#but more specifically the version of the overlord in my head because that dude still sucks in canon
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saline-coelacanth · 4 months ago
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Apologies but Oliver has infected my brain again and I wanna ramble and rotate him in my head
Oliver has existed for thousands of years due to him being the Overlord, but he believes that he was never truly living until the ninja found him in that forest.
The Golden Power gave him the chance for a new life, the chance to be something more than just the Dark Lord. The Overlord part of him regrets becoming the Golden Master because of the aftermath and what it turned him into (that being a naive child with amnesia and eventually a good guy) But the Oliver part of him thinks that becoming the Golden Master was ultimately the best thing that ever happened to him for the same reason his evil side hated it.
You know now that I think about it, if circumstances were different I could see Oliver and Garmadon getting along really well since they both have an evil side to them that they can't fully contain or control. Specifically if Sensei Garmadon ever got to meet Oliver, I could see them bonding a lot. But instead they're just sort of doomed to dislike each other I guess.
Ok that's enough Oliver ramblings for now. I will never not be obsessed with dissecting this guy, I love him a lot
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eyeofthewolfe · 8 years ago
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Evil Zane Chapter 9
The ninja ask an ally a life-changing question. 
Prologue and Chapters 1-5: here
Chapter 6: here
Chapter 7: here
Chapter 8: here
The Story of Echo Zane (an Interlude Chapter): here
Chapter 9
 As Echo Zane finished his story, he turned and faced out the window. The ninja team all glanced at each other unsettled while they all sat on the top floor. After discovering Echo Zane in the basement and the harsh blame he put on the team, they had regrouped on the top floor and Echo Zane told them his story. Jay and Nya were impacted the most, for they had really gotten to know him in the other timeline, but they did not know how Echo felt about his existence.
TAI-D, who was on the side waiting, rolled over to his metal friend and placed his small hand on his leg. Echo Zane looked down and smiled, then turned to the team. “If I may ask, why have you all returned?”
Jay stood from his spot from the table. “Zane, Nya and I lived a timeline that no longer exists. But during that timeline, we escaped here and met you. You also helped me rescue her when the lighthouse was attacked.”
Echo Zane nodded. Jay folded his hands awkwardly. “You helped us then, so we are wondering if you will help us again.”
Echo scanned the room. “Before I answer, I want to ask another question.” He said. “Absolutely,” Jay replied.
The robot turned to Jay. “Where is Father?”
Jay opened then closed his mouth awkwardly. He looked around at the team nervously before reluctantly answering. “Uh….” He started while scratching his head. “Your Father…he was really old….and he…he passed away a year or so ago.”
Echo Zane took a shaky step back. “F-Father….is..g-gone?” He cried out.
Sensei Wu stood from his seated position in the corner. “Echo Zane, he was frail when we found him here. Not long after the Final Battle, he passed away from old age.”
Zane looked down at the ground in a mix of shock and sadness. The team all sat in the grieving sadness.
Nya finally broke the silence as she stood and walked over to the robot. “Zane…I’m so sorry. If we had known you were here, we would have taken you with us.”
Zane looked up at the girl. “Thank you,” he said. “But if my memory serves me correct, wasn’t there another version of me?”
“Yes,” she answered. “He is also Zane, the original Zane. Julien built him first…but a very very long time ago.”
“Before me?” Zane asked.
“Yes,” Nya responded. “When Julien saw him, well, I’ve never seen a man happier. He was finally  reunited with his son.”
Echo looked away again, hurt. Nya noticed this and caught herself. “Well- I mean, I’m sure you meant something as well. He built you to keep him company but you are also a model of Zane as a....a….”
“A replacement.” Zane said sourly.
Nya nodded slowly.
Echo Zane glanced around the room again. “And what became of the…original….Zane?” The robot said with an unnatural darker tone.”
“Well, you see..” Jay started. “He was kind of corrupted by this really evil dude that turned him into an evil Zane that wants all of us dead.” Jay spoke really quickly and finished by awkwardly smiling at the robot.
“Oh,” Zane responded.
“What happened,” Nya cleared her throat. “Was that Zane’s motive chip was corrupted and rewritten. Instead of protecting people, he now wants to enact revenge on us.”
