#SHE WAS GOING TO GO BACK TO ANAKT

[k9punkout]

bro

you're telling me they never interacted

[crustyfloor]

A new pop-up store dropped for ALIEN STAGE's 2nd anniversary and wow. It's so sick.

It's Interesting what exactly these experiments are focusing on and monitoring.

Instrument practice

I found it interesting earlier that Till was so tame, more so than he usually is when he's going through experiments, but music, and making music is what he loves doing, So he was fully in his element here. This was probably the only thing he was made to do by the aliens that he at least tolerated.

(Additionally, judging by his collar (orange), he was at least calm. maybe he just isn't fazed anymore.)

//Side note, that head contraption looks familiar BUT this most likely isn't related at least i hope

(It puts me at ease, at least..)

Dance practice

This surprised me, but I suppose Mizi needed more skills.

She looks very startled here, and nervous(?) +It looks like she's doing this while singing. And with that face covering I assume this was a test monitoring her dance balance, precision, etc. At first, I did think it was odd, "Why would Shine put her through that" But alas I was reminded that even though Mizi is the flower of the group she was never untouchable, to Shine, this was the equivalent of teaching your dog to sit and stay.

(seeing this it reminded me of those scenes in movies where the people are dancing, and the music gets faster and faster until they fall. I wonder if she was doing through something similar to that)

Singing practice (?)

Similar to Till she also looks quite calm outwardly, if the machine around her neck is an iteration of the collars they have, then this process wasn't something she liked, or given how intense this experiment looks, this was a test of high-pressure to ensure she always stayed calm during performances (?). Then again this could also be a posture practice given all the structure focused on maintaining her position.

(What I believe was another form of this test was shown before so I think so)

(With her hands in a praying stance I wonder if she was praying to herself or singing a religious song (sweet dream?) It's also interesting that the machinery around her looks like a halo, and she looks so...angelic? holy?)

Image making practice

By image making, I think they made Ivan replicate expressions with his face. Whether this process was painful for him or not...I'm not sure. But it looked visibly uncomfortable, maybe that was the point. (His expression, even in this circumstance is so dubious..)

Ivan, among other things, needed to have a spotless appearance to be successful, his image was a priority given his skills were certainly guaranteed.

I assume the aliens eventually took note of his lack of expression, in the real world this can be a detriment to one's career, so the Aliens had to ensure quality was perfect. (To a more...dedicated level)

Superiority test

'Superiority test' Is very vague.

HyunA is very calm here too, likely sedated in that water with all the tablets on her. I guess this was a test to get an idea of a pet human's strengths and weaknesses, endurance, and temperament to compare and contrast them with others, testing who is more viable for Alien stage?

Another interesting, and sad part about this is that HyunWoo was there, watching his sister through her experiments.

(Also, it looks like both of her legs are normal, no alien leg yet.)

Heart rate variability

And finally, the most visceral of them all. The wording 'variability' makes this all the more sickening, the Aliens were testing his heart hours, testing it at different rates, speeds, and states. And he was in agony the entire time. Even the way he's clutching his chest, it gives me chills. This would've been a completely harmless test in a normal setting, as something quite similar to this can be performed efficiently in real life. But he's being tortured in the process.

This is one of the first times we've ever seen Luka's face so truly clear and unprotected, (understandably so.) He's even crying.

[otome-dissection]

Dude I can't Luka's expressions in wiege fuck me up so bad all the parallels between Luka now and himself as a child get me so fucking bad like:

The wiege MV (for the mostpart) is about going back to the beginning. It's about the in-betweens we didn't get to see. It's about the journey and it's about all the small moments that built all the characters (most importantly Hyuba and, imo, Mizi) up into what they came to be. For better or for worse, Hyuna and Mizi both grew up so far from what they used to be, went through the whole spectrum of experiences that humans in their position could possibly have, and its shown by the wide range of scenes/experiences/flashbacks they have just how much they've lived.

Meanwhile Luka, who is, objectively, on top of everything, far above what Hyuna, Mizi, and everyone else could've been or ever was, is by far the most stagnant as a person. Where we see Hyuna and Mizi go through all the motions of loving and losing and loving again (and losing again), Luka has always been stuck on Hyuna, and the second he sees her everything he's built up to is all thrown to the wind without a second thought, without any fanfare, because nothing for him as changed.

Internally, Luka's still sitting against that tree in the garden and watching someone else grab his hand, Luka's still watching Hyuna count with his fingers and making him laugh for the first time ever, still clinging to her arm, still crossing the grass field to reach her.

Even years later, even as an adult, he's still looking at her like she's his salvation. When he sees her again on the stage he looks at her like he's just found his way back home after far too many years away from it, and when that gun is pointed at his head to stop him he looks at it like he's wondering why he's not allowed back inside.

And then when he looks at Hyuna more and remembers the moments with her that he's been clinging onto more he forgets about it entirely. And then you know what happens from there. I'm sickkkk

The fact that a lullaby. A Fucking Lullaby, and presumably a song that most if not all kids of Anakt know and learned when they were still young (see: that scene of the main 4 singing it) was the song choice for this video. The fact that seeing Hyuna, just seeing her again like that is what brings that lullaby back, a melody from the beginning of it all that should be so far beneath Luka by now, but isn't. I can't bro.

Luka, live with love. Or whatever. Augh I don't even know

[muchanmocha]

Sua's Protection

I found it funny that Sua with her low mental strength is the one trying to shield Mizi, who has high mental strength, but then I realized that it made a lot of sense.

Sua was trying to protect Mizi the very same way she had wanted to be protected with her low mental fortitude.

This is further corroborated by the fact that her biggest trauma stemmed from her sister instilling in her her own fear of Sua's death by describing the horrific practices of Anakt Garden in excruciating detail.

It makes sense that Sua would then take the opposite approach and try to protect Mizi by keeping her from the same words, actions, and knowledge that had traumatized her in the past.

In a way this too is a sacrifice. It means Sua gives up having someone to confide in and seek companionship from when exposed to the various horrors their world still has to offer.

By being determined to keep Mizi in the dark, Sua is also throwing away the comfort and protection Mizi would want to give in the moments when she's scared and afraid.

The morning probably won't come to me

Like a lie, if all this is just a dream

(You hug me tight as if nothing happened)

It's just sweet dream, it's today

Wait for me, I'll go see you soon, ooh

Lord, please when the song is over,

Save me please

— Sweet Dream, reflecting Sua's feelings going into Round 1

Yet no matter the form, self-sacrifice is inherently an act of selfishness and Alnst backs up this message again and again.

It is the whole one-sided aspect of self-sacrifice that makes it selfish.

Despite it involving multiple people, only one person is required when making that decision — themselves. And by deciding on their own, they're effectively rejecting communication and discussion, thereby showing no respect for the other person's will.

What can be more selfish than overriding someone else's feelings for the sake of your own?

Self-sacrifice doesn't need the other party's consent.

It doesn't ask for their opinion.

It doesn't give them the right to choose, because the choice is already made for them.

In the end, it's one decision made independently by an individual on behalf of someone else, and that someone else will be the one to shoulder the results.

[merlucide]

HAIRCARE!~♪

notes: ‘this alien stage x reader was sponsored by free time in the car’😌

characters: all characters

warnings: cursing, not edited/proofread (idgaf)

She’s always had long hair, and has always preferred it this way

She does her very best to keep the tangle free- but at the end of the day it’s full of knots

This is why she loves hair days!

She’ll lay down on your lap and be all happy with your fingers combing through her pretty long hair

It helps her unwind from the day, it’s because apart of her daily routine ig :3

She just likes talking to you about whatever

Then when’s she’s had her full of love and affection she’ll pamper you endlessly heh

Loves twirling your hair around and making up hairstyles

She can do anything you want for the most part! She’s a bit messy but it always looks good :3

She doesn’t style her hair really, aside from combing it or putting it in a pony

When her hair was longer fans had you put it in braids then :3

Honestly she doesn’t like people touching her hair, gets it all greasy and messed up yk?

But she doesn’t mind if you’d like to play with hers time to time :)

At your time at anakt you’d both sit underneath the trees there and try to intertwine the flowers into her hair.

