#also it would be a way for jay and nya to not be involved in the main story when it’s plot convenient

[lightning-and-dragons]

Jay as Samurai X

This AU has been on my mind for longer than a day so I figured I would post about it lol.

Jay Walker never becomes a ninja. Jay's parents ended up taking him to an orphanage instead of the junkyard, and Sensei Wu, no matter how long he searches, cannot find him. So, he must continue and find the other ninja without him.

Sensei Wu recruits the others, and tells Nya immediately that she's the Master of Water. Cole, Kai, Nya, and Zane soon become the protectors of Ninjago.

Jay begins working at a mechanics shop, feeling an urge to build vehicles and tech, an urge that he couldn't explain. After a while, he begins to notice how light bulbs break around him, how he has a strange connection to the lightning in the sky, and how he, and sometimes others around him, get shocked with electricity without any cause. It doesn't take him long to find out that he's the son of the previous elemental Master of Lightning, through a bit of digging online, discovering that she had a son that she had given up at the exact same time Jay was admitted into the orphanage.

But he's scared of what it means. He's scared of the lightning. He's not a hero. He's not like the Ninjas that save Ninjago every week. He's just a guy that didn't have friends. Who could barely afford to live in the city. Who had no family. He couldn't use his powers to do the good that they did. He would only mess things up if he got involved, that he knew.

He couldn't use his powers at all. He knew how dangerous lightning could be, and Jay couldn't control it. He didn't know how. And he didn't want to hurt anyone.

He buys a vengestone bracelet not long after this discovery, knowing that the stone dulls elemental powers, wearing it every day and every night, needing to hide the part of him that scared him, needing protect others from the lightning he possessed. It made a dull pain throb in his body, but it was worth it.

But, after Ninjago City is nearly destroyed by the Great Devourer, a new girl comes and uses the mechanics shop that Jay works in. Nya was beautiful, and Jay connects with her immediately. She seems to understand him in a way no one else has before, and for the first time in his life, Jay doesn't feel alone. They became friends very quickly, and when Jay asked her out on a date, she doesn't say no.

It doesn't take her long to tell him that she's the Water Ninja. Jay can't help but be shocked. He thought that the Ninja were people who were powerful, who were perfect, spending all of their time protecting others, devoting every second to catching the bad guys. He thought that they didn't bother doing things regular people did, that they didn't make any mistakes.

But Nya was exactly like him. Sure, she did save the world every so often, she was strong, but she also loved building vehicles, she loved ice cream, and laughed at all his jokes. She sometimes crossed a few wrong wires, she had bad hair days, and she had a bit of a temper, but she was still a ninja. She was a hero, but she was a person, too. She wasn't an all powerful being Jay was scared of, he could even relate to her. She was human, she made mistakes, and something about that made Jay relieved.

She taught him that the Ninja weren't all powerful beings who were above regular people. They were just like him. She taught him that anyone, whether they had powers or not, could be heroes, too.

Jay was inspired by that. But he wasn't strong enough to take off the vengestone bracelet yet, not sure enough of his own abilities and control to let his powers be free.

He wouldn't let that stop him, though.

It didn't take him long to build his mech, the Samurai X suit, a suit of armor that let him save others, let him help Nya, without risking letting his lightning be free.

And he loved it. He loved saving others, he loved the tech he uses, and he loved proving that he didn't need his powers to be a hero. He didn't need to be anyone more than who he already was.

Nya knows it's him right away. The other Ninja fight to find out who the Samurai X was, desperate to know who was beating them to their fights, but she kept silent. A few months in, Jay reveals his identity, and Nya eagerly introduces him to the other Ninja, so thankful that the man she loved had become a hero, too, and found the strength to finally tell her.

Sensei Wu catches on to the bracelet Jay wears right away, and confronts him about it, knowing that this was the boy he had been looking for for years. And soon Jay is torn between hiding his powers from the people he could now call his friends, continuing to be Samurai X, a hero that he was proud of being, or he could take off the vengestone. He could learn how to use the lightning that he was born with, the lightning that he was terrified of, for good, using it like Nya used her water, with control and kindness.

Jay doesn't know if he's strong enough to. Jay doesn't know if he's ready to let the lightning be free. But he also doesn't know if he's ready to pass up a chance to understand what he could do if he finally let his fears fall away.

[kamisama1kiss]

Okay okay, hear me out…what if the reader was a ninja part of the team but they would also be involved in a prophecy where they end up dying to save their lover, I need the ninja reaction to when Master Wu tells them 🫶🏻

This is actually so sad, tho.... I love it! 🤭😝 I was a little stuck on writing, but I hope I was able to deliver what you wished for 😚🫶

~~~

What would be the ninjas reactions be as the prophecies says they're lover will die for them?

~Lloyd Garmadon~

- Denial is a river in Egypt. Refusing to believe that they would die for the sake of his life.

- No matter how many times he convinces himself, he knows truly he can't do anything to stop it. Further pushing him into no limits of getting stronger to maybe, just maybe prevent it?

- Keeping a watching eye at you at all times to see if you're safe, more so in battles or training.

- Would try to convince you to do other tasks rather than join the team if he knew it could be risky for either you or himself.

- Consently tries to spend as much time with you so that when the time comes, he could make sure to not regret a moment.

- Would often spend time silently watching you just live and socialise with others, his heart falling into his stomach.

- Admiring you and everything about you as a person.

~Kai Smith~

- At first, he just laughed and shook his head. There was no way.

- After maybe a few hours or days, the gravity of it all dawned on him. He couldn't help but feeling so hopeless and useless to not be able to help or postpone it or anything for that matter.

- His mind of having a feature together with you was immediately crushed, all the plans of being able to hold you at night and talk into the long hours of the night.

- In the meantime, he changed a little for you as in allowing you to goof around with his hair as an example.

- Holding hands no matter where you walked to feel you close just to know you weren't gone. Not yet at least.

-Knowing he was absolutely broken after when Nya was gone, he would be just the same with just worse of completely letting guilt eat him up in silence. He would refuse to let anyone know how he felt.

As the hothead, he is the practice dummys would be all burnt to crisp

~Cole Brookstone~

- Again?

- Really? First, his own mother. Now, the one person he loves with the whole being of himself

- No matter how much he tried to collect himself, he could easily take it out on training.

- Would at some point start to distance himself from you so when the time came, the impact would be less painful.

- Didn't want to be like his father with absolutely neglecting everything when you we're gone, but anyhow, he tried to smile to everyone and act chill like he usually would.

- Often held his breath when holding you close, wishing for these types of moments to never end.

~Zane Julian~

- He was obvious to the fact that the one he loves could so easily die, but he could live on for many years on.

- Has already been over this with himself, but hearing it being sooner than expected shocked him.

- Acting no different than normally maybe a few occasional more hugs throughout the day, nothing too out of the ordinary.

- When he was alone, his way of grief was meditate. Maybe it could make the damage a little easier for his wires to handle?

- Occasionally turning off the emotions to just feel as if he could "breath" as it did get to his head at times more than he'd like to admit it ever did.

~Jay Walker~

- Immediately lost himself as he shook his head, refusing to belive what a dumb scroll had to say! It's dumb right?

- Spending every waking minute of his day with you by his side, alongside helping you with everything he could think of.

- Coping with occasionally stealing shirts with your smell on them to feel as if you mext to him, even though you are just a few doors down or so

- Would slowly communicate with others as he became more silent, which scared everyone. Everyone stood on their toes around him to not further upset him.

- He came in clutch and used every single excuse possible to man kind to have you for himself the first week or two after getting to know. He felt kind of pushy so he calmed down a little.

~Nya Smith~

- She genuinely just accepted it, what more could she say? The prophecy says so, she cannot deny it no matter how much this frustrated her.

- Checking up on you and acting for the most sake normal, as to not make you uncomfortable or worried for her sake.

- Used any or all frustration on training her powers in different ways, which was beneficial for her in the long right?

- Just like her brother, there was no communication from her side. Whenever the topic of prophecy popped up, she went silent and stood next to you, holding pinkys.

- Would cry to herself whenever everything got to her, just knowing you're gonna to eventually leave it snapped her multiple times. She would always refuse.

