[PSA] To whoever used to follow my old account, @eglantinian - Please IGNORE any reports or messages in tumblr from my account, eglantinian. I have been scammed and can no longer access my tumblr. If anyone could please share this, I'd be grateful, thank you.
Just please ignore any messages or reports or asks. They are a scam and have hacked my account.
This, @graymingze, will be my new and only account.
UPDATE: Tumblr was able to revive my old account, @eglantinian. Please take this update as notice to NO LONGER INTERACT with it any further.
Staff assured me it's all right now and that they've removed any influence from the scammer in my old account, but I've elected to no longer use it as I no longer feel safe in that account. My old account will now just be a dead archive.
If you receive any messages or asks from the old one, please know THAT ISN'T ME. Ignore, dismiss, unfollow.
@graymingze is the only account I will now be officially using.
I've read a few LiuLao fics that were new to me and I am astonished ! The characterization is off the charts!! It's several different intelligent writers who echo vital similarities that feeds directly into my top/bottom delusions. I feel vindicated to an almost unhealthy degree.
Now, need to say, I have been getting more and more tolerant of witnessing switch content/the wrong top x the wrong bottom kinda thing, it's.. there. It exists. But it's still not something I'm gonna entertain. I hate to harp on it but again, I am victorious.
My tempestuous beautiful angel Kung Lao is brutally and ruthlessly dominated by my innocent but masculine charmer Liu Kang. This is the norm. Finally, I am not the odd one out. It feels so good.
I especially love how most of them seem to be in agreement that Liu Kang is super spoiled by Kung Lao. He's able to bully his way through him because of his huge soft spot for him, which he utilizes frequently to get his way. Liu Kang is described as this honest and humble man who's built for the spotlight as he is a spectacle with his chiseled looks + tight athletic build. He's polite to a point with newcomers and seems approachable at first glance, but obviously he's bred to fight so all that superficial humbleness gets thrown out the window when he really wants to gift a beat down.
What's so funny is that he goes out of his way to be cool with everyone else (cool as in he'll form no real opinion until he has to because I don't think he cares much who he's around as long as he has Kung Lao to more freely voice his thoughts) but with Kung Lao he forces a bigger presence onto him that screams out unrelenting dominance. This guy is supposed to be younger, an orphan, trained under the same masters as Kung Lao, and yet he gets the one thing Kung Lao worked so hard for? Here he is lecturing him, sparring no punches during training, valuing Raiden's (wrong!) input over his, and even fighting him when he doesn't get his way.
It's not so crazy to think that Liu Kang, in all his humbleness, virtue, and patience, holds a possession over Kung Lao that no one else has. Very interesting. What's more interesting is that Kung Lao tends to allow this behavior in fics. He's deeply ashamed and humiliated by this allowance but he's managed to convince himself that he has no say in what Liu Kang does to him. Calling him a animalistic brute in his head while simultaneously admitting how he secretly likes to be used in such a way. But even in the case that he doesn't like it, he still won't establish stronger boundaries because of his deep fondness for Liu Kang. Maybe he feels special in some kind of profound way to somehow catch the attention of the chosen one, for once put above Raiden and everyone else who believes he isn't good enough.
Kung Lao of course has his own form of obsessive possession over Liu Kang, believing it's his right to stay by his side. He loves the way Liu Kang had gravitate toward him since the beginning, how enthused he was to have an innocent victim fall prey to his false bravado. He likes having someone around who'll think the world of him no matter what. But what happens when Liu Kang's gravitation drifts elsewhere? Nothing good at all don't think about it.
I also really really love how it's a common trope to have Kung Lao so devastated in the heat of passion that he genuinely believes that he's about to be fucked to death by a ravenous Liu Kang. This happend in 4 fics that I've read so far. Beautiful stuff. In a few other fics, it's common to have Liu Kang deciding when Kung Lao is ready to take him and not the other way around. Kung Lao always thinks of him as a brat and can never do enough to dissuade this thinking. Again, Liu Kang is very spoiled.
