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seyaryminamoto · 9 months ago

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My latest completed commission may have been a bit ambitious... because I went wild with it. But I certainly relished in doing so :') Combining my favorite ship with my favorite-ever Disney movie is, uh... a dangerous concoction :'D

The commissioner specifically requested for Azula as Mulan, Sokka as Shang, and Xin Long (my OC dragon from Gladiator) as Mushu. The rest of the cast was up to me to choose, and I pretty much went wild rewatching this movie and picking out some of my favorite moments to recreate them in my style, with these characters. I came up with a lot of correlating characters between both ATLA and 1998's Mulan, but I couldn't hope to draw EVERYTHING, unfortunately. Still, if you want my reasoning for the cast correlation... check out the Read More! Beyond that, feel free to reach out to me if you'd like to commission me, or if you want to join my Patreon!

The Herbalist as Mulan's grandmother might feel arbitrary but she honestly felt like the ATLA elderly lady with the most similar personality to Grandma Fa. Fickle, with a unique connection with a seemingly perfectly ordinary animal, old and sassy? Figured it fit! So for once, the Herbalist is Azula's grandma! xD strange notion, I know, Azulon/Herbalist is not a ship I ever thought I'd accidentally put out in the world but there have been wilder ships than that in this fandom...

Momo became Cri-Kee, I wasn't 100% sold on it but when I considered that Avatar features soooo many hybrid animals... I figured he could be a hybrid cricket-lemur. Weird, I know, but eh? Better than nothing xD

Aang as Chien-Po was a no-brainer. He's the only character I settled on instantly, never even considered anyone else for the role. Their personalities line up really well, and Chien-Po's tendency to be OP and resolve things that are outside of other people's reach sounded like he was prime Avatar material! So, while their dietary preferences are an obvious difference between them, I decided to go for it nonetheless considering all their other similarities!

Kino (another Gladiator OC) is Ling, and he actually did give me a ton of trouble to choose. I considered many characters for the role right up until I realized that Kino's personality actually lines up fairly well with Ling's, down to being a class clown type (who ABSOLUTELY would have cut gym class!) and breaking out in song about the hypothetical woman he'd like to fight for? Yeeeeah that's right up his alley xD but there's another reason why I picked Kino...

... And that is my likely unexpected choice for Yao:

ZUKO.

ZUKO IS YAO.

YES.

I'M NOT EVEN SORRY.

(For the uninitiated, Aang, Zuko and Kino are best friends in Gladiator, very often together, and they make a really good team, so that's the extra reason why Kino became the obvious choice for Ling aside from having really similar personalities, definitely closer personalities than, say, Jet, for instance.)

People have likened Zuko to Shang a LOT since ATLA aired. This is the main reason why I'm even making this huge note! I suspect it's primarily because of the aesthetic, let's be real here, and because he becomes Aang's teacher, but people have exaggerated Zuko's alleged similarities with Shang, or taken them out of proportion, in many ways. I actually remember an AMV ages ago with "Be a Man" and it was Zuko "training the Gaang"?? It... didn't feel right to me. Obviously, someone might rebuff with "well, how does Sokka make MORE sense than that, though?" And believe it or not, I have arguments for that... (when do I not...?)

Not only is this what the commissioner specifically requested (and it obviously lines up with the ship we love!), but let's examine the actual reasons why Sokka as Shang adds up:

Sokka actually had to train a bunch of toddlers who weren't paying any attention to him. You know. Kind of how Shang had to train the unruly soldiers who weren't getting anything right. Sokka has a positive relationship with his dad (Zuko, ofc, does not). Shang also has a positive relationship with his dad! And not only this, but there's a military component to both relationships, specifically with Shang wanting to follow on his father's footsteps and aid him in the war... so much like someone else I know, who jumped at every opportunity to rejoin his father in the war, even wishing to join him as a child until Hakoda tasked him with protecting their Tribe instead (kinda like Shang is tasked with training soldiers rather than joining a battlefield).

