#alien stage round 6

[sadokasochism]

For me, the most heartbreaking aspect of Ivan is that the poor clueless bastard didn't have the tools to express his affection in any way that didn't involve violence or manipulation, or weren't too inscrutable, quiet, or unseen to be picked up by Till.

I definitely interpret Ivan as autistic for several reasons, a big one being their Segyein teacher's notes about him:

It's just. Classic ND behaviour to me.

Not only does expressing emotion and communicating the way other kids do not come naturally to Ivan, but it's not as if he's been given a great example of coping with this from the Segyein.

Ivan managed to mask in a way that made him popular with other students, and got him in the good graces of their captors. He did everything expected of him to survive and thrive in this environment.

Then he meets Till, inscrutable and very different to the other kids, just like Ivan is. Except, Till doesn't mask. He doesn't change or try to endear himself to their captors, and he doesn't bend to anyone, no matter how much he is hurt and punished for it.

This is a new situation for Ivan, and he's never had anything to compare his feelings to. He also can't figure out how to communicate with Till, every interaction, no matter how well meaning, seems to end in failure.

I bring your attention to the cheer up comic, and how, again, autistic this interaction feels:

There could be many reasons why Ivan chose to say what he did, but to me it feels like ND bluntness not being received well. And that's fair! From Till's perspective Ivan is being a jerk for no good reason.

Instead of responding with glee towards Till laying him out (as we see from Ivan when they're a bit older), Ivan justs seems... really confused. Like he didn't expect that statement to upset Till that much, and he didn't expect Till to respond in the way he did. Everything was fine a second ago, what went wrong?

Then, Ivan uses the phrase he learned from Till in an attempt to self sooth. It might have been the first example of comfort after an injury/hurt he had ever seen, given how he defaults to it. And it was from Till trying to cheer up a flower.

This also shows some of Till's blindspots. He has grown up having to be vigilant, because violence and hurt have been a core part of his upbringing. This leads to anything he doesn't immediately, clearly understand as being perceived as a threat or a slight, and so he reacts violently to Ivan's statement.

I'll also draw your attention to this comic where, as far as we know, Ivan is simply stating a true fact in a blunt manner:

In my interpretation, these types of interactions keep adding up, and Ivan is grasping at straws the whole time, trying to be closer to Till and failing every time.

Eventually, the only surefire way to get Till's attention is to piss him off, provoke him, manufacture scenarios to talk to him. I'm not excusing this behaviour, but I understand where Ivan could be coming from, from the perspective of both an emotionally immature/stunted child and/or an ND child.

Despite how much they fight and bicker, at every moment it really mattered, Ivan was there for Till. It was always Ivan coming to free him, to take off his collar or gag, and it was Ivan who led their escape.

Ivan couldn't leave Till behind when he went back for Mizi. Even with the confirmation that Till would choose Mizi over Ivan every time, Ivan couldn't leave him.

The miscommunication goes two ways though. It's insane to think that Till didn't care about Ivan at all. They were close as kids, and I doubt Till ever forgot about the escape he gave up.

We have the graduation messages, where Ivan is able to write something that could be reasonably interpreted as affectionate or fond towards Till.

Meanwhile, Till's message-

If we're being charitable with our interpretations, we can say this was Till's way of saying 'of course I remember you' and attempting to communicate that Ivan HAD left a lasting impact on him.

However, how could any reasonable person be expected to get THAT out of 'you stole my fucking pencil'? Ivan could have taken this one of two ways:

1) Omg he remembers me 🥰

2) he leans into his 'i will never be loved back' bias and thinks that Till really doesn't care about him at all

Who the hell knows what goes through that weird little brain of his. But given how Round 6 went, and what Ivan had to say in the confession comic, he obviously didn't think his impact was significant enough.

Then Alien Stage happens, and in Round 3 Ivan is FINALLY communicating his feelings in a way that is vulnerable and might even have a chance of being understood as love and yearning!

Till is unconscious through it until the very end.

Then in the next round, Mizi goes missing, and Till can't care about anything anymore.

Ivan finds him after the private performance, takes off his gag, and just holds him. Again, Till is unconscious for all of this.

Then, in Round 6, not only is Till distraught from the disappearance of Mizi, but he's given no time to process what the fuck is going on before Ivan is dead at his feet. Till might have finally had a chance to really understand where Ivan was coming from, how he really felt all this time, and Ivan DIES.

And still, Ivan's most transparent act of affection? It's delivered with violence. He's kissing a distraught Till who tries to push him away, and neither of them are happy. He puts his hands around Till's neck, not really hurting him, but it's enough to look convincing for the cameras, and it's enough for Till to go limp and wait for death. Ivan's final loving act is to give Till a soft look with blood pouring out of his mouth, that Till still does not see, and then let go before falling to the ground.

It's just a collection of failures. We see from Ivan that he truly loved Till, made a lot of selfless decisions for his sake, was filled with so much longing and affection, but he just couldn't get it across in a way that doesn't seem fucking deranged from an outsider's perspective. And when he DID manage to communicate his feelings more clearly, it was to a Till that was unconscious, or too distracted/dense/traumatised to see Ivan's actions as ones of love.

