#like the Oni and Dragons are meant to be a balance

[quibbs126]

I think it would be neat if we had a story in where like, the ninja all get separated into different places (my best excuse currently is the Merge), and Lloyd ends up somewhere now powerless and all alone, and the only thing that he could rely on to survive and fight is his Oni form, and so he has this journey where he has to rely on his Oni form, and throughout this journey he grows to accept it

I don’t think I worded it the best, but basically what I’m getting at is Lloyd being forced to acknowledge his Oni form, and thus his heritage, instead of rejecting it in favor of his dragon side (edit: okay they don’t really mention him being part dragon ever, but I mean that he only deals with the good side, always rejecting his Oni side), and through this learning to accept it, and likely control it

(Also I think it would be cool to see him use his Oni form after this journey, and while it’s not his main form of attack, he’d use it somewhat regularly and has far more control over it than just be a raging beast. I mean, maybe he doesn’t talk in that form and it is still generally destructive, but he can go in and out of it whenever he wants and won’t attack his friends)

[nyaskitten]

Hmm in My head I think the Overlord isn't the only of his kind, that there were others, and he just got lucky.

I'm gonna yap like A LOT . Be forewarned.

They were a species of parasitic spirits conjured by powerful sorcerers and brought by the Oni Warlords to corrupt Ninjago, and after Mystake killled the other two Warlords, she kinda had to help FSM hunt down and exterminate the parasites.

Unfortunately for them, one of these parasites found his way into the body of a dying Patriarch, the Patriarch of the Central Flatlands (which would one day become Ninjago City, and this specific area is quite literally the area within which Borg Tower was made, hence why the Overlord always returns to that area, it's where he's most powerful) and merged with the untouched power that lay in his weakening body.

This resulted in the birth of the Patriarch of the Eternal Shadow, who would soon be known as the Overlord. FSM felt the departure of the Patriarch of the Central Flatlands, but just as well he felt a great corruption had entered his soul, and with Mystake, he sought to find what happened.

When they arrived, they found this new Patriarch wearing the corpse of the previous Patriarch, and FSM was enraged at the sight. He instantly went for the kill, much to the dismay of Mystake.

Though FSM managed to obliterate the body, he only weakened the spirit, and worse yet, now the Patriarch of Eternal Shadow had tasted the FSM's power, he bore some of it within him, and it just made him stronger, hungrier... it made him sentient...

The spirit's energy seeped into the ground, slowly draining the surrounding life and the very power upon which Ninjago was founded upon, and using it to strengthen himself. This would have HORRIFIC consequences (the creation the Balance, a power which ties the spirit eternally to Ninjago,) Soon was born the Overlord, and he tore the world open as he rose.

Terror and panic spread across the people of Ninjago. The FSM quickly returned to the sight of his prior conflict to find things had gotten way worse. Suddenly the parasite-spirit had grown, he had grown larger than the Patriarch he once embodied, he was something New.

The something New was way too powerful for the FSM, he created a species of beasts meant specifically to hunt elemental powers (grundles,) an untouchable fortress, an army of indestructable stone warriors, and a corrupted serpent whose sole mission was to devour everything in her sight.

The FSM was at a loss, and could only retreat, he had no way to stop anything the Overlord was throwing at him. He and Mystake had no idea what to even DO about this, that is until they started to look through the information compiled of the realms, and saw a stand-out realm. They were in awe, it was said to be a realm which housed a kingdom run by dragon energy, a realm of extreme advancements and unique design, Imperium.

With no other option, FSM went to Imperium alone (as Mystake, a full-blooded oni, would no doubt rile the dragons up more than he, a half-blood.) He went to the Empress of Imperium at the time and sought her aid in creating for him a suit of great power, one which relied on dragon and elemental energy.

It was kind of awkward though, because he swore he recognized at least one or two dragons there from the war, and now he was getting them to power a weapon of war? Whoopsies. (Ofc while he was there, he found a way to implement vehicles from Imperium into his Golden Weapon which is my explanation for the random-ass Golden Weapon vehicles.)

Anyways while the Empress' top scientists were very busy at work with this mech, the FSM took the time to study fighting techniques from the dragons, and developed from them the Art of the Golden Dragon.

After a few days of trial and error, the FSM's new battle armor, the Golden Mech, charged with both his own power and the combined energies of several other dragons, was finally ready to help him take on the Overlord.

When he returned, he was bombarded with a horrific sight, his once gorgeous realm was now in ruin, darkness growing all around, where he stood was one of the few lands of sanctuary left within his world. He had to act fast. He called out to the Overlord, who near-immediately arrived through the shadows, his legions in tow.

The FSM quickly summoned the Golden Weapons and used them for one last boost on his mech, and prepared for battle. What the Overlord WASN'T ready for was the FSM grabbing him by the snout, slicing off one of his wings, dropping him to the floor, stomping on his snout, and charging up his blade in order to decapitate him.

To combat this, the Overlord quickly summoned shadows to restrain the Golden Mech, then he was able to get up and blast the FSM back so hard he probably would've felt that for a week. Or three. FSM was lucky enough to land on his mech feet and continue to clash with the Overlord. Soon, he realized the battle was getting a Bit too futile, and he came to a realization.

Too much of the land had fallen to the Overlord, he couldn't expel him from this world, but he could seal him from the land... with that, the FSM charged his blade one final time, this time with all of the energy and strength of his mech and himself. He leaped upwards and he drove his blade straight into the ground.

The resulting shockwave was so powerful, it tore the island in two and knocked the Helmet of Shadows (or the Overlord's Crown of Horns,) clean off, and into the hands of the FSM. The Overlord's spirit was torn away from his body, and his spirit was stuck on the half of the island slowly drifting away, while his army was left on the FSM's side.

In order to do a clean-up, the FSM had to seal the Overlord's destroyed physical vessel in a realm beyond and between realms, a sort of pocket-realm akin to the Grasslands or Nether-Space (which only the Golden Weapons could open.)

Then he constructed an indestructable tomb and used the Helmet of Shadows to force the Stone Warriors down there. Some were stuck submerged in the sea or FAR in the wilderness where no one would find them (well except for Misako several thousands of years later but she's an outlier and should not be counted.

Eventually, FSM did have to trek back to the Dark Island in order to seal the Golden Mech within the Temple of Light, and then submerge the island as much as possible to ensure the Overlord would not return.

Then he had one last task to perform, removing the darkness from Ninjago. It was... difficult. At one point he considered just eating the Dark Matter and their crystalline remnants, but very quickly decided against that. Eventually, he and Mystake were able to get enough gold from the Golden Peaks to erase the Dark Matter from the land forever... he also had to reseal the grounds that the Overlord tore apart which was. A pain in the ass.

Ehhh one problem after ALL of that though... the Overlord's serpent was nowhere to be found, and his element-hunting dinosaurs were still running loose somewhere in the vast lands of Ninjago... but I'm sure it'll be fine... what's the worst thing that a snake with corruptive powers could even DO psht I'm sure it's Fine. FSM will be FINE nothing bad'll happen

[kikis-dump]

The concept of the overlord always confused me.

He is described as darkness and evil itself. While I have no problem with an unsympathetic villain, the plot of Ninjago has always focused more on a sense of balance especially in the later seasons such as the existance of the Oni and Dragons. So I find it very hard to accept that they make the Overlord a primordial being representing everything evil when the Oni already exist representing destructon- not that Oni are evil (Mystake I love you) but they already represent a side considered dark.

Yes, I know that the Overlord is an already established character from the very first seasons of Ninjago so even if they wanted to change what they said about him, it wouldn't be easy but I wish they involved a backstory for him? Not really but c'mon Ninjago- give me more than just a simple "I was born from darkness"

WHY...WERE YOU BORN FROM DARKNESS? Were you the previous "God" of Ninjago before the first spinjitsu master came? Was Ninjago that "evil" of a realm that the overlord came into being? Did the first spinjitsu master make some big mistake for you to manifest?

(After asking myself that question I went to the wiki and saw that the overlord was born out of darkness because Ninjago was created so what if because of FSM's desperation to make a peaceful world he didn't know th consequemces to that and then the overlord came into being. Man I wish this was canon and they explained it in the show....)

