#here's the other crossover i was talking about

[sorceresssundries]

A Scandal In Sorcery

Chapter 2 - The Dance

Pairing: Gale x Fem Tav

Summary: A Regency era/Baldur’s Gate crossover. Set in an Alternate Universe, containing familiar faces and key events in new light.

It is, predominantly, a love-story which will contain explicit content as the slow-burning bond between Gale and Tav deepens.

Chapter 1 here

(This is also published on AO3)

Word Count: 3.1k

A/N: This story is set in an Alternate Universe. Though there may be echoes of sound and flickers of light from a well-loved place, please bear in mind this is a new path in a familiar forest.  Take comfort in the familiarity and care into the unknown.  Some things are destined to come together in every universe, just as others are doomed to fall apart.

Gale Dekarios wasn’t sure what it was exactly that drew her to him. Whether it was her sullen demeanour, unconventional beauty or the fact strands of weave shimmered around her like cracked light through crystal.  

He had sensed her almost immediately as he had entered the ballroom, felt the air spark as though she was an approaching storm. His gaze drifted her way, and as soon as he met her eyes he was spellstruck. Her skin, warm and tanned, adorned with freckles, bore a delicate pink blush across the bridge of her nose and the high points of her cheekbones —a complexion undoubtedly caused by a day in the company of the sun. While the majority of women in the room adorned themselves in the season’s satin, empire-waisted gowns, she stood out in corseted robes of navy and gold, sculpted to accentuate her curves and flowing gracefully to the floor. They were daringly slit on each side to reveal laced-up boots over fitted breeches. There had obviously been an attempt to tame her hair for the occasion, but loose black curls were making a desperate escape from the tight coil they had been imprisoned in. Amidst the tamed field of the other guests, she was a wildflower. A cherry blossom in a forest of pine, and he was determined to delight in the shade of her if only for a few moments. Perhaps being coerced into this charade wouldn’t be as unbearable as he had initially feared. 

He managed to interrupt his companion from flirting for a few seconds to enquire about her.  “Mr. Ancunin, who is that over there hiding away in the dark corner?” The silver haired man winked at the young lord he was talking to, before turning to flash a disarming, pointed smile. 

“Ah, that is young Duke Ravengard. Heart of gold, morals of a white knight, blade of a hero.” He gave an exaggerated sigh, as though this disappointed him. “Shame really, he is handsome, but frightfully boring.” 

“Not him, the woman he is speaking with.”

"Ha, Ostavia Olyn, now she is a much more intriguing character. Rumour has it her family is penniless, and her father is treating her like a prized mare at auction, but hush, you didn't hear it from me," he chuckled, a hint of cruelty in his laughter. "She's a firecracker, to say the least, but I'd advise caution if I were you. I hear someone has their eye on her." Before Mr. Dekarios could press further on the matter of her admirers, the silver-tongued Mr. Ancunin had already drifted back into conversation, and the host of the evening had begun his speech. As Lord Gortash talked, Gale began delicately moving through the enraptured crowd, determined to get as close to her as possible in the hope of asking for a dance.

Despite accepting his hand, her temper still sizzled. He couldn't quite fathom what had ignited her ire, but he couldn't deny the allure of a stoked fire over a tepid rain shower any day. Intrigued, he found himself eager to uncover more about her.

Gale had been a popular hand at the Blackstaff Ball back in his days as an apprentice. Admittedly, his time away from the material plane and with his Goddess had not allowed much room for practising his steps but he found it was an easy rhythm to fall back into, especially with such an enchanting partner. 

Tav, on the other hand,  was less practiced, less graceful, and far less enchanted. It took a few delicate moments for her to find her feet. He was more respectful than some of the other partners who had dared take a turn with her. His hand on her waist was courteous, yet there was a firmness to his grip that guided her with confidence, preventing her feet from stumbling - though it did little to steady her breath. In the proximity of their dance, she caught the scent of him—sandalwood and parchment - He smelled like crisp autumn. 

“Are you managing to enjoy the evening from your hideaway?” He asked politely.

At his attempt at small talk, Tav steeled herself for another dull turn with a dull partner. The politeness and reservedness of it all was suffocating. She felt restricted and bound - constantly stuffed into conversations two sizes too small. She was sick of it all. She wanted her hair down, she wanted to smile with her teeth and laugh from her belly. She wanted to sprint corsetless through warm summer rain and spin magic from her fingers like she was born to do. 

She often felt these long evenings of repression were unproductive for someone alive with magic. She should be spending her time with her gift settled on the surface of her skin, and soaking in the cool freshness of it. Instead, she felt like it was a caged, prowling animal she was destined to tame but never master. If only she had the freedom she craved, the pure, eternal, bright freedom of someone like Gale Dekarios. He had everything she wanted, and yet here he was letting himself be paraded around like a prized possession. He infuriated her, but she supposed she would have to indulge him for now, if only for one dance.

“Very much so Saer, I find it gives me a perfect vantage point to observe the events of the evening.” She tried very hard to keep the bite out of her voice, but sharp teeth are tricky to file down.

“And what have you discovered from your vantage point, oh mysterious spy?” His tone was refreshingly playful, and something flickered in her chest and in her smile. 

“If I told you, I wouldn’t be a very good spy would I?” 

Gale Dekarios realised he was very quickly dabbling with trouble in the crackling presence of this wildfire woman. “Wizards don’t make for good spies, I don’t think we are built for all that sneaking. Let’s leave that to the rogues and scoundrels shall we?” His observation surprised her, perhaps he was more attentive than she gave him credit for.

“What makes you think I am a wizard, Saer? Do I display their famous arrogance? I was not aware I had conjured any magic tricks this evening.” His response to her indignation was a smile which could brighten the darkest midnight. She continued, starting to feel a little unsteady.  “If you are expecting a show, I’m afraid I must leave you disappointed.”

"Well, for a start, you've opted for robes instead of a dress," Gale remarked, his gaze tracing the contours of her attire with a knowing gleam in his eyes. "And secondly, you're a flame around which the weave flutters like a helpless moth." There was a charged pause, his thumb delicately brushing against her wrist as they moved in tandem. "You seem to evoke a similar reaction in those attuned to it" He slowed their dance, and his eyes fluttered to her lips. “You are most intriguing…”

She tried not to meet his eyes again, in fear she would fall into them and not be able to find her way out.  So, instead she tried to distract herself with a turn in the conversation. 

“Your date is watching us very intently, Saer. I hope I am not interrupting anything.” 

Gale snapped out of his trance, momentarily confused. However, as he spun her gracefully across the floor, he realised she was referring to Mr. Ancunin, who indeed had fixed his stare upon them with an unreadable expression on his face.

“How kind of you to show concern, my lady.” She didn’t have to look at him to know he was smirking. “But he is not my date, he is my… escort.” Tav’s expression must have given her surprise away, as he quickly stumbled up with “I mean.. He has escorted me here from Waterdeep, under instruction of Lord Gortash.” She can feel his shoulder tense slightly under her hand as he mentions their host. How unusual, she thinks, why on earth could the presence of this chosen one be so important to this particular evening?

“Surely the chosen of a Goddess doesn’t need someone to hold their hand and guide them to our modest little gathering”

He chuckled and she felt her cheeks flush, as though somewhere there’s a joke she’s missed the punchline to. 

