#lego discourse

[universe-of-peoples]

I’m not usually one to call people fake fans, and I’m generally against the whole “fake fan” idea… but if you’re a LEGO fan and you feel the need to push down any figure type that’s not a minifigure, are you even a real LEGO fan?

Minidolls are very pretty and allow for types of creativity that minifigures lack. That’s not to say that minifigures are bad (not at all!), just that minifigures and minidolls each have their benefits and drawbacks, and I think they complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses very well.

Brick-build figures allow for figures to be built in any size and shape, with TONS of customizability that standard figure and doll types lack. The limit of a brick-built figure is the limit of your imagination.

Older figure and doll types have come and gone (such as Belville, Scala, Bionicle, Technic, etc), and (some more than others) may have gone for good reason, but they’re still really cool and interesting. Personally, I’m fascinated by all the weird and obscure stuff LEGO has tried over the years.

In my experience, to love LEGO is to appreciate all of LEGO, even if your preference is in one specific area. Don’t yuck other people’s yum, and don’t criticize LEGO for using figure types that aren’t your preference! (Esp if your preference is minifigures. Your preference has been the norm for literal decades. You don’t need to complain about other people finally getting their preference used more. Fr reads like privileged kids complaining ngl. Insert Gravity Falls meme “you’re only getting ONE pony this year 😭😭😭”)

[flamedoesart]

the difference between the minecraft movie vs the lego movie, sonic movies, fnaf movie (and to a smaller extent, the mario bros movie) is that the minecraft movie feels like it was made to draw in a profit, with little regard for the fans or the creators who made it popular. the other four were, with special references and genuinely good ideas. hell, paramount spent an additional four months to change sonic's design because the original one was so bad that the fans demanded a change.

movies based on pre-existing media are better if people who genuinely enjoy said media is working on it. the lego movie is a special case of this, because it perfectly emulated the old youtube stop-motion style of legos while including good animation and a fun story.

with the minecraft movie, i promise i want to enjoy it but it seems like they're trying way too hard to emulate the jumanji format, with humans entering a game. it doesn't fit. what also doesn't fit is casting jack black as steve. it's a casting choice that reminds me of will smith as deadshot from Suicide Squad. jack black isn't playing steve, he's playing himself.

in my opinion the style of the minecraft movie could've gone a couple ways, used a polished version of the youtube animations of minecraft that have been used since forever, use a 2D animation style that resembles minecraft, or used a completely and fully live action minecraft with a shitload of practical effects to make it look cool. anything other than combining cgi and real actors.

but that's just my take on it lmao.

[steamedlotusroot]

as a native chinese, i feel like some of yall are taking the gods in lego monkie kid a bit too seriously. i understand why it feels iffy to ship / make silly content of deities that people worship irl (eg. nezha, sun wukong) but it’s a phenomenon on chinese social media too. c-netizens ship the fictionalized versions of these gods, which the gods of lego monkie kid are. they aren’t the actual gods people worship; they’re slightly tweaked versions of the book characters, just like any other chinese adaptation or retelling of jttw (and such stories like fsyy) also, no, nezha isn’t a child, in lmk or jttw or sometimes irl. just because he’s often depicted in child form doesn’t make him an immortal child. eros / cupid is often depicted as a winged baby, and he has a wife and kids. it’s basically the same thing here. nothing in lmk suggests that nezha is a child (his voice, his appearance, his personality etc. all imply he is an adult), and while he’s described as youthful in jttw, he’s already 1700+ years old by then and gods can shapeshift. people only think he’s an immortal baby because that’s a popular depiction of him, since one of his prominent myths is set during his childhood. but as long as you’re talking about the god nezha (fictionalized or the religious figure) and not the human child nezha, then that’s an adult [edit: the last sentence couldve been worded better. i would summarize it as “immortal youth nezha is a valid depiction and is popularized by mythology, but adult god nezha exists too and they are NOT mutually exclusive”]

[nightmarebunnyking]

I also dislike/hate when people say macaque is the better mentor for mk,when he only had one good life lesson,I also hate when people just call wukong a horrible mentor and ignore all his good lessons in s1/2 and rest of the seasons,that help mk grow and develop.

