#smart enough to play chess without a board too dumb not to push a a knight to the a rank

[kunosoura]

vivid memory of the inquisiton banter where bull and solas play mental chess and you're supposed to be like woahhh they're so smarts but bull plays a genuinely bad game

[prisoncitystories]

Fiction: Just Another Day at the Office

The smoke from the cigarette wafted freely through the air like the sultry melody of the dingy saxophone on the radio. I, however, was tied to a chair.

“What shall we do with the pig, Ms. Morgana?” The thug in the dragon mask said to his partner. 

“Surely, we can have a little fun before we gut him, Mr. Pendragon,” Ms. Morgana replied. The pair are part of the Round Table Gang, the latest colorful characters to hit the city with their own particular brand of crime. Of course, they chose the boring task of robbing banks but really who’s keeping track, right?

“Fun, huh? What are we playing? Parcheesi?” I say, with a smirk. Pendragon rears up a fist and drives it right into my gut. I feel his knuckles press against the skin through my shirt. Thankfully, this isn’t my first rodeo.

“Quiet, pig!” Pendragon said. “How about a different game? Five finger fillet?” Pendragon pulled out a knife, waving it back and forth in front of my face.

“Maybe we could play chess, instead?” I said, edging him further. He threw his fist into my stomach again, this time a little harder. Thankfully, he didn’t notice my slight adjustment to put most of the pressure on the back of the wooden chair. A few more moves and the knight would take the bishop.

“Yeah, wrong supervillain, mate. Chess makes my head hurt. Now, Ms. Morgana, she’s the only one smart enough to handle that black and white board.” He said, turning to her and grazing her ornate horse mask granting him a devilish purple-lipped smile.

“Oh? I just assumed you were the same annoying, narcissistic, backwards-” I said,  interrupted by a slap across the face from Morgana.

“I’ve trained you so well.” Pendragon said, pulling Morgana into a kiss. Who says crime doesn’t pay?

“If you’d like me to come back, I’d be happy to go. Otherwise, let’s get this threesome underway.” Pendragon stopped and turned to me. Even underneath the red dragon mask, I could tell I was getting on his nerves. It’s all in the eyes. The little flicker that hides a deep, deep rage and right now, my voice and face are like a broken urn full of oil.

“If you speak one more time, I swear to the gods I will cut your tongue out. Do you understand?” I remain silent. “Do you understand or are you just as dumb as we thought you to be?” He repeated much angrier.

“You told me if I spoke that you’d cut my tongue out. Not an outcome I’m betting on if we’re being honest here.” His face turned to stunned surprise and he brandished his knife again. He raised his leg to boot me backwards and I made my move. As he sent his leg toward my chest, I titled the chair back with my feet that could still touch the floor even tied up, sending me back faster than his boot could catch. While his boot was catching nothing but air, the chair was breaking against the cold concrete. I was initially a little jarred as my hands were the meat in a wood-concrete sandwich (which really hurt), but I quickly scrambled to my feet as Ms. Morgana regained her composure from the sight.

“Why you little bastard!” She said, sparking up her electrified gloves. I have to stay away from those. She stepped forward but her form was so uneasy. Unfortunately for her, confidence isn’t everything. She swiped like a cat and I only narrowly avoided a swift jolt by deflecting her strike with my forearm. I did the same maneuver but this time added a leg sweep, surprising her and sending her to the floor. I heard the clatter of a knife behind me as Pendragon swiped his knife, gashing my thin black necktie in the process.

“Eh, I never really liked it anyway. Gift from a few exes ago,” I said as he continued swiping. Similar to Morgana, I had to subdue him by using his strikes against him. I batted his arm aside as he hacked and slashed and when the moment opened up, I used a classic disarm and sent the knife out of his hand and back to the floor. Suddenly, I felt way too many volts pass through my leg, bringing me to my knees. 

“What kind of detective are you? You fight like a drunkard. You can’t even disarm us both.” Pendragon said. He walked over to pick up his knife again as Morgana stood back up and placed one of her gloves on my shoulder. “Any last words, pig? You blew your chances on a last request.”

“Is it just you and Morgana or are Percival, Lancelot, and Galahad screwing around in your pants too?” I said, baiting him again. As he drove the knife forward, I ducked to the side making him lunge a little too far towards Morgana. I grabbed her arm at her forearm and hand and pushed them into Pendragon’s gut and activated the shock gloves. The electricity ran through him and sent him toppling. I shot up and brought a swift elbow to Morgana’s chin, flooring her as well. I finished her off with a blow to her face. I walked over to the table where that cigarette was still burning. I picked it up, began a drag, but quickly pulled the disgusting thing away.

