#also it would be a way for jay and nya to not be involved in the main story when it’s plot convenient

[graceful-not]

Yk what actually. I'm sick of staying quiet Conya is a perfectly fine ship. I don't understand why people dislike it so much. In early Ninjago? Sure, back then it wasn't the greatest dynamic and didn't really have much in terms of actually substantive interactions. But people are still casually hating on it and putting it on DNI lists right next to ships like Greenflame like they're comparable and I'm sickkkk of it it's been YEARS!! Their dynamic has grown so much since then!!!! They're on the same level as Braincell for me in terms of ships I really like I think they have a great and interesting dynamic!!!! They're cute together!!!!!! EVEN OUTSIDE OF MUDSHOCK!!!!! RAGHH!!!!!!!!!

[lloydskywalkers]

three sword style

Or, Lloyd and his evolving relationship with what it means to choose a weapon, as supervised by Kai. listen I know Wu technically gives them all their new weapons in season 11 according to some random book referenced in the ninjago wiki (or at least Lloyd’s sword) but you know who ACTUALLY has a degree in making weapons and canonically has made a golden sword SO. My canon now. (also spot the brain rot I infected myself with in the title) 

Lloyd grows up in a world of weaponry and at the speed of light. 

There are worse ways to grow up, maybe. There are also better ones — one where kids get to grow up instead blasting into teenager-hood in the span of seconds — but Lloyd doesn’t like to complain about where he’s ended up. 

Second to the speed of light thing, though, the weapons part is pretty big. 

Weapons determine the single biggest turning point in his life, after all. It’s the Golden Weapons that make him the Green Ninja, a title that’s a lot more important than Lloyd’s ever been. It’s also that particular title that makes Lloyd the weapon, so that’s fun. Ninjago’s prophesied emergency failsafe, the Green Ninja — that’s him. 

On a nicer note, it’s the Fangblade that gets him a big brother, and proves that there’s someone out there who cares about Lloyd over some stupid weapon, so hah. 

Getting back to the point, though—

Weapons. Lloyd’s been making do without one, and he’s been making pretty good do, thank you very much. He’s got his power, and he’s got himself. That’s all the weapon Lloyd needs. 

But no one else seems to agree, and since ninety percent of the time whatever prophecy-of-doom crops up this month involves cursed weaponry of some sort, they all figure it’s a good a reason as any to stick Lloyd with a reliable weapon. 

And while wielding all the elements is one thing, wielding every kind of weapon at once would be kind of difficult, even for his dad. 

So Lloyd finally gets an actual, for-real, decision that he gets to make all by himself. 

It’s a monumentous occasion — and yes, that is a word, Nya, Lloyd knows some stuff — so if Lloyd was smart he’d treasure it and take his time. 

With that in mind, it takes all of thirty seconds for Lloyd to choose. This is only mildly insulting to some parties. 

“Fine, sure, go with the most basic pick in the world,” Jay scoffs. “Swords. Boring.”

“Sounds like you’re just jealous,” Kai shoots back.

“Jealous of swords? Please. I just thought Lloyd was a little more creative than that.”

“I like swords,” Lloyd says, at a loss. 

“Jay is only relieved that no one will one-up his nunchuck expertise, now,” Zane smiles. 

Jay sputters indignantly. “No one’s one-upping me, I’m the best there is!” 

“Uh-huh,” Cole shakes his head. “Well, if that’s what Lloyd wants, that’s the end of it.” His mouth quirks. “Means more training time for Kai, anyways.” 

“More training to be better than you,” Kai retorts. 

“Like the rest of you, Lloyd will continue to work toward mastering at least the basics of any weapon,” Sensei Wu sighs. “A ninja confined to one weapon alone—”

“Is a dead ninja,” Jay nods.

Sensei Wu cuts his eyes at him. “That is not how I was going to finish.”

“The point stands though, right?”

“The point,” Sensei Wu pinches the bridge of his nose. “Is that while Lloyd will continue to train with all of you, focusing on swordsmanship will become the priority. So yes, in a way. More training for Kai.”

Lloyd rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry…?”

“Why are you sorry?” Kai beams, more proud than smug. “I finally get an official katana apprentice. We’re gonna be awesome.”

And that alone, Lloyd thinks, makes it worth all the complaining. 

“Great,” Jay throws his arms up. “Now we’re stuck with two slice ‘em dice ‘em ninjas.”

“Oh, c’mon,” Cole says. “It’s Kai, how dangerous can he be.”

“I resent that,” Kai says. “Just because you beat me once or twice—”

“Try thirteen times, and counting.”

“—it does not mean I’m not as dangerous as you,” Kai narrows his eyes. 

“Oh yeah? Wanna prove it?”

“Bring it on, rock man.”

“Not in the kitchen, for FSM’s sake—“

Whether or not Cole beats him (which he does, pretty badly, because Cole is kinda terrifying like that) Lloyd knows that to some degree, Kai is dangerous. Very dangerous, with or without his swords.

It’s hard to think of Kai like that, though. When Lloyd thinks of Kai, he thinks of warm arms wrapped tight around him in the Fire Temple. Thinks of the first hugs he’s gotten from someone other than his father that felt like home. Thinks of protection — thinks safe. Thinks family. 

He’s wanted to be like Kai for a while, now. So yeah. It’s an easy choice. 

Plus, swords are way cool.

______

Kai starts training him in Dareth’s dojo. It takes about a week for them to get banished to the roof of their apartment, which is mostly Lloyd’s fault — but Kai’s the one supposed to be teaching him, so he can take the blame this time. 

…well, maybe Lloyd’s the one who keeps losing his grip on the katana, but that’s not quite his fault, either.  

Kai is better than basically any swordsman on this side of Ninjago in years, if not all Ninjago. Lloyd knows this because Uncle Wu told him so, and because Kai wipes the floor with him the first, second, and twenty-ninth time they spar.

“The point is to keep your grip on the katana, you know,” Kai says, as Lloyd retrieves his sword from where it went flying (again). “What kind of hold it that supposed to be, butterfingers deluxe?”

“You said not to grip it too tight,” Lloyd complains. 

Kai rolls his eyes. “Yeah, ‘cause you had it in a death hold. I didn’t say, ‘let go and let it fly’.”

“I didn’t let it fly, you knocked it out of my hand!”

“Aha, so you’re admitting I won. Again.”

“N-no!” Lloyd protests. “I’m just warming up. I’ll show you this time.” 

But as Kai takes his stance again, his own katana held with a kind of grace Lloyd has zero idea how to ever accomplish, Lloyd thinks he might be a bit of a lost cause. 

It’s difficult, because every time he goes to swing his sword, his power thrums in his blood, in his hands, always ready to lash out. It’s quickly become a habit, to start every fight slinging green blasts around. Lloyd’s already grown fond of the little bell-like sounds his power makes, the steady pulse as bright green builds in his palms. 

Lloyd is the Green Ninja, after all. His power is what makes him, well, him. He’s his own best weapon — he’s the one the prophecy needs to make things right.

Kai keeps putting weapons in his hands, anyways. 

Training katanas, mostly. He got to hold the Sword of Fire once, before his dad took it. It was beautiful — Lloyd kinda gets why Kai’s so up in arms about it getting stolen.

That and the whole don’t-give-Garmadon-the-Golden-Weapons thing.

Kai seems confused that Lloyd remembers it, which is weird because the Golden Weapons are kind of a big deal, but Lloyd decides to chalk it up to all the other weirdness in his life. 

The first true katana Kai ever gives Lloyd is…not quite as cool as the Sword of Fire, and definitely not as beautiful, but in a way that Lloyd likes. 

“We’re kinda short on weapons,” Kai admits, rubbing the back of his neck. “And I don’t exactly have access to smithing equipment right now, which means you’re stuck with one of my old ones. Sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Lloyd adjusts his hands around the hilt, taking an experimental swing. “This is a great sword!”

“Yeah, okay, liar — and don’t swing it around like that, you look like you’re waving a pool noodle.” 

Kai grabs his hands, forcing Lloyd’s arms to hold steady.

“Like this, okay?” Kai says. “We’re gonna start by practicing single movements.” 

“Aw,” Lloyd visibly wilts. “More katas? I thought I was gonna get to learn some cool moves.”

“This is a cool move. If you’re good, you finish things in one hit,” Kai says. “One strike, and the fight’s over.”

“Like a headshot,” Lloyd nods.

“No,” Kai rolls his eyes. “This is not a video game. This is a real sword, and you’re going to learn to use it right.”

“And then we can do the cool moves?”

Kai narrows his eyes. “Do your katas or I’m firing you.”

Lloyd sticks his tongue out at him. “You can’t fire me. I’m the Green Ninja.”

“Yeah? I’ll demote you to Green Washer-of-Dishes for the rest of the month.”

“No! You can’t, Nya and I have a deal!” 

Jokes aside, Lloyd is sure to remind Kai, as he scrubs dishes and Kai dries them, that he does take training seriously.

He takes all his training seriously. It’s kind of his only job. 

Lloyd practices hits until his knuckles split and scab, masters high kicks with shins colored violent blues and purples, forms green starbursts in his hands until his fingers crack and bleed. 

When his palms blister from the sword hilt on top of it all, Kai makes him hold still until he’s wrapped the first-aid bandage around his hands at least five times, then shoves his old gloves on him when he starts to form calluses.

He wants to argue that he doesn’t need them, but Lloyd still wears the gloves everyday and tucks them away each night, storing them with the other few, treasured things he’s been gifted.

______

The longer he trains with swords, the more Lloyd gains calluses and nicked fingers and perpetually smells a little like cloves. 

That last part Lloyd enjoys, though he’ll never admit it. He’s not about to go and tell people he enjoys cleaning stuff, no thanks. 

But there’s something nice about helping Kai take care of the katanas, in a relaxing sort of way. The wood-smoke tang of cloves smells like home, which Lloyd treasures, because home isn’t something he’s very used to. 

Treasures is probably an understatement. Lloyd latches onto it like he’s starving. Part of it’s because this is something he gets to have with Kai, all by himself. He’s never had something like that before, either — a special thing that’s shared just with him. 

Well, maybe besides the green gi, but the Green Ninja is something that belongs to everyone. Whatever Lloyd does when he puts the green gi on is everyone’s business, since it determines the fate of the world or something like that, and it doesn’t really even feel like his. Not yet, at least. 

But sitting cross-legged in the weapons room while Kai teaches him how to clean katanas without damaging them — that belongs to Lloyd. 

He learns a lot with it too, because Kai always starts rambling about ten minutes in — not the confident, cocky way he does sometimes in front of everyone else, but in an honest way that Lloyd isn’t entirely sure he even means to be. 

“—not the best oil, but it works when you’re in a pinch. S’what my parents left behind, at the shop, so it’s good enough.”

Lloyd looks up at him, curious. He keeps quiet — Kai and Nya don’t talk much about their parents, if at all. Lloyd gets it, of course, but it makes the little tidbits they share valuable. 

“I don’t remember a lot about my parents,” Kai continues. “But I remember some things. About my dad. He was a great smith, I know that much. Could make about anything. Swords were his favorite, though.” 

Uncle Wu’s candlelight casts Kai’s eyes with a glow that makes it seem like he’s on fire himself, flickering and fading. He looks very far away, all of the sudden, and Lloyd has the urge to grab for his arm and make him stay here. 

“Guess I latched onto that,” Kai smiles ruefully, and he’s back again. “Never could reach his level, but I learned how to make an okay sword.”

Lloyd chews on his lip. He knows all about latching on to your parents — wanting to be great at the things they are.

That maybe, if you’re good enough, they’ll be proud enough to come back. 

He doesn’t think that’s a happy thing to say, though, so he tells Kai instead, “I think your swords are great.”

Kai’s lips quirk. “Uh-huh. Then you better treat them like it.”

“I do,” Lloyd protests. He gestures at the katana across his lap. “See? I did it perfect this time.”

Kai nods his head at a spot Lloyd noticeably missed. He flushes.

“Almost perfect.”

“Practice, young student,” Kai says, in a gravely voice that’s probably supposed to sound like Uncle Wu. “A thousand hours of practice for you.”

“Ugh,” Lloyd groans. “All I do is practice. Practice practice practice, and then I’m still not enou—”

He cuts off. Oops. Maybe Kai’s honestly is a little too contagious. 

Kai goes quiet, hands stilling on the katana. There’s a deep furrow between his eyes as he stares at Lloyd, in a way that makes him feel a little like a bug under a microscope. Or that Kai can see right through him, which is bad, because all Lloyd’s got in him is a bunch of tangled thoughts and worries and nothing an actual ninja should have. 

“You know,” he says, carefully. “We probably need to stock up on the good oil. I’m kinda running low.”

