#LEGO LEAVE NINJAGO ALONE FOR ONE SECOND

[lmk-aus-galore]

Because of course Wildbrain is to blame for everything.

I mean both the Ninjago Fandom and the LMK fandom hate Wildbrain despite the fact they have no control over the situation whatsoever.

I mean what did the fandom expect? If Flying Bark couldn’t keep up with the deadlines then who else is Lego gonna promote? Because Wildbrain gave them the most successful show (Ninjago) it would make sense that Wildbrain was the first thought to jump in and take over LMK.

I mean unless anyone has better ideas, obviously LEGO is gonna choose Wildbrain if that change was successful before right?

[luc-not-skywalker]

My Ninjago OCs

Milla Lopez: 21, the Elemental Master of Emotion and royal advisor of Shintaro. After her mother died, Milla felt lost, until the night she met Queen Vania. She used her powers to rescue the Shintaran, and in return, Vania hired her to work for the Shintaro royal court as a public advisor.

ESTHER: A nindroid, built by Mr. E to assist him in remembering his reprogrammed past. After being betrayed by her own creator, ESTHER swears revenge on not only Mr. E, but all Ninjago. If only that orphan girl would just leave her alone...

May Rinna: Mystake's apprentice and inheriter of the tea shop, as well as the elemental master of properties. May has worked at Mystake's Tea Shop her whole life. She is the niece of Bolobo, whom she shares split powers with. While his abilities consist of control over agriculture, May controls the different properties of teas.

Rogan Tate: A vigilante by the name of the Silver Shadow and previous member of Chen's gang. When she was a child, Rogan's family was killed and she was taken by Chen's gang, then raised as an assassin. She eventually escapes this and joins the Sons of Garmadon for a period of time.

Jonah Tate: Rogan's twin brother. After his parents were killed and his sister taken, Jonah was left at Darkley's boarding school for bad boys, where he met and befriended Brad and Gene. He's dedicated his entire life to finding his sister.

Nez'eema: Oni, Mystake's best friend, Coles great grandmother. Nez'eema went with Mystake to the new realm while pregnant with her future daughter after losing her husband to the war with the dragon. She tries and fails to start a new life, before ultimately settling in Shintaro. Now she lives on as a ghost, watching over her great grandson.

Julie: A young orphan girl, whom is a super fan of the ninja. Julie meets ESTHER, and the two form an unexpected bond. She really wants to befriend Nelson and Jake, but her anxiety holds her back.

READ ABOUT THEM HERE!!! (sorry there's only one chapter 😭) Second Chances - Chapter 1 - Wayne_Wright - LEGO Ninjago (Cartoon 2011-2022) [Archive of Our Own]

[xaracosmia]

ꕥ — WELCOME TO EXO COSMIA, LLOYD GARMADON. 🌑

ꕥ  — OOC INFORMATION;

name / alias: E.J.

Age: 22

Pronouns: he/him, it/its

ooc contact: @glitchital on twitter

other characters in xc: none!

ꕥ  — IC INFORMATION;

Name: Lloyd Garmadon

Age: Born 17 years ago, appears to be in his early 20s

Pronouns: he/him

Series: Lego Ninjago

canon point: Post Master of the Mountain

app triggers: child abandonment, parental death

personality: Lloyd is someone who always follows his heart. Nothing matters to him more than his family. He tries to honor the values they’ve taught him by doing everything he can to preserve peace in the world. 

It can be a heavy burden, carrying that responsibility. For years, Lloyd’s been told about the great power he wields, how he needs to master it and maintain balance between good and evil. It’s a power that people admire, seek out, and wish to destroy. You know, normal fate-of-the-world type of stuff.

That kind of power could be corrupting to some. But not to Lloyd. At his core, Lloyd is kind, forgiving, and always wants to see the good in others. It’s those traits that allow him to inspire others to be their best selves. He always believes in his family and friends, and in turn they believe in him. That love uplifts him and gives him the strength to fight through the darkest battles.

To fail those important people in his life is one of the worst feelings for Lloyd. He knows his family will do anything for him, and they have on multiple occasions. When he really lets them down, the guilt can be overwhelming to a point where he can’t find his path forward.

It can never keep him down for long though. Because if nothing else, Lloyd is one stubborn guy. Like, really stubborn. He’ll never quit on his responsibilities or his family. No matter what happens, he refuses to let go of the people he cares about most because all he wants is to be with them.

something your muse struggles with: Being alone. Without others, Lloyd will doubt himself. Even the idea of losing someone is enough to make him act recklessly.

your muse’s greatest strength: He sees the best in people and he never gives up on them

history / background: Lloyd’s life has never followed a straight path.. Growing up, he only knew a few things about himself. First, his mother left him at a boarding school when he was too young to remember her. Second, he was the son of one of the greatest villains in Ninjago. And that was it. 

A boarding school for future villains was no home. He couldn’t make any friends and he struggled in being an evil mastermind like his father. It’s no surprise he eventually got kicked out of school, or that it was easy for Lloyd to leave. But what was surprising was finding an ancient tomb of snake-people. At ten years old, Lloyd released an evil onto the world and for once he felt like he was following in his dad’s footsteps.

Well, that didn’t last. Because raising an army of snake-people doesn’t really go over well when you’re ten. So Lloyd got caught by his uncle and a bunch of stinkin’ ninja. And immediately adopted by his uncle and those stinkin’ ninja. And for the first time, found himself in a welcoming home with family.

Getting kidnapped by the Serpentine set things back a bit. But it did give him a chance to meet his dad, and to learn that maybe his father wasn’t all evil. The touching reunion did get soured by Lloyd finding out he was the Green Ninja though. His destiny to defeat his own father in the ultimate battle of good and evil. 

So his father leaves again. The ninja start training Lloyd to be the hero of all Ninjago. Despite the pressure of his destiny, he’s never felt happier. He has a home, a family, something good he can do in the world. There’s some hard-work, and sacrifice. He gives up his childhood, literally growing up faster than anyone should have to. But he’s becoming really good at being good. It gives him a chance to reconnect with his mom after years apart. And when the final battle against his father comes to pass, he’s able to save his dad in the end too.

The ultimate battle of good and evil was over, except it really wasn’t. Because villains were still in Ninjago, and there was always a new threat to face. An evil robot army, a mad crime-lord, ghosts, time-travel, always a new challenge to face, and a new hardship. Lloyd lost his father again, forced to banish him to another realm to save the world. Being the green ninja never came without hard-work and sacrifice after all. Then getting possessed by a vengeful ghost for several weeks wasn’t an easy thing to go through either. But through it all Lloyd learned two very important things about himself. First, that he can never give up. Second, that he is never alone.

powers / abilities:

Green energy - he’s the elemental master of energy! He can create green energy and control it into different forms. It can become like fire to light a torch, or cover him like a second skin for armor, or become like a projectile of pure force to shoot at enemies, etc.

inherent abilities: 

Master ninja - just really good at being stealthy and fighting stuff. 

items / weapons: 

Destiny’s Bounty - a large red ship that can both sail and fly. it's been the ninja’s home for years.

Sword - a green and gold dao

starting ability: nothing

starting item: Sword

extra: 

Burn-out can’t catch him if he’s too stealthy

Destiny’s favorite chew-toy

Taking so many Ls in his life he has two in his name

discord id: destined.green.ninja

[miakwat]

For the Kai is a spy for Chen Au does the ninja ever get suspicious about Kai? What does Kai do when everyone is searching for the spy? (Since Kai has the tattoo and Skylor can easily hide it) When the ninja find out Kai works for Chen do they feel betrayed? I'm sorry for all the questions this Au just really interest me.

Don’t worry about it haha

I’m actually glad somebody’s interested enough in the au to ask questions!

-

For your first question, I feel like the ninja as a whole won’t be suspicious of Kai since, well, he’s Kai. He’s built his identity around protecting people he cares about and would never work with the villain right?

Moving on, while the ninja (for the most part) wouldn’t be suspicious of Kai, Garmadon would. Of course, it’d start off as concern for Kai when he’d notice Chen and Clouse taking and interest in him. He tells the ninja to never let themselves be left alone with Chen and/or Clouse, but while he warns them he notices Kai stiffen. From then on he starts to notice Kai look nervous whenever Jay starts throwing accusations, and how sometimes he’d sneak off past or right before curfew. He decides to keep a close eye on Kai after a while.

(Ok I know I said none of the ninja would be suspicious of Kai, but I kind of want to bring up how I’ve been throwing around the idea of Jay being at least a bit suspicious of Kai. Towards the beginning of s4, Jay was very openly suspicious of the other elemental masters, and since he hasn’t worked with Kai, Cole, or Lloyd since Zane’s death he probably hasn’t entirely ruled out any possible betrayals. His suspicions never really lead anywhere and eventually he shrugs off any suspicious activity from Kai as stress (or maybe he follows Kai one day out of suspicion and finds him meeting up with Clouse).)

-

Second question time!

Kai nearly gets away with not showing his tattoos during their search for the spy. He’s the fire ninja. A protector of Ninjago. He wouldn’t fall to Chen’s side now would he?

The search goes relatively similar to canon. Skylor willingly shows her back and covers up her tattoo using Chamille’s power, Shade runs, and everyone decides to call it a day thinking they’ve found the spy.

That is, until Garmadon speaks up.

He insists on Kai having to show his back due to his growing suspicion. Kai sort of takes Skylor’s place and starts ranting about Garmadon’s lack of trust in him, and is backed up by Lloyd (and maybe Jay, but I feel like Jay’s lingering suspicions of Kai would hold him back). While Kai’s arguing Skylor comes up with a plan to use Neuro’s powers to haze everyone’s memory of Kai’s tattoos. Kai’s reluctant to try since he doesn’t even know if it’ll work, but he goes through with it anyway.

All goes as planned, nobody realizes he or Skylor are spies, and they all go back to their rooms.

Although, Neuro notices somethings wrong later that night.

-

As for your final question, most of the ninja absolutely felt betrayed by Kai (granted, at different times since I want his reveal to be spread out for some reason).

Zane didn’t feel any betrayal after the tournament. PIXAL had been running when Kai had first dropped by and was able to pick up that he was being blackmailed. Because of this she was able to relay Kai’s situation to Zane and he made it his goal to get out of the factory and let Kai know he’s OK. (Zane absolutely felt horrible about being the reason Kai was being blackmailed.)

Cole felt betrayed, angry, and above all, confused. He had found out Kai had betrayed the team during his power extraction ceremony and all he could think about was why had he done it? Why had Kai gone behind their backs and worked with Chen? Why had Kai contributed to their pain?

Cole was extremely angry at Kai up until he saved Zane who later explained Kai’s position. After he found out about the blackmail, Cole made it his mission to let Kai know Zane was OK.

Nya was devastated after Kai practically walked her right into Chen’s hands. She kept denying that it was actually Kai who was working with Chen. That the real Kai would’ve helped her off the island. Or that he was being forced into working with Chen and that she’d help him out of it.

