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midethefangirl · 7 months

Text

surrender - hopeless (i'm falling down)

tags: angst, seriously y'all are going to hate me for the three chapters of this fic, pregnancy (unplanned but not unwanted), quan chi is a douchebag here, warning for attempt at forced abortion (i'm about to trigger my own filtering system), hurt no comfort, pre-MK1, and of course it is bireena centered but bi-han makes not physical appearance in this fic.

summary:

notes: continuation of @ladybug023 's spy!sareena headcanons inspiring my writing. I decided to splice this into three chapters because the word count went beyond 3k words and I hate writing super long stories when it comes to platforms like Tumblr. the chapter title is gotten from the lyrics of 'Hopeless' by Breaking Benjamin. also, if you want to join a tagging list for updates, please, let me know and i'll add you 😁❤️

word count: 1.6k words

also cross posted on ao3

part one of surrender; part three of i'm weak so what is wrong with that (i added a new tag for this)

The deepest circle of the Netherrealm was one of the most dreaded locations in the Netherrealm and for a damn good reason.

It was the place where previous overlords of the Netherrealm banished offending denizens to be tortured by the onis.

This was the last place Sareena wanted to find herself in but what had she expected the moment she found Quan Chi at the Lin Kuei foregrounds?

Regret ran through her mind as she awaited her judgment, her palm flat against her lower abdomen, the recent news bringing mixed feelings.

She and Bi Han had always been so careful… but it is not 100% safe , came that little voice in her head.

She had lost focus of why she was in the Lin Kuei and now, she was paying severely. Here she was awaiting Quan Chi’s arrival while in Bi Han’s mind, she was as good as dead.

The last thing that the cryomancer would remember was how she betrayed his clan, how she betrayed him . How she lied to him.

How could she have deluded herself into thinking she could keep up with the lie she had allowed to fester? How could she have believed that she could stall her day of reckoning?

Her wishful thinking had done nothing but land her in this mess where her fate and that of her child was dependent on the whims of a dangerous sorcerer.

Bi Han would never know that she was carrying his child - not that she was aware herself until the onis Quan Chi had assigned as her torturers - Drahmin and Moloch - had somehow detected it.

The Netherrealm was basically hell, where demons, onis, tortured souls and every possible personification of evil walked about but they had a few rules they followed.

One of them which was her saving grace, at least, in this moment - a person with child was off-limits. Harming a person with child was seen as a death sentence, enough to have the perpetrator in the deepest circle of the Netherrealm.

It could be her saving grace but knowing Quan Chi, any assurance dwindled by a great percentage. The sorcerer was from Outworld, not a native of the infernal realm. Sareena doubted he’d respect this rule.

Ha , Quan Chi respecting the rules of the Netherrealm? That was as laughable as the many dreams of liberating the realm from his hands. After overthrowing Lucifer with the help of the Sisterhood of Shadows, the sorcerer had made himself a tyrant, keeping denizen under his thumb.

Anyone who dares to defy his dictatorship ended up in the position she was currently in. Either that or on the run like Ashrah, which did not seem so bad right now.

Quan Chi had gained unilateral control over the Netherrealm and he showed great disdain towards its rules. This one would be no different.

Hell, he’d torture her himself, unborn child be damned. The thought of that had the demon clutching her abdomen protectively, if she had to fight to her last breath to protect herself for the sake of her child, she’d gladly do that.

The heavy sound of boots against the stone pavement had her alert, her eyes looking up to see Quan Chi flanked on his sides by Drahmin and Moloch.

She sat up straight, her back against the wall as she finally came face-to-face with the brown-skinned sorcerer who stared at her venomously.

“Why is she still here, unscathed?!” He turned towards the onis, his tone miffed as he spoke like she was not right in front of him.

The onis exchanged looks, obviously displaying their fear of the sorcerer who impatiently expected their answers.

“L-Lord Quan Chi- we- w-we thought,” Drahmin started, stumbling over his words as he struggled to get his words through.

Sareena could tell this was the moment where the sorcerer was so close to losing his shit. He rarely expressed his anger in outbursts which was terrifying in this scenario.

“Speak up you imbecile!”

“She is with child,” Moloch blurted and Quan Chi let out a mirthless chuckle which chilled Sareena to the bones.

“That should not stop you.”

“We cannot-. It is forbidden,” Drahmin interjected.