“It wasn’t a travel issue my lady, I can assure you my navigation skills are incomparable.” She risked a glance at him then, and her fears were confirmed. His eyes were so warm and dark that the sparkling candlelight came to life within them. She found herself momentarily lost, before mentally shaking herself free from his hypnotic gaze. 

She wasn’t sure if she imagined it, but she thought she was suddenly a little closer to him than before.

“Mr. Ancunin is a senior magistrate and dear friend of Lord Gortash. He was very clear with his.. focused...message that I was to attend here this evening.” His tone darkened slightly, and for a second he appeared lost in thought. “Upon our introduction he delighted me in conversation about his influence within the justice system, and let me know I need not bother him with smalltalk about my upbringing or connections. He knows everything about me and my inner circle, apparently.” His eyes met hers again, his meaning heavy.

Tav couldn't help but admire the audacity of threatening the prized possession of Mystra in such a brazen manner. Yet, she swiftly dismissed the thought. The political machinations and power plays of politicians and playthings held little interest for her. She was on the cusp of freedom from this city, and once she ascended to the rank of archmage, she vowed not to be coerced into attending such meaningless social gatherings ever again.

Her gaze once more met Mr. Ancunin's, noting his demeanour did befit that of a magistrate. However, her learnings had taught her to view most in such positions as nothing more than corrupt bloodsuckers. A shiver of distaste ran down her spine, earning a laugh from Gale.

"You have no talent for hiding your feelings, Miss Olyn," he remarked, amusement dancing in his eyes.

Tav's lips curled into a wry smile, her gaze unflinching as she met his. "My talents are unknown to you, Mr. Dekarios, and that is how they shall remain." Here, in his arms, unfurling the bright petals of her wit, she felt herself bloom slightly—a bud with a taste of sunlight. "Maybe I am a woman who likes to make her feelings known."

His arm moved slightly further around her waist, and he leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "One certainly hopes so."

He was so close now she could feel his breath against her cheek, one hand pressed against her back and the other softly clutching hers as they moved. Her temper had dimmed, she had noticed, and just as she found herself truly relishing the sensation of being in his arms, the music came to an end, abruptly breaking the spell they had cast together.

There was a brief moment in the dip of the music, just before he let her go, which he let himself sink into. Only for a burning second. The sensation of her small hand in his, the gentle curve of her waist beneath his touch, and the scent of vanilla, how warmth sang from her skin as though her day basking outside had dazzled her into the sun itself. He wondered how that warmth would taste against his lips…

She stepped back and bowed quickly, formally, now acutely aware of the whispers breezing around them. They had become the focus of the party. It was a position Tav had always been determined to avoid, yet here they were, at the centre of it all. Amidst the murmuring crowd, she caught sight of her father near one of the bowls of punch, appearing uncharacteristically flustered and oddly alone. It struck her as peculiar.

Gale was about to inquire if she would like to share another dance with him when a figure interrupted.

"May I cut in? I would be honoured if you would grace me with the next dance," the voice came, clipped but courteous. Tav felt a rush of relief as Wyll stood by her, offering her some friendly comfort on the dance floor. However, as she turned back from assessing her father's odd countenance, she realised Wyll was not addressing her, but rather Mr. Dekarios. Wyll was glaring at him as though trying to set him alight, but the wizard seemed unperturbed. 

He bowed at the invitation. “Of course my lord, how could I turn down such a genteel invitation.” Tav once again felt out of the loop, but despite the strange tension, she felt grateful for an opportunity to step out of the limelight and talk to her father. 

He became even more nervous as Tav approached him. 

“Father. I am surprised at you!” Tav mocked. “It is unusual for you to give up so quickly. Have you finally run out of suitors to harass, or are you just gathering back your strength for another round of negotiations?” Her mood had once again soured. 

“Ostavia…” his voice was a tired plea.

“I tell you what, how about I do a lap of the room ringing a bell and sending up sparks to draw some extra attention?” 

“Tav, please… we must speak privately, there is someth…” He was speaking in a hushed tone, and Tav was becoming more and more irritable. What a dream it would be for one to be able to express their thoughts openly and at a normal volume.

“Let us speak privately at home father, Leyana will be desperate to hear all about the evening, and what kind of a sister would I be if I deprived her of such fascinating tales. I am tired and this silly circus of a party is of no use to us.”

"Silly? Oh, I don’t know. I've found the evening rather... eventful," a low, amused voice chimed in from behind Tav, causing her to whirl around. There, standing before her, was Lord Gortash. Handsome in a different way from Mr. Dekarios, he exuded a certain invitation, like a dark path veering away from busy, lamplit streets—enticing, alluring, and perhaps dangerous. Up close, he appeared more pallid, with shadows under his eyes making him appear slightly haunted. His features were undeniably strong, his eyes so dark they were almost black. However, unlike the warmth she had felt with her dance partner, these eyes held a colder, more baleful gaze. They were focused, attentive, and fixated on her.

“My apologies, my lord.” Tav gave a slight bow of her head, she ought to be embarrassed but she was having such an awful time she was past caring. Perhaps if she came across as rude to their host she would be excluded from all social events, or perhaps she just didn’t feel like being polite to any more men this evening.

"You are forgiven, dear lady," he smiled warmly. "I see you've been enjoying the company of some esteemed individuals. Tell me, what is your impression of Mr. Dekarios?" At his mention, Tav turned to see him still immersed in dance with her friend. Wyll led, both in steps and conversation, his expression bearing an uncharacteristic sternness. Whatever they were discussing didn’t look particularly agreeable.

"The legend of his magical ability certainly travels," Gortash continued before she could answer, his tone deliberate, almost intimate. "He must be absolutely fascinating for one such as yourself who is also... gifted."

At the last word, Tav's eyes whipped back to him, stunned into silence. What did this man know of her gifts? Perhaps he had heard of her prowess during her studies? But she couldn’t fathom why someone like her would be on the radar of someone so deeply entrenched in politics.

He chuckled at her. “Don’t be alarmed, my dear. Your father and I have been deep in conversation and I've been keeping a close eye on you for some time. He has much to be proud of, to have not one but two daughters gifted with such powerful sorcery.”

Tav flicked her eyes toward her father, who couldn't meet her gaze, and a wave of panic surged through her. What had he done? What had he let slip?

She summoned every ounce of composure, striving to calm her racing heart and settle her tumultuous thoughts into still waters. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, Saer,” she replied, forcing a serene smile. “My sister is no sorceress; she was not blessed with…”

He laughed again, each peal a shard of ice down her spine. “She does you proud, Yondrel. Sharp as a whip and as pretty as a night orchid.”

“Thank you, my lord,” Tav’s father offered with frustrating meekness.

“Do not fear. The secret of your sister’s condition and family standing is safe with me. I promise you that,” Gortash assured, and for a moment, the veil of threat lifted, replaced by something resembling sincerity, though Tav couldn't be certain if it was genuine or merely a flicker of hope in darkness. “Do not be angry with your father, dearest. It wasn't him who told me of your sister’s troubles.”

Dearest? Who was this man to call her dearest? To bring up family secrets and slip them sharp between her ribs like a rogue in an alleyway. Tav could feel her skin crackle with anger and indignation at the gall this arrogant, jumped up…

“It was Grand Duke Ravengard. His son is a close friend of yours, yes? I’m afraid there’s no such thing as family secrets in such a close-knit, generous community such as ours. I have many friends, in many positions.” He took a step closer to her, and she could not move, her feet were made of lead. “Besides, the two of us should have no secrets between us.”

