#like I love Skybound Jay but come on

[tornoleander]

Nya has the best writing out of anyone in skybound an I will not hear otherwise

(this is just a rant but I will finish my argument with evidence soon but I was feeling like yelling at phone)

Just watched a video completely butchering her character.

I’m fuming about Nya’s treatment in general like RRRRR SHE IS LIKE THE BEST WRITTEN. Most people I see talk about her never tried to see Nya’s motivation.

And because she’s grumpy and won’t take bullshit treatment. And a large part of the audience Treat her like she’s a brat for it like…

Her ark against all odds is great. The only reason so many people don’t get that is ALL because of the awful framing and them focusing on Jay at all the wrong times I PROMISE YOU.

The audience is made to focus on Jay’s feelings in moments that should’ve been about her.

Nya always thought she would end up with Jay like she said later on. She always loved him She wasn’t trying to hurt or play with his feelings but she had bigger problems, and she simply didn’t want to be dating him. Because she hated how that would make her be perceived. Which was the issues that she overcame by the end.

She is frustrated by way she’s perceived by the city. They only see her as her gender. A self insert of sorts. (There’s a scene about it first ep subtle but boils my blood) Not a person. She HATES IT.

BRRRR

Nya has A lot more going on like it was never her Job to walk on eggshells around Jays feelings. She was having a lot harder of a time that first episode but more screen time was dedicated to Jays moping about her.

Just AAA ggghg

LIKE EVERYONE REWATCH SKYBOUND AND FOCUS ON NYA Specifically. Ignore how much the narrative drags you to look at Jay. I swear Nya’s struggle is shockingly the most well written bit

[taddymason]

ok i wasn't going to do this BUT

Some people in the fandom have the element of "independence" and Nya's phrase "I don't need anyone" SO attached to her as if any other trait contradicts her character.

Guys, Nya's vision is not OOC. That she shows concern for the whereabouts of her fiancé who she hasn't seen in years, and who could very well be dead or could have "moved on without her", is not out of character and even more so when her reaction to this is to instantly realize that it's fake, her fears always have to do with what is out of her control and this vision clearly emphasizes that.

Like, guys, do you really want "Nya is afraid of being normal / Nya is afraid of losing her powers 2.0"? Instead of showing us real vulnerability on Nya's part from irrational nightmares in which she ends up reacting with anger and denial? You want the character to remain static, and for her to have the same fears about herself as in season 11 when:

We've already seen that fear, so there's no point in presenting us with information we already know.

Nya ALREADY faced that fear. She sacrificed herself at the cost of losing her humanity, she returned and regained control of her powers. When you've been through something like this, it makes sense that your fears evolve.

I don't see anyone complaining about Lloyd's fears not being the same as those in s11 (and his fear also went from being something about himself to being afraid of disappointing someone else.) I'm sorry, but it doesn't make sense introduce a fear that won't make sense with the arc Nya will have this season with Jay's obvious amnesia. Nya showing vulnerability/concern for someone so important to her does not make her any less independent.

[enavstars]

May you bliss us with your angst ninja headcanons?

mainly kai pls

Sorry for the delay. You asked mostly for Kai's so I delivered. If anyone wants more hcs about the others I can work on it some time in the future (I also have more of Kai).

Now the hcs:

• All the ninja have PTSD from everything they’ve been through

• And abandonment issues

• Cole has an eating disorder and eats when he’s stressed, this is one of the reasons he is very insecure of his weight. People online poke at him for it

• Jay's terrified of losing his loved ones again because of him. That is another reason why he went absolutely crazy post Seabound, as he thinks it was his fault Nya had to resort to sacrificing herself

• He used to be bullied for living in a junkyard before becoming a ninja and that's why he was ashamed of it

• Zane always shoves down everything wrong that happens to him (e.g being the Ice Emperor for way too long to be ok about it) because he puts the team and their needs first.

• Nya has nightmares from the time she died in skybound but doesn't tell anyone.

• She had to keep her work and love life secret from her brother for fear that he would shut her down to protect her. Her fear persisted well into s1 and that's why she felt she had to hide Samurai X even from Kai

• Lloyd still admires his uncle despite his obsession with the green ninja (and all the neglect that came with it) because he's the only relative that actually took him in

• All of the ninja have at some point hidden an injury at least once. But Kai and Nya are the ones that do it more often (Nya specially when she was samurai X), and know how to treat mild wounds because of it.

• Kai and Nya do physical activities when they’re stressed or have emotions they don’t want to process. They can do their thing like Kai working in the forge and Nya doing mechanics but they usually train, however they can go on for hours (Kai has passed out a few times)

• Kai and Zane have a very poor sense of self. Zane’s comes from him not valuing his life and thinking he’s expendable since he can be rebuilt, ignoring all the trauma that comes from getting severely hurt or “dying”. Kai has problems seeing his worth as a human being because he’s never lived for himself; everything he does is for someone else and so he thinks his value resides in what he can do for other people. 

• Kai is terrified of the idea of being alone, it’s his worst fear.

• He has THE WORST coping mechanisms and Zane is confused on how his body was able to go through all of them (Alcoholism, illegal fights, smoking…)

• Kai is an insomniac, he barely sleeps most nights and instead just waits until he passes out (He has very deep eyebags because of it but hides them with make up, covering his freckles too). He sometimes bumps into some other ninja at night since they all have fucked up sleep schedules. 

• Lloyd also has a lot of problems sleeping because of nightmares and goes to Kai or Nya’s room where he feels safer (mostly into Kai’s). Sometimes they stay up at night chilling or they try to sleep. In those cases the nights with Lloyd are the ones where Kai sleeps the most because he feels safer too.

• Kai has chronic depression because of his fucked up childhood

• Lloyd thought he had depression too for a while but it turned out to be autistic burnout because of the stress of being the green ninja. But he can’t properly rest or heal from the burnout so he’s exhausted most of the time.

