#not for all characters (zane is the biggest exception there) but for a lot of other chrs yeah

[crayonverse]

im going 2 do some updates to the refs i posted a lil bit ago 2 be a tad more mcd vibes rather than modern ... so heres aph first. i kept most of the og colors i used and only tweaked the hues a slight bit

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

How would you rank each season and why? What did you like and dislike about them?(Including wildbrain if you want to)

ooooooooooh okaaaaaaaay fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine

*cracks knuckles* Just remember you asked for this

Buckle up bastards and bitches, we're tearing this shit apart!!! Going from worst to best so we can end on good taste!!! *loads my opinions into a bazooka like Lloyd with an Ice Cannon*

Rebooted- *drags hands down face* ....I really don't actually hate NS3, but as I mentioned on another post, a lot of things this season tried to pull off (read: practically everything) at least one other season did better. And I know it's not really this season's fault that it's such a mess, since it was whipped up in a whirlwind of unexpected serendipity, and it had less time to explore its ideas, but when people only truly remember and constantly bring up the worst parts about it, rather than few (if not far inbetween) good things that it brought to the table? Or people consistently straight up forget other things about it (primary shoutouts to Techno!Wu and the ninja going to literal space???) Yeah, probably not a great season overall.

Pros: Fun aesthetic, wasn't afraid to try new things, attempted to expand and build on previously introduced ideas, did well with the emotions and aftermath generated by Zane's sacrifice, Pixal, killer music, X-1 Ninja Charger, Sensei Garmadon, had the agenda of getting people back into Ninjago after it supposedly hit its grand finale and did succeed in that if nothing else Cons: Absolutely breakneck pacing to the point that its hard to recall what happens where, when, and even why, you could literally take out like 3-4 of the episodes (half the season!!!) and very little would be ultimately impacted, poor execution of: the established character arcs, dynamics, and motivations within the season (with exception of Garmadon); the attempts at further world building; and the ultimate impact of the antagonists (...people rave about Cryptor but he doesn't even really do anything!! And why did they need to bring the Overlord back at ALL—if this was really something of a Zane-centric season, Cryptor would've already been the perfect foil for him!! AND WHY PYTHOR. I AIN'T ACTUALLY MAD ABOUT THAT TBH BUT WHY THEN)

Hands of Time- This season's biggest issue is that it's...boring. Technically doesn't even do anything wrong, but even when trying to follow a mystery as big as what the heck happened to Nya and Kai's parents, or watching Lloyd begin to come into his own as a future master, or exploring the downfall of two ex-Elemental Masters who turned to evil...it comes off so...stilted and stale. Literally an episode is called 'The Attack'. The whole show is full of attacks, this gives me nothing!!! (But, to be fair, most of the other ep titles this season are pretty kickass). It's like NS6 in the way that a bunch of things happen (and not even nearly as incoherently) but 85% of it doesn't have any lasting or satisfying pay off, and most of it doesn't really mesh in a natural way either. A lot of it feels very contrived, with events happening just for the sake of it happening, and that probably contributes to why it's not quite as compelling as other seasons, despite absolutely having the foundation to be.

Pros: Has an interesting way of drawing parallels between several characters, added a good chunk of lore that generated fresh interest, Kai and Nya Sibling duo, introduced villains with unique motivations and complex history with the main character (directly or indirectly), Jay got that cool bike moment, getting to meet Ray and Maya, actually mention of Skylor being a "bad guy" previously and exploring some of her insight of that, previous EM info + flashbacks, Cons: ...executes a lot of the best things about it in such bland and unsatisfying ways, and could have been much tighter with tying its events all together–would've helped the ending (whether it was a "cliffhanger" or not) feel a lot more deserved and less....empty.

(Also not a real con for the season itself and its literally just a nitpick but I hate those outfits. How are they simultaneously overly-detailed yet so monotone??? There's no pleasing contrast nor a place for the eye to comfortably rest! How are my eyes to last beholding a season with THAT fashion?? This is literally the only time where the gi are a distraction to me because they're...clunky, in a way? But...y'know, given that impression, I suppose they do fit the season to a t, then— *bricked*)

March of the Oni- This season is like a collections of puzzle pieces for a good finale season...but, someone lost a few pieces from the box. Or a lot of them. Isolated, there's a lot of good bits that could've really thrived in a normal season format...but, once again, the limited number of episodes strangled the potential out of its own plotline, SO. Plus, it feels extra weak following off the heels of Hunted's already high stakes, and with these stakes supposed to be even higher, it just doesn't quite hit in the way it's supposed to. That being said, there's a lot of fun and/or intense character dynamics and moments interspersed throughout, and the ending was so cozy and bittersweet but lovely that I can't be too upset with it. It stuck the landing it wanted to, and I can respect that!

Pros: Very strong character moments, (mostly) well-placed use of nostalgia, beautiful music, and overall a suitable little wrap up to "Masters of Spinjitzu" Cons: Not enough room/time to let some plot points breathe (a problem common to a few other seasons as well), and the antagonists could have done more, especially given their previous build up.

The Island- I don't even really count it as a season but it's going here. It was just...okay. Not actually all that bad, but not out-of-this-world great either. Laid the foundation for lore expansion for Seabound which is appreciated, utilized the characters well (EXCEPT RONIN WHAT THE FUCK NO), and again, I can respect it for what it was trying to do. Just didn't do anything that really stuck with me in a mind-blowingly positive way.

Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu- Kiiiiinda wish this season was strictly about "Forbidden Spinjitzu and it's secrets", rather than the "Forbidden Spinjitzu" leading to...assorted shenanigans. Could've made for a good Wu season, honestly. Also kinda wish they'd taken the concepts for the Fire and Ice Chapters and made them into more focused stories on Kai and Zane (especially if they were going to go on and do or attempt that exact thing for Jay, Cole, Nya, and Lloyd properly). Wishing aside, while there was a bit of a lull getting things started, the excitement did pick up soon enough. This season did eventually introduce some fun twists, (mostly) enjoyable character dynamics, and having a little lighter of an adventure until it wasn't after MotO was a refreshing change of pace.

Pros: Lots of individual moments to dig into and get invested in, a nice expansion on the lore of Wu's past + other realms beyond Ninjago, Cons: A little hard to initially get into, and can be even harder to keep wanting to push through and watch to the end. Both the Fire and Ice Chapter have points where they feel a bit "aimless" in their middle portions of their acts, and the season as a whole simultaneously feels like it's longer than it needed to be + didn't always use the time it had efficiently.

Legacy of the Green Ninja- Fellas as I've been finishing up my planning for Legacy!S2, I have to confess this Season isn't quite the masterpiece we remember it as snksnksnksnk. There's literally 2-3 episodes that are ENTIRELY pointless, and none of them are even the """"filler"""" ones. It felt like it was trying to be a wacky shenanigan-of-the-week thing and a "dramatic world-ending thriller adventure" at the same time in both halves of the season, and that didn't always pan out in its favor, giving this season a bit of a lost/confused identity—especially one that so explicitly implicates Lloyd as being important, and yet most of the episodes are spent following the escapades of the Core Four still (which is not inherently a bad thing, but WHERE'S THE SO-CALLED LEGACY?!?! WHERE'S THE GREEN NINJA?!) ........anywho, negativity-fueled-by-recency-bias aside, even its short-comings still make for a highly enjoyable watch and rewatch, which isn't something that can be easily said for the previously mentioned seasons. And, there is still a LOT of funny, heartwarming, heartbreaking, and downright epic moments! But, not always immediately memorable ones.

(but also like please you have to UNDERSTAND there's literally a scene during the final battle where Wu, Misako, and Julien are on the ultra dragon and one of em's like "WE HAVE TO HELP" and, i swear i timed this this is legitimately accurate, TWO SECONDS LATER they make like two wing flaps going nowhere and Wu or Misako's like "THIS AS FAR AS WE GO" LIKE WHAAAAAAT?!?!?!!?! HELP LMAO)

Pros: Easy to get into, easy to keep watching, god-level music, and the simple ass humor still makes me laugh like a lunatic all these years later ("O'GRANDMA???" "I can make a little extra if I do the human piñata." "BEQUEATH! BEQUEATH!" *wordlessly using Zane as a battering ram* *the entire absurdity of Wrong Place, Wrong Time* *Dareth's existence*) Cons: The inconsistency of its overall direction still gives me whiplash all these years later, and I wish it had better embraced a singular identity, as that probably would've helped immensely both with character focus and the at times odd pacing of the plot.

Prime Empire- Finally, some good food! Similar to SotFS, this season took a while to kickstart and find its groove and keep it, but by the end it was sooooo much off-the-walls fun that it's hard to actually hate it. Lots of missed opportunities to expand on Jay's character though, especially when those Prime Empire shorts primarily focused on Jay released alongside the season would've been GREAT to see in actual episodes, and probably could've been what tipped it higher onto this list. While what we did get towards the end was super cool, it would've have MUCH more impact if it had better prior buildup. But, this season is incredibly solid in ways that may not be immediately obvious, though does still a bit to be desires at times too.

Pros: Fun and glorious setting for adventure, some very potent and very memorable character moments, SUPERSTAR ROCKIN' JAY, and a very strong finish that still gets me buzzed when it think about it. Cons: Slow start, many missed opportunities, left me wanting just a bit more (in the not-good way) despite the satisfying finish.

Crystalized- *folds hands in front of face* I probably should put this lower than Prime Empire overall quality-wise, but idk man, Crystalized scratched a lot of my personal itches...and also sent me banging my head into a wall, so. While I genuinely, honestly did enjoy my time with this season (I laughed, I cried, I "what the fuck"ed), there's the other half of my mind that just couldn't stop questioning sooooooo many decisions for the direction of the main characters, and constantly doing so did take me out of it way, way too often. For something that was going to serve as (another) big, grand send off...this one may have stuck the landing better than Hands of Time, but. IDK. Something still felt off at the end of everything.

Pros: (Mostly) incredible fight scenes, and action moments, we got to see perspectives of certain character dynamics that hadn't been explored before or not as often, there really is a lot of cool shit in here, loved the return of so many old faces, honestly very enjoyable if you're able to turn your brain off just a bit Cons: WHAT THE HELL DID THEY DO TO NYA, WHY ARE Y'ALL SLEEPING SO HARD ON THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO FINALLY GIVE LLOYD SOME REAL ACTUAL DEVELOPMENT THAT MADE SENSE, IF YOU WERE REALLY PLANNING ON "REDEEMING" HARUMI WHY DIDN'T YOU PACE IT OUT BETTER, WHY ARE THE CORE FOUR NEAR USELESS, DID WE REALLY HAVE TO SPEND A FOURTH OF THE SEASON IN A PRISON WAS THERE NO BETTER WAY TO GET OLD VILLAINS INVOLVED OR FOR RUMI TO INTIMIDATE LLOYD FROM THE SHADOWS, WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE NEW NINJA, THERE'S SOOOO MUCH MISSED STUFF SURROUNDING NYA'S SACRIFICE/RETURN, AND WHY DID THEY SCRAP SO MANY ACTUALLY NEAT IDEAS FOR THISSSSSSS *dies*

Hunted- Gonna be honest, it's been a hot second since I've watched NS9 because everyone being in such distress stresses ME out just thinking about it (I'm apparently the people Jay was worried about lmao) and I haven't quite brought myself to subject myself to it again. However, I do remember it being an incredible watch and every episode bringing something epic to the table, and honestly I just see it as a sequel or a part 2 to SoG. Good music, strong character beats, satisfying in pacing all the way through; a great and surprisingly introspective season, just got outshined a bit by some of the pure spectacle and overall enjoyment of other seasons.

Not gonna give Pros/Cons here because I genuinely don't remember specifics—not because any of it was "Forgettable"; I literally just technically only watched it once snksnksnk. I know it's mostly nothing but good stuff with maybe a few snags here or there, but a superbly solid season.

Sons of Garmadon- Ah yes, one of two fan favorites. And a favorite of mine as well! Just...well, it's not really a Season I ever have the urge to go back to often, which is something the following seasons to come are about to have in common. It's got a rock solid plot, delicious twists, always kept me on the edge of my seat, had a lot fascinating locations and new lore...all wrapped up in a gripping entertaining time to be had. Though, it's kind of a season where you watch it once, are completely satisfied with, and then maybe only come back to it if and when you're rewatching the whole series (at least for me—that being said, I've watched season 8 waaay more than I've watch season 9 snksnk).

