#why is season 4 of ninjago so good actually | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

destinysbounty · 1 year

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I'm literally so sad that Cole wasn't in Seabound. Like isn't he the master of Earth? Isn't the seafloor like the deepest place to be? Wouldn't he be closer to his element if he went in the deep sea? Man.

I'm not the first person to bring this up, and I probably won't be the last, but it is a bit odd how Wildbrain feels so intent on splitting the team up all the time. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a good split-up in theory - hell, seasons 4 and 9 are some of my all-time favorites, and overall I think the concept of splitting up the team gives us the chance to explore unconventional dynamics in similarly unconventional situations. There's just one main problem with how Wildbrain handles split-ups: 1) there usually isn't a particularly strong narrative reason for it to happen.

Now if I list off every arbitrary split-up and exactly what made it arbitrary, we'd be here all day. But seriously, next time you watch Wildbrain, try and pay close attention to this sort of thing. Once you notice the way they love to split everyone up at the barest hint of provocation, you can't ignore it. It's everywhere. Obviously there are times where they do have narratively satisfying reasons to split up (s13 is an example of this done well imo), but the sheer volume of arbitrary split-ups kinda sours things a bit - for me, at least.

Which brings us to Seabound. I genuinely don't understand why Cole and Kai couldn't have come along for Seabound. They give this argument that "oh, we need someone to stay behind and hold down the fort while everyone's gone", but...first of all, when has that ever been a pressing issue for them? These assholes leave Ninjago City unattended all the time. And even if they did finally decide to make that a priority after all these years, why is Kai staying behind??? If you ask me, not only would Kai realistically want to be involved in the quest to fix his beloved sister's powers, but Kai also would have been way more effectively utilized by the plot, by actually being part of the plot. Y'know, in the submarine with everyone else. Not only because we'd get the chance to see his fear of water get some resolution, but the whole narrative about Nya's childhood trauma would pack a lot more weight to it with Kai present (for obvious reasons).

And as for Cole...y'know what, up to this point I'd never really thought of a good way to give Cole something to do in Seabound, but you present a great point. Maybe there could be some scenes between Cole and Nya, talking about how overwhelming it can feel to be completely surrounded by your element. In this version of events, maybe Cole takes on an almost mentor-like position as he tries to help Nya connect with her element as he had done at the end of season 13. And for maximum angst, perhaps at the end of the season she takes his lessons and puts them to use - but instead of simply connecting with her element like he taught her, she's becoming one with it. This isn't perfect, of course, but at least now we've found a way to make Cole and Kai feel more relevantly involved in the plot.

Don't get me wrong, as much as I'm criticizing it I absolutely adore Seabound. BUT if I were given the task of rewriting it, personally I'd have the whole gang accompany Nya down to Merlopia. And as for having a land crew to watch over Ninjago in the meantime, I'd throw in some supporting characters. The ninja go "oh hey we need someone to hold down the fort and look after Ninjago while we're away", so they round up a ragtag crew of support characters from past seasons to sub in for them. Y'know, Skylor, Dareth, Karlof, and other characters of that caliber. And then we occasionally cut back to this reserve team, whoever they are, as they get up to all the adventures Kai and Cole would've been up to in the original canon version.

(Or if we want to create a lead-in for the next season, then perhaps they get the mayor or commissioner's help in recruiting a reserve team to look after things in their absence, and then this reserve team becomes the New Ninja during Crystalized).

Again, I don't want anyone to mistake my criticism for dislike - Wildbrain holds a special place in my heart, and I do enjoy it a lot. But I also have to admit that this relentless and at many times painfully arbitrary team-splitting is starting to get a bit annoying.

...oh wow, that was a long rant. I'm not entirely sure if any of that made sense, but either way just know that I agree with you 100%. Thanks for the ask!

#part of me wants to be all 'oh hey wink wink nudge i actually have a wildbrain rewrite fic in the works where i fix issues like this'#but also we all know im probably never gonna write it. soooooo #ninjago #ask #destiny post

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spicyicymeloncat · 3 months

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Hey ngl I am not enjoying the discourse about Misako and Garmadon and who’s the sad puppy dog oh so owo traumatised little flower parent and who’s absolutely down right evil rot in hell forever leaking fuming bag of toxic waste parent.

…

I asked my boyfriend if I should post this and he said I should write a conclusion. And I’m thinking about this. What’s my actual opinion on them? Who’s the better parent? Who’s the worst? Has Lloyd ever a good parental figure ever?? IS THERE ANY DECENT PARENTAL RELATIONSHIPS IN THIS SHOW (jk Ed Edna and Cyrus Borg y’all are doing great).

And yknow I hate the Misako vs Garmadon bc it feels like some of you act like the only reason people hate Misako is because they just hate to see a woman on the screen. But like. No. I disagree. I mean not totally, some people do let misogyny affect their opinions on things. But like, it’s almost as bad to act like the horrendously awful writing of Misako as a character just didn’t happen. It’s horrendous BECAUSE of misogyny (and the fact that the show is not written well in a lot of places anyways).

Misako spends a whole fuckin lot of of her time in the show in the most sexist era of Ninjago, and then doesn’t really get much development after that. Her memorable moments are literally coming back after having no contact with Lloyd, flirting with Wu a lot, being Lloyd’s mother, being a researcher, flirting with Garmadon and like being his wife, getting kidnapped a few times, the letter, and uhhh being a little sassy? As I was saying this I realised I could probably list every detail we get on her in the show. It’s that little. And can we agree, I’m not saying she’s evil and should have chosen to be well written. I’m saying she’s clearly a badly written character mostly used to prop up other characters arcs, and that’s the fault of the writers. Like you can justify some of what she did but it’s not presented in that way bc the writers don’t put in the time to make her compelling.