~~~

I've reached over 25 posts :00 and also over 50 followers!!! THANK YOU, EVERYONE 😭🙏🙏 I appreciate every single one of you so much

[a-butterfly1]

==✦NINJAGO AU MASTERPOST✦==

This is an AU I've been working on, I will actually work on it on writting ( on AO3 ) instead of making a comic/manga because I tend to procastinate when it comes to drawing panels ( if you have been keeping up with other pojects of mine you would know this), hopefully I will keep this updated.

==❤︎CHARACTER INFORMATION❤︎==

Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon

Age- 1000+ (immortal) Height: 5'8 (1,73m)

Lloyd has lived many years, of course, now he's immortal, he doesn't have much of a choice but to continue living on. He was many things throughout his life: a bratty child, a son, a master, a hero and now he's nothing more than a myth, while still a part of ninjago history many actually question if he ever really existed or not. He ostracized himself from society for a reason, after all,- it's painfull to make relationships when they are so short lived. He is considered a god by many, but he denies that being the case, maybe the embodiment of the balance between good and evil but he wont try to call himself anything more. Lloyd now lives with the spirits of his family with the occasional visits from Morro and Garmadon, his father.

==꒷꒦︶︶꒷︶︶꒦꒦︶︶꒷꒦==

Jay Walker

Age- 1000+ (spirit) Died at 115 Height: 5'10 (1,78m) Status: Nya's husband

He was a man of the spotlight, he shined brithly- TV shows, TheyTube channels, he was knowed worldwide. Not that he minds the retirement, he lived his life; he had two beautiful twins with the love of his life, Nya. He died happy, even if he was the last one to die, 3 years after Nya had passed. His last years were spent with Lloyd. In his many years in the Ninja team, he's come to realise he doesn't exactly have the same type of strengh like the others so he created a different weapon one that creates iron alloy strings, that resemble spider webs. He also practiced racing with his wife in his free time and created all kinds of machines and weapons which ranged from house equipment to ninja tech, like mechs, weapons and transport.

==꒷꒦︶︶꒷︶︶꒦꒦︶︶꒷꒦==

Kai Smith

Age- 1000+ (spirit) Died at 95 Height: 6'2 (1,88m) Status: Skylor's husband and Nya's bio brother

Kai was a little bit of an influencer in his younger years, but as the years went by he settled more into being a family man with his wife Skylor and his little girl. How did he become a spirit? Well it was his idea; well his plan was to become immortal like Lloyd but he was intersected by Morro, so he opted for the second best option: giving his powers to Lloyd, so even if he was dead he would be with Lloyd through his power; what wasn't part of the plan was he actually becoming part of Lloyd as a spirit, not that he is complaining, he got what he wanted in the end; and since he was the one that piched the idea to the ninja, he just involved them all into the mad plan- one that Lloyd was unaware of. He trully is a mad man, no one, and I mean, no ONE, puts themselves between him and his family, the last person who did so, is no longer amoung us, the last thing they saw was Kai becoming a demonic ball of flames.

==꒷꒦︶︶꒷︶︶꒦꒦︶︶꒷꒦==

Nya Smith Walker

Age- 1000+ (spirit) Died at 112 Height: 6'0 (1,83m) Status: Jay's wife and Kai's bio sister

Nya, famous racer, only had to step down from the hobbie/carrer when she got into a small accident, while she wasn't gravelly wounded that was enough for her to be proibited from competitive racing. From that day on she still raced but became more of an idol than a racer per say. She ended up working on engineer projects, solo or with Jay, mostly out of boredom. Now, since she is dead, she has more free time than ever, and uses it to learn and explore every digital corner of the internet, catching a few criminals in the way. Many say she is mystical and her strengh is as crushing as the waves in a storm can be, yet calm and relaxing as the days in the beach, others, like the Ninja themselves just see her as they're beloved sister.

==꒷꒦︶︶꒷︶︶꒦꒦︶︶꒷꒦==

Cole Brookestone

Age- 1000+ (spirit) Died at 87 Height: 6'8 (2,03m) Status: Vania's husband

Cole, King of the Kingdom of Shintaro, Husband of Queen Vania, father of the prince of Shintaro, and our beloved cake lover, sadlly passed away early, well earlier than his siblings at least, the unknowed illness that had taken the life of his mother had decided to claim another. Cole fell gravelly ill, bedridden in his late stages of life. Bedridden in the castle, he invited Lloyd over for most possibly a final goodbye, although he didn't think that Lloyd would stay around the whole time it wasn't completly unexpected, right there he was the first one to execute Kai's plan, and the first to discover the side effects of the plan; from then on he was part of Lloyd and made sure to let the others know of the end result.

==꒷꒦︶︶꒷︶︶꒦꒦︶︶꒷꒦==

Zane Julien

Age- 1000+ (nindroid) Height: 7'0 (2,13m) Status: P.I.X.A.L's husband

Caretaker of the rest of the Ninja team and their children, especially since those little kids sure liked uncle Lloyd a whole lot and would visit constently. He stayed with Lloyd in the monastery alongside P.I.X.A.L and Morro (who visits soo much he pretty much lives there, has a room and everything). Him and Lloyd share house chores, and Zane is in charge of looking at news around ninjago, to ensure it's safety, as well as helping in some researches since Lloyd is only one person and can only intake soo much information at a time. He is the only one that hasn't partaken in Kai's plan, since there is literally no reason to, Zane obviously doesn't die of old age, one may claim that he could possible get rusty and need repairs at some point but Lloyd and P.I.X.A.L are always around is any issue is to come.

==✿ADDITIONAL INFORMATION✿==

The Ninja team, many years after most of the team's death, has move the location of the monestary far away from the main ninjago island, and instead now lives in a far away island that Lloyd created west of Ninjago city, around the middle of Ninjago and the dark island (thats has been sealed away by Lloyd). The reason for that change is because of something rather strange, it's not just to ensure Lloyd's ever soo wished isolation but also because a merchant had attented to buy the place, with the intention of turning the monestary into a tourist attraction. Lloyd got a bit peeved and decided to pick up the mountain where the monestary was on top of and relocated it;

The only reason the Jay was living with Lloyd in his last moments, was because he genuenly belived he would miss the mark to execute Kai's plan, because he belives himself to be quite clumsy and distracted; either way he didn't miss it and now is with the rest of the team (which is a way to say that he can now torment the Ninja forever);

Lloyd has a cute nickname for all the Ninja's kids, and spoiled them to no end (he is the fun uncle who takes everyone to Disneyland), he calls Kai's daugther "munchkadee", Jay and Nya's twins has "Starlight" and "Moonlight" for the girl and boy respectively, and Cole's son is "Duckling";

the age diference of the Ninja are, from youngest to oldest: Lloyd - Nya - Jay - Kai - Cole - Zane ( to say, with maybe the idea of the 1 season, Lloyd (8->15) - Nya (15) - Jay (16) - Kai (17) - Cole (18) - Zane (30-40? he is old);

(conceivable for change) As of right now, Lloyd's power is one that could rival gods, the source of said power is something OP is still considering but the possible main reason might be related to "source dragons", has to why the other Ninja's had powers even after having kids is related to Lloyd giving them an artifact that has their specific element embodied into them (the artifacts are not phisical and can only be visualised when the Ninja have already passed, the artifact will most likely have the form of a card); (the reason of this possible change is the development of the plot of "Dragons Rising").

[destinysbounty]

A common question that has plagued fans for a long time now is how and why Wojira passed the element of water onto Nyad, considering they were enemies at the time. Personally, I think there are two different yet equally possible answers here:

Someone once pointed out that in Wu's scroll depicting the Battle of Nine Days, Wojira's eyes are red - which would likely only be the case if she was being controlled (her eyes return to blue once Kalmaar's control is lifted). It could be possible that Wojira was once a far more benevolent being before some unknown force took control of her, and during that time Nyad inherited power from her.

In Bentho's story about the legend of Nyad, she is depicted as being struck by the Amulets upon touching them - perhaps this was what caused her to acquire that power. Yes, technically it looks more like she touched the Storm Amulet, whereas water is more closely aligned with the Wave Amulet. However, I think it's worth noting that the Storm Elements don't seem to operate strictly under the standard conditions of most others. In this case there seems to be some kind of overlap. Although the elements passed on from Wojira are water and wind, she also has dominion over lightning as well, with "Storm" encompassing both of the latter two. Which suggests that may be a degree of overlap between the elements of storm. If so, then it's still entirely plausible that being struck by the Amulets could have given her the elemental power of water (and perhaps this overlap also explains why Jay was able to command wind that one time in s1?? I dunno. That's a theory post for another day)

This is potentially corroborated by the fact that we don't see her wield the element of water until after this striking incident. Within the context of this particular animation sequence, her being struck and her becoming one with the sea are depicted within immediate proximity of each other.

