Sports

Tyson’s brother and P.E. teacher can be quoted as repeatedly saying that Tyson “improved with the weather” when it came to sport, which was true. Until his issues with excessive heat rear their head, Tyson’s sporting proficiency blooms with the weather.

As part of the archaic series of endless lessons that Tyson was required to learn as an heir of the Delaney legacy, Tyson took part in archery, horse riding, fencing, and dancing lessons; his dance lessons included ballroom, classical, tap, and contemporary dance.

His favourite one, and the one that he was best at, was fencing. Though Tyson never believed his tutors when he said this, Tyson could genuinely have made a living out of fencing professionally if he wanted to. He favours Saber then Épée, and then Foil.

Though Tyson was pretty good at rock climbing when he went with his brother, Jethro, to his classes, it wasn’t one that Tyson particularly enjoyed. He prefers the freedom to pick his own paths that climbing trees, mountains, or parkouring around London provides.

Tyson played cricket on his secondary school and university teams. At his secondary school, Tyson was also a part of the rugby team, but he always prefers to watch rugby than play it.

He was also a reluctant part of the tennis club at his secondary school. Tyson hates playing tennis, but he joined because it was a sport his mother used to play and Tyson saw that it made Jethro happy when Tyson practised the sport.

Through forces unseen, Tyson ended up getting roped into the cross-country team at his primary school. He didn’t mind that too much, even if he still doesn’t know how he ended up there. He regularly goes for runs around London, with or without his dogs at his heels.

In his free time, Tyson actively enjoys swimming - especially swimming outdoors - and goes mountain boarding with his sister-in-law, Rosie. He likes skateboarding during the early morning hours with his dogs on lazy days. His bicycle is his primary mode of transport around London, though Tyson enjoys cycling more off-road.

Pretending

Tyson’s acting ability has been discussed, as has how effective he is at disguising himself, but more important than either of those is how Tyson pretends to be something he’s not.

He pretends to be an uncaring killer when working for the web, but then he’s donating to charity and anything else that Tyson can do to make up for the bad things he does; though never for a single second believing that he can ever do enough to fix things. 

Tyson pretends to be a lot of things - not a threat, not as intelligent as he truly is, et cetera - but, his own self-worth about never being smart enough and his achievements not meaning anything aside, Tyson knows those aren’t true. He doesn’t try to believe them to be true. There is a huge exception, however.

Though he freely admits that he loves The Colonel and the Moriarty Mirrors, making Tyson admit that he’s (to a greater or lesser extent) homosexual is like pulling teeth. If there is one person Tyson is capable of lying to, it’s himself and - as mentioned here - Tyson is good at pretending that it’s not men he’s attracted to, just the person he’s head over heels for/in a relationship with.

That’s not true, but it’s never stopped Tyson before. The same applies to getting Tyson to admit that he is polyamorous. He’s not. He just… openly admits to loving multiple people at once: Kim, The Colonel, and The Moriarty Mirrors.

Tyson has always been best at giving half-truths than outright lies. He can admit to loving those people and all at once, but so long as no one questions if he is poly or if he is gay, then Tyson isn’t lying when he pretends inside his own head that he isn’t those things. That he’s ‘normal’.

Kitten!Verse

In Kitten!Verse, Sebastian and Tyson live in the same house as army!verse. This was done because Sebastian wants Tyson to have the illusion of choice. Sebastian does not care about the house he lives in, so long as he gets to choose the furniture. So he found a house where Tyson was comfortable, let Tyson pick it, and then redecorated and furnished it in his design.

The former Lieutenant is responsible for the army of cactus’ out on the wrap around patio and for all of his cat’s furniture, but everything else is from Sebastian. The bookcases are a combination of their tastes, however.

Tyson can leave the house whenever he wants, because Sebastian knows that he’ll always come back and usually with things for him. Tyson still struggles socially, but in this verse, he always has a mission when going outside. Even just getting groceries is easier when he’s buying for Sebastian, rather than for himself.

With Sebastian handling all the cooking, this may, in fact, be the verse where Tyson has the best diet and eats the most regularly.

Though Tyson has never run his pet store, nor ever received the nickname Pup, they get their meat from Jeremy’s butcher shop. Sebastian once overheard Jeremy ‘teasing’ Tyson about owing him sexual favours, then later - in a completely unrelated incident - lost his left index finger when his butcher’s knife slipped.

Tyson always gets discounters on the meat he picks up for Sebastian there.

