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therealdogsinmymind · 21 days

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✩ My Rival (All Mine) ✩

18+ MDNI

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

AO3 Link | Word Count: 2,394 | Chapters 1/1

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Synopsis: Sung Jinwoo pisses you off but maybe you've you've finally found a way to ruffle his feathers a little bit.

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Pairing: Sung Jinwoo/Reader, Sung Jinwoo/You

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Tags: Reader POV, Gender Neutral Reader, Virgin Sung Jinwoo, Jealous Jinwoo, Rivals to Lovers, Bickering, Kissing, Neck Kissing, Tenderness, Light Angst, Miscommunication, Conflict Resolution, Happy Ending

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Picture from @oo0mika0oo ‘s icon edits

“You piss me off,” you say under your breath, fully intending for him to hear it. He always fucking does.

You don’t like Jinwoo, you never have. Not before you awakened as an S-Rank hunter and you saw him on TV and certainly not now that you know him personally. He’s got shitty vibes and an even worse personality. He’s closed off, and you can smell his fucking god complex from a mile away.

“Good to know,” Jinwoo says coolly, taking a sip of his water. You don’t know why he needs it, he hasn’t even broken a sweat, despite the fact that he’s been running circles around everyone in the training arena for hours. Just to show off, you suppose. He’s kicked almost everyone’s ass so far, sans for yours. You really don’t feel like going up against him though, you’d like your ass to remain un-kicked, thank you. There’s also some cards you’d rather keep close to your chest; but god you wish you could rub his face in the dirt just once.

As Jinwoo lingers against the wall next to you, head turned just barely so you’re in his line of sight, you grow increasingly agitated. Why the fuck did he come over here? Why is he looking at you? What’s his deal? He’s always doing this, he’ll follow you around just to piss you off. You swear he started going to the only coffee shop you like just to torment you with his extremely pretty, extremely punchable face. As your irritation reaches max cap you decide it’d be better to just take a deep breath and walk away, you don’t need to get into a pissing contest with this guy, you’re better than that. You’ll be taking your leave now.

You spring up, intent on heading for the door when Jinwoo calls after you, ”You don’t want a round?” Yeah, no.

You turn around briefly, still walking backwards towards the door. ”With you? No. I can think of better things to do with my time.” You take a little pleasure in the way Jinwoo looks slightly shocked at your rebuff. You turn around and pick up the pace, hoping to get the hell out of dodge.

Suddenly Jinwoo’s in front of you, blocking the door, having somehow appeared out of the shadows. ”Fuck!” You startle, you didn’t know he could do that, is there anything he can’t do?

“The better things, what are they?” Jinwoo asks, staring at you intently as if your face will reveal the answer.

”What?”

”What are the better things?” He repeats.

”I don’t know, dude? Get laid? Not that you would know anything about that.” It doesn’t even occur to you until his face twists, all sorts of emotions that you’ve never seen on him. They mar his usually such impassive features; he’s jealous. You said it as a joke, really more than anything wanting to call him a virgin, but this is too good. You have to hold in a laugh, it’s almost unthinkable, you have an antagonistic relationship with him at best. It intrigues you though, you wonder if you could push his buttons like this, he’s usually so unconcerned with others.

When Jinwoo doesn’t reply right away you take that as your cue, needling him, “Anyway- I do actually want to get fucked sometime today, so if you’ll excuse me…” You have no such plans but you wave your hand at him dismissively anyway, just to be a bitch.

His face stays twisted but he doesn’t otherwise react so you push harder. Leaning in close to him and speaking low so as to not be overheard, “Unless you want to see to that.” It’s just to throw him off his game, you just want to see him gape like a fish, or maybe sputter, curse you out, anything. You’ve thought about what Jinwoo might be like in bed before of course, who hasn’t, a simple curiosity if you will. That’s neither here nor there, you’re truly just aiming to rile him up at this point; surely any second now he’ll reel back and run away.

