#is talked about enough to be tagged

[blu3cl0v3rs]

vita mutatur, non tollitur

"vita mutatur, non tollitur" - life is changed, not taken away.

Morro builds a new life for himself, starting with a cat.

Warnings: Mental health issues, self-indulgent fic, possibly ooc Morro?

Extra: I wanted to give Morro a redemption arc and a cat, and decided that the Ninja and Wu will not be there to cause drama until after Morro's redemption arc. I've been working on this for so long-

also, this is not and will not be finished. it's old (i started this last year in october or november) and i've given up on this AU because it's strangely written and not the exact content i'm interested in writing anymore

Morro is revived alongside Garmadon not Garmadon, his unc- the man he knew was kind and would never hurt his son. That... thing is a monster in the crude shape of Garmadon's husk. He's given a choice, but instead of picking a side with the Ninja or Garmadon, he goes into hiding, stalking the grimy, abandoned streets of Ninjago.

Wu and most of the Ninja are presumed dead, the remaining Water Ninja and Green Ninja hate him, and Garmadon is not the same man he met 40-some years ago.

Where does he go? What does he do? What purpose does he have?

The wind doesn't seem to respond as much anymore. As expected, why would such a powerful, amazing element be wasted on a good-for-nothing like Morro?

The wind master wanders the streets, barely convincing himself each morning to keep on living.

The human body is very finicky; needs sleep, needs food, needs water, it's so needy.

He finds a small cat. A little, skinny but fluffy black cat with crusty green eyes and the saddest meow you've ever heard.

He shouldn't take in the cat. He can barely take care of himself, not to mention he'd just forget about feeding it. He'll probably end up hurting it like he hurts everyone else around him, so he really shouldn't take it in.

...but feeding it sometimes wouldn't be horrible. Eating with it makes Morro feel just a little less alone.

But nothing else.

—

He feeds her it every day. He eats with it, so, if just out of convenience, he's always near the scrawny kitten whenever he decides to eat, he pretends he doesn't notice. She might be growing on him.

He lets her- it sleep with him. The thing is so small, it shivers itself to sleep. The poor kitten will die in the winter. He curls around her protectively to stave off the elements. His element is kind enough to avoid blasting them with sharp gales of frozen air.

Morro is never seen without her. The locals call him "Black Cat Man", as she's always visible peering curiously out of his hood, resting on his shoulders. She's gained weight, and is looking more healthy, rather than emaciated.

—

Maybe she should have a name.

"Shadow?" No.

"Midnight?" No.

"Ash?" No. Light nip on the ear.

"...Violet?" Purring and a nuzzle to the cheek.

When Lloyd and the Ninja liberate the city, Morro helps.

Not much, but he helps. He guides crowds of escapees to safe locations, escorts people out of unstable buildings, finds people trapped in rubble; he helps.

Violet cheers up some siblings that got separated from their parents. The family reunites, and the children ask for a black cat.

Wu is alive. He looks strangely young, but he is alive.

Morro cries in an alleyway when he is finally alone. With Violet, of course. He missed his Sensei.

Part of him considered trying to return. Arriving one day to the monastery, the doors wide open and Wu waiting for him. To apologize for everything he did and just be his student again.

But, he can't. He's hurt too many people, hurt those his sensei care for. Hurt Lloyd.

He cannot return.

He will imagine anyways.

Morro got a job. Apparently, he fit the "emo-punk vibe" the store was going for. He doesn't know exactly what they mean by that, but at least he doesn't have to steal food anymore.

He also got an apartment. It is quite small, but enough space for him and Violet. The place came with furniture and appliances, so he bought cat supplies and clothes. The wind elemental was told by a worker that he had an outdated style – she pushed him over to a store that had, in her words, "alternative clothing", which "fit his vibe" more.

He thinks she's right after trying on a few outfits.

Her name is Eryn. She gives him her phone number, the nickname "Stripes", and tells him, "Once you get a phone, call me up, 'kay Stripes?"

—

Morro thinks Eryn's pretty cool. Likes her... "vibe". Is he using that word correctly?