Lloyd knows darn well Kai has enough choji oil to get them through an apocalypse. 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Kai nods. “If we go now, we can probably hit the convenience store, too. Get a sugar boost before—”

“I’m in!” Lloyd shoots to his feet before he can stop himself, any protests forgotten. Training has included a healthy diet lately, so Lloyd doesn’t collapse and pass out because his blood’s eighty percent sugar — Zane’s words, not his. 

If he needs to get his blood sugar up, why can’t he just eat sugar all the time? It makes no sense. 

“Do not tell the others,” Kai hisses, as they make their way into the city. “Especially Cole, if you don’t wanna lose your sweets before you can take a bite. We’re just getting polish for katanas, as far as you know.”

“I know nothing,” Lloyd says obediently. “Hey, do you think we could use olive oil on the katanas?”

Kai’s stare could heat iron. “I’ll kill you.” 

“It was a joke! A joke, heh.”

______

For all that Lloyd’s life revolves around training to defeat anyone and everyone, the guys are still weirdly protective. Over anyone and everyone, including Lloyd himself. 

“C’mon, I can handle the cool attacks,” Lloyd complains, as Kai drags him into place.

“They’re not cool — okay, they’re kinda cool — but that’s not what we’re learning now,” Kai sighs. “You’re learning Aikido. Well, a form of it, technically. It’s focused on defending yourself, but in a way that lessens the chances of injuring your attacker.”  

Lloyd frowns. “Isn’t that counterintoo — counterintuitive?”

“Big words today,” Kai mutters. He shakes his head. “And it’s counterproductive, by the way, but — no,  because now that we’re training, half your attackers are us, and I’d like to leave practice with my arms intact.”

Lloyd grins. “So you’re admitting I’m better than you.” 

“Don’t put words in my mouth,” Kai says pointedly.

“Don’t need to. You’ve already admitted defeat.”

“And, brat—” Lloyd yelps as Kai digs his knuckles into his hair. “Defending yourself is incredibly important.”

As they settle back into position, Kai pauses, a muscle in his jaw working. He looks as if he’s having an internal argument with himself, before finally sighing. 

“The thing about any weapon, but especially swords,” he says, correcting Lloyd’s grip on the katana. “Is that they can be used a lot of ways. But the one thing you never, ever want to forget—”

And Kai’s tone grows serious, his jaw tensing again. “Is that they can kill.”

Lloyd looks down, to the sharp edges of the blade. It suddenly feels a bit heavier, and the room just a bit darker. 

“The way we’re training you, the way we were trained, we don’t always — we try to avoid it.” Kai’s voice wavers, and for a moment, Lloyd remembers that Kai isn’t all that much older than he is. 

Well, now, especially. 

“But sometimes, it’s…you don’t really…well.” He lets out a breath. “This is a sword. It can take a life really quick, if you aren’t careful. And sometimes, you don’t get the choice to be careful or not.”

Lloyd swallows. He hasn’t thought about it much — hasn’t wanted to, but it lives in his mind like a terrible itch he can’t get rid of. 

He’s no stranger to the idea of killing someone. Darkley’s was blunt as it was cold. But as a ninja, it’s suddenly realer than it ever was in school. 

As the Green Ninja, with his destiny drawn out in front of him, it’s pretty much unavoidable. 

He’s going to kill his father, or he’s going to die. 

Kai’s hands grab tight around his shoulders. “We’re gonna do everything we can to make sure you don’t end up in that situation, okay?” He gives Lloyd a small, strained smile. “Don’t ever feel like you have to change who you are, just ‘cause you’re a ninja now.”

How do you know who I am, Lloyd wants to ask. How do you know I’m not a murderer? How do you know I’m not awful? 

Kai’s eyes are impossibly kind and far, far too knowing. 

“But,” and his tone grows serious again. “If it’s your life or theirs.” 

Lloyd feels a bit like the oxygen’s been sucked out of the room. 

“Promise me. You have to promise — you will always, always choose your own.” 

Lloyd stares back. Kai gives him a little shake.

“You promise me?”

Finally, as if moved by puppet strings, Lloyd nods. 

“I promise,” he rasps. 

Kai looks relieved, but it’s not quite in a happy way. “As long as you come back alive, that’s what matters. I don’t care what else happens — you come back alive, and we’re good.” 

“Okay,” Lloyd says. His eyes feel wet. It’s strange, someone caring so much about something like that.  

“Which is why,” Kai says, finally stepping back as his tone lightens. “You’re gonna nail that block this time. Or I’m making you polish every weapon in the dojo again.”

“Oh, no,” Lloyd stares at him in horror. “I’ve been practicing that stupid move for hours!”

“And you’ll be cleaning weapons for hours if you don’t get it.” 

“You suck,” Lloyd grumbles. “Worst teacher of all time.” 

“Uh-huh,” Kai claps him on the back, and Lloyd lets out his own sigh of relief at the lightened atmosphere. “You’re the one that picked swords, buddy.”

______

Kai’s a hypocrite, though, and Lloyd could hate him for it, because as they slide down the snowy mountain-side, Lloyd’s body clashing against his family in ways he’d never, ever let it if he had control, he has to watch as Kai — again — chooses a life other than his own. 

Because Kai doesn’t have the experience Morro does, but he’s better with a sword, he’s better than anyone Lloyd knows, and he loses. And Lloyd’s arm drags the Sword of Sanctuary up and Kai is a stupid, stupid, stupid hypocrite—

Lloyd’s angry enough that tearing control back from Morro is easy. 

He knows a thing or two about swords himself, and Morro’s holding it wrong, anyways. 

______

Training had already taken a hit after they lose Zane, for obvious reasons. Everything had taken a hit after they lost Zane, and between the tournament and Morro and everything else Lloyd’s pointedly ignoring, it’s suddenly been ages since he’s had a proper sword lesson. 

Kai decides to make up for it by finally teaching him the fun stuff. 

“Don’t — call it that in front of Cole,” Kai grunts over the loud screech of metal on metal. His knee bends, just the slightest tell—

Lloyd falls back, dancing away from Kai’s returning strike. He knows now, just how dangerous Kai can be — he’d like to forget it, but it’d be doing him a disservice. 

Besides, Lloyd’s had his body dragged left and right over Ninjago, used as the worst kind of weapon to hurt the people he loves, and they still trust him. Being on the dangerous end of Chen’s stupid staff is nothing to being on the dangerous end of a katana Kai’s made himself, and Lloyd’s determined to hold onto the faith he’s had since that day in the volcano. 

Kai won’t hurt him. 

He’ll kick his ass in training, though, so Lloyd had better get back with the show. 

He retaliates with a feint to the right — too obvious for Kai, but enough to steal his attention for Lloyd to land a high kick to his side.

“Watch that,” Kai scolds, forced two steps backs. 

“Why?” Lloyd grins over the edge of Kai’s blade as he catches his blow dead-on. “Scared I’m gonna beat you too soon?”

Kai snorts. “You aren’t beating me at all, shortstack—”

“Not short—”

“And,” Kai’s katana moves so fast Lloyd barely manages to dodge, rolling into a somersault before surging back up to meet his backstrike. “You’re advertising your weak point.”

Lloyd frowns. “S’not a weak point.”

Kai’s katana flashes — Lloyd moves right just before he realizes it’s a feint, cursing himself — then the hilt of his katana is smacking hard against a bone in his right ankle. 

There’s a hot flash of pain as his body completely betrays him, his ankle buckling and sending him stumbling with a yelp.

Kai’s expression isn’t gloating, at least. On the downside, he has that sad kind of look that usually means he’s feeling guilty. 

“It’s not usually that bad,” he tries, even as his cheeks flare hot. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Kai shakes his head. “You need to protect that. Make sure no one knows it’s a weak point but you. Putting it in reach of your opponent is a bad way to do that.” 

Lloyd grits his teeth, but he knows Kai’s right. He’ll never regret pushing himself the way he did, clambering up the tower steps on a broken ankle. The fate of Ninjago was a lot heavier on his shoulders than any thoughts of consequences. 

It still sucks, that it’ll never heal quite right. 

But it isn’t like he’s the only one with an old wound turned weak spot, he reminds himself, as he wraps his aching ankle once again. Jay’s got zig-zagging lightning scars all down his arms that ache during heavy rain. Nya can only rotate her arm so far before her shoulder goes numb, a souvenir from a broken arm. Cole’s the worst, maybe, with how he’s strained himself lifting impossibly heavy weights, fractured fingers and broken bones that throb in the cold. 

Kai’s got his own share of weaknesses, though he works hard to hide them. Lloyd’s managed to pick out most — some of them he’s helped treat himself.

He doesn’t like to think about those times, though.

“So I’ve got an idea for a move,” Kai grins at him, once Lloyd’s ankle is stable. “It’s gonna take some timing, but since I don’t have a weak spot there — you’re gonna run and launch.”

Lloyd tilts his head. “Launch off your right ankle?”

“No,” Kai rolls his eyes. “I’m gonna go down for a handspring. When my legs are low, you’re gonna jump on, so when I shoot up—”

“Ooh, I go flying,” Lloyd concludes. 

“Exactly.” 

“Let’s do it! I’m gonna look so cool—”

“Okay, but we’re gonna look stupid as it gets if we don’t get the — timing, timing!” 

It takes about five tries to get it right. That’s all they agree on admitting to — the less said about the forgotten sixth and seventh tries, the better. 

But on try eight, Lloyd finally feels his left and right foot connect with Kai’s just as he hits the lowest point of the handspring — and this time, he remembers to bend his own knees and launch up, and with a sudden weightlessness, he’s flying. 

“Slash, slash, don’t forget to slash!”

 Years of training are the only reason Lloyd’s able to get his arms to obey him fast enough, the wind-up pulling on his shoulders before he sweeps the katana down, slashing out—

“Yes!” Kai’s cheer abruptly turns to a yelp as he loses his balance, crumpling to the floor. Lloyd’s already sprawled across the training mats, since landing was a whole lot harder than he’d planned for — but the training dummy is cut in half. One perfect hit. 

“Now, if we can just manage that in an actual fight, we’ll look awesome,” Kai grins.

Lloyd glances at him. “Are you gonna fall flat on your face then, too?”

Red stains his cheeks. “No,” Kai sputters. “That was — you didn’t see that.”

“Uh-huh,” Lloyd snorts. He tilts his head, considering the unfortunate training dummy. “Y’know, I bet I can manage a flip in there,” he mutters. 

Kai shrugs. “Yeah, probably.” He lips quirk up. “It’d look pretty cool. Y’know what, let’s go for it. I wanna see the look on Jay’s face when you flip down on him during sparring.”

______

It takes Kai all of ten minutes into the next fight to start regretting that one. 

“Got a runner!” Jay calls, as one of the thugs they’ve been rounding up breaks loose from where Zane’s kindly explaining the terms of surrender and Cole’s standing with his lava punch ready to show them what happens if they don’t agree. 

“I got ‘im!” Lloyd calls, darting after the masked man. 

He tugs his katana free from its sheathe, mind already racing. The time spent on his own, guarding his own back, gave Lloyd the rare opportunity to learn things in ways the guys probably would’ve had his head for.

With the lessons Kai’s drilled into him, the steady form of swordsmanship driven into his nerves, Lloyd’s found a creativity in tweaking things to match his style. 

So when the thug sprints past a number of abandoned boxes, scrabbling as he narrowly avoids stumbling on the concrete, Lloyd’s already got the perfect move in mind. 

Step, step, jump — tuck in tight, so there’s enough momentum to rotate at least twice — and bam, it’s like a wind-up toy. The more spins he gets in, the harder his landing is, disarming the guy with a perfect slash while kicking his teeth in. 

Neat and effective, in Lloyd’s opinion.

Sadly, his opinion is not shared. 

Kai sputters. “What was that?”

“Cool as heck, that’s what it was,” Lloyd grins. 

Kai is supremely unimpressed. “What did I say about wasting movements?”

Lloyd shuffles. “Don’t…do it?”

“Then why, exactly, did you feel the need to flip three — not one but three — times before striking?”

“Because,” Lloyd says. “It was cool. As heck.”

Kai pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers. Lloyd valiantly bites back any comments about him taking after Sensei Wu. 

“There’s a difference between adding your own flare,” he finally says. “And squandering your energy like a spinning top.”

“Squandering — spinning top—” Lloyd sputters. “Hey, I got the guy just fine, didn’t I? I didn’t squander anything.”

“And what’re you gonna do if someone wises up and snipes you mid-flip?”

“Who’s gonna snipe me, there are no snipers around, dummy—”

“There could be, hypothetically!”

“Hypothetically, please. You’re just jealous ‘cause you can only do two flips—”

“I can do sixteen if I want, I’m just smarter—”

Despite his arguments, Lloyd does resolve to try for restraint. Unfortunately, Lloyd’s also got the memory of a goldfish, so Kai should really know better. 