“Menthols? Dear gods, you guys really are stupid,” I said, throwing the cigarette on the ground, stamping it out, and clicking off the jazz music at the radio. I look around the dingy, chip-titled torture room and find my coat hanging on a coat rack. “At least they aren’t savages.”

I made sure they didn’t steal anything. Pockets still have all my belongings. For bank robbers, they certainly aren’t great at petty theft. I throw the brown trench back on and move towards the door. I slowly turn the handle and open the door to the hallway where fortunately the other members of the gang are not waiting for me. I handled Pendragon  and Morgana easily but three more thugs would land me back in the chair. Not to mention if they’ve added more since their last hit. We’ve been chasing them around the city for about three months, and they’ve robbed four banks in that time. We still can’t peg why they would need that much cash or how they could possibly spend it. They certainly aren’t investing in a headquarters.

Suddenly, I hear a voice from around the corner. I slink behind an open door in the hallway, making sure just to stand in the doorway and not shut the door. I spied through the peephole and saw a blue wolf mask. Lancelot. I think our dossier said he was a sharpshooter. Seems like he’d be useless in a fist fight. He was radioing to someone on his walkie.

“Pendragon, you done with the cop yet? Pendragon, I said are you done with the cop yet?” He put his walkie-talkie back in its holster and pulled out his sidearm. Something street trash would use, not really the mark of a deadeye. “By the gods, do I have to do everything myself?” He said, scoffing and stomping down the hall. I moved into the open room and behind the wall as he walked by towards the torture room. He opened the door and before he could reach for his walkie, I sprang into action and put him in a headlock. He quickly pushed back and slammed me into the wall behind us, but I held firm. I knew if he even got one good aim with his pistol, I was toast. He stomped his feet wildly, trying to bash me anyway he could. He bashed me back again, this time against the door frame, loosening my grip. We both fell to the floor, me out of breath and him gasping for air. We both took a second to regain our bearings and then shared a brief cutting moment. He got up quicker than I could and kneed me in the face. I shook off the throbbing pain and used the wall behind me to brace myself. 

“Percival, Galahad, get-” He started to say into his walkie-talkie but I gave him a solid haymaker to the head.

“Now now, none of that.” I said, taunting him. I used his imbalance to disarm him of his gun, sending it to the floor. He grabbed my neck, but I kicked his legs out from under him. I used the momentum of the fall to bring my forearm down on his face, disorienting him again. He relinquished my neck and I dealt him a clean knockout blow to his smug face. I stood up and dusted myself off and down the hall were the last two members of the Round Table Gang, Mr. Percival and Mr. Galahad, staring at me. I was admittedly a little disoriented from the last two altercations but I can’t imagine I was getting out of here without at least one more.

“Well come on then. Let’s go.” I said, putting up my dukes once more. I examined the two of them briefly, really hoping that Percival came at me first. He was small, compact. Intel said he was the demolitions expert of the group. Can’t be that great of a fighter either, although Lancelot surprised me. He adjusted his gold hawk mask. Mr. Galahad was much larger and muscular than his counterpart. Comically, he had a green cat mask. I don’t know what these guys’ fascination with stupid masks is. Galahad came stomping towards me.

I delivered several quick blows to his abdomen which frankly hurt my knuckles quite a bit. He just chuckled.

“That ain’t going to work, little man.” Unfortunately, he was right. I had to use his weight against him. He reared up for a downward strike, but I only narrowly avoided piledriver fist to the top of my skull. He came down on my shoulder which sent pain through my arm. I used the other arm to swing a fist, tilting his head to the side. He cocked his head back at me and I could see the annoyed look in his eyes. He grabbed me by the shoulders and sent me swinging through one of the walls of the hallway and into the room I initially hid from Lancelot in. Same dingy tile as the other room hit the back of my head hard.

“You call that a throw? Better invest in some gym memberships, mate.” I said, as he stepped through the me-shaped hole he just created. “Although your budget might be taken up by renovations.” He didn’t care for the banter. He stomped up to me and raised his leg up to smash me, but I rolled to the right. The tile cracked underneath and I got an idea. While his foot was still depressed, I swung my body around and kicked his stomped leg with all the force I could muster. His leg jutted further into the floor as he fell and the angle caused him to slam down harder than just a simple fall would do. I clumsily stood up and went to the groaning bastard.

