#Lloyd has mommy issues

[lemonmaggot]

I Think You Look Like My Mom

Summary: When you can't have a mother, have the second-best thing: A brother.

Fic below the cut (4,303 words)

 “Am I a bad kid?” Lloyd asked, reading the arching sign in front of him. Darkley’s School for Bad Boys. “I’m sorry…”

“No, no, Lloyd,” a woman softly assured him. “You’re a very good boy. You’ll eventually see how good you truly are. For now though… well, there aren’t many boarding schools in Ninjago…” Lloyd felt her sigh even as she tried to hide it. He glanced at the tall building ahead of them. There was a man at the front of the building, hands clasped together behind him.

“What’s a boarding school?” The small child asked.

“It’s a school where you live and study in the same place,” The woman answered.

“Like we do at home?”

“That’s different, that’s called homeschooling. Here, certified teachers will be instructing you.”

“What about you?” Lloyd asked with a tilt of his head. The woman frowned and broke eye contact with the little boy. “Mama, won’t you still be teaching me?”

“I’m sorry, Lloyd. While you’re here I can’t teach you,” the woman finally answered. “I promise I’ll visit you often. Especially on your birthday.”

“Visit me? You’re not coming with?”

“I have some important research to do.” The woman hesitated to speak but knew she must. Lloyd’s eyebrows furrowed at the woman. Why did that change anything? Lloyd was good at not touching all the objects in the museum where his mom worked. Plus all her coworkers loved Lloyd! They said so themselves! They even played with Lloyd whenever his mom went to the extra fragile sections. “You’ll understand when you’re older… I hope.”

Now standing before the man, the woman set Lloyd down. Lloyd stood in place, staring up at the new adult. His mom tried to nudge him forward towards the stranger.

“Ah, there he is!” the strange man grinned. “The son of Lord Garmadon! A little young for the program, but I’m sure he’ll be a top student regardless!”

“I’m sure too, Lloyd already knows how to read which is quite advanced for his age-”

“Oh yes, that,” the man waved her off. “I meant more so in his villainy but I suppose that’s nice too.”

The woman huffed and Lloyd stepped back. He gripped onto his mother’s pant leg and hid behind her. He wasn’t sure who this man was and why he seemed so dismissive of his mom. No one ever treated her that way! No one ever should in Lloyd's opinion. Lloyd looked up at his mom with pleading eyes, hoping she would notice and pick him up again and take him back home.

“Hm. Shy.” The man commented flatly. “We will be sure to fix that soon.” The strange man leaned down and pealed the young Lloyd off his mom’s leg. “Come now, Lloyd. We have much to introduce you to.”

“Mama,” Lloyd cried, looking back to the woman.

She kneeled down and Lloyd felt momentary hope. Yet all she did was brush his hair out of his face and place a kiss on his forehead. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, so soft that Lloyd wasn’t sure if he heard her or the sound of the wind. “Be brave, my little sapling. I’ll be back soon. I promise.” The woman hesitated before standing up and turning around.

“Mama…?”

The man tugged Lloyd's hand, pulling him into the building. As he was dragged, he could only watch as his mom walked away in the opposite direction.

“Mama!”

Her head dipped lower. Lloyd could barely see as his mother wrapped her arms around her midsection.

“Mama, please! Please, don’t leave me! I’ll be a good kid! I promise! Mama!”

Lloyd’s eyes opened. The wooden boards of the dark ceiling stared back at him. That memory again. No matter how often he recalled it, his mother’s face was nothing but a blur. He tried to think back but further back in his life, the memories got too blurry. He remembered playing in the break room of his mom’s work, yet he was not sure where it was. He thought it was a museum, only because he remembered her talking about history a lot. But he also remembered her smelling like old books, so perhaps it was a library?

Everything was a blur. He couldn’t remember her face. Who was his mother? Why couldn’t he recall anything about her? The only thing Lloyd was almost positive about was that she had brown hair. Brown hair that was so soft. He could imagine the braid swaying from side to side as she walked away from him. Never to return. There was not a single birthday she appeared for. Whenever the other boys caught him crying about it, they’d tease him. They said his mother didn’t love him. That’s why she lied and never visited. All the other boy’s families visited their sons. That’s because they loved their sons. But Lloyd was a disappointment. That’s why he spent every birthday and holiday alone. His mom didn’t love him and his dad had more important things to deal with than his pathetic son.

Lloyd still loved his mother. He missed her. He missed how she held him. He missed how she would always tell him how special he was to her. He missed sneaking into her bed after a nightmare. He missed how she’d comfort him. He missed feeling her brush his hair every morning. He missed how she would then let him help brush her long brown hair. He realized now that he wasn’t much help, in fact, he made it take longer. Yet she still made the time. She woke up earlier just so Lloyd could feel helpful. She did so much for him. Lloyd missed his mom.

Lloyd sat up and pushed away his blanket, green to match his new destiny. Lloyd wondered if his mom somehow knew and that’s why she always said he was special. The young boy slipped out of bed and over to his dresser. From one of the drawers, he pulled out a pair of green socks. Lloyd had never cared much for green, but the ninja took their color coding seriously. As a ninja-in-training, he had to get used to wearing only green. In the ninja’s defense, it helped prevent fights over who was making the room a mess. Lloyd remembered how a few months ago Jay still had white socks that he would wear and then leave around the room. At first, he tried to blame it on Zane. But that was quickly disproven by the fact they were sweaty, and nindroids don’t sweat. Arguments had since decreased dramatically now that the ninja all only wore their designated color.

Lloyd slipped on the socks, using them to dampen any sounds of his walking around the bounty. He was going on a mission. A super secret and super silent ninja mission! Not really, but it made it more fun to think of it like that. Plus if anyone caught him, that would be his excuse. He was simply testing out how his training was going.

Lloyd crept out of his room. By now, he had memorized where the creaky boards in the old ship were. This wasn’t his first time sneaking out of his room on this mission. He’d succeeded once before but failed countless other times. Tonight, he will succeed once more. He hoped.

Lloyd made his way to the older ninja’s room. If he couldn’t have a mother, he would have the second-best thing. A brother. Though if his plan failed again, he’d have the third best thing. A sister. With the ninja always leaving Lloyd and Nya alone on the ship together, the two had lots of time to bond. Lloyd couldn’t believe that a few months ago he wanted no girls in his tree house. Nya was actually cool. He now couldn’t imagine not having her around. It had taken longer with her than Kai, but she had recently promised to be his big sister. Lloyd assumed that being a big sister meant that he was allowed to bug her when he couldn’t sleep. Just as he had done with his mother. Just as he was going to with Kai now.

Lloyd used both hands on the door handle to the older ninja’s room. He knew he needed the extra support to move slowly enough for the door not to squeak. There were so many times when Lloyd had gotten this close, only for the door to squeak and wake one of the ninjas. Lloyd sighed in relief as the door opened, barely wide enough for Lloyd to slip his small frame through. He knew that any wider and the door would creak no matter what.

Now came the most difficult part. Lloyd could count the number of times he’d gotten this far on a single hand. He didn’t have the floorboards memorized in this part of the ship. The one place that it was important he be absolutely silent. If he made any noise, Zane would be the most likely to wake up, as he was the lightest sleeper. Lloyd liked Zane. The ice ninja was his third favorite behind Kai and Nya. The only issue is that he knew Zane would not give him what he wanted. He wanted to recreate how his mother cared for him. Zane cared, but he was not the same. Zane would lead Lloyd back to bed and read him a bedtime story until he would fall asleep. It was nice, and there were some nights where that was what Lloyd wanted. Tonight was not one of those nights.