Did you create Wojira or were YOU her? I don't know give me something especially with how complex Ninjago made the Dragon and Oni lore :((((

This is probably Crystalized's fault for messing up the lore so much but I persinally like making sense of canon even when it DOESN'T make sense overall- I mean fanfics and headcanons exist!!!

Continue if you want Headcanons that possibly- most likely don't make sense. They're just Ideas that I thought of that seem cool.

1. Personally, I like thinking that the Overlord is the Oni's leader and not that pushover Oni Lloyd and Garmadon fought in March of the Oni. Like, the Oni migrated right? There were no more Oni in the first realm when the Ninja came and clearly they left a long time before season 9 happened.

Ooohh what if March of the Oni happened cayse the Oni were trying to prepare for the Overlord.

I know this headcanon makes it look like I'm saying the Oni are a one dimentional race but it's just cool if both Oni and dragon (cause there's ultra) came to Ninjago to look for FSM anf while Oni were missing (?) the dragons befriended his sons. Idk it sounds cute.

2. I noticed while watching some Ninjago clips that the Overlord looks like a combination of a dragon and an Oni, like a dark dragon. I mean that's what he transforms into in season 2- Maybe this is why the Dragon and Oni were so desperate to get the FSM on their side cause before him the Overlord came, decided he woke up on the wrong side of the bed, nearly destroyed both species and then they banished him somewhere else.

Oh? You're saying I'm giving a supposedly unsympathetic villain a backstory when he isn't meant to have one? Ya so what? It's an interesting take if I do say so myself even if the FSM lore we're given contradicts me

I hope you can tell J like making bavkstories for no reason😭

[most-tragic-character-tournament]

“hades would’ve possibly been a better dad then lloyd’s actual dad. also wouldn’t that make antigone think lloyd’s a demigod.” Haha, everyone says that, I think it’s part of his dad’s tragedy too tbh. So Garmadon’s dad (aka Lloyd’s grandfather) is basically Lego Ninja God. He was bitten by an evil snake that doomed to turn him evil and he tried to fight the venom’s influence for years. Like a millennia. He was bitten when he was like 6-10 btw. Actually a good dad in S4 when he gets cured. Cared about his son even during the villain arc if before the show’s reboot and expansion. One of those comedic evil villains. The island of Ninjago is cut into a Yin-Yang circle. There’s a battle between good and evil a lot of this show and balance. Anyways, Lloyd essentially IS a demi-god bc his grandfather is a child born from Oni and Dragon and created Ninjago and some other Realms apparently, and supposedly created his two sons (Wu and Garmadon) from thin air. And both Lloyd and Antigone were looked after by their Uncle’s so. HMM. (And yeah I meant discord in general. We have a pin of all the inside jokes to explain to new members. That google docs is the ancient scripture lol. I compared that to the ancient scripture of potential fanfics for this pairing. Wanna know what happened during OP’s poll? Read the fic! type of deal, tho ngl I briefly considered making a discord for this.)

what the fuck is up with this kid

[goldleaf-blog]

Ninjago lore: Dragon Heart // Part 1

This is going to be split into three parts 

Part 1: The Balance 

When season 8 came and went we were introduced to the concept of Dragons and Oni. Presumably powerful beings that have existed since the beginning. The Dragons wielded the power of creation and were the embodiment of light while the Oni wielded the power of destruction and were the embodiment of evil.

Their constant fighting embodies the Yin Yang symbol, light and dark in constant battle. But I would like to propose a new idea. What if there was a light in darkness and darkness in light that is sometimes associated with the Yin Yang symbol. Oni are the embodiment of evil having a hidden light, while dragons being the embodiment of light having a hidden darkness. 

This is where the Dragon heart comes into play. 

We know dragons are meant to be the good guys and Oni the bad guys despite proof of the opposite. For example we have Mystake who is a full blooded Oni who betrayed her fellow warlords and sacrificed her life to buy the heroes time. And Garmadon, who is half Oni, is learning to be good. On the other hand we have a few evil dragons that have been introduced through the show. Such as the Overlord, Morro’s Dragon, Boreal, and Grief-Bringer. 

I will briefly mention the Oni here since they are a key player to the balance but they are not the main focus of this topic. Oni are one of two key players in the balance being the embodiment of evil, bringers of doom and having the power to destroy. But Oni have something that stops them from their madness and their endless thirst for destruction. The Heart of compassion. The Heart of compassion is an Oni inner light and that inner light can redeem an Oni from their villainous ways. It is the reason why Mystake betrayed her allies and joined the FSM and it’s also the reason why Garmadon developed a change of heart. They embrace their Heart of compassion. Of course embracing the heart is a choice and it often requires a motivation to do so. In some rare cases the Heart of compassion doesn’t actually sway an Oni from their current path, but only their motives.

Now let's talk about the Dragons. Dragons are the second key players in the balance being the embodiment of light and having the power to create. But Dragons have a sinister evil that is hidden within all dragons threatening to awaken and to seek power for their own selfish gain. The Dragon Heart. The Dragon Heart is a sentience organ and the embodiment of a dragon's evil. Unlike the Oni’s Heart of compassion, the Dragon heart has a will of its own and will stop at nothing to get what it wants.

Most dragons who embrace their Dragon Hearts either did so by choice and were tricked by said Dragon Heart. Those that embrace their Dragon Hearts become tyranny, evil warlords and world conquerors. Dragons who embrace the Heart often took the title of Dragon Lord.

Dragon Hearts control their vessels through the blood and they use their blood binding to hijack the brain. Thus controlling the whole body.

The Oni and Dragon were meant to use their powers to maintain the balance. But their hatred for one other lead to war. Fearing their own destruction, laws were built to prevent Dragon Lords from rising to power.

Those who embrace their dragon hearts were punished with death. But that didn’t stop them. Many of the victims include Wojira, the Overlord, Grief-Bringer, Wu and the Dragon Hunters. 

The FSM would have also been a victim himself but we’ll talk about him in part 2. The history of the Dragon Heart will also be explored in Part 2. 

Thus ends Part 1. Part 2  Part 3

[almoststedytimetravel]

what if the rest of the lucina gang got sent to hoshido/nohr

Oh, bby girl you can't enable me like this...

Okay so, for balancing reasons you'd have to split the kids 50/50 so we need both Morgan's and some starting classes would have to be changed.

Hoshido

F!Morgan - Deviner/Skyknight

M!Morgan - Samurai/Sorcerer

Cynthia - Skyknight/Cavalier

Noire - Archer/Deviner

Kjelle - Spear master/Knight

Brady - Monk/Trubadour

Yarne - Apothecary/Taguel

F!Morgan gets deviner and M!Morgan gets Samurai because in their offical art M!Morgan was holding a sword and F!Morgan is holding a tome. Kjelle get's spear master because she starts with spears. I don't know why I chose Apothecary for Yarne, it just felt right. F!Morgan having Skyknight as her Heart Seal class is based on her heroes class being dark flier. Noire having deviner is in reference to her mother's class, deviner and not sorcerer because she's stated to be unskilled at dark magic. Yarne gets his base Taguel class back by heart sealing into it.

Nohr

Laurent - Sorcerer/Apothecary

Lucina - Mercenary/Spear master

Gerome - Wyvern rider/Ninja

Nah - Wyvern rider/Manakete

Inigo - Mercenary/Ninja

Severa - Mercenary/Skyknight

Owain - Sorcerer/Samurai

Nah gets wyvern rider because she's a dragon and I think that woulds be funny. Also I think Laurent should be able to wear the slutty sorcerer fit, I think it would be funny. Mercenary is the only Nohrian class that starts with swords so that's what Lucina gets she ger spear master because lords get lances on promote in Awakening. I feel like Ninja fits Gerome personality wise.

I think only the original trio would be retainers to the royals everyone else would be doing something different. I think the Morgan's would be Azura's equivalent of Flora/Felicia. Twins who serve as Azura's maids/bodyguards which would also make them neutral units. Cynthia would be a Skyknight stationed at the capital. I can see her being an early recruit in Birthright, like she joins you when you first leave the capital. I think Noire and Kjelle would all also be early game recruits while Yarne and Brady would be mid game recruits.

