That's Why They Call It the Present, and its sequel, Soaring Dragon, Dancing Phoenix, are Kung Fu Panda fanfics by Luna Goldsun (the author of Memoirs of a Master) on FanFiction.Net.
This page is under construction. As such, many spoilers are not marked. Read at your own risk!
After his defeat and assumed death, Tai Lung is discovered and brought back to the Valley of Peace to recover in secret. His caretakers are Aunt Wu, the red panda proprietor of a dim sum restaurant, and her adopted children- Dalang (a male Amur tiger), Su Lin (a female giant panda), and Mei Xing (a female snow leopard). As Tai Lung struggles to readjust to a normal life and regain acceptance from the valley's citizens, he also finds out his new family's past is very intertwined with his own.
Tai Lung's parents were once friends and students of Aunt Wu, who was once a famous kung fu master known across the empire. But their lives were shattered when the Jiao Clan, a horde of barbarians led by the merciless Amur tiger Jiao Shen, attacked, resulting in Tai Lung being left, an orphan, on the Jade Palace steps. Now the Jiao Clan has returned and have set their eyes on the Valley of Peace. Tai Lung must join forces with Po and the Furious Five to beat this foe… and discover his own destiny in the process.
Original story is found here.
Sequel is found here.
- Badass Family: Let's see, Wu Lien's adopted children marrying members of the Furious Five, and all of them know or learn some form of kung fu. The Jiao clan also counts.
- Carnivore Confusion: The talking animals are mentioned to eat shrimp and fish.
- Gilligan Cut: Tigress: "I am not wearing a dress, and that's final!"
- Good Feels Good: Tai Lung admits this about saving little Chin Fu.
- Improvised Lightning Rod: Mei Xing uses one of Tai Lung's fans as this to kill Xiang.
- Interchangeable Asian Cultures: The characters at one point consume sake, which is Japanese. Dalang invents a dessert that the author based off of mochi, which is also Japanese. This is, of course, despite the Kung Fu Panda franchise being set in a fantastic version of ancient China.
- The Phoenix: Tai Lung isn't the Dragon Warrior, but the Phoenix Warrior.
- Sarashi: Tigress wears one in one scene.
- Shout-Out: To Monty Python, Mulan, and Pirates of the Caribbean. The final battle is filled with quotes from Sun Tzu as well.
- Shown Their Work: The author really has done her research on Ancient China.
- Taking the Bullet: Dalang for Shang, and Tai Lung for Po.
- Battle Couple: Tigress and Dalang, and Lien and Shifu.
- Brick Joke: Dalang praying Shen is reincarnated as a rabbit, and Huang as a bug.
- Buried Alive: This becomes Dalang's greatest fear after he witnesses Koshchei doing this to a man.
- Continuity Snarl: A little bit, as Present was written before Secrets of the Furious Five and Kung Fu Panda 2 came out. A year took place between the events of the first movie and Present, with more time passing before the epilogue and between the two fics, during which the events of Secrets of the Furious Five and Kung Fu Panda 2 could have taken place, but it takes some finagling by the author to make it work and also explain why neither Tai Lung nor any of her OCs were a part of them.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: How Oogway created the Devil's Mouth. Po recreates the move at the end of the story.
- Demon Lords and Archdevils: Asmodei Koshchei's first name comes from "Asmodeus".
- The Dreaded: Koshchei — even Jiao Shen feared him.
- Empty Piles of Clothing: What looks like happened to Koshchei, at first.
- Fainting: Sonam, of all people, faints when Mei Xing gives birth.
- Faux Affably Evil: Koshchei; it's demonstrated well in his second scene.
- Forgiveness: The message of the Phoenix Scroll.
- He Who Fights Monsters: What Dalang and Tai Lung fear will happen to them in order to fight Koshchei.
- Healing Hands: One of the abilities of the Phoenix Warrior.
- Heroic BSoD: Tai goes through this after Sun Bear's death.
- The Horde: Koshchei and the Half Dozen gather one made up of various enemies of the Furious Five.
- Lotus Position: Po can't do it (until the very end), and has to settle for half-lotus. So does Dalang.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Asmodei Koshchei, named after a lord of Hell and a legendary undying sorcerer.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Koshchei tries to use this comparison against Tai Lung during their battle.
- Raise Him Right This Time: What they decide to do with Koshchei's body. It helps that Lang's reincarnated soul has been placed into it.
- Retirony: Lan Duo plans to adopt Lang as his brother when all of this is over. Unfortunately, Lang doesn’t live to see it happen.
- Screaming Birth: Averted, Mei Xing is surprisingly calm about the whole thing.
- Short Cuts Make Long Delays: Lampshaded during Po, Tai and Altai's return to the Valley.
- Tell Me About My Father: Cadet Hu Quon visits Shang's grave and Dalang tells him what he was like.
