#Free Day Thursday

[radioactivepeasant]

Snippets: WIP Thursday

It has been forever since I've had the time and mental spoons to do one of these but! I did a fairly large plot overhaul to one of my old wips a while back and just realized I never showed the updated version

This is the Splinter Cell au, where Jak took Mar into the Tomb with him and Tess decided the Underground had been compromised after what Torn did. Originally, the first time Jak met his parents was after the race where Errol gets his fool self killed. Now the timeline for the first encounter has been significantly altered. If you've listened to Epic: the Musical, you'll probably catch the lines that inspired this scene lol

The devastation was breathtaking.

Twisted spires of crystal rose like a toxic forest, shattering concrete and crushing walls. Impaling hellcats- and their occupants.

It was as if all the dark eco bubbling under the Tomb had been frozen in an instant. Contained. And then weaponized.

"Holy crap," Daxter whispered, "What did that?"

"Not what," Tess murmured. Her face was grim as she lowered the binoculars. "Who."

She turned to hand the binoculars to her companions and blanched.

"Where's Jak?" she demanded.

"Guess," said Daxter, resigned.

"He's not going after the Stone-!" Tess ran to the roof's edge, scanning the crystalline minefield for her friend. "Even if Praxis dropped it, it's way too dangerous down there!"

"Trust me, he knows."

Jak slid between rock and rubble, desperately scanning the battlefield for the satchel Praxis had been carrying. He knew striking the crystals too hard would cause an explosion -- and with this many spires, it would probably take out half the town. He kept his footsteps light and did his best not to look at the frozen forms of Krimzon Guards, entombed in the eco permanently.

What a terrible way to die.

He heard the moans of the wounded. Someone sobbing. Jak squeezed between two glowing pillars and halted abruptly.

A cluster of KG huddled, half of them collapsed and the other half kneeling and in surprisingly good condition given the circumstances. They had their helmets off -- gods, some of them were no older than Jak. Their families must have been recent immigrants to Haven, unable to hide their firstborn from Praxis's enlistment law.

"We're sorry, we're sorry, don't kill us, we're sorry-" The young girl nearest him was whispering to no one. To everyone.

Jak had reached the epicenter.

Every crystal had shot out from this one crumbling piece of bridge.

There-!

The satchel hung suspended.

Its strap had been absorbed by the crystal, but its contents didn't seem the worse for wear. But getting to it was going to be a challenge.

Jak grimaced and slid off his boots. Then, gingerly, he eased out onto the thin spar.

Easy. Easy does it. Watch your balance.

He kept his center of gravity as low as he could, inching towards the dangling satchel.

The further he got, the more he could see.

Praxis had fared better than his men, it seemed, but even he was having difficulty getting to his feet. He stared with blind hatred past Jak without even seeing him in the darkness. His eye was fixed on a figure standing on the rail of the bridge.

He was bent slightly, leaning on a staff for support and breathing heavily. Jak squinted and realized that the man's arms were trembling as though with exertion. Had he done this?

"What have you done?" Praxis demanded.

He sounded more desperate than defiant.

The man -- a Wastelander by the look of him -- gave a weary chuckle and slowly pushed himself back upright.

"You should be grateful. I left you thirty survivors under your command. Of course, I can't guarantee they'll stay under your command."

Praxis stumbled to his feet and cast about for his sword.

"You-!" He snarled and took a shaking step forward. "What did you do? How did you do this?"

Jak was just as interested in the answer as the Baron. He crouched at the end of the crystal and carefully drew the bag towards him, keeping one eye on the stranger. If he could create destruction like this, he probably had powers on par with the Acherons. Jak wasn't ready to gain a new enemy.

The Wastelander lifted his head, and for a moment Jak swore he was looking straight into his eyes. The man smiled, then glanced back down at Praxis.

"Did you think you'd created a dark warrior?"

He laughed scornfully.

Jak felt the blood freeze in his veins.

"Did you actually think it had worked?"

