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Watch Your Mouth (Cryptid AU)

Ayeee so I’ve got three SPBNR Cryptid AU snippets for you all, see the previous post for a bit of summary. This snippet follows a cryptid hunt with Red (m!Kai) and m!Zane (featuring some good ‘ol Zane angst!)

Because what are cryptids good at? Not being caught on camera. It’s always blurry or glitchy or missed. So what happens if your eyes are a camera... >:3

Red was sure he was gonna catch the Red Blur tonight. There was no way his foolproof plan could fail. Not a chance. Zippo. Nada. Big fat goose egg. He was going to catch the Red Blur, and he was going to make them explain everything. Such as: 

Who/what are you? 

Why are you haunting Ninjago City? 

Are you training me to be your cryptid apprentice/successor please I'm begging you to explain I've been in the middle of an existential identity crisis for days-

The difference between this attempt to catch the Red Blur and the dozens of other attempts was one thing. No, it was not a lack of caffeine.

This time, Red had an accomplice.

"Ron to Billy, this is Ron to Billy. Do you read me? Over."

"Billy to Ron!" came Zane's cheerful reply through the comms. "I can read you. Over."

Red surveyed the city from his perch on the windowsill of the skyscraper. He'd gotten there by totally not committing a little trespassing during the off-office hours and sneaking onto the twentieth floor. He was dressed in his ninja gi instead of his Heatstroke gear simply because Zane was here and he didn't want to blow his cover, and he knew the Red Blur had been keeping tabs on Heatstroke so he didn't want to grab their attention.

"Do you have visual yet?" Red asked. He might have found a perch a little too high up, because it was difficult to make out what the shapes and lights below were. But it was dramatic and it felt cool and he had a little too much 5 hour energy in his system to change his mind now.

"Well yes, but actually no," Zane replied. 

"So the Red Blur has yet to show their face..." Red mused. "We'll catch them yet."

A few more minutes of silence followed as the two kept watch, Zane at a much safer spot near street level down the block. If Red squinted, he could make out a white smear that was either his friend or a blurry patch in his vision- he'd been having a couple of those 'blind spots' since the first sightings of the Red Blur, and they were driving him nuts.

"Billy to Ron," Zane said after another few minutes. His tone sounded a little less cheerful than before. "Nothing yet..."

Red readjusted his perch grip. "Don't worry, we've got this! Neither of us are gonna miss them, no matter how blurry this Red Blur gets or how hard it is to catch them on camera and stuff. We've got our eyes, nature's best cameras!"

"Yeah... yeah! We have norm- nature's best cameras. Normal eyes."

Red shook his head a little to clear the ever persistent edge of fuzziness, squinting down at the streets below. A prickling sensation was starting to poke at his skin, and not just one of the caffeine's side effects. The feeling of someone staring at him, a feeling he'd gotten well in-tune with during his nightly Red Blur chases. Yet another cryptic bit of cryptid training. 

"Ron to Billy, you sure you haven't seen anything?"

"No." Zane sounded uncertain. "No, I haven't seen any-"

There was a pause. "Billy?" Another few seconds without reply. "Zane?"

"I think I should return home." Zane suddenly said, a little too chipper. "It is getting late, and my mom will be all up in my case if I'm up too late."

Red frowned. "Zane? Are you okay? Are you-" His fingers tightened on the windowsill. "Are you being threatened? Reply with Road Work Ahead if you are-"

"I'm perfectly fine, Kai! I just think I should go home, and so should you. It is late. Being up so late wears out our eyes! Did you know: 35% of teens need glasses?"

Something was up, even if Zane wasn't being threatened after all. Eyes- why did he keep mentioning eyes? Was his vision off? Did the Red Blur mess with his eyesight somehow, like with a smokescreen, or a hallucination (Red had gotten caught in one of those before, so surely it was within the Red Blur's abilities), or a-

It hit Red with the subtly of a freight train. Oh. Oh no, no, poor Zane, no, Red had messed up again, why didn't he ever think this things through, he'd just made everything worse been so excited to have a friend be interesting in hunting down the Red Blur that he hadn't even thought about but when did he ever stop to think cameras, of course, the Red Blur was a cryptid and couldn't be caught by cameras, so Zane- poor Zane must've-

"Hey," Red said softly, trying to keep his voice steady despite the jitteriness from the caffeine. For once he wished he hadn't downed the pot before tonight's escapade. "Zane, bro, I'm- I get it, I'm sorry I-"

"You don't need to apologize!" Zane's voice was still much too chipper. "It is late and the Red Blur isn't showing up tonight, that is not your fault. We should-"

Red interrupted him. "No, Zane, I'm sorry for- for making you feel not normal-"

"I am perfectly normal and don't feel anything but.” Zane’s forced chipperness had a sharp edge to it, like a jagged icicle.

"That's not- I didn't mean-" Red was floundering now- why oh why had he opened his mouth, he made everything worse AGAIN, why couldn't he just say it right why was he always accidentally hurting the people he cared about, why was he so- u̴͊͜s̷̺͒e̷̲̕l̸̨̾e̸͇̅s̶̠̈́s̵̻͐- "Zane, you're-"

"A perfectly normal average teen."

"No- yes- I-"

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, Kai."

click

Red's heart dropped at the deafening silence the comm left him with. "Zane? Zane, I'm- I'm sorry, please don't-"

The white smudge below was moving, walking away, no, no, he couldn't- his friend- 

Red reached a hand forward, as if he could grab his friend from here and bundle him into a hug and apologize a million times, but he couldn't, because he'd messed up AGAIN, and now Zane was hiding his feelings, and- and-  a n d-

Red's foot slipped and he overbalanced.

It's funny. He didn't even notice he was falling until he stopped. 

The feeling of the wind slapping him in the face, the skim of his leg on the windowsill as his body tried and failed to catch him without his mind knowing what was happening, the blur of lights in his face, all didn't register until there was a warm arm wrapped around his middle and he was lying on the roof of a nearby building. 

A strangled gasp pulled itself free from his stopped lungs, heart slamming in his chest as his brain caught up with time. Holy FSM, he'd accidentally slipped off the windowsill on the twentieth floor, how-

The arm pulled him upright and held him, a warm presence at his back. It felt... familiar. Soothing. He went slack, the last of the caffeine burning away. Tears pricked his eyes. Zane-

Something was tied around his leg. Nothing like a chain or something to spark panic, just a piece of fabric. He hadn't realized he'd gashed his leg on the building when he fell, too worried about Zane to realize how far forward he'd tipped. He wasn't even that cold; he hadn't fallen very far before he'd been caught. By-

He knew, and yet he didn't. His brain was going in loops, kept going back to Zane's voice, then to how tired he felt. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he'd go apologize to Zane face-to-face. For now- for now he could- could-

His head tipped down to his chest as he leaned back into the comforting warmth and passed out.

Hush Now (Cryptid AU)

So I got inspired by the song, “The Nowhere King” (NWK) from Centaurworld and this happened. I recommend reading the summary of the SPBNR Cryptid AU & perhaps ‘Watch Your Mouth (Cryptid AU)’ as that is earlier in the timeline, but to quick summarize:

Red (M!Kai) is at the ‘Nest of the Red Blur’ (aka the abandoned apartments Smith took over and stylized to fuel the cryptid rumours about him) when... oh dear, it seems a real cryptid (cough M!Overlord based on NWK) has taken an interest in his apprentice- :3

TW for creepiness, horror, tar, kidnapping, etc.

Waking up in an old decrepit building full of ivy and spiderplants, scrap metal, peeling wallpaper, and washed out paintings of cake was not the ideal scenario, but considering Red had been cryptid-hunting for the elusive cryptid that seemed intent on training him for some reason, the Red Blur, the previous night (or was it still night? early morning? it was hard to tell), it wasn't as frightening as it should have been.

It was still mildly terrifying waking up in the nest of fabric. But he'd been here a few times before, and it was at least appreciating that the Red Blur didn't leave him alone on a rooftop or alleyway in the city when he inevitably ran out of energy and crashed during their late-night runs. 