Lloyd took a deep breath as he recalled the previous week. He had volunteered to help Jay with the laundry. It gave him an excuse to walk around the older boys’ room as he helped put the folded clothes away. 2 3 2 1 4 3 2 3 3. That was the pattern of how many boards he had to step across to get to Kai’s bed without stepping on a single noisy board. Lloyd hoped he remembered correctly. It would get suspicious if he kept volunteering to help with chores. When Lloyd had volunteered the first time, Cole pressed the back of his hand to Lloyd’s forehead. He joked that the young boy must have a fever. There was no way that Lloyd Garmadon, the boy who hated chores, would willingly volunteer. Thankfully, he didn’t need to come up with an excuse as Jay batted Cole away. Lloyd knew Jay only did it for his own benefit. The blue ninja hated chores just as much as Lloyd. Jay at least felt much better about doing work when he had help or company.

Lloyd shook his head. He kept stalling. At this rate, he’d be here until sunrise and would never get what he wanted. Lloyd stepped over two planks, his movements silent. Next, he stepped across three. Then two, then one. Lloyd took a deep breath before stepping across the large gap of four. Now it was easy. Three, two, three, and three. Now he stood at the ladder leading to Kai’s bed. Lloyd wished Kai had gotten the bottom bunk right now. Why did Zane need the lower bunk? Did nindroids even need to sleep? Zane never seemed to get tired from what Lloyd saw. Though maybe he hid his exhaustion. That seemed like something Zane would do.

Lloyd carefully climbed the ladder and into Kai’s bed. A grin spread across the young boy's face as he realized he had made it. Maybe his training was working? At this point, even if one of the others woke up they would more than likely assume that Kai had a handle on the situation. Lloyd shuffled up the bed towards Kai’s torso.

The firemaster had taken a shower before bed, leaving his hair free from its gel cage until morning. The brown locks spread over his pillow. Kai’s hair was surprisingly long. Lloyd supposed it had to be to create those tall spikes. Kai turned his head away, facing towards the wall. Lloyd was struck with deja vu as he stared at the back of Kai’s head, and more importantly, the long brown hair. Lloyd reached out a hand and touched one clump of strands. It was soft. Lloyd expected it to be rough from the abuse of daily gelling. Perhaps Kai had a good conditioner or had stolen Nya’s.

Lloyd mentioned to her that he used to like brushing his mom’s hair. Nya let Lloyd play with her hair. Although it wasn’t as much fun due to how short it was. Yet now he knew how soft Nya’s hair was. When he asked she said it was only due to her conditioner. It smelled like the beach and vanilla.

“What the fuck…” Kai’s voice mumbled as he finally awoke to the presence in his bed and subtle tugs on his hair. Kai turned his head back, seeing the outline of his new little brother. “Shit,” Kai cursed, realizing he had sworn in front of the child. Although Lloyd had heard much worse at Darkley’s. “I mean-” Kai groaned as he realized his mistake again. “I’ll buy you candy if you don’t tell Wu.”

“Deal,” Lloyd agreed. Tateling on Kai hadn’t even crossed his mind, but he wouldn’t let Kai know that. Just because Lloyd was good now didn’t mean he wasn’t a little bit manipulative when it came to getting candy.

Kai yawned and sat up. He looked below at the alarm clock. It was only 11 pm. Meaning Kai had only been asleep for an hour, and Lloyd for two. At least he should have been. “You have a nightmare again?” Kai questioned.

Lloyd shook his head in response. “Not tonight. Just couldn’t sleep.” As much as the memory haunted Lloyd, he didn’t consider it a nightmare. A true nightmare would be if he dreamed of his mom telling him exactly what his bullies said. That she hated him. As painful as reality was, it wasn’t that bad. Even as she abandoned him, she told Lloyd how much she loved him. Lloyd’s mother did love him. She was better at saying it than showing it though.

Kai nodded his head and laid back down. He shuffled his body towards the edge of the bed, creating a space for Lloyd against the wall. Kai had learned his lesson from the last time when Lloyd nearly fell off the bunk bed. He tapped the space he made before getting himself comfortable again. “Come on then, bean sprout,” Kai mumbled, accepting his fate. If he wanted undisturbed sleep then he shouldn’t have become a ninja or agreed to be a brother to this young child.

Lloyd took no time curling up in the empty space. He found it calming to condense his body into a ball as he slept. Especially when cuddling with his new family. Part of him recognized that he simply liked to feel small and young as he did with his mom. He was still so young and small. But it was different. He was bigger. No longer five years old. He had grown so much in the years since he’d last had a family like this. Lloyd breathed deeply, finally relaxing again since he woke up. As he breathed, he was hit with the smell of sand, salt, and water. Kai definitely stole Nya’s conditioner.

Kai had his eyes shut, already trying to fall back asleep. Yet Lloyd did not do the same. Instead, he stared. He stared at Kai’s brown hair. It lay limp against the pillows and framed his face. Lloyd swore that if he looked long enough he could see his mother’s face push through. He had to keep looking. If he closed his eyes he would never remember what she looked like.

Lloyd’s concentration broke as Kai’s face scrunched. “I can feel you staring at me, y’know?” Kai stated as he peeked open one eye. Kai wondered if they needed to add manners to Lloyd's training schedule. It would be difficult to find time for it. Lloyd already trained from sun up to sun down with little time for fun.

“Sorry…” Lloyd murmured. Still, he did not stop staring. “I… I think you look like my mom.”

“Oh.”

Kai blinked his eyes open. He looked back at Lloyd, staring at his face. Did he really look like Lloyd’s mom? He saw no resemblance between his face and Lloyd’s. Though Lloyd did look like a copy of Lord Garmadon before he was corrupted. The only difference between Lloyd and his father was Lloyd’s platinum blonde hair. It was possible that his mom’s genetics had no room to shine through.

“What did she look like?” Kai finally asked.

Lloyd shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure… I can’t remember her face.” Kai narrowed his eyebrows at the young child. How could Kai look like someone Lloyd didn’t remember the face of? “But she had brown hair and it was long like yours. It was also soft like Nya’s… and yours too… She looked…” Lloyd thought about it for a few seconds. He could not recall how she looked. But he could recall how he felt. “She looked kind. I always felt calm or happy with her.” Kind. That was what Kai and his mother shared. They both took time to make sure Lloyd was happy. His mother let him brush her hair even when it took longer. Kai always slowed down training to make sure Lloyd understood the steps. They inconvenienced themselves for Lloyd while not making him feel like a nuisance. They both cared so much. They made Lloyd feel so loved.

Yet…

If Lloyd’s mother made him feel like this and could still abandon him, what was there to say that Kai could not do the same?

“You won’t ever leave me, right?”

“Of course not,” Kai promised immediately. “You’re my baby brother for life. Even when you’re no longer a little kid.”

“You’ll always be my baby, Lloyd.”

