#i liked liu a lot :-) she's neat

[seagullcharmer]

finished lesson one of the scholomance. absolutely adored it (will likely reread over the next few days) can't wait until the library has the next two available

[pr0cyon-lotor]

Part 4: Drinks With Friends

(This has some of my writing. If you see punctuation/grammar mistakes, it's because I wrote this on Tumblr and couldn't be bothered to put it in a spell checker :P)

(MF and LMY are drinking buddies because... Idk they're neat)

(I feel like LMY would be significantly more shitposty if given the chance. So I gave her the chance)

LMY's Messages Era:

(Male + Female friendship where they're they both get a little silly even though everyone else perceives them as serious 🔛🔝)

Ming Fan was sitting on the floor next to Liu Mingyan's bed. He threw his phone behind him onto the bed after responding to the tweet. Just as he did Liu Mingyan returned with three bottles of soft colored liquors.

As much as he wanted to turn his head and scoff, he couldn't deny that getting at least a little tipsy and complaining didn't seem great right now. He had a lot to complain about and maybe a few drinks will make it easier for him to talk about it.

Liu Mingyan sat down in front of him on a pile of pillows and blankets they didn't bother picking up after they were at each other's throats. She handed him a bottle of a vibrant green liquid, it's swirled with eatable glitter. It was pretty, he wondered it would taste good.

"I will be completely honest, I didn't think you'd entertain me after the last time we drank together," Liu Mingyan admitted; her voice calm and smooth. It was sometimes hard to connect the unhinged messages to the poised girl in front of him, but he knew better now than to try to make sense of it.

He pressed the cold bottle against his aching cheek. He could only hope it wouldn't bruise. He always forgot that terrifying strength seemed to run in the Liu family. At least he could hold on against Liu Mingyan, he was positive he'd get taken down by Liu Qingge if he tried.

"I need to complain anyway. What even is this?" Ming Fan asked as he opened his bottle. The took a sniff, it reeked of hard liquor underneath the sweet tone. His scrunched his nose subconsciously.

"A glitter wine, I think. Sha Hualing gave me a few bottles before she left," Liu Mingyan answered as she opened her bottle, which had a dark pink liquid inside.

"The alcohol smells strong," Ming Fan absentmindedly complained as he looked around. No shot glasses or anything to pour some out. He contemplated for a moment before sighing and deciding if he's going to tank his liver, it might as well be in college.

Not that he had a test tomorrow, and he finished his work for the other classes. Shizun was out for the week, and Shen-laoshi wasn't the type to drop a test without warning. He could probably call in sick if his hangover was as bad as last time.

He put the bottle to his lips and took a sip only to taste it. Not bad, it was a tart-sour flavor. Maybe lime or green apple or both. The alcohol was still strong, so he wasn't going to chug it any time soon. Maybe if he drunker.

"How is yours? Mine tastes like dragonfruit," Liu Mingyan said while pulling up her facemask.

"Lime and green apple, I think. I like it," Ming Fan conceded and took another drink, this time to actually coerce a buzz in the very least. He had Liu Mingyan to blame for his ever climbing alcohol tolerance.

"Hm, sounds good," she responded while swirling her bottle. "Do you have something to complain about? You always rant when you drink.'

Ming Fan nodded absentmindedly. It's been a few months since the first day, and he still had so much left in the semester. This year felt long. All because of one annoying brat. Maybe he shouldn't have taken a gap year, then he wouldn't have to deal with Luo Binghe.

"This damn kid. He thinks he's better than me or something," he muttered bitterly and took another drink. He wondered how much he could drink before he was incoherent.

"The same one that took your scholarship?" Liu Mingyan asked, and pulled down her facemask to follow his lead a drink out of her bottle. She subconsciously covered her mouth with her free hand as she drank.

"Yes, it's always him, I swear! What did I do to him? I don't understand why he has it out for me!" Ming Fan ranted.

"Well... If I remember correctly, you had a mean streak when we were in middle school. Maybe he was one of the kids you bullied," Liu Mingyan offered, while fidgeting with her bottle.

Ming Fan wilted a little. He felt so much shame when he's reminded of his middle school days. He didn't know why he constantly picked on kids younger than him. It was definitely an insecurity thing, but he still hated it.

"Maybe..." He murmured and shook his head. He took one big gulp, not wanting to think about it further.

"As I was saying, this guy keeps like following me around," Ming Fan continued before things got sappy.

"Does he?" Liu Mingyan said, entertaining his rant. She also wasn't the best with emotions, so she understood the change of topic.

"He always trails behind me and Ying-er. I could be talking to her about an assignment or something, and then I notice him lurking in the corner of my eye. I can't say anything because Ying-er gets mad at me when I say something!" Ming Fan's tone turned whiney as his inhibitions slowly started waning.

"And don't get me started on tests! He constantly scores around me or above me! And then he has the nerve to look at me when we're told what we made! Shen-laoshi loves to show our ranks in the class at the end of the month, and ugh!!!" He groaned and put his head in his hands.

"I don't get it. I don't know what I did to piss him off. He's so smug too. He once walked up to me and showed me what he had while I was talking to Ying-er. She complemented him, so I had to too, or else people would think I'm bitter," Ming Fan complained, looked at the floor through the gaps of his fingers.

"You are bitter though," Liu Mingyan supplied helpfully.

"Shut up!!" He yelled back, feeling his face grow warm. Yeah, he couldn't deny it, but shouldn't friends feed each other's delusions? He huffed and crossed his arms while looking away from her. He continued to drown himself in his lime flavored vice.

"There's no need to pout, A-Fan. Nothing wrong with being bitter," she said in a teasing tone. She picked up her bottle and paused halfway.

"Hey, A-Fan, do you think he likes Yingying? Maybe that's why he's constantly following you two and trying to one up you," Liu Mingyan suggested. That gave Ming Fan pause.

Would Luo Binghe like Ying-er? A protective part of him wanted to keep the beast far away from her, but...

Begrudgingly, he did have to accept that out of the other people in Cang Qiong University... Luo Binghe was unfortunately one of the better options. Especially with his GPA, and the fact he was polite with everyone...

Except Ming Fan, but since he was sensibly buzzed he could acknowledge he was really easy to hate. If not jealousy, then his abrasive attitude. If he wasn't actively attempting to be charming, his personality was rather lacking.

He can see why he wouldn't be liked, and if compared to Ying-er... He probably seemed like a demon.

Liu Mingyan noticed Ming Fan wilt a little. She swayed slightly as she offered her drink to him. Ming Fan looked at the dark pink liquor and sighed. They switched drinks without a word, a soft silence between them.

It lasted a while, Ming Fan idly looking at the floor. His nail mindlessly scratched at the label. It was a moment before he broke the silence.

"Mingyan... Am I... unpleasant?" He asked; his speech more slurred than before. Liu Mingyan stopped mid-drink; she swallowed and wiped her lips. "No, not particularly. Why?"

Ming Fan didn't respond. His bottom lip was touching the lips of the bottle; if he simply tipped the bottle back, he could drink enough to completely forget this night...

"Because I think I'm unpleasant," he murmured quietly and tipped the bottle back. Emotions were hard. He can deal with the repercussions of drinking so much later.

NYY's Messages Era:

(fun fact: MF's drunk texting messages are based off messages my friend sent me drunk asf)

<< | < | • | > | >>

[eldritch-nightmare]

celebrating the holidays.

a/n: hi here's my short replacement for the eyeless jack fic. that one is still gonna get posted!! just may take a while bc it's getting longer than i intended it to be lol. anyways i tried to keep the holiday relatively vague but since i personally celebrate christmas, i may slip up a bit. couldn't decide who to write for so i just spun a wheel six times and went with the ones selected.

includes: the bloody painter, nurse ann, jane the killer (arkensaw), eyeless jack, kate the chaser, and homicidal liu.

warnings: not proofread, very brief mention of helen's childhood, literally just fluff, also inconsistent length but that's to be expected atp, reader consumes meat in jack's section so sorry if u don't, nsfw elements in jack's part my hand slipped guys, blood, lotta kissing.