I actually think Nah and Gerome would be Neutral units serving in Cheve. They get auto recruited in birthright/revelations but need to be recruited in conquest by having one of the Awakening kids talk to them. It would be on the same map where you get Charlotte and Benny. It would also give the Awakening units two neutral units per nation. Laurent would join you after one of Corrin's returns to Krakenburg, best time I think would be when they get sent to the rainbow sage. Lucina I can also see being recruited durring the seven fold sanctuary map, perhaps having been sent a head by Xander.

This would also give five more child units for the male characters.

M!Morgan's child would have to have their own version of "Time to tip the scales!" and "Time to even the odds!" I think their gimmick would be remembering what happened in Heir's of Fate and have the starting class of ninja.

Yarne I can see having a child unit that's the complete oppisite of him, bold and reckless who gives him no end of heart attacks. staring class of Oni Savage

Laurent's child unit would be a detective, trying to solve mysteries like Miriel but rather then being a scientist they do dective work. The best starting class for that would be outlaw with Ninja for a heart seal class.

Brady's child unit would be a 'Sukeban' a sterotypical japanese female deliquent. But one who's quite skilled at the more 'high class' activities. Basically Brady but with the Japanese aesthetic and cultural influences because she'd be a Hoshiden unit

Gerome, child unit who has a wyvern named Maria. I think they would have conflict with Gerome baced on being in the deep realm. "I'd rather see you less often as you grew up rather than be stories for you to hear." vs. "I would have been satisfied with stories of you if it meant not being alone." A follow on from "I didn't want heroes I wanted my parents."

I also think they would have a mechanic where if you fight one of the Awakening kids with another they won't defeat each other but will leave each other at 1hp/they will miss any attack that would defeat them.

Oh and Noire would defiantly be able to S support Hayato and have unique dialogue with Rahjat

[rocking-chairr]

I feel like nothing has changed this season regarding Lloyd

He's still as afraid of his Oni form as he was when he learned about it, he's still scared of becoming like his father.

This season would've greatly improve if he had embarced hsi oni heritage but learned to control his form to utilise it's abilities. Imagine him on the ultra dragon REPRESENTING BALANCE IMAGINE IT RIGHT NOW.

Just it's so strange that int eh exact same season, Garmadon who is full Oni is learning to show compassion and care, something that his species isn't meant to feel, and Lloyd is going 'i don't want to become a monster like you'.

He could've overcome his fear of becoming a monster in his oni form by using it for good, by protecting his family and learning to embrace his heritage because as of now, absolutely nothing has changed.

Lloyd took one look at himself in his oni form, got scared, and reformed because he hated that part of himself. What kind of development is that?

[sins-and-wins-with-vix]

Everything Right/Wrong with Ninjago “Legacy of the Green Ninja” E10: Island of Darkness

Disclaimers: Show owned by LEGO. This is not a professional review/critique - it’s mainly intended for comedy!

Reblog, comment, and/or like! And make sure to tell me your thoughts!

- Intro ✅

- “Ultimate Spinjitzu Master?” Ultimate Spinjitzu Master is either the coolest or dumbest title I’ve ever heard. ❌

- Lloyd has dragon powers now because aromantic Lloyd canon ✅

- “Hahaha, jealous?” Yes. ✅

- “This sounds too good to be true… what’s the catch?” Knowing this show, probably trauma

- By s8 we’re supposed to believe that the FSM represented balance between both oni and dragon, but based on the dragon powers, dragon-shaped islands that make up Ninjago, and overall dragon-like theme to most of his belongings, I think he might’ve been a bit biased ❌

- “If you come across your father, it could prematurely start the Final Battle.” But the Final Battle is a prophecy, right? Seemingly with a time, location, and outcome all set in stone, based on the way you all seem to talk about it, so there wouldn’t be a way to start it “prematurely” ❌

- Also, this show acts as if the idea that destiny is inevitable is common sense. Therefore, what’s even the purpose of attempting to stop it if it’s already certain that you can’t? ❌

- “I could use some help around the shop!” What shop? You’re on an island! Old age really is getting to Julien, isn’t it? ❌

- “We should get working on vehicles that might help give us a fighting chance!” Julien says vehicles, plural, but then only makes one. No wonder he gets killed off by next season - you don’t tease lego with ideas for toy sales and then only deliver on one! ❌

- “Have you ever known us to veer from a plan?” Funny, but technically, they don’t veer from plans because they usually never have one in the first place. They usually go in 98% blind, and when they do have some sort of plan that goes off the rails, it’s usually not their fault. ❌

- “Then tell him…” Apparently, he didn’t have to tell him because the soldier responded to Garmadon, no translation from Kozu needed. ❌

- “Should I have shaken my fist more? Maybe dramatically thrown over a table! Or kicked over a-“ “NO YOU MYOPIC MORTAL!” This is so f*cking funny ✅✅✅✅

- “Look! This must be Garmadon’s camp?” “No, you think? I thought it was a takeout restaurant!” Fun fact: Garmadon owns at least 8 Taco Bells’ ✅

- “Quiet you bozos!” Why is so much of the dialogue this episode so good? ✅

- “So, how did you meet him?… no, my father.” “You know, he wasn’t always evil…” Misako goes into this rant because it was less awkward than telling Lloyd about the strip club ❌

- This fight scene is cool, and really shows off how much Lloyd’s powers have grown, and we’ve seen it all throughout the season. At least, we were supposed to, right? That was the point of the filler episodes - to show us how his powers grow and develop, and we did see him training, but at the same time I feel like we just… didn’t, ya know? ❌

- “I spy… another tree!” “Jay, how did you ever become a ninja, seriously?” This is one of my favorite lines in the entire show ✅

- “If we go in there, they’ll know we’re here too!” As oppose to what - them thinking one of the members of the team is here, on this dangerous island swarming with indestructible soldiers, without any backup whatsoever? Come on, the ninja follow each other around like lost puppies pretending to be wolves! ❌

- “Why don’t we ever listen to [Wu]?” Because he rarely gives you anything to listen to, and when he does, he’s cryptic about it, and you’re only meant to understand it moments before certain death. ❌

- Where did Garmadon get popcorn from?? ❌

- “Uh, we jump into that hole!” Jay was moments away from dooming them all. ❌

- This entire escape scene with the boards is awesome, especially with the soundtrack ✅

- “Perhaps it can be of use?” Was that a reference to the bus token thing from Pirates Vs. Ninja? ✅

- ^Zane is wearing the suit he has yet to get ❌

- ^Unlike Julien, lego must love Nya

- The Stone Army’s vehicles are currently driving up what’s nearly a 90 degree angle ❌

- “Hah! We made it to the top!” Jay has a very delayed reaction before saying this ❌

- Also, they are very obviously not at the top ❌

- ^ Cole, I love you ✅

- “No one move!” Zane says, in Cole’s voice ❌

- It’s at this point that I implore you to watch this episode, or at least this scene, because it never gets old. The music, the framing - everything is on point. Even the suit designs look epic. ✅

- and the way the music rises as Lloyd does this spinning thing ✅

- And then he drops to the ground and Kai is worried about him ✅

- And all of them getting separate segments to show off their powers! ✅

- I know I’m a winning streak, but I can’t just ignore the fact that Jay’s lightning conducts through wood ❌

- And then they casually throw this Cole dancing thing in here ✅

- “My turn” oh sh*t- ✅

Sentence: It’s Lloyd’s turn on the Xbox

[calypsolemon]

even tho i looooove hearing abt harumi, i would LOVE to hear ur thoughts on nyas arc this season and also the way that they brought garmadon back. and if u want ur general thoughts on how the show handles authority? ex: prison arcs, wu, etc. i know that last part is v broad but its a part of the show i have been very much thinking abt.

ohoooo you're in for a long one. I'll mark off each part to make it more comprehensible

nya

so first off, nya's arc. Tbh I mooostly liked it but i feel like it was one of the things that was a little bit rushed in the chaos that was everything they tried to shove into this season.

