Mk Tanya - Blog Posts

(MK1/12) Kitana and Mileena Headcanons

Kitana:

-Kitana likes Raiden but doesn’t want to pursue a relationship because of their different lifespans.

-She was unintentionally compared to her sister because she wasn’t as interested in combat and was weaker than Mileena.

-She had a small crush on Liu Kang for a couple of years (nothing came of it).

-Kitana is interested in traveling to Earthrealm and experiencing the culture, especially after watching some movies Johnny recommended.

-Kitana chose the fan as her weapon because it matched her more defensive fighting style, but added the blades on the ends for offensive purposes.

-She is very apprehensive of Tanya because she comforted and helped Mileena through her breakups. Kitana sees how much her sister loves Tanya and doesn’t want to see her get it hurt.

-After Jerrod’s death, Kitana became the mediator of Sindel and Mileena’s arguments. She often wonders how he did it so well.

-Her and Sindel had a closer relationship because there was no pressure to train Kitana to be the next Empress and their different personalities matched well. They would often have tea or plant flowers in the gardens.

-The idea of Kitana being Empress became more favorable after her frequent visits to the cities and helping citizens when needed. Her compassion became well renowned.

-As children, Mileena would call her “Kitty”.

Mileena:

-Along with Li Mei, Mileena was trained by General Shao since their brutal fighting styles matched. The two were close when Mileena was a child and young teen but it faded when Shao grew resentful towards Sindel and Jerrod’s rule.

-She’s had multiple secret affairs throughout her teens and early adulthood. They usually ended after Mileena learned she was being taken advantage of or a mutual break up because betrothment was not possible.

-Mileena was a troublemaker and would sneak out multiple times without anyone knowing until she contracted Tarkat from one of those outings.

-Her relationship with Tanya began after Jerrod’s death and Tanya comforted her during the grieving process.

-Mileena came out to Kitana first since she trusted her sister would be there for her and not tell their parents before she did. Kitana and Mileena hugged and the former told her that nothing would break their sisterly bond. She was nervous about coming out to her parents because she didn’t want them to view her differently and the idea of producing an heir weighed heavy on her. She was happy when they assured her that they still love her and nothing would change that. Mileena cried during both instances.

-Mileena chose the sai as her weapon since it matched her aggressive fighting style and made her focus on defensive fighting.

-Mileena chose Kitana to replace Shao because of her sister’s compassion and wish to unite Outworld, something Shao lacked.

-Her and Jerrod had a closer relationship because she could vent to her father about her worries and frustrations with being the future empress without judgment. They also spent time walking in the gardens and having picnics.

-After Sindel started training Mileena, their relationship soured since it became the basis of it and led to many disagreements.

-As children, Kitana would call her “Milly”.

MK1 Tanya Rewrite

When it comes to MK1 character writing, I believe Tanya, alongside Nitara and Havik, got the short end. Tanya’s role is too similar to Jade and she doesn’t have too much going for her other than being the leader of the Umgadi and Mileena’s lover. Her backstory is also a bit too bland compared to most characters. I hope this changes in the next story. I had a small idea of how I would rewrite and add dimension to her character. 

Instead of being chosen as an infant like most Umgadi, Tanya began training later in her childhood. She was born on the poorer side of Outworld where her parents owed a massive debt to a corrupt merchant. When her parents died, the debt was transferred to Tanya and she had to steal to survive and pay the debt. Tanya trained herself to fight others who tried to hurt her for money or just for fun. After years of suffering under the merchant’s hand, Tanya got her chance for freedom when a Sun Do constable recruited her to be their mole for their investigation on the merchant who was suspected of trafficking illegal substances and Outworlders. Tanya succeeded and the merchant was arrested. The constable was so impressed by Tanya’s fortitude and fighting skills that she asked an old friend, Li Mei, who was the leader of the Umgadi at the time, to take her in. With that fortitude and natural ability to fight, Tanya rose in the ranks and became the new leader- the youngest to ever be appointed. It was bittersweet since Tanya’s goal was to acquire a higher standing in the Umgadi, but she felt betrayed by Li Mei’s “negligence.” 

