#Sua vs. Ivan..

[nottoonedin]

Thinking about hypothetical Alien Stage rounds...

[crustyfloor]

Mizi loves her friends, her family, so much. so I wonder how she will feel and what she'll do if and when she finds out Ivan, one of her second closest childhood friends is dead now and Till, the last of her childhood friends is still alive, but so...so different from the last time she saw him. How will she cope with the fact that she lost another one of her family members again? and all this happening after she lost and is still grieving Sua? (I am going to self-annihilate!!)

[pockethep]

As much as it hurts…

This is the end that made the most sense. I would have loved it if Mizi and Hyuna had managed to save Till and escape with all they needed to…but what we got was masterclass writing that mirrors much of the previous events of Alien Stage in many ways. All things flow towards the start.

Till, fresh off of Round 6, opens up with “I can’t let it go” and Luka immediately counters “Just enjoy it”. And that’s always how it’s been with Luka. Luka is very much in the moment and won’t let his emotions affect his singing, while Till lags behind with his mind focused elsewhere. Till has always sang for other people. Which is ultimately how Till lost. Love kills everyone in this series, and it certainly killed Till. He stopped singing because he saw Till, he stopped singing because he saw Mizi, he stopped singing because he is human.

And the fragile human emotions killed him in such a close match.

Ivan became trauma for Till much in the same way Sua became Trauma for Mizi.

Hyuna saved Mizi only for both of them to end up right back where they started. On that stage.

And Ivan is wrong. He meant so much to Till. He had the power to affect him. Till remembered Ivan, even if Ivan thought his death wouldn’t affect him as much. And although Mizi snapped him out of it, just for a moment Ivan occupied the most space in his mind.

[starrywangxian]

as i did a post that compared the ivantill version of my clematis i am going to do the same for the mizisua version of cure! (also ahhh did yall see the teaser for round 7?!?!?! i'm so excited!!! late october!!!!)

a thing to notice: i'm going to be using the english subtitles from the video on youtube!

also

so i'll go line by line with [mizisua ver. / ivantill ver.: lyric] and colour code who's singing!

mizi / till: allow me, to the tips of your fingers

mizi / till: allow me, to the ends of your feet

mizi / till: dissolve me in your gaze

mizi / till: i don't want to let you go

sua / till: please, leave me scars

sua / till: please, hurt me so that

sua / till: not a single drop of me remains

sua (+ background mizi) / till: let me drown in you

mizi / till: until these falling stars

mizi / till: are buried in the blur of time

mizi / till: on your icy lips

mizi / till: read my soul

mizi / till: yes, my soul

mizi / till: oh, oh

sua / ivan: even if your cold words

sua / ivan: carve scars beneath my eyes

sua / ivan: may they linger on your tongue

sua / ivan: you can break me apart

mizi / ivan: notice my pain

mizi / ivan: and mend me right now

mizi / ivan: to quiet my fears

mizi / ivan: i'll drown in you

mizi / ivan: sick of these nights to come

mizi / ivan: to be engulfed in silence

mizi / ivan: in your gaze where i'm seen

mizi / ivan: consume me

mizi / ivan: yes, me, oh, oh

mizi / till: to this everlasting melody

mizi / ivan: face to face we dance

mizi / till: with our story

mizi / till: lost in forever's embrace

mizi / till: until these falling stars

mizi / till: are buried in the blur of time

mizi / ivan + till: on your icy lips

mizi / ivan + till: read my soul

mizi / ivan + till: yes, my soul

mizi + sua / ivan + till: sick of these nights to come

mizi + sua / ivan + till: to be engulfed in silence

mizi + sua / ivan + till: in your gaze where i'm seen

mizi / ivan + till: consume me

mizi / ivan: yes, me

mizi / ivan: oh, oh

AND THEN NOTHING BAD HAPPENS

it's veryyyy interesting how they switch up which parts they sing together and apart.... and how the likeness isn't 1:1!!!