I think as the perfectionist of the team, it makes sense for her to struggle with the loss of her powers the same way she struggled with realizing her powers. She was forced out of the identity of samurai x, then came to terms with being the water ninja, then someone else took the samurai x mantle, which she became happy with once she realized who did so. This was another disruption of a status quo she had come to accept. She also had accepted the finality of what she was choosing to do by merging with the sea; obviously she sought to come back the moment she realized she could, but it has to be difficult to return to being a powerless human girl after being a literal dragon sea goddess who experienced a kind of ego-death. So I totally vibe with ignoring the obvious ways she can help the others again, and feeling helpless without her water powers.

I do understand why they had her powers slowly returning by the end of the season, but I kind of wish she had still not had them back. It would have played with the ninja also losing their powers better, rather than it feeling like they're trading off situations lol. I would also like to see different effects for her powers returning than kai, since her element seems to have come from a different source than dragons. Maybe her being afraid she would start losing herself to the sea again would be interesting? Those are of course things that could potentially happen in the next season, but who knows.

garmadon

Garmadon's return this season was p good, I think it strikes a good balance between the state we left him in in the oni trilogy, while making him less of a completely unlikeable dick who spits on the good name of og Garm lol. I like the angle that the show is taking particularly, that he is re-learning compassion and that its possible for him to do so, that he is even willing to help people out, but its still frustrating for him to deal with people who are having emotions he simply can't understand from a logical perspective. The fact that this aspect of his character is not being treated as inherintly evil, and that lloyd is in the wrong for claiming that he can't learn or care about things via logical conclusion or learning is wrong, are actually REALLY good takes that the show has been lacking for a long time now.

That being said, I found some of his circular arguments with lloyd to be a bit annoying, and somewhat of a missed opportunity. There were times in the season where I felt like, yeah it makes sense that they would say these things to each other over and over instead of getting anywhere, but for the audiences sake, we didn't really need to hear the same talking points between them like 50 times. I think they could have built up to the compassion conversation in the serpentine library a lot better.

prison arcs

my feeling on the prison stuff is like... mixed. I see what they were going for, clearly lloyd's little speech to ronin while in jail was leading up to the compassion argument, and he was meant to be in the wrong. Still, i feel like they didn't quite hit the nail on the head of why lloyd was wrong in the prison. The show kind of took the route of "yeah the villains are doing villainy, but they can choose to do good things when it comes down to it, so lloyd's assessment of them isn't completely accurate" when really it should have been more like "well people are motivated to do shitty things by shitty circumstances, and also illegality isn't equivalent to morality, a lot of what drives people to crime is simply not having any other choice, the same way you and the ninja were irt nya." They... kind of did that halfway with lloyd's little speech to mcbrag, but i feel like it didn't quite come together in the way that I hoped?

Really I think what's missing from the picture is just like, giving some of the low-level villains more reasonable motivation for what they do. Ronin already kind of had a backstory that explained why he was stealing stuff, but his reasons for continuing to do so after s5 have not been super clear besides "he wants to." UV is still painted as mostly just chaotic and crazy, and basically nothing is given for the rest of the minor villains that show up. Harumi is maybe the only one whose actual motivation is painted in a somewhat sympathetic light despite how awful she's been, but her reasoning for her crimes is already established canon, so I can't say that is part of this season's design.

I dont think ninjago needs to go too overboard with this, I just think characters mentioning like "I steal because its the only way I can make money, nobody wants to hire an ex-criminal for anything except crime" or "I didn't have a home until the SOG gave me one, the ninja certainly weren't helping me with that" something that made all these ppl in prison seem less like they just do fucked up shit on a whim and more like they have just as complex lives as the ninja. Would have added a lot of depth to the overall themes of this season.

Sorry that was less about Authority in ninjago and more about just the prison arc in general. Tbh my thoughts on the way authority is presented in ninjago in general is like "too much respect is often put on authority in ninjago but the show is getting better about that," which i believe is true. Despite my criticisms I think newer seasons have been more willing to question some of the weird idolization of authority and destiny that the series has held onto for so long, and I'm excited to see them hopefully improve even further in future seasons.

[coffbeanie]

I have some questions for your oc

Does Mei have the essence of destruction or creation or does she have another power?

What did Mei think of Garmadon trying to kill Wu and accidentally getting banished to the underworld?

What is Mei's relationships with Garmadon and Wu and Lloyd?

When does Mei meet the ninja?

Is Mei older or younger than Garmadon and Wu?

Is Mei more oni or Dragon?

1. Mei has another power, which is the essence of life (basically meant to represent that even though there has been a struggle to balance out creation and destruction, good and evil, on Ninjago, life was still able to flourish)

2. Mei’s really conflicted on this-she’s always been closer to Garmadon but she also understood that at some point the evil from the Great Devourer was going to overtake him, and that as time went on it would be difficult for him to fight off its influence. She knows he’s good and it just hurt to see him be controlled by the evil within him. That being said, she doesn’t believe that he should have been sent to the underworld. To her, Garmadon basically represented the entirety of destruction in the balance between good and evil on Ninjago, and without him, she feared that something worse, something more evil would replace him

3. Mei is meant to be impartial to Wu and Garmadon, but she has always been closer to Garmadon since they’ve struggled with feeling overlooked by the FSM. Mei and Wu only ever really discuss the balance of Ninjago, making sure that evil isn’t trying to overpower good, but they only ever really talk about technical stuff like that, and she’s struggled to develop a familial relationship with Wu like she did with Garmadon. Also she gets frustrated with him cause she doesn’t think he understands the balance between good and evil the way she does. Mei is very fond of Lloyd, but she always has a sense of guilt regarding people in their family and other EMs, and that’s especially true for him since he knows that he has so much to worry about with his role as the Green Ninja. She plays less of a mentor role with him and tries to be like a real aunt, getting him out of training and taking him on fun lil trips throughout Ninjago to help him relax

4. She had known of the Ninja since before the pilot and that Wu was going to train them to become ninja-I’m not sure when she’ll officially meet them, I’m thinking sometime during Season 2 though that might change

5. She’s the middle child-younger than Garmadon, older than Wu

6. She’s half oni and half dragon!! Exactly 50-50

if u need any clarification on anything lemme know!!

[ohmygodtheywereparabatai]

Finally watched Hello Future Me’s video floating around my recommended feed, and halfway through his excellent analysis struck a spooky thought! Here’s a theory for the girl in red.

Sane at the Time of the Finale:

Azula’s Downfall Was in Spiritual Revenge

The poetic justice of Zhao drowned by the moon spirit’s other half, Ozai’s power stripped by a full-fledged Avatar... part of what makes Azula’s defeat so unique is her crumbling sense of self, an introspective enemy instead of an outside one. Katara, whose confidence and network of support are pointed out as the mirror image of what Azula could have had, finally gains the upper hand and pins her down.

From birth, the princess endures an environment that perfects and hones her nature to the shattering point. Plenty of signs point to her devolution: the betrayal of Mai and Ty Lee, getting sidelined by her own father at the literal crowning moment, and her irreversible childhood at the center of the snowball effect. But how ‘bout I do anyway, and tie in the mechanisms of the spirit world with Azula’s last moments? The connection is far from obvious, but well and present. The role of another world in weakening such an iron-fisted character visible in the first GIF itself.

I. “Taking you down is the Avatar’s destiny.”

The spirit world is one fundamental half of the Avatar. Its guidance and power are endowed to a messiah-like figure, who masters the four bending disciplines in order to restore and keep balance. It’s constantly reinforced that the Firelord is meant to be brought down by him, that a century of bloodshed is repaid when the warlord’s life is taken, and the end of his corrupt regime is the beginning of a fuller, more peaceful era.