• When he’s stressed Kai forgets to eat and can go days with very little food because he’s used to it from being poor in his childhood.

• Genuinely forgot what it feels like to be a kid and have no responsibilities so it’s his personal mission to not let that happen to Lloyd. Kai would be devastated if Lloyd ended up like him.

• Kai sometimes feels insecure about his face scars and contemplates hiding them with make up.

• Kai’s touch starved but terrified of letting people in.

• He hides his negative emotions as anger and when the others try to reach out to him he pushes them away by getting angry at them until it's mutual and they leave him alone.

• Never told the others about what he did after Zane’s “death”. He fixed himself up, alone.

[spinjitsuburst]

I just saw that art u rbed to here from ur main and like while its an amazing peice of art its in own right MY EYES ZOOMED ONTO ONE ARMED LLOYD im so curious where that hc comes from if u wanna ramble abt scar and injury hcs id love to hear genuinelylike. I love scar hcs yeah

I'M SO SORRY THIS ASK TOOK SO LONG BUT OH MY GOD I LOVE TALKING ABOUT DESIGN AND SCAR HEADCANONS SO LIKE GHDFSGHKJFDG

generally i draw the ninja in a pretty vague "around or after crystalized but before DR" timeline so that's what i'm operating under with these headcanons

also i didn't draw zane here cuz android bodies confuse me and i also got. lazy hgkfdsghkjf but i'll do his someday

lloyd's 20~ and the other ninja are mid 20s~

FIRST UP MY FAVS

starting with lloyd i give him a dragon tail and oni horns, as well as pointed ears. he's got a semi-grunge/goth style so i usually draw him with piercings and stuff. he lost his arm during the events of hunted to me but i dont really have a set event in mind for it. his back was SUPER damaged during the sons of garmadon fight and sometimes has to wear a back brace, and his ankle flares up from time to time

jay kept a lot of his scars hidden for a while because they came from skybound (some of his worst injuries lingered from the timeline). not sure whether he's come clean to the ninja yet or not. the marks on his wrist and ankle are from vengestone cuffs on the ship (blame hat because they gave jay vengestone cuffs in bbnb and it broke my brain so my jay has them now). the wound on his side is from skybound as well. ironically his face scar is NOT from skybound, but he was blind in that eye after skybound and hid it from the team. the current scar is from a fight where an enemy sliced a knife up the side of his face, and his lightning reacted badly and struck him while also striking the enemy. he almost died it was NOT a fun day for anybody. also he's a trans man so top scars!!

nya's scars are fun, she obviously has the tiger widow venom scar from skybound (kai finds out about that one after it gets infected cuz she wasn't taking proper care of it after the timeline reset, and he was NOT happy about it) but she also has lichtenberg scars on her hand from a time jay was holding it and accidentally shocked her badly with his powers. he starts wearing gloves after this incident. she also, of course, still has the markings from her time merged with the sea. they glow blue when she uses her powers, and her eyes are more glowy now as well (she kinda looks like a cryptid)

kai's deceptively scrawny. he has basic muscles but he's super skinny, so a lot of people think he isn't as strong as the rest of the ninja. however he's CRAZY strong and has a solid core. He also has a bunch of scars all over his hands from his time as a blacksmith. They're mostly little burns and nicks, but there's one that stretches across his hand from when he accidentally grabbed a hot blade. he also has a lot of body hair

cole is chubby but INSANELY strong, even without super strength. he has a bunch of scars, especially on his arms, from being tanky and blocking blows with his body. most of his scars are ninja related, but he does have one on his leg from a dance accident. nothing major, but the scar stuck around. he also has his ghost scar that goes over his eye somewhat, causing his pupil to be an unnatural green

also a height chart for comparison! one day i'll do zane too but i got lazy. hard to figure out scars for a nindroid, but i imagine that under his plating, the side of his face will ALWAYS have glowing gold scars from the overlord, no matter how many times he makes a new body or tries to fix them

[sharksandjays]

Yall I just had a thought.

Maybe im stupid for this but I was thinking way too hard last night and had an idea.

What if Nadakhan wanted to break Jay to break his element?

Bear with me. Yes Nadakhan wanted to deal with Jay personally because he was stubborn and didnt make his final wish, and yes he also picked on him because hes the “other guy” with Nya.

But what if Nadakhan also wanted to defeat the sky.

We all know that Nadakhans old realm was made in the sky, thats why hes making Djinnjago in its image. But I wonder…he might consider Jay as the “guardian” of that realm. Of the sky. He captured Jay and tortured (and probably SAed or smth) him in his own element. He wanted to break the master of lightning, of the sky, for a reason.

He felt like he needed to do that before he could gain full posession of the realm. He wanted to defeat the guardian of the element he needed to conquer.

Thats why I love fanfictions where Jays element stands against him. Im currently reading Bending But Never Breaking by writing_hat (Edit: Major TW warnings for SA and other very severe triggers. Sorry for not clarifying that) and seeing Jay’s lightning literally ravage his body to attack the handprints and wounds Nadakhan left behind, seeing a storm come in and threaten Nadakhans ship, seeing lightning strike and burn down an island.

That is a war. That is Skybound. That is the attempted defeat of an elemental master in his own realm, and the realm itself protecting him like a mother. (wink wonk)

Consider.

[moonlightblueandicegrey]

My thoughts about b!Jay and Jay in general

I know that all the bizarro ninja are dangerous villains. But what about B!Jay specifically?

Let me explain why i think that he could be the most dangerous one:

Humans:

In my au and in my opinion, Jay himself is a little bit misunderstood and kinda underestimated by the people in Ninjago.

From my experience, i noticed that humans have this weird habit to be impressed by muscles and physical strength although it is known that someone can be dangerous and "strong" without the physical strength.

