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parachutingkitten · 9 months ago

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Not an ask per se, just a similar feeling. You’re someone whose Ninjago stuff, here and on YT, I’ve really enjoyed for at least a few years. And I’ve been similarly obsessed with the show for some time. But… it’s as you say — DR is objectively fine, objectively nice, but I don’t feel the same obsession about it and its characters, plot, etc that I used to feel all the time with Ninjago. And I *cannot* figure out why, and it’s also been driving me slightly up the wall. It’s maybe because I genuinely try to give media the best chance when I interact with it, but despite multiple DR rewatches I don’t see what everyone else sees. And the disconnect is a sad, like you mention — I joined the community here because I was so glad to have people who loved this show in the same ways I did, and now it’s like they’re all on a different wavelength and I want to be there but I’m not. It’s definitely strange for sure, made worse I think by the fact that DR isn’t like horrifically bad or anything, I just feel… okay, when watching it, and can’t even explain why.

I don’t know how much sense this makes, but I thought it might be something for you to think about if you’d like. I’ve been tossing around the idea that I don’t love DR because it is… good. It’s good, but too neat — if that makes sense? The new characters — I love them all, but their personalities and backstories and situations they’re put in all remind me of several other stories. The subplots of the episodes always have an end goal in mind, often an emotional realisation, and whilst that’s a neat way to tell stories, it doesn’t feel like, to me, the way Ninjago used to tell stories. Like, the first thing that comes to mind is Sora feeling hopeless and that episode with the djin where she realises that it’s important to hope. And maybe this isn’t a great comparison (as I’m typing it out, I realise that it isn’t the best example oof), but I immediately thought of Zane after Seabound, when he’d turned off his emotions. Sora’s bad feelings, whilst not as ‘significant’ as Zane’s in that context, began just before and were wrapped up neatly in that episode and not brought up again. Zane acts detached from the start of S16 if I remember, and it’s only near the end of the season (I think! I know that it’s a few eps at least) when he meets Sally, talks to her, learns a little about her life, and is able to come to the realisation that he shouldn’t be repressing everything. I think DR, because of the amount of characters it has, especially those that are new, and the amount of new worldbuilding, plot stuff, etc that they have to add in, it being a reboot/sequel type of thing, leaves less time for the nuance and time devoted to the character arcs in the original show. Or maybe I’m just crazy, honestly idk.

Something else that stands out to me is the fact that DR has to establish so much about these new characters and their world that they… they do something that old Ninjago didn’t do, and whilst it’s maybe objectivity a better storytelling choice, I think it’s part of the reason I’m not really feeling it. What they do is that they have the characters act kind of realistic. Arin worries about his parents, often. Sora did too. Wyldfyre and Kai definitely have a few moments where it’s implied that they’re confused about what’s up with their powers. In Ninjago up to s16, because they wrote a lot of it without intending much or anything to come after it, I feel like they thought less about this than the DR writers, who know that they’ve got a few seasons lined up, do. For example — hands of time is when we find out about Ray and Maya, but it was never often addressed by Nya and Kai. It’s brought up in s4, of course, but if they were real kids whose parents had vanished one day they’d probably bring it up more often, like Arin did. But it’s often not done in the narrative because the writers gave them other things to focus on, because they’re storytelling devices and not real kids. There was no real buildup to Nya being the water ninja, for example, but Sora’s said to be good with tech a few moments after we meet her. This ain’t a critique of either show — just a different choice I sort of picked up on, if it even makes any sense. And as crazy as it may sound, I liked that about the old Ninjago — it saw the characters more as storytelling devices, I think, than relatable to the audience (Kai was the hothead, Jay the humour, etc — ofc they were more than that, but they retained that sort of vibe from S1 a little all throughout the show I think). DR, on the other hand, seems to want their characters to be more relatable, more multifaceted, make more sense — which, when coupled with the fact that they’re new characters and that the ninjago fandom has historically thrived on gaps in the show to enjoy it (we’re a very AU, OC, heavy fandom, etc), I think DR attempting to flesh out their characters in the way that we’re often used to doing with the old characters in fic, art, etc means that I like DR a little less because there’s less to ‘work with’, and less that inspires thinking of the characters in different situations — bc whilst relating is nice, it is also enjoyable when the characters are written with some core characteristics in mind and you explore other parts of them or those characteristics in different contexts. I don’t think makes much sense, but I hope that it maybe gives you something to think about — as you can probably see, I’ve been going a little crazy over not liking it and not knowing why, so I know that the feeling isn’t great.

I'm picking up what you're putting down here. My next video has a bit about getting disillusioned with a fandom, and it sucks. It always does. It's heartbreaking when you feel like that special bond between you and your show was somehow broken. I empathies, and it's important to feel it out.

Now, I don't think ninjago was better at character arcs, i don't think having a character arc be longer is better, or even really a characteristic of classic ninjago, but I do think the DR character arcs feel very by the book. They're following the screenwriting 101 guide perfectly, but it ends up feeling a bit lacking because of it? If that makes sense? Now, ninjago was historically very bad at character arcs, but when they got it right, they always had a bit of a spin on things, and interesting visual payoff, whatever. I think the zane's emotions arc isn't particularly great (and the sally piece is sort of at the end of the first half of the season ;) I would argue sora's arc in season 1 about finding confidence is better, but that doesn't mean I find it much more enjoyable.

I will agree that that the characters in ninjago definitely feel more like characters, while the DR cast (old cast included) feel more like people. Neither are a bad thing, but I think it definitely has an effect on the tone. Characters allow for a more lighthearted goofy vibe, because the show is operating on a higher suspension of disbelief most of the time. DR on the other hand, does want a little more vulnerability from its audience on a regular basis.

Lastly, I do think you're onto something with DR being fully planned. The two seasons we have so far feel very indistinct. There is less of a defining singular "adventure" in each season. And again, that's not a good thing or a bad thing, but it ends up making things feel different. Ninjago is an episodic series of adventures. DR is a continual evolving set of circumstances. Those are just going to feel different.

#ninjago #dragons rising #dr spoilers #asks #thanks anon!

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jinxed-ninjago · 1 year ago

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One thing I don't think we speculate/theorize/discuss/whatever enough is how Plundar would interact with the team on a more casual basis and vice versa (I'm specifying Plundar because with Wyldfyre's existence I feel like we can get a loose idea of how Korgran would interact with the team on a more casual basis and vice versa because I think Korgran and Wyldfyre have similar attitudes [although Korgran is definitely more chill than Wyldfyre], and I don't think Fungus would be much different considering how he interacts with the rest of the Upply, Cole, Wu, and Vania casually).

So Plundar interacting with the rest of the ninja:

We know Kai was likely jealous that Cole "had a crew" when Plundar introduced himself as "part of Cole's crew" so if we go off of that, I feel like Kai and Plundar would have a rivalry going on. Would it be one-sided on Kai's end? Probably, let's be honest. The idea is really funny. BUT I also really like the idea of Plundar finding worn out daggers and swords in the mines under Shintaro Mountain when he goes spelunking with the Upply and taking them to the monastery for Kai to restore. Still rivals but Kai appreciates Plundar giving him weapons to restore in the monastery's forge. Maybe Plundar even takes the weapons to Kai for him to restore in an attempt to demonstrate that the one-sided rivalry he has going on is fucking dumb lol.

Everyone else is gonna be significantly harder just because they don't really interact with Plundar canonically (Jay's only interaction with Plundar is screaming when he sees Adam then questioning who the Upply are, Nya's only interaction with him is asking who he is, and Lloyd and Zane don't interact with him at all). I will do my best however because the idea of Plundar interacting with these goofs is great.

Lloyd would probably be more skeptical of him at first, just because that's how Lloyd is. Statistically speaking, even if one of the ninja makes a new friend or ends up with a love interest who is briefly evil but ends up on their side in the end, they're still on the villain's side at some point to an extent, and I don't doubt that Lloyd would extend this sentiment to Lloyd. It happened with Zane and Pixal, it happened with Kai and Skylor (and there it resulted in Kai getting briefly corrupted), it happened with Lloyd himself and Harumi, basically you can count on ninja love interests starting out in league with the villains/villainous factions so I wouldn't doubt that Lloyd would be distrusting of Plundar, especially since Plundar's a thief. Cue Plundar trying way too hard to gain Lloyd's trust, and Cole trying to explain to Plundar "you're fine, he's just like this, he'll come around eventually as long as you aren't horrible."

I feel like Plundar would probably troll Jay all the time. Plundar's a thief who probably aces his stealth checks every time AND canonically Cole brought him on a stealth mission, you can't tell me he wouldn't tease the shit out of Jay using his stealth. It's probably more in an "I see you as a little brother so I'm gonna tease you relentlessly" way and not from a place of malice. Jay, who is used to getting this kind of shit but from a meaner verbal place from Kai, probably doesn't mind and tells Plundar when he needs a break from it.

Plundar and Nya would probably do a lot of sparring. Canonically, Nya's always looking for ways she can improve her skills, and having a stealthy thief around to help combat stealth would probably lead to a lot of sparring between the two. Outside of that, Plundar would probably be in the same spot as Cole and see her as a younger sister.

Plundar's been underground for YEARS, bro would be absolutely fascinated by both Zane and Pixal and I think they'd both be 100% down to answer any questions he has, whether it be about their mechanics, their programming, or really anything. Even if the question would be something the others would call invasive, they're patient and understanding because they understand it's new to Plundar.

I think Plundar should've interacted with the rest of the team more, I genuinely feel like we were robbed of some interactions that could've been pure gold (ESPECIALLY with Plundar and Kai) lmao

#lego ninjago #ninjago #ninjago plundar #ninjago jay #jay walker #ninjago kai #kai smith #ninjago zane #zane julien #ninjago nya #nya smith #ninjago lloyd #lloyd garmadon #lloyd montgomery garmadon #ninjago pixal #pixal borg #ninjago headcanons

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perhapsisuppose · 10 months ago

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you. give me your ninjago headcanons

the joy that surged through me.

i have a LOT

my faves tho are related around what they’d look like as humans

cole - definitely a big guy, super strong, would have darker skin and cool hair. i sometimes see people hc him as blasian or indian and both of those ARE SO FITTING

I fully and firmly believe cole is a metaphor for being gay

the royal blacksmiths ep in s1 is smth i have always felt was a subtle nod to the struggle of being gay and having a “double life” where he was nervous to tell his dad.

zane - either darker skin for human form or just the titanium (i think he’s a metaphor for autism 😈)

jay - white. canadian, probably. freckled everywhere, redhead bs, etc. (my adhd twin) the thinnest ninja, my guy is muscly but thin.

nya and kai - asian, tan skin, nya is definitely taller after s8 when they all start to grow up. nya’s bulky but kai is on the thinner side.

lloyd - asian, sometimes i see him portrayed as tan, and sometimes white. either work in my head. he’s not that thin, probably middle build.

—

random ones i’ve collected :

- jay’s special interest is video games, hence why they pop up as a constant interest for him throughout seasons, unlike the baking and cooking he mentions in the pilot (those were definitely his past fixations.)

- jay has a knack for inventing and tinkering - maybe it was a past fixation because it did fade as nya took the character role of “inventor”

- kai thinks cole is probably the hottest dude he’s ever seen, whether romantically or platonically is up to you, but he’s definitely had at least one fleeting homo thought

- jay and zane stim and talk over robotics and tech for hours. nya often walks in and joins, but will leave after they fall down another inevitable rabbit hole.

- lloyd dyes his hair blonde. he was born with terrifyingly bright blonde hair, but it became darker into a light brown with his rapid aging in s2. he just prefers the blonde.

- misako 100% has had some cheating-ass romantic interaction with wu while garm was out of the picture.

- harumi doesn’t love lloyd. she loves the idea of him. all she wanted was to be protected, and here’s the easy-to-manipulate, powerful, and cute green ninja - her easiest way to feel in control, whether subconscious or not at first.

- while arguing about nya with kai, jay has definitely pulled something like “what, you want me to marry you instead, asshole??” “you can say you’re jealous.”

- cole and jay have a closer bond than many.

- during the early seasons when cole was “interested” in nya, i hc that as him either experimenting or caring for her and confusing it for romantic love.

- nya struggles to say ‘i love you’ directly to jay due to the intense vulnerability it fills her with. she shows it in many other ways, and regrets not saying it sooner before seabound

- jay is insecure about this. ^

- that one archer ghost from s5 who wanted ronan’s soul bc of some deal he made was DEFINITELY into him. or vice versa.

