very dearly beloved yet incredibly detested ninjago writers, since you cannot do it yourself, allow me to give you some guidance. introducing: a guide to writing kai
1: childhood. coping mechanisms, emotions, relationships, and so many other countless things are originated from our childhood experiences. show us how kai took charge, how he reacted when his parents left. did he break down crying, suck it up and get himself together for nyas sake? did his fear of being useless and his habit of undervaluing himself originate from the fact his parents had left him? I want to see kai move on as a child and yet stumble and fall at the same time. i wanna see the unresolved trauma please because we all know our boy has lots of that
2: green ninja. what’s wrong writers?? are you afraid to tell us his true motives for him wanting to be the green ninja? it’s because his constant fear of being worthless leaded to his wanting to be the green ninja? was he scared he couldn’t be able to protect those he loved? did he want to be green ninja out of fear of being undervalued and left behind by the team, like his parents left him behind? so many question so little answers
3: bravery through love. kai canonically represents bravery, but the ninjago short only presented this bravery through physical action. kai is one of the bravest in another act as well: love. kai’s continuation of love and care toward the team and kids in general has been shown time and time again in the show. physically affectionate, supportive, understanding, and caring to each ninja individually is literally kai’s thing. he readily loved his parents even though they ‘abandoned them’ long ago, when nya was not brave enough to (valid, btw). he is very vocal on how much he loves people, especially nya and lloyd. he loves kids and animals alike (making friends with dragons, naturally affectionate with kids). he wholeheartedly loves people despite the fear of not being loved back, and despite his childhood trauma, and i think thats the best and most beautiful kind of bravery. and i think if the show points this quality out for those who cannot see it, it would contribute so much to his character. kai is such a loving person he loves everyone i think i might cry
Something I’ve noticed is that Kai only puts on his egotistical persona when he’s with a stranger or someone he barely knows. He pretends he only cares about himself when he wants to make a first impression because that’s a personality that makes most people leave him alone. He acts like he’s a big shot around fans because that’s what they expect him to be. He pretends he’s the self centered one because it perfectly hides how much he hates himself. It makes him look less “weak”. He openly laments how he couldn’t protect anyone in season 11 because he’s at a low point and lets it slip through the cracks. He’s a genuinely kind and loving person but he assumes that if he shows that he’ll be ridiculed.
Ever since he was a kid and had to raise himself and Nya he’s been prickly and vicious because otherwise people will take advantage of him. It’s a coping mechanism derived from never having a stable parental figure that made him feel safe.
every birthday until kai was however years old and became a big brother he had the same birthday wish and that was having a sibling and when maya was pregnant with nya I will bet you my soul that kai was the happiest kid you’d ever meet and that’s why he was so excited when nya was born and held her like she was his everything and you can’t change my mind
—-Kai visibly Looks shorter than the rest of the ninja however he looks taller than Jay only because of his hair gel but in reality he and Jay are the same exact height
—-I said this before and I will say it again to reach kitchen cabinets or any high place kai either does one of two things :
1) airjitzu’s and sets the entire place on fire 2) becomes an Olympic gold metal gymnast
THERE IS NO INBETWEEN
—- Kai doesn’t get bothered much that cole and Zane are taller then him bc they are older… but the fact that his YOUNGER SIBLINGS are taller than him keeps him awake at night..
—-sometimes when nya or lloyd wake up in the middle of the night, scared and shaking, they go to the same person they’ve been going to all their life for nightmares: Kai
—-kai influenced/helped Lloyd a lot. And I mean a LOT, just as much as he helped nya. hair care routine? yeha kai showed Lloyd. how to deal with panic attacks? kai helps him breathe, and taught him how to handle it in case Lloyd is ever alone. Also someone else also said this btw but Lloyd’s weapon is a sword gee I wonder why
—-KAI IS THE FASHIONISTA SIBLING I REPEAT HE IS FASHIONISTA SIBLING-
nya: Kai if I was in your shoes
Kai: first of all my shoes are pieces of art second of all you shouldn’t even be in those shoes good lord we need to go shoe shopping I can’t have my dear sister walking around like that
—-guess who’s holding all the shopping bags when the trio goes shopping! Ur right it is nya and lloyd
“kai please stop we don’t need more clothes”
“lloyd, life is a runaway what do you mean we don’t need more clothes”
“kai that’s it we are going home if I have to carry one more bag-”
—--nya and Lloyd can’t hide crap from kai he just knows
Lloyd, thinking: I hate myself
“hey Lloyd u okay buddy??”
“YEAH!!”
Kai brother instinct triggered
Kai pulls out weapon: abominable hug
weapon was effective lloyd is feeling better
—-kai is a good liar/actor to most people except nya girl sees right through his facade
nya, “hey kai everything okay?”
Kai,” yeah don’t worry everything’s fine!”
nya gently hugs kai and Kai has an emotional breakdown: a sequel
—-kai,”how’s the weather up there”
nya and Lloyd,” we weren’t aware garden gnomes could talk”
—- when any one of them is sick the remaining two know exactly what to do.
