#just in case they mutiny against me for picking a favourite

[mrbexwrites]

It's blorbo blursday! Care to share 5 fun facts about your favorite OC? 👀

Happy Blursday! You have tricked me into sharing things about my WIP! You're craftier than I gave you credit for :P

My favourite OC, Morgana Dodds, my protagonist from Memento Mori has the following fun facts about her:

Most of her clothes are hand-me-downs, so when she was old enough, she taught herself to knit, and now mostly wears jumpers & cardigans that she has made herself

She is a thoughtful gift-giver; she tries her best to please everyone, which often leads to her downfall. But she tries. She really does. And if all else fails, she knows that she can win over Avery at least with a cool mix-tape. Which leads me to...

Has a better taste in music than Avery, her sibling who is an actual international DJ and literal party god. Ave often uses Morgana's mix-tapes to build their sets around. Although, Ave would never admit this, and Morgana doesn't think highly enough of herself to see how she is a positive influence on her siblings.

Is a terrible judge of character when it comes to the living. Well, specifically men. She has a better track record with her friendships with ghosts. It's awkward. Reeeally awkward.

May or may not be related somehow to the Ancient Sumerian Goddess Erishkigal.... 👀👀

[dragongirlpoet]

Corrupt

Sylus x reader (not mc)

I changed the title fyi

Synopsis: Feared, ruthless and agonisingly attractive, Sylus infuriates you like no other. Yet, you work for him. As you immerse yourself in a life of vice with the Onychinus leader, you soon uncover secrets darker than the shadows he wields. Perhaps, just perhaps, you got more than what you bargained for…

Themes: Enemies to lovers, angst, sexual tension, slow burn, violence I Words: 2.1k I Semi made-up lore/cultural facts

“Drinking on the job? Tsk, that’s the third infringement on company policy you’ve made tonight, kitten.”

He took a sip of his whisky — aged in sherry cask, distilled just right with spherical ice. It was how he liked it. I knew, because I was having the exact same drink — his choice of poison at every revel, every meeting, every reclusive night alone. 

Sylus threw me a derisive look, cherry eyes surveying me over the glisten of his glass. 

“Intentions become more blatant, after a drink or two. Or in your case, five.” I challenged the man who’s kept me hired for the past year.

I was grateful. My work at the Hunters Association had turned trite. Clockwork really, — detect Wanderers, eradicate them, aid the wounded. Righteous, lawful, and so…moral.

My heart had staged a mutiny long before my mind resolved for change. And so I left my woe of comfort and dived into the hellfires of felony. He had found me scavenging for Protocore fragments in the N109, attempting to make my mark with abysmal self-made weapons.

Trinkets — Sylus had called them. Indeed I was a stray cat vagrant in the dominion of vultures.

The leader of Onychinus circled me as I downed my glass, eyebrow cocked at my words. His handsome face gave nothing away — a classic Sylus signature. 

“Dance with me?” 

A loaded question. One with threat and agency lurking beneath.

I took his outstretched hand and let him whisk me into the centre of the dapper nightclub — exclusive, accessible only to the most premier, and despicable, of criminals. 

Sylus was one of them. 

With expert grace, he spun me into an embrace, one gloved hand intertwined with mine, the other at my waist. Our steps fell in harmony with each other at once, like missing chords finding solace in a melody. 

“So? What have you heard? You seemed thoroughly engaged with that halfwit over there…” his words trailed away as his gaze dipped to my silver dress. Being his right hand had me acquainted with his quirks — sometimes endearing, more so disturbing. 

The subtle smirk dissipated as soon as it came.

“They have ties with the Ever Group. Something about a nitrogen spectrum…a capsule…Kenshi and his men have been on the hunt for it for a whi…” 

“You look divine in this dress. I had it picked out just for you. Do you not like it?” his impertinence interrupting my mid-sentence. 

I huffed a breath. “It works similarly to a Protocore, quite li…”

“Damask rose, isn’t it? With a hint of honeysuckle…out of all my spies…” he lowered his head, “you’re my favourite scent.” A roguish smile accompanied the wanton glint he cast into my eyes. 

It had always been like this. Sylus would send me on missions, most times by his side. I was never granted the elucidations of tasks, only that I’d to “act as good bait…suss out whatever information you can…kill if you have to…”

I would probe, and he would reply with a curt, “Not safe. Just do as you’re told.” It was in those moments where I thought I’d witnessed fragility in his demeanour. He would catch on, and he would put on his mask of aloof and asshole, like right now.  

I rolled my eyes, vexation apparent on my features. Sylus seemed content that he got under my skin. Not giving me a chance to reply, he twirled me around, the warm velvet of his coat now a flaming singe against my bare back. So that’s why he chose this dress…

“Come on, don’t look so incensed. I heard you. You’re doing a fantastic job, kitten. Always giving me what I need.” The last word came out huskier than intended beside my ear. 

The club was cold. Sylus was conceited. It was a perfect match. As much as I abhorred his arrogance, I welcomed the warmth of his body to mine. 

I remembered defrosting at my fireplace after I’d been caught in a snowstorm. I had sat there for hours, letting the crackling heat appease my frozen limbs. It felt nice, comforting. And with Sylus’ arms now wrapped around me — he was my fireplace.

“I’m just trying to make this spy business enjoyable for us both. Even if you’re unhappy, at least act it. After all, you’re good at pretending, right?” 

There was an edge to his words.

“I saw how you brushed his hand… that spineless leech….unless you were thinking of fucking him tonight?” His hiss was loud enough for the crowd close to us to hear. They turned, throwing us looks of disdain and outrage. I doubted Sylus realised how hard his fingers were digging into my skin.

Cheeks flushed both from the whisky and his risky display of assertion, I shot him a warning glance. “You’re insane, Sylus.”