He knows that , Sareena wanted to add but at this moment, her silence was more golden than whatever comeback she had on the tip of her tongue

The room fell silent as Quan Chi crouched down to her level. The demon attempted to keep as much distance as she could but she could only go so far when her back was against the wall.

The sorcerer pressed a hand against her abdomen, chanting some incantations under his breath. Then, he jerked his hand away, recoiling as if he was shocked by electric current.

He was on his feet now and his eyes widened, time standing still as he looked down at her. It was like the dreaded calm before the storm and Sareena could not afford to trust this silence, her eyes looking cautiously at him.

A myriad of emotions flitted across the sorcerer’s face before settling for rage and disdain. Quan Chi’s lips curled into a sneer as he seemed to put two and two together.

“You whore!” He spat venom.

He knew, there was no way he would not know.

“It is that pathetic Earthrealmer, isn’t it? He sired this bastard, didn’t he?” He jeered. “It is not enough that you failed your mission but you had to let that Earthrealmer bed you and put his seed inside you.”

Sareena could almost feel herself let out a sob. Quan Chi’s face was too calm, way too calm for the venomous words he tossed her. It was a moment of when he’d strike at her.

And her fear was about to come true.

“Seize her!”

No, no, no.

“No!” She yelled, the moment Drahmin and Moloch were at her sides, their hands pulllng her up. She struggled against the iron-cladded grip of the onis who dragged her out of her cell.

“Please! Please, don’t do this!”

“I’ll get rid of that bastard if I have to. Shang Tsung would have a field day helping me,” a smug look fell upon the sorcerer’s face.

It felt like a century had passed when she found herself in a room she was unfamiliar with. Her face was stricken with tears, her voice hoarse from her cries.

“Quan Chi!” A voice broke through and everyone’s attention was focused on a new presence. A pair of amethyst eyes fell upon her still in the rough grips of the onis.

The dark-skinned demon pushed through Quan Chi before reaching for Sareena. Drahmin and Moloch had released her instantly, making her fall into Jataaka’s arms.

“What in Lucifer’s name is going on?!” Jataaka demanded, her eyes glaring fiercely at Quan Chi who was now displeased that the demon had dared meddle in his affairs.

“Stay out of this, Jataaka,” Quan Chi shot back.

Sareena found herself shaking, her hand instinctively on her abdomen as she shrunk into Jataaka’s protective hold.

Jataaka stood her ground, her hold firm around Sareena. The demon had a fierce look in her eyes, the kind that had even Quan Chi and his two henchmen pause.

“You would really protect a traitor? Someone who tried to leave the Sisterhood for a pathetic Earthrealmer?” The sorcerer scoffed, his question aimed at the demon who still had her arms around Sareena.

“Still a sister nonetheless. I am not going to let you hurt her, sorcerer,” the demon hissed.

This seemed to have struck a nerve as Quan Chi stepped up to her, his face dangerously close.

“She is pregnant with an Earthrealmer’s spawn. If I have to rip that abomination out of her, then so be it,” he spat.

Jataaka remained unfazed, her gaze piercing as her arms tightened around the demon.

Then, it seemed as though the demon had thought of something.

"You are not going to harm a fellow member of the Sisterhood," she reminded. “Neither are you going to lay your filthy hands on her offspring.”

Sareena wondered if the other demon had gone mad, taunting Quan Chi the way she was. The sorcerer had no qualms about ending her life or that of her unborn child.

"Are you forgetting who rules the Netherrealm, Jataaka?" The sorcerer questioned, a hint of a smirk forming on his face.

Jataaka stood her ground, her grip tightening, “You are an outsider who managed to best us, it would do you some good to know your place and remember the rules of the realm you reside in.”

It may have sounded like an empty threat but it was anything but. The Sisterhood of Shadows have helped overthrow previous overlords, they would not give up on overthrowing Quan Chi either.

"What are you trying to get at?" The sorcerer questioned.

"If you touch a single hair on her head, her unborn child or her, you will have the wrath of the Sisterhood and Lucifer upon you. You think we will tolerate you harming a member of the Sisterhood?" Jataaka said.

Quan Chi narrowed his eyes at her, a scowl forming on his face, "Very well, then. Have it your way.”

His gaze was now on Sareena and the demon felt a chill running down her spine.

"But I will be back. Soon," the sorcerer spat before taking his leave.

