Atlasysis - Blog Posts

ive said this so many times but one of my favorite parts about kai is despite his  trauma, when he gives, it doesnt come with strings. hes not expecting anything from anyone- when he gives, he does so without ulterior motives. i think its so important to realize that kai understands the value of love and decides to share his love, share what he holds in his heart (that fact that he chooses to hold love in his heart despite everything is beautiful itself), with the world, despite the world not returning it to him.

he loved his parents yet again so effortlessly, and he has always loved his family, nya, lloyd, jay, cole, zane, pixal, wu profusely.

I just finished the ninjago finale.

the worst parts were probably

---the major plot holes (like hello?? why werent maya and ray there before? why was the prophecy on a piece of origami paper?  why didnt lloyd embrace his oni form?? wasnt the entire point to embrace it?? it coudlve been so much better if lloyd learned to love all parts of him)

---furthermore, the relationship between kai and skylor seemed soooo forced,

-----and i am not ready AT ALL to forgive harumi and let lloyd and them be a ‘thing’ like hellO??? i understand harumi is trying but she lied to lloyd BILLIONS of times thats just downright toxic.

-----not to mention we were ROBBED of RGB scenes. like hello?? sibling relations are just as important as romance?? why is ninjago getting rid of the best interactions (RGB) in the entire show??

---doesnt feel like a finale

---the fact that they are always losing their powers it getting really repetitive

---the ‘plot’ was very predictable and got a little boring

the best parts were

---- garmadon lord i love this man

---- i love christofern.

----i also loved minipix <3 (although a better name would be pixies)

----and i loved the interactions between kai and cole.

---also i loved that we saw the new merlopian king

---and im sorry but it was so funny when pythor told nya to go back to the ocean where she belongs.

---gotta say i also love vinny sm and aspheera is such a girlboss.

---- dragon forms were very pretty

--- the pixane scenes <3

---the newspaper kiddos

ninjago’s biggest flaw: death = development

ninjago has this consistent idea that the death of a character leads to the development of either said character, or the characters who grieve the death. while this concept can be written very well, ninjago can’t seem to get it right.

for example, nya’s sacrifice in seabound. i think her death could have been the BEST example in ninjago of how relationships can grow and strengthen over a shared loss. nyas ‘death’ could’ve been written as a wonderful way to deepen relationships between the characters, ESPECIALLY kai and jay. relationship development between those two would have been such a good concept, stabilizing eachother during times of grief, and so cole (who was, im sure we all agree, the most stable post seabound) would not have the burden of trying to help all members of the team, burying his own grief in order to aid the others, just as he had to do when his mother died.

furthermore, nya’s own death could have been a development strike for herself, but the show did not give her and nyad enough time  to show nya once again reestablishing her sense of self, and collecting her memories. this lack of time nya had, and the lack of attention brought to kai’s grieving methods, combined with loss of potential growth between kai and jay, simply proved that what the writers were aiming for (nyas death--> development) did not work out. and im sure u all can think of the other examples where this idea does not work out.

but i think while the death= development IS a problem, there are times where they got it right, and it did lead to development at some point. for example, when the monastery doors collapsed on lloyd, and so he ‘died’ and met with the first spinjitsu master (plot contribution). and, cole’s ‘fall/death’ showed us an extremely rare occasion of kai being vulnerable and scared, and then nya into a phase of blaming herself, which led to kai comforting nya, showing the strength of the bond between the two.

so, ultimately, i believe the true problem, is : ninjago’s inability to correctly and deeply portray grief,  because the entire idea of death= development  is based on how individuals deal with grief (coping mechanisms), how they carry on with it, and the relationships formed/strengthened by it. if grief is written poorly, then death can never lead to development.

