#get back to jinsei

[stanninghigedan]

Get Back to 人生 / Get Back to Jinsei / Get Back to Life

UGH THIS SONG WAS SO HARD TO TRANSLATE for realz T_T Aside from the many, many unfamiliar vocabs, I had to do a little bit of unlearning and learning, as well as reflecting (especially since this song is asking us to let loose and enjoy life without thinking of anything else). But with the many, many unfortunate events in my life recently, I really had a hard time getting into the "rejoice" mood.

Also so many comparisons made in this song which made it harder (and easier…in a way??) for me to translate (and understand the context) T_T

Anyhoo, as usual, may contain mistakes/inaccuracies.

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セーブの効かないデータが消し飛びそうな脳を 思いやったとこで別に大した容量もないみたいだ シートで隠してヒートしそうな暗記の日々我慢の後で 染みついた「答え」 症気にしない方が難しいみたいだ

ボーイズビーなんとかの成れの果てが量産のロボットなんかじゃ 忍びないさ報われようか好きなだけせめて今だけ

満たされちゃいない 聞き分けの悪いクレーマーみたいな感じで OK 首肩の痛み と力み バキバキ心に グリスをぶち込むのなら今 奪われていたハイ すぐに返してちょうだいもうとっくに満期ですよね？Oh , yeah とりあえずちょっとだけ大顰蹙を買ってしまいそうな 100デシベルの心の声を鳴らす Let's Get Back To 人生 あくまで自分ペースで Get Back To 人生 Let's Get Back To 人生

丁寧に修正 ヘイトを浴びないように態度を 正し過ぎてしまって 「愛」も「嬌」も落っことしたみたい でもフェイスを上げて つんとした鼻の奥で世界は色付く ミスりながら生きよう 恥をかいてでもって思えるもの抱きしめて

ガールズビーがないとか揚げ足取りじゃ 博識風情も貧相だ 退けてメタな賛同の中で好きにだけ囲まれていて

躊躇ってたくない 危機管理の悪いプレイヤーみたいな感じでOK フルコンプじゃなくたって ノーダメージじゃなくたって もうクリア 星や ランクより欲しかったものは ぶっ壊れそうなこの瞬間 Ah

ドーパミンが嬉し泣く 全俺が君と踊りたがる 人の目耳憚らず 好きにして Please Rejoice, Let's Get Back To 人生

ドーパミンが嬉し泣く 全俺と君が報われる ちゃんと感はもう捨て去る 好きにしてPlease Rejoice, Let's Get Back To 人生 あくまで自分ペースで Get Back To 人生 好きにしてPlease Rejoice, Let's Get Back To 人生

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Seebu no kikanai deeta ga keshitobi sou na nou wo Omoi yatta toko de betsu ni taishita youryou mo nai mitai da Shiito de kakushite hiitoshisou na anki no hibi gaman no ato de Shimitsuita "kotae" shouki ni shinai hou ga muzukashii mitai da

Booizubi nantoka no nare no hate ga ryousan no robotto nanka ja Shinobi nai sa mukuwareyou ka suki na dake semete ima dake

Mitasarechainai kikiwake no warui kureemaa mitai na kanji de ok Kubikata no itami to rikimi bakibaki kokoro ni gurisu wo buchikomu no nara ima Ubawareteita hai sugu ni kaeshite choudai mou tokku ni manki desu yo ne? Oh, yeah Toriaezu chotto dake daihinshuku wo katte shimai sou na Hyaku deshiberu no kokoro no koe wo narasu Let's get back to jinsei Akumade jibun peesu de get get back back to jinsei Let's get back to jinsei

Teinei ni shuusei heito wo abinai you ni taido wo Tadashi sugite shimatte "ai" mo "kyou" mo okkotoshita mitai Demo feisu wo agete tsuntoshita hana no oku de sekai wa irodzuku Misuri nagara ikiyou haji wo kaite demotte omoeru mono dakishimete

Gaaruzu bii ga nai toka ageashitori ja hakushiki fuzai mo hinsou da Nokete meta na sandou no naka de suki ni dake kakomareteite

Tamerattetakunai kikikanri no warui pureiyaa mitai na kanji de ok Furukompu janaku tatte noo dameeji janaku tatte Mou kuria hoshi ya ranku yori hoshikatta mono wa Bukkoware sou na kono shunkan ah

Doopamin ga ureshinaku Zen ore ga kimi to odoritagaru Hito no memimi habakarazu Suki ni shite please (please) rejoice (rejoice), let's get back to jinsei

Doopamin ga ureshinaku zen ore to kimi ga mukuwareru Chanto kan wa mou sutesaru Suki ni shite please (please) rejoice (rejoice) let's get back to jinsei Akumade jibun peesu de get get back back to jinsei Suki ni shite please (please) rejoice (rejoice) let's get back to jinsei --

Like a (computer that) deletes any unsaved data, My mind does the same with any unnecessary feelings, as if there's no more space for it After perservering through days of memorization, hidden behind sheets of papers (up until we overheat with exhaustion) It's now harder to ignore those answers that have been ingrained in us

(The inspirational phrase) "Boys, be ambitious!" has somewhat ended up with the mass production of robots* I can no longer endure this (robotic suffering); will I be (well) compensated for this? I just want to do what I want, even just for today

Like a complainant (at a bank, etc) making unreasonable and nonstop complaints, I feel unsatisfied, ok If someone's gonna pour grease on my painful neck and shoulders, as well as on my creaking and overworked heart, now's a good time The excitement that has been taken away from me, though immediately returned, was already way past its expiration date, right? Oh, yeah** For now, even for just a little while, even if it makes (some) people annoyed Let's release these voices from the deepest depths of our hearts and let it ring so loud (til it reaches 100 decibels) Let's get back to living life Up until the very end, in our own pace, (let's) get, get back, back to living Let's get back to living life

So as not to suffer from hatred, I tried my hardest to be careful and correct my attitude But it seems I've become too focused on being right, that I lost feelings of love and attraction But lift your face up - beyond such arrogance***, you'll see that the world's much more colorful Let's live life as we make mistakes, and fully embrace the shame (and other consequences that these mistakes) will bring to us

When one say that there's no such saying as "girls, be (ambitious)", it's just them nitpicking; it just shows their shallow understanding of things Don't listen to them - we only need approval from ourselves, so let's just surround ourselves with the things we like

I no longer want to hesitate, it's ok even if we seem like players who are bad at resolving a crisis Even if (the game's) not fully completed, nor we didn't achieve a flawless game More than wanting to clear this stage and ranking among the top players, what I really want to have Is this moment when we can break free

The dopamine makes me cry with happiness It also makes my whole being feel like wanting to leap with joy with you Without caring about what others may say Let's do whatever we want, please rejoice, let's get back to living life

The dopamine makes us cry with so much happiness, as if we've been (greatly) rewarded We can stop and do away with the formalities Let's just do whatever we want, please rejoice, let's get back to living life Up until the very end, in our own pace, (let's) get, get back, back to living Let's do whatever we want, please rejoice, let's get back to living life

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T/N: *My interpretation for this line would be the slogan has been ~ruined~ because "robot-like people" has become the norm (for example: japanese salaryman, corporate slaves (*ehem*like me*ehem*), and the like), thus it seems that people are no longer aiming higher/ambitious with their dreams.

Additional context for the phrase:

Boys, be (ambitious) - a famous slogan in Japan (usually found in textbooks and posted around schools); said to have been shouted by William S. Clark to his students when he left Sapporo. The real origins of the quote are unclear, but it is said that the slogan/quote came from a longer message that reads: "Boys, be ambitious! Be ambitious not for money or for selfish aggrandizement, not for that evanescent thing which men call fame. Be ambitious for the attainment of all that a man ought to be.”

For more information about this, you may go and read the article on this link.

**Picture this - you have been looking forward for a trip (peak of excitement), but due to some circumstances, it was cancelled/postponed (excitement stolen). When the postponed date came, you no longer feel as excited as the previous time - it no longer feels the same (way past its expiration date)."

***tsuntoshita hana - pinched nose/high nose -> arrogance

[twomiddlefingersforthehaters]

一生愛の人生よ! isshō ai no jinsei yo ! Love of a lifetime! This is what was pasted on her mirror. Instead of working together with Naruto and Sasuke to chase & find those scrolls… she is taking such care of her hair in the forest of death for sasuke-kun.

Kin tsuchi is mocking her by saying... "Your hair's shinier than mine... If you have time to take care of your hair, you should practice , you female swine! "

"KILL THAT SASUKE GUY IN FRONT... OF THIS BOY CHASER'S EYES"

(Sakura called 'Ino' a pig.... and now Kin called her a pig. Most of the time when she insults others it will backfire on her the next time)

This is what sasuke said to her before... "If you have time to bother me, Practice a Jutsu or Two"

Kishimoto tries to point out that instead of doing useless things to chase after a boy...try to improve your own skills. And when you promise you will do something, do it. Be a person of your word rather than being "all talk and no action."

Sasuke told Naruto the same thing to become stronger than him. What did he do? Did Naruto do nothing and just think about it and leave it there?NO. It's his honest desire to be as strong and equal as Sasuke. He trains hard and never tries to run away from it, finally getting his wish and attention from Sasuke by declaring 'I want to fight you too (Naruto)'.

The same phrase [ love of a lifetime] appeared on the wall of her room this time. But What is she doing now... holding the photograph of team 7 and crying.

Both of them are thinking of the same person 'Sasuke'.... but when it comes to Sakura's panel there is no hope.

Naruto was training here to become stronger (for Sasuke) and he was wishing for Sasuke on a shooting star. Even though he was exhausted from training… his thoughts of Sasuke made him not to waste time and went back to training.

"Sasuke is what makes him so determinated"

There are no secrets, there is no lack of trust. Indeed you trust your precious person with your mind, body, spirit and soul. You only want what's best for that important person. And you support and try to understand that person. Even if it means giving your life you will willingly and happily give it to your 'precious person'. You will not let them suffer alone, take their burden on your shoulders and show them that you will always be there for your precious person. You will always be with that 'person' in death and afterlife. You won't let them feel alone. You acknowledge their pain and difficulties. You do things to make the person feel loved and supported. you take the time to listen and understand. You give all that you can and do the best for the other person. You stand by them and support them when no one else does. You love the person because you do it without expecting anything in return. You try to be more open, communicative, and honest. You do whatever it is to show how much you value the other person. You choose to put your needs your dreams behind you because that person is more important than anything else. Instead of thinking just for yourself and your needs, you consider that person as well. Loving a person selflessly means accepting the person for who they are and who they will be. Loving selflessly is respecting that person. That's what Naruto does for Sasuke. Because his love towards Sasuke is selfless.

What did Sakura do for Sasuke:

She didn't do anything... even if she says she loves Sasuke but for that love she never did anything... she never tried to understand Sasuke... She never trusted him completely…. She dont even trust the boy she was addicted with.... And She always put herself first...

I don't care about your revenge... but I want to be with you

I don't care about your well being... but I want to be with you

I don't care if you don't reciprocate my love....but I want to be with you

It's all about herself only, not even concerned about the other person's feelings and emotions. She only care about what she wants. She overly concerned with her own desires, needs, and interests. she puts her own thoughts and feelings above other people’s. Even though she knew Sasuke didn't give a damn about her, she kept crying and screaming for his attention. Emotional blackmailing just to achieve what she want. she take all the opportunity to go on and on about her selfish love without acknowledging her own concerns about the other. She know that the person they're chasing doesn't love them, and never will.

"Her pursuing a selfish love is pretty realistic"

She's so selfish that she refuses to accept the reality, truth and facts. Her love for Sasuke is selfish and she is a selfish girl. She even broke her friendship with Ino because of that. Ino befriends her and helps her in her struggles when no one else cares, but Sakura throws away her friendship for a boy. She has never changed, and she is never going to change that aspect of her character. She's still in her delusional mind, even when signs point and hint that what she's after is never going to happen

Why does she love him? You need a reason to love someone... but she doesn't have any.

[peijizerojournal]

issues and inconsistencies in "khaos reigns" [part 1, probably] :

i already have a post speed-reviewing/critiquing ‘khaos reigns’ and i touched on the sektor parable via a reblogged post, but grrahh, i still have tons of thoughts, questions and comments about the narrative and i need to excise them from my soul so here are some of them. apologies for any spelling mishaps or inconsistencies i may have missed. spoilers below, of course :

- the new era being — essentially — a multiverse, totally cancels out the idea of kronika being THE titan of TIME itself. her timeline was the ONLY one. i know that they tried to explain this away by saying that the fight between liu kang and shang tsung for the hourglass in mk11 was apparently so powerful that it broke the space-time continuum, but still! the way mk1 ended and how ‘khaos reigns’ continues the story basically takes away from the gravity of her position, and the weight of what it means to be the keeper of time. kronika painstakingly tinkered with the realms to achieve a golden balance, but now, since basically everyone and anyone can be a titan, liu kang's sacrifice seems moot. everyone just opens a portal to anywhere and everywhere and does whatever they want to his timeline. he may be reluctant to touch the hourglass out of fear of going insane or mucking things up, but the writers sure don’t mind i guess lol!

- according to titan havik, ‘time crystals’ come from geras (because he’s the only one to exist in all timelines), and they function in a similar way as jinsei (only jinsei is the 'essence' of the realms). so does that mean jinsei isn’t a thing anymore? or are the time crystals the ‘jinsei’ for the alternate timelines? what do they even look like? the needles in geras' back look like they are holding the same fluid that was injected into bi-han, so i'm confused by how they were extracting anything from geras at all...

i wouldn’t really care about this normally, but since they went to the trouble to bring back the kamidogu and insert a weak explanation from havik about the usage of these phenomena, then why not give us the proper exposition? i guess they didn’t bother because the kamidogu are essentially just infinity stones (‘the avengers’) or chaos emeralds (‘sonic the hedgehog’). hm, veryyy creative plot device…

- the scene with sub-zero and havik talking about the time crystals and kamidogu should have been longer. noob saibot's transformation was too rushed and havik’s motivations for corrupting him aren’t there. why didn’t we get sub-zero’s final stand fight scene either? it would have made sense to show that: giving havik a reason to actually keep sub-zero and turn him into a henchman (because of his formidable kombat skills and cunning to follow him into the portal, perhaps) and it also would have helped flesh out bi-han’s dimensionality, too (i.e. jumping into the portal to go after geras).

