#it’s cute they’ve helped lloyd so much | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

themadauthorshatter · 3 years

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MAJOR TIME AND EPISODE JUMP IN THE NINJAGO PG-13 TOUCH-UP UA!

We're jumping ahead to season 2 because I'm impatient and want to fix Misako; I WLL NOT HAVE THIS WOMAN BE CALLED A BAD MOTHER IN THIS UA!!!!

We're mixing episodes because we're starting with Lloyd watching school kids playing kick ball before he continues training with the ninja, which he is getting better at. When he's done, he leaves to go back to watching the kids play.

The ninja all get the jist that Lloyd's not himself. At all. He's more withdrawn after training and lessons, he's spacey, and he's just not all together.

Zane opts to talk to him, but Jay beats him to it, ruffling Lloyd's hair and telling him he's getting stronger by the day.

Lloyd thanks him and goes back to watching the students, particularly one that is getting picked up by his dad.

Now it's Kai's turn to ask what's going on. Lloyd repeats it's nothing, and leaves, though he gives one last glance at the father and son as they're approached by a woman, the man's wife and boy's mother; it is one of the worst reminders of who he is and what the dynamic of his family is.

The ninja debate on this, Zane seeing the family and understanding that want of Lloyd's, having personal experience with the whole "outliving his family" thing, but he's not going to go and talk to him about it because they've already bugged him enough.

Cue the serpentine and Garmadon being spotted at the museum and reviving the grundle, which I'm renaming the Valciraptor because this is PG-13 Ninjago now.

Garmadon wills it to life with the mega weapon, which is the 4 golden weapons mixed with the 4 silver fang blades, but only has it target Kai, Jay, Cole, and Zane, shreds and scraps of their clothes, gloves, and armor to lock the Valciraptor on them and not on Lloyd, which Skales is starting think is tedious.

The ninja still 'stop' the resurrection of the Valciraptor, ensuing in a small little fight against Garmadon before he flees, and the serpentine generals leaving with the golden sarcophagus.

The ninja all give chase, but Zane, for once, is the fastest, stopping them just as they try attempting to get underground through a manhole.

He sighs at not stopping them, but secretly pats himself on the back for catching them before they could damage the artifact.

"Zane? Zane! Wait up!"

Zane has a moment of, 'wait a second,' before turning to the rest of the ninja, who are half his size, stumbling in their oversized clothes, and talking in higher, more youthful voices.

While they freak out over being kids, Zane can only suffer from a sudden existential crisis because he was now the oldest and must look after them.

Zane spots a cop car speeding toward them and, with a fantastic idea, races back around the corner they all just came from as the car stops infront of Kai, Cole, and Jay, Jay shouting they're the ninja when the cops ask, "What are you kids doing out, stealing from the museum?"

Cue Zane sprinting back around the corner, purposely misnaming each of the younger ninja as he embraces them all, saying he's been worried sick and thanking the officers for finding them; the three rascals wandered off again.

"Wait, these are YOUR children?"

"Yes. Hayden-" Zane gestures to Jay. "-has quite the habit of wandering off. And Nyle and Juniper-" Gestures to Kai and Cole. "-are good enough to keep their eyes on him."

"Why didn't you stop them first?"

"With all due respect, have you ever tried leaving a conversation with a more well off parent about our children wearimg the same costume, Officers?"

The cops nod at each other begrudgingly before the officer that has been silent speaks up, "Well, we suspect they stole the golden sarcophagus from the history museum about a block away."

"My children are 9 and 7 years old. How could they even LIFT such a heavy piece of gold? If you still do not believe me, check the security cameras."

They do. And it is shown that the children are innocent; the camera they watch from shows black and white footage and hides the foot chase between the ninja and serpentine. What it does not hide is the Valciraptor bones growing ligaments, muscles, veins, and skin, shaking where it stands, and then stomps away.

The cops excuse the family, saying it's a new animatronic they're working on, to ease a frightened Jay and Kai.

The team leaves, Cole on Zane's back for a change, and Jay panics, asking what they need to do. Kai isn't as freaked out, saying they're safe as long as there's light.

Cole tells them to calm down and focus befor asking Zane if he has any more ideas.

Cut to Lloyd taking a break from training and reading a comic book and overhearing Wu and Nya as they worry about where the ninja are. Before they can elaborate more, the phone rings, which Nya answers.

"Hello? Nya? It's Zane."

"Zane? Where are Cole, Jay, and Kai?"

Zane, dressed in normal clothes from a bag he keeps in a hidden pocket of his gi, looks over at Jay, Kai, and Cole as they all watch him, Jay staring off as he sits, Cole leaning against the wall, and Kai pacing back and forth. "Well... We are in the city, but we have a small problem."

"What's happened? Tell us everything," Wu replies

Cut back to Nya, Wu, and Lloyd, where we hear Zane through the phone.

"Garmadon brough back a Valciraptor, a beast that supposedly feasts on humans. He has made sure it targets us the most, but we will need to stop it before it preys on anyone else in the city."

"Why can't you just stop it?" Lloyd asks; Nya put Zane on speaker.

Cut back to Zane, who winces and kneels down, holding his phone out for Kai to talk into, though he does say as a joke, "Remember, son, speak nicely to others."

"You'd better be glad I'm a kid right now, Zane!" Kai snaps as he takes Zane's phone. "Sensei? Nya? Lloyd!?"

Cut back to The Bounty, where Nya and Wu are flabbergasted and Lloyd fights back a smile and laugh.

"Is... Is that you, Kai?" Nya asks.

"Yeah, and- HEY!"

"NYA, SENSEI, GARMADON BROUGHT BACK A VAL-CAR-SOMETHING, WE ALMOST GOT ARREDTED, I DON'T WANT ZANE TO BE MY DAD, WE LOST THE THING GARMADON BROUGHT BACK, AND I NEED SOMETHING WITH CAFFEINE IN IT! I'M LOSING MY MIIIIIIIND!" Jay shouts at the top of his lungs before Zane takes his phone back and picks up a now emotionally melting down Jay.

"We've had a long night," Zane sums up as he stands. "What do you advise we do, Sensei?"

"Do you know anything about this Valciraptor?"

"Yes. It is nocturnal. And it seems to be vulnerable to light."

Wu is quiet for a second before replying, "Stay in the light, then, and find out as much as you can." He turns to Nya and Lloyd. "Nya, Lloyd, ensure you join them the minute you find them."

They agree, though Lloyd giggles out a quip about the ninja needing protection, which gets an, "I heard that," out of Kai, a desperate cry for an energy drink from Jay, and an agreement and "Be careful," from Zane, and the call ends.

The group of Wu, Nya, and Lloyd set out, Wu going to the tea lady for something he KNOWS will help and Nya and Lloyd looking for the ninja.

Cut to a gag of Zane hanging up, Cole sighing at how the call went, Kai groaning, and Jay whimpering that he just hopes they bring a soda.

Cut/Time jump to Lloyd and Nya walking around the city as they try to find the ninja. They're quietly observing, until Nya talks about the comic Lloyd was reading, noting how he used to read it a lot before, but recently he hasn't, which is strange because she thought he loved the series.

He tells her that he does, but lately all he can think about is Garmadon and facing him in battle. The training doesn't help and, thinking back on before he became the Green Ninja or even found the serpentine, all he'd ever wanted was to be a normal kid with a normal family. Granted he's more than happy to be with Wu, Nya, and the ninja, but he sees other kids with their parents and he can't help but feel jealous. He doesn't say this word for word, but Nya gets the point.

They find the ninja at a library, Zane and Cole being the only ones actually doing research on the Valciraptor while Kai comforts Jay, who just got done crying.

Thankfully, Nya saves the day with a sports energy drink and Lloyd winks as he shows the back pack he has contains weapons for the ninja, which had been dropped during their freak out.

Nya calls Wu and tells him she and Lloyd found the ninja, but Zane informs them that he can't exactly find anything on the Valciraptor, save for the most basic knowledge, so they're at a loss for information.

That is until Lloyd notices a teen reading the same comic book series he has been, and tells Wu to meet them at the comic book store Doomsday Comics when he finds the tea they need.

Cole tells him to focus and Lloyd replies that he is, and knows someone who can help them.

The call ends as Wu arrives at the tea shop went to th o get the Traveler's tea, the owner jabbing that she hopes he's not going anywhere anytime soon because she's out of stock. He tells her he needs Tomorrow Tea, which she does to look for. Wu looks out the window and silently prays for the ninjas' safety as dusk approaches.

With the ninja and Nya, they arrive at the comic store, where they meet the owner Professor Doomsday, which is what Lloyd calls him, as he was the only teacher at Darkley's that was actually nice to him.

The professor is impressed by how healthy Lloyd looks now, compared to his school days, but Lloyd talks business, asking about the Valciraptor, and if what he taught about it was true.

Turns out this beast was loosely related to dragins and used to be a thorough replacement for assassins and was used more for fighting rebellions by tyrant leaders. It didn't hunt only ninja, it feasted on anything it could get its claws on, especially after consuming its target.

Zane isn't exactly listening, because it's completely night out now and the street lights are dim as hell.

Cole notices Zane slip out of the shop, but is stopped by a girl, who tells him her friend thinks he's cute.

Outside, Zane spinjitsu changes into his gi just as the Valciraptor stomps around the corner and growls at him. He glanes at the other ninja, Lloyd, and Nya still inside the shop, and then unsheathes his shurikens. "Let's dance, you poor excuse of a dragon."

He races forward and leaps to the Valciraptor, which snarls at him at comes close to biting him in half. Zane kicks off it's muzzle and lands on a street light, tapping it to try to get the light back on.

It only makes the beast angrier.

In the store, Doomsday notes that it's strange how Lloyd's friends want to learn about such a dangerous and mature subject concerning the Valciraptor, and Jay asks, "What if we were to say that it was brought back?"

Cue Zane being thrown through the window and the Valciraptor chasing after him; the comic book shop is pretty big, about the size of a Barnes and Noble shop.

Cole asks if he's okay, but Zane goes right back to fighting off the beast, which doesn't work because it bites his leg and slams him down twice before throwing him against the wall.

The other ninja change, not as well as they'd like to, Lloyd included, and Nya leads everyone out of the shop and into the street.

The fight gets serious as the ninja can barely ude their spinjitsu and Zane is knocked unconscious and almost becomes a popsicle before Cole pulls on its leg and it kicks him away. Jay and Lloyd are up to the plate as Jay tries something he hopes works, disassembling the lights in a didplay to make a replica light sword toy a become to scare the Valciraptor as Lloyd makes and energy ball and Kai attacks it with scissors.

It knocks away all three of them, making Jay lose the super bright light sword. The Valciraptor sniffs at Lloyd before turning to the ninja.

Good thing Wu arrives with the Tomorrow Tea and Nya, in a panic, throws it to the ninja, which Lloyd catches, until it falls out of his hands and into Zane's. Just as he opens it, Kai stops him, realizing that it will also age Lloyd up along with the ninja and Valciraptor. Lloyd shouts to use it anyway, but every ninja objects, Kai, Jay, and Cole wanting him to still have his childhood and not miss out on it and Zane begging him to not throw his life away, and that such acts are too unfair, even for a boy of Lloyd's upbringing.

The Valciraptor, pissed beyond all reason, tears the sword out of Kai's hands and goes gor a snap. Lloyd, acting in the heat if the moment, snatches the tea and shouts, "Nothing in my life was ever fair! What's the difference NOW!?" as he throws it right into the Valciraptor's jaw as it shuts, shattering the tea instantly and making it wither, age, and dissolve right then and there.

It also restores Kai, Jay, and Cole, Cole checking on Zane, who's okay, even though he's a little concussed.

In the sudden silence and ash, Wu asks almost silently, "What about Lloyd?"

They dig through the ash, and Jay gasps at finding him.

Lying unconscious is Lloyd, who has aged up to either 16 or 17. He has grown taller and thinner, lean like Zane, his hair is very long, and is now at a point to where his gi now fits.

The "episode" ends with Cole carrying Lloyd as the team goes back to the Bounty, Doomsday asking Wu to promise he'll take care of Lloyd, as he couldn't back at Darkley's. Wu promises and the episode closes as they leave.

The next episode starts from Lloyd's perspective as he wakes up, greeted by the ninja, Nya, and Wu. He's still sore from the instant growth and winces as he sits up and examines his hands, especially noticing that his feet touch the ground. He asks what happened, but stops and puts a hand on his throat, surprises by the new pitch he now has.

Despite everyine telling him to take it easy, Lloyd gets up and walks very stiffly to the bathroom mirror, where he sees himself and the result of throwing the tomorrow tea at the Valciraptor.

He's literally speechless, examining his face, hair, and body as he realizes what he's done in order to save his friends.

That doesn't stop Kai from saying as gently as he can that they tried to warn him. Lloyd asks very sharply if they would rather have him sit back and watch them die, and Kai barks that he, actually, shouldn't have been in the shop when the Valciraptor yeeted Zane through the window, that he should have followed Nya.

There's more arguing and Lloyd tries to do a stand off, but his legs give out from under him and send him to the ground.

Pins and needles race through his limbs as Zane and Cole help him stand up, Wu elaborating that Lloyd needs time to adjust to his new body, and maybe his mind too because he aged from 7 to 16 in the span of a couple minutes and now has to get used to the teenage hormones that are no doubt going crazy.

"But what about the serpentine and my dad?" Lloyd asks as Zane keeps one of his arms over his shoulder. Cole affirms that he's not fighting or leaving the Bounty until he gets better. Kai mutters that he also needs a haircut, tugging his hair for more emphasis.

Wu assigns Zane as the caretaker for Lloyd and assigns Nya to join the ninja, as they've spotted a small group of serpentine in the outskirts of the city. Kai and Jay object, but Wu tells them that Nya needs the training and Zane is more experienced in taking care of someone medically, which will help Wu exponentially.

Nya gets an old, plain black ninja gi and her own weapons before heading out with the team, leaving a very sulky Lloyd with Zane and Wu, the former helping him to the shower.

He holds onto Lloyd's hands and walks backwards, practically leading an wobbly legged teenage Lloyd to the shower. The last few steps, though, he lets go, which leads Lloyd to catch himself on the door frame before he falls.

"What was that for!?"

"I didn't mean to be cruel, nor do I intend to be. If you wish to find your father in a hurry, then this is the fastest way I can think to help you adjust."

Lloyd nods and takes his shower, struggling to stand every now and then, but getting stable on his feet. Zane's waiting for him, when he's done, with a pair of scissors. With a look at how long his hair is, Lloyd shrugs in slight defeat, "Make me bald."

Zane snickers and gets to work, having SOME experience from helping Nya and the other ninja.

With the ninja and Nya, they're successful in catching two of the five snakes, these two being a Fangpire and Hypnobri, and demand to know why they're in the city.

The Fangpire pulls an uno reverse card and demands to know what happened to the Valciraptor and Lloyd.

Nya asks why it matters, since Garmadon has the megaweapon, and the Hypnobri accidentally spills the tea that the megaweapon is "acting out" in a sense, not obeying its master's wishes and even starting to crack, which we see in a cut to Garmadon as the snake talks/narrates.

Garmadon commands the weapon to speak to him, but it only shows his reflection and grows cracks into it.

Cut back to the ninja and Cole asking what Lloyd has to do with it. Neither of the snakes know, but they need to find and retrieve Lloyd or Garmadon's going to get two new wallets.

Cut back to the Bounty after the ninja and Nya finish interrogating the snakes, where they see Zane walk out with Lloyd, who's getting a little better at walking and now has an awesome new hairdo. They all have to admit he looks pretty good, but get back on track with explaining what they learned about the megaweapon and Garmadon trying to find Lloyd.

Wu deduces Garmadon has practically abused the weapon's power and it's at its limit and tells a growingly stressed Lloyd he must stay on the Bounty, no matter what. Lloyd, however, isn't listening as he comes to his own conclusion: the snakes must have seen him use the Tomorrow Tea against the Valciraptor, but didn't see the monster die or him grow. They reported to his father, and now the final battle must begin NOW.

"This is all my fault."

Cole tells him it isn't, as the final battle was alway going to happen and Lloyd should really calm down because his hands are glowing with energy that his little body couldn't exactly make use of before.

With a shout, the energy blasts outward, knocking back the ninja, Nya, and Wu, just a little bit because he energies himself a shield. No one's thrown off the deck of the Bounty, Llyod just shoves them back a little too hard without directly touching them.

Zane determines the increase in power he now has and asks Wu if power is somehow connected to one's emotions, which he says can be the case.

Lloyd apologizes for almost throwing them overboard, which they accept as long as he doesn't do it again(he never will), and Wu tells him that his emotions and his powers are like different streams that go the same way; they're going to to seperate and hard to see together, but when they meet and converge into a river, they'll be united and strong. If it doesn't make sense, I'm so sorry, I'm not good at being a wise mentor. Lloyd is about to protest, but nods and agrees.

With the power of Process of Elimination, the team comes to the conclusion that Garmadon and the serpentine are probably at Ouroboros, all things considered.

They head there, their dragon following, which has totally been here the whole time, it just hunts and whatnot and comes back, though the ninja instruct it to stay with Lloyd once they reach the city.

During the flight, which takes a couple days, Cole finds Lloyd reading a book Zane lent to him, a fictional one talking about mature subjects like the societal underworld, politicians involved in and protecting people from it, and the society itself blind to what's going on. Forgetting Lloyd's sudden physical growth, Cole tells Lloyd that he's a little young to be reading a book like that. Lloyd, however, says he's tried reading it before, about a week ago, but barley understood it. Now he's starting to, proof that his mind is slowly catching up with his body. Cole takes a seat next to Lloyd as the younger admits that since his sudden growth, he's been seeing more of the world, kind of like before when he was younger, but there's more to see now, like he's a fish in a tank that's left the decorative house it stayed in only to find it is now noticing the tank is really the ocean for the first time, and is about to swim and explore it all.

