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daisyblog · 21 days

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Zane Lowe

Our Story Masterlist Summary: YN is mentioned in Harry’s interview with Zane Lowe.

Based on this request.

“Nice nails” Zane compliments Harry who’s sitting in the seat opposite.

“Thanks” Harry politely replies as he glances down at his turquoise nails sitting on his lap. “Thanks for having me”.

After discussing Pleasing and he loved the idea of It, Zane asked “What made you want to do that?”.

“I think for me like…a big part of it is…like I really like making stuff and I really like..kind of coming up with ideas and collaborating with other…especially YN who again is very creative…I feel like I’m really lucky with people around me both personally and professionally that I get to work with are really fun to work with and…you know working’s like my favourite thing to do so..based on the fact that I think obviously it begins as a hobby so then like getting to make stuff for work I feel like is a real gift. I think if I didn’t think about it too much I would be making music and putting out music constantly…but I’m also aware that I’m a total control freak and I want everything to be perfect..so the idea of like oh I made these four songs I’m just going to put out an EP…It’s just not how I think of it”.

---

“You're faced with a time when you can’t do that…and the great leveller of like it doesn’t matter how much money you have, doesn’t matter where you live, doesn’t matter this doesn’t matter that…you can’t travel you can’t do this, you can’t go outside your house..It’s like suddenly you’re forced to not be this musician guy, you’re forced to be like a boyfriend, brother and a son…and all of those things..and actually I feel like I..you know kind of had a little bit of a chance to focus on that at least for a moment..umm and just stop and kind of take in a lot of stuff and…remember things, you’re kind of gifted this stolen time” Harry explained his view on the world pandemic.

“You mentioned being all these roles…you mentioned being a boyfriend, what was it like during these times?” Zane quizzed. “Because I imagine you got a taste of what it’s like being a “normal” couple”.

Twisting and playing with his rings on his fingers, Harry explains “Umm…YN has always been my comfort you know and I’d like to think I’m hers too…she’s been a big part of my life and…we’ve been through so much tougher…that it was kind of nice to just stop and take that in.” Zane nodded, an indication for Harry to continue “So when the pandemic hit..we isolated in LA for a while..I saw it as a time for us to be just us…but YN did find it hard because she has such a big family…and umm she just wanted to be closer to them…especially her grandparents and siblings”.

“Yeah I can imagine that being hard..being so far away” Zane sympathised “I don’t mean to pry into your personal life but what do you mean by time for just you two?”

“Like..we’ve never known anything other than travelling..or just being surrounded by other people and just having to plan everything in so much detail..to like not be seen you know…so we kind of got to see what a normal like would be like, whatever a normal life is..if that makes sense?”.

“Yeah it makes total sense”. Zane agreed and could see that Harry craved a little normality in his personal life.

“I suppose..I’m just like really lucky..because YN just gets it. She got put into the limelight the same as us..you know..so yeah she just gets it and I’m just so lucky” Harry continued with a slight giggle as he repeated how lucky he was. “I think what I’m trying to say is…I hit gold when it came to YN…she really is my best friend too and yeah…it was nice to be just a couple without the added pressures.”.

---

“We have to acknowledge this because..you know we at one point we were going to this in the United Kingdom”. Harry nodded in agreement “But there’s something wonderful about being in this afterglow of Palm Springs..which is I'm sure is how you feel a little bit after these two amazing headline shows…you seem so chilled you know” Zane laughed but continue “There must have been a relief that you did it?”.

“I just..you know I knew I was going to put something out…whether it’s a show or an album or a song I want it to be perfect..and umm…I think like that’s why I take so much stress on I think around something like Coachella..cause I feel like I want it to be good..like if it’s not going to be good I’d rather not do it..so you know in that kind of setting, no matter what it is kind of…you know the dust or the wind or however many things, it's like so many things can go wrong in that situation..and it's not your show and it's my first festival so…you know I’m kind of going out to the crowd and I like knowing what I’m stepping out to” Harry rambled with a nervous chuckle at the end.

Harry continued “and that was really terrifying”.

“What was your instinct when they asked you to do it?” Zane interrupted.

“That’s too scary and I’m gonna say no” Harry laughed “But..uh YN was like you need to say yes and was just so encouraging and supportive..you know…plus she’s like my biggest fan so of course she wanted me to do it!”.

“So..would you say YN helps with the nerves?” Zane asked curiously.

“I was so nervous..like so nervous..and I remember YN being on facetime to Louis before the show..and them both saying just to be myself and to enjoy…and when I was out there I just focused on being me and nothing else”. Harry spoke freely. “Their advice definitely helped…’cause I had the best time!”.

“Late Night Talking?” Zane stated.

Harry let out a shy chuckle “Uhh…yeah” Harry leans his head on his hand to try and hide is cheeky smile “It’s about YN…well I don’t think it’s a shock to anyone”.

“So…would you say the whole album is about YN?” Zane asked confidently.

“Uhh..most of it..yeah pretty much” Harry smiled “She’s just been a constant in my life..since like we were what..sixteen or seventeen..you know..she’s my life..and I don’t have to pretend to be anyone other than myself around her you know…it’s just easy and I love that about our relationship.” Harry explained.

---

“Matilda really shows emotional intelligence and how you were thinking about someone at that time.”. Zane begins to talk about the middle song on Harry’s album.

“Uh…yeah…I actually didn’t write Matilda”. Harry revealed, causing Zane to looked shocked. “YN had this conversation with someone…and she was getting to know them…and they opened up to her and she was like that’s not normal…so she was almost like writing down what she wanted to say to them…and I was like how many people could relate to this you know…and we agreed that it would make a beautiful song for those who needed to hear it”.

“Waw! It holds a real powerful message and I think even if people don’t feel those things…I think it definitely makes them feel something.”. Zane spoke with passion in his voice.

“It definitely does….and it was just about saying I was listening….that was YN’s purpose to it”.

---

“Boyfriends” Zane began “It is a great song..It’s from a male perspective, it’s a very knowing song..and It’s a very self-aware song..you have to have some self-awareness to write from that perspective surely”.

Harry answered immediately “Yeah for sure…Boyfriends was written right at the end of Fine Line” Harry explained “Boyfriends is about like…we’re all flawed you know..and I think pretending like we’re not, I just don’t get it..It’s acknowledging my own behaviour, it’s looking at the behaviour I’ve witnessed..I grew up with a sister so it’s like watching her date people and watching friends…but at the same time admitting I’ve not been a perfect boyfriend either”.

---

“Love of My Life..I’d always wanted to write a song about like home and loving England…and all of that kind of stuff..and it’s kind of hard to do that you know”

“So Love of Love My Life is about home and England?” Zane asked with a slight smirk on his face.

“As I started making them album…I realised it wasn’t about the kind of geographical location…it was more of an internal thing” Harry tried to hide his bashful smile by rubbing his finger under his nose.

“Do I see Harry Styles blushing?” Zane began to tease Harry.

Harry lets out a loud chuckle and tries to hide his face in his hands “You know..I’ll admit that I blush sometimes…especially when it comes to YN!”.

Tag List:

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cookii-moon · 2 months

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Ranking the ninja by their hair.

because.. I don’t know the idea came to me. So. We’re going from the worst of the worst to the absolute best. And you all have to suffer through it :). Kai fans I’m sorry but also kinda not.

#6. Kai.

Greasy. Gross. Unkempt. Splitting. Dying slowly. If it’s not greasy it’s dry and coarse. The only thing keeping it even mildly acceptable in the eyes of society is his overuse of hair products that he isn’t even using properly which results in his hair continuing to die on his scalp despite the lazy attempt to hide how miserable it is. Please for the sake of all that is holy in this world fix your hair Kai please. The ninja beg daily. The Kai does not listen.

#5. Zane.

He has no hair technically speaking since he’s a Nindroid thus making him hard to rank since we don’t really know what his hair is made of, but it’s still never going to be worse than Kai’s so I’m putting him here as it’s a safe spot.

#4. Lloyd.

Generally as a kid he couldn’t care less for self care. He’d often avoid doing it purely to spite anyone who told him to brush his hair or to take a shower, regardless of if it were a teacher or kid at Darkleys or one of the Ninja when they were babysitting him. How dare they make him take care of himself!

Of course, eventually the Ninja started doing it instead. Which has… 50/50 results. At first he just kept his bowl cut because he thought it was the coolest thing ever, so Nya would help him take care of it.

When the Tomorrows tea hit, he decided to try something new, so he tried to style it after Garmadon’s hair, hence his hairstyle being shorter. Of course, Kai was the first to help him fix his hair. And… Well… Kai. It wasn’t… good… so eventually the others all started competing instead. Lloyd still wouldn’t take care of it himself because he can’t be bothered to and can’t get into the habit, so it usually fell to the others to do so.

Eventually Cole taught him how to do his hair well and gave him advice (some of which was literally ignore whatever Kai says) so he can do it himself now!! Though, during bad days or when he’s feeling under the weather he still tends to forget.

#3. Jay.

Jay actually has pretty good hair, despite living in a junkyard. His hair has always been naturally poofy (due to his dormant lightning powers) which he liked as a kid, but it got on his nerves as a teenager, so he’d try to flatten it down a lot with hair products and what not. He always used a lot of good self-care routines and regularly brushed, so his hair was extremely soft. He dislikes having sand and dust in it so he takes good care of it.

After growing closer to his lightning powers though, his hair started fizzling and poofing up and going haywire again, except the constant charge he was exerting meant it just. Couldn’t be contained regardless what he tried. So he settled for this. He still tries to take good care of it but it’s generally much more difficult to brush/comb, so he has a harder time now.

Despite all his difficulties with his frizzly hair, Nya loves it, so he can make an attempt for her <3

#2. Nya.

While Nya at first having grown up in a pretty poor village and with little money together with Kai never really had the resources to really take good care of her hair (or herself for that matter), she always sort of cared for how it felt. She doesn’t like when it’s coarse or anything so she had a handmade comb that she always used to at least get tangles out and smoothen it a bit, though she also kept her hair pretty short since it was difficult. To take care of anything longer than shoulder length with the resources they had.

When she started taking up jobs after joining the ninja and earning her own money, she used some of it to do things she never was able to before like get a hair brush and hair products, buy new clothes for herself, and even get a hairdresser appointment. Nya doesn’t really care for her looks in general, but she does enjoy wearing things she likes and having clean hair annd stuff, so ever since experiencing a hairdresser appointment she has never looked back. She started doing different styles and bought scrunchies and asked for tips on what hair products to use, the whole bunch. She’s been trying to convince Kai to at least learn a bit about hair care as well, but he insists he doesn’t need any help. Unfortunately.

The only reason she’s second is because while she does just genuinely like the feeling of having well kept hair, she can and will skip days if she’s having a bad day or if she’s just. Kind of out of it. She’s not the type to care too much if she ignores it every now and then since her habit of it is just based off of what she finds comfortable so if her comfort and brushing hair is at odds she just won’t do it.

#1. Cole.

I refuse to elaborate, you get no explanation.

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colesluvr · 9 months

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Can I please request m!reader X the ninja where the reader runs up to the ninja to hug them and then starts spinning them around in a hug

Have a nice day 💖

CATCH ME! | All Ninja x Male Reader

hello!! this post is saying im not dead, just reeeeaallly tired and want a break heheheheee. sry if you wanted nya, i just needed post something so yall know i'm alive :(

KAI ★

you normally run up to him like that when a mission was claimed successful. other times you do it just to see his reaction, and it always makes you laugh. sometimes you just hug him, but other times you just start spinning. although he's a ninja and has trained to be imune to sneak attacks, you always make him scream when you randomly jump at him and spin him around.

your a giggling mess when he spins faster, but not fast enough to do spinjitzu.

he's noticed you do this whenever your really happy, so he knows when your unhappy because you won't hug him and spin him around like your always did.

"is that really as fast as you can go?" kai grinned as you spun both of you around. that statement ended with you both falling on the ground after 50x spins in a row.

JAY ★

loves it when you hug him and spin him around. it's got him smiling ear to ear and giggling left and right. your arms are normally wrapped around his neck whiles his are wrapped around your waist as you both spin. sometimes your legs are wrapped around his torso, but thats only when you know jay will just randomly let go of you for fun..one time leading you tumbling to the floor and banged your head on the table. big trust issues were lost that day.

"want to go faster?" jay grinned as he locked eyes with you. a wicked smiled formed on your face as jay spun, a blue tornado surrounded your vision. yours and his laugher were heard from the tornado as nya and cole walked by.

this is a normal thing you both do now.

COLE ★

when you first did this, cole was scared. he didn't know you were going to randomly start spinning and accdiently did spinjitzu. you cried his name out as you held onto him for dear life. he noticed you started doing this more when you were happy or a mission was successful.

all he's nervous about is that your going to be to extreme and cause you both to fall over, him landing ontopnof you because your the one spinning him.

other then that he's all for this now. he'll even join in one the spinning whne he's in the mood and lift you into the air.