[19011301180905]

congrats to the alien stage team, they were able to tap into the yaoi tragedy market, i'm gonna cry over them for four hundred years

IM GONNA FUCKING KILL MYSELF

[liquidstar]

who's ready for a repeat of the heartbreak of round 1?

[atrophiedemotion]

all of this extra ivan content... i love it don't get me wrong but yES i get it he's dead they're really hammering that nail in

[dapperrokyuu]

Luka, shooting mental eye beams at Sua, pre-Round 1: There can only be one Capricorn.

[popflythesky]

alien stage but its a simp tournament

[cioscizor]

Alien stage swap au but the canon love-triangle (love-square? Love-line?) stays the same, just the events between mizisua and ivantill swap.

Some thoughts:

- Sua breaks Mizi and herself out of anakt garden, however Mizi turns back because she— raised with love and happiness— has no reason to abandon everything she knows.

- Round 1 is My Clematis with Ivan vs Till :( here there is no kiss. That last part where Sua and Mizi gaze at each other? Ivan does that but Till doesn’t notice/ doesn’t look at him. Ivan sacrifices himself by not singing.

- Round 2 with Mizi is more about anger and regret, one of her childhood friends just died. She’s thinking she should’ve ran away with Sua after all. Probably what makes her break the guitar alien.

- Round 3 Sua sings Black Sorrow but it’s not about unrequited love because their love is mutual. I think, like Ivan, if it was an mv it’d show how Mizi completely changed her.

- Round 5 with Luka’s taunting has Till spiraling because maybe he could’ve loved Ivan but now he’s gone? Maybe he had what he wanted in front of him and he lost it all in round 1? He beats up Luka too ofc.

- Till in the resistance after being rescued!

- The kiss between Mizisua in round 6 is actually reciprocated and like in the cover they’re holding on to each other desperately.

[timmie-p]

april fools post translation 👍 * indicates i have notes on the translation if you want to read below

Hyun Woo —> He stopped acting in his childhood but is currently working on ALNST as a lighting crew member. Worries about his dull, slow sister

Hyuna —> The last and youngest of the ALNST cast to debut! Her real personality is gentle and innocent

Mizi —> Fan favourite among the actors. Shy personality and very nervous about her first leading role

Sua —> The feisty actress is popular among her co-stars, thanks to her nonchalant friendliness

Sua: Great job on the shoot today. I’m sure Director Kim was only speaking so harshly because he was worried about your safety, so don’t take it personally.

Mizi: Yeah.. ((It’s sunbae!!! What should I do! What should I do!!))

Sfx: Thump thump thump [heartbeat sound]

Ivan and Luka are actors from a different agency. They’re also in an idol group together (for the record, Luka hates it)

Ivan —> Ivan loves kids and voluntarily takes care of them

Luka —> Luka is Ivan’s best friend, so he’s forced to babysit with him

Baby Till —> Baby Till for flashback scenes

Baby Mizi —> Baby Mizi for flashback scenes when the kids are older

Till —> Till, the youngest in the series, is actually the oldest in the cast and debuted with CF before he could even speak in a diaper commercial. Till has a strong “my pace”* persona. He just wants to quickly wrap up the shoot and go home. His dark circles are from overwork, not make-up.

Others —> Three people who want to approach their mysterious** senior but can’t

Ivan: ((Lamenting over delays..?))

Mizi: Want me to talk to him?

Luka: Yeah

Till: ((I want to go home))

Sfx: Spacing out~

*according to namu wiki, either someone who’s strongly independent and doesn’t care what others think or someone who’s always chill

**according to namu wiki, the adjective translates to a famous person who deliberately keeps their private life secret. i just went with mysterious bc it directly translates to “mystic”

i didn’t choose to translate sunbae in Mizi’s thoughts because it sounds weird and most of you probably know what it means anyway

lol it looks like everyone’s personalities were flipped. does that mean ivan actually hates kids? and till as the cool mysterious senior everyone is scared to talk to vs hyuna as no thoughts head empty is kinda funny. i have a feeling ivan and luka are shipped together a lot by fans in this au.. the woes of being besties. also mizisua is always canon 🙏 theyre so yuri