THE BLOODY PAINTER

He never cared much for the holidays, even when he was a child. Honestly, it was the one time of year that he dreaded the most.

He's an artist, so you know what that means. Every year, without fail, he would always get some art-related gifts. Not that he was complaining about that or anything, it was really, and still is, the only thing he had much interest in.

He just... found it to be draining. Apparently, at least according to his parents, he was supposed to find the holidays to be a fun, exciting time of year. And he was supposed to be oh so thankful for getting yet another sketchbook or paints from his relatives or whatever.

That was just too much work, honestly. So he grew to dread the holidays, even long after he became the killer he is today.

He's... not quite sure how he feels about the wrapped gift you're holding out in front of him. A part of him wants to reject it, and he almost does, but the barely contained excitement in your expression made him hesitate.

Your excitement only seemed to grow when he took the wrapped gift from you. While he didn't necessarily want or need a gift, he couldn't help but indulge you, especially since you seemed genuinely excited over whatever gift you had gotten him.

Honestly, he wasn't sure what he was expecting when he unwrapped the gift. Something art-related, no doubt. And it was art-related, just not in the way he was expecting.

It was something similar to a scrapbook, but it was really... neat. And more so a collection of art rather than an actual scrapbook. The thing that caught his attention the most was that it was just any old collection of art.

It was his art. You... you took or had his art professionally photographed and you put it in this book. It wasn't every single piece of art he's ever made, but it included a lot from different points of his life. It even included pieces from before he had met you.

He does not cry, no. But you do catch the tiniest smile forming as he flipped through the pages. It's... the nicest gift he's ever gotten before.

Helen's not sure how he'll repay you for getting something like this, so for now you'll just have to accept the tighter-than-usual hug and soft kiss.

NURSE ANN

Ann isn't too sure if she's ever celebrated any holidays before. She has no memories of her life before her... death? Is she dead? Well, she certainly doesn't feel alive.

She's rather indifferent towards the holidays, and honestly she probably won't even realize it's that time of year unless you or someone else point it out to her.

If you want to celebrate with her then she certainly won't stop you, just don't expect her to be the life of the party or anything like that.

You will have to guide her through how to celebrate because she simply will not know. But once she gets a hang of how things work it'll be something she retains for the future.

Ann stares blankly at the... tastefully atrocious sweater you were sporting. There were so many colors and the design clashed in a borderline unbearable way but you somehow made it look good.

Her gaze then drops down to the matching sweater you were holding out for her, an expectant look in your gaze. She thinks she understands, though she still glances up at you in confusion.

You explain that while it's not necessary to do in order to celebrate the holidays, you thought it would be fun to wear matching outfits with her. It's something couples do sometimes, apparently.

After your quick explanation, she silently takes the sweater from your hands and puts it on over what she was already wearing.

It certainly looks odd on her, no doubt, but the fabric is actually pretty soft, and the bright smile that lights up on your face makes it hard for her to care about whether or not the sweater looks good on her.

JANE THE KILLER

Jane hasn't celebrated the holidays since all the shit that's happened to her. She's been so focused on hunting Jeff down that it never even crosses her mind. Hell, she hasn't even celebrated her own birthday in years.

But then you come along and you insist on doing something for the holidays. Not because you necessarily enjoyed the holidays, but mostly because you just wanted her to take a break for once.

It'll take a lot of convincing. You'll have to get her to promise you months in advance, if we're being honest.

And if she didn't have such a soft spot for you, she probably wouldn't even humor the idea you had to celebrate. But alas, she loves you, and she finds it hard to say no to you more than she would like to admit.

She huffs in mild annoyance, sticking close to you as you guide her down the streets. She wouldn't normally be in such a crowded place but everyone was so caught up in their own plans for the holidays that no one spared her a single glance.

You wanted to go ice skating. It's not typically a traditional way to celebrate the holidays, at least not for her, but it seemed as if it would be fun. And it would give her an excuse to be close to you, so.

When you guys finally reach the ice skating rink, you're bouncing in excitement and eagerly pulling Jane along to go and put some blades on. She lets you, because your hand is oh so warm in hers and the way the lights shine in your eyes makes her feel... peaceful.

Now, there's no denying that she has never gone ice skating before. Hell, she's never been roller skating. So the moment you two were out on the ice, she was clinging to you to keep herself from falling.

It was embarrassing, and she almost wanted to storm off out of frustration but you never laughed at her. You would help her catch her balance whenever she slipped. You only laughed when you slipped.

You were even fine with sticking to one side of the rink, always keeping Jane behind you whenever another person would skate too close.

And when the two of you decided you had enough, she couldn't help but pull you close right as you go to step out of the rink, planting a deep kiss on your lips and leaving you dazed as she goes to take her blades off.

EYELESS JACK

Similarly to Ann, Jack can't remember if he's ever celebrated the holidays before. However, unlike Ann, he does have a vague idea on how people celebrate the holidays. He's not isolated like her.

He's definitely indifferent towards the holidays. He doesn't care much for them, but he's probably willing to celebrate if you really want him to.

Gift giving is not his specialty, dear lord. You will have to sit him down and tell him bluntly what you want so he can find some odd most certainly illegal way of obtaining it.

Jack is, however, an amazing cook and there is nothing that could change my mind on this, so he will definitely be willing to help you make any holiday meal you may want to try out.

Jack is silent as he watches you cook some meat for the meal the two of you had been spending the past few hours or so making. You had family coming over, and you needed dinner to be done before they arrived, so you had enlisted the help of your demonic, cannibalistic boyfriend.

His nose scrunched up in slight disgust at both the sight and smell of the cooking meat, and he grumbled silently under his breath about what a waste it was to cook it.

His mild disgust only seemed to grow more evident when you cut a piece of the meat off and pop it in your mouth to taste test it. He just couldn't understand how you could eat such a thing. Then again, he can't really judge considering he only consumes raw meat. Typically coming from a human.

You hum in delight at the taste, and perhaps it's an instinctual thing humans do, or maybe it's something else, but you cut off another piece and hold it out for him to eat. He just stares, and it takes a moment for you to realize what you had done, letting out a small, embarrassed laugh.

Before you could eat the piece of meat yourself, he was grabbing your wrist and bringing it back to his mouth, eating the cooked meat and biting your finger in the process. You hissed at the feeling of his sharp teeth pricking your skin, but you don't pull your hand away from him.

The meat was disgusting, no offense. You're an amazing cook so it isn't your fault, he just literally cannot consume cooked meat (or really anything that isn't raw/human) and he's going to feel absolutely awful tomorrow but that's for future Jack to worry about.

Present Jack thinks he deserves a reward for putting up with both the smell and taste of cooked meat, and he licks at your bleeding finger like your blood is the best thing he's ever tasted. To him, it was. It certainly helped to erase the taste of cooked meat.

Once he was satisfied, he was pulling you closer to him and kissing you deeply. He bit at your bottom lip until it was bleeding as well, and he couldn't help but groan as your blood invaded his mouth once more, relishing in both the taste and the little gasp that came from you.

He wanted more. Needed, if we're being honest. He found himself craving for you as his hands fell to the hem of your sweatpants, gently tugging at them. A clear sign of his intentions.

You grabbed his wrists before he could continue, breaking the kiss off and smiling slightly when he chased after you. The two of you were breathing heavily, the air in the kitchen feeling a lot thicker now.

Later, you promised. You still had a meal to finish cooking, and your family would be coming by in just a few hours. You sealed the promise with a quick, chaste kiss before taking the meat off the stove and setting it aside to focus on the next part of the meal.

And he helped you. He was patient, and he knew you could keep your promise.

KATE THE CHASER

Considering her sensitivity to light, it's not exactly easy for her to celebrate the holidays since bright lights seem to be a staple in them.

She's not really much of a holiday person anyway, so it's not something that bums her out.

She's probably the only one on this list that's least likely to indulge in celebrating, and will more than likely turn you down if you bring up the offer.

