#lady from mulan voice

[cherrystonefemme]

Cishets can call themselves pillow princesses if they are engaging in gay sex and are not the penetrative partner and also are gay. If you're straight and identify as a pillow princess that is your right but I will be identifying as a hater and dunking on you relentless style

[bearwithegg]

Fight Like a Girl || B. Blackwood ||

I can change it to Davos once we get further confirmation. Ig?? Lmaooo lord help me. I cbf putting this on my main writing account because of how inconsistent I am with writing kjhdfhg

Mulan Inspired scenario. Original House, i just made that shit up bro lesgoooo. I hope my mass effect enjoyers like this <3

Kieran Burton!Benjicot x f!reader.

Warnings: None? Swearing?

Word Count: 2.8k

PART 2

For @spider-stark ( they write the best damn benjicot oneshots go READ RN)

***

“Keep your voice down, Garrus.” You hiss, eyes darting around the makeshift battlements, rows upon rows of tents more dense than the woods surrounding the legion of men, banners separating them only in name. War was here. Yet men were merry, roaring with laughter, cheering and jeering each other on when sparring amongst themselves. You were well in over your head for this.

“Apologies my lad— lord,” Garrus, a tall, gangly gentleman who not only represented your noble house but also remained your closest confidant and sworn protector. From the moment you were plucked out of your mothers womb, he had encompassed your upbringing with a chassis of care and love like a father would a son or a mother would her babes. Though he might’ve been neither, he was the only person you could call home.

Stylguard. Might’ve been home once, when you and your brother ran a muck in the courtyards instead of tending to important studies with the Maester. When the summers meant that hours were wasted making chains of flowers and clovers. Only ghosts remain, painful visages of a different lifetime, warning those who dare contest the cruel threads of fate the war beget.

The false King must die.

You swore this oath, quietly in whispers of red hot anger, no witnesses to hear it except for the phantoms plaguing your mind and the gods of old. A lady alone could not put an end to a war — men however, could.

“There,” Garrus raises an arm, forefinger steady on a muddied pit in the distance. The epicenter of clashing swords and men shouting. “I might suggest watching them first, Little Clover.”

Little Clover. You were neither little nor the girl who picked clovers in the farmlands anymore. A mere remnant of the past, a pet name that forces unwanted memories of before the Dragons had begun their pointless infighting. Hurtful as it may be, it was the best way to keep unnoticed amongst the thousands of men without arousing suspicion of your true identity.

Some of the men barely meet such a description, boys no older than ten and one pick up swords and join in a brutal pastime against men thrice their size. These were no noblemen, not boys who wielded swords long before their voice stopped squeaking, no. These were commonfolk, some under sworn protection from minor houses, but most of these boys and men were farmers. Steele farmers. Blackwood farmers. Tully farmers. Fray farmers. All united for one cause — and not a single one of them were proficient enough with a sword.

“None of these men are fit for war,” you whisper, turning to Garrus, a sullen swept look on his face mirroring your own. It was hypocritical to comment, considering you could count on one hand how many times you had picked up a sword. Though it was not a slight on their ability to go to war, it was the tragic reality that loomed over the realm.

“They fight for what they believe in…” Garrus answers softly, a hand firmly wrapped around the pommel of his sword, as it had always been since the murmurings of war rippled through the Seven Kingdoms. His eyes look ahead at boys throwing their swords away and opting for fists, pools of blue express his kind and somber nature, reflecting his true age, yet the crows feet around them betray such a thing.

War is cruel to those who bear witness.

The dogpile is quickly dispersed, a lithe and commanding presence tears the boys off one another and reprimands them. “Benjicot Blackwood.” Garrus murmurs, eyes casting a weary look down at you, “you’d do well to learn from him. He’s spilt more blood in this war than the dragons.” A jest, you think, but hearing of the Blackwoods fearsome reputation it could quite possibly yield truth.

Benjicot is shouting orders, or perhaps insults, you couldn’t tell —he had mud pressed hard into his tunic no doubt from rigorous sparring in the sludge pit, a stark contrast to the green fields of untouched grasslands the contingent temporarily inhabited. His feet sunk into the ground with each step, the man made bog had been many of the boys’ downfall during sparring and a cause of frustration by the looks they all shared across their faces.

“You there, boy.” He points at you — sword tip singling you out and all.

Eyes wide and body rigid, you felt as though you’d forgotten how to speak or move. Had it not been for Garrus gripping the scruff of your ill-fitted tunic and shoving you forward, you might’ve found yourself at the ire of the boy before you.

Not boy. Man.

Barely so, not even the young were spared from the cruel and aging touch of war.

He regards you carefully, a stormy gaze looking at you from head to toe. Eyes stopping at the sigil adorned on your chest. Even bespeckled with sweat and mud you couldn’t help but think how handsome he looked, though it was far from an appropriate thought. It helped ease the nervousness that rippled through your being as you stood in the centre of a circlet of men.

”Lord Steele found himself sober enough to finally choose a side did he?” Benjicot’s words were severe, a low growl not too dissimilar to that of the black cats and Direwolves of the nearby forests. There was a primal, animalistic quality in his movements, sizing you up like a predator would when deciding if something was prey or not.

You resist the urge to look at Garrus, he could not help you, not now. Instead, with a chin held up you shake your head, nudging it back toward your confidant, “we came alone, Lord Blackwood.”

His eyes flicker behind you and tilts his head to the side, “hm. Idiotic yet admirable of you two. Going against the word of the House that protects you.” There was a glint of something in his eyes, wild, untamed and real compared to many of the other pairs of eyes you had come across in the camp. He swipes the sweat from his upper lip and nods over to the handmade rack of swords, “show us what House Steele defects are made of then.”

This was about to be nothing short of a complete humiliation, you were certain. Yet, with a steady breath and the ignition of hatred bubbling in the back of your mind to remind you of why this path was the one you chose — you pick a short sword, albeit the smallest of the array of the newly smithed weapons.

Despite its small size it was still made from heavy ores, your wrist willing itself to relent to the weight, wanting to bend and twist. Men and boys begin to laugh, your eyes look around and it was a horrifying reflection of your own uselessness, like a childish nightmare coming to fruition. It pissed you off.

The moment you came into this life born without a prick between your legs you had always been seen as inferior, a prize to be sold to the highest bidder. The lament of a woman born in Westeros. Now, you stand on the edge of a cliff looking over an abyss brought on by the war. By two dragons ill-fitted for the power they wield because at the end of all this, the only people who suffer are the people.

You resent being born into a hateful world and you resent that loss is what has driven you to action. Just like you resent being laughed at by a crowd of men who knew next to nothing about the sacrifices you’ve made.

Benjicot Blackwood, does not laugh. He does not jeer nor does he show faint amusement at your inability to hold a mere short sword. He has since stepped aside, beckoning a boy forward who is similar in your stature but definitely not in age — he could barely be ten and four.

He was snickering, and that added more oil on top of the fire that burned your hatred and loathing — you feel yourself recede into that raw emotion. While you may be absolutely abhorrent with any real fighting skills, you had an unbridled rage to let out in recompense for all the wrong done unto you in this world.

And so you charge at him, using momentum to help raise the sword over your head because by gods alone, your strength was practically non-existent. A ferocious yowl barrels from your throat when swords clashed, the sudden stop was disorienting and caused you to stumble back slightly. He swings his sword and you double back again, the mud encasing around your boots willing you to trip, to fall.

You try to swing back but don’t have enough momentum and you feel your wrist bend under the weight of the sword and have to over-correct, stepping to the side so as to not drop the sword. Laughter rumbles through the men once again, some beginning to cheer on the boy in front of you.

Heaving forward again, you go to swing but in a split second you let go of the sword, letting it careen through the air and hitting the boy on the chest. Was it smart to willfully disarm oneself? Perhaps not, but he certainly wasn’t expecting it so you pounce. An all too familiar scene that would have otherwise delighted you if it weren’t on the grounds of war; a hand curls into his muddied blonde locks while the other goes to claw at his face.

Many fights had broken out like this between you and other girls growing up, it seemed only natural to revert back to the ways you knew how to fight. Even if it wasn’t exactly appropriate.

The two of you tumble into the mud together but the element of surprise has long surpassed and he uses simple strength, punching you hard in the gut and knocking you off him. Unsure what to expect next, you lay in the mud, chest heaving hard and conceded defeat — truthfully you had conceded defeat the second you were called out to show off your ‘skill’.

Overcast and dreary weather as it may be, the sun's light still glared through such heavy obscurity, your eyes squinted while trying to figure out if it was easier to sink into the bog beneath you or get up and swallow down what little pride remained. Eclipsing the sun in more ways than one, Benjicot stands over you, expression hardened yet there was an amused glint deep within his dark eyes.

“You fight like a girl,” he outstretched his hand, part of you contemplating hitting it away but he was the only one - aside from Garrus - to not laugh at your ineptitude. A soft groan passes your lips and you begrudgingly take the gesture of kindness, it was more than anyone had given you anyway.

“I am no knight,” you grumble back, once upright, rolling your shoulders back and rubbing the wrist that began to ache from holding a sword. The crowd of men had begun dispersing, you wonder if in your post fight daze if Benjicot had shooed them away.

”Aye, any idiot with two eyes can see that,” he jests, picking up the sword from the mud, “any daft cunt can pick up a sword and swing it around — but you’ve something else… I see it in your eyes, boy.”

At first you think he’s undermining you, but after a moment, it was clear he was paying you a compliment.

He returns the sword amongst the rest, a hand resting on the pommel of his sheathed dagger. Something about his stature, the way he commanded the space he inhabited was so interesting. He was unlike any other Lord you met before, perhaps it could be that he was a warrior first, then Lord second. A sentiment only emboldened since the war began.

“It may be pertinent that we train at night Little Clover, you have much to learn,” Garrus whispers, coming up behind you and putting a hand on your shoulder proudly. He may have watched you get bested without question, and sure, behind the confines of the tent you two shared later he would no doubt say how proud he was, there was not a single thing you could do that he wouldn’t support.