Of course, by the end of it all she was right. He wasn’t siding with Chen willingly. When she found this out she was more than relieved.

Jay was the least affected by Kai’s betrayal because he kind of saw it coming. Not to say he wasn’t hurt, but his suspicions paired with the circumstances he learned about Kai’s betrayal (if we go by my rough idea of Jay following Kai to a meeting with Clouse)? Kind of watered down the surprise. He’s definitely relieved after learning Kai was blackmailed, but makes a joke about not having to fight him now that he knows Kai’s still on their side.

Lloyd was one of the worst hit with Kai’s betrayal (only second to Nya). He found out while being pitted against Kai and Skylor as the final round of the tournament. Chen revealed both of them as spies and Lloyd couldn’t bring himself to genuinely fight Kai. Most of his attacks were aimed at Skylor, leaving him vulnerable to Kai and led to his defeat. Lloyd can’t even look at Kai when the time for his ceremony comes around.

Lloyd cries (he doesn’t know whether they’re tears of joy or not) when he found out Kai was forced into the role of being a spy.

Garmadon can’t help but feel bad for Kai. He’s been in his situation before. He knows how it feels to have Chen get into your head and twist your thoughts (although, he didn’t know Clouse was literally doing that). He never felt betrayed by Kai’s actions, he was disappointed and a bit angry, but he understood Kai’s situation.

-

Feel free to send in asks about this AU whenever! It gives me an excuse to hurt these LEGO people :)

Tumblr deleted my original response this is so sad

[that-was-anticlimactic]

interests tag

i was tagged by @capt-snoozles es and @sheimagineddragons :)

MUSIC

Fave genre?

theatre !!! i listen solely to theatre and cartoon music [i.e. mlp songs, steven uiverse sings, etc...]

Fave artist?

uhhh my favorite musical is aladdin and my 1.5 favorite is a chorus line and my second favorite is come from away if those count haha

Fave song?

always: high adventure from aladdin broadway | idk why, but this song always helps me calm and down and take a breath and ground myself no matter what i’m feeling.

at the moment: safer from the musical first date

Most listened song recently?

nothing left to lose from the tangled series but like... the danish version...

and i listen to chant from hadestown a lot too oops

Song currently stuck in your head?

heroes on fire from kipo and the age of wonderbeasts

5 fave lyrics?

"it’s addictive the minute you let yourself think / the things that i say just might matter to someone” - you matter to me, waitress

"only one dad / only inspiring one son / edward, you’re done / writing your perfect tale / telling the perfect tale / it was a perfect tale” - what’s next, big fish

"but wishes are dreams and dreams are pretend / so science and reason win out in the end / science says you’re dead and gone forever / reason says i’m talking to the air / but something in my heart / some secret hidden part / illogically insists that you are there / somewhere” - if i believed - twisted

"and though the people around me / their mouths are still moving / the words they are forming / cannot reach me anymore / and it is quiet / and i am warm / like i’ve sailed / into the eye of the storm” - quiet, matilda

"i’m the son of poseidon / i never asked to be / but i’m the son of poseidon / now face the tide / inside of me” - son of poseidon, the lightning thief

[bonus] “i love a lilting line of lyrical alliteration / who doesn’t love alliteration?” - i love the way, something rotten

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | louder or silent volume I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on

BOOKS

Fave book genre?

uhhh i don’t think i have a specific genre, but anything that talks about the morality because i love that kind of analysis

Fave writer?

uhhh it changes, but i usually say chris colfer or edgar allen poe

Fave book?

the land of stories, chris colfer / an author’s odyssey, chris colfer

the lost hero, rick riordan [look it’s my favorite one...] 

murder on the orient express, agatha christie

heart of redness, zakes mda

king lear, shakespeare

Fave book series?

the land of stories series by chris colfer :)

Comfort book?

angels at the table - debbie macomber

Perfect book to read on a rainy day?

how to speak dragonese, cressida cowell

Fave characters?

goldilocks / conner bailey, land of stories series

piper mclean, heroes of olympus

camicazi, how to train your dragon series

ron weasley, harry potter series [love ron, not the author tho]

matilda, matilda

5 quotes from your fave book that you know by heart?

"be brave, children. courage is the one thing no one can ever take away from you” - land of stories

"there’s no such thing as im-POSSIBLE, hiccup, only im-PROBABLE. the only thing that limits us are the limits of our imagination” - how to train your dragon

“i like it when somebody gets excited about something. it's nice” - catcher in the rye

“self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin as self-neglecting” - henry v

“do you think, because i am poor, obscure, plain, and little, i am soulless and heartless? you think wrong! — i have as much soul as you, — and full as much heart! and if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, i should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you” - jane eyre

“so matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. these books gave matilda a hopeful and comforting message: you are not alone.” - matilda

hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending first | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS | judging by the covers or by the summary | rereading or reading just once

TV AND MOVIES

Fave tv/movie genre?

uhh pretty much any cartoon tbh

Fave movie?

the my little pony movie (2017)

the lego ninjago movie (2017)

finding neverland

coraline

Comfort movie?

the my little pony movie (2017) [once watched it six times in one day]

the friendship games

Movie you watch every year?

the my little pony movie (2017) [i watch it once a month over zoom with my internet friend shannon]

Fave tv show?

the hollow

avatar: the last airbender

kipo and the age of wonderbeasts

lego ninjago: masters of spinjitzu

my little pony: friendship is magic

miraculous: tales of ladybug and chat noir

psych

Comfort tv show?

the hollow [specifically s2 ep6, dead end]

Most rewatched tv show?

the hollow

my little pony: friendship is magic

miraculous: tales of ladybug and chat noir

5 fave characters?

sokka sokka sokka sokka sokka, atla

vanessa, the hollow

cole brookestone, ninjago

nino lahiffe, mlb

benson, kipo and the age of wonderbeasts

varrick or bumi ii, legend of korra

tv shows or movie | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more)* | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes* | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once | downloads or watches online

hehe this took awhile, but this was fun :)))

okay so uhh, imma tag [with no obligations so sorry if you were already tagged], my fellow thespians @bisexuallsokka and @bobisahandsomeskull as well as @leesbian42 and @fixationsbigandsmall

[purplerose244]

Thoughts journal Ninjago season 13!!! 🤩🤩 (3/4)

I am enjoying the season A LOT. The reveal has been thrown already, everything seems to be leading towards something special about Rock Mom and I couldn't hope for something better!! I know Lou will be back so I guess a flashback?... I'M SO EXCITED 💕💕

Alright, let's start!!

DUNGEON PARTY!

Side note, we're past the season and no Nexo Knights reference. Me sad, but me not quitting like ninja!! 💪💪

Korgran of METALONIA?!?! WHERE KARLOF COMES FROM!!! Oh you just love to feed me with good throwbacks, now do you Ninjago crew 😍

Plundar the thief, yeah, the attire gives it away although it is nice. And Fungus... huh... well that explains the mushrooms on the hat I guess 😅

Yep, there we go, a party of adventurers, the DnD situation promised 👈👈 He said loot, I saw a 20 faced dice, nice nice

In these recent seasons adventurers just won't like to do adventures for one reason or another, first uncle Powers, now these guys? I mean Ninjago is in danger every freaking time and you risk your life at every step and there's a new formidable villain every like five seconds but... huh... what was my point again?

THE ANIME STYLE IS BACK 😂😂 Oh boy I can tell we're in for a train to crazy town

I'm thinking this dude looks a lot like He-Man... of course he does, the HECK, am I noticing this just now? 😑

I do agree with mister Korgran's father reluctance about talking like that (I saw too many anime characters like that 😂), but Karlof uses the third person too. Either it's common in Metalonia, or there's a general lack of education there 😅 (I LOVE METAL BOY I MISS HIM 🖤🖤)

Talking axe that doesn't talk, nice 😂

Okay... okay, I need a moment

This is too cute. I know her head is a bit too big but LOOK AT THEM 💛🤍💛🤍 Has Chompy never grown?... wait he did got big that one time... okay... okay, never mind

Well that's a pretty nice party, you got your barbarian, your magic user and your rogue. Kinda misses a healer but still... tomorrow I'm doing a DnD session with my friends and I wanna sound like I know stuff 😂

I just noticed that I haven't seen hidden trap doors like that since Chen, the ABC of villains right there my friends 👆

So the King didn't become evil just because of the skull, he actually wished to obtain it and use the dark power. I get that he wants to defend the city but he is basically remorceless about everything else, so he is guilty. Also DRAGON ABUSER 😡

Poor Vania, but she overcame her Skylor situation very quickly. Proud 💛

There we go with the encouragement, you go Rocky!! We have a crazy Skull dude to turn into dust!! 👿👿

Wait, a promise he made a long time ago? Rock mom?

DUNGEON CRAWL!

ROCK MOM!!! YAAAASSS!!! FINALLY SHE'S HERE!!! 🖤🖤🖤

Oh holy FSM, my heart 💔

MY HEART HURTS SO MUCH. Cole as a kid, Lou is back, Rock Mom IS SICK AND WILL DIE, all the drawings, the picture of them together 😭😭

I cannot, freaking, this kid doesn't want his mom to be sick and he's gotten into troubles at school and she wants him to fight and be strong and right and SHE HAS HIS SAME EYEBROWS 😢😢😢😢😢😢

This scene was really heartbreaking, such a genuine situation with a kid that wants her mom to be fine and proud of him 🖤

Just looked at her VA and it's Erin Matthews 🤩 So first I'm counting it as a Nexo Knights reference just because MACY AND ROBIN ❤🖤❤🖤 Second, wasn't "the mom" going to be voiced by Jillian? Is it... is it Maya? Is she coming back? MAYBE NEXT SEASON??? NYA SEASON?!?!? 🤯🤯

Oh, we're moving on? So... so there's still the stuff about Rock Mom's past to uncover, still unsure if she was the one of the blades for the two tribes

PLUNDAR WE DO NOT DISRESPECT COLE INTO THIS HOUSE VANIA MY GIRL YOU ARE SPEAKING FOR ME TOO 💪💪

The connection between Cole and his mom is the earth itself, I'm loving this concept so much. It's true that he never found himself this deep into his element before, the Caves of Despair were mines but never this deep. This really is rock bottom... HECK YEAH

Well Cole...

