Me To Your Alien Reader Fic

Sad Fish Man

He's throwing rocks into the water. He's so disappointed with the gourmet exam.

Originally, Shao Kahn killed Sindel's husband, and took her as his wife and Kitana as spoils of war. Sindel then escaped mind control on her own, taught her skills to the hero of MK Deception, and presumably spent the rest of the first timeline embarrassing Kitana, as is every mother's prerogative. It was a very different era in the game's history lol

I'm sorry, I ought to have specified that I was referring to historical figures. We all know what a great dude Christopher Columbus was, right? /s (If you can bielieve it, there are still Christopher Columbus parades in cities with large Italian-American populations. I /think/ it's a holdover from when most Italians in the US were immigrants and ergo not exactly popular, but c'mon, guys, have some fucking standards) Nobody's talking about how much of a jerk Bilbo Baggins is.

Everyone should be a Johnny Cage stan, that guy is badass, funny, and the ultimate cool dad. "Must've left [my fear] in my other pants" never gets old (nor does Jacqui shooting things with her arms, no matter how much people accuse her of being a bore)

It's been amazing talking to you, you're super perceptive and aren't afraid to say things that might ruffle feathers. I've heard from 500 people why Kitana is best girl and Jade is the chillest, it's time I heard why Kitana is a sack of crap and Jade is no better. (my headcanons are admittedly more charitable than yours, but someone has to say it)

I'm closing off with the opinion that it's super gratifying to see Mileena as empress and Kitana as big sis' adoring little handmaid. I'm also getting Kenshi/Kitana vibes, but that's neither here nor there.

I've never considered Kenshi/Kitana, but it would be interesting to see.

I'm all for good Sindel, it's a shame they turned her into... that. The whole Christopher Colombus thing is very disturbing.

Wish Jacqui got more love too, had a blast playing as her in MKX and her relationship with Takeda is a 10/10. I'd say they get rid of Jax and bring more attention to her.

Speaking to you has been amazing as well, hugs from an internet stranger.

Johnny Cage and Kuai Liang Friendship

I'm gonna quickly bring up the past and appreciate the fact that NRS made Johnny and Kuai Liang have a maybe friendship with each other.

Even though Kuai is hostile towards Johnny, he still entertains him a bit. Compare that to his intros with Sonya where he eludes to intending on killing her.

In mkx he gives the kombat kids a test, specifically requested by Johnny. The fact that he not only has contact with Johnny, but agreed to it says a lot in my opinion. Of course, the kombat kids don't know this, but there's something Cassie says that caught my attention.

"My father always spoke highly of you, Sub-Zero. He wants to talk." - Cassie

"Talking. Always his first choice." - Kuai Liang

How close were Johnny and Kuai Liang before mk1? Besides being mentoring the kids and making sure they become great warriors, (edit) what else? Edit: There had to be more to it. Cassie says Johnny always spoke highly, which means whenever Johnny was telling Cassie about the events that came before, Johnny only had good things to say about Kuai Liang. Kuai in return, not so nice things, but in comparison to what everyone else has to say about Johnny, it was pretty tame. It just raises the question: How often did they talk? I theorise that Kuai could see himself in Johnny to some extent. Johnny remained to serve Earthrealm and is incredibly loyal to Earthrealm (especially Raiden), but was also all too happy to train his own daughter and many others (no shade). Kuai can relate with starting fresh and leading a new generation. Jax left the military, but Johnny stayed even though there was nothing in it for him to.

Kuai had Frost as his student, and I like to think they both have a strained father-daughter relationship. While Johnny doesn't have a strained relationship with his daughter, you can see that Cassie is some kind of identity crisis, having Johnny and Sonya's traits and having to deal with constant comparisons from anyone that knows them. In other words, they've both experienced parent-hood, with the child being reflections of the parent. Frost broke the mirror, but Cassie keeps it intact.

Also, both of them joined the tournament for selfish reasons. Johnny for his career, Kuai to avenge his brother. You could argue that it's the same for Sonya and Jax, but they were actively working for the military, while Kuai went against the Lin Kuei.

Now I'll show one of his mkx intros:

"Do you not recognise me?" - Kuai Liang

"How'd you get un-cyberised?" - Johnny

"The one benefit of Quan Chi's process." - Kuai Liang

Here's what I find funny. Why would he need to question Johnny about this, considering they've barely had an interaction in the mk9 storymode. (The rest of the intros are comically bad, so I won't transcribe them)

All of the intros Johnny has with Kaui Liang in mk11 are pretty chill.