Zane’s hand floated in front of his chest instinctively. “His motive chip?” He said carefully, as if he was echoing something he’s heard before.
“Yes,” Lloyd finally spoke as he stood. Zane’s eyes glanced at the beaten and scraped green twin casts that covered the arms of the green ninja. “Which is why we are here. Zane, we need your motive chip to save Zane.”
Zane stared at the blonde ninja. “You want to take mine and give it to the other Zane?” he said, his voice cracking.
Lloyd nodded. “Please, Echo Zane. It’s the only way to save our friend.”
Echo placed his hand over his clock “heart.” After all these years, it was still lightly ticking with life, powered by Dr. Julien’s motive chip that was connected to the technically advanced power source.
“I…” Echo Zane stuttered. “Taking that out would….” He began to speak in an alarming tone. “Removing that would end me.”
“It would deactivate you?” Cole spoke up from the shadows.
“No, not deactivate.” Zane answered. “I would still be active, but with no purpose. I would be empty. Still. Purposeless.”
The others didn’t know how to react to it. Kai stuttered out his thoughts from the table. “What if we made a copy?”
Zane shook his head. “It was designed specifically to prevent that from happening. Father never shared his secrets of this so that Artificial Intelligence was contained. I thought I was the only one with it…until the other Zane appeared.”
“And now the other Zane needs it, or else he will destroy us and then Ninjago.” Lloyd carried on. “Please, Echo Zane. Do it for Zane.”
Echo flinched and looked away. Jay noticed this and was about to say something before someone else spoke.
“Do it for your Father.”
Shocked, the whole team turned to Cole. Even Echo looked up with a puzzled look. Cole stood and approached the rusted robot.
“Zane,” he said warmly, “I don’t know you. Well, I recognize that you and the Zane that I know are two different people, even though you are built to look the same. And it turns out, robots also develop personalities based off of life experiences. And right now, you must really hold a grudge against us and the world.”
Zane sadly looked at Cole’s suit. “I just wanted a chance with the world. To help others. To be…” Zane looked up with a face full of sorrow. “To be like Zane.”
Lloyd’s eyes widened and he looked down at the casts where Nelson’s name was scratched but still visible. With certainly, Lloyd looked at Zane. “I once told someone that being one of us isn’t easy because we deal with sacrifices and loss as well as battles and victory.  But to do good things, you just need to do what’s right and to help others.”
Echo cocked his head. “Sacrifices and loss?” He asked.
Jay nodded. “Zane sacrificed himself to save us all and Ninjago when he went beyond his power source limit and exploded, taking the Overlord with him.”
The team all nodded in response. Zane noticed all the sad looks on their faces. “Zane died to save you all? That is considered a heroic move?”
Nya sniffed. “It’s the most selfless move of all.” Nya whispered. Jay grabbed her hand.
Cole watched as Zane looked down at his chest. “Zane,” Cole whispered to the robot. The robot looked up. Cole felt his throat go dry as he said, “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
Cole felt all eyes on him after he said that. “Cole…” Nya gasped.
Zane stared back at the black ninja. “But what would become of the other Zane?”
Cole lifted his fists, and for the first time on command they began to glow orange. Zane’s eyes widened at the sight. “With these fists, I can break through anything. I would have to break Zane apart so he wouldn’t be able to hurt us or anyone else. Sadly, I can’t deactivate him because his body armor is shielding the button, so…”
Zane lifted his hand. “There will be none of that.”
The team all turned and looked at Echo Zane. Zane looked around at the team as he spoke. “My father might have built me as a replacement, but I am more than that. As you all are calling me, I am an echo. And the only way for me to truly become an echo is if I converge back to the original.”
“Besides, you are correct,” Zane motioned to Cole. “I may feel cheated by my older…brother… but I wouldn’t be doing this for him. I would be doing it for my Father.”
Cole smiled and his hands reverted back to normal.
“So for my Father and his love for his original son, I give you my consent to take my motive chip and to save Zane.” Zane turned and looked out the window across the gleaming sea. “It is something my Father would want me to do.”
Cole placed his hand back on Zane’s shoulder. “Thank you, Zane. We are deeply appreciative.”
Zane turned back to the team. “But before you take it and go, I have a few things that I want you to do.”
