#also guy is voiced by lloyd garmadon which is very funny to me as i am the number one lloyd fan | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

goldenavenger02 · 3 years

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my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand

5 times Zane took care of the team and 1 time the team took care of Zane

•••

"You three are brothers now, and will become stronger together. But for now, you must get acquainted with each other." Sensei's words rang in Zane's head as he made his way into the kitchen of the monastery.

While Jay had been somewhat easy to get introduced to, with his passion for robotics and his tendency to talk, they had become close very quickly.

Cole, however, was a bit harder to speak to; Zane could tell that Cole was a good person, as he was extremely loyal to Sensei even though he had just started his training under him, but he was also closed off to Jay and Zane.

And while he didn't know why, Zane had a feeling it was more so due to some sort of pain in his past, and not him viewing himself and Jay as lower than him.

Which is why Zane was now in the kitchen; he could never quite place exactly why, but he always felt at peace when he was cooking. Something about making something out of nothing was soothing to him.

But before he had decided what exactly he was going to make, that's when Cole came in, a look of longing across his face.

"Hello, Cole," Zane greeted, offering him a smile, but it faded when Cole stiffened, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."

"It's alright, just startled me," Cole insisted, the look of longing came back before he asked, "are you making anything specific?"

"I have not decided. Do you have a request?" Zane asked, trying to read Cole's face.

"Can you make cake? Vanilla cake?"

"Absolutely," Zane smiled, going to grab the ingredients before asking, his back turned to Cole, "are we celebrating something, or is it just cake?"

He heard Cole take in a deep breath, almost as if he was trying to avoid crying, which didn't make much sense, since from what he knew, cake was never for sad things.

Zane turned around to see Cole staring at the counter before he responded.

"Yeah, it's…" he swallowed before locking eyes with Zane, "it would have been my mom's birthday. She passed away a few months ago."

"I am sorry for your loss, Cole." Zane spoke softly, unsure of how best to comfort someone he didn't know very well.

The room went quiet for a few moments, and Zane busied himself with grabbing the rest of the cooking supplies when Cole spoke up again, his voice cracking slightly from the tears.

"Can I help?"

Zane nodded, allowing Cole behind the counter before Zane got to work on the dry ingredients, watching as Cole started working on the wet ingredients.

And when Zane tripped over his own foot, resulting in Cole being covered in flour head to toe, he couldn't stop himself from laughing when Cole did, although he didn't fully understand exactly what was so funny.

"Come on, you stupid hunk of junk!" Nya's shout rang through the Bounty, startling everyone that was aboard.

"How long has she been working on the thruster?" Zane asked, wondering just how long she had gone without food, sleep and water.

"Since yesterday afternoon, I can't pry her away from it." Jay explained, which led Zane to nod before making his way to the control room.

Nya was hunched over the thruster controls, screwdriver in her left hand and a screw hanging out of her mouth, her eyebrows scrunched in anger as she continued to twist the wrench with her right around a bolt.

"Nya?" Zane spoke softly, not wanting to provoke her, before gently putting his hand on her shoulder, "perhaps you should take a break. Jay said that you have been working on it since yesterday."

"I've gotta work on this," she shook her head after taking the screw out of her mouth, "we don't know when we'll have to make a getaway from...whatever Lord Garmadon is planning."

Zane nodded; since Garmadon had disappeared after the destruction of the golden weapons, they had all braced themselves for an attack, even Lloyd who had just started learning the full extent of his powers was getting ready for whatever his dad was going to throw at them.

"I understand your reasoning perfectly, but you are human, Nya. You will get burnt out if you work yourself too hard," he stopped to gently take the wrench out of her hand so she would look at him, "and if we have any chance at stopping Garmadon, we are going to need Samurai X."

Luckily, Nya nodded, and put up her tools, before wiping at her brow with her arm. "Thanks, Zane."

"You're welcome." Zane couldn't help but smile as he watched Nya make her way towards her quarters, and that's when he turned back to the thruster, and started to get to work with schematics pulled up in front of him.

"You will fly again, my friend."

Despite the fact that it was called "The Dark Island", Zane had actually found the perfect place to sit on the beach and watch the sunrise, which was hidden by large rocks, even though he could see the ocean perfectly.

He knew that the others would wake up soon, and they would start working towards the final battle yet again, but for a brief moment, everything was peaceful.

Until he heard the footsteps.

Zane immediately drew his weapon, hearing the slight rustle of sand get louder and louder, until finally, he stood and yelled, ready to attack until the supposed assailant screamed, energy at both of their hands.

Zane immediately sheathed the weapon and took a deep breath, watching as Lloyd did the same, his hand against his chest. "You scared me, Lloyd."

"Likewise," Lloyd took a deep breath before raising an eyebrow, "what're you doing?"

"I'm watching the sunrise, it looks beautiful from here," Zane explained, sitting back down and watching Lloyd's face fall, "although, I could ask you the same thing."

"I just needed some time for myself," Lloyd told him, sitting next to Zane before letting out a sigh, "I don't think I'm ready."

"To fight your father?," Zane offered, resulting in a nod from Lloyd, "You have every reason to be upset about this situation. I just reunited with my father, and I can confidently say that I would be very distraught if we were on opposite sides."

"My entire life, I've lost people. My father got banished, my mother went to work on her research and left me at Darkley's, even my uncle didn't take me in for a long time," Zane watched as Lloyd took in a shaky breath before wiping his face against his sleeve, "I don't wanna lose him again."

"Again?" Zane asked softly, as to avoid provoking Lloyd.

"My dad has been the only one to come back for me. When I got taken by the Serpentine, he left whatever evil place he was in to come save me, and I know you guys came for me too, but…"

"You're scared of being abandoned again after you fulfill the prophecy." Zane spoke aloud as it clicked in his head, and when Lloyd nodded, he could feel his heart break slightly.

"I don't want to be alone again."

Zane nodded, before gently laying his hand on Lloyd's shoulder and he saw the tear streaks on Lloyd's cheeks. "You won't be alone again, because you have me and the others. We are your brothers, and even if you didn't have elemental abilities, we would still be your brothers."

Zane didn't prepare himself adquitally for the hug that Lloyd gave him, and he could feel his circuits and gears tightening under his grasp.

But hearing Lloyd's soft voice whisper, "thank you, Zane," made it all worth it, and he couldn't stop himself from returning the hug.

"No sign of Chen or any of his warriors." PIXAL affirmed with a smile, which led Zane to repeat the message to Kai.

Now that he had been freed, he was fully able to explore exactly what his new body could do, and while he remembered big events clearly and flashes of small things, his memory was still foggy.

But he remembered his friends, and that was the biggest thing that mattered to him.

"Any sign of Skylor?" Kai begged, and Zane had no choice but to shake his head no, seeing the look of anguish on Kai's face grow more prominent.

"Let's keep looking. They couldn't have gotten off the island." Kai insisted, Zane following closely behind, watching as Kai's face went from anger to worry.

"You seem distraught, Kai. About more than Skylor," Zane reached forward and gently set his hand on Kai's shoulder, watching as he turned back to meet his eyes, "do you want to talk about it?"

Kai let out a sigh before turning back to the path and continued to walk, "I feel terrible for what happened. I had to trick Lloyd in order to get the staff from Chen, and then I almost hurt Lloyd and Skylor with the staff. Now she's missing, and...I feel like that's on me."

"No one blames you for that, Kai. Chen is the one who took her, not you." Zane reasoned softly.

"But I allowed myself to be corrupted by the staff. We all know how bad losing power is for Lloyd, and I allowed the power to consume me, to say things to him that...that I haven't believed in a long time."

"As soon as we get back, you two should talk and get everything out in the open," Zane stopped once again to put his hand on Kai's shoulder, "if we are going to fight as one, and stop Chen, we cannot have any harsh feelings towards each other."

"You're right," Kai nodded, before letting out another sigh, "I just hope Lloyd doesn't hate me."

"I think that would be impossible, Kai," Zane insisted, and when Kai turned to raise an eyebrow at him, he continued, "I do not remember everything, and my memories are still foggy, but I remember just how much Lloyd and you have bonded over the years. I have a feeling that after you two talk, he will forgive you."

Kai smiled, which made Zane's emotion levels spike with happiness, before the two continued walking deeper and deeper into Chen's island.

Zane couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something, like there was a gap in his memory drive, even if PIXAL insisted that there wasn't one.

So he was awake in the bridge, trying to double check; he really did trust PIXAL, but something had happened to his memories, and after the whole situation with his memory switch in the first place, something about forgetting just scared him.

But as he continued to go through his internal hard drive, and his memory drive, it seemed as though PIXAL was correct, and there was no gap.

As he went to close the files, that's when PIXAL popped up in his vision.

"Zane, there is someone in the general proximity of the bridge. Proceed with caution."

Zane straightened his back as he closed the files, even though the only sound he could hear was a slight sniffling that sounded a lot like crying, and grabbed one of the spare katanas that was out, turning slowly to see if he could scope out who was in the room, but that's when Jay turned the corner, a pint of ice cream in his hand that he almost threw at Zane when he screamed.

"What the heck are you doing up, Zane?!" Jay screeched as Zane set the katana on the table and approached him, "You're going to give me a heart attack if you're that quiet!"

"I'm sorry, I was just…" Zane trailed off before making eye contact with Jay, who now had the spoon from the pint of ice cream, that looked like it was Cole's ice cream, in his mouth; the tear streaks barely visible against Jay's cheeks, however, that's what Zane noticed, "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"Could ask you the same thing," Jay responded before sticking another spoonful in his mouth, "couldn't sleep, got hungry, and Cole's name isn't on his ice cream."

"I heard someone crying." Zane asked softly, watching as Jay nearly choked on a chunk of cookie dough before sputtering.

"Maybe it was Lloyd, you know he curls up under the wheel when he doesn't want anyone to know he's crying."

"Lloyd was snoring when I left our room, I would have seen him," he watched as Jay's body deflated slightly and he put the ice cream down on the console before sitting down, which led Zane to put his hand on his shoulder, "do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm just working through some things, things that...you wouldn't remember."

Zane swallowed as he made the connection that Jay knew exactly why he had a gap in his memory that PIXAL couldn't detect, but instead of freaking out, he sat next to Jay, and put his hand on his shoulder. "Maybe not, but I am willing to listen, even if you wanna erase this conversation afterwards."

"Nah, I'm not gonna do that," Jay wiped his hand across his face before taking a shaky breath and turning back to Zane, "You remember when we were trying to get to Stiix because of reports of Clouse being there?"

"Yes, that's when you and Nya resumed dating." Zane affirmed, watching as Jay's face fell slightly.

"Yeah, that's… not exactly what happened…"

'Remember when I put Kai's clothes in with yours, and you had to dress up as the pink ninja? Remember?' The blonde boy pleaded, green eyes full of tears.

He had no idea what this liar was talking about, let alone who he was. Vex insisted he was some sort of liar or traitor, but there was something about the way…

'No.'

He had no idea who this was.

•••

Zane tried to shake the memory away as he made his way to his room, looking over at the photo on his dresser.

The picture that they had taken after finishing the mural on the monastery wall; where Kai was holding onto Nya and Lloyd and Nya was holding onto Jay and Jay was holding onto Cole and Lloyd was holding onto him and he was holding onto PIXAL.

And they were all happy; even though the Oni almost killed them all, there was a large gash next to Lloyd's eye and Cole looked like he had been through the underworld and back, they were happy.

Zane was anything but happy now.