Instead Jinwoo grabs your wrist and pulls you out of the training arena. All that comes out of your mouth is a grunt, too worried about making a scene. Although maybe you should, where the hell is he taking you and why? He says nothing, simply dragging you down the hallway until he seems to sense an empty room where he promptly tosses you in; and for all your agility and grace you still land right on your ass. Great.

He shuts the door behind him just as you’re springing up, ready for a fight. That’s the only reason you can think he dragged you out here, to kick your ass away from prying eyes, the room is kind of small though, maybe he’s just that overconfident. You decide you won’t let him throw the first punch but it’s too late, Jinwoo’s fast, faster than you. You’ve barely had any real combat training as a new hunter and he’s the real deal. He’s in your space before you can even blink and you’re sure he’s about to beat you to a pulp. However no pain comes, there’s only a horrible sense of too-quick motion and then you’re seated firmly, feeling a bit dizzy. It takes you all but a moment to realize you’re sitting on Jinwoo’s lap, he seems to have scooped you up and sat down on a couch; you must be in someone’s office.

“I’ll be seeing to that now,” Jinwoo says in a low voice, giving a healthy pause before he moves at all, perhaps to let your brain catch up with his words.

It sure tries its best, running at a million miles a minute. You think about the fact that you hate Jinwoo, he’s fucking annoying, he’s stupid as shit. Your mind screams at you that he’s too powerful, it's dangerous, you shouldn’t get close. He’s too confident even if he can back it up, it’s kind of hot. You ignore that last part, you don’t who said that. However you also have eyes, he’s really fucking good looking and maybe if Jinwoo wants to fuck you so bad you can make him work for it a little.

You slip out of his arms and off of his lap. You don’t even dream of laughing at the poorly concealed heartbroken look on his face; it’s actually kind of sad to see. You click your tongue before sliding back onto his lap but this time straddling him.

“Come now, don’t make that face, I'm just getting comfortable,” you coo at him, stroking your thumb across Jinwoo’s cheek, it’s oddly tender for what the two of you have. He just looked so sad. He leans into it and it makes you want to be nice to him again, disgustingly enough. You lean in and give Jinwoo a soft kiss on the tip of his nose, deciding to kiss him more when he sigh softly, happily. You’ve never heard him make that noise, it’s entirely new to you, you wonder what kinds of other new sounds you can drag from him. More kisses, one on each of his cheeks, and again on the corners of his lips, missing the true mark purposefully. Jinwoo audibly swallows and his arms wrap loosely and hesitantly around your back. It appears all of his earlier confidence has sapped right out of him. You wonder if you were right on the money when you said he doesn’t know anything about getting laid.

You press a kiss to his jaw and linger there. “Jinwoo,” you whisper softly against his skin and he shudders. That’s cute, but you must stay focused, you have to ask, “Have you done this before?”

Jinwoo stiffens, “Define…’this’...”

“Fuck someone, baby.” He whines a little at the pet name and you make mental note of that. “Have you ever fucked someone before? Been with anyone? Made out? Kissed? What are we working with here?”

He clears his throat and turns his head away from you as his cheeks go red. You groan and drop your forehead onto his shoulder. You were just going to mess with him a little, kiss him a bit and leave him wanting more; but there’s no shot in hell you’re going to fuck up his first time. He deserves someone better than you for that, someone he actually likes. You have to ignore the way that thought stabs you in the heart so badly you can barely breathe.

“I’m sorry, baby,” you say, your forehead still resting against his shoulder, “We can’t do this.”

“Oh,” Jinwoo says, voice flat, devoid of any emotion, truly reminiscent of the closed-off man that you so often see. His hands fall away from your back and you wince at the way he shuts down.

“Hey,” you pour as much emotion into your voice as possible, “I promise it’s not you.” You tuck your head into Jinwoo’s neck and squeeze him tightly. You wonder if he can still breathe like this, you feel like you can’t despite nothing restricting you. “When you find someone you like you’ll be glad we didn’t do this.” He says nothing so you pull back to take a hesitant look at his face. Jinwoo looks angrier than you’ve ever personally seen him.

“Already did.”

