AN: (Cross-posted on AO3)
Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda or any of the characters associated, this work is written for entertainment purposes only and I do not financially profit from it in any way.
Hey there! I don't have much to say today other than the following; the idea for this story came from the awesome dulcedncd, who was kind enough to give me a few ideas for works. This was their third (and final, at least for now XD) request and while it took me a while to finish, I enjoyed writing it. Decided to make it short and sweet; that's always been my style anyway. :)
That's all! Enjoy!
KFP1-KFP3
Red is a color of aggression. While it's associated with great emotion and courage, it also holds behind it a great wave of vigor and anger. Red; like the flowers that bloom in the gardens and the clay in the rivers, and blood as it drips from an injured finger and a fallen warrior. A sun rises and sets in a sea of the shade. Life and health surge in the intoxicating color, as does love and war. It's a chroma of passion and fervor. The red petals from the hibiscus in the Jade Palace gardens have clad the mountainside in a bloody attire, but surely it doesn't mind– red is a color of such beauty.
Po thinks red suits Tigress, for all the reasons formerly listed and more. Red represents passion, confidence, courage, and love, he remembers reading once, and he doesn't think there's any better way to describe Tigress (and if it also describes the way he feels about her, he won't make a comment). Red is the color of life and death. Red is like fire and it burns; red is deep and dark and soulful– if there's a chromatic equivalent to an old soul, it'd be red, he thinks. And because Tigress is an old soul herself, it only reinforces the thought that "yes, red is definitely her color" tenfold. That is, until she wears a new color.
Silver is a color of clarity. It graces the world in the form of clouds and diamonds, rain and stone, the scales of fish and the moon as it floats above all on the ground in a godly bliss– it's strength, focus, and purity. It's preciseness and elegance. It stands for wealth and richness, even interweaving its way into traditions of matrimony. Bands of marriage are welded from silver and so are utensils used at feasts for the wealthy and elite; between their fingers the silvers are twisted and flipped without much of a thought.
Po thinks silver suits Tigress, for all the reasons formerly listed and more. Silver, if it were a being that had a personality to it and could speak, would be sharp-tongued and and organized; decisive, precise, and sure of themself, they would be. Silver has a chill but isn't cold (comparable to a spring morning). Tigress is as focused and centered as raindrops pelting the ground– never stalling once, completely sure of themselves, and not even knowing how to waver because of the way they simply are. Tigress is like a silver diamond, too, because diamonds are beautiful and strong and so is she. He thinks he'd like to place a ring of silver around her finger sometime in the future, perhaps when things around the valley calm down and when life allows a slowed pace and a relaxed walk through the gardens, clouds and moon of silver hanging in the sky. He sees her in silver and it certainly suits her, and he might even dub it as his favorite as of yet; that is, until she wears a new color.
Gold is a color of wisdom. It's far less common in the bounds of nature than chromes such as red or silver– a treasure to behold whenever its existence is natural. Gold is magical; it's the color of the sun and the rays that caress its life-giving edges, the color of the grainy transition between land and sea, the color of leaves in the autumn season when change is swaying in the wind, and the color of the ever so revered material that can be extracted from caves and woven into artistic creations and architecture. It's a shade that nature reserves for only the most magical of things– it's sacred and divine and hopeful.
Po knows that gold suits Tigress, for all the reasons formerly listed and more. Gold is a chroma of warmth and love and life in his eyes; it reminds him of the candlelight in the noodle shop and the lanterns that were tied to the overhangs on the building, the color of the sky and the clouds as the sun says hello and goodbye, and most prominently, the color of chi. Chi is the embodiment of love and life in the universe and now Tigress is clad in its shade and has never looked more beautiful. Gold represents growth in relationships in his life and it represents love, no matter the nature. It's always brought warmth and comfort, but now it's also what he looks for in a crowd.
He thinks he sees her change as a person along with the colors she wears. It's an overly poetic and symbolic thought (and one that's even a little far-fetched), but it's what Po believes. The burning red transitions through a cool silver to a pleasant gold– it's like the way a storm or monsoon would pass over the valley midsummer, when the air is warm and sticky and each breath taken lays heavy in the lungs. The storm will come and settle itself in the basin of the valley and won't leave until it either runs out of rain or follows the wind away. Tigress is the storm and Po is the wind– because without the wind, the storm can't move forward and will eventually wear itself dry. And without the storm, the wind would not have a much of a purpose; it has tasks separate from the storm, but the two are meant to travel together.
From searing red to glowing gold, vines of silver remaining within, Po finds that Tigress's emotional growth can be charted through the colors that she finds fit to wear. He watches her change over the years and feels proud when she finds her color.
He internally titles it as a journey through chromatics.
AN: Hello all! :)
While it's on the shorter side, I'd say this is one of my favorite works yet. I loved highlighting the way Tigress's clothes are somewhat tied to her character development throughout the series. I also loved writing about the symbolism of colors in general, extended metaphors, weather allegories, etc. All in all, with this work, I fully enjoyed writing the entire time (and I had zero to little stress, which was a rare and great feeling all around). A final thank you to dulcedncd for their requests, they were so kind and really helped me a lot with my lack of motivation in writing. And their requests made for really fun stories!
With all that said, I truly hope you enjoyed the story! If you feel like it, let me know your thoughts in the comments/reviews! I'm super open to constructive criticism.
Thank you for reading, everyone. I hope you're all well. :)