Those lessons help mk to learn how to control his powers and are great life lessons,wukong may not be the best mentor but you can't say macaque is better,when it only one example of a good lessons from s4

I hate seeing comments like

"Wukong sucks as a mentor,mk should choose macaque as his mentor then wukong"

"Wukong still terrible mentor,he sucks"

Wukong knows his student,he praised mk,when he tried his best,even helped him when he was struggling,wukong handles things,when mk can't.

Wukong has great mentor traits,I hate when people ignore that.People who say wukong a horrible mentor after s5 are ignorant.

Rant over

[ryin-silverfish]

Me, staring at the "Nezha is eternally 12/Nezha is often depicted as a kid so he's just a kid and nothing else" crowd: man, have you heard of Child Manjushri a.k.a. Wenshu Tongzi

(This is totally not an excuse for me to find cool statue pictures and talk iconography)

So, here is Bodhisattva Manjushri in his standard "graceful aristocratic prince" form, riding his azure lion. The statue in the picture doesn't have it, but oftentimes, he'll also be holding a flaming sword that symbolizes wisdom's ability to cut through ignorance and delusions.

This is "Holy Old Monk Manjushri", a variant that I came across a few times while temple-touring, but couldn't find many good online pictures of. It seemed like a thing that was popular around Mt. Wutai, based on the "Buddha-palita met Old Man Manjushri" tale. Sometimes his BFF Samantabhadra is depicted as an old man too, for matching purposes.

And this is Child Manjushri, with his five hair buns, often worshipped in an esoteric context. On Mt. Wutai, there are five major temples atop five peaks, each worshipping a different form of Manjushri, and the "middle peak" temple has a Child Manjushri in their main hall. Like, it's far from the most common variant, but neither is it this super obscure form that no longer enjoys active worship.

Lastly, just for fun: this is Yamantaka, a guardian deity/Wisdom King, who, in Tibetan Buddhism, is believed to be Manjushri's wrathful form.

If you wouldn't call Manjushri "the eternal child Bodhisattva" just because he has a child form, why would you say Nezha is an eternal child when he, too, has both child and adult forms?

Even though Nezha's child form is vastly more popular and well-known than Child Manjushri, I think my point still stands: A deity is capable of having multiple manifestations, of varying ages and appearances, each fulfilling a particular function and niche——none of which is the "One True Form TM", just different clothes they wear based on occasions and audiences.

To stretch the analogy a little, Manjushri's child form is the formal dress he puts on before attending a religious event, while Nezha's child form is the lotus T-shirt he wears a lot while appearing on TV, to the point it becomes his most iconic attire.

This doesn't mean he only has a single shirt, for goodness sake, and using his child form as evidence for the "eternal child" claim is like saying Nezha's only allowed to wear that one shirt and nothing else.

[cosmothealien358]

Lego Ninjago and Race: An Analysis for the Upcoming Live Action

I know there’s been a lot of discourse in the ninjago community since a live action movie has been announced, and there’s sure to be even more after the cast list is released. Many fans are afraid the cast will be all white, while others don’t care what race the ninja will be. Non-fans looking in from the outside might say, “Why does it matter? They’re legos, they’re yellow.” I’ve seen this argument more recently, especially revolving Arin in the soft reboot Dragons Rising.

The point of this longer post is to explain how race still exists in Ninjago despite the plastic, yellow nature of the characters, and why making the cast entirely or mostly white would be a disservice to the fans and the source material as a whole. So let’s ninja-go into this topic.

Part 1: Hair and Black-Coding

When people claim that legos don’t have race, they often claim it’s because they are yellow. However, they forget that legos still have humanoid characteristics, and one of the easiest ways to tell when a lego character is black-coded is to look at their hairpiece.

Here are some examples of hairpieces clearly meant to resemble black hair textures/hairstyles:

When characters have textured hair (i.e. Arin and Euphrasia from Ninjago) or locs/braids (i.e. Mateo and Zoey from Dreamzzz), it’s hard to argue they’re meant to be interpreted as anything other than black. And if that’s not obvious enough, there’s also:

Part 1b: Voice Actors and Black-Coding

People of color voice acting non-human characters doesn’t determine race, but it does add to character coding. This can be seen in characters from other shows, such as Darwin from The Amazing World of Gumball. Even though Darwin is a 2D animated goldfish, he has been voiced exclusively by black voice actors. Because of his voice (and other mannerisms/narrative elements), Darwin is generally accepted to be black-coded.

