johan!!!!!! he/him malay-malaysian artist :3 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ [previously starjunkyard, rebranded to thestarlotus]
i <3 art and animation and media!!!! i <3 cringe and authentic human expression!!!! I reblog a lotttttt lot... I AM NEVER IN JUST ONE SINGULAR FANDOM!!! I juggle all of my interests like those motherfuckers at circuses who juggle torches and only time will tell if i come to be engulfed by the flames
some of my art :-)
tags for if you want 2 sift thru my blog… (if tumblr decides to tweak out just search up the keywords in my blog n they should come up)
> #johans scrapbook — my art n edits!!
> #johan being crazy about (dps, yaoi md, iwtv, heated rivalry, etc) — miscellaneous thoughts n' analyses on my favourite media!!
> #johans mailbox — asks n Qs!!
> #johans mindpalace — yap
art perms
no reposts! ok with usage of art in edits / layouts / etc with creds
(tag me if u do btw. i’m nosy and i wanna see it)
@/thestarlotus on every other platform!! see u there :3
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the "zombie" in zombie stage is easy to comprehend when you cast off preconceptions about what zombies are typically like in other media. it is said explicitly in the trailer: they are essentially a new group of people for the upper class to exploit, placed even lower than the lowest existing class in society. undead and inhuman, they are the ideal worker.
there is also specific emphasis put on the upper class being physically "upstairs", and the underworld that is literally "underground" with the lower class, as seen by one of the shots in zomst r1. we also see the zombie being sold from the top down, juxtaposed with a rat mizi kills - just like in alien stage, the aliens (humans), and now zombies, form the lowest rung, and are treated as animals.
another aspect is how infection works and does. infection consists of the body turning into gemstone. these parts are subsequently cut off, framed or sold as regular practice within the idol industry. the idols are literally objectified - they turn into the physical product that is sold, which in turn chips away at their humanity.
infection seems to spread via a single bite, as literally written in the screenshot above. additionally, the infection pattern shares a similar shape to the 'roots/veins' mizi conceptualises relationships as in karma. it is then no surprise that zombification is shown as a result of sexual violence, that which strips away autonomy and leaves you unmoored from yourself. infection is inherently the crossing of boundaries, the undermining of interiority, and the corruption of intimacy. the trauma inflicted and then exploited by the industry is the centrepiece of zombie stage. in this universe, there are no zombies without the discussion of sexual abuse, and of class.
let's all engage in the main metaphor of the show we're watching. together.
i recently spoke to someone who was wondering if mizi was wearing something on her face in zombie stage. they cited the weirdly perfect/specific heart shape as a reason why they thought it had to be a visor of some kind. i disagree with this for practical reasons—that absolutely is her face, you can see the rot around her mouth feeding into it—but the specific shape is definitely still odd. after thinking on it, my interpretation of it has turned out to be this:
making the rot where mizi’s eyes used to be heart-shaped is an extremely important symbolic design choice that does not need to make logical sense.
actual analysis of this choice below:
throughout the video, mizi’s eyes are more or less the only window into how she’s actually feeling, especially when she’s doing her idol work.
just like her agency was taken from her in life with all the fanservice she was made to do, it was also taken from her in death with the removal of her eyes, the only thing that showed her emotions for what they really were. the one thing that would have given a hint to her being unsatisfied is removed to further the image of “perfect idol mizi”, even when she’s a singing, dancing corpse.
this alone is pretty horrifying and that’s an understatement. but the character design choice to put a heart where mizi’s eyes used to be is just as important as the decision to remove them at all. it holds similar meaning.
i’m sure i don’t have to point out that hearts generally equate to love, especially in a nearly entirely visual piece of media. the placement of the heart over the eyes, though, takes mizi’s agency away from her yet another time. the expressions “heart eyes” and “look of love” are relevant here. figuratively, when she still has her eyes, we see mizi give this to sua.
in the second photo, if you look quickly or from a distance, it even looks like the highlights in her eyes are heart-shaped. this is mizi looking at someone she genuinely loves, with figurative “heart eyes” that portray her truest emotions, just as they do in the rest of the video.
then mizi is bitten and infected. her eyes are removed and auctioned off. and where they used to be, she’s left with…
…literal heart eyes. and this time, when she’s barely even mizi anymore, she doesn’t get to give them to sua like she would have chosen to. no, whoever’s behind zombie stage chooses who she directs them to now.
so, who’s getting the “look of love” from mizi as she is currently?
the group of people she was sexualized and sold to, the group of people for whom she’s been exploited at every turn in both life and death, the group of people we know she hates doing this for more than anything—her adoring fans.
being marketed to this exact kind of audience forced all of mizi’s control over her life away from her, ruined her mental state, and even ended up destroying her relationship with sua by extension. and now, she’s a zombie being made to sing and dance for them forever, and to look at them with the same “heart eyes” that were only meant to be for sua. this kind of marketing works best when the fans can develop a parasocial relationship with the idol, after all, believing that they love you just as much as you love them. putting a heart where mizi’s eyes once were forces her back into the same position she was in in life, performing for men and playing to their preferences. only this time, there’s no way for her true feelings to peek through anymore. all that’s left is—
—that “look of love”.
now, this could all still be true and valid analysis even if that heart shape were a visor or covering of some sort. but i personally believe the point about mizi’s agency being taken from her becomes much weaker if the shape is a removable object. it’s important that this is her true face (haha. get it?) and not a visor because this is no longer the mizi we know. we can see it in her unresponsiveness to sua, how she barely knows she’s performing with someone else at all, how her focus is singlemindedly on giving her loyal and loving audience the performance they deserve. that’s common knowledge at this point, sure, but if this shape is a visor, it undercuts the severity of that. our mizi would never look at this audience that way, not when they’re getting enjoyment out of her exploitation, out of sua’s exploitation. if that heart is something she (or anyone, really) can just take off, it creates an implication that she can go back to being our mizi. that she can stop looking at the audience that way, that she can stop being “perfect idol mizi”.
and she can’t. she couldn’t in life, she can’t in death.
making the heart removable in any way gives mizi some of her agency back. and we can’t have that. not when perfect idol mizi sells so well and makes the audience so happy! she can’t go back.
