#day 84 of having tillitis and it's fatal i fear

[k9punkout]

why do you think till sabotaged his opponent in round 2 and didn’t give him a chance to sing? i’ve seen a few different possible reasons thrown around- was he trying to make a statement, that he wouldn’t participate in alien stage the way he was expected to? was he preventing himself from losing? did he see it as his only chance to confess to mizi with the song he wrote for her? something else entirely?

i’d love to know your thoughts on this, your characterization of till is top tier

-atrophiedemotion

AGHHHHH THANK YOU SO SO MUCH <33

personally, I believe he did it for a multitude of reasons, including most of what you mentioned.

first and foremost, he was trying to make a statement. he was showing that he would not live in compliance, screaming out to the whole world that they could never tame him(except they did in r6 but IGNORE THAT). his choice to perform his OWN song about his OWN emotions exhibits a sense of individuality that is rare in pet humans in this universe, and since alnst has such a large following, and Till especially has a lot of people observing his behavior due to Urak calling him "the best in history," he knows that this is his chance to get the message across to society.

in the round 2 description, vivinos said her personal favorite line is when he yells "come on" at the beginning of the song, because it's like he's commanding the audience to follow his rhythm. Till leads his own crowd, makes them feel what he wants them to feel, and while that used to be the purpose of art, it seems to have lost its meaning in the alnst universe, especially with music that is sung by pet humans, so Till accomplishing this is a testament to his "artistic genius".

while the song was about Mizi, I don't think he did it as a confession to her. one of his lines right before the chorus was "you'll never know," so I don't think he ever planned on telling Mizi that he was in love with her, but also doesn't plan on ever letting go of his emotions ("i dont wanna stop"). i think there are so many reasons as to why he feels this way, but that's a Till rant for another time.

the fact that he chose to perform a love song he wrote to the audience says something as well. Mizi is his muse and motivation for both the art he produces and the bravery he exhibits. Using his love as an act of rebellion is a perfect way to show that. He's singing about love the way HE experiences it, and he's displaying the person that it made him. it's all a huge story with a strong message.

and then we get to the murder. honestly idk why it wasn't expected like. why would you give the hostile unpredictable alien hater an ALIEN guitar and expect it to turn out normal. nevermind the fact that he acted somewhat normal in the preliminary rounds you should've known something was up his sleeve. (also the fact that Freddie was BRED to be a damn guitar is like. fucking dystopian in itself. like what is this qu behavior.)

he killed Freddie on impulse the second his opponent tried to sing, because he was NOT abt to let his spotlight get stolen. also because he hates all aliens.

on a deeper note, i think he did it for control as well. much like Luka, the stage is the only way Till can get the feeling of being truly in charge of a situation, with minimal restrictions and less intense consequences. Unlike Luka, Till doesn't taunt or abuse his opponents but overwhelms them instead, thus his performance in round 2 and his killing Freddie. It would also explain part of the "bliss" he is said to feel after killing him.

Of course, another reason behind his bliss is the fact that Mizi looked up at him. he adores having her attention on him, he can never get enough of it ("still it's not enough"), and I think he's happy with it in any form, even if that form includes shock and horror at the stage being turned into a bloodbath. he was looking at her like a puppy after performing a trick and getting a treat as a reward.

it's also important to lean into his more compassionate side, especially when it comes to Mizi. I'm not 100% sure about this, but he might've also been happy to have distracted her from her grieving over Sua, if only for a second. replacing her anguish with surprise that won't make her feel better, but will take her mind off of it. (i think the mess of blood and gore only served to make Mizi's mental state worse, but that wasn't his intention.)

LAST REASON, and probably silliest- Acorn (r2 npc) and Till canonically have beef. I mean, Till has beef with everyone, but Acorn specifically wrote in his goodbye letter: "you're talented. i'll give you that." you can SMELL the passive-aggression. it's beyond me as to why, but it explains Till's lack of care about his life and death.

(MY personal theory: it's canon that Acorn has confessed to Sua multiple times, only to be rejected. he might've noticed how much she loved Mizi and grew resentful of her, and Till might have overheard him slandering her or something and never forgave him since.)

ANYWAYS THANK YOU FOR THIS DELIGHTFUL OPPORTUNITY TO YELL ABOUT ROUND 2 BECAUSE ITS ONE OF MY FAVORITE ROUNDS, AND ABOUT TILL BECAUSE I LOVE HIM SO <3