Yes! Yes! Yes!!!! They Both Support Each Other So Much!!! Gosh I Love This Ship So Much!!!

Yes! Yes! Yes!!!! They both support each other so much!!! Gosh I love this ship so much!!! 😍

It matters where you are 🩵

@the-ninjago-historian @only-lonely-stars

Finding Balance

Chapter 2 : Cupcakes and Questions

(For @ninjago-fic-fest)

Chapter 1 - Chapter 3

Summary: After he is retrieved from the lighthouse by his brother and new friends, Echo must adjust to his new life. Even though his new home and family are amazing, it's still so different from what he's used to. Maybe a walk in the city will help clear his mind.

Chapter 2

Cupcakes and Questions

Over the next couple of weeks, Echo was showered with affection from the whole team, as they tried to make him feel at home.

First things first Zane took his brother down to the workshop underneath the monastery. There Echo met P.I.X.A.L.; another android, like him and Zane. She had seemed very confused upon seeing him, but after hearing Zane’s explanation of the situation, she got right to work. She sanded down Echo’s rusty arms and legs until his metal coverings were once again shiny. She carefully applied oil to his joints and even fixed that rouge gear in his chest that always seemed to slip out of place. P.I.X.A.L didn’t say much while she worked, but her smile was warm and kind.

“Let me know if that gear gives you anymore trouble, okay?” she had told him once his repairs were finished.

Jay introduced him to video games, which he picked up pretty easily. It was funny to see Jay’s overly animated fake outburst when Echo won. He also gave him some soda to try, but Echo found it felt funny on his taste sensors.

Nya showed him the art of painting. Echo ended up painting a sunset over an ocean view. It was nice to be off the island, but he found himself missing the sea sometimes. Nya seemed to understand that a bit, and showed him some water tricks she could do with her element. She floated shiny orbs of water in the air and swirling streams all around the room.

He got to help Cole bake his very own “Welcome Home” cake. It turned out a little dry, but Cole didn’t seem to mind. Echo really enjoyed frosting it too. They both ended up on the floor covered in frosting and laughing their heads off by the end of it.

Kai gifted him a pair of sunglasses and then tried to teach him some cool looking Spinjitsu moves. Echo had to reattach his arm multiple times during Kai’s crazy lesson but he had a lot of fun nonetheless. Kai also told him that having siblings was totally awesome, and that Echo was going to love it.

Lloyd showed him the obstacle course and how you could hang upside down from the rings. He also gave him his old Fritz Donnagen comic books. He then proceeded to go on a rant about easter eggs and plot inconsistencies and other stuff that Echo didn’t understand. But seeing Lloyd excited got him excited too. And it felt nice to just listen when he couldn’t think of much to talk about himself.

Master Wu was very glad to have another member added to the family. He welcomed Echo with open arms showing him around the monastery and gifting him a large pile of books from the library. When Echo asked if he should put them back when he had finished reading them, Wu smiled and said that they were his to keep.

Zane always seemed to be hovering near him. He followed him around, asking if he wanted anything, and he always seemed to be offering him food for some reason. Being a “nindroid” as Echo now knew he was called, he didn’t necessarily need food to survive, but he supposed the extra energy he got from it was nice. Not that he was complaining. Zane’s food was always delicious, especially since the only thing he had in the lighthouse after Dr. Julien had left was a bit of tea now and then.

It seemed to Echo, that Zane was worried about him. He wasn’t quite sure why though. He was quite happy here. Kai told him it was an older brother thing.

“Older brothers worry about their little siblings. It’s just something that we do,” he had reassured him.

But he didn’t really elaborate beyond that.

After a few weeks, things had settled into kind of a new normal. Everyone went about their daily tasks as usual, and even Zane had started to be a bit less clingy.

But even though everything was calming down, Echo was feeling a little claustrophobic. As big as the monastery was, he always ran into someone. There always seemed to be someone there.

He found himself spending more and more time in his room away from the common areas. He would turn the corner when he saw someone coming down the hall, and he was much quieter during mealtimes.