When they returned from the Never-Realm, and they shared weary smiles and hugs with Master Wu and PIXAL, despite the frostbite, Lloyd's obvious concussion and the burns on Kai's hands that would definitely scar, they were happy.

The feeling in Zane's gut was not going away anytime soon. Watching as PIXAL stitched the cut on the back of Lloyd's head, applied bandages to Kai's hands, and treated the frostbite wasn't helping with that either.

Zane didn't deserve to feel happy after nearly killing the others. After nearly killing Lloyd.

While the others were eating dinner, courtesy of Nya, Zane was sitting outside on the steps of the monastery; he didn't need to eat, and even if he did, he didn't think he could stomach it.

'You were built to protect those who cannot protect themselves. You failed your purpose. Both as a ninja, and as yourself.'

Despite all that had happened with his memories, Zane was starting to consider asking Jay to wipe the archive of the Never-Realm. Maybe he wouldn't feel as bad then.

"Hey," a voice interrupted his thoughts, and he lifted his head to see Lloyd smiling at him, although it was more of a sympathetic smile than a genuine one, "mind if I sit here?"

"You're not supposed to be outside, or on stairs for that matter, without supervision," Zane reasoned, but still moved so Lloyd could sit beside him, "you still have a concussion."

"Well, you're here, so I'm being supervised," Lloyd reasoned while sitting, and Zane couldn't deny that logic, and the company was more welcome than the deafening silence, "besides, I need a break from Kai and Master Wu breathing down my neck."

Zane nodded as Lloyd adjusted to get comfortable; he had noticed how understandably protective both of them had grown since they had gotten back, and how Lloyd had insisted immediately that the concussion was Vex's fault, refusing to look Zane in the eye.

"So, are you leaving?" Lloyd's voice cracked, which jolted something in Zane's system as he nearly stood with the shock.

"No, no, I'm not leaving," he insisted, unable to ignore the relief on Lloyd's face as he spoke, "why would you ask that?"

"Because the last time you left the monastery at night, you found my treehouse," Lloyd kicked at a pebble before looking at Zane, "and when the Hypnobri burned down the old monastery-"

But Lloyd's voice cut out as the scene played out in his head.

'Flames, trapped dragons, no more training equipment, no home, nowhere to go, alone, everyone accusing him of causing this, insisting that it was a teaching moment, being ignored, seeing the falcon, following it, the feeling of being alone again.'

"I left because I saw the falcon, and you weren't even there." Zane tried to convince Lloyd that it hadn't been the guilt, feeling like he had screwed up, feeling like he was alone.

"You're right, I was busy being a brat," Lloyd reasoned before looking back at Zane, "but I know as well as anyone what guilt is, and you felt it then, like you feel it now."

Zane swallowed; did everyone know? Was he terrible at hiding this? Had they planned to send Lloyd out?

"I hurt people. A lot of people," Zane swallowed, knowing that there were tears in his eyes, "I hurt you."

"That was Vex-" Lloyd tried to insist, but Zane shook his head, unable to look at Lloyd and instead looked up at the glittering stars.

"You don't have to lie to me, Lloyd. They were my hands, I was the one who…" he couldn't even finish his sentence without choking on the emotions on his throat.

He felt Lloyd's hand on his shoulder, he couldn't look at him, but he couldn't reach over and pull his hand off either, 'what if I freeze him? What if I hurt him again?'

"You know, Master Wu has a saying for things like this, "we cannot change the past, but we can affect the future"," Lloyd quoted, leading Zane to swallow harshly as his master's words rang true in his head, "but I get it. Feeling like you hurt people because it was your hands."

'Morro.'

"Lloyd, I didn't-" Zane started, finally managing to look at Lloyd, but he was cut off by childlike wonder spreading across his face.

"A shooting star! Quick, make a wish!" Lloyd begged, and Zane wiped at his tears before closing his eyes, pretending to make a wish before turning back to Lloyd.

"What did you wish for?" He asked, fully indulging Lloyd at this point, who was standing up. 'Lloyd deserves this, after everything.'

"That you'll come back inside with me and the others," Lloyd held out his hand to Zane, making his head throb with worry.

'You'll hurt him, you'll hurt him, you'll hurt-' "You're not going to hurt me, Zane."

Zane took Lloyd's hand, and allowed him to lead him to the living room.

For the first time since they got back from the Never-Realm, as Cole and Kai went head to head in their video game, as Nya and Jay snuggled on the couch, as he sat in between Lloyd and PIXAL, things felt right again.

He let PIXAL hold his hand, he let Cole high five him, he let Jay give him a fist bump, he hit the empty bag of chips away from Lloyd's head. Even as Master Wu pulled Lloyd away from the TV due to the concussion and Cole took his spot, he still felt calm. Relaxed even. Maybe now, they could all start to heal together.

#Ninjago #lego ninjago #zane ninjago #lloyd montgomery garmadon #jay walker #nya ninjago #kai ninjago #cole ninjago #master wu #pixal #pilot season #season 2 #season 4 #season 6 #season 11 #angst #family #friendship #the formatting is a little weird but i wanted the whole story to fit on here

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kittydemon9000 · 3 years

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Okay so once again, 3 am thoughts have gifted me with yet another au. It is by no means original but screw it: SmithSwap

The only things I’m switching is their ages, so now Nya is the older one, but it. Gets. Fun.

For specifics, as of the Pilots/S1 Nya is 15 and Kai is 11, because I want bebe kai

Now, prior to Wu showing up, it’s pretty much the same as canon only with roles reversed. Nya mostly runs the shop while Kai is trying to everything he can to make things easier for his big sister, and I mean everything. The only one Nya doesn’t stop him from doing is cooking because Kai is the better chef, though neither can figure out why. Nya also likes to tell Kai stories of their parents since he can’t remember them too well, much to his disappointment.

ANYWAY, Wu shows up, Kai gets upset he’s insulting his sister’s work, then Skulkin show up. Kai does get snatched, much to Nya worry and canon continues.

Okay but also tiny spinoff, it also would’ve been hilarious if Nya still got kidnapped because then when the guys meet Kai they’d be like “who is this sassy lost child?”

So then while Nya’s training, I’m actually going to say what happened when Kai is captured.

You see, a side affect of being really freaking old is that your perception of time changes, specifically how long periods seem shorter. Garmadon decided that because of the prophecy it would be best to snatch the Master of Fire, who he thought would be Ray.

So you can imagine his surprise when his Skulkin bring in a kicking, screaming 11 year old child.

He is, understandably, not happy and very confused.

He sends the Skulkin away and tries his best talking with Kai. Like, as little malice as he can in a gentle voice, and he actually learns a few things. 1) both Ray and Maya went missing years ago, 2) these kids have no idea about anything regarding the Elemental Masters, 3) Kai’s sister has been raising him since their parents went missing, and she’s only four years older than him

Understandably, he is concerned, but also sees this as an opportunity. If he raises the Master of Fire to be loyal to him, then he’ll never want to fulfill his role in the prophecy, thus ensuring his victory. also he really misses lloyd and now when he returns he’ll have two kids!!! how amazing is that

So yeah Kai’s stay in the Underworld isn’t that bad. This Garmadon guy is pretty nice, tells him awesome stories about his parents, teaches him a bunch of things(mostly how to fight), and really just acts like the paternal figure he never had(Garmadad is canon, no matter what form you can fight me on this). The only part that sucks in Samukai, but he’s just a jerk and Garmadon makes sure he’ll never actually do anything to hurt him. He does miss Nya a lot though.

Anyway back with Nya and the guys.

They don’t actually know the exact reason why she was here at the beginning. All they know was that Wu originally left for the Master of Fire and came back with her instead. They know she has a brother, but aren’t quite sure how he falls into it.

They learn her full story the night they’re heading to the Temple of Fire, at which when they’re winding down Zane brings up how she never actually told them how she met Wu.

They are very concerned when they find out the whole story and swear they’ll help her get him back, which is nice.

Then she sees Kai But Actually Garmadon, follows, and bam Sword of Fire time. She isn’t able to fully use it, but she’s able to get a few sparks. However, things then start to take a turn for the worst.

Kai is actually here, very confused why Garmadon’s having him tied to the ceiling, but hey Nya’s here! But then oh no he then realizes that Garmadon is the bad guy, which gets him upset and more then a little betrayed.

Seeing him hurt his sister, the one of raised him, actually has Kai pick up the sword and use his powers. Under normal circumstances, it probably wouldn’t have been bigger than a few sparks, however Kai has his big sister in danger, dealing with the betrayal of an almost father figure, holding the Sword of Fire, and being surrounded by his element.

So yeah. Not that small of a fire.

The guys and Wu are actually able to to witness the truly incredible fire blast he lets out from the camp, put two and two together, and start heading over. Wu didn’t follow Nya…..because plot and was the able to help them fight off the Skulkin.

Anyway, it’s more than enough to dissipate the shadows, however it also wakes up the dragon. Garmadon, who is sort of panicking because That Was Not Supposed To Happen, ends up scooping up an unconscious Kai and the Sword and retreating to the underworld, leaving behind a very pissed Nya and an equally pissed Fire Dragon.

But yeah, Nya deals with the dragon, they get the other ones and head to the Underworld with Wu this time, and he’s actually the reason they’re able to get past all the Skulkin.

But yeah, Samukai gets vaporized and Garmadon about to leave when a feverish Kai makes his way in and begs Garmadon to not do it and that they can fix things.

And Garmadon….actually pauses for a second and you can see the conflict in his eyes before he shakes his head and says “there’s no going back for me” and walks through. Kai then collapses and the end up heading back home.

As for what’s up with Kai, who would’ve guessed tapping into a kind of power you aren’t supposed to have access to yet in a high stress situation would be bad for the body. He has a really bad fever but he’s fine after a few days.

The few month timeskip in between the Pilots and S1 is mostly spent training Kai, so they have quite a bit less free time. However when S1 starts and Kai hears about Lord Garmadon, he actually wants to check it out himself first.

So yeah, he meets Lloyd by himself and it actually doesn’t go that badly. Kai actually buys some candy for them to share and they leave the town, and Kai actually starts talking with him. Eventually the topic comes up about Garmadon and Kai gives a rough basis about how he sort of got kidnapped, and then his work in progress plan of making him good again. Lloyd is completely down with seeing his dad again and says how they could probably get his dads attention if their got their own evil army.

And because they’re both stupid kids, neither of which have had parents before, Kai thinks it’s a great idea.

So yeah. That’s why they find the Serpentine here.

Ofc, it isn’t a right away type thing. It takes them about a month before they find the Hypnobrai Tomb, and Kai just plays off all his time spent out as him having made a friend, which they can’t exactly argue with.

Ofc, canon still happens and when Kai was busy training Lloyd ended up finding the tomb and releasing the Serpentine, and they do their regular Canon Nonsense.

However, Kai is not too happy about the whole Attack Villages things and after a bit comes clean to the ninja about their original plan. They very much aren’t happy, but admit his heart was in the right place and they doubt he’d pull something like this again.

Fast-forward a bit more, Kai is mostly chill with Zane’s “weirdness” and unfortunately stays home when the Hypnobrai burn down the Monestary. It’s only because the dragons were able to get out and protect him that he was still alive. Nya’s actually the one who yells at Zane this time around because again. Kai almost died, but it’s all cool later and they find the Bounty :D

Anyway, Canon again continues. Kai is still really good with the dragons and is a little upset they need to leave. He also gets along really well with Ed and Edna. Then when Lloyd joins Kai is a little….well he doesn’t hate him but he does spend a while avoiding him.

