#nya would absolutely get on kais case if he was

[kindaasrikal]

‘Kai would be so protective over Wyldfyre dating Roby!!’ ‘Kai hates Jay for dating Nya!’

Okay ONE, Kai does NOT hate Jay, he just rlly likes messing with him cause it’s funny. TWO, overprotective? Over Wydlfyre?? She’d rather eat a couch than deal with that, and he is well aware she would.

And THREE, this idiot walked in on Jay and Nya having a talk, assumed they were having a moment and would kiss, covered his eyes whilst apologising, and then walked into a damn wall.

Why, out of ALL people to choose to make him overprotective for, would you choose his sister who taught him very easily and very quickly she is capable of handling herself, and the literal menace to society

He has to be protective over other people when it comes to Wyldfyre.

Like yes one of his traits is being protective, but he isn’t over protective, and he very easily understands boundaries and what others are and aren’t capable of. They’re ninja, they’re near death almost everyday, Kai is far too used to this to be overprotective.

[spinchip]

The Ninja and Fashion

Back in Ignacia, Kai didn't really give a shit about fashion. He comes to a new appreciation for it when he moves out by Ninjago City, and starts curating a strong personal style. He reads fashion magazines. He watches runways. He posts all his trend opinions on Chirper. he is by far the most fashionable ninja and has his finger on the pulse of what's in style and what's on its way out- and he loves it. He buys moist of his clothes from local shops and has a few custom made designer pieces he breaks out on special occasions.

Cole is fashionable but not in the mainstream. His is more of a classic, rock-punk vibe mixed with a bit of flamboyant camp. he would fit in at a gay bar or a siouxsie and the banshees concert with no issue. Black boots black pants black top old black leather jacket... He mostly only wears black or other dark colors- he has like, one white t-shirt. just in case?? He accessorizes a lot tho. he has one staple black watch he wears purely for looks because it's broken and doesnt actually tell time anymore. but it's cute.

When Nya goes clothes shopping, she's uisually looking for equally fashionable and practical. A skirt with shorts sewn in underneath, high quality running shoes in her favorite colors, and absolutely no strapless tops. what happens if she has to fight in that!? She doesn't have a strong sense of style otherwise, fully able to buy a lot of differently styled clothes and wear them all equally. her wardrobe has all sorts of colors. no big on accessories other than the occasional necklace.

Jay flips wildly between dressing well and looking like a lost and found clothing bin threw up on him. He's more interested in comfort over style for everyday wear, but he can clean up well and put together really nice outfits if the occasion calls for it. He's also pretty great at mending clothes so a lot of his really nice clothes are very well kept and maintained. his favorite hoodie is more mend patches than original fabric at this point. sustainable king.

Lloyd has no sense of style and it drove kai so crazy he forced him to come out shopping with him. All of Lloyds style comes from Kai picking out shirts and pants that all could easily go together mixed and matched. Lloyd TRIES but he's a pattern lover and he'll pair up patters that are so so loud and don't mesh at all and give everyone eyestrain headaches. Kai of course gets Lloyd some clothes that matches lloyds old style, he just gives him a brief rundown on what to pair together to keep him off legoTMZ's worst dressed list when Lloyd asks. Chronic croc wearer. incurable. he has cute jibbitz tho.

Zane wore the most bland, generic outfits ever until he was talking to Kai about fashion and Kai was like, "Fashion is an expression of who you are." and Zane became mildly obsessed with finding out who he was fashion-wise. His clothes are still a little on the boring side, but he has developed a distinct taste with what he wears. it's all very clean cut and timeless. he would be considered a sharp dresser. The others go to him when they need to dress Fancy because a lot of his style is pulling casual from classy. Likes some accessories- earrings, watches, some necklaces. Not a fan of metal chains of rings- metal on metal. rubs on his skin and irritates his sensors.

[enavstars]

May you bliss us with your angst ninja headcanons?

mainly kai pls

Sorry for the delay. You asked mostly for Kai's so I delivered. If anyone wants more hcs about the others I can work on it some time in the future (I also have more of Kai).

Now the hcs:

• All the ninja have PTSD from everything they’ve been through

• And abandonment issues

• Cole has an eating disorder and eats when he’s stressed, this is one of the reasons he is very insecure of his weight. People online poke at him for it

• Jay's terrified of losing his loved ones again because of him. That is another reason why he went absolutely crazy post Seabound, as he thinks it was his fault Nya had to resort to sacrificing herself

• He used to be bullied for living in a junkyard before becoming a ninja and that's why he was ashamed of it

• Zane always shoves down everything wrong that happens to him (e.g being the Ice Emperor for way too long to be ok about it) because he puts the team and their needs first.

• Nya has nightmares from the time she died in skybound but doesn't tell anyone.

• She had to keep her work and love life secret from her brother for fear that he would shut her down to protect her. Her fear persisted well into s1 and that's why she felt she had to hide Samurai X even from Kai

• Lloyd still admires his uncle despite his obsession with the green ninja (and all the neglect that came with it) because he's the only relative that actually took him in

• All of the ninja have at some point hidden an injury at least once. But Kai and Nya are the ones that do it more often (Nya specially when she was samurai X), and know how to treat mild wounds because of it.

• Kai and Nya do physical activities when they’re stressed or have emotions they don’t want to process. They can do their thing like Kai working in the forge and Nya doing mechanics but they usually train, however they can go on for hours (Kai has passed out a few times)

• Kai and Zane have a very poor sense of self. Zane’s comes from him not valuing his life and thinking he’s expendable since he can be rebuilt, ignoring all the trauma that comes from getting severely hurt or “dying”. Kai has problems seeing his worth as a human being because he’s never lived for himself; everything he does is for someone else and so he thinks his value resides in what he can do for other people. 

• Kai is terrified of the idea of being alone, it’s his worst fear.

• He has THE WORST coping mechanisms and Zane is confused on how his body was able to go through all of them (Alcoholism, illegal fights, smoking…)

• Kai is an insomniac, he barely sleeps most nights and instead just waits until he passes out (He has very deep eyebags because of it but hides them with make up, covering his freckles too). He sometimes bumps into some other ninja at night since they all have fucked up sleep schedules. 

• Lloyd also has a lot of problems sleeping because of nightmares and goes to Kai or Nya’s room where he feels safer (mostly into Kai’s). Sometimes they stay up at night chilling or they try to sleep. In those cases the nights with Lloyd are the ones where Kai sleeps the most because he feels safer too.

• Kai has chronic depression because of his fucked up childhood

• Lloyd thought he had depression too for a while but it turned out to be autistic burnout because of the stress of being the green ninja. But he can’t properly rest or heal from the burnout so he’s exhausted most of the time.

• When he’s stressed Kai forgets to eat and can go days with very little food because he’s used to it from being poor in his childhood.