“So quit then. But do it later, not now, not while everyone’s watching. I don’t want an audience I didn’t ask for.” He was taunting me again, wholly unfazed by the almost furore.

How much did he drink tonight?

Maybe it was the alcohol, but I was in no mood to counter his transgressions. Instead, I snaked my arms back, cradling his neck, fingers threading through his silver head of hair. Sylus stiffened at my touch, likely taken aback by my insolence. 

Soulful, sensual beats reveberated through the club, patrons — descendants of the devil themselves, wives, mistresses — all caught up in the fervour of the music. Couples were fondling and kissing on the monochrome floor. And well, I didn’t find a reason why I shouldn’t join the hedonistic heist.

So into his body I pushed mine. Gripping my hips with his right, his left hand slipped down to my abdomen, tracing the lining of my underwear. As I let my head fall back into his chest, his own came lower to nudge my face, burying his nose in my temple. A flutter flushed in my core.

There was a sort of courtliness to the way Sylus moved, a kind of elegance you could find only in Kings and Queens. Yet the way he was guiding my hips to sway in rhythm to his held such lewdity. To the frolicking outlaws here, we looked very much the part of reigning besotted lovers — timeless, transcendent. 

Enthralled by the song and how Sylus was spooning me like I was his revered ruby, I ground myself indulgently against his leather pants. He grew hard at once, length prodding at my back. 

Our combined excitement was short-lived, though. The silver dress he gifted me caught in the buckle of his belt, hiking the silk up. My black panties were exposed in wondrous glory, earning hungry looks from the men around. 

The Onychinus kingpin tugged my dress down immediately, struggling slightly at the fabric fastened to his metal. His reflexes were swift as the time I aimed a loaded gun at him. 

A loaded gun, one that was now hoisted towards the crowd. He really was insane. 

“Look away, or I won’t hesitate to blow your brains out.” His decree thundered over the booming of the speakers.

Several men smirked, others pretended to ease back into their cavorting. Assault, drugs, murder — it was just another night here at the N109. Being threatened with a revolver? — A mere parlour trick. 

But perhaps that was what Sylus wanted to let on. “Never reveal your hand. Remain powerful by appearing meek.” That was the first lesson he had taught me. 

“Sylus…careful…you could’ve put us in jeopardy…” I cast a concerned glance his way, only to find him polishing his pistol with his coat, his face a nonchalant calm. 

His tone however, was one of annoyance, as if reprimanding a child. “I wasn’t fond of the little show you just put on.” 

I put on a show? He was the one who…I sucked in a breath to abstain from an outburst. He was getting on my last nerve. 

Pretending the best I could, I instead riposted, “Oh no, it’s not for them. I put these on just for you.” 

Two could play at that game. 

I watched the silver-haired devil pin me with his gaze, the dark of his pupils rising up to swallow me whole.  

“I ought to punish you for violating company rules. Seems you’re breaking many of them tonight.” 

“That’s why you hired me in the first place, isn’t it? I don’t play by the rules.”

There was a pause. The music seemed to fade out into a distant void, drowning the chatter along with it. Strobe lights danced around his face, illuminating the reds of his eyes. His right iris appeared to…glow?

A faint disorientation overcame me. In between blinking and regretting what I said, though, I thought I noticed Sylus inch closer — as if a subtle act of want. Only I had the privilege, or burden, to be sentient of his every complexity. 

I regarded his stare as they roved over my eyes, my lips, closing the space between us…

“I want to go home.” I muttered. 

Sylus straightened himself. If he was peeved, I couldn’t tell. 

—

The ride on his motorcycle was spent in silence, save for the roaring of his modified exhausts. I refused to hold him, choosing instead to grab onto the fairing of the tail. So was another night of ambiguous motives and aimless flirtations, one in which I had grown increasingly restless.

“Why is everyone looking for the spectrum?” I asked at a traffic stop.

Silence.

“How is it even related to a Protocore? What’s so danger…”

“You really should hold on to me. I can’t risk my best spy falling off…” once again disregarding my questions, crimson eyes glaring at me through his side mirror.

“What is wrong with you? It’s been a year! And yet you don’t trust me enough with details of your dealings?” I yelled over the muffle of my helmet, my own voice ringing in my ears. 

A low rumble sounded in the distance, quite like skyscrapers being blown apart by covert dynamites. The loud whirring of Sylus’ motorcycle remained, the combined knells throwing us into a pit of trepidation.

“Kitten.” 

I knew that tone. 

Drawing out my gun, I swung myself off the bike and fired. The Protocore-infused bullet buried itself in the recesses of a Wanderer, shredding its power source, erupting shards of alloy projectiles. Some of the pieces lodged themselves into other Wanderers, causing them to convulse violently, teetering on the brink of destruction.

Behind me, Sylus fended off several monsters, his Evol wrapping ominous tendrils around their form. In a mere furl of his hand, they disintegrated into dust, leaving clouds of ash in their wake. 

My weapon was formidable enough, having been altered with a Zenith Core — a deviant design forged by Sylus himself. “I made this just for you,” he had surprised me in my first month of training. “It’ll keep you safe. Though you’ll always be so long as I’m around.”

Another shot was fired, this time by Sylus, barrel of his gun aimed over my shoulder. The creature at my back let out a piercing snarl before it crumbled into pieces. Our eyes met at once, the animosity from earlier now a muted thrum.

Hostility, however, chose to emerge in a different form — more Wanderers. Hoards of them. I spotted Foulwings and Magma Knaves, both species not known to spawn here. 

I unsheathed my blade, but we were ringed in. Their screeches and grunts enveloped the night, like a fathomless blackhole draining all levity.

“There’s too many of them. We need to leave now.” 

In a swift grab of my arm, Sylus tugged me into a whirl of nothingness. Red and black sworls engulfed us, and the last thing I remembered was being thrust in such nauseating force that I blanked out. 