So why the hell are we comparing “might as well replace her with a trophy for a poetry competition” Misako with characters who were less neglected by the writers. And why are we surprised when people don’t like her compared to a character who the writers put more effort into telling a more compelling redemption, a character who we get on screen for a whole season during his time as a reformed villain, a character who we see spending time with Lloyd much more than Misako. In comparison Misako spends a lot of her scenes holding hands with Wu, hanging out with Wu, like where’s the mother son bonding road trip?? We don’t get a season where Misako tags along with the protagonists and I wish we did but we do get that with Garmadon (twice) and it’s s3 and 4 and she spends those seasons with Wu (and like Wusako is not popular bc their relationship was framed as romantically inclined and she was still living and presented as married with Garmadon at the time so likeeee)

I’m not saying Misako is a worst parent, I’m saying her relationship with her son is not as fun or as enjoyable and that’s why people don’t like her as much. Not necessarily because everyone is a misogynist. But because not everyone is about to reconstruct a Misako with good writing just to enjoy her more.

Have we considered that liking Misako is a spectrum, almost because the writers gave us nothing for her and we’re all just filling the blanks. Some people are projecting hard. Some people are projecting their abandonment issues onto Lloyd. Some people are projecting the struggle of parenthood onto Misako. Some people didn’t think at all about her. Some people only like her out of spite of how annoying it is to only see Misako haters. Some people only like her because she’s one of the scarce female characters of the show and it’s fucking rough. I wish there were more people who liked women as characters tho. Like tbh it still kinda feels like we’re still stuck with the same single archetype for how we see women. Sexy badasses who snark and kiss other women. Tbh I feel like most of the fandom just projects onto characters and that’s why Ninjago discourse feels so vicious bc people are fighting for their lives that they have stitched into their image of their favourite Lego and I’m getting very off topic what was I talking about??

Uhh anyways I like Misako and I hate Misako I feel like all her haters and her stans and the show writers and the myself are wrong about her in some way. I think I’m tired of the debate of whether she’s a good mum, we should be talking about what her favourite food is and it’s probably soup she probably puts it into a flask to take on her work adventures I DONT REMEMBER WHY I STARTED WRITING OH WAIT IT WAS THE GARMISAKO PARENTLYMPICS.

Neither Garmadon and Misako are better than each other. I’m gonna blow your minds rn but write this down if you care about traumatic parent child relationships (so like if you’re gonna write an angsty Lloyd fic). But when your grow up in an abusive household, there’s a high likelihood your parents aren’t clones of each other but instead bad in different ways.

(Tw: I traumadump to you about my not great parents. Skip past the italics)

One of my parents is emotionally unstable and immature and yet more in touch with me emotionally, my other parent is neglectful and has unsatisfiable expectations of me and yet she doesn’t verbally abuse me.

One isn’t worse than the other and worrying about who is worse often ends up minimising the damage the other causes. Why does one have to be worse when it’s more accurate to describe the experience as “they’re bad in their own way”. The “who is worse” debate is definitely something people from broken households ask themselves and I think we can definitely explore Lloyd’s character in terms of that, but there’s no actual answer. You can’t put a number on trauma and I personally don’t think we should be trying to. Goodbye black and white thinking, hello to messy and complicated, as most bad parental relationships are.

I don’t think Misako and Garmadon are great or justified in what they did, and I don’t think they were terrible or that Lloyd shouldn’t have forgiven them either. I wish we got more development for both of them (Misako more tho bc the writers are bitches) and I wish people didn’t ignore either her characterisation as a loving character as well as her characterisation as a once distant one (and then hinge their opinion of Garmadon as a comparison.).

Idk. Idk what this post was I’ve just always been annoyed at other people in the Misako fight club, some people get way too one way about her, like some of y’all get mean about her I think. I opened tiktok once just to feel like the anger was warranted. Idk she’s not my favourite character and I feel like that’s not allowed bc people act like the only way you could hate her is because you’re sexist and I disagree. But I like her as a character that I can get mad at and then forgive. She’s so interesting. She’s not evil she’s complicated I like having complicated feelings about her. That’s the most compelling part of her in my opinion. I’m a Misako hater and a Misako enjoyer and I’ve thought too much about her and that has to count for something

Now. No one is allowed to read one line of this post and then act like I’m taking away freedom of speech or that I hate women or take a fraction of this and get overly angry. This is due to the fact that this is my opinion. The penalty for doing this is that I take your tumblr profile pic and photoshop it into a garbage bin and I will show it to my boyfriend and we will laugh.

There are so many different points in this post and like it feels like this could be five separate posts but oh well. Send post.

#istg tho if I see any of you say I’m misogyny for having an unsavoury opinion on Misako #i will detransition from being agender and steal someone’s woman gender so you cant say that #i will become a woman again so you guys can’t be mean to me on tumblr dot com #this is not an uber serious post so I hope no one is like offended but oh well #been filled with Lego induced rage recently (silly style)#ninjago #ninjago garmadon #Ninjago Misako #discourse

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akariarda · 6 months

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Misako never visited Llyod. Never sent him a letter, never came back atleast once for parent conferences, and overall didnt give him any closure for around the first 8 years of his life. She left him at a school for the evil and ran away. Then he followed, ditching school and putting himself and others in serious danger.

She also hit on Master Wu while still technically married to garmadon, infront of Llyod to. Imagine your deadbeat mom randomly coming back in your life after years and hitting on your uncle, all while having to process aging from 8 to 13 in seconds and having a dad like garmadon.she could have dropped him off with wu his only other blood relative and someone she knows and trusts who could protect him teach him right from wrong, how to defend himself.

And she got really bloody lucky that Lloyd actually became the green ninja because all her decisions are seem to be validated by the other characters even though she’s a terrible person.