Sua was better at styling flowers than you were tho heh

She likes twirling you hair around her finger :3

You could look at Till and think ‘he dgaf about his hair’ —but he actually does gaf 😭🙏 he wants to look cool okay?? His hair is important to him 

He takes like 5 minutes in total making sure his hair looks good lmao

It’s just perfectly messy ya’know? :3

He likes brushing your hair

It’s very soothing for him

If he’s feeling creative he’ll experiment around with different styles but mostly just brushes lmao

Don’t gaf about his hair

But he has to gaf about his hair 😔 sad thing

Gotta keep that image up yk 🥲

Normally he just combs through it and calls it good (on a normal day anyways)

Likes it to look pretty neat tho

He likes making a rats nest of yours though!

Kidding, kidding (kinda..)

Likes ponytails:)

But yeah he just fucks up your hair for fun basically

True love? 

Oh boy 💀 THIS diva

As the star that Luka is, his appearance is the most important aspect of his product (well following after his voice but YK-)

Bro has a curl routine n all

I mean he’s basically an influencer?? in a way?? So id imagine he gets free stuff

Anywho he’s a scruncher then he uses that curl thing (I’ll look it up later)— It’s a process

Prefers you not to touch his hair, will smack your hand away LMAO

But when’s he’s utterly exhausted and burnout he’ll put your hand on his head (if he has the energy too anyways)

Lukas not like 😭 an affectionate person anyways?- well it’s weird? He’s touchy but not, affectionate

Ya get it?

He might twirl your hair around but that’s kinda it 😭🙏 hate to be a dream destroyer

Well I’ll give some crumbs…heh..heh

S

When you two are lying alone in bed together— wether it’s after a photoshoot or what not, he’ll like creep up behind you and start caressing you hair

It’s a bit uncomfortable at first because you can just FEEL him burning holes into the back of your head while twirling your hair 😭🙏 sweating n shit

It’s relaxing for him anyways, when he’s tired but not ready to sleep yet yk

Hyuna 🤤 hair goals fr fr

She usually just has it down or in a high pony/braid tbh

Her hair is LONG AF and is such a pain to deal with so I’d imagine she just puts it up and calls it good

She washes her hair like once a week anyways (the shower is full of grime JUST from her hair 😭🙏)

She dgaf (yesss Hyuna 🥹🗣️)

She’s really great at braiding!! When she decided to put her hair in a braid one day you would NAWT shut up about how she needs to have it styled like that more often (and she did hehe)

Hyuna also collects trinkets— whenever she goes out on raids/bounties or wtv she picks up/steals (LMAO) anything that catches her eye (Like a crow! heh)

She always brings smth back for you, any shiny things go to you, only the best for her babe 😌

Now!- when you asked her to braid your hair you brought up the trinkets suggesting that you put it in the braids- like as accessories!!

And she liked that idea vv much ofc and planted little coins and charms tied into your hair :3

Your head legit looked like a crows nest lmao

But it looks so pretty!! Two fishtail braids with shiny things in your haiirrrrrr!

She was proud af of her work 😌

You both went person to person showing off your head lol

DEWEY (I love him plsss)

His head is full of tangles, but he insists it’s just apart of his ‘look’

His really not picky with his hair- just prefers redoing his roots before they get too-too grown out yk

Which of course you always help him!

He sits on the floor criss-cross in his white tanktop and sweats while you mix the blonde dye

He stays still for the most part, but gets antsy staying in the same position for too long

He justs yap your ear off while you apply the color loll

“Yah so, I tried 85 arm-curls which that went friggin’ awesome as expected-“ “Yeah then Isaac went blackout drunk- Ha it was hilarious” “I think the showers broken ‘cause when I turned it on purple shit came out-“

Since his hair is all sticky and wet he like makes his hair stick  straight up lmao😭

Tries to convince you to use the left over dye on Isaac lmao

While he waits for it to dry he begs you to let him do your hair

He tries to do a Dutch braid, but fails lmao

“WHY ISNT YOUR HAIR WORKIN’?!”

And ur like ?! Everything good back there ?!

He keeps trying until your hair is a literal rats nest lol

He just looks at his mess like ‘oh shit’

Ur so pissed at him and he’s like: 🥺

So he just brushes out the mess he made lol

Which it freakin hurt bc OWWW KNOTS

After it’s all brushed out he just did a basic braid and called it good lmao

Then you take him to the showers to rinse it out and in fact- purple did come out

Probably should’ve thought about that before you stuck his head under the shower head heh..

You ended up using the sink in the bar and everyone just sorta was like ‘uh, okay’

Just imagine Dewey laying on the counter with his head in the sink lol- def stained the counter

Bro shakes his head like a dog to dry off, THEN gets a towel

Smh

In reward for you hard work he gives you a big fat smooch heh

Then goes around base to show everyone his hair lmao

Successful hair dyeing day with Dewey id say!

(Dewey j love you please I need more of him yall PLEASE.)

ISAAC (I LOVE YOU TOO!!)

I mean he just puts his cap on and calls it a day sooo

Really couldn’t give two shits about it lmao

Doesn’t care if you mess around with his hair, so might as well go for it :3

You tried putting his hair into a piggy tail, which his hair is so short so it just kinda, stuck out 😭

He really does love playing with your hair :) it’s actually rlly cute he’ll be talking to a member and just be playing with your hair (the thought gives me butterflies gets me mushy SOB)

by the time he’s done talking to the person there’s like 6 little braids in your hair on on side 😭🙏

Best hair time w/ him is when yall are fucked up and tied from raiding and just lay together, you most likely on top of him

And he just holds ya and plays with your hair 🥹

Yall talk about the day, or some things you’ve been thinking about, just quiet words yk? :)

(Stop I’m like tweaking thinking about this wtf)

help so sorry for how short Till+Ivans is 😭🙏 no creative juice came for them (and I wrote theirs last so yk…)

Made December 20th 2024

[eggonthemoon]

Alien Stage Round 6 Character Analysis and Lyrics Breakdown

Okay so obviously spoilers, don't click Keep Reading if you haven't watched Round 6.

God fuck it's so fucking beautiful, where do I start?

I don't even know what is going on with those rapid shots of what I assume is some form of experiment that Till was involved in. I have no clue what the goal was or if it succeeded but somehow (for no real reason other than that one image of Luka standing behind Till ominously) I feel that Luka is involved with it.

Was this an attempt by Heperu's (Luka's guardian) rival to make a human capable of going up against Luka? Till being the youngest and Luka being the oldest also means that Till's guardian could have caught on to what Heperu was planning to do with Luka and then start experimenting on humans shortly after and it would still somewhat line up with the timeline.

But I'm getting into conspiracy territory, back to suffering!!

Allow me, to the tips of your fingers

Allow me, to the ends of your feet

Dissolve me in your gaze

I don't want to let you go

Oh this hurts. Seeing him look so defeated and exhausted, you can tell that even though to the public it's not certain whether Mizi died or not it doesn't matter to him. Because she's still gone away from his world, where he is unable to reach her. He wants to dissolve and die but he also doesn't want to let her go if there is even a sliver of hope that she lives.

Please, leave me scars

Please, hurt me so that

Not a single drop of me remains

Let me drown in you

The footage that plays to these lyrics really show how defeated he is. He refuses to sing, his passion for the art completely dead and buried. And (his guardian I assume) when someone shoves the fact that Mizi is gone in his face he lashes out and punches one of the aliens near him.

Until these falling stars

Are buried in the blur of time

However his heart isn't entirely in it and is quickly apprehended.

He is beyond exhausted and doesn't even protest or put up a fight while (the same alien he punched btw) another alien runs their fingers through his hair.

On your icy lips

Read my soul

Yes, my soul

He hopes that even if Mizi is dead that her spirit watches over him, seeing his soul and by extension, Him, for all that he is. Every thought and breath until he falls asleep is for Mizi.

But didn't we already know this is how he'd be like? Time for something juicier~

Even if your cold words

Carve scars beneath my eyes

May they linger on your tongue

You can break me apart

God this is heart shattering. Even if Till doesn't care for him, even if Till throws hurtful words his way, Ivan will still lie awake at night, cherishing what sliver of attention he is given. It doesn't matter if Till hates him, because as long as he is on Till's mind Ivan is happy. He is entirely in Till's hands, capable of being build up or torn down depending on how much (or how little) he is perceived by him.

Notice my pain

And mend me right now

To quiet my fears

I'll drown in you

He wants so deeply to be seen by Till, noticed. Till who doesn't let anything hold him down and always picks himself back up became a pillar of hope and strength to Ivan. It didn't matter how or in what context he gets to be seen, so he went out of his way to provoke him just to get Till to look at him even for a moment.