Suddenly his eyes were pitch black.

"Oh Aldrik. He didn't get that from you."

_______________________________________

Sparing Praxis was not an act of mercy. It wasn't even his choice. Channeling that much eco of any kind at once was hard on the body. Using dark eco like that had the potential to be debilitating. It was fortunate that Praxis was too shaken to realize that Damas was barely able to stand.

He wanted to kill him.

He should have killed him.

He had accepted Haven's rejection of his House. He had chosen not to pursue revenge, chosen to move on. And in spite of this, his enemies had the audacity to take his son.

His sons.

Phobos was cautious. Not ready to hope, yet. Believing in parallel timelines didn't necessarily translate to believing that the boy Sig was mentoring was theirs. Was from a timeline where they'd actually succeeded in having a second child. She said nothing to Damas about it, but he knew she was struggling with the thought of finding not one, but two children who had been taken from them.

Whoever this young resistance fighter, this Jak, had begun life as, Damas knew in his heart that he, like Mar, had done nothing to Praxis.

"You could have walked away," Damas remarked, looking down from the crumbling rail. "I was willing to go my own way. But you've crossed too far over the line, Aldrik, and I'm not going to allow you to retreat this time. Not after what you did to my son."

Praxis found his sword, jammed between concrete and rebar, and began trying to work it free.

"I didn't do rot to your brat," he sneered.

"Didn't you?"

Something in his voice must have caught Praxis's attention, because the man stilled. He raised his eyes slowly, and for the first time seemed to notice his enemy's altered visage.

"Didn't you, Aldrik?"

Would the traitor respond with bravado, Damas wondered, and foolishly brag of his experiments on the boy?

Would he feel fear, understanding that his experiments had done nothing but destabilize a power the boy was born with?

Or would he feel anger, apoplectic with the knowledge that the thorn in his side who had escaped his clutches so many times was the son of the man he'd betrayed?

"No." Aldrik seemed to be speaking to himself, rather than Damas.

A little of his strength was returning. Enough to lean forward without losing balance. For a moment he glanced to the left, to the slight figure crouched on the spire. He'd tracked the boy through the havoc he created often enough to recognize that silhouette.

Look at him! No fear!

Despite himself, Damas smiled. He'd keep Praxis distracted. Let the boy do what he'd come here to do.

"Come on, Aldrik. Don't disappoint me," he said mockingly, "You can work it out on your own. Your experiment failed, you never had control in the first place, because-?"

With a snarl, Praxis ripped his sword from the rubble. He raised it with a trembling arm, no stronger than Damas was at that moment.

"I should have killed your hellspawn-!"

His fury was interrupted by Damas slowly clapping.

"Look at that, he can be taught!"

Damas channeled his mother-in-law, feigning an encouraging tone like a youngling teacher.

"That's right, Aldrik!"

Then he dropped the undignified charade, cold as ice again.

"He was mine."

Whatever you intend to do, young one, this would be a very good time to do it-

He didn't even have time to finish his thought. Jak snatched something round, faintly glowing, from the bag Praxis had lost hold of. Damas felt a jolt like electricity shoot down his spine.

The Precursor Stone.

That was the bloody Precursor Stone!

He had narrowly avoided utter cataclysm!

"Hey Praxis!" the boy shouted, and his enemy whirled, caught between the two.

Grinning fiercely, Jak held the Precursor Stone up over his head.

"Drop something?"

"What?"

In horror, Praxis grabbed for his belt, only to finally realize that the satchel was gone.

Without another word, the boy stood and leapt to the next spar of crystal.

Was he barefoot?!

Frith in a bucket, he was going to be just like Mar, wasn't he?

Damas watched Jak hop from facet to facet, beam to stone, as if the combatants and destruction around him were mere inconveniences.

He couldn't help it. Damas laughed.

A long, rolling chuckle bounced around the solidified dark eco, echoing eerily. Damas shook his head as the laughter subsided.

