#alien stage guardians

[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!

[sotogalmo]

5:36 am

Please ask me questions about my alnst OC....

I swear I don't bitee :(((( (especially bout her guardian. Cuz to me, the Guardian is what the pet's fate is like; Ivan and his owner? Water/Ocean themed— "sorrow"; tears, "I'll drown in you"; drowning = water. Sua and her owner? Webs— to me her guardian is somewhat of a spider, and how Sua affects everything- like a web. Yeah??? And I have mine being,,, like a cook of sorts; mermaid centaur mom.... Yeah)

[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.

[kikijidraws]

My take on their relationship I take no criticism

[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

[aucrowne]

┬┴┤_•) Posting this before I chicken out. Finally finished this one though so yay~ (,,>ヮ<,,)!

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

⬅ Guardian Angel-in-training AU ➡

^ Added cause it looks kinda silly

[junebluues]

i was thinking about the alnst guardians being on twitter and i had the URGE to make this sorry. idk how these two would act at all but i giggled

[nottoonedin]

Okay it might be just me but does Unsha kind of sound like a disappointed father figure in the interview? Like he sounds almost fond of Ivan?

Like?? He doesn't even pick out Ivan because of his talent, he focused on how different and extraordinary his eyes looked? Could just be because he wanted to impress his wife but you'd want an entertaining pet no? (Also side note Ivan being a Valentine's Day present..)

He was only disappointed? If it were Urak or Herperu who had their pets give up on stage I'd say they'd be pissed. Reminds me of the phrase commonly used by parental figures: "I'm not mad. Just disappointed." Calling Ivan an "ambitious kid" comes off almost endearing?

Something something parents learning from their children. A mentor learning from their student. Or something.

Do you guys think. He's moving on from human pets because. Because he knows there will never be another one like Ivan. Like Ivan is special (to him) in a way?

Then again, you can also take the interview as Unsha talking about Ivan like a business partner. Because that's how they viewed their relationship. But it'd be kind of unheard of having a pet human as an (almost) equal?

(Let me be delusional okay Ivan Unsha father-son relationship PLEASE-)

Edit: Should probably add that I'm not saying Unsha is a GOOD father figure. He reminds me more of a neglectful father. Probably not as abusive as Urak and Heperu, but he definitely pushed Ivan and had high expectations for him (I don't think Ivan would willingly have that daily schedule if it weren't for Unsha's gain).

[princefado]

so about the new patreon post

[sakuraluck]

lol confirmation that ivan didn’t see till hesitated before running back. do you think he would have died so willingly if he knew that there was a chance that till could’ve chosen him?

ivan’s the kind of guy to pine over someone for two decades with full knowledge that his feelings won’t be reciprocated. if he knew that till had hesitated back then, do you think he would’ve made a second attempt to escape before/during this round?

maybe… now that mizi’s out of the way…

that kind of thought?

do you think that kind of hope would’ve motivate him to try harder to live? knowing that somewhere in till’s heart, ivan had a space there too. and that if he died, he would also be giving him trauma like sua to mizi?

do you think till knew ivan smiled at him so gently and achingly soft before he died? that he let go of till of his own volition and not because he lost strength? or does he think ivan wanted to kill him at the end?

when he opened his eyes and saw ivan falling, do you think ivan’s smile confused him?

do you think he’ll be wracked with survivor’s guilt after this as well? wishing ivan had finished what he started and killed him. do you think till will realize how much ivan loved him even till the end or will he think that even the one person who cared for him eventually hated him?

[shakingparadigm]

seeing the recent post and that there’s other kids with sua, i am genuinely wondering if there’s others as well. i know that till might have but what about ivan and mizi? and if we’ll be seeing them too at one point?

i’m pretty doubtful but it would be pretty cool to see ngl :0

Yup, it's incredibly common for segyein to have many human pets! Almost every guardian owns more than just one human, it's just that those sent to the Anakt Garden are the cream of the crop. The segyein who seems to have only one human is Guardian Shine, who gives extra care and support to Mizi. Though I'm not sure if Mizi is her only human or if the others just weren't specified?

It would be interesting to see each guardian's other pets, though! the environment and peers they were raised with can reveal a lot about the characters.

[sotogalmo]

5:50

Thinking of the song Nothing by Emilie Autumn, having it connected to Cas Nyx and Solei (via Solei being 'the first one')

"the first one" can lead to Solei. As well- as we can guess, someone missing has never happened before.

Animation before it hits the repetitive "the first one". Is just a camera going down the line of those who have rebel against aliens in some way or have disobeyed; it goes from the current one (Hyuna), to some of the older ones (Sebastian, and such), then it hits season 39; it goes from Flor, to Nyx, to Castor and the elongated note of "the first one" is on Solei.

"she is the closest thing I had to a companion" could be said for Flor. She's a court jester / it could also be said for the others because they have gotten very strong(semi strong) bonds with almost everyone in the garden. / It's said about Solei, due to how Solei was raised.

"yet, I look at her. And I feel.... Nothing." Guardians have changed, and it has landed on the worse one that we all know of; Heperu.

Castor: @lookatmysillies / @bluemoonscape

Nyx: @rockwgooglyeyes

Solei: @solei-eclipse

[crustyfloor]

Guardian Unsha found dead in a ditch after investing so much money into his golden child Ivan just for him to go fuck up, lose, and publicly embarrass Unsha by throwing the round for and kissing his rival's pet-human on live television

[ivantill-i-kms]

!!!????!?? CUTE??? OLD MAN YAOI IS REAL????

And then you remember that Unsha has a wife 😂

Cr: t4tivantill on twt

[guardians-alnst]

Urak I want my husband back (Till) GIVE HIM BACK

I don't have him currently.

[cloverandstuff]

In an alternate universe where Ivan survived,

this post by @/pwippy started this brainrot