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FINALLY! SOMEONE SAID IT!

It's so true! THAT level of abandonment should leave some deep psychological scars, especially in someone so young!

Was talking about this with moot but I really wish we got more of a grudge on Wendy's end with regards to the guild disbanding. Let's recall:

1) Wendy gets abandoned by her mother figure when she was like five like she was barely out of the toddler ages she was literally a BABY

2) Wendy, right after getting abandoned, gets found by Mystogan, only to get abandoned by him after some significant non specific time period has passed

3) Wendy grows up in caitshelter, only to find out nobody there actually existed, they were just illusions created with the sole purpose of keeping her company, and they ALL disappear in one fell swoop (mind u I would've spiralled from here, wtf do u mean the people I spent my formative years with NEVER EXISTED??? The sheer amount of crises that would've given me)

3.5) Wendy briefly reunites with Mystogan and immediately has to say goodbye to him forever

3.75) Wendy briefly reunites with Grandeeney and immediately has to say goodbye to her forever

4) Wendy finds a new home in fairy tail, where everybody is family and she develops a sibling like relationship with her fellow dragon slayers (her words not mine) and she even was fully ready to kill herself in order to save them in tartaros... and then her mother figure DIES AND... uh oh... Fairy tail disbands.... and it's heavily implied none of them kept in contact with her or even helped her find her footing in Lamia scale (you're free to hc otherwise but I'm just going off canon)

And then natsu and Lucy show up, and yes she has a mild crisis about not wanting to leave Chelia... but that's about it...

Like PLEASE I sincerely wish we got some focus on the sheer betrayal she SHOULD have felt. And if she was really that forgiving, I wish the Lamia members like Lyon or Chelia would've held that grudge for her. In fact I wish they would've advised her against going back to fairy tail altogether.

In all fairness the entire disbanding plotline made zero sense from most angles (wdym nobody kept in contact? nobody sent Lucy a letter? nobody checked up on the 12 year old orphan in their guild?), so like it rlly is a product of bad writing and dogging on it feels redundant but. STILL. I really love what FT did with Wendy for the most part, and she has a very good character arc throughout, but I just wish we explored this added layer of the fact that she got abandoned not once...not twice...not thrice... BUT FOUR TIMES... all before the age of 13(ish). That's like incomprehensible levels of psychological damage.

(And in general, the dragon plotline was pretty meh. None of the other dragon slayers got a spotlight for their grief, and natsu bareeeelyyy just barely had one before he moved on in 3 seconds.)

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I still think Sora being unable to control the Temple guards while being able to masterfully reconfigure pre-historic Imperium tech is kinda stupid. HOW old can these guys possibly be, that they fall out of the realm of your power's control? It's so silly!!!

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"People are being unfair to the live action Lilo and Stitch by comparing it to the original instead of looking at the movie as its own thing."

... Yes? Because it's not its own thing; it's a remake. Comparisons to the original are inevitable. Especially when certain story elements are so radically changed that in some cases they're completely antithetical to the original. *cough*NanigivingupLilo*cough*

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it was not on wheat...

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Yippee!!!!

A short animation I made the other day to remind myself that animating is fun, actually

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I just kinda don't like the ship that much because I feel there's a lot of baggage on Sabrina's part.

She's finally learning to be her own person this season, and the idea of her immediatly starting to date the sister of her toxic friend feels too yikes for me.

But then again, it's all about excecution so only time will tell.

Zoébrina should be together but I just KNOW the Chloé apologists will whine about how Zoé "stole" from Chloé again

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Now I hc Wyldfyre helping Lloyd through the transition 'cause, you know, she was raised by dragons and definitely understands their behavior better than any of the ninja.

Now someone has to write a fic about it!