- geras and sektor should not have stopped noob from attacking liu kang at the end. bi-han needed to fight the fire god. it's such a long time coming. the pressure between the two of them has been building, bi-han’s frustrations have been surmounting and in that moment, he was ready to implode.

would he have lost the fight? yes of course, but that’s the point. bi-han needed to be humbled. maybe after liu kang defeated him in kombat, he might've cooled off a bit and been more accepting of help and willing to go to the temple of the elements instead of having to be sedated and taken there against his knowledge/will. and sektor being the one to break him out and tell him that liu kang 'abandoned' him and left him to rot -- while his last memory of being awake is his failed confrontation with liu kang -- does his redemption arc no favours. no wonder he went back to being 'bad.'

- i believe that sektor is not only bi-han’s enabler, but his full-blown sycophant. i don’t necessarily think she is 100% a manipulative mastermind, but if we ignore the bad storytelling going on, it’s plausible that she is a ticking time bomb of her own, and in her obsessive infatuation with bi-han, she is -- perhaps unknowingly -- sabotaging his opportunities to grow and confront his flaws and frustrations. and to be honest, they don't really seem 'romantically' involved to me, but rather have developed a strange codependency toward one another.

bi-han in mk1’s normal story mode clearly sought to be respected, maybe even revered, and acknowledged for his efforts, as well as exhibiting a keenness to take on more proactive role in leading earthrealm. to go from that to: “better to be feared than respected!” hmm… that doesn’t seem like the same man to me.

sektor’s constant smirking/lurking in the background of the cutscenes, however, makes me think that she’s been planting certain seeds in his head: encouraging him to embrace his negative traits (likely not even on purpose, just out of adulation), be the villain that everyone has already been painting him to be, and continue to isolate himself from everyone who might have ever stood up to his shenanigans or help him find a better path.

whether or not she actually has ulterior motives, it's clear to me that sektor prefers bi-han to be "bad," or unchanged, based on his presented mk1 persona. for her to be the first voice bi-han hears and the first person he sees when he wakes up after his mind is fixed... that's something poignant.

the man has been -- more or less -- 'lashing out' because of the departure of his brothers, and because for sometime now, he's been frustrated by his strained, untrusting relationship with liu kang. so, sektor is quite literally the only one he trusts and feels that he can trust.

but, this sort of 'all-in' attitude is, of course, toxic. when she says to liu kang that she stopped bi-han from attacking him because he 'would have gained nothing' from the challenge'.. uh, who is she to decide that? of course she wants bi-han to be restored: as in, made human again. but not redeemed. a 'redeemed' bi-han would be a different one than the one she has known, and a version of him that has been humbled (like if he fought liu kang at the end and neither her nor geras stopped him), or cannot be controlled (noob saibot) is probably not the one she wants.

she gives off: ‘i’m the only one that understands you’ vibes, but if he remains as noob, or if he were to be redeemed and healed as a better sub-zero, she cannot continue her power fantasy with him. to be honest, i think that would've been an interesting direction to take her character in: where in her mind, she has built up this idea of the lin kuei and the grandmaster, but in bi-han's fall from grace or in realizing her ambitions have diverged from his, she sees her disillusionment and in her delirium, proceeds full-force with the cyber initiative. THAT would have been one hell of a tower ending!

(side note: i also -- like many other people -- was almost certain that she would have looked down on bi-han in her tower ending, the same way she did with cyrax and kuai liang, and thus turned to embracing machinery and going full-on insane with her aspirations for the lin kuei. unfortunately, though... the writers introduced it only to then promptly throw it away.)

there is definitely more than meets the eye with all of this that is worth further exploration and analysis, as there are plenty of examples of her warped fanaticism (think annie, from ‘misery’ by stephen king), but it’s best saved for another post.

- there are too many contradictions between mk1’s base campaign and this dlc, INCLUDING tower endings and intro dialogue. i don’t know what is ‘canon’ and what isn’t anymore because technically, all of it is, if it’s in the game, right? but, it makes no sense for liu kang’s new era. what’s the point of introducing all of these plot twists when they don’t apply to the current timeline? from an ‘easter egg’ standpoint, it is what it is. but from a a lore/storytelling standpoint, it’s confusing and utterly inept. it seems silly to rewrite the lore while constantly referring to the 'old story' at the same time.

- NRS really do hate sub-zero and bi-han… but why? it’s clear that even in mk1, bi-han is shown to be a rather complex, emotional character that is grossly misunderstood and certainly not irredeemably wicked. i have a hard time believing that the guy who wanted to help lead earthrealm, who wanted to use his father’s teachings to guide him, who wanted to lead the clan alongside kuai liang first and foremost…. is suddenly a supervillain? who enjoys lying to his supposed ‘second-in-command’ (cyrax)? this contradicts mk1’s story mode so much (among other things) and it’s WILD. yes, he is extremely flawed, but it's clear that there is more under the surface than is being said. since it was a noob saibot-focused dlc, we needed more info about his upbringing, maybe; more insight into the bond with his brothers and even his subordinates, into his role as grandmaster... but it's clear that NRS can't wholly decide what they want to do with him. they villainize him in 'khaos reigns' except for his story chapter, and even that is nullified by his tower ending. another storytelling fail.

- another conspiracy theory i have is that this dlc seems like it was supposed to be longer and larger, likely including noob’s full character arc, too, because so many things are missing. some of the leaked dialogue from last year was not in the dlc at all, and lots of the lines in the cinematics seem to not really fit… almost as if there were cutscenes that used to be there but were hastily edited out at the last minute or something. also some of the audio mixing and animations are a bit off, if you pay close attention.

- in his first moments as noob saibot, bi-han is literally more human than he’s ever been throughout mk1. strange, considering in the beginning of ‘khaos reigns,’ he is SO out of character and almost comically villainous, but yet… after having his mind broken and then freed from havik’s mental corruption, he is forthright with liu kang, shows distress towards his situation with his hubris on full display, and then he fights alongside the allies to protect the timeline without claiming ulterior motives.

despite the khaos magic still coursing through him, he does his due diligence. but then… all of this gets tossed away when sektor frees him in his tower ending. what was the point in the vulnerable moment where he showed visible concern for how his actions compromised the timeline? or when liu kang lets him know that his desires for a different future aren’t an issue, it’s the ‘methods for achieving them?’ (that scene needed to be longer too, tbh) in short: why introduce the concept of bi-han potentially being salvageable if at the end he’s just going to continue being bad, if not worse off than how he began? the whole dlc was like a flat circle in terms of progression; that's how little happened in it.

- the hand on noob’s hip was supposed to be explained. in the last kombat kast (and i think in that xbox article, too) they said its purpose would be revealed in the actual dlc but… that never happened. aside from the missing fight scene with sub-zero and havik, we didn’t even get a glimpse at his transformation, either. he was just suddenly there… with the hand on his hip and all of these new powers. it would have been nice to get a teeny bit of info as to how exactly khaos magic works for noob, like imagine a scene where havik explains to noob what he can do now, how the hand and the shadow work in tandem and how much more powerful he is compared to how he used to be? it would also have been a chance to explain the random telekinesis, too.

- smoke really, really, really needed to have a chapter in 'khaos reigns'. i have a feeling — as i mentioned earlier on — that the dlc was originally going to be a bigger expansion, but some characters/scenes/dialogue were cut along the way; likely to drip-feed the whole story back to us in a trilogy of dlcs instead (taking notes from BUNGIE i see… ahem ‘destiny 2: lightfall’).

but i digress: smoke having a chapter maybe just before noob’s would have been amazing. it would have been nice to see his visceral response to bi-han’s transformation, as he has claimed to have idolized bi-han in the past and was/is hoping for reconciliation between the brothers. i personally think the brotherly bond between the three of them is the most interesting part of the lin kuei story in mk1, and it sucks to see this angle being completely abandoned when the dlc focuses around bi-han.

we needed MORE BACKSTORY! more info about their parents, their upbringing, bi-han’s obvious long-standing conflicts with his life's purpose, the true nature of their father’s death (what actually happened?), etc. and the dynamic between the three of them with bi-han as noob would have also been really interesting. smoke was absolutely necessary as a the vessel for the more compassionate approach to bi-han’s downfall and ensuing redemption (instead of sektor, who is obviously evil) and bridging the gap between scorpion’s mercilessness and bi-han’s malevolence.

- it's not havik, but liu kang who was the real hypocrite here, and it breaks my heart. first of all, stopping bi-han from killing titan havik in order to ‘save innocent lives’ is such a weak, oxymoronic explanation from liu kang. let’s not forget that he wiped out two timelines in the base game: titan shang tsung's and quan chi's. a bunch of other titans died at the pyramid battle too. liu kang even says himself that without shang tsung to ‘hold the timeline together’ it would collapse! the actions of the final chapter of mk1 were already enough to kill BILLIONS of innocents, yet havik is somehow an exception. actually, leaving havik alive would have been worse, considering he didn’t want to destroy or merge the other realms, but have them tumble into anarchy and khaos instead. bi-han was 100% correct when he said that they were 'not safe until he dies.’

- another problem i have with liu kang is that says he cannot leave his timeline to go help get geras (which by the way… geras is his closest companion and confidant, another powerful being like him who has been at his side for EONS). that left me with a huge, glaring question: where is liu kang’s urgency?

it is so unlike him to be this 'laissez-faire' (but that’s a discussion for another post). he says that he cannot go with them because the timeline would be compromised without him, but that is a silly excuse because:

1) his timeline is tainted anyway, because 'damashi' already messed with it, and the fact that concurrent timelines exist negates this idea that his new era can ever be truly 'safe' again.

2) titan havik leaves his timeline all the time with his cronies… he’s been collecting every geras and kamidogu, so why can’t liu kang? havik said he'd be back to inflict khaos after taking geras, so it wasn't like he needed to wait in earthrealm and twiddle his thumbs. it was GERAS, for god's sake. he should have been right behind bi-han going through that portal, the way they built up the bond them in the main story.

3) liu kang literally DID leave his timeline in the base story mode… the first time, he went to look for titan allies to fight shang tsung, and the second time was when he went to the pyramid to defeat him. he is essentially repeating the former raiden’s mistakes with this sort of approach to protecting earthrealm.

on one hand, raiden was slightly too impulsive and tried to intervene a bit too frequently, causing a negative ripple effect to those surrounding him. i get that liu kang does not want to repeat his — or kronika’s — mistakes, but doing absolutely nothing until your hand is forced and trying to evade all conflict by letting [terrible] events play out is not the way to be doing things. defend your timeline, liu kang!!! get up and get moving!!! just as raiden 'jumping the gun' had its own consequences, so does remaining overly-passive and slow-to-react.

- i like the character of liu kang and i was initially excited at the idea of a timeline reboot with mk1. liu kang is known to be humble, kind, genuine, understanding, compassionate: all of those hero-like qualities that we know and love him for. but that being said, why claim to reset the timeline if everything is going to turn out mostly the same, if not worse?

from a development standpoint, i understand needing to have certain things remain static, no matter what game or era we’re in. for example: raiden must always have lightning, mileena/baraka must always be tarkatan, sub-zero and scorpion must always exist, etc. fair enough.

but having bi-han not even make it a whole game without becoming noob? having shang tsung, shao and quan chi continue their plotting? how come some characters got a pleasant rework (reptile, sindel) but others are thrown so far under the bus and are poorly-utilized/represented (sub-zero, smoke, havik).

constants are needed, of course, but variables are also important too. and there are not enough variables in mk1 for it to feel like a 'new era,' and cheap, low-risk 'changes' are not an effective way to reflect it. at this point, the game should have just been called ‘mk12’, full stop.

- cyrax deserved better. she starts off as what we expected of her, based on her new character bio, anyway. she is loyal, but inquisitive. ‘free-thinking.’ she has no problem pushing back on bi-han a little bit about his explanation for kuai liang and tomas’ departure, and she obviously doesn’t get along with sektor and doesn’t mind talking back to her, either. she is defiant, but noble, as presented. but then…

she spends the rest of story mode groveling to scorpion: following him around like a lost puppy and begging for his forgiveness and receiving the brunt of his anger and spite (which was completely unwarranted and undeserved.)

kuai trying to hold her accountable for something that had nothing to do with her is crazy and really out of character for him, and because of this, her story arc was thwarted by her constant seeking of his approval and validation. the same way sektor’s reliance on bi-han takes away her arrogance, genius and austerity, cyrax’s sudden flip from being honourable but discerning into being manipulated by scorpion is just so, SO unfortunate. both ladies deserved better than to simply be portrayed as the unsung loyalists to a pair of capricious, irascible men.

some insignificant [mostly nitpicky] honourable mentions :

- this was an observation made by gaming youtuber mike hollow who pointed out some telltale inconsistencies regarding believable power balancing: sektor’s camouflage, scorpion’s fire teleportation and rain’s ability to turn into water were all missing in this dlc. it’s like they forgot to include the characters’ defining abilities in the story at all. why weren’t they taking advantage of the cybersuits in the maze? using camouflage to hide from havik’s minions? where was scorpion’s kunai climbing rope? why did rain not turn into water to escape his crushing death? again, it's not that deep in the grand scheme of things, nor is it new to the franchise, but it's definitely something i noticed, as well.

- in that same vein: geras’ time freezing abilities could have stopped him from being kidnapped by havik’s minions. why didn’t he stop them? he casually stopped bi-han at the end from lunging at liu kang, and he had plenty of time to do it since sektor stalled the attack.

in sindel’s throne room, havik was going on a big, illustrious speech about how he was only here for him. isn’t geras on par with being a kind of divine being, considering he himself is a construct of time (i.e. made of the sands)?

perhaps his lack of reaction in that scene can be chalked up to just 'shock', but this is just another example of poor power balancing in mk1's story mode (and i say mk1 and not the other games because the current timeline has all kinds of titans and divine beings that are all fair game). another example of this would be: empress tanya being able to defeat noob, but noob easily defeats titan, kamidogu-powered havik. and -- if the khaos magic had something to do with it -- they should have shown that somewhere in the campaign.

