Ships. In entertainment, and especially, in fandom, we live and die by them. Which is why every Friday, we’ll be focusing on a couple, analyzing why we ship them, and overall, just proclaiming our eternal love for those couples that make us say:
I will go down with this ship, particularly Mulan and Shang.
With the release of the live-action movie I thought it would be a great time to talk about Mulan and Shang, the epic romance of Mulan I & II that surely will make it to the new version. Wait, what? Shang isn’t in the new one? Is Disney afraid of my bisexual man? Short answer, yes. Long answer, Disney is afraid of having any queer content in it’s movies, shows, books because they fear retaliation from their biggest markets abroad.
But I digress, because I don’t want to spend my time chastising Disney for their continued purposeful ignorance. Instead I want to spend my time celebrating everything that I love about Mulan and Shang and how they became one of my most epic of ships at a young age and til this very day.
First up, they care for each other. Shang cared for and fell for Mulan when she was disguised as a man and when it was revealed she was a woman. It didn’t matter to him (yes, I just said that because he’s our bisexual king) that she was a man or a woman. He fell for the person that she was and Mulan felt the same way in return.
Mulan saw him as more than a hot bod because let’s be honest, Shang is a hottie and your girl (me) was definitely crushing on him while also crushing on Mulan. Bisexual babe for life! He was a kind, compassionate, and just leader who dedicated his all to training his army and Mulan saw that as she fell in like and definitely in love with him over the course of two movies.
Second, they have each other’s backs. Mulan has his back no matter what and Shang returns the favor with every inch of his being because she’s his partner/companion/other half. Sure, there was a lapse of judgement there when Shang left Mulan behind after discovering he was actually a she. But he fixed that by having her back when it counted and doing what she thought was best to save the Emperor of China.
Plus there’s Mulan II. Which, wasn’t that bad and really took the time to give me more Mulan and Shang realness. There…might’ve been tears as well so if you haven’t watched Mulan II, GET. ON. IT. DEAR.
Finally, there each other’s ying and yang, two pieces of a whole that come together to create something new and wonderful. This isn’t saying that they aren’t complete people by themselves. They are. It’s just that when they come together they create something breathtaking, out of this world, and game changing.
They balance each other out.
They love each other unconditionally.
And that’s why they’re the most epic of ships that keeps on giving…even when they’re not in the live action remake….
*accidentally spills tea*