[gold0venice]

Oh my god I have so many thoughts, but I am running on four hours of sleep, so here we fucking go *screaming, sobbing, crying*

1. Determination vs Desperation

I know that Ivan made a very big and impactful decision in the previous round, and honestly I can see that through Till’s expressions during the video. Mizi might have been a symbol of salvation to Till, but Ivan (and his death) was his reason to go ahead, fierce and determined and powerful. However, Ivan’s death is also a testament of momentum as well as desperation. Till is determined and desperate to survive and live. But this is made also absolutely obvious by the appearance of Mizi, which I will get into soon. Anyways, also in sense of colour scheme, Till switches from green to yellow/orange. We have also noticed the pattern of red, orange and yellow with Ivan’s and Ivan vs Till rounds. It’s as much as a homage but also a haunting, “the fiery thrill blazes out to the sky”. It’s like Till’s and Ivan’s memories and their lost future haunt him, and have left him “(leave no) regrets”. Perhaps not leaving with Till? These regrets and memories are both his strength and weakness, but Ivan gave him the will and reason to fight back. In this way, Till also seems to be wearing a branded armband of his segyen (sorry if it’s misspelt 😭). In a way he is literally playing the game like Ivan did.

At the same time, these are very bright, memorable and fierce colours that stand out, which made me (sadly) believe he would survive. This is also a contrast to the blues and violets of Luka, which are more mellow, but we soon see it is a growing determined movement. It is mellow because it is unassuming, and this sneaks up on Till twice, when Luka imitates Ivan. In a way this is sadly ironic, as Ivan never thought he would be a traumatic point for Till (lmao babe said what to Sua???), but that pain was exploited anyways by Luka 😭👋🤧

2. Musician’s choice

Till playing the guitar in this video made me blush (please don’t judge me, I love him so much), but more than that I love the implications of the instruments here. Firstly, both Till and Luka play strings instruments. The violin is classical, the guitar here is electric. They are already in juxtaposition with genres (and personalities lol), but they are still strings (singers for the competition), and fit together very well. You could say that the instruments resemble and are metaphors for Luka and Till. What I most like about this scene is that it is more like a battle between music prodigies, which was very exciting, because we have never seen these two interact before.

While both Luka and Till are amazing and well recognised artists, you can see the differences that separate them. Luka is all out confident, in control and powerful vocalist. Till is the same, but there is sense of desperation and a crippling anxiety, even as he plays the guitar. It looks like a fake confidence as much as a hidden fear. Both instruments work well together but the musicians are in different positions. I also have an inkling that Luka picked the violin on purpose. It is a contrast to Till’s already seen powered playing with his guitar in his round, but we have never seen Luka playing the violin, which gives the element of surprise, and a first step to shake up Till.

3. Grief on Stage

Alien Stage is merciless. Luka himself is a result of this system as a merciless manipulator. Luka imitating Ivan is terrible, and also turns on Till’s not fully registered trauma from Ivan’s death. Ivan is haunting Till, even after his death, and it has been clear for quite a while that Till actually cares for Ivan quite a lot. About haunting, figuratively and literally, Ivan’s red pupils resembles the red glare of the camera that follows Till in all his moments, his strength and weaknesses. The same red is reflected in Till’s pupils, which is so funny (I am in tears) because it really emphasises the pressure, stress and panic, but also letting go because it’s overwhelming him. Till’s pain and grief is an open wound that he tried to patch up too fast, and now it’s bleeding out and over the bandage.

