Impulsivefanwriter - Impulse Fan Writer - Tumblr Blog

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: LEGO Ninjago (Cartoon 2011-2022), The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Ed Walker & Edna Walker & Jay Walker (Ninjago), Ed Walker & Edna Walker (Ninjago), Edna Walker & Jay Walker (Ninjago), Ed Walker/Edna Walker (Ninjago) Characters: Ed Walker (Ninjago), Edna Walker (Ninjago), Jay Walker (Ninjago), Lloyd Garmadon, briefly - Character Additional Tags: Social Anxiety, High School, School, Panic Attacks, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Light Angst Summary:

“My mom is weird and collects seashells. Your dad levels cities and attacks innocent people. So… they’ve all got their quirks.”

Jay loves his parents more than anything, but sometimes he feels like they don’t understand how his world works.

–or– Jay’s parents decide to go to Open House night, and it doesn’t turn out like they’d hoped.

This was a gift for my secret santa @impulsivefanwriter

It’s my first ever Ninjago fanfic, so I hope you enjoy ^_^

@ninjago-events happy holidays!!! I hope you have a great day and an amazing new year :)

Nya stands in the centre of the warehouse, watching with the sort of amused horror one would get watching a firework spiral toward a bag of marshmallows (that had been quite the mess Wu had forced them to clean up). Around her, her friends and brother struggle with their suddenly swapped powers.

Jesse stands next to her, his expression leaning more toward the horror side. “What even happened?”

Nya pop a bubblegum bubble she’s been chewing to stay calm. “Garmadon, most likely. We just woke up to them swapped.”

She flicks her wrist, hosing down the trail of fire her boyfriend leaves with each step. He bounces around the warehouse with boundless energy, flames licking at his heels like an excited puppy chasing a butterfly, and Nya’s had to put out more than a few fires.

Jay suddenly steps into one of these fires and disappears, pyroporting in front of Nya. “Nya Nya Nya love of my life hey Nya hi you’re beautiful today like always hi hey—“

Jesse’s expression manages to get more horrified. “How many cups of coffee did Walker have?”

Nya shakes her head with a sigh. “Zero.”

It certainly doesn’t look like it, the way Kai’s firepowers drive him onward like a wind-up toy that never stops.

Speaking of her brother— Kai sits in the corner of the warehouse, unmoving as if he were nothing but a statue made of ice, and shivering as if he actually was one. He’s wrapped in about a dozen blankets, a cocoon of warmth that doesn’t seem to warm the chill in his soul. His teeth clatter so loud Nya can hear it over the rest of the chaos. The only good news is his suddenly-arctic-blue eyes aren’t glowing— in fact, there’s no signs of his new frosty element at all despite his shivering.

It’s in stark contrast to Cole. Despite his calming meditation on the far side of the warehouse, each time Jay runs too close with pounding footsteps, Cole’s mouth twitches just the slightest bit and lightning sparks erupt from his body. Each failure to contain the sharp crackles under his skin only irritate him more, and if Jesse wasn’t so worried about accidentally being shocked (or making a lovesick fool of himself), Nya guesses he’d probably be sitting almost in Cole’s lap trying to calm him down.

Zane probably looks the most comfortable on the surface— excluding Jay, who looks far too giddy and restless for Nya’s liking as the fire messes with his head— but even he struggles, temperature fluctuating at random. He has a relatively good grip on his new element as he tries to tidy the warehouse, except for the slightest bit of dirt he keeps leaving behind that he’s stuck cleaning in an endless circle. Nya can see the strain starting to wear on him as hints of magnolia yellow blossom in his eyes.

“Any luck on finding a reversal?” Jesse asks, fidgeting with a flower he suddenly produces from nowhere.

Nya shakes her head. “I sent Lloyd to look through Wu’s scrolls for anything, but all he’s texted me so far is that he caught a sniffle from all the dust.”

A loud CRASH emanates from outside. Nya and Jesse have just enough time to look at each other before a large hole is blasted through the doors.

“HEYYYYYYY BEACHES!”

Nya groans at the familiar cackle. “Olivia. Why does it have to be her? Why right now?”

Her eyes flare cyan with frustration. Jesse throws his hands up in a calming gesture. “We can handle this, with or without the guys.”

“They’re never going to stay out of the fight, you know.”

“Uhhh—“

Jesse hates to admit it, but Nya is right.

This is not good.

Out of curiosity, who would you swap on a bodyswap/element swap?

And who’s the most likely to have an accidental elemental outburst because the element & emotions that respond strongest to that outburst is different than their usual outbursts?

I think swapping the opposites (Cole+Jay and Kai+Zane) would probably yield the most chaotic results. Jay just constantly causing earthquakes just cuz he’s happy, and Cole trying to bury all his emotions but they keep coming out in sharp crackles at even the smallest bit of provoking. Or Kai being the coldest he’s even been in his life but the Ice isn’t responding to his extreme distress because Ice thrives with less emotion. And then Zane being unable to keep still with the thrum of Fire constantly burning in him, always itching to do something, anything, and disagreeing with Zane’s natural instinct to wait and watch.

But, them swapping with an element more “adjacent” to them could be super fun too! And, honestly, in this very specific scenario they’d probably have more Outbursts from being out of tune with their newfound elements.