"Ah, look at him go," he said, beaming. "I look forward to catching up to that one."

Then he turned his attention back to Praxis. He'd run out of eco. On the other side of the forest of crystal, he could see one of his people approaching quickly in a stolen zoomer. His enemy would live to fight another day. But not with the forces he'd commanded before.

A spiteful urge seized him, and he found himself repeating what Praxis had once told him, as he was dragged into the air train in chains.

"A wise man knows when to stop fighting. Do you, Aldrik?"

As casually as if he was going for a Se'enday drive, Damas swung himself up into the passenger seat when Kleiver -- looking notably shaken -- pulled close enough.

"What the bloody rot did you do?" Kleiver hissed, gunning the engine.

"Sent a message," Damas answered. He pointed towards a barely visible silhouette running towards the edge of the roadway.

"There. Follow him as far as you can. Shoot down anyone who tries to stop him."

"And you are gonna do what?" Kleiver asked sourly.

"Probably pass out," Damas admitted.

"...I ain't rescuing you from your wife when she finds out about this, lordship."

He snorted. "That's a problem for later."

The mechanic glared at him and swung the zoomer into a faster lane. "You're half mad, you know that?"

Damas leaned back in the seat and finally let his overtaxed limbs rest.

"I've heard something along those lines, yes. Try not to lose the boy. I want to know how he's getting to and from the island without the air train."

"What boy?!"

Damas didn't bother hiding his grin. "My boy.”

[dollythatdollgirl]

Why I think history is repeating itself once again with the French Revolution. So as you all remember earlier this year with the whole haleyybaylee “let them eat cake” met gala thing snd how that felt like the biggest fuck you because their were literally protesters in the back of her video and then when she started to get backlash she was like “ I’m just a normal person” no you’re not. There was a light behind her that cost over 1,000 dollars just causally there as if it was a hoodie. And now with the whole united heath care ceo getting shot and the starch difference with how the media is portraying it vs on TikTok how people are saying he had it coming and how he deserved it (he did). How “deny, defend, depose” is being written and wore by hundreds in support. Now with this Florida woman calling her heath insurance company saying “deny defend depose” and getting arrested and all of the graffiti I’ve seen first hand around where I live. This reminds me a lot of the a chant the French used during the revolution "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" (liberty, equality, fraternity). We may not have monarchs and aristocrats anymore but we sure do have billionaires, ceos, and celebrities.This post might be very ranting but I hope you get the point of what I’m trying to say. 2025 is going to be a year in the history books.

[so-very-small]

them: so what would you want to be if you lived in Middle Earth?

me, thinking: i literally want nothing more than to be the One Ring, but as a tiny guy. like Gollum stuff aside, holy shit, i NEED to be that ring. i want to be a tiny powerful entity that drives men to madness and is coveted by anyone who sees me. i want to be the size of a quarter, but have wars fought in my name. i want to be tiny and unassuming and terrifying and haunting. i want to dangle from a chain while Boromir calls me “such a little thing”. i want to live a chaotic and passionate existence before being killed in lava. sometimes when i watch LOTR and i see how people stare at the Ring, i get so jealous i could throw up. holy fuck man. i NEED to be that ring

me, aloud: oh i’d be a hobbit with a sickass pipeweed farm haha

[bittsandpieces]

just finally watched ocean's eight. why did none of you tell me anne hathaway briefly doms a man

[yourbasicqueerie]

Do you have any headcanons for Alice?

ty for the ask anon! i’ve been buzzing to get these of my chest!!!!!

my alice wu gulliver headcanons:

( again, as i did with lilia, i’m ignoring her death, try me marvel)

alice does boxing, she started after she joined the police training and never left it ( HAVE U SEEN HER ARMS????? TELL FUCKING TALE RIGTH THERE)

not a hc, but just a quick moment of appreciation for ali ahn’s arms and abs CAUSE MY LORD-

occasional weed smoker, not much of a drinker though.