• Genuinely forgot what it feels like to be a kid and have no responsibilities so it’s his personal mission to not let that happen to Lloyd. Kai would be devastated if Lloyd ended up like him.

• Kai sometimes feels insecure about his face scars and contemplates hiding them with make up.

• Kai’s touch starved but terrified of letting people in.

• He hides his negative emotions as anger and when the others try to reach out to him he pushes them away by getting angry at them until it's mutual and they leave him alone.

• Never told the others about what he did after Zane’s “death”. He fixed himself up, alone.

[3ksdee]

EATS YOUR HIGHSCHOOL AU ALIVE ERMMM who said that

Do they have their powers in this au? :0 And if they do is it a case of them being aware of it or does Kai randomly blow up a room and go “whoopsies aha aha who did that!!! twirls my hair 🥹” with absolutely no way to recreate it

If not would they still be really attached to each element nonetheless? Like say Nya’s always out swimming or Kai is just immune to heat?

Ohh theyre just normal kids in this au but i still wanna include some elements of it in this au

But yeahhh your idea of Nya always swimming and Kai being immune to heat is sooo good imma add it in my au

Cole should like hiking and jogging or even helping out at construction sites during their break, he’s gotta get extra money somehow (he doesn’t like asking for money from his parents cause he feels bad about it thats why he’ll earn it instead)

Zane always has vicks on him or cold water to cool down, cause he’s not used to heat cause AC is always on in his house and in the student council’s office

Jay likes gaming and inventing!! Ofc he helps out around his parents workshop which specializes on fixing machines or gadgets

Lloyd is energetic he’d always come to Kai and Nya’s practice and join them, he usually helps out in Wu’s store too by lifting heavy packages

[snazzilystoopid]

Back with another Ninjago little sister AU....

Now it's time for Kai and Nya's turn! Hope you guys enjoy it, especially since its a little longer

Enjoy anyways!! <3

Hua Smith-Jiang

Hua means "flower!"

(For timeline's sake, Nya was 3 years old at the time of Ray and Maya's disappearance, and Kai was 5.)

Hua was only a couple months old when Ray and Maya left

She was a very well-behaved baby, however, something that Kai is still grateful for to this day

Kai had a lot of trouble raising both of his little sisters all alone, both Hua and Nya feel guilty

Before meeting Master Wu, Hua loved playfighting with the wonky swords that Kai would make

After recovering the golden weapons, Wu offered to become her teacher, since her old school was too far away from the monastery

So Hua basically spent the better part of her years in the Ninja's care

She would always hang about with Nya while she was creating her samurai X suit

When Sensei Wu's academy was opened, she became a pupil there

She would always behave in Nya's lessons but never in Kai's, and that would really piss him off

While her siblings and the other ninja were away because of their missions, that was when Hua began to feel really lonely

She would sometimes sit staring at the wall for a whole day because she literally had nothing better to do

Around the time of Possesion (She's like 12 years old at this point) she started to feel jealous of Lloyd because Kai would always treat him as a little brother

So she and Kai constantly got into arguments, Nya having to break them up all the time

She had a much better relationship with Nya

Once Jay and Nya officially became a couple, Hua never left her big sister's side for the next 2 weeks in case Jay stole her away

During the Hands of Time, Hua was kept in the dark about A LOT and it was getting to the point where no one would even tell her what was actually happening

The ultimately led to the worst argument her and Kai had ever had, Kai swearing at her and calling her a bunch of names

She sobbed her heart out afterwards

When her parents returned and Wu had disappeared into the time stream, Hua immediately went to live with Ray and Maya

She started to feel lonely all over again and she was sad because she thought her brother didn't love her anymore :(

Even Lloyd visited once apologising for making her seem invisible, and he felt guilty for the way Hua was feeling

(She forgave him and they became besties ehe)

But on New Year's Eve (a few days before SoG begins) Nya and Kai paid a suprise visit and Hua isntantly jumped into Kai's arms and balled her eyes out

Kai only rolled his eyes and was like "Did you seriously miss me that much?!"

But in all seriousness he did apologise for all the hurtful things he said and then they were a happy family again hehe

Hua was on a solo trip to Ninjago City around the time Garmadon returned, bear in mind she had absolutely no clue what was happening

She was on the street below the Bounty when Garmadon crushed it and she thought Kai had died

The first thing she did was find Nya

They both cried together because they thought their big bro was gone forever and also because Nya had lost her two best friends + her bf

But in the end Kai was ok so they were all happy again <33

I hc that around this time Skylor and Kai officially started dating, though it was on and off

But Hua LOVED Skylor so she didn't mind

Nya, Skylor and Hua went on girl's day outs like every other week

She would stay with her parents for two weeks, then stay the monastery for 7 days, before going home again

Bc she gotta see her big bro and big sis ofcc

Lloyd + Kai + Hua + Nya= the ultimate sibling squad

Hua had never felt more hopeless than when Nya turned into the sea

Her whole family sobbed for days and Kai was hit the hardest

Some days when Kai was just curled up on the corner of the couch silently, Hua would crawl up next to him and hug him, then he'd just start crying his eyes out

So you can imagine how happy these two were when Nya came back in Crystalized

By the end of Crystalized, Hua is 15!

Hua does also make an appearance in Dragons Rising, she's usually found at the crossroads and hung out with Arin and Sora a lot, telling them stories about the ninja

Obviously they don't know that Kai and Nya are her siblings so they never tell the ninja, and at this point they don't actually know her wherabouts.

That is all for Hua's story! Moving on to more facts about her:

Hua was really glad that she wasn't born with an element, because she hated the idea of going on all of the missions her siblings had to go on

Zane and Pixal were basically Hua's second parents after season 8

While she was staying with the ninja, Zane sometimes would give her the answers for homework, and Pixal would take her out at times where Nya couldn't

Even after they made up just before SoG, Kai and Hua were always butting heads

She loves wearing beaded bracelets and bangles on both her wrists

Hua once walked in on Kai and Skylor making out, the poor girl was so flustered she turned around and ran straight into the door 😭

Skylor laughed it off but Kai was so embarrassed

Jay always treaded lightly around Hua, since she wasn't really keen on Nya having a bf

She thought Nya would forget about her, even though her big sis tries to convince her that she'd never ever do that

Since Ray and Maya basically weren't a part of her life at all before Hands of Time, Hua sat them both down and brought together all her favourite things like bracelets, photos, etc, and she told them essentially everything there was to know about her

Somehow is probably the best Prime Empire player in all of Ninjago, both Jay and Kai are pissed about it

That is all! Zane is probably going to be next!! ^^

When she was younger (seasons 1-4) she'd dress up in the ninja's old gis for fun

Since her hair was quite long, she used to let the ninja style it for her for fun. Cole once created this beautiful twin-braided hairstyle and now Hua wears it like that all the time.

