#is her last name garmadon???

[itsaboutbee]

Misako: We all have our demons.

Misako, grabbing Garmadon: This one is mine.

[splinnters]

what can I say I have some takes. they may not be good ones but they do exist

[general-yasur]

And what if I just start tagging my Sora posts with Sora Garmadon? What then?

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

i really hope that after the devour died the fsm took her soul and cleansed it so she could rest in the grasslands and be there with him and wait for genesis to join them one day and maybe lloyd if he eventually goes there

It be like-

FSM: So. Have you been taking care of my dragon?

Lloyd: Have you been taking care of my snake????

. . .

But no I love this idea and am absorbing it into my psyche immediately

Just imagine the reunion ;w;)/

[ninjakitten1699]

I realized I had not even posted this!

@dinogaby I don’t know if you’re active here often but here’s some GarmaKoko AUs. There’s dragon Garm getting a kiss from Koko — a homage to the 2015 “He’s a Dragon” aka “Он – дракон”/ “On – drakón” film. 100/10 would recommend for monster/dragon lovers. You can find it here on YouTube.

There’s Werewolf Garm with Monster Hunter Koko, that “me. You’re doing me.” scene from that video and some of my favorite tropes like back-to-back and size difference.

And then there’s me in the upper left corner. Don’t mind me there.

[2cats1trenchcoat]

Hello? Vinny of NGTV news? It is I, Lord Garmadon!

And

Hello? Lloyd of the ninja? It is I, Sora Garmadon!

Chat, you seeing this?

[agenericplaceholdername]

Why Nya and Jay Can Remember Skybound

By the time Jay makes his final wish in Skybound, the realm crystal and Zane’s falcon have been destroyed, PIXAL has been deleted, Lloyd is an old man, large chunks of land have been ripped out of the ground and are poised to fall back onto Ninjago, and Nya is dead. Those last two parts are most important for Jay, the only character with a wish remaining (if you ignore all the Ninja replacements, who never made wishes and conveniently left after the real Ninja returned). Thus, Jay makes his final wish: “I wish you had taken my hand, and no one ever found that teapot in the first place.”

After Jay makes his wish, time is reversed and the Ninja return to where they were in the first episode of the season. The paparazzi is about to find the Ninja and all of them but Nya use airjitzu to hide from the helicopters. Jay asks Nya to take his hand, which she originally rejected, on the basis that, “I can stick up for myself” and “I'm a ninja, and I'm nobody's girl.” However, after Jay’s final wish, Nya uses airjitzu, which she learned over the course of Skybound, and takes Jay’s hand.

While they remember the events of the season: 

“I remember! I remember it all!” – Nya, The Way Back

“Me too!” – Jay, The Way Back

They don’t care how they do:

“But how?” – Jay, The Way Back

“Who cares.” – Nya, The Way Back

I, on the other hand, do care, and that’s what this post will explain. The other Ninja experience some deja vu, but aside from a subtle reference to Skybound in season 8 and a mural depicting the events of the season, indicating that Master Wu (or at least the painters of the monastery) was told, only Jay and Nya actually remember what happened.* Functionally, Skybound is an alternate timeline that never occurred.

This is not the first time Ninjago has dealt with alternate timelines! In Season 2, the Ninja time travel to the past and create an alternate timeline where Nya is kidnapped later on by the Ninja disguised as skeletons, Lord Garmadon from the future fights Kai at the fire temple, and the Ninja use the golden weapons to send the Mega Weapon into space. This timeline is erased when the Mega Weapon is destroyed, with series creator Tommy Andreasen confirming that the only change that the alternate timeline left is that the Mega Weapon ended up in space – the pilots still happened as depicted in 2011. At the end of the episode, the original four ninja remember the events of the episode, along with Garmadon, Nya, and Wu, but not Lloyd, who was not present. Wrong Place, Wrong Time’s time travel is extremely confusing, largely because Lloyd doesn’t just not remember the time travel but also doesn’t remember the Mega Weapon at all.

If the logic of Wrong Place, Wrong Time holds, then only those present for Jay’s last wish should remember it.** That means Jay and Nadakhan, obviously, but also the rest of the Ninja, but crucially, not Nya, since she was dead at the time. Now, perhaps the rest of the Ninja don’t remember, since the wish was between just Jay and Nadakhan, but that still doesn’t explain why Nya remembers Skybound.

Now, perhaps you could explain Nya’s memory as Jay’s wish was about her – Jay wanted Nya to take his hand. And this would work, except that Jay’s wish was also about Clouse. While he’s not named directly, Nadakhan ensures Clouse never finds the Teapot of Tyrahn in the first place.*** Now, if Clouse had remembered Skybound since the wish was about him, then it would have been very straightforward – Clouse would remember that Nadakhan tricked him into wishing it all away and stopped searching for the teapot. Clouse is instead chased off by angry citizens of the Village of Stiix while still searching for the teapot. You could argue that Clouse remembered Skybound but was arrogant enough to keep searching, but there’s zero evidence of this, so while this theory isn’t necessarily wrong, I think there’s another, better explanation that covers why Nya remembers Skybound but Clouse didn’t (Clouse also never mentions this in the Dark Island Trilogy).

The most logical explanation why Nya remembers Skybound is, based on the rules of wishes established in Skybound, love. And no, I’m not talking about how Jay “wished from the heart” so Nya ended up remembering Skybound.**** I find it hard to believe that Jay’s true, heartfelt intention was to make sure that he and Nya remembered events that never occurred. Instead, let’s look at what Jay wanted. He wanted Nya to take his hand and Clouse to not find the teapot. The second half is easy, since Nadakhan is more than capable of altering the actions of others with his wishes – after Jay’s first wish, the mailman comes out of nowhere, and so does Nya after Jay’s second wish.

Theoretically, Nadakhan could override Nya’s free will and have her take Jay’s hand – except for two problems. First, on a metatextual level, this would run totally counter to Nya’s entire message in Skybound, as muddled as it is. Having Nya take Jay’s hand because of a wish would not only undermine the entire point of Jay’s growth over the season (Jay goes from saying “Maybe a wish is what it takes! Maybe this is how she falls for me” in Public Enemy Number One to asking Nya, “Well, what do you want?” in The Last Resort) but also utterly obliterate Nya’s agency, the exact thing she spent the season fighting for. Now, can Ninjago have totally contradictory messages? Of course! Skybound is a case study in mixed messaging on this very issue! But there’s a second, in-universe reason why Nadakhan can’t make Nya take Jay’s hand, and it’s not for the reason that Tommy Andreasen gives, which is that Nya is dead, and Nadakhan can’t control the dead. Nadakhan is more than capable of making dead people do things, since he literally brings Delara back to life earlier on, and he is capable of doing multiple things in one wish, by making Lloyd both older and wiser.

The reason is that you can’t wish for love! This is one of the first things Nadakhan says (“You can’t wish for love, death, or more wishes” – Nadakhan, Infamous). Nya makes it very clear that the reason she won't take Jay's hand is because she doesn’t, or refuses to, love Jay at the start of Skybound. Having her take Jay’s hand because of a wish would mean he wished for love.

However, right before Nya dies, after the whole plot of Skybound has happened, Nya does love Jay, so Nadakhan is not magically making Nya fall in love. Instead, Nya takes Jay’s hand of her own agency, but this can only happen because Nadakhan ensures that Nya remembers the events of Skybound, so that the love that was created naturally, not as a result of wishes, does not go away, and he fulfills Jay’s wish.

Thus, Jay remembers Skybound because he made the wish, Nya remembers Skybound because she needs to to love Jay to take his hand, and Clouse, the other Ninja, and the rest of Ninjago don’t remember it because it never happened.

——————————————————————————————————

*And technically Zane if you include Ninjago: Decoded

**The same time travel logic sort of holds in Lost in Time, where the Ninja in the present are aware of the changing timeline after having been present for the Iron Doom's time travel. That being said, they are also still affected by the changes in the past (Zane reverts to his pre-rebuilt state when Ninjago's advanced technology is undone).

***It would have been very easy to twist that wish into no one having ever found the teapot, that is, Captain Soto would never have found the teapot, but whatever.

