please read this even if you're not indian. especially if you're not indian.
you've seen the jokes. india is "dirty", indians are "everywhere", why don't they fix their own country. ok. let me tell you why, and what's happening right now while nobody's watching.
first, the history you skipped: britain ruled india for two centuries and drained it. economist utsa patnaik's research estimates around $45 trillion in today's money was taken. the india that got independence in 1947 was one of the poorest countries on earth. every "why is india like this" question starts there. you don't get to profit off a robbery and then mock the crime scene.
now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:
in may the question paper for NEET leaked. that's the national medical entrance exam. over 2.2 million students took it. cancelled. years of studying, families' savings poured into coaching, gone overnight because someone sold the paper. students died by suicide after. these were kids who wanted to be doctors.
and out of that came a protest movement. a gen z group called the cockroach janta party, started by a 30 year old named abhijeet dipke, got 22 million instagram followers within DAYS. they've been doing a sit-in at jantar mantar in delhi demanding education minister dharmendra pradhan resign.
and then there's sonam wangchuk. if you've watched 3 idiots, he's the real engineer the character was based on. built solar schools in ladakh. invented ice stupas so himalayan villages have water. spent his whole life on education. he's 59 and he's been on hunger strike for 17+ days now. reporters went to see him this week and he was too weak to talk. and the troll armies are calling him "anti national" and "foreign funded". a man starving himself for other people's children. that's the thing here, anyone who asks a question is suddenly a traitor.
it's not one incident, it's everywhere you look:
• infrastructure worth thousands of crores failing within months of the ribbon cutting. tunnels collapsing in regions where heavy rain is a guarantee, not a surprise.
• youth unemployment near 10% for ages 15 to 29, 13.6% in cities. in a country of 1.42 billion where more than half the population is young.
• only about the top 3% of indians earn above 10 lakh a year. meanwhile billionaire wealth keeps ballooning and the headlines celebrate it.
• manipur burned for over two years. an ethnic conflict, tens of thousands displaced, and the prime minister barely said the word manipur while it happened.
• journalists raided. critics' houses bulldozed. activists sitting in jail for years without trial under laws like UAPA. our press freedom ranking has cratered.
• even the petrol is a fight now, ethanol blending pushed through while drivers complain about their engines and get no straight answers.
and through all of it, the PM, who came to power on religious polarisation (americans, sound familiar?), travels abroad for photo ops and has not held one single open press conference in over a decade. not one.
what i'm asking:
if you're not indian: share this. our media mostly won't cover any of it because the big outlets are owned by the same billionaires the government serves. the only reason wangchuk's fast is getting any coverage is people refusing to look away.
if you ARE indian: speak up even if you're comfortable. especially if you're comfortable. join the protests. add to this, correct me, translate it. staying quiet is a choice when nothing in this post touches your life.
india is not "dirty". india was robbed, and it's being robbed again, from the inside this time. but it's also the country where a 59 year old will starve for strangers' kids and 22 million young people will rally behind a party literally named after cockroaches, because cockroaches survive everything.
Even if I'm not thrilled to compare a character I adore to a character I don't, I think sua and luka are extremely similar characters and that's what makes round 5 and mizi's reaction to it so significant. Ruler of my heart isn't just a song performed by luka, written for hyuna, sang to mizi in imitation of sua - it is simultaneously a love letter from sua to mizi. (And let's not forget sua and luka being adored as royalty and yet simultaneously raised as expendable, interchangeable dolls and thus projecting this behaviour onto mizi and hyuna by clinging onto them and being willing to destroy the both of them in the process if it means keeping this illusion of their relationship as a safe haven, where they get to play owner and their partners are almost like dolls they can have to find sanctity)
“And if you’ll give me 40% of the MOST POPULAR VOTE, I’ll give you my SPECIAL REWARD... A year’s supply of NON-GLOOBY SLIME!!! Never or BARELY used!!!” Tenna concluded his speech with a huge smile, jetting his hands up in double peace signs.
The crowd roared in confused enthusiasm as Tenna gave a gracious flurry of low-FPS bows, pausing only for the occasional stink-nose at his audience plants who weren’t throwing enough 3D roses.
Eventually, the room fell silent. It was Senshi’s turn to speak.
He puffed out his chest, took a long, sweeping look over the audience… and shook his head.
“I can see not all of you are eating properly.”
The crowd murmured with embarrassment.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but it’s time to take the turkey out of your icebox. I have seen the ingenious technology with which your people store food... and I have also seen the waste which results from such convenience.