Also, so in love with the way that Liu Kang is described as someone who is so socially awkward that he's borderline not very smart 😭 like Kung Lao genuinely thinks he's dumb. He'll watch him flail around people and think "he needs my guidance 😐". He can be smart when he wants to be but he is described as socially awkward.. Kung Lao, however, is of course, intelligent. It's work smarter x work harder and I think that's cute. Kung Lao tends to have a more intelligent gaze and is more freely voicing his suspicions/concerns.
Everyone describes him as overly confident and cocky but he was sold a lie. He believed earthrealm's champion was in his blood, which automatically placed him above everyone else, adding unfair pressure to his shoulders. He was snubbed and people don't like to dwell on this. Kung Lao has never turned against Liu Kang or Earthrealm for his mistreatment and still people hate on him. He just wanted to protect earth 😀 he wanted to make his ancestors proud 😂 he wanted to be what everyone told him he would be,, and still he loves Liu Kang 😭😭😭 It really is too much.
Liu has a flare for dramatics. Waiting for someone to comment on there being no door before activating the door, invading Sonya’s personal space when saying “there will be no mercy”
He totally saw Kano steal the amulet but decided to continue his monologue before scolding him.
Liu even has a dramatic entrance for entering his Father Figure’s room (it gives the same vibe as a child asking if their friend can sleepover)
Straight to The Point
While being welcoming, Liu doesn’t hesitate to get straight to the point about how deadly the tournament is and how little time there is left to train.
When Cole says Sonya is “one of us" Liu Kang raises his hand before he interrupts him and explains how Sonya would be a "liability" without a marking. Liability is a strong word, but unlike Kung Lao who seems like he doesn't want to be the bearer of bad news, Liu Kang has no problem getting into the nitty gritty of the rule.
When Liu takes over insulting Kano, it reads different than when Kung Lao does it. As mentioned in the first post, it sounds like a sincere question first, then it sounds like he's trying to speak Kano's language by comparing him to an aggressive bunny, but when he tells Kano he SHOULD be angry, it sounds like he was planning to go into details if it weren't for Kung Lao finally deciding to choose violence
Act First, Then Talk
Instead of telling Kano to stop when he sees the knife pulled out, he goes immediately for the fireball. Throwing fire at someone as a warning shot can go very badly, so he would’ve had to figure out how to control the temp to not bbq someone. Fireball is first occurrence of Liu acting first before speaking.
He has the same approach when it comes to Subzero and Kabal. Whenever he faces a new threat, he doesn't attempt to ask questions or speak at all.
“You must fight without question” definitely describes his act first, speak after approach
Grounding through Tactile Stimulation (Beads and Shoulder Touches)
Liu puts a hand on Kano’s shoulder before saying “there’s much to learn” after Kano’s questions. I think that Liu sees touch as a soothing gesture, and was trying to calm Kano down. He also touches Sonya’s shoulder soon after. She seems to be processing what’s going on as well.
Liu clutches the meditation beads when Sonya see Jax and he has to explain Jax's condition
Liu fiddles with beads after Shang Tsung and Co. are banished and Kano brings up the powers again. This is the first time we see him do this as a self-soothing gesture as opposed to just holding them
Kung Lao puts a hand on Liu’s shoulder after saving him. Liu is visibly frightened at the near death experience and reaches out to Kung Lao to steady himself. He doesn't bounce back from the shock quickly, and looks visibly terrified.
After grounding himself, Liu put on his game face and is ready to fight. This time Liu doesn’t throw a fireball automatically. I think it’s a mixture of still processing what to do and Lao being there. I bet if Kung Lao would’ve jumped into action first then Liu would’ve followed
Liu rubs his fingers on the beads as a tactile stim after Kung Lao slices Cole's arm in the fight. This time Liu was already standing as he watched. Based on the other times he rubs his thumbs over the beads, as opposed to just grasping it, he most likely got anxious when Cole got hurt, if not when the fight started with Kung Lao's hand on his hat
Liu collapses with his hand on Kung Lao’s hat. While Sonya kneels to his level, it breaks my heart that no one offers Liu a physical form of comfort, like “SOMEBODY place a hand on his shoulder RIGHT NOW”. The only thing grounding him rn is Lao’s hat, in comparison to earlier in the movie when Lao was stabilizing a visibly shaken Liu after he almost got killed by Subzero.