- how come titan havik’s limbs suddenly stopped regrowing when noob fought him? is it because noob has khaos magic in him and thus, he can be defeated by his own powers, therefore stunting his ability to regenerate? they don’t actually explain this whatsoever, unless again: it is another misrepresentation of power scaling in the story, but it is what it is. (seriously though, we should have gotten a scene where havik explains to bi-han his new powers!)

- if bi-han and sektor knew that cyrax wouldn't go for the wedding attack (hence the pointless lie they told her about liu kang 'capitulating to outworld'), then why take her along in the first place? why even include her in their plans at all? this doesn't seem like the same cyrax that kuai liang was referring to in mk1's regular story mode when he said she would 'sooner abet' bi-han's corruption than follow him.

um... as soon as we meet cyrax, she is already weary of bi-han and it seems like she has been for a while, enough so for he and sektor to already suspect her lack of fealty. at that point, she shouldn't have even been given that suit.

(side note: AS SOON as they arrive at the wu shi academy, cyrax is already fighting against the lin kuei and going against bi-han's orders. when she comes down from the roof, she immediately eliminates two of her fellow lin kuei warriors before harumi is even captured. she was already over it even before learning about what really happened.)

it doesn't make any sense and does not corroborate kuai liang's observations from the main campaign. i feel like once more, this is another example of something being changed in this dlc somewhere between the initial leaks last year and the trailer drop this past july. it seems like there might've been more planned for 'khaos reigns,' but they got rid of it, or they're saving it for the next dlc (which i'm almost positive is the case, at this time.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

there are a million more things that are running through my mind, and if it comes to it, i'll make a part 2 to this post. there is still a lot to be said about the dlc on a corporate/business level that may be worth touching on.

that being said: the game design, stages, animations, cutscenes, characters, etc. are all absolutely gorgeous! you can tell the ground-level developers really care about their work and that's amazing. c-suite and the 'narrative department' however...

in addition, i've still got some conspiracies regarding liu kang, kuai liang and also... the khaos magic! has anyone out there played batman: arkham asylum? does anyone remember the TITAN VENOM? yeah, i have a feeling that the writers are doing some borrowing from other IPs beyond the obvious comparisons to the avengers (because, of course). the rabbit hole gets deeper and deeper.

i will leave the bi-han analyses to the experts in the community. there is already a lot of discourse out there about what happened to him but all i'll say is this... he deserved his comeback, redemption and victory lap. but... he was bastardized. again. bi-han 1000% deserved his moment. JUSTICE FOR SUB-ZERO!

anyhow, if you made it this far, thank you for reading! xo

[mrstsung]

Shang: just one sip? Pwez? 🥺

Fujin: no,no jinsei caprisun for you! >:(

Shang: ok then *steals some behind fujins back* >:3c hee hee.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

(Cuz like what's stopping him truly? Like fujin wasn't really looking and nightwolf was admiring the scenery practically. Even if he did get caught i mean....he can put some back and some hidden in small vial hidden? I dunno man. Some parts of mk11 was a lil too....convenient. but eh. Still better than mk12/mk1 imho. That aside. Have a funny thing i made)

[lizz-crimson]

And They Were Roommates (Shinnok's Head x Reader)

Yes, you read that title correctly, bare with me.

Summary: Reader ends up preventing Shinnok's head from entering the Jinsei and convinces Raiden to let them keep him in their apartment. Yeah.

Tags/Extra: Reader is gender neutral (please let me know if you see a mistake anywhere!), goofiness, non-serious, Shinnok can't believe this shit, Netflix?, platonic, for now, does this count as a slow burn?

Words: 2238

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

-----

"Can I keep him?"

Lord Raiden replied to your question with an expression of utter shock.

"...what?"

"WHAT?" The head of Shinnok wriggled in your grasp, and his face was also in shock.

He'd finally gained back a sliver of power—enough to talk and also enough to cast one spell. A simple teleportation spell that would send him, his head rather, directly into Earthrealm's Jinsei Chamber in Raiden's Sky Temple. It was supposed to work. It should have worked. Why didn't it work?

You'd gotten lost in Raiden's temple and were lucky enough to be in the Jinsei Chamber before Shinnok's head could fall in. That's why.

"Can I keep him?" You repeated it a bit slower, clapping mentally in between the words as your hands were occupied holding an ancient evil.

Raiden's jaw hung open slightly, a rare expression for the Thunder God. "[Y/n], I cannot allow you to harbor Shinnok yourself. He is much too dangerous."

"I understand that, Raiden, but you gotta listen to me for a second." You argued gently. "Shinnok can't passively gain power here in Earthrealm like he can in the Neatherealm. He's no threat as he is now, and I already stopped him from getting into the Jinsei, didn't I?" You gave Raiden a brief pause as he thought. "I can handle him, I promise." You gave a confident smile. It was true that without undead servants giving Shinnok souls to feast on and convert into power, he was no threat now. You felt him shaking with rage in your arms.

"I am not your pet, mortal!" Shinnok yelled, slightly hopping in your grasp. "I am Shinnok, ruler of the Neatherrealm! I will not be contained by some lucky Earthrealm weakling!"

After a beat, you again speak to Raiden, ignoring Shinnok.

"Plus, if you keep him locked away up here with you, you'll have to listen to shit like that 24/7." you added to your earlier argument.

"And you would not?" Raiden countered.

"Raiden, I live in New York. I'm the master of ignoring people."

Shinnok watched in horror as Raiden turned his gaze away in thought. He was actually considering your offer.. Seeing this yourself, you push him a bit more.

"C'monnn," you said, leaning forward a bit. "I won't even charge you," you joke. Raiden rolled his eyes, but a faint, lopsided smile appeared. He sighed.

"Alright, [Y/n], I'll allow you to keep Shinnok."

"WHAT!?"

You close the door to your apartment behind you with a sigh of relief. Raiden can't exactly teleport you inconspicuously home when you live in such a crowded area. So he has to drop you off in an alleyway a whole three miles from your apartment complex. It wasn't an ideal situation, but when you had realm-ending threats to deal with, it seemed worthless to complain about them.

Speaking of realm-ending threats...

You carelessly drop the backpack you were wearing on the floor. There's a heavy 'thud' and a muffled groan of displeasure right after.

"Ow!"

"Oop-- sorry!"

Unzipping the backpack, you pull out Shinnok's head and place him gently on your couch. From there, he could pretty much see the majority of your apartment. The kitchen, living room, and door to your bedroom were well within sight.

As much as Shinnok was ready to start spouting curses and threats to your life, he couldn't help but be slightly appalled by your living conditions.

"Welcome to your new prison," you announced to him.

"Are you certain this isn't your own prison?" he replied.

"Hm?" You raised an eyebrow before catching on to his meaning. "Oh, that. Yeah, it's pretty miserable, isn't it?" You sigh and take a seat on the couch yourself. "Welcome to New York. All 19 million residents live just as shitty. Get used to it."

"This is truly your home? This must be some kind of joke," Shinnok spat. You sighed again before replying.

"Yes, this is my home. Were you expecting something grandiose?"

"For an insignificant mortal like you, no." He scoffed, then scanned the apartment again. "But this... I was expecting you to have room to breathe at the least."

"Yeah, I expected that when I first signed the lease too." You leaned back on the couch. God, you missed the countryside. Hell, if you lived there, you and Shinnok would have some damn room. It had crossed your mind to move back, but with everything going on nowadays, moving was the last thing that should be on your mind.

It seemed to re-enter your brain that you had a fallen Elder God in your apartment. An evil one. Sure, he'd been decapitated, but he was there.

"Anyway, per me and Raiden's agreement, I will be keeping you from this moment on. If I suspect you of anything nefarious, I have to contact him, and then he'll be the one you have to answer to. Got that?"

"Yes, I'm aware. Now what are you going to do with me? Lock me in some corner?"

"Don't give me ideas, head," you replied. "If anything, I should put you in a box and leave you in the closet, but I'm too nice for that." You said. "So I'll just leave you here on the couch, and I guess I oughta put on some Netflix to keep you entertained."

"What are Netflix?"

And so Shinnok's new life began. A severed head confined to one side of the couch with Netflix shows he couldn't even scroll through himself. The days were long and boring. Sure, some of the movies and TV shows peeked his interest, and you even made a separate profile for him to keep track of them all, but other than that...

The fallen elder God hardly spoke to you unless you said something first. He felt as if speaking to you too often would somehow damage his brain. In his boredom, however, he did take the risk and started asking (demanding) to know where you were during the days. That opened the doors to new conversation topics. He grew curious and started asking more questions. You answered them. Why not? It wasn't like telling him why you hated your boss and coworkers was going to end the realm as you knew it.

While Shinnok couldn't eat for obvious reasons, he could smell. He found the scent of the various dishes you made to be quite good. He also enjoyed the smell of the fast food you brought home or had a slave deliver to you sometimes. After explaining that the Doordash delivery man wasn't a slave, you turned your attention to your hot wings. You ended up telling him of a time when Raiden accidentally choked on a hot wing. This was rewarded with a boisterous laugh from the head. It turns out even evil gods have senses of humor, and every once in a while you're about to get a laugh out of him.

So yeah, neither of you were as bad to have around as you both assumed. You adapted to his presence, and he to yours.

Throwing the door to your apartment open, you groaned and threw your work bag across the room. It hit a window with a thud, causing a perching pigeon to startle and fly away.

"Oh~," Shinnok jeered," someone's got you riled up, haven't they?" he chuckled.

You let the door close behind you and stomped your way to the kitchen, pointing a finger at the head on your couch. "Don't even get me started."

You grabbed a can of soda out of the fridge, cracked it open, and then proceeded to get started.

"You remember my coworker Cindy?"

"The 'office pick-me,' correct?"

"Yeah!" you confirmed with a snap of your fingers. "Well, today she skipped right up to me all happy 'n shit, right?"

"Right."

"She starts going on and on about how our annual reviews are coming up, and she's all like, 'Oh dear, I hope I get that raise. Oh me, oh my, I hope people in the office have put in a few good words for me!,'" you mocked in an annoying voice. "I'm telling you, Shinnok, it took every ounce of strength I had not to fu--"

Your rant is cut short by the ring of your phone, and you groan again before answering it.

"Hello?"

"Hey [Y/n], it's Cassie." Cassandra Cage greeted on the other side.

"Oh, hey, commander. What's up?"

"A lot, actually," she replied with an exasperated tone. "We need to talk to Shinnok. Are you home?"

Oh no..

"I am. Is everything alright?"

"Most likely not. We'll be there in thirty. Prepare the head."

Once Cassie hung up, you sighed, knowing this particular conversation wasn't going to be civil.

"Bad news, Shinnok."

"What is it?"

"Remember Cassandra Cage? The one who beat you the second time around?"

Shinnok snarled. "Yes, I remember. Why?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"She's coming to talk to you."

"WHY?"

"She said something's wrong," you replied. You contemplated for a moment. Could Shinnok have been up to something while you were at work all these days? He hasn't moved from his spot on the couch since you brought him here, but he was a sorcerer, so...

"You cannot possibly think I have anything to do with this, do you?" Shinnok asked, voice raised.

"No, no, I just..." you trail off and huff. "I don't know! You're the deity in this situation!"

"Yes, I am a deity. A deity who's been confined to a couch watching Netflix for a month now!"

"Y'know, most people would love to be you right now! You don't know how privileged you are!"

"Privileged?" Shinnok was utterly appalled.

A hard round of knocking startled the both of you out of your argument.

"Shut the fuck up!" your neighbor yelled.

"Sorry, Charles!" you quickly apologized. When the footsteps of your neighbor faded, you took a breath. "Listen, Cassie is going to be by in a few minutes. Please just answer honestly when she asks you anything."

Shinnok grumbled," Fine. Whatever."

"Good. Now let's watch the season finale of My Happy Marriage before she gets here."

"An agreeable exploit."

After a while, and after discussing the possibilities for the second season of your show, another round of knocking made Shinnok's expression fall.

"Coming!" you said. You then rose from the couch and peeked through the peephole on your door, seeing Cassie on the other side. "Friend or foe?"

"Friends. Raiden is here too," she replied. Looking over a bit, you could indeed see Raiden standing beside her. Shinnok groaned on the couch. You gave him a look before letting in Cassie and Raiden. Raiden, as always, had to duck under your door.

"Alright, now what's the problem supposed to be?" You asked, wanting to get straight to the point and not waste time if the world was in danger again.

Raiden held out his hand to calm you. "Firstly, where is Shinnok?"

You gestured to your couch and watched as Cassie and Raiden's eyes locked with Shinnok's. The fallen Elder God was already glaring daggers at the both of them. Cassie was stifling laughter while Raiden approached him.

"Demons from the Neatherrealm have been getting into Earthrealm, Shinnok. Whatever it is you're planning, we'll--"

"Wait, wait, wait," you stopped Raiden, surprising him, Cassie, and Shinnok himself. "Hold on, Shinnok has been here, unmoving, for a whole month. How do we know this is his doing?" you asked.

"There can be no other explanation, [Y/n]."

"Then maybe Shinnok could provide us with one?" You replied and looked towards Shinnok, gesturing for him to speak for himself.

For a few moments, Shinnok said nothing, but then, after a grunt, he replied," It is possible that without my power to stabilize the Neatherrealm's energy, demons may simply be transported here without precise reason."

"So, how do we stop it then?" Cassie stepped up. Shinnok smirked.

"You cannot. Not without sending me back to my rightful place in the Neatherrealm."

"Yeah, not happening, asshole." Cassie said.

"Hmm, there may be a way," Raiden hummed. "By learning the magic Shinnok uses to power the Neatherrealm, we could stop the demons ourselves."