Eventually Nya has enough of their dancing around each other and locks them both in the same room so they can talk it out. Turns out the reason Kai was avoiding him was because Lloyd’s betrayal really hurt since they were supposed to do it to find Garmadon, not hurt people. They have a tearful apology, then Kai learns how much of a jerk the Serpentine were and is like “the next time I see any I’ll protect you, since you’re like my little brother and as a big brother it’s my job to keep you safe”

Now it’s Samurai Time :)

You see, this time around Kai has double reasons for being the Samurai. 1) Yeah, he hates being left behind and wants to be involved but also 2) he wants to keep his big sister and big brothers safe

So yeah, that happens. He does think it’s pretty funny when they keep trying and failing to one up him though.

But then :) He gets captured with Lloyd :)))

So yeah, that sucks but it only gets worse because while Kai was able to “summon” his Samurai Mech, he had to send it off to get the ninja away. So that sucks.

Garmadon eventually shows up to help since the Serpentine stole both his kids, much to Nya’s chagrin.

Then comes the freaking Volcano Scene and this one is from Nya when she rescues Kai, then has to choose between Lloyd or the Fangblade. She ends up unlocking her True Potential by essentially leaving behind all negative feels she had for Lloyd and accepting him under her protection just like she did Kai.

The sheer torrent of water easily cools all the lava and thoroughly soaks them. But hey, even Kai has to admit being wet is better than being burnt alive. Also when the ninja start wondering aloud why the Samurai didn’t help Kai bashfully admits he was the Samurai, and this thoroughly impresses the ninja since Kai is like, 12 at this point.

Uhhhh, S2 isn’t too different. Kai is super happy that the dragons are back and is easily Ultra’s favorite. He isn’t hit with either Garms spell nor the Tomorrows Tea, but is there to comfort Lloyd and says that even though he got hit with some magic stuff Kai is still going to protect him since he’s still his older brother. On the Dark Island Kai is heartbroken Nya got corrupted and swears he’ll help fix her. When Garmadon gets purified Kai looses his shit and gets so excited since let’s goooooo not only is his dad not evil anymore they can go out in public together :DDDD

S3, also not too different. During the whole Love Triangle nonsense Kai’s just sitting there so confused. Also Pixal joins team Kai’s Older Siblings. Him getting captured was just him being at the wrong place wrong time. He has a really fun time time in space though, which was nice.

But uh. Then Zane hecking dies, which hits everyone really hard, especially Kai. Only this time, Nya ends up taking Kai back to Ignacia and opens up the forge again, pretty much cutting all contact with the other ninja, Wu and Garmadon. While it might’ve been boring and lonely, at least in Ignacia they were safe.

Kai is…honestly really miserable, but hides it well. He can barely get up some mornings, but does so anyway since he’s desperately trying to act like things are normal, despite how Nya doesn’t talk very much. He misses the other ninja a lot, even Pixal despite not knowing her for very long, but doesn’t want to tell Nya since again, trying to make things normal again. Nya also doesn’t let him out of the house too often, only really if she’s there to watch him.

This routine goes on for about two months, until Lloyd shows up to try and get everyone back together. And Nya.....Nya doesn’t like that.

She and Lloyd end up having a bit of a passive aggressive argument that is progressively getting louder until Kai just. Snaps.

He yells at them to stop fighting, how they’re acting so horribly and that he wished things could go back to normal, how Zane wouldn’t want this and that he’d be disappointed in them.

The two visibly flinch.

Then Kai realizes exactly what he just said and who he said it to. And he runs.

Nya and Lloyd both spend some time in silence, mulling over what Kai just said because he was right. Zane would hate what’s become of the team and how they separated.

Nya ends up being the one to break the silence, asking Lloyd where and when to meet.

When Kai doesn’t return from the woods, she ends up leaving a note before she leaves, explaining where she’s going and how she’s sorry.

Meanwhile, Kai is having a slight breakdown in a Tree Base he made years ago.

But yeah, fast forward a bit and Kai’s getting ready to sneak onto Chen’s Island, but in a slightly different way than canon. Instead he takes a slightly experimental ship that’s basically a smaller Bounty which he calls the Destiny’s Wish. Think of the comparison like a Car vs a Go Cart. Comfortably, it can fit 2 people long term, but for quick trips can carry as many as 10, but it’ll be a tight fit and the Wish might have some trouble flying.

So yeah, he’s on his own and he doesn’t arrive until a few hours before the EMs all get dropped from the plane. Shade is actually the one to find him first, but has a moment of pause since Literal Child and gives Kai enough time to kick him into a tree and run. The whole chase actually lasts about two hours but unfortunately Kai isn’t able to get back to the Wish and gets caught.

Now for the fun part :)

So all the EMs(and I do mean all because he wanted to “thank them for their contribution”) are in the throne room, their powers snatched, when Chen said aloud “But it is such a shame that we don’t have the Master of Fire, the we’d be able to complete the spell.” and for the briefest second the Ninja Fam are relieved but then Chen does a whole “SIKE, WE GOT HIM” and has some of the guards bring Kai out.

The Ninja are, understandably, freaking out. The EMs kinda are too since Child but only a little bit and it’s not personal

But then just as Chen’s about to snatch his fire, Kai starts saying how Chen cheated since Kai never got to play in a match. Chen refutes it since His Game His Rules but then Kai says that age old statement to get siblings to do Stupid Shit: “What are you, scared?”

Chen is not scared, thank you very much. And you know what, since you’re so confident fine, you now get your own challenge!

So yeah, now Kai has his own challenge.

What is it you might ask?

A vertical obstacle course with a time limit. If Kai doesn’t grab the Jade Blade, the exit closes.

Not that bad you might think. After all, Kai’s been training with the ninja for the past year, he’s probably got this in the bag.

Yeah welllllllll, a little bird told might have told Chen that a certain Master of Fire couldn’t swim.....so he uses Nya’s power to gradually fill up the room and forcing him up.

Surprise surprise, it was rigged against him. I’m talking platforms having false bottoms, ladders being oiled, high pressure water jets to knock him off, the works.

Kai is so close to making it. So close..... but Chen can’t have that happen now can he :)

So yeah, Kai ends up falling in and Nya almost drags all the EMs into the water trying to get him.

Luckily it’s at that moment Lloyd bursts in with Garmadon, frees the EMs and gets Chen’s staff. The EMs bust out and just as Nya’s about to dive in the whole thing starts draining, like an enormous whirlpool.

You see Chen actually thought ahead and realized that “hey, if the kid dies he’ll loose his power” so he made a plan that when Kai was going to fall in, he would use one of the tubes that shot water but in verse and suck him in. Luckily he was able to pull it off before the gem was smashed because if not MMM.

So yeh, Kai is now captured, but still on the island. Skylor reluctantly copies his powers(she got sort of close with Nya and this is the little brother she was gushing about), and Anacondrai happens. However, the two are able to escape, Skylor’s actually able to figure out the Summon Dragon thing, and then they head back to the main group.

Then comes the inevitable question of “how did you get here anyway?” and then Kai shows them The Wish. He actually ends up flying back with Garmadon before all the EMs learn how to Summon Dragon so they can warn people about the ensuing danger.

So yeah, they head out, the Pythor thing happens, canon then Sad because Garm still needs to do the whole sacrifice thing D:

That one hits Lloyd and Kai really hard, but they both use each other for comfort so it isn’t as bad as it could’ve been.

But yeah, this is getting long so tbc for a part 2 :DDD

#Smith swap au #kai #kai smith #nya #nya smith #ninjago #info dump

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cyrusbugged · 3 years

Text

The Happiest of Birthdays

In which the ninja do something special for Sensei Garmadon’s birthday

A/N: thank you to the anon who requested the headcanons for this concept, i thought it would be really cute to turn into a story! enjoy :)

————————————

It was a quiet, peaceful morning in Ninjago. Golden rays of sunlight shone across the far outskirts of the city, where a certain ex-lord of darkness was fast asleep. It happened to be this certain ex-lord of darkness’s birthday, and his son was planning something special.

“Do you have the tray?” Lloyd asked, pulling a party hat on his head.

“Yes,” Zane replied. “We better get there soon, before this cools off.”

Lloyd thought it would be a good idea to surprise his father for the special occasion. He managed to convince his friends to get up earlier than usual to help surprise him. Zane agreed to cook pancakes, eggs, and some bacon for Garmadon.

Carefully making their way through the dew covered grass, the six ninja snuck into Garmadon’s monastery. Lloyd led them to his dad’s bedroom. He carefully and quietly opened the door.

“Jay, don’t drop the tray!” Cole hissed.

“I won’t drop the tray!” Jay shot back.

“Wait guys, are we wearing the party hats?” Kai asked, carrying his in his hand.

“Shoot, I forgot the noise makers!” Jay whisper-shouted.

“You’re a noise maker,” Nya responded.

“Guys, shhh!” Lloyd hissed.

“You know, for ninja who are supposed to be sneaky, you’re awfully loud,” a deep voice rang out.

The ninja froze, and they looked over at a now awake Garmadon, who had began to sit up in bed. Misako, laying next to him, slowly woke up too, rubbing her eyes.

“Is there any particular reason as to why you’re sneaking into my bedroom this early in the morning?” Garmadon asked, running a hand through his hair, which was messy from sleeping.

The ninja all looked at each other, then Lloyd nodded. They all turned to Garmadon, and shouted out a “Happy Birthday!”.

Garmadon’s annoyed frown turned into a smile, and he laughed. “Oh, so that’s why?”

“Well, I wanted to do something special,” Lloyd said with a shrug. “It’s been awhile since you’ve been able to actually celebrate your birthday, father.”

“You have been a great deal of help around here as well,” Zane said, walking over and placing the tray of breakfast food on Garmadon’s lap. “It’s the least we could do.”

Lloyd went over, sloppily placing a party hat on his dad’s head.

“Yeah! How old are you now, anyway, Sensei G? One thousand and one?” Jay quipped.

Garmadon laughed, shaking his head. “That is actually the number of times you have to volunteer during my lessons now, Jay.”

Jay’s eyes widened. “Wait- what-!”

Misako sat up, putting her glasses on. “I guess that is today. Well, happy birthday, honey.” She pressed a kiss to Garmadon’s lips, and Lloyd fake-gagged.

“Ew! Groooossss!” Lloyd looked away, and Garmadon laughed.

“Okay, okay. Well, thank you very much for this little surprise. I really do appreciate it,” he said, ruffling Lloyd’s hair.

The ninja left, and Garmadon ate his birthday breakfast he was given. This was... sweet. The last time he actually celebrated his birthday was the same year he got banished to the underworld.

A few hours later, Garmadon had a class with his younger students. It may be his birthday, but that doesn’t mean he has the day off.

He entered his dojo, the chatter coming from his students dying down.

“Good afternoon, everybody. Today’s lesson will be an easier one, focusing more on defense against a person you are fighting,” he announced. “Now, when we defend ourselves-“

“Um, Sensei Garmadon?” One of his younger students piped up.

“Yes, Matthias?” Garmadon responded.

The boy, Matthias, wringed his hands together. “Well... we just wanted to say... uh, now guys!”

And with that, a chorus of a very off-key version of ‘Happy Birthday’ echoed through the dojo. Garmadon couldn’t fight the smile that formed on his face.

“Well that was very lovely,” Garmadon said when they finished, and let out a small chuckle. “Thank you very much. Now, pick a partner, and I will explain what activity we will be doing today.”