[agenericplaceholdername]

Dragons Rising E16-20 Thoughts

Here’s some thoughts on the final episodes of Dragons Rising, Season 1:

Land of Lost Things:

So how’d the Dragon Core end up in the Land of Lost Things? Nya says, “Someone lost it” but who?

The Land of Lost Things in this ep is permanently at sunset/rise and looks beautiful

The land itself is screaming? Seems kinda important

Couldn’t Geo just fuse the Hoarder to the ground

Bonzle! Never expected how much they’d do with her after this ep

Sora ngl powering a machine off of another person’s energy does sound like Imperium

Who built this machine anyway

Poor Geo :( 

Cole is just so lost lol. “What Empress?!”

Okay but he’s also super cool

“Bones. Extremely useful.”

“Broken things can be repaired, and made stronger!” Thanks Geo - not only is your relationship w/ Cole super cute but you’ve helped Sora

Dr. LaRow is exactly the type of person who would “erm actually” an insult

IT FORMED A HEART

Wow it’s a cute blue blob

Wyldfyre growth

Very good episode - Cole is characterized great, Geo is fun, we get both Sora and Wyldfyre growth, the Land of Lost Things is beautiful. Certainly could go into more detail but these bullets are just what I think as I watch, not in depth analysis

The Administration:

Arin nearly hits Lloyd in the face with his grappling hook

I wish I had a line to wait in

The Kai and Wyldfyre stuff this episode is great for both characters

The Administration as an agency is so fascinating. Reminds me of the TVA from Loki

“We have to fill out ‘Tricked by fake forms’ forms first”

Blue Frohicky

Is that a new species? The guys who look like Munce? Or are they Munce?

Zane says that the Administration has no real authority, which is true, but it’s also the case that their teleportation technology is very powerful

The Administrator… hmmm

“The lands formerly known as the Cursed Realm” so the body of the Preeminent in Hollow’s Trench? The soul of the Preeminent in the Departed Realm? Something else?

JAY!

Of course the Administration had a car specifically designed around Zane (I choose to believe this was Zane’s car at one point and the Administration confiscated it)

So what else qualifies as a Class B artifact? Is there a hierarchy — would Class A be something like the Golden Armor?

And of course the Administration has a mech designed for Arin and Lloyd

Love the Zane death note scene. “You’re a form genius.”

Really fun episode on the Administration side, and heartfelt one on the Kai & Wyldfyre side

Absolute Power:

I wonder if Ras got revenge on those guards later

Ras has seen a Source Dragon with his own eyes…hmmm

Interesting choice to make Levo a jerk. It makes sense why Beatrix would be so resentful

Beatrix using adults in green suits to represent children I can’t even

This fake dragon core thing is slightly confusing but pretty understandable once explained

“Sora’s Armor for Geo” is a great soundtrack

“[Time] is running out everywhere” because the ground is screaming. Cole what are you talking about? Your journey here is still unaddressed, at least a year in universe later

This Nya Cole exchange is really nice

Was Beatrix just waiting under the Throne Room for them to arrive?

“Obviously they have different energies, they’re different Cores” it’s funny that the sets color the cores differently, but in show they’re all identical lol

Bye Rapton

Excellent manipulation by Ras, but the following scene in prison shows Ras’ fatal flaw: he thinks he’s smarter than everyone else, so he can’t see that Beatrix has (or at least thinks she has) grown beyond him

Love the Imperium coup scene

The hoverboard one take is also great

One of the Imperium Teen Protection/Resistance Force members has changed

LaRow finally grows a spine— only for Jordana to fill in!

We Are All Dragons:

So Percival didn’t know Arin’s name— but did he still think he was a doctor?

“I forgot there’s two of them now” Kai and Wyldfyre work so well together

“There’s no talking to [my parents]” we’ll see about that Sora

Genuinely curious what Arin thinks about the fact that Wyldfyre thinks her powers make her superior 

Nya that joke was “Mediocre-at-best”

Hey it’s the dumpster Arin hid Riyu in

Why did Beatrix film herself admitting her lies

“I’ve always got your back, Sora” thanks Arin, good to know for reference

NO JIRO!!!! (yeah he’s fine but the implication)

The return of Melvin, the greatest Imperium guard

Yet another perfect Kai and Wyldfyre scene. Not the shoulder pad storage!

Get him Riyu, he deserves it

The Beatrix dramatic entrance and then immediately Dorama

Another great one take

LaRow loves nothing but taunting people she doesn’t like - both Sora and Jordana. If they ever end up reconciling, they already have a mutual enemy

They show a clip of Beatrix admitting the dragons didn’t escape, but it’s a different one from when she does the same thing with LaRow in E11

Sora’s dad shakes his head as Sora speaks

Excellent speech from Sora, following in her Master’s footsteps

Kai and Wyldfyre are so cool

Why would you throw one of your own loyalists?

We are all dragons!

Oh shoot

The Power Within:

Finally, Dorama sees the bigger picture

Extremely cool shot (the MergeQuake over the entire city of Imperium)

I agree, the Empress *has* lost it

Excellent shot of the Ninja

Wyldfyre!

Kai gets sliced with a giant mech sword and is basically fine— what sort of armor is under those Ninja outfits

Percival!

Riyu!

Arin can only do Object Spinjitzu when Sora’s in danger (or when he thinks about Sora being in danger)

Oh no not Rapton ah well

LET’S GO SORA WOOOO

See ya Beatrix

Oh no not the Bounty (again)

Zanth randomly grows in size and then never does again lol

I would never forget you Lobbo

I think Arin’s parents are proud of him

Sora’s parents were swallowed by a MergeQuake

Is the Sora scene a culmination of a whole season of character development executed really well? Yes. That being said, I had an even bigger smile when Frohicky appeared driving Zane’s car with the dragon core

Yet another awesome Lloyd vision scene

Dragon hugs :)

The Source Dragon scenes are always cool

“Who was right?” Good question

What’s special about Riyu, Mr. Energy?

“This cycle” what do you mean?

Good advice Lloyd, suppressing your emotions is bad

So we now know that Wyldfyre has Heat, not Fire, but how does that differ besides burning vs melting aluminum cans? (there are plenty of ways but I’m interested to see what they go with)

Kai how’d you drop your pie immediately

Ras stop manipulating teenagers challenge level: impossible

So Ras has a “true” Master, wants to unlock forbidden secrets, and is now working with Jordana. Great setup for Season 2

Closing (brief) thoughts on Dragons Rising Season 1: It’s really good. Good blend of the more episodic stuff and serialized content. Arin and Sora are a blast, Lloyd is great, and I forgot just how good the Wyldfyre stuff is this season. There’s a lot of hanging threads, but Season 1 also does feel like a complete story. It’s not perfect by any means, but certainly at the higher end of Ninjago seasons.

Next up, the start of Dragons Rising Season 2!

[fires-of-ninjago]

Ninjago and Dragons Rising Headcannons Incoming!