ZANE ★

he just lets you spin him around. assuming your running at him for a hug, he opens his arms with a smile, but he's caught off guard when you jump at him and spin on your heels.

he yelps as he grabs onto you as you both spin full cricle multiple times. your laughter fills the room, zane's following soon after.

he questions you about your sudden out burst, and you reply with your tounge poking out.

he finds this cute and nevr gets upset when you randomly do it now and again.

LLOYD ★

he thought this would be a normal hug. so when you suddenly lift him off the ground and start spinning he let out a scream while gripping your shoulders for support.

he laughs out your name as you continue to spin. once you placed him down you give a playful kiss on the lips and waved him off.

he was left in a dizzy, goofy smile mess.

he tried to do the same thing to you to get you dizzy, have a taste of your own medicene. however, to his surprise you laughed and allowed himto keep spinning you.

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fishy0bishy · 24 days

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Mission upcoming

AN:after a minute of bringing up Mrs.Unamed and at one drawing I did of her and Merrit fighting reunited I wrote a little something leading up to that fight (long way of saying I wrote Merrit lore.)

also all of North’s crew is here! And Gilded!

Start of something bigger.

It was a cozy evening and Lizzy was wandering about and stumbling on Merrit in her lab making and testing some Filter soil but before doing or saying anything Merrit pauses and goes “Goggles and coat before doing anything in here”.

Lizzy rolls her eyes and puts on the gear “what did ya parents told you to do the same thing beforehand?”

Merrit smiles and nonchalantly goes “Nope never knew them. But my grandma and my other caretaker did”

Merrit pointing at two photos on a bulletin board. One image is of two tiny elderly women, one a ferret and the other a possum. But the other photo is blurred by a drink spill stain but Lizzy could still make out ferrets one with creme colored fur and the other brown colored.

Lizzy blinks at the photo and turns saying “wait what? You don’t seem like a person to have as trauma as everyone else on this ship.” Merrit exclaims and shakes her head

“Woah woah it’s not like that. I just never knew them and I don’t mind it. All I know is that they’re space riders so I assumed they were always busy”

“But wouldn’t you see them even when you became a space rider?”

“Someone is getting curious are we? You can ask poppy when we’re at HQ”

“We’ll I’m just say-“

Before the conversation (or questioning if you will) continues North interrupts by loudly knocking on the door and yells “Mission time! Suit up we got a big boss on our hands!”

Both Merrit and Lizzy look at the other and they go to the halls removing their Lab gear and Merrit going to her locker to change up and Lizzy leaving with north but a time skip and the whole crew is meeting up and discussing plans. the first to speak up is Zane “i heard we have a big boss what’s that about?” North smiles and leads by excitedly going “I found a lead with the cult and I’ve tracked down a High ranking member! There’s no photos of her, not a lot of information well except that she leads supply raids from our docks and only seen a total of 2 times within 22 years that she’s appeared and apparently there’s a urban legend about her!”

“Woah she’s pretty tough and sneaky if there isn’t anything about her!” Jaz exclaims and stares at an artist rendition of the woman. A red cloaked figure with a twisted smile and crème colored ears sticking out the hood. But North nudges Lizzy’s shoulder and asks “Hey you were a high member ever seen them. If you don’t mind answering of course.”

“A please would work but sure-“ Lizzy looks at the photo and her ears raise up and turns back to north pointing to the photo going “you do know who you’re dealing with? I dunno if the urban legend said something but she’s crazy scary. Even I didn’t get buddy buddy with her.”

They all stare at Lizzy till Zelda breaks the silence and tells North “what’s the legend about? Can’t be that bad.”

“Well from what I gathered from Poppy apparently this lady used to be a space rider. A very honorable one as well. And she had a husband who’s was a medic in the crew she was in but he also disappeared but myth states they had a child but I couldn’t find anything on files dealing with Rider disappearances. Except the crew Zane’s mother was in. The room immediately goes quiet and they all give each other looks but Merrit speaks up “are we even qualified? Sure we are B+ rank but this woman is maybe a S rank cultist. And remember what happened with Gilded.”

Jaz teases Merrit and North by saying “oh the cultists that Merrit has the doki dokis for and the one who whooped North?”

“Jaz this is serious.. but yeah you’re right…But let’s head out crew we don’t wanna lose track of this woman” “oh changing the subject so quick boss? Sunny remarks as the meeting ends with everyone nodding their heads and the crew leaving to their bikes flying to the upcoming red filled planet.Lizzy and Sparky waving bye waiting for their return.

Meanwhile Mrs.Unamed with a treat left by a certain kitsune (cough cough @truelazymaker )

All Ocs Belomg to the listed!:

NorthHeat(@north-heats-stronghold) Lizzy and Sunny(@novalizinpeace) Jaz(@fanofanythingsblog)

Zelda and Sparky(@fandomssvetlanafrom) Zane(@moonspiritleaf) And finally Gilded(@qxurugosk)

And this Au Belongs to @onyxonline!

#space riders au #smiling critters au #jaz #merrit ferret #north heat #zelda #sparky #Zane #Sunny #lizzy #Gilded somehow snuck his way in here

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garbagepile · 5 months

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The depersonalisation/dehumanisation of mystreet Garroth. A character analysis.

I am not sure if that’s the right term, depersonalisation is about lack of own identity, dehumanisation is stripping someone away from their positive human traits. But I don’t mean either of that, I mean just treating someone as not human? Garroth is often either extremely over idealised in pdh or seen as a moron in mystreet.

This is pretty long so I'm putting a read more here.

First off his father over glorified him, him being the golden child and all. Being the golden child actually sucks. You have all the pressures, and the feeling of being a fraud as he was praised for stuff he didn’t do. We see Garte canonically praising him for stuff he hasn’t done. And this causes feelings of being a fraud and a fear of being exposed.

Then we have all his fangirls in highschool, obsessing over him and over glorifying him yet again. He isn’t recognised for him as a whole with his flaws, he isn’t recognised as just a human.

I noticed a pattern; very often, it's as if the better people know Garroth, the less they like him. The more he is just an idiot. This probably increases the feelings of being a fraud.

He is the comedic relief now, to the point some fans don’t recognise him of having any serious sad feelings at all because he is the comedic relief. Now everyone just sees Garroth as an idiot, too dumb to be seen as a person.

And you have the fact he was experimented on, a very dehumanising experience probably. They also refer to them in code names during it I think[A1, A3, A3, A4 and A5] making it more dehumanising, in a scene in starlight you see a photo of Garroth as a toddler with A1 under it, katelyn being A2 and Travis A3. This hints he was the first to get a forever potion expiremented on him. This would also mirror season 4 and 6. As then the order would be Garroth, Katelyn, and Travis. Just how in season 4 the possession order is Zane, Lucinda, and Aphmau. Those people being the ones to set them free out of their possession in season 6 and that being the order in which they get depossessed in season 6. that's irrelevant really but I just wanted to mention it because it makes Garte look even worse.

Not to mention his possession being one of the most depersonalising and dehumanising ones of all. As unlike all the others, he doesn’t say anything except a few words during it and doesn’t show off much if any emotion at all. The screen also goes over to Garroth when Michael says “And your little toys are mine” basically referring to Garroth as a toy. Garroth during the possession is also almost like a robot, or a puppet, he attacks Nana being in the way but doesn’t continue because he directly switches targets when ordered to. Seeing yourself act like that and someone in your friend’s body boss you around like that is sure to mess you up you know. And then you have him becoming a werewolf, making him “less human” too.

Despite being basic he isn't really like his peers in a way. Oh also his basicness in itself is also kinda depersonalising, ‘Golden children’ often end up having to perform to please their parent. Due to this act to keep their status they often lack individuality and creativity. Perfectly in line with Garroth’s basicness and lack of an interesting taste and so forth. A lack of an personal identity. this is soo interesting with it being implied Elizabeth made the Ro'meave's forget about Garte in the mystreet season 6 finale. That's an identity crisis waiting to happened.

He also turns his own feelings into jokes in a way.

Like his fear of Ivy. She blackmails him to be with her in pdh season 2 aswell as constantly making him uncomfortable and just making it all about her getting his name wrong. As if he doesn't recognise his own feelings so he searches for a superficial reason to explain the feelings he is feeling. And how he after that he kinda forces himself to get over it without a real apology for it from Ivy. I only remember her apologising to Aphmau and explaining her lisp to Garroth. So since everyone is okay with Ivy and it's all about the lisp it's good now. But during their relationship Ivy consistently crossed boundaries and she blackmailed him. He was visually afraid of her in pdh for reasons outside of the lisp.

And we have in the good cop bad cop sidestory thing where in a conversation it was revealed his bad cop joke was actually backed up by him actually distrusting Gene. But after a conversation with Laurance he gets Gene a house a few episodes later.

He doesn't care about his own feelings,in a way. Like how Garte doesn’t care about Garroth's reluctance to inheret the company and still makes him do so.

#garroth #mystreet #tw Garte #tw Ivy neg #tw child abuse #tw emotional abuse #<-mentions of that #not meant as Ivy neg #bc I love her btw #garroth ro'meave #aphmau garroth #garroth aphmau #aphverse

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fruitcakebro · 3 months

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I'm imagining Garte Ro'meave's rage at his children based on my headcanons.

What he wants: Heir to continue his family line.

First kid: Gay

Second kid: Sex-averse Ace

Third kid: His wife's affair baby, and not actually his child.

This is just a collective 'lol get rekt'. Especially because the Zane DID have a kid via a magic amulet, but the mother is a poor peasant RANCHER, and the child -a daughter, not allowed to inherit, even if the rest of this weren't true- IS A WEREWOLF, A MINORITY HE DESPISES.

AND GARROTH HAS KIDS, BUT THEY'RE ALL ADOPTED SO NONE OF THEM WOULD BE A CONTINUATION OF THE BLOODLINE.

Also just while I'm here real quick, Kiki 100% gives me trans woman vibes, please say I'm not the only one-

#dumbassery #shitpost #aphmau mcd #zane mcd #mcd #mcd garroth #mcd vylad #mcd Garte #garte ro'meave #garroth ro'meave #zane ro'meave #vylad ro'meave #zianna ro'meave #mcd headcanons #garrance #kiki mcd

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mouschiwrites · 7 months

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can you please do a movie Zane X reader basically the reader is also a nindroid but unlike Zane she doesn't have a movie personality like he does Zane and ninja do find out that the reader is a nindroid and Zane asks the reader to teach him how to act more human and the reader tells him to not think about that and to just be himself Zane slowly get his show version personality and he was confused on what he was feeling and Kai tells Zane that his in love and Zane end up confesses his feelings for the reader and the reader accept them

Who doesn’t love a little robot romance? <33

Word count: 1.1k

Ninjago - Zane with a More Human-Like Nindroid

You were on the bus home. Today, like most days, you were sitting next to Zane. You liked sitting next to him because he was a great listener; and by that you meant he would let you blabber as much as you wanted. You always took full advantage of this.

“I’m going to be so busy when I get home,” you groaned. “Math homework, an essay, and I’m getting my motherboard upgraded. Talk about stressful!” You shook your head, barely noticing the way Zane perked up when you said “motherboard.”

“I did not know that you were also a robot,” Zane said, his monotone voice not betraying his surprise.

“Yep,” you affirmed, adding rather bashfully: “But I’m aware that I don’t really act like one.”

Zane stared at you for a while, saying nothing. You were starting to feel awkward, so you fidgeted with your fingers. That always helped to cool your circuits (literally). Your actions only seemed to intensify Zane’s fixation on you, though.

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Your actions are remarkably human-like. Fidgeting is a natural human response to stress, yet you also do it, despite the fact that you are not a human.”

You shoved your hands in your pockets, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “Oh. Well, I don’t really do it consciously… It’s just kind of natural for me, you know?”

“I do not.”

You contemplated for a while how you might explain yourself to him, but before you could come up with anything, the bus screeched to a halt at your stop. You apologized as you slung your backpack over your shoulder, promising that you’d continue this conversation another time. Zane grabbed your hand, stopping you from stepping out into the aisle.

“Will you teach me?”

You blinked at him. As much as you wanted to say yes, you doubted you’d be able to teach him. You wouldn’t even know where to begin. How do you explain to someone how to act human when you don’t know how you do it yourself? As you told him before, it was just natural for you.

You slowly shook your head, smiling apologetically. “I don’t think I could.”

There was no change in his expression, yet you couldn’t help feeling that you had disappointed him. But by some miracle, right at that moment, your mind blessed you with the perfect thing to say.

“I’ll tell you my secret, though,” you said, leaning in to whisper as if it were a private matter. “Just be yourself.” Then, straightening yourself, you smiled at him and walked away.

