Ok I admit I fixate on every moment of Hyuna’s screen time way than necessary always but can we talk about how layered her reaction is??
What makes this scene horrifying is how well she understands the situation for what it is—both ways. Knowing that her only sense of safety is that she’s disguised as a man in a room full of predatory men. And then witnessing first hand how revolting they are to women directly while how they are just one step away from her, knowing she’d be treated the same as Mizi and Sua if they noticed. She looks horrified and scared…even while blushing a bit……
Because she understands the performance while despising it and fearing it. She has to witness it in order to know how to destroy it. But when she realizes that she’s not particularly immune to getting enamored by it as well (and debatably a little flustered) i think it’s here in this very short clip she’s not disgusted with the overall situation but with herself.
Literally she has the “what have I done?” expression on her face rather than just snapping out of simply watching something because it begs the internal question if she empathized with the horrific system she’s seeking out to destroy, nonetheless could do the very same to her.
But it’s just for a very VERY split second because she knows better than to think that about herself when viewing the larger picture.
It’s the stage and the crowd that shes truly disgusted by because they are the ones who’ve created this mess to begin with.
Even the back of the crowd blurs showing her immediate understanding that she’s not a part of the exploitative mass—that she couldn’t ever be given her place as a woman (as well as a good person.) But it’s also so important that having that understanding of how its appeal works in the worst hands is only further motivation to entirely destroy it but WHY it needs to be destroyed. Because there’s absolutely no reconciliation for a fucked system working perfectly by design by.
okay yeah now that I'm understanding that beginning scene I like that Mizi's need to feel in control even in her fucked up situation still exists in this new AU, her domination and or impulsive resort to violence is translated to a real life situation in the way of her killing something weaker than her like a rat, she was beaten in some way so she did the same to that rodent, but even now she still doesn't take full pleasure in doing these things even to make herself feel better, its still disturbing to her and distressing but she doesn't know how else to articulate or express her pain, it's one of my favorite thing about Mizi in my interpretation, that even though she needs to appear perfect and soft on the outside, she's violent or hurtful (oftentimes willingly ignorant too) because she can't help it
In the OG series, she saw a hierarchy in the world and was scared that she was at the bottom of it with no comfort whatsoever, thats a part of why she went to Anakt Garden in the first place.... Whatever happened with Mizi and her mother in this AU still parallels the way she leaves Mizi with this fear of being helpless and weak and being "crushed" by something stronger than her and a need for control, an emotional outlet for her anger in some way with something/someone as weak and helpless as herself (when in the og alnst, that outlet was Sua willingly submitting to her in their similarly helpless situation), very interesting stuff
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
Mizi having a habit of lashing out at Sua with physical violence when Sua says/does something that hurts her is actually why we need toxic grieving rebound Hyumizi even more because Hyuna will just beat her ass back
i recently spoke to someone who was wondering if mizi was wearing something on her face in zombie stage. they cited the oddly perfect/specific heart shape as a reason why they thought it had to be a visor of some kind. i disagree with this for practical reasons—that absolutely is her face, you can see the rot around her mouth feeding into it—but the specific shape is definitely still odd. after thinking on it, my interpretation of it has turned out to be this:
making the rot where mizi’s eyes used to be heart-shaped is an extremely important symbolic design choice that does not need to make logical sense.
actual analysis of this choice below:
throughout the video, mizi’s eyes are more or less the only window into how she’s actually feeling, especially when she’s doing her idol work.
just like her agency was taken from her in life with all the fanservice she was made to do, it was also taken from her in death with the removal of her eyes, the only thing that showed her emotions for what they really were. the one thing that would have given a hint to her being unsatisfied is removed to further the image of “perfect idol mizi”, even when she’s a singing, dancing corpse.
this alone is pretty horrifying and that’s an understatement. but the character design choice to put a heart where mizi’s eyes used to be is just as important as the decision to remove them at all. it holds similar meaning.
i’m sure i don’t have to point out that hearts generally equate to love, especially in a nearly entirely visual piece of media. the placement of the heart over the eyes, though, takes mizi’s agency away from her yet another time. the expressions “heart eyes” and “look of love” are relevant here. figuratively, when she still has her eyes, we see mizi give this to sua.
in the second photo, if you look quickly or from a distance, it even looks like the highlights in her eyes are heart-shaped. this is mizi looking at someone she genuinely loves, with figurative “heart eyes” that portray her truest emotions, just as they do in the rest of the video.
then mizi is bitten and infected. her eyes are removed and auctioned off. and where they used to be, she’s left with…
…literal heart eyes. and this time, when she’s barely even mizi anymore, she doesn’t get to give them to sua like she would have chosen to. no, whoever’s behind zombie stage chooses who she directs them to now.
so, who’s getting the “look of love” from mizi as she is currently?
the group of people she was sexualized and sold to, the group of people for whom she’s been exploited at every turn in both life and death, the group of people we know she hates doing this for more than anything—her adoring fans.
being marketed to this exact kind of audience forced all of mizi’s control over her life away from her, ruined her mental state, and even ended up destroying her relationship with sua by extension. and now, she’s a zombie being made to sing and dance for them forever, and to look at them with the same “heart eyes” that were only meant to be for sua. this kind of marketing works best when the fans can develop a parasocial relationship with the idol, after all, believing that they love you just as much as you love them. putting a heart where mizi’s eyes once were forces her back into the same position she was in in life, performing for men and playing to their preferences. only this time, there’s no way for her true feelings to peek through anymore. all that’s left is—
—that “look of love”.
