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#and sasha is with the toads again
monochromatic-ahhhh · 2 years
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Owl gang about to leave in watch fic.
currently a dehydrated mess and figuratively crouched hiding in the bathroom, I am in need of comfort so I'm really happy there is an update
oof goodbye owl gang :( it's been fun tho
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kiwibirb1 · 15 days
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Y'all remember that one post I made of like all my aus meeting? Yeah well there has been another addition and my brain is going haywire with conversations
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unidentifiedfroggy · 5 months
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thinking about sasha's passive suicidal behaviour again - the way she consistently disregards her own safety to an amount abnormal for other characters in the show, willing to work herself to the bone and plunge to her death if it means protecting those she cares about. her internalised role as a protector, as the one who takes the blows for others, who stands up for her friends and shields them against the world, and how that's corrupted by her deep insecurity. her fear of not being able to protect her friends, of not being needed, if she can't control everything that's happening, and how that turns into controlling their every action. how she, unlike either anne or marcy, is so initially laser focused on finding the others and getting home. how she falls at toad tower, because anne doesn't need her anymore. how she trains and trains and trains because grime is the only one she can count on and she needs to be needed. how she willing she is to throw away her life and that of her comrades because she cant stomach the thought that anne and marcy are getting on without her, that they dont need her. how when all is said and done in newtopia, beyond all the hurt, her first instinct is still to make sure anne and marcy are safe even if it means being left behind in the throne room of a killer. how in her quest for atonement she is immediately willing to lay down her life for wartwood, and seems almost accepting of her demise before grime saves her. how we see sasha's relationship with the girls begin - hurting herself to protect them. because that's all she's ever wanted, isn't it? to protect people, to be their hero, to make sure that they never have to hurt. to bleed so they can remain unblemished. and that want turns into a need because if she can't protect them why would they ever want her around, and if she can't control them she can't protect them. and it is only after falling to her near-death for a second time that she realises how much she has hurt them in her attempts to protect them, and how she has failed them. how in her attempts to stop their pain she has pushed them up against all her broken edges and they have bled all the same. and still her instinct is to bleed so others don't have to, and it is only as she finds herself not alone in her self-prescribed duty that she manages to let go of control, to realise that she does not need to be needed to be loved, and to accept that she is not the only one who has to bleed.
i just think she's neat
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kfae · 8 months
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when sasha and marcy move in together they swear it’s temporary. just a placeholder, a way to gain their bearings while marcy is in the city again. it’s temporary, and yet the both of them casually keep putting off the apartment hunting, marcy’s bags growing lighter as stuff is removed and placed around the apartment. they start relearning each other, sasha memorizing the way marcy nibbles on the butt of her stylus while drawing, the way sasha ties her hair up at night to keep it from falling into her face. sasha questions marcy’s piercings, and when she got them. marcy notes how athletic sasha’s become, and sasha shows her the toad-specific exercises she’s been able to replicate with modern-day equipment. the two of them fall into a routine, off days correlating and taking the time to visit anne at the aquarium to pick her up after work because it always feels better — complete — when it’s the three of them. by the time their lease is set to expire, the both of them realize they haven’t even begun to search for a new place for marcy. lucky for them, anne is looking to move out of her crammed studio apartment, and there’s a nice three-bedroom place nestled right between the aquarium and sasha’s office.
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starlitvases · 5 months
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Pets I think TMA characters would get because I said so
Jonathan Sims - I don't see him as a dog person nor a cat person. I think he wouldn’t get a pet at all since The Admiral fills that already, but I headcanon that he saw a small toad on the side of road that pulls on his heartstrings and he takes it home on impulse
Martin Blackwood - Cat person. No explanation needed
Timothy Stoker - Maybe a golden retriever? I think him and his brother had one as a childhood pet and when Danny died, he vowed to take care of the dog until it died as well. He never got another dog again because it reminded him too much of Danny
Sasha James - Owl? I kind of see her as the type to get a cat, but not as much as others. Even then, her vibe tells me she wouldn't be getting a "normal" pet. Owl fits best in my opinion
Not!Sasha - She would get the exact opposite pet that Sasha would get. Probably a dog. I don't see Sasha owning a dog at all
Elias Bouchard - Simese cat. No question about it
Peter Lukas - Probably wouldn't get a pet because.. Lonely Avatar and shit, but maybe he had pet bird before he became an avatar
Daisy Tonner - Some sort of snake. I see her having two snakes that absolutely despise each other, but she won't give one away because she loves them too much
Melanie King - Turtle vibes. That's all I'm gonna say because I'm simply correct about this one
Georgie Barker - I know she canonically has a cat, but I think she'd be the type to also have a pet bird
Rosie - Definitely has a tarantula. I can't explain it. Just trust me
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grendelsmilf · 1 year
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How would you give a brief summary of how Amphibia, intentionally or not, exhibits Marxist themes?
could you expand on the marxist allegory in amphibia?? from what I could tell it was your bog standard (no pun intended) "fight the power" cartoon plot. the most marxist adjacent thing I remember is that one hop pop gag, I'm interested to see what I missed
no offense guys, but im kind of amazed that anyone could miss such an unsubtle, crucial theme of the show??? and i really don’t think it’s unintentional. this is the same guy who wrote the episode of gravity falls (“the golf war”) about the exploitation of labor, that included one of the best lines in the show: “but isn’t that cheating?” “pacifica’s rich, mabel, she’s cheating at life.”
the world of amphibia presents us with three distinct classes: the rural workers who are the backbone of society (frogs), the police/military (toads) whose job it is to exploit the workers for the elites (newts) and crack down on any unionization efforts / solidarity movements among them, and the walled-off urban bourgeoisie in newtopia who benefit from the exploitation of the working class and their colonial enterprises. again, this really isn’t subtle!
as the daughter of thai immigrants who own a small business and rely on the support of their local community, anne is able to bridge the diasporic gap between herself and her parents through her experience as a total outsider in wartwood who ultimately builds a strong connection with her community and learns to take pride in her work of making and providing food. conversely, marcy’s role in newtopia parallels her experience as the daughter of upper middle class multiple generation taiwanese americans, thinking that she has fully established herself in this welcoming metropolis due to her hard work and intelligence, only realizing that she is simply another exploited pawn of the ruling class’s imperialist mission once it is too late.
