I have a broken sense of humour, so forgive me. But the fact that VICTOR CREED not only fathered a non-mutant child, but also that same non-mutant child became a politician, suit and all. Sabretooth, a man where the word 'Barbarian' comes to mind, fathered a political figure. Granted, Graydon is as much a monster as Mr Creed senior, but the vision is everything.
Can you imagine the shenanigans?
Graydon being forced to go back on his words about his anti mutant propaganda, and talk about how they're not so bad because a list of nice things they done for him in order to avoid getting a spanking.
Graydon opening up about his mutant background, and how his anti mutant propaganda came from hating himself and his mommy issues, and how he learned that doesn't mean other mutants are the same, and using that to advocate for mutant acceptance.
Graydon getting some kind of promotion, and a party being hosted to celebrate it. Then Sabretooth crashes it, gets drunk and starts embarrassing Graydon in front of all his co-workers and fellow politicians. Saying stuff like "Just to think all those decades ago you was in my balls!"
His co-workers recognising that Graydon's cat-like habits come from Sabretooth. Standoffish with people he's just met. Hissing or growling when annoyed. Disturbing people, but not liking when others bother him. Having no concern for other people's belongings. His co-workers noticing how he avoids people when he's stressed, just like a cat.
Getting asked awkward questions at interviews like "Do laser pointers bother you?" and "Do you eat lots of fish?". Graydon trying his best to stay professional and not lose his cool.
Graydon being forced to stand next to Sabretooth, and everyone pointing out how small he looks in comparison despite being very tall, because Victor is HUGE.
Graydon being forced to acknowledge his other siblings from Mystique's side, and coming to the realisation that Logan is his uncle.
Graydon trying to force Victor and Logan to form a momentary truce just so they can take a good picture for the front page of a news paper (for mutant positivity reasons). Many fights ensue, and it takes over 60 attempts until a picture is taken where Victor is holding up a struggling Logan with a grin prepared to throw him, and the headline being "Sabretooth excited to reunite with little brother" or something.
Graydon meeting with Professor X to discuss the needs of mutants, and bumping into his cousin Laura, who hasn't forgiven him for his anti mutant days.
Professor X helping him with his inner trauma, and unpacking the trauma Mystique put him through, and the shame he felt knowing his parents were bad people, and being normal as the only thing he can cling to in efforts to avoid believing he's like them. How Graydon wants a family deep down, and actively hunted mutants to get attention from one or both his parents. How Graydon always wanted acceptance, and being abandoned caused a dilemma within him that lasted decades.
Graydon being forced to spend his holiday in Canada, and staying indoors at a cabin while Victor gathers firewood because he can't handle the snow.
Being forced to embrace his Canadian heritage.
I theorise that a lot of Mr Miyagi's teachings revolve around his own experiences, or are fuelled by them. I think that the tradition of passing it from father to son had to do with a father wanting to protect his son from the horrors of the world. I believe each son (and daughter?) experienced some kind of hardship, and learned from it. Yes, their father probably preached to them, but they didn't understand what was being preached until they went through it themselves.
The Miyagi-Do way is tied to living and learning. It's why the training process is doing basic everyday chores as a routine, instead of outright practising moves from the first jump. It is why peace and balance is so important to them.
I think rebellion plays a role in this as well. In the 3rd film, Daniel is being harassed and assaulted by Mike Barnes, so he wants to be retrained. Mr Miyagi is against it, so Daniel rebels against him and trains with Silver. Mr Miyagi forgives Daniel and then agrees to retrain him.
Mr Miyagi was against the tournament, but gave in once he saw for himself how severe Daniel's situation was. I'm pretty sure he had his suspicions, and went to the dojo to investigate for himself.
I think what happened here is that Mr Miyagi could see where this was going. Following the Sekai Taikai storyline, he probably met plenty of competitors like Mike Barnes in his time. I believe that's why he was against using karate for tournaments. There's no point wasting your life away competing in a sport that you will always look over your shoulder for. Once you lose after getting so close to the top, you will begin to lose yourself. That almost happened with Mike.