“Aang, you must defeat the Firelord before the comet arrives.” (Roku)

“Your destiny! This is incredible. You will be involved in a great battle, an awesome conflict between the forces of good and evil.” (Aunt Wu)

“I should have seen this war coming and prevented it... But I believe you are destined to redeem me and save the world.” (Roku)

“Because I know my own destiny. Taking you down is the Avatar’s destiny.” (Zuko)

“Everyone, even my own past lives, are expecting me to end someone’s life.” (Aang)

A seemingly inconsequential detail is that the Firelord at the time of the final battle is not Ozai - it’s his daughter. By then, the title of Phoenix King is exchanged for her coronation. The nail on the head isn’t nitpicking terminology, but that Aang already suffered defeat at Azula’s hands. She herself plays a masterful and instrumental role in the war, literally her father’s will embodied. She’s there to hunt the Avatar, lead the massive drill against Ba Sing Se’s walls, orchestrate a coup, oversee the takeoff of the airship fleet, suggest the annihilation of Ba Sing Se in the first place. It’s a long time before we see Ozai at the warfront in the flesh, and even then, the damage dealt by Azula in Book Two and Book Three resonates. Keeping all this in mind, jump to Aang’s death.

“I went down! I didn’t just get hurt, did I? I was gone! But you brought me back.” (Aang, to Katara)

At the end of Book One, when a spirit is killed and revived, balance is reduced to moonless havoc, and all hell descends on the guilty party. The Avatar-slayer would be far from an exception to this counterbalance. So what we witness in “Into the Inferno” - Azula, gruesomely unmade - may just be the most brutal act of vengeance onscreen, and as a direct consequence of this:

While Aang is not directly responsible, it’s safe to assume the spirit world often acts of its own volition. Notable spirits possess harsh views on modernization, and lash out at humanity for its flaws: Wan Shi Tong’s disappearance, the ocean spirit’s wrath, the aye-aye spirit in LoK antagonizing any human presence, the Mother of Faces admonishing vanity and disrespect.

In this vein, the Avatar spirit remains a powerful source of Aang’s strength, weaved into the very outcome of greater forces such as fate and salvation. In the crystal catacombs, Azula threw a wrench into a universal narrative - for an instant, the world really was lost.

And, truth is, we’ve already watched as an entity descended from the Avatar’s power - one who Azula identifies repeatedly as her lifelong plague - haunts her to the point of systemic delusion. Ursa herself, granddaughter of Roku.

II. “You’ve turned my own mind against me...”

Time to reconcile show canon with the comics!

There’s no one who ties more into the tragedy of Azula than her mother. Hello Future Me dredges “The Search” and “Smoke and Shadow” for panels where her condition is exacerbated by fear and animosity. She’s obsessed with the idea that Ursa was pitted against her from day one, and even claims her influence strangled the loyalties of her friends and forced Ozai to “break free of her control.” The possibility of the slightest truth to Azula’s more elaborate fears raises a host of alarming implications. Especially when acknowledging her character is as sharp as a tack - a dulled edge when madness factors in, to be sure, but not negligible.

Is it logical to develop the belief that Ursa was an agent of evil in the royal court? The death of Azulon and her subsequent disappearance... It wouldn’t take long for Azula - aware of Zuko’s fate at the time, and her mother’s resignation to prevent it - to connect the dots. Ursa’s blood relation to the same Avatar that rivaled Firelord Sozin is another thorn in the side of trust. Whether Azula was aware of it or not, the strife born in Zuko, the eternally entangled red and blue dragons, exist to her biology as well. This makes it difficult to ignore a spiritual side to her illness, which draws primarily from Ursa’s “ill” intent.

Azula is also seen embracing the idea that spirits risen solely to take revenge can derail lives, legitimacy, and loyalty. The comics give us a chance to absorb the hidden subtext at face value.

The Kemurikage were born when robbed mothers abducted the children of others as punishment. Fear of the spirits crumbled the warlord Toz’s support and ended his cause. The masquerading dissenters in “Smoke and Shadow” are able to undermine Firelord Zuko’s authority, create a divide between Mai’s family and her father, and sow widespread fear. Curfew, searches, and interrogations shape the beginnings of a “ruthless” rule, eerily evocative of Azula’s much more rapid descent...

So how do Azula’s visions of Ursa, conjured unconsciously or from a little something more, and her steep debt to the world and Avatar link together - forge the ideal weapon and circumstances for retribution?

^ Just like that.

This only covers Ursa’s side of the family, the redoubling of spiritual balance after Aang’s fall like the snap of a rubber band. Azula’s complete undoing has to do with the lashing out of both families.

III. The blue dragon

Now, what was it about that first GIF?

Azula’s health begins to spiral right as she’s slated to become Firelord. Her identity is unraveled and called into question - Ursa made manifest slips through the chinks in her armor, prying at insecurities. Her inner turmoil admittedly makes her a poor candidate for ascension, and at the pinnacle of Fire Nation victory, - the crucial, final stages of the Hundred Year War - past rulers would look down on Ozai’s decision to usher her onto a seat of absolute power. Sozin’s Comet itself is an event that imbues firebenders with enhanced abilities, and it’s been theorized before that the “acting up” of royalty during the finale could be explained as such. The phenomenon may have also caused the reemergence of imperial spirits... and it isn’t too far of a fetch. More on that shortly.

It’s made clear that Azula’s destiny is far from holding royal court. The comics throw around that word, “destiny” a lot, but it’s a given signpost for any projected arc in the world of Avatar. And it ties in nicely with the will and workings of spirits.

Roping predestination with the probable dissatisfaction of the lineage, we finally have a whole picture. The combined force of an upended natural order, demanding the Avatar-slayer’s penance, and a royal bloodline destabilizing her reign in its infancy... planting mistrust and paranoia, and causing rash decisions. From a cherry pit to five minutes’ tardiness, Azula’s clarity and self-assurance are hacked away.

This is inviting the subversion that it wasn’t all in her head. That the Azula who readily accepts the Phoenix King’s declaration is rattled and isolated at best, but far from the composure that took just one afternoon to shatter. Zhao and Ozai face justice at the hands of the spiritual. The third main villain of ATLA might not have escaped due consequence either.

Finally, this scene. Azula, ensconced in blue flames. Is there any suggestion of the presence of spirits?

Azula’s fire is blue for purposes of flaunting her skill and sheer drive for perfection. The hottest temperature is blue in color, exactly her achievement. The technique isn’t bothered with because it saps extra effort, and so Azula’s signature symbol of power is hers alone. Fitting. But the fact remains: after leaving her hands, the fire quickly cools to orange. See below:

This color change isn’t seen in Azula’s throne room. The fire surrounding her is definitely detached from her body.

Now, it’s obvious why the animators didn’t suddenly decide to give the iconic blue a rest... but it’s incredibly intriguing from the imperial spirits angle. If Azula herself wasn’t keeping up the blue flame, then at the time of “Into the Inferno”, we’re staring into the faces of invisible devils on her shoulder, supplying the driving energy from the beyond. Onis whispering unseen evils down her ear that cause her, inevitably, to snap - the voices of Sozin and Azulon, a hundred sprawling generations. The cherry on the top is Ursa, descendant of the liaison between mortal and spirit that Azula personally killed, who torments her long after she’s relieved of the crown.

“Trust is for fools. Fear is the only reliable way.”

Hello Future Me describes Azula’s personality as a Machiavellian type, named after the guy who coined “It’s better to be feared than loved.” Watching her escalation unfold, it’s sad to wonder how someone as fearsome as her responds to being the recipient of that fear - when her own weapon turned on its hilt cuts too deep.

IV. End!

I think the scene above - the girl who opens with this directly after the demise of an admiral who engaged the incarnate of the tides (and swiftly lost), is a bit telling of her fate.

*To clarify, my framing of Ursa’s appearance as spookier than just a figment of Azula’s imagination - *cough* possibly the personified revenge of the Avatar spirit - is NOT meant to demonize Ursa herself! It just offers up an alternative explanation to what Azula hears and sees. Their bond is a poignant standalone, and I don’t mean to hate on the real Ursa/Noriko. Neither does any part of this discredit the impact of Azula’s childhood and history of neglect on her future.

That is all. Thank you for entertaining my theory!

[blursed-ninjago-ideas]

bruh what if the oni and the dragons somehow MANAGED TO FREAKING GET ALONG, united their powers, used them to rebuild the first realm, and fill it with life (instead of it being a desert) AND started a new era with a new civilisation where they could coexist in peace? Why couldn't we get this ending in the canon? How is straight up genocide of an entire species the better solution???

