Hey guys. Long time no see. I've had some real life problems so I couldn't write much but now, they've finally been resolved. I'm feeling a bit unsure about my future here so that's why I'm making an announcement, share some changed headcanons & ideas I may still have, & go into a bit of a rant here. As usual, I have zero intentions of converting anyone. Okay, here we go.
It's been a long time since I've written my magnum opus 'Chosen by Destiny' & I've considered doing a 'remastered' version of it or do a movie-verse version. I even held a poll briefly but I'm actually kinda glad there was no real 'winner' because my opinion of Ninjago has changed over the years & that's what I wanna talk about first.
I know I sound like a broken record now but I feel that Ninjago isn't what it used to be. It's inevitable that when any shows go on for a long time, there will be changes. Sometimes, that's good but other times… it's bad. Unfortunately, Ninjago's case seems to be the latter. From Rebooted onward, the show has become a soulless cash cow and in my opinion, the new seasons have become repetitive with constant plot holes and the canon constantly contradicting itself. Even the characters have been derailed & lost their charm. As TV Tropes would put it, Kai & Cole took a level in dumbass while Jay & Zane took a level in jerkass & it's not helping that I feel Lloyd gets too much attention in proportion to the whole team. However, I'm still willing to give the movie a chance & I've even thought about giving up on the TV show & just focus on the movie.
Also, thanks to Ninjago, I've been soured by romance & that's part of the reason why I'm unsure if I should rewrite Chosen by Destiny or do a movie version since romance is very integral to the story & Ninja/OC stories are now unpopular. Jay/Nya used to be cute but we all know how it went down after season 2. As for Pixane & Kailor, long story short, I felt both couples were filled with unfortunate implications & it made the female partners nothing but love interests for a romance that was just there for the sake of being there. It's also because of Ninjago that I can no longer look at any female character in any show or movie without saying 'Please don't be a love interest'. Maybe that's why I HATED episode 8 of the new Samurai Jack...
If you're still curious of what I planned to do, here's what I had in mind.
First of all, I thought back on Lloyd & Iris' mental ages & realized that a blatantly romantic relationship probably wasn't the best way to go so I wanted to downplay it. They'll still have strong feelings for one another but since they're still technically kids, they decide to hold off on romance until they get older. As for the movie-verse, since they'll be older, things might be a little different & they may have a chance of having romance within the story. And yes, I've heard rumors that Lloyd might get a girlfriend in the next season & I'm NOT happy with it because Lloyd being technically a kid will make it feel very disturbing & knowing the Hageman bros, it's gonna be another love at first sight with someone he doesn't even know, the girl will be another 'just a love interest' character, & it'll be yet another bad romantic subplot nobody wants.
Back to changes, now that Nya's the ninja of water, that makes me unsure of how to implement Luna. Also, some people didn't like Nya being a ninja and preferred her being a samurai so I thought about making Nya remain a samurai & as for elements, she could either be the samurai of water or have no elemental affiliation. For the former, I'm not sure what element Luna could be instead. Her personality & relationship with Cole was heavily based on water-type personalities & the relationship between earth & water. If you still want me to go through with the story in either universe, let me know if you have any ideas for Luna's new element.
I may be rambling here but I find it amusing that my OC Heather & Bolobo, the canon master of nature, share several similarities. They're both affiliated with nature, wield a staff, have brown hair, & wear shades of green. But then again, it's just a coincidence. Moving on.
Like in the original story, Misako won't be Lloyd's biological mother but she'll still be an important figure in his life & her focus will be over unresolved feelings she has towards Wu & Garmadon with which she seeks closure regardless if she chooses one of them or not. In the movie, as Koko, she'll still be Lloyd's mother. Also need to let this out. Seriously? What kind of name is Koko!? Why THAT name!?
Anyway, another change I plan to make would be unique to the movie-verse. There, the ninja & kunoichi will still have romantic feelings for one another but it won't 'consume' the plot & any explicit romance will be in separate one-shots or various works. I kinda leaned towards a movie-verse story but tell me what you think.
Lastly, here's some new headcanons I have.
First up is Cole. Now it's been unanimously accepted that he'd have dark skin as a human & I now agree. I still can't help but think Lou would be French so I have my own headcanon of Cole being Afro-French either from both parents or his mother is African.
Next up are Kai & Nya. The most popular ethnicity headcanon for them is Japanese though Filipino seems to be a close second so they're either fully Japanese or half Japanese-half Filipino. I'm still coming up with a Japanese surname for them & it'd be interesting to hear your suggestions.
As for Jay, I don't care what the new canon says, Ed & Edna are still his true parents. The Cliff Gordon thing was a terrible plot hole that was only added to create unnecessary drama & it retconned Jay's bond with his parents. However, the canon first master of lightning is still related to Jay.
For Zane, his ice powers make him capable of healing and even after Nya becomes the ninja of water, he's still the team's main healer. Also, he'll never be Titanium Zane. He'll always be the adorkable nindroid we all know & love, not some overly metallic asshole with an ANNOYING robotic echo.
That's it for now. Like I said, if you have your own opinions, suggestions, and choices of what I should do, please tell me. If I end up choosing either idea, the remake will be in July and as for the movie, it'll be after I watch the movie, likely in October or November. As usual, here's a drabble to keep up with the rules.
The ninja were at the movies and watched the main character and the most prominent girl in the movie talk with each other.
"You know," The generic protagonist started, "You're the girl who shows up the most and because of that, I have feelings for you."
"I have nothing else to say except I love you." The flat female character responded and the two kissed.
"DONE." Lloyd abruptly got up with a bored expression and left the theater.