Pros: Well-thoughtout plot, fully compelling antagonists, another shout out to the music, dared to take some risks as the show entered a new era, and for once everyone felt like they were contributing as a single group, which was nice to see until they weren't Cons: As stated, already a very solid season; it's just a few scenes that probably could've used some polish for extra impact in hindsight.

Way of the Ninja- Well, if I'm including the Island, might as well include the Pilots! It's only above Hunted/SOG here because *I* happen to like it more and have rewatched it a great many times haha. Honestly the only cons are that I wished we'd had some little adventures in the Ice Fortress/Floating Ruins, and that the ninja themselves had more of a presence in the ultimate confrontation with Garmadon. Otherwise the Pilots did an absolutely fantastic job of laying the groundwork for the show to come, and using witchcraft to hook many of us into adoring these characters with insane chemistry from the get-go with nothing but the bare minimum. Nothing but love and respect for my pilots! <3

Skybound- Only reason this is higher than the previous three on this list is because *I* personally enjoyed it more, that's all. For overall quality and consistency, Hunted, Pilots, and SoG clear it easily. ANYWAY I LOVE SKYBOUND. It's probably actually my second favorite season these days but I'm already about to be crucified for putting it this high on the list rip. Oh there's plenty of things wrong with this season: out of character moments including but not limited to misogyny, contradictory statements, contradictory actions, saying things they would never say prior to this season; the antagonist has wildly changing motivations almost every episode along with uncomfy tendencies, every episode feels wildly different and/or disconnected from the others, the things are happening all over the place at any given time...it's chaotic, messy, and I LOVE IT. It's a mess but it's my mess and if you dig deep enough there's a lot to love buried in the muck that I, as an individual, feel that makes the season worth it all <3

Pros: PIRATES, everything about Jay, Watching Jaya develop over the course of the season for better or worse, getting some insight into the other characters via the wishes they make, watching Jay get his moments to be the absolute badass and even Nadakhan acknowledging that (just with some horribly misguided but well-meaning intentions of the heart but he's HUMAN), the HUMOR, the Ninja Replacements and Jay getting to show off some leadership FINALLY, Jay whump, Lloyd's pirate impression, Lil Nelson!!!, Jay with an eyepatch, crashing a wedding, Echo Zane!, a commentary on how people perceive us and how we perceive ourselves can lead to great inner and outer conflict, pretty ass animation scenes esp for being in the earlier era, we got the greatest gi to ever grace our unworthy presence despite being folded the wrong way, did I mention Jay— Cons: Literally everything stated previously and probably more I'm sure you already know. But also why did they randomly MAKE DARETH LIKE THAT GOOD LORD WHY this is on par with Ronin in the Island IS2G

Rise of the Snakes- The vintage classic!!! Not ~perfect~ by any means BUT it told a cohesive story while giving everyone (even including Nya!) a little bit of spotlight and some significance and brought it all together so neatly with emotion and FUN that of course it had the power to reshape our childhoods (or teenhoods. Or adulthoods. Or nowhoods). Really its biggest flaw is simply that it was first, thus of course having a little less polish and therefore had to pave the way for better seasons to follow, but it was still a mighty tough act to follow.

Pros: Many establishing moments for the main crew for their adventures to come, antagonists that were funny, threatening, and had some pretty convincing motivations, Lloyd, highly memorable overall, easy to jump back into, gave us the legendary Weekend Whip (unless that was in the credits to the pilots too i don't remember) Cons: A bit dated nowadays, and rough around the edges, but doesn't do anything inherently wrong either. I'd say the pacing is a little quick, but in this season in particular its masked so well that you really only notice if you're looking for it (which I had been)

Master of the Mountain- And now, the truly cream of the crop. NS13 was the thing we've always wanted and always knew we needed and finally the powers that be delivered. I could rave day in and day out about Cole finally getting some much deserved focus, but for as strong and heavy-hitting as his whole arc was, the stories of the other ninja pale a bit in comparison, leaving this season unable to break the top three. Otherwise a masterclass in storytelling. And Cole.

Pros: COLE SEASON, HYPE AF FIGHT SCENES, COLE'S MOMMY, VANIA, THE UPPLY, WU AND COLE DYNAMIC, ZANE THROWING ROCKS AT KAI, THE VOICE DIRECTION (esp Lloyd, Cole, and Kai), THE SUBTLE MYSTERY OF IT ALL, THE MUSIC, THE INTRIGUE, AAAAAAA Cons: NOT ENOUGH COLE, antagonist was a bit bleh (though those fight scenes he had SERVED), could have had a little better utilization of the characters outside of "Cole's crew"

Seabound- MMMMMMM EVERY SINGLE EPISODE HIT SO GOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!! NYA EATING FOR REAL!!! THE GODDAMN INSANE FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY!!!! THE PEAK VILLAIN!!! THE MUSIC! THE EMOTIONS! THE PAPERGIRL! THE BENTHO! THE PILLOW MINT! THE CRUMBLING COOKIE! THE JAY ALMOST DYING FOR HIS FRIENDS! THE NYA BASICALLY DYING FOR HER FRIENDS! THE SILENT I LOVE YOU!!! THE UTTERLY GUTTING WAY IT ENDED AND LEFT ME COMATOSE FOR THREE DAYS!!!!! IT WAS SO BEAUTIFULLLLLLLL WHO GAVE THEM PERMISSION TO POP THIS HARD

Pros: *gestures wildly* Cons: It made me sad

Possession- Here we have the other fan favorite season, the bible for all people Morro-obsessed. Essentially the Seabound of the older era but with significantly less emotional devastation snksnksnk. Top-notch characterization—the Core Four have never been better with their dynamics, humor, and teamwork, it's the first real time Nya (and if we wanna be picky, Cole) get some dedicated introspective time, Lloyd is truly put to a very personal test, Ronin is there, and Morro serves as both a fantastic antagonist and a foil for all those he opposes. Simply isn't the top spot strictly because when I think of my favorite season...this ain't it, though it absolutely deserves to be.

Pros: THE CHARACTERIZATION FOR ALL, AMAZING ANTAGONIST, ALSO BEAUTIFUL ANIMATIONS, HUMOR AND HORRORS IN ONE GO, EXTREMELY REWATCHABLE, MOAR MUSIC, ENDED BITTERSWEET BUT WITH HOPE AND A SICKASS QUOTE Cons: Perhaps a touch overhyped but that's not actually the season's fault nor is it actually a con I just needed to put something here this thing is honestly airtight perfect when it comes to seasons gfgsfddfdhfkls

Tournament of Elements- yes. Yes. YEEEEEEES. To be fair this should be #3 or #4 overall quality wise MMMMMBUT I THINK ITS POTENCY CLEARS THE GAP! Season 4 ran so Season 5 could fly!!!! THE RECIPE FOR A PERFECT STORY, just, perhaps a touch undercooked, BUT THE INTENTIONS WERE FELT AND I VIBE WITH THEM H A R D

Pros: IN A SEASON WHERE THE VILLAIN DIVIDES PEOPLE WE LEARN THAT THERE IS STRENGTH IN KEEPING AND MAINTAINING MANY DIFFERENT KIND OF RELATIONSHIPS EVEN IF IT SEEMS HARD AND IMPOSSIBLE AND IN SPITE OF OUR DIFFERENCES AND EVEN IF WE DO FIND OURSELVES DIVIDED, WE SEE WE ARE STRONGER WHEN WE ARE ABLE TO COME TOGETHER AS ONE. THESE THEMES ARE SUPPORTED BY THE CHARACTERS, MUSIC, PLOT, THE ANIMATION OF THE EXPRESSIONS, AND I THINK THIS IMPORTANT OVERARCHING MESSAGE TRIUMPHS OVER EVERYTHING ELSE AS IT TRULY RESTS AT THE HEART OF NINJAGO AS A WHOLE *mic drop* Cons: Wish it delved just a bit more into the other EMs–what in the world have they all been up to??? Also wish the season ran with the tournament theme throughout the whole season rather than suddenly bouncing around in like the last three or so episodes–that kind of killed its momentum when it needed it the most. But, it still definitely stuck the landing!

[dantedeservedbetter]

I don’t think anyone understands just how much I want origin stories of everyone else in Mystreet like they all have really interesting backgrounds that are just tossed to the side of the main plot points (lol abt to be a really long threat again sorry)

Aaron- Didn’t actually get character lore OR a personality until S3 but like I want MORE because tbh I feel like his parents gave him a lot more trauma than what’s shown in the series, and even the stuff IN the actual seasons (the emotional neglect, his military schooling, the tense relationship w/Melissa etc;) are fixed and shoved off like no he might ACTUALLY need therapy bruh PLEASE

Katelyn- I think she was (?) in therapy in the beginning for her anger issues and the loss of her mother but like it was kind of forgotten about tbh. I think she needs more positive moments in the series honestly bc in the later seasons we’re shown she’s partially abusive towards Travis the first time they went out, and ends up being written off as prejudice towards werewolves bc of past experiences??? Naw the Katelyn I know would never do that. AND HER DREAMS OF WORKING IN THEATRE TOO HELLO??? Also, her mom quite literally used her in the Forever Potion experiments as a child?? I feel like that’s important to her character too :/

The Ro’meave Brothers- I don’t actually know where to start tbh because I feel like ALL THREE of them could use some kind of character depth aside from Dumb Blonde, Emo One, and the Forgotten One. Especially Vylad, probably having to witness this entire Lycan situation grow from an outsiders perspective with no contact from his family in forever. It’s shown that Zane is immensely interested in the family business too like hello??? Garroth himself is kind of just written off as a comedic effect most of the time, but he quite literally has no other goals (possibly because he KNOWS he’s going to inherit the business one day whether he cares to or not).

Laurance- He’s not really a character anymore, but from what we’ve actually SEEN in Mystreet he had enough development to become something outside of a potential love interest for Aphmau. He has a fondness for cooking and was seen to be EXCEPTIONAL at it, and I think he still carried an interest in baseball (or idk it was SOME sport asdfghjk the point is he was good). And he was also shown to still help out his family here and there (babysitting Caleb, his baby brother, in numerous episodes). Idk, I feel like there were so many pieces of Laurance that could’ve been explored and touched upon and we hardly got anything. Also… Garrance. Quite literally hate to be that person but it was literally the biggest piece of queerbaiting I’ve ever seen fr I wish it was explored as much as Aarmau was :( (willing to bet the popularity had something to do with what I call the ‘Heartstopper’ treatment but that’s just me tho)

Nana (KC)- The most under appreciated character in-universe I actually had to go and make a separate post about this LOLOL expect it in like five minutes from now bc I just save everything in my drafts.

Travis- Lol no surprise here but him too dude honestly I have no idea where to start with him atm, his entire family’s lore needs a full in depth analysis on themselves because Aphmau’s series just BARELY touches the surface of Travis’s character

Dante/Gene- Honestly BOTH of them were done so dirty I find it funny how no one ever talks abt it because they’re so beautiful to me. Gene already had his redemption arc so I can kind of see why they just tossed him aside but Dante literally had nothing tbh. He had a messy relationship with KC in PDH and then made that same mistake in LLP. Okay, cool, give us more of that. Let him learn from his mistakes and be self aware now. Or better yet let him grow without tossing love interests into the formula in order for it to happen!! Seems like his family life is pretty good though, worst thing abt him was the peanut allergy.

Lucinda- Queen actually has very little to no background that actually centers around her. We know she had a really bad relationship with Ivan but like I’m pretty sure that’s it.

[luckyshotwrites]

Anon Hearts, even if you know who I am. Imma stick to my nickname cause I like it.

Ask oc questions,

There’s going to be a lot here. I’m positive that these won’t be redacted and if they are… may Alex have mercy on your soul cause I won’t. There would be more but I don’t want to ask you 20 questions. So I’ll stick to three per person here. (Except for Lev cause I have a fought one for him that I’m positive I know the answer too.) If I’m accidentally asking on the someone else has asked then at least you won’t have to answer it again.

Lev-8, 12, 20, 39

8-Do they collect anything? If so what and why?

12-Do they have any sense of style? Regardless of the answer do they believe they have a sense of style?

20-Do they have a strong connection to their culture?

39-Would they ever crash a wedding?