"I'd rather choke than teach you the dark arts, Raiden," Shinnok jeered.

There was a pause. Everyone in the room seemed to just be thinking of a way to solve this problem. All except for Shinnok. The only thing he was thinking about was how funny it would be to see Raiden choke himself on a hot wing.

"Then would you be willing to teach me?" you asked him.

"...Pardon?"

You kneeled down on the floor to be face-to-face with Shinnok. "Teach me how to stabilize the Neatherrealm. Out of all the Earthrealmers you can choose from, it would be best to teach me, right? You know me after all," you said.

"That.. is true," Shinnok said, looking to the side and thinking a bit about the subject.

"You do realize that learning dark magic will be more difficult than anything you've ever attempted before?" Raiden said.

"Yeah [Y/n], are you sure you want to control the undead and shit like that?" Cassie asked.

"It's best for the realms, isn't it?" you replied. "So Shinnok, what do you say?"

Shinnok remained quiet for a bit longer, grinding his teeth in deep thought. Eventually, he sighed.

"Fine then. I hope you're ready for hell, [Y/n], because I am a very stern teacher."

----

Lol, I wrote something. I have more little things in the works as well!

[haropro-confessions]

Tsunku said yet again in a cross talk with Erina that he wants MM to be seen as honor students by the public maybe like scandal free and professional, using manners, but he wants to tell them personally that they don't have to be bound by that and can be a little more free. So many years people have said that from Tsuji to Goto to Tsunku himself to Ai to Reina. It's 2025 and they're still being told that.

More Morning Musume Confessions:

Looking back at the two 12th gen auditions is pretty funny. From Mizuki’s “we don’t have any more colors to give out, enough already” to Riho and Maachan going “ehhhh… not another Maachan at least”, no one outside of Reina and Sayu is even pretending that they want new members. Then you look at all the girls who came to HP via these auditions, which include all of Country Girls, 6/9 of Tsubaki, plus Ruru, Kamiko and Momona, and compare them to how the eventual audition winners turned out. I wonder what they thought about it and if they thought that they dodged a bullet by failing.

I fear if they add new members to Momusu they will overshadow all the current ones. However, this may be what we need go bring some life back to Momusu!

I think everyone saying Rio will return (mostly JP wota) are forgetting that while Erina forgave her… we haven’t heard from Maria. Maria was mad enough to unfollow her. Erina was just called out for her bad behavior but Maria was compared to a disabled person and called an idiot for bumping into Rio. I wonder even if Rio returns that Maria will be comfortable.

I don't get why people still say MM always throws promising new girls to the back. That era left with Mizuki the Great Burier ok and now that she's graduated the shovel is also retired. Since then 15-17ki all keep getting time to shine and some more than others. The only one who disappears into the background now is poor Haruka but honestly that's not management's fault because she actually did get a big push with Nandaka but her popularity which is already so low it didn't budge even a milimeter. Either way I gotta strong hunch that 18th gen will have at least one solidly talented one. It's the first gen after Mizuki already and you think management isn't gonna make a statement? I bet whoever they pick is gonna get instapushed straight into the spotlight to signal a new era and MM can finally rid of this nasty image.

When most of the OCHA and Rosy girls were in KSS I was kinda mehhh about them joining MM, Anju, J=J. No more like dreading them coming to those groups. None of them had star power as KSS and debuting in fresh new groups let them develop. But the newest KSS gens are so charismatic and/or full of potential I’ll be happy to see them go to any of the three senior groups. That’s why I’m more excited than dreading new J=J members, the chance of UFA fucking up is so small because most of the middle school and older KSS are so talented.

I recently discovered Jinsei Blues and it's such a good song. The arrangement of the dance break is kinda corny but other than that I really like it. I just wish the lineup that got it had stronger singers with unique songs because only FukuSaku got solo lines and the others are drowning in autotune so it turned out so flat.

[angeldeviloshi]

Ok finally gonna attempt to word this clover analysis.

Was originally gonna further incorporate the plant symbolism into this but I'll leave that for another thread.

So in the link below, I mentioned that the clovers present as an organic backdrop to match the butterflies as opposed to showing them framed as specimens, decor on a wall like the paintings on Fumiko's cover.

Miri's cover places him in a setting that's closer to open nature as opposed to the caged appearance of Fumiko's cover (indoors, casted shadow of window grilles) yet at the same time appears unnatural and embellished.

The butterflies appear to be where they belong yet they're still pinned.

The four leaf clovers acting as their wall, and I'm thinking about this as Miri's attachment to what the clovers represent in what he projects and desires out of Denji as both a human and the hero.

To start off, vol.16 opens with ch.134 (Ordinary Happiness) and closes with ch.143 (Rawr) [from wiki]

Chapters 134. Ordinary Happiness (普ふ通つうの幸しあわせ Futsū no Shiawase) 135. Sentimental Drive (センチメンタルドライブ Senchimentaru Doraibu) 136. Normal Life (普ふ通つうの日ひ々び Futsū no Hibi) 137. Chu Chu Lovely Muni Muni Mura Mura (チューチューラブリームニムニムラムラ Chū chū raburī muni muni mura mura) 138. Sword Man (ソードマン Sōdoman) 139. A Chair's Feelings (イスの気持きもち Isu no Kimochi) 140. Scales (天秤てんびん Tenbin) 141. Normal Life Plus (普ふ通つうの人じん生せいプルス Futsū no Jinsei Purusu) 142. Denji Fan Club (デンジファンクラブ Denji Fan Kurabu) 143. Rawr (がおー Gaō)

The first segment of the vol. features Denji taking a back seat as the csm as the Church takes over his role as hero. This being an opportunity for Denji to live a normal life for Nayuta after his talk w Yoshida.

The middle segment introduces Fumiko and Miri, as well as Denji being asked to join the Church as the csm instead of choosing his normal life.

And the last segment delves into the Church's terrorism w Barem's reasoning of what being a hybrid entails as Miri is made to reckon w the nature of his humanity and purpose.

Four leaf clovers are typically recognised as symbols of good luck/a good luck charm. And on the surface, this can be a reflection of the heroism Miri sees in his shared hybridhood with Denji, a form of knighthood as Sword Man alongside Denji's Chainsaw Man as humanity's protector. Their identities as hybrids viewed as a blessing of greater purpose.

But going a little deeper, the leaves of the clover each also represent something.

This could be faith, hope, love and luck. Or, wealth, fame, love and health.

It's a little noteworthy that the leaves themselves are shaped like a heart too.

These meanings too reflect the dichotomy of Denji's heart in the form of his "both choices". Who he loves as well as what he pulls the starter connected to his heart for.

Yoshida urges Denji to see the good in living a normal life. The life that will prove satisfactory to him over the path of the csm. A life that Denji is fortunate to have as Yoshida's hope.

All while the csm has had an opulent influence over the world with his fame as Denji revs his engine to get back up again and again for his steak.

(More on the steak here.)

Yoshida and Barem frames Denji's choices as mutually exclusive when they're two sides of the same coin, the love Denji gives and craves in the presence and absence of family. The public's attention as his steak.

The steak Miri boasts about having being part of the Church as the Church overshadows Denji's deeds all over the media.

But ultimately Denji decided he'll do without the steak everyday.

I want to talk about ch. 141 for a bit. First, the opening.

We see Denji going about his daily routine with Nayuta, picking up the discounted csm buns. His fame has been impacted and so has his heroism in this path that he took. Half-off.

Him strolling pass the posters of Asa as a devil unceremoniously appears and gets taken care of.

It kinda ties back to both Denji's first encounter w Miri looking at the posters talking about how the csm is placed next to a nobody, contrasted w Yoshida's reasoning that Denji is not a movie protagonist and the world will go on without him.

The scene of Denji and Miri before the posters w Yoshida's framing of the movie protagonist almost seem like Miri's commenting on the poster and the csm acts as the inverse of Yoshida's take. The life and endeavours of the csm as poetic, illustrative drama, film as the Church's recruitment.

Too important and grandiose to be placed next to a "fresh-faced nobody" as Miri puts it.

Yet there's an irony in the way this is presented to the readers. This is the moment of Miri's proper debut, the chapter itself is titled after him, after all. And due to being obscured by his hoodie, we don't see his face.

He was himself, a "fresh-faced nobody" to Denji and the readers until the moment of his revelation, introducing himself as Sword Man. Alleviating his status to someone who should be of relevance to Denji as the csm.

Back to 141, despite the chapter being titled "Normal Life Plus" we see Denji's despondency in the fading of himself as the csm. But at the same time, we can see the gap reflected in the title as well, if we were to read it as "normal life plus ___.".

The half off buns were eaten and Denji contemplates his both choices once more.

Wondering if this is truly his path to happiness, to which Nayuta promises him the lifelong love of her company as his family and he takes her into his arms like the first time when he promised Pochita to give Control lots of hugs and be family for her. This would be the answer to Denji's original dream as he holds a girl to sleep as he's loved by family once more, no longer chasing the steak.

The normal life of his dreams that he reached by thinking, he loves and is loved here as the human student with Nayuta.

And in the next page after this, we see the Church hybrids discussing their great plan at the Family Burger joint. A place that brands itself on being for families in all of its artificial family-like glory.

And it's here that Miri tries to establish himself as human when he's told not to think as a weapon.

Barem tells him that there's no separation in his identity even as a human. Miri's personhood, agency as a human an illusion and impression of the human student he believes he is shared w Denji.

This artificiality that Barem argues while his plans a misconstruction of Makima's dream for family built on brand and dogma as he hopes for the csm's return through the destruction of Denji's family. As we see the branding of Family Burger shown alongside his preachings of their given purpose.

And now ch.143. Miri is sent to kill civillians, specifically women and children by going for their limbs. And there's something poignantly poetic here as it plays out.

Miri looking at the boy he's about to kill, a child like him, as he takes on the role of a weapon as ordained by "god" for the Church.

The separation of himself from his would be victims as blades sprout from his arms to deliver their dismemberment through his hand. But he is himself dismembered instead, his arms cleanly chopped off along with his head. The mark of his weaponhood, his thoughts as a human.

This being delivered by Quanxi, a fellow hybrid, a hardened devil hunter and a ruthless assassin. And it's her neutral "rawr" that sends the child running and screaming instead of Miri.

Miri prevented from enacting his role as even a devil and a weapon, unceremoniously taken out with nothing to his name, not even fear. By the hybrid who's considered to be closer to devil yet loves as a human too as she allows herself to be a tool.

Esp. when we consider her offering herself up to be dismembered to save her lovers. Though that love proved to be futile as she's claimed as a trophy and robbed of her agency nonetheless.

Miri couldn't see himself in Denji's humanity even as he tries to grasp what defines Denji's humanity and then he's outdone by Quanxi's even in her brutality as a weapon who preaches the bliss of ignorance.

And as he burns Denji's house and family, the disconnect between them is made all the more apparent as Denji returns to being a weapon once more. His flippancy to what losing home and family means for Denji, that it merely makes Denji "angry" as Denji spirals in distress as he relives loss and pain. Miri's belief that these are simply necessary steps for saving the world.

He clings onto Denji through the final shred of imitation heroism provided by Whip in his belief that he was alleviating them but instead dragged Denji back with him into the cycle of stasis as weapons.

(Thinking about how Miri is referred to by his human name here and not the hybrid moniker he came up with vs "Save me, Chainsaw Man." as the cry for help. The irony.)

His humanity anchored in Denji. The taxidermy of the butterflies superimposed and pinned against the clover hearts for greater purpose as Miri brandishes his sword.

[meepispeepis]

Shang Tsung's Peril is not Liu Kang's Fault (A Headcanon Analysis)

Ok, so I've been meaning to make this post for a long time, but here it is! Shang Tsung, we all love him. You love him, I love him, we all love our sassy, unapologetic asshole of evil.

However, I found myself feeling off about Shang Tsung's story and how it relates to Liu Kang and his perspective on changing the timeline. In summary, back in MK11, Liu Kang becomes the Keeper of Time and alters the timeline, which leads us to MK1. Everyone in the Mortal Kombat series has been changed, but also keeping the trademark traits that many know them for (Shao Kahn being a tyrant, Kung Lao desiring to be in the spotlight, Johnny Cage being the comic relief, etc). However, where I, personally, took issue with the story is how the villains from the previous timeline are treated compared to Shang Tsung.

I think everyone can agree that Shang Tsung (and Quan Chi, but this isn't about him lol) was treated weirdly horribly in Liu Kang's new era. Now, understandably, if we look back to how Shang was pre-MK1, it's not unreasonable for Liu Kang to demote Shang Tsung the way he did…But when you look at how other villains are treated (General Shao, Sindel, Mileena, Tanya, Noob Saibot/Sub-Zero, etc) in Liu Kang's new era, Shang Tsung happens to stick out like a sore thumb. Now, I get it, outside of the game, Shang Tsung is an iconic villain in the Mortal Kombat franchise, and as storytelling goes, NRS is always going to bring him back as an antagonist figure.

But I feel like there's some missed potential and some story and character moments that are a bit…Contrived, for lack of better words. So, I want to go over how Liu Kang's power over his timeline is presented, why the treatment of Shang Tsung, at least for me, feels off, and how it could've been used a bit better. A.K.A, Shang Tsung's downfall isn't Liu Kang's fault, and let me explain!

The Hourglass, the Timelines, and Liu Kang

We're going to take a moment to analyze Liu Kang's timeline and how the Hourglass works based on the canon events and interactions from MK1 and a bit of MK11. We will be leaving speculation and theories out the door for this one and follow strictly what NRS told us from the story they weaved.

Starting with the Hourglass...We don't know anything about the Hourglass. Ok, that was an oversimplification of what we comprehend about the Hourglass, but believe me, we really don't know what it does.