“That doesn’t mean a lot…” Lloyd mumbled. “My mom said the same and she still left…”

Kai opened his mouth and then shut it again. His lips tightened into a thin line. How was he supposed to respond to that? Lloyd had a point, as much as Kai hated to admit it. He knew how Lloyd felt. He felt the same when his parents abandoned him and his sister. So much anger and pain. The ever-constant worry that anyone who cared would someday leave too. Though Kai and Nya reacted differently than Lloyd did now. Lloyd sought out a new family. Anyone to take him in and prove to him that he was still loved. While Nya became hyper-independent and Kai pushed everyone but his sister away. In their minds, if people leaving was inevitable, it might as well happen sooner rather than later. The siblings had done it to everyone who got close. Any babysitters went through hell and back trying to take care of them. Yet their village still worked together to provide Kai and Nya some supervision. They couldn’t let the two live all by themselves. Yet there weren’t many options. The two refused to leave their home at the blacksmith shop. They seemingly worried that their parents would come home any second now. If they were not there, their parents would leave again. The only group who could possibly force the two out would be child protective services. But it was not a guarantee that the two siblings would be kept together. Kai and Nya would not go anywhere without the other. Forcing them apart would be cruel. So it was the village’s little secret that these two children had no official guardian, only volunteer babysitters.

Though that was it. Wasn’t it? His sister. The only person who Kai trusted growing up. “I’m not your mom,” Kai began, remembering what he’d once told Nya. He wasn’t like their parents. He wasn’t going to disappear. “I won’t abandon you, Lloyd. Siblings are different. We connect and care for each other not because we have to, but because we choose to. I know it’s hard to trust me, especially after everyone you cared about left you…” Kai’s chest ached as he looked at Lloyd. He was so young and small. He shouldn’t have to suffer like this. He was just a kid. A kid with a bright destiny. Why did destiny have to be so cruel? An absent mother and now he has to battle his dad? He was just a baby. Kai wrapped an arm around Lloyd and brought him into an embrace. He couldn’t stand looking at the child anymore. He reminded Kai too much of his younger self. He reminded Kai of all that was innocent and needed to be protected. He reminded Kai that no matter what he did, the innocent would suffer. Children would suffer. He couldn’t save them all.

“Kai?” Lloyd called softly. He was confused by the sudden embrace, though not complaining. He was more concerned by the fact he could’ve sworn he saw tears forming in Kai’s eyes.

“Sorry,” Kai apologized, his voice wet. “I just… I don’t want you to suffer. Especially not alone. When my parents abandoned me, I at least had Nya to trust-”

Lloyd pushed himself away from Kai so he could look up at the teen. “Your parents abandoned you too?”

Kai sighed and looked away from Lloyd. He still couldn’t stand to look at those big innocent eyes. Innocent eyes that were doomed to see the worst of humanity. “Yeah, I must’ve been five or six maybe? One day they were having tea with friends and then they… left. Never came back home. I think at this point…” They must be dead. There was no way that no one in all Ninjago hadn’t seen them and they could still be alive. “Never mind. But I still had Nya. When you can’t trust anyone, you trust your siblings. Before I met the other guys, she was the only one I could rely on.”

Lloyd's breath held as Kai’s voice drifted off. He knew what Kai thought, even if he refused to say it. Lloyd knew it was possible Kai’s parents were simply dead, and that’s why they never came home. Lloyd had often wondered the same thing about his mother. Maybe she did have every intent to visit him on his birthday but died on her way to Darkley’s. That was until, of course, he learned about tuition costs. Not only that but his mother always made the monthly payments on time. Sometimes Lloyd thought it’d be better if she was dead or forgotten about him. Knowing that she still paid the tuition every month made him sick. She thought of him at least once a month. He was still in her mind. It was a conscious action to keep him enrolled. She knew exactly where he was. Yet she never visited. Could her research not wait a single day? Did she have to work every day? She remembered him and thought of him frequently. Yet would not visit.

“You can rely on me,” Kai promised, “and the others too. We are all your siblings. Everyone may leave or hurt you, but we won’t. I promise.”

Lloyd hummed softly and thought about it. Maybe Kai was right. He’s sure Kai could’ve left Nya at any moment, especially when times were tough. Kai didn’t like to talk about it much. Sometimes when telling stories about his childhood, Kai would allude to their struggles. Lloyd tried to piece it together, but more often than not it was too vague. All he could truly tell was that it wasn’t easy. Lloyd wondered how he did it. He didn’t think he was brave enough to persevere through everything Kai had gone through. But he would have to go through much worse, wouldn’t he? The destiny of the green ninja was not an easy path. Although maybe Kai had the answer. “Yeah… I’ll be safe. With you,” Lloyd finally agreed.

“Remember, it’s not just me. I know I’m your official big brother, but you have Nya and the guys too,” Kai insisted.

“Are you just saying that so I bother them at night instead of you every time?” Lloyd teased.

“Nah, I don’t mind you bothering me,” Kai assured his little brother before ruffling his blonde hair. “Plus I am probably the best choice for late-night botherings.”

“I’ll say! Zane’s good when I want someone to read me a story but other than that he’s too cold. The last time I woke Jay up from a nap he wouldn’t stop complaining for hours! I’d hate to see what he’s like when he’s actually supposed to be sleeping. Cole, well… I don’t know. He’s too big to share his bed with me. I think I’d end up crushed or pushed onto the floor.”

Kai chuckled and shook his head. “You say that as if any of us have ample room for you, green bean. There’s barely any room for me on here. If you were any bigger, we wouldn’t both be able to fit in this bed.”

Lloyd frowned at that idea. Did they have any bigger beds? Not that he could think of. Maybe his father got a bigger bed when he controlled the bounty? They had still yet to explore the changes Garmadon made to their ship. The team was primarily excited to have somewhere comfortable again after the Ninjaball Run. “I don’t think I want to grow up then,” Lloyd decided. Why would he want to grow up when all it meant was losing his greatest form of comfort?

“Don’t worry, we have a couple of years before then,” Kai assured. “We’ll figure something out before it becomes a problem.”

[mondothebombo]

✨Small Canon Things in Ninjago That Aren’t Necessarily Important to the Plot, but Important to Me Pt 2✨

(in honor of the first post reaching 2.5k notes)

1. the reason the ninja can’t summon their elemental dragons anymore is bc they’re too traumatized

2. Kai takes laxatives

3. Lloyd felt responsible for Nya’s sacrifice

4. Morro took a shot while he was in Lloyd’s body

5. Cole’s favorite color is orange

6. Chamille, the master of form, is a “bad girl” post s4

7. the ninja were literal children when they waltzed into Chen’s tournament and proceeded to beat all the adult EMs in the competition

8. prior to seabound, Nya resented her parents for not being there in her childhood, her mother more so than her father (✨mommy issues✨)

9. Nya is hyper-independent as a result of her childhood; while Kai is more openly accepting to his parents because he has a better memory of them

10. Wu was close enough with Lilly that he could remember whether or not she wore a necklace

11. Cliff Gordon was a “womanizer”

12. Lloyd didn’t naturally hit puberty until s8

13. Cole and Jay are best friends

14. whether or not you see Pixane as a bf/gf situation in canon, they are canonically soulmates

15. Jay has not yet received his inheritance letter

16. at least up until the Merge, Zane’s statue is still in downtown Ninjago City

17. ninjago citizens are fully aware their only protection are six super-powered teens/young adults

