Character Rant - Tumblr Posts

Jason Grace Deserved Better

*This is just my opinion. I don’t care if you like TOA

Like most fans, I at first didn’t like Jason too much. Compared to most of the main characters, Jason seemed pretty bland. However, after rereading the books and analyzing Jason’s character, I realized how interesting he is. All his life, Jason has always been the “golden boy” leader type without really exploring himself. After the HOO series though, Jason started exploring more of himself beyond people’s expectations. When I learned about him appearing in the TOA series, I was expecting more exploration and growth for Jason, but it was ignored and he was killed off. This made me very upset.

Jason had a mission to commemorate every god (Greek or Roman) and live his own life. It would’ve been great representation for people who have trouble with their identity. If Rick wanted to add something tragic to Jason’s story then he could’ve done something else. Or he could’ve prolonged his death after doing at least a bit of Jason’s development.

With his relationship with Piper, I didn’t care much for the romance in HOO but felt it was getting better when they both agreed to restart their relationship in BOO. When I read that they broke up, I was upset because the reasoning contradicted what happened in BOO, and Rick didn’t show us (the readers) why it didn’t work out during that time skip. And Piper moving on so fast after Jason’s death left a bad taste in my mouth. It was shown before Jason’s death that the two still had feelings for each other after the breakup. The timeline from Jason’s death to the end of the TOA series was around 2-3 months, which seems a bit short for someone to move on after their first love died. Maybe Piper’s girlfriend is a rebound but I’m still meh with Piper moving on at that time. Also note that I’m not upset about Piper having a girlfriend. I’m a part of the community and am all in for representation.

Jason not reuniting with Leo was so bad. He deserved to see him again as much as Piper. Coach Hedge assuming Jason broke up with Piper and being mad at him was so disrespectful. A big part of Hedge is him caring about the Lost Hero trio and it was disregarded because of drama. I consider TOA worse than HOO and non-canon. Honestly, the series made me not care about the new releases for the series. I’m only interested in the Nico story because he’s at least well-written and justice for Bob.

I’m thinking of writing an essay on how I would rewrite Jason’s character and development but it would take a while and I don’t have the time.

MK1 Character Writing Review

I'm curious about other fans' opinions on MK1's character writing. Personally, I think it's improved most characters but there are some issues.

Ashrah: I'm happy she's back because Ashrah was the 3D-era character I wanted to return. I really like that they kept her story from the 3D era but improved it. I'm curious to see if she'll get corrupted by the Kriss in the next game.

Baraka: His story improved immensely. I never cared for Baraka in the previous games since he wasn't developed enough and was just one of Shao Kahn's henchmen. Baraka being a victim of Tarkat makes him more sympathetic and interesting. I hope he gets a happy ending but I think he'll die in the later games.

General Shao: I'm a bit disappointed in how he was written. I was hoping we'd learn about his past and how it affected his personality. Shao was born with a weak body, so I expected his father to be abusive by forcing Shao to go beyond his limits. This would cause Shao to believe being strong is the only thing that matters. Hopefully, the next story portrays Shao as more than a stock villain.

Geras: I really liked this version of Geras compared to MK11's since he's more than Kronika's minion. He's loyal to Liu Kang but they are friends/partners, and Geras wants to protect Liu Kang's timeline because he believes in its potential.

Havik: I was really interested in learning about Havik, his powers, and the Chaos realm. I was disappointed that Havik was a minor character and his powers weren't explained. I heard that there will be a story taking place in Seido/Order Realm so I'm crossing my fingers that we'll have a great story for Havik and other Order/Chaos realm characters.

Johnny Cage: His backstory and personality didn't change that much which I'm glad for because MK9-11 Johnny had one of the best character arcs in that era. I really enjoyed his bromance with Kenshi and his comedic moments were really fun (my favorite was the Alien reference).

Kenshi: Kenshi's story was already good but it was improved upon and explored further. Kenshi wanting Sento to protect his family from the Yakuza and bring back the Taira clan made me sympathize with him, and actually seeing how he loses his sight was horrifying and broke my heart. His bromance was Johnny was one of my favorite parts and I hope they are in future games together.

Kitana: I found Kitana kind of bland. Unfortunately, with her old goal of wanting to be an Empress going to Mileena, she lost what made her interesting. She felt more like Mileena's sidekick rather than her own character. Maybe that'll change in future games since she's a part of Mileena's council.