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

Grief: Kai and Jay

I chose to focus on those two because of one sole reason: the IMMENSE contrast between the ways Jay and Kai handle grief. Complete opposites.

before i Start i wanna say I don’t have anything against jay, I love him too guys

Jay, time and time again, shows self centeredness in times of grief (again, not saying it’s his fault that’s just how he copes) He leads himself to believe that only he ever loved this person, and that no on else feels the same way. jay is also very expressive- he cries, he mourns, he is verbal throughout his grief. for example, he talks to water in order to feel some grasp of nya close to him- it shows how expressive he his with his longing for her. furthermore, two more examples:

the widely known one: Kai and Jays fight. JAY is the one who suggested they shouldn’t be a team anymore, he is the one who started the fight, and he’s the one who said no one loved/missed nya BUT him.

now, one might say

“But Kai was inconsiderate! He knocked down Jay’s water glass!”

lemme tell you buddy. jay shouldn’t be talking to water glasses in the FIRST place. secondly, this was kai’s way of showing concern, and allow me to remind you that kai still bothered to show concern for jay, when even before the fight jay was saying things like “only I miss nya” “I love her” “we are nothing without her”

secondly, did u guys notice the immense regret and sadness when kai knocked his glass over?

LOOK AT KAI’S EXPRESSION. he is DEVASTATED. he didn’t MEAN to. and on top of that, he is closing his eyes. if you’re a total kai observer, like I am, you’ve noticed that he looks away or dissociates if situations are too emotionally overbearing for him (nyas death, both times, when chen tells him about the fact that his parents might be evil and left them on purpose, etc etc). kai even said sorry, in a heartbreaking tone. he UNDOUBTEDLY would have apologized more profusely if jay didn’t attack immediately.

the other example is Season four, episode two. The ninja were in chens place discussing Zane’s death. jay says “I moved on. I feel guilt. These are not good feelings!” again, kai feels like he is being indirectly attacked, due to jay subtly suggesting that only he feels guilt. kai then says, “You think you feel bad? Imagine how I feel!”

and you might think oh but Kai is being self centered now. no. He’s not. Because remember what Lloyd told him before? Lloyd said Kai was selfish, for wanting to die instead of Zane. Kai felt suppressed and used jays words as a chance in desperation to vocalize some of his pain because he had no other chance to. And every time kai stated ANYTHING related to Grief, it’s automatically considered selfish whereas when jay does it it’s totally fine. kai’s feelings are ALWAYS being dismissed.

Kai handles grief destructively. He drinks, blames himself, mentally tortures himself. He literally has never cried in front of the others and silences his grief because he is criticized for it, especially by jay. It’s not that he isn’t vocal, it’s the fact that he CANT be. He’s SCARED to be.

both were in immense pain, but, and I literally don’t even know how many times I’ve said this, but the show needs to properly address this problem. kai being portrayed as selfish during grief is UNFAIR, and does not make sense AT ALL, when everything he says or does contrasts ‘selfishness’.

all the ninja have unique characteristics and they are so individually unique and reflect their nature

for example,

kai’s smile ( + dimples <33333 ) is bright, fearless, and contagious, his eyes radiate love and warmth, his laugh energetic and filled with enthusiasm

jay’s freckles remind you of stars, his smiles are timid yet adorable, his laugh loud and silly

cole’s hugs make you feel at home, eyes embedded in admiration and protection, his laugh is strong and smile is gentle yet valiant

lloyds laugh is quite mellow, voice smooth and soft, eyes curious yet immensely fond

zane’s words are a striving source of comfort, eyes tender, voice calm and patient, smile polite yet encouraging

nyas eyes remind you of calming waves against a shoreline (or when she’s mad, the complete opposite), voice firm and assertive, smile bold and daring

Kai and Nya VS Kai and Lloyd VS Lloyd and Nya

i’ve lately been seeing a lot of people comparing the rgb siblings relationships from one another... so I’m here to give my thoughts. before we begin I just want to clarify that I do NOT believe one relationship is more significant than the other. kai loves nya and lloyd EQUALLY, lloyd loves kai and nya EQUALLY, and nya loves kai and lloyd EQUALLY. ok! point made! jolly! also just a quick read on the image: colors correspond to each ninja (green= lloyd, etc), and the arrows work like this: 

kai-----(kai’s relationship with image the arrow points towards)---> nya

Kai and Nya:

now, in their childhood, I believe kai played the parental role more than the older brother role (this still remains unchanged). nya simply played the roll of a little sister. HOWEVER. as nya got older, i believe her relationship with kai changed. instead of playing the little sister, she ALSO slowly accustomed herself  to a parental role with kai, and before doing so playing the role of an ‘older sister’. Im thinking until around the age of 12 she played little sister, maybe after 12 and until she became samurai x an ‘older sister’ and then after samurai x she accustomed  herself into a parental figure toward kai. Also, I do think as nya got older kai slowly eased himself out of ‘ parental’ and into ‘older brother’, but parental is and will ALWAYS be the default relationship with nya. Naturally, both are ‘parental’ in different ways: kai focuses much more on emotional support for nya, offering approval, comfort, nurturance, and love. nya focuses on self-affection, meaning supporting kai in terms of accepting himself, showing that she loves him (not directly, but through gifts/actions), etc. both ‘parent’ eachother in ways the other needs it