Kai with Lightning would be chaotic—while both Fire and Lightning can hit high intensities, Lightning is meant to be temporary while Fire is meant to persist. He’d get a rush on all that power and energy all at once (especially while flying/teleporting ahaha) but then he would not be able to handle the following crash. If he had an Outburst, regardless of emotion, he’d be in pain trying to push through it or tap out completely

With Earth, both thrive with endurance, but there’s the obvious difference in fluidity. Kai would feel powerful with Earth, sure, but it would also come off as suffocating. And he, quicker to get emotional than Cole, would never feel like he could get all his emotions out, further frustrating him (which in turn would also probably cause an agonizing outburst)

For Jay, having Fire would probably make him even more jittery, except he wouldn’t have a cap on his energy, so he’d be go-go-go and never stop (and he wouldn’t know how to regulate it, meaning he’d hit a point where he’d need a break eventually but the Fire in him would oppose that). Moreover, if Fire reacts with his feelings of Sadness, then all the stuff he tries to hide behind his jokes and smiles? Yeah that’d all get bumped right up to the surface.

And then, if Jay had Ice he’d feel like he’s been slowed down too much. Always trying to do more but he can’t (similar to Kai with Earth). Inversely, Jay’s tendency to constantly distance himself from his less pleasant emotions would make the Ice in him stronger, so the more he tries to play things off the further he’d push himself towards an Outburst (instead of it being the opposite way with his Lightning)

Cole with Fire would be fascinating, cuz all the things he normally keeps buried would have no cap/filter/limitation anymore, meaning he couldn’t hide how he really feels even if he tries catch him flaming up just trying to talk to Zane or dealing with his dad lol). He’d feel comfortable with the amount of power Fire gives him, just not super strength

Cole with Ice, though—similar to Jay, Cole distances himself from feelings he doesn’t want to feel (or thinks he doesn’t want to), so he too would probably push himself closer to an Outburst without actively trying. But otherwise I’d think Cole would find Ice as a refreshing change of pace; it’s still got some solidity of Earth, so that’s familiar, but he wouldn’t have to be as rigid with it either (he prefers the guarantee of support over the fragility of Ice, but it’s a little nice to let loose)

Same with Zane and Earth—Earth has the same semblance of structure that Ice does, so he can work with that, but he’d struggle with the permanence. He’s committed, but not necessarily stubborn, so having less room for some flexibility would come off as stifling to him. Plus, Earth can either be hot or cold, so Zane would probably hate the inconsistency of temperature

Zane with Lightning—here he can understand the “temporary” principles of Lightning easily enough and use it to his advantage, but with Lightning being so erratic and without consistent form, he’d struggle to manipulate it for himself. And with Lightning, he’d also be less able to hide what he’s feeling—even the slightest grievance or joy would be punctuated with sparks, haha

And now having written all of this out, Lloyd swapping with any of them wouldn’t be nearly as fun given that he’s already able to connect and/or use aspects of their Elements, so he wouldn’t struggle nearly as much—he just might feel limited but not like there’s a gaping hole of something missing either.

Made a chart collecting all the Imperium photos on the wiki if people wanted to compare some of them

Based on how the emperor markings are mirrored versions of the princess markings, it’s interesting that Beatrix didn’t double her marking

The Advanced System Lab seems to have the same markings no matter the position (aka LaRow’s markings aren’t more special than Jordana’s)

WOAH. I wonder if they have some kind of tracking circuitry in them. Well, if anyone was curious...

AHHHHHHHHH LOOK AT THEM! THEY'RE SO CUTE! IT'S SO FLUFFY! AHHHHHHHHHH-

Percival's internal thoughts are ABSOLUTELY blue screening noises followed by a lot of screaming. It's probably like that one scene from Inside Out where the alarm for "girl" (in this case "cute boy") is going off in the one kid's head

May I request a bumblebee doodle where Arin is carrying a gay-panicking Percival? Possibly after catching him from falling with his new ninja skills?

hehe Ty!! for the request

AHHHHHHH LOOK AT HOW AMAZING AND ADORABLE THIS IS—

AWWWWW Bumblebee is so freaking cute-

May I request Arin teaching Percival how to ride a dragon? Or at least doing that whole HTTYD-style trust bonding "it's okay the big giant dragon won't hurt you you can put a hand on their snout" thing?

IGNORE HOW ARIN LOOKS LIKE HE'S JUST COPY AND PASTED THERE, i struggled a lil with the pose also yes bumblebee is adorable

@finn-m-corvex you brilliant funky moot you've got SO MANY GREAT QUESTIONS WHICH ARE GETTING ME TO THINK ON THIS—

Starting with the movie!Bizarros— Kaigami is the only one I had full details on when the AU was first made (they are a bean and my little blorbo that needs all the hugs), but since then I’ve been spitballing some headcanons with my friends on the others—

In normal movieverse hcs, they go as follow:

- Jayden (bizarro Blue) is a young oni that snuck over from the continent of Onitoryū (the First Realm) to the continent of Ninjago (yes we hc’d that the realms exist as continents in the movieverse before Dragons Rising existed), saw Blue, and used his image as his shapeshifting disguise because he’s bad at shapeshifting fully (the fluffy hair hides the horns, the scarf hides the tusks/fangs, the hoodie pocket hides claws, baggy clothes hides tail, etc.)

— Charcoal (Bizarro Black) is a clone made by Vangelis to get vengeance on Lilly for messing up his plans back in the day (she’s a big hero in Shintaro because she split the land away from the continent of the Cloud Kingdom and made it its own mini continent/island)

— Oread (Bizarro White) is a nindroid built by Garmadon’s enginerds (he has seagull/pelican/osprey features because Garmadon has to insert sea-creature themes into all of his designs)

So in the D:BH AU, Oread would kinda be like RK900 (except probably get rescued too), Jayden could be one of the androids at Jericho that looks up to Blue as inspiration (or perhaps Cyberlife/the Mechanic tries to build a new Blue because he supposedly was destroyed?), and Charcoal could be— uh— a vibing human? Or an android teen model based off Black in case he didn’t make through the cyborg surgery?