But she does feel a certain fondness in her heart when she sees you getting excited over something in relation to the holidays. While she doesn't enjoy that time of year, she's glad that you do.

Kate keeps her eyes covered as you carefully guide her through the forest. You had a surprise for her, apparently. Something to celebrate the holidays without actually celebrating.

She wasn't immediately thrilled, but you had promised that there would be absolutely no bright lights involved and that she didn't even have to consider it something for the holidays. That was enough to make her willing to indulge you just this once.

Even with her eyes closed, she could practically feel the excitement radiating off of you as you brought her closer to wherever it was you wanted to take her.

You told her to open her eyes shortly after, and she found the two of you standing in front of one of the many abandoned cabins within the forest. She didn't even hesitate to enter the cabin when you motioned for her to. Kate trusted you.

The sight she saw when she stepped inside was... it was breathtaking, honestly.

The walls and the ceiling were covered in glow-in-the-dark snowflakes and stars, illuminating the cabin in a faint green hue. It wasn't a grand gesture or anything of the sort. It was... it was nice.

The glow of the stars and snowflakes was bright enough to illuminate the cabin but dull and dark enough that she didn't have to shy away from it.

That wasn't the only thing you had planned either. She's not sure how much time and effort you put into doing all of this, but you had set up a little space in the cabin. There was even a small projector set up, as well as some food that you knew she enjoyed.

It's definitely the most romantic thing she's ever experienced. And if this is how you want to celebrate the holidays with her, then she definitely won't mind doing this sort of thing again next year.

HOMICIDAL LIU

Similarly to Jane, Liu hasn't really celebrated the holidays since everything that happened. He knows when that time of year comes around, and it makes him feel nostalgic, but he always found it hard to celebrate alone.

He's the one on this list who'll be most excited to celebrate the holidays with you if you ask him to.

It doesn't matter what you wanna do. If you wanna decorate your home, if you wanna give gifts, if you wanna make a meal, if you wanna just stay in and watch some movies and order takeout then he's down.

Sully doesn't care for the holidays and he finds the whole time of year to be annoying, to be honest, so you'll only be celebrating with Liu.

And you decided that you wanted to decorate your home a bit for the holidays. It was a simple way to celebrate the holidays, and you didn't even have to leave your home to get any decorations since you had some stuffed away in a box in your closet.

When you had told Liu that that was your plan, he was eager to join you. It's been so long since he's been able to do anything for the holidays, and he was just... really excited to finally have someone to spend them with.

You made sure to put on some music to play in the background while the two of you got to decorating, and you'd tell him where to put certain things if he didn't know what to do with them.

You two chat with each other as well during all this, sharing random memories and stories from your childhoods. Some were happy, some were sad. Sometimes, Liu would trail off mid-story and you'd have to change the subject to something lighter.

At some point, when a particularly romantic song played, you set down the decoration you were holding and pulled Liu away from the one he was setting out so you could take a break and dance with him.

It got the brightest smile out of him. The brightest one you've ever seen.

The bitter sadness and nostalgia that comes with the holidays lingered. It would always linger, honestly, but it was easier to deal with when he's with you.

And he was excited to make new memories with you. Ones that'll make him smile when the holidays roll around again.

[mothercetrion]

I really like the relationship between Johnny and Ashrah. like, a lot, and I think it's a very underrated relationship between the characters. full thoughts under the cut because it gets long (and also has MK1 spoilers!).

they get along for the duration of the story mode, with Johnny flirting with her/talking about her looks significantly less than he does any of the other women he has met (Kitana, Mileena, and Sindel, notably). he still does on occasion, but it doesn't feel as often? to me?

Johnny is the one to invite Ashrah and Syzoth to come back to Earthrealm with him, Kenshi, and Lao. when Johnny gives her what she views as a ridiculous disguise at the festival, she openly says as much, and Johnny insists that it looks good on her. it's about as flirtatious as he gets when he's speaking to her in the story.

A: You couldn't steal a more functional hat? JC: What? It hides your face. And honestly...it suits you.

I'm sure it's more of a nod to her more well-known design, but…still. it feels so much more genuine than his normal compliments, if that makes sense? no cheesy nickname, nothing drawn-out or overly dramatic. short and sweet. very unlike Johnny and incredibly endearing (and noticeable) as a result.

and then, once they're in Earthrealm, he's the one to introduce Ashrah and Syzoth to Liu Kang. he attributes the safe arrival to Earthrealm to them, which is true, but hearing Johnny openly credit them for their help was quite nice.

their story mode interactions end here, but their pleasant relationship continues in their intros. granted, Johnny does flirt with her (he is Johnny, after all), but it's a lot less than it is with the other girls on the roster. their intros are actually incredibly sweet and show off their close bond.

A: You fought bravely against Shang Tsung. JC: That's just life imitating art, sweetheart.

Johnny calls her "sweetheart" in this one. typical Cage flirting and hyping himself up.

A: I will fight without fail until I am absolved. JC: You are truly a wonder, woman.

more flirting…and a not-at-all-subtle "Wonder Woman" reference. a mix of Johnny's typical media references/possible flirting and a nod to Ashrah's VA (Susan Eisenberg, known for voicing Wonder Woman) from NRS. checks out.

JC: It's hard to believe there's a demon inside there. A: My true face would horrify you, Cage.

they talk about Ashrah's demonhood and how human she looks, something Johnny notes within seconds of their meeting. I feel like this intro also implies that Johnny thinks she's beautiful? "under there" being a beautiful face and Ashrah's "true" face potentially being horrifying to him, unlike her more human face.

JC: Your kriss would look outstanding on my mantel. A: I could never part with Datusha.

Johnny needs a replacement for Sento since he gave it to Kenshi! he thinks Datusha is neat, just like he did Sento. not a surprise here either.

JC: I love redemption stories. A: Yet mine is not for sale.

JC: C'mon, a tour would really help my story research. A: No living creature should visit the Netherrealm.

A: Your Hollywood is rife with evil. JC: You don't need your kriss to know that.

they talk about Johnny's movies, life in Hollywood, and Ashrah's story being made into something that Johnny makes. it makes sense with Johnny's character since he's interested in everyone else's stories for his movie, but talking about Hollywood generally is interesting to me.

A: So you were once married? JC: Amazing anyone would let me go, right?

Ashrah talks to Johnny about a very personal part of his life, possibly in an effort to get to know him more? or perhaps just asking him about it after hearing it from someone else. it's not revolutionary that she would ask, considering that it's brought up in other intros, but it's still interesting nonetheless.

JC: I've been in recovery too, y'know. A: We all have our inner demons.

this intro is one of my favorites for Johnny. he mentions doing "steps" to her briefly in the story mode, and he mentions his "recovery" here. I am extremely curious about what he's gone through in his career to warrant what sounds like therapy of some kind. regardless, he knows what it's like to want to be a better person, and he tells Ashrah that, supporting her own journey to goodness in his own way. it's a new layer to him that I would love to know more about. regardless, for some people, talking about their vulnerabilities so openly can be challenging, so it's clear that he doesn't want Ashrah to feel alone in her efforts. it's sweet.

A: You have poor taste in disguises. JC: [groans] When will you forgive me for that hat?

…and Ashrah still gives him hell about that disguise.

the vast majority of their intros are friendly with minimal flirting in sight. if so, it's much more subtle than his usual manner. Johnny is much more genuine with Ashrah than he is with the other women on the roster, and I think a lot of that is because of their time together in the story mode. they get to know one another and even have some things in common, things to bond over to strengthen their relationship.

anyway, I think Johnny and Ashrah are really close <3 and I think it's sweet.

[velvetvexations]

So, Mortal Kombat 1.

The biggest problem is that it tries to be both a sequel and a complete reboot. This does not work. A reboot is always going to inherently change fundamental things that can't be explained as merely the result of time travel. There's a lot of this in MK1, where supposedly something is different because Liu Kang made deliberate changes to what happened but that can't possibly be the case and even if it was is completely inexplicable.