Tav did not like where this was going, she felt out of her depth and did not want to continue the conversation until she had whetted her courage and supplied some well-needed ammo to her arsenal, or at least some decent armour to protect from the concurrent blows. She did not enjoy feeling like she was on the back-foot.

“If you would excuse me, Lord Gortash, I thank you for your hospitality but my father and I were just leaving.” She bowed low and went to turn away as politely as possible, but was stopped by Gortash’s hand placed softly in the crook of her arm. 

“Such formality, my dear. I can assure you, it is not needed.” He leant forward and grasped one of her hands in between his. 

“Not now we’re to be husband and wife.”

[flickering-nightfall]

[starppleb]

Lonely broken child

"I have bad and good news," announced Tim almost falling into the room. "Start with bad news," muttered Bruse, taking a sip from the cup. Batkids tensed. Of course, a lovely morning when everyone (somehow) managed to all together enjoy breakfast had to be destroyed by some good-bad news. "I'll start from a good one," continued Tim "Bruce, you had more far family relatives than you knew." "And a bad one?" "They died and now their youngest son has no one to be with because another side of the family doesn't want to take 'sick freaky kid' in." 'Well, it could have been worse,' thought Bruce. "And his sister described his condition as 'walking dead'," added Tim. Jason snorted before his face fell with a frown. "How old is the kid?" Asked Jason with worry. "13." Jason choked on his drink and excused himself. 'Well, it can't be even worse,' thought Bruce. "And-," started Tim. "There is more!?" Cried out Jason from another room. "-And some people accuse him of being guilty in an accident in which died his parents." That morning is indeed quite interesting...

[dissentersrising]

hmm. retainers.

actually, let's first talk about the leylines of sornieth. the network of magic running beneath reality that all magic flows through. the world's natural mechanism for cycling magic.

all magic flows from the leylines, returns to the leylines, and is broken down by the shade within so the cycle can start anew.

(as you might have noticed, the leylines and the shade both are the source of many superstitions and misunderstandings, but this isn't about them.)

near-to-all creatures on sornieth are magical in some way, which means that their magic, too, will return to the leylines upon death.

all that is to say that the leylines are the afterlife. purgatory. whatever. which means that every now and then someone will realize this and try to break out. because that is something people will want to do, because a good few people do not want to be dead and/or do not want to simply fade into oblivion. and because that is something you can do, since magic can, in fact, flow out of the leylines.

(which means that you can, in fact, revive someone if you drag them back out but WE'RE TALKING ABOUT RETAINERS HERE.)

retainers aren't actually dragons. they are just kind of... spawned in by purgatory to keep people from breaking out of the afterlife. luckily, they're usually passive. won't bother you if you're just chilling (or, more likely, dying a second time) in purgatory.

they'll beeline for anyone causing trouble though. this includes people trying to break out, people trying to break in, or people who have already broken in and are running around in the leylines while still being very much alive. they will not pursue people out of purgatory, but they will remember and they will come for your ass once you die again.

physically, they're pretty damn big. about the size of a particularly large imperial. they don't have any limbs by default, but they can grow any number of them so one can absolutely have, i don't know, twenty arms if it needs that many. their wings and haloes (for the ones who do have haloes, at least) are not quite solid, but you'll encounter some resistance if you try to touch them.

they can technically be killed if you fight them hard enough, but so long as they retain a connection to purgatory they simply will not stay dead. "killing" one is a pretty tall order in the first place. they're stupidly big, they can channel lightning (not actually lightning- just raw magic. remember, purgatory is inside the leylines) they're able to teleport, and they can straight-up change the geography of purgatory at will. if you want to get out of purgatory, you're better off trying to avoid these things instead.

they seemingly answer to the employers, despite the employers... not actually having created purgatory. still, some of the employers have taken it upon themselves to watch over purgatory and have managed to intertwine their own magic with that of the leylines. as a result, they have some degree of control over both purgatory and its retainers.

anyways out of universe um. hi it's me i'm being insane about madness combat and making fandragons of the most random things. gabriel ultrakill is here because it makes the most sense. he's a retainer now because it's my lore and i get to pick the writing also i use "the leylines" and "purgatory" pretty interchangeably above because they are interchangeable. two names for the same thing. btw sorry i keep drawing things that are not actual flight rising dragons who are actual flight rising breeds. it Will happen again

[southern--downpour]

i am once again mashing my hyperfixations together like a child playing with dolls

[citricacidprince]

Headcanoning Rise!Donatello and 2012!Raphael as autistic is actually something that can so personal

[sillyjayz]

Yes please talk about your crossover!!!!!!

FOR YOU ANON I WILL!!! 🫡

I want to make more posts about it either here or on a side blog due to the brain rot I keep getting from thinking about it constantly. For now, I’m gonna do my best here to explain the general gist of it all! It’s still a bit rough tbh so my apologies if it makes 0 sense whatsoever and if it’s really long (which it already looks like it will be LMAO). It’s all gonna be under the read more so people who aren’t interested can scroll past it easily!

OH and before I continue, I’m gonna briefly discuss where it takes place in the canon timelines. So for Vbros, it’s after the movie. For Postal, it’s basically after the events for Postal 4. And for Eltingville Club, it’s after “This fan…This Monster!” but before the epilogue. For EC, it’s like an au where the club doesn’t immediately separate after the events of the comic fire yet are the verge of breaking apart. The club are around the same age as the Venture twins. (One more thing: if you ask me about any specific year it takes place in, I can’t tell you nor do I care that much about it sorry BWUSBWH)

It’s basically two stories happening at the same time, in different locations:

Story A is centered around Postal/Venture Brothers. This one is pretty underdeveloped because I haven’t came up with any reasoning for why The Postal Dude would be in NYC, how he even encounters Dean in the first place, and how he even discovers that he is a Venture (aka Jonas is his actual father. Not in the clone way, but in the normal way, making him and Rusty and the Monarch half brothers). Honestly, I just wanted to explore that last idea more and see some fun uncle and nephew bonding and shenanigans happen.

Story B, on the other hand, is pretty developed and consistent. Considering I made the Eltingville/Venture Brothers crossover first before I got fixated on Postal as well. I made an entire (and somewhat outdated) outline but to summarize it quickly: Hank moves out to go live with his new uncle Monarch temporarily to become more independent from his father (and also he didn’t want to go back to New York City because of Sirena). Basically still recovering from what happened and trying to find his way. He’s able to get a job at newly opened comic store in Eltingville (since the last one….burned down) and he encounters the club. Hank, against everyone else’s advice of “Do not talk to them”, talks to them since they’re so happen to be talking about Batman which ends with Hank asking if he can join. He gets laughed at by them, who don’t believe he’s really a Venture since what the hell is a supposed rich/famous kid doing working minimum wage as a comic book employee and Bill emphasizes that “We only allow authentic fans to join the club.” To prove his worth, Hank is challenged to a trivia off. If he wins, he’s in the club (as an unofficial official member or an “intern” as Bill calls it). If he loses, he doesn’t get to join the club and has to give them some valuable collectables for free, which Hank could get fired for. He gets until the end of the week to prepare for it since Hank argues with them for extra time and they all agree, thinking he’s gonna lose anyway. However, with Gary’s assistance and some secret help from Jerry (who thinks having a new member could be beneficial for the club), he ends up winning and becoming a part of the club!