back home, sasha used her whiteness to protect her best friend(s) from racism, as well as knowing exactly how to weaponize her pretty blonde girl privilege to get away with petty crimes such as vandalism and shoplifting, and (misguidedly, imo) assumes that her presence will automatically protect anne from getting in trouble as well. as a toad, sasha learns through her friendships across classes (anne and marcy are frogs and newts, respectively) that solidarity movements beyond the arbitrary class divisions designed to keep them in line while the monarchy profits are the only way to truly resist imperial conquest, that shutting down working class revolutions for the benefit of those imperialists is merely the illusion of having power. her first attempt at overthrowing the monarchy fails because she simply wants to replace the monarch instead of dismantling the system, but it is her resistance movement in which she allies herself with frogs, toads, and newts that she is finally successful in her mission.
yes, hop pop yells “eat the rich!” while dropping a guillotine, but it is his role as a farmer and the pride he takes in his work, his unfailing honesty and humility as a local businessman, the work ethic he instills in his grandchildren, the way he isn’t afraid to stand up against their greedy and exploitative toad mayor, and the way his resistance makes him the face of a revolution so existentially threatening to the toad order that they feel the need to execute him that makes him a marxist icon.
hop pop serves as a contrast to grime, a positive role model who demonstrates the value of honest work (even if anne never particularly takes to farming, she does clearly find value in making food for people, especially as a way for her to share her culture with others). grime on the other hand is a terrible role model for sasha, as he relishes in the privilege he does have through his exploitation of others instead of questioning his role in society and the ways in which he is exploited for the benefit of the empire. sasha is the one who teaches him about the importance of solidarity movements, while he encourages the kind of selfishness, greed, and violence that toads are taught to value.
when marcy meets hop pop, she already has an understanding that farmers are the backbone of society, the relational importance of the natural world, and the significance of community-building and worker solidarity in running a functional society, but she is also duped into overemphasizing her role as a single individual, which becomes her downfall. while she genuinely wants to do good for a world that has helped her, welcomed her, and shown her kindness, she has been taught to place too much faith in her own intellectual capabilities, and it is her mind that becomes exploited– and is used to exploit– for the purposes of the empire. marcy would never want to exploit the working class, colonize and destroy other worlds for their resources, destroy the environment, or use violence to keep people in line, but darcy, who uses her mind and body like a puppet, makes sure she has no say in the matter.
while andrias is the current ruler of amphibia (and mind you, his reign has lasted 1000 years), the core is the final boss to defeat because andrias is merely the figurehead of the empire, while the core represents Empire itself. (again, it’s literally called The Core! it’s not subtle!!!) while many people took issue with the seemingly simplistic way the final fight between the core and the trio went down, you have to remember that it’s ultimately a metaphor about the power of class solidarity against an imperialist legacy that would rather preserve its hollow illusion of greatness than actually serve the people who live there. the core can’t believe that anne would sacrifice the stones, the tool/weapon that allowed them to colonize other worlds in the first place, which they call “amphibia’s greatest treasure,” but anne reminds them (and us) that amphibia’s greatest treasure is not its capacity for power, but the people, the communities that have come together to support her and one another.
amphibia is a show that is fundamentally about change. ultimately, its intersecting discussions of class, race, imperialism, and resistance come to a head in the finale when the importance of embracing change is underscored not only in the personal growth and development of each character, but also in the way its characters (specifically anne) are unafraid to give up everything they know and love for the sake of revolution. make of that what you will.
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I have an idea for my fanfic about having the Boonchuy go with their daughter to Amphibia during the latter part of S3 (like Camila did with Luz), explaining it as "if you're trapped there again, at least we'll be all together." What do you think of it?
that'd b neat.
Mr and Mrs Boonchuy learning how much Anne is loved by the Wartwoodians, how much of a capable fighter she is, the threat of Andrias and the Core, seeing the giant beasts and bugs, Recruiting more folks for the invasion, etc etc. What kind of roles would they play? Granted the question then is do they stay on earth after Frogvasion or do they come with and watch their daughter die and become leaves and then get reborn.
(and because of shipping, Mr and Mrs B would she how Sasha changed and how her and Anne's relationship changed and tease her about it. "So, Sasha sure has changed, huh?" "Yeah, she's a lot less bossy and selfish. She's more open to feedback and there's no trace of manipulation or hidden motives. This feels like a new Sasha...and I think I like it." "You know, sweetie, if you want, your father, the Plantars and I can keep an eye on your two's commander thing with that Toad-Dad person of Sasha's if you and her wanna go on a quick date." "Pffft- WHAT!!!?? A date?! Me and Sasha?! W-what are you talking about?!!??" "Oh comeon Anne. We see how you two are around each other now, the lingering hugs and touches, the longing looks, the smiles and blushes. It's okay if you want to date Sasha. Especially now that she's changed, if she was still like her old self then we'd be against it 100%" "b-b-but" "Honestly we figured it'd either be her or Marcy" "Long shot was both of them." "I can't believe what I'm hearing, can you?" "We kinda figured you were dating already but were going through a rough patch" "Hop Pop?" "Yeah, I figured it out by the 3rd time you punched me for asking if you had a boyfriend-" *punch* "like that" "sorry... but you guys are all crazy. There's no way Sasha and I would date because she doesn't like me like that." "She does." "Grime?!?" "She wrote so many songs about you...they were sad apology songs that were kinda also love songs...she made the snails sad" "I'm going for a walk, you 6 get this idea of me and Sasha out of your heads because she'd never date me-er, I mean, we're just friends!")