Kai and Lloyd;

this one is easy. kai was an obvious father figure/older brother figure to lloyd since day one, and we’ve seen him rotate between them both frequently. kai’s ‘parental’ style remains the same as it was with nya, he offers lloyd approval, comfort, nurturance, and love. and as an older brother, protects him and teases him (just like he does with nya). lloyd played the role of a younger brother, even considerably a son throughout the show. he looks up to kai as a role model, etc

Nya and Lloyd:

both are younger siblings. thats it. THATS ALL. because nya protects lloyd and loves him, lloyd loves nya and they spent lots of time (DEF DOING MISCHIEF.) when the others were out on missions (when lloyd was a kid and nya was not a ninja). they have a rlly mischievous bond, and definitely a lot of chaos when together

-----------------------------

first off, the BIGGEST similarity when it comes to how  kai treats nya and lloyd (two slightly different relationship) is: parental LOVE. kai openly loves them both and always SHOWS it.

now, the biggest ‘difference’ is kai. nya and lloyd both have a more ‘respectful’ relationship with kai. yes, if nya got the chance she would soak him in water and if lloyd got the chance he would pour flour on kai. yes, kai and lloyd are double trouble and kai and nya are partners in crime. which is why im not talking about chaos, bc all three relationships have equal heaps of it. im talking maybe that nya and lloyd wouldnt curse in front of kai as often, and maybe listen to kai more than they would listen to the other (for example, if kai said to do ‘x’ then nya and lloyd would probably do it, but if nya/lloyd told lloyd/nya to do ‘x’ then theyd be stupid and ‘fight’ abt it). idk. just thoughts.

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

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

Isn't it so incredibly interesting how both smith siblings handled their trauma in drastically different ways? But isn't it also beautiful that everything they went through together simply made them love & support each other in bajillion different ways!?!!

Nya’s mindset of, ‘’I don't need anybody, I can do everything myself. I can rely on only myself,” just means that “My parents betrayed me and let me down when I needed them the most, which has damaged my ability to trust.’’

This is hyper-independence, and that is a result of trauma.  It was likely one of her prime ways to protect herself from vulnerability, building walls to protect herself from feeling a pain similar to what she felt when her parents disappeared, making it hard for her to love. She shows signs of ‘self-sabotage’ because she refuses to ask for help, and does not show vulnerability. She declined any affection (except kai, bc he was the only person who had not betrayed her/only dependable & trustworthy person in her childhood) in the earlier seasons, and has trouble doing things if she cannot execute them perfectly. Kai undoubtably worked hard to support her, and so Nya pressured herself to meet certain objectives for Kai’s sake, to ensure Kai’s work didn't go to waste. This likely lead to her habit of perfectionism, which with time, became a bigger breeding ground for severe toxicity.

Despite Kai offering her unconditional support, Nya likely did not want to overburden him with her troubles so she kept a lot of things bottled up. Her independency also probably derives from her will to try and make things easier for Kai (and later the team) so she minimizes asking for help. Rarely asking for anything at all, insisting on dealing with issues herself. She dragged this habit with her throughout her life, likely in fear of rejection. When it comes to grief and loss, she has a very unhealthy habit of pushing it down, trying to not feel anything especially when others are around (ex. in Hunted when nya and lloyd thought the others were dead, she pushed the grief down/started hiding it and distracted herself by focusing on/helping lloyd). When it comes to grief and certain other things she puts herself below others, prioritizing their needs instead of hers. All of these things are results of and/or mechanisms she developed from her childhood trauma.

Nya requires a lot of verbal affirmation and physical touch to open up (kai is an exception). A lot. Remember, it took a long time until she actually told Jay she loved him. But what Nya  needed is was patience, and Jay was displaying that, and never criticized her for not saying ily back.