“Nighty night, kitty cat.” I said, stomping his face and breaking his mask in the progress. I briefly take a look at his face. Ugly bastard, really. Maybe it was better with the mask intact. “Alright, Percival. We both know you’re a cowardly bastard so let’s get this over with. If you come quietly, I won’t have to break your nose too.” I said, walking out into the hallway and Percival was kneeling on the ground and he had already cuffed himself.

“Please don’t hurt me! Just don’t tell the others I surrendered.” I chuckled at the weakling. Just another day at the office, I suppose.

[survivor-mountmerapi]

Ep. 7: “[whoopi voice] You in danger, girls.” - Gian

DeNara

Let the chaos start! Nicholas going home was a 10/10 tribal. 😈 Now I need to figure out who I can trust. I feel like I can keep working with the people on my tribe for sure. Can I trust my old warriors? Not sure yet. Elle says they havent been spoken too since tribal but who knows what happened over there.

Rachel

OMG. So glad Gian and Madi have made it through that tribal! I literally have so much to tell them, but I also have a feeling they have a lot to tell me.  This is going to be a crazy next couple days, but at least i don't work! I am also way too nervous to join this merged call right now, but i'm glad my homies are here and happy to meet some new ones!

DeNara

Looks like Raffy, Steven, Ginnifer, Madi, Gian and myself are gonna try to take out Julia and Pietro. Hopefully we can plan that

DeNara

Lol, Julia and I arent even pretending to talk to each other. We both know it DeNara vs Julia lol

Elle

🎶MERGE, BABY MERGE (ᵈᶦˢᶜᵒ ᶦⁿᶠᵉʳⁿᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒ)🎶🕺🏾WE MADE IT :DDDDD

Honestly roll credits like right now for me 😂😂😂😂. I do Not have high hopes!!! I'm gonna be voted out with a quickness I just know it :')

So anyway Do Not Cry for me Argentina, winning for me was making it to merge and guys: ✨we did it✨

(Just to be clear I'm still going to try my darndest *to* win; I'm just not all that hopeful for the prospects)

Julia

I literally hate merge. I never do well at merge. This is going to suck so much. I just know raffy is coming for me

Raffy

Merge! I did what I, honestly, didn't expect to do this game. We love to see it. According to Madi and Gian, Julia has been spreading to her tribe that I am the one with the idol. Thankfully, I implanted the seeds into those two already, so they seem to really think Julia has an idol (which she does). However, due to this, I feel that I should play my idol soon to avoid any future hurt feelings from my lying. Thanks to my connection with Madi and Gian, Rachel and Anastasia seem to now not believe that I have the idol. Those two are doing the work for me which is fun. I want to bring in Elle and Moth to our little group to ensure numbers. I am unsure where Ginnifer's loyalties lie as she still seems to not trust me. Which is fair. Plus, she did vote for me which is..... Tragic. I think I will stick to the group I'm already in and try to get people to target Julia and Pietro for being far bigger strategic threats than me.

DeNara

Merge tribe is going well. Anastasia and Rachel apparently really like me, so I am hoping to use that to my advantage. Hopefully they arent just playing me for Julia. She is such a great player she could have them with her.

Gian

Winning both reward and immunity challenge makes complete sense with my fantasy 😌 -from a deluded gay

Gian

The merge being 4 winners vs. 4 warriors vs. 4 wannabes just screams chaos. The war is here!

DeNara

I have to say, I am super nervous for the first tribal council. Raffy and Steven have kind of been quiet since the merge and I am paranoid they might have flipped and joined the winners to get me out. Nobody seems to be talking strategy except Gian which is worrying me. I have no idea of our plan is to go after Julia and Pietro with the newbies, or with the warriors. Everyone could be playing each other. Honestly, I feel good with Rachel from the OG wannabe's tribe because we have connected well, but who knows if I can work with her. I am struggling between checking in with Raffyy and Steven about what to do, or try to start calling the shots now and make my own alliances. That could end up biting me in the butt so I am super stressing over what to do. Plus we have the auction today and that could either be really good or really bad for me.... guess we will find out 🤷‍♀️

Moth

Sooooo the merge is here

I have no clue what is happening I don’t wanna be the merge boot, so I’m hoping that I can glide by

DeNara

We just had our auction and I spent $500 on literally nothing. Oof, now to play it as something or to tell the truth....I am thinking I might say it is a disadvantage and I lose my vote at next tribal just to see what comes of it, but who knows. So many things I can do! Also I was giving Raffy a play by play of what was happening and he told me to stop, then immediately started asking questions about what was happening in other chats.... oof

Gian

The way I won absolutely nothing in the auction is... homophobic. How am I supposed to send these people home in caskets without an arsenal? 

