#chima rewrite

Some more (digital) concepts and warm up doodles for chima! I have some traditional study sketches too, but Tumblr does not allow more than 10 images per post, so we'll have to do without 💔💔

Yeah, I'm queer myself , so write what I know am I right 😼

A pretty obvious one is the relationship between Laval and Cragger. I'm not the biggest fandom shipper in the world, but their relationship is inevitable. With how they act in the show, it just makes sense for them to be a little gay. I think bisexual Laval and gay Cragger is my plan for them. I like to imagine they shit talk each other to Worriz/Eris, acting like they don't miss each other dearly it's really funny to me

Another one I want to include is non-binary Razar :3. It's a headcanon I saw floating around while stalking the Chima tags, and I really like it. Making them NB also helps with making the main 8 less male heavy (eris being the only girl in the friendgroup is still crazy to me SAVE HER). I'm also NB myself so 😛

I also had the thought of making Eris' brother, Equilla (the Eagle announcer for the speedor races) trans....his model in the show is literally just Eris with goggles on. Perhaps they're twins..

Eris herself is also giving me vibes of something... I just don't know what yet. A lot of her character in my rewrite stems from her feeling like a black sheep in the eagles society it would be very easy to relate that to some queer themes

But knowing the character, these must have been crimes he thought were good deeds, but the Lion Tribe considered, or conspired to frame, them as heinous crimes that would weigh more heavily on his exile, At least that's what I think when Cragger and Laval question what he did, making it seem like he must have committed murder.

I'm just pointing out a likely plot role.

I had gone on a whole rant about this only to fact check myself and realise in the show Lavertus had stolen regular Chi and NOT Golden Chi 😭😭😭 My mistake. I was under the impression that he "stole" a Golden Chi orb and thought the punishment of exile was reasonable given the power it holds, but no he just picked up a few orbs of regular Chi which you are correct in saying is nothing compared to what was going on in season 1. So to start off, in my rewrite it is being changed to Golden Chi!!

Since we need more girls in the group that isn’t just Eris, I was thinking that it would be a good idea to swap out Rogon with Rinona, because I personally think she’s a slightly more interesting character than Rogon but that’s just me lol (and also because she’s very quickly forgotten about after season 2 😔)

Also, maaaabye it would be a good idea to swap Bladvic’s gender and make him a girl? 🫢

You'll be very happy to learn I have already planned to swap Rogon and Rinona 😼 Not only does it help balance things out but I was also able to think of an actual character arc for Rinona or at least something for her to do while I couldn't think of anything relating to Rogon for the life of me. He'll still make an appearance, although not as major of a role as in canon.

On the topic of gender swaps, I've said this before but my version of Razar will be non-binary :3 It might not bring more girls to the cast but it does help with making the main group less boy heavy overall.

Also! Small idea, but I think Flinx should also be aged up to being around the same age as the rest of the cast (at least around the same age the characters were in the first season if you’re planning to age them up as the series goes on) because I feel like it can be a great opportunity to have Flinx’s relationship with Fluminox be a parallel to Laval and Lagravis’ relationship in the first season :)

I do believe the Age of Becoming Ceremony does make the most sense to be at the age of 18, so you're right that's the youngest I can imagine any of the cast being! I don't have any concrete ages but I'm thinking maybe somewhere in the early 20's...old enough so they're not just fresh adults being trusted with the fate of the Chima but also young enough for them to not have everything in life figured out yet. A nice balance of experienced and inexperienced.

As for Flinx he has indeed been aged up! He's still younger than the main cast. At least mentally that is, I know he is *technically* like a thousand years old, but in my rewrite I imagine him to be like around 15 mentally....mid to late teens anyway. As season 3 will be a lot more Eris focused he and Eris actually develop a bit of a big sister/little brother relationship (he also has a similar relationship to Li'ella). I think that age bracket helps a lot with what he has going on. They were giving out to him for being a kid when he was like what..10?? 11?? He has his whole childhood in front of him bro give him a break 😭

I also feel like it was a huge miss opportunity to give the crawlers a redemption arc, because I feel like a theme about redemption would have fitted perfectly with the theme of Chima.

Hi!!!! Welcome to whatever this blog is, and to answer your question, yes, I do plan on taking a look at the Crawlers! I don't have very in depth ideas for them yet but I do have some rough concepts that I am currently playing around with.

I'm absolutely thrilled that you mentioned the thought of redemption because season 2 has very heavy redemption theme going on in my rewrite! One of the main things I'm planning for my rewrite is to have each of the 3 seasons focus on Laval, Cragger or Eris. The show kind of did this but it usually dropped it mid season to go back to focusing solely on Laval. Similar to how the Ninjago fandom refers to things as a "Jay season" or "Cole season", Season 1 will be a Laval season, Season 2 a Cragger season and Season 3 being an Eris season. Of course other characters will still be explored within these seasons and each of the characters development doesn't stop as soon as the season is over but that season will primarily focus on them.