Zane-28, 33, 49

28-Are they a #gamer?

33-Do they play ttrpgs? If so what kind of characters do they play? Or are they more likely to GM?

49-Do they have trouble keeping their enemies and their friends straight?

Zilla-12, 20, 31,

12-Do they have any sense of style? Regardless of the answer do they believe they have a sense of style?

21-What is more important to them, friends or family?

31-What superpower would you choose for them and what would they choose for themselves? If they have one would they choose something else?

YO YO, HEARTS, HOW IT BE, HOW IT DO? LET ME ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FOR YOU!

For the ask game!

Lev:

8-Do they collect anything? If so what and why?

Answered Here!

12-Do they have any sense of style? Regardless of the answer do they believe they have a sense of style?

Yes, believe it or not, he's studied fashion. Color theory and the likes. He originally did it to better blend it, but adopted a liking for dressing fairly presentable, for two reasons, the biggest obviously because in a sense he'd be like a male peacock, looking very nice and approachable to lure others in, and two it looks aesthetically pleasing to him. (He's never had to wear clothes before coming to earth).

20-Do they have a strong connection to their culture?

Yes. He had grown up within it for hundreds of years. He still practices some of the same traditions today, even though he no longer lives on Yexodele. he cannot will himself to break years of tradition, which will be explained in chapters to come.

39-Would they ever crash a wedding?

It depends on the reason. To get an item he wanted, yes? To piss someone off because he wants to mess with them, most likely? Any other reason, I don't think he would. He wouldn't do it to go after someone, he's not picky (unless you start making him interested being skittish or of that nature), he wouldn't really attend for besides reason one if he was invited.

Zane:

28-Are they a #gamer?

No, unfortunately. He does not play videogames. He actually has never picked one up before, besides a few board games. If he did I'd imagine he'd like puzzle games or horror ones.

33-Do they play ttrpgs? If so what kind of characters do they play? Or are they more likely to GM?

He also have never done any table top rpg's but if he did he'd definitely be a DM playing DnD. He'd like creating the world aspect of it and going over it with the players. It'd be like planning events which he does with his friends outside of work.

49-Do they have trouble keeping their enemies and their friends straight?

Unfortunately yes, and his friends and enemies comingle a lot. Not that all of them know that. Plus, some of his friends or those he consider friends do not always heed his advice, so they get themselves in trouble more often than not.

Zilla:

12-Do they have any sense of style? Regardless of the answer do they believe they have a sense of style?

Zilla does have a sense of style. She likes a lot of the goth/grunge/rebel look. Torn jeans, leggings, band t-shirts, leather, a lot of black, and the likes. I would say more on the rebel side though. Much like Lev clothing was not a big deal to her on Yexodele, but she thinks it adds much needed life to others. So, yes she believes she does too.

21-What is more important to them, friends or family?

Ha, the most important thing to her at the moment. Herself. But she has an obligation, or duty to protect her brother if he ever needs it.

31-What superpower would you choose for them and what would they choose for themselves? If they have one would they choose something else?

I honestly like the powers she's given, or magic that she's studied. So I wouldn't change what she currently has. If she had a super power what would she choose for herself, being able to make others or herself bigger and smaller. (She's not good at size shifting, let alone, force size shifting onto others as that requires a lot of precision and skill). She'd love it if she could make her meals bigger or stronger, and or fix things in her life by doing the same to people. And out of the abilities she has now, besides what she knows now. More about what she can do later.

THANK YOU FOR THE ASKS. I HOPE I ANSWERED THEM WELL ENOUGH AND THAT YOU HAVE A FANTASTIC DAY.

[ninjago-bingo]

final month recap

wow, everyone.  we’re here.  we’ve made it.  we’re reached the end of our bingo time, and i’m absolutely floored by the sheer creative output that i’ve seen over these last four months.  everyone, take a moment to give yourself a pat on the back!!!  no matter if you made 1 piece or 10, there’s now a work of art out there in the world that wasn’t there before.  and truly, that’s super heccing rad no matter how you look at it.

so let’s celebrate!  for this recap, we have a total of 20 new pieces, bringing the total amount of ninbingo pieces up to 50.  in the span of four months, this little event has created 50 individual works (five of them in the last day!)  holy cow ya’ll.

i’m putting out this recap now, but don’t worry, it’s not the end yet!  any submissions made to the end of the 30th still count and this post will be updated accordingly :D

fic:

all the things i’ve never done by @sa-you-na-ra. tumblr || prompts: competition and teasing

It’s always a funny thing when the ninja realize new things about each other. Even though living with each other meant they had to see each other all day, there were still small habits or actions that amused the others.

(mod comments: all these little interactions made me smile so much :D looking forward to the rest!)

error 404: answer not found by @m-aster-of-spinjitzu. tumblr || prompt: memories

Akita and Zane talk after the battle in ‘Awakenings’. The conversation… doesn’t go as either of them expect.

(mod comments: the nuances in this fic are fantastic!  also Akita is always a win :D)

Five times kai was a good brother by @/master-of-fluff. tumblr || ao3 || prompts: nightmare and brother

I'm writing kai centric stuff again.

(mod comments: kai IS the big bro of the team!!! i support him all the way!!)

How Garmadon became a chauffeur by @master-of-fluff. tumblr || ao3 || prompt: driving

"um...Kai? Don't you think we should go Slower?" Garmadon asked nervously trying not to panick as they raced down the road at what had to be over the speed limit.

(mod comments: who let Kai drive?  no but honestly this is canon alskdfj)

little things by @/rosiehunterwolf. tumblr || ao3 || ffn.net || prompts: hugs and crying.

"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things." -Kurt Vonnegut

Lloyd’s tired of being left behind. How is he meant to be the green ninja when he always has to work harder, train better, and wait longer to go on missions with his team? He wants nothing more than to be their equal.

At least, that’s what he thought he wanted.

(mod comments: a post-ep-18 resolution scene?  SIGN ME UP!)

Neither Snow Nor Rain by @fangirltakesall. tumblr || ffn.net || prompt: post-fight

After their return from the Never Realm and all its troubles, Zane is quiet and Nya is incredibly worried. A call to action to a peculiar sort of battle might be enough to change both of those things.

(mod comments: the concept of these two on their own mission together is just so good! excited to see how their dynamic plays out!!)

Never Put Off Until Tomorrow by @/rosiehunterwolf. tumblr || ao3 || ffn.net || prompts: video games and chores

…what can be done today, yada, yada, yada, we all know the saying. So do the ninja- when Master Wu is drilling it into their heads every minute of every day, it’s kind of hard to forget.

Naturally, it only takes them a week (and the biggest new video game in Ninjago) to do so.

(mod comments: this is so in character that it’s frustrating lol.  also Pixal ftw!!)

oh take me back to the start by @/rosiehunterwolf. tumblr || ao3 || ffn.net || prompts: comfort and 3 am

The past should be left in the past. Or, at least, that’s what Jay keeps telling himself. Nadakhan is gone. It’s not logical to still be afraid. But he is, and now everything that he left behind suddenly feels like it’s never going to be the same again.

Cole isn’t so convinced.

(mod comments: Cole is truly the man we all deserve in our lives.)

On Our Own by @redefine-your-identity. tumblr || prompt: home

It’s been a few weeks since Kai and Nya’s parents disappeared without a trace. Needless to say, they’re struggling.

(mod comments: OU C H no poor babies 😭 the relationship dynamic here is great!)

orange and gold by @/m-aster-of-spinjitzu. tumblr || prompt: cooking

...I just need more Cole and Vania content, they seem like they'd be great friends.

Basically it's just 'Cole goes to visit her there, they almost burn down the kitchen, and make way too many puns', lol.

(mod comments: I also always need more Vania content!! the puns in this were breadful!)

permafrost by @/rosiehunterwolf. tumblr || ao3 || ffn.net || prompts: loss of control and promise

It’s not like this is the first time this has happened. It’s not like none of his teammates have ever suffered this kind of guilt and pain. It’s not like Zane himself hasn’t walked through hell before and come out the other side (mostly) in once piece.

Except, this time, it is. It shouldn’t be different, but it is.

(mod comments: super sweet moment between two ninja who deserve more interaction like seriously!!)

Precautionary Tale by @/fangirltakesall. tumblr || ffn.net || prompt: protective

Fighting is different now, and Zane doesn't know why. Yes, he is titanium now, but why should that change anything? It seems to be changing everything, although is all really as it seems?

(mod comments: a great start to a zane-centric fic!  interested to see where it goes next :D)

Star-Ninja! by @rosiehunterwolf. tumblr || ao3 || ffn.net || prompts: siblings and competition 

What happens when the loveable gremlin the ninja adopted off of the streets introduces them to Starfarer comics?

Chaos ensues, of course.

stuck with you (through bright and blue) by @/rosiehunterwolf. tumblr || ao3 || ffn.net || prompt: protective

Kai only wants two things: to protect Lloyd, and to give him the best birthday ever. Unfortunately, Lloyd seems hell-bent on making that as difficult as possible. Kai’s always prided himself on achieving the impossible, but dealing with human emotions is much more complicated than beating up Garmadon’s generals or shooting enemies with fire, as he quickly learns. Movie!verse

(mod comments: happy birthday lloyd!! look at him getting the love he deserves uwu)

Take a walk in the rain. by @/master-of-fluff. tumblr || ao3 || prompt: rain

Cole had always loved the rain, the way it smelled, the way it felt on his skin, and especially the mud! Whenever it rained his Mother would put on his rain coat and boots And they'd both go out and splash around in the puddles and make mud cakes and do all sorts of things.

(mod comments: this fic made me smile a lot :D loved the way it was arranged!) 

the hues of an empty sky by @/m-aster-of-spinjitzu. tumblr || prompt: crying

Missing memories, or having two of them for one moment - not quite the same, but if there’s one thing Jay’s leant over the last few weeks, it’s that literally nothing makes sense anymore.

Or, some Skybound aftermath, Zane actually expressing emotions about his memory switch being turned off for all those years, and what was supposed to be a ‘they tell everyone about the erased timeline’ fic, but it turned into a 'two characters who barely interact on screen talk at like one am in the morning, and don’t actually tell the other what exactly they’re alluding to the whole time’ fic that I wrote at like one am-

(mod comments: Skybound resolution? SIGN ME THE HECK UP YES)

The Make-Cole-Realize-How-Much-We-Love-Him Competition by @21st-century-ninja. tumblr || ao3 || prompts: bets and competition

Jay and Kai share a horrified look.  “He really doesn’t get it,” Jay says.

Kai shakes his head.  “We need to show him somehow.”

“Show me what?” Cole asks, exasperated again.  

“How much we love you!” Kai exclaims.  “Somehow, it’s not getting through your thick skull that we want to sit next to you because you’re you, so I’m gonna have to just prove it to you.”

(mod comments: a silly little movie fic!)

twitter was a mistake by @/21st-century-ninja. tumblr || ao3 || prompts: teasing and birthday

Kai 🔥 @flaminhotninja ☑

so who was gonna tell me that Jay used to be a game show host huh

🌺✨ the Gift of Jay ✨🌺 @zaptrap ☑

Replying to @flaminhotninja

NO WHO SHOWED YOU

(mod comments: twitter was a mistake)

two halves of a broken whole by @/rosiehunterwolf. tumblr || ao3 || ffn.net || prompts: scars and post-fight

The Sons of Garmadon have been defeated. Garmadon is in prison. The city has been saved.

In the aftermath of the battle, Nya is more than ready to take a much-needed break. But the life of a ninja is messy. Recovery is never that simple. Although the wounds may have healed, the scars still remain.

Zane’s scars seem to match up, though. And maybe together, they can begin to heal.

(mod comments: aggressive care is my jam, and this is it!)

wait by @rosiehunterwolf. tumblr || ao3 || ffn.net || prompts: home and memories

Lloyd’s not so great at being patient. It’s not his fault though- maybe he would be better at it if waiting didn’t always end up being so disappointing- if people actually kept their promises. But this time’s going to be different, he knows it. His father will come back for him. And Lloyd’s going to wait.

As long as it takes.

(mod comments: baby.  baby boy.  baby.  protecc him plz.)

[elfboyeros]

So Season 14 and 15:

Made this post 2 days ago think season 15 was over it wasn't so here we are again

This kinda contains Spoilers but I tried to be vague!