18. the ninja are still famous, public figures

19. Jay is the only ninja who hasn’t died (yet)

20. despite being a terrible actor, Lloyd is always sent on the undercover missions

21. the ninja are on first name basis with each others parents

22. Cole’s favorite genre of music is soft rock

23. Zane has selective memory

24. after Nya’s sacrifice, each ninja depicted a different stage of grief (Zane-Denial, Kai-Anger, Lloyd-Depression, Jay-Bargaining, and Cole-Acceptance)

25. Cole never actually had feelings for Nya, he was just flattered by the attention and petty about Jay being mad at him

26. elements react based on the master’s emotions

27. Jay is so emotionally dependent on being around other people that he loses his mind when he’s alone for too long

28. Lloyd had a chat with god and wasn’t impressed

29. Cole’s snoring can be heard throughout the monastery

30. Nya is not a morning person

31. Kai and Skylor have been in a situationship since s4

32. Lloyd being the grandson of god is not common knowledge

33. the group of civilians that were on the bounty when Cole fell are probably the only ones who truly realize the danger the ninja put themselves in on the regular to protect the city, and how close they are with each other

34. Wu didn’t want to tell the ninja about the green ninja prophecy because he was afraid of having a repeat of Morro

35. since s8 at the very least, the ninja all shared a room on the bounty until the monastery was rebuilt

36. Jay’s confidence in his own abilities fully depends on what others believe he’s capable of

37. several villains have called the ninja out on being “just a bunch of kids,” and then proceeded to get their shit rocked by said kids

38. the overlord can gloat to Lloyd all he wants to in crystallized, but fact of the matter is Lloyd defeated him when he was like twelve

39. Kai and Nya raised and took care of each other, it wasn’t just Kai doing all of the work

40. Kai is two years older than Nya

41. Zane’s biggest fear is losing his humanity

42. Lloyd’s biggest fear is becoming his father

43. Nya’s biggest fear is losing her individuality

44. Cole’s biggest fear is letting his family down

45. we the audience are the only ones who see the characters as legos; they’re real people in-universe

46. Kai likes spicy food

47. while elemental masters are immune to their elements to some extent, their elements can also be shown to hurt them in some circumstances

and as always, feel free to add on!!

[snugglebugs]

KAI SMITH flip (caregiver-leaning!)

Kai Ninjago Smith is ABSOLUTELY an age regressor are you KIDDING me are you JOKING me. He is BASICALLY CANONICALLY an age regressor!!!!

"I bet he loves being treated like a baby..." (Nya, Season 14, Episode 6, Call From The Abyss)... Yeah he does because he IS a baby. He is THE baby. He is BABY.

His entire traumatic backstory is that, after his parents were taken from him from an early age, he had to step into a parental role for his little sister and become the adult of the family while still being a child himself. He had to grow up before he even really had a chance to grow at all. On-screen, we see that once his parents return and he's no longer forced into that role of responsibility, he canonically regresses into childish habits and language we have never before seen him use or display beforehand.

"Ham and cheese sandwiches with crispy bacon? Oh thanks, Mommy! You're the best! Mm... bacon is the best, too!" (Kai, Season 14, Episode 6, Call From The Abyss).

Conclusion? Kai Smith is the most age-regressor to ever age regress ever I will not take criticism because I am OBJECTIVELY CORRECT.

Anyway!! I think Kai is regresses from 5-9~ years old. We can tell from his diction that he doesn't seem to be a baby regressor (at least in this scene), as he's capable of fully-formed sentences and has the cognitive skills required to play video games, so that leads me to believe he might be a little-middlespace regressor! Kai's parents left when he was around 5, so it makes sense he wouldn't be an infant regressor, but around the little-middle spectrum, regressing into the same range of years in which he didn't have a chance to be a child before.

I don't just think he's an age regressor, though, I also think he's a flip, too! He definitely has some care-giving tendencies built-in to him from having to be a caretaker for his little sister for so many years, and so he pretty naturally slips into the role of a big brother caregiver! I imagine he leans more towards the caregiving side then the regressing side, just because being a caregiver is what he's used to being - what he's always had to be - but that may be prone to change as he becomes more comfortable with his regression! He hates regressing around the other age regressors, especially when they're regressed, because he feels like when they're small he has to be big and adult to take care of them regardless of his own headspace. We can see his caregiver tendencies displayed in... countless interactions with Lloyd. Speaking of...

LLOYD MONTGOMERY GARMADON age regressor!

I am, once again, OBJECTIVELY correct. Lloyd is basically canonically an age regressor. He IS canonically an age regressor. He is, quite literally, a child stuck in a teenager's body -- as in he was a child and then magic age-up tea turned his body into a teenager's but still left him with the mental capacity of a child. Which is the DEFINITION of what an age regressor is!! Bodily an adult but mentally a child!! He IS an age regressor!!!!

And even if that WASN'T the case, he'd probably be an age regressor anyway, because, like. Look at him. He had the weight of the world on his shoulders since he was, like, eight, was unable to be a child because he had to endure constant rigorous training and when he WASN'T training he was undergoing countless traumatic experiences while he was still a child.

Lloyd: Well...The latest issue of Starfarer just came in at Doomsday Comix and it's a limited run, so if I don't go out and get it, it's going to sell out. Last they left off, intergalactic rogue Fritz Donnegan was surrounded by the Imperial Sludge, and if I don't find out if he gets out alright, I think I might have my own doomsday! Kai: The fate of Ninjago rests on your shoulders. As the Green Ninja, you have a giant responsibility to hold. I'm sorry, but you don't have time for such childish things. Lloyd: Other kids get to play and have fun. All I ever do is train...(Season 2, Episode 18, Child's Play)

I don't even think I need to argue my case that hard for why Lloyd is an age regressor. I think it'd be harder to argue why he ISN'T an age regressor, actually. TRY to argue that he's not an age regressor. TRY. I BET you CAN'T.

I don't have much evidence for this one, but I imagine he may be a pet regressor, too! He's an oni-dragon-hybrid, after all, and his heritage have proven to come with strong instincts regarding this animalistic half of his genes, as seen throughout the Oni Trilogy. Even if he doesn't have any physical traits, it's likely he at least has psychological ones. I imagine he growls, gnaws on things, et cetera!

COLE BROOKSTONE caregiver!

Look at him. JUST LOOK AT HIM. The most caregiver to ever caregive ever forever. He has chronic can't-stop-adopting-children syndrome. He's adopted, like, three separate children at this point. It is becoming a problem.

"Huh? Oh, no. Don't make that face. Don't cry. Oh, I can't take it any more. Hey, look at me. Hehe. Yeah. I'm not sad. Ha-ha, I'm not crying. Oh, fine. But this is between you and me. Shine, little glow worm, glimmer glimmer. Hey there, don't get dimmer, dimmer. You like that, huh? Well, there's more where that came from. Glow, little glow worm. Glow and Glimmer—" (Cole, Season 8, Episode 5, Dead Man's Squall)

When his mentor canonically (mentally & physically) regressed into an infant his first and immediate instinct was to adopt and care for them. If that isn't agere caregiver behaviour I don't know WHAT is. HE BECAME THE FATHER TO AN INDIVIDUAL REGRESSED FROM THEIR NORMAL HEADSPACE INTO A CHILD.... HE'S LITERALLY A CAREGIVER GUYS!!!!!! I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE YOU WANT ME TO SAY!!!!!!! I AM JUST STRAIGHT-UP CORRECT!!!!!!!!!!!