New slang is so weird.

He's saving up for a phone, which is easy because the place he works at, Skreeming Skullz, pays a good amount of money. As long as rent doesn't raise too high.

He meet two of his neighbors; Acid and Maggie. They're dating, and live together. Acid is something they call "non-binary", which means they aren't male or female.

Morro understands, he feels the same way. He tells Acid this, and they introduce him to all of the different "genders" and "pronouns". He thinks he may be agender.

It doesn't matter to him; he's still Morro.

Whenever their landlord tries to bring up rent, the three of them do things like break windows, yell loudly, graffiti walls, and generally make living suck a little more. Some of their other neighbors do the same thing.

He asks Maggie why. "We're rebellin'," she says. "We're tellin' 'em that we won' pay more to live here, n' no one else'll wanna live in a buildin' with broken windows and rowdy ass neighb'rs."

Violet has gotten much bigger. Morro uses to be able to hold her with one hand, now she fits into his arms, provided he cradles her like a baby.

He also brought her to the veterinarian, got her vaccinated, tested, and given a check up. She is perfectly healthy, surprising considering she grew up on the streets. The vet said Violet looks like a Maine Coon, which means she'll get much bigger. They think she's about 7 months old.

His powers are slowly returning. It reminds him of when he first unlocked his powers. He had to focus to even shift around leaves.

He works to become better. Not like he did with Wu; to become the Green Ninja. He practices because he loves his element. He tentatively told Eryn, Acid, and Maggie about his powers. He thinks they may have made the connection that he's the ghost from the Stiix Incident.

They don't act differently.

—

Morro is... happy. He has a purpose. He's friends with Eryn, they made friendship bracelets and she promised that, no matter how "kooky" or "messed up" he is, she is his friend. He's Violet's caretaker. He's Maggie and Acid's neighbor. He's the Master of Wind.

...

He still misses Sensei Wu.

Most times, Morro's happy. He goes on walks with Violet, catches up on history at the library, texts Eryn modern slang questions, and hikes to the top of hills to feel the breeze.

Sometimes, Morro's sad. He sits around with the old, rickety blinds as shut as possible. He eats cold leftovers from three days ago. He questions if he deserved any of this. On those days, Violet carries over her brush and purrs contentedly as Morro grooms her dark fur. She always makes him feel a bit better. Makes the bad days not as bad.

Sometimes, Morro's angry. He soaks in the silence of his internal fuming. He yells incoherently. He repeatedly hits the wooden table. He complains to Violet about destiny's unfairness.

He isn't angry as often anymore. He has another worth, another purpose, he doesn't need to be the Green Ninja; doesn't need to be Lloyd.

—

The Ninja aren't in Ninjago City much. According to rumors, they're finally rebuilding the monastery.

Ninjago City is rebuilding as well. Morro volunteers around the city, when he can.

It's good that the Ninja aren't often there anymore. His throat seizes and his heart bangs against his ribcage like it's imprisoned whenever he sees the Green Ninja, or the Water Ninja, or Sensei Wu. He cannot be caught.

Morro helps people from getting attacked by fiery snakes, and watches the Prime Empire attack happen through NGTV News at home with Acid, Eryn, and Maggie.

He ventures out more when the Ninja leave to Shintaro.

He finds a nice, serene coffee shop with decent prices. There's a kind barista there, they smell of lavender and coffee, and have a bunch of piercings in their face. Their name is Salem. They used to go to college with Eryn.

Morro's powers are going crazy. He doesn't often use them, unless it's a "rot day", as Maggie calls them. Apparently, when Morro doesn't feel like doing anything because he's done too much, that's normal for some people, and he shouldn't be chastised or forced to work more. He was a bit shocked by this, as that was always Wu's first go-to solution. Then again, that old fool was quite outdated. Morro mostly use them to check for people or to get things out of reach.

He shatters a plate, which scares Violet. Acid and Maggie bursts in to make sure he's okay, and helps him clean up the broken plate. He also sees on the news that the Water Ninja's powers are acting up too; she conjured a water spout and lost control of it. He knows the history of Wojira and their powers connection, but Morro brushes it off.

