#it will be my ultimate harumi post

[laismoura-art]

Ok so, months ago @meme099 asked me what Harumi would be like if she was a playable character.

And I got carried away to the point I made A HUUUGE POST as I brainstormed! So what I mean to ask is:

Edit: Huge post for the win!

[absolutelynotsanebaby]

So I sat down the other day and went through the crane wives albums and some other songs to assign to Ninjago characters and I've finally sat down and decided to write the post out. The content are going to be under cut because this post will certainly be too long. I'm going to go album by album here starting with Coyote Stories and ending Here I Am: From The Listening Room.

(any and all "(X)" are simply links to the songs <3)

okay, here we go!

Coyote Stories

Keep You Safe: in some ways, I like to interpret part of this song as relating to Nya's perfectionism, especially within Possession. The bridge especially and lines "What if the steps I take turn out to be mistakes? How can someone like me learn to say "come what may"?" (X)

Allies or Enemies: this is Jay and Cole to me from Rebooted to ToE. Specifically, from Cole's perspective. The song has a lot of regret and bitterness in it that I just think fits so well. The first verse and second verse ("you owe me ears from dropping eaves"), and the bridge are all so clear to me. The bridge, "what happens now? do we have another go (oh) do we bow out and take our separate roads, I'll admit I've had my doubts (oh) but I want to be let in not out (oh) I want to be let in now out", reads to me like Cole's sudden giving in and desperation in their match in ToE. (X)

Hard Sell: this one's a little loser but it reminds me of Lloyd struggles to keep himself strong and straight with everything that gets thrown at him, all the stress. To be The Green Ninja (X).

Little Soldiers: Young Garmadon and Wu, I think. It's their doomed brotherhood, the way they loved each other clearly as impulsive youth ("on the broken backs of all the words we spared, like little soldiers in the trenches, it was a march we made through ruin and despair but we held hands all the while") but ultimately Wu couldn't keep his brother. The bridge reminds me of the war. (X)

Metaphor: Harumi, obviously. There's really no debate, it's her fake mask as the Jade Princess, it's her relationship to Lloyd even. "I've gotten good at leaning on metaphors, I've gotten good at leaning on someone else's page, I cut my teeth on second hand sentiments, you can't trust a single thing I say" -> princess era. It's a sweetly bitter song, chalk full of implications of trauma. The line "but I always dig up bones in your sympathy, I can't trust a single thing you say" is relevant to her relationship with Lloyd, I feel. (X)

Of Everlong: This is a lovely and very soulful song, short and sweet. It's reminiscent of Pixane, to me, specifically from Pixal's perspective. There's a certain connectiveness in being in someone's head. "and if my lover will not hear it take my voice and take my spirit leave weakened and dig my hole only my lover not I can keep my soul" vs "I do not know if there is anything after this life for beings such as you or I, but if there is, I will find you there. Goodbye my Zane." (X)

New Discovery: Fairly simple and not to deep, but this is a Misako song. Adventurer and explorer, and all (X).

The Moon Will Sing: I want to preface two things, A) this interpretation is very much looser and a little less connected t the full original meaning of the song and a little more based in reworking it to fit the characters and B) Wu haters will be stabbed by my mighty and large sword. This is Morro and Wu, on a level. "I shine only with the light you gave me", the light here i the green ninja prophecy,something Morro latched onto to prove his wroth, who is, who is to Wu. The entire song as an air of bitter grief I think fit's Morro and Wu's story. Morro could've grown up and been something more than a half baked angry ghost chasing a dream from 40 years ago, but he wasn't, "I could've been anyone, anyone." (X) (X) (<- an extra link to the demo of the song!! I find it rather lovely)

(Extra note on The Moon Will Sing, I could also see this being a song about Zane/The Ice Emperor and Vex.)

Rockslide: this is about to be very unsurprising, I associate this with Cole! There's obviously the title but generally I think the energy of the song is very Cole-like, in the fun sense. There's also the lines about feeling the "quakin honey I feel it deep" which is rather self explanatory. (X)

The Hand That Feeds: I'm shaky on this one simply because I don't remember or know her character very well, but Akita. Has a lot of mention of wolves and is a very angry song against systemic oppression (though, in the song it's anti-capitalism lol). (X)

Sleeping Giants: another Cole song, mostly based on the presence of mountains, and the 'calling' aspect of the song. I also tend to associate songs with strong drums like in this with Cole (like Drumming Song by Florence and the machine) (X).

Never Love An Anchor: I've seen this song go around actually, mostly with Misako. Which, I agree with! However, I consider it a dual song with her and Garmadon. Specifically, their season one selves. It's Misako leaving Lloyd at that boarding school, it's Garmadon being so absent even though he so clearly loves his son (and despite his evilness, he doesn't seem to wish Lloyd to follow in his footsteps). The first verse really resonates with me as being Misako, clumsy hands and trying her best, and all. The last verse however, is Garmadon ("I am selfish I am broken I am cruel") and so is the line "With this heart of mine that's guilty not remorseful." If you haven't heard this song, I truly, truly recommend it, it's gut wrenching imo. (X)

Okay! We've reached the end of Coyote Stories. That's 11/12 songs out of the albums, the best ratio we have on this listing I believe. Moving onto Foxlore now!

Foxlore:

Nothing At All: when I was looking at this song, trying to decide who to apply it to, I ended up getting kind of emotional. It's Zane, post Ice Emperor specifically. In his self-dehumanization. I'm just going to list out the lyrics that made me incredibly sad lol. "Happy is the man who wants for nothing happy is the lair happiness itself is desire", "heart broken men long to feel nothing to free themselves from strife handle pain, pain doesn't define a man it sure lends an hand getting measured in the sweeter parts of life". (X)

Down The River: Lloyd, post Garmadon revival and Crystallized. All his bitter feeling towards his father, and the angry abandonment issues. The first verse ("I've been wishig that you'd prove me wrong, that you'd come clean and rue the damage done, restore my faith in you, but you've got no reaosn to") and fifth ("Now, tell me, when you start again where will you house your skeletons? Or will they stay behind? Your settlement in kind?") especially. (X)

Can't Go Back: Zane, post Ice Emperor, again. It's that guilt man, I don't really have more to explain but know it makes me Sad. (X)

Turn Out The Lights: Jay, this is mostly about an anxiety head-canon lol, considering the song is about a racing mind. (X)

Ribs: this song is so Nya it hurts. It pretty strongly connects to her arc over the seasons about self independence, identity, and misogyny. It's her finding her place as who she is, and taking back things as her own ("It is mine, it is mine). Verse three I like to connect to her element being of Wojira's and how that is so symbolic of her place in the team (and why she reflect Morro so well in a lot of ways but I won't get into that), "time has changed the metaphor, now, dust is not the orgin of bone, little girl don't let them sell you any armor all your ribs are still your own". There's also the main chorus, which, god I got sad when I looked at it from the angle of Seabound. "The dark doesn't frighten me I chose to close my eyes, it is mine, it is mine, the night doesn't frighten me I chose to let it thrive, it is mine, it is mine." (X)

Not The Ghost: perhaps a little literal but, Cole in his Day Of The Departed era. Though, it connects to his feelings at the time more than his literal ghost-hood. It pretty strongly captures the depression, low self esteem, and growing urgency (around the Latter half of the song). You could also read some of the lyrics as paralleling the events of DOTD itself. (X)

And that's it for Foxlore, that is...6/10 I think, so not the worst either. Fun fact, this next section is my favorite album as a whole :)!

The Fool In Her Wedding Gown:

Icarus: now who else would this be about if not the doomed siblings of the series? Of course it's Wu and Garmadon. I think of this pretty strongly as paralleling their 'adventures' as young children, and then the war. "Oh my brother, oh my brother, oh my brother, who have you become in the wake of all that's happened here", yeah. The entire energy of the song has that weird sad, yet hopeful regret Wu seems to carry around with him in regards to Garmadon, it's a very loving song. (X)

Fangs: Nya, the entire song carries the desperate anger she has, the longing for independence and strength. It's bitter too, in a way that reminds me of her from Rebooted to Skybound. "I am not your highness, a damsel left helpless by fright, I am a lioness, fierce as I walk through the night", "a man will never know his bride"...and well, she was a bride once, wasn't she? (X)

That's it for TFIHWG actually, I know, sad sad ratio but I am also not suprised because a lot of the songs on this album are rather specific.

Safe Ship, Harbored:

New Colors: this one is really simple, Lloyd, and only because it reminds me about how consistently stressed he is lol. (X)

The Crooked, The Cradle: This is a Morro song, to me. The idea of were you doomed from the start (the cradle), or was this purely because of the choices you made? The line "can anyone hear me? The crooked are smiling, they know me the best" strongly reminds me of him and the Preeminent. (X)

(Additionally, this came to me as i was writing this section but I could also see this song being Garmadon coded.)