JAY WALKER padded regressor!

Jay: Aah! [He picks up a ruined stuffed toy.] Mister Cuddlywomp… [sobs] is a teddy bear I used to love when I was five, but now he's totally lame and—

Cole: We know you still sleep with him.

Jay: And I don't care who knows it! Mister Cuddlywomp... (Season 7, Episode 6, The Attack)

Jay Walker is DEFINTELY a regressor. His personality has been noted to be very child-like and babyish at times, to the point where the fandom (and showwriters) tend to infantilize him, despite the fact that in his own right he can be a very serious character when he need be. As much as I do believe he's an age regressor, it's important to remember he can be very capable and competent character when he's big, too, and not to define him by his regression!

If he's any regressor, it's definitely a padded regressor. Throughout the show, it's become a running bit that he's a bedwetter and has a weak bladder:

Jay: But I don't wanna get wet. I...I only have one pair of underwear.

Kai: Jay, this is no time to be making jokes. The Bounty can only take so much.

Jay: You think I'm trying to be funny? (Season 2, Episode 9, The Last Voyage)

Harumi: Uh, forgive me, but is that... underwear?

Jay: We're usually more organized. Ahem. But our leader got lost in a time-stream. Uh, they're Cole's.

Cole: They're blue!

Kai: You're lucky they're not yellow. (Season 8, Episode 3, The Oni & The Dragon)

Jet Jack: Then tell us, who do these diapers belong to?

Kai: Oh, those are Jay's. Tell 'em, Jay.

Jay: Oh. I have a weak bladder. (Season 9, Episode 2, Iron & Stone)

These are only a few of many, many examples (You can find others throughout the show, such as in Only One Can Remain, The Darkness Remains, Darkness Within, etc) of this bit, and though it's usually spun as a joke, there's no harm and shame in it! I imagine the ninja do actually buy him diapers, and as much they tease and prod, they never actually judge him whenever he has an accident!

ZANE JULIEN caregiver!

"I was built to protect those who can't protect themselves!" (Zane, Season 3, Episode 8, The Titanium Ninja)

I don't know what else you want me to say guys... he said so himself.,,,,,,. was built to protect those who can't protect themselves...,.....

Zane's entire identity is hinged around adaptability. Though I could go on a WHOLE 'NOTHER ESSAY about Zane's relationship with identity, the point here is that he often adapts to what people need him to be! I mean, he downloaded thousands pieces of detective media onto his hardware in order to try to track down the other ninja after they went missing, if called for I imagine he could very easily slip into the role of caretaker (he WOULD download hundreds of resources on age regression to help the other ninja)!

I don't have a lot of evidence for this one beside source: bro trust me but bro. trust me. The Vibes,,,, theyre there

These are just my personal headcanons based on evidence I've gathered from the show - I am in NO WAY saying these are the only headcanons or that they are the "correct" ones!! In fact, if you have DIFFERENT headcanons for the ninja (esp. ones I didn't provide a lot of detail for), I encourage you to share them in the tags, I'd love to hear other's opinions!!!! ^^

If this gets enough interested, I might make a pt. 2, so stay tuned!!

[luescris]

You know one of the craziest things that ever happens in Ninjago is Lloyd's Whole Situation. Like.

For the first few seasons he's this bratty small child with major daddy AND mommy issues and causes petty problems everywhere that he possibly can that only ends up evolving into worse problems (also has a bowl cut)

Then after he learns he's the legendary Green Ninja and practically gives up his entire childhood, skipping right into his teens. And still has a bowl cut (I think), still has daddy issues and sort of mommy issues, that goes away and comes back quite a few times and he thinks he's lost his dad forever.

And then, grows up just a few years more, is this wonderfully handsome (PLATONICALLY) and lovely honorbound ninja that wants to do good and is the leader of the ninja with green eyes, his daddy issues returning again because a girl he liked broke his heart and used him.

And now here we are after the Oni, after Seasons 11-15, at Dragons Rising. And Lloyd is grown grown. From being such a small kid that has already been through a lot and not knowing he'll be going through even more by the time he grows up, to a whole freaking teacher and adopting kids of his own and wou g h

It's such an insane character growth. An insane thing to just. Witness and experience to happen to a character. Like anyone else have any thoughts about that???

[crackedpumpkin]

Speaking of your previous(I think?) post about Infuriating Melodies…..*cutely kicks legs and giggles*

What is your characterization of Cole and the ninjas? I always love hearing others interpretations about it.

(っ˘ڡ˘ς)

oooo i am sitting down for this...

Let's start with Lloyd. First of all, can we just appreciate how they handled his character in Dragons Rising? We're getting to look at the very real effects of all the shit the poor guy's been through... At first I got annoyed tbh, I thought he was being too passive. However, it's pretty dumb of me to saythat because now i realise how used i am to protagonists who can solve a problem with little to no difficulty at all.

But onto more lighthearted stuff, he strikes me as...bitchless.

For lack of better word, i mean. tbh i skipped lots of crystallized bc i just dont like harumi as a character very much (i am not accepting feedback <3) so my opinion isn't the most reliable. I mean he has severe daddy and mommy issues so can you blame the guy. i bet he's the type of guy who wouldn't know you're flirting with him unless you straight up say it. he does however have rizz (thanks to everyone else in his team lmao but there are the cringey moments. trust.)

he's very organised and has learnt to put up with a lot of stupid shit bc he's in a team full of dumbasses /aff. there're a few mementos he keeps in a drawer next to his bed and when he needs a reprieve he just goes to it and grabs one. it calms him down.

For Jay, he's kinda just like me. constantly frazzled, but in a pinch he can step up to the position needed. They're all leaders but they just do things in different ways. He's a chaotic mess but like, a chaotic mess with a checklist :) i bet he and nya have a bunch of lego flowers in their room (yes they share a room or they sneak over to each other's room) he essentially reminds me of a mixture of dewey and huey from Ducktales (2017 reboot) (aka one of the the best shows in existence)

Zane to me is the undeniable anchor. he's got the absolute best roasts and i bet he's the main line of communication in terms of emailing, texting their allies and friends. if not for Zane who would regularly keep cyrus updated ? (besides pixal, i mean) he's an insane multitasker but if you spring a surprise on him he will buffer for a solid minute. his love language is def acts of service, and doesnt understand why some people feel bad for not reciprocating.

Kai is a mischievous little fire gremlin who is the de facto leader of the group if lloyd isnt there. he, jay, and cole are the enabler trio of the team, and their antics are enough to drive lloyd crazy. it's hard to believe he's the older one sometimes. i genuinel think he's just a big ball of vulnerable but he constantly pushes it aside to focus on other stuff. also, he has a surprising amount of mature moments with the group.

nya is smart, yes, but also the kind of person who thinks that if you cook stuff in an oven for an hour at 140 celcius, you can do the same thing by cooking it at 300 celcius for 5 minutes and achieve the same outcome. this has gotten her banned from the kitchen.

also she makes incredibly bad jokes sometimes. jay laughs regardless of whether theyre funny or not. i view her as someone who's got multiple degrees, but sucks at group work during projects

anyway thats all i have in mind for now, lmk if you'd like to hear me yap anymore lololol sorry for putting you through this anon <3

[strawberryshortcake1495]

Introducing my Murder Drones x Ninjago AU!!!