She could have chosen to leave all the burden on Kai, but when she couldn’t remove it, she did everything she could to lighten it. Trauma gave nya so many reasons to be an untrustworthy person. Trauma made loving people hard for her. Trauma made love a battlefield for her. Trauma made future relationships difficult for her to ease in. But despite this, Nya chose to be trustworthy. Trauma didn’t make her brave. She made herself brave so she could accept Jay’s (and the teams) love, and in time, selflessly tore down her walls so she could love him back. She chose to be there in the times of need for others, just as her brother was there for her. Her trauma gave her opportunities and opportunities to be scared, but she chose to stand her ground. She chose to be brave.

Kai’s <3

https://theatlasrealm.tumblr.com/post/692060841958408192/isnt-it-so-incredibly-interesting-how-both-smith

We all know Kai’s coping mechanisms for grief are extremely destructive. He became an alcoholic to deal with Zane’s death, and openly said he wished he would be dead instead of him.

BUT During Nya’s death (at least nearly after the year, who knows what he was doing the months before he opened a dojo, probably definitely crying himself to sleep every night and other sad sad things. another quick reminder kai felt the same amount of pain jay did.) he surrounded himself with kids. On the outside, doesn’t seem so bad. He’s a teacher. At least he’s not an alcoholic! Yay?

No. Not yay.

He surrounded himself with Children. Little girls (and boys) who undoubtedly reminded him every single day of his baby sister. Kai was basically torturing himself, forcing himself to remember that he was unable to protect his nya. Seeing all these eager kids wanting to learn how to fight, seeing these parents send in their Tom’s and their Jennifer’s, through desperation he tried to help protect them so the guilt of failing to protect Nya was less suffocating. So that neither Tom or Jessica’s parents go through what he went, and so that when the guilt is just a little less suffocating , because it probably won’t ever not be suffocating, he can try and just maybe scrape the courage and try living and breathing in the honor of the life she, his baby sister, nya, lived, telling her story and fulfilling her dreams (likely what nya would have wanted) instead of drowning in the grief of the life she couldn’t live.

Pondering about how Kai has made his power a part of his identity so much that it’s become a point of complete toxicity to himself . Without his power, he spirals into an immense self destructive phase, undervaluing himself to a total zero.

We continuously see how highly he depends on his powers, titles (green ninja, fire maker, etc), people (wu, social followers) to determine his self worth. Not to mention his cocky and prideful persona in front of others is likely a ‘safety system’ he derived for himself so he is not taken advantage of, or left behind (credits to his childhood). After all, confidence and pride (to a certain extent, of course) are considered attractive qualities to look up to, admire, and not necessarily to mess with.

He’s constantly trying to do as much as he can in so many different things, trying to prove his worth. Because he does not know who he is without them. Without people. Without titles. Without powers. He believes that just truly being himself is not of any value to those around him, and that if he cannot be of service he is absolutely worthless.

If somebody says one more time that Kai deserved to not only get kicked but also beaten up by jay in that one fight scene in crystallized I will THROW HANDS. No, I DO NOT hate jay. But I DO HATE tommy anderson

we know why jay acts the way he does. we have information about his past. we have an entire season about him and how he perceives himself (sky bound). Nadakhan literally pointed out that jay uses jokes to cover up insecurity. His true potential showed that he was insecure about being himself (until nya talked to him etc). We got like three seasons of him being the hero and saving entirety of Ninjago.

We were given Information about Cole’s past. We saw his childhood with his gorgeous mom. We saw in his true potential how he desperately wanted to be accepted by his dad. We saw Zane’s past. We saw how he sacrificed himself for the Ninja, understanding and acting upon the same words Kai had told him, “it’s about family, not numbers”. The writers could dive into Zane more, but we got something. And we also got some Nya, why she’s a perfectionist, why she isn’t that verbal, why she’s Independent; Kai said so himself, after all. Even though I wish we saw her talk with Nyad more, we still got her. And the entire series is about our boy Lloyd. And even though every one of them could be explored so much more, we got something. And for a few ninja, we got a lot of something’s. But not Kai. Rarely Kai.