is appalled by the lack of security in agatha’s house, and is constantly berating the other witches careless with their beings ( she has has a lot of experience with how to take care of her privacy, given not only her police training, but being the kid of a famous rockstar).

agatha and rio kinda adopted her, in a very kooky way, they just started treating her like a kid someday and she went with it.

shes the only one that indulges in letting jen do her makeup. and they very much look like THAT picture of the lesbians while at it ( . )

mommy issues WHO? ( not mommy kink tho, let’s get that very clear and out of the way)

she uses she/they pronouns.

alice knows how to play the piano professionally. once, at one of the covens lil meetings, she and lilia started a lil jazz duo that blew all of the other gays away ( ref to my lilia hc post)

she owns the biggest hair die collection in north west view and constantly changes the color of her hair ( she finds it fun to change it up for birthdays, she went green on rio’s, pink on jen’s, purple on agatha’s etc.)

people underestimate alice’s and teens relashionship, those are BESTIES RIGTH THERE, they created the gay pining witches support club and are the sole members of it!

she kept her police uniform and wore it on halloween ( jen had the hots for her the whole fucking time)

this might be a bit out of line, but i’m pretty sure she games! and not like calming relaxing animal crossing type of shit, no that woman is full on playing overwatch.

alice prefers sweet over salty.

i cannot stress alice’s and teen’s friendship enough!!!! they have an unbeatable bond.

alice owns a stick and poke thing and keeps it on her car’s drawer. on one eventful drunken evening she and all of the coven witches (excluding teen because of his age ofc) got matching stick and poke tattoos.

a free lil alice pic for yall!!

[justkillingthyme]

Happy Terrorist Tuesday and Clive Chewsday :3

This was on a whim actually. I’ll have something prepared next week

[beccawise7]

Thursday Thoughts. ✌️

💜🖤💜🖤

[charlidrawz]

Big the Cat's Throwback Thursday

To all who spellabrate

[radioactivepeasant]

Snippet Thursday:

Giving Sig gray hairs for fun and profit (sorry, Sig, it's for a good cause)

Going with the winner of the poll here: "Damas Commits to the Bit too hard and Sig is Going To Slap Him"

Premise: Sig went on all of two missions with the Demolition Duo and decided "dibs, my rookies now, no take-backs".

"No leads on Mar yet."

Sig slouched in the corner booth, eyeing the empty bar as he spoke quietly into his talk-box. "Been trying to work out why Jak was able to talk to that Oracle in the slums. Only thing I know for sure is that it's teaching him to control all the dark eco Praxis forced into his bloodstream."

"His bloodstream?!"*

Damas sounded appalled.

"Eco outside of the core organ is some of the worst pain a hu'men can experience shy of a gut-shot! When did that happen?"

Sig clenched his teeth hard.

"Over the last two years. Snatched the kid off the street and put him through that for two years trying to make a super-soldier while Jak fought him every step of the way."

"I wish I could say that didn't sound like a logical progression of his depravity," Damas hissed on the other end of the line. "That your recruit managed to walk away from that -- let alone resist for two years -- is impressive."

There was a thoughtful note in the king's voice. He was considering something. Now was as good a time as any to try to catch him in an agreeable mood. Sig braced himself.

"...I have a request. I know you don't want to get involved in the civil war beyond runnin' guns, but-"

"Spit it out, Sig."

Sig rubbed the skin under his prosthetic eye and groaned.

"I'm...scared for Jak, man. Every time I see him, he's weaker. Kid’s about to drop over the edge of exhaustion and he keeps trudging on because he says "they" told him to. And I'm pretty sure he's talkin' about the Underground. Now, I know it's off agenda, but- I wanna follow him back. Find out whose trying to work him to death and straighten em out."

He could barely see the shrug on the monitor as Damas answered.

"Why're you asking me? He's your kid."

Something warm fluttered in Sig’s stomach and he grinned despite himself. "Yeah. I...guess he kinda is at this point, isn't he?"

