#OUaT Mulan

[queer-boo-radley]

[it-happened-once-in-a-meme]

Does Once Upon a Time Like Women? (Pros and Cons)

a response to @does-it-like-women's poll

The show likes women:

•in the way that it writes them as complex people (some of my favorite female characters, who I think are just as well-written as the men) and doesn't just make them a man's backstory (instead people like Regina or Ruby are the ones whose losses of partners influenced their stories) 👍

•Instead they get important storylines not centered around men (even Belle, whose presence is very entertwined with Rumplestiltstkin's, has an episode in which she saves the day far away from him)

•Their strengh and weekness is diverse: physical, social, knowledge or logic based, etc. 👌

•The female villains are allowed to do horrible things and be taken seriously instead of being reduced to mere bad girls innocent enough that all the male viewers don't feel threatened by them. 😈

The show dislikes them:

•when it comes to depicting not conventionally attractive ones (I have yet to see a recurring character on the show who isn't 👀)

•when it comes to highlighting the wrongness of something that happened to them or even romanticing it, for example not talking about the fact that Emma was a minor when she got together with adult Neal (nevermind that she was 18 when she gave birth)

•in the case of Belle: she can be an amazing intelligent character but her lines often seem more repetitive than those of others, often when she's currently together with Rumple

In total, Once Upon a Time sees women as people, acknowledging their complexities and giving them the screen time they deserve. It could've been more aware of some problematic things but at the end of the day it's one of my favorite shows, and I think that's partly due to the many wonderful female characters in it 🥰

Let me know your what you think :)

[blessedchaosgod]

Snow White really managed to piss off Regina AND Mulan in the same life like how is she alive rn

[countrymusiclover]

30 - Finding the Wardrobe

Part 31

The Siphoning Princess

Tag list [ @mystrey101 @melvia-ito @kmc1989 @tallrock35 @onentaien-kwara @maximedallas @child-of-of-the-sunshine

Jaide's pov

Hook and I trekked through the thick forest surrounding us. I wished I didn't have to trust the word of a pirate who desires to kill my father but sadly we are where we are. I needed to find my daughter, make sure she was okay and get us back home to our family. "They say a captor has a right to know his captor's identity. So tell me Jaide what's your story?"

"You don't get to know mine, pirate. Just keep moving and take me to my daughter, please." I whispered the last word under my breath shifting the satchel bag up more onto my shoulder.

Hook couldn't handle the silence and kept talking anyway. "We're getting close. Can we make an arrangement that I get my heart back once I return you to your daughter?"

"Like I said that will come once I see that my daughter Emma is in fact alive! Now keep your mouth shut and keep walking."

We walked for a good while for a long while before finally coming up to an open clearing that appeared to be a village. Scanning the area I gasped covering my mouth once seeing all dead bodies laying everywhere in site. "Oh my god. Who - who could've done this? Emma - Emma!" Coming to the realization I ran around calling out her name praying that whoever did this hadn't killed her too.

"Maybe we should keep our voices down if they are hiding -" Hook got cut off gasping when someone pressed a sword to his throat with a figure standing behind him.

Raising a hand up the figure gasped collapsing onto the dirt with a hand to their throat. "Where's my daughter? Where's Emma?"

"Mom?" Whipping my head around I loosened my grip on the person with my magic seeing her standing a few feet away from me with a woman who was dressed up like a true princess.

"Emma - you're okay. Oh thank god." Breaking into a run I flung my arms around her neck and she stumbled back slowly wrapping her arms around me embracing the hug. "I thought someone might have killed you or what a second-"

Stomping over to the hooded figure after leaving my daughter for a brief moment I used magic to lift them up into the air choking them just a little bit. "Were you planning on killing my daughter?"

"At first yes - before she came here our prince was killed by the thing you would call a Wraith."

Dropping my hand letting the strange woman fall down onto the ground to catch her breath I knitted my brows together in slight confusion. "Our prince. What was his name? Maybe I knew him before the curse."