Garmadon on the other hand is a bad person sure but not by choice but even though he is corrupted he still puts a side his goals to take over ninjago and sides with the ninja to safe his son, and even after Lloyd is revealed the green ninja he is proud of him, still going to safe his son siding with the skeleton army once again to give Lloyd a fighting chance, and that’s just in season one

Season two he tries to stop Lloyd from unlocking his true potential but he refuses to harm him in anyway And then when he finds the dark island he has to be pushed to fight Lloyd but even then he hates it and ends up just getting consumed by the overlord

And in season three even though he takes up an oath of none violence the minute Lloyd was taken he brakes it in his own words “when you don’t my son all bets were off” and I could keep going but I think I made my point Garmadon even though he was bitten by the great devour and turned evil he still loved and cared for his son and would try to be their for him well misako just left and abandoned him because she had a hunch and even wurst she left him at a boarding school for villains She takes people for granted. She missed Lloyd's childhood just so she could find a way to stop the final battle, but couldn't. Sure, it had a positive impact on his future, but she sacrificed his present. And she just flits between Wu and Garmadon like nothing,she caused her son to free multiple snake armies that summoned a giant snake that killed multiple people and destroyed others homes and made them homeless.

She flirted with her husbands brother behind his back in season 4 and claimed I should have chose you.

And she left her son at a school that turns people evil,she's useless to the story itself! In the show she is only used for explaining lore and stuff, but everything that she says can be said just as well by Wu, Garmadon, Ronin, Zane or Nya (depending on the situation). she also made passes at Wu while still being married to Garmadon I know he was evil, but time he became good she just forgot all about Wu, and then got mad about a nearly 40-year-old letter. That shit is NOT COOL

Here we go again...

Okay, I think that Misako is a very complex character.

I like to think of her as a person who is actually good but makes mistakes and later regrets them.

Yes, she left Lloyd...

She did it for his future and sacrificed his present, that's how it had to be.

Why in a school for bad boys?

Well, my dear, we don't have any answer to that.

The writers wanted Lloyd to be there.

Why not with Wu?

She knew about Morror, and Wu would certainly train him to become a ninja, and she wanted to prevent that.

Leaving him in a school for bad boys was a very smart move.

Was it good or right?

Who knows, we can't know how it would have been if it had been different.

And she left him when he was 5 years old, maybe he was 5 in boarding school.

Garmadon is a villain and don't deny it. I love him and everything, and that he cares for Lloyd, good for him.

I'll just ignore this with Wu, because I stubbornly refuse to admit it.

I really don't understand if Lloyd forgave Misako why can't you.

Literally later we see that they became very close.

How can you be fans of Lloyd and Garmadon when you hate Misako and they obviously care about her and she about them.

#ninjago #misako montgomery garmadon #lord garmadon #sensei garmadon #Maste wu #lloyd montgomery garmadon #ninjago darkleys

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alastair-1205 · 2 months

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Episode 17 reactions

KAI AND BONZEL YAY

This feels like A Trap

“Don’t Ninja sleep in?” See Lloyd didn’t answer that cuz he would have had to lie lmao

Oh Nya’s just dipping ok

THEYRE FAMILYYYYY

OH YO THEY BROUGHT THAT BACK

SIBLINGS!!!!! THEYRE TALKING YAYA

I- you know what yea that actually tracks lol

LMAO KAI I think he’d implode if he didn’t bully Jay at least a bit

Zane out here asking the real questions

Bro got out the red string and whiteboard damn

The drawings are kinda hilarious tho

LMAO WYLDFYRE it’s a fair assumption

This is kinda fucking fascinating watching Arin talk through this

This just sounds like racism-

Ras totally did it tho right? Like he’s just smart enough to make a bot attack himself but it looked like Imperium tech right? That’s the type of shit he’d know to make

This is what season 4 needed man I’m liking the mystery

THEIR DATE IS HELPING THE MISSION LMAO

LOOK HOW HAPPY HE IS WHEN HE TALK ABOUT HIS HUSBAND <3

PFFFFFT ZANE-

Our guy is starting to honest to god see the future damn

Like that’s as blatant as they’ve been so far I think

Also does he not recall how one of them was Arin decking him in the face?

Geo and Robie!

Lmao Geo just got an art commission instead of fighting good for him

Robie’s an iPad kid confirmed

Im gonna stab this kid-

So like, who are the Devonians??

Is Frank gonna become more relevant? That’d be cool. Cuz Ras seems pissed that he’s actually trying to, you know, learn

I REALLY LIKE FRACK WHY DID RAS HAVE TO FIND HIM FIRST

It’s kinda cool seeing this mini game in ninjago

Girl I thought you were in prison not exile?

Bro leave him alone he’s hearing voices give him a minute

Cole just wants to help man and Frack just wants to learn

I like Arin having that book with him all the time it’s cool

Wyld is fucking struggling lol

Why does it seem like zeatrix also knows they’re gonna fight?

Cuz Now I’m thinking it’s her

GEO

OH DAMN SO HES JUST BEEN WINNING

YO THAT GUYS BACK TOO. MASTER OF THE MIND. I forgot his name

Geo tried lol

CHAMILE!!

Elemental master of Life. Alright then good to know.

Yeet

Oh. He’s scared of his visions again maybe?

Oh smart play

Hes gonna be so fixated on it that he looses

Wtf is the power of surface tension-

“SHES MAKING AN ELEMENTAL BOMB” I fucking love Robie

Who is he streaming to??

LMAO SORA. The others tried

That is the shittiest platform of all time-

Bro really said fuck destiny. Good for him

WHY IS HE ALWAYS GETTING HORRIFICALLY INJURED LMAO.

Im treating this was like a slash wound to the chest becasue of the sword becasue by that logic Zeatrix’s fall should have killed her too

Arin is not gonna be happy.

#ninjago dragons rising #dragons rising #ninjago spoilers #dragons rising spoilers

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localguy2 · 1 year

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(Rambling about similarities between Dragons Rising & Rise of The Snakes, mainly about the unique way they handle world building and humor and other stuff, so yeah be warned, there are going to be spoilers).

What I especially love about Dragons Rising is that it gives off that season 1 vibe, where Ninjago was still goofy as hell but also had a good story.