Drahmin and Moloch trailed behind him like two lost puppies, leaving Sareena and Jataaka alone in the room.

The demon could feel herself shaking, she was not in the clear just yet. Her child was still in danger and Quan Chi would make sure to get rid of them.

Jataaka had noticed her distraught, the demon holding her in a reassuring embrace, "Don't worry, he will not touch you. We won't let him."

She could only hope so.

tagging: @livingdeadgirly

#sareena #bireena #i'm weak so what is wrong with that #mortal kombat fanfiction #bi han x sareena #hurt no comfort #angst #don't like don't read #i seriously mean it #i am going to trigger my filtering system with this one #if quan chi is your favourite character this one is not for you #also poor sareena #Spotify

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yourthirdparent · 1 month

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Do u have any MK rarepairs?

hello llewayinghorses. yeah i have ummmm a lot lmao. for the purposes of this i'll be stretching the definition of rare pair a Little because while sure some of these have like over a hundred fics it still feels p small To Me. anywayd

biliang is one of them, as well as kuaitomas. both of these are mk1 btw. sorry beloved followers i am a scorpsmoke lover blame Do you feel it travel in and out your heart? on ao3 (i was shipping them way before i read that fic it's just my favourite). and a biliang lover but i've already mentioned that one before on here.

haven't been Incredibly into those lately though cuz the liu kang hyperfixation hit like a train and now all i can do is set him up with other people he can fuck nasty (or not fuck at all i do love an ace liu kang. more like liu king. sorry.) but they are still on the backburner.

for liu pairings aka my only pairings ever........... holdon let me just bust out the chart

ignore the fact that the colour doesn't mean anything Anyways liutana and liulao aren't rare, shangliu is actually surprisingly popular considering it has so few fics (like 50 total i think split between the liu vs fire god liu tags?), liuhan probably is considered rare but idk maybe it's just because i'm in my part of the fandom but i see it p often so probably not very rare. kuailiu and liutomas are both rarer than that. railiu is p rare, i don't really see it often (but i'd love to because it's actually such a good pairing it's so cool oh my god) uhhhh liugeras is pretty rare considering how much sense it makes but i get it w/e yk. uhhhh kenliu and liucage are both p rare. especially cuz i ship liucage the hardest in the 1995 mortal kombat movie (so sad that i can't write for that movie. cries) which already doesn't get much fandom activity. oh baraka and liu is like super rare lmao but they're so cool !! i think there's lots of potential there idk maybe i'm just a freak. i do mostly ship them in mk11 though (mostly just cuz i don't want to deal with contagion lmao). sindel and liu are rare i suppose (also i forgot to mark liu and jerrod but i do ship them as well they're a throuple) as are liu and syzoth but i don't really care for them Much they're just fun sometimes but they aren't on the brainrot list. quan chi and liu are also rare but yk same principle as syliu i don't care all that much. i just like them both and i think they could have Something. evil. also liu and mileena is mk11 specific and it's also complicated but the sad thing is there's no fic for them and i'm too scared to write it (that's a lie i'm just not creative enough)

uhhhhh i also ship kenleena which according to twitter is actually popular but i've not seen it a damn time which SUCKS !!!! guys please i love taleena but why should i care for Them in mk1 when i could be shipping mileena and the guy whose eyes she gouged out. i think that slays. taleena is also a slay ofc but in mk1........ i need something with a little more Spice like they had in mkx. give me toxic yuri or give me death. they need to be treacherous and then have a kid or i'm out.

let me pull out the mk11 chart too fuck it

again shangliu is p popular shockingly however mk11 shangliu is a lot less popular. sonya/liu is actually so rare that i made the ao3 tag and i'm one of like. four shippers lmao. but i mostly ship them in conjunction with liucage in mk11 and only really ship them on their own in mk21. liu/jax is similar in the sense that i like them more in the 2021 movie lmao. and again i'm the only one in the tag. mk11 liuhan is less common than mk1 which is sad because they're iconic. again baraka and liu are always rare, railiu is p rare (though it does have some absolute masterpieces in the ao3 tag. ty melochromatic can we please be friends you're so cool). fujin/liu is also uncommon but i love them so sosososis99ssjowehhrishwkshrkebf much (i just like both of the characters and decided to slam them together for my amusement) blahblah again with mileena and geras and liulao and liutana are both popular.