If true, the second possibly would also resolve another big question involving Nyad and her element: that is, how the line of succession was able to progress even after she had become one with the sea. According to Nya, it was her power that kept her chained to the ocean, and by losing her power she severed her connection to it. By that logic, wouldn't the same be true for Nyad? If she's still connected to the sea, then logic should dictate that she should still be the master of water. But if her power left her and moved on to someone else, then she should have been restored just as Nya was in Crystalized.

But if we consider the idea that elemental power may be passed down through other means, it becomes possible that someone else may have acquired water the same way Nyad did, and that second person ended up passing the element down through the ages.

(But if that answer isn't satisfying, have another: according to the Overlord, elemental powers seem to possess some degree of semi-sentience, as they are able to "choose a new champion". Perhaps Nyad's elemental power left her to pick someone new, but at that point she'd been merged with the sea for so long that her spirit remained chained to it anyway.)

[llannasvsp]

Dragons Rising Season 2, Episode 3: Beyond the Phantasm Cave

We are baaaack!! Honestly, I like spreading out my rewatch because I binged all 10 in one sitting. Spreading out my rewatch makes the excitement last longer. Not that I'm running out of excitement. I will never get over this season and it's not even done AGH. ANYWAY. On to the episode!

So, Cinder is Link from Zelda?

You feel the gong what?

Jordana and Cinder beef so real.

Awh, Kai. Glad they didn't forget his anger issues.

Arin is definitely not okay.

LLOYD MEDITATED ALL DAY AGHHH POOR GUY.

Lloyd has every right to be upset and frustrated right now.

Little source dragons!

OH MY GOSH the Netflix subtitles tell us which source dragon symbols correspond with the element!???!?

LIFE SYMBNOL CLAIMS LLOYD EVEROYNE. LIFE SYMBOL. DID ANYONE KNOW THIS?!?! YHHELLO. THIS IS MY FIRST TIME LEARNING OF THIS SO THIS IS A GENUIINE REACTION OH. MYGOSH.

Soooo Strength is a hater.

"He is no ordinary mortal". Okayyy so are we going to talk about him literally having Dragon heritage???

LEVITATING LLOYD CLIP!

Once again, Sam is literally serving. He portrays anxiety so well.

KAI + WYLDFYRE CLIP!

I am literally obsessed with this moment between them. Wyldfyre doesn't want to be left out. Kai wants her to stay safe and be okay. He's so kind and gentle with her. I love them.

I gotta admit, I'm an elemental mech hater.

"Would Master Wu take us on a mission based off of half understood dreams?" Oh he absolutely would.

KAI ASKING FROHICKY TO WATCH OVER WYLDFYRE RAGH.

I don't know how I feel about the Cloud Kingdom having a motor buuuut okay.

They really decided that this was the episode to upload clips from.

I love this moment because it addresses that Lloyd is doubting himself, it acknowledges that Lloyd and Nya have been through way too much stuff, and it shows us that Lloyd does not want to put Arin and Sora through something horrific. He doesn't want them to experience "the horrors" too young like he did.

Kai being mad that Wyldfyre stowed away but not in like an angry way but in a "I don't want you getting hurt" way is just sooooo.

Sora is so right to be concerned. I would be too if I were her.

I get what Sora was trying to do with the grappling hooks, but I also feel like this isn't going to bode well for Arin. She made his thing something "cooler" because their elemental powers are involved.

EWWW TENTACLES.

AGHH Arin and Sora complete each other my hearrrt.

Okayyy so visions.

Arin: Fear of letting his parents down. Guilt that he "replaced" them with the ninja.

Sora: Something to do with Imperium?? I don't really understand hers I'm gonna be so honest.

Lloyd: Being an inadequate teacher. Leading everyone to their destruction. "You will never be good enough." Dang.

Nya: Jay not remembering her.

Wyldfyre: The wasting thing that's talked about later.

KAI: WE DON'T FREAKING GET TO SEE IT. LET US SEE IT.

I feel like we just need to remember all of their fears because it's absolutely going to be important to all of them later.

"I know the real Jay could never forget me." Oh, honey. Don't say that.

Egalt is ugly.

GRRR THIS EPISODE IS AMAZING.

I think we didn't see Kai's vision because they're going to bring it back later. I know some people are saying that it was of a corrupted version of himself, and honestly, I'd say that's a very likely assumption, given his history. He used to have a lust for power, and maybe he still does, it's just more subdued. If anything were to happen to him (pretend we haven't seen ep10 yet), he could likely succumb to that temptation for power.

ALSO I'm such a Lloyd "life" truther, so learning that it was the LIFE DRAGON who claimed him?!??!? Yes. I'm so excited to expand more on that.

[mislamicpearl]

(DRS2P2 SPOILERS)

Dragons Rising AU where everything is the same but Zane is written like an actual character. (also more screen time for Euphrasia)

Please reblog this post instead if you want to share.

Some explanations:

I've ranted several times before about how dissatisfied I've been with DR Zane. I just feel like he's so disconnected from the rest of the characters, like the writers don't really want him there but have to have him anyway because he's an OG and part of all the sets and all. So they find lame excuses to leave him behind, or render him useless, or treat him like an emotionless machine, or just give him the dumb comedic side plots like the Zane lookalike contest or babysitting a silly frog man. It's so frustrating seeing him treated this way as he was my favorite ninja when I was binging the series, and it wouldn't even take that much to give him more presence in the show. So these small scenes sort of just came to me in a rush and I had to draw them to cope.

It bothers me so much that Zane is the only one of the OG ninja aside from Jay (who's got amnesia) who doesn't get hugged whenever he reunites with the others. Like you can't even pretend it's because he's not a hugger or because the others feel weird about hugging him or something, because they've done so many times throughout the show before. So now to have them just kind of not make a big deal about seeing him again after years have passed makes it seem like they just don't care as much about him anymore?? So yeah, definitely had to rectify that. Didn't draw Kai and Nya hugging him because I already drew that awhile back.

I had made a post about Euphrasia taking Mr. Frohicky's role in the show instead, but I want to clarify this does NOT mean she would have his same status as a side character whose only job is taking care of the monastery, it's just to put her in a better position to be close to Zane and the other ninja and be more involved with main events. I think Zane could've really benefited from having a next gen kid to take under his wing like the others.

I feel like people might potentially take offense with me letting Zane be the one to catch the piece of training equipment before it could hit Lloyd, rather than the other way around, because that scene WAS cool and it showed how far Lloyd has come as a ninja master, so I don't necessarily want it changed; this was just the easiest way I could think of to show Zane having won the Element of Reflex (also he's still the one surprised by it while Lloyd is unfazed).

[froginninjago]

So, I think that the ninja each try the others hobbies to relax when they have time. I also think that Cole tried to teach them how to dance, and very quickly realized they each do beat in certain styles. (Please note: This doesn't correspond to their music tastes. That's completely seperate)

Kai- I think that this man would love hip hop dances the best, and would do well in them. I can't fully explain it, but I feel like he would really like the quick movements and the way that they usually involve almost every muscle group

Cole- I feel like Cole would probably like swing dance, and specifically doing it with alternating partners. He'd probably mostly be attracted to the way him and his partner could share the spotlight, or have it focused on just one of them, all in the same routine

Jay- I can't explain why, but I think that Jay would like tap dancing the best. He'd enjoy the way that the movements are really fast, so he has to concentrate, but at the same time kept mostly to his legs/feet so he doesn't get overwhelmed

Zane- I think that Zane would like ballet. He'd appreciate the way that it looks so graceful that people forget a lot of the time how hard it is. Also falls into the stereotype thing. He hates the stereotypes that are bound to come with being a nindroid, and the way he isn't seen as human, just like how (for some reason) people don't see ballet dancers as strong.

Lloyd- Hear me out: Lloyd liking line dance because it's one that involves groups all working together and usually means that one singular person isn't the focus, since he gets tired of the green ninja attention

Nya- I can't explain why, but Nya strikes me as someone that would enjoy salsa dancing best. I feel like she'd enjoy the way that you have to trust a partner and be okay with being close to them, and she'd enjoy the way that the traditional roles can be followed or switched easily.