In my Ninjago headcanons:

My headcanons for Jay is that he looks "weaker" than he is. Jay is a skinny boy, without many visible muscles, and he is the cutest and shortest out of his team. Sadly, people see that as a weakness although none of those things means that Jay is weak. Jay is not weak. Okay, we must admit that Jay's "greatest ability" isn't physical strength, (as it is for Cole for example), but Jay has some other abilities that might become even more dangerous than physical strength under certain circumstances. An example is speed. My headcanon is that Jay is the fastest out of the ninja. But even now, speed isn't the main reason why i think of Jay (and in the next step: B!Jay) as the most dangerous.

Their way of thinking:

In my opinion, Jay's mind is what makes him as dangerous as i think he is. Because the other three ninja act like this:

Kai: He is strong and brave. But he is so brave and prideful that he becomes reckless. Yes, he'll go straight into battle and he'd rather die fighting than surrender. He'll fight to his last breath to protect the people he loves but this can be a mistake sometimes. Kai protects by becoming a "sword". He protects by attacking his enemy. Face to face battle even if you know you'll lose isn't the best choice. Sometimes you'll have to surrender in a battle if you want to win a war. (Yes, Gryffindor vibes if you are also a harry potter fan).

Cole: He isn't as reckless as Kai but his physical strength is messing with his mind sometimes. It gives him the feeling of winning but sometimes it's incorrect. Cole will surrender though but only if it's absolutely needed and if there is no other choice. He will fight to protect his loved ones but he will protect by becoming a "shield". He won't attack. He'll just fight back/dodge.

Zane: He has the potential to follow Jay's steps. But there's one problem. Zane is fair and honest. Although he won't start a battle that he can't win, his fairness and honesty will keep him a few steps back. Zane fights in the right place and in the right moment, when he is ready to do it and goes for a straight win (except if he has no choice but to fight earlier). He is not reckless and he plans his moves before going to battle. The problem is his ethic. He wants to win fair and with honesty, following the rules of a "τίμια μάχη" ("fair/honest/honourable battle").

Jay's way of thinking:

And here comes Jay: He is brave but he isn't reckless. He seems scared all the time but he isn't a coward. He'll fight when the time comes, but he just wants to save his skin. Jay will fight to protect if it's needed but he'll mostly fight for revenge (after the bad thing is done. Examples: Skybound, Prime Empire and Seabound). He doesn't give a fuck about such things like "fair battles" and "honour", "honesty" blah, blah. He just does whatever it takes to win or take what he wants no matter if his sneaky ways are unethical. Jay isn't the one who will throw himself into battle. He isn't the predictable one that you'll see coming to attack you from miles away. He is the type of guy that you won't even notice how he stabbed your back. And that my friend is much more dangerous than physical strength.

How's b!Jay related to that?

The question is, why does Jay use this thing only in specific occasions (like in skybound)? Because Jay is a hero. Jay has a good heart. He avoids using his unethical, sneaky ways to win and he just follows the rest of the team and the plans that the others make. Our kid tries hard, give him some credit for it.

Does b!Jay have this kind of problem though? No. Of course not. He'll just do it. Because he can. Because he doesn't care about being good. So imagine how powerful he could be if he only had a second chance in Ninjago... He could be a nightmare.

And i haven't seen dragon rising yet but i wish they could use Jay's potential now that he is villain. He could be great!

What do you think?

[coffeeisfortheresponsible]

as much as i think the common headcanons for the ninja’s mental illnesses/complexes are very accurate to the show and justified bc these guys Have Issues,, they are so complex and there is honestly potential for so much more than ohh jay is scared and anxious he is The Anxiety One.

like yes for sure he does but where’s jay’s ptsd from skybound. where’s lloyd with bpd and that’s why he got so attached to harumi. where’s nya with derealization after seabound. where’s kai with general anxiety that everyone he loves will get hurt. cole with depersonalization from being a ghost, not feeling like he ever fully came back. zane’s guilt about making his friends witness his death, and for his time as the ice emperor.

i’m sure some of these are more commonly recognized than others,, but come on let them experience all their emotions and act irrationally and not just in the ways we tend to box them into.

[mx-julien]

ninjas' relationship with a home

Zane is used to moving on from places, as an amnesiac orphan he was used to getting up and carrying on, then his only temporary home, the Monastery, burns down (ref: s1 ep2 Home) and the others blame him for it. granted, he seems unaffected from these accusations and proceeds to find the Destiny's Bounty that day so all is forgiven

I wonder if some of this longing for a home was intensified after he regains his memories in Tik Tok (s1 ep7). because then he would be able to remember a time of prolonged safety and living with people you love

Kai and Nya lived at the blacksmith shop presumably since their parents got kidnapped by Krux and Acronix. Nya even had enough time to create a whole secret room of armor

the first years must've been especially hard given all the reminders of their parents being around. did they leave their bedroom untouched, save for the occasional cleaning?

did Kai have to pull up a stool to the stove to cook until he hit his growth spurt? are most of Nya's memories in that house of Kai making her lunches and tucking her in at night and sending her off to school?

who takes care of the shop while they're gone? and when they come back do they notice everything looks a little smaller- each corner thick with dust and the fingerprints of afternoons when they were 12 and only had each other?

Jay lived with Ed and Edna in the scrapyard since he was little and he can visit back there whenever he likes, but now he has another family to think about: the one he never had, the one that gave him away

however after Skybound he knows he has other parents as well. does he ever sit in the kitchen he grew up in and wonder if his biomom had any recipes she wanted to pass down? if she ever saw families or little kids and thought of him? if they have the same smile or same freckles or same laugh?

sure he can learn about Cliff all he wants and he loves his Mom and Dad dearly, but was there more? could he have learned to master lightning with his Mom? where was she when he was growing up? was she unable to see him or unwilling? is she even alive?