****I think it’s possible that Nadakhan didn’t twist Jay’s wish because it was from the heart, but that’s totally unrelated and not based on any actual evidence. The Ninjago wiki seems to think this: "Nadakhan, being hit with the venom and with Jay’s wish being pure, has no choice but to grant it" [emphasis mine].

[zetsubobu]

friendly reminder that montgomery is lloyd's surname, not middle name

it's misako's name because her name is also misako montgomery garmadon

garmadon doesn't have a last name and neither does wu (I mean they're related to god, I doubt they need one)

[justtwotired]

Whispers of the night-Lloyd Garmadon x F!reader

Hi, this will become a new series, I’ve never done a series on Tumbler, only Wattpad and AO3, but I’ll probably add some of those series on her aswell, not the long ones, though.

I’ll add this series to both those platforms somewhere this month, but I’ll probably change the name cuz I don’t like this one that much.

Summary: y/n is your typical rebelling teen, sneaking out, ignoring her parent requests, stealing snacks from shops, skipping school. People who are like her, people with powers, normally do good, like the ninja, she likes to live a quite, but not so quite life.

Like that, she ignores the power she holds, she holds the power of illusion, she does not keep it a secret form her friends, though doesn’t like to talk about it much with people outside her friend group.

Her power isn’t unknown, so, of course, she did get an invitation to the tournament of elements, but she never attended, having promised herself she would live a quite, normal, teenager life.

That changes when a certain green ninja enters her life.

“Yes! Perfect, Millie!” Y/n clapped as the friend group cheered. The eight of them spent most of their free time in the skate park in Ninjago city.

It only had a pole, bank, pit and a halfpipe (which they where currently sitting on) but it would do, if they needed more like a stair railing, they’d go to other parts of the city.

Amelia landed on Y/n’s right side with a cocky smirk. Next to her sat Anthony while Luna stood behind them.

It was a sunny Wednesday, one of the last sunny days they where expecting, as it was late September.

“Alright, now copy that.” Amelia patted Y/n on the back and the girl got up, “I’ll destroy you, Cooper.” She said with slightly narrowed eyes and a smirk.

She picked up her skateboard, the bottom decorated with small doodles she made herself, but also some made by her friends, names included.

“Want me to film you?” Flora called from the other side of the halfpipe. “Sure!” Y/n called back, getting into position.

When she got the thumbs up from Flora, she shifted her weight and took off, getting cheered on by the others while Amelia jokingly yelled “boo!”

The six Ninja had the afternoon for themselves, having trained in the morning and decided on spending some time in the local park.

They walked past the skatepark and Lloyd looked over to see what the people there where up to. There was a girl with h/c hair soaring on her skateboard while being cheered on.

She was really beautiful.

“What ya looking at?” Kai looked at the direction Lloyd was looking at and smirked. “Watching the pretty skate girls?” He teased making Lloyds cheeks slightly heat up before protesting, making the others laugh.

“Good enough for you?” Y/n cocked a brow at Amelia who grinned. “More then enough.” She said. Flora, Arthur and Charlie, who had been on the other side, climbed onto their side.

“Who’s getting drinks?” Y/n heard Charlie ask, she had registered what he said to late, and when she looked up, everyone had a finger on their nose.

“Fine,” she grumbled, making the others chuckle. She wrote down what everyone wanted and waved before heading to the food and drink stall not far away.

When she arrived there she smiled at the boy with blonde hair that stood there, seeming to wait for his order.

He smiled back and she heard chuckling behind them. He turned around and shot his friends who stood not far away a glare.

“Good afternoon, how may I help you?” The teenager behind the register asked and Y/n smiled kindly.

“Hello,” she greeted. “Could I please have two cokes, a strawberry shake, one lemonade, one ice-tea, two passion fruit shakes and a ginger beer?” She asked and the girl nodded with a polite smile.

“Was that all?” She questioned. “Yes, that was it.” She answered and pulled out her card. “That would be eighteen fourth five,”

Y/n payed for the drinks and waited next to the boy who was tapping his foot on the ground a bit impatiently.

She couldn’t help but notice how cute he was. Blonde hair that was shining in the sun, light freckles on his face, bright green eyes and she couldn’t help but see he worked out daily.

Feeling he stare, he looked at her and smiled kindly, making her quickly look the other way.

He was then handed his drinks, and walked of after giving her a polite nod.

When she received her drinks aswel, she walked back to her friends who excitedly ran over and all took their own drinks.

Lloyd handed everyone their drinks and they smirked at him. “What?” He asked, taking his own drink in his hands.

“She was totally checking you out man!” Cole said, pushing Lloyds shoulder slightly, and if it wouldn’t have been for his own super strength, he would’ve fallen over.

“Who was?” He asked confused, making the others exchange baffled glances. “That pretty skater girl, obviously.” Kai rolled his eyes.

“No she was not!” Lloyd pointed out and Nya sighed. “Lloyd, I think it’s time we get your eyes checked.” She said disappointedly, making the others laugh.

“But come on dude, you can’t tell me she isn’t pretty, right?” Kai poked Lloyds arm making the green ninja chuckle. “She is, really pretty indeed.” He admitted.

The group had decided to make their way to James’ house as he had a huge backyard. Still sipping on their drinks, they walked to the entrance to the park.

Well, except for Luna, who was standing on her skateboard while holding onto Arthur, casually looking at her phone while being pulled forwards.

“Hey, is that the guy from the stand?” Amelia suddenly pointed to a group of friends who where standing in the shadow of a tree.

Amongst them indeed the boy Y/n had stood next to and mentioned to her friends.

Embarrassed, she quickly pulled her friends arm down as three of the boys looked their way, Amelia being rather loud.

“Millie!” Y/n hissed making her friends laugh.

“Hey, wait!” They turned to someone approaching them. “Hello?” Anthony raised an eyebrow at the guy standing in front of them.

“Hi,” he pointed his attention to Y/n, “I’m Kai and my friend over there,” he pointed at the blonde boy from earlier who looked mortified. “He thinks you’re really pretty and wants your number.” He said and Y/n gave an amused smirk while Flora and Amelia giggled.

Y/n tilted her head to the side to look at the blond boy who seemed to be scolding one of his friends with black hair.

“Sure, why not?” She smiled and looked over at Charles.

“Charlie, can I have the sticky notes and a pen?” She asked and he smirked and handed them over.

She wrote her number down and her name right under it. “Here, give that to your handsome friend.” She winked as she gave it before Kai thanked her and took off again.

“Damn N/n, you just got yourself boyfriend.” Luna teased with a smirk making Y/n give her a look. “It’s just a number, Lu.” She said, making her friends protest.

“Why did you have to dare him to do that?” Lloyd pointed an accusing finger at Cole who could only laugh.

Kai had jogged back over and everyone looked at him expecting and he gave Lloyd the sticky note with her name and number.

“Y/n, huh?” He read with a small smirk, having not expected to actually get her number.

“Mhm, and, her words where ‘give that to your handsome friend’ so I think you just got yourself a maybe girlfriend.” Kai said and Lloyd knew at that moment he was in for a lot of teasing for the rest of the day.

“I’m home!” Y/n closed the door behind her and walked into her house. It was almost 10 so she was surprised to see her little brother still on the couch.

She walked past and pushed the hood of his hoody over his head and he let out an angry yelp.

“Mooomm, Y/n’s bullying me!” He called out and their mother poked her head out of the kitchen. “Y/n?” She gave her eldest daughter a look making her smirk.

“Why’s he still up?” She entered the kitchen, taking an apple out of the fruit basket. “He’s free from school tomorrow so I allowed him to stay up late tonight.” Her mother said, rolling out dough to make cookies while Y/n took a bite of her apple.

“He’s literally six,” she swallowed her apple. “You didn’t allow me to stay up this late when I was that age.” She said

“Well this is different… kind of, but it’s just one time, I hope it won’t get to his head.” Her mother shook her head making Y/n chuckle.

“If it does it’s a you problem,” she threw the remains of her apple away and snatched her phone form the table.