Yeah White and Zero (Cryptor) share the role of Connor in the sense that Zero is more the deviant-hunter side (except already deviant) and White was deviant but lost his memories and thinks Cyberlife built him, not Dr. J, and follows their orders (he does eventually come to his senses and regains deviancy, probably while encountering Echo)

Blue does not want to be the leader of the rebellion because, you know, anxiety + social anxiety, but whoops he’s an advanced model that found himself in a leadership position and has accidentally started the revolution. 

And you are ABSOLUTELY right— Black would be the “North” equivalent (or Simon) because while Jaya is cute, movie!Bruise is just adorable (also I hc movie!Nya/Cyan as a lesbian as opposed to show!Nya)— Cyan would absolutly be the one to suggest violence though and if anyone hurt Blue (which technically Cliff and the Ambers already have since he got… a bit disassembled on his way to the junkyard), Black would be right there with her on letting the city burn

As for Luther- technically no, though the "Kara" story does already have the RGB sibs looking out for each other. EXCEPT I JUST HAD THE PERFECT IDEA WHILE TYPING THIS OUT- the Luther-esc figure could TOTALLY be movie!Morro (normally a tired college student looking out for his cousin Green, in this case either human or an android)

I’m really glad you like the AU :D If you’ve got more ideas or questions or comments PLEASE send them because it’s so fun to think about with a friend/mutual

https://www.tumblr.com/impulsivefanwriter/733578350737719296/the-lego-ninjago-movie-but-its-a-dbh-au ask about the D:BH AU and I shall receive :D

YES YES YES HI YES I SAW IT AND I THOUGHT I REBLOGGED IT BUT I JUST. COMPLETELY MIND-BLANKED SO FORGIVE ME JFALJFKDLJFAL

Choosing to make Kai the android instead of Lloyd is such a cool decision??? Like so much respect for not immediately jumping to making Lloyd the Thing just because he's the most main character-coded person in Ninjago. I'm also VERY interested in Kaigami; will the other Bizarros be here as well, or just Kai's?

ZANE AS CONNOR?! YOUR HONOR I AM SCREAMING AHHHHHHH I FUCKING LOVE CONNOR ABSOLUTELY YES I AM IN LOVE

JAY AS MARKUS?!

RESPECTFULLY I AM FULLY DOWN TO CLOWN WITH THIS CONCEPT HELL FUCKING YES?! SO GOOD?! IS COLE THE NORTH EQUIVALENT IS THIS BRUISE OR IS THIS JAYA OR IS IT NEITHER DAJKSLJFSAKLJF I MUST KNOW MORE

IS THERE A LUTHER YET?!

Some small time crook tries to stab Jay with a small dagger while on patrol

A lamppost falls on the crook just before they can stab Jay in the back, resulting in only a light scratch where a fatal wound should be.

Because of this fallen lamppost, the electrical company is called to fix and replace it. The van, on the way, runs a red light, spins out of control, and rams into a new art installation

This pointy installation falls on a grocery-shopping Zane, who freezes it with ice to protect civilians but winds up impaled through the back by an icicle in the same spot Jay was almost stabbed

A very exasperated PIXAL brings him home for repairs

Ninjago AU, but every person who reblogs gets to add/change one detail of canon.

I'll start: Zane has a criminal record, but no one knows what his crimes are.

May I make an addition to the “Jay cannot die” one—

Sometimes instead of the attacker taking the damage, it will instead ricochet off to Zane. It doesn’t matter where he is— he could be kilometres away— but some contrived series of coincidences and freak accidents domino-effected by the attack on Jay will make its way over to Zane instead. He’ll die for the thousandth time and get revived five minutes later. Nobody except one person (perhaps Pixal or Dareth) connects the two situations.

Ninjago AU, but every person who reblogs gets to add/change one detail of canon.

I'll start: Zane has a criminal record, but no one knows what his crimes are.

The Lego Ninjago Movie but it’s a D:BH AU

@finn-m-corvex ask and I shall ramble :D

So basically— the Ninjago movieverse is styled like the world of Detroit:Become Human. Dr. Julien (who I hc in the m!verse is actually a good dad to his sons) builds Zane and Echo as the first sentient androids and takes great care of them— until his old coworker turns on him. This coworker, Jacob Harvey (nicknamed “The Mechanic”) captures Zane and wipes his memories while Dr. J and Echo manage to escape. Now armed with the plans to make nindroids, The Mechanic builds Cyberlife and starts his nindroid-selling empire.

He also has Cyrus captured to make more plans for him, leaving him with two assistant nindroids (Pixal “Pel” and Sentry, who obvious Cyrus goes “my kids now” and helps become deviant)

Zane was the original deviant in the sense that he was the original nindroid built to be sentiment and free (aka he didn’t need to be deviant), but after getting semi-reset he forgets and will need to become deviant to regain that ability

Now moving onto the others—

Lloyd is human (well, maybe still part oni-dragon because this IS Ninjago— the dragon is from his mom’s side, btw) and lives with Koko. Nya is his semi-adopted sister (Koko helps caretake for Maya and Ray while they travel on business trips).

Nya’s younger twin brother, Kai, is a nindroid (one of the “kid” models who’s specialty is “aging with human kids as a sibling so they don’t get lonely”). He originally does the chores at home because he’s expected to, but Nya and Lloyd help him become deviant because he’s scared he’ll get replaced if he doesn’t do the chores right. Kai’s the closest equivalent to “Kara’s story”, though less extreme, where Nya (who might secretly be a nindroid too, I’m not sure) runs away with him and Lloyd because a civilian finds out Kai’s deviant during the whole deviant situation and he becomes wanted.

