack of succinct communication

the very first lyric in this is how to be in love with you is this-

she appears to be asking her boyfriend, or at least we can assume it's her boyfriend shes speaking to, if he knows what love is- because she's never experienced it herself before. there's other cases of this!

more lyrics from the beginning of this how to be in love with you, mahiru still appears to be unsure. she's constantly asking him for validation, to confirm this is what it's supposed to be like. and from the love is (un)dead voice drama:

"I thought it was fate. He said it was, too."

we can gather from this that his response to mahiru's questions was likely always the validation mahiru was craving- if he was uncomfortable before or in the beginning of the relationship with mahiru's behavior, he neglected to communicate it with her until the validation had already had a severe impact on her- when mahiru believes, firmly, that negative behavior is "love".

from this voice drama, mahiru also says it's her first relationship, but says nothing about her boyfriend's own experience. she didn't know if the relationship was good or not, but her boyfriend, with potentially more relationship experience, tells her that it's fate. he agrees with her. he doesnt properly communicate with mahiru at this point.

communication is important in a relationship. but he's not entirely to blame for this, even if he DOES have more experience with relationships. it can be hard to communicate with someone you "love" that they're hurting you, or he could've not even processed mahiru's actions/behaviors as uncomfortable at the time. however, it's also unfair to put all the blame on mahiru here- because it's extremely likely he wasn't even telling her what was hurting him. she asks him, again and again in the form of "what do you think?" "is this love?" because she doesn't know if something is wrong or not. and if he just keeps affirming that it's fine- how is she supposed to?

however, this communication does seem to change at close to the end of the relationship in "i love you"- he finally stops validating mahiru.

we can assume at this point he finally started telling mahiru that their "love" is unhealthy, but at this point- far too late, and far too little. this is where mahiru indeed shoulders a lot of blame, but you have to remember that he kept enabling mahiru's behaviors until this point as well. they've both managed to stick themselves into something they don't know how to get out of.

"If you're that kind (!!!) to me, you could die as well." (this is how to be in love you vs love is mine)

what's interesting though is- is this what directly caused mahiru's boyfriend to commit suicide? because he felt trapped? or was there more to it? is it possible he also felt guilt/regret about his own actions in their relationship? why? let's find out! onto the next point!

2. "Matching pain"

another concept that mahiru emphasises in her song lyrics is being in pain, or being hurt, even before what happened to her in trial 2.

(this is how to be in love with you)

(i love you)

specifically, mahiru is implying that they are both in pain. that not only is her boyfriend in pain or hurt, but she is too. there's also the "they're both feeding each other the cake" symbolism- they are both in pain. it's matching. as mahiru says,

it's a claim of responsibility from both of them. we tightly bound up the happiness and suffocated it. it has always been both of them, together, at fault for what's been done.

as a less presumptuous analysis than what i'm going to say below this section- mahiru's boyfriend was likely, at minimum, at fault for enabling mahiru's love and affirming her when he shouldn't have, and failing to communicate to her that he was in pain- he takes the blame of being the one who neglected to actually make mahiru aware of what she was doing, even when she asked. to the point she become reliant on his validation. it's not just mahiru's fault that their relationship turned out the way it did.

it is also worth noting that, in this is how to be in love with you, mahiru is also stuck in the bird cage, not just her boyfriend. in "i love you", both of their clothes are tattered. they are always suffering together.

it's why mahiru repeatedly states in her songs lyrics that it was "we", "us". not just her, and not just him. if this is all what happened, both of their actions are completely understandable- it is human to make mistakes, or be flawed, or to fail to properly tell people things.

now, onto the section that a lot agree is more of a reach (and is not really a main point of this post)-

(cw for implication of physical abuse under the cut vvvv)

3. Milgram occasionally seems to imply that Mahiru's boyfriend could have physically abused her.

theres a bit of evidence to suggest that mahiru is completely under the belief that "pain", or even just suffering negative feelings, equals love. to mahiru, that IS love.

she refers to being in love as "overheating" together, which isn't particularly a comfortable state to be in. she calls love a "landmine" in her first voice drama and that it "explodes". in i love you, there's a lot more of this!

every time she speaks of love, or even "happiness", mahiru invokes violent imagery, or even death. it could just be the fact that she's seen her boyfriend hang himself that causes this- but it's definitely. interesting. why does mahiru believe that suffering is love? why did her boyfriend keep "affirming" that "yes, this is love" with the new knowledge (to us) that mahiru's believes that being hurt is love? was he just unaware? if something is repeatedly making mahiru question what love is, or if this is even love- how did she come to such a conclusion that being hurt, or to be suffering, is to be loved? well!