Caleb Trask: Oni Lloyd! The entire song is about the concept of having 'bad in your blood' and how you simply have to embrace it. That you cannot let it chain you, that love will bring you back. Reminds me of him. (X)

I Ain't Done: if you look at this from a purely conceptual level and energy wise, this song is very Morro. It's got his vengeful, jealous and vicious return from the dead to wreck havoc vibes lol, the lyrics in a literaly sense, however, do not fit. (X)

We're nearing the end now! kind of! 4/12 ratio.

Here I Am: Live From The Listening Room:

High Horse: Jaya, actually. From Rebooted to Skybound, from Nya's pov. Mostly, I connect it to that weird, unhealthy desperation Jay had for Nya and Nya's desire to be free of it, her own self. "You're a sweet heart, you're a curse, you're a passing grade on a low, low bar, you've got your eyes open, I know your worth, but I've got so many things in my hungry, hungry heart", sums it up pretty well. (X)

Here I Am: This one's Cole, but it's a bit of a mixture on why. First up, it's again DOTD era Cole with all his being forgotten angst and anxiety. Secondly, and maybe more painfully, it really reminds me of his and Lou's relationship early on. Neglected child core, and all that ("I promised myself I'd learn to be the one who leaves, with no more roots to tie me down, it's just a different kind of lonely"). The last verse is strongly reminiscent of his pure stubbornness, too. (X)

Queen Of Nothing: Solidly Harumi, a lot on vibes and mood. It's got a dark, sort of unsatisfied sound to it. The chorus screams her , "Isn't this what you wanted? Time sure feels like it's running out, just finish what you started, queen of nothing wearing such a heavy crown." (X)

Sowing Seeds: this one's a bit more general, it reminds me of Possession, the season. It's also a very moody song, having a tired, haunted sort of energy. It also fits nicely into the theme of consequences in Possession. The first verse ("still as a lake long after the wind is gone, in the face of a thief mashing ground to mud, still as a street long after the work is done, as he gnashes his teeth, as he cuts it up, cuts it up") heavily reminds me of Morro. (X)

Hollow Moon: fairly simple, Hollow Moon reminds me of Cole's fear on DOTD. It's got that spooky and paranoid sort of energy. (X)

The Wolf: this both a Harumi and Morro, bearing that bitter, self destructive energy. (X)

Now, that concludes all the albums thus far, and I know I sad we'd leave off on HIA:LFTLR, however, I am a lair. There's a couple songs that aren't on albums that's be a shame not to mention.

Margaret: this is Misako, in her loss of her husband, and her trails to find a way to fix things. "She's breaking her knuckles on truths that keep her awake, and she's tired but her jaw is set, she won't lose any more of the heart she still has left, so she says a prayer pulls the covers near and waits, Margaret won't sleep tonight." Lovely song. (X)

Scars: this is a newly released song! I believe it connects back to Never Love An Anchor, and as such, it fits Lloyd very well. Specifically in relation to Garmadon, post revival. It so so fits all that anger in him at his dad ("cause I was born with a whole in my heart, yeah, we were fucked from the start, tell me it's inevitable I'd end up with scars from falling down, down, we were always meant to fall apart"). (X) (X) (<- the second is a live audio recording that is personally my favorite!)

Okay, no we're done! Anyways, if you read all the way down here I hope any of this made sense. This is a little bit of a love letter to The Crane Wives and Ninjago, I spent hours doing this lol. If you haven't heard any or some of these songs, please do listen to them!! Every song mentioned should have an accompanying link. Anyways, time to end this stupidly long post, please share if you have any thoughts or connect songs differently!!!!!!!!

[dalekofchaos]

How I would change Mortal Kombat 1 and Khaos Reigns

I did similar posts to how I would change the NRS games in the past

9 and X 11

But enough time has passed and I thought I would do what I did for those games for MK1. And boy do I have a lot to say.

Mortal Kombat 1.

The core story will remain the same as I actually like it, especially what they did with the royal family, but I'm changing what I really didn't like.

First and foremost. Kuai Liang is NOT Scorpion. Hanzo is Scorpion.(lol fuck you Dominic) Liu Kang's new era saw the Lin Kuei and the Shirai Ryu coexisted and formed the United Clans with Bi-Han as Lin Kuei's Grandmaster and Hanzo as the Shirai Ryu's Grandmaster. Kuai Liang throughout the story is known as Tundra, but after Bi-Han's treachery is known to all, Kuai Liang becomes Sub-Zero, Hanzo and Kuai Liang reforges their alliance, while Bi-Han, Hydro, Frost, Cyrax(temporarily) and Sektor are outcasts and labels themselves as the "True Lin Kuei" United Clans line up Hanzo Kuai Liang Smoke Harumi True Lin Kuei Bi-Han Sektor Hydro Cyrax(Temporarily)

Sonya Blade and Jax exists. One of my biggest problems is how Sonya and Jax were pretty much erased in this timeline. Did they not have a role for them? I mean, they can police Earthrealm like Li-Mei and Tanya policed Outworld, I really don't see why not. I think they could build up to Johnny and Sonya. Maybe start it off with how Johnny meets Kenshi. Maybe Kano and Kabal come to collect as the Yakuza are allies of the Black Dragon and that's when Sonya and Jax pop in and kick their ass. Then Liu Kang pops in and brings them in to train for Mortal Kombat. Give Cage and Sonya their usual banter and properly build up to a relationship and there you go. Side note. You can say that the Special Forces have an uneasy alliance with the United Clans as Bi-Han is jealous of Liu Kang's favoritism(that isn't even there) but after Bi-Han is exiled, TNC and SF work together to safeguard Earthrealm together.

Rain is a ninja and heir to Edenia, not Aquaman. At the start, he is Sindel's dipolmat to Edenia. Throughout the game he seems shady and as it seems he is on General Shao's side, he shows his true allegiances and stands with the Outworld Royal Family. As payment for his true loyalty, he is awarded as liege lord of Edenia and fulfills his destiny as a son of Argus.

General Shao does not have horns. I just thought it was a stupid and unnecessary design. He looked like Motaro, not fucking Shao. Give him his "Ultimate General" helmet or something like that. And if they REALLY wanted to make Shao stand out, just give him his look from the comics

Nitara is voiced by a voice actor. Look I love Megan Fox, I would die and sacrifice for her. But she was just bad in this game. Worse than Ronda Lousey voiced Sonya in MK11. NRS really should have just had Cristina Vee voice Nitara in her entirety, with Megan Fox only being the face model. Cristina Vee should at least be an alternative voice option for Nitara (including all her lines in story mode), like how you can change the announcer voice.

Hydro's inclusion. He is to Bi-Han as what Smoke is for Kuai Liang. Hydro does what Kuai Liang and Tomas are unwilling to do for the United Clans. He shares Bi-Han's vision and even killed Bi-Han's father for Bi-Han and made it look like a drowning.

Hotaru is apart of the roster. Hotaru in the New Era is the leader of Seido. He runs the oppressive regime Havik opposes. He helps Liu Kang maintain order of the realms by any means necessary and learning that Fire God Liu Kang himself put Hotaru in charge drove Havik's ire. Hotaru being absent from MK1’s narrative is a creative failure. Like, they could’ve painted a shade of grey on Liu’s character by having him recruit Hotaru to help maintain order in his timeline. The fact that there is no Chaos Realm just tells me Liu Kang just forced Hotaru and Havik to co-exist and that led to potentially Hotaru enforcing oppressive Order by any means necessary while Havik becomes an anarchist. Oh and by the fucking way. FUCK Ed Boon. How creatively bankrupt do you have to be to not only have NO Hotaru, but insist that you were gonna have him as a Kameo...A FUCKING CAMEO and even reject that? You have Havik, the embodiment of chaos and Hotaru, personification of Order, both in an authoritarian sense and a strong sense of justice and you don't fucking think to include him??? Havik is chaos personified. Hotaru is the worst aspects of Order. He can go from saving you, liberating villages and setting up a fucking police state and NRS STILL does not see the potential in Hotaru? Okay, sorry rant over.

