secretlyharumi - Tumblr blog

[secretlyharumi]

FABRIC

by me (flyingdutchman on ao3)

REPOSTED FOR TUMBLR!

a fic about lloyd’s important in the universe and how his element plays a part

Lloyd has always known his role, tying into the closely knit threads. Threads that span all of Ninjago, and now the sixteen realms. For he knew it in his youth, where he clinged to the feeling in the air, the frequency of his friends, the glow in his chest.

The power he holds.

The power he holds is not a normal one. It is not easily describable, nor is it describable at all. It's living, breathing, competent, strong. It speaks for him when he has nothing to say. It burns a fire that nothing can quell, even not himself.

It feels un-attached, acting of his own force and capability. Making decisions for him that he'd rather control himself. But that is his power. It's not normal.

As the boy has grown older, so has his power grown with him. He knows himself to be a grandson of a godly being, no matter how harsh, or no matter how interceptive it can be. Sometimes he wishes that not to be the case. For when his anger rises like a fierce tidal wave that only his sister could rival, so does his power with it. Like the banging of bars on a metal cage, locked inside without a key.

His volatility is his weakness. Wu had made it clear time and time again, but now the wise master is all but a wisp. A forgotten memory. Someone that Lloyd has yet to make contact with, someone that Lloyd values so highly. Perhaps it is though because Wu, does not value his own power at all.

That on the other hand of it all, his father has depended on his power more than anybody. At least to the point of where his father is now, or the current form he takes. Lloyd remembers the soft, pinging-- but calm frequency his father radiated in the time where Lloyd was still harnessing his Golden Power. A thing dutily ripped away from him when push came to shove.

Instead he seems to lose the closeness, the memory. His father's power is cold. He's felt it, like a brisk poison rushing to all senses. Like a dagger to the heart. Like pain, rushing through his bones, and twisting-shoving-screaming---crying... His father's power is destruction, and yet he's felt these on the recieving end, he also knows the value in it in himself.

With this power passed down, before he swore to never give in to it again. It was a rush, like a cool rush through the air, a swift turning in his chest, a reason to keep fighting. Destruction is fleeting, but addictive, so addictive that he's felt it control him. Winding up like a broken toy, destroying all that comes forth. But it's the cool that quells the warm. It's the cool that makes his senses finally dullen to a point where he can actually breathe.

For it's been so long since he could actually breathe.

Because, "energy" might be life, but it's always running. It's the feeling in the air, it's the happiness, it's the pain. It's knowing everything, and feeling everything all at once and not being able to control it. To feel what you don't want to feel. For everything to be there, whether the sounds, whether the slight movement that would catch anyone in a loop. But with that is the slight knowledge that he cannot control it.

He will never be able to control the life that burns within him.

He is not like the others.

As it is, what it is, life cannot be controlled.

And his own life has fought like wildfire, even if he'd want it extinguished, even if he'd want to greet death like an old friend.

It's healed his wounds, it's lied, it's exclaimed his greatness, it burns.

Sometimes his friends exclaim the greatness of their powers, the calmness. Zane explaining to him one night for that he is calmed down, he is cooled by the ice that reaches his mind. Nya by the water, the rush in her veins. But Lloyd is not one and the same. His powers are volatile. They shift to one side, and sink, the other.

Lloyd, unlike the others, feels his power in his heart. Exhilaration, restlessness, like the tick of a metronome. The tick that his time is up, the tick that means sometime soon he won't have to fight anymore, but it doesn't stop. He hears it, in a low hum, a buzzing feeling akin to electricity, that makes him believe everything will dissolve into static. But it's haunting, knowing it in every waking moment. Knowing that one day it will stop, one day it will finally give in--- yet every he gets close it's restarted like a video game.

He feels it when he harnesses, and with it he's been overdrawn more than anyone else. He hates his power. He hates how weak it makes him feel, how weak and unassuming. He hates that when he over-extends it, he's not okay. He's not okay like the ninja. He's not okay, because it's tied to his life. It's intertwined.