These are my opinions if you want to have a discussion I am more then happy to have one but please no hate.

I have given it a bit so here are my thoughts.

Season 14 felt rushed and weak. I just didn't really vibe with it even though I reacted to it on my Instagram (elfboyeros) and that kinda says otherwise in the moments.

That is literally it on Season 14 as a whole. (I reacted to it on my Instagram, go there if you are really that curious about my thoughts when I watched it)

Season 15

I will admit disputing my thought that I would dislike season 15 given its focus on Nya.

I was pleased, as for the story it was fine.

Granted my complaints lie within the reuse of the main character fake-out death (I knew Jay wouldn't die because he is a main character.) and some writing choices are just a little more on the nitpicky side.

As a side note: No, I am fucking sorry Nya doesn't deserve the "I wish we had more time!" line fuck that!

But to say I dislike season 15 would be a lie, I vibed with it, even though one of my least favorite characters was the main focus, but for a good reason.

I wanna say I got bored at the end of each episode, I went in hyper because I wasn't ready for this season as it slapped me in the face, but all the episodes left me feeling extremely bored.

EXCEPT FOR THE LAST ONE:

❗BIG SPOILERS

THEY SAID NYA IS THAT IRRELEVANT!

The writers said yeah we don't need her anymore she isn't important, honestly fuck her, she useless from this point on!

I AM SHOCKED THAT THEY DID THAT, I DIDN'T EXPECT. From the moment she jumped in the water I kept saying she was coming back and then she swimming with fish.

I will admit I laughed through all of the "I am one with the sea," things but my mood changed when I realize she wasn't coming back.

Thought on it from I writing pov: I think it is pretty stupid to get rid of a female character a lot of people semi-related too. so fuck the writers in that regard I guess.

End of big spoils ❗

Things I enjoyed about 15:

Pixal doing anything and having lines was one of the biggest reasons I continued to watch the season.

I understand that a theory was that she could get powers in season 15, and she could very well still get them. It seems like this arc of wind and water isn’t finished. Although I doubt that she will be the master of wind and I'm not holding my breath. Giving her powers makes her RELEVANT which the writers have shown over the past years that they can't for longer than 5 minutes.

I like the reintroduction of Ray and Maya.

Granted the subtext and references of them being "past ninja" is a bit odd. I was under the understanding that they fought alongside Wu and Gramadon but were never ninja. Although with the lore rewrites of the past plot being odd isn't new so whatever, I can overlook it

The merpeople, beside the snake armymen I loved all of the merpeople (i don't wanna look up the names)

I wanna be vague as to not spoil for some but there was two scene that I believe are writer extremely well with the merpeople so 👏👏.

Kalmer was a nice villain, loved his voice, and baby fish is baby

Enjoyed seeing Vania again

This image with being forever burned in my eyes💜💙:

And I am very happy that it was not Zane with the fake-out death this season

I like the last two episodes the fights were neat and the very thing looked super nice

This show always looks and sounds nice, voice and soundtrack so that doesn't really change from season to season no matter how bad the story.

All in all, I personally don't think it should have been made, season 14 or 15, although there are good parts and it's mostly my cynical nature making me think more negatively.

The seasons are obviously made to follow each which I can respect, the last time they did that was season 8 and 9 which are my favorite seasons so props.

My ranting is a 5.5/10

Also: I have heard rumors of a season sixteen which makes me want to, metaphorically, throw myself into sixteen busses. For the reason that I think this show has stopped after season 10. (That's after falling out of it and looking back on it as a whole and once more my opinion).

These are my opinions if you want to have a discussion I am more than happy to have one but please no hate.

[morro-wants-a-pie]

Ok so

Ninjago headcanons but its a movie taste edition

Kai

He actually really loves action movies, he just needs something interesting or exciting to happen on screen, in the other case he would spend all this time on phone. Also romance is his cup of tea, but he won't admit it, cuz y'know, he's kinda ashemed. Also not the biggest fan of sci-fi, cuz "ehh, technology". Plus, he HATES horror movies, but just like with romance, he won't admit it.

Jay

Comedies! He really loves movies with good energy, so ofc comedies are his fav type. Sci-fi, animations and action movies are his favourite too. Well actually he's this type who enjoy any kind of movie, except dramatic and just like in Kai's case-horror movies. He tries to avoid them as much is possible, but yeah, when he actually get to watch one, he won't sleep week. Also, he's this kind of person, who talks A LOT durning movie, to this point it starting to be annoying. If you want to keep his mouth shut, or give him food/drink, or use adhesive tape.

Zane

His case is interesting one, cuz he doesn't understand 90% movies at all. He's just watching them in HUGE confusion, and asks "But why character x did this?" or stuff like that. Jay is ofc the one who explain this to him. He's got the biggest problem with musicals. "Why they just started to dance all of sudden???" is very common question. And bc he really dislikes to be confused one, he dislikes them tje most. But even so, he's got some favourites! Criminal stuff is definitelly his fav, cuz its the most logical and interesting. Plus he really loves to solve the cases. He also really likes documents, similliar reasons to criminals.

Cole

Ok, so in general Cole doesn't really like movies. He falls asleep really quickly, and tbh there are only few exceptions. And thouse are musicals and animations. Well, cuz Cole is actually a theatre kid, it's not huge suprise that he actually adores musicals, even when he pretendes to despices this at first. He also really loves broadway, but thats kinda abvious. *And yeah, i hc that his fav is Beetlejuice*. In animation case, he's this type, who thinks, that if something is animated, it's more interesting, so no matter if animation is also a dramat, horror or comedy, he would still enjoy it.

OG main 4

Ok, so even if their movie tastes are really diffrent, they all actually dislike to watch movies alone. Even if that mean, that only one person is going to enjoy it, they still watch it together, cuz y'know, if one of them is going to ask them "hey, wanna watch movie with me" they just can't say "no". They love each other too much. But there is only one type of movie, what all of them adore, and that is quilty pleasure. If one of them *usually Jay* finds terrible movie, they all gonna watch this with no question asked. And when they watch terrible movie, they can make fun of every single scene, like the biggest dicks in the world. Even Zane.

Lloyd

He very rarely watches movies with someone. Its not a big deal, but still prefers to watch movies alone. Also he likes all types of movies, but especially horrors. Even if he's pretty much soft baby, he likes dark stuff * i also hc that his fav type of music is metal, bc yes* and when Kai finded out that Lloyd likes stuff like "Texas chainsaw massacre" or *here put some kinda bloody slasher* he fucking passed out. Literally.

Nya

If she has to watch movie with someone it is usually Jay or Kai for abvious reasons. But yeah, she prefers to watch movies alone, but even so she doesn't watch them often. Usually when Jay/Kai force her to. But yeah, she enjoy action stuff, but also comedies. Well, she doesn't got solid movie taste.

Bonus headcanons

Wu

Doesn't give a shit about movies tbh.

Morro

Really likes samurai movies for some reason. I dunno, i just can imagine him being big fan of samurai stuff in general. But yeah, he also HATES comedies with all his heart.

Pixal

Pretty much just like Zane's.

Ok thats all.

[riordanverse-dorphin]

could you make head-canons for the Storm Runner except the characters are all celebrities please?

Zane Obispo is the famous author of a bestselling ya adventure series

He helped direct the movies based on his books as well, & played the older version of his main character

He’s also an activist for disabled rights

Obviously he does a lot by providing representation particularly in the mainstream

But he also does a lot of speaking out on Disabled issues

Brooks is a top-level gymnast

Went to the Olympic multiple times

But mostly she’s famous for her YouTube channel

It’s just her messing around & doing parkour stunts

Except she’s an Olympic level gymnast

After her channel got really popular she started trying to do all the common YouTuber tm stuff

It wasn’t making her happy so she went back to doing it as a hobby

During that time is when she & Zane met

They were at some meetup for actors

Bc a lot of YouTubers are actors/ go into acting & Zane did act in a movie

They talked a lot but forgot to exchange numbers

So Zane, with a little advice from Hondo, sends her a signed copy of his first book

Her gymnastics team has a fanmail address or something don’t question it

Hondo is a professional wrestler

He was the first person to beta read Zane’s books, & more than one is dedicated to him

It’s one of those “Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know” but is sorta common knowledge that he helped coreograph several fight scenes

Brooks reviews the book on her YouTube channel

“9/10, would’ve been 10/10 but he didn’t include his number”

Zane (who’s subscribed to her channel obviously) starts blushing up a storm

Hondo (watching with him for moral support) teases him mercilessly

Zane sends the second book with his number in it

And the rest is history

Ren is a professional actress

She’s also a disabled rights activist, particularly around accessible movies

Things like editing versions of movies without common epileptic triggers like bright flashes

And subtitles on the screen during theatre showings

She met Zane & Brooks at some actor stuff

Zane was her favorite author when she was a teenager & she was a major fan of Brooks’s channel

So she was more than a little starstruck

Brooks may or may not have been her bi awakening

It was kind of an akward start but they all just kept bumping into each other

And eventually they became friends

Ren & Zane become book discussion bros

Which sometimes means they gush over/ complain about books together

But other times means one of them complains & the other goes “but consider: fight me”

When Brooks decides to got back to using her channel to mess around Ren is her biggest supporter

Not in a mean way she just wants Brooks to do what makes her happy & won’t let anyone give her cr*p about it

Unfortunately gymnasts’ careers only last so long so.

Brooks tries being a gymnastics coach, but it isn’t for her

She ends up designing leotards for gymnastics teams

Zane keeps writing, but he devoted more time to volunteering & advocacy as an older adult

Actresses can have careers pretty much forever, so Ren keeps acting

Hondo retires & opens a yoga studio

[dorizardthewizard]

TLNM musings, part 2

Okay, here I ramble about problems with the movie. Ended up adding more stuff since I first wrote this :’P

Screentime and characterisation of the other ninja:

One of the biggest complaints from fans... they're all introduced individually with very different personalities, they’re told they each have a special element they control, making you feel like they should each get some moment to shine and affect the plot of the movie, but then none of that happens. Ultimately you could take out all the ninja and the story would be the same, you don't even necessarily need them for Lloyd's character since his journey of reconnecting with his father and bringing his family together can still work without them. It's so sad because if you read and watch extra material, you can tell thought went into their personalities, but we never get to see this as they're all just lumped together, mostly there to support Lloyd's development.

For someone who hasn't seen the show, it must feel a bit off seeing characters with distinguished personalities and no payoff for it; take Zane for example. Imagine not knowing anything about the characters and seeing one of them is a robot, for some reason? You wonder why he's a robot, what significance that has for the plot and why it's important for his character (I mean they missed a big opportunity to develop Zane from always trying to fit in and seem like a “normal teenager” to accepting that he's different but that that doesn't mean he's less valid), but then this really specific characteristic is never expanded on except for comedy purposes. People probably thought “oh, guess it makes more sense in the show”, but this just detaches viewers and makes them feel like they're missing something if they haven't seen the show beforehand.

Sigh, still gotta give the crew credit for fitting in a load of little subtle details about the ninja, I had to rewatch it a couple of times because there were things I didn’t notice at first, like Kai sliding down a bannister in the Temple of Fragile Foundations and falling off :’D

Group dynamic:

Another thing that bothered me is that the movie isn't that good at making you care about them as a team. They're already established as friends but I wish there were more material showing us how much they care about each other. The Kai hug scene was 10/10 but then when Chen and the other cheerleaders started picking on Lloyd, nobody said or did anything? In merchandise it said Kai is a hothead who isn't afraid to speak up or stand up to people, then show it in the movie! Him and Nya should have been on the verge of tackling that guy to the floor! Ok, I can see Lloyd asking them not to get into fights as it makes people hate him even more and he probably feels guilty if one of the ninja gets into trouble because of him. This would still have given more emotional connection between the characters but we're never shown it, except in the novelisation where Cole tries to block Lloyd from his locker so he doesn't see the insult written on it, I think. But again, we shouldn't have to read/ watch extra material for that.