“The food you take had a life. Beasts grew fat on the grass of the field, plants grew from the sun’s rays, and mushrooms grew from minerals in the cracks of caves. And yet, it sits in your iceboxes, collecting moisture until it perishes.
“Eat what is given to you. Because its life will make you stronger, too.”
Without another word, Senshi left his podium and stepped away from the stage. The crowd murmured in confusion. “Is he really like that?” somebody said. “I only remember reblogging the photosets of him tripping and showing ass.”
--
Back in the Green Room, Tenna wrung his antennas nervously.
“Y-y-you think they liked me!? They HAD to!! I mean, I don’t know what Asgore was thinking, getting that weird haircut and running that food waste campaign, but… YOU thought I did good, didn’t you, Kris?”
Laios nodded aggressively, a streak of blue face paint peeling from his forehead.
“You did AMAZING, Tenna! By the way, now that we’ve seen all your insider campaign secrets, do you have any more videos of Susie? Especially her tail... If I could get a look at that, I could finally tell if she’s a dinosaur or --”
THWACK. Fake antlers butted Laios’s head.
“LAIOS?? Weren’t we dressed up to help SENSHI???” Marcille hissed, gesturing awkwardly with her hooves.
Suddenly, Tenna turned to the two adventurers.
“Hey, WAIT a second. SOMETHING’s not right here...”
Laios and Marcille held their breath.
“Where the heck are my POINTS!?”
Just then, the door opened. Chilchuck took one step into the room, whistling and holding a large bag.
Everyone turned to him.
Chilchuck paused, took a step backwards, and closed the door.
“CHILCHUCK!!!” yelled Tenna.
“How come Chilchuck got to stay Chilchuck!?” yelled Marcille at the same time.
--
Meanwhile, in outer space somewhere, some guy was making out with a rock.
I haven’t seen anyone talking about this. And imo. This is one of the most important shots of the whole video.
I keep seeing people say how crazy Mizi is and how innocent Sua was in comparison, but that’s just not true. I adore both Mizi and Sua, by the way. This isn’t criticism of either of them. But you can’t ignore what Sua does here if you want an accurate portrayal of their relationship in this world.
When Mizi becomes an idol, she’s manufactured into a sex symbol, crafted into something that can appeal to the male gaze despite how we KNOW she’s a lesbian. Specifically, we can see how Mizi’s breasts are often framed promiscuously to further her objectification:
So this shot where Sua finds Mizi, tied up and helpless, incoherent, and the first thing she does is frame an unaware Mizi’s breasts as if in a photoshoot—bitterly, ironically, before relief takes over—it goes to show something major about Mizisua’s relationship in both the ALNST and ZOMST verse.
In ALNST, Sua enables Mizi’s infantilization (something often levied against women in a misogynistic context) of herself by keeping Mizi “in the dark” (although Mizi is more aware than either of them want to acknowledge). People rightfully criticize Till for his innocent vision of Mizi to comfort himself with, but Sua has a version of Mizi in her head that she uses to comfort herself, too. She and Till aren’t incredibly different in this regard.
In ZOMST, this translates not to infantilization, but to objectification. Sua is bitter over Mizi’s decision to let the industry use her in this way, she’s disgusted by it, but then she wields it herself when Mizi is finally helpless and incapable of pushing Sua away again by miming taking a photo of Mizi’s breasts.
Mizi is objectified in ZOMST by everyone: the industry, herself, the crowd, and even the person she loves the most.
The last time we see Sua she genuinely cares for Mizi it doesn't look like she is just a fan, falling for the objectification of her girlfriend.
No she detests it.
Most of the episode is sort of in her POV, which is why we detest it too (also because we all know Mizi is a lesbian and is actively self destructing because of it).
So after Mizi and Sua have their fight I sort of feel like their fight may have been on the topic that Sua is just another fan to her.
Because by the end of the fight she discards her, slaps her, treats her like she's nothing for genuinely caring for her.
So after being discarded, you're hurt, you're alone and you find Mizi, weak and unable to defend herself and the thought s run through your head.
"I'm just a fan huh?"
You bitterly see what the industry has done to her over the years.
But you're more than just a fan, you're the only one who can protect her, love her.
Despite the fact that you're both girls.
As we all know Sua has always prioritised Mizi just being alive rather than happy so rather than put her out of her misery,
Her inability to have the control she craved after joining the industry.
You join her.
You aren't just a fan, you're the one who gets to protect her now, who gets to stay with her forever.
i like both of these perspectives a lot more than what i've seen
i've seen this scene discussed nonstop on youtube shorts
and every time it's just a very surface level "sua is just as bad as the fans" "look, sua isn't innocent because she also only cares about mizi's body, they're toxic"
like yeah they're a bit toxic, yeah neither of them are innocent, but like... a little more depth people, a little more depth
I think people forget that the charm and point of Alien Stage is that the dynamics between the characters are not typical and are more toxic than typical romantic relationships.
