Still Collecting The Full Alphabet Of The “live, Laugh, Love” Variants If Anyone Has Some Good Examples.

One fun fact about me is that there is a pit in the forest. It is a part of me. I do not know where my reflection ends and I begin and I am so entwined with its murky waters I have begun to wonder if I am human at all, or if I am some creation of mud and wood given life against its will. When I die look for me in the pit. I will be in there, watching you.

This map is the most up to date version as of 3-4-2023 and takes into account all recent movement on anti-trans legislation

Are fedoras really that bad?

YES YES THEY ARE

today is the only day you can reblog this

Okay, we've got height headcanons, face headcanons...but you know what we need? Name headcanons.

Okay, yes, I know, the ninja already have names. But their names originate from Earth cultures and Earth languages, which, uh, don't exist in Ninjago. Like!! The name 'Lloyd' is Welsh, but Wales isnt a place on the Ninjago map! And 'Zane' is German - but again, Germany doesn't exist in this fictional fantasy world either. How can Zane's name be German if Germany is nowhere on the Ninjago map?

Realistically I know this is because this show has painfully messy worldbuilding and they gave all the main characters simple European names that their young American audience would be able to easily identify and pronounce. BUT I love to overthink things so that's what I'm gonna do.

Logic would dictate that although their names have specific cultural contexts within our world, they have different contexts and origins within the world of the story. Their names would logically have some kind of different meaning in relation to the cultures, languages, and dialects that exist within Ninjago itself.

This is already canon, to some extent. The name 'Nya' already has a canon in-universe origin, with her being named after a legendary Merlopian hero - from this we can assume the name Nyad and its derivative Nya are Merlopian in origin. Which suggests the idea that the same is true for all the other characters as well, we just haven't gotten the chance to get backstories for their names yet. And there is so much untapped potential in exploring what their names could mean in-universe.

Here, I'll start with my own personal headcanons about the subject:

Most names in this series come from 'Classical Ninjargon', the ancient dialect that was spoken in the time of the FSM but gradually evolved into Modern Ninjargon, which is the dialect commonly spoken by the characters to this day. However, a lot of words, terms, and names still rely in some part on their classical roots.

'Kai' isn't really a name, so much as it is a noun. It's commonly used in the names of towns and villages. For example, Jamanakai Village. 'Kai' means 'shelter' - or, more specifically, 'a form of barrier or protection that defends against cold weather.' It's not a very common name to give to children, though, but it appears in the names of villages and settlements all across Ninjago. It seems fitting, considering the kind of person Kai is. His parents gave him that name as a reference to its more specific meaning. Shelter from the cold. During the Serpentine War, Ray and Maya's dreams of starting a family were what gave them comfort and kept them going. Kai wasnt just named as a shelter from the cold, but a shelter from despair as well.

Nya's name has its obvious origins - she was named after Nyad, the storybook hero who befriended whales and defeated Wojira. Nyad was also Merlopian, where her name means 'courage'. Likewise, Nya's name has similar connotations. Of course, Maya hadn't known that meaning when she named her child, as Merlopia was just a myth and its language much the same. She did know of the fairytale, though, and Maya's own mother had told her that story as a child, so she wanted to give her daughter a name that was meaningful in that same way.

'Jay' comes from a regional dialect of Classical Ninjargon that became prevalent in the Sea of Sands. The name itself originates from the term 'jairu', meaning "blessed storm." Some historians speculate the name goes back further than that, with the term 'jairu' originally meaning "Wojira's favor"...but there is much debate about that. Both Jay and Jairu are pretty popular names in the Sea of Sands. Jay was an unexpected but highly valued gift to Ed and Edna, just as a rainstorm is in a desert.

'Cole' was originally the word for earth/dirt, but over the centuries its frequent use in Classical poetry led to it acquiring a myriad of more specific meanings - 'solid foundation', 'stable ground', 'dependable and reliable', 'steady and unshaken amidst conflict', etc. The word itself has a lot of very poetic, very vivid interpretations, and when most people name their children 'cole', thats what they're referencing. But not Lily. No, she knew the name historically meant 'earth', and she wanted his name to be a pun. It was 100% intentional

'Zane' isnt so much a name as it is a colloquial term, from the Birchwood region. Even though the word has Classical roots, it still remains widely used in that region. The word 'zane', a noun, is in reference to the constant, unmelting snowcover that blankets the region year-round. In Classical Ninjargon the term means, "endlessly persevering" - but over time it became repurposed as their term for their endless snow. Dr. Julien always thought the snow was beautiful, and named his son after its remarkable endurance

Lloyd's name has an interesting history to it. In the time of the Stone Wars, when the FSM initially split Ninjago and sealed away the Overlord, the people of that era celebrated the occasion by turning it into a holiday. They called it "belloid", which Classically means "victory over darkness." Eventually a new tradition emerged where children who were born on the holiday were named after it - and so the name "lloyd" came to be. And although the holiday evolved and is now more commonly known as Festival Day (yes, thats a canon holiday), with its history and origins fading out of public awareness, the tradition still persists. But heres the catch: Lloyd wasnt born on that holiday. His dad's reasons for naming him Lloyd were twofold. First, because he made a promise to himself to resist the venom's corruption for the sake of his son, and the name "victory over darkness" served as a testament to that promise. And second, because 'lloyd' sounds like 'lord', and giving his child a pun name sounds exactly like something Garm would do

And of course, since the ninjas' rise to fame, they have inspired some increasingly popular baby names. 'Lloyd' has been the baby name of the year for four years in a row now, which is something the others tease him relentlessly for.