One of the biggest issues in this vein is the apparent erasure of Hanzo to make Sub-Zero the Younger Scorpion. Why give Sub-Zero fire powers? How did Liu Kang influence him to take on the Scorpion name and colors? How and why did Liu Kang get him into a relationship with an appropriately aged version of Hanzo's wife, and apparently have Hanzo now be an orphan child raised by the two of them post-game!?

I also feel like Netherealm's read of Bi-Han's character in the original games is completely wrong, but 'll grant you that it did result in the extremely kino shot of Kuai-Liang and Smoke embracing as brothers before Bi-Han is menacingly revealed behind a flurry of snow in the background.

Most glaringly, however, is the Tarkatan situation, similar to how Havoc is now from Seido because apparently Orderrealm and Chaosrealm were too silly as concepts. It's completely fucking nonsensical that the Tarkatans are now not their own species, but people affected with a mutating virus, which coincidentally just happened to affect a now naturally conceived Mileena. And oh, boy, do I hate how Mileena was handeled in MK1.

If you're familiar with my blog you surely know that I have a habit of headcanoning some of my blorbos as being trans women with NPD. Mileena is one of the most fitting. Her huge hang-ups about being an ugly woman who has to hide her ugliness beneath a mask while also believing she deserves everything but especially the love of a sister she routinely tries to murder out of hateful jealousy spurred by the way she was dismissed as unlovable along with her loyalty to the only person to ever show her the familial love she craves is very trans narc coded.

On one hand, perhaps one might view Mileena's arc in MK1 as following those themes through to a good conclusion where she not only learns to accept herself, but is also loved by all the good guys, including the sister she had a psychologically dense relationship with in the previous timeline. What I find, however, is that MK1 completely bungles all of that.

Being Kitana's naturally born sister who's simply disfigured throws out all the reasons she hates herself. How her ugliness is simply something unfair that happened to her rather than a core part of her being she didn't need to feel negative about at all. In the original timeline, she was essentially a mixed-raced child - probably actually a much better lens with which to view her status than as her being trans, but as I'm a white trans woman that's the interpretation with which she endeared herself to me. While a fantasy version of leprosy might be good for similar themes of self-acceptance, to make it a kinna affliction really goes against the nature of her Tarkatan-half fundamental to her origin - a simple quirk of fate.

Throughout it's then treated as something she has to control, like a werewolf might fight to control their aggression, and she just has to be willing to open herself up to allow herself to be loved. This is much too neat and pretty in the name of a "happy ending". Mileena's story was fascinating because on top of the tragedy, she was also genuinely a raging bitch who's go-to reaction was to kill and attempt to forcibly gain the power and love she was convinced rightfully belonged to her. She was messy. The whole situation was messy. Kitana was within her rights to be terrified of and repulsed by her, yet also wrong, because she never realized how badly what Mileena needed was empathy. Kitana and their mother going "aw, poor baby, we still love you always forever" because they've never before had issues with her sands Mileena down into being unrecognizable even beyond the stupid as hell Predator flaps.

As bad as all that is, it's far from the sum of bizarre choices. So many things are radically different but pure cosmetics that are iconic of certain characters like Mileena having a fucked mouth, Kenshi becoming blind, Kuai-Liang's scar, and Havoc's face all happen regardless under different circumstances. Kenshi is the only one Liu Kang comments on but even that alone should have raised huge questions as to how time operates, especially considering how much the universe didn't feel the need to correct.

I also wish Liu Kang thinking he knew what was best for everyone and that it was his job to orchestrate their lives was given more attention. He made Shao Khan a sickly child, Shang Tsung a dirt poor conman, and Quan Chi a slave in order to defang them, and it would have been great if this was used to illustrate he didn't employ his capacity for kindness and empathy when it concerned people he hated most. Instead we're just expected to think it was all totally deserved because we knew who they were in the previous timeline.

Oh, but Rain is a good guy now, I guess, after doing mega-9/11 post-game, so I guess it all worked out. This game flips a lot of previous bad guys into being heroes and it seriously unbalances the two sides.

How it deals with it's protagonists is equally strange, with obviously set-up-to-be-the-protagonist Raiden getting completely meaningless early fights early on and then being forgotten by the plot so hard he may as well have died. Like all NetherRealm fighting games, the plot is severely restricted by their story mode formula of having you play through chapters focusing on specific characters.

It's such a confused mess and as much as I loved the reveal about the villain MK1 is so dodgy it makes me see stars. It's hard to even imagine going much further with this timeline until they do an actual reboot-reboot, which is always inevitable but especially necessary when so much has been changed just enough that it more or less has to snapback sooner than later as IP law dictates.

[pasta-in-the-pudding]

so you wnat BEN DROWNED requests eh? well I can send one in for you since I’ve really enjoyed your writing since you wrote that one conchita fic🔥 so I might as well request one if you’d like, i hope you aren’t getting annoyed with me or anything😭 so….

May I request(platonically)Ben Drowned with a Male! or GN! Parent-like! reader who has a Kayo Sudou Personality from The Evillious Chronicles? i also have her song right here if you’d like to take a listen to it^^ also there’s this one too apparently if you’d like!

Also if you could I would like Jane the killer and possibly Slenderman too^^ THANJS!! HEHHEE

and that’s her😭😭 SHE LOOKS SO AMAZING EHENNS

Aaaa dont worry i could never be annoyed by requests!

Thank you so much for requesting!!

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

Creeps with a Kayo Sudou!Male!Parent-like!Reader

Ben drowned

Ben definetly needs a parent in his life

The boy lives off of mountain dew and doritos

HE PEES IN BOTTLES PLEASE HELP HIM

The minute you are in his life you immediately clean up his entire room while he is out on a mission

It goes from greasy man cave to spick and span in the blink of an eye

You even sew him up some nice blankets and hoodies

To replace the ones that were so caked in sweat and filth that you HAD to throw away

There were no saving those things

When he gets back, the firsr thing he wants to do is plop into his chair and get back onto the game he was working on before he left

But as he turns the doorknob and peers inside, his jaw drops

His stuff!!!

Where did it all go???

And why does it not reek of sweat and socks for once???

You come up behind him and place a hand on his shoulder

"I see you've found your room. Absolutely speechless, are you? I knew you would like it!"

Yeah, the neat and tidy room he once had goes back to greasy man cave in about a week

And you are forever banned from his room for what you did <33

You practically massacred him after you threw out his huge load of snacks

Slenderman

He is seen as a fatherly figure around the mansion as well, so he understands the struggle as well as the happiness

He finds it a huge relief to have your help around the mansion from time to time

While he is still technically your boss, you do have moments where you two just get to talk to each other

Sharing silly stories about the antics you both get into helps relieve a lot of stress

You even get to stay up past curfew to walk with him in the woods a bit, just to get put of the house

And you are one of his most trusty seamstresses

If he needs work done fast, he knows to go to you

One time he had a suit that would have been well beyond repair to anyone else, but you

You fixed it up in a few seconds

It astounds him every time

You also get along quite well with Trenderman too

He'll occasionally pop into the mansion, ignoring everyone welcoming him in as he hurriedly shouts "Where's y/n!"

Most of the time it is one of his iconic "fashion disasters"

Something that greatly ruins a piece, such as a tear, stain, etc

You always are the first person he goes to

And you always figure out a way to help him everytime

Jane the Killer

Jane doesn't talk to you much, but when you do talk, it is always pleasent

After talking to you a few times during some 2am passing conversations in the kitchen, she invites you to one of the "C dorm's" hangout sessions

These meetings consist of Liu, Jane, Helen and E.J

And now, you!

Most of the time, it is just a bunch of chatter around some snacks and drinks (usually either wine or tea)

But occassionally, there will be a theme

For example, one week they all read the same book and next time they hung out, they all disscussed the book

You were roped into one of the miscellaneous hangout sessions where they all just talked together

It was a very nice time, but after about an hour and a half, you noticed something that ticked you off

The pillow Jane was holding had a rip in the corner, the stuffing falling out

"Hey Jane, how long has your pillow been like that?" You ask

She looks down at the pillow and shrugs "a while I guess. Why?"