He should have trained you up sooner — be it if the departure from Stylguard wasn’t swift and last moment.

Benjicot approaches the two of you, watching as you whisper conspiratorially. He was as intimidating when he was quiet as he was when wielding a sword. A perceptive gaze looking between Garrus, clad in armour of your house and you, unevenly cut hair and dressed in little more than a squires tunic. He gives a weary look around, many of the men had long left the sludge pit.

”I must thank you, for joining the efforts even if they go against Lord Steele’s,” He says formally.

“No matter, my Lord.” Garrus smiles, a thin and forced one out of mere politeness, “Lord Steele grows weary the longer the war persists, a conflict averse man such as himself cannot continue to lock himself away in the wine cellars while war is brought to his doorstep.”

There was a pause, a silent mediator among the three of you, as much as it would pain you to admit; Garrus holds truth in his words. You love your father you really did but he stopped being a present figure the moment the raven arrived with word of your brother's death.

“Aye, The Greens have done irreparable damage to his family yet he cowers in his fortress.” Benjicot says quietly, mulling over his thoughts. His tongue pokes the inside of the cheek, protruding it out before moistening his lips with a twitch of a smile, barely perceptible, “is that why his daughter fled? To find retribution for the unlawful death of her brother?”

You tense up, swallowing hard and don’t dare look to Garrus lest suspicion is raised. The lump in your throat is hard and stubborn, even as you clear it, part of it remains to jeopardize the weight of your words. “That is.. what many believe to have happened… A few of us stable boys overheard she had plans to flee to Essos.”

Benjicot hums, nodding in response and looks around at the tents, the men, all the heart and blood of war. You follow his gaze carefully, how deeply entrenched in the throes of war the realm had become. In the middle of a field at the edge of the Riverlands of all places.

“This doesn’t look like Essos to me, my Lady.”

Before you had a chance to stumble back, Garrus had put an arm in front of you, an instinct to protect, to guard. Though falters when he hears the young Blackwood laugh.

”Do not think yourself in danger. It is admirable, truly. To go against your fathers wishes, but you cannot simply cut your hair and wear the clothes of a boy and call yourself a warrior.” He chuckled, a deep and soothing sound that made your cheeks burn, though that was partly due to being caught. He was impressed in truth, unable to find what the wild spark in your eyes was initially, though it made sense the moment he saw your delicate unmarred hands. Nails well kept and not a single grain of dirt underneath them.

“I wish to learn, I want to fight.” You step forward, voice pleading because if you didn’t have this then what remained? A hallowed home with vestiges of pain luring anyone stupid enough to hear their call? An empty father, nothing but a shell of what once was a person who mirrored life and happiness? It was fight or die and even death wasn’t as cruel of a fate as returning to nothing, to be nothing.

“And you fight like a girl,” he smiles, not to insult or belittle you, nothing more nefarious than a simple observation. He inches forward, shifting his weight. It shouldn’t have made you as nervous as it did, but he was close enough to crowd your senses with his natural musk. “Many men believe women to be bad luck in times of war, these men are no different.”

Those men were stupid, you think.

“And what say you, Lord Blackwood?” You swallow.

“I say that not many of them have had the pleasure of meeting my Aunt.” He whispered, eyes swirling similarly to the darkened storm stricken skies above. “Women aren’t welcome by some around here, do well to keep discreet. And if you cannot manage that, then be ruthless.”

On his retreat, you feel yourself turn to look at Garrus, who looked caught between a look of utter bemusement yet partially pleased all things considered. He looks down at you and clears his throat, “let us retire for the afternoon, my lad— Little Clover. Trust that the Lordling does not speak to many about your arrival.”

Your eyes remain in the direction Benjicot disappeared in, sighing heavily. Perhaps in a different lifetime he would have been a delightful consort, though for now it is barely a thought, passing through your idle mind as you slowly turn to rest for the day.

[hotvintagepoll]

Thank u so much for making this blog! Logging on to read all the silly tags of ppl fighting for their lives to convince others to vote for their faves is so wonderful to see. Seeing all of this after a long day being an adult and having responsibilities is so nice and relaxing. And I love how you have inspired some other fandom battle Royale polls too <3 I am low key hoping someone pits all the animated disney characters together (Mufasa from the lion king on top!!!) anyway thank u so much for everything! Can’t wait to see who wins the actor and actress battles!

Thank you! Has no one done a Disney character poll yet? That's nuts.

anyway apropos of nothing. here's this

If you'd like to base your vote off their voices, not their faces, you can hear clips of each of them below:

June Foray (Lucifer in Cinderella)

Verna Felton and Barbara Luddy (Flora and Merriweather, respectively)

Eleanor Audley (Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty)

Phil Harris and Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot (Baloo and Bagheera, respectively)

Sterling Holloway and Eva Gabor (Roquefort the mouse and Duchess the Cat)

Bill Thompson (The Dodo and The White Rabbit in this same clip from Alice in Wonderland)

edit: fucked up and put the wrong Phil in. It's Phil Harris apparently. The Disney people are allowed to eat me now.

[broadwaydivastournament]

Movie Musical Divas Tournament: Round 1

Those who played at ghost singing, and those who lived it

Debbie Reynolds (1932-2016): Kathy Selden in Singin’ in the Rain* (1952) | Molly Brown in The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) | Judy in I Love Melvin (1953) *Dubbed in two songs by Betty Noyes, high notes and taps dubbed throughout.

"Part of one the most iconic movie musicals of all time (this movie is legit studied as the quintessential movie of the genre), held her own with G*ne K*lly and Donald O’Connor at just 19! Nominated for an Oscar in Molly Brown for portraying an equally badass woman. AND mother to The Carrie Fisher!" - @kingscatt

Marni Nixon (1930-2016): Deborah Kerr’s character in The King and I (1956) | Maria in West Side Story (1961) (she also was the voice of Anita during the Tonight Quintet) | Eliza in My Fair Lady (1964) | Sister Sophia in The Sound of Music (1965) | Marilyn Monroe's high notes in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

"Time Magazine called her “The Ghostess with the Mostest” for her contributions to musical movies. If you like movie musicals from the sixties, chances are you’ve been listening to Marni Nixon the whole time and didn’t even know. Her career at Disney, while not relevant to the poll, is quite impressive as well. She had singing roles in Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Mulan. Without Marni, some of the most popular movies of the sixties would have sounded very different." @anton-wyzek

This is Round 1 of the Movie Musical Divas tournament. Additional polls in this round may be found by searching #mmround1, or by clicking the link below. Add your propaganda and support by reblogging this post.

ADDITIONAL PROPAGANDA AND MEDIA UNDER CUT: ALL POLLS HERE

Debbie Reynolds:

Photos and video submitted by: anonymous

"She was a classic beauty and a bright spot of sunshine. Stole the scene every time! Everyone knows her song Good Morning from Singin in the Rain. Also she is the grandma in halloweentown and carrie fisher's mom! She is a stand out!" - @scifikimmi

Photos and video submitted by: @scifikimmi

Marni Nixon:

"I don't care that she is almost never in front of the camera. Without her, My Fair Lady, The King and I and West Side Story would be completely different. She deserves kudos and love for helping bring the characters to life. Plus we got to see her as sister sophia in sound of music, so there's that." - anonymous

Photos and video submitted by: @anton-wyzek

[acerathia]

pink camellias || Chapter 2: geranium

Chapter Summary:

geranium: folly

Wordcount: 3.8k

Read on AO3 || Masterlist

Pairing:

Bakugou Katsuki / Reader

Tags/CW:

royalty au, inspired by Mulan, war and its consequences, violence, childhood friends to strangers to companions to lovers (i am sorry), Angst, Acts of Service, Character Death (Major, and Minor), swordfights, misogyny, f!reader, kidnapping, implied torture, let me know if I missed anything lol

Note:

second chapter, yippie!! going to post this story every second monday, soo 👀👀

Swords clashed and slashed. Tiny bursts of stars seemed to be drawn from every swing and hit. The two opponents acted as if they’ve been at if for hours, but it only has been a matter of a handful of minutes. Every single grain of time held close and dear to their movements, as time could help them achieve their desired victory.

The untrained eye didn’t have the capacity to recognize any disadvantage between them, thus leading to the surprise of the tiny crowd when one sword finally shook and linked its blade with the guard cross of its opposing blade, tossing it into the entirely wrong direction, upwards and pointing to the clouds above. The wielder of that particular blade didn’t even think of pointing the tip of their sword towards the one who lost, as their loss was deemed irrefutable.

A moment of silence, only disturbed by the sheathing of the sword, before a praising clap thundered across the sand, over the heavy gasps of breath. Despite that loss, there was no guilt or thoughts of vengeance, on the contrary, their smiles mirroring each other, one much older and wiser, the other winning and crooked.

“It seems the student has outgrown their master, congratulations. With this battle and its win, you officially hold the title of a swordmaster”, the loser, the now-retired teacher announced with happiness tinting his voice despite the glaring loss against someone younger than him, someone like you.

This act of kindness was not usual, it took you slightly aback. The knights and squires of this court tended to sneer behind your back, never to your face, challenging you properly like they were supposed to do. They would not dare to fulfil such an outrageous act, not against the only lady of this household. The heir of this marquisate. Consequently, you weren’t allowed to act on your urges. Because every time you noticed their laughter and their mock, your veins flooded with hot steam, and the desire to punch them grew. But alas, it was improper of a lady to even raise her hand, much less a sword, despite your current disposition. You were allowed to hold a sword, but never to raise it against someone outside of training. And this newly acquired title would not change anything about this circumstance.

This led to you putting all your anger and frustration into working on yourself, working towards your current objective. This first hurdle, the just gained knighthood, had been the fruit of the hard labor of months; your hands aching and ripping skin. But now you could work towards the higher ranks. Even if you didn’t quite know how to achieve that, due to the likely refusal of many, simply not even taking it into consideration to take you under their wing, to train you in any way or form. In their opinion, all your hard work was nothing but a joke. A female knight? Bordering on a scandal, about to escalate if you even dared to carry your title outside of this tiny place. That meant you were stuck, this position signifying your first and yet last step into the higher achievements of a knight. A swordmaster with no real power to the name.

