#ashrah mk

[ashrahcoliary]

*heavy sigh* "These fools will kill themselves before they can have the honour of dying by my blade..."

[ashrahcoliary]

An almost perfect cosplay 😂🤍

A shame that the stats on this outfit suck 😭

[ashrahcoliary]

"So done with all this bullshit and these so-called 'fans'," she cries.

[ashrahcoliary]

I pride myself on having collected what I believe are at least most of Ashrah's drawings. I had missed this one, though, from an artist who even has another drawing of her, one that I believe was one of the first drawings of her I found, and I'm sad because I REALLY like this:

I LOVE this innocent and graceful look that nonetheless hints at that wonderful fierceness behind 🔥😈 I also love that she kind of looks like my Ashrah 🥰

It doesn't seem like the artist posts anymore, at least not on DeviantArt (yes, it's a hellhole, I know, but I still find cool stuff there like this!), but still, give them a like 🤍

[ashrahcoliary]

Bit of a rant time because I keep seeing this despite my best efforts, and the ignorance is beyond frustrating. And no, sometimes it's not out of malice, and people understand the issue when I explain to them, so I'll write it here, too, even though no one will read it, but I want to take it out of my system:

Midway-era Ashrah and MK12 Ashrah have nothing to do with one another.

One is a warrior in search of her freedom. The other is a travesty written by a misogynistic fuck.

One comparison I find quite useful to illustrate this situation is Mulan. Yes, the Disney version. People love the animated film and the character of Mulan. Rightfully so, she's wonderful! And why? Because she's someone who goes after what she wants (yes, saving her father is definitely part of it, but we also know that joining the military was a way for her to free herself from a life she didn't want), who struggles and fails and makes mistakes but ultimately grows better and becomes who she desires to be. Her relationships are significant because these people (and dragon) struggle and grow with her. And her budding romance with Shang makes sense and is compelling because 1) It doesn't interfere negatively with Mulan's journey, she never stops pursuing what she wants because of Shang; 2) They both respect each other and complement who each other are instead of making the other something they're not. Mulan is a warrior, a woman of strong will, of intelligence, and we see that clearly and beautifully through her arc.

Now, fast-forward to the garbage that is live-action Mulan. She doesn't struggle. She faces no real obstacles. She's the best of the best since the beginning of the film, she proves herself better than her commander on the first day of training, and her journey is as shallow as a pond. She has no meaningful relationships, she has no tangible growth, and all those pretty acrobatics mean absolutely nothing. People don't like live-action Mulan. Again, rightfully so.

Why, then, are Midway Ashrah and MK12 Ashrah seen differently when this is exactly what happened with these two characters—because no, they're not the same character.

Now, let's be honest for a moment here: the storytelling in the Midway era wasn't perfect. It left a lot to be desired when it comes to Ashrah's lore and journey. But the writers—actual writers and not a pig pretending to be one—understood at least the basics of the character they had in hand. Ashrah is a prideful, arrogant warrior. When she defeats Baraka, she doesn't kill him, not because she can't, but because she deems him beneath her. When she's defeated by Ermac, she doesn't surrender; she lunges at them (yeah, fuck it, Ermac is a they/them for me) and continues to fight until Elder Gods know when. She fights and fights until she escapes the Netherrealm, and when the Armageddon comes, she joins the side of the "light" not because she's a hero or even a "good person," because she's faaaaar more complex than that, but because she believes she is a saviour, she believes the genocide she wants to commit will bring her her freedom because her sword tells her to—a swor that's not holy like she believes but is instead a piece-of-shit manipulator who wishes for nothing but blood. How amazing and compelling is this internal conflict?

Because here's the deal: yes, Ashrah is arrogant and prideful and prejudiced and disillusioned, and some might even consider her evil. She's all that. But she's not only that. That's just the tip of the iceberg. That's Mulan at the start and first steps of her journey. This is the struggle, the learning, the mistakes. And I strongly believe that Midway would've given us that; because they recognised what Ashrah and Datusha are, and they recognised what Nitara is, which is also incredibly important. Because Nitara isn't a shallow, cartoonish villain. She's a protector, a guardian, a saviour. She's what Ashrah wants to be, except Nitara doesn't shy away from her nature. She embraces her "darkness," which is exactly what Ashrah must also do since her so-desired "purification" is nothing but a lie.