There's no guarantee that Till would have reciprocated even if Ivan had managed to communicate his feelings in a healthier way, but there was at least a CHANCE. At least Ivan could have gotten some closure, even if he was rejected.

Instead Ivan died thinking he was completely unloved by the person who he cared about more than anything else, and his last ditch effort to make Till understand was deeply flawed and uncomfortable.

If these kids had grown up any other way, maybe they could have had a chance. Unfortunately, the world they were in didn't equip them to not hurt eachother in their attempts to grow closer.

#alien stage #alien stage ivan #alien stage till #alnst #alnst ivan #alnst till #ivantill #tillivan #alien stage round 6 #if you saw me edit this a bunch of times trying to link the masterdoc post no you didnt

[spicynectarines]

I don’t usually like anime but Alien Stage hit a wee bit different

#WATCH ALIEN STAGE ON YOUTUBE NEOW #it’s so good i swear #if u like sci fi and gay people you will like alien stage #alien stage #ivantill #alien stage till #alien stage ivan #alien stage fanart #art #fanart #alien stage round 6

[futabascomputer]

Redrew a scene from round 6

I love you King Yaoi The Third your my little meow meow

kinda changed the angle bc I couldn’t get it right 💔☹️

#alnst ivan #alnst #alnst round 6 #alien stage #alien stage ivan #digital aritst #digital art #art #fanart #alnst fanart #alien stage round 6

[nottoonedin]

"In your gaze where I'm seen,"

"Consume me,

Yes, me.."

#ISTG THIS SCENE THE LITTLE NUZZLE AGHH #I'm fine I'm normal <3 #alien stage #alnst #alnst ivan #alnst till #till alnst #alien stage till #till alien stage #alien stage ivan #ivan alien stage #ivan alnst #alien stage fanart #alnst fanart #ivantill #alnst round 6 #alien stage round 6 #my art #toon's art

[shakingparadigm]

Musing out loud in your inbox, so pay me no mind, but I really think that Ivan's primary emotion in round 6 wasn't love, but resentment. Something along the lines of, "My life never mattered to you, so my death shouldn't matter to you either, even though this means so much to me." His first, final, and only "fuck you, dude," the kind you can only give to someone you genuinely care for. Ivan has always been waiting on the sidelines and behind-the-scenes to everything in his own life, passively observing it all, and I think round 6 was meant to be him finally taking active control of his own life, doing something just for him, selfishly, no matter the cost or consequence. So, the first emotion he blatantly expresses in the round is resentment, and then he is shot, and only then does he get his light back as if "oh, no, the love is still there, it didn't go anywhere." And then he smiles.

his first, final, and only "fuck you, dude" 😭

This interpretation is really interesting in the way that it hit me in the chest with how I kind of related to it (no context).

I think the "my life didn't matter to you, so my death shouldn't, either" sentiment was very present in Ivan's mind during that moment. Viewing this scene as one fueled by that specific flavor of resentment is actually one of the most unique interpretations I've heard so far. Not sure that I agree with it, but I resonate with it in some weird personal way. In Ivan's situation, certainly the feelings of resentment would be there. We're only human, after all. Some people can't help but feel it deep inside. I don't think his resentment overpowered his love, though.

"the love is still there, it didn't go anywhere." what if i shriveled like a raisin

#alnst #alien stage #alien stage ivan #alien stage round 6 #asks

[plaguedcupid]

i just realized i haven't posted about this but if you noticed in cure there's a heartbeat at the start of the song and another heartbeat before ivan sings - i have a feeling the first heartbeat was a foreshadowing of ivan's death (where it's beating normally, briefly speeds up as he sings/kisses till, and then flatlines after he chokes him) and the second heartbeat is till's (where it continuously beats normally, no racing of the pulse, because till doesn't harbor any feelings for ivan)

#alnst #alien stage #alnst ivan #alnst till #alien stage ivan #alien stage till #ivantill #alnst round 6 #alien stage round 6

[merimedefeauseaux-blog]

until these falling stars are buried in the blur of time

(i wasn't quite happy with my Till art, so I fixed it)

#alien stage till #alien stage round 6 #alnst till

[linvaniin]

my day be so fine then boom ivantill alien stage

#ivantill #alien stage #alien stage ivan #alien stage till #alien stage round 6 #clip studio paint #digital art #digital doodle #my art #linvaniin #round 6 made me cry.

[khickuwa]

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

I hope it's me.

#art #artist #fanart #illustration #illust #digital art #sketch #comic #alien stage round 6 #alien stage ivan #alien stage till #alien stage #i wonder if this is ooc.... #i can't believe ya'll are here to witness a new chika phase #ivantill

[kay-kaylen]

A lot of people are talking about Ivan's hypocrisy with Sua and how he berates her for sacrificing herself for Mizi and becoming a source of trauma for her and then he did the same thing, but there's a heartbreaking perspective on this.