He just can’t help it. The next time they clash with a run-of-the-mill villain who’s stealing secret plans for bombs or whatever ridiculous thing it is that week, Lloyd finds himself on one building with the criminal on the next. 

The solution is obvious. Kai doesn’t agree. 

“FIVE FLIPS?! THAT WAS A THREE-FOOT DISTANCE!”

Lloyd carefully places the now-unconscious criminal on the rooftop, stands back up, and wisely back-flips the heck outta there. 

______

As his sword movements grow more complicated and the green power take a near-constant presence in his veins, the gentle pulse of energy as familiar as a friend, Lloyd grows stronger, too.

This kickstarts an entirely new problem, because Lloyd can’t go five steps without ruining something, it seems. 

In his defense, he doesn’t start breaking swords at a criminal rate until after Morro, so Lloyd’s gonna blame it all on him.

He stares blankly at the katana in his hands — or the remains of it, to be exact. Half the blade is somewhere across the street, where it went skidding after Lloyd’s final hit snapped it clean in two. 

Kai stares just as blankly when Lloyd wordlessly offers the pieces up. 

“Okay,” he finally says. “Maybe I went wrong with the balance, or something? This was probably just a fluke.”

He turns it over, frowning. “Wouldn’t hurt to reinforce the next one, I guess…”

Reinforcements or not, it takes the third shattered sword for Kai to wise on. 

“I’m so sorry,” Lloyd warbles tearfully, the remains of Kai’s careful metalwork cradled in his arms. “I don’t know what happened, I was just swinging it, and it went — it went—”

“It went in six different directions, apparently,” Kai mutters. 

Lloyd slumps. “It was only four this time,” he mutters. 

“I guess this is what we get for training you as well as we did,” Kai says. “Cole and his super strength, I’ll never be free of it.”

“Didn’t he beat you by tripping you flat on your face?”

“I don’t wanna hear it from you, oh cruel destroyer of my swords,” Kai scowls. 

“I didn’t mean to!” Lloyd protests. “I tried really hard this time, but the last guy had this giant bat, and I thought I could cut it in half, but I swung so hard I screwed up my strike and went…in six…different directions…”

Kai scrubs a hand over his face. He glances at Lloyd, eyes searching. 

“But you beat him?”

“Duh,” Lloyd says. The faith people have in him.

“And you didn’t get hit yourself?”

Lloyd shakes his head. “Not a scratch.” It’s not even a lie this time.

“Then I guess it was a noble sacrifice,” Kai sighs. “I can live with that.”

The katana’s sad remnants join the equally sad — and steadily growing — pile of scrap metal made by Lloyd’s awful sword skills. They have a pretty fun time melting it all down though, watching the metal bubble as Kai starts drafting the next run of layered steel he’ll shape into a katana. 

“I’m gonna be a master katana maker at this rate,” he huffs, wiping at his forehead. Lloyd, who’s hanging over the forge to watch the different colors the liquid metal makes, taps lazily at his knee with his foot. The forge flares brighter as Kai’s fire does, and he mumbles a distracted thanks. 

“A master hothead,” Lloyd says. Kai rolls his eyes. “If I ever figure out how to be a master swordsman, maybe you can take a break and figure out how to make other weapons.”

“Hey, I’m great at making other weapons.”

“Yeah, like ‘block of metal’ and ‘triangle of metal’ and ‘weird rectangle of metal’, and—”

“You’re gonna get a stick for next battle if you keep that up,” Kai growls, but his lips are twitching.

“Hypotenuse of metal,” Lloyd whispers.

“The heck, that’s not even a shape—” 

The forge grows steadily hotter as Kai works, bright sparks popping and steam hissing up in little curling wisps. It doesn’t bother Lloyd too much — ever since that day in the volcano, the press of heat is more like a second skin. He’s nowhere near as durable as Kai, of course, who could probably hop in the forge and come out with only a sunburn, but it’s enough to feel cozy instead of sweaty and dizzy. 

“Y’know, you don’t have to use a sword,” Kai says hesitantly, as he inspects a hammer. “There are a lot of other weapons that would fit your style. If you ever wanna try out a spear like Nya, that might suit you pretty well.”

“No!” Lloyd says sharply. Biting his tongue, he amends, “I’ve already been training with swords for forever. I don’t wanna change my whole style for something else.”

Kai eyes him shrewdly, but his lips finally twitch up in amusement. “If you say so,” he says. “But I swear, break my sword again and you will get a stick for your next weapon. Or chopsticks. A butter knife—”

______

Lloyd gets a new sword, of course. And another one. He might grouse and complain, but Kai doesn’t truly get angry about the swords. He does, however, get very angry over Lloyd’s total idiocy with what happens to said shattered swords. 

His first mistake is the usual one — Lloyd swings a bit too hard at a sloppy angle and there’s a high-pitched screech as the sword dies a sad death, splitting in two. 

Lloyd stares blankly at the now much-shorter katana in his hands, which is his second mistake. The delay costs him, and he scrambles to duck the thief’s vicious punch, their own sword having been knocked away in the scuffle. Their boot comes up, swinging for his head, and Lloyd springs back, landing palms-first on the floor and launching himself out of range. 

He also, unthinking, drops the broken katana — mistake number three. 

His fourth mistake is the worst one possible, because Lloyd brings his hand up to block what he’s sure will be another punch, only to get slashed by the jagged end of the katana he just dropped.

A sharp, burning pain explodes across his hand, and Lloyd stifles a shriek. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid move. 

The thief comes in for round two, Lloyd’s own snapped katana glinting in the fluorescent building lights, and Lloyd freezes. It occurs to him that he should probably just go ahead and hit the thief with an burst of green, but that’s also when Kai mows them down with a viciousness that reminds Lloyd — Kai always goes easy on him in training. 

“I had him handled,” he still protests, after the thief’s been hauled off to prison (or the hospital, possibly).

Kai ignores him, sheathing his katana and storming his way. 

He grabs Lloyd’s hand before he can protest, pulling back the torn fabric of his glove and slapping his own hood against the gash on his hand to stem the bleeding. 

“What did I say,” Kai says angrily. 

Lloyd flinches at the stinging pain in his hand, and tries to glare back. 

Kai’s having none of it. “Your sword is supposed to take the hits,” he snaps. “Not you!” 

“It did take the hit,” Lloyd finally throws back. “I just broke it, and — I was fine!”

“You hand’s bleeding all over my hood, that is not fine!”

“Then take your hood off and it won’t get blood on it!”

“My hood isn’t what I’m worried about!”

By the time Zane’s stitched Lloyd’s hand up, wincing barely kept at a minimum, Kai’s cooled down.

Somewhat. 

“It was an accident, okay?” Lloyd says, for the billionth time. “I didn’t realize he had a weapon. I wasn’t trying to sacrifice my hand, or whatever.”

“Oh yeah? ‘Cause that sounds a lot like something you’d do.”

“Coming from you, that’s somewhat hypocritical,” Zane murmurs. 

Lloyd snickers. Kai turns to Zane in utter betrayal. 

Of course, this means that Lloyd’s next lesson is how to treat sword wounds in emergency situations, in painstaking and excruciating detail. His hand stings every time he grasps the katana handle for solid week, though, so Lloyd takes equally careful notes.

______

Lloyd goes and breaks another three katanas after that. At this point, he kinda thinks Kai should just give up and let him go into battle weapon-less again. You don’t need weapons to do Spinjitzu. The green power won’t break, and Lloyd certainly won’t split into six pieces.

(He hopes.)

Kai keeps putting swords in his hands anyways. 

Lloyd could always just say no — he’s supposed to be leader or something, he can make his own decisions.

But he thinks of sparring sessions and smelling like cloves every other evening, thinks of the tiny dragons Kai still takes the time to carve into his katana handles, and throwing all that away would feel as great as sawing off his own arm. 

So he picks the katana up, does his stupid katas, and promises to do better this time.

That doesn’t magically fix things, of course. 

“How,” Kai says blankly, staring at the katana that now lies in a record eight pieces. 

“Um.” Lloyd twists his fingers together. “I definitely didn’t use it to prop open a door like you said never to do.”

Kai gives him a smile that shows exactly all of his teeth. 

“You have five seconds to run.”

______

All that training on treating sword wounds pays off. Possibly more than learning how to fight with a sword in the first place, when Kai drops in the middle of battle with a wicked slash across his lower thigh. 

“Of all the — stupid, embarrassing—”

“Shut up,” Lloyd says tightly. He’s already focusing half his energy on not throwing up at the amount of blood soaking between his fingers where they’re pressed tightly over Kai’s leg. “Stop moving, I gotta see if it — if it hit an artery.”

“It better not have,” Kai pants, wincing as Lloyd presses down harder. “If it hit an artery I’m screwed.”

“Shut up.” 

Lloyd’s heartbeat is a thunderstorm in his ears, panic welling up in his throat as Kai’s blood swims in his vision. 

“Hey, hey,” Kai’s hand falters, then clasps Lloyd’s own. “M’gonna be fine. Takes a lot more than a stupid leg wound to take me out.” 

“That’d be so lame,” Lloyd breathes, somewhat hysterically. He’s torn his own belt off for a tourniquet, which is step one, he thinks — hood can go around the actual wound, and if he steals Kai’s belt, then he can double reinforce it— 

“I can always cauterize,” Kai says shakily, sounding like he’d rather do anything else in the world. “It’ll be — move!”

Lloyd manages to roll them both out of the way as the assassin who nailed Kai comes in to finish the job, sword scraping sparks across the rooftop. Lloyd flashes a furious glare over his shoulder, mind racing as he holds himself in front of Kai. 

“Here.” The familiar hilt of Kai’s katana slaps against Lloyd’s open hand — the other is quick to follow suit. “Remember, double wielding — better for defense.”

Lloyd nods on instinct. He adjusts his grip on both swords, the blood on his fingers making the hilts tacky and sticky. It’s going to be a pain to clean later, a vague part of his mind notes. 

Of course Lloyd remembers dual wielding. It is better for defending, but you lose power on striking and reach — he can deal with that. Kai does. 

And it’s exactly what he needs, right now. The assassin won’t even get close to Kai.

One spin, then another. The katanas’ weight is familiar, balanced in the slightly-weird way Lloyd likes best, the way Kai makes all his swords. He finds his footing, finds the stance, and moves.

When Kai fights, he fights like the first flash of flame from a match strike — quick and bursting, fast enough it all but blinds the enemy. 

When Lloyd fights, it feels like dancing — slower to start, picking steps deliberately, building to that bursting strike faster and faster. 

It only takes one strike, after all. And Lloyd’s got two swords. 

Silver flashes across the rooftop, a piercing screech as one of his katana meets the assassin’s broader blade, forcing it back—

The assassin drops with a cry before falling silent, the shattered pieces of a katana scattered around him. 

“Saw that…one coming,” Kai moans. 

Still breathing heavily, Lloyd tries not to cringe.

“I’m so sorry,” he repeats, after Kai’s securely in a hospital bed and enduring Nya’s forty-five minute lecture about the many ways your arteries can kill you. 

Kai waves his hand, slightly cross-eyed and loopy from medication. “Y’know what? I wanted a new sword anyways. You saved me, so…skip the lecture and we’ll call it square?”

Lloyd lets a small smirk crawl up his face. 

“You know, I feel like there’s something very important you should keep in mind, about your weapons taking the hit, instead of you—” 

“When I get out of here, you’re toast.”

______

“I think I know where I’m going wrong,” Kai says. 

He’s spent the weekend with his father, the two of them either shut up in the forge or buzzing and forth about blacksmithing. It leaves Lloyd feeling a little weird — some mix between happy for Kai and achingly jealous, which then leaves him mostly just sad, which sucks. Lloyd sucks — it’s terrible to feel that way. Everyone was happy when Lloyd got both his parents back after that first battle, and even if he’s lost that — the least he can do is be happy for Kai and Nya. 

It ends up working out pretty great in the end, because Kai looks a little like he’s unraveled the mysteries of the universe right now. 

Half his right eyebrow is also scorched off, but Lloyd decides not to mention it for now. It’ll be funny to see the look on his face, when he notices. 

“I was talking with my dad, who’s got a lot more experience with this stuff, and he suggested something,” Kai continues. He fiddles with whatever he’s got hidden behind his back, and Lloyd has to stifle the urge to dart around him and see. 

“No more katana,” Kai says. “You’re good with ‘em, but I think we need a change-up.”

“You mean good at breaking them,” Lloyd mutters.

“If the sword breaks on you, it’s my fault,” Kai says. “I’m not exactly the world’s best blacksmith. Y’know, you should really think about getting someone else to—”

“No.” Lloyd bites his tongue immediately, aware of how bratty he sounds. 

And selfish. It’s not like Kai has tons of time to just make Lloyd swords all the time. 

As if reading his thoughts, Kai scuffs his hair. “Stop that. I like making swords.” The small edge of a smile pulls at his lips. “I worked pretty hard to become a blacksmith. So it feels kinda good, that someone appreciates the work for once.”