Now compare those with this one.

"A good general is hard to find." - Kuai Liang

"What's that supposed to mean?" - Sonya

"Your soldiers are going to miss you." - Kuai Liang

What he mean by that?

"There's only one leader here." - Sonya

"Then prove yourself worthy." - Kuai Liang

"I proved that a long time ago." - Sonya

Kuai Liang (supposedly) respects Sonya more than he respects Johnny, and yet he says things like this to her??? Shows the potential closeness Kuai Liang had with Johnny in the old timeline. Kuai Linag and Hanzo friendship is great, but we were robbed of the idea of Johnny and Kuai Liang.

Cassie and Jacqui: Opinions and Thoughts

These are my thoughts and opinions on Mortal Kombat that a bunch of people probably won't care about, but I thought I should post them here. Now I will be using past games as reference, even though every character's interpretation/counterpart is different, they still play part to the canon storyline.

Okay, so these two are besties. Now before I get into any details, this is just theories and opinions. I just want to quickly say that I like Jacqui's character, and not just because I was able to play as a black female character, but I found her interesting and liked her romance with Takeda.

I'll start with Cassie. She is a nice enough blend of Sonya and Johnny, I guess. I found her a little annoying in mkx but only because of her intros, and to be fair a lot of character dialogue kind of sucked in that game. I found her very relatable when I was younger though, because I said a lot of cringey things when it came out. Other than that she was pretty cool, and was a different kind of case where a character voices out what everyone else is thinking. To be fair, Johnny has that as well but Cassie is Gen Z levels of voice (or an everyman). I also appreciate that they made her more girly, although I do miss the tomboyish Cassie from mkx.

Thing is, I don't like how they made it into a thing where they made Cassie feel like a main character, and while I understand that's how it must be done with next generation games, I get the impression that she was treated better than her teammates. That impression was solidified in the mk11 storyline where Cassie was chosen to be the new general with the addition of Takeda and Kung Jin being cut from the game. I get that she defeated Shinnok and whatever, but seriously? It was also a situation where Sonya was choosing randomly, so I think she should've chosen Jacqui simply because Jacqui is genuinely into being a soldier. For a moment the audience is shown the pain on Jacqui's face, and I was honestly anticipating some kind of rivalry to take place where Cassie and Jacqui end up fighting about something within the story mode.

I wrote in another post that I think Cassie joined the special forces because she wanted to impress Sonya. We know that from mkx Sonya was neglective, and if Cassie is much closer to Johnny then I don't think it would make sense for her to not have some appreciation for the creative arts. Meaning, Cassie yearns for Sonya's approval. It was also hinted that Sonya may have been abusive, randomly attacking Cassie and Jacqui with arm bars. Even while Cassie is an adult Sonya is still neglective, as noted in the last game, not even caring about Cassie's love life. It's very clear the two of them have problems with each other. One thing for sure, Cassie has inherited Sonya's cruelty which makes her snark different from Johnny's. A nice blend of seriousness and un-serious = obvious sarcasm. I'm also calling back to the 'Johnny pee pants' incident that she was told about.

"So how are things between you and Bob?" - Sonya

"For the last time his name is Dylan." - Cassie

"Why learn his name if he's not sticking around?" - Sonya

----

"I'm the new improved you." - Cassie

"(Scoff) Improved how?" - Sonya

Well for one thing, she's got powers.

----

"Jacqui says as kids you were scared of me." - Sonya

"You'd randomly attack us with arm bars." - Cassie

"And you learned to always be ready." - Sonya

The fact that she says this with a smug smile shows she sees nothing wrong with the fact that she went out of her way to scare and hurt children. Characters have been drilling in on Johnny but had nothing to say to Sonya about her parenting. Johnny made it his mission to change into a better person, even in his ending he didn't need people to tell him that he was doing something wrong because he realised it by himself. Sonya for whatever reason lacks that same awareness.

----

"Growing up I always wanted a sister." - Sonya

"To exchange style tips and dish on boys?" - Cassie

"No! To spar with." - Sonya

You can do that too, Sonya. Jeez.

----

"You are Johnny Cage's daughter." - Robocop

"Ha! Shocked I'm not some Beverly Hills brat?" - Cassie

Beverly Hills kids: Well... that hurts. I think it's somehow been engraved in Cassie that being any old normal girl is a terrible thing, and I don't support that "I'm not like other girls" nonsense. I think it was Sonya's influence, and potentially Jax.

