#Personally if till or luka die I die

[shibaincubus]

Who will survive in Round 7 (ALNST)?

[theogony]

.

[babygirlluka]

anon forgot that alien stage is a Survival show: none of the characters are particularly good people, not even sua! no one is Good, they all kinda Suck as people because of the upbringings theyve each had, but they are absolutely amazing as characters!! this is fiction! this is not real life! luka is a Fictional Guy on our screens, you can be a fan of him and his character and that doesnt say anything about who you are as a person bc hes a /character/ in a survival show, a gameshow even for the aliens, hes playing the game and hes playing his cards right

yes he sucks but i bet so does your fave anon,, they're not morally good people, not even morally grey tbh they're just all terrible tbh like the best character we have is mizi and even still shes got problems too but ill hold off on explaining everyone so i don't make this too long

No offense but why did you make a whole defense account for him.. Like you do you but just cause he’s pretty doesn’t excuse the fact he emotionally manipulated and probs groped someone (from what I’ve heard) Just weirdo behavior-

did you even watch the show? did you even pay attention? im actually cackling. im assuming you just didnt pay attention to the show because if this was an ivan or till blog would you care? as far as im aware (<- guy that has watched the whole thing multiple times over) he never groped anyone. the worst thing hes done physically is battery. TILL KILLED SOMEONE. IVAN ASSAULTED TILL. hes literally just trying not to die. its not his fault. stupid

[okkos-ferrum]

The fandom's disregard of Till's emotions

SPOILERS FOR ROUND 7 ALNST

As a Till fan since day 1 (round 2) I feel like some of the fanbase is so willing to ignore till's emotions for the sake of ivantill, especially after this round (and I'm saying this as someone who loves the tragedy of Ivantill and would love to see a world where they could get together)

It almost feels like this strange entitlement where because Ivan sacrificed himself for Till that somehow till must be in love with Ivan now, when his entire guiding light was Mizi. Ofc he doesn't change his mind overnight, and no, Ivan's sacrifice wasn't "wasted". Till was deeply affected by Ivan's death (why else was he fighting to stay alive in r7) and it's clear throughout r7 how much Ivan weighs on him. But his actions when seeing Mizi are totally align with his character, like u can't just drop his deep rooted feelings for Mizi SINCE CHILDHOOD just due for the convinence of the ship "becoming canon"

I see some people despairing that somehow mizitill is confirmed now (do u guys not know WHO VIVINOS AND QMENG are????) and it just shows that lack of nuance in Till's emotions. He isn't this rag doll that is only capable of simple mindedly liking ONE person at a time. He's a character with different layers to himself and complicated relationships with the cast

Fandom seems so overinvolved with shipping discourse that to me it feels like they have stopped viewing till as a seperate character but rather an award for Ivan's sacrifice. But I feel like the whole point of Ivan's sacrifice was his momentary selfishness in kissing Till when really all he had to do was fake an attack on Till to sacrifice himself. It is the culmination and a final acceptance in how his love will never be requieted by till, so if he must die, he will be selfish one last time and that's it. At the end of the day, Ivan was a tragedy of his unrequited love. Till was close to death in round 6 and he was running on borrowed time ("tik tok tik tok blink gone") in round 7, as his own distressed emotional state made in inevitable he couldn't hold himself against the emotional manipulator that is luka when he barely coped with mizi's "death" and even less so with Ivan's

Again no hate to Ivantill fans (eyes mizitill a bit suspiciously but I'm not the fandom fun police lol) and I pretty sure this a vocal minority but putting it out there

Also quick PSA for people feeling underwhelmed for this being a "final round", VIVINOS confirmed on patreon a while back there are like 2(?) more episodes left to wrap up the series dwww

[aakaneeee]

ROUND 7 THEORY.

Till is going to lose: and Hyuna won't be there to save him.

this is insanely long, hug yourselves

I. Hyuna won't be part of the rescue mission.

I'm going to start with the obvious: today's alien stage friday content that opened my third eye.

obviously, hyuna is.. suffering is an understatement right now, she appears in a lot of pain, having to lean on mizi to walk. not only this, but mizi is distressed too. she is looking back, and the warning:intruder sign is reflecting in her eyes. interesting detail I've seen: the screen behind hyuna I'd light, and I personally think it's Luka's promotional photoshoot we've seen in All-In. maybe a slight reach, and not a good point to base a whole theory I genuinely believe in on, but trust me, it all ties togheter: Hyuna is looking directly forward, towards a 'light', while Mizi is looking back, at a warning sign. So, Hyuna will go to their base, and Mizi will do the rescuing mission alone. This might sound stupid, but the AMOUNT of content I found that holds this theory is insane.

Speaking about All-In..

This is a promotional video for All-In. (Might be the teaser but I'm tweaking) Mizi is only shown in the car scene, where she's togheter with Hyuna. In the other parts, Hyuna is completely alone. This might not mean a lot, except that we have this official art:

Unlike the frame in the video, Hyuna is alone here, leaving dust on the on the other cars. Does this mean that she'll go alone? Perhaps leave alone? And there's even more I consider as 'evidence'.

In the cover of hyuna ver. of ROMH, she seems to be laying down, something that I don't think she would be able to do while still being in the ALNST building, and the splash on her face seems to be similar to the character's that have died.

As happy as this looks, again, Mizi isn't here. The rest of the rebellion is, and she's wearing the outfit she had on in All-In when making that video with the others. She's making a gun sign, something usual for her, she's done it multiple times all over. Is this foreshadowing of her being shot?