(Side note— along with Kai came a 2-for-1 of the same model, a faulty nindroid names Kaigami who Koko took in for a while— this is the equivalent of movie!Bizarro Kai and later becomes the adopted sibling of movie!Cryptor)

Speaking of movie!Cryptor (or Zero, as I call him), he and Zane are the equivalent of “Connor’s story” where Zane needs to learn how to be deviant (again) while Zero is an incredible efficient deviant hunting nindroid (except, plot twist, he’s actually deviant and has been helping deviants escape for years by pretending to kill them). He was built by the Mechanic and he wants to take down his creator who sees him as nothing more than just a machine.

Rest of the Dorksquad time— Cole is human, though more of a cyborg after an accident (he’s kind of the ‘Cole Anderson’ equivalent, except he lives), and he stumbles upon Jericho by accident and befriends the nindroids there. He brings supplies from outside and updates them on news, and sometimes he DJs a bit for moral.

And Jay is the “Markus” equivalent. He’s an advanced prototype model that was gifted to Cliff Whoredon Gordon and worked for him for a little bit until he stumbled upon a meeting between Cliff and a mafia leader (named Master Chen). Cliff had him thrown to the junkyard in very rough shape where he managed to patch himself up with spare parts and was found and adopted by the young couple (Ed & Edna) running said junkyard. He then meets the rest of the squad and sorta accidentally becomes one of the leaders of the nindroid revolution as part of the “Secret Ninjaforce”.

Bonus— Chen (the Cheerleader) is also a nindroid who eventually gets kicked out by his human family, the Ambers (including movie!Skylor, who is an evil girlboss, and her dads, Master Chen and Clouse) and finds his way to Jericho as well

And yeah that’s the main basics, not too much else planned out yes (it was originally a SPBNR AU too, so show!Kai and show!Zane might show up, much to the latters bewilderment at how there are more nindroids but they are treated worse, and sometimes other show!nindroids make an appearance)

What do y’all think?

🥷CALLING ALL NINJA🥷

Spread this like wildfire! I want all you faithful loyal Ninjago fans to vote for LLOYD in this tournament poll >> HERE << for most tragic character!!!

We need to spread the tag #NINJANEVERQUIT to all platforms with the link attached so we may reach out to our community!!!

If you aren't a ninja and need convincing as to why you should vote for Lloyd, then please read this >> google doc << I so heartedly put together on all the bullet points to his tragedies!

Ooooo all very interesting points! I love the summary and the analysis (100% agree on Lloyd’s fatal flaws) of agency and being doomed by your own hand vs. being doomed by the narrative. I personally think both are very tragic in their own regard, and there’s absolutely a very valid argument to make about which could be considered more tragic, but I’m playing devil’s advocate (or I suppose Oni’s advocate) for Lloyd, so goes—

You want agency? Sure! :D Let me find some examples of some of the other situations where Lloyd DOES make active choices that lead to his own suffering.

Season One, Rise of the Snakes— Lloyd intentionally opens the Serpentine Tombs, which directly snowballs into: his betrayal at the hands of Pythor, multiple kidnappings, nearly getting killed in a volcano in a cage sinking into lava, and the release of the Great Devourer (a massive f-u world-consuming snake) that directly causes Harumi to hate Lloyd’s guts for getting her parents killed in the serpent attack & gives Garmadon access to the Golden Weapons which further brings the prophecy closer to fruition.

Season Two, Legacy of the Green Ninja — Lloyd intentionally decides to use Tomorrow’s Tea to save his family (who have been turned to kids via magic) from a resurrected ninja-hunting dinosaur monster, knowing he’ll get hit by the blast and getting aged up (at least physically, not necessarily mentally) and losing his childhood. Everyone tried to dissuade him from this. He did it anyway. The prophecy is closer than ever because he’s “of age”.

Season Four, Tournament of Elements — He decides to open the portal to the cursed realm (I’ll admit, he was a bit forced by the situation, but he still had the activeness of doing it himself) and intentionally banished Garmadon (leading to his later death) in exchange for some ancient warriors to save the day (this results in the escape of the ghost who later possesses and traumatizes Lloyd)

Season Six, Skybound— Lloyd intentionally sacrifices himself to an evil djinn’s blade of souls because he thinks Jay can defeat him with a wish. This gets him sealed away in the sword like a battery (and in the original season concept of the sword, would be a confirmed death and his empty corpse would fall to the ground).

Season Eight, Sons of Garmadon— Lloyd choses to trust Harumi and is very active in his self-assigned role of protecting her, only to be backstabbed (almost literally) and nearly killed in a cave, then nearly killed by his resurrected evil father, which— oh yeah! Lloyd INTENTIONALLY sneaks out to confront/fight Garmadon by himself despite everyone telling him not too, leading to his suffering at the hands of his father in a prison that is broadcast to the entire city (so everyone sees their hero get beaten up within an inch of his life). As a direct result of this fight, Garmadon becomes strong enough to form a massive stone Colossus that destroys the city and supposedly kills Lloyd’s family in front of him, to which Lloyd blames himself

Season 12, Prime Empire — Lloyd choses to participate in a 1on1 fight with an NPC (context: they’re trapped in an evil videogame) despite Nya and Jay offering themselves to fight instead. This results in Lloyd having to fight an NPC Harumi, who Lloyd manages to kill despite his hesitation and trauma, but is killed in response. As it’s his final game life, he gets cubed (aka turned into an energy battery for the game to make a portal to the real world for the AI to escape). Yep, this counts as a death. Again.

