#Mk has an interesting arc | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

The average Tumblr user visits about 67 pages every month.

#Mk has an interesting arc

ari-dark-raiden-simp · 2 months

Text

Welp we are so close to Dark Raiden Invasion season so it's probably my last "whining" post about Old Dark Raiden comeback probability so!

"You'll die by your own hand" vs "Some days, I wish I'd never left Fengjian" intro fits perfectly + Dark Raiden has full intro animation (with error in eyes since they are not glowing from the start)

Yet I notice that they "fixed" his eyes behind the scenes in newest patch also makes his texture better - they are not that plastic like before (Why would NRS fix such things if they will not use him for something more?)

Everyone gets a new "Dark" skin for Invasion yet only Raiden got reused one from MK11. A lot of people clearly say that Young Raiden IS NOT IT!!! (Please I'm not scared that we don't even have full render of Old Dark Raiden. NRS is doing everything last second right now so I will not be suprised that they tryhard now behind our backs to get everything done in April)

In the trailer we see TWO variants of Dark Raiden which is an interesting detail to me. I'm not convinced that we will get two skins for F R E E since NRS is company. I started to think that they can sell Old Dark Raiden as Premium skin during the invasion, since he needs his own voicelines done by mr Travis Willingham who voices old Raiden now (MONEY MONEY MONEY)

We can't forget about Mileena vs Dark Raiden short moment when he appears for the first time!!! Also in the final arc we see OLD Raiden who stands beside the rest of Dark Crew on top of the hill.

OLD DARK RAIDEN HAS THE REASONS TO BE A VILLIAN not like human Raiden (also please look at this pure baby Raitwink??? Nope) Old Dark Raiden DESERVES his arc after MK11 disappearance.

NOW IT'S THE BEST OPPORTUNITY TO DO THIS!!!

In the new update for MK Onslaught we get short cinematic where Elder Gods are getting destroyed before Raiden's and Shinnok's eyes. At the end they go together to continue the battle after ^ THOSE ^ words from the Thunder God. The easiest way to turn Raiden into Dark Raiden once again and merge the event around April together with Invasion season drop.

All of those details are part of my speculation (and unhealthy obsession with Dark Raiden himself) as a fan. Of course I will be the most happy human if we really get Old Dark Raiden as a separate skin and give him some justice. So please NRS don't let this opportunity die (don't be like Kitana in the gif, let the old man pass into the game for real :,D)

#raiden #dark raiden #mortal kombat #mk #mk1 #rant post #now we just wait I guess #maybe we will get some leaks or something idk #Im scared and excited

101 notes · View notes

itsabouttimex2 · 6 months

Note

ooo if your not busy maybe Mei or Azure a gn! Reader who’s a descendant of the lady bone demon but said friend tries to hide that fact from them

(Thank you for sending such an interesting request! I ended up liking this scenario so much that I wrote out a few characters for it!)

Descendant of the Lady Bone Demon: Part One

(Part One) (Part Two) (Part Three)

Maybe they should’ve seen this coming. Maybe there were a few warning signs they didn’t pick up on. Looking back on it now, it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? All those little things should’ve added up a long time ago.

The way the room grew silent and tense when you walked in, no matter how how exuberant it had been prior. How you manage to sneak up on everyone without even trying, as though you had no presence. The wide berth that strangers give you, even though they can’t explain why. That last one had been particularly strange for your friends. They hadn’t understood why people would treat you so coldly, not back then.

They understand now.

Mei Dragon thinks of you as one of her best friends, right alongside MK. Even in childhood were the two of you close, your company providing a brief break from her parents expectations and the crushing weight of living up to her family name. She grows up to think of you as a sibling, really. She’s a ride or die, rise to the challenge, thrill junkie sort of girl. And above all else, she’s fiercely loyal to her friends.

So Mei doesn’t believe a word that LBD has to say. She doesn’t care about destiny, about fate, about these so-called “invisible strings that guide us all through life”.

She lives her life as she pleases, doing what makes her and her friends happy! And she’s not gonna listen to a word that some wannabe world-destroyer has to say about it!

Until the Lady Bone Demon mentions you.

“Y/N bears my very own blood, thin though it has grown. In time, they will follow the very same path I have, to cleanse this world of pain and suffering.”

Now she’s listening. Her control over the Samadhi Fire slips, scorching a ring of death into the earth around her. The heat alone wilts the any flora that was spared outright combustion. “How…” The fire flickers, fizzles.

And then promptly reignites, blazing hotter than ever before. Immediately, the Lady Bone Demon cringes away from Mei’s sweltering power as oppressive heat waves bear down on her. She can only watch in fear and awe as the Samadhi Fire grows hotter and brighter, fueled by rage.

“How DARE you say that about my friend! Y/N would never do anything like that!” A blazing arc of black and red fire slices into the blue crystal formations created by the demon, melting them into sizzling puddles. Her anger builds with each lash of multicolored fire, reducing each and every spiked crystal around her to a mess of glowing goo.

That anger doesn’t fade even after the fight is over, not even after she gets to see the Lady Bone Demon shred apart and drift away. It’s cathartic to watch, but doesn’t make her any less angry about what she heard.

No, that anger only fades once she has you in her arms, hugging you as tightly to herself as possible. You don’t know about your lineage. No one else does either. Just Mei. Which leaves her with the worst dilemma of her life.

Does she tell you? Does she tell anyone?

She doesn’t want to be like Sun Wukong, hiding important information from even the people who would be affected by it the most. She was a victim of that, and it had hurt. She doesn’t want to hurt you. That’s the last thing she wants. But she also doesn’t want to cast any doubt on you, doesn’t want anyone to think you might end up a destructive foe that would one day need to be struck down.

The fear of losing you somehow outweighs the fear of you being angry at her for withholding information from you.

So she keeps quiet.

Mei rationalizes her silence on the matter by telling herself that she’ll tell you later. Yes, everything will work out, she’s sure of it! She’ll just… wait. Just a little bit. When everything calms down and everyone starts to move on from this disaster, she’ll speak up. Once everyone is in a better, happier mood, they’ll definitely be more receptive to the bad news, right? So she isn’t doing anything wrong. She isn’t acting like the Monkey King. She’s… just keeping you safe.

And she really hopes you won’t hate her for it.

———————————————————————

Tang has long pondered your place in this little group. It’s not that he doesn’t like having you here, nothing of the sort! Really, he sees you as family, the same way he sees everyone else in this ragtag group of misfits.

But you stick out like a sore thumb. Everyone else has a direct tie to the original pilgrims who once undertook a legendary journey to retrieve sacred texts.

Tang Sanzang for Tang. Zhu Baije for Pigsy. Sha Wujing for Sandy. Ao Lie for Mei. Sun Wukong for MK. Everyone had someone who their skills, appearance, or even personality harkened back to.

Everyone except for you. Tang had made several guesses before, wondering if there was someone you yourself were standing in the place of. But no one truly seems to fit. Rather than distancing himself from you over this disparity, he makes an effort to grow closer. “It must be lonely”, he reasons to himself, “being the odd man out.” He’s struggled with his own insecurities of being useless or weak, so he can relate to you on a personal level. After making that connection between the two of you, he starts to look out for you, trying to help guide you as you grow.

Tang probably sees himself as your father figure, just the way he sees himself as MK’s.

But, since you don’t have the support system that MK has, he tries to take a more involved role in your life. He’ll sit down with you to chat about any troubles or struggles you have, offering you a kind ear and a welcoming shoulder. And if you ever are struggling with something so bad that it breaks you down and leaves you in tears, he happily takes you into his arms and stays with you through the meltdown. If you fall asleep in his embrace after wearing yourself out, he enjoys it all the more.

He cherishes moments like that, actually.

Sure, he’s sympathetic to your feelings of loneliness and isolation. It’s true that he wants you to be happy. Sometimes he hates the world for hurting you the way it has.

But he loves that you trust him enough to break down in front of him, that you trust him to console and protect you in your weakest moments.

Even at a moment like this, where one of the greatest threats to humanity is bearing down on the two of you. For once, he doesn’t hide or cower. Not when your life is on the life. His golden shield encapsulates both of you, a fierce glare painting his face as he holds you close. You breath raggedly against his shoulder, barely able to support yourself. You had been wounded in the fight, nearly passing out after taking several blows for him and the others. Now, he holds you close, standing tall as you lean on him for support. He watches as the Lady Bone Demon throws attack after attack at the two of you, each blast of crystal and bone shattering and fading against his aureate shield.

The ancient demon glares down at him, a sneer curling her face. “You would fight your destiny? The great monk, Tang Sanzang-”

“I don’t care! Even if I am his reincarnation or his descendant… the choices I make are mine and mine alone! And I will always choose to protect my friends!”

“Even Y/N? Even the very one who bears my blood within them? Are you truly willing to risk saving them now, that they might follow my ways later?”

All the little pieces click into place for him. The mystery he had pondered the most was finally solved, and now he had to live with learning the answer.

“That- that doesn’t matter! Y/N is a person all their own, who will make their own decisions! And I trust them to stay by our side and fight for good! I won’t let you corrupt them!”

And he doesn’t. His resplendent barrier holds fast, shining brightly until all that is left of the demon has been scattered to the wind. He holds you gently, mustering the strength to carry you on his when everyone makes the trip back to Pigsy’s noodle shop. Someone like Sandy or Wukong would definitely better suited to the physical labor he was performing, but Tang couldn’t bear to separate himself from you yet.

Nor is he willing to let go once everyone has taken a seat. He props you up against himself, rubbing your back to keep you awake. “The kids eat first,” Pigsy says, carrying three hearty bowls of noodles. MK, then Mei, then you. Once all of you have your noodles, the chef goes back to the kitchen to start on another batch. Tang holds the bowl and the chopsticks, lifting the noodles to your mouth. Occasionally, he tips the bowl to your mouth so you can sip at the nourishing broth. On any other day, he would’ve swiped a few bites for himself while feeding you. Now, you’re all he can think of. He feeds you bite by bite, then guides you to lay your head in his lap once you’ve finished.