Where are my hcs that being a source dragon’s conduit has given Lloyd some really weird dragon features. Like he used to be more Oni than dragon bc he was directly related to Garm/the dragon heritage was recessive but now dragon horns are forcing their way outta his damn skull. He’s growing dragon scales in weird places. Bro wakes up one morning to find that he made a nest like a fucking sleeper agent. He keeps finding shit in his room he doesn’t remember stealing from other people, refuses to return it anyways. His hoard now, bitch

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The Lack of Lore in Dragons Rising

Warning:

This is a really long essay rant about Dragons Rising. You probably won't agree with all, or even most of what I have to say, and that is totally alright. This is just my take on Dragons Rising so far.

Also, I have not seen any of the new leaks for Season 3 Part 2. All of my issues could be resolved in those episodes for all I know. I do talk about things that happened in Part 1, so if you haven't watched Episodes 1-10 of season 3 and don't want them to be spoiled, maybe don't read this post.

Anyway, I've warned you. What you do next is your own decision.

Dragons Rising has introduced us to all of these interesting concepts in the past fifty episodes. The Forbidden Five, the Source Dragons, the wolf masks, the prismatic blades, shatter spin, rising dragon technique, the missing characters, and the freaking merge itself. All of them feel like they connect in very nuanced and intricate ways with the already established ninjago lore, but we are given none of their history, only the action scenes that utilize them. Which is starting to feel less like a mystery and more like an oversight. 

Let’s go back to Season 1 of the entire show. Right off the bat, we are introduced to the Serpentine. The main characters give us a bit of exposition in the form of bickering in the first episode, describing the Serpentine, their role in Ninjago history, and the mystery/ legends surrounding them. We continue to get a glimpse into the various Serpentine tribes, including their abilities, their power structure, their intertribal relations, and their desires within the first few episodes. By the midpoint of the season, Wu has revealed the backstory of the Great Devourer as well. And it doesn’t feel like too much exposition is going on. The season, for all of its other flaws, flows fairly smoothly and is full of action.

In Season 2, we meet the Overlord, and are immediately given his history with the First Spinjitzu Master. In Season 3, though not a lot of new lore is added, returning characters and the new technology of the Digiverse are both explained to some extent. Both seasons 4 and 5 handle the lore excellently, at least in my opinion. We are shown the histories of Garmadon and Wu, respectively, continuing to see glimpses of their troubled pasts as the season goes on, without feeling left in the dark for too long. Similar things can be said of most, if not all, of the other seasons. 

However, in Dragons Rising, we are given none of that. 

The characters claim to have a backstory (Egalt and Rontu say the Forbidden Five are an evil “unlike anything you’ve ever seen”) but what we are given is so lackluster that it feels forgettable. Part of what made the Forbidden Five so boring in Season 3 is how little we know about them. Most of our information comes from posts by the writers, not the actual show itself. Their powers are barely explained, the relationships between all of them other than Nokt and Rox (the two siblings) aren’t even present, and I have no idea why they want Thunderfang or what they plan to do to the merged lands. Conquer them? Destroy them? Declare the doughnuts must be eaten every third Tuesday of the month? I don’t know! Older villains, like Garmadon, Harumi, Morro, Chen, Aspheera, Kalmar, Unagami, and Nadakhan all had very clear, if also very misguided, goals. I don’t know what these new villains want! Gosh, I can’t even keep their names straight. They have really cool designs, but I get Zarkt and Drix confused all the time. 

Not to mention, the Forbidden Five were built up as the greatest evil in all the merged lands, only to be immediately defeated by Thunderfang. Creating an even more powerful villain for our heroes to face would work if the writers actually raised the stakes. As it is, these latest villains don’t feel anywhere near as threatening as those that actually came with a cost- Lloyd having to fight his dad, Zane dying to the Overlord, Nya merging with the sea to defeat Wojira, even all of the cubing that happened while in Prime Empire. Like the entirely evil Oni, they work really well as a background threat, but as soon as they appear in action, they are pretty underwhelming (and both the Oni and Thunderfang were defeated by a fancy Spinjitzu move). I think it would be more beneficial if the villains stopped threatening the entire world, and instead honed in on something more personal, such as hunting down one of the main ninja for revenge or something, or trying to steal their powers so everyone is “equal” (aka, Legends of Korra). 