From what we can ascertain about what the Hourglass can do, we know you can pear through the Hourglass to see past events. We witnessed this with Geras in MK1 when he used the Hourglass to determine who it was that talked with Shang Tsung at the beginning of MK1. We also know that it can be utilized to monitor the current timeline and, if needed, can be used to reset the universe however back the user desires. However, no one can just use the Hourglass. At least based on MK11, only someone powerful enough to wield the title Keeper of Time can control the Hourglass. Not only that, but one cannot reverse time whenever they want. We saw this first hand in the MK11 plot, where Kronika needed to fuel a crown with countless souls and obtain the Jinsei capsules.

Kronika, upon receiving the vials of Jinsei energies: "I now have the energy to resculpt the Sands of Time."

Kronika, while speaking with Revenant Liu Kang: "Timecraft requires an abundance of raw, temporal energy. Every mortal soul contains a lifetime of this power. Every hour, every minute, every second lived is stored within." "In his Well of Souls which, remains untouched, beneath his island. A destiny I crafted for Shang Tsung, in case I ever had need."

We also know that the Keeper of Time can stop time on a large scale. We can see this as Kronika brings back old and new allies and rivals from the past, while also stopping time during the beginnings of MK11.

And based on what Liu Kang tells us in MK1, the Hourglass is considered as follows:

Liu Kang, speaking with Empress Sindel: "A celestial object which lies beyond the realms, the Hourglass regulates time and destiny."

We'll actually come back to the 'time and destiny' thing later down the line. Now, there may be other things about the Hourglass that I might be missing, but thus far, this is all that we are shown and told, canonically, what the Hourglass CAN do. We're not informed much about any potential weaknesses of the item aside from that it requires Kronika's crown to fully reset and restart time. We're not even given other intricacies on how the Hourglass works either, which we'll get into later down the line. Right now, all we know is that:

The Hourglass can ONLY be used by powerful individuals such as Kronika, Shang Tsung, or Fire God Liu Kang. If anyone else were to attempt to wield the powers of time, they end up like Fujin.

The Hourglass, once wielded by said powerful entity, can monitor the current present timeline.

If the wielder so desires, they can also stop time at a worldwide or even universal scale.

The Hourglass can be used to revert time however long back the user desires. Even allowing them to completely change history and destinies. However, they require Kronika's crown and powerful energies to be infused in said crown for this to be possible.

So, we have those bases down. Now, let's talk about Liu Kang and the handling of his new timeline, the MK1 timeline.

Unfortunately, we don't get much insight into what Liu Kang saw when he peered into the Hourglass and what was done for him to change the current timeline. The closest we get to what he did when constructing the timeline is that he popped & locked while in front of the Hourglass. But we can ascertain what he did to achieve his new timeline based on not only the MK1 story but also the character interactions he has with the other playable fighters.

We'll start with what we have seen from the story mode. In Liu Kang's new timeline:

Tarkatans are now just diseased individuals who will eventually become ravenous monsters.

Outworld and its leaders are still hellbent on conquering other realms.

Raiden is now mortal, Kung Lao is still "Second-Best," Johnny Cage is still a struggling martial arts movie star, and Kenshi is part of the Yakuza looking for Sento.

Sindel is now queen of Outworld and has two daughters, Kitana AND Mileena. However, her husband, Jerrod, is once again dead.

Shao Kahn is no longer the king of Outworld, instead "demoted" to the status of General. Reiko is also his adopted son now.

Speaking of which, Mileena is no longer a science experiment made by Shang Tsung. She's now the actual birth sister of Kitana.

Tanya and Rain are also pacified, as Tanya is now a warrior priestess and protector of the throne, while Rain is the High Mage of the palace.

Shang Tsung has become a begging salesman, fooling people with mock potions and cures to make a potential living.

Now, I'm actually going to stop here because all of this we learn about of Liu Kang's new timeline before Shang Tsung becomes a literal threat. And so far, some things look good for Liu Kang's new era...However, there are some things that I question about Liu Kang's new timeline and we'll go down the list about it.

Starting with the Tarkatans, if you are aware of at least Mortal Kombat 11, you would know that Tarkatans are a race of people. Yet, in Liu Kang's new timeline, they're instead diseased people...Why? Now, before, when I first watched MK1, I thought that they were going to reveal that Tarkat (the name of the disease) was created by Shang Tsung...But it's not????

We actually learn this in the first 5 minutes of MK1, where Shang Tsung is advertising his healing remedies, and he SPECIFICALLY STATES how his mock cures could heal those affected by Tarkat. So that means that this was purposefully done when Liu Kang recreated history. Now, this isn't me blaming Liu Kang (we'll also get to that later too) because Liu Kang does mention that Tarkat's existence in his timeline was an "unforeseen consequence."

Liu Kang VS Baraka: "As my creator, you're to blame for my affliction." "It was an unforeseen consequence, Baraka."

But it's still weird that Liu Kang would allow such a dramatic change for a race of people. Now, albeit, Tarkatans were often depicted as fighting for Shao Kahn. You know, one of the main antagonists of the Mortal Kombat franchise. But it's still weird that Liu Kang decided this was a more suitable outcome, and we'll actually discuss this in a moment.

Next, I want to talk about Outworld itself, a very divisive realm that, in the previous timeline, was a practical breeding ground for most of our known antagonists (and protagonists, too). If you at least know about MK9, you would know that the Mortal Kombat tournaments exist because of Outworld. Shao Kahn, the previous ruler of Outworld, wanted to merge Outworld with Earthrealm. But the Elder Gods created a checks & regulations system called the Mortal Kombat tournament to keep not only the realms in check but also ensure that Shao Kahn didn't get too powerful (with some help from Sindel).

Now, you would think, in Liu Kang's new era, he would eliminate the need for that to happen, especially since Sindel was now the ruling force in Outworld…But no, the Mortal Kombat tournament still stands? Now, admittedly, Liu Kang does inform us that the more "militant force" of Outworld and its politics are the reason why Mortal Kombat exists. He and Jerrod agreed that this would maintain the peace between Outworld and Earthrealm.

Yet, it still feels off that Liu Kang would also allow such a tournament to still exist; an event infamous for causing conflict so great that his best friends, even HIMSELF, perished for it. Why should Mortal Kombat be the by-all, end-all to keep peace with another realm? Not only that, but Outworld is a world riddled with conflict. Now, they don't SPECIFICALLY say that Outworld has conquered other realms, but they do name internal quarrels that Outworld faced in its past. And, sure, these conflicts are not really described in any detail when mentioned, but it shows the troubled history that Liu Kang mentions when talking with Raiden and displays Outworld's desire for conquest. Which, once again, why would Liu Kang still keep Outworld as this conquest-driven realm where Mortal Kombat is NEEDED to maintain the peace?

Now, next is the many "new" characters we meet in MK1. Now, to properly talk about this, we actually are going to start with the villains of the previous timeline, and then we're gonna come back to the Hourglass being able to regulate time and destiny. Heavily going to talk about destiny, though.

Now, where to begin! Let's start with Shang Tsung since, believe it or not, this post is about him too. From the very beginning of MK1, we learn that Shang Tsung is a wandering charlatan who sells quack cures and fake magic. We see this as he tried to market an elixir to a crowd of desperate locals, only to be caught red-handed by a man who outs his falsities. After the fact, we are shown that Shang Tsung resides in an Outworld RV (a wagon), and he dons disguises so that he can easily fool others of his crafts. During his conversation with Damashi, we hear Shang Tsung describe his lifestyle as "barely survival." We don't know if he has an actual home to go to, but considering that his wagon is considerably full of stuff, he most likely lives and breathes in that wagon.

From this, we can ascertain that Shang Tsung lives a life of squalor. And if the opening 5 minutes of MK1 isn't convincing with his dirt-faced ass, sad little meow meow visage, then listening to his interactions with the other playable fighters should be enough to assure you that Shang Tsung was in poor conditions. Now, considering what Shang Tsung has done in the previous timelines (MK9-11 & MK-MK: Armageddon), you would say that this is a well-deserved fate...However, some things make Shang Tsung's life in MK1 seem glaringly unfair.

To discuss what I mean, let's look at the other villains in the Mortal Kombat franchise and their new life in MK1. Starting with Sindel. Now, say what you will about Sindel's retcon in MK11; it stands that she was a villainess in the most recent memory of the rebooted MK games. She has done some pretty horrible stuff, such as killing her husband Jerrod in the alternate timeline, lying and betraying her own daughter and her allies, imprisoning the Cage family, and specifically telling them that they will "breed slaves" for her new regime. Now, as I said, I am aware that Sindel was beloved because of her story before MK9-MK11 where she was once a villain, but she redeemed herself to become a hero. I'm not blind to this, but considering that MK1 is building off of what they attempted to tell in the altered timeline, Sindel is pretty awful. Considering that Liu Kang merged with Raiden and his revenant self and absorbed their powers and knowledge, you would think that Sindel would get a pretty bad life, much like Shang Tsung...Right?

Now, while the "restored" Sindel is an absolute W for Sindel fans, considering what Liu Kang did to Shang Tsung in his new timeline, it feels a bit off. Because mind you, Liu Kang wouldn't know about Sindel's "redemption arc," and considering that they also retcon Sindel's origin, she should be getting the same treatment as Shang Tsung, right? She was dangerously close to obtaining a realm where she reigned as a tyrannical queen.

But no, she's given what she wanted. She's now the Empress of Outworld. The only good thing about this is that she isn't the vile person we saw in MK11. Instead, she's a firm yet compassionate queen. She's willing to be at war with anyone who rivals Outworld's power, but she states multiple times how she prefers that to not be the case. She even talks down to General Shao by reminding him of the teachings his father told him about war. MK1 Sindel also loves her daughters and does her best to protect them. Mileena is a grand example of them due to her being infected with the Tarkat disease. Sindel tries to conceal her affliction to prevent those who would do their family harm from using this against them. And as foolish as this was in hindsight, she allowed Shang Tsung to concoct a temporary cure for her daughter. This time around, Sindel also loves her husband Jerrod, and his untimely death took a toll on her. And this time around, she didn't off herself because of it :D.

Ok, so Sindel got off scot-free, mainly because the developers realized they made a mistake by turning the most beloved character into the most hated. And that can be forgiven, so we'll overlook that for now. But what about Mileena? In the altered timeline, Mileena was created by Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn. The reason for this was because Shao Kahn believed that Kitana could possibly, and eventually, betray him IF she were to learn the truth of her origins. Being new to Mortal Kombat, Mileena's atrocities are not plainly told aside from her being a mean mama jama like her creators. She ruled Outworld for a time, even was called the "Mad Empress," only to be killed by Devorah in MKX. So, not many notable war crimes that Mileena herself has done, aside from assisting Shao Kahn in the invasion of Earthrealm.

So I'm not too mad (never was really) about Mileena also receiving a better life in Liu Kang's new timeline, despite being a villain herself. And, I honestly see it as poetic. In my opinion, and I don't know if the rest of the fandom agrees with this, but I always felt that Mileena's core theme was about family. And I'm kinda disappointed that this wasn't explored for the altered Mileena in MK9-MK11. Also two, I can somewhat understand Liu Kang wanting to provide Mileena a better life. Mileena was a child a circumstance, created by vile individuals who wished to use her for ill. She was pretty much a child, mentally, and had no choice in who she could become, should the winds of fate not breeze by her. So Mileena becoming Kitana's actual sister and still becoming the future empress is satisfying (another W for Mileena fans).

But, at the end of the day, Mileena was still a villain with very little redeeming qualities. She was supposed to be exceptionally loyal to Shao Kahn and perhaps even Shang Tsung. So why does she also get a happy ending while Shang Tsung ate shit for MK1?

Then, we have the most considerable outlier in MK1, General Shao. Based on what we saw in MK9 & MK11, Shao Kahn not only conquered realms, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent lives, but he was also complacent in the death of Jerrod. Shao deceived Kitana into believing she was his daughter, only to have Shang Tsung create a clone of Kitana (Mileena) to kill her, in case she rebelled. Killed Liu Kang's best friend (Kung Lao) TWICE, attempted to publicly execute Kitana, actually killed Shang Tsung and transferred his soul and powers to Sindel, stole countless souls in Earthrealm to make himself more powerful, was complacent in the death of all the beloved characters in MK9, literally broke Liu Kang's ankles, snapped Kotal Kahn's back and killed him in MK11: Aftermath, committed attempted GENOCIDE upon Earthrealm when he tried to invade and forcibly merge the realms. There might be others I'm forgetting, but the bottom line is Shao Kahn is the meanest motherfucker in Mortal Kombat history.

And being the primary antagonist, you would think that Liu Kang would run this guy into the ground! Better yet, not have him exist at all. You know where this is going, homeboy is quite literally in MK1. Even more mind-boggling is that, like Sindel, General Shao is still in a position of power. He may not be the emperor of Outworld, but he runs its military. THE MILITARY. He has an entire army of HIGHLY TRAINED soldiers at his command! And unlike Sindel or Mileena who fight for the good guys, General Shao is…Complicated. Let me explain.

From what we can ascertain about General Shao, based on how the other characters describe him before he fell into villainy; General Shao grew up as a sickly boy. His father fought hard to not only ensure Shao's survival but also bring him up into the warrior he is. We also learn that General Shao comes from a warrior clan or at least a long line of warriors in his family. His father, like all fathers in this game apparently, was highly respected by Sindel. So much so that she quotes him when talking to General Shao.

General Shao also presents himself as highly patriotic to Outworld, as we see numerous occasions where he's zealous for Outworld's victory and power over others. Now, Liu Kang does mention something that I find interesting.

That sentence alone would have us believe that even before Shang Tsung spoke with General Shao, Shao was already someone who was prideful of himself and had heavy prejudices towards others. We can see that plainly whenever he speaks with any of the Earthrealmers. But something tells me that General Shao isn't the villain that NRS wants us to believe he still is. When talking with Sindel in private, he mentions a lot about how he feels that Outworld is shackled by Liu Kang's supposed "influence" on Outworld.

Now yes, as we later know, it is Shang Tsung that's been feeding General Shao these lies. But remember, Liu Kang said that Shang "played" on these traits that General Shao had. This means that these feelings were harboring for who knows how long. I think NRS wants us to presume that these negative feelings were festering since Jerrod & Liu Kang agreed upon settling realm tensions with Mortal Kombat. But however long these emotions have been boiling within Shao Kahn, that's what made Shao vulnerable to such manipulations. Because General Kahn's speech consists of him feeling that Outworld is trapped and that it needs to be liberated.

