#jay rambles about love and other things she doesn't really understand

[asher-hyperfixation-hell]

Alright, so, I wanna ramble about my Ninjago Infinity Train AU I wanna write because ubfeuhrbfenw

First things first, I'm prolly gonna write it no matter what because I'm silly like that, the poll was more so to decide if I should post it.

Second, what is Infinity Train? Well I'm here to teach you uncultured folks. Infinity Train is an animated show that centered around people boarding a train with infinite cars and being given glowing numbers on their hands, making friends with denizens, creatures who live on the train, as they go from car to car to find a way home.

I have to go into spoiler territory after this, but if you haven't watched Infinity Train, I highly recommend you do so first because it's so good and so underrated. You can watch it here!

you better have watched infinity train

It's revealed that the numbers on their hand actually represent a trauma or something in their life (divorced parents, bullying, neglect, abandonment, broken friendships, etc) they must learn to overcome to lower their number to 0 and eventually get off the train, however, if they make the situation worse, their number can go up instead.

So, essentially the Infinity Train is just a train that lowkey kidnaps people to give them therapy, top tier business.

This AU would essentially just be the Ninjago characters in a modern, normal world with no elemental powers, ninja, or anything like that, so they all live in different places and don't know who each other are.

That's until they all end up boarding the train.

Cole boards first. His rocky relationship with his father has finally pushed him to his breaking point, after his mother's death, that he never really got over, his relationship with Lou only got worse and worse until one night Cole finally decides that he's leaving, running away and boarding a train to get him as far away as he can, only for it to be the Infinity Train

Next is Jay. Jay has been struggling with bullying for years at this point, completely isolated from the other kids his age as he's looked down on for his poor life and excitable personality. Luckily, he's always had his parents who have been nothing but loving and caring to him, acting as the main source of stability in his life. That all crashes down when his class has a heritage assignment where Jay finds out he's adopted. Wanting nothing more than to hide away, the train comes to pick him up.

Zane is picked up third. I find his intro the hardest to explain, but I'll still try. Zane is mostly struggling with why he's so different and why he doesn't understand why people do things the way they do. On his mission to understand others, he accidentally gets himself in trouble again and again with the people around him. All this eventually accumulates to his single father losing his job. Feeling guilty, Zane doesn't want to be a burden on his dad any more and attempts to leave to try to live on his own, causing him to board the train.

Kai and Nya board the train at the same time. Like in the show, Kai and Nya are left to raise themselves since a young age, causing them to grow up in an incredibly stressful situation. One night they get into an argument about how each of them thinks the other is sacrificing too much. Kai is frustrated and stressed that Nya is pushing herself so hard to be perfect and wants to drop out so he'll be spending less money and Nya is frustrated and stressed that Kai has already dropped out and completely thrown away his life for her. This eventually accumulates to Nya storming out, only for her to be forcefully picked up by the train, Kai getting taken as well when he tries to save her. They wake up on the train separated.

Finally, Lloyd boards the train. For as long as he can remember, it's just been him and his mom against the world. She tries to earn enough money to take care of her son while Lloyd is often mistreated by everyone due to crimes his, now missing, father committed. It causes everyone to see him as a danger and Lloyd to feel like a burden on his mom. One night, when walking home, Lloyd is ambushed and beaten up by a group of teens, only for the train to suddenly pull up, scaring them away. Lloyd, however, is drawn to it, which causes him to board the train. While on it, he quickly learns that something and that he's different due to huis number being broken, glitching and giving him secret messages.

From there, we follow the characters' journeys on the train as they meet characters from throughout ninjago, some are fellow passengers, others are denizens, friends and foes are made, battles are fought, the six characters all working towards getting home as they eventually become their found family of six.

SO YA- IDK- I HOPE THAT EXPLAINS IT AND POSSIBLY MAKES SOME OF YOU INTERESTED IN READING IT, OR AT LEAST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN WATCHING INFINITY TRAIN CUZ ITS SO GOOD YALL AND IM SO PISSED ABOUT IT BEING CANCELLED ISTG

[auradoniandreams]

What are your honest thoughts on Lonnie and her family in Descendants?

Personally, I've always liked Lonnie, but I have to admit that at this point in time I feel like I'm more attached to the fanon version of her (who has actual motivations and a backstory), than the canon version whose personality changes every 5 seconds. I feel like she had real potential as an AK who likes the VK's, and who's also not afraid to challenge Auradon's status quo, but something got lost along the way.

I don't really have any thoughts about her family, tho (outside of the og Mulan movie, anyway - but we're talking Descendants now). They're barely mentioned, and when they are, we're reminded that Disney doesn't know what to do with ethnic characters (*cough* Lil' Shang *cough*). I'm not Asian/Chinese myself, so I can't rly speak on the representation aspect (if you're Asian, and would like to, feel free to share your opinion in the replies/reblogs! I'd love to hear them), but it's obvious that Lonnie is not a Chinese name, and from what I understand, naming a kid after their parents is a big no-no in Chinese culture.

So...yeah. I have a lot of thoughts on her characterization tho, so if you wanna hear me ramble about her character arc, click on the read more link.

Before D1: The first time we see her, in the School of Secrets webseries that was released before D1 as promo, she's spying on the other AK's, trying to expose the shady things that happen behind closed doors, and to challenge the idea that the upcoming arrival of the VK's signals an imminent doom for Auradonian society. Granted, they never confirmed the fact that it was her behind the shorts, but she was voiced by the same actress that played her in the movies and if I remember correctly she also had the same bracelets.

Based on this appearance, she sounds like an incredibly interesting character, as the only other AK besides Ben and Doug who wants to give the VK's a chance. Additionally, she's standing up for what she believes in like her mother did, without turning into a carbon copy of Mulan.

D1: Her attitude towards the VK's is kind of confusing; one minute, she's asking the girls for a haircut and showing the c4 sympathy for their shitty childhoods, having little to no problem with them. The next, she's screaming and running along with Audrey and her princesses. Peer pressure? Personality shift? Fear of Mal's dark magic? Go figure.

D2: She sneaks out to the Isle of the Lost, helps the c4 fight Uma's crew, and she uses a loophole to enter the R.O.A.R. team as its first female captain. I loved seeing them develop her character more and give her a plotline, but I also kind of wished they hadn't turned her into a full carbon copy of her mother. I think this is when the writers also started getting confused abt her character, because in the first movie she was a lot more girly, and not necessarily athletic. Obviously she can be both at the same time but it felt like a sudden change.

Wicked World: Her personality (??) mostly stays the same, but for reasons that I can't figure out, she forgets she likes fencing, and is suddenly into...music??? She has a side gig as a DJ??? Uhh ok

School of Secrets: Lonnie's Warrior Sword: We're reverting back to her D2 characterization: she's athletic, headstrong, and anxious about her mother's legacy, or whether she can fulfill it. The plot also borrows a lot of elements from the og Mulan movie. It's an enjoyable read, but it's pretty much what you'd expect from a daughter of Mulan, and I wish they'd done more with her.

I liked her relationship with Jay, tho. Their dynamic (esp in the books ) is fun and they make a good team. That was a highlight for sure.

All in all, I like her, but she suffers from the same problem that every side character in this franchise does: inconsistency.

[hannahhook7744]

Oh so Cj WENT BACK for Zevon and he wasn't always there. That's cute. Also I gave up on keeping track of the episodes so here's some rambling.

I can't believe these kids are having sleepovers. They're so cute and little.

My heart is aching.

So many parties.

Also guys, if you don't tell them stuff they aren't gonna know it.

Also you gotta change into your pjs at some point, guys. Those dresses can't be comfortable.

Who's house are you at?

Nice music video.

Ally that doesn't explain it.

I don't understand this whole jewel thing?

Baby Audrey wears classes and it's cute.

Why'd you steal the villains' jewels? That sounds rude.

JANE! STOP DOING MAGIC ON PEOPLE.

Mal's jewel is missing. Great.

Guys what the fuck. Why didn't you tell her THAT either?

That is the worst way to break it to her.

Why even tell her about the party?

Mal baby you can't keep running back to the isle to do shit by yourself.

Also the isle's security is awful lol.

And they stole a limo.

Shh.

Dr. Facilier hiding shit for the villains is canon.

Why are you playing Music?

Lol Hades Busy looks nothing like him.

That shop is sooo dirty. Careful what you touch guys.

Facilier why do you have skulls?

Mal did find her jewel.

Oh damn she's evil again.

Also yeah, he's definitely gonna notice you were there.

Awww their friendship is cute.

A dance seems over the top.

Love the banter and that Jane giggled at Audrey's joke.

Guys what did I say about assumptions? I mean, ik they're right this time but I'm starting to see why Mal keeps messing up at being good with the way they all talk to her.

I love that Evie, Jane, and Ally all stood up for Mal. At least they're learning.

Oof. That's... That vandalism is not gonna make Mal look good. ):

ZEVON HAS ARRIVED.

And he's stealing chemicals.

Rainbow nail polish.

Jane, baby, you're doing magic. You can chill about the school rules.

Love Ally's accent.

Jane is definitely younger than the others you can tell.

Audrey, please calm down.

Oof. Poor girls.

Dang I love that Audrey's using Jane as a shield.

Poor Ally is going through it. What kind if dreams does she have?

Love that Freddie is mad about fighting bubbles and that Evie is doing damage control.

Love that they're all hanging out together. I wish Lonnie was more in on the hanging out though lol.

Rainbow nail polish seems right up her alley.

Finally someone noticed.

Right. Smart move grabbing the boys Evie.

Audrey, you're giving me whiplash. Are you okay with Mal or not?!

Mal's not 100% Evil, knock it off. And she can be upset about not getting a jewel she EARNED.

Oof. Everyone is arguing.

Love that Jane and Carlos, as the only confirmed present 14 year olds are arguing while Jay argues with Ally lol.

Evie arguing with Audrey is entertaining.

Is Mal, like, possessed?...

Was Lonnie just watching them all argue 😂.

Also Audrey, I love you but shut up. She's used magic for you and is helping Jane.

Also how many kids go to this school cause it's way too empty rn.

ALSO BEN I SWEAR YOU BETTER NOT HAVE GOTTEN KIDNAPPED AGAIN!

Nice a song.

Oo food fight.

They can talk normal again!

Also wtf, Audrey is chairman of every committee at school? No wonder she's so irritable.

Dang. Banishing from the Jewel-bileeis harsh.

Love that Jane followed Mal and no one else.

Why do they always break into the museum?

Hate that Yen Sid broom.

What did Mal give Zevon?

Love that Jane snitched to the core four on Mal.

Love that Evie somehow recognizes Mal's jewel and throws it to Jay and that he apologizes that he can't give it to her.

Of course Carlos figures it out.

JAY KNOCK IT OFF!

Evie, why would you say you were mad if you knew it wasn't really her?

That's not the worst thing she's ever done.

Zevon it's Auradon, not Auraton. Also leave Gepetteo's shop alone.

These kids are adorable.

Damn it, Zevon. Stop ruining the moment.

Zevon why are you talking like that crying 😭 I'm starting to see why people don't like you.

Love that Jay's reaction was to first gasp and then go "oh not you."

Ewww Zev, gross. Mal doesn't like you like that.

Love that Zev swam until Cj showed up.

Cj's back!

Oh Zevon got the chapter.

Also Zevon is doing that dramatic kid thing were you butcher a word and it's painful.

Where does that rope keep coming from?

This party looks sad.

Oh god that musical is painful.

Do people have to share their family jewels if they have siblings/cousins? Cause that sounds boring.

I would have cancelled the musical dance. This is humiliating.

Who are all these kids and how come I can't see Chad and Doug anywhere?

Audrey why are you doing that to a villain?

Also for the love of god, why is it always Ben? 😭

Leave the man alone. He just froze the man.

Convient that the villains jewels when put together make them more powerful.

Dumbass villains couldn't see that and use it.

Why are you melting Ben that way? He's gonna get sick.

Poor Ben.

Also love that Zevon and Cj shrank the kids.

Why did no one tell me I mispronouncing Zevon's name.

Audrey shut up. Please stop.

Wtf aks. This is why the vks do shit alone!

You're seriously gonna let them fight someone trying to take over Auradon alone because of a couple of ruined dresses and graffiti?

WHERE ARE YOUR PRIORITIES?!

Love that Audrey wanted them all to be sisters lol.

Also Ally, Jane. Y'all couldn't have shared that earlier?!

Good you should feel a bit bad Audrey.

But Ally You really should have told them that.

Carlos, your crush is showing.

jay you're only a head taller.

Love that whenever someone starts trash talking Jane's magic, one of the core four but in lol.

Aww my baby's learning.

Guys, Freddie said Jane had to CONCENTRATE.

Love that Carlos, upon falling, just says dalmatians lol.

Love that Zevon calls Evie and Mal evil isle twins.

Also Zevon, baby, stop interrupting your own monologues.

Cu-slice? Really?

Puppets army? Creepy. What magic did you use?

These kids.

Ally don't fall for it.

Audrey is a cute duck.

Also hahaha Zevon got frozen. Karma.

Also Ben is STRONG. He dragged that frozen as fool away like it was nothing.

Careful with your dancing or you'll hurt your shrunken friends.

Jay don't bite your jewel.

They're all adorable.

Cj wtf.

Watching wicked world part 1;

My reactions to wicked world. I'm liking it more than Royal Wedding so far, though I guess that isn't saying much.

Espiode 1;

Yikes, poor Audrey. And really Evie? It's bad for Mal to use magic unless you want something? I'm disappointed. And don't just stand there, go help Audrey clean off!

Espiode 2;

The painting was nice.

Ben, you could have just told her what a digital image was before assuming she knew what it meant. Isle kid, remember?

Also, Mal, close the fucking door before you do shit like play with magic to make an insulting picture of Audrey! Was it funny? Yes! But does it make you look good? No!

Also shame on whoever is taking the photos. Stop humiliating Audrey and shaming Mal.

Espiode 3;

Why is Jane thinner?

Why does Audrey look white?

Audrey hun, stop worrying about what people think of the vks and adjust your attitude to something you'd be proud of.

Audrey, asking Jane to use magic on you when she doesn't know how is a bad idea.

Jane, honey, you shouldn't have used 'out there' in the spell and you shouldn't have posted it. You should have been honest. It's the least you could do after looking so happy when Ben dumped her in front of two whole schools in d1.

Espiode 4;

Mal, just be honest with her.

Jane, not the time.

Mal, not the time.

Evie, not the time.

Mal, fix Audrey's hair.

Jay, you could have just lied to her. You didn't have to add that last part.

Audrey, Evie, you could have backed Mal up there and she could have helped you while Jordan went to fight Jay. And Jay, wow, thanks for that. Did you really have to throw Mal under the bus like that?!

Audrey, Evie, take it easy and back Mal up for fuck's sake. She can't help and won't want to help you if she keeps getting yelled at by Jordan! And Ben, where the hell where you 5 seconds ago when Mal needed you?!

Episode 5;

Is this all happening in one day? If so, wow. That is rotten luck. And word travels fast in Auradon.

How did you fix Audrey's hair with that wish? Why did Audrey and Ben get sent to the isle with you?

Ben, Audrey, now is not the time for manners and a selfie. Put your fucking phones up! Audrey, Ben, listen to Mal and Evie. Mal, Evie, now is not the time to fucking reminiscing!

Oh my God, Freddie don't encourage people to steal from your dad's shop.

Audrey just listen to her.

Mal, Evie, Ben doesn't know what Freddie is, remember?! And who is taking all these pictures?!!

[disgruntledspacedad]

I think I just had a massive paradigm shift. 

So, we all kind of understand that humans have this constant need for validation. We all like to pretend we don’t, to brush this need beneath the rug and carry on with our bullshit like each of us aren’t screaming to be acknowledged. 

To be seen. 

To be known.

Guys, I think this is part of what love is. To be loved is to be known. It’s to be acknowledged at the most intimate level and validated at our core. And sometimes, I think that I am so caught up in my need to be seen, or more likely, the fact that my deepest fear is that this need will not be met - rejection, isolation, and preemptive retaliation - that I close myself off from the ability to see others. 

Let me try to give you an example. Trigger warning for mentions of guns (hunting rifles), deer hunting, mental health, and suicide. 

Yes, this is another Dead Dad post. 

Today, I was going through some backlogged emails. With all of my life bullshit, I had let the inbox get a little cluttered, and it was time to clean house. 

I stumbled across an email from Dad. He’d sent it two weeks before he died. The subject was, “My Life, My Lot.”

Listen, if you think I am melodramatic... lol, the genetics are strong here, okay? 

Okay.

I opened it, and guys, my Dad had documented his entire life story. I won’t go into details, but there were so many things written there that I didn’t know about him. I’ll be honest, I had a little breakdown and couldn’t finish reading it. Not today. Today is his birthday, actually, and the universe just dropped this very painful, very beautiful gift in my lap.

It brought me back to a phone conversation that we’d had before he died. He’d been bitching about his group therapy class, about how the projects were silly and the questions were shallow. “Fuck a therapist,” I remember him saying very vehemently. He did mention to me, though, that his therapist had suggested writing about his struggles. He was reluctant, naturally. Dad was always very reluctant about ideas that weren’t his own.

I was deep in my Better Love shit by this point, and he only brought it up because he knew I was “a writer.” I jumped on this. “It might be good for you,” I told him. “It might help you. Sure as fuck helps me.”

The next time we spoke, the next day, he was actually pretty excited, a tone that I had long since only associated with opiates. I was skeptical - what are they medicating him with now? I wondered. I only half listened as he began to tell me about his group session.

Guys, he had written some of his story, and he’d read it aloud in group. 

I perked up at this. “What did they say?” 

Apparently they loved it. I was proud of him. I asked him to read it to me, and he started to. 

Guys, it was incredible. My Dad could really turn a phrase, and I’d never known this about him. His use of imagery and metaphor really shocked me. I was impressed and I told him so. “That makes me feel really good, to hear you say that,” he said. 

Looking back, that’s the most validation I ever received from my Dad. The fact that he considered me a writer, and that my opinion mattered to him. Fuck, that sounds so small, but it’s not. 

In that moment, he saw me.

And more telling still, it was probably the last time he ever received any from me. His allotted phone call time was coming to a close, and I encouraged him to continue writing. 

“You think I should?”

I really do, Dad. I want to read it. 

He sent me that email, and I fucking missed it, guys. That’s not even the point of this post, though. Sometimes, life catches you by the throat and you just miss things. 

The point is in the knowing. 

There was one other time in the last year of Dad’s life that I saw him light up like that. I knew it was significant then, and its one of my most precious memories now. 