[braceletofteeth]

let’s say vegas and moonjo are acquaintances in someway.

maybe vegas studied in korea for a while and noticed some people in his uni going missing, maybe moonjo was involved with the korean mafia and vegas had to secure a partnership, maybe moonjo and jongwoo relocated to thailand to start a new life.

either way, they meet, they hit off, they exchange dental torture tips. vegas looks at moonjo being an absolute simp for jongwoo and thinks ‘rip to him but i’m different.’

then pete happens.

I go a little insane every time I think about what you sent here, honestly. It opens room to so many questions... Where, when and how Vegas and Moonjo could have met; their impressions of each other and the influence their partners have over them; Pete and Jongwoo’s own impressions of Vegas’s and Moonjo’s relationship… I mean, can you imagine the four of them in the same room, having a friendly chat? It has the potential to be really entertaining, and also to go so, so wrong.

But let’s stay focused (I'm trying! I'm really trying!).

First of all, I think the idea of Vegas getting exposed to the Very Normal Relationship™ of Moonjo and Jongwoo and his inner response to it being “that could never be me” is SO funny. Especially if it's not because they're weird, but because they're cringe. Count me in on the maiming and the torture, the manipulation and the emotional instability, but finding religion in a lover? Yikes. That’s the real crazy.

Bonus points in that scenario if Vegas and Moonjo were acquaintances before Moonjo found Jongwoo. It would totally go against Vegas’s expectations. Which is to say, no fucking expectations, have you met that guy? Moonjo cares about no one. At least Vegas has Macau, and his father (that doesn’t care about him in return, but one day he will, of course). Moonjo is completely alone. By choice. He can’t stand anyone. Not even the woman who raised him. Even the people he entertains himself playing mind games with, are eventually disposed of and forgotten. Vegas might find himself in a position where the two of them are able to (almost) see eye to eye, and socialize, but he would know better than to let his guard down around him. That’s not a man you can trust your life with. Or your head. Definitely not your head.

Which probably makes Vegas wonder, as of meeting Jongwoo, just who would be stupid enough to trust their heart with him?

And here comes the shocker, for Vegas, and maybe for everyone who has ever crossed paths with those two: that’s not what happened. Jongwoo isn’t some naive darling that fell madly in love with Moonjo without knowing what he was in for; he’s not a pet Moonjo is keeping around until he finds a more amusing one (that would be Kihyuk). Jongwoo actually did something extraordinary, when he didn’t even have the intention to: he made Moonjo vulnerable. He’s the one that got Moonjo’s heart in his hands. And for Vegas, who met Moonjo pre-Jongwoo, that is… bizarre. Surreal. Unbelievable. It makes no sense, because Moonjo is supposed to be like Vegas, and people like them never show weakness in front of anyone, because they know, they learned, that when you do that, you get hurt. You lose. You die.

But Jongwoo changed something in him. Moonjo could die by his hands, and he’d still feel like he won. There’s no bad nor wrong between them, therefore, he’d take anything Jongwoo gave him. There is no one else besides him, and no one after. Jongwoo changed him.

And yet, he didn’t change. For the rest of the world, Moonjo is still the same. He still lies, he still kills, and he still regards everyone with the same indifference he always did—only he has Jongwoo by his side now, and to him it makes all the difference.

Vegas wouldn’t know what that feels like. He doesn’t even want to. Rip to Moonjo, but he’s different. He’d never let someone have so much power over him. Maybe Moonjo can afford that, because, after all, he has nothing but himself and his art, but Vegas is a businessman, who has a legacy to carry on. One day, he’s going to rule an empire, and it’s going to be all his. He doesn’t need, doesn’t want to be helped or understood by anybody that’s not family. He’s different from Moonjo, and he’s different from Kinn. They are fools. They’re going to be betrayed, or killed, or left. They are going to suffer, they are going to lose, and it’s going to be their own fault. Vegas is better than that. He does the betrayal, the killing, and the leaving, before it’s done to him.

And for some time, that's all he believes in.

… Then Pete happens. Vegas happens to Pete, Pete happens to Vegas, and Vegas finally gets it.

When he loses, but Pete stays by his side, that makes all the difference.

[random-chaotic-bitch]

Siren's Song - Chapter 4

Three months of peace had passed since the team had recovered the Golden Weapons. Alisha could be found training in the courtyard, running the training course as quickly as possible. Nya kept time, watching the siren gracefully slide through the course. Wu stepped outside, looking for the ninjas. Alisha took no notice, but Nya shook her head, pointing to another room inside the monastery. Wu shook his head in disappointment, closing the door as he left to chew out the ninja. 

Nya turned her attention back to Alisha, who was wrapping up the course. "Whew! What's my time?"

The dark-haired girl grinned, checking the stopwatch. "Uh, forty-five seconds! Maintaining the same average as the last few rounds. Stamina seems to be holding out, and you've barely broken a sweat."

Alisha smirked. "Sounds great. I'm gonna go clean up, 'cause I was thinking about running into town and rescuing the rest of my stuff from my apartment. Need anything?"

Nya nodded. "Actually, yeah. I think we need to get more laundry supplies, and I have some stuff to get for myself as well."

The girls made their way inside. Alisha quickly changed from her blue sports jacket and matching leggings to a pair of ripped black jeans and a coral zip-up sweatshirt with a loose tie-dyed tank top underneath. The tank top read "This never happened" in black letters, a contrast to the blue-green dye job over the white fabric. She pulled her hair from its braid, keeping it in a simple loose ponytail. The siren grabbed a pair of soft-soled white sneakers, doing an awkward hop-walk as she pulled them on her feet. She made her way to the game room, where the boys sat playing video games. She made it in time to hear Cole say, "Well, I was gonna eat this pizza tomorrow, so if that's the case..."

Wu swiftly kicked the pizza slice out of Cole's hand. "Ow!"

The older man quickly snapped at the ninja. "No pizza for you! In order to reach your full potential, you must train."

Kai leaned back on his forearms, video game console on his lap. "Uh, remember when we did a little thing called the Tornado of Creation? I thought that was pretty insane."

Alisha stifled a giggle, continuing to sneak up behind the ninjas. Wu sighed. "Oh. You four have merely scratched the surface of your full potential. There are still so many secrets you have yet to unlock. You haven't even begun to tap into what powers your golden weapons hold."

Cole laughed. "You wanna talk secret powers? Check this out," he replied, using the Scythe of Quakes to plug in the TV, starting up the video game. Alisha readied herself to jump at them as Zane tried to comfort Wu. "Don't worry, Master. We will be ready when Lord Garmadon returns."

The siren crept up behind the boys, yelling, "BLEAH!"

The reactions of the ninjas made Alisha break down in giggles. Cole jumped, Kai shrieked, Jay fell over, and Zane yelled. Wu, upon seeing the chaos, had to stifle a laugh despite knowing the disappointing state the team was in. 

The boys turned around to see Alisha sitting on the floor in a fit of giggles. "You- your faces," she managed to gasp out. "You look- ridiculous!"