Over the next few weeks, you noticed subtle changes in your friend. It took you a while to connect it back to your conversation on the bus; honestly, you had almost forgotten that interaction completely. It just didn’t strike you as important at the time.

The first noticeable sign was his laugh. He laughed more often, and the more he laughed, the more natural it sounded. He wouldn’t just laugh at jokes; he’d laugh at things that were unintentionally funny, too. He was developing his own sense of humor. When your math teacher fumbled and said “negative zero” instead of just “zero,” Zane’s laughter filled the room. No one else found it funny, but you could tell that he was genuinely tickled by the little slip up.

That was far from the only change, though. His speech patterns changed. He was developing a sort of gentle, reflective air about him; different from his stoic, matter-of-fact personality that you were used to. Of course he was still very much robotic, but he seemed to… soften. Or something. You couldn’t put it into words.

Frankly you liked the new Zane. He was more fun to be around, and a much better listener than ever before. When you told stories, you could almost see the emotions flickering behind his eyes. He still didn’t talk much, but that was fine with you.

One day, you were walking to class with your friends Kai and Nya, and the topic of Zane came up.

“He’s been acting differently lately. Have you noticed? It’s like he’s more… I don’t know, human,” Kai observed.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” Nya nodded, “I think it’s because he’s in lo—”

“Kai,” Zane’s voice interrupted your conversation, making all three of you jump. “May I speak with you alone for a moment?”

Kai fistbumped you and Nya, bidding you both goodbye and allowing you to keep walking to class while he stayed behind.

When you were out of earshot, he turned to Zane. “Everything okay?”

“It’s Y/n. A few weeks ago, they gave me some advice. I’ve been following that advice. I’ve found that it’s helped me become more in tune with what I assume to be emotions. I can recognize when I’m happy or sad or angry. But there’s one feeling in particular that I can’t seem to identify.”

“Well, what does it feel like?”

“It’s almost like happiness, but more. It makes me want things. Like, to hold their hand or have their head on my shoulder.”

“Woah, woah, woah— who’s they?” Kai smirked knowingly.

“Y/n. And that’s the other aspect that’s so confusing; it only arises when I’m with Y/n or thinking about them. The feeling, that is.”

“Dude, you’re in love with Y/n!”

“Love? Is this what that feels like?”

“Yeah! We’ve got to get you guys together,” Kai rubbed his hands together, already scheming.

Two days later you found a note in your locker telling you to come behind the bleachers after school. You were surprised to find Zane waiting there for you. This didn’t seem like something he’d do. Then again, he had changed lately.

You noticed how Zane fidgeted with the hem of his jacket. Was he nervous? He was smiling, though. You cocked your head, perplexed at this contradiction. You waited for him to say something.

“Y/n, I took your advice. I’ve been trying to ‘be myself,’ as you recommended.”

You blinked in surprise, finally remembering that interaction on the bus all those weeks ago. Was that really the catalyst for Zane’s recent behavior? You hadn’t thought the advice was really any good, let alone that he would actually follow it.

Though, you had to admit, it was rather touching. You couldn’t help the small smile that curved your lips ever so slightly as he went on.

“I’ve been more in tune with my feelings. Including my feelings for you.”

You raised an eyebrow. “And just what are your feelings for me?”

“I am in love with you.”

You just about short-circuited right there. “I feel the same way about you!” You blurted, overflowing with joy.

Laughing, you both embraced, spinning around until you toppled over.

When you finally got your giggles under control, you looked into each other’s eyes. You smiled. Zane smiled back. It was the most genuine smile you’d ever seen on anyone; the fact that it was on Zane only made it more incredible.

“I’m so glad I met you,” you sighed.

“I’m so glad I met you,” Zane returned, pulling you to your feet to hug you again.

Thanks for reading!! And thanks anon for this sweet request!

(divider by saradika)

#ninjago #lego ninjago #ninjago x reader #zane julien #zane julien x reader #ninjago zane #zane ninjago

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lunar-eclipse-bunnies · 2 years

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ninjago analysis? theory? fuck it im talking about a 10+ years old childrens lego franchise

so obviously one of ninjago's main themes aside from found family and reformation/growth is protection, right? the main job of the bounty's crew is to protect ninjago, be it from petty criminals to timeline-altering threats, and the ninjas will always be there to protect their home and the people who live in it

and each ninja has their own motivations to continue protecting ninjago, right? zane has his main directive, nya and kai are defending their home and found family, cole is living up to his mother's legacy, etc. and each of their motivations (as well as their backstories) inform the style of protection/defense they chose to embody, which led me to make:

this. the Active to Passive, Protective to Defensive alignment chart. very basically, active = without prompt, passive = with prompting, defensive = coming from a place of self-centeredness and protective = coming from a place of selflessness. i know it looks bare bones and some choices seem questionable, so please allow me to explain each of my choices;

COLE

cole's style of protection is what led me thru this rabbit hole, when i heard his motivational mantra in his dedicated half-season 13;

"I will always stand up to those who are cruel and unjust."

this is what puts him in the active quadrant, along with his previously shown tendencies towards responsibility, stubbornness and refusal to give up on his ideals, no matter the situation. he is undeniably active in his protection, from being turned into a ghost making sure the mission doesn't go awry in season 5, to when he's traumatized, dropped from several hundred stories in the air into an oni-infested ninjago, but makes it to his vehicle anyway and comes back hardly (physically) injured in season 10, all the way to late season 13 when he stands firmly in his and his mother's ideals, honoring her legacy and not only defeating the skull sorcerer, but uniting the geckles and munces, freeing the upply AND liberating princess vania to run shintaro as a free and just society, almost singlehandedly thanks to him and the promise he made to his mother. now onto his second alignment; his actions and brand heroism is extremely selfless; cole doesn't need to find a reason to care or feel motivated to fulfill his ninja duties, his motivation is that there needs to be someone to do it so it might as well be him. when he's initially captured and sent to work with the geckles and munces in season 13, he immediately treats both sides as equals, tries to unite them and show them both of their groups are worthy of respect and liberation; he doesn't get jealous, like kai, or let his cowardice or anxiety overpower him, like jay, he selflessly focuses on freeing those who have been unjustly hurt by a cruel dictator. even before season 13, he's kind and nurturing to baby wu, uses the group's break up at the end of season 3/beginning of season 4 to help and be useful with his super strength; even when he knows revealing his identity could affect how he's seen in his workplace, he immediately gives his lumber job up to save a coworker from a nasty accident. he is a selfless, active protector of ninjago and i adore him for that.

ZANE

after hearing cole's quote/motivation, i got further down the rabbit hole when i remembered zane's:

"I protect those who cannot protect themselves."

his puts him squarely in the passive quadrant, as well as his in-character tendencies to avoid conflict (whether out of social ineptitude or strategic purposes) (coughcough season 8 getting cole kidnapped and saying nothing COUGH) and his need to be prodded in some way to act. zane, as a character, needs it proven to him that someone needs to be protected for him to protect them. not in a negative way, rather a logical one; why would he protect someone if they are fully capable of doing it themself? the only exceptions to that rule appear to be protecting people he loves (even though they are capable of protecting and defending themselves) but that self-sacrifice and burning need to protect comes from his selfless desire to see those around him succeed from his productivity or lack thereof. zane is undeniably selfless, and a pretty good god damn protector. his character might change if someone gave him the same effort he puts into protecting those he loves, but no one has quite allowed him that. in fact, i haven't seen crystalized yet because i can't find where it's been released, but the fact that zane turned off his emotions in order to keep being a productive, supporting member of the team in the wake of nya's death is a terrifying prospect and i hope he's given some therapy (or a dedicated protector of his own) very soon.

"A ninja never quits."

while this may just seem like i'm searching for motivational quotes to assign to each character, this quote really solidifies wu's alignment as a solely protective character for me; a ninja never quits, but to do so one must use all skills at their disposal, whether the actions in and of themselves are passive (prompting and teaching his students so that they may use those skills for themselves) or active (every time he fights his kids, every time he fights a big bad, every time he fights his brother, etc) his overall goal is to protect who and what he loves for the sake of their continued well being. he sacrifices himself MULTIPLE TIMES in canon for the sake of his students and family succeeding in the mission and growing as people; his selflessness is undeniable. the guilt wu feels whenever his past comes back not to haunt him, but his students, his family, permeates in his voice lines and character animation. while i know and understand wu is not a wholly good character, his morals are steadfast, and his grand-paternal streak is a mile wide.

PIXAL

OH BOY I'M EXCITED FOR THIS ONE

"Was I more... useful? Inside the computer? ... I want to be a useful member of the team... I like having a body, but if you require my assistance in your headset--"

pixal's character is inherently selfless. it may as well be in her code, but according to the narrative of ninjago, from her introduction as a personal assistant in season 3 to her gaining nya's approval to continue being samurai x around season 8/9, every one of pixal's actions are actively protective, arguably moreso towards the citizens of ninjago (although that could be more attributed to pixal trying to honor nyas samurai x legacy, which actively focused on aiding the people of ninjago rather than actively fighting anyone, at least during her initial debut). she cares so much about being useful, of being productive in her protection, that she weighs the pros and cons of losing her body AGAIN (something she admits she does not want, her one selfish desire). she is actively thinking about how to aid the ninja's, how to make their future missions easier, and therefore how to protect the entirety of ninjago safer and more protected thanks to the ninjas. much like cole, her protective streak requires no prompting; no matter what kind of trouble is being made, she will be in the samurai x suit, in the sky, in the ninja's headsets, etc, she's nearly everywhere at once, willing to get her hands dirty to protect what she values the most. it's almost funny, the closest pixal has come to being a ninja is being zane's head mate for the better part of 3 seasons, and yet she has the most dedication and drive out of the entire main cast, seconded only by nya.

KAI

"all my training to become the best ninja wasn't in preparation to become the green ninja. it was... to protect him!"

while i would have used the cookie quote for both smith siblings, i feel this quote from season 1 really speaks to the heart of kai's character for me. he's a solid active/defensive character for me, mostly because he is consistently characterized as a stubborn, hot-headed and self-centered individual who is prone to defensive outbursts or periods of time (mostly during missions) where he will deliberately ignore whoever is in charge of or organizing the mission. these outbursts and disproportional moments of confidence are unprompted, and often lead to dysfunction in the team and it's dynamics. which leads to the second half of his alignment, his defensiveness, evidenced by his habit of centering himself in conversations and plans; while most of his seasons 1-2 characterization has passed, that age-old self-centeredness has remained. i'm not saying that's a bad thing, it's actually quite in-character and makes sense for his backstory! as he was a child saddled with raising a baby sister solely on his own, with no parental guides and few if any good role models, it's no wonder he would act (out) like this once given a semblance of stability and family. but that doesn't excuse the actions he has taken as a result of his childhood; he centers himself, likely because in his life before the monastery, he had to prioritize actions he takes and decisions he makes to keep him and nya afloat, but that relationship with responsibility is far from healthy and doesn't translate well into a healthy, loving family dynamic. i chose the quote i did because this is a paradoxical statement; kai's confidence says he's the best ninja, but reality says he is not the green ninja, the legendary ninja. before this point in the series, kai had been convinced HE would be the green ninja, so much so that the scene where wu sees if nya is almost breaks him and ruins their sibling bond. an aftershock of this happens when lloyd is reveled to be the green ninja, but either his lack of an intimate emotional bond with lloyd or his experience with this brand of disappoint make kai's reaction much less jealousy-prone and a lot more self aggrandizing. his self-centering, like his unprompted action, is instinctual, and a core part of his character and being.

NYA

this is another one i'm excited to get into <3 so bear with this long ramble please

"that's just the way the cookie crumbles."

i know this quote is much more recent than the others, and much more different, but nya has always been a different, more dynamic character than the rest. she is, like kai, both active and defensive, but much more muted than him. she centers herself because no one in her life, before or after the monastery and the bounty, have allowed her that. samurai x becomes her solely unblemished and untainted outlet to express her identity, but even that is stripped from her by master wu in season 5 when he rushes her into becoming the water elemental, and samurai x is stolen from her not long after. she voices her discomfort with both of these events, in season 5 and after, but she is given no sympathy, no understanding; once again, her selfishness has been stripped without her consent. she is forced to protect, to be selfless, despite what she wants. and the other half of her alignment, her activeness, is completely unprompted by anything. she is ingenuitive, building surprise mechs and road vechicles, keeping the bounty afloat, keeping comms and screens running, with no need to be asked to. there is a kind of selflessness in that, but if nya didn't do it, who would? and who would do it as well as she does? nya's relationships and role on the team and in the family force her to be selfish as a coping mechanism; everyone is a little selfish, everyone has a concept of their Self and feeds it, grows it from time to time, except nya, whose Self has been trampled on by nearly everyone in her life (her mother, borther, sensei, "boyfriend"). she is selfish, but i think she deserves to be.

JAY

okay, this is probably going to make some jay stans mad, but there are some undeniably dark truths about jay i will never get over.