Dad was a deer hunter. In the last five or so years of his life, he completely gave up on that (depression is a bitch that way), but since I finished school and moved back home, hunting was a childhood hobby that I picked back up with a lot of enthusiasm. I hunted from his place, because who buys a lease when Dad lives 30 minutes away? Duh.

Last fall, there was so much more urgency to opening weekend than buck fever. I knew, deep down, that this was the last season we’d have together. Things had been bad for a long time, but they were nearing unsustainable. 

I knew that. 

One evening, before I left, he was sitting in his chair. He did a lot of that, just sitting and staring into space. I glanced at the gun cabinet, and for some reason, I thought to ask, “Dad, tell me about your guns.”

I had to pull him to his feet, but guys, the way he lit up. He took each one out of the safe and started telling me when he bought it, the little tricks about which scope shoots kinda high and which one kicks like a bitch. How old he was, who he bought it from, memorable hunting experiences. Dad was an award winning taxidermist, so getting all of the old stories again, complete with props, was another gift. 

I just watched him, guys. He was so present. Alive in a way I hadn’t seen him in years. He smelled like booze, but he was talking and smiling. Mom watched from the doorway, and I remember thinking very clearly to myself, Seal this moment in your mind. Pay attention. Dwell on it. Cherish it. It’s important. 

That night, I validated my dad. I asked to know him, and I saw him.

Even if I didn’t recognize it then, that was an act of love to the deepest degree. Love in the only way a dying man could accept, and love that the only way a jaded daughter knew to give. 

If I can take away a single life lesson from my father’s suicide, I hope it’s this:

I hope it’s that I learn to see people. 

Not just to reciprocate good feelings when good feelings are received. That’s nice, but that’s not love. 

Not just to go about my life with my head down, so wrapped in my own bullshit that I forget that other people even exist. Object permanence is a concept that even adult Jay struggles with, much to her detriment. 

Not to be so stuck on my own fears that I miss that everyone around me shares them. True connection requires that first, we are opened. And to be open is to be vulnerable. 

Not just to seek my own validation, but to also validate you.

I don't know, guys, I’m tired and emotional and just rambling now. 

But this feels important, okay?

[dershloop]

Kai headcanons bc i have covid nd dont have energy to write the next chapter of my fic

- he needs glasses but doesnt wear them. hes short sighted so cannot see at is like iM nOt a nErD

- he loves those rly like. early 2000s cringy emo bands. like he knows the entirety of Dear Maria, Count Me In and Check Yes Juliet.

- ive defo already said this on here nd if u were here when i was first saying it ur an og but HE HAS FRECKLES!!! in the early seasons he'd cover them up bc he was still not completely comfy w the others but by like s7 he'd stop nd just let em show

- he has adhd which is basically canon but his main special interest is dinosaurs nd u cant convince me other wise

-he adores just rambling abt dinosaurs. cole asks him questions abt dinosaurs purely to hear him rant nd ramble abt them for hours

- his fave dinosaur fact is that they evolved into chickens

-bc of this he eats a lot of dino nuggets bc he finds the irony of them rly rly funny

-anyway he isn't actually all that talkative he quite enjoys just listening to his friends talk

-or boyfriends bc polyninja is basically canon

- but yeah he has stuff he likes doing w all of the others

- w cole he just likes watching movies and trying new foods!

- so like walking around the city nd trying the streetfoods but also going to cole's favourite shops and stalls

- i think kai would be a big fruit tea enjoyer so like mango fruit tea w passionfruit pearls

- he'd be very open to trying other flavours tho depending on who he's with

- oh wait yeah stuff he'd do with the others with Zane he'd read! Kai probably wouldn't enjoy reading himself but he'd like curling up with Zane nd like reading along with him and then talking about the book with zane

-w zane he'd also like playing music!

- zane can play basically any instrument nd i think kai would have a really nice singing voice so zane would just play piano or guitar nd then kai would just. sing

-with jay, obvs video games but also he'd prolly watch him tinker a lot

- like kai doesn't completely understand tech the way jay nd nya do but he'd just go into the like hideout part of the monastery nd watch them work on stuff nd ask them questions abt what they're doing

- w lloyd i think he'd just enjoy hanging out w him

-doing like very brotherly things together u know

- he'd take him to the mall a lot nd like spoil him rotten

- like they'd go to the comic book shops, clothing places, everywhere

- bc kai knows what it like to have ur childhood ripped away from u w his parents going missing

- so he wants to give lloyd some of those memories back that he never got the chance to have

- w pixal he just liked teasing her nd annoying her

- they have a very sibling like relationship i think

-pixal has all the braincells nd kai has none

- he watches her just tinkering tho too! bc a lot of the time shes with jay nd nya working on stuff

[erinlindsayy]

thinking about it... erin & jay left in similar(ish) ways but people only saw jay's departure as horrible and rushed. it's just frustrating to see because it's been made very clear by these stans that they can't separate their petty feelings towards sophia from the show. i agree that tracy does get unnecessary hate (and i don't condone it) but stans are constantly invalidating sophia too. idk... missing erin but i also understand why sophia has moved on.

ok so I have many thoughts and I am just putting them under a cut in case anyone cares to read

Erin & Jay did both leave in ways that felt rushed. Erin's entire exit storyline felt like it came out of left field, and she was finally making progress..., but then Jay just leaves because suddenly he's got a random ex wife?? And PTSD that had never really been explored--and a girlfriend who was willing to help him work through it? But no, it was ERIN who left Jay? Jay essentially broke up with her when he left, so of course that whole departure was bound to be a mess. The writers completely fumbled her exit, and it was extremely out of character for both HER and for Jay.

And then!! THEN!!! Jay goes and leaves Hailey without talking to her first--and this time, it's worse, because he's actively married to her (and remembered this wife--which, also--did he ever divorce Abby? he must have if he was able to marry hailey, but that storyline went literally nowhere which is infuriating)

But no! Jay isn't horrible! It's not him--it's the writers, it's the storyline that is flawed, not the character! Erin is still public enemy no. 1, the big bad, the selfish and manipulative bitch from apartment 407 (or whatever her apartment number is lol). She left Jay! She's so evil! Her exit was written perfectly, and nooooooo not rushed or fumbled at all!

NO. JAY LITERALLY LEFT HER!! HE DECIDED THAT HE DIDN'T WANT TO LET HER IN, AND OPTED TO LEAVE HER WHEN SHE OFFERED TO HELP HIM, TO SUPPORT HIM HOW HE DID FOR HER, AND HE REJECTED HER.

Tracy does get hate, but the same people who defend her turn around and attack everyone else when they don't align with what they like/want/think. It's hypocritical. No one deserves that kind of hate. And also??? They're real people with real lives who don't even know we exist. And quite frankly, I don't care. I think the work they do is nice, and I like their activism and that they promote various things, but they're just people at the end of the day, and I'm not going to go out of my way to praise/harass someone when they're...,, just normal people (who happen to be known by a lot more people and have a lot more money, lol)

do I want erin back as a character? Yeah. I think she's got depth, and I think that we were finally getting to see her deal with more beyond her stupid mother, but then it all just got... ruined. But the fact that upstead shippers (and other people, not just specifically upstead stans/upton/halstead etc) keep saying toxic things about

A. her (sophia bush)

B. erin as a character

C. the people who: like linstead, erin, or sophia

is just frustrating. Me, as an individual, liking erin as a character, and liking linstead, doesn't take anything away from you or your life. Stop sending hate to people--actors and fans--because their likes and dislikes don't align with your own. Ship who you want! Like who you want! I love Hailey, and I love Erin! Awesome!

someone straight up called me delusional in my inbox once bc I really like linstead. And that's only scratching the tip of the iceberg as to the downright rude and offensive asks/messages/comments I've gotten about the characters I like and things I write. how is that acceptable?

anyways lots of rambling but oh well haha

[ninjago-happens-here]

@ninjago-angst-week sorry I'm late!

Day 6: Anger

Kai hates the universe for everything. Surprisingly, his teammates don’t agree.

Or 5 times where Kai lets anger control him, and 1 time he doesn't.

Word count: 13,944

- Nya - It’s been 6 days. Kai has spent all his time at Wu’s Monastery doing nothing but training and passing out from exhaustion. The only reason why he kept going was his love of his sister- and his spite against the universe. First Spinjitsu Master, why had Lord-fucking-Germadon take his sister as a hostage? He was just a poor blacksmith, trying his best to make ends meet and to get a proper education for his bright, 14-year-old sister. But the universe has decided to throw another curveball at him by forcing him to become a ninja and complete this stupid course-

“ARGH!” Kai shouted in frustration as he was thrown off by the training course, again. “Failed,” Wu said and took a sip of his tea. Punching the obstacle course, with another shout, Kai seethed, seeing the colour red dancing all over his eyes. What did the old man know about saving people anyways? Why can’t he just fight Wu and be done with it? Graduate his class, be finally given the location to where his sister is, and end this chapter of his life- because he was all for it.

Looking for his tormentor, Kai noticed that Wu has slipped away, with all the stealth that only a ninja master has.

Taking deep breaths, Kai balled his fists even tighter, nails pressing indents into his palms. Tomorrow. There still was tomorrow. And by god was he going to pass because he won’t let his sister spend another day in captivity.

All he needed to do was complete the training course before Wu finishes his tea.

He had done it. Of course, it took a well-timed sword throw to technically pass, but he was done sitting around and waiting for some unknown force to rescue Nya. Master Wu told him to get a goodnight’s rest as they were going to leave in the morning. Yeah right. As if he wasn’t going to spend this night tossing and turning around again.

He didn’t spend the night staring into the ceiling of the monastery. Rather, he was rudely ambushed by 3 men dressed in black, who actually weren’t as much of a challenge that Kai thought they would pose. Huh, maybe the training Sensei Wu put him through was pretty useful after all.

All praises for the cryptic old man were thrown away once Wu revealed the 3 men to be his students. Seriously? Didn’t Wu just tell him to get a good night’s rest? Kai barely kept the snarl inside him when Wu did his spinjitzu thingy and he suddenly was in an entirely different get-up.

Hey! Kai thought angrily. What’s the big deal? The garment was loose-fitting and a solid shade of red, and whilst red may be Kai’s colour, the garb was still drab-looking and overall, not something Kai would have picked out for himself..

Wu then gave a quick introduction of the 3 men who attacked him, who were probably called Jey, Zain, and Coal. Hey, don’t look at him like that! It’s not like he had the time to go to school and learn Maths and the Ninjago Alphabet. Anyways, they were all, apparently Elemental Masters? Of lightning, ice and earth nonetheless. Now, Kai can understand Earth. And Kai of course can give a testament to fire. But what do lightning and ice have to do with the elements? Shouldn’t it be Air, Water, Earth, and Fire or something along those lines? What was the FSM thinking, naming these the elements of creation?

Just as Kai was about to head back into the monastery and actually catch a few Zs, Wu called to them telling them that they have to protect the 4 weapons of spinjitzu in order to beat Garmadon to them, for the Skulkin must have taken the map that Wu had hidden in the Four Weapons.

“And rescue my sister,” Kai stated, daring anyone to challenge this non-negotiable mission.

“We’re rescuing a girl? Is she hot?” The ninja in blue (seriously, why blue on a ninja? It really does not help his stealth) just straight up asked Kai if his sister was hot. Kai’s first instinct, of course, was to punch Jay hard in the teeth, followed by an elbow straight to his gut. But if he was going to be teammates with this guy, he had to control his urges and only glare at him through the convenient slit in his mask. The blue ninja chuckled nervously as Kai’s eyes bore holes into him.

“Does she like blue?”

“Back. Off.”

“When we find the weapons, we will find your sister. We rise at dawn to look for the Scythe of Quakes in the Caves of Despair,” Wu concluded the impromptu meeting at night, which diffused the tension between Kai and Jay. The fiery anger he felt pooling in the balls of his hands started to dissipate. In fact, most of his energy was gone too. Kai felt like he was sagging under the weight on his shoulders and immediately headed for his room, where he collapsed immediately upon reaching the soft, inviting mattress. It was the best sleep he had in possibly years.

Of course, Sensei Wu upheld his promise of rousing them at dawn to go collect the first Golden Weapon. What he didn’t warn the ninja beforehand was that he was going to use them to be his literal slaves, and Kai spent the morning running whilst pulling a carriage like a horse. This has to be illegal, Kai grumbled to himself. He was starting to be seriously short on breath. Luckily, his teammates seem to at least have some strength and endurance training, so whilst he was stationed at the easy middle, Cole was at the front spearheading the charge whilst still holding conversations like it was no big deal.

“So…huff, how did Sensei find you guys?” Kai panted, wanting to learn more about his teammates.

“Let’s just say if it wasn’t for Sensei Wu, we wouldn’t be seen together.“ Cole started

“I was testing my limits,” Cole gave a brief description of how when he was rock climbing, he found Sensei Wu already at the top of the mountain, drinking tea and offering him a cup.

“I was testing my inventions,” Jay also panted out, and tried to ramble about how he was testing a flying machine and crashed through a billboard (what?) before seeing Sensei Wu, was also drinking tea and offering him a cup. He couldn’t really talk too much, because at this point he was getting tired too.

“And I, was testing myself,” Zane said, whilst recalling how he was practicing to hold his breath underwater for even longer periods of time when he found Sensei Wu sitting next to him at the bottom of the pond, still somehow drinking tea before offering some to him, which immediately led Zane to choke.

“You’re right, if it wasn’t for Sensei, none of us would-” Kai said before Wu shouted at them to stop. They were here.

Immediately, everything felt more real to Kai. The drowsiness that he felt clouding his mind was cleared as pure adrenaline shot through his veins. He couldn’t fail now. Not when Nya’s life was on his hands. All he has to do was to collect 4 Ancient Weapons that have powers and he would be able to face off with Lord Garmadon. Jumping into action, he weaved through the Skulkin that were strolling and working in the area, body moving in autopilot and mind focusing on only one thing: Get the weapon.

On his way to the opening of the cave, Kai spotted Samurai reading the map to the 4 Golden Weapons on a watchtower. Kai immediately took a detour and climbed up onto the roof, where he could see Samukai reading the map.

“What’s the matter with you,” Jay whispered, hitting Kai on the head. Kai shushed him, before returning to watch Samukai laugh menacingly whilst holding the map upside down. Kai wondered how incompetent he was one week ago to have let this guy kidnap his sister. “The Golden Weapon is near,” Zane observed, before taking out a shuriken with a rope attached before looking at Cole for confirmation and then throwing it done, landing squarely in the middle of the map before pulling it back, holding the prize squarely in his hands.

There was no time to waste. Kai immediately backflipped off the building before climbing to the outcrop where 2 guards were stationed. Picking up a convenient lamp head, Kai carefully snuck by the 2 guards before ducking into the cave system. Kai began to start pushing the rock blocking the path to the weapon. But no matter how much he exerted himself, it didn’t move one inch. He felt like he was trying to make a sword again, doing everything he could but still failing. Grunting and groaning, Kai gave it his all.

Not soon enough, Kai heard the footsteps of his teammates.

“Hey, before you race off again, you gotta remember that we’re a team.” Cole’s patronizing voice made Kai stop his futile attempts at trying to push the boulder on his own. Kai looked at the 3 Ninja before sighing. “Yeah, whatever.”

The white, black and blue Ninja gathered around him and they all started to push, actually managing to shift the rock. Giving the rock his all, Kai did enough on his part to be suddenly be blasted by a golden light, shining from the cavern behind the rock. As his eyes got used to the sudden brightness, Kai spotted the Golden Scythe, sitting on top of a weird creature’s head.

“Woah, that is SO COOL!” Jay exclaimed, and his voice reverberated throughout the entire cave. Kai cringed from his volume. Here’s to hoping that the entire skeleton army outside won’t discover them. Cole shushed Jay again, before pulling out the Golden Scythe and jumping back down onto the cave floor. Wrapping it in a sheet of canvas, Cole once again reminded Jay to not be so loud.

“Oh, don’t be paranoid!” Jay brushed off the sentiment. Kai couldn’t believe that this guy was his teammate. “We’re totally on the other side of the caves!”

“Zip it, okay?” Cole admonished the blue Ninja whilst handing the wrapped Scythe of Quakes to Kai. It’s okay with him. As long as he can make sure that this weapon is safe which in turn ensures that Nya is safe, he’s alright with taking the Scythe. “Now that we’ve got the Scythe, let’s sneak out whilst the boneheads are still busy.”

“Alright team, everyone sticks together. Way out is right around the corn-“ Cole suddenly came face to face with Samukai. All Kai could think at that moment was Fuck the blue guy. Because seriously. Now he was going to have to fight these guys. And alright, honestly- Kai was more than happy to throw hands with the skeletons that captured his sister. In fact, he’s been waiting all week to do so. But come on, this guy was supposed to be a ninja? Pulling out his sword, Kai stayed in the middle of his teammates for a bit as they tried their hardest to protect the Scythe, but quickly they were drawn by enemies elsewhere and the red ninja was left in a precarious situation.

“Kai! Throw it here!” Thank god for Zane. Honestly, he took back what he said about how this guy takes things a bit too seriously, now that he was in the heat of battle and could feel every beat of his heart. Kai heaved the heavy weapon to Zane. Immediately, the heat was taken off him and Zane had to pass the Scythe to Cole as he was dog-piled by 3 Skulkin in seconds. Cole made it past a long line of skeletons before catching the Golden Weapon, but Kai could see 5 to 6. no, 9, 10- argh, who cares! Either way, there were too many enemies.

“Let me handle it!” Jay shouted, taking out a couple of enemies quickly, before exclaiming, “Hey! Guys!”

“It’s just like the training course! Over the planks, dodge the swords- here comes the dummy!”

Kai heard multiple enemies being defeated before a bright blue light shined through the caverns as this guy did spinjitzu. What. The. Heck. Kai’s level of respect for him instantly rose.

“Jay! What’s the key?” Kai waved at his teammate desperately. He had to do spinjitzu too- if he ever was going to see Nya again.

“Hehe, I’m just going through the motions! This is what Sensei must have meant when he said we already know it!” Jay laughed from inside his tornado as Kai watch him take down 4 enemies in one second. Kai contemplated this for a moment, before relying on his muscle memory to dodge a couple of Skulkin.

“Over the planks, dodge the swords- here comes the dummy!” Spinning in a beautiful vortex of red, orange, and yellow, Kai saw the world around him slow down as he moved with enhanced power and agility, taking down enemies with incredible ease.

“RETREAT!” Samurai shouted, and Kai could hear the screams of the skeleton army mixing with the beautiful chime of his team’s spinjitzu. Slowing down, Kai stopped his spinjitzu and surprisingly, didn’t feel dizzy. Man, this spinjitzu thing is really cool.