“Hey, Tang.” Pigsy peers down at him, another bowl of noodles in his hands. He passes it to Tang. “What was that demon lady saying to ya anyways?”

Tang looks down at you, watching your chest rise and fall, looking more at peace than ever before. He can’t tell you. Not here. Not now. Maybe not ever. But he and Pigsy can both keep secrets, and more than that, you’ll have two targets to split your anger between, keeping Tang from catching the brunt of it if you ever do find out. So he asks:

“Do you think you can keep a secret, Pigsy?”

Red Son

He doesn’t know why he likes you. By all means, you’re just another peasant, another mortal working at the same noodle store that his arch-rival is. But there’s something different about you. Maybe it’s the way you never seem to flinch or cringe or even cower. Maybe it’s the cool head you keep. Maybe it’s the wide-eyed awe you stare at his creations with.

Even after you had been kidnapped.

“I thinks that it was very clever of you,” you softly admit, not fighting against your bonds. “The way you used the tri-toothed 1x2 plates. I don’t see many people use those.”

He shouldn’t be happy to hear you say that. He should scoff and huff and strike down your praise like it’s meaningless drivel. But it’s not. Not to him. He’s been waiting to hear something like that for a long time, actually. Now, if it only it had been from the mouth of his father…

He shakes himself from those thoughts. “Not that a PEASANT like you could ever comprehend just how truly clever my work is! In fact, the legs of this machine are held in place by a truly unique-” “Technic angular wheel,” you finish for him. “It was a smart choice. I bet finding one that could evenly bear the weight of four legs at once wasn’t easy.”

No… no, it hadn’t been. In fact, it had been very hard to source that component. But here you were… acknowledging him. Praising him. Giving weight to his accomplishments by recognizing them. Somewhere deep inside, he’s a little touched to have his efforts commended.

Not that your kindness inspires him to release you. The only thing that frees you is MK and Mei coming in and storming through, knocking him over the head and escaping with you in their clutch.

Still, he doesn’t… hate you, at least. Or maybe, he just hates you less now. It’s a surprisingly good start.

A start that you continue to build off of throughout your repeated interactions, to his surprise. Your praise wasn’t just a one-time thing, wasn’t a way to get him to drop his guard. It had been genuine, entirely sincere. You had truly thought of him as clever, and you still do.

His schemes become less destructive, but more frequent. MK starts sending you out to deal with him, and most of your “skirmishes” end without any true damage. The two of you talk tech, and then he “tactically retreats” from the fight. Eventually, he drops the act, just swinging by the noodle store to talk with you about mechs or vehicles or rare components and where to find them at reasonable prices.

It’s a strange sight for everyone, the two of you amicably chatting. Sometimes someone will try to butt in, usually MK, who tries to keep up with your conversations to no avail. Other times it’ll be Pigsy, making sure that one of his employees isn’t being threatened or endangered. If one of his new mechs has a Journey to the West inspiration, Tang will happily chime in on it.

But most often, it’s only the two of you, happily talking as equals. Not enemies. Not rivals. Just… actual friends, somehow.

Even if it meant fighting to defend them, these are the sorts of moments he doesn’t want to lose. He wants to protect these cherished hours he spends with you, sharing noodles and blueprints in the middle of a crowded but welcoming restaurant.

Even if it meant fighting a foe he had no chance of defeating. All he has to do is buy a little bit of time. Just enough for MK and his ragtag team of idiots and peasants to smash this osseous demon into pieces. He glares up at her, his hair and hands exploding into flame. It’s a mere display, a small threat to keep her occupied. If she focuses on him, then she can’t hurt you.

Not that she’s trying.

“Foolish child. Do you really think I can’t understand the game that you’re trying to play? You would stand in the way of a peaceful world, all in the name of protecting the heir of your enemy?”

He falls to the ground, clutching his head in pain as she taps into his mind to deliver her next words.

“But a meager resistance cannot hope to undo destiny. I will find Y/N, and add their power to my own. That is their destiny, and I will see it fulfilled.”

“You- you won’t! I wont allow it, you… you PEASANT! You can’t hope to beat all of us! The Demon Bull Family, Sun Wukong and his successor, and the Six-Eared Macaque! All of us will stand against you! If we stand together, there is no threat that can overcome us!”

It’s a little funny, almost. Once, he would’ve scoffed and mocked another for saying such a thing. They sound silly on his tongue, cheesy and overblown. It’s something more suited to MK and his band of goons, speeches of friendship and overcoming adversities together. But it’s true.

And her defeat is testament to the strength that loves brings.

He thinks he loves you. You’re what he imagines having a little sibling is like. He wonders if you could love yourself, if you knew the truth of your heritage. Maybe you could. Maybe you’d fall apart and refuse to trust yourself ever again.

He chats idly with MK as you rest your head on his lap. It brings a strange peace to his heart. You look almost happy, in spite of the bruises and cuts. You look happy, which is proof that you didn’t hear a word that the Lady Bone Demon said about your blood ties.

He doesn’t want to rob you of that happiness so quickly, not when you fought and bled for it.

He absentmindedly strokes your head, thinking of how he’d roast anyone who might try to harm so much as a single hair on it. He can’t let anyone hurt you. Not even himself.

So he keeps quiet, and prays that all will turn out well.

#Platonic Yandere #Yandere LMK #Yandere Lego Monkie Kid #Yandere Mei #Mei Dragon #Yandere Tang #Mr. Tang #Yandere Red Son #Red Son #sorry it took so long #I put a lot of effort into this one!#Crystal Heir

152 notes · View notes

atlasofthestaars · 7 months

Text

[MK X READER] New Era - Chapter .006

first part | previous part | next part

NOTE: Not sure if the beginning needs any warnings and what to label it? But it is a little more dreary than the rest of the story has been previously, so take note of that.

Originally was going to be a bit of a faster paced chapter, but I started writing in like, the complete opposite way, and I kinda liked where it went so I just rolled with it. So it’s a little bit slower of a chapter this time, but I hope the fluff makes up for it since it has moments with the champion squad.

Hopefully, according to my plans, we should only have a few more chapters left in the pre-outworld arc? I think about chapter 11 is where we will hop back to it with the mini tournament for Earthrealm’s champion, but that estimate may change depending on the ideas I have. I just want to make sure we have plenty of time with all the Earthrealm men before we head back into more of the plot.

Looks like Shang Tsung is part of the official love interest line up! This actually quite heavily affects the story, so hopefully you all will be pleased by how it turns out when that part rolls around! Reiko did not make the cut, sorry to all those who wanted him! He will get screentime, but the reader will have a different type of dynamic with him due to this.

Also double whammy poll! While we have a lot of lovely men to fall for, someone asked about Kitana and Mileena! So here’s your time to let me know your thoughts on them! (Especially Mileena, because it WILL change whether I portray Mileena x Tanya in this fic or if Mileena is not with her so she can be romanceable).

I LIED I JUST REALIZED I CAN ONLY DO ONE POLL AT A TIME. KITANA WILL BE NEXT CHAPTER, THEN HAVIK WILL BE AFTER THAT.

FROM THE EYES OF ONE WHO HAS STRUGGLES RELAXING

Turns out, you struggle with forcing yourself to relax.

It was odd, you had been content before with a life of a simple routine. All you had to do before was train yourself and be at Liu Kang’s side as your duties, you could do whatever else you wished for the rest of the day. Most times that meant going on long walks and trying to decipher your memories.

It was a routine you settled on after many had decided you needed no further routine training, and after a certain incident. Of course, you pushed yourself to train with others occasionally nowadays, but you were a student no longer.

It was a routine most were happy you had, for before that simple routine, you had found yourself often run ragged. You often went from place to place, too ambitious to train, too ambitious to strive for more. In between those training sessions, you found yourself often running around doing too many tasks that others had given you upon your request. You sometimes skipped meals, and sometimes cut hours of sleep to try and cram everything into your schedule.

It wasn’t like no one noticed the way you were slowly ruining yourself, they did, you just ignored their concerns. You waved it off, saying you were fine. You found yourself saying that line to Liu Kang the most, who always seemed to want to stop you.

It got so bad even Bi-Han had to sit you down and scold you for how exhausted you had become.

“Fool, don’t you know you’re inconveniencing everyone else when you destroy yourself like this!?” He had told you, pinning you with a harsh glare. He had slammed his hands on the desk, ice spreading from his hands onto the desk from his frustration.

You had, of course, defended yourself in every which way back then. Who cares if you were tired? You had to get things done so others could relax. Why did he insinuate that you were a burden when clearly everyone else was benefitting from this? Those points and many more were tossed between you two, and that had caused a large argument between you two for a long time.

That grudge between you two carried for a while. You had been too stubborn to admit Bi-Han was right. How could you? That’d be admitting defeat.

And you loathed defeat.

Furthermore, that meant that you had to stop doing stuff for people. Certainly you could not stop your training, that would lead to you weakening. You had to get stronger! People were counting on you, and you had a feeling that you just had to get stronger, even without thinking of others. The tiny voice in your head was screaming that you had to.

And if you didn’t cut down on training, you had to stop doing tasks. And how could you tell someone that you couldn’t do something for them? The idea of the look of disappointment followed by a pitiful “it’s alright” scared you. You already promised so many people many things, you couldn’t just go around and tell them that you couldn’t all of a sudden.

You’d be a disappointment.

So you deluded yourself that you were doing the right thing, letting yourself get carried away. It was a harsh, dark part of your life. It was a part of your life you were not proud of. You pushed many people away. Kuai Liang, Tomas, Madam Bo, Master Kai…so many people that kept on telling you to end this foolish pursuit.

You didn’t listen.