Mizi and Sua are codependent, Sua is obsessive and puts her self worth into their relationship, and Mizi can be explosive and dependent on Sua as her only escape from her horrible circumstances. (I think Zombie Stage highlights these aspects of their relationship so much more.)
Ivan is obsessed with Till and doesn't care that Till doesn't outwardly reciprocate his feelings, he thinks that his love being there is good enough for the both of them. Till cares about Ivan regardless of if it's the same amount, and once Ivan is dead, the fact Ivan had loved him at one point or another haunts him, quite literally as seen in the post canon comic about his recovery after the last round.
Hyuna both hates and loves Luka, she both will never forgive him for what he did to Hyunwoo and will never forgive herself for still loving Luka despite this. Luka is obsessed with her and couldn't care less if she hates him, he barely understands that she's still upset with him for what happened, all he knows is that he loves her and he deludes himself into believing that things between them are perfect.
These dynamics and toxicity is what makes them all so compelling and makes the series what it is. They're all traumatized people in a horrible situation, leaning on each other and loving each other in whatever way they know how. Because they're human.
I think it's interesting to talk about potential anthy/utena inspiration in alien stage. Mizi parallels Anthy very clearly: the imperfect victim who just wanted to save someone, and in return, gains the world's hate (both becoming the witch), but unlike anthy, no one was there to act as a vehicle for Mizi's recover. utena/sua parallels are less obvious imo, but they both project onto mizi/anthy. Utena thinks anthy wants to be saved. She goes into duals in hopes of getting her out, she rejects the system even when she ultimately can't overcome it. Sua, on the other hand, projects a sense of innocence onto mizi that isn't there, she thinks she can save mizi if she sacrifices herself. She would rather practice her death alone than open up to mizi. Utena fails but still manages to helps anthy; sua dies as she planned and it breaks mizi
the new VIVINOS video is out and before I lose it about my girlies I wanna take a second to talk about the message in itself.
the metaphors in the AU this time around are really really great. The way idols "rot" the longer they stay in the industry and (literally) lose parts of themselves along the way, which instead of being mourned for it's only treated as another piece of merchandise. They're literally walking dead because it kills them from inside out and, at some point, they become "zombies" with no life or will of their own anymore.
Even in death they're no different than objects. Their existence is solely to serve as entertainment for others and will receive no respect whatsoever until the very end.
You actually see this happening irl when idols pass away (especially when it's suicide) where the company will milk the hell out of the tragedy for attention, selling out the "last memory" aka merch that idol left behind and people will eat it up without actually taking a moment to think that an actual human being lost their life.
VIVINOS is really good at bringing up and developing themes that others are too scared of and they do it in a way that actually makes you take the time to stop and pay attention to the real meaning of the video. It's just so awesome, I have no more words. Absolutely masterpiece I can't wait for more.
Sua exploiting Mizi's naivety was a recurring theme through her deliberate coddling, ALNST would eventually elaborate on them objectifying each other for comfort-- Mizi using Sua as an outlet to project her feelings onto bc she liked Sua's weak body and submissive behavior and Sua using Mizi as escapism by seeing her as a fragile object to be protected rather than a equal partner to her... seeing zomst reinterpret that more overtly in Sua specifically staring at Mizi's body at times (dumbstruck or no) as the only one who knows who the real Mizi she loves is is so djfhuyghdn (bc of the angle vivinos was going in towards Mizi being seen marketed as super sexy and scandalous by the industry which is never what Mizi wanted and I think she really tried to take some control over that image during their last argument by using unhealthy coping mechanisms that Sua disapproved of) so when Mizi is this helpless and Sua essentially sees a second chance at mending their fractured relationship she does take advantage of that fragility in Mizi that she recognizes
I think it's interesting that Sua sees how Mizi was used and abused by the industry because of how appealing her body was, and she revels in getting Mizi away from all that's distancing them, so Mizi is hers again. She makes a desperate attempt to keep them together; she can't bear for them to be apart, but even now, Mizi is still being sold for parts by an upper class that is exploiting them both.