"His name was Phillip." The other woman wearing a flower headband on her head and a light pink dress with a thin white shawl thrown over her shoulders approached us. "My name is Aurora and you are?"

"I'm Jaide and that's my daughter Emma."

The princess nodded her head. "Why are you in our land?"

"It's a long story but we were originally from this land." I gently raised my hand softly speaking to the princess. "We didn't mean to come here. Now we just need a portal back to a land without magic where our family is."

"This land was spared from the famous curse. We're not certain that any portals exist" The other woman explained removing her hood and revealing a woman with black hair and tan skin dressed in war armor. "My name is Mulan."

"What about the castle I woke up in that has the ocean surrounding it?" Aurora asked, making me sigh in relief.

"That's our - my former home."

Mulan eyed the pirate laying on the ground. "Then we should start our journey there now. What are we going to do with him?"

"Listen to me, Captain Hook." Stomping over to the man with a hook I yanked him upright by the front of his shirt, getting in his face. "I'm going to give you this back but mark my word if you follow us I won't hesitate to kill you."

Hook gulped slowly, nodding his head. "Aye. I understand."

"Let's find our portal home." Taking his glowing heart out of the bag hanging across my body I gently pushed it back inside his chest with the other three just staring at us with concern.

Aurora came over to Emaa whispering. "Who exactly was your mother before the curse?"

"She um - was the Dark One's daughter." She replied to her slowly following me and Mulan as we grabbed some weapons and started our journey to the castle I thought I would raise my family in.

The four of us made our way to my former home without any problems to my surprise. Pushing the double doors opened my mouth fell open not expecting the room we walked into to be the bedroom I had imagined for my twin daughters. A nursery, with a crib built for two babies and several old toys laying around. The wardrobe is seen in the corner, which Emma recognizes crossing the room in shock. "Oh my god... I recognize this from Henry's book."

"I never thought I'd see this place again. This room... It was you and your sister's nursery." My mouth hangs open in utter shock that some of it was still all here. Brushing my fingers over the edge of the crib dust covered my fingertips. Shifting my gaze across the room I noticed two unicorns laying on the window seal that were supposed to go to my two daughters.

Emma gasped slowly looking around the room. "We lived here?"

"You never even got to spend a night. This is the life I wanted you to have. I was going to teach you how to walk in here. How to talk, how to dress for your first ball... You never got to do any of it. We never got to be a family." Tracing the initials engraved of each girl's name that was on the side of the crib.

Emma reminded me. "We have a family – in Storybrooke. And, right now, they need us to get back there. So, how do we get this to work?"

"So you really found your portal back home, aye Stilskin." We both sharply turned our heads around finding the asshole pirate walking through the double doors and over to us until I raised a hand launching him against the nearest wall, choking him with my magic.

"I gave you one hell of a warning, Captain Hook!"

He gasped sharply. "I didn't want Cora to hurt you or destroy your chances of getting back to your family - to your son Henry."

"How do you know that name? I never - Emma, who exactly did you tell his name to?" Glancing over my shoulder I eyed my daughter from across the room.

She shook her head slowly no. "No - except Cora." Before our eyes Hook smirked suddenly transformed and appeared through a cloud of purple smoke showing us someone who looked like Regina meaning it had to be her mother Cora.

"Clever girl."

Glaring at the dark woman. "Where's Captain Hook?"

"He's fetching me my other thing that I need to get to see my daughter and apparently now my grandson Henry." Cora explains simply.

Drawing my hand back I went to throw her across the room but she was quicker than I was. "No, you won't-" Cora waved a hand launching me away from her hand. My back slammed into the column and I grunted trying to break free.

"Jaide! -" Emma cried out my name attempting to come help me yet Cora used magic to wrap a blanket around her legs and threw her down onto her back near the wardrobe.