Welcome to the colored eyes because of elemental power ninja team!! 💚❤🧡 (without counting the forbidden scroll moments) I LOVE WHEN IT HAPPENS!!! I'M GETTING SO PROUD AND EMOTIONAL!!! I'M PROUDOTIONAL!!! 🤯

Aww, Cole saving his son sensei, very nice. They did save each other a lot 🤷‍♀️

This place reminds me a lot of the Fire Temple where Kai got himself into trouble in season 1 but then saved Lloyd, one of my favorite and most memorable episode of the show... I'M TOO NOSTALGIC RIGHT NOW LET'S MOVE ON

NEVER MIND COLE IS TAKING CHARGE LIKE OLD TIMES HE IS FINALLY THE LEADER AGAIN I'M GONNA CRY ROCKY I'M SO HAPPY YOU DESERVE THIS 🖤

Wu's spinjitzu!! Always nice to see it 😊 And yes Adam is a good boy, and for my arachnophobia is a little freaky saying it 😅

Ah, good Plundar, Cole needs all the appreciation of the world because HE IS SUCH A GOOD PERSON AND AMAZING WARRIOR AND I LOVE HIM AAAAAA

This is probably my favorite episode for now, got Rock Mom, got elemental powers, got a lot of Cole in all of his glory: the leader with a clear smart mind able to lead even strangers, with big heart for what's important 👏👏

I feel like this season is giving him glory, I'm curious about how it will end!!

GRIEF-BRINGER

Okay I know it's the name of the dragon... and it gets me a little antsy 😅

Back to the munce! Still doing as good as ever I see! 😅 And lol, you can't blame Nya for not being nice Jay! Although she is kinda best friends with Ronin who double crossed her multiple times... okay, I see your reasoning Bluebell

There we go, Nya making them listen. I honestly could have seen her just grabbing one of them and make them fly through the the room, still cool though 😎

Back to the geckles! Also doing as good as ever! 😅 These little purple guys are so dang cute, seeing my flame babe trying to lead is so PRECIOUS, and even more PRECIOUS is Zane giving him support... and a rock in the face 🤍🤍

Gotta say

I'm more and more fascinated by their culture 😂😂

Aww little Gleck, everything had started with him after all... wait... HER NAME IS LILLY?!?! ROCK MOM HAS A NAME!!! AND SHE IS GILLIE/MILLIE!!! I KNEW IT!!! 🤩🤩

I think I saw the name somewhere, didn't think it was actually her. I always headcanoned her as Gaia, but Lilly is a very sweet name too 💕

It is pretty nice that even though we as viewers didn't know what happened to Lilly, the ninja knew. It's obvious, they've known each other for so long, but still. It feels nice to see this 😊

Oh-oh, Skull dude is up to something... and he said the title 👈👈

Zane keeps being the sweetest thing ever created, le cute dude 🤍🤍 Never thought I'd see Tin Can and Hothead discussing about lies while two slugs race each other...

I don't know if it's the new animation but the armored suits look CRAZY GOOD, the metal and the details are awesome!! I approve the suits of this season 👍

Pff, they are talking down his sister, if he knew they would be literally toasted 🔥

HUG HUG BEAUTIFUL LEGO HUG!!! And she lifts him up, omg the Smith siblings are back and they are so CUTE 😍

Yep, only he can talk down his sister... and possibly be annihilated right after 😅

Oh, the dragon that almost destroyed the two tribes... OH THE DRAGON THAT ALMOST DESTROYED THE TWO TRIBES!!! 😱😱

NO GUYS DON'T LEAVE LLOYD AND ZANE BEHIND, THEY ARE THE MOST PRONE TO SACRIFICE THEMSELVES 😭😱😭😱😭😱

The cringe Kai, the cringe never leaves you alone you beautiful idiot ❤

I cannot believe the animators managed to make Lloyd's LEGO hair swoosh, I must applaude them 👏👏👏 Also POOR BABY ON THE GROUND GIVE HIM A VACATION FOR CRYING OUT LOUD

Well aren't things getting even more complicated 😅 Where is Cole? We need season superstar pronto!

MASTERS NEVER QUIT

Awww, major throwback to the show's most famous motto right in the title! NINJA NEVER QUIT!!! LET'S GO THEN!!! 🤩

The upply team! With the lava beast back... I could easily make comment about how it could be a representation of Cole's feelings since it's LAVA with EARTH and FIRE, and he is running from them... I'M JUST RAMBLING MOVING ON 🖤❤🖤❤

Cole misses the Caves of Despair maybe, he wants to have a round with the carts like in Possession 😂 Was that why he knew it was going to work eventually? That would be histerical, especially since back then they all almost fell into the lava 😅😅

The Heart of the Mountain? Secret temple of the masters of Earth? Possibly hidden in Shintaro? Spinjitzu Burst? Wu, let me ask you this... just in case... is there... perhaps...

IS THERE SOMETHING YOU SHOULD'VE TOLD US??? 😡😡

He is definitely and officially old, only reason why he keeps forgetting to warn people about stuff 😑 I mean, it's not major like with Morro or Aspheera, I guess it's an improvement?... kinda?

So you learn spinjitzu burst if you're surrounded by your element, that sounds pretty awesome! I wonder how it could be with all the others, this can open up kinda like a quest for the true potential but with different places and lots of OP powers and I'M INTO IT 🤩🤩🤩

Okay season, I get it

YOU WANNA MAKE ME CRY 😭😭 I love this aztec vibe, so cool and appropriate she looks STUN 🖤

I didn't expect this much introspection about Cole, I thought it was going to be kinda last minute like with Jay in Prime Empire. I'm so thankful it's not like that, freaking yes. YES. GO COLE BURST OUT!!

... okay, take your time sweetie, no rush. The other ninja are just going to be fried but eh, happens all the time 🤷‍♀️

VANIA MAH GIRL 💕 I understand Wu, I mean the guys kinda learned all they needed already back when they started to train Lloyd. Ever since then, they had been not master and students, but just family. And you always need family, no matter how far you go 🖤

Awwww, Wu! You got your own development too! 👍 So nice to hear "ninja never quit" again, can't be too sure but it's been a while 😍

Let's hope the guys are doing fine resisting while Team Cole arrives 😎😎

[realityandrebirth]

what’s UP it’s time for a PROMO POST !!! reblogs are great!

Who is this?

I’m Carter! I’m also called Terry; my full name is Carter Terry [lastname redacted]! I’m 24, autistic, nonbinary (they/them pronouns), and I’m a writer! I write a LOT of lego fanfiction, a little bit of other fanfiction, and some original stuff!

my ao3 profile can be found here, under mattecat. my website, Dream or Decay, can be found here!

I wrote forgetting the coin for the ferryman, a lego ninjago fic where Morro is inexplicably resurrected and is sent to live with Cyrus Borg, back in January-February 2018. I also write Piece of Rebellion back in 2014, a lego movie fic where Good Cop and Bad Cop find the Piece of Resistance. I write a lot of other stuff, too! check out my ao3!

What is this?

I’m making a little post to promote the best of my writing, fanfic and original, and talk a little bit about each project.

Why is this?

I want to compile links to my works & ways to support me in one, convenient location, plus have something for people to reblog if they want to share my writing.

THE READ MORE TAG BROKE THE POST, SO NOW THIS IS JUST A REALLY LONG POST, SORRY

Support Me!

there are a couple of ways to support me and my writing, both financially and otherwise.

for a non-financial way, what would help me the most right now is to sign up to be my check-in buddy. basically, I’d tell you my deadlines and check-in dates for finishing chapters or short stories of a project, and you’d hold me to them. on the check-in dates, I’d send you my progress so far, and if I miss a check-in or deadline, you’d send me a reminder message. that’s it! no beta-reading, nothing like that, just keep me focused on my work! fill out this form if you’re interested! (or message me if the link isn’t working!)

for the financial ways, I have a patreon I’ve been working to revamp, and a ko-fi for one-time donations. support either way is greatly appreciated!

other than that, just commenting on my stories is a wonderful way to support me, as well as reblogging & sharing them. I’m grateful all the support I get!

Original Projects

my two original projects can be found on my website; Calamity and Gold Towns.

Calamity is a collection of creative works about humans living in a world recreated by deities after the old world was destroyed.

Gold Towns is the story of Prosper and his two friends, Billy (a girl) and Ruben (a boy), as they search for Prosper’s sister, Goldie, and the Golden Land she was searching for.

the first chapter of Gold Towns can be read on my website, while Calamity is still in the very early stages.

Completed Fanfics

forgetting the coin for the ferryman is probably the piece I’m most proud of. as said, it’s a lego ninjago fic about Morro. Lloyd resurrects him, but he can’t stay with the ninja, due to them hating each other, so Wu calls Cyrus Borg to take him in. Cyrus grows attached to the sad teenager, and does his best to take care of him – but the Cursed Realm is calling, and Lloyd’s attempt to give Morro a second chance doesn’t go as planned. PLEASE heed the content warnings!

A Piece of Rebellion was the first novel I completed, about a lego movie AU where Good Cop and Bad Cop find the Piece of Resistance instead of Emmet. the cops become the Special, and their loyalty to Lord Business is tested.

Better Than They Were is a lego ninjago movieverse oneshot I wrote about Garmadon and Koko when they visit Garmadon’s parents’ house with a baby Lloyd. I’m pretty proud of it, so I’m linking it here.

Swamp Creature is a lego ninjago fic where a baby calls Krux a cuck. that’s all you need to know.

other completed fics include: in the lego fandom, a commissioned fic where I ship cyrus borg with a trans lady acronix, a stream-of-consciousness lego movie fic about Finn and the Man Upstairs, a lego ninjago movie fic about Lloyd meeting his friends, and a short Morro fic I wrote because I was sad; in the pokémon fandom, we have a quick Tabitha/Maxie fic where Maxie has a panic attack; and in the steven universe fandom, we have a quick amedot fic where Amethyst and Peridot have a sleepover.

Fanfics in Progress (I have a lot of these haha)

bridging the gap is the sequel to forgetting the coin, set on the Day of the Departed, and featuring the coinverse version of canon events. it should be pretty close to being done? a few more chapters, I hope.

Green Ninja is another lego movie AU where Heidi and Brett Cop (GCBC’s parents) find a young boy called Lloyd alone on the street. when they try to help him, they find themselves pulled into the Master Builder underground, and realize that their sons’ job with President Business is not what it seemed.

Dilara is a lego ninjago fic where Nya, tormented by dreams where she’s Nadakhan’s dead girlfriend, leaves the ninja to stop these dreams and find out what she’s been wondering all this time: who was Dilara?

planting the pomegranate seeds is a lego ninjago crossover between me & my bro’s AUs; coinverse & illusionist. a young Ronin tries to go to the Cursed Realm to find his brother and finds himself in an alternate universe with someone who looks, sounds, and acts like his brother – but Wu told him Morro was dead, and this Morro is alive.

Gnosia Stella Coronae is a pokémon fic with a latin title that means nothing. Rebecca is a member of Team Magma, and while the team is struggling to hold itself together after the Groudon and Kyogre incident, she’s kidnapped by Giratina for reasons beyond her understanding; all she wants is for her and the people she cares about to make it out alive.

Other WIPS include: in the steven universe fandom, an outdated peridot redemption au fic and a ronlars ghostbusters crossover; in the lego fandom, a sequel to Piece of Rebellion set after the events of the lego batman movie, and a lego ninjago movie au where Garmadon is a good dad.

that’s all! thank you for reading this far, and I hope you have a good day!