And the final cherry-on-top that I'd loooove to hear Zuko fans try to argue against... is sexism :') didn't Sokka get characterized as a sexist guy for four episodes, which made people decide that this was his main character trait even if it went away that quickly? Um, yes, that happened. Shang literally sings the memorable song that's a crazy ode to masculinity, including the rather sexist line of "did they send me daughters when I asked for sons". Shang outright abandons Mulan once they discover that she was a woman all along (while, admittedly, choosing to abandon her rather than KILL HER, which as we saw from Chi-Fu, he was NOT supposed to spare her!)...

So, is this REALLY what Zuko fans, who willfully believe their boy is a feminist king (... why? beats me...) are trying to compare their unproblematic blorbo to? :'D Me? I have no problem linking Sokka with Shang due to Sokka's beginnings and due to the fact that both Shang and Sokka have similar growth when it comes to accepting femininity is as valid as masculinity, and as they both learn to respect women as fighters and potential heroes! (I simply do not believe Sokka's ENTIRE tenure in ATLA was about that, though, and that's what I continue to clash with the fandom over...) So... all this is why I've reasoned that Sokka is a VERY solid choice for Shang, in fact, better than Zuko could hope to be.

... but this isn't all.

Maybe some might accept my arguments for Sokka-Shang. And then, they might ask:

WHY ZUKO AS YAO, THO??

... And the truth is it took me long to see it, myself, but HOLY SHIT, DOES IT FIT!

What is the primary thing we remember about Yao in Mulan? This guy is constantly itching for a fight, to prove himself, surely riddled with insecurities that he exteriorizes through overcompensation of masculinity. He's funny as fuck, but he's taking himself 100% seriously as a manly man all the time, and he's always ready for violence. But there's one more thing...

He treats Mulan as his RIVAL.

And more often than not? SHE SCREWS HIM OVER. Intentionally or not.

What does that sound like? Why, yes, it sounds a LOT like Azula and Zuko's sibling relationship!

The fact that Yao is a temperamental dude who lashes out easily at things (oh, something he has in common with Zuko!), that he specifically resents Mulan (in this case, Azula, just as Zuko does!) and is either constantly looking to defeat her and prove his superiority over her (... wait, just as Zuko with Azula??), that he has a black eye perpetually across the movie, and it's his LEFT EYE (just as Zuko's scar is on his left eye! :'D), that he's friends with a pacifist he has basically nothing in common with, personality-wise (just like Zuko and Aang!), and that he pretty much has a REDEMPTION ARC in which he goes from a bitter, asshole rival to Mulan to treating her as a friend and ally, to the point where he was disappointed to leave her behind and THEN joined her at once when she says she has a plan? :') I have always been critical of Zuko's redemption arc, goes without saying. But if ANY of these characters redeemed himself in any significant way, it certainly seems to be Yao to me, and with people gushing NON-STOP about Zuko's redemption? Why, he ought to be the character who goes from bitter rival to loyal friend, right?

So. I'm not even sorry. Zuko is Yao. And I'd dare say that he should be flattered by the comparison, even, because Yao ends up being cool as FUCK!

I don't really talk about this much nowadays, but Mulan was my favorite Disney movie growing up, it ABSOLUTELY had a formative influence on me as a little girl, and Mulan was my favorite female character for a looooong time. Thus, any excuse to rewatch this movie makes me happy as heck. With the wisdom of age I know, of course, that it's not perfect, it's not what China wants, it's not the most thoughtful depiction of Chinese culture or the most faithful adaptation of Mulan's poem (... but I'd also dare bring up that the 2009 Chinese adaptation ISN'T all that faithful either...), but it has a kind of magic in it, a solid storytelling flow, so many memorable moments one after the next, that I could hardly choose which scenes to depict... Disney has never again seen the storytelling heights it reached with Mulan in 1998. I don't even care if that's a controversial opinion in any way... this is their best animated feature for me, and nobody can change my mind.

So... depicting Azula, my beloved, in all these scenarios as this character I adored and idolized as a child, was so damn fulfilling for me. While some might think that, personality-wise, these two ladies don't have much in common, the fact that Mulan is sent to a matchmaker who basically tells her she looks good but is going to be the worst wife ever...? Our girl Azula, with all those insecurities about being unloveable and a monster, probably would relate big time to that.

