Theatlasrealm - Atlas

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

Lloyd: I wrote down all the plans we shouldn’t try again

Wu: “Jay improvises breakdancing”

Wu: “Nya pretends to be a guidance counsellor”

Wu: “Zane jumps off a cliff, again” underlined

Wu: This one says “throw Kai at enemies like a cat”?

Lloyd: Oh, that one works every time. Put it in the to-do pile

I love people who genuinely observe and analyze kai’s character. people who truly believe and know that his“selfish and egotistical” personality is all just a facade. people who understand that kai isn’t stupid or dumb, but is actually very clever in his own special way. people who can portray him better than the writers of ninjago themselves. people who understand the reasons behind his actions. people who don’t have him as their favorite character but don’t stamp him as the egotistical member and recognize/ analyze all his good qualities. people who have him as their favorite character and continually post about him. people who take their time and understand. just I love you guys so much <3

Kai 🤝 Lloyd 🤝 Nya

Everything bad that’s ever happened is my fault

Every single day of my life I think about how Kai has so so SO much love in his heart. He loves people so genuinely and he wants them to know it. He hugs Nya SO MUCH and always encourages her. He supports Cole with words of affirmation and physical touch. He playfully teases Lloyd and ruffles his hair. He has so much love to give and doesn’t hide it even when he’s been through so much. It’s not in his nature to be angry and prickly, that’s a defense mechanism. It’s in his nature to be caring and loving.

your honor, I indeed firmly believe that nya and lloyd are taller than kai

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

honestly if kai had a main villain he had to defeat, i think he should ‘defeat’ them with love.

think about it: it would be so on par with kai’s character, demonstrating kai’s courage to defeat an enemy by showing them the value of others, the fact that loving itself is something so courageous

i think that it would show kai in a true light, because we all know he isnt actually  cocky or rude as ninjago potrays him sometimes

honestly it would be so cute to see kai extending a hand to  his ‘villian’ and helping them up, and embracing them bc that is literally what kai would do.

ninjago missed so many opportunities with kai and it makes me so sad sometimes

my favorite thing about ninjago is that they are selfish heroes. not for themselves, but for each other. they prioritize each others' lives over saving the world so often... it just feels so human.

Smith sibling headcannons ft jay and cole <3

nya uses Kai and Jay to workout like who needs weights when you have your surprisingly light brother and yang (cole fights over kai and jay with nya bc he needs some ninja weights too!!)

nya cannot touch her toes and kai does take advantage of this (nya doing touching toe exercises and kai touching his toes AND bending his body into a pretzel to show off)

kai is a feral cat and kid!lloyd was his feral accomplice in crime (present Lloyd has a part of him that still is..)

kai and nya as kids used to have a tradition of having a ‘sleepover’ and doing each other’s hair when either of them were upset. this passed down to Lloyd too

jay falls asleep during a movie? let’s hope Lloyd and Kai are far away from any nearby sharpies. just saying…

Out of the three smith siblings kai is the best cook but it’s not his fault the kitchen keeps lighting on fire he swears by this and yet we have no proof..

all three of these lads (kai, nya, Lloyd) suck at art (Lloyd is considerably decent since cole helped him with this since cole is the teams artist)

kai likes to read, preferably historical fiction (he became a history teacher guys+ I think it would be really cute that someone as energetic as Kai would like to read and I love that ) and Lloyd likes comics and so whenever nya goes out with jay or alone or something, she makes sure to bring back a book and comic for two certain people