[not-so-childsplay]

Writings - The Violet Ninja Revealed

[Because I have a few scenes I want to get to and-- honestly this is in that list but it’s earlier on (literally wiped out my first two ideas w/this one so yay!).

Word Count: 1,660 Warnings: Briefly-mentioned nausea, combat. Relevance: In S1 of Ninjago, Cel and Nya team up to be heroines in disguise- Nya becomes the Samurai, and Cel, the Violet Ninja... Occurs during the episode “The Snake King” (initially).]

“Keep the illusion up.” Words spoken to all the ninja present, even them. To everyone, they appeared at the moment as another Lego- standing the six feet, blocky with claw hands. They hopped aboard the glittering red metal, the darkness of the pit they were descending towards slowly sapping them of strength. “Make it look like we’re still fighting...!” Nya’s voice came out, warped beyond recognition.

In earlier days, the two had joked that even Nya’s brother never recognized her voice.

They climbed aboard, fingers finding a small piece of metal to hold on to that wouldn’t immediately make them eject. Had this been the start of their journey, the sound of metal scraping away to reveal rockets would have all-but scared them off. They would’ve lost their grip as the engines powered on, as flames burst out of the machine’s back and they were all sent skyward- but this was not the past.

This was the present.

They hung on for dear life as the wind tore into the illusion they’d crafted. It was still in its development stages, and it was taking everything in them just to make it look real, let alone solid.

The machine started to tilt sideways.

“There’s too much weight!” Zane called out. Not a moment later, Nya ejected- and one of the ninja reached for Cel as they started to lose their grip. They saw a flash of yellow and reacted, immediately pushing off of the armor and leaping as far as they could to the side. It was only once they were fully away from the machine that they realized their fatal error.

The ground was coming up.

They were going down.

“I can’t believe they just save......!” Jay’s voice quickly faded from hearing as they plummeted back to Earth- only for Nya to grab them from the sky, nearly pulling their arms out of their sockets. Well, ‘grab’ wasn’t the right word- it was more like she’d used a grapple, rope swinging around her partner in crime and saving them from what would’ve undoubtedly broken bones.

The wind was strong, cutting through their illusion and straight into their own skin. They moved for but a moment- and heard two sickening noises at once.

The rope snapping.

The engine sputtering.

The purple-clad ninja fell from the sky, with their companion not far behind.

A glint of gold filled their vision in a last-second dive.

[]

Sand.

There was a lot of fucking sand.

Cel cautiously pulled their head out of it, watching as the illusion lifted itself around them. The sun beat down from above, its rays all at once rejuvenating and burning.

Their illusion was still up, but with their feet in the sand, it may as well have only been half-there. The sand was everywhere- spilling out of their hair, caking their nose and mouth- they coughed, choked really, as it spewed out. Their illusion was failing, flickering between reality and falsehood.

“--Celexa?” They stood straight up. That was a name they recognized. They tried to pour more power into the illusion, praying to the stars that it would actually activate-- but all that happened was it snapping entirely, the false Lego vanishing in a flash of sparks... And leaving only its creator behind. They were left standing in the sand, taking a step back even as the white-robed ninja took a step forward.

“....Y’nee--” They coughed again. Zane took that moment to advance several steps. “---leave--”

“Why?” His voice was cold, but not uncaring. They felt something hit their back, and another cough escaped-- more sand fell out, and finally, they could actually breathe. “....Cel, you were the Violet Ninja?” Shit.

“Zane--” They tried to move back. There was a solid object there, forcing them to take a step forward- only for a singular near-circle of a hand to steady them. “--look.” Cel turned around, eyes flickering across the other’s. There was something in two faded-blue irises. “...you n’ the others...”

They didn’t let Nya and Cel help.

“...pushed me aside...” Right. Because Nya... They couldn’t know. “... I wanted t’help, but you guys said I’d freak everyone out, that I’d be in the way...” They trailed off, glancing away from the other. Zane was silent. “...listen, you can’t tell the others.”

“Why not?” Zane tilted his head- as if this was some insane plead. Technically, it was.

“...think ‘bout what Wu said-- iron sharpens iron... N’ you and the other ninja have gotten better because the Samurai and I are your opponents.” Great, they were pleading their case. Zane could easily smash it apart. The only recourse would be his memory switch, something that Cel would never touch- not if they could help it. Besides, for that to work, they’d have to beat Zane. “If the others knew... They’d go easier on me.”

The unknowing nindroid was quiet for a moment. Cel’s left foot moved to tap back, to relieve nerves by cracking them into the ground- tnk!.

Both of them turned, yellow-purple and faded-blue looking down at the human’s shoe. It moved, revealing a glint of gold. Cel turned and wiped away the sand, coming up with....

The Shurikens of Ice.... And the Scythe of Earth.

“....here. Take these.” They turned back with the weapons in hand.

“How did....?”

“The Samurai, I’d guess.” Cel was grateful he hadn’t asked about the Samurai. It was probably due to their initial logic, but... They still felt bad. Guilt gnawed at their stomach even as they gave a half-hearted grin. “--The others’ll be worried. Chat back at the DB?” They were met with a faint, uneasy smile.

“...alright. Be careful, Celexa.” Zane took the weapons, the Shurikens going behind his back while he carried the Scythe.

“You too.” They both had to get back... Zane in one way, Celexa... Another. They watched his back even as he walked away, seemingly assured of where he was going. Only once he was gone did Cel sink to the ground, one eye twitching. “Holymcfuckingshit.”

Their stomach was twisting over and over in knots. It had felt like they were on a massive stage, doing a performance once more like they had in high school. It wasn’t like a fight with the Serpentine or Wu, it was... Well, that had gotten under their skin. They breathed in and out, steadying their breathing. They were still shaking, feeling cold whispering across their fingertips.

They gathered their sanity, resting for but a moment more before standing. They had to get moving- find Nya and get out of the desert before they died from dehydration or something similar.

[Undefined Timeskip to “Once Bitten, Twice Shy”]

“C’MERE Y’SLITHERIN’ FREAKS!” Cel’s accent exploded from every word alongside their anger. The ninjas had disappeared into a ‘scary’ ride a few minutes prior, from what Nya told them... Jay was helping the Samurai at present, but that left Cel with their own problem. Zane, Cole, and Kai were all frozen in solid ice- and yet... Moving. Somehow.

“The Violet Ninja!” Cole growled. “Why now?!” Cel dashed between two Serpentine, just barely dodging as they spat venom at each other... Which crashed through their illusion. “Wait, wh-”

“Y’need’a learn t’aim!” The illusion fell away. Unlike the ninja, Cel hadn’t come in any sort of suit- instead dressed in their plain attire. It wasn’t the best for striking fear in (really, who feared a purple-and-black jacket) but it would freak the snakes out soon enough.

“Cel!!” Zane yelled. They spun, a singular slash of light lashing out. And just like that, they were back in. Another slash went towards the nearest Serpentine- this one more than a hint hotter than its predecessor.

“AHHHH!!!!!” Music to their ears.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!”

“CEL?!” Two voices rang out, each outraged and confused in their own right.

“Your defeat!” The ninja were rubbing off on her. Cel smacked the offending serpentine straight into the ceiling. Their hand had momentarily been reinforced with light, allowing the move without harming their actual body. They sent another lashing of bright-white light towards the ninjas’ collective ice pillars. They hard a crack- then a snap.

“THE NINJA ARE FREE!” The serpents screeched. A Hypnobrai jumped in front of Cel.

“Oh fuck that-!” Cel spun down, eyes snapping shut. Feel the light, feel where it ended... And---

“AHHH!” Good.

“Cel what-- how-?!” They opened their eyes to Kai, staring at them like they’d suddenly grown eight heads.

“Fight now, talk later!” And with that, they jumped back into the fight-- no time to think, no time to pause... Just fight.

[]

“So wait--- you knew?” Cole was incredulous. Jay was making puppy-dog eyes at Nya, having completely forgotten he’d just unlocked his true potential and saved his now-girlfriend. The secret had been blasted apart- and with it, Cel and Nya’s cover. “How come you didn’t say anything?”

“Because if you knew it was Cel, then you would not have put all your strength into fighting them.” Zane replied with a grin. “And, since I found out about Cel--”

“Well I found out about Nya around the same time, so-- it doesn’t count.” Kai crossed his arms.

Cel could only snicker as the ninja devolved into bickering amongst themselves.- Everything from Cel and Nya’s now-known secrets to Kai’s lack of full potential...

“Hey, Cel doesn’t have their’s either!”

“Well Cel’s not an elemental ninja!” Kai was fighting a losing battle.

“But they use light!! How is that not an element??” Cel shook their head at that. They were the violet ninja, a color that really should’ve gone with shadows... And yet... Light powers. Well, themes and proper color coordination could apparently be damned.

“It’s not on the scrolls, mate.” That was all they could offer in defense.- There was the Fire, Lightning, Ice, and Earth Ninja- the elements- the Green Ninja, and then the Golden Ninja.. But the green would supposedly rise from the elemental, and the golden... They were still trying to figure that one out.

“But- but I--!!”

[littlepryingpandorica]

Project Rebuild Chapter 2

A.k.a. “Everything you need to know about the ninja without a single line of dialogue in 3 and ½ minutes.” References included. 

EXT. NINJAGO HIGH SCHOOL – DAY

We fade in to see a shot of Master Wu from the back as he looks on to see a school campus. The song "Believer" by Imagine Dragons begins playing as an entirely wordless montage sequence of Master Wu recruiting the ninja occurs.

We see a close up of Master Wu in deep thought. We then go into his POV (point of view) shot as he looks at a sign on the right side that reads “NINJAGO HIGH SCHOOL.” The national emblem of Ninjago can also be seen. It is a rectangle with six dots inside, resembling a 3x2 Lego brick standing upright.  

INT. SCHOOL GYM – DAY

Several teenage boys are playing a game of dodgeball. We see a close up of one of the boys with a confident look on his face. This is COLE, a young man with black tousled hair and long bangs. He has thick, black, bushy eyebrows that accentuate his expressions.    

[Song: Believer by Imagine Dragons - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is0qM0aAJqg ]

[First things first, I’ma say all the words inside my head]  Cole throws a dodgeball at his fellow classmate so hard that the other student smashes through the wall of the gym, leaving behind a minifig-shaped hole. Cole sheepishly raises his hands as though to say “whoops”. 

[I’m fired up and tired of the way that things have been, oh-ooh The way that things have been, oh-ooh] Everyone else is freaked out by Cole’s super strength and runs away from Cole. Saddened, Cole hangs his head down when he is left alone in the gym. Alone except for one person. Master Wu puts his hand on Cole’s shoulder and recruits Cole for his Secret Ninja Force. Cole looks up and smiles.  

INT. SCHOOL SWIMMING POOL - DAY

Several students are swimming laps around the pool filled with actual non-Lego water. But one lone student can be seen meditating at the bottom of the pool. Close up on this boy. He is ZANE, an unusual young boy with a white crew cut. 