So Season 2 focuses a lot on Cragger and him wanting to redeem himself after Season 1 during their quest into the outlands. (in my rewrite the persuader plant is not used, so Cragger has much more agency in his actions) This all builds up to a scene towards the end of the season. You may remember the moment in the show where Laval hands Scorm an orb of chi as "its the right thing to do." I always felt like this could have been MUCH more impactful coming from Cragger, perhaps showing how far he's come from his chi hoarding days. Now he is the one sharing Chi to others. There's other possible connections I can make with this interaction and Craggers motivation in my rewrite of season 1 but I think I will delve into that another time as i don't want this turing into a Cragger lore dump Lmao

Scorm's existential speech also gives me a lot to chew on, and I want it to be a more prominent thing throughout the Crawlerss entire screentime rather than something that's brought up right at the end. And so I think I'll tie it into their motivation for stealing the Chi. The Crawlers are in a completely alien situation. Their bodies have dramatically changed and they've woken up in the hostile outlands without any time to prepare. It would be reasonable to be terrified. All they know is that the Chi gave them this power, the Chi can help them. So they seek it out the only thing that feels familiar to them in their new lives. I always find fear to be such interesting motivations for villains, especially when that fear causes them to lash out and appear scary themselves. I also think it would be good to switch it up from the usual "evil tribe ambitious for power" motivation that kind of drags through all the seasons. The Crawlers can still be scary, but that fear they have can give Cragger something to relate to when he hands Scorm that Chi. He understands what its like to feel like nothing without the chi; he believes in the show (which i focus on a lot more heavily in my rewrite) that he could have saved his parents from the gorge if he was given some Chi. However at this point in his arc he understands that that over reliance and obsession with Chi isnt healthy, and is a leason he can pass onto the Crawlers. Wth great power comes great responsibility type stuff.

Cragger's redemption triggering the Crawlers redemption is something I definitely want to do, but they can't exactly bring 3 whole new tribes back to mainland Chima. Where would they go? Would citizens of Chima even trust them? The Crawlers do stay behind in the Outlands, now more experienced and better adapted to live in the harsh climate, and they focus on building a proper structure for their tribes to make them stronger as they were rather dysfunctional in season 2, often arguing amongst themselves. From here the revival of the Ice Hunters can take place, just a bit differently. While excavating a quarry/cave for building a city for themselves, the Crawlers come across the frozen hunters and discuss what to do. Feeling inspired by Cragger's message and making the connection of how the Chi once gave the Crawlers themselves new life, Scorm purposefully plugs Chi into Sir Fangar's to see if it might help him. Unfortunately, the Hunters don't reciprocate this kindness, overpowering and capturing the Crawlers as trophies just as they did in the show. They're later rescued when the trophy room melts however they don't attack the heros and rather help them defend against the Hunters. I think this is a good conflict for Scorm to over come in his arc as he obviously wouldn't be happy about his kindness being taken advantage of and leaving the Crawlers vunerable, the exact thing he feared in the beginning. I don't know how exactly this plays out yet but i think its a good place to start.

Because on one side He is Just there for annoying fart Jokes and doesn't seem that Important for the Story besides that He saved everyone in the 100 years moon Episode wich would be reason To Not include him but on the Other side He knows shadowwind and the outlands and when all of the Heros saw their ultimate Form when crooler burned the root of her flower He was awake and helped them. Also Hes Just an Outsider noone really wants To Talk To and the Last of His Kind wich could be explored when Laval is in His Exil.

So are you planing To include him and If yes what Changes will you make or Just whats His role in General?

I do want to gove Skinnet a more refined role in my rewrite as the show did show potential with him being a guide in the Outlands.

In another post, I briefly mentioned incorporating the greater Wyldness into my rewrite. The Skunk Tribe Skinnet is part of isn't from Chima, but another nation in the Wyldness. Skinnet is a traveller/explorer who's been to many places in the Wyldness and currently is residing in Chima. Perhaps Chima is a popular place for others to migrate to? With the Chi allowing them to have more advanced tech and such, perhaps its a richer nation, and many move there for a better life. Maybe Chima is the equivalent of a capital who knows.. more worldbuilding for me to figure out 😋. I'll have to dive more into what Ninjago has established about it before I go too far.

Skinnet's main role so far is being a guide in season 2, his guidance coming more from being an experienced traveller rather than he just stinks.. he's a really friendly guy that's ready to give a helping hand, and maybe his travels allow him to give others advice when they need it. People pay him to help guide them around more treacherous parts of Chima (The Fangs, The Falling Jungle ect) although he's always doing stuff free of charge too, especially for friends or regular customers. He's just a swell guy ngl.

Maybe there's some form of conflict or dislike between him and Furvito. Furvito is in a similar boat where he's from elsewhere in the Wyldness and came to Chima to sell his services. Maybe he trades materials from outside Chimas boarders, and of course, people can pay him to cause a bit of trouble like he does in the show. Skinnet isn't fond of Furvito because its actions like his that give all travellers a bad name, and of course their ideals and personalities clash too. Maybe when Furvito is hired to cause havoc at the speedor races, Skinnet is the one to catch and call him out.