Kai’s true potential was protecting someone. And I loved that, I did. But that’s it. If anything, it literally points out that no, he is not selfish. We never got a season truly revolving around Kai’s childhood struggles/trauma. Why is he reckless? Why is he protective? Why does he never cry? While the other ninja have their spotlights, Kai never had his. He is such a complex character (that ninjago refuses to dive into) and that’s why I love him so much.

I know. I know Kai can be rude to Jay sometimes, and bully him, but if it came down to it, Kai would die for him. Because this is the man that makes his sister happy, because jay does mean a lot to kai. Kai doesn’t show it - frankly, he doesn’t show a lot of things. And I know this doesn’t entirely excuse the way he acted toward jay before, but why. I want to know why he acts like that. But the writers never dwelled on it. Jay is allowed to confront and express his feelings about how Kai for ‘bullying’ him, but not like this ( by the way, idk if I guys noticed but lately Kai has been complimenting/hyping jay up a lot now.)

And when jay, who is grief stricken, leads him self to believe only he loved nya in the entire world, kai is allowed to get angry. Kai is allowed to feel anger towards someone acting like no one else loved nya when Kai raised her. Protected her. Did everything for her. Just because we did not see as much of Kai grieving as we did of Jay, does not mean Jay was more upset. For all we know, Kai was dying on the inside. She was his sister for gods sake.

Kai did not “deserve” that kick. And if you genuinely think that, i honestly do not know what to tell you.

I know a lot of people are saying that Kai and Nya had a babysitter and whatever, but guess what.. who cares? Allow me to explain:

A Babysitter is someone who comes for a short amount of time to take care of kids. A babysitter needs money. This ‘babysitter’ definitely had her own family and I don’t think a random stranger or even if the babysitter was a good neighbor would raise someone else’s kids and provide for them and support them and love them for free. She most likely came in only to feed them, and left. Or left the minute Kai turned ten. Maybe she gave up when no more money was coming her way, and she only came to feed them for a year and that’s it. We don’t even have enough information to conclude any of this, especially not if she was a good, loving babysitter, which she was likely not. Because if she was, Kai and Nya would be mentally healthier.

When kids are growing, they look up to their parents, because they are emotionally connected with them. Kids mimic emotions from their parents, and look up at them for validation of their own. Nya was really young when Maya and Ray were captured. Kai was very young too, but old enough to know what love is because he most likely remembered his parents loving him. Now on the other hand Nya probably had little to no memory recall of her parents at all, much less the idea of what ‘love’ is.

When Maya and Ray were captured Kai was the only person left who Nya was emotionally connected with. Kai was the only person who could fill the role of being a loving person in her life, someone she could relay on and trust with vulnerability. I don’t think some children would just suddenly trust a random adult in their life, especially not Kai (remember how hesitant and suspicious he was when he first saw Wu). 

If this babysitter was that awesome, dependable, or trustworthy, Kai would not have trust issues, Nya would not need to feel independent, etc etc. Again, Both siblings would have a little more healthier mindsets.

Kai, as a child, loved Nya since the beginning. When Maya and Ray disappeared, he did raise her. You could interpret this sentence in many ways- raised her by love, raised her emotionally, raised her by providing for them both, raised her by protecting her. I strongly believe in every one of these and more, but this furthers on to my point: babysitter or no babysitter, at the end of the day, Kai did raise Nya. And I think for a small child who was just as lost and scared, he did his very best.

A child forms their idea of love normally by looking at their parents relationship, and by observing how parents treat them. Kai had a slight foundation in this already, since he loved Nya since the beginning. Nya however, as I mentioned before, likely had little to no memories of her parents. So, everything Nya learned about love, how to love, etc was from Kai. And with this, Nya had understood and developed her own love languages, and proceeded to use what she learned from Kai and reciprocate it. This was undoubtedly Kai’s biggest mental support during his childhood. And with what she learned from Kai, she started to also love Jay.

AND I AGREE?? WE HAVE THE SAME THOUGHT PROCESS I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH MITZLE

and again, adding to all of this, it’s also sometimes easy to forget that ninjago is a kids show- which is exactly what angers me more. Kids should be shown romantic relationships are important; there is nothing wrong with that. However hundreds of kids could relate to a sibling relationship, and could maybe even learn from Kai and Nya, and get closer to their own siblings! When I was younger I looked up to Kai, because he was an older sibling and I could relate to that. Other kids could do the exact same!