The sun was beginning to set, and Garmadon had just waved goodbye to his students. He sighed, leaning against the wall. He really isn’t as young as he used to be.

“Happy Birthday, brother,” Wu’s voice suddenly came from the side of Garmadon, causing him to jump.

“Oh, thank you, brother,” Garmadon said, letting out a breath. “However, you did not have to sneak up on me like that.”

“I apologize,” Wu replied. “But I came here to ask if you would like to join the ninja and I for dinner in the bounty.”

“I’d love to,” Garmadon replied with a smile. “Thank you.”

Wu led his brother to the bounty, going inside to the bridge.

The entire place had been decorated for a party. There were streamers dangling from the ceiling, a banner that said “Happy Birthday Garmadon!” hung across the wall, balloons on the floor, confetti sprinkled across a table with a table cloth, and there was a cake.

The cake said “Happy ???th Birthday!” in purple writing, and the rest of the cake was covered with white icing. There was a little drawing of Garmadon in the middle under the writing.

“This is... oh my,” Garmadon said, looking in awe at the whole scene. “Thank you, really. I appreciate this. But you didn’t have to go all out like this for me.”

“Like I said, I wanted to do something special,” Lloyd said, wearing a party hat.

Jay blew on the noise-maker he had, then grinned at Garmadon. “You like it?”

“I do,” Garmadon said with a smile.

“Alright! Let’s light the candles and sing!” Cole exclaimed.

“You just wanna eat the cake, don’t you?” Nya asked with a smirk.

“...I’m not saying yes but I’m also not saying no,” Cole replied.

Kai used his fire to light the candles, and Zane dimmed the lights in the bridge from his own mainframe. Garmadon sat at the end of the table, and Wu stood behind him.

After everybody sang, Garmadon blew out his candles. Suddenly, though, his face was shoved into the cake.

“Oh, I’m sorry brother,” Wu said, a sly smirk forming on his lips. “I must have tripped.”

In an instant, the ninja burst into laughter. Garmadon huffed, wiping his face off with his hand.

“What’s so funny, Kai?” Garmadon asked, then wiped his now icing-covered hand across Kai’s cheek.

“Agh!” Kai shouted, wiping at his face.

Cole sighed. “So much for cake...”

“Oh, don’t worry Cole!” Jay said, scooping up a chunk of cake in his hand. “You can still have some!”

The second Jay smeared the cake over Cole’s face, a war broke out. Cake and icing was being thrown everywhere, and by the end of it, there was more cake on everyone’s face than in their stomach.

And even though Garmadon spent some extra time in the shower trying to get the icing out of his hair, he was happy. Happy to have his family back, and happy to have his life back to somewhat normal.

#ninjago #sensei garmadon #lloyd garmadon #jay ninjago #kai ninjago #cole ninjago #nya ninjago #zane ninjago #ninjago fanfic #ninjago fluff #my fics

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themadauthorshatter · 3 years

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Hi! I really like your Ninjago PG-13 AU, you're doing awesome 💖 I was just curious that, if it were a TV show, who you would cast for each part?

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying it!!!!!

Hmmm.... Usually when I imagine the cast I see it as more of an anime with voice actors, all the same that is a really fun question.

And if any of these actors or actresses are in any kind of trouble, I deeply apologize 🙏

Also, this is going to be long because I'm going qith the easiest characters to cast to the hardest

Right off the top of my head is Sarah Paulson as Misako because the woman SLAYED in AHS and Ratched because she already has the 'way' of playing a smart and vulnerable character, which I accidentally made in the rewrite😅 And don’t tell me you'd get a pit in your stomach if you heard her as Misako screaming for Lloyd; the woman has phenomenal range.

Next is Johnny Depp as Pythor for because of his work as Jack Sparrow and Grindlewald. Plus, I think it'd be cool to hear/see him be a cunning snake man.

Next villain is Jason Davis Frank as Garmadon because he used to play Tommy Oliver in the Power Rangers series. Idk, I just find it oddly symbolic and ironic because the guy who played the hero is now playing a villain.

I'm taking a page out of the movie's book and casting Jackie Chan as Wu. He was hilarious in Shanghai Knights and I can see him being the serious and funny wise old mentor of the group.

I don't know how many people will get a kick out of this, but I'd cast either David Tennant or Ralph Fiennes as Skales. David Tennant because of his role as Crowley in Good Omens and Ralph Fiennes because he dies a good snake-y voice.

Skalidor, the Constricti general gets the actor Benedict Cumberbatch because of hiw low his voice is. And don’t tell me there are communities that would LOVE an evil snake general that constricts his opponents to kill them that has the voice/face of Benedict Cumberbatch.

Nya, like Pythor, is a tie between Maise Williams and Sadie Sink. The two have the teenage sister attitude down to a T.

Jay has two picks: either John Mulaney or Ethan Nestor-Darling(Crankgameplays). Idk, the two have such 'Jay' energy and it sticks.

Cole would be voiced by Thomas Sanders because he has a low voice, his work on his series Sandrrs Sidea and other projects is PHENOMENAL, and I can see him playing the 'big brother' or leader of the group and still have the range to have a good time, like he has the low, authoritive voice, but he still laughs and goofs around like a kid and be taken less as a threat because he has the voice for it.

Zane has three very interesting fan casts: Matthew Gray Gubler, Wi Ja-Hoon, and Bryan Dechart. Matthew Gray Gubler because he's played a smart character in Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds, who is also very talkative. Wi Ja-Hoon from Squid Game does not speak english. I don’t know if he'd learn more, but Zane doesn't talk much, but when he does I always imagine he just sounds DIFFERENT from the rest, like he's either from somewhere else or from someWHEN else. Idk, whatever makes Zane even more likable and different and more of a fan favorite.🤷😅🤣😂 Byran Dechart because I just find it funny and Inlove Connor💜

Kai has a few options. Evan Peters because of his roles in AHS and Bad Boy Charm, Cole Sprouse because of his work as Jughead in Riverdale and Will in 5 Feet Apart, Chase Stokes from Outer Banks because he has very 'Kai' energy, as in he cares about 'his people' and will do anything to protect them.

Lloyd has a few interesting options as well: David Franco(who voiced him in the movie), Ruby Pankow, who is also in Outer Banks, and David Mazouz, who played Bruce Wayne in Gotham. Franco already has the experience AS Lloyd, I feel like Ruby and Chase would play off each other well as surrogate brothers, and Mazouz does an amazing job at playing a new hero in a world that demands you to step up or step as far away as you can.

These are all my picks for my fan cast! Kinda long, I apologize, but I hope that answers your question!😁

#ninjago rewrite #pg13! ninjago #ninjao jay #ninjao cole #ninjago zane #ninjago kai #ninjago nya #ninjago lloyd #somewhat fan cast #ask post #thank you for asking!#au #ua #super long post

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purplerose244 · 3 years

Text

My thoughts on Ninjago the Island!!! 🏝🏝🏝

So, gotta be honest... this is not a Blind reaction thing, I actually watched it in French first so I know most of the stuff already 😅 It's entertaining, it got great animation, but nothing more than that in my opinion 🤷‍♀️

Still there is stuff I liked or I want to point out, and finally I'm seeing the English version so I can actually understand what the HECK they are saying 🤩

Alright, nothing else to say, here we go!

UNCHARTED

I haven't actually seen anything Clutch Powers related before Ninjago, is he always like this? I love that he is a jerk honestly, just wondering 😂

Press F for respect for intern Dwaine (at least he seems to like being... used?)

Clutch: It's just a bunch of rocks! It's not alive!

Totem: I'm about to end this man's whole career

Wait, Misako is part of the explorers club? ... that would have come in handy in season 11 to get the scroll of Forbitten Spinjitzu from the club instead of begging uncle Powers for it... *sighs* I don't mind plot holes in Ninjago like most fans I think, but if you wanna make Misako relevant again at least pay attention to the details 😅

Wow, after the end of season 13 I would've thought Wu was going to go through a midlife crisis, not Misako 😂😂

Oww, everytime I hear I get 😢 Bless your soul Kirby, always in our hearts 🖤🖤🖤

Well hello Brian

Always nice to see you 😊

Twitchy Tim must have been pretty interesting to voice 🤔 I like him enough, he's fun and all, maybe not at the level of the characters we got last season

Okay, the place is called the STORM belt, there are LIGHTNINGS, and the sand of the beach is BLUE. Are we gonna address any of these similarities to our Bluebell here or not? 😅

Wait, Tim was giving a hot air balloon tour, does that mean other people where with him? What of them? Are they dead? Did he let them die on the island?... am I reading too much into this? Probably 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Alright, the part of the boats? SO COOL 🤩🤩 I literally can't say anything bad about the animation at this point

Why did they think leaving Kai, Jay and Cole on one boat was going to be a good idea 😂 Also Zane just randomly doing sick tricks on his vehicle, love that nindroid

I'm guessing Nya is keeping her water abilities for her season 🤷‍♀️

Yep, yep, this is why the creators try to keep Pixal out of the adventures, with her everything is way too cool and easy to access to 😎😎

Twitchy Tim: There are statues that become alive!!

Lloyd:... so it's a season 2 stone army ripoff, we've seen worse

It's a cute episode overall 👍

THE KEEPERS OF THE AMULET

OKAY THE INTRO IS SO FREAKING COOL 🤩🤩🤩🤩

So Twitchy Tim has temporarily taken over Jay's role of spazzing out and complain about worse case scenarios... in another occasion they might have bonded over this, maybe 😂

Okay, survival position? MOOD

Nya: DRAGOOON 😱

Me: DRAGOOOOOOON 😍😍😍

Why am I not surprised that Jay was the one that named him Zippy? 💙 Also HE'S SO CUTE 💕💕💕 Love how in every adventure, we always get very different types of dragon in this show 👌 I'm a simple person, I see a dragon... 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

Oh-oh, it's the "Lloyd's done with this crap"'s face

This means serious business... am I that used to LEGO characters that this way of crossing arms on the chest looks almost normal to me? 😅

Soooo, Master of the Mountain clearly gave Cole too much development... because now he got demoted to "the one who is always hungry" 🤦‍♀️ I'm all for Cole's endearing love for cakes, which is super relatable, but if you're gonna push it on his fun side, at least be coherent 🙃

Is it just me or it feels like the writing of this special was made by someone different from the one of season 13? Like, it's not bad, just less engaging and witty. For now. Maybe I'm being premature 🤷‍♀️

New way of nerfing powers, we got... weird, sucking power totem thingies... OKAY

My gosh I really can't say anything about the animation, look at that! It's all cinematic with such a light! YES!! 🤩

I'M SORRY

WHY ARE WE LOOKING OVER THIS??? IT LOOKS LIKE COLE'S LAVA PUNCHES BUT THEY ARE JAY LIGHTNING FEET??? IT'S A GREAT IDEA AND I WOULD LOVE TO SEE IT AGAIN??? WHY ARE WE IGNORING THIS??? 💙💙💙💙

So they at least addressed that lightning isn't a Jay's thing only anymore 😅

Alright, Jay having a mental breakdown because of a bridge because it always breaks, that's the Bluebell I know and love 😂😂 Nya telling him to keep moving was cute too 💙❤💙❤

Okay, I'm sorry but this really bothers me, what kind of lightning can instantly knock out the MASTER OF LIGHTNING??? Like, my gosh, really??? I hope they give us an explanation, like it's some sort of special lightning, because this really doesn't sit right with me. Jay is lightning proof, we've seen it in Skybound, we've seen it in Sons of Garmadon, I DON'T BELIEVE HE WOULD JUST BE KNOCKED OUT LIKE THAT 😡😡😡

Soooooo, storm amulet? Being one with the lightning? Is that the reason why Jay got to be the sacrifice? 😅

THE GIFT OF JAY

Alright, I am kinda looking forward for this one, what did Bluebell actually say or do to get him into trouble this time 😂😂

Oh, he just... introduced himself... well that was underwhelming

SENSEI👏YOU👏ARE👏A👏FREAKING👏GOD👏STOP👏GETTING👏KIDNAPPED👏BY👏RANDOM👏VILLAINS👏

Bring ooooon Lloyd Grills 💪

Okay I did like the little speech, definitely resonates with how Lloyd survived this long even though everything wanted him to give up, even his father... I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING 😭

Jay out there making the real questions 😂

Awwww Edna used to call him gift of Jay? I can totally see it, so cute 💙💙 Makes even more sense if Libber actually left Jay at the Walkers' door...

