#A I A : Alien Observer

[un-till-the-end]

All evidence Till survives (2/4)

Blink Gone Observations

1. Inconsistencies compared to previous rounds:

In every single one of these above, the image goes out quickly and then the winning contestant moves up the bracket.

Till is the only exception. His image doesn't go out until after Luka's image has moved into the winning spot and it visibly flickers before it does.

After Sua, Ivan, and even background characters died, they all had large pools of blood under them.

Till is the only one who does not.

2. Hiding his status from the audience

His heart-monitoring earpiece falling out which would tell if he is alive or dead as identified by @pixelifiedcation. @tillsfan recognized the teaser emphasized the earpieces are heart monitors, which, among other reasons, could be to direct fans to this detail.

@asteriass realized how the red spray paint at the bottom of Till's pants and the red soles of his shoes creates the illusion he bled out to the segyein audience. The platform is raised and the floor is reflective.

Unlike previous stages, which were surrounded by the audience on all sides, Round 7 can only be viewed from the front.

Till's leg and Mizi's arm obstruct the segyein's view of Till's actual injury.

Combined with the misdirection of Hyuna's presence, and the excitement over Luka's win, the segyein do not notice there is no pool of blood.

3. From a medical standpoint:

There's lots of different claims people have made, so I consulted my friend who is a medical resident. After laying out the details, he concluded Till's wound is most likely a tracheal injury - not arterial. If so, Till is coughing up blood that is draining into his lungs. My friend's main reasoning is the lack of pooling up blood. The wound still needs immediate medical attention though.

Based on the chart provided by @lost-fugue, this would fall into the orange region with a 50-15% chance of survival. It can be lethal but it should be treatable.

@verdantlights explained the animation team has been consistently accurate with portraying gunshot wounds.

That said, humans can survive virtually anything. They can live after being shot in the head, jumping off a high bridge, or skydiving without a working parachute. So there's no scenario in which his wound is "impossible" to survive.

Till's leg would have fallen down due to gravity since he would have no muscle tone (passive muscle contraction).

If his right foot was pinned under his left leg, then his leg could remain up even if he was dead. However, this is visual storytelling and it would be confusing, ineffective, and illogical for that to be the reason for the positioning of his leg.

Wiege Observations

The morse code at the start of the song spells out "ALIVE" as identified by @awaggaa. While this has the thematic meaning of what it means to be alive, it could also serve a literal meaning that Till is still alive.

@honeybeetlejuice informed there is a heartbeat at the end of Wiege. Compared to Cure, in which Till's heartbeat was speeding up while Ivan's was slow and steady, this heartbeat is faint with long pauses between each one.

Foreshadowing | Official Art & Symbolism | Criticisms & Commentary

[the-sol-eater]

[ content warning: discussion of in-canon sexual abuse ] Maybe it’s just because I’m not too active in the ALNST fandom and mostly observe from afar, but I think this fandom brushed aside way too quickly the fact that Till was sexually assaulted. I have never seen anyone talk in depth about like, what that actually means in terms of his arc and the storytelling of his character. Which I find deeply, deeply upsetting because holy fucking shit.

This man right here has been told, basically his entire life, that not only is he himself not worthy of being treated as a human, but that his body is not his body, but a piece of property that can be owned. And whoever owns his property can use it for whatever, and however they wish. Now, dehumanization is nothing new or unique in this world, obviously. The very concept of Pet Humans is dehumanizing by nature, leaving all six of our main characters as victims to it, even those who are more well-off like Mizi. But Till is a specially fucked up case almost distinctly unlike the rest, because he is actually treated like a fucking dog.

(x) Ivan: If you keep rebelling like that, they won’t ever remove your collar you know? Till: This annoying bastard… — Ivan: I told you so, didn’t I? You didn’t listen? Till: This annoying bastard... (translation courtesy of @leiikos on youtube)

(x)

An unruly animal who needs to be leashed up and put in it’s place. Animals, as is common knowledge, are not on the same level as a human being. But they are ordained to follow the commands of those above them. And if someone (thing) isn’t doing as it is told…

It deserves to be taught better. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This is the mindset that has followed Till his entire life by the ones who were supposed to take care of him. He is not human, even less human than the existing inhuman. He is a pet, even more so than the other pets, an animal. A thing. Property. Something to own. And the best thing about owning something?