Nya burst in, out of breath. "Guys, Lord Garmadon, he's returned! He was spotted approaching Jamanakai Village!"

Alisha leaped to her feet, laughter being replaced with shock. "Shit! Come on, let's go!"

She sprinted outside, opting to jump up and over the wall of the courtyard rather than go through the gates. As she free-fell down to the dragon stables, she used her Siren abilities to make her clothes shift from normal to her combat suit. Landing lightly on her toes she rose to her feet between doors to the separate stable stalls. As the doors opened, Alisha climbed onto Shard's back with ease and grace, compared to Zane, who struggled. She settled behind Zane's seat, laughing as they finally leaped into flight. 

Alisha watched the conversation between the ninjas with a small smile. Her eyes widened when Jay asked, "Race you there?"

The rest of the team spurred their dragons faster. Alisha yelped at the change in pace but after a moment, recovered and whooped as Zane prompted Shard to move faster. "Come on, Zane! We'll beat them there!"

As they landed, Alisha hopped off first with a laugh, watching the others bicker over who arrived first. "Ladies, ladies, you're all equally pretty. Mission now, bickering later," she reminded them, grinning beneath her mask. Kai turned towards where the shadow of their enemy reflected off a wall. Evil laughter echoed around them. "Stay sharp, team. Whatever happens, never let your guard down."

The laughing shadow rounded the wall to reveal... a little kid in a black hoodie. Alisha rolled her eyes. "Oh, great," she commented. The kid laughed. "It is I, Lloyd Garmadon! I demand all the candy in town, or else!"

Jay's defensive position went slack as he stood normally. "Lloyd Garmadon? I thought we were gonna face Lord Garmadon."

Cole groaned, turning to Kai to explain. "It's his son."

Jay groaned. "Ugh."

Cole continued, addressing everyone. "Looks like he escaped his boarding school for bad boys again. And to think we could've been doing Spinjitzu already."

Alisha groaned. "Again? The last time was bad enough, with that two-week-long mission-turned-manhunt. This kid is gonna be the death of me."

Lloyd, getting no response, tried to make more threats. "Uh... gimmie your candy, or I'll release the Serpentine on you!"

The villagers of Jamanakai Village started booing. Lloyd pulled out a prank can of rubber snakes, unleashing them into the crowd. Alisha snickered as the villagers started throwing vegetables at the child. "No way! I asked for candy, not vegetables! I hate vegetables!"

Kai picked up one of the rubber snakes, slingshotting it out of the way as he spoke. "He's gonna have to do a lot better than use an old bedtime story to scare people."

Zane shook his head. "The Serpentine are real, Kai. They're not something to joke about."

Kai scoffed. "Serpentine? Real? We're talking about the ancient race of snake people who once ruled Ninjago and were supposedly locked underground."

Jay chuckled nervously. "Sealed in five different tombs to separate the warring tribes and ensure they don't unify to exact their revenge upon those who put them there."

Kai threw his hands in the air. "It was an old wive's tale to teach kids not to poke their noses where they don't belong. Don't you think it's a little suspicious no one's ever found one of their tombs?"

Cole sighed, approaching the kid standing on the fountain ledge. "Well, that's because you'd be a fool to look for one. If there was anything I hated more than dragons, it was snakes. Rubber or not."

The rest of the team joined Cole in getting the kid out of the main space. Jay got waffled in the head with the snake can, earning a stifled laugh from Alisha. "Eh, at least it isn't spider people. That would be bad," she commented. Cole waved off the people, saying, "Don't worry, folks. We'll take care of this. Nothing to see here."

The kid, fighting to get out of the team's grasp, started spewing nonsense. "Bow down to me or suffer my wrath! I'll give you to the count of three! One! Two!"

Kai butted in as they carried the gremlin child around the corner. "What are we supposed to do? Spank him?"

Alisha swatted his shoulder, scolding him. "Kai!"

The little kid got nervous. "Two and a half!"

A few minutes later, Lloyd was hanging off a sign by the back of his shirt, with food and mud all over him. Alisha snickered as the kid yelled, "You just made me your nemesis! Mark my words, you'll pay for this!"

Zane walked over to the candy stand nearby, purchasing candy for the rest of the team. The others each got some candy of their own from Zane, and Alisha ended up with a few lollipops. "Next time, try paying for your candy," Cole commented. Alisha shook her head with a grin, looking up at Lloyd. "Crime doesn't pay, niño. Trust me. It's not worth it."

Jay made a show of eating his cotton candy, taunting the ten-year-old. "Mmm... cotton candy."

The kid lost it at that, causing Kai to start laughing as the team walked away. As they walked back to the dragons, Cole wrapped an arm around Alisha's shoulders. "See? Nowhere near as bad as last time!"

The siren scoffed, face souring at the memory. "Yeah. Do you recall how we got that little gremlin to stop stealing our shit? Because I certainly do. Trust me, lullabies barely worked on that little demon child."

The team started to mount the dragons, Cole giving Alisha a boost onto Rocky. A scroll fell out of Kai's saddlebag. "Huh? I don't remember putting this here."

Zane examined the bag. "That Sensei's bag. You must've accidentally taken it in the rush."

Jay peeked over Kai's shoulder. "What is it?"

Kai turned to him in annoyance. "It's a scroll, windbag," he deadpanned. Alisha cracked a grin as Jay turned back with a matching look. "I know it's a scroll, but what does it say? It's written in chicken scratch."

Zane shook his head. "Not chicken scratch. The ancient language of our ancestors."

Alisha's eyes widened. Oh shit, she realized. Only Sensei's important and very secret scrolls are in the Old Tongue, like the-

"Uh, can you read it?" "Well, I can try. This symbol means 'prophecy'."

Ohhh no.

"Prophecy?" "It means it tells the future." "Of course. Ha-ha. I knew that."

Oh fuck no, I swear if this is what I think it is-

"'One ninja will rise above the others and become the Green Ninja, the ninja destined to defeat the Dark Lord,'."

Shit fuck shit fuck shit fuck shit fuck shit!

"Oh, look, a picture!" "Dark Lord? Hold on... you think they mean Lord Garmadon?"

Oh gods, please, no!

"Wait a minute! Is that us? Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?"

Shit! Oh, we're so screwed. Screwed.

The bickering of the others faded into the background as Alisha continued to panic. Oh gods, Sensei's plan is going to fall apart! The whole point of the team was that it wouldn't be any of them! I have to tell Sensei before the plan crumbles-

"Everyone, stop it! Remember why Sensei brought us together in the first place. We're a team. We weren't meant to see this, and probably for good reason. Come on, let's head back home. We have training to do," Cole's voice broke into the siren's thoughts, dispelling the panic. She registered a black blur in front of her. "Hey, you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost," Cole commented, meeting Alisha's panic-stricken eyes. She let out a shaky breath. "Yeah, just got caught up in my head," she replied, readying herself for the ride home. "Don't fly rough this time, I don't want to get sick like I almost did the last time I rode with you."

Cole laughed in front of Alisha. "That was one time! You can't let that go?"

The blonde scoffed. "Never," she replied with a playful jab to Cole's side. 

About minutes later, the team returned to the Monastery of Spinjitzu with lively chatter between the boys. Alisha flicked her wrists, alighting her hands with the purple-pink glow of her siren powers. She quickly crossed them over her front and dropped them quickly. As she did so, her combat suit shifted back to her regular clothes, relaxing in her more comfortable day clothes. 