“Hah! Guess they didn’t want a second serving of these babies,” Cole flexed his biceps as Kai and Jay both shook their heads in dismay. “Good thing they didn’t check out the merchandise on the back!”

From the corner of his eye, Kai watched as Cole turned around to emphasise his point. Alright, 2 can play at the end game. Raising the Golden Weapon of Spinjitsu, Kai cheered and high fives Jay. That dude has many faults, but he would be able to have Kai’s back in a moment of need, and Kai vows to watch his back too.

“Uh… guys?” Cole stammered. Kai and Jay rolled their eyes. What was Cole trying to get at now?

“Didn’t Sensei say there was a guardian protecting the weapons?” Zane recalled. Kai tilted his head to the side, before turning to his right AND WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT.

“Is that- a..a, that’s- not what I think it is, isit?” Cole blubbered, his voice an octave higher.

“Y-you mean a dragon?” Jay stammered.

“Uh, that sure looks like a dragon!” Kai panicked, his voice on the edge of a scream.

“I sense that we won’t be able to spin our way out of this one,” Zane stated with the calmest out of any of them.

Out of the blue, the dragon breathed out a breath of earth, and Kai was suddenly flung to the side. Screams filled the cavern as his teammates landed from their dodge. getting up on his feet, Kai immediately started to run towards the exit, clutching the Golden Weapon tightly. Unfortunately, they were cornered, and Kai did the only thing he thought he could.

Removing the canvas, Kai moved to use the weapon but was stopped by Jay, stating something about how Sensei told them not to.

“Well you better keep your mouth shut,” Kai growled as he ran towards the otherworldly creature. Nothing was going to stand in his way from reaching his sister. Cole shouted something at him, but he raised the weapon high above his head and brought it down to the earth in front of the dragon, causing a split in the ground like a fault line and the cave started to shake. The dragon was temporarily rendered stunned as a large piece of rock fell on his head. It reacted too late, for Kai and his team were getting out of here.

“We gotta escape!” Kai said frantically. Looking up, he and his team saw the caverns opening up to the skies. “We’ll use spinjitzu!” Cole proclaimed, and Kai spun into his tornado, finding that the boost in speed and strength was exactly what he needed to make through the opening in the ceiling of the cave.

Landing on the ground in front of his sensei (on both feet, take that Zane and Jay!) Kai immediately devolved into cheering and celebrating with his teammates, because who wouldn’t after such an adrenaline high? They were 1 weapon closer to finding Nya, and Kai had learned the amazing art of Spinjitsu, and he had just escaped from a dragon.

“ENOUGH!” Sensei Wu shouted. Kai immediately felt his mood sinking. “I told you not to use the scythe!!” Of course, Jay, then Cole, immediately threw Kai under the bus.

“Using it was my only option!” Kai said, starting to get frustrated with his teacher and teammates. Couldn’t they see it that was a matter of life or death? He just saved all of their sorry asses!

“And what makes you think that you’re more important than your team? Huh? Huh!?” Wu got closer to Kai’s face, and he was not happy. Not happy with this at all.

“They took my sister, remember?” Kai stated angrily. Who did the old man think he was? Nya was everything to him, and losing her- Kai did not want to think about losing her.

“There are still 3 weapons left. Maybe next time, you can do it right,” Wu admonished him, and Kai could only watch as his teammates follow in their master’s footsteps. Whatever. It’s not like he needed a team. Hoisting the scythe onto his shoulders, Kai swore that nothing, not even the First Spinjitsu himself, would stop him from saving Nya.

Over the course of the next few days, Kai learned of a technique called the ‘Tornado of Creation’ as they journeyed all over north Ninjago and found 2 of the remaining 3 weapons. Just before they headed to the Fire Temple, Wu made them all rest, for some reason he was unwiring to share. Kai privately thought that it was for them to recuperate their energy because his sister was going to be the one they rescue next, and once he got his hands on the Sword of Fire, nothing would be able to stand in his way, his team included. If he was being honest with himself, Kai was grateful that they had time to celebrate his past achievements. They had been through so much climbing, exploring, and journeying these fast few days and they have beaten Garmadon’s Army too many times to not do something about it. His mood was so great that he even invited Sensei Wu to dance with them as Cole played the bongo drums that they had stolen from the skeleton army at one point.

Kai didn’t know when he fell asleep, but what he did know was that he was roused awake by a voice whispering his name. At first, he was groggy with exhaustion, but the second time Nya called out to him, Kai was wide awake. Looking at the source of the sound, Kai saw his sister standing directly at the edge of his camp. Immediately, Kai felt a great wave of relief wash over him. His sister looked, at least in the dark, fine and free from any visible injuries. He was just about to get up and reunite with his sister when she suddenly stated that she had to go, and started to run away from him.

Kai immediately shot to his feet, alarmed. There was definitely something wrong. He followed her as best as he could through the dense forest, calling out to her, but not receiving a reply. He was led to a temple sitting right next to a volcano. Ghostly whispers of his name reached him as he saw his sister’s vague figure entering the temple.

“Nya?” In a heartbeat, he arrived at the front of the temple. Fully pushing open the doors, Kai was blown away by the cavern and the inviting, welcoming warmth of the lava that slowly cranked up the further he went. In fact, it was slowly stifling, and Kai wanted to grab Nya and get out as fast as he could. Looking all over the place for her, Kai saw the image of his sister appear right in front of the Sword of Fire.

“Nya!” Kai said with a smile, running towards the platform. He was praising FSM for this miracle when suddenly, he skidded to a halt as Nya transformed into a large shadow that laughed menacingly. It was Garmadon. And he- was dangling Nya, wrapped in iron chains, on top of a pool of lava.

“KAI!!” Nya shouted desperately. The red ninja called back to his sister, as Garmadon taunted him, stating that only by removing the sword, could he save his sister. And as much as Kai hated the fact- Garmadon was right. There was nothing he could do but take the sword and save his sister. Nya begged Kai not to listen, but the chain had suddenly lowered her even more, and the screams of his baby sister were too much for Kai to bear. Taking a deep breath, Kai did a series of acrobatics pulling out the Sword of Fire and doing spinjitzu on the walls in order to get to Nya, and then to get her to safety on the other side. Landing o the warm rock, Kai pulled his sister up and told her to stay close.

Then Garmadon appeared directly in front of him, and Kai changed his mind. Not long after, he was getting beat up by a shadow- a shadow of all things! Then, Garmadon played extremely dirty and duplicated himself, and in no time at all, Kai lost the sword and Garmadon picked it up. Tired, out of breath, and running on a combined 18 hours of sleep this past week and a half, Kai collapsed and couldn’t move any further.

Just in time, Sensei Wu arrived and started to use his shadow to properly fight Garmadon. As Kai could only sit and watch, he saw Sensei Wu’s incredible usage of shadows, and his respect for him rose even more. But soon, the feeling of calmness turned into panic as he remembered his 3 teammates who were probably out like a light.

Nya gave Kai a hand to stand up, and they both moved to be closer to Wu. Soon, they were assaulted by Garmadon showing them that the Skulkin has taken Kai’s brothers and 3 of the 4 Golden Weapons.

“My brother must not unite the 4 weapons. We must keep them apart!” Sensei Wu commanded, to which Garmadon responded by rousing the dragon guardian. With a swipe of its flaming hot tail, the Fire Dragon blocked the entrance of the Fire Temple. There was no way out.

“He’s taken away all our options!” Kai said, starting to panic even more as the Fire Dragon breathed on them.

“All but one.” And soon, Kai lost his Sensei to the Underworld. Feeling terribly guilty for not being a better student and teammate, Kai collapsed on his knees. However, he was soon confronted with greater, immediate danger.

Luckily, he seemed to be able to talk down the dragon that was guarding the sword. They reached an understanding that they were trying to protect the weapons from Garmadon, and just in time too. He heard his teammates outside the temple and Flare did too, opening the temple dramatically. Too soon, he had to split from Nya again. But he would return in no time at all, with all members on his team.

Through a great load of traveling by dragon, managing to use the Tornado of Creation, and watching Samurai get vaporised whilst Garmadon passed into a portal to another realm, they eventually returned to Ignacia, and Kai could finally feel safe again. Of course, he immediately slept for 3 days straight after making sure that Nya was doing alright and that she could take care of herself for the next few days.

This was not the first time he was fuelled by only his fire, and unfortunately for his body- it would not be the last.

- Lloyd - The next time that Kai could say with 100% certainty that he hated the universe was when Garmadon decided that it was a good idea to turn them into all children. They then had to be saved by Lloyd, his baby brother, but in return- he had grown. Too fast. Way too fast.

And Kai had to look at his failure, his inability to protect Lloyd because it falls on his shoulder to at least stay beside the green bean whilst he deals with the fact that he was older now. And whatever fallout was happening with his body. Because whilst Lloyd can try to insist that he’s fine for the 100th time, Kai is not letting him get out of bed whilst he has a 40 degree fever.

So whilst Kai stews angrily at the edge of Lloyd’s bed, he reflects on all the things he’s going to punch the First Spinjitsu Master for. Honestly, he did not know where the thought came from, but today was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Kai will be honest- he hadn’t always been this friendly with Lloyd. In fact, if he saw someone else doing what he did to the kid when they first met, he would sock them in the eye, no questions asked. (In fact, he wanted to do that to himself now.) But then he got close to the brat. He saw himself in the kid, just- lost without an anchor as Kai had in Nya. And the ‘demon spawn’ became ‘kid’, and ‘kid’ became Kai’s baby brother. Kai’s baby brother who he lost at the arcade just because he was too focused on his ego, going after the damned Samurai who turned out to be his baby sister. Seems like Kai can’t do much protecting at all.

After Kai had rescued Lloyd from the volcano (Fuck you Pythor), it was revealed that Lloyd was the Green Ninja, and would, in turn, have to fight Garmadon And whilst at first Kai felt elated that the search for the Green Ninja was long over, he then felt horrible to see Garmadon and Lloyd falling out as both knew that they had to fight each other. Kai could see Lloyd’s lip tremble as his father released the hug, and almost start to cry when Garmadon disappeared after having saved the Ninja and the fang blades.

He knew that Lloyd had it especially hard, seeking his father’s approval and attention, yet not getting it as Garmadon tried his hardest to delay the oncoming final battle, but furthered it instead. He saw Lloyd look incredibly small in their tiny apartment, and wished that he had just earned more money, or that he had somehow managed to defeat the Great devourer instead of Garmadon.

Yet all he could do was comfort Lloyd when he opens up about Darkley’s (boy, wasn’t that’s something they’d have to unpack in the future) before they returned to the accursed school, or treat Lloyd’s sore muscles before the kid has to inevitably wake up at 5 AM tomorrow to do an insane amount of training.

He hates how all the pressure in the world is hoisted by the shoulders of his baby brother, and he would do anything, anything to give Lloyd a good childhood.

Now, he can’t even do that. Unless the element of time exists, all he could do was count the numbers of a good childhood Lloyd had on one hand. And goddamnit. All Kai really wanted to do was to give Lloyd the childhood didn’t have, not the incomplete one he had given Nya that ended with a kidnapping. Was that too much to ask for?

A drop of a hot tear escaped Kai’s eyes and rolled down his cheek. Quickly snapping his head towards Lloyd, he saw that he’s fallen asleep. Okay, thank FSM for that. Kai did not want Lloyd to see his big brother cry. Now, Kai didn’t want to be a bad brother. But he wasn’t Lloyd’s only family left. He’ll just ask Zane to watch over him as he runs the training course at Dareth’s dojo.

Or maybe not, Kai thought as he sat on the roof, hidden by water tanks and billboards as he had a meltdown. He didn’t even know why he was crying! All he knows is that suddenly, he can’t stop the water flowing from his eyes, even as his own body heat evaporates them as soon as they are shed. His head was still stuffy even though the night air breezed past him. All he wanted to do was to shout, screen- anything to release the tension he’s been building up in his body. Now that he’s reached his breaking point, he was ready to release like a coiled spring.

But he couldn’t. They were living in the midst of Ninjago city, not on the Destiny’s Bounty. And they would get kicked out of their cramped apartment if Kai just shouted at the night skies. So Kai hissed, growled, and wrapped his hands around himself, and squeezed as much as he could. He wanted to fight anybody, be it serpentine, skulkin, Garmadon, or even the First Spinjitsu Master himself.

The air around him got even more suffocating as his fist couldn’t find anything to connect to.

And suddenly, the roof hatch opened suddenly, scaring the living hell out of Kai Smith. Jumping into action and getting into a ready stance, Kai immediately felt the tension dissipate as it revealed that it was just Cole.

“Wow Kai, you must be really wounded up to be spooked like that,” Cole commented whilst giving Kai a smirk. Kai glared back at his team leader before futilely trying to wipe his face clean. Ah well. He tried. Cole snorted. “I always knew that you were a big softy.”

“Got any reason why you came up here?” Kai grunted. His ego had taken enough bruising these past few weeks.

“Of course buddy. I needed to spar with someone at full strength, and since Zane is looking after Lloyd and Jay won’t be able to effectively take my hits, I had to find you.”

“Psh, whatever. You’re in luck that I need to let off some heat too,” Kai shrugged off.

“Cool. Race you to Dareth’s Dojo?”  “You’re on.”

In a few minutes, Kai would come to regret his decision. Hey, it wasn’t his idea to race with the idiot who got himself dehydrated via crying. Still, falling in only just a step behind Cole (It’s been 80 years, Coke joked), he grabbed the energy drink Cole held out to him and take an unprofessionally huge gulp. Man, was he going to feel that later. Still, a promise was a promise, even if it was a verbal agreement. He watched Cole do his warm-up stretches before settling into his own normal routine.

Too soon, they rolled out the sparring mats, and Kai had a fleeting feeling of vertigo. Why had he agreed to this again? Oh yeah. Lloyd’s life is shit, and I can’t do anything. Balling his fists tightly, he started to bounce from on the balls of his feet.

Too soon, he ended up on the mat. And then again. And again. When he was defeated for the 4th time, Cole called for a break and sat down next to Kai, who was lying on the mat and just staring straight into the sky.

“Why did destiny make him grow up so fast?” Kai’s voice was trembling too hard for even Cole’s liking. “It’s not your fault-“

“IT IS MY FAULT! My fault, that I couldn’t protect him! Not from the serpentine, not from Garmadon, not from destiny!What’s my worth as a protector if I can’t even defend the one destiny said I must?!” Kai wailed out, enraged with everything. After his anger outburst, Kai breathed out deeply as his whole body sagged, the tension broken. They sat in silence as Kai contemplated what he was going to do next.

“You know Kai? Maybe you should talk with the Green Bean about this. But just so you know, no one is blaming you for what Garmadon had to do, and in turn what Lloyd had to do in order to save all of us,” Cole responded and stood up. “Thank you anyways for agreeing to spar with me.”

He offered a hand, to which Kai grabbed and was pulled upright.

“You go ahead. I’ll go wipe down the mats here,” Cole stated. It was a regular schedule that they had made up in order to reduce the amount of traffic using their tiny bathroom, and Kai gratefully accepted the chance to go first. If he was going to talk to Lloyd, he had to at least get his spikes up to regular Kai standard.

After doing the bare minimum amount of cool-down stretches, Kai took a swig of the energy drink as he jogged back home. After showering and gelling up his hair, Kai was ready to sit down with Lloyd and just- talk. He finished his bottle and prepared some sandwiches as the sun rose on Ninjago City, showering the apartment in fragmented light.

Just on time, Lloyd returned from his morning run, this time accompanied by Zane. Kai patiently waited for him to be done with his shower before Lloyd sat down right beside him and took out a peanut butter and jam sandwich from the small pile on the plate. Zane gave Kai an acknowledging nod as he went to grab his work bag before going back out the door.

“Hey, bud. How’re you doing?” Kai started tentatively. Lloyd, having just taken a huge bite of the pb&j, looked mildly alarmed at the confrontation, but still answered after finishing the bite.

“…honestly Kai? My bones don’t feel on fire anymore and Zane has said that my fever had gone down through the night. Still, I don’t regret what I had done,” Lloyd responded earnestly before taking another bite of the bread. If Kai didn’tknow better he would have thought that the kid had faced starvation before, because he was still eating as if the food could be taken away at any moment. Keyword: thought.

Kai really wanted to continue the talk after Lloyd had his fill, but knew that Lloyd’s busy schedule didn’t allow for such talks. So, he pushed down all the instincts that screamed that he was a bad brother and gritted his teeth.

“I know that that wasn’t your choice-“

“It was my choice!” Lloyd cut in even though he was still chewing. Gulping down another mouthful of food, Lloyd continued. “… because if I couldn’t even consider that my choice, how much of my life can I say that belongs to me?”

Kai was stunned into silence. In his mind, he didn’t think that Lloyd had thought of throwing the tea like that. He wondered how much Lloyd had been holding in inside of him, how much he had to endure being told by people that he hadn’t had a choice. Thinking back to the time where he couldn’t save Nya without listening to others on what he had to do, Kai felt even worse. Cole was right- he wasn’t at fault for this specific action that Lloyd did, but he was at fault for not being understanding enough, or even approachable enough.

Taking advantage of Kai’s speechlessness, Lloyd finished up his sandwich before reaching into the pile and taking out another, this time picking out a Nutella and cheese combination.

“It’s not just that. Now, I can finally go on missions with you guys. Now, you guys don’t have to hold back on me, and I can train for longer amounts of time. The Final Battle will be on us whether we’re ready or not, and I too would feel much safer if I am prepared to… to face my father,” Lloyd said before continuing to stuff his face with breakfast.

Kai’s brain began to work again, and he formulated a good enough response. “…Alright buddy, but just so you know, you’re still not going on missions with us.” Lloyd’s face immediately formed a pout and Kai grinned, rubbing his blonde hair. “Also, since when did you start speaking like that? ‘The Final Battle will be on us whether we’re ready or not.' Wow, such language. Much eloquence.”

“That’s because you guys gave me 2 hours to spend studying Uncle Wu’s books every day,” Lloyd huffed in annoyance, having finished another mouthful of bread. “But seriously Kai, please don’t be angry for me. It really isn’t your fault.”

Kai mused over those words as he watched Jay trained Lloyd with his acrobatic abilities. Of course, the kid was still getting used to his taller and larger limbs, but Kai could see him improve at an incredibly fast rate. Lloyd was right, in a sense. He didn’t really have the legal right to worry over Lloyd’s physical and mental wellness, but still- he was Kai. Master of Fire, protector of the Green Ninja, and he should be allowed to feel the fuel of his anger at any time he so pleases. If it happens to be an injustice to his trainee and well- who can blame him?