You gain the ability to do whatever you want to it. Till’s body was not his from the start. It was used as something to toy around with, experiment with, to train and train and train, presumably for his whole life. His body, his skin, his flesh and bone and blood, it was all nothing more than a plaything. So what if he screams? Just ignore it. Or don’t. If this competition has taught us anything, voices have the most value of all. On top of it being reinforced that Till is not deserving of humanity, he is also not deserving of his bodily autonomy. People are free to do whatever they want with his body because it’s not his body, it’s theirs. And that brings us, finally, to the scene itself

He can’t sing her song, he refuses to. This isn’t the first time he’s refused to do something, far from it actually. What was once an innocent puppy with dilated hope in his eyes has grown into an angry, disobedient mutt. And we know what happens to an animal that refuses to do what they’re told. But there’s something interesting about dogs, or rather about the ones they descended from, the wolf: When the circumstances call for it, they will bite the hand that’s supposed to feed them.

And here is where I intrude to remind you that this is the only time we see anyone physically fighting back against the aliens in the confines of Alien Stage. We see Hyuna and Mizi fucking up aliens in All In, but that was after they had escaped from the cage. And you could make a case for Mizi trying to escape the grasp of the guards that grabbed her in Ruler of My Heart, but from what we saw she didn’t actually lay a hand on them and more so just tried to force herself out of their grasp. though if you disagree with me on that that's fine Here though? Till has this bitch’s face grabbed into his palm with a bottle in hand ready to smash it directly in between it’s eyes. I consider this to be the first act of physical violence shown against the aliens within the uncomfortably tight enclosure. And it’s triggered not because of anything personally done to Till, which on its own could probably fill a list that reaches the ground. But because of the prospect of Mizi being dead. Till knows that this place is shit, that his life is shit. Said so directly on his profile.

Dislikes: Everyone, including Guardian Urak (translation courtesy of @kh47uo on twitter)

But he stays regardless because Mizi is there. If Mizi is dead, Till has absolutely nothing to lose…Right?

I can almost imagine him thinking: There’s nothing you can put me through that’s worse than every other way you’ve hurt me. …But there was. Oh there was.

A final, disgusting message to the pet to put him back in his place. Back on his leash. Making sure he will never forget where he stands for the rest of his days.

And that is really what the sexual assault of Till represents to me. It is a cruel reminder to Till that fighting back is impossible, having hope, being free, it might as well be a fool's fantasy. He will always be less-than-human, less than anything. His body will always be the property of the ones that were supposed to protect him, claimed, and then used used used until it’s worn out and dead.

And the aliens chose to exemplify that fact in the most direct way they possibly could.

So what if he screams? Just ignore it. Or don’t. If this competition has taught us anything, screams have the most value of all

[sound-bombing]

Grouper - A I A: Alien Observer (Yellowelectric, 2011) Genre: Ambient, Drone, Ambient Pop Artwork: Sarah Meadows Bandcamp

[crustyfloor]

From what I've seen most of the criticism of HyunA's character post-wiege (and the dynamic of HyuLuka as a whole, mostly consisting of comments over how her development and death turned her into a shallow character) comes from a misinterpretation of her character, although I know most concerns are valid and some I agree, I also feel like there is an equal amount of criticisms that are just plainly lacking nuance. Some people genuinely believe HyuLuka's relationship falls into the typical "Victim falls in love with their abuser" cliche and that's why it's bad, and if you understand what that entails, it's such a strange simplification of a complex dynamic, you don't have to like them romantically (I don't either, at least not in canon) or at all actually but the way people outright deny them as a pair denies HyunA and Luka their complexity, their stories are intertwined and aid in each-other's development as characters. Personally I see a lot of people that don't like HyunA's death because it feels as though it made her into a shallow character that just died so Luka could live and she was essentially used as a cheap plot device, but in my interpretation that couldn't be farther from the truth because that's what moving the story along meaningfully means and what I think throws people off is that she did it for Luka, all conflict and other factors aside, she died for Luka and that's the main problem here.

Some people say it's out of character and forced, but people also undermine HyunA's actual personality and character behind the face she shows us, and the rebellion, even though both sides of the same coin are reflected in All-in and Wiege. They want a revenge story from her and they want her to hate Luka completely but that's just not the person she is, it never was and I believe that reflects in her introspective pieces (Ex. Love&peace) but I understand why people resent or are disgusted by Luka, I'm interested in him as a character, but is he one I particularly like? Not really, but then they project that onto HyunA., The problem is that HyunA and Luka are still labeled as victim and abuser by the fandom, even if there was objectively a perpetrator and a victim, given what we're shown. The situation is still far more complex than even that. Luka should not be labeled as an abuser. It's simply a word with too much background in terms of the way we see it and implications that don't accurately apply to him. The way I see it, it's just ignorant to throw that term around, especially in this case

I think it would help a lot of people if they would acknowledge that the world of Alien stage is more fleshed out than it may appear, a lot of aspects and detail is put into account, and most importantly, it is not an excuse when in discussion people say that their environment shapes these characters, it is a fact and it is an explanation so that we can break it down and see the complexity, this nuance is reflected in their world, and in their dynamics with one another. Putting this bluntly, these characters are slaves in an oppressive hyper-capitalistic alien and dystopian universe, deprived of all bodily autonomy, family, moral code, humanity, name it. Everything and their existence pertains to their role as a product; it is not an exaggeration to say, the characters are different from us. They are just a step above feral children, and that's that. How in the world are we being so crass in handling these characters when it's like this .