The world felt grounded but also it was magical, the humor was fun and sometimes or actually a lot of times, it was tied to the world building in the most nonsensical way, but it worked so well.

I wouldn't say Dragons Rising's world building is entriely tied to the humor, but you could definitely see some aspects of it, and it's most highlighted in the Crossroads, which is a sick ass location btw.

I'd say this is a good example of how to do world building while also being funny.

While for a long time we've been told that humans and serpentine live in peace, it's never been shown extensively, heck the most we saw was during Season 4 in the Corridor of Elders fight scene, and some minor examples across the seasons of the show.

But here, it's shown that they do indeed get along very well, so much so that humans and serpentine team up for performances.

And it's not just serpentine either!

Frog people!

New types of Skulkin!

Marlopiens and new robots even, like Lobbo! (I love Lobbo so much :D)

Nindriods and munce!

The creature of my fucking nightmares!

The show does an absolutely fantastic job at showing off its world, but it isn't shown directly to you, nor are the small details even talked about unless they are relevant to the plot, but that's what makes it SO good.

YOU have to pick out these small details, YOU have to keep an eye out for small potential secrets you might have missed, and only then will you realise how diverse the 16 combined realms are and well structured this new world is.

World building is done the best when it shows you something, without having to say anything.

It gives you an idea of this world looks like and how it functions, how it's cultures work and how they interact with each other.

And that's why the Crossroads is such a perfect location.

You see cultures clash, you see the best of all realms here just like Sora said, whether it be through performances or pie baking contests or mech racing, it's all on display but it's only mentioned when it's related to the story and plot of the show.

And all of that gives you an idea about The Crossroads and what it is:

An area in Ninjago City where everyone can be themselves, where people from different realms and species and parts of life come to show off what they're good at, to show the best of their realms and cultures.

And I think that it's done absolutely wonderfully here, and I applaude the writers for making up this wonderful world, and the animators and predoucers and everyone else working on bringing these ideas to life.

#ninjago #ninjago dragons rising #ninjago spoilers #ninjago dragons rising spoilers #Absolutely wonderful way of displaying the new world of Ninjago and the other 15 realms.#I cannot wait for part 2.

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clouseninjago · 10 months

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Hey besties. Heresmy uh Ratings of the NINJA 🤯🤯🤯 Except i love them all

Lloyd - 8/10 HHGOOOHHJHJG my gosh i love him . He is so so silly and so so yaes. Yass. Genuinely like i would protect him with my life HES NOT MY FAVOURITE but i still love him. how can you NOT love him

Kai - 9/10 and I'm gonna be completely honest when I say that the only reason he's my third favourite ninja over cole is because he's red (my favourite colour) and he has fire powers (my favourite element) but otherwise i like the two equally. Anyway HE's SO COOL like genuinely . Funny as hell too. Not a big fan of his haircut HOWEVER i am a zane fan so i choose not to make a big deal out of that

Jay - 7/10 yeeeshhhhhh ERM i am going to preface this by saying I AM NOT A JAY HATER and i am not even a jay disliker. He is funny and he is silly and there have been many occasions upon which I have looked at him and thought 'hes just likw me fr'. HOWEVer there were certain occasions. Certain seasons even. Maybe a specific season that came after possession and before hands of time. In which he ticked me off quite a large amount that may have negatively affected my opinion. BUT I STILL LOVE HIM hes just jever been a favourite and #that season didnt do much to help

Cole - 8.5/10 like I said he's basically joint with kai apart from the fact he isn't red. But i fenuinely love so much about cole i love his design (he was basically the only ninja to have a good haircut before the redesigns icl) and i love his personality and just everything about him is Awesome. And one thing i found really interesting is when he was a ghost. And i wish that got more focus cause i would have really liked it

Zane - 13/10 HOOOOO BOY i will be brief. I could genuinely go on for days on end about how much i love zane ninjago but I Will Be Brief. Everything about his character just makes me so SO happy. His personality and his design (his haircut is cute i swear) and his story and EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM and i said that for cole as well but this is TEN TIMES MORE INTENSE every time i think about him it feels like an actual electric SHOCK through my entire body I'm so so serious. I also find him to be like INCREDIBLY relatable. There have been occasions where i literally Cried because he was Just Like Me and i couldnt TAKE it anymore. And it's not even funny and it will never even be funny and the season 3 finale left me in shambles for weeks. And to be honest i think the show needs to be nicer to him because why is he always going through something. This little guy cannot have one normal day i swear. Let zane be happy challenge imPOSSIBLE. And i know a lot of people don't like how robotic he is after season 3 and I totally get that but for me personally that doesn't really change how much i still love him as a character even if there are some changes i want to be made with his writing. Just realised i said i would be brief and then wrote a whole paragraph Um im gonna move on,

Nya 10/10 I LOVE HER!!!! Genuinely cannot think of one negative thing to say about her apart from it took the show a good few seasons to get the hang of actually writing her (as much as i adore rebooted it pisses me off how dirty they did her in that season). But she is just SO cool and i love her and i loved her in skybound and she was probably one of the only things i loved about skyboukd other than echo zane. Good lord i love nya she makes me malfunction in the brain. Whenever i drink water i think of her

n e ways thats Basically it ACTUALLY NO I WANNA DO GARMADON AS WELL LMAO

garmadon 5/10. And i dont mean that in a negative way i mean genuinely true neutral. I actually loved him in the movie he made me cry a lot but when we're talking just the actual show? Euuiwuuajajgghj. In the first couple aeasons i was really mixed on him like i think he was a really interesting character and he was silly but i had proper BEEF with him too like he made me MAD. And then seasons 3 and 4 came around and . And. Sensei Garmadon. fun fact about sensei garmadon i didnt Particularly Like him but thats ok!!!!! That is ok!!!!! I did like garmadons backstory with clouse that was very interesting i really.Really liked it. Idont know if you could tell but um tumblr user clouseninjago quite likes clouse ninjago so that made me happy tbh. Ok im actually done fr now and i would tag more people to share their opinions but i have no friends so @colesstar Hi

#ninjago #lego ninjago #zane ninjago #ninjago jay #nya ninjago #kai ninjago #ninjago cole #robin says things maybe #lloyd garmadon #ninjago lloyd

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the-ninja-legacy-whip · 1 year

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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!