[destinygoldenstar]

As a kid watching Ninjago, I was just interested in the flashy powers, and the heroics of the main characters, like any kid would. Like, 'Aw these guys are so heroic and selfless and awesome'

But now as an adult, when I recommended my GF the show, I specifically said "This is Family Issues: The Lego Cartoon"

Honestly, Jay likes to complain and hide his upbringing, but he's probably the ONLY ninja with any resemblance of a normal happy childhood and backstory. He has two loving parents who supported him, and was an aspiring inventor.

You could argue Fritz Donegan rectified it, but Jay didn't know this, so how would this affect how is childhood turned out?

At worst, he was dirt poor, living in a junkyard and all, but compared to what the rest of his team went through, I think they'd WANT what Jay had.

Nah, instead most of Jay's trauma and emotional baggage is in the present.

And who else do we have?

We have a robot who didn't even know he was a robot, or had any idea of his identity or memory, so much so that he was just... wandering around the land with amnesia. (Then, you know, everyone thought he was weird)

We have Cole, who grew up in a harsh family background where his dad forced/pressured his kid to be a musician, and canonically suffered depression and bad violence habits after the loss of his mother/during her illness. (Idk about those other Royal Blacksmiths if they are in the family or not, but either way they didn't seem supportive)

Kai and Nya's parents up and vanished from their lives at ages five and three, and they had to raise each other all by themselves with just a blacksmith shop. Basically means they were forced to end their childhoods right there, especially Kai, because older sibling. And there's no indication they had any friends or anyone to help them in their town, at most there was that one lady that they hated, so... ouch.

And... Lloyd.

Just Lloyd.

Half of the show is just Lloyd suffering.

Born as the son of a man forced into an evil oni maniac, said father ditched his entire family.

Mom decided it was a good idea to abandon her kid in a boarding school about villainy. (That's like, the ONE thing I genuinely think the movie did better than the show.)

And that school heavily bullied Lloyd and even exiled him, forcing him on the streets, basically

Everyone hates him and doesn't help him (until Pythor)

Gets tricked by Pythor

Gets kidnapped by Serphantine

Nearly dies in lava

Is given a destiny as the savior of all of Ninjago where he's forced to be on opposite sides of his father, and part of said destiny involves him needing to kill him

AGAINST HIS WILL MIND YOU

Was LITERALLY forced to give up his childhood for this destiny

Was tortured by the Overlord for his golden power

Ice Ninja died

He got his father back, and then he died.

Was possessed by an evil ghost tyrant and was forced to do horrible stuff with no control over himself

Was also physically strained to his limit with that possession

Lost his uncle

Fell in love, and then said crush turns out to be a twist villain who wants to TORTURE him, resurrect his father and steal that fatherly love from him, and have said father try to KILL HIM

Which he was very close to succeeding at

Has to live in hiding for a week thinking all his friends are dead

Twist villain crush dies in a building collapse

That traumatizes him and haunts his trust and empathy towards people for A LONG TIME

Gets cubed in a video game (idk if that counts as trauma)

He's also a dragon oni hybrid, and his oni hide haunts his mind for his entire life, and is terrified to even think of a part of himself

Merge. For weeks he thought all his friends were dead. (Again)

And you know, physical beatdowns from being the Green Ninja, one of the most responsible jobs as the savior of all of Ninjago.

And that is not even everything, I'm sure there's a lot of stuff I didn't mention.

This poor, poor Emo Child.

If this wasn't a Lego show, this would have a Clone Wars tone, I'm convinced.

So yeah, 'Family Issues: The cartoon'.

At least they all have each other. They're a happy found family, and the light in each other's lives. They're here for each other. Their dynamics are precious to me.

[impulsivefanwriter]

Other Emperors AU — Ninjago

So. The beloved Ice Emperor. The corrupting potential of the Staff of Forbidden Spinjitzu + Amnesia + Vex.

Now what if the Ice Emperor came in other flavours?

That’s right, introducing the Other Emperors AU, a collection of different “What ifs” for if other people had been zapped with the staff by Aspheera!

Different Versions:

Earth Emperor / King of the Underworld = Cole

Lightning Emperor / Thunder God / Lightning Striker = Jay

Fire Emperor / Western Wildfire / Fire Maker = Kai

Energy Emperor / Lord of Energy / Luh-Lord = Lloyd

Water Empress / Commander of the Sea / Wrath of the Waves = Nya

Empress of Technology / Automated Empress / Overseer / The Technodrome = Pixal

Creation Emperor / Second Spinjitzu Master / The Creator = Wu

Not all of them are fleshed out (honestly most just have… one or two minor ideas, but I’ll gladly bounce ideas back and forth with people in Reblogs, comments, and/or asks!), but here’s what I’ve got—

Earth Emperor / King of the Underworld

- Got zapped into the Neverrealm instead and lost his memories from a concussion in the fight

- Vex finds him and the staff and convinces him to take it

- He raises/sinks the Earth to create a stone dome over the realm and make it a cavern of tunnels; some call him the King of the Underworld (Hades vibes) for it and he hates it even if he can’t remember why (haha forgotten Skulkin memories)

- Master of the Mountain mixed with ancient mythology vibes

- His hair grows out and becomes partially lava because come on that look just is so cool on him ; his armour is also formed of obsidian/onyx and crystals

- Difficult to anger (a very patient emperor that listens to his people whenever Vex doesn’t interfere) but if you do (usually on Vex’s manipulation) OH BOY you’re in for it now

- Built a dangerous labyrinth King-Minos-style complete with a stone minotaur in the centre that he sends prisoners/people Vex tricks him into thinking are enemies

- Is very fascinated by Kai’s fire (and Jay’s lightning) because the only light source in the caverns are glowing crystals formed from his powers or special regulated flint/coal-based fires

- He keeps Kai with him when the Ninja arrive and banish the rest to the labyrinth to “prove themselves” on Vex’s manipulation (possibly specifically dropping Jay in the minotaur room as a sacrifice because Jay made a menace of himself in the throne room)

- The Ninja make it through the traps because they’re all kinda Cole-themed (like one involves the Triple Tiger Sashay) and arrive back at the throne room after defeating the stone minotaur, much to Cole/Vex’s astonishment/ire respectively

- Cole realizes the Ninja are telling the truth and that Vex has been lying to him and ends up dropping the staff after reverting the Neverrealm back to its original state

Lightning Emperor / Thunder God / Lightning Strike

- Realizes Zane’s vision (yeah, Jay is the only person who knew Zane had a vision and he DISMISSED IT, hecking come on) is about to come true and shoves Zane out of the way of Aspheera’s shot

- Cracked his head on a rock falling through the portal and has zero memories <3 Should he be dead? Probably. But he’s Jay, so he survives, especially with his boosted element lashing out

-  Vex finds him and is so confused over the lightning appearance but realizes he can use it

- Skybound / Lightning Ruins parallels with Jay ripping up chunks of ground and making floating magnetized islands

- Has a very ominous cult following Vex leads because its Jay, of course it would happen, its not the first time

- Is kinda revered more as a ‘godly figure’ than an emperor (Vex uses his status to make orders in Jay’s name)

- Kinda unhinged, but you can blame the staff + Vex + the concussion and blood loss

- Fascinated by Cole because he absorbs/grounds lightning fine ; also fascinated by Zane who is a walking metal lightning rod

- Constantly zapping around

Fire Emperor / Western Wildfire / Fire Maker

- Lost his powers to Aspheera, battled her with the second staff, and got his butt yeeted to the Never Realm- that’s rough, buddy

- Gets his well-deserved focus season

- He really means well and just wants to keep his people safe, but unfortunately it comes across as overly possessive and tyrannical 

- Older brothers so hard that he comes across as evil/possessive and aggressive when he’s trying to be caring and protective

- Don’t have much for him because the fandom already has insanely cool Fire Emperor AUs

Energy Emperor / Lord of Energy / Luh-Lord 

- So many Lord Garmadon parallels

- ONI-DRAGON LLOYD ONI-DRAGON LLOYD

- Also a surprising amount of Morro parallels about making his own destiny

- So, so traumatized and got corrupted simply for wanting to take his fate into his own hands for once

- Punts Vex out of the castle because he’s had enough of people telling him what to do

- Kinda goes back to S1 Lloyd because this kid just wants his childhood back

- Goes from “scary emperor who’s going to execute you” to “excited little kid” the second he sees his siblings

- Taking the staff back hurts because Lloyd isn’t mad, he’s just super sad and confused and pleads with them not to do it

Water Empress / Commander of the Sea / Wrath of the Waves

- The Never Realm just became the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

- All the ice and snow melts into an ocean with islands

- Nya builds a big ol’ palace that’s both above and below the water’s surface

- Seabound parallels in terms of architecture (lots of accidental Wojira foreshadowing)

- So. Much. Rage. You anger Nya, you’re done for.

