#when i thought mizi was going to be the opponent i thought it would be ivan who wins

[liquidstar]

anyway if there is another bracket after ivan vs till... it would come down to either till vs luka or ivan vs luka. which is why i think ivan is going to die next round (assuming it goes normally) because.... it holds a lot more emotional weight for till to go against luka as of rn, since till believes luka is responsible for mizi's death. i dont think he saw that she was saved, all he knows is that luka was taunting her to the point that she snapped and beat the shit out of him. so.... i think he'd be a little mad LOL. and luka would be the type to try and leverage that...

[ayakashiz]

Alien Stage R6 Analysis

VERY LONG compilation of my interpretations, impressions and unanswered questions about Round 6 of Alien Stage. I just wanted to write this to put all my thoughts in one place so I can finally rest (in pieces). TW for mentions of suic*de/suic*dal ideation.

The most debated is no doubt the kiss/choking scene and Ivan’s motivation for doing so in the first place. 

I think from the very beginning, even before R3, Ivan was planning to go out with a bang. That’s the immediate impression I got from the comic where he mocks/criticizes Sua for planning to “selfishly” die for Mizi and feel good being the “heroine” rather than having to deal with the trauma of being the one left behind. 

(I'm too lazy to edit the whole translation as of now, but might do so when I have more time.)

Ivan tells her how he’s “relieved that he’s not the only who’s that twisted” = He’s comparing himself to Sua. He thinks they’re both ‘twisted’ for planning to do the same thing, but from Ivan’s perspective, he at least isn’t fooling himself into thinking his motives are altruistic. He tasted the feeling of being ‘abandoned’, and he knows he doesn’t want to experience it twice. 

He also probably thought that his death wouldn’t be as impactful on Till as Sua’s death on Mizi, and therefore his own selfishness is more justified in his mind. This most likely plays a role in how cold and biting his words are towards Sua –he’s jealous of that difference between them.

I hadn’t noticed this detail the first time I watched the video: Not only did Till look absolutely miserable and defeated from the get go, but he completely gave up and stopped singing at some point. If you look at the video, we can hear the audio that was supposed to be sung, but Till is quiet and still, and THIS is the moment Ivan chooses to act.

Although they do not show the votes at that particular moment, stopping mid song would have definitely taken a hit to Till’s score as it’s basically forfeiting –a huge contrast to his previous match where he didn’t even let his opponent utter a single line.

In response, Ivan doesn’t just walk towards him but throws his microphone to the ground, explicitly forfeiting as well in order to then pull a drastic move like it was foreshadowed in his interview.

The kiss itself imo was the less calculated/arguably unplanned part. He could have just choked Till from the start and it would have gotten him the same if not better results (since it was the act of violence against another contestant that ultimately lowered his score and got the counter to stop). 

That kiss was authentic and for himself entirely, both as a last desperate attempt at conveying his feelings and a selfish way of leaving a strong impression on Till that he wouldn’t be able to forget (a hypocritical move going back to how he criticized Sua). In that sense, I don’t think Ivan was seriously trying to take Till down with him –although that’s up to interpretation. As I see it, that would contradict his actions up until that point.

Till was VERY CLEARLY suic*dal (once again, he gave up singing), and after the initial shock of Ivan squeezing his neck, this fiery, rebellious man who is KNOWN to fight tooth and nail, simply closed his eyes and relaxed his body, waiting for Ivan to end him without fighting at all. 

The thing is, no matter how suic*dal one may be, the fighting response when being actually suffocated is automatic and completely involuntary. People mention there not being marks on Till’s neck but I think the most telling sign is him not going red, not squirming, not struggling or holding onto Ivan’s wrists (again, expected involuntary responses), his eyes not watering or having blurry vision while we see Ivan from his POV, not opening his mouth even a little to gasp for air and not coughing or gasping either when he was finally released.

Ivan definitely had him in a strong grip, might have even made him a bit lightheaded, but the reason why Till could look so relaxed in the first place is because he had given up and was waiting for Ivan to go ahead. If his closed eyes and limp posture were due to the choking itself, he would have fallen or stumbled when being let go, but we see that his eyes open as soon as he feels Ivan’s hands slipping away and he looks shocked instead.

