#more of ivan backstory

[i-am-trying-my-best-okay]

Attempting To Analyze Luka And Till To Try And Figure Out How Round Seven Will Go

LUKA:

From what we've seen of him, while he knows how to manipulate people's emotions, doesn't quite know how to understand them and process them. We see this as far back from when he was a kid, when he and Hyuna's brother would get into fights, and he would use his frailty as an excuse to go running to Hyuna for her to defend him; it's an excuse to get her attention, to get her to side with him against her brother. This probably made him feel good, like she placed him above her brother, even if it was momentarily.

However, this strategy came crashing down when he went too far, when he killed her brother. Perhaps this was an accident, just him being too frustrated that day, him going to far, and he didn't realize it till too late. Even so, it was fine, he just needed to present himself as the victim to Hyuna like he usually did. What he didn't anticipate, was Hyuna's complete horror and rejection of him.

Now, we don't know when exactly Hyuna ran away and went rouge, but it couldn't have been right away; also, if we're going on what we saw that one time with Hyuna still having cuffs when she was an adult, then it wouldn't be till many years later. The aliens wouldn't have put Hyuna in a different group or anything; even if she did somehow try and plead a case that she was worried for her safety or something, they'd take one look at little prized Luka and be like 'nah he's harmless; that stunt with your brother was in self defense', basically not caring at all about Hyun Woo dying at all; he wasn't as profitable as Luka. It helps that Luka is so sickly; it helps with him getting out of any actual punishment on the rare occasion he slips up. And so, in the aftermath, Hyuna and Luka still had to interact with each other everyday for the remainder of their training in childhood.

Now, to backtrack, for Luka's backstory, this is more speculation than anything. But from what I can tell, he's always had a camera in his face, some sort of eyes on him looking for media entertainment. Even before he's been properly trained, we saw that small scene of him as a child with a bunch of aliens crowding him, eyes on him, and him just looking so tired from it. I'm assuming that he was either breed and born for being a singer, or he was clocked at a very early age. Either way, he started getting media attention from before he was even put into training with others. It's in this, that Luka formed his understanding of interactions; it's performative, doing whatever the aliens want out of him for their entertainment, he learns that he needs to do certain things in order to get a positive reaction out of the aliens. It's what he needs to do to survive, all he's been trained to do really. From this all he knows about socializing is how to get an emotional response out of someone, a completely hollowed understanding of how emotions work.

And then he was put into training with other humans, which is likely the first time he's actually put with other humans. He's ostracized; he's seen as sort of 'other', since he's leagues ahead of the other humans who've barely started properly learning and he's been trained for this since forever. Also, the other humans likely have been around other humans before, meanwhile we have Luka over here who as none of the common social ques that humans have. Basically; he's never been treated like an equal before, he only knows the dehumanization dynamic from aliens, who just want him to perform. But with his group, their not asking him to perform, so he essentially ignores them, thinking that's all an interaction is. That's when Hyuna comes in; she feels like the sort of person to see how Luka is put on the outside of the group for being strange, and doggedly tries to become friends with him, despite his initial disinterest. It's through this, that Luka forms an obsession with Hyuna, his first friend, the first living being that doesn't demand anything from him. He can relax around her, do weird shit like chew on his sleeve if he feels like it and she doesn't mind, doesn't have to mask a response. He actually has positive feelings himself when he's around Hyuna, something he's not really used to. But despite this, Luka still has a dysfunctional idea of how emotions are, and really likes Hyuna, so he wants to get a positive out of her, so he still tries to do things he knows will get that out of her, like that thing with her brother.

Now, back to Hyuna now being horrified of Luka, he really doesn't know what to do with this. He tries to fix it, do every trick he knows to get a positive response from her, try to get her forgiveness, but nothing was working, and he doesn't understand why, and he's getting increasingly and dangerously frustrated. Luka is not use to getting a negative response, and I think it's through this that he really learns what that's like. So, I think to ward off his frustration, he tests getting negative responses from his fellow humans, particularly his opponents. It's through this, that he finds out how useful that can be, a more secure way to survive. As the years go by, Luka gets all the better at manipulating others emotions, and it's through this that he understands why Hyuna still won't forgive him, despite his understanding of these emotions being very clinical. Because of this, he knows how to try and better manipulate Hyuna into forgiving him, so much so that it actually starts messing with Hyuna's head. She emotionally begins to be swayed into forgiving him, but rationally she doesn't want to, and it gives her a whole complex of what she knows what she wants to feel versus what Luka is manipulating her to feel. But she ends up running away from the aliens before Luka could completely manipulate her.

When she runs away, Luka falls into a spiraling depression. The one person he's ever loved is gone, the one person who made him feel anything. From this, he dives into his work, trying to glean any sort of joy from manipulating negative responses from his competitor's to make them mess up, turning it into a sort of game at this point. It becomes his only defense against the constant eyes on him from the aliens, the constant and disgustingly dehumanizing attention that has choked him ever since he could remember. Luka folds further and further into himself, burying whatever sliver of humanity he felt with Hyuna. However, he follows very closely the revolution movement that's happening, knowing for a fact Hyuna would join (or start?) the group. The aliens likely have covered up this revolution, especially from the humans so they won't get any ideas, but with Luka being Luka, he likely has the influence to get some insider information whenever he can, causally eavesdropping on important alien figures talking about it while he sings for them. Whatever the case, no matter how much time has passed, Hyuna haunts him just as much as he haunts Hyuna. And even after all this time, he still doesn't hold the proper remorse of murdering her brother or trying to manipulate her into forgiving him, just regretting the results.

TILL:

From what I can try to glean from Till's past, it's littered in violence from the aliens. I can see there being a sort of cycle with Till; he does something that his alien owners lightly punish him for, which puts him on the defense and gets violent, which in turn makes the alien's get violent and try to restrain, which makes Till get even more violent, and so on. The aliens viewed him as sort of this feral dog, completely untrainable, moving him from home to home, shelter to shelter. They try all their methods they have to make him 'submit', but each and every time he simply refuses.

I sort of have this theory that Till didn't start out as someone with an owner, or someone who was even regulated by an alien in a adoption facility or something; he used to live on the streets, completely unmanaged, which is very rare for humans. Maybe he even had other stray humans he hung around, or maybe he managed on his own. Either way, eventually he gets captured by the aliens, and maybe his fellow stray humans get captured and broken down or killed in this. The aliens try to integrate Till into their human pet system, but he's just not having it. He wasn't trained by aliens since birth to act a certain way, which would explain his intense resistance towards them. He sees the situation for what it is, how humans being put in such a degrading and dehumanizing dynamic is wrong, and it makes him angry to be expected to put up with it. It makes him especially angry that his fellow humans expect him to go along with this dehumanization, just to keep the waters calm. Because even the humans that have sort of realized that this is wrong, were still trained under this system, and has just accepted that they need to live with it, and Till won't. They all act like he's crazy, aliens and humans alike, but Till refuses to give in.

Whatever the case, Till proves to show constant resilience, something that probably was having him set up to be on track for being 'put down', having no worth as a 'pet'. Till knew this, but it just made him push even harder, fight back harder. We see in a few flashes of Till be experimented on with syringes; possibly in an effort to make him calmer. This was probably something that happened before and after he became a singer. Even then, physically and biologically abused, he refuses to go along with this system, to try and hold on to any sense of autonomy he has even as they try to restrain and degrade it. And all this fighting does take a toll on Till; we see it in the heavy bags under his eyes, but even so, he keeps going. You know, unironically, I think Till is the embodiment of the term "the indomitable human spirit"; he just absolutely refuses to be cowed for the sake of an easier survival.

I think what kept him from being 'put down' was when it was discovered he had a talent for singing. I don't know how this was discovered; maybe Till was just bored and entertaining himself with singing or strumming a guitar, or maybe they had him tested for a talent before the decided to kill him just in case he had any sort of monetary worth. Once they figured out he had a talent, he was shipped off to be the Anact Garden's problem.

