He's Not Having A Good Time

Hey! What do you think are the ninja's love languages?

I’d love to share my thoughts on this! For those of you that do not know the five love languages, they are five ways people might show how they love (obvi not limited to romantic) someone, and speak the way they would like to feel cared for. People tend to love all five, but certain types are special to them. The five are:  quality time, words of affirmation, gift giving, acts of service, and physical touch. I determined each character’s through how they interact with the others. So grab a snack, and get cozy because this is a lot.....

Cole

Cole's love language is definitely physical touch (both giving and receiving). Imagine being hugged by cole like it would be such a  nice hug guys.  Throughout the show, you can see him hugging, touching, or a simply arm on a shoulder as he smiles at them. For example, 

+ when cole hugged zane when he found him in s4, when cole grabbed kai and danced with him, and there are too many to all list here 

and, below are examples of how Cole not only gives affection like this, but also likes to be shown affection through physical touch

LOOK AT HOW HAPPY COLE LOOKS

anyways I also do believe Cole has a secondary  love language (again, both receiving and giving) , it being words of affirmation. We see Cole as a comforting character throughout Ninjago, like when he tried to uplift kai when kai was upset abt his powers, or when he reassures Zane when he told them he was a robot, by calling him special and saying “you're still the same zane” and remember how happy he gets when someone verbally comforts him as well. 

For example, when Kai and Nya comforted him when he was a ghost. When Cole lost the travelers tea in s11, he clearly needed someone to tell him it was alright and they would get it back. And when his father accepted him, he was so happy yk... like I always wanna see Cole happy pls

Kai

ok so Kai is.. complicated. I feel like we see him do all five of these but I'm pretty confident I've picked out the two most supported ones, in both giving and receiving ends Acts of Service, and Words of Affirmation (with a side of physical touch and quality time. ik. its basically all of them but bare with me).

First of all, let me explain Acts Of Service. This one is pretty self-explanatory ; when Nya was young, Kai undoubtably took care of her and supported them in ways Nya probably doesn’t even remember anymore since she was so young. This was surely his way of showing her he loved her, and showing that he wouldn’t leave her like their parents did. 

  Remember, Kai was attacked by skeletons, he attempted to fight them off for Nya’s sake, despite how scared he must’ve been. When he couldn’t , he become so desperate he joined a random stranger and followed him to an unknown place when this place, this house, was all he had ever known. Protection is definitely an act of service. 

This brings me to my next point: Words of Affirmation. Kai is very vocal about how he loves Nya and the others. Whether it him be saying I love you directly, or complimenting/reassuring others. For example, 

Over here, he reassures Lloyd by telling him how he himself felt, and then telling him he would look after him no matter what. 

An example of how Kai is verbal with Nya is when she gives Kai a bike bc they needed to run away from Ronin. With this, Kai says,” I love my little sister,’’

Another example is when Kai reassures Nya in s10 when nya makes a ‘fatal’ mistake and cole falls off the bounty. He tells her shes the brains, and that she’s always building all the plans. This moment also stood out to me a lot because Kai knows exactly what Nya needed to hear. ( also when he entirely supported her when she told him she was samurai x, and more) + Kai reassured cole that he was still a part of their team even after being a ghost (words of affirmation) and helped Jay propose to Nya and entirely supported/cheered him on through the process (acts of service)

I said quality time bc remember how when his parents came back he was playing video games with his dad, etc - he was clearly having sm fun. Also, Kai does tend to hug/ lean against others quite a lot , as shown in images below Cole’s analysis (physical touch)

Nya

Nya isn’t as verbal or touchy as her brother, and so she’s definitely Acts of Service and Gift Giving. We see this throughout the seasons as Nya constantly helps the Ninja in the beginning by monitoring missions and aiding them through technology, making their missions smoother and easier. And in the later seasons, she could finally help them in person, since she became the water ninja

Now Nya always gifted the Ninja mechs, bikes, gadgets, you name it. I think this habit of hers could be considered both gift giving and acts of service. She tends to do it throughout the entire show, from giving them mechs to climb that mountain to get to the blinds man eye, to all sorts of other stuff the team required.