So then what was Ivan’s motivation, if not to kill him? Yes, there’s the already discussed plan to get himself disqualified. But Ivan glances at the screen only a few seconds after he starts the choking, confirming that the voting had in fact stopped with Till having the higher score. He then goes for one last ‘goodbye’ kiss before continuing to choke him, holding his grip even as he starts getting shot.

We see a closeup of him, his eyes and hands trembling, looking more frustrated/emotional than in Till’s first POV where he looks rather stoic. It makes me think that the reason he refused to let go was simply because he wanted Till to look at him. 

They strongly imply throughout the whole video that being annoying or mean or violent was the only way Ivan learnt how to make Till focus his full attention on him, but now even as he’s threatening his life, even as he himself is dying, even after that kiss, Till wouldn’t look. 

It took him getting fatally wounded and realizing there was no turning back to reach a state of acceptance. His bittersweet expression here reminds me A LOT of his smile after Till runs back during the meteor scene, although this one seems a lot more tender. He seems to accept the fact that Till will never love him back, but Ivan cannot stop loving him anyways and he at least got to put his feelings out there. 

(The parallels here are driving me insane. The way there is light in his eyes in both instances as he looks at Till even while 'losing him' in a way. The struggle between wanting to posses him yet realizing his free spirit/strong will is part of what he loves about him. That last genuine gaze from a character who spent his whole life putting on a mask. Yes I am very normal about this.)

Until then, Ivan’s more tender/vulnerable side is only shown while Till is unconscious or looking away.

(That soft, loving nuzzle to Till's face has me in SHAMBLES.)

But ironically, it’s only when he releases him and shows him this vulnerability without a mask that Till really looks at him for the first time. I’d go as far as to say that it was this moment, and not the kiss, that finally made Till understand Ivan’s feelings. And in turn Ivan gets that little shot of euphoria as he falls to the ground.

Going back to the survivor’s guilt… I can only imagine it’ll go completely downhill for Till from now on. Not only does he already think Mizi might be dead and is angry at himself that he couldn’t save her (as seen in the shot where he punches his own picture), but now he has most likely realized that Ivan intentionally fumbled their match for his sake –which would lead to the realization that he was the reason why Ivan chose to run back to Anakt Garden after him in the first place, and that choice ultimately lead to his death. 

Even though we see them fighting a lot as children through the videos and comics, it’s also implied that they were always together and they shared some quiet moments –the “Mizi didn’t play with you, I played with you” art, all that art of the main 4 playing together, those bright smiles as they ran away together during the meteor shower scene and Till looking so guilty when he let go of his hand. 

There are a few cute doodles of them for those who are on Patreon, and some more lore in the Anakt Garden kit –so they were at the very least friends in their own way (as best as 2 very traumatized and abused children could), constantly fighting and making up. Which God… it shows that despite appearances Till must have actually had the patience of a saint when they were little lmao.

But what I’m trying to say is that despite what Ivan may have thought, his death will most definitely have an impact on Till and the narrative going forward, and I’m excited to find out how that reflects in the final round (if the resistance doesn’t manage to get back up in time to disrupt it). 

Despite how much I adored (and SUFFERED WITH) this round, I still have MANY questions that were left unanswered, both about Ivan and Till, and the lore in general, and I wonder if there’ll be time to answer them all, as I can imagine the next MV will be focused on Luka’s perspective, the only one we haven’t been presented with.

One of the most pressing questions being: What’s the relationship between Ivan and that alien dog? Did he tame it? It is implied that it was Ivan who somehow led Till and Mizi to it in the first place in that one scene, and if so I wonder what his motivation was? Normally jealousy would be the first thing to come to mind but Ivan wasn’t interested in Till until AFTER he saw him stand up to the beast to protect Mizi, so it couldn’t have been that. 