But the underline point of this is that even General Shao, the biggest, baddest villain in all of Mortal Kombat, was given a better life than Shang Tsung. The very same man who killed Liu Kang's spiritual brother and best friend TWICE and nearly took over Earthrealm. He's given a high position of power, yet Shang Tsung was left to struggle for the barest minimum.

And this is where we need to go back to the capabilities of the Hourglass. Liu Kang and Kronika specifically mention how the Hourglass is used to establish history and destinies for those within the timeline. In Kronika's case, every time she restarted the timeline, everyone was essentially kept the same. We saw this when Raiden discovered that he and Liu Kang were always destined to fight, and Liu Kang was supposed to die.

And casual reminder, that destiny, by definition, means that there will be necessary events that will happen to one person or thing in the future. And the Hourglass, based on what NRS is telling us, is used to craft these destinies. So, you would think that Liu Kang would want to construct different futures for everyone, which he did, but why is Shang Tsung the outlier? Because Raiden is wholly distinct compared to the thunder god he was before, in his ending, Liu Kang purposefully changed Raiden so that he doesn't become Dark Raiden in his timeline. Sindel is also given a fresh coat of paint as well along with Mileena. Yet, Johnny Cage is the same, Kung Lao is the same, Kitana remains the same, but Shang Tsung is still a conniving little shit?

And during the interactions with Shang Tsung, Liu Kang mentions that he gave Shang Tsung this life because he wanted to reform Shang Tsung…Which, that doesn't make any sense! Because when Liu Kang FINALLY informed Sindel, Kitana, Mileena, and anyone who was in Shang's laboratory about the previous timeline, NONE OF THEM KNEW OF THIS! Nobody in the new timeline knew who they were before the change! How the fuck can someone be reformed for something they didn't even know they've done? Not only that but are you about to tell me that this BRAND NEW SHANG TSUNG is literally being punished and put in timeout ALL BECAUSE OF HIS OLD TIMELINE SELF? A VERSION OF HIMSELF HE HAD NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF, WOULD HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF, AND NEVER COMMITTED ANY OF THE ATROCITIES THAT THE OLD SHANG TSUNG HAS DONE????

Even more weird is this comment that Liu Kang makes:

Wait, what the fuck does that mean, 'other timelines'? Because in story mode, Liu Kang AND Geras inform us, the audience, that they've never seen other timelines exist outside of their own. Hell, Geras said that in the billions of years of him living, other branching timelines have never existed! And based on my research, the Hourglass has never been shown to let the user peek into the future. Yet, here, Liu Kang brings up how he saw what Rain and Shang Tsung have done in other timelines? Now, yes, these dialogue options could've been placed AFTER the events of MK1's story mode, especially since the majority of the interactions between fighters are spoken as though the events from the story AND their arcade ending have already passed.

But let's look at Rain for a brief moment. Going back to the first image I posted above, the exchange between the pair goes like this:

Rain: You took Godhood from me?

Liu Kang: Because in no timeline had you used it wisely.

And there's another one I want to point out too:

Liu Kang: Pride has been your downfall in all timelines

Rain: Then why not change me in this one?

So, from what NRS is telling us from these interactions, Liu Kang WAS aware of previous timelines when recreating history? So that means that when he was recreating Rain's destiny, or future, he saw multiple events where Rain was still harmfully prideful? Liu Kang SPECIFICALLY SAYS that in no other timeline, Rain as a demi-god was a detriment. And that would mean that he would HAVE to see into the future to see if keeping Rain as a demi-god would be worth the risk in his new era! YET, APPARENTLY, HE EITHER HAS SELECTIVE FORESIGHT, OR THIS IS A PLOT CONTRIVENCY BECAUSE THERE ARE MULTIPLE TIMES WHERE LIU KANG SAYS THAT CERTAIN EVENTS WERE OUT OF HIS SIGHT. HIS TALK WITH BARAKA FOR GOOD EXAMPLE, WHERE HE MENTIONS THAT TARKAT WAS A UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCE! LIU KANG EVEN TELLS TOMAS (Smoke) THAT THE REASON WHY HE WAS ORPHANED WAS SO THAT HE CAN MAKE HIS TIMELINE, WHICH MUST MEAN THAT HE WAS ABLE TO CRAFT HIS LIFE FROM NEAR BEGINNING TO END!

SO WHICH IS IT NRS, CAN MY BOY ACTUALLY SEE INTO THE FUTURE? HOW LIMITED IS HIS SIGHT? DID HE OR DID HE NOT ACTUALLY KNOW ABOUT OTHER TIMELINES? And Rain is right to question, why didn't he change him? Because Mileena was changed, compared to the playful vileness she was before. And an even better example to compare to Rain, RAIDEN was altered! He's woefully humble, the nicest, sweetest farm boy to ever exist, and he too was demoted from literal Godhood! So why didn't you also change Shang Tsung? Why keep him as a charlatan who will lie, cheat, steal, and kill his way to power?

Now, yes, Liu Kang does mention how he wanted to leave everyone's fates in their own hands. But these are fates that YOU CRAFTED FOR THEM! AND DID VERY LITTLE TO ACTUALLY DIFFERENTIATE THEM FROM THEIR PREVIOUS COUNTERPARTS! Sure, their new life experiences that Liu Kang gave them, their personalities would change. But, that's practically null because most of the good and bad guys in MK1 are practically identical to their previous selves. Once again, Johnny Cage is no different from the Johnny Cage we saw back in MK9-MK11, Kung Lao is still the same since that same era, and even Shao Kahn is somewhat still similar to his tyrant self in the previous games!

So it's no wonder that Titan Shang Tsung was able to just swoop in and take this new Shang Tsung under his black wings because this "new" Shang Tsung is no different from what he was. All that changed is that the little shit doesn't know magic and is poor!

I'm actually going to stop here because I think you can get my point. Liu Kang did a horrible job recreating this timeline. Which the blame actually goes to Netherrealm Studios. While I do love the story of MK1, it's horribly too simple and vague when it comes to not only its story plots but also the capabilities of how Liu Kang constructed this timeline. Because this makes it seem like Liu Kang held some special prejudice against a Shang Tsung who didn't commit any of the crimes that his previous self had committed, yet still punished him for it, and called it "reforming" him. Yet, he's happily willing to overlook the crimes that Shao Kahn and Sindel have committed for some reason!

So, I actually want to write up an alternative story for how Shang Tsung became the way he did because the one that NRS gave us is flawed in so many ways.

Reimagining of the Hourglass & Shang Tsung

We're first going to further expand upon the Hourglass since this very item is the core reason why MK1 becomes a reality. We all know that Kronika has been manipulating the Hourglass for billions upon billions of years. We get this timeframe from Geras, who has been working alongside Kronika for many eons. And I'd like to think that the Hourglass, due to Kronika's influence, has been forever tainted with her vision. It has, for many millenia, saw the intended vision that Kronika wanted out of her balanced timeline, so when there is a disturbance to her vision, it slowly, like a snail, attempts to revert back to the "status quo." Now, whether or not this makes the Hourglass conscious or not I'm unsure if I would call it that. But, clearly, Kronika's vision and influence have rubbed off on this celestial item. This could be why certain characters in MK1 practically remain the same.

And with this in mind, Liu Kang noticed this. When he was recreating the timeline, he may have seen that no matter what he did, everyone, one way or another, would revert back to an aspect of themselves that they were before. So, Liu Kang had to make necessary changes. Raiden could no longer be the God of Thunder, Rain could no longer be a demi-god, Subzero & Scorpion would have to become blood brothers, Mileena and Kitana would become actual sisters, etc. As for the villains, Liu Kang must've known that, while there are people in the world who simply do terrible shit just because, more often than not, there is a reason for their villainy. So, he provided them what they wanted. Sindel remains as the queen of Outworld, Rain is instead a High Mage in Outworld, and while General Shao may not be the emperor of Outworld, he's still given a position of power by leading Outworld's armies.

So what would this mean for Shang Tsung? Well, why not give Shang Tsung what he wanted too? And to understand what Shang Tsung wants, we gotta first go over who he is real quick. Now, I'm not going all the way back to the arcade cabinet Mortal Kombat. If it hasn't been obvious, I'm mostly taking notes and points from MK9-MK11 because that's the jumping point MK1 is coming off from. And based on the research I made, not much is known about MK9 or MK11 Shang Tsung. We know he was from Earthrealm (most likely China due to his name) and that he had magical capabilities that led him to Outworld.

And other than that, there's not much of Shang Tsung's new backstory that we see here. He's kinda like a Joker character, just more sophisticated and not too insane in the membrane. Shang Tsung simply wants power and will do anything to obtain it. But, let's look into his capabilities to consume souls. From what we saw in MK9 & MK11, Shang Tsung MUST consume souls to remain young and strong. How he got this way, the games don't tell us, and I'm not going to rely on any of the multiple character endings in these games since they are infamously known to have endings that are either not canon, semi-canon, or have contradictory plot points. And, once again, I'm also avoiding any canons in the Midway Mortal Kombat games since who knows if any of the canon events BEFORE the first Mortal Kombat game still stands. See Sindel for a point of reference in MK11: Aftermath.

From what I saw in the MK fandom, many compare Shang Tsung to a vampire, which is a pretty apt comparison. Depending on the vampire media you consume, when vampires are deprived of blood for too long, they start to wither away and become decrepit; slowly or quickly reverting back to a frail, old state of being. And the only way they can prevent further degradation is by consuming blood, which changes them back to being youthful again. The same could be said about Shang Tsung. Once again, we don't know the rules of his soul consumption in the NRS games. Does Shang Tsung need to feed regularly on souls or risk becoming old within weeks or months? Or does Shang Tsung consume a soul, becomes youthful again, but year after year, as he gets older again, he knows he has to soul-suck another individual to keep his vigor? Regardless, Shang Tsung, selfishly, prolongs his own life at the expense of others if he does not wish to die. Which could also explain why Shang Tsung desired power so much. If he was powerful enough and had a steady stream of souls to collect, he could stay young forever, effectively immortal. Now, would this say that Shang Tsung has an inner fear of death? Maybe, why else would someone desire such a feat if not to avoid the dreadful reality of one's mortality. He was already well versed with magic before, so why not ambitiously expand his possibilities while also keeping his being alive eternally? It's classic TTRPG Lich shit.

So, what did Shang Tsung want in the previous timeline? He desired power and an endless supply of souls to upkeep his well-being so that he could continue to live youthful. That's pretty much what it boils down to. So, how would Liu Kang, essentially, give Shang Tsung what he wanted. We know that he depowers Shang Tsung, which is a good starting point. If Liu Kang hoped to ensure that Shang Tsung wouldn't receive any magical prowess, taking it away in the new timeline is a good idea. On top of that, keeping him in Earthrealm would also be a good idea. Now, yes, there are some Earthrealmers who gain magical capabilities and they're not from realms like Outworld or Chaosrealm. However, more often than not, the reason why they gain their powers is due to a freak accident, an item they possess, or due to being gifted by it from otherworldly beings of power. So the chances of Shang Tsung becoming a powerful sorcerer in Earthrealm, if Liu Kang played his cards right, would still be a low probability.

Another thing would be to put Shang Tsung in a position of power. This could either mean that Shang Tsung could've been born into nobility or even royalty like Sindel and her daughters. And I say could've because we gotta look at Kung Lao. Kung Lao still has the history of his ancestor, the Great Kung Lao, being the greatest Mortal Kombat champion. So I can imagine that Shang Tsung, when the time would come for his arrival, would've been born into a long line of respectable nobles or part of a royal house. And before we continue, we gotta talk about Sindel's interactions with Liu Kang. There are multiple times where Sindel questions the legitimacy of her own actions because she learned how Liu Kang created the timeline and is thus her creator. Yet, Liu Kang keeps reassuring her that her actions, decisions, and life is still her own. That she is not part of some grand plan that Liu Kang had for her. And I want to slightly expand upon that. To do so, we got to go back to the Hourglass.

The Hourglass, I feel, is like talking to a genie. It's a common trope that one must be careful when making any wish with a genie because the creature will take your word literally or twist it on its head. It's like the saying goes, "Be careful about what you wish for." And I can imagine that Liu Kang made commands, or wishes, to the Hourglass to gain the desired results he wanted, like inputting a command to an AI machine to get results. However, Liu Kang didn't want to have an iron grip on how people's lives were spent. Kronika has always made it where Liu Kang was the "chosen hero" of Earthrealm or that Shang Tsung would be a menace. So Liu Kang did the equivalence of putting in a simple command like, "I want Sindel to become the empress of Outworld." But to ensure that she still had the free will to achieve such a status, he probably put opportunities within her ancestors' history so that it would become a POSSIBILITY for Sindel and her daughters to become royalty, but never a guarantee. We'll get back into this when we discuss Shang Tsung again.

So essentially, Liu Kang had a looser grip on the fates of the characters of MK1, giving them ample opportunities to weave their own destinies based on the lives they lived and the chances given to them. And while these changes may have slowed down the Hourglass's capability to conform this new timeline back into Kronika's vision, this also left this timeline vulnerable to Titan Shang Tsung's meddling. Because, yeah, I think we're all overlooking the terrifying idea of Titan Shang Tsung being the catalyst cause for why MK1 becomes a thing to begin with. I would honestly his involvement in MK1 entirely to this instead.

When Titan Shang Tsung mentioned that he discovered the timeline where Liu Kang won the battle instead of him, they make it seem like that he learned of this yesterday and decided to act upon it today. Instead, I would've preferred that he was messing with Liu Kang's timeline without the Fire God even knowing it. Titan Shang Tsung should've been the reason Tarkat existed, Titan Shang Tsung should've been the one who pulled the strings for Jerrod's eventual death, Titan Shang Tsung should've been responsible for Smoke losing his family, TITAN SHANG TSUGN SHOULD'VE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR WHY LIU KANG'S SHANG TSUNG BECAME HOMELESS!