—

“Kitten. Kitten, wake up.” 

I’d have recognised that voice anywhere.

Sylus was staring at me, hints of distress plain in his electric eyes. I was propped up against his arms in the middle of an empty street. It looked familiar, but not quite. Dim streetlamps cast an unearthly glow to the pavements, their shadows prostrate like spindly entities on a night prowl. 

The buildings were far from towering ones in Linkon and the N109, carved instead, out of bricks and stone no more than five stories tall. Rickety signboards flickered on and off, as though a visual alarm to caution that we were not welcomed here.

“Sylus, where are we?”

A deep sense of rue loomed over his face.

“N109 Zone.”

“120 years in the past.”

[amydancepants-peralta]

take your hands my dear, and place them both in mine 

(ch 6 of we’re the fortunate ones), for the B99 2020 Vision Challenge 🚨

On the final afternoon of 2018, as the sky begins to turn soft with the muted pastels of fading sunlight, Amy Santiago watches from her position at the kitchen window while her husband plays with her nieces and nephews outside.  

Their squeals of laughter are contagious; the joy obvious as the sound filters through the glass and settles warm against her heart, and Amy can’t help but join in on the mirth as Jake picks up Luisa, carrying her like a superhero as they chase Matthew and Mason around the backyard.  

As the sunlight filters through the tall trees, a stray beam catches the stones in her engagement ring, setting off a sparkle that the line along her wedding band is only too happy to continue.  Amy watches with a soft smile, moving her hand slowly to continue the show before returning to the task at hand.  

Around an hour ago she and her brothers had been relegated to Kitchen Duty, all marching dutifully into place at their mother’s command.  Each sibling had been clearly marked on a colour co-ordinated roster alongside a specific set of duties, all very necessary and time reliant, and Amy couldn’t help but notice that none of her tasks involved the actual cooking of the meal.  

(Honestly.  One time.  You confuse salt for sugar one. time. and you get banished.  For LIFE.)

After cutting up the beans and preparing the salad (from the ingredients that had been carefully and deliberately placed in front of her one item at a time by Tony, one of his jobs being of course to supervise his sister), Amy had sought out the solitude of peeling all of the potatoes by the kitchen sink.  It’s a task that once may have seemed like the worst of all of them - the sniggers of her younger brothers had not fallen on deaf ears - but really Amy knew the joke was on them; because now, she had the best view of all.

Jake and Luisa had caught up to Mason by now and, after giving her the only type of landing appropriate for a superhero, they had immediately begun a tickle fight - Matthew jumping on top of the huddle quickly as Jake takes a step back to take a breath.  With his hands on his hips he turns away from the children, looking back towards the house, and as he notices Amy watching from her window he raises his hand in a wave.  His smile is wide and bright as he mimes exhaustion, wiping one hand across his brow while the other points at the tickle fight still in progress behind him.  And although she knows he can’t hear her, Amy giggles at the sight, dropping the potato peeler into the sink so that she can wave right back.    

It had been Jake’s suggestion for all of the family to join together for New Year’s Eve, and Amy knew that it was partially because he was doing his best to keep the peace amongst himself and Camila, after his ‘and another thing’ rant at dinner a few months ago.  

Thanksgiving had been interesting, if not a little tense, as her mother continued to give Jake pointed looks from her position across the table.  But Amy had stayed right by Jake’s side, resting one hand on top of his thigh whenever his leg started to jiggle with pent-up nervous energy, and by the end of the evening - after a lot of talking - all three were on (slightly) better terms.  It may have been an awkward situation, but Amy didn’t regret Jake speaking up for her.  Most - if not all - of the topics hadn’t been wrong; and in actuality, it had felt great to finally have somebody in her corner.  He was trying, in so many ways, to get her parents to accept him as a part of their family (she had noticed the Duolingo app on his phone last week, and had already thought of some fun flash cards she could make), and it was about time that they met him half way.

She had reminded him late yesterday afternoon, after they’d finally made it to the Santiago home and found refuge in Amy’s childhood bedroom, that he needn’t try so hard to extend the olive branch.  And while he had given her his best bashful look before changing the topic by pointing out her adorably hand-made scale of the periodic table, Amy knew that Jake was taking everything she said on board.  Admittedly, it did feel kind of amazing to be together with all of her family for the celebrations - the first time in four years - but she wanted her husband to feel comfortable between these walls, for it was his home now as much as it was hers.  And someday - perhaps even someday soon - they would be bringing their own children to family gatherings.  

Jake blows her a kiss from his position on the lawn, and Amy smiles brightly, crinkling her nose slightly as the joy overtakes her.  There was such a stark difference to tonight’s planned festivities, compared to all those years ago when Amy was still very deeply pining for the man she could only call her partner.  It was hard to imagine now, standing in the kitchen a newlywed with the feeling of her husband’s kiss still lingering on one cheek, that there was ever a time when Jake didn’t know just how much she loved him.  Marrying him had been Amy’s easiest and greatest decision so far, and it seems crazy to her that she once believed that what she felt for Jake was ‘just a little crush that she needed to get over’.  Clearly she had been naïve.  There was simply no getting over Jake Peralta - her heart knew that now.

With his body still turned towards the window, Jake is completely unaware of his impending attacker - aka a surprisingly quiet Mason sneaking up on him from behind - and Amy can’t react fast enough to warn him as her nephew takes a running leap and knocks an innocent Jake to his knees.  With a light-hearted shout of terror Jake lands onto the soft grass, calling out in protest to the mutiny as Luis’s two kids run over to join in on the fun, and suddenly Amy has lost all interest in preparing for dinner.  Haphazardly running the peeler over the last few potatoes, she dumps the results in a bowl next to all the other vegetables, begging leave and dashing from the kitchen before her brothers can figure out where she’s going.  If she was being honest, it probably was for the best for her not be involved with food preparation - and besides, there was somewhere else she would much rather be right now.  