it's entirely possible that, beyond mahirus perceptions of him emotionally hurting her, mahiru's boyfriend was physically hurting her as well.

in this is how to be in love with you, the magazine articles before mahiru confessing are perfectly neat- afterwards, any text after day 8 begins to become visibly "disordered", day 8, coincidentally, is the day mahiru successfully confesses to him! while i dont think this is particularly telling of abuse, on day 10 we get our first interesting tidbit from mahiru-

she's disappointed that he hasn't actually noticed any of the effort that she's put into her appearance! which isnt that telling, but definitely something that makes me raise my eyebrow a bit.

day 12 is our next eyebrowing raising moment- mahiru goes to his house, but-

she doesn't remember much. the same symptoms mahiru presents with in trial 2- she can't remember kotoko beating her up. she only knows because the people around her have told her. then, we have these lyrics from her first mv!

while all of these are horrifying to think about the implications of in relation to mahiru's boyfriend maybe not being the best, the one of interest for my next point here is this one!

mahiru doesnt let people know when she's hurt. she pretends she's a "good girl", that nothing hurts her, that everything is fine (which probably wasnt helping communication issues talked about at the beginning of this post) even in trial two.

there is. many, MANY concerning things about mahiru in her trial two voice drama when you look at it under the lens of "was mahiru's boyfriend physically abusive?"

when shes being praised, she immediately tumbles- i imagine its both because of exertion and because it could remind her of her boyfriend's affirmations. furthermore- this is the power of love. to not resent anyone in this kind of situation.

because mahiru likes people who work hard, she's going to accept this horrible pain too. jesus christ. this also falls into the very interesting category of kotoko's attack and mahiru's reaction to it- first off, during the attack. why was fuuta being attacked so easily noticed, but mahiru's...wasnt? i've always interpreted it as an indicator of mahiru's tendency to hide her pain and "accept" it- maybe mahiru didn't make any noise at all.

and then, mahiru's opinions on kotoko-

(ive hit the image limit, but in love is undead mahiru says "Kotoko-chan's acts aren't a problem, either. I think she's fighting for her own cause as well. So I don't blame her. Because I also think that I...that my love isn't wrong." in her interrogation questions, she says "At least, I don't hold a grudge [against Kotoko]. It was for something non-negotiable after all.")

she dismisses what kotoko did to her so...easily. she, quite literally, would have died because of kotoko- and she just...says that it's fine. that it was for something "non-negotiable", that kotoko is "fighting for her own cause". that kotoko "thought it couldn't be helped". and apparently that's fine to mahiru. she accepts this pain just because she "likes people who work hard". because "it couldn't be helped". this theory, especially from my own perspective, is a reach- but a lot of mahiru's behaviours that i've mentioned here stand out to me enough to make me worry- there's also the fact that, when es touches her-

mahiru is so vague about what the "it" is. and while i'm aware this is just how japanese is usually written-

it makes her remember how "it" hurt.

tl:dr: mahiru and her boyfriend are both equally at fault for how their relationship went, with the most positive view of her boyfriend being that he takes some of the blame for it because of his inability to communicate with mahiru/assert his boundaries or if hes uncomfortable to her.

sources for translations: 1 2

[amugoffandoms]

Woo!! It's time! It's time for the gift exchange!! (@milgram-valentines-exchange) Happy Valentine's Day to @mrcrazyvillainvillainn!! I had such a fun time writing your gift!! Truly gotta let Mahiru and Mikoto be silly and happy! I really hope you enjoy!! I've never written a ship fic for any of the prisoners, so I guess we ball?? (Also, let me know if you want the art without the titles!!) JIAWODJIAOW Anyways, here we go! Please enjoy...

do i dare love you? (i have always loved you)

Is this selfish? This isn’t too much, is it? I just love you so much. How long would this dream go on? I guess we can just say that this feeling is happiness~ Do you really think you know what love is? You don’t have to keep it in and hide it away. "I love you", the reason why I'm here This is how "I" will love "you"! --- "To be honest, Mikoto Kayano didn't know what to expect." "Mahiru Shiina fixes the flowers in a bouquet and hands it off to the customer." (Mikoto Kayano and Mahiru Shiina love each other in the smallest of moments.)

To be honest, Mikoto Kayano didn't know what to expect. Getting a mysterious call out of the blue? Well, ah… That’s sure to scare him.

No, no, everything’s fine. No need to resort to anything crazy. 