Kung Lao: Kung Lao was likable and enjoyable. I don't have much to say other than that. I want the next story to explore his ego/arrogance and why he has that attitude. Although I really like Raiden as Earthrealm's champion, I sort of wish Kung Lao was the champion since he's wished for that opportunity for so long.

Li Mei: Li Mei is an okay character. She's kind of boring since she's a "follow the rules" character. Her and Sindel's friendship was the most interesting aspect of her. Li Mei's powers are really cool though, and I'm a big fan of Kelly Hu (her va).

Liu Kang: Having Liu Kang as Earth's protector and Time Keeper made his character more interesting compared to him being the "Chosen One." I am slightly disappointed in the way he was written. I expected/wanted Liu Kang to be a neutral good character where he's willing to do bad things to keep the peace. They kind of did that with Liu Kang creating meaningless lives for Shang Tsung and Quan-Chi, but he was never called out for those decisions. I also wanted the other characters to start questioning Liu Kang about why there are still tragedies occurring and why doesn't he intervene. Though we get it in the battle intros, I wanted it explored in the story. The writing for how Liu Kang's time powers was also pretty unclear. The power's restrictions were never specified so it's not obvious which events in the timeline are Liu Kang's mistakes or not.

Mileena: Adored her in this game! I love seeing Mileena happy for once with a loving family and a good life. I expected her to be overtaken by Tarkat the whole but was happy to see her with a regular mouth for most of the game. Having her as Empress is really interesting and can't wait to see more of that.

Nitara: I really wanted to like Nitara, yet she's so bland. I thought we would learn about Vaternius, and see Nitara being a truly neutral character. Compared to the other 3D characters in the game, she was the most disappointing.

Raiden: This version of Raiden is way more likable than previous iterations. He's nice, humble, handsome, and strong. He's literally the perfect man! I'd like his anger issues from the previous iterations to be developed in the next story. His anger would get out of control after a tragedy and he feels like being more ruthless is more beneficial to protecting everyone.

Rain: I don't have much to say about Rain. He's kind of boring and was sidelined in the game. Maybe he'll have some kind of connection to Delia and Argus, which will introduce them to the new timeline.

Reiko: Reiko's okay. The only thing I'm really interested in is his relationship with General Shao and it's mostly me wondering whether Shao is capable of caring/loving someone.

Reptile: Love this rendition of Reptile! Like Baraka, Syzoth is more complex and isn't only Shao Kahn's minion. He has one of my favorite designs in the game and his backstory shows the issue of internal racism. The only thing I'm iffy about is his family that was murdered was his wife and son since that is very similar to Baraka's backstory to losing his wife and children to Tarkat. Plus, it's kind of weird that he moved on with Ashrah relatively quickly. I would've preferred if his family were his parents or siblings.

Scorpion: At first, I was a bit iffy about Kuai Liang being Scorpion but think it was a good choice since it makes the rivalry between the Lin Kuei and the Shirai-Ryu more personal. I'm excited to see how his and Sub-Zero's story moves forward.

Sindel: Good queen and mom Sindel is best Sindel! She was very likable! I had a feeling she would die in the story though her soul being absorbed into Ermac was unexpected. I'm interested in where this story will go.

Shang Tsung: I really enjoyed how sassy Shang Tsung was, and was glad he was the main villain after so long. The only thing I'm disappointed in is we didn't see more of his backstory. Also, the idea of Shang Tsung being evil all along NRS was going with was pretty lame. I wanted to see whether Shang Tsung was truly born evil or if was he made that way because of his hardships. It being the latter would've been intriguing because it means Liu Kang technically created Shang Tsung.

Smoke: Smoke is a sweetie, but didn't have much going for him. I was really interested in Smoke when he was in MK9 so I expected him to have his own chapter and develop. Maybe the Lin Kuei/Shirai Ryu war will give me that.

Sub-Zero: I hoped Bi-Han would be an interesting antihero instead of a generic villain. His betrayal is fine, but I wish he was more indecisive or slightly regretful of his choice since he lost his brothers. For example, when he slashed Kuai Liang's eye, I wanted to see him be regretful and sorry for hurting his brother. We didn't get that, which is one of the biggest disappointments of the story.

Tanya: I'm neutral with Tanya. Personally, her role and personality are too similar to Jade's. She felt like a totally different character who happened to have the same name as the original Tanya. Changing a character's story is okay, yet there should be some part of the original iteration that stays. I do find her and Mileena super sweet and I hope they live a happy life.

Just a Jotaro Kujo appreciation post! (Part 3 specifically)

I’m gonna struggle trying to put into words how much I am hyperfixated on this dude.