The Biscuit Tin exists in this verse and Sebastian likes Tae’s baking, so when Tyson goes out in the morning to fetch a newspaper for Sebastian, he stops in to say hello to Tae and to pick up a treat for Moran’s lunch. She doesn’t know that Tyson is being abused. She bought the lie about him being a roughed up veteran with chronic pain. It helps that it’s technically true.

As Tyson has become more complacent, Sebastian’s abuse hasn’t gone away. He liked when Tyson fought back, that Tyson challenged him, so now he sometimes attacks to simply provoke a response. To force Tyson’s fight or flight instinct to show and chase him around the house.

Mandy, his grey Tabby cat, makes Tyson feel better after those attacks. So do the painkillers. He’s wavering on the edge of dependency on painkillers from chronic pain, but Tyson’s not addicted. He just needs them to get through the day due to the level of pain his body is in at almost all hours.

That said, Tyson has picked up a bad habit of mixing painkillers with alcohol when he shares a drink with Sebastian to make the other man happy.

Sebastian still published his adventures under the name ‘Zachary M. Cohen’ in this verse, but Tyson actually helped him write them in this version and provided the sketches that appear in his book. Tyson goes under his usual fake name of Anthony Hawthorn; after his Great Grandfather, coming off of his father’s then grandmother’s side of the family.

Corruption!Verse

Even in corruption!verse, Tyson couldn’t bring himself to kill Sebastian Moran on purpose. He forced Sebastian to back off by stabbing him during one of his attacks, having never previously stuck out against Sebastian with any weapon, but even then, Tyson couldn’t bring himself to kill Sebastian.

Tyson had The Colonel at his mercy and he just… pressed a kiss to Sebastian’s forehead and walked away. He shrugs it off as not being worth the effort to kill Sebastian, but Tyson simply couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Tyson’s relationship with his brother, Jethro, had become somewhat strained. Jethro doesn’t know exactly what’s happened to Tyson, but he knows that his brother has strayed even further from the right path and he doesn’t know how to discuss it without escalating into an argument.

Sleeping with Lex has gone from an occasional, rare distraction to frequent stress relief in corruption!verse. His wildcard continues to be exactly that. Tyson could easily put him to heel, but his usefulness in keeping the web dynamic and the Moriarty Mirrors entertained remains.

Billy is in too deep, too compromised, to stop Tyson anymore with all the evidence he has to hold over her head. However, it’s rare that he pressures her for information and information that would damage enemies of the web usually end up in her hands instead.

Dick Gannon and James Delaney continue to be Tyson’s precious boys. Within corruption!verse, Tyson indulges Dick’s drinking a little more, but he stills cares about getting his stray back on his feet. Tyson’s nephew remains enamoured with his uncle and Tyson will do anything to keep him safe.

For all the Moriarty Mirrors efforts in corrupting Tyson into a weapon, the man who joined the web isn’t completely gone. He doesn’t go out of his way to make up for the bad he does within the web, but he will go out of his way to nurse a baby bird back to health out of principle. He won’t abide anyone hurting a child.

He is their weapon, but he is also their Pup. The mathematical prodigy with too keen eyes, a talent for maps, and secret smiles hidden behind his palm as he watches Jim’s tongue poke out in concentration as he works on his latest gadgets or toy. He’s still the pet to show up with coffee and sandwiches because he cares about looking after the Moriarty Mirrors.

Though Tyson is good at covering over his tattoos with make-up when he needs to for the web, he has never stopped hating having to conceal the ones on the back of his neck. They have become the bane of his existence.

When he’s not having to cover them up, Tyson honestly loves those tattoos. Running his fingers over the runes and sigils has almost become a nervous tick, a simple comfort taken from the temperature of them. A constant connection to his owners.

Prophesy

Though Tyson believes that fate can always be changed, Tyson is interested in the mathematics of prophecy and predicting the future.

He uses his own form of predicting the future for the web, Game Theory. Previously, Tyson used Game Theory as a strategist in the army. The police may utilise it to catch criminals, but Tyson uses it to predict targets of the web and the decisions the police are likely to make to protect employees of the web, himself, and The Colonel.

His favourite part of Game Theory is being proved wrong. That there is always another option, a new variable to consider next time. He can predict the most likely outcomes, but life had so many different variables that he can’t be correct every time and every time that Tyson gets it right, it feels like a victory.

As mentioned when discussing cards, Tyson knows how to read tarot cards. He mixes the interpretation and meaning of the cards with Game Theory to make it sound more believable. Tyson puts complete faith in mathematics, he believes that predictions based on mathematics are the most likely outcome, so his audience is more likely to listen and accept his words. 