Well....For one, you're asking oni to be dragons. Filling their realm with creation is a dragon thing, why would an oni want that?

The dragon and oni thing is a very old idea. I don't think the show implemented it as well as they could've, but the opposing forces of creation and destruction personified into beings isn't new.

Sorry to be a blatant Rooster Teeth fan here, but it's really done well in RWBY.

The two gods fought endlessly. One trying to bring life and structure to the world, the other wanted to fill ot with death and chaos. They fought to no end. Neither able to over power the other. So they made a tie breaker.

Together, they made humans. They gave them four gifts. The power to Create and the power to Destroy. The power of Knowledge to know the difference between them, and the power of Choice to decide between them.

The FSM might've been something similar. However he chose creation pretty clearly.

That doesn't mean the Oni were wrong to find more beauty in chaos than in order.

Point being, oni and dragons were never going to team up to make a better world. Because a "better world" looked so very different to them.

Even Mistakè was a chaotic little bitch that relished in messing with people. She found value in life, but don't kid yourself, she loved Ninjago because it had a peaceful balance of creation AND destruction. There were plenty of ways for her to exist, and even have a good life, without having to conform to the idea that she had to "create" and be orderly. Magic is a pretty wild and destructive thing in Ninjago, which is why she thrived in it and learning about it. She valued life almost as an act of destruction itself. Which it is.

Humans very slowly destroy ourselves just by living. Where a dragon is immortal, humans all die.

Because I'm referential as hell, let me call on one passage from the book "Invisible Monsters".

Brandy is wearing a ballgown. A REAL one, with metal bones in it. Shannon laments on the fact that those bones are being bent and warped because Brandy is breathing while wearing the dress. Real ballgowns don't stay in shape very long because just the act of wearing it starts to ruin it. Ballgowns are meant to be worn though. It's fulfilling it's purpose while also being destroyed by that purpose. It's beautiful. It's exactly what it was meant to do. It's being destroyed. There would be no point in the dress if it never got destroyed.

If any of you have ever read that laminated paper towel post, that's a very similar theme. (because my ability to connect stuff is a problem)

All of this also adds another level to Mistakè's sacrifice. She destroyed herself for the greater good, in an act of exactly who and what she was. She destroyed herself by doing something good, like a human destroys themselves by living.

I've veered off though.

Part of the desolation in the first realm is that it's preserved. If there's nothing there, then nothing can be destroyed. The dragons would prefer to fill their world with permanent creations. Rocks, water, sky, the elements which are constant. Life...isn't permanent. It requires destruction. Why would a dragon want that? A human has to destroy to eat and live. A human also has to create to protect themselves and survive.

I imagine some dragons do find beauty in the creation aspect of humans, but the majority, like oni, would rather not share with the opposite force.

I don't know how to end this, but the oni and dragon debate is an extension of creation vs destruction. And while yes, ideally balance is the answer to that debate, that doesn't mean the extremes are going to be cool with being balanced.

-Ivy

[aspoonofsugar]

Do you have any thoughts on BSD ability colors? I.e. How Rashomon and For the Tainted Sorrow are red, No Longer Human and Beast Beneath the Moonlight are blue, Demon Snow is purple, Doppo Poet is green, Little Women is yellow, etc?

Hello anon!

I don’t know how much the colors are meant to symbolyze something specific, but I can link you to this post by @gon-furiikusu and @subdee. The series it talks about is hxh, but the topic is the same since the author is trying to assign a meaning to the color of each character’s aura. The post has also a useful link to sites talking about color symbolism.

Even if I am not sure there is any specific meaning in most cases (if not a generic one linked to each character’s personality), I think that the colors of the abilities might be important for soukoku and shin soukoko and especially for the last two.

I will be quoting what @hamliet said in a conversation we had:

Red and blue make purple, which is assopciated with the sunset, which the anime uses a lot :P But in the openings and EDs it’s a thing. Like in the third season, the OP changes: Akutagawa is shown wiht blue and Atsushi with red (in addiition to their traditional other associations) when they appear together, it’s in front of purple. Red and blue are ofteen seen as opposite primary colors actually!!!! Hence red oni and blue oni!

I think her comment is pretty explicative in itself. In short, Akutagawa and Atsushi are associated to two primary and complementary colors because they are meant to complement each other and to help each other grow. Their union is  meant to create a new color and hence why they meet in front of the purple which symbolizes the synthesis between their two personalities. If you are interested in an analysis about the second ending I can link you to this meta by @linkspooky​.

When it comes to Akutagawa and Atsushi’s specific colors, I think they are meant to highlight their different personalities. I think that it is especially telling the fact that the red oni is often associated with the id aka to the more instinctive parts of the self, while the blue oni is associated with the super-ego aka the most rational parts of the self. The id is an illogical and almost feral part each person has, while the super-ego is made up of the rules society imposes on the individual. Between them there is the ego and the ego must balance these two opposite parts and make so that the person can develop a healthy sense of identity. Basically, both Atsushi and Akutagawa are extreme. I have mentioned it here:

The point is that Akutagawa represents everything Atsushi doesn’t want to accept about himself (the violence, the possibility of being left behind, how pathetic and wrong it is to let one’s worth being decided by others’ praise etc.). At the same time Atsushi is the same for Akutagawa.

Moreover, Atsushi and Akutagawa are also complementary as Dazai explains.

However, their complementarity should not be considered only on a functional level, but also on a symbolic one.

On one hand Atsushi’s ability lets him turn into a beast he is scared of and can’t control. He literally hides the tiger from both others and himself.

On the other hand Akutagawa transforms his coat into a beast and so he projects a violent persona.

Atsushi hides his aggressiveness, whereas Akutagawa wears it proudly and hides his vulnerability.

In short, they are both the same and opposite and this is why they can’t stand each other. This is also why they balance each other like yin and yang.

As far as Chuuya and Dazai are concerned, I find interesting that from this:

It seems to me that Chuuya’s ability is black in the manga rather than red like in the anime. All in all, it makes not much difference because either way both black and red are colours associated with Chuuya somehow.

The black is symbolic of the mafia. As a matter of fact the members of the mafia wear black and it is not by chance that the name of Dazai and Chuuya’s partnership can be translated as double black. As a matter of fact they were both in the mafia by that time and were considered the organization’s strongest asset. Black is also mentioned in Chuuya’s character song:

“I’ll push myself to the limits and dye everything jet-black”

The red is a color strongly associated with Chuuya to the point that no matter how much his design changes in the different novels, it is a color Harukawa always tries to put in. Red is symbolic of Chuuya’s violent and passionate nature since it is a color associated to both blood and feelings, so in a sense it nicely highlights Chuuya’s best and worst traits.

At the same time, when it comes to Dazai’s ability, we have this:

I have personally always seen it as white, but you are right since there is some light blue in it.

Anyway, the fact that it is of a light color and of a mix of white and light blue is interesting when you compare it to Chuuya’s For the Tainted Sorrow which is either black or red.

On one hand the red and blue theming colors have the same meaning highlighted by Akutagawa and Atsushi’s abilities.

On the other hand the fact that we can imagine them being alternatively white and black is interesting because white and black are once more opposite colors. I like to think that Dazai and Chuuya’s abilities being potentially black and white highlights how much opposite they are and how their difficulties in complementing each other comes also by this almost complete opposition. All in all black and white suggest to me a stricter contrast than blue and red. I have mentioned this difference also in this madoka meta if you are interested.

That said, this might very well be just a rumbling of mine, rather than something the narrative openly supports. That said, the importance of black and white is something which is definately in the narrative and not only when it comes to Dazai and Chuuya:

After all black and white are the colors of the tao and are the two major colors used in Atsushi and Akutagawa’s designs. Akutagawa is almost completely black except for his tie and Atsushi is almost completely white, but has some black as well. They are obviously meant to look like the two halves of the tao when they are seen together. This is something highlighted also by the title of Beast aka White Akutagawa and Black Atsushi where their roles and colors are inverted.

In short, red and blue and black and white are colors linked to both soukoku and shin soukoku because both couples are meant to be seen as opposite, but complementary and are also meant to represent the two sides of the conflict between the mafia and the ADA.