Season 16, Crytalized — Lloyd intentionally disguises himself and infiltrates the newly formed Council of the Crystal King (yes, the acronym is as unfortunate as you think). He gets caught by his own badly-lying hand and realizes he fell into a trap, and Harumi blows up the subway tunnel and supposedly kills Lloyd’s family. He blames himself because he was the one who insisted they use his plan (he also succumbs a litttttle bit to darkness and nearly murders Harumi with oni powers)

And those are just some off the top of my head!

Unrelated to the above, but I personally think the worst (best) tragedies are the ones that could have barely been avoided, especially by human mistake. If it’s completely unavoidable, it’s more despairing, but if there was a glimmer of hope to avoid it all… and it was missed… that is the most human tragedy.

Ex 1. Antigone had (from your summary, at least) multiple chances to not-die. Had she taken one, it could have been avoided, but alas, she didn’t.

Ex. 2 Lloyd & Garmadon’s relation had multiple points where all the trauma and heartbreak and unfixableness could have been avoided (if Garmadon hadn’t been bitten by the evil-venom of the Great Devourer, if Lloyd hadn’t released the Serpentine that release the Great Devourer and give Harumi her motication to use Garmadon to hurt Lloyd, if Lloyd didn’t sacrifice Garmadon, if he’d found a way to free Garmadon before the Cursed Realm was destroyed, if he hadn’t believed Harumi, if he hadn’t led her to the final mask needed for her ritual, if he hadn’t gotten himself captured and used as a distraction to give Harumi the chance to finish the ceremony, if he hadn’t gone to fight Garmadon on his own, if if if)

What do you think?

P.S. Thanks for being really respectful and civil, it’s fun having these soft debates that get you to analysis media :D I’ve been rotating thoughts about cycles all day ahsjsjsffs

I recognize that there can be debate over how to define tragedy, like Greek tragedies hardly all followed Aristotle's definition and those were in turn different from things like Shakespearean tragedy or modern definitions of "tragic character" but I think at the very least a tragic character should have a coherent arc, quality over quantity. A bunch of UNRELATED bad things happening to a character just because a show has gone on for a really long time isn't really telling a coherent tragic story. Especially when some of the bad things happening are literally repeats of each other. Like I haven't watched Ninjago but I keep hearing about how Lloyd had to kill his father 3 times, but I think reusing a "he has to kill his father" plot point over and over again while not having him die for real just to give each season a new plot is a lot less tragic than a more coherent narrative where someone just has to kill their father once and this ties into their overall character arc.

Very valid opinion

A fair opinion! If I may make a counterargument with context—

There’s inherent tragedy in the reason WHY Lloyd has to kill his dad. It’s interconnected in one MASSIVE series arc that is incredibly tragic in terms of the themes of family Ninjago has always strived for.

Lloyd, young 8-year-old Season 1 Lloyd, once looked up to his father. He wanted to be just like him, evil and all, even when Garmadon was banished to the Underworld Lloyd’s whole 8-year-old life. He finds out he has to fight his father (possibly to the death),something his father, corrupted by evil, does not want. There’s struggle on both sides to avoid this fight, but destiny finds a way. Lloyd is a child when he has to fight his possessed dad, and after a very emotionally grueling battle, manages to win. His father is finally free from evil. Everything should be happy.

Except Lloyd is trapped forever by destiny, by the narrative, by the cycle of war and grief and tragedy that Ninjago writes (seriously, cycles and spinning are central themes in this series). And he only gets his father back for a short while before he has to sacrifice him to save his home, has to banish him to the Cursed Realm & therefor get him “killed”. It’s a theme of sacrifice that Lloyd has always had to do— sacrifice his childhood to the prophecy of the Green Ninja, sacrifice his powers, sacrifice his father, sacrifice his life, all for “destiny” (which is literally written as a narrative in-universe by the Cloud Kingdom).

And then the next season, his father dies when the cursed realm is destroyed, all because Lloyd opened the portal there in the first place allowing some ghosts to escape & sent his father to that realm.

And Lloyd grieves.

A few seasons later, Harumi (you’ve seen her mentions in Lloyd’s propaganda, it’s this whole other tragic thing) resurects Lloyd’s father, but only the evilness. There is no trace of the man he once was. Lloyd fights him again, tries to reach out to him the way he once did in the prophecy battle—

And is beaten within an inch of his life and thrown through multiple walls by his father. His father takes over the city, destroys it, sends a vicious manhunt after an injured Lloyd. His father (at least from Lloyd’s perspective, unaware they escaped) murders multiple members of Lloyd’s family. Over and over, Lloyd is hurt by him.

And then we see a mirror that shows your deepest, darkest fear. And when Lloyd stands before it, he sees himself becoming his father. The thing he once wanted more than anything has become his greatest fear. He is scarred, never to recover, having lost all hope and love for the person he once loved more than anyone, his idol, his hero, his father.

(And that’s not even touching all the stuff with Garmadon in the movie, nor all of Lloyd’s other traumas like dying multiple times or getting possessed or being isolated for years thinking all his friends/family is dead or watching said friends and family die multiple times or everything else)

I recognize that there can be debate over how to define tragedy, like Greek tragedies hardly all followed Aristotle's definition and those were in turn different from things like Shakespearean tragedy or modern definitions of "tragic character" but I think at the very least a tragic character should have a coherent arc, quality over quantity. A bunch of UNRELATED bad things happening to a character just because a show has gone on for a really long time isn't really telling a coherent tragic story. Especially when some of the bad things happening are literally repeats of each other. Like I haven't watched Ninjago but I keep hearing about how Lloyd had to kill his father 3 times, but I think reusing a "he has to kill his father" plot point over and over again while not having him die for real just to give each season a new plot is a lot less tragic than a more coherent narrative where someone just has to kill their father once and this ties into their overall character arc.