SIGH. in addition to all of these i have some bonuses like sindel/sheeva and jadetana which might not be Rare but it is lovely and frossie which definitely Is rare (heartbreakingly) and probably more that i don't want to list. GASP FOR AIR.

#mk #allfatherly guidance #llewelyn. listen to me close when i say I'm Not Tagging Anything But MK. i cant fit all that in here #answered prayers

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psqqa · 4 years

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Nirvana in Fire Character Reference Sheet Roughly in the Order Those Characters Are Introduced

For @howdydowdy, as promised, and for anyone else who, like me, is terrible at names and needs some kind of “Who?? Ohhh right. That guy.” reminder.

Basically, my Nirvana in Fire Journey started with me watching half the first episode, being wildly confused, realizing I was in over my head re: names and thus deciding to go back to the beginning and watch it again But Taking Notes This Time. I watched the whole show with a notebook and pen at my side. I figured I may as well spare you all the labour by typing it up.

As more information was revealed, I often added it to a character’s initial note, but by and large I’m leaving those extra notes out so you can experience the joy and confusion and anguish of New Information yourself. The exception to this is generally a person’s name, title, and position. E.g. Duke Qing’s name, Bai Ye, isn’t mentioned until a number of episodes after he’s first mentioned, if I recall correctly, but knowing that the person named “Bai Ye” is the same person called “Duke Qing” is exactly why I took these notes for myself in the first place.

Basically this isn’t intended to be a character guide that lays out exactly who a person is, their relationships to the other characters, and their place in the story, but rather something you can look at whenever someone mentions a name that jogs your memory just enough for you to be able to place to person. Which is why the notes tend to be either the context in which the person was introduced or the relationship through which they’re introduced.

Some names and notes are inherently spoilers, but hopefully by virtue of the fact that this is broadly in the order a character is first mentioned/introduced, you can avoid spoilers simply by not scrolling down too far. For those persons where their name or an alter ego comes in significantly after their initial introduction and is a spoiler, they are listed a second time starting with the “new information” and with the note in italics indicating their original entry (there aren’t a lot of these, don’t worry).

I will readily admit that some of my handwritten notes are just a name and then a blank space because apparently I just never actually added a note for them. I haven’t bothered adding those people here. Yes it’s because I’ve forgotten entirely who they are, but I’m pretty sure that means you’ll be okay if you immediately forget who they are too. (That being said, I get the sense there are actually relevant people missing from this list. As the show carried on and introductions became less frequent, remembering them became less difficult.)

The List

Lin Xie –> Commander of the Chiyan Army

Lin Shu –> “Xiao-Shu” –> Lin Xie’s son –> Mei Changsu --> Chief of the Jiangzuo Alliance --> Su Zhe

Lin Chen –> Young Master of Langya Hall –> NOTE: The “Lin” of Lin Chen and the “Lin” of Lin Xie & Lin Shu are both written and pronounced differently. These people are not related.

Northern Yan’s 6th Prince –> Now Northern Yan’s Crown Prince

Minister Xu –> Da Liang’s envoy to Northern Yan

Prince Yu –> Xiao Jinghuan –> 5th Prince of Da Liang

Xiao Xuan –> Emperor of Da Liang

Empress Yan --> Prince Yu’s adoptive mother

Consort Yue --> Crown Prince’s mother

Grand Empress (Dowager) --> Emperor’s grandmother

Xiao Jingxuan --> Crown Prince of Da Liang --> metonym is “Eastern Palace”

Zhuo Dingfeng --> Master of Tianquan Manor

Zhuo Qingyao --> Eldest son of Zhuo Dingfeng --> guy on the horse and later the guy helping the old couple on the boat and later also the guy who calls Xie Yu “father-in-law” (I am telling you this specifically because I am not bad at faces but this guy added so much confusion to my life that was cleared up the moment I realized these people were the same person. And also because my mother is terrible at faces and for like 15 episodes every time he showed up in another random place I would say “that’s horse and boat guy” and she would say “wait what? really???” So I’m assuming at least one other person will share in this struggle)

Xie Yu --> Marquis of Ning

Qin Banruo --> Prince Yu’s strategist

Duke Qing --> Prime Minister --> Bai Ye

Ji Ying --> member of Double Sword Sect

Li Gang --> member of Jiangzuo Alliance

Fei Liu --> Mei Changsu’s bodyguard

Yan Yujin --> Son of Empress Yan’s brother

Xiao Jingrui --> Eldest son of Xie Yu

Mu Nihuang --> Commander of the army in Yunnan --> Princess of Yunnan’s House of Mu

