#mizi ivan besties delulus

[muchanmocha]

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[muchanmocha]

ROUND 7

IVAN vs HYUNA

Based on this dream

[Premise]

Mizi and Hyuna are on their way to confront Luka and save Till on the main stage but they find themselves intercepted by a familiar yet strange figure — Ivan, newly revived as an android biological abomination. (Or as I like to affectionately call it, a zombie android.)

Now Hyuna, still sustaining her injury from post-Round 6, must face off with "Ivan" before Round 8, Luka vs Till, commences.

Full "Came back wrong" Ivan design can be found here

[muchanmocha]

ALNST twitter post, captioned "Spectator"

When I first saw this post I thought Ivan looked this way because he had something in mind for his and Till's journey on Alien Stage, and Round 5's development (leading to Till's death-seeking emotional distraught) threw a wrench in his plans.

I... don't think that's a wrong estimate on what's going on here. The original script for Round 6 implied Ivan wanted to light Till's fighting spirit again, so Till's devastation in the face of Mizi's incident is obviously considered an unwelcome development for Ivan.

But in hindsight, Ivan knew about Sua's intentions. He knew Sua's death was coming, and he's also well aware of the feelings between Sua and Mizi. How could he have not have already anticipated Mizi's reaction and the resulting domino effect?

Ivan -> Mizi [Intimacy 30%, #3]

I like Mizi because she has a pure and honest nature. As you get older, you tend to develop a pessimistic worldview. But sometimes... she's a little too bright for me.

The caption of the original post is "Spectator." There is an emphasis on the deeply unpleasant experience Ivan is having as a spectator in this scene, someone who is neither able to act nor interfere, merely watch.

And here? He's watching Mizi — who he regards as a near paragon of goodness, who is "too bright sometimes" for him to be genuinely comfortable with and relate to — break down into a crumpled mess of anger, despair, violence, and insanity.

...

That must've been hard to swallow.

I'm totally not here today to spread my Mizi-Ivan besties delulu agenda nooooooo why would you think that

[muchanmocha]

Heeheeeee sounds like Ivan is talking to you

A fun little thing I stumbled upon when I was inputting the Ivan -> Mizi profile comment

[muchanmocha]

MY MIZI IVAN BESTIES DELULUS ARENT DELULUS ANYMORE??????????

BUT ALSO

Heeheee

[muchanmocha]

Hello!! I’m here to give u an alnst character!!! Please do Ivan 🙏🙏😮‍💨😮‍💨

Thanks for sending this in anon! It's really nice to have a chance to unpack some of my thoughts on him

1. Why I like them

Man where do I even begin to start?

Relatibility isn't something that typically factors into how much I like a character—rarely so actually. But the more I saw of him the more I felt a kinship in how a large chunk of his life is defined by "observing" and the fascination he has with figuring something (someone) out.

Then there's the fact that he himself is the puzzle, and if it isn't already apparent by my entire blog, I adore puzzles. I'll never tire of trying to figure him out. Yet strangely enough, I'm also okay with never figuring him out because that would be just like him to have depths so deep I won't ever be able to conceive him fully.

Even if it's a mask, one constructed through a lot of painful effort on his part, I love his smile. But further than that, I love the moments his bright sunny mask contrasts with the deep darkness he shelters — the same one he shares with Sua. The duality,,,, honestly peak.

Ivan is complex and self-contradictory, controversial and even problematic by a lot of standards, and I love him all the more for it.

2. Why I don't

Ok ngl I spent a solid hour doing laundry trying to come up with something I don't like about Ivan. I flat-out failed if you haven't guessed.

I think the only real answer I can point to is... Ivan is such a compelling character he ended up having an undeniably significant impact in shaping the fandom landscape.

To the extent that I've noticed if you don't actively love Ivan (/Ivantill), the Alnst fandom space can be... difficult to be in in certain ways.

There's not much that can be done about it precisely because it's not a situation brought about intentionally by anyone nor is it anyone's fault. When the problem is a character is too well done, is it really a problem? On a personal level, as someone who values quality in characters and writing above all, no, executing a character or story too well is never wrong in my books.

The phenomenon isn't even specific to Ivan; in the end it's just an unfortunate something that comes with the territory of being overwhelmingly popular in a fandom.

3. Favorite lyrics

'Even if your cold words'

'Carve scars beneath my eye'

'May they linger on your tongue'

'You can break me apart'

4. Favorite frame/screenshot

I think part of the reason why it tops my charts rn is the fact that it's new and still fresh off the press (powered by our pain)

But send Ivan for the ask game again and I'll give you a different answer

5. Favorite outfit

R3 ofc!!!! Long coat?????? Turtleneck????? Black boots??? Gloved hands????? Are you kidding me??????

6. Favorite official art

Seeing this one is actually how I got into Alnst and it hasn't lost its potency since (I love it even more now that I have context) it truly has a special place with me

7. Favorite canon fact

R6 commentary stated that what went on in Ivan's head during those last moments isn't supposed to be clear and fully understandable. "After all, he's the only one who will ever know how he truly feels."

I love that. So much.

Wdym this character is so unfathomable, that moment so complex you can watch it dozens of times and still find new things to notice and yet be no closer to the answer that isn't meant for us—

8. Favorite straight-up-not-canon headcanon

My Mizi Ivan besties delulus

Bc despite the canonical friendship they did share, I don't think they were best friends per se.

To me, best friends implies someone you mutually connect with and... that person doesn't seem to exist for Ivan.

He spends his entire life trying to speak everyone else's language — What's strange? What's normal? How should he act to be accepted? He builds the perfect mask, which in turn reflects the way he cannot truly connect with others.

Sua is the closest thing he has to a person he thought he understood and who understood him. But the key word in that "best friend" definition is "mutually." Sua doesn't feel the same and actively rejects his presence.

Till isn't his best friend either. Till is the object of his fascination, his obsession, his emotions. One of the core aspects of his relationship with Till is their inability to understand each other. They were never on the same page, never tuned to the same wavelength.

Sua is someone Ivan wants to connect with while Till is someone who brings out the rawest aspects of him. With both, Ivan has shown to have let down his mask just a little bit on certain occasions.

But Mizi? Mizi is just Mizi. And honestly that's the best part imo. She's simultaneously the #1 person he has no real reason to let his mask down around, and the #1 person with whom whether it was down or not doesn't matter and I think there can be a sort of comfort that comes with that.

I'll always feed my headcanons of Mizi being a friend Ivan can feel comfy with mask or no mask ♡

9. Favorite song/cover

Black Sorrow

I've woken up in the morning with it playing in my head on repeat more times than I can count

10. Song I want them to cover

Forever mourning ROMH Ivan

[lukaalnst-official]

Why is Hyuna dragging me by the hair? Actually… I’m not complaining but why is she frowning? Till seems like he is having a great time with Ivan.

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