Pff, Jay made the connection I would've done honestly 🤷‍♀️ Like, him being the master of lightning really didn't give these dudes any impression or inspiration? Any cool idea, full Road of El Dorado style? 🙃🙃

Lloyd out there abusing of the animation budget 💚💚💚

Somehow these ninja never actual sneak in, it's always a huge mess everyone knows about beforehand 😂 It's familiar though, I'm used to it and happy with it 👍

I might not be the biggest Misako fan, but you know what I am a fan of?

LEGO HUGS 😍😍😍😍😍

Dang it uncle Powers, you just got here to make a mess did you 😅

Not the first person of the fandom to say this, but Jay looks absolutely lovely with that flower crown 🌺🌺🌺

Oh poor greenie

Lloyd just has the worst luck 😓

Jay: Why would I be the gift?

Kai: Yeah who would want Jay?

Nya: Huh, me?? 😡

Got some very good Jaya for this little special, can't complain 💙❤💙❤

I mean, not matter how big of a snake Wojira might turn out to be, we've already seen the biggest and the second biggest snake of all so 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Whoa, at last... IT WAS THE FIRST SPINJITZU MASTER THAT HAD SOMETHING HE SHOULD'VE TOLD WU A LONG TIME AGO!! 😱 Wu, you got pulled a Wu, how does it feel? 😂

Again, Jay freaking out, kinda my jam it's too funny 💙💙

Wow Kai way to be hominous offscreen 👏👏 I miss talking about my flame babe, this really isn't his time 🤷‍♀️

THE TOOTH OF WOJIRA

So when I first watched this I was genuinely, really excited about knowing the truth behind all this. It turned out very different from what I first thought, but at least in this case it's okay (besides I was pushing with the lightning meaning just to see Libber again 😅😅😅)

I feel like the guys get their powers stolen or blocked so much it takes them a minute to remember "Oh wait I can literally burn my way out" 🤷‍♀️

SPINJITZU YAY 🤩

I... forgot that Misako knows how to fight 😅 She knows how to do spinjitzu too if I remember correctly...

NYA BEING LIKE "OUT OF THE WAY IMMA SAVE MY BOYFRIEND AGAIN" ❤💙❤💙

Gotta love how they were all crazy worried about Jay, like, this is something that never changes through the show. They really care so so much for each other 💕💕💕

Ooohhhh, okay, so Wojira does seem to be the main villain of next season according to the story. I remember Tommy saying that we needed to have faith and this is probably why. The special was okay, nothing too much, and hopefully that too much we will see in Nya's season 😍😍😍

What the- pff, I didn't notice this the first time 😂

At this point I can't tell if that one short with the chicken of the movie carried a hate or a love for chickens in the actual show 😂😂

Nice to see Jay standing up for himself at least for a little while 💪 Also Lloyd being "He's our trouble", aww family 💜

THERE IT IS

MY BRUISE HEART IS SOARING 🖤💙🖤💙

Gotta give props to the voice actors, voicing an explanation while fighting must be pretty hard! WE ARE BLESSED WITH AN AMAZING CAST!!! 🤩🤩🤩

And there he is, our favorite jerk... shaved Ronin 😂 He does look a little weird, but it's fair, new animation and all. Not the weirdest until now 🤷‍♀️

I genuinely had to make a mental check to see where we are with Ronin now, like, he started as a villain, then a partner, he betrayed us, became an ally, he hunted the ninja, then joined them, that timeline was erased, he was around in SoG and... wow this man is chaotic 😂😂

Yaaaay, Twitchy's last minute redemption act! Lloyd is too good at motivational speeches 👏👏

A bit of Lava OTP/BrOTP

Cause it's good for the heart ❤🖤❤🖤

Okay, Scooby doo reference, why not? Also honestly, I'm confident Ronin has seen A LOT of jails and prisons... probably won't stay behind bars for long 😅

Mammatus: sorry for imprisoning you and almost killing your friend

Kai: no biggie, that's how we make friends in this show

Alright the "And Clutch Powers" gag made me chuckle 😂 ... wait where is he- DANG IT UNCLE POWERS

Okay, this is the last time I say it I promise, but I mean. I MEAN

THE ANIMATION GUYS 😍😍😍

Aaaaand sensei you jinxed it 😅 But you apparently awakened Nya's season so I'm gonna forgive you on this one 😉

FINAL THOUGHTS

There are a few little details that bothered me a little, and it wasn't as exciting as I maybe hoped it was going to be, but it was fine. Enjoyable still. These characters make me like the show, even when it got nothing too impactful 🤷‍♀️

But I got triggered about that lightning thing with Jay 😅 I guess I'll just fanfic whatever I had in mind...

Don't have to repeat myself about the animation *chef's kiss*

The writing was really less engaging, a little normal in a way? Idk just a feeling. Nice to see Ronin again though, I really like him. And nice to see Jay freaking out, I really like that too 😂

To be honest I wanted to put down my thoughts on this one because I REALLY wanna do the same with Nya's season 🤩🤩 I already know that Maya is gonna be there and I am so HAPPY already!!! 💙💙💙

So that's it from me! Thank you for reading me ranting, see you next season! 😊

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dorizardthewizard · 4 years

Text

TLNM musings, part 2

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

Screentime and characterisation of the other ninja:

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

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

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

Group dynamic:

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

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

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

Lloyd and Garmadon’s relationship:

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

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

Tone and humour:

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

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

The writers:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Feel free to add any ideas/ thoughts!

#ninjago #ninjago movie #lego ninjago movie #RIP lego cinematic universe v_v #my posts

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eyeofthewolfe · 7 years

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A Few (well, a lot of) Random Moments from TLNM that were Very Important to me: (tons of spoilers)

When they introduced each ninja (especially with the styled face card thing), it was totally homage to the show and how they introduce each ninja. It’s the second best thing than a song intro.

The Weekend Whip?! As like a ringtone? Lloyd must be a Ninjago fan.

LLOYD’S FACE ON THE BUS WHEN HE LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW?? HIS SMILE JUST SLOWLY FADED AND THAT WAS WHEN MY HEART BROKE FIRST. TBH that one shot is one of the saddest in the whole movie.

Jay screaming during his intro and saying “CHARGE CHARGE CHARGE CHARGE CHAAAARRGGEE” proves that the only thing that changed was an accent, curly hair, and visible freckles.

Cole being sarcastic with the “serious tan line” matured his character about 2 years.

Jay complaining about the three hours and then his NOISE when Master Wu threw his book on the ground was perfection.

Kai’s mech had the best shots, period. The cinematography with the movements was incredibly pleasing to me.

“I would happily give up being a secret ninja if it meant not being the son of Garmadon.” At the end of the movie, he does give one of these up. Nice foreshadow.

LLOYD’S HOOD!

LLOYD CHANGING HIS SHOES!!!!

His mom with the birthday cake?!! Hurt my heart. Like I’m sure people could hear it shatter in my seat.

Lloyd has a fish. Just wanna point that out.

Garmadon grabbing Lloyd’s dragon by the neck will never stop giving me chills.

“Buh-bye!”

Garmadon’s happy little jump he does when he conquers Ninjago makes me feel a little proud of him.

The dramatic music when Lloyd appears with the Utlimate Weapon.

“The Ultimate Lamest Weapon.” “The Ultimate Ultimate Disappointment.”

The only thing that made the cat destroying the Ninja’s mechs sad was Lloyd’s reaction. As we find out later, he thinks that the cat actually killed them all. It makes that second showing so much more painful.

I swear the “what the heck?” Cole says when the laser points on his is actually Jay’s voice. A cute nod to the show, who can’t seem to voice those two correctly sometimes.

General Olivia is very good at finding bars.

Garmadon set up his party, moved the top of his volcano to the top of Ninjago Tower, had a conversation alone, with his general, and with his ex-wife all in the time it took Lloyd to float down to the ground.

The ninja helping each other get over the wreckage as they chase after Master Wu.

“The Ultimate Omelette Weapon.”

The entire montage of them walking through the jungle.

“Dope fluting Master Wu.”

When the ninja practice their Spinjitzu while singing “We’ve got the Power!” Kai dances with his arms, and Cole looks incredibly pleased.

The whole fight between Garmadon and Wu is important and by far the best battle in the LCU to date.

Wu is ‘killed’ by a butterfly.

“Why is he telling us all of this now so far in our adventure?!” Because that is the Ninjago way, Jay.

When the ninja move from looking over the cliff to confront Garmadon, they all walk like their character. I encourage you to look that up and watch it again, it’s hilarious.

The scene where they were walking through the jungle is literally there for Ninjago fans.

Giving Garm and Wu actual ages

Pointing out that Garm looks younger than Wu

“Bitten by a snake”

He feels self-conscious about two extra arms

Kai not hesitating before saying something weird

The best one: making fun of Lloyd’s weak voice. DIRECT reference to the show where his voice is higher pitched. Kudos to Dave for having that joke played on his voice even though its really for the other Lloyd (sorry Jullian and Sam...but Lloyd is weak voiced)

“My sensors detect...”

“Why would it say possible? They would know, right?”

The ninja saying “Ninja-Go!” then rushing to their death while Lloyd says no is the show exactly.

“The only flood we will have is if Jay has another accident in his pants!”

Jay trying to act cool when Nya comes out of the tall grass

Zane “PEWWW PEW PEW!” when he rolls out

“I think I may be an adrenaline junkie.”

Kai carrying Cole like he’s a hero and Cole has his arms crossed while being carried. I think he even has his fist on his face.

Kai just flips him on the ground and there is my favorite Cole moment in the entire film.

Their ninja poses are precious.

The ninja dressing as the shark army is a perfect allusion to the show.

“NINJA STYLE BRUH!” Vincent, please say that as Kai.

Lloyd not being able to throw and catch is the best thing they could have ever done to his character in the movie.

The look Garmadon gives his son when he is proud. Also, the first time he starts “smiling”

Lloyd throwing the piece and hitting Cole right in the face.

Lloyd’s scramble when he realizes he’s missing an arm.

“NO DAD NO PLEASE I NEED YOU HERE WITH ME RIGHT NOW” great line, dad’s begin to tear up everywhere

Garmadon’s small smile after he puts the arm back in

the driving joke when Lloyd floors it, everyone is cheering while the dad is just screaming

Lloyd letting his dad teach him even though he knows it all is so touching

“Is everyone okay?” “Not really..”