This is something that was also teased on Patreon and I was looking forward to the explanation on the MV, but it never came, and now Ivan is dead, so the next video will most likely not be too concerned with his backstory any longer. (Which, also, I was really curious about his life in the slums before being captured, auctioned and brought to Anakt, as that would have played a huge role in his twisted personality/dark tendencies –once again teased on Patreon very briefly, but not explained beyond that frame of him looking famished.)

The second is, how is Ivan able to open Till’s collar/muzzle so easily? This is a question I’ve been having since R3, but chalked it up to Ivan being sneaky and figuring out some kind of code to the cell door and that somehow automatically deactivating the locks on the restraints… or something. But with how many times he does it in R6 with just a touch it’s very clear that that isn’t the case and also imo they’re trying to point this out as a significant detail. 

It may turn out that I’m just looking too much into it, but I find it really curious and interesting. Not only is he the only child without a collar (Mizi and Sua still had them despite being just as well behaved as him), but he seems to be the only one able to take them off –or at least Till’s. I’m pretty sure the children wouldn’t normally be able to remove them by themselves as it seems to be a control mechanism. So how can Ivan? This might explain a lot about how they were able to escape, and also add a layer of tragedy knowing that Ivan could have chosen to escape by himself at any point, but refused to leave Till behind.

Last but not least there’s all the human experimentation Till was subjected to, which was the main topic of the teaser and we see the same images show up in the very beginning of the MV. They help emphasize Till’s suffering and distressed state of mind, but then they’re never expanded on or mentioned at all for the rest of the video. That’s a huge piece of lore that I also hope isn’t forgotten.

I mean, I really doubt it will. So far VIVINOS & co. have been incredible with their ability to hold back information and release it at the moment where it’s the most impactful, which is refreshing to see. So I trust we’ll get some answers eventually. 

Really curious to know why they would experiment on an ALNST contestant in the first place, especially one that is undoubtedly talented and described as a musical genius (aka. has good odds of doing well on stage and earning the segyein revenue). A very plausible theory might just be that he was just getting constantly drugged to make him less of a threat/more submissive –like we see on the karaoke room scene. But it might as well be something bigger.

As for my expectations for the next round… I’m still just trying to process this one, as you can see by the sheer amount of text. There are many things left to address, and the Hyuna/Luka confrontation has been strongly teased. I wonder also, if the round goes on without interruption, what would Luka’s strategy against Till be? Would he go for provocation again, trying to imitate Mizi/hint to his recent trauma with Ivan? It probably won’t be that simple.

I mean, VIVINOS has been known for subverting our expectations with each round:

The ominous/callous framing that was given to Ivan by the end of Black Sorrow and the art that followed, making us suspicious of his intentions, only to have him die for love. The lifeless/doll-like framing given to Luka, vulnerable and cornered by flashing lights, only to have him be the cruelest/most calculating one (that we know so far). The rebellious, rowdy, willing to do anything to survive framing given to Till, only to have his fighting spirit completely break and willingly waiting to die by Ivan’s hands. The naive, complacent and passive image given to Mizi, only to have her snap, beat the shit out of Luka and join the rebellion –and with how things are going (and her being the protagonist) I wouldn’t be surprised if she, and not Hyuna (the one who was framed as the most strong and reliable, giving us a false sense of security going into R6), is who will have to try and rescue Till (and Luka???).

There are still a ton of things that keep me awake at night about R6 –my favorite character dying aside. I could talk about it forever, but I’ll leave it here. 

Feel free to share your theories, delusions, interpretations or any detail I might have missed with me. God knows we need group therapy after this as the cute chibi keychains can only heal us so far. Thanks for reading my rambles if you made it this far. :’)

[vanillaanillav]

Something I’ve been thinking about is that Till and Ivan knew from as soon as they got the layout of the bracket that they would end up against each other. And while we know what Ivan’s plan was—he would likely throw their match—what the hell was Till thinking? Was he trying not to think about it? His focus in the first round was to confess to Mizi, but he also Very forcefully ensured his success by pulling the rug out from under his opponent. 