Lloyd raised an eyebrow. “And I have something to do as well.”
Zane smiled and turned to the team to give them his final wishes.
____________________________________________________ 
Nya carefully placed the glowing motive chip into a glass tube container to hold it in until they could get a hold of Zane. The team was gathered in the bridge as Misako steered the ship to lift-off.
Cole and Jay stood near the window as the ship lifted into the air.
With the sun at high noon, the lighthouse reflected the light and glowed above the waves and rocks. Cole and Jay had their eyes focused on the small window on the top floor as the ship rose and turned back to the mainland. Cole and Jay exchanged a sad glance before turning around.
Lloyd addressed the whole team. “Today Echo Zane made a choice to sacrifice his life force in order to save us and Ninjago. That action will not go unnoticed and will never be forgotten. Echo Zane will forever be a hero to us, and for Ninjago.”
“Here here,” Jay chimed in.
“But now we must focus our attention on finding and capturing Zane.” Lloyd continued.
“Which shouldn’t be hard.” Misako stepped in.
Lloyd paused, frozen in shock. “Well, I was going to say it was going to be hard, but apparently not. What’s up, mom?”
Misako pointed at the screen where a red distress signal was flickering above Ninjago City. “Ninjago City is under attack. I’m sure it’s Zane luring us into a trap.”
“But he doesn’t know that we have a cure!” Cole grinned.
“But Ninjago City is still under attack,” Lloyd added. “We still need to protect the people.” He turned to his mom. “How long until we arrive?”
Misako glances at a screen next to the wheel. “At our fastest speeds, about an hour.”
“That’s not fast enough!” Nya gasped. “Zane will get impatient and then he may start really hurting others.”
Kai grinned. “I know a faster route.” He waved his hand to the deck, and the others knew exactly what he was thinking of.
Cole turned to Sensei and Misako before he left. “Get there as fast as you can. We will do our best to hold down the fort.” Sensei nodded, and Cole followed the team as they dashed to the railing and jumped off.
Cole, feeling like hope has returned, jumped on the railing and did a triple-flip double corkscrew in the air before powering up his dragon. The six elemental ninjas emitted a cry mixed with hope and determination as they sped off to Ninjago City.
 ______________________________________________________
Screams echoed through the streets of Ninjago when the ninja circled the city from above. From their height, the ninja could see a few silver figures glinting in the sunlight as they created destruction.
“Zane’s allies!” Nya cried out. “We have to destroy them and get to Zane.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Kai grinned as he slid on his mask. Cole cracked his knuckles and pulled on his mask before dive-bombing toward a silver figure.
With an angry cry, Cole deactivated his dragon and landed on the back of a human-shaped robot that Cole was aiming for. Cole reached for places to tear, but the metal was smooth. The robot threw Cole off of his back and turned to face the ninja.
Cole saw the face and screamed.
 _________________________________________________
Nya landed softly on the ground behind a silver robot aiming what looked like a fire blaster towards a car. “Hey you!” she yelled. The robot turned to face her. Nya, shocked at what she saw, stepped back and fell down.
 ___________________________________________________
Jay with a battle cry shot himself towards a silver robot. Hearing Jay, the robot turned with a scowl. “No!” Jay suddenly screamed as he slammed into the robot. They flipped onto each other for a few feet until the robot grabbed Jay’s throat. “It can’t be-“ Jay gasped as he stared at the robot’s face.
 ___________________________________________________
Kai’s fist of fire died instantly when he stared at the face of the robot that turned to fight him.
 _____________________________________________________
Lloyd dodged the car that was thrown at him with an expert side step move mixed with a low twist in the air. When he recovered his balance, he clenched his teeth and looked up and saw a nightmare.
 ____________________________________________________
“Master of Earth identified.” The high pitched synthesized voice emitted from a titanium version of Cole’s best friend. Cole felt his jaw drop under his mask.
 __________________________________________________
“Master of Water identified.” Nya looked up at her brother, but it was him as a titanium robot. His spiked hair now seemed incredibly deadly.
 _____________________________________________________
“Master of Lightning identified.” The robot spoke as it glared at the ninja. “No…” Jay spoke brokenheartedly as he stared at his titanium girlfriend.