You carried on with your destructive lifestyle, aiming to try and do anything and everything all at once. If you could do it all, everyone else would be happy, and that’s all you wanted. You lied often, saying that you were okay, and tried to cover it up with a weary smile

It wasn’t until you had collapsed during training and gone unconscious for nearly a day that Liu Kang stepped in.

“I have been a fool.” Liu Kang had murmured when you had awoken that day, You felt faint, nauseous, and so many things all at once. He had reached a hand to touch your forehead, eyebrows furrowed with worry. “I should have realized earlier that you had been running yourself into the ground, I should have trusted my own instincts and never let you go this far.”

“I’m fine.” You had insisted, trying to sit up. The god had to force you down, which was easy in your weakened state. He had instructed you to take a break until you were better. “How long?” You had asked, your voice hoarse as you asked desperately, feeling the grip of fear at the idea of becoming useless for the people that meant so much for you.

“As long as it takes.” Liu Kang replied, with a tone of finality. Back then, those words were like a death sentence. Nowadays, you realized it had been a blessing in disguise. You try not to think of how long those days felt, constantly being shadowed by one of the Lin Kuei brothers or even Madam Bo. It was painful to think of, some days. But then again, it wasn’t all bad.

After all, that’s the main reason you had gotten closer with all of them.

Kuai Liang had been helpful, giving you advice and being there at your aid any time you needed. He had been a good person to confide in, for he never shamed you for the worries you carried. He was a gentle flame, providing the warmth you did not know you needed in your life.

Tomas had been a welcoming presence, giving you laughs and joy in a situation where you struggled. He was much more playful than his brothers, and the dreary days were always made a bit bright with him around. He had been encouraging too in his own ways, telling you that being vulnerable was okay. You were okay.

The other two were a bit more harsh. Madam Bo had given you harsh lectures, but in a loving way. You could tell you had terrified her with your decline in health. Those days she had given you so much food you felt often full. You were happy though, her cooking really was the best. Eventually you had learned some cooking from her to pass the time.

You still had to learn how to perfect her recipes.

Bi-Han’s shadowing at first was easily the worst. Days that felt like were filled with tension, some days you felt like you could not breathe. Then, some other days it felt like you would rather be asleep with the rants he had given you, telling you on how you should have listened to him. Eventually, the frost around the situation melted, and the days went from tense and dreadful with him, to more comforting.

Eventually he became a person you learned the world through, as begrudging as it was, he answered your many questions. And when your questions ceased, the two of you could turn to occasional conversation, ones where you both were a little more open with each other, a bit more honest. Even the silences began to feel comforting.

Occasionally, Liu Kang would take over shadowing you. It wasn’t as common as the other four, but it happened often enough. At first, you were filled with guilt whenever you were around him. You had failed the fire god, but he had told you that you did no such thing.

“I have failed you, instead.”

It mystified you, but you chose not to question it. You weren’t certain what you’d do with the answers to the questions you had about that statement. You ended up developing most of your healthy habits with Liu Kang, falling into a simple routine. You ended up developing the habit of watching the sunrise with him during these times.

Days had blended into weeks, and weeks into months, and you slowly were allowed your responsibilities again. You had been allowed to train much earlier than your responsibilities so your body would not weaken, but the responsibilities felt much more significant.

Slowly, you were given room to breathe and develop your own routine. One that was…less rigorous, one that everyone agreed that was healthy and safe for you.

You guessed your inability to relax was still a remnant of the insatiable workaholic from back then. Your mind was filled once again with responsibilities, plans, and schedules. Training the champions, the tournament…so many big things to worry about.

You worried that you didn’t have time to do everything if you relaxed, and you knew how important these tasks that were ahead of you were.

It was almost instinct to dive into everything, try to take the burden of everyone and force it upon yourself.

You were really trying though, to relax. You couldn’t bear to see the concerned looks on their faces again.

“You know, you’re doing an awful job at taking a break.” Johnny pointed out as he pulled up next to you, snapping you out of your reverie. You watched with curiosity as he pulled out his phone. You had vague memories of technology from what you presumed to be your past life, but you haven’t really used it in this life.

“I’m just watching, is that so wrong?” You inquired, trying and failing to fend off the defensive side that tried to come out. You sent him a raised eyebrow, looking at him. He sent you the sassiest look, peering at you.

“No.” He said, shrugging as he returned his attention back to his phone. “But I can see that calculating look in your eye, teach.” Johnny said, tapping the side of his head with his two fingers. “You’re not just idly watching, you’re thinking. That’s the same look my directors get when they’re reviewing a scene, and trust me, that’s anything but relaxing.”

You huffed, crossing your arms. As much as others thought otherwise, Johnny Cage was smart and observant.

“Plus, when people usually say they’re taking a break they’re usually off doing their, like, hobbies or something.” Johnny continued, pausing for a moment before looking back at you. “You do have hobbies right?”

“I refuse to elaborate.” You said after a few moments of contemplation. You really couldn’t think of anything that was a hobby of yours. Sure, you liked to cook, but that wasn’t a hobby you found yourself doing all too often outside of meal times.

The only other thing you could think of that you did often was try and make sense of your memories. And that was something you could do for hours on end. But it was all too confusing, and it gave you a major headache. Aside from the fact that you didn’t exactly want to think of those memories right now, you had a feeling that also didn’t count as relaxing.

So your next best bet at doing something to relax was watching the students of the Wu Shi academy train.

Were you really that boring?

“You…don’t have hobbies?” Johnny asked, pulling a face that made you frown. “No wonder you’re struggling to relax.” He said, scratching the back of his neck. You had an urge to defend yourself, but you averted your eyes instead, knowing that trying to defend yourself was fruitless. You really didn’t have anything to defend yourself with in the first place.

“Living a life like mine leaves little time for hobbies.” You said, which was partially a lie. You had time, and lots of it before you were entrusted with training the four of them. So you certainly could have picked up some hobbies.

But you never knew what to do. There weren’t many people in the Fire Temple who had hobbies you could indulge in, and it wasn’t like you were too close with them either. And, oddly enough, you were a bit embarrassed to ask the Lin Kuei brothers for any ideas on hobbies.

Plus, it was annoying trekking through the snow just to ask for something small like that.

“Okay, so hobbies are out of the question, got it.” Johnny said, before humming and looking up, contemplating over things. “Don’t you have anything else to do, like reading, or watching movies?” He suggested.

“I’ve read all the books they have in the Fire Temple, they’re pretty boring and not worth a reread.” You said, sighing as you remembered the lack of interesting literature. You’ve thought about asking Liu Kang for the chance to get better reading material, but you didn’t want to sound…rude. “And I’ve never watched a movie.”

That wasn’t totally true, you’ve probably watched a movie in your past life, but you’ve never done that in this life.

“You’ve never…what?” Johnny Cage said, seeming to be caught off guard by the confession. You’ve never seen such a look on his face before, one that was both shocked and almost…offended? You supposed it only made sense that he out of everyone reacted this way. Acting was his lifeblood. “You’re kidding me.”

“I’m not.” You said, raising your hands up trying to show no offense. You couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at the look Johnny was sending you. He was so,,,expressive. It was really entertaining. Is that why people liked watching him so much?

“We’ve got to right that wrong immediately.” Johnny said, a determined look on his face. He shoved his phone into his pocket. “We’re going to have a movie marathon. You get to relax and see a bunch of great movies, win-win.” The actor declared.

“A bunch of great movies, huh?” Kenshi said, approaching the two of you as he sheathed his sword. He looked between the two of you, sending a pointed look towards Johnny Cage. “I’m guessing you’re going to try and show our instructor a bunch of your movies, Cage?”

“You know it, tattoo.” Johnny confirmed with a self confident smirk. You nodded towards Kenshi, who acknowledged it back with a nod of his own. “Don’t look so prissy, you and the farmer boys are invited too if you want.” You glanced towards Kenshi, raising an eyebrow out of curiosity.

“That doesn’t sound so bad.” Kenshi conceded, much to your surprise. “I get to help pick the movies, though. We’re not watching a marathon of the Ninja Priest movies, they’re all the same.” You watched as Johnny groaned, clearly disagreeing with the swordsman.

“Whatever, you just have bad taste.” The actor huffed, rolling his eyes. He took out a paper and pen from gods knew where, and tossed it towards Kenshi who sent him a puzzled look. “Go design whatever list you want, just know I’ll be blaming you if teach over here,” He gestured towards you, “thinks movies suck.” He stretched before pointing his thumb away from the courtyard. “Now I gotta bounce, gotta make arrangements to make this whole shebang work.” He turned towards you. “You go figure out how to relax, or whatever, meet here tomorrow night.”

And without much more explanation, the actor jogged off, leaving both you and Kenshi behind.

“What did I just get myself into?”

“I’m surprised you’ve never seen a movie.” Raiden commented after he and Kung Lao met you at the entrance of the Wu Shi academy. He and Kung Lao walked beside you as you traversed down the hall, dressed in more casual clothes as opposed to the uniforms they usually wore. With amusement, you noticed how they were not wearing the hats for once. The clothes they wore reminded you of the clothes they donned during the exams.

“In the Fire Temple, we don’t have much, if any, technology.” You explained, not elaborating much further. After all, it’d be hard to explain the whole ‘you might have watched one in a past life, but you barely remembered anything about it’ ordeal. “Johnny seemed very offended that I’ve never watched one, it was a sight to behold.”

“It makes sense, that is what he is known for.” Kung Lao pointed out, shrugging.

“Have either of you seen Johnny Cage’s works?” You inquired, looking between the Fengjian men. You were a bit surprised that they knew about movies, knowing that they both hailed from a simple village. Then again, you supposed you were being hasty in assuming their area was as technology deprived as the Fire Temple was.

