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Really excited for Marvel’s Ironheart tomorrow. I really like her comics, especially when she joined The Champions! Hope the series is just as good

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im still on the ninjago high but I saw this tweet and had to get this out of my system

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Ok so now Trump is bombing nuclear sites in Iran. We may genuinely just be fucked dude.

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THEY AREN'T USING THE 80s TURTLES FOR CROSSWORLDS

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Election Night in Ninjago

Are you interested in what Ninjago’s politics might look like? Here’s my perspective that tries to stay canon-compliant and even explains some changes between seasons. Of course, most of this is purely invented by me, and probably only entertaining to me.

Ninjago existed under a feudal system with a hereditary monarchy until ~50 years before the Serpentine War, when the growth of Ninjago City created an urban elite as capitalism emerged. In the lead up to the Serpentine War, the royal family consolidated power from the feudal lords, creating the Empire of Ninjago. However, during the Serpentine War, in order to convince urban residents to support the fight against the united tribes (they were largely safe, it was rural areas and small villages that were under threat), the Emperor was forced to concede supreme executive power to an elected legislature, and areas that were previously governed by local lords established elected governments. The first major political issue concerned what was to be done about the defeated Serpentine – during the war, the Elemental Alliance had used magic flutes (dubbed “sacred flutes” as an act of war propaganda) to seal away the five tribes. However, a rift grew between some who wanted to allow the average Serpentine to be reintegrated into society and those who wanted them all sealed away. In the end, the anti-Serpentine faction won out, receiving support from the sons of the First Spinjitzu Master. The Serpentine were sealed and the Anacondrai generals banished to the Cursed Realm.

The anti-Serpentine faction would form a political party – the Traditionalists, who were rivaled by the Modernists, who had advocated for a more lenient sentence. The Traditionalists would perform well in rural areas, with a small government, anti-technology message, while the Modernists were mostly confined to Ninjago City, advocating for a larger government and investment into technology. Elections would be held every two years, and everything from federal races down to local elections (the Mayorship of Ninjago City being easily the most powerful) was up for grabs. However, even as the Royal Family ceded more power to the Ninjago Legislature, the national government was still fairly weak, and local governments held a substantial amount of autonomy under a federalist system. A key element of Ninjago’s Constitution was a prohibition on a standing army, a provision heavily favored by both parties. Following the Serpentine War, the Traditionalists feared an army could lead to tyranny of the majority and big government overreach while the Modernists thought that the army might become more loyal to the Royal Family and restore an absolute monarchy. Thus, while municipal police forces would be well-equipped, in the event of a rapidly developing nationwide conflict, irregular militias and local forces would be all that could stand against invaders or domestic threats – until the Ninja, that is.

When the Serpentine were first released from their tombs, the Traditionalists were in charge. They appeared poised for a landslide in the elections the following year, with anti-Serpentine sentiment reaching a fever pitch when the Great Devourer attacks. Even in Ninjago City, whose historically Modernist population was less anti-Serpentine than the average Ninjago resident, a “Take Back Ninjago” rally was held. Some Modernist politicians attempt to call this out as demagoguery, but these cries fall on deaf ears. However, fortunes would dramatically reverse after the so-called “Final Battle.” Tech genius Cyrus Borg’s invention of the hover car quickly made him the richest man in Ninjago, and he donated heavily to Modernist politicians. In general, the Modernists embrace the burgeoning tech revolution and manage to score a legislative majority. They put Dr. Borg (who had been leading unofficial repair efforts) officially in charge of the rebuilding of Ninjago City (renamed New Ninjago City), and some commentators claim the Modernists might have permanently defeated the Traditionalists. Relations are reopened with the Serpentine, now sealed under Ninjago City, although this was not widely publicized.

The “permanent Modernist majority” was short-lived, however. The Nindroid Crisis obliterates public support of the tech revolution, especially in Ninjago City. Few polls were conducted in the time between the restoration of power across Ninjago and Zane’s sacrifice, but the few that were showed Modernist popularity beneath 10%. One reform that had been achieved by the Modernists some 10 years prior was a provision in the Ninjago Constitution for a national recall election, which was now poised to backfire as a recall petition was rapidly gaining signatures. However, Zane’s sacrifice saves the Modernists from utter humiliation. A nindroid who sacrificed himself for humans, Zane became a Modernist hero overnight. Cyrus Borg’s speech at Zane’s funeral was widely praised as a mea culpa that boosted his popularity. Many Traditionalist politicians’ harsh words about nindroids are attacked as insulting a great hero, and the recall effort died out.