- The staff + her element amplified the ocean’s whispers and she’s kinda merged with the sea but not fully, her memories are a bit scattered

- Was going to take on Vex as an advisor because he convinced her she knew him before her memories got lost/scattered, but then her memories associate him with Krux, and she kicks him onto a lone island

- Her brothers have to face the ocean to get to her. They hate it, but they do it anyway 

Empress of Technology / Automated Empress / Overseer / The Technodrome

- Pixal gets to sacrifice herself for Zane

- While the staff doesn’t amplify powers for her, she still gets boosted strength, speed, smarts, etc., her processor running at 300x proficiency

- Is able to get the mech up and running— she DID build it, after all

- Still loses her memories from Vex’s interference, somewhat reverts to S3 Pixal

- Makes the entire realm “efficient” and rapidly revolutionizes technology

- Easily one of the scariest rulers because of how good she is at it

- Took Vex on as an Advisor because of his knowledge of the realm, then fired him once she was done. 

“But you— you cannot FIRE me! I am your loyal, most trusted advisor—” 

“And you are no longer necessary. There is more important matters to attend to.”

- It’s very difficult to dismantle her empire

Creation Emperor / Second Spinjitzu Master / The Creator

- Aspheera blasts her intended target

- Wu is sent to the Never Realm with the other staff

- The Ninja are devastated because they just lost their Sensei AGAIN just after getting him back

- Wu refuses to use the staff at first but then… well, he starts getting desperate to return. He misses his family. And his essence— creation— could be used to help the people of this realm. So he uses it once or twice, sparingly, to help the villages, to help travellers— and slowly gets more and more addicted. Why does this realm hurt the people in it? If his essence is one of creation, couldn’t he use it to… reform this realm into something more peaceful? More habitable? Remake it in his own image? Correct all the mistakes he’s made, start again, start better—

- FSM and Pilots-S2 Garmadon parallels

- His students manage to get into the Never Realm only to find it “prosperous” and “thriving”

- Bonus if there are copies of them, but the way Wu sees them— uncanny valley alert

- EXTRA bonus if there’s a fake Morro that’s based on how he was as a student / if he’d lived , and a fake Garmadon cured of venom and evil

- Breaking their Sensei out of this illusion of a perfect world really hurts

- Wu is traumatized by all his mistakes and they get acknowledged in this AU whether he wants them to be or not <3

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

hello! really new fan (by really new I mean just finished books 1 and 2 new) that decided to hop on here for some lore and I am so endlessly confused :sob:

however, what I am most curious about is all of the different aus involving the legacyverse. stuff like the silent one jesse and whatnot. just curious if you could give a biref rundown on all of the main aus that you have for them, if possible.

Hello!! Welcome to the madness~

For 100% strictly lore that adheres to the Main Story itself, the Elemental Compendium tag is your best bet! Unfortunately the 'Info Tag' has since become my tag for ALL (or most) asks as opposed to directly relevant information itself, but that's the second place I would direct you to regardless.

But! If it's all the different AU's you're after, I can totally help you there!

Cracked!Legacyverse: The very first one, which is essentially an AU with @k1ngtok's OC Jamie + things with Olivia/Harumi not being quite as extreme as they are in the main story. Has a BUNCH of sidestories by myself, King, and others I can direct you to if you're interested in a slightly fluffier take on some S2/S3 events!

Royal!Legacy AU: The 'main' au with actual story to go along with it is what it says on the tin: royalty au! There's a lot of bigger worldbuild-y aspects to it with all the supporting characters to parallel the main story, but otherwise it's just a big fancy love story between Jesse and Cole for people who (like me) want to see them with a relationship without waiting for my agonizing main story slowburn jljhgfdghf

Mer!AU: Started with me spitballing some vibes I had at the time, turned into a WIP (with art!) that I still have yet to finish, but I keep on chipping away at (I WILL finish it. One Day). It's another Aftershock story though (I have one braincell)

Shark!Nya AU: Started as one of many What If asks from long ago that branched into its own thing -> but it's an AU where Nya as the Samurai joins the Shark Army with Olivia during Book 2 instead of trying to be a third party, and the subsequent falling out that would result all the way into S3. Also doubles as an AU where Plasmashipping (Jay/Kai) ends up canon, but that's neither here or there

Quiet!Jesse: An AU where Jesse goes to help Harumi right away at the end of Book 2 instead of prioritizing Miranda, leading to the death of his sister instead and him being the one injured in the elevator + him being the one to blame Lloyd for it and concocting revenge. (He also dies at the end, rip)

Into the Ninjaverse: Kind of a 'for fun' AU where selves from the Show, the Movie, and Legacyverse (potentially with other variants as well) meet each other and interact with shenanigans. Also doubles as an AU where Stormlightshipping (Jay/Sunni) winds up canon

Volleyball!Harumi: Not actually an 'AU' as I do plan to do something with the concept, but literally everything is the same except Harumi actually joins a non-evil volleyball team lmao. This also kind of goes hand-in-hand with another concept of Harumi writing Ninja/Shark Army fanfiction lmao

DR!Jesse/Dragons Rising-related Stuff: Not actuallyyyyyyy an AU, but it's technically notttttt canon to the mainverse eitherrr, so. Basically this encompasses how certain aspects of Legacyverse would (THEORHETICALLY) work within DR, alongside a (THEORHETICAL) story following how Jesse would deal with all these newfound changes to his life, on top of raising his kid as a single parent. Be mindful if you dive into that tag tho; there do be some spoilers (but those are tagged as well)!!

Next-Gen Jamboree + Alter!Verse: Essentially an AU of the prior AU when everyone's got (at least one) kid prior to The Merge, and the angst that comes with that falling out...except for Lloyd, who only gets a kid thanks to alternate universe shenanigans that rain upon him during his five years alone Post-Merge. It's different from simply "DR!Jesse", as there Jesse's kid is the only one present for DR!events (and thus that's a more """""canon""""" take on things), so anything with the other children is just for fun/speculation and to clear out the brain rot (though I am surprised it got as much traction as it did :d)

Andddd there's probably a bunch of other little-r ones I'm forgetting, but these have been the hot topics in my recent memory hgfhgfd

[bugstinytalks]

Ninjago Ship Thoughts

First and foremost I’m gonna tell you my head-canons for the ninjas sexualities since it’s probably gonna affect my thoughts on the ships.

Cole - Gay - the entire “dad I’m a ninja” is so fucking queercoded so that’s my reasoning.

Kai - Bi - this man primarily flirts with women but he gives strong bisexual energy and I stand by that.

Zane - Pan - I don’t feel like Zane has a strong enough grasp on gender for it to affect who he dates.

Jay - Omni - I feel like he has a preference for women but I feel in my soul that he’s at least had a crush on a guy before.

Nya - Bi - I don’t know if she’s ever had a crush on a girl but a girl has definitely had a crush on her and she would not be opposed to dating a girl.

Pixal - Pan - I feel like she has a better grasp of gender than Zane but gender doesn’t affect who she likes.

All other characters are up in the air for me. I lean towards seeing lloyd as aroace but I’m not certain. Anyway I’m with my thoughts. (These are in no particular order)

(Jaya) Jay/Nya - let’s start with a canon ship! I like how this relationship is portrayed in later seasons and they have some cute moments earlier in the series, but I definitely like there relationship post Nadakhan the best (I’ve butchered the genies name I know it) Jaya is sweet and I’m happy that Nya was given strong characterizations outside of her relationship with men overall I’d say this is a solid 8/10.