Mulan is also an INTELLIGENT soldier rather than a brawny one, which is how she starts to make progress in the army, it's how she manages to overcome the huns with that avalanche... and Azula's primary difference with most other antagonists in ATLA is that she's smart as fuck. She is very strong, no doubt, but a LOT of that strength comes from her intelligence, from assessing situations in unique ways, from planning and strategizing. The way Mulan finds the most unexpected solutions that still pay off reminds me a lot of how Azula achieves unexpected feats through rather unorthodox means, capable of taking over a city with basically no bloodshed while her nation has spent 100 years trying and failing to do so through major army incursions and who knows how much senseless violence. Obviously, I'm not saying what Azula did is GOOD and it's kind of dumb that we always have to point that out... I'm merely comparing the magnitude of the feats, and the fact that they both come from ladies who use strategy and intelligence to achieve their goals rather than muscle and physical power.

And while anyone would rage at me for the comparison between Fa Zhou (her dad) and Ozai, the truth is the dynamic between them CAN be compared, if loosely: Mulan literally goes to war to keep her father safe. Azula goes to war under her father's orders. Hell, she makes herself BAIT in the Eclipse to make sure the Gaang won't get to her dad?? While it's very much possible to say that both characters have different personalities and attitudes in life... I'd also bring up that their contexts are evidently completely different. I wouldn't say for certain that Azula, had she been raised outside a Royal Family, would be EXACTLY like Mulan... but they might have more similar traits than one might expect. Ultimately, though... I love them both. And this opportunity to swap their places was pretty much a dream come true!

Alright, that was plenty of rambling xD ultimately, I had a blast doing this commission, as I'm sure is obvious by now. So! If anyone wants to commission me, feel free to check out my prices right here and hit me up if you're interested!

#sokkla #sokka #azula #mulan au #xin long #zuko #aang #kino #the herbalist #momo #if you squint he's there okay he is just too damn complicated as a hybrid cricket-lemur alright #Xin Long is scale-less because he was too small and it was gonna look weird so for once he was a little less tricky :'D #I wish I could've had MORE epic scenes really this movie is a goddamn GEM #goldmine of glorious moments #it's just wonderful #I usually get sick of things as I work too much with them...#... Sokkla and Mulan are clearly a glorious exception to that rule #I wish I could've put in scenes with other correlating characters #Combustion Man was gonna be Shan-Yu #Chi-Fu was gonna be Long Feng #I can't remember who I had in mind for the emperor anymore #wasn't Kuei because he had to be old but welp #and yes it's too bad it's too sad there are not enough female characters here for the rest of the ATLA female cast...#but while I BRIEFLY considered making Toph one of the trio (Yao ofc)#the naked scene convinced me of the opposite quickly #... Toph would not succeed at convincing anyone that she was born a man she would straight up not even try #she'd just beat everyone up and scare them into shutting up #and while I'd LOVE to see that... it absolutely takes out the stakes from Azula being discovered as a woman pretending to be a man :'D #how tf would you kick one girl out while keeping the other one in the army #when the other one should be bold enough to stand on a rock in her birthday suit showing herself off in front of everyone

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smallville2k · 9 months ago

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Long live the king.

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sodapopper · 5 months ago

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Sodapop Curtis with abandonment issues.

Sodapop Curtis, whose last words to his parents were “see ya later,” only to never see them again.

Sodapop Curtis, who finds solace in keeping the last fragments of his family together, holding a brother’s wrist in each hand, his grip tight enough to cut off circulation, nails digging deep, drawing blood. He soothes and listens and understands. This, a reassuring constant—they’re not so broken that he can’t keep the pieces taped together with comfort and love!

Except his love isn’t enough. It never was, even though it’s all he has, and he feels it with every failure, every fight that ends in shouting, teenage tears and a brother’s anger. Down deep in his stomach, that sticky ball of fear. They’re tearing each other apart. He’s losing them, day by bitter day, and he can’t stop it, he can’t fix it, he’s trying but he’s not enough.

Soda fails to deescalate a fight that ends with Ponyboy running and Darry retreating into the cold shell of his mind. After, he finds Pony’s sweatshirt in Dally’s room. It cuts deep, drawing more blood than Johnny Cade’s knife. He could’ve come home; Soda would’ve understood, that’s what he’s good at.