At least with this title, you had something to show for yourself, your work and your training were not in vain, despite what everyone might say, despite the possibility of it being the last you could even achieve in the first place.

So you couldn’t help the grin stretching across your face as you dabbed the sweat off your eyebrows and neck. You ought to take a proper bath as soon as you were dismissed by your now-retired teacher. But he hesitated. He had been happy by your victory, but something seemed to lay heavy on his might, indicated by the slight furrow of his eyebrows. That was the reason you were aware that something was about to come, something that would displease you, especially after he started a light conversation with you, something he usually avoided so vehemently.

How did you feel? Any tiredness, pain? With every topic, every question or simple conversation starter the talk slowly descended to the more serious matters, at least in his opinion, as he tried his best to ease you into them. What were you planning now? What was your father thinking? Did he even agree with your plans, and was he going to offer you a position in his own army?

And at the beginning you were patient, answering everything truthfully to the best of your possibilities. But the audacious mention of your father made your insides boil, steam filling your lungs and threatening to burn him with your tongue as the lighter.

With a slow inhale you stuck your tongue against the inside of your cheek, trying to dampen the fire sizzling between its pores. You managed not to snap or tell him off in any way, rather smiling and cutting the conversation short, because oh, it was almost time for dinner and your father was awaiting your presence at the table.

With that excuse you didn’t even wait for his dismissal, you just left him on the training grounds, trying to get some proper words in order, but you were already marching with sure steps towards your room, taking several steps at once. You were absolutely ready for a mighty scrubbing.

But on the way you couldn’t do anything but stop in front of another door. The office. Surely your father was inside, swamped in his work once again, and you thought about how it had been some time since you had visited him or seen him outside of your shared meals. He surely wouldn’t mind you entering wearing your current garb.

Your knuckles against the wood, light seeping through a gap, carrying the ongoing conversation, and your movements halted.

“Yes, I am sure. I shall join the assembly tomorrow…” the voice of your father echoed to your position, to your eavesdropping. And you were aware of the butler responding, yet could not discern his words properly.

“I know, but… ugh… they sent for someone from every family. There is no one but me, who can carry the burden of fighting in such a senseless war… no, she’s my only daughter, it would kill me to lose her in such a needless endeavor…” A sigh had escaped your father, showing you how he surrendered to his fate.

His words would usually flare the fire in the back of your throat, daring you to step in and to confront whatever decision had been made on your behalf. Yet the realization of the ongoing topic felt like a fall, harsh and sudden, and your insides hurt, nauseating you. A call for war. Was it truly a necessity for your father to go? Surely there was another way, some kind of connection to avoid this misfortune befalling your family. You couldn’t…

Before you even dared to finish this thought, steps slowly approach your tiny gate between worlds, and you had to get on your toes, to be nimble to escape from this compromising situations, lest the butler caught and reprimanded you. You had no other choice but to flee, despite your initial plan to visit your father for a piece of his time.

For the rest of the way to your bedroom, a dizzy spell had started to occupy your brain, depositing a formation of rocks upon your chest, constricting your limbs, suffocating you. What were you supposed to do now? After this unintended revelation? You could not bear to lose your father too. But did you even have a choice? Your possibilities were as limited as the cords binding your hands, restricting every idea.

Arriving to your destination you swallowed heavely, trying to get rid of the boulders blocking your airways. You simply didn’t allow yourself to show your swirling, conflicting feelings, rather you put the same little grin on your face, even if it felt a bit strained. Your maid should not suspect anything to be wrong, or she would forward her worries to the lord of the place, your father, and you should not burden him more than he already had to carry.

Acting the same, trying to hide the trembles in your fingertips and the pitch in your voice, you took a bath, as usual, as expected of you. And you tried to distract yourself by rubbing your skin raw, getting rid of grime and sweat, the heavy guilt and regret.

As much as you loved to swing the sword, the consequences of such were rather tiring, hard to get rid of in varying levels. A necessary evil maybe.

After drying your skin, you allowed your maid to slip a simple, green housedress over your head, preparing you for your venture to the dining hall

The hall itself had changed quite a bit in the last years, the memories painful, burdening your soul with a longing ache. The stinging arrangements got replaced, finding a new home in a storage room, collecting dust and drying up, taking the memories with them, but never the pain. It stayed a constant companion, and what kind of host would deny its guest, albeit forced.

So you had no other choice but take your seat with the usual greetings towards your father, and you both began to maintain some easy talk, something that could be done without much thought if you were versed in the court etiquette.

That was until the subject of your newly acquired knighthood was mentioned. He, of course, congratulated you, but the question about your future plans did not even come up in the first place. Almost like he assumed this whole thing was finally over, that he could keep you safe, maybe even arrange someone to marry you, to be an actual heir to the title. Someone to take care of you while he had decided to join some nonsense war.

Naturally this thought train of yours stayed in your brain, and you refused to give him the chance to even begin with his ideas, even if they weren’t quite there yet. Still, he did not even dare to start explaining his conundrum to you. Maybe he thought it would be better for you to stay ignorant? To notice him being gone, to belatedly read a letter with the scrawly letters telling you his excuses. To him, that also would be protecting you, but this simple idea of him risking his life, of omitting important details bothered you. This silent refusal only fueled you more, a plan starting to weave itself onto your consciousness, more holes than knots, but you decided to overlook that fact.

After finishing your meal, you excused yourself. As soon as you stepped out of his view, your steps sped up, bringing you to your room. Arriving you quickly dismissed your maid, before crawling to grab something from under your bed.

Barely grasping the fabric you plucked a jute bag from the hidden cave that is the space between your bed and the ground. A bit of dust had settled on top of it and you had to shake it off with a sneeze. Maybe you should have looked for a better hiding place, but that was a thought for the possible, rather impossible, next time.

With barely contained thoughts you started pushing some of your fencing garb into the bag. Almost worn-out pants and shirts. Some bandages. Gauze and disinfectant, for some first aid. Some money and a map. After a couple of everything, you decided to be content with your small luggage. Your sword would be attached to your strap, ready to be used at all times.

The only thing missing was the letter with the official stamp. You needed it, lest they thought of you as a liar. Fortunately, you knew when your father was supposed to leave his office, so you put on some proper traveling clothes, meaning a pair of pants and a shirt, to make it easier for you to sneak into the halls without any noise. And if you managed to get caught, you always had the possibility of using your training as an excuse.

Once the clock has struck, you left your room to stride slowly to your fathers office. In front of its door, you bowed slightly to check for any lights coming from the keyhole, before opening the door a crack, just until it was about to creak. Of course you knew about that secret threshold, you have been living in this place for years. Even considering the whole possessing the body of another problem. You quickly slid between that just-right-sized opening into the office.

You didn’t allow yourself to look around, to look at the shelves cram-full with books or the paintings on every free space on the walls. Rather you carefully stepped around the papers strewn around on the ground, careful to not bother anything that could incriminate you, well more than you were guilty of at the moment.

His working table seemed to contain more documents than possible, stacked on top of each other and dangerously leaning over the edge. You bit your lips in thought, where would such a document belong? Despite your knowledge, you never understood that orderly chaos of his. So you decided to look into the drawers first, inspecting their contents, but not finding what you were looking for.

After having carved into the depths of those drawers, you carefully looked over the papers on top of the table. At first you didn’t dare touch anything, of fear of toppling anything over, of fear of being discovered before you accomplished your goal. But after not seeing the document you began to leaf slowly through every stack of documents and letters. Still nothing. With a resigning sigh, you stepped away. Maybe he had taken that piece of paper into his room, for safekeeping perhaps.

With some remaining hope you let your gaze wander across the table once again. Suddenly something bright orange caught your eyes. You knew it didn’t belong there, wasn’t supposed to be here at all, after orange was the official color of the royal family, only their letters and decrees had an orange seal. That was why you realized that you actually found what you were looking for. The letter had been pinched underneath the paperweight, which your father usually never used.

Consequently you could easily lift that paperweight shaped like a bird, because it just didn’t disturb anything around it. Once the letter laid in your hand, you carefully opened it and skimmed through its content to confirm the identity of the letter.

A lopsided grin broke itself across your face while you pocketed the letter with soft movements. After reaching your goal, you went through the same steps again, only in reverse order to leave the room.

Once in your room, you stashed the letter into your bag, before throwing it over your shoulder. Almost forgetting to put a letter on your pillow for your maid to discover the next morning. You still had to make a trip into the kitchen for some food for the oncoming travels. So you walked down the halls until you arrived in front of the passage for the servants. These secret corridors led to every place a servant could be needed, of course the kitchen was one of these places. And you knew that unless they were a guard, most servants were already asleep. For this reason you could just walk into the kitchen and take some pieces of bread and an apple. Why an apple? You just craved one at the moment.

After filling your bag with your acquired loot, you left the mansion through the servants entrance. These things were neat, you thought, making it easier to sneak around. Which in hindsight was a strategic disadvantage, but all mansions were built like that. You supposed the wall and the many guards outside were a proper defense, at least for some direct attacks. Assassination and infiltration? Definitely the weak point of many nobles.

Deep in thought you stopped in front of the wall. Of course you weren’t going to take the main entrance, your sneaking would be null and void if you got caught just walking out in the deep of the night. That was why you were looking for that one hole in the wall, hidden by some bushes. The knights and squires probably used that hole to escape training and to get drunk at the village. But their foolery had bought you a rather great advantage. This way you had the possibility to just escape the grounds without notifying anyone.

There! You spotted the crack in the massive wall and after pushing some leaves away you could gaze into the other side of the barrier. You got on all fours to crawl through the small gap. The passage was almost too tight to properly let you through, but with a bit of wiggling you managed to tumble out of the hole.

With a triumphant grin you jumped onto your feet, before walking down the road in direction of the next village. You didn’t need your map yet, but you knew that you had to acquire a proper horse to travel, or else you would need days to arrive. With a horse it would only take you a day and a night.