You take the pillow from her and quickly sew it up, before giving it back "there."

She looks at it with a soft "woah"

She gives you a smile "thanks!"

This turned out to be a mistake, because you now find yourself sewing the groups tears up all the time

One of Jack's tarps tore, you were there

Helen's canvas ripped, you were there

Liu's stitch across his nose came loose, and you were there

The entire group appreciates you, especially Jane

You've helped her create some oretty snazzy outfits

[holy--milk]

tagged by @thatswhatsushesaid (thanks! <3)

1. why did you choose your url?

it was ages ago, i honestly don't remember at this point... i just think it's neat?

2. any sideblogs? if you have them name them and why you have them.

none that you could connect to me.

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

definitely since high school, possibly since middle school? it was still kinda popular back then.

4. do you have a queue tag?

i don't do queues, i reblog 100 posts at once then disappear for a week.

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

this particular one? to get all nice and cozy with the MXTX fandom, of course.

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

i found a collection of reaction pics in a ZZJ fan group and was like "haha this one's funny". don't ask me to explain it tho.

7. why did you choose your header?

see above.

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

this one. i still think it's kinda funny.

9. how many mutuals do you have?

at least two.

10. how many followers do you have?

at least two.

11. how many people do you follow?

definitely more than two.

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

all my posts are shitpost.

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

whenever i get bored at my office job (not to be confused with my other work-from-home job), which is. a lot.

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

why would i? my fandoms are famously chill and peaceful.

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts?

i don't get those on my dash.

16. do you like tag games?

yes 👉👈

17. do you like ask games?

yep 👉👈

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

every single one of them.

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

i wish, but alas. it's physically impossible for me to get crushes.

20. what is the last song you listened to?

no regrets by oblivion dust, which is coincidentally THE shen jiu song to me <3

21. what are you currently watching?

"sell your haunted house" (daebakbudongsan), a korean drama about an exorcist/real estate broker who does exorcism on haunted houses and then sells them for a commission. as one does.

idk, i was sitting down to relax with a bottle of beer and some ribs and it popped up in the list of shows i've bookmarked? and i was like, why not.

22. sweet/savoury/spicy?

sweet and spicy. or as i call it. swicy.

23. what is your current relationship status?

there's a girl i've been trying to go on an irl date with for. like two months now. don't get me wrong, she wants to go on a date with me too, it's just that we're both working women who can barely find the time to meet up in our schedules. and when we do, something goes wrong :(

24. what is your current obsession?

qijiu. but JGY and his two men will forever have their place in my silly little heart <3

25. what are nine albums/songs you've been listening to lately?

i use like. 4 separate apps to listen to music, and that's just on my phone. and none of them track my listening history lmao. but i can try and pull nine random things (in no particular order) from my likes:

electra heart (the album) by marina (and the diamonds). what can i say? it slaps.

黑白#K (the album) by liu haikuan. but tbh i haven't really been following him for a while. i think he's had a few singles since then? idk.

les filles désir by vendredi sur mer. wait i should actually listen to her more often. she has some absolute bangers.

opera (and some other songs) by super junior. i'm revisiting my k-pop phase, okay???

фейерверк by электрофрез. because of that one TGCF animatic.

turbulence (the album) by monoral. idk, a lot of their songs actually fit qijiu rather well? which is my main criterion when choosing music to listen to anyway.

eyes closed by the narrative. you guys, this song has been through at least three different ships from three different fandoms at this point.

the CQL soundtrack. what can i say? [1] for all that CQL is a bit messy and has funny CGI, at least it has a splendind soundtrack.

the LOTR soundtrack. i mean. do i even have to say anything? that's a classic.

tagging: @crithir @miaoqing @jin-zixun and whoever wants to participate.

[sketching-shark]

Ok soo questions: if you had to switch their role between mk and liu chenxiang, which do you think would fare better?(in the terms of the things they went through i mean?

Additionally: would you like lotus lantern to be better known in the west even at the cost of CX to get branded as “another mk” from westerners? (Im asking bc i deadass saw marcus get refer to as another mk. Marcus is a fankid of swk from dc comics who i do see mix reviews on it but we get zhu bajie as his master. I swear just bc theyre brown haired monkey that doesn’t mean its mk again oml. Im dreading the day yuebei xing get to be refer as “female mk” bc ima cry)

HAHA THE TRAUMA TUDIS but in all seriousness anon it's a hard thing to tell...on one hand Liu Chenxiang went through a lot of absolute bullshit, including permanently losing his father, because of his uncle. BUT he was dealing with much lower stakes than Qi Xiaotian, and he was eventually successfully reunited with his mom as presumably lived happily ever after. Qi Xiaotian on the other hand just has one horrible thing after the other happen to him as a result of him having to deal with one potentially world-destroying catastrophe after another, but so far he hasn't permanently lost any loved ones...so choose your trauma I guess?

And I think it would be neat if Lotus Lantern was more well known in the west! At least personally I would really like to see a stage production of it, and even if some people are calling Marcus "another mk" on account of both of them being brown haired monkey guys Liu Chenxiang is different enough from them both enough that I don't imagine people thinking of him as a monkie kid clone, starting with the fact that Liu Chenxiang's story is much much older than Qi Xiaotian's, while he may be Sun Wukong's tudi he has a much more specific goal, and well he is not a monkey.

Also I don't think you have to worry at all about Yuebei Xingjun being thought of as a "female mk" at all anon, starting with the fact that she actually is Sun Wukong's daughter, from what I understand she's hinted to be much more of a ruthless & literally deadly fighter than Qi Xiaotian (just like her old man lmao), and ending with the way that based on physical appearance alone they're basically on opposite ends of the simian spectrum, as demonstrated below:

[myfaveisfuckable]

Rants!

Liu Qingge/Zhuzi Lang: Both these dudes are from Scum Villain's Self Saving System, which is a chinese novel by the author MXTX (I cannot remember the full name im sorry).

Liu Qingge is known as a 'war god' and he's, to put it lightly, Fightsexual. Boy's got IQ specifically geared towards getting into and out of fights. He was one of the strongest characters in the story (like, 3rd strongest if you dont count the protagonist's dad who was uhm 'retired' by the start of the story lol). He's also Incredibly Princely Pretty.

Zhuzhi Lang is a half-snake demon with self-esteem issues and can turn into a large snake, and can also probably give Liu Qingge a good fight! ngl I just love Liu Qingge and I ship over half a dozen people with him. Zhuzhi Lang is a top contender though because he's a sweet guy, can totally get into vore, can give Liu Qingge a challenge, and also probably has 2 dicks-

Naruseku: Yeah i can gurantee this is the only submission for them for Some Reason. Because no one ships them. Like i have searched the internet far and wide and turn up with like. Close to literal zero. And here's the thing, this is entirely illogical. They work together in this evil group and their deals are essentially that they're. Unhappy people. At first you think they're just annoying but actually they're annoying snd Extremely Miserable. In silly ways, they are such losers and so cringefail. I could write an essay on both of them individually, but basically i love how their focus isn't on being better people, it is on being happier. Individually.

The show is divided into clear parts of who is the main antagonist at the time which really makes you FEEL how unhappy they each are. They're a group but they're also not bc they choose to be unhappy ad get on each other's nerves about it and that's a prime focus of their characters. Anyway, these two make me insane, they spend a lot of time together during the middle part of the show, bc the first villain is gone so now it's just the two of them and their leader who isn't doing much yet. After this part, one of them, narcistoru, is defeated so he's gone for the time being. But these two, they hate each other SOOOOOOOO much it's insane. This is because Narcistoru is an annoying bitch and Secretoru hates that. And they're both generally insane people with dumb beliefs and issues that they view wrongly. It's just so glorious to see them annoy each other so much. Post Narcistoru's main screen time, he gets his conclusion episode. He escapes from prison and Secretoru is supposed to retrieve him. But like not because they need him, in fact, they absolutely did not care that he was arrested because none of these people give a flying fuck about each other. It's just that he wasn't supposed to be a risk. Secretoru and Narcistoru have a rather petty and hilarious fight. Because you see. Now they don't have to get along. They are not on the same side. So the hostility is really thriving here. In fact, she manages to capture him, and while fighting the pretty cures (magical girls), hensays some annoying shit and she goes "actually i changed my mind" and shoves him off this rock in order for the monster (they always summon one) to fucking kill him. Like she tries to murder him in cold blood soley because he's annoying and this was entirely inevitable actually. She wants that twink obliterated. They don't bring this up again in the finale when they're both in prison. They just. Kind of hang out now. They've reached a level of tolerance.