"you told me we were never gonna happen. i thought maybe these three wishes were the very thing that would bring us together. i had to try... in my defense, i did just find out my parents are not my birth parents... nothing? really?"

jay is selfish. i don't mean that in a mean way, but jay has proven himself time and time again that he is a defensive, self-centered character, and that trait is most obvious in his treatment of and relationship with nya, as well as the ENTIRETY of season 6. despite nya's insistence on not having a romantic relationship with jay, jay deliberately goes against her wishes, choosing to use magic to make her fall in love with him, and for what? because some ice in the previous season said they'd get together? jay would respect some magic ice over his teammate and friend's sister? and in season 10, during the final oni battle at the monastery, he decides THEN is the PERFECT TIME TO PROPOSE, depsite having plenty of time beforehand! where nya could have time to ACTUALLY THINK about her answer instead of saying yes in case one of them died! so! jay exhibits selfishness pretty regularly, like kai, which lands him in the "defensive" alignment, but like zane, he is also slotted in the passive section. he often needs to be prompted, whether through words, threats, actions, mishaps with his team, etc, to do the right thing. his cowardice is ingrained in his being and hinders him from becoming active in his defense; cole is the one who lets the remaining ninja on the tiger poison island know how jay fucked up, and during the whole conversation jay is begrudging, almost refusing to admit anything and even has the gall to act betrayed when cole outs that he used two of his wishes, and that's why he was so paranoid about the jin. he tries to soften the blow of the conversation, tries to gain any amount of sympathy, by mentioning that he found out he's adopted, CONVIENTLY LEAVING OUT that how he knew was because he WISHED HIS BIO DAD DEAD TO INHERET HIS ESTATE AND MONEY. YEAH. jay's selfishness continues through the series, even into season 12 where he is given a FUCKING CULT for being so good at video games (and even in there, he needs to be prompted to do the right thing, AND ALSO KILLS NYA. A SECOND TIME. THIS IS A BAD TREND FOR YOUR PARTNER TO HAVE) still, jay is dedicated to defending ninjago and his family, even if he requires prompting to do so correctly.

GARMADON

"People don't change. They only reveal who they truly are!"

garmadon analysis makes me so giddy, so this might get off the rails really quick, be warned. like in canon, he and wu are similar but opposites; if wu's actions are solely protective, garmadon's (even when the evil is removed from him or hasn't taken control yet) are solely defensive, no matter how they are expressed. he, selfishly but correctly, wanted to keep spinjitsu away from aspheera, he is the one who decided to climb the monastery walls for his ball because he wanted to continue playing with wu, he tried multiple times (and succeeded! what a dilf!) to claim the golden weapons and rule as he saw fit (an inherently selfish endeavor). when the evil inside him was removed, he saw to become a sensei, and teach nonviolence in his own monastery, one he controlled so strictly not even weapons were allowed on the premises for fear he would pick one up against and wield it like he used to. no matter what stage of the story ninjago is at, garmadon is a selfish individual; but like how defensiveness can be used for good, so can selfishness! because of that, garmadon makes sure his son doesn't perish in the early seasons, he warns lloyd about the arrival of the oni in the later ones, and still keeps him alive through whatever means necessary. while wu weaponizes his selflessness to protect his family, garmadon utilizes his selfishness to defend it.

LLOYD

"unless my light is bright enough!"

i'm going to be honest, i considered not including a quote to reinforce my decision with lloyd. he's square in the middle; neither passive nor active, nor defensive or protective. he does protect and defend ninjago, and his family, but the meanings of those words in the context do not apply. prompting or the lack thereof, selfishness or selflessness, i feel like niether truly encompass lloyd. and i thought that was really weird; he's the main character, right? there have to be some hard lines in there somewhere that define him, right? but then i realized something. he's just a kid. ninjago is his bildungsroman, his coming of age. even after fifteen whole seasons, he is growing as a person, as a character, learning lessons, rights and wrongs. growing into healthier coping mechanisms and shedding older, unhealthier ones; learning to love living in a family. so of course he doesn't have a protective or defensive style set in stone; his body may be of age, but he still has the mindset of a traumatized, neglected, and abandoned young boy. and like a young child, he is inconsistent, selflessly giving his life up in seasons 4 through 9, but finally claiming a selfish (and well-deserved) break from training in season 11. copying his teammate's styles of protection (aiding the impoverished with harumi, pre-reveal) and defense (warning cole against princess vania, hoping no one will repeat his mistake with harumi, deciding all princesses are like her). he is both prompted (attacking and defeating his father, deciding to make the prophecy come true because of the actions of his family) and unprompted (weaponizing the lessons he's been taught by his family, his father and his sensei) in his action. i can't in good faith say he is solely one way or another, when his emotions and actions are out of sync across the series, one trait remains consistent in his character out of all others; the 'unless' principle; the idea that, hypothetically, the best outcome could come out of the worst circumstance, he only needs to make it so.

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dark-twist-fairytales · 10 months

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YA'LL READY?

I spent 4 hours, albeit maybe like 30-45 minutes to eat and talk, but here is 3.3k words of Dragon Kai!

Tw: Kidnapping. Off screen injury to ninja. Derogatory phrases towards ninja (brief).

If Kai could recall the past few years and summerize it up, the only way he could come up with is 'chao, and I'm surpised to say little bloodshed'. There wasn't much happening now, especially witth how little threats there were in Ninjago. Petty crimes was something Pixal was dealing with as Samuri X for the safety, occasionally being joined by Zane or Nya for the thrill.

Currently, Kai was allowing himself to lounge around, arm tucked under his head as he rested on the table, blankly staring to the screen of flashing colors and moving images. He wasn't registering much, aside from small noises that came from his team mates, or distant phrases. This including the approaching footsteps of bouncing steps, quick paced and practically hopping like a bunny rabbit. He cringed to himself at the feigned feeling of what he considered an ear flicking back to the sound. He moved his free hand to rub the affected spot, before giving a quiet hum.

Jay. The steps were too sporadic to be Lloyd's, but too light to be Zane or Cole. Pixal and Nya were out on patrol, so they weren't an option to begin with. With the door flinging open and the yap of enjoyment, Kai couldn't help but smile as he glanced tpwards the door behind him. Bingo, Jay stood in the doorway, a bright smile breaking over his freckled face, showing off a toothy grin. Sharpened canines, electric blue eyes, and staticy, but curly, light brown hair sat in promience to Kai. "Hey, Jay. What's up?"

"I called it! He's in here sulking!" Jay called outside of the room. This caused Kai's own smile to fall, glaring to Jay with confusion, which only amused his future brother-in-law. "I'm not sulking! I'm watching TV!"

"With the lights off. On a show you don't like. And not even paying attention to it!" Jay fired back, with Kai rolling his eyes and resting back on his arm.

"Can't I just relax a little with background noise?"

"That's called sulking!"

"I'm not sulking!"

With a sharp turn, Kai spotted Cole standing behind Jay, arms crossed over front, and an amused smile on his face. Dark skin contrasted against Jay's much lighter tone, the slight red-tone to his arms and up his shoulders was always so noticable to Kai, even more now with the man in nothing but a tank top. Deep brown eyes wiith the slightest bit of green tinting them trailed to the green mark on his left temple, showing and glowing from behind the braid that lead to a braided crown of his hair. Kai rolled hiis eyes at the amused look, flopping down dramatically onto the table to earn a laugh.

It worked beautifully, and as he planned, hearing Cole's laugh from behind Jay, and te same, quick steps over to Kai. Air wooshed around Jay from beside Kai, indicating the other was sat down. Which, he was, right in Kia's view.. Right in Kai's reach.. With a smirk, Kai wrapped his arms around Jay before the other could talk or react, earning a surpised yelp as he was toppled onto his back, with Kai's arms around him and the fire master nuzzling into his jaw. The more giggling and laughing he could pull from Jay, the more he continued with the nuzzling, pleas and begs leaving Jay for Kai to stop.

Only when Jay was near tears did Kai stop nuzzling, pulling away to look at the giggling ninja. He gave his own toothy grin, his naturally sharp teeth showing at the top, hiding their points and consciously having to make sure he didn'tt give them away. Inhuman features was common amongst the ninja, but he still grew self conscious about the sharpened points. The scars and stings inside his cheeks and across his tongue had a lot of say in it. Still confused himself of why, but chalked it up to genetics.

He lifted himself off of Jay, stretching out the stiffness of his back in the process with a small and pleased hum at the breathless nature of Jay still. He watched carefully as Cole made his way over to the nearby couch, sitting on the farthest cushion to the left, claimed as 'his spot'. Not really, but they always sat in the same spots, with minor tradde outs here and there. Kai, Lloyd, and Jay cycled between the floor, the chair, the couch, and the bean bag. Cole sat on the far left, and Zane on the far right. Nya, whenever she joined, would take the bean bag, and Pixal on the floor, or leaned against the wall, depending on how long she felt like sticking around, before predictably leaving towards the garage or her room to tinker around.

Right now, though, Kai wanted the couch. He wanted to be in the middle to keep a watchful eye. So, once Cole got himself settled into the couch, Kai's amber eyes gave a certain glint, before he all but pounced onto the couch, shuffling to rest his head on Cole's thigh. This, of course, earned a chuckle from Cole, taking this as just some odd phase of wanting to be near, before bringing his left hand down to pet at Kai's gelled hair. Never failed to shock him at how soft Kai's hair felt, despite the gell. He knew better than to comment on the nature of Kai, not wanting to get rid of the practical heating pad during the turn of autumn, so he kept quiet and watched Jay move around with a content smile.

Kai's and Cole's eyes were both trained on Jay, watching as he plugged up the console and plopped in a game cartridge into the slot, before powering the console on. He grabbed four controllers from the shelf nearby, powering them on one by one and setting them on the ground nearby. The only thing that broke Cole's focus from the game powering on was a whiff of sweets, a mixture of different kinds that made his mouth water and eyes widen. Especially when seeing Zane walk in with a two plates of cookies, one being chocolate chips and the other red velvet, and Lloyd behind him with a plate of brownies, some brownie on his right by his lip, and his bag of sweets that he's continuously collected over the past few days.

The plates got set carefully on the table by the nindroid, said ninja giving a polite tap to Kai's knee to urge him to move, which Kai did without complaint and sat up, and Lloyd sat down on the bean bag chair near Cole. Jay soon handed controllers off, one being held for himself and Lloyd all but snatching the second one from Jay's hand. Cole grabbed one while leaning over to grab a brownie, shoving one in his mouth and grabbing a second without a second thought, and it was a toss up for the forth. Zane or Kai coul get it, and while Zane offered to wait, Kai said he wasn't wanting to game at the moment, but was more than willing to watch.

The slightest smile that graced Zane's lips as he grabbed and thanked Jay for the controller made Kai's entire being warm up just a little bit more. The right choice was made. Jay remained on the floor, on the other side of the table, but he was laid down on his side, in what was deemed as 'the Jay pose'. Rustling of wrappers from Lloyd's bag made Kai chuckle under his breath, grabbing the entire plate of red velvet cookies and beginning to eat on them, relaxing as the white chocolate and velvet mixed together to create a wonderful effect. He slouched back on the couch, barely focusing on the screen as he watched Jay tap around for the cookie plate from time to time, Lloyd with a lollipop stick hanging out of his mouth, Cole slowly scarfing down the plate of brownies and cookies, reserving just a few of the brownies for Jay and Lloyd, and Zane smiling at the screen when he thought no one was looking.

This was a day off, and Kai loved it...

The twitch happened again, snapping backwards and almost staying there, which got Kai's attention. He glanced over to the screen, as well as making sure each of the others were there, aside from Nya and Pixal. The giggling, laughing, and playful yelling. No one was worried, no one heard anything. Yet, there was a feeling of evergrowing protectiveness bubbling in his chest and throat, mouth almost becoming dry. His senses were beginning to scream at him, as the fre master set down the half empty plate of cookies, moving swiftly to stand up and leave the room. He earned a confused glance from Zane, but Kai only dismissively shook his head to the other, as if not to worry. Of course, this made Zane worry, but he focused back to the screen of gameplay instead for the time being.

Once outside of the room, shutting the door carefully, Kai tilted his head a bit in confusion as how eerily quiet it sounded, aside from the yelling of Jay's rage, Lloyd's retaliation, and Cole's hearty laughter from the closed door. Shouldn't Nya and Pixal been back by now? A shudder ran down his spine as he moved cautiously around their living space, checking in every location and straining his ears to listen for any sort of noise to get the location of the two females, his sister and Zane's lover. Part of his family. Missing? No, no.. No?

Moving into the garage, he found no signs of them entering again, which made Kai progressively more concerned. He moved swiftly over to the table, typing on the computer that laid there fo location of the Samuri X gear. Car, garage. Mech suit, repairs. Suit, missing. Bike, missing... Wait a minute..