But this.. even though the backround is Hyuna, it's obvious that the hands are not hers because of the light skin. So is this Mizi that's trying to learn from Hyuna? Maybe because she has to do a mission without her? Back to the All-In teaser, we don't see who's holding the gun that flashes between the frames of Hyuna's hand making a gun sign. I personally think it's Mizi instead, since now she's learned how to fire. Afterall, in All-In, even Hyuna is surprised at her sudden fierceness.

Here, it seems like Hyuna is being announced something, while sitting down. But what could be so important that she is told with such secrecy? The only thing I can imagine is a rescue mission, but she isn't there herself.

In this art, Mizi is looking down, while Hyuna is looking up, with a stern face, almost monitoring. But where could Mizi be, so high up she has to look down, and so bright she has to shadow her eyes? This takes me to the next part of my theory:

II. Till is going to lose.

The light from above the stage in the Round 7 teaser is dark blue, but a specific shade that has been often associated with Mizi. Is she there, so that's why she's looking down? Also from the teaser, we have this (which I think was pointed out before):

The little gun aim light is pointed towards the stage from an alien that seems to have a guard helmet, and then a light covers Till. I think it's enough proof that something will happen to him, but I have more. So much more.. And yet, I think the other ones fit more into another category. III. Even though he'll lose, Till won't die. But he won't live well, either. I am not delusional, I genuinely think Mizi's rescue mission will go well.

Here, Till is holding a strand of Mizi's long hair, the hair we know is long gone. In relationship with the first category, Hyuna is the only one missing from this art.

I initially thought it was Till protecting Mizi from something, but no. I think it's Till protecting the image of Mizi he remembers from something he finds terrifying: and I think that scary thing is the real Mizi, the Mizi that exists now. It's a common theme that Till is only inlove with the image of Mizi, so what if that dissapears? I imagine he'd be terrified of that.

Here, the wire of Till's collar (that we've seen him wearing in round 7, too) seems to be blending with Mizi's hair, as if he is bound to the image of past her. (Since we know her hair is short now.)

In this, the tape is similar to the one that covered his mouth in Top 3, but here, his mouth is wide opened, the tape instead covering his name, as if his freedom, his own voice was given back to him, rather covering his branding whom is proof of ownership.

Here, the characters that are behind have died, and the ones that are holding flowers are the ones who love Mizi. But again, it's the long haired old Mizi.

III. Hallucinations

Alien Stage is about romance, and hallucinating your loved one isn't new in it. Mizi hallucinated Sua in Round 5, and Till hallucinated Mizi (again, her old version) after... we all know what I mean. Hallucinating has led to losing, but is this going to be the case in Round 7?

Well, yes and no. Yes for Till, no for Luka, and I think this aspect is the one that makes the most difference between them.

Let's talk about Till first. I feel like Luka won't genuinely see Till as a threat, especially after Round 6. I do not think that he will do the ROMH technique. And yet, I think Till will hallucinate Ivan in him anyways. Looking at Luka's stage smile and Ivan's default expression, they look very similar (atleast to me), and the white outfits might do it, too.

This particular image makes me feel like that. His fingers aren't purple, which, I don't know what to make out of it, but it's about the neck holding. Ivan always seemed to have something with Till's neck, and there's a lot of art to prove it. This is undoubtedly something that Ivan would do, and I can imagine Till hallucinating Ivan, or atleast, a warped version of him, in situations like this. Till is already in a bad place mentally, so I feel like such a thing would destroy him, even though he won't go down without a fight.

Onto Luka. I think hallucinating Hyuna in Till is inevitable: their energy is just incredibly similar. But unlike Till, Hyuna is Luka's motivation to sing.

In this comic, we find out that Luka doesn't truly like singing: his only reason for singing is (or atleast, was) the fact that Hyuna likes it. And again, unlike Till, Luka is obsessed with the stage. It's canon that he has low self-esteem, and that winning is his way of raising it up. I don't see him having a mentality like Till, but rather, one that sounds more like "Only I get to kill you.", so a competition against Hyuna would only make him more motivated. And so, I think that hallucinating Hyuna gets him even closer to a win.

IV. Till will escape: but at what cost?

Till knows that the last time he turned down escaping, it didn't go well. So, even now, with the new image of Mizi, even now, with Ivan dead, even now, when he's still holding onto an image long gone of someone he loves, he will accept, but without getting implicated into whatever the resistance does too much. Why? Because he thinks he has nothing left except his hallucinations.

V. Conclusion

I'm sorry for how long this is!! I've been thinking for sooo long... I really like how I've made this though, in the end. extra: In this official art, the characters that are slightly smiling are now dead (sua, ivan).. it doesn't really mean anything to what I said (I think), but I found it interesting :)

[sword-bunny]

Unpopular opinion: I don't think Luka is actually that bad

(Casual reminder first that all of the unwilling participants of this death match are slaves who were essentially raised from childhood to compete in Alien Stage. None of them are competing by choice, and this is Luka's second time being forced through this nightmare, and he will probably be made to do it a third time.)

"But he's enjoying this!"

Is he, though?

I don't feel like this moment gets talked about enough. Obviously we don't get to see the actual match so we can't say anything about it, but Luka kissing the dead girl's hand afterwards was important enough that some of the very limited time this series has was used to show it.

Here, he's not smiling, he's not making a show out of it. The show is already over. His back is to the audience, and he isn't even on stage. He lived, she died, and to me this read as a gesture of respect.

"What about him purposefully invoking the images of Sua and Ivan to make Mizi and Till lose their shit?"