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detentiontrack · 5 months
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Reminder that at the end of reunion, Sasha had NO idea that Grime was nearby to catch her. Sasha thought she was once again all alone, and fully accepted her potential death if it meant saving Anne (both in the immediate danger of both of them falling off of a crumbling toad tower and in general Sasha thought Anne’s life would be so much better if she didn’t survive the ordeal)
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discet · 11 months
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Apparently Marcy was supposed to be a deconstruction of the isekai protagonist. The reason it falls flat is because, from a meta sense, Anne plays the isekai trope pretty straight. She’s the one who gets a found family, she becomes the hero to the people, she gets the cool anime powers and the grand destiny. While it wasn’t particularly glamorous or easy for her, it’s still there. And even if you try argue that Anne didn’t see amphibia as a fantasy world, it dosent change her experiences(I don’t believe Marcy saw it as a game either, but that’s neither here nor there). I think Matt wanted to have his cake and eat it too, so to speak, but just resulted in a massive double standard
Okay after mulling this over for a few days, I'm gonna have to disagree. Cause I think that actually through the first two seasons all three of the girls subvert classic isekai tropes. You could read them all as subversions of traditional isekai protagonists.
Anne
Anne reflects the classical protagonist archetype. That of the protagonist who wants to return home. This archetype often enters the new world with a lack of confidence or feeling purposeless and adrift. Traditionally this archetype finds purpose through taking up a great cause and saving this other world. Anne does get there eventually but only after season 2.
Anne subverts this archtype in being mostly a reactive character. She doesn't seek conflict and is deeply uncurious about the world she is in. She cares about the people she meets there, but her interest beyond that remains shallow. Even when it comes to her main goal (getting home) she lets Marcy handle all the research and stuff, not really caring about the specifics as long as she gets to go home. If she thought about her conflicts with the toads and how Newtopia has to passively condone their actions, she might have been wary enough of the king to question his intentions
Anne even appears to fulfill her destiny as the archetype in true colors by preventing Sasha's coup. The dramatic irony being that Sasha and the toads were never the true threat.
As a result of her passivity, Amphibia ends up going through a great crisis after Andrias gets the box.
Sasha
Sasha reflects a much more niche type of isekai protagonist. The one who finds themselves wronged upon arrival and forced to struggle just to survive. These protagonists usually have some hang-ups to work through and ways to grow as people through the few connections they do end up making. Traditionally this protagonist resists the injustice of the world they find themselves in and help create a new order.
Sasha subverts this by becoming complicit in the corrupt world order. Given power and authority, Sasha doesn't really care about how corrupt or aweful the status quo is for those on the bottom. So long as she is on top, its not her problem.
Again, Sasha appears to fulfill her archetype in True Colors by attempting to overthrow the despicable monarch. However she does so for all the wrong reasons, her main goal being to regain control in her friendships.
As a result of Sasha's own toxicity, she fails and gets one of her friends near fatally injured and loses the other.
Marcy
Marcy represents probably the most popular isekai protagonist archetype today. The gifted, genre savvy nerd whose finally in an environment where they can thrive. The character who doesn't really want to return to their old life. This character often finds themselves in a scenario where their unique skillset that was undervalued or mundane in their old life turns out to be the thing that will save everyone from a great evil and make them beloved.
Marcy subverts this archtype in two ways.
One, by being placed in a situation where her greatest weakness is exploited by the evil she was there to defeat. For all of Marcy's competence in a dozen of different ways, she trusts the wrong person and as a result dooms herself and the world in True Colors by conspiring with Andrias.
The second way she subverts this archtype is by her connection to Anne and Sasha. Marcy's archtype often forgo their past life, but Marcy is desperate to maintain her connections from that life, going as far as to bring those connections with her. This is all the leverage Andrias needs to manipulate her to his own ends.
As a result of Marcy's inability to let go almost leads her to truly lose everything.
There are other problems with their arcs, especially Marcy's, but the first two seasons I think did a remarkable job of subverting the traditional heroic journey that any of the girls could have taken
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eleviathan · 9 months
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I just had an idea for an amphibia au
Sasha and Anne swap starting locations (sasha in wartwood/anne in toad tower)
Sasha ends up waiting to go to the lake like in best fronds, and does her whole manipulation thing, but seeing Sprig almost get killed makes her question her actions. Over the course of her stay (Season 1) she learns from her froggy family and neighbors how to be a better person, closer to how she was in Season 3b.
Anne, on the other hand, is stuck in the dingy, decrepit toad tower with Grime. The toads take the box from anne, but have no idea how to use it, and neither does Anne. The longer she stays, the more she starts to resent Sasha for "making her" steal the box and her getting her trapped. Eventually, the herons attack, and Anne actually helps fend them off after they attack her cell. This impresses grime and says that he might let her go and give the box back if she works for him, Anne agrees and is recruited into the army. This is no partnership however, and the harsh military environment only makes Anne more vindictive and cruel.
The toads find out about Sasha after toad tax and thing lead up to reunion. Sasha is thrilled to see her friend again, and Anne appears to be too, though it feels a bit disingenuous. Same old party trap to execute Hop Pop, and we end up at the top of the tower. Anne is surprised that Sasha would do so much for these frogs but tells her to drop the act and join her and the toads. Sasha looks back at the frogs and refuses to give them up.
Anne is exasperated, "You don't actually 'care' for these things, do you? Listen here Sash your going to come over here and leave those country bumkins, END OF DISCUSSION."
Sasha is taken aback, "Anne, what happened to you?"
"What do you mean?" Anne says." I'm only doing what you would do.
"I would never do something like that."
"THEN WHAT WERE YOU DOING WHEN YOU FORCED ME TO STEAL THE FROGGING BOX!"
Silence...
"I just wanted to go home to my parents, but no, YOU made me skip class, YOU made me graffiti the wall and steal a shopping cart, and it was YOU who made me take the box that got us stuck here!"
"I'm sorry, Anne, I really am. But I'm not going to let my friends down, not again."
Fight ensues, Sasha has the upper hand, but Anne lands a clean cut on her face, and she falters. Then the Boomshrooms go off, Sasha catches Anne, Anne trys to take her down with her, Planters catch Sasha, Grime catches Anne, Toads leave, cue depression.
That's all I got for now, make make more, probably not.
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mandareeboo · 7 months
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Anne, Sasha and Marcy for the character thing?
Pick a character I’ve written and I will explain the top ~three to five ideas/concepts/etc I keep in mind while writing that character that I believe are essential to accurately depicting them.