If we're really going to be real about it, we should address that he killed his opponent. Going back to the fight with Sam and Tory for the captain spot, Daniel rightfully stops the fight whereas Johnny says it should've continued because it was what Tory 'needed'. Anyone with a brain should know that what Johnny said wasn't correct.
Grief does not belong in competition. Mr Miyagi lost his wife and son during his enlistment. He left Okinawa, was fighting for his life in a war, and lost his wife and child. What does he do? Goes to the deep end. After becoming a thief, he might as well get into fights, right? Joined the Sekai Taikai, and look how that ended? All that frustration and anger he had at the world ended with someone's death.
I headcanon that this event was a turning point to him turning back to his ancestral teachings.
The other side of Miyagi-do is rooted in rebellion.
Rebellion can come in all kinds of ways. It can be extreme, or even the small stuff. Mr Miyagi told Daniel that one day he would make his own karate. This gives the idea that each Miyagi son made it adaptable to fit themselves. Yes, they all have the same lesson, but how they use it will be different.
One example that I will bring up is that the Capoeira we have now is different to one that was created centuries ago. It is a martial art from Congo that the Brazilian slaves had to disguise as dancing. Break dancing was inspired by Capoeira. Like a language, it changes over time.
Mr Miyagi trained Daniel and Julie Pierce even though neither of them were his children (biologically). Thing is, Miyagi-do wasn't supposed to be taught to anyone outside the family, maybe not even to women (considering how sexist things were back then). Mr Miyagi requested his father make an exception for Sato. Sato went on to teach it to Chozen.
Thus, the balance of Miyagi-do. Peace and rebellion. Going against conformity, tradition, and living a life of learning. Yeah, that's all I got for this essay.
I'm not gonna say anything that has already (probably) been said, and I'm just going to make some quick points.
In Karate Kid 2 Chozen talks about honour and so on, and how he needs to reclaim it. Now I've read some opinions on Chozen where people have demonised his actions (for good reason), but I got the impression that they didn't understand him. What I mean by this is that Chozen's culture and perception of honour is different from ours (westerners). He comes from a place where Senppuku used to be a thing, so when Chozen is talking about his honour and stuff... it feels like a double edged sword when we, the audience, judge his character.
To make things technical or complicated depending on your opinion, Senppuku is the act of deleting one-self in real life, and Samurais would do it to avoid dishonouring themselves. If a Samurai did not commit Senppuku then they would be labelled a Ronin which wasn't good. Being a Ronin was a great dishonour, and a worse life than death. There's also Jigai, the female version of Senppuku, though I'm not sure why it was done.
In the Yakuza there's a thing called Yubitsume, where a member would cut off one of their fingers as an apology. Yakuza, as most of you know, still exists today. And there's evidence that members in the 80's and onwards have done this ritual. So with that being said, honour is a touchy subject regarding Chozen and not something that can be easily spoken on as a western audience.
The slight issue in this argument is that Okinawa and Japan are two different places. Okinawa, while a part of Japan is not in Japan. It's an island located between Taiwan and Japan. This makes me believe that how honour is perceived and practised in Okinawa is much different, in the sense that it may have been very important even when Japan banned certain practice before the 50's.
To be fair, I don't know how many teachings of honour were drilled into him, nor do I know when people stopped prioritising it. But just something I wanted to touch on.
Analysis 2:
In the final showdown between Chozen and Daniel I always saw it as a severe thing for Daniel. Not just because they're fighting to the death, but because Chozen is wearing black and yellow, which is something I always deemed to be a Cobra Kai colour before the Cobra Kai show came out and made it red. The only difference between Johnny and Chozen's karate gi is that Chozen has more yellow to his. Chozen's gi even makes him look like he's imitating a snake judging by the patterns, and I've always wondered if this was intentional by the director or whoever designed it.
The diamonds made me think of scales. So when Daniel is going up against him it feels like Johnny Lawrence all over again, just much worse. There's no cheering crowd, and there's no rules.
Before I watched Karate Kid 2 or found out what the plot was I saw this picture of Chozen and thought it was Daniel vs another Cobra Kai member. And then I watched the movie only to be genuinely surprised that wasn't the case. (I was 13-14, but still)
Writing for MK11 Shang Tsung was tricky, but Shang Tsung in MK1 is quite different so I guess this one was easier.