This was mentioned a while back on VIVINOS Patreon but the entire incident where Mizi and Till got attacked by that hound monster was orchestrated by him. I feel like there is two possible reasons for this depending on when in the timeline this takes place.

Either he wanted to test Till's resolve in hopes of being proven wrong about his courage (after all your hopes can't be dashed on the rocks, if you never had hopes to begin with) only for his obsession to end up growing even stronger than before.

Or he tried to let Till get roughed up enough that he'd be transferred (solitary confinement? emergency room?) somewhere else away from the others at Anakt, so they could escape together.

But we all know how that turned out.

Either way what Ivan wants isn't freedom, he's long since given up on that. There's no point in his freedom if the person that inspired him to yearn for it isn't by his side. He needs Till there, his very presence to reassure him that no matter what Till won't falter. But he failed to take account of the one thing that weakens Till's resolve.

Mizi.

Mizi is to Till what Till is to Ivan. And so without Mizi in his world Till crumbles. Since Till will only go where Mizi is and Mizi already gave away her heart to someone else, it's impossible for Ivan to be free while keeping Till in his world.

And so he follows him, resigning himself to a life without freedom.

Sick of these nights to come

To be engulfed in silence

But the distance between them is killing him, and each and every day they come closer to their inevitable doom.

It doesn't matter if they believe the lie the aliens told them, that if they die singing they will be blessed. Because what is the point in that? How can going somewhere far away from the people they love be a blessing?

In your gaze where I am seen

Consume me

Yes, me

His desires mirror Till's. He wants his soul to be seen by him, recognized for his undying love for him. He wants Till to see that he can give him all that Till yearns for in Mizi and more.

To this everlasting melody

Face to face we dance

And yet Till still refuses to look Ivan in the eyes.

Things get a little unclear but since they aren't shown singing here and there's no flashback to accompany the lyrics, we can assume that at this moment Till most likely gave up on singing.

With our story

Lost in forever's embrace

I'm not sure if Ivan intended this from the start or if it's a decision he made then and there but one thing is certain. If Till stops singing then that would mean he forfeits, he'll lose. Till has never once given up. Even when he went back for Mizi that night, he never intended to leave her in the first place. But now without her he crumbles.

And Ivan can't let that happen, not like this.

Moral grey area aside, this scene is so deeply moving to me

And I don't say that in a romantic context, absolutely not. This is something much deeper than just love. This is the culmination of everything they've been through, all those moments lead up to this.

Because this isn't a kiss.

This is Ivan throwing his life away for Till.

Till was going to loose, the only thing that could overturn that is if his opponent attacks him. The kiss was to distract Till and keep him from catching up to what Ivan was planning.

Just look at the contrast between their first and second kiss. As soon as the score board shows Till is in the lead, he gives him a gentle peck on the lips. The contrast is stark and full of meaning. This was the genuine kiss, hidden behind a smokescreen of aggressive bravado created from the previous one.

And it worked. Till was completely convinced that Ivan's intentions was to kill him, and he was fully intent on letting him.

I know a lot of people doubted his intentions. Because he didn't let go of Till's neck the minute he saw their scores, a lot of people assume that this was Ivan trying to drag Till down with him.

But the minute he coughed up blood what does he do?

He smiles.

and let's Till go.

He's only human. He might know logically that Till has won the match. But emotionally he refuses to let go until he is certain.

Until he knows for a fact that he is the one bleeding and dying he'll keep up his charade.

And then.

And only then.

Till truly sees Ivan.

As he dissolves in his gaze.

[tillsfan]

now i really see how she saw herself in mizi. mizi also had that blind desperation to save others, like how she dove into trying to save till without thought, despite being told it was useless.

hyuna was the same way at first. she tried to go back to anakt with one leg with the notion to save them. it was impossible. she lost her childish desperation, and seeing mizi struggle with the same energy she had previously, motivated hyuna to save her. their stories of being recruited to the rebellion are similar too.

hyuna wasn’t seen as much at first, she was seen as some childish idiot. mizi wasn’t much at first either. mizi was shattered by the recent events of sua’s death, letting her childish emotions take over. they both wanted justice, or rather vengeance, so they acted irrationally. hyuna was saved because of what the previous leader saw in her, and hyuna saved mizi for the same reason. she saw something in her.

reality hit hyuna hard, she doesn’t childishly jump into saving people because she believes it’s impossible to save everyone (hence trying to stop mizi from saving till) but mizi still has that part of her. ooogh hyuna you make me so sad. hyuna became more mature at the expense of her optimism.

i also really like how this comic went a little deeper into her drinking problem. drinking and other substances are obviously how she copes, and i think this shows her slight childishness peeking through.

hyuna doesn’t have a mature facade, she simply has two parts of her—the child and the one who left the child behind. this is what MAKES her matured and mentally strong.

[asteriass]

Till & smoke bomb parallels ++ Ivan & cameras flowers parallels!!

Based on this tweet by xivering on twitter pointing out the the similaries

[Because I think there are legitimate parallels that can be drawn from this. I don’t think it’s a pure coincidence (ESPECIALLY not in Till’s case which is a literal exact one to one). I’ll explain!!]

Part 1: Till and the grenade

The grenade was a smoke grenade. It acted as a barrier - it produced a smoke screen, allowing Mizi to trick the Alien and act sneakily (To get in)

The grenade shares eyes with Till, Till was also similarly anxious, sweating as his face was gently held in Mizi’s hands, and staring back at her

And then Mizi pulled the trigger on the grenade, forcing a smoke screen that tricks the Alien and conceals what’s actually going on from view. Same with Till! Till’s hand going limp is perhaps a narrative smoke screen!! To trick the aliens, to conceal whats actually going on between them

AFTERALL, we see her tell him something, but we don’t know what. She holds him gently and is perhaps forcing him to action, even a small one, to trick the audience. So that his faintly beating heartbeat goes unnoticed under their increasingly loud cheers.

The louder they’ll cheer in excitement about the finale, the more it shows how much increasingly preoccupied in their bliss they are to properly notice the trickery happening right under their noses (Just like Mizi’s earlier trick)

Part 2: Ivan & the Anakt Garden flowers

The concept of character eyes being similar to alien eyes which then together serve a greater narrative parallel extends to Ivan too. Thus further strengthening the notion that it means SOMETHING!

Ivan was always observing others closely (in particular Till), just like the flowers observe the Anakt children.

[I remember the first time me and my friend were talking about the flowers possibly being for observation we talked about in it alongside Ivan’s eyes, & also his tendency to observe and stare lol, because the flowers’ eyes specifically drawn to be very similar to Ivan’s when they are recording. (And then 2 weeks later we were proven right hahahhaha ahem…)]

(Anyway) And yet from what we know of the information the flowers have gathered on the children, a lot of it is pretty surface level, it's never able to observe or record things like a person's true mindset. It only sees what the children are outwardly showcasing. It will never understand what goes on deep within these children’s minds, their true thoughts and opinions. Just like Ivan was never able to truly observe and gather his impact on Till and what he truly viewed Ivan as in his mind. Ivan thought to Till he wouldn’t matter.

He closely observed Till, but he was never able to fully gather what goes in Till’s mind. He wasnt able to gather Till’s true mindset, his views, his opinions (on Ivan). Till outwardly showcases apprehension at times, so it was easy for Ivan to gather and observe that, but he wasn’t able to see that Till did internally consider eachother “close”, that Ivan will have an impact on him.

And just as the flower was crushed while serving its duty, having observed what it did but never beyond it Ivan too was "crushed" while “”serving his duty”” (saving till), but he never got to observe how much of an effect his death would actually have on Till.

And so… i truly do think that making these eyes the same exact colors were purposefull. And thus supports the notion that Mizi (& Till) are “””tricking””” the aliens (and thus the viewer) too. That they’ve purposely put up a “smoke screen”….

[tabsters]

a compilation of reasons why till is 100% alive and definitely not dead

none of these theories are originally mine, I'm just compiling them all in one place to feed our delusions

please let me know about any more theories that I might have missed

here we go y'all!!!

psst @thegh0st-of-ingrid @hoisinblackcat @ventiilatte @starboy2461 @hyeesong @professionalwaterbender @yourlocalapplejuice @im-just-here-for-the-comics-r18 @iirexenii @probably-a-human-being

1 - Lovehate merch

probably the most blatant and obvious indicator as to why till's alive. in the other two lovehate merch items, the dead person is in black and white, while the alive person is in color.

thus implying that with ivantill, only Ivan is truly dead, and till is alive. he doesn't look too happy about it, but he is alive.

counterpoint to this point by @/mara9:

"I personally think the lovehate is only in relation (?) to their rounds together, it was just my first interpretation of them, could be totally wrong"

and while this could be true, luka and hyuna are not in the clothes they wore when hyuna died. luka is in his round 5 outfit, while hyuna is not in her uniform hoodie thing. therefore, the outfits have no relation to the symbolism. I think.