Cole puts an arm around him, pulls him close, and assures him that he doesn't have to explore this ocean alone, that he has Wu, Nya, Zane, Kai, Jay, and himself(Cole) with him, as they are his school, if they're still using the fish analogy.

Lloyd thanks him, resting his head against Cole's shoulder, and admitting tearfully, and wuite self deprecatingly, that even with how much bigger he's gotten, he still has a lot of growing to do. Cole assures him he'll grow pretty quickly, knowing Lloyd.

They arrive and head out, the Bounty a good distance away as to not attract attention. Lloyd tells them to be careful, which they do, as long as he promises to stay put, Kai offering to buy him candy if he does, which Lloyd does not find funny at all.

Cole, being smart, offers that if they aren't back in thirty minutes, he can join in the fight, which Wu reluctantly agrees with, to calm his nephew.

They leave, Zane looking back and gesturing for Lloyd to remain out of sight as he stands on the deck.

Lloyd instead crouches and then sits down, examining his hand again before one of the dragon's heads rubs against it, so he can give ot pets. He chuckles as he does. "Guess I'm finally taller than Brad," he says to himself.

Back with the team, they arrive and enter in secrecy, watching from a close enough distance as Garmadon tries to make the weapon work as the serpentine return from searching for Lloyd and the Valciraptor, which they report is dead while Lloyd is purely missing. Garmadon groans and calls them all useless before pacing and turning to his last ditch effort: using the weapon to summon Lloyd to him.

Wu has none of that and spinjitsus his way into the center of the arena Garmadon and the serpentine have gathered, knocking out and away a few snakes and a general or two.

The rest join in and the battle begins, Garmadon and Wu duking it out, with Garmadon demanding, "Where is he hiding!?" as Wu snarks back, "This battle is between us!" while the ninja and Nya fight against the snakes, which are coming at them in very overwhelming numbers.

Cole and Zane are fighting back to back and doing fairly well as Zane hopes Cole was serious about that "thirty minutes" thing, because goodness help them if he doesn't show up.

Funny Zane say that as we cut to a sort of TV, Viewer prespective of a montage/jump cut extravaganza that cuts between Lloyd and the ninja fighting, quiet, slightly humorous, kinda bored soinding music playing for Lloyd as he rests his head in his arms on the table and looks at the clock to see only five minutes have past. He leans back with a sigh and blows some hair off his forehead as he taps a finger. Cut loud, kind of desperate, fighting, action music playing with Wu kicking Garmadon away and doing some wicked staff attacks that knock away Skales and the Fangpire general. Garmadon gets back up and the two have one of those weapon colliding glare offs as Garmadon seethes, "You stole my family once, I will not let you do it again!" He pushes Wu back and slashes at him, Wu dodging and asking, "You really think he will be safe back among the serpentine!? Not even you can protect him from them, and you LEAD them!" Garmadon shouts, "ENOUGH!" and lunges at Wu. Cut back to Lloyd, who's leaning against the railing on the bow of the Bounty and having a staring contest with Shard, who blinks, making Lloyd smirk at the victory. He checks the time on his phone and finds that seven minutes has past since the team left. CUT to Jay as he's thrown into frame by Skalidor before Zane dropkicks him for old time's sake. He helps up Jay, who thanks him, and they tag team Skalidor, who hisses at tail whips Zane and right hooks Jay. CUT back to Lloyd, who's balancing on the railing with the dragon watching, each head knowing what stupidity this 7 year old in a 16 year old's body is going to cause. He quickly switches feet ans his foot slips, making him lose his balance and fall to the dirt. The camera would linger on where he was standing as he hisses in pain and groans, "Ow." CUT to Cole as he wrestles the Hypnobri general to the ground and smashes his fist into his face, knocking the snake out standing back up in time for a Constricti to land on his shoulders and choke hold him. As he fights it off, Kai and Nya take turns fighting off Skales and an assortment of snakes, Nya even getting a few good hits in with her chakrams as she dryly remarks that she should've left ninja-ing to the boys. Cole throws off the Constricti and shouts, "Wherever Lloyd is, he better get here now!" CUT to Lloyd chewing on his nail as he's crouching on the ground, occasionally looking at the dragons through the corner of his eyes, like his eyes move but his head doesn't, and looking at the arena at the center of the city. He does this a few times before checking his phone again. Fifteen minutes has past and he can't take the suspense anymore as he climbs back onto the Bounty, quickly changes, and runs to join the fight, though the dragon trots after him in time to see him stumble a little. He saddles up and flies there instead, as he'll need all the energy he can get. (Thank goodness that's over.)

The ninja, Nya, and Wu are surrounded and back into the center of the arena, all of them bloodied, bruised, and worn from fighting, the snakes and Garmadon swarm in, ready to deliver the final blow, Garmadon having figured out he can create a killer lightning storm that doesn't TECHNICALLY go against what the weapon does.

Too bad Lloyd drops in super hero landing style and uses earth powers to knock the snakes back, and accidentally make the team fall. Garmadon remains standing and points the weapon at him, demanding to know who this tall, teenage, powerful ninja in green is; for anyone who says he should know his son is the green ninja, Garmadon doesn't know Lloyd threw away 9 years of his life to save the ninja, and it's kind of dark out, so he can't really see his eyes.

Lloyd stands up, stumbling a little, but still stands, gesturing for the team to stay back as he rises. He and Garmadon have a stare off before Lloyd gets into a defensive stance.

Garmadon laughs, remarking that this warrior is here in Lloyd's place, probably because they hid him somewhere. Lloyd's shoulders drop, because he's right there, but Garmadon interprets it as the ninja's plan being foiled, remarking that it was clever of them, but it was still stupid. He also can't help but thank Wu for keeping Lloyd away from the battle.

Before he can say more, Skales charges, clocking Lloyd with an upward swing from his staff into Lloyd's jaw, knocking him down. He shouts if THIS is Ninjago's hero, an amateur who's all bark and no bite? Lloyd kicks him back for that and stands as he picks up a sword one of the snakes dropped, holding it up as much as he can despite the weight. The snakes laugh, and Lloyd gives a 'bitch, really' face and throws the sword at Skales, which bangs into his staff and scares him.

"I'm not here to play games!" Lloyd shouts before pointing to the megaweapon. "The weapon's on its last legs. Use anymore of its power, and theres no telling what could happen!" Garmadon scoffs, retorting, "You expect me to just hand it over that easily?"

The serpentine back away, some even pulling the team back with them as carefully as possible. Lloyd notices and realizes what's about to happen.

Soon it's just Lloyd and Garmadon. Tv perspective, the camera would be above the now open ring as the two circle each other from far away, spinning counter to them. It cuts to a perspective behind Garmadon's boots as he walks, steady footed with Lloyd in the background of the frame trying to be tough, but still kind of stumbling. Cut to the same perspective, but behind Lloyd's less sure feet with Garmadon stalking in the background.

From where the team stands, Jay asks to no one in particular if the two aren't really going to fight, considering what the team knows. Upon hearing that, Wu has an 'oh, SHIT' moment, and tries calling out to Garmadon to not fight.

Too late, because he takes a swing at Lloyd, who barely dodges in time and gets a punch into the cheek that sends him back into the ground.

Garmadon shouts for him to get back up, that if he wanted a fight, then he'd get what he wanted, as he was the so-called green ninja. Those words, minus the green ninja bit, trigger a very unpleasant memory for Lloyd, one where an older boy yelled at him and beat him up for being the son of Lord Garmadon. He's snapped out of it with a kick to the face from a serpentine; he was unconsciously crawling away.

Garmadon shouts for his opponent to man up and stop being a coward and Lloyd shakes his head before standing up.

This time, Lloyd apologizes to his father and races towards him, using a trick he picked up from training with the ninja: he sends some lightning in Garmadon's direction, which he blocks, before sliding and kicking his feet out from beneath him, making Garmadon fall as Lloyd kips up, one that he's been practicing and celebrates pulling off prematurely. (Again, 7 year old in a 16 year old's body)

Garmadon gets up with a cool sweepy motion and kicks the back of Lloyd's knee before kicking him HARD in the face, enough to make his nose bleed.

He laughs that NOW this is a good fight, and asks very tauntingly where it's been in the first place, as Lloyd struggles to his feet as he holds his nose. He throws apologies and martial arts to the wind as he shouts and left hooks Garmadon close to the eye. Garmadon has none of it and uses two of his four hands to grab Lloyd's hands before returning the punch to its sender, kneeing, and kicking Lloyd away once more, but not without a surprise blast of ice to the megaweapon, freezing it to uselessness.

On his back, Lloyd fights tears as Garmadon shouts at him for getting in the way, being no better than the ninja and always trying to ruin his plans. Lloyd, barely able to keep it together, bites that what he's been told is true, that Garmadon really is evil.

Garmadon kicks him numerous times for that, in the face, ribs, and arms, shouting he doesn't know anything about what he's had to do for his son.

Lloyd crawls back and throws his hood off, revealing himself for everyone to see, those who don't know, at least.

All that rage and battle adrenaline Garmadon had immediately gets washed away by horror as he sees and recognizes the green ninja's face, even though he's bleeding, starting to bruise, and has tears streaming down his face.

Silence washes over the entire arena; not even Skales has something dry to say.

Garmadon and Lloyd stare at each other, the father struck with guilt and horror as his son glares at him as he doesn't bother trying to stop his tears, even backing away when Garmadon reaches out for him.

"L-Lloyd? How?"

Lloyd rolls onto his front and pushes himself up, grunting out, "The Valciraptor. I used tea to make it age into nothing but bones. Kai and Jay and Cole, the weapon made them turn into kids." He stands very slumped over and holding his side and turns around to Garmadon, who puts the pieces together, and glares at Wu.

"You... You fools! Look at what you've done to MY SON!"

"All Sensei did was bring the tea to our location," Lloyd replies as he takes a breath and straightens, wiping his eyes and meeting his father's gaze head on. "I wasn't going to let you take my family away from me."

Those words put a SPEAR through Garmadon's chest and opens the teams eyes, especially when Lloyd turns to them and smiles to say what he said was true.

Garmadon trembles as emotions flood him. He's beaten and attacked his son, turned his ENTIRE family against him, and has ultimately proven that the evil from the great devourer's venom has truly shaped who he is.

But he still has the megaweapon. With a shout, he smashes the bottom part into the ground, commanding the weapon to turn back the clock and to give him back his son, to give him back his boy and give him the power to destroy those who've taken everything from him.

The weapon cracks even more and begins to start working, but a panic reaction from Lloyd takes care of that:

The teen's eyes go from their usual red to green, and then gold as he shoots a blast of energy at the weapon just as it too blasts at him and the team. Despite a little back and forth, the gold and green blast overwhelms the megaweapon and it is destroyed in Garmadon's hand, leaving nothing but the fang blades and the now permanently dormant golden weapons.

The gold and green energy blast morphs into enery tentacles as Lloyd slightly hovers off the ground. Before they can do anything, he drops to the ground, the energy fading and everyone still alive. Garmadon's eyes lock onto the unconscious Lloyd and he drops to his knees, only watching him as his own tears fall from his eyes

The team silently collect the fang blades and the weapons, though Zane chooses instead to carry the unconscious Lloyd on his back.

As they leave, the serpentine all back off, giving them room to leave. Skales does try telling them to attack, but Garmadon weakly grabs his arm. "No. That's enough. Let them go."

The episode ends as the team reaches the Bounty and Lloyd cries as quietly as he can, which Zane notices. Kai asks if Lloyd's okay, but Zane says that Lloyd's just having a bad dream, as he did get triggered earlier, and will be okay when he's in bed. Kai shrugs it off, and Lloyd thanks Zane, who smiles sympathetically as the episode closes.

NEXT EPISODE: We start with a another jumpcut montage, but it's not crazy like before. Somber-ish music playing as we switch from Garmadon, who's leaning against a table while dealing with a major shame-over from fighting with Lloyd. The serpentine watch him closely, but are too scared to ask what their plan of action is now. Cut to Lloyd as he lies curled up in bed with the blankets over him. He's still physically and mentally beaten up by what happened in Ouroboros and would rather stay in bed than talk about it. Tv perspective, the camera would be on a tired and drained Lloyd as he hears and feels his bed creak slightly behind him as someone sits down. It cuts to show it's Wu, who has some bandages on his face from the battle and is silent for his nephew's sake. He goes to put a hand on Lloyd's shoulder, but Lloyd sits up and removes the blanket. They stare at each other before Lloyd hugs him, Wu returning the hug and rubbing the back of Lloyd's head. Cut to Garmadon staring at the sky, with Skales and some lower ranked serpentine watching him. One brave soul gulps and approaches him, offering some water, because he's been standing and staring for hours on end. G-Dog politely turns down the free drink and returns to standing and staring. Zoom in on Skales glaring him down as the serpentine quietly agree that since the fight, Garmadon's been about as useful as a water in a spray bottle used against a house fire. Cut to the ninja as they train on the deck, Nya included, all of them stopping when Lloyd walks out and awkwardly shrugs as he forces a smile.

As he warms up, Jay checks in on him, maybe we can have a visual gag of Zane doing something cardiovascular by running between where the deck meets the front and back of the ship behind them as they talk.

Jay asks if Lloyd's feeling any better, all things considered, including that he hasn't left the bunk rooms in a week, and Lloyd says he's fine, not as good as he'd like to be, but fine as he is. Jay then asks about what happened with the megaweapon, more specifically when Lloyd did the cool hovering thing, to which Lloyd responds that he still can't remember what he did or the events slightly prior, even though he's tried remembering and repeating what he did, though he does ask if they've had luck with the weapons and fang blades.

Kai pauses from his spar with Cole to say they've still had no dice. The elemental weapons are dead and there's no bringing them back. Behind them, Zane sprints around them, on a mission to get in as many laps as he can.

Lloyd deflates at the fact that Wu was right about the weapon being at its limit, but continues warming up.

Nya, from her place on some sort of mini obstacle course, relays that she and Wu did some digging and noted that the weapons had certain reactions when placed beside certain weapons; the scythe looked less like dead stone next to the 'earth' fangblade, the one used in the trophy for the talent show, there was a defined red edge to the sword next the the 'fire' fang blade, etcetera. Lloyd, who switched to doing push-ups, wonders what it could mean.

Kai jokes that maybe it has to do with Garmadon getting the fangbaldes and making THEM into another megaweapon, but Cole quite literally kicks his ass for this, which sends Kai to the deck with a surprised yelp. Cole ignores the glare from Kai as he says whatever the change is, it's most likely important. He also apologizes for how messed up his blood family is, concerning what Lloyd said about them being his family. When Lloyd flinches away, Jay tries to lessen the words by saying, "Hey, at least you still have Sensei. A-and your mother." Lloyd shakes his head at this and admits, "I wouldn't know. I've... never met her. I mean, I remember her, but... something happened. And I never saw her again."

The ninja ans Wu are dead silent, but Kai gets up to continue his spar with Cole, and try to steal the rank of leader, only for Zane, who's been running this entire time, to surprise leap onto his back and send him back into the deck, Kai shouting, "No! Not again!"

The ninja laugh, and Lloyd lets himself chuckle, Zane saying to him as he holds a wrestling Kai, "Regardless, Lloyd, I believe we should be able to make up for what you've lost, if you'll allow us." He nods and says he does, thanking Zane as Kai breaks free.

Too bad the moment's broken by an alarm going off, Wu informimg them that venom from the great devourer has been found at anither museum in Ninjago City, one that's bigger and more expensive to go to than the one where the Valciraptor was revived. They all head out, even Lloyd, who figures he could use the change of scenery.

Quick cut to Garmadon sulking, but a Hypnobri saying they found the ninja at sea, and that they overheard Lloyd admitting he was apologetic about what happened with the weaopn. Garmadon, too desperately, commands that they get there immediately, missing and smirking Skales, who nods a 'well done' to the Hypnobri.

Back with the team, they make it to the city, the dragon and Bounty hidden a top a building as they arrive, carrying the fang blades with them along with the dead elemental weapons for safe keeping, and because they missed using the weapons.

Turns out the venom, like before, has given life to some of the museum's exhibits, but instead of bobbleheads, it's extinct creatures that used to hunt in Ninjago before humans were a thing, creatures like sabertooth tigers with cobras for a tails, bears that stand tall as giraffes and are long as hell rather than squat and fat, maybe a mini Valciraptor and Treehorn, and all sorts of nasties that makes the hair on even Zane's arms stand on end.

As the museum's director explains the situation, Lloyd stops and notices a painting of a crowd, maybe a battle in a village, and the camera would zoom in on his face, more specifically eyes because his face is hidden, as he stares. TV perspective, the director's voice fades into a crowd screaming in terror, particularly a woman screaming for her child to stay with her before the child himself screams for his mother.

A tap on the shoulder from Zane snaps him out of it, the white ninja asking if he's okay, which he semi-lies about. They rejoin the group and find the beasties, each person taking on one: Cole gets the monster long giraffe bear, Kai gets a large, wolf sized doberman with a long long and snake head and a bat head, Jay gets the sabertooth, Zane has to deal with treehorns agian(he looks at them with a glare, pulls off his hood, and lets a very scary, psychotic smile grow on his face because these things are the size of pitbulls.), and Lloyd is left to a cheetah-horse hybrid that spits acid at him, acid similar to what we have in our stomachs to digest food.

Each creature is oddly colored and had grown a stoney patch with veins of the devourer's venom pulsing all theough their bodies.

Where are Wu and Nya during all this? Well, Nya saw a woman almost get nommed on by one of these creatures, but the woman threw NYA out of the way and dealt with it herself with a blade hidden in her research scroll. Another beast comes running, but just as she goes for her blade again, Wu saves the woman as Cole takes care of it, apologizing for being a bad driver. Wu asks if she's alright, the camera on him, and he gasps at who he just rescued, even though she would've been just fine.