He shakes his head. “Anyways! Meet your new battle buddy. This is called a dao sword.” 

Lloyd stares at the curved, silvery blade Kai’s handed to him. It’s thicker than the katana he’s used to, the blade growing broader at the end before tapering off. 

“Historically, it’s better suited for quick slashing, but it’s fairly versatile,” Kai continues. 

Lloyd carefully lifts the sword, his eyes widening just a bit. 

“And heavier,” Kai grins. “Which means it’s gonna be at least a little more difficult for you to shatter.”

His hands fit easily around the handle — there’s plenty of room for a two-handed grip, and enough balance if he wants to switch back to one. 

“The guard’s a bit better with protection, and it’s got this tassel here you can wrap around your hand — yeah, like that — to help keep it steady. Or just look fancy.”

Stepping back, Lloyd adjust his hold. Normally he’d do something silly, or needlessly complicated, just to make Kai roll his eyes, but something about this one feels heavier — he doesn’t want to mess it up. He takes a single, experimental swing instead. 

“Oh,” Lloyd blinks. “It’s sharp.”

“I’d hope so. What do you think I am, a half-rate blacksmith — don’t answer that, by the way.”

Lloyd simply grins, taking a few more swings. It is heavier than the katana he’s used to, broader and chunkier — but it feels at home in his hands. 

“It’s incredible,” Lloyd says, turning back to Kai. “Thank you.”

Kai colors, just a bit. “You don’t have to lie.”

“I’m not lying! I love it. It’s perfect.”

“Well, as long as it holds up, that’s good enough for me,” Kai says, rubbing the back of his head. “Wanna give it a test drive?”

“Yeah,” Lloyd says. “I bet I can do even more flips with it.”

“And stab yourself in the leg in the process, but sure, go ahead, squander my gift—”

______

Lloyd’s careful, more so than ever, with the dao sword. When they all split across Ninjago, Lloyd clings to the piece of his family and tries to remember Kai’s instructions, making sure his hands are firmly wrapped and his right ankle always stays low. 

So when it breaks on the river with Harumi, Lloyd wants to cry.

He wants to cry for a lot of other reasons, but it still hurts — another thing he cares for that Harumi’s managed to break so easily. It hurts that they all work so hard, time and again, and it always ends up shattering around them anyways. Hurts that they pour themselves out for this city again and again and it’s still not enough. 

(Hurts that he’s never, ever going to outrun that worthless little kid in the snow.)

He learns, later — he’s got much more to lose to her than just a sword. 

It hurts all the same.

But the sword’s broken and Lloyd’s on a one-way collision course with his father, and it’s much too late to turn back now. 

Lloyd enters Kryptarium Prison with nothing but himself and his power. It was enough the first time, it’s got to be enough this one as well. 

Lloyd was enough the first time — if he isn’t enough now—

If he isn’t—

______

He isn’t.

He throws himself against his father and shatters his heart with every hit. Then the rest of him goes and shatters too, ribs cracking and skin splitting as he’s battered through walls and bruised against stone. His power sparks and screams as it tries to save him, pushed to its limits.

A part of Lloyd finds it funny — he can’t even keep his power together. He wonders if he’ll snap into six pieces and fly everywhere, just like Kai’s poor katanas, with nothing left but broken pieces of Lloyd to melt down for scrap. 

Kai doesn’t find it funny in the slightest. Not the muffled voice Lloyd hears breaking as his family tries to put him back together, not the filthy embrace Lloyd gets when it’s finally over, not the multiple hour-long lectures Lloyd’s forced to sit through even three months out. 

“I don’t care how many swords you break,” he hisses, giving Lloyd a shake that’s forceful enough his teeth almost rattle. “I don’t care if you shatter a thousand. They’re supposed to protect you. You’re supposed to choose yourself. Don’t you ever, ever, put yourself out there to break again.” 

Lloyd must’ve broken a hundred promises by now. He can’t seem to do anything right, truly — not being the Green Ninja, not being a good brother, not being Garmadon’s son.

But, as he nods and makes another promise, he can try. 

For Kai, he’ll try. 

______

Things are different, after his father, but it’s the same way things are always different after their family escapes by the skin of their teeth. Each new threat leaves another lingering wound, but Lloyd likes to think it stitches them closer in the aftermath. 

With everyone’s attention so laser-focused on Lloyd after everything, it makes it easier for him to spot the others’ bad days. 

It only takes him five minutes to track down Kai this time. Lloyd carefully lowers himself cross-legged next to him on the floor, katana laid across his lap.

Kai tenses, as if preparing for another speech. 

Please. Lloyd’s methods are way sneakier — and better — these days. 

“So,” he starts, as he dips the edge of a rag in Kai’s choji oil. “I was patrolling today, and I saw like, a demon cat, I think? I mean, it was definitely a cat. It looked kind of like the one Zane used to feed when we lived at the apartment, all stripey and stuff. I was gonna try and pet it, ‘cause patrol was pretty boring and what was I supposed to do, ignore it? So I did the whole pspsps thing, and it was not a fan — and I swear, it hissed at me, and it looked just like my dad. When he's all Oni, y’know? Which is rude, cats are supposed to be comforting, not traumatic—”

Lloyd’s rambling grows more and more nonsensical as he goes, jumping from topic to topic as he works on the katana. He can feel the tension seeping out of Kai where he sits beside him though, bit by bit until Kai’s finally leaning against his shoulder. 

“Missed a spot,” he speaks up suddenly, his voice only cracking a little.

Lloyd squints at the sword. “Where?”

Kai taps a bandaged finger on the blade. 

“Oh,” Lloyd blinks. He adjusts the rag. “Thanks.”

 Kai speaks up again, after a minute, “You’ve gotten good at this.”

“Had a good teacher.”

There’s a faint snort. “Debatable.”

“With who?” Lloyd says. “I’m your number one sword student. And your only one. I win automatically.” 

“The others use swords. Sometimes.”

“Yeah, and Jay still whines every time the super special weapon-of-the-week to defeat evil ends up being a sword again,” Lloyd says. 

“S’cause Jay’s better with nunchucks. Totally different concept.”

“But he isn’t better with a sword.”

“Definitely not better than me.”

“I’m your best student,” Lloyd says. “Jay can’t be better than me. That’s illegal.”

“If the Green Ninja declares it,” Kai says, but there’s an edge of laughter in his voice, a thawing out of the numb blankness he’d worn earlier. He slumps, just a bit heavier, against Lloyd.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really,” Kai mutters. 

“‘Kay.” Lloyd turns the sword over, squinting at his reflection. “Sometime, though?”

“If you can manage not to break anymore katanas before I finish your new weapon, maybe.”

“You guys won’t even let me out to fight,” Lloyd grouses. “It’s not as if I’ll have a chance to.”

Kai makes a huffing noise. “Maybe if you’d sit still long enough to heal—”

“I don’t wanna hear it from you,” Lloyd scowls. “Look, I know I messed up with — with her, but—”

“That’s not what this is about,” Kai says sharply. “It’s about you being okay.”

Normally, Lloyd would protest. Should protest — he doesn’t deserve to get off that easy. But Kai’s gone tense again, so he lets it go, just this once. 

“Sorry,” he murmurs anyways. 

“No, don’t. You’re doin’ good,” Kai sighs, and he sounds so very, very tired. “Just…take it easy, okay? ’Til I get your sword done.” 

“Sorry for breaking the old one, too,” Lloyd says. “I really did try to keep it safe.” 

“I’ll make you a hundred swords,” Kai says. “A thousand, if I have to. Just keep using them, okay? Swords are your weapon.”

Like Lloyd’s ever going to forget that, at this point.

______

It’s only after the Oni are more a memory and Lloyd has been subjected to an unholy amount of recuperation that Kai allows him to even see the sword he’s made this time.

It’s well worth the wait, though.

“It’s gold,” Lloyd murmurs, reverently holding the new dao blade. 

“Yeah, well,” Kai shrugs, a little bashful. “I thought you should match us, at some point.”

Lloyd has to try very hard not to pretend that doesn’t make a small, lingering part of him want to tear up.

“Is this jade?” he says instead, carefully tracing a finger over the single panel of green that decorates the blade. 

“Technically it’s jadeite, and no, you don’t wanna know where I got it,” Kai corrects. 

“I don’t care,” Lloyd says. “I love it. It’s the best sword ever. I — thank you, so much—”

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Kai says quickly. “You’re welcome, or whatever, just — you’ll use it, right?”

Lloyd gives him a long, flat look. 

“You’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.”

“You are not allowed to joke about that—!”

______

The golden dao sword never breaks. 

It takes Lloyd several fights with it to stop holding back, but once he realizes this sword won’t shatter to pieces in his hands, he lets himself get creative.

And the sword holds, again and again. 

Against Aspheera’s burning soldiers, against the bitter chill of the Never Realm, against the Skull Sorcerer’s monsters in the depths of Shintaro, against the heavy weight of water and cold crystal — the dao blade holds.

Kai tells him it’s because Lloyd’s finally learned how to stop using his weapon as a glorified baseball bat. Lloyd thinks it’s because Kai knows blacksmithing for ninja better than anyone else in the world.

His powers grow, too — along with his options, which he’d really have preferred to just…avoid. 

Real fun that it wasn’t the many years of pent-up anger issues, but crippling traumatic grief, that’s the key to unlocking his shapeshifting abilities. Hilarious. 

It still stings, a bit, that no one ever bothered to tell him he was walking around with the blood of two mythical beings just chilling in his veins, Would’ve been nice to know, maybe, before he got stuck having a whole crisis about it smack in the middle of another world-ending crisis. 

Oni, dragon, Green Ninja. Like he needs another title.

In the end, it doesn’t matter much what he thinks. Everyone moves on and Lloyd is a multi-bred freak of nature, or something. 

His father thinks he should hone his Oni powers. Sensei Wu thinks he should listen to his father but also remember his dragon side. His mother thinks he should read the eight-hundred page historical brick of a book about all known history of the Oni and the dragon. He doesn’t have a clue what his great-grandparents think of him, except that a family reunion would be world-ending levels of terrible. 

Lloyd, who’s grown attached to looking like himself and happens to like being human, keeps reaching for his dao blade first. 

Swordsmanship is something he’s proud of. He’s worked hard for it, through blisters and bruises and blood. It’s something that belongs to him and Kai, something shared and freely given. Something passed onto him, something taught and earned, something treasured.

Lloyd doesn’t have a lot of things like that, so he treasures it all the more himself. 

Treasures the humanity of his family, and how lucky he is to be part of that.

Treasures the things he’s learned from them like family heirlooms he’s never had.

Treasures the fact that they’re there—

Treasures the—

______

The monastery is so quiet, Lloyd’s starting to understand how people lose their minds.

Not really. He hasn’t started talking to himself yet, so that’s a good sign, right? It doesn’t count, if you’re yelling for other people. Doesn’t count if you’re screaming curses at your stupid grandfather who let your whole world split apart and tore away the only people that were yours. 

“It doesn’t count,” he whispers to the sword in his lap. 

Lloyd stares dully at his reflection in the dao sword, marred by the splotchy wear and ugly chipping at the blade’s edges. It’s in miserable shape, worn down and neglected.

A lot like himself, maybe. 

He shudders, drawing in a breath. Sulking won’t sharpen swords. And when Kai gets back — which he will — he’ll be so disappointed that Lloyd’s gone and treated his sword like dirt. 

The smell of choji oil makes his eyes sting, but the familiar sound the rag makes across the blade soothes it. 

He’s glad he took the time to sharpen it up, too, when he visits the city. More than glad when he finds himself atop the train, his missing hood leaving him distinctly uncomfortable as he prepares to fight. 

Lloyd’s hands have warped and twisted, burst in purple and grown claws sharp enough to slice. If he can make them his own again, after that, he can make them hold steady now. 

The handle of the dao blade is worn and familiar, the fraying tassel the same bright green where it brushes the back of his hands, and Kai’s voice yells in his head as loud as ever as he swings it once—

One flip this time, he decides. One flip, one strike.

Swords are his weapon, after all. It’s important for him to remember that.  

And even if he doesn’t—

______

Lloyd’s grown up in a world of weapons, and far faster than he probably should. 

But with every sword swing, every familiar callous carved into his hand, Kai’s there to remind him that his sword is the weapon.

And Lloyd, power or no power, is just Lloyd. 

