#kalmaar is so good

[p-s-yokubo]

I laughed at this for way too long

[galaxyhanart]

if there could be like your dream scene or moment in ninjago (whether changing a pre-existing one or adding one), something that you desperately would want to happen - what would it be?

oh man that's. such a hard question because i'd do so much HGKJDFSHKJGFHDKJG

i think if i had to pick ONE specific scene, it'd be the one in seabound where jay launches himself at kalmaar for hurting nya

first things first, i know why jay wasn't able to absolutely Kick Ass in this moment - he had just recovered from dry drowning and could barely STAND just a minute ago, but he was so furious and full of adrenaline that he just acted. and immediately got his ass handed to him

makes sense. it's impressive he was even able to do THAT and hold off kalmaar as long as he did before benthomaar stepped in. BUT. YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS RIGHT WHEN JAY STANDS UP

WOJIRA'S LIGHTNING FLASHES BEHIND HIM

so what i would PERSONALLY change here is that the lightning strikes jay and gives him a boost. so he's able to use wojira's own power to fight her handler. idk i just think that'd be really fuckin cool and i wanted it to happen soooo bad so if i could personally change ONE scene in ninjago it'd be this one

[strawberrycamel]

ninjago seabound hurts. so much. what the fuck

[nyaskitten]

I honestly think Kalmaar is one of the best villains ever. SURE his motives are just "fuck humans" but he's so cool. He's like, the most expressive character in the show, and he's funny. He's an asshole, but in a COMPLETELY good way when it comes to the story. Oh, he's been forcing Benthomaar into a sort of insecurity of "I'll NEVER be good enough for my brother", even if it ISN'T true? That's AWESOME villain writing for Kalmaar imo.

[un-pearable]

hey does the dragons rising animation style let them move the hands/fingers again . bc i miss it

[llannasvsp]

"a place to stay" preview

I don't want to wait 24 hours for the poll to end so here is the preview of my current WIP "A Place to Stay". This is about a month after Seabound ends when Lloyd makes the decision to leave the monastery and his old life behind.

...

Lloyd shuddered as he walked down the mountain. A million thoughts taunted him. You have nothing. You are nothing. You did this. You let her down. She’s gone because of you. Nothing he did could shut them out. Everyone leaving made them worse. 

It wasn’t fair. Not for Nya. She had given up so much. Everything. She had given up herself for them. There had to have been another way. If only she had given him a few more moments to think. He had let her down. Now she was gone. She made the choice, but it was because he had failed as a leader. He had let Kalmaar get that far. It would have all been different if he had checked the amulet, or attacked Kalmaar at the island.

Maybe he should have gone for blood.

He reeled back at the thought. His hand gripped the side of the mountain, stabilizing himself from the horrible thought. It wasn’t the first time Lloyd had thought about taking a life, but this time he actually wished he had done it. Even after regaining his balance, he let the thought linger. Before, he would have blocked it out, reminded himself that he was good. He was always good. He had to be good.

No, he wanted Kalmaar to burn. If he wasn’t already dead he’d find him right now and beat him into nothingness. That’s what Kalmaar had done to Nya. His actions lead to her sacrifice. It wasn’t fair.

It was only a few steps more down the mountain. He could’ve taken a mech, but what was the point when all it would do is attract attention? Nya had given herself to the sea only a month ago. Possession? Fine. Let the people swarm him. Getting his heart mutilated and shattered by the one he cared so much about? He could handle that. Being relentlessly beaten and thrown through a wall by the man he once called his father? Sure. 

Losing his sister? He would break. He had broken. 

His whole life was falling apart faster than he could repair it. He looked back up the mountain; the monastery couldn’t be seen from here. So he really had left it all behind. The one constant in his life was now nothing more than an echo of the past.

Lloyd had hoped that the last step of the mountain would give him clarity. That he would know where to go once he reached the bottom. No. There was still nothing. He had nothing.