(Pixane) - Zane/Pixal - I love this ship so much, she has half his fucking heart and there both so great. Zane and Pixar are both fully independent who love each other and there so cute. I think one appeal of this ship for me is that I can see the both as romantic or platonic partners because they both mean so much to the other. Anyway love this ship 9.6/10

(Kailor) - Kai/Skylor - I love Skylor she’s super cool but this pair really only interacts once and awhile to briefly flirt before they just go there separate ways. Obviously both of them are busy so it makes sense that they don’t get a lot of time together. Kai definitely had a crush on Skylor and I think Skylor reciprocated those feelings. There cut and interesting but don’t have as much development as they need for me to be compelled to be invested. Solid 6.5/10.

(Llorumi) - Lloyd/Harumi - these two have a fascinating dynamic that I think is really fun to watch but I cannot see them as romantic partners. I know some people see them as siblings and I really don’t see them that way. And again there really interesting as a duo and while I want the pair to heal and improve there relationship I don’t really want them to date. Overall 5/10 cool duo don’t see them as romantic.

(Lloykita) - Lloyd/Akita - It’s pretty cute, I love Akita so I do hope we see her again. There relationship feels like a summer relationship they have this brief sweet period of time together and they leave on good terms unsure if they’ll ever meet again or if the other will still have feelings if they do meet again. I also really like the idea of these to being together in a queer platonic way. It’s really cute and I love both of the characters individually so it’s a pretty solid ship in my opinion. 8/10 it’s sweet.

(Conia) - Cole/Vania - it feels like a lesbian and a gay man being best friends. I love these two I think there great friends and could even see them being platonic partners but like I don’t see them doing more than that. Solid 5/10 cool pair don’t see it as romantic.

(Lava) - Cole/Kai - There so cool and I think this ship is really fun. I think that these two are both really great characters who mesh well I can totally see them dating and think it’s a really cute ship. These two are bonding over there weird ass family lives and crippling self doubt! These two are a cute pair 9/10

(Bruise) - Jay/Cole - these two are so silly and honestly this is a cute ship. I think Cole was definetley involved in Jays realization that he wasn’t straight. I think this is a cute ship but not one I have super strong feelings on 7/10

(Mudshock) - Jay/Cole/Nya - the best solution for a love triangle is polyamory. That said I wasn’t a big fan of the love triangle but in Ninjago since Cole didn’t actually seem interested in Nya, and Nya only was interested in Cole cause a matchmaking system said so. These three are definitely great friends who joke about the love triangle and hang out but I don’t know that it’s my favorite ship. 6.7/10 Cute but not great.

(Polyninja) - Jay/Cole/Kai/Zane - I think this is probably one of the greatest things I have ever seen. All of these characters are so close and care for each other so much. Together they can help each other grow and thrive. It’s really an awesome ship solid 10/10

There are lots of other ships I will talk about but I’m supposed to be doing my summer class final so I’ve gotta go try to be responsible. Anyway have a good day/night I love seeing comments so say hi if you’d like to :D

[royonninjago]

A Funny Idea I had for Hands of Time

I believe that many people in the Ninjago fandom share the opinion that season 8, The Hands of Time, is one of the worst seasons of Ninjago. Weird writing choices, bad animation (even by Ninjago standards), and the confusing time travel mechanics plague the season making re-watches difficult.

I don't plan on making my own rewrite of Ninjago or anything, but I had an idea that's been rattling around in my head for a while that I will now share with y'all.

We all know that Jay is the comic relief and resident nerd of the Ninja, but most of these jokes are more current grievances addressed in an over the top and exaggerated way, which can sometimes get old.

We also know that apart from the Day of the Departed special, we are right off the heels of Skybound, the season that (arguably and within the context of the show) changed Jay the most, but since technically none of it ever happened the only one aware of it is Nya.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this is the arc that involves time travel shenanigans that many sci-fi and fantasy feel compelled to write, making it almost obligatory for the genre.

Keeping all this in consideration, I think a really fun way to demonstrate how much he has grown since Skybound while still staying true to his character would to have him take lead of the Ninja in very specific counter-time shenanigan strategies that he developed based off of all the time travel stories he's read and watched.

The idea originally came from a realization while rewatching the season while still somewhat fresh off the heels of watching the anime "JoJo's Bizzare Adventure".

I highly recommend this anime and that you go into it as blind as possible, but if you don't care about spoilers then here you go.

The abilities of the Hands of Time and the abilities of JoJo's main villains from parts 3 to 6 line up shockingly well. There requires some tweaking to the abilities to make them fit, but it still works really well.

The Pause Blade and Dio Brando's Stand "The World" have the same ability to stop time.

The Rewind Blade and Yoshikage Kira's Stand "Killer Queen: Bites the Dust" have the ability to rewind time, although Bites the Dust can't use it on Kira.

The Forward Blade and Diavolo's Stand "King Crimson" can both skip ahead in time to avoid undesirable outcomes.

The Slow-Mo Blade and Enrico Pucci's Stand "Made in Heaven" both have the ability to control the speed at which time moves, however Made in Heaven uses it to speed up time for everyone else instead of slowing everyone down, but its used for the same effect.

I like to imagine that while the Ninja are heading out to meet Master Wu at the burned monastery, Jay is just thinking to himself "Wait, this can't be King Crimson, can it?" and when they finally get there and Jay realizes that it is King Crimson he uses the same strategy they use in JoJo. Because the skip is instantaneous and imperceptible to everyone, the only way to possibly defend against it is to physically measure the time. The easiest way to do this without relying on watches or clocks that can be easily broken is to cut yourself and count the drops of blood that fall on your hand. If the number suddenly increases, that means a skip has happened and that the enemy is probably in your blind spot. Obviously this is a kids show and they can't show blood, but the point of the strategy is to count falling droplets of a liquid.

Not only would this demonstrate Jay's newfound leadership skills to the rest of the Ninja while showing off more of his nerdy side, but it could also be easily used as comedy since now he has a good reason to be watching TV shows and reading comic books when he could be doing something more productive.

"No, Lloyd, I am doing something productive! I'm watching Back to the Future because we need to understand the potential ramifications of time travel!"

If you have any similar thoughts or opinions about something like this, please feel free to share because I love reading them!

(P.S. Can you tell that Jay is my favorite Ninja?)

[whydoibe]

Ok spoilers ahead for dragons rising season 2 part 2 so be warned all you horrible people any way.

Ok so jay knows shatter spin and was the first ninja to use airjizu I know Lloyd used it when morro possed him but that doesn't count so he also learned spinjitzu first so it would be realy cool that if in the final battle jay invents a new form of spinjitzu which involves complete balance of your evil and good your dark and light yin and yang that only jay nad mabey arin could do as they've experienced evil and are now cable of harnsing that shadows for light this version would appear different depending on your internal balance if you lean near the light without room for the shadows needed for light to shine then it appears stable but is incredibly hard to use and appears to be just a slightly stronger dragons rising while in the opposite direction it turns to a very easily performed but incredibly volatile version of shatter spin with lesser effects on the soul but if you know how to do it probaly it appears to be what ever is needed a large but moderate tornado with red and gold flying around a base slightly larger spinjitzu tornado with what appears to be dragons flying around it counter clockwise jay would invent this art in a final battle against someone and after the others are constantly trying to get him to teach them but jay tells them they will have to earn it he's just being and idiot he's taught nya but she never could do it propaly till kai learns that he taught arin and nya and he's just missed but can't do anything as jays the only one who can teach it propaly.

[breathlessmorro]

Okay I am loving your takes so much while I am not a huge fan of Misako and Wu what you said made me think about a few things I'm still not a fan of them buuuut I don't think I dislike Misako as much and I also agreed with your take with the whole Nya Cole Jay thing anyways that's besides the point!!! How would Wu and the rest of the family Garmadon Misako & Lloyd react to Morro liking Kai?

Thank you for saying that, I greatly appreciate it! I get that Wusako isn't everyone's cup of tea, so no worries fam! I haven't been able to really explain my "takes" on a lot of the canon ships before, so it's nice to know my thoughts are being well received lol

NOW AS FOR THE DESTINYSHIPPING MOTHERFUCKERS -

Okay if you're a regular on my blog you probably know I have a million different ways that Destiny can become canon. Beyond that, there's a mullion different ways Morro actually joins the team in the first place. Morro takes Wu's hand. Morro comes back on the day of the Departed. Morro never actually leaves Wu's monastery (but we're ignoring that one for the sake of Destiny)

It's no secret that Kai probably hates Morro the most. He was the most relentless when it came to fighting him, trying to get Lloyd back, et cetera. Even during the Day of the Departed, he's the only one other than Lloyd who actually addresses him, ready to fight. So naturally, when setting up Destiny as a couple, you need to get over that barrier.