Looking at the log again, seeing that the locators were not only removed, but completely busted and only showing last known location, which was seen around thirty minutes ago. He felt his heart sink with worry at that, frowning at the results and glancing to the door. They had just gotten relaxed, but.. One more glance to the monitor, the protective urge once again filled him, almost feeling sufficated by the feeling, and that was all the motivation he needed to rush off back to the game room.

"Guys! The girls are-" Kai paused as he flung the door open, eyes wide as he stared at the now empty room. His body tensed up as he could see clear signs of struggle, his nerves and mind screaming and burning him from the inside out. Where? Where are they?! Sick joke, call a sick joke, now! He moved into the room a bit more, seeing how much struggle there actually was, and-

His vision went black.

How much time had passed? He didn't know. He didn't care to know. He wanted to know where his family was. Where are they?

A deep groan left Kai as his eyes opened up, aching beginning to spead all over his body. He became acutly aware of the cold chains that had a hold on his wrists, using his tired limbs to sit up from the equally, if not colder, ground. He blinked away the water that had began building in his eyes, looking around to see the others in a similar state as he was.. Only, the bruise around Jay's eyes caused Kai to whimper a little to himself, the out of breath nature of Nya made him worry more. Seeing Zane and Pixal tied together in a forcedown state, only allowed to see made Kai tug at his chains, Cole's continuous but forced back whines and whimpers from breathing.. Lloyd shoved in a cage with a angry but sorrowful look..

The string was being pulled tighter within Kai's chest, tugging at the chains with a purpose to try and get free. The more noise he made, the more attention he dragged to himself. The more attention he gained, the more time the others had. With that, he continued, twisting his chest forward and pulling his arms in front of him to try and bust free. Going as far as to turn around and tug with all of his weight. Nothing. THe chains were stuck.

The twitched happened again, causing that string to get a little tighter, small strands breaking within the string as he heard voices. Still, he kept it up, every single sense beginning to burn. Get them free, get hem to safety. None of them deserve this! The burning only got hotter as he heard Nya all but pleading in a whisper for him to stop. "It's hopeless. We're stuck, for good this time." More little strands broke at how heart broken Nya's voice sounded. He looked to her, a fire burning even more within him. No, no! He wasn't giving up! They weren't safe- They weren't safe!

"Well, well. It's about time." Kai could feel his ears burning. The twitch directed right to the voice, not caring who or what. Everything within him continued to burn, the protectiveness beginning to suffocate him again as he yanked at the chains harder, ignoring the pain that spiked through his wrist. They weren't safe yet. His hoard was under attack.

"Which one should we start with? One of those pesky robots over there? Or the sorry excuse of a master?" The malicous tones.. Those words.. The chains began to rattle, seething at how they dared talked about his family. His hoard. They were his! They were his!

"Ohh, how about the Mrs. Rain-Threat over there?"

That. Was. IT! THAT WAS IT!!

The string snapped, a yell leaving him at first, but the yell was quick to shift to an angry roar. As quick as the chains tightened, they snapped pathetically from the rapid growing size of Kai. His! They were his! Standing between the cage that captured Lloyd and the foes, he stood tall, and angry, above their captors.

Deep, orange eyes peirced through the foes, teeth bared to show just how sharp they were in dragon form. Smoke left through the gaps of his teeth threateningly, deep growls leaving his throat. Black, glittering scales trailed down his neck and belly, filling it out with the occasional gold and red around. On his back, down his head and spine, various shades of red filled out, with those same gold scales decorating around. The inside of his wings seemed to mix the black, gold, and red, making it looks as though lava rivers were running down mountains.

It would look beautiful, if it weren't for the fact that this said dragon was pissed. A threatening growl left the ground rumbling just slightly, leaning his large head down to the quaking threats, before blowing smoke in their faces with his nostrils. This caused the two to cough, before their eyes widened and they ran for the hills. The metal clang of keys made Kai perk up just a bit, looking to the ground and carefully grabbing the key ring.

Jay knew how to power Pixal and Zane back on, so he dropped the keys in Jay's reach, nudging it closer when he saw the other not paying attention to him dropping them in the first place. He was staring, wide eyes and shocked, mouth agape, and not even breathing. Why was he..? Kai took a moment to back up, sitting back on his haunches as he looked to his hands, his wrist beginning to burn with pain the transfomation, the pressure he had on it, and the fact that he knew it would take longer to heal from turning back and forth.. Turning back and..?

His eyes widened in realization, it hitting him why Jay was staring in shock. Kai wasn't in Kai form. The string had been pulled so tight it snapped and crumbled at the degrading phrases of their captors towards his family. Not only that, Kai was massive compared to their dragons before, rivaling Firstborne, despite his age. Upon this realization, he dropped back down to all fours, the silence becoming an annoyance, as he curled on himself as tightly as he could. His wings rested on his back, tucked tightly, as he looked to Lloyd. The same shocked reaction, causing him to look away, becoming more ashamed of this form by the second.

The rustling of chains boke the silence, finally, and Jay made his way to Cole, undoing the other's cuffs, before moving to Zane and Pixal and doing the same. He handed the keys to the newly freed earth ninja, working swiftly and easily on releasing the code's force hold. Cole worked just as quickly to release Nya and Lloyd from their physical holds, the large dragon watching this happen with a careful eye. Safe... Safe.. They're safe again..

No... No, they're not safe.. Not from this.. Kai could easily crush one of them underneath his paw by accident..

"Dude.." Cole finally spoke up, breaking Kai from his thoughts and turning to see Cole.. Admiring his scaling? He seemed in awe rather than shocked like before, and carefully, he reached his head up to graze Kai's body with the scales, taking in the texture. Rough bumps made the edges a bit spiked, while the remainder of the scale itself was smooth. Taking another look around, he saw Lloyd near his wings on the other side.

Cautiously, Kai opened up one of the wings, allowing the scales to glitter. This caused Lloyd to gasp, the same one he did when he saw a new print of a Starfire comic book for sale, in admiration and excitement. He glanced over when he heard bouncing and hops, before quickly catching up on hearing Jay beginning to ramble about how cool this was, Nya right beside him to try and shush him. No avail, Jay was too excited.

"Well.. This does explain a lot of your more odd natures." Zane said, the group chuckling as this got an offended 'what's that supposed to mean?' look from Kai himself. "I mean that in a nice way. Your cocky and proud nature, stubbornness, and I'm guessing you becoming so protective of all of us.."

"We have become part of Kai's hoard, like how Lloyd hoards his candy away." Pixal picked up, with Zane nodding in agreement. Jay's eyes practically grew stars in them, looking at Kai swiftly. "You DO care for us!" Still, Nya tried to calm her over excited yin. Kai smiled, before slowly and carefully standing up, being careful of his right forepaw from the stinging and heated feeling it gave. He tucked his wing back on himself, moving over to a nearby wall and nudging his way easily through it, grabbing Pixal's bike up ad settling it down. No damage other than the locator, two seater.

"If Kai's comfortable with it, two can ride on the Samurai X bike, and the rest on his back. We can make it home safely and together that way." Pixal suggested, Kai noticably perking up at the word 'safe'. Safe.. They'd all be safe!

"I CALL KAI!" Jay yelled out, causing Nya to roll her eyes, glancing over to Pixal and shaking her head softly. Despite how logical and calm Zane tried to be, Jay's excitment was becoming infectious, along with the new knowledge of Kai being a dragon and wanting to ramble about how similar it was- He burst into a sprint as soon as he saw Kaai lower himself down and spreaed his wing out for the other's to climb on. Lloyd and Cole, being the closest, managed to get on first, followed by Jay being next and Zane hesitating. Kai, however, didn't allow it to settle for long, swivling his head around to pick the nindroid up and settle him down in an open spot.

The crank of the bike, Kai glanced over to spot Pixal and Nya on the bike, helmets on, with Pixal as the rider. She gave a nod to Kai, who gave a nod back, and opened his wings up, catching air and making it out of the opening of the roof. A victorious roar rumbled through Kai's chest, hearing te cheers of the other four on his back. The engine and flying of the bike calmed him that Nya and Pixal were there, beginning to fly overhead and lead the way back to their home.

Safe.. His family was safe again..

#my writing!#lego ninjago #ninjago au #ninjago #kai smith #dragon kai #dragon kai au #pixal borg #zane julien #jay walker #nya smith #cole brookestone #lloyd montgomery garmadon #lloyd garmadon

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finn-m-corvex · 6 months

Text

Whumptober 2023 Day 8 - Overcrowded ER

Day 8, which is a continuation of Day 7! I know I said I would go back through and tag as needed but since this one is a biggie for a lot of people: DISSOCIATION IS REFERENCED IN THIS ONE. IF DISSOCIATION TRIGGERS YOU, SKIP THIS!

@splinnters so sorry man but I hope you like them!

Words: 2.3k

There weren’t very many times when the Ninja found themselves rushing to the civillian hospital instead of the Bounty, especially in their civilian clothes, but sometimes it just had to be done.

This was one of those times.

Needless to say, the receptionist was very surprised to see a group of teenagers basically throw themselves at the main desk on a busy Saturday night. There had been quite a number of parties thrown that night, and as such there had been a large influx of people coming in that had gotten into fights, were a little too drunk, and even some car crash victims or others that had been mugged. There was barely a seat to be found that wasn’t occupied, so she really hoped that they were just popping in for a visit and did not require any treatment.

“How can I help you today?” she asked, but the two males merely bent over and gasped for breath. Her eyebrows rose to her hairline when she saw a very put-together and well-dressed boy run in through the sliding doors, the other two barely visible behind him and carrying something vaguely human-shaped.

It was a small boy, definitely a teenager but no older than sixteen.

“Good evening,” Zane said pleasantly, his tinny robot voice reverberating through the room and turning some heads. “We need to check in a patient.”

“S-Sure,” she said nervously. “But it’s going to be a while before you’re taken back, and I’m not sure if there are enough seats for you all.”

“Not a problem, some of us will stand,” Zane assured. “What information do you need for a check-in?”

Lloyd turned around to wait in the doorway so they wouldn’t see his face, fully trusting Zane and Kai with getting all of the stuff in order. He looked around to find a spot, ignoring all of the people looking at them with wide curious eyes. The receptionist was right, there weren’t going to be enough seats for them all, but that was fine.

Cole and Nya walked in, the larger boy carrying Jay, and Lloyd was quick to direct them to two seats on the far side of the room. Nya looked worried, crouching down next to Jay as Cole set him down in the seat, plopping himself into the next one over so Jay could keep his head against the bigger male’s shoulder. Lloyd knelt down on Jay’s other side, mirroring Nya’s position.

Reaching up with a gentle hand, Nya pulled the orange scarf down so that he could get some more air in his lungs. “There we go, Blue. You’re going to be okay.”

Jay’s hand groped around until it found Cole’s, quickly latching onto it. “I-I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe-”

“Yes, you can,” Lloyd said gently, laying his own hand on Jay’s knee and squeezing. “You can breathe, we’re all right here. We’re waiting to get you all checked in.”

Cole kissed the crown of Jay’s head, pulling him close and giving a hard stare to anyone who looked for a little too long. The man on the other side of him had the smell of whiskey on his breath, his large arm competing with Cole’s for use of the armrest. Cole grimaced, glancing at Jay’s other side to see a lady typing away on her phone.

“Excuse me?” Nya said to the lady, who looked up from her phone. “Could we have this chair please? Our friend is very anxious and he needs our help.”

“Oh, of course!” she said, getting up and leaving it wide open for Nya to sit in. Nya thanked her profusely, but the lady only waved her off as she went to sit on the other side of the waiting room. Jay relaxed as Nya rubbed his arm comfortingly, blue eyes looking at Lloyd with unshed tears that had Lloyd’s heart aching.

Jay spluttered, trying to hold in his sobs as he clung onto Cole. “T-Too many people—”

“I know there’s a lot of people,” Cole assured, slinging his arm around Jay’s waist, “but it’s fine, okay? I’m here, Nya’s on your other side, and Lloyd’s in front of you. Nobody’s getting close to you.”

Kai and Zane walked over, plopping themselves down on the floor in front of the group. Kai leaned against Nya’s legs while Zane took Cole’s. Zane reached up and gave Jay his hand, letting the boy play with his fingers and bend them back and forth. Kai was sorting through a collection of items that the receptionist had given them, giving Lloyd a roll of bandages and Nya some of the towels. He held onto the one warmed blanket.

Lloyd took Jay’s arm as gently as he could. “Let’s see what we can do, yeah? I’m gonna bandage this real quick.”

Jay didn’t say anything, his arm limp as Lloyd cleaned the cut on his arm with a wet wipe, bandaging it. He tied it off and tugged the excess back into the bandage, concerned at Jay’s lack of response. The boy tended to clam up when there were too many people around him, and Lloyd knew that, but it still made him sad whenever he had to see it.