"Your place is in the Fabric of the Universe." Master Wu says to the young child, blonde hair alight.

Lloyd underestimated his words at the time, but feels them now. Whether it be anything, for Fire, Lightning, Earth, and Ice, or Golden Power, or Oni Power, or Energy, or ---

Now he underestimates it even more. As his power fights within him. Fights against him. Warns him.

Becoming the Conduit to the Dragons wasn't easy.

Lloyd has known his mortality, his human nature, and that source Dragon knew it too. But becoming what he thought would save the world and did, is something he underestimated so much, much to the point where he'd been in a hyperactive state of coma, much to everyone's horror.

He had known when he stepped into that room with the Source Dragon.

Like a pang at his chest, the buzzing even more pronounced more than anything.

And then he'd given into it, and what he thought, every transformation, every fight, everything had become so miniscule, obsolete, unasumming, because this power, this thing he channels like a battery, is more powerful than anything.

It burns but it also brings warmth-- it stresses but it also guides.

But it's starting to take over his life, it's starting to mess with him, his powers, his life. He knows that possibly sometime when he steps into it again, he might not step out. He might not wake up. It may claim his energy.

But he is but the fabric of the universe.

[secretlyharumi]

new and updated theory on the source of lloyd’s power!

in dragons rising there definitely has been lore dropped here and there but more than anything I find ammunition to power my long winded theory that lloyd’s powers come from his heart, in theoretical and just elemental sense.

doc wyatt has established there isn’t a set explanation (YET) in show, but he did like one of my tweets regarding my claim that Lloyd’s power resonates within the heart and soul.

starting out, lloyd’s power has never been defined. it is hinted by the writers that lloyd has no idea what it is, though what we do know is that it—-

1) can create life and destroy it (the book of elemental powers)

2) draw energy from the elements

3) shield oneself / very powerful in attack

4) does not belong to the source dragon of energy but belongs to the source dragon OF LIFE

5) has some sort of connection with the FSM

and lastly, by LEGO GROUP’s definition.. it’s ENERGY.

energy can have have different meanings. energy in lightning’s case seems to be the electrical sense, but energy can .. power up things, it makes things work -

energy is also used as a synonym for life force, this is demonstrated when referring to the act of draining source dragons and the whack-rats.

what i am getting at, is I believe that energy in the sense of lloyd’s powers is that he holds the essence of life itself. his power works hand in hand in his survival as well as keeps him alive.

now to connect him to LIFE , a source dragon, was very interesting but made a great deal of sense. Life is in everything, energy can create life.. who created life?

THE FSM used elemental powers to bring Garmadon and Wu into existence, he also holds the ability that past his death, he could steal lloyd from the mortal world to speak to him in the grasslands.

the elements of creation can be drawn from in their energy for lloyd, but the elements of creation were the core four.

LIFE = Lightning, Ice, Fire, Earth

so….

that also makes sense as to when he was dying in mystake’s tea shop that they had to use their elemental powers of creation to revive lloyd or heal him.

now jumping into the theory that will always be my favorite, and the show itself actually jumped into it was elemental powers being felt or drawn from different places depending on the elemental powers, ie nya with veins, zane with his mind, etc etc etc—

lloyd’s power comes from his heart in my opinion.

firstly, life—- energy is what makes the heart beat, you cannot live without that.

mentally, lloyds power has always been his true self, his heart, the way he cares so deeply for people (even if they do not deserve so)

green in spirituality also represents the heart chakra, it is very similar in description.

but as someone so close to his mortality, and who i believe is always aware of such, it makes so much sense.