“I’m heading out around 12, Charlie, Luna, Millie and I are going for a movie and then we’ll see what we’re going to do,” she looked at her phone.

“Hold up young lady, while that sounds fun, there has been a lot going on around the city again, I don’t want you going out at night.” He mother said making her groan.

“Come on mom, nothings going to happen, the ninja and police can handle it, it’s not that big of a threat anyway.” She waved it off. “Y/n!” Her mother said sternly and she groaned.

“Fine.” She left the kitchen and headed up the stairs with a scowl.

The ding of her phone made her look back at her screen.

Unknown number huh?

???

Hi, I wanted to apologise for my friends earlier today.

It’s me from the park btw.

You

Oh hi!

No that’s completely fine, I thought it was pretty funny.

Thanks for the complement btw ;)

???

Always happy to complement pretty girls :)

She couldn’t help but blush before quickly composing herself and sending a text back.

You

Always happy to receive complements from handsome guys.

Who I don’t know the name of btw

What’s your name?😅

???

Lmao, it’s Lloyd, and I supposed yours is Y/n?

You

That would be me!

The two texted for a while, and when she looked at the time she couldn’t believe an hour had already passed.

You

Oh damn, I really need to go, but I’d like to hang out some time

Lloyd

Timing, I need to go to, actually.

Sounds fun btw, text me a date and time, I’ll be there ;)

She chuckled and changed her chat.

The abusment park

LuLu✨

We still up for the movies?

Jamie

Nope

Lulu✨

Piss off Jamie, you weren’t coming in the first place

Jamie

Oh😪

Arty😈

#stopJamesabuse

You

Sooo…

King Charles👑

Y/n😤

You

I am so sorry, my mother is being a pain :(

LuLu✨

Just sneak out

Problem solved

Mills🩷

Y/n you better sneak out or I’ll sneak in and drag you out.

You

Damn ya don’t need to threaten me.

My mom just laid down, I suppose I could sneak out in ten

King Charles👑

See you there then

You better show up🫵🏻

You

🫡

After ten minutes, Y/n could hear her mother softly snoring in her room and she could still hear the tv downstairs, hoping that was enough distraction for her snitching little brother.

She opened her window softly and sat on the window sill. She took en deep breath and jumped down, landing on the grass in their front yard.

She grabbed the broom that stood agains the wall of the house and used it to push her window closed.

That’ll do.

The abusement park

You

Be there in twenty

King Charles👑

You better be

LuLu✨

We will come for you👹

Y/n chuckled and grabbed her skateboard before making her way to the city centrum.

She put in her headphones and blasted music, making the noice of her surroundings disappear into the background.

At arrival, she smirks at her friends who get up at the sight of her.

“N/n!” Amelia cheers as she pulls her into an excited hug. “So Lu just checked on her phone, and there are four seats free in some sort of horror movie, so if we sneak in, we can watch it no problem.” She explains.

“Sure yeah, I can fix that.” Y/n grins, and with a snap of her fingers, they disappeared to the crowds eye.

“Holy shit what happened?” Charlie says panicked. “Illusions Charlie!” Luna hit his shoulder. “Oh, right.”

After four years, Charlie still can’t get used to Y/n having these powers, so whenever she uses them, he believes in the illusion making him see them.

If one does belief the illusion is really there and not an illusion, they just see what Y/n wants them to see, but if they realise what she’s doing, the illusion disappears for their eyes.

“Let’s go then, and uh, stay silent.” She says and her friends follow her, making sure to not walk into someone.

They got into the theater easily, it was still quite empty so when they sat, y/n could change them back and they snickered.

When the movie ended, they snuck out again.

“I can’t believe you actually got scared!” Y/n and Luna where laughing while Amelia cursed at them. She had screamed multiple times. Charlie just followed them with an amused grin.

[hawkflame999]

Ninjago Au/Concept About the Dragons.

What if, when she first came to be, Firstborne had no names for the things she had power over......

What if, the first little dragons she had were just four, quadruplets hatched at the same exact time.

One had her Fire Power, One had her Lightning Power, one had her Earth Power, and one had her Ice power. Though she had no name for these Elements.

Firstborne would have named the four when they were born, But the dragon cubs wanted to name themselves.

One called himself Fire. One named herself Earth. One called himself Lightning, and the last named herself Ice.

Firstborne decided that she would name the Elements she controlled after her first born four- Lightning, Ice, Fire and Earth.

And after that, the next Dragons either had one of those Elements, but sometimes they'd have a new element, and that dragon's name would be the name of that Element.

These dragons would name themselves, since the other Dragons decided that they had the right to name the elements they controlled.

(i mean, it makes sense that there would be dragons for each element)

That would make more sense, right? i mean,

'Long Before Time Had A Name'..........

What if the first dragon to have the element of Time took a while to be born, and to name themself?

What if they were born after FSM? After Wu and Garmadon? (since those two seem to have known the days Before Time Had A Name.)

Then the 'Long Before Time Had A Name' would be a little easier to understand.

Just an idea.

[squib-2006]

I have an idea

An au where Kai never shows up to the chens noodle house meeting cuz he was mad at what Lloyd said and instead ends up going deeper into ninjagos crime scene.

* Kai gets pissed at Lloyd callling him selfish and ends up getting really drunk and misses the meeting with Lloyd jay and Cole

* On his way back he accidentally falls into one of the canals and almost drowns. He manages to get out but a passer by recognizes him and saw him fall in but didn’t see him come back up

* Kai gets back to where ever he’s staying and promptly passes out for like three days

* The person that saw him fall in calls the cops and they assume Kai drowned and begin searching for his body

* Lloyd and the others at this point are already at chen’s island.

* Nya gets a call from the police about Kai and she like them assumes he drowned.

* She begins looking for Lloyd and the others to tell them that Kai’s gone then gets wrapped up in all the Chen stuff

* Kai wakes up to find that he’s on the news for being dead

* He decides to take advantage of this and decides to just go by shogun now

* He also decides to “pretend” to be female cuz he’s to recognizable no ther reason totalyyyy (yes this is a transfem Kai au cuz I do what I want)

* Meanwhile with the ninja when they catch up with Nya they learn that Kai’s dead and are very upset about it

* Chen also fails in his plans because he doesn’t have all the elements and when he try’s to use the spell the staff explodes killing him & clouce

* Skylor is arrested and put into kryptarium for working with her dad (this is very important I promise)

* Lloyd feels really bad about Kai because the last time they spoke he said really mean stuff and he wonders if Kai fell in somehow related to that.

* Meanwhile Kai begins making connections in the crime sphere in ninjago. She wears a disguise (a mask, dress large jacket and other clothing to hide her identity) and grows a reputation for herself

* She eventually starts to notice how shitty life is for lower class citizens of ninjago city and how the criminals and the upper class take advantage of that.

* She starts helping these people (mainly orphans) and creates a safe haven for them where all of them can live safely under her protection.

* She amasses a following for the people she helped + some criminals who have kinda changed their ways and they become a pretty big gang in ninjago city (I don’t have a name for this yet)

* With the ninja morro happens but garmadon takes the place of Kai in it cuz he never got banished (just imagine morro got let out by clouse on accident cuz he still attempted to banish garm but failed) and everything is basically the same up until they confront ronin

* Back with Kai a few months before Lloyd gets possessed she ran into a girl on the street named Natalie. Natalie claims to be an orphan and Kai does what she normally does when she finds a poor starving orphan on the street, she scoops her up and brings her back to her shelter (I don’t have a name for this yet either)

* Turns out Natalie is actually ronins daughter. She used to live with her parents in Styx (ronin was still doing ronin stuff so he was constantly gone all the time and she mainly lived with her mom) until one day ronin refused to pay soul archer his debt and souls archer went after his family. Nat’s mom ends up sacrificing her self to protect nat and nat runs away after. She ends up in ninjago city all alone.