The Second Serpentine War is a further boon to Modernist hopes. Not only does a “rally-around-the-flag” effect boost the incumbent party, but the Serpentine joining with humans to defeat humans pretending to be Serpentine reduces anti-Serpentine sentiment. This indirectly helps the Modernists, and it becomes public knowledge after the conflict that Master Chen had been responsible for the First Serpentine War. There is serious discussion about the Modernists maintaining power after the next election, despite how unlikely it had seemed just months prior. However, the invasion of Stiix by the Preeminent dashes all hopes. While the Ninja became celebrities, their popularity was surface-level and their super-fans were almost exclusively young people in Ninjago City (low voter turnout). An anti-Ninja grassroots movement starts in Stiix and is absorbed by the Traditionalists, who walk a thin line between outright attacking the Ninja (who are still generally popular) and praising them, while the Modernists are firmly pro-Ninja. The notoriously leak-free Royal Family even gets involved, with one newspaper (a tabloid, really) writing that the Jade Princess Harumi is fervently anti-Ninja, although a rare statement from the Emperor denies this. In the end, the Nindroid Crisis hurt the Modernists too much to recover, and the Traditionalists are voted back into power.

Once in power, the Traditionalists quickly reward their allies. The Ninjago Museum of History receives a large grant for their “Hall of Villainy” exhibit, which is credited to curator Dr. Sander Saunders’ staunch support of the Traditionalists (and antipathy toward technology). Meanwhile, the new Traditionalist mayor of Ninjago City cuts back on police funding (high-grade weaponry is replaced with tasers) and the Hiroshi’s Labyrinth vault is closed down. Cyrus Borg’s “Infovision” kiosks are also removed. This is promoted as a curtailing of unnecessary government expenditures. Initially, the Traditionalists seem to be very successful. A wave of kidnappings by Serpentine bolsters anti-Serpentine sentiment, and Ninjago enjoys a year of peace afterward. Things aren’t perfect – in some areas, peasants are forced back into servitude as the Traditionalists’ push for regional autonomy allows local warlords to regain control – but generally the Traditionalists are popular. This changes dramatically as the Sons of Garmadon become more prevalent, and the pro-Traditionalist consensus utterly collapses when Emperor Garmadon takes over.

The Traditionalists are blamed for the police budget cuts that allowed the SoG to rule (and public statements by the Police Commissioner attacking Ninjago City’s mayor don’t help matters), but more importantly, they were nowhere to be seen as part of the Resistance. Meanwhile, the Ninja receive massive accolades for dethroning Garmadon as old clips of Traditionalist politicians attacking the Ninja come to bite them. The Traditionalists try desperately to keep power – they allow Dr. Borg to store the Hiroshi’s Labyrinth items in his tower in the hopes that he won't get involved in the upcoming election, they finance the creation of a new Bounty as a stunt designed to reassure voters that the Traditionalists are pro-Ninja – but it doesn’t work. The Bounty publicity stunt ends up doing more harm when the Mayor doesn’t even make an appearance, likely fearing protests due to her actions (or rather, inaction) during Garmadon’s rule. In the elections held following the Oni Invasion, the Modernists are voted back into power.

The Modernists take power only to immediately be hit with a barrage of crises. Their key legislative goal was to achieve equal rights for both the Serpentine and artificial lifeforms, which they did achieve. Under the Modernist government, Serpentine, Nindroids, and later Prime Empire NPCs are allowed to obtain Ninjago citizenship, attend Ninjago schools, and are treated equally under the law. This doesn’t erase prejudice, but would have been a term-defining accomplishment – if not for the series of disasters that start less than a month into their term. First Aspheera invades Ninjago, which is fortunately brief and largely disconnected from modern-day Serpentine politics. However, the Prime Empire triple-whammy (800 people sucked into the game, there's a mass prison breakout, then an invasion of video game characters) reinforces in voters’ minds why the Modernists had been booted out 2 years prior – technology is scary! NPCs are allowed to stay in Ninjago and are guaranteed rights by the Modernists, a move which is seen as tone deaf. PIXAL, Zane, Okino, and Racer 7 (who later changes her name to Blazey H. Speed) all speak in favor of AI rights, however, and public sentiment largely ends up split. Ultimately, Wojira’s invasion, which carries the highest single-day death toll in Ninjago City, sounds the death knell for the Modernist government. Was it their fault? No – but with so much devastation, someone had to pay.