As the team entered the monastery's courtyard, Alisha noticed Nya running the training course. She noticed the team and lost focus, getting knocked off of the course. Jay went and shyly offered her a hand. "Hey, Nya. Closer to beating your brother's speed record?"

The black-haired girl nodded with a grin, running a hand through her bangs and de-sticking them from her forehead. "I'm getting there. Heard what happened in town. Just a false alarm?"

Kai nodded. "Yeah. Uh, but we're gonna need the space. Sorry, sis."

As the boys set up the space, Alisha rolled her eyes. "Men. Always thinking with their fists."

Cole started laying down some rules. "Two matches. Then the winners of each face off for the title. The armor is for our own protection. It's time to see what these babies can do."

Kai turned back to the girls. "Hey, Nya. Wanna stay and watch me mop the floor with them?"

Nya shook her head. "No, thanks. Alisha and I have to get some stuff from Jamanakai Village. Knock yourselves out."

The girls turned and left, walking down past the dragon stables to the hidden driveway. Alisha guided the younger girl to her motorbike, passing Nya a spare helmet. "You might have to adjust it a little, Cole was the last one to use it."

Nya laughed, clipping on the helmet. The two girls soon arrived at Jamanakai Village and split up to run their separate errands. "You pick up what you need, and I'll get the groceries we need."

About an hour later, the girls had what they came for. As they packed up Alisha's bike, villagers started screaming and running. Nya sighed. "What now?"

Alisha took a look, seeing Lloyd Garmadon with a cart of candy. "Ugh. Mini Garmadon. Again. I'll handle him, you finish loading up the bike."

The siren stepped out into the street just in time to see a horde of snake figures marching in formation behind the kid. She just as quickly darted back behind the building next to Nya. "I would like to retract my previous statement," she stated with wide eyes. 

They stayed hidden in the alleyway, watching the Serpentine mind-control the innocent villagers. Eventually, the rest of the team showed up and attempted to deal with the wayward child. But, when they realized they were outnumbered, they turned and ran. Alisha caught them with the Force, pulling them back into the alley with herself and Nya. "Guys!"

Jay laughed. "Ha! You guys are okay!"

Nya sighed. "Barely. They've hypnotized everyone in town."

"Mind control? How is this possible?"

The black-haired girl held up a hand. "When you hear them rattle their tails, don't look them in the eyes. That's how they get you."

Jay groaned. "Well, what are we supposed to do? We can't use our weapons, and now we gotta fight with our eyes closed? Ha, perfect."

Alisha nudged Nya in the side, pointing to the only snake with a real tail. "The snake with the staff is the General. He's the one in charge. If we can get the staff from him, it holds the anti-venom. If we get that, we can save everyone," Nya explained. Kai butted in, pointing out, "Look, guys. Forget about the whole Green Ninja thing. Let's make Sensei proud. The four of us. We're a team."

Cole laughed. "Now you're talking!"

Jay turned to Nya. "Oh, and Nya, you can be our honorary member."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks," she commented sarcastically. Alisha knocked Jay in the back of the head as she strode past him. "Ow!"

The siren peeked out around the corner. "It's a good thing I don't have to ruin these clothes," she commented nonchalantly. "I like this outfit a lot."

She opened her mind to the Force, feeling the familiar hum of her siren powers. A purple-pink glow engulfed her, and when it faded, she was now wearing her combat suit, cape and all. Strapped to her back was her spear, tucked safely in a small slit along the cape seams. A familiar call came from the Force, a plea from an old weapon to be brought back once more. She frowned, tuning out the call. 

Alisha grabbed her spear, spinning it in her hands for a moment. "Let's see how those snakes like a taste of their own medicine."

She stepped into the street, hitting her spear against the ground to catch the Serpentine's attention. "Hey, snakes!"

Her eyes widened as a bunch of snakes turned to attack her. "Please work," she muttered as she sheathed her spear. Crossing her wrists in front of her torso, she grinned as her hands lit aglow with purple-pink tendrils of siren magic. 

The tendrils poured from her hands, eyes, and heart down into the streets, creeping along the ground until they caught the leg or tail of a Serpentine warrior. Once she had a sufficient catch, Alisha started softly singing a dark, simple melody. 

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

Where they strung up a man

They say who murdered three.

Strange things did happen here,

No stranger would it be

If we met at midnight

In the Hanging Tree

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree?

Where the dead man called out

For his love to flee

Strange things did happen here,

No stranger would it be

If we met at midnight

In that Hanging Tree.

Alisha opened her eyes to see a crowd of Serpentine, eyes glowing the same purple-pink as her siren magic. They were under her control, completely unable to do anything other than what she willed them to. A dark smile crept across her face. "Sleep."

The Serpentine dropped to the ground unconscious, some snoring as they went down. Alisha released her hold on the snake beings before the whispers invaded her mind. She brought a hand to her head, holding back a gasp of pain from the sudden headache. "There's that karma," she groaned. 

She noticed Zane confronting Lloyd. "Sensei was right. Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today. We should've dealt with you the first time around."

Lloyd shrieked. "Retreat!"

As the snakes turned to escape, Cole tackled the general, stealing his staff. But another snake tried to hypnotize him. Alisha tried to run to him but fell to her knees, still weakened from controlling so many beings at once. Nya saw everything and kicked the snake in the head. "Cole! You have the anti-venom!"

Cole shouted something back, but Alisha missed it when her ears started ringing. The siren's head drooped, forehead brushing against the ground. A red-clad figure entered her vision, but she couldn't tell if they were Kai or Nya. The figure picked her up, yelling something the siren couldn't quite understand. Through blurry vision, she saw the figure look her in the eyes. "Hang on, Alisha," they pleaded in a muffled voice. "Don't pass out."

Alisha started feeling lightheaded and floaty as her vision cut to black. The last thing she heard before passing out was her ringing ears.

[bluehairperson]

don't you just love joining a fandom too late :').

Yeah :')

Sometimes I get kinda sad thinking about all the inside jokes, fanarts and fandom excitement I must have missed by arriving late.

I remember discovering the game like... almost ten years ago, I think? But my phone was too old to run the app and it kept crashing every couple of dialogues, so I had to disinstall it while all my friends were playing through it just fine. I was only able to get into it a couple of years ago when I managed to buy a more recent device, but by that time all my friends had already moved on and were no longer much interested in it. 😭

It sucks, but this can't stop me or you to enjoy all the content that's already here and to create something new by our own! I get that once a series stops being updated (or not if we consider the Dorian situation) the fan excitement kinda dies, but personally my hype has always been more dependant from fans' creations rather than canon material.

Since I've started posting, all my friends who were into the game years ago decided to re download the app just because of how annoying enthusiastic I am about it. I also convinced at least a couple of people who had never heard of it before!

Moral of the story is: as long as someone is willing to be annoying about a series you can keep the fandom alive and drag other people into it.