He grabs you by the face with both hands and before you can figure out if you heard him right, Jinwoo crushes your lips together too hard and too fast. However once your lips are touching he hesitates for a second, unsure of what to do next. Well, apparently you heard him right, and his hasty kiss answers all of your follow up questions about what he said, go figure.

You can’t just leave him hanging, so you kiss him back like your life depends on it. All in all it’s a crappy kiss. Your teeth clack together painfully, he can’t seem to find a rhythm with you, and you bump noses incessantly too. Despite all this you can’t fucking stop kissing him; you don’t think you could even if the world was ending. Jinwoo pulls back after a bit, gasping, apparently no one ever taught him how to breathe.

You grab Jinwoo by his hair, “Breathe through your nose, dipshit.” Using your hold on his hair you pull him back into another kiss, delighting in his shocked moan. This kiss is slightly better, he seems to be learning quickly. Jinwoo wraps his arms around you again and grasps at the back of your shirt, you worry if he pulls any harder he might tear it. That could be hot though, an idea for later.

This time you pull back first and Jinwoo emits an uncharacteristically pathetic whine in response. “Shh.”

You press kisses up his jaw, before sucking a mark directly below his ear. You’ve never known anyone to leave a scratch on Jinwoo, maybe you’ll be the first. The thought fuels something new and feral in you. You begin covering his throat in as many marks as you possibly can, something delightful burning inside of you when you see each new bruise forming. You want him covered, you want everyone to know that this stupid man, this dangerous, closed off man is yours. Nobody else is allowed to see Jinwoo a mess like this, this is for your eyes only. That’s all you’ve ever really wanted, isn’t it?

“Jinwoo…” you whisper, your breath fanning across the spit-slick marks you’ve just made on his throat.

Jinwoo shudders beneath you, “Yeah?”

“We are not fucking in a stranger’s office.” Just on so many levels that is not happening.

He sags into the couch like a puppet that just had all of its strings cut. “I truly hate you sometimes…” he says with absolutely no malice, in fact it sounds kind of whiny and you have to hold in a giggle.

“Until about ten minutes ago, I was under the impression that you hated me all the time.”

Jinwoo scoffs and runs his hand up your side gently, “I don’t hate you ever, you’re just really annoying.”

You rub a thumb over one of his blossoming bruises, admiring your hard work. “Awww thanks, you’re also a real fuckin’ peach.”

“I do try.”

You roll your eyes, patting him on the head now that you know he won’t kill you for doing that, “Come on, you can fuck me in my bed later. I’m dying to know if I can fit your dick in my throat.” The last bit is tacked on with a pointed wiggle of your hips, just so you can feel Jinwoo’s cock straining against his pants. God, he’s such a virgin, it’s painfully cute. You absolutely would give him a quick hand job here just to help him out but it’s so much funnier not to.

Jinwoo’s hips twitch and he groans deeply, the sound reverberating in his chest, “Fuck you-”

“Happy to help!” Being a hindrance is your favorite activity, especially when it’s Jinwoo you’re hindering. You can’t believe you’ve finally found his weak spot.

“Yeah, I’m sure you are…”

“Aww, I’m sorry baby,” you say, voice thick with condescension, “I promise I’ll make it up to you later, just be patient.” You press a quick kiss to his lips before you slip off his lap. He sighs, folding over and dropping his head into his hands.

“You’re a nightmare…”

“Yeah but I think you might like that about me… Just a hunch.” You’re not actually sure if that’s true or not. You’re not sure of anything anymore. Really where the two of you stand now is a total mystery, but the soft laugh Jinwoo warms your chest, and that’s something isn’t it?

With a soft tone Jinwoo says, “Get out of here, menace.”

“Yeah, yeah… Hey- see you later?” Your words come out as a question, quiet and hopeful.

He sits up and looks at you, the corners of his lips quirked up. “See you later,” he says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Of course, you almost forgot, ever since you came here it’s been that way hasn’t it? Where you go he follows and vice versa, he’s your rival after all, what would you do without him?