“I’m not blaming anyone, but if I see that goat again, we are going to have some words. And you can bet some of those words are going to have four letters...and I’m not talking about goat.” “what’s the first letter?”

“Oh look a light switch.”

“Do you have a bathroom I can use?” “No.”

The family that slays together stays together.

Young Garmadon looks like Movie Cole.

Garmadon’s smile and laugh he does after Koko disarms and knocks him down is my favorite Garmadon smile in the whole movie.

Baby Lloyd’s evil laugh makes me want to laugh but it’s more breathtakingly deep than it is humorous. Lloyd COULD of been evil....just ponder that thought.

Garmadon drops his sword but holds onto the thing in his other..hand, i guess? What would that be? A baby bottle.

The “could have changed” montage made me tear up, while my dad thought Garmadon was hooking up with another Lego.

Garmadon crying fire the first time forced a tear out of my eye.

The Depth of Field for the focus during that intimate moment between Garm and Lloyd in front of the photos was so small that the only thing in focus was just their face. Even the back part of Lloyd’s hair was out of focus.

The cool trick they did with the screen when the ninja got their pieces.

Lloyd’s eyes when Garmadon said “Father and-”

Kai’s anger when Garmadon kicked Nya in the face. He literally wrecks him with his thighs.

“Oh Luh-Lloyd...I should have taught you how to catch.”

Cole says something like “WE DON’T EVEN HAVE THE PIECES!” and its super high pitched and its super adorable.

JAY AND NYA HUDDLING TOGETHER IS SO CUTE LIKE NYA HAD HER FACE PRESSED UP AGAINST JAY AND I WAS MURDERED IN MY SEAT

“Inner Peace?” no, the ninja literally had an ‘inner piece’. like the piece was inside of them, like Lloyd saw. The pun we all thought was funny on the first poster for the movie actually was the moral for the ninja.

Jay getting his powers is adorable because for a split second he was terrified

“Uh, guys- I can hear the dead!!!”

Master Wu wanted to act dead to make the ninja listen to him more. Brilliant.

THE DESTINY’S BOUNTY EVEN THOUGH IT GOT LIKE NO SCREEN TIME BUT IT’S GORGEOUS AND IT FLIES

When the ninja ran into the smoke after Kai used his “FUEGO!” The shot of their backs running in made me feel for a second like i was watching the actual show.

So? Jay is like a god compared to the others. Like, his power is a TON more powerful than the others. Cole, sure he is strong, but that small blue boy can fly and did you SEE what he did to those ships? Like Thor, this teenage insecure Lego just one upped you

Garmadon deserved to be eaten cuz he was throwing legos at Meowthra. How dare you.

Lloyd approaching the cat really put in perspective just how tiny a lego is. And the fact that that little lego is MOVING towards a REAL CAT

His hair when the cat breaths on him

Lloyd is a cat lover

This was the moment Dave must of cried in the studio. the second half of his monologue was so touching and emotional I began to cry as well. Well done Dave.

Garmadon shielding his eyes from Lloyd because he doesn’t want to cry in front of his son.

“Let me check your fingers and toes! You...still don’t have fingers and toes, which is good!” Also, Lloyd’s loving gaze during that moment because now he totally sees him mom differently.

Garmadon being pushed out of the group hug.

Lloyd playfully nudging Cole while playing videogames is adorable and Cole’s smile just melted my heart.

Lloyd being the Master of Life is so great, and i love it, but its also disappointing that he never got his green power

Meowthra became the city mascot

“Can we bring the cat?” “No!”

The style of the ending credits was really cool, just pointing that out

#ninjago movie #the lego ninjago movie #cinemajago #ninjago movie spoilers #tlnm spoilers

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moved-to-moothebloo · 7 years

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Ninjago Season 1, 2, and 3 Analysis (Part 1)

Season 1 / Rise of the Serpentine

Summary:

The first season of Ninjago, Rise of the Serpentine, 13 episodes are dedicated to our main characters Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane stopping ancient race of evil snakes from destroying the world from a bigger snake, while trying to deal with Lord Garmadon’s son, learning to get stronger on the way, and who is going to be the destined Green Ninja.

By the sounds of that summary, this sounds very weird and cluttered, and trust me, there are much more things this season throws in, like a mysterious Samurai who is also trying to stop the snakes, the ninja trying to find their “true potential,” and Wu bringing the evil Lord Garmadon from the... wherever he was. Yes, this sounds like a big mess, but for a kids show, it actually balances everything out very well.

The pacing in this season is spot on, and makes it very easy to follow, while also keeping us interested enough to know what was going to happen. Everything is there for a purpose, Lloyd Garmadon, a kid who seems very useless throughout most of the season, actually ends up becoming an important main character. The show never feels like it gets slower or faster, it all flows very nicely. The episodes that are dedicated to exploring our main characters still have stuff happening in them so they aren’t pointless.

Speaking of characters, for a kids shows about lego ninjas, the characters are a lot of fun too! The cast is small so it’s very easy to focus on them equally and give all of them good character development, even the side characters do have some stuff too, like how the Samurai turns out to be Nya, which I really appreciate. For a kids show clearly being directed twords boys, it would’ve been really easy to write her off as a character who does nothing, but she does help. A whole episode is dedicated to her beating the ninja into the ground.

The villain of this show is simply put, amazing. The Serpentine are alright, they all have unique traits and all, but the one everyone remembers is Pythor. And for good reason, he’s a lot of fun. The voice actor Michael Dobson is doing a fantastic job, and you can tell he is enjoying every second of it. Pythor is very fun to watch in the way he’s animated and just how deliciously evil he is. Manipulating anyone he wants, kidnapping children, a possible cannibal! The ability to swallow people whole and to disappear with camouflage makes him terrifying to any child watching him on the screen. Pythor is everything a kids show villain is supposed to be.

The main characters also get a lot of good stuff. Zane is probably the best character in this season. He is already an interesting character in the way he acts, and the voice acting is pretty good too, but any Ninjago fan will say that the episode “Tick Tock” is one of the best episodes in the entire show, and yeah it’s pretty good! The episode continues in it’s silly vibe of the show, but also has a lot of heart and effort put into it. All the other characters get that treatment too. My personal favorite is Kai’s arc in Episode 10, “The Green Ninja.”

In fact, that’s how I can describe this whole season. Silly, but has a lot of heart and effort.

Season Rating: 8.4 / 10

Season 2 / The Final Battle

Summary:

The Serpentine have been defeated, and Garmadon has gotten away and ready to plan how he’s going to defeat the ninja and take control of the world. Meanwhile, Lloyd has to train to be the Green Ninja that saves the world in the future, while the Ninja fight off Garmadons plans at world domination.

You know how the first season has a lot of details but still managed to balance everything out? Well. This season has a pretty simple plot, but somehow is a lot more clustered and uninteresting than the first season.

The first season had a lot of silly things in it, but still managed to flow things naturally, and in a way that only focused on things that mattered. This season spends half of its episodes with meaningless plots and stories that go no where, almost as if the people who were making the show were just dry on ideas, and just made episodes based on kids shows cliches, like an episode where they have to fight evil versions of themselves, an episode where they fight pirates, where they turn into kids, even an episode where they join in some kind of racing competition. And while the episodes, I guess aren’t completely pointless because they do focus on Gamradon with the weapons... a little bit. It isn’t enough to make me care. And halfway through the season he looses the weapons anyway sooo... that was all pointless!

The one episode that was good in this group of trash was episode 5 “Child’s Play” Where it is a little entertaining, and there is a thing that happens that does affect the rest of the story.

The other half of the season, episodes 7-13, while are better, still aren’t great. Important story elements do end up coming together, and the ending episodes are really great! But there are still a lot of problems. The pacing still isn’t right, there are a lot of episodes that feel very slow in pacing, and the new villain characters are not enough to save it. One thing I can say about them are the climax episodes, which has a superb finale. Season one had a great Part 1 hype episode, but a disappointing finale, this climax has not just a great part one and two, but THREE awesome climax episodes that are really really fun to watch, and leave you on the edge of your seat. The fight to get to the Overlord ontop of the tower in the final episode does everything you can do with a final episode.

Speaking of the villains, lets talk about them.

The stone army doesn’t really have much of an identity like the Serpentine, and are pretty forgettable. The Overlord, and I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this, but I think he’s really boring in this season. He just kind of floats around obviously tricking Garmadon to do what he wants, he’s not at all threatening until the final episode, which is a long time to wait for a villain to become slightly interesting.

Garmadon is probably the one good thing going on. His relationship with his family and how he’s split between wanting to rule the world, but not wanting to hurt his son, is very interesting, while the first season had this too, and did it very well, this is more interesting. However, most of the time in the season he doesn’t really do anything other than play pranks on the ninja and sit while his minions do all the work. And when it’s his time to fight, like an idiot, he gets tricked by the Overlord.

The main characters don’t really get a lot of more interesting developments, except for Zane, Llyod, and Garmadon. The main four most of the time are just cracking jokes and fighting bad guys, nothing else most of the time.

To sum up the season, It isn’t really that entertaining in the long run, and is really hard to be interested in, you can skip the first few episodes and start at Child’s Play to be less bored. It still manages to have some really awesome moments, especially near the end, of the season, but other than than there isn’t that much to see.

Season Rating: 2.3 / 10

Season 3 / Rebooted

Summary:

We skip into the future since the battle against the Overlord, and the ninja seem to not be needed anymore while Ninjago gets more advanced in technology. But when the Ninja go to visit Ninjago City, they are tasked by Cyrus Borg to defeat the Overlord who has returned in the form of code.

Talk about a very unusual season.

This season has some of the weirdest choices I’ve ever seen in the show. Bring in a bunch of different characters, “reboot” an entire location in the show, and make the characters go to some of the weirdest places and do the weirdest things. And the weirdest thing is.. it actually kind of works! .... to an extent.

(Edit: Ok I have A LOT to say about this season, this is going to be a long analysis because this season had a lot of new stuff in it. You have been warned.)

So, what’s good about it. Oddly enough, it’s how you never know what’s gonna happen. The show does do a good job on keeping you guessing and sometimes even in suspense, which is really difficult for a kids show to pull off. Also I want to mention the pacing. This isn’t the kind of pacing we’ve seen in the past two seasons. The pacing in this season is much quicker, which is probably because this season has fewer episodes than the past ones, but like I said before, it still works. In fact, I prefer this faster pacing over the slower pacing of before. It fits the silly power ranger style adventure vibe of the show.

The best thing I can say about this season is the action. When these episodes have to In the episode “Enter the Digiverse” we are greeted with an episode where the ninja are about to fight the Overlord again, the side characters have to fight off an entire army, AND Lloyd is trying to fight off not dying in a weird draining glass thing. It’s pretty intense, and amazing! My personal favorite is in “Blackout” where everyone is flipping around, getting stuck, getting trapped, and Zane can’t completely fight. It’s a lot of fun to watch.

Another thing I want to add is that this season seemed to take a lot more chances. As in, this was the start of new characters being added all the time. It wasn’t just one season we would get a Lloyd, and then the next, a Dareth. Now, it’s a bunch more. So lets talk about them.

Garmadon, now as a good guy, is a really good character! To be honest, even as a kid I never really enjoyed Garmadon. He just seemed like a cliche villain to me. But him as a good guy, is much more entertaining than before. He’s funny, he’s awesome, he’s a fully developed character! He’s just a great character. I love the relationship he has with his son, and seeing them journey outside of Ninjago is very interesting to watch as we get to know his character in very subtle ways. I don’t get it, THIS is the guy who was overshadowed by Wu? I don’t know what else to say. You love him, I love him, next characters.