Now, Till, at his core, is an extremely protective person; it's actually kind of insane. Once he decides something is 'his', he tightly holds onto and protects it with everything he has. We see this time and time again; deciding to be the sole protector of the flowers and encouraging them to grow, literally beating someone up if they stepped on them. Following Mizi around just in case she would need help, and one day she did, and she didn't hesitate to run into that cave and fight off whatever monster she had stumbled upon, literally just some child squaring up against some mutated beast (or possibly striking a deal with it? we didn't see the whole thing. either way whatever he did must have been a huge deal because it literally changed Ivan's life). He doesn't even care if Mizi loves Sua and that she'll never love him; he just wants her to be safe and happy. And in defending Ivan as well, cause he was a weird kid, and I know Till would go from snarling at Ivan to snarling at another kid who's making fun of Ivan. And that's why he fights so hard for his own rights and autonomy as well, because he's protective of his own sense of self, refusing to let go of it. His protective instincts are his main motivation for basically all of his actions, all of his supposed feral behavior.

It's probably this that trait that drew Ivan to Till in the first place; his and Till's first interaction was Till beating him up over some flowers. It kind of looked like Ivan felt alive for possibly the first time in his life during that fight. I bet afterwards, if Ivan were to question Till on it, Till wouldn't even understand the point of the question; like of course he would defend the flowers till his last dying breath? Duh? Don't be a dick? Ivan probably followed Till around all the time, but I imagine the reason Till didn't form as close a connection to Ivan was because Till sees Ivan as just another source of violence in his life he needs to fight against. It's why he probably developed such a crush on Mizi; Till is drawn to kindness more than anything, to softness. It's why he forms a connection to the flowers, to Mizi. He can't see the kindness in Ivan, not till it's too late.

It's probably those protective instincts that made him turn back when Ivan was trying to get him to run away; of course he wanted to run away. But then he thought of Mizi, left unprotected. And then he considered Ivan, who upon running away, would also be left unprotected out in the world. His need to protect was being torn at, and in the end, he chose Mizi, leaving Ivan to fend for himself. What he didn't expect, was to see that Ivan came back too. That's when Till truly stopped seeing Ivan; his guilt didn't allow him to. He feels like he abandoned him, thrown him aside what he feels he needs to protect, forced him to come back to the facility, and now Till can't look him in the eye.

Honestly, I think it's these protective instincts that serve in his break down after Mizi left. He feels like he failed in protecting her, and not only that, he feels like there's nothing left for him to protect. He'd already thrown away the idea of protecting himself when he was entered into this competition, only motivated to protect himself to get far enough to go against Mizi in the final round, in which he was going to throw the round so that she could live. He completely threw away any protective instinct for his own survival, having accepted that at the beginning of this competition, because those he loves will always come first, and he and Mizi both couldn't survive, so really it was a no brainer for him. But now Mizi is gone, and he doesn't know how to get that desire to protect himself back, can't find the motivation for it. And so, going up against Ivan, all of the years of constantly fighting are just coming to get him, and he's just so tired. With nothing left, he was just going to throw the match. And then Ivan comes up and starts kissing him, which catches Till completely off guard. But then Ivan starts choking him before Till could process what that meant, and this made a lot more sense to him. Ivan killing him on stage lines up with everything he thinks Ivan to be; just another source of violence, and he's going to let him. But then he realizes what's actually going on, and it all clicks into place for him; Ivan loved him. Ivan had a whole inner world Till never knew because he decided to look away. And Ivan was something Till still had left to protect, but now he was gone. And all he has left to protect is the sacrifice Ivan left behind; himself.

TOGETHER:

It's unlikely these two have ever really met before; they were in different age groups when they were being trained as kids, and given their extremely different vibes it's unlikely they'd be asked to perform together or even be asked for from the same clients. So this competition is likely the first time they've met. Having never really met, what they currently think of each other is Till thinking Luka "is a dick who messed with Mizi and kisses up to the audience", and Luka thinks of Till as "an idiot who will go unhinged at the drop of a hat and has no sense of his own self preservation".

Till finds the motivation to want to survive, for Ivan's sake. He wants to protect Ivan's cause for dying, almost like he wants to make up for not properly seeing him over the years, for tossing him aside and not protecting him. Bro's got a whole complex he'll work on for the rest of his life, but right now it's really motivating him to win, so at least there's that.

It would be really easy for Luka get a negative reaction out of Till; he's very reactive to things. But I think Luka will fail in getting the right kind of reactions out of Till. Typically, when he backs his competitors into a corner, they feel too much turmoil to properly sing. But that's the thing with Till; he's reactive. If Luka pushes him physiologically, his response won't be to shut down, it'll probably motivate him to sing even better, try to sing over Luka out of spite. So Luka's best bet is to try and provoke Till into violence, and it'll prove a challenge for Till who probably already hates this guy for giving Mizi a breakdown. I bet for the entire round Till will have to try so hard not to beat this guy up, to push all his aggressive energy into the performance, but it's so clear how much he just wants to murder this man, leaving the crowd and the guards on pins and needles.

Till's normal style of competing seems to be singing over his opponents, making sure they have absolutely no time to collect themselves. It's kind of funny, how both Till and Luka's strategy is just to make the other one look worse. But Luka has a lot of experience with making the crowd like him, so he throws tricks at Till he wouldn't be expecting, somehow blending the performances perfectly. But Till has never been one to stick to the script, so I can imagine him just playing a wildly different tune, trying to force Luka to change lanes again and again, seeing if he can keep up. In the end, this isn't a performance; it's a fight, a tug of war for the spotlight.

On another point, I wonder if Till will accidently remind Luka of Hyuna; she was obviously a rebel herself, given her whole thing of going to go join a revolution, so I wonder if at some point in the performance Luka will see a bit of Hyuna in Till, and it'll cause some faulter. It's kind of funny; Luka will on purpose psychologically torment Till with those that he lost, and Till will accidently psychologically torment Luka with the one that he lost.

Really, them competing with each other is sort of like a round of chicken, seeing who will crack first. But of course, all this could be for naught when we thrown in these two uncontrollable elements; Hyuna and Mizi. They're here, at the facility, and they're in trouble. This is something both of them will deeply care about, and it's unclear how it'll factor in. I wonder, if at some point during the performance the two of them will realize Hyuna and Mizi's situation, and give each other a look, like they're saying to each other "okay fuck you and all but we've got to help them", and then their battle turns into a weird sort of temporary alliance. Maybe they try to distract the aliens with their performance or start actually fighting. Maybe they do some sort of weird complicated dance move that's made to break the power and to make it easier for Hyuna and Mizi to get away. Maybe they just say 'fuck it' and run off the stage together, going to help the other two and have them all escape. Either way, I think the ending of their performance won't have anything to do with the two of them at all, but rather another. And I suppose it's fitting for the two of them, whose current sense of identity is tied so closely to other people, rather than themselves.

[kaitcake1289]

i have an iwtv art idea….but i’m not sure about which character to choose and i would want a second opinion

[mystycalypso]

Video slightly postponed by art wip

Enjoy very much cropped Tricky sketch while I work on the full piece

I feel bad bc Trinity is literally the main character and I keep losing it over Nicky in text stuff

Love drawing her though (even though I keep forgetting her eyeshadow TvT)

EDIT: I shouldn't have put the "somehow I don't hc him as trans!" Tag bc now I jinxed it. The trans hcs are inevitable now 😔 (it might just be bc it's late)

[dapperrokyuu]

I feel like Ivan meeting Luka would be a force to be reckoned with, which is kind of why Im rooting for Ivan to beat Till (among other reasons, and if not both of them living). Man, Till meeting Luka tho...could Luka pull off trying to play as Mizi, lol? Whether that would actually work in his favor or not-

[crustyfloor]

Ivan's hopelessness and introspection / Nowhere

TL by whatafruit

What mainly sets Ivan apart from characters like Mizi, for example, is his upbringing, he initially lived in the slums, a dangerous, harsh environment, and had to learn how to navigate that at a young age without anybody by his side. Ivan didn’t grow up in bliss and innocence or as a generally happy person, and after nearly dying in the slums, it left him with a first impression of life that was unforgiving and cruel. That aspect of his backstory deeply scarred his subconscious and impacted his perspective, which molded his nihilistic approach to life.