Being voiced by a person of color does not automatically make a character black-coded, but it can certainly add credence to characters who already have black characteristics, such as Arin and Euphrasia.

Part 2: Names

Another reason it’s hard for ninjago fans to interpret certain characters as white is because of their names. While many have stereotypical “American white boy names” (i.e. Jay, Cole, and Zane), other characters have names that are certainly not strictly American. Examples include Wu (a Chinese surname), Misako (a Japanese name), Chen (a Chinese surname), Okino (a Japanese surname) and Sora (Japanese given name). Ninjago may be set in a fictional world of animated, plastic people, but it’s still based on real-world names, and considering how a lot of the characters’ names come from East Asia, there is merit to declare that characters like Misako and Sora are meant to be interpreted as East Asian.

Part 3: Cultural Influences

Now, to the most obvious reason why it would be absurd to put an all-white cast on screen: the cultural influences. I am not Asian myself, but other ninjago fans have expressed frustration about the cultural melting pot that is Ninjago. It takes influence from both Eastern and Western cultures for its setting, worldbuilding, lore, and fantastical elements. Ninjago puts ninja, samurai, Kabuki, and Oni from Japanese history and culture, Djinn from Arabic regions, the yin/yang concept from Chinese philosophy, and dragons from various cultures into one narrative. There’s even a character named Ronin (which means a “wandering samurai”).

Additionally, the ninjago language seems to be inspired by Tategaki, an East Asian style of writing.

What this means is that Ninjago is brimming with real-life cultural influences. They rarely come from the same places and are not always faithful or accurate. In fact, they can sometimes seem borderline disrespectful and stereotypical in the earlier seasons- particularly with the portrayal of Chen and pilot Wu. However, it doesn’t take a genius to spot the East Asian cultural influences on ninjago. This is clear in the character designs, attire, and especially in the settings:

Part 4: What does this mean?

In summary, Ninjago is a fictional setting that takes inspiration from East Asian cultures, and has coded certain characters as certain races through more indirect means such as naming and designs. Even though none of the ninjago characters have 100% canon races, there is still evidence that some are meant to be interpreted as black or Asian. Therefore, making all the ninjago characters white would be a disservice to the fans AND the source material because it takes away subtle but essential parts of the characters and world.

Additionally: Representation matters. It could mean a lot for fans new and old to see the ninja becoming humanized and seeing themselves on screen. Not only would an all-white cast be unfaithful to the source material, but it would be disheartening to fans hoping for racial representation, especially in an age where “wokeness” is considered a touchy subject in some areas.

Part 5: Other Thoughts/Clarifications

The beautiful thing about Ninjago is that the Lego nature of the characters allows them to be interpreted in so many ways. The characters don’t have canon skin tones, eye color, body types, ages, heights, etc., so they can be whatever fans want. Whatever the fans interpret them to be or even what they feel like, they can be. And I think that’s beautiful.

TLDR: I don’t want the movie casting to limit the fan’s creativity or headcanons. Even if the cast isn’t entirely white, I hope people continue to make creations with their own interpretations of the characters.

Also: I urge fans to not harass the actors if they are white. I feel like the ninjago fandom is above that but I feel inclined to make this statement in advance regardless.

Finally: I’m leaving this post wide-open to discussion and discourse. I did surface-level research for the ninjago cultural influences, so if anyone wants to add on to or correct anything, feel free to do so. All I ask is that the conversations remain civil.

That is all :)

[jays-supersonic-dynamo]

just a boy and his weird dog <3 (alt title: vincent tong power hour)

[kittydoremi]

Friendly reminder that Sonic never hated Elise and he wasn't bothered by the kiss.

[phantomnextdoor]

I just saw someone on yt having the worst takes on ninjago ships. Basically they said that Kai and Cole can't be together because they're brothers and it't basically pseudo-incest and that Zane can't date anyone cuz he's a robot.