He untangled himself from the nest and stretched, wincing at the crack of bones. Urgh, he was going to end up like Master Wu at this rate. The Red Blur (in their own way) had shown him the exit (after a bit) the first time he'd woken up in their lair, but he still got lost in the maze of nature-claimed hallways of the apartment ruins. 

Well, at least he could explore then. And it was only mildly creepy wandering around alone. 

But something felt... off. He couldn't quite place his finger on what. Was it that the air was still, a suffocating cold that stung his throat and puffed his breath in little clouds? The way the broken clock on the wall still seemed to tick, chiming just off-key to the steady march of time? The pungent smell of petroleum, something acidic and tar-like like rotten mold?

The apartment creaked and shuddered with every step, which shouldn't have been possible considering it was formed from concrete and carpet. Red felt like he had chugged a gallon of oil; the taste was heavy in his mouth and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. 

𝓗𝓾𝓼𝓱 𝓷𝓸𝔀 (Hush now)

Red froze in the centre of the hallway and batted his ears. He could have sworn he heard a chorus of whispers, sounding both at the ends of the hallway and inside his head. Wind brushed the back of his neck.

There weren't any windows in this hallway.

𝓓𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓼𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓹 (Dreamless sleep)

Red's feet were planted- almost as if frozen or glued- to the old stained carpet. A low creak sent a violent shudder throughout his body, but when he looked at either end of the hallway, no one was there. Though... was it just him, or was the area getting darker, the edges tinted with shadows. 

𝓓𝓪𝓻𝓴𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱 (Darkness is nigh)

No, it wasn't shadows...

𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓮𝓽 (Quiet)

It was tar.

𝓢𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓽 (Silent)

Tar, leaking from the cracks in the wallpaper. Tar, dripping down from the ceiling in fat droplets and tendrils. Tar, spilling out from underneath the carpet. 

𝓗𝓪𝓽𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓮𝓼 (Hatred that reaches the skies)

Red couldn't move. All he could do was stare at the tar, a choir of ghostly voices resting phantom hands on his shoulders and singing soft melodies in his ears. His mouth felt sticky and he coughed, struggling to suck in a breath through the choking, acidic air. Something cold and wet dripped down his chin. 

𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓳𝓸𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓝𝓸𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰 (You will bring joy to the Nowhere King)

The tar was reaching toward him, forming clawed hands that pushed off from the floor, the walls, the ceiling with a leisurely pace.

𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 (When he sees the light)

It was cold.

𝓛𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓮𝔂𝓮𝓼 (Leaving your eyes)

{---------------}

The Red Blur- or Smith, though no one knew his name nor that he wasn't actually a cryptid, heard the scream. It sounded like- but why-

Smith bolted from his room, the only part of the abandoned complex he hadn't changed to match the 'nest' aesthetic of the building and raced through the hallway.

But when he got to the spot where he'd heard the scream from, he found nothing but a smoking scorched stain on the carpet and a message written in black paint on the wall:

𝓘 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓲𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂 (I don’t appreciate curious little pretenders in my territory)

A Pair of Sunglasses (Aki AU)

So here’s a fun little idea-

Remember the original version of the Aki AU for SPBNR? Where Smith ends up in the m!verse alongside Aki (aka Bizarro Kai), who’s hellbent on making sure he a. stays put and b. has to deal with as much inconvenience as possible? Sometimes even impersonating him (as Shogun) to mess with him?

What would happen if a certain m!Kai happened to be in a rush one morning, didn’t have time to gel his hair, and happened to get mistaken by Smith for...

:3

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----------

Red didn’t even know what he did wrong.

Seriously, all he did was stand next to Jay by the lockers and chat! And he couldn’t remember doing anything wrong during the morning, or yesterday, or-

And yet for some reason, Smith came storming over with a look of pure fury. Fury pointed at him.

“I thought I made it very clear,” Smith growled. “What would happen if I caught you hanging around here.”

Behind his sunglasses & the bangs covering his face- he wasn’t used to his hair being down- Red’s expression furrowed in confusion with an edge of hurt. He started to ask what Smith was talking about but shut his mouth when the other teen jabbed a finger toward him.

“Don’t play games with me, Kai.” There was an odd style to how he stressed Kai’s name, but he couldn’t place what it meant. “I’m not in the mood.”

Red was aware of Jay standing awkwardly to the side, fingers tugging at the frayed end of his scarf. His gaze darted back and forth between the two like he was watching a tennis match. A very volatile tennis match where the tennis ball could explode into flames at any moment. 

And Red? Red was just confused, and more than a little hurt now. At first, he’d thought maybe Smith hadn’t recognized him- his own friends hadn’t the first time he’d ran out of time to gel his hair up before school- but when he used his name it was clear he knew exactly who he was talking to.

Red just didn’t know why. He hadn’t even been drinking a lot of coffee lately, so he hadn’t (or shouldn’t have) done anything crazy in a caffeinated haze (he pulled an all-nighter once, figuring that it would be okay to skip the few hours of sleep his mind would have let him get anyway. Never again). The last time he and Smith had talked, they’d ended on friendly terms, right?

So why was Smith acting as if Red had slammed Jay into the lockers and demanded his lunch money?

“Smith-”

“Don’t you ‘Smith’ me,” Smith interrupted. Red recoiled at the open hostility, the strongest he’d ever heard from Smith. “You know, just when I think I know how low you’re willing to sink, you go ahead and surprise me.”

Okay, ouch. Red really wanted to know what he’d done now.

“I-I-”

The two turned to look at Jay, whose ramble grew muffled as he ducked his head into his scarf and blushed. Smith moved, stretching out his arm and-

Positioning himself between Red and Jay. Okay, what parallel dimension had Red been dropped into that moment where Smith felt he had the need to protect Jay from him, as if Red would whirl around and attack him like some evil minion of Garmadon?

“Hey, it’s okay,” Smith spoke in a soothing tone to Jay. The latter shot Red a confused and apologetic look over the former’s shoulder. “Did he hurt you?”

Did- did Smith really think- think that he- he would-

Red’s heart shattered, and if Smith had been looking, he would have seen how his expression crumbled into devastation. Instead, his focus was on checking Jay for injuries. Every second that passed drove another knife blade through Red’s heart.

Something sputtered in his chest.

“Did- did you really think-” His tone went from hurt to defensive angry, an instinctive reaction to lash back against the undeserving pain. “That I was going to- that I was here for that?”

Smith spun with his teeth bared and Red nearly lost his fire. “What else? You knew you weren’t supposed to, and yet here you are. Why can’t you just leave me alone? Can’t you see no one wants you around, faker?”

This- this had to be a joke, right? Or a misunderstanding? Smith didn’t really say that. He didn’t- he didn’t mean that-

Shoving his shaking hands in his pockets, Red fought to keep the choked sob down. Jay tried to step toward him, to say something, but his voice hitched into a stutter. Smith once again turned to comfort him before turning on Red with the fury of the sun in his eyes.

“What. Did. You. Do.”

Oh FSM, he wasn’t kidding. This wasn’t a cruel joke, Smith was serious. Red swayed on his feet, blinking back tears. He was so, so utterly confused, drowning in hurt and shock and a lack of understanding.

Smith’s hand clenched. “They were all right. You are the absolute worst. There is not a trace of good in your pitiful, shrivelled excuse of a heart. Resorting to this pettiness just to spite me. You’re pathetic.”

Red couldn’t breathe. Heat rushed to his face, and the only reasons he wasn’t crying were his wish not to appear weak at school (he needed to keep his reputation strong to scare off some bullies for Lloyd) and seeing how behind Smith Jay looked furious on Red’s behalf. Though he hasn’t managed to find his voice, the look of support- at least one person didn’t fully believe that- kept Red from breaking on the spot.

“Yeah? And they were right about you.” Red was proud to admit that his voice only slightly wavered. “You’re not-”

And the next moment he was on the ground. 

His face stung. Why was his face stinging? What-

He looked up through the cracked lens of his sunglasses at Smith, standing over him with his fist held as if-

As if he’d just decked Red.