It's probably fine.

—

A few days later, he scolds himself for brushing that off as he barely keeps Violet and himself afloat. She mewls quietly, clearly upset at this situation.

Morro tries one more time to rocket them out of the water, and this time it works. He uses his now-under-control powers to dry Violet and himself off.

He sets her down, and dives back in to find Acid and Maggie, who are trapped in their apartment. He manages to break a window to get in, causing water to gush in and fill any spaces that haven't been flooded yet. He grabs their hands and they swim like hell to the surface, landing of the rooftop where Violet is.

His phone miraculously works, so he dials up Eryn, who is out of town to visit family. She and her family are luckily okay, as they live up on a mountain. He also checks on Salem, who is saved by one of the Ninja.

They see the Wa- Nya merge with the sea, and a part of Morro nags to join her. He watches as she left her family and friends. He quietly stands near the back of her sort-of funeral.

Morro knows she isn't gone, he had a gut feeling... or is it more his elemental power knowing? His connection with Nya is strange.

He wonders if she could feel it too.

The Ninja seem to disappear along with her.

Kai leaves to teach kids martial arts. Jay leaves. Zane stops expressing emotion. Lloyd completely quit to become a window washer. Cole was the only one that seems to continue semi-normally, but it was obvious Nya's absence affects him too. He has no clue what Sensei Wu is up to. He worries about him, Wu never handles loss well.

While Morro learns about the other Ninja through the news, social media, or rumors around his complex, he discovers Lloyd's fate himself. Hell, he shows up at his window.

To clean it.

Luckily, Morro could tell it's him before he sees into the window, so Morro has a chance to dash into hiding. He doesn't clean windows on Morro's complex often, but Morro makes an effort to never be home when Lloyd's cleaning.

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[honeypleasejustkillme]

i thought i was at my lowest but holy shit it gets lower

[gerrykeay]

im not putting this post into words. beams into your mind The Parallels

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[hinamie]

corvidae

[yuukirita]

He's doing hand talk :'D Cute and Sad.

[arcane-gold]

academy days

[forgettable-au]

FORGETTABLE-AU (Page 61-64)

* I-I don't think we were talking about the same thing...

[BEGINNING] [PREVIOUS] [CONTINUE]

[possamble]

I have always, ALWAYS been obsessed with Ryoko Kui deciding to invoke the Mona Lisa as Marcille's mother in the nightmare sequence. The fact that her expression is left blank, riffing of off the eternal "mystery" of the Mona Lisa's smile. It's such a succinct way of borrowing that enigma, that prestige, of effortlessly portraying a woman who is both unknowable as well as beloved and respected. What an incredible way to frame this memory of her mother, of showing without telling how Marcille feels about her.

So I'm incredibly torn on what the anime did with it. On one hand, Ryoko Kui refusing to draw an expression on any portrait of Marcille's mother in her memory is an exquisitely efficient choice in terms of showing more of Marcille's internal world, her feelings towards her mother, and what image of her mother it is that she hides behind...

But on the other hand?

Adding in the same mysterious smile as the Mona Lisa, then reversing it into an expression that's anything but mysterious? Peeling away the enigma like layers of rotten varnish? That is a sick way of further using the original reference. That's an incredible gut punch. Man.

[thevioletcaptain]

i genuinely don't care how good a piece of ai generated art or writing looks on the surface. i don't care if it emulates brush strokes and metaphor in a way indistinguishable from those created by a person.

it is not the product of thoughtful creation. it offers no insights into the creator's life or viewpoint. it has no connection to a moment in time or a place or an attitude. it has no perspective. it has no value.

it's empty, it's hollow, and it exists only to generate clicks (and by extension, ad revenue.)

it's just another revolting symptom of the disease that is late stage capitalism, and it fucking sucks.