Anastasia

so we merged and I just went to the auction and I bought some magic beans for like all of my money.. I don't really know exactly what to do with them but I did tell Madi about what they do so hopefully that will make her trust me more and she can help me come up with a plan to trick someone!!

Raffy

I wasn't at the auction, but Julia is already trying to pin that I have an advantage. Ginnifer is on exile, so that means Julia is trying to target me this round. I hope I win immunity so I don't have to use either of my advantages. Gian was trying to push me to reveal what I got, but.......... I don't like that. It's disgusting. Like, please back off. Otherwise, the plan should still be splitting between Julia and Pietro.

Madi

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PpAuWdOpVHtYEN6F8hFrr9M1gk0_J0rh/view?usp=drivesdk

Raffy

Right now, there should be a split vote between Pietro and Julia. Steven, Gian, and Madi are going to be voting for Pietro. Meanwhile, everyone else will be voting for Julia. Pietro and Julia will be voting for me. I am a little nervous. I want to use my idol to ensure I survive, but, based on how this game is going, I will most certainly need it for later. I just want everyone to be telling the truth here. Elle has come to me saying how she believes everyone should be voting Julia. If I have Elle, then I think I have Moth. If I have Madi and Gian, then I have Anastasia and Rachel. I want to confirm with people tomorrow without seeming as if I am coming too strong. People already see me as a Big Bad and someone with a chaotic play style. One wrong move and I am toast. For me, this is going to be the most stressful tribal of the whole season. No competition. However, I trust that I have rallied the troops. I have put it in the work. I will succeed. On a side note, I told Steven that I had a Safety Without Power. I know he can use this against me, but I really do trust Steven. I think he's my ride or die at this point. We were talking about how dangerously close the newbies were. It will present a big problem, especially with the Warriors and the Winners being so fractured. Final 9 will be the last chance to get a newbie out in my eyes. From the newbies, Anastasia would be the easiest out of them to get rid of. Plus, she is too inactive to be used as a flipper. After that, I would need to rally against Gian and Madi because Rachel is too tight with them. We need to fracture the newbies before we can go in for the kill. I think if any newbie (besides Anastasia) were to make it to the end, then they will win hands down. I know this is going to get me hate in the VL, but the newbies need to be taken down if I want to win. Right now, I am thinking of taking Steven and DeNara to FTC. This will, undoubtedly, change when I get closer to the goal. However, I'd be happy to see any three of us win the title at this point in time. Additionally, it'd be a great story arc for Steven and I. From enemies at the start to F3 ride or dies at the end. However, they would not crown us the winner. I get the vibe this cast may just very well come to the conclusion of "They have won before, so they should not win again." That's dumb. Should I not win a board game because I won it before? Should I never get an A if I got one already? It SHOULD be the most deserving (or at least most respected), but I have a sinking feeling that it won't be the case.

DeNara

There is soooo much going on, ohmigoodness.... Okay so we had the survivor auction and the thing I bought was a big fat plate of NOTHING. Rip the dream. Then we found out that Rachel won individual immunity so that is good because Julia and Pietro not winning it is the best outcome. After that is when we all really started to talk about tribal. I connected with Moth and Elle and they said they want to vote Julia out. Rachel feels super close with me and she said her and all the newbies have a fake alliance with Julia and are willing to vote her out too. So right now everyone is against Julia and Pietro (or so they say). So we are going to split the vote 6 on Julia and 3 on Pietro. I just don't know who I can truly trust in this game. If we only put 3 votes on Pietro and someone flips and Julia plays an idol, whoever those 4 vote for is going home. Plus if Pietro and Julia both have idols, then someone else will be going home. I am just really nervous this won't go the way I expect it to. Part of me wants to switch my Julia vote to Pietro and make it a 5 Julia, 4 Pietro vote just in case someone flips so we still have numbers on Pietro... the question is, who can I trust? I DON'T KNOW..... cries forever Don't even get me started on what happens after this vote if I am still here....