“A few.” Kung Lao answered, thinking a bit before grinning. “Their techniques were totally wrong, but they sure do know how to make something entertaining.” He admitted before cockily laughing and pressing a hand to his chest. “Of course, I think if I were there to help them, they would be much better.”

“I saw a few as well.” Raiden piped up, smiling towards you. “They were flashy, and like Kung Lao said, very inaccurate, but I actually enjoyed watching them.” He put on a thoughtful look. “I think you’ll like them too, as long as you look past the technicalities.”

“I hope so too.” You said, humming. “Otherwise this would be a rather bad introduction to movies.” You joked, knowing that you could probably look past the most egregious techniques. All you wanted was a chance to relax, and you hoped to the gods that this was going to work.

“Fret not, teach, I made sure to look through Ken-bro’s list.” Johnny said as he turned the corner, a grand grin on his face. “He chose a few decent ones, but I made sure to add the best of my works in there too.” In his arms he held a large of what you believed to be popcorn. You inhaled, and you felt a bit nostalgic for a reason you weren’t quite sure.

“I tried to keep the list decent, so don’t blame me if Cage ruined it.” Kenshi quipped as he also rounded the corner, holding another big bowl of popcorn. You looked between them, noting how this was the first time you’ve seen both Johnny and Kenshi were something more casual. It wasn’t too bad of a look.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” You said, grinning as you crossed your arms. The actor led all of you to a room you knew had not been previously used much. “You’ve all brought up my expectations, are films really that good?”

“Oh trust me, films can get good, especially action films I’ve been in.” Johnny cackled, and you stifled a laugh as you noticed how the group had all collectively rolled their eyes. He opened the door for you all. You marveled at the projector that had been set up, along with a basic couch that seemed big enough for you all to lounge on, more or less. “Hollywood magic will astound you, trust me.”

“I’m already astounded by all of this.” You admit, walking over to the projector. Seeing technology sent a wave of nostalgia through you, and you smiled. Something about this all brought a hazy vision of you and Johnny sitting in a room doing something similar to this, but there had been four other younger people with you instead.

How odd.

“Where did you get all of this?” Raiden asked, looking at the set up of the room. “I don’t think the monks normally have any of this stuff,” He observed as he made his way to the couch. “Well, maybe the couch makes sense.” He said, before sitting on it carefully.

“It’s a secret, my friend.” The actor replied, and you all sent him a look. He groaned and sighed. “You’re all no fun. I asked the big boss, Lord Liu Kang.” He said, shrugging as he also took his place on the couch, on the other end of the couch. “I explained how our instructor was struggling to relax and how I pitched a movie night to you. He seemed pleased by the idea, and was willing to give me all of this stuff.”

You were surprised. Liu Kang was the one who helped Johnny out? The idea of it made you feel warm.

“Lord Liu Kang did all of this?” Kung Lao echoed your thoughts, nodding slowly as he looked around. He put on a face that told you he seemed to approve, and plopped down right next to Raiden. You found yourself not knowing where to sit, before Kenshi stepped beside you and tilted his head to indicate the spot where you should go.

Right between where he would go and Johnny Cage.

You supposed that wasn’t too bad.

Taking the advice, you walked over to the spot he suggested and sat yourself carefully, making sure to leave room for Kenshi, while making sure you didn’t intrude on Johnny’s.

“Popcorn?” Johnny offered, holding the bowl out to you. As he did so, you noticed as he turned on the movie, it starting the movie which seemed to be labeled “Ninja Mime”. Shrugging, you took a small handful, popping the food into your mouth.

This was going to be interesting, wasn’t it?

“Wow, that was…amazing.”

“See! I told you, Hollywood magic.” Johnny Cage said, a satisfied smirk on his lips as he looked over to you. You rolled your eyes but nodded, conceding to the fact that you had honestly enjoyed seeing the film. It was goofy, wacky, and just the thing you needed.

“If you think that’s good, you should watch other types of movies.” Kung Lao piped up, before shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth. He had stolen the bowl from Kenshi shortly after the movie started, taking most of the buttery goodness for himself. You watched with silent amusement as Raiden sneakily stole a handful. “Comedies, romances, there’s more than just Johnny’s actions.”

“Why would anyone need to watch anything but my movies?” Johnny bragged, earning silence and stares from the group, mostly from Kenshi. He rolled his eyes. “Whatever, but other types of movies are for another night.” He said, waving off the silent complaints.

“We’ll have another night?” You inquired, peering at the actor with a curious look. He grinned and shrugged.

“As long as you let us, teach.” The American said, before gesturing to the projector. “First, we gotta go through the list we made first.” You watched as Johnny got up to set up the next movie. Kenshi leaned over, looking at you with a small smile.

“The next movie is going to be better, trust me.” The swordsman told you, a slight tone of playfulness in his voice. “I made sure to also introduce you to some of Cage’s better works.” You raised an eyebrow, surprised at the fact that the man was even a fan of Johnny’s works in the first place.

“I’ll be sure to hold my expectations high then.” You replied back. sending the man a small smile as you took yet another handful of popcorn. It was almost addicting to eat alongside the movie. “How many movies are we watching?” You asked, suddenly aware of the time that had passed as you spied the clock that hung on the wall.

An hour and a half passed? That movie felt like mere minutes!

“I believe we’re watching two more, including the next one.” Raiden informed you, leaning forward to look at you. “Johnny wanted to do a bigger marathon, but Kenshi and I advocated that we only do three since you haven’t watched many and we weren’t sure if you would like them all.”

“Next time, let Raiden and I pick some movies, too.” Kung Lao also mentioned, looking back to the actor who had just finished swapping the movies.

“As long as your choices don’t suck.” Johnny said before plopping down next to you. He spread out, his thigh touching yours, but you didn’t quite mind. “Alright, buckle up, time to start the next one.”

That night was the first time in a long time you remembered drifting off to sleep on accident.

You felt something shift, and you were pulled out of the arms of sleep. Yawning, you covered your mouth as you looked around. The projector was running the last bits of a movie you had no recollection of. You blinked as you also registered how you were leaning on someone.

Looking up, you were surprised to see Kenshi sleeping peacefully, allowing you to have rest on him. Or had he fallen asleep first? Your memory was hazy. Either way, you felt oddly embarrassed that you had fallen asleep during the event the men had created for you, but also grateful they had let you rest. You leaned forward, and you saw Kung Lao and Raiden who had also fallen asleep.

Oddly enough, Johnny was nowhere to be seen.

Carefully moving so you did not disturb the sleeping men, you stood up, trying to catch your bearings. You looked up, noting the clock you had seen earlier.

It was an hour before sunrise.

You stretched, letting out another yawn before you looked around once more. The popcorn bowls were gone, and the room seemed generally clean. You walked towards the door of the room, before it swung open to reveal Johnny Cage.

In his arms were blankets and some pillows. You blinked in surprise, and so did he before he let out a small chuckle.

“Finally woke up?” He asked, a slight teasing tone in his voice. “You know, you fell asleep during the best one.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.” You apologized, crossing your arms as you tried to cover up your embarrassment. It was odd, this type of thing never happened. It was weird to have slept so easily, and on accident. “I usually don’t fall asleep that easily, it’s odd.”

“Nah, I’m just kidding. You actually stayed up to watch all of the movies we had planned, then you knocked out.” The actor informed you as he walked over to set down the blankets on the couch. “We just decided to make a bet of who could stay up the longest, and I won.” The man bragged smugly, “I was just getting some blankets and pillows for you, actually.” He explained, gesturing to the items he brought. “But judging how you’re awake now, you don’t need them.”

“I thank you for the pillows and blankets, but you’re right, I don’t need them now.” You said, chuckling. “I’ll be going back to the Fire Temple.” You informed him. You gestured to the others. “What about them?”

“Eh, I’ll just wake them up and send them back to their rooms.” Johnny said, shrugging. “So, what’d you think of movies? Still amazing, right?” He asked, confidence dripping from his tone. And while you were tempted to lie to knock down his ego, you knew better than that.

“They were all lovely.” You admitted, and paused for a few moments, staring at the projection as the credits scrolled by. “Thank you, Johnny. I really needed this.” You told him, a tone of sincerity in your voice. You were really grateful. “It was fun.”

“Anytime, wildstyle.” The actor brushed off your thanks with a wide grin. You raised an eyebrow at the new nickname, thinking it was probably linked to your shapeshifting powers. He had such an interesting imagination. “Just remember this when I talk to you next time about acting, yeah?”

“I will.” You promised. You looked back at the sleeping men for another moment, taking note to thank them for also helping to make this wonderful night happen next time you saw them. “Goodnight, Johnny.” You said as you exited the room, and you heard with simple satisfaction as Johnny bid you goodnight too.

Obnoxious as the actor could be sometimes, he had an honest heart. You understood a bit more why Johnny was chosen to be a champion. You’d have to repay his kindness.

The air was crisp and cool, and as you made your way to the Fire Temple, you could not help but think back to the movies you had seen. What entertaining bits of work! You chuckled to yourself as you mentally commended Johnny on his acting too.

You’d never let him know that you actually thought he was an excellent actor, though.

As you crossed the bridge to the Fire Temple, you blinked in surprise as you saw Liu Kang idly waiting by, seeming to have expected you. You walked towards him, a bit uncertain whether he needed you urgently or not.

“How was your movie night?” The fire god asked, after greeting you with your name. You smiled. Ah, he was just curious about how it went. You went on to ramble about the movies you had seen, talking for a while about them and your newfound fascination with them. Liu Kang listened diligently, a warm smile on his face as he nodded and acknowledged your words. “I’m glad to hear it went well.”

Liu Kang was a good listener.

“Yeah, I think I really needed it.” You admitted, looking up to the sky which was losing its dark color, the beginnings of the sunrise appearing. You two stayed there in silence, basking in the comfortable atmosphere. “Thank you, by the way. I heard from Johnny that you helped get everything for him.”

