hikaruuuun

it's a genetic disease morty

I keep seeing people say how crazy Mizi is and how innocent Sua was in comparison, but that’s just not true. I adore both Mizi and Sua, by the way. This isn’t criticism of either of them. But you can’t ignore what Sua does here if you want an accurate portrayal of their relationship in this world.

When Mizi becomes an idol, she’s manufactured into a sex symbol, crafted into something that can appeal to the male gaze despite how we KNOW she’s a lesbian. Specifically, we can see how Mizi’s breasts are often framed promiscuously to further her objectification:

So this shot where Sua finds Mizi, tied up and helpless, incoherent, and the first thing she does is frame an unaware Mizi’s breasts as if in a photoshoot—bitterly, ironically, before relief takes over—it goes to show something major about Mizisua’s relationship in both the ALNST and ZOMST verse.

In ALNST, Sua enables Mizi’s infantilization (something often levied against women in a misogynistic context) of herself by keeping Mizi “in the dark” (although Mizi is more aware than either of them want to acknowledge). People rightfully criticize Till for his innocent vision of Mizi to comfort himself with, but Sua has a version of Mizi in her head that she uses to comfort herself, too. She and Till aren’t incredibly different in this regard.

In ZOMST, this translates not to infantilization, but to objectification. Sua is bitter over Mizi’s decision to let the industry use her in this way, she’s disgusted by it, but then she wields it herself when Mizi is finally helpless and incapable of pushing Sua away again by miming taking a photo of Mizi’s breasts.

there’s something to be said about the fact that both mizi and ivan come from an inherently poor or unsafe environment, which makes them see love as survival, and survival is transactional to them. therefore, they play into personas of performative versions of themselves, mizi being the pretty and approachable girl, while ivan is the self reliant and smooth talking boy. even if they are unhappy with where they are stuck, they still maintain it, for fear of the possibility of what does happen if they step out of line.

ironically, the basis of their friendship is built around trust, and yet even when it’s misguided. people play off their relationship as a mutual understanding, but is it really like that, or is it something that wasn’t close to what it could have been. ivan, misinterpreting mizi as a cheerful and bubbly person, feels awkward at what he perceives as innocent (she isn’t), but still enjoys her company nonetheless, as he is almost never antagonistic to her. meanwhile, mizi sees ivan as a perfect prince (he’s not) that is effortlessly cool in every situation.

and yet, even in this warped perception of a bond, there’s still a mutual trust that they know they can rely on each other. mizi seems to trust ivan deeply (leaning on him when she sleeps and doing piggy back rides with him) while ivan shows no bother at her, even engaging in her antics sometimes. they see the peaceful friendship as something that doesn’t require transaction, and something they don’t need to control. it’s tragic because they are so similar, and a deep conversation would bring them much closer as friends, but mizi doesn’t see ivan as a trauma, so she doesn’t think of her as someone like her, and ivan’s self hatred makes him seek out relation to sua, because he falls for the mask that mizi plays into, as does she with him.