Smith had a mixture of anger, surprise, and smugness on his face, like he hadn’t fully expected to connect but was damn proud of himself for it.

As for Red, the punch had brought more tears to his eyes in reflex, and they were starting to spill over his cheeks. He wanted to wipe them away before they ran far enough for someone to see, but his body was in shock and wouldn’t respond.

“What- What is wrong with you!!”

Oh, Red had not heard that tone in a while. It took a lot to get Jay to explode like that, and it warmed Red’s heart the one that lay in shattered pieces on the floor or the hallway to know it was for him. Smith looked over his shoulder, eyes wide and puzzled, and shuddered like he’s been statically shocked at the intensity of Jay’s glare. The look of sheer anger didn’t last long, though one could argue that the amount of guilt you were slammed with when his expression dissolved into tears was worse. He hiccuped and rubbed his cheek in a rushed stroke, still managing to look pissed despite the water stains splattered across his freckles.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay-” Smith tried to soothe him. “He tried to trick you, but-”

Jay was having none of it, slipping under Smith’s outstretched arm and hurrying over to check on Red.

Smith did a double-take. “Hey- Jay! No, he’s lying to you, you can’t be hanging around him, please, you’ll get hurt-”

“More hurt than what ‘Smith’ here did to your friend.”

The three startled as a fourth voice joined the conversation. At Red’s side, Jay curled in on himself with a soft, strangled whimper, his eyes wide and confused. Smith stared at the newcomer.

And Red-

Red looked up to see himself.

Or, well, what he thought was himself for a moment. Between the crisp leather jacket and aviators, hair chopped in an intentionally short and messy style, the guy was the epitome of a ‘bad boy’ without the cringe. A scar peeked out under his left eye- not that dissimilar from Smith’s, actually- and he had a wolfish grin that immediately put Red on edge and fired off every warning signal in his brain.

“You- how-”

Smith glanced between the newcomer and Red, horror slowly creeping into his expression. 

Between him, Red, and the newcomer, Red noted, they could be mistaken for triplets under the right circumstances.

“My my-” The newcomer whistled, hands in his jacket, posture leisure. “You really did a number on him. That’s going to be a black eye for sure, maybe two! I must congratulate you.”

Smith whirled on the newcomer with refreshed anger fuelled by- Red hoped for a moment it was guilt, then chided himself for hoping that because that would mean Smith was hurt, but based on the dots rapidly connecting in Red’s mind, his words hadn’t actually been meant for him.

They still stung though, and his face hurt worse.

“You-”

“Me,” said the newcomer, unbothered by Smith’s scathing bark.

“You vile, evil, manipulative-” 

The newcomer raised his hands- damn, Red was a little jealous of those gloves, some kind of fancy fingerless style that they once again pulled off effortlessly- and smirked at Smith. “Hey now, that-” He gestured to Red, still sitting stunned in the floor, and Jay, who pressed against his side and shrunk under the sudden attention. “-was all you, ‘Smith’.”

Smith looked less than a fraction of a second from spitting some very choice words in the newcomer’s face, but his pupils slid to Red and his expression dropped back into guilt. “Kai, I’m-“

“Ah, right. Kai.”

Red really didn’t like how the stranger said his name.

“Honestly, I’m not surprised Smith landed a punch on you. If I was allowed, I’d do the same. Though I must admit, I wouldn’t be able to stop after just one; your mug just screams ‘dork alert’. Grow a little spine.”

Red found his voice. “Hey-!”

“Come on now, Kai,” the newcomer spoke over him. “Be a little smart and realize this isn’t a fight you want to pick. Can’t you see the big boys are talking?”

He caught Smith’s punch with one fist before it could hit his cheek, never taking his eyes off Red. “You know what ‘Smith’ here was saying is true. You’re just too stupid and stubborn to realize it. Come on, ‘Smith’. Let’s take this discussion outside away from these losers.”

Smith lunged at the stranger again but he merely sidestepped. “Ah ah ah, don’t want to cause a scene, do we? Would be a shame to involve these two more than we already have.”

Smith sneered at him and for a moment Red thought he’d attack him again anyways, but he bit his tongue. The two walked out of the hallway, one storming, one with all the time in the world. 

At the last moment, the newcomer turned and a chill shot through Red; he could have sworn that behind his shades, his eyes looked crimson in the light. His grin was twisted, sinister even, and Red realized with clear certainty that he wasn’t a student at this school. “I have a feeling this isn’t the last time we’ll cross paths, Kai Smith.”

As he walked off to join Smith outside, Red couldn’t help but feel as though he was right about everything.

Drew @fishybehavior’s Nindroid Kai & Kaigami, a Nindroid doppelgänger of Red (m!Kai) who didn’t know they were a Nindroid or a doppelgänger for a bit but has since been adopted by the Smith family as their fourth sibling

So, one of the best ways to watch/rewatch the movie is frame-by-frame (or at least, slow-mo). The movie is actually super pretty, especially the set design. And, in classic lego movie style, all smear frames usually use lego pieces, which makes some very fluid and smooth quick-action.

But when you slow it down, coupled with the fact The LEGO Ninjago Movie is a little... loose with rules-

You get the most hilarious freeze frames and expressions. Which I naturally screenshot-ed to share with all of you today, first because I was bored and it sounded fun, then because I was laughing my head off.

So, below are frames from specifically that promo video (the quality is a little fuzzy which honestly just makes it even funnier)- and one day I’ll start posting some of the screenshots I found from the movie itself, once I actually organize that folder because I keep finding new ones.

Enjoy.

Starting with the green bean himself-

a very >:( boy

Next up, his dad, who just loves to stretch a lego leg much further than it’s supposed to.

Good sir please put your helmet back on-

Sir your leg-

Following Sir-I-Don’t-Care-About-Physics, we’ve got-

Behold. The majestic Water Ninja.

And don’t forget her brother!

‘Why’d my sword melt’

I think this is the angriest we see him in the whole movie, and it’s not even in the movie

Right after, we got m!Zane doing his best! :D 

But that one’s kinda tame, right? WELL- m!Cole’s got you covered, because his little scene includes the distortion effect from the shockwave his hammer makes

Sir, that’s not a hammer, that’s a pickaxe-

Oh dear mother of mayhem what happened-

And then we’re back to spinning-

Side note, the spinning smear frames are actually quite pretty and the effect they make when on normal speed is super cool

And then we have m!Jay, who just-

YEET. But at least he stuck the landing- oh. Oh dear. Buddy, are you alright-

Heyyy bud, I can’t tell what’s your hand and what’s your leg. You’re just a pile of googly gob. But at least you don’t break physics when you spin- no, wait, he does.

Sir, you are a lego, I’m not sure you’re supposed to bend that way.

Aw fiddlesticks, he can’t hear us, he’s having too much fun

Aaaaaand onto Koko! Look at how amazing she looks-

Well, mostly amazing. Add that one to the expressions chart!

But hey, we’re done! Surely there’s not more freeze-frame worthy moments-

Wait, Master Wu, what are you- NO! PUT THAT LEG BACK THE WAY IT’S SUPPOSED TO OR SO HELP ME-

*Sigh* Can’t catch a break, huh. At least his nephew is-

...well, not the worst expression I’ve seen. He’s at least not breaking physics, so he’s-

m!Lloyd Montgomery Smith Garmadon, you are a lego, your leg is not supposed to touch your back, put it back-

m!KAI-

STOP ADDING EXTRA LEG-

FOR THE LOVE OF- okay, okay, we’re calm, we’re almost done, nobody else is gonna do anything crazy, it’s gonna be fi-

Thin ice, m!Nya, thin ice. Bent too far forward over your front leg, but you landed in a sick split, I gotta give you style points. 

Okay. NOW they’re posing for the title card, so nobody’s gonna do anything crazy-

Garmadon, what are you-

NO-

SIR, YOUR LEG- STOP IT WITH THE LEG- GARMALEG ALERT, SOMEBODY STOP THIS MAN

LOOK WHAT HE DID, HE SCARED THE HAIR/HEAD RIGHT OFF OF m!COLE!