And you may think "why do you ship this" LOOK. THEIR INTERACTIONS. ARE SO FUNNY. IT'S JUST. A VERY FUN SHIP. BECAUSE THEY'RE HILARIOUS. The hostility is so great and i think it would be neat if they had some t4t hatesex. It would solve nothing. They mske each other so much worse. But it would be very hot. Also secretoru has a general "can you shut the fuck up" attitude towards him. I don't even technically ship it but i ENJOY the ship.

And yet. I am so alone in this which is insane because i definitely expected ship content for them even before i actually wanted it myself.

But no, of course people ship Narcistoru with actual fifteen year olds. Like so much. And there is ZERO content for the ship with the other Actual Adult that he interacts with on a regular basis and who he has a fantastic and entertaining and INTERESTING dynamic with. So basically, i am not just sad, i am also SO SALTY. They are so insanely rarepair despite being an absolute epic duo. Awesome crackship, 10/10, literally comedy

[nikofortuna]

JTTW Chapter 9 Thoughts

Chapter Nine for the @journeythroughjourneytothewest Reading Group! TW: mention of suicide under the cut, so the same as the actual chapter.

There is a lot of openly crying in this one! By men too, which is very refreshing to read compared to a bunch of modern stuff.

First up I do quite like how government officials aren’t necessarily chosen through nepotism or the like, but instead everyone genuinely has to study so when they become an official they have already proven smart and also have a good amount of knowledge to do their work well. Additionally theoretically everyone has a chance to get a government position as they aren’t barred by status from studying and taking the exam. It’s not a perfect system by all means, but it’s pretty decent all things considered!

Chen Guangrui had the fastest meet-cute to marriage ever, huh. He’s really chill with it too and I suppose this was somewhat common back then. Though for the comedy of it I can imagine him with a bunch of question marks around his head when he gets hit with the ball and led inside the residence. Was he considering that he got knocked out by that ball and dreaming this at any point? Probably not, but it’s still amusing to consider.

Scientific accuracies abound! A fish or snake blinking would indeed be a sign of them being extraordinary, because neither should be able to blink! They don’t have movable eyelids.

A few interesting notes from the German translation. The Hong River or Hongjiang [洪江] literally translates to ‘flooding river’ and the relation to water may implicate the flow of live and destiny. Also Liu Hong has the same character for Hong in his name as the river! Symbolically he ‘floods’ the family’s life with misfortune.

The J.F. Jenner translation calls the incense ring a sandalwood bracelet and so does the German translation, which is rather neat. While the original Chinese doesn’t specify sandalwood from what I could gather, this kind of wood can indeed be used for incense so it does make sense in that regard. Plus it ties back into Xuanzang later! I assume that is why they chose to translate it that way.

Though I find it a little bit suspicious, perhaps a little shellfish, that the Dragon King just keeps Chen Guangrui to work for him without even checking in with his family at all let alone making sure that they are fine, but essentially just leaving them to suffer. He knows they are in trouble because of the bandits too! So he really has no excuse there.

Poor Yin Wenjiao had to have some serious mental health problems after the whole ordeal that happened to her, otherwise her taking the out after all makes no sense. Nobody blames her for anything, which they openly and clearly communicated to her, and she technically gets back everything that had been taken from her down to her husband which is a legit miracle.

She mentioned before that she wanted to atone for things to her husband by ending her life, but I doubt her husband now alive again would have ever signed off on that, so this had to have been at least partially an excuse in her mind from the start.

This ending was actually omitted from the German translation! In there it basically just says she lived happily ever after, which I might actually prefer simply due to how little the book delves into Yin Wenjiao’s psyche and kind of just waves her away in that regard.

Lastly Sun Wukong continues to feel like the main character in comparison to the scripture pilgrim. This chapter was more a backstory of Xuanzang’s family, but not as much of himself. Meanwhile Sun Wukong was at the centre of his multi-chapter backstory at every turn.

[marshmallowloves]

since I watched a playthrough of the new Mortal Kombat I decided to give my self insert a design update~ Technically, she kind of had one before, I just...didn't draw it much. or at all really dkfjg. The left one is how she looks when Kenshi first finds her in the forest, and the right one is after she's learned to use her power. c:

Her story is pretty much entirely contained within the timeframe of MKX, but I suppose she could fit into 11 as well...? MK1 is where it gets tricky though, because she likely...would not exist at all fjhskdf. In addition to making Quan Chi Just Some Guy™, Liu Kang would probably also take away most of Rina's magic to eliminate temptation for others to steal it - so if nobody kills Rina, Sia never comes to exist. At least that's kinda what I've been going with so far kdjfg (also it'd get messy to have Sia be involved with Kenshi in this timeline since Suchin is still alive, oops kdjfg)

Also, flower symbolism? In MY Mortal Kombat?? It's more likely than you think. The flowers in her hair are acanthus, which symbolize rebirth. Specifically, white ones can mean purity, sympathy and condolences - fitting considering what kind of person Sia came from 👀

ALSO also, I thought it would be neat to include her robe being folded right-over-left - usually reserved for corpses, which is a visual cue that she's not an alive human. It...would be a lot more of an aha moment if I didn't already explain her origin, that's something you'd learn at the end of her story whoops dkdjfhg

[torterragarden]

🔥 Mortal Kombat. The new one specifically

Now that the initial hype has died down and I've had some time to decide how I feel about it I think it's. Fine. I'm enjoying it more than MK11 so far, but I don't find it as fun as MK9 or MKX, or even just other fighting games that are out right now. I wonder if that's a me thing tho, like maybe I just don't enjoy MK/NRS games as much as I used to. Idk *shrugs* I'm still playing it and will continue playing it on and off for a while of course, but I don't know if I see it being my main game the way MK usually is, ya feel me? (I also don't know what will be my main game if it's not MK tho... hm.)

I also just think this game feels Weird as far as story/lore goes. Like, it's not bad, it definitely didn't piss me off the way Aftermath did, but it is. Weird. And some of it I don't like. I've already expressed frustration over Kitana's lack of story in this game and how I wasn't really vibing with this version of Mileena, and I was having a hard time putting it into words. Really they just left me feeling empty in this game, because while I did want Kitana and Mileena to make up and be friends the way Sub-Zero and Scorpion did, the way it's done here feels so unfulfilling. I wanted them to develop past their rivalry, yeah, but I didn't want their rivalry erased. I wanted them to stop putting Kitana through the wringer for a game, but I didn't want her to have no story at all. Everything that made Kitana and Mileena interesting to me before is just gone now, it doesn't exist for these versions of the characters. Mileena doesn't even feel like the same Mileena and I can't help being a bit salty that Kitana is so sidelined while Mileena is given story beats that, minus the disease (which is also Weird), feel remarkably similar to Kitana. At least we still have Titan Kitana but how much can I count on seeing her in the future? This game didn't leave me super hopeful for New Kitana so Titan Kitana might be all I have now, which depending on how the next games go might not be much at all

That was a lot about Kitana and Mileena lol but like Kitana is the main thing I care about so. Aside from them, uuh. Well I hate that Sonya isn't here. I didn't think I would mind it this much, but not having her around for the start of this new era really does feel so wrong, especially when we're left with no women in the Earthrealm gang until Ashrah shows up (and then promptly disappears... she and Reptile aren't even sitting with the gang at Madame Bo's at the end ffs). Feels like a misstep to not have Sonya. Just drop the military thing and bring her back as a yoga teacher or something idc. Liu why did you leave her out? Liu for a dollar name a woman

I also think the Lin Kuei storyline was really poorly handled but I'm also not entirely surprised by that since it's always been a side thing.