[kamisama1kiss]

Okay okay, hear me out…what if the reader was a ninja part of the team but they would also be involved in a prophecy where they end up dying to save their lover, I need the ninja reaction to when Master Wu tells them 🫶🏻

This is actually so sad, tho.... I love it! 🤭😝 I was a little stuck on writing, but I hope I was able to deliver what you wished for 😚🫶

~~~

What would be the ninjas reactions be as the prophecies says they're lover will die for them?

~Lloyd Garmadon~

- Denial is a river in Egypt. Refusing to believe that they would die for the sake of his life.

- No matter how many times he convinces himself, he knows truly he can't do anything to stop it. Further pushing him into no limits of getting stronger to maybe, just maybe prevent it?

- Keeping a watching eye at you at all times to see if you're safe, more so in battles or training.

- Would try to convince you to do other tasks rather than join the team if he knew it could be risky for either you or himself.

- Consently tries to spend as much time with you so that when the time comes, he could make sure to not regret a moment.

- Would often spend time silently watching you just live and socialise with others, his heart falling into his stomach.

- Admiring you and everything about you as a person.

~Kai Smith~

- At first, he just laughed and shook his head. There was no way.

- After maybe a few hours or days, the gravity of it all dawned on him. He couldn't help but feeling so hopeless and useless to not be able to help or postpone it or anything for that matter.

- His mind of having a feature together with you was immediately crushed, all the plans of being able to hold you at night and talk into the long hours of the night.

- In the meantime, he changed a little for you as in allowing you to goof around with his hair as an example.

- Holding hands no matter where you walked to feel you close just to know you weren't gone. Not yet at least.

-Knowing he was absolutely broken after when Nya was gone, he would be just the same with just worse of completely letting guilt eat him up in silence. He would refuse to let anyone know how he felt.

As the hothead, he is the practice dummys would be all burnt to crisp

~Cole Brookstone~

- Again?

- Really? First, his own mother. Now, the one person he loves with the whole being of himself

- No matter how much he tried to collect himself, he could easily take it out on training.

- Would at some point start to distance himself from you so when the time came, the impact would be less painful.

- Didn't want to be like his father with absolutely neglecting everything when you we're gone, but anyhow, he tried to smile to everyone and act chill like he usually would.

- Often held his breath when holding you close, wishing for these types of moments to never end.

~Zane Julian~

- He was obvious to the fact that the one he loves could so easily die, but he could live on for many years on.

- Has already been over this with himself, but hearing it being sooner than expected shocked him.

- Acting no different than normally maybe a few occasional more hugs throughout the day, nothing too out of the ordinary.

- When he was alone, his way of grief was meditate. Maybe it could make the damage a little easier for his wires to handle?

- Occasionally turning off the emotions to just feel as if he could "breath" as it did get to his head at times more than he'd like to admit it ever did.

~Jay Walker~

- Immediately lost himself as he shook his head, refusing to belive what a dumb scroll had to say! It's dumb right?

- Spending every waking minute of his day with you by his side, alongside helping you with everything he could think of.

- Coping with occasionally stealing shirts with your smell on them to feel as if you mext to him, even though you are just a few doors down or so

- Would slowly communicate with others as he became more silent, which scared everyone. Everyone stood on their toes around him to not further upset him.

- He came in clutch and used every single excuse possible to man kind to have you for himself the first week or two after getting to know. He felt kind of pushy so he calmed down a little.

~Nya Smith~

- She genuinely just accepted it, what more could she say? The prophecy says so, she cannot deny it no matter how much this frustrated her.

- Checking up on you and acting for the most sake normal, as to not make you uncomfortable or worried for her sake.

- Used any or all frustration on training her powers in different ways, which was beneficial for her in the long right?

- Just like her brother, there was no communication from her side. Whenever the topic of prophecy popped up, she went silent and stood next to you, holding pinkys.

- Would cry to herself whenever everything got to her, just knowing you're gonna to eventually leave it snapped her multiple times. She would always refuse.

~~~

I've reached over 25 posts :00 and also over 50 followers!!! THANK YOU, EVERYONE 😭🙏🙏 I appreciate every single one of you so much

[lightning-and-dragons]

Jay as Samurai X

This AU has been on my mind for longer than a day so I figured I would post about it lol.

Jay Walker never becomes a ninja. Jay's parents ended up taking him to an orphanage instead of the junkyard, and Sensei Wu, no matter how long he searches, cannot find him. So, he must continue and find the other ninja without him.

Sensei Wu recruits the others, and tells Nya immediately that she's the Master of Water. Cole, Kai, Nya, and Zane soon become the protectors of Ninjago.

Jay begins working at a mechanics shop, feeling an urge to build vehicles and tech, an urge that he couldn't explain. After a while, he begins to notice how light bulbs break around him, how he has a strange connection to the lightning in the sky, and how he, and sometimes others around him, get shocked with electricity without any cause. It doesn't take him long to find out that he's the son of the previous elemental Master of Lightning, through a bit of digging online, discovering that she had a son that she had given up at the exact same time Jay was admitted into the orphanage.

But he's scared of what it means. He's scared of the lightning. He's not a hero. He's not like the Ninjas that save Ninjago every week. He's just a guy that didn't have friends. Who could barely afford to live in the city. Who had no family. He couldn't use his powers to do the good that they did. He would only mess things up if he got involved, that he knew.

He couldn't use his powers at all. He knew how dangerous lightning could be, and Jay couldn't control it. He didn't know how. And he didn't want to hurt anyone.

He buys a vengestone bracelet not long after this discovery, knowing that the stone dulls elemental powers, wearing it every day and every night, needing to hide the part of him that scared him, needing protect others from the lightning he possessed. It made a dull pain throb in his body, but it was worth it.

But, after Ninjago City is nearly destroyed by the Great Devourer, a new girl comes and uses the mechanics shop that Jay works in. Nya was beautiful, and Jay connects with her immediately. She seems to understand him in a way no one else has before, and for the first time in his life, Jay doesn't feel alone. They became friends very quickly, and when Jay asked her out on a date, she doesn't say no.

It doesn't take her long to tell him that she's the Water Ninja. Jay can't help but be shocked. He thought that the Ninja were people who were powerful, who were perfect, spending all of their time protecting others, devoting every second to catching the bad guys. He thought that they didn't bother doing things regular people did, that they didn't make any mistakes.

But Nya was exactly like him. Sure, she did save the world every so often, she was strong, but she also loved building vehicles, she loved ice cream, and laughed at all his jokes. She sometimes crossed a few wrong wires, she had bad hair days, and she had a bit of a temper, but she was still a ninja. She was a hero, but she was a person, too. She wasn't an all powerful being Jay was scared of, he could even relate to her. She was human, she made mistakes, and something about that made Jay relieved.

She taught him that the Ninja weren't all powerful beings who were above regular people. They were just like him. She taught him that anyone, whether they had powers or not, could be heroes, too.

Jay was inspired by that. But he wasn't strong enough to take off the vengestone bracelet yet, not sure enough of his own abilities and control to let his powers be free.

He wouldn't let that stop him, though.

It didn't take him long to build his mech, the Samurai X suit, a suit of armor that let him save others, let him help Nya, without risking letting his lightning be free.

And he loved it. He loved saving others, he loved the tech he uses, and he loved proving that he didn't need his powers to be a hero. He didn't need to be anyone more than who he already was.

Nya knows it's him right away. The other Ninja fight to find out who the Samurai X was, desperate to know who was beating them to their fights, but she kept silent. A few months in, Jay reveals his identity, and Nya eagerly introduces him to the other Ninja, so thankful that the man she loved had become a hero, too, and found the strength to finally tell her.

Sensei Wu catches on to the bracelet Jay wears right away, and confronts him about it, knowing that this was the boy he had been looking for for years. And soon Jay is torn between hiding his powers from the people he could now call his friends, continuing to be Samurai X, a hero that he was proud of being, or he could take off the vengestone. He could learn how to use the lightning that he was born with, the lightning that he was terrified of, for good, using it like Nya used her water, with control and kindness.

Jay doesn't know if he's strong enough to. Jay doesn't know if he's ready to let the lightning be free. But he also doesn't know if he's ready to pass up a chance to understand what he could do if he finally let his fears fall away.

[a-butterfly1]

==✦NINJAGO AU MASTERPOST✦==

This is an AU I've been working on, I will actually work on it on writting ( on AO3 ) instead of making a comic/manga because I tend to procastinate when it comes to drawing panels ( if you have been keeping up with other pojects of mine you would know this), hopefully I will keep this updated.

==❤︎CHARACTER INFORMATION❤︎==

Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon

Age- 1000+ (immortal) Height: 5'8 (1,73m)

Lloyd has lived many years, of course, now he's immortal, he doesn't have much of a choice but to continue living on. He was many things throughout his life: a bratty child, a son, a master, a hero and now he's nothing more than a myth, while still a part of ninjago history many actually question if he ever really existed or not. He ostracized himself from society for a reason, after all,- it's painfull to make relationships when they are so short lived. He is considered a god by many, but he denies that being the case, maybe the embodiment of the balance between good and evil but he wont try to call himself anything more. Lloyd now lives with the spirits of his family with the occasional visits from Morro and Garmadon, his father.

==꒷꒦︶︶꒷︶︶꒦꒦︶︶꒷꒦==

Jay Walker

Age- 1000+ (spirit) Died at 115 Height: 5'10 (1,78m) Status: Nya's husband

He was a man of the spotlight, he shined brithly- TV shows, TheyTube channels, he was knowed worldwide. Not that he minds the retirement, he lived his life; he had two beautiful twins with the love of his life, Nya. He died happy, even if he was the last one to die, 3 years after Nya had passed. His last years were spent with Lloyd. In his many years in the Ninja team, he's come to realise he doesn't exactly have the same type of strengh like the others so he created a different weapon one that creates iron alloy strings, that resemble spider webs. He also practiced racing with his wife in his free time and created all kinds of machines and weapons which ranged from house equipment to ninja tech, like mechs, weapons and transport.

==꒷꒦︶︶꒷︶︶꒦꒦︶︶꒷꒦==

Kai Smith

Age- 1000+ (spirit) Died at 95 Height: 6'2 (1,88m) Status: Skylor's husband and Nya's bio brother

Kai was a little bit of an influencer in his younger years, but as the years went by he settled more into being a family man with his wife Skylor and his little girl. How did he become a spirit? Well it was his idea; well his plan was to become immortal like Lloyd but he was intersected by Morro, so he opted for the second best option: giving his powers to Lloyd, so even if he was dead he would be with Lloyd through his power; what wasn't part of the plan was he actually becoming part of Lloyd as a spirit, not that he is complaining, he got what he wanted in the end; and since he was the one that piched the idea to the ninja, he just involved them all into the mad plan- one that Lloyd was unaware of. He trully is a mad man, no one, and I mean, no ONE, puts themselves between him and his family, the last person who did so, is no longer amoung us, the last thing they saw was Kai becoming a demonic ball of flames.

==꒷꒦︶︶꒷︶︶꒦꒦︶︶꒷꒦==

Nya Smith Walker

Age- 1000+ (spirit) Died at 112 Height: 6'0 (1,83m) Status: Jay's wife and Kai's bio sister

Nya, famous racer, only had to step down from the hobbie/carrer when she got into a small accident, while she wasn't gravelly wounded that was enough for her to be proibited from competitive racing. From that day on she still raced but became more of an idol than a racer per say. She ended up working on engineer projects, solo or with Jay, mostly out of boredom. Now, since she is dead, she has more free time than ever, and uses it to learn and explore every digital corner of the internet, catching a few criminals in the way. Many say she is mystical and her strengh is as crushing as the waves in a storm can be, yet calm and relaxing as the days in the beach, others, like the Ninja themselves just see her as they're beloved sister.

==꒷꒦︶︶꒷︶︶꒦꒦︶︶꒷꒦==

Cole Brookestone

Age- 1000+ (spirit) Died at 87 Height: 6'8 (2,03m) Status: Vania's husband

Cole, King of the Kingdom of Shintaro, Husband of Queen Vania, father of the prince of Shintaro, and our beloved cake lover, sadlly passed away early, well earlier than his siblings at least, the unknowed illness that had taken the life of his mother had decided to claim another. Cole fell gravelly ill, bedridden in his late stages of life. Bedridden in the castle, he invited Lloyd over for most possibly a final goodbye, although he didn't think that Lloyd would stay around the whole time it wasn't completly unexpected, right there he was the first one to execute Kai's plan, and the first to discover the side effects of the plan; from then on he was part of Lloyd and made sure to let the others know of the end result.

==꒷꒦︶︶꒷︶︶꒦꒦︶︶꒷꒦==

Zane Julien

Age- 1000+ (nindroid) Height: 7'0 (2,13m) Status: P.I.X.A.L's husband

Caretaker of the rest of the Ninja team and their children, especially since those little kids sure liked uncle Lloyd a whole lot and would visit constently. He stayed with Lloyd in the monastery alongside P.I.X.A.L and Morro (who visits soo much he pretty much lives there, has a room and everything). Him and Lloyd share house chores, and Zane is in charge of looking at news around ninjago, to ensure it's safety, as well as helping in some researches since Lloyd is only one person and can only intake soo much information at a time. He is the only one that hasn't partaken in Kai's plan, since there is literally no reason to, Zane obviously doesn't die of old age, one may claim that he could possible get rusty and need repairs at some point but Lloyd and P.I.X.A.L are always around is any issue is to come.