The whole Liu Kang vs Shang Tsung thing, DOES happen. However it is not a rushing of Armageddon. Instead it is the result of the Aftermath endings. Liu Kang's timeline vs Shang Tsung's timeline in MORTAL KOMBAT! Bonus points. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa returns to voice Titan Shang Tsung. In the end, everyone must put aside their differences and work together in order to defeat Titan Shang Tsung's Order of Darkness

End with the tease of Titan Havik. But also end with a tease of Titan Hotaru. Titan Hotaru looks like Hotaru's armor, but Titan white much like from the MK11 tower endings

Khaos Reigns

Build up to Cyrax's defection. Cyrax leaving the Lin Kuei works, what doesn't work is how quick it was. Have a few UC vs TLK fights before Hanzo and Harumi's wedding. It's Kuei Liang and Harumi that ask to spare Cyrax. Just let it simmer, don't jump into it. It took Cyrax 3 games to gain his soul and humanity back,

The New Era variants are in the story. One of the things that pissed me off is how the mainline variants either don't exist or barely have lines. You'd think a NE Havik reacting to Titan Havik would be something you'd like to see in the game, but no. Dominic can't have anything logical or cool. So we'd see our heroes split into Team Ketchup and Team Mustard(I guarantee you Johnny would come up with this) Team Mustard Cyrax Hanzo Johnny Sonya Smoke Team Ketchup Sektor Tanya Kuai Liang Kung Lao Kenshi

WWII Johnny is a thing, but he's joined by Major Blade. Apparently Sonya was supposed to be in the game as Major Blade as shown in concept art....I hate NRS

Noob Saibot has a new family. Sareena, Kia and Jataaka. The Order of chaos. Aka fuck Dominic, you can pry Bi-Han/Sareena from my cold dead hands

Titan Hotaru finds Liu Kang and offers him a deal. He will help deal with Titan Havik, but in exchange that he must give him the Kamidogu. The reason why Liu Kang accepted Hotaru's deal? Titan Havik found Onaga on the loose in the realms and used the Kamidogu to tame him and he will use him to destroy the realms while Havik spreads chaos.

Noob defeats Havik, only momentarily. Havik beats him down and before he could guarantee his domination and chaos throughout the realms. Hotaru appears.

Titan vs Titan. Havik vs Hotaru. We get a similar choice as we had in Aftermath choosing the ending. Ending 1. Khaos Reigns. Havik wins and spreads Chaos throughout the realms. Ending 2. Order Supreme. Hotaru wins and ends the chaos once and for all. Hotaru helps the royal family imprison Onaga to end his rampage and most importantly. we get a clear end to Havik. And before Hotaru can retrieve the Kamidogue, Noob Saibot tries to take them for himself and for Bi-Han being Bi-Han, he is banished to the Netherrealm. "A deal is a deal, Lord Liu Kang" Liu Kang begrudgingly hands over the Kamidogu. Liu Kang looks at his friends "It was the only way" we get a somber ending. Because Hotaru would be fantastic here, especially as a overtly order obsessed character who yes, is aligned with the good guys, who slowly realize “aw shit this guys gonna be a problem too” as his methods and beliefs and goals aren’t perfectly aligned by any means beyond “stop havik”

Epilogue. Cyrax is forgiven by Hanzo and he welcomes her back into the United Clans. While Sektor condemns Bi-Han for refusing to give up his darkness/chaos. She instead focuses to improve their forces. The True Lin Kuei, now become the Tekunin. And a final shot of Johnny proposing to Sonya with Kenshi and Takeda smiling with approval.

[crowleycorvid]

Yapping about post-resurrection Garmadon's quote-unquote "redemption"

!! LONG RANT AHEAD !! much of this is his redemption arc in the Garmadon comics vs in crystalized

I actually love the version of post resurrection Garmadon that exists in my head but simply because. I read the Garmadon comics before I watched crystalized and THAT is the post resurrection "redeemed" Garmadon I think of when I think of him and I think they had him really good there. But generally I think they totally fumbled him.

Crystalized just. Misses the mark. They kind of loosely have the fundamentals of his character but they don't employ them the right way I think?

Garmadon WANTS to do good. But part of the problem is he doesn't understand that he wants that at first. At the end of the Garmadon comics he has a better grasp on that, but an important part of that is he wants forgiveness. Particularly from Lloyd! And he does not think he deserves that! He also believes that he's not capable of being more than what he is, which at least from his perspective is a destroyer and a conqueror.

They had part of this in crystalized where Garmadon wants time to himself to understand himself better (i.e. "before I can help others, I must first help myself" or whatever he says along those lines in Christofern) and I think the use of Christofern itself as a way to show his complicated feelings towards Lloyd and the internal desire for forgivness is good! But then. After that. He doesn't show it. There's a difference between him being abrasive and brash to try and hide that this is something he secretly desires or cares about- which is what happens in the Garmadon comics, especially the scene with Min where she knows he isn't ACTUALLY as angry about the red crows as he's trying to seem- and just. Being abrasive and brash because he truly feels that way. Which is more what we get in crystalized and I don't? Get why they did that??

And MORE frustrating is Lloyd is kind of painted as unreasonable for not being willing to see past that! He has no reason to! If they wanted Garmadon to be a redeemable character, which they CLEARLY do, and I honestly think it's not impossible for him to be. they absolutely needed to acknowledge that it was ultimately Lloyd's decision to forgive him or not and they just. Don't. They genuinely don't. They push this idea that Garmadon is good now or is at least trying to be and therefore Lloyd SHOULD forgive him. And that's not right! Garmadon in the comics hardly forgives himself. Literally the turning point of those comics is that the enemy he's been fighting is his own internal baggage and turmoil and it should not be the EXPECTATION for anyone else to forgive him.

Lloyd is a generally forgiving person even WHEN he's deeply betrayed. Hello. Harumi. Now granted, his father is someone much much more personal to him and it was clear he was trying to disconnect post-resurrection and sensei Garm in his mind, but I don't think it would have been out of character for him to at least partially forgive Garmadon in a natural way instead of slightly implying it in literally the last scene of the last episode if that was what they wanted to happen.

And don't get me STARTED on how the fandom treats Garmadon like some kind of saint because "it wasn't his fault." NO! His actions are his OWN! And in the comics he understands that at LEAST to some extent by the end of it! Yes, there were outside influences and factors but that does NOT excuse everything he ever did nor does it make anyone obligated to forgive him

TL;DR I don't think Garmadon is an unredeemable character but god crystalized fucked up the solid setup the Garmadon comics had for it

This another crowley rant brought to you by the obviously rushed production of the second half of crystalized and how angry it makes me. That is all good day

[phantomrev]

Posting this to my profile just so people know a little more about my ninjago HC bc I like sharing stuff I like and bc I feel like sharing it

-Cole is trans, mlm & demisexual

-Kai is bi with a pref for fem presenting people and Gals, he also had a small crush on cole for a little but ultimately saw him as a friend

-Jay is pan and cis

-Nya is genderfluid- they really said "hey become fluid like water" and went full on with it and also had a small crush on cole until someone asked "hey do you wanna be with him or do you wanna be HIM" and something clicked... not to mention all the time Nya felt nice whenever someone used He/Him btw

-Zane is nonbinary (he/they/it) and doesn't have a preference

-Pixal is genderqueer and doesnt have any preferred pronouns but likes to only be called by name

-Lloyd is trans (he/him) and also Aroace but doesnt find out until after sons of garmadon

- garmadon and wu?? Allies and dont mind anything they love their skittle ninjas/ kid

Bonus:

-Morro is Nonbinary and masc presenting (they/them but dont mind he/him) also a preference for masc/guys

-Harumi and Vania are WLW. While Vania always knew, Harumi repressed it alot.

- Ronin is trans... thats it-

-Pythor is homophobic /j

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

So the city knows that it was Garmadon that destroyed the great devourer and saved the city? So are they, like Harumi now against the Ninja?

It’s a big point of contention! Some people (like Harumi) see his slaying of the Devourer as an ultimate act of good, and his subsequent attempts to “reform the city” as a positive thing (especially given some people blame the Ninja for letting the incident happen to begin with, and thus think Garmadon does have the right idea with forcing things to be different). It’s a bit backwards, but it’s kinda the same logic he initially swayed the Shark Army with (and this is my reminder to hunt down the link to THAT post later when I get home)

Most people (like Patty Keyes and even Dareth at first, off the top of my head) are still very much against Garmadon’s destructive rampage, but also give Garmadon the ultimate credit for being the one to stop the Devourer. Opinions on the Ninja are varied depending on who you ask.

And then of course there’s people (like Antonia, and eventually a few others) that know how hard the Ninja were trying throughout the whole crisis and are well-aware that Garmadon only slayed the Devourer to further his own agenda, as he does with most things.

It’s really all a mess, but the collective just wants the city back in one piece (but we don’t have a Wu to fix it all up this time ;w;)

[cheeeerie]

OOOOOH BOY STRAP IN @coffeeisfortheresponsible

WALL OF TEXT BELOW THE CUT

The first thing I have to address is hor horribly Ninjago butchers the subject of adoption trauma. It's not handled well in the tow other places it's talked about, Skybound or Quest for the Lost Powers, but this post is already gonna be way too fucking long so we're not gonna talk about that.