Of course they both knew Ivan would win his match. Did Till think he had a chance, or did he think he’d lose? Before Mizi went missing and he suddenly got super popular, was he planning to give his all? I imagine he must have been. Maybe justifying it with the idea that Ivan would win anyway, so he’d go out with a bang, as was his pre-depression philosophy. 

There’s still so much we don’t know about Till’s feelings about Ivan—I think a purposeful move from the creators. I know they chose specifically to make Ivan’s feelings unrequited to contrast Mizisua, but they were friends! And if not friends anymore, there was some sense of comfort and familiarity in just knowing each other. Till acted aggressively to Ivan, but all in reaction to what he thought was intentional provocation (see: cheer up comic). And despite that, he let him follow him around.

In the scene where Ivan touches the cut on his face, he initially reacts aggressively and then sees that it’s Ivan and… calms down? Or gives up? It’s bizarre, I don’t think he’s scared of Ivan exactly, but in these tiny windows we see into how he feels about him, it’s very mixed. I wonder if he feels guilty about turning back when they were kids. Or he doesn’t know how to process Ivan’s attention or what to do about it. 

It should be clear that Ivan is like, embarrassingly horrendously terribly in love with him, but when Ivan kisses him he’s SO shocked. He pulls away, but after the second kiss he looks like he starts to realize that like, oh, this is for real, and there’s just a tiny moment of that before he thinks Ivan is trying to kill him and he gives up. 

There’s something to be said about how he just accepts that Ivan is trying to kill him after he kisses him. After going through what he went through with the aliens—there’s the split second of confused realization, and then he accepts it as just someone else taking something from him, violence and physical intimacy irreparably intertwined. 

I wonder what he thinks when Ivan gives him that last small kiss. If he took the other kisses, this one he gave, this one a gift, a tiny reassurance. I wonder what he thinks after all of it—it’s so much to process in such a short time. I would pay a hundred million dollars to know his thought process in that moment like holy shit man. 

Also, in relation to Ivan’s dislike of Sua and then his later hypocritical sacrifice, a lot of people have talked about how he wasn’t being a hypocrite because she was leaving behind a lover and he was leaving behind the object of his affection, not someone with a mutual feeling. And I think that’s true. I imagine he knew he was going to do the same thing as her and lashed out partly as a kind of projection. Partly out of jealousy that she Had a lover to leave behind, while he thought Till wouldn’t really care about his death.

But I also think (based on the Stage 6 comic) that he gets a brief moment of clarity at the very end where he realizes that their situations aren’t so dissimilar after all, hence the “I shouldn’t have been so hard on her.” He really cocooned himself in the idea that Till didn’t care and would never care, in a way where it almost became comforting to him. But, in those final seconds, after choosing to be selfish with the kiss and then be selfless with his sacrifice, he did realize that Till will be affected by this. Hence, thanking him for being the victim of his fragile feelings. 

It’s such a sad idea… only being willing to contend with the possibility that someone cares about you in some capacity when you’ve already made your exit. It’s cowardly and I think he knows that, but I also think it’s part of that final indulgence he takes. He gets to kiss Till and gets to avoid a world without him. Till gets to live. It’s hard to say which is the better path.

[sssusuki]

Mizi POV

What was happening? She didn't know. Suddenly being dragged from her blue cocoon, put in a chair as her hair was pulled and twisted, as she was wrangled into an uncomfortable and unmovable dress.

The neckline gave her discomfort. She wished Sua was here. She really wished she was here. Just hearing her voice would make things better.

She was promised that they would go to paradise, but nobody told Mizi that the paradise was death.

Her breathing quickens again.

She couldn't do this.

She wouldn't do this.

Perhaps if she ran now she would get far enough. Or maybe she'll be taken as some fugitive and shot on the spot. Yeah, that sounds better.

She'd see Sua. Yeah. That sounds nice.

But she can't run. Not in this dress. Not right now.

She was hassled onto a platform and now she is already on the stage, waiting for the lights to come on so she can fight for her life.