*

It’s much later in the night before all of the family have come back together, adults and children alike converging on in the yard as Victor organises the fireworks he had pre-arranged (a Santiago is, of course, always prepared).  Raising eight children had meant that he and Camila had needed to purchase a larger property than most, and it was times like these with the now extended brood stretched out across the lawn, that paying off their home for as many years as they did had turned out to be advantageous.  

Amy shivers slightly as the cool breeze cuts through her sweater, tucking herself into Jake’s warmth as he wraps one arm around her shoulder, an instinctive response to her chill.  Feeling herself relax as the scent of his aftershave begins to wash over her, Amy cranes her neck upwards, shifting up to the tip of her toes in order to leave a quick kiss along Jake’s jawline.  His lips move to meet hers before she can pull away, and Amy can’t help but smile at the familiar but still wonderful feeling of Jake’s kiss.

She can still recall the moment that she knew that she wanted to marry Jake - and much like his moment with her crossword puzzle, it was as ordinary as any other moment in their day.  They had been at Shaw’s, celebrating the closing of one case or another, and she had just set down her glass onto the table, a sudden tiredness washing over as the busier parts of her day finally caught up.  She hadn’t said a word, had not even begun to lean her weight against her boyfriend’s steady presence from his position next to her, when Jake was sliding out of the booth, announcing that he and Amy were going to head home.  He had stood up and turned towards her, holding out his hand with that beautiful smile of his, and in an instant Amy knew.  One day, this man that knew how to read her better than she knew how to read herself, was going to be her husband - and it was as simple and as complicated as that.  

Jake knew all of her - all of the tiny details that when pushed together, made her complete - and loved each part wholeheartedly.  He laughed at her jokes (even when they were terrible), danced with her at the most dorkiest of moments, and listened to her rant on about molecular theory and Venn diagrams like they were genuinely interesting topics.  He made her feel seen, more than Amy had ever felt growing up in a household of ten, and he was her best friend in every possible way.

She leaves a tiny kiss at the tip of his nose as they pull away and his skin turns an adorable shade of pink, just enough for her to notice underneath the garden lights, and she laughs as his arm moves down towards it’s favourite spot along her waist.  Opening his mouth to start a retort, his eyebrows raise instead as he looks down to his right, noticing Amy’s youngest niece Nina tugging on his free hand.

“Tío Jake?” Nina asks, her voice sounding so delicate amongst all the adults, and Amy feels a surge of pride at hearing Jake being referred to as Tío.  “Will you help me see the fireworks?”  

Looking around, Jake notices that all the younger Santiago children have been hoisted onto the shoulders of their parents, sitting tall above the crowd with their heads already focused steadily on the night sky.  Nina had the unusual position of being a twin, and with her mother currently in the final stages of growing her little brother or sister, had lucked out on the chance to be on her father’s shoulders.  It touched Amy - and Jake, she could tell from his expression - that Nina had turned to him for help, and before another word can be spoken Jake is nodding, stooping slightly to grip the five year old around her ribcage before lifting her gently onto his shoulders.   

The rainbow coloured studs that lined the edge of Nina’s impossibly tiny sneakers catch the light as they swing in front of Jake’s chest, and as Victor heads back to his family to begin the countdown, they all join in.  “Cinco, cuatro, tres ..”  

Amy loops an arm around Jake’s waist, smiling up at him as he counts down with the rest of the family.  “Dos, uno!”  With everyone cheering around them, Amy moves slightly to stand in front of Jake, pushing herself to meet him for a chaste happy new year kiss as Nina claps above them.  And then suddenly, the sky is alight with colour, and the crowd turns silent in awe.  

She knows that the first time she called a man beautiful that it was Holt, and it was her overactive brain blurting out words.  But she’d owned that phrase since that day, only pulling it out when absolutely fitting, and tonight couldn’t be a better candidate.  Her husband, standing tall with her (their) niece on his shoulders, looked beautiful tonight.  The colours of the fireworks flash against his skin as they light up the sky, reminding Amy of all the colours he’s brought into her life - of all the ways he’s changed her outlook from rigidly black and white to all the shades in-between.  

He was beautiful, for the way his eyes would light up with every whizz of another round hurtling towards the stars.  For the smile that grew larger still whenever the tiniest of sparks released a myriad of glittering sparkles, following their trajectory until they’d succumbed to the pull of the night sky and faded away.  For the way his hands never loosened their steady grip around Nina’s legs, so determined to make sure that she felt safe as she craned her body higher and higher towards the bright lights above, pointing out the shapes in the sky to any and all who would listen.  

The familiar smell of gunpowder begins to fill the air, and briefly it reminds Amy that she needs to go for platinum certification this year, but for now she buries her head in Jake’s shoulder, finding comfort in his presence and hoping that they can stay in this moment forever.

There was so much potential for what this year could bring, and with seven months of marriage under their sleeve and her biological clock beginning to tick just that little bit louder, Amy can’t help but begin to imagine them doing this all again in a few years time - only then, it will be their child sitting on Jake’s shoulders.  

Children was still a little bit of an untouched subject for them - and admittedly, this was a massive oversight on her end; but when your boyfriend is given death threats and yanked away from you to live somewhere unknown under witness protection, only to return and get framed for a series of bank jobs, the bigger things tend to fall away and you just want to go and get married before the world can try to split you up again.  But watching Jake right now as he reaches gently for Nina’s waist, muscles flexing as he lifts her wriggling body away and down towards the grass again, it’s hard for Amy to see a world where Jake wouldn’t want to be a father. 

Now that Jake’s hands are free, they wrap around Amy’s middle, pulling her closer as they stand and watch the last of the fireworks take flight.  They breathe in the silence as the rest of the family begins to pull away - for bedtime was most definitely in order for a good percentage of tonight’s guests - taking advantage of the peace to pull each other in for a slightly longer celebratory kiss.  