==✿ADDITIONAL INFORMATION✿==

The Ninja team, many years after most of the team's death, has move the location of the monestary far away from the main ninjago island, and instead now lives in a far away island that Lloyd created west of Ninjago city, around the middle of Ninjago and the dark island (thats has been sealed away by Lloyd). The reason for that change is because of something rather strange, it's not just to ensure Lloyd's ever soo wished isolation but also because a merchant had attented to buy the place, with the intention of turning the monestary into a tourist attraction. Lloyd got a bit peeved and decided to pick up the mountain where the monestary was on top of and relocated it;

The only reason the Jay was living with Lloyd in his last moments, was because he genuenly belived he would miss the mark to execute Kai's plan, because he belives himself to be quite clumsy and distracted; either way he didn't miss it and now is with the rest of the team (which is a way to say that he can now torment the Ninja forever);

Lloyd has a cute nickname for all the Ninja's kids, and spoiled them to no end (he is the fun uncle who takes everyone to Disneyland), he calls Kai's daugther "munchkadee", Jay and Nya's twins has "Starlight" and "Moonlight" for the girl and boy respectively, and Cole's son is "Duckling";

the age diference of the Ninja are, from youngest to oldest: Lloyd - Nya - Jay - Kai - Cole - Zane ( to say, with maybe the idea of the 1 season, Lloyd (8->15) - Nya (15) - Jay (16) - Kai (17) - Cole (18) - Zane (30-40? he is old);

(conceivable for change) As of right now, Lloyd's power is one that could rival gods, the source of said power is something OP is still considering but the possible main reason might be related to "source dragons", has to why the other Ninja's had powers even after having kids is related to Lloyd giving them an artifact that has their specific element embodied into them (the artifacts are not phisical and can only be visualised when the Ninja have already passed, the artifact will most likely have the form of a card); (the reason of this possible change is the development of the plot of "Dragons Rising").

[ninja-confession-go]

Everytime I see a post hating on Jay I cannot ever take it seriously I'm so sorry lol

Like they'll have some valid criticism on S6(which seems to be where most of the hate comes from which, fair) but then afterwards just be making shit up to make it seem as if Jay was always that way when NO they definitely butchered his personality to make s6 work

Prior to season 6 the most wild thing he did was beef with Cole n even then he was valid in being upset. The way he went about it was 100% wrong, not gonna deny that, but then again he's a teenager who runs primarily on his emotions as we have seen before. And also let's not forget neither Cole nor Nya were innocent either. I've seen folks completely strip Nya of her involvement to make it seem as if she didn't do anything wrong when NO she's the one who started it all by actively tryna persue a relationship with Cole while dating Jay.

I would argue Cole is the MOST innocent of the three and even he has some blame as well.

Yall be tryna place the blame all on Jay while ignoring the other two. Stop. None of them are innocent in that dumbass stupid love triangle.

PRIOR to that season the most he did was try and impress Nya by hyping himself up. While yes lying is wrong, We must also remember that HES A TEENAGER. A teen who's also hella insecure about himself. Of course he would try to make himself seem cool to impress his crush. Still not a good thing, but yall be tryna make it seem as if he was stalking her or some shit lol

Like I dunno it feels like we weren't watching the same show if u fully believe Jay was always like that imo. This is coming from an og fan too.

Yall r valid in ur anger for s6 I also hate how they handled Jay in that season, but to say he's always been that way is just, flat out WRONG.

Like I've seen haters and then there's yall. Yall a whole different breed

There's nothing wrong with not liking a character, nor is there anything wrong with criticism towards a character, but like make to actually tell it for what it was.

.

[destinysbounty]

A common question that has plagued fans for a long time now is how and why Wojira passed the element of water onto Nyad, considering they were enemies at the time. Personally, I think there are two different yet equally possible answers here:

Someone once pointed out that in Wu's scroll depicting the Battle of Nine Days, Wojira's eyes are red - which would likely only be the case if she was being controlled (her eyes return to blue once Kalmaar's control is lifted). It could be possible that Wojira was once a far more benevolent being before some unknown force took control of her, and during that time Nyad inherited power from her.

In Bentho's story about the legend of Nyad, she is depicted as being struck by the Amulets upon touching them - perhaps this was what caused her to acquire that power. Yes, technically it looks more like she touched the Storm Amulet, whereas water is more closely aligned with the Wave Amulet. However, I think it's worth noting that the Storm Elements don't seem to operate strictly under the standard conditions of most others. In this case there seems to be some kind of overlap. Although the elements passed on from Wojira are water and wind, she also has dominion over lightning as well, with "Storm" encompassing both of the latter two. Which suggests that may be a degree of overlap between the elements of storm. If so, then it's still entirely plausible that being struck by the Amulets could have given her the elemental power of water (and perhaps this overlap also explains why Jay was able to command wind that one time in s1?? I dunno. That's a theory post for another day)

This is potentially corroborated by the fact that we don't see her wield the element of water until after this striking incident. Within the context of this particular animation sequence, her being struck and her becoming one with the sea are depicted within immediate proximity of each other.

If true, the second possibly would also resolve another big question involving Nyad and her element: that is, how the line of succession was able to progress even after she had become one with the sea. According to Nya, it was her power that kept her chained to the ocean, and by losing her power she severed her connection to it. By that logic, wouldn't the same be true for Nyad? If she's still connected to the sea, then logic should dictate that she should still be the master of water. But if her power left her and moved on to someone else, then she should have been restored just as Nya was in Crystalized.

But if we consider the idea that elemental power may be passed down through other means, it becomes possible that someone else may have acquired water the same way Nyad did, and that second person ended up passing the element down through the ages.

(But if that answer isn't satisfying, have another: according to the Overlord, elemental powers seem to possess some degree of semi-sentience, as they are able to "choose a new champion". Perhaps Nyad's elemental power left her to pick someone new, but at that point she'd been merged with the sea for so long that her spirit remained chained to it anyway.)

[llannasvsp]

Dragons Rising Season 2, Episode 3: Beyond the Phantasm Cave

We are baaaack!! Honestly, I like spreading out my rewatch because I binged all 10 in one sitting. Spreading out my rewatch makes the excitement last longer. Not that I'm running out of excitement. I will never get over this season and it's not even done AGH. ANYWAY. On to the episode!

So, Cinder is Link from Zelda?

You feel the gong what?

Jordana and Cinder beef so real.

Awh, Kai. Glad they didn't forget his anger issues.

Arin is definitely not okay.

LLOYD MEDITATED ALL DAY AGHHH POOR GUY.

Lloyd has every right to be upset and frustrated right now.

Little source dragons!

OH MY GOSH the Netflix subtitles tell us which source dragon symbols correspond with the element!???!?

LIFE SYMBNOL CLAIMS LLOYD EVEROYNE. LIFE SYMBOL. DID ANYONE KNOW THIS?!?! YHHELLO. THIS IS MY FIRST TIME LEARNING OF THIS SO THIS IS A GENUIINE REACTION OH. MYGOSH.

Soooo Strength is a hater.

"He is no ordinary mortal". Okayyy so are we going to talk about him literally having Dragon heritage???

LEVITATING LLOYD CLIP!

Once again, Sam is literally serving. He portrays anxiety so well.

KAI + WYLDFYRE CLIP!

I am literally obsessed with this moment between them. Wyldfyre doesn't want to be left out. Kai wants her to stay safe and be okay. He's so kind and gentle with her. I love them.

I gotta admit, I'm an elemental mech hater.

"Would Master Wu take us on a mission based off of half understood dreams?" Oh he absolutely would.

KAI ASKING FROHICKY TO WATCH OVER WYLDFYRE RAGH.

I don't know how I feel about the Cloud Kingdom having a motor buuuut okay.

They really decided that this was the episode to upload clips from.

I love this moment because it addresses that Lloyd is doubting himself, it acknowledges that Lloyd and Nya have been through way too much stuff, and it shows us that Lloyd does not want to put Arin and Sora through something horrific. He doesn't want them to experience "the horrors" too young like he did.

Kai being mad that Wyldfyre stowed away but not in like an angry way but in a "I don't want you getting hurt" way is just sooooo.

Sora is so right to be concerned. I would be too if I were her.

I get what Sora was trying to do with the grappling hooks, but I also feel like this isn't going to bode well for Arin. She made his thing something "cooler" because their elemental powers are involved.

EWWW TENTACLES.

AGHH Arin and Sora complete each other my hearrrt.

Okayyy so visions.

Arin: Fear of letting his parents down. Guilt that he "replaced" them with the ninja.

Sora: Something to do with Imperium?? I don't really understand hers I'm gonna be so honest.

Lloyd: Being an inadequate teacher. Leading everyone to their destruction. "You will never be good enough." Dang.

Nya: Jay not remembering her.

Wyldfyre: The wasting thing that's talked about later.

KAI: WE DON'T FREAKING GET TO SEE IT. LET US SEE IT.

I feel like we just need to remember all of their fears because it's absolutely going to be important to all of them later.

"I know the real Jay could never forget me." Oh, honey. Don't say that.

Egalt is ugly.

GRRR THIS EPISODE IS AMAZING.

I think we didn't see Kai's vision because they're going to bring it back later. I know some people are saying that it was of a corrupted version of himself, and honestly, I'd say that's a very likely assumption, given his history. He used to have a lust for power, and maybe he still does, it's just more subdued. If anything were to happen to him (pretend we haven't seen ep10 yet), he could likely succumb to that temptation for power.

ALSO I'm such a Lloyd "life" truther, so learning that it was the LIFE DRAGON who claimed him?!??!? Yes. I'm so excited to expand more on that.

[mislamicpearl]

(DRS2P2 SPOILERS)

Dragons Rising AU where everything is the same but Zane is written like an actual character. (also more screen time for Euphrasia)

Please reblog this post instead if you want to share.

Some explanations:

I've ranted several times before about how dissatisfied I've been with DR Zane. I just feel like he's so disconnected from the rest of the characters, like the writers don't really want him there but have to have him anyway because he's an OG and part of all the sets and all. So they find lame excuses to leave him behind, or render him useless, or treat him like an emotionless machine, or just give him the dumb comedic side plots like the Zane lookalike contest or babysitting a silly frog man. It's so frustrating seeing him treated this way as he was my favorite ninja when I was binging the series, and it wouldn't even take that much to give him more presence in the show. So these small scenes sort of just came to me in a rush and I had to draw them to cope.

It bothers me so much that Zane is the only one of the OG ninja aside from Jay (who's got amnesia) who doesn't get hugged whenever he reunites with the others. Like you can't even pretend it's because he's not a hugger or because the others feel weird about hugging him or something, because they've done so many times throughout the show before. So now to have them just kind of not make a big deal about seeing him again after years have passed makes it seem like they just don't care as much about him anymore?? So yeah, definitely had to rectify that. Didn't draw Kai and Nya hugging him because I already drew that awhile back.

I had made a post about Euphrasia taking Mr. Frohicky's role in the show instead, but I want to clarify this does NOT mean she would have his same status as a side character whose only job is taking care of the monastery, it's just to put her in a better position to be close to Zane and the other ninja and be more involved with main events. I think Zane could've really benefited from having a next gen kid to take under his wing like the others.

I feel like people might potentially take offense with me letting Zane be the one to catch the piece of training equipment before it could hit Lloyd, rather than the other way around, because that scene WAS cool and it showed how far Lloyd has come as a ninja master, so I don't necessarily want it changed; this was just the easiest way I could think of to show Zane having won the Element of Reflex (also he's still the one surprised by it while Lloyd is unfazed).

[froginninjago]

So, I think that the ninja each try the others hobbies to relax when they have time. I also think that Cole tried to teach them how to dance, and very quickly realized they each do beat in certain styles. (Please note: This doesn't correspond to their music tastes. That's completely seperate)

Kai- I think that this man would love hip hop dances the best, and would do well in them. I can't fully explain it, but I feel like he would really like the quick movements and the way that they usually involve almost every muscle group

Cole- I feel like Cole would probably like swing dance, and specifically doing it with alternating partners. He'd probably mostly be attracted to the way him and his partner could share the spotlight, or have it focused on just one of them, all in the same routine

Jay- I can't explain why, but I think that Jay would like tap dancing the best. He'd enjoy the way that the movements are really fast, so he has to concentrate, but at the same time kept mostly to his legs/feet so he doesn't get overwhelmed

Zane- I think that Zane would like ballet. He'd appreciate the way that it looks so graceful that people forget a lot of the time how hard it is. Also falls into the stereotype thing. He hates the stereotypes that are bound to come with being a nindroid, and the way he isn't seen as human, just like how (for some reason) people don't see ballet dancers as strong.

