Title:
I'll make a man out of you
Author: Scout Graham
Pairing:
Ping/?
Rating: No idea yet
Disclaimer: I do not own Mulan...
hahaha owning people, that's called slavery.
Summary- Mulan with a
trans twist... if you don't like stuff like this don't read it.
3
Chapter One- She'll bring honor to us all.
A woman is quiet, demure, graceful, delicate, and punctual. They are calm and obedient to their husbands. These husbands expect the women to work at a fast pace and do all of the chores given to them while bearing the children. They are to serve the emperor with beauty and serenity. Mulan has etched all of this into her mind but it doesn't change anything. She still doesn't think of herself as the quiet, beautiful wife of a man. When Mulan goes into town to see the matchmaker, late as usual, she sees the draft posters. She sees the scrolls with her Father's name on them. This doesn't do anything to help her frazzled nerves but she pushes it out of her mind which is filled with the chirping of so many questions. How is she going to be a graceful woman if she would rather be the husband of one? What if the matchmaker could see through her disguise? What if she brought dishonor to her family? That was the only reason why she had shown up today. She didn't want any dishonor to fall on her poor family, who didn't know about Mulan's dishonorable thoughts about other women or about the dreams she had where she was very male and had a wife and family. The very thought of the role in the marriage she was being pushed into made Mulan queasy. Her Mother and another woman readied her to be appraised by the matchmaker; her mind however was still in another place. Seeing herself in the mirror dressed up to be auctioned off really freaked her out. She felt like she wasn't in her own body, that couldn't be her in the mirror she must be trapped in someone else's body. There was no time however to think about that as her Mother rushed her to the group of girls who were to be married.
As the matchmaker called her name Mulan felt her heart drop. Here was the moment she had feared and it felt surreal as she followed the matchmaker into the house already making her first mistake when she announced her presence. Mulan's heart rate did not slow as the matchmaker sized her up.
"Too skinny not good for bearing sons" said the cranky old woman. Mulan didn't want to bear sons anyways, what was she a breeding tool?
"Recite the final admonition." the matchmaker said to Mulan's horror.
"Fulfill your duties calmly and respectfully. Reflect before you act. This shall bring you honor and glory." Mulan managed to stammer out nervously, she was so bad at this. The matchmaker regarded her nervousness as cheating and checked Mulan's fan suspiciously for writing. When she found none she flatly said:
"Now pour the tea, to please your future in-laws you must demonstrate a sense of dignity and refinement. You must also be poised."
Mulan managed to pour the tea with minimum spillage and handed it to the matchmaker. It looked as if Mulan would get through this ordeal with some honor when the matchmaker asked her:
"What will you do when your husband asks you to cook the dinner?"
Completely caught off guard Mulan answered with the first thing that popped into her head:
"I will tell him that he can make his own rice, it's one of the simplest meals to make."
"What? A good wife obediently cooks all of the meals for her husband." The Matchmaker was floored, no one had ever talked back to her before. There was nothing that Mulan could to do change what she had said so she went with it.
"That isn't very fair to the woman." The matchmaker had heard enough. She grabbed Mulan and threw her out yelling:
"YOU ARE A DISGRACE; YOU MAY LOOK LIKE A BRIDE BUT YOU WILL NEVER BRING YOUR FAMILY HONOR."
This is a reference to the Chinese Legend of Mu-Lan. You can find the poem where I took the lines from here :D