It’s only a week later that they receive a package from Amy’s brother David, the padded envelope holding a beautiful shot of Amy and Jake holding each other as the remaining fireworks burst in front of them (and it’s perfect, because of course David is a perfect photographer as well).  And once upon a time, all that Amy would have seen in the shot was another example of how her brother was better than her in everything that he did.  But now, as she searches through her storage cupboard to find the perfect frame for the photograph, all she can do is smile at the memory it held.  

Perfection wasn’t real, and praise was fleeting.  What she had with Jake was that all-consuming, forever type of love - and she wouldn’t change that for the world. 

[thatoctokittenclutchinganotebook]

Star Trek Secret Santa 2017

My gift for @radioactive-violet in the @startreksecretsanta. Sorry it’s so late! I hope you enjoy it. Thanks to @mwahahahahahahaa for helping me with this. 

Game Night (link to Ao3)  

Michael was unsure of what to expect. The party had been difficult enough, but amongst crowds she could at least keep to herself if she wished. With only a small group of senior officers and Tilly, it would be difficult to remain engaged. She had researched common games and recreational activities, but she was not experienced in playing them, and there was too wide a variety for it to be possible to research them all. Everyone had been asked to bring a game they knew, so Michael was bringing Kal-Toh, but it’s focus on logic and strategy might not be what was expected. From the data she’d studied, strategic games such as chess were less common at a game night than those involving public humiliatio, n or consumption of alcoholic beverages. The attendees, as Michael had been informed, would be Doctor Culber, Lieutenant Stamets, Commander Saru, Lieutenant Tyler, Cadet Tilly, and herself. Any interaction between herself and Saru was likely to be tense, and she knew little of Doctor Culber, but she was comfortable with Sylvia and Ash. The game night was also happening in Michael and Tilly’s shared quarters, meaning Michael also had to contend with her private space being invaded. Tilly had ordered her out two hours ago so she could make preparations, and Michael was a little concerned about what she would find upon her return. She arrived outside at the same time as Saru, who eyed her suspiciously. That was not out of the ordinary. They had never been friends, not even when they served on the Shenzhou, and Michael’s mutiny meant that Saru would likely never trust her again. There was little she could do about that. They seemed to have developed a sort of truce, but it seemed unlikely for their relationship to improve beyond that. Michael opened the door, belatedly realising it may have been a good idea to knock as Tilly let out a sound of surprise, hurriedly turning to see who had entered. She smiled with relief to see it was just Michael, then looked slightly alarmed as Saru entered behind her. Michael deduced that Tilly was not entirely finished with the preparations. “Michael! And… Commander Saru! Would you like a drink? I’ve got alcohol from several different star systems, and I’ve been experimenting with cocktails-” “I would prefer not to imbibe alcohol.” Saru said smoothly, eyeing Michael. “It can have… undesirable effects on my ability to predict danger.” Tilly blinked. “Oh. Of course. But you’re not in danger here, so, I mean, if you wanted to? Not that I’m trying to pressure you, I just-” Michael knew Saru was trying to avoid saying he was uncomfortable being uninhibited around her. To say so would make Tilly feel awkward. “Perhaps Commander Saru is thinking of what happened at the last social event this crew had.” Michael suggested. “The party was not as safe as we might have thought.”Saru inclined his head. “While it seems highly unlikely that Harry Mudd will resurface, I would far rather not have my judgement impeded.” “Oh. Okay. Would you like water? Tea? Any kind of non alcoholic drink? I have plenty of those too. I can even make you a non alcoholic cocktail if you want, sir.” Tilly was clearly very eager for the evening to go well. Michael spoke again. “I would be willing to try one of your cocktails.”Tilly beamed, and moved towards where she’d set up the cocktails, starting to ramble excitedly about the different types. “I have several recipes, and I’ve made up a few. This one’s Purple Rain, and this is a Pina Colada. I’ve also have Mojitos, and Long Island Iced Tea’s. They’re all different, with different flavours. Which would you like?” Michael wasn’t sure. She didn’t know much about any of those cocktails. “Why don’t you pick one that you think I’d like? Or your own favourite?” Michael asked. “I don’t have much experience with cocktails.”Tilly smiled. “Do you like pineapples and coconut? The Piña Colada seems to have worked best so far.” Michael nodded. “I will try that one, then.” Tilly beamed again, before turning to pout Michael a glass of the creamy cocktail. She sipped it cautiously. The flavour was pleasant, but she was sure there was more alcohol in it than was apparent. The last thing she wanted to do was become inebriated. Just as Tilly served Saru a glass of water, the doors opened to admit Dr Culber and Lieutenant Stamets. Michael hadn’t spent a lot of time with Dr Culber, but she had a good deal of respect for his skills. Lieutenant Stamets had changed a lot in the short time Michael had known him, which she was attributing to the changes in his DNA that enabled the jumps. She had grown to like him, much as she had grown to like Tilly. She hoped that they would both become friends, though she knew her future was still uncertain. Then again, nobody could be certain of what their futures would bring. Case in point: Lieutenant Ash Tyler. A few months ago, he undoubtedly believed he would spend the rest of his life in a Klingon prison, and that his life would not be long. Instead, he was now a senior, trusted officer aboard the Discovery. Life was full of surprises. She took another sip of the cocktail. She wondered how long it would take for the alcohol to take effect. A few hours later, the game night was in full swing. Michael had brought Kal-Toh, and Tilly and Stamets had rapidly turned the entire point of the game upside down by making it a drinking game. To Michael's surprise, she was enjoying it. She was also winning, though Lieutenant Stamets was proving a challenging opponent. Saru had also been very good at the game, but he had retired from it to play a Kelpian game with Ash and Dr Culber. Tilly was watching from Michael's bed. Why she was sitting on Michael's bed and not her own was unclear. Michael made the finishing move to complete Kal-Toh and the model formed perfectly. Stamets smiled. Tilly suddenly sat up straight. “Ooh!” She said excitedly. “We should play a classic human game. Twister! Or monopoly!”As she explained the rules to Twister, Saru shook his head. “I would rather sit that one out.” “Monopoly, then.”Tilly  said happily. “That will be fun.” Fun was not the word Michael would have chosen to describe it. Fifteen minutes in, everybody just seemed frustrated and even angry, but they were engaged. Michael had come up with a strategy early. Most of them, she thought, would aim to collect only specific colours of property. If she bought as much property as possible, she would be able to both block the others from collecting the colours, and trade whatever she needed to make a monopoly for herself. Unfortunately she was not the only one with this strategy. Tilly was drunk enough to be deciding what to purchase completely at random. Saru was eyeing her suspiciously and buying very cautiously. Tyler had caught on to Michael’s strategy and was exactly the same thing, and Culber and Stamets were alternating between working together to infuriate the others and competing for the same properties.Michael had hoped to never find herself in jail again, but it seemed that the dice were conspiring to land her there. Not that that was possible, of course, but it still seemed odd that Michael was spending so much time there. She’d noticed Saru smirking each time, lips twitching upwards as she picked up a card stating ‘Go directly to jail’. Tilly was surprisingly doing quite well, despite her current state of inebriation. She didn’t seem to be pursuing a specific strategy, but had ended up with the cards everyone seemed to land on most by pure chance. Lieutenant Tyler was the first to become bankrupt, or close to it. He paused on his go, about to have to declare bankruptcy. Then, he turned to Michael. “I’ll sell you all my properties for $1.” He offered. She raised an eyebrow, noting his strategy. By selling his properties to her, despite the fact he would lose, she would gain an advantage against Tilly. It may not be enough for her to win, but it could help. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so to speak. She accepted and handed over a dollar. Stamets was the next to declare bankruptcy. He sold all his properties to Dr Culber, though, meaning Michael did not gain anything from the action. Dr Culber then gave his properties to Saru when he bowed out. Somehow, despite this maneuvering, Tilly was still in the lead. Now it was down to the three of them. Saru, Michael and Tilly. It was clear by this point, as Tilly built house after house, hotel after hotel, that Michael was not going to win without help, and neither would Saru. It was time for a sacrifice. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few- and although it wasn’t a need, precisely, everyone else in that room wanted to beat Tilly, who was crowing uninhibitedly over her pile of cash. Saru was never going to help Michael win. She knew that. So, for the purpose of victory over Tilly, she turned to him. “I will sell you all my properties for $1.” Saru seemed surprised. This was not what anyone had expected. Even Stamets looked shocked. Tilly laughed. Michael knew that Saru would not want to owe her anything, even in something as silly as a game. She hoped he would believe that it was not a manipulation. His threat ganglia were not indicating a threat. Slowly, he nodded and held out a dollar. Silently, Michael passed him her collection of property cards. Tilly stared open-mouthed, then shook herself. “Did I have more to drink than i thought?” She murmured. “Probably.” Michael said honestly. “Oh look, I’ve landed on one of saru’s properties. I can’t quite afford to pay rent. I’ll have to give him the rest of my money and declare bankruptcy.” “Still not gonna beat me.” Tilly said, hardly coherently. “I’m gonna have all the monopolies.”In the end, it was a draw. It turned out that the entirety of the senior staff were no match for a drunk and uninhibited sylvia Tilly. Tilly’s collapse into semi-unconsciousness heralded the end of the evening. The others left, some with friendly wishes, Ash with a reluctant grin, and Saru with a cool and slightly awkward nod. Michael gently brought Tilly round. “Hey. Hey, Cadet, wake up.” Tilly mumbled something indecipherable.“Eyes forward, Cadet.” Tilly jumped a little and stared at Michael, eyes bleary. Michael held out a glass of water. “Drink this, and then you can go back to sleep.” Tilly obediently sipped from the glass. As she finished and Michela took the glass away, she gazed in confusion at the monopoly pieces scattered on the floor. “Did it already happen? Who won?” Michael smiled. Alcohol truly had a very strange effect. She didn’t know why anyone would want to be in this condition, but she could not deny that the evening had been fun. “Yes. It was good. Everyone enjoyed it. And you won.” Of course. She added silently. Tilly was unbeatable. Tilly smiled and fell asleep. Michael sat there for a moment. She hadn’t expected to enjoy it. She hadn’t expected to find friends here on the Discovery. Life truly was a strange thing. 