“It’s no issue.” The protector of Earthrealm told you warmly, looking at you with fondness. “I would do anything for you.”

The way Liu Kang said those words, there felt like there was a hint of something else within his words that made you feel warm, much like the fire he wielded.

“Thank you.” You said, not knowing how to follow up his heartfelt words. You looked up to the sky for a few more moments, before sighing. You felt oddly tired. “I’m going to go and sleep in today, I think.” You told the god, who simply nodded in return. He seemed to approve of your decision, if the smile on his face indicated anything. “Goodnight, Liu Kang.”

“Goodnight. Sleep well.”

part seven

334 notes · View notes

androgynoussublimeangel · 11 months

Text

One of the biggest bummers for me with Monkie Kid fandom is the unequal idealization of Wukong and villianization of Macaque. I think it downplays the incredibly deep and interesting dynamic that comes from people who have hurt each other but are learning and growing as individuals coming back into orbit of each other and relearning who they are to each other.

It also goes to say that while Lego Monkie Kid is derived from JTTW it can definitely stand on its own considering what they've modified or adapted to work better with what they were aiming for.

Objectively when the series begins Wukong is a better person but he wasn't when his life was more intertwined with Macaque.

In fact they're both pretty bad at the begining. And often even enabled each other to be worse.

Wukong made lots of rash decisions that even if he claims was for "us" was often motivated by selfish ideals for glory pushed by the brotherhood as he disregarded Macaques opinions and worries.

Whereas Macaque has always been focused on perceived slights, essentially victimizing himself more than he actually is and using this to justify his harmful behaviors. He often prods when he should be understanding or aloof when he should be sympathetic. He's quick to lash out because he's always on the defensive.

They both have done things wrong but I'm tired of the fandom always siding with Wukong when the idea is that they're BOTH in the wrong in different ways and most of the turmoil in their relationships stems from simple miscommunications that are escalated by the fact that neither had really faced their past (until season 4 obviously)

And most of the animosity they feel towards each other is leftover from a close relationship now in shambles and being forced back together in order to survive.

(Some people irl can't even handle being in the same room in a cordial setting with someone they aren't friends with anymore. Like come on not crazy that they both instinctivly become defensive. Not to mention we see that they often teased and bickered playfully so not odd to fall back into the pattern just with more animosity. )

We've been following Macaques slow redemption, his willingness to fight LBD despite not knowing if they'd succeed and could result in them all being destroyed. As well as his misguided attempts to mentor MK in his own emotional stunted way.

And Wukong himself has made his own major mistakes as a mentor as well that's like the entirety of the 3rd season but again he's had more character growth thus admitting his wrongs and reflecting on them comes much easier to him, out of the two Wukong is currently the more emotionally intelligent as odd as that sounds. He's more willing to face the reality of his actions than Macaque is but this aligns with their character types. Wukong often being blunt, straightforward and headstrong compared to Macaque who is hesitant and holds his cards close to his chest quick to hide his true intentions behind attitude and misdirection. Along with this Wukong is predictably bitter when trapped under the mountain especially when Macaque escaped the consequences which once again plays into his self-serving attitude but at the same time Macaque had always been hesitant about crossing the Jade Emperor and warned Wukong that in classic Wukong fashion, he wasn't thinking it through and considering the consequences.

(Side note I find it incredibly odd for people to not consider all of elements on both Wukongs and Macaques separate experiences. As well as the odd skew on Macaques motives during the Samadi fire arc, since his resurrection his one goal has been to escape and protect his second chance at life, stealing Wukongs power from MK is a measure to protect himself and its easier to trick MK than Wukong (this isnt to say its justified, hurting MK was wrong plain and simple because again Macaque is heavily flawed as well and hasn't had the time or guidance Wukong did to reflect and change cuz he was ya know, dead (but his death is another interesting conversation when considering the context of the original vs LMK which might play it off in a different way or have to avoid it altogether due to rating issues)and when he is forced to work with LBD once again his life is on the line, that's called coercion. AND he still fights a possessed Wukong at MK behest, despite the likely traumatic fear that would be triggered by fighting Wukong again and that LBD might not stop a possessed Wukong from killing him again. Doesn't mean what he did was right but if you consider from his perspective along with the fact that he died before he got to have his own "journey to the west" or journey of growth and self-reflection. We're seeing the Macaque that Wukong killed all those years ago. It makes understanding his motives a little easier.)

#lego monkie kid #lmk #lmk macaque #six eared macaque #wukong #sun wukong

152 notes · View notes

digitaldoeslmk · 6 months

Note

I find it interesting that MK basically has to learn the opposite lesson his mentor did when it comes to violence. from what I understand swk slowly learned that not all conflicts had to be solved with bloodshed. and MK has to find peace with the fact that not all conflicts can be solved peacefully. People minds can't always be changed, not every villain is broken/misunderstood/misguided, and sometimes people are just pure evil. its no wonder his mental health is unstable, and i'm sure swk isn't thrilled seeing this sweet kid have to struggle so much with it.

yes!!!! yes you got it!!!!! :D

on a deep level too, JTTW has a running theme that the more violent one's response to a crime, the more violent is the reprisal for that response if it fails. the whole arc of the Havoc in Heaven is about a monkey and yaoguai warlord being thrown into an environment he wasn't equipped or prepared to handle the expectations of, and that punishing him instead of properly preparing him for his role has consequences. also you can interpret it in a symbolic way: as Wukong is the Mind Monkey, the restless and unrestrained human mind, you can't punish yourself into becoming better, you must stop, learn, and understand your situation before moving forward. otherwise what you get is just, a mess spiritually and mentally.

meanwhile, MK was brought up in a very loving and understanding environment. yes, the show portrays his friends and family (Pigsy and Tang are his dads, you cannot change my mind) as far from perfect, but they are altogether a circle that loves and supports each other even through their mistakes, and it's their flaws that makes them stronger. however, in esoteric Buddhism there's the concept of a ruthless compassion, in that sometimes you need a heavy hand to stir people towards the right path; in this article my friend JTTWR shares how even Wukong's golden fillet is a display of that concept.

and yes, an understanding and kind approach can take you very far; in my au, MK manages to befriend and help turn around most of the enemies he encounters, not unlike the show! but sometimes, that's not enough, and sometimes, it only makes things worse and drags you down with them. sometimes, violence is a valid and even necessary answer for the good of the majority.

as for Wukong... as a bodhisattva, he knows that suffering is necessary for learning and that he can't shield MK from everything. one must face adversity to learn to overcome it. but as a grandpa himself, he's not keen on the suffering of beings, much less those close to him. he can offer an ear to MK's vents, a shoulder to cry on, a hug, a joke, a few matches of games to take his mind off things. MK needs to learn these harsh lessons, but Wukong's not letting him do it by himself.

#lmk au #by the book au

56 notes · View notes

moonlessdusk · 3 months

Note

oh how i've missed your mkulia analysis. i love ur interpretation of mkulia, ur brain is so huge i was wondering if there is to be a season three, how would you personally want MKulia to happen if they were gonna be canon? and how would you want them to be handled? i feel you can go a lot of ways with it julia discovering she likes women arc, mkulia being one-sided/angsty mkulia, another character setting up mkulia, plain fluffy mkulia are a few i can think about! but idk what would hit the nail and/or work best for everyone

Thank you for indulging me anon, I’m pecking you on the forehead like a kitten ❤️

I think I kinda wanna start with what I hope the writers don’t do if they plan to make Mkulia canon. It’s sorta a blanket statement but I don’t want MK and Julia to get flanderized. TD’s writing has this issue where as soon as a couple becomes canon, the characters personalities are just reduced to the context of the relationship. I’ve griped before about Priya’s capabilities getting neutered this season for Priyaleb, Axel’s character development got derailed over Ripaxel, and Emma doesn’t get to be a character outside of Chase and twice now got eliminated right after him. Tbh the writing feels misogynistic in that sense, which might be why Rajbow has avoided this pitfall and Mkulia might avoid it too, being a wlw ship.

I hope Mkulia doesn’t just become a complete fluff ship because I’d also count that as flanderization. I still want MK to rib and annoy Julia but also have moments where she’s enthusiastically praising her, with occasional moments where she’s the serious one. Julia still needs have this 75-25 split of being the so called “straight man” to MK’s outrageous side vs just being being silly/flustered. This balance is what makes them enjoyable to watch.

I also don’t want MK to suddenly be flustered, I think she should stay the more foreword, self assured one. I just think Julia staying as the one more easily flustered and and self conscious one is more interesting for her character. Being worried about how MK perceives her is really the only context we see Julia feel vulnerable because otherwise she has such a good social and physical game in the competition that she’s never really anxious in a way she feels like she can’t take control.

I don’t think I really have a preference for how the show can set up the ship, they really can just do anything to establish it. If they don’t want to rehash the plot line of a character (almost certainly Julia in this case) realizing their sexuality, they really could just write Mkulia as casually getting closer (more touchy and having deeper conversations). It’s not like a point of conflict or anything, just passively happening. Maybe the other characters notice and it gives them sympathy points that help them dodge elimination because literally everyone else here votes based on who annoyed them that day or failed the challenge he hard enough as opposed to actually voting strategically.

However, season 2 was just full of rehashed plot lines so there’s a decent chance they’d do the discovering their sexuality thing again, which I’m not opposed to. I feel like they’d have to establish early that MK’s a lesbian though. I don’t know, maybe when Chris and Chef are explaining an unpleasant part of the first challenge MK makes a salty quip like “Ugh, sounds like my ex-girlfriend,”. Cut to Julia making a confessional where she looks flustered and says “Her what?”. Cut back to Bowie saying “Your what?” and MK rhetorically asks if she stuttered. Cut to an MK confessional where she shrugs and says something to the effect of she didn’t have a reason to bring up her sexuality earlier.