Cut to the ninja each fighting off their respective monster and winning, though when they hear shouting from Zane, they find him panting in a room full of dust and stone bits with a smile on his face. They're all terrified, but Jay's the only one brave enough to say Zane's lost it, which Zane responds to by throwing a recreated treehorn bit at him.

Lloyd isn't as successful as the cheetah-horse keeps knocking him back with it's front hooves and going for a bite, though he does well enough to get a few kicks in and block it woth his sword. It snags his collar instead and shakes him into a wall, which makes him see stars, before it goes for a bite and Lloyd gets in a killing blow with a sword. It falls, and he lies on his back, worn from the fight and not noticing the mini, great dane sized Valciraptor bites his hood and drags him back, making Lloyd choke. He's dragged awsy from his sword and his powers aren't exactly working right now, so he's left flailing and kicking to try and break free.

Thank goodness a blade pierces the Valciraptor and a boot stomps in it, destroying the creature. I hope you remembered that woman Wu saved, because she helps Lloyd to his feet as he coughs and thanks her.

The two meet eyes and the woman gasps, the team rounding the corner with Wu at the lead. Lloyd has major déja vu as the woman holds his face, tearing up as she examines him, asking if it's really him.

Wu speaks up to Lloyd that he probably wouldn't remember, as he was a CHILD when it happened(there's being a child, like a little kid, and then there's being a CHILD, like a 2 or 3 yesr old) and a crowd that heavy would have been too overwhelming for a three year old to handle. The ninja are flabbergasted and Lloyd backs away, a look of 'it can't be' on his face before he runs, overwhelmed by what's going on and not turning back when the woman calls for him and starts to give chase before Nya stops her, saying he just needs a lottle bit of time. Jay apologizes for breaking the moment and asks who this woman is, considering how skilled she is for being Wu's age.

Wu states that this is Lloyd's mother, the woman taking the wheel and introducing herself as Misako.

Cut to Garmadon and the serpentine generals as they fly a fang-copter over the water, Garmadon looking and asking for where Lloyd is. Skales replies, "Right HERE!" and shoves hin into the water below, where he falls and resurfaces to see them fly away. He calls them bastards and traitors and swims in a random direction, hoping it's right because damn him, if it isn't. Skales and the other generals bid good riddance to bad rubbish and the other leaders decide Skakes would maje a great leader. He ddoesn't disagree.

Back at the museum, the team has split up in search for Lloyd, the groups being Wu and Cole, Zane and Misako, and Jay, Nya and Kai, who's joining so Jay doesn't do anything suspicious. Zane catches Misako up on the series and tells her what's happened. She's not too happy about the fact her son fought his father one on one and got his ass kicked or the fact that he thought it was a good idea at 6 years old to befriend a bunch of snakes, but knowing what happemed and what he's been through, she can't exactly throw in her two cents. Zane admits that she's back in Lloyd's life now, and the two of them can catch up personally.

They find Lloyd sitting with his knees to his chest near a bottomless pit, which is restricted from entering to the public, and Misako quietly sits beside him. Zane stays back, but sneakily grabs some rope in case they fall.

After a few minutes, in which the rest of the team arrives, Misako carefully puts a hand on Lloyd's head, apologizing to him as he meets her eyes. Turns out he's been crying and he sees that her eyes are tearing up very much so. Out of misunderstanding, and a broken heart, he asks why she left him. Misako quickly hugs him, crying that she held on as much as she could, that she should've carried him rather than led him by hand as he was only three years old at the time. He thinks back to that painting and remembers more clearly as Misako weeps it was an attack and they should have left as soon as it began rather than sit and wait for Garmadon. Lloyd remembers vaguely how his father was back then as well, and says almost bitterly that his father hasn't changed a bit.

Misako pulls away and gets a closer look at him, asking how he got so bug if only four years have past. Zane's the one to spill the tea, the Tomorrow Tea that is, and Kai tries joking about it, stealing my spilling the tea joke, which earns him 'drop dead' eyes from Lloyd and Misako.

Whatever doubts they had about Misako vanish instantly.

Lloyd has one more question, though: Where was she while he was in Darkley's, even when he was thrown out?

Misako gives Wu 'How could you!?' eyes and then hugs Lloyd again.

She looked everywhere for him. The bus he was put on headed toward Ninjago city while her bus headed toward Jumonakai village, the two locations essentially being like Maine and California. She looked in every orphanage, boarding school, refugee camp, and anywhere else she could think, going from village to village to try and find him. She never really found him, but she found out about the serpentine and the dark island.

We get the explanation from before about the Overlord, his indestructible army, and that HE'S the one Lloyd needs to take down, not Garmadon, though they all move rooms so no one falls in the bottomless pit.

The ninja collectively shudder at this, and then Misako notices the fang blades, asking about them and the dead weapons. Lloyd drops the megaweapon and fang blade bomb and Misako realizes that the great devourer is gone with a capital G, which is bad because it could've been a last resort. She also remembers something she learned, when Lloyd talks about the weapons reacting to the fang blades. She holds the nunchucks with the fangpire blade and everyone is surprised to see the weapons merge into a cook buton sai mix that can be nunchuck-y with the push of a button. Lloyd asks how it's possible, since the weapons lost their power, and Misako explains that things don't really die, they just become something else, something more powerful. This is a voice over as we see a giant stone warrior come to life with help from the great devourer's venom.

Cut to Jay taking back what he said earlier, because Lloyd's mom is a badass. He's not exactly paying attention, instead asking Wu and Misako why they didn't find him earlier or why Misako hadn't joined the team earlier when Lloyd was first brought on the Bounty. Wu explains that he had called Misako to fill her in, and Misako was on her way, choosing to travel by foot between bus rides because she was tired of getting cat-called by other men and having a sore rear from sitting for nearly four hours straight. She at first started the research to cope with what happened, but it became a hobby and "safety net" for when she couldn't find Lloyd. If that doesn't paint a clear picture that Lloyd is, was, and always has been her first priority, I don't know what does

The stone warrior interrupts the moment, shocking EVERYONE. It takes a swing and they all dodge it, Misako throwing Lloyd out of the way as she flips back and readies her blade again. Lloyd isn't about to lose his awesome mom, so he leaps off the wall and kicks out the warrior's knee, making it fall.

They run to a 'party' room, one that's proper for fighting, and the duel begins, the ninja unsheathing their weapons and each one merging his with a corresponding fang blade after seeing their weapons fail where Jay's succeeds. Cole's scythe mixes with the Hypnobri blade, making it a staff sword on one end and a wicked double bladed scythe on the other, Zane merges his shurikens with the Constricti blade, giving him a staff that his shurikens can be removed from that turns into a bow with ice and venom arrows, and Kai merges his sword with the Hypnobri blade, at girst complaining that his weapon is the same before seeing it is every pyromaniac swordsman's dream when the sword becomes something of a whip that spews fire when it slashes and cracks.

They do more damage to the warrior, Lloyd getting in aome good hits with his powers, which he keeps in check as Misako fights with him and commends him for doing well in battle.

Good times end when the ninja are thrown off and Lloyd remembers the bottomless pit.

He shouts for everyone to give him at least five minutes and ahouts for Nya to follow him, which she does, as the rest keep fighting.

Even though they do well enough, the stone warrior follows where Lloyd and Nya ran, the remaining team trying to stop it.

Cut to it finding and charging at a meditating Lloyd, Misako crying for him to move because he's right infront of the bottomless pit. As the warrior swings, Lloyd falls back, and the warrior falls with him, having lost its balance from swinging at him.

Misako and the ninja are all quiet, Misako fighting tears as Nya says that all Lloyd told her to do was move the rope around the pit and keep her distance, and that she didn't know he'd do this.

Misako sees a glow from the pit and gasps as Lloyd hovers back out of the pit, looking very much like how he did before when he destroyed the megaweapon to protect his uncle and friends. He touches the ground drops to his hands and knees with a sigh, looking back at the pit and laugh-cry about his plan working as Misako hugs him and slyly pulls him away from the pit.

The others are equally glad, though Cole threatens him that if he does something like that again, he's keeping Lloyd in a harness on his chest to keep an eye on him.

They try to laugh it off, even though Misako gives him murder eyes, and all leave the museum, Lloyd sheepishly asking Misako if she's coming with them.

Upon seeing the 'please say yes' in his eyes, she hugs him and agrees that she'd be more than honored.

The episode ends with the team welcoming Misako on the Bounty, and a cut to an unconscious Garmadon floating on his back and washing on the shore of the dark island, exhausted from swimming and plotting on how he can get back at the serpentine. From a first person POV shot, a figure watches him rest, hissing out in a distorted voice, "Ah. He's perfect."

#ninjago #ninjao jay #ninjao cole #ninjago zane #ninjago kai #ninjago lloyd #ninjago rewrite #slight violence #angst #emotional damage tw #daddy issues #reanimated animals tw

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thepeanutbutterwizard · 4 years

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Ninjago/Avatar au Pt 4

Basically just Book 1 (and I agonize over ships. Help)

(Also I finally finished watching A:TLA)

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5)

Recap time:

So, we’ve got Maya, Garm, Lloyd, Kai, and Nya flying on Ultra and trying to get to the North Pole. Morro and Wu are pursuing them, as is Clouse, (who will be taking Zhao’s place) and, y’know, the entire Fire Nation. Koko has been abroad for about three years, looking for any information on the Avatar she can. Ray went off to fight with the other men from the Southern Water Tribe.

They have a lot of similar adventures to cannon: they go to the Southern Air Temple to see if that can jog any memories from Lloyds past lives. It doesn’t work, Lloyd just gets ahold of a glider (there are a lot of shenanigans with him learning how to use that) and adopts a Flying Lemur (give Lloyd all of the pets pls) who is just as mischievous as Lloyd. They take a detour to Kyoshi Island, and get a letter that Koko had left for them, saying that she was going to look for a mysterious library (wink). They also befriend one of the prominent members of the village, Cyrus Borg, and his daughter Pixal (she’s human), the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors (I know Cyrus would make a great Mechanist, but the idea of Kyoshi Warrior Pixal was too good and I fell in love with it. Also Samuraishipping is fantastic.)

They fight pirates, there are Spirit World shenanigans (btw the last fully realized Avatar before Lloyd, and his spirit guide is a human version of Firstborn.) and there might be a Jet stand-in if I can figure out a good character for that role. There’s a running gag of people automatically assuming that Maya and Garm are married, to their combined amusement and annoyance, until one of the kids will call one of them their parent, and the other one aunt or uncle (they’re family in this au. Fight me). Eventually they just start automatically answering anything that implies they’re a couple with ‘We’re siblings’.

Wu and Morro have been chasing them the whole way. Wu has been conflicted this whole time; he just found out that his brother is actually alive, and has been hiding for years, with the Avatar no less. And now he’s having to hunt both of them down (as well as his brothers wife and kids? Maybe?) when all he wants to do is, like, talk? Have a cup of tea and catch up maybe? Meanwhile Garm is thinking that Wu is completely on their father’s side, and that he won’t show them any mercy if he catches them.

Eventually they make it to the Northern Water Tribe. The chief is the former elemental master of ice. I shall call him Ice, bc I dont think he has an actual name. He’s a waterbender. And now we finally meet Zane, the white haired (human) wonder! (Heh, you all can probably guess where I’m going with this. Pls don’t kill me.) His unnamed mother died giving birth to his younger brother, Echo, when Zane was about two, and their father died a few years after that, and they were taken in by Ice, who was a close friend of their parent.

I don’t think I’ll make Zane a bender bc of the whole ‘moon spirit saved my life as a baby’ thing, but Echo is (purely for angst reasons. You’ll see what I mean in a bit). But this is the part where we get some sweet sweet Oppositeshipping! Zane isn’t betrothed to anyone, but even though he likes Kai, he’s constantly worried about his tribes safety and worried about what will happen when the Fire Nation shows up (he’s smart enough to know that they will show up eventually) and he’s scared of letting everyone down, and there are just a lot of issues there holding him back from being in a relationship with Kai.

Now, even though everyone knows that Lloyds the Avatar, they’ve kept it secret that Kai and Garm are firebenders (and Garms whole backstory) for obvious reasons. But you guys know that date that Zuko went on in Ba Sing Se? Pretend that they have that lantern thing in the Northern Water Tribe. Kai and Zane have that cute date and Kai lights the lanterns and its adorable.

But I bet you’re wondering who takes the place of krusty old Pakku? Krux of course! Who better to be the traditionalist old jerk waterbender teacher than the traditionalist old jerk boomer? (Acronix is there too. He’s not a bender. If I could find a way to work Futureshipping into this au, I totally would. I am still trying to figure out how to organically work it in) So Lloyd, Nya, and Maya are ready to learn some traditional waterbending (bc even though Maya is a really good waterbender, she literally just made up her own style. It would be like someone trained in acrobatics and dance, turning it into a form of combat, and entering a mixed martial arts tournament. She’s always wanted to learn some traditional waterbending) but Krux does the whole ‘boys do combat, girls do healing’ speech.

None of them like it much, but they go along with it and try to pull the whole ‘I’ll just show you what he showed me!’ thing and get caught. Krux demands an apology, and Maya is trying to keep Lloyd and Nya from blowing up at Krux, and she’s also trying to keep from blowing up herself (I hc that Kai gets his temper from Maya). Krux says something about how even if he wanted to teach them, clearly Maya, and Nya especially, don’t have what it takes to be real waterbenders, and Maya fucking snaps. She goes off on Krux, says some things about how she’s spent her whole life living in fear, and how she worked her ass off to hone her bending, and then she challenges him to go outside and she’ll show him what a ‘real’ waterbender can do.

Lloyd, Kai, and Nya are all a little shocked. It’s the first time they’ve seen Maya get so mad. Garm, who has known Maya for years, had been trying to subtly tell Krux to shut up (even though Krux was really pissing him off too, but someone needed to be the adult). Since Maya isn’t about to let Krux get away without a fight, Garm is just thinking ‘hoo boy, here we go’.

Krux tries to walk away from Maya, and then promptly gets his ass handed to him on a silver platter. He begrudgingly admits that, while Maya’s bending is chaotic and wild and sloppy, it is very powerful. But just bc she was able to beat him in one fight doesn’t mean that he has to teach any of them any waterbending. Maya says ‘fine! We just thought it would be a good idea for the damn Avatar to learn traditional waterbending, but I guess I’ll just go ahead and teach him more of my ‘wild, chaotic, sloppy’ waterbending style! And, I’ll teach anyone in this tribe who wants to learn from me, no matter who they are! And besides, it’s not like you can stop me.’

And so she did! Maya spends the next little while teaching not only Lloyd and Nya everything she’s come up with, but a bunch of the young waterbenders in the tribe learn from her too, as well as some older benders. Krux is less than pleased, but he isn’t looking for Round 2, so he keeps his mouth shut. Garm has been trying to lay low through all this. As low as possible for the father of the Avatar at least.

Meanwhile, Wu and Morro have been tracking them down diligently. At least, Morro is being diligent. Wu has been a little shit and trying to slow them down on purpose, and anytime they have to fight team Avatar, he keeps trying to use that to get his brother alone and get him to talk shit out dammit brother, where have you been and who are these people do I have niblings? cause you do and he’s a good kid even though hes trying to kill you right now explain that he is really, truly glad that he’s alive and well, and that no, he doesn’t actually want to catch him.

There wasn’t any type of assassination attempt on Morros life like there was Zuko, he either faked an injury so he could go on his secret ‘capture the Avatar’ mission during the siege on the Northern Water Tribe, or he wasn’t allowed to go and snuck away (with a little help from Wu either way). He does the same thing Zuko did with the underwater tunnel, but Morro doesn’t have firebending to break the ice. He has airbending (bet no-one saw that coming). I debated with myself for a long, long time if I should make Morro an airbender (they were nomads, and bending is inherited. It’s not that hard to believe that a few airbenders survived that way. I also love the airbender Ty Lee theory)

Wu figured it out when Morro was pretty young, and did everything in his power to both teach Morro, and keep his bending a secret. This played a big part in contributing to Morro’s need to be seen as worthy and deserving.

So anyways, the siege. It’s happening. Kai is being a bit of a grumpy angst lord (bc he wants to hold hands with a pretty boy) but gets assigned by Ice to guard Zane and Echo. Lloyd enters the Spirit World, Morro fights Nya and only wins bc he pulled out his secret airbending when she had her back turned. Meanwhile, Maya and Garm are helping fight of the Fire Nation (Maya with her waterbending, Garm with hand-to-hand combat) when Garm see’s Clouse going off to kill the Moon Spirit and follows him. Wu also follows them and gives Clouse the whole ‘we need the moon too’ speech.

Garm watches from the shadows as that confrontation takes place, but jumps in to fight the Fire Nation soldiers who came with Clouse at the same time that Wu does when he kills the Moon Spirit, and not only does he all-out firebend for the first time in a while (once he and Ray became more trusted by the Southern Water Tribe the blanket ban on their firebending was lifted, but it’s kind of a bad idea to excessively play with fire in a village that’s made almost entirely of ice and snow) he reveals his identity to everyone. He’s actually a little surprised that Clouse is surprised that he’s alive. He figured that Wu would have told everyone about his death being greatly exaggurated.

Clouse books it, Lloyd fuses with the Ocean Spirit to go wreck the Fire Nation, things are a teensy bit more awkward in the spirit-cave-pond-area-place with Garm and Wu being there together, but its overall just a somber moment.

And then, Zane becomes the new Moon Spirit. But not only do we have a sad Oppositeshipping good-bye kiss, we have a sad last hug ever between Zane and Echo. I made Echo a waterbender solely so it could be a terribly sad thing where anytime Echo bends he can feel his brother with him. It’s sad. There are tears (including from myself as I type this). Kai is comforted by Garm, which is basically confirms Wu’s incorrect suspicions that Kai and Nya and Maya are Garms kids and wife, and that they’re helping the Avatar (look, this gag is just too funny to me and I will keep it going as long as I can.)