Nya dabbed at Jay’s face with one of the rags, mopping as much of the blood off of his face as she could. There was so much of it under his poor nose, and as much as she wanted to try and set it herself they couldn’t risk her getting it wrong. Cole was humming a low tune, and Jay started tapping out the beat on Zane’s fingers, his eyes glassy and unseeing as they bore holes into the cheap tile. She tried to get as much stuff off of his shirt as she could, but most of it was too soaked to make much of a difference; Nya hated that he had to sit here in his own vomit and blood.

“Do you think they would give us an extra shirt if we asked nicely?” she grumbled, but she already knew what the answer was. It was a miracle that no one had noticed that Lloyd Garmadon was sitting in the waiting room, they couldn’t push it.

“One of us could give him our jackets,” Kai suggested. “We take off his shirt and just put the jacket on. That should be better.”

Except Jay was vehemently shaking his head, tucking his knees to his chest and locking Cole’s arm in a deathgrip. He was not very keen on the idea, and Cole sighed, shrugging off his own hoodie, Jay was dissociating pretty badly, and they needed to ground him and get him back to reality before they did anything else.

“James,” Cole said firmly, making sure that his tone was still gentle, “I am going to put this hoodie on you so we can get your shirt off. I need you to focus on me, can you do that?”

The shock of hearing his full name roused Jay a little, and he clumsily nodded. “Good. Describe Nya to me in as much detail as you can.”

“Beautiful,” Jay started, squinting his eyes and focusing. He could describe Nya, goodness knows how many times he had already done so in his journal. “Brave, stunning, funny, gorgeous, kind—”

He kept going, Nya flushing further and further on his other side while Cole slid the hoodie on over the smaller boy. Jay was nearly four sizes smaller than Cole, which made the whole process much easier even as Cole was extra careful not to jostle Jay’s arm that had taken the switchblade, and Cole waited to put his arms through the sleeves. Instead, he reached under the hem and gently tugged Jay’s arms out of his shirt.

“Good,” he praised, making sure that he was right next to Jay’s ear so he would hear him, “you’re doing so good Jaybird. What color is her hair?”

Jay paused, thinking. “Black, but she put a blue streak in it a little while ago. It’s really pretty and I want one too.”

Note to self: run to the store to get hair dye so they could do it together. “What color are her eyes?”

“They’re brown, but she hates that they’re brown. She thinks it looks like shit, but I love them. They look like tree bark, which is amazing because trees are amazing and everyone should love trees. Do you guys love trees?”

“We do love trees,” Cole helped Jay to duck his head under the neckline of the hoodie and his shirt, and the shirt was officially off. “There we go. Is that better?”

“Mhm.”

“How does the hoodie feel?”

“Soft, fluffy, good,” Jay pulled the sleeves down over his hands, putting his head back on Cole’s shoulder. The earth ninja’s smell was intoxicating, and Jay felt the sudden urge to describe it. “You smell like cinnamon.”

“I know, that’s my body wash,” Cole said, kissing Jay’s forehead and smiling when the smaller boy just snuggled closer. He motioned for Kai to lay the blanket over him, and Kai did so, and all of them watched Jay’s hands clutch at the blanket as he adjusted it to make a cozy little cocoon. Nya rubbed his back in smooth strokes, wishing that she could take out the armrest separating them so she could cuddle him properly.

Her face was still red from all of the unintentional compliments that Jay had showered her in. “Do you think he meant all of that?”

“You know he wouldn’t have said it if he didn’t,” Cole answered, nudging her foot with one of his. Nya reciprocated the action before Lloyd told them to stop, sitting down on the floor between Kai and Zane. He had his hood pulled up over his face, but he coaxed Jay’s legs down and over his shoulders so that there was more cover. Tapping his fingers against Jay’s knees, Lloyd may have snuck a few scratches to the backs, smiling as Jay giggled but didn’t pull away.

“Zane, go throw this out, will ya?” Cole asked, handing the ice ninja Jay’s ruined shirt. The taller boy nodded, getting up and making the short walk over to the trashbin; the white shirt was well beyond saving.

People were staring at the group with various expressions, ranging from embarrassment to gentle and even angry looks from ones that Cole was sure were homophobes. They didn’t matter to him; what mattered was making sure that Jay was okay. “How long did she say the wait was?”

“At least a couple hours,” Kai answered, leaning his head on Jay’s leg. “We’re gonna be here for a while.”

“Everyone make sure to text your parents,” Zane reminded, pulling out his phone to make it look like he was texting his parents (he did not need a phone to contact his father), and watched as everyone else did. Kai texted for both him and Nya, as Nya had started to doze off on Jay’s shoulder. Jay looked like he was in heaven, barely protesting when Cole tugged his phone out of his pants pocket to text his Ma and Pa about the incident. Knowing them, they would be hurrying to the hospital in a jiffy to check on him.

And then the guilt had to come crashing in as he became fully aware of what the fuck had just happened.

“Sorry guys,” he whispered, and yet more tears fell from his eyes. He was so tired of crying, but he couldn’t seem to stop. Those bullies were right, he was pathetic.

A gentle hand caressed his cheek, wiping away the tears and cradling the bruise from the first punch. Turning, Jay looked directly into Nya’s eyes, lip starting to wobble at the fondness in her gaze. The touch on his bruise hurt but he couldn’t bring himself to ask her to pull away. “Hey now,” she said quietly, “you know what happened wasn’t your fault, right? We’re not upset.”

“R-Really?” he asked, shutting his eyes and leaning into her touch. Nya bumped their foreheads together, and Jay could feel the tip of her nose brush against his.

“Really. We—we were really scared, Jay. When the beacon went off and you weren’t responding and we couldn’t find you; it was scary. Especially because we didn’t know if you were hurt.”

“I’m sorry-”

“No more apologies, honey. I’m just glad that you’re safe and that we made it in time,” Nya took a deep breath, and the smell of her shampoo made Jay’s head spin, “I don’t know what would’ve happened if we didn’t.”

“Me neither,” Jay confessed, atlhough he was sure that it wouldn’t have been anything good, “but let’s not think about that. Are you tired? Did I wake you up?”

She smiled, and the sight brought him so much joy that he could barely contain the stims that wanted to come out. “Yeah, are you?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sure Cole would be more than willing to be a good body pillow.”

Said boy grunted, taking his prized headphones off and clicking a few buttons on his phone. “Damn right, now c’mere bluebell. You’re getting some shut-eye and I’ve got your playlist for you.”

This time Jay did let himself stim, flapping his hands lightly in the sleeves before taking the headphones from Cole and popping them over his head, grinning as the soft music started playing. He was all too happy to snuggle back into Cole’s side with the earth ninja’s arm slung around his waist, Nya leaning in on his other side and Lloyd and Zane massaging the bruises up and down his legs with Kai sleeping on his knee. And for once in his life Jay didn’t care about how many people were in the room, or if they were watching him as he closed his eyes and let himself go.

“We’ll let you know when we gotta go back,” Cole said, but Jay never heard him.

#whumptober 2023 #finn's writing #ninjago jay #ninjago fanfiction #lego ninjago #ninjago cole #ninjago whumptober #whumptober day 8 #ninjago zane #ninjago kai #ninjago nya #ninjago lloyd #the lego ninjago movie

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agereninjas · 8 months

Text

-Sleepy Ninjas-

[DESCR- Lloyd wants to take a nap, but Jay wants to play.]

Lloyd felt the soft fabric against his eyelids as he rubbed his eyes from tiredness. He knew it was close to his naptime soon, and he was frankly looking forward to it since he didn't get a lot of sleep last night. It was his turn to patrol, but he got so caught up in it that he didn't make it home until very late at night. He yawned and looked around; nobody but him was in the relaxation room. That was fine, he usually didn't mind if he was alone or not, even in his littlespace.

"Lloydy! Lloydy!" Jay's voice broke through his tired little thoughts as he shouted for his younger brother. Jay burst into the room, taking a few breaths. "Let's play outside!" He bubbled, an excited smile on his face. Lloyd quietly mumbled in response, his eyes fluttering from how tired he was getting.

"C'mon! It'll be fun!" Jay grabbed Lloyd's arm and lifted him to his feet, dragging Lloyd outside. Lloyd didn't say anything, he felt like he could barely muster up the energy to stay awake. But Jay didn't notice how tired his baby brother was, as he walked out of the room and into the courtyard. The others made a rule so that if anyone wanted to be outside in littlespace, they had to be in the courtyard if alone or they had to get someone to go with them. "What do you wanna play?" Jay asked, as bright as the sun with how he was beaming so brightly.

"Wanna nap." Lloyd replied, yawning and rubbing his eyes once more. Jay rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue. "Pfft! That's boring! Let's play...tag! You're it!" Jay tapped Lloyd and ran off while Lloyd processed it. He then waddled after Jay, yawning every once in a while and having to keep himself awake. He really did want to play with Jay too, he was his buba after all! But he also just wanted to curl up in a few blankets and drift to sleep and-

Lloyd was surprised when he fell onto the floor and was quickly helped up. "Woah, Lloyd. You gotta be careful!" Cole chuckled, patting Lloyd's head as he stood up. To Cole's surprise, Lloyd wrapped his arms around Cole and nestled his face into Cole's shoulder. "Papa...'m sleepy..." He murmured. Cole, after realizing that Lloyd was regressing, picked Lloyd up and cradled him in his arms. "Aww, let's get you to bed, little dragon." Cole cooed, smiling as Lloyd yawned and smiled once Cole held him.

Jay peeked his head around the corner, a little smirk on his face that quickly faded into a curious expression as he saw Cole carrying a half-asleep Lloyd. "Where're you going?" Jay asked, following Cole. Cole smiled down at the other little one. "It's Lloyd's naptime, bubby." Cole explained a small murmur came from Lloyd. Jay grumbled; he wanted to play with Lloyd! "Can he stay up so we can play? Please?" Jay pleaded, looking at Cole with puppy eyes. Cole made a 'hm' sound and looked over at Lloyd.

"Do you wanna stay up and play with Jay?" Cole asked, patting Lloyd's head. Lloyd sleepily mumbled "Nuh-uh" in response and closed his eyes. Jay frowned and stuck out his tongue at Lloyd. "I wanna play tag!" Jay whined, crossing his arms.

"Bubby," Cole stopped and looked over at Jay. "If you help me get Lloyd comfy, Papa can play tag with you until you're as tired as he is. Deal?" Cole shifted Lloyd in his arms so that Lloyd was held with one arm while the other extended out for a handshake. Jay thought for a moment: 'Okay...Papa or Lloyd? Lloyd's tired, but he's super fun. Papa's super fun too, and he's not tired.' "Deal!" Jay agreed, shaking Cole's hand. Cole continued to hold Jay's hand as they walked over to Lloyd's room. Cole set down the semi-asleep baby in his bed and pulled up the bars on the side of the bed that Zane had made to make the bed feel more like a crib for Lloyd.

"Jay, can you go get some blankies and Lloyd's paci?" Cole looked over, and before he knew it, Jay eagerly rushed out the door and returned with what Cole had asked. "Nice job, bubby. I bet you Lloyd is gonna be really happy because of you." Cole whispered, tucking Lloyd in and gently pushing the pacifier into Lloyd's mouth. He ruffled Jay's hair, making him giggle. Jay looked at Lloyd; he was curled up in his blankets and looking comfortable in the bed.

"Can I cuddle with him?" Jay asked, looking up at Cole for a response. "Hmm...I don't know." Cole tapped his temple. On one hand, two adorable littles cuddling together? The cutest thing in the history of the world! On the other, would Lloyd want to cuddle, or did he just want some alone time?

"Buba..." A quiet, tired voice surprised both Jay and Cole. Lloyd sleepily reached out his arms for Jay. "Bubaaa..." He repeated. Cole nodded. "It's okay, I'll get Buba in." He softly spoke. He looked over to Jay, who had his arms up, ready to be put into the crib-like bed. Cole had to hold back laughter as he picked up Jay and set him down next to Lloyd.

Lloyd crawled over to Jay and rested his head on Jay's shoulder. Jay wrapped his arms around Lloyd and gave him a little kiss on his forehead. "Sweet dreams, Lloydy." Jay smiled at his little brother, watching him fall asleep. Cole grinned at the sight and put a blanket around Jay's shoulders.

"Nigh', buba."

#ninjago agere #sfw agere #fandom agere #agere blog #ninjago lloyd #ninjago jay #ninjago cole #sleepy agere #why is bro so eepy

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spritebug · 2 months

Note

What do you think the MS characters studied during FCU/at university generally?

Thank you for the ask! ^^

My FCU knowledge is very limited, so I’m sorry if this is ooc or goes against cannon 😅

I’ve also never done something like this, so I hope the layout is okay!

What the main Mystreet characters studied at FCU/College/University

———————————————

Like I say, I don’t remember much of FCU. So this will be based on their MS and PDH personalities!

