GoodFoolofIllyria

This is already hinted at in the Intro/Sweet Dream

Kids who don’t score well enough are “disposed of”. In Karma there’s a shot of Mizi and Sua laying among the graves of other children

Now!! This is important because look at Mizi’s stats

[From the album booklet]

[From the artbook] Mizi’s scores are consistently just barely scraping by and there is a constant emphasis on her “charming personality” being her redeeming factor

[from 'My Fragile God, Fading Fast']

Mizi has had the belief that she has to be adorable and loveable to survive engrained in her since she was young and the important thing to remember is that she is absolutely right humans are pets in this world. they need to be loved to continue to exist. Till's at the other end of this spectrum where his talent is immense enough to make up for his disobedience (Urak says as much in an interview at some point "he should know his talent has saved him" but I don't remember exactly where)

also: re the diet thing/the notes on it. I've already theorized for a While that Mizi likely has some sort of eating disorder because of this comic panel. This isn't surprising because Alien Stage is in large part social commentary, in part on being Queer in Korea and in part on the idol industry as a whole

[From the Alien Stage Official Twitter (fan translation by whatafruit)]

but knowing that her having a "big appetite" was one of her "negatives" on her evaluation puts a whole new layer on it. because what the fuck do you mean she's desperately starving herself to reduce her negatives and improve her value. when I catch you vivinos. vivinos when I catch you and then you have this kid. and ok he is a Child so I don't want to dwell on him as an individual for too long. but it really says so much that this is the memory Mizi jumps to when Till is shot. This is the beginning of her internalizing that she is responsible for the very thing she needs to do to survive

[From 'The True Face']

[From the Alien Stage Official twitter]

sorry i'm just really fucked up about all of this i'm just trying to put this into words. because as much as Mizi does hate the Segyein she ultimately hates herself more

she is the villain to her story. because despite knowing full well she would have been killed if she hadn't acted a certain way, she still feels guilty for it. despite not wanting the attention she got from guys and being uncomfortable with it, she feels guilty for it. despite not wanting Sua to die she feels guilty for it

[also from the album booklet, Mizi's notes for 'My Clematis']

this is not part of her 'act'. this is private. this is Mizi, knowing the reality, but still holding out hope until the last possible moment which aligns with what we see in Karma with her confronting Sua right before Round 1. Mizi paints herself as not caring enough, being willing to let Sua die for her. as using Sua and 'throwing her away'

[From 'The True Face' the speech bubble is Mizi's hallucination of Sua speaking]

[From the lyrics to MirroR]

[From the lyrics to Witch]

Mizi still hasn't forgiven herself for any of it

[From the lyrics to Witch]

I think as humans we have the instinct to survive but also the instinct to form communities, which is why the kids all form strong bonds despite knowing what will happen (or at least having some vague notion of what failure means)

they all want to survive, and only one of them can do that, but they also care about each other. and this contradiction is the source of a lot of pain for All of the characters but especially Mizi because on top of everything else she's putting on this act so that she's well liked

and I do think that her personality isn't entirely faked, the collars are a strong indicator of how characters are feeling, and via her actions we can see how much she cares about not only Sua but Ivan and Till as well. I think she acts happier and more cheerful than she is. I think she avoids lashing out and tries to be as pleasant as possible. and of course she acts like she doesn't know the truth (although i do think some element of this is that she wants to deny reality). but that doesn't mean she's this cold calculating person she sees herself as

(which honestly, arguably, even that would be understandable given the. Everything)

but she's not. Till got shot in front of her while she went to save him. She risked her life and freedom

she tried to stop Sua, too, multiple times on screen. she tried to convince Hyuna to save Ivan and Till. still, even now, she thinks of and misses them

[From the Alien Stage Official Twitter]

and yet she believes, and tells us, the audience. that she didn't. and that their deaths are her fault.