* Kai after learning this decides to go and have a chat with ronin (because no one hurts her kids the people under her protection) and she runs into the ninja + garm when she goes to confront ronin (it’s when the ninja try and steal the scroll much to garms dismay because he’s still trying to be good)

* She panics but is slightly relieved when non of the ninja recognizes her (definitely helps that she’s wearing a mask and feminine clothes) ronin does tho due to his connections and questions her on why she’s here

* She doesn’t speak and just attacks him (she’s too worried the ninja will recognize her voice and she thinks that they won’t agree with what she’s doing and will be mad at her)

* So chaos ensues and Kai ends up leaving once she realizes Lloyd’s been possessed by a ghost and decides to dip to not interfere with the ninja’s mission anymore

* The season goes on as planned but the ninja now know who “shogun” is thanks to ronin. Lloyds a bit suspicious because of Kai’s red shogun name but guesses that maybe she was inspired by Kai or it’s just a coincidence.

* When Kai gets back she learns that some of her group members got arrested while trying to stop a fight between two other groups and decides to brake them out of kryptarium

* Cue skylors entrance

* Skylor manages to try and escape in the chaos of Kai’s brake in and almost escapes but is cornered by some guards

* Kai who’s crawling through the vents to get out while her group members have already escaped stops when she sees skylor getting cornered. Cue the love at first sight thing and she decides to help Skylor escape cuz she’s so pretty

* Skylor accepts Kai’s help and they escape and Kai brings her to her shelter

* Skylor has had a lot of time to reflect on her self during her imprisonment and is now glad her dad died cuz she really hated being evil

* Kai and Skylor grow closer together as Skylor joins the group and eventually Kai confesses her true identity cuz she trusts Skylor

* Skylor is confused at first because the ninja put her in prison and evreything but is ok with it because of how different Kai is

* Skylor is transfem in this au too! She she helps Kai realize that she’s not pretending to be a girl and helps her except herself

* They eventually form a romantic bond and skylor takes up a new persona to work under (I don’t have a name for it yet) to match Kai’s shogun persona

That’s all I have for now but this was all rattling around in my brain and I had to write it down

Other important stuffs

* Kai’s more morally grey in this au

* She kinda becomes similar to Jason Todd in the way she acts with her shogun persona

* She basically unofficially adopts all the orphan kids she lets stay in her shelter they all call her big sis sho

* In her group she has her close lieutenants (all ocs that I’m still thinking about names for) including skylor as her right hand woman

* She is a wanted criminal because she has broken some laws

* She doesn’t really use her powers or spinjitzu unless it’s really dire circumstances cuz it could be trailed back to her life as a ninja

* She’s kinda scared of seeing her the ninja again because she feels like she’s betrayed everything they stand for by being morally grey and doing borderline bad things

Feel free to ask me questions about this au (might help me come up with more ideas for it)

[cnwolf-brainrot]

Ok adding on more to my ideas for a Kai-centric live action Ninjago because I have more thoughts, so here's some things that I would like to see in relation to the base plot:

As mentioned in my last post, this would be early-Ninjago based, mostly just adapting season one and the pilots. However, we're thinking about this as a two-hour movie, so it isn't going to have the time that a full season would. I'm also thinking about this as part of a duology because there is no way that (provided the first movie doesn't COMPLETELY suck) Lego won't do a sequel to capitalize on the new medium and marketability

With that being said, I would ignore the serpentine for this first live action film. The villains would be Garmadon and the skeleton army, led by Samukai (underrated villain in my books). This could also save us from some terrible CGI snakes; I think the skeleton army would translate better to live action than the serpentine would

Like I mentioned in my last post, the baseline plot would be the ninja collecting the Golden Weapons. It's a very rushed plot line in the show since it happens in the pilots, which means there's a lot of room to explore and develop it without being too much of a direct comparison to how it's done in the show. In addition, it gives a great chance to give each of the ninja their own focus, unlike the Lego Ninjago Movie which really only gives character development to Lloyd.

I'm going back and forth with this, but as of now I'm thinking that Nya does get kidnapped by the skeleton army like she does in the original pilots. However, instead of her playing the damsel in distress role like she is in the pilots, she gets more of her season one characterization and gets to go on her own subplot of breaking out of imprisonment and she's the first one to meet Lloyd

So like halfway through the movie the ninja are on their way to one of the Golden Weapons that Garmadon is about to grab and they basically run right past Nya, who's running away from a skeleton hoard that she'd managed to singlehandedly escape with a new little brother in tow.

Throughout the movie the characters are told that they have elemental powers inside of them that can be channeled by their weapons, not controlled by them. As each ninja gets their weapon they unlock their powers, and all the ninja kind of use their powers through their weapons... until the climax scene, where Kai is the first one to use his element without having to touch the sword (kind of doing the "true potential" moment without calling it that)

It would actually be kind of cool if the weapons weren't named after their elements in this version and the ninja don't find out what their element is until they get to use it for the first time. Like they go after the Golden Scythe and none of them have any clue what it'll do until Cole grabs it and then can suddenly make earthquakes. Like, theoretically if Jay had been the one to grab the Scythe, then it would have channeled his lightning and been a Scythe of Lightning... could also lead to a lot of foreshadowing about other elemental masters existing, since I don't think they had initially planned that with the first two seasons and it always made it a little weird to me that the Special Golden Weapons Of All Creation TM were tied specifically to these four random dudes. The Golden Weapons channel any element, the ninja just all have their preference of which one they use lol

we should drop some foreshadowing about the Megaweapon too, I think that would be great material for a second movie if we make collecting the Golden Weapons a big part of the first one

Having the Golden Weapon Quest TM as the central plot for the movie is also great because it gives the villain a reason to be doing something too. I'm scared of the live action movie that gets released having a one-dimensional Garmadon who just... is evil... and does evil... No. Here, he actually had a reason to be doing his evil things; he wants to remake Ninjago in his own image, and he needs the Golden Weapons to do so. Thus, collection competition.

OH and speaking of motivation, that's why I think I'd like Nya to be kidnapped in this still. It gives Kai a good reason to look at the old guy who showed up on his doorstep and said "hey want to join my super special fight club?" and say "ABSOLUTELY YES". I would love for this movie to give us a good older brother Kai to both Nya and Lloyd, so this would be a great foundational motivation to get him going along with the Plot

[pink-ninja]

I'm on a Ninjago ranting spree lately and really hot take but Koko isn't really too much better of a mother than Misako was and I'm tired of pretending she was

(not proofread btw, I wrote this in the middle of the night so there may be some grammatical mistakes)

So many people hate on Misako for abandoning Lloyd at darkleys and like yeah deserved. Koko is NOT that much better of a mother and I had a whole rant about this with my friend a few weeks ago.

So first of all let's start with the beginning of the movie, Lloyd wants to skip school, stay at home, not feel miserable on his birthday. And Koko tells him those are the best years of his life etc. and knowing Lloyds character he probably does keep it a secret of just how badly he's being treated but as Garmadon said "Look who's the absentee parent now" Koko had to have known to some extent Lloyd wasn't being treated well, she told him he just has to let people see the real him, when he comes home late and Koko is calling someone they ask her if he's turned evil and joined his father etc. Garmadon said she wantsd a normal life for Lloyd. Yet she also kept the last name Garmadon for Lloyd. She told garmadon she always told Lloyd he shouldn't be ashamed of who his father is, when his father was basically a terrorist, "boo Lloyd" became a top hit, people played in on the radio, Koko HAD to have heard it at least once. The real question is if she wanted a normal life for Lloyd why not give him her maiden name instead of Garmadon's name, she could've told Lloyd who his father is when he was old enough to understand, it could've been Lloyd's choice if people knew or not. Yet she basically stuck a label on Lloyd that would follow him his entire life they Lloyd was related to the guy that attacks the city multiple times a week.

Yes, Koko is super sweet and caring towards Lloyd, yes she cares for him, but that doesn't make her an amazing mother compared to Misako. There was so much Koko could've done in my opinion that would've spared Lloyd from being treated so terribly by pretty much everyone in Ninjago, again, given Lloyd her maiden name, heck she could've just let Lloyd stay home from school on his birthday, I don't think that was an unreasonable request from Lloyd. Also maybe not pushed him to see Garmadon in a good light, When the whole city hates Lloyd just because of Garmadon. I know it's a movie plot point but if Koko really didn't want Lloyd being ashamed of who his father is she could've told him the story of how she and Garmadon met. I think that would've given Lloyd some extra much needed closure instead of my father couldn't care less. In my opinion Koko more of put on something similar to rose colored glasses, she was super oblivious to just how much Lloyd was struggling until it was too late.

