#ninjago rants

[little-hermit-crab56]

Not really DR s2p2 spoilers but I mention it

Can we talk about Lloyd a Sora's dynamic?? Like they're actually so adorable, I've been calling Sora 'the next Lloyd' because she's lowkey green ninja successor material.

She's so receptive to his teachings, like she really takes everything he says and integrates it into her mindset.

They also have so many 'student becomes the master' moments, like the way she was pep talking him about his fight with Zeatrix. She really threw his words back at him and bro had nothing left to argue with.

Honestly, the more Sora grows as a character the more she reminds me of Lloyd in earlier seasons. She's great at pep talks, great at turning fights in her favor, great at basically everything Lloyd was back then.

I absolutely loved the look on his face when Sora was giving him that pep talk, like he's given so many pep talks in the past he doesn't know how to react when it was happening to him.

Also the way their relationship has grown! I got the impression Sora wasn't too keen on Lloyd when he started training them because she saw him as kinda an authority figure and we all know her issues with authority. Then she realised he was a fucking loser, who honestly doesn't have that many years on them, and isn't really a threat to her autonomy, and their relationship has just gotten better from there. She really trust's his teachings and it's so sweet.

Also I love how despite the obvious power dynamic of student and teacher, they are so equal. Like Sora doesn't hold him in the same high regard the ninja did with Wu, and Lloyd doesn't demand blind respect just because he's older and more experienced.

Lloyd may not have been the best teacher for Arin, but he really is the perfect teacher for Sora, especially with her past with authority. He never forces her to do anything, or puts pressure on her the way her parents did, or uses his status and age to demand respect. He's really just a guy with enough experience to become a teacher, and I love him for that.

[toffeacademia]

ninjago season 8 rant

something something season 8 revolving around three masks being the sole object of interest in the season something something themes of deception and intrigue and whether people can be trusted; the idea of people having “masks” of their own (i.e ulterior motives) *cough* Harumi *cough* something something the season ending in an ultimate betrayal between two people and also the season ending with the acceptance of someone’s true colors (Harumi and Garmadon’s lack of love for Lloyd). Genuinely tho, I love that we were given a battle where Lloyd is stubborn in his belief that he can change his father again without accepting the fact that the evil him is quite inherently, and almost absolutely evil. His evilness isn’t another mask or defense that Lloyd can break down to resolve the conflict and bring peace. (I’m reaching here ik but I needed to write this down as I’m rewatching this masterpiece of a season).

(From here on it’s more ranting, so if you wanna keep reading be my guest)

speaking of Harumi, after watching s8 for the first time, see that first interaction between her and the ninja is kinda hilarious because she literally states her analysis of each of their characters and she even lingers on Lloyd (which was both hinting the romance and also their parallels as a hero and a villain). plus, I think it shows Harumi’s skill at reading emotions: she definitely would have noticed Nya’s skepticism of her and her family, so she appealed to Nya through flattery. I think Nya was still skeptical but it was that little bit of flattery and respect from someone else, especially without immediately assuming and stating her place in the team is being “the girl”. No, Harumi understands that Nya hates being undermined like that so she appeals to her pride and sense of self. i think she was also able to use that skill to get close to Lloyd. That initial sharing of their backstories (LITERALLY WHEN THEY FIRST MET) and then, responding to his advances. Then, as the season goes on, she’s able to use her knowledge of him to get closer and closer and brings his walls down, making him vulnerable to her manipulation. call me sadistic, but I kind of appreciate the idea of reopening old wounds in s8. obviously, referring to Lloyd having to once again confront a corrupted “evilised” version of his father. When I first watched the season, the return of garmadon kind of implied, to me, that Lloyd hadn’t gotten over his dad’s sacrifice, but then I remembered s5 and decided against it.

season 8 was just a lot of guilt thrown into Lloyd and it really tested one of his greatest traits, perseverance. It’s clear from literally season 1. Lloyd is so determined to that he’s like his father and have his vengeance on the ninja that he releases ancient snakes and opens ancient tombs to have his vengeance. But then it’s bites him back in the ass when Python betrays him.