Emma silently removed the rug from around her legs finding a lighter. She managed to light a fire inside the wardrobe that gained Cora's attention. "Emma - It's over Cora. Looks like we both just lost our way to a land without magic." Collapsing down onto the floor when her attention was elsewhere I drew the sword on my hip. Scrambling to my feet I pressed the blade tip into her back.

"This isn't over, Jaide." Cora disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving me and my daughter alone once more.

Emma gasped getting up from the ground eyeing the now burning wardrobe. "I'm, uh, sorry I torched our ride home. I couldn't let her get to Henry. I just-"

"You had to put Henry first." I finished her sentence with a grin.

Emma started speaking but before she could finish she began crying where I did the only thing I could think of to comfort her. "I was angry at you for so long... Wondering how you could choose to let me grow up without you. But then I just... Seeing all this... You gave up everything for me. And you're still doing that. I'm sorry, I'm not good at this. I... I guess I just... I'm not... I'm not used to someone putting me first."

"Well, get used to it, Emma-Tessa." Flinging my arms around her she buried her face into my shoulder while I cradled the back of her head in one of my hands simply holding her until she stopped crying. "Now come on we need to find somewhere to camp for the night and we'll think of another plan tomorrow."

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[lovecanbesostrange]

ouattober2023 Day 6: Fav Rarepair

Red Warrior (aka Mulan Rouge, fandom, it was right there, come on)

The gif speaks for itself already, Do I need to say more? No. Will I? Absolutely.

Back in S2 I was very happy. I had Sleeping Warrior to ship and also Red Beauty. Two good ships. But over the years there was the question "what if Mulan and Ruby ever met?". It seemed like a fun constellation. The honorable warrior, serious, focused, happily doing her duty. And the werewolf waitress who effortlessly talks to people, who can be mean if need be (and the full moon is out). Imagine Ruby showing Mulan around Storybrooke. She'd have her start her own gym so fast. (After being teased for so long, somebody should have taken Mulan to Storybrooke and let her watch a film already.)

I watched S5 spoiler free. No promos. It's fun. But there is always the guest cast list and seeing the names Jamie Chung and Meghan Ory when The Bear King started? EXCITEMENT! I was then mesmerized by the Mulan&Merida scenes, I almost forgot I was waiting to see Ruby again. And oh boy, THE WOLF! Once again foiled with magic, but that was okay. When Mulan arrives at the Witch's Hut next? A different kind of magic happening indeed...

Meet Cute noun; (in a film or television programme) an amusing or charming first encounter between two characters that leads to the development of a romantic relationship between them.

Yep, I'd say Mulan almost getting attacked saying "you're not a wolf" with a big smile "you just need a little help remembering who you are", then splashing that potion to reveal Ruby, now sorta sitting above her? Perfect meet cute you can talk about for ages. It calls back a pivotal point from Mulan's past and we get to see a mostly decent CGI wolf (in broad daylight). Especially because we know that Red has killed people before and it's so unclear how much control she has, what exactly the Witch has done to her, ending it with her all smiling as well, is great. Of course I have to cry about "My name's Ruby. My friends call me Red." (Sorry, Mulan should have called her Red later on, to hammer that home.)

Mulan has hearteyes from the get-go, Ruby sits there panting. Frame this and put it in a museum. A clashing meeting that is definitely cute. I mean, there's a sword and fur involved.

It's funny how Mulan forgets to even introduce herself and Ruby has to ask her name later on (because suddenly it's night, how long did they sit like that?). And for somebody who likes to overanalyze it's hilarious how they do manage that Mulan mentions Aurora - with the sad music swelling in the background, to remind us all how their last meeting went - and then we cut to Ruby saying goodbye to Snow. In my mind a good reason this pairing works is, that they can get drunk together and lament how terribly in love they both once were with a princess. It's a fun thing to bond over.