Very valid opinion

VOTE LLOYD THE PROPAGANDA DOESN’T EVEN MENTION HALF THE SH!T HE GOES THROUGH (including straight-up dying— kinda multiple times) NOR ANY OF THE MOVIE WHICH, TO SUMMARIZE—

He's the second most HATED PERSON IN THE CITY (second only to the dad he’s never known who’s an evil warlord) just because he’s the son of said warlord no matter how much he tries, has songs bullying him REACH THE NUMBER 1 CHART MULTIPLE TIMES, has a mental block on catching/throwing because of his absent dad, gets told by his uncle on his birthday (which his dad also attacks on) that his hands are the wrong hands, constantly defends a city that hates him as the Green Ninja, accidentally causes the destruction of his city, watches/thinks all his friends DIED because of him, gets bullied by said friends (we ignore this part), goes on a dangerous quest, loses his uncle, has to team up with his dad who bullies him in front of his friends, gets captured and nearly thrown into a volcano by crazy generals, LOSES HIS DUCKING ARM, gets locked in a crumbling and unstable temple with no food by his dad after he thought he broke through to him, watches his dad (who he still cares about despite Garmadon being a sh!tty dad) get eaten by a cat, and just...

Poor Lloyd. There is so, so much trauma.

Have I mentioned he’s had visions of all his friends and family dying? And has had to watch his family die multiple times? Believed them dead on different multiple occasions? Is the DEFINITION of “prophecy chosen one” who gets put through SO MUCH by the universe?

PROPAGANDA UNDER THE CUT: [SPOILERS AND POSSIBLE TRIGGERS AHEAD]

ANTIGONE:

LLOYD GARMADON:

trick or treat 🎃

I'm really sorry, this little snot-nosed kid in a skeleton hoodie ran to my door and took all the candy from the "take one" bin with an evil cackle.

I can offer you this rubber snake they dropped as they ran away?

Happy Halloween! :D

@ninjago-oc-appreciation I submitted :D

Thank you so much for hosting!

Ninjago Oc Secret Santa 2023 Sign Ups

Alrighty folks, the time has come to sign up for the 2023 Ninjago Oc Secret Santa! Please read the information provided in the description of the form; additional information will be provided upon receiving your assignment.

As of the forms being released, you will have until November 1st  to fill your form out.

Expect to receive your assignments within the week after the form closes. After receiving your assignment you will have until December 23rd to January 7th to finish you piece, with a late period extending from January 8th to January 14th.

Do not post your piece until the designated posting days.

There’s no rule against signing up for both sections; however I do ask you to consider the time provided and how long it will take you to finish a piece.

If you have any questions feel free to reach out!

Sign Up (Art Form)

Sign Up (Writing Form)

Info Post

Also, an update regarding information in the initial info post: I previously stated that the sign up forms would not require you to sign in. This is unfortunately not true, as google forms apparently require users to sign in if the form permits you to upload a file. This isn't something I knew until recently.

The forms are still completely anonymous however; the forms won't collect your email, and therefore it will remain private.

I’ll be tagging some people who showed interest; if for whatever reason you are unable to sign up or no longer have an interest in signing up that is fine.

Tagging:

@ninjago-events, @lunar-eclipse-bunnies, @blazersparker, @legofreak33, @lavandaray, @slowpokegamer, @swampythesweetsketch, @a1sart, @summertide-treehouse, @rainofthetwilight, @sayijo, @lightning-chicken, @pufffinn, @zanethepa1n, @ninjagoslushie, @juniperjellyfish, @kodoku-roxi, @ashclouds366, @ririthu, @roselock22, @gravyhoney, @sebilini, @howuart, @kai-making-art, @totally-not-into-drama, @ammo0648, @rjsmiley, @impulsivefanwriter

Do you want to hear movie!bruise headcanons @angeldrawsstuffs, @fanfalc-616, and I have because it is exactly what you describe because Blue is an anxiety potato who is very good at sitting in his crushes’ lap and Black is a dense laidback guy who nods along to music and pets Blue’s hair and thinks “man I’m so lucky to have a good friend like Jay”

no cuz every bruise story i've read is jay being completely oblivious to cole's reciprocated feelings. where's cole being oblivious to jay's reciprocated feelings. where's them staring at each other a little too long and jay blushing and cole going "man i wonder if he has a fever." where's cole bending over backwards to justify every one of jay's more flirtatious behaviors because "he's touchy-feely, he does that with everybody, it doesn't MEAN anything" in an effort to not be disappointed. where's cole pulling away from jay out of fear and not understanding that the hurt that flashes through his eyes isn't from being best friends, but from feeling like a rejection of his own romantic feelings. do you see it. do you See My Vision.

Angeldrawsstuff DTIYS Submission

FINALLY DONE- I kept starting and stopping like 5 other ideas for this DTYS and finally picked the original idea I had- I got it done in time :D This is for the lovely @angeldrawsstuffs' DTIYS (which you still have three days to enter)

Chen the Cheerleader, beloved blorbo and Master of Amber <3

Ninjago, the realm where anything is possible and potential is limitless, where destiny is defied

And the Cloud Kingdom, the realm where everything is pre-written and narrative is limited, where destiny is defined

Heyyyyy. I have a Ninjago theoryyyyy.