The song title and lyrics also play into this idea as “in a blink gone” is quite literate. Till blinks and Ivan is shot. Till blinks and Ivan dies. It’s the shock of his death, and adrenaline that makes his body language so interesting in this round. Here in this scene Till is hunching over in pain and grief and haunting, and Ivan (masqueraded by Luka) acts into this. A well imitated Ivan with no look of love or adoration or even obsession, an empty shell, that Till falls into, relaxing for a second into the touch, just a for a second, “don’t miss the moment” . Till falls into a cobweb that he can’t get out of (maybe he doesn’t want to)

4. Death on Stage

Now to the part that made my heart blow up. In Alien Stage there are only winners, losers and those who manage to get away. The thing about Till’s death that made our hearts stop and my legs to give out is that Till was actually close to be one of those who got away. Till sees Mizi in the audience (also noticed the detail of the red glare becoming pink?) and he immediately jumps back into focus. He was almost there, just for one second. It is tragic and unfair and depressing. Till becomes a loser in the game on stage, one among the countless victims and dead in Alien Stage. Mizi actually had a chance to be his incarnate salvation, his saviour, but time gets away from them, “the clock goes tick tock tick tock blink, gone”. Mizi was there to catch him, she was reaching out to him, ready to get him away. It’s too late, in a blink he is gone in front of her like Sua.

5. Time and Winners in Alien Stage

Now, there are clear winners in the rounds, but in the long term of it, there are no winners. You can’t win. Mizi tries to win the game by saving Till, but Alien Stage wins, because it needs a winner and a loser. His death is like an afterimage of Sua’s death. Mizi getting saved by the rebels is out of luck and element of surprise. Till not getting out was intentional and foreseen by Alien Stage. In our case it as foreshadowed by All-in,covered by Till. The green splatter of paint (or should I say blood?) was a clear indication as well as the red taped name on his neck.

Till does not get freedom until after death. Till, Ivan, and Sua manage to escape the system only in death. None of them had enough time to actually live, they have always been on borrowed time. The “leave no regrets” also heart wrenching. So yeah the title ‘Blink gone’ plays into the idea of death and morals very well. Mizi is left last standing. Mizi’s friends are dead, they are gone in a blink.

[crustyfloor]

Oh you NYC people are gonna get it once I find you

source + another source with higher quality

[archiivum]

ALIEN STAGE PREDICTIONS !!!

hey what’s up gang . I would like to start off with Mizi vs. Luka.

they never technically finished their round. Towards the end of the video, we see an error message

Luka never technically moved up to the next round after that. we also see Hyuna unlocking something, but Vivinos stated that her intention was never saving Till

She was most likely adding that special guest screen so that either her or mizi will go up against Luka. I have a gut feeling it’s going to be Mizi, seeing as there’s been a shit ton of art of her AND she’s at the center of a lot of Vivinos art of alnst

let’s take this pop-up store art for example (from Instagram)

Mizi is center focus. I don’t know if this is foreshadowing or SOMETHING but it seems to be like that in a lot of art.

I would also like to put this art down real quick. Does this mean they’re alive? Are they those robot guards we see in a lot of the round episodes? hmm

GOING off of this, here’s what I think will happen;

Luka Vs. Mizi OR Hyuna

Luka loses, though might not die (he’s literally the golden child)

(UNLIKELY) Sua, Ivan, and Till are not dead

"FINAL" Round was not actually the final round.

Till is alive

More Ivantill / Mizisua / Hyunluka songs and/or cobers

Till is alive

till is. Alive

till

is

alive

till is alive ?

Till. till is alive. Till is alive.

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Sorry. Got hacked.

[muchanmocha]

According to the information released about the segyein, Guardian Shine respects Mizi's choice in whether or not she wants to participate in Alien Stage. Looking at this tidbit again, new questions popped up for me. More specifically — one question.

Why didn't Sua convince Mizi not to participate?

Alright let's back up a bit.

What do we know about Alien Stage and its relationship with the Anakt Garden kids?

From the magazine interview and old stream commentary, we know they've been brainwashed from childhood to believe participation in Alien Stage is an honor. They're fully aware that losing means death, but that itself is taught to be yet another privilege.