Lloyd- Hear me out: Lloyd liking line dance because it's one that involves groups all working together and usually means that one singular person isn't the focus, since he gets tired of the green ninja attention

Nya- I can't explain why, but Nya strikes me as someone that would enjoy salsa dancing best. I feel like she'd enjoy the way that you have to trust a partner and be okay with being close to them, and she'd enjoy the way that the traditional roles can be followed or switched easily.

[impulsivefanwriter]

Other Emperors AU — Ninjago

So. The beloved Ice Emperor. The corrupting potential of the Staff of Forbidden Spinjitzu + Amnesia + Vex.

Now what if the Ice Emperor came in other flavours?

That’s right, introducing the Other Emperors AU, a collection of different “What ifs” for if other people had been zapped with the staff by Aspheera!

Different Versions:

Earth Emperor / King of the Underworld = Cole

Lightning Emperor / Thunder God / Lightning Striker = Jay

Fire Emperor / Western Wildfire / Fire Maker = Kai

Energy Emperor / Lord of Energy / Luh-Lord = Lloyd

Water Empress / Commander of the Sea / Wrath of the Waves = Nya

Empress of Technology / Automated Empress / Overseer / The Technodrome = Pixal

Creation Emperor / Second Spinjitzu Master / The Creator = Wu

Not all of them are fleshed out (honestly most just have… one or two minor ideas, but I’ll gladly bounce ideas back and forth with people in Reblogs, comments, and/or asks!), but here’s what I’ve got—

Earth Emperor / King of the Underworld

- Got zapped into the Neverrealm instead and lost his memories from a concussion in the fight

- Vex finds him and the staff and convinces him to take it

- He raises/sinks the Earth to create a stone dome over the realm and make it a cavern of tunnels; some call him the King of the Underworld (Hades vibes) for it and he hates it even if he can’t remember why (haha forgotten Skulkin memories)

- Master of the Mountain mixed with ancient mythology vibes

- His hair grows out and becomes partially lava because come on that look just is so cool on him ; his armour is also formed of obsidian/onyx and crystals

- Difficult to anger (a very patient emperor that listens to his people whenever Vex doesn’t interfere) but if you do (usually on Vex’s manipulation) OH BOY you’re in for it now

- Built a dangerous labyrinth King-Minos-style complete with a stone minotaur in the centre that he sends prisoners/people Vex tricks him into thinking are enemies

- Is very fascinated by Kai’s fire (and Jay’s lightning) because the only light source in the caverns are glowing crystals formed from his powers or special regulated flint/coal-based fires

- He keeps Kai with him when the Ninja arrive and banish the rest to the labyrinth to “prove themselves” on Vex’s manipulation (possibly specifically dropping Jay in the minotaur room as a sacrifice because Jay made a menace of himself in the throne room)

- The Ninja make it through the traps because they’re all kinda Cole-themed (like one involves the Triple Tiger Sashay) and arrive back at the throne room after defeating the stone minotaur, much to Cole/Vex’s astonishment/ire respectively

- Cole realizes the Ninja are telling the truth and that Vex has been lying to him and ends up dropping the staff after reverting the Neverrealm back to its original state

Lightning Emperor / Thunder God / Lightning Strike

- Realizes Zane’s vision (yeah, Jay is the only person who knew Zane had a vision and he DISMISSED IT, hecking come on) is about to come true and shoves Zane out of the way of Aspheera’s shot

- Cracked his head on a rock falling through the portal and has zero memories <3 Should he be dead? Probably. But he’s Jay, so he survives, especially with his boosted element lashing out

-  Vex finds him and is so confused over the lightning appearance but realizes he can use it

- Skybound / Lightning Ruins parallels with Jay ripping up chunks of ground and making floating magnetized islands

- Has a very ominous cult following Vex leads because its Jay, of course it would happen, its not the first time

- Is kinda revered more as a ‘godly figure’ than an emperor (Vex uses his status to make orders in Jay’s name)

- Kinda unhinged, but you can blame the staff + Vex + the concussion and blood loss

- Fascinated by Cole because he absorbs/grounds lightning fine ; also fascinated by Zane who is a walking metal lightning rod

- Constantly zapping around

Fire Emperor / Western Wildfire / Fire Maker

- Lost his powers to Aspheera, battled her with the second staff, and got his butt yeeted to the Never Realm- that’s rough, buddy

- Gets his well-deserved focus season

- He really means well and just wants to keep his people safe, but unfortunately it comes across as overly possessive and tyrannical 

- Older brothers so hard that he comes across as evil/possessive and aggressive when he’s trying to be caring and protective

- Don’t have much for him because the fandom already has insanely cool Fire Emperor AUs

Energy Emperor / Lord of Energy / Luh-Lord 

- So many Lord Garmadon parallels

- ONI-DRAGON LLOYD ONI-DRAGON LLOYD

- Also a surprising amount of Morro parallels about making his own destiny

- So, so traumatized and got corrupted simply for wanting to take his fate into his own hands for once

- Punts Vex out of the castle because he’s had enough of people telling him what to do

- Kinda goes back to S1 Lloyd because this kid just wants his childhood back

- Goes from “scary emperor who’s going to execute you” to “excited little kid” the second he sees his siblings

- Taking the staff back hurts because Lloyd isn’t mad, he’s just super sad and confused and pleads with them not to do it

Water Empress / Commander of the Sea / Wrath of the Waves

- The Never Realm just became the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

- All the ice and snow melts into an ocean with islands

- Nya builds a big ol’ palace that’s both above and below the water’s surface

- Seabound parallels in terms of architecture (lots of accidental Wojira foreshadowing)

- So. Much. Rage. You anger Nya, you’re done for.

- The staff + her element amplified the ocean’s whispers and she’s kinda merged with the sea but not fully, her memories are a bit scattered

- Was going to take on Vex as an advisor because he convinced her she knew him before her memories got lost/scattered, but then her memories associate him with Krux, and she kicks him onto a lone island

- Her brothers have to face the ocean to get to her. They hate it, but they do it anyway 

Empress of Technology / Automated Empress / Overseer / The Technodrome

- Pixal gets to sacrifice herself for Zane

- While the staff doesn’t amplify powers for her, she still gets boosted strength, speed, smarts, etc., her processor running at 300x proficiency

- Is able to get the mech up and running— she DID build it, after all

- Still loses her memories from Vex’s interference, somewhat reverts to S3 Pixal

- Makes the entire realm “efficient” and rapidly revolutionizes technology

- Easily one of the scariest rulers because of how good she is at it

- Took Vex on as an Advisor because of his knowledge of the realm, then fired him once she was done. 

“But you— you cannot FIRE me! I am your loyal, most trusted advisor—” 

“And you are no longer necessary. There is more important matters to attend to.”

- It’s very difficult to dismantle her empire

Creation Emperor / Second Spinjitzu Master / The Creator

- Aspheera blasts her intended target

- Wu is sent to the Never Realm with the other staff

- The Ninja are devastated because they just lost their Sensei AGAIN just after getting him back

- Wu refuses to use the staff at first but then… well, he starts getting desperate to return. He misses his family. And his essence— creation— could be used to help the people of this realm. So he uses it once or twice, sparingly, to help the villages, to help travellers— and slowly gets more and more addicted. Why does this realm hurt the people in it? If his essence is one of creation, couldn’t he use it to… reform this realm into something more peaceful? More habitable? Remake it in his own image? Correct all the mistakes he’s made, start again, start better—

- FSM and Pilots-S2 Garmadon parallels

- His students manage to get into the Never Realm only to find it “prosperous” and “thriving”

- Bonus if there are copies of them, but the way Wu sees them— uncanny valley alert

- EXTRA bonus if there’s a fake Morro that’s based on how he was as a student / if he’d lived , and a fake Garmadon cured of venom and evil

- Breaking their Sensei out of this illusion of a perfect world really hurts

- Wu is traumatized by all his mistakes and they get acknowledged in this AU whether he wants them to be or not <3

[destinygoldenstar]

As a kid watching Ninjago, I was just interested in the flashy powers, and the heroics of the main characters, like any kid would. Like, 'Aw these guys are so heroic and selfless and awesome'

But now as an adult, when I recommended my GF the show, I specifically said "This is Family Issues: The Lego Cartoon"

Honestly, Jay likes to complain and hide his upbringing, but he's probably the ONLY ninja with any resemblance of a normal happy childhood and backstory. He has two loving parents who supported him, and was an aspiring inventor.

You could argue Fritz Donegan rectified it, but Jay didn't know this, so how would this affect how is childhood turned out?

At worst, he was dirt poor, living in a junkyard and all, but compared to what the rest of his team went through, I think they'd WANT what Jay had.

Nah, instead most of Jay's trauma and emotional baggage is in the present.

And who else do we have?

We have a robot who didn't even know he was a robot, or had any idea of his identity or memory, so much so that he was just... wandering around the land with amnesia. (Then, you know, everyone thought he was weird)

We have Cole, who grew up in a harsh family background where his dad forced/pressured his kid to be a musician, and canonically suffered depression and bad violence habits after the loss of his mother/during her illness. (Idk about those other Royal Blacksmiths if they are in the family or not, but either way they didn't seem supportive)

Kai and Nya's parents up and vanished from their lives at ages five and three, and they had to raise each other all by themselves with just a blacksmith shop. Basically means they were forced to end their childhoods right there, especially Kai, because older sibling. And there's no indication they had any friends or anyone to help them in their town, at most there was that one lady that they hated, so... ouch.

And... Lloyd.

Just Lloyd.

Half of the show is just Lloyd suffering.

Born as the son of a man forced into an evil oni maniac, said father ditched his entire family.

Mom decided it was a good idea to abandon her kid in a boarding school about villainy. (That's like, the ONE thing I genuinely think the movie did better than the show.)

And that school heavily bullied Lloyd and even exiled him, forcing him on the streets, basically

Everyone hates him and doesn't help him (until Pythor)

Gets tricked by Pythor

Gets kidnapped by Serphantine

Nearly dies in lava

Is given a destiny as the savior of all of Ninjago where he's forced to be on opposite sides of his father, and part of said destiny involves him needing to kill him

AGAINST HIS WILL MIND YOU

Was LITERALLY forced to give up his childhood for this destiny

Was tortured by the Overlord for his golden power

Ice Ninja died

He got his father back, and then he died.

Was possessed by an evil ghost tyrant and was forced to do horrible stuff with no control over himself

Was also physically strained to his limit with that possession

Lost his uncle

Fell in love, and then said crush turns out to be a twist villain who wants to TORTURE him, resurrect his father and steal that fatherly love from him, and have said father try to KILL HIM

Which he was very close to succeeding at

Has to live in hiding for a week thinking all his friends are dead

Twist villain crush dies in a building collapse

That traumatizes him and haunts his trust and empathy towards people for A LONG TIME

Gets cubed in a video game (idk if that counts as trauma)

He's also a dragon oni hybrid, and his oni hide haunts his mind for his entire life, and is terrified to even think of a part of himself

Merge. For weeks he thought all his friends were dead. (Again)

And you know, physical beatdowns from being the Green Ninja, one of the most responsible jobs as the savior of all of Ninjago.

And that is not even everything, I'm sure there's a lot of stuff I didn't mention.

This poor, poor Emo Child.

If this wasn't a Lego show, this would have a Clone Wars tone, I'm convinced.

So yeah, 'Family Issues: The cartoon'.

At least they all have each other. They're a happy found family, and the light in each other's lives. They're here for each other. Their dynamics are precious to me.

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

hello! really new fan (by really new I mean just finished books 1 and 2 new) that decided to hop on here for some lore and I am so endlessly confused :sob:

however, what I am most curious about is all of the different aus involving the legacyverse. stuff like the silent one jesse and whatnot. just curious if you could give a biref rundown on all of the main aus that you have for them, if possible.

Hello!! Welcome to the madness~

For 100% strictly lore that adheres to the Main Story itself, the Elemental Compendium tag is your best bet! Unfortunately the 'Info Tag' has since become my tag for ALL (or most) asks as opposed to directly relevant information itself, but that's the second place I would direct you to regardless.

But! If it's all the different AU's you're after, I can totally help you there!

Cracked!Legacyverse: The very first one, which is essentially an AU with @k1ngtok's OC Jamie + things with Olivia/Harumi not being quite as extreme as they are in the main story. Has a BUNCH of sidestories by myself, King, and others I can direct you to if you're interested in a slightly fluffier take on some S2/S3 events!