And I know misako isn't perfect again, but Misako also has her moments, she's more transparent with Lloyd the dynamic is also different in the show rather than the movie so I think after the first time Misako knows Lloyd is 1. Not a little kid anymore and 2. Has people (the ninja and Wu) that'll be there for him since the ninja are shown to have way stronger of a family bond in the show rather than them just being close friends in the movie.

[gregorio-loves-art]

AU Lloyd Garmadon

My Lloyd Montgomery-Garmadon

1. He was 10 at the start of the series. 16 after his rapid aging (was not caused by a type of tea). 26 by the start of dragons rising.

2. His main weapon is the Staff of Creation ( AU version of the mega weapon) it was found in the temple of light and belonged to the FSM. All of golden weapons channel the user’s existing powers.

3. Has permanent horns and fangs after realizing his true Oni-Dragon form.

4. The mark of the Oni is a mark only pure Oni people have/can give. The Omega (shortly before his death) used his power to bestow the mark on Lloyd. He views this as a curse but slowly learns to accept that is is part of him.

5. He is the elemental master of life (I choose this mainly cuz I like the film’s explanation for what he and his powers represents).

6. The dragon band is bestowed upon ninja who successfully tame and befriend an elemental dragon.

7. He lost his arm to a possessed Garmadon in the AU equivalent of the Oni trilogy. He doesn’t balm his dad, but Garmadon blames himself.

8. Prosthetic was made by Pixel and Cyrus Borg.

9. He chose to also take Montgomery (Misako’s last name) and hyphenate it with Garmadon to honor his mother as well as his father.

10. While no specific ethnicities from our world exist in Ninjago (seeing as it is a completely separate reality), the FSM, Wu, The Oni, and Garmadon are the equivalent to Japanese. Misako is mixed (hence the Japanese first name and French sir name) and takes more after her French side. So long story short, Lloyd is mixed.

11. He is 5’9

12. His dragon, named Juniper, was the guardian of the temple of light.

13. Harumi died in crystalized. She apologized and made right by Lloyd before sacrificing her self. Tho he forgave her, Lloyd would have never gone back to her.

14. He and Akita had found ways to send each other letters before the merge. Now he is looking for her in hopes to reunite.

15. He has a HUGE inferiority complex.

16. Feels like he is solely responsible for protecting Ninjago

17. Pushes his issues inside and pretends they don’t exist.

18. Is afraid of being abandoned.

19. Has panic attacks due to his visions

[coffee-master]

How are Garmadon and Kai (master of water) ? Does anything change about their relationship?

It depends on the time.

In the Pilot, Kai clearly disliked the guy for trying to kidnapp his sister. In the season 1, when Wu took Garmadon on the Bounty, Kai didn't trust him and just had an eye on him.

But later when Garmadon was cured, they were on good terms. Maybe they weren't close or anything, but from time to time they'd talk about Lloyd. Also Garmadon & Misako were curious, why Lloyd called Kai and Nya his siblings, so they started talking more.

And since we're talking about Garmadon-

I want to talk about his and Misako's character in my AU, since their relationship is much diffrent from the canon.

I want to say that their relationship is basically based on the ship #destructivedragonshipping / #theydeservedbettershipping

So if any of you aren't familliar with it, then here's the link to the explanation [and probably the creator of this ship, sorry I'm not 100% sure] :

(btw. beautifull art..)

Ok, so since you know about what I'm talking about now, I'll continue.

In my au Misako & Garmadon met on the battle field and fell deeply in love. They both deeply loved each other and wanted to settel down and start a family.

They got married. Misako started working as an archeologist and soon they had a beautifull son together. Unfortunatelly they happily life couldn't last for too long.

[Venom]

Over time, the power of the snake's venom in Garmadon only grew stronger and stronger, having more and more control over Garmadon's mind and heart.

Through the years Wu & Misako fully suported him, being by his side when the worse thoughts were comming to his mind, telling him things that he should do and making him go even deeper to the dark side-

They were always by him, but the 'attacks' were unpredictable.

But with time Garmadon was slowly becomming weaker and weaker to fight 'those thoughts' inside his head.

[The Loss]

At one point, when Garmadon was the weakest a voice told him 'Steal the golden weapoons' 'Do your worst' 'Rule the world' 'You need that' 'You deserve that-'

So when the time came and as Garmadon tired to steal the weapoons, he came across his brother, who, even though he didn't want to fight him, had to fight him.

During their fight in the end Garmadon was send to the Realm of Madness, which left Wu & Misako devastated.

The whole thing had happend, when Koko was at home with Lloyd, so she didn't even knew, until Wu told her.

After that Misako's & Wu's friendship started tearing apart.

The loss of Garmadon had a big impact of both of them. Wu was broken after loosing his brother, but didn't let himself even that 'distract' him form focusing on his mission.

Meanwhile Misako took Wu's behavior very badly, thinking he was disrespecting Garmadon and even accusing him of not loving his brother.

After that they went they separated ways and didn't talk with each other for many years. [The bad taste remained for a long time.]

[New Problems]

With Garmadon gone, Misako was devastated and sad.. But even though that pain she was strong and determined woman.

While working, taking care of young Lloyd she started looking for a way to fix everything.

Koko could work for hours at night and prepare in scrolls, prophecies and chieroglyphs a way to get back and cure her husband of that devilish poison.

She knew that with this venom with which they had been fighting together for years.. It won't let her husband life in peace.

In the meantime her identyti as the Lady Iron Dragon was revealed to the entire public in the news and all her past enemies started comming after her and Lloyd.

Misako afraid of Lloyd's safety decided to distance herself from him to ensure his safety, so she send her son to school.

She couldn't have send Lloyd to his uncle after their 'argument'. Misako continued to hold great resentment over Wu's behavior.

At the beginning it was hard for her to find a school that would accept her son. After her identity was reviled and Lloyd was known as Garmadon's son it was hard got anywhere.

Fortunately Darkley's 'nice school' was able welcomed them with open arms. Back then Misako wasn't aware of the fact this school was to teach evil.

That's also why they were very found of Lloyd the son of Garmadon.

After that Misako set out on her own 'journey' with the pain of leaving her child behind. To keep in touch she decided to write letters to her son once a week.

Originally it was supposed to be short. As soon as her enemies were gone, she'd come back for Lloyd. Unfortunately, there was no indication of this and when she came across the green ninja's prophecy, everything got even worse.

And that's the story in short.

Fun facts:

During Lloyd's life in school excitedly counting down the days until the next letter from his mother arrived.

When Misako realises that her son run away form the school, she starts to look for him, until she recived a letter form Wu that Lloyd was with him.

When Wu & Misako met again in season 2, they anger is long gone. They clearly regret how things ended up and that they didn't have a proper talk.

After Garmadon was send to the Realm of Madness, he was still able to enter their world through the shadow.. So when Lloyd was in school he often visited him.

Llody used to play with the shadow of his father not even knowing it was his father. He called him Mr. Shadow.

Garmadon often watched in silence through his shadow how Koko was overworking herself just to help him. He never dared to speak to her or make her notice him.

There were few times when he wanted to touch his wife's hair thought his shadow, but always backed out at the last moment before he could try.

First | More about AU | Previous | Next

[astro-nomaly]

The Graveyard Shift

Impulsively posting a chapter 1 draft I wrote on a whim a while ago enjoy ig

No content warnings aside from foul language

Lloyd blew a strand of bleached blond hair from his eyes as he stared dejectedly out of the window of his social worker’s car. 

He watched, bored out of his mind, as the near-empty road sped past, scenic green fields and plots of land with lonely houses whizzing by. Dareth, the aforementioned social worker, tapped his hands on the steering wheel of his beat-up Camaro while humming along to the 80’s rock on his old stereo.  

