i'm working on a franziska playlist rn and it made me wonder what u think franziska's opinion on her pre-phoenix "perfect record" is. i'm sure she still feels some degree of pride over it, but she must be aware that some of the people she put away could have been innocent, and i want to know what u think she feels abt that!
oh, and, do u have any songs u think are very very franziska?
my interpretation is admittedly reserved for the english localization but given that she was prosecuting in germany i don't actually feel that she is particularly ashamed of it. the death penalty is illegal & prison is very different with many programs that focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment. prisoners can literally escape in germany & the law says they cannot have time added onto their sentences because it is human nature to want to escape confinement.
on that note prosecutors do a great deal of negotiating when it comes to sentencing and i believe, wholeheartedly, that franziska would never argue for a sentence that she felt was too harsh. her introductory case shows her trying to egg phoenix into a justified self defense plea for maya, something i personally believe she did because she did not think maya deserved murder in the first. i've talked extensively about that & it's primarily something @pictureswithboxes put me onto, but i do believe franziska thinks very deeply about the guilty verdicts she pursues & always tries to find a way to ensure they match the crime. there was NO reason for the writers to include that justified self defense plea other than to inform us that franziska's ruthlessness in maintaining her record comes with a much softer edge than her family's.
i am also a very big proponent of the idea that franziska does not have a single regret about anything in her life. she views mistakes as both motivation & necessary work in her goals of perfection. the correct response to a mistake is to study it and ensure that she never, EVER makes it again, and when possible, remedy it with something of equal value. this is why i think she was so insistent on undoing the trick locks herself in bridge, for instance--pearl rightfully reminded her that she ruthlessly fought to have maya declared guilty. franziska was wrong, she was soft but she should have been softer. in front of her was an opportunity to save maya's life. naturally, then, she took it.
thank you for asking me about my thing i like! i am so happy. here are all my franziska songs.
1. oH MY god i just woke up and read the comic and went "i need to see kurov's take on this" and scrolled ur blog,, how r we feelingg
2. kinda related but i saw ur tag on how the csa is more obvious with other characters than sua and i'm sure u were referring mostly to till (or ivan tbh) but it reminded me of how i've seen a lot of ppl reference a specific art of luka that heavily implies he dealt w sexual abuse (by hepuru most likely) and i've been searching for it but HAVEN'T FOUND IT. i mean i have plenty of evidence to have it in my belief system already but i was wondering if u would happen to know what art that would be,,
AA I'm so flattered you thought to ask me!! I have a lot of thoughts but I'll get to the second point first.
I was mainly referring to Till + Ivan but on second thought I'm unsure if we can count Till's as csa considering the start of his sexual abuse is kind of ambigious? I might be forgetting something here. I do read the karaoke scene to imply that it has happened before, but the canon basis for it is fickle. Ivan I definitely read as having gone through CSA because of the lyrics of Nowhere though. For Luka/Heperu, there's quite a few illusts/comics that make me think of CSA but I'm not sure if I could point to one specifically? Here are my guesses
TL by whatafruit
First one because it shows how touchy Heperu is while also highlighting their strength disparity, second one honestly for... vibes?? Obv that second one has a lot of other things to unpack besides that, but your post comparing it to the Karaoke scene Till did things to my perception of it LOL. Like you said though, there's already a lot of implications of CSA with Luka, I'm just not sure I could point to One in particular.
Under the cut for the first one! [Warning, some stuff I say may read as bashing zombie stage]
AUGH I HAVE A LOT OF THINGS TO SAY BUT I'LL BE HONEST, NOT A LOT OF GOOD ONES...
First of all, we have never gotten this explicit of a dialogue from Sua before. She went from haunting the narrative in Alien Stage to straight up Narrating in Zombie Stage. One thing I love about this is that Zombie Stage seems to be flipping the narrative by putting us in the shoes of the dead characters more often than the survivors of Alien Stage. Zomst Round1 looks like it's Mizi centric because of, well, how much of the video is spent looking at her body, but at the end of the day we focus SO MUCH on how that impacts Sua. We see her act and react so much more than we did in Alien Stage, and especially more than we did in ALNST Round1. I think the teaser showing Hyuna focus and the last clip being Ivan implies that the dead trio are going to have more agency or at least more of their inner worlds explored this time. In any case, Sua really needed it. THAT BEING SAID, I don't think I like the way we're doing Sua in this comic...
Murder-kill mentioned in the replies to this post that the more direct approach to the dialogue may be because the story was so misinterpreted by the fandom in its first run, but that's honestly really depressing in my opinion. I want to assume that that is not the case when I analise it
In the replies of that same post both lazybiird and I have talked about it a bit already, but I really think that this creates a bit of a plothole. Not that the characters are OOC, but I can't imagine how they're going to rectify this argument.