Even after being adopted by Unsha, Ivan never left that side of him behind but adapted those traits to his new environment. Ivan obediently conformed to whatever the aliens expected of him to ensure his survival while he lived, perfecting his expressions, maintaining the alien's favor, becoming well-admired by the other children in Anakt Garden and well-liked by the aliens, and a lot more things. All this to say, Ivan was the perfect pet; despite that, he still had a hollow interior. Complying with the aliens without a real sense of identity, nor any will to develop one could've been what led to his self-perceived unusual ‘otherness’ compared to others. To say his life was ‘stained’ from the beginning means he saw his existence as inherently corrupted, irreparably so; that's the way Ivan always regards his existence, as something sad and flawed.

It highlights how miserable Ivan was, even after being given everything that he needed because of his guardian, simple necessities that didn't come easily when he was still living in the slums. Despite being surrounded by kids, that's the thing. From watching how they interact and play, Ivan knows how different he is from them; he simply lacks life. He doesn’t feel like he truly belongs anywhere, in Anakt Garden, where he can only wear a mask to blend in, or in an alien society where he is simply a product that was on a very clear time limit. The reality of that keeps him in his own head, dissociated and alienated. He's already twisted, and his fate was written from the beginning. So whatever happens, happens.

Despite how aware Ivan was of the desolation of his reality that didn't leave any room for hope when he saw Till for the first time standing up for himself, it brought something out of Ivan, that urge to (study like a bug) understand a part of Till that had courage and rebelliousness that Ivan himself didn't possess. Ivan grew a fascination with Till akin to the way he felt when he saw a meteor shower for the first time, through Till, and through expressing himself by pulling on Till's metaphorical pigtails, bringing out Till's emotions. Ivan could feel deep emotions again; he could feel alive again. Those feelings even encouraged Ivan to do something that would essentially be him rebelling even though he had no prior incentive to escape his monotonous life. Before Till, Ivan showed no genuine interest in changing anything; he didn't fight it, just accepted things as they were. But because he saw that Till fought because he wanted freedom, I think Ivan naturally dislikes his own conformity. It is only an efficient and beneficial way to live, and it kept him alive for the most part. Escaping would probably be one of his less well-thought-out plans in retrospect; they were only children. Wouldn't going out there mean certain death? but I think he wanted to indulge for once and see what Till saw in being free, and he wanted them to be free together.

When the lyrics refer to “A rigid dream and hope seeped in rose tint,” it could be relating to the common saying “rose-tinted glasses,” for something to seep is like a leak, a rigid and stiff ‘dream’ that has a rose tint leaking through, the meaning behind “dream and hope” is synonymous with looking on the bright side and seeing pleasantries, you intend to look at the bright side that distracts you from that unpleasant reality, but it is ultimately just a shallow hope, the kind that “it’s stained with blood” isn’t real with all of its undertones and conditions, it was naive, faulty, and cruel, In a world like this, they would be and were stomped on immediately. The sad thing about it is it's not like Ivan didn’t see it coming when Till turned back, but he only naively thought he had it all right, hopeful that he could change something in his own life and might be accepted by Till, wishing things would go his way and wanting more but knowing he can't ask for more than this. The rejection hurt, and remembering it hurts even more.

Ivan's motive for wanting to escape was because of that childishness. He had long since accepted his situation for what it was before then. He deals with life as a whole with detachment, and more specifically, his emotions. he is so used to downplaying his feelings and hurt that, at some point, he becomes 'numb' to them; his apathy leaves his complicated feelings buried, and forgotten from time, but never healed.

Ivan’s identity as an idol is carefully curated; everything down to the way he smiles ties into that image, But that identity separate from himself is not something Ivan particularly likes. His smile is significant to his image, it makes him ‘special.�� When asked about his charm point in an interview, he replies that it’s his snaggletooth. Ivan's obedience and perfect behavior are what rank him up so high among human pets, which is probably why he’s so critical when referring to his most notable features. Of course, his face gets him places, but because it is directly tied to his identity as a product and, by extension, the system that he sees with contempt, he's disgusted by it to a degree.

&

Ivan emulates what the aliens want of him, he's always forced into submission by the very system that he resents. To his detriment, the benefits he had received from being perfect only exacerbated the negative image he has of himself that he is ultimately powerless and the feeling that his real self will always be unwanted, and it leaves him feeling a loneliness only he understands beneath the persona.

He does as he’s told and doesn’t do anything about confronting his feelings because there's no point in trying the way he sees it. Nobody cares about him, so it’s not a big deal if he feels bad, it's not a big deal if he hurts himself because he can just keep going because there’s nothing else he can do, Ivan treats himself like a waste of time all the same, his whole character is repressing the emotions he feels, and leaving them to fix themselves at some point, it is what he wants to think, that “if I just ignore it, it will fade in time.” Ivan wants to pose as a mature and nonchalant person who can persevere and let go of things that hurt him, even just for the sake of making it to the next day, but he is very emotionally immature.

Even though he wants to subdue his emotions, it’s ironic how, no matter what, he can't escape his humanity and the part of him that craves to be seen and understood by someone. This is best seen in confession-- Ivan tried relating to others. Sua, who he thought was like him, the 'connection' and the feeling that he wasn't alone brought him a twisted sense of comfort, he didn't even seem to realize or know how to put into words why he was so upset when he realized that wasn't the case the whole time--because he's so out of touch with his emotions.

This cycle, when it comes to Ivan allowing some semblance of vulnerability with someone or something and then being exposed to hurt ultimately leads him to close off with no outlet for these intense feelings of hurt and bitterness that are just left to build up. 

Hysterie often refers to the state of extreme and controllable emotions, I find this interesting when Ivan uses it because of his quiet personality, only in brief moments does a part of him that is emotional and smiles freely come out as he grew up and learned to mellow out that side of him and stifle his true self, “a hysterie festering” like feelings of emotion that have built up over time into something Ivan can’t manage and stifle so easily anymore and that's what it ultimately amounts to when Ivan is in his most emotionally intense moments, during Black sorrow when he was singing about his melancholy and devotion to staying by Till's side, singing the song exactly as he learned it until he lost control of his emotions for a moment, and in Cure when he recklessly expressed the strongest of his heart to Till, even if Till couldn't understand, to be seen by someone, and someone that he cared so deeply about before forfeiting his life override the part of him that wanted to keep these feelings tucked away, to die with them before burdening someone else with the weight of it all.

Cure and Black Sorrow can't be sidelined for just how vulnerable they are. But Nowhere is so intense and honest in an intriguing way, given how evasive and deceptive Ivan is when it comes to his feelings. Especially considering that this song was likely specifically made to never be used on stage or even found in the first place, it's a song purely from his point of view filled with emotions he always kept hidden; it is essentially Ivan's soul. His apathy, his loneliness, his beliefs, and his sorrows, such as the way the affectionate lyrics at the very start of the song are cut off at random and distorted into meaningless background noise that lingers until the end of the song, reads like Ivan's bitterness towards his haphazard feelings, his way of love, and by extension his resentment, mixing with his self-loathing into something intangible that only he could really understand.

Ending this off with the same words, “This always happens to me,” “That's just how it is,” is a reflection of Ivan’s view of life (even though the narrative disproves his flawed perspective on several occasions). He’s very secure in his nihilistic view of the world. And his inability to change anything about it, the fact that he's incapable of being loved and understood, or the idea that he was cared for at all. His pragmatism regarding that is because he’s witnessed firsthand how life contradicts and snuffs out hope, so Ivan decided to never subject himself to that kind of naivety again, living with such deep-seated feelings until it came back to bite him, and died thinking that this is just how things go, his emotions, shallow and meaningless always gets the better of him

[palilious]

Have any of your listener designs become the canon version? And for who if so?

Listeners are definitely tricky as they're supposed to be audience stand ins, BUT there have been a few cases where my listeners have become the VAs personal canon!

First one that comes to mind is Faith Koria from @goodboyaudios Bastard Warrior!

I came to GB with the concept that she had more African features, and he loved the idea and made it canon to his canon! Hence why the official art of her brother is also black! Now that Faith has an official voice, she's more of a character then a listener. So you can consider this art accurate to her character!

Another option would be Raven from @escapedaudios Neon Noir, but that's a more complicated story

I headcanoned that Raven got a Crow tattoo on her back, shoulder and neck to memorialize Crow at the end of the series and going into Neon Wings. Escaped really liked the idea! but my headcanons had already infected enough of that series and I felt bad, so I asked him to not include that one lol You can blame a lot of Ivan's look and backstory on me though! I came up with his birds and their names, his prosthetic leg, and his actual design!