- pythor and scales are 100% a divorced couple. how would that work lore-wise? it wouldn’t. they just are.

- chen is into the most fucking kinky shit you could ever fathom. he was alone on that island for a long, long time.

and is insane.

—

IF I THINK OF MORE OR IVE FORGOTTEN SOME, ILL TELL U!!!!

YIPPEEEE

#ninjago #hc #headcanons #headcanon #lego #ninjago masters of spinjitzu #ninja

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mayonesamitch · 6 days ago

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Intro post thing.

If you saw the other one I'm sorry I accidentally deleted it.

Hello, my name is Mitch. You can also call me Mayo, Mayonesa, or my full username. Whatever works well for you. I'm currently a minor and just wanna have fun here. I'm an INFJ, I don't normally say that to people but according to Google that's important to include in these things so I guess I'll include it. English isn't my first language, so I might make stupid mistakes here and there.

El español es el idioma que mejor hablo, así que si puedes hablarme español, ¡genial! Si no puedes, está bien, mi inglés es lo suficientemente bueno. Asisto a la escuela en Estados Unidos y hablo inglés allí, así que estoy seguro de que mi inglés es lo suficientemente bueno.

I'm mostly gonna post edits here. That's what I'm the best at. I'm starting to do a few animation memes too. I do also post random thoughts and things that happen to me. I also write essays. Mostly about Ninjago but I do write about my other interests sometimes. I do draw a lot but I very rarely post it on Tumblr.

My main interest at the moment are Bandori (Bang Dream), Project Sekai, Vocaloid, Lego Ninjago, Lego Dreamzzz, and D4DJ.

I'm in very many fandoms though. DDLC, NSO, NILFRUITS, Saiki K, Ouran High School Host Club, Dear Evan Hansen, K-On, Heathers, Mouthwashing, Danganronpa... yeah a lot. I didn't even list them all.

If you couldn't tell by now, my favorite character of all time is Maya Yamato! She's absolutely everything to me. I have collection of Maya merch. I love her so much you have no idea. My other favorite characters include Haruka Kiritani (PJSK), VFlower (Vocaloid, also, is she a character? I'll count her in anyways) Zane (Ninjago) Mateo Garcia (Dreamzzz) and Noa Fukushima (D4DJ).

I'm a pansexual, asexual, demi-boy. I don't like the "oh-la-la" act very much so please don't be asking for dirty things. I'm a minor anyways so you shouldn't be asking for that anyways. (Has happened before) For pronouns I'm fine with he/him or they/them. I don't necessarily like she/her pronouns but I don't really care if you use them. It's 2025 who cares at this point honestly. I'm also taken. My honey bun is @attomictrunk7556 They're my absolute love of my life please follow them.

There are some DNIs (Do not interact) I have. If you're homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, pedophiles, TERFS, or anything along those lines then uh... Yeah please don't interact. Sorry.

My current kins are Maya Yamato, (Bandori) Tomori Takamatsu, (Bandori) Mateo Garcia, (Dreamzzz) Cole, (Ninjago) Jay Walker, (Ninjago) Lloyd Garmadon, (Ninjago) Mizuki Akiyama, (Project Sekai) and Sayori. (DDLC) I'm pretty sure a kin is when you relate to how a character acts and/or experiences and stuff like that, and I think I act like them, I also connect to them a lot.

Okay, I think that's all I need to include in a intro post. If it's too much to read then just read the first paragraph. That's the key information. The other stuff is just... There. Okay, now pictures of my pets.

I love them... the bearded dragon with the wings is called Whiskey, the other bearded dragon is called Tequila, and the cat is called Vodka. Weird names I know but I love their names... I love them.

My other socials, if you want them:

YouTube

TikTok

Discord - MayonesaMitch (If you want to DM me I prefer Discord since I actually get notifications sometimes)

Lemon8

If I get any more socials I'll definitely update this list!

My player IDs (If you wanna add me!)

Bandori - 8650694

Project Sekai - 255114616508526594

D4DJ - Apy4bH1k

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hexkia · 4 months ago

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Rating Aphmau Ships and explaining why!

So im obviously going to start with Aphmau and Aaron first.

So I know that Aphmaua and Aaron’s relationship has been a sensitive subject for some parts of the fandom. Mainly because Aaron was a senior and Aph was a Freshmen when they met. If we want to be technical as well, they met in the game way before that. I do like that Jess didn’t have them date then or get to romantically involved other then the kiss which could’ve waited in my opinion.

We see Aphmau crush on other people in s2 of PDH. We see how it effected Aaron( granted he saw Ein and Aph and not who see was actually involved romantically with.) We can see that Aaron truly feels deeply for her even tho they’ve agree to just stay friends. Aph also still comes back to him at the end. I’m just glad we get to see her with someone else other than him atleast once.

Now we can talk about Falcon claw university but honestly I feel like talking about that series separately because I actually really love it.

Now onto My street. We don’t see them interacting a lot at the start but we obviously get to know that she hangs around Aaron a lot and even stays at his place on occasion ( I believe anyway). I still wish they had more sconces to show the build up of emotions both from just that season but years or then wanting to wait till they are ready. Them getting together at the con felt like the right time to do so. They are with their friends, they are somewhere that may has all the things they love and enjoy together.

love-love paradise gives us a good glimpse of them as a new couple and navigating it specially when her mom comes around. Also can see the frustration of having people getting between them like Katlyn, Gene, and even Zane towards the end.

Lovers Lane was actually a decent season and I’m glad we got to meet Aaron’s mom and sister. I will say it did feel a bit busy at some points like having to deal with the cafe, adding Aaron’s family in the mix, Aphs mom, and Lucinda and Ivan’s stuff along with Gene again. The “break up” had me tearing up when I watched it the first time and still makes me a little teary but it made me no like Aaron’s Mom. I’m still iffy with her even now. But I feel like it was a good way to show how complex emotions and relationships can be specially with issues from the past that someone didn’t get help for affected them as they got older. We also see Aph own up to her mistake when she realizes what she did and how it affected him. Granted she didn’t know everything and it could’ve been solved if they talked it out but when you’re running high on emotion it’s understandable.

Do we have to talk about s4? If everything he did just to get her back and protect her in that sense doesn’t scream how much he loves that women then I don’t know what to tell you. To add onto this, Aphmaus year which technically isn’t a season but very important to the story shows how much she’s struggling and he’s all she thinks about . Her leaning how to heal just so she can help him so just muawh. Perfect.

S5? Them reconnecting , then making she’s choices together, and getting engaged. We see Aaron coming to term to being a werewolf more openly even his family. We also see Aphmau getting used to it and making little mistakes and Aaron eventually telling her how it makes him feel. You can tell even with not being Allison eachother for a year how they’ve grown as a couple and strength. She needed time to grow and heal and he needed to start embracing who he is. My only issue even with this season was I feel like Aaron was to big of a what we call them now a simp and seemed to be dumb down a bit. Maybe he it was because he was more calm and relaxed and just glad to be able to be with her. But it was just a little weird.

S6 wasn’t really full of romantic moments between them other than Aaron going crazy about Ein killing her. Also her going after him to save him after she comes back to life. Then we have the ending.

I’m excited to see how things will go in season 7 and now they grow as a couple after they reunite for the last time. Specially if my theory of time travel to “fix” the timeline is true. Overall as a couple I do like them and I feel like they are very fitting for each other. They are actually one of my favorite Canon ships in the series. 9/10 mainly since the story isn’t over and they aren’t perfect and have definitely made their shared mistakes plus just small things.

#aphmau #aphmauships

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honestmouse20 · 1 year ago

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As promised, here's a masterlist of all the things people said they enjoyed about Crystalized! Just for positivitiy sake :) Plus my own favorites after!

The ninja's reactions to grief! Specifically Zane turning off his memory swith! All of the ninja's responses were really good and in character, even tho the show doesnt go super in depth. (personally i like how they left it up to us to fill in the details after they gave us the main idea as to how they reacted)

Pixal having more screen time! Bonus: her scene with Zane when she thinks he's gone. 10/10 pain

lots of call backs to pilots/season 1! like the original four's interactions with eachother.

Adding on to the previous one, Wu going up to Cole and Jay first, bc they were the first ones of the original ninja he found (not counting Zane) This was somethign I hadn't noticed until pointed out!

Reunions! Cole and Vaniam + the Uply! Benthomar showing up, ect.

The weekend whip being the final prophacy!

Zane screaming in the prision when he flips back on his memory switch briefly

Many people said that Garmadon (and fugidove but we'll give him his own bullet point) absolutly STOLE Crystalized. Namely Crystophern and Survival shipping

the fights/battles are epic and have a lot of cool call backs to old enemies and friends alike!

the crystalized whip fucks and everyone seems to agree on that lol

nya being the one to decide to come back And figure out that she had to get rid of her element to do so

dragon forms are cool!

harumi's lullaby coming back! (definatly gets stuck in my head all the time, despite how creepy it is lol)

card title for "A lesson in anger"

Wu's absolutly Epic quote to The Overload about how he "grew up afrraid of [him]" gave me absolute Chills

power of love and friends saving the day! Cheesy but still very good :)

Lloyd and Garmadon's relationship!! How Lloyd is still grapling with everything that happend Plus his 'father' now just Being there and trying to learn compasion

Poor Lloyd really goes through it! And everyone seems to agree that it was Very Good to see those glimpses into his jealosy and hurt towards Garmadon/Crystophern.

Survival shipping. Adding that one again bc it poped up A lot :)

Harumi's redemption. Mixed bag of feelings but another case of a nice base line for the fans to fill in the hows and whys

Zane and Mr. F's fight :) nice call back!

Multiple people said that scene with Cole getting a concussion and Kai taking care of him! It was really sweet and a lot of people said they liked how they showed the ninja actually getting hurt and it STICKING. Showing the concequences. 10/10

Nyad being tragic and also very sweet as a character!

FUGIDOVE! holy shit I'm so glad everyone loves him as much as I do!! He's so autistic and queer coded and it's Fantastic! More on him later in my section lol

multiple people mentioned it being nice to see Skylor again!

ronin redeption :)

the paper kids!

And now, My Personal Favorites :)

Survial Shipping!!! 10/10 also I love how Garmdaon says Vinny of NGTV news!

Crystophern Hurts and I love seeing Lloyd in the background looking so Hurt by Garmadon seemingly loving the plant more than him

That scene where Nya comforts Garmadon and tells him Crystophern is still alive and Garmadon spills about it being 'the only green in his life' and Nya has to be like, we're still talking about the plant right??

FUGI fucking DOVE! He is my all time favorite villan (not counting Garmadon ofc). The scene in the desert is 10 times better if you pretend he's a figment of Jay's imagination. but also it's hilarious on it's own. I don't ship him and jay but also, maybe?

"Quanish was a fool"

Wu and Garmadon being on the same side again!

Wu having a similar speech to lloyd and leading a similar resistance

OH! Wu's fucking quote! in his fight with the overlord! It's so epic! Ik i already said it but it's just so good

how all the ninja look so Happy while they're being arrested bc nya's back. I cry so hard

ough lloyds line about 'never being responsible for anyone ever again' Pain and suffering

I'll add more if i think of it! I have to leave for work now!

#thank you everyone for adding your positivity!#if i missed nay please let me know!#ninjago #d rambles #crystalized

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morroodle · 2 years ago

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Hi pls tell me more about your baby morro au

Like literally any random facts or whatever that you have I need to know moreeee

Also how does he get along with each of the ninja?

Baby morro my son <3 ask and you shall receive.

Relationships with the gang:

When he first arrives morro is very shy and scared, clinging to wus leg. He still has some faint feelings and extremely fuzzy memories leftover from his previous life and it makes him scared of the ninja. The ninja aren't massive fans of him either at the start but with time they warm up and get used to eachother.

Wu: his dad! Love him. Morro is a cuddle bug and loves to hold onto wus tail and yoink his hat.

Zane: intimidated is the easiest way to describe it. Morro has no idea how to interact with him and is usually extra shy and on his best behavior around him, but he relaxes once zane starts cooking. I think zane would eventually offer to teach him and morro would love it

Jay: not too many strong feelings but he is fun to mess with. Jay absolutely tries getting morro into videogames but it dosent work too well.

