#menodora

Menodora belongs to @roseycanvas :D

And I'd like to know more about your oc's that knew the Spinjitzu family.

Can you please tell me more about them?

Thanks for being interested! I'd be happy to do so :)

I should clarify that not all the three are my ocs- the middle and left figures are intended to be Garmadon and Wu (respectively) during their teenage years. Apologies if that wasn't clear!

The girl on the right is Menodora, their sister. In my AU, FSM's experiences growing up amidst the war between the dragons and oni made him wary about recreating that divide. Therefore, when it became clear that Garmadon only wielded destruction, and not both abilities, he sought to not only create two more children instead of just one, so that there would never again be the risk of creation and destruction put at odds without something standing between them to prevent war. To his relief, Menodora didn't come to wield either the essences of Creation or Destruction, but instead an entirely separate power: she can manipulate fibres of any kind (plant or animal). This fit into her father's narratives quite well. Her role as the only daughter (in The Past) made this seem to fit even more. Ultimately, though, this only led to a false sense of security.

So, while her brothers were meant to embody the two most powerful abilities to exist, and were increasingly considered powerful ninja in their own rights, she wasn't given the opportunity to shine in the same way. Instead, because of her role as the middle ground, she was seen as the most average/the least exceptional. They were allowed to define themselves, to go on adventures, to learn Spinjitzu and to become characters in their own lives. Menodora, in comparison, was only ever allowed to be defined by the men in her life. She was expected to pacify Wu or Garmadon when they were upset, keep the Monastery clean and tidy, and fit the model of a noblewoman of her time. She had strict lessons going over the Monastery's archives, and learning the art of healing, but she'd be punished for ever picking up a sword, or attempting to form her hands into a fist. Her brothers were given free reign to travel across the continent, but she wasn't allowed to leave their home without an escort. She was taught to use her powers to sew, but forbidden from utlising them to protect herself or others. While all the siblings struggled under their father for different reasons, Menodora's struggles were particularly invisible to her brothers, creating a rift between her and them. Where Wu and Garmadon more-or-less experienced their struggles side-by-side, Menodora was always alone, unable to voice her feelings. As a result, her brothers never had reason to think that she was unhappy.

The art depicts them as teenagers, when they each are reckoning with their roles and destinies. Wu is largely satisfied with himself, Garmadon is being crushed by the pressure of being his father's eldest son (and thus presumed heir) while also knowing he will one day betray everything his family stands for, while Menodora is growing more and more disillusioned with the roles she is forced to play, unable to pursue her own personhood.

This came to a head shortly after their father's death. (Or, at least, shortly after they knew for sure he was gone for good, since Wu not knowing the sight of his tomb seems like a pretty clear indication that he didn't give much warning to his children.) Despite their respective issues with their father, this was of course a devastating, and entirely unprecedented, revelation for all three. It did, however, bring them a freedom that they hadn't had before. Menodora, therefore, assumed that she for once had the opportunity to do all the things that she'd been prohibited from all her life. So she mentioned the idea of going on an adventure of her own quite casually, perhaps a couple weeks later. Not as a definitive plan, but as something she definitely wanted to get started on planning. Rather than be supportive, however, her brothers saw this as abandoning the duties their father had left to them. After all, in their eyes, she had always taken to caring for the Monastery while they were away. Such a sudden divergence from what they knew of her struck them as a betrayal. Similarly, their reactions struck her as a betrayal, and so they got into a massive argument which led to her just straight-up leaving the Monastery.

This is the last time her brothers saw her. They never knew what happened to her (however, after Morro, it certainly continued to haunt Wu). Over time, with age and experience, they came to better understand her point of view, and regret the argument. However, without any knowledge of where she was, or if she were even still alive, they didn't have much hope of reconciliation. She became something of a faded memory, and they don't often speak of her. Lloyd does actually know of her existence, though only due to an off-handed remark from his father in s4, when they were walking through the rainforest together. Otherwise, she simply hasn't come up.

She did survive, though, and has been on an unending adventure traversing Ninjago ever since storming off. She went through a hard learning curve experiencing life outside of the bubble in which she was raised, however she came to thrive as a nomad. Over the centuries, she established many friendships and family bonds, even finding her own love and having a daughter named Mareva. (Her husband died more than 600 years ago, having a substantially shorter lifespan.) Though Menodora's feelings of hurt and betrayal would too soften with age and wisdom, as she came to see her brothers' perspectives more clearly, she remained afraid to return, in case they would remain steadfast in their stances or attempt to restrict her freedom. Her opinion wouldn't change until the Merge happened, splitting up her family circle. She recognised the event as something her biological family must be involved in, and its effects were the last straw. Of course, upon her arrival, she found that she'd waited too long, and both her brothers were unaccounted for.

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