[redrandomposts]

till narrowly missing ivan in every universe, either literally or figuratively, makes me giggle and cry at the same time AUUHSHSJSH if he was a regressor/reincarnator and og/alnst!till was watching his later incarnations, mans would be bald from tearing his hair out in frustration

"LOOK BACK MF LOOK BACK, YOU JUST MISSED HIM"

"THATS NOT WHAT HE MEANT AND YOU KNOW IT"

"NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO HAVE YOUR NTH SEXUALITY CRISIS, IVAN IS MOVING AWAY TOMORROW. MOVE IT"

and imagine his previous incarnations from other failed lifetimes watching the current lifetime with him and theyre all in the same frustrated state 😭

"can we PLEASE have one lifetime where we dont end up breaking his heart ? can we PLEASE—"

— 🌦️

HAHAHAHAHA LMAOOOOO

doomed lovers and tills watching it all happen, kicking and screaming

everytime an incarnation pops up in their little hell, he is kicked and beaten up and treated as a less-than-human being until the next one meets ivan. and then they're too focused watching how till (yes, that's you, a dumbass) misses every smile and glimmer of eyes and heartbreak that ivan shows.

"what the fuck?! what's he doing?! ivan is right there, don't go hitting on her - fuck! who is that idiot!"

"that idiot is you! do you remember how you made ivan your best man at your wedding?!"

"says the one had an arranged marriage with him then went to war and came home in love with a nurse!"

"all of you are idiots!"

and none of the tills know og till's backstory. most of the time he's writing songs and playing the guitar, as all of them do, but in a more extreme way. there's a little library with all the songs the tills have made, each shelf a different life. og till's is a whole bookshelf, but the ones about ivan only starts after he first appeared here.

(there's also the songs each and every ivan has made about till, for till, to till. those are treated much better than the ones the tills haphazardly throws into their respective shelves. they're encased in gold and glass, just as unattainable as ivan seems to be.)

extra reactions according to some of my aus (except it's all the bad ends and ooc??):

omegaverse

"...what the fuck?"

"WHAT'S A PHEROMONE?! ALPHA? THAT'S SO CRINGEY? WTF"

"GUYS!!! IVAN CAN BE PREGNANT-"

"-SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP-"

"holy fuck"

"it was indeed a fuck"

"did you know ivan could moa-"

"fucking hell we're all tills we're all here we all know!"

"BLOOD! GET A TISSUE YOU FREAK-"

"HALF OF US HAVE NOSEBLEEDS WDYM"

"please please please till hE IS PREGNANT-"

"..."

"what the fuck."

"HE'S DEAD?"

"guys i don't ever wanna get ivan pregnant if that's what's going to happen"

android au

"...he owns ivan..?"

"THAT'S NOT FAIR?? WHAT DID HE EVER DO TO DESERVE IVAN??"

"surely they fall in love, right?"

"don't fucking jinx it, you moron!"

"ivan's so cute... look! he's cutting the veggies into flowers!"

"hey! till! say thank you to ivan!!"

"ugh, can't he just get out the studio so i can see ivan??"

"till, can't you just be a stay at home musician?!"

"aww!! aren't those flowers in the stitching?"

"oh my god ivan hand sewed him clothes?!"

"that's not fair! ivan! you can't just give things to the idiot! or else!! ...or else."

"...you fucking jinxed it!!! ivan!!! you can't die!"

"how'd i know that they'd just shoot and never stop shooting?"

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM??"

"i'll fucking BEAT THEM UP I SWEAR."

"??? why's he only just checked the cameras now since he got ivan?"

"...ivan's voice is so heavenly."

"..."

zombie au

"is it another boring one? haven't we already seen till and ivan have normal lives and drift apart or something else?"

"maybe this time, till will..."

"shut UP! CROW'S MOUTH, I SWEAR"

"nevermind that is nOT NORMAL FUCK"

"OH MY GOD HE IS ROTTING AND MOVING??"

"IVAN GET AWAY FROM THERE -"

"...ivan?"

"FUCK! HE DID IT AGAIN!"

"TILL YOU FUCKER GO BACK FOR HIM!!"

"...at least we still have ivan."

"...and till knows he loves ivan."

"...and they kissed."

".....oh fucking hell, why are you so happy?! ivan's basically till's dog! till doesn't deserve him!"

"well, as long as they cure ivan, they'll be together for real, right?"

"..."

"YOU FUCKING JINXED IT-"

"WHY'D THAT RANDO JUST SHOOT IVAN???

mermaid au

"oh my god he's a fish -"

"- ivan looks like a prince!"

"??? how can you be so rude to ivan!"

"why are his thoughts so weird? ivan's a human, not some pearl! he has dignity!"

"he's much better than some pearl, too."

"till knows he loves ivan, right??? surely??? with those thoughts..."

"i wanna see ivan's eyes...."

"i wanna see ivan's smile..."

"fuck! till, just speak to him god damnit!"

"oh my god!!! ivan!!!"

"??? where's his fishy parts?? ow, don't hit me-"

"...he looks so fine."

"hey! he's sixteen! you are definitely not sixteen, you fucking homewrecker!!"

"homewrecker?! i didn't cheat!!"

"you wrecked your and ivan's house life!"

"what?"

"where'd the letter come from??"

"how's there sea foam???"

"IVANNNN!"

"HE'S DEAD? JUST LIKE THAT?"

"HE DESERVED MORE YOU FUCKER-"

===

anyways im going to edit my masterlist to be better ig

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

With the knowledge of all the themes and inspirations of Robert Eggers for his adaptation of “Nosferatu” (2024), a few things are clearer.

This film isn’t only “Gothic horror”, it’s also Folk Horror, because that’s Robert Eggers “thing”. It’s also a dark fairy tale (“demon lover story”); the first song of the OST is even called “Once Upon a Time”. It’s a love letter to Eastern European cinema, too. It’s a story based on Romanian folklore, Transylvanian and Western European History, influenced by European cinema. Years on the making, alongside a team of academics and researchers.

1) Intricate, non-linear and highly symbolic storytelling

This story relies a lot on visual devices to create the narrative, inspired by “Queen of Spades” (1949) and “Vechir na Ivana Kupala” (“The Eve of Ivan Kupalo”) (1968). These are more important than dialogue, because there are many unreliable narrators in this film. Ellen and Orlok love story is represented by the lilacs (inspired by “The Innocents” (1961), where the willow tree was connected to the ghost couple) and windows (strigoi folklore and “Wuthering Heighgs” inspiration).

Orlok true nature is revealed on his iconography: sigil and coat of arms; he’s a Pagan worshipper of ancient Dacian god Zalmoxis; but was demonized as a “devil worshipper” by Christianity (as every Pagan religion in Europe was). He was deemed unworthy of entering Zalmoxis kingdom, but was only cursed to become a strigoi when Ellen awoke him, at the beginning of the film (he had been dead for centuries). Why? Related to his backstory. In Romanian folklore, strigoi haunt their loved ones, they want to relive their life together. Which indicates Ellen is possibly a reincarnation of the woman Orlok loved in life, which explains the covenant of them being together in spiritual world forever, and the “Svengali” (1931) inspiration.

2) Who is the true villain of this film?

At first glance, it’s Orlok. If we look deeper into the inspiration of “Leptirica” (“The She-Butterfly”) (1973) and strigoi folklore, it’s Ellen; she’s the one who unleashes Orlok. She also has a premonition Thomas will be sent away and looks at the window (Orlok). Then, she cuts a strand of her hair and puts it on a locket and it appears it’s meant to Thomas, but the visual subtext tells a different story: she knows Thomas will be sent to Orlok, and her strand of hair smells of lilacs; a scent Orlok later recognizes, and uses the locket to have access to her again. We also see Ellen at the beach, on the shore, while communicating with him. Later, Orlok arrives at Wisburg. She opens the window for him to access the Harding household, and then to her own house, on the “third night”. Ellen is the one who gives Orlok access to places (rooted in strigoi folklore, the “vampires need to be invited in” lore); she’s the one who calls for him throughout the film, which is why Lily-Rose Depp said she’s the one calling the shots in the film.