[bloobydabloob]

Holy shit I love your Dirk interpretations, it's so true and I could talk about this shit forever. I feel like another part of his character that people seem to forget (along with Roxy for some reason) is that he's from the future in solitude in an apocalyptic wasteland. I just see that part of his character always removed which is disappointing because I feel like that's a pretty big part, especially regarding his themes around technology, his brother's theme of Time, his own isolation, and how he plays in the vastness of the universe and spacetime.

Art I drew related to the subject because I like to respond to asks with art.

But absolutely. I certainly understand where the lack of discussion over his isolation + upbringing comes from, considering a majority of the fanbase that I have seen builds their ideas based on their own version of postcanon. I’m not entirely sure how that would be fixed, but certainly even in the somewhat recent past I would see a lot more content regarding his upbringing both literally and symbolically. I don’t have much to add regarding the things you’ve mentioned, because they just are what they are. Dirk being confined to a singular room left to him by a father figure he never met, in a future where the only other person left on the planet is someone he cannot pursue a relationship of because of himself, with purely 3 robots to keep him companion, one being an exact replica of his own brain who is *also* trapped inside a pair of glasses, is about as literal as it gets to me.

The contrast to me involving the flooded, organic world in comparison to the little speckle of Dirk’s apartment packed with the dude and his technics is not only a representation of his isolation and entrapment within himself, but also of his lack of control. I think his obsession with & themes of control are a direct product in the case of Dirk specifically *of* this kind of upbringing. His themes of technology are also related to his themes around control. So much of his character is actually revolved around this to me like so much. Dirk is so deeply disconnected from humanity in every way and so much of his character + symbolism is based around that.

It doesn’t even have to be about the symbolism or anything though. It’s just pretty *interesting* in the literal sense that he lives in the middle of the ocean in the future. There’s not only a lot to theorise on to do with his young life there, but on how it might affect him in the way he acts for the rest of his life. The latter part is probably what I see mentioned the most by people talking about Dirk regarding this, I’m surprised I don’t see more discussion on the former too though. I really ought to actually talk more about Homestuck stuff on here. I will do it myself.

Roxy & Dirk’s relationship is largely ignored though because there is a narrative a certain demographic spreads that Dirk resented and blamed Roxy for her interest in him, and thus too many people believe that their relationship was or would continue to be an abusive one. Realistically, I believe it’s important to acknowledge that the way Roxy treated Dirk regarding his homosexuality wasn’t right while still acknowledging the obvious amount of respect and admiration Dirk had for Roxy. I mean we have a huge piece of dialogue from their post trickster mode conversations on the quest beds from Dirk purely stating how he feels about Roxy that people completely ignore somehow. I think this usually happens to characters that are women though. I know everyone says it, but it is true. Jane gets the exact same treatment of boiling her down to solely her negative aspects. The things I see completely mischaracterising both of them are horrific.

I mean how much more explicit can it get that their relationship is obviously very important to Dirk? But I digress. I think the best or I should say “most interesting” interpretations of their relationship usually come from DirkRoxy shippers actually.

I would be interested to hear about Dirk’s relation to his brother’s theme of time though. I don’t have any thoughts on this and I don’t recall ever hearing anyone talk about it before. If you or anyone else would be willing to enlighten me I’d be thrilled.

[tehcherrya]

Somebody give me the rights to the LOTR cinematic productions so I can create a coming of age dramedy taking place during the seventeen years between Bilbo's 111th birthday party and Frodo leaving the Shire. I'd call it "The Shire Seventeen". It would not only include the Conspiracy as a backdrop but also a bunch of the development and growing up that was probably done within those seventeen years, that is entirely unrelated to the Ring.

It's a whole seventeen years worth of low-stakes hobbit Shire drama and shenanigans, guys-- I need that cozy comedy content.

[muzzlemouths]

can i also be beautiful if i am dangerous?

[nat-but-free]

uhhh so remember that scene in one of the movies where Megs talks to Starscream's head.... here it is but with different designs and weird colours

[corviiids]

i found a bad post i made months ago in the privacy of my own home and now i need to air it out in public because it's getting mildewy and moths are eating it

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

All cards on the table.

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