Death Is Officially Postponed Until April 17th !!

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Ok, I feel better now. Let me elaborate (TW long ass rant holy shit)

S1-7 Kai is very much the embodiment of asshole. He easily angers, lacks self-control, rarely listens to his team, and has an ego the size of Jupiter. In later seasons, we see that his ego is used to cover up that he is extremely insecure, and his anger issues come from the fact that he never got the chance to properly regulate them, since he never really had any role models to learn it from.

S7 is when it really shows, in my opinion. You can see his spiral when he realizes that the people he idolized (his parents) are most definitely working for the time twins, and who does he take It out on? Nya, and everyone else. He's irritable, snappy, and rarely engages with anyone.

When Kai meets his father, his facade drops. You can see who he actually blames for this, and it's him. He's angry and upset that he ever missed his parents in the first place and that the people he desperately wanted to come back turned out to be "evil." When it turns out they were forced to work for them, he's in shock. You can tell in the continuing episodes, too. He's more quiet, spaces out, and is obvious he's thinking about his actions up to that point.

S8 is where things get better for him, and it's so nice to see. He smiles way more, is more open to let other people take the lead, and even when he gets "angry," it's a slight touch artificial. When I first watched this season, I was upset. Kais insecure attitude made him interesting and compelling, but seeing him happy and enjoying the skin he's in? It was a genuinely nice change.

This is why DR is one of my fav ninjago iterations. Everyone is so different, yet the same.

Lloyd is so.. mature, but so insecure he might crumble at the slightest pressure.

Nya is incredible, but she went through her 4th divorce, her brother almost died, and she's drained.

Zane is tired of the violence and wants to stay home more bless him.

Jay is evil and a wife beater (LOL).

I don't even know what Cole is doing. He's married to a homeless dude and adopted his children.

And Kai is.. stable. Like, really stable. He regulates his anger properly, has a student that he sees as a daughter, helps Lloyd to the best of his ability, LISTENS TO HIS TEAM??? His ego isn't even ego anymore it's deserved confidence, learned dragon rising technique FIRST, and is an all-around great guy. Sure, he's still a feral little dude, but in a sweet way.

And holy shit, don't get me started on Wyldfyre.

Wyldfyre is Kai’s carbon copy. I don't have to elaborate. But the way he.. helps her? It's made me tweak more times than I'd like.

He's patient, knows how to match her energy, and instead of outright denying her methods, he encourages them in a safe and healthy way. The whole spiel they had during the stealth thing in Imperium was incredible. Instead of asking her to outright stop making noise, he directed it into her still being annoying, but quieter.

AGH my heart. I bet he had weekly therapy sessions after crystallized. (I HATE THAT FUCKING SEASON)

I like how Kai is mentally healthy

WOAHAHOAHHOO WAIT LEMME EXPLAIN BEFORE YOU 🔥🔥🔥AHHHH🔥🔥🔥

im in love with the latest updates to sunbound, just. so in love.

first of all, bait and switch with the beast? mwah mwah beautiful

following the slaughter with a bedtime story is also a timeless classic, perfect execution.

kai's realization that he has put himself in the role of the villain? dreadful sensation 🖤 can you feel your sins crawling on your back? 🖤🖤

association of kai with a flower is rather nice too, he's a very flower boy to me

i think i commented on it before, but ive had two major theories as to why its kai specifically: first) that kai was a reincarnation of the beast, second) that kai was a reincarnation of whoever sealed/was-sacrificed-to-seal the beast before. now with the latest chapter im leaning pretty heavily on kai-as-a-reincarnation of the second variety.

ALSO the implications? that the beast was loved and in love but fucked it all up and irrevocably destroyed the system-as-it-was? epic. the bitter remains of something pure, and the only being left who can remember (but who would refuse to admit its part in favor of terrorizing the only other one stuck with it)? delicious.

and—this may just be bc its what id pull—but i suspect a chain or other tether is hidden inside of kai himself. super excited regardless, just know ive got about half a tragic scene im playing with already lol

AND THIS IS ALL HAPPENING WHILE THE OTHERS ARE UNDERWATER ROFL, gonna be that meme of dude coming back w pizza, but all the shit happening is just KAI 😭

🖤🖤🖤

AGHHHHH hiiiiii!! I see you all the time in my comments but nowadays I'm too shy to answer any 👉👈 okay EBOUGH ABOUT ME lemme dismantle your theories for a sec....

Now, your theory about Kai being a descendant of our unseen entity here is definitely on the right track, but I can't either confirm nor deny any statements, BUT you're definitely heading somewhere!! One thing though, which might be spoilers one day actually nervous laugh is that the stars have names!

[[Eden]] - The star of Life

[[Gaian]] - The star of Earth

[[Neve]] - The star of Ice

[[Raiji]] - The star of Lightning

[[Jinh]] - The star of Fire

Also awwwww thank you for all the compliments! Sunbound is my first literary project EVER so seeing such positive feedback is kind of stroking my ego HAHA I'm just joking. Just joking please don't hate me!!! Again, very grateful for all the support! Now, I have a teaser for the next chapter under the cut. View at your own risk. It's contains HEAVY spoilers.

