Smith Siblings - Blog Posts
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
more ninja headcannons (cole-centered) <3
cole definitely paints on the gang when he’s stressed out or for fun
like one day kai and nya are wearing sleeveless and they want cole to paint matching animals across their arms
or jays sleeping and cole paints a mustache on him
or maybe zane wants to spice up his apron so now it’s covered in coles art
or lloyd wants to get better at painting so they both experiment on kai’s back bc kai loves being painted on
it’s like a stress reliever and a fun hobby at the same time that cole loves doing and he’s spectacular at it too
or maybe like one day cole is really upset and the ninja are like cmon guys let’s paint him instead and in less than an hour cole is covered in dragons and flowers and monkeys and chickens and all sorts of things that they all take pictures of and laugh about and coles forgotten why he was sad in the first place
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
Isn't it so incredibly interesting how both smith siblings handled their trauma in drastically different ways? But isn't it also beautiful that everything they went through together simply made them love & support each other in bajillion different ways!?!!
Nya’s mindset of, ‘’I don't need anybody, I can do everything myself. I can rely on only myself,” just means that “My parents betrayed me and let me down when I needed them the most, which has damaged my ability to trust.’’
This is hyper-independence, and that is a result of trauma. It was likely one of her prime ways to protect herself from vulnerability, building walls to protect herself from feeling a pain similar to what she felt when her parents disappeared, making it hard for her to love. She shows signs of ‘self-sabotage’ because she refuses to ask for help, and does not show vulnerability. She declined any affection (except kai, bc he was the only person who had not betrayed her/only dependable & trustworthy person in her childhood) in the earlier seasons, and has trouble doing things if she cannot execute them perfectly. Kai undoubtably worked hard to support her, and so Nya pressured herself to meet certain objectives for Kai’s sake, to ensure Kai’s work didn't go to waste. This likely lead to her habit of perfectionism, which with time, became a bigger breeding ground for severe toxicity.
Despite Kai offering her unconditional support, Nya likely did not want to overburden him with her troubles so she kept a lot of things bottled up. Her independency also probably derives from her will to try and make things easier for Kai (and later the team) so she minimizes asking for help. Rarely asking for anything at all, insisting on dealing with issues herself. She dragged this habit with her throughout her life, likely in fear of rejection. When it comes to grief and loss, she has a very unhealthy habit of pushing it down, trying to not feel anything especially when others are around (ex. in Hunted when nya and lloyd thought the others were dead, she pushed the grief down/started hiding it and distracted herself by focusing on/helping lloyd). When it comes to grief and certain other things she puts herself below others, prioritizing their needs instead of hers. All of these things are results of and/or mechanisms she developed from her childhood trauma.
Nya requires a lot of verbal affirmation and physical touch to open up (kai is an exception). A lot. Remember, it took a long time until she actually told Jay she loved him. But what Nya needed is was patience, and Jay was displaying that, and never criticized her for not saying ily back.
She could have chosen to leave all the burden on Kai, but when she couldn’t remove it, she did everything she could to lighten it. Trauma gave nya so many reasons to be an untrustworthy person. Trauma made loving people hard for her. Trauma made love a battlefield for her. Trauma made future relationships difficult for her to ease in. But despite this, Nya chose to be trustworthy. Trauma didn’t make her brave. She made herself brave so she could accept Jay’s (and the teams) love, and in time, selflessly tore down her walls so she could love him back. She chose to be there in the times of need for others, just as her brother was there for her. Her trauma gave her opportunities and opportunities to be scared, but she chose to stand her ground. She chose to be brave.
Kai’s <3
https://theatlasrealm.tumblr.com/post/692060841958408192/isnt-it-so-incredibly-interesting-how-both-smith
every ninja has their own unique telltale for lying that no person but the people within the ninja can pinpoint
when lloyd lies they can tell by his voice, it has the slightest unsure and unsteady tone
when jay lies he sometimes stutters and fidgets with his hands
zane doesn’t do lies [ except for white lies that are beneficial (thanks to kai) ]
cole cannot lie.
whenever kai or nya lie ( both siblings are the best liars on the team ) you can tell by studying their eyes; since they are the most expressive part on their body, and I don’t mean darting or dilating pupils. I mean if you have enough practice you can gaze into their (very beautiful) eyes and study their eyes to see if they are smiling or sad. like yk the “he’s smiling but his eyes aren’t” type of stuff. idk how to explain this ok. it works in my head (and sometimes only the other sibling can tell when one sibling is lying.)
you know those kid sections at Barnes and Nobles with the little stage and the kids books (or really any bookstore/library with a kid-centered area)
I like to think kai and kid!lloyd used to go there together and Kai would act out stories to Lloyd on the little stage and other kids would come to watch too and it’d be these little shows based on like those caterpillar kid books or something and kai’d be acting as multiple characters
but like if jay comes along with them then it’s like a broadway show bc jay and kai act super well together and tend to go overboard sometimes
yes the real life black panther released in the kids area was definitely not jay and kai’s too realistic jungle book play
lets all start a revolution so we get more kai and nya and lloyd let us all rise and conquer
may our goals awaken from beneath the everlasting darkness and reign for eternity
we want rgb grief. we want our dynamic. im so sick of romance focused troupes. IM SO SICK OF ALL THIS ROMANCE GARBAGE. I WANT SIBLINGS. GIVE US SIBLINGS. I WANTED TO SEE MORE OF THEM. I WANT TO SEE MORE OF THEM. ONLY POTRAYING JAY AS THE MAJOR PERSON AFFECTED BY NYA’S DEATH IS NOT OKAY. HOW MANY TIMES AM I SUPPOSED TO SCREAM OUT,” KAI RAISED HER!! LLOYD AND KAI LOVED HER TOO!”
here is a bunch of Kai Ninjagoes doodles. Im deeply invested in their elemental powers and the reach, limits and how it affects their bodies……….and the funnies.
I might be going off canon and the reason is that Im into this show in an extremely weird way. the gist: I was infected by my friend’s brainrot