CSA is complex, and a lot of people say this and seem to understand so it disappoints me when people go beyond criticizing Luka and straight up call him an abuser or vilify him when 1) he and HyunA were children, 2) Luka's complex and it was difficult for him to understand better given what I've said before, there are lore-centered reasons to explain this too, but that's how I think of it outside of that because it's mostly a morality issue when discussing HyuLuka, again it's to each their own this is just what I think. It's unthoughtful and stupid to go into discussions as delicate as this without an open mind and compassion, or going in expecting these characters to be upstanding members of society, and if they aren't, then they're evil and crooked. Even if you don't particularly care for that certain character, that's what interpreting media is all about. Seeing things from their perspective and as objectively as you can. The characters are the ones who have the right to their biases and whatnot, but viewers are supposed to look beyond that, yeah?

Some people were disappointed when HyunA didn't go through on what they thought she would do, when she wasn't the character they thought she was. Yes, she could've hated Luka, likely should've hated him, she would've been in the right by all means, I'm sure it's what I would've done had I been in her situation but I'm not, every person is different and not every person will process and go about things the same way, and a lot of people tend to think personally and project onto HyunA, people don't want to think outside the box and regard her as badly written when it comes to this very delicate part of their story because she doesn't apply to a certain criteria of what makes a victim in their minds, even though she is very a complex character.

I'm sure it's a puzzling way to see a character develop, to see a person regard someone who hurt them so much and caused so many scars with anything but vitriol, but I think HyunA offers a unique perspective by both hating Luka but understanding and loving Luka regardless, not just because of what he means to her but because she'd do that for anyone she cares about, she doesn't excuse him but she also doesn't villainize him, too many people undermine HyunA's strong and loving, caring nature and her unconditional love for humanity, even with its flaws, and not.

HyunA doesn't love Luka despite everything because she feels obligated or because it was forced for some ulterior motive. This feels most natural for her character, in fact. Because she's always been this type of woman, putting others before herself, being kind and compassionate, and endlessly loving, and that's always been a core aspect of her character, regardless of what she's been through, she doesn't forgive or forget what Luka did of course and she feels a lot for how difficult and strange this dynamic is, resentment and some parts disgust and that's a strong and good part of her character, but she can't help how she feels, she doesn't want to live in the past and live in hate, this is just her honest self

her feelings and her love, and her perspective explain why she dies, and I believe it was meaningful to her character and to Luka's, all things considered. Yet people want to force her to just feel hatred, she should've let Luka get shot and die with no second thought, or it's a no-brainer that she's just badly written, Vivinos is endorsing abuse, etc. Even though I believe all that is very blatantly false, and there was a lot of thought put into this, more than I even considered tbh.

So you see, I just wanted to brainvomit a bit... I believe these dynamics should be discussed in more media. And it was a perfect opportunity to explore a relationship like HyunA and Luka's in an environment like Alien Stage's universe on Vivino's part, even in its subtlety. They fit seamlessly and sensibly there. More people must be able to think about these relationships thoroughly because what I see on twit is so unthoughtful and narrow-minded, and ignorant, and it's not like HyunA and Luka are the only characters like this that get pulled into some arguments because of it.

This discussion also applies to Ivan and Till's kiss scene. There is no denying it was SA, hard stop. (and I see too many people debating otherwise, like with the Karaoke scene too, like how do you confront people in real life with this mindset. I believe it's because Till, as a character and a victim, isn't treated as seriously or seen as such by some of the fandom, even though these scenes are very blunt. People don't tend to discuss it in good faith or ever at all, ) but there is a similar nuance to their situation, too. And neither character deserves to be rid of that because of what we may feel. Ivan isn't a villain; Ivan also isn't beyond criticism, but he has a background and complexity to provide nuance behind what he did, too. Luka isn't above criticism for also being a victim because he did twisted and bad things, yet he is also complex. None of the characters are above criticism, but there is nuance to everything, you get the gist... This is just what I think after some time to think about it. I don't like to see the representation and commentary on these topics that Alien stage has to offer being mishandled, so I try to think about it the best way I can

[cosmicjoan]

I keep forgetting to post this (almost three months now...)

oddtober 8- weird

Now, the rest of the started sketches from inktober will wait until I get motivated

[theofficialastronomy101]

Earth as seen from planet Mars (Curiosity rover photography) credit to NASA.