I think that Julia could periodically have confessionals where she shifts from defending herself with comphet (even if for clout), to denying she could be attracted to MK’s supposedly annoying traits, to a more pragmatic she can’t have a crush on her alliance partner because it would mess with her game, then finally lands on she can’t have a crush on her only real friend and risk ruining what they have if MK doesn’t feel the same.

Maybe further deterring Julia from saying anything is MK revealing that she’s actually had many short relationships that she cut off because she felt held back by them, she does pride herself on being honest and cold hearted, after all. But the piece of info MK omits is that she felt held back because her exes had an “I can fix her” mentality, whereas Julia loves MK’s sneaky and underhanded tendencies. I think it would be entertaining if MK catches on to Julia’s crush early and thinks it’d be hilarious to act oblivious while playing in to it until Julia makes a move.

I’m not going to get in to my specific hopes for season 3 story beats or what I’d realistically expect, but I’d like to see a midpoint merge Bowie/Julia double elimination where they really screwed over each other and MK and Raj go to see them off. Bowie has a quip about how it’s almost cute that his boyfriend and her girlfriend are both there. Julia is flustered but MK leans in to it because it’s funny, which gives Raj and Bowie a chance to say their goodbye.

This then leaves us with the MK vs. Raj, the wlw on mlm hostility feud I know a lot of use wanted. In this situation, Priya and Caleb are eliminated already so no one could oppose MK by association with Julia. Nichelle and Damien could still be floating around but I don’t think they would feel as threatened by MK. Wayne is gone too so Raj doesn’t have a morality pet. I’d like to see MK have moments where she goes “what would Julia do” and angst about not having her to lean on. Realistically it’s because MK’s social game sucks but it can have gay undertones. Then we get to the finale where both the gays lose, in actuality it’s because of Raj’s proximity to a winner and former runner up, and MK can’t win because she’s an antagonist and her proximity to a runner up. Maybe MK can get a kiss from Julia and promise of a date as a consolation prize. Idk if that’s verging into fanfiction territory but this more subtle approach is how I realistically think they’d write it if its not the main romance of the season.

A completely out there way they could write it is make them the first two boots. Cut the monologue every contestant has during their walk of shame. Instead have 30-60 second bonus clips like the ones from world tour but it’s framed as Julia and MK live-blogging the arrival of the next loser. But! It’s in the “Get Over Yourself” format where they’re mostly talking about themselves and we get just a couple lines from the eliminated contestant. Throughout the clips we can get a sense of their relationship progressing to romance.

On one hand, I think having a bunch of bonus clips with these two would be fun, on the other it would sort of suck to delegate them to this until the finale. But also I could hypothetically see it happening if network executives think featuring two gay couples in the show proper is too much to ask.

I guess what I really hope is that Mkulia just gets developed in some way at all. I’d hate for season 3 to start off by telling us they got together off screen, that would kill so much of the excitement over them being canon. I’d also hate for the relationship to be developed just to regress back to them disliking each other. TD’s writing has so many examples of taking a character or relationship (romantic or platonic), then getting to a point where they don’t know what to do with it anymore and go “fuck you for being invested” and ruin it.

I have hope though because if they could maintain Rajbow between seasons while writing season 2 without any fan input, I think they can do it with Mkulia. The writers have to be well aware by now that Mkulia is right next to Rajbow for most beloved ship of this cast so assuming there’s no network meddling, I expect season 3 Mkulia to be made canon and handled with care.

#total drama spoilers #total drama reboot #total drama 2023 #mkulia #td julia #td mk #total drama julia #total drama mk

49 notes · View notes

theenbynightingale · 4 months

Text

My thoughts on TDI '23 Season 2

I'm just gonna make one big post about it because I wanna get all of this out of my system so I can focus on other things.

Okay, let me get my verdict out of the way. This season was... fine. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad. It's probably the most middle of the road season, IMO. My now former friend told me that he thought this was shaping up to be one of the best seasons when half the episodes were out. I didn't wanna label it yet because I didn't agree but I wanted to see them stick the landing. They didn't. So while I don't agree that the season went downhill, I agree that its ending wasn't very strong.

Okay, good stuff! MK and Julia friendship (and MKulia nation thriving). Loved that. I kept worried that they'd drop the ball but they never really did. They were a lot of fun and it was great seeing these two characters who outright rejected the idea of making friends grow close.

Nichelle getting better at the physical activities while not actually understanding that she had to have a social life on the island and therefore, not actually knowing how to play the game was funny.

Wayne and Raj. They're always great.

Less fart jokes. Though, it seemed like they were just saving it for the memory episode.

Owen and MacArthur cameos!

Bowie's inner conflict. I think that was a nice arc for him, especially after constantly playing dirty last season. It made sense and wasn't out of nowhere.

Zee being Zee. We love Zee. I wish we saw more of his pet raccoon.

A lot of the challenges were creative (Starting off with a Squid Game parody is very Total Drama) and a lot of the jokes were funny.

Okay, so... I can't talk too much about stuff I like without immediately following it up with "and then it kept going and it got old" so... let's get into that.

Usually, in TD, there's the writing hurdle of what to do with characters after they hook up. Usually, one of the characters leave the episode they hook up or the episode after. I admire this season for trying to break away from this formula but I think they just proved why the formula exists. Because if you keep the story going after they get together, you run the risk of it getting old. And it got old. Twice.

Ripaxel was funny... and then it got old. And gross. And then it was funny again. And then it got much worse and then they left. And then you wonder what the point of that was.

But then there's Caleb and Priya. I actually liked the story between them. And then it kept going. The moment in the memory challenge where they made up? That should have been it. The story should have been over and, as much as I love Priya, that's where she should have left. We didn't need to follow it up with another misunderstanding between them. Their story was run into the ground and it just wasn't worth caring about anymore.

There's a problem throughout the season that was evident when the very first episode leaked. After a whole season, it's revealed that Millie still doesn't listen to Priya. This is an example of the season's biggest problem: rehashing the last season.

Millie has to face the consequences of betraying her friends, breaking their trust and not putting forth a lot of effort in a challenge... again.

Zee gets eliminated because the campers somehow believed letting him in on a secret was a good idea... again.

Damien accidentally screws himself over... again.

Emma seemingly has an interesting story set up, only for it to be dropped as soon as it gets somewhere... again.

Priya grows close to someone only to reveal that they had less-than-flattering thoughts about her, only for that someone to realize how much they care about her, only for Priya to find out about the earlier stuff and a rift is formed between them... again.

Once MK is gone, Julia is the main villain... again.

So yeah. Not a bad season because nothing really upset me. I'd take it over All-Stars or PI (maybe even Action but idk). It had a lot of good stuff. But some of the good stuff either deescalated into a rehash of last season or was dragged out to the point where you stopped getting invested.

I liked Julia's hair. Mullets are terrible but she pulled it off. I'm serious. She's rocking it.

tl;dr Owen didn't age because he was never really stressed. He was the happiest of all the campers so that's why he still looks 16.

#total drama island #tdi 2023 #td caleb #td axel #td nichelle #td scary girl #td damien #td mk #td wayne #td raj #td ripp #td zee #td chase #td emma #td julia #td millie #td bowie #td priya

28 notes · View notes

hughjidiot · 5 months

Text

Total Drama Island Reboot Season Two: Episodes 2, 3 and 4

Okay wow, was not expecting three new episodes at once. Again I am baffled by both the local and international release schedules. But I'm continuing to watch and enjoy this reboot, here are my rough impressions of all the characters in all three episodes. Spoilers below the cut, obviously.

Chase is out second. Pretty obvious boot with how he behaved in the challenge, but that's just how TDI is sometimes. Glad he went early if I'm being honest since his whole subplot with Emma had run its course and there wasn't much more to get out of Chase. Speaking of which though...

Emma was out fourth, which kind of surprised me. I thought she might get an arc of finally forgetting about Chase and moving on, but then she goes and gets eliminated. Maybe they're saving an Emma arc for if gen 4 gets a third season? Who knows. A little disappointing but not a huge loss.

And between them, Millie is out third. Not surprising if I'm being honest; Millie had a chance to train up to be a stronger player with Priya's help, but neglected to actually study for it. And then in episode 2 when she tries to think creatively to help her team win, her lack of social skills is what did her in when she failed to consider how pissed her team would be for tricking Damien down the most dangerous slide. Her elimination feels like a natural consequence of her own actions and shortcomings instead of the contrived coincidences that Total Drama was guilty of many times in past seasons.

Then there's Damien himself. So far he still hasn't done a whole lot, but he's definitely shown to have become more self-confident with the way he called out Millie and how he was willing to brave that rickety bridge in episode 3. Time will tell if he makes it far.

Zee continues to be hilarious. Not really having much of an impact in terms of plotlines with other characters, but he always gets a laugh out of me. "Not thinking is my specialty!"

Gotta say, I thought Priya would have at least shown a little more of a reaction to her bestie being voted off. Still her plotline with Caleb is interesting. I can picture this leading to drama down the road where she realizes Caleb has just been trying to build an alliance rather than flirt with her. Or who knows, maybe Caleb will develop genuine feelings for her and it becomes a ship. Could go either way.

Speaking of Caleb, he represents the biggest difference between the writing of the reboot and previous seasons. Not once does the show portray him as antagonistic in trying to manipulate Priya into an alliance; he's just trying to form a strong partnership to make it farther in the game. Helps immensely that Caleb isn't actively cruel like Heather and Alejandro; he's genuinely chill despite his determination. Him literally carrying most of his team in episode 3 was awesome, not gonna lie.

Nichelle continues to dominate and be awesome in challenges. However I can't help but notice she's not really trying to get close to anyone, like Caleb is with Priya for example. I have a feeling that could come back to bite her if people vote her off for being a potential threat ala Caleb in season one.

I'm loving Axel so far. She's much better about being a team player but also hasn't lost her edge. I also like how we're getting depth to her, like her love of poetry. And then there's her romance with Ripper which I did not see coming. More on that later.