 _____________________________________________________
“Master of Fire identified.” Kai narrowed his eyes. “Titanium Green Ninja, also identified.” Kai spat back.
 ___________________________________________________
“Cole?” Lloyd gasped as the gleaming robot stood in front of him. “Master of Energy identified.” Titanium Cole spoke dryly. “Order of action: destroy.”
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kendrixtermina · 8 years ago
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Kenny Reacts to: Ramayana (& Hindu Mythology in General)
So, for those who don’t know, “Ramayana” is one of the big epics of Hindu Mythology, comparable to the Illiad or other legendary Kings such as David or Arthur, centering around Prince/King Ramchandr, one of the Avatars of Vishnu
My boyfriend (who happens to be Indian) introuced me to a TV show based on it, and I, being a mythology nerd, couldn’t resist...
Since a lot of people actually believe in this as a religion, first a disclaimer: I’m a complete atheist with no belief in the supernatural whatsover, but I’m a huge believer in the value of storytelling (and a writer - the more mythological references the better, at least if you’re aiming for as much of an ‘universal’ flavor as possible) and do hold that myth holds an important place in the human experience. I will be approaching this completely from a literature perspective. 
My boyfriend is not a believer either, though he used to be an actual Hindu growing up & still has it as a cultural background (I know myself that the stories you’re brought up on do influence you just by the archetypes and poetic shorthands they make available to you) - apparently he found it quite interesting to see me react to it & see it properly from start to finish. (though it has actually caused a resurgence in childhood song earworms)
So, with that out of the way, let’s get to the actual “review”
What did I watch
It’s a somewhat older show from the 80s or 90s so the special effects could have been better - but I say that only because with a concept like “Demons versus monkey people” and “battles with dark sorcery and vaguely described divine weapons” there is a lot of potential for creative visuals. 
In this implementation the style of costumes was more “historical” overall, but great care was taken nonetheless. 
Indeed, though childhood nostalgia filter my boyfriend likes this particular version because it was made by an 80 year old dude who dreamt all his life of making a TV show out of this story & worked hard to make everything ~just right~ - there have been never, fancier interpretations since but they tend to be more generic & plasticy in terms of the actual screenplay (my boyfriend, though biased by childhood exposure, says that “You don’t get the feeling that you’re looking at Ram, you’re looking at a supermodel”) whereas in this one, the director took great care to write all the songs & handpick the actors - 
Which, with those mythical, ‘archetypical’ characters is quite important, they have to have the right ‘aura’, ‘presence’ or ‘atmosphere’ around them to connect to the larger-than-life timeless ideas they’re intended to embody. They made sure to cast tall, wry dudes as the monkey people, had some really good acting, made sure supposed relatives actually look alike etc. 
This adaptation (at least insofar as I’ve watched it) seems to have gone with the “good ending”, that is, the version where the Prince & his wife live happily ever after returning to their home city (for a change, the original/older one... though it makes little sense to debate about the true version of a myth, it’s their very nature to be passed around & reinterpreted and for each listener & reteller to put their own spin on it) - there’s a second one that’s much more anal about social divisions, harder on the mysoginy and ends with him disowning her ass, though there’s some ring to the idea of the Princess returting to whence she came (mother Earth) in humiliation. It depends on what sort story you want though it doesn’t seem to fit with Ram’s characterization as the type who always looks to resolve things peacefully & reasonably & think before acting, & he may lose some of what makes him interesting if you take that away. 
Indeed the director saw the need to sanitize even the orginal “chastity test by fire” scene - more than I would have done even if I wanted the Prince to keep looking heroic, I suppose, a lot like how many Christians will explain away many inconsistencies in the bible (and pretty much everything in the book of Judges) because they need their headcanon to be consistent with what they associate with the deities. 
The Cosmology
One of the interesting parts about this particular ‘verse that got me more interested in it beyond my initial watching of that show is the rather complex makep of the world -
In most places religion has gone though certain discrete stages in accordance to the civilization that thought it up, with the various ideas (animism, polytheism, dualism, monotheistm etc.) all influecing each other subtly by the need to react to each other but in this case you had this evolution happening gradually without the previous being completely discarded.
So you have river spirits, sacret trees, elemental monsters, demons,  titan/jötnar like entities, your basic greek style deities,  a big head honcho lord of the universe, concepts of self-enlightenment and pantheist universal unity all coexisting in the same setting.