He accidentally fell asleep during Lloyd and Jay’s training, having to catch up to last night’s lost sleep, and boy was that a bad idea. He forgot one of the most important rules within the Ninja’s family: Do not fall asleep when with Lloyd and Jay, because those two can pull some terrible pranks.

Kai didn’t notice anything wrong until he passed Dareth’s trophies and saw that his beautiful hair was not spiked. Kai swore that when he sees those two again, he would chase after them until they begged for mercy because Kai cannot be seen in public with hair like this! Feeling his eye twitch, Kai wondered if Lloyd was going to be the cause of him popping a blood vessel.

Years later, Kai would realise that indeed, Lloyd would give him his first grey hair at 19. That damned brat.

- Zane - When Zane… left the team, all Kai could feel was a sense of numbness. He floated through a fuzzy reality as nothing seemed real to him anymore. His family was in shambles, broken pieces that were scattered without their missing piece completing them. The fact that Zane was gone didn’t really register to him until they had asked Lloyd to do a speech honouring the titanium ninja. Lloyd, face as pale as the gi Zane used to wear, couldn’t say any words, so he volunteered to step up for his brother. Lloyd looked at him with thanks, before disappearing off to whatever world he was in just moments before. Kai joined him, staring aimlessly at their ceiling, before having to get up and pen down words that he was going to say, to honour Zane.

He realised that he couldn’t, really couldn’t. The words just wouldn’t come out of his ink pen, even though he was pretty much literate now. He could only manage to jot down a few words that summarised what Zane was to him. A brother. A teammate. A fellow Ninja. Built to protect those who cannot protect themselves. But words can't do Zane justice. How could he capture Zane's cool-like grace, his calm calculation when it matters most? Zane's amazing cooking, his incredible kindness, and all-around sweet nature? How could he describe his first time meeting him, first time working with him, when he discovered his true potential and saved all of their sorry asses? How could he do all that?

Hot, angry tears dribbled down from Kai’s eyes as he hunched over their kitchen table. No, this wasn’t going to do. Kai decides that he'll just have to wing it.

As soon as he had finished his speech and paid proper respect to Zane, Kai left his family and just wandered around aimlessly, going from bar to bar to drink and inevitably get into fights.

Having been thrown out of almost all bars in Ninjago city for ‘disrupting common services’, whatever that was supposed to mean, Kai soon found himself standing in front of Yang’s Tavern. From what he heard, this place was run by quite a few Serpentine and they had a ‘Slither Pit’. Whatever that meant. What Kai needed to do was to feel his fist connect to something flesh-like, and he will be okay.

Months passed, as Kai found himself falling deeper and deeper into Ninjago’s criminal organisations. Under the name ‘The Red Shogun’, he would remain the undefeated champion, all whilst working for different kinds of bosses as ‘security’. Kai knew that he shouldn’t be doing this, that he shouldn’t be helping criminals get away with their criminal activity, shouldn’t have let human merchandise go under his nose. But he couldn’t bring himself to care. Nothing really mattered after Zane’s death. Nothing had mattered at all. Kai was stuck down in the pits of hell, drinking himself to half-death before the barkeep regulated his intake just so that he could bring in the cash that Kai made through betting, before receiving poor attempts to reach out by Lloyd.

Somehow, the kid had gotten the number of his burner phone. He even sent mail to the bar, to which Kai and his bar buddies had laughed at. Kai didn’t feel too bad for ignoring the kid. Zane’s death was partially his fault anyways. (Nromal Kai would have been horrified to hear him think this.) Kai was angry. Angry that Lloyd didn’t try hard enough. Didn’t try hard enough to defeat the Overlord, when he had a clear shot. Angry that Lloyd had apparently failed to defeat the Overlord 100%. Angry that he had been captured whilst literally wielding the power of God, only for the Overlord to use its incredible power to construct a new body. Angry that Lloyd didn’t try hard enough to keep the team together, to reach out to him, or even to speak at Zane’s funeral.

But above all, Kai was angry at himself. Angry that he had made fun of Zane for his passions and clothes. Angry that he did not try hard enough to train Lloyd, and ultimately failed to be with him in the ‘Final’ battle. Angry that he couldn’t have done his job as a ninja properly, getting captured and tied to a rocket ship which only made them have to try rescuing him instead of stopping Project Arcturus. Angry that he couldn’t do anything when Zane took on the Overlord by himself again.

And Kai was angry at Ninjago. At the world. At the universe. At the First Spinjitsu Master, who had no right to decide that his family had to face the world like that. Angry, and wondering why he was being put through this kind of torture: not being able to live, and yet not willing to die. Kai was a man of action and he had to stay in motion- so his knuckles split. So he goes ‘home’, to the hotel room in Yang’s Tavern, covered in bruises and sometimes even blood- just not his. So he has to take part in crimes, never rising above the level of a security guard, all whilst feeling terrible. He did not know how to get out of this state and feared that if he did, he would collapse into a lump of uselessness.

He fought all day and night, and in the moments where he wasn’t fighting, he was drinking. His sleeping schedule has shifted to between 6 AM and 2 PM. All whilst he kept grieving over a death that was not deserved.

After a year, Lloyd somehow inexplicably showed up on his doorstep, telling Kai to not drink too much ‘juice’ (he rolled his eyes at that and smiled fondly at Lloyd’s innocence) and asked him to show up at Chen’s noodle house where he was holding a meeting with his other teammates.

Unexpectedly, this led to a discovery that instantly brightened Kai’s mood before dampening it slightly. Zane was alive! But they had to fight through… an elemental tournament to get him? At this point in time, Kai was alright with doing anything, anything to get Zane back.

Just 2 weeks later, Kai would hesitantly retract his statement. Sure, they had gotten Zane back, but in exchange, Lloyd had to lose Garmadon to the Cursed Realm. Kai wonders if they’ll ever be able to make it through a fight with everyone intact, but today wasn’t about him. He felt a familiar spark of rage burning brightly through his chest as he watched Lloyd trying and failing to smile. From the corner of his eye, he saw Zane approaching him.

“Kai, can we talk for a moment?” Oh, dear. What is this about now? Was it about how Kai had almost killed their baby brother over a stupid staff?  Or the fact that Kai had very stupidly fallen for the Criminal Mastermind’s daughter? Did Zane find out about his criminal activity?

Well, it wasn’t everything that Kai had thought would happen, although the topic had come stupidly close to the last point. Zane confronted him, making him open up about his ‘feelings’ or whatever, before telling Kai that the alcohol content in his body was too high and that his livers were on the edge of failing. Well. Good to know that Zane is still regular old Zane who’d scan you without permission.

“Kai, all I’m saying is that you are free to tell me anything. To just let it all out -“

“I can’t let it all out!” Kai shouted in annoyance. What did Zane know about grieving- Oh wait. Doctor Julien. Well, what did Zane know about Kai’s specific method of dealing with his issues? He was fine.

“Why not, Kai?” Zane asked with a bittersweet smile. Kai looked around, desperately searching for an answer that he doesn’t have.

“Well- I can’t tell you that! Just know that it’s okay for me to feel angry!” Kai stated very, very eloquently. Zane just gave him a look that said ‘bullshit’. “It’s also okay for you to be sad, and to cry.”

“You’re-you’re wrong!”

“And you’re a hypocrite, Kai. You can’t make Lloyd do the right choices if you aren’t gonna do them yourself.”

“Well- Lloyd’s just a child! A teenager at best, really. Me? I’m a fully legal adult! I can make my own decisions!” Kai seethed. Zane looked sad for a moment, before straightening up and doubling down.

“Whilst according to Mill’s Harm Principle, you’re free to do anything that could harm yourself without damaging others, might I remind you that you’re still a role model for Lloyd, Nya, and even Jay? Please, Kai. If you can’t do it for yourself, at least do it for them.” Zane pleaded. And damn it. Whilst Kai wouldn’t lift a finger to save himself, just the thought of Lloyd doing what he’s done sent a shiver down his spine. Zane was right, as always. He had to be the big brother, and being the older brother means that he has to display healthy habits more. FSM knows that Lloyd would need it. So he sucked up his pride, arrogance, and ego, then threw it all away, metaphorically off the Bounty

He knew that they would always come creeping back to him later, but for now, Lloyd needed a functional older brother, and Kai was going to be exactly what he needs.

“Thank you, Zane,” Kai stated. Grinning, Zane waved Kai on to go save Lloyd, who now looked like he was drowning from some invisible force.

“Lloyd? Lloyd buddy, you there?”

- Cole - Of course, Kai couldn’t stop his blood pressure from reaching a boiling point. How could he? This month had been the worst month for his health since- well, since forever! Who would’ve thought that Wu’s dead first student would escape the Cursed Realm just to possess Lloyd in order to exact an act of stupid, grand revenge because he didn’t get the title of the Green Ninja?

Kai had to fight his baby brother, lose the staff of the First Spinjitsu Master, fail to defeat ghosts, bargain with a stupidcrook for some weapons that were actually effective to ghosts all whilst looking for the scroll of Airjitzu, who guess what? Turns out Ronin had it all along. And he had just handed it to Morro, which caused all of them to go to this cursedtemple, which was designed to be a terribly haunted house, because it just amplified Kai’s fear of water a 100 times more, and all that culminated in a stupid idea where they tied themselves together to not lose track of the other, which caused Cole to lose valuable time when the scroll of Airjitzu was dropped right as they were at the door to the temple.

Spinning around to check on his teammates, he saw a pale green sheen. Just as he was about to raise his weapon, he heard Cole’s voice calling out to them that they had the scroll. And oh. Oh no. No, Kai couldn’t deal with this anymore. He watched Cole realise with horror that now, he was technically dead, and wail.

Kai’s blood vessels were very, very close to popping. Being an alcoholic had not helped with his anger issues, and having faced too many setbacks, all whilst not having any powers or any victories, Kai was prepared to curse the entire 16 realms.

As Nya parked the bounty right next to the floating temple of Airjitzu, Kai could see her face widen in shock and horror at Cole. Fists clenched the tightest they had been in a while (and that was saying something, given that he had failed to protect Lloyd again) Kai could only take over the lead as he herded his teammates onboard the ship.

Cole’s a ghost now. So what? He can deal with that later. For now, they had to beat Morro to the Cloud Kingdom and the Realm crystal if he was going to have any chance of having Lloyd back.

Well, that was a lie, Kai thought to himself after the heat of the moment. Their ship was now charted towards the Wailing Alps, trying to make it as the Blind Man’s Eye passed over the top so that they may use Airjitzu to get the Sword of Sanctuary. And that meant they had time. Whilst Zane and Jay were working on some mechs to help them traverse the mountains, Nya was training with Sensei Wu to unlock her true potential faster, and Misako was packing them supplies. That meant that Kai and Cole were left in the bow of the ship. The air just felt denser than usual, even though by all logic, it should have been lighter due to their high altitude.

Kai watched Cole trying to tap a button on the control board, but couldn’t manage to get his hands to temporarily appear solid. He saw the frustration on Cole’s face grow as he gave up and slammed his hand on the board, accidentally touching on several buttons. Immediately the ship started to list onto the left side. So bracing himself Kai rushed to the position and immediately undid the damage Cole had done.

Cole then let out a scream of frustration. “All I wanted to do was to view the stupid GPS! Why. Can’t. I. Do. Anything. Right?” Cole angrily shouted, punctuating each word with a kick aimed towards the control panel, but never managing to connect. He immediately sunk onto the floor and held his face in his hands.

Kai sucked in air through his teeth. He wasn’t everyone’s go-to when comforting them from anger, but it seems that he had to step up this time.

“Hey, Cole?” Kai started gently. “Yeah?” Came a muffled response.

“I know that I’m not the best person to do this, but I just want you to know that I hate the universe as much as you do, and it’s alright if you wanna just shout and spar with me-“

“Hah! As if I can do anything good with this. Stupid. Body!” Cole replied, voice tense with frustration. Kai frowned.

“I’m serious Cole. And you will get better at using this body. Remember how Morro’s ghost friends had beaten us? Imagine them, not realising that we actually have a pretty powerful member right in their midst. Think of the recon missions you can do as a ghost! Imagine how satisfying it would be to just punch Morro in the nose without feeling bad for hurting Lloyd!” Kai picked a direction and resigned himself to it, smile getting more manic as he realised that hey! Cole’s new body is actually kinda cool. Cole snorted.

“Imagine all the pranks I’ll be able to pull on Jay. And imagine me possessing Mr. Cuddlywump-“ Both of them dissolved into laughter after this thought, each imagining Jay’s terrified expression as Cole’s voice comes out of the teddy bear that he thinks nobody knows he hugs every night.

“Hey- you know that being a ghost would be incredible for your stealth right?” Kai ribbed Cole gently, finding delight that it actually connected. Cole scoffed. “Oh, don’t remind me Mr-I-blew-up-2-trucks-filled-with-jet-fuel-and-thought-that-I-wouldn’t-be-noticed.”

“Hey! It was just one time.” Kai defended himself. “Seriously though, imagine all the cool shit you can do now.”

“Too bad that I won’t be able to eat anymore,” Cole said mournfully. Kai raised his eyebrow. “Nah, this just means that you can eat as much as you want and wouldn’t be scolded by Sensei Wu. Also, don’t we have Hungry Ghost Month right before Day of the Departed?”

“Holy shit, Kai. You’re right! You know, maybe being a ghost isn’t so bad after all,” Cole said with a hearty grin. With a grin of his own, Kai thought to himself that really, being a ghost is no big deal. We have a nindroid as a brother after all! Besides, at least Cole is still with us in, heh, spirit.

Too late did Kai consider the cons of being a ghost. As Cole watched helplessly from the banks of the river that Lloyd was drowning in, Kai had to bite his own tongue to stop himself from screaming as he plunged into the water to save Lloyd from drowning. Too late, after the defeat of the Preeminent, did he see Lloyd flinching from Cole’s touch, which led to a very heartbroken Cole and an extremely apologetic Lloyd. He saw Lloyd trying his best to just endure and adapt to the change, and his heart was filled with anger again.

It wasn’t as bad as his breaking point at Yang’s temple, but he now has a grudge against Morro that runs through the core of his being, like how ‘Nya is my Sister’ and ‘Lloyd is my baby brother’ are the code of his being. Still, victory tasted bittersweet as he gets to finally pat the golden head of hair his brother has.

Kai would be okay to go through anything, as long as he had his family with him.

- - Jay - Family. That’s what Kai’s life has circled back into, hasn’t it? He had fought skeleton armies for his sisters, fought snakes with his brothers, trained the youngest to fight the literal embodiment of evil, went through an entire tournament for one of his brothers, fought with Wu’s student to save Lloyd, and now destiny decides for him to face another whiplash.

His parents. His good-for-nothing parents. They had left Kai when he was 6 and Nya when she was just 3. It had been absolute hell, making sure that they had enough to eat, enough to drink, and enough to wear during the winter. Kai had to start working at the blacksmith shop when he was just 8, trying to find some independence from the goodwill of his neighbours. And whilst he was working odd jobs, being a stable boy, an errand boy, doing some house chores for the minimum wage- he also had to make sure that his baby sister could attend school properly.

He had properly started to work at the forge when he was 12, having sold most of his father’s previous work. Soon, he found ease in making spear tips, armour, and samurai-style helmets. He had been working on doing a good sword when his sister was kidnapped, and his entire life changed as he tried his hardest to bring her back. Since then, he hadn’t gone back to his old home in Ignacia.

But he couldn’t ignore it anymore.

Looking at the smithing symbol on the inside of the Vermillion Warrior’s helmet, Kai had to take a quick journey back to his old home, back into his past. Picking up a decade-old helmet, Kai’s worst fears were confirmed.

“I knew it,” Kai said humourlessly as the puzzle pieces began to construct a monstrosity that he never wanted to know. In a fit of anger, he punched his father’s symbol, to which a secret hatch just suddenly opened. Curious, Kai took a look at the basement of the shop, only to see a double-edged blade as well as some old armour. What was he making? Kai wondered, before shaking his head. It doesn’t matter now.

With single-minded determination, Kai took the blade, old, and a new helmet, then immediately headed to someone who he knows would understand.

10 minutes later, Kai was sitting at a booth in Chen’s Noodle House, venting out all his frustrations to Skylor, who, bless her, had offered him free noodles as he spilled out his feelings. Of course, Kai didn’t feel much better after doing so, but at least he felt like he wasn’t suffocating anymore. Just as Kai was summarising his rant, incomes Nya, proclaiming something about how Skylor was the mysterious and new Samurai X. Kai’s stomach suddenly started to churn and he gulped. He had to break the news that their parents were still alive to Nya. And whilst that was mean, what Kai learned throughout his years as being a Ninja that being honest with your teammates was the difference between life and death. Funny, he remembered a weird dream that was focused on this exact point. But Kai didn’t have time to reminisce now. All he could do was think of ways of breaking the news to Nya.

Too soon, Kai Smith, no not Smith, Kai had to think of a better surname after this was all over. Anyways, their team has decided upon infiltrating Krux and Acronix’s secret base, which also meant that they will find his traitorous father. Instantly, he felt a searing hot pain radiate from within his ribcage. teeth clenched, fists tightened, he and Nya arrived at the swamp.

He had a single-minded focus on finding his parents and nothing could stop him.

“Kai, I don’t see anything. Give me the map,” Nya whispered. “Hmmm, what even makes you think that Acronix and Krux will be around here?”

“I honestly don’t even care if they are,” Kai said noncommittally and looked around his surroundings. In the distance, he saw a building, right where the blacksmith shop was situated on the map. Heart pounding, he raced up the planks leading up the shop.

Kai was in too deep to stop now, to have second thoughts. Seeing his father’s blacksmith symbol on the door, builds up his resolve to kick the door open.

“I knew it!” anger, like how lava flows down a volcano, seeped into his bones as his father stared at him like he was some kind of stranger. In all fairness, he was. Because what kind of ‘father’ was Ray Smith for abandoning Nya, for abandoning him, all those years ago?

“Who are you? What do you want?” Those words cut deeply into Kai’s heart, etching all kinds of feelings that Kai couldn’t process. Because all he could see. Was red.

“I WANT JUSTICE!” With a war cry, Kai drew out the double-edged blade that his father had watched. But this time, he wasn’t fighting to disarm, to defeat, or to stun. He was fighting to kill.

Running towards the blacksmith, Kai jumped to plunge the blade into his father’s chest, only for him to dodge, Raising another strike, he missed and hit the edge of the forge. Spinning around, his next shot was parried by his father.

Blocked by his father again, Kai gave his old man a chance to explain himself. But what was said was, “You’re red like a Vermillion Warrior. But you’re no snake.”