Holy shit, I was hoping for more of the MK/Julia alliance, but I wasn't expecting this much! I'm loving MK's unorthodox strategy of disguising as an intern to get inside information, it's very unique.

Oh and MKulia might become a thing. "Oh stop it, you'll make me blush!" "If MK's brain drove a cool car, I would totally date it." Watching these episodes I was like Wait are they gonna go there? Oh my god they might actually go there! And if they do, I am here for it!

Wayne and Raj continue to be very wholesome and hilarious! I love the dynamic they bring to Team Skunk Butt, wanting to play fair while Julia and MK cheat. And stuck in the middle...

is Bowie. I'm loving the drama of his character arc: he's still willing to pull the same underhanded tactics he used in season one and is all in on MK's strategy, but now has Wayne and especially Raj are acting as his morality pets. Some are predicting this could lead to a Rajbow break up, but I honestly don't think they'd do that. What I think will happen is Team Skunk Butt loses a challenge despite MKulia cheating again with Bowie's knowledge, Bowie feels terrible, and to make it up he offers to eliminate himself if one of the Hocky Bros is about to be voted off.

Last but not least, Ripper. Gonna be honest, he was my least favorite of gen 4 in season one; I didn't care for his focus on gross-out humor and he survived eliminations over characters I liked more. I didn't expect much from him going into season two so I was blindsided here. Not only is his gross out humor significantly toned down (but still present) but he proved to be quite endearing with his insecurity over his crush on Axel. I was especially stunned in episode four when he actually tried to connect with Axel's interest in poetry and actually wrote a poem for her, something I could never see season 1 Ripper doing. And Axel reciprocating with a kiss despite not seeming interested in him earlier? My haw hit the floor. Before I was hoping he'd be an early boot, but now I find myself actually wanting to see Ripper stick around and see where things go with him as a character and his potential relationship with Axel. I... actually like Ripper now, which is a sentence I never thought I'd say.

A few minor issues aside, I am loving this new season so far. I haven't genuinely enjoyed Total Drama since the original TDI 15 years ago.

30 notes · View notes

chrismcleaneatspants · 3 months

Note

So, how could Island 2023 Season 2 have been a better season?

To describe literally every single thing I'd do would take ages, however, I am willing to give some significant cliff notes -MKulia actually being enemies to friends (or lovers) where MK has actual agency in their dynamic (she's basically the only reason Julia makes it past episode 2 since Bowie would have tried to get rid of her immediately)

-Have Axel and Nichelle like do anything. If they weren't gonna do an underdog story with Nichelle, she would have made a fine antagonist. Episode 5 also shows off how good Axel could be without being reduced to Ripper's girlfriend -Honestly Priya lasted way too long considering what her plot ended up being, I would probably ditch the Praleb story entirely in favor of her actually discovering that her parents don't have her best interest at heart. -Honestly just in general, have plots that happen in this season be somewhat informed by season 1. if this is supposed to be a rematch, how come very little of season 1 informed the plot?

-Also just in general I'd tweak to romance to be more natural and entertaining. Ripaxel was rushed and Praleb got annoying once it became a back and forth

-Oh yeah, and a more competent Damien would have been really cool, too

-Also, perhaps my most controversial choice: Emma would have made a great protagonist. There's a very clear story arc you could do with her and they just don't do it? It was incredibly frustrating seeing her go so early when she could have very easily stuck around and bounced off of Caleb or the Hockey Dudes or reconciled with Bowie or something, anything to give her autonomy.

There's a lot more that aren't popping up in my mind rn, but I will save the best for last:

-Drag race finale. Just a drag race finale. That would have been the most cool challenge ever.

#total drama #td emma #total drama 2023 #td priya #mkulia #td caleb #td damien #td nichelle #td axel

30 notes · View notes

imminent-danger-came · 8 months

Note

Something that I think is really funny (even though I don’t know if there is any deeper meaning behind it beyond being a funny contrast) is how MK is only ever catty to Macaque. Meanwhile, as of the season 3 specials, Macaque is at his best/kindest when with MK.

I don‘t think I‘ve ever seen you talk in depth about these two? So I was wondering what your thoughts on them were (generally speaking).

I think overall, it really highlights MK's negative character arc vs Macaque's positive one. Macaque has his issues, of course, but he's also improved somewhat (being willing to help SWK in 4x11 being the prime example of that). MK on the other hand just keeps steadily going down.

And I also think that like...in a way, MK is for Macaque who Tang Sanzang was for Wukong:

"Wukong was on a path of self-destruction, we all were. But when he met the Monk, it sent him down a different path." (4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

Which I think is very reminiscent of Macaque's arc in seasons 1-3. Macaque, who was very bent on revenge and wallowing in his own suffering, learns to see Wukong in a different light and the value of helping others.

"Alright Misery Kid, you were supposed to realize by now that the choices the game's giving you aren't the only choices you've got. Life isn't some pre-written thing like a video game where you ahve to do what the tutorial says. [...] Whatever point is, it's time to start making your own choices—something I wish I would have learned a lot sooner than I did." (4x10 The Jade Emperor)

And a big part of that was MK giving him a chance in 3x13, along with MK's choice to not abandon Mei in 3x10.

So yeah! I think Macaque and MK have a pretty interesting dynamic. I also am kinda hoping that MK loses his shit on Macaque next season lol, and then from there they can both build a more sincere and honest relationship!

#I've decided that I'd love for Macaque to interact with the main gang more though #I guess what I'm saying is Macaque and Sandy episode when #lmk #lego monkie kid #soysauce duo #lmk MK #lmk Macaque #lmk analysis #asks

94 notes · View notes

sketching-shark · 6 months

Note

Hello! I know you aren't a big fan of LMK, but there's a sideblog run by @digitalagepulao named @digitaldoeslmk that is doing a rewrite of the show by following book canon, and their ideas and art is FIRE so please have a look if you have the time. Also, I remember seeing a few lines that Sun Wukong has medical training during his years of learning. Would he count as having a degree in medicine in modern terms? How is he during childbirth? Do you think he'd be able to do a human childbirth successfully? Have a great month, enjoy your food, and don't forget to sleep early regularly!

As a matter of fact @angstandhappiness I am recently familiar with @digitaldoeslmk and let me just say WEH @digitalagepulao has done an amazing job at creating one of the most fun and interesting Monkie Kid aus out there!

I'm honestly really appreciative of the though and care they've put into a version of the lego show where JTTW happened according to Wu Cheng'en's version, and particularly the way this means that A) Sun Wukong is a genuinely good mentor & that therefore there's many a lovely shifu-tudi moment between him and MK (plus SWK is his book canon size here so that's an automatic improvement over LMK canon lmao), B) Red Son gets more time in the spotlight both as a character and as a source of insights into the histories of the JTTW canon characters, and C) the stakes aren't of the constant end-of-the-universe levels & therefore MK gets a Fucking Break from the Horrors & also gets to make a lot more friends in stuff like a theater group.

tbh I was pretty delighted by this plot idea @digitalagepulao put out where MK is getting ready for a theatrical production of Havoc in Heaven where he's playing Sun Wukong but then both the actor and the understudy who played Erlang Shen got ill, & that this was resolved by MK getting SWK to play his one-time nemesis. That's a really fun idea for a number of reasons, not the least being it seems like a great scenario for the Monkey King to have actually understandable stage fright & some genuine conversations about his past & what he learned from his experiences BUT ALSO for it being a great way for Monkie Kid to give a respectful nod to past retellings of Xiyouji even while letting MK & co. shine.

In conclusion people should definitely check out @digitaldoeslmk.

As for the second part of this ask, you probably couldn't say that the Monkey King has anything like a contemporary medical degree going strictly by Xiyouji canon, but he does prove himself to be a clever primate when it comes to medicine! Honestly it could make for a kind of funny JTTW future story where SWK goes through medical school to get an MD so that he can be an officially licensed doctor in the 21st century lol. And while we never see SWK helping someone with pregnancy or childbirth in the og classic (discounting the mpreg arc lmao), his status as both an extremely old communal grandpa who's seen a lot and a protector of children seem to both suggest that he'd be pretty good at assisting in childbirth for humans, monkeys, and yaoguai alike.

Enjoy your food and sleep too!

#ask answered #sun wukong #monkey king #journey to the west #jttw #xiyouji #monkie kid au #lmk mk #qi xiaotian

35 notes · View notes

littleshadowinternetcorner · 10 months

Text

Learning how to use Clip Studio and Tumblr all at once slay </3 Okay I have to ramble about their characters though like omggg forgive the block of text

Anyway more progress on the Macaque and SWK sketches, I love their designs in the show and I've been thinking a lot about the way they're styled. Especially since one of the biggest challenges I can think of when it comes to a show about literal legos is that the character models are very samey, of course.

Also, SWK and Macaque have a particularly interesting challenge, with both being demon monkey guys. Aside from the obvious color palette change (they share similar yellow, red, and black just inverted though which I delusionally associate with their soul mate-level connection to one another) some of my favorite character differences is their eyes??? Like, from Macaques down turned lashes to Sun Wukongs upturned lashes? There's also sharper shapes used in Macaques design versus the roundish lines used in SWK's design which is a popular way of distinguishing "bad" from "good" or in this case, to just make Macaque look edgy and disheveled compared to the more put together SWK.

Like from his brows, his makeup, his frayed cloak, he just has such trademark bad-boy qualities. It's really simple but it's really effective in distinguishing their designs aside from just a color swap.

