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what the hell is till alien 🤔🤔🤔🤔
Ok thank you very much for your question, presumed South Parkie. I am thrilled for this opportunity to tell you about my new fictional twink, even as I implore you to keep an eye out for Creek Freak Bingo, to kidnap Matt Stone, and to force Matt Stone to make a special in which Tweek shows hole in every frame. I will also tell you briefly about Ivan Alien Stage and, what's more, Ivantill Alien Stage, even though you did not ask.
So the first thing you need to know is that Alien Stage takes place in a universe in which humans have been enslaved by aliens. They run a singing reality TV competition select human-pets compete in, and it's life or death—someone is killed at the end of each round, and the aliens all cheer. They should have never shown the aliens RuPaul 😔
Till is a contestant whose songs have thus far been pop punk, a rock ballad, and some kind of dance number coming up. He's a composer and guitar player, and just a little guy (not literally.. he's like 5'10" ,, , but twink shaped).
If he existed in our world or the hammy South Park world which somewhat resembles our own, his upbringing could be described as like extremely violent, abusive foster care, though he is also extensively medically experimented on. He's not considered valuable to the aliens in any respect (at one point, he was 50% off at the human child pound), EXCEPT in his musical ability which his alien owner has made very clear is the only thing keeping him alive.
His upbringing is totally different, but at his core, he's slightly Tweeky which is apparently all it takes for me to write fanfic. The creator noted at one point that Till is the most "sensitive and timid" of all the contestants, though he's also quite violent and reactive at times. He's fight AND flight! He could never behave as a child and was constantly hit, the only schoolchild regularly showing up with cuts and bruises on his face.
He is in effect a shy little sweetie in a horrific nightmare setting that has him on edge at all times. A talented artist as well as musician, he either can't or does not care to do shit in any of his non-music classes. He's pathetically in love with a girl who is (non-pathetically) in love with another girl.
There is a boy likewise pathetically in love with Till, and he considers that to be his annoying friend who is always stealing his stuff for reasons he cannot fathom. We are (or I am) sort of waiting until the next round to glean more insight into Till's thinking about said boy, and his mental state generally.
Alien Stage is really good and short and I do recommend it. Here's a playlist of all the videos in order. They're music videos, but there are also comics on the official ALNST twitter, and tons of lore on the creator's patreon
Till hits a lot of points on my Tweek checklist re: traits I like to play up and hcs I enjoy. If you read my Creek fics, think of some of my more abused/trust issues Tweeks and that's a good start. Add to it:
To a South Parkie, I'd say that Ivan (fellow contestant pathetically in love with Till who sings ballads including the aforementioned rock ballad with him) is like if you took baby Craig and dangled him off a rooftop until his mind broke and he ceased to be Craig at all. He also has autism (in my OPINION) and does some lowkey stalking and Till blood drinking but like, in a nice way
While Till is sort of an iteration of that type of dude I like in Tweek (neurotic scrappy little guy who speaks casually), Ivan is not really a Craig-type even if there are some overlaps. He's honestly fascinating in his own right.
My smart friend describes Ivan as a bit of a cross between Craig and Kenny. Think the way Kenny's death curse makes him at once too mature and too childish for his age.. seeking escape via simple amusements, sometimes cruel, but then he's also quite passive and adaptive. Then for Craig, the 'tism which is canon to me in both cases, the tendency to play things off as jokes to protect himself, constant masking. Also just looks-wise.. Ivantill art was creekscaring me for months before I caved
I'm not far into this enough to know how people perceive Ivan on the whole but I've gotten the impression there's a tendency to downplay his darker traits because a) [HUGE SPOILERS] his ass ded and b) some people have not shelled out the $5 for the patreon where they discuss his character more at length, and how naughty and bad he is. But to me it's canon that he struggles with empathy and it is Till who makes him feel anything at all, really.
In Creek, Tweek's genuine need and the way he seeks Craig out for help inspires Craig to try to meet him halfway even though dealing with emotions is not his forte. With Ivantill, Till has so much going on and is not asking for any help. He's gonna tough this one out, even if he's doing horribly and gets his ass beat near constantly. He doesn't trust easily, and he is not open with his most preoccupying emotions except in song (because he chokes up trying to talk to the girl he likes).
Despite the fact that Till does not ask anyone for help, let alone Ivan, everything he does lowkey seems to be for Till, but not in an overbearing way, even. It's like, just in case??? For instance, he indirectly references Till several times in his outstanding student interview, and even suggests that he learns as though he'll have to teach Till (who he describes as a peer "with limited understanding") in the event Till asks someday. So basically, a number of things I focus on in the Creek dynamics I tend to write (for ex., tweeksexual Craig, a Craig who will risk life, limb, and definitely career for the chance to be with Tweek, immensely horny angst, etc.) are built into this dynamic already.
Creek/SP is a lot more of a sandbox environment where really anything goes because they are kind of archetypal/over-the-top caricature figures in an absurdist setting whereas Ivantill/alnst has limitations in place due to its setting and the inevitability of the doomed toxic yaoi. Neither is 'better' necessarily but there are different challenges in writing Ivantill which I am enjoying wrapping my head around
Some further damning Ivantill-Creek parallels:
- Stoic autistic dark haired one / loud spiky light haired one who makes stoic one FEEL stuff?????
- They fight as kids, arguably homoerotically (definitely homoerotically for Ivan)
- A kytan artist redrew them as creek. Would a kytan fan be wrong? I don't THINK so
That's all I can think of for now and apologies that this has been very disorganized and long. I have more refined thoughts about all this on my tumblr for some reason, also stupid memes. Thank you for your time..
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