in s8, when his element is fighting for him as he’s succumbing to his wounds in the fight in krytparium it sparks on his chest,

following this— the elemental master figures that were released in the SOG wave depicted different elements and where they were located differed on the ninja, lloyds was insanely insanely obvious—

overdrawing from his element has caused him great sickness multiple times. we see this with golden power, then we see this with him fainting while using his element against griefbringer in MOTM (something very opposite to his element— death)

the fact that his power kept him alive but also left him for a bit after he almost was on the brink of dying in s8

now with dragons rising and the conduit putting him in a semi coma for several days because of his mortality

he puts his hand on his heart when he approaches the imperium source dragon when saying “this place, i feel weird”

him believing he’d die from conduit power…

it’s justttt…

but that being said there is so much they could discuss about lloyd in show, whether discovering his powers, or seeing the actual scope of what they do

lloyd is very hesitant and he out of anyone never talks about his powers or how they work

but there’s so much there, like what if his elemental power could heal people or bring people back to life (other than himself LOL)

[secretlyharumi]

no but you don’t understand you can’t do this to me !!! im not okay

[secretlyharumi]

yes!! love your interpretation so much and it’s so valid i love it! my idea comes from s8, as his power is seen sparking outwards from around his chest. as well as him losing his powers when he almost died (i.e connecting his element to life) the following elemental power figures from the sons of garmadon wave show where the elements coincide theoretically and its different for every ninja. definitely believe that it centers there but then goes out everywhere which also makes sense if his elemental power comes from the heart as that’s his core, his center. and then conduit power is everywhere and a bit too much.

that scene where lloyd explains sora abt elemental powers and how nya felt water in her veins, zane felt ice in his mind and cole felt earth in his gut, has me spiralling and brainstorming how powers are connected to parts of the body & personality, so many metaphors and parallels!!

ice in a balanced surrounding maintains a stable structure and harmonised itself with its surroundings, just like how zane's mind is a perfect balance between humanity and machinery.

water having a nature to adapt to surroundings and possess various qualities at once.. just like how veins adapt to blood pressure and different substances that needed to be transported in the body.. proved by nya's adaptability and versatility

earth is always solid and dependable, a firm foundation. your gut feelings are one of the most dependable intuition you can trust. cole is one of the most loyal and grounded people on the team!!!!! (also the fact cole is shown to have the biggest appetite lol)

kai feels his fire power in his chest!!! fire represents passion and emotion, something you can feel in your chest!!! kai is shown to be a very passionate person and is also a hot head!!

jay i think would feel lightning at his fingertips? fingertips are very sensitive and can percieve energy and feel it on different levels, showcasing jay's lively, unpredictable and energetic personality, just like lightning.

lloyd's energy powers unlike the others wouldnt be localised to some specific organ/body part, but instead felt throughout his entire body. most elements are connected by ENERGY. energy flowing throughout his body could be described as all a product of all the places where elemental masters feel their powers, that means the entire body! it also represents how lloyd can control most elements and he basically unifies the team!!

[secretlyharumi]

me but lloyd’s energy comes from the heart because energy is life force, and in tandem that’s what keeps life going and what can extinguish it in a second

that scene where lloyd explains sora abt elemental powers and how nya felt water in her veins, zane felt ice in his mind and cole felt earth in his gut, has me spiralling and brainstorming how powers are connected to parts of the body & personality, so many metaphors and parallels!!

ice in a balanced surrounding maintains a stable structure and harmonised itself with its surroundings, just like how zane's mind is a perfect balance between humanity and machinery.

water having a nature to adapt to surroundings and possess various qualities at once.. just like how veins adapt to blood pressure and different substances that needed to be transported in the body.. proved by nya's adaptability and versatility

earth is always solid and dependable, a firm foundation. your gut feelings are one of the most dependable intuition you can trust. cole is one of the most loyal and grounded people on the team!!!!! (also the fact cole is shown to have the biggest appetite lol)

kai feels his fire power in his chest!!! fire represents passion and emotion, something you can feel in your chest!!! kai is shown to be a very passionate person and is also a hot head!!

jay i think would feel lightning at his fingertips? fingertips are very sensitive and can percieve energy and feel it on different levels, showcasing jay's lively, unpredictable and energetic personality, just like lightning.

lloyd's energy powers unlike the others wouldnt be localised to some specific organ/body part, but instead felt throughout his entire body. most elements are connected by ENERGY. energy flowing throughout his body could be described as all a product of all the places where elemental masters feel their powers, that means the entire body! it also represents how lloyd can control most elements and he basically unifies the team!!