Updated!

Very rough outline of my monstrosity au. I call it Odyssey!Kai. Yes it's an epic the musical pun. I'm very happy with it

Oooo been thinking about this for a hot minute. Was in my drafts for longer.

The imperium arc goes different too, Lloyd getting afraid at seeing Wyldfyre, her being fire adjacent and all, and thinking Kai is dead since she has his "fire" powers. After they get back to the Monastery, Zane actually becomes Wyldfyres mentor. The reason is that he finds her endearing and sees himself in her (not knowing who you are or where you came from). I have concept art rotting in my gallery, but it's not done yet sowy.

In this one, Kai doesn't find the bounty. Nya does. So she finds Lloyd first and traverses the merged lands for information. This, of course, creates irreparable damage to our boy. He does not go home early this time.

S2 has 4 major changes. Wyldfyre is slightly calmer, Lloyd has visions of both the bloodmoon and a mysterious figure cloaked in fur and blood (that he can't help but feel pain for, he doesn't know why), Nya learns dragon rising technique first, and Cole gets sacrificed instead of Kai. Besides that, mostly the same. Maybe they struggle a bit with the Ras showdown, but it ends the exact same way with Nokt free.

S2 p2 has the most differences. For one, Geo and the finders live with the ninja now. He feels guilty for letting Cole 'die' like that, so he's thrown himself into training. He's doing well, and the finders are having fun with arin, sora, and wyldfyre. The monastery is definitely more full, but the ninja still feel the absences of Kai, Cole, and Jay.

Next, Cole isn't doing that bad in the ns. He's got bonzle, he can use his powers to shape the space since it's technically rock, and enough stories to last a lifetime. He's fine.

Zane and Wyldfyre bond more. He tells her stories and videos about Kai and how they'd get along, and she is ecstatic. Another fire user, how exciting!

Arin and sora are still looking for his parents. Still find the matriarch dead.

Meanwhile, Kai has all but lost it. He isn't insane, but his morals have all but been destroyed. The only thing he cares about is getting back to his family and anything and anyone that has come in between that has now died or burned to death. The guardian dragon and fire knight mech are his permanent companions, and they respect his decision to change his values. One can not survive being in the land of the monsters without becoming one themselves, anyway.

The tournament of sources plays out the exact same. If you're wondering about frak, zane took up Cole's role in the og series. When Jay and Nya fight, he actually comes very close to winning. Nya can't bring herself to hurt him, since this time she doesn't have her brother to kinda fill his void. Jay is about to eliminate her until a fire ball the size of a car chucks Jay into the nearest wall.

Nya and the rest of the ninja are horrified because, duh, and she rushes to his side. Jay is unconscious, and she looks to where the fireball came from. Everyone is so in shock that they don't even recognize that it was a fire ball. Except Wyldfyre, then Zane. He tries to tell Lloyd, but there a crowd blocking his way.

All Nya sees are security bots wrangling a hooded figure, but they're being dismantled by the second in a flurry of slashes. Also, it doesn't help that there are two giants (mech and dragon) just looking down at him saying something she can't hear. She can only make out a subtle, "Do you want them to see you like this?" Before the stranger flinches and finally calms down. He allows himself to be arrested.

When the source dragons send out those little messages for each elemental master, Kai actually gets one since he hasn't encountered ras yet. The messenger dragon leads him out of the realm of monsters, but it's still pretty far. He gets there, but it takes a day or two. Or three. That's why he's late.

Roby comes forward, and he is just upset. Absolutely annoyed. He says something about wanting to see the face of the perpetrator, and that sends Kai into another frenzy. He doesn't want his family to him like that. He fails this time, though, and his hat and mask are pulled off.

You can guess what happens next.

Roby is actually happy with the change of events, calling it an epic plot-twist, but the ninja?

The reunion is short-lived, as he's wrung away for interfering with a match. The ninja tried to get to him, but doing so could get them disqualified, so they bite their lips and accept it unwillingly. Not knowing what to do with the mech and dragon, they just give it to the ninja. Both parties accept.

All I have so far wowowowowow

If I had a penny everytime a character had to go through horrors and killing monsters while slowly losing themselves and also telling themselves that they HAVE to lose themselves in order to get home to their loved ones, I would have two pennies.

Ody: so, you went through hell and back to return to your family while finding allies along the way who told you to be crueler in order to survive?

Kai: Yeah. You too?

Ody: yup.

Making a list of Kai / Zane quotes that sound like they're out of a fanfiction.

Monstrosity Kai desperate for one of the ninja to appear before him, desperate for one of them to appear and give him hope, desperate for one of them to save him, save him from the nightmare, save him from the horrors, save him from the hell he is in.

But most of all, desperate for one of them to save him from himself. Desperate for one of them to appear and make him see he's more than what he's become. Desperate for one of them to appear so he can just cling to one last shred of humanity, for their sake.

im loving the little nightmares vibes this kai-centric series is bringing to ninjago

HUH.