Mikoto exhales and splashes some water on his face. Turning off the sink, he looks up at the mirror and flashes himself a smile. 

…ah, okay, that was a little embarrassing. Mikoto laughs to himself as he walks out of the bathroom and back to his desk.

He drums his pen against his desk as he moves his mouse around to turn his computer back on. Placing his head on his hand, he scrolls through emails and emails.

…

It’s just the same emails. “Fix that.” “I liked the original design better; can you do it again?” “The deadline moved. Make sure your designs are ready for–”

Ping!

Mikoto blinks and glances over at his phone. 

New Message: make sure to come soon! 

Right, yeah. Mikoto has to head back home soon. Okay, he should really get a start on his work so he can head home early!

Sitting straight, Mikoto pulls up some designs on his computer and grabs the small stack of papers. 

With one more glance at the ideas given, Mikoto starts designing.

Mikoto leans back in his chair and slumps back. The design… is done! This is where Mikoto pretends to hear a soft achievement noise. Ding!

Anyways, Mikoto exhales and looks at the papers on his desk. The design is nice! One of his finest designs, actually. He flips through the papers and nods to himself, happy with the result. 

In the corner of his eye, he notices his boss and quickly waves him down. The second his boss looks at him with a small smile, Mikoto realizes his desk is an absolute mess. 

Ack–! Why did he leave his energy drink can here? Oh, these papers need to be in a folder–

Right after Mikoto finishes rearranging his desk, his boss finally makes it to his desk.

“Chief! I finished the design you wanted me to make!” Mikoto hands the stack of designs with a small smile. His boss blinks, clearly surprised at how fast Mikoto finished the designs. He flips through the small stack, checking each design.

 

His serious expression seriously doesn’t tell me anything… Mikoto internally groans.

“Good job, Kayano.” His boss places the stack underneath his arm. “These will probably suffice for our client. Do you have other designs that need to be completed?” “Ah, um–” Mikoto looks around at his desk. He doesn’t think he does. “...No…?’

“Oh?” His boss asks, surprised for some reason. Hey, Mikoto knows how to finish his work if it isn’t being constantly changed! “Ah… Alright then… I guess you…” His boss looks around the office. “...Actually, it looks like everyone is preoccupied.”

Mikoto shifts uncomfortably in his seat. Please don’t give him more work. Please don’t give him more work. 

His boss lifts his wrist and looks at his watch. “Hm… It’s seven. Earlier than I would like to let anyone out.” 

Oh, please. Please. Please-!!

His boss sighs. “Alright, Kayano. You may head home early today. I’m only doing this because you’ve got most of your work under control and I unfortunately don’t want to bother your coworkers with giving you their work.” You would anyway, but you seem to be in good spirits today…? “Thank you, Chief!” Mikoto smiles. “Don’t expect this often from me. Have a good night.” His boss turns right around and walks away, going over to a different cubicle. Mikoto watches as his boss walks away and pumps his fist.

Woo! I’m free! Mikoto grins to himself as he packs his stuff into his bag. Standing up, he shuts his computer off and looks around.  To be honest, he feels really bad for his coworkers… 

But, he promised to get home as soon as he could. Mikoto glances at his phone, specifically that one notification.

make sure to come soon!

He doesn’t want to break his promise. So, with a quiet exhale, he walks to the elevator and clicks the button to go down. The elevator doors open.

He walks in.

…

“…oh, I forgot to press the button to the lobby–” Mikoto mumbles as he quickly clicks the button down.

Mikoto hears the key click in the lock and turns the doorknob. As he walks into his apartment, the lights are all out.

“I could’ve sworn I left the lights on…?” Mikoto mumbles as he takes the key out of the lock and shrugs off his coat. He slowly walks through his apartment, fumbling for the lights. 

His hands land on the switch and Mikoto flips the lights on–

Arms wrap around Mikoto’s neck. Something makes Mikoto twitch. “Surprise~!”

Mikoto jumps. 

Mahiru laughs above him as Mikoto lies on the ground, dazed. “Ma– Mappi???” Someone relaxes.

“Hehe~ Did I scare you?” Mahiru giggles, absolutely beaming. “A… a little, yeah!” Mikoto dusts himself off. “I think I hit my head… Ow…”

Mahiru’s laughter immediately stops. “Ah– did I hurt you? Hey, let me see–”  Mahiru quickly kneels on the floor and scoots next to Mikoto. “No, no. I’m okay, I promise– Please don’t worry!” Mikoto gives a weak smile. “Let me just look, okay?” Mahiru says, with a soft voice filled with concern. (Her voice is always soft, but these moments, they're just a little bit more comforting. Maybe it’s Mikoto being too detail-oriented recently, but he’s decided to notice the smaller things.)