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(I say this so damn often I’m gonna copy-paste it rip) I start all my writing advice for Anne with this, but it always bears mentioning. Loyal! To! A! Fault! Anne will do anything for the people she cares about and will go back to them time and time again even if they hurt her. It can make writing certain motivations for her complicated, but it can also make you put interesting spins on them, too.
Crafty! Anne is always finding new ways to get out of situations. From headbutting a toad to stealing swords, she's a wiggly little shit that's hard to keep imprisoned
The original Anne Boonchuy is dead. We have a copy of her. That means you can get jiggy with your own logic on how her body operates! I personally like to imagine that while she has all her insides, her body runs on the aspect of her character that powered the gems- her emotions.
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Sasha has a temper! She's not manipulative anymore, but she's not entirely sure how to handle those emotions properly, and tends to default to a low voice and vague threats. "I'm only SORT OF furious."
Protector through and through! Anne defends, but Sasha is absolutely willing to throw the first punch at any given time. She will kill a man for her friends.
When she's not conning (aka most of season 3) Sasha is a very blunt person. She doesn't do frilly words or actions. She tells you how it is and she tells it to you in plain words.
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She's the intellectually smartest of her group but emotionally this girl is a sack of rocks. She loves everybody and everything but is easy to trick and falls for things that most would be sus about- like Andrias, for example.
Marcy talks through her hyperfixations. She relates Amphibia to video games and her friendship to movies. She thinks this is clear-cut and a very good explanation and doesn't understand that others might not get it
She doesn't consider others! It's not intentionally mean but it can cause problems, like when she took everyone to Amphibia and thought it'd be a great birthday present when really she was just trying to get away from a bad situation, or when she would get so into something Anne would be behind her desperately trying to keep her safe. These things don't click in her mind as issues until someone brings them to her attention. Again, it's not malicious! She's just a bit clueless!
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heart-wit-strength · 1 month
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Yeah it’s almost Sad how Ivy and Maddie weren’t given bigger roles to play while Freaking JEREMY who Literally DIED once back in Season 1 was given an episode in Season 3B.
along with Toad to Redemption’s continuity and slight world building that went Nowhere with, accept making Toadstool nicer (which I could care less about imo) Jacinda, Bog, Fens, and Mire being cast out of the show never to be seen again. Least a short reference in the series finale time skip. God they could've been good side villains during Sasha and Grime's time protecting Wartwood, even a parallel with how Grime used to be Vs Bog and Jacinda hwo would refernce what they Used to be.
iirc Toad to Redemption was to address how toads were just as much oppressed in the caste system as the frogs were, followed by the rebellion. Sooo ig it gets a point for that.
But yeah could've absolutely been a good parallel to have Grime against his old tower mates and the bully he used to be, maybe a bit on what came to the formation of the Resistance.
S3b feels like it made a genuine attempt at bringing back elements from previous seasons, but as you already stated, there could've been better choices. The only good one I could think of is Domino 2 moth probably.
But as blunt as it is, i couldn't care less for Jeremy's plant cult, or Sasha's Angels being about Toadie finally snapping. Or idk Sasha's arc of forgiveness being associated with the two random olms from s2 literally no one even remember, and not Percy and Braddock instead who btw absolutely deserved better and a conclusion in Sasha's story arc after how she changed, but ig not all the things you let go makes its way back to you (shrugs)
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bardicspiration · 1 year
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(Gen, Sasha & Maddie, 957 words, set post-Turning Point, pre-Commander Anne, and completed on April 14, 2022)
Leading a resistance is not easy. Sasha didn’t think it would be easy, but everyone is looking to her for quick, sound decisions, and she’s not leading a small squadron of cheerleaders or a tiny tactical group of toads anymore. She’s leading a town of frogs in pushing back against a powerful tyrant and conqueror, and she’s never been busier in her life.
As much as she wishes Marcy and Anne were here, they’re not. She’s managed without them before—she’ll be fine. They’ll be fine. They have to be fine.
She pores over a large map in the war room, frowning at the pieces of intel her spies have brought back.
“Hey,” says a gravelly voice, and Sasha shrieks, drawing her swords on instinct.
Maddie puts her hands up.
Breathing heavily and slowly sheathing her swords again, Sasha says, “Oh. It’s you again. Maddie, right?” She remembers hearing the name chanted in unison by three tiny tadpoles.
“That’s me. Sorry for startling you. I’m told I have a quiet footfall.”
Sasha lets out a nervous laugh to steady her nerves. “Haha, no worries. Anything I can do for you?” She gestures to one of the chairs and pulls one up to the table as Maddie does the same and sits on it, very still.
“I think you could use me,” Maddie says bluntly. “I’m a level two curse wielder, and I have experience resurrecting entities.”
“Whoah,” Sasha blurts, her eyes widening. “Uh. Okay. Wasn’t expecting you to say that last part, but sure, I’m listening. What’s a level two curse wielder?”
Maddie pulls out one of her little pouches. Sasha knows she does magic—she wouldn’t really have believed it was possible if she hadn’t seen Maddie teleport with her own eyes. “It means I’m an advanced user. Marcy helped me achieve the rank when she was in Wartwood. It was cool to have another person interested in curse magic.”
The mention of Marcy does something complicated to Sasha’s insides. A kind of need to hear more, and an awful feeling like she doesn’t deserve to hear about when Marcy was happy, because if she hadn’t orchestrated the siege, maybe Marcy would still be happy. Maybe she’d still be here. But instead, she’s back in that castle, a prisoner, and all Sasha can do is beg for scraps of other people’s memories of her that she never got to see.
She wants to ask more about Marcy so badly. Instead, she says, “That’s cool. So what kind of magic is it? I know you can teleport—that would really come in handy—but is there anything else that you think would help the rebellion?”
“Oh, I’ve got plenty up my sleeves,” Maddie says gleefully.
She demonstrates certain curses and then describes others, mainly because they’re offensive spells, meant to be used with pieces of the target like hair or skin. It’s useful—she’s useful, and having magic on their side with whatever the hell Andrias is doing with that box is definitely going to help them win the war.
