#from s1 to s8 he just. can't help himself. he sees a kid with parental issues and he's fucking THERE

[all-pacas]

CHASE: Stop it. Your daughter deserves better than this. …You want to get some candy?

(the c-word)

[felikatze]

Hello again, I'd love to here more about Harumi and Sensei Garmadon, they sound really cute and fluffy!

hello again to you too~ late response cuz you caught me just as i was heading to sleep last night, whoops

havent intensely thought abt green swap in a hot second but!!! garmadon and harumi!!

for one, you are right, they are cute and fluffy. that found family dynamic, ykno?

on the other hand...

so, at like, s3, s4, that point, sensei g pretty much adopted harumi, and harumi is thrilled abt it cuz he's cool, but, at the beginning, they really only click cuz the other is what they "want" in a sense

see, harumi's motivation for finding the serpentine was distracting herself from her grief over her parents. and this plays a lot into my perception of canon harumi, too. i think she never quite got over that loss in canon too, and one of her big reasons for summoning garmadon isnt just revenge. she's also projected onto him as a pseudo parental figure for herself, hence the whole "what about a daughter?" scene from s8. she's still craving the parental affection she was robbed of.

with less time for this to fester, and much different circumstances behind her parents' deaths, she again latches onto garmadon as a replacement for her own parents

and garmadon is happy to oblige, cuz he misses lloyd, basically. in this AU, the ninja never find lloyd, so he's just Out There for a bit. Lloyd cant find garmadon and garmadon cant find lloyd and they both miss each other a ton.

when wu breaks garmadon out of the realm of madness to rescue harumi, he has way less emotional stake in it. but he still does it, cuz he sees a scared kid and just... can't help himself. initially, it is very much the affection for lloyd he never could live out, redirected. projection on both sides lmao.

for what i imagine s2 here, that's where harumi really starts seeing good in him. cuz, even if he's possessed by the overlord, even if he is the lord of evil, someone willing to storm a volcano for some random kid can't be all bad. harumi refuses to believe that.

and for sensei g, this girl believing in his inherent goodness is what finally saved him.

we have a selfless act in s1 stacking up with a selfless act in s2, so when s3 comes and the two have to stick together for weeks, they're inseperable after.

once they can get to know each other as people, the element of projection also lessens, and the two start on processing their grief, one step at a time.

(of course, lloyd is still alive, but hey, garmadon doesn't know that.)

and after all that, you get a scene from a fic i really should finish!! (thank you lloydweek for providing incentive for me to do so. i see the prompt trust/betrayal and i yell GREEN SWAP TIME BABEY)

it's still Rough tho i need to rewrite it lmao. hence all lowercase cuz i'm lazy. anyway.

---

"I can only imagine the kind of person he grew up to be." garmadon's eyes shine with pride. "if he's anything like you, then that's enough."

"like me? how am i good?"

"you're helping me now, aren't you?" he ruffles her hair the way her dad used to. "you're a kind girl deep down, harumi. kind, and smart, and inquisitive, and brave."

he stares ahead. harumi stares at him. "i'm sure lloyd will love a sister like you."

harumi is silent. dazed. her mind is spinning.

garmadon turns back to her and the moment ends. "i apologize. that was presumptious of me."

harumi holds an image in her mind. of herself, garmadon behind her. next to her, a rambunctious blond boy. all three of them smiling.

a happy family.

"i'm..." why do words fail her again now? "i'd love a brother like lloyd, too."

garmadon beams. harumi allows a small smile to creep through.

[amour393]

Y'know, I totally see where you're coming from op, but I don't know if I entirely agree.

Yeah, Lloyd and Zane definitely have more focus on them in the first few seasons. Lloyd's the chosen one, Zane's a robot, and even Jay has the whole 'funny one' thing going on. Cole used to be the leader of the team. The rock, if you will. And of course Nya had her thing about Samurai X. But Kai?

Kai has watched the five learn and grow and change. He's observant. And when he watches something happen to his family, he gets fired up. Pun intended.

Kai's is a lot like his element. He's bright. He's energetic. He keeps people warm and protects, but if you're not careful, you'll get burned.

Kai's 'thing' is loyalty. And, of course, overcoming his pride through it.

In season 1, Kai immediately has his eyes set on being the green ninja. He wants to be the best. Nearly everything he does in s1 is to prove he's good enough to become the green ninja.

Part of this is probably from his parents disappearing. The poor kid's got abandonment issues. Was he not good enough for them? Is that why they left? So he spends a ton of his time trying to prove that no, he is good enough, just wait, they'll all see-

Kai is set on proving he's the best. But then someone throws a wrench in his plans.

The actual green ninja.

Up until this point, Kai has done whatever it takes to prove he's the green ninja except one thing: he can't choose the gi over his family. He can't.

When he finds out Nya is Samurai X, does he tell the guys? No. When faced with the choice to save the newest member of their family, or get the fangblade and prove he's good enough to be the green ninja, he chooses his family. Every time.

I think that's why he was so terrified in s4. Because he looked at Morro and saw himself. He saw the bitterness, the jealously, the anger he knows too well hurting his brother. His precious little brother, who Kai would move the world for. He looks at Morro and sees what he could have become.

And post s8, Kai's attached to his powers because that's how he fights for his family. Saving Lloyd way back when? His true potential. Stopping Morro so long ago? Only after he had his powers back. He's terrified of losing his powers because he feels, yes, powerless without them. Powerless to fight. Powerless to help his family. Powerless to protect those he loves.

And yes, that clouds his decision making sometimes. Yes, Kai is an idiot sometimes. But the loyalty to his family that burns in him trumps that any day of the week.

Ted talk over.

i dont think ive ever outright said this but im 500% a kai stan nd i look out on tumblr nd ig nd whatever at just a sea of lloyd nd zane nd jay stans nd just think "why does no one like kai?"

then i rewatch the first 4 seasons and realise why. he is written awfully compared to everyone else. he doesnt have a personality outside of his hair nd being in love with skylor in s4 like... even in s5 its shaky bc they tried to like. push a personality onto him all of a sudden so he went from this flat, boring nd frankly annoying character to overbearing nd suddenly all in ur face with it.

dont even get me started on post s8 kai... he has personality but they throw away the hardwork they did in s6/7 nd hes no longer very headstrong, caring and over protective. he just reverts back to dumbass with hair and sometimes comes out with a funny line or quip.

ALSO NO ONE LISTENS TO HIM????? BOY HAS NO SELF CONFIDENCE THEN EVERYONE EXPECTS HIM TO BE THE FUNNY GOOD LOOKING DUMBASS ONE?????

idk if thats just me but damn... they did my boy dirty