Instead of moments showcasing the ninja’s friendship and close bonds, we got the opposite- everyone turned on Lloyd incredibly quickly for one mistake. Sure, it was a pretty big one and resulted in Garmadon taking over the city and their mechs being wrecked, but Lloyd was the only one doing anything about Garmadon at the time and he didn't exactly know what the consequences of using the ultimate weapon were; it's not like he knew it could potentially hurt his friends. In fact, how did the ninja know he used it anyway? That would mean they already knew about it and what it could do, yet Lloyd was not told? In which case, how can they blame him?? Damn it Wu, why couldn't you just tell Lloyd that using the weapon would unleash a cat that could destroy the city, instead of vaguely saying the weapon can be dangerous in the wrong hands. That's taking too many pages from TV Wu's book!

Honestly, it's like the ninja were just one character either shunning Lloyd or supporting him, depending on what the plot needed :/ That scene where they're talking with Garmadon while carrying him through the jungle really rubbed me the wrong way because first, no one seemed to care that Lloyd is so snippy because he's been forced to work with the man who made his life hell, and second they joke about Lloyd with that very same person and imply they don't respect Lloyd as leader, as Jay says he doesn't usually want to listen to him when he's talking? What??

 Lloyd and Garmadon’s relationship:

I mentioned this in part 1, but they really didn’t execute this well- I feel like they had so much fun playing up Garmadon being the worst dad in the world that they forgot to give him redeemable qualities. It took me a second viewing to realise his relationship with Lloyd was actually pretty messed up, because they played off his despicableness as comedic and glossed over it by suddenly giving him a flashback to make it seem like he’s sorry. They wanted to go for the father-and-son-have-issues-but-reconnect story, and had Lloyd say “I wish we didn’t have to fight all the time” in his emotional ending, but that’s a line usually present in a daddy-issue story where both have a part to blame and there's issues with communication. In this, though? Lloyd did nothing wrong! It was just Garmadon being trash, and there wasn't even a particular scene of him recognising and apologising for his actions- not the bit about driving Misako away, but how he treated Lloyd after.

The message is all mucked up - hoping to find some good in neglectful parents is just gonna get you hurt, and in a story like this it would make more sense for the protagonist to realise they don't need validation from this guy, shouldn't feel like they have to keep connected with toxic relatives just because they're family, and that they should focus on the friends and family who actually love them (although, whether Lloyd's friends were even portrayed as liking him is a different story). I mean, Koko could just teach him to throw and catch! Does he have to have two parents just for that?

 Tone and humour:

I think another main reason this movie didn't do as well was its more childish tone and dialogue; unlike the previous two movies, it was marketed at younger children. One of the main reasons TLM and LB were so successful is because of the self-aware jokes that could actually be enjoyed by adults too, while in this movie I may have properly laughed only a couple of times. Plus, in its effort to connect with kid's humour it just got cringy in some parts, like the Ultimate Weapon compilation. It would have been funny if it was ironic, like Amazing World of Gumball style, but it just didn't come across like that, so I can see why many jokes fell flat for older audiences.

People probably had different expectations for the overall tone as well- everyone loved the previous LEGO movies because of their constant barrage of action, witty jokes and a ton of references. This was never the selling point of Ninjago, but TLNM didn’t manage to capture the show’s dramatic style and deep lore-driven plot either.

The writers:

Okay last thing. This movie had three directors, six producers, six screenwriters and seven people working on the story. Compared to most animated movies, that's a lot, and its shows. It feels like they had a few different ideas and themes and couldn't quite patch them together, with vague messages like “looking at things from a different point of view” being thrown in as well to try and link it up. I guess at the end of the day, this is a father-son story, and that makes it very difficult to fit in a power-of-friendship plot at the same time, but still. Also, the shifting plot and ideas is really clear in the trailers, I mean half the stuff there wasn't even in the movie, it's as if the entire story was changed!

 Final verdict? I think an overall theme with this movie is that the writers wanted to overhaul Ninjago to introduce it to new viewers, but also wanted to keep the fans happy so shoehorned in lots of elements from the show without giving them enough development. This just disappoints fans and alienates general audiences, which is a problem since Ninjago doesn’t have a huge following already backing it up like LEGO Batman did, and could have been the pilot for more original LEGO lines making it to the big screen. It was a technically amazing movie, with beautiful animation and visuals, an epic soundtrack and stunning voice acting, but it was also such a waste of potential.

 The only other thing we can do is think about how it could have gone differently, so here's some of my ideas :'D

NOT using the deleted time travel plot. I know that after being disappointed in a movie you welcome any alternative, but giant mechs were already a big deviation from the ninja theme; flinging in time travel as well would be too much for non-show watchers. Plus, I thought we were all complaining about how time travel in Ninjago always just messes things up :'P

Also not following the show closer. We have over 10 seasons of the show, the whole point of a movie is giving a fresh take; using a giant snake or the Overlord possessing Garmadon again would just be boring.

Delete the first act? One of the best parts of the secret high school heroes trope is seeing how they juggle both lives, if you're gonna drop it after half an hour there's not much point of it being there.

Could instead just have Garmadon attacking again, the last invasion attempt being ages ago. Maybe the ninja rediscover a rich history of elemental masters protecting Ninjago when Wu decides to get a new team together to fight the new threat?

Make it about learning master building instead so they build their mechs at the end, and then gain elements in a sequel?

Or don't mention anything about elements and have every ninja individually go through an obstacle to obtain an elemental weapon, then they all lose them but don't know they're not necessary, so it's actually a surprise that the power is inside them? Everyone gets a sort of true potential moment?

Ninja having to warm up to Garmadon's son, so we have a plot of Lloyd slowly gaining their respect and becoming leader?

Higher stakes at the end, make the Shark Army more threatening and have them turn on Garmadon using Meowthra, so there's still an intense climax of the ninja fighting the army before Lloyd reaches Meowthra and gets his emotional ending?

Get rid of the live action sequence, or make it fit the message of the story more?

Feel free to add any ideas/ thoughts!

[paperclipninja]

Younger post-ep ramble 6x04

Well now, we’ve hit a rather interesting point in the season now haven’t we? Can you say DRAH-MAH. This week’s episode, ‘An Inside Glob’, sees the tension that’s been mounting in the first three episodes of season 6 reach boiling point. And then boil over. Into a restaurant full of onlookers. Then onto Reddit. Lol. Now I may be biased because of my love of Miriam Shor (or I am simply an appreciator of good directing when I see it), but this week’s ep was so well put together, it felt like there was ample room for each scene to breathe and the pacing overall felt significantly less frantic than it sometimes does. There was a familiarity, for lack of a better word, about the structure and the feel of this ep, not to mention the writing left me legit laughing out loud many times throughout. The writers are bringing it this season. We also see the welcome return of two faves: Charles’ three-piece suit and Liza’s silver-suit power-tude. Let’s dive on in.

You always know it’s going to be a good ep when it opens with a loft heart-to-heart between Liza and Maggie, but not before Liza meets Maggie’s new boo Beth (with Liza’s ‘ew’ and hand wiping after Maggie tells her they just finished a session equal parts gold and gross). Their whole interaction, from the ‘I promise not to call him Chaz’ (was anyone else hoping she would call him Chaz, because I was HANGING for a Chaz drop at dinner. There’s still time...), to Liza sharing her concerns that Charles is secretly financing a new company and Maggie trying to justify all the coincidences and reassure her, it was just premium bff content. Not to mention a great set-up for the episode and follow on from the last one.

Liza continues to try and allay her suspicions about Charles by getting Kelsey’s view of the funding source after the morning meeting with my new fave power-trio (quick poll: Zane always looking like a dog who just ate your pizza - accurate or nay?) and Diana brings the top quality delivery of one liners right from the get-go as we’re introduced to this week’s author, Bronwyn Madigan (aka, the cash cow whose milk Millennial could use...yes, D. Trout, you did need to say that). Apparently baby boomers like to top off their reading of erotica with a good meatloaf (actual meatloaf, get your minds out of the euphemistic gutter) and that is now two foodstuffs I have a strained relationship with following this ep of Younger. Liza is able to quash her spidey senses re: the Mercury money briefly, as Kelsey reveals she’s been doing some digging and discovered the company is operating out of the financial district, therefore obviously it’s a big media company behind it. Obviously...

Lo and behold Kelsey marches her feisty self down to the Mercury office to confront Zane and weaves through hopeful start-up founders in a co-working space to find him (also, are AirPods a pre-req to land a job at Mercury?). Their entire exchange had a couple of ‘whoa’ moments for me. Exhibit A, when discussing how Zane secured Audrey Colbert’s book:

Kelsey: ‘So you slept with her? God, that is completely unethical. And so creepy”

Zane: ‘But it’s fine when you do it?’

File under: T for TRUTH. Not gonna lie, I almost applauded. I would have filed under H for Hypocrite except the next part of the conversation, in which Kelsey throws the accusation that Zane went after Audrey because he knew she was (and I’m with Zane on this one, she is going to need to learn to suck it up when Millennial loses out on books, our pal Kels is on one steep learning curve), followed with, ‘that book was important to me and you knew it’, goes straight to the H folder. How does Zane know it? Could it be because Kelsey told Zane she was going after Audrey’s book? Even after he told her he had a job, that he was just waiting for everything to line up and considering his history of swooping in and being competitive? While they are not fully comparable situations, I found this a bit rich considering the grief Kelsey gave Liza for discussing business with Charles (I get that was her insecurity and feeling he would interfere), when her discussions with Zane have seemingly led him to going after this book. Which is 100% in character for him btw.

I have been liking a lot of Kelsey’s boss moments this season but this week it certainly felt like she was in way over her head. At her lunch with Lauren, yet another combo I thoroughly enjoy on my screen, we once again see Lauren being the relentlessly supportive friend she always is and educating Kelsey on the dos and don’ts of dating apps (surely Kelsey knew that deleting an app doesn’t delete your profile right??? Putting it down to stress amnesia). Pointing out that putting your job title on your dating profile if it is in any way a potential threat to male ego is a big no-no (’this kind of over-accomplishment only works if you’re trying to pick up women’), Lauren offers up that Kelsey suffers from BDE. Of course we later discover that rather than big dick energy, Kelsey is suffering bald dude energy, confirmed by her alopecia diagnosis. I did so enjoy Kelsey’s dramatic reactions, ‘just keep an eye out ok?’, to the whole ordeal and it certainly added another element to the rising tension.

Cue hilarious conversation with Diana about her own battle with hair loss (not on her head) along with the rest of her ailments (shingles seems to be a running theme this season. Did someone in the writers room have a shingles flair up recently after reading a particularly terrible autobiography or suffer month-specific breakouts aka Diana’s electric tube top? Need to know). Even though it was not making Kelsey feel better necessarily, this was Diana being supportive in her own way and I am just here for it every day of the week. I think what I enjoyed most about the office scenes in this episode, aside from every single line that came out of Diana’s mouth, were the moments that were reminiscent of the old office dynamic. From Diana bleating ‘Liza’ as she enters Liza’s office (still can’t believe that’s a thing) with the idea of advertising erotica on the bike kiosks to the sarcasm when Liza asks ‘Bronwyn’s?’ and Diana responds with ‘no, my own’. We finally get to meet author of ‘The Seasoned Slut’ (loving the guest casting this season btw) who oozes a self-assurance that only serves to emphasise her reason for not re-signing with Millennial: that her problem ‘is with the lack of value placed on experience’. Ugh, I loved this line. 

I loved it because it is an absolute reality, especially for women in the workplace, and goes hand in hand with the ageism this show’s entire premise was built upon. I loved it because this show tells us that experience is and should be valued through Zane’s comment in episode one, that Kelsey should not lose Diana as she is the best in the business and Kelsey telling Diana that she values and respects her. And I loved this line because the set-up for this season remains true to the original premise and challenges it at the same time, taking another look at the role age/experience and gender play in success and reinventing yourself. Did I mention I love this show?

Liza’s reaction to the question of ‘where is the grey hair in the room?’ was also noted, a nice reminder that the age-lie is still in play and is never far from the surface. The other thing I loved in the meeting with Bronwyn was Diana’s horror that she a) might be considered the demographic for her books and b) ‘do people think I’m her age?’ I cannot imagine a time I will ever watch this line and not roar with laughter. I also love that that was the main takeaway Diana had from the whole BJ comment this woman just casually dropped in as she exited, you know, as one might mention they know a great bagel place you might enjoy nearby. 