The Redamancy AU

Redamancy AU is what I affectionately call my Ninjago re-write. I'd thought I'd share some changes to the main cast's pre-main story lives for funsies :D

Kai:

He and Nya are raised by their mother's bestfriend(Tomoe Kobayashi) and her best friend's husband husband(Hikaru Kobayashi).

Kai got his fire element from his mother Amara.

He lives in a village that lays at the base of the mountain that the monastery lays upon.

Kai works with the Kobayashi family since it was easy work and it gave him daylight hours to do whatever.

Kai has Dyslexia and ADHD(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)

His full name is Kai Isamu Smith. He is sixteen years old. His birthday is August 1st.

Nya:

She and Kai are raised by their mother's bestfriend(Tomoe Kobayashi) and her bestfriend's husband(Hikaru Kobayashi)

Nya operates as Samurai X and prefers to work alone rather than as a team anyway.

Nya listens to a radio station called 'South Eastern Archipelago Oceanic Radio Station' or SEAORS that reports the ever changing status of the South Eastern Archipelago. She likes the pirate stories.

Nya had an apprenticeship with an inventor named Marnie Grace who lived in the village Nya grew up in. Nya eventually ends it to become Samurai X.

Nya has a special assistant she built named Ruth who keeps her lab clean, as well as alert Nya to disturbances in Ninjago and keep track of correspondence between Destiny's Bounty.

Her full name is Nya Tomoe Smith. She is fifteen years old. Her birthday is October 29th.

Lloyd:

Lloyd had a caretaker named Delphi who acts more like an older sister than a mother. But Lloyd doesn't care. He's just happy to have someone. Not like he'd admit it or anything.

Lloyd has purple eyes and very sharp canines from being conceived by Misako and Lord Garmadon while Lord Garmadon was very much so a demon-like man.

He wanted to be a comic artist before he got sent into the Ninjago foster system.

Lloyd has ADHD(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and ASD(Autism Spectrum Disorder)

Garmadon is not Lloyd's actual last name nor is it Lord Garmadon's actual name. Garmadon was an ancient word in a now long dead language of Ninjago. Garmadon meant 'Dominant, In Control'

Lloyd's full name is Lloyd Montgomery Ito. His birthday is July 5th. Lloyd is eight years old.

Zane:

Zane causes extreme feelings of unease around normal people and people feel extremely cold when around him.

Zane has been chased out of 16 villages because they thought him an Oni desperately trying to hold onto a human form.

Sensei Wu found Zane when he went to investigate the claims of a shapeshifting Oni. Sensei Wu brought Zane to The Monastery under the promise of a family and not being chased out of another village.

Zane is specifically built to function and grow like a human because although an artificial automaton, the remnants of the last Elemental Master of Ice live and breathe within him, making him an elemental master in wait of finding his old life.

Zane is very friendly with the Yōkai that Master Wu employs to keep his information webs strong. He is especially friendly with the kitsune on the coastal village of Hayami in the South Eastern Archipelago.

Zane's full name is Zane Boreas Julien. His creation date is February 18th. He is sixteen years old.

Jay:

Jay's biological parents are a swindler named Flynn Watts and a school teacher named Mary Walker. Mary Walker offered Jay to her brother Edward and his wife Janis because Mary didn't have the salary for raising Jay. Edward and Janis jumped at the opportunity to raise a child. No one told Jay his Aunt Mary was actually his mother.

Jay had a pet guinea pig as a kid named 'Scraps'. Scraps fell into a trash compacter.

Jay was homeschooled by Janis and Edward until fourth grade. He exceled so hard he ended up skipping a few grades and being a high school sophomore at age thirteen before Sensei Wu found him.

Jay took online classes while training with Sensei Wu and is the only one of the ninja to have finished high school.

Jay was taught how to ballroom dance by Janis who used to competitively ballroom dance before getting too old to safely do it without hurting himself.

Jay's full name is Jay Benedict Walker. His birthday is September 10th. He is fifteen years old.

Cole:

Cole has a childhood bestfriend/girlfriend he calls Aster who he writes letters to. He sends her letters scented with his cologne. Aster sends dried aster flowers enclosed in her letters to him.

Cole is a naturally big boi. His father used to hate this.

Cole loves cake so much because he never was allowed to have any as a kid and to him cake tastes like freedom.

Cole ran away from The Martin Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts after two days. He was fourteen. Sensei Wu found Cole and convinced Cole to come with him.

Cole was the first ninja taken in by Sensei Wu.

Cole's full name is Nicholas Claude Brookstone. His birthday is December 30th. He is seventeen years old.

And do not use flixhq.to or soap2day either. Remember, piracy is bad!