#solo leveling #sung jinwoo x reader #jinwoo sung x reader #only i level up #solo leveling x reader #sung jin woo #sung jinwoo x you #jinwoo sung headcanons #jinwoo sung x you #jinwoo x reader #solo leveling fanfic #solo leveling headcanons #solo leveling jinwoo #Zephyrs Stories

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silvergreenseraphim · 4 months

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“But the team was cautious in its approach to handling Sephiroth. After all, he's one of gaming's most iconic and influential antagonists, so naturally, fans will be touchy about any substantial changes.

"We felt it was necessary to have this very clear depiction of how he came to be the person that he is now in Rebirth," director Naoki Hamaguchi says.

"Even as a developer creating this game, seeing Sephiroth discover the truth and fall further and further into darkness – like falling from grace – and depicting this in his expressions, I could truly feel bad for him. Throughout the course of Rebirth, I believe players will not only grow to relate to and understand Cloud, but also Sephiroth through this game much more."

—Game Informer, 2023

—

I am going to cry. I am already hurting reading this. I love Sephiroth as a frightening villain but it’s his downfall that grips me the most. If it made Hamaguchi-san feel bad just creating it more clearly than ever in Rebirth, I can’t imagine what we the viewers will be feeling 😢

#i am already ready to be devastated #sorry my friends apparently i just get sad about sephiroth recently lol #they also have said he will be more present in the world map!!#i know some fans are upset about him appearing too much #but i am happy about it #he deserves plenty of screen time!#🤍#sephiroth #final fantasy 7 #ff7 #ffvii #game informer #ff7 rebirth

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animentality · 5 days

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it's so fucking stupid how Raphael, a minor antagonist, gets way more grand build up and payoff than Gortash or Orin, who are literally 2 of the 3 major villains.

like seriously?

I love Raphael and the House of Hope, in fact it's my favorite quest in the game.

but it's ridiculous that Gortash and Orin have nothing even close to that level of cool.

Gortash in particular is soooo bad because you just show up at his crib and initiate combat, and Orin you just walk into her house and say it's time to throw down.

Neither of them get the build up or the development that Ketheric did. Nor do you have to do anything special to kill them.

At least you're robbing Raphael.

You have to sneak into his room and fuck his incubus.

Lie to the Archivist.

Then you have to get out of the archives alive with the orphic hammer, fight the spectators and imps.

Then fight the House of Hope with all its exploding debtors.

Then the boss fight with Raphael is challenging and fun and you get the opportunity to get Yurgir on your side.

It's really cinematic and cool, his demon form is sexy, and the music is iconic.

But Gortash and Orin???

shit they might as well be the fucking goblin leaders.

#baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #enver gortash #orin the red

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twstunes · 6 months

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Take My Hand again actually we're gonna go on a walk through Night Raven College campus real quick while I lose my mind

First off look at the front gate. People have definitely brought up the birds and the keys and those ARE both very important symbols, BUT. What about the thorns sprawled across the top of the gate? And the repeat use of 4-pointed stars in the lettering gives an especially prickly quality, overall.

Also of note are the decorations on the main pillars and the very specific aesthetic choice for the shape of the wrought-iron fence—by which I mean both reflect designs found in Draconimom's appearance.

The carvings on the gate pillars feature an ankh-like shape that matches up eerily well with the central decor of Draconimom's belt, as well as two curves that mimic the main body of the belt. The three-leaf/bud-like shape above that is reflected in the lace pattern and dangling decoration of the Mirror Chamber's chandelier. The two swooping S-shapes mimic the Draconia family's iconic horns, and the little decorations on either side of the carving match with the shape of Draconimom's pauldrons.

As for the fence…it's That Shape again. Each post also bears resemblance to the upper portion of Draconimom's staff.

Considering the focus on thorned vines in relation to Diasomnia/the Draconias, the way that vines are slowly creeping up both the fenceposts and gate pillars feels relevant.

(Please recall: The coffins by which students are summoned into NRC are also referred to as "Gates.")

Next stop is the botanical garden. As I mentioned in a previous post, the building's overall shape is notably similar to the chandelier found in the Mirror Chamber. The large beams surrounding the building, with their spear-like support pillars, give the impression of the building being held in place by thorned vines.