According to Tommy Anderson, the original concept for Prime Empire had Jay's mother involved. She was going to be trapped in the game, and Jay's lightning power would be imperative to her survival, but it was ultimately scrapped. We don't see Jay reference the fact that he's adopted for this entire season--in fact, the last time he mentioned it was in Skybound (well, he also brought it up in Decoded while explaining the plot of Skybound) despite the fact that there has been ample opportunity to. He could have done it in Hands of Time when the previous generations of elemental masters was being discussed, or he could have brought it up when Harumi killed her adoptive parents in Sons of Garmadon, or literally any other time in the five seasons between Skybound and Prime Empire, but he doesn't. That's fine I guess, this is a show that rarely gets that deep. But then WHY bring it up at the end of Prime Empire, out of nowhere, especially in a way that makes it seem like we've witnessed Jay reflecting about his biological family at all?

To me, it kind of seems like it's because that was intended to be the emotional through-line of the season. Just like Master of the Mountain was about Cole coming to know his mother, Prime Empire seemed like it was meant to be about Jay coming to know his mother. Jay's "My parents abandoned me too but that's okay" line at the end felt like it was the ending to a different season, instead of the series of episodic side quests that was Prime Empire.

And on that note, the pacing is horrendous in this arc. Instead of going back and forth between the two groups, the one inside the game and the ones outside the game, it does this weird thing where it chunks it, spending several season with the 5 ninja and then cutting out to follow the Zane/Pixal/Wu story line for two full episodes.

(ON THAT NOTE, there is so much wasted potential for this season to have genuine themes. If not about Jay coming to terms with his adoption, then about the genuinely fascinating implications of a world where AI this advanced exists, but no, we just got Pixal being told that her feelings weren't real and she couldn't make connections like a human could and then it was resolved in ten minutes.)

I am Okino, as much as I love it, was an unnecessary episode. It would have been fantastic if we had time for it but these episodes are only 10 minutes long and there's only 16 and we DON'T HAVE TIME FOR IT. The league of Jay was really thrown in for half an episode and then was never elevant again. Lloyd, Cole, Nya, and Kai are all useless when they first enter the game and yet in the shorts Jay still gets to keep all his ninja skills. There's so many just random little things in this arc and it just. What.

THERE'S SO MANY RANDOM LITTLE THINGS IN THIS ARC AND I LOVE IT!!!

Dance Episode! Noir Episode! A gazillion side characters! Random Harumi fight!! It's SO GOOD!

It introduces way to many chaaracters, but it gets you to care about them in a way that Ninjago usually doesn't with it's side characters. I care about Okino! I care about Racer Seven! I care about Milton Dyre! Ninjago is a show with too many characters but in Prime Empire that doesn't take bother me as much because I LIKE them all.

With the way it's so episodic it honestly feels like watching Legacy of the Green Ninja. Dance episode! Race episode! Noir episode (will die mad that Ninjago Confidential wasn't called Nindroid Noir)! Side quest side quest side quest! After the heaviness of the Oni Trilogy and the second half of The Secrets of Forbidden Spinjitzu, it was just so refreshing to watch a season that was so fun.

And Prime Empire is GORGEOUS. The aesthetic of it was a little different than Ninjago's usual and it really worked, the animation was fantastic, the color palet was great, the lighting was just. Chef's kiss.

And the score of Prime Empire is genuinely the best score of any season of Ninjago and I will not be taking arguments. You are simply wrong. The music of Prime Empire is so FUN.

I guess that's kind of the thesis of this whole rant. Prime Empire may not have the strongest plot but it's the most fun to watch of all the recent Ninjago seasons-- of all the Ninjago seasons, in my opinion, and that's why it's my favorite one.

[cosmos-dot-semicolon]

saw a post that really annoyed me but also made me have sort of a breakthrough

Another thing seasons 8 to 10 have an issue with is how the writers never manage to pick what they actually want the 'new, darker' ninjago to be. There's several elements of good plot threads in there, but the writers are still basically working off their usual formula, and ultimately they end up mashing idea several ideas that don't work.

Case in point: Harumi.

(for the record. This isn't an anti-Harumi post. This is an anti-Ninjago writer post.)

I've heard lots of praise for Harumi, sure, but none of it ever seems to be like. directed towards the character in the actual show. She's supposed to be seen as someone who was pushed to their limits for reviving Garmadon fully evil, except when Lloyd points out that she'll end up killing several other families like hers and she just says 'nah fuck them'. She's supposed to be evil, except she does legitimately donate food to the poor of the city. Her death is supposed to be a tragedy, but she's said she wanted to torment Lloyd in gruesome detail on screen after manipulating him and generally being creepy as all hell.

Most egregiously, her motivation of losing her parents is supposed to be more 'morally grey' than the other villains, but in actual fact it's just Nadakhan and Morro's backstories stitched together with edgy black thread. In actual fact, she lost her parents as a child - which is admittedly traumatic, but then she was adopted into royalty, and then proceeded to start a criminal empire.

Nobody fucking goes that far. They dismiss some of that inherent privilege by saying 'oh she had to go through a lot of training to be perfect at all times', but they don't fucking show that. You have to make that up.

In all honesty, as someone who's gone through a tough upbringing myself, season 8 put a very bad taste in my mouth of what the writers think happened to traumatised kids. All we really see is a princess with the most twisted, villain-ball idea of how to do good in the world, but who also might've been right in her own way despite that.

This frame from OSP's video on villains pretty much sums up everything I think about Harumi.

These are both quite good bases for an antagonist, but Harumi never fully gets to be either of them because the show never decides what they want to do with her. It would actually be pretty biting if she was like... an Elon Musk-like character - a rich shut-in who has actively damaging ideas of what would improve society that people believe purely out of hype - or if her resurrection of Garmadon was supposed to be his season 2 self, because he did far better for Ninjago than the rest of the team, and she was actually blinded by the fact the resurrection wouldn't work for lore reasons or whatever.

But the thing is, if you try to have both, you pretty much just have a brat. While that can also work - see Morro and Nadakhan - you have to then have their actions reflect more on your protagonists than their own sympathetic side, and also you have to make it clear that THEIR IDEAS ARE BAD AND THEY ARE BAD FOR DOING THEM. It also helps to not have so much of a focus on them versus your protagonists if they're not actively being fun - otherwise they just eat up screentime before getting killed at the end of the season.

On the flip side, if you truly want a sympathetic antagonist, you have to write them with a complexity on the same level as your protagonists. Ninjago has only had that luxury once, and the character that was with had five seasons to do so, and was carried by his voice actor and relationship to Lloyd. Harumi has half that time, half that charisma quadruple the crime list, and is put in a place where we have no reason to really want her to change for the better.

It still frustrates me to this day that people took Harumi (and by extension the trilogy) as good purely because of the presence of tropes that can be done well, but actually just rip the tone of the show in half. Admittedly a lot of us were teens entering our emo 'no longer a kid' phase but like, as someone who'd seen something similar going down in MLP at the time, it was terrible to see a lot of the fans falling for the lazy writing tricks that were being pulled here.

[...this post was actually supposed to lead onto how the OP of the annoying post misinterpreted Garmadon's changed character as good because they justified it in canon, but this has gotten long enough for now :/]

[arkangelofchaos]

Since its new year for me very much soon i thought i d post something thematic. How would mk1 characters meet new year. I follow canon bc if included my own hcs it would be a bit confusing. I might have a little adding on canon fanficton but its mostly just about small details no major changing from what we know in canon.

1. Raiden and Kung Lao. Raiden would celebrate in Wu shi academy and later have dinner at Madam Bo's. Kung Lao would rather party and go out but he stays at academy out of respect for Raiden. He joins him at Madam Bo's.

2. Mileena and Kitana and Ermak. They celebrate in royal traditions and don't exactly have fun or enjoy most of them. Due to Mileena being new to throne and this season being first one without her mother,Sindel its hard for everyone. Ermak supports his daughters and does his best at being father figure in their lives. Tanya was close to Mileena through all celebration making her feel more confident and comfortable within her new role. Li Mei is invited but refused and spends the end of year at her job, still grieving her friend.

3. Sub Zero. Bi Han is not a big fan of any types of celebrations and would rather plan out attacks or just train. But since most members of Lin Kuei are quite fond of celebratory traditions he allows it. Its first year without Kuai and Tomas so it does feel kinda wrong but Bi Hans anger is stronger than his love. He does invite that demoness named Sareena to join nonetheless, being quiet fond of a woman.

4. Kuai Liang and Tomas. They are still continuing to build up a new clan, Shirai Raui,so they don't have much time to celebrate. Harumi still insisted on throwing some kind of celebration just to lighten up the mood. Newly found member, Hanzo, is exited about it too.

5.Reiko, Shao. They have just escaped prison and are rallying up a revolution against new Empress. So obviously they have nothing to be happy about or celebrate.

6. Ashrah and Syzoth. Syzoth is showing Ashrah different ways to celebrate new years. Ultimately they decided to just spend it with each other.( What activities they partaken in is unknown but pretty obvious)

7.Rain. He's in prison after flooding the city and completely heartbroken and shocked about his actions.

8. Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. They are extremely bitter and upset about the whole Damashi lie and ordeal. They decided to get drunk till they are barely conscious and plan out crazy plans. Most likely they are on a bender.

9.Nitara. probably eating people and breeding new vampires. Some crazy bitch activities.

10. Kenshi. He definitely spent new years with his family. After so much shit went down around his loved ones he managed to insure their safety and got to celebrate with them.

11. Geras. He is in this wierd time hub watching new year in every timeline. Chilling at his job.

12. Lui Kang. Lui is extremely lonely this time of year. He definitely avoids seeing any timelines and just has dinner,insures nothing bad happens at Earthrealm. Later he comes around at Johnny's party and gets blackout drunk and high.

13. Johnny Cage. He throws a big party at his new, smaller house he bought after selling previous one. Johnny not only does it to party but also to find someone to land him a role or gig. He invited everyone he knew but everyone has something to do so he mostly parties with his Hollywood friends. He does meet a blonde woman named Sonya who is there as friend of someone's friend.

14. Baraka. After improvements of living conditions in colony he decided to spend festive time there instead of going in Sun do. Baraka personally organised and decorated colony and throws a celebration for his people.

15. Havik. Somehow ends up at Johnny's party even though he wasn't invited. Causes hella chaos and gets high and drunk until passing out in the parking lot.

[laismoura-art]

Hey everyone! Remember when I told y'all I was gonna make a huge post about Harumi Shirai being playable? Well, it's heeeeere!! :D ✨️

Before we start! A thanks to @meme099 for requesting this post and a thanks to all my Harumi girlies (in special @mikka-minns @thedragonholder @madamealtruist @orbitinytheworld and @running-with-the-feels ) who have always been so supportive of my Harumi content! Hope you guys enjoy this!🩷

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Canon info used as inspo:

Harumi and Kuai are childhood friends and are in a relationship;

Harumi is head of her clan (that is not the Shirai Ryu);

Harumi uses her knowledge as Grandmistress to help Kuai and Tomas assemble the Shirai Ryu;

Harumi has connections with the Umgadi.

Everything else I used is based on Headcanons of mine, Harumi's clan being the most blatant case, I'll be linking previous posts in case you want more details!

I wanted to make Harumi a brand new character, with her own unique backstory and skill set! (It's what she deserves)

With all that in mind, LET'S BEGIN!

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TW: This will be much more explicitly violent than my regular Tumblr content, as there will be Fatalities and Brutalities. I know in this Fandom this is expected, but as it's not usual for MY content, I feel like a warning is welcome!

New Playable Fighter: Harumi Shirai🌸

🌸 Bio:

Fierce leader, talented herbalist and honorary Umgadi, Harumi Shirai is the head of her clan, the Order of Cetrion.

Founded by her ancestors and composed by women only, her clan uses their skills to aid the Elder Goddess of Life and Virtue, Cetrion, in her never-ending mission to protect all life in Earthrealm.

Nowadays, Harumi is not only the Grandmistress of her clan, but also mentor of her childhood friend and lover, Kuai Liang, as he struggles and persists in his quest to assemble a clan that will rival the Lin Kuei's might and serve as Earthrealm's new line of defence.

For more of my thoughts and HCs on Harumi and her clan, you can read these:

🌸 Gear:

As stablished in the previously mentioned posts The Daughters of Cetrion are herbalists with access to Outworldly magic and spices, so most her arsenal will reflect that!

Bottles of healing potions and deadly poisons.

Pouches of grated herbs that can heal, cause allergic reactions and, of course, kill. (Pocket sand!)

A scythe (small one, used to harvest plants but can and will slit a throat)

It is canon that Harumi has connections with the Umgadi and it's safe to assume she was trained by them (my HC is that Li Mei was her teacher), so I gave her an Umgadi skill:

Umgadi energy constructs. Only the Grandmistresses are allowed to learn this skill from the Umgadi. Harumi's constructs are pink and she shapes them like flowers and red foxes (a nod to her Animality).

🌸 Skins:

Now being quite fair, MK1 can be hardly known for its variety in skins. It is however, pretty creative when if comes to colour palettes, so I decided to rely on that!

Bellow you have Harumi's main outfit, the long sleeve nods to her canon fit while the rest was made with her clan in mind (the main reference were Cetrion's outfits)

The Grandmistress: The main colour. This is her Grandmistress outfit, all in pinkish tones, which I HC to be her family's colours)

The Scorpion: 1st colour variant has my Scorpion!Harumi colours, with a brighter shade of pink and yellow (the flower on her hair nods to her Scorpion hairpin)

Daughter of Cetrion: 3rd variation brings her clan's colours, a mix of her family's colours and Cetrion's. The colours are to represent their commitment as protectors of life and nature.

Li Mei's Apprentice: 4th variation is for her Umgadi outfit! She wears the traditional shades of yellow and silver!

The Shirai Ryu's Bride: 5th variation has Kuai's colours (and yes, the name is a nod to their relationship)

Honorary Lin Kuei: 6th variation might look controversial, but I find it hard to believe Harumi was only Kuai's friend. I HC Harumi was named honorary Lin Kuei warrior many years ago. (She wears Bi-Han’s colours to imply they were once friends too)

Bonus info:

Kuai has two of her colour palettes, "The Grandmistress" as nod to their relationship and "Daughter of Cetrion" as I HC him to be a honorary Cetrion warrior;

I drew Harumi slightly different here to make her resemble her new face model, Jiwon Ra, but I kept some of my HCs, meaning her freckles and slight heterochromia;

The tattoo on Harumi's arm is the Umgadi insignia and the pendant on her belt is her clan's.

🌸 Special moves:

Fireworks: Harumi shoots fireworks through her finger (Umgadi magic) they work as projectiles and can be shot to any height and also as she jumps or ducks; (it looks like Charlie's fireworks)

Witchy makes you dizzy: She throws a concoction that makes the opponent dizzy (it inverts your remote);

Pocket sand: She throws a pouch that makes the opponent cough (makes them stand in place)

They don't bite... much: Harumi creates two foxes with her constructs and sends them to bite the opponent;

Cetrion's healer: She uses one of her potions to heal herself.

Bonus: For stronger hits and during kombos, she will strike with her scythe;

She throws bottles and pouches of potions during her kombos.

The first and fourth move can become Brutalities. With "Fireworks" she blows up the opponent and with "They don't bite... much" her foxes eat the opponent alive.

🌸 Fatal Blow:

Beware the Forest Witch:

Harumi blows one of her powder mixes on the opponents face, the powder makes their skin itchy and they scratch their face aggressively (drawing a lot of blood).

She steps back and sends her foxes, the creatures start to bite, one of them givas a particularly strong bite, breaking the opponets leg, the other breaks their arm right after.

Harumi finishes the move with a firework attack, breaking the opponents ribs and sending them away!

The Fatal Blow can also be used as a brutality, her foxes will tear the opponents limbs off as they bite them!

🌸 Fatality:

Sacrifice for the Goddess:

Harumi uses her constructs to open holes into the opponent's chest and stomach.

She calmly walks closer, holding a pouch and a bottle as she's still deciding which one to use.

She places the pouch in the opponent's stomach hole and the bottle on their chest hole, only to change her mind at the last minute and replace the bottle with another one from her belt.

She places a smaller bottle at the opponent's mouth and slowly walks away.

The bottles and pouch explode into plants and vines with beautiful flowers that start to grow inside the opponent's holes and mouth as they fall backwards. The opponent starts to look like a gory flower pot.

From the opponent's mouth grows a singular pink flower, which Harumi gently plucks and sniffs as her victory is announced.

🌸 Intro animations:

When she's pushed away by her opponent, she carves her scythe on the ground to stop her momentum. Her foxes constructs are already by her side. She pets them to assure she's ok and raises up saying "my foxes will be eating well today"

When she's the one pushing, she distances herself with a one-handed cartwheel and a back flip. Her hands glows as she moves, summoning flowery shapes around them. She mocks the opponent calling them "fertilizer for Cetrion's gardens"

🌸 In-between rounds animation:

When she wins: She recreates her foxes constructs and pets them, sweetly calling them "good boys"

When she loses: She uses one of her potions to "heal" herself (she'll grunt in pain and anger as she does)

🌸 Victory animation:

She will use her constructs to slightly recriate this one victory animation of Cetrion from MK11. Her foxes will be lying by each of her sides.

🌸Ending:

"The arrival of Titan Shang Tsung inspired many other foes to rise and act on their darkest desires.

In their path they left behind only death and destruction. Among their victims, were the Living forests and the Capital of Seido.

As Daughters of Cetrion, it is my clan's duty to protect life and preserve the nature. Such disasters would never pass unnoticed by us.