#ninjago #lego ninjago #idk what else to tag this #i'm going to bed bai #don't mock my typos

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master-jarrus · 15 days

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Can you do hair and makeup for Nya please?

Yes I can!

So in writing this all out I had to restart because I realized just how good of a reflection of Nya's personality is shown in her looks and I'm not sure if it was intentional but at least one person in her design team put a lot of thought and care into her design

So right off that bat Nya's make up and hair is clearly a tomboyish girl who doesn't want to be too tomboyish. Like she's worried about the balance between being a pick me and being like other girls

We have a the bob that's clearly cut for the practicality of short hair and avoidance of change

That's how she always had it cut, it keeps it of her neck, sure it gets in her face but she can just pin back so why would she change it?

She probably never considered just because she wants to

Now her makeup

It looks like she wears for sure lip stick and mascara, maybe a little bit of eyeliner

In the redesign she has a beauty mark so maybe she also has concealer and foundation on too

It kind of feels like an inexperienced attempt at "no make up" make up

It's not a bad job, it looks good on her but considering her tomboyishness and her overall perfectionism it's not exactly right it's just as close as she got and then she decided she was just changing her goal

The lip stick matches her qipao (??? That'd the closest thing her jumpsuit thing could maybe be but then later they put her in an actual qipao for her date with Jay. Maybe it's a sleeveless hanfu??? Idk)

Which was a make up trend around the time the show aired so I'm assuming it was a makeup trend in Ninjago as well

I have a feeling it's her favorite shade and it's one that maybe Maya would wear for a fancy night out

Maybe Kai saved up to get her her own tube since maybe she didn't want to use hers mom's

As for mascara it's probably just your basic black same if she did do eyeliner

I wouldn't be surprised if in this era her makeup was an insecurity of hers

This is actually really common for women especially if they grew up without someone to mentor them through it. (I personally went through it and I know several friends of mine went through it as well. Even my mom refuses to wear make up because she feels like she's not doing it "right")

I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of the reasons she had snapped at Dareth over the make up segment (because like imagine getting reduced to "the girl" and then a person you have confided in that you don't know how to do that kind of stuff (season 4) tells you, you need to go teach a the little girls who want to be ninja that they should instead learn how to do make up, which again you don't feel like you can do)

Now the redesign

I really love that in the redesign it kind of felt like her growing out of a phase instead of a retcon of her personality and appearance to make her more appealing

Her hair had grown out and she puts it back in a pony tail

It looks like she might be taking better care of it too. We see a slight wavy texture come out instead of just straight

She appears to also have layers and based on the taper curl on the ponytail nothing it a blunt cut anymore

Her make up looks more refined and she stopped hiding her beauty mark

It's still the same basic "no make up" make up but like she has better techniques

She is still following lipstick trends though and is rounding out her top lip with lip liner just a more neutral shade

She does mascara on her top and bottom lashes now

Definitely seems like she has a bit of eyeliner now. Just looks like she has a more pronounced wing but it's hard to tell with lego eyes

I would wonder if this change was brought on by her mom being back

It's hard to decide about that though because during Seabound Nya seems to be holding a grudge against her mom but her mom clearly thinks they are on good terms/if she acts like mothing happened it will be fine

I'm thinking they tried to reconnect and Maya tried to just pick up where they lost off and teach Nya "girly" things and it just kind of went wrong

But Nya did try and begrudgingly like the makeup changes

But I'm not certain

#ninjago #lego ninjago #nya #ninjago nya #make up #hair #analisys #there was clearly some thought #and it's really intersting because it flies over your head if you don't know how to look for it

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cherrybombfangirl · 1 year

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Hey you, yeah you! Interested in my in progress Ninjago fic that I'm fucking obsessed with and want you guys to become obsessed with as well?

Ao3 Link: Battle Cry (8840 words) by cherrybombfangirl

Wanna read a Ninjago fanfic that spans everything from the pilots to Crystalized? It includes me fixing everything that needs fixing in my humble opinion as a writer myself (love triangles be gone), and my ninjago OC and the small OCs that come with her.

Yeah you wanna read it!

This fic includes:

My Original Character Amy. She’s a human clone and a former assassin/child soldier, the Master of Space (forcefields and portals), falls in love with Lloyd and is very protective of him plus they have a cute aspec romance, and her arc is all about learning that her emotions aren’t a weakness to let people love her and that’s she’s not a broken monster.

The rainbow colored ninja being very queer as the universe intended: Gay Ace Cole, Trans and Pansexual Kai (plus Lavashipping galore!), Trans and Bisexual Nya (she and Kai swapped genders and names), Trans and Bisexual Jay, Genderfluid and Pan Zane, Asexual Demiromantic and Genderqueer He/They Lloyd, Genderqueer and PanAce Pixal and other characters are obviously queer as well.

Mental health issues galore that you can’t convince me these ninja don’t have at this point: everyone has PTSD, depression, anxiety, and lots of trauma!

Also autistic and adhd ninja because i said so: Autistic and ADHD Lloyd (he gets the autism from Garm and the ADHD from Misako), ADHD Kai (gets it from his mom), ADHD Jay (also from his mom), and Autistic Zane (his father built him that way because he is also autistic).