When he meets someone who’s his like first crush and relationship who suffered because of his previous choices and actions, he must have been heartbroken. Granted, he was literally just a kid. And then add even more salt to the wound when the girl he liked wants to resurrect the apparently evil side of his dad? Cruel. But still, Lloyd perseveres and he still ignores the fact that the odds are against him and tries to connect with his dad like last time. But he’s proven wrong and literally loses his powers in the same battle. He’s literally on his last straw of hope until he sees his friends get fucking crushed by his dad’s stone giant and that leaves him broken. Then the whole of season 9 is him finding that unwavering perseverance once again. Yeah he’s definitely one of my favorite characters.

plus Harumi’s betrayal and again, Garmadon’s evilness is a test of his ability to always see the good in others. It really shows how much it is a flaw as much as it is a strength and it definitely changes him. Cuz I mean, shit like that will change you. I love the writers for giving us that. in a darker sense, it’s almost similar to idea of a child losing their innocence.

yeah so this is basically a s8 (and oni trilogy ig) appreciation post

[dress-and-impress]

Rant about Cole on Ninjago's journey of becoming a leader because you all need to UNDERSTAND...

Cole has never had anyone to rely on. He's always the one to protect. The strong one. Always the one to put his foot down first. No need to ask for help and no need to get any help. He was a born leader and you can especially see that throughout the show. Even during the whole "Master Wu going missing" ordeal. He was the one challenging himself to be better by giving up eating cake (allegedly) to teach himself self-control and focus on finding Wu. And yet once Wu was found he was still there looking after him because Wu took care of him when no one else could.

He made sure that all of his friends were happy and taken care of and that's all he needed to care about. Cole was never interested in being in a relationship or doing insane teenage things. He simply felt satisfied because he had friends to be with and people who cared about him and his wellbeing. Plus, someone to talk to about his family dramas (mother being deceased and father spending all of his time and energy into his musical group).

Just to add onto this. Now, in Dragons Rising, you can see Cole opening up more and letting loose. He seemed more "uptight" or "cautious" about things they were doing (Cole is an honest goofball but in all honesty, he would never do something incredibly out of whack insane especially if it were dangerous). Cole created a mini group of friends/companions in the Land of Lost Things (this episode also has a nomination for a Leo Award fun fact side note that is irrelevant) and this showcases the leadership skills that he has. Furthermore, you can also see Cole RELYING on someone to help him continue to be a leader and give some kind of empowerment and reassurance (that someone being Geo). The main idea of this being that Cole struggled his entire teenage life to trust, but then he met the ninja and through that you can see him still pushing himself to be the best (maybe a bit too hard on himself at times as seen in The Ice Chapter) but that's what makes him such an interesting character. But then after the whole merge situation, it allowed him to freely be himself and create new relationships.

Thanks for reading my rant here is a black and orange heart that represents Cole's colours🖤🧡

[legodragon]

if i draw lloyd w thinner eyebrows its because i believe in the inherent swag of his pre movie and season 8 design.

also bc he does brow makeup. the thin brows r his natural eyebrows.

[yunmaobao]

NINJAGO DRAGONS RISING SEASON 2 SPOILERS

dramatic recreation of the worst/best scene this season. no im not okay.

[llannasvsp]

"llOYd chAnGEd sO mUch afTEr tHe ReDEsiGn."

WHAT IS THIS??!???!?

[ninjautizm]

I know everyone is obsessing over kai and Lloyd with their brother bond but what about Lloyd and Nya.. although they don't interact as much, I feel like they'd be best friends too 🥹💚

Especially when Nya was becoming a ninja and she was dealing with misogyny, when darreth was all like "but, Nya is a girl.." and Lloyd went "Nya is a NINJA" my green boy is a feminist

I want that "boy best friend and girl best friend" duo from Lloyd and Nya 🥹💚💙

[melanytm]

pov u ask ur nerd bf to help u study :))

[theplatypusblue]

I think abt these guys sometimes 😗 ....

