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"I knew you will be back" "Why?" "Because we’re both too young. Too young to fear." I have been going crazy over them. Ao Bing's self assured confident smirk and them slow walking towards each other with that sunset in the background??? Even kissing would be less gay then this.

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Aight so here's the deal

Since @dahaidaode was shadowbanned, I will be on here until the end of Saturday, March 22, at which point I'm not going to wait for Tumblr to give my blog back anymore and I'm hopping to the other blog I made just in case this happens. I really hope I get this one back, but I'm not really fucking betting on it because Tumblr takes forever to respond. And in the end, if I don't...ah, what can you do. 😩

I only have one favor to ask of you for my other blog: I'm going to try to be a bit slower with the activity than I was on dahaidaode starting out, and I'd appreciate your help with this. I think it was the sudden spike in activity having gone from almost none while I was setting up that caused Tumblr to automatically flag me as spam or something like that. This especially means please don't follow until I follow you first, since I hear that if a new blog gains more than like 10 followers in a day Tumblr can automatically detect it as a bot. Thank you! <3

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@usurperblessed

As much as a little nine-year-old girl can in a place like Auradon, Ao Tianyun has never cared about her looks one way or the other. She's always been secure in the fact that her true humanoid form is stunningly beautiful--so much so that she's begun to find it downright boring and prefers to shift into monstrous forms instead. Despite the regular outcries from both adults and peers that she would never find her Happily Ever After if she looked like that, there was no limit to the depths of creativity she unleashed in molding her shape to be everyone's worst nightmare--no limit to the number of eyes, the size of the horns, or the strange textures of skin ranging from glass-sharp scales to mucus ooze that she would employ to make herself as delightfully freakish as possible...

Until now.

It all started with a burst of flaming frustration in her chest, the kind that caused her hair to set on fire like her father Ne Zha. She'd come home from a long day at school during which the other kids had been so, so cruel as per usual about her chosen form that day--but one child's barbed remark in particular had really gotten under her skin. Why throw away what your parents gave you? Appearance-wise, that is. Aren't you tired of shaming them? he'd said. Shaming them. Shaming them! When they had only ever supported her to take whatever form had made her happy!

What my parents taught me was to find my own path! she had screamed back as her hair ignited and she seized that insolent little shit by the collar. THIS IS MY PATH!!

The kid who'd said that--as well as the rest who were tormenting her--had all run away at the sight of that. One bright side to the fact that everyone in Auradon was so appearance-obsessed was that many felt incredibly intimidated by what they perceived to be ugly, and so of course being screamed at by a flame-haired, green-skinned ogre would cause those weak-minded children to scatter. She came home that day with the aura of her father's flame surrounding her, pissed beyond belief with a declaration much like her parents' that only she gets to choose what she wants: They want me to be pretty and cute so bad? I'll be the OPPOSITE and I am NOT changing back no matter WHAT anybody says!!!

But as with all declarations in the heat of the moment, one might later have second thoughts. The next day she marched up to her teacher, Ms. Mason, the one most adamant in the school about her taking the "wrong" sorts of forms--and in front of the entire class she announced that she had shapeshifted so many times into her ogre form that she was now stuck in it forever. A lie, of course, but not one that someone not an expert in the art of shapeshifting would be able to detect. She drank in the gasps of the crowd with great satisfaction as she watched her whole group of peers so hopelessly brainwashed by the strictures of Auradon's Happily Ever Afters try to wrap their heads around what had just happened--the perfect beauty, "ruined" before she could even have a chance to use her looks for their intended purpose.

She wasn't laughing long, however. Ms. Mason had tried to comfort her at first. Oh, child, she'd said. There must be a way to restore your beauty. But with the ad-libbed story that this had been going on for years and even the best doctors that her father surely had access to agreed that she was stuck, Ms. Mason's response began to put cracks in her fierce resolve.

Oh, how the woman wept, the tears from Ms. Mason's eyes as fierce and unstoppable a deluge as one of Ao Guang's mighty storms. How could you do this?! she cried, unable to keep her composure even in front of a room full of children. You were the most flawless little girl! All we had to do was to get rid of those dark circles under your eyes and make you act like the princess we all know you are and you would have been destined for the happiest of Happily Ever Afters! Now look at you! What man would ever want a wife so--so--

A pause.