Lore: So basically Misako replaces Tessa in this story, and she’s the one who has the rich girl mommy daddy issues and is the one who takes in the Disassembly Drones. They follow her into her adulthood, where she meets Wu and Garmadon. At first, Garmadon didn’t really mind the drones being there, but there was this small flame of jealousy that burned within him and the venom took advantage of that. He grew to hate the drones, but he was able to merely tolerate their presence for Misako’s sake. But then the serpentine war happened, and Chen planted some bombs near Jamakai Village. The Elemental Alliance builds a getaway plane but Garmadon “accidentally” leaves the Drones behind. When Misako finds this out, she stays behind to save them but dies from the explosion. The drones barely survive and have a bunch of explosion scars. Garmadon is devastated with the loss of his wife but that grief turned to rage. He gave the drones a piece of his mind, telling them it was their fault that Misako died. Eventually, all the drones went their separate ways.

Pre-Season 1: Lloyd grew up in the monastery for 4 years until one day, he was playing in the garden when he fell off a cliff. N was camping in the gorge when he found the poor baby. It was miracle from FSM himself that he managed to revive Lloyd. He would’ve taken him back to the monastery, but it’s been years since Misako’s death and he didn’t remember where the monastery was. So N takes him to Darkley’s instead and watches over him like a big brother. Eventually, N reunited with V and J, but not Cyn. J was the same old rude drone as before but V was different…she used to be clumsy and shy but now she acted more like J. They decide to raise Lloyd together in Darkley’s until he’s kicked out.

Season 1: After his encounter with the main ninja, Lloyd is infuriated that he was mocked and planned to free the serpentine. He found the scroll but couldn’t find the tombs, so he tasked N with keeping watch of the scroll until he could figure out the location of the serpentine tombs. Enter Uzi, well- her name is D.O.E (Daughter of Evil) in this AU. She is tasked by her father, the Overlord, to free the serpentine in order to free the Great Devourer. D.O.E manages to track down the location of Lloyd’s treehouse and she tries taking the scroll but N is persistent. Then she seduces N, which overwhelms his innocent Drone brain. She ties him up to the bed and knocks him out, escaping with the scroll. The next day, Lloyd is upset at N for like a day so V became his right hand man for that day (much to both his and N’s dismay).

And we’re gonna stop right there because my arms are getting tired typing this 😭

I’ll update the post as soon as I can! Feel free to make fanart, if you wish. Thanks for listening to me!

[bassguitarinablackt-shirt]

I'm happy to announce that you are not the first mutual that will rant about Lego Ninjago, so do go on

this has been here for a while now im so sorry but. its ramble time bitches.

while lloyd quite literally grew up too fast, he also had to grow up too fast in a metaphorical sense. the moment it was revealed he was the green ninja, suddenly he was no longer allowed to just be a kid. he was too important, too young to go on dangerous missions and help, yet he was never allowed to do childish things either. lloyd never had any chance at having a normal childhood.

also misako was an awful mom. she abandoned lloyd at a boarding school for evil children. LIKE COME ON. THE KID ALREADY HAS AN EVIL DAD WHO HE CANT HAVE A NORMAL RELATIONSHIP WITH. WHY ARE YOU GONNA GIVE HIM MOMMY ISSUES AS WELL???

also related to this kinda, wu is. kind of awful. alot of what happened with morro was his fault. he was the one who told morro he had a chance to be the green ninja causing him to train towards it, let the idea consume him. only for him to not end up being the green ninja. if wu hadnt told morro about the prophecy and the fact that he thought morro might be the green ninja in the first place, morro never would've turned into a villian. and again, lloyd. wu never let lloyd just be a kid after it was revealed lloyd is the green ninja.

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

The St James Family Tree (x)​

( aside from Jeremy, Josie, and Joy, the entire St James family exists universally throughout all of my glee fics, though they so far only have set appearances in Get It Right, SOWK, By Its Very Definition, and Corner Of The Sky!  More details about everyone below the cut )

shoutout to @the-witching-ash for helping me develop this entire clusterfuck of a family

Tag List: @airwolf92 – want to be added?

Judith & Joseph St James ( Meryl Streep & Pierce Brosnan ):

The parents of the most unadjusted and emotionally unavailable family in all of Ohio

Jenny St James ( Nicole Kidman ):

Married to Lloyd Kline ( Colin Firth )

Judith & Joseph’s eldest child 

Neglectful mother and trophy wife to a DC politician

Johanna St James ( Kate Reinders ):

Married to Chad Channing ( Chris Pine )

The middle St James child 

Professional absentee parent dreaming of her non-existent Broadway glory days

Former roommates with Shelby Corcoran and Cassie July

Joshua St James ( Zac Efron ):

Sometimes dating Nell Baker ( Anne Hathaway )

The youngest of the St James siblings

Real estate agent in Lima

Jeremy’s guardian, legally as of s2

Part of the long-suffering parent club with Burt, Carol, and Brad

His apartment is well known as being a safe place for glee club members to crash if they’re avoiding being at home and he does have a ranked list of all of the club members

Roman Kline ( Aaron Tveit ):

Jenny & Lloyd’s son / Amelie’s twin

Dalton alum, Cooper Anderson’s high school roommate

Dating Cooper Anderson & Ash Astor ( Anna Kendrick )

Went to law school and is a licensed lawyer but he’s working actor in LA and sometimes New York

( also features in a Somewhere Only We Know prequel, Midnights, the Cooper & Roman Dalton era fic )

Amelie Kline ( Lily James):

Jenny & Lloyd’s daughter / Roman’s twin

Went to Crawford Country

In an eventual relationship with her high school best friend, Lindsay Wright ( Brittany Snow )

Bartender & manager at Scandals

Living with her Uncle Josh in Lima while she attends university

( also features in a Somewhere Only We Know prequel, Midnights, the Cooper & Roman Dalton era fic )

Jesse St James ( Jonathan Groff ):

Johanna’s son, not with Chad but he doesn't know it

An honorary member of the warbler inner circle since he was 10

Carmel High alum, UCLA dropout, now coaching Vocal Adrenaline

Learning to be a better brother

In an eventual relationship with former rival Lucille Newton ( Anna Camp ) 

Joy Schuester ( Lili Reinhart ):

featured in By Its Very Definition ( and various chaotic crossover concepts )

Jesse’s half sister through their father, April Rhodes’ surprise daughter

Easily adopted into the St James clan by Josh, Amelie, Roman, and Jesse

Full time disaster

The best thing Johanna ever did for Jesse was not have Chad as his father, only so that he could have Joy as a sister

Josie St James ( Lily Rose Depp ):

featured in Applause

biological daughter of Johanna St James and Bryan Ryan, has never suspected that she might not be Chad's

Has been acting professionally since she was 3, mostly in commercials, TV, and movies, was the star of a disney channel show from ages 3-8, has continued acting since, is still quite famous

Johanna was an obsessive stage mom to the max

She goes to Carmel High (a sophomore in season 1) and is a leading member of VA – despite this, she has always hated Shelby and absolutely hates the Rachel plan