Josh’s parenting journey continues to unfold as he gets his first overnight stay with Gemma, but not before experiencing some kind of parental rite of passage and being squirted in the face with breast milk. I know there is a lot of mistrust of Clare out there in the internet but I will keep saying this week after week, I am so enjoying seeing Josh and Clare navigating this modern-day parenting arrangement together. I appreciate Josh’s desire to be there for both Clare and Gemma in any way he can and I appreciate that Clare appears to be open and wanting the same. I am not the biggest fan of baby storylines in general but I tell you what, to see Lauren pacing up and down cradling this little person, I am 100% pro-baby. This is one of my favourite moments of the whole episode and just when I thought there couldn’t possibly be any more layers to Lauren Heller, I get the up-all-night-with-crying-baby Lauren and I simply cannot: ‘I have been up all night with a crying baby. Why? I don’t know, because the rest of you either don’t have ears or you don’t have souls’. Early contender for line of the season. Kelsey’s bag-of-hair inducing scream finally wakes Josh and Lauren’s reaction, for him to ‘get it together man, Kelsey doesn’t need this’, epitomises Lauren’s selfless nature (which I just love as it seems so contradictory to her sometimes self-absorbed tendencies). It was not because she was up all night with his child, it was that Kelsey was in the midst of a crisis that Lauren needed Josh to pull it together and it just reinforces yet again what a multi-dimensional, caring character she is. And yes Josh, you are the dad, not the babysitter (kudos for this Alison Brown) so you may need to learn to sleep a little more lightly or something FYI.

Kelsey’s hair stress continues to play out as she runs into Maggie, who was also hoping to make a covert pharmaceutical purchase and the two wander back to Maggie’s for the scene I have been looking forward to since the possibility of such a scene came into play. I am of course talking about dinner at the loft and the integration of Charles into the friend circle. Kelsey’s freak out seems to be hitting fever pitch as she asks Beth for advice but this is soon interrupted by the arrival of Charles and Liza, who come bearing blackout cake (which I googled and holy chocolate pudding it looks AMAZING) in the most adorbs coupley entrance and don’t mind me, just having a quiet gush over here. Ok, I’m done. While Kelsey is over chatting with her old boss, Beth puts her naturopathy into practice by suggesting Maggie take a more natural approach to treating her yeast infection, doing some seasoning of her own to let a clove of garlic work its magic. Between jalapeno dick and garlic vag, this show loves to make us consider our spices in a whole new light.

This entire dinner party scene was next level, I want to frame a picture of it and put it on my wall because yes. We have casual, relaxed Charles, who is the first to ask if there is garlic bread on the menu (I love so much that he was the first to smell it) and seriously, from this moment, the unfolding of the garlic saga was nothing short of amazing. Kelsey was so amped this whole scene, she’s like a tightly wound ball and it was palpable. Her interjections as she commented that it smells like an everything bagel and agreement about the garlic knot and escargot were just brilliant contrasts to her otherwise increasing intensity. I so adored seeing Kelsey and Charles interacting casually and seeing what this would (ahem, could have) look like. But Kelsey asking Liza if she’d told Charles about Brownyn Madigan...I’m sorry, but how could she WHEN SHE CAN’T TALK ABOUT WORK WITH CHARLES? This bit made my head hurt a bit. Surely Liza in that moment must have been thinking the same (also Liza’s moment of identifying a garlic knot, so so good). 

What I love most about this scene is that we have Kelsey’s conversation getting more intense by the minute as she jumps from unloading about the stress of work, to Zane and his new venture, before finally climaxing with her ‘who is it?’ declaration, all the while having zero suspicion that Mercury’s investor is sitting right beside her. Side note: I really like Charles’ comment that he’s sure it is business, not personal re: Zane. I think it’s interesting considering the stereotype that women are too emotional vs. men and I’m curious to see how this plays out this season as Kelsey finds her feet. Meanwhile, Charles is trying to have a nice double date with his gf, while also keeping a secret that is the cause of much of the distress Kelsey is sharing with the table, while Liza takes the opportunity to make Charles squirm by pressing the point about the money for Zane’s venture coming from somewhere. It’s such an intricate web and of course parallel to that is Maggie’s secret vagina garlic that has the whole room assuming some kind of paranormal baking is taking place before Maggie responds to Kelsey’s ‘who is it?’ with, ‘it’s me!’ and it was just too much. My reaction was the same as everyone around the table when Maggie announced the source of the garlicky aroma, what a dinner party (and what a way for Charles to avoid any further scrutiny).

I am so glad that the conversation that needed to happen finally did this week and that was, of course, Liza confronting Charles about his involvement in Mercury. Oy, my heart. It broke a little when Liza gave Charles the opportunity to come clean and he didn’t and she had to ask so directly. It was so good to hear these two talking, like properly talking, and Charles explaining that he had to make choices in order to be with Liza but he never wanted to give up publishing for good was great insight into the journey Charles has been on post-Empirical, especially as we really haven’t been privy to that. I felt for both of them at various stages during the conversation. I do believe Liza understands why Charles would want to reinvent himself but I also understand why she would feel so hurt that he would keep such a huge thing from her (although again, they’d agreed not to talk about work at Liza’s request so *insert shrug emoji here*). 

But it does highlight an ongoing issue which I really hope gets properly addressed sometime soon and that is where Liza’s loyalties lie. I think it is unquestionably not ok that Charles set up a rival company while Chairman of the Board of Millennial, for obvious reasons. However, had he told Liza, she would have felt compelled to tell Kelsey, which I have no doubt Charles knows and would expect as she is the publisher, so in not telling Liza he is yes protecting his own interests but also stopping her from being in a compromised position. So while Charles’ secrecy is disappointing, so is Liza’s text to Kelsey the following morning asking to meet before work after Charles asked specifically that she tell no one about him financing Mercury just yet. 

This episode comes to a head at Suffolk House in a most spectacular fashion. Hilary Duff really did knock this entire ep out of the water with her acting, I cannot heap enough praise on her for the entire performance. You just knew it was gonna be good when Liza turned up as Kelsey was intercepting Bronwyn in an attempt to convince her that Zane was a bitter ex-employee (not very professional IMO but we won’t focus on that for now), only to discover that Bronwyn didn’t know Zane from a wart on her butt (delightful). She was in fact there to meet...dun-dun-dunnnnn...Charles (shout-out to the three piece suit, always a welcome sight, did not disappoint)! Kelsey was justifiably angry, however the stark contrast in experience and maturity was well and truly on show as she proceeded to express herself very loudly and publicly, despite Charles and Zane suggesting they step outside. Zane clocked the smart phone filming the entire incident and you just knew that Kelsey’s outburst was going to come back to bite her.

Regardless of whether Kelsey was in the right or wrong, she certainly came off worse in the way she handled it. My favourite part of the scene was Liza FINALLY re-awakening that gutsy silver suit wearing power, her turning and telling Bronwyn that Charles called her books matron lit was this season’s manuscript drop. And thank f-ing god. One of the things I’ve always loved about the Liza/ Charles dynamic is that Liza stands up for herself with him when she doesn’t with so many others and she is not afraid to call him out, which has been missing these past couple of eps. So now that that has been restored, I am legit so excited to see how this relationship moves forward.

The ramifications of the restaurant confrontation are of course trending on Reddit by the next morning, and Liza and Diana have the unenviable job of delivering the news that even though Charles was in the wrong for setting up the company the way he did, he has since resigned from the board and a number of authors are making noise about jumping ship to Mercury (I was going to say that I think Kelsey might have preferred it if her eyebrows actually had fallen off in that moment but I feel like that’s probs false).

The fact that Kelsey and Charles are pitted against one another as publishers and Liza and Zane as editors provides the most glorious opportunity to explore the ideas of reputation vs. experience. vs. gender vs. fresh ideas and I am so here for it, so damn excited, and so sure that whatever ends up playing out this season, it will be nothing that I expect. In the meantime I’m going to compile every Diana Trout line from this episode into a ringtone because what workplace wouldn’t want Diana talking about nutcracker’s oesophagus ringing through the open-plan office?

[secondarythings]

Finished Borderlands 3.

Pro: Gameplay is largely fantastic (sliding, travel, 2 action skills, ...)

Pro: other planets add depth. New characters very nice (lorelei, balex, clay, ...)

Pro: Zane is delightful

Con: story

Spoilers here (I wanted to put in a cut. Did tumblr remove that feature? I can't use it)

How is this a sequel in the Borderlands franchise?

It ridicules/forgets important characters, the timeline makes no sense and characters act oc for no reason.

What about the red gold alien from tps? The one who said sth important was coming and every vault hunter was needed? When axton and gaige met aurelia?

What did you do to Aurelia? Lilith? Maya?

Did everyone take a level in dumbass?

The villains lack depth. They could have had so much potential - siren twins, raised by the first vault hunter on a mythical world... starved for attention. Try to build their own family. Want to be like their dad and open a vault, the biggest vault. They could have been fascinating....and weren't.

Also: timeline? How when what? Vault keys need years to charge.... or not. And are inside the vault except they open it?

Typhon the mythical first vault hunter.... jakobs knew the guy. He met him. It's not that long ago!

What did all the vault hunters do in the timeskip? Why did no one help? They should have been like 1 echo call/fast travel away. Problem solved before it turned into one.

Idea that solves a lot of issues:

End of tps: alien announces big thing coming. Vault hunters find map. Vault hunters all leave pandora to hunt vaults all over the galaxy. That leaves pandora defenseless and then the twins take over. They block communication/fast travel.

Or: the vault hunters go missing, they enter the vault but dont come out - leaving the galaxy defenseless.

Raiders can't fight back. Cov rule pandora. Resistance is organized - ellie, moxxi, marcus, zed, tannis, vaughn - and new vault hunters. Then story starts.

[minecraftdiarieswho]

CELEBRITY AU || ITS BACK BABEY

[eyeofthewolfe]

Ninjago - Each Other’s Biggest Fans

Fanmail, fanmail, and even beneath the fanmail there was, surprise! More fanmail.

The aged actor plopped his daily pile of fanmail in the boxed labeled as such and then turned back to his laptop. The Ninjago News at Nine was filling the silence of the living space as Cliff scanned quickly through his emails. Not important, not important, might be important later but not now, and…nope. Nothing important. He closed out of his email and stared at his mainscreen for a few seconds. The powerful and famous blue ninja stared back.

With a sigh, Cliff sat back and ran his fingers through his slicked back black hair. He knew so little about his biological son, the current Master of Lightning. He only knew that his son, Jay, was the blue ninja because his ex-wife was the former Master of Lightning herself. After they both vanished when Jay was only an infant, all Cliff had to track his son was time and the rise of the next lightning-gifted elemental master.

But now he found him. The auburn haired freckled face boy was now one of Ninjago’s biggest celebrities along with his five ninja companions, and he was just as famous as Cliff is. But Jay doesn’t know Cliff Gordon, does he? Sure, he’s done a lot of movies Jay would recognize, most notably the space samurai Fritz Donagen from the comic book series. But he didn’t know enough about his son to know whether or not Jay even cared for movies, let alone Cliff. What Cliff wanted most of all was that when Jay finally discovers who his biological dad is (if he does) that Jay will be proud to be family with him. That is all.

“….some new footage of the Ninja was released to the media today,” a Newscastor’s introduction to the next story on the news caught Cliff’s attention. He turned up the volume and leaned forward to listen in. “The footage is from a year ago when the Ninja team went aboard a spacecraft to stop the evil robots from getting the remains of the once-powerful golden weapons. As we know, they failed that mission, but here’s some never-before-seen action moments of the ninja aboard the spacecraft. Take a look,” the castor nodded his head and the clip appeared.

Cliff instantly broke into a grin when he saw the security footage of the teenage heroes all in spacesuits, save the robot in his original skin-colored exo-suit. They looked a little ridiculous, and definitely not ninja-like, but they had their masks over their mouths. Cliff instantly recognized his son as he spoke to the other teammates. Subtitles appeared at the bottom of the screen to help decipher what they were all saying through the static of their suits.

“I can’t wait to see the expressions on the faces of those metal crom-domes when they find out we stowed away on board!” Jay cackled through the static, and Cliff couldn’t help but chuckle. “Crom-domes?” he laughed under his breath, his eyes glued to the action.

“They’re nindroids, nimrod. They don’t have expressions.” The black ninja shot back at Jay (what was his name again? Cam? Chris?). Cliff laughed even harder at “nimrod”. “What are these names?” he asked the screen.