Cole: Cole has decided to be morros big brother. Morro was intimidated at first cause Cols is big and intimidating but it didn't take long for him to warm up. Cole gives amazing hugs, is very protective (a bit like wu) and absolutely spoils him with sweets.

Kai: so much fun to mess with. Usually the target of Lloyd and morros shenanigans. Morro likes to terrorize him and Kai chasing a giggling morro through the monastery is a common sight.

Nya: scary but SO COOL. Morro respects her and thinks she's an absolute badass (he loves watching her train) but he's got some leftover feelings from his previous life so it takes a while to warm up.

Lloyd: best friend! And enabler. Morro brings out the child in Lloyd and they get up to so many shenanigans together. Are they being safe and following wus rules? Probably not. Is Lloyd a good influence? Probably not. Are they having fun? Absolutely.

A scene I came up with: Morro flies a kite

After morro has been in the monastery for a while wu gives him a gift: his old kite (kinda. it's a new one but looks the same). Morro wants to fly it immediately so they head outside and Cole joins them. Unfortunately for them there is no wind and morro is very disappointed. Wu says they can come back another time but morro refuses and starts to get cranky, yelling that he wants to fly his kite NOW! Suddenly the wind picks up and his kite goes high in the air but it's too strong and the string snaps, sending the kite flying away. Morro starts crying but Cole takes off running after the kite, trying to catch it. Wu takes morro back inside and cut to around 20 minute later when an out of breath and dirty Cole comes back with morros kite in perfect condition. Morro hugs him with no hesitation (and so begins big brother Cole).

Bonus: baby morro doodle because I can (he hates shoes)

#ninjago #lego ninjago #ninjago morro #morro #ninjago au #art #ninjago headcanons #baby morro au

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i-aim-to-overanalyze · 3 years ago

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I’ve been rewatching Ninjago out of nostalgia and I’m currently finishing Season 3 which is actually?? Decent?? I know the reason it probably leaves a sour taste in a lot of people’s mouths is the Nya love triangle and the villains could’ve been better but it feels like this is the season that the plot kicks it up a notch?

Like don’t get me wrong, I grew up rewatching Season 1 the most and love it even if some aspects haven’t aged well *cough*everyonemakingfunofZaneforwearingpink*cough*

Season 2 I think has a great first half (the idea that Garmadon purposefully tries to thwart the Ninja in ways to prevent his son from reaching his full potential so they don’t have to fight is interesting) but it’s second half feels disconnected and even rushed a bit for what was supposed to be the series finale

The fight scenes are also just painful to watch and I laugh at how much of the time there’s like a group of them watching an one-on-one battle without making an effort to like,, help that person out

My favorite instance of this is when Cole tells Kai to take on the Stone Warrior in the museum like?? Why wouldn’t all of you fight him?? Why Kai specifically??

Side note, I love how the Overlord was clearly supposed to be the most ultimate evil bad guy ever and how much of an emphasis they made on “Oh remember this past season 1 event? Can’t believe this is our final battle!” *proceeds to make thirteen more seasons*

But with Season 3 it’s like

Ok yeah the Ninja becoming teachers in-between seasons when they’re supposedly still teenagers is weird which also keeping S4 in mind i refuse to see them as anything but in their early twenties excluding Lloyd

Yeah Nya deserved so much better this season. Like really between Season 2 where she received barely any action as Samuari X and the love triangle, I don’t know what is worse but at least it felt like she received more screen-time

Yeah Evil Wu could’ve probably been explored more and it would’ve been more interesting if he actually,, spoke

Yeah it doesnt make any sense the Ninja knew the Serpentine had been stuck in the tunnels or the Serpentine saying they locked themselves in the tombs when later seasons contradict this but thats just Ninjago for you

But even including all that there’s some really great stuff like!

The decision to split Lloyd and the other ninja up actually works out well?? It gives a chance for the Original Four to shine on their own and for Lloyd to be still the super important Chosen One

Which then the writers gave us Lloyd and Garmadad bonding time which was so great

The fact they decided to make Sensei Garmadon swear off fighting and weapons makes him so interesting?? He will very much fvck you up but by allowing you to be the person to fvck yourself up

The whole interaction he and Wu had regarding protecting Ninjago’s future was great and you know the writers were cowards that feared if they didn’t kill Sensei Garmadon off that he’d prevent Wu from hiding secrets which is like 90% of where the suspense in Ninjago stems from

If you ignore how dumb the love triangle is, I do love the fact like others pointed out, it very much seems the reason Cole even starts showing an interest in Nya is because he does it out of spite for Jay getting upset at something he wasn’t even aware of

I love Cyrus Borg--his excitement about the future of technology is infectious and I love how easily the writers could’ve had him against Pixel leaving his side and instead Cyrus encouraged her to go do what she wanted

The poor man does get captured and cyborgified twice in one season oof

Zane’s and Pixel’s relationship is actually pretty cute?? It’s literally the plot of Wall-E but I don’t care it’s still cute, whether you see it as romantic or platonic.

The idea of an evil eldritch spirit like the Overload being a computer virus isn’t that bad of an idea. I mean, he’s still a ridiculously weak villain but it’s still cool.

The ninja go to space!!! Is it absolutely ridiculous? Yeah, but it happened and I still think it’s hilarious it happened.

And then Zane’s sacrifice at the end?? It doesn’t matter if you know he comes back, it still hurts!

Also! The music is good?? Like S1 and S2 had decent music but it’s even better here?? Especially the Weekend Whip remix. This lego show’s music should not be as good as it is at times.

#lego ninjago #ninjago #ninjago zane #lord garmadon #garmadon #ninjago nya #ninjago cole #cyrus borg #ninjago pixel

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pthalomars · 4 years ago

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Synopsis of Jay's Empire AU⚡⚡

[[Made by me and @culturalmochi ]]

The way it starts out is that Jay goes on a solo mission, finds the hard drive for Prime Empire, and gets trapped in the game.

Nobody knows where he went, so the ninja are desperately trying to find him.

Time in game moves a lot faster than in real life, so a few weeks for the ninja is a few months (close to a year) inside of the game.

Jay met Scott and he showed him the ropes of the game, but tried to subtly warn him about Unagami. Jay spent a lot of time leveling up and grinding so he could get high stats, but later found out that he wasn't able to leave or communicate with the outside world. Enter Unagami.

Unagami tells Jay that he sees potential in him, and that he's impressed with his progress through the game. They begin to have a sort of mentor/mentee kind of relationship.

Once again, time moves much faster in game. So jay starts to miss the real world and tells Unagami that he misses his friends. Unagami tells Jay, "if they were really your friends, they would have come back for you by now, wouldn't they?"

Later on, Jay is approached by none other than the ninja! His dearest friends finally coming back to rescue him and bring him home!

But as he spends more time with them, something feels... wrong. It turns out they're NPC's, and in his mission objective list, it says he has to "discard" them. So he does, and they crumble into little pixelated cubes. He levels up.

This repeats several times, each time the ninja dupes become more rude, indifferent, hateful. At some point they become so far removed from their true counterparts that the only thing in common they share is their appearances.

Then comes the time where Unagami is ready to open the game to the rest of the world. He brings Jay to help him spread the word by broadcasting an advertisement for Prime Empire.

That's when the ninja find out where Jay has been this whole time.

So the real gang enters Prime Empire and find Jay, who looks displeased to see them even if he tries to hide it.

Everyone is so happy to see him and to bring him out of the game, surrounding him with hugs and tears of joy.

But then Jay checks his objectives. "Discard the ninja". It's the same as it's always been, so he goes along with it.

But as Jay journeys with his friends through the game, he slowly comes to the realization that they aren't NPC's.. they're his real friends.

Scott, when he was first sucked in by the game, leveled up really fast and eventually gained the attention of Unagami. Unagami said he saw "great potential" in him and gave him access to the coding of the game. For Scott, this means he can essentially influence and change parts of the game, but not always by his own free will. With him being connected to the coding, that includes his thoughts, emotions, memories, trauma, etc. this connection also gave Unagami a way to keep track of where Scott was and what he was doing at all times.

so eventually, Unagami wants to bring empire to the physical world, but he needs help getting the world out. he tells Scott his plan and Scott is like "actually, fuck this :)" and escapes from Unagami. in order to keep him from tracking his every move, Scott cuts off his own connection to the game's code. He hunkers down in his hideout and tries to plot a way to a)escape and b)prevent Unagami from taking over the real world.

so finally, Jay enters the game! Scott finds him running away from red visors and picks him up and takes him to his hideout. Scott explains the general rules of the game, gives him tips on how to survive, glitches, cheats, all of it. but he tries to warn him about Unagami and Jay is too enraptured with the thrall of the game to pay any mind to Scott's warnings. Jay starts leveling up and progressing, very similar to how Scott did, and gained the same kind of attention from Unagami. he saw great potential in him. at that point, Scott says that Jay can't come to the hideout anymore, and Jay asks why. Scott says "i already told you, but you didn't listen to me." and so Jay goes to Unagami. Unagami promises him steep advantages in the game, protection, etc and Jay is going along with it because, to him, its still just a game. the gravity of the situation hasn't quite hit him yet. he doesn't know that he's trapped.

so now, Jay and Unagami have a sort of mentor/mentee kind of relationship, and Jay very much fits into the role of the teachers pet. the red visors are **VERY** protective of him and will often accompany him wherever he goes unless he tells them to leave (sometimes they listen, sometimes they dont). There is one red visor who is particularly close to Jay. she goes with him everywhere and is the most protective of him compared to the other RV's. Jay tries to talk with her sometimes, and one day he asks her what her name is. her voice glitches out a lot, like something is corrupted in her code. she repeats "four o-oh four-r-r AA e-rror-r four o-o-oh four-r AA" and Jay is like "hmm.. rora? can i call you rora?" and she just nods at him. (Rora becomes important later!!)

so anyways, going back to how Unagami has adopted Jay as his mentee, Jay has the same kind of access to the game's coding that Scott does. including the influence of his memories and past traumas. this manifests in several ways, but one of which is how the NPC clones of the ninja interact with him. Jay has a lot of issues with self esteem and often fears that nobody really cares about him, finds him annoying, etc. so with each iteration of the ninja dupes, they become meaner and meaner until the only resemblance they share to their irl counterparts is their physical appearance.

Jay (not realizing that Unagami is the one creating the dupes) goes to Unagami to vent about how he misses his friends and wishes they could join him in the game. Unagami tells Jay "if they were really your friends, they would have come for you by now. They probably forgot about you. but it's not you ever needed them anyways. here, you are powerful, loved by everybody, adored by the masses. in here, you are important." gotta love that gaslight gatekeep gameboss moment. eventually, Unagami is ready to bring prime empire to the physical world once he's seen Jay get to the same point that Scott was at. Unagami says that he needs Jays help to deliver the message, and that crossing the line between digital and physical means that Jay can go back to the real world while still maintaining the same power and reputation he has in the game. Jay agrees and works with Unagami to make an advertisement.

this is the advertisement script:

[Do you want to join Prime Empire?

“What is Prime Empire?” it’s a fully immersive, futuristic video game experience! Using the latest virtual emulation technology, players are quite literally part of the game. Customize your avatar, meet other players, level up, and compete in tournaments!

“But how do I join?” The answer is simple, silly! Prime Empire can be found in your arcades, in your consoles, even on your phones! You would have to live under a rock to not find your way in.

“How do I win?” Your quest is to seek out the legendary Keytanas. But be warned, there are challenges that you will face. Deadly forests, dangerous races, and more! Will you rise above the rest and claim your rightful victory?

Join today, but don’t delay! Only the first 100 players will get a chance to meet yours truly (winks). In the Super Star Rocking Jay event, I will teach you the ropes of the game, along with exclusive tips that will give you an advantage over other players!