When they leave the spirit pond, Wu tries to pull Garm aside to talk to him, but Garm still has no idea if he can trust Wu, and that means that the kids are super wary of him (they know that Wu and Garm are brothers) so all that really accomplishes is getting Kai to firebend at Wu’s face (btw, Kai firebending is a big deal. When he was a fairly little kid he accidentally firebended [firebent?] and Maya got burned. For Kai, firebending is the last thing he uses, not the first) and then grabbing Garm and Nya (whos giving an inconsolable Echo a piggy-back ride as he is still sobbing) and booking it. But not before Wu was able to slip a letter into Garm’s parka.

While all this is going down, Morro and Clouse had their little scuffle, but Morro has to airbend at one point to save his own skin, and not only does Clouse see, but quite a few mid-retreat Fire Nation soldiers see as well. Then Clouse gets killed by the Ocean Spirit.

Morro and Wu steal a raft and book it, since now one of them is a traitor and the other was just outed as an airbender. Krux and a group of people, both benders and non-benders, head to the South Pole to help them out. Echo is a part of this group; it’s what he knows Zane would have wanted to do. Team Avatar head out to find Lloyd an earthbending teacher, and Garm finds the letter from Wu. He’s scared to open it, and doesn’t for a while.

And now, it’s time to introduce a new character! See, back in the Fire Nation, the Firelord had been growing displeased with his son. Despite Wu’s best efforts, dear old dad had caught on to how much Wu disliked the war, and he figured it would only be a matter of time before something tipped Wu over the edge and he turned full traitor. That would leave him as a ruler with no heirs, and that wouldn’t do. So he secretly was searching for a good candidate to take the throne, preferably an orphan, who showed proficiency in firebending and could be moulded into a cut-throat living weapon.

He found what he was looking for in a young girl named Harumi. A firebending prodigy whose parents had both died in the war. And now that the Firelord learned that, not only did his younger son turn traitor in the North Pole and run off with his airbender adopted son, but his disgraced fool of an older son is alive and actively helping the Avatar, well, it’s high time the world saw just what his hand-picked heir can do.

#ninjago #ninjago au #ninjago avatar au

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atopearth · 4 years

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Tales of Crestoria Part 3 - Growing from Mistakes (Ch 3-5)

Anyway, about time Kanata and Misella got captured by Aegis and Leon? Haha. As for Aegis' close relationship with Queen Rebecca? Nope, that's just spelling disaster man. Aegis is probably as naive as Kanata if he thinks that this is okay, because even if he knows so, people don't, and it doesn't help that the Queen personally visits him a lot. He's pretty silly and innocent to think that him being her confidant is okay when she's supposed to have the king and many other people to rely on. It definitely doesn't help that she does all this so publicly. Btw, since we haven't seen Leon much, and this was probably the first time I heard him talk so much, I finally confirmed that his VA is definitely Midorikawa Hikaru! Tamahome (Fushigi Yuugi) brings back all my memories! I also loved him as Yoshino Yuusuke (Clannad), yes, he is one of my favourite VAs too, so I'm glad I have his SSR! Anyway, I'm not sure why he's so adamant on capturing Vicious since it doesn't seem like a justice thing like it is for Aegis but I do appreciate how kind Leon is to be concerned over Aegis and want to watch out for him.

LMAO at the prisoners feeling like they're being disrespected because Kanata and Misella kept talking and ignoring them, and then when they do talk to them, Kanata says nice to meet you like they're at a party or something hahahah. Nice to see that Rebecca isn't just a damsel in distress and actually has been actively finding a way to escape from the kingdom. Not surprised though, she's young, kind and beautiful, whereas the king is so old and definitely evil lol. I feel sorry for her that she got dragged into becoming queen just because the king loved her beauty. Like dang though, she was a rural farm girl and he was able to find her? That would suck. Or I wonder if he goes around looking for beautiful women lol. Okay, he does lol, he even finds beautiful men, eugh. It's nice to know that Rebecca was once pretty naive though and thought that everything would be like a dream come true since the king proposed to her, and it was only after she married him that she realised how crappy her life could become. To be fair though, at least she's still in his good favours as a queen and didn't get demoted into servant or something after he finished playing with her. I guess her maintaining her beauty helped lol. I feel sorry for Rebecca, I really wanted her to live even if she was kinda delusional and hopeful that Aegis loved her. Kinda silly how the king could appear so suddenly in the sewers though, like how did he catch up to them so fast and how did they not notice lol. Anyway, I feel sorry for Aegis the most. He didn't even kill anyone but he's been framed for trying to elope with Rebecca and then killing her when she became a liability. At least for Kanata, he really did kill his father. In this case, Aegis is completely innocent. He's such a kind and righteous soul that wanted the best for his kingdom too. It's so saddening. Leon to the rescue! I'm happy that Leon prioritises Aegis over disgust at having to ally with Vicious since he seems to hold a grudge against him or something. It seems like Leon is really strong! Ooh, Yuna saves the day with her boat? Good to know she's the informant that Vicious frequently deals with. Her manner of speaking is interesting yet annoying though lol. Anyway, kinda cool that this Ivis person was able to create the Nation of Sin whilst forming a barrier that protects it from the outside world, and even preventing people without the Stain of Guilt from being able to enter the place or even see it. It seems like they really wanted to create a safe haven for all these people. It's funny that Vicious calls it a boring place, but I guess it's understandable lol, in any case though, I'm not surprised it's a boring and peaceful place. With all the chaos that comes with being a transgressor, what makes Vicious think they'd be crazy here? Lol. I mean, if they were, I'm sure they'd get kicked out lol.

Lmao, even though Aegis is getting kinda annoying with the transgressor this and transgressor that (his situation is understandable though, so I don't really blame him), I love how Kanata just drags him along, and Vicious just wants Aegis to remember that he is a transgressor now too lol. It was heartbreaking when Aegis finally kinda opened up and talked about how his parents were poor but did their best to fulfill his dream of becoming a knight, so in order to repay them, he worked hard to become a righteous knight, yet that all backfired on him when he lost everything and he's even being helped by the people he stubbornly believed to be the worst and has even become one of them, it's just pretty depressing. It was nice to see that the warmth of the transgressors' stew really got to Aegis. I'm happy to see Aegis fight for these defenceless transgressors that are getting massacred by the little girl (who is the culmination of the thoughts of condemnation etc) and her army of enforcers. I'm kinda surprised all the transgressors died though, like, did no one think it was possible that they might get attacked one day and prepared for that? I doubt not having a blood sin is an excuse too, since Aegis fended at least some of them off without it. Oh well, at least the little furry creature survived hahaha. Maybe we'll get an SSR version of the furry thing one day if it evolves into something strong🤣 I guess it's good that they've resolved themselves to fight against the world and the vision orbs instead of just hiding away now though. Lmao at Misella naming the little creature after meat, I guess Meakyu is a kindaaaa cute name.

Omggg it's Luke!! I love him. He's so spoiled and whiny, but it's hilarious. Lmaooo when Luke said Misella should sell her dress so that they would have money to hire a carriage and Kanata said if they sell it, she'd be naked and that would be awesome LOL. Priorities, Kanata. Omgg, I didn't expect them to have Luke once again make an irrevocable mistake that would cause innocent people and their town to be destroyed... But, like Vicious said, the biggest problem lies with the Senegal guy who knew what kind of guy Luke was and lied to him that the "monster" needed to be defeated when it was actually keeping the mountain intact and safe with its' mana. Wow, Senegal is so ruthlessly cruel... I can't believe he even killed the Southvein people who were able to evacuate from the landslide and survive. Not too surprising since they interfered with his mining but still crazy. Even more crazy that his fabricated lie is that he had no choice but to decimate the town because he sent Luke as a peace envoy and Luke ended up killing one of the residents in self defence (due to their hatred of Northmine people), like excuse you?? Is no one going to investigate the landslide and other stuff? Or are they so powerful that they can block people from going there? Btw, so nice to see Jade!! I guess the reason why Misella has been thinking that Kanata isn't really "Kanata-like" is because instead of advocating for his sort of belief in justice, he is now instead taking things into his own hands to punish others that he thinks "deserves" it. Not saying he's wrong since people like Senegal probably do deserve it, but in a sense, it just kinda becomes the idea that instead of the vision orbs doing the condemnations, now Kanata is doing them, and really, is this how justice is supposed to be, and really, can they save the world like this? Since really, because of their belief in their own views, they ended up killing the guardian spirit of the mountain to save Luke, like yeah, they had "no choice", but was it really like that, or did they just not think of other methods to prevent stuff like this from happening? Have they kinda become used to the idea that they should just solve everything with the violence and condemnation that they were dealt with?

I'm kinda happy to see that everyone is helping out Luke in wanting him to find his own path after the sins he committed, causing so many deaths even if he didn't intend it. Aegis is right, Luke's higher position makes him even more responsible for his lack of knowledge and his naivety, so it would be nice for him to face his sins and grow as a person. Well, I guess rather than it being something nice, he really needs to grow up and understand that his decisions can really change lives. But, I think that with Jade and Asbel there to guide him, he'll be good as long as he tries. Lmao at their great idea of earning money, I'm not sure if Kanata, Misella and Aegis could win prize money as a theatre troupe lol. It's funny how Misella thought Aegis wanted her spot as the heroine when they haven't even decided on what to do lol. Penelope must be dying from how bad Kanata and them are loll, although she does seem to be literally dying too. Anyway, nice to see that Yuna vows to not use her vision orb and instead tries her best to uncover all the facts and the whole story (as the journalist she is) with all the evidence she can gather to piece everything together rather than relying on a vision orb to do things when it only shows one side of things.

On the other hand, it's nice to see that Kanata and them have realised the existence of the crazy researcher Malcolm experimenting placing human souls in monsters and the other way around. It seems that he was the one who made Emil share his body with Ratatosk now. I guess Kanata will definitely meet up with Cress again one day then (since Cress is adventuring with Mint, Emil/Ratatosk and Marta to prevent people like Cress' master and Emil's situation from happening again). Forgot to mention, but it was really cool seeing Lloyd and Colette! Well, it was kinda obvious that Penelope was dying, but it was nice to know that the reason Yuna is deterred from using her vision orb is kinda similar to Farah. Yuna used it on Penelope's mother to show her physically abusing Penelope as a child when she made mistakes in training to be the best actress, and although it's definitely terrible to allow something like that to go on, it's also true that Yuna hurt Penelope a lot by using the vision orb on her mother and having her condemned to death. As she said, there were definitely other ways to handle the situation, but because everyone from the moment they are born have been ingrained with the idea of the vision orb, everyone decides to solve their problems by using it instead of thinking about other ways. They probably think it's a hassle to deal with problems any other way when you can so easily record it and have other people help make the judgement on what to do instead of thinking for yourself on what other things you can do to rectify the situation. But yeah, I'm sure Penelope doesn't really blame Yuna, since really, her mum was abusive and Yuna wanted to protect her.

Omgg their pirate costumes are so cuteee! Especially Misella's! Love it! Meakyu's is pretty hilarious lolll. It was a pretty cool idea to pretend the pirate raid was actually their stage play that was a part of the festival. It wouldn't have been cool if the pirates were actually stronger than them though hahaha, but all's well ends well. It's pretty silly but funny how Vicious was the one who lured them all here to chase some made up treasure just because he wanted to steal a ship from the pirates lolll. He's so drastic, I love it. Awww, Patty and Chat are so cute~ I love how the townspeople dragged them away to treat them to food for their "good show" against the pirates haha. Honestly, I know Yuna meant well and everything by telling people that Penelope's performance sucked and that they should look forward to her next one instead because she knew how dissatisfied Penelope was with it and how much she would want to stand up again to rectify how bad this one was, but really, Yuna (and the party) are the only ones that know Penelope's true feelings. So really, it's hard for people to not dislike her for saying such "disrespectful" things about Penelope's "last performance" especially as a close friend. As for the condemnation towards her, really, it's just a bunch of petty people everywhere that don't like her journalist articles lol, but it is rather interesting that you can be condemned for something like this. It really shows how the importance doesn't lie in the gravity of the crime, the vision orb is just a depraved way of wish fulfillment for those who abuse it to get rid of people they don't like. I like how Vicious helped Yuna come to terms that what she said wasn't wrong, because she knew that praising her crappy performance was the biggest insult to Penelope, and really, these people have no right to condemn her for what she thinks just because they think that Penelope is dying so no one should say such things. They didn't even bother listening to why she said it and I'm sure they knew what she said was right anyway but were just too spiteful and self absorbed to care since it was their best "legitimate" opportunity to get rid of her. The only good thing out of all this is that for once, there were actually other people next to these crazy people that were trying to tell them that it was unreasonable and possibly a misunderstanding and that they shouldn't be too hasty to condemn Yuna like that, which is a first that I very welcomed. I mean, it honestly felt like these people used their brains for once compared to the villagers in the previous chapters. Maybe you could warrant it as the difference between countryside villages and city towns, but whatever it is, it's nice to see that the story is at least veering a bit away from "every person aside from the Tales characters are either dumb, crazy or evil".

Anyway, nice end to the chapter as Kanata further resolves himself to change the world and Yuna will accompany them as their "pen" since "swords" can't resolve everything. The only sad part is that I used my gleamstones to draw but still couldn't get SSR Yuna, but at least I got an SSR Aegis loll. Overall, I do look forward to the next chapters and characters. I mean, Eizen (the guy who got annoyed at Vicious for using Aifread's name to lure the crappy pirates here) looked pretty cool and I would totally draw for him if he got an SSR. He'd probably fit in well with my team of beautiful boys LOL. He seemed like a best boy for some people, so I guess I'll look forward to if he'll have more appearances soon! Otherwise, I would like to see Tear, Natalia and Guy (outside of the recent event)!

#tales of crestoria

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vedj-f-bekuesu · 4 years

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Woo, a bandwagon I can get on. For context, I only got into LEGO as a whole last year and not even Ninjago straight away so I still don’t know that much about it beyond the last couple of seasons and bits about older seasons I’ve picked up on. Instead of just posting the image and leaving it at that, I want to explain some choices because they’re more complex than what the tiers would suggest.

Kai - Kai in theory is a character I hate. The basic premise for him was that he was this arrogant and hotheaded toerag who wanted to be the top dog and whose one really redeeming facet was his sibling relationship with Nya. I can’t stand those sorts of characters, which is why I don’t generally vibe with shonen protagonists. NK had Lance in a similar archetype, but he’s a fave of mine too and that show managed to work it by a) Not have him as the central protagonist, instead focusing on the more stoic and orderly Clay b) Making Clay his main foil (not only could Clay give Lance a dose of humble pie, Lance had plenty of opportunity to get one over Clay in turn). c) Not making the arrogance as obnoxious as Kai’s, which makes me more down with it when the show wants to address it in a slightly more serious context. My main frame of reference though is the later seasons, and here Kai got goddamn dragged. The show made it very clear that Lloyd was the main character and mediator, not Kai (and Lloyd is far more likeable as a protagonist, despite being not have that strong a fondness for him), his arrogance was played more comedic generally, and his personality actually got a tweak to make him more laid back outside of his lapses to hot-headed. And you know what? I’m all for it. Compared to what I’ve seen of Kai before and Kai now, I’ll take the new Kai and cherish him, thanks.

Jay and Nya - I’ll address them both because they’re equally a mess because their characterisations over the years have been a mess and I don’t know if the changes have been enough to balance it yet. For the record, I think both were nice in the film, especially Jay (but then everyone was great in the film...bar Zane, who still was fine). But in the show they’ve been victim to some of the worst handling in the series. It doesn’t help that Jay’s basic premise of being an obnoxious motormouth is something else I don’t particularly enjoy in a character. But like Kai, there’s been improvements over the last few seasons, and I could vibe with it if they stick to it (Jay’s has some very cute moments in the past couple of seasons, adopting at least some of movie Jay’s quirks). Not sure how Nya can get past the fact I don’t like her show voice, though.

Skylor - While Wu just seems like a bastard (and not the fun kind of bastard, a poorly written character whose repetitive writing flaws end up making him look like a bastard), Skylor is admittedly more a victim of me not knowing the show well. The most context I know of her character is her role in season 4, and goddamn is she a whole terrible love interest cliche in that season. My opinion of her could easily change if I get to know the show more deeply and find out her other moments from later seasons. It won’t change the fact that the Kailor ship is awful, but LEGO’s had worse ships for characters I like both of (*cough*Benny/Sweet Mayhem*cough*) so eh.

#ninjago #what else do I even tag this as it's just a tierlist #oh hang on #did you know that Tierzoo is a pun name?#Because Tier is animal in German #So it's both an animal zoo and a tier of creatures #does anyone who watches Ninjago even watch that channel? Eh.

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darkhymns-fic · 5 years

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Where the tall trees bend, I asked something of you

Colette wanted to give something to Lloyd for retrieving her lost weapon, despite him never saying it was necessary. But maybe what she asked was still much too selfish.

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters/Pairing: Lloyd Irving/Colette Brunel Rating: G Mirror Link: AO3 Notes: A fanfic for Fictober 2019, prompt #5: "I might just kiss you." (Very late!! Not a surprise!)

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The sun was setting, lighting fire to the clouds in a burst of red. Maybe the sight of it was what had gotten Colette to make her mistake. It had only been a few weeks since she had started using the chakrams, their weight deceptively heavy and their sides nearly sharp enough to bite into her palms.

Lloyd was staring up at a cliff, scratching his head. "How… did you get your chakram up that far?"

The cliffs that bordered Iselia were not easy things to traverse - so much of the wilderness outside was unkempt, unruly, and so out of the order of neat and proper things that the Church taught her. It was a lot like Lloyd himself, and maybe that was why she was always drawn past the gates to sneak out into the forests with him.