First, you needed to arrive at the village in the first place. Which shouldn’t be a hindrance, but after quite some distance, you began to regret your decision to start your barely-planned adventure once the dark swallowed everything in front of you. You couldn’t have carried a torch with you either way, but you dearly wished for one. Nonetheless you kept on walking on the path through the forest, not leaving your gaze lingering, lest you begin to think of horrid creatures hiding and reaching for you.

No wonder your muscles released some considerable tension, once the lights of the village seeped through the woods. Finally stepping over the invisible border between forest and village, you quickly glanced around to locate someone who would sell you a horse. And even if the streets were supposed to be empty, quite a crowd was still bustling around. Seemed like some kind of festival, you thought to yourself before diving into the bustle.

It had taken you quite some searching and haggling to acquire that beautiful white stallion, on which you were currently riding on. Maybe you should have bought more money on your person, but despite the hole in your funds you couldn’t seem to feel any regret. Especially after traveling with him for the last day and a half. He was, in your humble opinion, the calmest horse you ever had the chance to encounter.

With a comfortable trot you both were heading towards the borders of the country, close to the war, but far enough to have space to train in. Probably. Everything was just an assumption, while you studied the map of your destination. With that, they probably also assumed that everyone, who was sent by their family, would have the proper education about fighting in a war. Maybe they were just going to push a sword into their hands and use them as cannon fodder. In your opinion, it depended on the oncoming personnel. But you, you were determined to survive and maybe to even make a proper name for yourself. Despite your ambitions, you were aware of the conditions, war was a messy thing, and nothing, truly nothing, could promise a proper hold onto your life.

A hum escaped you, as you considered taking a rest. But before you had the possibility to choose, your gaze caught onto something further along the way. So you pushed your horse to go a tiny bit faster to assess whatever was in front of you. After a couple of minutes you slowly came to a halt, stopping fully in front of a wooden gate with a pair of guards. Ah, you had to have arrived already.

With a swing you descended from the black stallion, rummaging for the letter of recommendation that was issued to your family, and of course something to prove your identity with, even if the letter in itself should have been more than enough.

You showed both things to the guard, who had a condescending smirk while checking the content of the letter, before handing it back to you and opening the gate. Stowing the papers back into your bag, you took the horse strap and led your dear horse through the gate.

“Hah, you’re probably gonna do anything but fight.”, a guard snickered haughtily, letting his gaze wander over your pants.

Without second thought you pulled your sword and let the tip scratch his throat. Your face twisted in disgust. “I could just get rid of you, here and now… don’t test me, rat.”

You felt the need to spit at his feet, but you thought that he was already humiliated, so you just continued your walk through the gate. Your trusty sword returned to its home, while bringing your horse to the stable.

Taking care of your stallion you hoped, no one else reacted like that guard did. You’d hate to deal with condescending people, who thought they were better than everyone, especially you. But whatever happened, you were confident in your abilities to best them all. After all, most of them were nothing more than spoiled noble kids, with no experience in any kind of combat. You would bet the rest of your money, you could break the noses of at least half of the recruitments here.

With a content nod, you led Noir, as you decided to call the black stallion, to some proper resting space. He had been carrying you for quite some time after all. After making sure he was all set up, you went looking for whatever place you were supposed to register your arrival at.

With a sigh you settled on your assigned bed. Even if your definition of bed and mattresses were quite different, you didn’t even think of complaining, some already didn’t take you seriously. Even the person who had shown you your new place had their nose slightly wrinkled and had pulled their eyebrows up, once they glanced at you. But you didn’t mind, because you were sure of your abilities, you would surprise them and make them eat their words. And their contempt and whispers held nothing to the royal court and the gossip at festivities. You would survive this.

You had planned on resting for today, but you felt quite fidgety. Usually you would have wound up outside to train with your sword, but alas, you couldn’t pull that string in such a new place. Which sucked, especially because you had to adapt to whatever expectations and rules existed.

Without any other option you closed your eyes and tried to delve into other thoughts, maybe put some more detail in your current story, and if you fell asleep, no one would be wiser.

[geek-and-nina]

Disney Princess Kit Tanthalos

"Was it your prince that cut your hair?" Rapunzel asked, noting Kit Tanthalos's short brown locks, somewhat similar to her own.

"Ew. No. I would have killed him on the spot." Kit scoffed immediately. "My best friend and I cut it together, every couple of months."

"So you do have a prince?" Cinderella asked, her eyes sparkling as though it were the most important question in the world. "What did he save you from?"

"I saved my prince... I mean, my brother. I cross to the ends of the earth and then I jumped off. I saved him." Kit smiled proudly, beginning to realize what they were getting at.

"I know something about cutting my hair and running off to save my family." Mulan agreed.

"I know something about having a sibling you are willing to do anything to save, no matter the cost." Anna added.

"You don't have your true love, or he just hasn't found you yet? It takes princes and knights a while sometimes." Snow White piped up, her voice high-pitched to the point of being a little annoying.

"I have my true love, and I have my knight... she's wonderful and brave and brilliant and bold. Beautiful too." Kit said, and caught a glimmer of a smile on a couple of young women who surrounded her's faces. "It is good to be seen and to be known. Thank you for the welcome, ladies."

[captaincapsicle83]

Soldier Boy

Prolouge

TW: Sexism(?), cursing

Summary: Steve Rogers was scrawny and no match for the US army. Luckily, he meets someone else in a similar situation. The other soldiers consider them weaker, but they find themselves growing closer as friends.

But Steve's new friend seems to have a secret to hide.

(Have you ever watched Mulan? This is basically the plot of Mulan)

"Line up!" The man's voice called out through the crisp morning air like a foghorn.

The young men, striding tall and proud, stood in musty, battered army green uniforms. Each of their faces were stoic, eyes empty, prepared to be filled with the scars and horrors that were bound to fill them someday. That, or they would die.

Steve, a boy with thinning blonde hair and a chest full of spite, stood as tall as he could. Admittedly, for Steve, this wasn't very tall at all. The boy was a 1940's poster child for malnourishment. But Steve had heart. And heart was what he needed to get by.

A tall, mean-looking man stalked down the line, sneering in the faces of the men before him. The man, Officer James B. Pench, stopped, in front of a man two spaces down from Steve. The biggest man on the field, the size of a truck, stood between Steve and the guy Pench was in front of. The other man was just as small as Steve, maybe a little larger.

"What's your name Soldier?" Pench commanded at the other fun-sized man.

That man, the man was you. And you, truthfully, were no man. You had cut your hair, and you gave yourself a fake name, and you joined the military.

It wasn't hard to do. You didn't have any friends, not really, and you had grown up an orphan. You remember being moved quickly from home to home, so often you barely had time to meet people.

So, y/n disappeared and you became-

"Peter," You yelled out, deep from your gut. "Peter Parker sir!"

"Parker!" The Officer barked back. "You been working out sir?!"

"Sir, yes Sir!"

"Sure as hell don't look like it!" You kept your hand saluted, not wavering once. It wasn't the worst thing him, or anybody here for that matter, could say. In fact, the absolute worst thing that could happen here would be if somebody pulled down your large bulky combat pants, revealing your lack of manliness.

Like, Literally.

Combat was insane, and not what you as a little girl were taught to do. You weren't taught to do much, but mostly to sit and act like a "lady." You liked the feeling of a constant "go!" mindset and were especially fond of the brotherhood present in the army.

You had made one steady friend, possibly, the first one you can remember. His name was Steve.

"Where're you from?" He asked you one night. The two of you were lying on the roof of a building.

"Brooklyn," You lied, saying it so easily in such a monotone voice. God, you felt horrible. Even if Steve was your first friend, he really wasn't. He was "Parker's" first friend, sure, but that's because Parker only existed for about 4 months.

"So am I," shit.  "We should hang out sometime. Grab a drink."

"Are you even old enough to drink?" You laugh, making a stupid joke in hopes the conversation would drop. You didn't want him to find out...And even if you could hide it well enough to galavant around New York with him, you didn't know if you could lie to him that long.

"I'm sure Bucky would come to," Steve seems to ignore your joke, focused on his little dream. "Have you met Bucky?"

"Y-yeah. Kinda," You stuttered out the words, not looking over at his puppy dog face and little beady eyes that were always so full of hope.

You decided that night, that maybe it would've been better had you not ever joined the military. Not that you weren't of use, you were doing a pretty bang up job.

But lying to people, most prominently Steve, it broke your heart.

***

You wished the nazis would've blown you to bits in Germany. If they had, you would've had a much better time with the rest of your life.

You signed up for the first trip over, even after discussing with Steve the two of you would take the second.

Maybe he was mad, hurt a little, but imagine your surprise when you returned and "lil' Stevie" was labeled as Captain Fucking America, and was about the size of a truck.

And if you thought you were surprised, with your racing mind and many thoughts, imagine his. His when the truth came out.

Sorta.

You were standing at the desk of your superior officer, the same one who stood in front of you in a line of men, bigger and stronger than you, and told you, you were nothing.

The day you had been dreading, where the lies became too much and you knew you would have too... have to leave. To resign.

Have to come clean.

But for now, you hoped only leaving would be enough. Hopes you'd never have to see any of these men again.

The Officer was standing opposite of you, behind his desk. His wrinkled face was curled into something of a smile, as he extended his hand to you.

"Officer Parker," He spoke. "It has been my utmost pleasure having you apart of the service."

You clasped his hand, a similar grin on your face. When you drop it, he sighs, and comes around the front of the desk. He stands opposite of you for a moment, before opening his arms.

He pulls you into a tight hug, which you return gratefully. He leans his mouth closer to your ear, and his whisper sends chills down your spine.

"I know."

TO BE CONTINUED

[fallenoftheromaempire]

I think my biggest betrayal came from Mulan.

For years as a kid i watched that show thinking that i could one day just cut my hair and everyone would think I'm a boy

And the "Woman dresses as man to go on an adventure" thrope in media just keeps feeling that betrayal, for mainly two reasons :

* They always pass without issues

* Is never used to explore their gender

The first point is the one that annoys me the most. Somehow these women all have long angular faces, are tall, have broad shoulders and little hips and easily disguisable chest.