Mulan is clearly the rare holder of the braincell, she also brings in a lot of training, so a good fighting form. Ruby is the muscle, but especially for the EF she has a special kind of wit thanks to the curse!persona. The Bear King allowed us to see a darker side of Mulan, hitting rock bottom, being selfish and looking for a fight.So Ruby is a great person to have her enjoy life and find a balance between duty and fun. This is kinda the promise at the end of the ep, finding a path for Mulan, while Ruby searches werewolves.

Obligatory Doylian rant: Red Warrior was the plan. Whatever you wanna say about the writers, they knew this episode was a romantic set-up. There was a cryptic tweet, some drama and so it's all speculative, but I have made my peace that this came down to studio interference. The live action Mulan film was in the works already, it was coming, Mulan is an official big Disney princess and even though everybody with a bit of media literacy understood that Mulan was very much in love with Aurora, there was this plausible deniability and she wasn't like... that gay. Oh no. And this is why Dorothy got squeezed in, Mulan left with nothing. Clearly not what was promised to Jamie Chung. I have no proof, but it is the best explanation how we went from The Bear King to Ruby Slippers (zero hate for that episode or the Red Kansas ship!!).

I want to know what kind of adventures they had together. How did they go about this search? Any rumors about wolves? The maddening thing is how they managed to end up in Oz at all. I know there's a mysterious BTS pic for the ep. But nevermind, what we do get in the beginning is a duo with a routine, complete with a badass back-to-back protective stance. I always pictured them together in Storybrooke, Ruby showing Mulan around. But I guess what I needed was them out in the woods alone, traveling realms and kicking ass (I'm a simple girl, with simple needs).

Two wonderful interactions at the end of TBK are when the Witch arrives at the coronation. Ruby is ready to go on the offense, but Mulan holds her back. Just a few frames, but it's perfect. And then there's their little banter Ruby: "I might not be the best person to ask for dating advice. I kind of ate the only boyfriend I've ever had." Mulan: "Yes, that disqualifies you." [...] Ruby: "It's better than wallowing in self-pity." Mulan: "I don't wallow!"

THEY ARE ALREADY PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER! Endless teasing and running head first into enemies (don't worry, Mulan has a plan; Ruby dramatically takes off her cloak... sometimes even when there is no wolf moon, just to distract enemies).

[caliburn-the-sword]

mulan tried to sabotage aurora's marriage. she was actively trying to ruin her life and happy ending for her own selfish needs. it was a forced love triangle to pander to the woke mob.

did we even watch the same show??? omg. what part of mulan constantly going out of her way to help aurora to get phillip back, even if it would sabotage her relationship with aurora is trying to ruin her happy ending?? how about mulan biting back her feelings to support aurora's pregnancy, putting aurora's relationship with phillip OVER HER OWN FEELINGS??? wow. and then she left to give them the space to maintain the peace and to stop intruding on their family (not that she ever was). pull your head out of your ass. mulan was nothing but caring and considerate and amazing and honestly i think that everyone needs a mulan in their life. truly the most supportive friend of all time

[tavtiers]

Rogue of Time analysis?

The Rogue of Time [symbols: domino mask, gear]

The Rogue class is based on Robin Hood.

The Time aspect’s main themes are endings and destruction. You can find its official description here.

A Rogue of Time is among those who use physical existence. This is the “classpect group” they belong to. Members include: the Knight, Page, Thief, and Rogue of Space/Time. These classes are all opposites or inverses of each other that use the Space/Time dichotomy (physical existence). A description of classpect groupings can be found here.

The Rogue of Time passively steals the Time aspect. Passive classes are guided by others or act for the benefit of others. They are more likely to be kind, but less likely to stand up for themselves. Thieves and Rogues steal their aspect and everything it symbolizes to grant it to someone else. Simplified, the Rogue of Time is motivated by others to steal endings and destruction.

In personality, the Rogue of Time lacks self control and has a strong desire for closure. Personality descriptions can be found here.

Their archetype is the Free Spirit Harbinger, defined by reckless endings and destruction. Archetypes are explained here.