Do you have what it takes? Prove your worth and become part of Prime Empire!]

however, Scott has caught wind of the ad, and so he hacks into the broadcast and tries to warn everybody to "STAY OUT OF PRIME EMPIRE!!" but once again, his warnings fall on deaf ears.

however, now the ninja know where Jay has been all this time! they manage to be part of the 1st 100 players in the game and go to the super star rocking Jay event. Kai, Nya, Lloyd, Cole, pixal and zane all get in the game. but due to their own coding, pixal and zane despawn and get plopped back in the real world within the first 10mins of the game. They spend a lot of time outside of prime empire trying to find ways to re-enter the game.

so now we finally get to when the (remaining) ninja meet up with Jay, and he is disappointed at best when he sees them. but when they surround him with love and hugs and tears of joy, it throws him off guard. all of the NPC's were never this kind to him. He checks his objective menu and a new notification shows up. "discard the ninja". same as it's always been. part of the objective has always been to "not let the ninja know that you know they are fakes." but after all of this time, Jay has grown tired and so he doesn't really bother trying to keep up appearances. he won't flat out say that he thinks they're fakes, but his demeanor is completely off.

the ninja make it to okino and they start going through the forest, the cliffs, and finally the maze of the red dragon. throughout this time, there are several little moments that lead Jay to believe that these might be his real friends. he tries to write them off, but it keeps nagging at him. in the canon scene where Unagami pauses the game and talks to okino, its the same except its Jay that Unagami talks to. "just wanted to check in with you, everything is still going according to plan, correct?" Jay responds with "yes, but these ones are different. none of the other clones have acted so.. so close to my real friends." Unagami scoffs "these ones are just as fake as the others. make sure you complete your objective. we are very close to bridging the gap, and I wouldn't want anybody to hold you back from being at my side when we cross over." Jay agrees and the game resumes.

Jay has the perfect opportunity to let his friends perish at the hands of the dragon, but something in him screams at him to help them win. he points out the scale on the back of the dragon, they defeat it, and Jay gets the dragon summon. instead of keeping it, he gives it to Cole. "i figure you guys will probably need it more than me. I've got higher stats, i can take care of myself." (that dragon summon becomes important later) so ANYWAY now its time for the speedway 5billion. but they don't have enough credits so they have to get some extra money. the gang goes to the dance battle, but! theres also a karaoke battle they have to participate in. Jay and Cole sing Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears for Fears (this song is also important later!) and they win the contest and get enough credits to enter the race. however...

by this point in time, Jay is pretty sure that this group is his **real** friends, and he doesn't feel like he can go through with his objective anymore. besides, would clones really dance with him? sing his favorite songs with him? watch out for him when danger approaches? smile at him with such kindness and sincerity? clones wouldnt, but his real friends would. once again, his connection to the code means that Unagami is able to track him, and also take peeks into his mind. Unagami senses this realization and pauses the game again to confront him. "Jay, you must not let these clones cloud your judgement. you still have a mission to complete." Jay says "Unagami, these aren't dupes! they're really my friends, and they came back for me! i can't just "discard" them like you want me to. I won't!" "you WILL if you ever want to leave this digital space. if you will not join me in bridging the gap, then you will be left in here for all of eternity. the choice is yours, Jay walker." and with that, the game resumes.

the ninja are all talking and they realize that Jay has gone silent. "Jay? you good?" Kai asks. Jay snaps out of it and reassures them that he's fine. but thats when he sees *him*. in the crowd of NPC's bustling about the city, he sees nadakhan. staring at him with that evil, calculated grin and begins approaching them. Jay's eyes go wide and his stomach drops. "are you sure you're okay?" Lloyd asks. "we.. we need to get out of here. we need to leave *now*" Jay says with a quiet, wavering voice. Just as he moves to flee, Nya gasps.

It was the scene of Nya dying. She was cradled in Jay's arms, muttering her last words before going completely limp. The master of lightning shook with broken sobs, clinging to his friend as if holding her tight enough could bring her back. That was the day that Jay Walker had lost everything.

And now, that moment was set on an infinite loop, broadcasted on every screen in the capital city of Prime Empire.

Jay was frozen, unable to do anything but succumb to his rising panic.

Nya was in a similar state, feeling the sharp pains of her chest that came from her old wound. She remembered dying, the pain and vulnerability. Now her final moments were in full display.

The rest of them gazed in horror and confusion, unable to comprehend what was going on. Jay thinks he heard Kai yelling, maybe he was asking why his sister was dying over and over again. Cole sounded like he was trying to warn everyone about the approaching assailants. Those of which looked like clones of the Misfortune's crew, including their tyrannical captain.

It was all too much. Jay felt his digital blood freeze in his veins, his air cutting off entirely, and his vision slowly turning to static.

Nadakhan. Nya. Tiger widow venom. Kai. Nadhakan. Nya. Zane. Cole. Nya. Lloyd. Nadakhan. Nya. Nya. Nya. N-

Jay's friends tried to reach for him, to help him, but then it happened.

An explosion of lightning burst from Jay's body, flooding through the city with blue and white pixelated sparks. And once the wave had passed, the city went dark. The screens that were looping that wretched day were now idle. The Misfortune's crew were nowhere to be seen. Jay had fallen unconscious.

"What are you guys doing here?" Scott asked, his face contorted in concern.

"Scott, it- its Jay. He had this weird power surge and he-" Lloyd stuttered before him and his friends were roughly yanked inside of Scott's hideout.

Cole was carrying Jay's limp body, and followed Scott's instructions to lay him on the workbench. But not before he had thrown all of his tools and blueprints on the ground in a rush.

"What did you say? About a power surge?"

"It was-" Lloyd started again

"It was like he exploded," Kai cut in, "we've never seen his element act like that."

"The city, it went dark." Nya added.

"And there was something going on with the city screens, they were showing-" said Cole.

"My sister dying! Over and over again! That's not part of the game, right?!"

"Guys guys! Chill the fuck out, one at a time." Scott demanded. They all went quiet before Nya spoke up.

"The screens showed one of Jay's memories. One of his most traumatic ones. NPC's started changing into people that.. are related to that memory. They started attacking us from all sides. Jay had gone into a panic attack before he surged. That wave of power blew out the whole city's power and everything went dark. After that he passed out."

Scott looked at her with a look of dread.

"This is worse than I thought.."

"What do you mean worse? Scott, what's wrong with Jay?" Cole asked. Scott sighed.

"He's.. he's become part of the game."

"Like an NPC?" Lloyd said.

"No, not an NPC. His memories, his soul, his life force- it's bleeding into the coding of the game. His emotions and memories are able to affect the behavior of the game. Environments, NPCs, everything."

"How do you know all of that, Scott?" Nya interjected.

"Because he's just like me."

"What??" The ninja said in unison.

"When I first came into the game, Unagami wanted me to bring Prime Empire to the real world. To break out of this digital prison and conquer the rest of the physical world. I agreed to help him because I didn't see any other way out of this hellscape. He granted me access to the code. So I'm just as connected to Prime Empire as Jay is. My memories are there too.

But the thing is, is that I've cut myself off of the code. It's the only way I could hide from Unagami, since I had abandoned ship and didn't want to help him anymore. I'm a threat because I can affect the code.

But if I don't connect to it, I stay hidden.

But Jay, his connection is so strong by this point. Everything he does changes the game.

He's gonna be okay, for now, but I can't guarantee the same for all of you." Scott finished, his eyes sunken and tired.

"Wh- what are we supposed to do then? How can we get Jay out of here?" Kai asked.

"Beat the game. As far as I know, there's no other way out of here."

They all looked at each other, faces grim but determined.

"Well we can't leave here without Jay, can we stay here until he wakes up?" Said Nya.

"Absolutely not." Scott replied.

"What? Why??" Cole butted in.

"The longer you guys stay here, with h i m, the more danger all of us are in. Jay is part of the coding, Unagami can find him. And that means he can find u s."

"Well how do we wake him up? There's gotta be some way!" Lloyd pleaded.

Scott looked at Jay's unconscious form.

"Fuck, okay, let me try something."

so Scott does the only thing he can think of that might work. he reconnects himself to the game's code in order to "plug in" to Jay and wake him up. when he plugs in, Scott sees Jay in a dark, endless room. he's crouched on the ground, sobbing and shaking

But thrashing from his body is manifestations of his trauma, like a horrible amalgamation that is distorting his physical form and its. Horrifying.

Scott looks at him and tries to approach him without getting hurt

He gets to him and he makes contact with his shoulder and then the surge of energy happens and he gets unplugged and shot across the room, and Jay wakes up with a start, chest heaving and his eyes still wet with tears. Cole is there right next to Jay, and Jay clings onto him like a lifeline. Kai wraps his arms around Jay too and they hold him and comfort him as best they can. Lloyd and Nya go over to Scott to see if he's okay. he groans and sits up, Lloyd and Nya help him stand. "what happened? what was that??" Nya asks. "I woke him up. but its not safe anymore. you guys have to get him out of here, or else Unagami is gonna show up and if he does.. well its safe to assume it'll be game over for all of us."

"we still have to win the highway 5billion and get the second keytana." Cole says, "and we need cars." Scott sighs at this, "i've got cars you can use, i won't be using them very much anymore anyways." "what does that mean?" Kai asks. "did you not hear me? its game over. you guys have to get Jay out of here." Scott says. "Scott, you know the game better than anyone, we need your help. will you race with us?" Nya pleads. Scott is about to reject when he looks at Jay. Jay is looking at him with a look that breaks his heart. "fine. I'll race with you guys."

so they fix up the cars and enter the SW5B and Scott is like "i guess if we're going in, i might as well get a new look." so he customizes his avatar (if u check my post with his redesign, thats the avatar he has, the glowing parts of his outfit change colors!) and they start the race! Scott doesn't have his own car, instead he's jumping from vehicle to vehicle and taking out the other drivers so that the ninja can win. he uses his baseball bat as a melee weapon but it can also shoot lasers! Kai still gets that loot box upgrade and has the running mech, and just like in canon, Cole and Kai get cubed. so does Scott, he gets run over lol. now its just Jay, Nya, and Lloyd and they make their way to the temple of madness.

then we have the fight. in canon its Lloyd and harumi, but in this au, Jay enters the arena instead. he gets in and the game picks his fighter. expecting it to be someone he's fought before, he prepares himself. but nothing could have prepared him for who he saw standing in front of him. it was echo zane.

Nya stares in horror and Lloyd is confused. "who is that? that can't be zane, right? why would he be part of the game?" Lloyd asks. Nya can't say anything, and neither can Jay. Jay wants to give up, he cant fight echo. someone who helped him in the most dire of times, only to be left alone on that island for the rest of eternity. Jay had never gone back for him, and that guilt he felt had just kicked into high gear having to look echo in the eyes. but then echo starts attacking him, and Jay has to defend himself. Jay wins, and sees echo disappear after the final blow. the walls of the arena disappear and Jay falls to his knees. Lloyd and Nya move in immediately to help him up. "seriously, what the hell is going on?? why aren't you guys saying anything??" Lloyd demands. "we can't talk about it right now, Lloyd. we'll have to tell you later." Nya says quietly. her voice is tight and dies in her throat. Lloyd gets the hint and doesn't push it any further.

so the three of them make it through the sushi restaurant and make it to the gate with the 3 keytanas. Jay, Lloyd, and Nya go to put in the blades and they open the gate. standing in front of them is none other than Unagami. "Jay, you have disappointed me. you were so important, so valued, and you have thrown that away for the sake of your so-called 'friends'. thankfully, there is still a place for you." Unagami says. "i don't WANT a place with you! you've hurt me, you've hurt my friends, you've hurt so many innocent people. all of those cubes? those are REAL PEOPLE! i can't let you do this Unagami. I won't let you get away with this." Jay says defiantly. Unagami sighs, "i was hoping it would not come to this. but if you chose to act this way, you will face the consequences. you will help me bridge this gap, whether you like it or not." and Unagami holds out his hands. an intense blue beam of light bursts from his palms and hits Jay square in the chest. the light is absorbed by his body and his form begins to glitch and spasm violently. mochi and i have called this the Blue Screen of Death. (tw for mild(?) body horror) Jay is overcome by the blue and his body begins to grow and distort, all the while he's screaming and his cries are glitched out and staticky. Lloyd and Nya watch, frozen in fear as their friend begins to grow to massive size, writhing in agony. Jay thrashes and knocks into both of them, sending them off the side of the platform and cubing them. the last two energy cubes join the gate and Jay crawls through.