Pythor and the Overlord come back, and they are actually pretty good! Even the Overlord, who I didn’t really like in season 2 actually is very threatening in this season. I love the scene were he crawls out of the coffin thing, just for how freaked out I was when I first saw that scene. Pythor is also pretty good in this too. He’s not as awesome as he was in season one, but really that’s just because we don’t see him a lot in this one.

And once again. Michael Dobson still does a fantastic job.

Next we have Cyrus Borg, and this guy is one of my favorite characters in the entire show. This guy is such a lovable character. Every time this guy is on screen I get a big smile on his face. You can tell the voice actor, Lee Tockar, is really trying to show off this guys wonderful bubbly personality. And the best thing is, he’s not just a one dimensional character. He does feel guilty for everything that happens in the season. He has dreams, he has fears, he has things he doesn’t want to loose. He’s just great. Now.. with Pixal.

... Dang it! I’m sorry, I really tried to like this character. But this is the most pointless character in the show! I get if you just want to give Zane a love interest, but couldn’t you have made her a bit more interesting?At least Skylor, even though she was just there to make Kai gush, she at least had a purpose and a little bit of an identity. Pixal is the most standard character you could’ve put here. Why couldn’t it have been a girl who was human, and then was made with robot parts, giving Zane a reason to be interested in her. There, I just created a more interesting character in ten seconds then you guys did in months.

I will be honest though, even though I don’t like the character, Zane and Pixal are pretty adorable together. Yeah it’s not really that believable considering Zane really has no reason to like her, but they still have some really good chemistry. One reason why I really like the episode “Blackout” is because I love the idea of two people needing eachother in order to fight, just like Ruby and Sapphire, another adorable couple. But I think the reason it works is because Zane caring deeply about anyone is already adorable by itself, so that does lift some weight on Pixal’s part. So.. yeah, it’s good.

We get a love triangle in this... a completely pointless and forced one that has nothing to do with anything. Just like Pixal and Zane, there is no real reason for Cole to want Nya, they never had any special moments in the past or any interest at all. It’s the literal definition of forced. However I don’t hate it as much as everyone else does. Because, to be fair we do get some funny scenes from it, and it’s not like they focus on it for that long. I don’t know, I personally don’t really mind that much, but I don’t think we need another.

And of coarse, I can’t hide the elephant in the room for any longer, the finale. The big scene near the end, we all know what I’m talking about. Zane’s death. Now this finale episode was already pretty good, I can’t say it’s as good as season 2 because it takes about 15 minutes to get to the Overlord, and them trying to get off the moon isn’t really that funny silly, instead, just more stupid. But once it gets going its very entertaining. The Diet pill joke is hilarious not only by itself, but their plan being to stop the most evil thing in the world by just making it small is really funny and perfectly describes what this show is going for in terms of mood.

But yeah. The death scene. And to be honest, what can I say about it that no one else has already said.

It’s kind of hard for me to judge how sad this scene is, considering this guy was my childhood favorite character, and seeing him die like this is going to spark some emotions in you no matter how the scene is done. But let me try my best to remove the nostalgia goggles and look at this from a critiquing view.

Rewatching it, not thinking about the past, having no connection with this character, I still have to admit, It’s still pretty awesome.

I think the thing that really sells this scene here is the soundtrack music. To truly understand how amazing this music is, just listen to it without any visuals. This is a link to the soundtrack song to this scene. Don’t even look at the screen, just listen to it, because it’s really amazing in terms of instrumentals, and timing.

So. I just said a bunch of stuff, what do I think of this season?

I think for what it is, it’s good! This season really tries to do a lot. And most of it works! I really appreciate it when something tries to do something different because it shows they are not afraid to fail. Does this have problems? Definitely. But is it enough to ruin the season? Not really.

Season Rating: 6.8 / 10

Ok that is a Full Critic’s Analysis of Ninjago seasons 1, 2, and 3. Part Two will be dedicated to seasons 4, 5, 6, and even 7! So look out for that!

Sorry if I wasted your time, because in the end, this is just my opinion. Honestly, I’m not expecting this to really get any attention because who would care about some rando’s opinion. But I promise I can and will try to make my opinions worthwhile. Thank you for reading, if you have your own opinions, you can share them! Everyone is allowed to share their own opinion because Ninjago is about bringing people together!

@eyeofthewolfe @ninjamelissajulien @textsfromninjagoblog

#ninjago #ninjago masters of spinjitzu #lloyd #kai #zane #cole #jay #nya #garmadon #sensei wu #serpentine #overlord #cartoon network #lego

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kylereviewed · 7 years

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collider:

Olivia Munn Teases X-Men: Dark Phoenix As A Two-Parter

No one knows the evil warlord Garmadon (voiced by Justin Theroux), aka The Worst Guy Ever, better than his ex-wife, Koko (voiced by Olivia Munn), and when it comes to their son Lloyd (voiced by Dave Franco), the eternally optimistic mother just wants to help him survive adolescence. But in The LEGO Ninjago Movie, being a high school teenager isn’t easy for Lloyd because everyone knows that his father won’t stop until he’s achieved world domination, which can make friendships tough to keep and teenage life insurmountable.

While at the LEGOLAND California Resort for the film’s press junket, Collider got the opportunity to sit down with actress Olivia Munn to talk about why she wanted to be a part of The LEGO Ninjago Movie, what she loves about her character, why Koko was so much fun to play, what she’s like her superpower to be, if she were a secret ninja, and why she wants to move in with Justin Theroux and Jennifer Aniston. She also talked about her cameo in Ocean’s Eight and how she was responsible for her own wardrobe, hair, and make-up, and why Simon Kinberg, who’s making his directorial debut on X-Men: Dark Phoenix, makes such a great director.

Collider: What sold you on the LEGO Ninjago Movie and made you want to be a part of it?

OLIVIA MUNN: Well, I didn’t really have to be sold. I hadn’t seen LEGO Batman yet when I signed on for this, but I had seen the first LEGO movie. What’s so great about the LEGO movies is that, from the get-go, they were made in a way that wasn’t just adult-friendly, but you don’t have to have a kid with you to go see them. They’re edgy and funny and clever. The toys are the toys, and I love that about these movies. It really allows for the actors to bring so much life to them, and I really love that. It was so much fun!

Who is Koko and how does she fit into the city of Ninjago?

MUNN: What I love so much about Koko is that she’s this always optimistic mother. A lot of kids his age are going through some tough times, and he happens to be going through a very tough time ‘cause his father is an evil warlord and the whole school knows it. It’s like, “Your dad’s the worst guy, ever, and we know that!” She tries to be so positive, and I just love that so much about her. And I love that she has this other side to her, that gets revealed in the movie, but she chose to keep that private from her son. I love that she has this whole other dimension to her. I wanted her to be a positive force in Lloyd’s life. No matter what, she was going to love him through it and be super positive. And then, we find out this other side to her life, and I loved that so much. You might look at her like a mother who’s just being super positive, and that there’s all there is to it, but when you find out about the other life that she’s had and what she’s capable of, it makes you realize that, out of all the roads she could have chosen with all of her capabilities, she chose to be a mother. She could have been a hero for many, but she chose to be a hero for one. That, to me, was so special because it really shows the importance of what being a mother is. Out of all the amazing roads, she could choose, she chose the most amazing of all, which was to be a mother to Lloyd. I loved that so much.

Even before we know about Koko’s previous secret life, we get to see what a fierce temper she has when it comes to Garmadon. Was that fun to play?

MUNN: That was really fun, to play the momma bear who’s like, “I don’t care if you’re the biggest evil warlord! You’re annoying me right now, and I’m not afraid to tell you that!” That’s why I feel I had a kindred spirit with Koko. That’s how I live my life. The one thing we all have in common is that I exist as much as you exist. You can be the President of the United States, you can be an evil warlord, or you can be the head of a studio, but I’m here and you’re here. We may have different paths. You may be a lot more powerful and really wealthy, and all of those things, but we both exist and we’re both here, so I’m gonna treat you as a human being. What I see in you and how you treat me is what you’re gonna get back, and that’s Koko. She’s the one person in the world who’s not intimidated by Garmadon because she’s like, “I know you! You can be fancy with all of your evil warlord get-up, and your helmet and block clothes, but I know who you are! It’s all a facade, and I don’t care!”

Could you ever have imagined a world where you and Justin Theroux would be playing parents to Dave Franco?

MUNN: It’s actually art imitating life. Justin and I have decided to adopt Dave. He didn’t ask to be adopted, but we felt he needed it, mostly because I wanted to move into Justin’s home with Jennifer Aniston ‘cause it’s beautiful. I was like, “For this movie and for the press tour, I should be living with you guys. We should really think about whether to put Dave in private school, or whether we should go the Montessori route.” They haven’t really accepted my offer yet. It’s coming. I think it’s gotta come! Side note: Jen and I are friends now, which blows my mind. We filmed a movie together. We meet a lot of people through social parties and work parties, and I’ve been able to meet a lot of the people that I’ve idolized, and who are at the top of their game or who are the most famous people. Out of everyone, Jennifer Aniston is the nicest, most down-to-earth person. She’s nice, in the way that I think of nice. She’s so real. She’s the real deal. She’s in life. She doesn’t have a horde of people around her. She’s always engaged and talking to people. I just love her to death. That’s why I want to move in with them. Maybe this article can be about that.

We’ll put in a good word for you!

MUNN: Oh, my god, please! That would be great! I’ll just start Uber-ing over there. I’ll be like, “The Uber just dropped me off here, and I don’t really know how to get back. Maybe I should just stay forever!”

You got to be a part of Ocean’s Eight.

MUNN: I got to do a cameo in Ocean’s Eight.

What was that experience like?

MUNN: I got the call to see if I wanted to come do a cameo, and they were like, “We’ll fly you out.” During that time, I was in a relationship where I didn’t work. He played football, so during the season, for three years, I’d have to go do press, but I wouldn’t work. I just wanted to be there to be supportive. But then, this came up. It worked out that it was on a day off, so I flew out and did it. They said, “You’ll be playing a part at the Met Ball. We want you to come out and be in it, but wear whatever you’d think you would wear and do whatever you think you’d do for hair and make-up.” Basically, it cost me a lot. I paid for the stylist, and for the hair and make-up, but that’s how much fun it was to be a part of that movie, which I think is so cool. It passed the Bechdel test, 20 times over. It was amazing! Mindy Kaling is a good friend of mine, and I was so excited when she got that. Sandra Bullock is my favorite. Cate Blanchett is my favorite. Sarah Paulson is amazing and so great. Anytime you do a cameo, you don’t know whether you’ll be in the movie, but just to be there was amazing. We shot at the actual Met, and I didn’t know this, but there’s a whole bar. On movie sets, you wait around a lot, and on this one, everyone was up in the bar, where there was a counter of ridiculously expensive diamonds that you could go borrow if you wanted to wear them in the scene. It was extreme! I had to pay to be in the movie, but it was worth it. It was such a great experience! There were a lot of people there, and it was really fun.

Image via Warner Bros.

Are you currently working on X-Men: Dark Phoenix?

MUNN: I don’t know what I’m supposed to say. I’m supposed to be vague. That’s my answer. I’m horrible at that. It’s like a two-parter, this movie. That’s more than I’ve said, in general. I don’t know why people have to be so secretive.