Morro joining the team under any circumstances is weird. One, he and Lloyd obviously aren't going to get along. Two, he might not even want to be a ninja. Three, he may not even fit into the group at all. Because of the way the characters are written, I think that if Wu gave Morro the chance of redemption, and Morro actually took it, the team would accept it and him. They stood down when Wu told them to, so it's not unrealistic that they'd trust him - after some protesting - that Morro wouldn't hurt them.

Except for Kai. Kai didn't trust Garmadon in season one, and that was Lloyd's father. Why would he ever trust Morro? Eventually everyone moves past not trusting Morro, if only because they're so annoyed by him and Kai fighting all the time. Even Lloyd I think would want Kai to give Morro a chance. It wouldn't be until either they're united against a common enemy, or until they're forced to see each other beyond their surface level traits, that they'd even be friends. However, I think that the second both Kai and Morro get past their animosity, they're bound to get together. Completely inseparable.

As for the reactions? WELL BABY LET ME TELL YOU -

Wu: He's extremely grateful that they've stopped fighting. Wu will never stop seeing Morro as a son either, so he's happy that he's giving himself the chance to be truly happy with someone. Of course, he gives Kai the stereotypical threat of "you hurt my son I hurt your face" but he's very supportive

Garmadon: Depending on which Garmadon we're talking about here. Evil Garmadon couldn't care less, he's not involved with their teenage shenanigans. Good Garmadon, however, would be concerned. I think he'd want to treat with Morro with respect, given that he's Wu's adopted child, but Morro still hurt his baby. He's always going to be biased against him. Not that Kai is Garmadon's favorite or anything, but he's still a little protective. Regardless, he doesn't voice his concerns to either of them, instead showing support, even if he's skeptical of their pairing.

Misako: I feel like she'd be in the same boat as Wu - relieved that they're not fighting, and that they're both happy. Misako isn't super close with either boy, so she's not as protective, but they're both part of her family, and she's always glad to see people overcoming their differences.

Lloyd: Now Lloyd is the trickiest, because he can either be their biggest cheerleader, or their biggest opposer. It depends on whether or not Lloyd's actually forgiven Morro, how he'll react. If he has, then sure enough he was right with Wu, trying to encourage Kai to stop picking fights, and was glad to find out they actually care about each other. If he hasn't forgiven Morro, however, then it's gonna be all too easy for him to get reasonably upset. Kai is supposed to be his brother - to protect him, and he goes and starts kissing the ghost that forced him to fight his friends??? Lloyd would get bitter fast in that case, and though he'd try to keep his feelings out of the fight, he'd slip up occasionally, and until he resolved things with both Kai and Morro, it would cost the team a lot. Lloyd's understanding and kindness is underestimated a lot; he tries to see the best in even the worst of people, and if you make an effort to do the right thing, he'll notice it. That being said, this is still the same kid who opened three serpentine tombs because he couldn't have some candy. Lloyd's ability to hold a grudge is strong, even turning him against his father at one point, but in the end he always comes around when he realizes the cost of his anger and acting on it isn't worth the consequences

[nimble-stuff]

Make an Example of Them | Umbra, Part I - Kai Mysterious assailants hold the ninja prisoner. Kai becomes the example.

FANDOM: Ninjago Also on AO3

@badthingshappenbingo

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What was the cliché? ‘It should’ve been a simple mission?’

Kai couldn’t count the number of times they’d gone on a ‘simple mission’ and had it turned into a complicated one. He couldn’t count the number of enemies they’d faced, the godlike beings they’d tangled with, the supernatural shenanigans that had come their way. But for the first time, he started to consider that maybe the ones who would kill him were ordinary humans.

He didn’t know if it was a cult or LARPers, though it very easily could’ve been both. LARPers so good that they easily emulated the skills of any well-trained ninja, clad in black, invisible except for when the light hit them just so. Even the smallest shadow seemed large enough to conceal them, and that had been the crux of the issue when they’d gotten caught. Kai could count the number of ways they might’ve been able to defeat them. Maybe if they’d had forewarning, and maybe if they’d been altogether at once. But instead, the LARPers had taken them down one-by-one. Lloyd first, because he was the heart of their team. Cole next, because he was the strongest. Then Nya, Zane, and Jay. Kai had been last. Fumbling in the dark.

He hadn’t even known that there was trouble until he’d gotten grabbed from behind and dragged into the shadows.

He was thinking about all the ways Master Wu was going to lecture them as he was dragged through what could only be described as a dungeon. The LARPers hadn’t even given him the choice to walk. He was dragged by his ankle, passing underneath scant lights overhead. His captors were only visible when they passed underneath them, and then they disappeared. Like light switches turning on and off.

“Y’know, I got a hot date starting pretty soon,” Kai said loudly. “You better not make me miss it.”

The LARPers didn’t answer him. They hauled him to a cell door and dragged him in.

“Kai!” Nya’s voice cried out.

Kai didn’t get a chance to answer when a shackle clamped around his ankle and all the warmth inside of him suddenly drained out like someone dumping icy water on a campfire. The chill ran all the way up his spine and settled in the base of his skull, throwing him off-centre.

“Ah, the ol’ ‘Chain the Ninja Up With Vengestone’ trick,” said Kai. “Y’know who uses that? Ninjas who didn’t get hugged enough by their mothers.”

One of the LARPers kicked him in the side. It stung, but mostly it just kicked out the strained laugh stuck in his throat.

And just like that, the LARPers were gone, and the chill in the room was more pronounced. Kai sat up, rubbing his now-bruised side. The room was something out of a medieval torture dungeon. The walls were made of chiselled black stone, and the rough, rocky flooring was uncomfortable to sit on. Cole, Lloyd, Jay, and Nya were chained up along the far wall, side-by-side. Their hands were free, but that was fundamentally useless when vengestone was involved. Kai was chained up to a wall further from them, closer to the door.

He resented the distance almost at once. Lloyd was unconscious.

His eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness, but he would recognize the smattering of blood on his face anywhere. Cole had him cradled in his lap. Jay and Nya were held back by their own chains. Instead, they wore their worry plain on their face. He hadn’t seen Nya look as tense as she did in that moment in a long time.

“What happened to Lloyd?” Kai asked.

“What do you think happened?” Jay snapped back. “I said to watch your backs, but no! No one ever listens to me.”

“I was watching my back,” said Cole. “It was my front that they attacked.”

“That’s no better!”

“Guys, will you stop already?” Nya barked. “How’s Lloyd doing?”

Cole pressed two fingers to his neck. “His pulse is steady. He’s clammy, though. It’s fucking freezing in here.”

Kai didn’t even think twice. He shucked off his gi and threw it to Cole. He was wearing only a black tank top underneath.

“What are you doing?” Cole asked.

“Relax, I’m hot-blooded,” said Kai, “and you need to keep him warm. He’s probably in shock.”

“Not with that vengestone you aren’t.”

“Uh, half of Lloyd’s brain is hanging outside his head. I think that takes precedence.”

Jay made a gagging sound. “Don’t word it like that!”

“What? I can practically see the jiggly pink parts.”

Jay gagged again.

“It’s just a fractured skull,” said Cole. “Lloyd’s gonna be fine.”

“Where’s Zane?” Kai asked.

“Not sure,” Nya said. There was a subtle wobble in her face, undetectable to the others, but deafening to Kai. “They took him somewhere else.”

‘Who’s ‘they?’”

“I don’t know, Kai! I didn’t have time to play twenty questions in between them dribbling Lloyd’s head against the ground!”

Kai’s gaze rested on Lloyd as Cole dabbed away at the blood with the gi. Well. It was up to him.

He pulled himself up and yanked on his chain. Even fully extended, it wasn’t long enough to reach Lloyd and the others on the far wall. However, it was just barely long enough to reach the door.

It was a design flaw, for sure, but one he wasn’t going to complain about. The window was small and barred, and enough for him to stick his face right up against it.

The hallway outside was almost in complete darkness, and he saw no one there.

“HEY!” Kai shouted. “HELLO? Get your asses over here! I need to talk to the guy in charge! Or girl. Or somewhere in between. Um, HELLO?!”

“That’s not gonna work, Kai,” said Nya.