Seriously, these legos...

But now we’re done for real (until I eventually make a movie screenshot post)

I hope you enjoyed these priceless screenshot freeze-frames as much as I did.

Lego Ninjago Movie New, Secret Promo Video. 

Boi, if only the Movie would have been this cool.

Red-Eyed Rival (Love Rival AU)

You even just wake up one morning and decide yep. Time for angst?

Here’s a fun little idea crossing multiple AUs, so hear me out on the summary-

Remember the Aki AU for SPBNR mentioned in this fic? Where Smith ends up in the m!verse alongside Aki (aka Bizarro Kai), who’s hellbent on making sure he a. stays put and b. has to deal with as much inconvenience as possible?

What if I told you there’s a version of that inspired by the variant of the Possession AU (where Smith gets thrown into possessing Red, aka m!Kai, while Red backseat games) known as the Jekyll and Hyde AU (where they switch every time they fall asleep and neither is aware of the other).

The Aki version goes as follows: Aki is essentially like a ghost tied to Smith that can possess Smith at any time, but is careful with it as it leaves memory gaps. Because of this, Smith isn’t aware Aki got thrown along. This AU’s Smith is part of s!Polyninja, and while missing his boyfriends at home, decides to friendly-flirt with their counterparts (unaware that Aki sometimes does the same as well to a more serious level).

Blue (m!Jay), Black (m!Cole), and White (m!Zane) start to fall for Smith a little.

Unfortunately, Red (m!Kai) has been hopelessly in love with those three, and now someone’s come along and immediately gets jealous (and a bit insecure) of his new ‘love rival’.

And Aki does not make things easier :3

Enjoy!

Fine, he admitted it.

Red was jealous.

He's been in love with them for— well, he'd known them for years, and only figured out that he felt a little stronger about Jay, Zane, and Cole at the start of the school year, which, considering his normal track record of noticing these things, was a new record.

Of course, acting on said feelings was a little harder said than done. As it, he'd been hopelessly attempting to flirt with them for ages, but none of them seemed to get it. And yes, he could be a little more straight(ha)forward, but in his defence, feelings were difficult, and no, Nya, I can't just tell them, and-

Well, it was complicated, okay. What if they didn't reciprocate his feelings? He was dealing with not one, not two, but three major variables here. If he messed anything up, he'd be make their friendship- the team dynamic- awkward, or worse-

He didn't want to think about 'worse'.

And just as he'd psyched himself up, and was maybe, maybe ready to start being a little more bold with his flirting, see if any of them (or, maybe, just maybe, all three of them) were interested back, suddenly Smith had entered the picture.

He didn't know what to think of Smith.

Well, that was a lie. As his aforementioned admittance stated, he was jealous.

Because Smith knew how to flirt with them. Knew how to turn Jay into a blushing mess instead of just a rambling friend. Knew how to get into the banter of trading pick-up lines with Zane. Knew how to knock Cole off his cool game in a good way. In the little while he'd been here, he'd completely thrown all three into a tizzy.

The worst was that Kai genuinely wanted to like the guy. He did! Smith was nice, he was friendly, he was protective of them- literally everything that could be great about him was!

And Red... Red wasn't that much compared to him, was he. He wasn't as smart, wasn't as strong, wasn't as pretty, wasn't as smooth, wasn't as charming.

Smith walked around like he was the coolest thing since sliced bread and had them hanging off every word. Red went on long-winding tandems on how the mayor was using Garmadon attacks to cover up the existence of trolls that steal your left socks.

Yeah.

Smith was basically the cooler, prettier, smarter, overall better version of Red. And based on how they'd all been practically scrambling over themselves to hang out with him, the others agreed. Red just... wasn't needed anymore in the friend dynamic.

Heck, maybe he should just pass off the role of Red Ninja to Smith too, he'd probably ace that way better than Red ever could.

And through everything- all the casual flirting, friendly hangouts, everything- Smith had been nothing but kind to him. To all of them. And Red repaid that kindness by being jealous and cold back.

Some friend he was.

...

Although...

In the last week or so, things had felt... more personal. He didn't know if he was going crazy or not (all the sleepless nights tossing and turning in bed, brain going a mile a minute over this whole mess, wasn't helping), but it almost felt like Smith was... mocking him?

His flirting had doubled down. He'd gotten... well, bold, and Red just knew the three were falling for it hook, line, and sinker. Why, just yesterday-

// "Awww~ Jay, Baby, you're so cute when you blush like that," Smith said, putting his hand on Jay's cheek and giving it a little pinch. Jay had turtled into his scarf, sputtering, as Smith side-eyed Cole with a soft smirk. "Don't you think so, Cole?"

Cole shrugged, though his eyes were smiling. Next to them, Zane piped up with a cheerful "your heart-rate has elevated by 30%".

Smith looked at him and put a hand on his chest. "Oh? And what about yours?"

Red did his best not to slam his locker shut as he finished grabbing his books. He quietly walked away, but his skin prickled, and he had the oddest feeling Smith was watching him, as if he did that just to rile Red up. //

Which was honestly ridiculous. What could Smith possibly gain from intentionally flirting with Jay, Zane, and Cole in not-just-a-sweet-and-friendly-way, but just to make Red jealous? It would be cruel, underhanded- and it would be using his friends, which was just- no.

It didn't fit with the rest of Smith's character. Unless he was lying, but he seemed to genuine other than a few specific instances, and even then, it was probably just Red being paranoid and selfish.

Right. Yeah. I-It had to be.

Red shook his head to clear his thoughts, heading toward his locker. He'd find Smith later today and talk to him about it. Yeah. Make sure that- even if... if he'd lost before he'd even tried, that at least the others were taken care of. Because if Smith hurt any of them, on purpose or otherwise, well-

He knew a spot behind the diner on Den Street to throw hands.

But if Smith was genuine, and the others genuinely liked him, then... well... then he was happy for them. And he could bottle up his own feelings to sob into a bowl of ice cream later, because at least they were happy.

And if they decided they liked Red (for some reason)- well, he could daydream a little. Jay wasn't the only one who had his head up in the clouds sometimes.

Red turned the corner, and-

…

He froze.

O-Oh. Oh.

Red tried to take a step back, to leave unnoticed, but there was no way his luck would ever be that good. Smith looked over from where he’d just been snogging Cole. “Oh, Kai! Didn’t see you there.”

Red swallowed, tucking his jacket as if he could shield how his heart splintered just a little more. He plastered on a fake grin. "Smith! Cole! Hi. Sorry to, uh, interrupt you two, just wanted to grab my stuff-"

Cole pushed away from the lockers, fixing his headband and staring just a little to the side so they didn't have eye contact. The tips of his ears were darker with a blush. He hummed in greeting, subtly fiddling with his headphones.

"I'll just-" Red unlocked his locker and fumbled for his books at record speed. "Don't mind me, have a great rest of your-"

"Actually," Smith interrupted. "I wanted to chat with you, if that's okay."

Oh. Oh, so they were going to chat now. Okay. Right. Great. "Sure, yeah, totally!"

Damn, Red was actually pretty proud of keeping his voice chipper. Not Zane-chipper, of course (he was pretty sure that was physically impossible), but enough that he didn't sound like he was dreading the conversation.

Cole gave Red a cool little wave- damn he was so cute- before turning to leave. Smith leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek- ouch, no, keep it together, that wasn't on purpose, stay cool- and waved as a flustered Cole put on his headphones and walked away.

"Look," Red started. He took a deep breath; either he got it all out now, or he never would. "I'm happy for you all. Really! I'm- I'm glad they're interested in you, and I'm glad you like them back, and I'm truly happy they- they like you. I-I still gave you a... a good run for your money, though! A-And-" Why was his stupid voice cracking and choking, stop it, you can't appear weak and-

"Pathetic."

"-you better believe if-..."

Red trailed off with a blink. He'd imagined that, right? He'd thought that internally. So why had it sounded like-

He laughed in a short, quiet way. "That's funny, I thought you said-"

Smith tilted his head and smiled. "You're pathetic."