The champion of the last Alien Stage. She just hopes that this will be a quick loss and easy death. She hopes that when she breathes her last it isn't on pain. She hopes she thinks of Sua on her way out.

She feels her hands shake. She isn't ready for this. She isn't ready for any of this.

The lights feel too bright as they seem to blind her, her breathing quickens as she feels her eyes come out of her head.

She appears to the audience first. The light shining on her as she takes note of them all. The big and small aliens, the rich and poor ones. She even notices the champion's owner, fashioned in matching colors with her and, presumably, the champion. Luka.

They clap and give cheer. Excited, but not exactly loud. That doesn't seem to calm her anxiety.

Then, suddenly, the crowd booms as the light shifts to another. A blonde. Luka.

He looks younger than she thought, however, if his soft smile towards the audience is anything to go by, she does not trust him one bit.

She saw what he did that first round. He decimated his opponent. After the half of the song was over, they had already given up, and by the time they had died he had the gall to kiss their hand and smile. Causing the crowd to roar so load it cut the mics put in the cocoons.

She doesn't feel like herself as she walks towards the crowd, falling in tandem with the blonde man to the side of her.

Then, suddenly, as the music finally becomes recognizable in her ears, he steps in front of her. Much too close for her liking personally.

But then. No, then, he whistles.

She is quick to step away as he begins to sing close to her, almost circling her like some prey animal.

"You can turn away from the light." Is the first thing she registers he says. Melodic and smooth, his voice is like marble, but he is much too close and much too uncomfortable for her to even look at that.

"You can even outburn the sun," He says, before going up right behind her, "My Star." He whispers in her ear as chills run down her spine and she turns around and backs up desperately.

She feels so uncomfortable as he tries to caress her hair as she swats him away.

She is quick to walk to the microphones, trying desperately to make him leave her alone. She is still shaking, she realizes.

Why is she still shaking?

Why is she here?

"You're the perfect subject," He sings, his voice romantic and hollow. She shivered as he continued, as though her feelings were not there at all, "With the whole world in your sad eyes."

He sings as he circles her, reminding her of the moon circling the earth.

She's terrified.

Why is he doing this?

She feels like she cannot breathe. She feels so shaky, like she is about to collapse. Like her world is caving in.

Suddenly, he stops in front of her, slowly lifting his head to hers as he seems to sing into her mic.

"My savior," She looks away, unable to move but refusing to look at him, "beautiful soul."

Anger boils and bubbles inside her stomach as her body moves like on command. She moves the mic to her mouth, "I don't believe you, you liar." As she and him harmonize.

She struggles to sing, like a clipped songbird. Her voice feels like it's slowly losing itself. Like her throat is closing. She can softly feel her hand unconsciously touching her neck, the fabric feelings suffocating.

She feels sick. She doesn't want to do this. Why is he doing this.

She feels bile on her tongue. She wants, no, wishes, that she could choke him out. For him to shut up.

He seems to finally give her room as they harmonize as he steps back and seems to pose in front of the moon for the audience.

"When our darknesses overlap," They harmonize, and for a moment, just a moment, Mizi thinks she sees black hair.

Sua.

Suddenly she feels like she is dying all over again.

And then he is suddenly too close. Sua is too close.

She cups Mizi's face, her expression oddly distant.

"Let me take it all away."

Then Mizi remembers this isn't Sua, and suddenly she can see it's Luka again.

He is too close. He is about to kiss her. Get a rise out of her.

She uses her remaining strength even from all the emotional drainage to push him away. Anything for space. Anything.

And then she feels a hand on her waist and all the space she tried to get is gone.

He twirls her as they seem to be in a horrible waltz.

"Ruler of my heart,"

She feels dizzy. She doesn't want this.

"Ruler of my heart,"

And suddenly they stop and she almost tumbles.

"Ruler of my heart~"

Her anger flares at the stupid dress and it's tripping hazard of a dress.

She looks up at him, Luka, and his face is so distant, so uncaring, she almost beats him right then and there.

Her hand reaches out to swat him away but he simply grabs and twirls her, basically tying her hands behind her back.

