Season 8 was like 6 years ago(I feel old) and I know ppl have differing opinions on the Mr Echo thing (but it was intended, made it to storyboard and blocked animation and then dropped, soooo) but. I can see his recruitment p easily tbh. Bc the whole reason Dr J was in that lighthouse was because he was resurrected, forced there, and ordered to build Skulkin vehicles by Samukai. But Samukai in the flashback we see has already been deposed as leader of the Skulkin/Underworld. Which means the orders to do so most likely came from Garmadon.
And since Mr. E is one of the head honchos, he's likely an early arrival to the team, so I don't think Harumi has a whole lot figured out at this point, she's just got her Trauma and some Bad Influence Friends and an obsession with Lord Garmadon. So. Like. Plausible deniability road trip that she's just visiting important markers of Ninjago's recent past, all of which involve Lord Garmadon in some meaningful way; its sightseeing, its cathartic, and it gives her time to develop her dream Motorcycle Gang/Resurrection Cult. She's not looking for anyone at the Lighthouse, but she is looking for vehicle blueprints so she can be the Koolest leader on the block. But oops she looks in the basement and there's an Echo.
And she's flipping out bc??? A Ninja???? In the Lighthouse basement??? I mean it makes sense that it would be this one but???
Except this rusty old robot has no idea what she's talking about with this Ninja stuff, he's just waiting for his dad to come back.
And Harumi pauses.
Because how long has he been waiting? He's not sure, he had no proper way to measure time in the basement, and he doesn't have the best view of his clockwork heartpiece. But it was after his father saw a strange ship docking; Echo was worried it was the People who had locked up his father in the first place, but instead his dad sounded happy when he saw whoever was out there. It could have been a front, though, as clearly it was never safe to let Echo back out. Then Dr J popped down briefly, while everyone above was resting, to tell Echo he was desperately needed elsewhere, that it wasn't safe to bring Echo, but that he'd be back in no time.
And the pieces are fitting together for Harumi. And she's like. Your dad's dead, bro.
And he's like. What? Did he die doing what was needed of him?
And she's like. Oh, no. He died a few years later.
And he's like. Why didn't he come back for me????
And she's like. Probably because they kept him away.
And he's like. Who's they?
And she's like. The Ninja I was talking about earlier.
And it surely can't be hard in universe to find pictures of Zane and Dr J post s2-pre s3, so she pulls one up and shows Echo who is freaking out bc why is that one kind of like him and Harumi explains that that was the droid his father created first, that he became a Ninja, and that hes probably the one who took their father away and kept echo waiting for years.
But Echo has doubts, shocked as he is abt a new older brother, he wants to believe the good in the situation so he's unsure. But Harumi mentions that the Ninja's failures to uphold more than their self preservation/interests has led to uncountable losses and devastation in Ninjago time and time again, before delving into her own story. And she seems so kind, and so hurt, and I do think there's a genuine connection btwn these two that forms from this shared emotional torment that they decide came from the Ninja, and now Echo is more receptive.
And then Harumi gets to start her Garmadon pitch because wait! If Echo was made here, then that could only have happened because of Lord Garmadon. And she reiterates that he's the reason she and her city could have even survived The Great Devourer. And maybe Echo's family-by-creation left, maybe they were untrustworthy and lacking, but that's OK bc if you look at it all a certain way, Garmadon is more of a father to Echo than Dr J was. And Echo is a vulnerable, overwhelmed mess who just found out his dad fucked off for years without him and also died, and also he has a brother??? Who their dad clearly seems to have favored??? Did they even know about Echo??? Did they delight in their life free of him???
Basically. Kinda Spinel-core but getting abandoned and left completely alone does that to you. Especially when the first person to find you after being abandoned is a deeply hurt and misguided teen who is probably kinda desperate for someone, anyone else to see the Ninja the way she sees them.
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💫Hihi tmblr!! Zaacoy update post!!💫
So for a little over a month my physical health has been in rapid decline. Started off mild! Thought it was just a particularly bad bout of allergies or some infection, began racking up more and more issues and weird symptoms, it became debilitating after a few weeks, and I was taken to the ER and admitted to the hospital. Which is a good thing because the specialists there were really quickly able to figure out what the actual issue was! Turns out that I have a pretty bad autoimmune disorder and that for the past month or so my body was pretty much self destructing! :D! Spent a really long hard week in the hospital figuring that out but! We were able to catch this thing really early before it caused any substantial long term damage to me and my body seems to be able to take the medicine I need to not die from this just fine. So I'm safe!! And alive!! Hooray!! Still a bit shaken from the whole debacle but I'm on the road to recovery and better health now! I got discharged from the hospital yesterday, very happy to be home!!
Over the past week they've had to prick me and put IVs in both arms for blood draws and medication purposes about a dozen times all put together so my hands, wrists, and arms are currently very ouchy and fragile at the moment. They'll take a couple days to heal and then I should finally be able to comfortably draw again!! I've missed drawing a lot, very very excited to finally get be able to get back into it!! x3!! And that of course means more freenoodles and other zaacoy art soon! yippee yippeeee
Thank you for your patience with me! I'm not very good at keeping tmblr updated on things as they go on, apologies for just disappearing for a bit ehe ,:3 I've seen ALL of the stuff sent to my ask box and I'll starting working on getting to it soon! Expect more of me around for the rest of the summer, for real this time!! And have a good one!! Zaacoy update post ova! >:3
Sneaky sneaking a few tang screenshots as a treat for those who read to the end teehee here is he
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Dont feel bad for not being able to write. Sometimes our brain does not brain
Ahh, thank you! It's absolutely been like that lately. It's just extra annoying when I want to write but it just kinda refuses to happen.
One of the things I do to counteract writer's block is to work on something else. So instead of working on my next request like I want to, I'm writing Solomon smut with my MC lol. I haven't written about Ciaran in a while, so I think it's actually helping? I'm actually writing, so that's a plus. I had to take several days off because nothing would happen and I was just getting irritated.
But I'm hoping that things will get better now that I'm actually able to write something again. Usually I just gotta get things flowing and then it's back to business as usual!
But you're so right, sometimes the brain just does not brain. Every once in a while, my brain statics instead and then I have to recalibrate lol.
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