(with this scene, in the background, the lorde version of everybody wants to rule the world would be playing, just as a nice parallel to the song from earlier at the karaoke battle)

MEANWHILE, as pixal and zane attempted to find ways to get back into the game, find milton dyer, etc, zane gets captured by the mechanic. everything goes the same as it does in canon where the mechanic hooks zane up to the gate.

and now, we get a look at where everybody who got cubed resides. Scott, when he was cubed, was greeted by Unagami personally. he criticized him for his actions and expressed his disappointment before ultimately locking him inside of a digital cell. Scott figured that this was how the rest of his life would be, trapped in a cage with no way out and no way to die. but then! Rora shows up. that corruption in her system from the beginning? that was her beginning to break away from her coding and becoming more of a person. she saw what happened to Jay, and she wants to help him. she breaks Scott out and they agree to work together to save Jay. but they're gonna need all the help they can get. together, Scott and rora free the ninja and all of the other cubed players and they make it through the portal.

and thats where they see Jay, now as tall as the skyscrapers in ninjago city and wreaking havoc on the entire area.

everyone looks up at him in utter horror and see just how corrupted he's become. he's wailing in pain as he drives his guitar down on building after building. thrashing and flailing, causing the structures around him to crumble and collapse. "how the fuck are we gonna fix this?!" Nya cries. "i can help." Unagami approaches them. everyone gets into fighting stances, ready to beat Unagami into the pavement. "i did not realize that corrupting him would turn out like this. i know how to fix him, but i need your help." "why should we help YOU?" Kai growls. "if you want to save your city and your friend from complete destruction, you *will* help me." and so Unagami explains that if they can lure Jay back through the portal, Unagami can undo his corruption and fix Jays "coding"

so now the ninja are trying to figure out how to get Jay's attention and bring him back through the portal. it seems like nothing is working, and then Cole gets an idea. he starts singing the lyrics to everybody wants to rule the world. it seems to get Jay's attention, so he keeps singing.

the others hear him and they join in. now they have Jay's attention, and he's closing in on them. that dragon summon from earlier? now thats when that comes in handy. Cole calls the digidragon and rides it so that Jay cant crush him while he lures him back to the portal. low and behold, they manage to get Jay through the portal, Unagami purifies his "coding" and they return to the physical world once again. Unagami gets to have his talk with milton and all of the npcs+pcs that want to come out do, and the others stay in the game. the city is in shambles, the portal closes, and zane+pixal+wu reunite with the others.

the car ride home is very quiet. everyone is exhausted, Jay is asleep and leaning on Cole's shoulder. they have a lot to talk about, but for now, they just want to sleep through the night. they make it home, go to their separate rooms, and go to bed.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand thats pretty much all of it!! theres a little epilogue that has snippets of what Scott, racer 7, okino, and rora do now that they're outside of the game, but thats just kinda there lol.

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m-aster-of-spinjitzu · 3 years ago

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the hues of an empty sky

Missing memories, or having two of them for one moment - not quite the same, but if there's one thing Jay's leant over the last few weeks, it's that literally nothing makes sense anymore.

Or, some Skybound aftermath, Zane actually expressing emotions about his memory switch being turned off for all those years, and what was supposed to be a 'they tell everyone about the erased timeline' fic, but it turned into a 'two characters who barely interact on screen talk at like one am in the morning, and don't actually tell the other what exactly they're alluding to the whole time' fic that I wrote at like one am-

Also yeah, I realized too late that they split up to look for Wu after s7, we’re just gonna pretend that they waited a few days or something, idk anymore tbh, lol.

(I also didn't have time to edit - so please tell me where the typos are? 😂💛)

Word count: 4539

Prompt: crying, from @ninjago-bingo 's warm board.

Trigger warnings: the main character has a panic attack, and squeezes their fingernails into their hands once or twice but I think that's it.

*facepalms* also, guys, i’m so stupid - i literally just realized that this freaking CHANGES TENSE HALFWAY OHMYGOSH I- i don’t think it’s super noticeable, but ugh, apologies to anyone who actually thought my writing was good lol-

---

It's cold.

Bitterly, freezing cold.

The biting chill of the air is a bit strange for this time of year, but, heck, that's nowhere near the craziest thing that's ever happened to him - not by a long shot.

He sighs, squinting at the stars dotted liberally against the black canvas of the sky.

Cole had once joked that one of them might be the remains of their golden weapons, after they'd hurled the burning mass into the sky - in another alternate timeline; one that only existed in the memories of a certain few.

Gosh - that seemed like such a long time ago.

Wouldn't it be nice to go back to that time, when he'd still thought that their powers were the coolest thing ever - instead of despising them for all the responsibility and sacrifice that came with them? When one of his biggest worries was whether the girl he had a crush on liked him back - not wondering if his friends would survive the night?

"I did not expect to find you awake at this hour, Jay."

Reflexivity, he jumps back, his mind twisting his friend's gentle voice into the- the djin's triumphant, accented one.

You're supposed to be a ninja. What good are you if your friends can still sneak up on you?

"Geez, warn a guy before you sneak up on him! I almost fell off the Bounty!"

"My apologies. I was... surprised to find you awake at this hour," Zane answers. "What are you doing?" "Couldn't sleep. It's too cold," he confesses, not entirely a lie. Ninjago wasn't 'that' far from the Sea of Sand, but he'd grown up in a much warmer area - unfortunately resulting in his practically nonexistent tolerance to the cold. That never failed to stop Kai from teasing him about it, though. He doesn't mention the pressing weight on his chest, almost tangible - or how it constantly makes him feel. Like he's being dragged through the darkness of an empty sky, spikes of fear making everything so freaking terrifying- "You?"

"I have been analyzing my memories of Pixal, in the hope that it may lead me to her whereabouts. However, all my efforts have proved... unsuccessful," Zane answers wearily, shifting his gaze to the sky.

Oh- oh. They'd all be so caught up in the chaos of the last few weeks - hey, it's not like any of them had asked the universe to permanently be out to get them! - that they'd forgotten Pixal was still offline.

"Hey, I'm sure that she's still there somewhere," he says, earnestly. "After all - she wouldn't be your girlfriend if she didn't pull a vanishing act every now and again, eh?"

The question is punctuated with a laugh, but he doesn't say that he's a little worried about her too. They hadn't talked much, but-

I can't see one of my best friends find out that his girlfriend is dead, a quiet voice at the back of his mind points out. Well - been there, done that, wouldn't recommend, he thinks bitterly. Emotional breakdowns and frequent nightmares apply. Anxiety attacks are half off, too!

It's quiet for a few minutes, neither of them seeing a need to break the silence. The wind blows softly through the sails above them; gray wisps of cloud revealing a pale sliver of moonlight that paints the sky in its glow.

It should be a peaceful night: beautiful, calm, no one trying to kill them or destroy their city - for a change.

His hands won't stop shaking.

It should be a peaceful night, but, as usual, the world is too freaking unfair for that-

He hasn't even slept for a full night in weeks! Well, not since- since-

Don't think about it! That's only going to make it worse, duh-

"Are you alright, Jay?"

"Yeah- I- I'm good, thanks," he says quickly, ignoring the way his breathing keeps speeding up. FSM, not this-

Not for the first time, the world suddenly becomes too loud - too much. Every little thing, from trying to breathe properly or even walk- feels insurmountable, because, gosh, oh gosh, it's going to come crashing down if he even moves-

The memory starts off the same as it always does.

Rubble strewn over the temple grounds, his friends literally reduced to nothing more than statues. A shot that hit the mark perfectly, but perfectly shattered his world in the process.

A poison-splattered dress, a terrifying realization.

Her well-aimed joke, but one that never fails to sting every time. Gosh, why hadn't they just allowed her to join their team in the first place? Maybe they could've prevented this- this- whole situation, if they hadn't been so freaking egotistical-

And, again, he's overwhelmed by the sheer sense of helplessness, all his power and training and skills completely useless to one of the people he cared most about. FSM, if only I hadn't used my first w-request so carelessly! If only I'd been able to escape- or, or if only I'd been able to assemble the team faster! If only-

Despite being in what must've been unimaginable pain, she offers a strained smile - a sweet gesture that, ironically, feels like she's poisoning him, because- because FSM, this is all so wrong, it wasn't supposed to end like this-

He watches with horror as her eyes dull and she stills in his arms.

She's gone, FSM, she's gone and it's all my fault-

"Jay?" a voice asks, concern evident in their tone. Distantly, he registers that he's having a breakdown in front of one of his best friends - one of the things he'd been trying really hard to avoid.

Dang it.

"I-" he tries to say, but, great, he's breathing too fast to even get the stupid words out.

"Breathe in for four seconds," Zane says, softly.

Four seconds? Time has no meaning right now, narrowed down to, like - falling down a chasm, terrified of what's at the bottom, except the fear's all around, this- this... foreboding thing of his mind that keeps yelling that he needs to run, or fight, but he can't, can't-

Right. Four seconds.

You're okay, you're fine, no one's trying to hurt you or your friends. She's not dead.

But what if- what if they're being dragged out of this ship right now? What if it was all a dream, and she's dead anyway, because all of us were too stupid to come up with another plan, and none of us could even do anything when she-

After a little while, when he could breathe a little easier, and the fear didn't feel like it was slamming into him from every possible direction, he slowly opened his eyes. Shakily, he wiped a tear from his face - as if that would wipe away all the weeks that had, theoretically, never even freaking happened.

The sky comes back into focus - pinpricks of light against pitch black.

How was he going to come up with some sorta explanation without... well, explaining everything?

Great.

My nerves are frayed, and I have to lie to a walking lie detector - what could possibly go wrong?

"Are you alright?" Zane asks, his brows creased in concern.

"Heh heh, yeah. Probably just too many video games," he replies quickly, laughter a bit strained.

"You were muttering to yourself," his friend replies quietly. Ugh, trust the way-too-observant-nindroid to call him out on the remains of his facade. "If you do not mind me asking, what was 'all your fault'? I am sure that it was probably a misunderstanding."

You're the one who misunderstands everything, he thinks wearily, ignoring the part of him that yearns to tell someone else about... well, everything that's happened because of that stupid teapot. He's not one to keep secrets by nature, and it's been taking a bigger toll of him than he'd thought it would. Is this how Nya felt when she was still the Samurai? "It's- it's nothing, probably just nonsense."

"Are you sure? You seem... quite worried about something."

Dang it, were his hands still shaking? He presses his fingernails into his palms, squeezing his eyes shut for a second.

He's talking to one of his best friends, FSM. Weren't friends able to tell each other anything?

"Do you think it's easier to forget? Better?"

He didn't even realize he'd asked a question until Zane's eyes widened in surprise.

A forest coated in snow, ice crystals dangling from the tree branches above their heads. Plenty of screaming - way too much, he reflects, couldn't they have been a bit nicer? It must've been pretty jarring to learn that you weren't human, or that your father had erased years of your life from your mind - in that weird underground treehouse. Those crazy tree monsters - and the realization that they all had much more power than they'd thought.

"N- nevermind," he stutters, fleetingly thinking of kicking the deck. "That's way too personal, you don't have to answer it-"

"I do not mind," Zane says, a bit sadly.

Oh.

Heck, his friend was way too nice.

They gaze up at the stars for a few minutes, not really seeing them - one drowning under the weight of too many secrets, the other, too many memories.

It's quiet - too quiet.

Ugh, he thinks, sighing, that sounds like something a low-budget horror movie would start with, cringey sound effects to match.

But the silence is a painful reminder of the days he'd spent tossing and turning in a cramped cell - nothing but his worries and the bruises on his leg from that stupid ball and chain keeping him awake.

He's been trying hard - maybe too hard - to avoid being alone, avoid being in a situation where they've gotta be quiet ever since then, because, dang it, his memories always seem to fill the silence, and they're always far more terrifying than they should be-

It's easier, in a way, to be mocked for his stupid jokes than it is to relive a single moment from those nightmarish few weeks.

Almost reflexively, he grasps for something to fill the quiet.

"Heh, this is a bit awkward. It's okay if you wanna leave-"

"I do not mind," Zane echoes, walking a bit closer. "It is not as if I need to sleep. But... I do not quite know what to think of your question."

There comes the answer - or a semblance of one at least, and it's the last thing he'd been expecting.

"You don't know?" he blurts out before he can even think of trying to filter the thought. Way to treat your friend who's been nothing but kind to you, Jay. "But you're- you're a nindroid! You know everything-"

"Pixal," his friend mutters softly, sighing, and the hurt, the fear, laced through the word makes something in his heart practically twist. He knows all too well what it feels like to be in that situation - even if, technically, it had never happened.

Then- "I wish that were true. But I suppose that my emotions make certain situations much more complicated than... than they need to be. Thus I cannot give my perspective on this - or, at least, without sounding quite conflicted."

"You know that you're allowed to be conflicted, right? Even the coolest Nindroids don't know everything."

"...Yes, I suppose so."

Jay frowns at the almost subconscious hesitation, eyebrows creasing in concern.