[trickstercaptain-archive]

OK WELL SINCE U MENTION IT can u pls talk abt your headcanons for jack's relationship w tia dalma/calypso bc i love that scene where he's like "thick as thieves we are... were... have been... before" like EYES EMOJI what does it MEAN JACK lmao gooooooo.

random headcanon questions | always accepting TBH | @ircnbcrn

       YASSS I’m so happy you asked me about Jack and Tia Dalma/Calypso because they’re one of my favourite relationships, even though they only share like two proper scenes together in the entire trilogy lmfao. I just always think that, while the obvious parallels can be drawn between Calypso and Elizabeth, there are also similarities between Jack and Calypso and I think these two share a certain kinship that I don’t think any other characters in these movies really have. They’re both free spirits, they’re both untameable, and they also look very alike with the dreadlocks so I would imagine they’re both the same kind of quirky too ( plus she calls him ‘witty Jack’ so he’s clearly liked enough to be given a nickname ). Also, while book canon totally wrote all over this, there’s an argument to be made that the people holding vigil in the river at the end of DMC, when Elizabeth, Will, Gibbs and the rest of the survivors of the kraken attack return to Tia Dalma’s shack, are actually the slaves that Jack freed while in employ of the EITC and that he took them to her to keep them safe from the law. And I personally adore that theory even though the books take a different spin on things.