Because that would've made Titan Shang Tsung a more personal and deeper threat. Because he could easily blame all the events that happened in Liu Kang's timeline on Liu Kang himself. Because Liu Kang had a looser grip on how his timeline worked, Titan Shang Tsung saw holes in Liu Kang's timeline that he could use to agitate the timeline, thus giving the Hourglass ample reason to revert certain events back into Kronika's vision. For example, Mileena being infected with Tarkat and becoming the Mileena we know from the previous timeline, General Shao eventually wanting to become emperor of Outworld, or the Shirai Ryu becoming a rival clan from the Lin Kuei.

So, it would make sense for him to sabotage HIS OWN SELF so that this new Shang Tsung would become vulnerable to his schemes in the hopes of gaining not only a better life but power. I can imagine that Titan Shang Tsung disrupted the new Shang Tsungs family line by showing them forbidden magics. Magic so off-limits that Liu Kang himself had to intervene, which ruined the Tsung family and brought them into obscurity. Or, Titan Shang Tsung may have destroyed their family fortune due to political intrigue or financial bankruptcy. Whatever Titan Shang Tsung did, it brought the Tsung family to the lowest of the low, so much so that they either had to escape, move, or were somehow taken to Outworld. And being in Outworld didn't improve the family's lives as they would never reach the noble or royal status that they had before.

And this is where we gotta talk about freedom of choice with Shang Tsung because I feel like some people forget that his info card mentions this about Shang Tsung in MK1:

"Shang Tsung grew up in Outworld's backwaters. Too lazy for hard labor and too shifty for honest work, he eked out a living selling quack cures and fake magic."

Now, when we look at Outworld and the way it's presented, the realm is definitely a high fantasy realm. They don't have cars like we do, they use carts, they don't have advanced technology like cellphones or T.V. Hell, Mileena shows genuine awe when she sees Johnny fly a drone and calls it magic. So it can be assumed, as well, that they probably work up some elbow grease when it comes to planting, performing customer service work, and other hard labor. All of it is done by hand with little intervention from machines. Or, the convenience is done by magic, but we can clearly see that magic doesn't come naturally to just anyone since Rain had to go to school just to become a hydromancer. Also, to be fair, the magic system in MK is not really grounded anyway, so :/.

So I can imagine why work was somewhat undesirable for Shang Tsung. He didn't know magic himself, so he didn't have the convince to let the wills of the mystical to relieve him of work. And depending on HOW poor Shang Tsung was, Shang Tsung probably wasn't able to hone any skills. We know that he speaks well, but how much of that was due to any formal education or self-teaching himself to sound as though he knows what he's talking about. And considering the fact that he's considered "shifty," that must mean that he had to resort to a life of stealing from others when he was younger. And I refuse to believe that Shang Tsung never had opportunities in life to potentially rise above his poor lifestyle, but because of his growing guarded and selfish nature, he couldn't help but grow impatient when the comfortable lifestyle he wanted took longer compared to just finding way to sneakily get what he wants.

And like I said, in this headcanon scenario, Titan Shang Tsung essentially groomed our new Shang Tsung into this lifestyle and way of thinking. He probably manipulated moments in his life to make it seem like Shang Tsung had no choice but to accept a life of deception, that this Damashi character was his only hope of ever achieving that comfortable lifestyle he always wanted, along with weaving a fake story that people "conspired against him since his birth."

And to add to this tragedy, I want to go back to Liu Kang and how everyone blames him for the reason why their lives either went to shit or for why horrible things happened to them. Because, once again, I refuse to believe that Liu Kang would just create Tarkat, or let Smokes' family die, or even let Jerrod die for the 100th time (guy can't catch a break). I like to think that Liu Kang and Geras eventually connect the dots that it was thanks to Titan Shang Tsung's meddling in his timeline that events transpired the way they did. Yet, Liu Kang doesn't want to tell anyone this. Because while it was Titan Shang Tsung's fault, the Hourglass is truly the one to blame. Even beyond the grave, Kronika nearly got what she wanted as everything nearly reverted to some twisted version of how her era once was. So Liu Kang takes the blame for it all because telling everyone that they're potentially doomed to become the worst versions of themselves or that they will experience expected tragedies would be too much for them to handle. So Liu Kang allows them to use him as the scapegoat, to blame their blights on him for why events turned out the way they did.

And I'm finally going to stop here because this has gotten too long and at this point, I feel like I'm a rambling mad woman XD.

Essentially, the TLDR version of all of this is that Titan Shang Tsung is the true mastermind for why Shang Tsung became what he was. He manipulated events so that he could merge his timeline into Liu Kangs and fucked up Liu's new era because of it. Shang Tsung's downfall wasn't Liu Kang's fault and it shouldn't have been.

Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed this ramble, and please feel free to express your own opinions about Shang Tsung's story in MK1. There's probably something about MK1 that I missed that probably justifies Liu Kang being the reason Shang Tsung becomes homeless, but I did my best with the sources that was provided to me.

[odditycircus-2002]

Shang Tsung x Medusa!Reader Part III: Aftermath

PREV

FIRST

For some reference, this takes place around MK11: Aftermath Story Mode. What happened between that and the last post is up to you to decide. Oh and in this scenario, Sindel isn't a villain (Let's be honest that ret-con did her dirty), rather she'll be aware of what she's doing BUT, you, the reader basically are controlling her like a puppet. While perhaps unnecessary, I suggest reading my other posts to understand what's happening here. Now, on with the show!

You were tossed in the Void similarly to Shang Tsung, Fujin, and Night Wolf because you, too, refused to take Kronika up on her offer. That and you were taken first before them as Kronika's Insurance so that your husband would complete her Crown of Souls. In fact, your entire existence was made and written so that you were essentially a carrot on a stick for Shang Tsung.

Understandably, you're more than a little bitter about this being true. Still, whether or not your love for Shang Tsung changes(Though, let's be honest, you were bemused and absolutely jubilant when you found your DEAD husband not dead and alive), that doesn't stop you from conspiring with one another to bring Kronika to her knees. A fact that Fujin and Night Wolf suspected while trapped within the Void, without knowing you two are married.

Then again, how would anyone really know? The demigod brothers were used to your glamor and mask that made you look more human rather than your gorgon form.

Plus, it helped that while Shang Tsung still wore his wedding ring, you kept yours on a cord around your neck, hidden beneath your clothing.

In front of the others, such as Lui Kang's allies, you two also acted formally with one another, with brief and curt exchanges if you needed to interact. Leaving others to believe you both used to be in Shao Khan's court.

Shang would be adamant about not needing your medicine or help whenever he gets injured in any battles you face. Yet, you wouldn't have any of it, you just got back your husband, and you are sure as FUCK not gonna lose him again.

"Shang, you old fool, you're useless to anyone if you can barely walk or see straight!"

Although, you didn't let any of your actual concerned sentiment seep out from you; instead, you just assure Shang that he can "pay" you back later. This works in both your favor as Shang Tsung openly healing you can also be seen as chipping away his tab with you.

While neither Night Wolf nor Fujin suspected your marriage to Shang Tsung, they still were wary of both of you. So they would try and keep you physically separated. Shang Tsung's honesty track record is abysmal at best, and you're already known to be a notorious dealmaker that lives in a cave.

Still, when both of you can slip by their watchful gaze, you'd both would exchange hushed, tender, and encouraging words to one another. Yet, words aren't enough for you to express just how much you've missed his presence. His company has always been far more entertaining and fulfilling than any souls you've bargained with or stone slaves you kept in your cave as security.

Shang Tsung can only use many words to express his pride in you. He would make many promises and vows to you to give all you desire in his new Era, to make up for all the years he's lost with you.

Despite a few hiccups regarding restoring Sindel to life, mainly in the form of you turning one Tarkatan to stone and shattering another, the process was successful thanks to you, Shang, and Fujin. Or so it seemed.

You took the liberty of briefly snatching the Jinsei Fujin collected to add just a few drops of venom you specially made to those that can't hold up their end of the bargain into the bottle. So whether Sindel realized it or not, you pulled the strings.

Funny, some of you almost felt bad for what you'll put Sindel through. Here's a loving and heroic woman who lost her husband and realm to Shao Khan, then her life to ensure Earthrealm's protection. Only for that sacrifice to be reduced to meaningless when Quan-Chi resurrected her to force her to act on Shao Khan's will, including brutally murdering the very people she tried to protect. Only for her leash to be passed to Shinnok and Quan-chi after her second death at the hands of Night Wolf. Finally, after years as a pretty little puppet, she has restored memories and body. Now reunited with her daughter and able to apologize for leaving her alone with Shao Khan as a young child. Well, almost being a keyword here.

You first had her free the man she hated the most, her "husband" Shao Khan, from his imprisonment. You can imagine her horror when her body started moving beneath the Kolosseum, without being prompted. When she tried to open her mouth to shout for help, you made sure no words could escape her. The next time she opened it again, well it was to let out her banshee scream, peeling back the flesh of his Shokan guards. You give her some reprieve by letting her kick Shao Khan in the face, hard. Enough to break his nose and a few spikes of his.

You laughed through your enchanted crystal when Queen Sheeva saw the gruesome scene before her, with horror and disbelief in her eyes. Sindel could only get a few words out, insisting that she was not in control of herself, before you had her let out another scream and put the Shokan Queen out of commission before quickly using Sindel as your mouthpiece to spin a tale to convince the rest of the Shokan that Kitana Khan was to blame and to swear loyalty to her to avenge Sheeva. Sindel could only watch the scene unfold from her eyes in horror.

You have to give it to the former Queen. She fought hard against your control, thrashing against her invisible strings harder than anyone before her to the point it seemed physically painful. Even managing to snap out of your control briefly to rectify her actions before you ultimately took back her strings. You chalk that one up to her willpower and the fact she made no soul-binding contracts with you.

The pieces began to fall into place after using Sindel to explain to Shao Khan the plan you and Shang Tsung had concocted to restore them both to their rightful place. With Sindel as your puppet, Shao Khan was slowly able to take back Outworld's armies. And because you were in a good mood, you allowed her some control over her voice again, enough so she may speak her true thoughts and motives. Apologizing in tears for all she's done and wishing she was stronger, letting her daughter know she loves her more than she'll ever know. There were still tears in Sindel's eyes when you retook her voice to command Kitana to be put in chains. Nobody on the other side knew it was you except for Shang Tsung, not when you were fighting alongside Raiden and Fujin against the Netherrealm's army.

When Shang Tsung tricked Fujin into finally giving him the crown, his first move after putting it on was to embrace you in his arms and unabashedly passionately kiss you. He ran his fingers through your snakes that affectionately curled into his touch with your arms wrapped around his neck.

"Fujin, Raiden, I believe you're familiar with my wife?"

Saying you had a diabolical grin on your face, made more evil-looking by your boar-like tusks jutting from your upper lip, would be an understatement.

After feasting on Fujin and Raiden's souls, you turned them into stone to preserve them for later. However, that's when Sindel finally broke free of your control, first to briefly brawl with Shao Khan for harming her daughter before you pulled her into combating you. In the end, you not only beat Sindel in combat but, to ensure she can't do anything further, have her look into your gaze and turn to stone.

"Do not worry, your Excellency. I can reverse the spell later and make it so she's devoted to you for all eternity. "

Not surprisingly, both you and your husband betrayed Shao Khan and drained him of his life force until he was nothing but a barely breathing husk of what he once was.

When Shang Tsung defeats Kronika, and before he starts working on the Hourglass, he takes your wedding off from the cord around your neck to lovingly put the jade and nephrite ring in its rightful place on your hand. You both share a loving kiss before he starts getting to work, well before Fire God Lui Kang arrives.

If your husband wins, he makes good on all those promises he made you earlier, including making you a throne of your own right beside him. Because you had such fun with Sindel and Shao Khan, they, too, become your personal servants, similar to Shang Tsung with Raiden and Fujin. While Kronika is long gone, Shang Tsung is forever grateful that she made you. You are his Empress, his equal in power and mind, his beloved wife. Now, there'll be no one in all of existence that can ever separate you two.

If Lui Kang wins, you can only fall to your knees amongst the dust that once was Shang Tsung. Lui Kang would look upon you with pity as tears start pouring from your eyes, a first for you in eons. You touch your damp cheeks before closing your eyes, taking a breath, and looking toward the Fire God with a strained smile.

"Can I please join my husband too?"

"Are you sure, Y/N?"

"I'm certain, he was my life after all. Whether or not I wanted him to be."

Lui Kang acquises to your request. You whisper "thank you" as you turn into dust and join your husband.

In the Fire God's new Era, he will ensure you turn out differently and, hopefully, kinder. And to keep you and Shang Tsung as separate as possible. However, even if you manage to meet through oceans of time, then at least it'll be your choice whether or not you fall for the Sorcerer.

Playlist while writing this:

"Poor Unfortunate Souls" by Pat Carrol

"Judas" by Lady Gaga

"Momento Mori" by Fish in a Birdcage

"Mary on a Cross" by Ghost

"Queen of White Lies" by The Orion Experience

"Look what you made me do" by Taylor Swift

"I'm the Bad Guy" by Andy Bean and Noel Wells

[otaku553]

omg pjsk fan?? whats your fav song (chart-wise) and fav character??? maybe fav band if you have one?

Piano forte scandal is the only one of these that I’ve full combo’d and I specifically enjoy it a lot because it’s a lot of very consistent tapping with minimal sliders and flicks I think. Honestly feel like it should be a 29 for now nice it is

Jinsei is just fun for some reason? The slow portion is almost always a combo killer but the fast tapping portions have some very nice satisfying patterns. Closest I’ve come to FCing is 2 misses I think

Invisible is difficult but it’s also a song I used to listen to a lot so some of the patterns just come intuitively with that lmao. Also the beginning part is fun.

