coloring practice and lazy sr doodling

Headcanons for Hanzo & Kuai adopting a daughter? I get girldad vibes from both of then

honestly you are so right tho

I think it could go a few ways, bc I don't think they'd set out to adopt a kid, I think it's something that would sort of happen to them.

So if Hanzo is the one suddenly caring for a girl:

He found her in the wreckage of her home, just barely older than a toddler and crying her eyes out.

Shirai Ryu take in sole survivors, so he brings her back to the compound and she just clings to him, refusing to let anyone else near her.

Then Kuai Liang shows up to an alliance meeting and is stunned to find Hazno carrying a small child and suddenly wonders if he's been in a coma for a few years bc how else can you explain this.

As soon as he finds out the truth, he is immediately on board, making her ice sculptures as toys, teaching her to ice skate, showing her how to throw a punch (bc every little girl should know how to defend herself, Hanzo, why are you looking at me like that it's not like I gave her a knife yet)

Kuai Liang becomes her new favorite person and Hanzo pretends he's not bothered by it (He also just thinks Kuai Liang looks good with a kid and doesn't know how to process that)

Takeda and Frost both latch onto her as well, taking her under their wing and being the bad influence every older sibling should be. Within a week of knowing them, baby girl has pulled three pranks (one of which dyed Hanzo's hair bright pink) and shows no signs of slowing down. Takeda and Frost are very proud.

Generally, I think she'd have a decently normal childhood except for all the kombat training and superpowers.

But if Kuai Liang is the one suddenly caring for a girl, depends on where in the timeline it happens, I'm gonna go with it happening after he and Hanzo have made peace (but I have so many headcanons for how it works at other points in the timeline someone pls ask me about them, give me an excuse to ramble I BEG):

He's on a mission when he finds a baby crying on the doorstep of the safehouse he's using, with a note explaining that she is a cryomancer and needs to be protected. Understandably, he's a little suspicious at how anyone knew he was here, but resolves to figure it out another day.

Literally the moment she looks at him, he's gone, that baby girl is his new reason for living and he would do anything for her, 0-60 in no time flat just absolutely ride or die.

He names her after his mother

Kuai Liang brings her back with him to the Lin Kuei and she becomes the clan's best kept secret, not a Word of her existence gets out bc Kuai Liang is understandably worried that someone will try to take her (that note was pretty suspicious after all), and everyone in the clan is just instantly smitten. Frost in particular declares herself baby Ru's protector. If Kuai Liang isn't holding her, Frost is.

Hanzo comes to the temple for an impromptu alliance meeting, kinda worried bc they weren't scheduled to meet for a week and then just sees Kuai Liang with a baby in his arms and short circuits (is also hit with some Horrendous baby fever because jesus Kuai Liang looks good with a baby, fucking hell)

Hanzo is the only person Kuai Liang trusts that has had a kid before (look, we love Johnny, but man cannot keep a secret to save his life) so naturally Kuai Liang called him for help.

Hanzo is also enchanted by baby Ru from the moment he holds her and helps Kuai Liang set up a proper nursery, get everything he needs, and volunteers himself for babysitting duty whenever needed. He and Frost end up making peace solely because of baby Ru.

Hanzo also ends up moving into the Lin Kuei temple for a couple months (he still does go check on his own clan, he's basically just taking a leave of absence) and helps Kuai Liang learn how to parent. They take turns going to settle her when she wakes up in the middle of the night, that way at least one of them gets some sleep.

That's how they end up getting together, Hanzo has to go back to the Shirai Ryu for a week and when he comes back Kuai Liang is exhausted and running on fumes as he hands baby Ru over, kissing Hanzo with a mumbled thank you, and then shuffling off to bed.

If they both end up suddenly looking after a little girl:

They're on a mission post-Kronika being defeated (in an AU where the timeline didn't get reset bc fuck that), and they find one of Shang Tsung's labs that he rebuilt after escaping Kronika's void.

It's a new version of the flesh pits pretty much and in it he's made clones of all the various defenders, but not clones of just one at a time, like he mixes the DNA of two or more defenders together to make a kid. (Think laura from the xmen)

Every defender basically gets a new kid (Kitana, Liu Kang, and Kung Lao have an understandably Wild set of reactions to that which I will Happily ramble about given the opportunity) and that includes Hanzo and Kuai Liang who's DNA was mixed to create a little girl who is about ten when they find her (that's as far as Shang Tsung could speed up the aging process, all these kids look about ten but none actually are)

She's got Hanzo's temper and Kuai Liang's stubbornness so it's a bit of a rocky start, especially since she is so confused about the situation, but once she gets settled, she warms up to them pretty quickly.

They take her to the Shirai Ryu bc Kuai Liang understandably has some negative associations with a child that age being within the walls of the Lin Kuei temple.

She's absolutely unhinged and wild, just no sense of decorum. When she's bored, she will just Leave and go hide in the woods so at least one person must have eyes on her at all times (Hanzo briefly considers a backpack leash but Kuai Liang immediately shoots him down.