[secretlyharumi]

something something about lloyds elemental power being energy but not belonging to the energy source dragon but the life one,

and that ive always believed his power comes from the heart… and that its so innertly connected to the world around him, and how he is connecting to everything and anyone anddddd…

[secretlyharumi]

hey guys but you don’t understand lloyd not knowing what his element is is crazy and is actually probably getting the most lore regarding it in part two is gonna make me go crazy

[secretlyharumi]

Idk why tumble called this mature content lmao

Anyway-got carried away

[secretlyharumi]

sometimes I think about the fact that lloyd was (as dead as harumi) in ninjago standards, and no one ever thought to tell the kid..

it’s canon that the vision haunts him.. and it makes me feel so bad for him..

like imagine they come home from a mission and then jay is like:

at least you didn’t die again!

and lloyd is like: again?!!!!

[secretlyharumi]

I’ve been bawling for five minutes this is so fuckingnf funny

diagnosed green

[secretlyharumi]

Lloyd Garmadon’s power comes from his heart and I’m going to tell you why.

I think this partially comes from a lot of fanfiction explorations into Kryptarium and seaosn 8, especially what they did with the elemental power figures shown below. I know @lloydskywalkers used to write a lot of novella that would situate on how his power worked against him. As well as using mortal imagery.

I know I definitely dabble with it with two fics ‘Beat of a Drum’ and the latest two chapters of ‘Spiders in the House’. (Both on ao3:

@/flyingdutchman

What’s kind of beautiful is his true power does come from his heart as well. His soul. His power is affected from surges of emotion and he is by far the most attached to love out of all the ninja. It’s something that makes him an easy target.

He is such a spiritual being who hates the attention that comes with it. He’s on a higher level but is uncomfortable with his sheer power.

So speaking about the emotional power:

His ability to care for people, and to love is the most important power he has. His inert awareness of the world and how attached he is to it emotionally affects him.

He cares too much. He cares for people that hurt him, he suffers endless turmoil and what Harumi says is the most important weapon ‘a blow to the heart’.

Now as he’s garnered destruction, it’s roots are in his emotional being and soul and it shows. He triggers it whenever something cuts too deep. The three times being either someone who broke his heart, or someone who was close to him.

Green energy is also powered by emotion as well. We see this in the overwhelming feelings he has in Kryptarium.

I personally believe he leaned into his power more than anyone else, gaining it a bit of sentience as he started to reflect it in his eye color, magnitude of power, and etc. He had lost Wu, the only person closest to what was of his father. And when he became the more powerful it was his emotional side that strengthened it.

Next I’m going to talk about spirituality, because one of the things I believe in is chakras and auras.

The Green Chakra — Heart Chakra

Center of love, middle of chest, heart and lungs, balance. If unbalanced, fear of being abandoned, playing the rescuer, etc

I think it’s very fitting that what gives off green in spirituality is the heart chakra, and it just connects to Lloyd in a very real sense.

Last but not least, here comes Elina’s third breakdown on why Lloyd’s power comes from his heart.

Lloyd thrives on LIFE.

Devoid of life and warmth is a seeping thing that starts killing him, turning him into a shell. We see this with Morro, someone dead, corrupting his aura.

The main thing that represents mortality are our hearts, because there’s a constant that they are always beating. Keeping us alive.

Since he has developed such a close and complex relationship to his power, I believe his power thrives in life, it’s what makes the heart beat. He’s innertly connected because he leaned into it far too much before S8 as well.

Also energy as a element makes sense to be in a constant, moving, space.

