Hey! I was wondering if I could get a "DVD commentary" of Grass Whistle chapter three from "Really, should he be surprised that the guy who raised Zane turned out to be pretty awesome?" to "Technology has progressed in leaps and bounds since I last remembered it." I loved this part so much! Or, if you're feeling like sharing, commentary on the whole chapter, because it's amazing.
LOOK EVERYBODY SOMEBODY ASKED ABOUT MY BABY *COUGH*
FF.net is being a bother and not letting me upload any new documents to Grass Whistle, so in lieu of that, I’m going to take advantage of my little Ninjago writing kick to answer this lovely little ask!
VERY LONG RAMBLING BELOW THE CUT
Funny story - a big part of my journey into stanning Dr. Julien was the realization that everything that made Zane my favorite ninja is, in some way, all thanks to his dad. Lloyd is making a similar discovery here - Zane, who is a fantastic ninja and a great big brother and always willing to do the right thing, is an apple that hasn’t fallen far from his metaphorical tree.
Man, oh man, do I love the line “you were made to protect those who cannot protect themselves”. This post by @drjulien will only make you love it more. As far as headcanons go, I teeter on the edge between “DR.JULIEN TOTALLY KNEW HE WAS CREATING THE NEXT ICE NINJA HE KNOWS MORE THAN WE THINK HE DOES ILLUMINATI CONFIRMED” and “Dr. Julien found a weird power source that accidentally created the next ice ninja because science”. I write in such a way that I never show favoritism towards one or the other. Whether Julien knew that Zane would be the next ice ninja or not, it was Zane’s choice to pursue that path in the end. Dr. Julien is so proud of his son. So freaking proud.
On top of being a proud dad, Dr. Julien is also a kooky dad.
yes i know the gif is from the movie but it’s funny so fight me
Lloyd is a big kid, and he still pouts like one. My friend Candaru summed up best his frustration in this fic: “He wants to help and be noticed by the adults but he also doesn’t wanna fight his dad!!” It’s humiliating to him to sit on the sidelines when he’s supposed to be the green ninja, the most powerful one of the bunch. Dr. Julien understands his feelings of being ostracized, but he’s also heard how Misako and Wu address Lloyd (especially in the conversation in the Bridge the chapter before). He’s a robotics engineer. He knows that the central mechanism of a machine needs to be protected in order to run fewer risks of damage. He can see the wisdom in protecting the most important component in saving Ninjago - but that doesn’t stop him from feeling for this boy.
Okay, but bragging time - the reveal of the red mech was my favorite segment of this chapter to write. If you watch the show, you’ll see that one of the Stone Army’s war tanks has the caterpillar treads on these back legs that act like they’re on a spring mechanism. Lloyd’s been in “danger alert mode” for so long that as soon as he hears a sound similar to those “legs”, he’s ready to spring into action to protect Dr. Julien.But it turns out to be Nya. I always ask myself the filler questions when writing fanfiction: “Okay, but how did that thing get there?” In the show, Nya’s mech was ready for the boys in the back of the driller vehicle, and Dr. Julien and Lloyd were working on the latter, so obviously they would have seen the former at some point. The red mech looks like it’s of a different make than the driller, and kind of has that “Nya” flair - I don’t know how else to describe it - so I figured that she just built it herself, and the boys built a compartment into the driller vehicle just to be ready for her. So I wrote that in.
It’s been a long-standing headcanon of mine that Dr. Julien became good friends with (and unofficial Science Dad to) Jay and Nya after the Overlord was defeated, fostering their love of machines with his own. This is his first introduction to just how freaking talented Nya is. And boy, is he impressed. Lloyd is still a little kid and loves cool looking machines that can beat up bad guys. On the other hand, Dr. Julien is an old nerd who is BLOWN AWAY that someone as young as Nya could show so much expertise as to create something more flexible, sturdy, and powerful than his Juggernaut in such a limited time, with so few resources.
Nya, for her part, idolizes Dr. Julien a little bit. She’s built enough machines herself to be able to grasp just how much genius had to go into building Zane, especially with a lower level of technology than is now available. I imagine she hadn’t really known how to approach him (and probably reasoned that it wasn’t as important as saving Ninjago), but the fact that he recognized her talent first is more than she could ask beyond her wildest dreams. senpai noticed me, etc., etc. lol
And yes, Dr. Julien is definitely serious when he says he wants to learn about new technology from Nya. He’d been cooped up in a workshop in a tree for several decades…and then he was dead for a little while…and then he was cooped up in a prison for who knows how much longer. Technology would have been marching on for a long time without him. He’s come to terms with this by now, so it’s not so much a matter of what he’s lost as it is navigating the possibilities in this exciting new world.I imagine he picked up Borg tech pretty fast too after this. A big part of working with technology is constantly learning; I have that on authority from my dad, a computer programmer. Dr. Julien knows this, and he’s too humble to try to get around the system. If these young people have something to teach him, he’s all for learning it, and as quickly as possible.
Lloyd, for his part, is just enjoying the banter. I imagine that he’s used to being talked around, pushed away, or put down by adults. To see some healthy, friendly interaction between a new adult and one of his friends is calming and reassuring, as well as just a lot of fun. Because they’re nerds. He’s categorizing Dr. Julien in whole new ways every time he sees how the doc treats one of his friends, and this one is another positive mark.
Thanks again for sending this ask! If anyone is interested in my fic, the first chapter is here! If anyone is wondering what this “DVD commentary” stuff is, this post should clear it up for you. Feel free to spread the fun and answer asks about your own fics!
Edible Education 103: The Politics and Economics of Meat, by Mike Callicrate and Bob Martin
Edible Education 103: The Politics and Economics of Meat, by Mike Callicrate and Bob Martin
MIKE CALLICRATE is an independent cattle producer, business entrepreneur, and political activist. He serves as an outspoken leader in addressing the rural, social, and cultural impacts of current economic trends. He consulted on several best-selling books, including Fast Food Nation and Omnivore’s Dilemma, as well as the highly regarded films Food Inc. and Fresh. Since the mid-1990s, Callicrate…