Mikoto swallows. “Okay.”

She looks at the back of Mikoto’s head, checking for any bumps or bruises.  The moment is silent as Mahiru looks all over Mikoto’s head for anything and Mikoto sits there, quiet.

To be honest, he doesn’t want to say anything. He doesn’t want to ruin it. It’s… those small moments, right? When you know someone loves you. Those are the moments you want to hold in your hands because they’re so fuzzy and warm. 

“I love you,” Mikoto whispers. 

There’s a pause. Mahiru stops checking his hair. Her hands are still. She’s not moving. 

Did he ruin it? Maybe he should apologize and–

“I love you, too,” Mahiru whispers back.

And, they’re back to silence.

Mahiru scoots back in front of him. “You’re okay. Nothing too bad, okay?” 

She says it with a voice that makes him know she cares: a warm, loving voice. It makes him want to cry just because she loves him. 

And, he loves her. And, he'll make sure she knows that.

“Okay,” Mahiru says, her voice oddly strained. Is… is she about to cry? “Um… Okay, I made some food for you. I– I know you don’t usually like big gestures and I really shouldn’t push myself, but… I think you deserve it, okay?”  “Okay.” Mikoto nods. He stands up and gives a hand to Mahiru, who takes it with a small giggle. “Hehe, this feels like a fairy tale~” She hums.

“Hey, can I…?” “Eh? Do what?” Mahiru asks, with a tilted head. “I mean, whatever it is, I don’t mind~”  

Mikoto places a small kiss on Mahiru’s cheek.  “Ah–!! Hey–! Oh–” She’s red, blushing from ear to ear. 

Mikoto laughs. “That was payback.” “Oh, you-!!” Mahiru has an angry look, but her smile says otherwise. “Fine, fine! That’s fair. Okay, come on, let’s eat~ I don’t want our food to be cold!” Mahiru grabs Mikoto’s hand in hers, trying to drag him over to the table.

Her hands are warm.  Mahiru quickly pauses as she looks at Mikoto and their hands. “Is everything okay…?” Mikoto nods.

“Everything’s perfect.”

Mahiru Shiina fixes the flowers in a bouquet and hands it off to the customer. “Have a good afternoon~” She grins.

As the shopkeeper’s bell rings to show the customer has left, Mahiru sighs and melts into the counter.  “Shiina…? Are you alright?” One of her coworkers asks as they walk over. Mahiru mumbles something into the counter.  “Uh…” They laugh. “Okay, I’m guessing you’re not okay. Um…”

Mahiru keeps her head on the counter as she hears her coworker’s footsteps slowly disappear.

Mahiru sighs. She’s really tired… She wasn’t able to get any sleep last night. She doesn’t even know why. She just couldn’t sleep. A lady like her should be getting her beauty sleep! 

Oh, well… She’ll just have to brave the storm! 

Mahiru quickly lifts her head up and instantly gets hit with a fit of dizziness. 

Ah, that was a bad idea…

As Mahiru quickly blinks away the dizziness, she notices her boss and coworker walking over. 

“I wasn’t doing anything–! I mean, I was doing something, I promise!” Mahiru awkwardly laughs as she waves her hands around defensively. Her boss shakes her head. “Mahiru, you can head home. We don’t expect that many people today, and you seem tired. I can cover whatever is left of your shift.” “Ah, but–” “I’ll pay you for your full shift, alright? Just head home.” “Okay.” Mahiru hesitantly nods and takes off her apron as she heads to the break room to grab her stuff. 

When Mahiru returns with her belongings, her coworker hands her a small bouquet with lilyturf, dahlias, forget-me-nots, and red lilies. 

“I know you’ve enjoyed taking these kinds of flowers home recently, so here you are!” As Mahiru opens her mouth to speak, her coworker continues, “And, don’t worry about the charge. I already paid for it.” Mahiru blinks, taking the bouquet and looking at it. “Ah… Oh. Thank you.” Mahiru smiles at the flowers.

“Of course! Now, rest well!”

Mahiru smiles at her coworker before leaving the store, the shopkeeper’s bell ringing behind her.

Mahiru hums as she enters her apartment and quickly walks over to her table near the couch, grabbing water from the kitchen. She places her bag on the floor next to the couch.