You are nothing.

The voices that taunted him weren’t wrong. Being a ninja was all he had. The only life he’d had outside of it was petty crimes. He had nothing. He was nothing. No life. No family. No friends. Not now. Not after everything.

Something about this was different. When Zane had died, why hadn’t he quit? Why hadn’t he given up? Guilt struck his body; his neck burned with shame. Had he not cared enough? No. He was distraught. He overworked himself. It was all to get that loss out of his mind. Why couldn’t he do that now? Where was the desire to keep going? He wasn’t supposed to quit. He never quit. 

Oh, but he had. 

He wasn’t going back, either.

[icy-watch]

So, Nya and Maya managed to work together to escape. But some Ripper Sharks (???) were released and are chasing them. So, not good. Not good at all. Something bad is definitely going to happen. I'm going to guess Maya will be injured.

Speaking of injured.

Jay is hurt, and he's hiding it. He's always been good at hiding his pain, but he's got me real worried that something bad is going to happen to him too. And he's going to hide it for as long as he can, which isn't going to be good.

On a brighter note: Bentho! What a bean. We knew him for 20 seconds at the most, and I love him. Honestly, when I was thinking of mermaids for this series, his look was more of what I was thinking. Not whatever... Kalmaar and Trimaar have going on.

Also, Bentho is adopted. I'm curious how that happened. Did Trimaar do something to the Shark Merlopians or...? He seems relatively just and fair, but there seems more to that story than we got.

Calling it now: Bentho is going to be the next king. I'm already placing the crown on that sweet bean's head.

Ok, tomorrow, I'll be doing 2 episodes! So, until then!

[parachutingkitten]

It lowkey infuriates me how the ninja are expected to just play by the rules of the explorers club when trying to get back the storm amulet, even though the explorers literally stole it from the keepers. It also drives me up a wall how the explorers get to do more to fight Kalmaar’s attempt at awakening Wojira than the actual civilization that dedicated themselves to this purpose since the dawn of time.

Like idk it really bugs me how Clutch doesn’t even get a slap on the wrist for stealing from these islanders, or how the show kinda jokes about the explorers being stuffy British colonizers, but then doesn’t really commit to it because of how they’re played off as a joke that can even be helpful, whom the ninja are obligated to reason and negotiate with. The ninja have no problems with stealing from other bad guys but with the explorers it’s suddenly all OH BUT THE LAW!!!

And I suspect it’s because these are white British guys so the narrative is suggesting you can criticize them, but you still have to treat them as proper ‘citizens’. It feels racist not just in how the keepers are belittled, but in how the people who steal from them are coddled and treated as a harmless joke. The writers rendered half of The Island’s plot for nothing by revealing Clutch managed to steal the amulet anyway and I cannot find him or the explorers funny because of how much they emulate real life colonizers.

I think it's a similar problem as the show has with femininity. The writers know what the correct take is, they want to have a good message, the females are characterized as strong, and the colonizers are characterized as useless idiots. But they don't actually structure the plots in ways that back up these stances. The women still take a back seat at all important moments, and the explorer's club still gets the benefit of the doubt. Just like the feminism video, I don't necessarily think it's malicious, but it's clear they don't really understand how to covey the ideas they want to in an effective way.

[penofwildfire]

How is Seabound so good. Like the blend of some of Ninjago's best humour and some of it's most gut-wrenching tragedies is immaculate. Kalmaar's sarcasm? Maya and Nya's dynamic?? Bentho carrying his dying father??? Nya's sacrifice???? How is this all the same season?? And how does it WORK so WELL????? AUGH

[saline-coelacanth]

Alright, here it is. The Kalmaar essay about why I think he's great and why I think he's better than Pythor. This post is gonna be long so I'm gonna put most of it under a cut. I wrote this all in about an hour so some things may be a bit sloppy, but I think it still gets my points across