Sua is being manipulative here. Mizi offers to pay her financially for a place to stay (very normal) and Sua offers that the payment for Mizi's stay be to remain being the person Sua "really likes".
This is in character, this is the same exact Sua who would sacrifice herself for Mizi in ALNST. This is the same character that worked So Hard to keep Mizi in the image of innocence that she loved. But it's also a terrible offense for Mizi. In ALNST, Mizi
Needed the sacrifice more (She needed to win the round more than she needs a room)
Could suspend her disbelief enough to ignore Sua's behaviour (In this version, Sua verbalises it directly and it's acknowledged by Mizi as soon as it happens)
Was in an enclosed space in which she already knew she didn't like anyone better than Sua (in Zomst she's obviously not living in a place like Anakt Garden and can therefore make other friends. What's more is that even if she can't stop being friends with her because Sua's saviour complex works and she actually lends Mizi a room, Mizi could have ditched Sua entirely after becoming famous. Instead, they remain tethered together despite their arguments.)
Could purify Sua in her head more because her behaviour was self-sacrificial (This Sua doesn't seem to be losing anything by letting Mizi stay with her, and is in fact gaining a pet girlfriend.)
I think that during this argument, Mizi is in the right no matter how many layers of insecurity and mean words she puts it behind, calling Sua a pushover first, manipulative second, and calling herself a beggar (leech, parasite, negative connotations) first, pet (powerless, victim?) second. She's lashing out, but in no way is it uncalled for considering what Sua is saying/doing.
The physical thing they're arguing over here is that Mizi currently doesn't have the finance to support herself, and wants to rely on Sua until she does. Sua, by not asking for the money back, implies that she either doesn't trust Mizi to fulfill her goals, or doesn't want Mizi to fulfill her goals. Either way, she's looking down at Mizi from a place of privilege. She's the one with the money, and she wants to keep Mizi as a pet. Mizi's disturbed reaction is entirely justified.
This all makes sense, but the part that bothers me is that this argument should be detrimental if it didn't get resolved. It should ruin their friendship completely. And in the comic, it seems like it didn't get resolved. The scene ends with the kiss, and then we're back to their zombie selves, implying that that kiss has sealed their fate into being together here. But why? Mizi doesn't take the bait here, she doesn't hit Sua when Sua says "hit me instead" and then explains that that would make her understand Mizi's pain. Seemingly, Mizi has left this argument feeling patronised (pet) and stripped of her agency, only to have Sua then confirm the latter part by taking off her glasses (hindering her sight) and initiating a kiss.
One could say that the later kiss being so connected to this one, and that kiss having been what made Sua into a zombie, point to Sua having "shared Mizi's pain" here, but that's straight up not what the dialogue is saying, and it still doesn't let Mizi have a choice in the matter. I don't see why this Mizi wouldn't just fuck off the moment she could, and she certainly could after becoming an idol! Sua keeps this infantalising behaviour well into ther adulthood by taking away Mizi's cigarette like a chiding parent, I'm sure Mizi could have gotten sick of it any day now.
Idk, at the end of the day, Stageverse is a web series about toxic love, so of course I don't expect Mizi to hightail it as soon as Sua shows some toxicity, but honestly it was way more believable in Alien Stage than it was here. All of that being said, I should also mention that so far, I've been disappointed with the overly explicit nature of zomst in general, so obviously I had a bone to pick with this instance of Sua just laying her entire bare heart on the floor
hihi!! there's a tournament going on for fav female characters that were fucked over by fandom misogyny (@/free-my-girl-tourney) and sua got in!! i was one of the ppl who submitted her and i linked ur post abt it in my submission :3 i wanted to let u know in order to secure a vote for her once the polls start lol
Oooh thanks for letting me know!! And I'm flattered you chose my post for it hehe.
I might just not be spotting her (I have terrible eyes lol) but it doesn't look like she made it to the bracket?
♟️ Something you learned or discovered through the whump community?
Oooh that's hard to name I think,, Off the top of my head, Leo recently introduced me to a handful of locations for non-fatal injuries with their No Escape AU which is very whumpy. (thighs, the side under the ribs and arms for anyone curious)
I also learned a lot about recreational painkiller usage while looking things up for my rebel Ivan AU but that's literally instructions on how to get high off of pain meds LOL
mizi and till for the ask game 🍓 u can only answer one question/character if u prefer cause it's a long series of questions lol
Hi Rot !!! Thanks for the ask hehe
OUGH SO MANY THOUGHTS ON MIZI AND TILL... I already answered 1 & 7 for Mizi here but I do wanna talk about 5 with her soooo under the cut because this got super long
ideal flavor of rotating for this character? crack them open and dissect them— do you want them tormented, pining, or being loved + comforted? do you have any specific scenarios you like to think about?