[Second things second, don’t you tell me what you think that I could be] Suddenly, large spikes of non-Lego ice emanate from where Zane is sitting at the bottom of the pool. The ice spreads until it freezes the entire swimming pool with everyone in it. Zane opens his bright blue eyes and is shocked by what he has done. 

[I’m the one at the sail, I’m the master of my sea, oh-ooh The master of my sea, oh-ooh] Cut to Zane out of the pool while school staff are trying to break the other swimmers out of the ice. Zane is frightened by the angry glares all the swimmers are giving him. Master Wu approaches Zane and puts his hand on Zane’s shoulder. Zane turns to Master Wu and sees Cole in the background nervously waving hi. Zane nods and Master Wu recruits Zane. Zane hugs Cole and Cole smiles gleefully.

INT. SCHOOL SCIENCE LAB. - DAY

At a science class, the students are busy working on their experiments. We focus on a freckled boy with messy, dark brown hair. This is JAY, a cautious but inventive individual.

[I was broken from a young age, taking my sulking to the masses]  Jay works furiously on building a potato clock. Several quick shots of Jay taking various items including a non-Lego marble potato, non-Lego galvanized nails and some copper wire. As he takes each of these items, tiny sparks of electricity flow from his hands into the objects. 

[Writing my poems for the few, that look to me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me] Beside Jay is the Lego clock he built. It is connected to the copper wire, connected to the potato. Jay inserts the galvanized nail into the potato and the Lego clock ends up shooting lightning everywhere. The bursts of lightning are synchronized with the beat of the lyrics.   

[Singing from heartache from the pain, taking my message from the veins] Everyone in the science lab runs out. Master Wu looks under one of the tables and sees Jay, huddled by himself and scared. 

[Speaking my lesson to the brain] Master Wu recruits Jay. Cole welcomes Jay to the team, patting him on the back. 

HARD CUT TO EXT. SCHOOL SOCCER FIELD – NIGHT

Bright spotlights illuminate the soccer field as the students are playing a nighttime soccer match. We track an enthusiastic teenager as he rushes to kick the soccer ball into the goal. This is KAI, an impulsive young man with a scar running through his right eye. He has incredibly spiky, dark brown hair.

[Seeing the beauty through the...] As Kai runs, flames sprout from his back, resembling wings. 

[Pain!] At "Pain!", we see a slow motion shot of Kai kicking the soccer ball, his fire wings fully extended. Flames emanate from his feet, setting the ball on fire.

[You made me a] Now set aflame, the ball hurtles into the goal, setting the goal on fire. 

[You made me a believer]    Kai stands triumphantly for a few moments while the crowd gasps. He doesn't realize he has accidentally set his clothes on fire, leaving him almost entirely naked.  

[Believer!] We see from behind Kai, a visible shot of Kai’s Lego butt, which is basically just a regular set of Lego legs but entirely yellow.  In the background, the crowd cringes and looks away.  

[Pain!] Kai notices his lack of clothing just as the fire spreads to his underwear on his front. His fire wings dissolve into nothing. 

[You break me down]  Ashamed, Kai covers his nether regions and runs to the locker room, crying.

INT. SCHOOL LOCKER ROOM – NIGHT

[And build me up, believer] Kai is crying in the locker room. He looks up and sees Cole, who averts his eyes.

[Believer!] Without looking at Kai, Cole hands out spare clothes to Kai.

INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY – NIGHT

[Pain!] Kai comes out of the locker room wearing the new clothes. 

[Oh let the bullets fly] Master Wu recruits Kai.  

[Oh let them rain]   A person walks by, obstructing our view. As the person leaves, the scene transitions to the same location during daytime.

INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY – DAY 

Many students are walking around the hallway. Some are crowded around a bulletin board. On the board is a poster that says “Art Competition Finals”.

[My love, my life, my drive, it came from... Pain!] A teenage girl runs toward the bulletin board. She is NYA, the younger sister of Kai. She sports black wavy hair in a ponytail with long bands and has a small beauty mark on her face. As she runs, Nya tracks water with every step she takes. At “Pain!”, a student slips and falls on a puddle of water Nya left behind.

[You made me a, you made me a believer, believer] Unaware of the trail of water she leaves behind her, Nya is ecstatic at seeing the art competition poster, so much that globs of water manifest from her hands and the rest of her body. Other students begin to notice. Her power leaves her wet causing others to think she wet herself.  

[Third things third, send a prayer to the ones up above] The students all laugh at Nya. Ashamed, she runs to the corner dead end of the hallway where no one can see her. She crouches down and starts crying. 

[All the hate that you’ve heard has turned your spirit to a dove, oh-ooh] Nya looks up and sees Kai. Kai sits beside his sister and gives her an extra set of clothes. 

[Your spirit up above, oh-ooh] Nya comes out of the girl’s bathroom wearing the new clothes and sees Master Wu and the other ninja. Master Wu recruits Nya.  

EXT. FIELD – DAY

[I was choking in the crowd] We see the ninja training with Master Wu. They are all wearing black gi uniforms. Master Wu makes a striking motion.

[Building my rain up in the cloud] Cole strikes a regular non-Lego brick and breaks it in half.  

EXT. SNOWY MOUNTAIN - DAY

[Falling like ashes to the ground] Zane leads the others through snow-covered terrain. The others fall down in time with the lyrics. Emphasis on Kai.

[Hoping my feelings, they would drown]  Cole tries to pick up his teammates but he sinks into the snow himself. Zane goes back and helps everyone out. 

EXT. MASTER WU’S OBSTACLE COURSE – DAY

We see the ninja before a complicated obstacle course consisting of several rotating contraptions and wooden dummies.  

[But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing, Inhibited, limited, till they broke open] Jay goes through the obstacle course and dodges every blow from the spinning contraptions and the wooden dummies. His movements are synchronized with the beat of the lyrics. 

[And rained down] Cole cheers.

[And rained down, like] Kai enters the obstacle course. We sees Kai’s surprised face as the arm of a wooden dummy comes down on him.

[Pain!]   We see from behind the wooden dummy as Kai smashes through its arm with a powerful fire kick.

[You made me a, you made me a believer] Kai goes literally right through the obstacle course and destroys every obstacle and dummy in the way. His movements are also synchronized with the beat of the lyrics. 

[Believer!] All the ninja cheer.

[Pain!] Reaction shot of Master Wu as he is shocked that Kai demolished his expensive equipment. 

INT. MASTER WU’S DOJO WAREHOUSE – DAY

[You break me down and build me up] We see a shot of Nya looking at various flat Lego tiles containing blueprints.

[Believer, believer!] Everyone cheers as Nya builds the SAMURAI X MECH.

[Pain!] Cole and Nya do a fist bump in the foreground. The shot is framed such that Jay is in the background in between Cole and Nya. Jay has a shocked face and he covers his mouth as they fist bump.

[Oh let the bullets fly]  Cole notices Jay has a crush on Nya. 

[Oh let them rain] Cole calls Jay over. 

[My love, my life] Jay and Nya do a fist bump.  

[My drive] Jay blushes.

[It came from… Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer!] We see a panning shot of all the ninja lined up as they punch out their element one at a time. Cole leads and the others follow. Earth, Ice, Lightning, Fire, and Water. Master Wu looks on proudly in the corner.   

INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY LOCKERS – DAY

We see a young boy with green eyes and blond hair. This is LLOYD GARMADON, the son of Lord Garmadon.  

[Last things last, by the grace of the fire and the flame] Lloyd walks towards his locker and sees the word “Garma-dork” spray painted on it in black paint. He is bullied for being Garmadon's son. Lloyd’s green eyes turn red in anger and he pulls up his black hoodie to cover his face.  

EXT. NINJAGO CITY STREETS – DAY

[You’re the face of the future, the blood in my veins. oh-ooh] Lloyd steals and vandalizes property. He runs out of a candy store with a wheelbarrow carrying a single  piece of non-Lego candy.  

[The blood in my veins, oh-ooh] Master Wu and the ninja confront Lloyd. All the ninja are scared of Lloyd except Cole. Master Wu places his hand on Lloyd’s shoulder and recruits him. Lloyd’s red eyes turn green and full of hope. 

EXT. FIELD – DAY

Again, we see the ninja training with Master Wu, wearing their black gi uniforms.

[But they never did, ever lived] Master Wu repeats the same striking motion.

[Ebbing and flowing] Lloyd strikes a non-Lego cement hollow brick and breaks it in half. Surprised reaction shot of Cole who cannot believe his eyes.

EXT. SNOWY MOUNTAIN - DAY

[Inhibited, limited, till it broke open] Lloyd leads the others through snow-covered terrain but instead of everyone walking, all the other ninja are on snowboards attached to a thread rope. The rope is tied to Lloyd who runs at full speed like a sled dog, pulling all the other ninja along. Kai is having the most fun but the other ninja are just trying to hang on.

EXT. MASTER WU’S OBSTACLE COURSE – DAY

[And rained down, and rained down, like] Lloyd goes through obstacle course, dodges every blow and still destroys every obstacle after he has dodged it. All the ninja are amazed. Cole’s eyes are full of awe but also slight apprehension from being progressively outclassed by Lloyd with seemingly little effort.

[Pain!] Reaction shot of Master Wu with an “I just fixed that!” look on his face. 

INT. MASTER WU’S DOJO WAREHOUSE – DAY

[You made me a, you made me a…] We see a shot of Lloyd looking at various flat Lego tiles containing blueprints.

[Believer, believer!] Everyone except Cole cheers as Lloyd builds all the mechs of the other ninja, the WATER STRIDER, the FIRE MECH, the LIGHTNING JET, the ICE TANK, and the QUAKE MECH. Cole is now more visibly bitter and cynical. His hair is now tied up in a man bun.

[Pain!] Cole quietly leaves the dojo as the others cheer Lloyd on.

[Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain] Cole runs back into the dojo, frightened. He points outside and gets the others’ attention. They all run outside.

EXT. OUTSIDE MASTER WU’S DOJO WAREHOUSE – DAY

[My love, my life, my drive] We see the GREEN DRAGON MECH that Lloyd built. Cole is frightened by it and cowers behind Zane.

[It came from… Pain!]   Zane turns to Cole and makes robotic movements indicating that it is a robot, not a real dragon. Cole laughs sheepishly.

[You made me a, you made me a...]   All the ninja put on their ninja hoods but now, instead of black, they are wearing different colors to match their elemental powers. Lloyd wears green to match his eyes. Cole is the only one who continues to wear black.

[Believer] Wide shot of all the ninja jumping in attack formation toward Garmadon and his forces. Secret Ninja Force on the left and Garmadon and his army on the right. The ninja all have their weapons drawn. Jay has a pair of nunchucks. Nya has a spear. Kai has a pair of twin katanas. Lloyd has a broadsword. Cole has a scythe. Zane has a pair of shuriken. 

[Believer!] Epic slow motion shot of the Secret Ninja Force and Garmadon about to fight each other.

Fade out to black just before they make contact. 