Or the villain isn���t even a real villain, but they are trying to keep the ninja from something they want, like figuring out the secrets of the Merge, finding the truth about Wu, or recovering Jay’s memories. Lowering the world stakes and raising the personal stakes could actually be far more gripping than constantly raising the bar for who is the ultimate evil. 

Okay, so what about the Source Dragons? It feels like the writers go back and drastically change everything we already know about the First Spinjitzu Master and Firstborn. It gives me the same whiplash sensation I had finding out that Lloyd was part Oni and part Dragon. In hindsight, Lloyd’s heritage is an interesting concept. And so are the Source Dragons! But right now, it feels like my entire understanding of Ninjago history is falling apart at the seams. Not to mention, we don’t get a dramatic Mystake storytelling moment for the Source Dragons. We are told they exist and are super powerful and supposedly give everyone their elemental powers… but not much else. Where do they live? What makes them so powerful? Why did they decide to give powers to people like Cinder and Zeatrix? Why do the Source Dragons give evil people their elemental powers? How could they refuse to interfere with mortal affairs unless they are being threatened, especially since doling out powers that way could be the cause of some of Ninjago’s problems? 

Oh, and will the show ever care to discuss the Wolf Masks? How did Ras get his hands on them while he was busy in Imperium? At this point, it seems like he has a backup plan for a backup plan for a backup plan for a backup plan (Dragon Icons with Arin to make up for Nokt betraying him and using the elemental powers for himself to make up for the blood moon ritual not going as planned to make up for Beatrix not doing what he wanted to make up for his tribe kicking him out.) What is this guy’s deal? And how did he get an entire army of faceless, nameless soldiers to wear his masks and help him take down the world? In Season 4, at least Chen offered his followers the appeal of a snake cult on a tropical island. I’m seeing none of those benefits for Ras’s minions. 

And don’t get me started on the Prismatic Blades. What the heck are these things? They are made from “soul energy?” Has someone been harvesting souls to turn them into swords? Why does looking through them allow someone to see invisible demogorgon soul sucking spirits? How did Rapton, not to mention Dorama’s puppet, get his paint spattered pinchers on one of those things? What is up with the sword that shattered during the tournament? If these are the only things that can bust Thunderfang free, why weren’t they hidden better? Or if they were, how were they found? At least in S1, when the ninja were searching for the Fangblades, we were given a bit more explanation. We had a fancy map with their locations, a Clutch Powers bit where he “found” one and turned it into a trophy, a dramatic battle in an erupting volcano… Yes, they fight over the prismatic blades. But the fight locations don’t feel important the way they do in S1 of the original show. 

Ooh, and what about the missing characters? Crystallized ended with an absurd number of side characters all teaming up to help the ninja rebuild their monastery. At the start of Dragons Rising, they are not only gone, but forgotten. We’ve had a few beloved side characters make guest appearances- Dareth, Fugidove, some of the elemental masters at the Tournament of Sources… but the others haven’t even been mentioned. I think it would be ridiculous to try to fit everyone into the plot. This ensemble show has a cast swollen way past anything reasonable. But maybe give us a cameo of Harumi living her life, or Skylor running her noodle shop or Benthomar and Vania being the best king and queen one could hope for. Give us Garmadon and Vinny walking through the crossroads, and an angsty teen Unagami addicted to his phone, and Nelson jealously watching Arin fulfill his life dreams. It can take place in a quick fly by, where their relationship to the ninja isn’t explained, but older fans have a moment to freak out and scream at the top of their lungs when they see their babies for a few seconds. 