Lady Cetrion healed the forest and put a stop to the flood that had already killed so many. In a way only her magic could!

My sisters and I helped as we could, searching for survivors, protecting and healing them.

Once they were out of harm, it was time to get them justice. Reunited with my old friends and mentor in the Umgadi, we went after the responsible for this atrocity.

Havik, the agent of chaos."

🌸 A few intro dialogues:

🔥 With Kuai:

Harumi: Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're my fiancé.

Kuai: I know you'll go harder on me because I'm your fiancé.

--------------------------------------

Kuai: I'll join you against Havik in a heartbeat.

Harumi: I appreciate it, but you already have much in your plate, Grandmaster.

--------------------------------------

Kuai: When you're around Hanzo, do you ever feel...

Harumi: Like I've met him before? All the time.

--------------------------------------

Kuai: So, about those comic books you borrowed?

Harumi, chuckling: We're married now, Sunbeam. What's yours is mine!

--------------------------------------

Kuai: So when you said "Summer camping" you actually meant training with the Umgadi?

Harumi: Uh... Surprise?

--------------------------------------

Kuai: So you and Tanya...?

Harumi: So you and Cyrax?

--------------------------------------

Kuai: You think things will ever get better with Bi-Han?

Harumi: Of course! As long as we don't give up on him!

--------------------------------------

❄️ With Bi-Han:

Bi-Han: I only wish to speak to my brothers.

Harumi: And your men lurking on my territory, are they here only to speak too?

--------------------------------------

Bi-Han: Step aside, Harumi, this is family matter.

Harumi: Have you forgotten, dear? I am family.

--------------------------------------

Harumi: Come alone to the Shirai Ryu. Let's put our differences aside.

Bi-Han: So you can stab me in the back?

--------------------------------------

Harumi: We used to be friends, Bi-Han.

Bi-Han: Regrettably, Harumi, things have changed.

--------------------------------------

Harumi: So how is Cyrax doing?

Bi-Han: Your concoctions have been quite helpful...

--------------------------------------

💨 With Tomas:

Tomas: Are you sure Hanzo is over 18?

Harumi: *Sigh* For the last time, Tom. Yes!

--------------------------------------

Tomas: Wait, you know Kuai has a crush on you?

Harumi, chuckling: Who doesn't know?

--------------------------------------

Harumi: You drank my truth serum??

Tomas: it's not my fault you stash your potions with the kitchen spices!

--------------------------------------

Harumi: The Shirai Ryu is turning out great!

Tomas: And you thought we were total lost causes!

--------------------------------------

Harumi: Where did you say you found your apprentice again?

Tomas: He fell from a tree!

--------------------------------------

Tomas: So your Umgadi friend Jade...

Harumi: Want me to introduce you to her?

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

So for now I only have these dialogues with the Sub-Zero siblings, but I'll tell you that:

If you want so see Harumi interacting with other characters, you can send me an ask with the character(s) you want and will make some intro dialogues with them! (Maximum 3 characters per ask, please)🩷

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Yoo folks! We made it!! Playable Fighter Harumi Shirai at your services!!!

Thank you very much for reading, I hope you have enjoyed!

If you have thoughts, questions and/or suggestions, please DO TELL! I'd love to chat to you about my girl!💕

🌸 🦊 ✨️

[ice-emperor-zane]

About the point of Harumi giving food to the poor kids, I have to admit that that skipped over me during my many rewatch of S8 so good on you OP!

I'm sending this ask because I wanna know what your Lloyd's love language(s) is/are. Because this sorta seems like an 'act of service' but in a lot of fanfics it's quality time or touch.

Also, your hcs for all the ninja's love languages? I'm curious and you post good content.

Yeah! I think i agree with you, especially about acts of service. Nobody ever really did anything for him as a kid (other than the serpentine, and that was all very conditional, they all had their own motives for helping him) so now when someone does even the tiniest thing for him it can sometimes feel overwhelming.

The title of the green ninja probably made this more prominent, being expected to risk everything to save everyone in ninjago city all the time does that to a mf, he probably bases his worth on how much he can help people out, its the ultimate act of service.

As for quality time and touch,,,,

Idk, this is more of a headcanon but he seems like more of an introvert to me, he needs more alone time than most of the others, a lil bit of quality time is nice but generally nah. As for touch, I think it’d remind him too much of how morro’s possession felt and how Harumi tried to kiss him in that cave next to the mask of hatred.

This is getting too long i’ll have to put the headcanons for the other ninja’s love languages in another post (also theres a couple i need to think about a bit more)

[serpentfever]

Time Travelling Oni Au

Because y’all seem to like my ramblings, have this. Another concept of mine I’ve sort of been fleshing out is a time travel concept. Quick heads up, like many of my other ideas, this story concept will also be Lloyd centric.

This story focuses on the idea that during the final confrontation with the oni, the ninja and their allies were killed. They lost the final battle, leaving only Lloyd.

However, this really wasn’t supposed to happen. The structural integrity of the realms has been thrown out of balance, and as a result, things are starting to collapse. As a last ditch effort to restore the balance, Lloyd is sent back in time. How exactly this happens I haven’t quite figured out yet, but I’m leaning towards it being the work of a dragon possessing the time element.

Once Lloyd ends up in the past, he’d be pretty distraught and confused. And from here he’d eventually somehow end up going to Mystake, where he’d find out he was sent nearly seven years back in time (In other words, a couple months prior to the events of s1)

From here, Lloyd would become determined to fix the future, and not allow any of the terrible events that happened to them to happen again. He would train his abilities with Mystake, pretty much throwing himself into that work in order to ignore his own grief.

Obviously, this ends up very canon divergent. A couple key points that would end up changed:

The Devourer is never released.

Because the Devourer is never released, her venom isn’t able to awaken the stone army. This prevents s2 and s3 in their entirety from happening.

These two differences would have huge impacts on how the plot goes from here.

F!Lloyd would spend a lot of time doing things behind the scenes, such as sneaking into Chen’s island to burn Clouse’s anacondrai book, and possibly attempting to break his staff. He’d also likely take other smaller actions, perhaps looking for information on the members of the Sons of Garmadon so he can prevent them from ever having a reason to join the gang in the first place.. (Of course this ultimately wouldn’t matter because by preventing the devourer from being released, Harumi’s parents are never killed.)

The first way in which F!Lloyd would end up altering time is through how he manages the Serpentine situation. He would likely allow his past self to release the serpentine, but would then step in (Disguised, obviously) in an attempt to broker a peace treaty between the serpentine and humans.

He would likely accomplish gaining their respect to get them to listen to him by challenging the generals to a slither pit in much the same way that Pythor did in the main timeline, and from there try to work with them to have peace without drastic measures.

However, this would create a lot of tension as unlike in the previous timeline, the serpentine at this point wouldn’t have been defeated so thoroughly, and many are still quite angry at the humans for their injustice towards them. This would likely create an arc in which F!Lloyd tries to balance an already falling apart treaty that could potentially even spark civil war between both different humans and serpentine tribes. Lots of fun. :)

I will likely post more info and art on this in the future, but I didn’t want this infodump to get too long so here’s what I’ve got for now.

[bokutok]

[Loser has to cosplay] Competition with Pio House! Betting our pride on this cooking battle! [MxH Channel]

I don’t think I’ve ever posted translations on here but here we go I guess. This is a translation of part of the Otomate 2021 April’s Fools event where characters from several games function as streamers/content creators for a video streaming site and basically fun AU just things. This one is basically a made-up collaboration between characters from the games Piofiore and Lover Pretend. (if you find any mistakes in the translation or typos please feel free to message me and point them out so i can correct them!)

Harumi: "H-Hello.  I'm the one responsible for Cosplay tutorials at the Manken x Henshin Channel. In this video I'm working alongside my colleague Kazuma, who's responsible for Hair and Makeup tutorials in our channel. Usually we do cosplay & hair and makeup styling tutorials aimed towards beginners together on our channel."

Kazuma: "Hey-ho! I'm Kazuma! Ah as always Haru-san forgot to introduce himself while doing the introduction. Today we have some super amazing guests who are gracing us with their presence!!"

Harumi: "Yes, today we are working together with Pio House's Gilbert and Yang.. if you would like to..."

Gil: "Oi, Yang, Introduce yourself."

Yang: *huffs*

Gil: "Geez. Yo, everyone watching MxH Channel. My name is Gilbert. The one huffing and puffing over there is Yang. Let's have fun together today."

Harumi: "L-L-L-Let's work hard together. Usually Pio House does Mukbang videos and eh? Disputes..?...As-Assasination........?"

Kazuma: "Yep! They usually do Food-related videos so today we are doing this~!"

Title Card: Cooking Competition

Kazuma: "Super easy to understand right? Buuuut, a normal cooking competition would be super boring so we are letting these boxes decide what we are making today!"