A recall election is held, and one of the key Traditionalist victories is that of Ninjago City Mayor U. N. Trustable, who runs on an explicitly anti-Ninja platform. There is a minor controversy during the campaign where it turns out a dark money campaign has been smearing the Ninja, but the source of these funds is never discovered. One conspiracy theory argued that somehow, despite being dead, Harumi was involved.* The Modernists attempted to use Trustable’s “Ninja-bashing” as insulting Nya’s legacy, but after doing the same thing with Zane just a few years prior, most voters didn't buy it. During the campaign, facing declining poll numbers, the Modernists successfully added Merlopia (under King Benthomaar) as an autonomous region with the ability to vote in Ninjago federal elections. This facilitates cultural sharing between the two kingdoms (including Merlopian pie recipes). It is also seen as a transparent ploy to gain more votes, as many Merlopians had strong support for the Modernist government after realizing how they were duped by Kalmaar. Human citizens overwhelmingly blame Merlopia for Wojira’s attack, and reject the Modernists in record numbers.

*an examination of Royal Family funds following the Crystal King's defeat validated this theory, with Harumi being alive all along

Mayor Trustable’s term starts out fine, with the New Ninja enjoying high popularity among voters. Public sentiment starts to turn on the Traditionalists after the blockbuster case Ninjago City v. Ninja, as voters are largely sympathetic to the Ninja’s goal of saving Nya. Moreover, many had voted for Trustable to express discontent with the ruling Modernists, not as a full rejection of the Ninja. Traditionalist support then collapses following the Crystastrophe. Clips of Trustable fleeing Ninjago City next to Traditionalist politicians endorsing him are played in every Modernist ad. Mayor Trustable resigns after prominent national Traditionalist politicians demand he step down, fearing that he might have single handedly destroyed the party.

In the regular elections held shortly afterward, the so-called “Neo-Modernists” win, running on pure pro-Ninja sentiment. Notably, however, the demagogic fear by the Traditionalists about Serpentine, NPCs, and Merlopians “infiltrating our society” dies down following the aid of all of those peoples to fight the Crystal King. The Neo-Modernists are in charge of Ninjago until the Merge, following which the national government essentially collapses. Municipalities like the Crossroads and Ninjago City (re)establish local police forces and governments, but there is a general sense that people are tired of politics, and elections are changed to every four years. Eventually a regional government is established over much of the greater Ninjago City metro area, including the Crossroads. The Modernist push for civil rights for non-humans is embodied in the new Ninjago constitution, which now protects the rights of all sapient creatures, from humans to Serpentine to skeletons to Mucoids and beyond. 

And that concludes my imaginary Ninjago politics story? Fanfic? I don’t know. I left out basically any mention of Ninjago’s economic situation, education, healthcare, foreign policy (towards Shintaro and Metalonia, I guess) so there’s certainly room to expand on this. I tried to identify changes that occurred in Ninjago over the course of the show (what does the “Take Back Ninjago Rally” mean for human-serpent relations, given that later on Frak and Arin meet at school? What happened to the Ninjago City police’s weaponry from Skybound to SoG?) and then wrote a mostly cohesive story. Hope you enjoyed it! And if you’re in the US, make sure to vote!

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Lloyd at the end of DRs3p1: My kids have abandoned me life is pain.

Frak at the end of DRs3p1: Living my childhood dream of being a ninja life is good :D

Frak my son for you I will learn to draw snakes.

Lloyd for you I will learn nothing keep having mental breakdowns king its entertaining :)

Anyways pose is brought to you by the time my uni buddy kidnapped me on a rolly chair and rolled me into the bathroom and took a selfie while I laughed in the public stall

(there are pictures but I wont add them since their face is in it and i don't wanna dox them like that)

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season 1 vibes 🙂‍↕️

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Answering the call of adventure 🌲🧝‍♀️🍄

With a walking stick in hand and a smile full of excitement, the young forest elf sets off on her very first grand adventure. Behind her, her grandfather — the wise old mushroom-hatted elder — waves goodbye, proud and a little wistful. The path ahead is unknown, but her heart is full of courage. 🌿🍄🧙‍♂️🧝‍♀️

While watering some freshly planted grass, I accidentally discovered a few mushrooms in the yard, so I wanted to take the opportunity to create a photo featuring forest folk. This week’s TPC challenge is themed Travel, so I decided to build a scene where an old sage bids farewell to his granddaughter as she sets off on an adventure.