But she hates Johanna more and wants to live with Josh so she goes along with it all

disaster bitch with mommy issues and daddy issues and body issues and attitude issues

Jeremy St James ( Joshua Bassett ):

featured in Corner Of The Sky ( and various chaotic crossover concepts )

Johanna & Chad’s youngest son and Jesse’s younger brother, not actually Chad's son – Chad suspects this, Jeremy does not

An honorary member of the warbler inner circle since he was 5

lives with his Uncle Josh and cousin Amelie

Absolute sunshine despite an overabundance of family trauma

Currently growing a backbone

[bastardizedbitching]

EP 4 TIME

btw the ninja didn’t get to the police we’re back on schedule

“the monastery doesn’t have a south wing” “not after jay trained there” i miss him

arin fails once and immediately thinks he’s the worst student. meanwhile sora is having a nya moment

let it be known kai is SHIT at driving the bounty when it’s damaged

nvm the steering is jammed. he lives another day

lloyd has given up on being a role model that’s good

the new bounty is straight fire ngl

i think soda’s going to get kidnapped again

lloyd is realizing that he was a nightmare repeatedly. he’ll get the message someday.

nya’s back! and they’re both saying each other’s lines!

the trolls from frozen are back and way less fun

uhhh shit we got dragon racism now that’s not good. bro can’t even eat

kai has apparently been AROUND

i think one of those running theme things for this show is hope which is made funnier by the rampant mommy and daddy issues here

“sometimes, i can still hear his voice”-nya/lloyd

“stop telling everyone i’m dead!!”-kai

no kai, lloyd is NOT babysitting he’s adopting

ninja together lose their brain cells and i’m glad to see that has carried over

nya has now adopted sora. mechduo. IM MAKING MECHMOM and MECHKID A THING

anyways dragon racism. sora girl please TALK TO THE OTHERS

[cornfields-td-nonsense]

yk that one post that says mommy issues make u sociopath and daddy issues make u a people pleaser. I need like. to know how much that applies to the TDN guys with the worst parents

right so out of the Bad Parents Squad, I'd place Rod, Hans, Greta and Matt in the 'mommy issues' department, and Harper, Nicolas, Esther and Lloyd under 'daddy issues'. Art and Lara have both.

Rod is definitely a contradiction to this, he's the most people-pleasery guy you've ever seen in your life (at least to begin with).

Hans and Greta... yeah that's. mostly accurate. It's all show with Greta, though.

Matt is a little more complicated bc I don't think he's either of them. I guess people might say he's closer to sociopath, but also that one doesn't have as clear a definition as something as simple as 'people pleaser' and also isn't it not a real diagnosis anymore? Am I taking this too literally? Probably.

So do we just replace 'sociopath' with the general armchair-psychiatrist-accepted simplified definition of 'doesn't care about people's feelings'? I think that makes this easier.

Anyway, Harper is also a contradiction. She is exceptionally un-people-pleasery.

Nicolas, not so much. I guess you could call him a people pleaser, but he kind of just Doesn't Realise he even Has daddy issues. lol

Esther isn't really a people pleaser and she definitely cares about people. She's not super empathetic to people who are different from her, but she's extremely sympathetic.

Lloyd is another contradiction! The opposite of a people pleaser. A people displeaser, if you will.

Art and Lara have both-parent-issues, but Lara definitely got the people pleaser end of the stick, and Art got the doesn't care about people end.

I hope, like, any of this made sense lol

[astro-nomaly]

Hey it’s me, the flirty anon. Bro you went OFF with the Lars thing. The grief, the way he was attached to Rose in a more human way (differentfromGreg or any of her other lovers)… the way that as a (once) human, he has a better idea of what Steven is, yet his gem lifespan and time with Rose also give him the same reaction the Gems have to Steven… ugh, I love Lars.

AND! I’m always a sucker for Steven thinking that he will always come second to his mom. He’s gotta be like her, or else his birth wasn’t worth it!! Gets me every time.

Anyways, I also actually read your Sword and shield thing (realized you had a fic and not just a description of the au <3) and GOD! DUDE! That slaps so hard holy shit. The characterization of Brad, Lloyd as some ethereal, divine being (which I can’t get enough of. Call demigod Lloyd a guilty pleasure of mine), the tragedy of Brad living in a world at constant war— and despite finding the perfect weapon, he chooses to help Lloyd gain autonomy rather than directly fight Garmadon and the Oni. In a way, that’s the biggest fight there is— to restore Lloyd’s selfhood is to break Garmadon’s hold. You’re fantastic

*grisps you* YOU GET IT YOU GET IT!!!!

Bear with me while I go on a little rant bc Lars is so so complicated. He’s very similar to Pearl actually (minus the romance bc… ick) in that everything he did, he did for Rose. She brought him back, and humans rejected him bc they thought he was a monster, and she was literally the only person he could rely on. He was completely lost without her giving him direction, and it warped into this almost obsessive need to cling to her bc he didn’t know what to do without her. And then along comes Steven and it’s this whole thing where like “okay, everything I ever did was for Rose, and she’s gone, but I’m here and you’re here and I’m supposed to protect you bc I made a promise, but I hate you for stealing her from me” AND AND AND it’s even deeper than that bc to ME PERSONALLY I have this theory that Pink Diamond was made to harness organic life for the empire so they didn’t have to spend resources just killing it all, so Lars is like literally a SERVANT to the Diamond on a certain level and there’s this tug pulling him to Steven, and he can’t just NOT be around the kid and protect him especially when the last PD made him promise to take care of him!!! And and anddddddd it really piles up around their Mommy Issues bc Steven didn’t get to know his mom yet is still suffering for her actions, but she was Lars’ mom first, and then she just left him bc she would never see him as her son. Lars was never anything more than a pet to her. Greg was the first human she ever remotely respected, and is probably the only reason she told Lars that Steven would even show up one day, and STILL didn’t tell him the truth!!!! And then Lars is in this predicament of needing Rose to keep him going, yet treating Steven like Rose the same way everyone else does is just hurting the kid, and Lars understands what it is to be both human and not at the same time so he feels like he should be better than this with Steven, and makes himself actually try, and then it turns into loathing for Rose, bc of the way she hurt them both, but he’s still in the mindset of “that’s my mom and I love her” and AMBDKWKWJSKQMABIQNQBSJWM DO YOU GET IT

And and with Steven yeah I’ve never bought that the gems only started treating him like an extension of Rose after he summoned the shield. I also don’t buy that he can’t see the way they look at him. He really does think that the only point to him is to be the next version of his mom, and literally no one is helping him fight that (until Lars that is) and wow I might actually start writing this fic again