So DISGUSTING!

The teacher must've gone on for at least ten or fifteen minutes, sobbing about what a waste it was that someone so beautiful from such a highborn lineage as a deity's would lower herself to such base hideousness--and what a tragedy it was that she should be punished for her youthful folly by forever losing the thing that mattered most to securing a happy end to her story. Then even after she appeared to have calmed down, she stormed over to Ne Zha when it came time for him to pick her up from school and screamed, "It's your fault! YOUR FAULT you enabled this!" Ms. Mason was lucky to have escaped that with only a slightly singed dress. If Tianyun had been in a fighting mood, and chosen to egg him on instead of try to hold him back.....

Quite obviously, there's so much to unpack there. But at the moment though, Tianyun has chosen to throw away the whole suitcase--blocking most of those events from her mind as she walks up toward Aster, partway numb to everything but her sadness as her teacher's unhinged threats to call CPS on Ne Zha vaguely swirl around on repeat in her brain. This time, however she's not in the monstrous form she loves best. She looks how she actually is, the perfect princess that Auradon wanted her to be: bright, shining eyes, soft, pale cheeks, the spitting image of her mother Ao Bing--someone who would surely grow to become a beauty of legend like both her parents. But she's tamed herself far too much: her long black hair isn't loose and free-flowing and a little bit messy like Ne Zha's, which is how she usually likes it--she's combed it out and straightened it to the point it falls almost limp down her shoulders and back. And her clothes--not the rebellious and brightly colored T-shirts, skirts and boots she loves wearing, but a white and gold hanfu that could have been forced on her by the evil Chan sect of Immortals that her parents defeated so long ago. And then, to complete the picture that something is terribly, terribly wrong in her spirit, she's shapeshifted away the dark circles surrounding her eyes that she had inherited from Ne Zha that both of them were so proud of, the one thing she found the most interesting about her natural features which were otherwise so conventional.

Of course, her parents had told her not to listen to Ms. Mason. And she had wanted to believe them. But a nine-year-old can only be so strong in the face of the world telling her what she ought to be--and so it is here she crumbles. This was supposed to be a happy day, one of the few days of the year that she was able to cross through the barrier weaknesses Ne Zha had discovered to go to the Lairs of the Lost; she would have taken the opportunity to unwind with some self-expression, if not for the stain that her teacher had left across her will to be herself. It would be so, so much easier for her to give in, to give up her fire, her ferocity, the very essence of herself--to go back on what she'd told the entire class, to apologize for having caused such a "crisis," and to forever be how she appears to Aster now. But maybe there's a chance they can convince her that her chosen path is worth the pain. And right now, she wants to be convinced.

"Auntie Aster....?" she squeaks, looking up at them, her uncertain eyes beginning to brim with tears. "Can you please help…?"

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Ao Bing: My father is set to lead the Dragon Clan into the sea's depths for concealment. Your identity has been uncovered, so why not come along with us? Nezha: I can't. I used to retreat into myself over and over. It wasn't until I was backed into a corner that I learned how to face the world. Ao Guang: The Infinite Immortal is vested with a significant rank of power and trust from Tianzun, potentially safeguarding him from falling. Additionally, the conflict between Immortals and Demons is one of fundamental incompatibility. Nezha: The definitions of gods, immortals, and demons are merely the shackles they employ to constrain the destinies of others. Ao Guang: So what? Do you still desire to make a difference in the world? Nezha: I'm willing to give it a shot. Ao Guang: Maybe I'm just getting on in years and don't have the energy to engage in conflict with the world anymore. Ao Bing.

Ao Guang: I am aware that once you make a decision, you always follow through with it. My son, in the past, I imposed too many expectations on you without considering your thoughts. I am sorry. I was merely attempting to use my experience to bring you happiness. Looking back, however, my experience is indeed a matter of the past and may not be entirely accurate. Your journey remains yours to pursue. In the future, remain faithful to the decisions of your heart.