Yeah, he definitely did do that, and I'll get back to that. But take a look at his face during his duet with Mizi:

It's shockingly different from the smug, smiling face he has for the rest of the song. From the background behind him, we can tell that Mizi is blocking the view of his face from the audience.

In comparison, the bit where he rolls his eyes, he isn't even looking at her. He's looking at the audience, making a show of his lofty condescension.

Look at the way he's portrayed in the "promotional footage" we see in Top 3. He's the "Ruler of the Stage", the elegant personification of victory. In other words, it's a stage persona.

We got this new expression in Blink Gone, and I did think he was laughing at first! But why would he be hiding that? He certainly never has before. There would be no point, he'd be playing it up, even. But the more I look at it, the more I think he's covering up something else.

Luka has outlived a lot of his opponents, some of whom very likely were people he grew up with, and I think he's starting to crack.

This leads us back to the tactics he uses to win.

Luka is undeniably ruthless! You could definitely make an argument that he goes beyond what's necessary to win.

But remember, he's trying to survive. I don't think he can reasonably be called a sadist for trying his best not to die, even if his methods are underhanded. Is he a good person? I wouldn't even try to argue that. Is he a bad person? I genuinely don't think so.

The situation he's been forced into is unimaginably cruel, and I genuinely believe it doesn't make someone a bad person to try to survive, even if it means someone else doesn't.

Imagine a modified version of the trolley problem: you and a person you do not know are each tied to separate tracks. You get to choose whether the train kills you or the other person. In this situation where you are not there because you want to be or because you're experiencing any kind of consequences for your actions, is it morally acceptable to choose not to die?

Anyways, that's my rant about why it's been getting on my nerves to see Luka constantly getting called a sadistic psychopath. Feel free to make counterarguments, just please try to be chill about it if you do✌️

Edit: I totally forgot about the Alien Stage promo video, which pretty clearly shows that Luka is having a Less Than Stellar time (pun intended)

This is the first shot we ever get to see of Luka, and I've left the lyrics on because I think they're pretty important since Luka is the contestant that's been in this situation the longest. He won and it's still not over. I'm not surprised he feels like it won't ever end!

Then there's this shot. Hooooooo boy this shot makes me feel a lot of things. It's so clear that Luka is even less than a pet, barely more than a toy to his "fans".

Finally, there's this bit where he hides his face behind his arms like he can't bear to be looked at any longer.

Your honor I'm so normal about him I swear

[anidiotonloose]

You can NOT convince me that the only thing in Till’s mind during R6 was Mizi and her missing status

Ive seen so many posts and reels saying how he was “so depressed during the 6th round because of Mizi and was ready to die without her in his life”.

WRONG

You’re telling me he’s ready to give up his life solely for the reason that his idol and his friend is most probably dead while the closest person in his life is put in a death game against himself in which only one can live?

Till was concerned about Mizi, very much too if I say so myself, but Ivan was also one of those concerns.

When Mizi lost the round against Luka, you could see the way Till looks at her - he was heartbroken. And then she went missing and who knows what happened to her. He was horrified, of course he was, she was his light, his sun, his idol, his hope, his everything. That doesn’t mean she was his only source of misery.

At the end of the all-in animation, we see Till punching the screen where his image is shown to compete against Ivan. He hated the fact that he would have to compete against Ivan, his best friend, the closest person to him in all of Anakt garden. Even though their relationship has been tumultuous, Ivan was still his closest link. Heck, when they were not fighting or bickering Till genuinely seemed to enjoy Ivan’s presence.

At the end of round 3 as Ivan is close to finishing his singing (and i must confess i saw this in a reel on instagram) we can see Till is conscious - with a serene expression too - and his collar has a very clear green light - indicating his mood is, well, good.

That light had NO reason to glow green considering Till was bleeding a lot.

But it was.

The only reason i can come up with is that Till was comforted by/liked Ivan’s voice, so much so that the pain of the wounds on his head was overshadowed by Ivan. Till did care.

and then he finds out he’s supposed to go against Ivan in round 6. What a joke. His idol was gone and they wanted to take away his (his what? Friend? Best friend? Enemy? Universe? Wait what-) too?

He weighed his options and decided his life was just not worth it without Mizi and Ivan in them. Both Mizi. And. Ivan. If Mizi was his sun then Ivan was his moon.

that was the plan anyway before Ivan said nope and sacrificed himself. Now that rekindled a fire in Till, a fire that had gone missing with Mizi and was supposed to die with him before Ivan thwarted his plans, a fire to give his best and to live, for Ivan. Not Mizi, Ivan, because Ivan gave his life for Till and oh Till could now see everything Ivan was in his life (his god, his universe—), Ivan who could have won against Luka at any given time, Ivan who showed him freedom and at last, Ivan who was his everything.

ahem. Point is y’all stop saying Till never cared about Ivan he loved him just as dearly as Mizi its just neither of them knew how to express their emotions in a healthy way and didn’t realise their true feelings since they never experienced normal and healthy human interaction

[eruanee]

On Round 7 and the utility of sacrifice

⚠️ ROUND 7 SPOILERS ⚠️

I wanted to use this post to respond to some criticism I've seen circulating about Round 7 — it mostly being about Till's death making Ivan's sacrifice useless.

To be fair, this post doesn't aim to dismiss anyone's feelings or criticisms about R7 or Till's (presumed) death, they're all incredibly valid! I even have my own that I will talk about later. This post's only goal is really just to start a conversation about the general narrative of ALNST and how to write a compelling narrative in general. No matter what I'll say, people resonate with stories differently and expect different things from them, and that's okay!