No. No, there was no way Smith just said that. He was hallucinating even though he hadn't touched coffee in ages, too kept up by his own thoughts to need it. Because there was no way that Smith Forge just called him- that he actually just said-

"You know, Kai-" Smith began. "At first, I thought maybe you were just a little dense. Maybe you just hadn't gotten the hint yet, or that you were kidding yourself. Then I realized 'oh FSM, that guy's actually delusional. You genuinely can't see what's directly in front of you."

Red's throat gummed. No way. His feet were rooted to the spot as Smith stepped closer, still smiling like this was just a cheerful chat between to good friends.

"Did you really think-" Smith laughed. "That you ever had a shot even before I came along? They barely tolerate you as a school friend, they’d never want something more."

He clapped a hand on Red's shoulder and the latter flinched, mind reeling, unable to process everything enough to fight back. Not a single sound sang through his broken voice; not a retort, not a comment, not even a sob.

"Face it, Kai. You're a joke. A weak, pathetic, joke. I'm the newer, cooler version of you, and everyone knows it."

It was one thing when it was just in his head. It was another when it was spit, dripping with false kindness and unbothered cheerfulness, directly in his face.

Smith stepped forward and Red finally moved, tripping until his back hit the lockers. Smith didn't seem to care, only grinning a little sharper.

"You got a little crush or three, don’t you, Kai? Well, that’s gonna make this hard to hear. See, I like seeing how flustered I can make those three. They're rather cute, you know. Real precious. Just the sweetest. And you know what I like the most about them?"

He leaned closer, to the point where Red could feel the heat of his breath sting his cheek. Red was almost afraid of the answer, almost- no, that was ridiculous, but-

As he stood there, lungs empty of air, flooded with so many emotions that his vision was tinted at the sides from the overwhelment- in that moment, he was almost afraid of Smith.

He stared at the dark lens of Smith's sunglasses, watching the glint of sharp teeth in a malicious smirk.

"The thing I like most about them is that if they're with me, they're not with you. I'm with them to spite you. Just because you want them, and I get what you want."

Red was dimly aware that he was shaking, slammed with every emotion under the sun at once. The breath he tried to suck in hitched and caught, nearly choking him. His mind was a hurricane of thoughts.

Smith was a threat he couldn't beat.

Smith knew about his crushes and enjoyed watching him suffer.

Smith was faking being his friend.

---

Red was too weak to stand against him.

Red was too easy of a target, had nothing on Smith.

Red wasn't worth being the friend of Smith.

He was unlovable.

His parents didn't care for him. The school didn't care for him.

Why had he ever thought Jay, Zane, and Cole would.

Smith pinched his cheek with another laugh. "But hey, that's just between us, okay? No need to get the others involved. 'Course, that's if they even would believe you. After all, I'm just poor, innocent Smith who Kai seems to hate for no reason. Because you're jealous. Or maybe that's not the right word;

"Because jealous implies you ever had a chance."

Smith suddenly shoved away from Red, adjusting his hair almost lazily. Red was too stunned to cry; he could feel the urge too, but just... didn't. Couldn't.

"Honestly," Smith said, sticking his hands into his pockets. "It's a miracle those three don't hate you. You're so annoyingly persistent. Just give up, Kai. Save them the trouble of having you tell your stubborn face how they really feel about you. Just go home."

He gave a little wave, eyes almost seeming to glow beneath his sunglasses. "Glad we cleared that up. Toodles!"

Red blinked, and the next moment he was gone. The hallway was deserted once more.

But Red didn't cry. He didn't cry as he numbly grabbed his stuff, didn't cry as he walked home one foot in front of the other, didn't cry when he closed the door to his room and drew the curtains. He didn't cry when checked to make sure Nya wasn't home, nor when he weakly shrugged off his jacket. He slipped under the blanket of his bed.

And then he finally broke.

You know—

Cole was travelling around for a while too after he ran away from the dance school. He was out rock-climbing whatever mountain he could find. And we know that powers didn’t just come from their weapons, so he’s likely had superstrength & improved climbing skills that he didn’t notice—

So imagine this:

Local Villager: Making my way to the market, walking fast, faces pass—

[Sees a teen free-scale a 90 degree sheer cliff with no supplies, no rope, and no shirt in three seconds flat.]

Local Villager:

Local Villager, picking up speed: Walking faster so the spider demon cryptid doesn’t get me—

And heck, while we’re at it, if Jay ever tested any of his other intentions in the city/edge of the desert— POV you’re driving down the only road for miles in the Sea of Sand, it’s dawn, still dark but the barest hints of sunlight, mostly lit up by the sparking, flickering old street lamps here and there. You suddenly spot a strange shape at the side of the road and slow down, peering with squinting, curious eyes out of your window.

Bright beams of light like glowing eyes (special goggles) snap up to stare at you. You can’t really make out anything else— crooked shapes like mangled wings, perhaps, or jutting limbs out of the sand.

Startled and scared, you floor it, watching as all the street lamps around you suddenly fizzle out with a wild pop as if the lightbulbs just exploded. You hear an almost inhuman screech behind you, and vow never to drive this road again— at least not without the noon sun watching your back.

Anyway so yeah Zane, Cole, and Jay all having old cryptid rumours about them without knowing it, and Kai having heard about all three from passing travellers in his village while working the forge. He finds out later those three “Cryptids” are now his teammates

And then along comes Lloyd with even more cryptid rumours of the “red eyed feral raccoon child in the darkness that steals sugar” because Oni + dragon + candy-crazy runaway ex-Darkley’s kid

Dude I like to think that in his early life living in the woods with Dr Julien, Zane was a local cryptid for a while. There's just this really tall, almost expressionless guy dressed in all white that wanders around the woods. If he sees you struggling, sometimes firewood for the winter will show up outside your house. He disappears into the forest without a trace or a sound as soon as you see him. People make up stories about him. "Yeah I got this scar from the white demon of the forest" and "my family was blessed with extra fish because we left out warm soup for the winter spirit"

I just think that would be neat

Fic Prompt #1!

Boreas = Show Zane

Red = Movie Kai

Ship Name: Icedcoffee (technically a version of opposite shipping)

----

"Do not give me that look."

Red peeks over the kitchen island. "But Boreasssss-"

Boreas shakes his head. "Absolutely not. I sincerely apologize, but i cannot allow you to continue with this."

Red shoots him his best puppy-dog eyes. Boreas tightens the Look of Disappointment™️ on his face, though his fingers tremble ever so slightly. "I said no, Lantern, and that is final. It is for your own health."

Red climbs onto the kitchen island and slides over it so he's standing in front of Boreas. "Pleeeeaaaassse? I need it for cryptid hunting."

"You cannot go cryptid hunting tonight, it is a school night," Boreas counters, though there's a faint hitch to his voice. "I'm sorry, Red, but for the sake of your health and grades-"

His boyfriend leans into him, peering up with wide amber eyes and a faint pout. "But tonight's a great night for hunting Mothman... the moon is full and everything..."

The slight tremble to Boreas' fingers increases as he turns his head to the side, avoiding looking at Red. "I'm sorry. Please do not give me that look, this is for your own good."

"Okay..."

Red's quiet voice makes Boreas pause, and the tall nindroid makes the mistake of looking back down at his boyfriend.

His power source melts.

"Perhaps..." he starts, voice cracking. "Perhaps I can brew you an alternative mix. The "Potion of Could Kill the FSM", as you call that dreadful mix of caffeine, sugar, and 5-hour energy, is very bad for your health and I cannot in good mind allow you to drink it, especially at such an unreasonable hour. But perhaps... perhaps I can instead brew you some nice hot chocolate, and we could curl up with a movie together?"

Red looks at him as if he just offered him a plate of gold. "Cuddling? You and me?"

His face slowly goes red with a blush, and a few embers flicker in his gelled hair.

Aha. Boreas has him hooked now.

"Yes," he says. "Perhaps we can share a blanket? You could rest in my lap as well."