We have literally none of that with MK12 Ashrah. When we meet her, and she tortures us with a tempest of poorly written exposition, she's already out of the Netherrealm. We already lost an incredibly significant part of her journey. And then there's no conflict. No struggle. No mistakes and learning. If anyone can answer me this, I swear I'll never again talk about MK12 Ashrah: why does she need her purification?

Because not once does she struggle with her demonic nature. That "dark side" in her (equally poorly designed) gameplay that I believed would be part of the story in a meaningful way? Not a trace of it. When Kenshi, a motherfucker she just met, asks her to not kill Quan Chi, the person (because of course he's not a demon for Dumbnic) who enslaved her and whom she had been hunting since finding Datusha (which, by the way, is an actual holy sword lmfao), she simply obeys. WHAT THE FUCK?! Not ONCE she shows herself to be anything but a perfectly balanced and happy critter. She goes to the monastery and instantly masters meditation. She has a fucking boyfriend who, by the way, is still grieving over his wife and son, and who adds absolutely fucking nothing to Ashrah as a character or story. Quite the contrary, it actively harms both of these characters. Is that how someone who hates herself so much she wishes to "purify" a part of herself would behave? You want someone to help Ashrah become her better self? SAREENA IS RIGHT THERE! Yes, that Sareena. No, no, not "Bi-Han's best friend." SAREENA. I don't know if anyone remembers that, but she's actually her own person, or at least she used to be, and not a man's sex doll. Yes, the Sareena whom Ashrah loves so much, she didn't so much as GLANCE at or acknowledge in any other fucking way during "her" chapter :) (yes, "her," because let's be real, it could've been anyone's POV, and it wouldn't have made a difference. Or maybe it would have; maybe it would mean Ashrah wouldn't have been in the game, and thus would've been spared this humiliation)

You may tell me, "But Midway Ashrah never showed any struggle with her demonic nature, either." And that's true and another issue I have with the depiction of the character. However, two counterpoints. First, what I already wrote above: Ashrah (the real one, not the travesty) fights. We see her fighting towards her goal. Even though it lacks development, we see her struggle, we see her rage, which is something you'd certainly expect from someone in her situation. Not all smiles and romance and niceties.

And I could go into so much more here, but folks... this is basic storytelling. Conflict, inner contradictions... Seriously, it's nothing beyond that. Ashrah deserves way more than that (and if you allow me the plug, you can have this "way more" in my series, Chronicles of the Realms), but I'm talking about nothing more than basic storytelling that every real writer knows. Dumbnic is not a real writer. He's a misogynist clown who crawled his way into Mortal Kombat. He didn't only defang Ashrah. He did the same with literally every woman character in MK12. Mileena's wild and fierce nature? Gone. Kitana? What the fuck is she even doing in this game other than shadowing Mileena? Li Mei? Yes, another warrior, a warrior who single-handedly won a tournament, reduced to nothing but a sad bodyguard. Nitara, from a protector who fought fangs and nails to free her people from Outworld? A shallow villain who's supposedly thousands of years old but acts like a spoiled and dumb teenager. Sareena? Well, to be fair, Sareena has long been reduced to nothing but a trophy girlfriend with no personality or story of her own. And people applaud this. People applaud mediocrity and misogyny.

When did so-called "fans" start accepting how poorly these characters are treated? When did MK fall so low?

[sapphixvampire]

This drawing actually makes be so happy because I've been drawing for 11 years now, but this last year I've been practicing endlessly to improve. This is how I've wanted draw since I was 11 and now I'm able to effortlessly draw one of my favorite ships! 🩷

[ichorink]

being an artist and just making ur own merch of ur fav niche character

[sapphixvampire]

Ashrah and Sareena being biological sisters? Let's take this a step further....

Seraphina, Ashrah and Sareena's bio mom, a demoness proficient in necromancy and healing. She loved traveling the realms to offer her services with her favorite being Edenia, where she would befriend Delia. Her love for Edenia would push her as far as to consider immigrating to the realm to study Edenian magic and strengthen her shared gift of future visions with the Edenian sorceress. However, her decisioned had to be delayed twice due to the birth of her two daughters. A decision she would never get to fulfill as during a meeting with Delia, the sorceress would be ambushed and Seraphina would be murdered in the crossfire, leaving Ashrah and Sareena to fend for themselves until they're found by Kia and Jataaka.

(Note: her design isn't finalized I'm still working it out)

Feel free to ask questions!!