----

"I am honoured to fight you." - Liu Kang

"I'm no chosen one, Li Kang." - Cassie

"You fought shinnok and won." - Liu Kang

Oh he's mad. He is so mad. Bro died because of Raiden.

----

Now with Jacqui.

I think Jacqui is in Cassie's shadow, hell they even erased her from her own ending. Even when she was given screen time it still felt like she was brushed to the side. Cassie was chosen to be the leader of the friend group, and in hindsight that was a bit predictable. In comparison to her Jacqui is rational and doesn't turn things into a joke. I know Cassie is serious as well, but Jacqui is more passionate about fighting for Earthrealm and being in the special forces while Cassie is more of a show off.

"Leave dad in peace." - Jacqui (mkx)

"There's things only Jax can do." - Sonya (mkx)

---

"What do you see when you look at me?" - Frost

"A cheap second gen knock off." - Jacqui

"I said look at me, not you." - Frost

These two are love and hate, two sides of the same coin. Frost wants recognition and goes against the Lin Kuei to have that, while Jacqui wants to make people proud and carry on a legacy. Both have a male counterpart of some kind. Frost disappointed Sub Zero for not being patient and she became a villain, while Jax doesn't want Jacqui to even be involved in anything kombat related. Jacqui follows, Frost demands command.

---

"Cassandra Cage overshadows you." - Cetrion

"In her own mind maybe." - Jacqui

"Do not deny your jealousy." - Cetrion

---

"It's time to pass on your mantel." - Nightwolf

"Baby girl's good, but she's not me yet." - Jax

"Don't underestimate your daughter, Jax." - Nightwolf

Notice the edge in Nightwolf's voice? Also, Jacqui doesn't have to be Jax. Not to mention she was trained by Johnny and not Jax, so it's weird of him to say that. I think she should be trained by Scorpion as a wedding gift and have a few Shirai Ryu inspired outfits if she's introduced to the franchise in future games. Anything that distances her from Jax.

---

Jacqui is called "unproven" and a "knock off" when she has in fact proven herself, she just hasn't beaten an elder God- oh wait, what is this? Jacqui defeated Cetrion? (Do not bring jax into this, I chose Jacqui). In mkx she beat Reptile and Ermac, the very same Ermac that Jax lost his arms to because he was caught lacking, and held her own against the revenants.

The characters constantly compare her to Jax, which is problematic in my opinion. As a person who was constantly compared to my older siblings growing up it felt like my identity as my own person was being stripped away from me, and I think it's the same case with Jacqui. Jacqui should be recognised more for who she is rather than who her father is, because Jacqui is just as good if not better.

"Such beauty in Kombat is rare." - Shang Tsung. Oh Shang Tsung, you pervert.

Now onto her friendship with Cassie. It's very obvious that these two grew up together and even went to the same school, which must've meant that they lived close to one another, like the same town or city. I don't think the two have always been buddy buddy, in terms of problems coming up. If it weren't for circumstances I think these two wouldn't even be close or in the same vicinity. Cassie went and dated Jacqui's love interest for prom knowing Jacqui liked him. I'm surprised these two are even friends.

Moving onto her relationship with Jax, I liked Jacqui bonding with the younger version of her dad during story mode, and seeing the differences between older Jax and young Jax.

I always saw Jax as an a-hole, but jeez. I understand being a protective father but he needed to accept that he couldn't breathe down her neck for too long. What ticks me off even more is his disapproval of Takeda. I think one of the reasons Jax isn't very fond of Takeda is because he mildly reminds him of Johnny. Takeda has that charisma about him and makes jokes as well and overall has this easy going air about him. Even after Johnny and Sonya got married, meaning Jax saw Johnny a lot more, I don't think Jax grew a liking to Johnny. I'm not sure if Jax truly had feelings for Sonya, but I do think it's a possibility if Johnny not only did not want to get between them under the suspicion that they were together, but also because he thought they would end up together.

I have a bunch of stuff to say. I believe Cassie should've done MMA fighting or something around there, that way Cassie wouldn't just be another copy of her parents.

If Jax and Sonya did end up together then I think the turn out would be more extreme. An overprotective father and a neglectful mother.

MKX's Kung Lao an essay

Notes: I originally wrote this in youtube comment section and decided to post it here. Watch Cynical Warlock's Rewriting Kung Lao video, its super interesting.

