#watching till and ivan compete like she and sua did. friends against friends in a death competition

[kitsquared]

Just Mizi having to watch all her friends get shot with a smile on their faces...

[alien-til-i-stage]

(ignore my long absence and my iavin reblogs im a changed person)

When watching the latest round, it was unfortunately clear that there was a difference in composure and impressions left upon the crowd between Luka and Till. While in the beginning, Till is able to keep calm (or as calm as he can be), we can see him slowly and eventually panicking or freaking out, unable to keep his composure and unable to keep up with Luka’s pace.

While I don’t believe or know if Till could’ve or would’ve won if he had kept his composure, I can definitely say that the moment he lost it, he guaranteed his loss. We can also see this with Mizi. In round 5, while the round was more than likely doomed to result in Luka’s favor, no matter what, Mizi had also guaranteed her own loss when she panicked on stage. In fact, she never had a chance due to the fact that Mizi, from the beginning, couldn’t keep up with Luka and was unable to keep her composure in front of the crowd due to her still mourning Sua.

For those two to be Luka’s competition, I think it was almost certain that Luka was going to win Alien Stage for a second time, which is why it’s so strange to me that he was able to win that easily. While we could say that it was rigged for Luka’s favor, we can’t really confirm that, nor would it make much sense. Luka is still a human like the rest of them, if someone can win against him, that makes the other more valuable than Luka, and there’s no reason to keep the second best, the main point of Alien Stage is for the best to survive.

When you think about how Mizi and Till were able to even go up against Luka in the beginning, you can notice that they were able to go against Luka through an act of sacrifice. Sua died for Mizi willingly, and Ivan did for Till. If you look at the rounds carefully, we can definitely say that Ivan would’ve won had he not done anything to Till, and I believe that Sua could’ve also easily won against Mizi similarly. (This is due to the fact that it’s mentioned in the pateron that Sua was able to gain a dedicated fan base despite being the first to go, I think had she not restrained herself and performed for the aliens and not for Mizi, or had taken advantage of Mizi’s naivety and her ignorance, she could’ve won.)

Basically, I believe that Sua and Ivan would’ve won against their competition easily had they viewed them as competition rather than close friends and loved ones. I mentioned before in a post that Luka, Sua, and Ivan are very similar, but going through different circumstances brought them to different results, which I think can also be said for this.

Luka goes through his rounds, viewing the others as competition or prey. He’s aware he can easily win and he uses that to his advantage. He knows he has a fanbase, he knows these contestants are new and losing those they care about easily, so he plays with that. His victory is almost always guaranteed in his favor because he doesn’t think of the others as fellow humans, but rather as something he can easily use to his advantage. In round 3, we can see something similar in the way that Ivan doesn’t panic, the only time he loses his composure is when he thinks about Till. When the scores are announced, he doesn’t need to look back to see if he won or not, he doesn’t need to look over to his dead opponent, because he knew he was going to win. He didn’t view the opponent as a loved one or someone he would play with in Anakt, he saw them as competition and won.

The way Ivan acts on stage in round three is very similar to the way that Luka acts in round five, with the exception that Ivan doesn’t play with the other opponent but focuses purely on the aliens. We know that Ivan can perform, we know that he can entertain the aliens and focus purely on their entertainment because we see this. While Sua died first and we didn’t see her actually competing, we know that there isn’t much else she cares about other than Mizi. She already doesn’t care much for the other contestants, and we also know that she doesn’t fear death, as she was already taught and prepared to die by her elder sister. Death was no longer a concern for her, by the time she was put into Anakt Garden, she knew how to sit still and look pretty for the aliens. I mentioned earlier that she gained a dedicated fan base despite her short time on stage, which only goes to show that Sua had potential, she could’ve won easily and got more attention and popularity.

The point is, Sua and Ivan know how to entertain the guardians. They know what is needed from them and they can easily provide it. Mizi and Till are both very reactive and very emotional, which leads to freak outs and breakdowns on stage, this is not something that the aliens want.

I believe that if Sua and Ivan hadn’t died for Mizi and Till, that if the rounds were instead, Luka vs Sua and Luka vs Ivan, he would’ve struggled more. I’m not sure if they would’ve won, but they would’ve been able to make it close at least. If Sua had nothing, not even feelings for Mizi, Luka wouldn’t have been able to manipulate her or make her panic, the only thing he would’ve been able to do is outperform her.

Ivan masks constantly, and to people who aren’t him, it’s hard to tell what he thinks or focuses on. If he had let Till die or if he never cared about Till in the beginning, I’m not sure Luka would be able to use anything against Ivan either. It would be a close tie, due to the fact that we know that Ivan can make a show for the aliens. The rounds against Sua and Ivan would’ve been boiled down to performance and how dedicated their fans are, and as we know, Sua has dedicated fans who would mostly be even more dedicated and larged had she had more time to shine, and Ivan has consistent and loyal fans, seen from the Top Three stats. They would’ve been worthy opponents.

It’s funny that Luka’s worthy opponents died right before his round. That he wanted a struggle against someone worthy and someone who could win (from his interview in the pateron), yet they died, not because they weren’t able to perform correctly, but because they loved their opponent so much that they let themselves lose and die.

oh and tags!!! @rockwgooglyeyes bc you asked so nicely