So, I'm pretty sure it's said/implied in Season 14 that FSM didn't create the realm of Ninjago, but rather he showed up and then created the continents of Ninjago and the Dark Island, which eventually split to seal away the Overlord.

Now, we also know from Season 6 that sister realms exist, because the Cursed Realm and Djinjago are sister realms. I read somewhere that people think these two have no similarities, but that conversation will be shelved for now.

I think Cloud Kingdom and Ninjago are sister realms.

Why do I think that? First off, the only destinies we've seen Cloud Kingdom work on so far has been people in Ninjago or the Cloud Kingdom. Not saying that it isn't possible that they write destinies for other realms, just thst we haven't seen it yet.

Now, remember that conversation we shelved? Yeah, my cat knocked it off the shelf and splayed it out on the table, so now let's talk about the "relations" (?) between the Cursed Realm and Djinjago, and how that can sort of apply to Cloud Kingdom and Ninjago.

First off, let's think about what the Cursed Realm and Djinjago literally are. The Cursed Realm is the place where you get sent to when you've done many horrible things in your life, and get placed into what I assume is a brutal, choiceless dictatorship, judging by the cages and chains we see. Djinjago is a land filled with djin's, people similar to genies that can grant three wishes for you.

The Cursed Realm strips you of your choices, while Djinjago essentially makes your choices limitless (within the three wish parameters, of course). Their inhabitants (from what we've seen from Seasons 5 & 6) are very cruel and manipulative. They have strong similarities and opposites.

So, how does this apply to Ninjago and Cloud Kingdom? First off, Ninjago and Djinjago rhyme, and Cloud Kingdom and the Cursed Realm are two words, thee first word starting with a "C" and the second word being some form of big location. Second, Ninjago was originally a realm completely covered by water, and Cloud Kingdom is literally a kingdom in the clouds! What's more opposite than the sky and the sea??

Speaking of the sky and the sea, the two elements the FSM never mastered were wind and water. Wind being sky aka Cloud Kingdom and being very tied into destiny (cough cough Morro who literally rewrote destiny and Euphrasia who is a destiny writer cough cough), and water being sea aka Ninjago. Yeah, Wojira basically controlled both, but she's a serpent that has dragonlike wings.

My conclusion? Cloud Kingdom and Ninjago are sister realms, because I've found evidence that supports my theory and none that disproves it.

Sorry for any typos, I am eepy.

Strawberry reads one too many “so realistic it’s almost scary” Lava fics before bed with a bruiseshipping subplot and confuses reality with fiction the next day

Strawberry: HOW DARE YOU!! OF ALL THE PEOPLE TO BETRAY ME, I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN IT WOULD BE YOU—

Blueberry: ?????

Could you imagine the wild scenario of the Dork Squad/Secret Ninja Force just chilling on their phones after a long day, for someone to have a scroll down some site and discover Green NinjaxLloyd Garmadon fanfiction.

Like how tf would Lloyd even muster the mental power to wrap his head around the terrifying thought that some people in the city thought that shipping his heroic persona with his “villainous” civilian self made any sense.

OP this is so bigbrained—

A lot of fans have speculated that Jay has amnesia, possibly from either a head injury, elemental power backlash, or something going wrong in the Administration when he either wound up there right from the Merge or was going to get relocated

But if he’s been in the Realm of Madness (now the Kingdom of Madness) potentially for years since the beginning of the merge…

Well, Garmadon got his extra arms in this realm. It’s possible it’ll drive someone a bit mad or have other unexpected consequences.

“So why isn’t Nya affected?” was my first thought, considering Lloyd, Arin, Riyu, and Sora find her helping the Craglings, except…

“The Merge. Nya, is this where you woke up when it hit?”

“No. A lot happened to me after the Merge. But now’s not the time to get into all those stories. Just know I woke up alone, pretty far from here, and started to work my way back to Ninjago.”

So if Jay really has lost his memory, it could be as a side effect from being in the Realm of Madness for so long when he isn’t a normal inhabitant of this kingdom

Also if I had a nickel for every time Jay ended up in a different realm and lost his marbles…

Sorry for derailing the post OP your art is just SO AMAZING and it made me want to analyze the situation

hey guys so jays in the realm of madness right. how's that going for him

OOOOOO I love your thought process so much (Cole & theatre works SO WELL- Apollo could work too because song and dance, and Lloyd as Apollo fits super well too)

In the version I've got with @genderfluidkai, we've been playing around with-

Hephaestus Kai and Poseidon Nya (with the same mortal parent) who got locked in the Lotus Casino for a bit

Automaton Zane built by Daedalus/Dr. J, blessed by Boreas (Greek god of the North Wind)

We thought about Gaia or Demeter for Cole, but settled on the Earthshaker epithet of Neptune (yeah, Cole's a Roman demigod everyone mistakes for a Greek and takes to Camp Halfblood!)

Same with debating Jay for Zeus, Hephaestus, or Hermes, but we decided that he's actually a child of Thor that everyone mistakes for a Zeus kid (he and Cole get brought to CHB after outrunning a norse lindwyrm and a Strix- Cole football-tossed Jay through the camp barrier)

And for Lloyd- or at least young S1 Lloyd- we thought Dionysus because chaos and gremlin energy while still having life (and also Mr. D being a very tired Garmadon who only has a soft spot for his son was just too funny)

Oh, and Morro's an eidolon (son of Notus) who was friends with Kai and Nya in life before they got stuck in the casino and he died via monster attack

[[Bonus movie!Dorksquad because we merged the show and movieverse for this AU-]]

Kai = Venus (roman Aphrodite)

Nya = Victoria (roman Nike)

Zane = Norse Frost Giant in disguise

Cole = Apollo (roman)

Jay = Jupiter (roman Zeus) and a praetor (we gave him SO MUCH ANGST lol)

Lloyd = Pluto (roman Hades)- Morro hangs around him because Green Cousins go brrrr (in this AU, the show and movie Lloyds are cousins - and fun fact, the two Jays are half-brothers through Cliff on their mortal sides)

Have you ever read any of the Percy Jackson books or the like? If so-

Any thoughts on a Ninjago Demigod AU?