Personally, I truly didn't expect Till to die. Before R7 came out, I even texted a friend saying this:

– If one of them has to die, I think it'll be Luka. Till's protagonist syndrome is too strong and his death would be narratively flat, I believe. – Yeah.

And well, shot missed, unlike the one that shot through Till's neck.

Though, I really do believe Till might not be dead, not only because of the #copium but this isn't really the point of this post — I will assume he is so I can discuss what his death would actually mean to the narrative and how it would impact it.

I understand that no one (including myself) expected R7 to go that way. A lot of it had us realizing we might have gotten some elements of the story wrong — something I didn't take into consideration is that the round was probably rigged to make sure Luka would win, which makes sense because of course that Alien Stage isn't the fairest competition (and if Ivan's pictures on the billboards aren't part of Till's hallucinations, this is plainly evil).

R7 also had us wondering what the goal of the rebels truly is: did they even intend to save Till? If not, why did they save Mizi, what did they see in her? Unlike what I first thought, like many others, it seemingly wasn't a rescue mission.

When I watched R7 for the first time, I audibly gasped the moment I saw the "Luka wins" sign appears and Till being shot down. And I thought "Ah, so that's the kind of story VIVINOS wanted to make." I was already a huge fan of their work before ALNST began, mostly of their horror stuff. When I watched it, I knew I was about to sit in front of absolutely devastating content that would leave me sick. The tragedy was always cruel, often unrewarding, but I would always ask for more. Good thing ALNST now exists, uh!

I mention this to state I went into ALNST expecting roughly the same thing and it's essentially what I got. I didn't expect Till to die but his death, in a way, didn't surprise me. Did it make me sick though? It sure did!

I do agree R7 feels incomplete. I think it's interesting that I have not a single idea of what's going to happen next, but my biggest regret is indeed that Till's death doesn't seem to do justice to his character or characterization.

Till, the rebellious misfit, always breaking rules to the point he has to be physically restrained, completely beaten by despair and trauma once again, dying on stage after he got a slight glimpse of hope he can never actually reach.

This is peak tragedy, and a beautifully animated one at that, but it doesn't feel like a compelling character development. If Till is truly dead, then he dies with the potential of being so much more. And this is truly sad and disappointing.

And this is why his death would make me sadder than Sua's or Ivan's. They got to choose their deaths and what it would mean for them, Till didn't. He was suffering and overwhelmed. He only accepted his fate because he got to know Mizi was still alive before his final moments. He got to die in her embrace, which is probably the only thing he could've asked for if that were to happen.

Sua's death got to introduce us to the reality of Alien Stage.

Ivan's death was an emotional climax. It conclused his character arc in a devastating way, but gave him a meaningful ending nonetheless.

Their deaths let us understand what kind of world Alien Stage takes place in : a cruel world where humans are pets to aliens, if not simple disposal. A world where feelings are never reciprocated until it's too late, where you long for something impossible until you realize you should've paid attention to what was right in front of your eyes, too.

Alien Stage is a show where the candidates' suffering are seen and consumed as mere entertainment.

In this system, I believe Sua's and Ivan's meaningful deaths are anomalies. Till's death is the standard. An extremely unfair event, result of an extremely unfair competition. This isn't about who deserves to survive, but about who manages to. If anything, I think the aliens are relieved Till is dead, as he was mostly a bother to them. Luka is beloved and accommodating.

A world where death is the easy escape, if not almost a selfish one. Sacrifice is an act of love, but also an act of egocentricity. The sacrifice aims to be remembered as selfless and generous, but in the end, they only "run away without any sense of responsibility". The gift sounds beautiful when actually, it might only be rotten.

In such a world, how can a sacrifice ever be useful? I guess Ivan's wasn't. A sacrifice only happens to create a possibility, a chance, a what if.

Another very frustrating part of Till's death to me is that I thought he had the power to be a protagonist. I still stand by it but he was robbed of this agency. Him being used as a narrative device for Mizi's protagonist plotline (at least that's what I believe) feels a bit cruel, even narratively.

Alien Stage can be a frustrating story because it seems there is no way out, which is ultimately not something people are seeking for very often in a story. I still hope there's a way out somewhere, maybe not for Till, but that would already be something.

As for now, it seems Mizi's role is to manage to make Sua's sacrifice, as well as all of these deaths, worth something. This is the 50th season of Alien Stage. The pile of corpses is leaking red.

I do wonder where the story is going to head.

At the very least, Till wasn't unknown till the end. You could say that being loved, even for a blink, makes one's life worthy to be lived.

[shakingparadigm]

I always kind of wondered why Hyuna went out of her way to save Mizi in round five out of like anyone else. I originally thought it was just because she was up against Luka but that didn't really make sense because of round 4. You saying that she did it because she personally say herself in Mizi makes everything much more clear!! I was to busy look at the rescue from a more political standpoint against the aliens (which it still is) that from a more emotional one

I felt that too, honestly. When I first saw Mizi's rescue in ROUND 5 I found it confusing that Mizi was singled out as someone worthy of saving. Could Sua have been saved by the rebellion too? Why her and not anyone else? It's not just because she was up against Luka, the green-haired Durian girl went against him in ROUND 4 and there had been no effort to save her. It can't be just be her violent outburst, either, because Till acted out in ROUND 2 (and many instances before that) yet the rebellion remained unmoving.

So out of all people, why was Mizi saved? Since ROUND 5, I've settled on my own interpretation of things.