Royal!Legacy AU: The 'main' au with actual story to go along with it is what it says on the tin: royalty au! There's a lot of bigger worldbuild-y aspects to it with all the supporting characters to parallel the main story, but otherwise it's just a big fancy love story between Jesse and Cole for people who (like me) want to see them with a relationship without waiting for my agonizing main story slowburn jljhgfdghf

Mer!AU: Started with me spitballing some vibes I had at the time, turned into a WIP (with art!) that I still have yet to finish, but I keep on chipping away at (I WILL finish it. One Day). It's another Aftershock story though (I have one braincell)

Shark!Nya AU: Started as one of many What If asks from long ago that branched into its own thing -> but it's an AU where Nya as the Samurai joins the Shark Army with Olivia during Book 2 instead of trying to be a third party, and the subsequent falling out that would result all the way into S3. Also doubles as an AU where Plasmashipping (Jay/Kai) ends up canon, but that's neither here or there

Quiet!Jesse: An AU where Jesse goes to help Harumi right away at the end of Book 2 instead of prioritizing Miranda, leading to the death of his sister instead and him being the one injured in the elevator + him being the one to blame Lloyd for it and concocting revenge. (He also dies at the end, rip)

Into the Ninjaverse: Kind of a 'for fun' AU where selves from the Show, the Movie, and Legacyverse (potentially with other variants as well) meet each other and interact with shenanigans. Also doubles as an AU where Stormlightshipping (Jay/Sunni) winds up canon

Volleyball!Harumi: Not actually an 'AU' as I do plan to do something with the concept, but literally everything is the same except Harumi actually joins a non-evil volleyball team lmao. This also kind of goes hand-in-hand with another concept of Harumi writing Ninja/Shark Army fanfiction lmao

DR!Jesse/Dragons Rising-related Stuff: Not actuallyyyyyyy an AU, but it's technically notttttt canon to the mainverse eitherrr, so. Basically this encompasses how certain aspects of Legacyverse would (THEORHETICALLY) work within DR, alongside a (THEORHETICAL) story following how Jesse would deal with all these newfound changes to his life, on top of raising his kid as a single parent. Be mindful if you dive into that tag tho; there do be some spoilers (but those are tagged as well)!!

Next-Gen Jamboree + Alter!Verse: Essentially an AU of the prior AU when everyone's got (at least one) kid prior to The Merge, and the angst that comes with that falling out...except for Lloyd, who only gets a kid thanks to alternate universe shenanigans that rain upon him during his five years alone Post-Merge. It's different from simply "DR!Jesse", as there Jesse's kid is the only one present for DR!events (and thus that's a more """""canon""""" take on things), so anything with the other children is just for fun/speculation and to clear out the brain rot (though I am surprised it got as much traction as it did :d)

Andddd there's probably a bunch of other little-r ones I'm forgetting, but these have been the hot topics in my recent memory hgfhgfd

[bugstinytalks]

Ninjago Ship Thoughts

First and foremost I’m gonna tell you my head-canons for the ninjas sexualities since it’s probably gonna affect my thoughts on the ships.

Cole - Gay - the entire “dad I’m a ninja” is so fucking queercoded so that’s my reasoning.

Kai - Bi - this man primarily flirts with women but he gives strong bisexual energy and I stand by that.

Zane - Pan - I don’t feel like Zane has a strong enough grasp on gender for it to affect who he dates.

Jay - Omni - I feel like he has a preference for women but I feel in my soul that he’s at least had a crush on a guy before.

Nya - Bi - I don’t know if she’s ever had a crush on a girl but a girl has definitely had a crush on her and she would not be opposed to dating a girl.

Pixal - Pan - I feel like she has a better grasp of gender than Zane but gender doesn’t affect who she likes.

All other characters are up in the air for me. I lean towards seeing lloyd as aroace but I’m not certain. Anyway I’m with my thoughts. (These are in no particular order)

(Jaya) Jay/Nya - let’s start with a canon ship! I like how this relationship is portrayed in later seasons and they have some cute moments earlier in the series, but I definitely like there relationship post Nadakhan the best (I’ve butchered the genies name I know it) Jaya is sweet and I’m happy that Nya was given strong characterizations outside of her relationship with men overall I’d say this is a solid 8/10.

(Pixane) - Zane/Pixal - I love this ship so much, she has half his fucking heart and there both so great. Zane and Pixar are both fully independent who love each other and there so cute. I think one appeal of this ship for me is that I can see the both as romantic or platonic partners because they both mean so much to the other. Anyway love this ship 9.6/10

(Kailor) - Kai/Skylor - I love Skylor she’s super cool but this pair really only interacts once and awhile to briefly flirt before they just go there separate ways. Obviously both of them are busy so it makes sense that they don’t get a lot of time together. Kai definitely had a crush on Skylor and I think Skylor reciprocated those feelings. There cut and interesting but don’t have as much development as they need for me to be compelled to be invested. Solid 6.5/10.

(Llorumi) - Lloyd/Harumi - these two have a fascinating dynamic that I think is really fun to watch but I cannot see them as romantic partners. I know some people see them as siblings and I really don’t see them that way. And again there really interesting as a duo and while I want the pair to heal and improve there relationship I don’t really want them to date. Overall 5/10 cool duo don’t see them as romantic.

(Lloykita) - Lloyd/Akita - It’s pretty cute, I love Akita so I do hope we see her again. There relationship feels like a summer relationship they have this brief sweet period of time together and they leave on good terms unsure if they’ll ever meet again or if the other will still have feelings if they do meet again. I also really like the idea of these to being together in a queer platonic way. It’s really cute and I love both of the characters individually so it’s a pretty solid ship in my opinion. 8/10 it’s sweet.

(Conia) - Cole/Vania - it feels like a lesbian and a gay man being best friends. I love these two I think there great friends and could even see them being platonic partners but like I don’t see them doing more than that. Solid 5/10 cool pair don’t see it as romantic.

(Lava) - Cole/Kai - There so cool and I think this ship is really fun. I think that these two are both really great characters who mesh well I can totally see them dating and think it’s a really cute ship. These two are bonding over there weird ass family lives and crippling self doubt! These two are a cute pair 9/10

(Bruise) - Jay/Cole - these two are so silly and honestly this is a cute ship. I think Cole was definetley involved in Jays realization that he wasn’t straight. I think this is a cute ship but not one I have super strong feelings on 7/10

(Mudshock) - Jay/Cole/Nya - the best solution for a love triangle is polyamory. That said I wasn’t a big fan of the love triangle but in Ninjago since Cole didn’t actually seem interested in Nya, and Nya only was interested in Cole cause a matchmaking system said so. These three are definitely great friends who joke about the love triangle and hang out but I don’t know that it’s my favorite ship. 6.7/10 Cute but not great.

(Polyninja) - Jay/Cole/Kai/Zane - I think this is probably one of the greatest things I have ever seen. All of these characters are so close and care for each other so much. Together they can help each other grow and thrive. It’s really an awesome ship solid 10/10

There are lots of other ships I will talk about but I’m supposed to be doing my summer class final so I’ve gotta go try to be responsible. Anyway have a good day/night I love seeing comments so say hi if you’d like to :D

[your-local-uwu-artist]

update! finished season 4 time to start up season 5

I am glad to report that this season has brought peace to my inner 9 year old (who was upset about the treatment of snakes in season 1) further more just as I had gotten used to 'goodmadan' (thats what I dubbed him in my head) he is now gone :(

anyway: I am actually so proud of my wonderful son <3

I never updated my opinions on the cole-jay-nya thing. I actually ended up not minding it. the rivalry was very much a general rivalry not a love rivalry. I defintly got the vibe Cole just wanted to piss Jay off. which is good because if the writers actually tried to pull a heterosexual romance involving cole it would NOT have been believable. I also actually really liked the internal conflict it gave Nya.

I also LOVE LOVE L O V E D how they like: managed to adress Zane's death at the end of rebooted. the funeral scene was already a lot but I genuinely did not expect for it to have that much of an impact. I thought it would be a quick death fakeout you know? and then they go own to show the ways everyone is grieving and how that grief seperated the group and it's like 'wait this is actually sad as fuck wait what i might cry wait' XD

I think that one thing I posted about this show being really satisfactory as a viewer holds up a lot. I really appreciate how not only do we have these themes and full circles within a season but I also feel like the separation of the ninja at the beggining of the season called me all the way back to 'home'. (aside from being a super fucking relatable episode) I think that episode kinda like: really cemented the Ninja as a team. and my god LLOYD my son has grown sooo much <3 I feel like: so proud of him actually <333

Chen was a FUN villain. capital A Asshole, excellent theatrics. his design is FANTASTIC: the voice actor did a great job at bringing it all together. he was unhinged and evil and ethically fucked and morally even more fucked and an egotistical capitalist. he's MANIPULATIVE, manipulative as FUCK, honestly I think that's what made him a good villain, not his prowess, the way he fucking lives for the drama he causes. also I kind of got the impression that after being banished to the island he got a few screws loose. maybe that was just me but idk, I think it's the voice actors delivery of some lines and his evil laughter that gave me that vibe. like he's just not quite all there.

I think the stuff with the noodle factory prisoners was probably my favorite. I mentioned this but a while back I read a fanfic that had something comparable going on, but it was lot heavier in tone so in that fic the characters had to leave a lot of their fellow captives behind. I think the way how it was so 'all of us get out or none of us do' and that solidarity kinda like: was particularly nice to see with that fic on my mind, it healed the anguish left behind by that fic. also once again SO SATISFACTORY. when they finally executed their escape plan. dude I was fuckign cheering lets fucking gooooo

anyway I REALLY loved this season. also this is kinda silly but it's got me excited for when this one fanfic I am obsessed with tackles on this season. it's still on season 2 but I know the author has plans and I will gladly patiently reread this fic excessively while waiting for updates lmao

alrighty: time to go binge season 5: whenever I finish that I'll be sure to update you guys :3 Idk if anyone actually cares but talking to the void is fun anyway sooo

[royonninjago]

A Funny Idea I had for Hands of Time

I believe that many people in the Ninjago fandom share the opinion that season 8, The Hands of Time, is one of the worst seasons of Ninjago. Weird writing choices, bad animation (even by Ninjago standards), and the confusing time travel mechanics plague the season making re-watches difficult.

I don't plan on making my own rewrite of Ninjago or anything, but I had an idea that's been rattling around in my head for a while that I will now share with y'all.

We all know that Jay is the comic relief and resident nerd of the Ninja, but most of these jokes are more current grievances addressed in an over the top and exaggerated way, which can sometimes get old.

We also know that apart from the Day of the Departed special, we are right off the heels of Skybound, the season that (arguably and within the context of the show) changed Jay the most, but since technically none of it ever happened the only one aware of it is Nya.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this is the arc that involves time travel shenanigans that many sci-fi and fantasy feel compelled to write, making it almost obligatory for the genre.

Keeping all this in consideration, I think a really fun way to demonstrate how much he has grown since Skybound while still staying true to his character would to have him take lead of the Ninja in very specific counter-time shenanigan strategies that he developed based off of all the time travel stories he's read and watched.

The idea originally came from a realization while rewatching the season while still somewhat fresh off the heels of watching the anime "JoJo's Bizzare Adventure".

I highly recommend this anime and that you go into it as blind as possible, but if you don't care about spoilers then here you go.

The abilities of the Hands of Time and the abilities of JoJo's main villains from parts 3 to 6 line up shockingly well. There requires some tweaking to the abilities to make them fit, but it still works really well.

The Pause Blade and Dio Brando's Stand "The World" have the same ability to stop time.

The Rewind Blade and Yoshikage Kira's Stand "Killer Queen: Bites the Dust" have the ability to rewind time, although Bites the Dust can't use it on Kira.

The Forward Blade and Diavolo's Stand "King Crimson" can both skip ahead in time to avoid undesirable outcomes.

The Slow-Mo Blade and Enrico Pucci's Stand "Made in Heaven" both have the ability to control the speed at which time moves, however Made in Heaven uses it to speed up time for everyone else instead of slowing everyone down, but its used for the same effect.

I like to imagine that while the Ninja are heading out to meet Master Wu at the burned monastery, Jay is just thinking to himself "Wait, this can't be King Crimson, can it?" and when they finally get there and Jay realizes that it is King Crimson he uses the same strategy they use in JoJo. Because the skip is instantaneous and imperceptible to everyone, the only way to possibly defend against it is to physically measure the time. The easiest way to do this without relying on watches or clocks that can be easily broken is to cut yourself and count the drops of blood that fall on your hand. If the number suddenly increases, that means a skip has happened and that the enemy is probably in your blind spot. Obviously this is a kids show and they can't show blood, but the point of the strategy is to count falling droplets of a liquid.

Not only would this demonstrate Jay's newfound leadership skills to the rest of the Ninja while showing off more of his nerdy side, but it could also be easily used as comedy since now he has a good reason to be watching TV shows and reading comic books when he could be doing something more productive.

"No, Lloyd, I am doing something productive! I'm watching Back to the Future because we need to understand the potential ramifications of time travel!"

If you have any similar thoughts or opinions about something like this, please feel free to share because I love reading them!

(P.S. Can you tell that Jay is my favorite Ninja?)