[asteriass]

Till’s peculiar trouser pattern & the illusion it causes

As I was watching the Round 7 MV on Friday, there were two things I was the most focused on, Luka‘s back & waist, and (MORE importantly) the peculiar design of Till’s pants. Especially in the moments after he’s shot and the illusion it is likely to create for the audience members

I mean, by now it’s pretty clear that the design of his pants is that way for legitimate narrative reasons too, instead of it just being… sick as heck (which it very much is though).

One of those reasons of course potentially being as some type of tie in or symbolic relation to the very end of Round 6, where Till stands in/near Ivan’s pool of blood

A 2nd reason, I might add, is because it serves to create an illusion for the audience/that, it conveniently ends up creating an illusion - an illusion that makes it seem as if more damage has been done than it actually is.

Rewinding a bit,,,

Round 7‘s stage is very interesting, in that it is incredibly different in layout from most other stages. While generally speaking the stages are more similar to football fields (aka the stages are surrounded ALL AROUND by places for the audience members to sit and view the contestants) Round 7‘s stage mainly only allows the audience to view the stage from one view, the front view.

There are some sitting arrangements on the side view of the extended platform which Luka and Till occasionally walk on while singing in the MV, but the main stage itself can only be properly viewed from one side, and it is on that front side where the VAST majority of audience seats are conjested

Other than this frontal look of the stage, unless you are sitting high up (which majority of the audience isn’t) you can’t get any other full on perspective of the main stage while you are watching and cheering

But why is this layout important?

Note the position Till is laying down in.

His legs are facing the alien audience, while his head and neck (the actual points of injury) are obstructed from their view.

And this is not simply cause of Mizi being semi hunched over (though it does play a part too), the way Till fell/is laying in general would just make it hard for the audience to see his injuries from where they are sitting. It doesn’t help either for the general audience that the seats are situated a bit below the main stage too (the platform of the stage is raised)

But even in the BEST case scenario, this is what they’d see

So clearly, a very… not at all clear view of his torso, neck, or even face (cause Mizi is hunched over it and also her arms on the sides), but rather ONLY of his shoes and pants.

…You see where I’m going with this?

Another interesting thing to note, is that there is literally no pool of blood around Till. He never bleeds out on the stage like Sua and Ivan do. There is some blood on his mouth & also on his neck (& thus on Mizi’s thigh), but there is so actual pool of blood around him

What there is, though, is the bloody pattern of pants, and the red from his shoes, reflecting on the reflective stage. It creates the illusion that more damage has been done than it actually is. And I mean that canonically.

Canonically his wounds are not messy enough to externally cause a pool of blood. To cause him to bleed out on the stage, but the general alien audience wouldn’t really notice that. Not with Till’s wounds conveniently positioned in their blind spot (for those sitting in the front of the main stage - majority of the audience.) due to Till’s pose, and then also Mizi’s hunching and arm positions blocking the view of his wounds when the aliens would already have not as much view clarity of those area (for those on the upper level). Not with how dim the lights already are by that point. And not with how they are all lost in their excitement and cheers.

Their favorite won! Why would they need to keenly analyze the parts of the stage they can’t even see? Rather than that, let’s cheer on the king and the special guests who just joined! [Not to mention, the reflective surface on the stage and the blood splatter design and his blood red shoe soles (which is already their main focal point from the perspective they are seeing)!]

See what I mean?

It all creates an illusion. An illusion that the damage is done - more damage than we (as the viewer) can see and know has happened. But from their literal and mental perspective, they can’t see that. Nor do they need to question what they see either. They have more emotions and excitement to loose themself in.

Thus (by the end of the Round 7 MV at least) the ‘illusion’ gets further enforced.

Sure, we know Till didn’t bleed out like Sua, or Ivan, or many other contestants, but they don’t need to question what they expect and what is being reflected to them

[bumblingbabooshka]

What are the Observers in your story "A star filled oyster"? Are the humans from an organization? An alien species? Imagine you wake up one day and you see an observer in your room. That'd be awkward.

Observers are an alien species! It's unknown where their homeworld is or how they appear on long-term space faring vessels, but they do. They're not naturally Humanoid, they just appear that way to blend in. You can identify them by their eyes and the fact that they all wear a certain insignia and won't tell anyone what it means beyond that they're an Observer. They refuse to tell anyone what their mission is beyond "Observation" which is how they got the moniker.