____________________

So I’ve had Kalmaar on my mind a lot lately, and whenever I think about him, I just think about how great he is as a villain. I enjoy this squid bitch a lot and I feel like he is criminally underrated. Now to preface, I’ve only watched all of Seabound a few times, so some things may be a bit fuzzy for me. And I was also not active in the fandom when Seabound first came out, so I don’t really know what the general consensus was on his character initially, but nowadays, it feels like he doesn’t really get talked about all too much. And I find that to be a real shame because I enjoy him immensely. So I think it’s about time I actually give an in depth explanation for why I find Kalmaar so enjoyable and also so I can explain the bold claim of mine that he is a better villain than Pythor, at least when comparing Kalmaar to season 1 Pythor.

To start off with the easy stuff, I just think Kalmaar is fun to watch. He has a very good balance between funny and intimidating that can be really hard to pull off with your villains. I don’t know if I would go as far as to say that Kalmaar is the funniest Ninjago villain, but he is definitely pretty high on my list. And a lot of this comes from his voice delivery. Giles Panton does an amazing job voicing Kalmaar and is able to pull off the intimidating and funny moments incredibly well. In fact, I’d say the voice acting for Kalmaar is one of the main reasons why Kalmaar is as enjoyable as he is, at least for me. But he also just plays off of other characters really well. A notable scene is when he captures Nya and Maya and tries to get information out of them. Obviously a lot of the humor here comes from Nya messing with him, but Kalmaar’s growing frustration is still really funny to watch.

Ok, now that I’ve given the small basis, let’s get into comparing him to Pythor. Now pretty much everyone has compared these two and said that they are the same character. They both had this plan to reawaken an ancient, giant snake to wreak havoc on the surface world and ended up getting defeated when they were eaten by said giant snake. They’re also both purple and british. So yeah, very understandable to compare the two of them. Luckily for me, this just makes things easier to compare and contrast my points. Now to start off, I will talk about one thing that Pythor does have over Kalmaar which is motivation. Pythor was mainly motivated by revenge as the humans locked the Serpentine in tombs, and yeah that’s understandable to get upset about. Meanwhile Kalmaar doesn’t have much motivation at all. I have my own personal headcanons for why Kalmaar is the way that he is, but in canon, we don’t get an explanation. Trimaar was very chill and had no dislike of the surface dwellers, meanwhile Kalmaar just always seemed to hate them for… no given reason. He’s just like that. And I know some people don’t like that, but I don’t really have a problem with it. Not every villain needs a reason to be evil. Sometimes they are just evil people and that’s ok. That might sound a bit hypocritical coming from someone who shits on the Overlord for being generic evil guy, but that’s mainly because the Overlord has a lot of other problems that I don’t wanna get into right now because this post isn’t about him. It’s about Kalmaar.

So Kalmaar doesn’t have a real motivation or reason as to why he’s evil. Some people don’t like that, but I have little issue with it because in my opinion Kalmaar makes up for it with basically everything else about him. To get back to the Pythor comparisons, I feel like the evil actions Kalmaar takes are so much more impactful than what Pythor does. Again, comparing Kalmaar to Pythor from season 1 since that’s the season where Pythor’s plan is most similar to Kalmaar’s. Pythor manages to rally all the different Serpentine tribes together through deceit by using the flute to defeat the other generals. (And also Skales helping him out). So Pythor gets the rest of the Serpentine to follow his rule, which is impressive. I feel the need to remind everyone that I ADORE Pythor and this post is not meant to hate on him at all. But when you compare Pythor’s rise to power to Kalmaar’s, it is very obvious to me which one comes out on top. Kalmaar gives what I think is one of the most badass lines from a villain in this show during an interaction with his father:

Trimaar: “I will not accept this brazen defiance! You have no power here, Kalmaar. I am your father and your king!”