It’s basically a religion kitchen sink. (and I mean that in a good way, though I get why some may prefer the more ‘streamlined’ ideas of modern Christianity or Islam)
Impressions & Surprising things
Very interesting - because of my familiarity with mythic universals & certain shared cultural roots ( They even have their own wandering handsy thunder god! -  though he’s squarely in the middle of the cosmic hierarchy and seems to be the designated Worf Effect recipient) , I could count down all the tropes and see a lot comming but because of different cultural ideals there were many points where I REALLY didn’t know what was going to happen next
Also, it was a veritable soap opera and I did not expect the feels. The heroes were more adorable than I’d ever have thought. 
The level of “Honor Before Reason” and “Because Destiny Says so” is about comparable to the ancient greeks, but the “humble sinless all-loving hero come to earth for an ardurous mission” might remind one of Jesus, especially in the conception that “The Hero”, in the most archetypical sense, is to be not just badass but moral - though rather, Jesus resembles Ramayana because Ramayana came several centuries first; Just a sign IMHO that there myths come from the human mind and humans everywhere are more similar than different.
Funny thing is, since christian apologetics have this complex to prove how “special” their religion is (I mean it is unique in that no one has the exact same combination of traits but that’s true of every religion and the elements are universal), they spend a lot of time dismantling Islam (often with bonus racism) but usually completely dismiss Hinduism because “Well, they’re polytheists” when the two religions actually have a lot of ideas in common - indeed a lot of beievers will speak of the Hindu Trinity (or their favorite part thereof) or the Mother Godess much like the average dualist or monotheist would talk of their god, like, “O supreme being that dwells in all goodness” etc.
Unlike Jesus (who, despite his popular interpretation,  in the original bible had quite a temper) Rama’s patience & forgiveness is a bit less of an informed ability, though you do get the sense that this comes from a warrior culture as well as a very stratified society where living up to your given social role (including that of a wife) is everything - in a Western work Ram probably would’ve seized the city with the support of the citizens. XD
One could comment that Ram & his brothers are still royalty & that the focus is on that whereas Jesus deliberately took the shape of an ordinary dude, though Ram still gets to spend years as a hermit & Jesus is still convolutedly made to be descended from David - the Jesus myth being the way it is probably has more to do with the political circumstances of its origin (conquest by rome) than the nobler meanings ascribed to it later. 
Another, subtler/ less apparent aspect of the destiny trap thing is that if everyone has their fate, no one can be blamed all too badly. (Deathbed redemptions galore) Nonetheless, as the prover goes, “karma is a bitch” and these people invented it.
That said, tough still a simplistic story (that purtports there’s only one clear universal law everywhere and that the good guys always win - That’s an air castle if there ever was one, we need to work for that) I was actually surprised by the sophistication of morals & politics at times, it went into specific questions (hypocrite accusations, hypocratic oaths, how to charioteer, what a good king should be like etc. )
This is probably an artefact of being written from the PoV of royals & warriors, or just an indication of the great asian civilizations having existed so long & relatively unbroken compared to the many shifts in where things where going on in the nothwest. 
This is the first time in ANY mythical story that I’ve seen anyone raise the concern of preserving the innocent citizens of the enemy faction and how to stabilize the political situation afterwards (after dethroning the local evil overlord, they put in his turncoat brother who joined the good guys for damage control), something that I haven’t seen a SINGLE time in the Bible (and I’ve read the whole thing), though the heroes steer clear of the line to “simplistic stupid good” if you discount the “honor before reason” parts.
There’s 4 ways you can do ‘archetypical’ characters: Wholly & completely stick to the simple archetype, bring the archetype to full circle & detail while milking it for maximum symbolism, “not what they seem/contrast” and giving them depht without having them ever stop to be their archetype - it’s the latter that was done magnificiently here, especially in terms of 3Dimensional antagonists, they have enough redeeming qualities for it all to strike you as a tragic waste of life, but not enough to let go of their pride and avert the divine punishment. 
(The “wicked cultured” Dark Sorceror Evil Overlord being interesting is a given, but of all characters, the cocky big mouthed Demon Prince was the last one I expected to have hidden dephts)
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