The writers have indeed diminished the value of Kai and Nya’s relationship, overlooking it and portraying to so many kids that romance reigns over family every time. I just wish they would change, because Kai and Nya are siblings and downgrading the important value of sibling relationships seems to be the writers ultimate goal. And honestly? This really needs to stop.

Respectfully, some of you in the ninjago fandom REALLY need to get this in your ears:

the amount of grief jay felt about nya’s death IS NOT LARGER THAN THE AMOUNT OF GRIEF KAI FELT.

familial love and romantic love are two different things. and yes, depending on circumstances and the people themselves, one can be stronger than the other.

BUT NOT IN NYA’S CASE. KAI AND JAY LOVE NYA EQUALLY. JAY DID NOT MISS NYA MORE THAN KAI. KAI JUST HID HIS GRIEF, AND MAYBE IS COPING IN A DIFFERENT WAY. KAI AND JAY ARE DIFFERENT PEOPLE. BUT THEY LOVE NYA EQUALLY.

so stop saying jay was more upset over nya’s death when kai literally held her when she was a child and raised her and was there for nya her entire life. nya missed them both, and they both missed her. thats it.

Respectfully, some of you in the ninjago fandom REALLY need to get this in your ears:

the amount of grief jay felt about nya’s death IS NOT LARGER THAN THE AMOUNT OF GRIEF KAI FELT.

familial love and romantic love are two different things. and yes, depending on circumstances and the people themselves, one can be stronger than the other.

BUT NOT IN NYA’S CASE. KAI AND JAY LOVE NYA EQUALLY. JAY DID NOT MISS NYA MORE THAN KAI. KAI JUST HID HIS GRIEF, AND MAYBE IS COPING IN A DIFFERENT WAY. KAI AND JAY ARE DIFFERENT PEOPLE. BUT THEY LOVE NYA EQUALLY.

so stop saying jay was more upset over nya’s death when kai literally held her when she was a child and raised her and was there for nya her entire life. nya missed them both, and they both missed her. thats it.

can you do an analysis on how each ninja fights??

YES!!! btw this isnt just from my head, this is from a person who binged ninjago 50+ times and has been watching it since she was 3. i have watched it enough to come up with an analysis i promise

Cole:

Although he’s decently skilled at it , Cole does not like far ranged combat - its not his strongest suit. Mainly because he doesn't like far ranged weapons. However, when this type of combat is needed, he simply chucks boulders at whoever needs to be taught a lesson.

 Cole is definitely the king when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. His strong body structure (awesome muscular build) enables him to throw harder punches, and on top of that he has his super strength that gives every hit he throws an added bonus (enemies really be flying all over the place when this kid fights). You can try to throw a punch at him but it would be like punching a brick wall. Cole is also a very powerful ‘kicker’, and has an excellent defense. Cole uses scythes/war hammers as his default weapons, and could use other weapons such as the ‘morning star'(yk, the big huge weapons with spikes on them, like the chain connected to a huge spiky ball. that would be so cool). Also, he could probably slay with gauntlets. Like cmon. Cole is able to use heavier weapons and hit harder because when it comes to physical strength, he surpasses all the ninja.

However, he is a tad little slow due to his size, but his skull breaking punches make up for it and more. He uses his elemental powers to his advantage, also throwing small but dangerous rocks at his enemies in between his punches, and sometimes finishing them off with a boulder punch ( a punch + a boulder. boulder punch. its super effective). Cole is normally extremely patient but on the battlefield he simply prefers facing enemies head on. He still observes them and make’s sure to know what he’s getting himself into. Not the most analytical in the team, but he certainly isn't lacking much in that department.

He works the best with all ninja, but especially well with Kai and Jay, since they compensate for his ‘slower’ attacks. Also, yk the small and tall fighting methods... (big uses hands and throws small in the air, small jumps of off big’s back, etc ) gotta love em. With jay, he’s more on defense to keep jay’s back covered. When cole is fighting with  kai its like Cole  trying to minimize a feral cats damage while also trying to maximize the feral cats damage ( hint: kai is the feral cat). 