Addressing the Garmadon family’s generational trauma BECAUSE THE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL-

Lloyd’s relationship with his mom is complicated BUT after Lloyd has an understandable anger outburst Misako realizes “Fuck I messed up and hurt my kid” and spends a very long time trying to be better and fixing her and Lloyd’s relationship- and they do have a good relationship by the end! (because fuck doing nothing over actually working on fixing their mistakes and actually making up for it and people being complicated and imperfect people)

Love triangles are OUT, trauma triangles are IN

Jay actually gets character development in Skybound AND KEEPS SAID DEVELOPMENT, including Jay having to learn how to have a healthy relationship with Nya and stop bulldozing over people’s boundaries/having unhealthy obsessions with people (which is actually a result of trauma)

^^^ also actually exploring Jay’s birthmom in Prime Empire instead of introducing her then only mentioning her once several seasons later (and not even by name)

Also more sibling stuff in general over the romance because Jay and Nya’s relationship over Kai and Nya’s WHY?!?! (also Smith sibs adopting Lloyd, and all the ninja being even closer as a family obviously)

Consider the stupid love triangle with Wu Garm and Misako GONE. Don’t worry though, I give the brothers a much more believable and angsty reason to start fighting in Season 4 :))) (hint, it has to do with their repressed trauma from their dad’s not so great parenting)

Kai gets his own season with plenty of angst and character development as he deserves. The Green Ninja thing and Chen’s staff thing and being abandoned with a baby sister to take care of and putting all his worth on protecting others will ABSOLUTELY BE DISCUSSED

^^^ also Lavashipping will be included with Kai and Cole finally confronting their feelings for each other and going from on and off friends with benefits to the cutest boyfriends/husbands ever

Exploring the Dragon vs Oni and Creation vs Destruction concept more and using Lloyd and his family to illustrate that what the world really needs is a balance of both (also Lloyd and his dad keeping some Dragon/Oni features at the end!!!)

The ninja actually having to recover from when they very severely injured, or say, fucking possessed (why didn’t they even mention how Lloyd would’ve had to recover from that, the fuck)

Also Wu being confronted multiple times for his bullshit (which, suprise suprise, is a result of trauma), and he actually has to fix his mistakes and try to be better

Fixing everything wrong with Rebooted, Skybound, March of the Oni, Fire Chapter, Prime Empire, and Crystalized (I’m a writer myself, there are some things that drive me crazy and I NEED TO FIX THEM-)

More family time and mundane domestic stuff in between the ninja-ing- just the ninja spending time together and acting more like family/roommates in general

Prime Empire actually makes sense, Jay gets actual character development AND we actually explore his birthmom

Morro and Harumi are deeply traumatized BUT they let said trauma make them assholes and use it as an excuse to hurt people and they become even worse (Morro and Harumi stans BEGONE THIS IS NOT FOR YOU)

^^^ this will include Harumi developing an unhealthy obsession with Lloyd and it turning into creepy/predatory behavior, and there will be off screen sexual assault at some point, be wary of that

Exploring what life with Lloyd and his parents pre-banishement was like, complete with angsty-fluffy feels

Actually talking about addressing everyone’s trauma in general (and giving them more trauma because I’m that bitch :DDD )

There’s probably more I’m forgetting but that’s the gist of it for now

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cosmos-dot-semicolon · 3 months

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🌟 (I found a cool star for u)

(⭐fanfic writers’ commentary)

Yay! Free space! Let's see…

Since you're the most writerly of the three people that sent in asks, and the person who shares the most interests with me, I'm going to freestyle some of my thoughts on fanfiction in general.

I make fanworks to respond to what stuck with me through a series. It's a form of analysis in itself for me, where you try and replicate a style by trying to make it work in your own context instead of pointing out why it works in an essay. This is something I've taken from my time studying visual art, where you're encouraged to do studies of works as well as just annotating them.

You don't have to follow them completely. You can focus on just the lines, or the palette, or the composition, but the main goal is to learn how to recreate something you like about the piece by your own hands.

I take that attitude with me into writing. It's why my favourite bits of fanfiction and fanart tend to be 'what-if' situations just left of canon. Characterisation is usually my main focus, with tone and message as my secondary aims. But even when it comes to other things like the setting or lore, I only extrapolate if I think it benefits the things above.

(or for representation. lol)

I like the challenge of those limitations. It forces you to be more creative as a writer, knowing that you have to start from some sort of formula, but you also need to make a different, compelling story and get your own interests to align with that. The small spins you can put on that are way more compelling than any massive upheavals that you tend to find in more standard AUs and such. Kinda like plot twists, actually.

wait I just realised that's what I said about why liked Ninjago season 1 and 4 so much. don't want to think about that. moving on

As a result, I approach fanfiction for different franchises differently. I love learning how different writers approach storytelling! I don't care for how there's clear 'templates' that dominate in fandom circles, because it throws away a lot of the subgenre's appeal to me in the first place. Specific AUs based off aesthetics, certain dragged out romance tropes, etc. (also the way some people do shipping but that's a whole 'nother can of worms)

I don't have much against them, I just find that they're usually less interesting than something with a specific premise and goal in mind.

Honestly I think the way I like to write fanfiction is more like. How sometimes you get spin-off books and comics of TV shows and games. Except targeted towards my favourite media and personal tastes and actually good.

I was going to complain a bit about fanon as well, but I think you already know how that is. People get very specific takes stuck in their head, usually of neutral quality at best, and it's frustrating to see if you have opposing views, or just prefer the actual. source material.

Also I don't write fanfiction for everything. I think the old adage of 'works that are above a baseline level of compelling and below a certain level of completeness are how fandoms form' is a part of that. I find it easiest to write/draw for works that have gaps in them, regardless of quality. See Dicey versus something like Inscryption (if I ever feel like editing and betaing that script, anyway…)

But I think another factor for it is also the focus of the original work. I love Disco Elysium and I'd argue it's both good and not really complete. But it's also a game deeply entwined with politics and the creator's personal experiences: I feel deeply unequipped to handle that as a storyteller who mostly focuses on characters and plot. If I did have anything to say on it, I'd probably be doing in as an essay instead.

Fandom 'meta' (stupid name) - analytical essays - are a good thing, and I think we should be encouraging it more alongside fictional fanworks.