Her face contorts to one of horror as he simply stands there, uncaring as they continue to sing.

"You are forever beautiful." He sings, his expression betraying his hollow voice.

Then suddenly they are dancing again as he gets faster and more complex.

"Ruler of my heart,"

She tries and keeps the tempo. She feels sick.

"Ruler of my heart,"

She feels tired.

"Ruler of my heart~"

And suddenly her knees hurt.

She is on the floor. She sees herself, in water she realizes.

She looks so tired, so done, so beautiful.

She can see that damned man in the reflection and she feels so angry, so sad, so tired.

She cannot tell what is happening anymore. Everything feels so fast.

"The endless walls," he sings, getting closer to her once again as he uses his fingers to lift her head to meet his gaze. His distant, uncaring gaze.

"A fall with no ground," his eyes become cruel as he gazes at her, anger surges through her body. Rebellion.

"In a single moment, breaking down." As she is quick to interrupt him, anything for peace. Anything to show him up. Make him shut up.

Both of them are quick to get up from their sitting positions as Mizi is soon to find resolve, anger, revenge, to win.

"I go blind and deaf," His eyes narrow, studying her, making her feel even more uncomfortable. Even more angry.

She feels her passion, her heart beat ever so slowly. Perhaps it's anger, maybe revenge, powering it, but it is being powered, it is working.

"My world collapsing." She makes a gaze to him, just as he looks away from her as a chill runs down her spine.

And then suddenly the soft yellow lights become bright purple, as the audience cheers and words of "LUKA" and, "PRINCE" are among the crowd.

He saunters towards the crowd, the audience roaring.

He raises his hands to each side, raising them like he is about to address the audience, like he is proclaiming the most intense of love confessions.

"My savior," He turns his head to her.

She feels like she is suffocating, everything is hazy.

"Beautiful lady," She turns her head in a rush as she spots black hair in her vision.

She cannot tell if it's a delusion or not anymore as she sees Sua, still young before all of this. All of this.

"When our darknesses overlap," She sees Sua walking away, she follows.

And then she sees blood. She sees that familiar black hair splayed on the ground. She sees her.

"Let me take it all away!" Anger surges through her.

Thousands of thoughts run through her, she feels her breath collapsing.

Her world is collapsing.

"Ruler of my heart,"

Why has this happened? Why has God been so cruel to her? To deserve this?

"Ruler of my heart,"

She feels rage. Intense, mind eating rage.

"Ruler of my heart,"

He is the cause of this. All of this.

"You are forever beautiful,"

He is the root of this. He is their mascot. Their pet. Their ruler.

"Ruler of my heart,"

She will kill him. She knows it.

"Ruler of my heart,"

She remembers all his taunts, his whispers, his proximity. He is vying for her to attack him and she knows it, but she cannot think straight.

"Ruler of my heart!"

She remembers all of it.

All of it.

Her hands reach for his neck and squeeze. She cannot think, cannot even fathom anything other than this.

Her hands wrapping around his neck as he chokes and they fall.

The lights turn red, she does not notice. She does not care.

All she cares for is her fists hitting their target, the cause for all of this, the blame.

And then he has the gall to smile.

And she screams as she is torn off of him.

She feels herself kicking and screaming, refusing, wanting to continue the beat down.

How dare they take this away from her?

She feels the cold armor of the guards dragging her away and for a moment she contemplates if this was a good decision.

But she knows it was. She knows it always was.

If she was gonna go it was gonna be like this.

She is held to the ground as she feels the unfamiliar cold of the gun pressed against her head.

Her rage seems to slowly simmer as she closes her eyes and wait.

A moment.

Two.

Nothing?

She opens her eyes and suddenly registers the immense pain put into her abdomen and almost screams.

But a hand is placed over her mouth as she is lifted by two people. Humans.

Humans?

She tries to look around, but all she sees is smog and smoke.

Everything feels hazy as the pain in her stomach aches and her eyesight grows hazy.

She feels herself being carried as her mind slowly goes blank and she feels her conscious.