Kalmaar: “I can’t do anything about the first thing, but as to the second…”

And then Kalmaar proceeds to shoot his own father, ultimately killing him. Not just that, but he also shoots the two guards who try to apprehend him afterwards, presumably killing them as well. After this, Kalmaar throws his trident to the ground and calls for help, blaming the ninja for attacking the king. In an instant, Kalmaar has turned an entire kingdom against the ninja while also making himself the new king. I don’t understand how people can look at this scene and then say that Kalmaar sucks as a villain. And to be fair, it is hard to tell if the people who do actually hate Kalmaar think he’s a genuinely bad villain or if they hate him because he’s a terrible person and they don’t actually think he’s a bad villain, they just hate him as a person. But that still doesn’t change the fact that nobody seems to talk about him, so yeah I feel like this scene is incredibly underrated.

And yeah, Pythor cannibalized the other anacondrai. That’s pretty messed up. But we don’t see that happening, it happens off screen. (Not that they would show that on screen, this is a kids show after all and I don’t think they wanna show on screen cannibalism) But I don’t think it’s ever confirmed whether or not Pythor ate all of the anacondrai, or if they all started eating each other and Pythor was the last one remaining. I always assumed they ate each other but I’ve seen some people argue that it was just Pythor. But with Kalmaar, we see him kill his father on screen. We get on screen patricide AND regicide, all in one combo! We also get an extremely emotional scene between Trimaar and Benthomaar afterwards. You can tell just how heartbroken Trimaar feels after realizing that his son is an irredeemable monster who wants to cause absolute calamity for the world. We never really get a scene like this regarding Pythor. The closest we get is the other Serpentine realizing that releasing the Great Devourer would mean they all get eaten as well, but that’s mainly played up for laughs, at least with the initial scene. We also get comments from Skales saying that he told the others not to listen to Pythor, but they didn’t want to listen. We never actually see Skales doubting Pythor’s plan to reawaken the Great Devourer, he just makes a comment about in season 2, and in season 1 he says, quote: “How was I supposed to know he was mad?” after being questioned on why they listened to Pythor in the first place.

Going back to Kalmaar for a bit, his relationship towards Benthomaar is another thing that makes him such a despicable villain in the best way possible. He is terrible to Benthomaar, that much I don’t need to explain, everyone knows that. Bentho’s character arc from wanting nothing but the love of his adopted brother, and then learning that Kalmaar killed their father, learning just how terrible of a person Kalmaar truly is, and deciding to side against him is such a great arc. Benthomaar is probably one of the best written side characters in Ninjago because of it, and I don’t think a lot of people are gonna argue with me on that. We love Bentho in this house. I feel like it’s fair to say that Kalmaar is more of Benthomaar’s villain than he is Nya’s, or at the very least Kalmaar is both a Nya and Benthomaar villain. But yeah, I feel like the fact that it’s Benthomaar who ultimately defeats Kalmaar really shows how important their relationship was to the plot of Seabound. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that Bentho is the only side character who defeats the main villain of the season without much help from the ninja.

Speaking of that final battle, let’s talk more about Kalmaar and Pythor’s plans. As mentioned before, they have pretty much the same exact plan just with different coats of paint. But the way they go about said plan is the main glaring point as to why I think Kalmaar is better than Pythor. See, when Pythor succeeded in reawakening the Great Devourer, he immediately got eaten by it. And yes, it was because Wu literally held him captive so he couldn’t escape, but that doesn’t change the fact that his plan backfired greatly. Meanwhile you have Kalmaar, who actually made sure that he would be able to control the giant snake before he started sicking it on the city. And yes, he did end up getting defeated the same way Pythor did, by getting eaten by the giant snake they tried to control, but Pythor’s downfall was immediate. Kalmaar had control over Wojira for quite a while until Benthomaar destroyed his trident and Wojira regained control. So even if you enjoy Pythor more than Kalmaar, you cannot argue with me that Pythor in season 1 was smarter than Kalmaar in Seabound. Maybe you could make the argument for Pythor in season 3, but right now we’re only focusing on season 1. Season 1 Pythor’s plan was just much more flawed than Kalmaar’s plan in Seabound.