Okay, since it's been forever since I've posted anything like this (and I've had more than a few just rolling around in my head), I think it's time that I created a whole new set for everyone to deal with!

The FSM always hated being likened to a god or deity. He remembered what it was like listening to the people of the First Realm just start arguing over it, and he just KNEW that he would never get a day-off if he let it happen to him.

Mistake made the FSM the central deity of a new religion to troll him.

Dragons sometimes travel to Ninjago, but once there, they have the absolute worst time trying to leave (because it's a literal paradise for them).

The Oni find traveling to Ninjago nearly impossible unaided. When they do, they end up landing somewhere far out to sea.

Ninjago was never originally just one island that was then split in 2 by the FSM, but many different land masses. Most of the others were simply shifted to other Realms, or in a few cases, as the base to form new Realms all together.

The Realm of Madness is where the Oni were originally from. They're leaving caused it to just go crazy.

If someone were to build a fast enough space ship, then it could be possible to travel to most of the other Realms from Ninjago (I said most, not all).

Each and every one of the elemental masters is descended from at least a Dragon (hence their elemental powers).

That being said: Some of the more unique abilities do come from Oni blood getting indirectly mixed-in somewhere along the way.

DRAGONS RISING SPOILERS UN THE CUT!

It takes a lot of time studying Wu's scrolls, but eventually Zane comes up with a theory on how new elemental powers can appear like they have been after the Merge.

Elemental powers can lay dormant in a lineage for many generations until something triggers them to manifest.

Considering how he was able to teach himself a unique version of spinjitsu, Lloyd believes that both of Arin's parents are descended from an Oni and a Dragon.

He won't say it out loud (because it's ridiculous, right?), but Zane theorizes that Arin might either be another direct descendant of the FSM, or some other Dragon/Oni hybrid that they didn't know about.

Given how Sora's powers work, Nya wonders if Sora might actually be descended from an Oni...especially since they seem to operate on the principal of destroying something first in order to reform it.

After dealing with her for so long, Kai has a theory that Wyldfyre isn't the next Elemental Master of Fire, but of pure Heat.

Although they don't know it yet, all of the secret Monasteries and their Monastery Gates where built by the FSM and/or the original Elemental Masters when they first arrived on Ninjago.

[namelysane]

Hellspawn would totally ask Lloyd where her mother is especially at a young age. He chokes whenever she asks.

Absolutely, lmao.

It's bad enough that it was her favorite kids show that started the question. And after her young mind pieced together that a 'mother' was basically a female version of someone who took care of you & spent time with you like your dad, she wondered who that was to her.

Obviously Misako was too old, and Pixal didn't have a physical form yet so she never really interacted with her often. Only Nya was left, but then she remembered that Nya was Aunt Ni and not Mommy.

So one day while they were all having lunch on the bounty...she decided to ask Lloyd.

And boy was he unprepared for that question.

Eventually, Cole just decided to awkwardly tell her that she's a special case and her dad is literally also her mom—which led to her soon asking why she doesn't call him mommy. Kai cheerfully told her that she could if she wanted to and Lloyd immediately kicked him under the table after that one. Zane suggested that Lloyd just tell her the complete truth and after a "I'd rather get possessed again" and some convincing, Lloyd finally agreed to tell her he made her with his powers.

After somewhat absorbing that, she asked whether she could have a little sibling—no surprise there. The rest of the team spent at least fifteen minutes laughing at the look on Lloyd's face.

Man... having the talk with her one day is definitely gonna be something.

[blursed-ninjago-ideas]

Accidental model Kai au

Kai absolutely would slay in the Mr.Ninjago pageant

Since we kinda referenced replacing the talent show for Ninjago’s equivalent of Ms.America

The Fang Blade is in the crown winners get to wear at the end

Kai as Mr.Ignacia

One of the outfits being a fancy western/cowboy one because it’s a farming village

Like the Ken one from the upcoming barbie movie

He’s got a decorative armor set that show cases Ignacia’s rich metal working industry

He’s doing a fire dance

almost all the metal work on his costumes were done by him and sewed on by Misako

Kai: Cole get over here and apply the rollers! We’re winning this thing or I’m taking this whole damn arena out!

Kai: Zane help me wax my legs and Jay go get me water. I’m looking drier and deader then your parents junkyard! Lloyd you’re fine keep doing what you’re doing!

Kai has become a pageant zilla and he’s on the war path

He’s started snorting pixie sticks and drinking energy drinks to be perfect and perky

"If we didn't need this fangblade so badly I'd call Nya to stop this."

-Ivy

[hollowflight-propaganda]

I've excepted that Kai's gonna be beat at this point because it's fucking Zuko, but please spare a thought for the fire lego y'all. Kai's just so special to me and I have no clue how to describe it.

When I originally started to watch Ninjago, I just picked him to be my favorite because my favorite color was red and I was like 7. I would consider him to be my favorite character, but in actuality there wasn't really anything that separated him from any of the others in my mind all that much. Seasons 4 and 5 gave me quite a few reasons to like him, but besides those I picked him to be my favorite out of the obligation to have a favorite.

That was until season 7. (This is probably gonna be long so continue if you dare)

Most of the fandom shit on Hands of Time because it kinda sucked, and honestly I agree on that. Kind of. You see, I ignore a lot of what happened in season 7 and I only pay attention to the bits I liked, and the main thing I like is what they did with Kai.

Because what happens in this season is that there's a lot of stuff about Ray and Maya, who are Kai's parents. They start coming up quite a bit during the first couple episodes (because we need to let the audience know they're gonna be important) but then in episode 3 is where the Lego Ninja Angst™ kicks in. One of the main villains named Krux gets into a fight with Kai, and during this he tells him that his parents actually where on his side during him and his brother's first attempt to.... rule the world I guess? I don't really know what they were trying to accomplish really.

Anyway, Krux tells him this and Kai is not happy about this information. (Thinking back on it now, Kai's voice actor, Vincent Tong, absolutely killed it this season, and this scene is a prime example.) He tries to deny that they would do anything like that, but after this he has his doubts. And then this sparks one of my favorite dynamics the ninja team have ever had, and this is that nearly everyone else is goofing around, Lloyd's trying to be team leader while everyone's goofing around, and Kai's just disassociating in the corner. I don't know why, but that's hilarious to me.

I'm gonna skip over a lot of the details as to not go on forever, but over the next four episodes Kai starts looking into this and actually finds a lot of evidence that his parents where evil. Not only that, but that they could be alive. Now, from the audience's perspective all we've known about Kai and Nya's parents up to the season are this:

1: Their father was a good blacksmith.

2: They were the masters of fire and water.

3: They probably died at some point.