Sua and Mizi loved each other. The love was reciprocal. Sua died KNOWING Mizi loved her. Ivan's dislike of her comes from the fact that she knew damn well what her death would do to the person who loved her and she did it anyway. She KNOWINGLY hurt Mizi in the worst way possible while still claiming to love her.

Ivan? Ivan's been drilled for YEARS that Till DOESN'T love him. His love isn't returned. It's very possible that he just believes that he won't be a source of trauma for Till, because Till doesn't love him. So he can die for him all he wants. Of course, the elephant in the room is that we no longer know what Till thinks of Ivan after he kissed him and sacrificed himself for him, but that's AFTER Ivan is already dead. He had no intentions or expectations that what he did would actually hurt Till. And there is something so unbelievably sad about that.

#alien stage #ivantill #alien stage ivan #alien stage round 6 #alien stage sua #alien stage till #alien stage mizi #mizisua

[fizzyjacuzzi]

A parting gift, his everything.

#alien stage #alnst #alnst ivan #alnst fanart #alien stage fanart #my arts #illustration #alien stage ivan #alien stage round 6

[silvercrane14]

'Just confess the worst thing he could do is say no!' The worst thing he could do is close his eyes while I die in front of him. Actually.

#crane screams #alien stage #alnst #alien stage round 6 #sorry #ivantill #crane's famous arc

[tieflingfaggot]

Alien stage next video prediction

#ivantill #alien stage ivan #alien stage till #alien stage #alien stage round 6

[ironaxebroke]

my god, my universe

#alien stage #alien stage sua #alien stage ivan #alnst #alnst sua #alnst ivan #alien stage round 6

[sidsinning]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

TOXIC GAYS ARE BACK

HELP HIM DAMN IT ALL

HE'S ALIVE GUYS OK HIS COLLAR DIDN'T GO OFF OK? OK? THEY'RE KEEPING HIM IN A FREEZER SOMEWHERE FOR LATER

THIS IS SO DIABOLICAL OF THEM TO DO TWICE FFS 😭😭😭😭 I DEMAND JUSTICE FOR THE GAYS

#alien stage #alien stage round 6 #ivantill #sidrabbles

[luolii]

uhmm i haven't been seeing a lot of discussion about till aside from his relationships with other competitors and i think it's something that must be addressed because i think among the competitors he's the anomaly.

unlike his peers, Till is nothing special. Ivan is beautiful and talented and so is Mizi, and they're both treated as valuable things by their alien owners because of it. You can see this in the way Ivan's constantly surrounded by attention and food and Mizi's pampered lifestyle pre-alien stage.

but then you get to Till and he's literally just strapped to a medical table. Mizi and Ivan's "foster family" treat them with some degree of humanity, even if it's in the way that humans now treat their beloved house cats. If that's the case, Till's treated as a mildly interesting lab rat.

His owners go lengths to further dehumanize him, and you can see that from the way he's so often muzzled when no one else is. They also quite literally brand him !!

This type of dehumanization in my opinion is also something that contributes to Till's aggressive behavior, because he is constantly in the circumstances that force him to do so.

Till is neither too attractive or too talented at singing, and I'm pretty sure he knows this --- that's why he relied so heavily on the element of gruesome surprise during his first round.

It's also worth mentioning that his unhealthy attachment to the idea of Mizi as some kind of saving grace also reflects on his own perception of himself, as some sinner in need of saving. Whenever he imagines Mizi in the Round 6 video, he is someone tainted in the colors of his captors (red) and sweaty, whereas Mizi is bright and glowing.

He didn't expect to live past round 6, I think that's made pretty clear. His expression isn't one of someone who expects to live (especially when Mizi is now either dead or gone). His expression is of someone defeated.

Another thing about Till is that he felt alone. Ivan loves him, we knows this, but Till doesn't. The few instances we see through Ivan's eyes, his kindness towards Till is either from somewhere Till can't see or when he's unconscious. The only time we see them interact where Till is aware of what's going on is when they're fighting as kids, and their one escape attempt.

As far as I know, Till has nothing to go off of in recent times. The only time that he's touched is by alien captors and scientists, both who see him as less than human. It's easy to be beat down and dehumanized when there is no one around you to humanize you.

No other competitor, from what we've seen, is treated as awfully as Till is treated. His idealization of Mizi stems from delusion, and there is no indication to him now that his ex-best friend Ivan still gives a shit about him.

That changes after the 6th Round though, and Till is so well set up to be a character who gets his entire worldview shattered, with Ivan's final show of affection and Mizi's disconnect from the one he has in his head (symbolized by her cut hair).

Till, a hotheaded human who is nothing special but lived on until the final round through the idealization of one competitor and the sacrifice of another ... the silliest of all time

#this is all rambling but erm.... till my beloved #till alien stage #alien stage till #alien stage round 6 #ivantill #mizitill #alien stage #luolies #alien stage ivan #alien stage mizi