Nezha: I knew you would come back. Ao Bing: Why? Nezha: Because we're too young and fear nothing.

ps. They're canon, guys. They're canon. No kidding, I was expecting them to kiss.

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🔐

As a dragon, Ao Bing is more open to human partners than a lot of dragons would be. But he always has one worry with them, and it's what would they do if dragon interests and human/humanoid interests came into conflict? While Chinese dragons always try to be benevolent to humans, being known and worshiped in our legends for bringing rain in the midst of droughts, one thing that many don't know about Chinese dragons is that sometimes they are enemies of humanity rather than allies. This is only natural, since we are talking about divine creatures who are apex predators. For the former, humans were never famous for always getting along with deities, even if those deities are portrayed as "good." And the latter are not above hunting humans, which we take personal offense to because while it is understandable that we'd feel hurt and scared if a community member was hunted, what dragons would find less understandable is that we also like to see ourselves as above the cycle of nature, including predation. (I hc the reason why Ao Bing helped rescue that little girl from being eaten by the yaksha in the first movie is not because dragons are against hunting humans, it's because Chentang Pass was on territory formerly controlled by Ao Guang, and many times in exchange for tributes such as animal sacrifice, dragons will protect humans from other predators. The tributary system is long gone, but the dragons are still spiritually connected to the land and hope to find their way back to it, so Ao Bing acts accordingly.)

It goes without saying that one way for a human partner to win Ao Bing's trust is to demonstrate commitment and understanding to issues facing the draconic community. One important way in which someone can do this is to not reinforce Immortal superiority or the superiority of human forms. Ao Bing ascribes to what Ne Zha said in the last movie--I can't remember the exact quote but it was something like "Immortals, gods, demons...These are only what people use to separate us." It's a very abolitionist way of thinking that got Ao Bing to challenge the basic assumption he grew up with that human forms are better because they're the forms that Immortals take. Heck, in some Chinese legends, dragons were considered Immortals, and honestly in my headcanon they would still have been considered at least as great as Immortals in this world if not for the machinations of the Chan sect--Wuliang tried to do much, much more than simply framing the dragons for the destruction of Chentang Pass. It took Ao Bing the entire second movie to realize that he is not a monster, that he comes from a great species that he should be proud of, and he especially expects his human partners to support him in that because they are the ones that the human superiority mindset was benefitting.

On the whole, Ao Bing wants people to understand that dragons have a history beyond the geologically short span of time in which they were sealed in the deep to guard demons, beyond the fact that they had to go into hiding for fear of Heaven's wrath--and to act on that understanding. It's not enough for you to say you support him in private--show it by fighting alongside him against evil Immortals, standing up for him if someone targets him in public, or trying to advocate the dragon's point of view if a human acts too anthropocentric. Dragons were here before humans, and they will be there after us. He does not require humans to necessarily bow at his species' feet, but he also wants the respect that they have been denied, and he wants people to put that understanding on loud display.

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This is how I celebrated the Ides of March last year. I don't know how to commit to the bit any more this year, but I'll take suggestions.

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Send me 🔐 for a tip on how to make my muse trust yours

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This total shoujo moment of Ao Bing falling in love with Ne Zha the second time and right after having the disney equivalent conversation of "follow your dreams" with his dad shortly after which he went to go and stay with Ne Zha. It's going to live in my mind rent free.

These two got me giggling and kicking my feet.

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On anon or not, ask my muse about their family.

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Oh, how he's enjoying his little Ides of March outings with Ne Zha. What's the only thing better than giving crusty corrupt politicians what for? Doing it with the love of your life as a giant dragon.

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Tumblr isn't giving us back the boops for ides of march so I will do it myself.

Get your boops everyone!!!

I just put these together real quick feel free to use them.

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大海道德

ind. pri. sel. AO BING from the 2019 - 2025 ne zha animated series. exalted by 天/月

CANON DIVERGENT; MYTHOLOGY & HEADCANON BASED; SPOILERS FOR NE ZHA 2 IN BIOS

contains pokémon, modern, and disney's descendants-inspired original verses.

RULES | BIOS AND VERSES | NPCS