Sometimes they came out here to play, but today was an attempt at training. The result was the ring of metal embedded within a brush that sprouted from the cliff, reflecting back the waning sunlight.

"Uh… I guess I messed up, huh?" She laughed, both hands now clasped around the single chakram she still held. She supposed she could start using just one, but it had not been easy for her father to help get her the weapons.. and it was nice matching double with Lloyd.

Right now, Lloyd had his hands on both hilts of his swords, craning his neck up high to see what he could do. After a moment, he sighed. "Colette, you really have one heck of a throwing arm."

"Hm, it must be all the practice from playing catch with Noishe!"

"No way! That's…. Actually that does make sense…"

Colette felt strangely a bit proud at that, but that didn't help with their situation by much. It was still quite a ways high up. They'd need wings to get up there!

"I guess I'll just have to go get it.." Lloyd said, already stretching out his arms to prepare for the climb.

"Oh! No, no, you don't need to, Lloyd. It was my fault. I should be the one to get it." Even though her legs trembled at the height.

"We need to though! Or you'll get in trouble for hanging out with me again." She saw something cross his face, something she wasn’t used to seeing. "It was my fault anyway. I was making you show me how to use those."

She wanted to say she was so happy to show him her recent training, but he was already turning away, ready to start the climb.

"Is there anything I can do to make up for it?"

Lloyd turned back to her, his right foot already planted on a jutting rock. “Huh? Like what?” At that, she saw the curiosity in his eyes. She knew he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity that he might get a gift. That excitement fueled up her own, made her grin wide.

“If I do, it’ll help you climb faster up that cliff I bet.”

“Hey, so you do want me to go and get it!”

She giggled, still holding onto her sole chakram. “I just want to help you!”

“Well, fine then! What you got for me?” Now back to facing her, hands on his hips, he waited for what she would give him. But first, Colette had to think of something!

"How about...I'll bake you some cookies!" She had always wanted to make cookies regularly like Genis did.

Lloyd raised his eyebrow. "No offense, Colette… but you don’t exactly make the best cookies. I mean, not nearly as bad as the Professor...but you somehow also set the cookies on fire the last time."

Colette ducked her head in embarrassment. "Oh yeah, hehe…. I was hoping you wouldn't remember that."

“It’s kind of hard to forget something like that when it was at my house!”

Dirk had been so forgiving then, even trying out the burnt cookies she had made despite the fact she had nearly set fire to their wooden home. But since there was a metalsmithing forge in the same place, maybe fire accidents like that were common?

“I can help you study when we get back? For last night’s homework!”

Lloyd looked less excited at that. “Man, do we gotta study? Can’t you just give me the answers or something?”

“Ah, but I don’t know the answers either…” It was a lot harder to come up with fun things than she had thought. What would be fun exactly…?

“I can take over grooming Noishe’s fur for you! And help give him baths! And feed him… and take him out for walks and play catch!”

“Colette, this is sounding like it’s more for you than for me! And I already let you help me with all those things anyway!”

“Oh right… But Noishe is so cute, I want to!”

“Heh, I know, I know…”

Lloyd was smiling, but it wasn’t the excitement that she was looking for. She thought hard on it again. She kept thinking on things that she thought was fun, but not for him specifically. But couldn’t it be for both still?

The sun was setting, something that Lloyd noticed. “Hey, if we want to get back to Iselia soon, I’ll need to go get it quick… You can make it up to me some other time!

“Ah, hold on, I just… um…” It was so hard to think of something, but she caught the way the sun shone on his hair, the wind pulling at his collar strips, making her want to reach out and grab it. She nearly wanted to do so now, remembering how she had nearly fallen earlier, Lloyd’s hands grasping her around the waist to prevent her stumble. His eyes had latched onto the chakram that flew from her palm to arc into the air, his hands still holding tight. She had been sad once he finally let go.

"Well, I, um…" Something took over her voice suddenly. "I-I might just kiss you then!"

Lloyd seemed to stumble despite standing still only a moment ago.

"...Say that again?"

Colette stood still, though her mind was going into chaos. Everything felt so different to the soft sky above.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“...Huh? You just did!”

“Ah! You mean just now…”

“Yeah…?”

She could barely look at him; the sun casting brilliant shades over his skin. She had always wanted to be close to him. But there was the fear that he’d know much more than she was prepared to give. He always seemed to. And then she had just blurted it out anyway.

“I… might just kiss you,” she said again, looking to the side.

It felt so quiet, underneath the quickly darkening sky.

She didn’t hear Lloyd say anything, and that worried her. Taking a deep breath, she raised her head, expecting to find a disappointed-looking Lloyd. Instead, he… wasn’t there? Had she scared him so much that he had run off?

She looked at the cliff, up a few feet, and already found him climbing up its face than she thought was possible in so short a time.

"L-Lloyd!" she cried out in surprise.

"Hold on, hold on I'm getting it!!" He was waving back to her, his grin ecstatic. He had nearly lost his grip on one handhold, quickly catching onto another with his previously waving hand. “J-just a sec! Almost there!”

“Wait! That’s too fast!” She rushed up to the cliff, thinking of going after him. But her stockings caught onto bushes that lined the ground, her feet nearly made her slip at a sudden dip in the ground. She’d just cause more trouble for Lloyd if she went up too, it was just-

She wanted to always be with him.

Something in his movements was so strong and quick, that soon he was even jumping across little outcroppings of rock that gave him enough room to plant his feet. Her heart shuddered as he nearly slipped off one, only to catch himself at the last moment, to look back down at her on the ground and give another grin. So bright and so excited, like when he would rush to her when she would walk down the steps from the Church, or helped her ride Noishe to then run with them both down the shoreline of the nearby river. Those are the times she could forget everything else, everything she was meant to do.

Lloyd finally reached her chakram, already grabbing it in his right hand, where the white cloth around his palm stood so starkly against the red dye of his glove. “Got it!” He turned towards her again, the wind blowing strongly against his hair, his ribbons waving erratically in the air like fluttering wings. “See, Colette? I got it!!”

“Y-yeah!” She was calling back, also excited, but still so very nervous for him. “Just… be careful!”

“What? Sorry, I can’t hear you!” Lloyd was shouting loudly, but the wind kept trying to take his voice away. No way her quiet voice would reach up to him that far. “Hold on, I’m coming back down!”

And with that, Lloyd jumped.

There was so much Lloyd could do - as wild as the forests outside her stable village, holding something unknown and exciting. To others, it could be frightening, as many others saw of the boy living outside of what they’ve known. Raised by a dwarf, carrying weapons in his hands to fight off monsters on his daily trek, and his voice so loud it could reach across the village when he called out her name.

Colette finally let go of her remaining chakram, rushing up to where Lloyd was falling. He looked ready to land, as if he had done this so much before, but she couldn’t let go of her worries, of her need to be with him. Arms extended, she attempted to catch him… which just made him land on top of her instead.

The ground was soft beneath her, and she could see the backdrop of the sky against the fringe of Lloyd’s hair.

“Gah! Colette…” Lloyd whined. She had fallen onto her back, Lloyd’s hands pressed into the grass on both sides of her head, trying not to put his full weight on her. The chakram he had held had rolled off to the side, letting go of it at the last second.

“Sorry, sorry,” Colette was repeating, her hands clinging to the material of his jacket. She smiled up at him. “But… you scared me, you know.”

Lloyd looked down at her, his hair sticking out all over the place from the force of his descent. “Ah, I was going to be okay… I do that all the time.”

“Mm, but you never told me that!”

“I didn’t?” He blinked, his confusion so endearing she just wanted to stare at him forever. “Oh… I guess I forgot to. Sorry, Colette...but I did get your chakram!”

“Hehe, yeah! Good job.” She didn’t move from her position, and neither did he. The sun, close to the edge of the sky, shone against his hair, making her blink.

Lloyd noticed the quiet, smiling a little nervously. “Ha… um, about before, you don’t… have to or anything.” She felt her body shift, getting ready to leave. “I can just take you back home.”

What her hands held wasn’t exactly his jacket she realized, but the white strips that extended from his collar. She held them in both hands, keeping him from getting up.

“Uh…” Lloyd said, noticing her stopping him. He didn’t seem to mind, she thought. Or was that just wishful thinking?

“But I wanted to give it you though.”

She would always keep his expression then close to her heart - once she left on her own journey, once she finally said her goodbyes, this was one selfish thing she would allow herself to keep. His red cheeks, the lock of hair that fell over his forehead, the surprise slowly morphing to something much more pleased.

“It seemed like you were really happy about it too,” she said, gauging to make sure. Still, she held the fabric, twirling it between her fingers.

“Yeah… I’m still really happy about it,” he said with that addictive smile.

“Well… then… um, let me,” she said, before pulling him down just a fraction so she could kiss him, closing her eyes as she did so. She still felt the warmth of the sun; on her face, against her lips, how he softly fell against her, the hint of her name on his breath.

Perhaps she was allowed one more selfish thing she could keep. Lloyd taught her that two of something was always better anyway.

#fictober19 #tales of symphonia #colloyd #colette brunel #lloyd irving #fanfiction #one shot #i should just tag these 'tales of colloyd' at this point #i have a one track mind

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sodasyrup · 5 years

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I love,,,,, domestic lava au... You should do more of it. I'd love to know more about reka and monty too!

BWAAA...

Okay as I said it’s an au with kittie (6kuro) so I’m gonna grab the things it said and I said lmao

warning its a LONG disjointed post bc im too tired to make. a good post fdhghdf

lovelypeaches08/28/2019cole and kai would settle down real late like....in their late thirties because they want to keep their children as safe as possible, being elemental masters and having enemies and all

at first wu wants them to fight longer and shit but hes OLD so who cares and theres probably conflict on thatbut kai and cole are old enough to realized they dont have to be controlled

so they get married, symbolically if anything, because they've been dating for probably a little over a decade now and known each other even longer, AND been living together for the same amount of time

theyre the first of the ninja to settle down, and they buy a small house in a village thats maybe an hour away from ninjago city

the tininess of the house is made up for by the largeness of the yard, where cole likes to garden, especially fruits and vegetables

cole works as a stay at home free lance artist, doing stuff like commissions, book covers, comics, etc for moneykai does something that puts his charisma to use, probably something in business that lets him advertise and talk a lot..he could never settle down for a stay at home job or anything, even with all his thrilling ninja stories

they have enough money from donations and awards to thrive off these jobs, and ninjago probably pays them kind of like retirement

cole cooks for kai so he always has a meal ready when hes home, so then kai cooks on the weekend

anyways, they have two kids, about 3 years aparti haven't figured them much out yet, but kai and cole cook and bake with themcoles parenting style is very protective and rather spoils them, while kai lets them do whatever as long as its not immediately dangerousthey balance each other out well, so their kids grow up loved and well rounded

lovelypeaches08/28/2019coles always buying them sweets and treats and Kai pretends to be annoyed but thinks its really cute

the kids go to a small school on the outskirts of ninjago city, and get asked about their parents a LOT. they kind of like the attention but it gets irritating

moving on to the other ninja who also start to settle down,jay doesnt really want kids, so he passes on his powers with ~science~ or something, but only when hes a lot olderhe does engineering at borg industries or something, and he messes around a lot but gets away with it bc hes the blue ninjahes like kai and coles kids Fun Uncle, since he lives in a big apartment in downtown ninjago city, with a bunch of cool techkai and coles family often take elongated road trips therejay thinks hes a cool relative but besides being super lenient hea actually kind of embarrassing lol

nya settles down a bit later than the rest of them, because she wants to live her ninja days to the fullesti could go on about my domestic samurai au but her and pixal have a kid who gets nyas water powersnya is much more eager to train her kid than cole and Kai are (they want to start properly training thwir children when theyre like 16, much to wus disappointment)nya doesn't force anyrhing on her kid but she doesnt protect her kid from the fact they'll have to train sooner or latershes determined on still changing the world, so she's a strong political leader, with innovative ideas who doesnt approve of ninjagos government and wants to change it for the betterShe also lives in downtown, but isn't as fun as jayher kid is younger than kai and coles, but kai and coles kids look up to them because they're very independent and skilled! their mom is also super cool, but not in a silly way. she rocks leather jackets and drives her kid around on a motorcycle

lovelypeaches08/28/2019zane is tricky for me...i like to imagine him sticking with lloyd to being a ninja or whatever, since hes going to be alive a lonnggg timehe also wants to respect wus wishes, so he teaches students and fights alongside lloydhe does so much less however, and finds a lot of time to visit his friends

kai and coles kids are shy around him at first, him being a nindroid whose still a ninja, but hes so much nicer and softer than expectedhe always brings them presenrs and enjoys quality time with them, so he's basically their favorite uncle

now lloyd continues his master training, to become the next master after wu dies. hed be the one to guide the next generation of elemental masters as well as their parents in training thembut don't worry, he gets a break too, since the other ninja help him out. hes much less burdened then wu was in the later years of his lifeok thats all i think

My commentary now

little boy whos like 3 and super wide eyed and excited and loves pink (when he foudn out zane at one point had a pink gi he asked if he could get one too)older girl around 6 whos a big daddys girl and loves to garden with cole and make mud piez

the little girl is the fire em - she had temper issues linked to autismz which they worked through her with early and never thought of it but she has a big passion for gardening they mistook for elemental connection when rly she just LUVS IT

little boy is em of earth - hes a natural born leader and stubborn, wide eyed and excitable. again bc they worked w both their kids about their tempers and such they never realized he was just naturally good at keeping his composure. also a lot like jay keeping morals upnaturally strong but both their kids are and i hc the super strength doesnt come in until peubertyz

shes a bit of a late bloomer with em powers but one day their little boy accidentally makes a pot hole inside the kitchen bc he was excited over zane cookingthey took too good of care of their kids and his true potential was simple bc he was a litol kid which was im going to live my best fcuking life with friends and family *rips a hole in the ground

kai and cole are the gross sappy parents that trade kisses n their kids are like thats DISGUSTING youre DISGUSTINGLY IN LOVE

Kittie pointslovelypeaches08/28/2019YEAYEYAYAYYEYAYAYEoh god the little boy is part scenecorelikenot full on scene but like punk y2kwhich is a part of scenealso at first cole and kai are super concerned being a ninja will be as mentally damaging and ack as it was for them at times, but lloyd and zane are genuinely good mastersbutnot to get sadbutwhen tragedy does happen somehow, since neither Lloyd nor zane can ease that, cole and kai are so good at helping their kids e thatthey help them recover from it without downplaying their kids concerns and feelings amd give good advice and loveand make being elemental masters a lot easier for their kids than it ever was for them

me again.....

they always get so fucking scared thokai custom makes weapons for themarmor too he spends hours upon hours making sure its perfect and even prays over them to keep their kids safe

anyway when kai n cole visit w them (idk if theyr just adopted at their current age or like.... adopted as babies or surrogate or?? idk but) they visit lloyd and kai softly says "Look! its uncle lloyd" and lloyd starts SOBBING hes just fucking bawlinghis eyes out and when kai offers to for lloyd to hold him lloyds just like are you suure arre eyyuuu thherye so smsmm all kaiii are yoruur suureee thheyrey babbeises

nya is hesitant but ends up being a really good aunt, i meanshe took care of kai /j

zane is a fav uncle and hes always making sweets for them jay is. also sorta a fav bc where zane comes jay follows and jay has a sweet tooth and also makes Cool Toys + hey wanna prank your dadsalso im dramatic and likekai and cole sitting down and having a convo about master wubc he was sorta a shitty mentor and they really REALLY dont want their kids going through any self confident issues nor over stressing bc theyr KDISeventually kai and cole talk to master wu and actually has wu face his terrible practice towards kids and wu accepting he was.............................a bad 'parent' in a senseblebleblelelelelelellekai works but cole absolutely watches over any training when wu is there at first but lloyd is the master now and lloyd is like..........................i dont want kids to go through what i went through kai is like i trust you but also i will murder every single one of you in this dojo if you ever hurt my little girlim doing what i do and taking an au and running im sorry ghdghdfhJACK RAMBLES....their son refuses to wear shoes he lieks dirt on his feet they never really think much of it but its actually really comforting for him to feel the earth under his feet and feel stablethey think its just a stim thing maybe? theyr unsurebut! turns out him Element(also a fear of heights)lloyd tries to be a serious master but hes a big ol goof and can easily be manipulated

ironically.......its the lil boy who often is like HEY!!!!!!!!!!! WE GOTTA TRAIN!

kai and cole agree not to tell anyone what theyre thinking of naming their little boy until he arrives so when the day comes kais holding this tiny little boy and holds him out gentlyand lloyd is already EMOTIONAL because this is a BABY and lloyd softly asks his name n cole cuts in like "hes named after a really brave dude, montgomery. but we're thinking monty as a nickname"lloyd, choking up:(hc garmadons first name is montgomery)

the girl is Reka which means sweet in maori (a personal headcanon for cole) and shes their sweetheart

lovelypeaches09/04/2019bhrnrng this is in domestic au but col and kai teachign their kids instrumentscole and reka wud play piano duets togetherand monty doesnt like instruments much but he likes to singlike a LOT he belts out a song for everythinghe just lieks his own voice

burdletutt09/04/2019HNGGG HFHMONTY LOVS BEING LOUD

lovelypeaches09/04/2019YEAAAHhes like the type who makes a song for everythingmonty voice we rr goinggg to the parkkkkk and the grass isss.........GREEENNNNNNN and there are LOOK THERE ARE SQUIRRRELSSSS and a playground and the skyyyyy isssssssssssss...*deep inhale* BLUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE1E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!kai and cole: you are literally so talented

jay tries really hard to be the Cool Uncle at firstbut Monty just :^TReka gives him an awkward chucklewhen jay stops being Cool ™ hes goofy and thats when they start giggling and liking him more