(i dont have a post-merge design for harumi yet lol)

[jojilovesninjas]

How I feel when I do my daily scroll through the ninjago Subreddit and see mother fuckers are still complaining about the redesigns. ITS BEEN 7 YEARS LET IT THE FUCK GO GUYS!!!

[boyfailjay]

Jay seriously has the worst case of flanderization in ninjago next to zane, i hate how he had so many character traits but then got dumped down to a manchild, jay was an inventor ffs, he is the reason why the bounty flies, he has the higest iq in the team (excluding zane for very obvious reasons), and i genuinely think its bcz fanon jay was this soft uwu boy (due to the movie, and no hate to tlnm i just think the way it influenced the show and had a huge impact on it was not effecient in any way??) but whats even worse is people actually think jay is the dumbest and is stupid which i mean maybe emotionally?? he is not that logical and makes irrational decisions and gets himself in stupid situations but he is very much booksmart, i really hope the whole evil wolf warrior thing saves his character cuz i love jay so much please bring my wife back..

[fancypersonaskeletonturtle]

Mad respect for season 1 Jay who swung upside down on a wrecking ball and saved his parents, for the deeply mistrusting season 4 jay who snapped at master of invisibility for trying to sit with them and who suggested they split up their team to not be ganged up on by the other masters (a strategist and deeply mistrusting person :D) For season 5 jay whos first order as leader was to steal the scroll of airjjtsu and for season 6 Jay who dared tease Nadakahn for his accent while being held hostage on his ship, knowing that his friends have just been captured by this all powerful being and finally for the petty bastard Jay in season 7 who insisted on throwing around Krux’ s pottery because he kidnapped his parents??? 🥂

[toffeacademia]

Just a little rant on Llorumi

I feel like the controversy and arguments on llorumi have died down now (or maybe i'm just a social recluse who knows) but anyways, though people say that the ship is problematic and toxic and abusive etc., i truly think that the two of them as characters have incredible compelling parallels.

As Harumi said, they are truly "kindred spirits" because both are essentially two sides of the same coin. Let me explain:

Both have experienced a loss of parent(s) - Harumi her parents and Lloyd his father (who's been a more active parental figure in his life compared to Misako let's be real).

Both know how it feels to be abandoned, though this one is complicated one - from what I gather, Harumi feels as she was abandoned by her heroes, because they failed to save her parents (I'll go through this in further detail below) while Lloyd was left in a boarding school by his mother.

Both have been thrust into high standard titles and thus, hold lots of responsibilty on their shoulders. - Lloyd being the Green Ninja and Harumi becoming Princess of Ninjago.

However, the one thing that sets them apart is the way that they percieve these life experiences.

For example, Lloyd grieved that he had to banish his own father and he felt his father's absence for a few seasons but he moved on in a way, yet he still loved his father, up until, well, you know. Harumi on the other hand, while she did grieve, she was overcome with the rage of "betrayal" and she held onto this rage, leading her to desire revenge. Lloyd could've taken the same route as well, he could've exact revenge on Chen, since it was Chen's war that lead to Garmadon deciding to sacrifice himself.

Crystalized and March of Oni does a great job of conveying Lloyd's anger, because while both of them hold onto their anger for a while, Lloyd doesn't lash out and ressurect one of Ninjago's most well known villains in an attempt to "save" the city. While obviously everyone has different opinions on Lloyd's arc in Crystalized, it makes sense that Lloyd's anger is what they decide to put focus on. Dude's literally having to work with his technically-evil dad, and has to fight his ex-gf again and kind of relive certain bits of trauma. On top of that, he has to tap into a darker side of his heritage, while trying to prevent himself from becoming his father (his overall fear). I'll rant about Crystalized in another post.

Anyways, returning back to topic, the dynamic and parallels between the two of them is what makes their scene in Game of Masks (Harumi's reveal episode) so compelling and thrilling, not just because Lloyd is going through the worst kind of heartbreak (my poor boi :(( ) but also because on a deeper level, these two are the literal representation of like calls to like.

Yes I made a Shadow and Bone reference in a Ninjago post - fight me.