The screen flipped to a camera inside of Jay’s helmet so that his entire face filled the screen. “Oh yeah?” Jay refuted as he raised his eyebrows. “Zane has expressions.”

The screen flipped to the interior of the red ninja’s suit, but Cliff was left breathless. That was the closest he’s ever gotten to his son.

“Zane isn’t like them,” the red ninja groaned. “Do we really have to go over this right now?”

The screen popped back to the exterior of the ship where Jay and the other ninja were sliding on the wing. “It’s just so quiet,” Jay explained to the others. “I’m only trying to fill the space.” Jay paused, waiting for the comedic beat before saying, “Get it? SPACE!!”

“He’s got his mom’s sense of humor, that’s for sure,” Cliff murmured with a smile as he sat back on the couch, unknowing of the tear that quickly ran down his cheek.

The footage jumped around a little, showing the robots as they climbed out of the ship. The black ninja said loudly in the static, “So much for our surprise attack! Look out!!”

The shots of laser guns lit up the footage as the battle erupted. Cliff shook his head a little, realizing how similar of a scene this is to one of his Fritz Donagen movies. Jay pulled himself up to what looked like to be an antenna as one of the robots used their rocket boots to jump and land right in front of him, the laser gun pointed right at his son’s face.

Cliff’s heart skipped a beat, but it looked like Jay wasn’t scared at all. The screen flipped to a camera to the side of Jay, a perfect shot to see him pull back the antenna and whack the robot.

The robot flung backwards, now airborne in the zero-gravity. In an epic move, Jay used the antennae to flip, grab the laser gun, and land perfectly on the spacecraft.

All the ninja cheered, and Cliff tightened his fist in pride. “That’s my boy,” he said proudly. “That’s my Jay.”

One of the other ninja must have cheered on Jay using his name too, because as the blue ninja was shooting and flipping and performing amazing stunts, Jay quickly said, “Not Jay! Fritz Donagen! Fear isn’t a word from where I come from!”

It was as if the house had suddenly dropped 20 degrees. Chills ran up and down Cliff’s body when he heard those words come from the voice of his son. The clip was continuing, and the other ninja were still talking before joining in the fight, but Cliff had a tunnel vision only for the blue ninja. Everything was blurry except for him, and the only sound he heard were the laser guns and his son saying he was Fritz Donagen over and over again.

Before the clip ended, Cliff was a mess of tears. He couldn’t hold them back this time, his mind was exploding and his heart was pounding too hard. Cliff and his son just made a connection, and as stupid as it is- a comic book hero- it was enough for Cliff to prove to himself that his son and him were similar in some way. And for never meeting his own son, a silly connection was the best thing that he could have ever hoped for.

After the clip ended, Cliff tried to wipe his face and calm his sobs to hear the rest of the story. “How about that, folks. A ninja-robot space battle that actually happened.” The newscastor grinned and turned to his partner. “Something you would see in the movies, right?”

She laughed, then said. “Absolutely right. And that Blue Ninja, right? He nailed it right on the head acting as his favorite character of all time, Fritz Donagen.” Cliff leaned forward suddenly, his eyes even wider than before.

“Ah yes, I remember him mentioning he was very fond of the Space Samurai, especially in the movie adaptations. He plays him very well.” “Very well indeed. Now next up we dig a little deeper into how the city of Stiix is holding up after….”

There was a long pause as Cliff stared in awe at the screen. He slowly digested everything he just heard, making sure that he heard everything correctly. His son wasn’t just a fan of Fritz Donagen. He was a fan of Cliff Gordon’s Fritz Donagen.

With a shout of pure joy, Cliff leapt off the couch and began to do a happy dance, his body shaking with joy and excitement, his mind screaming with pride, and his heart swollen with emotion. He was crying through his happy dance, because he never imagined discovering the most coincidental connection he had with his son he’s never met.

They were each other’s biggest fans.

[mixedfcclings]

11 and 22 for each of them please.

SEND ME A CHARACTER + A NUMBER AND I’LL TELL YOU MY HEADCANONS FOR:

11. Bad or petty habits

22. People who’ve influenced them greatly

On first glance, Drake seems to have the most bad habits; Drake smokes tobacco and weed, is an alcoholic, has reckless behavior in general (i.e., driving a good 20-30 miles over the speed limit), and his promiscuity gets him in trouble. In addition, he oftentimes pushes everyone away, especially those seeking a genuine emotional connection with him. He’s also been known to tear out chunks of hair when extremely stressed and claw at his scalp whenever his power gets the best of him. In general, his bad habits all come from his power and his depression.

He’s hardly been influenced by many other people except for adoptive parents; they were needlessly cruel to him and his power and it left an impact on him permanently. In addition, he used to be influenced by Zane rather significantly and fell into a series of self-depreciating thoughts just from listening to him. Most of his influences to keep doing things come from his drug dealer or from people he sweeps up at the bar; for the most part, he’s a solitary person who doesn’t want to look up to anyone but himself.

Zane likely has the most significant problems when it comes to his bad habits. Zane’s life revolves around his power, even when nothing is wrong or he doesn’t need to use it. In order for it to be stronger, he has to use it more; Zane’s oftentimes gone through extremes in order to get stronger. He’s more than willing to mutilate his body- he’ll leave behind gashes, broken bones, and purposefully get ill for the purpose of getting better. He’s had several close calls before because of this and is the most likely of all of them to end up dying from their bad habits. In addition, Zane’s a workaholic and oftentimes forgets to eat; he doesn’t feel hunger pangs and doesn’t get tired until his body stops healing due to being tired, and if he doesn’t set reminders, he’ll oftentimes forget to take care of himself. 

The people Zane look up to is rather broad. The biggest influence in his life comes from their adoptive parents; their emphasis on their power is what guides him throughout his days. Zane oftentimes wakes up with nightmares of them, and suffers from them in general; however, he can’t help but see himself in them and still long to go back. The other main influences in his life- both of them being positive- are Zinnia and Ellie; Zinnia has been his best friend for the longest time in his life and Ellie is his beloved little sister. He can’t help but take care of himself a little more knowing both of them genuinely care for him and would want him safe. 

Ellie’s main bad habit is her temper and carefree attitude. Unlike Zane, she is very far much okay with living a life aside from hard work; the only thing she puts effort into is dancing. When it comes to her temper, Ellie tends to pick fights with people that she knows she can’t beat; while she’s generally friendly, she holds everyone to a rather high standard and is more than willing to jump at someone if they’re going to push her buttons. There are times where she tends to be rather... annoying, on purpose, or push jokes to the point where they either become hurtful or obnoxious. 

She looks up to Zane a lot. Zane is the only real parental figure she recalls, and even if she’ll say Zinnia is far better, she looks up to Zane the most. She’s incredibly unlike Zane, but he’s worked so hard to keep her safe and happy and she genuinely admires him. A lot of what she does revolves around Zane, be it getting his attention through a fight in school to take time out of his busy schedule for her, or to make him proud. In addition, Zinnia is a pretty significant influence in her life- and the one her personality takes after the most. Zinnia’s the most positive influence in her life, in general.

Zinnia’s bad habits are similar to Ellie’s. She’s good at picking fights, and incredibly good at going through with them; she has experience both in machinery and taming horses and has to stay rather physically fit for most of what she does. However, she’ll oftentimes put herself in situations she can’t win or will let her mouth slip around people she can’t win against- or people she doesn’t want to fight. She’s been harsh on Zane before in the past on accident and hadn’t even noticed until it had come and passed, but this mostly impacts people who aren’t... nice to those she cares for. For example, she’ll pick any fight with Drake she can, even though he’d have an upperhand. Her protectiveness also comes with possessiveness- Zinnia is an incredible possessive person, partially due to being so protective; however, there are times where she refuses to let anyone else into Zane’s or Ellie’s life out of fear of them not being good enough. These can get to an extreme, and she loathes it- however, while she’s friendly, she hardly ever makes a meaningful connection with others and is terrified of losing them. 

Zinnia’s parents used to be a big part of her life. However, upon coming out, she was practically shut out of most family affairs; there are no longer any pictures of Zinnia about the house, and she is not to leave anything out in the open that belongs to her. Her parents influence her negativity, and influenced how possessive she is, but otherwise are no longer significant in her life. Zane and Ellie both give her a sense of hope and joy and influence her significantly to work, as well as a lot of people she looks up to. In addition, she finds a lot of inspiration from working with her horses in general and from other people she’s met in competitions.

[toast-connoisseur]

All the "weird asks"

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans? -I’m actually obsessed with coffee mugs and tea cups even though I don’t drink coffee nor tea.

2. chocolate bars or lollipops? -Chocolate bars

3. bubblegum or cotton candy? -Cotton Candy!

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you? -It’s funny because I actually found some of my old report cards recently... they range from “a pleasure to have in class!” to “danger of failing the course” even though my grade for both of those would be an “A” ?

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups? -The soda from a bottle from Mexico hits completely different.

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear? -Personally, I don’t dress like any of those but I am attracted to tomboys.

7. earbuds or headphones? -Depends. Mostly, earbuds.

8. movies or tv shows? -Movies.

9. favorite smell in the summer? -All the seasonal smells from the stores!

10. game you were best at in p.e.? -Softball or tennis.

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day? -One slice of toast and one egg.

12. name of your favorite playlist? -I made my friend a playlist called “Emo Turn Up” and I like that one a lot.

13. lanyard or key ring? -Key ring, but I have a lanyard because I tend to leave my purse in the car and that way I can just carry my keys around my neck. Also, my lanyard is Nightmare Before Christmas themed, so she’s beautiful.

14. favorite non-chocolate candy? -Lollipops, actually lol

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment? -Rosemary’s Baby. Although, I kind of got to pick the book for my assignment.

16. most comfortable position to sit in? -One leg is usually elevated while the other has my foot flat on the ground.

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes? -My Chuck Taylor’s!

18. ideal weather? -I have two technically. I love blue skies with a slight breeze but I also love windy rainy weather.

19. sleeping position? -On my side, on leg curled up and the other straight (kind of like how I sit) while I hold a pillow to my chest.

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)? -Notebook and post its!

21. obsession from childhood? -Stickers!! Although I never actually stuck them anywhere except on other papers or just left them on their page. I collected them so I didn’t like them getting ugly.

22. role model? -Dita Von Teese!

23. strange habits? -I guess if it’s habit, I probably wouldn’t consider it strange. I do write everything down. Like, everything. I have a list of every movie I’ve ever watched (I had to stop updating it because it was giving me anxiety due to how many movies I watch), I make post it notes that I eventually compile into notebook pages. Any information I never want to lose gets written down somewhere.

24. favorite crystal? Aventurine

25. first song you remember hearing? -It would’ve been something in Spanish. Most likely one of the many songs my mom used to sing to me.

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather? -Although I rarely get to do it: sitting in the sun/going to the beach or a pool. If it’s warm with a breeze I can lay outside for quite some time.

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather? -Watch movies on the couch with a blanket over me.

28. five songs to describe you? -Brown Eyed Girl (the original is nice but I love the Reel Big Fish version), Because I’m Awesome (The Dollyrots), Hot Mess (Cobra Starship), I’m Just a Kid (even though I’m almost 25. Simple Plan), Independent (Webbie)

29. best way to bond with you? -Be open and honest. I love talking about books, movies, and music but talk to me about conspiracy theories and ghost stories and you’ll have my heart. I love when people have stories revolving around their culture. I’m Mexican and we have lots of myths and stories to swap so it’s awesome.

30. places that you find sacred? -A person’s bedroom can be sacred. Call me silly but Disneyland is kind of sacred to me. It hold so many wonderful memories. I only like to share certain spots with certain people sometimes.

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names? -Probably whatever outfit I have on at the moment. I don’t really plan to kick anyone’s ass let alone want to plan a whole outfit for it. I assume leggings and a t shirt will do?

32. top five favorite vines? -omg I miss vine! I was actually going through vines on YouTube recently... The “Miss Keisha” vine always kills me, any vine with Sarah Baska, anything that Zane and Heath ever made, Jay Versace has really funny vines too, and I still quote the “welcome to Chilis” vine constantly. Picking 5 is way too hard.

33. most used phrase in your phone? -“it be like that sometimes” or “yaaaaaaas”

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head? -The Red Robin commercial and the O’Riley Auto Parts one play in my head on loop at the worst times.