Three boxes "Theme", "Dish", "Cooking Person"

Kazuma: "They are gonna decide the Theme and... uh..."

Harumi: "Theme, Dish and Cook."

Kazuma: "Yes! That! In there are cards with said words on them. So we pull one card out of each box to decide who's gonna make what."

Gil: "I see, this competition is quite luck based, isn't it?"

Harumi: "Yes. At the end everyone here is going to have a taste test and we will vote on which dish is going to win. And... whoever loses is going to have to face a punishment game!"

Yang: ".....Punishment Game?"

Harumi: *shreeks*

Kazuma: "You're just gonna have to watch to find out! A Hint: It's related to what we do on this channel. You know, that thing~"

Harumi: "It's already kind of been shown but whatever"

Yukito: "Well then! Kaaay~ everyone pay attention now~ I'll be directing stuff from here on out~"

Kazuma: "Ha! Aren't you that certain ikemen model that appears on here quite frequently? Is it okay for you to show your face just like that?"

Yukito: "Oh, well, today is a special video so it's fine right?"

Harumi: "Ehh?? Is it okay to be that sloppy about it?"

Yukito: "I asked my manager so it's fiiiiine~ Well let's check the boxes and see who's gonna do what!"

Harumi: "Geez, ultimately you're still doing this really half-minded."

~Wait a moment please~

Yukito: "Done! The result of the card draw is this~!"

Harumi: "Eh? M-Me?"

Kazuma: "Do your best, Haru-san! If you try hard you can do it!"

Yang: "Who came up with these topics...?"

Gil: "Oi, calm down, Yang! This is alright, isn't it? Even if you can't make a fancy hot pot it will serve as good content for the video!"

Yang: "...Alright, I'll show you how to do it."

~Cooking Time~

Gil: "Woah."

Kazuma: "Aaaaa Haru-san, you have to season it, too!"

Gil: "Who's going to eat that?"

Kazuma: "Ah! Ah!"

~Cooking done~

Yukito: "First, let's start with MxH Channel's dish!"

Harumi: "Y-Yes! I tried to do my best!"

Kazuma: "T-This is! Yes this really looks like you did your best! Barely can't believe you tried this for the first time!"

Yukito: "Well, this certainly has a super cute feel to it, but how did the cooking aspect turn out? First of all, is it even deep fried...?"

Harumi: "You don't have to point it out like that..."

Yukito: "Oh well, let's look at what Pioz House came up with!"

 Yang: "I made Mala Hot Pot."

Gil: "It's super red ???"

Yang: "Are you happy, Redford? Red is a colour that makes your neighbourhood shine, isn't it?"

Gil: "But it isn't a colour you should find in cooking... Also, is this really something humans can eat?? My eyes already hurt from standing next to it."

Yukito: "And where did the fancy aspect go??"

Yang: "It's Hot Pot so it's fancy right? If you put something in a pot it's immediately fancy."

Gil: "What kind of master of ridiculous logic are you?? You idiot.."

Kazuma: "Eh? I don't get it? How is it fancy?"

Yukito: "Nono there is definitely no master to be found here."

Harumi: "Well it's okay isn't it! Compared to what I made."

Yukito: "Now that you say it, we still have to do the taste test! Well, both look like they aren't safe to eat... and I have a photoshoot tomorrow so an upset stomach wouldn't work for me, please excuse me."

Kazuma: "I have work tomorrow morning.. if i even touch on the topic of taking off work I swear my senpai is going to kill me."

Yukito: "Looking at the food it looks like it's gonna be a draw anyway because both look absolutely indigestible! So be good boys and both do the punishment game~!"

Yang: "Huh...?  Don't you think it's cowardly to suddenly change the rules at the end?"

Gil: "Well you both completely missed the topic and failed so it's a fair loss.."

Yukito: "Anyway the punishment game is gonna be doing cosplay and doing a photoshoot for the thumbnail of this video!"

Kazuma: "The cosplay is gonna be decided by card draw again! Pick whatever card speaks to you!"

Harumi: "Haa, I guess I was kind of already expecting it while cooking..."

Yang: "How idiotic. Not like I have to draw a card."

Gil: "Well, then I'm gonna draw for you! The 2nd one from the right!"

Yang: "....Ha?"

Kazuma: "Thanks Mr. Gilbert! Ehh 2nd card from the left iiis..."

~Please wait a moment~

Yukito: huffing and puffing "We finally somehow managed to get both of them changed..."

Kazuma: "I did the makeup of course. I thought i was gonna be killed for sure while doing it, but I was brave and went through with it completely anyway!"

Gil: "Oh? I'm looking forward to the result."

Yukito: "Now, now, you two, come out!"

Yang: "................................................."

Harumi: "Mr. Yang... please... maybe you can smile a bit?"

Yang: "Huh?"

Gil: "Woaaah, almost looks like you came out of a dreamworld."

Yukito: "Looks good you two! Mr. Yang, could you lean a bit more to the side? Oh and Haru can you twist your arm a little more? Yes, like that!"

Kazuma: "This turned out to be a masterpiece! This is gonna be the raddest thumbnail!"

Yang: "I've had enough."

Harumi: "Eh? You're leaving already?? We still have to take individual pictures, too-"

Gil: "I'm moved, Yang! You endured this really well for once."

Yang: "..............................."

Gil: "Well then, thanks for having us. It was fun! We're gonna leave before Yang explodes, sorry for making you clean up!" 

Kazuma: "Eh? Did they really just leave just like that?"

Harumi: "Ah... but it suited him really well... and i even crossdressed this prettily..."

Yukito: "Oh well, don't cry, Harumi-chan. You're gonna ruin your cute face."

Kazuma: "Yukito, are you really gonna flirt with anyone who looks like a girl?"

Yukito: "Huh? But Harumi-chan is always cute."

Harumi: "As if hearing you say that would make me happy!"

Kazuma: "Well seeing that those two already left, let's say our closing words for this one!"

Harumi: "*whining noises* If you think this video was funny please leave a like!"

Kazuma: "And don't forget to subscribe to our channels!"

[master-of-fluff]

How many AUs do you have? (And can you tell what they all are?😅😁)

I have 10 Au's so far so here they are with a bit of info in no particular order

1. kidnapped kai au

ok so in this au kai unlocks his elemental powers before he met Wu causing garmadon to take an interest in him and so kai was the one who was kidnapped instead of nya and nya has to get kai back -she also joins the ninja team from the start and is told about her parents and their powers

I have fanfictuon out about this -just search the kidnapped kai au tag but im taking a break from updating so that I can plan it out more and have an outline

2. is my bnha crossover au

so this morro, garmadon and harumi get reincarnated into the bnha verse

morro becomes the adopted older brother of the main character midoriya

harumi becomes the twin of this crazy rich inventory girl

and garmadon becomes a theripist

they all basically help the main character achieve his end goal of becoming the no.1 hero without a superpower -idk if you watch bnha but basically 80% of the people there have a power called a quirk and the main character is a part of the 20% that don't)

Im also making an outline for this one so I might write it out sometime next Yearo making an outline for this one so I might write it out sometime next Year

3. hybrid smith siblings au

basically ray is a demon and maya is an angel they fell in love and were kicked out of their homes and hurled to earth -they use magic to keep their appearance hidden and nonbody knows

-until kai starts growing wings and horns

-nya grows them too but it starts at a certain age so at the start the focus is mostly on kai

I don't have much for this au besides its polyninja lol

I just think that jay would help with sensory overloads since Kai's senses inhance and also his wings are very sensitive

and zane would help kai with feeling different

and Cole is just the rock that knows what to say to ground him

thats literally all I have for this au

4. polyninja fam au

ok so in this au the ninja -who are all dating- get tired of saving ninja go and quit and run away -taking lloyd with them and adopting him ofc

-they also steal some yesterday's tea and turn lloyd back Into a kid so he can have the life head supposed to

-so first they live in the old lighthouse zanes dad was trapped in since its self sustaining -which is where they find echo who they also adopt

then slowly they each get jobs

-cole becomes a comic book artist/author

-kai and lloyd make video games (they also have cole make comics for said video games

-zane becomes a chef (who donates half his profits to orphanages)

-and jay works for cyrus borg

we also have polyponytail:

-nya and pixal help skylor out at the noodle shop

-they mostly help by making invitations to help with everything

-but if it's real busy they help in the restaurant

dareth and ronin are also dating and pretty much lloyd and echos uncles

-ronin uses them as a distraction to steal stuff though

-dareth is good at making up weird games

-they are good babysitters

-sorta

also brad and gene become good friends with lloyd and echo

5. highschool au -this is also polyninja-

this was made with @/stranger mask @/lloyd-garma-gun and @/superstar-rockin-abs

basically the ninja are in highschool but

pastel goth zane

jock jay

nerd kai

vintage cole

polyponytail met in chess club

polyamory with lloyd gene and brad and they are all cheer leaders

halfway checkpoint

6. nindroid jay au

jay is one of the older prototypes that dr.Julian made and dumped

years later Ed and edna find him and repair him

since his parents are inventors he basically adds a bunch of things to himself -like retractable wings and stuff