I think it's also a cool way to establish their personalities. Ironically Macaque, despite coming across as deceptive, is often a lot more honest to Mk and his friends than Sun Wukong is. Which subverts the initial impression of his design. Speaking of which, Sun Wukong's design is just so cute? The rounded lines that make up his design feed the impression that he's trustworthy. A confident, good-natured mentor who's gotten past all his wild youthful exploits (he's literally committed several war crimes) and is just trying to pave a good path for MK. And while he definitely cares for MK and really does want him to succeed, gah damn, he is a hot mess. My favorite part is that Macaque at least acknowledges he's got issues, but Sun Wukong is just in complete denial but that's a whole different post.

Anyways I love the details that their character designs are subversive to their real personalities. Like even MK states it outright to Macaque that he's really not the bad boy loner he makes himself out to be, its all a facade and most likely a response to the several times he's been just screwed over by Sun Wukong

Interestingly enough, Sun Wukong has a whole arc about how he's a really bad mentor, an untrustworthy dude, and kind of downright manipulative when it comes to using his persona to put himself in positions of leadership. Though I don't think he does it out of malice, more just recklessness. The chill mentor vibe (giving Gojo energy tbh) even gets challenged in season one by Macaque after he mentions that the Real Sun Wukong would have destroyed a whole mountain range just to win a fight. And like, if you know anything about what Sun Wukong is like in JTTW, bro has zero chill.

Also, they're like perfect foils and it's my favorite thing. Macaque showcasing himself as violet and SWK as golden in his shadow play was a great use of complimentary colors. Anyway, rant over, I love it when character designs are made to be cohesive with each other </333

brb gonna watch the entire series again

#lego monkie king #lmk fanart #lego macaque #lego monkey kid season 4 #lego monkey kid sun wukong #lmk six eared macaque #shadowpeach #lmk sun wukong fanart

70 notes · View notes

moosemonstrous · 4 months

Text

Ghost Rider Pacific Rim AU - and the wheel keeps turning

Guero has a reputation in the barracks. He knows people, and people know him, partially because he’s been running around the base since early Cat-3s and partially because he made it his business. He made sure the mid-level folks on the support side know to come to him when they need something from the dome without the fuss of the paperwork. He made sure the quartermaster always gives him and his first pick at the list if he doesn’t want his city activities exposed to the higher-ups. He made sure to drop in by the techs’ break room every other day for literal years and feed them whatever it is they aren’t getting through the official channels, in return for a little of the same. The Shatterdome machine rolls smoothly with a little grease, and Guero holds the oil canister.

It means he’s a busy man, and it means that he doesn’t like to waste his time if he can help it. When he reached out to the new guy, it was mostly because someone getting into the academy outside of a recruitment drive usually means they’ve got interesting friends. Reyes certainly turned out to have those, if not in the way Guero suspected.

“Decommissioned, my ass,” he mutters, watching the EPLS deliver an arc reactor to Hell Charger’s bay. Word in the hangar has it that Stark is personally overseeing installation, too. Some very interesting friends indeed.

“What do you even want with the jaegers, anyway,” Pavel groans, bored. “Didn’t you say there’s money in working the ground?”

“I did, and there is. But it’s risky, and I don’t have a good contact in the Bone Slums yet.” He has to be extra careful, talking to Hannibal Chau’s people. He isn’t willing to sell anything actually important. “Think about it, the rangers go anywhere they want. Even the brass doesn’t want to piss them off.”

“Isn’t it good, then, that Reyes made it in?”

Guero loves his friends dearly, but he’s painfully aware they’d be all doomed to the front lines if any of them was behind the wheel. Sometimes it’s like trying to keep a bunch of puppies from jumping into the lagoon. “Reyes is a lying piece of shit.”

“Eh,” Pavel shrugs. He’s more interested in watching the beastie fights on his phone than anything going on in the hangar. “No offence, man, but you give him too much credit. Lena said the blood lab all think the whole solo drift is bullshit. He’s gonna get a stroke the first time he goes out for real.”

Maybe. The D-Sci people know their odds. But so do the techs, and they have been surprisingly tight-lipped on the matter. Rumour has it that Stark has been trying to get his mini-armour program off the ground since he took over R&D – and suddenly a long-lost heir to The Charger turns up to pilot the damn thing solo? Guero likes to think he can read people pretty well, and Reyes didn’t strike him as a complete idiot. Naïve and in over his head, but not necessarily a patsy – even Brooks thought he was cheating on the sims. Someone who, with a bit of guidance, could help Guero get his foot in the damn door.

Besides, he did a little digging. Reyes Senior was easy – his photos are in the news reports from the time, and there was an obituary and everything. It even mentions a wife and children, even if no further detail. It’s his co-pilot that doesn’t show up in any searches. Probably a brother, because most rangers were related or married before Mk-3s, but everything about him has been scrubbed out from any database Guero managed to get his hands on. All he has is the old Filipino down in electrics ranting about a missing friend before his shift leader told Guero to scram, and several extremely vague recollections of an asshole nobody wanted to be around anyway. Which is just another piece of this puzzle that makes no sense – the rangers do everything in pairs, it’s their whole thing. The Romeo Blue brothers are said to be constantly at each other’s throats, but you can’t mention one without the other. All the other dead rangers have their dedicated entries on the memorial wall in the main hall. He checked both names around Alberto Reyes, and then the whole list from that year – every other one could be linked to a tech, or a janitor, or a soldier. Nobody unaccounted for, nobody ‘unassigned’, save for a girl who was only six years old and died a couple of months before Daggerblight anyway.

It's weird. It doesn’t follow what Guero has always understood as the way the Shatterdome operates. Rangers are damn near revered around here – this little information about the first ones to die from the corruption is just– maddening.

Guero Valdez doesn’t suffer being made a fool lightly. He’s going to figure this out if he has to beat the answers out of Reyes himself.

###

(ugh genuinely is he going too hard too quickly? I've had a Day so people making logical decisions as according to their internal compasses is a somewhat alien concept rn)

#ghost rider pacific rim au #guero valdez

24 notes · View notes

masterdetectivexx · 5 months

Note

Hey bro, I can't wait to read your analyses of the recent files!! And what do you think will come next year?

File 1119-1122 Review

While I am unfortunately disappointed by how the previous Heizuha-confession- build-up cases (File 1113-1118) wasn't continued by another Ōoka/Heizuha build-up case, I thought this Kid-heist-turned-into-murder case was overall a very entertaining standalone case, and surprisingly also the first 4-file case in awhile. It was a very nice way to somewhat incorporate Kudo Shinichi into a case without wasting the spare antidote, by having Kid disguise as him (like he did with Sherry during Mystery train case) with Conan's guidance in order to solve the case. This is the first manga case that we see Kid disguise as Shinichi since the manga confirmation (in File 1018) that events within Movie 3 (like Kid figuring out Conan's true identity) is canon.

It was nice to finally have Hakuba Saguru return after years since his last appearance in the Detective Koshien case (back in Kir arc), and to see him have an indirect meeting with Kudo Shinichi. It was especially exciting to see him come close to not only figuring out that Shinichi is being impersonated by Kid, but also Conan's true connection to Shinichi.

There was great potential for Hakuba's role in the story if he had learned of Conan's true identity and it could have created an interesting rival-dynamic between them, that would be less friendly than Conan's relationship with Heiji (which ironically would be the anime staff's original intention for Heiji when they requested that Gosho introduces a detective rival). Unfortunately, it amounted to only being a mislead and Hakuba only deducing that Conan relayed Shinichi's words through phone to Kid.

While one could still hold out hope that Gosho is playing us further and hiding a future twist that Hakuba only pretended to have not figured it out and decided to protect Conan's secret, it's more likely that Gosho simply decided to properly establish the lines that Hakuba can't cross in DC as a secondary Magic Kaito character and that his involvement in DC will only serve as crossover fanservice rather than anything substantial in the DC story. This is of course disappointing, as he has already made iconic imprints in the DC franchise, and would have gained from getting more spotlight in the DC universe as well (not just MK).

The best part about this case is Shinichi's new affirmations of his feelings for Ran, when they had a cute romantic moment that reasaured Ran that she is still in Shinichi's mind despite avoiding to meet her.

It did its job in resolving some of my yearning for new ShinRan development since them becoming an official couple.

It was interesting to learn how Gosho is further confirming that some movie-only Kid stunts are also canon, seeing as he had Ran point out that Kid has repeatedly disguised as Shinichi, after she figured out his disguise, despite it being the first time in the manga.

This is an interesting implication, because in the already canonized events of Movie 3, Ran never learned that the Shinichi that appeared at the end (to help cover for Conan's identity) was Kid in disguise.

This would mean that Gosho is implying that the Shinichi-disguise stunts in M8, M14, M19 &/or M23 are also semi-canon.

It was only fair of course for Gosho to not tarnish the romantic ShinRan scene in this case by having Hakuba confirm to Ran that it was not meaningless words from Kid, but rather Shinichi's true words.

As for what we can expect from the next case, the official magazine preview for File 1123 was leaked recently that teased that we are getting a Sato-Takagi case combined with the Kanagawa police, which are Chihaya & Juugo (the pair from the recently introduced romance subplot).

It looks like it will basically be a new Juugo-Chihaya romance case with Sato-Takagi developments on the side, and more potential for Hagiwara and Matsuda to come up in flashbacks. It might be a more action-heavy case as well, seeing as it starts off with a car chase in an abduction case, so it's looking to be an exciting case overall. We can only hope that it leads to some main development, like if Gosho incorporates Furuya Rei into the case (in the spirit of the Wild Police gang), and by extension further build on his last requested mission by Falcon Elder to investigate Conan (File 1115)... or even better, continued developments with Rum.

#detective conan #rum arc #kaitou kid #kudo shinichi #ran mouri #hakuba saguru #edogawa conan #detective conan movie #movie 3 #file 1119 #file 1120 #file 1121 #file 1122 #file 1123 preview #case review

40 notes · View notes

Last Seen Blogs

tradingbinance

Finance

boycandoit

astrotherapists

Untitled

radicalredrasp

Red-Raspberry

regem-info

REGEM.INFO