VIVINOS WANTS ME DEAD WHAT THE FUCKK

My Clematis

time for doomed yuri with an iconic pose

sua by @pantherfam-blog

I can't stop thinking about the scene where Ivan finds Till and nuzzles his head against his. He was on that banquet for the same reason as Till, most likely went through the same treatment with the only difference being that he doesn't fight it so it will be less painful (but it isn't really)

So i think he not only felt bad about Till but for both of them. I've seen a lot of takes that say he didn't kiss Till because Till was unconscious and he knew that it was wrong after what Till went through, but i think a kiss didn't even occur to him.

He got out of that banquet and immediately looked for Till, perhaps out of just worry but i think he needs that human comfort as well.

His eyes were glassy the moment he looked at Till, he was keeping it together until he saw him.

And then he just... holds him close

Starlight. Who do you see? Who do you smile for?

I hope it's me.

dw guys this is what actually happend

I think HL is full of fascinating witches who show great courage and strength during their quests, or who show overwhelming personality and presence even though they only have a small part in the game! Drawing girls is so much fun 🤩🙌✨

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.

HC: Sebastian is allergic to compassion for himself

My roman empire is Sebastian telling MC he needs a time to be alone after being yelled at or kicked out of the house.

The last thing he wants to seem vulnerable about everything what happens with Anne or his family.

An Alien Stage take by a MILGRAM fan, holy shit!?

Anyways, if this has been said before, ignore it for I live under a rock. So anyways, I have seen some people say that Ivan is dressed up like a groom while Till is dressed up like he's attending a funeral(all black). I have also seen someone say that Ivan wearing all white is like a corpse being dressed up all white.

Now that I think about it, Ivan dressed up like a dead person and Till dressed up like attending a funeral makes sense. Because, Ivan dies at the end and Till is standing in front of Ivan's corpse. People stand in front of the dead body(well, in front of the coffin their dead body is in) and look at the photo to pay respect to the dead in a funeral. That's what people do when they attend a funeral, yeah? And Till is standing in front of Ivan's corpse while looking at his face. So, in a way, Till is attending Ivan's funeral at the end. If we are to compare it to a normal funeral-

Till standing in front of the corpse: People standing in front of the coffin

Till looking at Ivan's face: People looking at the dead's photo(By the way, if there's any inaccuracy here regarding the funeral thing, correct me because we don't usually have funerals in my place💀).

Also, MiziSua and IvanTill parallels real. In Round 1, both Mizi and Sua were wearing black and white respectively. Sua is the one who dies, so the funeral thing could be, by some extension, applied to them as well.

In both of the above pictures, Sua and Ivan look relived in a way. Why? Because, they know that they lost and their loved ones(Mizi and Till) are going to live.

I have nothing much to say about these two pictures, but I like the difference in their reactions here. Mizi's smile going to a blank one when Sua dies in front of her and Till's face being that of shock. Mizi thought that both her and Sua were going to win if they did a duet instead of a dual, but it didn't work at the end. Till's expression being a shocked one is interesting. He was probably shocked because of the fact that Ivan actually helped him instead of killing him. As many people have already said, and I would also like to say- Ivan was simply putting up an act of attacking Till so he would be disqualified and lose, so Till could win and live. He kissed Till as that was his final wish before dying.

I love this one specific difference between MiziSua and IvanTill rounds though. In Round 1, Clematis has this sort of sad tone to it. Just like how MiziSua's love is. Their love was mutual, but deep down, they both might have known that one of them will die in the future and the other will live. Them trying to cheat the system by singing a dual instead of a duet is more sad(?). And how Mizi looked so shock because she was certain that both of them were going to live. Anyways, moving on to IvanTill. I love how their song has this sort of vibe that exactly matches their love(idk how to explain the vibe or name it, help). Their one-sided love from Ivan. Till didn't reciprocate the love. Their song has this sort of tragic tone to it(not like the tragic that Clematis has) and the raining in the middle of their round adds more to the vibe. The vibe that matches their love. A tragic love that will forever be one-sided and never reciprocated.

All Ivan did his entire life was to care for Till, man😔. From the flashbacks in Round 6, it could be said that they were not just acquaintances, but friends. And at the end when Ivan falls on the ground, smiling even though he's bleeding, Till looks shocked. He could be shocked not only because of the reason I said above, but also because he cares for Ivan as well. I MEAN, LOOK AT THE FINAL FRAME OF THEIR ROUND WHERE TILL IS LOOKING DOWN AT IVAN'S CORPSE. BRO WAS ALREADY FEELING S#ICIDAL AT THE BEGINNING OF THE ROUND AND NOW HIS FRIEND DYING IN FRONT OF HIM WHILE HIS CRUSH IS MISSING(well, missing to his and the others' knowledge)????????

GIVE THIS MAN A BREAK. LUKA, ISTG IF YOU TRY TO PULL THE SAME SHIT YOU DID WITH MIZI TO TILL IN THE NEXT ROUND, I WILL PULL YOU THROUGH THE SCREEN BY YOUR HAIR AND BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YO-

this is just me analyzing how sua is the blueprint for how the story develops

this has been done to death but i want to talk about mizisua and ivantill parallels, particularly sua and ivan.

i think it’s interesting how sua's death sets up the beginnings of a tragedy while ivan's is more like a result of it. like you think he'll be saved bc of what happens to mizi. but the system asks for his death anyway and he accepts his fate as its victim. only one can continue after all

warning for long ass post

DISCLAIMER: I really need to rewatch all Alien Stage videos but I'm procrastinating and I don't think I can handle seeing them again skskkdndkdnd inaccuracies abound because I'm basing this off of what I remember

Still not over Round 6 so here's me having more thoughts.