“No, I’m not, BUT YOU ARE! TRAITOR!!” Kai broke out of his father’s block, spinning the weapon before clashing it with his father’s hammer again. His next few strikes were dodged and a kick sent Kai sprawling over the anvil. Getting up again, Kai swung the weapon wildly, getting dodged before being thrown back by a well-timed shot from his father.

“You messed with the wrong blacksmith, my friend,” Ray said, standing over Kai’s body. hearing those words sent a hot shot of seething fire down to his free palm. Building up a fire in his hand, Kai stood up and spun the double-edged blade.

“Fire power…” Ray thought out loud. Shocked, he could only get out of the way as Kai threw a fireball at him.

“No… you’re certainly not a guard. You’re… my son!” Hearing those words made Kai pause. He didn’t know why, he just couldn’t move. Too many emotions were battling in him, and he could only focus on his father’s next few words.

“Kai! You’ve inherited my elemental power!” his father had actually said that. In joy. Suddenly, his fire was rekindled.

“That’s the only thing I’ll ever inherit from you!” Kai started to move, to continue the fight when suddenly his baby sister screamed for him to stop from the front door.

“He’s a traitor!” Kai explained through gritted teeth.

“He’s still our father,” Nya begged Kai to reconsider.

“Whatever it is you think, I can explain-“

“Yeah… BET YOU CAN!” Kai threw back his left hand, ready to unleash another fireball at his father when a jet of water put his element out.

“Kai, let him speak!” Nya pleaded. “There’s no harm in hearing him out!”

Kai then moved to throw the double-edged blade at his father, who had dodged out of the way. sensing that Nya would just put out his fire again, Kai pounced on his father and dragged him hip by the collar of his clothes, and began to wrestle with him.

“It ends here! NOW!” Overpowering his father, he managed the wrench his left hand free, and pulled it back into a punch.

“Kai, you don’t know what you’re doing!”  “I DO NYA! I ABSOLUTELY-“  “I’m not your sister, son.”

Kai suddenly stopped. His mother… was alive?!

“Huh? M-mom? I-I don’t believe it!” Kai released whatever he was holding as he turned around, trembling.

“That makes the 2 of us,” Maya stated sweetly, and suddenly all the memories that Kai had been oppressing came back- he could see the woman who cared for him, hear the lullabies she used to sing Nya to sleep, smell the floral shampoo and scent of mountain springs that hung around her. He remembers the taste of the food that she had made, and the warm, slender hands that held his own. As Kai watched his mother fuss over his baby sister, his resolve to fight, to seek revenger, crumbled away into pieces.

Removing his hood, he threw his arms around his mother, still smelling the scent of mountain springs, feeling the her skin, folded and cut in several areas, but still warm and firm.

But suddenly, he remembered the snake helmets and of Sensei Wu, and immediately pushed her back.

“Why, she’s as guilty as he is! They’ve been helping Acronix and Krux for years!” Kai seethed. “They’re the enemy!”

“Is that what you think?” Maya reproached. “We are not your enemy.”

“Then how do you explain this?” Kai took up the vermillion warrior’s helmet and showed his father’s symbol to his biological family. “Dad’s blacksmith stamp on every piece of Vermillion armour!”

“They forced us to work for them! Part of their revenge…” Maya rebutted.

“For what?”

“For creating the time blades,” Ray shook his head and creased his forehead. “It goes back a long tie, then Acronis and Krux were still Elemental Masters.”

Ray recounted how Wu had asked them to forge blades made of a chronosteel, a sort of metal that suctions your elemental powers away permanently if you used them to their true potential on the metal.

“We had worked for days and nights. At the end of it all, we were so exhausted, that we could not participate in the fight. But Wu had told us the results of the fights, about how he and Garmadon had sent the Time Twins and the Time Blades into a Time Vortex, essentially having them lost to time.”

“Yet, immediately after the portal has closed, Krux had gotten away. And he had gotten a glimpse of the Blimp too. He now knew that his brother was being sent to the future without him.”

“Now, he had decades to scheme and plan. He adopted the persona of the kindly Dr. Sanders Saunders. He had begun making the first batches of Vermillion out of the Great Devourer’s eggs. And his army would need weapons. Armour. Vehicles.

“So he went looking for us, and we had built a cordial relation with the old man.”

“One day, he suddenly revealed his true colours and held you two at sword point, stating that if we did not cooperate, he would not hesitate to kill you,” Maya said, eyes glistening with tears. “What could we have done?”

Kai didn’t know how to react. He stood there shell-shocked. His parents.. they weren’t traitors after all? The fire of anger fizzled out. “Okay, but what about the stamp?”

“I stamped every piece of my work, hoping that one day, someone would figure it out,” Kai’s father admitted. “So that together, we can stop Krux and Acronix’s plan.”

“What is their plan?” Nya asked. Ray shook his head and creased his eyebrows in fear. “To control all of time.”

That revelation shocked Kai into speaking again. He looked at his father, bruised, dirtied, and tired from their fight before. The feeling of guilt bubbled in his stomach, and Kai had to immediately right the wrongs.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Kai began, wincing internally at his bad apology. But Nya- blessed Nya, had saved him by asking about Krux and Acronix’s plan to control all of time.

“They made me design the Iron Doom, a machine capable of transporting the Vermillion warriors through time,” Ray explained, rolling out a blueprint of the iron doom.

“So you built a Time Machine?” Kai asked incredulously. Ray huffed. “No, just the shell. I’m afraid the Time Machines are bit out of my skill set.”

“But Cyrus Borg was forced to design a power source capable of powering the machine by using temporal energy from the Time Blades,” Maya said whilst rolling out another piece of blueprint next to Ray’s this time of some sort of machine.

“Oh no! That must mean that the pause we felt earlier… that must mean that there are 3 blades in the present!” Nya exclaimed. Kai thought out loud that if Krux and Acronix got the blade, there will be only one left. “And if they get that, their time traveling mega armour will be fully operational!”

Kai stared dumbfoundedly at the smile shared between his parents. “Sorry, full operational is… good news?” Man, if his parents could just pick a side already!

“They’ll never get it,” Ray said with a smile. “Master Wu found it shortly after Acronix disappeared. Turns out it had the power to reverse time. Wu knew it was too dangerous to keep, so we hid it, buried deep in a location where only a combined elemental power of Fire and Water can reach.”

“And since you inherited our powers-“ Kai’s mother gasped sharply. “You must leave. Now!”

Ray looked downright alarmed. “You’re right. If Krux and Acronix knew you were here, they could-“

At this moment, the door burst open and time stood still.

“Could force you to retrieve the Time Blade for us? Excellent suggestion,” Krux said with a menacing smile.

“No way! We’ll never retrieve the Reversal Blade for you!”  “You tell him, brother!”

“You will! Or your parents will face the same fate that they tried to protect you from.” Krux countered, his smile stretching impossibly wider.

“We’re done serving you, Krux. Bring your worst!” Ray shouted, charging towards the Time Twins. Kai watched in horror as Krux used the Pause blade to stop his father’s momentum immediately, before giving him a hard kick in the gut.

“DAD!” Kai shouted, watching his father still frozen in place, bouncing on the hard floor.

“Look what I found,” drawled the voice of Commander Machia, wheeling in-

“Master!” “Wu!’

“You know, it occurs to me that the Reversal Blade is the only way to undo Wu’s Time Punch.” Acronix grinned.

“I…I’m afraid that’s true,” Kai’s father said, having gotten out of the pause effect.

“If you want to save your master, you’ll have to retrieve the 4th blade.” Krux walked even closer to Kai, before snatching away the double-edged blade. “And I’ll take that.”

Lightning flashed over the skies, creeping in tendrils and thunder boomed, rocking the ship. Kai and his family were stuck on a ship, not able to help his other family back at the swamp to fight off a whole swamp’s worth of snakes! And to top it all off, he had to retrieve the 4th Time Blade for the Twins, directly enabling Krux and Acronix’s plan!

Kai felt anger in the many hot drops of rain the fell onto his skin. But he couldn’t afford to lose himself here, he and Nya would have to work together, get past all the challenges and get the time blade, save Wu and get out of here!

Yet, once he and Nya had returned to the ship, the blade was immediately knocked out of his hands and his father took another Time Punch. Just as he was about the throw hands with the Time Twins, he was hit with a jet of brilliant red light, trapping him a Pause as he could only see the ship moving away from underneath him. They barely had the time to pull up their fusion dragon before heading back to the swamp.

Upon their arrival, they saw the Time Twins enter a temporal vortex. They had to follow them. There was no other choice.

A long, tiring battle in the past 40 years ago had taken its toll on Kai and Nya. They had managed to reverse the Time Punch on Master Wu (though Kai wonders if maybe Nya used a bit too much) and they had managed to drive Acronix and Krux back into the Temporal Vortex, this time actually sneaking aboard the ship and trying to remove the Time Blades from the engine of the Iron Doom.

Unfortunately for Kai, he just couldn’t lift the Reversal Blade, but Sensei Wu had. Throwing the Time Blade to him, Kai almost didn’t register Wu telling them to use the blade of Ray before throwing both of them out of the time stream and back into the present.

After had used the time blade on his father, Kai and Nya were tasked with Master Lloyd’s command to return the Reversal Blade to its place in the Boiling Sea. Of course, Kai had complied, adrenaline still fuelling his body. And yet when all was said and done, Kai collapsed upon reaching the Temple of Airjitzu.

The days after Kai and Nya returned to the present without Sensei Wu were some of the worst. Kai felt like he was over bursting with emotions. Guilt, grief, and anger clouded his mind over the loss of Wu. Joy, confusion, and deep-seated anger clouded his heart over his parents. Kai didn’t know how to deal with everything. He couldn’t really talk with his previous confidence, he couldn’t move without double guessing himself, and his decision-making skills were in pieces, grounded into a fine dust.

Does he reconnect with his family or not? What could he do the aid the search of Sensei Wu? Are Nya and Lloyd doing alright? Cole seems to be the hardest hit out of all of them, maybe he should go check on him?

Lying on his bed in the Temple of Airjitzu, Kai couldn’t muster his strength to well, do anything! He just needed some time to just… process, everything that had happened in the past month. His parents, of course, had given him some space, and just said that when he’s ready to contact them. Kai thinks that they also didn’t know how to deal with his situation and just took a cop-out. Or maybe they just wanted to breathe fresh, non-swamp-sewer air and tour Ninjago after being in captivity in 10 years. Honestly, who knows?

Lloyd had walked in and provided a brief source of relief for Kai, but too soon had he walked away, going back to his training. Kai saw his baby brother’s eyes sporadically turn green, infused with his element, in just 3 days. Kai would have joined him too, doing whatever hellish program he had set up for himself, if he wasn’t just ambushed by his feelings whenever he tries to get up, wondering if that was even the right choice. He certainly felt that it was his fault that he lost Sensei Wu, and now his kid brother had trained so hard that his eyes became green just to find Sensei again.

Nya was dealing with her own reconciliation with his parents and sometimes offered Kai a shoulder to cry on. Mostly, she was by herself, as Jay had told Kai to ease his worry. Still, his worry for Nya is topped only by his worry about the future.

Cole had also been hit hard by the loss of Sensei Wu and was shutting himself in. Zane was still trying to spend time looking for Pixal throughout the Bounty and any of our other bases of operations, trying to tracer her down.

That left Jay, who really, was as much of a help as a hindrance to Kai. Hanging out with Jay meant that Kai soon developed a terrible sense of humour, an arsenal of horrible puns, and way too many prank ideas. Jay had made sure that everyone was fed, watered, and in some cases- slept. Of course, being the responsible one for once meant that Jay had to bully his most stubborn teammates into taking a break, or having some food.

“MOOOORRRRNNIIIIIINNG!” Kai was once again woken up by Jay’s terrible screeching. Turning to face the wall, Kai pushed a pillow on top of him just so he could remain in the land of sleeping for longer. No such luck.

“KAAAIIIIII! GET UP!” Jay, screamed as the door to his room flung open. Aw man here we go again, Kai grumbled to himself.

“So what would you like to have this morning? Eggs and bacey? Toast with jam? How about-“

“How about you shut up and leave me alone!” Kai shouted, irritated by the perky tone that Jay has adopted. Watching Jay’s smile become less bright and more forced, Kai couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Sitting up and rubbing the base of his neck, Kai apologised for his outburst. “Sorry, Jay- it’s just that I need some time, alone.”

Jay nodded solemnly, before sitting down at the edge of his bed. Kai watched as Jay took a deep breath before saying his piece.

“I know Kai, but… Nya… she needs you. You have got to fix your relationship with your parents, or at least start on the first step. I’m going to be honest: I’m not good with people like you are. I don’t know how to get Lloyd to rest, because he’s going to break his body this way. Don’t get me started on Cole, who won’t open up to me at all. And I can’t out logic Zane. He keeps saying that since he’s a robot, he doesn’t need rest as we humans do.”

Kai stayed silent for a while, mulling over Jay’s words. Truth is, if he could, he would have done so already. What did Jay know about these kinds of relationships, anyways? In fact, when compared to everyone else on the team, Jay has the best relationship with his parents. So what was the point of this? Kai felt his hands curl up into a fist, bunching his bedsheets. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he breathed out to calm himself down before he could impulsively do something he’d regret.

“No can do, Jaybird. I don’t even know where to start,” Kai said regretfully. Kai honestly expected for Jay to slink out of his room, to go pester Nya to try or to get Lloyd to see sense, or to even get his best buddy to open up about his troubles. Kai did not think that Jay seemed to double down, taking several huge gulps of air, and one the edge of hyperventilation. He saw Jay’s hands tighten into fists before he spoke in a trembling voice.

“Kai… did is something that I really, really don’t want to share. It’s something that I keep wanting to erase out of my memories. But I can’t, because no matter how much I try to see it as just a prank- it’s the truth. I’m… adopted,” Jay finished in a hushed whisper. Immediately, Kai sat up straighter. He hadn’t heard this before. “Please, please, keep this a secret, Kai.”

“…so, when did you find out?” Kai whispered back.

“It was at the height of our popularity craze right after stix. A letter had come in, about how my father had died. Immediately, I went off to my Ma and Pa’s scrapyard, but it turns out that I had been adopted, and that my biological father was… Cliff Gordon,” Jay’s teeth had begun shuddering as tears came leaking out of his eyes.

“Oh,” That’s all Kai could really say. I mean, how were you going to reply to that?

“Of course, I felt all sorts of different emotions at first. Relief that my Pa didn’t die, confusion at why I was abandoned on my parent’s doorstep, realisation why neither of my parents had elemental powers, and eventually gratitude because my biological father had written me into his will.”

“But Kai, you don’t just easily forget the feeling when you thought that your parents died. I’m sure that if Cole was himself right now, he would have knocked some sense into you.” Jay stated with a small smile. “Our lives as Ninja are really, really dangerous. Yesterday, we lost Sensei Wu. Tomorrow… well, let’s just say that as a Ninja, you have to cherish time with your loved ones. Don’t put off tomorrow what can be done today.”

And Kai seriously was lost for words. Jay was… 100% right. There were no faults, no counterarguments. Danger was a Ninja’s job description, and too soon he could leave this realm without patching things up with his parents- his parents had almost done so too when his father had been struck by the Forward blade. If he couldn’t do it for himself, and his parents- well, he could do it for Nya’s sake.

Suddenly energised, Kai stood up.

“Thank you, Jay.”

And off he went to call his parents, checking in on them, holding a conversation that had a semblance of normality. They had talked about safe topics, about interesting areas Ray and Maya had visited, about Kai and Nya’s adventures, and about Kai’s team, Sensei Wu- anything, really.

Tears of joy fell down his cheeks before he decided to barge into Nya’s room, throwing open her curtains and rousing her from her slumber.

Because now, they had a chance. They could reconcile.

And then they can find Sensei Wu.

- Kai - It was their first machine in 6 months, and Kai had managed to lose his powers. Again. This time, however, the warmth and fiery spirit that Kai could always cling to were gone as well. He had always felt utterly powerless without his fire. But without his anger? Kai was more than useless. He couldn’t even defend the civilians from the fire snakes, because he was out of shape as well and had to rely on Jay to save him. Jay!

Severely discouraged by this fact, he told his team to just ‘go ahead without him'. He would not be of any help to them anyways. He would only add more onto their already full plate as they would have to focus on defending him too.

Slumping next to an overturned car, Kai hid his face in his hands. What if he never gets his powers back? Would they hate him? Forget him? Maybe he could become The Red Shogun again, maybe pilot a mech as Pixal does.

Kai’s jumbled thoughts were interrupted by a kid (seriously, how many disasters have Ninjago faced to let people carry on their normal lives whilst it’s raining fireballs?) handing him a journal, stating that Kai was his favourite Ninja and could he please, please sign his notebook?

“Sorry kid,” Kai huffed out. “I’m not really a ninja without my powers.”

“Well then, why don’t you go help your teammates?” The kid, Max asked.

“Because, I’m useless, that’s why!”

“Well- if you don’t help the ninja, I will!” And with that, Max stormed away and started to head for the scene of danger. Kai called out to him futile to come back and resigned himself to his fate. Picking up the notebook, Kai saw a cartoonish sticker of him in his ninja mask at the front, before coming to an epiphany.

His teammates didn’t like him for just his fire. Nor did the Ninjago citizens. He carried everyone’s hopes and dreams on his back and he can’t just turn around now and leave him to face the enemy alone!

What was he thinking?

Immediately, Kai rushed down the street to the Ninjago Museum of ancient artifacts.

Kai didn’t always have to run red hot. He didn’t need to perpetually be angry. Sometimes, it’s okay to mellow out. But now is not the time. Now, he has to save his family from one crazy snake lady who was fuelled only by revenge.

Kai couldn’t just be fuelled by his anger. Facing off with Aspheera taught him that. Being angry all the time was exhausting when he inevitably turned off the switch. Anger clouded his thoughts, made errs in his judgment, caused him to be impatient- all whilst ignoring the important parts of his life- his family. And from now on, Kai would only tap into anger when it was absolutely necessary. What matters the most to him isn’t feeling invulnerable, like nothing could hurt him, especially if he was protecting his teammates. Rather, it was the job that Kai had to do. Emotions in battle are a tricky thing, but all the times he observed Lloyd setting aside his feelings for the greater good had made Kai realise that emotions can be easily goaded. Manipulate, by enemies such as Chen and Harumi.

In a life or death situation, Kai couldn’t just rely on his feelings. He had to embrace his moral code, the values that he holds dear, and act upon them, even though it may seem impossible at times. And he shouldn’t get frustrated with his team.