Their voice are never too high pitched or something

Somehow everyone is fooled by it, just an haircut and some bandages and boom. Behold it's a man.

Meanwhile in reality even the most androgynous of afab trans person who isn't already in the depth of transition, struggle to not be seen as their birth gender

The second one bothers me because it's always such a great opportunity to write a trans story but it's never taken (Wich valid, is just a disguise) but like so man trans people realize their identity later in life and in many historical settings it's hard for them to be exposed to the need to explore. What if at the end tge heroine stops and feels sad about having to go back being a woman, what if they realize that it feels more right in these clothes than the corset?? But no. They always go back to being perfect ladies at the end

[varian-secretportals]

Varian Love-Interest Part 2

What are your thoughts on Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada's on-stage chemistry? Whatever your thoughts are about the musical version of The Great Gatsby or about the couple Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan née Fay (in my personal opinion they aren't exactly a healthy pairing with Gatsby being obsessed with Daisy and Daisy being a shallow woman who cheats on her husband and ultimately breaks Gatsby's heart), I personally think that Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada have amazing vocal chemistry together and I've been actually excited to see these two amazing artists perform together for quite awhile.

I would love to hear them sing a cover of A Whole New World from Disney's Aladdin. I could see them becoming the next Brad Kane and Lea Salonga. Though Lea Salonga has still got it in my opinion.

I guess I'm asking because I'm imaging the dream-casting voice for my OC love interest of Varian's to be none other than Eva Noblezada herself. She has a beautiful, spirited and youthful voice that I think mirrors Lea Salonga's singing performances as Princess Jasmine and Mulan beautifully. I'd ultimately love her to do her speaking voice as well as it just fits a character so beautifully when both their speaking and singing voices are the same.

In theory, what are your thoughts on Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada playing other roles together, specifically as animated characters? What are thoughts on them playing a Disney couple? Do you think Eva Noblezada could play a convincing love interest for Jeremy Jordan's Tangled character?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this whether in comments and/or via poll. I'd really appreciate your feedback.

[jules-has-notes]

Happily Ever After (Princess Academy) — PattyCake Productions music video

Along with their conspiracy of villains, PattyCake had also gathered quite a few Disney princesses over the course of their "Unexpected Musicals". Those young ladies are known for their kindness and strength of character. So what better way to introduce this second original series than by having them help a pessimist find a sunnier outlook on life?

Details:

title: Princess Academy — s.1, ep.1 — Happily Ever After

performers: Ben Ptashinsky (Ted Pessiminsky); Olivia Adkins (Snow White); Brianna Fogden (Cinderella); Anna Ricks (Aurora); Emma Dahlin (Ariel / featured vocals); Tiana Akers (Belle / featured vocals); Maggie Wakim (Jasmine / featured vocals); Ciara de Leon (Pocahontas); Raven Wynn (Mulan); Breauna Horsham-Washington (Tiana / featured vocals); Allee Otwell (Rapunzel); Emily Gorsuch (Merida / featured vocals); Bayley True (Anna); Kristina Conophy (Elsa / featured vocals); Monica Joelle Ortiz (Moana / featured vocals); Lisa Glaze (Melody); Melanie Simpson (reporter); Hannah Laird & Kellie Rhianne (featured vocals)

written & arranged by: Layne Stein & Tony Wakim

screenplay by: James Keaton, Tony Wakim, & Layne Stein

release date: 21 November 2018

My favorite bits:

the last ticker item on the news broadcast making a sneaky reference to "The Disney Showman"

listing off the girls' various sidekicks 🕯️ 🐭 🕯️ 🪲 🦎 🐲 ☃️ 🦀 🐟 🐦

"Is this D23?" 😂

Merida, Moana, and Elsa voicing their dissent to the plan

"Is it too late to be taken out by the girl with the bow and arrow?"

"Who wrote this, Taylor Swift?" "Is she a princess?" …🤔

the lovely harmonies for ♫ "true love's kiss can break the curse" ♫

layering all their voices on the final ♫ "happily ever" ♫

Ted getting "knocked out" by another book so he can wake up

that meet-cute ending

Snow White adorably intruding on the outro

Trivia:

Olivia had been playing Snow White for PattyCake since their very first music video, "Snow Spears".

Anna had originally auditioned to play Ariel in "The Grande Mermaid", but Tony and Layne kept her in mind for Aurora.

Tiana was yet another of Tony's fellow "Beetlejuice Revue" alumni, having played cheerleaders Hip and Hop, and Cleo in the later "Mashup" version. She had also played Belle in the live stage show at Disney World.

Many of the other actresses were cast through an open audition process. (Which was a pretty sure bet, since PattyCake is so close to Disney World.) The final role cast was Monica as Moana.

This video was filmed at The Ballroom at Church Street, which PattyCake had previously used for their "Beauty and the Bieber" video, as well as Fernando Varela's "Phantom Showman" mashup.

During the week before it was released, the guys had some of the cast come into the studio for a few final pickups and ADR sessions to make sure it was as good as possible.

The guitar track was recorded by Ryan Simpson, who played Rick Grimes in PattyCake's "Walking Dead" music video a year and a half earlier.

In addition to playing the reporter, Melanie also served as the production manager for the video shoot.

Layne's family paid a visit to the set while the cast was getting ready so that the girls could meet their favorite princesses.

Because there were so many characters to style at once, Tony called in reinforcements from a few local businesses to provide some of the costume pieces, wigs, and jewelry.

Ben got caught looking over Raven's shoulder in between takes.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ben Ptashinsky-Skinner (@equityben)

PattyCake released a sing-a-long version of the song portion at the end of the month.

Then they released an adorable blooper reel at the beginning of the year.

[cherrystonefemme]

Obsessed with the concept of cishet women feeling the need to identify as the non-penetrative partner

Uh oh bestie. Turns out, if you want the rewards of being pillow princess, you have to submit to the mortifying ordeal of telling the service top what you want 😔

[adversitybloomed]

🌸  ┊ letter received from @caracarnn        𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍'𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒓 : ⛓ / FOR AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE STARTER.

          annoyance had flickered through her, as she sat upon the cushion among the crowd throne room that housed the imperial court. a heavy headdress weight down upon her head, adding to the headache that had become her life ever since her father had announced that she would be marrying the dragon reborn. a bitterness still could be tasted upon her tongue, as she had not forgiven her father yet for going back on his word and making her soon marry a stranger.

          it mattered little to her that she had heard countless times since the announcement had first been made, on how it was a good and wise match her marriage would be ━━ that fortune would smile down upon the hua dynasty now that a true dragon would be part of the royal family. instead she could not help but worry if her soon-to-be husband would be good and loyal to her. or if he would turn out to be the man that she had always feared marrying who's only goal was to use her for power.

          sparing a glance in his direction, mulan watched as her father talked to the redheaded male who sat upon the dragon throne, a seat normally sat upon by her father. it was a rare sight, especially since the only other person allowed near him during this time was the empress herself, and yet she sat now to the left of him drinking her tea and chatting with the other ladies who had come to attend the social gathering. as she watched him, she could not deny that he was handsome, but it did little to lesson the blow to her ego. she knew her father was asking him of his journey here and if the dowry that he had received was enough or if he desired more, for not only did he send the traditional gifts, of bedding, new clothing for her as well as the tea set for the ceremony and more, but he had also promised ten thousand men to join with her once the marriage was completed and she left with him so that their alliance would remain strong.

          glancing away, she continued to ignore her meal and the conversations around her, especially after her elder sister came from her seat to whisper in her ear that she was happy for her, for it meant that now she was no longer an obstacle in her path for she would soon be leaving their homeland. yet the sound of her name drew her from her own mind, silence soon befalling the court as her father spoke for her to come forward.

          taking in a breath, she rose from her kneeled position, her steps around the table graceful as she began to make her way towards the middle of the room and closer to the thrones. moving her hands before her, she kneeled to them both bowing her head to the ground as she wished them a lifetime of health and prosperity before raising her head to look up at them.      ❝  forgive my daughter, she has a willful nature. 𝑴𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒏 come here and greet 𝑪𝒂𝒓'𝒂'𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒏 more properly.  ❞    her fathers voice did not speak loudly in volume, but the command in his tone could not be missed.

          rising once more, she lifted the hem of her skirt before climbing the steps to join next to rand. waiting she watched as the staff put down a cushion for her to rest upon before she lowered herself to his side. grabbing hold of the serving spoon, she poured him a glass of wine before raising it with two hands to present to him with a smile,      ❝  i hope that our marriage can be long lasting and full of prosperity.  ❞    her eyes met with his own as she only just began to realize how handsome he truly was up close as well as how tall he was.

          she had never seen eyes like his before, the gray-blue color seemingly piercing to the very depths of her soul. suddenly, all of her anger and annoyance was replaced with a nervousness that she could not understand, for her heart raced so suddenly she thought she might faint. for a moments breath, her mind tried to blame the fact that it was because his aura was so powerful ━━ but deep down she knew that was not the reason for the sudden change within her.

        ❝  have we  ━━ ❞    she stopped herself from speaking such a strange thought out loud, for there was no way the two could know each other, despite the fact that her soul seemed to say it was so. instead she forced such a thought away in favor of appearing polite and sane,      ❝  forgive me, what i meant to ask was if you would like more food or if you have had enough and wish for dessert ?   ❞   

[shipperqueen93]

Twice Upon a Dream Pt 1

I told you it wouldn’t take 6 years for the next part to be posted. A bit of a change from the previous fics but this is just a lead up for the main event. I promise that the next chapter will have what you are looking for. In the mean time enjoy this 

Once again I have to thank @ishtarelisheba for beta’ing this for me and helping me with my comma allergy.

-----------

Ruby Lucas was tired. All she wanted to do was go home, take a long, hot bath, drink a very large glass of wine, and watch some sappy Hallmark movie. She had spent all day either in the library studying or in class. She had to deal with Dr Hyde’s nonsense first thing in the morning. The man’s whims could change on a dime. One minute he would be lecturing and next he would go off on some tangent and rave about nonsense, and he’d assign ridiculous work to anyone who tried to get him back on topic. 