Their opposite is the Thief of Space, who actively steals creation and beginnings.

Their inverse is the Knight of Space, who actively utilizes creation and beginnings.

A classpect or “god tier” is an individual’s best self. All classpects go through a journey from unrealized, to struggle, to realized. When a character is unrealized, they neutrally exist as their inverse. On their struggle, they will wildly flip back and forth between their inverse and true classpect. In their worst moments they will act as their inverse, in their best their true classpect. When realized, they will stabilize as their true classpect. They will still have room to grow, but will become happier, more successful people.

This means that the Rogue of Time begins life motivated by themselves to utilize creation and beginnings. When their struggle arrives and they are at their worst, they will continue this behavior in negative extremes. However, when at their best, they will find purpose in instead stealing endings and destruction for others. When realized, they will stabilize and continue to steal the Time aspect passively, in a positive way.

They share their archetype with the Witch of Heart, the Harbinger Free Spirit.

The Rogue of Time would quest on a planet similar to the Land of Cubes [Rogue] and Time [Aspect]. An example would be the Land of Parcels and Ticking. An explanation of planet naming conventions can be found here.

Two possible gods, or denizens, to reign over their planet would be Chronos (God of Time) or Hephaestus (God of the Forge). Other Time aspect denizens can be found here.

When the Rogue of Time completes their planet quests and dies on their quest bed, they would rise to ascension on the wings of crows (symbols of death). A list of soul animals can be found here.

The characters that I have currently classpected as Rogues of Time are: the Tenth Doctor from Doctor Who, Romana II from Doctor Who, Mulan from Once Upon a Time, Tracer from Overwatch, Quicksilver from X-Men, and Ke$ha from Ke$hastuck.

If any of the links not connected to my blog break, the content can be found on my Google Drive.

Official Aspect Descriptions

Personality Descriptions

Aspect Denizens

[torturedpoetskywalker]

Sapphic September 2023 (@sapphic-september)

005. Spindle - Aurora/Mulan - https://archiveofourown.org/works/49884850

[pep-rambles]

The Secrets of the Reef (1395 words) by Pep_Writes

Chapters: 1/?

Fandom: Once Upon a Time (TV)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Ariel/Belle (Once Upon A Time), Aurora/Mulan (Once Upon a Time), Belle & Mulan (Once Upon a Time)

Characters: Ariel (Once Upon a Time), Mulan (Once Upon a Time), Belle (Once Upon a Time), Aurora (Once Upon a Time), Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Australia, Past Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Past Aurora/Philip - Freeform, anti-rumbelle, past emotional abuse, widowed Aurora, Resort Town, Surfing, Rating May Change, or it may not idk

Summary:

Belle is happy with her simple life running a small surf shop in a resort town with her best friend. But her life takes a turn after an encounter with a mermaid. A very cute mermaid at that.

A slow burn OUAT Ariel/Belle fic because we need one! Modern!AU set along The Great Barrier Reef! Also Sleeping Warrior.

[kyliafanfiction]

You know what's amusing? A lot of people talked about like, Mulan having feelings for Philip, but until I saw people talking about that, I never actually saw it.

I always figured it was Mulan having feelings for Aurora.

EDIT: Why do I keep mixing Thomas and Philip up?

[darklinaforever]

So... originally I didn't want to see the Mulan remake. But after seeing videos of these two ?!

I'm definitely going to do it.

Mulan is definitely often shipped with girls.

I love Shang & Mulan.

But in Ouat I only wanted one thing, for Mulan to end up with Aurora or Merida ?! And that never happened !

Now I also find myself shipping the one in the remake with another woman ?

Even though I really like the ship with Mulan & Honghui, but Xian Lang is just superior. And then I'm a sucker for the villain x heroine trope, you know that.

In any case it's funny that even if the remake is clearly inferior to the original (not very surprising) well a form of queer subtext persists. In the original a possible bisexuality of Shang, and here with Xian Lang whose certain gestures towards Mulan cannot be explained by heterosexuality, definitely not...