The inside of the garden doesn't yield much in the way of analysis, unfortunately. The most stand-out feature is the crumbling structure in the subtropical zone, but that arguably could've been intentionally allowed to decay as a way of cultivating the various mosses and lichens we see growing on it.

(Please recall: at the beginning of the game, before you choose a student, Crowley has a monologue in which he appears to refer to the Dark Mirror as "a lovely and noble flower of evil.")

And now the Hall of Mirrors. This one has subtler details than the others, but still just enough for the pattern recognition part of my brain to start making noises.

Again, the outside of the hall bears a passing resemblance to the chandelier in the Mirror Chamber, though much less so than the botanical garden. More important to this analysis is the inside of the building.

Listen. Not all lace is related to overblots. But the majority of lace in Twisted Wonderland HAS appeared in relation to overblots. The presence of an unmistakably lace-y pattern on the beams under each ceiling arch feels worth pointing out. After all, as of Book 7, at least one student per dorm linked to the Hall of Mirrors has overblotted.

There are also small floral decorations on each arch: two buds in the lower corners, and a bloom at the top. Again, Crowley's "flower of evil" comment comes into play; each dorm, again, features a major antagonist who is visually and textually placed parallel to their respective member of the Great Seven (OG Disney villains).

There's also. Y'know. The horn-like design on the pillars.

(Please recall: each dorm linked to the Hall of Mirrors is, apparently, contained within a pocket dimension with somewhat strict borders.)

Okay now we're at the coliseum and I need you to bear with me for this first point. Look at the entrance. It's too ostentatious to not be important somehow, right? It's too overdone. It's the Dark Mirror's mask, kinda? Don't ask how long I've been staring at this thing

Aside from that, the coliseum has thorns lining the rim of the structure twofold. One set of thorns exists as spears jutting out along the rim, while the other set exists as the long, simple, repeating pattern on the wall just under those spikes. On the outside of the building, this pattern repeats for every floor, effectively giving a sense that the structure is "wrapped" in thorns.

There are also thorns visible in the support beams of the stage; they're especially noticeable after Malleus fixes the stage, as they're lit up a bright pink (as opposed to the gold they were prior).

Upon the stage sits an odd, crumbling structure. It's clearly made of a different type of stone than the rest of the coliseum, being a dark gray instead of subdued purple, but that's not all—the architecture doesn't match up, either. The two main columns don't resemble any others found in the coliseum, notably. The arch-and-a-half visible both distinctly feature three-pointed arches, unlike the round arches consistently found throughout the rest of the building.

The fact this structure has been allowed to remain in such a deteriorated state is also worth questioning, especially since it's obviously been modified at some point fairly recently; the LCD screen it's been fitted with seems to work like a normal electronic device w/ no magical component to it. Even if you were to argue that the structure is supposed to have a distinct aesthetic from the rest of the coliseum to better draw attention to the stage it rests on, its condition renders the argument null. I love its decrepit vibe as much as Malleus might, but very few people would see this as an acceptable "centerpiece" for such an important location. With how Crowley squawks about maintaining the school's reputation, why does this pass by without comment from him…?

At least the chains frame the stage nicely. Though, they could serve a symbolic purpose as well…

(Please recall: according to Rook, the school staff claims that the coliseum is "imbued with a special field that makes it harder for damage to spill out." We can assume that this is the truth, as no one outside of the coliseum seemed to notice Vil's overblot—just the traces of excessive magical energy leftover afterwards.)

And finally, we come to the Mirror Chamber. Keeping in mind that the Dark Mirror can teleport people (both for enrollment and in general), the most notable visual qualities of this room are as follows:

Gates (coffins, the Dark Mirror)

Plants (chandelier, rose arches, standing lamps, windowpanes)

Mirrors (the Dark Mirror)

Containment (chains, coffins, the Dark Mirror)

It is very, very interesting that the four primary structures on NRC campus with a direct relationship to the items on this list also feature aesthetic similarities to the Mirror Chamber. Also of note is that although each structure chiefly embodies one item on the list, they all incorporate aspects of the other items:

Front Gate–

Plants: As previously noted, there are vines steadily attempting to overtake the fence and pillars + thorns sprawling across the top of the sign.