Lloyd checked his phone, an old model from seven years ago, and grimaced when he saw no new notifications.  

Lloyd Garmadon lived in Ninjago City, the biggest city on the continent of, unoriginally, Ninjago. He lived in a two-bedroom apartment with his mother, Misako, who despite being divorced in all but legality to his absent father, refused to drop his last name.  

Mom was... a strange case. She was an archeologist who worked abroad half the time, and worked at home online the other half. Despite her historical interests, she was a conspiracy theorist: his mom was the sort to drink herbal teas and drown in essential oils instead of getting a flu shot, because, in her words, “what if the government begins to track them”? As if they were people worth tracking. 

She was overprotective, too, but only really when it was convenient. Most of the time, she didn’t pay much attention to her only son; just tossed him a twenty and told him to order out.  

He was used to it. Oftentimes, she was away on work, and Lloyd would be left alone in the apartment. It wasn’t like she was abandoning him – she was just busy. Besides, the utilities were always paid for, and she always left him an envelope of cash for food and emergencies. She just also didn’t text or call much. 

Social services didn’t agree.  

Mrs. Hepworth, his homely old neighbor, got worried when she noticed Misako had been gone much longer than usual. His mom was only supposed to be at work for three weeks – she'd been gone for two months, and hadn’t texted him in several weeks. On top of that, Lloyd skipped school so often that she took notice, and called CPS.  

He’d been caught totally off guard when several social workers showed up and began rooting through his apartment the second they found out he was alone, and didn’t have a guardian to actually prevent them from basically raiding the place. Faster than he could blink, he was saddled with Obnoxious Dareth and shuttled off to Jamanakai Village, where his uncle supposedly lived. 

Lloyd rolled his eyes at the thought. He’d never even met his Uncle Wu, his father’s brother. The guy had never so much as called, and Lloyd was supposed to live with him? Sure, it was better than being placed with a bunch of strangers he wasn’t even related to, but he’d much rather be back at home, eating pizza and playing video games well past 3am. 

Of course, this was sort of his own fault. Maybe if he’d just gone to school, Mrs. Hepworth wouldn’t have noticed anything... 

Lloyd’s eyes refocused on his reflection in the grimy window, and he scowled. His eyes glared back. The sclera – fancy word for ‘whites of the eyes’ - were pitch black, and his irises a bright, radioactive green. He hated them.  

A rare, but harmless genetic mutation, the doctors said. Harmless his ass. Almost his entire life, Lloyd had been bullied for those weird eyes. He’d been called everything from a vampire to a demon at schools, and the more religious kids hated him with an equally religious passion. Despite his attempts to fade into the background, he could never escape the stares. Even teachers found him off-putting.  

For the longest time, he’d wanted to just buy contacts to cover them up, but Mom would never let him. She hated wasting money on ‘unnecessary stuff’. So, basically, anything Lloyd ever wanted. She certainly never had a problem paying extra for rip-off VPNs.  

His mood soured even further at the thought of his mother, and he slouched in his seat. Soon, he’d be stuck at Jamanakai Village, which was so small it barely had its own zip code, with his estranged uncle.  

Lloyd checked his phone again. Nothing.  

“So,” Dareth spoke up, much to Lloyd’s annoyance. The guy was obnoxiously cheerful, and super awkward. Worst, he wasn’t even self-aware! But, Lloyd supposed, he could be stuck with someone worse than the chubby, middle-aged man. 

“I was supposed to ask you some extra questions, but honestly, I forgot,” Dareth chuckled, and Lloyd rolled his eyes. “But, just for the paperwork later –last time you spoke t’ your mom?” 

Lloyd shifted, scowling down at his beat-up converse. “Define ‘spoke to’.” 

“Called, texted – communicated in any way.” 

“Three weeks ago,” he mumbled, thumbing his phone. “I told her I needed her to send me some extra money for food and she replied with a thumbs up. That’s the last time she said anything to me.” 

“Hm,” Dareth hummed, looking concerned. Lloyd hated that look. He got it all the time – people who thought his eyes were a disease, people who heard about his nonexistent father, people who knew about his perpetually absent mom – it was the worst. And he just knew what was going through Dareth’s head.  

Poor, sad, neglected little kid. 

Jokes on him. Lloyd liked it when Mom was gone. He got the whole apartment to himself and got to order as much junk food as he wanted. She was such a stick in the mud about those sorts of things.  

“And, just checking; how long is she usually gone?” 

Why was he even asking? Lloyd went through this all already at the station. “Like, around three weeks at a time,” he said anyway, shrugging. “Sometimes she gets held back or shit comes up. The cell company probably got fucked and that’s why she hasn’t called me.” 

It didn’t escape him that he was making excuses for nonexistent accusations. His mom hadn’t called him – and hadn’t even sent the money he’d asked for. He’d been eating ramen and frozen dino nuggets for three weeks.  

But the other option was that something was wrong. Mom, as flawed as she was, was all Lloyd really had. What would he do if something happened?  

He shook the thought away before it could latch on. Mom was fine. She just got wrapped up in work, or the cell company really had gotten fucked somehow. She was in another country; it was totally plausible. These people were blowing stuff out of proportion.  

“Well, aside from that,” Dareth continued, drumming his fingers rhythmically. “You got anyone that checks in on ya?” 

“Mrs. Hepworth knows me,” Lloyd says, partially dodging the question. “I’m not a little kid, I don’t need a babysitter.” 

Dareth laughed. “Not at all, kid! Just wondrin’ who’s been keepin’ an eye on ya.” 

Lloyd didn’t say no one. 

The car slowed to a stop at a red light, and Dareth took the chance to turn to look at Lloyd, an open look on his face. Immediately, Lloyd was tense, and internally cursed himself. He was told that he looked downright freakish when he got defensive or angry, what with his strange, black-rimmed eyes... 

But Dareth didn’t seem to mind, because he just smiled softly. “Y’know kiddo, I get it. You’re a little nervous, little anxious. And those nerves get to ya at places like the station! But you can totally talk to me, about anything.” 

Lloyd broke the eye contact. He wasn’t totally wrong – Lloyd was nervous. But it wasn’t the social workers who questioned him, or even moving. It was his uncle. 

Lloyd was terrified. His uncle was an older Japanese guy in his seventies, and Lloyd was, well, trans. Wu had never even met him, but surely, he’d been told about Lloyd’s gender when he was born. And if he hadn’t, he’d find out when Dareth handed over the radioactive medical papers. Aside from that, who knew how religious or superstitious the guy was? What if he found Lloyd’s eyes freaky and unnatural too? 

Lloyd knew that something like his eyes was an immature and self-centered thing to get so worked up about, but he couldn’t help it. He was scared of being judged, or worse, turned away when Wu found out about the trans thing. Somehow, being judged for his eyes was more acceptable. 

Lloyd opened his mouth, ready to say as much to Dareth, who already knew and didn’t care, but a sudden honk from behind them interrupted the moment, and he clamped his mouth shut.  

“No. Nothing. I’m fine.” 

Dareth’s face fell, but he nodded anyways and kept driving.  

After a tense few minutes, Dareth spoke up again. “This song,” he whistled, faux-casual, “you know, they played it at all the dances in my day.” 

Lloyd grimaced. “Wow... cool...” 

“Yep! Ol’ Dareth here knows a thing about the hip, pop songs of the day!” Dareth said. There was more of that hopelessly self-unaware behavior. Lloyd cringed, both internally and externally.  

“Well, it’s actually pretty... hip... to just listen to music on car rides,” Lloyd tried, desperate to end the conversation.  

Dareth raised an eyebrow. “Really? Supposed folks talked on trips-” 

“Yeah, well, they don’t. They listen to music and ignore each other,” Lloyd snapped, shoving his earbuds in, thoroughly worn out socially. “Which is what I’m doing now.” He turned up his music as loud as it would go and pointedly ignored Dareth for the rest of the drive, trying not to think about anything at all. 

__ 

They pull up into Jamanakai Village over two hours later. The barren highway slowly transforms into lush green lawns and cozy, old-timey cobblestone streets. Townhouses frame the old-fashioned roads, and cozy storefronts capitalize on the walkable structure. 