Red starts to bounce in joy. "Screw Mothman, I'm finding us the coziest blanket in the house-"

Boreas smiles. "That would be lovely, Lantern."

Red beams back. "Anything for you, Snowball!"

The coffee is poured down the drain as Red races out of the room, and Boreas chuckles to himself.

He really is in love with this bi disaster, isn't he.

S!Kai 53

"You’re right. I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m just making it up as I go along."

As soon as the words are out of his mouth, Kai feels three pairs of eyes turn to him.

Whoops. He probably shouldn’t have admitted it after all.

Well, no turning back now! He’s the elemental master of fire, unfortunately, not the elemental master of time.

Cole raises an eyebrow, eye twitching ever so slightly. “…you’re joking, right?”

Jay has far less tact, grabbing Kai by the shoulders and shaking him. “Kai, this is a really bad time for jokes, but you better be joking, because so help me if you don’t actually know what you’re doing when you suggested this plan in the first place and we only went with it because there’s so little options even Zane couldn’t compute one that doesn’t end in HORRIBLE DISASTER—”

“I’m sure Kai know what he’s doing,” Zane pipes up, though there’s almost a pleasing look in his eyes as he turns to Kai. “That is correct, no?”

Kai shrugs. “About 25% of that sentence was right.”

“The… ‘correct’, yes?”

“Try the ‘no’.”

That was evidently the wrong thing to say, as all three of his teammates now look like they want to strangle him.

Their faults for trusting him. Yes, sometimes he has thought-out plans— and sometimes he does not.

“So you’re telling us—” Jay starts, and oh boy Kai already knows this is going to end screechy, “—that you suggested this plan. Knowing you don’t know what your doing. Making it up as we go. For a situation where we really ducking need a plan or we’re all gonna DIE, BECAUSE WE’RE ABOUT TO BUNGIE-JUMP INTO THE PIT THE GREAT DEVOURER ONCE EMERGED FROM TO TRY TO FIND A REMAINING SCALE TO LIFT AN ANCIENT CURSE AND HOPING WE DON’T GET EATEN BY AN EVEN BIGGER SNAKE IN THE DARKNESS—”

Okay, getting too screechy now. Kai gives him a light nudge. “Just trust me.”

Jay goes flailing down the pit with a shriek. Cole turns to look at Kai. “You do remember we’re all connected to the same rope, right?”

Kai blanks. “Uhhh—”

And that’s all the warning he has before the slack stops being slack and yanks him into the pit after Jay.

ALL RIGHT NINJAGO FANS, OUR FAVOURITE BROTHERS ARE ON THIS, WE GOT TO MAKE SURE THEY GET FAR! THEY GOT SPOT 24, LET’S GET THEM PAST THE FIRST ROUND

The Official Lineup is Here!

I just finished tallying everything up. The way they are listed here likely won’t be the way they’re put into the bracket. The current order is based on how many nominations they received exclusively. No pair with under 5 nominations made it into the bracket. I’ll probably create an underdogs bracket with the remaining contestants later.

Here it is!

The next step is getting them all into the bracket in a way that’s balanced. That might take a little while, but I’ll do my best.

Round 1

ALRIGHT NINJAGO FANS, THIS IS THE MOMENT WE'VE UNITED FOR - RG SIB NINJAGO SWEEP LET'S GO

Round 3: Mario & Luigi VS. Kai & Lloyd

IT'S SO CLOSE SOME ON WE NEED EVERYONE PLEASE, IT'S COLE SCREAMING SUNDAY- IF OUR LEGO BROS WIN I'LL DOODLE THEM BOTH IN THE M&L BROS COSTUMES

@spinjitsuburst @arpeggiopeg @clambuoyance @demininjago @destinysbounty @demininjago @enavstars @lloydtxt @legogeek33 @mondothebombo @pajamamen @rotten-dan @rarlkove @twigs-sprigs @thunmeh @weekend-whip and any other ninjago blog that hasn't voted yet (also you're all super cool blogs ^_^)

Round 3: Mario & Luigi VS. Kai & Lloyd

I PROMISED AND THUS I SHALL DELIVER

THANK YOU ALL AND I'LL SEE YOU GUYS IN THE CRAZY SEMI-FINALS

NINJAGO SWEEP LET'S GOOOOO (also anyone else doing art/the like, use the r&g ninjago sweep tag!)

Round 3: Mario & Luigi VS. Kai & Lloyd

WE’RE IN THE FINAL LET’S GOOOOOO

VOTE FOR OUR FAVOURITE LEGO BROTHERS (let’s be honest, Harley would find it hilarious if she and Ivy only lost to two legos)

COME ON, NINJAGO FANS, WE STAND UNITED

(Also I love how this is a group that, considering the connectivity of the Lego Movie with Lego Batman and Lego Ninjago, could actually meet)

Finale: Harley & Ivy VS. Kai & Lloyd

ALRIGHT NINJAGO FANS, WE’RE CURRENTLY LOSING BECAUSE WE INTENTIONALLY GOT PUT AGAINST A STRONG DUO

LET’S SWEEP AGAIN FOR THE FUN OF IT

IF WE GET PAST THIS TRICKY ROUND, I’LL DRAW JAY AND KAI AS BENDERS

LET’S JUMP UP KICK BACK WHIP AROUND AND SWEEP

HE LOOKS AMAZING THANK YOU SO MUCH AHHHHHHHH

Some theories:

The noodle shop is a mafia front

There's a red-eyed cryptid haunting the boatyard

The museum curators can actually control time

"Nya I swear I saw that nice Elvis-like guy by the bird and flower shop- I think he runs a dojo- talking to a tiger. Like an actual tiger. In the city. Like the animal. In the city. And this guy talked to it like he was talking with an old friend."

Cliff Whoredon Gordon is a terrible dad that doesn't pay his child support (proven)

Ghosts. Just ghosts.

Mothman exists

Silly lego drawing request- Movie!Kai had way too much coffee and has gotten himself tangled in red string from his conspiracy corkboard (the one where he pins notes such as "the noodle shop is a mafia front" and "there's a half-bird person that flies over the school sometimes while croo-ing like a pigeon")

hehe nothing too crazy-

I added a few other theories I thought Kai might have. Teehee

Ninjago Fic Rec Week — Day 3: Angst &/or Kai

Note: All these fics are included in the Day 1 and Day 2 posts, I'm just reposting for people who want the specific categories

Kai

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28136997/chapters/68942907 — Same People But Not Really 

Top-tier fic right here by the glorious @kittydemon9000 (go shower them in positive comments!) with a great Discord, this fantastic fic features our beloved show Kai (Smith) finding himself in the movieverse after Garmadon blasts him with the Megaweapon. Full of fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, and damn good writing, one of my favourite fics of all time :D

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13854819?view_full_work=true — Earbuds

In a world where the ninja don't know each other's civilian identities, Kai finds out the identity of his crush, Jay.  A fantastic plasma story filled with pining, an oblivious electric boy, and a smashed window or two

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23449558/chapters/56209675 — Caught Red-Handed

A hitman Kai AU full of angst and some hilarious crack as he finesses his way through a labyrinth of underground criminals... and falls for three good-guys along the way who could screw up everything (or even save his life); this great fic was written by the extremely talented @fanfalc-616 who you can go shower in positive comments

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27799876/chapters/68058064 — Time for Amnesia

Another amazingly written fic by @fanfalc-616, this time featuring an amnesiac Kai being utterly (and angrily) baffled by the ninja, some of which (a freaking robot that's totally evil, an annoying idiot, and a kinda scary stick in the mud) claiming to be his boyfriends while another claims to be his younger brother.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25916767 — Cool Down

A fantastic fic about Zane's element as a counterbalance to Kai's in stressful situations, and how a hug can go a long way

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28612956/chapters/70128354 — When your love rival is a frog

This one. This one right here is gold (and a personal comfort fic). Movie Kai has had a crush on Jay since, well, forever- but the one thing getting in his way of flat-out proposing is a slimy green frog named Kyle. Brilliantly written and stitches-inducing hilarity ensues.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/34723405 — Divided for Keeps

A brilliantly written one-shot based on an AU for SPBNR (the above fic) where Smith lands in the movieverse without his memories and is adopted by Garmadon. All he has is his phone with photos of his family- but when his phone gets smashed by some of the Dorksquad for fear their identities will be revealed to Garmadon, he decides to never again let friends into his heart. Perhaps a certain overheard conversation can change his mind...