So yeah, those were a lot of the main reasons why I think Kalmaar is an amazing villain and why I think he’s better than Pythor. When I first watched Seabound, I had said that Kalmaar was my new favorite villain, dethroning Pythor who had been my favorite for a long time. But part of me thought that I was probably just overhyping him in my head because it was a new season for me so it was exciting. It happens all the time where you experience something new and then immediately claim that it’s your new favorite thing only for time to pass and you realize it’s not as great as you initially thought. But given the amount of time passing, I don’t think my opinions have changed all too much. Maybe I still like Pythor more because I’m just very attached to Pythor, but then again Pythor had A LOT more screen time in the show compared to Kalmaar. Maybe if Kalmaar appeared in more than one season he’d surpass Pythor with a lot more ease, but for now I’d say they’re extremely close and my favorite changes between the two depending on how I’m feeling. Point is, I still see Kalmaar as one of my favorite Ninjago villains of all time. I guess it makes sense that the only one to give Pythor competition would be Pythor again except now he’s a squid.

To end things, I just wanna reiterate that these are my opinions. You can dislike Kalmaar for whatever reason you have, I’m not gonna force people to enjoy him. I just think that he’s a severely underrated villain in the fandom and I wish more people appreciated him. Seabound is one of the best seasons of Ninjago and people praise it all the time for its writing, for the arc that Nya goes through, and for pretty much everything. But the one amazing part of this season that I feel like doesn’t get talked about enough is Kalmaar. I don’t tend to write these long essay-type posts, and if anyone has reached this part I appreciate you greatly for listening to me ramble about this squid bitch. Even if I am the only one on this hill, I will continue to gas up Kalmaar as the fantastic villain he is to me. And maybe I was able to convince some people that he’s a pretty good villain as well. If not, well then that’s ok, too. I’m just glad I was able to share my own opinions and ramblings about Kalmaar.

[sepublic]

When it comes to my own Ninjago fanon, I like to interpret the Overlord as like. This dark, deeply jaded god. He is sensitive to the darkness in the hearts of others, he can see into someone's innermost, worst thoughts and feelings and desires, and it sickens him because it's the majority of what he sees due to his nature, so to him he sees the 'truth' of people.

Because of his godly status, he's detached from mortals and as a result it's easier to make grand, sweeping decisions for them because of that distance. He's very lonely, and hurt; He finds it difficult and pointless to connect with mortals and their short-lived lives. He's made Kozu and Cryptor, but they're minions designed to serve him, so it's not the same, plus he admittedly does take their lives for granted as kind of lesser.

He envies the Golden Dragon for finding its champion in the First Spinjitzu Master, who sided with it instead of him; There's nobody who understands the Overlord's unique existence and dilemma. He resents the Golden Dragon getting to keep their hands clean, while the Overlord must commit the dirty work that must be done, and be vilified for it. He's disillusioned with free will. When the Overlord senses Garmadon's hesitation over Lloyd in S2, he feels there will be an inevitable betrayal and decides to preemptively strike first, rather than risk being the one hurt. He thought he found someone who understood, who knew what it was like to be cursed with the role of the villain, but not quite.

Pythor was more his vibe, though he seemed more inclined to just lash out and destroy, not ultimately preserve. But so was the Overlord, who refused to accept the injustices of this world and their possibility, under no conditions, until what he has achieved has basically been a violent tantrum over the unfairness of it all. He has a paradoxical disdain, concern, and pity for mortals.

He comes to Harumi because he resonates with her, sees himself in her, as someone also failed by Garmadon, who wasn't who he thought he was. Someone deeply disappointed by the failures and broken promises of 'good' to vanquish evil, someone lonely who was cast out and dejected, and whose only true ally was a mindless minion they created.