Cole's house is likely the same as when he was little, so he too can go visit, but I wonder if he went off to "boarding school" because after his Mom died he couldn't stand to be at home

what was a place to laugh and paint became gray when Lilly got ill. it turned into a place of hushed voices and packed bags for the hospital. after she died it was the home of yelling, of arguments, of tradition vs. passion. smiles became forced and doors only slammed shut.

with more time having passed, I wonder if Cole is glad that so many things of his are mostly untouched since his Mom died. he can find her neat handwriting on some notes in his desk, in books on the shelves, and point out decor she bought

Lloyd only had a complete home for a small part of his childhood before Misako left him at Darkley's. then, he must've lived somewhere close to the school. when he was doing Pythor's bidding, he seemed to be mostly homeless

after growing up deserted at a boarding school (that he clearly didn't like) and manipulated into long treks and homelessness to do the bidding of a snake, perhaps his misbehavior at the beginning of his stay on the Bounty was because he couldn't imagine it lasting. him? a place where he felt at home? better the devil you know than the devil you don't- just toss me back out on the streets I don't CARE!

when do you think he realized that the others weren't going to leave him like his Mom did or take advantage of him like Pythor? how many months in did it take him to realize that his uncle Wu wasn't the only one who wanted him there?

any particular ninja y'all want me to focus on drop in the tags or replies- I'm real interested about this now

[amour393]

@kraniumverse HAS COME UP WITH A CONCEPT AND I AM SCREAMING

consider: cole being a ghost is able to see jay and nya’s skybound scars when no one else can

haunted

***

Three weeks after Jay and Nya start dating again, Cole notices something...strange.

Well, another strange thing, he supposes. Jay and Nya have been acting off for weeks- calling out of training early, sneaking up to the roof at unholy hours to whisper, sharing looks no one else understands that seem to mean more than words ever could.

Everyone has noticed their behavior, but has had little success in understanding it. Zane had done his scans and both seemed to be in perfect health, no different from before, but no matter how much Kai asked Nya or Cole asked Jay, the two vehemently claimed that nothing was wrong.

The first time Cole notices something off, it’s a training-free day. Jay comes out of his room in a long sleeve shirt (which in itself was out of the ordinary- Jay grew up in the desert; Cole’s pretty sure he hadn’t owned a long sleeve shirt before Wu had recruited him) and jeans instead of his gi, and Cole has to do a double take as his heart stutters and he takes in a sharp gasp of breath.

The faint green imprint of a large hand wraps around Jay's throat, bright enough that Cole can easily tell what it was, yet dim enough he can't tell if it’s actually there or not. Cole freezes, his spoon halfway to his mouth as he stares. Kai raises an eyebrow at his look, and makes some remark that Cole doesn’t hear.

Then Jay looks over, panic running across his face, and he promptly leaves the kitchen two seconds later, claiming he had promised to help Nya with something.

During sparring the next day, Jay swears that he’s fine and had just suddenly remembered his commitment as he feigns left and jabs right, not meeting Cole's eyes. Nya confirms the story later, swiping a nonexistent lock of hair behind her left ear.

Cole knows they’re lying.

He’s pretty sure they know he knows.

***

Four days later, the team has finally trained enough to earn themselves a day trip, so they all pack up and head out to the west coast.

Jay wears long sleeves again, swearing he just doesn’t want to get sunburned. He runs his hands up and down his arms, shivering despite the warm sun.

Nya wraps her arms around his waist, muttering something in his ear. His shoulders ease, tension dissolving as a small smile grows on his face.

“Hey Lloyd,” he says, starting to grin. “Race you to the water!” He sprints away.

“Hey!” Lloyd calls, scrambling up and dashing to the tide. “No fair! You had a head start!”

Nya grins too. “Wait for me!”

She tears off the hoodie she wears over her swimsuit, throwing it at her brother as she runs to the water to join the others.

Cole stumbles back, trying to blink the image of ugly green acid marring her collarbone away from his swimming vision.

“Are you alright, Cole?” Zane asks, peering up at him, concerned.

Cole doesn’t have the heart to reply.

***

Cole knows Jay. He knows Nya. He knows them almost as well as he knows himself. He knows their favorite foods, the name of their childhood best friend, their love languages and their favorite candies.

He knows how they lie.

Sure, he wasn’t always totally sure when they were lying, but there was always a subtle sign from either of them that they were. He was almost always right.

But Cole has never been more sure they were lying than in this moment.

If Cole had a dime for every time he's barged into Jay's room, he'd have enough money to last a whole month's worth of city repairs. In all that time, in all the years, Cole had never once seen anything he shouldn't have.

Until today.

It's not like he's never seen Jay shirtless before.

It is, however, the first time he's seen it since Jay started acting strange, and now Cole things he knows why.

Ghostly green marks litter his best friend's back, his shoulders, his arms. Slash marks that look like they were from a katana slide from the top of his left shoulder blade to his right hip, though other lines and marks glow softly across his skin. A vivid green line rips across his side, torn like a knife was taken to his ribs and missed. Faint patches of skin glow a dim green, reminiscent of the marks on his neck, sickly bruises haunting his arms and back. Curved gashes press into his left shoulder, almost in the shape of a hook, and the same mark wraps around his head. Vibrant ghost green loops around his wrists, almost as bright as the neon coil around his right ankle.

The teacup Cole holds shatters as it slips from his grip.

Jay whips around with all the speed of the lightning ninja, freezing when he sees Cole.

For a moment, they stand there, horrified ghostly eyes meeting startled bright blue.

Cole can pinpoint the moment panic seizes Jay.

He pulls the rest of his shirt on remarkably quick, forcing a miserably fake laugh. His gaze darts to the shattered teacup, then back up to Cole.

"First Master, Cole, you scared the living daylights outta me." He forces another laugh, carefully walking over the teacup and hurrying past Cole and out of his room. “I-I was just on my way out, Nya asked me to help her figure out this glitch in the Roto Jet, so we should-”

He pauses when he sees that Cole hasn’t moved an inch.

