#one kay special

[l1-b1]

13 years of Ninjago! Can you believe that??

AND ITS STILL GOING???

[hermit-frog]

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

[elderwisp]

◁ || ▷

Alex: I didn’t think I’d see you again.

Kai: I didn’t realize you were waiting. 

Alex: [ chuckles ] I wanted to say thanks for the recommendation. I read all the volumes. 

Kai: Really?

Alex: Very gory. I didn’t take you for that kind of guy. 

Kai: [ half-hearted ] Surprise. Looks like they have what I needed. Catch you later.

Alex: Hold up. I know I left abruptly when we first met but I was hoping to maybe get to know you better.

Kai: What’s your angle, Alex?

Alex: There isn’t any.

Kai: Dude.

Alex: I swear.

Kai: [ a hesitant sigh ] Fine.

Alex: Cool. Are we good? Can I give you my number?

Kai: I… Sure.

Alex: Call me whenever you need a distraction.

[fish-nailed-to-a-cross]

Assorted YTTD memes/textposts/iqs and whatnot part tres

Added bonus:

Go check out part one and part two as well! I mean, if you want. I just think I'm pretty damn funny but idk.

[emberettee]

Martin (g) celebrates his first goal with Kai (a) | Arsenal - Luton (H), 3.4.2024 ©️ Alamy Stock Photo

The two I defended with my life

[ravenrambles6229]

dragons rising really went "so what if we fucking nail every character and make every character fucking rule and introduce a bunch of new characters and oh here's kai just getting the best characterization in years/fucking ever. like man kai deserves some time so let's just make him the best. here's all the depth to kai that you've been imagining for the past decade. just for you" and then i'm supposed to be normal about it

also the fact that he made this big sacrifice, telling bonsel to close the portal, and nobody even gets to know he willingly sacrificed himself this time. cuz they couldn't hear him.

oh and here's a kai and nya kid flashback go cry about it

last season we had a kid lloyd flashback. any bets on kid jay, cole, or newly built zane flashbacks?

[ladybugsimblr]

Babies -2, The Bunny Slope 911

[craykaycee]

Have some random Sun expressions practice I did a while back *gibs*

Credit to Magical Pouch on twitter for the original expressions sheet

There are some gems in here. I can't choose a favorite, they all have their quirks

[cherryblossomssmash]

Kenma's face lol. 😂 When the game is officially over but he knew that it will be just an endless rally with Karasuno even if he hadn't spatched that ball. Rally from hell indeed. Nobu still even dreams about it in year 2024. 🤣

Thank you for the special chapter Furudate-sama! 🥰🥰🥰

[dragcnbreak]

kai holman s03e04 dead on arrival

[citruscloudsandmoon]

A Kaihil story which was published in 2006 in ffn got updated and completed...

after 18 years.

Am I okay?

Yes and no 🥹

[katsrinn]

“thanks..for back there.”

“No problem.”

[ninjago] heres extra bc i got lazy + theyre stupid + HELLO ?? STUPID BROTHERS ?

[amadeusevenstar]

literally if anyone wants to talk about headcanons for trans (ftm) johnny you know where to find me

[minty-bubblegum]

They're fighting for pet name privileges

[aforgottenballad]

YTTD scraps, mostly Kai.

Besides the first one, these are all 1-3 years old... the oldest is the group shot, from 2019. That was me drawing my top 5 characters immediately after first getting into it

ID/extra details in ALT text.

[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)