Today she had been the idiot who pointed out he was off topic and he assigned her some stupid paper in response. Nine times out of ten, when he gave these assignments, he’d blow them off in the next class. With her luck, though, if she didn’t turn in the paper, it’d be the one time he’d actually expect it. So she had spent the afternoon in the library working on the stupid paper, kicking herself for being such an idiot. By the time she had finished it, she had to sprint to make it to her calculus II class, barely getting inside before Professor Bleu shut the door. 

Professor Faye Bleu was another level of annoying. She had a holier than thou attitude and a stick so far up her ass Ruby was surprised she wasn’t coughing up toothpicks. She was very much  “my way is the only right way” and was known to dock points if you got the answer in a way that was different from her preferred method. She seemed to love the sound of her own voice and would drone on and on, somehow managing to sound sanctimonious even when lecturing about derivatives. 

If it hadn’t been for Emma jabbing her in the side every so often, she would have been on the receiving end of a Faye Bleu rant for sleeping in class. She was going to have to borrow Emma’s notes, because she barely tracked anything that was said during class. She was exhausted not only from her research, but from working a double shift the night before at the diner. Ashley had called out due to her daughter being sick, so Ruby had picked up the extra hours. She had to call off on a date with Billy so she could take the shift, but she needed the money. 

When Professor Bleu finally ended class - a good twenty minutes late - Ruby all but ran from the class. Her mind was so focused on getting home, she didn’t notice Mulan until she ran into her. Thankfully, Mulan’s reflexes were better than her own, and her friend managed to keep them both from falling over. 

“You okay, Rubes?” Mulan asked as she pulled Ruby out of the way of the rest of class. 

Ruby leant against the wall, letting her head fall back. “Yeah, I’m fine, just tired. What’s up? What are you doing in the math hellzone?” 

Mulan was an archeology major. The major didn’t require many math credits and Mulan had already taken hers. She spent most of her time in the different history or science courses. 

Mulan waved at someone behind Ruby, and a moment later, Aurora was by her side. “Professor Drago needs to see you. Since I was swinging by to pick up Aurora, I said I’d send you her way.” 

Ruby frowned. “What does Dragon Lady want with me?” 

Ruby hadn’t taken a class taught by Professor Drago since her freshman year. She had played the intermediary between Belle and Drago a few times when Belle had been sick, but even then, it was just picking up books or some other source material. Belle had been back now for a month, so Ruby had no idea what Drago would want with her.

Mulan shrugged and wrapped her arm around Aurora’s shoulders. “No idea. She just asked me to tell you to stop by.”

Ruby groaned. Drago’s office was on the other side of campus and in the opposite direction of her and Belle’s apartment. “Ugh, kill me.” 

“Nah. Where's the fun in that?” Mulan smirked and gave her a little wave. “Good luck with Dragon Lady.” 

“Maybe don’t call her that when you see her,” Aurora added.

Glaring at the two of them, Ruby considered the consequences of just going straight home and enacting her plans of wine and vegging out. Professor Drago, however, wasn’t known to take kindly to being blown off. 

“You guys suck,” Ruby grumbled. Pushing off the wall, she left the couple behind and began her trek across campus. 

It took her twenty minutes to get to Drago’s office. She had to detour to avoid Greg Aston. Last thing she wanted was to have to fend off his creep advances. She passed Gold’s office on the way and wasn’t surprised to find it closed, though she could hear him rustling around. She supposed if she had to be here she was glad she was meeting with Drago instead of Gold. Belle was the only one who could deal with him. The few times she had to interface with him when Belle was sick were more than enough. He was an ass. A well dressed ass, but an ass, nonetheless. She didn’t know how Belle managed to fall for him, but then again, love couldn’t be rationalized. 

Getting closer, Ruby saw that Drago’s office door was shut and the lights were off. Ruby swore if this was Mulan’s idea of a joke, she was going to steal her Wushu uniform and dye it pink. She knocked on the door, half hoping for an answer, half hoping for there not to be. 

“Come in!” Drago’s voice called out. 

Cursing her luck, Ruby pushed open the door, blinking until her eyes adjusted to the dark. 

Drago was sitting at her desk, her feet kicked up on top of it, resting on paperwork. She looked up when Ruby came in and waved her over. “Ah, yes, Miss Lucas. Miss Wen must have sent you over. Please come in, go ahead and turn on the light.”

Ruby turned on the light and took in the office, now that she could see it better. The office was decorated tastefully in tones of black with the occasional pop of purple. There were a few crystal knick-knacks that, when the light caught them, sent rainbows across the space. The desk was relatively organized with papers in neat piles and books stacked in the corner. There was a comfortable looking purple chair in front of the desk that Ruby chose to utilize. A small crystal unicorn sat on the desk next to the blotter, surprising Ruby. She hadn’t pictured Drago as the unicorn type. 

Mal tracked Ruby’s gaze and must have recognized the confusion. She swung her feet off the desk and nodded to the figurine, “It was a gift from my wife, Ingrid. Not my shot of whiskey, but it’s cute.” 

Ruby hadn’t realized Drago was married, but now that she thought about it, she did see her at the Any Given Sundae quite often. Regardless, she still didn’t understand what she was doing here. 

“Professor Drago, Mulan said you needed…” Ruby was interrupted as the door burst open and Professor Gold came in. 

“Mallory, you need to do the damned safety training. Regina is breathing down my neck and I don’t have time to deal with her bullsh-” Gold cut himself off suddenly, seemingly when he realized Ruby was there. 

“Cameron, dear, I’m a bit busy at the moment. Can you come back later?” Drago barely paid him a glance. 

Gold looked between Ruby and Drago, and he frowned. “Miss Lucas, considering a change in majors?”

Ruby glanced over at Drago, who just looked bored, before answering. “No?”

Gold raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you auditing a class?”

Ruby looked over at Drago -who was examining her nails- again, then back to Gold. “No. No, I’m not.”

“Ah. Well, in that case, as Professor Drago’s office hours ended an hour ago and she has other business to attend, I suggest you run along and gossip with someone else.” He stepped aside and held the door open for her, completely dismissing her. 

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him he could run along and shove that cane where the sun didn’t shine. 

Thankfully, Drago spoke up before Ruby could get herself into trouble. “Miss Lucas is here waiting for Miss French, who is running late due to a meeting with Kathryn. After I’m done with Miss French, I’ll go do the bloody training. So unless you need to speak with Miss French, too, please run along”

Ruby was working to get a degree in forensic science, so she was pretty good at spotting small details, and working at the diner, she had learnt to read people. So when she saw the way Gold’s features tightened at the mention of Belle’s name, she took note. She wasn’t sure what had gone down between Belle and Gold, but it was obvious things were not business as usual. Before Belle’s case of mono, she and Gold had basically been joined at the hip, but now they seemed to be avoiding each other. Belle had refused to say what happened, claiming that they were both busy and she had to focus on her studies, but Ruby didn’t believe it for a second. 

Gold must have felt her scrutinizing him, because he glanced over to her, and in that moment, anything she had previously seen from him disappeared back under the mask of Professor Gold. “Very well. But if Regina comes banging on my door again? I’m telling Jones where your ice cream stash is.” 

Ruby didn’t think it was that big of a threat, but by the way Mal glared at Gold, apparently it had the effect he intended. 

“Go to hell, Gold,” Drago said, throwing a pencil his way. 

Gold simply stepped out of the way as he made his way back out of the office, his reply said over his shoulder. “I’ll save you a seat on the ride down.”

Drago cursed at Gold’s back, using a few choice phrases that Ruby made note of for future reference, but when she seemingly got that out of her system, she just went back to examining her nails. Ruby tried to remember if Belle mentioned meeting up after class, but she couldn’t recall anything. 

Finally, after several minutes of awkward silence, she spoke up. “Professor Drago, is there a reason you asked me to come by?”

Drago at last looked up from her manicure and examined Ruby for a moment before speaking. “Cameron Gold is an asshole.”

There was a moment where Ruby just stared at Drago, processing what she had said, before a laugh burst out. “Yeah, and water is wet. That’s not exactly news, or reason for why you called me here.” 

Drago rolled her eyes, but finally sat up at the desk and looked at Ruby, all traces of previous humor gone. “Miss Lucas, you took Western Civilization with Gold as part of your essential studies and, given your proximity with Miss French, I think you know that there is a scale of assholishiness when it comes to Gold. There is your normal, regular day-to-day asshole, which I can admire and respect. And then there is how he has been lately…” 

She trailed off and looked at Ruby expectantly, but Ruby was still wondering what this had to do with her. 

“Professor Drago, I’m not su-” Ruby started but was quickly cut off again.

“You’re roommates with Miss French, are you not?” Drago asked, steamrolling over what Ruby had been saying. Before Ruby could even respond, Drago was already moving on. “I haven’t seen Miss French around much lately. It used to be that she was always around. She and Gold used to be peas in a pod. I couldn’t tell you how many times I walked into Gold’s office and found Miss French reading in the corner or working at his desk.” 

Ruby didn’t doubt Drago’s claim. Belle had spent more time with Gold than she had at home. Ruby knew part of that had to do with the fact that Belle had developed feelings for Gold, but she also spent time there studying and working on her thesis. But like Drago stated, ever since Belle had come back from her stint with mono, the two had been avoiding each other. When she had asked Belle what had happened, her friend had turned red and claimed that they were just busy. 

Drago observed her over her steepled fingers. “Surely you’ve noticed a difference in Miss French, as well? Strange that such a change would occur at the same time as Gold’s own personality change…”

Ruby couldn’t help the quirk of her lips and inclined her head in recognition of Drago’s point. “It is quite a coincidence.” 

Drago settled back into her seat, and when she spoke, it was with a hint of nostalgia.  “Let me tell you a story, Miss Lucas. Back when I was in school, there were these two other students who just hated each other. I’m talking they were constantly at each other’s throats and they made life miserable for each other, and for everyone around them, too. But despite that, everyone could feel the chemistry between them. Everyone but themselves. They were absolutely blind to the tension that sparked every time they were in the room. After a year of dealing with this, one of the other students got fed up with their snarking and locked the two of them in a closet. When they were let out a few hours later, the dynamic had…shifted.” 