Now for the Merged Lands. Yes, this is a kid’s show. But I feel like after several years (which, btw, why are they so vague about the time span? They are always like, the merge happened “several years ago,” but never give us an exact date, and it drives me crazy!) the different combined realms would have formed some sort of political understanding. We are given no glimpse into how Ninjago decides to interact with Imperium, or the Cloud Kingdom, or the Wyldness. At the very least, I would have expected some reaction to Imperium declaring the ninja as enemies of the state from Ninjago. How dare the foreigners try to capture their beloved heroes?! Only the Ninjago City police and the *new ninja* are allowed to put them in jail! We have no interactions between them, or even reminders that old businesses and characters still exist. (NGTV news, the mayor, that police commissioner with the twitchy eye…) It feels like Ninjago’s culture has been erased, and none of the other merged lands have become prominent enough to replace it. The beautiful city that gets destroyed every other season and feels a little bit like home when I see it on screen isn’t relevant any more. 

The show really wants to have new lore. It hints that it is there, it tries to dump it on us in repeated blasts of the same boring exposition. But I honestly can’t see it. Or maybe I just can’t get excited about it because it doesn’t feel personal enough. Unlike the earlier seasons, where villains targeted the ninja specifically because of Wu and Garamdon’s past, or trying to steal their powers, the heroes are so detached from this current wave of baddies that it doesn’t seem to matter. Saving the world for the sake of saving the world is good and all. But you know what is great? Saving the world for the sake of saving your friend. Stopping the villain merely because they kidnapped someone you love or tried to steal your teammates powers or broke your brother’s heart or made your already elderly teacher even more old. 

The lore is connected to the world, not the characters. And if it doesn’t matter to the characters, then it really doesn’t matter to the audience. 

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imagine living in ponyville and it's nice and quiet and then some purple cunt moves in and shit starts happening every week and raising ur property value

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imagine living in ponyville and it's nice and quiet and then some purple cunt moves in and shit starts happening every week and raising ur property value

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I hate it when people ask me what genre of music i listen to because i genuinely have no clue. It's called Music I Like genre. The best genre out there

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art trade with @shit-taster-connoisseur! Featuring older jordana n sora (had so much fun with this uqwgiuqw)

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I’m still trying to figure out this whole “shattered goodness” thing due to shatterspin. Does this mean someone who has shattered their goodness is no longer capable of being good and able to love?

For example: Jay can be attracted to Nya, but he can’t actually love her.

Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with the ability to love. You can love someone in a way that's destructive, both for yourself and for the other person. I never interpreted Shatterspin as an inability to feel emotions, and I say that because we know Jay is STILL doing the things he loves with passion in DR: inventing and playing video games. And we also know that Nokt and Rox, despite being as corrupted as they are, still love each other like siblings. So it's safe to say that even with his soul shattered, Jay can still feel love for someone, only now he feels like no one loves him back.

I prefer to focus more on the soul-destroying aspect of it, which makes a person more prone to rage, since whenever someone uses Shatterspin, they're in a euphoric state of destruction, not thinking, not holding back, blind to reason. Hurting without regard for who it is, and hurting themselves in the process. It's not like it completely changes them, if the way Cinder acts the more he uses it in S2 is any indication. It's like it accentuates each person's worst traits. Jay may be more selfish now, more prone to reacting aggressively, and have even fewer moral boundaries than before, but it's not like those traits were completely nonexistent before; they're just much worse now.

But in the end, Jay's still capable of empathy and love, it just might be more difficult for him (and not just because of Shatterspin, but for other reasons).

This is just my interpretation, though. I originally believed that Shatterspin corruption could also cause a person to become more irrational over time by succumbing to anger so quickly, but I don't think that's the case. Oops.

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I actually got an idea for a fic about Lila (the evil sh*t) actually eavesdropping on Zoé's confession to Marinette during Adoration and deciding to, in her own words, "steal Marinette's little admirer for herself."

What can I say? Lila is just free real-estate for toxic yuri!

Need another person to also start writing zolila fics as well so we can bond over our shared rare pair and become life long friends, you know something casual.

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First Lloyd, then Nya, now them!

That's it! All the ninja (and samurai) are adopting Sora, they're sharing custody of the pink tech cat!

guys is it too late to spread my pixane adopting sora propaganda guys