That's basically all we knew for like six years, and nearly every time they where mentioned it was treated like they where dead. The one time where it seemed that wasn't the case was in the Halloween special that came before Hands of Time, in which Kai says something to Nya along the lines of, "Do you ever wonder what happened to them?" This is the first time it was ever mentioned that Kai and Nya actually didn't know what happened to them. Because of this people consider what happens in this season a retcon, but I honestly don't. Because for starters, from Kai and Nya's perspective why would they clarify that they where abandoned and don't know what happened to their parents? They're both the type of people who avoid talking about their emotions as much as possible, so if given the chance they probably wouldn't talk about it. Secondly, I think they were always talked about vaguely enough to allow this to happen.

Getting back on track here, Kai goes to Nya and tells her about all of the evidence he's found. I think the following scene is really underrated because this one of, if not the only time where these two get into a legitimate argument. Nya refuses to believe that their parents did this, while Kai keeps listing off all the things he's found out. The argument is dispelled unceremoniously though because of course it does, this is Ninjago for crying out loud. After this they go their separate ways and Kai finds the damning piece of evidence that shows that his parents are alive. He shows Nya this and now she believes him, but honestly it seems that she doesn't really care too much, at least not to Kai's extent. Which makes perfect sense because we also learn in this season that Nya was at least three when Ray and Maya went missing. So keep that in mind and also that Kai was least five.

Now we come to probably my favorite scene in this whole show. I'm not kidding. In episode 8 the ninja are now invading the villain's base they have in this reclusive swamp. What the others are doing isn't really important right now, but what Kai and Nya are supposed to be doing are tracking down where Krux and his brother Acronix are. Instead of sticking to the plan Kai immediately runs off as soon as he knows where his parents are. He finds his father and then proceeds to try to KILL HIM. I Am Not Kidding. He literally tries to kill him and I can't get over this. The writers for this lego show for kids literally went, "We should have one of the main characters try to kill his father. I think that'd be fun!" To which ever writer came up with that, thank you so much for this. This turns into some Shakespearean drama shit and I love it.

Anyway, I literally don't know where to start or what to say about this, but just know that this is where my love for Kai is rooted. He is so much fun to psychoanalyze because of it. Honestly, find the scene for yourself and watch it if you haven't. I don't think I can do it that much justice. Is the dialogue the best? No. Do I still love it despite it's flaws? Yes.

Getting to the end of this now, Maya comes in (I don't know where the fuck she was) and breaks it up. She's completely chill about this too, she's just like, "It's great to see you again!". So is Nya really, she's just along for the ride. Kai's still pretty pissed though but allows them to explain themselves. Ray and Maya then explain how they're here because Krux kidnapped them like over a decade ago. How he did this was that he literally THREATENED TO KILL THEIR CHILDREN. This bitch threatened to kill a three and five year old. I want to know who came up with all of the oddly dark stuff this season and shake their hand. After this Kai's like, "Hey, sorry about almost killing you and stuff." And Ray's like, "Don't worry about it son!" Ray's also really chill about the fact that he was almost murdered and I love him for that.

I'm done with most of the season 7 stuff now because after this everybody's mostly focused on the plot of stopping the Time Twins from.... I still don't really know what their goal is honestly. There's one last thing I want to touch on though, and it's that there's literally no canon evidence that Kai and Nya had help from any adults after their parents where kidnapped. Besides a mention of them having a "babysitter" there's literally nothing about anybody who helped them. In Seabound, Nya even says that Kai and her, "had to raise ourselves." Excuse me while I go CRY. Because wtf Ninjago, you're supposed to be a stupid lego show, why do you have some of the most depressing backstories I've ever heard of???

So, what was it that this was about? Oh yeah, fire guy polls! This got really out of hand, but if you actually read through this shit you have my applause. 👏👏👏👏👏

The Quarter finals Match 4, the one you’ve been waiting for

Zuko from Avatar the last Airbender

Vs

Kai Smith from Lego Ninjago

[traffic-light-eyes]

A completely unasked for Lloyd hc list

He never really grew out of his sweet tooth. He said he did because it was "too childish" and he's "all grown up now," but he still absolutely adores sweets. The ninja definitely found his hidden stash of candy under his bed and never said a word. (Cole or Zane may or may not ask Lloyd to help them bake cakes or cookies with them for this reason)

Lloyd also still loves starfarer comics. When he heard that Jay's dad was the Cliff Gordon, he FREAKED inside. He had bit of a starstruck moment with Jay for a little while after that.

Lloyd grew up with bright red eyes and fangs, and he was very proud of them because it made him look dark and scary and so much like his dad. He even got some evil points with his teachers at Darkley's because of these features. When he got taken by the ninja and started learning about how nice it feels to be a good person, he began resenting himself and how he looks. He asked Zane if he could get colored contacts one time--because he definitely needed a cool disguise, Zane! No one could know he was the terrible and evil Lloyd Garmadon!--and Zane immediately shut that down. The ninja had a nice long talk with him about his looks and how it meant nothing.

Lloyd is actually an excellent student. He learns quick and picks up on a lot of topics easily. For the heck of it, he sometimes gets sucked into weird conspiracy theories or topics. He's terrible at math, though. He would know how and the exact date Pastafarianism came to be, but could not solve for slope at all.

He picked up a lot of his hobbies from the ninja. It calms him down and keeps him grounded. Cole taught him how to draw, Zane taught him how to cook, Nya taught him how to build, Kai taught him how to hit the town, Jay taught him how to game, and Pixal taught him all things tech.

Cole 100% asks Lloyd to join him whenever he goes hiking. Lloyd would complain at first about how he's so busy, but he would secretly be grateful for the break and exercise. He gets antsy.

Lloyd always goes to Nya or Kai when he gets anxious or sad because they're basically his siblings. Sometimes he doesn't even talk. He just goes up to Kai when he's sitting on the couch, sits next to him, and leans his head on Kai's shoulder. They don't need words.

When he first joined the ninja, he basically ate his entire body weight (which wasn't much) in food every day because he was scared that the ninja would kick him out at any time and he didn't want that to happen to him when he had an empty stomach. The ninja thought it was just a silly Lloyd thing. He eventually realized he was there to stay and started eating normally. Later on, he joked about it and the ninja got worried™ and kept reassuring him for a month that he was wanted and he was here to stay. Lloyd already knew that by now, but he loved the attention.

He purrs. He hates it. It reminds him he isn't human. The ninja made light jokes about it when it first happened, and he cried. They don't mention it now.

Lloyd gets hit on often by people, but Harumi messed him up too much to trust them. One time, a girl talked to him often and Lloyd had thought that they were becoming good friends. Eventually, the girl had asked when Lloyd was going to ask her out. He felt betrayed and hurt and badbadbad, but played it off and actively made the choice to never see her again in case she was another person looking for revenge.

He misses Akita. He wishes that he could've brought her with him to Ninjago because he feels like she would never do anything bad to him. She knows too much and cares too much, even if she didn't show it. He knew.