Even though Ruby knew the answer, she couldn’t resist asking. “They talked it out?” The look Drago shot her cleared any lingering doubt. She was starting to see why Drago had called her here. “So let me make sure I understand this right. You are suggesting I should lock Belle and Gold in a closet and hope they kiss and make up?”

Drago gave a gasp of faux shock. “I would never suggest you lock an esteemed professor and his student in a closet, especially for such crude reasons.” Drago paused just long enough for Ruby to think maybe she misunderstood before continuing. “I simply wished to share a story with you, Miss Lucas. What you decided to do with that information? That is completely up to you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some safety trainings to review.” 

The dismissal was clear, and despite her protest, Ruby understood what Drago was doing. It was one thing for Drago to tell a story and let Ruby interpret it how she wanted. It was another to endorse and support a plan to essentially hook up a professor and student. Still, it was clear what Drago’s long term goal was here, and Ruby was willing to put herself on the line for it. There was a lot to plan out, but suddenly, Ruby was no longer tired, her earlier exhaustion bleeding away. It seemed a trip to visit Emma was in order. Iif anyone knew anything about secret forbidden relationships, it was her. 

Ruby was halfway out the door when she paused and looked back at Drago. “Professor?” she spoke up. 

Drago glanced up from her laptop and raised an eyebrow. “Yes, Miss Lucas?”

“The couple in your story. What happened with them in the end?”

Drago smiled and fingered the crystal unicorn on her desk. “My wife and I have been married going on ten years now. Have a good night, Miss Lucas.”

[paracosmic-murdock]

Tell me what are my words worth ; Benedict Bridgerton x Reader

Chapter 13: "Sans toi"

Pairing: Benedict Bridgerton x fem!reader

Summary: It has been two years since your secret was exposed and you had to leave London. Two years with deep buried misery and in which you missed everything you used to have. However, neglect, novelties, and letters made sure to give you more than one reason to return to claim someone who is as rightfully yours as your estate and your people: Benedict Bridgerton.

Warnings/tags: idiots in love, eventual smut, mutual pining, (kinda???) enemies (fake, this is just pride) to lovers (surely), bisexual benedict bridgerton, feminist themes, historical inaccuracy (for the sake of the plot), inspired by mulan (1998), song: the lakes (taylor swift), other tags to be added

Chapter summary: When you arrive in London, there is a soirée dedicated to your return. Clearly, the hate you expected to get from your loved ones wasn't what you received.

Word count: 2.3K

❁ Series masterlist

❁ mila's anthology (main masterlist)

Benedict knew he had lost you when he saw you walk through the door of your bedchambers in the Carrington Mansion, but it wasn't until a week later that he realized that his life without you had just begun.

After having had all of you, what was he supposed to do without you?

Firstly, his brothers tried to convince him that it was not worth it and that he could find a woman like you anywhere. They did not believe in their own words, especially Anthony, who couldn't conceive the possibility of finding another Kate anywhere in the world.

He recently saw Colin falling in love with Penelope. Or realizing of the fact, for that matter, and everything was harder for him.

Benedict tried hard to take refuge in pairs of arms so he could never see himself without you anymore.

Two years passed, 63,072,000 seconds, and you were in his thoughts every single and each one of them.

Two years have passed and inconvenient mothers would not leave him alone, plus, the life of a bachelor got more complicated each day, so he simply started looking for a wife until he stumbled upon the only woman in Europe that did not share a single similarly with you.

And that was who he kept: Miss Hayley Prince.

She was not an easy woman in all honesty, but he had learned to ignore it.

"Are you alright?"

Eloise sighed nervously. "Indeed I am, Brother. Why the question?"

"You seem restless," Benedict commented. "Is everything okay?"

"Of course it is!" She nodded.

He frowned, not believing his sister but decided to let her be.

Clearly, Eloise was not alright. Her nervousness had a motive and the motive was you: she had written you a letter, urging you to come back to London to save her most favorite brother from falling from grace.

"I found it!" a voice yelled, rushing steps invading the sitting room where Benedict had planned to read peacefully but wasn't allowed to by the intrusions. "It is in French, I hear it is one of the first copies."

"Come, Pen!" Eloise urged her best friend, taking her hand in hers and running to her bedchambers.

Benedict was still curious, but said nothing as he was finally alone. He would find out one way or another anyway.

That very same afternoon you had left your Grandfather alone in the sitting room and taken your leave to the Château de Germolles to talk to your cousin.

Regardless of everything that had happened between you, Claude was still the one responsible for everything until your heir was born, and his ignorance of the latter thing was an advantage you could use in your favor when you convinced him to send news that your bastard brother was a criminal that belonged in a dungeon.

The man was given no other choice but to escape and you were given no other choice but to pack your prettiest dresses, finest jewels, all your money, most expensive and useless assets, and make your way to London the next morning.

"My, my, Lady Y/N, I was certainly not expecting you so soon!" Lady Danbury received you with a knowing smile.

"I am thankful you received me, my Lady," You smiled. "And Eloise's letter had a great connotation of urgency."

She nodded, guiding you inside her home. "All of us have been eager to reunite with you."

"All of you?" You swallowed with difficulty, fearing for the answer. "After what happened?"

"Oh, my dear…" She shook her head. "We do not blame you at all. I think it takes great courage to do what you did, to fool these ignorant men… You did what you had to do and we admire you for it."

You frowned. "I- I thought everyone hated me."

"No one of worth does," Lady Danbury winked. "I have organized a soirée for the ladies tonight. Now it seems like we have a motive for it!"

"Is there any way I can help organize it?"

"It is all settled," she replied. "You can help by having some rest after such a long way."

You curved your lips. "Will do, my Lady."

One of her maids took you to your bedchambers, where you indeed changed your dress for something more comfortable and fell asleep as you were incredibly exhausted.

Later, the very same maid woke you up from your nap.

"There is a bath prepared for you, my Lady," she announced. "Your maid helped us make it the way you prefer it."

"Thank you." You smiled and stood up.

An hour later, you were walking down the stairs with a sky blue and silver sequined dress and your long hair neatly styled.

Many reactions received you: judgemental looks, envying stares, and admiring smiles. You were used to them all.

The first to greet you was Daphne Bridgerton, complimenting your dress and promising that her family would be all glad to see you again. Then, Lady Featherington, promising to never have believed the words of Whistledown. Many ladies whose faces you could not recognize gave you fake smiles, but then you saw the lady you feared to encounter the most: Violet Bridgerton.

You believed she would hate you. In her family, both Benedict and Eloise knew that the secret that was exposed by Lady Whistledown was true, but you weren't sure how aware of that she was.

However, when her motherly smile greeted you before her voice did, you concluded that whether she knew or not, she did not care.

"Oh, my dear… Only if you knew how glad I am to see you again."

You smiled with nostalgia in your eyes, and gave her a tight hug. It was inevitable, then, to say "I am so sorry for what I did."

"No," She shook her head. "You have nothing to apologize for."

"But your son-"

She looked at you with her lips pursed. "My son has missed you terribly."

"Has he really?" you asked. "Eloise sent-"

"Forgive me for the intrusion," The unknown woman interrupted your conversation with Violet Bridgerton with a polite smile. "Lady Bridgerton, before I forget, my parents wanted to invite you and Benedict for dinner tomorrow night."

Your heart started to beat faster at the mention of his.

"I will discuss it with my son first and-"

"Oh, no, I already spoke with him. He agreed."

Lady Bridgerton nodded. "Uh, silly me… Y/N, this is Miss Hayley Prince. Miss Prince, this is Lady Y/N of Burgundy."

"Oh, it is a pleasure to meet you!" she exclaimed.

You didn't know her a bit, but you hated her. Did you have a valid reason to? Yes. Do you need a reason to dislike someone? No. But in this case, you did have a reason and you were allowed to dislike her.

You made an annoyed smile hidden behind a look of kindness. "Nice to meet you." you said, bitterness poisoning your voice.

She smiled, catching your disgust but not saying a word.

"Lady Danbury is calling me, if you'll excuse me."

Followed by their gazes you left the room, angry steps breaking the silence of the hallways.

"Hiding from something?"

"Miss Bridgerton, you were the one to summon me here," you noted with a forced smile, trying to conceal how upset you were after seeing her. "What could I possibly be hiding from if I am supposed to have come to face a thing or two?"

"Have you met her?" she asked in an unfazed way.

"She just came to interrupt my conversation with your Mama to show off that she and Benedict had talked about having dinner with her, God!" you complained. "I believed I had already faced the punishment for my actions, but it seems like they never end!"

Eloise smirked. "I must be there when my brother sees you again after two years. He will be taken aback by your return."

"He better be."

"We are all going for a promenade tomorrow morning, Mama said," she commented. "I will make sure for her to invite Lady Danbury."

"Is she going to be there?" you questioned.

"No." Eloise answered.

"Your Mama said that Benedict has missed me terribly," You looked at the ceiling, feeling homesick at the dearth of art. You miss your home, if you are being honest, but sometimes missing a person is much more powerful. "Was she truthful?"

She gave you a knowing stare. "You would be surprised, my dearest friend."

You laughed slightly. "So? When is the next big event?"

"The Queen's Ball next week."

"I will meet you there," you promised with a nod. "Why do we dislike Miss Prince?"

Eloise gasped. "She is the cousin of Cressida Cowper! She is just like her… she has shared quite the repertoire of opinions on how I should fill the standards of a fine lady and she made fun of Pen."

"Oh, my Lord… Does your brother know?"

"No, but all of us dislike her for our own motives:" she noted. "Anthony finds her quite annoying, though he is a huge hater either way. She said to Colin that it was negligent and irresponsible to travel abroad. She flirted with Simon, so that's in for him and Daphne, and Kate overheard her talking about me. She also has very controversial opinions on gender roles."

"How so?"

"Well, it seems like she thinks that us women are better off living under the men's mandate."