Sometimes, it felt like he was trapped. Like he was stuck in a new, albeit different, prison. But that didn’t make any sense.

This was all he ever wanted. To have a family, to be around people again. He loved his brother and his new friends. They were all so nice to him. So why did he have the sudden urge to hide away?

Maybe Zane could help him.

Echo found him in the kitchen stirring batter in a bowl.

“Hi Zane. What are you cooking?” Echo asked.

“Oh, hello, brother!”, Zane turned to him, “I’m making cupcakes. Would you like to join me?”

“Maybe not today. But I do have a question.”

“Fire away.”

Echo took a deep breath.

“Do you enjoy living with so many people?”, he said slowly.

Zane looked thoughtful. He set the bowl of batter on the counter and turned to Echo.

“The ninja are my friends, my family. I cannot imagine life without them,” he said.

“Ah, yes. Of course,” Echo turned to look at the bowl of cupcake batter, not wanting to meet his brother’s eyes.

But then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Zane smiling down at him.

“But I know how you feel Echo,”

“Huh?”

“Sometimes they can be a little much for me too,”

Echo stared quizzically at Zane, who winked at him knowingly.

Oh.

Echo felt a mite embarrassed. He thought he had been hiding his feelings pretty well.

“Oh. Um you noticed then huh?”

“Of course I noticed. You’re my little brother!” Zane said in mock exasperation, before pulling Echo into a tight hug. “Now, how can I help,”

“I just don’t understand it,” Echo sighed, as Zane released him. “I didn’t like living alone on the island. So why do I want to be alone now?”

Zane hummed in thought before answering, “Spending time around people is good, but it’s also important to spend time by yourself. It’s a balance. You can’t have too much of one without the other,”

Zane grabbed the spoon out of the bowl of batter and proceeded to balance it lengthwise on his index finger. It wobbled a bit as Zane tried to keep it balanced, stumbling forward to follow the movement of the spoon.

Echo was laughing hard as Zane circled the kitchen, swaying this way and that with the spoon, almost tripping a few times before he finally plopped it back in the bowl, splattering chocolate batter on the kitchen wall.

Zane smiled warmly when he saw that his antics had had their intended effect. “Just like that!” he laughed.

When Echo had let out his last chuckle, his brother slung an arm over his shoulder and pulled him close.

“It’s okay to want some alone time, Echo. Being around a lot of people is new for you. It’s normal for you to feel this way,” Zane said softly.

Echo nodded to show he understood.

“You know what I do when I need some time to myself?”

“What?”

“I go on a walk. Sometimes in the park in Ninjago City, sometimes just around the monastery. It helps clear my mind.”

Echo thought a walk sounded nice. And he would love to explore Ninjago City. Yes. That’s what he’d do, he decided.

But then again, Echo thought, he hadn’t really left the monastery since arriving two weeks ago. And he had the distinct feeling that his brother wouldn’t be too comfortable with him exploring a huge city all by himself.

Well, the only thing to do was ask him, he supposed.

“Can I go on a walk in the city?” Echo asked his brother tentatively.

Zane seemed a bit startled by the question and his face suddenly tensed. There was that worried look of his again, Echo noticed.

“Um, well, I mean I figured, just around the monastery would be…”

“Oh! Please don’t worry, brother!” Echo pleaded. He was so tired of being cooped up in the monastery. “I’ll be really careful, I mean it!”

Zane walked over to the kitchen counter, picked up the mixing bowl, and continued to stir the batter. He tapped his foot for a few seconds, apparently trying to make up his mind.

He let out a long sigh, “Ok, you can go,”

“On one condition,” Zane amended with a smile.

“Yes! Thank you, Zane!”, Echo rushed forward to give his brother the biggest hug he could.

Whoa girl! That's a lot of writing! Nice job!

Let's see I have,

● Finding Balance

● The Lighthouse (We Dance in the Rain)

● No One's Ever Really Gone

2 Ninjago and 1 Star Wars fic. Not a ton going on, but I'd love to answer any questions y'all have about them. 😊

WIP Challenge!