The line was quiet for a few seconds. Time enough for sounds to begin emanating from the street. Then,

"When you find Mar-"

When. Not if. As if his success wasn't even in question.

"When you bring him home, bring Jak, too. I want to meet this kid in person."

"You think I'd let him and Daxter stay here?" Sig scoffed.

Just then, the door swung open, bringing with it the ottsel's familiar voice.

"I'm tellin' you, sweetheart, it's all about the pine-pears. Slice em, grill em, put em on the steak. I guarantee even Hoverboy will love it."

Tess walked in with the boys -- Sig didn't blame them for walking together. This wasn't the nicest neighborhood even without the KG -- and she giggled.

"Daxxie, I've never even had pine-pear. How am I supposed to convince Krew to put something on the menu if we can't get any?"

Jak looked worse than before. The circles beneath his eyes were deep and purple, and he looked dehydrated. Daxter perked up from his shoulders to glance in Sig’s direction.

Crap. He loved the boys, but they weren't cleared to know about Spargus yet.

"Hey, shift's gonna be starting soon, hon. Imma have to call you back."

"I beg your pardon?!" Damas sputtered.

After a beat, in which he must've heard the other voices, he sounded calmer. "Ah. You have company. Carry on."

"Yeah yeah yeah. No, I'll remember. Don't worry about it," Sig said quickly, and a little louder than necessary. "Milk, eggs, paper towels. You need me to grab anything else when I clock out?"

Jak stopped next to his table and cocked his head with a soft frown.

"Who you talkin' to?" he asked.

With a sardonic lilt, Damas’s voice grated in his ear.

"Oh, is that my "stepson"? Yeesh, he sounds rough. Tell him to take a nap."

"Tell him yourself!"

"Sure. Watch your ears."

And before he had time to brace himself, Sig had his ears ringing as Damas raised his voice and loudly called,

"Hey kid! Be good for your old man today. Take a nap when he tells you to this time."

"What the-?" Jak squinted at the talk-box.

Sig flushed scarlet from the tip of his ears to his neck when he heard the usually stoic king burst into uncontrolled cackling.

"I'm gonna round up the kids, and then I'm gonna smack you when I get home" he whispered harshly into the line.

"You wouldn't!" Damas snickered, just before ending the call, "Think of the children!"

"I am going to get him for this," Sig muttered as Jak’s face twisted in confusion.

"Who the heck is that?"

"A menace, that's who," Sig growled. "Ignore him."

Unfortunately, Jak did not.

The more time he and Daxter spent with Sig, recovering from missions under the guise of "Wastelander training", the more comfortable he became with Sig having more or less unceremoniously adopted them. And the more comfortable with Sig he got, the more accustomed he became to encrypted calls from Spargus. The ones Sig wouldn't tell him about yet.

Damas’s terrible habit of taking a Situation and running with it came back to bite them both when a message came while Sig was running perimeter check. And Jak answered the comm.

"You...are not supposed to be on this line."

To his credit, Damas kept reasonably calm.

"Where's your dad, rookie?"

"Sig's clearing the building," Jak answered with a shrug.

"I'd go grab him, but apparently broken toes disqualify you from pest control."

"Eco would fix that quickly enough."

"That's what I said!" Jak gestured vaguely towards the door. "It's not even the worst injury I've gotten in a base!"

Daxter paused on his way past Jak to the kitchen.

"That's true," he called over, "I think catching the live scatter rounds with your bare hands still holds the title on that one, pal."

"Eh." Jak made an entirely too casual shrug.

"Now, don't tell me you were juggling ammunition," Damas said, with a bit of mild reproof under the dry tone.

"The kid tried to channel em," Jak defended himself, "Slight burns or crabby toddler with super strength? Definitely could have been worse. Sig freaked out over that one, too."

Damas’s face went blank very abruptly.

"What toddler."

The door opened, and Jak glanced over.

"Oh, hey Sig. Your "it's complicated" is on the comm."

