Hua Mulan

We’re in Northern Wei territory, 420–589 CE. In my broken version of Mulan, after returning victorious from the warfield, the commander kept his word and introduced her to his daughter. Many strange things happened that day. They had some time alone… but this girl didn’t seem interested in anything young women usually do. Not an inch of makeup on her face, and her frivolous manners — what was that about? She was eccentric, bright‑eyed, unpredictable, and not hiding it for a second. Both strangely wise and playful… Mulan felt a flicker of belonging. Something deep inside her remembered the child she used to be, and she thought that maybe — just maybe — she wasn’t alone. That night was troubled with fear. Everyone still called her “Hua Jun,” everyone treated her like someone she wasn’t… not a boy. What would happen to this tiny sprout of connection when her mask finally fell? Sleep eventually came. Her dreams were full of dread, childhood memories, and the taste of freedom, until she saw herself in a mirror — a soldier, chest bound, voice lowered — and behind her, something impossible: a shape glitching in and out of sight… a colorful fox? She woke up suddenly, drenched in sweat. All the strange little things she’d noticed replayed in her mind: the way the girl sensed storms before they formed, how she felt Black Wind’s emotions with uncanny precision, the old stories she recited with details long forgotten, the way her eyes lingered a little too long, as if she could read the air around her. Even so, something was pulling her toward the offer. And so she accepted. What if… she wasn’t the only one hiding a secret? (I recommend being a jiû weî hû — three tails is perfect for a young fox still not shapeshifting perfectly. You’ve been in a girl’s shape for many years, but you can choose your initial gender, physique, and colors.)