Xie Bi --> Second son of Xie Yu & Xiao Jingrui’s younger brother

Mu Qing --> Mu Nihuang’s younger brother

Xia Dong --> An officer of the Xuanjing Bureau

Nie Feng --> Xia Dong’s late husband --> Vanguard General of the Chiyan Army under Lin Xie

Meng Zhi --> Commander of the Imperial Guards

Xuan Bu --> From Da Yu --> stronger than Meng Zhi

Gao Zhan --> Emperor’s chief eunuch

Fei Changshi --> Prince Yu’s guy out looking for Mei Changsu

Prince Jing --> Xiao Jingyan --> 7th Prince of Da Liang

Concubine Jing --> Mother of Prince Jing

“Xiao-Xin” --> Attendant to Concubine Jing

Grand Princess Liyang --> Xie Yu’s wife & Emperor’s sister

Eunuch Zheng --> Eunuch who is mean to Tingsheng

Prince Qi --> late Crown Prince of Da Liang --> Xiao Jingyu

Tingsheng --> servant boy caught reading

“Lao-Wei” --> Mu Qing’s subordinate of some kind

Wei Zheng --> member of Chiyan Army at Battle of Meiling (and survived)

Sima Lei --> member of Royal Guard --> Consort Yue’s preferred suitor for Mu Nihuang

Liao Tingjie --> Son of the Marquis of Zhongsu --> Empress Yan’s preferred suitor Mu Nihuang

Baili Qi --> Mu Nihuang suitor from Northern Yan --> A favourite of the 4th Prince of Northern Yan

Lady/Madam Zhuo --> Zhuo Dingfeng’s wife

Xie Qi --> Zhuo Qingyao’s wife & Xie Yu’s daughter & Jingrui’s sister

Consort Hui --> bullied by the Empress

Young Lady Zhen (I think is what my handwriting says) --> servant being sneaky at late dowager empress’s palace

“Wu-momo” --> older servant with the Bad Wine

Consort Chen --> now dead --> son was a rebel

3rd Prince of Da Liang --> Xiao Jingting --> Prince Ning --> disabled

6th Prince of Da Liang --> no ambition

9th Prince of Da Liang --> too young to fight for throne

Former Crown Princess --> late Prince Qi’s late wife

“Qi-momo” --> Grand Princess Liyang’s senior attendant

Gong Yu --> window lady who works with Mr. Shisan --> a musician

Mr. Shisan --> member of Jiangzuo Alliance --> connection to Lin family

Minister Lou --> Lou Zhijing --> Minister of Trade/Finance/Revenue/other words that mean “money” --> Knows about the corpse well --> Crown Prince’s faction

Zhang Jing --> Owner of corpse well house (Lan Mansion) at the time the corpses ended up in the well

Shi Jun --> Servant at corpse well house at relevant time --> has record book

Magistrate Gao --> Gao Sheng --> The Capital Magistrate

Princess Xuanji --> ruler of a previous dynasty --> founded the “Hong Court”

Minister Qi --> Qi Min--> Minister of Justice --> Prince Yu’s faction

Minister He --> He Jingzhong --> Minister of Personnel --> Prince Yu’s faction

Minister of Public Works --> Prince Yu’s faction

Minister Chen --> Chen Yuanzhi --> Minister of Rites --> Crown Prince’s faction

Minister of Defence --> Li Lin --> Crown Prince’s faction

Bai Xun --> Duke Qing’s brother

Lie Zhanying --> Staff Officer under Prince Jing

Qi Meng --> One of Prince Jing’s men --> fights Fei Liu and commits Great Offence

“General Bian” --> One of Prince Jing’s men

Shen Zhui --> Acting Minister of Finance

Princess Qing He --> Shen Zhui’s mother

Cai Quan --> Works at Ministry of Justice --> Did well-received report on the Bing case