When Harumi has reservations about the carnage, the Overlord quietly speaks to her, assuming a gentler, more personal paternal role to her than Garmadon in his half-formed state did; He genuinely wants to connect and make this work, but he's also an ancient god who doesn't quite understand mortals and can only see the big picture. He points out to Harumi that the ninja defeated him twice, and how did that turn out in the end?

More violence, more destruction, more villains threatening lives and the peace. If the ninja had just let the Overlord commence with his plans to spread his influence and control everyone with, none of this would've happened; The death would've actually been worth it. How many children like her, other Harumis, have also been orphaned because of incidents such as Aspheera or Kalmaar's invasions of Ninjago City? The ninja did their best, but people died. Children were orphaned. Can Harumi bear the thought of others like her coming into being? It must've already happened, multiple times.

But the Overlord lashes out when she finally defies him; He feels betrayed. He tells Harumi that she was nothing but a scared child cowering for cover when he found her, and that's how she'll die. He spitefully reminds Harumi that as he said; There must be other children, orphaned because of the ninjas' failure. He can always find another champion in them instead. The Overlord laments that everyone always leaves him, and he is truly alone. His love is a violent, painful one that feels too much and doesn't know how to control itself, he is all emotion, dark and messy.

[jaymalewife]

I can't stop thinking about how fun of a villian Kalmaar is. Like I'll just get flashes of him while I'm doing dishes or scrolling on my phone and every time I smile. He's such a silly little indignant douche!!! I'm so glad the shows gone with making Merlopia a generally neutral if good civilization, and its JUST THIS ONE GUY whos the problem. It just feels so fitting and light and enjoyable. The villain is a rich theater kid with daddy issues and a god complex and he's going to awaken the devil because of it. Like CMON thats GOLD!!!!

[cboffshore]

❤️💡💭

hey there!

Fave ship: You can't see it from wherever you are, but I am shoving the urge to shout DESTINY'S BOUNTY back into the box labeled LOOPHOLE ANSWERS that I keep under my bed for special occasions like this one. I guess romantic pairing wise I would maybe say, eh, Pixane? They're cute together. I like Jaya well enough too, but tbh, there aren't any pairings that make me flip out.

how I first got into Ninjago: answered this one in an earlier ask, but TLDR: got shown a random s1 preview clip and then the pilots by a sibling and the rest is history.

a headcanon I have: ooh, I already dropped the post-Skybound Jay guitar DIY one and that's my favorite, but I've got others! I like to believe that, post-Seabound, Kalmaar's become some kind of inside joke at scientific institutions and colleges. Students and scientists invoke his name for good luck, but only for their wildest experiments and thesis defenses - especially when defending topics or ideas that shouldn't work or are maybe a little questionable. Someone got blurry CCTV footage of Kalmaar during the final battle and used that to make a 3D model, then funded their college costs by selling miniature figures of him for thesis defenders to set on their podiums. (This is a little bit of projecting on my part - my capstone project for my degree was on a VERY obscure novel and ultimately should not have worked at all, but it did, so while I was giving my final presentation, I had my Kalmaar minifigure on my desk with me, just off camera. If he can raise a primordial sea goddess, I can defend this PowerPoint, dammit!)

Thanks for the ask!

[nyaskitten]

I think Kalmaar vs. Benthomaar is genuinely one of the greatest fights of Ninjago, alongside Lloyd's first fight with Reborn Garmadon, Wu vs. the Overlord, and Cole vs. Vangelis... even if it's not a long fight and only comes about in the finale... it's SO good I actually ADORE it it's like... ghghgh my Roman Empire <333

[jinxed-ninjago]

Analyzing Subtle Characterizations In Ninjago Because It Be Like That

Alright I mentioned yesterday when I elaborated on my Plundar kleptomania thing that something Ninjago does really well is subtle characterization.