CHAPTER INDEX

[birchwoodswolf]

Who is blue samurai x? I'm dying Squirtle please help.

Well, Anon, there’s my theory, and then there’s the popular theory. And because you came to ask my opinion, guess which one you’re going to get? :D

So here’s a “disclaimer” of sorts for you, or perhaps more of a waiver: This is nothing more than the same desperate string of hope that’s led along a lot of my other theories about mysterious characters in years past. The difference with this one is that there’s actually a significant amount more substance than the usual theories, including a very powerful source (i.e., the Dark Island Trilogy novels, specifically the third one) that vouches for it.

With that said, let’s begin!

So let’s go back to before the beginning, to a basic analysis of what little we do know within canon about a certain Dr. Julien. Here’s a list of important points:

He’s a crazy-fantastic inventor, able to understand complex mechanics with little more than a glance at a set of blueprints.

He was the first person to invent a sentient android. (Cyrus may or may not have based his designs for Pixal off of Zane - it would certainly explain all of the references to “compatibility”, why Pixal was so easily able to duplicate Zane’s blueprints to create the Nindroids, and how Zane was able to rebuild himself in Borg Industries’ factory - but this is just speculation.)

He was (presumably) able to redraw Zane’s blueprints from memory and then modify them such that they would be suitable for use with far more limited materials (Word of God says Echo was made out of “copper and bits and pieces from the island”).

He was able to draft blueprints for and then reassemble the Destiny’s Bounty’s engines within about 18 hours. (Started around midday, they left the island at sunrise the next morning.) He also added the “blimp”, most likely for stability, and made several other changes to make sure the ship would be able to fly safely. The improved engines were powerful enough to resist the pulling force of the entire Leviathan.

He seems to have a certain talent for inventing and implementing weapons, considering the Juggernaut, the Bounty, the two vehicles he made from scratch on the Dark Island, all of the Skeleton Army’s various vehicles, Zane, and Echo (though Echo isn’t as good at it due his obvious limitations, i.e. the fact that he’s constantly falling apart).

He also seems to have a decent amount of skill operating vehicles, or is able to learn how to operate vehicles rather quickly. Consider his experiences with the Bounty in the second half of season two: he redesigns it but doesn’t pilot it when they leave, he spends the next two episode building unrelated inventions, and then in E25 he’s able to control it precisely enough to intercept the Overlord’s missile before it can hit Lloyd. All of that with no prior on-screen flying experience.

Samukai forced him to consume an unknown potion. Said potion brought him back to life, and considering how most magic in Ninjago is a double-edged sword, it’s possible that there might have been other effects.

Cyrus admires and respects him, as seen in his little spiel with Zane in E27.

He’s not 100% confirmed to be dead, and the circumstances of his sudden “disappearance” between S2 and S3 are unknown. This here is the clincher. The very fact that we don’t know what happened to him means that he’s an extremely viable option to come out of left field and fuck shit up.

And then, finally, there’s something that I only found out by chance on the Ninjago Wiki, seen here on this page.

Later that night, Wu, waking up, would be struck with a horrible nightmare. Recounting what he’d seen in his journal, Wu would recall his dream; Cryptic visions, such as that of Dr. Saunders, followed by the Hall of Villainy exhibit, its statues filled with more life than regular mannequins; Master Yang, dwelling in the shadows; the former masters of Fire and Water, Ray and Maya, in a pit of flame forging something terrible; the deceased inventor, Dr. Julien; and finally, the twins he thought lost to time, Acronix and Krux. Haunted by his visions, Wu decides that he must prepare for the inevitable future.

Before I even get to the rest of the evidence that supports this, I just want to consider this tidbit here. The Dark Island Trilogy is set between the end of the “real” part of Skybound and Day of the Departed. So let’s take apart these visions, shall we?

Dr. Saunders and the Hall of Villainy were core pieces in the plot of Day of the Departed.

Sensei Yang was also a core piece and main antagonist of Day of the Departed.

From the leaks of the last half of S7, Ray and Maya are still alive and are/were helping to forge the Iron Doom.

Acronix and Krux is obvious, as they’re involved all throughout S7.

And then you consider that Julien is on the same list, in the middle of the list of things that were relevant in S7, and that again according to the Ninjago Wiki, he was considered important enough to be pictured (scroll down to the Appearances section). And now, if you still don’t believe any of this shit I’ve laid out before you and you’re still not 100% convinced, then we can start getting into the nitty-gritty details that really start to suggest something when put together.

So let’s actually start off with the Samurai X Rising preview that LEGO posted on their YouTube channel a few weeks ago. (If you haven’t seen it, you can watch it here.) What we’re going to do for each piece of this is start assembling a list of the skills this character must have, and thus eliminate every character that does not have all of these skills.

And this opening short sets the bar pretty high. Samurai X (who I will henceforth refer to as “X”, both to avoid confusion and to save typing) is intimately familiar with technology to the point where they can reprogram it on the fly to redesign Nya’s vehicles and armor. They also seem to have some minor skill with bladed weapons, and are either very talented with operating Nya’s vehicles or instinctually know what to do to prevent all of the dangerous maneuvers they’re doing with the vehicle from killing them. With these three details, we can eliminate 99% of the cast.

Minor skill with weapons implies that they can’t be any minor characters such as Ed, Edna, Dareth, Brad, Gene, Sally, Lou, the Mailman, etc. etc. that have no knowledge whatsoever of these skills.

The ability to drive the vehicle alone narrows the rest of the field down significantly, leaving only:

The Ninja and their close allies (Wu, Misako, Ronin, etc.)

The Elemental Masters

Cyrus and Pixal

Finally, the familiarity with Nya’s technology narrows it down even further, to an incredibly narrow field of Julien, Cyrus, Pixal, Ronin, and Karlof (due to his engineering experience).

And then, just from this short, we can narrow it all down to only Julien and Pixal through the fact that Cyrus appears all throughout the season, X steals Ronin’s voice, and X doesn’t appear to have any elemental powers (since Karlof’s iron fists would be a dead giveaway).

I can hear you now saying: “But Julien and Pixal are both viable options, and most of the same arguments you applied to Julien apply to her just as well!”

But don’t worry about it. I have a way to rule her out, too. But first we’re going to start over, to derive this tiny pool of two viable options in a different way.

X first appears this season in E70, when they appear out of nowhere to rescue Lloyd, drop him off with the Ninja again, have a short confrontation with the Ninja in which X says absolutely nothing, and then blast off and leave without even attempting to make conversation.

Next: E71. Nya returns to her Samurai X cave and has a very odd encounter with X, in which X copies other characters’ voices. The characters they duplicate, in order of appearance, are:

Ronin

Dareth

Misako

Kai

Nya herself

Skyl*r

What connection do all of these characters have? Oh, nothing in particular… except for the fact that they’ve all spoken in Nya’s Samurai X cave. While I have no proof of this (and no desire to find old French or Finnish episodes to search for voice lines, considering I speak neither) it’s quite possible that the things Samurai X says are exact lines from what said characters spoke when they were in the cave.

When we consider this in the context of the strange encounter from E70, it suddenly makes sense: X is unable to speak for whatever reason, or chooses not to speak such that their identity will not be revealed to the Ninja. This is yet another important detail that will be very significant - and it can singlehandedly narrow us down to one character. (I’ll explain why later.)

Another important thing to note in this scene is that X apparently doesn’t know that Garmadon is dead, or generally says something about Garmadon that causes Nya to go into a fit about Garmadon and makes sad music play. This is yet another thing that’s very important to consider, and I will again explain why later.

Finally, Nya walks away at the end of that scene assuming that Samurai X is Skyl*r… and then Skyl*r is immediately counted out in the very next scene.

Honestly, I’m getting tired of presenting evidence because let’s face it, everybody who’s reading this is already convinced X is either Julien or Pixal and all I really have to do is explain why it can’t be Pixal. I’m not even going to bother with presenting the rest of the stuff, because I’m getting tired of it and none of it is relevant anyway.

So here’s my final argument on why it has to be Julien, and why it can’t be Pixal: color schemes.

See, throughout the series, even if you don’t look that hard, you’ll see that Pixal tends to be associated with three or four colors: white, purple, green, and red. Her body is white with purple accents, her eyes are very obviously green, and parts of her design (and her eyes when she was briefly “evil” in S3) are red. Notably, none of these colors are blue or gold, the main colors that X chooses to associate with.

On the other hand? Julien’s entire family is centered around four main colors: blue, yellow/gold, white, and black, most of which are prevalent in X’s design. For evidence regarding this color association, it’s as easy as taking a look at some of the episodes that are significant to their family in general:

In Tick Tock (E7), the memory sequence has a persistent yellow color which turns into a sickly green when Julien dies/Zane is deactivated.

The Last Voyage (E22) has lots of associations with blue, yellow, and black, most notably everything near the end of the episode (the lighting in the scene at the top of the lighthouse, and then everything after that, pretty much).

The Titanium Ninja (E34) features all four colors. Blue, white, and black are the most obvious, but there’s also yellow (the butterfly at the end).

Zane’s original design features all four colors: yellow skin, white clothing, blue eyes, black accessories/gloves/etc.

Zane’s new Titanium design features three of the colors: gray (black + white) and blue. Additionally, Echo has the last color of the quartet (as he’s mainly themed around yellow).

The Workshop features all four colors at one time or another (black and white from the trees outside; yellow and blue from different lighting on the inside).

The Lighthouse also features all four colors in different amounts and places (the tower is mostly dark gray/blue, but is accented by yellowish wood; the light the tower produces is pure white).

But the most cementing detail about all of this is X’s eye visor, which is a particularly telling color: the exact same shade of blue as Zane’s eyes.

*drops mic*

…

*picks mic back up again*

So now here’s the fun part: we’ve got all the fun, weird details about X in place, and now I have to explain where Julien gets all of these extra things from. Some of these are very easy: if X is Julien, the reason X doesn’t know that Garmadon is dead is because Julien was never around to find out about it and presumably has had no contact with anyone who would know.

The more concerning detail, however, is this: if X is Julien, why is Julien unable to speak?

Before I get into my explanation, there’s one more thing I’d like to point out: In E74, X does something very odd. In any context it would seem innocent, but this odd thing is given specific attention and adds a very tangible weight to my idea about what happened.

Go ahead, watch it. Starting at 20:30, watch straight through.

Did you reach 21:00? If you did, go back. Watch it again. Just watch it over and over, those same thirty seconds, until you can figure out what’s wrong with that picture.

Still stumped? Here’s the answer: X moves. They take a step forward, to get a better look at what they’re seeing, as if whatever they’re seeing is the most important thing they’ve ever witnessed. No one else moves; they all stand and stare. X steps forward to look, but at what?

Oh, nothing but Kai using the yellow Time Blade to reverse-age his father.

Here’s the theory: Remember everything I’ve said about Samukai’s potion? How it might have had unintended (or intended) side effects, how magic is a double-edged sword? How a second chance at life can’t just be given away for free, how a price must always be paid for immortality?