In fact, Cole’s feet may as well be glued to the floor, for all he would even be able to move. No, he can’t- not with that image seared in his head, the cuts and the bruises and the wounds and the scars and the-

“Cole?”

Jay lays a hand on his shoulder, forcing Cole out of his frozen state.

Cole flinches, spinning around to face his best friend.

Jay’s eyes shine with concern, gazing up at him. He retracts his hand, hovering next to him. 

“Cole, are you okay?”

It takes Cole three tries to form coherent words.

“I...I’m...” He stares at Jay, ghostly handprint still rippling across his neck. 

Jay blinks patiently.

“Jay, what happened to you?”

Jay inhales sharply, rubbing his hands around his wrists nervously.

“I-”

“Don’t.”

Jay swallows. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t say that you’re fine.”

“But-”

“Jay.”

“I’m-”

“Jay.”

Jay shuts his mouth firmly, eyeing the floor.

“Don’t think you can lie to me. I know you too well.”

Jay’s gaze shoots up at him, eyes wide. He inhales again, biting his lip. Then e glances around, and shuffles back into his room, and closing the door behind him.

Cole’s heart starts to beat faster, the gravity of the situation weighing in his gut. “Jay?”

Jay slides down against the wall, pulling his knees up to his chest. “It’s-” His voice shakes. He bites his quivering lip, furrowing his brows. “It-” he tries again, shuddering to a stop all the same.

Cole slides down next to him.

“Jay,” he says gently, “you don’t have to tell me.”

Taking a measured breath, Jay speaks again. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you,” he voices slowly. “I just- I-” 

Tears shine in the young ninja’s eyes, and Cole’s heart breaks in two.

“You just?”

Jay rubs his wrists. Rubs the green rings on his wrists. “I...I don’t know if you’ll believe me. It sounds so ridiculous, and I-”

“Jay,” Cole interrupts softly. “You know you can tell me anything, right? You’re my best friend, I’ll always believe you. If you want to tell me, you can tell me.”

Jay sniffles. “You mean it?”

“Every word.”

“It might...it might take a while. It’s kind of...” He blows out a long breath. “It’s kind of hard to talk about.”

Cole keeps his gaze locked on Jay, who glances up from the floor with shining eyes.

“It’s okay,” he says gently. “I’m here to stay.”

Jay bites his lip again, and then he tells.

Cole listens.

[ghostlysundae]

How Seabound both succeeds but ultimately fails at conveying its themes of sacrifice:

Getting this out of the way first, I love seabound, I firmly believe its one of the better written and most beautifully animated seasons. However there are flaws in its writing that tend to bug me upon each viewing, and that's its handling of Nya's character arc regarding sacrifice. There are definitely things that Seabound does right but there's also a lot it does wrong; most of the flaws coming from one character in particular: Maya

Maya, as charming as her character can come off, represents a fundamental misunderstanding of Nya's character. If any character is gonna understand sacrifice and what it means its gonna be her. It's frustrating watching Maya assume Nya's never had to make a big sacrifice and be portrayed as right about it when she simply just isn't. Over the course of the show Nya has always been greatly aware of sacrifice and what it means. She watched Zane die to defeat the overlord Rebooted, gave up samurai x in Possession, and in Skybound she gave up her safety so Jay could do what he needed to do to save everyone which ended up leading to her death. A death in which she was willing to allow if it meant Nadakhan would be stopped. Nya understands what happens when there's no good choices, and there's not really any strong evidence to suggest she wouldn't. This shows how little the writers actually pay attention to her, and its honestly pretty disappointing given this was her first and only focus season.

Now of course this isn't to say that the the seasons themes don't work, they do their job and tell a good story, there are just places where the story could definitely improve. Like, the narrative somehow acknowledging everything Nya's sacrificed rather than acting like Maya's right in assuming she's never had to in the first place. Also, I personally would have liked it more if they had put more focus on her relationships outside Jay and her biological family; something the show rarely gives us. I honestly have more to say when it comes to Maya, as well as Ray, but all that deserves its own post and has more to do with season 7 and ninjago's tendency to overuse storylines so I'm going to just end this here.

[writing-hat]

man I'm rewatching skybound (help) to focus on the misfortune crew so here's a kinda long ramble about Flintlocke and Nadakhan friendship below

the way Flintlocke's voice shakes when he says to Nadakhan he's doing a mutiny. when he says "stay right there"

I know it's most likely from fear, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was out of a broken heart too like- it's his captain. one he has most likely spent years at sea with. the one he'd trust with his life, and must've done so. most likely his best friend. AUGH

And how Nadakhan reacts to it, too! he gets angry, he doesn't believe what he's hearing! how dare they not trust him? (gee I wonder why)How is Flintlocke daring him to change things around?

Can you imagine watching someone you care about diving into some kind of infinite madness, and you not able to do shit about it? And it's not like Flintlocke could help much. Since yknow Nadakhan just lost all his people in a single moment after spending 300 years inside a teapot, and after losing the one he loves, too. And he sees something is wrong the moment he sees Nya. He knows Nadakhan too well, and I take it he's used to the captain sharing plans with them if he's already hella suspicious when Nadakhan doesn't tell him what he has in mind when coming back from Djinjago

And he's not the only one; like the whole 'close' crew (as I like to call them) notices how their captain is kinda getting distant? and losing it

But like what are you supposed to do about that? especially since they're pirates, and the captain has to be kind of scary if he still wants to handle psychopaths under an iron grip of some sort

And they were ready to trust him. To the end, I guess.

fuck! Nadakhan just ruined all that was left to him during skybound, didn't he? what a fucking idiot.