Mirrors: Structural design is mirrored across the vertical axis, carvings are mirrored across both horizontal and vertical axes.

Containment: Although open in this view, the front gate as a whole embodies the concept of NRC campus as an area that is closed off to the rest of the world.

Botanical Garden–

Gates: The entire building signifies a departure from the surrounding campus into a space especially designed for the housing and growing of plants.

Mirrors: Look at that thing. You can't have a building made mostly out of tempered glass and not have it be reflective as fuck.

Containment: Aside from the appearance of being held down by thorned vines, the building does, again, exist for the purpose of containing plants.

Hall of Mirrors–

Gates: Each mirror acts as gate leading to each of the seven dorms.

Plants: Previously-detailed floral decorations.

Containment: Again, each mirror contains a dorm. This, in turn, means that this building technically contains…nearly the entire student body.

Coliseum–

Gates: It's got one right out front lmao. But yeah, like the botanical garden, the building signifies a departure from the surrounding environment.

Plants: As mentioned earlier, the entire building has the appearance of being wreathed in thorned vines + further incorporation of thorns in the stage.

Mirrors: Previously-shown Dark Mirror comparison. Also, like the front gate, the structural design is mirrored across the vertical axis.

What does this all mean? NO fuckin clue. But if we consider how the very first battle of the game seems to take place in the Mirror Chamber, at least two of these locations have been (or will be) the setting for a major overblot battle.

(I will say…it's very funny that, despite Pomefiore being the first established dorm from a lore perspective, a lot of the campus has much more Diasomnia-esque aesthetics.)

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst meta #meleanor draconia #night raven college #design analysis #twisted rambling #nearly 1.5k words and i'm tired of looking at this thing. change da world. my final message. goodb ye

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jmdbjk · 6 months

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Praise and worship

I finally figured out the meaning of the Standing Next to You MV!!

But first, did Kookie wax his pits or does he always have that landing strip of hair there?

Anyway, sorry for the immediate digression but you know it is imperative to dissect everything, even pit hair.

Back to the MV...

The opening scenes include this very non-inclusive sign:

Only limos, no sportscars, SUVs, pick up trucks, family sedans or mopeds welcome here. They are keeping the riff-raff out. ONLY LIMOS THEY SAID CAN'T YOU READ THE SIGN?

Obviously makes sense when we see this dystopian scene where less than a dozen people are walking around inside some sort of derelict compound. A FORTRESS FOR ONLY THE STRETCH LIMO PREFERRING POPULATION!

Incidentally, stretch limos represent 1 percent of the options available from limo companies in the U.S. (I googled it).

Amazing that they found this many in Budapest.

What was once a sign of affluence has now fallen on hard times... hence the decrepit dystopia pictured above.

Enter our female antagonist. Who does she represent? I'll get to that later...

Our antagonist is antagonizing beautifully throughout but starts off antagonistically in her leather coatdress and 1980's heavy black eyeliner and bobbed hair. After all, the song is a throwback to that era of the late 70's/early 80's. All she is missing is the peach blush in the hollows of her cheeks. Hand me a Maybelline Blooming Colors Blush Palette and I'll fix it.

Then the dark angel makes his appearance. Ah, yes, sweet angel, come closer.

I think he has come down or up from where ever dark angels habitate in order to correct an injustice... the injustice being the duck-billed cups of this atrociously antagonistic dress our antagonist is made to wear:

For real... they couldn't find a better fitting dress? At least grab a roll of toilet paper and stuff those titty cups to fill them out? They are so sad and droopy looking... props to her Maybelline Expert Eyes Turquoise eye shadow though.

I suppose the stacked pancakes... I mean bra cups... could have meant to be an homage to another 80's icon: Madonna and her cone shaped bra... but ... nah... try again. They look like hamburgers. Now I can't unsee it. So, so sad.