He passes by Darkley's often just to see how his old classmates are doing. He never goes in. He never talks to them. Lloyd misses his friends at Darkley's, but he thinks that they would never click again because he's too different now. Too old. Too roughed up. Sometimes, Brad catches a glimpse of green and blond on a roof or something out of the corner of his eye and smiles wistfully. He knows it's Lloyd. He thinks Lloyd is too old to play catch with him or plant flowers in the garden. Brad thinks he's too young, too childish. They both wish for a better time, one where Lloyd could have stayed young. Unfortunately, fate has other things in store.

When he lost his powers and his green eyes, it took him a while to be able to look at himself in the mirror.

When the team has movie nights, Lloyd always always has to sit in the middle, smushed between his favorite people in the whole wide world.

He makes pillow forts. He has a sign that says "no bad guys allowed :(" and he always puts it up when he makes a fort.

He went to the children's hospital once when he was sad and a little girl had him play tea party with him for like half an hour. He forgot why he was sad, especially when Mr. Fluffybutt told him all of that juicy gossip about that terrible, awful Mrs. Lenard that teaches at the girl's school. How horrible!

He grew up without the words "love" in his vocabulary, so the ninja had to teach him. Lloyd found that he loved being loved. He loved the hugs and the sweet words and the kind gestures. It's still hard for him to say "I love you," though, so he settles for acts of service. When Lloyd is around, no one's teacup is ever empty.

He writes a secret blog about all the ninjas misadventures and the ninja have no idea who it's by so they're terrified someone is following them. When there was a photo of all of them cooking and laughing in their kitchen, they almost boarded up the monastery. Pixal knows. She helps him keep it secret by changing his ip and giving "logical" explanations for the photos and direct quotes. Lloyd has to turn away or leave the room when the topic is brought up. He can't help but laugh.

He gets upset when someone asks about his age because he'd feel weird if he told someone he just turned 9 last month but he's currently very tall and lanky and his voice dropped and it's all wrongwrongwrong, but he also doesn't know his body's age. He doesn't want to explain the situation either, though. When asked, he just says Nya's age of the time or a year below it.

The ninja celebrate his birthday and always make sure to decorate it for his correct age and give him the correct candles. He gets embarrassed, but he loves that they don't think he's strange for still wanting big fun bright balloons at his party and those little blower things. It's also mandatory to wear those tiny hat things. Jay didn't wear one and he was subjected to ice down the back of his shirt.

That's all for now. I'm tired and want to catch some z's.

[monkiementor]

Hello! I would like to request angst hcs of the ninjas reacting to their s/o falling into the darkness during March of the Oni?? If that's okay!

Oooo, a Ninjago ask !! I'm not good at hcs but I'll try my best !!

Ninjas reacting to you falling into the Oni cloud.

Ninja crew x gn reader [angst]

Jay ⚡

After seeing you disappear into the cloud he was overwhelmed and sad. He wanted to go to you right now but he couldn't, not yet, he needed to figure out a solution first. He was going crazy inside, he felt like he couldn't breathe. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. His chest felt heavy and his vision blurred slightly. All he could focus on was the fact that he would never see you again. He had no idea how long he stood there before he snapped out of his thoughts. He had been standing perfectly still in place while all he wanted was to run in there and save you. He shook his head to snap himself out of his daze. He needed to think rationally, he had to. He couldn't risk anything happening to you. And he refused to let that happen.

He clenched his fists tightly before slowly relaxing and letting go. The tension melted away from his muscles, his legs gave out beneath him and he hit the floor with an audible thud. It sounded hollow to him. Jay couldn't remember the last time he cried, he couldn't remember the last time he let himself be vulnerable. He was scared, worried, angry, and frustrated, yes he was scared. But he tried his hardest to hold it all together so that he didn't alarm any of the others who were busy trying to figure out what exactly they were supposed to do next. He had to be strong. For them, and for you.

Kai 🔥

His reaction was a mix of anger and worry, he never thought that you would actually fall into the Oni cloud. That alone scared him. But then again, Kai's always been an emotional person and he's pretty good at hiding his emotions. The fact that he showed such a strong emotion showed just how much he cared for you. It was obvious in the way he looked after you, the way he talked to you. The way he smiled when you two were together. His heart ached thinking about the possibility of losing you. The more you were gone the more angry and impatient Kai got, Nya tried reassuring him that it was okay and that they were going to get you back but he wasn't having any of that.

Nya 🌊

Nya's reaction was different from most people she has come across in her lifetime. She took your disappearance really seriously and she seemed upset by the whole situation. She was devastated and she was determined to find a way to get you back. In her world, there weren't rules. You could have gotten lost out in the woods with no supplies or a lack of water. You could starve to death from dehydration. There was no such thing as being caught in the rainstorms either. You could die of sickness, starvation, or exposure. You could end up as food for the Oni or something equally horrible and terrifying. In one way or another, you could lose yourself completely without someone around. She couldn't live out her whole life doing absolutely nothing and never finding out what happened to you. She wasn't sure she would survive until she found you. She loved you so much she wouldn't be able to let go. If anyone could bring you home safely it was Nya. Even if she had to fight for it, no matter what that meant.

Lloyd 🌱

He was probably the saddest of them all, his eyes welled up with tears when you fell. He didn't want to believe you were gone. He was still trying to process everything. He needed time before he was ready to give up hope. He felt like his entire world was on edge and his mind was full. He kept imagining worst-case scenarios, he couldn't keep the thoughts out of his head. When you fell into the Oni cloud he started getting more and more anxious. He didn't understand why it affected him so strongly and made him want to cry. Maybe it was because he cares about you so much but he doesn't know how to show it. That's why he hasn't shown any outward signs of his feelings towards you. There are many things that make him want to act on his feelings for you. For example, he wants you to feel comfortable around him. He likes it when you call him by his name, especially when you're close to him and he can feel your body pressed against his. He's not used to physical contact since he's had a bad past with Harumiand etc. But he would also do anything he could to get u back, he would do anything possible to ensure your safety. He knows that's selfish and stupid of him but he feels obligated to protect you. That feeling is stronger than any other reason, he doesn't understand it but he needs to protect you. Even if it means giving up.

Zane 🤖

Zane's reaction was similar to the rest of them but he was more careful in hiding his emotions. He hid it well and his face stayed blank. He kept himself composed. He wanted to help you but he didn't want to hurt anyone else. The only time he allowed his sadness to shine through was when Lloyd brought you up. All these emotions and worries ran through his head constantly. He couldn't concentrate on anything other than making sure you were okay. He wanted to be near you to make sure you were alright. He wanted to make sure that the cloud hadn't harmed you. He hated himself for reacting so badly to the situation, it was almost like he didn't care that you fell into the Oni cloud. It felt wrong. He shook off those thoughts as fast as possible. Even though he wanted to be as calm as possible, there was a part of him that was freaking out inside. He could tell he was struggling, keeping his cool and hiding it behind a mask. He couldn't allow himself to panic, he had to stay calm and focus. He would save you, he told himself. And that was exactly what he decided to do, he wasn't going to give up. He had to do something, anything! He had to get you out of there somehow. If it meant sacrificing his life he would gladly do that, just please, don't leave him.