Kai may be angry, but the only time he’ll properly deal with his emotions will be when the battle is all over, and then he will learn how to compartmentalise, how to sort through his emotions. Maybe he’ll take up blacksmithing part-time again.

All Kai knew that was in this instance, he refused to let his life be ruled over uncontrollable feelings, mostly of rage. He was the master of his own emotions.

And nothing will stop him from helping out his team.

[purplerose244]

Thoughts journal Ninjago season 13!!! 🤩🤩 (3/4)

I am enjoying the season A LOT. The reveal has been thrown already, everything seems to be leading towards something special about Rock Mom and I couldn't hope for something better!! I know Lou will be back so I guess a flashback?... I'M SO EXCITED 💕💕

Alright, let's start!!

DUNGEON PARTY!

Side note, we're past the season and no Nexo Knights reference. Me sad, but me not quitting like ninja!! 💪💪

Korgran of METALONIA?!?! WHERE KARLOF COMES FROM!!! Oh you just love to feed me with good throwbacks, now do you Ninjago crew 😍

Plundar the thief, yeah, the attire gives it away although it is nice. And Fungus... huh... well that explains the mushrooms on the hat I guess 😅

Yep, there we go, a party of adventurers, the DnD situation promised 👈👈 He said loot, I saw a 20 faced dice, nice nice

In these recent seasons adventurers just won't like to do adventures for one reason or another, first uncle Powers, now these guys? I mean Ninjago is in danger every freaking time and you risk your life at every step and there's a new formidable villain every like five seconds but... huh... what was my point again?

THE ANIME STYLE IS BACK 😂😂 Oh boy I can tell we're in for a train to crazy town

I'm thinking this dude looks a lot like He-Man... of course he does, the HECK, am I noticing this just now? 😑

I do agree with mister Korgran's father reluctance about talking like that (I saw too many anime characters like that 😂), but Karlof uses the third person too. Either it's common in Metalonia, or there's a general lack of education there 😅 (I LOVE METAL BOY I MISS HIM 🖤🖤)

Talking axe that doesn't talk, nice 😂

Okay... okay, I need a moment

This is too cute. I know her head is a bit too big but LOOK AT THEM 💛🤍💛🤍 Has Chompy never grown?... wait he did got big that one time... okay... okay, never mind

Well that's a pretty nice party, you got your barbarian, your magic user and your rogue. Kinda misses a healer but still... tomorrow I'm doing a DnD session with my friends and I wanna sound like I know stuff 😂

I just noticed that I haven't seen hidden trap doors like that since Chen, the ABC of villains right there my friends 👆

So the King didn't become evil just because of the skull, he actually wished to obtain it and use the dark power. I get that he wants to defend the city but he is basically remorceless about everything else, so he is guilty. Also DRAGON ABUSER 😡

Poor Vania, but she overcame her Skylor situation very quickly. Proud 💛

There we go with the encouragement, you go Rocky!! We have a crazy Skull dude to turn into dust!! 👿👿

Wait, a promise he made a long time ago? Rock mom?

DUNGEON CRAWL!

ROCK MOM!!! YAAAASSS!!! FINALLY SHE'S HERE!!! 🖤🖤🖤

Oh holy FSM, my heart 💔

MY HEART HURTS SO MUCH. Cole as a kid, Lou is back, Rock Mom IS SICK AND WILL DIE, all the drawings, the picture of them together 😭😭

I cannot, freaking, this kid doesn't want his mom to be sick and he's gotten into troubles at school and she wants him to fight and be strong and right and SHE HAS HIS SAME EYEBROWS 😢😢😢😢😢😢

This scene was really heartbreaking, such a genuine situation with a kid that wants her mom to be fine and proud of him 🖤

Just looked at her VA and it's Erin Matthews 🤩 So first I'm counting it as a Nexo Knights reference just because MACY AND ROBIN ❤🖤❤🖤 Second, wasn't "the mom" going to be voiced by Jillian? Is it... is it Maya? Is she coming back? MAYBE NEXT SEASON??? NYA SEASON?!?!? 🤯🤯

Oh, we're moving on? So... so there's still the stuff about Rock Mom's past to uncover, still unsure if she was the one of the blades for the two tribes

PLUNDAR WE DO NOT DISRESPECT COLE INTO THIS HOUSE VANIA MY GIRL YOU ARE SPEAKING FOR ME TOO 💪💪

The connection between Cole and his mom is the earth itself, I'm loving this concept so much. It's true that he never found himself this deep into his element before, the Caves of Despair were mines but never this deep. This really is rock bottom... HECK YEAH

Well Cole...

Welcome to the colored eyes because of elemental power ninja team!! 💚❤🧡 (without counting the forbidden scroll moments) I LOVE WHEN IT HAPPENS!!! I'M GETTING SO PROUD AND EMOTIONAL!!! I'M PROUDOTIONAL!!! 🤯

Aww, Cole saving his son sensei, very nice. They did save each other a lot 🤷‍♀️

This place reminds me a lot of the Fire Temple where Kai got himself into trouble in season 1 but then saved Lloyd, one of my favorite and most memorable episode of the show... I'M TOO NOSTALGIC RIGHT NOW LET'S MOVE ON

NEVER MIND COLE IS TAKING CHARGE LIKE OLD TIMES HE IS FINALLY THE LEADER AGAIN I'M GONNA CRY ROCKY I'M SO HAPPY YOU DESERVE THIS 🖤

Wu's spinjitzu!! Always nice to see it 😊 And yes Adam is a good boy, and for my arachnophobia is a little freaky saying it 😅

Ah, good Plundar, Cole needs all the appreciation of the world because HE IS SUCH A GOOD PERSON AND AMAZING WARRIOR AND I LOVE HIM AAAAAA

This is probably my favorite episode for now, got Rock Mom, got elemental powers, got a lot of Cole in all of his glory: the leader with a clear smart mind able to lead even strangers, with big heart for what's important 👏👏

I feel like this season is giving him glory, I'm curious about how it will end!!

GRIEF-BRINGER

Okay I know it's the name of the dragon... and it gets me a little antsy 😅

Back to the munce! Still doing as good as ever I see! 😅 And lol, you can't blame Nya for not being nice Jay! Although she is kinda best friends with Ronin who double crossed her multiple times... okay, I see your reasoning Bluebell

There we go, Nya making them listen. I honestly could have seen her just grabbing one of them and make them fly through the the room, still cool though 😎

Back to the geckles! Also doing as good as ever! 😅 These little purple guys are so dang cute, seeing my flame babe trying to lead is so PRECIOUS, and even more PRECIOUS is Zane giving him support... and a rock in the face 🤍🤍

Gotta say

I'm more and more fascinated by their culture 😂😂

Aww little Gleck, everything had started with him after all... wait... HER NAME IS LILLY?!?! ROCK MOM HAS A NAME!!! AND SHE IS GILLIE/MILLIE!!! I KNEW IT!!! 🤩🤩

I think I saw the name somewhere, didn't think it was actually her. I always headcanoned her as Gaia, but Lilly is a very sweet name too 💕

It is pretty nice that even though we as viewers didn't know what happened to Lilly, the ninja knew. It's obvious, they've known each other for so long, but still. It feels nice to see this 😊

Oh-oh, Skull dude is up to something... and he said the title 👈👈

Zane keeps being the sweetest thing ever created, le cute dude 🤍🤍 Never thought I'd see Tin Can and Hothead discussing about lies while two slugs race each other...

I don't know if it's the new animation but the armored suits look CRAZY GOOD, the metal and the details are awesome!! I approve the suits of this season 👍

Pff, they are talking down his sister, if he knew they would be literally toasted 🔥

HUG HUG BEAUTIFUL LEGO HUG!!! And she lifts him up, omg the Smith siblings are back and they are so CUTE 😍

Yep, only he can talk down his sister... and possibly be annihilated right after 😅

Oh, the dragon that almost destroyed the two tribes... OH THE DRAGON THAT ALMOST DESTROYED THE TWO TRIBES!!! 😱😱

NO GUYS DON'T LEAVE LLOYD AND ZANE BEHIND, THEY ARE THE MOST PRONE TO SACRIFICE THEMSELVES 😭😱😭😱😭😱

The cringe Kai, the cringe never leaves you alone you beautiful idiot ❤

I cannot believe the animators managed to make Lloyd's LEGO hair swoosh, I must applaude them 👏👏👏 Also POOR BABY ON THE GROUND GIVE HIM A VACATION FOR CRYING OUT LOUD

Well aren't things getting even more complicated 😅 Where is Cole? We need season superstar pronto!

MASTERS NEVER QUIT

Awww, major throwback to the show's most famous motto right in the title! NINJA NEVER QUIT!!! LET'S GO THEN!!! 🤩

The upply team! With the lava beast back... I could easily make comment about how it could be a representation of Cole's feelings since it's LAVA with EARTH and FIRE, and he is running from them... I'M JUST RAMBLING MOVING ON 🖤❤🖤❤

Cole misses the Caves of Despair maybe, he wants to have a round with the carts like in Possession 😂 Was that why he knew it was going to work eventually? That would be histerical, especially since back then they all almost fell into the lava 😅😅

The Heart of the Mountain? Secret temple of the masters of Earth? Possibly hidden in Shintaro? Spinjitzu Burst? Wu, let me ask you this... just in case... is there... perhaps...

IS THERE SOMETHING YOU SHOULD'VE TOLD US??? 😡😡

He is definitely and officially old, only reason why he keeps forgetting to warn people about stuff 😑 I mean, it's not major like with Morro or Aspheera, I guess it's an improvement?... kinda?

So you learn spinjitzu burst if you're surrounded by your element, that sounds pretty awesome! I wonder how it could be with all the others, this can open up kinda like a quest for the true potential but with different places and lots of OP powers and I'M INTO IT 🤩🤩🤩

Okay season, I get it

YOU WANNA MAKE ME CRY 😭😭 I love this aztec vibe, so cool and appropriate she looks STUN 🖤

I didn't expect this much introspection about Cole, I thought it was going to be kinda last minute like with Jay in Prime Empire. I'm so thankful it's not like that, freaking yes. YES. GO COLE BURST OUT!!

... okay, take your time sweetie, no rush. The other ninja are just going to be fried but eh, happens all the time 🤷‍♀️

VANIA MAH GIRL 💕 I understand Wu, I mean the guys kinda learned all they needed already back when they started to train Lloyd. Ever since then, they had been not master and students, but just family. And you always need family, no matter how far you go 🖤

Awwww, Wu! You got your own development too! 👍 So nice to hear "ninja never quit" again, can't be too sure but it's been a while 😍

Let's hope the guys are doing fine resisting while Team Cole arrives 😎😎

[msmarvelouswinchester]

Lost in Translation

Summary - Jensen comes to India and falls in love with a fan who accidentally sees him while he's lost and saves him cause she knows Hindi.

Pairing - Jensen Ackles x Indian!Reader

Warning - swearing

A/N - The idea was given by the lovely @devil-in-my-boots . Hope you like it!

Jensen's POV

Crap! I should have listened to Jared. This place looks like a maze. I feel my phone going off in my pocket.

Shit! Jared is calling.

"Hey, man".

"Hey, are you okay?"

"You are the one with the stupid migraine, Jare".

"I know that. I meant are you-you are not lost, right? You should have taken Clif with you or wait till the whole gang arrived".

"Jared, I'm fine and what if your condition worsens, you need Clif with you. And Misha, Rob, Richard, they are all arriving at night. Even if I get lost, I'll find a way out. I just saw this beautiful church called St. Paul's Cathedral".

This was the last location of our con tour of India and I really wanted to see the city.

"Seems like you're enjoying yourself but Jay, this is a foreign country, just don't be a smartass. Call me if anything goes sideways".

"Jared, this is not the Amazon. I won't get lost. I'm on my way to Victoria Memorial. Did you know that this place has so much of history? Woah". I hear Jared muttering something and the call disconnects.

Won't get lost, my ass.

I open up the map app on my phone and try to locate my place. What is this place? I look around. Everything looks exactly the same. So where is this Victoria Memorial? I start walking forward. Maybe I can ask someone. But I don't know their language. This is a bad decision. A really bad decision. Huh? Is he an officer? Maybe he can tell me. I start walking faster towards the officer.

"Fuck!" I say as I crash into someone.

Y/N's POV

"Dekh kar nahi chal sakte? Dhyan kidhar hai aapka?" I yell to the man I just crashed into and fall down on the road. (Can't you see while walking? What were you thinking?)

"Um..I-er.. I'm so sorry. It's my fault. Sorry!" I hear a really familiar voice. I look up to see a pair of green eyes staring at me. Is that-is he-

"Jensen Ackles?" My eyes widen a bit. I look around to see some people approaching us.

"You know me?" He asks with a sigh of relief.

I get up and start to dust my jeans. "Madam, aap thik ho?" A man starts to walk towards us.(Madam, are you okay?)

"Haan, meh thik hun, kuch nahi huya, aap log jah sakte hai". I assure the surrounding people with a smile and they leave us standing at the side of the road. (Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing happened. You guys can go now)

"Sorry for that", the gorgeous man in front of me smiled sheepishly.

"It's okay", I smile at him, "I'm Y/N", I extend my hand to shake. I can't believe that I will meet him here! I tried to keep my fangirling under control because I can see something is bothering him.

"Uhm..are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. It's just-I was trying to explore the place."

"And?"

"I got lost, okay?"

I chuckled. Jensen's face was red and he was so embarrassed to admit that he was lost.

"I'm so sorry but where is Clif? Shouldn't he be with you?"

"Jared's got a nasty headache so Clif is with him back at the hotel. Can you tell me where I am right now so that Clif can pick me up?"

"Sure but there is no stoppage area here. You have to walk a little bit. That yellow building-do you see that?" Jensen nodded, "That is the stoppage area. You can tell Clif to come pick you up from there. That place is called the Exide Crossing."

"You're-wait-are you leaving? Come on. Don't leave me alone here. Please. I don't know anything about this place. What if I have to tell Clif about some name or address? You know me, Y/N. Y/N, right? But it's okay if you have work and need to-" Jensen was rambling on and I literally had to yell to make him stop.

"Jensen, JENSEN! I'll stay until Clif comes", I laugh, "come on, let's go and wait there."

We both start walking towards the stoppage. "So you're here for the con, right?"

"Ye-yeah", Jensen said and fell silent. I didn't try to bother him anymore by making small talk. Maybe he was nervous. I've heard he is shy around people he doesn't know much.

"We're here", I declared and saw Jensen pull out his phone and tell Clif about his location.

We kept quiet for some time with Jensen typing furiously into his phone.

"So Y/N," Jensen cleared his throat, "you're a fan of the show?"

"Yeah. Been a fan for almost ten years. Never thought they would organise a con in India let alone in all the major cities of India", I smile at him.

"Are you going to attend the con?" He looked at me with an expression I couldn't really read.

"Yes, I've waited to go to a con and meet you guys for a long time now. I just never thought I would help you to guide through the city".

"Don't get me wrong, but this city is a maze but a really beautiful one", he laughed.

"Yeah, Kolkata is a charming city", I smirked. "How much did you 'explore' by the way?"

"I went to the Church and I was on my way to the Victoria Memorial and I got lost", Jenen chuckled.

"So you didn't even see the city. There are so many other places to go."

"I didn't exactly have a beautiful tour-guide with me because I'm sure she would have helped me", he said flashing me his famous smile.

I was blushing furiously. Was he flirting with me? No. Of course not. He is Jensen Ackles. Why would he flirt with me?

"Well, you could have asked the tour-guide. She would have gladly showed you around the city".

Jensen didn't say anything more but I could feel his eyes on me. I looked up at him and opened my mouth to speak but a car stopped in front of us.

"Jay!" A window of the car rolled down, and Clif strained his neck out calling Jensen.

"Clif's here. Thank you", he said it looking right into my eyes. "Oh it's no problem at all", I smiled.

"Hope you had fun roaming around the city", Clif said with a hint of amusement in his voice and looking between Jensen and me.

"I sure did. This city is beautiful", he replied and winked right at me. He closed the door of his car and mouthed the words 'hope to see you at con' to me and the car drove past me leaving me standing at the side of the road blushing furiously.

At the convention

It was really a dream come true. I was having the best time of my life at this con. I already attended the panel of Jensen, Jared and Misha and they were hilarious as usual. I was grinning like a fool the whole day but as the evening was approaching, I was feeling a little sad because the con was ending. Now the only thing left were the photo ops. I had already purchased a photo op of Jensen and Jared. I stepped into the line for the photo ops. I was really nervous to meet Jensen again. Will he remember me? Probably. We just met yesterday. What if he doesn't?

Finally after standing in line for sometime, I was told to go into the photo op room.

"Hi! How are you? What's your name?" Jared asked me a smile on his face.

"Y/N?" Jensen wrapped in a hug. "I didn't see you the whole day so I thought you weren't going to come to the convention".

"So this is Y/N?" Jared smirked at Jensen. "You know my name?" "Of course!" I looked at Jensen and saw him shooting daggers at his friend. "So what pose do you want?"

"Will you please wait outside for a while? I need to talk to you", Jensen whispered to me once the photo was done. "Su-sure".

I waited outside for another fifteen minutes before I saw Jensen walking towards me.

"Hi, sorry to keep you waiting", Jensen nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's okay. So what did you want to say?"

"Um..I-er..So yesterday I told you how I needed a tour guide?" "Do you want me to be your tour guide?" "No. Not exactly. I mean yes, a tour guide but maybe we can grab a dinner afterwards?"

"Are you asking me out, Ackles?"

"Yes. I really like you and wanted to ask you yesterday but I was really nervous. It's fine if you don't want to, I understand", Jensen smiled.

"Jensen, you gotta stop rambling whenever you talk to me. I will go on a dinner with you. You probably won't know my address so I'll meet you at the hotel you are staying. And uh...Give me your phone so I can put my number in. Mind you, I'm hard to impress", I said. Jensen gave me his phone.

"Oh sweetheart, you haven't seen my charming side yet. You will be thoroughly impressed. See you at seven. The Bengal Taj". I gave him back his phone and he hugged me once again.

"What people say about India is so true - a truly magical and mesmerising country ", Jensen whispered in my ears and kissed my forehead.

"A truly magical and mesmerising country indeed", I whispered back with a smile.

[mantrabay]

Rush Amid The Rapids.

“Must I always be posting transactions?” I said to myself, Landon Croaker, accountant, adjusting my backpack as I rambled up a ragged winding woodland path.

A granite strewn gulag odyssey lay ahead.

There was the usual green stew of ornate plants.

Ancient Fir Clubmoss which grows into a chalice- like shape.

The St Patrick’s cabbage, with thick leather zig zag veins.