I'm only occasionally a fanfiction reader. I used to be really into it as a kid, when I was into a bunch of series that weren't finished yet, and when I really wanted to experience games I couldn't buy. But even then I was pretty picky and ended up blocking tons of tags and had to keep compiling lists of stuff that was actually worth reading.

I don't do that much nowadays - I've learned that it's valuable to try a lot of different things in media, and I'm now way more aware of how it fuels my maladaptive daydreaming. My mindset on it now tends to be 'if you want to read that specific thing you want to see, you're going to have to be the one to write it.'

I haven't written much original stuff recently. Fanworks have always been easier for me to do for enjoyment, and I'm in the midst of a pretty exhausting degree. I do have a bunch of original ideas on the brain, though. Maybe I will touch on those at some point.

#oh also I don't publish stuff unless I feel like it's really up to standard. felt that was important to add somewhere #asks #oblivious aro #fandom #i've had these thoughts rattling around for a while i think. it took a while to gather them up #I thought I'd give you an essay about art since I quite enjoy reading those on tumblr. hope you enjoy!#I did. tho I also am a little annoyed at myself now bc that happens everytime I have to do introspection. worth it tho

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goldenheartstudios · 1 year

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I wanna talk about Ninjago Crystalized

Disclaimer 1: Spoilers if you haven’t watched that season yet

Disclaimer 2: The things that I’ll focus on may not be relevant to you personally and that’s valid

With that out of the way, I guess I should start with the reason of making this rant

You see, it’s no secret that many fans don't have a positive opinion on this season, and that many people criticized it already. But personally, I’m neutral with this season, having things that I enjoyed or found nice, and things that I found annoying (but are more rooted with the problems in Ninjago series’ writing as as a whole)

And, well, I actually didn’t plan to make a post about Crystalized. But I had in mind for a while to make a rant about my problems with Ninjago and how they come in relation with Dragons Rising (which I plan on doing this after that season ends of course), and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Crystalized is a whole different topic on its own

So I thought it’s better to put all of my feelings about this season separately, which I also noticed that are, uh, a little bit different from the majority of the reviews & rants that I read

Starting off with the fact that I actually prefer the second part of Crystalized more than the first one

Let me explain

First of all, I find good things and bad things from both parts. Just because I personally like the second part more doesn’t meant that I don’t have issues with it

But it’s a fact that my main issues are in the first part

And I’m gonna start with the beginning

The freaking timeskip

In a past post about Seabound I was talking about how I wanted to see Kai grieving about Nya. Because, you know, she’s his sister, the whole reason why he became a ninja and why this show exists in the first place. And, you know, I also wanted to see how the others grieve, not just Jay, because she was part of the family, and I personally think that the show’s strongest point are the emotional moments

So the fact that they made a timeskip of one year and focused more on Jay’s feelings about Nya than the others immediately dropped my expectations on the season to almost none

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Jay. And yes, they did show that all of them are hurt and coping in different ways. But the thing that irks me is how they downplayed the others’ relationship with Nya in order to show that Jay is “the only one who still cares” about her being dead

Yes, they were lovers, it makes sense he was this miserable. And yes, it makes sense for the others to grieve in different ways

But it unnerves me how the execution was so weak and how they painfully downgraded the relationship between Kai & Nya in consequence

I’ll admit my bias, their sibling relationship is my favorite thing from the series. But this show literally started with the bond they have for each other, and I personally don’t like how they seemingly made romantic love more important and valuable than family love. And I don’t mean just blood family, I mean the family created in the team as well

Family bond is something beautiful and dear to me, and it bothers me how little focus was put into it throughout the time… in favor of plots that are not that great to put it lightly

The sibling bond between Nya & Kai is very important, and if you think about it, it doesn’t make sense for Kai to have the kind of grief shown

I don’t mind that he wanted to do something productive and teach kids how to defend themselves (even though it would make more sense for him to go back to his unhealthy coping mechanism of fighting, similarly like in season 4), and it could have been used as a parallelism to Jay’s decision on being stuck with the feeling of loss (if the writers were competent enough for this-), but him acting with shock at first in Seabound doesn’t make sense because we saw him reacting with loss before

When Nya died in season 6 he was immediately devastated, and when Cole fell in season 10 he reacted with anger and anguish. The first reaction is an instinctive reaction, so Kai reacting in such a quiet manner doesn’t make sense and it only took focus from him when his freaking sister died. Was it that hard to make Jay & Kai cry together to reinforce their bond for Nya and with each other??

Honestly, Kai’s a whole different subject on its own, so I’ll refrain myself from elaborating more on this problem than I did before

And instead, we get to another different problem: the reviving Nya plot

God, this one was so annoying

Listen, I get that the mayor didn’t want to release Aspheera, and I get that the ninja decided to break in instead. I don’t have an issue with this

The issue that I have is everything that happened afterwards

First, let’s put this into perspective. A dangerous person escapes prison with a dangerous weapon because of a group of people. But these people saved the city a number of times in the past and they did this to bring back another person who sacrificed herself for the city. Objectively, these people are less of a threat than the dangerous person who escaped, and even if their actions are bad, their motives are understandable

So, what should you do? If your answer is to focus on the escaped prisoner and possibly send the group of people after her in order for them to fix the mistake they made and keep the city safe, then congratulations you have a working brain

Because this show imprisoned the ninja and let Aspheera, the dangerous one, be free and do whatever she wants

This plot idea is hilarious for how stupid it is

Like, who thought of this? Because there comes a point when you need imagination to think of something this bad. And the mayor being insufferable didn’t help either

Why in the hell was the mayor this against the ninjas? Just because the neon ninjas came in (which their whole existence is an annoying trope of useless rivalry), it doesn’t change the fact that the ninja did safe the city many times before from foes that threatened world destruction, and they try their best to protect others because no one else is able to face such danger

If the mayor had such a big gripe against the ninjas for “causing trouble”, then he should freaking build better defenses. Stop relying on vigilantes and make a better system where there wouldn’t be need of their help

Also, I want to briefly note that the way they wrote Aspheera was disappointing. I actually really liked her in season 11 for being a villain who has a twisted way of seeing promises: you can find a way to cheat through them, but you have to respect them. And the issue that she seemed to have the most was Wu breaking the promise he intended to make and sealing her away for many years

But here she was reduced to a one-note villain who wants revenge. Great.