#sodask #Anonymous #dads au

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ingenves · 5 years

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hello angels ! the name’s moose ( she/her ) & i love bugs and poutine. it’s late af so im off to bed right away but ! i would love to plot with each and every single one of you so definitely feel free to HMU ( on here or u can ask for my discord if u prefer ) or LIKE THIS and i’ll come to u ! i don’t have a wc page or anything sorted out yet but we rollin. you can peep saskia’s pinterest board HERE for the aesthetic™

⌈ sophie turner, cisfemale, she/her ⌋ hey, is it SASKIA GRAHAM that you’re looking for? you know, the TWENTY-ONE year old ACTRESS. typically i see them hanging around NEPTUNE’S DINER so you could try there! i hear they’ve been in living in KINGSTON for ONE YEAR. gristol wouldn’t be the same without them, right? anyway, whenever i see them they make me think of fresh manicures, sweet nothings whispered in french & broken champagne bottles on a tile floor.

ok so! lil miss saskia is the only child of infamous director lloyd graham and his second wife anna, a talent agent. they split up when she was a baby and although she was born in london, she primarily grew up in paris where she lived w her father and her step mom anaïs who was just an up-and-coming designer at the time of their marriage

as u can imagine, she grew up living this extravagant and opulent lifestyle that she’s since become addicted to

it was hard to be a normal kid w the parents she had, but.....all of her friends were also a part of the same world she was. as far as her childhood goes, ofc she was super duper privileged so it wasnt HARD but it also wasnt always easy??

she started acting when she was v young. she started her career in theatre as a child actor and then occasionally making small appearances in various movies that her father was working on, but her career rly took off when she hit her teen years.

she’s got a reputation for being a scream queen, most of her filmography consisting of indie french horror and thriller movies. she’s fairly well-known in france and in europe for her work but not so much in the americas unless ur into french / foreign film ig?

her father has always had most of the control over her career. although he had no part in getting her roles, he did police what she could and couldn’t audition for and he did his best to make sure that she stayed scandal-free and out of the tabloids to avoid taking a dump on the family name u know?

which is........kind of funny bc her dad is WELL KNOWN for being horrible to work with, short-tempered, demanding, all that good stuff. he’s also just.....rude. and elitist and he thinks he’s better than everyone else even tho his movies arent even THAT good. satan himself, probably

so ofc saskia didn’t want to work w him either and it was exhausting having to be his DAUGHTER when he’s so controlling

they had this MASSIVE fight eventually, where saskia basically called him out for trying to control every aspect of her life instead of just letting her LIVE and take her career and her life in the direction she wanted to. he claimed that every single one of her accomplishments was because of HIM and because of their name and without all their money she would be nothing and that made her FURIOUS bc as much as yes, her family did help her get her foot in the door and get auditions, all of the work she’s done and every role she’s gotten was because she earned it, not because of anyone else

in an act of spite and to give her dad two big ole MIDDLE FINGERS she moved to the place her father hates the most, new york city. that’s what she told him, at least, but she settled in gristol instead, just a short drive away from the big apple

she never rly pictured herself living there since.....paris is her entire life and she’s never rly had an interest in expanding her horizons to american film but.........now that she’s tryna piss off her dad she just might :/

ditched her big fancy house for a cute lil apartment that she adores

tbqh she’s just been taking a hiatus from her career since moving, straight chillin most of the time , kind of laying low and getting her ducks in a row, letting her father stew while not knowing wtf she’s been doing for a year

but she’s bored bored BORED and she doesn’t want to go back home so she’s just getting her career going again, going to auditions and doing the whole dealio u know how it be

that abt sums it up??? let me talk abt her cancer ass now

she’s SUPER good at keeping a facade and then going home to cry herself to sleep afterwards

lowkey insecure af

riddled w trust issues

as u can tell, she is a spiteful little shit

she doesn’t like to talk abt her feelings but then.....gets offended when ppl dont realize when she’s upset or angry??? *lisa from the room vc* i don’t want to talk about it

she takes criticism very personally and will most definitely get angry at u if u criticize her in any way

wtf is a stable emotion???? she has no idea

her life is a constant cycle of overreacting to things

don’t get me WRONG she is actually quite a sweetheart but it’s when u try to call her out or break her trust that she does a fuckin flip flop and goes bananas

she out here destroying herself so no one else can :/

she gets stressed out v easily and always has to take time for herself ahdsjkfg. spa days are what keep her going

loyal af to the ppl who are loyal to her!!!!!

can be lowkey manipulative without even realizing what she’s doing. just a smooth talker rly

ok some lil extra bits for ur consideration

she rly.....had no idea how to live by herself tbqh after moving out. she was LOST. didn’t know how to do laundry or make coffee or do the dishes, she didn’t know SHIT MY GUY. for someone who is v intelligent she rly......had a hard time adjusting to Real life.

occasionally walks the runway for her step-mom but her true Passion is acting

she has to take a nap every day or else she is impossible to deal with

likes to Partay but she always texts her exes when she’s drunk :/

a sentimental BITCH!!!! keeps every letter and birthday card anyone has ever given her. she has money so like.....she prefers to receive sentimental gifts that make her lowkey soft heart Melt.

loves spontaneous trips and adventures

since moving to gristol she’s become less of a fashion bitch and more of a casual comfort hoe but.......the gal always has her nails done

she hasn’t spoken to her dad since she moved away but she talks to her step-mom almost everyday bc she adores that womaN

she absolutely.....adORES american culture. she watched a ton of american tv growing up and she idolizes that shit dude

fluent in french & english ofc!! has a lil french accent

ok that’s all i have rly thank u for reading this far if u did and if not i feel u man and i still love u

#gristolintro

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siverwrites · 5 years

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Press Start Letter

AO3: Siver

There are some pretty big groups here, so I’ll try to keep things short. Prompts are just possible starters. As long as the DNWs are avoided it’s all good! Really can’t go wrong taking anything from my Likes list. A lot of found family vibes happening in this batch so anything in that vein in particular is great.

All requests are for fic or art. Art: Interactions of some sort: emoting at each other, talking, sharing some activity, taking a walk, hugs are always welcome, soft things, whatever suits the pair/group

Likes: fluff, hurt/comfort, comfort, missing scenes, friendships, long-term friendships, close relationships of any sort whether romantic or platonic, familial bonds, found family, sickfic, AUs, fandom crossovers or fusions, angst with a happy end, bonding, cuddling/hugs/holding, banter, mutual care and support, emotional bonding, loyalty, pre-canon, post-canon, reuniting, slice of life

DNW: NSFW, non-con, dub-con, underage relationships, unrequested ships, infidelity

Ghost Trick

I love this game, its characters and pretty much everything about it, so whatever you want to do will be great I am sure. New timeline mysteries and missing memories are always welcome where it makes sense. Alternate timelines and what-ifs are cool to explore. Fluff, comfort, family found or otherwise and friendships are always a go. Any combination of these characters is more than welcome too!

Alma & Emma: Friends! Mom-friends? Knew each other before the girls were born? Is Alma Emma’s beta-reader?Is a certain detective husband merely a great inspiration and Alma is endlessly amused?

Alma & Sissel: That cat is Strange shenanigans. Alternatively Alma knows and teamup times of any sort! Or just some good old comfy cat times

Cabanela & Jowd: Close friends (or more), partners. Determination and loyalty. Really can’t go wrong with anything and these two. Case fic? Just time spent together? Mutual insufferability? Nothing like it!

Cabanela & Kamila: Best weird cool uncle! Best cool niece (whether kids are a what do situation for Cabs or not). How do they spend time together? How does he spoil her rotten?

Cabanela & Missile: Loyalty to the max--of course they get along. Anything cute/fun for these is welcome. Dog snuggles! Dance lessons! Rookie Detective Missile is on the case bark bark!

Cabanela & Pigeon Man: I’m always down for anything during the year they worked together. Alternatively what the heck might pull them together in post-game?

Cabanela/Jowd: No infidelity please. So, this could be a no-reset scenario, something during the game events–ch.9 and ch.15 stuff is always great. Or on a less angsty route, it is the ot3 or some kind of happy V. but Alma’s simply not involved if they’re at work, she’s at work, or a trip or she’s on a trip, etc, so the focus is on their end. Fluff, bonding, banter, travel, domestic stuff, on-the-job antics either at the station or out on a case.

Cabanela/Jowd/Alma: Post-game. All the polyamory fluff! Domestic fluff, travel fluff, vacation fluff, road trip, picnics, beach trips, train trip? etc. Go for a date whatever a date might entail for these three. Hugs, snuggles, and love. Light angst is fine too, as long as they get a happy end.

Jowd & Lynne & Memry: Detective group/mentor shenanigans. Likely chicken.

Jowd & Pigeon Man: Old friends. Anything from their past working together, or new timeline working together! Jowd’s gotten strange. There’s a meteorite. PM is intrigued.

Jowd & Sissel: Detective and Ghost Cat. Working together!

Kamila & Amelie: Anything friendship is good. Current ages or future fic/art when they’re older!

Lynne & Memry, Lynne/Memry: The Odd Girls working together drawing all the oddest cases!

Pigeon Man & Blue Doctor: Who is the Blue Doctor. How long has he been around? How might they meet and what do think of each other?

Rindge & Lynne & Memry: Odd Girls + trying-to-be-normal Rindge in an odd world. Contrasts! Clashing ways of working that manage to work!

Sissel & Missile & Lovey-Dove: The animals just hanging out doing animal things. The animals getting on a mission of their own?

Cabanela: Anything Cabanela being his sparkly determined Cabanela self. Something during his five years goal? Day to day life? A hobby? Post-game fun times? Just. Cabanela.

Crossover settings are cool too. Some other settings that I like born of Discord Talks:

FFVI: Half esper Sissel? Magic infused Cabanela with the Empire working in secret? Jowd suplexing a train? Returner Lynne somewhere back there? General Final Fantasy VI shenanigans with these characters. World of Balance? Reunions in the World of Ruin? Opera Cabanela. More info here https://archiveofourown.org/series/1169099 or here: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1196335 or here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16407494

Ivalice: Viera Cabanela! Nu Mou (Tactics Nu Mou specifically) Jowd and family! Anything here. I am more familiar with Tactics versions but anything goes. Fluff? Intrigue? Mist frenzied Cabanela and after effects–maybe the first time Jowd’s seen this happen, and particularly startling from the usually controlled Cabanela who relies more on magic?

FFX: Summoner Jowd, devoted guardian Cabanela who hates this whole process, but isn’t about to leave Jowd. Something during the journey? Something with Yunalesca? Even shortly after it’s all over but they have this new world and old scars to contend with?

Crystal Chronicles: No idea what races they’d be but if there’s something fun to be had here, fly at it. Lilty Jowd? Yuke Cabanela (got that tall bird thing going)? Something more fitting? Something something miasma, something crystals. A moment in their caravan journey?

Trails Series: The cast in Zemuria! Dominion Cabanela undercover in Arc-en-Ciel. What might his stigma be? Knight Alma of the Gralsritter assigned with Cabanela. Crossbell Chief of Police of Jowd separated from Alma some years previously to some disaster (like the manifestation of Cabanela’s stigma) and doesn’t know the other two are alive, along with his daughter Kamila who’s learning all she can about orbal tech. Reuniting! Hermit Pigeon Man orbal scientist and contact for Jowd? Is Lynne a Detective under Jowd or a Bracer? What of Memry? Other ideas entirely!

Trails in the Sky | Sora no Kiseki

Anything in any of the three Sky games or something in between them. Missing scenes, scene extensions, travel along the roads, airship travel times, etc. Ample opportunity for anything in the Garden in 3rd. I love these characters, their world, their relationships or potential for.

Estelle Bright & Cassius Bright: Any kind of father-daughter bonding time. Pre-FC, post-SC before she and Joshua set off, post-return to Liberl, anywhere something can fit really.

Estelle Bright & Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor: Estelle is perpetually and understandably exasperated with him, but what about a quieter moment? Parting ways after SC, or some encouragement at some point during SC for Estelle, or Estelle catching Olivier in an off moment (example: like their talk about the dreams from Luciola).

Estelle Bright & Tita Russell: Sisters! Anything showing a sisterly bond is great.

Julia Schwarz & Mueller Vander: They share the same role with drastically different charges. Relate to one another in some respects? Do some training? Commiserate? Encourage through some similar worries for Kloe and Olivier respectively?

Kevin Graham & Ries Argent: Kevin is a dumbass and is lucky Ries is patient for this self-deprecating fool. More seriously anything about their relationship is good during 3rd or post-3rd (nothing that could spoil Cold Steel III or IV please)

Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor: Just Olivier being Olivier during his Liberl travels either when he’s alone or while he’s with the group, whether it’s outrageous Olivier or quiet time Olivier with a hell of a long road ahead of him on this battle he’s chosen.

Kloe Rinz & Julia Schwarz: Beyond their bond as knight and princess I think they love each other platonically. Sisterly? Something showing their close bond. Helping each other out? Julia protects Kloe but Kloe protects her back in turn? Talks of duty but also personal wants?

The Legend of Heroes VII | Zero/Ao no Kiseki

These games hit my found family buttons hard. Anything portraying some kind of relationship among these characters is awesome. Any combination of these characters is more than welcome too!

Elie MacDowell: Explore Elie’s thoughts and feelings on everything that’s happening in Crossbell. What about her personal feelings on the Croises and betrayed by Mariabell? Her feelings on her own standing and what she wants?

Cecil Neues & Ilya Platiere: They’re an odd friendship and both married to their work but they make it work. Anything exploring their friendship or the time while Ilya was hospitalized--hard on both of them in different ways.

Elie MacDowell & Tio Plato & KeA: Girl’s day out! Aidios knows they could use one. Some kind of Mishy involvement is a bonus (or a necessity in Tio’s eyes).

Lloyd Bannings & KeA: Lloyd is the daddest of dads. Lloyd and KeA time of any sort is good.

Lloyd Bannings & Randy Orlando: They’ve both lost family but they can be brothers for each other. Supporting each other

Randy Orlando & Tio Plato: Big brother Randy and little sister Tio? They both lost their childhoods. Something to relate on?

Rixia Mao/Ilya Platiere: While Ilya clearly cares for Rixia, Rixia’s love may be one-sided (for the time being at least, perhaps more in the future?). Rixia’s thoughts and fears while Ilya is hospitalized. Once awake, Ilya’s concerns for what Rixia really wants and her place--she belongs with Arc-en-Ciel and they both know it

Sergei Lou & Alex Dudley: Past working together or connections in current time. Wildly different personalities but Dudley still listens to Sergei. Anything exploring their working relationship, or anything exploring them off the job on break.

Sergei Lou & KeA: Grumpy uncle Sergei cannot resist the charms of KeA. Anything familial (possibly despite himself) between these two.

Shizuku MacLaine & KeA: Let these kids be happy. Give them a good time together.

Wazy Hemisphere & Noel Seeker: The temporary SSS members, outliers that never quite fit the same as our core four. They’re completely different in personality but how might they connect at least for a little while?

Randy Orlando: Always interested in anything exploring Randy’s struggles with home and family and where his place is (the night he runs away included!). He belongs with SSS but it’s hard for him to see. Also appreciate how casino owner Drake looks out for him. He’s cared for even if he can’t always see it!

Trails of Cold Steel | Sen no Kiseki

Following the theme of these games, bonds! Old bonds, new bonds, forming bonds!

Elliot Craig & Fie Claussell: They don’t get much interaction in-game all told, but I have a special soft spot for a budding friendship between them. School days activities or something during the month they (and Machias) spent in the Celdic area between CS I and II?

Fie Clausell & Instructor Beatrix: Fie finding comfort in Beatrix’s presence. Beatrix looking out for her.

Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor & Alfin Reise Arnor & Mueller Vander: Olivier is Too Much. Alfin is Too Much. What is a Mueller to do when he’s got both of them around?

Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor & Alfin Reise Arnor: Alfin is very much Olivier’s sister. Little sister and big brother shenanigans! Or maybe something welcoming him back to Erebonia?

Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor & Mueller Vander, Olivier Lenheim | Olivert Reise Arnor/Mueller Vande: Gen or romance slant. I’m good with either or one with shades of the other. I enjoy Mueller and Olivier’s closeness and how they contrast each other. Olivier’s more eccentric and flamboyant nature, but also his more serious side. And Mueller’s regular exasperation with him, but also his care for him. Being there for each other. I’m fond of the little things like how Mueller always calls him Olivier even in Erebonia when Olivert’s identity is known and public. Heimdallr fun or trouble (Olivier…). Planning against Osborne. Look after a tired Olivert? Something during the civil war when they’re in the west?

Principal Vandyck & Instructor Beatrix: Both are more than they appear. I loved the Instructor teamup in the last part of CS I and these two have a history. Explore their connection, or reminiscing. Would also be interested in their activities during Trista’s occupation.

Towa Herschel & George Nome & Angelica Rogner: Anything exploring their friendship, or perhaps something during their time as the proto Class VII or their memories of that time in comparison (or contrast) to the new Class VII?

Mueller Vander & Elise Schwarzer: Elise is sliding into a similar role for Alfin as Mueller for Olivier. Maybe he can give her some advice? Or the two stand by while their respective charges/friends are <vague gesture> That. One way or another the siblings are a handful and Mueller and Elise know it (and if forced into honesty wouldn’t have it any other way).

Pyre

Another case of give me all the found family joys. Daily activities while they travel? Post Peaceful revolution activities? (Note: I’m good with any of the _ae options for Vagabond girl for naming purposes)

Big Bertrude & Volfred Sandalwood: I adore their close friendship and that it came about from Bertrude’s unrequited love, but it’s okay, better than okay! Anything between them in their history, or during the Nightwings travels or post revolution would be great.