But something pulls at Sasha. “Hey,” she says. “It’s awesome that you want to help out with the war and everything, and this is really useful, but I want you to remember that this is a team effort. You’re definitely needed here, that’s for sure, but I don’t want people overly relying on you, got it?”
Maddie looks up at her with that inscrutable look.
Sasha points at different places on the map. “I can think of at least ten use cases for your curse magic, but there’s only one of you.” She pauses and sighs, closing her eyes. “Back on Earth, Marcy would always try to take on way too much. She could handle it, don’t get me wrong, but she was always so busy. I won’t pile expectations on you. You get me?”
“Yeah, I get you,” Maddie says. She kicks her feet a little. “Thanks, Sasha.”
“Hey, no problem.” Sasha smiles at her. “You’re definitely going to kick some major butt out there, don’t get me wrong, but I want you to have some downtime. It’s really important that we have that work-life balance.”
Maddie frowns. “What?”
Shoot. That turn of phrase is definitely something she accidentally stole from her mom. “I just mean, like—have fun?”
A slow grin slides onto Maddie’s face. “Oh, I will.”
“Aside from the magic, Maddie.” Sasha points at her.
She sighs heavily. “Okay, fine.” For a second, she just sits there—Sasha thinks maybe the conversation’s over and that she’ll head out soon, but then Maddie says, “I know you don’t wanna talk about it, but Marcy was really cool.”
Sasha turns to her, stricken. “What makes you think I don’t want to talk about it?” she asks, treading with caution.
“Just that I brought her up before and you totally dodged the topic. Also that anytime someone brings her up you suddenly have to go. Also that you sometimes go to sit by Joe Sparrow.”
“Okay, okay,” Sasha groans. “She’s—she’s not dead, you don’t have to use past tense.”
“Even if she was,” Maddie says, not missing a beat, “I could easily resurrect her. She’d be fine. She’d have cool glowing eyes!”
Sasha stares at her and then sighs. “Man. She’d probably love that. But you’re right, she is really cool.” She steels herself, taking a deep breath, and then asks, “Would you tell me more? About when she was here?”
“Where do I start?” Maddie exclaims, and rolls right into a series of anecdotes.
When she leaves, Sasha goes to her chalkboard and thinks over her mission squads. Maddie is very powerful. She’s like a last resort, a trump card.
Sasha places her near the center under the header “Special tactical squad.”
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mdhwrites · 4 months
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Do you think Amphibia's dedication to its themes was too much in certain aspects? I'll try to explain:
Sasha was the first commander of the resistance, but it was Anne and Sprig who brought the newts and toads to their side, and it was ultimately Anne who made them all work together. Amphibia wants Anne to be, in simple terms, "the most important person" in the show, but it leaves me wondering what exactly were Sasha and Grime doing for most of the resistance's progress to happen after Anne returns.
On the topic of change: Isn't it a bit weird that neither the ending nor Marcy's journal showed the girls potentially dealing with trauma after they return from Amphibia? I understand that they want to portray change as inevitable and a part of life you have to accept, but I can't help but feel they missed on a bit of nuance in the process. It could have been due to lack of time or space tho.
Best wishes!
The latter one of these two I actually find more interesting, even if it's slightly more infuriating too for reasons I'll get into, but let's get the first out of the way.
Mostly that... What? Anne takes a HARD backseat in S3B. It is about Amphibia and its people and while she has a couple episodes where she gets to be the one helping out, a lot of them are about the frogs themselves. Hell, Sasha is doing about as much as Anne is except that Anne can leave to promote the resistance and act as a fighter because Sasha is busy with the full time duty of a commander. There's a reason stories focus on a general's top soldier, not the general himself. That's just storytelling conventions and Anne still doesn't overshadow Sasha much. Hell, the Olms are MUCH more brought in by the Plantars and Sasha than anything Anne does. More Hop Pop above the rest even, not just Sprig.
As for getting them all to work together... Do you not remember that episode? Anne fails for 80% of it before she LOSES IT and makes them all realize that even if they hate each other, they hate Andrias more. Hell, she only leads them because she has mediation experience and again, she fucks it up for the most part. It's still Sasha who technically brought them all to one place. I will admit that Anne gets an episode with Tritonio but I've already talked about how Sasha was the leader for bringing in the Ohms. Sprig helps bring in the toads specifically because he pisses them off so much as to end up in a dual where he needs to expand his own way of thinking and looking at others in order to win.
None of this glorifies any of them. Anne just points out rightfully through empathy that Tritonio does care about his people. Sasha pushes the Olms hard enough to force them to listen to her and give them a chance. Sprig is bigoted but in fixing that, he starts to let go of it. None of this is glorifying anyone, especially with how hard each of them has to fight to get these people to budge enough to even bother working together to save their world, something the show depicts... Because the show DOES acknowledge change is difficult and something people push back again.
Anne spends literally an ENTIRE season breaking her old habits and changing into a more mature person. She spends the first season constantly wanting to default to how things used to be for her, or how she wants them to be for her before learning to appreciate the new world she lives in, both literally and figuratively. Even then, Anne is still Anne. Two seasons later, she still devotes herself to pleasing her best friend during Sprig's birthday because old shackles haven't broken. They've loosened but change takes time.
Amphibia itself reflects this. Quick change DESTROYS IT. Forced change destroys it. The entire world is wrecked by someone trying to make it become something it is not and to bend to his will. Its people though do not simply forget their grudges because of this though because letting those things go, the humiliations, the traumas, etc. inflicted by each other (especially on the frogs) is something they cannot drop. It takes a literal world ending threat to BARELY make them work together. It actually presents a lot of interesting potential for what in fact does happen to the world afterwards.
But if you NEED it to be about trauma... What the fuck did you miss about Sasha's arc? Losing to Anne almost KILLS HER. In fact, she is willing to die because of utterly defeated she is, especially by the fact that in that moment, she has to acknowledge that Anne is a better person than her, not just a fighter. This causes her to lash out so badly that she spends ALL of S2 in denial until she finds a way to possibly put herself on even footing with Anne. When she has to acknowledge the actual pain this caused though, everything that she's held onto that is now ripped away from her, it puts her in a spiral of self doubt until she figures out a new direction to go.