I do strongly believe the reason why both the smith siblings have acts of service as a love language is because when growing up they didn’t really have anyone else to do it for them. Nya most likely as a child probably made small gadgets for kai as to show him that she loves him, and that gradually continued to the other ninja as well.

However, when nya is on the receiving end, I think she loves physical touch and words of affirmation. This is proven since whenever kai and jay are verbal with her, she always has a positive reaction. Same when Kai and jay respond to her with physical touch- she doesn’t mind it, and happily responds to it as well.

Jay

Jay definitely has three love languages: words of affirmation, quality time, and physical touch (mostly revolving around nya)

Jay is extremely verbal when it comes to Nya, saying he loves her multiple times throughout Ninjago, similar to Kai. However, unlike Kai, who tends to do this to all the ninja, Jay usually focuses on Nya when it comes to verbal expression and words of affirmation. Telling her how they were meant for each other, regularly complimenting her, etc. 

As shown above and below, Jay is also very physical with mainly Nya, kissing her on the cheek quite frequently and dancing with her on various occasions. He loves spending time with her, preferring to go on missions with her than anyone else (as shown in the show, and that's why his analysis is mainly jaya lol)

Jay, when on the receiving end, also loves the same things. He gets extremally happy when Nya responds back to with the same actions. The biggest proof of this is how jay unlocked his true potential: Nya states that she doesn’t need Jay to wear any clothes or pretend to be anything he’s not, because she liked him for being him then proceeded to kiss him on the cheek, which led to Jay turning back human. Afterwards, Nya tells him, “You are the best You,” and with this, Jay unlocks his true potential. 

This tells us a lot about how heavily Jay takes Nya’s words, and how much words of affirmation can inspire/motivate him, so much to the point where he unlocked his true potential!

Zane

Zane’s love languages are probably: quality time and acts of service, with a side of words of affirmation. This applies to both when he shows affection, and how he likes when he receives affection.

Zane has shown multiple times to enjoy spending time with the team. Three examples of this are when he was escaping Chen with Cole (that was fun), when Zane had fun throwing rocks at Kai when Kai become chancellor (guys that was hilarious.) , and WHEN HE AND PIXAL BECAME ‘DETECTIVES’ GUYS THAT SCENE WAS THE BEST

(Also, Zane is sometimes shown to be physical too, as shown here. However the other love languages I stated seem to be more primary outlets of how he expresses affection, this scene still was too cute not to share)

Zane also cooks for the team on multiple occasions, and its stated/implied that everyone loves his cooking. He also bravely sacrificed himself for the Ninja , and as I stated before, protection is an act of service. He also is willing to do any favors the ninja ask him too, and never really turns them down, and that's very sweet. Zane has literally never been ‘rude’ to anyone.

Zane also tends to reassure others, however unlike Cole/Kai he does so in a more logical way. He states facts  about his reassuring statements, and I think that’s an important part of who he is. His interactions with Pixal are also very cute, and I love their dynamic sm. 

Lloyd

Lloyd montgomery garmadon. I strongly believe that our boy loves all sorts of affection, since he was deprived of any as a child ): However, throughout the show I believe his ‘giving’ love language is: words of affirmation, and acts of service. 

We see Lloyd frequently uplifting the Ninja (he is the leader after all),  when they ‘lost’ zane, he reunited the ninja that left, he tried to reassure kai that even without his powers he was important, and he warned cole abt vania (this is an act of service I think? Lloyd wanted to protect cole from being betrayed from a princess like he was and he had good intentions. I think what he did was sweet)+ and various more examples that im sure you are all aware of.

His words of affirmation is not limited to the ninja, for example: when they ‘lost’ zane, he reunited the ninja that left, he led  the Elemental Masters + Serpentine against Chen in the Second Serpentine War and encouraged them all, led the resistance, etc etc. These actions  can also be counted as acts of service too. After all, he leads them and creates plans for them too.

When receiving, I think Lloyd reacts positively to physical affection (like above) and also words of affirmation. He is definitely touch-starved and doesn't mind hugs at all (he loves them in fact). And, words of affirmation are great to Lloyd too, a prime example of this is Kai comforting Lloyd on multiple occasions and Nya doing the same. Kai and Nya both promised to protect Lloyd, and always be there for him, and said so verbally. You could see how it impacted Lloyd, reassuring him and helped him regain confidence. 