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Hey guys, I wanted to tell you about the Ihyaa' initiative. My friend Mohammed Ayesh, who's been our vetter on the ground in Ghazzah for the last year or so, wants to make a space and provide resources for University students to complete their studies in a proper learning environment, along with providing food parcels, stationary, and other essentials. You may have heard of the Isnad initiative! It's very similar to the Ihyaa' initiative but it's located elsewhere. They had to find the right room to use as a classroom for the Ihyaa' initiative and they're going to be paying rent of 2000$ for it. Mohammed Ayesh has informed me that starting on Monday this rent will begin.

University students are the foundation of a better and rebuilt Ghazzah! If you want to help Ghazzah rebuild, this is one of the first steps you can start assisting with.

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Prank wars extra:

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One thing I find unexpectedly fascinating about Monstrosity is that when you think about it, it'd really only work with Kai as the protagonist. And I don't just mean that because Rusty could only be awakened by a fire elemental, and without Rusty Kai would've died at the spooky death-siren lake - although that's definitely a part of the equation. What I mean is that Kai's specific personality was vital to not only his survival, but also to the retention of his humanity, and that likely wouldn't have been possible if almost any other character was swapped into his position.

Let me elaborate.

Although it's certainly true that not all timeskip scenarios were created equal, and that the Merge treated some people better than others (cough cough Cole), it's also worth noting that each character's experiences are heavily defined by their own unique personalities, strengths, and flaws. If you shuffled everyone around into different post-Merge outcomes, you'd have a vastly different story.

For example, Cole absolutely flourished in the Land of Lost Things, but not everyone would - Pixal in particular would really struggle there. She's normally someone who is always on her A-game so long as she has a goal to accomplish and a clear path towards doing so, and it's rare for her to face a lot of internal conflict over her motivations/ideals. But if you put her in a situation where she has to choose between leaving the Finders to reunite with her friends, or forsaking her friends to protect the Finders...I think that no matter which option she chose, she'd be deeply troubled by it, and would not cope with that conflict of interest nearly as well as Cole has.

Whereas Lloyd, if you placed him in the stasis pod instead of Pixal, would suffer just as greatly. As much as he struggled emotionally in his years of isolation in the monastery, I think it'd almost fuck him up even more to find out he slept through the Merge entirely - and has (in his eyes) failed to keep his team safe and intact. That they've had to fend for themselves without him around to do his job as the leader.

And so on and so forth. You get the general idea. (Honestly, it's kind of a fun thought exercise to explore how everyone would cope if they all got switched around into different scenarios. You should definitely try it!)

Of course, Monstrosity in particular is a fascinating case study of this. If you put any other ninja in this story, you'd get a drastically different one - and in a lot of fundamental ways, it just straight-up wouldn't work.

See, the core theme of the miniseries is about balancing ruthlessness and mercy, knowing when to fight and when to show compassion, and how to fight monsters without becoming a monster yourself. And honestly? Kai is arguably the only person on the team who could effectively navigate that balancing act.

On the one hand you have characters like Pixal, Nya, and Jay - characters who would most likely fall too far onto the ruthlessness side of things and lose themselves.

Pixal is a very determined person - as mentioned above, so long as she has a goal and an action plan, she isn't prone to giving up or losing hope. She will keep trudging along her chosen path until it is accomplished, never stopping to let anything slow her down. Sure, she'd definitely be haunted by her choices after the fact, but in the moment I don't think she'd ever let herself slow down long enough to introspect in that way. She's too busy getting back to her family to think deeply about the moral implications of her actions, or to reflect on who/what she's becoming. She'd definitely be haunted by her choices, sure, but that's not to imply she would ever meaningfully deconstruct or process those feelings at all. She is, of course, an alumni at the Zane Julien School of Processing Trauma.

Nya is similar to Pixal in a lot of ways, but she's also naturally a very ruthless person with a teensy bit of bloodlust to her (affectionate). She also has at least one canon instance of sacrificing her humanity to save her family. This isn't new to her. Daidan would tell her that she can't survive in a land of monsters without becoming a monster herself and she'd go "bet", then proceed to beat the shit out of anything that looks at her wrong. Not to mention that the weird death-siren lake would probably fuck her up in a lot of really complicated Seabound-related ways that I don't think she'll ever be ready or willing to unpack.