now, this could all still be true and valid analysis even if that heart shape were a visor or covering of some sort. but i personally believe the point about mizi’s agency being taken from her becomes much weaker if the shape is a removable object. it’s important that this is her true face (haha. get it?) and not a visor because this is no longer the mizi we know. we can see it in her unresponsiveness to sua, how she barely knows she’s performing with someone else at all, how her focus is singlemindedly on giving her loyal and loving audience the performance they deserve. that’s common knowledge at this point, sure, but if this shape is a visor, it undercuts the severity of that. our mizi would never look at this audience that way, not when they’re getting enjoyment out of her exploitation, out of sua’s exploitation. if that heart is something she (or anyone, really) can just take off, it creates an implication that she can go back to being our mizi. that she can stop looking at the audience that way, that she can stop being “perfect idol mizi”.
and she can’t. she couldn’t in life, she can’t in death.
making the heart removable in any way gives mizi some of her agency back. and we can’t have that. not when perfect idol mizi sells so well and makes the audience so happy! she can’t go back.
I didn't know what to expect with zombie stage but now that they've set the tone. Yea having mizi suffer from desirability as a sex symbol in the entertainment industry makes a lot of sense actually.
I simply love the Ivantill vs. Tillivan debate. Like I usually see people fighting and killing eachother for different shipps, BUT THE SAME ONE? This fucking kills me
RIGHTTT this is js proof the alnst fandom needs more content cuz how are we having ivantill centered discourse IN THE GRAND 2026???? 😭😭 yall js gotta be bored
𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐍𝐀 & 𝐒𝐔𝐀 — I honestly have never seen anyone talk about how similar the two of them are. Both Hyuna and Sua constantly ran away from their feelings — whether fear, guilt, grief, or anger — all to remain trapped in the fantasies they used as defense mechanisms. Hyuna used the Rebellion to escape her own past, ignoring — and consequently preventing herself from healing — the trauma caused by the death of Hyunwoo, whom Luka had killed. Sua used Mizi’s apparent innocence to justify keeping the true nature of Alien Stage from her, burying deep down just how terrified she was of imminent death, yet even more afraid of surviving in a world where Mizi was dead.
In the end, both of their sacrifices were "meaningless." By taking the bullet, Hyuna saved Luka from death, but he was burned alive, stitched back together, and reinstalled into the Segyein system — still an object of entertainment, but this time without Hyuna. Sua died so that Mizi could live, but now Mizi, too, has been burned — and not only that, but she also ruined the Rebellion's plans and is reviled as a witch by both aliens and humans — and is "living" alone in the desert, hating herself for letting Sua die for her (and more).
I also find it interesting to mention that the onset of the trauma experienced by both Hyuna and Sua was caused by a sibling. Hee-ah warned Sua about the true nature of Anakt Garden and revealed that the "snow" was actually children who had not survived and had been cremated — and told her that Anakt Garden was a hellish nightmare, leaving Sua terrified of death. Hyunwoo himself didn't do anything, but his death—as everyone already knows — is Hyuna's biggest trauma, not just because he died, but also because of the circumstances.
STOP. i came here as soon as i read it like i had to pause my lads for this. (which i'll talk abt my experience soon. i think itd be a little silly to put in this post however)
soooo where do i start. i guess i'm glad they didn't go with the draft ending bc that sounds even worse and feels like This was our Alien Stage ending. but i think they should of took a lot more time to come up with a finalised ver of the ending because.. well i've already said all my thoughts in the past. i do like is the parallels of mizi/hyuna (although i don't like the idea of mizi being a "normal human being" and hyuna being this righteous noble person — it feels very idealised? hyuna is also a normal human being 😭 but this is just me being nitpicky and the translation is clearly still wack as it has been for the comics)
buut. first of all FYM U MEAN HYUNAS SENSE OF JUSTICE LIVES THROUGH TILL? she doesn't know that boy. nor did she even want to save him originally. this is somehow worse than them saying hyuna died for lukas non-existent development. there's this underlying problem in the writing with the female characters (specifically hyuna + sorta mizi but not as much) going through tragedy for the sake of a male character development and i do noooot like it. at all. especially considering till has had the most post-alnst content when he's honestly the least interesting out of the survivors. vivinos favoritism for him rly does shine through a lot
second barely any luka mention. again. like dude what is happening anymore. do u realize how lacklustre the content for him has to be for ME to complain? i've cursed that man out so many times, yet here i am. i'm deeply sorry Luka from Alien Stage. it really is a shame that his character will probably never be explored in depth — we didn't even get a small bit on how he felt in this post.
my third problem is that i do think vivinos writes a lot of tragic stories for shock. i do Not know how to elaborate on this properly and it's more of a feeling, but.. just hear me out. i think it works for shorter content (such as her mvs & even pink bitch club) but it does not work for more longer content such as alnst. i've already had my gripes abt alnst being multi-media without any sort of official guide/main website w all public content available as it causes a lot of confusion for newer or more casual fans. i think there's just a lot of handling that's gone wrong bc of lack of experience and that includes the writing. you can not just write off serveral characters and keep most of the fates of the survivors ambiguous, minus till. imagine being a casual fan bruh you wouldn't know shit 😭😭😭
ugh i have so much more to say itll come to later i think.
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