"Seriously," he starts earnestly. They're both leaning on one of the railings just above the deck now. "Just 'cause you're a nindroid doesn't mean that you've gotta chase some kind of perfection that doesn't even exist."

He doesn't miss how Zane's eyes widen in shock, their bright blue hue glowing a little brighter - and heck, if that doesn't hurt even more than the earlier realization.

"Besides - it's not like none of us haven't made mistakes before. Hate to go all Wu on ya, but they help us learn or some stupid thing like that. Even if the mistake is trying not to make 'em, you know?"

"Thank you," Zane replies, a tired smile on his face. "Even the most advanced tech is susceptible to error, I suppose."

They've all made lots of mistakes, heaven forbid if one of them is still agonizing over messing up over the crazy situations the universe constantly put them in. It's not like they were told they'd have to face more ancient evil armies than they could count, were they?

Maybe it's time to stop focusing on events that never even happened, and pay more attention to your friends. What's the point of being part of this team if you're always scared or selfish?

"Shut up," he mumbles, rubbing his temples. What's the point of fighting if your own brain is gonna fight you whenever it gets a chance? A few seconds later, he schools his face back into his default anxious grin. "Great, cause I- I- could use your advice on something." "Alright," comes the quiet reply, his friend seemingly lost in thought.

"What if you wanted to tell someone something, but you couldn't?"

His breathing starts to speed up again, but he grips the deck until his fingers are practically bruised, stark white against his tanned skin. Not this time-

"Is this what you were referring to earlier? An event that you blamed yourself for?" Zane asks, eyes flitting between the floor and the sky.

Dang it, way too observant as usual. He masks his surprise with a laugh, but the conversation definitely isn't going as planned and, oh gosh oh gosh, what if-

No, there's no way that any of them would even believe that. Besides - no one can remember stuff that they've forgotten, especially if magic's at play.

"Yeah, kinda," and he's surprised by how steady his voice sounds. It's not easy to even think about that- event, talking about it is a whole different thing. A much more difficult thing, but also - a bit, a little bit, easier. "I-" "Apologies for interrupting," his friend interjects. "I suppose that I have not been entirely honest with you." What?

"A few days ago, I discovered a number of deleted memory files buried deep within my code."

Just like that, his whole world tilts out from underneath him.

It takes every ounce of his strength to keep himself from falling into the abyss again.

Wait, what?

Has he really known for all this time? It's been weeks! Surely he would've said something? It can't be, it never even-

The rational part of his mind points out that he can remember every day of those few weeks. Well, he was the one to make the wish - magical logic is kinda stupid, but maybe that's why he had to remember it or something?

Well then, a small voice interjects, why was Nya cursed to remember everything too?

Of course, even the stupid magical logic doesn't even make sense to the one who caused this whole mess in the first place.

"They were almost entirely corrupted - scrambled in a way that I am not familiar with. However, I did realize that certain files bore dates that have not even occurred yet. I dismissed it as a problem with my code, however..."

Breathe, calm down, it's not like he was able to process them or anything-

We agreed that no one was supposed to know! What if they end up blaming us for keeping it a secret this long, or, or-

"I mean, they could've been-" he starts, but the way in which he's nervously twisting his fingers is a pretty clear indication that he's lying, dang it.

"So when you mentioned that you were unable to tell someone something - did you mean that it was because they had quite literally forgotten about it?"

Great. Fantastic. Of course the literal robot has pieced it together by now-

He squeezes his eyes shut for a minute, hoping that if he ignores the problem, maybe it'll go away.

Okay, fine, maybe he's trying to figure out a way to fix this whole mess. Doesn't mean that he's any closer to coming up with a solution, though.

"Er, yeah," he whispers, shoulders slumped, eyes still firmly shut. Because gosh, he doesn't want to - can't, can't - see the realization dawn that, yeah, he's lied to people he's known for years and years, even though they've all seen way too many times that secrets bring nothing but trouble-

"Well, then - I would say that you don't have to tell them," Zane replies, surprisingly... earnestly? That, or he's either too freaked out to understand the tone properly. Could be either.

He opens his eyes, hesitantly.

And it comes as a bit of a shock to find nothing but concern reflected in his friend's.

The almost persistent weight on his chest feels a little lighter now, like the sky isn't as quite so empty.

Well, it still kinda is. But that doesn't hold as much weight as he'd thought it did - not if one of his friends is willing to look past that; past the heaviness of holding up all those memories with nothing his single star, flickering in and out of the darkness, to try and light the unforgiving darkness of the sky.

"Why?" Jay asks, so quietly he can barely hear it himself. "Don't I owe it to them? Do you?"

"No. Definitely not," comes the reply, so full of conviction that he almost stumbles back. Why-

"My father..."

Oh- oh.

"thought it was better to spare me the pain of mourning him than for me to know who I was," Zane confesses, hesitantly. "Not that I disagree, necessarily. I just..."

He trails off, clutching the railing so hard that the wood almost snaps beneath his titanium fingers.

It takes Jay a little while to realize why - why exactly his friend, who has access to a wealth of knowledge and information, is grasping for an answer. Because- because, well, even if someone does something in your best interests - sometimes the choice isn't always up to them. Or maybe it is, but it was... difficult, to say the least, to let go of the fact that his parents had never told him the truth sooner. Not that he blames them, necessarily - it's not like they knew that his father would pass on before he'd even get the chance to meet him - but... it's confusing, and difficult, not to know why you were left at a junkyard as soon as you were born. Maybe if he'd known that sooner, he could've asked the one person who might've had answers - although it's not like hoping for the past to change will actually change it.

They don't even know that you know, a small voice at the back of his mind points out, and suddenly everything makes a lot more sense-

"You wanted a choice," he breathes, eyes widening. A choice - like one that he'd never been given, one that he stills struggles not to hold against two people who've always had his best interests at heart. Even if they did have the right to withhold that one thing, after all they've done for him - the 'what if's' still echo in his mind far more often than he'd like. "There's nothing wrong with that, even if it feels that way. I kinda get where you're coming from, dude, and it's... super confusing, but I'd be pretty mad if my memories were tampered with like that."

So would anyone, he realizes, heart sinking. Oh, great. Not helping-

"I- I suppose so?" Zane answers, but it sounds more like a question than a reply. "However, in the same vein, it would be unwise for you to give away your choice whilst you still have one." "But don't I owe it to everyone? You just said it, it's horrible to alter people's memories and I- I-" "Did we forget... whatever it was for a good reason? "I- I mean, I guess, but..." "Then you do not owe it to us to relive something that we do not even remember." The words should be a relief - and they kinda are. But some part of him really does want to explain the crazy alternate timeline, and everything that happened in it. It's just... really, really freaking difficult.

"What if- what if I wanted to, though?" Jay asks hysterically, running his hands through his hair in a frenzied sort of way. "And I still couldn't? I just, I-"

He cuts himself off with a bout of forced laughter.

Zane takes a moment to reply, the bright blue light in his eyes flickering - a small tell that he was thinking so deeply, his processors were literally sparking up a bit.

"You queried earlier if it was easier, or better, to forget. And while all situations are different, I suppose it is... well, subjective. What do you think?" Zane asks, softly.

Derailing the conversation a bit, but his friend's obviously smart enough to be leading up to something.

Sure, he'll go along with it.

"I mean, there are some things I'd rather forget, you know? I guess we all know what that feels like," Jay replies, the statement with oddly sad air to it. They're still kids, after all, and it gets a bit exhausting pretending that their superhero lives were all fun and games - when they'd just given him enough grey hair to last then lifetimes, and enough nightmares to keep him from ever getting the normal amount of sleep his mum always prattled on about.

Sleep, heh heh. Practically a foreign concept, now.

"And I know that stuff that happens, like shapes us or something - and Master Wu would probably go off on a whole ramble about why we learn from our mistakes or whatever," he laughs nervously, resisting the urge to just fall headfirst onto the deck of the stupid ship instead of continuing the conversation," and how 'our scars only make us stronger', crap like that, but I just-"

"I'm just really... tired of this," he confesses warily, shoulders slumped. "W- I remember so many horrible things, and I-" he breaks off, laughing bitterly. His voice takes on a sort of brittle quality, way too high pitched, "and I can't even talk about them, dude. If that's not the most pathetic thing ever, I dunno what is."

"It does not-"

"Don't say it," Jay mutters, rubbing his temples. "I know, I know, my feelings aren't pathetic, they're always valid, whatever, spare me the lecture-"

"That is not what I was going to say," Zane replies gently. "It just seems that you have answered your own question."

"Gee, which one?"

"I do not know how much helpful assistance I can provide in this situation, but it is understandable to wish certain events had never occurred. However, seeing as we cannot change the past, it seems unwise to dwell on said events if you can avoid it."

Jay stiffens, clamping a shaky hand over his mouth. Something seems to press down even harder on his chest, a heavy sort of weight that causes his breathing to speed up again. Don't say it don't say it there's no reason to warn them this time-

"If you would like to tell any of us about something, of course you are welcome to. It does not to be the whole story, after all. Just make sure that it is the decision you choose, not one you choose because of what you think how it will affect others," Zane finishes quietly, ducking his head as if he's embarrassed.

The stars are still white-hot, burning away some million miles above them.

"Thanks," he says, and puts his hand softly on Zane's shoulder. "I mean, I know - that all makes sense, I guess. It's just- I-"

"You want to?"

"Yeah," Jay starts, sighing, "I do. It's just- it's not just my choice. And I'm pretty much dying already right now, so, as fantastic as making it all worse sounds, hard pass."

Oops, maybe he shouldn't have said that last bit. They'd agreed not to tell anyone about it - even this conversation was cutting it way too close. It wasn't impossible for them to put everything together - they were a pretty smart group, after all, even without their resident inventor and engineer - and Jay didn't really know what he'd think if they did. Fearful? Relieved? Angry?

"That does... not sound great? Dying certainly does not seem-"

"It's called sarcasm, Zane."

"Oh- yes. My memory now accesses the fact that people often speak in that manner. It does seem a bit counterproductive, though. Why not just say what you mean?"

"Shut it, you have no clue how integral to my life it is," Jay replies with a halfhearted grin.

A few seconds later, he remembers something his friend had mentioned earlier, and the grin disappears.

"You know that you can talk to us if you're not happy, right?" he asks, earnestly. Sure, it's not like he could always do that, considering, well, a stupid djin and even stupider magic, but it's not like he needs to. It's- well- he'll be okay, probably. Maybe. Kinda.

Zane's eyes blink on and off again, blue fading in and out. "I... I suppose that I was not quite aware of that."

Okay, they've screwed up way too many times, but this... this is pretty bad. Dang it, how long does it take for them to throw self-preservation instincts at their friend before he freaking- picks them up or something?

"However, will it not hurt those who have experienced the same unfortunate events?"

Dude, not the best question to ask someone wondering the exact same thing-

"It's been... uh, nice, kind of, talking to you. So- I don't think so, and I'm pretty sure someone would say so if it did. Besides, don't we talk about our adventures all the time? It'd probably be better if we... uh, well- heh heh, nothing."

"If we talked about the less than positive elements of them? Perhaps, but I still-"

Maybe it's the fact Zane has always tried to be there for him, or maybe he's too sleep deprived to care anymore, but this is a way too familiar situation and-

Well, not ignoring the issue would be a start.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we're family, Zane. We care about each other. And, gosh, that means that we care about you too. Memories are stupid and annoying sometimes, but we have to make good ones too, right? To block out the bad ones a bit, I guess? Kinda, at least."

They both look away from the stars now, grappling for something else to say.

In the end, they leave it be with a hug and a fondly exasperated warning about sleeping, if you happen to need it.

After all, they're family. They don't have to be perfect, or tell each other everything - even if it does take them a long time to realize that, and an even longer time remembering it.

---

The next time Jay startles awake from a nightmare, the sky is still empty - painfully so, like an ache that simmers beneath the surface even when it's not able to be seen.

The hue, though, is a little lighter.

Just a little - the all-encompassing darkness of it is now a navy sort of blue, his star shining a little bit brighter.