And Jay was this close to do the same with his own friends huh (NOT TO THAT EXTENT GUYS COME ON-)

I just love to think of parallels between Jay and Nadakhan. Cole and Flintlocke. The obvious (? I'm not really sure about this one) but awfully made Delara Nya one (not saying I made a good one in my fic either but eh)

But they're pirates. They're not good people, and Nadakhan is a fucking bitch. You have on one side how Arrakore dealt with the loss, and on the other, Nadakhan's, who was probably so used to being a prince and stuff he just- ugh.

But that doesn't mean they don't have emotions, which I'm trying to write about

also I'm noting Clancee probably noted Nya resembling Delara when he gave Nadakhan the newspaper. But he didn't say anything. Hm. I'm keeping that in mind.

anyway. back to writing I goooo

[ll-0-yd]

What is the deal with Kai's everything being so overlooked?

DRAGONS RISING SEASON TWO SPOILERS

I was scrolling through AO3 for Dragons Rising Part 2 angst related to you know- KAI BEING SACRIFICED, and all of the fics were about Jay losing his memory?

It got me thinking about how Kai's relationship with Nya has always been pushed aside in favour of her and Jay's, like seriously that's his sister for crying out loud, move over Jay you're just the boyfriend.

In skybound when Nya died, who was holding her? In seabound who got to speak to her and try to convince her to stay? In crystalized whose grief was more focused on?

Jay.

Why is it all about Jay? Kai raised her, and he became a ninja to save and protect her, he's literally related to her!

I MEAN SURELY HE CARES CUS THATS HIS GODDAMM SISTER RIGHT?!?!

He cared when Zane died (s3), Lloyd got possessed (s5) and kidnapped (pretty much every season), and when Cole fell (s10) so it's not like they are trying to write his character as the no emotions-suffer-in-silence kind of guy right?

It's not just with his relationship with Nya, anytime something bad happens to Kai he's either directly told to get over it or, forced to focus on something else, then the issue seems to be forgotten?

Not just by the fandom but by the writers too! And until recently people still believed he was just a selfish character that only thinks about himself, when that really was never the case!!

When Zane died Kai said this to Lloyd: " And where's the Master of Ice, huh? He's gone, but I'm still here. Who cares about honour? It should've been me. I should've been the one—"

He is literally talking about taking Zane's place in being the one who died, not because he's selfish but because he thinks Zane was a more useful member of the team!? He felt like he could and should have done more to make sure Zane didn't do what he did, to protect him, and instead of being comforted in this state of mind, he got told: "You always thought you should've been the one. First, it was being the Green Ninja, now this. When are you gonna start thinking of someone other than yourself?"

THAT IS NOT A SELFISH STATEMENT. Not cool Lloyd, I love u but not cool. >:(

I could give more examples but I have a Lloyd plush to save!

(my father said if I don't get an A on my next school assignment he'll feed the new Lloyd plush he got me to the dog...)

ANYWHIZZLE THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK

[royonninjago]

I don't like how Skybound ended.

I like Skybound, but there are many things wrong with. The thing that I dislike most about Skybound, the thing that has been grinding my gears ever since I watched it in 360p on a sketchy website a few weeks before it officially aired on Cartoon Network, is it's ending.

I don't necessarily mind the 'everything was erased' angle, mostly because all the characters who underwent any meaningful arc (a.k.a Jay and Nya) still remembers everything that happened. It sucks what happened to Clancee and the other partially redeemed sky pirates, but lets face it, we were never going to see them ever again anyways.

What I have always disliked about it is the wish itself. Not only does it take away Nya's agency, which is something she has been struggling for a while at this point, but it also feels like a cop out because its two things. Jay wishes that Nya took his hand AND that no one ever found that teapot. That's not a wish any self respecting Genie or Djinn should ever take.

If I had my way, I believe a much better final wish that 'comes from the heart' would be something along the line of:

"I wish I could go back to before this all happened, so I could make up for all the stupid mistakes I made."

This wish does so many things that Skybound wanted to but never actually did:

Gives Nya at least some agency, like she's been wanting forever

Gives Jay an actual opportunity to fix his mistakes

Makes Nadakhan not an actual idiot for granting a stupid wish like that

I would also cut some filler from the final episode so that after this wish is made we have time to see the Ninja rushing to find the Teapot before Clouse (something they should have been doing from the start) and so we can see Jay apologize to Nya for how much of a dick he's been.

Maybe these ideas have been stated before, and if anyone has any other relevant information I would love to see it, but this blog is mostly for getting thoughts out of my head so I'm not too worried about that.

[somelegobird]

I'm bored so uh here are all of the headcanons I have written on my Ramble Doc. It's not all of my headcanons, but it's just stuff I thought of through my rewatches

Cinder

Aroace cis

Horrible ornithophobia

Cole

Cis gay man

Afraid of heights and the dark after his fall in March of the Oni

Very mildly red-green colourblind

Still flinches when water gets flicked in his direction. Didn’t have the best hygiene for his first month or so after becoming human again since it took him a while to lose the “I’ll die if I touch water!” mentality. His main way of washing himself consisted of dry shampoo and hand sanitizer, maybe baby wipes if he was brave enough for their slight wetness.

Harumi

Non-binary, aroace

Jay 

Cis guy seasons 1-7, questioning season 8, demiboy genderfluid seasons 9+. Bisexual, was in denial about his sexuality until he got comfortable with his gender.

EXTREMELY sensitive to caffeine, like, you’ll get zapped bad if you touch her once she’s had a latte or something

After Skybound, he gets antsy around pirate themed stuff (not the kids kind, but more serious things) and gets stressed and paranoid for a bit when someone says “I wish”. Avoids saying it at all costs .

Chooses to continue calling himself “Jay Walker” because he has no emotional attachment to either the name Gordon or his biological father (having never met him) and he loves his adoptive parents. However, he does sometimes say his name is Jay Gordon when he wants to brag about being the son of Cliff Gordon.