(Also I’m British so I’m sorry if I mixed anything up!)

Aph

-I strongly think aph went into a creative subject.

-Specifically Graphic Design or Drawing and Painting

-I also think she could have taken Creative Writing, after realising that she could make Fan fiction her entire job if she just “got it published”

-turns out it wasn’t that easy.

-(I think she’d have considered a Veterinary course, but decided against it after realising she’d have to see some of the animals pass on)

Katelyn

-I truly don’t talk about Katelyn enough.

-The easy answer is obviously a sports based course.

-Such as studying/training for volleyball or Sports Coaching.

-BUT I think she also could have done something in Drama, specifically Acting and Performance.

-I think she would have taken up Boxing Lessons during this, either for fun or to try cover her love of Theatre.

Nana(kc)

-Bakery.

-It’s easy, I know. But I really think she probably would have taken a Bakery and Patisserie course.

-If we’re also talking in universe stuff, then I think she might have taken some form of Magics Classes.

-And depending on when her dream of starting a maid cafe started, she could have taken Business Management to try and do that.

-I like to think she had a part time job at the Meif’wa scouts as a scout leader.

-(Probably also considered Veterinary as an option)

Garroth

-This man was way too difficult

-But it’s okay we love him anyway

-I think Garroth would be the type of person who just panicked and applied for a course in whatever he got the best grades in at the end of secondary/high school, even if it’s not what he wanted to do. (Which is valid)

-He probably could have continued in Baseball, but realised he’d rather keep it as a hobby and not a career.

-Garte absolutely offered him an apprenticeship at his business, and definitely tried super hard to get him to accept.

-Thankfully, Zianna pushed for him to do what he wants not what Garte wants. We love zianna.

-But, Garte definitely made him do a part time course in Business Management “just in case”

-Garroth doesn’t know what he wants to do in life yet, and that’s perfectly fine.

Zane

-Ahhh zane. Just as difficult as his brother.

-I think he could have done English Literature or some form of Poetry, gotta get the angst out somehow.

-But other things MCD and the wiki also make me think he could have done Business management to try and please his dad and become the favourite child.

-Garte probably offered him the the apprenticeship after Garroth declined it, but it was too late to accept.

-He probably considered an art course because of his love of MLP 2D animation.

Vylad

-MY BOYYY

-I have so many opinions

-Okay, so for some reason I really think Vylad would take a Photography course. It just makes sense in my mind.

-If not photography, I think he would have taken any course that involved him having to travel in order to study.

-I think Vylad learned at least 1 other language during college/uni.

-Probably took baking classes at one point, but kept eating his projects before he could present them.

-I don’t think Garte got around to offering him the apprenticeship, but he wouldn’t have accepted anyway.

Laurence

-This man. I love him, but his wiki is….lacking compared to everyone else’s.

-But we continue anyway

-I’m tempted to say he didn’t go to Uni/college, and instead helped on his parents farm for a little while or did some form of Apprenticeship.

-if he did I think Laurence could have continued football/soccer, but I think he’d get bored and choose something else.

-I think Laurence would be the type who chooses his courses based solely on what he enjoys doing, without a real plan on what to do afterward. (me too)

-I think he would have taken a culinary course, mainly surrounding savoury food.

-college/uni is probably where he learnt Japanese.

-I think Cadenza would have convinced him to do a part time Fashion and Beauty course “or she’d disown him”.

-Definitely did Babysitting as a part time job.

Dante

-Dante. One of the hardest out of this list.

-I’m honestly so stumped for our dear Danny boy

-I can imagine Dante going into something like Engineering or Film.

-I literally have no idea why, it’s just all I picture when I think about it. I wish I could provide more information

-I think he probably got a job pretty early after leaving Secondarily/High school. Like just something small, not a stable forever job.

-I think College/Uni has to be around the time he toned down his PDH-era flirting.

Travis

-I feel like Travis could have went into Media or something along those lines.

-Or social studies

-He seems like he’d do an apprenticeship somewhere, but I’m not sure where.

-he’s a tricky one

-he definitely did cooking lessons at some point

-I think college/Uni is also where he learnt a martial art

-He defiantly went to the same place as Dante

Aaron

-I think Aaron didn’t have much control over what he studied. I think he was heavily influenced by his parents.

-Definitely took Business Management

-Definitely took some form of Werewolf classes

-And definitely lost interest quickly

-100% made use of the on-campus gym. He probably spent more time there than classes.

Lucinda

-Magic time

-Definitely took multiple Magic Courses.

-Specifically about Familiars and Witchcraft

-Took bakery classes on the side, and tried to mix the two together.

-I think she could have also taken gardening on the side.

Nicole

-I think Nicole’s dad would have tried to convince her to study Law or Politics, but after less than a year she switches.

-I think she would have taken Sport and Exercise Science, to better herself and others.

-I think she could have taken Veterinary part time too, like a wildlife sanctuary or something.

-She probably took martial art classes in between classes.

Cadenza

-CADENZAAA

-yes I’m including our girl

-She absolutely took Fashion Design.

-And possibly Beauty on the side.

-She knew exactly what she wanted in Secondary/High school, and she hasn’t changed her mind since.

-Definitely took self defence classes

-Also helped out at her parents farm for a little while.

———————————————

I hope this was okay, I had to re-do the whole thing three times cause I kept accidentally losing all the progress 😅

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colesluvr · 10 months

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REQ: Heyy :]I don't know if you still accept requests, but maybe could you write a GN!reader × Lloyd? Like Lloyd had been busy lately and it's the readers birthday but he forgets? I leave your imagination the rest of it, but please let it end in Fluff cause one more Lloyd angst oneshot from ANYTHING and i will break LMAOOO

Birthday Surpise: Lloyd Garmadon x GN Reader

HII TYSM FOR THIS REQUEST, THIS WAS ACTUALLY RLY FUN TO WRITE! I HOPE YALL ENJOY <3

TO ALL MY OTHER ANONS WHO REQ'D: i have not forgotten about the rest of you, yall are coming up next 🫶

keys:

B/D : birthday day (monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday)

"Lloyd?" You called out to yourboyfriend who was training out by the courtyard. He seemed foucsed because he never noticed your presence. He aims the tip of his sword to the neck of the dummy he was currently training with.

You stood on the side of the courtyard, slowly moving around to face Lloyd from a distance.

"Lloyd?" You once again called, and this time your eyes caught a glimpse of a energy blast zoom it's way toward you. You reflexed fast and dodged it, the blast hitting the wall leaving a burnt mark.

"Y/N?"

Lloyd called out, running up to you as you stood up, rubbing your arm. "Are you crazy?"

"Sorry," Lloyd awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, "I-I didn't think anyone would be up this hour." He was right. The time was 7am. Everyone else is probably still asleep, or awake up in their rooms doing whatever.

"Sure, but you could've done much worse then make a burnt mark on the wall."

Lloyd aplogized once again, checked for wounds, and went back to the middle of the courtyard to countine training.

"Lloyd?"

"Hm?" He replied, landing a hit on the dummy.

"Well," You began, "I was thinking about something."

He nod, telling you keep talking. You stepped down on the rocky path and made your way toward him as you spoke, "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me today! Y'know, because it's nice and early and your already awake?"

Lloyd paused to look at you, "I'm sure, but not for long. I've been sloopy durning training sessions with the others. Trying to get better, but I'm sure we can get an hour in together.

"Just one hour?"

Will that be enough time?

"I mean, yeah, why not. I'm sorry babe,but I really gotta focus today."

You took a miunte to think, "Lloyd, do you know what today is?"

Lloyd slammed the dummy to the floor, it bouncing back up in less then 2 seconds and paused to think, "Uhm. B/D?"

You waited to see if he'll continue, but he didn't.

"Yes, but what's special about this day?"

"Y/N, what are you talking about? It's a normal B/D. Look, I'm pretty busy right now, how about we plan tomorrow? I'll take you to your favorite-"

"Forget it." You waved off the ninja, making you way back inside in the Monestary. Lloyd raised an eyebrow, but shugged off your sudden outburts.

Inside the Monestary, you felt tears begin to build up in your eyes. How could he forget your birthday? Is is Ninja business more importabnt then you? You walked down the hall, trying to cover our mouth to prevent you from sobbing out loud.

Why are you even crying? Its not our fault he forgot, he should be the one feeling your pain.

Sudden;y, you bumped into a figue the walked out of a room. In a panic you wiped your eyes as you made eye contact with the person.

"Zane." You chuckled, "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"It's quite alright, Y/N. What are you doing up so early?" Zane asked, looking at you. He noticed your eyelids were red but didn't say anything about it until you replied to his question.

"Oh, I-I just said hi to Lloyd, I-I'm heading back to my room."

Before he could say anythin you push by him but pause, "Zane, do you know what today is?"

"Well, of course I do. Happy birthday, Y/N."

You smiled softly, thanking him and returning to your room. He watched as you entered your rooom beside Nya's and Kai's.

It was now later in the morning, around 9AM. Lloyd came back from outside and he was done training for a couple of hours. At least 1 or 2 he told himself.

As he entered the kitchen, he ran into Zane who was finishing up breakfast. "Good morning, Lloyd. Have you finished training?"

Lloyd smieles as he sits at the table, "Yeah. I am." Lloyd soon looked around the room. With the corner of his eye he spots ballons and banners in a supply closet. He tilted his head to the side, "We still have these? I thought we put them away after Nya's birthday last month?" He said as he took a sip of water that Zane placed down for him.

"Well, we did put them away, but I took them back out for Y/N's birthday today-"

The sound of Lloyd spitting water out of his mouth caused Zane to jump slighty, obviously not expecting it. "WHAT?" He basically shouted, wiping his chin. "It's for Y/N's birthday today, I asked Cole to assit me in putting up the banners and Nya and Jay offered to get them presents from all of us. Kai will be in charge blowing up balloons."

Zane spoke, looking over to Lloyd to see panic all over his face. "Lloyd," he started slowly, placing down his cloth and cup he was drying, "You do remember it's Y/N's birthday? Correct?"

Lloyd stared at the table in thought. What the fuck? he asked himseld over and over, How the hell could I forget my own partners birthday?!

"I mean- I-I was distracted by all my ninja training, I-I didn't think-"

Zane gave a sworrowful look as he shook his head. Lloyd grumbled as he slammed his head to the table.

"Oh. Sorry Y/N, I didn;t know you were-" Cole had accdeintly walked in on you in the bathroom, and as he was aplogizing you were quick to move from the mirror nad wipe your eyes. You and him made eye contact and as you prayed he's close the door, he instead opened it slowly, noticing your puffy eyes.

"Y/N? Are you okay? Are you crying?

You shook your head fast, too fast, causing your head to hurt and tears to spill more. "N-No." Your voice cracked as you wiped the tears from your eyes.

Cole didn't know what to do, not until you choked out his name and the tears were more visiable. "Cole..." He immediatly wrapped his arms around you as you cried into his shoulder.

"Oh god, ssh. ssh. It's alright, hey, hey, hey!" He smiles as he sups your ace togethet to get a better look at your face. Your tear stained face caused a frown to form on his face, "Awh, Y/N." He hugged you once and rubbed your back in comfort.

"How-How could he forget?" You spoke.

You and Cole have moved into the hall and back into your room. He got you issues, your stuffed animal, your blanket, anything to make you feel more safe and happy. He rubbed your shoulder as he sat beside you,

"Who forgot?"

"Lloyd!" Your voice squeaked as you coughed out a cry. "How-How could he forget my birthd-day?" You squezzed your stuffed animal as Cole paused to think.

Suddenly, he started to chuckle and you snapped your head at him, More tears started to form, and Cole quickly noticed. "Omg, Y/N." Cole handed you a tissue, but still wiped your tears for you. "I thought you meant he forgot something like an aniverrsity, or a graduation."

You cocked your eyebrow at Cole, "Y/N. A lot of people forget birthdays! I do sometimes. Lemme'tell you, when I forgot Jay's birthday he was crying his eyes out. I felt bad, but he didn't take any offence of it."

"But- BUT YOU AND JAY WEREN'T DATING!"

"True, but he forgave me because it was only a one time thing. Tell me, when was the last time Lloyd ever forgot your birthday. Or Kai's birthday? Or even Darreths?!" You looked at him as you were deep in thought.

He was right.

Lloyd never forgot your birthday and even if he would, he would ask someone, no?

You shrugged your shoulders, rubbing the arm of your stuffed toy. Cole smiled, "See. Now, don't let one person who forgot your birthday ruin your entire day. Hae fun, you only turn (A/N) once!" He joked, shaking your arm to egt you to laugh, which much to your liking, did.

"You only turn any age once, dummy."

You and Cole laugh, not hearing the sudden door knock until the door creaked open. You both snap your heads to find Lloyd peeking his head in. Your stomach dropped for a minute, but you remained calm.