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30933857/chapters/76392629 — One Hell of a Summer Job

After a fight with a bully on school grounds, Kai finds himself exiled to manual labour on a farm. He despises everything about the job... except the three cute young farmhands working there

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36502231 — And the Vocab Word of the Day Is...

Someone's taught Zane a word he shouldn't know, and thus we have this hilarious one-shot

https://archiveofourown.org/works/38467489/chapters/96140524 — Keep Your Secrets Near

Another SPBNR inspired fic, this time a pre-curser to Smith's arrival. In this AU, movie!Kai is too injured to become a ninja, and finds his siblings' increasingly concerning behaviour suspicious. 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/38652201 — The Venomari Venom Incident

Yet another fantastic SPBNR inspired fic, this time featuring so much hilarious shenanigans. When a prank against movie!Lloyd (Green) goes wrong, Smith is doused in venomari venom. Naturally, things go wrong immediately.

https://www.tumblr.com/angeldrawsstuffs/711788606697701377/the-letter?source=share — The Letter

show!Kai, trapped in a Pixie Hollow Movieverse, receives a... short letter from his little brother.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/38299120/chapters/95698927 — So A Traumatized Teen And Two Dragons Get Sent Back In Time

Kai finds himself back in the events of the pilots with no memory of how he got there along with two small amnesiac dragons he can suddenly understand (pssst- this one was also written by @kittydemon9000! Go shower their ask box with positivity!)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/44418760/chapters/111722089 — Shogun: Becoming

(also inspired by SPBNR) What if instead of Zane, S11 Kai got zapped to the movieverse instead of the Neverrealm? Struggling with missing his family, the temptation of the staff, and his weakened powers, Kai must figure out how to get home while befriending this universe's ninja-- a struggle all of its own

https://archiveofourown.org/works/39091860/chapters/97792278 — Walk a Mile

A fun bodyswap fic featuring Kai & Jay learning to tolerate each other

https://archiveofourown.org/works/40019130/chapters/100220688 — SPBNR pero ahora Smith es un gato :D (Spanish)

And yet ANOTHER amazing SPBNR inspired fic, this time featuring Cat!Smith :D This one is in Spanish!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26238865 — An Impromptu Little Brother

You want RG siblings fluff? You've got it! This adorable fic showcases the sweet bonding of S1 Kai and Lloyd

https://archiveofourown.org/works/37437592/chapters/93429598 — Ignitus

During the reign of Emperor Chen, Elemental Masters are outlawed. Morro escapes from an experimental facility but finds himself handcuffed to Kai, who failed to capture him again. When Morro reveals that the ninja don't know the whole story, the two go on the run and build a team of elemental masters to take down Chen for good

Angst

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15404622/chapters/35752608 — Lost in the Void

In which Jay discovers a secret new power to his element and everything goes great(?) from there

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24324337/chapters/58644697 — Cold Nights

Snake jay content my beloved

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36920599/chapters/92111470 — Changes

More snake jay content my beloved

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28298904/chapters/69342846 — From a Laboratory

In which Zane is an digital AI that suddenly finds himself uploaded to a physical body and must unwind a spiralling conspiracy of hidden human experiments

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29490180 — Home Is Where You Are

Movieverse Lloyd gets stabbed and his cousin Morro wants to stab people as a result- a hurt/comfort fic

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27700081/chapters/67792351 — Your Mistakes Are Yours to Keep (BEING REWRITTEN)

Post Skybound angst my beloved

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25156273/chapters/60957967 — Sit Still, Look Pretty

A Detroit: Become Human style AU where newly built Zane is 'gifted' to the ninja... who begin to suspect there may be more to the android than meets the eye

https://archiveofourown.org/series/3557314 — Overload (Series)

Jay goes missing, and an investigation into a nearby power plant leads to... so much terrible trouble

https://archiveofourown.org/works/37798150/chapters/94374718 — Would You Like To Enter Stardust?

An absolutely heart-wrenching "everything is terrible" angst-fest of a Prime Empire fic for all you SRJ angst-lovers :D

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46263796 — Play to Win

A beautifully written fic that makes me go feral of Nadakhan forcing Jay and Cole into a Scrap n' Tap match... against each other

https://www.tumblr.com/angeldrawsstuffs/707259828912996352/a-lost-father?source=share — A Lost Father

movie!Zane's Papa Whint goes out one day to buy milk.

Lava Fall (Remastered)

A ninjago fic snippet based on SPBNR by @kittydemon9000 rewritten in honour of the 2-year anniversary of the discord server! This one is to all the wonderful memories and friends made in that amazing group. Here's to many more years of great times and creative ideas!

————

————

Being kidnapped isn’t an everyday occurrence, but in Shogun’s line of occupation, it may as well be with how often it seems to happen.

Heck, his little brother has the worst luck out of all of them— though his sister seems to come a close second.

So it’s to no real surprise (at least, to him) that Shogun currently finds himself in a rather… precarious position. 

As in a “tied to a chain, dangling over lava just like Nya back in the Fire Temple” kind of precarious position.

Yeah. Just an average Friday evening.

Below him stands the gloating four-armed warlord himself, a positively pompously smug grin stretched across his features. Two hands rest on his hips, and two stay crossed before him.

“I asked you to join me, yet you refuse. You’re as stubborn as my buttface of a brother.”

Despite the childish insults, Shogun knows better than to underestimate this world’s Garmadon. Instead, he levels the villain with a burning glare. “Let me go, or face the consequences.”

Garmadon smiles— a cruel, wretched thing, honestly— and places two hands on a lever. “Let you go? That can be arranged.”

Lava gurgles under him, seeming to draw closer lava surrounding Lloyd’s cage, lapping at the metal floor and splashing against the bars. The Fangblade plummets as Kai lunges forward, not for the weapon, but for his little brother, too late, he’s too late, too unworthy, too much of a failure—

Shogun’s face is the definition of a furious snarl, but before he can spit out a barrage of insults so stinging it would melt Garmadon’s helmet, one of the doors to the cavern bursts open with an explosion. Shapes burst through the  smoke, and Ninja Force come raining in.

“Smith!” Lloyd not his Lloyd but still neither should be near a volcano not after— shouts, green hood pulled over his face and missile launcher— WHO GAVE THIS KID A MISSILE LAUNCHER— propped over his shoulder. “Hold on!”

Garmadon’s army pours into the room, narwhal spears and pufferfish flails at the ready. Cyan leaps forward with her trident raised above her head. She brings it down in an arc with a furious war cry, melted tip scrapping against a lobster-themed shield with an unpleasant screech. Behind her, Black follows with a swing of his hammer, slamming the shield away and sending it spinning into the lava pit below. The metal hisses as it dissolves into a glob of orange spittle and vanishes. 

Red charges in after his sister, twin katanas reflecting the glow of the lava so bright they almost appear alight with flames. He disarms one unprepared General with a move that makes Shogun proud— looks like he was paying attention in weapon training after all— and spins to hit a second, sparks flying as metal contacts metal. Shogun squints. For a split second, he thought he saw the base embers of Spinjitzu, but if there were any, they quickly fade into the chaos of the fight.

A flash catches his attention, and Shogun turns his head in time to catch a whiff of ozone and charred fish. A General runs wailing from the room, smoke trailing after them like a scarf. A (fearfully) screaming Blue snaps his wrist again, and his flail strikes out like lightning. Next to him, White makes perfect precision strikes with his bow, quips of “Nice Shot!” and “Good Aim!” in an impression of that announcer in that sports video game Smith played with the others falling from his lips. 