Another example is the fact that both found a home of some sorts, yet while Lloyd found a family that built and raised him to be a hero, Harumi was taken into a family that has strict and heavy traditions, and its obvious from the way that Harumi doesn't consider the Emperor and Empress her parents that she hates them, so she is raised under a negative perspective and thus, turns to her revenge plans as a sort of method to treat her grief and pain.

However, it isnt healthy for either of them in their current stages of character development (post-Crystalized) to be in a romantic relationship. Harumi's short "redemption" isnt enough for them to canonically be in a relationship. Both need immense therapy and they have to confront their issues if either even want to be in a relationship together. If writers plan on putting them together, I would hope that they first confront the issues and history these two have, and then slowly build their relationship.

Or even, they don't need a relationship to heal. All I ask is that writers give them both the healing they deserve.

But that doesnt mean that people should be attacked for shipping them. A ship is just a ship, canon or not.

Still, I admire the parallels in the writing of both their backstories and the fact that both have a certain "love" for Garmadon (in my opinion, Harumi has an obsession but that's a discussion for another time).

It is quite funny though, that their sort of relationship is a kind of lovers to enemies to...allies? Honestly idk, but I love that the Ninjago writers gave us these kinds of parallels in characters. But these two greenies are not the only ones! The amount I could write on parallels in Ninjago...oof.

(Also, I'm not tagging this as a ship post, but idm if anyone reblogs this as the ship).

[colekinnie-4life]

I wanna talk about Jay’s amnesia for a bit. And I don’t mean saying “oh he forgot Nya it’s so tragic blah blah blah”, no.

He forgot everything, not just Nya. Not just the thing the show is trying to show us, which is his relationship with Nya and the rest of the ninja. I mean literally everything.

He forgot his parents, his home, the junkyard. He forgot any potential childhood pets he had/goldfish he definitely killed on accident. He forgot riding a bike for the first time, winning a spelling bee, or just anything special about his childhood.

His birthday, how old he is, hell, he probably doesn’t even know what his middle name is (if he has one, anyways).

He forgot everything. And I’m hoping and praying to John Spinjitzu himself that Season 3 goes into this. Maybe the ninja meet up with Ed and Edna and tell them about what’s going on with Jay, and we get a flashback to when he was a kid, since we haven’t gotten anything like that for Jay.

Just something, anything, that gives us more detail on his amnesia besides “oh he forgot Nya! Here’s some more Jaya angst for the fans, cause we definitely don’t have enough of that already!”

No. I want Jay angst. Not Jaya angst, Jay specific angst.

[garmaballs]

wasnt going to post this cuz i hate how it turned out but 😭😭 garmadon 🫶

[kindaasrikal]

Lloyd absolutely enjoys tackling people. Like out of pure random. Cole could be holding cake and that would still not keep him safe from a dragoni human hybrid with unimaginable power to full on tackle him and then run away cackling.

Kai does that thing with Nya where they both tickle each other at random. Like one second they’re all serious in a meeting, the next Wu has to pull them apart because Nya poked a very specific, very ticklish area on Kai’s waist that made him squeak like a lil girl. Kai also gets his revenge by jabbing his arm into her armpit to tickle her and it aches hours later.

Cole enjoys walking into Jay’s room after he’s been there for hours just to annoy him. Like Jay’s just trying to play a video game, or maybe talk to someone on the phone, and Cole just walks in and starts annoying him. Touches the screen of the game to make Jay lose, starts talking about embarrassing stuff about Jay rlly loudly, lays and spreads himself over his bed. Zane walks in after hearing screaming and insulting and kinda just watches. He finds it hilarious.

Whenever it’s late and they need to wake one of them up, Zane always volunteers because he makes his eyes shine the brightest blue ever and stares wide eyed at the person- let’s say Lloyd in this one- and uses a completely stupid accent to say their name as a whisper echo thing. “Lloyd….Lloyddddd……” in a British accent is all he can hear before opening his eyes in confusion only to see a dark figure with glowing blue eyes towering over him.

No, Nya, he did not throw a pillow at Zane whilst screaming higher than even Kai can. That was her imagination.

Im sorry guys i just need them acting more like siblings because they would absolutely do this.