But Sasha is still Sasha, even changed like this because, well... It's almost impossible to entirely change a person or people. She still wants to be leading. She still gets grossed out the nastier parts of Amphibia. All that changed was that now instead of being self serving in her desires, she understands what leadership actually means and the true value of other people. Even then, she still is struggling with accepting all of this which is why she wants an out when it comes to Marcy. To not have to deal with something so hard.
THIS is part of why I am SOOOOO tired of trauma talk in cartoon fandoms. Anything remotely dark happens and people seem to entirely forget what actually is on screen and cry out for therapy. Remember: Amphibia is a fantasy, slice of life, comedy that eventually gets more of an adventure edge in S3B. They still however make comments on bigotry, the long term damage due to that bigotry, trauma and our responses to it, the change that that can sometimes require and the lengths we'll go to to avoid addressing that, etc. etc.
But because we never get an entire season dedicated to Anne sobbing about Marcy, no one actually cares because it's not as blunt as Barrel's Hammer. Everyone seemed to miss that Anne was so overwhelmed by what happened in True Colors that she couldn't even recap it all without frying herself and that was WITHOUT acknowledging her friend's death. That she works herself to the bone until people convince her that destroying herself won't fix those mistakes faster, it'll just make more mistakes. I LOVE how Amphibia deals with actually acknowledging some of this stuff while managing to still recognizably BE AMPHIBIA.
Heck, the fandom explicitly DOESN'T want the deeper discussions the epilogue implies. That all three of them went through so much shit for and BECAUSE of one another that staying friends would be hard. Other people won't remind them of getting stabbed, scarred, betrayed, etc. but the trio WILL. And so they needed time in order to properly cope with it all. They didn't disconnect but they gave each other space until they were ready to properly handle what their relationship could be now.
Or, you know, just because they were forced to work together for the sake of other people they cared about, they should totally be blood sisters for the rest of eternity. Let's not talk about how two of them literally had to let go of the third to let her DIE for the sake of those they cared about. How do you cope with that? Does that torture Marcy because she can't protect Anne after moving? Is she thankful to have an excuse to disconnect because it means she'll care less if Anne ever dies again? And that's just ONE of the BILLION questions you have to ask about what Marcy does when she finally gets a chance to breathe.
The season the fandom wants about trauma is NOT what they would get. Fandom trauma is where you have a character angst, cry, get a hug and a cookie and then everything is okay. It's an excuse to have big emotions that lead to stronger bonds. It still romantices it into something that can only be for the best for a person and not actually that hard to get over. Trauma doesn't work like that. PEOPLE don't work like that.
Just as a personal example, and sorry this goes for so long: In October I had a session with my therapist specifically about getting into trauma inflicted by my brother pretending to be mentally disabled, something I actually am, and betrayal/bigotry shown to me by a TOH Discord group. These scars were over a year old. Over two years for when my brother started his shit. I had technically talked about these issues with other therapists before but now it was to specifically talk about them with the context of me having worsened my Avoidant Personality Disorder.
It destroyed me.
I went from taking random walks and having a potentially positive, excess energy in me STRAIGHT to complete lethargy, non functionality and, of course, though not as blunt because Tumblr doesn't have a spoiler text option I can find, dangerous thoughts that even scared me more than usual on some nights. It took me over a week to function again. To get back to about where I had before. And mind you, this wasn't a session about FIXING these issues. This was just me talking about them to let my current therapist know what was on my mind and what had happened. It made such not progress that I'm actively scared about how many sessions it will take to actually make me progress on these issues.
Meanwhile, I am not some cinnamon roll who needs pets because of these issues. I get REAL upset when people treat me like a ticking time bomb who is about to start sobbing any second now. The main effect it has had on me is that I am TERRIFIED of publishing my own work. I had my experiences invalidated and my personhood made less and so my deepest expressions of those stand on extremely shaky ground where despite knowing I'm a good writer, nothing sounds good enough to my brain and it just causes more anxiety the harder I push. It's a large part of why I haven't written a lot this year and published nothing original that wasn't written LAST YEAR.
Now translate all of that complexity, and all that boredom that comes with it, to a full season of Amphibia about the girls processing the end of their journey and saying goodbye to their families. Even just a couple episodes about it. How entertaining is that? Is that ANYTHING like what you enjoy about Amphibia in the first place? Is that ACTUALLY what you want?
Because you know what? I made a story about depression, anxiety, trauma etc. and while people like the fanfic version, it's not my most popular fanfic and the published, original version of that story has mostly gone entirely overlooked, almost like those topics actually REALLY suck to read about and have explored properly rather than just being an excuse to have your ships hold each other a little tighter. Most people who read the fanfic were there to see Lumity angst that led to them getting together and were then shocked and pleasantly surprised how there were actual therapy techniques they could take with them and the like in it because they were there to see a couple they liked suffer so their bond could grow stronger.
And I want to be clear real quick: I do not begrudge anyone for enjoying Crises Girlfriends like that. I am actually just happy you enjoyed it at all and in a way that was healthy for you (and I've had people talk about needing to put it down because it fucked them up so badly). There are games I am SCARED to play because I fear what my emotional reaction will be to their themes. Celeste is one of those games. I don't like when my media wrecks me like that but that is a part of actually tackling these very serious subjects that ruin people's lives like trauma or depression or the like.
And... I just don't think most people actually want that. Let alone want that from their silly frog cartoon. it's just what people keep telling them to want because 'trauma' is the big buzzword of the day. The thing that makes it not like other kid's cartoons.
I don't want trauma regarded like that though. Nothing so serious should just be a token signifier to others that your story is 'deep', let alone when the story actually does show responses to trauma and how people handle that like Amphibia does.
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For funsies, have an old blog that's admittedly about TOH but also applies to fantasy trauma in Amphibia as well because the genre is EXTREMELY awkward about trauma due to its fantastical nature. I think Amphibia does fantasy trauma better but, well... The Plantar's trauma about herons still applies to one of the types I describe.
Also, best wishes to you asker. Sorry for ending up using your ask to unload some frustrations I have about the topic.
I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!
I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.
A Twitter you can follow too
And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.