But, Ellen is described as the only heroic character by Robert Eggers, so she can’t be the real villain of the film. Nevertheless, she’s seen as a “monster” by society, as well; her supernatural gifts are medicalized as “hysteria”, and she needs to be contained with drugs and restraining devices (corsets; tied to the bed). When she’s communicating with Orlok in what Victorian doctors call “epilepsies”, she’s knocked unconscious with drugs, she’s tied to the bed, and her corset is tightened, increasing more control over her (literally and metaphorically), attempting to break her trance mediumship (her nature, her sexuality).

The true villain of the story is Christian Victorian society; with its norms, expectations and doctors; “Wuthering Heights” and “Great Expectations” (1949) inspiration. The society that medicalizes the protagonist, and labels her “mad”, “child” and “a creature” (like Von Franz calls her). The same Christianity that demonizes Orlok, is the same which demonizes Ellen. The “modern world” (19th century) has no place for them, they both belong to Pagan times.

3) Love vs. Sex

Now, we have to talk about love. What is love in this film? It’s the Victorian ideal presented in “The Innocents” (1961) dichotomy: love is Christian, pure, sacred, virginal, innocent, overprotective vs. sex, which is wickedness, sickness, shameful; contagious; corruptive, and, yes, demonic. It’s the occult meaning, too. And these two things (love and sex) are deemed as opposites in Victorian society, specially when women are concerned (because women don’t know nor have nor can aspire to have/know sexual pleasure). And this “love” is also connected to “heart”, which is another theme in this film; Ellen connects her heart to Thomas and Anna.

Anna and Thomas love Ellen. How is this love shown? By dismissing her concerns as “fancies” and pretending they don’t exist (consequence of her medicalization), and by calling the doctors to deal with her. Like Robert Eggers said; they don’t and can’t understand Ellen, and are dismissive of her. The “Great Expectations” (1946) inspiration is seen in Thomas desire to become like his wealthy friend, Friedrich Harding, as he aspires to climb the social ladder and be a gentleman, which means, symbolically, to transform Ellen into Anna, a perfect Victorian lady, which means to be an ideal/model of purity, chastity, sophistication and modesty. The opposite of what Ellen wants, as we see her being consumed by her corset until she tries to be break free of it during her scene with Thomas, to make him understand. But he doesn’t, because he can’t, he’s too wrapped up in social convention, and so his reaction is to call for the doctor to handle her. And she promises she’ll be good, she’ll contain her nature, like Friedrich Harding told her earlier, she’ll “find the dignity to display the respect for [her] caretaker” aka her husband, she’ll be a good and decent Victorian wife. Because women were supposed to be submissive to their husbands; to the husband that owns them. And so Thomas exerts his dominance and possession over Ellen when she tells him he could never please her like Orlok. Friedrich rapes his dead wife corpse; the ultimate symbol of women as ownership of their husbands in the Victorian era.

It soon becomes clear this “love” is connected to Ellen’s medicalization and to Victorian society itself. Ellen’s love of Thomas is overbearing protection and melodrama, also influenced by the protagonist of “The Innocents” (1961) love for the children she was hired as governess. But this “love” is also paranoid and suffocating, leading to tragedy. She clings on to Thomas not to escape Orlok (because she keeps inviting him in), but to escape herself, her own darkness and to contain her sexuality within the social accepting frame of marriage.

And so, no, Orlok cannot love… like this. Because he’s the opposite of medicalization and Victorian society; he’s the Pagan sorcerer, he’s sex, and he’s death. As a consequence he’s everything Victorian society deems female sexuality to be: wickedness, sickness, shameful, and corruptive, a infectious plague upon the world. Because sobrenatural creatures are always archetypes and metaphors in Gothic horror.

4) Breaking the Curse

At the surface, Orlok is a strigoi doing strigoi things; or a beastly Heathcliff taking revenge on Catherine/Ellen because she chose Edgar/Thomas instead of him. Symbolically, he’s taking revenge on the society that medicalizes and ostracizes Ellen; as he kills every archetype of “Victorian idealized role model” in the narrative, namely the Hardings. Like “Leptirica” (“The She-Butterfly”) (1973), “Nosferatu” (2024) has a folklore vampire, whose real appearance is slowly revealed to the audience.

But that’s not all that Orlok is; like the Bête (Beast) in “La Belle et la Bête” (“Beauty and the Beast”) (1946), he’s a cursed creature, and his curse is being a strigoi, a vampyr, a Nosferatu. A curse Ellen created when she awoke him with her summoning prayer. And a curse for which Orlok knows the “cure”, because the answer is in the Şolomonari codex of secrets (which Von Franz finds on Herr Knock’s office):

“And so the maiden fair did offer up her love unto the beast, and with him lay in close embrace until first cockcrow, her willing sacrifice thus broke the curse and freed them from the plague of Nosferatu.”

Here the “La Belle et la Bête” (“Beauty and the Beast”) (1946) inspiration is obvious: Orlok is a cursed beast whose curse can only be broken by a woman’s love. And that’s what he wants, and what he seeks. Like Bête with Belle, Orlok also gives Ellen a countdown to accept him or else someone is dying. And like “La Belle et la Bête”, Ellen only accepts Orlok when the men are conspiring to have him killed. And she says to Von Franz she has to be the one to stop Orlok, even though the professor never shared what he learned from the Şolomonari book with her, and only encourages her to be true to her nature.

She accepts Orlok’s covenant (“you shall be one with me ever-eternally”), fully aware of everything it implies, because it has to be a willing sacrifice from her part. And the threat of his destruction convinced her, because her soul isn’t the only thing Ellen is giving to Orlok during their “wicked wedding”; she’s giving him her heart, metaphorically and literally, as he’ll feed of her heart’s blood. And they both know they will die, because death is a requirement of their covenant (“you are not for the living”). Inspired by “Wuthering Heights” and “Svengali” (1931); Ellen and Orlok could never be together in life, are united in death, and reunited in the spiritual world, forever. And Von Franz confirms to the audience: Ellen’s love broke Orlok’s curse and freed them (both) from Nosferatu, as he places their lilacs around their embraced bodies. And that’s the love story at the end.

Robert Eggers went with the “Leptirica” (“The She-Butterfly”) (1973) inspiration here: a new and completely original ending to a cult classic. Because Eggers wanted the “vengeance” he talked about when discussing the ending. The vindication of sexualized female characters in Gothic literature, especially in “Dracula” by Bram Stoker. Ellen, the sexualized character who embraced the monster (herself/Orlok/sexuality) is the one who saves the day, but she also dies in the physical realm because Victorian society believes she deserves to be punished by her sin.

[alltheothercoolnamesaretake-blog]

Why I think Till will be rescued before Round 7 (and why Ivan might survive)

Till WILL NOT compete against Luka. At this point, he's too weak of an opponent to even stand against him.

INSTEAD, Hyuna will be the one to compete against Luka. First of all, Hyuna and Luka are one of the main partnerships in Alien Stage. Sua and Mizi have already competed against each other, and now Ivan and Till.

Having Till compete against Luka has nothing inherently interesting in it. Luka with Mizi had ties together because of their longing for their respective partners-Hyuna and Sua. Luka was also established there to be extremely dangerous and manipulative, making him a genuine threat.

What would a Till and Luka matchup do, except be a miserable beat down that would end in Till's death?

At this point, Till has already lost all of his fire, and it's doubtful he'd be able to get it back. If the matchup happened, I feel like it would be too easy of a win for Luka.

HOWEVER, we can see that Hyuna and the gang are once again at Alien Stage. (or at least I think they are) Hyuna is already injured, and it seems like they've been found out. I think that Hyuna will tell the others to leave her behind and have Mizi lead the mission to save Till. This would be a great moment for Mizi's character arc, showing that she has fully come into her own.

Judging by the fact that there also seems to be time between each round (based on the Karaoke scene where Till is being forced to sing My Clematis), it lends more credence to the idea that they would want to do the rescue now instead of later even though Hyuna is hurt.

((This could allow for Ivan to possibly be rescued too, since it doesn't seem like he was hit anywhere vital. All the gunshots are mostly at his back. It's the future, there's probably good medicine))

Also, Round 7 is the final round of the entire show. What other chance would there be for a Hyuna and Luka matchup?