You frowned. "God forbid she ever longs to go to university, travels for days and impersonates a fictional brother to do so, gets brutally exposed by Lady Whistledown and has her Grandfather force her to live under his command and hateful speech."

"Cheers to that." she mused.

Eloise and you kept chit-chatting for a few minutes and later returned to the soirée.

You and Eloise walked to the table where Violet Bridgerton, Lady Danbury, Daphne Basset, Kate Bridgerton and Hayley Prince were sitting.

"It's great to see you again, my Lady." Kate smiled.

"Call me Y/N," You wrinkled your nose. "No need for titles between friends, I suppose."

"You are right." Daphne smiled.

"How is little Auggie, Daphne?" you asked her with a smile.

"Oh, he has grown so much! He looks like a replica of Simon."

"I can only imagine! He is the most handsome baby I have ever seen."

Miss Prince chimed in. "Do you know Auggie, Y/N?"

You frowned in discontent at her calling you by your name, but let your face do the talking instead of you. "He even poured tea in my dress, we were best friends for a day."

"Auggie has never been one to get on well with people he hasn't seen before, or some people at all. A very selective child," the Duchess commented. "However, he adored Y/N from the moment he first saw her."

"A common reaction from the Bridgerton boys." Lady Danbury commented, making you, Daphne, Kate and Violet suppress a laugh Eloise couldn't.

"Benedict most of all." the younger Bridgerton noted. "He will be ecstatic to see her, will he not?"

"I am certain he will." Kate went with it.

"You should come to dinner tomorrow!" Eloise exclaimed with a knowing smirk. "It must be tomorrow night as it is the last day the whole family will be here since Simon and Daphne are leaving for Hastings!"

"Oh, are you leaving, Daphne?"

The redhead nodded. "Unfortunately, Y/N. Simon has duties to fulfill at home, as I know you very well understand. Tomorrow is indeed the last night of us all together, so it would be perfect for dinner."

"Uh, but my dinner is tomorrow. Benedict will formally introduce himself to my family." Hayley interjected.

"That is right," Lady Bridgerton said. "But perhaps your parents can make an exception, can they not, dear? Y/N's arrival after two years is a very important event for the Bridgertons and we would really like to celebrate it with our family."

"It is alright, then, my Lady." She nodded.

"Y/N, I have started reading your book!" Eloise gushed. "Pen found it, it is one of the first copies published. It is in French, so I have been translating it."

You let out a nervous chuckle. "One of the first copies, you said?"

"Yes! It has a very interesting main character."

"Can you lend it to me once you have finished?" Kate wondered.

"Of course, dear Sister in law," she agreed. "I am certain Benedict will like it also."

"No!" you yelled, catching everyone's attention. You showed a sheepish look. "I mean, no… Uh, he- he will not like it, I am sure. It is… not the type of book he likes."

"Dear, are you joking?" Lady Danbury questioned. "I have been made aware that he is quite an art and literature enthusiast. Your book is full of beautifully written poetry, I am sure he will like it."

You forced a smile. "Perhaps I should help you finish translating it, El…"

"Benedict speaks French very well, I assume he will not have an issue with it."

"It is always more comfortable to read something in your mother tongue, Eloise… I should know!" you lied. Clearly, you have always preferred reading books in their original language, but that they don't know. "Have you ever read Marília de Dirceu? It is nicer in French than Portuguese."

Of course it is not. You have always felt that its beauty is in its language, but that they didn't know.

"Perhaps you are right," Lady Bridgerton said. "After all, you are the polyglot here."

You smiled widely. "I am, yes."

"On the other hand, I prefer Indian books in Bengali and English books in English," Kate smirked, catching on to Eloise's intentions. "It should be up to Benedict to decide, right? He could read the original and what Eloise has translated and make his verdict."

"Or is it something he shouldn't see?"

You stood up. "Excuse me, I am dead tired!" you babbled and left in a hurry.

"I am confused." Miss Prince mentioned.

"Aren't we all?" Lady Bridgerton rolled her eyes.

"It is an inside joke, Mama," Eloise replied. "Not a thing to worry about."

Kate took a sip of her wine. "Not a thing indeed."

taglist: @yentroucnagol @crimsonincursive @czarinera

[isleofdarkness]

So, I felt bad for Jr as I wrote this:

Jr

“Look at him, Shang, he’s so adorable!” Mulan cooed softly at her newborn baby son in her arms. “Yet so small…”

Shang wrapped an arm round his wife’s shoulder. “But he’s a young warrior. Our young warrior,” he then pressed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

Their newborn son came into the world last week at 35 weeks. Despite being so small, so ill, so fragile, the baby managed to smile, which caught his parents by surprise.

The young parents immediately loved their baby the moment Mulan announcement that she was pregnant (which she never thought that would happen considering she went under intense training) and they loved him even more when Mulan held him in arms.

….

At 11 months old, Jr became a big brother to his baby sister, Lonnie. Like Jr, Lonnie was born prematurely at 34 weeks, yet her parents were overjoyed at her arrival.

However, Mulan and Shang were worried about how their son would feel about being an older brother to his baby sister, but Jr and Lonnie were basically inseparable the moment they let their infant son bond with his sister.

….

At 5 years old, Li’l Shang loved to cook with his grandmother, Fa Li which was something uncommon with boys at his age. Whenever Mulan and Shang couldn’t find him, they always found him in the kitchen with his grandmother, helping her with anything; whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner. Fa Li even taught the young boy how to cook since as she saw a keen interest in his eyes.

“He’s going to be a great chef one day,” Fa Li said to Mulan and Shang. “That is if he wants to.”

Mulan laughed. “I can totally see that in him.”

“And we will support him in anything what he desires,” added Shang with a proud smile.

Another thing that Li’l Shang loved was listening to calm music and music in general. This something that he loved before he was born. Well due to the fact that Mulan was listening to soothing and calm music when she was pregnant with him.

‘How are you feeling?’ Shang asked as he saw his heavily pregnant wife sitting in her rocking chair.

‘Oh, I’m feeling great,’ Mulan replied with a gentle smile gracing her lips. ‘This baby seems love calm music, so I’m here listening to some very calm music to sooth me and our baby.’

Shang smiled as he took a seat beside Mulan and gently rubbed her growing tummy. Mulan grinned and placed her hand on his.

…..

Li’l Shang and Lonnie were super active as children. Their parents wondered if the kids ate too much sugar or something but it was nice to see them having a lot fun. It was hard to believe that they premature and look at them, super active!

Li’l Shang was a happy and a super sweet boy. He rarely gives any trouble and he was adored my his family and friends from Auradon kindergarten.

…though, there was a dark period in the child’s life where he was severely verbally bullied because of his name when he was at a daycare in Northern Wei. He couldn’t tell his parents what happened to him because he fear that he would be considered as weak for not defending himself against the bullies.

Lonnie though, told her parents about it since was worried about her brother.

“Sweetie, why didn’t you tell us about the kids who are bullying you at daycare?” Mulan asked, sounding slightly disappointed and worried while Shang crossed his arms across his broad chest.

Li’l Shang looked up at his parents and fell to his knees and broke down in tears.

“Mama, Baba, why did you give me this name?” His voice cracked as he wept. “The kids there are very mean to me that they mocked me, made fun of me and everything! Even the lady who was looking after us laughed!”

Mulan and Shang stared that their 5 year old son in shock after he was done explaining to them. Then their faces soften as they gathered the boy in their arms, hugging him tightly while Lonnie watched.

“It’s okay, my love,” Mulan shushed gently as she patted her son’s back.

“No, it’s not. I didn’t tell you about all of this because I thought you would see me as weak,” Li’l Shang muffled as he kept crying.

Mulan gasped softly.

“No son, you’re not weak,” Shang assured him gently. “Your mother and I never saw you as weak. I wish you could told us sooner.”

“…I’m sorry, Mama, Baba. I’m very sorry…” Li’l Shang’s voice trailed off.

“It’s okay,” his parents chorused as they hugged him tightly.

4 year old Lonnie was crying too, so she ran over to her parents and hugged them and they hugged her along with her brother.

From that day, Li’l Shang became a little distant with his parents.

And they noticed.

Don’t get him wrong, he loved his mother and father very much and was very close to them. He just wished that they would gave him a better name other than that cursed name ‘Li’l Shang’.

Poor kid

[shebeafancyflapjack]

So I really don't like the live action Disney remakes, but I think what makes them extra frustrating is that every single one has just ONE moment where I think "Oh this is something that's better than the original" and it's like the potential for something great was there but never allowed to grow.

In Cinderella it's how they make the Prince more of a character, bit to the films detriment as Cinderella herself is rather bland in comparison.

In Beauty and the Beast it's Maurice. Just wanna hug that guy in every scene he's in.

In Aladdin it's Friend Like Me. Not necessarily better than the og, apples and oranges, but it's the peak of the films energy, visuals and Will Smith's performance.

In Lion King it's Timone and Pumba. Specifically the Be Our Guest parody.

In Peter Pan it's the backstory of Hook and the relationship between him and Peter.

In the Little Mermaid, I actually found a lot to enjoy in this one even if I still wouldn't call it good. Hard to say if my favourite was their version of Under The Sea or Ariel's new song when she becomes human (God Halle's voice!!).

Lady and the Tramp is the only one I'm struggling on but it was direct to streaming so I wasn't expecting much. Diverse casting I guess?

Mulan....I'll be honest, I do not remember if I've actually seen this or just seen a lot of clips. Pass. If someone thinks of something they liked in this, mention it.

Maleficent I know technically isn't a remake but it does follow a lot of beats from Sleeping Beauty. This is a guilty pleasure for me, even if I hate what's done with the king and the good fairies. Just everything involving Aurora and Maleficent and Diaval is found family gold though.

Oh and I know it's not in the same league but shout out to 101 Dalamations for Glenn Close. Iconic.

Jungle Book I barely remember much of other than I prefer the ending with him staying rather than going to the man village.

(Also I'm not counting Alice in Wonderland because they're more sequels to the originals rather than remakes).