Big Bertrude & Sir Gilman: Big snakes and little snake. Grump and enthusiast. Awkward mutual (grudging?) respect?

Jodariel & Sir Gilman: Contrasts in everything from personality to size. Something exploring that would be great

Tariq | The Lone Minstrel & Big Bertrude: We don’t see a lot of interaction between them. How do they get along? What stories might they share? An appreciation for music or something to tolerate? What does a day in the blackwagon look like between them?

Tariq | The Lone Minstrel & Sir Gilman: The Moon and the Wyrm. Music and Knighting. Just these two interacting somehow

Vagabond Girl & Jodariel: Jodariel going mom-mode on _ae? Or just a big hug? _ae being far more enthusiastic than Jodi is used to these days?

Vagabond Girl & Sir Gilman: So much energy!

Volfred Sandalwood & Sandra: So much potential for interaction as a reader. And snark. And an unimpressed Sandra. But on some things they can maybe agree...

Volfred Sandalwood/Tariq | The Lone Minstrel: Something gentle for the tree and the moon who somehow fell for him, any time period

Ti'Zo: Imp doing imp things. Anything Ti’zo will make me happy

FFVI

All that travelling time is ripe for more interaction or character exploration. Equally interested in what they might be doing after the world is saved too.

Cayenne Garamonde | Cyan Garamonde (FFVI): Where does Cyan go when the world is saved? What is a new home for Cyan? Alternatively a look at Cyan’s time during the year between the World of Balance and the World of Ruin

Celes Chere (FFVI): Opera Celes! Celes time away from the party after Vector. Celes after the world is saved--what does she do, where does she go?

Edgar Roni Figaro & Setzer Gabbiani: King and Engineer in a mechanical moving castle? Pilot of the only airship? They could have some great talks. Maybe some proposed airship upgrades?

Thank you for anything you do!

#press start #press start 2019 #letter

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goron-king-darunia · 5 years

Note

Annon-Guy: How do you feel about the official pairings in Symphonia? LloydXColette, EmilXMarta, SheenaXZelos and AliceXDecus. P.S. While these are not official, what do you think of the GenisXPresea and RegalXRaine ships?

I didn’t realize SheenaXZelos was considered an official pairing by most, actually! As a concept, I think they could be cute, but as things are right now with the canon where it is and with the interactions they’ve had, I don’t think they’re a very healthy relationship. Zelos basically sexually harassed her and she had very little recourse other than to punch him. I think if they showed Zelos learned NOT to do that and to flirt in a way she’s actually RECEPTIVE of, then it would be a cute dynamic. Zelos being goofy with her and her being sort of dismissive would be FINE if his goofiness didn’t involve groping and other things she clearly doesn’t like. If she actually liked what Zelos was doing, it’d be a little sleazy but it’d be fine. (The sleazy thing is mostly because, like, as fictional characters they’re MADE to act that way and a fictional girl being receptive to groping sends a broader message that it’s okay to grope girls which it generally isn’t.) But if Zelos could improve a bit beyond what we see in the games (and he improved GREATLY in DotNW. He harasses Sheena less but it’s still there to a degree.) and they fleshed out the relationship a bit more for some tenderness, yeah, they’d be cute. AliceXDecus is a little toxic, just by virtue of them both being written as bad guys. In some alternate universe where Alice’s lust for power is directed more toward a protective impulse and Decus’s devotion to her isn’t fully out of her manipulating his feelings for her until she’s vulnerable and starts giving back (which she basically only seems to do at the very end of the game unless you do her sidequest and learn a bit more) then they’d be pretty cute. A terrifying power couple with the woman in charge and her man behind her 100% would be a rad thing to see. LloydXColette is really cute, even though I think Lloyd is a terminal dumbass and Colette could do better. XD They really care about each other though and they have a really cute dynamic and the games fully flesh out their interactions so that even if you don’t read them as romantically interested, you can tell they have a very strong bond. ColetteXall the Dogs is a good ship too though. Let her adopt all puppers. EmilXMarta has potential, though I oppose it on the grounds that I prefer Emil and Richter together, but I think even at the end of the game, both ships would have toxic elements. Richter is clearly not fully over Aster’s death and is bad at articulating emotions and Marta is still working toward treating Emil as his own person and not as her knight. In each ship, Richter and Marta would need to work on themselves a lot more in order to actually address how their behavior impacts Emil. Emil has basically already completed his arc and has improved in the ways he needed to in order to be “someone deserving of their love.” Like, clearly Richter and Marta both love late game Emil basically exactly as he is. They both wanted him braver and he did that. He improved to the point that he’s able to tell them when he thinks their wrong which is healthier for him and for potential relationships. But Richter, even at the end of the game, fails at communicating with Emil at almost every turn. Communication breaks down when Emil tries to decipher vague statements Richter makes because Richter is still too afraid of being fully honest (though to be fair, during the late game he has committed to disengaging from attachments with Emil because he plans on one of them killing the other.) Richter’s growth from the sidequests basically disappears late game. During the first two quests, he opens up a lot, but once he realizes Emil is 99.999% probably Ratatosk, he abandons that growth because he can’t afford not to kill Emil if he wants all his effort to pay off. Marta, meanwhile, does make strides toward learning to tell Ratatosk and Emil apart, but it’s also very clear that she’s still not seeing them fully. When Ratatosk pretends to be Emil, she can tell that it’s Ratatosk. But when Emil pretends to be Ratatosk at the end, she’s completely fooled, even though Emil clearly refers to himself as Lord Ratatosk, which we NEVER hear Ratatosk do to refer to himself. Furthermore, she’s fooled by the idea that Ratatosk “can’t be controlled” and that’s why he’s breaking whatever Verius did. Marta sees Ratatosk as inherently violent and dangerous during the endgame which completely undoes all the growth she supposedly did during the middle of the game where she defends his actions to everyone because she “knows Ratatosk is a good person.” That, coupled with the fact that even while she dials things back, she never stops flirting even though it’s clear Emil wants to take it slow, shows that she definitely needs more time learning about Emil/Ratatosk so that she’s CAPABLE of treating Emil/Ratatosk like a PERSON and not as an idealized caricature of her “perfect man.” I think if you gave both Richter and Marta 2 years to just... no pressure date Emil, just hang out and do platonic things like board games and such, I think if they both did that? Just hung out with him in a calm environment and talked like normal people without being forced into battle constantly to cooperate, then I think both relationships could definitely blossom into something really nice. But overall, I think Richter has a better shot because he already treated Emil like a full person. He didn’t want Emil to be braver in order to fit some idea in his head of what Emil should be. He wanted Emil to be braver because he SAW EMIL STRUGGLING and wanted Emil to be able to defend himself. He didn’t demand Emil do anything like Marta had. He told Emil what he thought he should do and then asked Emil to TRY. 90% of Richter’s complaints to Emil were “don’t do this just because you think I want you to.” “Don’t try to like herbs just because you think I want you to. If you want to try to like herbs, do it because it’s something you want to do to broaden your horizons.” (I’m reading between the lines of course, but still.) Marta was definitely LEARNING to do that and that was REALLY nice to see. She eventually did start giving Emil advice because she wanted him to improve for his own sake, not to fit her definition of an ideal man. But Richter was doing that in the beginning. Which is why I think he’s a better match. All of Richters work to deserve Emil has to do with exclusively personal work. He needs to learn to feel his feelings. He already treated Emil right. Marta’s work needs to happen interpersonally. She needs to learn more about who Emil really is and work on treating him the way he wants to be treated. Richter and Marta are foils like that. She already feels her feelings and can communicate her own needs with Emil, but she hasn’t quite met the threshold of treating Emil as his own person. Richter has always seen Emil as his own person, even though he had EVERY REASON to project Aster onto him. What Richter needs to learn is to feel his feelings and communicate his desires. So yeah, long but this is my game of expertise since I played ToS a long time ago and I obsess over Richter and Emil, so... definitely a dearth of knowledge on the ToS part compared to all the hyperfocusing I do on DotNW. AS FOR NON-CANON SHIPS: GenisXPresea is really cute. The “age gap” is the only real issue, but when it comes to fictional characters, the age doesn’t matter as much as their role in the narrative and how they interact with each other. Genis and Presea both behave in similar ways, both have similar levels of power. Presea has been alive longer, sure, but their levels of experience in the world are roughly the same. Also, given how long elves and half-elves live, the age gap becomes less important as limiting the relations to only people in their own age range becomes difficult a gap of 100 years between half-elves is basically a gap of 10 years by our standards. So the number is less important than the dynamic and power level. Neither is inherently more privileged than the other, they have a good camaraderie, they share some interests and take an interest in each others’ hobbies, they seem to enjoy each other’s company, and the only one with any objection to it is Presea, who mostly objects on the principle that she wants to live life for herself for a while because she was trapped in her own body for years without any agency. RegalXRaine is an iffy one. They get along well, but there doesn’t seem to be much chemistry. They respect each other and get along well, but they have very different interests and Regal still loves Alicia very much and seems more committed to helping Presea reintegrate with society than getting back in the dating pool. I think they’d make a cute couple, sure, but a lot needs to happen before that stuff happens.

#DotNW #ToS #ships #Anonymous #ask GKD

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yuki7900archive · 6 years

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Movie!Nya x Female Reader

This entire thing is like, almost 25,000 words long so I gotta separate this into so many parts just to post it all on this site smh. I think it’ll be 6 or 7 parts? We’ll find out as I post em I guess haha

You were not overly fond of the idea of having to leave everything behind. No child usually is now that I really think about it. Who wants to leave all they've ever known and go to an entirely new place that they'd never even heard of? No one. I speak from personal experience here readers. Moving house? Totally sucks. At least in the first few weeks. In the grand scheme of things, it's not the end of the world. Sometimes it's even for the better. I know that can be hard to believe, but trust me on this one.

You had moved to Ninjago because your mom had some important work-related stuff to do here. She said they were low on staff or whatever, and needed her over there. You didn't want to leave your home but you didn't really have a choice, still being in high school and not having a job. So with much reluctance, you left and came here. It hadn't been awful so far. You supposed you couldn't really complain after less than 24 hours. But the moment you headed to school you were filled with dread. Your previous school was filled with enough bullies as it was, what would this school be like? You hoped not that bad. But after seeing how silent the front yard went when a blonde haired teen in a green hoodie got off the bus, you had your doubts. It was just total silence as he walked up the path to the front door, apart from the occasional whisper. He was smiling and pretending everything was okay, but it wasn't. You knew it wasn't. You could tell by the look in his eyes.

Suddenly this kid on a skateboard came zooming past, pushing the blonde to the floor and causing him to scrape his knee. Everyone erupted into laughter as the boy pushed himself off the ground, obviously in pain but trying to mask it with a smile. You had scowled and ran over to the blonde, holding out your hand to him. He saw your hand and looked up at you, looking a little confused.

"Are you oka-" Before you could finish your sentence you heard a male voice call from behind you.

"I wouldn't do that." You had turned around to see a boy with chocolate brown hair that flopped over one side of his face strolling slowly down the steps, his arms crossed as he stared you dead in the eye. He was wearing a blue jacket with the schools initials sewn on in white, a golden outline surrounding the letters "N" and "H" to make them stand out better on the clothing. He was followed by two girls just behind him, both cheerleaders. One was a blonde, her hair tied in twin ponytails, whilst the other was a brunette with long wavy hair that went past her shoulders. They both wore the same cheerleader outfit, blue vest and white skirt to match the guy's jacket. You had to assume he was a cheerleader too (I mean, he was carrying Pom Pom's). His thin lips were smirking as he stopped before you, and it was then, in that very moment, that you'd decided this guy was an asshole.

"You're new here, so we'll all excuse your ignorance." The boy acted like he was doing you a favour, like he was being the kindest person on the earth. Wow. Truly an asshole, you were right. He seemed kind of like the Queen Bee, and yes he most certainly was a Queen. He had his hands on his hips as he looked down upon you with that high and mighty smirk of his. "But, you can't help him."

You had said nothing, giving him a blank stare before taking the blonde kid's hand and helping him up off the ground. After all, why say anything to him at all? He was a bully, and a total waste of your time. Why would you wanna make chit-chat with someone so rude and mean when you could be be-friending this seemingly harmful and sweet person stood next to you?

The brunette had laughed a little and sighed, running a hand through his flowing locks. The girls behind him giggled as they stared at you with furrowed brows and grins. You wanted to roll your eyes. Really? They were gonna be acting like this at their age? How long had they been going to high school for? Were they really still acting like children?

"Okay...allow to me to explain things for you." He spoke to you in a patronising tone, making you frown. Was he being serious? You really did roll your eyes this time. "He's Lloyd Garmadon. Son of Lord Garmadon." He finished speaking and looked at you smugly, as did the other two girls. Everyone else surrounding you both seemed to be pulling the same face too. Was that it? Was that all he had to say? He told you his name. Ooh, how spooky. You were shaking. Truly. You blinked and raised a brow at him, shrugging.

"Who?" Not a single student didn't gasp and lean back in surprise upon hearing you say that word. Even the blonde beside you was shocked. He looked at you, mouth agape and wide eyed. You were even more confused. Why were they all looking at you like you'd murdered someone? Was it that big of a deal you didn't know who they were talking about?

"You don't...know about Lord Garmadon?" The boy in front of you placed a hand on his chest dramatically. He waited for your answer as you glanced around at everybody. They were all staring at you in horror. You furrowed your eyebrows and blinked again.

"Should I know who Lord Garmadon is?" You continued to glace around at everyone before your eyes landed back on the teenage cheerleader. A smile spread across his face as he chuckled. His friends did the same, whispering something to each other and giggling. What was so funny?

"Oh, don't worry." He put his hands on his hips and grinned, glancing at Lloyd as he stood beside you. "You'll find out soon enough." His eyes narrowed at the boy as the blonde averted his gaze to the floor, clenching his fists. The brunette clicked his fingers and began walking away, his friends following after him like trained puppies. You never thought you could hate someone so much in the space of a minute. You were sure you were going to loathe him for your whole life.

"See you later, Garmadork!" He paused to turn around and look at you again. Ugh, what did he want now? "And new girl, when you finally find out who we are talking about, come and look for me. I'll be here for you when you realise the mistake you've made." With that he walked back inside the school, the entire front yard still staring at you and the blonde. Quiet resumed for about three seconds after that, you just standing and staring at the doors as they closed. What was his deal? So obnoxious.

"Wow." You sighed. What a weird start to the day. You turned to the boy beside you with a worried expression. "Are you okay? Your knee is bleeding. Do you wanna go to the nurse and get it checked out?"

"A-Ah," Lloyd looked down at his knee, the blood seeping through the cut in the fabric of his jeans. "It's okay, I know someone who can patch it up. The school nurse won't see me anyway, heh..."

You had crossed your arms in curiosity. "What? But that's her job!"

"Yeah well...son of Lord Garmadon." He gave you an awkward smile as he shrugged and gripped the straps of his bag, beginning to walk inside to school. You jogged up to him and walked alongside him, totally intrigued by this "Lord" everyone was speaking of. And why did they call him a Lord? You thought your mom had said this city had a mayor.

"I don't understand, why is that such a big deal?" He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. His gaze averted to the ground momentarily as he bit his lip. He shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets as you two walked up the stone slab stairs.

"Well, thing is—" Suddenly, Lloyd was cut off when another boy appeared out of nowhere, causing both you and the blonde to jump out of shock.

"Hello Lloyd, and fellow teenager." The boy nodded to you. You stared at the stranger who began strolling along with you two. He had the palest skin you'd ever seen, crystal blue eyes, hair as white as snow. He wore a light blue button-up shirt with a dark blue sleeveless sweater over the top of it. It looked kind of like a Christmas sweater, but the pattern on the front was so obscure you couldn't for the life of you make out what it was even supposed to be. But, why was he even wearing a sweater? A Christmas one too? For one thing, it wasn't Christmas, and it wasn't it kind of warm? His actions were very precise and calculated, not to mention the way he spoke was very odd. Maybe he's a robot, you chuckled to yourself. I know, crazy. Why would a robot even be at this school anyway?

"Hey Zane," Lloyd greeted him with that awkward smile of his. "(Y/N), this is Zane. Zane, this is (Y/N)." He introduced you to one another. Zane had looked at you with a poker face briefly as if analysing your features, before a smile spread on his face and he held his hand out to you. "It is very nice to meet you, (Y/N)."

You gave him a small laugh, finding him charming and rather adorable. You didn't know any teenager to shake hands upon meeting someone new. It was quite cute in some ways. So, you took a hold of his hand and shook it gently. "Nice to meet you too, Zane. I like your hair. It's very cool."

"Thank you!" He seemed happy with your compliment. You did like his hair a lot though, your (H/L), (H/C) seemed bland in comparison.

Lloyd pushed the front doors to the school open and immediately you were all met with a loud, echoing "bro" coming from down the corridor. You had looked to see where it came from and saw a brunette running towards you all so quick you didn't have time to be scared. Now his hair really was something, he looked like an anime protagonist with that hairstyle. It suited him well though. His attire was mostly red. Red jacket, red jeans, red shoes, but his shirt was white. Red must be his favourite colour, you thought with a hum as he got closer.

"Yo!" He skidded in front of you all, staring at you with a grin. He seemed rather energetic, raring to go. He seemed quite friendly too. He just had this certain aura about him that didn't make you feel awkward around him, even though you'd never met him in your life. It sort of felt like you'd always known him. "Who's this bro? Ya' didn't tell me ya got a girlfriend!"

"Kai- no!" Lloyd blushed and sighed as Kai laughed, seeing his best friend hide his face in embarrassment.

"I'm only messing! Don't worry," He nudged you playfully on the arm. "Seriously bro, nice to meet ya'! I'm Kai, Lloyd's best bro. And if you two are bro's, then you're my bro too, so bring it in bud, let's hug." Without hesitation he brought you in for a bone-crushing hug, lifting you off the ground. You giggled a little and hugged him back, unable to resist (you loved hugs) as you flailed your legs slightly. He was obviously a hugging kind of person.