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miqotepotatoe · 1 year
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Okay so basis of this Ninjago Amphibia crossover swap AU, the plot loosly follows the plot of Amphibia but with the Dumbass Trio in the place of the Calamity Girls. The Calamity Box was a relic in the Explorer's Club that a theif tried to steal before the Ninja stopped them. Lloyd told everyone not to touch the box but Jay got really curious, convincing Kai and Cole to take a look with him in the dead of night. No malicious intentions, just idiotic curiousity.
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Cole replaces Anne, he gets zapped to Frog Valley and is taken in by the Plantars, quickly gains Wartwood's trust by defending them against the tax collector toads. He spends most of his time there aiding the townsfolk fighting off beasts while trying to figure out how to make the Calamity Box work again. The overprotective big brother to Sprig and Polly, still gets dragged into their hyjinks. Has accidently called Hop-Pop "gramps" a few times.
Kai replaces Sasha, gets zapped to Toad Tower, puts up a fight against the toads but is quickly overwhelmed and taken prisoner. Grime recognises that Kai is a powerful fighter and offers a deal, aid the toads and Grime will help Kai find his friends. Kai reluctently accepts the deal, just wanting to find Cole and Jay and return to Ninjago. He's more of a common footsoldier then a lieutenant.
Jay replaces Marcy, gets zapped to Newtopia, panics cuz he's no longer in Ninjago (causing him to fall down a flight of stairs and breaking his leg), meets Lady Olivia and Andrias and joins the Night Guard so he can venture out to find Cole and Kai. He has fun going out on adventures, but he can't help but worry about his friends and the others still in Ninjago. He vents out his worries and insecurities to Andrias over a game of Flipwart (Jay lost, but Andrias got blackmail materiel on the boy to use for emotional manipulation, sadly it still doesn't change what the Core has in store for him).
Season 1
- Plays out pretty much the same, Cole and the Plantars have various wacky adventures as he tries to find Kai and Jay and figure out how to get home.
- Kai is released earlier due to the deal he and Grime made, the herons that attack Toad Tower are scared away imedietly by Kai's fire. Grime is impressed, but both are using each other as a means to an end. Grime wants to use Kai to keep the frogs under check, Kai wants to find Cole and Jay and go home.
- Toad Tax happens. Cole imedietly notices the toad tax collectors are simply just stealing from the frogs so he fights them back. His eyes also flash blue for a moment. The tax collectors flee to Toad Tower and inform Grime of the situation. Grime plans on sending the entire army at the tower to Wartwood to teach the frogs a lesson, but Kai overhears and volunteirs to give the frogs a warning message.
- Cole and Kai reunite. Kai warns Cole about Grime and the Toads and the boys stage a plan to teach the toads a lesson on why you don't mess with the ninja. Kai returns to Toad Tower and tells Grime of a plan to "execute" Hop-Pop as his recent campaign against Toadstool has begun inspiring frogs to rise up, and executing the face of frog revolution will teach them a lesson.
- The events of Reunion stay mostly the same. The toads invite all of Wartwood to Toad Tower for a "peaceful celebration" to exectute Hop-Pop, meanwhile the boys begin to put their plan into motion. Kai stops Grime from exectuting Hop-Pop (ELEMENT OF SURPRISE!), and the big final fight is Cole & Kai vs Grime.
- The boys have Grime cornered, but just as he's about to admit defeat Toad Tower begins to explode and crumble due to Wally planting boom-shrooms. One explosion knocks Kai over the edge, Cole tries to pull him up but the ground beneath him is crumbling. Kai lets go of Cole's hand in an attempt to sacrifice himself so his friend can survive and find Jay, but Grime catches Kai midfall. The toads retreat into the woods, Kai once again their prisoner.
Season 2
- Cole and the Plantars leave to Newtopia to see if the newts know anything on how to get Cole home to Ninjago. When they arrive at the capitol city, they are attacked by barbariants, but are saved by Jay. They have an emotional reunion, drive out the barbariants and Jay takes them into Newtopia. Cole tells Jay about how he found Kai but the toads took him away so who knows where he is. Jay is releived to learn Kai is alright.
- The next day Jay introduces Cole and the Plantars to King Andrias. They talk the music box, Andrias suggests that Cole and the Plantars explore the city while he and Jay do some reaserch on the Calamity Box.
- Cole and Sprig bond over dead moms.
- Durring his research, Jay discovers some stuff about overworldy creatures and the prophecy surrounding the stones in the box. He decides to keep this to himself, thinking it to be seemingly unimportant. Little does he know, the Core is watching.
- Meanwhile Kai is being an absolute menace to Grime, and has driven away almost the entriety of the Toad Tower troops. Yunan eventually tracks them down as Grime is wanted by Newtopia due to what happened at Toad Tower. Kai initially uses this oppertunity to escape, but goes back to save Grime cuz ninja honor. Reveling in the victory, Grime begins to build a new toad army to take over Newtopia, Kai only helping so he can find away back to Ninjago.
- Andrias and Jay learn about how to recharge the stones using the three temples. The Plantars decide to return to Wartwood to get the music box from Hop-Pop's "scholarly contact," but Cole decides to go with them. While Jay is upset he understands the fondness his friend has for his frog found family and allows it.
- Durring his preperations for the temple quests, Jay discovers some more stuff about the box, what it does and what the ancient newts did. Jay is horrified at the aspect that Ninjago could be invaded if they charged the box. The Core threatens Andrias to deal with Jay before he learns too much, so Andrias lies to Jay saying that the newts have moved on from their conqureing lifestyle. Jay is willing to trust Andrias as he's been nothing but honest and kind to him, but he still has a little cautious suspision.
- The temple arc plays out the same, Jay charges the green stone of Wit, Cole partially charges the blue stone of Heart, Kai reunites with the boys and charges the pink stone of Strength.
- After the boys spend some time together, they head to Newtopia to return home. But then the toad rebellion happens and everyone tries to stop it, except Jay. Jay tries to stop Cole from closing the gates, trying to warn his friend about what the ancient newts did and his fears that Andrias might try to invade Ninjago, but Cole insists that Jay is just being paranoid and panicy as he usually is. This results in a fight that Cole wins.