My placement of Jay on this side of the spectrum may face some scrutiny, but hear me out first. Although Jay acts very lighthearted and goofy in front of others, it's canon that this persona is a facade he wears to save face and hide how anxious he really feels. On some level, I would argue that Jay subconsciously self-sabotages whenever he's fighting in a group, deferring to the strength of others out of insecurity/codependency rather than trusting his own skill. But when he's on his own and has no audience left to perform for, we see Jay's full potential shine through - we see him be strong, and clever, and even a leader. And on rare occasions, usually when Nya or someone he loves is in danger, he can even be brutal. Jay would absolutely have an awful time in Monstrosity, don't get me wrong - but he'd also exhibit a level of competence and efficiency only ever seen during elimination seasons. And that same efficiency would be his downfall. Jay loves his family, he loves Nya, and he also really hates dying. I don't have a doubt in my mind that he would do whatever it takes to make it back to Nya, even if he's miserable the whole time.

Of course, that's not to say that the rest of the team has it any better. Just because Cole, Zane, and Lloyd tilt pretty far onto the "mercy" side of the spectrum, doesn't mean that's necessarily a good thing in this situation.

Cole is extremely community-oriented, and he is constantly making friends and forming meaningful connections everywhere he goes. With Chen's other prisoners, with Yang, with that not-so-random baby he found, with Krag, with the Upply, and now with the Finders. If Cole cannot find a community, he will create it. On the rare occasions that he is alone, it is usually a dire situation involving extremely poor mental health. When his isolation is self-inflicted, it's usually out of grief. And when circumstances forcibly isolate him....well, go rewatch DotD and MotO, and watch how Cole handles just a few hours of forced isolation from his family. I can't imagine he'd handle several weeks alone in the Land of Monsters without becoming completely unglued. Cole's biggest strength is his social sturdiness - not just as the rock his team relies on, but as the foundation upon which everyone he meets can cultivate a sense of community. But in isolation that strength becomes a double-edged sword, and I believe the brutal emptiness of the Land of Monsters would leave him in an even worse emotional state than Kai.

Zane is no stranger to being stranded in foreign realms, armed with nothing but the singular objective to return home. But I think he would be so paranoid about falling into old routines that he would overcompensate too far in the other direction, rendering him too soft to make it through the Land of Monsters in one piece. That's not to imply he was going to make it out in one piece to begin with, of course. This is Zane we're talking about. I'd be surprised if he goes three days without dying horribly in some way or another. Whether it's out of self-sacrifice or because he pulled punches where he shouldn't have and paid the price, that man is not lasting more than a week.

Lloyd...honestly, he's arguably the closest anyone gets to matching Kai's balance on this issue. The case could certainly be made that Lloyd would effectively replace Kai in Monstrosity...but idk, I personally don't buy it. If you ask me, I think he veers a bit too much into the "too afraid of being like his dad to let himself become a monster" spectrum. This would go one of two ways: 1) he goes the way of Zane and/or Cole, and over-softens himself out of paranoia; 2) he initially tries to over-soften himself, but everything gets to him until he eventually snaps and goes full Oni Mode. Personally, I've got my money on option 2.

The takeaway here isn't that any member of the team is inherently better or worse than the others, just that they all have particular strengths and weaknesses that serve them well in their given scenarios. But those scenarios would only work with them as the main character, and nowhere is that more apparent than with Monstrosity. Zane could never withstand Lloyd's years of isolation in the monastery, just like Jay would become an anxious mess if he had to be responsible for the Kragglings' civil war, just like Kai would absolutely have the worst time if he got stuck in the Administration, just like Nya would go stir-crazy in the Land of Lost Things.

Monstrosity is fundamentally a Kai storyline, down to its DNA. And I think that's part of why he comes across as so beautifully written in this miniseries. There is no aspect of it that you can separate from Kai without changing the fundamental core of the story itself. He's the only one on the team who could do something like this. The only one who could survive in the Land of Monsters without either dying horribly or losing himself along the way.

And idk, I just think that's neat.

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Movie Lloyd's dragon mech ON TOP!!!! tlnm mechs are so peak...

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Say cheese!

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While the world's eyes are turning towards the escalation of events between Iran and Israel‼️ 🍉

I am now standing on the window. The planes are flying from above me and the sea boat is shooting on the beach and the sound of shells in the east is very loud. Everyone has started to forget Gaza. If you are one of the people who stands with Gaza, I put the link of my campaign here. You can donate now to my campaign because it is deadly slow and I can't save it alone. Prove your loyalty to Gaza with a simple donation from you. This is a lot of a burden.

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made these a few weeks ago

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I just learned something about my childhood...

I hope this isn't true, but I just found out the same guy who voices Kai had also voiced the hot dog guy from Barbie Fashion Fairytale! Like what!? this can't be real..

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my hand just started moving