Let me just link back to that Ninjago Theories post from 2013 one last time. Just for kicks, y'know. Because option number two can explain everything.

Here’s a timeline of sorts on how everything probably went down, just for the heck of it, and also because I doubt it’s explained in S7 from what we’ve seen in the leaks. (Admittedly it is kinda hard to tell when you can only understand the visuals, but considering that X only appears for short bursts more than anything, it’s definitely a reasonable assumption.)

Starting off post-Tick Tock’s flashback, Samukai brings Julien back to life with the infamous potion and takes him to the lighthouse prison to start creating vehicles for the Skeleton Army.

Julien creates vehicles for a while until the Skeletons abandon him (because they lose the war and can no longer travel to the surface of their own accord). At this point, the potion has probably already started to take effect - but Julien doesn’t notice, because he’s too busy stressing out over his two main concerns at this point: “not starving” and “not going insane”.

Julien makes Echo, blah blah blah, bides his time, blah blah blah, The Last Voyage, blah blah blah, the Dark Island, blah blah blah, THEY WIN YAY!

At some point afterward Julien starts to figure out that something is terribly, terribly wrong, but he doesn’t want to worry Zane about it so he says nothing. Eventually he figures out what’s going on and decides to make himself disappear, because he doesn’t want to put Zane through this shit right after they were just reunited.

Julien likely flees to the Workshop and lays low there for a few years or until Zane goes to visit for Day of the Departed and Julien realizes he needs to leave, due to his “skin condition”, in that his skin is nonexistent. (Ha ha funny joke.)

He seeks out another isolated place where nobody can bother him, and possibly by accident, stumbles upon Nya’s samurai cave. There, he gets the idea to “borrow” Nya’s equipment and gear such that he can like, not live in hiding for the rest of his existence.

S7 happens: meeting with the Ninja and Nya, not wanting to use his own voice or possibly being unable to use it (again due to the aforemented “skin condition”), etc. etc. etc.

Finally we get to the end of the season, where he witnesses Ray getting de-aged by the yellow Time Blade. The step forward now makes sense: “Holy shit I don’t have to be an actual skeleton until the end of time now”.

So yeah, that’s about it for all of this. You now have the proper context to understand this video that I made the night I watched the leaks! Hooray!

[cutsliceddiced]

New top story from Time: Here Are the Best New Movies Coming Out in 2019

Heading into a new year at the movies, there are a few things we can be sure about. We can be sure that Avengers: Endgame is going to earn a box-office haul worth more than all six Infinity Stones combined. We can be sure that Disneyphiles are going to swim in a sea of nostalgia with remakes of three Mouse House classics: Dumbo, Aladdin and The Lion King, all due before the height of summer.

But while those films aren’t entirely known quantities, what really makes the new movie releases due in 2019 exciting are the deeper unknowns: how will Jordan Peele and Greta Gerwig follow up the sensations that were Get Out and Lady Bird ? What can we expect from directorial debuts like Queen & Slim from Emmy winner Lena Waithe? And how will gripping reads like The Goldfinch and The Woman in the Window play out onscreen?

There’s much to look forward to at the movies in 2019. Here is TIME’s list of the best new movies coming out in 2019.

Glass (Jan. 18)

M. Night Shyamalan creates the beginnings of his own cinematic universe, weaving together the threads of two of his previous hits — Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2017) — into a shared sequel. Glass finds Bruce Willis, James McAvoy and Samuel L. Jackson entangled in a superhuman game of cat and mouse.

NetflixRene Russo and Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Velvet Buzzsaw’

Velvet Buzzsaw (Feb. 1)

Writer-director Dan Gilroy reunites with Jake Gyllenhaal, who starred in his eerie 2014 thriller Nightcrawler, for another thriller. Where that movie was set in the underbelly of local TV news, this one, which hits Netflix a few days after its Sundance premiere and costars Rene Russo, John Malkovich and Toni Collette, explores the L.A. art scene.

Miss Bala (Feb. 1)

This action thriller inspired by a 2011 Mexican film finds Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) in a dire situation: kidnapped in Tijuana and beholden to the whims of a dangerous cartel.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (Feb. 8)

The little plastic bricks continue to provide fodder for sequels: so far we’ve had a Lego Batman and a Lego Ninjago, and the possibilities are as limitless as the toy itself. This one takes its “everything is awesome” mentality into outer space, after a not-so-awesome space invasion leaves Bricksburg in shambles.

Fighting With My Family (Feb. 14)

This is the first of several Dwayne Johnson movie appearances in 2019, but at least in this one he’s not the main event. The Rock, who also produced the movie, plays a supporting role in this adaptation of a 2012 documentary about WWE star Paige’s ascent in the wrestling world. Florence Pugh stars, in a movie that could hardly be more different from the period films (Lady Macbeth, Outlaw King, the forthcoming Little Women) that have thus far dominated her career.

The Rhythm Section (Feb. 22)

This adaptation of Mark Burnell’s thriller — the first in a quartet of novels — sees Blake Lively morph into a bona fide action star. Reed Morano, who came up as a cinematographer and won an Emmy for her work as a director on The Handmaid‘s Tale, directs this story of a vengeful woman seeking to take out the terrorists who killed her family.

Captain Marvel (March 8)

In a brisk five years, Brie Larson has reinvented herself repeatedly, from indie darling (Short Term 12) to Oscar-certified Serious Actress (Room) to director (Unicorn Store). Now, she adds superhero to her growing resume. Set in the mid-1990s, the movie follows Captain Marvel (street name: Carol Danvers) on her journey from fighter pilot to intergalactic hero.

Gloria Bell (March 8)

Julianne Moore may not look like a Plain Jane even in goofy glasses, but we can suspend our disbelief in Sebastián Lelio’s English-language adaptation of his own 2013 Chilean drama Gloria. In it, Moore plays a divorced mother of adult children and an office drone looking for someone to dance with (and locating him, possibly, in John Turturro) and finding the joy in dancing alone.

Us (March 15)

The plot details of Jordan Peele’s follow-up to Get Out have been kept under wraps, though Slashfilm reports that the horror/thriller has something to do with a couple (Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke) relaxing at a beach house with their kids until some visitors make their stay…not relaxing, if we are to judge from the movie poster.

Watch yourself. pic.twitter.com/6Wg859TK0r

— Jordan Peele (@JordanPeele) December 13, 2018

Dumbo (March 29)

Nearly 80 years after Disney debuted the high-flying, big-eared elephant, Tim Burton directs a live-action remake starring Colin Farrell, Eva Green and not a real elephant.

Avengers: Endgame (April 26)

The 22nd film — yes, as in two times ten plus another two — in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which features a truly staggering roster of superheroes, effectively ends the current Marvel narrative. Judging by the box office returns of Infinity War ($2 billion) and the trailer’s record-breaking first 24 hours (289 million views), it’s not an exaggeration to predict that this could be the biggest movie of all time.

Detective Pikachu (May 10)

Ryan Reynolds makes a deft transition from Deadpool‘s potty-mouthed hero to…cutie-mouthed Pokémon cutie? He provides the voice and face (for facial motion capture purposes) of the adorably brilliant Pikachu, a detective working to solve the disappearance of his former partner with the help of his partner’s son (Justice Smith).

LionsgateStill from ‘John Wick: Chapter 3’

John Wick: Chapter 3 (May 17)

The third, but reportedly not final, film in the John Wick franchise sees Keanu Reeves’ vengeful hitman on the run after he kills a member of the international assassins’ guild. Halle Berry and Laurence Fishburne costar.

Aladdin (May 24)

The stakes are high for Disney’s live-action remake of its 1992 animated classic loosely based on Arabian folktales. Casting was closely scrutinized, and when Entertainment Weekly released a first look, many on social media offered thoughts about Jafar (dreamier than Aladdin?) and Will Smith’s genie (not blue! At least not yet). Whatever the outcome of Guy Ritchie’s effort, it’s guaranteed to generate a Twitterstorm of opinions once the film finally drops.

Ad Astra (May 24)

In recent years, filmmaker James Gray has made beautiful movies set in 1920s New York (The Immigrant) and the depths of the Amazon rainforest (The Lost City of Z). Here, he turns to outer space, where Brad Pitt plays an astronaut searching for his lost father and, while he’s at it, contemplating the role of humankind in the cosmos.

Rocketman (May 24)

It’s relatively unusual that a megastar gets a biopic while they’re still walking the earth. Distributor Paramount has described this Elton John movie as an “epic musical fantasy” focused on the early years of the singer-songwriter’s career. Taron Edgerton stars as Sir Elton.

An epic musical fantasy. An uncensored human story. Take a first look at @TaronEgerton as Sir @eltonofficial in #Rocketman, coming soon. pic.twitter.com/B3BRCnLZs8

— Paramount Pictures (@ParamountUK) September 28, 2018

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (June 7)

The 12th installment in the X-Men film series focuses on Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), as the mercurial mutant grapples with newfound power. The film comes out just a couple of months before The New Mutants introduces a new crop of specially gifted students. It remains to be seen whether this is the last we’ll see of the crew (Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, et al.) that has comprised the universe for years.

Men In Black: International (June 14)

The fourth movie in the franchise based on the early-’90s comic book series swaps out Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones for Thor: Ragnarok costars Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth. Their mission? As Hemsworth put it in an Instagram post: “ripping aliens a new one.”

Toy Story 4 (June 21)

The kids who fell in love with Buzz and Woody in 1995 are old enough now to have kids of their own. But the fourth outing for the duo that built Pixar looks like more than just a nostalgia play. Styled as a road trip adventure, Toy Story 4 welcomes to the franchise new toys voiced by Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele and Keanu Reeves.

Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 5)

It’s been a busy year for Spider-Man, who showed up in Avengers: Infinity War and in a new PlayStation video game. His nemesis, Venom, got his own movie, and his other alter ego, Miles Morales, featured in the well-reviewed animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is set to return next summer, which finds him leaving Queens, where 2017’s Homecoming was set, and venturing overseas to Europe.

The Lion King (July 19)

Perhaps the most hotly anticipated of Disney’s reboots of its animated classics — though this one, like director Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book, is more CGI than live-action, technically speaking — The Lion King brings together an A-list cast of voice actors. Donald Glover and Beyoncé voice Simba and Nala; Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen are Timon and Pumba; Chiwetel Ejiofor voices the villainous Scar and James Earl Jones reprises his role as the wise patriarch Mufasa.

Sony PicturesBrad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (July 26)

Once upon a time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino said he would retire after he made his tenth film, 2015’s The Hateful Eight. Four years later, audiences will watch his eleventh, a crime drama about the Manson Family murders starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate.

Hobbs and Shaw (Aug. 2)

Eight movies into the franchise, the Fast and Furious universe is getting a spin-off featuring once rivals, now buddies, Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Shaw (Jason Statham). Idris Elba joins the cast as a new villain, with Deadpool 2 director David Leitch steering the ship…err, the Navistar MXT?