Kai ignored her and rattled the bars, but the hallway was silent.

The mass in his stomach felt dense with anxiety.

-

Kai made a nuisance of himself for hours, and when he got tired of yelling and screaming for someone to come, he settled for rattling the bars and just making a general racket. Meanwhile, Lloyd bled and bled and bled and did not wake up, and there was no sign of Zane anywhere.

In between Kai going to the door and shouting for someone to come pay attention to them already, they speculated on who their captors were.

“So, ninja wearing black, who are not serpentine, ghosts, pirates, or jaywalkers,” said Kai, listing off the possibilities on his finger.

“Of course they’re not me,” said Jay. “Do I look like I can clone myself?”

“No, I mean they’re jaywalkers.”

“No, they’re NOT!”

“Haven’t you ever heard the term ‘jaywalker’ before?”

“Yeah, it’s my name!”

“A jaywalker is someone who crosses the street at any place outside of a crosswalk,” Cole said.

“I don’t do that!” Jay protested. “I follow traffic laws!”

“Jay, your stupid is showing.”

“I’ll show you stupid!”

“The point is, that we don’t have the slightest idea who these guys are,” said Nya. “Does that sum it up?”

“Pretty much,” said Cole. “Didn’t recognize the emblem on their gi, but they all have the same one, so I’m guessing they’re part of the same clan or organization or whatever.”

“I hope Master Wu finds us soon so we can ask him,” said Nya.

A metallic click of the lock caused Kai to startle back from the door.

Like ghosts, three of strange ninja entered, their footsteps completely silent. They scanned them all, one-at-a-time.

One pointed at Kai.

“HA!” Kai said, grinning at Nya. “They picked me and not you!”

“I don’t think that’s a good thing, Kai,” said Nya.

“Don’t worry, I’ll sort it out with these guys. You guys just hang out.”

“You think we have a choice?” Cole said.

“Kai, what are you doing?” Nya snapped. “This isn’t funny!”

“You’re right, it’s not. Don’t worry about it. I’ll sort it all out with the big boss.”

“KAI!”

The cell door slammed behind them, but he heard Nya calling for him all the way to the end of the hall.

Kai scanned his two assailants, and wiggled his eyebrows at the girl. He was calculating the moves he’d need to take to incapacitate both of them at the same time. “So…am I getting dinner and a show?”

“Do not resist, or your fellow ninja die,” she said.

“Wow. Dramatic.”

There was barely any time to discuss anything when he was shoved into another room, more open than the cell, and much colder.

Kai realized why it was colder. Zane was restrained on a table.

“Hey, Zane!” Kai said. “How’s it going?”

“It could be going better,” said Zane.

“Are these friends of yours?”

“…I do not know them.”

“Right, right. Any idea who they are? They’re the strong, silent type.”

“I do not.”

“Can’t you do a—”

“Kai!”

THWACK.

The blow hit Kai in the back of his neck and he went down hard.

He didn’t know how long he lay on the cold ground. He felt frozen. The hair up and down his arms stood on end, and Kai realized he was panting heavily into the earth, and it was the only noise he could hear. The pain in his neck was tremendous. He wondered if he’d broken it, so he curled his toes and fingers to make sure he could still move them.

Kai forgot everything. Why he was here. That he was the Red Ninja. There was only profound pain rippling up and down his spine.

“Kai. Do not move. You are injured.”

It was Zane’s voice. It had been a long time since Kai had sound him as afraid as he did.

There was little risk of Kai moving. He couldn’t. He could only lie there, and wonder how he’d ended up there.

He pried open an eye. There was blood dripping down his forehead and into his eye from an injury he couldn’t remember getting, and a set of feet by his head.

“Tell us the codes,” said the owner of the feet. “Or he’s the example.”

Kai looked up, his vision fuzzy. Zane was lying on a table, but he couldn’t remember how he’d come to lie there.

“…I cannot help you,” said Zane.

“You possess the means to access the Ninjago City Police database. Give us the codes.”

“Why do you wish to possess them?”

“Information. Will you comply?”

“That information is sensitive. You could potentially use it to harm others.”

“Potentially. Yet there are five other ninja aside from yourself here. Five ninja that we can set an example with.”

Kai heard the words, he was wearing them, they were going into his head, but he couldn’t understand them despite his best efforts. The best he could do was to try to tell Zane he was okay.

“Zane,” Kai droned out. Zane looked at him with a haunted stare.

“…I…cannot,” said Zane. “Torture me if you must, but leave him alone.”

“This is not a negotiation,” Kai’s attacker replied.

“Wait, no! I will tell you.”

“You had your chance. Now you learn the consequences.”

------

Down the hall, Nya leaned back against the wall, eyes closed, trying to think calm thoughts. Kai was strong. Stronger than all of them combined. He was going to be fine, and soon, Master Wu would show up and get them out of their problems.

She felt so certain that he was going to swoop in, that when Kai screamed, Nya almost screamed herself. Her hands flew over her ears, and she looked around at the others, and they all looked, horrified, back at her and at each other and at the door like Kai’s face would show up in the window to say ‘Psych! Got you all!’

Kai had never screamed like that before.

It was one, long terrible scream. And then it was quiet.

A ripping sensation tore apart Nya’s chest. She fumbled for Jay’s hand and crushed his fingers. Jay held back, large eyes terrified and shining in the darkness, and she hoped against hope that Kai had stopped screaming because he’d passed out, and not because he was no longer alive.

[icy-watch]

Lloyd is not a master, and Wu is lost in time.

I'm going to guess that the next season is going to be about Lloyd really taking on the title, and the ninja trying to find Wu. And oni are involved somehow.

Beyond that, I'm not really sure what's going to happen. I know that a majority of y'all really like these next 3 seasons, and that you've said the animation is stunning bc the budget increase from the movie. And the characters get upgraded looks, also bc of the movie.

So, I'm really looking forward to it. But first, we have Decoded and the movie. Decoded will be tomorrow. If I can, I'll try to start the movie tomorrow as well, but it will most likely be a Sunday/Monday thing. So, until tomorrow!

Below the cut are the predictions I got right and wrong

Correct

Time shenanigans and hijinks. Less that I thought there would be.

Acronix either sped up Wu's aging or severely damaged his internals. I forgot I made this guess on the first episode. I didn't know it would be a whole thing this season.

We will learn more about Kai and Nya's parents. We did! But not enough.

The numbers Zane was saying were coordinates. They were latitude and longitude points to the Time Blades' locations.

Jay will go to the scrapyard to protect his parents. There was never any doubt that he would.

The apparatus Krux was having Borg build was a time machine. A giant mech time machine.

Something will happen to the GPS Nya installed into Zane. Something did, I just can't remember what it was.

Wu is not going to do well as a prisoner. He really wasn't doing well in general, but it did get worse after he was taken as a prisoner.

Kai and Nya will meet their parents and familial conflict will ensue. It did, and then Ray almost died, and there was time travel.

Krux and Acronix will not use the fourth Time Blade to help save Wu. It wouldn't have benefited them at all to heal him, so why would they have?

Kai and Nya time traveled. And they had to pretend to be their parents for a whole 5 minutes.

They traveled to the past, and now Kai and Nya need to help out the previous Elemental Masters. Was not actually expecting this one to be correct.

Incorrect

Krux and Acronix will travel through time to collect all of the Time Blades. This would have been a fun idea.

Zane will be down and out until they can get Borg back. Nya was able to get him up and working. Albeit some... issues. And the loss of Pixal.

Kai will tell Nya about their parents in the next episode. It took him SO LONG to tell her.

The collecting of the Time Blades will parallel the collecting of the Fangblades. Not really. No.

Ronin and the other Elemental Masters will come and help the ninja collect the remaining Time Blades. They did not.

Ronin is Samurai X. He sure wasn't!

Karlof will call in reinforcements or be a member of the reinforcements. They really could have used his and the other Elemental Masters' help.

Partially

Krux and Acronix needed Borg to help create a time machine, so that they could travel through time to collect the Time Blades. The time machine part is right, but not the reason why.

Kai recognizes the symbol as his parents/fathers. I predicted way too early that he knew what it was and who it belonged to, but he did recognize it in some way.

Unconfirmed

Samurai X knows the ninja on a personal level. As their identity hasn't been confirmed in the show, I'm putting this down here.

Pixal is with Samurai X. See above.

Pixal IS Samurai X. See above.