Han Zhiyi --> Works at Ministry of Justice --> worked on Bing case

Zhang Jianzhen --> Works at Ministry of Justice --> worked on Bing case

Wei Yuan --> Works at Ministry of Justice --> worked on Bing case

Yuan Shiying --> Works at Ministry of Justice --> worked on Bing case

Qin Yue --> Works at Ministry of Justice --> worked on Bing case

Tong Lu --> Vegetable cart guy --> brother of one of the corpse well girls

Qiu Zhe --> Son of Count (Duke?) Wen Yuan

He Wenxin --> Son of Minister He --> dislikes Qiu Zhe

Grand Prince Ji --> Emperor’s youngest brother --> Owns hot springs

Yang Liuxin --> A dancer

Hong Xinzhao --> Has “understanding girls”

Xinliu & Xinyang --> Brothel sisters --> their younger brother was murdered by Qiu Zhe

Princess Consort --> Lanjin --> Prince Yu’s wife

Zhou Xuanqing --> renowned scholar

Li Chong --> former Imperial Tutor --> former teacher to Lin Shu

“Brother Zhao” --> Canal transport guy --> Jiangzuo Alliance

Lin Xiangru --> famous literary envoy

Marquis Yan --> Yan Que --> Yan Yujin’s father & Empress Yan’s brother

Lin Yueyao --> Prince Qi’s mother --> Consort Chen

Zhen Ping --> Jiangzuo Alliance --> sword challenger

Xia Qiu --> An officer of the Xuanjing Bureau

Xia Chun --> The most senior of the officers of the Xuanjing Bureau

Prince Jingli --> Consort Hui’s son

Yuwen Xuan --> Prince Ling --> A prince of Southern Chu

Yuwen Nian --> “Niannian” --> A princess of Southern Chu --> student of Yue Xiuze

Yuwen Lin --> King of Southern Chu --> Yuwen Nian’s father

Ouyang Chi - Head of CApital Patrols

Xia Jiang --> Head of the Xuanjing Bureau

Li Chongxin --> Schoolteacher assassinated by Zhuo Dingfeng

Jun Niang --> former member of “Hong Court” under Princess Xuanji

“Miss Liu” --> Granddaughter of former Chief Secretariat Liu Cheng

Wei Qi --> The general at Jiaxing Pass --> was Xie Yu’s lieutenant for years

Su Tianshu --> Chief of Yaowang Valley --> 7th on the Langya Rich List

Su Xuan --> Su Tianshu’s adopted son --> Wei Zheng

Yun Piaomiao --> Su Xuan’s wife

Concubine Xiang --> Prince Yu’s birth mother

Zhu Yue --> Head of the Review Court --> Prince Yu’s brother-in-law

Cheng Zhiji --> Elder Master of Feng Hall --> 75 years old

Princess Linglong --> A princess of the Hua Kingdom --> Princess Xuanji’s sister --> Concubine Xiang

Grand Princess Jinyang --> Lin Shu’s mother & Lin Xie’s wife --> Emperor’s sister

Yao Zhu --> Official Fan’s servant who knows The Secret

Official Fan --> Harbouring Xia Jiang

#nirvana in fire #it's an imperfect tool basically #but hopefully it's useful anyway #if there are any spelling errors #blame it on my handwriting #you don't want to know how much time i spent looking at these notes asking myself if something was a 'u' or an 'n'

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neverlearnedtoread · 4 years

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The Bride Test

⭐⭐⭐; would have been a 4-star read had it not coincided with a fandom sinkhole so strong i hit the earth’s core head first

Oh?? 👌😉😏

#ownvoices neurodivergent rep - male love interest (and deuteragonist) is on the autism spectrum

diversity!! most characters are PoC - either american-vietnamese or vietnamese. the story itself also touches on racial identity and asian diaspora, and both main characters are bilingual

intense secondhand embarrassment not withstanding - dudes being dudes and talking about sex in a mature and open manner because they’re adults, dammit!

girl is more sexually experienced than the guy, but isn’t pushed into a ‘femme fatale’ archetype. sexy 🤝 cute rights!!

familial relationships - even if they are not a ““traditional”’ family! family is family because they love and support you as a person, not because a billion years of filial piety and tradition forced them to

No.. ❌🤢🤮

some leaps of logic and plot progressions that felt rushed to keep the story moving forward

weird miscommunication stuff (less than there was in The Kiss Quotient)... sometimes they talked it through, and sometimes they simply...did not

‘almost get married to the wrong brother so your real love will have to reconcile his true feelings’ is a trope that happens, which lowkey squicks me out

not really that big of a deal in the long run but that one time got Mỹ got blueballed so hard i felt shortchanged....big oof. pour the whole six-pack out for her lads