But Ponyboy went to Dallas Winston instead.

Soda connects the dots of Sandy’s freckles with dreams bigger than the sky, dreams of marriage and love and a white picket fence. He wants to raise her baby. Doesn’t matter who the father is—he loves her child because he loves her, pretty Sandy with the gap between her teeth and grease in her blood. He would go to war for her, ride out to a field of spears, he would tear down Heaven to give her a footstool.

She leaves him with nothing but a letter and the idea of an apology.

Soda watches a friend die in front of his eyes. Blood spurting, violent red. Shiny on the pavement. Glistening on his face. Dally had a life with them. But in the end, he still chooses a bullet to the chest.

So yeah, Sodapop Patrick Curtis with abandonment issues. Soda, who’s lost so many people, it’s no wonder he waits for whoever’s next. He holds tight with clenched fists, bruised knuckles and heart, just too sensitive for his own good. Bawl Baby Curtis with his stupid hurt feelings. A stayer left behind in a family of goers. Laughing loud so nobody will hear when his voice goes shaky; making jokes so nobody will notice the fear.

Ponyboy leaves for college. Soda hugs him tight, ruffles his hair— “When you’re rich and famous, try to remember us little guys!” Every Saturday, he waits by the phone. Pony calls with religious faithfulness, but still, Soda hears the difference in his voice. Soda used to sleep easy, but now he stays awake, staring at the dark ceiling. Wondering why his baby brother would ever return home when Tulsa has nothing left to offer him.

Sodapop Curtis is best man at Steve and Evie’s wedding. “Nothing’s gonna change,” Steve tells him, but he’s lived long enough to know a lie. Sodapop Curtis, who’s losing Steve, too.

He doesn’t go on dates anymore. He breaks girls’ hearts with reluctant ease, rejection coming quick to his tongue. He never had much to offer, anyway—only his looks, and if they weren’t enough to keep Sandy, why would anyone else stay?

He makes jokes about Darry leaving, and plays it off when Darry doesn’t laugh. It’s just a joke, he doesn’t mean it! Why would Soda be afraid of losing Darry too? Just because he’s lost his parents and Johnny and Dally and Sandy and Ponyboy and Steve and—

It’s just a joke. He doesn’t mean it.

Sodapop Curtis with abandonment issues.

It’s just a joke!

It was never a joke.

(And if Darry welcomes his little brother into his bed at night without a word of complaint, squeezing him tight when he’s restless, if Ponyboy makes spontaneous trips home on the weekends, if Steve and Evie name their first baby Patrick, well—maybe it was never a joke to them, either.)

#angsty soda thoughts for your evening consumption #been awhile since I reasserted the bawl baby agenda #I miss making people cry over him #this is so long but rest assured it’s only a fraction of what I could’ve said #ao3 will see the complete version. someday #bawl baby sodapop curtis #sodapop curtis #darry curtis #ponyboy curtis #the outsiders #the curtis brothers #the outsiders movie #this is for you veep I feel like we talked about this at least once

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notearsnora · 28 days ago

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Regal theaters are now listing “WICKED MOVIE + WICKED: FOR GOOD TRAILER DEBUT”. Screenings are expected to begin on JUNE 4. The runtime is 163 minutes (160 minutes for part one, 3 minutes for the trailer).

#don’t understand why they’re torturing us and making us wait so long #but whatever #a month left #also if this trailer debut is US only and the rest of us will have to wait even longer to see the trailer…#I’m burning universal studios to the ground #wicked movie #wicked #wicked for good #wicked the musical #ariana grande #galinda upland #cynthia erivo #elphaba thropp #glinda upland #dailygrande #gelphie

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brooks-heart-sunglasses · 3 months ago

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i will forever be mad that we didn’t get to hear the rest of the gang say goodbye to their dragons in httyd thw

#LIKE??? they’ve been w those dragons for just about as long as hiccup has been w toothless #i rewatched the ending clip bc i like torturing myself or whatever and we got to hear hiccup and toothless (duh) and astrid and stormfly #and valka and cloudjumper. we even got to hear grump and gobber and eret and skullcrusher #and yet the rest of the gang… nothing.#aside from astrid they all really got the short end of the stick in the movies huh #httyd #httyd the hidden world #httyd thw #tuffnut thorston #ruffnut thorston #barf and belch #fishlegs ingerman #meatlug #snotlout jorgenson #hookfang