"I-I'm (Y/N)!" You told him as he put you back down on the ground. "Nice to meet you, Kai." He nodded his head.

You all carried on your way down the corridor before stopping at a set of lockers, two other boys greeting you upon arrival. The first boy was leaning against the orange lockers, and you were sure if he stood up straight he would tower over you. He wore a navy blue vest, the letters "AC/DC" on the front. He was clearly an AC/DC fan. He was carrying a black boom box in one arm, the music was quietly coming from the speakers. He had slightly messy raven locks along with a smirk on his face that told you he had an attitude. An attitude of "I don't care," which you honestly wished you had. He was also rather muscular, which is probably why he opted to wear something without sleeves. Whether it was to show them off or because shirt's with sleeves didn't fit him you weren't entirely sure. The boy next to him contrasted his height as he was really small, easily the smallest out of all of you. He wore a vibrant orange scarf that almost hurt to look at and clashed with his bold blue jumper (one that was a little too big for him). He was fiddling with his fingers as you all approached, picking at his slightly dirty nails. With his brown locks that curled everywhere and that shy and tiny smile on his freckled face, you couldn't help but internally coo.

"Hey guys!" The small boy gave a timid wave to all of you. He had an accent too. You thought you were gonna die, he was adorable.

"Hey Jay, Cole. This is (Y/N)." Cole nodded his head and saluted, not saying a word. Dang, he was so cool. Jay had also nodded his head, smiling wider for you.

"Nice to meet you guys." You had grinned at them both.

"Hey, Lloyd," Cole spoke up, looking toward the blonde with a raised brow. "What happened to your leg?" It was then everyone stopped to look at the scrape on his knee. He gritted his teeth and scratched behind his ear, not looking any of his friends in the eye.

"A-Ah, I fell over outside. I'm fine."

"You only fell because someone pushed you over." You inputted, causing the others to furrow their brows.

"What? Who pushed him over?" Kai asked you but you could only shrug.

"Some kid on a skateboard. I went over to help Lloyd up and then this cheerleader dude came up to us and started acting like a total jerk." You explained the short story to them as all the boys looked at each other. The black haired teen had sighed and switched his boom box off with a small huff.

"Chen." All five of them said in unison. You took it that that meant it was a frequent occurrence for him to appear and act like that. Wow, you looked forward to seeing him again. And yes, that was sarcasm.

"I swear I'm gonna kill him one day-" The boy in red growled and balled his fists up in anger.

"Kai, please calm down." Lloyd pleaded and grabbed his wrist before he took off in search of the brunette. "He didn't do anything to me."

"That's true. He just stood there and talked down to me instead. He didn't even touch Lloyd." All of the boys continued to look at you. Zane was frowning, Jay was hiding in his scarf a little (so cute, god damn), Cole had crossed his arms after putting his boom box down on the floor, Kai had scowled and put his hands on his hips, whilst Lloyd just looked to the floor and bit his lip. Chen must have been giving Lloyd trouble for a long time. Poor kid.

"What did he say to you?" The spikey-haired boy opposite where you stood raised a brow. You crossed your arms and clicked your tongue.

"Nothing intelligent." You heard a snort come from Cole, him slightly amused by your response. "He just told me not to help Lloyd because he's the son of some Lord? Or whatever. Which, by the way, people still haven't explained to me why that's even significant?"

It went silent again and this time they all glanced at Lloyd. You couldn't believe it was happening again.

"Dude...she doesn't know?" His best friend had folded him arms across his chest and leaned toward Lloyd a little. You had scowled.

"Please, one of you explain to me why his dad is such a big deal." You pleaded and waited for an answer. None of them responded at first, not sure who should tell you. They all averted their gazes from each other briefly before Kai had spoken up again, deciding he'd be the one to explain.

"Alright..." He exhaled. "Well, thing is, Lloyd's dad is—"

Once again you were stopped from getting the answer you so desperately wanted, as you heard a motorbike rev it's engine from the end of the corridor. But...that couldn't be, right? Motorbikes weren't allowed in school—

"Watch out! Comin' through!" You heard a female voice call as she turned the corner, sure enough, on a motorbike. You were in awe as she drove down the hall and came to halt in front of all of you. Everyone walking past glared at her, but you just stared as you were unable to tear your gaze away. She grinned at your group as she shut off her motorbike engine. "Hey, 'sup bros." She rested her head in the palm of her hand.

"Hey, sis." The brunette had said with a grin. He looked at you again and blinked. "Ah, Nya, come and meet (Y/N). She just started today." The girl looked at you momentarily and waved, climbing off her bike and coming over to greet you properly.

"Nice to meet 'ya. I'm Nya, Kai's twin sis. It's nice to have another girl in the group." She joked. "Don't get me wrong, I love these guys but, ya' know what I mean, right?" You nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I got ya. It's a girl thing." You couldn't seem to stop smiling as you spoke to her. She had such a contagious smile, much like her brother's. She had her pitch black locks tied back in a high ponytail with a silver band, some strands framing her face and a fringe covering her forehead. She had a beauty mark just diagonal from her right eye, you saw, and it really did add to her appearance. The girl wore a leather jacket atop her striped, black and white shirt, along with some ripped denim jeans a pair of black converse. She looked cool. Even cooler than Cole.

"Yeah, you get it." She crossed her arms and nodded her head with a grin.

"Yeah," The other ravenette had interjected. "And she's also already been face to face with Chen today. Literally the first thirty seconds after arriving on school grounds." The teenager had frowned and pursed her lips. She gave a small "ooh" sound.

"Damn. Did you piss him off that quickly?" She smirked and you shrugged.

"I helped Lloyd off the floor and he just got up in my face." The girl had hummed, gently punching your arm.

"Well good for you for standing your ground. That takes guts. Not many people would do that for Lloyd." She crossed her arms. "Don't worry about him though, we got each other's back. He gives our whole group trouble." Everyone nodded in agreement with her statement.

"Yup! We are known as the Dork Squad. So welcome to the Dork Squad." You heard Jay say from behind you.

"Glad to be a part of the Dork Squad." You had laughed a little as they all smiled at you. It was then you suddenly remembered what you had been wanting to know before you had been interrupted (for a second time). "So...Kai, you were telling me about Lloyd's dad?"

"Woah, hold up." Nya blinked. "You don't know?" You sighed and shook your head.

"I've been tryna find out for the past five minutes, but something always-" The bell for first class rang and you let your head flop down. "Interrupts."

Nya had patted your back. "It's alright bro, I can explain on the way to class."

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briangroth27 · 7 years

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IT (2017) Review

IT is fantastic! I don’t remember much of the original miniseries except that Tim Curry was very good as Pennywise, but this felt like a whole other animal. I haven’t read the book, but the movie definitely made me want to. The tone was perfect, with just enough humor to get you through the ever-increasing tension created by Pennywise, Henry Bowers, and the general sense of dread from the town’s adults. There’s a palpable sense that even though the adults lived through similar events, they’re not going to be any help to the kids. One of my favorite subgenres is kids encountering the supernatural, and IT absolutely delivered!

Every single one of the kids did a spectacular job! They all felt like real, relatable kids and they’ve got incredible talent. These actors also formed an incredible sense of chemistry; like the young casts of Super 8 and Stranger Things, they felt like actual friends and I imagine shooting this was a lot of fun for them. The thing that perhaps let them down a bit was the runtime; at two hours and fifteen minutes, it’s understandable things had to be succinct, shortchanging a couple of the Losers. Stan (Wyatt Oleff) in particular didn’t get much to do, but even he had some great moments of characterization, such as when all the kids unceremoniously drop their bikes and run off, while he takes a moment to calmly use his kickstand. Since his bar mitzvah is the big moment in his life here, I think they could’ve explored what his idea of becoming a man was and how that played into dealing with Pennywise, particularly as this is a coming of age tale. Mike (Chosen Hansen) didn’t feel like he got much screentime in comparison to some of the others either, but I liked the connections to societal issues his story included; he experiences the racism in Derry the other kids don’t, pulling him a step further into the horror of the town than the other kids. I really liked Mike’s grandfather’s (Steven Williams) speech about Mike needing to decide whether he wanted to be the man killing sheep or the sheep being killed, because if he didn’t the world would decide for him. That felt especially relevant to today while playing into his arc of learning to stand up for himself (and he gets a particularly surprising climax to that arc!). Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor) handled the exposition well (as did Hansen) and brought a plucky charm to his role as the new kid in town. He was easy to root for and sympathize with, and had several perfect adolescent moments like sneaking a peek at Bev’s room during a break from a rather disturbing clean-up session. Eddie’s (Jack Dylan Grazer) hypochondria provided him with a solid Achilles Heel, a great place for comedy to spring from, and a strong foundation for him to eventually stand up to his mom (Mollie Jane Atkinson). Grazer played all of those to their fullest extent! My friend pointed out that his mom’s obsessive overprotectiveness may’ve been brought on because she does know something evil is in Derry, she just doesn’t know what, and is protecting him the best way she can. That’s an interesting variation to the Derry adults’ forgetfulness/apathy about the evil in their town.

I was a little disappointed Richie (Finn Wolfhard) didn’t get a solo scare sequence outside the house on Neibolt Street like everyone else did, though if cutting it got us as much time with Ben, Mike, and Stan as we got, I’ll take it. Still, he had perhaps the most clearly-defined and strongest characterization of the kids; Wolfhard refused to let Richie be just another kid in the group. Going in, I thought he’d feel like his character on Stranger Things (probably because this is also 80s-set horror with kids encountering a monster), but Richie was totally different from Mike and Wolfhard sold it completely. Sofia Lillis was very good at achieving balance between Bev’s friendly, almost cheery outlook with her new friends and the jaded, knowing sensibility that had been forced on her by everyone else. The whole town seemed to see Beverly as a sex object or a slut, including creepy adults (like Mike, she’s deeper into the hell that is Derry than the others). Beverly knowing exactly how to work the adults to her advantage spoke not only to the fact that this is nothing new to her and she’s had to learn coping and survival skills, but to the tragedy that this was the case. Every scene with her father (Alvin Marsh) was incredibly uncomfortable given what he was, and I was rooting for her to escape the situation. Bill (Jaeden Leiberher) and Ben’s crushes on Bev worked well, though I think they could’ve played up the difference in their early meet-cutes a bit more: she’s nice to Ben and talks to him, while Bill sees her walking in near-slow-motion in dreamy sunlight. They also could’ve contrasted Stan exploring what it means to be a man (and Mike discovering what it means to be an African-American man) with her attempts to define what being a woman means outside of what everyone tells her she should be. The love triangle between Bev, Ben, and Bill was sweet, with neither of them expecting anything from her, and thankfully didn’t explode into jealousy the way I thought it would. Bill had the most personal connection to Pennywise via Georgie’s (Jackson Robert Scott) murder, and they mined it for all it was worth. I totally bought Leiberher as the kind of kid who could rally the others to go on an adventure to save the day. Bill’s stutter felt totally natural and never felt like Leiberher was playing a caricature of someone with a speech impediment. His relationship with Georgie was sweet and they felt like real brothers, so Bill’s pain over losing him felt real. Watching him literally fight through his sorrow and guilt over giving the boat to Georgie (and encouraging him to sneak out of the house) was great! Scott was perfect as Georgie too, showing just as much range in his limited scenes as the other kids got to: from scared of the basement and telling himself “I’m brave,” to carefree (and sneaky) kid playtime, to sad Bill wasn’t with him after his death, and finally horror as a manifestation of Pennywise, he was fully on par with the other young actors.

When I watched Georgie meet Tim Curry’s Pennywise as a kid, I remember being sadder about him losing his boat than encountering a killer clown in the sewer (I guess as a kid, losing a beloved toy was the more likely and pressing fear!). That was not the case here. Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise was playful enough with Georgie, but otherwise he was unsettling and a few jump scares got me. I liked how there were moments where his whole body would quiver and waver except his head, giving the impression that he was tightly coiled and ready to spring into an attack at any moment. He had an otherworldly sensibility about him—appropriate given what the deadlights are—and an overall creepy demeanor that was perfect. He didn’t echo Tim Curry’s Pennywise voice and that was a smart choice; Skarsgard was creepy in his own way. I really liked how he was able to pervert the entire town, popping in and out of murals to watch the kids, running a bizarre kid’s television show no one seemed to find strange, and possibly fueling (or feeding off of, which would be worse) the hate, apathy, and ugliness under Derry’s wholesome surface. Aside from school bullies and adults who varied from uninterested in protecting the kids to downright creepy predators, the real-world villainy mainly manifested in Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton). I imagine Henry is a bully to prove to himself that he’s not the only “paper man” who’ll crumble when confronted with fear. Even with that tenuous understanding, though, Henry is a total psychopath who was scarier than Pennywise (possibly because Pennywise needs to eat kids to survive, while Henry is just angry and violent for no reason). He was such a strong villain that they could’ve removed the supernatural altogether and it still would’ve worked as a solid coming of age movie. As it was, the supernatural was a perfect bonus to the story being told!

The move from the 50s setting to the 80s worked very well, with It’s manifestations (aside from Pennywise) reflecting the kids’ personal fears instead of classic movie monsters. I love Dracula and those monsters, but using the tragedies of Derry’s history and the personal struggles the kids are living through as Pennywise’s alternate forms works better. The one thing that stood out to me as perhaps not fitting with the ’89 setting was naming Bill’s bike Silver; would a kid in the late 80s have been a fan of the Lone Ranger? There was a failed movie in 1981 with Christopher Lloyd, but I don’t know if westerns or that character in particular were very popular by then. Maybe Bill’s dad (Geoffrey Pounsett) introduced him to the Lone Ranger and was a fan in his youth (I was born in the mid-80s and was aware of the Lone Ranger thanks to my parents). Perhaps this Silver is a reference to King’s Silver Bullet wheelchair in Cycle of the Werewolf and the Silver Bullet film instead (maybe Bill sees a connection between Marty’s paralysis and his stutter?). In any case, that was a very small thing and otherwise contemporary mentions like the AIDS epidemic (which played into Eddie’s hypochondria perfectly) made the time period feel real, while the presence of 80s movie posters, movies like Batman playing at the theater, and video games like Street Fighter made it feel like the 80s without being nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. The New Kids on the Block elements that appear in the film also served to build Ben’s character rather than just appearing as cheap jokes or because it was the late 80s.

Derry itself felt like a very real, relatable town that you might want to live in if you didn’t know what was beneath the surface. The house on Neibolt Street was a perfect haunted house that stuck out like a festering sore on the town, while also feeling like it was a natural part of this world. Cutting from animals walking though slaughterhouse stalls to kids heading through the school halls was a great, ominous bit of editing at the beginning. The pacing was excellent; while it felt like a long movie, it did so because it felt so full rather than because of dull scenes. When the kids first confronted Pennywise in 29 Neibolt street, I thought it could be the climax, but the movie keeps going to a very satisfying conclusion after that! It was smart to split the book into one movie for the kids and another for their adult counterparts; even if this weren't a huge success and sure to get the second half, it'd feel like a complete story. Whoever they cast as the adult versions of the Losers Club are going to have some impressive shoes to fill! I definitely hope they get the kids back for flashbacks in Chapter 2.

The film has a great feeling of dread (punctuated by some truly funny lines), excellent villains in Pennywise and Henry Bowers, and a young cast of fantastic actors. 2017’s IT (perfectly released 27 years after the story’s last adaptation in 1990!) is neck and neck with Kubrick’s The Shining as the best of the Stephen King adaptations. Definitely see this and get your Halloween season started off right!

Full spoilers….

-I’m glad the sex scene in the sewer was left out. Obviously that’d be really screwed up to film/show/see, but I don’t think it would’ve fit even beyond the fact of the creepy content. Not only did these kids not need that to bond them, but I don’t think it would’ve fit with any of their characters as they were drawn here. Even boastful loudmouth Richie seems like the kind of guy who’d be intimidated by the prospect of sex if it actually presented itself. That’s to say nothing of the fact that Bev would’ve been forced into exactly the role the town wants her to take (and wants to punish her for taking), and that would’ve been a tragedy. The kids just hugging after their ordeal worked perfectly.

-I was so glad that there were no consequences to Bev killing her creepy father, even to her reputation (at least from what we saw) once word inevitably would get out about why she did it. It’s possible she was leaving town partially because of what people would say, but I’m choosing to believe she was just jumping at the chance for a fresh, happier start.

-I think the leeches I’ve heard of in the book for Patrick Hockstetter’s (Owen Teague) death would’ve been cooler than the burnt people he encountered in the sewer. That’s probably the one Pennywise manifestation that sounds better in the book than what was onscreen.

-Eddie changing the “Loser” signature on his cast to say “Lover” was a funny bit of characterization I wish we’d seen more of from him. Who is this kid—or who does he want to be—to proclaim himself that? Haha

-Eddie mistakenly calling placebos “gazebos” was perhaps the most unexpected laugh I’ve had in a theater in a long time.

-Given how little Stan got to do in this movie and what I’ve read about adult Stan’s part in the present-day portion of the book, I really hope his fate is changed in the sequel. If not, it’ll feel like he was just there to die.

-Finn Wolfhard gets maybe the best line in the movie with “…and now I’ve gotta kill this fucking clown!”

-There were a few Easter Eggs in the movie, including a picture of Tim Curry’s Pennywise!

-IT has perhaps some of my favorite stories from Twitter. One guy said someone in his screening released a single red balloon into the theater once the movie was over! Another theatergoer walked into his screening and there was a clown cosplayer sitting alone in the room, holding a single balloon. I’d have been severely unnerved. Hahaha I think it’d be great if theaters did things like this in an official capacity; it’d be a fun return to the promotional stunts of the 50s and 60s.

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