Cole 🪨

He had seen this coming from the start, he knew that you would fall into the cloud today, but he didn't think it would actually happen. His reaction was just about as shocking as everyone else's in the room, even more because of his own reaction. He couldn't believe what he was seeing; it was like a scene from some movie where the main character falls into a lake during a forest fire or something. It was too unreal. He would do anything in his willpower to get you back. He doesn't care if that means he has to go up against some giant Oni to get you. He'd do it no matter how painful it might be or even impossible. All he wanted to do was make sure you were safe. He did tear up a bit when you fell in, the others tried their best to cheer him up but it was difficult. They all understood that there was nothing they could do.

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

Like I said, I'm not very good at hcs but I tried. ""

[nin-jay-go]

@x-catspace-x

heard your req about a swap au loud and clear >:3 maybe it was a mistake to give the au fiend More AUs to play with but i totally haven't been thinking about this nonstop recently (im lying. ive been thinking about this nonstop)

more details about the swap au under the cut if anyone's curious :0

in case it wasn't clear from the image, the swaps are as follows

kai - skylor

jay - unagami

cole - morro

zane - cryptor

lloyd - harumi

nya - kalmaar

with bonus swaps of

wu - garmadon

pixal - mr e / echo (still haven't decided if i want mr e to be echo here)

since everything's all swapped around, it means that harumi is the daughter of wu (hehe haWUmi), and wu is the lord of darkness and master of destruction. misako stays where she is bc i couldn't think of anyone to swap her with gfkjdhfgkjh (and btw she has glasses bc i hc her to be albino and albino ppl tend to have poor vision, so i thought it'd be cute :) since i used to hc lloyd with glasses at some point i thought it would fit)

skylor's mom died recently, and she's been trying not to think about it by drowning herself in work at the noodle shop, where her dad chen is trying to get her to lighten up and not work so hard. she gets approached by garmadon to train with her mother's fire and she accepts. chen is a wonderful dad and i LOVE HIM

unagami (prefers gami) is a Gamer™️ and has two whole dads (milton dyer and okino). despite being tiny, permanently babyfaced, and a Gamer, he talks very politely and uses a lot of big words. okino raised him like that :) scott is the previous elem of lightning but i haven't decided where he is in the story yet, but i want him to be gami's uncle. also gami is a vtuber

morro was found as a kid rooting through garmadons trash, so ofc garm went "hm. i want this rat as my child" and adopts them dkjfghdfjh they got their earth power from their parent, who is still unknown to everyone. they're still just as emo bc they have an excuse to wear black at all times jdkfghkjdfg (morro also gets kai's jealousy arc and realization that the green ninja is to be protected, so they end up taking kai's role as the green ninja's older sibling, in this case rumi)

cryptor was built by cyrus borg in this au, but still deep in the forest where no one could find them. he was originally built to assist borg with household things but he started to see cryptor as his son as his ai developed. borg got kidnapped at some point, so cryptor is trying to find him. unknown if cry knows about being a nindroid at first or not, but he's prone to short circuiting due to how snappy he gets.

and kalmaar (sometimes called kali or mar depending on their mood) is the water ninja now! bc i thought it'd be absolutely hilarious to put this purple bitch boy in a hero's role dfkjghkjdhfg he got exiled from merlopia after his father and (adopted) brother disagreed with his human-loving notions, and decided that weakness wasn't tolerated. and because of Magic i guess, kalmaar is able to shift from his squid form to a more lego head-esque form (aka i did not want to draw a squid head. good lird). also i made him genderfluid bc i can

any more questions are welcome :) my ask box is open!

[nonbinarykai]

I mean it would be cool if they had a villain who develops their plan in real time. But they absolutely lost me on the marriage plot for obvious reasons and everything after that is just more salt to the injury.

Maybe your right that I just don’t want to analyze him that hard (mostly again bc of the stupid wedding that’s gross and completely unnecessary imo)

But at the same time I don’t really think this is a case of a character being complex. I really don’t wanna be “that guy” who says that the writers aren’t smart and ruin your fun.

But skybound is easily one of the worst season in terms of writing wise, from its blatant racism in depictions of nadakhan. To them trying to set up an arc where nya tries to get agency only to immediately fucking die because of it. To the problematic aspects like the marriage. To the ninja just suddenly becoming sexist. Etc

When I watch nadakhan I don’t think “wow this guy is super smart at manipulating people” and more like “wow the ninja were extremely stupid saying that”

And that’s exactly how nadakhan as a villain feels to me. It feels less like he’s adapting to the ninjas plans and more like things just go his way. From things like the police captain randomly telling him about the venom, or vengestone suddenly keeping cole from escaping, or hell even nya getting the venom on her. It really just feels like the season is giving nadakhan what he wants in order to make him seem intimidating and it really takes me out of him as a character. 

And while I can completely understand and respect you wanting to build something out of this. I just can’t agree with you that it was somehow intended or implied in plot. I think it’s more likely the case that these are things that happen but don’t get built up upon bc of consistency issues, and you’ve just managed to connect a thrill line between all of them.

Which a again. I can absolutely respect that, I do that with Kai to.

But to say that it’s all intended? Im not so sure about that. And even if It is, that doesn’t excuse the writers poor writing and execution on the concept.

Ngl I don’t really get why people like nadkhan as a villain

Your supposed to tell me that this dude, who’s main thing is that he can manipulate people, isn’t smart enough to use a sword as a sword?

Like why is he doing the whole “wish it all away” thing if he can just hit them WITH THE SWORD? 😭😭😭

[weekend-whip]

What's your opinion on the "love at first sight" thing from ninjago? And do you have any headcanon With Pixal an Skylor?

Short Answer: Very 50/50 with it. Love what we did get from it, but by god the executions could have been handled better. 

You sly dog, you got me monologuing. Going slightly off-topic cuz i have THOUGHTS

Long Answer: On one hand, it was already a bold enough move to include even a little romance in a toy commercial aimed a young boys, especially when it was so far from the premise of the show to begin with, so I’m not all that torn up about these things happening “too quick”. From one perspective, it’s just another little facet about the characters that helps drive them in the future, and doesn’t necessarily have to be explored deeper, because that’s not the overall point of the story (unless it’s tied with the plot of the season itself, and at least then it does get well-deserved focus). 