Shang Tsung wasn't a kindred spirit, but you could understand what his deal was from time to time. It was just everything else. When a former classmate of yours won as prom queen instead of you it was a day when conquest was ignited within you, so you could understand where Shang was coming from in that department. Most of the time he just bewildered you in ways you could fathom.
"I can't believe you were able to get Sindel's trust dressed like that." you said to Shang Tsung.
"What do you mean?" his brows furrowed. He was a small town boy, and a poor orphan. Surely he didn't look like it.
"It isn't..." you waved your hand around trying to think of a word, "Slutty enough."
He didn't know what that word meant, but he didn't approve. "Slutty?"
"You need a titty window somewhere." you pulled open the top of his robe. "Like here, you just need to style things up a bit more. I should take you shopping." You feigned a careful look at his hair. "You need to fix that too."
Your hands went up and Shang did attempt to restrain them but you were quicker and stronger. You untied it and proceeded to braid it. He sulked but dropped his hands.
"You know if you weren't so fussy you could've been a model." you said to him, almost finished.
"Fussy isn't the word I would give myself."
"You tried to take over the world or something, I'm pretty sure that counts as fussy." you patted his head where there were nicely done braids. "There, now your hair looks nicer."
He narrowed his eyes before carefully touching the newly braided strands. "Thank you." he said, almost reluctant. Almost.
"Your titan self can shapeshift, right? Can you shapeshift too? If so, when you shapeshift into a woman do you have female organs or anything?"
While Shang could smell your promiscuity, he couldn't help his disbelief. "That's the only thing on your mind?"
"Yeah, I'm very curious." you looked down towards his lower region but quickly made eye contact.
He saw what you did, "Why does Liu Kang value you?"
You happily rubbed your chest, "My allure is my weapon, besides the fact that I can hold my own well enough."
He tilted his head to the side, "How can you be so confident?"
"Well, you didn't stop me, now did you." there was a playfulness in your eyes. "Go ahead, test my strength."
He seemed annoyed, but he wasn't saying no, nor did he walk away. You sighed and rolled your eyes.
"Fine then. Experiment on me, or whatever."
You've been with nerds before, so Shang wasn't bizarre on the list of men you held an attraction for. Not to say nerds were bizarre, sometimes they just didn't get it.
Shang looked you up and down for himself. You walked towards you, with confidence but a curiosity. Being a small town street boy stunted him from giving eyes at any body, but he still felt attraction towards people. He did feel something towards you, he just didn't think much of it.
He looked into your eyes, "I want to hurt you." he admitted.
BDSM? No pressure, you could handle this.
"How bad?" you asked.
He kissed you, it was sweet at first but then it turned bruising. There was something immature about it that made you thankful you were still young. He started sucking on your neck, but you felt a bit of teeth in there.
"Let's go somewhere private." you urged.
He chuckled, a smirk to his lips. His gaze wasn't one of admiration, which was new, but you appreciated his playfulness and honesty.
"Lead the way, princess."
Reader and Shang Tsung banter (slight friendship). I don't think Chaosrealm exists in the new timeline, or is at least inaccessible, so reader is descended from a Seido outcast. Their ancestor was a bit like Darrius, so that's the closest to Chaos she's gonna go.
This prompt is for @valyrra, hope you enjoy. Sorry if there's not enough Liu Kang.
You watched Liu Kang stand next to keeper Kitana. They were talking, smiling at each other with the utmost care in their eyes. You could pull any man you wanted, but you couldn't help the worry and jealousy you felt as you stared at them. This was Liu Kang's Kitana, one where he came from.
Your titan self was almost identical to you, and when you spotted her she was standing next to her partner from her timeline, something you always did when your partner was around. And that was Liu Kang, but it wasn't the appropriate time to get his attention.
There were multiple versions of you, and yet only two were titans. There was one with Kung Lao, the other with Johnny Cage. You loved Johnny, but seeing the difference in your love life sent a punch to your gut.
You tried to distract yourself by applying makeup, keeping your attention to your mini mirror. But a certain sorcerer had to have your attention.