(The first one is more of my own speculation, while the second is more in line with canon, backed by Hyuna's info from Patreon)

1.) Why doesn't the Human Resistance Force save any other human from ALIEN STAGE? How do they increase their numbers in the first place?

I don't think it's common at all for the Human Resistance to interfere while ALIEN STAGE is ongoing. They must be well aware that it's one of the most dangerous moves they could ever pull. They can't afford to save every single contestant, and even if they could I still don't think they would've. Many human pets are raised to revere death as some kind of honor. Some of them are just happy enough to die, unfortunately. It's risky to try and convince someone who's loyal to the system to come to your side, as they might resist or rat out the whole rebel operation when pushed. You never know which humans actually want to be saved and which ones wish to live and die in the system.

Written on the walls beside Hyuna's wanted poster are messages by the rebels themselves. (Roughly translated) the one on the left reads:

Recruitment of Human Rebellion

Qualification: All human beings who hate segyein

Provides accomodation / residence / basic food, clothing, shelter

If we continue to live like this, we will die

We are better than your master

The Rebellion relies on humans to come to them, encouraging others to make the conscious decision to save themselves and switch sides. The rebellion can't save just anyone, a human has to prove that they don't want to be a part of the system, they need to show signs.

It makes sense that they didn't save Sua. In front of the cameras, she played her part of "the perfect pet" too well. She showed no signs of resistance and even smiled as she was shot dead.

Though still rebellious, Till had purpose in ROUND 2. Even if they came to save him, he wouldn't budge if it meant leaving Mizi behind. Plus, Till's performances usually call for an increased amount of security and guards to pin him down in case he loses control like they expect him to. Increased risk for a rescue mission that might amount to nothing.

Ivan in ROUND 3 played his part just as perfectly as Sua (it was only during ROUND 6 where Hyuna, most likely spurred on by Mizi's attachment to them and the successful rescue in ROUND 5, decided to push forward with saving both Ivan and Till).

After ROUND 1, Mizi lost everything. She lost her joy, her willingness to participate any further in the competition. Anyone watching ALIEN STAGE can tell just how despaired Mizi is, how she no longer wants to go on because of Sua's death. Furthermore, ROUND 5 was delayed because Mizi refused to participate. Maybe it was within this period of delay that the Rebellion began their plan of action.

Mizi openly showed her despair and refusal to participate in the competition any further, she provided the rebellion with a timeframe to execute the rescue mission, and her violent outburst at the end of ROUND 5 not only further proved her anger and disgust, but also nearly killed her. She needed to be saved at that point.

That's the best way I can try to explain the Resistance's decision for Mizi's rescue from a logical standpoint, but as we know, the true reason for Mizi's rescue is far more personally motivated.

2.) What does Hyuna see in Mizi that reminds her of herself? What drove Hyuna to save her?

Hyuna may have an older, tougher edge, but overall she and Mizi are the most genuinely extroverted and outgoing of the cast (or they were, at least). As children, they both shared a bright and sunny personality that positively affected all the people around them. Even their long hair and the way they styled themselves as children is strikingly similar.

Before Hyunwoo's death and whatever went down in the 49th season of ALIEN STAGE, Hyuna was most likely just as excited to compete as Mizi was. Although their motivations differed, they both shared a love for performing. Cheerful, optimistic, and painfully naive.

Hyuna seemed much more innocent and "pure" back then as well, taking a lonely Luka under her wing and caring for him together with Hyunwoo just as she treated every other child in the Anakt Garden as her little sibling. Hyuna seems to retain this sisterly instinct, shown by taking in more humans into the Human Resistance and looking after them, providing shelter and other basic needs for those who wish for a safe refuge. However, she's much more cautious with who she allows to come close. Hyuna in present is incredibly jaded behind her cheery facade, and has lost all her naiveté. She adopted her righteousness from Hyunwoo, who seemed to hold strong positive beliefs from the beginning while she herself held a more realistic and somewhat pessimistic outlook. Hyuna believes that all humans are inherently selfish, and even the most altruistic of people possess this selfishness in their nature.

Plagued by all the past events and the trauma that heavily affected her way of living, Hyuna allows herself to fall into vices such as smoking and drinking, which she indulges in so often that it's stated as her "likes" on her official profile. These not only serve as a coping mechanism for her past hurt, but also as a way to further distance herself from segyein culture, which prefers their pets to remain prim and proper. Although years have passed, it's apparent that Hyuna still hasn't moved on from the death of her brother. While her intentions for an uprising are for the benefit of all human pets, seemingly altruistic, Hyuna herself states that people are selfish, and she is no exception.

It seems that Hyuna is in pursuit of vengeance or justice. Her motivation for rebelling is fueled not only by her wish for freedom, but also by the urge to make up for Hyunwoo's death. She wants to be freed from the shackles of past, and it is through Mizi that Hyuna hopes to accomplish this.

Mizi, much like Hyuna, has experienced the devastating loss of someone who has been with her for almost her whole life. Someone who meant the world to her is now splayed out on the ground, blood spilling out of their lifeless body. The horror in that wide-eyed stare, paralyzed in shock... It's all too familiar.

To add fuel to the flame, the person who further perpetuates Mizi's misery is Luka, tormenting her with memories of Sua and stepping uncomfortably into her space, leading her like a puppet. It's established that whatever connection Hyuna had with Luka is now cut. She no longer holds a fond protectiveness over him, now viewing him as a threat that must be eliminated or brought to justice, hence the dagger held over his head. Whether or not she can find it within herself to actually bring the dagger down... we'll have to wait and see.