Hapless Fraochan and Whortleberry shrub’s pendant fruit so symmetrical.

I brought my notebook with me.

Closet novelist or bard one day?

Canopy of lattice branch springboards abound.

Shrieks

from stunned squirrels leaping in the arc of a trapeze with blue jay alarm signal.

Rustle of rabbits under slender stalks.

Puffball cloud and brown-dust spore floaters.

A wastrel I was within the wilds.

I was getting close to where my friends, a husband and wife team lived and ran a fringe publishing company.

They resided in a cherry wood log cabin with tongue and groove cladding and a pine timbered roof lantern peering down a mountain side.

Like a watchtower the mountain sat in sinister observance.

A fallow deer suddenly appeared.

It looked furtively with startled eyes as if it knew something I didn’t.

Within minutes it vanished.

Flies swarmed about, the spooky whistleblowers on this solitary hiker’s grazed cheeks.

My clothes were wringing wet from the sweltering heat.

The curious urban spirit drove me on.

Chambered cairns, those passage tunnels from the past that act as stone markers for the venturer were rife.

Platform mounds whose ribboned cracks and gouges play host to strongly rooted Chasmophytes.

There was a lurking presence as the cabin became visible.

“Hello, there. Fancy seeing you here.

Welcome back.”

Chelsea, in a croaking baby twang.

“Oh …you frightened me.” Landon said.

I nearly toppled.

Chelsea dashed towards me.

“A bit worried there, Landon.

What a surprise!

We like surprising people too.”

I paused and replied.

“It's the unexpected that adds spice to this life business and others!”

Landon sardonically.

“You sound tired.”

Chelsea replied.

“We’ll change that. We’ll change everything about your life now you’re here.”

The ramifications of that would soon unfold.

“The last time I was here we talked about having children.

Any decision yet?

You could always adopt.”

I continued.

“Don’t have to.

Got my husband and he’s got me.” She said.

“We’re both kids at heart.”

Her sad voice trailing off.

“This location seems ideal but there’s schooling and everything.”

Chelsea hesitantly.

“Nothing that couldn’t be resolved.”

Landon in reply.

Croaker sensed Chelsea’s unease and didn’t continue.

“Hey, what’s this?” Croaker cried as two apples landed at his feet.

“Yahoo. You two.”

Chesney, Chelsea’s husband shouted.

“It’s been so long.

Doesn't time fly?”

Chesney again.

While walking it dawned on Landon how dewy-eyed and child-like this couple were.

.

Entering the cabin seemed like something from a storybook.

Cartoon mosaics attached to fool’s gold borders, zip purse smashed purple bead inserts, and shredded comic strips.

“There are shrouds of deep mystery here.”

Croaker thought.

“Hey Snap.

What’s accountancy like these days?”

Chesney’s smug question.

“Nothing really changes.

Investment investment hazards and the like.

It’s a world I drifted into.

How about your company in paradise.”

Croaker sarcastically.

“Publishing is odd.

You almost become the stories submitted.”

Chesney observed.

“Birth and regrowth are gaining interest.

Am I boring you?” Chesney enquired.

“Well, it beats accountancy.”

Landon tactfully.

A salad of roasted lemon, fennel fronds and pomegranate was served with

guacamole dip based on chunky avocado.

After our meal we washed up

Chelsea’s phantom figure scurried outside with Olympic speed.

It was so redolent of the suddenness about.

A rapt cocoon descended around Chesney and Landon's interaction.

Landon quizzed Chesney about the urban country rift.

Tranquil timberlands have their own stressors.

“See those creatures slumped awkwardly on fragile twigs?

They sense pending doom.”

Chesney observed.

“Can you really escape hectic city life?”

A querulous tone from Chesney.

“Maybe these divisions are fictional.”

Landon archly.

“Thud. What’s that?”

Chesney shaking.

Chelsea entered.

“Oh dear .. let’s say a homing pigeon.

They’re a strange breed.”

She said smugly.

“Very strange indeed.”

Chesney out loud.

Chelsea and Chesney exchange strained silent glances.

A circus of the wilds continued outside as species vied with species in an ego fanfare.

Chirping robin red breasts,

wing scraping crickets in high chorus.

Vulcan steam curtain as backdrop.

Horseshoe Bats that weave rainbow shafts.

Daddy long legs with their cancan dances on sodden patches.

“Excuse me …..ring a bell?” Chesney diverting Landon’s attention with a broken fragment.

Landon bought this autumn crocus crystal vase on a previous sojourn.

It slipped from his hands in a butter fingers incident.

Croaker uttered the words “my lasting gift” as it fell.

Cackles erupted but frustration for Landon.

“A hilarious keepsake after a fashion.”

Chelsea opined.

“Really?”

Said Landon embarrassed by this anecdote.

The hours passed and they were both tired.

Landon saw Chesney remove a letter from a ring pull drawer.

“Just an old bill. Must shred it.” He said.

“Why would Chesney explain that?

His face reddened.

Curious.” Landon thought.

Shuffling to bed Landon did notice

pink salmon eiderdowns, pillows with children sleeping under moonlit skies, and Milky Way throw blankets.

The night passed uneventfully.

There were some noises in the kitchen as morning approached.

Having woken sluggishly Croaker walked into the dinning area.

A sense of foreboding filled the room.

Landon grappled awkwardly with claustrophobia.

It was disrupted by the chatter of the chestnut -sided warbler.

An oak hook tip moth added charm with its zoom and flutter acrobatics.

“I’ve the creepiest feeling.”

Croaker reasoned.

“BUZZZ ……..Buzzzzz ……Boing.”

My old cell-phone’s text tone.

My boss. Wonder what he wants?”

Landon to himself.

“Dear Landon,

When you return I would like to speak to you about your future with this company.

I can’t go into further details

as it involves a lot of interested parties.

A wide -ranging discussion is in order,

Regards,

Tom Wright

Managing Director.”

Landon’s worst fears now confirmed.

“I’m confused.

Just how pressing is this or …. what is this in front of me?”

A letter from Chesney and Chelsea.

“Hi Landon,

We had to leave quickly.

Help yourself to whatever largesse there is.

Don’t know how long we’ll be.

You can hang around of course or leave.

Don’t break anything!!

Ha ha,

Ches and Chels.”

Incredible! Between the text and the letter who wouldn’t be alarmed?

Landon limped outside to an ear splitting din and a mist laden detritus that merged into pockets of streams steeplechasing each other.

A slimy frog vaulted and cast a damp viscous oil spray in Croaker’s direction.

Something ….a shadow.

“This has been the most peculiar visit I’ve ever had.

Intrigue seems encoded in it.”

Croaker’s anxiety growing.

A tap on the shoulder followed by a crystal shard at his feet.

“The vase remember?

Don’t be so serious ……..we’ve something to discuss with you.”

Chesney said pointedly.

“An Agatha Christie mystery novel has nothing on this.”

Landon fretted.

“We’ve been reflecting, Chelsea and I.

Your presence is an extraordinary coincidence.”

Chesney quizzically.

“We’d like to offer you a job as our accountant.”

Chelsea suggested.

Croaker now shivering.

“You know by now we love to jumpstart even our closest friends.

This post is tailor made for you.”

Chelsea once more.

“Your boss will understand.”

Croaker’s head was now in a spin.

“You like writing don’t you?

There’s plenty of stories here.”

Chelsea opined.

“All this trouble to offer me a job?” Croaker queried.

“We don’t do things by halves.”

Chelsea with Chesney nodding.

A carousel of thoughts flashed through Landon’s mind at this juncture.

He walked in a trance struggling with everything.

“What was in Chelsea’s sports bag I wonder?” Thought Croaker.

“Let’s go for a swim, Landon.

I’ve got swim trunks for us all.”

Chelsea tossed a nylon mesh swim trunks at Landon as everyone changed.

Something slipped out of Chesney's pocket without him noticing.

It was that letter Chesney removed previously and read as follows.

“Dear Chesney and Chelsea,

As your doctor I regret you won’t be able to have children. It’s with a heavy heart I share this with you.

There are many reasons for this…”

The rest of the letter was creased and illegible.

It was subsequently swept to the river’s edge underneath a Crested Iris by a slight breeze.

Meanwhile, we were all breast stroking energetically while taking the occasional breather.

“You can make up your mind, Landon, at the end of this swim whenever that is and wherever it is taking us.”

Chelsea giggled as she circulated in the eddying stream.

We all started off again as we followed each other’s course.

“Awh, the child within!” Cried Chelsea.

As Landon pondered his fate the mountain looked down imperiously upon us all as the stray deer suddenly reappeared from nowhere.

Maybe that deer did know something after all!

Photograph and literary piece by mantrabay copyright protected

[creedatelier]

Rush Amid The Rapids.

“Must I always be posting transactions?” I said to myself, Landon Croaker, accountant, adjusting my backpack as I rambled up a ragged winding woodland path.

A granite strewn gulag odyssey lay ahead.

There was the usual green stew of ornate plants.

Ancient Fir Clubmoss which grows into a chalice- like shape.

The St Patrick’s cabbage, with thick leather zig zag veins.

Hapless Fraochan and Whortleberry shrub’s pendant fruit so symmetrical.

I brought my notebook with me.

Closet novelist or bard one day?

Canopy of lattice branch springboards abound.

Shrieks

from stunned squirrels leaping in the arc of a trapeze with blue jay alarm signal.

Rustle of rabbits under slender stalks.

Puffball cloud and brown-dust spore floaters.

A wastrel I was within the wilds.

I was getting close to where my friends, a husband and wife team lived and ran a fringe publishing company.

They resided in a cherry wood log cabin with tongue and groove cladding and a pine timbered roof lantern peering down a mountain side.

Like a watchtower the mountain sat in sinister observance.

A fallow deer suddenly appeared.

It looked furtively with startled eyes as if it knew something I didn’t.

Within minutes it vanished.

Flies swarmed about, the spooky whistleblowers on this solitary hiker’s grazed cheeks.

My clothes were wringing wet from the sweltering heat.

The curious urban spirit drove me on.

Chambered cairns, those passage tunnels from the past that act as stone markers for the venturer were rife.

Platform mounds whose ribboned cracks and gouges play host to strongly rooted Chasmophytes.

There was a lurking presence as the cabin became visible.

“Hello, there. Fancy seeing you here.

Welcome back.”

Chelsea, in a croaking baby twang.

“Oh …you frightened me.” Landon said.

I nearly toppled.

Chelsea dashed towards me.

“A bit worried there, Landon.

What a surprise!

We like surprising people too.”

I paused and replied.

“It's the unexpected that adds spice to this life business and others!”

Landon sardonically.

“You sound tired.”

Chelsea replied.

“We’ll change that. We’ll change everything about your life now you’re here.”

The ramifications of that would soon unfold.

“The last time I was here we talked about having children.

Any decision yet?

You could always adopt.”

I continued.

“Don’t have to.

Got my husband and he’s got me.” She said.

“We’re both kids at heart.”

Her sad voice trailing off.

“This location seems ideal but there’s schooling and everything.”

Chelsea hesitantly.

“Nothing that couldn’t be resolved.”

Landon in reply.

Croaker sensed Chelsea’s unease and didn’t continue.

“Hey, what’s this?” Croaker cried as two apples landed at his feet.

“Yahoo. You two.”

Chesney, Chelsea’s husband shouted.

“It’s been so long.

Doesn't time fly?”

Chesney again.

While walking it dawned on Landon how dewy-eyed and child-like this couple were.

.

Entering the cabin seemed like something from a storybook.

Cartoon mosaics attached to fool’s gold borders, zip purse smashed purple bead inserts, and shredded comic strips.

“There are shrouds of deep mystery here.”

Croaker thought.

“Hey Snap.

What’s accountancy like these days?”

Chesney’s smug question.

“Nothing really changes.

Investment investment hazards and the like.

It’s a world I drifted into.

How about your company in paradise.”

Croaker sarcastically.

“Publishing is odd.

You almost become the stories submitted.”

Chesney observed.

“Birth and regrowth are gaining interest.

Am I boring you?” Chesney enquired.

“Well, it beats accountancy.”

Landon tactfully.

A salad of roasted lemon, fennel fronds and pomegranate was served with

guacamole dip based on chunky avocado.

After our meal we washed up

Chelsea’s phantom figure scurried outside with Olympic speed.

It was so redolent of the suddenness about.

A rapt cocoon descended around Chesney and Landon's interaction.

Landon quizzed Chesney about the urban country rift.

Tranquil timberlands have their own stressors.

“See those creatures slumped awkwardly on fragile twigs?

They sense pending doom.”

Chesney observed.

“Can you really escape hectic city life?”

A querulous tone from Chesney.

“Maybe these divisions are fictional.”

Landon archly.

“Thud. What’s that?”

Chesney shaking.

Chelsea entered.

“Oh dear .. let’s say a homing pigeon.

They’re a strange breed.”

She said smugly.

“Very strange indeed.”

Chesney out loud.

Chelsea and Chesney exchange strained silent glances.

A circus of the wilds continued outside as species vied with species in an ego fanfare.

Chirping robin red breasts,

wing scraping crickets in high chorus.

Vulcan steam curtain as backdrop.

Horseshoe Bats that weave rainbow shafts.

Daddy long legs with their cancan dances on sodden patches.

“Excuse me …..ring a bell?” Chesney diverting Landon’s attention with a broken fragment.

Landon bought this autumn crocus crystal vase on a previous sojourn.

It slipped from his hands in a butter fingers incident.

Croaker uttered the words “my lasting gift” as it fell.

Cackles erupted but frustration for Landon.

“A hilarious keepsake after a fashion.”

Chelsea opined.

“Really?”

Said Landon embarrassed by this anecdote.

The hours passed and they were both tired.

Landon saw Chesney remove a letter from a ring pull drawer.

“Just an old bill. Must shred it.” He said.

“Why would Chesney explain that?

His face reddened.

Curious.” Landon thought.

Shuffling to bed Landon did notice

pink salmon eiderdowns, pillows with children sleeping under moonlit skies, and Milky Way throw blankets.

The night passed uneventfully.

There were some noises in the kitchen as morning approached.

Having woken sluggishly Croaker walked into the dinning area.

A sense of foreboding filled the room.

Landon grappled awkwardly with claustrophobia.

It was disrupted by the chatter of the chestnut -sided warbler.

An oak hook tip moth added charm with its zoom and flutter acrobatics.

“I’ve the creepiest feeling.”

Croaker reasoned.

“BUZZZ ……..Buzzzzz ……Boing.”

My old cell-phone’s text tone.

My boss. Wonder what he wants?”

Landon to himself.

“Dear Landon,

When you return I would like to speak to you about your future with this company.

I can’t go into further details

as it involves a lot of interested parties.

A wide -ranging discussion is in order,

Regards,

Tom Wright

Managing Director.”

Landon’s worst fears now confirmed.

“I’m confused.

Just how pressing is this or …. what is this in front of me?”

A letter from Chesney and Chelsea.

“Hi Landon,

We had to leave quickly.

Help yourself to whatever largesse there is.

Don’t know how long we’ll be.

You can hang around of course or leave.

Don’t break anything!!

Ha ha,

Ches and Chels.”

Incredible! Between the text and the letter who wouldn’t be alarmed?

Landon limped outside to an ear splitting din and a mist laden detritus that merged into pockets of streams steeplechasing each other.

A slimy frog vaulted and cast a damp viscous oil spray in Croaker’s direction.

Something ….a shadow.

“This has been the most peculiar visit I’ve ever had.

Intrigue seems encoded in it.”

Croaker’s anxiety growing.

A tap on the shoulder followed by a crystal shard at his feet.

“The vase remember?

Don’t be so serious ……..we’ve something to discuss with you.”

Chesney said pointedly.

“An Agatha Christie mystery novel has nothing on this.”

Landon fretted.

“We’ve been reflecting, Chelsea and I.

Your presence is an extraordinary coincidence.”

Chesney quizzically.

“We’d like to offer you a job as our accountant.”

Chelsea suggested.

Croaker now shivering.

“You know by now we love to jumpstart even our closest friends.

This post is tailor made for you.”

Chelsea once more.

“Your boss will understand.”

Croaker’s head was now in a spin.

“You like writing don’t you?

There’s plenty of stories here.”

Chelsea opined.

“All this trouble to offer me a job?” Croaker queried.

“We don’t do things by halves.”

Chelsea with Chesney nodding.

A carousel of thoughts flashed through Landon’s mind at this juncture.

He walked in a trance struggling with everything.

“What was in Chelsea’s sports bag I wonder?” Thought Croaker.

“Let’s go for a swim, Landon.

I’ve got swim trunks for us all.”

Chelsea tossed a nylon mesh swim trunks at Landon as everyone changed.

Something slipped out of Chesney's pocket without him noticing.

It was that letter Chesney removed previously and read as follows.

“Dear Chesney and Chelsea,

As your doctor I regret you won’t be able to have children. It’s with a heavy heart I share this with you.

There are many reasons for this…”

The rest of the letter was creased and illegible.

It was subsequently swept to the river’s edge underneath a Crested Iris by a slight breeze.

Meanwhile, we were all breast stroking energetically while taking the occasional breather.

“You can make up your mind, Landon, at the end of this swim whenever that is and wherever it is taking us.”

Chelsea giggled as she circulated in the eddying stream.

We all started off again as we followed each other’s course.

“Awh, the child within!” Cried Chelsea.

As Landon pondered his fate the mountain looked down imperiously upon us all as the stray deer suddenly reappeared from nowhere.

Maybe that deer did know something after all!

Photograph and prose poem Copyright Protected.

#creedatelier #blog@creedatelier

[anothermouse]

Getcha oc talks ⬇️

Hi I'm gonna ramble abt the hunters cast bcus I'm not thinkin abt any particular story rn and they're my default

Gabby really loves older music, her mom let her have her record player and records since she doesn't use them anymore and that's basically where gabby gets all her music from. She only was allowed to get a phone like the year hunters started, so before that she'd just dance around her room with her records :)

Genny is actually a fairly chill person in her day to day life, she's just like hash and peter in that hunters pushes her way out of her comfort zone, revealing parts of her personality that aren't normally present! I mean genny is still internally very irritable irl and will kill someone if they fuck with her son, but generally she's more aggressive in hunters than her normal life just bcus she's in high stakes situations and thus feels way more obligated to make everything go right

Genny reminded me of the neighborhood so I'm pivoting to that now sorry I'm easily distracted 💀

Tol and jay both have aspd which means no empathy or guilt biatch. Most ppl wouldn't really guess with Jay, hes masking 90% of the time bcus he needs attention and to be liked (not that this is a bad thing, bein good is bein good no matter what the motive! :D) but he does have a general distaste for doing things because he's told to

Tol also needs him attention but he mostly gets it by fuckin yelling and shit lol. He's a good pal tho, he's TRYING to be a good friend even if he sometimes doesn't exactly understand ppls feelings

Mm I'd u want me to ramble at u more u can ask but I feel like I'm typing too much ummum yeah 💀 I have a chart about not a word worldbuilding I could show u if u want, it's p simple but I didn't think to have that be the first thing I shared since u asked for oc stuff not worldbuilding lol

Edit: BTW THIS IS JAY,,, srry I forgot u don't know my ocs names gagsgsgsgas I'm gonna hope u know the other 3 tho if not I am sorry 💀

Ogghh my fucking b o d y

[mantrabay]

Rush Amid The Rapids 2

“Must I always be posting transactions?” I said to myself, Landon Croaker, accountant, adjusting my backpack as I rambled up a ragged winding woodland path.