It: Chapter 2 (Sept. 6)

The 2017 adaptation of Stephen King’s classic horror novel broke all sorts of box-office records and ended with a teaser for a sequel. That next installment, due almost exactly two years after the first movie, will jump forward 27 years — exactly one cycle in the town of Derry’s recurring dance with an evil visitor — when the kids from the first film are all grown up.

Warner Bros.Elisabeth Moss, Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish in ‘The Kitchen.’

The Kitchen (Sept. 20)

With a plot reminiscent of this year’s Widows, The Kitchen, based on a comic of the same name, stars Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss as 1970s mob wives who get into the family business when their husbands go to prison.

Downton Abbey (Sept. 20)

Great TV series don’t end; they just set up the movie spin-off. This extension of the British period drama, which aired for six seasons before wrapping up (or so we thought) in 2015, sees the main cast returning for a story whose setting is familiar but whose plot is still the subject of secrecy.

The Woman in the Window (Oct. 4)

Tracy Letts (August Osage County) writes and Joe Wright (Darkest Hour) directs this adaptation of A.J. Finn’s bestselling debut novel about a reclusive New York City woman who watches as the lives of the family across the street unravel. Amy Adams, Julianne Moore and Gary Oldman star.

Gemini Man (Oct. 4)

The concept for Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee’s upcoming sci-fi action thriller — a hitman faces off against a clone of his younger self — first surfaced in the late 1990s. Now that the technology needed to produce such a spectacle exists, the movie is finally on, starring Will Smith as the assassin and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the operative keeping an eye on him.

Warner Bros. Joaquin Phoenix in ‘Joker.’

Joker (Oct. 4)

It takes a courageous performer to embody a character who’s become almost so thoroughly intertwined with the vision of Heath Ledger’s bug-eyed, maniacally grinning mug. But Joaquin Phoenix will do just that, in this standalone character study of the Batman villain, helmed by The Hangover director Todd Phillips.

The Goldfinch (Oct. 11)

Donna Tartt’s 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, about a boy whose mother is killed when a bomb explodes inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, hits the screen this fall, starring Ansel Elgort, Jeffrey Wright and Nicole Kidman.

Zombieland 2 (Oct. 11)

Timed to the 10th anniversary of the original horror-comedy, which has since become a cult hit, the sequel to Zombieland reconvenes the stars (Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg and Abigail Breslin), director (Ruben Fleischer) and writers (Deadpool‘s Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick) that made the first a hit. Like any family reunion, there will be spats and eye-rolling and infighting. (Oh, and zombies.)

Charlie’s Angels (Nov. 1)

More than 40 years after the feathery-haired trio debuted on television and nearly 20 since they were revived by Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore, Elizabeth Banks directs a reboot starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott (the new Aladdin‘s Jasmine) and British actor Ella Balinska. Banks has said she hopes to honor the original series’ celebration of female empowerment while “introducing a new era of modern and global Angels.”

Last Christmas (Nov. 15)

Emma Thompson co-writes and Bridesmaids’ Paul Feig directs this holiday rom-com about a young woman (Emilia Clarke) who works as an elf in a Christmas shop and a handsome fellow (Henry Golding) who enters into her orbit.

Frozen 2 (Nov. 22)

If you’re Disney and you make an animated movie that rakes in more than a billion dollars worldwide — not to mention the toys, the merch, the Broadway musical — you don’t just let it go. You don’t hold it back anymore. You make a sequel. Not much is known about the plot, but co-director Chris Buck has hinted at an Elsa who’s a little more fun and open.

Queen & Slim (Nov. 27)

It’s been a banner year-and-then-some for Lena Waithe, who last year became the first African-American woman to win an Emmy for comedy writing (for Master of None), and this year debuted her own semi-autobiographical Showtime series, The Chi. Now, she’s directing her first feature, about a black man (Daniel Kaluuya) and a black woman (still to be cast), who go on the run after a traffic stop goes awry.

Cats (Dec. 10)

The next smash Broadway musical to appear on the big screen (aside from The Lion King, which has made its way from film to stage and back to film again) is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s furry, early-’80s tale. Tom Hooper, who directed a movie adaptation of Les Misérables in 2012, has assembled a crew of felines that includes Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson and James Corden.

Star Wars: Episode XI (Dec. 20)

The final film in the sequel trilogy has J.J. Abrams jumping from producer to director after Lucasfilm parted ways with Colin Trevorrow. In addition to the central cast of characters (Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron and others), the crew will be joined by friends old (Billy Dee Williams reprising the role of Lando Calrissian and the late Carrie Fisher in unused footage from The Force Awakens) and new (Keri Russell, Matt Smith and Richard E. Grant, among others). According to Lucasfilm, Episode IX will close out the Skywalker era before the next trilogy, to be helmed by The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, kicks off with new characters.

Little Women (Dec. 25)

Greta Gerwig follows up her Oscar-nominated debut feature, Lady Bird, with a new adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved 19th-century classic. The all-star cast includes Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Sharp Objects‘ Eliza Scanlon, Meryl Streep and Timothée Chalamet.

How to Build a Girl (TBA)

Caitlin Moran adapted (alongside screenwriter John Niven) her own semi-autobiographical novel for this movie starring Lady Bird breakout Beanie Feldstein. The story follows a working class teen who, in early 1990s London, attempts to reinvent her boring life into something a little more rock-and-roll.

The Irishman (TBA)

Netflix has made a lot of big bets in recent years, and The Irishman is among the biggest. The movie has a budget reported to be in the mid-$100 million range, and sees Martin Scorsese directing Robert de Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci in a story about the killing of union leader Jimmy Hoffa.

Late Night (TBA)

Mindy Kaling writes and produces her first feature film, a comedy in which she stars alongside Emma Thompson, who plays a late-night TV host at risk of losing her post. According to the movie’s synopsis, Thompson’s host hires Kaling’s character as the first female writer on her show to appease diversity concerns only to find her worldview challenged.

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This just in: my next project #LateNightTheMovie is headed to #Sundance Film Festival! Here are some very official first lewks!

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via https://cutslicedanddiced.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/how-to-prevent-food-from-going-to-waste

[truenorthbricks]

I have actually had Ninjago City Chase for a really long time… since Christmas. It has been sitting un-built, sealed in its box, until now. I have been imagining a custom extension to my Ninjago City set (click here for the review), and this little guy will feature in it as part of the traditional lower level. But, that project is still a long ways off, so I was not in a rush to build Ninjago City Chase. However, I recently came to the conclusion that I should review this set before it is retired, especially since it can be found on sale quite often these days. Who knows, someone out there might want a review before picking it up on the sale rack?

Ninjago City Chase box art.

SET SUMMARY

NAME: Ninjago City Chase SET #: 70607 THEME: The LEGO® Ninjago Movie COST: $24.99 CAD BRICK COUNT: 233 MINIFIGURES: 5 RELEASE DATE: August 1, 2017

Ninjago City Chase box contents.

SUMMARY REVIEW: 86%

VALUE: 90% (At $0.11 per brick, it is a little cheaper than average.) BUILD: 80% (Nice set, but I wish there was more to the vendor’s stand.) MINIFIGURES: 98% (Really nice Minifigs, lots of accessories, excellent brick:fig.) ENTERTAINMENT: 75% (Good for building up a city, but lacks substance/playability.)

Front view of police tuc-tuc vehicle.

REVIEW

VALUE: 90% Ninjago City Chase costs $24.99 in Canada. At that price, you are look at a cost of $0.11 per brick. That is just slightly below the current average of $0.12, calculated using the last catalog that I got in the mail. The overall average for all of the 2017 catalogs was $0.13, so Ninjago City Chase is actually a pretty decent value. I rate it at 4.5/5 (90%).

Side view of police tuc-tuc.

BUILD: 80% Ninjago City Chase consists of three little builds. The first is a tuc-tuc for the police officer to drive. It is a cute little build, but nothing overly impressive. The tuc-tuc has a front driver’s seat, and a back seat for a passenger or cuffed-prisoner.

Vendor’s stand from Ninjago City Chase.

The second and third builds go together. You have two lamp posts connected by a string of lanterns, and fish/fruit stand. Both come with great signage in the Ninjago language to add to those seen in the Ninjago City set. There is not much depth to the stand, but it looks pretty good when examined head-on. There is an unattached barrel of apples that can be placed beside it. One thing that I really liked about this build was the design for the fish and cherry bins. They are slanted in order to hold the food, but they are also angled inwards to give the stand a tiny bit of dimension. I like this set, but it doesn’t thrill me like some others. I wish there was a little more to the vendor’s stand, and not just a facade. I give Ninjago City Chase 8/10 (80%) for build.

Angled food displays give the vendor’s stand a little depth.

MINIFIGURES: 98% There are five Minifigures included in Ninjago City Chase: Lloyd, Nya, Officer Toque, Ham the vendor, and a shark army thug. Only Nya and Lloyd have double sided faces, but all of them have front and back printed torsos, and some kind of head covering. The only character without leg printing is Officer Toque. Based on my rating scale, I would give them 56/75 (75%) for design alone. But, you also get a number of nice accessories, including: a hammer, three fish, four cherries, three apples, a cell phone, a $100 bill, a walkie-talkie, and handcuffs. 15 accessories bring the score up to 71/75 (95%).

  Nya and Lloyd front view.

Nya and Lloyd rear view.

Nya and Lloyd alternate faces.

Ninjago City Chase has a total of 233 bricks in the kit. With five Minifigures, you are looking at a brick-to-fig ratio of 47:1. That is excellent, and earns a full 5/5 (100%). Averaging the ratio score and design scores gives this set an overall Minifigure rating of 98%.

  ENTERTAINMENT: 75% Ninjago City Chase took me 35 minutes to build. With a price tag of $24.99, each minute of build time set me back $0.71. That is not the best build time I have ever gotten, but it is not the worst either. I will rate this set at 3.5/5 for build time value.

Swingin’ by some signage.

In terms of enjoyment, you get a lot of fun characters, with a little corner of the city to interact with. I wouldn’t say this is the most fun LEGO® set that I could imagine getting as a child, but it has some good city-building value. I will be incorporating this into an upcoming custom project, but I will probably give it a little more substance. For that reason, I rate it at 4/5 (80%) for enjoyment. Averaging this score with the build time score gives an overall entertainment rating of 75%.

OVERALL: 86%

I like Ninjago City Chase for its potential in terms being added to my LEGO® city. You also get a very good value in terms of the cost per brick, and the build time. The set comes with an excellent brick-to-Minifigure ratio, and the characters are well designed. Even at full price, I would say that this set is worth the purchase, though I do wish Ham’s stand had a little behind-the-scenes substance. What are your thoughts on Ninjago City Chase? Feel free to leave your comments below.

Until next time,

-Tom

Hasta la vista, baby.

Review – Ninjago City Chase [70607] I have actually had Ninjago City Chase for a really long time... since Christmas. It has been sitting un-built, sealed in its box, until now.