I think the most interesting thing to do to any character is to imagine them post-canon, and the survivors of alnst are Super fun to play with in this regard. I talk about mizitill a lot so it's probably of no surprise that throwing Till in her direction and seeing what she does with him is my favourite brand of rotating them. I already wrote a fic about it but my fav thing to imagine with her is the complicated relationship she would have with Till if he managed to find her. I think Till, post-canon, would be really adamant about the two of them recovering Together because they're Family and whatnot, and it would not be good for her at all. There's actually like, a few hundred words of continuation of the fic I mentioned that I have not posted because I was afraid of people reading it as shipping lol.
Being a lesbian myself, I really like to see the accurate description of the Weird feeling of your male friend liking you. It's horror in and of itself! It's an interesting kind of torment! I wish we could explore it without people thinking it's shipping them and getting on the defense because of it. My fav aspect of it would be that the plot almost moves hurt/comfort (Till who is better off tries to help Mizi) while absolutely not being of comfort to Mizi. Rotating her and her relation to the rebels in my mind forever...
As for Till... ough.
off the top of your head: notes for characterization? what are the most essential traits of this character to you (personality traits, important connections/dynamics, voice)?
I think you were spot on about Till's core traits. He's violent and he's a crybaby! How cute! How awful,,, My only other addition would be that he seems to instinctually gravitate towards a saviour role, even if he isn't fit for it. In a patreon exclusive post, Vivinos says that he wanted to Protect Mizi with his talent. In KARMA, we see him save the museum clone children. We know that he wasn't able to protect Mizi in any way, and this next part is a bit more speculation than canon but I so do not think he would be a good parent to the kids either. He so wants to be a saviour to mend his own broken heart that yearns for a saviour, but ofc he has limits and can't do all that he wants.
adjacently—do you think fandom does the above traits justice? why or why not?
I HATE good parent Till being so prominent in fanon sorry... Other than that I don't think he's mischaracterised too bad? I've seen plenty of acknowledgement of his emotions being super high. His relation to violence is usually understated or overstated (based on what yaoi archetype the artist/author likes usually LOL) but not the worst. I think the worst offender when it comes to his mischaracterisation is people feminising/tsundere-ifying his anger in particular. He has a very male child abused by male parent kind of anger/violence, not the tsundere kind. Note that his violence comes out when Ivan insults him or hurts him otherwise, not when he's being nice.
how do you think you would react to this character in real life and vice versa? would you prefer be a million miles out of range, be amicable classmates, or fall desperately in love?
Honestly, whatever him and Sua have going on would be us as well KJSDFLK. Maybe I could relate to him in art and make friends with him in a classroom setting if Ivan doesn't interfere lol.
ideal flavor of rotating for this character? crack them open and dissect them— do you want them tormented, pining, or being loved + comforted? do you have any specific scenarios you like to think about?
My love for Till and sexual abuse related torment cannot be overstated. Karaoke scene is my favourite scene, and I've written and drawn a lot for him projecting that sexual abuse onto Hallucivan. My url is enough to explain that I think making those two fuck is the most interesting way to torment him <333
weave a web of dynamics through the cast for this character: which dynamics are you most interested in? both canonically and through extrapolation/speculation— which dynamics are the richest to you, and why?
Ivantill and Mizitill goes without saying, but URAKTILL... I'm a big fan of male chars being abused by their dads, so I love to give Urak a prominent tormentor role in my modern AU Tills. I have a lot of different versions of Urak in my head in modern AUs. Is he Till's dad? Manager? Both?
do you have particular niche takes on this character? defend those takes. (openly controversial takes are permitted, but also: hyper-specific headcanons which you believe in and no one else has considered enough to disagree with yet. pick a hill to die on.)
Tell me what the fandom thinks about this man before I can give answers. I've been told I feminise him too much, I've been told "thank you for not twinkifying him", it's all a mess. My hot take on Till is that I don't like the way the food preferences comic explores his bisexuality. I think bisexuality overall is presented in a weird way in Alien Stage, with Luka being shown to hold both Hyuna and Hyunwoo's hearts in KARMA and Till's crush on Mizi sometimes being portrayed as genuine while other times looking like nothing more than comphet ["Error: No better options", "I have a shaking paradigm"]. As a monosexual I'm not sure if it's my place to speak but this perpetuates a sort of "pick one" narrative. Till is narratively punished for not picking Ivan, Luka loves both of them and doesn't get to keep either of them... Idk.