Hyuna sees much of herself in Mizi, and she hoped to console her own pain by saving and helping her, almost as if she were helping another version of herself.

Near the end of All-In, it's Hyuna's turn to become paralyzed at the sight of someone that might as well have been dead to her. Re-entering ALIEN STAGE grounds inevitably presents one with Luka's image, and when Hyuna recalls her memories with him, she freezes up. She and Mizi have now switched places, with Hyuna as the one in need of saving and Mizi as the only one up to the task. When Mizi fired the gun and saved her, Hyuna felt more "healed" than before. She felt a sense of satisfaction and peace due to Mizi's growth and slow but steady recovery.

Hyuna's rescue of Mizi ended up serving the both of them. Mizi learned to stand on her own two feet again and gained strength, while Hyuna was able to put herself at ease.

At present, Hyuna is the person Mizi confides most in. Mizi finds herself similar to Hyuna in many ways, especially after hearing about her past.

[crustyfloor]

I'm so obsessed with the color symbolism in this teaser--

The color contrasts are representative of their personalities. Warm tones; orange for Till's energetic and rebellious spirit, the intense atmosphere serves to make Till appear anxious and tense, but Luka looks perfectly relaxed.. Cool tones; purple for Luka's mysterious and pompous nature.

I wonder if this means there will be changes in tone during their duet to represent their personalities, I think round 7 will be a sort of character study for them. and Till specifically.

Last round, Till was dressed in something neat, but since he's seemingly back in his funk--and I'm glad he's breaking the black and white motif for a more reclaiming, personal style, red and green (those two colors being matched together is like a traffic light, a warning...coughs). I believe Till got his bite back, he was never "tamed" to begin with, beaten down? yes. It's shown even here that he's on edge, and this is the most emotionally expressive he's been for a while.

(and something tells me he'll be handling an instrument again, just because of the headpiece. then he can smash it on Luka)

Another thing is his collar, it's reminiscent of the attachable ones he used to wear, like in round 1, something about him needing his leash again,,,

Because of this, I'm wondering if the Orange lighting is also symbolic of his danger to others, what is he like right now after round 6? (mentally, he's fucked I'm sure.) What if it's dangerous because Till will remind Luka of HyunA. (And if he does what HyunA couldn't...)

The quote "Never come back again" could have many different meanings when applied to Till, I think about the times he survived his rounds despite the odds almost being against him and being high risk; it's really concerning if he would be able to bounce back again this time.

And it's more of a personal thing when you think about the fact that after this, Till can only get worse if there is no intervention and he survives again, he'll never be the man he was before after he's lost everything and everyone.

I would die seeing Till's themes of regret in round 7 after losing all the family he's known and ultimately being alone

[pestilencesingsyouforward]

How did you feel about Luka winning.. I mean it’s obvious but. Also side note how do you feel about the hate he’s getting cause till died?

I’m going insane no one understands himmmmmmmm.

He deserved to win I swear!!! This is not me saying he is a good person or the other characters didn’t deserve to win/deserved to die. I’m saying that he had no real part in this show. It’s not his fault it was a choice between life and death and he chose himself. Would you not do the same? Wouldn’t you choose yourself over strangers? He didn’t grow up with these people! He already watched his old friends die in alien stage 49, why would he even be bothered to try and spare these random ah people. Would you even care at that point? To rebel? His ass is 30 years old. He’s the model doll for his owner, it’s instilled in him to fear him. He was awake for his branding, WHICH WAS ON HIS HIP, WHICH I ONE OF THE MOST PAINFUL PLACES TO GET TATTOOED, he was made to watch and hold his shirt up for it yall. All the other contestants seemed to be sedated for their branding, so why wasn’t he? His owner actively tortured him and his experimented on him, literally CUTTING OFF HIS BLOODFLOW TO SEE HOW LONG HE’D SURVIVE. The scars on his lower chest are known for being for surgeries that involve removing organs, the liver being one of them (I think) which adds to the blood experimentation as the liver filters toxins out of the blood.

Till didn’t deserve to die any more or less than Luka. I didn’t see anyone hating on Till for killing that random ass guy? NO ONE CARED??? yes I’m aware that he used manipulation and there recent trauma to his advantage, but it was to save himself?? I myself manipulated people out of fear and self preservation- but not because I’m a bad person, because I thought I still needed too. He needs to if he wants to stay the favorite, the doll, the most expensive human not on the market. No one in this show is innocent, but that doesn’t mean we should target one guy because “he killed our yaoi pair” and “was mean to our yuri girlie”

First of all Ivan literally assaulted Till??? Like bro Till did not like that man that way. Yes he cared when he died because they were friends and because he died for him. They never would have gotten together yall. As for mizi, what he did was because he needed the advantage. He watched her go head to head with another “perfect pet” and win. He could not afford to lose, nor win by a small margin. He needed to win to the point of approval of his owner.