[selffagellation]

🧍 when was someone gonna tell me that Walton Goggins was HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES of all things

[primatechnosynthpop]

Honestly though the inherent complimentary-ness of a light blue uniform with red highlights + darker blue uniform with pink highlights... grounded personality with a fairly simple design vs. most eccentric and off-putting one of the bunch with absolutely insane immediately iconic hairstyle... #1 mystery novel fan vs. "print is dead" BUT they have a shared interest in chess and possibly opera if a line from the video game is to be believed. And one time they sat next to each other on a plane even though there were tons of empty seats available but the show was terrible by that point so not many people know about that one

[scare-ard--sleigh]

also saying this is so earnest that it makes me wanna vom but i like,,,, miss being in a fandom where people like my ocs as much as i do wwweehhh

[luveline]

Hi idk if u have already written this if u have pls igonore but what about the first time bombshell reader calls Spencer beautiful?

fem, 1k

“Gideon has a new prodigy.” 

Your head rises of its own accord. “Yeah?” 

“He's younger than you. Twenty three, I think Hotch said. Fresh out of college, two degrees and working on a third? Or maybe he was getting his doctorate? I couldn't keep up.” Morgan shakes his head in disapproval. “Overeducated and under-experienced. He failed his physicals. The ones he took, anyways.” 

“Ooh, ouch. A baby on the team before me,” you joke with a smile. “Genius baby, but a baby.” 

Morgan smiles when you smile, he's too nice not to, but he picks up soon enough, crossing his arms where he's stood and wrinkling what was once a finely steamed suit jacket. “I don't know what Gideon's thinking.” 

“Does anyone ever know what he's thinking? What's Hotch say about it all?” 

Morgan reads what you're typing from over your shoulder and corrects a mistake. One day you won't need his help, but for now you take as much of it as you can get. You're not too proud to acknowledge when you mess up, you're a realist. Super sensible (in mind if not action). 

“Hotch lets Gideon do what he wants, mostly. What can you do when he's one of the originals?” Morgan leans heavily onto his desk by the forearms and shrugs. You’re similar in this regard; complain, move on. You're similar in other ways, too. That's why you get along. 

“Well, I want to meet this guy,” you say. “We'll be teammates just as soon as Strauss stops hating me. I'm one strategic boxed bouquet from a full pardon.” He laughs and touches your arm like he believes you. “Is he around?” 

“Here they are now.” 

You spin in Morgan's desk chair slowly. Jason Gideon is stalking through the office with his head in the contents of a manilla envelope, while a new face follows behind him talking a mile a minute. 

“Obviously,” you hear Gideon interrupt as they get close enough. “Agent Morgan can explain that to you. Don't overthink it, Spencer, just try to get through it.” 

He doesn't acknowledge you nor Morgan as he leaves Spencer and hurries up the steps leading to his and Hotch's offices. You aren't expecting much else from him. What little Gideon knows about you he doesn't like. If you ever get over the Strauss hurdle, it's him you'd have to convince next. You don't watch him cross the landing, your gaze focused on the man making his timid way toward you. Your lips part briefly, and then quirk into an overjoyed smile. 

“Oh, you're beautiful,” you say without thinking. 

He frowns at you. 

“Reid,” Morgan interrupts, “This is Y/N L/N. She works in the sex crimes division. As you can imagine, we get a lot of crossover.” You stand, holding out your hand. “Y/N, this is Spencer Reid.” 

“I don't shake. Sorry.” 

You press your hand to your chest. “Oh, that's okay. I shouldn't assume…” Your voice melds into a silkiness that has his shapely brows furrowing further, “It's nice to meet you, Spencer Reid. You're really pretty, do you know that?” 

Spencer peeks at Morgan quickly, who laughs good-naturedly. “She's serious, Reid. She's not making fun of you.” 

“You'd know,” Spencer says. It isn't malicious, but it isn't exactly friendly, either.

You twist to frown at Morgan deeply. “Morgan, you're not being nice to him?” 

“I'm being plenty nice, sweetheart, but this is how it works. I gotta haze him a little.” 

“No, you don't.” You tip your cheek toward your shoulder to look at Spencer through your lashes. “He pretends to be worse than he is, I promise. But don't let him neg you, okay? You're smarter than he is–” 

“Hey.” 

“–and he's used to being the office pretty boy. It's jealousy, nothing else,” you finish. Spencer really is gorgeous now you're close enough to see his eyes. A brown like caramelised sugar tented by dark, dark eyelashes. When he smiles, the very slightest hint of teeth shows, and it makes him even prettier. You endeavour to make him smile again. “Sorry if I'm coming off a little strong. It's not my intention.” 

“She's just nervous. You have everything she wants,” Morgan says. 

You sigh forlornly. “Oh, doesn't he?” Spencer's confused pout is even cuter than his smile. “Getting into the BAU is about as easy as walking on water.” 

“For a human,” Spencer says. “Easier if you're smaller. Like a water strider.” 

There's a silence. Morgan is aghast, you think. You're in love. 

“Yeah?” you ask, stars in your eyes as his own spark to life. 

“Because water strider's can transfer their weight, but also due to their hydrofuge hairpiles. Their microhairs.” He catches himself, measuring your expression carefully. “Did you really wanna know?” 

“Do you wanna get a cup of coffee and tell me about it?” you ask. 

His lips part as yours had when you first saw him. 

He's prevented from answering as Hotch's office door opens and the man himself walks out near the railing. “Good, you’re here. I have something to talk to you about.” 

You grin at him. “I'd love to chat, Agent Hotchner, but I'm getting to know your new protégé.”

“I see.” He waits. 

You would ignore him —Hotch has a soft spot for you (or rather, he likes you enough to put up with you, which is more than can be said about other members of his division) and he'd shrug off your dismissal— but you're really keen to hear what he has to say. Perhaps Strauss has changed her mind about your proposed trail basis with the team. 

“I'm so sorry,” you say to Spencer, immediately re-dazzled by his pretty, lovely face. “It was really nice to meet you, Spencer Reid. Maybe next time you can tell me more about it.” 

You give Morgan a quick thank you for the help with your paperwork and trust him to log out of your emails. In your rush up the stairs, you hear a wisp of conversation. 

“Was she messing with me?” 

Morgan laughs. “No, kid. That's how she is.” 

"Oh... She's nice."

"You have no idea."

[cornfieldsrambles]

YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO INFODUMP PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT WIGGLY'S SIBLINGS???? THAT HE APPARENTLY HAS????

omg ok SO

Meet the Lords in Black. Charming, aren't they?

Yes, Wiggly does indeed have four brothers who all do different things, so I'll cover them one by one, in order of introduction (since we've already met each of them in Nightmare Time at least once). BTW Nightmare Time has a fuckton of lore in it that I won't go into here, so even though I am about to spoil significant parts of it for you, I do recommend watching it, it's really good and if there's enough interest they might make a third one!

(Also you might notice they're all in doll form in this picture. This is how we knew them up until NPMD introduced us to what I call their Tumblr sexyman forms. Which are rad as hell by the way.)

So you already know Wiggly. That little green fucker, Wiggog Y'Wrath, the Capitalist Cthulu who does uwu-speak and starts a cult by invading people's minds. This will become a bit of a reoccurring theme with these guys. He's also the only one to successfully start an apocalypse, and the only one to have attempted to birth himself into our reality. (Or is he? We'll get to that...) He does seem to have some kind of dominion over the other LiB, as whenever all five of them show up there's always emphasis placed on him, like in NPMD where he does most of the talking while his siblings occasionally butt in.