35. average time you fall asleep? -I lay down around 9ish but don’t actually fall asleep until 10PM

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing? -That’s way too hard to remember. Probably something I would consider really stupid now.

37. suitcase or duffel bag? -Depends on how long I’ll be away/how many clothes I’ll need. Usually, a suitcase.

38. lemonade or tea? -Lemonade.

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie? -omg why would you make me pick?! Lemon meringue pie though...

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school? -I went to a public high school in LA. We mostly had riots and fights and I stayed away from all of that.

41. last person you texted? -Jayla. I need her to wake up so I can tell her about my dream about Beyoncé.

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets? -Por que no los dos?! I like buying men’s jean jackets because they have pockets inside though...

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket? -Depends. I tend to get cold easily so I usually start with a cardigan but I love jean jackets.

44. favorite scent for soap? -just plain ol clean??

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero? -Fantasy

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in? -Depends on the weather but usually just shorts and a t shirt.

47. favorite type of cheese? -Mozzarella

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be? -Grapes. Sweet and sometimes a little sour lol

49. what saying or quote do you live by? -“Let your imaginarlo run free”. I actually have it tattooed on my right bicep.

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have? -My friends always get me to laugh really hard. I think the hardest I’ve ever laughed was when my friend tried to say something and she completely botched the sentence so it was pure gibberish and yet I understood her? We just looked at each other and burst into laughter.

51. current stresses? -Work, school, life... the usual??

52. favorite font? -Arial

53. what is the current state of your hands? -I am typing my answers to these questions on my phone...

54. what did you learn from your first job? -I only have infinite patience for kids, not adults.

55. favorite fairy tale? -Used to be Cinderella, but I was never really one for fairy tales tbh

56. favorite tradition? -I don’t actually have any. Never really had anyone to have traditions with.

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome? -2018 was an entire struggle, car crashes because idiot drivers crashed into mine and totaled mine (TWICE), my entire life as a whole has been a struggle tbh. Every day is one that I try my hardest to overcome.

58. four talents you’re proud of having? -I don’t really consider myself as someone with any talent, let alone four, but... A mathematician once taught me how to divide any number by five in my head, I’m pretty good at mimicking certain accents, idk of this counts as a talent but I can drink quite a bit before I actually feel anything, I can recite certain movies down to what song will play during certain scenes, and I would consider myself the ultimate Disneyland tour guide. That’s five but it’s all I can think of so if one doesn’t sound like one, we have an extra.

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be? -“Oh shit, here we go again...”

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be? -I know nothing about anime so I wouldn’t even know. I would want to make a joke about being in the ones that are essentially pornos but I’m probably wrong with that too.

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.? -“The greatest thing you will ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” Idk if the line comes from elsewhere but I first heard it in the movie Moulin Rouge and it has stuck with me since.

62. seven characters you relate to? -Oh geez, I don’t really relate to any tbh but seven characters I like: Princess Tiana, Shane from The L Word, Theo from the Netflix version of A Haunting of Hill House, Satine from Moulin Rouge, Wall-E, Cassandra from Saved!, and The Grinch (as wonderfully played by Jim Carrey)

63. five songs that would play in your club? -Act Up (City Girls), Motivation (Normani), LGBT (Cupcakke), Alcohol (Millionaires, lol), My Type (Saweetie)

64. favorite website from your childhood? -Neopets!

65. any permanent scars? -I have one from when I stuck my hand in a garbage can because I was looking for something and wound up cutting myself on all the glass that had been thrown in. The scar is super tiny and on my pinkie lol

66. favorite flower(s)? -Roses and carnations

67. good luck charms? -I don’t have any anymore.

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried? -I tried sea urchin once and I swear I can still taste it.

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned? -All leaves have symmetry (unless tampered with)

70. left or right handed? -I’m right handed but I use my left hand as dominant for a lot of stuff? It’s weird.

71. least favorite pattern? One that isn’t symmetrical.

72. worst subject? -I was once good at math and now I’m horrible.

73. favorite weird flavor combo? -Some think syrup on bacon is gross but I love when the syrup from my pancakes falls on it!

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen? -10

75. when did you lose your first tooth? -I have no idea. I lost all my baby teeth early on. I’ll go with 5 or 6...

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)? -Can’t go wrong with French Fries!

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill? -I recently revived the orchid my boss has on his windowsill and I’m quite proud of that.

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store? -I don’t drink coffee but I love sushi...

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo? -Now, my driver’s license photo. I retook it recently lol

80. earth tones or jewel tones? -Jewel (with a mix of earth?)

81. fireflies or lightning bugs? -There’s a difference? Fireflies, I guess?

82. pc or console? -Console, though I love PC games.

83. writing or drawing? -I’m shit at drawing but I love to doodle. Writing is my favorite though.

84. podcasts or talk radio? -Podcasts

84. barbie or polly pocket? -My childhood nickname is Barbie (my middle name is Barbara) so I only played with Barbies even though I only dressed them because I liked their clothes and then then threw them to the side to play other games.

85. fairy tales or mythology? -Mythology

86. cookies or cupcakes? -Cookies

87. your greatest fear? -Being buried alive.

88. your greatest wish? -To be truly happy.

89. who would you put before everyone else? -My family/close friends.

90. luckiest mistake? -My entire life? I guess it would be taking a job in a field I knew nothing about which led me to learn about said field. I’m now somewhat successful in that field.

91. boxes or bags? -Depends on what I’m carrying but I love boxes. Bags are much easier though... I guess I’ll go with bags.

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights? -Sunlight/sunset.

93. nicknames? -Barbie, a friend in high school used to call me West Side Story because my first name is Maria, Barbz...

94. favorite season? -Fall

95. favorite app on your phone? -I like IG

96. desktop background? -Wildflowers

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized? -5? My friends have changed their numbers before so I remember their old numbers only lol

98. favorite historical era? -I love the fashion of the fashion and cars of the 1940s but I would never want to go back. We’re barely making any progress towards equality as is so going back would not be an option for me.

Thanks for the questions, Anon!💞

[spinjitzu-comics]

Ninjago High School AU

This is just the stuff I currently have planned for the characters. Some are more well-developed (like Lloyd) than others (like Wu). Also, yes, there are still Elemental Powers in this AU.

Lloyd Garmadon

Certified Sass Master™

Will listen to any music

His regular playlist quite literally ranges from stuff like Anthrax and Pantera to Ke$ha and Katy Perry.

Listens to upbeat, repetitive music when he’s upset or stressed and he can’t focus.

dubstep/techno mostly

Artsy as all get-out

All his elective classes are art

Sculptures

Probably friends with Morro

Will fight you

If he loses he’ll cry

If you lose, you’ll cry

And he will laugh

Plays piano!

Rebellious phase has hit him hard

@ Wu: “YOU’RE NOT MY REAL DAD DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO”

Gets bored easily

Fidget cubes and doodles out the wazoo during math class

Seriously all of his homework has a doodle of some kind on it

Asexual aromantic

Platonic crushes on all the other ninja tho

Especially Kai and Zane

Golden Power

After discovering it, it tends to flair a little when he’s angry. It trails behind all of his motions and let’s be honest here it tends to sparkle. So he kinda looks like a glowy, full sized angry Tinkerbell.

Lord Garmadon

lol where?

there’s no Lord Garmadad here

not that Lloyd knows of

he could be Garmadead for all Lloyd knows

Literally a raging psychopath with severe DID

other Identity is Sensei Garmadon

he’s the Garmadad we all know and love

Been hiding out in a secret lair for 10 years

Sensei Garmadon always tries to go back home when he’s awake but he can’t remember how to get there

Wants to take over the world

Actually still loves Misako and doesn’t want her hurt and that’s why he left

Deadbeat Dad™

Except for Sensei Garmadon

He is Best Dad™

He’s fine with Lloyd’s sexual/romantic interests but he’s distressed by the thought of Lloyd never having an heir.

Sensei Wu

Cryptic™

Tries to be a father figure to Lloyd but Lloyd aint havin’ that shit

“YOU’RE STILL NOT MY REAL DAD” “Lloyd pls”

Definitely in love with Misako

Treats the Ninja like his children

Morro is his biggest regret

Reason why is in Morro’s part.

Morro

The Rage Child™

He’s so heckin’ angry

Resents Wu

Looks up to Lord Garmadon

Definitely plays with Ouija boards

Might be a demon?

Probably a virgin

R e b e l l i o n

“YOU SEE THIS GREEN STREAK WU?! YOU SEE IT?! THIS GREEN STREAK SAYS “FUCK YOU”!”

Likes storms

Literally the most power-crazy teenager in Ninjago and ended up literally fighting Wu when he found out his destiny was essentially to just be a minor antagonist in everyone’s lives rather than be super powerful like he wanted to be.

Sexually and romantically confused

Misako Garmadon

Just wants what’s best for her child.

Loves both of the brothers very much

Married to Garmadon but when he didn’t come back in like 3 years she started ‘dating’ Wu

Knows Lloyd doesn’t want to acknowledge Wu as a father figure and she’s somewhat exasperated

“Lloyd I’ve been dating him since you were 9 and you never had a problem with him before.”

“He wasn’t actually trying to be my dad before, mom.”

Supportive of her son’s interests

She literally bought him all the art supplies he could ever possibly want.

He even has his own pottery wheel and a kiln.

She’s also supportive of his sexual/romantic interests despite being somewhat disappointed that she’ll never have grandkids.

Kai Smith

If you tell him not to do the thing he will do the thing to spite you

Actually a sweetheart

Kind of a narcissist but mostly because no one else gives him that kind of attention

Only listens to rock music unless he has no choice

He can stand to listen to most of the stuff Lloyd listens to but he doesn’t really like a lot of it.

Favorite band is Three Days Grace

Secretly likes Sleeping With Sirens

Likes watching Lloyd paint

Lets Lloyd paint on his arms and face when they’re in a tough situation and Lloyd needs to distract himself.

Lloyd’s started using Kai’s left arm as a canvas for floral designs and his right arm as a canvas for flames.

He couldn’t hold still the first few times it happened because it tickled but now he’s mostly numb to the feeling of paintbrushes against his skin.

Bisexual demiromantic.

Kind of likes Lloyd (like that) but respects that Lloyd isn’t romantically or sexually interested at all and does his best not to push his emotions on Lloyd.

Also kind of likes Jay just a little bit but respects that Nya likes him and wants his sister to be happy.

If I put Skylor in this AU he’ll like her too.

Hoodies. Just... Hoodies.

He likes being warm.

Once he discovers his Elemental Powers he tends to accidentally light things on fire when he gets agitated.

Cole Brookstone

The Dancing Queen™

Amazing singer

Protective of all his friends.

He is the mother hen. It is him.

Vindictive boy if you hurt his friends.

Sexually confused but has crushes on pretty much everyone he knows no matter what gender

He thinks Kai is mildly attractive and might date him

“Lloyd’s cute I’d date him and probably marry the fuck out of him if he wasn’t aro.”

“Jay’s pretty cute too but I think Nya likes him and I know he likes Nya and I’m not gonna be a homewrecker.”

Would probably date Zane

After discovering his Elemental Power he takes an interest in physical combat.

Gay 4 Nature™

Zane Julien

A legit angel

Not a robot but he’s still a little... Off.

Super smart

Anxiety™

Secretly loves memes and makes “Get in the bag Nebby” jokes with Lloyd 24/7

Most of the memes he likes are the old fashioned cat memes

But he has a tendency to do the “mmm whatcha saaayyyyy” thing

Has a fidget cube that he likes to take apart and put back together

Shop classes

Ace and demiromantic

Platonic crush on Lloyd

Would probably date Cole or Kai if given the chance or if he could get over his anxiety.

Might date Nya

He always knew about his powers and he’s constantly cold to the touch

Jay Walker

Anxiety™: The Sequel

Constantly screaming on the inside

Straight as a line

Head/heels for Nya

Best friends with Zane and Cole

Also does the “mmm whatcha saaayyyy” thing

The Inventor™

Once he finds out about his powers he uses them to help his inventions succeed.

Will accidentally shock you if he’s stressed

Nya Smith

BAMF

Can kick your ass

WILL kick your ass

Protective

Bicurious

Definitely likes Jay though

Thinks her powers are dumb

Literally makes it rain when she’s upset

She’s sad and so are the clouds

Okay that’s all I’ve got for now.