Nya:

Nya is the Queen when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. She also has a strong body structure, similar to Cole, and so she also throws some nasty punches. Although she doesn’t have super strength like Cole, to make up for it she  fights in smooth yet harsh motions, using water to disrupt the enemies movements/slow them down so she can pinpoint their weak areas and break their noses. She is the queen after all.

Her default weapon is a spear, bc she likes to use pole-like weapons. Pole-like weapons such as spears and lances allow Nya to thrust forward with them, and have a long distance they can cover without having to actually stand far, unlike far-ranged weapons. This goes well with her water powers as water hits harder with increased pressure and is able to take any form. Nya could probably work well with whips too, or like form water whips. That would be cool.

She doesn’t like far ranged combat simply because its ‘boring’ for her.

Nya is a little faster than Cole, but she still isn't the fastest (more about that below). She tends to analyze enemies before attacking, or analyze them while attacking. Either works! She also tends to outsmart her enemies by  appearing weaker than she looks, or looking at their fighting style and then adapting a counter-style (water is adaptable, after all).

Nya also works well with all the ninja. However she works best with Kai, Jay, and Zane. With Kai and Jay its also the small-tall method (Nya’s taller than both). With Jay and Zane she has elemental reactions, since water and lighting are more effective together (shock shock shock + more shocks) also they have chemistry + nya helps zane freeze at larger capacities, also both are super smart and are good at strategies. With kai, nya just works well . yk. reading eachother with simple glances. when together enemies being devoured within seconds. destroying whoever hurt the other. fun!

Jay:

Jay is not the best at hand to hand combat, but as a ninja he is obviously still not someone to be taken lightly. He cant throw hard punches, but he can throw fast punches. Lightning is not a slow force, after all! Jay may not be excelling in physical strength but he is arguably the fastest ninja. 

His size also gives him an advantage, since he’s not heavy or tall, he’s able to double his speed  and rapidly attack his enemies. He tends to tire out his enemies first, using speed and swiftly strikes them with lightning to take them down. You think he’s teleporting? Nah he’s just hella fast dude

Jay isn't very ‘analytical’ but does very well with limited materials; he can invent/create something that can get them out of any sticky situation, not quite perfect yet very effective! This is a skill that is unique to him, as he invents best with scarce materials.

Jays' default weapon is nun chucks. He doesn't really like any other weapons. He loves metal nun chucks because remember, metal conducts electricity. He can simply use them as a weapon, and then use his powers and so the whoever he hits the nun chuck weapon with ( or any metal weapon really) would get a hard electric shock. Ouch. He would also do really well with Chakrams (if ur too lazy to google it, they are circular weapons- kinda like circular boomerangs with sharp edges. ).  Doesn't mind far range combat, and isn't bad at it either. He has no preference, as long as he gets to work with nya LOL

Jay works well with all ninja, especially with nya (reasons stated above) and works well with cole (also stated above). 

Zane:

Zane is good in hand-to-hand combat, and his punches hurt quite a lot ( he has metal hands, after all). He would be ranked second when it comes to hard punches, very close after Cole and Nya. His body structure... is... well... metal.  

His defense is the best out of all the ninja mainly because who would wanna punch a tin can (its certainly do able, but boy it hurts). Zane tends to do 100% analytical fighting, he estimates the enemies moves and studies how they fight. He is the most analytical fighter.

His moves are careful and calculated. He takes the next course of action based on statistics. However, this sometimes does not work when it comes to ambushes, or unexpected fights as there is no time to observe or estimate. That’s all right though, because Zane isn't entirely dependent on this, as he does have his powers to slow/freeze enemies down. 

You wanna know how many enemies are left? Ask Zane, he can scan the area. You wanna know an enemies weak point? Dw, Zane can scan it for you. Thanks Zane!!!

Zane  excels in mid/far ranged combat- he’s the best ninja for the job. His default weapons are shuriken's and bows, after all. He has the patience for it, and has excellent aim. If the ninja had guns, he would be a dangerous sniper.