Finally, let me discuss briefly the use of colors in this scene of dead apple:

The scene has mostly red and white and the balance of the two colors is pretty beautiful and potentially thematically resonant because the white and the read are the colors of an apple. @linkspooky​ explained in this meta the meaning of the title Dead Apple and how it is built on an oxymore since the apple is representative of life, but at the same time it is associated to the adjective “dead”. The complicated relationship between life and death is one of the major themes of the series. The point is that the scene between Dazai and Chuuya is one among the many scenes of the movie which highlights this connection.

Dazai is Snow-white who has died. This is why he has white clothes and is surrounded by a white aura. What is more, white is also the color of grief in some cultures. In short, Dazai here represents the “dead” of dead apple.

Chuuya is instead surrounded by red. His ability is red and the dragon he has just fought is red. It is not by chance that Chuuya and the dragon share the same color because all in all they are both associated with the id aka with the unconscious and the feral. The dragon is a literal monster and it represents Tastuhiko’s id i.e. the parts of himself he had forgotten and refused to face. It is not by chance that he re-emerges as a complete individual and fights Atsushi once the dragon is defeated. He can do so because he has faced his shadow and accepted it just like Atsushi does when he accepts that he had killed someone. As far as Chuuya is concerned him facing a literal dragon simply adds up to what I have discussed in this meta. Chuuya is a character with a very strong id which is symbolized by his ability which can literally take control over him. When Chuuya is in his state of corruption he forgets himself and lets his desire of destruction free. This is something which scares him and this is why Dazai’s nullification is so important. It acts as some sort of super-ego and helps Chuuya find himself (his ego) again. However, the id is not inherently something negative and it is actually something linked to the most human and primitive instincts like the one to survive. This is why red is also linked to the color of the apple aka it is the color of life.

So, we can simplicistically say that the white is the color of the death and of the super-ego (this is also why it is strongly associated with Atsushi and Tatsuhiko who are two characters linked to the super-ego), while red is the color of life and of the id (and it is associated with Akutagawa among others).

The scene between Chuuya and Dazai shows how these two realities are linked since Chuuya saves Dazai and immediately later Dazai saves Chuuya. Even the medicine which nullifies the effect of the poison is half white and half red. This symbolizes how Dazai is on the brink between these two realities since he prepares an antidote, but instead of taking it when he is poisoned (which would have been simpler and more efficient) he bets his life on the fact that Chuuya will punch him. This can very well represent Dazai’s complicated relationship with his life and how in the end his own connections are what saves him.

Thank you for the ask!

[geekgirles]

My opinion on Kagami

I've been wanting to do this for a while, and the latest leak we got from Jeremy only gave me more reasons to share.

Now, know that I'm not trying to roast anybody or shaming them for their opinions under any circumstances. I just want to share mine.

Nowadays, my thoughts on her are... complex. The easiest way to sum this up would be with the same point many other fans experience through Lila: hate her character but love her design. Please, put the knives down!

I don't hate Kagami, but I'd be lying if I said I'm happy with the way she's being handled. From my point of view, she's very cute! From all her freckles to her bright brown eyes... Not to mention her clothes! I totally saw one of my dream outfits in hers. In terms of view, what's not to like?

Now, the way she's currently written... That's another story.

In my opinion, she's kind of gone downhill since Riposte. Then, we got a glimpse of what a healthy love rival looked like. She acknowledged Adrien's fondness of Marinette in no time, didn't show signs of falling head over heels for him at first sight (no easy feat for this show, tbh) and didn't treat Marinette as a threat right away! Bonus points for fencer girl!

But ever since Frozer... Kagami's character has turned from determined and serious to judgemental. There's nothing wrong with a character being cold and confident, especially if they're supposed to be good guys, but by then she had started being just another love rival.

Why is this so important to me?

Well, leaving aside the importance of the romantic factor for a show based on the confusing love story of its two main characters, because I took Feri's words to heart. Kagami and Luka were supposed to be charming, well-rounded characters, not just love interests. And yet, I get to see that in Luka a lot more than I do in Kagami.

This meant a lot to me because every single love rival Marinette has had so far has been/is a jerk to her! How are we going to show young girls that love rivals aren't the same as sworn enemies if a show directed to them portrays just that!

And don't tell me that's just how girls act because if it's wrong to let boys insist on asking out a girl who is clearly not interested so is letting girls cat fight.

Back to the point.

While I myself prefer to see Kagami's interaction with Marinette as tough love/advice, both Thomas and Feri explained she basically told her to step up her game, or Adrien's hers. Which, yeah. Can be both advice AND a threat. This last statement comes from the fact that Kagami's last interaction with Adrien in Frozer turned out to be Kagami deeming Marinette as unworthy of Adrien's affections. Hence, the "When you see you're wrong [about your target], I'll be there" moment. She basically told Adrien Marinette was the wrong choice.

And then, there's Animaestro. Now, I do not condone Chloé and Marinette's actions at all. But Kagami was no saint either. While there's no denying Marinette and Chloé gave her the stink-eye first, she was just as jealous as them and fueled their insecurities when she took Adrien's arm, which is nothing bad itself, especially since it didn't make Adrien uncomfortable (take notes Chloé & Lila), but it looked as a "take that" move, y'know? And she also kept giving Marinette the stink-eye whenever she was around Adrien, to the point where she looked outraged by her mere presence. Things we've seen before in Backwarder, for example.

And... *sigh* how could we forget Oni-chan?

While her rage in this episode was righteous and it wasn't directed at Marinette, it portrayed Kagami in a light that didn't make her justice. It could be argued jumping to conclusions makes her more human, but don't say it's something we only saw in this episode because this whole post is about her making assumptions of Marinette. But I must admit this time took the whole cake! Her anger was terrifying. But I need to pretend the plot-convenient plot holes don't exist for a minute to talk about something: that reaction was way over the top.

It would, of course, be understandable if we were aware Kagami's met Lila before and she thinks of her the same as Marinette does. But that's not the case. Then why does she react like that?! You'd expect that after hearing Adrien practically gush about Marinette and finding her almost everywhere they go (sometimes even per Adrien's request), she'd be more sold on the idea of Mari being the one he loves. Yet, the only explanation I've found online is that she thought Lila was his girlfriend. Hello???? Wouldn't it be the normal thing to do to wonder just who the Hell is this girl you haven't even heard of and calling Adrien to find the answer? Well, apparently not.

And now that we know Kagami will be the Dragon miraculous holder I'm a bit disappointed. Don't worry. It has nothing to do with all this. It's because it's... predictable. Way too predictable.

On the one hand, it's true a friend of mine and I headcanoned she could get the horse miraculous, and I'm a bit bummed out about it. But for the most part it is because of how predictable it is.

Leaving aside their faces, which is where the heroes become more obvious to us, the viewers, if we take Marinette's Ladybug costume, there are still clear differences between her hero self and her civilian self. While still using polka dots, they are far less numerous or notorious than Ladybug's and, most importantly, her main colours are white and pink, as opposed to the superheroine's red and black.

Kagami, on the other hand, uses red and black as her primary colours in both outfits. And, on top of it, she's an Asian fencer, so the fact that she wields the Dragon (clearly Asian-based) miraculous which includes a sword is such a surprise...

But seriously! I don't hate her!

She clearly has some great moments such as when she helped Marinette up, or as I call it, the "move I'm gay move", or when she stood up against Chloé. It's just that her role in the Love Square doesn't look like it's balanced. Kagami can be hostile to Marinette and fuels her insecurities, as opposed to Luka and Adrien's chilled interactions and Luka's effect on gradually making Adrien see Marinette as more than just a friend.

Well, as always, I'll guess we just have to wait and see.

[the-gency-library]

Sweet Dreams | Gency Fic

Title: Sweet Dreams

Characters: Oni Genji, Devil Mercy

Ship: Gency

Rating: Teen+ (I would say age 16 and up?)

Word Count: 1,683

Warnings: Flirtatious comments, some angst, description of wounds/blood

Summary: Genji wakes up and thinks he sees an angel. A beautiful angel, with a great smile. Except it’s not an angel at all.