After finding out she was adopted, she struggles to watch the Starfarer movies with the same enthusiasm. Whenever she sees the actor Cliff Gordon, she feels an odd wave of emptiness because that is the man that gave her away, that is the man that wanted nothing to do with her.

Claustrophobic since almost drowning in Seabound because he was trapped in his car. Also thalassaphobia both because of that moment and the fact that the sea “took” his yang

Accidentally bit their lip hard when they got turned into a snake in s1, that’s why they ran into the bathroom. Has a small scar from it that Nya loves touching gently, reminding herself of how strange Jay was back then (but also how innocent both of them were)

Kai

Cis man, pansexual

His fears of water cleared up a bit after Nya turned out to be master of water, but they never really went away and still finds himself getting nervous when Nya uses her powers on larger bodies of water

Dad sneezes all the way. Sometimes he sneezes fire, sometimes Jay gets scorch marks. Those two are unrelated statements.

Lloyd

Transmasc, heavily questioning his sexuality but leaning to aroace

Listens to Will Wood, I have no reason for this other than that I can perfectly imagine him screaming the lyrics to “Hand Me My Shovel I’m Going In” or “2econd 2ight 2eer”

Is like a Disney Princess when it comes to animals. Animals don’t feel that initial fear or uncertainty towards him unless he gives them a reason to, which he doesn’t to the best of his abilities. He always leaves the window in his room wide open and has various feeders both inside his room and outside. He had the window sill on the outside of the window extended to make room for feeders and a variety of enrichment items. Unfortunately, because the Monastery is so high up, he only really gets birds and the occasional goat (Once a deer came up to his window and he will bring this up every single time the topic of animals is touched, he is proud). If he and the others are going to be on the Bounty for a while, he designates an open area on the boat for bird feeders that he sets out when the boat is still.

Because he keeps his window open, his room is the coldest of all. To combat this, he has the softest and fluffiest blankets. He really doesn’t like these blankets leaving his room, so it’s not rare to see some of the other ninja curled up in his room under the blankets because they got cold during the night.

The name Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon isn’t firstname middlename lastname, it’s firstname lastname and Lloyd Montgomery-Garmadon. Garmadon doesn’t have a last name, so to give their kid a last name that comes from both the parents, Misako took her own last name (Montgomery) and slapped Garmadon on the end of it to create the surname Montgomery-Garmadon for her kid. I could've probably said this in less words.

Nya

Cis, but contemplating demigirl since season 4 HER AND JAY ARE T4T I DON’T CARE (transfem hehe). bisexual

Like Jay, she gets nervous when someone says “I wish” but is much less affected than him. She’s okay with saying it herself but puts a conscious effort into not saying it around Jay.

Pixal

Fem-presenting agender, demiromantic ace

Often gets nightmares where she is trapped and unable to do or say anything, they stem from being stuck in Zane’s head for so long

While she was in Zane’s head, she would suffer many existential crises and question if she was even real. She still gets them sometimes while in her own body, but they are much more infrequent.

Rapton

Cis guy, Gay. He’s the mandatory “cool old gay guy” you find in bars (I have never been in a bar in my life)

Has a Ninjago equivalent of a Tumblr blog themed around unicorns, uses :3 in his messages and has a unicorn sona that he draws interacting with his unicorn figurines

Vania

Lesbian 

Zane

Masc-presenting agender, heteroromantic asexual

Heavily struggles with Misophonia, often turns off his ears when he gets overwhelmed. The other ninja have learned rudimentary sign language to communicate with him when they realise he’s blocked out the noise. Totally not projecting here

Often falls into fits of panic and paranoia, not trusting his own mind or memories. He had his memories wiped or mind broken into so many times, he ends up sending himself into a spiral of uncertainty and delusion when he thinks about it too much. During these fits, he believes a variety of things, but mostly it’s a mixture of “I’ve forgotten something important and I have no clue what” and “Someone has hacked my mind and is slowly altering my thoughts and memories”. He also sometimes gets the very strong illusion that there is another Ninja that he forgot about that is currently off on a solo mission. He starts to panic because how could he forget an entire person, and the others have to try and calm him down and reassure him that there is no one he’s forgotten. All of these stem from forgetting his father pre-s1 and forgetting everything for 60 years in s11. The hacking one also stems from when Ronin hacked into his head and shut him down.

Misc/non-character

Ninjago City has English but is called Ninjargon, because of Karlof’s and Korgran’s accents I imagine Metalonia has Russian but it’s called Metalonian or something, and Shintaro has German but it’s called Shintar/Shinatrian. I have no basis for the last one other than I like (and am learning) the German Language and I like Shintaro.

I also like to imagine there’s a place (they aren’t really countries,,, cities?) called Stoneland which is just Ninjago Poland. Really high quality minerals and stone-carved statues originate from here.

Alongside the sayings already used in the show, ones I like to imagine also being used include “By the Master” and “In the name of the First” because “the First Spinjitzu Master” is too lengthy and “FSM” still has three entire syllables. “The First” and “the Master” are used interchangeably. This is kind of already canon with Pixal saying “Thank the Master”, but I just wanted to further expand on it a tiny bit.

When an Elemental Master touches Vengestone, there is an initial wave of a feeling of impending doom and (physical) cold that runs through their body. The feeling dissipates with time but doesn’t truly disappear until they lose contact with the Vengestone. The specifics of the feeling change depending on the Element. My ideas so far, MO fire has the cold feeling amplified, MO lightning feels an odd stillness within them, MO earth has a feeling of shrinking, MO water gets a dry throat and feels like their organs are shrivelling slightly, MO life/energy starts to believe they or others around them are dead (gets amplified with time), and MO ice instead starts to feel uncomfortably warm.

The piece of Vengestone touching the Elemental Master has to weigh at least 500 grams, if the 500g is split between multiple pieces it will not work (I’m saying this because I laughed at the idea of someone losing their powers because they had a tiny bit of Vengestone stuck in their shoe from a mission).