Observers don't experience emotion or any sensation that isn't pain - the latter is a fairly recent evolutionary[?] development (to keep them from getting killed). Some Observers will mimic emotion in certain situations to encourage more information (EX: Pretending to cry to see what would happen). They don't engage much interpersonally with others and most have taken to seeing them more as living recording devices than people.

Most. Also, the likelihood of waking up to an Observer being in your room is low but NOT zero if you're on a long-term space faring vessel. Try telling 'em to shoo!

[quaranmine]

i'm going to be honest, as someone who mainly uses tumblr and has had my likes visibility turned off since the beginning of time, i do not quite get why xitter is burning itself down over likes being private now. to me this is the ideal, if i want someone to see it then i share it, if i want it for myself i like it. i have never really been happy that my likes were public on twitter.

however regardless of my confusion i AM proud of them for continuing the trend of vocally complaining about random semi-pointless changes to websites because we need to stay constantly vigilant that ceos dont get too comfortable making social media even worse than it already is. i am pro complaining constantly about every minor webbed site change. also i hate anything elon musk does ever

[luv-indigo]

OLNF Week Day 5: Sci-fi

this was heavily inspired by those alien cat memes. in this au, i like to think nadine and cheyomi would be siblings. they were hatched from an egg or something. incubator buddies?? :3c

wyd if two aliens pull up to golden grove in a space shuttle?? @olnfweek2024

these two are on their first mission on earth to conduct research on the local environment. they’re not supposed to interact with the humans but they’re just so fascinating. they can’t help it if they watch the locals from afar (especially two particularly interesting individuals) and are incidentally spotted…. oops.

nadine and cheyomi panic at first thinking they blew their mission but to their surprise, the two humans approach them. they declare a new side mission! observe (befriend) the two humans!

[lopposting]

Lies of P harbors a plethora of concealed enigmas and artful subtleties, and there are no wrong interpretations to them. Piece together the scattered fragments and unravel the puzzle to craft a narrative of what is true to you. ... With sincerest regards, Lies of P Director CHOI JIWON

Director Choi's message on the Special Release Vinyl in 2023.

I loved this because it's very fitting on a meta level, like the truth is what you make it/the truth is what you choose etc. ("Are you a puppet or a human?")

lies of p is a product, is a puzzle, its a video game, is an adaptation and it's also Weird Art. 🖼️  And like i said before, i think this means things being left up to interpretation is by design. and at this point (like I had with petscop... which is a wild reach, i know) I think ive started to accept maybe we just won't have all the answers, we won't ever know everything, maybe there weren't all the answers to begin with (but on a lesser level than something like petscop of course).

[crustyfloor]

I get a little crayz seeing this specific shot of Ivan...Ivan putting on a mask makes me crazy. It's the way his expression doesn't reach his eyes, the lack of sincerity in his smile.

But in the second image, he looks so annoyed he can barely care to school his expression and you can SEE the grimace in his eyes (EYE LINES!!!). There's such a stark difference in the persona he puts out there for people perceive him as vs how he naturally is gthybwsdgyc__(I need to see more of Ivan's natural expressions)

[saph-yells-into-the-void]

TELL ME WHY I CHECKED MANGADEX FOR TOKYO ALIENS AND GOT JUMPSCARED BY THREE NEW CHAPTERS??

we're almost caught up Japan's releases, I can't believe it. I prayed for times like these seriously who should I give my firstborn to for translating these chapters??? may I shine your shoes too???

[thereadingaddic7]

So like, it's no real secret that the Bohrok were inspired by the Xenomorphs from Aliens right? The way their nest looks, the Exo-Toa/Power Loader, the Krana pull double duty as both facehuggers and as the human skull you can see in the Xenomorphs head under the right angles and lighting, the way the Bohrok head snaps forward to knock your mask of is similar to the Xeno's little mouth darting out to bite your face off, and ofc the Lehvak using acid (like the Xenomorph's blood) rather than air as it's element, even though the other breeds matched theirs up with the main six elements. The references are all very obvious in hindsight, though probably went over most of our little kid brains.

With all that in mind however...

...was this literally just another fucking Aliens reference?

[luck-of-the-drawings]

HAVNT BEEN ABLE TO DRAW ON MY TABLET AS MUCH LATELY. but i HAVE been able to doodle very much on paper while at work. so i have a massive backlog o traditional art i have yet to post. (its literally all OC stuff) to begin, please say hello to two little characters of mine, Copper and Gossamer