2 - Till's All-In cover art

till's art is the only piece of art to feature two different colors: red and green. (you could hypothetically count Ivan's art as having two different colors as well because of his red eyes but this art isn't officially released yet, so I won't count it)

it's extremely important to note that not only is the tape red (symbolizing till's blood), it's also directly over till's gunshot wound. this could imply a number of things, such as:

till's alive but his vocal cords are permanently injured

till was dead but comes back to life wrong

till somehow loses his sense of identity (because the tape is also directly over his name) and is technically "alive" but is no longer till

3 - Traces comic

all of the "dead" characters got comics after their death, depicting their dying thoughts.

sua where she talks to her older sister about how she found heaven in ANAKT:

Ivan talks about his selfish love towards till:

and hyuna talks about how luka was her one and only weakness:

but till doesn't get his own comic after his death. he gets a comic about his mother talking about till before he came to ANAKT.

considering this, we can conclude that till doesn't have any dying thoughts yet because he's not actually dead.

4 - Vision After art

again, this is part of a series with the other dead characters (excluding hyuna, because she wasn't dead at this point). with Ivan and sua, both of them are looking towards the camera, and their mirrors are typical mirrors, reflecting their images.

but till's mirror is different; it's a true mirror. what till sees in the mirror is exactly the same as what everyone else sees. he's turned away, and you can't see either till's faces.

while this presents less implications about his supposed death, it does separate him from Ivan and sua, who are already confirmed to be 100% dead.

I'm also unsure if this has been touched on, but I think that Ivan and sua looking towards the viewer could be indicative of them looking towards the person they sacrificed themselves for. what could this mean for till? it could be that till is looking towards himself because he was selfish in his "death". he wasn't sacrificing himself for anyone, he "died" when he was trying to reach for mizi.

this could be interpreted as a selfish act; he "died" to fulfill a desire that he had. he "died" for himself.

"died" being in quotation marks because, as previously stated, HE'S NOT ACTUALLY DEAD!!!

5 - Screenshots from the final round

many people have pointed out two things: till's heart rate monitor/mic thing is hanging out of his ear. this could mean that till's heart did not actually stop; his monitor merely got dislodged, making the aliens think his heart stopped. this also explains why till's picture flickers twice before going dark, as opposed to every other eliminated person's picture flickering once.

additionally, people have also pointed out that if till was really dead, his leg would not be up. his body would simply just go completely limp. this implies that there's still oxygen circulating through till's leg, thus implying that his leg is alive, thus implying that till is still alive.

6 - Screenshot from wiege:

this can probably be written off as more of a stylistic choice, but mizi's arms are completely covering till's face. we cannot tell what expression till's making, and therefore can't confirm for sure what he looks like and if he's actually dead.

7 - All the dead characters have bushy eyebrows

I think this one is self-explanatory.

Additional points by @/thegh0st-of-ingrid:

8 - His character treatment post-R7: apparently when asked about specific things about his character (mainly about his relationship with Ivan from his pov) Vivimeng didn't answer the questions. This to me could be proof that he's still alive since there are things yet to be reveald. And speaking of which...

9 - Narratively, the lack of his pov renders his (and partially Ivan's) storyline incomplete: his death hasn't a sense of finality bc he hasn't got a mini comic about that from his pov, and the lack of that pov itself (plus Vivimeng gatekeeping it) indicates that they're not done with the character

10 - Cross sybolism:

That may not that much of a concrete proof, but it could add to the forshadowing if he's reveald alive

(he'll arise 3 mvs after his death)

Additional point from @/probably-a-human-being:

11 - his hair thing is still pointing up. That's his antenna how could he be dead if his antenna is still up

edit: some more theories from another user that made a similar post not long after mine:

12 - This promotional art featuring all of the ALNST crew:

notice how only mizi is fully in color while sua, Ivan, and hyuna are completely in shades of blue. but it's important to note that both luka and till still retain their original colors as well as shades of blue. this could mean that luka and till die eventually, but not yet. and luka and till are right next to mizi, while hyuna and Ivan and sua are farther away.

13 - This coffin art

all of the confirmed dead people are at the top, with the people they sacrificed themselves for on the bottom. while this could just be defining who sacrificed themselves and who was saved in turn, it could also mean that TILL IS ALIVE!!!

14 - Snow White fanart

this was made before hyuna died and I think also before till died. all of these people are dead. notably absent is TILL!!!

[gold-pavilion]

Belonging and humanity (some more Ivan thoughts)

There's a big difference between knowing for a fact that you're a human being and getting to FEEL part of humankind. That's a thing that I feel Ivan sorely lacked. Some of his issues can definitely be traced back to it.

There's three things we know for certain about Ivan's early childhood nowadays, so let me start from those:

There were other humans around him in the slums, at least other children (for now it doesn't seem there were adults around, or none who would approach or care for the children).

However, we also know Ivan did not learn social behavior properly; for example, how or when to smile.

Going by the lonely tone of the song Nowhere and its emphasis on having no one, plus the previous point, we can infer there was no meaningful social contact with any people he knew/saw.

Ivan has been described as someone who is always learning to survive and his time in the slums must've been the same, after all; it's most likely that the other kids were competition to him (for food or other resources), threats or simply strangers with whom connections were never made.

That's to say, there were humans around Ivan but no "human community".

And that's the thing: take someone who went through a critical developmental stage with no one to care for or be cared by, learn social behavior with or practice the emotional exercises of understanding and empathy - ask that someone what "being a part of humankind" feels like, and what can he even make of it? It must not mean much more than categorizing a species, no feeling involved. And anyway, what difference does it make if there's anything else to say or not?

It's not like those are easy questions. None of the ALNST cast, with all their limitations, would be able to respond comprehensively.

But it changes things, the differences are there.

There are things that Till knows, from having a mother, learning from her and being enriched emotionally by their interaction, that I don't think he could describe but certainly has within him. Or Hyuna, who had a brother to feel that family bond and sense of community with, learning all sorts of positive social skills and having a heart full of room for empathy as she always looked out for the little Other Person next to her.

Beyond knowing their species, they know what it MEANS to be the rare and amazing human creature from these experiences of connecting, teaching, being taught, holding things in common, giving and receiving love. On an instinctual level they accessed what it feels like to be "part of humankind", which is so cool about them!!

Then you have cases like Mizi being too trusting of aliens because she was raised to feel community with one, Sua being mostly withdrawn because she didn't have a lot of warmth and community around her, Luka who was deprived of everything and then clung too hard to his first proper bond...

And Ivan, with his empty circumstances. There are a million things Ivan didn't learn and doesn't KNOW he lacked.

Of course that with his background he'd end up 1: being defensive by nature, having selfish tendencies, trouble processing emotion and socially weird habits and 2: feeling like a twisted being because of it, which is such a core aspect of his character. A human with less humanity but no idea why or how.

He adapted himself a lot once adopted, of course, and caught up an even bigger lot in his time in Anakt Garden. But I don't think he ever understood why he was "more twisted than others" and honestly, his intelligence and observance doesn't do him any favors on that front; on the contrary, I think it made him more aware of the gaps between him and other people.

And I really have to wonder if his experiences around the segyein are all that different, emotionally speaking.

I mean, of course objectively they have to be, but… his adopted life was a matter of observing his new environment, feeling like an absolute stranger because he's another species, but learning and adapting as quickly as possible in order to make himself a desirable pet that would be kept around. His experience being sent to Anakt and put in a human group was, again, feeling like a stranger because he's different to others of his own species, but learning and adapting as quickly as possible, eventually making himself an "acceptable", charming, absolutely cagey but near-perfect man. He succeeded both times.

He never did get rid of that awareness of being "twisted", though. After all, he also didn't unlearn all his survival patterns or fix the weak spots in his emotional development. As much as he progressed, the sense of not quite belonging and the faint relationship with his own humanity stayed. (With one big exception, but I'll leave that thought for the end of this ramble.)

In a way, I feel like this is exactly what made him so successful in segyein society as far as he lived. So adaptable that beyond being a good pet, he could also be trusted with and hold down an actual job, decent (faked or not, still good) relationships with segyein and, if he had any chance of survival, probably the capacity to live in their society with moderate perks.