[taddymason]

What do you think about S6 Jay? I've always felt conflicted about his character due to this season, (but that comes from the fact that Skybound is a total mess). I didn't like how he used his wishes to impress Nya so she would date him. It annoyed me that he kept making decisions that wronged his friends because he couldn't let go of the idea she didn't want a relationship with him. I'm conscious this is the consequence of the messy love triangle from season 3, but it would've been nice to see Jay growing up from his relationship with Nya. (And if the writers were so desperate to make Jay and Nya endgame, at least they could've shown us Jay apologizing for everything he did during the season (lying to his friends, not accepting her refusal). They could've shown us Nya bring up the love triangle, and why she went for Cole when she was with Jay. You know, resolve the problems in their relationship and the things each of them did).

But no, they show us Jay making his final wish: "I wish you had taken my hand, and no one ever found that teapot in the first place". That decision feels like he hasn't progressed about his relationship with Nya from the start of the season. At the beginning of Skybound, she clarifies she doesn't want to be with him, so why would Jay wish she had taken his hand? Like, she's dying, and he's still thinking about that moment. What the hell? There were so many ways that scene could've gone, instead of Jay making her do something against her will. (Kind of? I think that depends on the interpretation of each person).

On the other hand, I didn't like how Nya's feelings were handled. One of the main problems her character had to face in season 6 was feeling she wasn't able to choose her destiny. She found out she was destined to be with Jay, and Nadakhan was forcing her to be with him. She literally said she felt that her whole life had been defined by other people, rather than by herself. However, at the end of the season, Jay wishes she had done what she didn't want to do at first.

I don't know, Skybound feels like an amount of missed opportunities for Nya's and Jay's character development.

Oh, skybound. skybound.

This season is a disaster for me and probably the season I feel the most conflicted about.

Overall I think most of the characters this season are pretty ooc. From Cole making sexist jokes for no reason, to Lloyd remaining strangely quiet throughout the EP5 conflict, to Jay throwing his own friends' security out the window to be with Nya. NOT EVEN S3 JAY (which was also a low point) WAS LIKE THIS. Even with all of his insecurities or rivalry with him, as soon as the situation demanded it or Cole was in danger (S3EP9) Jay could focus on what was at stake.

Instead, for some reason during the middle of the season Jay is EXTREMELY desperate to be with Nya to the point that he doesn't even care about his own team.

Look, I don't even mind that they make a season where Jay is an asshole and has to confront the consequences of his actions to learn to be more mature and aware of what he does (most of my fics are like that anyway). Do they want to do a season where Jay lies until his mistakes blow up in his face and where his selfishness is finally tested? I'm on board. If there is something that makes him such an interesting character, it's his flaws. Jay is selfish, he lies very often, he is opportunistic, and that makes his arcs so different from everyone else's.

Now, I hate that this is all solely because of his obsession with Nya. I've said it before but the worst thing about Jaya is when she becomes Jay's only motivation and interest to do everything he does. The season punishes Jay for resorting to wishes, not for continuing to believe that he has the right to be with Nya as if it were a necessity for him. The moral of the season shouldn't be "if you wish something enough, you'll find a way to make it happen" but; you don't need to be with someone else to be happy. Jay doesn't have to depend on Nya for his own happiness, and the season surprisingly never says otherwise.

From start to the ending, Nya remains Jay's final motivation. Literally her final wish is him imposing her will on her again (I know the wish supposedly didn't affect Nya but I think it's a mistake to make a character's wishes remain static from the beginning to the end of history).

so basically the season is a bunch of wasted potential that could have been a really good season to develop both characters. There are good things in S6, I'm not going to deny it. Jay from EP6 onwards has some pretty good moments, like him learning to be a leader, showing that he is a capable and intelligent member who ends up motivating others (Jay inspiring people is a rant for another day). And it's probably the most seriously the show takes his character.

I think the season would be better if it ended up addressing other things as well. There are many hints of Jay feeling worthless, Jay being insecure because he is poor/weak, believing he needs to be with Nya to be happy. And the season doesn't do much with this anyway. So, wouldn't it be better if the season wasn't Jay and Nya getting back together, but rather Jay realizing his own worth as a person? What if Jay resorts to wishes because he doesn't feel valuable as a member of the team? because he starts to believe that Nya is a better blue ninja than him? Or because his powers begin to fail and weaken as he is not maintaining his true potential by allowing himself to be consumed by his own insecurities? There are MANY ways to resolve this conflict without having Nya come back to him as some kind of prize.

...This is spoilers for my Skybound rewrite btw

but yeah, I agree with everything you say, Jay and Nya deserved better this season and I think what affected it the most was making the ending have to be these two getting back together with just ONE episode of them speaking sincerely

Sorry for the long post, Ty for the ask! ^^

[dontlookforme00]

Ok ok hear me out, but like, look me in the eye and tell me that Skybound doesn't read like a fanfic. A jaya focused one.

A very well made fanfic, but ok hang on let me list some reasons

Most of the ninja are immediately thrown away, cinematically (define immediately but ykwim) so Jay is the only focus

Jay's flaws are addressed! By a kids show! He's not funny guy ™, somebody he hates comes up to him and says I know you cover your pain with humour it's so obvious. And I mean, tell me that isn't something a fanfic writer would write, developing the characters where the creators wouldn't

Cliff Gordon is his dad.

A bunch of old characters appear, ronin, skylor, soto, and echo but I mean that's the only time he appears. Cameos

Jay and Nya develop their (actual?) love during that season

Jay and Nya have a bunch of moments tgt, it's half the season ffs

Idk man Nadakhhan kinda has the backstory of a fanseason villain, yk?

AFTERWARDS. ITS ALL ERASED, IT DIDNT HAPPEN.

This makes no sense but thanks for coming to my TED Talk