Sitting on the couch, she pours some water into a glass vase. Then, she places her bouquet in the vase.

Mahiru looks at the bouquet for a few moments, admiring each flower.

When she yawns, she finally lowers her head on a pillow and slowly…

Closes…

Her eyes…

There’s a smell of food cooking in the air.  She feels warm.

Mahiru slowly blinks the sleepiness from her eyes and looks around. 

…why is there a blanket on her…?  Is someone cooking?

Confused, she pushes herself upright and glances at the kitchen.

Mikoto.

Mikoto is cooking.

“Huh…?” Mahiru blurts out, sleepy and confused. Mikoto looks over at Mahiru. “Oh, hey! You’re awake! Sorry, I tried calling you, but you were asleep. Um, so I let myself in with the spare key!” 

Mahiru glances at her bag on the floor and quickly picks it up. Opening it, she searches for her phone. When she finally finds it, she turns it on and sees the notifications flood her lock screen.

3 Missed Calls

10 New Messages:

hey, mappi ^^!!

i’m off from work so i’m coming to visit!

Ah wait you might be at work

Go back to work!!

i think your door is locked??

hello?

mappi??

i’m letting myself in, ok?

oh dear where’s your key

found it!! Coming in now :D

Mahiru rambles as she stares at the notifications, “Ah– I didn’t realize you were calling. I’m so sorry, please forgive me–”

“Hey, hey. It’s all good!” Mikoto smiles. “You were tired, so I let you sleep. I grabbed a blanket from your closet. Hope that’s okay!”

Mahiru nods and sits there for a moment, not sure what to do.

She glances over at the table, spotting the bouquet. She looks at Mikoto, who has a smile on his face as he tries to cook some soup. 

She knows why she likes getting these flowers.

They remind her of Mikoto.

They remind her of how much she loves him.

She loves him.

“Hey, let me help you, okay~?” Mahiru sings as she hops up and skips over to the kitchen. “No, I’m okay. I can cook, see?” Mahiru looks at the small pot Mikoto is using to cook soup. 

It’s… hm… not the best soup…?

“Just let me help you, alright?” “Alright, alright.” Mikoto, stepping back, raises his hands. “Show me what you want to do.”

Mahiru quickly slides in front of Mikoto and glances at the pot. "Can you wrap your arms around me?"

"Eh–?" Mikoto coughs in shock. "Yeah, yeah– Um…" 

Mikoto quickly wraps her arms around Mahiru and looks over her shoulder as he tries to stir.

“Mhm~” Mahiru hums. “You’re stirring a little too harshly. Relax, okay?”  “Alright.” Mikoto slowly stirs the soup.  “Still too tense. Okay, hold on.” Mahiru places her hands on his. “Okay, now… We’ll do this together, okay?” 

Mikoto is quiet. Mahiru takes that as his yes.

Mahiru, with Mikoto’s hands in hers, slowly stirs the soup. She murmurs some small compliments.

Mahiru lets go of his hands and smiles. “See, you’re doing it now!”  Mikoto breathes a sigh of relief. “Is it better? Honestly, I really couldn’t tell the difference.” “Hmm… Well, I guess there really isn’t.” Mahiru shrugs. “But, I think the amount of quiet, slow care you put into something will show itself." She's made herself learn that love can be soft and strong. Ever since her last boyfriend and she broke up on... amicable terms, she's tried being better. For love, and for who she loves. “I see.” “...I know it really doesn’t make sense. I’m sorry.” Mahiru shakes her head and slides out from in front of Mikoto.

“No, no. It makes sense, I promise.” Mikoto looks over at Mahiru with a smile. “It shows that you care.”

Mahiru smiles back.

After a few moments with Mahiru helping Mikoto cook, they finally eat together at the table. 

“Mappi?” Mikoto fidgets with his spoon. “Hmm?” Mahiru hums, food in her mouth. “Thank you.”

Mahiru blinks and just nods. “Y-yeah, of course…!”

Ah– That was so embarrassing…! Not at all lady-like! I should’ve just…!!

“I really don’t cook often, so that was really helpful. Haha…” Mikoto rubs his neck with a smile. “I mean, I do cook! It’s just… noodles and stuff.” “Well, now you know how to cook one more thing!” Mahiru smiles.

“Yeah.” Mikoto looks at Mahiru with a loving smile on his face.

His smile is so sweet. He even tries to do stuff he’s never done before for me! Ack… My heart can’t take it–!!

I love you.

Mikoto stares at Mahiru before laughing. 

“E-eh?? What did I do??” “Nothing, nothing. I love you, too.” Mikoto grins.