Im gonna stop yapping now but the haters gonna hate fr

I LOVE MY WIFE

[cat-autism-wizard]

okay the more i watch the videos the more i realize something about alien stage. when i first saw my clematis by ivan and till i thought it was going to be ivan as sua and till as mizi because i thought they mirrored each other but i was wrong and it was ivan as mizi and till as sua. i thought the mirroring was through sacrificing self to save the other but it wasnt just like that. mizi was the one worshiping sua, all the thing mizi does is for sua even in the my clematis it is shown that if sua didnt catch mizi's attention she wasnt singing. she was refusing to sing until she saw sua. sua became the universe itself for mizi she was her god. all she did was for sua. thats why shes the one doing the monologue middle of the song.

for ivan and till its ivan. ivan didnt care for anything and his closeness to luka shaped him more into just a doll to entertain the aliens but when he met till things changed for ivan. the person who was only trying to survive learned more than just surviving. till became his universe. his god. thats why hes the one doing the monologue in the song.

the difference here is sua also saw mizi as her universe and was ready to sacrifice herself for her because she knew both of them living is not possible in their world. mizi believed in her god but sua knew the reality since she is shown to just play by the alien's rules because she knows if she doesnt she will die. thats exactly what she did in the clematis. she broke the rules she followed all her life for her universe.

in the other side ivan's feelings were one-sided. all till saw was mizi. ivan knew this. that wasnt the first time and after seeing mizi missing ivan knew till wasnt gonna try to win. he couldnt let that happen. he couldnt see his universe crumble in front of him. so he did what he could. after the disappearance of mizi, ivan knew they wouldnt leave it to chance and just kill him if he tried to 'kill' his opponent. so he choked till to save him.

both couples mirror each other but not only with each other. with hyuna and luka too. which i will get into it later.

[asteriass]

Till’s “All-in” cover & Round 7 parallels

Something I’ve told myself since yesterday is if Till is truly to die in Round 7, “wouldn’t the team go all-in? Why did they not?” & That line of thought brought to mind Hyuna’s All-in song lol… but then Till’s cover of All-in came to mind because of that… & then the I remembered the tape on that song’s cover art, exactly where Till’s wound is in Round 7….

One thing to also note about the song is its clear themes of rebellion and going against all odds, & how even if victory seems slim to some, the resistance will push back against the cheers of the aliens.

“Step all over me but I'll rise again It's you who's in the wrong, bet you had no idea”

Of course this lyric showcases that too, but what I’ve seen theorised is that the last line of the lyric (amongst a few others in the song too) could also be referencing Luka as well (due to Luka’s potential role in Hyuna’s personal life)

Generally who is chosen for which cover doesn’t SPECIFICALLY reference their canonical standing. But changes are made to the delivery of the lyrics to fit each characters and their dynamics and positions. Thus I do find it interesting that a song like this was chosen for Till.

Even the cover image almost directly references Till’s position in Round 7! Plus it’s interesting that a song that references rebellion and resistance against the aliens’ expectation as they are cheering, a song that potentially references Luka’s methods, also aligns with Till’s position in Round 7!

The aliens are cheering against him towards the end of the round, they’ve voted for Luka’s win, stepping all over his ambitions and being.

(Note: the purple glow sticks, the aliens’ cheering isn‘t in support of Till, but rather against him)

Additionally, Till was able to break away from Luka’s impact on him in the last moment (because he saw Mizi), he proved Luka’s tried and tested method wrong

Perhaps the cover carries a greater relevance to Till’s role in the final round?

Even if it seems that by this point “There's no point fighting back”, he’s lost, he’s done for - his rebellion has been snuffed out, perhaps even in such a bleak moment, Till’s resistance will “rise” above the attempts to step over him.

“I'll create a fantasy in this crazy world And change it all, I'm going all-in”

If it means to survive and see his ambitions be realised, he’ll go all-in, even if hope seems bleak in that last moment, even if he’s been trampled on.

Which thus brings us back to the tape covering where his wound is, and thus blocking him from bleeding out (like the aliens would want cuz he’s lost).

Food for thought I suppose lol

[junebluues]

ROUND 7 TEASER ROUND 7 TEASER SCREAMSS

OH GOD ITS SO FUCKING OVER.

i’m actually a little bit obsessed as to how this round looks more like a concert than a competition. i don’t think we’ve ever seen a stage like this in alnst at all.

like. LOOK AT THIS THING. they’ve got light sticks and everything. (which are popular at k-pop concerts, for those who don’t know.)

i mean, i guess it makes sense that they’d go all out like this because round 7 is the last round. what i find interesting is the amount of bright and colorful light that’s been used… even in luka and till’s individual frames in this trailer.

okay so, it’s confirmed that till is wearing green, which is also present in the lights on stage. and that green tank top is see through with a black one under it. and the orange light from above… i can really only think of the first teaser art we got of this round and the meteor shower scene.

i feel like this could mean we might see ivan from till’s pov this time. and i’m also wondering if the lights we see on stage (that also look like a sort of projection at the back of the stage? i won’t say they’re using a cyc because this is alien civilization here, but it looks pretty similar) will change colors as the round goes on. i’m starting to think they will, only because we’ve seen colors other than the blue and green that are important to both luka and till, and i doubt they’d miss a chance to use some color symbolism in r7.

if the lights on the back of the stage ARE a projection, i’m very interested to learn what they’re going to project onto it. i don’t really have an idea of what a projection could be for this round, because i personally think it’ll be too foul to put the meteor shower footage on screen while till sings…

oh and don’t even get me started on luka’s outfit.

YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. WHY ARE THE GIRLS OUT LUKA. and the back is open too. luka. why are you getting so bold.

i think luka’s outfit is still pretty much white? but i’m not all that sure because of this lighting. which means, they’re both still wearing black and white. and that feels so odd to me, because the duos wearing black and white have only been mizisua and ivantill. and in all the other rounds, the competitors were wearing the same color. that’s making me a little scared, except the one wearing white always dies. in this case, luka is wearing white, so if we follow the old color rule, that means he would die. although, i don’t think this is the case now.

till is also wearing green over his black top. it seems like a rebellious act, covering up what the segyein gave to him, just like him covering up his brand in the all-in cover. i genuinely feel like the outcome of this round could be anything. i do believe that till will survive, but he won’t come out unscathed. as for luka, i have no idea. the green with the black tells me that something else is going to happen that we might not expect.

basically, i’m terrified for late october

[izartn]

Btw something super funny I haven't seen yet in the Alien Stage fandom is people giving Till hell about fucking over any opportunity his opponent had in round 2 of winning.