It's still not sunrise, not even close - but he'll take it. AN: the ‘sky’ mentioned at the start and end is a stupid metaphor that i somehow ended up liking too much to trash, it’s ‘empty’ because he hasn’t told anyone about the timeline, and Nya’s not included because they never had a chance to tell each other everything significant or even talked about it or processed it on screen. so yeah! if you read this,,, not great thing, can i send you a hug or good vibes or smth? tyy🥺

#ninjago #jay walker #zane julien #skybound #ninjago fic #not the best thing i've written #actually it's not great-#but i spent too long on it to not post it so if you actually read to here i simunltaneously wanna send you good vibes & apologize profusely-#the ending is super rushed but im too tired to try and write a better one yay:/#also dang it- sorry this fits the prompt so badly i-#i didn't realize till after oops #ninbingo #ninjago jay #ninjago zane #ninjago masters of spinjitzu

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agenericplaceholdername · 5 months ago

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This is the first time I've ever posted something on Tumblr so I'm probably doing it wrong but whatever -- I wanted to get my thoughts somewhere. I'm also a huge fan of your content.

I think first and foremost, I love Dragons Rising because I love Ninjago, and I think that Dragons Rising maintains most of the things I love about Ninjago while telling a grander story that does better at character-based tension than much of the original series.

Why do I love Ninjago? A big part of it has to be nostalgia -- I doubt that I'd pick up the show now having not watched it as a kid. But the lore -- as contradictory as it often is -- has remained from "reboot" to redesign to new episode lengths to new series, so there's one long running story. I feel like I know the characters, with consistently humorous and heartfelt protagonists, antagonists who straddle the line (and sometimes fall off it) between intimidating and funny, and some pretty good side characters. The music is great (probably the most underrated part of the show), the switch to Wildbrain has massively improved the fight scenes, and there's something just relaxing about watching an episode from almost any season.

Dragons Rising maintains all of this. The brand name keeps the nostalgia, the lore is as intact as any Ninjago season has left it, the characters, both old and returning, are engaging and consistently written, and the music and fights are phenomenal.

I say this as someone who thought they were done with Ninjago post-Crystalized, not just because the season wasn't great, but because I had more than aged out of the target demographic and it was supposed to be an ending not just to the 11 minute episode era but to the show as a whole. It seemed like a solid ending point. I was aware that more content was being made and watched the DR Season 1 trailer and thought, "So, most of the Ninja are gone, we've got new protagonists, and we're recycling the dragon hunter plot from Hunted. Hopefully this will be good, but it's not for me."

Then one day in August, I watched Season 1 Part 1 and really enjoyed it. I hadn't quite realized how stale Ninjago had become up until that point -- how it had decided to stop "doing things" with its characters.

My go to example here is Master of the Mountain, which I really enjoy as a season. But... what actually happens in it? How are our characters challenged by the situation they end up in and how do they grow from it? Nya, Zane, and Kai are all written entirely consistently with their previous portrayals, and are fun characters, but they don't change in any way, and Nya and Kai's experiences as leaders is tangential to the events of the season. Lloyd has a running thing about doubting Vania but this is just played for laughs. Jay is completely unaware of Nya's feelings. Wu seemingly has an arc about never quitting, which is actually well founded in the events of S11 and S12. His arc is resolved by a 3 sentence conversation with Vania. Vania should have a unique connection with this season's villain, but her moment of taking control of the Shintaran army happens off screen and then she doesn't interact with Vangelis until he's defeated. And what do we learn about Cole? How does he change? Well, we learn that he promised his mother to stand up to bullies. You know, the thing he's been doing for the whole series? It would be interesting if the season was about living up to his mother's legacy, and it pays lip service to this idea, but doesn't actually do a story about this. Plundar has the best character arc this season! Why? Probably because the main characters were designed for a 2 season story that ended in 2012. And as for the lore inconsistencies that Dragons Rising has (which are mostly light retcons that improve the story, like with the Cloud Kingdom), Lloyd calls the newly-coronated Queen Vania, "Princess" Vania to her face in the same episode she becomes queen. I don't say this to bash Master of the Mountain, but this is the bar that seasons of Dragons Rising have to pass for me to consider them among some of Ninjago's best.

And it does pass them. Lloyd, Arin, and Sora all have major character arcs and develop in ways that Ninjago hadn't done with a major character since the Oni Trilogy for Lloyd. Arin goes from a Ninja fanboy to more and more disillusioned with the Ninja, seeing them as trying to replace and keep him from his "real family." His character affirms the lesson Ninjago has been trying to say since S11: that heroes don't need supernatural powers to be successful, but also shows how being surrounded by people who seem more talented than you can undermine your self-confidence. Sora learns to value herself and realizes that the family she chooses is more important than the one she was born into, when said family has been indoctrinated by an authoritarian society that shunned her, only to collapse once she inspired its people to rise up. She goes from being a skeptic and cynic to seeing potential in anyone, as shown in a moment in S2, E19 (not saying anything further bc of spoilers). Lloyd steps up to become a teacher despite his own doubts, which are amplified in S2P1 by his unwanted visions. I don't think this part is handled perfectly, but like a lot of things in Ninjago, it messily resolves itself to a mostly satisfying conclusion.

Various supporting characters, whether they are major (Wyldfyre) or minor (Euphrasia, Percival, Arrakore, Geo, Egalt, Bonzle), also all have important character development and/or influence the main characters' development. Meanwhile, Kai and Nya both assist in character development in S1 (of Wyldfyre and Sora respectively) and are just cool in S2. I love the "Countershot" scene in particular. Although... maybe it would have been better if they flashed back to the museum fight in S7 ("I could really use a hand, BROTHER!" "I'm here for you, SISTER!") /j.

I think just generally I appreciate that the characters feel more like people, which I think you mentioned in a previous post. Are there missed opportunities? Over-exposition-y dialogue? Absolutely. But while "it's a kids show" isn't an excuse for poor writing, I think that not only does the good, overall stuff outweigh some of the bad individual decisions, but my comparison here is not to every other show in existence (there are plenty of other shows better than Ninjago), but to Ninjago's other seasons, since I do like those.

I also like that the story is planned out over multiple seasons, although I recognize that that's a matter of personal taste. Obviously this does mean that my enjoyment of the series is partly dependent on if Dragons Rising sticks the landing (Crystalized part 2 being the go-to example of an entry designed to wrap things up that left most people dissatisfied, if not angry), but what we've seen so far gives me hope. Arin's character changes in S2 are an expansion of what he says to Lloyd in the ending of S1, E10, Sora's character arc in S1 meaningfully impacts her personality in S2, etc. The bigger impact of the longer running story is that there are major story threads that aren't wrapped up in a season, from major things like Ras' plan and his master to more minor things like who put the tooth in the crab from S1, E13. Can it be unsatisfying that not everything is resolved, despite the longer season runtimes? Sure, but on the other hand, it also means that there's a sense of mystery and it keeps me as a viewer interested. I'm confident based on the writers' statements that after at most 4-7 years of story, this chapter of Ninjago's story will end, as opposed to infinite cliffhangers*.

Another thing I like about Dragons Rising is that it tries to grapple with the consequences of what it does with its characters. I hate to keep bringing up older seasons only to criticize them, but I'm only doing it because any evidence of Dragons Rising doing something better than a show I already like is evidence of why I like it. In both Possession and the Ice Chapter, something incredibly traumatic happens to one of its main characters, and then is basically forgotten. How did Lloyd feel about having his autonomy stripped from him by a vengeful ghost and used as a weapon against his friends? How did Zane readjust to life in Ninjago after ruling as a brutal dictator for decades? I don't know, but when things happen to characters in Dragons Rising, the characters actually react and are affected by them (eg. Sora's and Arin's backstories, Arin seeing his parents during the Mergequake storm, Lloyd's visions). That's not to say Ninjago never did this -- Possession also includes a nice story for Cole after he becomes a ghost, and Zane had a story in ToE about coming to terms with his death and new identity -- but by treating its characters like people, Dragons Rising adds a certain emotional depth that makes it seem more mature, even if it's not anything profound or too ridiculously angsty.

After Dragons Rising reignited my love of Ninjago, I rewatched the whole series over the past year, and I realized that as much as I enjoyed it, a lot of it wasn't great! There's a lot of messy writing and just strange decisions even in some of the best seasons (please Hunted I love you but did you need the Dareth pee jokes???) But overall, the core of the series, from the Pilots to today, is solid. For whatever reason a group of color-coded ninja captured my childhood and still remain there today. I could elaborate on about the aspects of Ninjago that I like that are present in both Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu (2011-2022, subtitle status questionable) and Ninjago: Dragons Rising (2023-present), but that's honestly most of both shows. There are main characters I like in both, side characters I like in both, villains I like in both, etc, even if they're different characters -- the things I like about them are similar/the same. I think Dragons Rising addresses a lot of the flaws that had become more noticeable the longer the show went on by shaking up the world and adding new protagonists, while maintaining the improvements we had also seen in recent years. Your milage may vary on my comments.

*https://youtu.be/huA9expVEg4?t=2882

Okay, everyone get in the comments and let me know why you love dragons rising so that maybe I can reverse engineer why I don't-

#ninjago #ninjago dragons rising #dragons rising

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purplerose244 · 4 years ago

Text

My thoughts on Seabound!!! 🌊🌊🌊 (4/4)

Here we are! What a journey, and while perhaps this season wasn't at MoM level it was REALLY good, with great new villains/allies, great little throwbacks and an awesome story! 🤩

How to get this was very good to great? Give me a very good ending Seabound!! 💕💕

Alright, here we go!

GENERAL THOUGHTS

I genuinely got too much into this remaining four episodes and forgot to put any general thoughts 😅 So you'll see me rambling at the end, see you there 😉

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

This title really summarize my feelings so far, like, I'm seriously wondering how it will move on from now, but I do expect the outcome to be CRAZY 🤯

Aaahhhh, yep, the one in Shintaro is a fake 😅 I wonder when did the change happen? How did Kalmaar pulled that off, wow

I'M SORRY WHY ARE WE PUTTING THE TITLE SCREEN WITHOUT THE INTRO?? THAT'S A FIRST EPISODE STUFF AND IT HONESTLY SCARES ME??? It reminds me of Winds of Change too and that episode was WOW 😭😭😭

Heeeeyyy, it's youuuu... huh... *watch scribble on hand* google snake guy, huh... Glucose... yep, good old Glutine and everything 😅

Are we having a "I may have made a mistake being evil" with this guy?

Jay: ah, Prime Empire! I was in that game you know! I fought for my life and the ones of all of Ninjago and I've seen my best friends and the love of my life die before my eyes... good times 🙂

Jay and Nya having fun at DDR has to be one of my favorite thing, they are so in sync and so lovable ❤💙❤💙

DID THEY ACTUALLY PUT THE JAYA SHIP NAME INTO THE SHOW??? OMG GUYS THE FANDOM IS TAKING OVER THE SHOW AT LAST!!! 🤯🤯🤯 The electric Jaya, heeeyy, niiicee 😎😎😎

HOW CUTE CAN YOU BE

MY SHIP 💙❤💙❤ They even gave each other high gives... this is neat, and it means something awful will happen right 🙂

Commissioner: he's saying something about a giant snake... and the end of the world... didn't we already have something like that?

Okay yep, he did the trick while fighting Nya, dang Kalmaar is sneaky! Not too shabby... but I gotta say, the summoning of the Great Devourer was a lot more dramatic 🤣🤣 Props to the serpentine, still my favorite snakes 💪💪

Wojira seems to be a little smaller than the Devourer maybe? His head way bigger than the bounty, while hers is not that massive even in comparison with Kalmaar

I might be wrong but at first glance, I stand by my opinion and by the superiority of the OG giant snake 🤷‍♀️

Yep Glutine guy did have a change of heart, better late than never 🤷‍♀️

You're telling me that Jay doesn't do engineering anymore, okay... HOW IS KAI A BETTER SOLUTION??? 🤣🤣🤣 Lol look at the messy brothers, love Lloyd and Kai so much I miss them interact 💚❤💚❤

Thank you Kelly for the alert 😗

It makes me wonder if they actually do have simulations of evacuations often, it would be pretty smart considering the city 🤷‍♀️

OKINO IS THERE HI DUDE!!! 😍 I hope he's doing great! 🥰🥰

Gail Gossip! Been a while!

WOW, this is going Deluge like, my first Spinjitzu Master! 😱 How... how do we go with three episodes from here? Like, I'm guessing Nya will have to do what Nyad did before her (which TERRIFIES me), so are they going to struggle trying to find another way? IDK BUT I'M IN LET'S GO!! 🤯

ASSAULT ON NINJAGO CITY

Alright, pretty straightforward title, let's see what we got here!