What do I mean by this? A lot of Ninjago characters' character traits are incredibly subtle, but still say a lot about the character; for example, Plundar's morals align more on the good side of the spectrum than the neutral part of the spectrum, where most pop culture rogues fit. It's not obvious unless you dive into what his dialogue and background animations imply though (for example, him stealing Cole's throwing star as a result of habit implies he has impulse control issues, which then lends some credence to Plundar being a kleptomaniac and being unable to control that specific impulse).

Plundar is definitely not the only example of this, however. So let's dive into the subtle parts of some Ninjago characters' characterizations.

Kai

Bet you didn't expect me to include Kai in this. The subtleties in Kai’s character generally center around his consistent internal struggle of selfishness vs. selflessness. I have analyzed this previously, but what I mean by this is Kai will always, on instinct, choose self preservation, which leads to him seeming selfish. He has always had to actively choose to be selfless. This doesn't just add to his character in terms of "he's selfish and has to make an active choice to be selfless" but also tells us a bit about his trauma from Ray and Maya's kidnapping. It makes complete sense that he'd instinctively choose self preservation; what would happen to Nya if he somehow disappeared?

Any time Kai has had to make a choice between a selfish decision and a selfless decision, lives have been on the line. This is seen both times he reaches his true potential (saving Lloyd and saving Cole, Nya, Krag, Jay, and himself) and in Sons of Garmadon, where the ninja are faced with a trolley problem: do they risk giving up their powers to save Lloyd, or do they keep their powers so they have a chance against Garmadon, when not having a chance against Garmadon could lead to more people dying than just Lloyd?

Kai consistently shows an internal conflict between selfishness vs. selflessness, and I don't see it discussed a whole lot, which is honestly sad to me because it adds so much to his character.

Benthomaar (and Kalmaar and Trimaar)

I have also analyzed Bentho's subtle characterizations before. I'm gonna do it again though because this is my blog and I do what i want.

Benthomaar doesn't use contractions much. Any time he does, it's when he's in a state of vulnerability. For example, when Nya asks him about Trimaar when he first meets the ninja, he says "He is ... he's ..." and doesn't use a contraction until he's more vulnerable. This is shown more than just this one time, but I can't really think of any off the top of my head so.

The implication this has, at least to me, is that Bentho was raised to not show vulnerability and also views using contractions as improper. We can even go as far as to apply this to Trimaar and Kalmaar too; Trimaar also doesn't use contractions much, while Kalmaar does. It creates this contrast between them, where the implication is that Kalmaar rejects traditional royal standards, so to speak. We already know Kalmaar doesn't really respect Trimaar, so creating this disconnect where Trimaar and Benthomaar, who are shown to be more proper and polite, use contractions while Kalmaar doesn't is super clever. I'm not even sure if it was intentional or not, but it adds so much to the dynamic between Kalmaar, Trimaar, and Benthomaar.

Fungus

Yes, Fungus gets a spot in my "subtle characterization" list.

Fungus seems to get irritated/annoyed easily, and I feel like a fair chunk of it is he's sick of Plundar's attitude because once they're back on the surface of the mountain and Plundar's attitude isn't as "man this is bullshit" Fungus is also less irritable (although he is still a little irritable). He is very clearly annoyed with Plundar multiple times and also gets annoyed with Korgran more than once.

Basically I genuinely feel like Fungus is the mom friend and it is entirely due to the implication that he gets annoyed fairly easily and how he responds to being annoyed.

Plundar

I'M GOING FARTHER INTO THE SUBTLETIES IN PLUNDAR'S CHARACTERIZATION AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME.

Plundar saying him stealing Cole's throwing star was a result of "force of habit" also gives us insight to his past. He basically said "yeah, I've made a habit of stealing things so much it's an uncontrollable impulse" which means he has stolen enough that it's an uncontrollable impulse. It's implied he had kleptomania before even taking the quest from Vangelis, meaning he was likely a thief before then.

Do with that analysis what you will lmao.

[realityandrebirth]

Summary: Morro and Nya speak to the king of Merlopia. A follow-up to Day Twenty-Two.