Like much has been said about Luka playing psychological games against his opponents, but Till stole the song and didn't leave any chance to the poor rando (I hear he's called Acorn?) of living.

Luka may play mind games but he at least gives you a chance of singing, even if this is because he's confident on his own supremacy.

Let's be real if Luka had pulled a Till against Mizi or Till himself the fandom would been furious, but bc when Till did it was against a rando and he was framed all badass and as rebelling against the aliens we don't care he basically said " I don't give a fuck about you I need to win at all costs" to rando in r2.

I'm not condemning Till bc I think it's a fascinating part of his character and makes such a nice yuxtaposition to his willingness to die against Ivan in R6 or his desperate last stand against Luka on the Final.

But you know. Pointing out that double standard XD

(I for one am waiting to get a window into Luka's PoV bc every time it's a round against him its very much a present, no flashback, driven by plot round which is fascinating bc it's exactly like what the aliens watch alien stage for. he's a tragic anime blonde being a cog in a terrible system that also makes him suffer but it's his only way to survive, of course I'm ready to be obssesed with him too. obssesed with him kissing the hand of his dead opponent of r4.

Interestingly, I feel like R2 with Till was what truly introduced us to the spirit of Alien Stage compared to tragic MiziSua that was so personal. So fiting the Final was the only round that truly felt like a fight for the win Alien Stage is supposed to be for.)

[ivanttakethis]

WHAT R UR FAV ALNST THEORIES/ ANALYSES!?!?!!

GREAT QUESTION ANON!!!

These my favorite theories in no particular order, with some of my own personal theories mixed in.

Most of these are about Ivan, but he’s my favorite character so yeah lol.

Long post under the cut. Let’s go!!

1. IVAN IS ALIVE (yes, the capitalization is necessary)

I believe this one for a few reasons:

- We haven’t seen any official art about Ivan’s death (which is inch resting imo)

- At one point, there was a post/comment/rumor that Vivinos/QMENG (not sure which) said no one else was going to die after Sua (of course now I can’t find where I initially saw this, so take it with a grain of salt). This could’ve been said to mislead us or maybe they changed their minds later on, but I’m still holding onto this — assuming the statement was made/is true.

- Ivan didn’t get shot in the head. If they wanted to kill him to stop him from “hurting” Till, why waste bullets on shooting him several times in non-lethal places when they could’ve just sniped him one time in the head or neck and been done with it?

- Ivan’s owner Unsha is an alien underworld mobster who has a rivalry with Till’s owner Urak. I don’t think Unsha would take Till (and by extension Urak) “winning” Round 6 in the way he did lightly enough to let Ivan rest without a rematch. But maybe he’s not as petty as I would be idk.

- I’m delusional 🙂

2. Luka isn’t branded.

- This is one of my theories. I think Luka doesn’t have his name branded anywhere on him because he was grown in a lab.

- If the aliens are capable of growing humans, they probably also have the ability to “edit” or design them however they wish. They could’ve made Luka into the perfect Alien Stage contestant: beautiful, musically talented, charming, eternally youthful, but also cunning and cutthroat.

- I think they made him obedient on a fundamental level, more obedient than Ivan or Sua. It’s part of his DNA.

- He’s incapable of rebelling, so there’s no need to brand him. There’s no need for a reminder of who’s in charge because Luka wouldn’t step out of line in the first place.

3. Sua was turned into an android.

- Based on this official art that continues to haunt me.

- Also this post about Vivinos saying Sua will appear again “no matter what form she takes” makes me go hmm 🤔

- If Mizi and Hyuna get captured, I could see android Sua being brought in to break down Mizi as some sort of psychological torture method. (Wow, that got dark. Anyways…)

4. Ivan will appear in the 10th video in the series.

- I talked about my reasoning behind this theory here, but to summarize: the three numbers in this pic with Ivan could represent Round 3 and Round 6, which he appeared in both, and the 10 could represent him appearing in the 10th video in the series. This also ties into theory #1 on this list (IVAN IS ALIVE)

- This is one of my favorite theories because it gives me big “cork board and red string” conspiracy vibes lol

5. Ivan has a connection to the wagyeins.

- Based on the official art we have of Ivan being close with a wagyein as a child. I did a mini-analysis about their relationship in this post.

- Ivan also has some of similarities to the wagyein that we don’t see in any other humans (red pupils, sharp tooth, etc.)

6. Ivan was experimented on.

- Another one of my personal theories is that Ivan was experimented on, though not to the extent that Till was.

- This might explain why he was able to tank like three bullets without flinching much in Round 6.

- And also why his blood might be a different color, as mentioned in this post.

Finally, and perhaps most devastatingly:

7. Till did look at Ivan, he just didn’t notice.

- I think Ivan is an unreliable narrator who is deeply self-deprecating and always sees the worst in himself. And because both Round 3 and Round 6 focused heavily on Ivan’s perspective, we as the audience end up seeing the world how he saw it, rather than how it actually was.

- Ivan thinks that Till never noticed him, but I think he did. Just— not when Ivan was looking. There’s some art/screenshots to back this up too (his eyes being closed in some of these 😭).

Those are all my favorite theories as of now, but I’m sure there’ll be more in the future.

Thank you for the ask anon!