[ruibaozha]

A Note on Recent Controversy: The Gender of Nezha

This argument isn’t particularly new to me, but seeing as it isn’t going away and seems bound to repeat itself, this is my own argument on those who assign Nezha to be a transfem lesbian for completely arbitrary reasons. I do discuss briefly the existence of female Nezha’s within other franchises. Please skip this post if this doesn’t interest you.

As this is a point of drama on Twitter at the moment, Nezha is not a girl and is never stated to be one within the core of his known mythology. Moreover, I need to clarify this is specifically about LMK Nezha as this sort of “drama” doesn’t seem to exist outside of how LMK portrays him.

Arguably the only thing people genuinely cling to in the case of LMK Nezha is his long hair, pink armor and the lotus flower skirt. There is no problem if this is a personal headcanon while being fully aware that it isn’t true, but many have decided to push this as factual — similarly to what people repeat Nezha’s age to be. The kind of disgusting vitriolic behavior that is shown by other people should be noted and avoided.

Do such feminine features like the lotus skirt immediately mean that these Nezha’s are women? Should we dismiss that within Confucian standards the cutting of one’s hair is a great disrespect to your body but also the parents that gave it to you? Is it a desired normalcy to make assumptions over the gender identity of a god? If you so badly want a female Nezha, such a thing already exists within other franchises.

This has had me reconsider the primary motivation here for fans to boldly parade this misinformation around, but also the degree of disrespect involved. For a fandom that’s so obsessed with being respectful and calling out other’s disrespectful behavior, it really likes to be disrespectful in as many ways possible.

[jaynopoly]

I HATE Pinterest. All I wanna do is find jay and Cole but whenever I do it gives me LAVA. I think I am worlds #1 lava hater I can’t TAKE it anymore it’s EVERYWHERE. Why do they not go away…

[avolikeslegos]

Ninjago fans on Pinterest are my biggest opps send post

[raelyn-dreams]

Ngl people being so against greenflame is so funny to me.

Like do I ship them? No, they are older/younger sibling dynamic to me. But the fact that so many people get so worked up over it when the fucking Hagemans were like "yeah cool ship fanart bro 👍" is just- asdfghjkl.

Like I'm sorry, but so many of y'all care way too much about the fictional brick people and it shows.

[shinelikethunder]

oh wow, i've been in control of the fantasy the entire time? i can't make anything happen in Kinkyfuck Rapeworld that i, the sovereign arbiter of what happens there, don't actually consent to be a sicko about? whoa, thanks for educating me about that! the fake me who's tied to the mast of a pirate ship right now would be SO relieved to hear about her ability to get up and walk away anytime if i sovereignly consented to deliver that message to her

[nightmarebunnyking]

How do you like the racism with the demons was handle? And how it relates to pigsy character?And the world building?,I have mixed feelings with it personally,since it needs to be flesh out more and it hasn't since s4

Since I am white, I won't understand the struggle that connects to racism,so if anyone that isn't white,i want to hear your opinion about it.

[anishenanigans]

“we bullied the sonic movie animators into changing the art style lets do the same for lmk 🤪🤪” how about instead you shut the fuck up and be normal. If you think this mindset is acceptable you need to check yourself immediately. The Wilbrain crew is just doing their jobs and you have no right to harass them or treat them like shit or make them out to be horrible evil people. You are not the good guy here. This is not a funny or cool or helpful thing to do. You’re just mean and entitled, not to mention blatantly disrespecting the wishes of Flying Bark and the crew.

The animation isn’t even that bad. y’all are just nasty and mean spirited. You don’t have to like it. but you do need to keep in mind that it was done by PEOPLE. They are not your servants. They are not machines. and you have no right to bully them or tell them how to do their jobs. Grow up.

This post isn’t about anyone in particular but it’s a rancid take I’ve seen floating around lately. I know the vast majority of people have been pretty chill and understanding about the Wildbrain situation (good for them!) but there’s always that awful loud minority. Normally I’d just ignore it, but I’m posting this since this sentiment is actively promoting harassment. LEGO works on a strict deadline and you are being straight up unreasonable if you think it’s possible to bully them into redoing a fully complete 2D animated season that has to be released sometime within the next few weeks.