Now for Bliklotep. Blinky seems to have slightly lower-scale ambitions than Wiggly, but don't let that fool you. Eyeball Boi is still incredibly dangerous. He runs an amusement park, WatcherWorld, deep within the Hatchetfield Witchwood. But it's not for the amusement of the patrons. Oh no. It's for Blinky's own amusement. Once you step inside, every insecurity, every shred of potential conflict will be ripped to the forefront, turning people against each other to the point of trying to kill each other until he's fully infected their minds. It's implied that, if not all, but a significant chunk of the workers at WatcherWorld were once patrons before having their minds taken over by Blinky. He's also implied to be the thing in Trail To Oregon that Jack Bauer sees during his venom-induced hallucination, as Blinky is referred to as "The Watcher With 1,000 Eyes", which is exactly what JB says he sees? Making Blinky the only LiB to induce a Starkid crossover. My headcanon is that the Dikrats founded Hatchetfield. But regardless.

Next up on the roster is Tinky. T'noy Karaxis, the Time Bastard. You may be wondering about that one line in NPMD where he recognised Pete as a Spankoffski, and said he "could have the whole set in his toybox". Has Tinky gone after Pete's relatives?

Well. Um. You know Ted, right? Yeah, his name is Spankoffski. He's Pete's big brother. We actually got the surname reveal before the brother reveal, lol. And that's not the only reveal we got about Ted. Our boy Teddy Bear has this whole entire tragic backstory and it turns out he gets fucked over in literally every timeline! Isn't that fun?

So, to summarise an entire episode: Tinky makes travel fuckery happen, Ted wants to go back in time to fix his life, accidentally goes back to before the time machine was created and gets stuck in the past, literally. Tinky is watching and laughing at the whole thing, then shows up to blow Ted's brain to smithereens with his weird little magic box, the Bastard's Box, where he stores all the people he toys with. Anyway Ted eventually catches up with the present by aging, except now no one knows who he is, he's... actually I won't spoil that. But once he dies he ends up eternally trapped and tortured in the Bastard's Box. Yaaay.

Fast forward to Nightmare Time 2 and we get introduced to Nibbly, in possibly the most unexpected way imaginable. He's revealed to have been behind a whole episode literally right at the end of said episode, and even though it was kind of foreshadowed, it hits you like a freight train in the best way. Remember when I said Wiggly was the only one who tried to birth himself into reality? That was kind of a lie. Nibblenephim can sort of do that anyway. Every year, he can possess a bunch of carcasses and create a living form to walk the earth for one night. He also has a cult of followers who provide him with the carcasses, as well as a sacrifice to feed on. There's a little more to it, specifically with how the sacrifice is chosen, but again, I'm trying to spoil as little as possible. Go watch Nightmare Time. Nibbly also seems to have a "pig" motif, and his theme song, The Nibbly Ditty, is a banger, easily my favourite of the three LiB theme songs we've heard so far.

And finally, we are introduced to Pokotho, in the very last episode of NMT2.

Except no. We were formally introduced to Pokey there, yes, but we've seen his apocalypse already. Long before NPMD, before Nightmare Time, even before Black Friday.

Yeah, remember me saying that Wiggly was the only one to successfully start an apocalypse? That was also a lie! Pokey already did that, and he did it without ever showing his masked face. Remember The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals? The blue spores that came down in a meteor and turned everyone into singing zombies? That was Pokey's doing! That's his blue spores! That's his apocalypse!

This also provides an explanation for why blowing up the meteor didn't work. Emma and Hidgens were right about the hivemind thing, but wrong about the location of the central brain. It wasn't the meteor - the meteor was just the vessel which carried the spores to Earth. The central brain was sitting safely up in the Black and White, laughing as Paul blew himself to smithereens. The central brain was Pokey, the Singular Voice, the most uncompromising of his brothers. The one who hates every voice that is not his own, hence the hivemind and making all of his zombies speak in HIS voice.

Anyway in NMT2 he's happily collecting musical zombies by taking on a human form and infiltrating a fighting ring of superpowered children until he has enough to kickstart another apocalypse. (Don't question it, we're almost done). He also calls himself Otho, not Pokey, making him the only LiB to have two different abbreviations of his name. Hannah is also there (remember her? Lex's little sister?) and she is like incredibly important to this whole thing, she has a super powerful mind, but that's a whole other thing.

But I did mention Hannah for a reason. Because you said "Wiggly's SIBLINGS". And while the Lords in Black are always referred to as brothers, they do have one more sibling. A sister. A Queen in White. And her name is Webby.

Yep, Hannah's imaginary friend isn't imaginary, who could have guessed? She's benevolent, always trying her best to combat her brothers' antics, but given that there's one of her and five of them, this is a bit of an uphill battle. Webby doesn't have a full name that we know of, nor does she have a doll. We don't know much about her. And she may not be all-powerful - but then again, neither are her brothers.

Infodump concluded. Hope this helps, it was very fun to write.

[landorris]

blue jeans | max verstappen x fem! reader

summary; where lando norris and fernando alonso ask a random girl to play padel with them in max’s team

fc; ruby lyn

warnings; english is not my first language

taglist; @thef1diary @bigsimperika @shobaes @d3kstar @stinkyjax @the-untamed-soul @bibissparkles @judespoision

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yourusername

liked by yourfriend, user1 and others

yourusername: went for a run ended up playing padel with strangers (lost the game bc my teammate was horrible at it)

yourfriend: pls tell me more about it

yourusername: on my way 🏃🏽‍♀️🏃🏽‍♀️

user1: waiting for the vlog

yourusername: haven’t filmed one today 😕 but i promise next week you’ll have it🫡

user2: such a book thing

your phone and max’s phone

landonorris

liked by maxverstappen1, yourusername and others

landonorris: max lost (again) we found y/n (again) and now we’re friends

yourusername: hey fwend👋🏽👋🏽

landonorris: hello muppet👋🏽

maxverstappen1: i let you won

yourusername: no you didn’t

user1: OMG Y/N WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE

user2: WAIT THAT CAPTION WAS ABOUT MAX?😭

user3: im lost, who’s y/n?

user4: she’s an youtuber/influencer, she posts vlogs and talks about health

user5: lando knows what we want to see

danielricciardo: poor little max verstappen embarrassed himself in front of ykw

user6: IT’S 100% Y/N

your phone

yourusername

liked by maxverstappen1, yourfriend and others

yourusername: these cars are really fast, isn’t it dangerous?

yourfriend: girl take me with you next time

yourusername: that’s not up to me

user1: i really love this y/n f1 crossover

user2: she went to the saudi arabia gp?!😫

maxverstappen: think i proved my point

yourusername: you did well ig🙄

user3: she’s so pretty

user4: one more post of them together and im gonna start screaming mom and dad

user5: @maxverstappen did you knew she has a cat?

your phone

yourusername

liked by maxverstappen1, logansargeant and others

yourusername: milo has a new friend (still figuring out what to wear on this f1 thing

user1: don’t worry, youre serving

user2: vlog when

yourusername: i kinda made one in saudi but i don’t know if im going to post it

user2: do it rn!!!!

user3: mother

user4: that’s max’s hand, they’re so cat parents

logansargeant: you look cute

yourusername: thanks logan :)

user5: logan babe what are you doing here

user6: guys they want our gf

maxverstappen1: i miss the cat

yourusername: i see how it is

user7: parents😖😖😖

your phone and max’s phone