…she said that out loud…

Mahiru is instantly embarrassed. She feels warm again, but she’s not wearing a blanket. “Oh… Ah–”  “Hey, hey. It’s okay. It’s sort of cute, I think…?” Mikoto rubs his neck. “Ah– If you say so…!!”

The two of them continue eating when Mikoto suddenly speaks up again. “Hey, did you mean to make you help me feel like one of those scenes from a movie…?” “E-eh?? No, no, wait– Ah. I really didn’t, I swear!!” Mahiru frantically shakes her head. Mikoto blinks, seeming to realize Mahiru is a little panicked. “Hey, no! I thought it was sweet–!”

Mahiru awkwardly laughs. “I’m glad you do… Um… Maybe I was subconsciously inspired by something…?”

“That’s okay.” Mikoto shrugs. “Everything you do is sweet.”

Mahiru beams. 

“If it’s for you, I’ll make sure it’s worth everything.”

[waivyjellyfish]

Testimony

tw/blood, TV noize

Idea that Es can see ghosts following the prisoners. It is not clear whether this from the beginning was idea of MILGRAM or whether it was simply a mistake when they made Es what they are now, but Jackalope is silent and doesn't comment this situation. Anyway the ghosts are very happy to chat. Which is what Es took advantage of.

Ghosts:

02 - Yuno’s viktim accept the form that can speak(was it the soul that only was just getting ready to posess the body and become a baby or already possesed body, idk)

05 - Shidou's wife scaring away shido's victims ghosts so there only his family ghosts here

08 - don't really know who was Amane's victim so I draw Riyone 'cause she's probably Amane's mother and Amane said that her mother should have kept her faith to the very end, soo

09 - Mikoto's victim is a collective image

cat is just chilling nearby

[dearmahiru-archive]

I personally find Mahiru's boyfriend to be attractive (I love his nose shape and brows) but I'm kind of shocked at how mid he is at the same time. The character designer for him went hard on making him the ultimate "he's just some guy." Brown hair, brown eyes, brown jacket, brown pants, and brown shoes, and not a single sense of style in any bone of his body. My man hit "default" on the character customization screen. Good for him!

I've seen a lot of comparisons with him and Mikoto and it's hilarious to me. Jackalope's description about Mikoto was, "they make guys like him in factories." Mahiru dreamily sighs about how meeting her boyfriend was like fate and then it's the most Guy to ever exist. The literal manifestation of "She's Everything" and "He's Just Ken"

[googledetective]

hi milgramers 👋

(my milgram songs tierlist is at the end cause I didn’t have enough memes- oops 😭)

[iris-drawing-stuff]

Do you ever think that if Mahiru’s boyfriend ended up in Milgram, he would definitely be voted guilty on Trial 1? I wonder how he would’ve reacted.

I tend to headcanon him as a sort of pushover. I think he and Mikoto would get along since Mikoto doesn’t have many people the same age as him. Everyone’s younger, older, or Fuuta. He wouldn’t be part of the smokers club, though, since he doesn’t smoke. I think Yuno’s more bubbly persona may make him uncomfortable because it reminds him of Mahiru.

[himawari-candyy]

AU where Hinako and Mahiru's boyfriend are prisoners 06 and 07?

(Milgram, please tell us Mahiru's boyfriend's name! Saying "Mahiru's boyfriend" after "Hinako" feels so clunky ;_;)

i agree with the mappi boyfriend thing 😭 i just call him “bluebird” in my head because i think i saw someone calling him that

anyway, ta-daaaaa 👏👏👏 i had so so much fun with the hinako one oh my god 😭 i love her

[rouwaa143]

not sure if the others have tags but them...

day 24 - victims/side characters

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

my prediction for mahiru's trial 3 mv

[mukuberry]

I LOVE the more vague + metaphorical mvs like mappi's, but it's kinda funny seeing ppl take literally what i view as completely metaphorical and vice versa. Like i don't think Mahiru and her bf were actually walking through the suicide forest, it's meant to show her now knowing that she was leading her partner to his death while she was blinded by her happiness. I don't think they were actually injured and dirty, it's meant to show how unaware she was of how her relationship was damaging to both of them, especially her partner who is 'bleeding'. She says it herself "My love, it scored an own goal, destroyed my love and me with it's weight", this mv shows her past blindness contrasting with her current hindsight, there isn't a single scene in this video that is 100% real

[mrgoodenough254]

Psychogram Drawn as Mahiru and her boyfriend in the Minigram style.