Nya is sick? Give her some soup ! Give her some space! She’s independent and isn’t a fan of being taken care of (lloyd respects that!) but yk kai….Kid isn’t scared of nyas rages 💪
Lloyd is sick? give him some soup! make him laugh! hug him! Thankfully he’s smart enough to stay in bed and recover because he knows if he does that the recovery process will be faster! the real question is if kai knows that…
Kai is sick? Code red full lockdown bro is gonna go try and discover a new species while burning at a high temperature. um kai isn’t scared of nyas rages but when she yells at him for not resting while sick she’s like ten times more scarier someone save the poor boy oh look savior lloyd has arrived oh wait nope false alarm he’s yelling at Kai too
—-they all casually share hoodies, graphic tees, etc. but for Kai it looks little too big.. um…. don’t tell him that though…..
—--if things are too overwhelming for Kai he goes to nya and Lloyd. everything seems to melt away when they look up and smile at him
—-don’t insult nya or Lloyd in front of Kai or Kai’s gonna do a full sailor moon transformation and then into a VICIOUS garden gnome.
—-whenever nya’s inventions/ideas don’t work out, she gets angry and frustrated at herself due to her perfectionist nature. Kai always manages to make her feel better
“hey don’t worry nya, you have wonderful ideas and such a smart brain! you created so many things and I couldn’t have been more proud. how about we go eat a snack and then you can come finish this project later! I’ll even help!
—-Kai is really good with ‘feminine’ stuff like sewing (he probably used to stitch up ripped clothes when him and nya were kids) and hair. he knows 7384377348 different hairstyles and does nya’s hair whenever he can. he also tried to teach Lloyd but the poor kid became jumble of confusion. he managed to teach him braids though!!!
you think this is it? naw shawty I’ve got part two coming out soon.
Yes I am in love with this thought process guys
For the longest time I've been like "huh, it's kinda weird how Zane has these visions and it's never elaborated on, it's just a cute little quirk." I just feel like that's something that would've been explained by now??? But then I realized, maybe that's just part of him being the master of ice? Like, Cole has super strength, Jay had super speed in the pilots. Also there were the future reflections in the Ice Labyrinth? The place full of ice that's also connected to the FSM showed people their futures??? So maybe that's just what the element of ice does. (Now why ice and the future...idk? Like I see the connection that rocks are strong/you need strength to move rocks, and lightning is fast, but ice and the future??? Because ice can be reflective and it can save things for the future? Maybe???)
But then this raises the question: what's Kai's extra little power? If Cole has super strength, and Jay has (forgotten) super speed, and Zane has prophetic visions, what does Kai get?
most difficult sport in the ninjalympics
Giving the Destiny’s Bounty a parking ticket is an extreme sport.
Hi! Can you recommend blogs about Kai that you prefer to read, please.
Have a good day!
hey anon!! <333
I don’t have any specific blogs, I love a lot!! you can go through tags or check out my reblogs for specifics!!
Kai has low self esteem/self worth (depends on people, powers, and statements to determine his value), constantly needs to prove himself, and is immensely dependent on external validation (his obsession social media is a prime example of this). He invalidates himself, dismissing his emotions/feelings, and needs regular reassurance (tendency to blame out-of-control situations on himself, likely derived from the mindset that his parents purposely left him because he wasn't good enough, and i’ll bet my soul he stayed awake nights wondering that if nya was firstborn, would his parents still leave?) .
His fear of being useless is also likely derived from that same mindset and as such he portrays himself through a cocky/prideful ‘persona’. This is false portrayal of himself, simply to appear stronger in the eyes of others, because if others think he’s of value they won’t leave him, because with or without this ‘mask’ not even he knows who is truly is.
He tends to dissociate during emotionally intense/overwhelming situations, or go into a state shock/confusion. He developed unhealthy coping mechanisms (violently self destructive) with situations regarding loss and grief. All of these things are results of and/or mechanisms he developed from his childhood trauma.
but. despite everything i’ve written above. he loves nya. raised her. protects/supports her. took lloyd under his wing. he loves lloyd. throws heaps of physical affection towards cole. he loves cole. accepted jay as a brother in law, was so supportive of jaya and helped jay in proposing. he loves jay. makes things fun for zane, reassures him. he loves zane. showed master wu to believe in himself. he loves wu. he loves his entire team and expresses it in ways that value each of them individually. he makes friends with dragons. he loves dragons. he taught/worked with kids. he loves kids. despite what the disappearance of his parents did to him and nya, despite nya’s refusal to show her parents love (valid, btw) kai loved maya. he loved ray. he loved his parents all over again, he loved his parents again so easily. he loved and loves and keeps loving.
trauma gave him self-destructive mechanisms. trauma instilled insecurity in him. trauma took away his sense of self worth. trauma emptied him of self-love. trauma stole his sense of identity. but kai held on to the ability to protect others, to care for others, to help others. he held them close to his chest. because like hell he’d let his trauma take that.
kai refused to let trauma strip his ability to love. his ability to love is unmatched.
Inspired by this post:
https://sugarglider-s.tumblr.com/post/692022087001473024/every-single-day-of-my-life-i-think-about-how-kai
hi are you feeling sad today let me cheer you up
just remember kai and nya exist and I promise everything is going to be okay
bonus happy points if you remember kai and lloyd’s big brother and little brother dynamic
she/her || drowning in fandoms || certified ninjago enthusiast || firm believer in sibling dynamics || kai <33
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