Kung Lao seemed pretty badass in MKX, and I'm talking about the old man version that's not seen in the storymode. I first interpreted MKX version of Lao appeared more humble and secure, no longer needing to prove himself as Liu Kang's equal. He even gave me the impression that he could be a mentor figure, appearance wise, whereas Old Liu Kang didn't give me that same vibe. Also, Kung Lao has a special hat that he uses as a weapon... How does he not outshine Liu Kang?

We do see his hat origin in MK1, so we can assume that it's similar to the past timelines on why he uses it. With that being said, he's great at coming up with random weapons, and very effective ones too. In another timeline he might be a weapons specialist, maybe even a maker. He even has another version of the hat that looks like daggers have been glued onto it, which we see in the game (I think it was a variant), and that might have been his first hat before he made a perfected version.

I think if MKX had better writing, then Kung Lao could've been brought back from the dead (like Sub Zero, Scorpion & Jax) and become another mentor figure to the combat kids instead of just being another yes man revenant who obey's revenant Liu Kang.

Both Liu Kang and Kung Lao were playable in MKX, they could've at least brought one of them back. Since they made Liu Kang king of the Neatherrealm, it would have to be Kung Lao.

Just as Sub Zero has a sort of friendship with Johnny, Kung Lao could be the same, separating him from Liu Kang on who they keep close to them. Personality wise, he's less harsh and strict than Liu Kang, and is more friendly, so I can picture him and Johnny having a friendship.

He can teach the combat kids that weapons can be formed from anything, basically ensuring that no one becomes a copy paste of their parents (Cassie & Jacqui), and has something unique about them, like having knives in their shoes and doing capoeira to cut the opponent or something (idk).

Just like Johnny, he isn't treated or spoken to very nicely by Sonya and some others because they keep mistaking his current self to his past self. He doesn't like it when people do this (I certainly wouldn't), but he is mostly civil with cutting remarks every now and then. Think of it as visiting a toxic family you've been in low contact with, and they occasionally make jokes and jabs about you copying your golden child sibling, and how you'll never be like them or escape their shadow. Even though you stand up for yourself, you're still seen as being bitter and jealous.

Another reason why I think Johnny and Kung Lao have a shot at friendship is because Johnny doesn't mention Liu Kang once, or anything linked to the past, or even his personality. Kung Lao is also said to "smile too much" according to Ferra, meaning he has a tendency to smile when he's about to face off with an opponent. Remind you of someone we know?

Here's how he can be introduced: The combat kids have a mission, however, the combat kids cannot go with weapons, at least weapons that are seen. In this au Johnny is with the Wu Shi instead of the Special Forces (as seen in my Havik post), so he sends the combat kids (mainly Cassie and Jacqui) to meet Kung Lao. The combat kids find out that Kung Lao, while still maintaining his teachings, has left the Shaolin and works as a weapons maker in some random town or city in China, and lives in solitude (a metaphor for no longer seeking the validation of others). Instead of giving the weapons straight up, he tests every single one of them. He ends up letting them have the weapons of course, and watches them go on their day.

MK11 made him so cocky to the point he was a Johnny Cage clone, and Kung Lao never struck me as the cocky type during MK9. It was actually Liu Kang that came off as egotistical to me, and the fact that he rebels against Raiden kind of proves that. Liu Kang went against a literal god. There's even an ending that shows he will be corrupt if he replaced Raiden. Earthrealm's champion, ladies and gentlemen.

I never viewed Kung Lao as cocky, so his MK11 version was a complete 180, and the fact that NRS continued that into MK1 disappointed me. Kung Lao is impulsive, but not always. He is capable of being reserved and calculating. While Kung Lao is also quite ruthless, Liu Kang is the hot headed one that refuses to listen to reason at times.

People make all kinds of jokes about Kung Lao and him getting his neck snapped, when Shao Kahn went about it cowardly. I'll elaborate by saying Shao Kahn snuck up on him, it wasn't face to face. In the words of Kendrick Lamar, "when I catch flight, it's gon' be direct". Shao Kahn is Drake in this situation, sneak dissing. When people make fun of Kung Lao's neck snap they're technically meat riding Shao Kahn.

Jewish Johnny Cage, please

I once saw a fanart of Johnny Cage and Cassie celebrating Hanukkah (I think) together (Sonya was there too). I can't remember if it was Hanukkah specifically, but it was a Jewish related celebration. Now I can't unsee Johnny Cage as Jewish, and desperately headcanon him as such.

Any thoughts?