She's also shockingly talented at Kombat, which Kuai Liang is very concerned by and he tries to give her some constructive hobbies to balance her out, like painting. She takes to it quite well, but also really enjoys drawing quite spooky things so its a mixed bag.

She and Frost are always either the best of friends or at each other's throats there is no in between. Hanzo is worried by how often they throw knives at each other but Kuai Liang and Bi-Han did the same so he's not very concerned by that.

Takeda finds her unsettling at first (partly because he wasn't introduced to her before he stumbled across her in the woods, cooking and eating a rat she had killed bc she got bored.

They end up getting along fine once the situation is explained, but that was quite a shock.

When she's fifteen she joins the Lin Kuei officially, bc that is the youngest Kuai Liang will allow her to be when she joins and trains with them full time.

Eventually, Frost takes over as grandmaster and baby girl becomes the next Sub-Zero, the two becoming a deadly team as Takeda becomes grandmaster of the Shirai Ryu

Lemme know if you want more, bc I can do more

i wanted your opinion on something, because i know you've pointed out some story changes to the witcher tv series that you wish hadn't been made from the books, i'm always apprehensive when a book i love is being adapted to screen and tv, and what is your take on having to condense the material and whether changes can be both negative and positive?

Hmm, this is a good question. With The Witcher, I actually think it’s a pretty strong adaptation of the book, and I love, for example, how the show fleshed out Yennefer’s back story at Aretuza (and honestly wish we got more of that, including more of her and Triss). I thought it an odd choice for the show to introduce Triss as a mage at Foltest’s court, and I think it would have been a stronger choice, given that the show was fleshing out Yen’s back story AND the fact that we have confirmation Yen and Triss probably were at Aretuza around the same time, to have them be young apprentices there. Most of my issue with the show were changes from iconic scenes in the books, quite honestly. I also think that the show should have focused on Yen and Geralt’s love story more and handled the last wish arc better. 

More generally, I’m going to use Crazy Rich Asians as a way to illustrate my point about when changes are necessary and when changes are negative and when I’m being nit-picky about changes. Astrid and her story with Michael and Charlie is probably a good example of a change that was necessary. In the books (spoiler alert), Michael doesn’t have an affair, but instead he pretends to have an affair, because he’s basically trying to get some kind of reaction from Astrid (plus he’s feeling incredibly insecure and so obviously putting your wife through excessive turmoil is the way to do it). It worked in the books, because it sets up Michael becoming extremely power-hungry when Charlie anonymously buys shares in his company, and then we see just how horrible Michael is (it was clearly hinted at that he was an emotionally abusive and verbally abusive husband, but we really only see that after he’s gained status and money). But by changing the story in the film with Michael actually having an affair (no doubt to streamline the arcs, so that everything could fit in the film’s timeframe), the film focuses on Astrid and her standing up for herself, and Charlie just cameos as a promise of what’s to come. Which indicates that we likely won’t have to see Michael (good riddance) and see Astrid subject to his awful treatment of her in an adaptation of China Rich Girlfriend, and instead, Astrid and Charlie’s love story can be the focus (and I definitely won’t complain if the film cuts Isabelle Wu’s character altogether). But contrast this with negative changes, such as botching Alistair’s characterization. Sure, he’s not a major character, but in the film he’s a misogynistic asshole who really contributes nothing of substance. In the books, he serves as a more down to earth and realistic counterpart to his older brother, Eddie, who is obsessed with wealth and appearance to a point that it is equally comical as it is disturbing. By contrast, Alistair is introspective; he’s reserved, doesn’t carry airs the way he does in the film, is part of the brigade who pretend Colin is dreadfully ill and has to be airlifted, so that they can escape Bernard’s horrifically over the top bachelor party. Alistair, like Colin and Nick, really does not want to be at that bachelor party. Equally, in the film, Peik Lin and her family know right away who the Youngs are, but in the book, they don’t immediately recognize the Young name. I think it was important to keep this in the film, because it emphasized how secretive the Youngs are and how much they detest the noveau riche flaunting their wealth and being in all the papers. And how the Youngs consider themselves of a much higher caliber than their absurdly wealthy peers. It highlights the bizarre distinctions of classicism even the upper echelons of society partake in amongst themselves, and it is the catalyst for providing a closer look at the wealth disparity in Singapore. And then there’s changes which I nit-picked; for example, there’s a character in the book, Mehmet, who is a good friend of Nick and Colin’s, and even though he definitely could have been cut from the film, as he was, I still think he should’ve been in the film, because he provides further levity amongst the absurdity of so many of the characters with his level-headed, good-natured personality.

So, all that to say that at the end of the day, whether you think an adaptation is good or bad very much depends on how you feel about it subjectively. There are always adaptations that are objectively horrendous, but most tv or film adaptations of books fall somewhere in between amazingly perfect to downright horrid, and some people love the adaptation and others don’t. You feel how you feel, obviously, and I know, for example, when I’m being nit-picky and when I’m genuinely concerned about a change, but you know... we’re all human, we’re all gonna nit-pick, lol.