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simplybishova · 3 months ago

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i need kate bishop back in my life please

#kate bishop #bishova #hawkeye #hailee steinfeld #I MISS HER #i've seen rumors about s2 lately #and i'm sure she'll be in the avengers movies #but like #hurry up #it's been sooo long #and let her meet up with yelena pls #pretty please #i know marvel won't make it gay #but just make them important to each other and i'll handle the rest

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texaschainsawmascara · 1 year ago

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A Long Unfortunate While - Ethel Cain / Saltburn / No Rest for the Wicked - Lykke Li

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triple-pupil · 3 months ago

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Omg omg omg

Did I finally do it?

Did I finally learn to draw Snow White's face????????

Omg gang

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stars-n-spice · 11 months ago

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Recently had a LOTR/The Hobbit marathon with the siblings so have TBB watching LOTR/The Hobbit headcanons:

Once or twice a year they'll sit down and have these marathons - usually while also eating a big Hobbit-styled meal

First started with Echo wanting to show Omega the movies and while they were watching them together, the rest of the Batch came to sit and watch too

Crosshair at first was like "Tch. Nerds, you like this shit?" and then Aragorn popped onto the screen and suddenly Crosshair was very invested (in the plot, of course)

Wrecker enjoys it for the action and thinks the Elves are cool while Hunter watches it because they all watch it and he doesn't want to be left out (he has no idea what's going on but Tech keeps him informed and updated)

Crosshair has a crush on Aragorn while Wrecker has a crush on Lady Arwen

Hunter attempted to bleach his hair ONCE because Legolas inspired him (it did not go well)

Crosshair took up archery because of Legolas and is very good at it

Tech: "Did you know in this scene, Viggo-"

Omega always quotes the "I am no man" scene before immediately attacking the nearest brother to her with a pillow

Hunter will also quote the war speeches Theoden and Aragorn give before riding out into battle and only Omega and Wrecker find it entertaining (they'll scream "DEAAATHH!!" after him)

Echo and Tech are the only ones who've read the books (Omega is in the process but it's a struggle)

Crosshair totally does not get emotional over Faramir and Boromir - oh no definitely no he doesn't cry when Faramir asks his dad if he'd rather he died over Boromir

Actually they are all emotional over Boromir's death

Also for that matter, Crosshair totally does not get super emotional over Samwise and how utterly loyal he is to Frodo - nope definitely not!

They play "take a shot every time Pippin fucks up something" while watching

Every time there's an Orc on the screen they'll point at each other and go "That's you." or "Wow, I can't believe you're in this movie too."

Y'know that scene in Helm's Deep when Aragorn comes through the door?? Yeah. Crosshair nearly fainted.

Gollum freaks Wrecker the fuck out and Crosshair revels in this fact because he can do the voice

When Omega saw the Hobbit for the first time she was so upset about Killi dying that she didn't talk to Tech and Echo for a few days because she was like, "Why would you make me watch this?? >:'( That was so sad!!"

for that matter Wrecker was also crying when Killi died and then Bilbo's reaction to Thorin's death had all of them crying/tearing up

Crosshair hates watching the Hobbit because everyone always brings up how much him and Bilbo are alike (in terms of sass)

Though that one scene in BotFA where Bilbo is showing Thorin the acorn and talking about planting it, the first time Crosshair saw that and saw how Thorin was looking at Bilbo the man fucking melted and now holds all potential partners to that standard (and to Aragorn)

Tech: "Well, now that we've finished watching the entire series, who wants to watch the extended cut?" - "THERE'S MORE!?!"

Feel free to add on!

#love these movies #can only watch them like twice a year though #because once i watch one i have to watch the rest of them #and they're so fucking long #but i love them #more specifically i love aragorn #i'm going to fight crosshair for him #tbb #the bad batch #tbb headcanons #clone force 99 #tbb hunter #tbb echo #tbb wrecker #tbb tech #tbb crosshair #tbb omega #lotr #the hobbit

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