She has a hand in perpetuating their suffering for a second time because of an ideal she has in preserving Mizi's untouchable purity and happiness as an idol and their strength as a duo that was taken from them when only Mizi got to become an idol . I like how this differs from the OG a little because Sua is always meant to follow Mizi wherever she goes, and seeing Mizi get angry at her and leave scared her of courseee she'd choose to become a zombie to keep Mizi with her again. Now they're like a singular unit that's as codependent on each other as Sua was dependent on Mizi when they were just normal humans. We get to see them get to live out their ideal in that underground ring while looking happy, even if they feel pain . It's like experiencing karma/myclematis again, oh how these two are so into escapism
Warning for mentions of child abuse and SA (and also body horror in the pictures if you haven't seen Zombie Stage)
The world only wants the sexualised Mizi. She debuted as herself, but to succeed, she had to cast that part of her aside to appeal to the male gaze.
Sua wants things to go back to the way they were, when Mizi was sweet, innocent, and had space in her life for her. She tries to be there for Mizi, but isn't able to keep up with her anymore. When she goes to give her flowers, she gets treated as just another fan.
But neither of them see Mizi for who she is now, and how she feels having to navigate this exploitative industry.
When Sua takes Mizi's cigarette, she undoubtedly means well and her actions here are completely understandable, but she doesn't try to understand why Mizi is smoking or try to empathise with her, she just grabs it out of her hand and tells her off for it. She doesn't provide comfort or any other alternative to smoking, only scorn.
When Mizi slaps her and pushes her away, Sua clings to her. When Sua is hugging her, Mizi has a flashback to a time in her childhood her mother hugged her (or some other older familial figure, but I don't think Mizi had an older sister or anything in other depictions).
Notably, whenever we see child Mizi, she has a big bruise on her cheek, and we have no idea where it came from. In the shot with her mom, we see that it's after she got the bruise, and from the way her mom is purposely lowering herself to be lower than her daughter, the hug doesn't read as comforting. It reads as her mom begging Mizi for forgiveness after hitting her, or otherwise looking for comfort from her when Mizi is the person who's been hurt (and is also a child and should not be expected to comfort a Grown Ass Woman).
So if Mizi is comparing these two scenes in her mind, then it's likely that Sua is begging Mizi for something. To not leave her, to go back to being the sweet girl Sua knew, to do something about her career wringing her dry and leaving her a shell of herself. We don't know what, but it's not something Mizi feels she can do, she's exhausted enough as is.
Mizi, after not being seen even by the person closest to her, feeling emotionally manipulated by Sua, and being reminded of this moment with her mother, lashes out and runs away (she gestures towards herself while yelling, so maybe she said something along the lines of "What do you even know about me, huh?!").
I've seen some people speculate that the way the shot lingers here means Sua saw the zombie go after Mizi but just let it get her, and maybe I'm in denial here, but I don't think that this is the case. Even if their relationship is in a rough state and they just had a fight, Sua still clearly cares about Mizi, she wouldn't want her in danger.
Even if Mizi yelled something like "Leave me alone!" as she was leaving, seeing a creepy guy following after her would be an acceptable enough reason to go after Mizi and at least warn her.
I think this shot either isn't a literal Sua POV (as in, she didn't just blankly stare as Mizi yelled at her and then stood there and watched a zombie walk by), and Sua was too caught up in her own emotions to notice the zombie, or the shot isn't completely literal, and it's more of a way to show that the zombie outbreak happened right after this, and the two of them did not get the chance to talk again before it was too late.
Either way, Mizi is infected, and when Sua finds her, she is in a rather compromising position (as shown with Sua mimicking a camera shot with her fingers like how the media would've framed Mizi here). I suspect that her eyes had already been taken from her, it's likely that whoever captured her and simply kept her taped to a pillar would've wanted to "salvage" the eyes before they rotted away from being so close to the wound on her face.
Mizi isn't able to express any desires of hers anymore, so Sua decides to force her own desires onto Mizi instead. To kiss her, but to also tie herself to Mizi forever as a zombie.
There had to have been a time skip between Sua getting infected and Zombie Stage, Mizi seems to have been infected very early on into the outbreak, I doubt Sua would've taken long to find her, and it would take time for people to set up something like these performances and for people to want to willingly come and watch zombies perform.
Enough time for the media to move on from Mizi. The two of them aren't "famous idol and a random fan of hers" anymore, they've gone back to being two girls who can sing and dance, and want to perform together (or at least Sua does, anyway). They've gone back to how they were before the audition.
Mizi doesn't get a say in the matter anymore, but as far as Sua is concerned, it's a happy ending for her.
Side note: On the soundtrack upload for the song at the end, Mizi's collar is literally shackled to Sua's leg. In their current state, even if they're both chained up and being used, Sua still has control over Mizi. Sua leads, Mizi follows. Also, the shot of Sua gripping Mizi's hand tighter reminds me of the ending of Vivinos' older video named Fiancée. Neat.
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