Because OH MY GOD this man is such a dorky badass.

I first got introduced to this man when JoJo memes were at the height of popularity in 2014-2016(?) and I was instantly attached to his cool-ass outfit and demeanor (long coats are peak character design). I even mimicked his iconic pointing pose during the time cuz I thought it was that cool. (I then kinda forgot about him years later).

But now that I’m actually interested and also trying to watch the show, I was able to learn more about Jotaro’s personality and traits.

And WOW I share so many traits with his Part 3 self more than I do with my other favorite characters;

we’re both highschoolers (same age of 17 too)

usually quiet/reserved unless with close friends

Introverted nature

Blunt

having a habit of trying to come up with cool one-liners/combacks (although his are more cooler than mine)

possibly autistic

AroAce vibes

I could even go far as to say he’s “literally me!”

And even with those simple traits set aside, this dude is cool as hell.

A stoic badass who is secretly a softie and a dork with a heart of gold and strong sense of justice.

And he’s so goddamn pretty while also being intimidating as well! I almost feel envious just by looking at him. And his English Dub voice just makes it better (thanks Matt Mercer)

Heck, I’m even planning to cosplay as him for my Senior high school year for Halloween (if my parents let me), and I’m so gosh darn hyped.

I probably sound like one of those schoolgirls lmao but TL;DR: I fucking love Jotaro Kujo.

I think one of the saddest things people tend to overlook (at least in what content I’ve seen) about Yosano’s past is what happens after the war.

Yosano says that the war was one of the worst parts, she was actively traumatized by Mori, and exposed to things no child should see. She was attacks, hated, used and manipulated emotionally. Not only is that horrible and horrific and she lost her only friend in the military to suicide, and that’s a huge amount of trauma for an eleven year old to go through.

To me the saddest part of when she says; “Even after the war they kept me in isolation in a mental facility. I don’t imagine I would have left, even if the door was left open.”

It really shows that Yosano didn’t just leap over her trauma, the war started when she was 11 and the show and manga starts when she’s 24, it’s been years of living with Fukuzawa and Ranpo learning to deal with her trauma in a healthy way. A lot of situations, even if not as severe as Yosano’s deal with the victims feeling the same way!

As if they wouldn’t be able to leave, even if the door was wide open and freedom was right there staring them in the face. The emotional and mental manipulation can even make freedom be scary, it’s new and not routine and not, sad as it is, comforting or familiar.

Let’s talk about the Atsushi cannibalism theory (it’s 1 am and I’m not sorry)

So there are two parts to this theory; and let’s start with the easiest one as it has actual relevance to the source material.

Atsushi Nakajima ate people when he was unaware of his ability. First I want to point out that this is probably canon and just ignored by all of the characters. When Atsushi first met Kunikida and Dazai, during the restaurant scene both in the anime and in the manga, they say they’re looking for a *man eating tiger*. Which, let’s be honest while a starving tiger would eat people, probably means it wasn’t just hysteria and Atsushi had confirmed deaths. He was considered a dangerous beast by the military, and would be killed on sight, not subdued.

So at the very least, even when he attacks Dazai, and they scold him for being reckless, we know there are probably confirmed deaths to his ability. Most likely as a starving tiger he ate these people or tore parts of them off so badly they died without help in the middle of the night. He’s kept unaware of this for his own mental health (we saw how the Dead Apple event affected him), and for plot convenience. Now that he has control and never uses a full tiger form again, he’s not just going out and eating people. But the ADA knows he’s killed people, they have to right??

Second, a theory with little to no evidence that’s a fan theory that I personally find fascinating is the “what did Atsushi’s parents do to him before the orphanage?” We get the line from Fitzgerald (I can’t find which season it’s from) “After breaking your ribs, he had these choice words; ‘after every thing your parents did to you when you were just an infant, this doesn’t even count as abuse’.”

We never get real confirmation or hints as to what exactly Atsushi’s parents did to him. There are fan theories I’ve seen (I don’t know the origin) where Atsushi’s birth parents may have eaten parts of him out of poverty and desperation, because he could regenerate with his ability. We know his ability has been active since early childhood, hence the being locked up and other forms of abuse at the orphanage.

Though there’s no hints or solid evidence, I’m fond of this theory because of the irony that his parents ate him, only for him to eat other people. Had the tiger or Atsushi not been starved would this have happened? Would the tiger continue to eat people out of instinct, or a form of familiarity and comfort?

It’s a wild theory and it’s absurd, but it’s one that sticks in my mind often