"Isn't it a shame. It's always the ones you hold dear."
"Shut up." you rolled your eyes at Shang Tsung. "Didn't you get your crown snatched?"
Shang frowned but waved his hand dismissively, "It wasn't a pageant crown, it wasn't as important as it was made out to be." he spoke sarcastically.
"You still lost a crown." you waved your lipstick at him.
"I'm sure he doesn't mean it like that." said a different Shang, a Light variant of him. He had a gold circlet crown that proved your point. "I'm sure he's just..." he stared hard at his other self, who returned the stare with a tiny sneer, "A bit concerned."
"Very concerned." Shang crooned, "You aren't your usual lively self."
Light Shang blinked at you, "You feel upset, why?"
You looked at them both, then at where your Liu Kang was talking with his Kitana.
"Look at them." you hissed and then pouted.
Light Shang glanced at where you were glaring and a small smile went on his face. "Princess Kitana and Lord Liu Kang. They are always good allies."
You huffed, "Sure."
Light Shang held interest in his eyes, "Is this timeline's Liu Kang courting you? He looks at you with a lot of affection."
"We are intimate."
"I doubt he gets squeamish." said your Shang, inspecting his nails.
Light Shang had a slight blush on his cheeks and avoided eye contact. "You both enjoy each other."
"We don't just enjoy each other, he takes me out to places and listens to me when I talk. And I just love the way he talks to me, you know." you playfully slapped his arm. "His voice all deep and smart sounding." you purred.
Shang rolled his eyes in disgust while his good counterpart accepted the information in stride.
"But now he's seeing his ex-girlfriend." you continued, "What if he leaves me for her? I've never been in anything long term but I don't want it to end so soon."
Light Shang was sympathetic, "I am confident Liu Kang's feelings for you haven't changed."
"It's not often for a person to find another that's fluent in yapping." your Shang supplied unhelpfully. Light Shang shot him a look of disapproval. Shang looked up and his glee returned, "I guess I spoke too soon."
You all looked up. Liu Kang was standing in front of you, his expression stern enough to match his mood.
"Comrades." he addressed both Shangs, and then his attention went solely on you. "My flower, may I speak with you?"
"Fine." you got up, walking with him to somewhere private, but you refused to touch him.
"You were speaking with Shang Tsung."
His eyes were angry looking, but two could play that game.
"I was. Weren't you speaking to Kitana?" you crossed your arms at him, "You seem close with her."
It was then Liu Kang realised where your mind was going, "That was eons ago."
"You didn't seem to be acting like it. It looks to me that eons have turned into a day." you fixed him a stern look of your own, "And Shang Tsung is my rival, there's nothing going on between us."
"Flower," he started, taking your hand, "There is nothing I'm starting with Kitana. We are simply allies now."
He was expression was soft, and the rosy parts of your heart went all gushy. "You really mean that?"
He started kissing your hand, and then his kisses went up your arm, to your shoulder and then your cheek. You giggled, and Liu Kang was pleased to have a positive response from you.
"I would never do this to Kitana."
This time his lips were on yours and you gave in. You were able to push him away before anything got serious, "Not here, Darling. We will need secure privacy."
He chuckled, "Of course, only I can see your delicate parts." he was possessive, which wasn't usual of him.
And then you realised something. "You were jealous of Shang Tsung." your heart skipped a beat, "Aww, darling." you grabbed his face, and he flushed as you delivered a bunch of kisses on it.
He has marks on his face now, but he didn't wipe them away. Not that he ever did unlike your ex boyfriends. That's another thing you loved about Liu Kang.
You hugged him eagerly, "There's nothing to be jealous of."
"I am very relieved to hear that." he admitted, returning the hug. He didn't let go.
"Are you two going to be having alone time all day?" Shang Tsung, asked. His hand was raised sass-ily in contempt.
"An hour should suffice." you answered.
Shang's face screwed up, "I'll pretend I didn't hear that and just tell everyone that you're both very busy."
He wasn't wrong. You both were about to be very busy.
As a kid (6-7) I used to believe that Stella was latina and Flora was either light skinned or mix-raised. So when Aisha/Layla came along I thought there were two black girls in the group.