“We’re coming!” Green yells, scrambling down the path his team clears toward his father. Whenever a General crosses his line of sight, the missile launcher clicks in warning. The more foolish Generals find themselves knocked aside in explosions that rattle the volcano, sending Smith spinning on his chain like an angry disco ball.

His vision blurs for a minute from the motion, and he tries not to hurl into the lava below. Instead, he focuses on the sounds of metal clashing, the shouts of combat, and the pounding slam of explosions and hammers-that-really-shouldn’t-be-rattling-the-volcano-this-much.

A feeling surfaces in his gut, clawing steadily upwards and wrapping icy fingers around his heart. It’s a feeling that ties lead to his feet, that grips his hair and yanks his head back, that throws him forward onto his knees like a spiked heel to his back.

It’s a feeling of helplessness.

Stupid, consuming helplessness.

He hates it.

His friends, his family, are fighting below, and he can’t do anything. 

When Shogun stops spinning, the feeling only worsens, climbing up the inside of his throat with a thick glob of sticky horror.

Cyan’s disarmed, her trident slowly sinking as it melts away in the lava. Her fists, blood staining her knuckles, collide with any General near her. 

CRACK, a General’s jellyfish helmet shattering into glass shards. 

CRACK, the jaw of a crab General breaking. 

CRACK, Cyan’s hand against metal-plated armour. 

She drops back with a wounded howl that’s his SISTER who just got hurt, and he can’t help her. Her brothers are there in an instance, one slamming the General with the butt-end of a katana and the other lighting them up like a firework with a missile. The General flies out of the room as if fired by their boss. 

A screech drags Shogun’s horrified gaze away from the three siblings and to a squirming Blue held by the back of the gi like a kitten. The orca-themed General sneers, spinning the lightning ninja around. Before they can toss him into a wall, a bright flash fills the chamber. Some kind of force smashes the General into the wall instead. Blue goes sailing out of their grip—

And over the railing of the pathway.

Shogun’s heart stops.

Before the half-formed wail of his brother’s name can burst from his mouth, however, a streak dives under the railing and over the cliff edge. Black snatches Blue’s wrist and digs his other hand into the craggy rock wall, praying for a handhold. 

... ... ...

Through some miracle, he finds one. He clings there, holding Blue against the wall as the pair dangles over lava. 

A General reaches over the railing with a spear aimed at Black’s hand below them, but an arrow knocks the spear from their hand. White bodyslams them out of the way and helps Black and Blue up in a lull of combat.

More Generals pour into the cavern as alarms wail, nearly spilling others into the lava pit below. The Ninjaforce tense, adjusting grips on whatever weapons they have remaining.

But before the fight can break out anew, Garmadon gives a pointed cough that seems to echo louder along the rock walls.

Shogun jerks as he’s lowered on the chain a smidge.

Silence falls.

“So—” Garmadon stretches the word out, savouring the attention as his fingers tap the lever with casual slowness. “You surrender, or he drops.”

Six faces pale beneath hooded masks.

Green swallows. “You wouldn’t. You spent all this energy to catch him. You won’t drop him.”

There’s an edge of pleading to his voice, a desperate hope that some tiny part of Garmadon wouldn’t do it. That his father isn’t that despicable. That Green by association isn’t that despicable.

Garmadon rolls his eyes. “Ugh, you goody-two-shoes are all the same. You sound like my whiny butt-faced brother. “Don’t do this, Garmadon!” “You’re better than this, Garmadon!” I am better. I’m stronger. I’m gonna rule Ninjago City! I thought I could use Shogun on my side to do it, but if he’s just gonna stand in my way—“

The chain drops another few centimetres. 

“—then I’m more than ready to drop him.”

Shogun has enough.

Smith has enough.

Kai has enough.

Burning fury, hotter than a thousand suns, roars through his gut. It melts the  frozen helplessness clamped around his heart, burns away the sticky glob of horror in his throat, and spits out of his mouth in a jet of orange flames. “Do it, coward.”

A thicker silence follows the last syllable. The Ninja Force and generals alike look on with horror, the former with fear for their friend, the latter recognizing a phrase that would immediately get any of them fired if they dared utter it.

Even Garmadon blinks, stunned. 

Then his cruel smirk returns. “So be it. If you’re not for me, you’re against me. Our dance was fun, Shogun. Too bad you won’t be sticking around for an encore.”

He yanks the lever back with two hands.

Someone screams.

The tether keeping Shogun chained goes slack as he plummets, the string holding him helpless severed in a single move. As he falls, lava fast approaching, his expression betrays no fear.

He keeps his burning gaze drilled into Garmadon’s the whole way down.

—————————

Lloyd doesn’t know what to do.

Smith had casually dropped into their lives one seemingly uneventful day, and he’d stuck to them ever since. He’d been the best addition to their friend group they could’ve ever hoped for.

And now he’s been dropped, literally, back out of their lives.

“SMITH!”

The scream comes from six people at once, six ninjas scrambling to the railing and stare at the lava’s centre where the melting chain vanishes below the bubbling orange surface. 

Logically, Smith’s buoyancy should mean he’d float. Yet the chain plating drags him down below the spitting lava in a heartbeat, gone from view.

A mercy on their eyes, to avoid seeing the flesh melt from his bones.

Kai drops to his knees, katanas clattering to the ground. “He… he can’t be gone.” His voice is hollow, a snuffed candle. It reminds Lloyd of how lost Shogun sounded earlier. “He can’t be.”

“…Sensors indicate 0% chance of survival…” Comes Zane’s voice, grief-struck cold and crackling with static. “I— I wish it was /j instead of /srs.”

An expression steeped in horror and guilt washes across Nya’s face. “The last thing I ever said to him—“

Cole stands silent, his watering eyes speaking volumes to the turmoil rumbling inside. Jay crashes into his side, shaking as he hiccups and gasps for air.

And Lloyd… Lloyd can’t think. Can’t see. Can’t feel.

Smith is gone.

And it’s his father’s fault.

Lloyd growls, slowly turning to face Garmadon with eyes blazing green. He flexes his hands unconsciously, nails sharpening into claws as green and gold scales march over his skin. 

He throws himself forward with a wild roar, claws aiming for Garmadon’s throat. The move catches even the warlord off-guard, his Generals too surprised to react.

But before Lloyd can attack his father, before he can hurtle the anguished insult burning on his tongue, the lava pit behind him explodes.

Everyone, ninja and Generals alike, scramble back as the geyser of lava swallows the remains of the dangling metal chain whole. The spray spits and sizzles as it hits the surrounding rock. A wave of heat radiates out. 

No one, not even Kai himself, notices that a couple drops land on his skin without burning him.

The air punches from Lloyd’s lungs.

Striding out of the lava, completely fine as if he’d merely taken a plunge in the pond in the park, is Smith.

What. The. Duck.

Lava dripping from his fingers, Smith climbs up the rocky cliffs and pulls himself over the railing. He shakes himself off, flicking a glob of drying lava from his shoulder with utmost casualness. Droplets of lava hit the grated floor.

There isn’t a scratch on him. No burns, no cuts, not even his clothes look singed. The only change, honestly, is that his stormy expression somehow manages to look even more murderous. 

He raised his hand toward Garmadon.

His fist erupts into flames.

WHAT. THE. DUCK.

“So—“ Smith draws out the word as if it’s an inside joke between him and the warlord. “You asked me to join you. I refused. I asked you to let me go. I’d count that as refusing.”

The flame grows brighter, flaring higher. His eyes glow like a hearth.

“So I say it’s time for that encore.”

Drew an AU version of movie!Kai (Red). In this AU, all the members of the Dorksquad (who have not met each other yet) are forced to be evil and work for various villain groups.

Red is unfortunately part of Char’s evil magic Fire Snakes gang, and is partly transformed into a snake with magic to match. He gets to see his sister, who’s the High Priestess of the Merlopian Wojira Cult, once in a while and just wants things to go back to the way they were before.

In the SPBNR AU version, Smith (show!Kai) finds out about the Dorksquad and proceeds to rescue all of them while introducing them to each other