"Uh, Y/N. Could I talk to you?"

Cole looked back at you and smiled, you look back at him and slowly smiled back as he stood up after rubbing the top of your hair. He walked by Lloyd anc gave him a pat on the shoulder and a smile.

You placed your legs on your bed to sit criss cross on the mattress. As you didn, Lloyd entered with his hands behind his back. He sat where Cole was perviously before he left.

"Y/N. I-I just wanted to say, I'm sorry. I forgot your birthday and that was a dumb move of me. I'm your boyfriend, and I've already forgotten your birthday, I felt so bad when I remembered. This morning, when you asked me if we wanted to hang out, I was a jerk and set you off for tomorrow. So-So I want to make it up to you, if you'd let me."

You saw him reach into a bag he placed on the bed as he sat down, he took out a small box and handed it to you. You look at him, you could tell he was on edge. So you took the box, taking a moment to open it and when it did you were met with pieces of papers. You took one out and read it."

"Coupon #7 : Movie Night."

You look up at him confused, "I-I don't have any money on me, so I decided t go old-school and make you something, Basically, I made you (A/N) coupons, cause that's how old you are now, and which ever one you pick every hour we will do."

He took the paper from you, "Example, You got Coupon #7" Movie Night. Meaning tonight we'll watch a moive, you're pick but I do have those rented movies we got at Doomsday."

You paused, "I know. I know, It's not the best present, but I felt really bad that I forgot your birthday and I wish you could for-" Before you could let Lloyd finish, you jumped into his arms, tossing him backwards on the bed.

His back hits your blanket and you laid on top of him.

You laughed into his shoulder before showing him your smile with small tears in your eyes. "Thank you." You squeaked, hugging him again, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Your the best, I love you so much, Thank you, this was such a cute idea!"

Lloyd.EXE has stopped working.

"You're-you're not mad, or-or upset."

"Of course I was, but I realized it's you." You kissed his cheek, "I know you wouldn't forget my birthday because I know you'll remember sooner or later."

Lloyd's lips formed into a smile as you kissed his lips and pulled away. You took the box and closed it, shaking it.

"Now, what will the amazing Lloyd Garmadon do with the awesome Y/N L/N today!"

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fleshiebones · 7 months

Text

a virtue never learned, but earned

aphtober day 2, devotion. a mini fic (poem?) about dante during his 15 years of waiting

w.c ; 383

“Dante! I need you to stay back and protect the village. Please, we can’t all go. I’m trusting you.”

Those were the last words Dante ever heard Lord Aphmau say to him. It was just after the war had ended. Everyone had left the gates, running to deal with Zane. He was going to go too, that was until Aphmau stopped him and told him to stay back. It hurt, he was scared she had decided that he really was a traitor, that he wasn’t worthy.

Hours pass, still no sign of them. Dante waits but patience isn’t a virtue he ever mastered.

He helps with the repairs to Phoenix drop, and as he waits he misses.

He misses his brother. Although the Gene here now is a twisted, ugly inhumane version of him, he’ll always miss the brother who soothed him from his nightmares.

He misses Garroth and Laurance. His brothers in arms. How he went from hearing stories about them in the guard academy to actually living and loving with them, he’ll never know.

He continues to wait, more years pass by. Everyone leaves but only one comes back. Nana.

She does not ask him to stop waiting, she does not ask him for anything. She simply offers her hand. He takes it, calluses meeting with calluses.

He waits but this time, others wait with him. Levin, Zoey and Malachi come back. Not too long after that Logan and Donna return.

He starts a family with Nana. He swears his allegiance to Levin. A piece of her found, but it doesn’t fit right with the others.

He still goes to the Irene statue, everyday. He’s not sure if he believes in her but it’s one of his last ties to his family.

One day, he skips patrol there. But there’s something nagging at him, urging him to check. So he does.

There she stands, his lady, his sister. He stills for a second, taking it all in before he engulfs her.

He doesn’t know how long the hug lasts for, but he knows it’s for a while. He ignores the sullen look in Aphmau’s eyes, he ignores how she doesn’t look any older than when she left.

She is here, she is safe. They will figure out the rest from there.

#aphblr #minecraft diaries #aphtober #mcd dante #aphtober 2023

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starsabovethesun · 11 months

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Digital Teardrops ( Techno but also not )

Zane was acting weird.

They were always weird, in a way, but this was different. Zane was distant, even from PIXAL. Actually, PIXAL had also been acting weird. His weird bit wasn’t very long, as he went back to his normal self after a few days. The Nindroid would say as little as possible to their teammates. Interact as little as possible. The only person they did seem to talk to at all was Lloyd, and even the green ninja didn’t get them to talk very much.

One night, everything changed. It was a Friday evening, which meant Kai was cooking and Cole was doing the dishes. Kai had made a plan to try and get Zane to talk, and he put it to action that night. “ Kay, I finished dinner! “ Kai yelled, which basically summoned the whole team. Kai had made peanut butter noodles with snow peas and carrots. “ It smells amazing! “ Nya exclaimed. Everyone else agreed as they all sat down.

Zane sat in their usual spot in-between Jay and Cole. As usual for the last few weeks, Zane didn’t speak unless they were being talked to directly. All was normal, and Kai’s plan was in action. He, for almost all of dinner, tried to continuously talk to Zane directly, as that was the only way they would talk. It was casual talk. Nothing out of the ordinary there, until after dinner was over. Everyone went to their rooms and eventually fell asleep.

Except for Zane.

They just couldn’t. The reason they had been acting weird was because they were afraid. Afraid of their element, afraid of their thoughts, afraid of themself. They hated being left alone with their thoughts because they were afraid of what they had done when they were the Ice Emperor. They had hurt so, so many people. Ended so many innocent lives. Lives that Vex made them end because they were in his way. Zane got off of their bed and opened their window. The stars in the sky danced around the moon. This far away from the city, Zane was able to actually see them.

They were always there for the others.

When Kai broke down about his parents, or when Cole became a ghost, Lloyd when he was forced to age and become the chosen on to save the world, and Jay and Nya about the erased timeline. These are just a few examples. Zane was always there when the others showed vulnerability and tears, but they had never shown anyone else their vulnerable side. Even PIXAL has been vulnerable around them, but he had never seen them like that before, even when he lived in their head.

It wasn’t like they didn’t want to ask for help, but they just felt like it wasn’t worth the trouble. “ Hey, Zane? “ Were they hearing things? “ Zane! Hey! “ Nope. Zane turned around, and there in the doorway stood Jay. Their blue boyfriend had his curly hair down rather than in a ponytail, which made it reach all the way to the middle of his back, he wore blue pajamas with white lightning bolts and yellow smiley faces. He walked over to the white ninja, who was very much taller than him. “ Jay, it’s late. Go back to sleep. “ Zane said. “ No! “ Jay cupped their cold, metal face in his hands. “ Not until you tell me what’s wrong! You’ve been not talking and acting really weird for weeks! Please, Snowball, what’s going on? “

Zane shook their head. “ I’m alright. Now please, go get rest. We have training tomorrow. “ They replied. They weren’t lying, the ninja did have training the next morning. “ Zane. Seriously, what’s wrong? You know you can talk to me, right? “ Jay asked. Tears threated to escape Zane’s eyes, and sobs attempted to escape their throat. At first, they kept it down, but after a while, they pulled Jay into a hug and cried into his shoulder. “ Hey, it’s ok, I’m gonna stay. I’ll stay all night. I-if you want me to, that is. “ A muffed ‘yes’ came from Zane, and the two then fell onto the carpeted flooring of Zane’s bedroom, and Jay just didn’t leave.

If this is what it took for Zane to feel better, then this is what it took.

#technoshipping #jay x zane #zane x jay #fuck off vex!#ice emperor #zangst #mwhahaha!!#ray coughs out a story

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afairmaiden · 6 months

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For the @inklings-challenge

(Late as usual, and just the beginning, but it's something, at least.)

An Acceptable Sacrifice, Part 1

From the journal of Nicholas Leonard, member of the Maldonado Expedition to Zone 13 Northwest

Monday, October 18

58°F, clear skies, low humidity.

Departed base at 13:00, under the command of Arik Maldonado, after considerable delays and against the advice of Rylan Gaines. Reports of severe weather approaching, believed to be greatly exaggerated.

Drove southeast about four hours until the road ended between the old wildlife preserve and state forest land. Nearly dark by the time we got out and unloaded everything. Walked another forty-five minutes past overgrown fields and what used to be a town before splitting up. Team A north, team B south. Continued east toward the river with Zane Benson. Made camp in what looks to be the parking lot of an old factory or something. Forced to put up with Benson's incessant chatter the whole time.

Transcript of the last known recordings of Zane Benson and Nicholas Leonard of the Maldonado Expedition, recovered 10/26/25

10/18/25 19:09:41

BENSON: Hello, hello. Can anyone hear me? If there are any spirits here, please make your presence known.

LEONARD: Hey! What do you think you're doing with that?

BENSON: I'm just testing it out, relax.

LEONARD: That's professional equipment for official record-keeping purposes, not playing ghost hunt, got it?

[pause]

BENSON: It is supposed to be haunted, you know.

LEONARD: [inaudible]

BENSON: Come on, you know people have gone missing out here. Of course they don't talk about it, but it is strange, don't you think, that every time there's an expedition, someone doesn't end up coming back?

LEONARD: You volunteering or something?

BENSON: Look, I'm just saying—

LEONARD: And I'm just telling you to keep your mouth shut and do your job. We didn't come out here to trade ghost stories around the campfire.

BENSON: Well, I'd like to know what we are doing here. We're not looking for ghosts and we're not looking for people and there's certainly nothing of value left in these ruins. You'd think if they really want environmental data so bad, they could just send out some drones or something and be done with it.

LEONARD: Yeah? And how are they supposed to do that? You can hardly get a signal in half the city these days, let alone out here. We might as well be back in the dark ages. [pause] Is that thing still on?

BENSON: Would you relax? I brought extra batteries. I'll delete the files when we've got something to report.

[pause]

LEONARD: You got the tent set up yet?

BENSON: Yeah, yeah, I got it. Bent all the tent pegs trying to drive them into this gravel, but I got it. You sure know how to pick a campsite, don't you?

***

Tuesday, October 19

Couldn't sleep. Weird dreams. Benson's ghost stories must have gotten to me more than I cared to admit. Keep thinking what the place must have looked like before, imagining people in strange, old-fashioned clothes walking around outside the tent. Crazy stuff—I know it really wasn't abandoned that long ago. Probably would have slept better on softer ground, but it felt safer here than in the field or woods, closer to reality.

As much as I hate to admit it, Benson's right. I don't know what we're doing out here. Could have just dropped off the equipment and come back for it in a few months, no reason to wait around a whole week, and they never did tell us exactly what we're supposed to be waiting for. Just to log the data and look out for "anything weird." This whole place is weird and getting weirder by the minute.

Woke up to thick fog. After breakfast, finished setting up equipment and logging preliminary data, then took photos of the area before breaking camp and heading further east. Walked about three hours. Should have reached the river already, but it's slow going with so much stuff, and on top of it all, we don't have nearly enough food. Rations barely enough for a week at the office, let alone a week of tramping through the wilderness. If the elements don't kill us, poor planning just might. Or maybe that was the plan all along.

Planned to stop for half an hour at most but Benson wandered off. Tried calling him but no response. Keep thinking I hear something, but Should be able to see him at least. In the woods now, but the trees aren't that thick and the fog cleared up hours ago. He took his pack, so he should have a couple of emergency flares and a whistle on him.

Worse and worse. Definitely heard something. Started running. Fell. Hopelessly lost. Still no sign of Benson. Getting dark quick, looks like rain. Thought to check pack and found signal flares missing, radio damaged beyond repair. Thinking my best bet might be to try to stay where I am. Don't know if they'll be able to track our last known location, doubt they'd send out a search party either way. McLaren would be in charge of any search efforts, and I know he's had it out for me since orientation. Wouldn't put it past him to sabotage the whole thing. Wouldn't be surprised if he orchestrated all this in the first place. But at least they might try to retrieve the equipment.

***

10/19/25 16:35:14

BENSON: Hello, this is Zane Benson. It's about...four? Four-thirty? Tuesday, October 19. I—I'm not—I'm not really sure what just happened. I just stepped away for a moment after we took some readings and I got turned around. I don't know where I am, or where Nick is. We were supposed to be close to the river so I kept walking east but I'm not seeing anything. I think— [pause] Hello? Nick? Is that—

[end of recording]

Transcriber's note (10/27/25): Recorder was found by Zane Benson's pack, approximately two miles from the other recovered equipment. Benson and Leonard remain missing, presumed dead.

Signal to the Outer Ring has been restored.

[part 2]

#inklingschallenge #team tolkien #genre: time travel #theme: food #theme: drink #theme: shelter #story: unfinished

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