Being an adaptable stranger who belonged nowhere in the first place… I think it's what made him more willing, more capable and more okay with mixing with the segyein like that, paired with his intelligence to pull it off.

No human pride to sacrifice. Not much humanity in the first place.

Except for the one noteworthy exception that shifted Ivan's growth: his relationship with Till.

Not only did Till embody things that Ivan lacked, which fascinated him from the start, but through his bond with him Ivan developed a lot of those traits and sensitivities that constitute peak humanity. It's a bit of the "love will make you human" trope, but on god does it apply. Ivan learned to care, to feel and to love, at times selfishly, at times messily. Buth he got pretty good at it; so much that love made him selfless and sacrificial in the end. He became a little more human for the object of his feelings. It didn't't erase all his struggles or fix his issues at large, but it was a lot. Of course he'd die thanking Till.

Anyway, that's all I wanted to get off my chest!

Humanity is a tough theme with Ivan, so I hope my thoughts about it were an interesting read.

The usual disclaimer: I've talked about 1 aspect of Ivan in this post, which does not mean this is all there is to his character or that I aim to invalidate other aspects. Just rotating this one in my head.

[shakingparadigm]

Speaking of Guardians, I'm just going to make a list on the information I have on the ones associated with the main cast so far.

Note: the information here is mostly from official material (patreon interviews, merch, the videos themselves etc) but some portions of it are my own assumptions based on this information as well.

Mizi -> Guardian Shine

Guardian Shine is a prominently pink and white alien that wears a peaceful expression and bears resemblance to certain aquatic creatures, most predominantly associated with the jellyfish. Their body largely consists of floaty pink frills.

Guardian Shine is the only alien of the main cast that is explicitly stated to have a close and loving relationship with their human pet, treating Mizi like a "daughter" and ensuring that she is happy and well-provided for.

Guardian Shine created Mizi's performance dress for ROUND 1.

It seemed that whenever Mizi accomplished something good in the Anakt Garden, she would become ecstatic and excited to tell Guardian Shine about her victories.

Sua -> Guardian ???

Not much is known or seen about Sua's Guardian (the information isn't public, at least), but from the glimpses we see in MIZISUA, her Guardian is a rather luxurious and feminine alien with clawed, ring-laden hands and a lower half akin to a flower-patterned dress. It seems as though they are wearing a pale-colored fur coat.

In the disc:mizisua artbook, its stated that Sua was raised by influencers, which seems to be why her Guardian is dressed so lavishly.

Sua's Guardian did not particularly care for her, only raising her as a means to "show off".

While Guardian Shine warmly entertains Mizi before her departure, Sua's Guardian has their back turned and is instead busied with an interview (as seen by the alien holding the microphone next to them).

Because Sua's Guardian didn't care for her and only raised her for public image, they dressed Sua in doll-like clothes without care as to how it would fit her. The book states that despite it's lovely look, Sua's dress was stuffy and ill-fitting.

Till -> Guardian Urak

Guardian Urak (in earlier iterations) is a humanoid alien with a predominantly white color scheme, most recognizable by a covered upper face and floating chair. (I highly suspect the alien from ROUND 6's first verse to be the new Guardian Urak design, but I could be wrong.)

Similar to Sua's, Guardian Urak seems rather neglectful and maybe even physically abusive to Till, as seen by the multiple bruises left on him even before he's thrown at the wall. If the head alien in ROUND 6 is confirmed to be Urak, this is further proven by the first few scenes.

In an interview for a magazine portion of ROUND 2, Guardian Urak is shown to be easily dismissive of Till's misbehavior as long as it garners them a win.

Guardian Urak believes that a human's bizarre behavior is synonymous with their talent. "The more talented humans, the more likely they are to be freaks." Urak apologizes for Freddie's murder on Till's behalf, but doesn't seem to care about it beyond the surface level.

Urak barely seems to invest much into Till, at least not as much as the other Guardians do for their own pets. Till's stage in ROUND 2 is the most plain, unlike the other rounds where the stages are unique and decorated with different designs and lights. Till's outfits are also the most plain among the cast.

Ivan -> Guardian ???

Ivan's Guardian is a large, slightly Cthulhu-like alien dressed in dapper clothing, which many fans find akin to that of a mafia boss. They are dressed in colors of mainly red and black, a color scheme that their followers seem to align with as well.

Ivan's Guardian is well-known in alien society. Due to this, Ivan makes sure to behave carefully and properly while out in public as not to sully their name.

It also seems as though they are incredibly wealthy, seemingly involved in a business of some sort.

Ivan describes the relationship with his Guardian to be more like a business partnership rather than something parental.

Ivan's Guardian seems to have invested a lot into Ivan's success. Adopting him from the slums, cleaning him and remaking his image from a lowly slum child to one of the most famous, talented, and influential humans of the current season. Ivan states in an interview that he will always be grateful to them for taking him in.

Due to the investment, Ivan's performances are always of high quality, his costumes intricately made and his stages flamboyantly themed.

Since their relationship stands on business, it's most likely that Ivan was able to connect and partner with several brands due to his Guardian.

Ivan's relationship with his Guardian seems mutual, Ivan himself states it's "not bad". His Guardian provides him with what he needs to succeed and in return Ivan is obedient and always excels at what he's assigned to do. It seems as though Ivan's Guardian is often pleased with him, patting his head when he passes preliminaries and gathering other aliens to celebrate. One of the aliens even presents a bouquet of flowers, clapping their hands together.

Luka -> Guardian Heperu

Guardian Heperu is an alien with a round, squat head, bulging eyes and a pronounced neck. They seem to don a robe of some sort, paired together with a small hat.

Guardian Heperu seems to be yet another influential figure in alien society, possessing the resources necessary to invest in Luka's intensive training.

They also ensure that Luka's performances are always phenomenal, going so far as to rent out a special site for ROUND 5 (iirc, they performed ROUND 5 on the corpse of a large and powerful alien, hence the spine and bones you can see in the back of certain shots).

Guardian Heperu is an extremely envious figure who wished for a pet to trump all others, to stand above all the competitors unmatched.

Luka's unnatural conception and strict training is a result of Heperu's insecurity, the need to remain at the top constantly. Perhaps this desire ended up seeping into Luka as well.

Luka never fought back against the aliens, most likely because Heperu conditioned him to be the epitome of performative perfection since birth. How Luka interacted with his fellow humans was irrelevant, what mattered was how he interacted with the aliens who's opinions were of far greater worth. This may be why Luka seemed to be an outcast in the Anakt Garden yet a beloved prince in the eyes of the alien audience.

Luka directly refers to Heperu as "Father".

Hyuna -> Guardian ???

So far, Hyuna is the only character without even a sliver of alien connection. It makes sense, of course. She cut herself off from everything so long ago.

However, a sketch of Hyuna's alien was drafted all the way back during the production of Sweet Dream.

I'm not gonna spoil anything, but let me just say that's one hell of an alien.

Hopefully we get to see them soon!

[crustyfloor]

I love how ALNST portrays the coexistence of hate and love in the main relationships, just like those "Hatred is easier than a vague word such as love" photocards. And grief these characters have to go through and how they handle it because this series focuses on how people live on after they experience loss, in their own ways each of these standees represent that grief and the intricacies of their complicated relationships. All of my ships are divorced

I hope the mixed feelings Mizi has for Sua are elaborated on more in the future. Mizi had been almost, if not entirely, dependent on Sua in their time together. Sua was there to fill the gap of loneliness Shine left Mizi with after she was sent to Anakt garden alone. Sua taught her a lot and helped her study. Sua protected Mizi from the world and kept them safe in their bubble. She was someone who Mizi looked up to like her god; her faith in Sua and the love she had for her was like a religion. Sua was always there for her, and Mizi was happy to blindly follow her. And she left Mizi exposed and vulnerable like an abandoned fawn when suddenly, all of that was gone, and Sua was dead.

It would be interesting if it's confirmed that Mizi resented Sua after. In round 5, Luka's relentless taunting caused her to lash out, but Mizi wasn't angry at Luka; that anger, that despair, was her pouring out her feelings toward Sua because of Sua's death. After being taunted with the familiar comfort of Sua's presence, with the fact, that some of the happiness in Sua's smile could have been fake while she was unaware.