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ilya mad shane came up to talk to him like he wasn't stalking the fuck out of shane in that ice rink. yeah he just happened to be watching canadian men's figure skating the day after losing to latvia complete coincidence shane was there. it's like when cats bite you after following you into a room. shane's like omg kitty! and ilya is like NOOOO NO NO YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO SEE ME OBVIOUSLY FOLLOWING YOU
I personally do not think that alexei is blackmailing ilya or that he has enough power over ilya to threaten him in any meaningful way. ilya is paying for everything because he knows his family’s entire financial situation is riding on him and he does have the money and also his family is expert at guilt-tripping him/pointing to all the sacrifices they made for him/just generally making him feel his obligations to them keenly. that said I DO think alexei knows or at least strongly suspects that ilya sleeps with men and this enrages him not because of the homosexuality but because this fucking asshole does whatever the fuck he wants and it doesn’t change the fact that ilya was their mother’s favorite when she was alive and is their father’s favorite still. ilya comes home as infrequently as possible and avoids their dad’s calls and has sex with men and he’s the one who has all the money, all the fame, all the family love and pride (whatever love there is to have in that family, anyway). like that’s a real cain and abel setup right there.
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I haven’t seen anyone talking about this. And imo. This is one of the most important shots of the whole video.
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.
Mizi is objectified in ZOMST by everyone: the industry, herself, the crowd, and even the person she loves the most.
The last time we see Sua she genuinely cares for Mizi it doesn't look like she is just a fan, falling for the objectification of her girlfriend.
No she detests it.
Most of the episode is sort of in her POV, which is why we detest it too (also because we all know Mizi is a lesbian and is actively self destructing because of it).
So after Mizi and Sua have their fight I sort of feel like their fight may have been on the topic that Sua is just another fan to her.
Because by the end of the fight she discards her, slaps her, treats her like she's nothing for genuinely caring for her.
So after being discarded, you're hurt, you're alone and you find Mizi, weak and unable to defend herself and the thought s run through your head.
"I'm just a fan huh?"
You bitterly see what the industry has done to her over the years.
But you're more than just a fan, you're the only one who can protect her, love her.
Despite the fact that you're both girls.
As we all know Sua has always prioritised Mizi just being alive rather than happy so rather than put her out of her misery,
Her inability to have the control she craved after joining the industry.
You join her.
You aren't just a fan, you're the one who gets to protect her now, who gets to stay with her forever.
the new VIVINOS video is out and before I lose it about my girlies I wanna take a second to talk about the message in itself.
the metaphors in the AU this time around are really really great. The way idols "rot" the longer they stay in the industry and (literally) lose parts of themselves along the way, which instead of being mourned for it's only treated as another piece of merchandise. They're literally walking dead because it kills them from inside out and, at some point, they become "zombies" with no life or will of their own anymore.
Even in death they're no different than objects. Their existence is solely to serve as entertainment for others and will receive no respect whatsoever until the very end.
You actually see this happening irl when idols pass away (especially when it's suicide) where the company will milk the hell out of the tragedy for attention, selling out the "last memory" aka merch that idol left behind and people will eat it up without actually taking a moment to think that an actual human being lost their life.
VIVINOS is really good at bringing up and developing themes that others are too scared of and they do it in a way that actually makes you take the time to stop and pay attention to the real meaning of the video. It's just so awesome, I have no more words. Absolutely masterpiece I can't wait for more.
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I think this is something lost on the audience in the show that is explicitly implicit in the books.
Shane thinks Ilya is a sex god bc
1) he is "better at sex" than shane
2) shane up to this point hasn't had a successful and Very Good sexual experience. He literally says once Ilya dick is inside him that he "finally understands why people are sex- obsessed." It has clicked, and his brain says its because of ilya, not bc he is gay
3) ilya is a whore so that translates in shanes brain to very experienced, good at it, therefore sex god
They tease back and forth that ilya has ruined sex for shane bc no one else will do, and while shane is embarrassed by this, he agrees.
In TLG it comes out that ilya has maybe been with like 5-10 guys at most. Personally i think its the lower end of that. He specifically says that men are a "rare treat," implying that 1) its safer to pull women (he really is terrified of being outed and shipped back to russia), and 2) he only pulls men when he is missing shane so much he cant stand it.
Shane has canonically been with 3 men. Two pulls he didnt care for, and ilya. Again, in his mind, ilya is the key, but its not inherently bc of ilya's skill, its because of their crazy deep connection.
I LOVE that Jacob said this, because its not so explicit in the show. You get little tells (ilya's "wow" at Shane's desperation and automatic submission; his quick orgasms in ep1 - he is just as overwhelmed and turned on as shane is; his face the first time he fucks shane, especially when he goes in from behind) but in the end, ilya is so desperate to please shane and make it perfect that he just makes it happen out of sheer willpower. But the second he realizes shane is coming untouched under his he makes way too much noise, bites his lips to squash it (embarrased, wants to be more in control than that), and immediately comes. Its not inherent skill, its attention and the overwhelming desire to please, mixed with a little control freak energy and genuine exhilaration at Shane's automatic submission.