For some positives, I like Liu Kang and Raiden's role reversal in this, Shang is an absolute delight and served insane levels of kunt, and I really liked Sindel, she was interesting. Really I thought the story was pretty neat up until the multiverse stuff happened, but I'm just really burned out on multiverses so yeah. Again, at least we got Titan Kitana out of it and her reunion with Liu Kang is genuinely very sweet

So yeah overall... Fine. A solid enough game, I like it but idk if I love it

[tobiasdrake]

Honestly, I don't know how good the game is from a multiplayer perspective. It's a fighting game so that's where a lot of the focus lies. How well-polished is it for the audience that counts every individual frame of every kick to min/max the ultimate fighting style? No idea.

But so far as the Story, Invasion, Tower, and stuff are concerned? It's neat that the Tower endings seem like they're trying very hard to all be Official Canon Endings for each character from the Story Mode. That's the first time MK's ever done that. Tower endings are typically "What the story would be like if X character was the protag instead."

Story, as noted earlier, is pretty good up until it suddenly gets bored and wanders off to go chase the unsustainable threat-escalation bubble the franchise now finds itself in. It still has some bits of jank before that, such as

Ashrah: Nice to meet everyone, I'm Ashrah. This here's my backstory. Johnny: Oh cool. Welcome to the team. Liu Kang, this is Ashrah, she's one of us now. Liu Kang: We are happy to have you. Ashrah: Now that i'm here, what can I-- Liu Kang: No. Go sit down. Do not do ANYTHING for the rest of this story.

Mortal Kombat's method of storytelling still needs work. Linking chapters to specific characters means those characters get to be awesome for a short bit and then the plot inevitably leaves them in the dust.

This has been a chain around the franchise's neck since MK9 first conceived their Story Modes. Kang makes a big deal about how Johnny has the spirit of a hero in him, but also Johnny's chapter is chapter 2. So immediately after that, he stops being playable and never gets a chance to actually live up to what Kang saw in him.

Fortunately, he's surrounded by other heroes who he can team up with. But like 1/3 of the way through the game, they've taken turns to keep the story moving and now all of them have finished their playable chapters too. That means these characters that we've taken all this time getting to know get dumped from the plot, in favor of characters who've been around this whole time, but haven't had a turn in the driver's seat yet.

As a general rule, woe be upon any character iconic and beloved enough to be an early-chapter Intro to Mortal Kombat character.

As to the Invasions? Predatory FOMO-driven market coercion masquerading as a game. Not interested. I don't truck with that shit.

Also, disappointed that they removed pre-fight banter from Towers. It's still there in versus matches but gone from the Towers. That's a shame. They added a lot of flavor to fights. (They also snipped banter down from 3 lines to 2, so it seems like they're trying to back off from the whole concept.)

Overall, I'd say it's decent. Sending it back to GameFly; Might be worth a buy when the price goes down.

Probably wouldn't be very satisfied if I'd spent $120 on it, though. Nothing I've seen is worth that pricetag. Or the 140 GB of storage space it demands.

[gothprentiss]

albums of the year! shoutout to @explosionshark for the tag-- i was scheming one of these anyway and now i have LICENSE

some notes: i don't follow new releases very closely, so there's a pretty neat split of new this year / new to me / new friendship with old albums here. this isn't untrue to my music taste but this was very much a like, 'i have one or two core artists and then am just kind of dicking around with some new stuff otherwise'-style year. these are all in abc order. there are some notes where i feel like i must say something. that being said:

new this year:

ashenspire - hostile architecture (sometimes songs feel like they were just made for my tastes. béton brut is one of those) blackbraid - blackbraid i blood incantation - timewave zero conception - state of deception

is this album "good", you might ask? to which i reply: how dare you address me. it is the music event of my entire lifetime. ROY KHAN'S BACK BABEY!

the damned - night of a thousand vampires (give me a live album and i go ape. simple easy elegant.) darkthrone - astral fortress (i feel like i should be embarrassed by this one. but darkthrone just tickles me.) epica - the alchemy project

another "don't ask me if it's good, ask me if it makes my grinchy little heart grow three sizes" album. it marks a blessed and glorious era, imo, of epica both having a clearly defined sense of their sound (which they lacked in the 10s, as far as i'm concerned) such that they feel like they can 'alchemize' it, and epica actually experimenting with what they can wrap their sound around. if their next studio album sucks you can find me wailing in the nearest earthen cave

lexie liu - the happy star nas - king's disease iii pusha t - it's almost dry ripped to shreds - 劇變 / jubian (the reverberating OUGH! in violent compulsion for conquest is always in my head) sudan archives - natural brown prom queen undeath - it's time ... to rise from the grave vein.fm - this world is going to ruin you wormrot - hiss

honorable mention of 2022 goes to M.I.A. MATA. i know she's in perpetual trouble for bad politics. i know my deep love for /\/\/\Y/\ (2010) is unpopular. despite everything i still think she rules and puts together some of the coolest noises around.

new TO ME this year:

armani caesar - the liz (2019)

clipping. - visions of bodies being burned (2020) coil - unreleased themes for hellraiser (1987) (incredible writing music) epica - omega alive (2021)

i've got a lot to say about epica for this list but it's because i'd tuned out for... a DECADE? and saw a new live epica album and was like yeah, sure, let's give that a try. and now i'm a diehard tryhard epica stan again. life's good! the thing about this album is that it's, like, not a normal live album-- recorded during covid, they clearly had the latitude to spread it out into a couple of sessions, ensuring relaxed vocal performances (not that simone simons has ever been bad live. don't even think that.), really energized instrumentals, and also some absolutely bonkers mixing. i think this is really like, epica's sound perfectly balanced.

leonard cohen - thanks for the dance (2019) sarpanitum - blessed be my brothers (2015) snowsedim/雪沉 - lead to evening death (2018)

actually the wrong album cover here lol, the website just didn't have the right one. the album cover here is anthology of ebony (2017) which i don't like. anyway this works for me in the same way symphonic metal does: you get two ostensibly contrasting styles of instrumentation and performance which sound bonkers and exquisite together. traditional chinese instruments sound fucking amazing-- ethereally brutal-- with more traditional metal stylings when they get the balance right.

tribulation - the children of the night (2015) (probably i like down below (2018) more, but you can't beat this album art) veil of secrets - dead poetry (2020)

VIBEKE STENE'S BACK BABEY! I FOUND OUT I'D MISSED THIS ALBUM BY TWO YEARS IN THE LAUNDROMAT!

watain - casus luciferi (2003)

new APPRECIATION this year (these all get explanations):

kamelot - poetry for the poisoned & live from wacken (2011)

this is to some extent a lie, because this is one of my all-time fave symphonic metal albums, my favorite kamelot album, AND a reissue with a live album. so it's never been underrated or forgotten for me, or anything like that. but recall that this is the the year i found out roy khan was back!!!!!!! it's been 11 years!!!!!!!!!!!! and this is also the year i bit the bullet and actually looked up reviews for this album, which i hadn't done before because i'd assumed they were negative (the karma / epica / black halo run is often lauded as this perfect kamelot era). and they were pretty good! anyway this album rules. if you ever hear anyone hyping up the karma thru black halo era as kamelot’s best just know they're a coward who hates sexy vampire music and visions of the end and such like.

kate bush - aerial (2005)

i've always felt more at home with late 70s/early 80s kate bush; 50 words for snow, aerial-- even the sensual world and the red shoes-- don't get as much play for me. taking some time to appreciate aerial (see above: slower, calmer, more meditative music isn't really my vibe) was really worthwhile. beautiful storytelling, dreamy and honeyed music.

lacuna coil - comalies (2002)

they did a 20th anniversary remake album which was kind of cool but drove me back to the original, which was my middle school bus music. my middle school bus music ruled.

nick cave and the bad seeds - no more shall we part (2001)

honestly a super underrated bad seeds album for me until this year. it probably is down there with push the sky away (2013) as my least favorite part of their discography (which, to be fair. is still music i wuv). but still! i got REALLY into the lyricism on the album (hallelujah and darker with the day are transcendent), and got obsessed with the building intensity on the sorrowful wife. it's transcendent and cathartic. i think the way the instrumentals get pared back to let the lyricism shine is often a bit... like... you can do better, you know. in fact, their last two albums have been standout examples of not sacrificing a cohesive and compelling album sound to push the lyrics forward. but even so, definitely a familiar friend this year.

siouxsie & the banshees - peepshow (1988)

like poetry for the poisoned, this was NOT an underrated album for me. it's my favorite siouxsie album. that is a high ass bar! BUT! i got nice new headphones this year and switched to apple music for lossless and the instrumentals on this album are how i test all new headphones. and then once i'd tested them, i just... hung around some more. honestly if you're looking for a baller music experience, go listen to scarecrow in the dark, loud as hell. with, you know, good headphones. it feels like you're tiny and being jangled around the ribcage of a dancing animatronic skeleton in a funny little hat. it's a great fucking album. i think i go nuts for it like once a year. whatever.