I think that in the next video, we will see the rescue scene play out and in the end see Hyuna's picture replacing Till on the scoreboard. They are forced to leave her behind, and Hyuna will finally be able to confront Luka over what he did.

Edit:

NOT ONLY THAT, WE CAN ALSO SEE HER IN WHAT IS MEANT TO BE THE TRAILER FOR ALIEN STAGE!!!

She’s handcuffed and in some sort of alien compound. Her clothes also look very similar to what she’s wearing in Round 6.

Some of the most damming evidence is that we also see a shot of her in a special performing outfit holding a microphone! She’s also right next to Luka, showing how she will be his opponent.

Ultimately, she’s the best opponent because Luka will be unwilling to hurt her. It’s also a great way to further explore their shared backstories as well.

Can’t wait for Round 7!!!

[raijin-tribe]

Since I’ve already rambled a little bit about the 100YQ today, I also wanted to share this longer rant that’s been sitting in my drafts for a while.

⚠️ 100 Years Quest - Ch. 123 Spoilers ⚠️

One of the biggest annoyances I’ve had with Fairy Tail’s sequel is the mis-characterization of the Raijinshuu. Don’t get me wrong, I hated their fight against Gray, but I mostly expected that… as sad as it is.

Aside from that, it’s this short sequence with Laxus from Ch. 123 that is truly disappointing to me unlike any other.

Like, I’m sorry, but are these really the only reactions we’re gonna get…?

After returning to the guild, Laxus has a moment where he opens up and admits that he took out his own dragon slayer lacrima, and the Raijinshuu just… boast about him? (Aside from Ever, who seems more shocked at his ‘true power’ than the lacrima being removed.)

You’d think they would initially show more shock/concern and ask Laxus questions about what happened and if he's really okay. Let Freed scold him for being reckless, at least. Not just go 'That's our Laxus!!' and move on. I honestly feel like this is something they would all take more seriously.

It's also annoying how we don’t get to see much reaction out of Makarov either. Remember that this is the same lacrima that Ivan wanted to steal after the BoFT, not caring if it would kill his son or not. But everyone seems to keep looking over the fact that Laxus, again, took out the lacrima that he's had since he was a kid! Just ripped it out of his chest— with his bare hands, no less!

I’m just gonna assume Laxus will tell them everything off-panel, but still… I hate when the Raijinshuu are treated like a 'blindly devoted fan club' rather than his best friends, a strong team, or even as individual characters. Even in that bullshit fight against Gray, he calls them ‘Worshippers of Laxus.’ (100YQ Ch. 30) And it’s stuff like that which I feel undermines how close they really are to him.

For the record, I don’t have an issue with the Raijinshuu fawning over Laxus— that’s always been a part of their characters and has led to some great moments between them. I have an issue when it’s the only thing they do.

Compared to other characters, especially those who were a part of the Tenrou team, it feels as though the Raijinshuu are the most forgotten about. They have no backstory, they barely get any new magic or development, and they were left out of the latest Fairy Tail games altogether!

When was the last time they had a good fight that does their magic justice? Hell, when was the last time their eye magic actually worked in their favor?

I never expected them to have much of a role in the 100YQ, and I still don't, but still, it's... really frustrating.

Sorry if this was long, but I’ve wanted to share my thoughts on this for a while.

I try not to post about the 100YQ too much because it’s mostly criticisms and frustrated rants. I want this blog to be a positive place to appreciate the Raijinshuu as characters instead of complaining about how they could be written better, but I also think it’s good to have discussions and express criticism from time to time as well. It’s just not something I’ll be doing too often.

If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading!!! I really do appreciate it!!! 💕

[premier-amour-mm]

Omg, Vivinos uploaded this picture yesterday and that makes me think that the next video is right around the corner.

Ofc, I don't think they're gonna show immediately round 7 but focus more on Luka and Hyuna's relationship first. Ofc we got some clips of their childhood in "All-in" and in the little comics Vivinos posts once in a while, but I believe they need to show us a clearer view of what actually happened. Yes, (spoiler warning) I'm refering to that incident with Hyuna's brother obviously and, yes, I do believe he's dead dead. However, I can't find myself agreeing that Luka killed him…I JUST CAN'T GUYS. Like, no, he's not a little yandere who wants Hyuna all to himself, I think there's way more to his character than that. Maybe his methods of getting what he wants are a little bit problematic (I'm looking at you "Ruler of my heart" mv), however, I feel he has good intentions for doing what he did (I'm mostly talking about his trying to get on Mizi's nerves in order to start beating him and, then eventually for Hyuna to come to her rescue…yes, in my opinion, it was kinda planned by them beforehand- or I could be wrong- Luka getting surprised about Hyuna's sudden appearance and actually having attempted to get Mizi trapped/killed by the aliens). Additionally, I have to question myself WHY would he kill Hyuna's brother in the first place. They must have been a little close too and clearly Hyuna and her brother couldn't be romantically (right? RIGHT.) . Yes, I know I can't expect them to have the same (or even any) morals with the humans who lived on Earth, but…AAAAAAA, idk 😭.

That's the problem actually, the more we analyse it the more will we realise that we know almost nothing about their backstory. Everything could be interpreted differently if you look at each perspective. Maybe Luka isn't a bad guy with just his methods being questionable or, on the other hand, he maybe crazy and one of the villians. I DON'T WANT to believe that. I want to believe that sth more is behind what happened between him and Hyuna's brother and that it was all just a misunderstanding.

Btw, I'm also looking forward to round 6's aftermath. Not just Ivan dying ofc…but Till's full reaction over this. I'm looking for some of his character development maybe…? Like, from his viewpoint, Till thought Ivan was a guy who was just "obsessed" with him and maybe he considered him a kind of a creep (even though deep down I think he regarded him as his friend), however -come on- how oblivious can he be? Ivan literally died for him. JUST LOOK AT TILL'S SURPRISE/ DEVESTATED FACE when he realised what Ivan had done. That makes me wait for him to realise how much he cared about him and, idk, start to develop feelings for him now and even ackowledging that he can't ever have Mizi or/and that he doesn't love her that way anymore? IDK, I just want the next video to be uploaded so baddd. Hehe, a Luka and Hyuna duet would be very much appreciated STUDIO LICO.

Also, what are your guys' specualtions about the next video?? I'm really looking forward to reading your opinions

[dreamweave01]

i actually love your tmnt 2012 swap au concept so much

so what does "role" actually mean here? obviously i'm assuming it means shredder takes the role of their sensei/father, donnie as the leader/mediator, mikey as the tech/smart one, leo as the protector/hothead and raph as the silly guy (these might not be the most descriptive i haven't watched much of 2012 my apologies)

but how much of their original personality stays intact? from what you've posted i can assume raph and leo have had some personality change, but! was the swap au's splinter still yoshi?

or is the foot clan the peaceful clan and the hamato clan was wiped out, and yoshi was adopted, and ended up killing saki's wife? if so, why did the turtles "grow up in a not so pleasant household"?

not sure if this makes sense, but what i'm trying to ask is, did the swap au!splinter get his wife and think his child was killed, OR was he the brother that did the killing and burning of the house?

- @asheronangel

Okay, first of all, thank you so much! <3

And second of all, you basically nailed the “role” thing. 

Donatello’s the leader, Michelangelo’s the nerd, Leonardo’s the hothead, and Raphael’s the silly :P 

Despite the change in family dynamics, there’s still a few things that have stayed in tact. 

For example, Leo is still the most dedicated to his training, taking it very seriously, (part of that being Splinter’s influence.)

Donnie is still madly in love with a certain Ms. O’Neil, but though I kept the Donnie-April-Casey love triangle, a couple things have been altered for my own sanity.

Mikey still has ADHD and has retained his catchphrase, “booyakasha"; he’s basically just more smart/nerd oriented and less childish.

Raph is still technically the best fighter of the four, but he’s too much of a softy to ever actually let loose, unlike the classic 2012. (It may or may not frustrate Splinter. A lot. •_ •)

Splinter is still Yoshi, and essentially everything has stayed the same with his backstory, the only difference being that his personality was swapped with Saki’s. 

However, the context of said events were admittedly a little different. 

The Hamato clan was never necessarily “evil,” (same with the Foot) but their rivalry led to many conflicts and contentions.