Zane works well with every ninja, but has an advantage working with Nya (as stated before) and Pixal

Kai:

Kai is similar to Jay when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. He can throw punches, but cannot throw hard punches (he was trained to be a blacksmith though, so I’d say he’s a little behind zane). But he is extremely fast, closely second to only Jay. His biggest advantage in hand-to-hand combat is agility. Kai is the most agile ninja, and his immense flexibility (he is also most flexible)  gives him an upper hand in many situations. He also has the best reflexes ; his nimble moves make him a hard target. You wont see a ninja ur gonna see a gymnast. A gym-ja. 

Zane and Nya are the best logical planners, but logical plans need time and observation. Kai excels the most when faced with ambushes or fast-paced situations ; he’s always on his toes and his impulsivity becomes beneficial, since he takes quick action and takes advantage of  chances that the other’s would never have noticed. He’s also as astute as Nya and Zane, just in a less logical, and in a more of a crafty way. He isn’t a patient fighter though, so he sometimes gets himself into... situations.

His default weapons are sword/katanas, and he uses them as an extension of himself; the best swordsman on the team.  What’s that? You want kai to do far-ranged combat? Bestie, for kai, far ranged combat is just throwing fireballs from a distance. You might as well throw bombs at ur enemies. Kai doesn't do well with far-ranged weaponry. If Kai had short ranged-pistols, like one on each hand (like Jinx from Arcane or Kiana from Honkai Impact) he would also reign supreme.

Kai works well with all ninja, especially with Nya (stated above) , Cole (also stated above) , and Lloyd (lloyd works really well with every ninja, but he has patience and he helps kai think things through). 

thats it for now!  i’ll reblog and include lloyd in this after part two of s16 comes out, bc i wanna add his “oni-style”

I think the reason why I love Kai and Nyas dynamic so much is because of three reasons

1) I’m a sucker for any sibling dynamic

2) the entire fact that their childhood consisted of only each other + they know each other so well; probably better than they know themselves and I could go on and on and on about how 10000 different reasons why Kai and nya ( +Lloyd!) have the best dynamic in the entire show and that’s why this same show GATEKEEPS THEIR MOMENTS LIKE BRO. GIVE US KAI AND NYA HUGS/MOMENTS/THINGS/TALKS/EVERYTHING IN S16 TO MAKE UP FOR SEABOUND.

3) their elements

I believe that out of all the elements in Ninjago ( or in any other show, or LITERALLY just nature itself ) fire and water are the most unique because of one reason: they are the elements that are embedded with the convergence of opposites. creation, and destruction. life, and death. light, and darkness. for example:

Water provides shelter for sea creatures. Water keeps us hydrated, nourished. Water can provide us with energy (dams). Yet, water causes floods and tsunamis. Water can cause you to drown. Water takes lives.

Without the sun we would die. The sun helps plants grow and protects us from the cold and is the source of all our food. Fire burns down forests and destroys homes. Fire inflicts pain and burns on human beings. Fire turns anything in its way to ashes. Fire takes lives.

See? good and bad, bad and good. And the fact that both their elements hold these concepts is such an amazing thing to me because that just seals the wholesomeness of their dynamic even more.

HI IM HERE TO REMIND YOU OF THIS SCENE:

Kai and cole look at each other with determined as hell looks , and come to a conclusion.

now, let me remind you this isn’t just any simple conclusion. it’s a conclusion to sacrifice themselves for a mission on a crazy video game land they don’t even know will work

there are two ways trust is working here behind the scenes:

1: the trust between kai and cole

2: and the trust they have in the team

now the first one is so much more significant because

1)all the ninja had sacrificed themselves and trusted the team so the second way isn’t unique. every ninja has immense trust in their team and it’s shown throughout each of their important sacrifices

2) the first one reason, that’s what made this scene more unique then some other scenes (i am NOT saying more important, just more UNIQUE. unique does not mean something is better than the other. It just means there were different circumstances. don’t attack me) since it shows two characters simply nodding and having the same goal, the exact same strategy/idea in mind because remember kai and cole proceeded with their actions and it was like the other knew exactly what the other was going to do from which car the other would bring down to where they planned to explode/crash.

it also shows the amount, the IMMENSE AMOUNT of belief/trust kai and cole have in EACHOTHER. I mean, they didn’t even need to say anything. they just know. this is the main reason why I loved this scene SO much: it was a non-communicated-just-one- look sacrifice that was executed perfectly.