Liu places pressure on his own hands, probably to replicate the grounding sensation. The beads also fall on his hand when he’s taking out the headband
Visible Emotions
Excitement
Covered in my first post about Liu's Identity, but the run down is: Liu is excited to finally see other people like him, who he can form a kinship with.
Shock/Panic
As mentioned before, the first instance of legit panic is seen after he's saved by Kung Lao in the Subzero fight. It's interesting to note that he struggled to bounce back from it quickly and attempted ground himself by touching Kung Lao's torso, but even his attempt of reaching out was unsteady if you look at his hand.y
Liu is visibly surprised when Cole takes Kung Lao down, like he didn't think of the possibility that Kung Lao could lose against Cole at all. Especially after what Raiden said about Cole not being physically or mentally fit.
Despite seeing Kano get more and more infuriated, Liu is aghast when Kano's anger at being insulted unlocks his Arcana. His puts his beads around his hand again rolls his thumb over the rows apprehensively as the scene ends
Liu looks terrified hearing Kung Lao in danger. Given how much he admires Kung Lao and sees him as a superior, he never thought a time would come where Kung Lao would need to be saved. He probably never heard Kung Lao scream like that before in his life
Liu not automatically attacking Shang Tsung and resorting helplessly crying out for Kung Lao reminds me of Smallville when Johnathan Kent has a heart attack and Clark (who has faced many villains before) shuts down not knowing what to do to help his dad. I know people criticize this scene a lot because “throw a fireball” but after hyper analyzing Liu for 4 hours it becomes completely understandable why all rational thought went out the window when seeing Kung Lao half dead and dying. I think the editing for the scene massively undercuts the desperation because of how drawn out it is in slow motion. If the scene was time accurate I think it would’ve conveyed how little time Liu had.
Despondency and Tuning Out
When UPSET Liu tends to zone out if stimming isn't helping enough:
He is so happy to show Raiden his new friends. He’s smiling until the second he sees Raiden’s disappointment. Liu’s face falls instantly. As Raiden berates Cole and Sonya, Liu becomes despondent and mentally disengages with his surroundings (outside of briefly dodging the lightning shot at Kano)
For most of the scene in the pocket dimension Liu doesn't speak and is focusing on grounding himself with the hat
He looks despondent when Raiden says that they were victorious that day, at the end of the movie
Veiled Anger
Liu calmly describes his tragic background as a "worthless stray" who was picked up, "half-dead in the gutter", and given a community in a way that is nearly 100% matter-of-fact. He looks at Cole with warmth in his eyes UNTIL he gets to the Child Trafficker. Liu has a major shift in demeanor, his eyes go dark and he looks past Cole as he dissociates reliving that day. Unfortunately, that was while Liu was cauterizing Cole's wound, so instead of using his normal Dark Orange fire, his anguish from that day increases the temperature of the fire— turning it WHITE. It's not enough that Liu had already killed this man. The amount of STRIFE Liu has is present. What's unnerving about this in particular, how good he is at concealing his anger from his face.
When trying to understand Kano's attitude leads to Kano insulting him and Kung Lao, that's when Liu shows how infuriated he is by throwing his chopsticks down. After reacting with anger, though, Liu's next instinct is to run his hands over his meditation beads to calm himself down. After Kano is sarcastic with him again, that's when he decides to push further and invades Kano’s space.
VINDICATION, I TELL YOU @pierrot-parables YOU DID IT AGAIN, SLAYYYYYYY 🫰😭🫰 i cried reading the notes because i felt it smsmsmsm. it echoed smsmsms what i felt every re-watch!!! thank you, thank you, thank you, these notes are so very dear to me!! 😤🫶🫶🫶