Summary: A mixed-race girl working as a cleaning maid in Ho Chi Minh City, Mỹ Tran gets the once-in-a-lifetime chance to travel to America, where the father she’s never met came from. If she pulls this off, she could get her family out of poverty, give them the better life they deserve. The only catch? She’s technically supposed to be there to seduce the youngest son of some rich Vietnamese-American lady who waylaid her in the hotel bathroom. Despite her generous benefactor’s high hopes for the match, Mỹ learns that the son in question, Khải, believes he’s just not cut out for loving people, having struggled internally to match the depth of emotion he’s observed in others his whole life. What’s a girl to do when the better life you’re trying to build rests on marrying someone who’s convinced they’ve got a heart made of stone?

Concept: 💭💭💭

I read the blurb for this book in the back of the Kiss Quotient, and I really liked the set-up - technically I’m not asian diaspora, but also I kinda am? So I definitely gravitate to reading stories like this one, especially with both characters being PoC while also having a different relationship with their shared culture. And I’m not gonna lie - I like the arranged marriage trope. It’s all about the fiction of living in close proximity with someone you don’t know well and that somehow actually working out great for you! The inherent romanticism of developing genuine intimacy through artificial domesticity!!

Some spoilers under the cut!

Execution: 💥💥💥

I got what I wanted, and I wanted what I got, which was a cute fluffy story about two people really attracted to one another who have to live together and then they fall in love and everything is great. Good vibes all around, serotonin aplenty in the air - it was a great read, up until the point I fell into shipping hell for a pairing I have only experienced through tumblr osmosis. The sheer quality of fan content I had accidentally stumbled into slapped me full across the face and before I knew it, it had been four whole days since I had thought about this book, having burned a hole into ao3 with the force of my speedreading. For better or worse, there’s nothing like reading fanfiction.

Personal Enjoyment: ❤❤❤❤

That being said, I did really like this book! I was definitely taking my time with it before I fell into fandom hell, rereading chapters and bookmarking cute parts. The interactions between the two main characters felt a lot more nuanced, the plot development less choppy, especially compared to the author’s debut novel. There were some parts I felt were kinda rushed, like the race to clear everything up by the ending, but it was definitely better handled and more believable this time around! I liked the brothers’ interactions in particular - siblings being there to annoy and support each other every step of the way is always the best. And I think Hoang is going to centre her third book on Quan, so I’d be interested to see him in the spotlight!

Favourite Moment: When Esme cut Khải’s hair and he explained that he liked firm touches but not light ones. In general I liked the exploration of his character, because I liked the variation in Hoang’s neurodivergent characters. Plus it opened up a lot of cute opportunities for both of them to figure each other out, and then learn to reach a new equilibrium. The hair cutting scene was an intimate scene without necessarily being a sexy one. I liked those well enough too but there’s something about letting your love interest gently touch your face as they make you look nice, you know?

Favourite Character: I loved Esme (or Mỹ)’s character arc. Khải was great! But Esme’s personal development and her decision to take this opportunity to find her father and maybe give her kid a better life, alongside her determination to just work really really hard to achieve her goals...oof. Oof. The Real Immigration Wish-Fulfillment Fantasy (TM). We love to see a good person get their happily ever after by simply never giving up!

#the bride test #helen hoang #book review #bookblr #booklover #reading #books

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easilymakermoney · 5 years

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The perfect Mortal Kombat Fatalities

“End him!” Few phrases are extra iconic in online game historical past, and few video video games have precipitated extra controversy than the Mortal Kombat collection. From the very first Mortal Kombat, the franchise has attracted consideration for its graphics and over-the-top violence, exemplified by the gory “Fatalities” that usually finish battles.

Spines are eliminated, heads are severed, and through the years, characters have been murdered in more and more gross methods. The perfect Mortal Kombat fatalities are usually not simply gory, however artistic and humorous. Gamers get a kick out of seeing simply how wacky the builders can go, they usually’ve been blessed with some really great Fatalities from their favourite characters. From Scorpion’s “Toasty” to Sonya’s “Kiss of Dying”, listed here are a number of the most brutal and iconic Fatalities from the Mortal Kombat collection.

Kano – Coronary heart Rip (Mortal Kombat)