#but kai is special

[ravenrambles6229]

kai_ninjago appreciation hours

k gamer we need to talk about kai and how he is consistently the family man of the ninja and arguably the most emotionally mature of them all when it comes to family

i love kai so much. hes not the brightest, but he is the most loving out of all the ninja, even if it’s in his own way.

first up, presumably taking care of nya for years on his own. like, im sure the neighbors helped out, but he has gone on record saying that they mostly grew up on their own. this kid got “abandoned” by his parents. but even then, he lit lanterns with nya on day of the departed. even though he didn’t know what happened to them, he chooses to believe that they wouldn’t leave them willingly. that they’re still worth remembering and loving.

when it’s revealed that zane is a robot, kai is the first one there. “you may be a robot, but you’re still our brother.” being a robot doesnt change anything, and kai is the first one to make sure zane knows it, but is also the one to later tell the others “we just have to give him time. i don’t know how i’d feel if somebody told me i was a robot.” Like, he empathizes with zane! he tells zane he still loves him, respects zane’s wish to be given space, and expresses empathy with him. in ninjago decoded, kai even reveals that he often forgets zane isn’t human. zane is, at this point, made of titanium. and yet all kai sees is zane

ok and then there’s his true potential. what even is there to say about that one? how he realizes his purpose is to protect his family. he’s there to protect lloyd. the one that once left lloyd, flaked out on him. he realizes that no, this kid is everything to him.

when lloyd was climbing the tower to fight the overlord, kai was right there, ready to protect him. “there’s only one green ninja.” this is no longer about him, it’s about lloyd’s destiny to save the world. and he would do everything to make sure lloyd makes it through that

now. kai gets a lot of flack for being not that smart. and dude really aint. his mouth is a pistol with which to shoot himself in the foot. but when it comes to family? He’s one of the most eloquent there. In titanium ninja, he’s the one to first coin “this isn’t about numbers, it’s about family.” something that resonated with zane strongly enough that he would fight the overlord despite all odds.

And then the funeral. it wasnt wu to speak. or cole or jay or even lloyd, but kai. his speech is genuinely like... really good?

“Everybody wondered what powered Zane, and I don’t think we’ll ever know, but I’d like to think it was brotherhood. Because he powered me. And he still powers me. Wherever you are Zane, you’ll always be one of us.”

this is coming from a dude that probably can’t do long division or tell you what a prepositional phrase is. what kai lacks in book smarts, and even in typical maturity (he’s still very much so a teenager) he makes up for with this insane emotional intelligence specifically regarding family.

in season 4, he’s the one we see visiting zane’s statue. he’s the one that supports lloyd in spite of his crush on skylor (even cole and jay got distracted by their own squabbling, even if they did the right thing in the end) he’s the one that took NONE of skylor’s bullshit once she revealed having ice powers.

and he was so deeply hurt by her betrayal! he felt genuinely betrayed! he really trusted her, even though he probably shouldnt have, seeing as she tried to turn him against lloyd. but just like lloyd with harumi, kai saw the good in her. and his loyalty changed skylor.

then season 5. lloyd just had to banish his father. so kai does what he did once already: steps up to be there. telling lloyd that he’ll be there for him. and he is. he’s the one to get through to lloyd on multiple occasions when he’s possessed by morro after all.

season 7. kai is so genuinely hurt when he thinks his dad betrayed them. but once he knows they’re on his side, he’s so, so, SO genuinely relieved, and later doesn’t hold it against them that he and nya grew up alone, even though he does have plenty of right to do so, or to at least still feel hurt by it. no. he’s just glad to have them back.

i don’t remember season 8 very clearly, but kai being the one to answer cole’s questions about babies is pretty fun.

season 9 puts them through the wringer. at first, kai is actually the one freaking out the most, he wants to go home so badly, they don’t know what happened to lloyd. but when wu and hope are lamenting being tied to fucking stakes and left to die, kai is the first one to comfort wu. to start joking around to lighten the mood, which the others then piggyback off of. it’s kai that’s there to try and comfort him first.

season 10, cole’s fall. you can tell how badly kai wants to go back for cole, even when all logic dictates that they’d die. personally, i like to imagine that he told zane that “this isn’t about logic, it’s about family” to which zane might say “this is about the innocent lives on our ship” to which kai just. looks down in sorrow.

but when lloyd returns, they’re all silent. none of them want to tell lloyd what happened. it’s kai that breaks the news. it’s kai (and jay of course) that comforts nya when she blames herself. it’s kai that later goes to nya when she’s alone to tell her that it’s not her fault, and to push her towards moving past what happened, at least long enough that they can make it through this to grieve cole later. the one to reinforce to nya that cole wouldnt hold what happened against her (by offering her the scythe)

it’s just... it’s so consistently a part of kai’s character. i don’t know the second series enough off the top of my head to really point to specific examples. which is like, on me of course.

but when he lost nya, he channeled that into becoming a DOJO INSTRUCTOR for YOUNG CHILDREN. He saw his sister disappear, and decided to protect the rest of the children of ninjago, in whatever way he could: by making sure they could defend themselves, even if he’s not able to do it for them. it’s... honestly remarkably touching and poignant.

but like, shit, man. dragons rising NAILED big brother kai. the way he picks up lloyd and spins him around. he’s overflowing with so much love for his family. there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that he’d go through hell and high water for any of them. which is true of all the ninja, of course, but kai... he’s special

he’s the one that knows what to say. how to comfort someone. how to make someone feel loved. how to help someone grieve. even if he doesn’t always know how to handle that grief himself (see his time as the burning shogun)

the fact that he learned these skills from such a young age is tragic in its own right, but that he managed to turn his loss and strife into such a positive character trait is nothing short of amazing, and is such a sorely overlooked aspect to his character.

tl;dr - Kai is not only loyal to a fault, but also capable of comforting people and being there for them. He loves his family so much, and he’s one of the best at expressing that in the little ways and big ones.