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous.  Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it!  And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.  I have deemed that this isn’t just for writing either.  Sketch titles?  Comics?  DnD campaigns?  If you have an unfinished project, it counts!!  

Hi everyone! In honor of fanfic writer appreciation day, bringing this back!

My insane taglist under the cut, but if you see this in the wild feel free to jump on!!

tagging people from nwod and fic fest! ignore the ping if you didn't want it sorry dfkjlgh but i find these fun and thought some of you might, too :D

@only-lonely-stars @rosiehunterwolf @silvermags @starlightaxolotl @guplia @stars-brownies-n-metaphors @bananaplayzz @boba-pearl @caycubone @weekend-whip @pandemonium-kidz @aroninshonour @zebaji @kumoriwrites @spinbitchzu @tirednapentity @taddymason @psychologicalwarclaire @finn-m-corvex @knowledgequeenabc @tinywriterfairy @graceful-not @jays-supersonic-dynamo @artqueen02 @basicallyjaywalker @fruit-colored-ninja @summerf0x @nocturnal-nexu @riseleon @indigosky101 @miqotepotatoe @randomcrapstories @lightning-chicken @crikkit-kitterton @colesstar @lloydenthusiast @senseigrace @the-painted-siren @ataraxixx @parateuthis @curiositythecryptid @elemom @mikewheelerfan2022 @mcfanely @rainbow-flavoured-skittles @a-big-chicken-nerd @collectiveclams @stealingyourbones @abunnsburrow @survivalshipping @gravyhoney @officercooks @laziarteest @nin-jay-go @themilosquid @fandomsareforlife @goldenavenger02 @localguy2 @blu3cl0v3rs @ghostwalloper @cboffshore @bookworm-dork-fish @raven6229

HUGE BREATH HELLO

Thank you so much! I can't wait to read "Orange is the New Black"! I've been so busy with work and my business that I haven't been able to read much lately. 😕 I've seen so many of your writing posts, and all your stories look so interesting! I'm really looking forward to just sitting down and reading through all the great Ninjago Fan Fics I've been watching from afar.

Have a wonderful day my friend!

God Bless!

-Nexu

I'd love to hear about your WIP "Finding Balance"!

Of course!

This one is for the Ninjago Fic Fest. I was so happy to find an Echo prompt so I could put my own spin on his story!

It's honesty kinda weird how the story developed. The prompt was just to have Echo explore Ninjago and learn more about himself along the way. But then I realized that to get to Ninjago, he had to get off the island first. So I had to write that bit, and then the middle went in a different direction than I had originally planned.

Like, the complete opposite direction.

The original idea was that Echo wanted some alone time after being rescued by his new family. (Imagine living alone for years, and then all of sudden, you're in a crowded monastery with people around every corner. You might want a break from it after a while.)

But time alone is not at all what I ended up writing for Echo.

I was about to rework the middle bit to better fit the theme I had originally intended when I realized that just because the themes I had going were completely opposite each other, didn't mean they couldn't exist together.

It's awfully interesting that the prompt involved Echo discovering more about himself on his adventures because that's what happened to me while writing.

I love to spend time alone. I feel like I can truly be myself. And a lot of my hobbies are single person activities.

But at the same time, I love spending time with other people! Going to get ice cream with friends, or seeing people at church, or talking and joking with my coworkers, I love it!

I didn't realize how much I loved it until I spent a little too much time alone and ended up feeling really sad and lonely.

And then, on the flipside, if I'm around people for too long, I get mentally drained.

I realized it was all about finding that balance. Hence, the title of the story.

Just like me, Echo is going to have to find that balance in this story.

Luckily, he has his big bro Zane to help him out with that. 😊

AAAAHHHJJHJJHDDJSJWJWJEJJD!!!!!!!!

YEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!

That fits them so well!!!

Arin and Sora as the song Two Birds by Regina Spektor who’s listening to me

I finally got around to hanging these up on my wall! They look so good! @joshuad17 , your art is so awesome!

I don't know if he still has posters available for purchase right now, but Ninjago fans, do yourselves a favor and go check out @joshuad17 's work. It's so detailed and gorgeous!