Warnings: None.

Prompts: Royalty/Destiny

Morrotober: Day Twenty-Six

Morro bowed his head to the King of Merlopia, unable to keep himself from smiling. Would it be seen as suspicious? He had to be careful. He couldn't ruin his chances now, not when he had gotten this far.

"So you two hold the elements of Water and Wind," said King Trimaar.

"They claim to," his son cut in. Prince Kalmaar shot a glare at Morro and Nya before turning back to his father. "They may have minor control of Wojira's elements, but we cannot take surface-dwellers at their word."

"Why not?" Trimaar rose to his full height. "We have no reason to distrust them, and we have seen their powers for ourselves. I believe you are who you say you are–Nya, Master of Water, and Morro, Master of Wind."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Morro said.

"However, I cannot grant your request."

Morro's smile disappeared.

"May we ask why, Your Majesty?" Nya said quickly.

"It is not under my control," said the king. "Wojira's temple has been sealed for centuries, and even if it wasn't, we have no vessels that can take you there safely. Not for a surface-dweller, and certainly not for a ghost."

Nya put a hand on Morro's shoulder. "I understand," she said. "Then we only request a room in your palace while our vessel is repaired."

"Granted, Master of Water. My guards will show you where you may stay." Trimaar gestured to the pair on either side of the door. "Take them."

Morro bowed again and allowed himself to be led out of the room with Nya. Every step on the damp floor felt like acid against his feet. He regretted agreeing to Nya's terms more and more with every step. What was the point? Nya couldn't give him what he wanted–not even her title of Green Ninja.

The room was bare. "We did not have time to arrange for beds," one of the guards told them. "We are recovering your belongings from your vessel, though it will take time for them to dry. We will have them ready before nightfall."

"That's fine," Nya said. "Thank you for your help."

When the guard left them alone, Morro started pacing the room.

"You good?" Nya asked.

"I'm on the bottom of the ocean," Morro snapped. "What do you think?"

Nya rolled her eyes. "You were just saying earlier that this was the one place she couldn't follow you."

"And then our vessel was shot down." Morro shoved down the memory of the water rushing towards them. "You almost drowned, and if I hadn't been possessing you, I would have been sent right back to the master I betrayed. And for what? We can't even get to Wojira!"

"We'll figure something out."

"How do you know Wojira's stronger than the Preeminent, anyway?"

"It's the strongest creature I know of, and we'd have a shot at controlling her if we woke her up."

Nya's voice remained calm even as Morro's rage and terror grew. There was water on every side of them, half the palace was perpetually flooded, and at any moment Nya could simply decide she was done with him and banish him back to the Cursed Realm.

"Hey."

He hadn't seen Nya approach him. Morro shoved her away.

She stumbled back, but stayed on her feet. "If you're scared of the water, I'll let you possess me again," she said.

Morro took a step back. "You're lying."

"Why would I? We're working together now." Nya held out a hand. "Plus, I almost got myself killed and you banished. I figure we're even now."

"Even for what?"

"Are you serious? You tried to kill my brother!"

He had to take a moment to remember. "The Fire Ninja?"

"Ugh!" Nya dropped her hand. "Fine. Be scared and alone."

"Wait!"

A ghost couldn't blush, but Morro burned with the shame of showing weakness. He clenched his jaw and turned his face away.

Nya raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to behave?"

"Yes," he said. "Just… please."

Nya held out her hand again. Morro took it.

Inside her mind, Morro steeled his mental defenses and sat down, taking deep breaths. He had forgotten how it felt to breathe, even in a body that wasn't his own. He would show no weakness. He had been a general under the ruler of the Cursed Realm, he had been a student under the son of the First Spinjitzu Master—he would keep his emotions to himself.

I know, Nya said. I'm scared, too.

Morro refused to acknowledge her. Eventually, the guards brought the bedding from their destroyed ship, and they went to sleep.