On the other hand, I can absolutely understand why people would find it forced, rushed, or unnecessary (or in Kailor’s case, not doing enough), and that’s valid too. If they really were going to go this route, especially with Zane, then they should’ve at least dedicated an episode of them finding the foundation for a bond rather than swan diving into infatuation. Like I’ve said in my fic, it’s hard to be invested in something that happens offscreen lmao. And there’s also the whole thing of these girls juts being brought into the picture to be love interests, rather than having a full dedicated character of their own. Nya’s obviously somewhat of an exception, and Pixal and Skylor do get their moments (eventually), but generally they’re left very flat if they’re not with the object of their affections. 

Jay, while instantly falling for Nya, gets several seasons worth of ups and down that have impact on their characters until it accumulates which, while that might drive people to believe their relationship is “bad” just because it wasn’t consistently perfect, I found them much more interesting because they had to go through the growing pains to get where they are now. They did get together too quick, especially when Nya wasn’t really giving off any “I have a crush” vibes but liked Jay’s attention. And while they did have several communication bumps and disagreements, they were still able to take a step back, reexamine themselves, and readjust enough to the point that they’re practically married now! And they’re happy! I love it! I really, genuinely do! And I know that Jaya tends to cannibalize Jay’s character as an individual too, but she’s just that big of a part of his life. It’s not that he doesn’t have things he likes to do on his own; he just prefers to do them with her. But, it’s just gotta be in a way that respects Nya’s boundaries and her own preference of doing things on her own. Which is something they come to an agreement about!! And it’s good!! 

But then, you’ve got Zane and Pixal just looking at each other and becoming a thing within like three episodes. Not even a “Zane takes Pixal out in the city and shows her how to be more human” kind of episode, no “Pixal helps him get in better touch with his technological side”, nah! Things you’d think you’d get in a Zane season! She just dies, Zane literally breaks his heart for her, and then suddenly they’re the most adorable thing to happen on the whole show sdfghjkhgf. It’s tragic, honestly! That they have this much great chemistry together but next to nothing to show for it besides life or death circumstances!! I literally wrote a fic on that too! Because as much as I love them and their ship and the strength of their give and take, how they started I just cannot get over! Even if Zane fell immediately, there could have been some interesting tension between him dealing with his new feelings and Pixal realizing that she has feelings to begin with! Just some missed opportunities there, really. 

And then—oooh, and then! Kai and Skylor! If anyone I could believe would fall at first sight, it would be Kai! And it’s hilarious, because he’s flirted with other people in the past and now here he is, suddenly and genuinely interested in this intriguing and probably very attractive individual and his usual flirty tricks aren’t always working!! Which would then make him reexamine himself and also actually talk to Skylor to see if they could even work to begin with!!  Or Kai manages to show Skylor some of what’s she’s missed out on while presumably living her whole life on the island and oop there she goes catching some feelings and then we get to see her QUESTION some of her morally dubious actions!! But that’s not what we got lmfao!!!!! That being said, watching them play off of each other is SO much fun, ESPECIALLY when they’re working together running from Chen in the jungle AND THEY HUG but ummmmm...we still know next to nothing about Skylor. I love Skylor, and I ADORE Kailor, but both of them deserve more than a orange piece of cardboard that’s sassy and clever sometimes *lies down* I’m so sorry sweetie it’s NOT your FAULT

aND ON ONE HAND, I’m insane and actually do kind of like that they’re keeping their relationship out of the light, and it gets to develop on their own terms at their own pace without having to be put on a pedestal for others. That avoids the problems Jaya went through. Maybe they are kinda together, maybe they don’t have a label for it, maybe they’re nervous about making the first move, maybe they’ve been a thing the whole time, but it’s no one else’s business! We get glimpses every now and then that show they still have eyes for one another, or that they’re important to one another, and that’s okay!! It can be enough!!! They’re spicy but they’re also subtle and that’s lovely in it’s own way!!

.....But of course, that only works if it was intentional, and by Crystalized we sure know it wasn’t!!! And the true horrid irony of it all was that how they handled it in Crystalized could’ve been something we’d gotten the whole time, yet the blows would have been cushioned by the fact we would’ve have time to absorb this over the seasons, rather than smacked over the head with it in the clutch. And yet, as much as I wanna be sad that we didn’t get more, or at least sooner, what we did get was just so THEM that i can’t be fully mad!! Kai’s still fumbling but he knows what he wants and can voice it; Skylor’s uncertain but willing to hear him out and wants to hear him out, but they still have silent moments of understanding and can and will take the time to talk things out when they’re able an hnnnnng i love them so muuuuuuuch aaaaaaugh why did i write three paragraphs about kailoooooor kill meeeee

So anyway love at first sight isn’t inherently bad, but it’s how you handle the follow up of it afterward that makes it either something to loathe or something to at least come to appreciate *shrug* 

And I know you also asked for headcanons but aaaaah everything that’s a hc of mine is probably going to wind up in Legacyverse, and I don’t wanna spoil too many small surprises x3 

[rarlkove]

Zane brain rot is once again taking over my brain

Anyway, in my opinion the best if not funniest situation to the ninjas knowing about the double agent in the long con au is.

Wu knew from the start and so did Nya

Cole found out from the sticker and immediately went “Oh your a double agent” to which Zane was incredibly concerned about his trust in him. Cole thinks it’s hilarious

After that Zane wanted to tell Kai and Jay everyone else thought I was funnier if they figured it out on their own

Zane proceeded to try and tell them but they are big idiots

It became a game of who could be the most obvious about it until they notice. I will push my idiot Jay and Kai agenda

The sticker incident took place in the case in which Zane joins the SOG in the gap between Seabound and Crystalized. In the event that that happens:

Nya wouldn't know because she was uh. Absent. She's one of the last to find out, since she doesn't actually get a chance to catch up with the ninja until a while after she's been de-ocean'd. Not indicative of how much she does or does not pay attention to Zane, just because it's hard to keep tabs on your robot buddy when either you're too busy hanging out with fish and not being a solid or he's stuck in a high security prison.

Wu is THE last to find out, both because he was too busy with his research over the timeskip and also because I can't have him knowing for story purposes; he would absolutely kick up too much of a fuss for it to stay a secret to anyone after that. Maybe. Honestly, my Wu characterization isn't very polished, I don't think about him a whole lot.

Cole and PIXAL both find out over the course of the timeskip, since they're the only ones besides Wu not to leave the monastery and therefore spend the most time with Zane. You're correct in that Cole finds out over the sticker incident; Zane has been frequently disappearing to who knows where mostly during the night, and Cole finally knows where to. PIXAL finds out because she's Samurai X. If the SOG are back in some capacity, and the ninja are split up, who else is gonna fight them? PIXAL is mostly concerned for Zane's safety. He may or may not know that she knows.

Kai finds out shortly after the gang gets back together. His deal with the Red Shogun and Zane's deal with the SOG are not entirely dissimilar, and so Kai is quick to recognize it.

Jay is far too distracted to figure anything out. He doesn't notice anything might be off until someone tells him. In long con "canon(?)", however, things go differently.

You are correct in that your scenario would be funny, though!