       bUT ABOUT THAT LINE LMAO well. Jack has known Tia Dalma for the majority of his life tbh, she appears in the young Jack Sparrow books and he gets his compass from her when he was young, plus in TPOF he mentions Tia Dalma as a friend of Teague’s and points out that Teague has very weird friends – which makes the part where it’s heavily implied that Jack and Tia Dalma became lovers in his adult life weird in itself lmfao. But the key thing at least about how I understand these two is that they would never have had a “traditional” relationship. I think you could classify these two as more of a friends-with-benefits arrangement, and it would have been a very on-off and polyamorous/open relationship too because Jack would not have confined himself to her shack on the river for extended periods of time and they both would have had other paramours in the meantime. But from the way that Jack so confidently describes them as having been as thick as thieves at one point, I think they were close, which would explain, alongside the whole ‘I am a goddess and I know things’, why Tia Dalma knows Jack better than most of the other characters.

       Then the next part is even more messed up lmfao. So while they were all on the beach of the Locker in AWE, Jack actually names Tia Dalma as one of the four people who tried to kill him in the past when he goes on his rant about not wanting to sail with any of them ( the other three are Barbossa, Will and Elizabeth, the last of which actually succeeded ). When he goes to challenge her and potentially throw her off the crew he’s picking out, they both have this to say:

“As for you —– ”“Now, don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it at the time.”“ ——- fair enough. All right, you’re in.”

       So, this mysterious instance where she tried to kill him? Possibly kinky af if you ask me and I’m amazed the writers got away with it in a Disney movie lmfao. Being Calypso, Tia Dalma is as harsh and changing and untameable as the sea, so whether there was a reason for her trying to kill him other than her changing and unpredictable moods is debatable ( though, depending on how long it had been since Jack had last visited her before DMC, the matter of the cursed Aztec gold pre-mutiny could have figured into it – but in that case there’s still the matter of why Gibbs would know who she is since he wasn’t a part of the pre-mutiny crew with Barbossa ), but regardless of the reason for it, that’s the whole reason why he’s rather skittish about visiting her in DMC. Whatever happened between them, presumably up until then Jack had never been on the receiving end of her ire and it absolutely spooked him lmaoo – but not enough for either of them to hold a grudge against the other, which is interesting and adds to my idea that whatever went on between them wasn’t a personal thing. 

      OH and the final last thing before I shut up: Jack doesn’t actually know that Tia Dalma is Calypso until AWE when he’s spying on her conversation with Barbossa on the Pearl – although he does have some limited suspicions about what or who Tia Dalma is, since he says this to Esmeralda in TPOF, and it also nicely ties into Jack’s immense appreciation for women who are forces of nature t b h

      “Tia Dalma isn’t ‘mine,’ love,” he corrected her. “She’s her own woman, make no mistake. No man will ever possess her. She’s…” he groped for words to express something indefinable he’d always sensed about the hoodoo sorceress. “She’s…she…sometimes it seems like she wears her woman’s body…the way you would wear a gown.” He shivered. “She has power,” he said. “Real power. She’s no one I’d want to cross.”

[survivekohsai]

QuilLynn’s Responses

Jury Answers:

BRYCE:

My favourite moment in the game was when I got the opportunity to mutiny. I was in a bad spot on my tribe with the majority of people on it wanting to target me and because of my losing streak I was in a really bad place. - I had to go to every pre-merge tribal other than the one I was exiled for and then the round after I mutinied (not to mention one of the tribals I didn’t go to wasn’t a tribal at all due to kelsey striking out) which proved to me I made the right decision. It also reconnected me with my closest allies, Jackson, Akito and Trixie. Up until the mutiny I was feeling really defeated and getting the opportunity to do that breathed new life into me in this game.

As for which tribal I felt I had the most control of, this is difficult, because Mo’s and Akito’s blindsides were the only tribals I went to where I felt I didn’t have control. A lot of tribals were orchastrated by me and Jackson so I don’t know if there was a time where we were on the same tribe and one of us would have had more control than the other on a vote. I do think however that Jackson is only here right now because of me and how loyal I ended up playing with him. There were multiple opportunities where I could have flipped on him or made moves against him. I could have forced rocks the night Richie left which, no matter what, would have left us with a very different final 3. RYAN M:

I don’t really understand what your question is, but let me explain myself to you in this game. I was actually excited at first that maybe this time we would have a chance to work together, but for some reason there was just an underlining distrust between us. Still recovering from your idols in crayola I felt that the smartest thing was to not be completely honest with you incase you did have something you could pull out your ass like tyler did in the Mo blindside. You then decided you wanted to block everybody on our tribe, so I literally couldn’t pm you anyway and to be honest I don’t know if you ever unblocked me? I also know that you wrote my name down at tribals, so there was no point in trying to reconcile with you even if I could at that point. If you want to base your vote on relationships from ebola or who we voted at the end then thats on you, you’re a juror I’m not going to sit here and tell you what basis to make your decision on and as pathetic as I personally think that would be it is entirely up to you. RYAN P:

Akito- Skitty, because skitty is one of the cutest pokemon and one of my favourites, "it is very popular due to its adorable looks and behavior."   Ryan M- Seviper, because there is just something about this pokemon that reminds me of you, can’t quite put my finger on it though, "It has been bitter enemies with Zangoose for many generations.” - i must be a zangoose huh.

Ryan P- Unown, because we like barely ever talked or got to know each other so I know virtually nothing about you other than what others have told me, "Unown is an extremely rare Pokémon that lives in its own dimension and rarely ventures outside."

Linus- Magikarp, it’s just the fucking memeiest pokemon there is. <3 “It is usually overlooked by Trainers because of its perceived weakness: even in the heat of battle it will do nothing but flop around."