What’s it been like to work with Simon Kinberg, who’s been with the franchise as a producer, but is making his directorial debut with this film?

MUNN: I love Simon Kinberg. He’s such a visionary. We’re all so close. Anytime that you’re working on a project where everyone hangs out and they’re close, it’s a breeding ground for great content and a great experience. I think Simon is gonna kill it. He’s gonna do such a fantastic job with it. When I came on, he pitched me to be Psylocke, and I didn’t know him until I worked on that movie, but you see how everyone is friends and they hang out. It’s really cool! I just filmed a role in Josh Duhamel’s movie (The Buddy Games), up in Canada. He wrote, directed and is starring in it, and it’s the first film he directed and wrote. He got a bunch of his guy friends to be in the movie, and it was one of the most fun experiences. I’ve never worked on something where it’s another actor’s passion project. It’s interesting ‘cause you see how, when the director is also the writer and it’s a passion project, everybody steps up. You always try to do your best, in general, but there was a different energy. Those guys – Nick Swardson, Dax Shepard, James Roday, Dan Bakkedahl and Kevin Dillon – had me laughing the entire time. I only filmed for five days, but it was so much fun and they were so funny. Nick Swardson is one of the funniest human beings. Working with Simon, as a director, has that similar thing. It makes it more fun because everyone just steps up, a little bit more.

If you were a part of your own secret ninja group of warriors that save the day, what would you want your power or ability to be and what would your own personal mech look like?

MUNN: I know it’s crazy, but I would take on Psylocke’s powers, to be able to create anything with your mind. That’s why Psylocke was always one of my favorite X-Men characters. The fact that she could create anything with her mind, but she still chooses to fight, she wants the challenge. That and/or the ability to control time. If you could control time, you’re good. And if you have the power to create anything with your mind, you could keep creating different mechs.

The LEGO Ninjago Movie is now playing in theaters.

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aberrantchaser-blog · 7 years

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The Lego Ninjago Movie Spoiler full Review

Table of Contents: Personal Background, Review, crush/love letter, Ambivalent, Things I wish they: expanded on, had, had done, Irritated slightly by, kept in, noticed. The things I enjoyed: thought clever, funny, lessons, liked, tugging on Heart Strings, Fun observations.

Background I’m not part of the Ninjago show fandom (though I have seen spitbrix’s & tannerfishies’s videos on the subject). I just saw the 1st TLNM trailer on May 21st & have been intrigued ever since & somewhat crushing on Lloyd Garmadon for 4 months. My crush kind of died yesterday, after I’d seen the film twice. Why? read on to find that out, & what I thought of the film in general.

Review If I were to give this film a letter grade it’d be a C, not an A as it didn’t do everything right, not a B as it didn’t have only a few missteps, but not a F because I don’t think the film failed so badly as to warrant that grade, or a D for barely passing.

No the final grade I’m giving this film is C for average, not extremely good or extremely bad, just in the middle, maybe somewhat forgettable to general audiences. To me at least this film causes me enough pain to want to forget it sometimes.

When this film lands it lands well, the heart of the story is well executed, when it doesn’t stick the landing it drags the score/grade down, but not enough to ruin 100% the film/or my experience of it.

Sure I came out of the film feeling mainly disappointed, I had spent around 3 hours with the film, & $15.59 for my 2nd viewing, but just because it disappointed me doesn’t mean I want other people to not see it, or for this film to bomb at the box office, as I’d like the Lego aesthetic to still be present on the big screen, & would like Lego to do well on future films advertising in house brands.

In crush terms, yo Lloyd the makers of the film set up a great profile (marketing) for you, yet the “date” I went on with you showed that you weren’t as great as your profile set you up to be. The allure, intrigue, mystery I felt for you made me want to get to know you, & your story was wanting. The charm you showcased in trailers also seem to have been lost/cut out in your film. (I had hoped that your film would make me fall for you more, that the time I spent obsessing over you wasn’t wasted, that you as a whole would be worthy of my attention when I finally got to see your story.) I suppose 1 sad irony of this situation is that I wasn’t able to take my owned/your representative minifig to see you on the big screen on the day of your film’s premiere.

& Yet your platonic chemistry with your dad, your desperation in wanting to fill that dad shaped hole in your life, & you working through your mixed emotions on your dad was what saved your film for me.

In short you weren’t a horrible date, but you weren’t the best you could have been either. Like your mom who expected the best of your dad, & her wanting the best for you, I too expected the best showing from you, which I didn’t get, but I still do want the best for you despite that disappointment, just maybe not with me in whatever possible futures still exist.

The rest of this post will be a list of either emotions, followed by what parts of the film invoked that emotion in me, or things I wish the film had done, & maybe not done or likes & dislikes.

Ambivalent: I’m not sure this film should get a sequel. I’m also unsure about recommending this film.

Expanding on Lloyd being bullied. Dorling Kindersley hereby abbreviated to DK’s Essential Guide memorably detailed the harassment Lloyd faced in school, producing a spirited protective response among fans, the book also generated sympathy for Lloyd in me, but that sympathy really had nowhere to go in the film.

Kate Howard’s adaptation of the film into the jr novel did flesh this issue out as well, 1 memorable exchange being Kai offering a hug out the anxiety/stress thing, + articulating that Lloyd was finding it tougher to cope with the ostracization.

Things I wish they:

Expanded on Koko’s backstory. The team’s camaraderie.

Had: More Martial Arts. For a martial arts film, this film has a surprising lack of it. Only showcase of martial arts moves I recall is Lord Garmadon vs Wu, & slightly during Garmadon’s 2nd attack, with Wu beating up mooks while Lloyd steals the Ultimate Weapon, hell Wu gets most close quarters combat scenes! Only scene involving other people were when the ninjas were fighting Garmadon’s many fired generals, & that scene was too brief. The ninjas return to the city after Garmadon steals the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon is more of a showcase of each ninja’s individual elemental powers, not martial arts. The Ninja Formation Featurette set up my expectations to be high, I’m disappointed at the result. (especially considering I had forbidden kingdom on the brain when I went to see the film.)

When DK’s Essential Guide bought up the ninjas relying too much on their mechs, I didn’t know the issue would extend to the majority of action/fight scenes in the film.

I really wish they had kept in that scene with Lloyd & the baby which they showcased in Trailer 1 + Outtakes, especially what they had in outtakes! That showed good physical comedy reminiscent of Jackie Chan’s old work. At least we would have 1 ninja having time to adequately showcase their martial abilities/skills.

More time, really felt like film was too short to do all it could have.

More interior shots of the Destiny’s Bounty.

Had done: Had the ninjas use their personal weapons. DK’s Essential Guide as well as the 1st time we saw the ninja in Trailer 1, hyped me up for that.

Instead both above issues/scenes are kept to the 1st few scenes of Good Morning Ninjago.

Speaking of the other ninja, while I expected this film to lean more to Lloyd + friends, instead of being a true ensemble piece, & expecting not to be disappointed with that, I am surprisingly sad about the other ninjas not each getting much time to shine. Hell if I hadn’t read the Essential Guide or seen the Behind the Bricks Featurette, I likely would have no or very little sense of their personalities.

A more personal beef was I wish they could have showcase Lloyd’s dragon mech more. It hurt when the mechs got totaled by Meowthra, but it didn’t hurt as much as it could have. Wish the film could have shown us the Ninja 1st debuting the mechs, then montage the ensuing status quo of ninja mechs beat garmadon, that would have made it really hit home when the mechs weren’t able to beat the Garma Mecha Man, signifying a change of the status quo in Lord Garmadon’s favor, & have the pain of the mechs being lost hurt that much more when Meowthra totals them.

Like Ghost in the Shell Have a montage of the city to get to know the place, Lloyd parkouring home after the 1st day isn’t enough, all that have 1 or all of the Ninja be able to take a moment & just appreciate their city, find it beautiful, like that mind controlled garbage guy did vs the Major in her invisibility suit.

Dorling Kindersley hereby abbreviated to DK’s Essential Guide + The Making of the Movie excerpts made me really interested in Ninjago City, just a shame we didn’t get to explore it more.

DK’s Essential Guide actually set up a lot of things that wasn’t in the film. Like each member of the team getting an arc, & using their preferred weapons in hand to hand combat, their personalities, detailing Lloyd being bullied, Garmadon’s army, really expected that new General #1 who tore off Lloyd’s arm to play a bigger part, like she took over the Shark Army ala Starscream when Garmadon left to track Wu, giant stone dog guards that would guard the Ultimate Ultimate weapon temple, & help Jay complete his arc. Maybe the ninjas using a Tornado of Creation to rebuild the city after Meowthra’s destruction. Maybe more expansion on Lloyd/The team all being Master Builders. The DK & Lloyd’s Scholastic book give the impression that Lloyd designed & built the teams’ mechs himself.

Irritated slightly by: the use of hard knock life. the Ultimate Weapon random montages.

Kept in maybe trailer 2’s going back to roots, & what Lloyd says before his arm is torn off, I haven’t felt this good in a long time, & Lloyd’s yeah but I feel like there’s more to Garmadon that I need to know.

What I Noticed: the film is more consistently heartwarming, but the marketing was more consistently charming, funny.

Some shots were definitely made to be seen in 3d, especially some in the mech battle in Garmadon’s 1st attack, I saw the film in digital.

eyeofthewolfe, I really envy that you’re 1 of the people who aren’t feeling like me, I want to be part of this in-group of yours. But ultimately I’m not, hope you’ll still accept my point of view as valid, & that we can continue to talk while still respectfully disagreeing with how we each see the film.

Since I want to end on a good/happy note.

What I thought was Clever took my 2nd viewing to recognize the parallels between each Lloyd/Dad scene + the concept of catch, granted I like they were more subtle with it in the Behind the Bricks featurette.

The Inner Piece metaphor, which I should have also taken literally considering this is a lego film.

The 6 or so cut shot of the effect of Lloyd’s Dragon Mech Missile Massacre.

Some of what those poor fired generals said to Lord Garamdon when he asked for suggestions.

Despite being somewhat irritated by not calling it, all said fired generals banding together to become antagonists.

Wu’s lines about defying the [The Mentor Dies] trope.

Funny some of what Garmadon does during that GMA style montage & other attacks on the city.

Apparently Wu’s like Sun Wukong’s master Old Boy in the odd birth department.

Lessons learning to see things from a different point of view.

Learning to rely on something else besides tech.

Liked the score, voice acting.

Tugging on Heart Strings nearly every scene with Lloyd & his dad whether bickering or bonding. The scores A Wish & A Ruined City, Arm Popping Flying Lesson, The Lady Iron Dragon, Here Kitty Kitty, Big Hug.

& the Koko/Lloyd scenes.

Lloyd, Misako, Nya teaching the fired generals new life skills.

Fun facts 1st viewing 1 kid I presume gasping in outrage when the Kid referred to Lloyd as just a kid.

2nd viewing really like some kids commentary on how Wu couldn’t die & other show references. Wish I could recall what jokes got the most laughs though.

Lloyd really reminded me of RWBY’s S2 Blake in worrying bout what the antagonist was up to, which the vol 5 theatrical showing was advertised in the theater I was seeing the film in.

That & he was a nice mix of Atla’s Zuko/Luke Skywalker in the dad issues department, although Lloyd/Wu’s bond more reminiscent of Zuko/Iroh.

Maybe another comparison could be made between this film’s familal relationship & Despicable Me.

#the lego ninjago movie #TLNM #cinemajago #Lego Ninjago Movie #LNM

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