johan :3c

oh WHAT a delicious question thank you for asking it!! okay let's think through this.

for ilya, i think that there is initially no emotional connection at all. he's attracted to risky sex with ill-advised partners. BUT he also probably isn't going to go cruising for male hookups in the US at least at first (i'd imagine that the language barrier + learning to navigate different cultural norms would make it harder for him to evaluate what's a sexy risk that gets him off but isn't ultimately THAT dangerous vs. a risk that could blow up his career). so when he meets shane, it's like, the perfect level of danger. shane is a bad idea, but shane is also giving strong 'press here and i might reveal something interesting' vibes from that very first gym scene (poor shane lol you get the distinct sense that he's never been in the presence of someone with that much sexual magnetism and has no idea what his face is doing). ilya then pulls some strings to get them to shoot that commercial together so he can explore that hunch further... and then, when he's reasonably sure shane's at least open to the idea, he acts on that hunch (ie jerks off in front of him in the showers... still so insane lol ilya rozanov the man that you are).

i think that for ilya, it's both a surprise and a turn-on to realize almost immediately how sexually compatible they are. ilya's a little bit of a bully in bed; shane likes to be bullied a little (shane likes it a LOT, as it happens). shane's needy and desperate for it in a way that makes ilya feel hot, sexy, powerful, in charge, etc., which are all feelings that feed ilya's desire for control. he wants to be in charge of sex and shane wants him to be in charge and that's hot for both of them. but there's no deeper connection there. ilya's got other stuff going on, and also, he's very experienced setting up sexual arrangements with people that don't involve any messy emotional entanglement (that's how you stay safe from emotional vulnerability!). you kinda get the sense that ilya's like cool, well, i've got a sure thing in hollander, so i'll keep him in my rolodex and look him up when i'm in montreal. (i legitimately do not think that ilya was expecting shane to play hard to get for two years after that! i do think that shifts his conception of shane a little bit and sharpens his interest!!)

ultimately though... in terms of what keeps drawing ilya back to shane over and over again... i think he's drawn to shane's emotional sturdiness, for lack of a better word. shane's a nice person who has been well loved his entire life. he doesn't seem to experience much shame about his desires. it's easy for him to submit for ilya because he doesn't expect to be hurt or humiliated. why would someone do that to him? why would ilya do that to him, when they have a nice time together and make each other laugh and have really, really good sex? he trusts ilya not to hurt him or make fun of him or otherwise weaponize shane's desires against him. i also think that like, he really just doesn't see ilya as an asshole at all. he gets that ilya plays a role on the ice/in his public life just like shane plays a role. but the real ilya, the ilya he gets to see when they hook up, is a really gentle, attentive, careful lover. i think that shane really clearly telegraphs his warm feelings of trust to ilya, perhaps especially in the scene where they have penetrative sex for the first time. and man that's like a drug to ilya (guy who's grown up believing he's a lazy, irresponsible piece of shit is treated like a responsible, attentive, caring person who is worthy of someone else's trust) even as it's also terrifying to him (like ok, shane thinks this now, but if he gets any closer he will inevitably see the truth about ilya, and it's unbearable for ilya to contemplate seeing shane's warm affection for him replaced with his father's disgust, and that's why ilya has to aggressively push shane away anytime he gets too close).

so i guess the tl;dr version of the above is: ilya is drawn to the way shane makes him feel -- part of that is shane making ilya feel strong and in control (shane submitting to him in bed), but gradually, as they get to know each other more deeply, it's shane making ilya feel like a better version of himself. that's my preliminary thesis based on what we've seen so far... but tbh i think it's an incredibly tangled mess in there emotionally for ilya.

shane version under the cut!

vape store employee

dishwasher

door to door car insurance scam guy

failed twitch streamer

drug dealer

wholesale importation of knockoff designer goods

dropshipper

lighting technician for local stadium

livenation customer support

gas station attendant in new jersey or oregon only (#makethatmanpump)

car wash arrow sign tosser

dairy queen window guy

blockbuster employee

hot tub salesman

underwater welder on an oil rig

guy attempting and failing to popularize a new MMA style

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.

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:

shane: "fuck off"

hayden: jesus what a dick

what could have been

———

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.

This was my take on this scene.

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.

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.