Elle

Ughhhhhhh I got a 10% DA in the auction which I just knew was gonna happen 😂 Chance hates meeee or at least is like a slightly annoyed ambivalent to me lol. Anyway tribal is tonight and I think Julia is going home if people have lied to me Again Im going to CRY like SOB on call this is a threat 😂😂😂😂 lmao I dont think Steven would lie to me or my tribe mates though and I dont think Raffy is lying in this case (I'm choosing to trust him, ik everybody says he can be a chaotic player but eh I'm not like, calculating enough to like analyze what could be deception so I am choosing Trusttt until choosing trust gets me sent home lol). Just in general I'm not smart enough at this to play it like a game of chess or anything (which reminds me I need to watch Queen's Gambit) so my strategy is: be genuine and hope people believe that I'm actually being genuine and somehow that bringing me to the end 😅 yes great strat i know

Moth

I don’t wanna go home tonight If Julia gets voted out I’ll feel so relieved

Madi

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PpAuWdOpVHtYEN6F8hFrr9M1gk0_J0rh/view?usp=drivesdk

Madi

NOT MY GF HAVING TO HOP ON A CONFERENCE CALL WITH JULIA BC SHE PICKED JULIA AS HER DRAFT PICK LMAOOOOO

Madi

jay I only know this bc she I trying to plan it only her calendar bc she is a busy boss bitch and we are always fucking together

Raffy

Julia thinks she some kind of master manipulator. She thinks that she can come in my DMs and act like she had nothing to do with my name being thrown out. Do not come to me with that BS and expect me not to smell it. Allegedly, she claims that she wants to work with me in this game (bullshit). Also, Julia revealed her idol to Anastasia which is going to put a major damper on things. Now, Anastasia is getting paranoid about the idol when she really shouldn't be. She's not the one in danger. Leave it alone. The only time you should care is if the idol will harm you in any way. Julia has successfully caused chaos which is going to put a damper on things. I feel, at this point, that I almost have to use my idol considering that the chaos could easily lead to people stacking their votes on me. Plus, I wouldn't be at a total loss considering I still have the Safety Without Power. I still want the majority of votes on Julia though because I need to get her to use that idol.

Julia

I think the newbies are trying to work with raffy to try to plan shit, especially madi. I do not trust her at all. She’s playing way too hard right now. I know I’ve said this every fucking round but idol is coming out tonight Pietro I think I’m in trouble tonight. Now with that stupid beans Anastasia and everyone knows about Julia’s idol, and I think they will try to pretend to be voting her out to make her flush her idol and get me out instead. I have been able to get closer to Rachel and Gian, I really like them, but they havent talked much with me on the most important day - tribal day. But god sent me to this earth to be the protagonist of everything I put myself into, so going home tonight or not, I can say, I made my own.

Moth

hahahahahahahahah Tribal is scary omg. I'm writing this in class so I dont have too much time, but maaan am I worried for whats to come. It still seems to be Julia Vs. Raffy so as long as its not my name I dont care, but from what I'm hearing there's a lot going on that im not seeing. So I am just gonna sit here and pray no one targets me

Raffy

I think I'll just play my idol to ensure my safety in this round. I still have the SWP. So, it should be good and fun. Julia seems to think I have an idol nullifier. She'll be in for a shock.

Steven

https://youtu.be/gXqEkdyHHgA

Gian

Pietro. Julia. [whoopi voice] You in danger, girls.

DeNaraCouple hours before tribal and Pietro is freaking out. I feel bad but it is also kinda funny since he hasn't talked to me before.

DeNara

This is the most chaotic first tribal and it is still hours away... scared....

Gian

Julia has two options: Play her idol or go home. Stay tuned for a crazy tribal guys 🌞

Rachel

OMG. what am i doing with my life. i really don't know who to trust. i can't trust the winner or warriors and really only have trust in my core OG tribe. thankfully we're in the middle and THANKFULLY i have immunity, but other than that, this vote will really show who's got ties with who. I am so nervous cause this will definitely draw the line in the sand. julia did make a good point. if raffy and steven are controlling this vote and play from the middle, we need to get them out before they can make it any further.

Anastasia

Our main focus this round is to get Julia out. We have the numbers but Julia has an idol. It will hopefully be Julia or Pietro if all goes as plan. I do still like Pietro and I hope he stays in the game but my alliance thinks they are a duo so one of them has to go. I'm pretty sure Julia will play her idol so it might be Pietros time  Unless something changes in half an hour.