OHHHH DUDE I LOVE PERCY JACKSON I GREW UP WITH IT!

Man a demigod AU…….. that’d be so fascinating omg

My first thought is Kai and Nya being children of Hephaestus. The god of blacksmithing and fire? Perfect for Kai. Craftsman, metalwork, so Nya. I considered Nya being a child of Poseiden but I couldn’t bear to separate her from Kai GDKSHDK

Jay is VERY obvious. Child of Zeus, he hates Zeus tho cuz he sucks so he spends all his time crafting with the Hephaestus cabin kids instead

Zane would be an automaton I feel, perhaps one given life by one of the gods? Maybe Athena?

Ngl I had a hard time placing Cole. The big earth deity that sticks out to me is Gaia, but she’s a Titan and I’m trying to stick with gods. I ended up going with Dionysus, his godly parent being the god of theater just hit to me

With Lloyd I’d go with a child of Apollo. Prophecy. Healing. Apollo is practically the sun itself, the thing that gives Life to everything on earth. Idk it feels very Lloyd to me

3) I've got some stuff for different Vessel AUs here but yeah, Lloyd would absolutely be scarred by his four older brothers being possessed by the Overlord and that recovery journey for him and them has so much hurt/comfort potential-

I know! It's a shame that the show never explores it more (heck, we don't even know if they were crystal statues or if they would've just been crystal zombies ALA Dark Matter 2.0), and I was hoping the fandom would have me covered but nope :( I can see why (everyone collectively ignoring everything past the awesome dragon forms) but also THAT'S WHAT FANDOM IS FOR MAKING OUR OWN ENDING- also I totally thought one of the Ninja was getting crystallized in the rice field earlier in the season

2) The Golden Legend short is so good, I'll admit it was partly the inspiration for it. But just like- the OG4 coming to their senses and realizing that a. they're a DRAGON, b. they're a FOUR-HEADED DRAGON, c. they're SHARING A BODY (each of them has their respective elemental head) AS A FOUR-HEADED DRAGON, and d. their family thinks they've been turned to statues and are weeping over them and guys we're right here we're the dragon guys please listen why can't anyone understand us and why is it so HARD TO DO CHARADES AS AN UNCOORDINATED FOUR-HEADED DRAGON-

So you've seen Crystalized- good

I've got three variants of OG4 angst (that includes Jay angst) for you then-

What are your thoughts on the whole "the OG4 got turned into Crystal Zombies right at the end" thing that never got explored in the show (and I barely, if ever, see talked about in the fandom?)

So it would be cool if the Golden Dragon was not just the embodiment of the Golden Weapons + parts of the Elements of Creation, but also if they were partly the OG4... and that brings up the possibility for an AU where the OG4 get stuck as the Golden Dragon while their bodies remain statues, and they have to somehow communicate to a distraught Lloyd, Nya, Wu, Pixal, and Skylor that they're Jay, Kai, Zane, and Cole

What if instead of forging a new body... the Overlord had returned via possessing all four OG4 ninja at once? So Lloyd and the others have to fight their friends/family?

OOOOH

1. Ngl I think a reason people don’t think about that is cuz that part of Crystalized kinda. Sucked. So HEKSHDKDH BUT PERSONALLY??? I LOVE THAT CONCEPT

I’m such a sucker for any “heroes being controlled by the villain” situation. Whether it’s corruption, mind control, forced villainy, manipulation, it’s all soooooo so sick I love it so much and I wish we had SEEN the ninja getting corrupted by the crystals so bad aside from just a siNGLE FRAME

2. OOOOH reminds me of the Golden Legend short!! That sounds so interesting, I’d LOVE to delve into that kind of concept it seems so interesting!!

3. OOOOOOH that sounds verrry cool :D tbh I’m more partial to the Overlord possessing LLOYD, I thought that’s what was going to happen in the first place, but possessing the OG 4 instead??? Very cool, the idea of them speaking ominously in sync is a very strong image in my head when I think of that. Would definitely scar Lloyd for life omg poor dude BDKDHD

Shoutouts to (the SPBNR Discord server)’s name headcanons of—

Aki — Bizarro!Kai, name comes from an anagram of Kai, also (possibly, please politely correct me if I’m wrong!) can mean “bright”, “shining”, “autumn”, “sparkle”, “daybreak”, and/or “love, hope” depending on the writing in Japanese

Nane — Bizarro!Zane, name come from flipping the Z into an N (can be a dialectal variant of “None”)

Cage — Bizarro!Jay, name comes from the letter sounds it makes (Jay = J, Cage = K + G (but a soft g)), also comes from a birdcage that could trap a bluejay (his backup name is Corvid)

Chons — Bizarro!Cole, name comes from the chemical formula for coal (ex. C137H97O9NS is bituminous coal). He tried to get the nickname “Chronos” instead (a fitting name considering the scythe). It didn’t catch on

Okay, after watching Ninjago since the start and being in the fandom for a while, I think the weirdest thing to me is people actually remembering and making fics and designs of the evil versions of the ninja that literally appeared in one episode in the second season. Like. What

Honestly I should just stop questioning the Ninjago fandom