Zane and him feel a weird connection but neither of them remember their creator until tick-tock -this is all I have for this au

7. paranormal YouTubers au

this is an au im making for @/wojira and if u want more details u should probably ask her -I'll also tag u in the og post about this au if you ask

basically the ninja are collage sstudents who started a YouTube channel where they invest haunted places as a joke but they become super popular -again more details in the original post if you ask-

8. manipulative morro au

me and @/thebluelittlewitch2-thesequel made this but @/superstar-rockin-abs and @/grembeak gave hs the idea i think

basically lloyd didn't get hit by tomorrows tea so instead of possessing lloyd morro manipulates him into doing things for him by saying that lloyd gone crazy and the only way for 'the voicemail' -aka morro- to go away is for him to do certain things

harumi later teams up with morro for a second try on revenge andalso becomes more of a mother figure to lloyd then a lover -lloyd is a bit younger then her in this au

she uses her powers to start an orphanage but really its a place for her to train and raise a cult of parentless children that they are orphans because of lloyd and that if they follow her they can all have revenge

her code name is changed respectively to 'mother lullaby' and morro's is 'toxic wind'

9. evil ed and edna au

basically Ed and edna are evil assasins/ inventors who become obsessed with making the ultimate weapon

they basically turn jay into a hydra experiment -training him and experimenting on him over and over and over-

but eventually they decide that he is a failed experiment and abandon him -at this point he looks far from human

but kai and nya find him and take him in -he is a year older then nya so nya is ten hes eleven and kai is 13-

at first jay thinks he was kiddnaped but there is no way these kids could have so then he thinks that him being there is another test and he has to figure out what it is but eventually he figures out he was abandoned

he helps the smith siblings by inviting things that help them around the house -and also making toys for nya and kai-

they become a small family

10. thiccjago

just look at the @lord-garmabooty-official blog...that's all you need to know

whew that took way too long but here ya go!!!h

[blursed-ninjago-ideas]

(Mint) Also looking at my Ultimate Medley thing I realize I should have said LLOYD does 2 Faced Lovers, because Harumi was a thing that happened, so then I’d have Zane be Intense Voice and Cole be Dissapearence (DotD makes the latter work in case you’re wondering) (which you probably aren’t but I just felt the need to fix this? Idk)

alrighty then. I will post your update on weeb shit you thought too hard about! ;P

-Ivy

[spring-emerald]

say cheese!

Tetsurou has a foolproof way of making Daichi smile for the camera.

Happy Birthday, Daichi!!! Happy New Year, everyone! :D

-----

It’s no secret that Tetsurou is a knack for photography. It’s a skill that comes naturally to him, especially belonging to the generation of people where stories of their daily lives are shared in social media in the form of short thread of words or series of pictures that paint more than words ever can. It’s a skill he’d honed, thanks to his friends who pooled together some money and unknowingly enrolled him in a short photography class, going as far as getting his dad to buy him his own professional camera, for his coming-of-age present.

And judging from the numerous likes and comments he gets, it’s not a stretch to say that he’s good and can probably make a living out of it. Though for him, it largely remains a hobby, something to do to relax and take his mind off university related stressors and responsibilities. He shares his photos because he wants to share how he sees the world, how beautiful he thinks the world is.

His portfolio range from everyday objects, food and sceneries, but by far, his ultimate favorite subject and forever muse is his husband, Officer Sawamura Daichi.

In the interest of full disclosure, Tetsurou would like to state that he has an album on his phone and folders within a folder on his laptop dedicated to Daichi, full of photos and attached memories, both stolen and otherwise, meticulously sorted and labeled. And it outnumbers the other subjects combined.

Some of his favorite photos of Daichi range from a stolen shot of his side profile, while looking out the train window, during their trip to Tokyo, the first time Daichi meet his Dad; a surprise picture of him, mid-slurp of his favorite ramen during their first unofficial date; a Sawamura siblings picture, with Daichi’s arms thrown over Haruki and Harumi’s shoulders, pulling them close, where he’s tearful but immensely proud during the twin’s graduation; a selfie of them, with him kissing Daichi’s cheeks, the tall and bright Christmas tree behind them, their first Christmas as an official couple; and a private photo of Daichi, sleepy, soft, tangled with the sheets, during their honeymoon.

Suffice to say, and as cheesy as it is, Daichi is the beauty he sees in the world. And it’s only fitting that he shares it.

Though, fairly recently, because of a picture of Daichi in his uniform Tetsurou had taken and shared on his public account, he had become internet famous and had been dubbed as the ‘Cutie Officer from Miyagi’. His photo went viral, a local television network did a scoop about him and his life as a police officer. It boosted the morale of the police force in Miyagi, especially Daichi’s department, though it’s not exactly the way they want to get the people’s attention to their causes. Either way, any publicity is still publicity.

The downside however, because of the incident, Daichi had publicly recognizable, and thus have become wary of Tetsurou taking pictures of him. Whenever he sense that Tetsurou’s angling his camera, pointing it at his direction, he would be quick to cover his face or carefully push the camera or phone away, and Tetsurou had to resort to sneakily taking photos of him, for some time just so he could add more pictures on his growing album and folder. They eventually reached a compromise though. Daichi lets him take pictures again, but with the steadfast promise of not sharing it anywhere. And while Tetsurou was disappointed with not being able to flex his husband on social media, it’s an infinitely better alternative to not being able to take proper pictures at all.

Thankfully, the hype’s already passed and died down. Daichi isn’t being accosted or waited by fangirls in the precinct anymore, those who didn’t stop even after knowing he’s already taken and happily married, and more importantly, the number of juvenile delinquencies have dropped, much to the relief of the community. The only reminder they have of the incident is the said viral photo of Daichi along a screenshot of his brief interview, still pinned to the precinct’s bulletin board, and the occasional, good-natured teasing from his fellow police officers.

“Daichi, honey, my love,” Tetsurou says, rubbing his gloved hands together in front of his face, his camera hanging around his neck. “Just one picture, please?”

Daichi sighs and it comes out as a thick huff. “Tetsu, we talked about this.” He adjusts his scarf closer to cover his neck.

“I know! But it’s your birthday! And it’s the end of the decade. I want us to commemorate. Please? Just one picture.” Tetsurou nearly prostrates on the ground with the way he’s pleading.

“We already took selfies. Isn’t that enough?”

It’s enough, if Tetsurou’s going to be honest. They have photos in front of the shrine, and he’s also taken a cheesy photo of their hands intertwined and showing their rings. But those are to commemorate the coming New Year, and their relationship. He doesn’t have one that celebrates Daichi’s birthday.

He tells Daichi so. “Please?”

Daichi bites his lips. He doesn’t actually mind having his photo taken to commemorate his birthday. He knows about Tetsurou and his thorough and near obsessive hobby of taking pictures especially of those that celebrates something in his and their lives. And he appreciates it a lot that Tetsurou is always keen to celebrate the moments they share. He sees the pleading look on Tetsurou’s face and sees how important it is for him to have this.

“Alright,” he concedes with a soft smile. It is something to celebrate after all and he’s more than willing to do it for Tetsurou. “You can take as many as you like but you just post one, alright?”

Tetsurou fist-pumps the air, jostling his camera, before bringing a hand on his chest. “I swear.”

Daichi shakes his head, smiling at his husband’s antics. “Where and how do you want me?”

Tetsurou grins and takes them back to the well-lighted section where they took selfies before, as snow starts falling softly. He asks Daichi to pull his scarf down, so his whole face is visible. Daichi for his part, fixes up his appearance and pats down on the fur lining his coat and pressed over them to straighten any creases that it might have.

“Hey Daichi,” Tetsurou calls out and Daichi looks up instinctively. Tetsurou’s poised to take the picture, the lens reflecting the lights overhead. “I love you,” he says behind the camera.

Daichi is surprised at first, but eventually a wide smile bloomed on his face. Tetsurou expertly captures the moment, preserving it in time.

The resulting photo shows how the snowflakes are suspended in the air around Daichi, the light coming from the food stalls and hanging lanterns lent the much needed illumination, casting Daichi in soft glow, making the flush on his cheeks and his incredible happiness shine through that Tetsurou is sure that anyone who looks at the picture would find themselves unconsciously smiling too.

Tetsurou treasures it the most, and in his humble opinion, is his best one. Not only because of how beautiful it ended up being, but because he knows that he’s the one that brought the undeniable look of love from Daichi.

(It’s a bonus that it ends up his most liked photo to date.)