Lloyd hates it. 

He misses the city already; the ever-present noise, the irritating smog, the light pollution and neighbors as perpetually grouchy and rude as he is. This town feels unbearably small and quiet, the kind of place where everyone knows everyone and their grandmothers.  

Worse, the most exciting thing he sees on their slow roll down the streets is a movie rental that has definitely seen better days. There’s going to be nothing to even do here. 

The car rolls to a stop at an empty stop sign, and Lloyd takes out his earbud, looking out the window.  

“That’s where you might be goin’,” Dareth says, chuckling. “Small, isn’t it?”  

The high school is the smallest school Lloyd’s ever seen in his life. It’s a single story and doesn’t take up half the space of his school in Ninjago City. And, he gets it; city schools are way bigger than itty-bitty town schools. But this is ridiculous.  

Lloyd scoffs, rolling his eyes. “I won’t be here long enough to enroll anyways,” he says with as much bitter conviction as he can muster. Like if he doesn’t say it like he believes it, it won’t be true.  

And Lloyd really, really doesn’t want to go to school here. 

If he thought his old high school was bad, in the city, what will a tiny school like this be like? Where everyone’s known everyone else since kindergarten, and gossip spreads like wildfire? He wouldn’t just be the new kid – he'd be the new kid with freakish ghoul eyes.  

No, thank you. 

Dareth hums in response, looking uncertain, and they keep driving.  

As they pull into a more suburban looking area, Lloyd takes out his earbuds entirely. It’s cozy, he has to admit. The old-fashioned street lights have begun to flick on, illuminating the sidewalks in friendly orange light.  

Not as pretty as the city, though. 

Dareth pulls into the driveway of a strange-looking townhouse. It’s three stories of dark brick and wood, and the front is advertising “Steepers Wisdom”. 

“God,” Lloyd mutters, his mood steadily dropping. “How fucking stereotypical can this guy get?” 

Seriously, a seventy-year-old Japanese uncle running a tea shop? What, is he secretly a ninjitsu master too?  

He knows he’s being unfair, but he doesn’t care. He just wants to go home. 

Dareth puts the car in park and groans as he steps out, joints popping. “Alright, kiddo! You grab your stuff from the trunk.” 

Lloyd shoves his phone in the pocket of his hoodie and loops around to the trunk, where he has his grand total of a single suitcase. Dareth had insisted on him packing more – his books, action figures, posters – but Lloyd didn’t see the point in packing anything but his wardrobe. He wouldn’t be here long enough to decorate, anyways. 

Lloyd grimaces as he looks back at the townhouse/tea shop. Yeah, definitely not.  

He’d call Mom again tonight. When she heard about him being stuck with his estranged uncle, she’d be home as soon as possible, and he’d get to leave.  

The idea lifts his mood, just a little. It helps to remind himself that this is all temporary.  

He hauls his green suitcase from the trunk, meeting Dareth at the front steps. His social worker is leafing through a file, and smiles at Lloyd. “Ready, kiddo?” 

“Yeah, whatever,” Lloyd mumbles, shoving his free hand in his pocket. It’s starting to get chilly out as summer wanes. If nothing else, he wants to get back into a heated building. Lloyd’s always gotten cold way too easy, and he hates it. 

Dareth rings the doorbell, and a few seconds later, it opens. 

As it turns out, Lloyd’s uncle can be even more stereotypical. His uncle is wearing a traditional white haori, cinched at the waist, and an off-white nagagi underneath. He wears simple light brown pants that strangely poof at the bottom, and sandals with socks.  

And he has the longest pure white beard ever, and wears a huge rice hat over his likely bald head.  

Wu’s eyes widen in surprise (didn’t he know they were coming...?) before he smiles, strained. “Oh, Mr. Dareth! It’s good to meet you,” he holds out a wrinkled hand for Dareth to shake.  

Dareth smiles warmly. “Hello, Mr. Garmadon, you too.” 

“Please, call me Wu,” his uncle insists, opening the door further to wave them inside. “Please, come inside.” 

Lloyd awkwardly smiles as he passes his uncle, but he’s sure it comes out as more of a grimace. Wu is similarly strained. When he turns around, Lloyd finds that he has a pure white braid that goes past his shoulders. 

Inside, Steepers Wisdom is... boring. There’s a counter, behind which is a huge wall of different tea bags and a large menu, and the rest of the limited space is taken up by thrifted couches and coffee tables. At least there’s cozy lighting? 

Lloyd’s thoughts drift to his own fairy lights back in his bedroom, and he sours again.  

Lloyd plops down on the nearest overstuffed couch, sinking into the cushions glumly. Dareth sits down next to him, spreading his papers over the coffee table. Wu, thankfully, takes the hint and sits down across from them.  

“I apologize,” Wu says, “I didn’t prepare anything. I hope the two of you ate?” 

“Oh, no problem,” Dareth says, “got the kid some fast food on the way. Now, here I’ve got Lloyd’s medical papers...” 

Lloyd lets his thoughts drift as the adults talk over his head. His gaze lazily roams the tea shop, taking in the details. It’s decorated very traditionally, with several Japanese paintings taking up the walls.  

Personally, Lloyd had never really connected with any of his Japanese heritage. His father was Japanese, but his mom was Vietnamese, and given that she’s the one who raised him (duh), he was always exposed more to that side than anything else. Even then, his mom’s parents had immigrated when she was young, and Lloyd ended up without much exposure to the culture at all. It didn’t help that Mom was never interested in teaching him anything. He knew like, two words of Vietnamese.  

Lloyd’s attention drifted back to the conversation the next time they said his name.  

“And, given that he’ll be here for the foreseeable future, you should probably go ahead and start enrollment.” 

“What?” Lloyd sat up before Wu could respond, and the attention shifted to him. “Why do I have to go to school? I’m already enrolled at Ninjago High!” 

Dareth got that look on his face, the one that meant that he was pitying Lloyd. Lloyd bristled, growing even more defensive.  

“Well, kiddo, we don’t know when your mom will be back,” Dareth said sympathetically. He reached out a hand to put on Lloyd shoulder, but thought better of it at Lloyd’s murderous glare. “You might be here a while, so it’s better to just go ahead and get you back into school.” 

Wu nodded, speaking directly to Lloyd for the first time. “He’s right,” he said, and Lloyd swallowed back the angry retort. What the hell did Wu know about his mom? Nothing, that’s what.  

“Fine,” he snapped venomously, “whatever, I don’t give a shit.” 

Dareth shot Wu an apologetic look. “Ah, sorry Mr. Wu, he’s just had a long day...” 

“It’s quite alright,” Wu waved him off, unfazed.  

Lloyd glowered as harshly as he possibly could in Wu’s direction. He didn’t care what Wu said – he was determined not to like the guy on principle. Mom would be furious that he was here, so he would be furious too.  

If no one else would be on her side, Lloyd would be.  

He fought the urge to yell again when Wu kept talking. “...and I was told there was a bit of a hoarding situation...” 

There was not. The social workers were fucking convinced that Mom was some sort of hoarder that belonged on one of those shitty reality shows, but it wasn’t like they had mice or roaches. Mom just had trouble keeping all her stuff organized – it wasn’t her fault their apartment was so small! And Lloyd liked the clutter anyways – it made the place feel lived in.  

Apparently, a little too lived in for CPS. 

Slowly, the adults wrapped up the conversation. Wu signed a few papers, and Dareth handed over Lloyd’s social security, birth certificate, and medical records. Then, he turned to face Lloyd.  

“Alright kiddo, I gotta get going,” he said. He pulled a small card from a pocket on his shirt, holding it out to Lloyd. “Here, my number. Don’t be afraid to call, ‘kay? I’m here for you anytime you need.” 

Lloyd hesitated, but eventually took the dumb card anyway. “Thanks,” he mumbled. He really wanted to ask if Dareth really thought he would be here long enough for school and doctor appointments, but he didn’t. He already knew the answer anyway.  

Dareth clapped Lloyd on the shoulder and stood. “I’ll be back later this month for a wellness check! Keep up those grades, Lloyd!” With that, he brushed out the door.  