Another cool scientific thing is that people who are aware of their heartbeats are very emotional and in tune people. Lloyd follows this reserved but quiet, but very in tune with their liveliness.

Now you may be saying.. hey this is a reach. But I’ll bring the evidence that makes this theory such a interesting thing.

In S8 we see the Kryptarium fight. Throughout the entire fight the energy sparks fly from chest and flicker when he’s receiving fatal blows.

It’s because his powers are fighting to keep him from death, they’re trying vainly to shield off the attack from his father.

Another thing I note is in s10 when his heart stopped after sustaining fatal injuries, the golden weapons lost their power at the same exact time.

Not only this but below I have attached the Lloyd elemental master figure, each of the ninja have a design that resonates where their power comes from, but as we see, Lloyd has one that is EXTREMELY specific.

There’s something inherently beautiful about Lloyd’s power and how it works, I think having the root of his power emotionally be what keeps him alive, and physically. Makes the character more human. Makes the character interesting.

Let me know what you think!

[secretlyharumi]

EPISODE 16 SPOILERS — dive into metaphysical implications and little things I noticed.

Ah, finally. We’ve got to the Overlord reveal, and my god the way they handled it was heartbreaking. Especially in relation to how Lloyd’s story is being handled right now.

Sam Vincent’s voice acting shines in this episode as he goes from rage, to sadness, to grief, to fear. It’s also one of the times we see this character truly break and become angry, and it’s very reminiscent of his quick angry quips in earlier seasons.

Some details I note is how touchy Harumi is, as she does not give him any personal space, proceeds to stroke his hair and lift his head, and drop it. It’s very sadistic and she follows the breaking of boundaries she’s always had, especially for him. It just makes me seethe, and honestly she needs to get what’s coming to her.

We also have Lloyd trying to regain composure and in that he’s breathing really deeply in a pattern that signals a panic attack or trauma response. Especially in that part where she corners him about the Great Devourer, and him being alone: in which he only shudders, and struggles to breathe.

Those small details only add to the tension and the uncomfortableness. And then the last bit, in which I noted Lloyd’s reaction to the Overlord.

I note that Lloyd also becomes physically aware of the Overlord’s existence in the realm once he’s able to sense it.

And with what I headcanon as Lloyd having sensory issues, especially with someone who drained his life force before, thrown him around like a ragdoll, it makes sense.

Once the Overlord breaches the Crystal, Lloyd slumps over, his eyes closed, wincing. From my point of view it kind of hints towards the fact that the ritual is also bringing HIM physical pain.

Also the fact that this being who is the literal embodiment of darkness being just feet away from a being who needs to thrive on light, this affects Lloyd more than anything. His breath hitches, and he sighs, when this happens and it’s one of fear but also pain.

And then the realization of what he fears. By now I reckon he already knows deep in his soul, or feels it within. This beacon of torment in his life, his fated, prophesied foe, being back.

The final battle was all for nothing?

He’s just alone like the how Overlord reminded him in his head, as he once drained his power.

And the fact that he brings up what Lloyd had said to him ten years ago, when he was only a child. And being helpless, he realizes, he is STILL THAT CHILD, LOST AND ALONE, HOMELESS, just like he started out in that first episode of Ninjago.

We see him not want to open his eyes, but he does, to see the Overlord just getting closer, and Lloyd looks probably the most scared we’ve ever seen him. A detail like his lip quivering/shivering gives us a lead that he is absolutely beyond terrified then.

This episode tore my heart into pieces. We see a tortured, lost, and tormented Lloyd, on the brink of helplessness all the while, the person he’s fated to destroy is back.

But he has no golden power. He thinks his friends are lost. He can feel the impact of the physical form of the Overlord on the realm. Because he’s so inertly aware.

But that’s a lot of rambling. Please tell me your thoughts in the thread or replies below.

[secretlyharumi]

Hey little guy. What are you doing all by yourself on a day like this?