Now available on AO3!

SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS - WHO AM I TO DISAGREE (~‾▿‾)~ - Sorry LMAO A continuation of my Warm Welcome fics (NSFW) - I kind of wanted to explore how Genji and Mercy met in this AU

Thank you Muffy for betaing for me! ^^

Enjoy!

    When Genji opened his eyes, his memories of what had happened flooded back to him. He lay in the grass. It was raining, a light drizzle, but it was enough for him to have been soaked.

He felt something warm on his back. When he tried to sit up, he only felt how his muscles ached with every move. It was like his body had a huge weight on him that he struggled with. With as much effort as he could, he pulled himself up on to his knees. The cold mud below him made it hard for him to keep his balance, making him nearly slip back on his face. His hand reached behind him to where the warmth was coming from. He looked at his hand, seeing dark red covering his fingers. It was then that his body felt the pain of the giant wound on his back. The stinging did not get any better despite how much he thought he could wait it out. He hissed in pain, screaming for nothing.   As Genji lay in the mud, defeated and injured, he remembered the new look on his brothers face. What had he done? How could he do this to him? His own brother? No, that wasn't his brother. That wasn't Hanzo at all. Hanzo wasn't a greedy bastard who had sold his soul. He did not have horns and joyless white eyes. He would not have tried to kill him. That thing was not his brother.

  Genji waited for death. Tears sprang from his eyes and into the ground. He didn't understand any of this, and he figured it would be too late. No one would find him soon enough for the bleeding to stop, and he could already feel himself grow cold. He felt his eyes grow weary as the darkness beckoned to him for his final sleep.

  “Oh, meine liebste, you're not just going to give up yet are you?” A voice above him said.

He couldn't properly make it out. He looked up frantically, but his vision was already darkening. He felt like he couldn't even see.

  The voice tutted. He heard it kneeling by him. Suddenly, he felt a warmth. Such a soothing warmth, like a gentle embrace. The pain of his wounds had suddenly stopped, and he no longer felt cold. It was like the rain had stopped completely. The weight lifted off his body, and he felt better than he ever had in years. What was happening? Had an angel come to his rescue?

His vision returning, he looked up at his savior. He was wrong.

That wasn't an angel at all. The face looking down at him belonged to a beautiful woman, but she had a devious grin on her face and two large horns coming from her head. Her lips were a bright red color, and her eyes were like amethysts that sparkled as she smiled. Still, he could not look past the dragon-like tail and the wings on her back. The fangs from her grin were off putting enough. Despite her beauty, he could sense something terrifying about her.

 “What are you…?” Genji managed out.

 “Is that anyway to greet your rescuer?” The woman asked, tilting her head.

  “What did you do to me?”

  “I just healed you. That's all.”

  Genji got on his knees, feeling himself able to walk again, or move in general.

  “I don't understand.” He looked at her sternly. “You...you look like my-...the thing that replaced my brother.”

The woman’s expression showed interested. “Oh? Is that so? What did...this thing look like?”

Genji knew better than to start getting angry and making threats at someone like that without a weapon. But he didn't care.

“Horns. Grey skin. Eyes with no feeling at all.” He hissed. “Was it you? Was it you who tainted him?!”

The woman laughed at him. “I just saved your life. Do you think I'd do that if I really gave your brother a makeover?”

Genji grew silent.

She then approached him slowly. “Although...you could be due for one.” A grin spread on her face as she looked him up and down.

“Not too much of course. You're much too handsome already.” She purred

“I will not turn into him.”

She tilted her head, and got close to him.

“How about we make a deal?”

Genji raised an eyebrow at her.

“You want to save your brother? To bring him back, right? She smiled.

He nodded in response.

The woman traced her hand on his shoulder. Genji eyed her warily, then took her hand off him.

“Work for me, and I'll find who made your brother the way he is.” She offered.

“And if I don't? Will you kill me in the end?”

She giggled and shook her head. “No, of course not. I saved you on a whim! You can keep your healed body. I’ll leave you alone.”

She then started to walk off, her tail swaying back and forth. Her head turned to him.

“But, if you decide you really want to get your brother back…I'll be waiting.”

Genji bit his lip in thought. He wasn't sure what to do. His family was gone, and he had nothing to his name. All he had now was Hanzo, and he wasn't even sure if that really was still Hanzo in there.

He looked up, seeing her far away by now. He sped up to her, stopping just in front to block her path.

“Fine.”

Her face turned into an excited grin.

“Excellent! I haven't had a servant in such a long time!”

Genji looked at her. “What are the terms then of being a 'servant’ to you?”

She scoffed. “You're not my slave or anything. Consider it like this - you get about half of my powers. Except the healing of course. That's...different.”

Genji raised an eyebrow.

“All you have to do is my bidding. In return, I will find who it is that corrupted your brother. Whoever did it will be able to turn him back.”

“What constitutes as your bidding?”

“Oh, finding my enemies. Sending my messages. Making sure that pumpkin head does his work for once...and scaring the local villagers I suppose.” She observed her shiny red nails, fresh from a manicure.

Who the heck was “that pumpkin head”?

“I refuse to become my brother. I will not kill any innocents.” He stated.

“I never said you would be.” She replied. “And you won't be. I promise.” She smiled prettily at him.

“One last thing. You having my powers...you're going to look different. Not too different, we have to preserve that handsome face of yours.” She chuckled.

“Do we have a deal?” She asked, holding a gloved hand out.

“How do I know you're not lying?” He glared at her.

The woman placed her hands on her hips, her tail twisting around while she was in thought.

“Here,” she said. She unzipped part of her top, exposing the middle of her chest to him. She then summoned a glowing, blue blade in her hand, handing it to him.

“What…?”

“Mark me.” She said. The demoness pointed to the area right where her heart would be. “Don't worry. It's not going to hurt me.”

He was hesitant, but he went ahead and made a small X on her chest. Only a little blood dripped down, but the mark was suddenly healed leaving only a bright red scar.

“While you are working for me, if I ever betray you - your mark will burn me.”

Genji glanced at the mark. The brightness of it was enough to convince him. He looked down before finally looking into her amethyst eyes.

“Deal.”

“Great!” She exclaimed, zipping her clothing back up.

“How does this work then?”

“Like this,” she moved toward him and kissed him deeply. Her kiss was rough, but sweet at the same time. She cupped his face, running her hand down his shoulders.

Genji felt himself getting weak. His body felt heavy again, and his head felt light. He was enamoured by the kiss. He had kissed many women in the past, but this kiss was intoxicating. All too quickly, he felt himself slip into a sleep.

Genji awoke again. All he saw was a red ceiling. Had he dreamt all of this? Was he in his room again?

“Ah, you're awake.” A familiar voice called. It was the woman again.

Genji sat up, feeling a bit sore.

“Oh, wow, this is a really good look for you.” She grinned.

“W-what?”

“Take a look,” she summoned a mirror to her hands, holding it up for him to see.

Genji couldn't believe what he was seeing. His skin was now grey, with red markings on his face. He had two small horns protruding from his forehead. His eyes were red now, and his hair was pure black again.

The look shocked him. It maybe even scared him.

“I-is this permanent…?” He bit his lip. It was then he noticed a the fangs in his mouth.

“Well,” She sighed. “For now. Once our contract is over - you’ll look just the way you used to when you were born.”

Genji breathed a sigh of relief. This form was only temporary, giving him even more of a drive.

The woman in red sat next to him. “I never did introduce myself did I?”

“My name is Angela,” she smiled.

“Angela?” Genji raised an eyebrow. “You don't look like an angel.”

Angela narrowed her eyes. The female demon’s lips twitched, as if she stopped the words she wanted to let out of instinct from escaping. “...And you are..?.”

“My name is Genji.” he continued.

“Hm,” Angela smirked, observing him. “I think I'm going to like this deal of ours.”

  Genji was still unsure of himself, but he would go to lengths if it meant saving his brother. If Angela truly was going to help him, then he figured to keep his end of the deal, finishing his tasks for her as quick as possible.

   “I guess we should get started then, yes?” She looked up at him.