Lloyd fidgeted awkwardly as he was left alone with his uncle, who also seemed unsure of what to do.  

Finally, Wu cleared his throat. “It’s nice to meet you... Lloyd.” 

Lloyd stiffened. Of course, Wu didn’t recognize his name. He was probably just waiting to see how Lloyd reacted to it before he whipped out some crazed nonsense about ‘the youth these days’... 

Lloyd instantly became defensive, straightening. “Yeah, Lloyd,” he spat, trying to sound more confident than he was. “Mom doesn’t have a problem with it.” 

“Of course not,” Wu said, holding up his hands to placate him. “It’s just, when they called... I wasn’t sure- that is, I did some reading on the subject-” 

Oh. Lloyd’s shoulders fell a little as he lost his momentum. Wu was just sort of oblivious.  

Deciding to put the poor old man out of his misery, Lloyd interrupted. “Uh, yeah. I’m trans, it’s whatever. He/him.” 

Wu looked visibly relieved, untensing. “Of course. Anyways, it's late,” he cleared his throat again, standing. “I took the liberty of preparing your room.”  

Lloyd wondered where he was hiding a bedroom, but it became obvious when Wu led him through the back of the kitchen where a few chairs and boxes collected dust, and a staircase led to another floor.  

“You’re the attic,” Wu said, oblivious to Lloyd’s growing dread at having to lug a suitcase up four stories. “Come on, then.”  

On the way up, Lloyd gets a peek at the layout of the house. The second floor, above the shop, is home to smaller kitchenette and living room, where the third floor is the laundry room and Wu’s bedroom, which his uncle points out. “In case you need me,” he says. Lloyd knows he won’t. 

Finally, Lloyd gets to the attic. Wu pulls down a wooden ladder from the hatch in the roof, and Lloyd nearly breaks his neck shoving his suitcase up. He’s suddenly extremely glad he only brought the suitcase and his shoulder bag.  

Wu follows him into the room, having done nothing to assist with the suitcase. Stupid old man and his stupid old man bones.  

Lloyd surveys the room with mild interest. The ceiling is slanted inward on all sides, with a completely flat top. He tries to picture it from the outside – sloped sides, with a flat top and railing. There’s a short loft, big enough for a bed and nightstand, and a smaller hatch that leads up to the roof. Aside from that, the attic is fairly spacious, if not old fashioned. He turns in a circle, eyeing the giant window that he’s definitely throwing a curtain over the second he can.  

The room is empty except for an old wooden wardrobe, a writing desk, a bed with green and black covers underneath the loft, and a short nightstand. A paper lamp stands beside the bed. 

“I wasn’t sure what you liked,” Wu offers from behind, previously being content to let Lloyd take in the attic himself. “If you’d like, we can of course go shopping for decorations. Perhaps some posters?” 

Lloyd shrugs, rolling his suitcase next to the bed. He sits down, feeling the soft mattress curve beneath him. The covers were recently washed.  

“It’s nice,” Lloyd lies, just to get Wu out. His uncle doesn’t go. Instead, he sits on the stool beside the desk.  

“I have some old tapestries,” Wu says, like Lloyd wants anything else but to sleep. “They might make the space nicer.” 

Lloyd suddenly feels a deep sense of anger. Why is Wu acting like either of them want him here? Like Lloyd is staying here for any longer than a few more days?  

It’s not like Wu actually gives a shit. He’s a seventy-year-old man running a business. He never had kids, or a spouse for that matter. All Lloyd is doing for him is fucking up his whole routine and costing him extra money. And all he’s doing for Lloyd is pissing him off. 

“Look, man,” Lloyd says, not bothering to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “You don’t have to act like you care, okay? I don’t want to be here and you don’t want me here. You can cut the,” he waves his hand vaguely, “whole ‘caring uncle’ shtick.” 

Wu looks taken aback, straightening in the chair. “I am sorry you feel that way,” he says evenly, “but I do care, Lloyd.” 

“You didn’t even know my name before today,” Lloyd snaps back, not bothering to acknowledge that Wu couldn’t possibly have known Lloyd’s chosen name. It feels like a good enough comeback. “Admit it, you didn’t even recognize me.” 

“Lloyd, I want to make this transition easy for you,” Wu says, ignoring Lloyd’s comment. “I’m trying to get to know you.”  

Lloyd scoffed, glaring hard. The covers bunch up in his fists. “Well, I don’t want you to. I won’t be here long enough for it to matter.” 

“You don’t know that.” 

“I do,” Lloyd insists. Wu sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. Lloyd takes satisfaction in it. Maybe, maybe, if he can make Wu mad enough, he can leave. It’s a small hope. 

“You’re tired and stressed,” Wu says, standing. “I’ll let you sleep. Tomorrow, we can see about getting you some decorations.” 

The thin thread of patience in Lloyd’s chest snaps. When is someone going to listen to him?! 

“When are you going to get it?” He bites, standing from the bed. Wu’s gaze hardens. “I don’t fucking like you. I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to talk to you, and I don’t give a shit about this stupid fucking attic!” 

“Lloyd Garmadon!” Wu reprimands as Lloyd’s voice rises to a yell. Lloyd clamps his mouth shut, glaring as venomously as he can. Wu doesn’t care, glaring right back. “I understand that you are stressed and exhausted, but I will not tolerate the disrespect! As long as you are under my roof, using my facilities, you will respect me, or I will teach you to!” 

Lloyd bares his teeth. “What, is that supposed to be a fucking threat? Get this through your rotted, dementia-riddled brain,” Lloyd jabs the side of his head as emphasis, stalking toward Wu, stopping only a foot away. “I don’t give a shit! There is nothing you can say to me to make me like you!” 

Wu stands up straighter, literally looking down at his nephew. “You don’t have to like me,” he says cooly, “but you will respect me, unless you’d like to be working in the shop every day after school, and every weekend until close for the remainder of your stay here.” 

Lloyd recoils. “Fuck you,” he spits. “When Mom gets back, she’ll sue the hell out you.” 

She won’t. She’ll be mad as hell, and probably yell at Wu a lot, but she won’t spend any more time thinking about him than she has to. He doesn’t feel like telling Wu that, though.  

“You’re just some fucking relative I’ve never met,” Lloyd continues. He suddenly has this urge to make Wu know how much he hates this. The lack of control he has, the anger he feels at everyone tugging him around without his say-so. He knows that Wu’s barely even done anything, but he’s the closest punching bag. 

Mom says he gets the anger issues from dad. Makes sense – whenever Lloyd thinks about the guy, he wants to track him down and scream until his face goes blue. Wu makes him feel the same way now. 

Wu shakes his head, like Lloyd is a particularly disappointing mess. “Goodnight, nephew,” he says, and leaves back down through the hatch. Lloyd kicks it closed behind him, screaming incoherently.  

“And stay the fuck out!” 

He falls back into the bed, curling up on his side. Now that Wu is gone, the silence begins to set it. Outside, a stray branch taps against the window.  

It’s so quiet here. The city is always screeching and honking. Lloyd doesn’t think he can fall asleep here without that white noise.  

He pulls up his phone, squinting as the blue light lights up his face in the dark. Still nothing from Mom.  

Against his better judgement, he leaves a voicemail. “Hey, Mom,” he mumbles, glancing out the window. He hadn’t really noticed before, but it’s a bay window. He always wanted one of those. “I’m stuck at Wu’s house. He’s a giant asshole,” he ignores the fact that he’s the one who initiated the argument, “I want to go home,” no, he doesn’t. He just wants to be wherever she is. “But I know you’ll be back soon. Just... maybe a little sooner? I hate this. I want to catch up on our shows soon.” 

Never mind that she hadn’t watched anything with him for months before she left.  

“Bye,” he mumbles, suddenly out of energy. He hangs up and kicks off his shoes, letting them fly in either direction, and shoves his earbuds in. There’s no way he’s sleeping tonight.  

He hates this place, Lloyd decides, glaring out the dumb bay window he always wanted. His black sclera shine in the dark, reflecting the green moon.