The thing is, Mizi and Sua had been the closest to each other for so long, but Mizi had little to no insight into who Sua really was or what she was really thinking. Other than some brief instances where she would perceive Sua, she knew Sua was a little quiet, probably a little gloomy, but didn't second guess her at all, knowing Sua wasn't mean to her. And she trusted in the fact that Sua didn't have bad intentions. Mizi could've never guessed that this would be the result, could never catch onto that emotional distance Sua had intentionally kept between them. When Mizi comes to an understanding that Sua knew what would happen all along. that's where the hurt stems from. Sua's actions, leaving Mizi in the dark and not being truly open, are a part of her coping mechanism/way of protecting herself. Sua wanted to shield Mizi so desperately, to shield her own heart from the fear of living aimlessly and in constant anxiety, that she had been content to die like this, to leave Mizi in this kind of disarray, even when she knew to some degree and was sad that her death could possibly subject Mizi to this kind of suffering, to having come to terms with those complicated feelings and it did crush Mizi as it all went down.

Mizi had the resilience to get back up and keep moving forward without Sua. As much as Mizi adored her, as much as she is making amazing progress in liberating herself from that past, who knows if she's moved from that yet, if she's forgiven Sua yet, the hurt from having been lied to for all that time. The betrayal of that trust Mizi had naively placed onto Sua, as if Mizi never even knew her in the first place. In some artworks, Sua is so distant from Mizi, even though they're always the most intimate, there is a clear disconnect as if Sua is a figment of Mizi's imagination, stagnant in the only way Mizi knew her, and she never changes. And Mizi suffers from the fact that she can't embrace that memory of Sua the way she used to. The standee similarly portrays this; Sua is simply hovering over her and watching in an eerie, enigmatic way. Yet Sua's presence is a comfort Mizi can't let go of even when it hurts that it isn't the same as it used to be. Even when the innocence of their bond is tainted by the understanding Mizi has now, she can't reject her. Mizi is nothing if not completely devoted to Sua, even to the end.

my ivantilll... my curevantill

Ivan and Till's push-pull, hate-love dynamic has been apparent even in childhood, and this standee says a lot about that dynamic, especially regarding round 6 obv. From Till's perspective, Ivan confused him, provoked him a lot, and fought with him a lot, but Ivan was also someone he considered a friend. Someone in his life that he cared about because despite their fighting they also shared quiet moments, Ivan was there for Till when it mattered (for comfort, even), where Till would've otherwise been alone, Ivan was always with him, those were memories Till would cherish even if he didn't show how much he cared to Ivan directly.

His despair going into round 6 wasn't just because of Mizi's disappearance, he hadn't expected he and Ivan would be in a position where they'd have to compete, and faced with the decision of having to either compete to win against his last friend, after losing all will to live, or to forfeit his own life, once he couldn't keep going anymore and stopped singing, Till had the intent to give up. Only for Ivan to make the final decision for him and forfeit his own life in such a brutal way right in front of Till. Even though there is little said about his perspective at the time as of now, To me, it seems like Till wanted to make that choice, but Ivan effectively yanked Till out of his own head to be bombarded with the confusing mix of gentleness and violence as the full force of Ivan's complicated feelings were thrown at him, and then to face the reality that Ivan is dead and he is alone.

Till has been oppressed by the aliens all his life, and he's always fighting them for the right to his agency and freedom. Till's anger comes from Ivan's selfishness in that moment -(How could you do that and just leave me behind? kind of sentiment), the way Ivan took away Till's choice in the situation, the one time he ever willingly withheld Till's freedom was because of an impulsive action that Till can't begin to understand, everything happened too fast, Ivan had no idea what he was doing either and was erratic with it. With that, the questions and the feelings Ivan left him to figure out on his own afterwards were too much for Till to confront after having averted his attention from them for the longest time, that's why the weight of Ivan's feelings, the reality of it all outside of Till's head, metaphorically and quite literally weigh on Till to the point of breaking him.

Ivan's affections and lesser acknowledged feelings for Till clash and often contradict himself. His hold on Till in the standee is gentle and not at all, all at the same time. It's so fascinating to me how it can look like Ivan is trying to be comforting in a very (Ivan-typical) pushy or forceful/hostile manner because he wants to show he cares, however, he has never been the best at expressing himself, and Till is sensitive, but far more prone to avoidance or biting back in response to confronting the vulnerability of his own emotions. Because of this, they misunderstood each other's intentions a lot in the past, and Till doesn't know what went on in Ivan's head when he did what he did, but that confusion scares Till. The way they're positioned with Ivan gripping Till so he's forced to face him and Till being frightened by what he sees, too angry and too shocked to properly express himself, they're two forces pushing and pulling at each other (almost like they're fighting, in my opinion. It's also a show of their complicated dynamic because of their fundamental misunderstanding of each other) Even Ivan's lack of expression to Till's reaction to him is interesting to me. Sure enough, he supports Till while he's collapsing and pushing back, but staring down on him in an odd way (much like that frame from blink gone with his face, it's intimidating and observant), Ivan was unconvinced his actions would impact Till. And now, he doesn't register Till's feelings in the moment. He's under the impression that Till can just "move on" after that, as if forcing Till to live on in his stead would really not shake him, as if all that time they used to spend together realistically could've possibly meant nothing to Till. This standee is so symbolic and just as confusing as them, and Till's waist is mesmerizing (gets shot)

HyuLuka's standee shows their dynamic so well; HyunA is avoidant and not facing Luka. Instead, she faces forward and looks past Luka the same way she does with everything that holds her back. To keep moving forward, she tried suppressing her emotions, avoiding confronting her past. She wants to move on. However, she's standing still and has a hand on Luka's head to silently comfort him (not even gripping his head, just resting her hand there) because, despite all of those years, after being forced to live on in her grief and her suffering, HyunA has grown, but she hadn't truly "moved on" from her past with Hyunwoo or Luka, until she met Mizi. Even though HyunA didn't want to face her past and those repressed emotions before, when she started coming to terms, she couldn't help but reach out like it's instinct, like she did when they were kids. because she can't help but still love and care for him, her revenge, albeit intentionally cruel, is also an example of this.

This also shows another instance of Luka's dependence on her; Luka clings to HyunA like a child, much like he always does. He doesn't acknowledge that HyunA has changed or how his actions could've affected her in childhood. Because he's utterly devoted to her and desperate for the comfort of knowing they are "together" always. Through what little scraps he can get to remind himself of her existence, like with those posters, and so he never grows out of his childish indifference as long as he can continue depending on her

HyunA's revenge is one effective torture method for Luka, because it's reiterated time and time again that she knows who luka is, she knows about all of this and took that comfort away from him in the most brutal way, so Luka can't deny it, because the truth is right in front of him. It's a big question of whether Luka can ever symbolically leave that "bird cage" and learn to live on his own without continuing to use HyunA as his coping mechanism. Depending on what Luka does with those final words she left him with, he can come to an understanding and agree to move forward or continue obsessively clinging to the only comfort he's known for years, just like he is in this standee

I also find it interesting how HyunA's role is set up in depictions like this (and I find that Hyuluka frame from sweet dream to be similar in a way), with the clear leverage she has over Luka, who doesn't care about the danger because he loves her so much more than he cares about himself, (Just like the way he does register the gun pressed to his head in wiege, but still moves towards HyunA) but she never does "kill" him even though she has the knife over his head (or in more symbolic ways, give in to the hatred she wants to feel for him) and she doesn't abandon Luka. Even though she has the choice to do both, she doesn't because she loves him. She can't stand to look at him smile at her cruelty, so she just stares at him with that vacant look that appears sometimes, like in All-in when she's experiencing ptsd and she can't even move until Mizi starts shooting at the robot guards, so she just absently stays. It really speaks to HyunA's nature. She's endlessly compassionate. She doesn't want to stop loving as a human because she can't stop loving.

[geospiral]

Extremely long post:

I recently got my Volume 1. CD Alien Stage merch, and I want to discuss the booklet that came with it! 

Note that I will not be posting pictures of what is actually inside the booklet itself here or quoting anything directly; all other pictures in this post are from outside Alien Stage content that relates to what is being talked about. However, later if I come to think that I have unintentionally shared too much information, I will delete this post because I do not want to overstep (I wouldn’t be surprised if the images for this booklet eventually get leaked or if someone already has; I’m just not going to be doing it myself, but if images start floating around like with the artbook back in September, I might reblog them).

Edit: Harumio, the merch website, did an unboxing video where they flipped through the booklet fast which shows some images clearly.