I have sooooo many more favorites I’ve been a vocaloid fan since like,, middle school so I know a lot of the songs. But these are the ones I’m most actively trying to clear rn probably

Past this point I’m just going to be rambling so here we go:

I’m very bad at picking favorites but if I had to say favorite character, probably Rui? I can probably write an essay on it but I enjoy how his dynamic with the group has developed and how despite how he comes across at first as a crazy genius type he’s actually incredibly considerate of safety and his group’s wellbeing. He strikes an excellent middle ground between characters in excitement and the creativity born from that as well as rationality and knowing when to tone things down

And then for favorite band, I honestly Cannot Choose between wondershow and n25. Wondershow is excellently well-balanced and I can see clear dynamics and foils in pretty much every possible pairing or trio in the group, as well as in the group as a whole. They’re very good also at balancing humor and angst along with plenty of character development— I’ve heard people cite emu as a weak point in the group but honestly emu holds quite strong as her own character with the dreamers event and her ambitions/motivations and traumas!

And nightcord, though focusing really strongly on Mafuyu, is also pretty excellently written imo. It doesn’t seem like it at first I think with the main storyline and the sort of “oh no she’s going off to produce her own music because she wants to be alone” sort of thing and they sort of are a bit cheesy about their depiction of mafuyu’s depression at time but the events have really fleshed out her conflict very well. I think what gets me about nightcord is that their later depiction of the relationship between mafuyu and her mother is scarily realistic, all the way down to the manipulation tactics her mother uses against her to make her decisions seem like her own choice and not something her mother has railroaded her into. It’s the way that mafuyu’s mother seems to never do anything out of malice, but out of a genuine desire for her daughter to grow up successful and satisfied with her life, while her daughter never pushes back because she’s been conditioned to never do so since childhood, so her mother never gets that crucial feedback to stop pushing, eventually breaking mafuyu in the process.

Idk I wasn’t a big fan of their early writing for mafuyu but they’ve built her up to the point that she is scarily relatable in how she’s grown up to become lost and directionless and you just can’t help but root for their friend group and hope that the support system they’re building for mafuyu works out. I think that really is what project sekai’s writing excels in: making friend groups that have realistic dynamics and that act as strong support systems. It’s kind of therapeutic to watch them interact with each other and help each other out

[stanninghigedan]

Hey there! I just wanted to say I recently found your blog and I'm super thankful for your masterlist of translations and your translation work. Thank you for all your efforts!

I was really happy to see people translating the non-single Rejoice songs. Get Back To Jinsei is one of my favorites from that album, and thank you for your tl of the lyrics. I just love how Finder smoothly transitions into it.

But yeah, I hope this isn't too random of an ask 😅

Hiiiii! Thank you so much for your kind words 🥹 it's not random at all! This made my day so much 🥺

I'm glad the blog is helpful in some way 🥹 that's the main reason this blog exists - it was to (try to) provide translations to Higedan songs, hoping that it'll reach people and make them appreciate their songs more. I really believe in Higedan's music and lyrics - they're such good storytellers. Also, they're very very relatable 🥹

Get Back to Jinsei also is my favorite from the album, that's why I really wanted to translate the song. I really want to translate the other Rejoice songs (and other untranslated songs) as well, but I can't find the time as I work during the day and too tired in the evenings most of the time 😭 but i'll try my best to finish them this year... or in the next... 🤣😭

[nene-san49]

Tuesday/Wednesday Anime Line Up

My body pain managed to subside by noon and I was able to get some stuff done including part of my room. It's a work in progress but when I am done I should be able to display my figures once again and i'll put pics up! Meanwhile lets get to anime!😊

Aru Majo ga Shinu made

Okay so I know that the point of collecting the Tears of Joy is a trial of sorts but you can't tell me that there were no people during that parade display that weren't shedding any tears either? Is it only the tears of people that Meg directly affects? I just don't get it.😶

Ballpark de Tsukamaete!

Both Ruriko and Yamada not being able to handle Murata being in the vicinity with another women even though it was a new co worker was hilarious and Yamada being concerned about legs had me laugh out loud.😆

Bonus if you saw the anime this gif is from and if not ask me about it!😉

Kanpekisugite Kawaige ga Nai to Konyakuhakisareta Seijo wa Ringoku ni Urareru

No, no, no, no, no and uh...NO! No you book burning pieces of shit cannot have Philia back! You don't deserve her after she is starting to get mentally better and realize that her life was not normal as a saint! NO YOU MAY NOT!🤬

Uchuujin Mūmū

I can't with this show! Now we learned how to increase the power of a simple small kitchen appliance that can do multiple things? Oh and apparently a multiple microwave powered wireless phone charger that you have to shoot at someone...don't do this one. Meanwhile the biggest joke of the show was MūMū exploding one of the mixers cause...he's an idiot and getting hot melted plastic in his face and everyone thought it was cute as he rolled around in pain...okay I laughed my ass off too cause why MūMū why?😂

Saikyou no Ousama, Nidome no Jinsei wa Nani wo Suru?

Why are grandpas so cool in animes? Like the moment i knew the dude was Tessia's grandpa I was like let the training arc begin!😅

Your Forma

So she lost her ability to brain dive and now Harold is with another cyber detective. Why are they trying to push the romance. I'm more interested in the mystery. A bit disappointed for this ep.😒

I'm actually thinking of grouping Thurs. and Fri. together since there are like three which makes sense to me. Anyway that's it for me. Two back to back work days. Wish me luck but hey i'm not working with that shit manager that likes to destroy me with a smile at least. 🤭

[nightklub-au]

Jax Briggs

A retired soldier who plays saxophone in one of the club’s in-house musical ensembles

Had to leave the military after badly injuring his arms on a mission, leaving him as a double amputee and unable to continue his service

Still deals with PTSD and urges to get back into the field to protect those he loves

Jax arrived to the White Lotus after being discharged overseas before getting back home, and became friends with Raijin while taking time at the bar

Raijin enjoys his company, and offers the club as a safe haven should Jax ever need its

Jax enjoys the club, the atmosphere, the music, and the safety in it. He befriends the band members, and reminisces on playing in band when he was younger, a path in life he didn’t follow due to enlisting, and now can’t

He goes back to the states for awhile to live with his then wife Vera, but the strain of his own mental health and disability supports fractures their relationship, Jax feeling like an unfit husband and like he’s unable to return to this life

He returns to the White Lotus and ends up taking up residency there, consulting on their security

Once trusting enough, Raijin reveals his divinity to Jax and bestows magically imbued prostheses to him that allow for a much more precise range of movements when used. The prostheses still have to be removed and managed regularly like any in real life, and occasionally need to be re-imbued with small amounts of jinsei to continue working, but they allow Jax to take up music again, and find a home in the White Lotus club

They buzz and occasionally give his arms a ghostly liquid burn kind of feeling, a sensation he dislikes and often chooses to go without if he's not playing, but he’s grateful

He is not aware of the club’s darker dealings, an intentional line Raijin has drawn out of fear it will make the club feel unsafe to Jax

Jax has his suspicions though. He wasn’t head of his squad’s intelligence for nothing

(No drawing yet)

The White Lotus

All AU Bios

[weeklyvocajournal]

Weekly Vocajournal #60 (20/01 - 27/01)

We've made it to 60 somehow!

Yokomin - Purple Planet (ft. Yuzuki Yukari)

New Yokomin! Beautiful Yukari as always, the blending between her voicebanks gets better and better with each song. I'm also happy he's been putting english subs on his newer releases.

Mizore - Hikari no Tsuki (ft. Mizore, SEKAI, Nurse Robot_Type T)

This song is mostly Mizore's human vocals but I'm putting this here because the few segments of SEKAI's backing vocals we get are heavenly. Just a good song in general, super chill with pretty piano arpeggios.

Fuyuuu - NIGHTMARE ABYSS (ft. Kaai Yuki)

This made me realize that I don't hear much of Yuki in metal, and we need to start now. Fuyuuu managed to add enough grit in her voice to not sound out of place in the genre while still being pleasant to hear. This is apparently a self-remix, but the original is album-only so idk how it measures up.

Other Cool Stuff

👀 = Cool MV |🗣️ = Ear-catching Tuning | 🎶 = Song to my taste

Wataru Sena - Feel sky blue (ft. Hatsune Miku) 👀🗣️

Cagayake - Raira (ft. KAITO, Kagamine Len)

KurageP/Wada Takeaki - Horafuki Puppet (ft. Kasane Teto SV)

駆動快 - Ghoul Strider (ft. Adachi Rei, Defoko)

GESO - Sayonara Juunigatsu (ft. GUMI, Kaai Yuki, Kazehikiβ) 🎶

maigo - Junwakusei (ft. Kazehiki)

ITsu - Jinsei Wrap (ft. Hatsune Miku, KAFU) 👀

A4。- Mud Princeeeeess!!! (ft. KAFU) 🎶

Akali - Tou (ft. Lily, Otomachi Una)

Noz. - Fly in the sky (ft. Kagamine Rin)

[creatorofstarrealm]

All Confirmed Mk Timelines. Part 3

Since NRS has confirmed the multiverse I decided to make a long list of existing timelines using all non canonical endings. Plus extra timelines I’ve thrown in for fun.

Two important notes: Offshoots exist and timelines are given codes similar to DC’s worlds.

Chapter 3: Hanzo Hasashi / Scorpion

#HS1 (Hanzo Scorpion) (Mk Ending) Scorpion becomes champion of Mortal Kombat. Offshoots from this timeline have been known to exist.

#HS2 (Mk3 Ending) After learning that Kuai Liang is one of the chosen warriors Scorpion betrays and kills Shao Kahn. Returning back to the netherrealm after he saved earthrealm. Offshoots from this timeline have been known to exist.

#HS3 (Deception Ending) The Elder Gods turns Scorpion into their champion and intasked him with defeating Onaga with the promise of bringing his family back from the dead. Offshoots from this timeline have been known to exist.

#ASC1 (Armageddon resurrected clan) (Armageddon Ending) After defeating Blaze the Shirari Ryu clan is brought back from the dead, including his wife and son, Harumi and Satoshi. But Quan Chi kidnaps his son and Scorpion sends the entire clan after him. 

#HK1 (Hanzo Kahn) (MK vs DC Ending) Shao Kahn possesses Hazno’s body. Scorpion tries to fight back but in the end he fails. 

#VN2 (Mk1 S2 Invasion) Hanzo is resurrected by Nitara and is turned into a blood wielding assassin who is a slave to Vaeternus. 

#HS4 (Mk9 Ending) The Shirai Ryu deceased warriors reveal the truth to Scorpion and with his help they capture Quan Chi, kill him and castrate him. 

#HS5 (Mkx Ending) Dark Raiden makes Hanzo immortal and trusts him and his clan to protect the Jinsei. He also turns Scorpion into his dark enforcer. Pretty much enslaving him once again. Offshoots from this timeline have been known to exist.

#HAS1 (Harumi Scorpion) (Mk1 S1 Invasion) Hanzo Hasashi dies tragically and Harumi gets turned into Scorpion. Offshoots from this timeline have been known to exist.

#THS1 (Titan Hanzo Scorpion) (Mk11 Ending + Mk1 S1 Invasion) After becoming keeper of time, Scorpion searches the multiverse for a living Harumi. He fails and takes one of two paths. Which leads to either THS2 or THS3. Offshoots from this timeline have been known to exist.

#THS2 (Mk11 Ending + Mk1 S1 Invasion) After becoming keeper of time, Scorpion searches the multiverse for a living Harumi. He realizes that Star Realm is to blame and attacks Kronika’s chosen people.

#THS3 (Mk11 Ending + Mk1 S1 Invasion) After becoming keeper of time, Scorpion searches the multiverse for a living Harumi. He stumbles upon Liu Kang’s timeline and invades it. In turn Fire God Liu Kang sends this Hanzo to HAS1. 

#THS4 (Mk11 Ending) Hanzo Hasashi (Not Scorpion) becomes keeper of time. Currently unknown. Offshoots from this timeline have been known to exist.

[bluehairedspidey]

WIP WEEKEND BABEY HERE'S HOW SHINNOK CAN STILL WIN

Here's a bit of an MK11 AU I've been working on where Quan Chi is brought back in the time merger! Quan Chi restores Shinnok after he's been decapitated and sews seeds of doubt against Kronika >:3c

Quan Chi had never seen the Sky Temple in such a state. The dozens upon dozens of floors above the Jinsei Chamber had all been scorched clean through by lightning, creating a hole that extended all the way to the roof over a thousand feet above and let in nothing but rain. The monks who had at one time cared for the temple were all gone. The animals that had once inhabited the surrounding area in abundance were also nowhere to be found. Although the Sky Temple still housed Earthrealm's life force, it was now utterly devoid of life.

Shinnok's body was exactly where Raiden had left it; on its knees near the edge of the chamber, its wrists held up by shackles with chains that stretched to the ceiling, its whole form still twitching in pain. Holding Shinnok's head, Quan Chi wasted no time crossing the room to reunite the two. He cupped Shinnok's face in his hands as he knelt and placed it back onto his body. The moment his windpipe reconnected, Shinnok took in a lungful of air with a gasp that quickly devolved into a coughing fit. Quan Chi simply held him in place while his coughs subsided.

"My mother, Kronika, has returned," Shinnok rasped out as soon as he was able.

Quan Chi's hands slid down from Shinnok's jaw to the place where his neck had been severed. His hands glowed green as they encircled Shinnok's throat.

"The Titan," he asked. "Keeper of Time?"

"Yes," Shinnok replied, voice getting stronger as Quan Chi healed him. "She came to me after Raiden—" he spat the name with disdain "—cut off my head. She lamented my fate, but assured me that, as the arc of the universe bends to her will, she would restore the balance that he had upset."

Quan Chi's grip tightened ever so slightly. He was nearly done healing Shinnok's neck now.

"And yet, she chose not to restore you?"

Shinnok's mouth remained closed, but his eyes widened slightly.

"Why would she not restore you, if she truly intended for you to live?" Quan Chi kept one hand on Shinnok's throat, but slowly slid the other down to his chest. “In fact, if the arc of the universe truly bends to her will, why did this happen at all?”