[depressedstressedlemonzest]

So glad she brought a toothpick to defend herself.

Cgi is picking up a bit.

It's taken weeks to find the yaogui.

Only took me a day.

Mulan looks like she could murder belle.

😭😭😭

[infiniteimaginings]

〔𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘯〕

Started: February 18th, 2024 Updated: February 18th, 2024

All my writings for Mulan - Once Upon a Time

None yet

[blessedchaosgod]

Genuinely thought Snow was gonna die because how do you escape pissing off Mulan

[lovecanbesostrange]

ouattober2023 Day 7: Fav Side Chara

Mulan (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

I think Once Upon A Time has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to great characters everywhere. I may not be a fan of a lot of the way romances got handled, and I have opinions about the untapped potential left and right, but the characters we got to witness are pretty amazing. That's why even when I didn't care about the larger plot, I always had fun with this show. So many cool characters. But making me pick one who left an impact on me with not much screentime (well, at least I have 12 eps) and had me screaming for more - it's Mulan. Of course she does have the advantage of having one of the best animated Disney Princess movies.

Although that's a funny thing here. Where known fairytales got a little twist here and there, Mulan's backstory isn't really touched upon. She wears her armor, is a well-trained soldier/warrior and now travels a lot. It's like "we know you know the movie, let's get on". The one re-occuring thing we get is this fabulous moment when she takes off her helmet and people go "omg you're a girl" and she gets to correct them "woman". A+ Being viewed as a dude and if not getting underestimated is her thing.

An outstanding moment I love about Mulan? In 2x06 Tallahassee Emma tells her to cut down the beanstalk should she not be back within ten hours and also to do everything to get Snow back home to Storybrooke. It's the classic situation doing something dangerous while the clock is ticking. And usually a hero will be like "five more minutes", everything is very close. But we need moments of real tension to undercut the usual. And Mulan is so perfect for this. Because she will honor this agreement to the letter. She is one to ask to follow difficult orders. Snow actually does tackle her to the ground and yes, Emma arrives a few minutes late, then all is fine. But this is the cornerstone of Mulan as a character - give her a task, she will do it, with everything she has. It could even be something detriment to her own happiness or well-being. A character trait that can be a strength and a flaw at the same time. The range! We could have seen this later on if Mulan had stayed. She could have been a person to side with "the reasonable option" against the group of hope-loving heroes even.

That doesn't mean Mulan is uncaring. We got to witness how she fell in love with Aurora, we know she has a soft side. Sure, she protected Aurora, because she promised Philip to take care of her, but that situation became very personal. And omg that scene when Mulan gives Aurora her heart back... has any heart been placed back with such care? Such a sensual scene!

It's soul-crushing they kinda did this to Mulan twice. Robbing her of finding love, watching on as somebody under a Sleeping Curse gets True Love's Kiss, never experiencing that magic herself. But apart from that, when she gets her heart crushed (only figuratevily) in 3x03 Quite a Common Fairy and announces she'd join Robin Hood's band - I did hope she would. She could have been an excellent addition. Especially since the Merry Men could have used more to do (just like the dwarves). That would have been such a fun mix and overall a great way to eventually get Mulan to Storybrooke. That ep did make it clear that Robin would have a bigger role, attaching Mulan to him seemed logical.

I also like that Mulan's first instinct is to not trust people. She sees Neal, she recognized the style of clothing and she is suspicious (great contrast to Aurora's reaction). But Neal wins her over and boom, once Mulan is in your side, you can relax. Such a good partner for whatever errand you have to run. Which is why it makes sense that when Ruby asks if Mulan wants to join her on a search for werewolves, Mulan says yes. (Not like she has anything better to do.) Mulan craves a purpose. Imagine somebody would have introduced her to colorful textmarkers and color-coded itineraries. Belle showed her how useful information out of a book can be, they could have solved more situations together.