(sidebar but shoutout to his VA. he’s the one that really makes kai come to life)

[l1-b1]

13 years of Ninjago! Can you believe that??

AND ITS STILL GOING???

[zu-is-here]

✧ Dreamtale x The Snow Queen ✧

[3/5] Happy anniversary ♡

Dream & Nightmare by jokublog

[static-radio-ao3]

talking on the ride home

Regulus Black does not have a lot of luck in love. Nor does he have a driver’s license.

[hermit-frog]

«“Daniel, you are a gift to me from Louis,” Armand had said tenderly. “What would I do without you? You misunderstand everything.”»

[dawnbreakersgaze]

I've had the world's shittiest day, so I'm rewarding myself for not doing a self yeet into the Kansas river by drawing Rafayel looking extra slutty all sprawled out in the sunlight of his studio, while I drink a boba tea. Thank God for my wonderful husband and boba tea.

Self care ♡🧋

[soupforsoup]

The vision for this edit entered my brain and possessed my waking thoughts and wouldn't let me rest until she was realised so here I guess everybody cheer

I hated every goddamn second of learning how to make this, the only thing that felt worse than learning to edit was not working on this mediocre edit the app crashed so many times jesus christ where's that defunctland reddit post clap for the boy or I'm blowing this whole fucking building up

[tournament-terror]

i will be making more laterrr. :)

[spinjitsuburst]

watching dream team and kai beefing with a 14 year old who shares his voice is hilarious and so painfully Kai

[maeriavizsendingjpmdose]

this is what I look like while blogging about my favorite american horror story psychos

[kaiju-krew]

Hello!!

Okay, first of all: I LOVE YOUR ART!!! I've been following you on Twitter because I didn't have tumblr until now (⁠｡⁠•́⁠︿⁠•̀⁠｡⁠)

Are you planning to do more gijinkas? Goji and Mothra are so beautiful and I'm curious if you are gonna do more characters? Like... Idk, Kong? (I'm sorry, I love that guy)... OR Shimo! I know Shimo is very new, but I think her/his design is very pretty.

That's all, have a nice day ⊂⁠(⁠(⁠・⁠▽⁠・⁠)⁠)⁠⊃

(Sorry if my english is bad, I'm spanish)

hallo!! ahh thank u sm<3 your english is great btw!! :D

oo welcome, tumblr is great imo =w= it may not be as popular as twitter but it's mostly chill and i love how much easier it is to chat with ppl

i am working on more actually! I'm currently working on a new set of 3, but I'm lowkey loving shimo a lot so i may have to sneak her in too she's a girl to me until the movie crushes my dreams but yess i'm currently working on rodan, kong, and biollante :3c

buuuuut it'll likely take me a while to get them out bcuz like 95% of my art time rn is dedicated to working on stuff for the comic con i'm gonna be vending at. but once that's done i'll be free and clear to spend all my free time on them.... im honestly dying to work on them more but im gonna make it a reward for myself for finishing all my con art lmao

as a littol bonus...... i used one of those height comparison things to make sure everyone is scaled properly - it'll give you a sneak peak on the other ones i'm thinking of doing in the future /o/

[theaceofarrows]

Ninjago Christmas sweaters

Kai⬇️

Cole⬇️

Zane⬇️

Jay⬇️

Lloyd⬇️

Nya⬇️

Pixal⬇️

And here's Morro as a bonus⬇️

[devilpanda17]

my boy simon keyes

[rere9500-18]

Zane not getting a hug from Nya and Kai and jumping straight into business<<<<<

Drawing Nya and Kai hugging Zane in that moment and calling it canon fr>>>>

The rest in reblogs

[archonfurina]

[dnd-smash-pass-vs]

They're elves of the shadowfell, normal human height. They specialize in teleportation and invisibility, with the casters among them throwing in confusion and fear and illusion. Be careful though, as any trained in combat start making non-elves slower and worse while within 10 feet. From depression, from the sound of it. Their angst about being more ancient and timeless than you wordlessly attaches to you like a parasite, slowing you down. Good for if you enjoy concepts like-

Shadows, but like DARKER than shadow, that lash out when they're moody

looking beautiful unless in shadow, in which case they're corpselike

ignoring pointless things like "comfort" and "morals" and "rules"

being the chosen of the Raven Queen, and on her behalf collecting dark tragedy, sorrow, and feelings of loss.

being corpse pale with jet black hair, pure black eyes, and covered with tattoos/piercings/anything that would make a generic white suburban mom in the 50's scream in terror.

Lumping them all together because they're all the same outside one having mage hand and such. Idc what weapon they're holding.