When the Foot was wiped out by the Hamato due to such conflict, Oroku Saki was spared and adopted by Hamato Youta, raised side by side with Yoshi as brothers. 

Yoshi was always the more merciless and aggressive of the two, whereas the now Hamato Saki was compassionate and thoughtful.

The both fell in love with Tang Shen, and the both wished for her hand. 

However, Shen still chose Yoshi, getting married and having little Miwa together. 

Saki, being the man he is, was willing to step aside and respected her decision completely. 

It was soon after the time that Miwa was born when Saki discovered the truth of his heritage and who he really was.

Though he never sought vengeance, and chose to let go and move on.

When Yoshi revealed his plans to lead the Hamato clan and take over the world, Saki couldn’t just stand by and watch, leading to a confrontation that would cost the life of his love, Tang Shen, in a house fire, (which also left both him and Yoshi physically scarred.)

Presuming his once called brother dead, Saki took in little Miwa as his own daughter and moved to New York, starting a new life, safe from what remained of the vengeful Hamato. 

As further precaution, Saki changed his name to Oroku Kazuo (if you get the reference, I salute you) as well as Miwa’s to Oroku Karai. 

Karai would grow up and go to school, making friends with people such as Casey Jones and April O'Neil (though Casey and April don't officially meet until the turtles come along.)

Saki also made friends, becoming close with Anton Zeck and Ivan Steranko (both of which got mutated into a certain warthog and rhino duo during a "freak accident.")

Going back to Hamato Yoshi, he had of course survived, him in turn thinking that Saki and Miwa had both died in the fire along with Shen. 

Due to business opportunities, Yoshi moved the Hamato clan to New York, (not realizing his enemy was living right beneath his nose.)

While in New York, Yoshi met an interesting man named Bishop, who revealed himself as an alien once from a place called Dimension X. 

Bishop promised Yoshi immense power to fulfill his wishes in taking over the world, if Yoshi in turn could provide him with the resources Bishop needed to exact his revenge on his people, the Kraang, who banished him and his followers, (known simply as the Utrom.)

Agreeing to the terms set, Yoshi was mutated with Bishop’s mutagen into a mutant rat, along with four baby turtles, who would be the first generation of mutant warriors among the Hamato.

Yoshi, changing his name to Splinter, named the four babies Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael.

It would only be years later that Miwa and Saki would meet Donnie, Leo, Mikey, and Raph. 

Admittedly, I’ve made little change with Tang Shen. She’s essentially the same, though I guess you could say her taste in men is different than the original, considering she went with Yoshi. . .

Miwa was swapped in the sense that she and the turtles switched places, her being the one hiding out from the big bad guy and the turtles having been raised by said big bad guy.

Before when I said the turtles grew up in a “not so pleasant household,” it was in reference to the living conditions they had to be in, what with being raised to be soldiers in a war they never asked to fight in. 

The easiest way to put it is that their relationship with Splinter is on the abusive side of things. He was always hard on his sons, and “weakness had no place among the Hamato clan,” to put it in his own words. 

It’s probably why the turtles have so many issues.

But Miwa and Saki are quick to take in the turtles and help them through their troubles.

Along with others, like Casey Jones, April O’Neil, Bebop, and Rocksteady :3

That was probably more information than you asked for, but I felt like it was needed to explain everything.

So hopefully that explains everything :')

[maleyanderecafe]

Channel 453 -Shadows of the Game- (Visual Novel)

Created by: Bulhwa

Genre: Horror/Romance

The unfortunate thing about this one is that while the artwork is gorgeous, the UI looks great and it's a time loop story, it starts to stop making sense after a while. I'm not sure if it's because of the translation or story itself, but either way it unfortunately makes the visual novel pretty confusing and in a way that's not very fun.

The story starts out with the main character moving into a new apartment. She seems so excited, but is tired from the move. After getting into their apartment, they find a note on their TV mentioning channel 453, something that they are curious about. They can have the choice to go to this channel out of curiosity, or watch their normal channels. Upon going to this channel, the MC sees a young man there who introduces himself as Liotte. He starts talking to the MC, which makes them a bit unsettled considering it's not every day that you talk to someone inside of the TV. After some chatting, the MC goes to make herself some instant ramen but ends up cutting herself while opening one of the packages. Liotte notices this and gets really freaked out and possessive, stating that this should have never happened. This leads to them causing a time loop (?) and them going back in time a couple of times. Eventually, the MC shuts off the TV, leading to a strange man named Ivan to appear in her house. Ivan talks about how he gives wishes and that Liotte made a wish that caused him to be like this. He ends up teleporting the MC into the backstage where we learn bits of his backstory, like how he knew the MC from when she was younger. It's implied that he made a deal with the devil (which I think in this case is Ivan) for him to be together, with the curse of them essentially being stuck in a timeloop.

The good ending has it so that the two of them get together, while the other two endings have him sad that he isn't with the MC, or at least she doesn't reciprocate his feelings as much.

The artwork and UI in this one are genuinely very pretty, with a lot of work done in on making it look nice. The video effects for when Liotte freaks out and asks the player if he's the worst are nice, as well as the video that plays when they're placed into a timeloop. UI, again, also extremely pretty and well placed.

That said, after the entire incident with the cutting her hand on a noodle packet, everything becomes very confusing very fast. Loitte becomes suddenly very hostile towards the MC, wanting to cage her and trying to get her to rely on him, while also talking about how they met each other in the past? I don't really understand what is going on after this point, and I'm not sure if it's because of a translation thing since the original game was in Korean or if it more or less plays out like it was in the original and the game is pretty accurate to it's English counterpart, but either way, I genuinely have no idea what happened after that point, and lot of it was guess work. Ivan appears in our house for no reason, and seems to know about Loitte's history. From what I can tell he seems to be the god/devil that made the initial deal with Loitte in the first place, though he seems more like a trickster if anything. I'm not sure what even caused the good ending considering that I think the only major difference is that we talked to Loitte a little bit more about his hobbies. Normally I think timeloop stories are pretty good since I like the way that people use them to sort of show the deterioration of a yandere's psyche, but this one... was just confusing. I can't even tell if the MC remembers what happens during the time loops because in some instances it seems like she does while in others she doesn't, with no reason or rhyme. I also don't know if it affects anything, since it doesn't seem like time is really affected, given that it doesn't seem like the MC goes back to before she bought the apartment or even before she made herself instant noodles.

It's hard to say because I really don't understand what's happening and I don't know what the reason is behind that, whether it's a translation thing or if this is actually what it's giving us. Either way, as of now, I don't really know how to feel about it because again, I don't really understand. It certainly has good presentation as stated from before, and Loitte's design is pretty cute, but story wise, nothing really makes any sense. Hopefully, this can be changed in the future, but for now, I think the presentation is really what is holding this game up for me.

[lafiametta]

Anora Meta Masterpost

I've written a fair amount about Anora over the last few weeks (mostly in response to some great asks) and I thought it might make sense to collect it all together for ease of reference. Enjoy!

Igor's on such a journey Igor “seeing” Ani and ideas of visibility Anora: structure, performances, themes Ani and Ivan's romance as fantasy Ani's character, self-fashioning, and sex work How could Ani and Igor be together post-film? It was never a love story between Ani and Ivan What is Igor thinking in the car scene? Igor didn't expect “payback” for the ring Script-Igor vs. movie-Igor Igor during the “home invasion” scene Why did Ani break down in front of Igor in the car scene? Interpreting the script and Igor's edit Anora and avoiding the “male gaze” Class solidarity and Igor's recognition of Ani's humanity On Anora, Class, and Misinterpreting the Cinderella Story Igor anticipating Ani's needs It's not the “male gaze” when you're eating out of Tupperware Igor and Ani and the threat of rape Igor and Ani's perspectives on the “home invasion” scene What is Igor thinking in the post-courtroom SUV scene? Best moments from the five main actors How would Ani grow to love Igor post-film? Clothing and the construction of personas in Anora How would Ani realize she's in love with Igor post-film? Anora/Ani and her Russian identity Why Ani is relatable (and not a girlboss genius) Feelings of humiliation and Ani's fight with Igor What was Igor thinking when he tried to apologize to Ani? Igor definitely possesses more than one brain cell Ani, Igor, and the apology request The candy shop scene and Igor's capacity for violence Ani's journey and the metaphor of the butterfly What is it about that last scene? Mikey's script notes and Ani's backstory The “toosh”/“touché” exchange More thoughts on Igor in the candy shop scene Ani and Igor in the aftermath of the club fight Igor's intentions leading up to the car scene Thoughts on Igor's backstory and Galina Zakharov's “threat”

(And I also write Anora x Igor fic, in case that's more your thing...)