Is there a possibility that, in his final moments, Ivan realized that his death wasn't as insignificant to Till as he thought it would be?

Ivan may not be confident regarding his feelings for Till, nor Till's feelings for him (while not romantic, still holds significance because that is someone you grew up with, dying for you). But if there's one thing he is, it's observant. He likely realizes what Till's expression meant when he fell to the ground.

He has likely thought for a long time that even if he dies, Till won't feel devastated about it. Because Till's world is Mizi, and he's never going to be part of that world. He's aware of that.

But perhaps, in those last moments, seeing the devastation in Till's eyes as he falls to the ground, he realizes he's actually something to Till. It may not be the love and devotion Till has for Mizi, but it's something.

And Ivan, he's selfish. Not that I judge him for that, all humans are selfish. But, perhaps, he felt even a bit of happiness as he died because he's become something to Till, even if it's too late.

To know that he has managed to carve a place in the heart of his God, his universe, the boy who shines as bright as the meteor showers he fell in love with as a child. I wonder, did that make him happy, even just a little bit?

Now what if I said all 3 of the last competitors represent toxic types of love taken to the extreme. Notably all types that are usually shown in music.

Let’s be for real here, all of these kids grew up in captivity or at the very least spend a majority of their life in it. What are the chances all of them have a healthy and good idea of love? Yeah. close to 0.

But let me explain what I mean with the above.

Let’s start with the most obvious in my opinion, Ivan. He represents the idea that love equals suffering. That any sacrifice is worth for being seen by the person one loves.

He shows that through one, his habits of stealing things from till and picking fights, and then of course in black sorrow where he literally says how much Till hurts him but he’s going to keep standing by his side. And of course his sacrifice in Cure. It was sad, yes, I cried too. But ultimately it was the manifestation of just that. Taken to the extreme.

Moving on, Luka.

He shows the type of toxic “love” or rather charm that is displayed in countless music videos. You know, the ones where the “love interest” plays hard to get but then ultimately gives in anyway. He represents the idea that love can be a given as long as the person is charming and attractive enough. That as long as they seem appealing, anyone would fall in love. Luka takes this way too far with both Hyuna and later Mizi.

Lastly, Till. Let me start this by saying I do believe he’s the most “redeemable” out of these 3, but I do believe there’s some flaws to be recognized here.

Now, Till represents something less common than the other 2 but present nonetheless. Till represents the inability to let go of things. To spend one’s entire life chasing after something they can’t catch. He shows the belief that it doesn’t matter how resistent/non interested the person you’re chasing after is, eventually you’ll get them. And obviously the outwardly destructive frustration at not getting that but I think that’s more Till’s personality and tendency for trouble in general but worth noting.

Because let’s be honest, Mizi doesn’t seem very interested. It’s clear she’s in love with sua.

Now, he hasn’t taken this too far, yet. And I doubt he will, but I wanted to mention him at least.

One last thing I want to point out, is how all 3 of them throw their ideas into a competition. Putting it out on display for the whole world ( or alien world idfk) to see and decide what’s better.

And who are the only ones who didn’t do that? Mizi and Sua. (Haha this is hidden a Mizisua appreciation post I tricked you)

Mizi and Sua didn’t compete, instead simply singing with each other. No sacrificing, no overly affectionate display, nothing. Just them singing with each other and sharing their love. They don’t need everyone to see. They have each other and they know they love each other and that’s enough. They have their love in between them and not infront of them.

TLDR: Ivan and Luka probably represent the most extreme types of toxic love, while Till shows signs of it and might get there but he isn’t yet and Mizi and Sua are fucking awesome for being seperate from all this.

You know what I want for Round 7?

The alien races probably know about Till's love for Mizi, just based on this scene.

They're FORCING him to look at that picture of Mizi to send a message. It could be that it's some underlying threat like 'Obey or this will be what happens to you' but either way, I feel like, going into Round 7, Luka will know of Till's feelings for Mizi, if not through the aliens, then based on how he acted in Round 6. Exact same devastation and emptiness in his eyes as Mizi in Round 5.

You know what I want?

I want Till to be able to let go of his infatuation with Mizi. I want Till to finally FINALLY realize who's actually truly loved him all this time. I want Till to understand who sacrificed themselves for him just so he could live for one more day.

And I want a moment where Luka tries the same psychological fuckery he did to Mizi on Till. And he just brushes it aside. His dirty tricks do not work on him.

I want Till to just completely ignore Luka. Desire to get revenge for Mizi? Getting triggered by his mockery of Mizi's image? None. Nada. No reaction. I want Till to just SNUB the 'prince' of Alien Stage.

No manipulation. No tricks. Just the song.

The 50% discounted, unruly mutt that everyone abuses, and the perfect prince that every alien adores. And in Round 7?

They're gonna be on equal. Fucking. Footing.

⚠️ ROUND 6 ⚠️

ALIEN STAGE - “Their cries shall bring on the new age.”