Richie- Charizard, because you’re strong and loyal and I’m sure would be a fan favourite, "This Pokémon flies in search of powerful opponents to battle, and its fire will burn hotter as it gains experience."

Bryce- Pikachu, because you’re widely loved and a great companion, “Pikachu is arguably the most recognizable and adored Pokemon by fans of the series"

Eric- Houndor, because he’s small and cute but still has a lot of bite, "Houndour is an intelligent Pokémon that forms packs to hunt for prey, and shows unparalleled teamwork” RICHIE:

Yes my opening statement sucked, I was blackout drunk at a halloween party and had to find time to write it lol. The reason I let Jackson be the one that everyone saw being in charge was because I wanted to play this game completely different than I’ve played before. I usually play openly making big moves and letting my self be a target, that strategy in the past has only gotten me to the end one time where I lost 7-2 because that was the way I played the game opposed to who I was sitting next to at the time who played a more seemingly under the radar game. With that loss fresh on my mind I knew that in the end phase of this game I wanted to appear like I wasn’t making waves and to let someone be more vocal than me, the best thing I could do was to appear as a goat and let Jackson believe that he’d have an easy time beating me in the end, because I wouldn't hold my ground and express that I actually played a good game. I feel like he bought that and I think I was able to convince everyone that I was just playing for second when thats not the case at all. In the Rocks situation I did contemplate flipping and risking getting rocked out to change the game, but what really was the deciding factor for me wasn’t actually the risk of me going home, it was the fact that I knew 100% Trixie and Jackson were going to take me to the end of this game, although I was still confident in the bonds I had made with you and Bryce these were two people I knew I could trust and potentially beat at the end. If I did take you out in that vote I was taking out arguably the biggest threat in the game, because I knew you had a great shot at winning, I knew that if I was on jury I’d vote you to win so everything lined up and made sense to take you out. This game I focused a lot of gameplay around the social aspect of the game, I met a lot of great people and made great friendships, there was only one real pre-merge tribal council that I didn’t have to go to and I was able to get out of that one because I used the twist of being able to mutiny to my advantage. I survived more tribal councils than the people I’m up against tonight, I feel like I fought the hardest to be here out of us three, of course not competition wise, because I knew I was terrible at comps so I had to make up for that in another way and I do think that I was able to play a killer social game that got me to the end without ever needing to rely on an individual immunity. AKITO:

Out of the 3 of us sitting here I don’t think it would be fair for any of us to take full credit for a move that went down during a tribal council, because that’s just not how they worked this season. Due to the amount of idols in question and strategizing that had to go into these votes they all had to be a group effort. Any one of us could sit here and spout off about how, for example, the Rafael blindside was our move, but it would be BS. Each tribal we all held the same level of control of what was going to happen and we discussed and talked thru each move before it was made. There were only two tribals where I was genuinely shocked at the outcomes and those were Mo’s blindside and your blindside, in a strategical sense the 3 of us played nearly identical games, but as I said before I believe my social game is what made me stand out from the competition.

For your second question, I feel like it could definitely apply to multiple people on the jury for me. Firstly I’d say Ryan M, because in the last game we played together we were always working against each other even though he seemed like somebody that I would have actually been able to click with, unfortunately feelings from our last game carried over and we still never got to connect, especially after the whole blocking incident. RTP is someone that I heard good things about before coming into this game, and I feel like we also never got a chance to connect so he is someone I would have liked to get to know more. I feel like everyone else on jury I had built good relationships with, I would say too though, that if I had Bryce and Richie on the same tribe with me from the jump I feel like I wouldn’t have been as down in the first few rounds of the game as I was and, on a personal-nongame related level, it would have been nice to spend more time with them as well. So overall if I have to just pick one I would say Ryan M, because I really wish we could have squashed any beef we had had prior to this game. LINUS:

1. Social butterfly!! Never met anyone with such a stellar social game, you left me quaking! Competitions? King! You carried our tribes, honestly idk how you got out, it had to have been a rig. Strategy? you were the master of flipping! you full on murdered akito at tribal! Ruthless, cutthroat, iconic, unstoppable, legendary! also.. "Now listen here, thot! Why would I want your smelly vagina when my best bud’s anus (no homo) is right around the corner for fresh tasting and sampling!” that earned you the win day one.

2.

1. Akito - Mari Takahashi, because she was adorable, had good potential and deserved way better than the placement she got. 2. Ryan M - Russell Hantz, because you’re good at finding idols and feel like based on you blocking everyone your social game wasn’t that great. 3. RTP -  Michelle Dougan, because although I didn’t get to develop a close relationship with you, you were always a nice person and I know you like Australian survivor and I loved Michelle and feel like you both were sorta underdogs in a similar way. 4. Linus - Courtney Yates, because she was super funny and I feel that like her you were some well needed comic relief on the season 5. Richie - Nicole Franzel Kelley Wentworth, because she was an absolute queen. I definitely see her as a hero, and think that you would be the number one hero of Koh Sai 6. Bryce - Cirie Fields, because she is just such a great person, and an absolute fan favourite! 7. Eric - Abi Maria Gomes, annoying goat that makes it far, but still very entertaining and memorable.

Because it is almost halloween I wanted to do a horror genre theme with your fictional characters, so I decided to compare you to the cast from one of my favourite shows, Scream Queens!

1. Akito - Grace Gardner: Brave, intelligent, kind. 2. Ryan M- Chanel Oberlin: Stubborn, rude, funny. 3. RTP - Chanel #5: Often forgotten, low-key hilarious, underrated. 4. Linus - Hester Ulrich: Crazy, high-key hilarious, charismatic. 5. Richie - Zayday Williams: Iconic, caring, a great friend. 6. Bryce - Chanel #3: Good sense of humour, fan favourite, a true legend. 7. Eric - Chad Radwell: Energetic, obnoxious, lovable.