The last thing she hears is Luka, singing in probably the most pitiful voice she's heard from him.

He sound melancholic, of a time long gone as she passes out.

[dapperrokyuu]

Hyuna for character opinion bingo

In regards to this post! Feel free to send more~!

Thank you for asking about Hyuna, its a unique choice because I feel like shes both enigmatic but also gives a lot of material for how little we've seen of her! I ended up rambling, so let me just tuck this under a...

Thinking about her Even A Little Bit can send me into a spiral of character speculation, but I wouldnt say thats exactly headcanons--thus, I didnt mark that for her! And I really need to make my character speculation post, itll just be genuinely SO LONG for even one character, much less the six of them, lol, kdaljbnadfkjn- orz

I definitely have the feeling that Hyuna will be a very active in the plot, so thats why shes a BEAST, shes going to go ham somehow, trust me. Putting her in a salad blender is about the same as putting her in Alien Stage, and the squeaking and holding her gently in my hands pretty much sums of my feelings whenever I rotate Hyuna in my brain. Ultimately, IM GOING TO BE HURT WHEN SHE DIES, BECAUSE IM PRETTY CONVINCED SHES GOING TO DIE, LOL.

I actually genuinely thought Hyuna was going to live or even potentially take Mizi's place as the MC of Alien Stage, but due to this art and a moot pointing out thats MIZI and not Hyuna (due to the outfit), I can only assume Luka and Mizi meet (as implied in the art) because Luka BEAT HYUNA in their match, so.........

Its a fairly interesting twist if thats the case, because I think that based off Hyuna's apparent desperation to survive and disdain for Luka, itd be easy to assume she would win. Its just going to be sooo sooooo sad for me because I KNOW shes going to have a breakdown and/or try to lash out in her last moments against Luka when she loses. In her brief depiction singing in Sweet Dream, Hyuna looks like shes SINGING HER HEART OUT, and imo, that tells me that despite the hatred, Hyuna can possibly respect Luka enough to give them a fair match rather than straight up trying to murder them. I also think Luka is probably going to win in their match by virtue of Luka's been hinted to be kind of famous and the votes will be purely popularity rather than consideration of effort, quality, passion, etc....extra pain. c:

In my optimism, my current thoughts are: Hyuna vs. Luka happens and Hyuna dies (likely), Hyuna vs. Luka happens and Luka dies (not unlikely, just significatly less likely than I thought before), Hyuna vs. Luka happens with Hyuna losing but she manages to escape (Very Optimistic, Extra Badass Points For Her Tho), or Luka actually battles a rando in the first set of rounds, while Hyuna is an outside force for Alien Stage/trying to sabotage him (fun but honestly a stretch).

Expanding on the last option above, I think its too soon for Luka or Hyuna to die, especially since we dont know much about either of them. Hyuna being an outsider also would make every match in the first set of rounds unique in their own way, as Round 1 establishes, Round 2 has murder, and Ivan's round would serve as a baseline of whats normal (if it goes as I speculate, lol). I also think that Luka and Hyuna are both from an older generation of Alien Stage contestants; thus, one could argue that would make their round unique enough on its own. But I still think itd be perceived as a "standard/baseline" round too similar to what I assume Ivan's round will be. Thus, the last option would have Hyuna be an outsider with no risk of being killed, while Luka also lives by steamrolling their opponent, lol. As both of them provide backstory and thoughts on the other until they actually interact~!

BUT! I think the unique factor could also be fulfilled by the opportunity that Hyuna vs. Luka happens but she escapes, Ill definitely take that. Especially since it seems Hyuna is going to sing AT SOME POINT (Sweet Dream)... If Hyuna can escape, hopefully she can just survive the entire series afterwards, lol.....

Thats not even getting into how I think their dynamic is, how they view each other, and/or how they got to viewing each other that way, but nonetheless...I think a much of that is definitely more speculation and would honestly not find it toooooooo worth saying here because we just dont have that much info of them to work off yet. Thank you for asking, I hope you enjoyed~!