If you do decide to read this, keep in mind that I just used a translator on my phone, which means I could be missing something important. Also that I’m not going to be talking/speculating about everything, just the things that I want to (which is most of it expect the notes on the song sheets which did not translate well lol).

Within the booklet is a 4 box model that places where the characters would be on a risk and return scale regarding investment. From best to worst in terms of reward we have:

Luka

Till

Sua

Ivan

Hyuna

Mizi

There is also a line chart that shows the characters market value as they age, which for the boys I believe to be precursor to their TOP 3 charts. Here’s the quick summary from best to worst:

Luka: remains highest from beginning to end

Till: ends second highest, has the lowest starting point along with Hyuna

Ivan: ends third highest but barely, and his value hardly grows after becoming an adult

Hyuna: almost tied with Ivan at the end, is tied for the lowest starting point with Till

Sua: ends fifth highest at the same value she started but was in third at her highest point, a point that was much greater than Ivan’s end value

Mizi: has the lowest growth out of everyone from her start point and ends a bit under where Sua starts and ends.

Here's the more indepth look at each of the character's and why this post is so long:

Sua:

Investing in her is a low risk that brings high returns.

Her market value line looks like a half circle with her highest value being from 19 to 20, not that far behind from Till's or Luka's. However, she dips back down after that, eventually returning to her beginning value, which is the second highest start behind Luka and higher than Mizi’s chart ever gets. The age her chart starts at is 16 and ends at 22.

What’s said about Sua seems to just reinforce what we already know; her main selling point is her looks, and she went into the competition with a large fanbase that she acquired while still in Anakt. Her market value starting point is the second highest behind Luka, most likely because her guardian was already an influencer. Her weakness is charming others.

(source)

Mizi:

Investing in her is a low risk that brings low returns.

Her market value starting point is higher than that of Till, Ivan (barely), and Hyuna, but out of everyone, she has the most trouble when it comes to gaining traction, which leads to her chart ending with the lowest rating (although not that significantly lower than Sua’s own). The age her chart starts at is 15 and ends at 21.

The reason Mizi's market value doesn’t start as low as some of the others seems to be because of one of her strengths, her personality, which helps her stand out amongst her peers. However, her weakness is what causes her to stagnate so much; she doesn’t know the direction she should go in or her charm. I feel like it could be said that she has trouble connecting to the Segyien because she doesn’t have a clear persona that they latch onto since Mizi has always been so authentically herself, and something about how that ties into her innocence before Round 1, but Till is also nothing but himself, so maybe it could also be something like how Urak exploits Tills true self, his rebelliousness, and turns it into something marketable (which hurts Till), and Mizi never had that happen to her and thus remained happy but didn’t know how to turn herself into something the masses wanted to consume.

Till:

Investing in him is a high risk that can bring high returns.

His market value is the most volatile out of everyone's, with extreme highs and extreme lows. He is at his highest point right before Season 50, with his second highest being when he was 16. His lowest was when he was 14, with his second lowest being when he was 19. The age his chart starts at is 14 and ends at 20.

Till’s strengths and weaknesses are what you’d expect. He’s extremely talented, an artistic genius; his style is an acquired taste, and he hates being controlled. Something that is extremely funny, though, is that it says one of his weaknesses is that he is BANNED from live broadcasts and appearances (?), which explains why he doesn’t have any interviews and all the censoring they put him through.

(source)

One last thing in this Till section is that the image that was going around and being talked about with Till scribbling Ivan's eye on his copy of CURE, I'm pretty sure it was leaked from this booklet and that it's actually implying that he did that before Round 6 and not after like a lot of us were thinking since all the other notes written for the songs seem to be from before the performances.

Ivan:

Investing in him is a low risk that brings low returns.

Although he does not have any dips, his market value growth slows down significantly once he turns 18 and barely increases until he gains a boost once in the actual Alien Stage competition itself as shown with his TOP 3 chart. The age his chart starts at is 15 and ends at 21.

Before I had gotten this booklet, I had already written a post before about Ivan’s popularity and how he may be viewed by the public, and I’m happy to say that it seems I wasn’t too far off from what I found! 

Now with Sua and Mizi’s marketing value/popularity charts, it does seems that Ivan actually was in a pretty good position when he went into the competition, better than what I had imagined when making that other post, but I think it's important to highlight that even if he entered with a higher placement than someone like Sua, he was never able to reach the heights she did before Alien Stage, and at the slow rate he was going post turning 18, I don’t think he ever would have had he not entered unless Unsha decided to keep him around for the long haul.

But the part I’m most excited about when talking about Ivan here is how he was perceived by the general public because that part of my post still seems to be mostly correct as well as the part about him thriving in Anakt but not as much outside of it. His weaknesses in the booklet highlight his lack of personality and how his skills are limited to that of what he learned in Anakt. In a school-like environment, Ivan knows what is expected and wanted of him by the Segyein, but when those teachers turn into an audience, he doesn’t seem to know what to do. I think his lacking personality goes well with what I said about his in-universe fanbase grasping for something unique about him, like with his snaggletooth that I talked about previously in that other post.

I also found it really interesting that for one of his strengths, it basically stated that his looks weren’t really something that were liked or disliked, neutral. So given what he said about his looks in this interview, I’m wondering if he was told that he was average-looking and just accepted it as fact? I also wonder if he was told any other rude things to his face as a child and just believed them as truth.

Hyuna:

Investing in her is a low risk that brings low returns.

Like Ivan, her market value line never dips, but unlike him, she has much more significant growth spikes and has the lowest starting point along with Till. The age her chart starts at is 20 and ends at 26.

I think it's safe to say that a lot of people, myself included, were surprised when it was revealed in Weige that Hyuna lost her round in season 49 to a random background character, especially since a lot of us assumed that if she were to lose to anyone, it could only be Luka given her stats, but the more information we get, it seems that she wasn’t that popular among the Segyein despite all her pros. I said that I think the TOP 3 charts are a continuation of the ones in this booklet, but let's say that the starting point in their market value charts are the ages that Hyuna and Luka performed during their original season; if so, Hyuna would be in the worst spot imaginable with how low she is, and if we are to be generous and say that she was Sua’s age, then she would be right between her and Mizi but still extremely low given her potential.

One of her weaknesses states that her condition (?) is very inconsistent, and right now I'm interpreting that as her emotional state. We see the unhealthy ways that she copes (or doesn’t) when in the rebellion, so it wouldn’t be surprising if her grief affected her ability to perform for the Segyein and made it so she wasn't in the same league as Luka.

Luka:

Investing in him is a low risk that brings high returns.

His market value is exactly the same as shown in TOP 3, remaining in first all throughout. The age his chart starts at is 22 and ends at 28.

Like with Sua, there's not much to say about him here; his strengths are what you expect, his weakness is what you expect, and the Ruler Of My Heart sheet shown has notes by Mizi and not him. He did well with his outside entertainment work while still in Anakt.

I'm sorry for this section Luka enjoyers

[muchanmocha]

New theory piggy-backing off their shot-in-the-neck execution = "claiming" their voice for Anakt:

Getting shot in the neck is considered an honor.

It is part of the honor of losing on Alien Stage, in conjuction to being blessed.

In Round 5 we see this:

They've secured a feral Mizi.

In the back, one of the guards has their hand up to their ear like they've reported the situation and is waiting for instructions.

'What do we do with her?'

'Put her down.'

Mizi was going to be shot in the head because she violated the sanctity of Alien Stage. Not only did she stop singing, she attacked another contestant, almost killing their most prized pet-human at that.

So she isn't treated like a blessed contestant anymore.

She's treated like a rabid dog.

[bluemoonscape]

After today's Hyuna comic, I don't think I've ever loved her more.

It strikes me how startlingly selfless she is. The 4nakt group - Mizi, Till, Ivan, Sua - all of their performances are charged with a passion and love for one another. Luka and Hyuna's performances stand out in this way because they aren't singing for love. Luka sings to win. Hyuna sings not because she has to anymore, but because she wants to.

When she breaks out into that spontaneous performance in the comic to rally the other rebels while Jacob is gone, it looks like it's almost physically painful for her. How could it not be? The lyrics tease shows us that she lost her leg escaping Alien Stage. She lost her brother in Anakt Garden. Singing was probably so tainted for her.

But she did it anyway. Time and time again, Hyuna's entire world falls apart. Hyunwoo died, and thus, he and Luka were both gone to her. Her illusion of safety was ripped from her. She was gravely wounded in her escape. She couldn't save the other kids. She lost Jacob, who was like a brother to her - she lost a second brother. Anyone else would crumble utterly.