Tanya didn’t have a strong opinion of the royal family until her leadership role. With more direct contact with the family, Tanya conversed with the family, especially Mileena. Their first interaction was during Tanya’s patrol when she found Mileena hiding to grieve for her father alone. Feeling sympathy for the princess, Tanya lent her ear and listened to Mileena as she vented about missing her father and the pressure she felt to be as great of an empress as her mother. Since losing Li Mei, Tanya didn’t have a personal connection with anyone until that talk with Mileena. Afterward, Mileena would frequently sneak out of her room and walk alongside Tanya during patrols. They would talk about anything that came to mind or enjoy each other’s company in silence. Their first kiss was the first time Tanya felt alive, but she also felt incredible dread since she betrayed the Umgadi- her family. Tanya avoided Mileena for weeks, yet couldn’t deny her love for her. That’s when their affair began. 

Some mk doodles that I occasionally posted on Telegram.

I think I should give them a life here

В тг это постится чаще, к тамблеру интерес потихоньку угасает, так что...ни на что не намекаю, но

HOW DO ANY HOMOPHOBIC MORTAL KOMBAT FANS EVEN EXIST?? DID Y'ALL JUST NOT PAY ATTENTION TO KUNG JIN, MILEENA AND TANYA IN MKX? OR MILEENA IN MK11? OR MILEENA AND TANYA IN MK1??

EDIT :

Kung Jin is a confirmed gay man, Mileena is confirmed to be bisexual. (I'm unsure if Tanya is also bisexual or if it's unconfirmed yet.) They are explicitly stated. So, only three characters, out of hundreds of named Mortal Kombat characters, are confirmed to be queer.

It's clear nobody is 'forcing' anything, or 'making everything LGBTQ+', because those three examples are the only canon characters apart of our community. You can just block the ship tags, the lgbtq tag, or the people who post that art / fanfictions, you're making a huge issue out of something that takes less seconds to solve than putting on a sock.

If a character has a spouse and kids, it's in no way confirming that they're straight. To believe that is ignoring the bisexual people in real life who have children and a spouse, it's ignoring the fact that bisexual is attraction to all genders, including the opposite, and if a bisexual person wants kids? That's great! It doesn't make them any less bisexual.

It's rather disingenuous to claim you 'have no issue' with our community, but then turn around and be genuinely disgusted or even angry when ships or headcanons are made about us.

It's telling when you only focus on the LGBTQ+ aspect of that headcanon or ship. It's telling when you, only after the post is made and you're rightfully getting harmless criticisms, mention cishet ships and headcanons offhandedly because 'look guys! I'm not homophobic!' Even though you never actually mention what ships or headcanons you dislike, just that you dislike a few.

Unless they're LGBTQ+. In which case you go in vivid detail, you describe how frustrated you get, how it's clearly 'new fans' despite the fact that queer people and their ships + headcanons have been a part of fandom space, since fandoms existed.

To bring up past timelines when you're specifically referring to Mortal Kombat 1 is plain stupidity, Liu Kang changed Tarkat from a species to a disease, it's not hard to believe a character could be trans or gay when before they were hinted otherwise.

It proves that, for you, it's not about shipping or headcanons, or new fans, or fandoms in itself. It's about the fact that our community is gaining acceptance, we're being seen as normal, because we are normal, and we shouldn't be treated as 'it NEEDS to be confirmed to be true.' But for cishet people? Oh, EVERY character is cishet, that's just the 'default'.

Oh, and, by the way, it isn't 'good representation' if you can't actually tell if the character isn't cishet/allo, if it takes years for you to realise Kung Jin is gay, that means his queerness was written badly, which it was. If straight men characters get to flirt with women, and straight women characters get to flirt with men, why can't men flirt with other men, or women flirt with other women?

If cis male characters get to talk about their bodies, and cis female characters talk about their bodies, why can't transgender characters talk about being transgender or how it affects their bodies?

If your audience needs to go to a twitter post or ask around to check what your character's sexuality/gender is, you've quite literally just failed at writing.

Beside that, there's nothing wrong with believing a character is straight or cis, either! Just, don't be awful to those who believe differently, don't send threats, just because somebody believes a character is a part of our community.