Sig made a very amusing impression of a fish out of water. He rushed across the room and snatched the talk-box.

"You don't have clearance for my comm, cherry! You know that!"

"What?" Jak asked indignantly, even as Sig propelled him out of the room.

"It's just that stepdad guy! What's the big deal?"

Sig glared at the box. "You did this."

Damas barely noticed. "He can stay, I need to clear something up with him."

If looks could kill, Damas would have been shaking hands with his ancestors at that moment.

"Out. Go run your weapons drills." Sig waved the boys away.

"Well so much for being consistent with him," Damas needled.

Another discreetly murderous glance was aimed at the camera lens.

"Are you serious right now."

"Jak may have information about Mar's location, Sig. I'm dead serious."

Sig snapped back to look at Jak so quickly that Jak was afraid he was going to get whiplash.

Jak blinked.

"Uh...we're not talking about the dead city founder guy, are we? Because I don't know where he is, but the old lady is making me look, so I can probably get you intel later."

*"Toddler,"* Damas corrected tightly, "Green hair, wearing an amulet of Mar. Powerful but uncontrolled channeling potential. Would be about four now."

Jak relaxed. "Oh, him! Yeah, I dropped him off with Vin at the power station because the Shadow was letting him play in the street again."

The combined stares of his semi-legal guardian and the man on the tiny screen left him fidgeting uncomfortably.

"....what?"

[angelmichelangelo]

holding myself accountable today because today and tomorrow realistically are the last days i can get ready for my trip on friday 😵‍💫 if i complete this list today then i shall reward myself with a sweet treat! any encouragement is absolutely welcome lmao

• order US dollars

• at least START to pack suitcase

• print out visa documents and boarding passes and file them ready for airport

• do first load of laundry

• remake bed with fresh sheets

• complete spring clean bathroom

• put away laundry

• vacuum bedroom

[safetoshores]

overbooked myself like craaaazy this week. i will persevere or i will be dead by saturday. everything in life is 50/50

[iguessitsjustme]

Think about the oldest BLs you've ever watched. They have to have been released prior to 2020. Now name 5 - 10 iconic scenes that you cannot forget.

I was tagged by the always wonderful @ommited-miscellaneously and @italianpersonwithashippersheart awhile ago but I have not been well. I feel okayish right now so I'm gonna try to do this now cause it looks like so much fun.

Seven Days - 2015

This scene where Seiryo watches Shino and admires his stance. Something about this scene is just everything to me.

2Moons2 - 2019

When Yo spins and Phu sees him wearing glasses and realizes everything. This just proves that Yo should have kept his glasses and also that everyone should always keep their glasses.

3 Will Be Free - 2019

Mae and Tur laying back to back. This scene is just so...I don't even have the words. Mae my beloved. I hope she is living her best life and getting all the hugs she wants.

Dark Blue Kiss - 2019

The moment right before the underwater kiss when Kao dives into the pool. This was the moment for me. It was Kao finally letting himself be free.

Until We Meet Again - 2019

When Pharm meets In's sister. We know I love siblings and sibling love across reincarnations? Beautiful.

There are many more that could have made this list but I am now out of energy. Tagging @heretherebedork and anyone who wants to do it. I do not remember who all has done it already.

[queerofthedagger]

wrote more in the last three days on stolen hours while having mia over than i did in the entirety of march and april together we're so back babyyy

[louferrignojrofficial]

i’m mad because i have to wake up at 7am to go to a training that is at 8, and because my dad has to take my brother too at the same time i have to wake up even earlier than i need to. and then i have a 7 hour shift from 11pm so i’ll only be able to come home for like 1.5 hours and then go back, so i can’t even have a nap until at least 6pm.

🙃🙃

[beccawise7]

Good Morning & Happy Thursday!!

Have a wonderful day!

~beccawise7💜🖤

[cynicalbisexual]

i'm only ten episodes in but i would risk it all for olivia benson