But Hyuna didn't. Every time, she gets back up. She fights no matter what. She takes back every little bit of her life that she lost in her own way with hands torn bloody from holding on and avenges it. She's painfully selfless, she literally gives her voice, her life, to those around her to try and save them, or even just to lift them up for the moment. It makes me wonder whether that ties into her relationship with Luka, too - he seemed so alone in Anakt Garden without Hyuna and Hyunwoo. Could she have seen him and thought, I can save him, that thing inside of him?

Hyuna's life is a sum of all the people she couldn't save. She couldn't save Hyunwoo. My fault. She couldn't save Luka. My fault. She couldn't save those kids. My fault. She couldn't save Jacob. My fault. My fault, my fault, my fault.

Yet she continues to try. After all of that pain, she still saved Mizi from her round against Luka and freed her. She tried to save her by holding her back from going after Till during Round 7 because she knew that Mizi was doing exactly what Hyuna had done time and time again, and she already knew what the outcome would be. She had gone against Luka. She had gone against the Segyein. She knew Till couldn't win. Mizi couldn't win.

She tried to protect her, just like Sua tried to protect Mizi, right up until the minute she couldn't shield her from the truth anymore.

This brings me to the apparent song for next episode, Wiege. Cradle. Hyuna's cradle was ripped from her, so she tries to be the cradle for others. The safety. The savior.

But now she has to face the music. She can't save Luka if he doesn't want to be saved. She can't save Mizi because Mizi made her choice. Maybe she can't even save herself now.

This round is going to be a hell of a time and no I am not ready like ever

[aakaneeee]

well people. . It's time, aka Akane's monthly revival because there's Luka content. And gosh do I have a lot to say about this. Except.. I'm not going to market these as theories, but as predictions. I think as an og fan I've seen enough to be this confident in my abilities LOL

Quickly, I'd like to address the lyrics and the title, because I will reference it later and I don't want to have to explain mid-prediction.

Wiege has two meanings, and both are so fitting:

1. Cradle. It feels.. perfect, for me. It makes so much sense. Luka was a cold child.. but I'd like to say only physically. I feel like he genuinely warmed up towards Hyuna and Hyunwoo as a child. And I'm going to bring an idea that might get me a bit of backlash but.. I've gotten worse, and that is, that Hyuna is at fault for Luka's approach on his feelings. (Audience boos) From the little we know about Hyunwoo, I feel like Hyuna treated both him and Luka.. at least a little bit similarly. Or at least, Luka couldn't discern a difference, if there was any. Luka is a tube baby, he probably doesn't know (and I am not babying him here, I'd like to add!) what "siblings" he has. For him, affection might just be all and the same. Yes, it wasn't Hyuna's responsibility to teach him, but I feel like a hint was there "Your life is mine", and she could've explained, in a way. But, back to our discussion, Hyuna was Luka's cradle. She burns as bright as the sun, while he's colder. But most importantly, she was his only true friend (Considering I don't think his relationship with Hyunwoo was extremely close, even though they were 'friends'), someone he thought truly cared about him. Hyuna was Luka's cradle, holding him close, comfortable... until at one point, he outgrows that cradle (Hyunwoo's death).

And the second meaning, beginning. In the picture we got, Luka is centered, he's in the middle.. but he's so small, and overshadowed by the tree. Luka is the best performer of the ANAKT, always first, but has no friends. But perhaps, he was better that way. Then, Hyuna comes, and it's a new beginning. He's finally not alone. What I've noticed in the new banner, Luka is missing, but across the tree trunk, in his place, is a taller shadow. Perhaps, a shadow of who Luka was, hopefully still left in there. Or, the other way around, it symbolizes his real self being left there.

And the lyrics:

When I close my eyes,

Play in paradise.

These, to me, remind me of the interview where Luka said his favorite game was hide and seek. In a way, his whole ANAKT life was a game of hide and seek: hiding all the time, but no one trying to seek him. Until Hyuna did, and found him. Something that intrigues me is the "paradise", which to me sounds like what Mizi once said: Dying in competition means returning to the Great Anakt, which I suppose is to them like Heaven.. or Paradise. This will be important later, so remember it.

And now, my predictions for the HyuLuka episode

! First of all, I think the song will be lullaby-like. When I first saw this teaser, with the lyrics, as weird as it sounds, it reminded me of Richard's song in The Hero in TAWOG, a song that always gets me to cry for some reason, and I've been really stuck on that . It would be interesting, because it would fit Luka's voice (as does everything else), but probably not Hyuna's, even though 6FU; would eat it.. which to me, sounds like their "love", where Luka loves her, but it isn't returned. I'd love to see more German in it than just in the title. And considering the nostalgic, pastel, very cutesy artstyle (that reminds me of the memory part from Jordan River animation!), it seems very viable. But the art style is also noisy, which gives an unsettling vibe. It feels like a 2020's dreamcore wallpaper.

I might be crazy, but the hand holding the flower (with only 3 stamens, like the 3 friends) looks dark-skinned, like it would be Hyuna's or Hyunwoo's, but I doubt it would be his, considering it's the account's profile picture. If this is some kind of reference to.. perhaps, an unrequited Hyuluka but the other way around, with Hyuna still not over Luka.. probably won't happen, but God, would that be awesome.

So, how do I think the round will go?

First of all, I have to say, I'm not sure if this will be a round or a Mizisua type episode.😭 I'd say "oh the wait time is way too small" but also... do you guys remember the production announcement of Round 7? Yeah. You can never be sure.

This isn't necessarily a prediction, but more of a suggestion of what could be: It would be SO cool if it would be both.. in a way, merged. This idea just appeared in my mind and I was like OH. MY. GOD. Imagine if almost the whole thing was just them, as children, having fun, a whole backstory.. but then, when Hyunwoo dies, it pans on his face, and then it's back on stage, the loser's face instead of his. It would be so heartwarming, and then DEEPLY DISTURBING and traumatizing. I also really want some Luka and Heperu backstory so I can hate Heperu even more.

On the topic of the loser... It's going to be Luka. I'm an insane Luka lover and it was hard to get accommodated to this idea, but there is no way that he will survive. First of all, the shadow in the account's banner, in place of Luka. It's implications... are quite obvious. Second, the pattern of characters shown in Sweet Dream, and he is next. Third: "In my arms, you would be protected." I feel like Luka would consider the competition "In his arms". I don't think he would break his promise: hear me out for a second. He wouldn't let Hyuna die this way, because I feel like his sense of possession over her also comes with responsibility and protectiveness. And fourth, the Paradise lyric, to me, is a foreshadowing of his death.

I also think he will die by self sacrifice. First of all, there's no way Hyuna could defeat Luka by pure odds. Yes, her stats are better, but lets be honest, her mental power would NOT be as good infront of Luka, and also, the aliens wouldn't vote her. She's a rebel, wanted for so much time, with technically no guardian: they wouldn't want her to defeat their prince, probably. And second, I have made two categories:

The "perfects": Sua, Ivan, Luka

The "rebels": Mizi, Till, Hyuna

See something similar? Both the perfects that are dead, have died by self-sacrifice. The only other dead character, Till, has been shot while reaching for his freedom, so you can't say this is for all characters. And let's be honest.. Patterns are usually being followed in this series. Id also like to add, even though it's a reach, that in a tier of how 'perfect' they are, it'd be:

1. Luka

2. Sua - not so obvious self sacrifice

3. Ivan - obvious self sacrifice

So, I'd say that Luka's might be even more backstage, as if to sabotage himself in a way that seems viable. It also kind of goes in line with his character, he's not one to break facade on stage.

I think this episode will be quite a deep-dive into their true selves. We know the least about them, so this will be GREAT. I'd love to see a more morally gray Hyuna in this. (Since I'm genuinely kind of tired of only Luka being villainized in the ship, which honestly..  is kind of in line with the other perfects. Let's let Mizi, Till and Hyuna be little freaks too) I also want to see atleast a little bit of Hyunwoo, like a little snippet of his mind, what he saw in Luka.

In conclusion, I'm SO happy and hyped about this HyuLuka episode, they're so mysterious and I really really want to see more of L- I mean, more of them. Getting 2 episodes where Luka is present one after another is literally THE dream to me. Basically, Wiege is killing me and I'm gladly letting it.

@4listr Since you asked to be tagged and also, @rockwgooglyeyes I REALLY want your opinion on this