- Andrias reveals his true colours and his plans to invade and conqure Ninjago. The three ninja fight him off and his frobots, but he drops Sprig out to his supposed death which causes Cole to fully resonate with the blue stone and unlock his Cole-amity Powers (I'm sorry for the awful pun), mixed in with his earth element abilities and Andrias gets destroyed, but Cole passes out. Jay manages to save Sprig and opens a portal back to Ninjago, Kai and Grime try to hold Andrias back, Cole and the Plantars make it to the portal, but Jay is impailed by Andiras's giant flaming sword. Everything is white and Cole finds himself in the monastery's courtyard with the Plantars, but no Calamity Box, no Kai or Jay
Season 3
- Lloyd, Zane, Nya, Wu and Pixal have an emotional reunion with Cole, and ask questions about what happened, where are Kai and Jay, who're the giant talking frogs? Cole tells them everything, about Amphibia, Andrias, the strange powers, what happened to Jay. After hearing his story, everyone at the monastery is determinded to figure out a way back to Amphiba so they can stop Andrias, get Kai and Jay back and return the Plantars home. Until then the frog family stays at the monastery.
- Back in Amphibia, Kai and Grime managed to escape Newtopia and flee to Wartwood. They unite together the people of the valley into a resistance, using Wartwood as a base.
- Jay is placed in a rejuvination tank to recover from his wound. Andrias sends out a cloakbot to hunt down Cole, but it was extremly unprepared for the full might of the ninja. Olivia and Yunan try to rescue Jay, but fail. The Core reveals itself and intends to make Jay it's host. While it would've prefered someone who could beat Andrias at flipwart, Jay was good enough to do. And thus "Day" is born (a stupid name but it's just like how Darcy was named, being a combo of "Dark Jay")
- After a lot of time and effort, the ninja make a portal back to Amphibia using a mix of highly potent Traveller's Tea and Cole's Calamity Powers. Nya insists on joining Cole and the Plantars back to Amphibia because she isn't going to stand by while her brother and boyfriend are still stuck in this world while a giant newt is preparing to conqure Ninjago. And so Cole, Nya and the Plantars return to Amphibia while Lloyd, Zane, Pixal and Wu make preparations to defend Ninjago for when Andrias invades.
- Emotional Smith sibling reunion, Kai introduces them to the Resistance and inform them that Jay is alive but taken prisoner. The Resistance increase their numbers while the ninja and Plantars go to learn of the stone's prophecy from Mother Olm (Nya is a little jelous that the boys get cool anime powers).
- Final battle time. Pt1, Begining of the End. Basing their plan on a Fritz Donigan movie, the Resistance fight off the frobot army and Andrias while Cole, Kai, Nya, the Plantars and Grime sneak into the castle to get the Calamity Box and rescue Jay. One Lava vs Yulivia dance fight later and they make it to the box, but it's a trap and everyone is captured by Day. Day calls the ninja out on how they've treated Jay; calling him expendable, the least valuble ninja, not taking his fears and worries seriously. Once the Resistance flees upon seeing their leaders captured the invasion of Ninjago begins.
- Pt2, All In. Lloyd has gathered an army of friends and foes to defend Ninjago from the overworldy invading forces. The Amphibia team manage to escape the castle, regroup with the rest of the ninja and make a plan to stop the invasion. Kai, Nya and Grime disable the sheild surrounding the castle while everyone else fights off the frobots. Andrias challenges Cole to a fight to decide the fate of Ninjago, while Kai and Nya fight Day (Grime distracting some frobots). Durring the fight, Nya protects Kai from a lethal blow, resulting in her getting "dis-armed." The two fights play off the same as normal, Cole being reinvigorated with rock instead of k-pop, Sprig bringing Andrias to his senses with Leif's letter, Day getting distracted by controlling Andrias allowing Kai to free Jay from the hivemind by cutting the helmet's cord.
- Speaking of Jay, the Core tries to lull him into staying with a world akin to Prime Empire and fake versions of the ninja. Eventually Jay sees through the Core's lies and stands up to it. He is able to be saved before the Core could fully assimilate him. Emotional reunion between the dumbass trio.
- Pt3, The Hardest Thing. The boys return to Amphibia to finish some little things, Nya stays in Ninjago to get her wound checked out. The moon then begins to fall and the boys unlock their true Calamity Forms as they fight off the Core with their calamity and elemental powers, but Kai and Jay quickly begin to tire out as this is they're not used to the powers unlike Cole. Having no other choice, Cole calls upon the powers of all three stones, destroying the Core but dying in the process. He then meets the stones creator who offers him a chance to become guardian of the multiverse, which he declines. The guardian brings Cole back to life and the boys say their goodbyes to Amphibia, returning to Ninjago at long last.
- All six ninja finally reunite. Jay builds Nya a cool robo prostetic, feeling guilty about being the one to cause her to loose an arm but Nya reassures him it wasn't his fault, it was Core. Cole talks to Lloyd about the whole dying and meeting the stones creators and them offering him the oppertunity to become guardian of the multiverse, to which Lloyd gets some de ja vu from the time he died after stopping the oni, meeting the FSM and getting offered a chance to join him. Zane makes records on Amphibia based on the stores Kai Jay and Cole have told everyone. Things quickly go back to some form of peacful normal, until another villain decides to attack the city. Just another day in Ninjago as they say
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medicated-au · 11 months
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Art request: The medicated! trio when they accidentally swapped potions, and if they swapped potions again with Marcy as a frog, Sasha as a newt, and Anne as a toad.
Heh, both of the artists who draw for this blog decided to tackle this one! Hence why it took quite a while! But here's the first one, by @a-sketchy-a-day
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3 local blorbos drank the wrong potions! so yeah, this one is the three in that exact moment that you requested! Now, for the second one, this was done by @ntf-03
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This one has them rotating around. The middle is their normal forms and each one to either side has them in different positions and situations. Although none of those situations actually happened in Medicated, that was mostly done just to have some excuses for them to be wearing different clothes. Ya know, for variety! We hope that this makes up for how long it took to get to this request!
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