I also think he loves quality time as well, since he loved spending time with his dad, talking with him, and training with him. I love their interactions and it really shows how much Lloyd values his dad, despite everything.

phew that was long.. thanks for sticking with me

[Cole, Ray, and Kai hanging out in the kitchen]

Kai: oh hold up let me get you a plate

(Climbs on the counter like a five year old)

Cole: Kai?

Kai frustrated because he still can’t reach: what?

Cole: you want some help?

Kai: shut up cole I can do it myself dickhead

Ray: Haha wow kid I didn’t think you’d come out this short. Wonder we’re you got that from? Your mom and I are pretty tall.

Kai: Well yeah that’s what malnutrition will do to you

-heavy silence-

-Rays face of horror and realization-

Cole barely holding back laughter: kai what did you just say?

Kai: Malnourishment is a bitch.

Kai getting off the counter: haha! Finally! Stupid plate-

Turns around to see Ray face and Cole laughing his ass off

Kai: uh? Did I miss something?

Do you think the sibling banter between the Smith siblings goes over the head of thecrest of the ninjas from time to time since esentially they are only children, and don't always get it?

certainly does my dearest anon

honestly I feel like half of the smith sibling banter is things the others have absolutely no context of and it’s funnier if the others deliberately don’t want to have any context because then you’d be a part of the battlefield and oh boy

when the smith siblings argue it turns into a banter field. get it bc it’s a battlefield now everyone laugh I’m so funny and btw of course the arguments have their limitations, and don’t last more than three minutes

but also I do personally feel like Lloyd doesn’t argue like he’s just not that kind of person, he’d talk things through and whatver

and it’s also funny to imagine the three at literally any store and there you see a short hedgehog aka kai + the 6 ft ocean gal aka nya both starting world war three and then ur average window cleaner aka lloyd dead on the ground waiting to be buried 6ft under (cause of death: secondhand embarrassment)

ninjago headcannons ll

-kai sleeps like a cat

-jay loves eating chobani yogurt (incase you don’t know, it’s a brand of yogurt that has one little thingy full of yogurt and the other thingy u can flip over and add cookie dough or chocolate chips or whatever)

- nya and kai are those crazy madmen racing on the street ways that all the moms shake their heads at

- nya cannot parallel park but she can tokyo drift

- one day lloyd hit his head on the table so kai hit the table back.

- cole can digest anything ( poisoning him to death? lol nice try he loves to nom poison)

-kai bought lloyd most of his game/comic collection

- nya has a bellybutton piercing

part one

Kai Version: Isn't it so incredibly interesting how both smith siblings handled their trauma in drastically different ways?

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

hey you.

if ur feeling stressed out

check out my Lloyd roundabout.

i know you wanna drive there

don’t lie

Lloyd knows.

disclaimer all roads lead to trauma

the annoying kid and his cool siblings

*noms them affectionately*

yeah everyone focuses about nya’s connection to nyad, but if nya is technically one with the ocean, and nya is basicslly a part of kai, isnt kai basicslly connected to nyad too?? like wouldn’t it be awesome if human nya still had the ability to talk to nyad after she unmerged and stuff?? And since nya can do it kai could kinda do it too??

like if nya could talk to nyad as separate beings, but still be connected, through their magic? and kai maybe not being able to talk to nyad but being able to feel her, embrace her because after all, nyas blood is within him too, and so with alongside shared blood comes shared bonds, right?

can you imagine kai feeling upset or maybe lonely, nya not being there bc maybe she’s on a mission so he sits alongside the ocean, nyad joining him and creating little jellyfish that float around kai, to cheer him up?

can you imagine kai and nyad dancing across the shore, nya secretly recording them from a distance?

and maybe whenever kai goes near the ocean, nya and nyad can both feel his warmth and so there’s an array of fish and various sea creatures that suddenly appear alongside kai, kinda making the ocean a bit more magical?? idk I think It would be such a beautiful concept