Tourists?... that actually makes sense, I mean, I would want to visit all the places where history was made on this island 😍 Aww nice to see they remember the battle against Garmy of Hunted, also that it is known that Jay was the one who faced Unagami 👍👍

DARETH!!! 🤎🤎🤎

Where have you been you knucklehead, I've missed you! 💕 I think I've last seen him in a commercial from the Fire Chapter?

This is a terrible guide 😵 Not knowing the brown ninja? Owner of the dojo the Green Ninja had trained in? Brief commander of the Stone Army? Master of makeup and puffy potstickers? Unforgivable, someone fire this woman ASAP 😡😡

LOOK AT DARETH TAKING CHARGE!!! 🤩 He's right, he should get involved every once in a while, come on guys!

Ah okay good, I'm not the only one struggling with that google snake name 😂

Yay Bentho is fully integrated with the team! He is a great addiction, like, I know he'll probably take the throne at the end or something but I do hope we'll need his help again in the future! 💙

Sometimes I forget how much I love Kai and Zane interacting 🤣 The brainiac and the airhead 🤍❤🤍❤

Oh right, Cole came back from Shintaro! So... now in this extremely secret city there is a fake amulet hanging into a highly secured place... how is it always Shintaro the keeper of flukes? 😂😂

A bath as a boat but it has a whole 😂😂 I love this show's randomness

What ears are they supposed to cover 😅

I LOVE THIS ATMOSPHERE!!! 😍😍😍 Between the gray sky of storm and the sea underneath, this is the perfect scenario for Wojira and it's not even forced! I love how they are handling backgrounds for Ninjago recently, I really hope it gets as good as in the finale of Prime Empire 💙💙💙

AAAAAAHHHHHhhhhh okay for a moment I was scared Wojira was going to eat Jay 😅 After The Island this is already the second time Bluebell risks it... STOP

WHY THE CLIFFHANGER!?!?

NUUUUU WHAT NOW??? 😱😱😱 We have two more episodes, how is this going to end? I DON'T KNOW AND I REALLY WANT TO PLEASE GIVE ME A GOOD FINALE SEABOUND!!! 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

NYAD

I AM SCARED FOR MY WATER LILY OKAY

Daaaang she can just float on that? She got super good at controlling water! Now I want her and Kai just randomly flying around with their powers 😂😂 Kai got missiles in his hands come on 🔥🔥🔥

JAY CAN YOU LET ME WORRY ABOUT YOU GUYS ONE AT THE TIME??? 😱

What would Kai do? WHAT WOULD KAI DO?? DID YOU DECIDE YOU WANT TO DIE JAY WHY WOULD YOU THINK OF HIM??? ... although technically Kai is the only one with Jay who didn't straight up die before coming back to life in a dramatic moment... huh... Kai might be the most reasonable choice after all 😅

We grew up from Ninja never quit to NINJA AREN'T IDIOTS AND KNOW WHEN TO GET THE HECK OUT 😎😎 Even our motto got a character development 💪

JAY NOOOOOOOO 😱😱😱😱

BENTHO YAAAAAAASSSS 🥳🥳🥳🥳 Did I ever say that I love shark boy? BECAUSE I FREAKING DO!! 💙

Master prankster Wu once again, take that empty ship Calamari head 😎 Although the poor bounty doesn't deserve to get destroyed as many times as it did until now, it's my favorite ship... pun intended 😜

Ah more ninjajan, wait a moment

"Auto Pilot". Fair enough, although I was hoping for a "psych" or something 😂😂

NO WAIT NO WHAT THE HECK!!! I THOUGHT JAY GOT SAVED HE INHALED WATER??!? BLUEBELL NOOOO!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

But Cole running to his best friend immediately? HECK yes 🖤💙🖤💙

NYA CARRYING HER BOYFRIEND BRIDAL STYLE THIS IS THE RIGHTEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN!!! ❤💙❤💙❤💙❤💙 Gosh this season gave me amazing Jaya moments, I've been fed 👌👌

Okay Lloyd pacing back and forth? Kai already mad at their enemies? All the guys eager to help Jay? MY FAVORITE NINJA FAMILY BABY!!! 😎😎

I NEED A MOMENT 😭

Oh... oh gosh I knew Nya doing the Nyad thing was meant to happen, but this way? My heart is melting already 😭

I remember a post that said that Jay told Nya that he loves her many times, while she never did. Tommy reponded that she lets her actions speak... boy do I see it now, I see all of her love 😢😢

I never felt such conflicting emotions for a villain like I do for Kalmaar, like, he caused so much pain to Nya... but he is voiced by Giles... but he is the reason Jay is hurt... but that startle gag 😂😂😂

Okay this? Is adorable?

What the HECK? The police in this city is generally not very helpful, but the Commissioner is very wholesome 💜

Nyaaaaaaa 😭😭😭😭 I didn't think it was possible to love her even more, she was ignored for so long during the show, but now we finally see all of her. She is an amazing warrior, a selfless person, and a real hero 💪💪 And coming from such a mature girl that doesn't like to act irrationally, this means so much more

Jaya grew up so much, it went through some very questionable phases yes, but what they have here? It's the result of all they had lived together 💙❤💙❤

I have chills, this is amazing so far, I'm legit scared of going further 😱

SHE SAID IT!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Okay this moment, everything, EVERYTHING, is absolutely marvelous. Nya said I love you without a voice, alone, showing again that she values the actions more, but still her feelings are 100% truthful. Then the transformation (THERE IT IS HER BEAUTIFUL WATER FORM 😍😍😍), Jay getting saved, the realization of what she just did from everyone... DANG IT IT'S ALL BEAUTIFUL HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO THINK OF THIS SCENE???

*slow clap for Bragi, Tommy, and the Ninjago crew*

Jay and water Nya with their hands together gives me big The Form of Water vibes... LOVE THAT MOVIE WHO'S READY FOR AN AU??

Jay wants to help her, I had no doubt 💙 They always help each other in these BOUNDs seasons 😍😍😍

Kalmaar: where are the ninja??

Commissioner: I don't know, they are ninja!

FINAL BATTLE INCOMING AAAAHHH I HOPE THIS WILL HAVE A GOOD ENDING OMG BRING IT!!! 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

THE TURN OF THE TIDE

Oh, curious title? It feels a little vague, I don't really know what it could be

YES GIRL GO GET HIS CALAMARI BUTT HECK YES!!! Just how cool can you be for walking slowly while the attacks go straight through you? 😂

Hey Nya still recognizes Jay! 😃😃

HEY NYA GOT VAPORIZED WTH 😱😱 It's too early, I don't believe that's it!

WHOA JAY WENT BERSERK JUST NOW!! I don't think I've seen this before, this is the coolest thing! 💙💙💙 I just love when he shows how strong he is, you can be a comic relief AND kick butts 😎

FIGHTING ANIMATIONS MAN I LOVE THESE SCENES!! 😍😍😍

What the- was... was that a cameo of the lightning chicken? Ninjago what the HECK I love your randomness 😂😂

BENTHOMAAR TAGS IN!!! Showing off why he is best boy of the season 💙 These fightings are very cool but I can't help imagining Wojira just chilling while there are midgets getting very angry at each other onto her head 🤣🤣🤣

WHOA, CALAMARI BITE! Kalmaar got the Pythor treatment... might change color by next season if he returns 😅

(Please return I loved having Giles' voice in this season 💙💙💙)

NYA IS A DRAGON!!! I REPEAT NYA IS A DRAGON!!! 😍😍😍😍😍😍 I was wondering where the dragon moment was, this is Ninjago after all 🤷‍♀️

Head empty, just Jay smiling softy at Nya because he loves her 💙💙💙

IT'S RAINING NYA, HALLELUIA IT'S RAINING NYA, HEYE!! ☔☔☔ This fight is MASSIVE! We had finales with big creatures before but now one of the ninja is big enough to face them and that's 🤯

NYA DID IT!!! 🤩🤩🤩 ... now onto the angst that I KNOW it's coming

Kai being unbelieving is tragic, and Jay's "don't leave me" broke my heart. Please end this misery, where is the deus ex machina that solves everything?

Wait she left?

...

WAIT SHE ACTUALLY LEFT??? WHAT THE HECK THEY AREN'T ENDING IT LIKE THIS

...

OH MY GOSH

ARE THEY?!?

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

Omg the grief in this is beautiful, nice to see Jay and Maya so close to each other! Also Kai leaning onto his mom while Cole is comforting his best best friend? Amazing, they really do these scenes great 👌

EVERYONE SHOWED UP I LOVE THIS CITY SO MUCH 😭😭😭 Aww Ed and Edna, wasn't this such a sad situation I would be so much happier to see you guys 🥺

Master Wu even mentioned that she built Samurai X, you really want to make me cry now do you? 🥺🥺

MAYA AND RAY 😢😢😢😢😢😢

Omg look at Cole being there for his best friend, he is amazing 🖤💙🖤💙

I have such Rebooted vibes from this... is it hopeful? That Nya comes back like Zane? She's no nindroid but still... oh my gosh they got her symbol on the vase I just noticed, I need more tissues 😭😭

"In loving memory of Kirby Morrow". Always in our hearts 🖤🖤🖤

...

Wow

WOW

THEY ACTUALLY DID IT I NEED ANOTHER MOMENT 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 WHAT IN THE WORLD THIS IS THE BIGGEST CHANGE THEY DID IN A WHILE!!!

AND NOW WHAT??? 🤯🤯🤯

FINAL THOUGHTS

I'm speechless... like that's true, have A LOT to write over here 😅

This type of plot twist reminds me of our early seasons. Zane sacrificing himself, Garmadon giving up his life, those moments that made me so curious and excited about the following. I have no idea what will be the outcome for this, but I can't wait to find out

With that out of the way, AMAZING SEASON 😍😍😍 I think this finale beats MoM's, just because it was really unexpected and opens up a SEA of possibilities... yeah too soon 😭

I'm still shaken, my world, they did something HUGE and I do hope it will be a good shake to the entire Ninjago plotline. Nya is "gone", we still don't know about the person behind all that vengestone, we haven't heard from Garmy in forever, there are so many good ideas out there now that they've set the ground for more 🤩🤩

Voice acting was *chef's kiss*, not only for the villain which I already stressed enough about, I think Kelly reached a new level of emotional intimacy with Nya and I'm so happy she showed her skills 💜💜

Animation is TOP, there's little to no point into saying anything else since they showed it very clearly in the latest season ☺

This was the emotional, witty and engaging writing I was looking for! Good jokes, meaningful dialogues, emotional scenes, everything was really good and I'm gonna rewatch some scenes especially for that 😍

It turned out having Maya and Ray back was kind of a distraction to fool us all 😅😅 Well played actually, and it was very cool seeing them again in any case 🙋‍♀️

And now? Jay lost his love, I have no idea if the show will work on him getting over her or hold onto her memory (thinking of Jay probably the latter, although I do think that handling the first would be an interesting idea). KAI LOST HIS SISTER 😢😢😢 I have no doubt he's gonna beat himself up for it, like he did when Zane was gone too. Everyone lost their friend, she had become such a vital part of the team and now she is not here anymore it will be hard...

They are back with the four plus one green savior formation, I sincerely don't know how I feel about that 😅 I'm always happy when we get the OGs, but this is about going on without Nya... maybe Skylor will be called? Or Pixal will be more active? That could be interesting to see, who knows 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Gosh, how are they going to handle the next season? It will have to give A LOT of answers to the millions questions we all have right now. Man I can't wait, it could be anything!!! This is a Ninjago revolution!

But if I have to mention a little complain, and I'm a fangirl so I absolutely have to, Kai didn't show much of a reaction to Nya's "departure". Okay, she didn't straight up die like in Skybound (I'm gonna fear all BOUND seasons from now on 😱), but he's her brother and he loves deeply his family. Either we're gonna see him go all out next season, or the writers really did only focus on Jaya. A tiny bit salty... but you got me a fantastic finale so I'll move on 👍

Outstanding, I'm blown away. Whenever I think I'm used to this show they do stuff like this. I'm so glad and sad you guys 😅 But mostly happy that despite everything I still get very strong emotions while I watch this long time favorite show of mine 💜💜💜

What else can I say at this point? ONTO NEXT SEASON!!! 🤩🤩🤩

Thank you for reading me freaking out over LEGO spinning ninja as always! It helps me calm down but this time it might be harder thant the others... *sobs*

I need to lay down and process all of this, I'll be on my way 😂😂 BYE!!! 💜

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