Then we see the ninjas at the prison, which it wasn’t even entertaining. Their encounter with Ronin was irritating because the way he was written was, again, one-note without the personality traits that make me like him in the first place, and the ninjas being more punished was not enjoyable

And after the ninjas escape, there comes the police chase. Which I can’t decide if this plot idea is more stupid than the previous one

Because why the hell is the police more competent in chasing down the ninjas than the freaking villains? And why the hell are they focusing more on capturing the ninjas, when there are other confirmed escaped prisoners who are way more dangerous than the ones who have a reputation of protecting people?

I mean this in the most lighthearted way possible, this is one of the reasons why I struggle to say that the writers of the show are competent

I really dislike this prison plot. The more I think about it, the less it makes sense, and it doesn’t serve any other purpose than filling out time and building a fake challenge for the ninjas. And aside from genuine nice and funny moments, the first part is filled with this annoying plot

But the second part has less of this plot, which makes it ten times better in comparison

Now, I think the main reason why I don’t mind the second part that much is because I was watching it with no hopes or expectations, as they were all drained from the first part. And with that, I was able to turn off my brain and not think too much about the issues in this part

They make Zane turn into the Ice Emperor as a joke? Ok. They bring back Overlord to be the main villain once again? Sure, why not. Nya getting her powers back plot was disappointing? Didn’t expect anything more. Lloyd’s oni arc (and his arc in general) is all over the place? It wouldn’t be the first time. They make an obvious fake-out death at the end? That’s just a normal monday

And lost potential is a tradition for Ninjago at this point, so I wasn’t that bothered at the many cool ideas from this part that could have been something great if the writers knew how to execute them and focus only on a few of them

Now, I think I should talk about one of the reasons why people dislike the second part so much: the way they treated Harumi

Which… uh… it didn’t bother me personally because…

How do I put this lightly?

I don’t really care for Harumi

Now now now, let me explain. I don’t dislike her, but I don’t like her either. There are times when I enjoy her, especially when the fans do their own unhinged interpretation of her, but overall I don’t feel anything for Harumi for a couple of reasons

First reason, her age confuses me. We see her as a child at the time The Great Devourer was defeated, and she seemed to be around the same age as kid Lloyd. And then there’s season 8, where she seems to be around the same age as Lloyd, maybe a little bit younger

But the issue is, Lloyd did not age naturally, he aged up a good number of years with the Tomorrow's Tea

So.. it doesn’t make sense for Harumi to be around the same age as him in the present if she was around the same age as him in the past, you know? And this confusion makes me feel conflicted about her

Unless the ninjas stopped aging at a certain point, she should either be significantly younger than them, or she should have been a teenager when The Great Devourer attacked, which it wouldn’t make sense with her appearance shown at that time

Honestly, the whole age subject is a mess in this show in general, especially since there are only three models to show the characters’ age: average, child and baby

Another reason why I’m neutral towards Harumi is her motivation. I do like the concept of blaming the ninjas on failing to protect her family and admiring Garmadon for defeating The Great Devourer, but the thing that I don’t like is how the show made her somewhat in the right for her motivation on hating the ninjas

I don’t like the idea of criticizing the ninjas for failing to protect everyone because here’s the thing: they’re vigilantes. They’re not officials, and they’re basically doing voluntarily work because there are no other people capable enough to do it

I don’t mean that they should be allowed to play with people’s life or something like that, I mean that you can’t really blame them if they make mistakes or are not enough

It’s like having a couple of people who do all the computer work in a building by choice. If they mess up something, you can’t hold it onto them, because the head of the building is at fault for relying on such few people who do all the computer work for free

So the city’s system should be blamed for not having proper safety precautions and for relying on a group of few people to save them every time there’s a dangerous villain around, not the ninjas

So aside from sometimes finding enjoyment in her unhinged personality, I personally don’t find her motivation that interesting

Also, I want to mention that I dropped season 9 after the first 2-3 episodes (as I didn’t find it that interesting personally), and I’m aware that it’s an important season for Harumi’s characterization, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there are things that I talked about Harumi that are more developed or delved upon which I’m not aware of. And if that’s the case, then cool! I would be glad that the writers actually thought about this and addressed it!

(I didn’t watch seasons 12 & 13 as well, so if there are things that I talked about that are explained in these seasons you can let me know!)

One thing I would say about the Harumi from Crystalized tho. I expected for her to get a rushed redemption arc, but it’s still not nice that she got it, especially since there are people who are fans of her. I genuinely wish she had gotten more respect and a more satisfying conclusion

Now, there are things that I genuinely liked from this season. Some character interaction moments, some funny dialogue, and the epilogue. It made me smile when people went to help build up the monastery, and Garmadon’s relationship with the plant was really sweet!

I don’t have much of an impression about the ending since I turned off my brain at that time, but I wouldn’t say this season deserves to be called the worst season of all Ninjago. It has a lot of shallow and bad moments, yeah, but Ninjago is full of writing problems that are present in every season. As such, I personally don’t believe that there’s a worst season, only stronger and weaker ones

So yeah, these are my thoughts about Crystalized! You may have a different opinion from mine, and that’s perfectly fine, since people focus on different things when it comes to watching shows

Hopefully my next rant about Dragons Rising would not be this big… if I get in the mood to write it-

#gh rant #ninjago #ninjago crystalized #ninjago crystallized spoilers #ninjago harumi #writing this was like a breath of fresh air tbh #so far Dragons Rising is better than Crystalized so hopefully I won't write a five-pages rant again once it's finished-

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