[scalproie]

gnngnhnggh boring mk11 rewrite because I just got hit by some ideas tho I making no promises that theyre good.

first off scrap the whole titan/timeline shenanigans away, scrap all the new additions too, final boss is dark raiden. IF YOU MUST, separate raiden and dark raiden into two entities during the third act, with DR being elevated to elder god threat, idk, while raiden decides to atone by giving his godhood to liu kang, hence fire god liu kang, IDK.

speaking of, liu kang and the revenants problem: make a new character, and with the other sorcerers dead, make them the chaotic good equivalent of shang tsung and quan chi cause this could be fun, and make the end of their chapter being them combining their necromancy powers with Fujin to bring the rest of the revenants back to life

Thatd be all i have so far for the shaolin monks, for outworld: kitana herself wants to atone for her actions while she was a revenant by uniting outworld and fully enter an era of peace with earthrealm, problem: outworld is still divided, so kitana, similarly to her arc in mk11, enlist baraka and the tarkatans who are looked upon by kotal, and enlist sheeva and the shokan as well, she fights kotal, gets compared to mileena in mkx, and at the end of her chapter when she beats him, instead of finishing him, she offers mercy to fully show that she doesnt intent to follow in shao kahn's footsteps, and even propose a shared rule of outworld between the other factions leader, kotal who can appreciate someone with honor, surrender and grant kitana the title of kahn and all outworld is friend yyyaaayyy

As you all know, I love sub zero a lot, so time to put him through The Horrors. NINJA DRAMA: so frost betrayed the lin kuei and took with her the head of sektor, she gets him back online and under his cyber guidance, she slowly rebuild the cyber lin kuei and gets herself cyberized in the process, hes also actually manipulating her like even tho he promised to help her become grandmaster, he fully intent to take the role himself. Anyway, she makes a deal with the revenants (pre-resurrection by unnamed sorcerer above) as future lin kuei grandmaster, she get them on earthrealm undetected and the revenant army help her make her own. Stuff is then pretty much similar, lin kuei temple is raided, subz asks scorpy for help (scorpy who, btw, finished his character arc after killing quan chi so unless you give a fully new arc, being moral support feels fitting for him), they infiltrate the cyber lin kuei facility yadda yadda EXCEPT... instead of cyrax, its SMOKE who is here as the leader of the revenant army who raided the temple. He also gets some of cyrax's lines like the "you look so old" but make it sinister because I love pain. And also who is here but Big Brother Dearest Bi-han, who didnt expect little tomas to do his job. Anyway you have your three emotional punches in a row by facing frost, smoke and noob saibot (who is the only one able to escape at the end of this chapter) and then final fight of the chapter against sektor with a brand new body, also revealing that he used frost all along, before getting his robotic ass kicked by subz/scorpy. Anyway fun chapter :)

We're not done with noob tho because instead of being a jobber, he gets his OWN villain chapter after the midway point which ends with him killing scorpion (with scorpion showing how much he has changed since mk9 beforehand) in a neat full circle way, he also ends the story with taking the throne of the now vacant netherrealm since all the revenants are gone. (And you can even recycle my fav intro quote into "This is for Hanzo!"/"You would avenge my killer?"/"He was more a friend to me than you family." because of course I would think of that first)

I have NO IDEA what the special forces would go through in that rewrite, I still do kinda like sonya dying and cassie taking her role, but struggling a lot more with it, and dark raiden showing even less compassion to sonya's death, creating a bigger rift between him and them. I guess it could expand on the kombat kids? Idk idk i gotta still brainstorm that one

[justawanderingbabbit]

Domestic Disaster to House Husband (DMBJ edition)

Inspired by another post that I can't find... UPDATE: My Partner In Crime founded it here!

10) Hei Yanjing: Eats his weight in green pepper & beef fried rice. Scatters crumbs of whatever he happens to be eating all over the place. Muddy footprints whenever he comes home (which is invariably at least one hour past midnight and usually three). Crawls into bed with you stark naked, unshowered, and sticks his jangly bits in your face.

(continues below the cut)

9) Mop: Whiney. Constantly falling into trouble and needing rescued because he Will Not Read The Contract. More than a bit clingy. Doesn't bathe often, mostly because he's so broke he's always out working. Will gladly pay for supper so you don't eat him.

8) Chen Ping: On the plus side he takes better care of things around the house. On the negative, he tends to kill people who annoy him. Will spend most of his time trying to find Yatou if she's still alive or threatening Fo Ye if she isn't. Finds trouble without needing to look for it. Brings carryout home most of the time.

7) Yan Sanxing: Tends to run around the house at top speed. Good at chasing down vermin, as long as you make sure he knows what your definition of vermin is. Do not leave him any openings for doing what he prefers to do. Sings Chinese opera at odd hours. (This last could be a positive or negative, depending on your opinion of Chinese opera). Sits on the roof a lot, doing That Thing with his eyes when he thinks about Er Yue Hong.

6) Wang Can: This one will eat you out of house and home if you leave any food out where he can take it. On the other hand, he's loyal to a fault and maintains military discipline. If he considers you family he'll protect you and yours. If not, don't expect much. Occasionally does That Thing with the eyes, but don't expect it frequently.

5) Huo Daofu: Bitchy. A good doctor and a capable manager, also a good cook. Will take care of things at home but protests doing anything if it has to do with Wu Xie. Sulks a lot, especially when he feels he's not getting the credit he's (arguably) earned.

4) Liu Sang: Bitchy. Competent. Snarky. These aren't necessarily bad traits except when he gets annoyed with you. Can hear trouble coming 200 meters away but often ends up in the thick of it despite himself. Neat, but socially inept, if he decides to give you his loyalty will literally cripple or kill himself to prove it. Important note: If he does That Thing with his eyes you'll be lost.

3) Wu Xie: Oh Gods the trouble this one falls into. Is mostly neat when he's at home but never expect him to pay even one bill. Most of your money will be coming in from under the table and he'll leave it to someone else to handle paying off any help. Good company, if you don't mind frequent discussions of architecture and constant mooning over Xiaoge. NOTE: If you are Xiaoge, expect to spend most all of your time protecting him from his latest adventure.

2) Xiaoge: Easiest of house-househusbands because he's fairly low maintenance. In part that's because he's almost never home, so if you get lonely you're going to have to go stir up trouble. He will show up at the last moment when everything looks like it's over. Excellent at forgetting arguments you had, but this is because he's forgotten everything. If you're Wu Xie you're absolutely at the top of his list for protectees.

1) Wang Pangzi: Cooks. Cleans. Takes care of any injured thing that happens to stumble into the house. This is usually accompanied by grumbles and snark but he never fails to make sure everyone is properly fed and cared for. If you've chosen a polycule relationship including any of the others, especially 2-4, expect arguments - especially with #4. Never the less, he'll be there for you when you need him. Comes with Best Girl Xiao Mei.