A granite strewn gulag odyssey lay ahead.

There was the usual green stew of ornate plants.

Ancient Fir Clubmoss which grows into a chalice- like shape.

The St Patrick’s cabbage, with thick leather zig zag veins.

Hapless Fraochan and Whortleberry shrub’s pendant fruit so symmetrical.

I brought my notebook with me.

Closet novelist or bard one day?

Canopy of lattice branch springboards abound.

Shrieks

from stunned squirrels leaping in the arc of a trapeze with blue jay alarm signal.

Rustle of rabbits under slender stalks.

Puffball cloud and brown-dust spore floaters.

A wastrel I was within the wilds.

I was getting close to where my friends, a husband and wife team lived and ran a fringe publishing company.

They resided in a cherry wood log cabin with tongue and groove cladding and a pine timbered roof lantern peering down a mountain side.

Like a watchtower the mountain sat in sinister observance.

A fallow deer suddenly appeared.

It looked furtively with startled eyes as if it knew something I didn’t.

Within minutes it vanished.

Flies swarmed about, the spooky whistleblowers on this solitary hiker’s grazed cheeks.

My clothes were wringing wet from the sweltering heat.

The curious urban spirit drove me on.

Chambered cairns, those passage tunnels from the past that act as stone markers for the venturer were rife.

Platform mounds whose ribboned cracks and gouges play host to strongly rooted Chasmophytes.

There was a lurking presence as the cabin became visible.

“Hello, there. Fancy seeing you here.

Welcome back.”

Chelsea, in a croaking baby twang.

“Oh …you frightened me.” Landon said.

I nearly toppled.

Chelsea dashed towards me.

“A bit worried there, Landon.

What a surprise!

We like surprising people too.”

I paused and replied.

“It's the unexpected that adds spice to this life business and others!”

Landon sardonically.

“You sound tired.”

Chelsea replied.

“We’ll change that. We’ll change everything about your life now you’re here.”

The ramifications of that would soon unfold.

“The last time I was here we talked about having children.

Any decision yet?

You could always adopt.”

I continued.

“Don’t have to.

Got my husband and he’s got me.” She said.

“We’re both kids at heart.”

Her sad voice trailing off.

“This location seems ideal but there’s schooling and everything.”

Chelsea hesitantly.

“Nothing that couldn’t be resolved.”

Landon in reply.

Croaker sensed Chelsea’s unease and didn’t continue.

“Hey, what’s this?” Croaker cried as two apples landed at his feet.

“Yahoo. You two.”

Chesney, Chelsea’s husband shouted.

“It’s been so long.

Doesn't time fly?”

Chesney again.

While walking it dawned on Landon how dewy-eyed and child-like this couple were.

.

Entering the cabin seemed like something from a storybook.

Cartoon mosaics attached to fool’s gold borders, zip purse smashed purple bead inserts, and shredded comic strips.

“There are shrouds of deep mystery here.”

Croaker thought.

“Hey Snap.

What’s accountancy like these days?”

Chesney’s smug question.

“Nothing really changes.

Investment investment hazards and the like.

It’s a world I drifted into.

How about your company in paradise.”

Croaker sarcastically.

“Publishing is odd.

You almost become the stories submitted.”

Chesney observed.

“Birth and regrowth are gaining interest.

Am I boring you?” Chesney enquired.

“Well, it beats accountancy.”

Landon tactfully.

A salad of roasted lemon, fennel fronds and pomegranate was served with

guacamole dip based on chunky avocado.

After our meal we washed up

Chelsea’s phantom figure scurried outside with Olympic speed.

It was so redolent of the suddenness about.

A rapt cocoon descended around Chesney and Landon's interaction.

Landon quizzed Chesney about the urban country rift.

Tranquil timberlands have their own stressors.

“See those creatures slumped awkwardly on fragile twigs?

They sense pending doom.”

Chesney observed.

“Can you really escape hectic city life?”

A querulous tone from Chesney.

“Maybe these divisions are fictional.”

Landon archly.

“Thud. What’s that?”

Chesney shaking.

Chelsea entered.

“Oh dear .. let’s say a homing pigeon.

They’re a strange breed.”

She said smugly.

“Very strange indeed.”

Chesney out loud.

Chelsea and Chesney exchange strained silent glances.

A circus of the wilds continued outside as species vied with species in an ego fanfare.

Chirping robin red breasts,

wing scraping crickets in high chorus.

Vulcan steam curtain as backdrop.

Horseshoe Bats that weave rainbow shafts.

Daddy long legs with their cancan dances on sodden patches.

“Excuse me …..ring a bell?” Chesney diverting Landon’s attention with a broken fragment.

Landon bought this autumn crocus crystal vase on a previous sojourn.

It slipped from his hands in a butter fingers incident.

Croaker uttered the words “my lasting gift” as it fell.

Cackles erupted but frustration for Landon.

“A hilarious keepsake after a fashion.”

Chelsea opined.

“Really?”

Said Landon embarrassed by this anecdote.

The hours passed and they were both tired.

Landon saw Chesney remove a letter from a ring pull drawer.

“Just an old bill. Must shred it.” He said.

“Why would Chesney explain that?

His face reddened.

Curious.” Landon thought.

Shuffling to bed Landon did notice

pink salmon eiderdowns, pillows with children sleeping under moonlit skies, and Milky Way throw blankets.

The night passed uneventfully.

There were some noises in the kitchen as morning approached.

Having woken sluggishly Croaker walked into the dinning area.

A sense of foreboding filled the room.

Landon grappled awkwardly with claustrophobia.

It was disrupted by the chatter of the chestnut -sided warbler.

An oak hook tip moth added charm with its zoom and flutter acrobatics.

“I’ve the creepiest feeling.”

Croaker reasoned.

“BUZZZ ……..Buzzzzz ……Boing.”

My old cell-phone’s text tone.

My boss. Wonder what he wants?”

Landon to himself.

“Dear Landon,

When you return I would like to speak to you about your future with this company.

I can’t go into further details

as it involves a lot of interested parties.

A wide -ranging discussion is in order,

Regards,

Tom Wright

Managing Director.”

Landon’s worst fears now confirmed.

“I’m confused.

Just how pressing is this or …. what is this in front of me?”

A letter from Chesney and Chelsea.

“Hi Landon,

We had to leave quickly.

Help yourself to whatever largesse there is.

Don’t know how long we’ll be.

You can hang around of course or leave.

Don’t break anything!!

Ha ha,

Ches and Chels.”

Incredible! Between the text and the letter who wouldn’t be alarmed?

Landon limped outside to an ear splitting din and a mist laden detritus that merged into pockets of streams steeplechasing each other.

A slimy frog vaulted and cast a damp viscous oil spray in Croaker’s direction.

Something ….a shadow.

“This has been the most peculiar visit I’ve ever had.

Intrigue seems encoded in it.”

Croaker’s anxiety growing.

A tap on the shoulder followed by a crystal shard at his feet.

“The vase remember?

Don’t be so serious ……..we’ve something to discuss with you.”

Chesney said pointedly.

“An Agatha Christie mystery novel has nothing on this.”

Landon fretted.

“We’ve been reflecting, Chelsea and I.

Your presence is an extraordinary coincidence.”

Chesney quizzically.

“We’d like to offer you a job as our accountant.”

Chelsea suggested.

Croaker now shivering.

“You know by now we love to jumpstart even our closest friends.

This post is tailor made for you.”

Chelsea once more.

“Your boss will understand.”

Croaker’s head was now in a spin.

“You like writing don’t you?

There’s plenty of stories here.”

Chelsea opined.

“All this trouble to offer me a job?” Croaker queried.

“We don’t do things by halves.”

Chelsea with Chesney nodding.

A carousel of thoughts flashed through Landon’s mind at this juncture.

He walked in a trance struggling with everything.

“What was in Chelsea’s sports bag I wonder?” Thought Croaker.

“Let’s go for a swim, Landon.

I’ve got swim trunks for us all.”

Chelsea tossed a nylon mesh swim trunks at Landon as everyone changed.

Something slipped out of Chesney's pocket without him noticing.

It was that letter Chesney removed previously and read as follows.

“Dear Chesney and Chelsea,

As your doctor I regret you won’t be able to have children. It’s with a heavy heart I share this with you.

There are many reasons for this…”

The rest of the letter was creased and illegible.

It was subsequently swept to the river’s edge underneath a Crested Iris by a slight breeze.

Meanwhile, we were all breast stroking energetically while taking the occasional breather.

“You can make up your mind, Landon, at the end of this swim whenever that is and wherever it is taking us.”

Chelsea giggled as she circulated in the eddying stream.

We all started off again as we followed each other’s course.

“Awh, the child within!” Cried Chelsea.

As Landon pondered his fate the mountain looked down imperiously upon us all as the stray deer suddenly reappeared from nowhere.

Maybe that deer did know something after all!

Photograph and short story by mantrabay copyright protected.

[mantrabay]

Rush Amid The Rapids.

“Must I always be posting transactions?” I said to myself, Landon Croaker, accountant, adjusting my backpack as I rambled up a ragged winding woodland path.

A granite strewn gulag odyssey lay ahead.

There was the usual green stew of ornate plants.

Ancient Fir Clubmoss which grows into a chalice- like shape.

The St Patrick’s cabbage, with thick leather zig zag veins.

Hapless Fraochan and Whortleberry shrub’s pendant fruit so symmetrical.

I brought my notebook with me.

Closet novelist or bard one day?

Canopy of lattice branch springboards abound.

Shrieks

from stunned squirrels leaping in the arc of a trapeze with blue jay alarm signal.

Rustle of rabbits under slender stalks.

Puffball cloud and brown-dust spore floaters.

A wastrel I was within the wilds.

I was getting close to where my friends, a husband and wife team lived and ran a fringe publishing company.

They resided in a cherry wood log cabin with tongue and groove cladding and a pine timbered roof lantern peering down a mountain side.

Like a watchtower the mountain sat in sinister observance.

A fallow deer suddenly appeared.

It looked furtively with startled eyes as if it knew something I didn’t.

Within minutes it vanished.

Flies swarmed about, the spooky whistleblowers on this solitary hiker’s grazed cheeks.

My clothes were wringing wet from the sweltering heat.

The curious urban spirit drove me on.

Chambered cairns, those passage tunnels from the past that act as stone markers for the venturer were rife.

Platform mounds whose ribboned cracks and gouges play host to strongly rooted Chasmophytes.

There was a lurking presence as the cabin became visible.

“Hello, there. Fancy seeing you here.

Welcome back.”

Chelsea, in a croaking baby twang.

“Oh …you frightened me.” Landon said.

I nearly toppled.

Chelsea dashed towards me.

“A bit worried there, Landon.

What a surprise!

We like surprising people too.”

I paused and replied.

“It's the unexpected that adds spice to this life business and others!”

Landon sardonically.

“You sound tired.”

Chelsea replied.

“We’ll change that. We’ll change everything about your life now you’re here.”

The ramifications of that would soon unfold.

“The last time I was here we talked about having children.

Any decision yet?

You could always adopt.”

I continued.

“Don’t have to.

Got my husband and he’s got me.” She said.

“We’re both kids at heart.”

Her sad voice trailing off.

“This location seems ideal but there’s schooling and everything.”

Chelsea hesitantly.

“Nothing that couldn’t be resolved.”

Landon in reply.

Croaker sensed Chelsea’s unease and didn’t continue.

“Hey, what’s this?” Croaker cried as two apples landed at his feet.

“Yahoo. You two.”

Chesney, Chelsea’s husband shouted.

“It’s been so long.

Doesn't time fly?”

Chesney again.

While walking it dawned on Landon how dewy-eyed and child-like this couple were.

.

Entering the cabin seemed like something from a storybook.

Cartoon mosaics attached to fool’s gold borders, zip purse smashed purple bead inserts, and shredded comic strips.

“There are shrouds of deep mystery here.”

Croaker thought.

“Hey Snap.

What’s accountancy like these days?”

Chesney’s smug question.

“Nothing really changes.

Investment investment hazards and the like.

It’s a world I drifted into.

How about your company in paradise.”

Croaker sarcastically.

“Publishing is odd.

You almost become the stories submitted.”

Chesney observed.

“Birth and regrowth are gaining interest.

Am I boring you?” Chesney enquired.

“Well, it beats accountancy.”

Landon tactfully.

A salad of roasted lemon, fennel fronds and pomegranate was served with

guacamole dip based on chunky avocado.

After our meal we washed up

Chelsea’s phantom figure scurried outside with Olympic speed.

It was so redolent of the suddenness about.

A rapt cocoon descended around Chesney and Landon's interaction.

Landon quizzed Chesney about the urban country rift.

Tranquil timberlands have their own stressors.

“See those creatures slumped awkwardly on fragile twigs?

They sense pending doom.”

Chesney observed.

“Can you really escape hectic city life?”

A querulous tone from Chesney.

“Maybe these divisions are fictional.”

Landon archly.

“Thud. What’s that?”

Chesney shaking.

Chelsea entered.

“Oh dear .. let’s say a homing pigeon.

They’re a strange breed.”

She said smugly.

“Very strange indeed.”

Chesney out loud.

Chelsea and Chesney exchange strained silent glances.

A circus of the wilds continued outside as species vied with species in an ego fanfare.

Chirping robin red breasts,

wing scraping crickets in high chorus.

Vulcan steam curtain as backdrop.

Horseshoe Bats that weave rainbow shafts.

Daddy long legs with their cancan dances on sodden patches.

“Excuse me …..ring a bell?” Chesney diverting Landon’s attention with a broken fragment.

Landon bought this autumn crocus crystal vase on a previous sojourn.

It slipped from his hands in a butter fingers incident.

Croaker uttered the words “my lasting gift” as it fell.

Cackles erupted but frustration for Landon.

“A hilarious keepsake after a fashion.”

Chelsea opined.

“Really?”

Said Landon embarrassed by this anecdote.

The hours passed and they were both tired.

Landon saw Chesney remove a letter from a ring pull drawer.

“Just an old bill. Must shred it.” He said.

“Why would Chesney explain that?

His face reddened.

Curious.” Landon thought.

Shuffling to bed Landon did notice

pink salmon eiderdowns, pillows with children sleeping under moonlit skies, and Milky Way throw blankets.

The night passed uneventfully.

There were some noises in the kitchen as morning approached.

Having woken sluggishly Croaker walked into the dinning area.

A sense of foreboding filled the room.

Landon grappled awkwardly with claustrophobia.

It was disrupted by the chatter of the chestnut -sided warbler.

An oak hook tip moth added charm with its zoom and flutter acrobatics.

“I’ve the creepiest feeling.”

Croaker reasoned.

“BUZZZ ……..Buzzzzz ……Boing.”

My old cell-phone’s text tone.

My boss. Wonder what he wants?”

Landon to himself.

“Dear Landon,

When you return I would like to speak to you about your future with this company.

I can’t go into further details

as it involves a lot of interested parties.

A wide -ranging discussion is in order,

Regards,

Tom Wright

Managing Director.”

Landon’s worst fears now confirmed.

“I’m confused.

Just how pressing is this or …. what is this in front of me?”

A letter from Chesney and Chelsea.

“Hi Landon,

We had to leave quickly.

Help yourself to whatever largesse there is.

Don’t know how long we’ll be.

You can hang around of course or leave.

Don’t break anything!!

Ha ha,

Ches and Chels.”

Incredible! Between the text and the letter who wouldn’t be alarmed?

Landon limped outside to an ear splitting din and a mist laden detritus that merged into pockets of streams steeplechasing each other.

A slimy frog vaulted and cast a damp viscous oil spray in Croaker’s direction.

Something ….a shadow.

“This has been the most peculiar visit I’ve ever had.

Intrigue seems encoded in it.”

Croaker’s anxiety growing.

A tap on the shoulder followed by a crystal shard at his feet.

“The vase remember?

Don’t be so serious ……..we’ve something to discuss with you.”

Chesney said pointedly.

“An Agatha Christie mystery novel has nothing on this.”

Landon fretted.

“We’ve been reflecting, Chelsea and I.

Your presence is an extraordinary coincidence.”

Chesney quizzically.

“We’d like to offer you a job as our accountant.”

Chelsea suggested.

Croaker now shivering.

“You know by now we love to jumpstart even our closest friends.

This post is tailor made for you.”

Chelsea once more.

“Your boss will understand.”

Croaker’s head was now in a spin.

“You like writing don’t you?

There’s plenty of stories here.”

Chelsea opined.

“All this trouble to offer me a job?” Croaker queried.

“We don’t do things by halves.”

Chelsea with Chesney nodding.

A carousel of thoughts flashed through Landon’s mind at this juncture.

He walked in a trance struggling with everything.

“What was in Chelsea’s sports bag I wonder?” Thought Croaker.

“Let’s go for a swim, Landon.

I’ve got swim trunks for us all.”

Chelsea tossed a nylon mesh swim trunks at Landon as everyone changed.

Something slipped out of Chesney's pocket without him noticing.

It was that letter Chesney removed previously and read as follows.

“Dear Chesney and Chelsea,

As your doctor I regret you won’t be able to have children. It’s with a heavy heart I share this with you.

There are many reasons for this…”

The rest of the letter was creased and illegible.

It was subsequently swept to the river’s edge underneath a Crested Iris by a slight breeze.

Meanwhile, we were all breast stroking energetically while taking the occasional breather.

“You can make up your mind, Landon, at the end of this swim whenever that is and wherever it is taking us.”

Chelsea giggled as she circulated in the eddying stream.

We all started off again as we followed each other’s course.

“Awh, the child within!” Cried Chelsea.

As Landon pondered his fate the mountain looked down imperiously upon us all as the stray deer suddenly reappeared from nowhere.

Maybe that deer did know something after all!

Photograph and short story by mantrabay copyright protected