Demigod Lloyd is my FAVORITE, but it’s also just this (excuse me for the second rant) juxtaposition bc they’re jealous of each other. Both of them think the other is too good for them. Obviously, to Brad, Lloyd is a demigod. He’s a ‘higher being’, he’s going to live forever, he has the ability to create sentient life if he really feels like it. To Brad, Lloyd is just going to forget him the second his curse is broken. But to LLOYD, Brad is everything he wants to be. Bc he’s seen the way his father and even uncle act. They’re both unfeeling, unempathetic when it comes to mortals. Wu saw Garmadon’s attempt at literal genocide as a sibling squabble, a temper tantrum. Garmadon looks at humans and sees a bunch of ants. Lloyd is scared of ending up like them, scared of becoming what his father wants - this cold, unfeeling deity. But Brad is this wonderful, empathetic, unconditionally helpful person - literally the only person who doesn’t see Lloyd as just a weapon!! And to Lloyd, Brad shouldn’t have to waste his life for someone who will outlive him a thousand times over. And it’s about TRUST too, bc YEAH literally anybody else would use Lloyd as just an object. It HAPPENS, several times. At one point, a human from a resistance faction does manage to steal Lloyd and immediately decides to go hunt down Garmadon himself without even considering Lloyd as a real person. Yet there’s Brad, who literally turns Lloyd back to a human just to ask if he’s chill with Brad using the Sword to kill Oni. And so Lloyd has to trust Brad not to treat him like an object, a weapon, even when Brad has literally all the power to do so, and then Brad has to trust that Lloyd genuinely CARES about him, won’t just forget about him. He has to trust that he matters. AND YEAH it’s about AUTONOMY too bc even though Brad will never order Lloyd around and treat him like a weapon, it’s not enough. That’s not freedom. Lloyd needs to be able to stand as his own person. But Brad needs to learn autonomy too, to stop treating himself like a supporting character and actually take charge of his own life and kshelqnsjwlnajwlqns man. Man I am gripping you YOU GET IT aaaaaaaa I wanna write this fic so badddddd bc rlly like yeah it’s a romance but it’s about MORE THAN ROMANCE

Uhm. Anyway haha you send some great asks anon 🫶

[benk625-blog]

I'm going to infodump on your post, apologies. If you love Last Unicorn, I highly recommend "Flight of Dragons" a TV movie made by Rakin Bass production company. Arthur Rankin and Julian Bass are best known for their holiday stop motion animation specials. You know: Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and many many more. In the 70's they pivoted to epic fantasy with 1977's the Hobbit. At that time Rankin/Bass had firmly established a collaborative partnership with Topcraft Animation for their hand drawn animation projects.

Topcraft was founded by a Toei Animation (DragonBall, and many others) Studio producer. Following the Hobbit they would go on to produce. Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind. After that Topcraft split into Studio Ghibli & Pacific Animation Corporation. I doubt I need to list the output of Studio Ghibli. Pacific Animation Corporation worked on Thunder Cats and Silver Hawks. PAC was bought by Disney and merged (remerged?) With Studio Ghibli. Some PAC animators worked on Naruto & Bleach.

Getting back to the Last Unicorn. The opening credits are based on The Hunt of the Unicorn tapestry series. Original music was performed by the band America. They had several radio hit singles including Horse With No Name, Tin Man, You Can Do Magic and others. America was produced by George Martin who had produced The Beatles.

Now the Cast!

The Unicorn: Mia Farrow most famous for Rosemary's Baby. Her son Ronan covered the #MeToo movement and other social issues in American culture. Mai's adopted daughter Soon-Yi married Mia's ex Woddy Allen (a creepy old man IMO).

Prince Lir: Jeff Bridges - The Dude from Big Lebowski. He is the son of Lloyd Bridges and the brother of Beau Bridges. Other Notable roles include Kevin Flynn in the Tron series, the titular role in 1984's Starman and Rooster Cogburn in the Coen Brothers remake of True Grit.

Mommy Fortuna: Angela Lansbury. Murder She Wrote! Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast! Do I need to say anything else?

Schmendrick the Magician: Alan Arkin, who passed away in June 2023. His son Adam is also an actor. He began his career in 1967. You've probably seen him in something.

King Haggard: Christopher motherfucking LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! Saruman the White in LotR/Hobbit. WWII veteran of the bureau of Ungentlemany Warfare. The Man With the Golden Gun, Count Dooku, Hammer Horror legend, started a heavy metal band in his 80's.

Trivia specific to Last Unicorn: Christopher Lee performed the King Haggard role on the German language audio track.

Other performers in small roles:

The Butterfly: Robert Klien, actor and stand-up comedian. Been around since 1970. Kind of a big guy for such a small role.

The Skelton: the drunk skeleton was portrayed by Rene Arberjonois AKA Odo from Star Trek Deep Space Nine and the voice of the French Chef in Disney's Little Mermaid.

The Cat: Donald Messick was a voice acting legend he started his career in 1949. Bigger roles include Scooby-Doo & Boo-Boo in Yogi Bear cartoons.

More on The Cat: I could not possibly omit the following details on this character! He talks...with a Salty Sea Dog Accent!!! He has a peg leg and an eye patch! A goddamn pirate Cat! I love this guy so much!

Me: hm, I want something to put on the TV as background noise... Huh. Looks like YouTube is recommending something called The Last Unicorn. That's perfect, it's probably some old shitty animation that has aged poorly! I can watch it ironically!

Me, 2 hours later as the credits roll: *crying, cheering, buying the book, composing the songs*

Me, 2 weeks later: So I have compiled all of the quotes from the book that I think could make good tattoos, and also, HOW HAVE I NEVER LEARNED ABOUT HOW THE LAST UNICORN FUCKING SLAPS??? This gay-ass little fairytale fed my soul! Watered my crops! Transed my gender! Can't believe I heard of this story from youtube recommendations, of all places!!

[moonydasaltychild]

There are three kinds of people

[alanshee-keeper-of-realms]

Tell me I lie I will fite you lol

[general-yasur]

Wildbrain era defined the ninja as the following:

Lloyd: Agitated leader who constantly puts too much responsibility onto himself.

Zane: Stating the obvious/filling in facts needed for plot/silly cosplayer

Cole: Cake and mommy issues

Jay: anxious, excitable, drives the plot by rash decisions.

Nya: Angry, impulsive, mommy issues (Seabound specifically did her wonders)

Kai: Seemingly has no braincell, but just chooses not to think half the time, the most responsible when push comes to shove, and the one everyone ACTUALLY looks to despite Lloyd being the leader

Wu: Old man complains about being old and then doesn’t get involved until the situation gets bad

[ceoofmorro]

ninjago fame hcs

- they’re considered to be A-list celebrities in ninjago for obvious reasons.

- every couple of months twitter goes on a hunt to figure out cole’s sexuality and every single time it ends in “all we know is he’s definitely not straight”.

- lloyd has a lot of thirst edits of him on tiktok and he likes them bc he likes seeing ppl freak out when they see he saw it.

- jay has thousands of these “jay walker being the funniest ninja in interviews” on youtube.

- from seasons 1-7 everyone was whipped by kai but after season 8 even if you’re not interested in the ninja you’ll eventually see a nya edit somewhere.

- ppl make zane and vision (from marvel) completions.

- one of the most popular threads about them is how pixal is underrated and should get included in interviews and red carpets more.

- jay has those “the gender envy he gives me” comments. (he does man 😔)

- kai and lloyd have a very close amount of instagram followers.

- i just know that cole does finneas (billie eilish’s brother lol) type tiktoks. (if u haven’t watch his videos where he stitches other tiktoks he’s very dry in a funny way 😭)

- nya is rarely on social media but when she is she has the funniest tweets.

- jay tweets like kurtis conner. (a hilarious youtuber)

- skylor definitely is hella aesthetic on instagram kind of like emma chamberlain.

- pixal has millions of followers and she has like 5 posts 💀.

- lloyd makes and reposts tiktoks about daddy and mommy issues.

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