[tabsters]

every single ALNST swap AU I can think of

I think this post can count as my official autism diagnosis. Anyway I was bored during a four hour road trip. I’m also pretty tired so please feel free to correct anything if it’s inaccurate. 

@ingridgh0st @hoisinblackcat @professionalwaterbender @yourlocalapplejuice

All the established pairings (MiziSua, IvanTill, HyunaLuka) remain pairings in the following AUs.  

I think the next two official covers will be Blink Gone, Ivan’s version and Hyuna’s version. MiziSua covered Cure and IvanTill covered My Clematis, and both of them are established pairings. Ruler of My Heart had Sua and Hyuna covers to complement the OG version with Mizi and Luka. Therefore, I think there will be Blink Gone covers with Ivan and Hyuna to complement the OG version with Till and Luka. The following AU theories are going to assume this will happen, for the sake of convenience. 

I think (read: REALLY HOPE) we’re getting a HyunaLuka duet with the next video, so that will be their duet song in every round where Hyuna is going up against Luka. I’ll be referring to this hypothetical song as ‘Wiege’.

When applicable, My Clematis will be the default Round 1 song, and Cure will be the default Round 6 song. 

I didn’t consider backstories when making this. Feel free to theorize about the possible Anakt Garden backstories all of these AUs would bring.   

Mizi <- -> Sua

Till <- -> Ivan

Luka <- -> Hyuna

Supported by: Ruler of My Heart (Sua), Ruler of My Heart (Hyuna), Park Byeong Hoon’s thirty second cover of Unknown (Till The End)

Full swap AU, with each person swapping roles with their partners

Possible round rotation:

ROUND 1: My Clematis, Sua moves on

ROUND 2: Unknown (Till the End) (Ivan), Ivan moves on

ROUND 3: not applicable yet

ROUND 5: Ruler of My Heart (Sua + Hyuna), Hyuna moves on

ROUND 6: Cure, Ivan moves on

ROUND 7: Blink Gone, Hyuna wins

-

Mizi <- -> Ivan

Sua <- -> Till

Supported by: My Clematis (IvanTill), Black Sorrow (Mizi)

Sua and Till sing first in both duo songs, Mizi and Ivan sing second, and Mizi and Ivan both sing the final notes of the song

Both Sua’s and Till’s debut outfits are white, Ivan’s and Mizi’s debut outfits are black

The chain of infatuation would change to: Mizi -> Sua -> Ivan -> Till, meaning that Sua and Ivan’s relationship would most likely change to be more of a protective sibling dynamic, since the fandom already headcanons them as siblings

Possible round rotation:

ROUND 1: My Clematis (IvanTill), Ivan moves on

ROUND 2: Sweet Dream, Sua moves on

ROUND 3: Black Sorrow (Mizi), Mizi moves on

ROUND 5: Blink Gone (Luka + Ivan), Luka moves on 

ROUND 6: Cure (MiziSua), Sua moves on

ROUND 7: Sweet Dream (Sua + Luka), Luka wins

-

Mizi <- -> Till

Sua <- -> Ivan

Supported by: Unknown (Till The End) (Mizi), Cure (MiziSua)

Sua and Ivan both are shown to be more obedient towards the aliens, while Mizi and Till are more rebellious

Sua and Ivan both sacrificed themselves to protect Mizi and Till

Sua and Ivan were both wearing white when they died, while Mizi and Till were wearing black when they watched them die

The chain of infatuation would change to: Sua -> Mizi -> Till -> Ivan

Possible round rotation:

ROUND 1: My Clematis (IvanTill), Till moves on

ROUND 2: Unknown (Till The End) (Mizi), Mizi moves on

ROUND 3: Sweet Dream, Sua moves on

ROUND 5: Blink Gone, Luka moves on

ROUND 6: Cure (MiziSua), Mizi moves on

ROUND 7: Ruler of My Heart, Luka wins

-

Mizi <- -> Hyuna

Sua <- -> Luka

Supported by: Ruler of My Heart (Sua), Ruler of My Heart (Hyuna), Sweet Dream (Luka)

Luka and Sua are both depicted solely in white, with angelic/celestial themes

Luka and Sua are both born in December

Mizi and Hyuna both have rebellious spirits and are involved with the human rebellion

Possible round rotation:

ROUND 1: Wiege, Hyuna moves on

ROUND 2: Unknown (Till The End), Till moves on

ROUND 3: Black Sorrow, Ivan moves on

ROUND 5: Ruler of My Heart (Sua + Hyuna), Sua moves on

ROUND 6: Cure, Till moves on

ROUND 7: Not applicable yet

-

Mizi <- -> Luka

Sua <- -> Hyuna

Supported by: Ruler of My Heart (Sua), Ruler of My Heart (Hyuna)

Both Mizi and Luka love Sua and Hyuna to the point of violence (Mizi punched Luka when he imitated Sua, Luka smashed Hyunwoo’s head in with a rock to make sure Hyuna had no other connections with others besides him)

Possible round rotation:

ROUND 1: Wiege, Luka moves on

ROUND 2: All-In (Till version), Till moves on

ROUND 3: Black Sorrow, Ivan moves on

ROUND 5: Ruler of My Heart (Mizi + Hyuna), Mizi moves on

ROUND 6: Cure, Till moves on

ROUND 7: Unknown (Till The End) (Till + Mizi), Mizi wins

-

Till <- -> Luka

Ivan <- -> Hyuna

Supported by: Blink Gone, Blink Gone (Ivan), Blink Gone (Hyuna)

Ivan and Hyuna both had the knowledge to escape Anakt Garden

Possible round rotation: 

ROUND 1: My Clematis, Mizi moves on

ROUND 2: Sweet Dream (Luka), Luka moves on

ROUND 3: All-In OR Love & Peace OR Drunk & Party, Hyuna moves on 

ROUND 5: Unknown (Till The End) (Till + Mizi), Till moves on

ROUND 6: Wiege, Luka moves on

ROUND 7: Blink Gone, Till wins

-

Till <- -> Hyuna

Ivan <- -> Luka

Supported by: All-In (Till), Blink Gone (Ivan), Blink Gone (Hyuna)

Hyuna and Till are both shown to actively be rebelling against the aliens

Luka and Ivan are both freaks and obsessively in love with their partner

Ivan and Luka are also seen to be physically flawed in some ways (Ivan and his snaggletooth, Luka and his purple fingers and congenital disease)

Potential round rotation:

ROUND 1: My Clematis, Mizi moves on

ROUND 2: All-In OR Love & Peace OR Drunk & Party, Hyuna moves on 

ROUND 3: Sweet Dream (Luka), Luka moves on

ROUND 5: Black Sorrow (Ivan + Mizi), Ivan moves on

ROUND 6: Wiege, Luka moves on

ROUND 7: Blink Gone (Luka + Ivan), Ivan wins

[entity9silvergen]

(Creature Commandos ep 5 spoilers)

I think it might be more painful that the dog didn't die.

As we all know, Creature Commandos is structured so each episode shows the backstory of a different character so we see these very human parts under that more monstrous surface. Eric we already knew was a fucked up guy so I really thought they were going to be like actually once you get to know him he's fine but they didn't do that and it's great. We saw this really real story and saw these very human parts of Eric but he's still a fucked up guy.

He found a home. He was loved and he loved them. But he chose his obsession over them. THE WAY HE SAID IVAN WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND. Like I know he meant Ivan would attack him if he hurt the old lady but it didn't feel like that. I love the way Eric treated Ivan. To Eric, killing the old lady was mercy because losing him would hurt her, and he knew losing the old lady would hurt Ivan.

But Ivan pawing at the door. The sheer trust in Ivan's eyes when Eric led him away from the house. I was so sure Eric was going to shoot him when they got to the forest. But he kept him with him. Ivan didn't know, he just knew he loved him and he trusted him so he was willing to leave his home behind to follow him.