We do a lil spin and our protagonist spins himself up into a jewel encrusted, crotch grabbing, finger pointing master of his game.

I think he's here to conduct a worship service.

It's time to be churched:

Stretch limos (because no riff-raff remember?) enter the opening in a temple-of-Petra-like giant wall emblazoned with JK's sacred heart logo. Very symbolic.

In they go to gather for worship. Others sit in theatre seats while Ms. Antagonist sits on the car like a hood ornament.

So... who is she and what's going on here?

No clue. She sits haughtily and antagonistically on her outdated stretch limo, while her little minions sit in the rows watching the object of their desire preaching the holy choreography.

However, Mr. Protagonist is about to really lay down the religion.

But first, gratuitous shot of Kookie prancing in heeled chelsea boots.

Back to religion... the religion of Bangtan dance... one of these is not like the other.

(*covers Hobi-hyung's eyes* Don't look its too painful.)

Did they not monitor this mess?

I don't meant to be disrespectful and I know these guys are some of the best dancers in the industry but next to Jungkook, they look like a herd of elephants. Just sayin'.

Anyway, Protagonist proceeds to become angry at the sloppy choreo and all the limo drivers gather for a gang-brawl in the middle of the church. Probably arguing over the spelling of chauffeur. I couldn't find an urban slang reference for limo, limousine or limo driver. I'm sure some exist but being the innocent thing I am, I don't know what they are.

Mr. Protagonist brings down the wrath and puts the fear of Hobi into his crew:

Then the climax of the whole darn thing: a dance break. Holy communion commences with serious thrusting into crotch grabs (some are enjoying it more than others):

Service concludes and I wonder how many takes before they got one where Kookie didn't bust out laughing with his bunny giggle?

But seriously, the MV does seem to be an homage to an era where Michael Jackson thrilled us with his brilliant music and dancing. Jungkook is continuing to pull us and BTS as a group along, forging new paths for them in the music industry. Like Kookie, I am anxious for them to reunite and get back on that stage together. And like Yoongi, I too believe they will devour the world.

(It's humor, y'all.)

#worship at the altar of jungkook #its humor #sarcasm #parody #its not serious #i apologize if i offended anyone #however Bangtan Church of Choreography is very serious #standing next to you #jungkook golden #looking forward to a choreo performance mv please

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sparklepirate · 5 months

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I love the batshit storytelling power of tabletop games.

Things my players have done in our campaign so far:

- Left Glaedr's eldunarí to freeze outside because they used him as an eye for their snowman and then forgot about him while they ran off to do their mission

- My werecat player traumatized the thirteen year old dragon rider student by giving him a "prophecy" about how he is destined for great things, but he was going to be betrayed by the person he trusts the most (he pulled that completely out of his ass).

- My dragon player has made a pact with the weird groundskeeper/janitor around campus to fuel her kleptomaniac tendency, and steal a gem from my blacksmith player. More on that to come.

- They did some absolutely heinous things to a pack of Shrrg in their first combat encounter. RIP.

- They adopted one of the Shrrg after they doomed him to a slow death of starvation by shattering his teeth (horrible). They healed him, and charmed him into being a friend, and then forged him a new set of magically enchanted steel dentures, so now he is going to be a permanent party member!

- They essentially ignored the main quest (a mysterious circle of destruction and mutated Shrrg that suggest a magical detonation in the same vein of the Vroengard explosion/the Galbatorix explosion only a few miles from the school) in order to go on a new self imposed sidequest of... Well.

- First the party cajoled Saphira into dragging back a Christmas tree.

- The bard (my boyfriend irl) has an antagonistic love-hate relationship with Glaedr (somehow) and spontaneously invented the holiday Christmas in universe while trying to convince Glaedr to sub in as a Christmas ornament. Glaedr refused.

- The whole party, now on board, convinced all the other eldunarí to be Christmas tree ornaments. Glaedr eventually caved and agreed to be the tree topper (the most prestigious position for the most important eldunarí, of course, they told him).

- They decided to name the holiday Gladmas in his honor.