Mizi vs Sua, Ivan, and Till

It's generally accepted that among our cast, Mizi is the most sheltered one — the one shielded the most from the horrific side of the post-alien apocalypse world, whereas due to the abuse from their respective guardians, Sua, Ivan, and Till do not have such a rosy outlook.

Sua and Ivan in particular appear to be jaded and much more in tune with their place in this system. So if they didn't buy into the propaganda, if they were fully aware of the implications of death and the worthlessness of receiving such an "honor" on stage, why didn't they convince Mizi to step out of it?

Ivan's reason is easy — simply, why would he?

But Sua? Why... wouldn't she? Surely she would want Mizi to avoid Alien Stage at all costs, when she is not as naive as to believe they'd be able to tie all the way to the finals?

Let's take another look at Sua's interview responses.

Sua and Mizi both share a dream, and in a world as small and enclosed as theirs, that dream is enough to be their everything.

Mizi may have had a chance to opt out of AS, but Sua doesn't. Her guardian, Nigeh, has always intended for her to participate, going as far as to build up her fanbase before Season 50 even started to tip the odds in favor of her victory. Sua has been prepared her whole life for Alien Stage, whether it ends in her victory, or her death.

She goes in knowing her life will likely end there.

Perhaps it was to indulge in the one selfishness of her short life — in the dream she and Mizi cherished above all.

Perhaps it was because she has absolute, unshakable confidence in Mizi taking the throne of Season 50 for herself.

Perhaps it was because a small part of her believed in Mizi's optimism — that they really can make it to the top together.

I think all of these possibilities are valid interpretations of what may have gone on inside Sua.

But here's a thought —

Sua, like Mizi, was unfamiliar with the true nature of death.

Sua's loss was Mizi's first, intimate encounter with death. Death was supposed to be a glorious thing, a blessed thing on Alien Stage.

It is not.

It's gruesome, and ugly, and she can still feel the hot blood splatter on her.

Anakt Garden is toted as a kindergarten that can provide your pet-humans with the perfect environment to thrive, looking after your pet-human's health not only physically, but psychologically!

Sua, like Mizi, has been raised in such a curated environment. Even under Nigeh's care, she was simply one of many dolled up pet-humans. Whether she was taking lessons in Anakt Garden, or left to sit in the corner in her ill-fitting doll outfit, we have not seen any opportunities for Sua to come in contact with "death." (Ivan, on the other hand, came from the slums. He may be the only one of the four who was intimately acquainted with death.)

Hence, I propose — Mizi was not the only one who went in without actually grasping the concept. Perhaps Sua too, while having an inkling of what's to come, did not truly understand what death entails either.

(But yeah possibility number 1263 why Sua didn't tell Mizi not to do the murder survival show)

-

Edit 10.02.24 — Debunked by this comic

[alien-til-i-stage]

While rewatching All-In and paying attention to the lyrics, these lines struck out to me.

“Who will remain standing at the end of it all?”

While this line could be Hyuna talking specifically about the aliens vs the rebellion, it’s particularly curious on why it says this while showing a picture of the three of them.

We see this continue on with these lines too. “Don’t you wanna know?” and while the line is said, it flashes to a close up of all three of their faces, one by one.

I believe this was on purpose, that it’s implying that out of the three of them, only one could be “left standing”.

We know that out of these three, Hyunwoo has already died. One of them is already down and now there is only Hyuna and Luka. The line above “Who will remain standing” implies that only one of those two are going to be left. This might ne foreshadowing a fight or battle between Luka and Hyuna, where one of them dies as a result.

Personally, my own theory is that it would be Luka who dies. We know about his heart condition, which already lowers his lifespan because of how fragile he is, and we see a common theme of characters being saved. We see them being saved by those who love them most, such as Sua dying for Mizi and Ivan for Till. If this theme for to continue, it would strongly suggest Hyuna’s survival, with her having an entire rebellion and friends who care for her, but Luka is alone, all he has is his love for Hyuna.

Anyways thanks for coming to my tedtalk