[secretlyharumi]

Great, now I’m worried.

[secretlyharumi]

Inspired by Episode 12 of NINJAGO: Crystalized.

[secretlyharumi]

SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 12:

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Let’s talk about how dark the Harumi reveal was? It’s been over a week and I still can’t stop thinking about it, because honestly: .. poor Lloyd.

This marks the first time a main character has been shot, given it was a stun gun or dark matter, but needless to say, in the absence of any Lloyd trauma (at least since the Ice Chapter), it really pulled at me..

First off, he hits his head HARD, and still Harumi starts speaking and cornering him. She’ll make sure one way or another that he wakes to see her, even in the midst of his pain.

One of the worse things of this, and what makes it so uncomfortable and scary is that Lloyd here is stunned/paralyzed and unable to move. He’s fading in and out of consciousness, but she doesn’t care. And even so, six of the greatest supervillains, 3 of which have personal drama with him, corner him when he is helpless to move.

And then she sings her creepy song, a song she knows that he’ll recognize, a song she last sang when he was in custody of the Sons Of Garmadon, before the ritual. He’s barely conscious and she keeps singing it. I think another thing that’s incredibly dark here is the song being about—

Sleeping and never waking up.

She sings this song while Lloyd is visibly fighting to keep himself from passing out, and and once she unmasks to confirm herself as the Kabuki person, she smiles as she watches him fade out, knowing that she’s the reason in which he’s out faster, the shock of her being back. She ends the song out as he collapses, and purses her lips, in almost a babyish tone that makes me so angry.

This scene is a fucking masterpiece.

[secretlyharumi]

LONG THEORY AND THOUGHTS ON EVIL LLOYD —

praying, hoping, that the arc that lloyd gets in crystalized is akin to a struggle between his oni and dragon side. i hope he doesn’t get the oni form to be like ‘something & balance’ or it doesn’t affect him in the slightest because the kid is in need of a good well rounded arc.

lloyd becoming like his father ≠ an oni form

also, he knows there are good oni out there, mystake and such. i think him possibly having a corruption arc could be the best way to go, the crystals enhancing his repressed darkness like how the devourer did so with his father before him.

we have #1 hinting from tommy that the mirror has some sort of validation, and #2 an oni form, but also lloyd being absent and having a lack of a resistance suit, lack of being in any of the sets with the other ninja, being ALONE in the crystal king set (feasibly outnumbered), his dolly zoom in the trailer, his leadership dimming, there’s so much they can work on.

ideally, my play of events would go like this. at some point lloyd has enough of all the events going on, the return of pythor, his father (even if he is good), — and more, and then he dips from the team, going on the run and rogue, which would explain his bandaging on his fig. — this would mirror his father’s leave from the elemental alliance.

the crystal king resurrects with his crystal an undead but corrupted version of harumi; to lure lloyd out, and trap him. this would make a lot of sense, ever since the prophecy the OL has wanted to turn lloyd, that’s why they crashed into the dark island in the first place, because of his hope to corrupt the green ninja.

then after in the middle of the fight, and because once again he’s powerless because of vengestone, he loses to both harumi and the OL, and taken captive.

i think this fight will be the one that is physically and emotionally exhausting to watch, the darkest episode yet for ninjago, the one that tommy talked about reviewing animation for.

i think lloyd will be put in the crystal cage from the crystal king set, and starts to get slowly corrupted from there, i wouldn’t be surprised if the overlord threatens to possess him, or something along those lines.. I think he’ll get crystalized but to get out of it, would love for him to unlock destruction, the dark oni form. but at the very end embrace both sides of the balance, and get the dragon and oni hybrid we get in the sets.

another thing that could be done brilliantly is that if lloyd gets a corruption arc, that he is brought back to light by garmadon: who is morally grey. what a BRILLIANT change of status quo it would be.

anyways there’s so much we don’t know, let me know your thoughts on evil lloyd.