- They came up with the (completely original) idea of a Gladmas icon- a man on the back of a beautiful glittering red dragon, who visits all the little children and leaves them presents. They came up with a plan to use all the eldunarí to power a hasten spell to get them around the world in one night. And they know just the perfect duo to pull this off! The only rider around with a red dragon who would fit the bill!

- So next session is going to be a side quest to convince Murtagh to become Santa Claus.

#eragon #inheritance cycle #murtagh #I don't even know man xD #it's so hilarious #and it's even FUNNIER that it would be a GENUINELY CATHARTIC EXPERIENCE FOR HIM #they are going to CURE MURTAGH'S NEW BOOK TRUAMA #by turning him into SANTA #only my friends man #dnd

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thenightling · 7 months

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Oh, no. It's real. I'm so worried they'll screw it up.

Gargoyles was one of my favorite shows when I was about twelve-years-old.

It was very subversive in how it educated you. You had these Gargoyles from medieval Scotland waking up in modern day New York City and deciding to protect the city as their new home. "Stone by day, warriors by night!" And not only was there an on-going story but there were characters from folklore and literature. The Weird Sisters, MacBeth, Oberon, Titania, Puck... You had to read Shakespeare, King Arthur, and folklore from around the world to understand who or what the characters were interacting with. It tricked kids into being interested in classic literature and I loved it. The show even created a literary / TV writing trope called the Xanatos Gambit. Named for the Gargoyles' main antagonist, David Xanatos (who later redeems himself, more or less) a Xanatos Gambit is when an antagonist has set up a scheme where no matter the outcome he wins on some level. Keith David had voiced Goliath (the main gargoyle) and the main human character was a human, woman detective who was half African and half Native American. And you know if this was made today people would call Elisa's very existence "Woke." My favorite character was the show's depiction of Puck. That was a plot twist I did not expect. To me the episodes The Gathering and The Gathering Part 2 was a big game changer. And they got Broadway icon, Terrence Mann (who I saw live in The Rocky Horror Show in 2001) as Oberon. I really hope this new live-action show is good but it could so easily be a disaster. Please, be good... This show was such a big part of my childhood.

#Disney #Gargoyles

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seraphinitegames · 1 year

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The Wayhaven Chronicles - Update 05/05/2023

It was a short week with the bank holiday Monday but still a good one!

Tuesday I spent on bug fixes and things for book three and getting those sent to Hosted Games, including getting the flipped moon icon sorted! :D The moons should now all be correct!

Then I was back to planning and managed to sort something with the antagonist that had been keeping me stuck!

The issue with them that I was talking about before is now working but in a different and waaay better way! Before it was good but now it’s not only working but fits to perfection!

And it was all thanks to a random comment Nai made as we were talking about Book Four! Something I’ve learned as a writer is you never know when something unexpected and random will trigger your imagination!

Next week is yet another bank holiday in the U.K. on Monday, but then it’ll be social media days. Finally get to write Adam/Ava’s pov scene for the Sin fight in Chapter 6 to finish off that set of Unseen Scenes for Patreon!

Then it’s back to planning at the end of the week which doesn’t make for overly exciting updates but is definitely the most important part of this whole process!

I’m thinking that working on the overall story first then looking at how all the other branches will slot in and work with the current story is how best to go at it.

Though there is one scene I know I am definitely doing for Tina’s branch that I’m already so eager to write :D

Hope you all have the most fantastic weekend! We’ll be offline as usual, and I'll update you all again next week <3

#the wayhaven chronicles #update #twc book 4

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meepispeepis · 3 months

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

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

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

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

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

The Hourglass, the Timelines, and Liu Kang

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Even more weird is this comment that Liu Kang makes:

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

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

Rain: You took Godhood from me?

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

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

Liu Kang: Pride has been your downfall in all timelines

Rain: Then why not change me in this one?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reimagining of the Hourglass & Shang Tsung

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#Mortal Kombat #Mortal Kombat 1 #MK1 #MK1 Shang Tsung #MK1 Liu Kang #Fire God Liu Kang #Shang Tsung #Liu Kang

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