Children

When it comes to children, Tyson really isn’t good with things younger than a toddler. Handing him a baby is the equivalent of saying, “here, have a minor meltdown.” Once talking and/or waddling age is reached, Tyson manages to curb his panic a little better.

From a toddler to a teen, Tyson has a tendency to work himself into a panic about the possibility of them getting hurt, but he is generally pretty good about looking after them; even if he is far too susceptible to puppy eyes in a way that he never caves to when it comes to actual puppies.

Though he was groomed to teach at a university level since his own childhood rather than to teach children, Tyson finds those skills to be rather transferable. Swapping into his ‘Professor Delaney’ voice is easy and it helps Tyson keep his focus on what he needs to do to help and look after the child in his care.

Lights

Though he is most definitely a night owl when sleeping on a more regular schedule, Tyson takes great comforting in having light around him.

When trying to avoid the Colonel or escaping the police, Tyson keeps to the shadows to avoid detection, but even having a street light in his peripheral vision is incredibly soothing for Tyson. He doesn’t even need it to illuminate his area, just for it to be nearby.

He finds it much easier to sleep when there is a light on and he’s less likely to devolve into a panic attack if he wakes from a nightmare with some light around. Usually, this means that Tyson will put his phone on charge, on one of the shelves above his bed, and keep it locked open and bright.

He keeps a blue lamp in the bedroom cupboard of his apartment.

The walk in cupboard has several shelves and two racks to put clothes on. There is always a spare shelf encase anyone stays over. The clothes, shoes, bags, and accessories that Tyson keeps in his cupboard are here. Tyson uses the cupboard as a ‘den’ to hide himself away in when he has PTSD episodes. Tyson’s den was a place for him to retreat when he had episodes of PTSD or was just generally distressed. The floor is covered in pillows, quilts, and blankets and any other items in the cupboard are hidden behind large sheets that hang down from hooks in the ceiling. This is so that when he goes in there with an episode nothing he sees can trigger him because all he’ll be able to see was a white sheet. The only items in the cupboard that he doesn’t hide behind the sheets are a teddy-bear that used to belong to his mother, now deceased, and a lamp that emits soft blue light. The sliding door has a bolt lock on the inside.

For all his fear of fire, when he was on the run with Sebastian through Afghanistan, into Pakistan and then India, Tyson appreciated the light the fire provided much more than its heat. The light giving them away was always a risk, but with a Dakota Fire Pit, the flames were out of sight whilst providing a reassuring pool of light for Tyson to watch.

Spiders

Though Tyson isn’t afraid of spiders, he would really rather not to touch them.

That sentiment applies double to any verses where Tyson has cats - Kitten!Verse, Cat!Verse, & Redemption!Verse - who think spiders might be an appropriate gift to drop into Tyson’s hand.

He’ll comfortably put them in a glass and throw them outside, rarely choosing to kill them unless absolutely necessary.

That said, he hated the school assembly where spiders were brought out for them to hold. He wasn’t afraid of getting bitten by the tarantula, but Tyson hated the feeling of their legs shifting around on his palm.

His OCD hadn’t fully developed in those days, but Tyson was still compelled to scrub his hands to redness afterwards; losing most of his morning break to the sink rather than going out to play.

Cards

Playing cards against a mathematical prodigy isn’t the brightest idea.

Anyone that knows Tyson knows that he is a mathematician.

He doesn’t even have to try to card count, it comes naturally to him and he knows the laws of probability for each game.

This means you should absolutely never play cards against him, unless you want to lose all your money / clothing.

Do not play him at Poker, or Gin, or Rummy, BlackJack, or any other card game that involves / can involve stakes.

Snap is fine though, snap is safe.

Tyson is a fan of Trading Card Games/Collectable Card Games. He’ll infrequently play Hearthstone on his tablet to pass time, and Tyson will dabble in any new ones that appear in the digital store.

Tyson plays the Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokémon, and Magic of the Gathering card games with his nephew. James’ interest waxes and wanes for which card game he wants to play, but he usually leans more towards Yu-Gi-Oh.

Though he doesn’t personally believe they have any power, Tyson knows how to read tarot cards and has done so for several cons over the years. At times, to earn quick coins and at other times as a distraction for other members of the web to complete their part of the job.

In his Pokémon AU, Tyson makes sure to grab a trading card for every Pokémon that he has on his team. It’s part of his OCD within that universe, a compulsion he has to complete to avoid whatever catastrophic event he believes will happen otherwise. To that end, he keeps decks with every Pokémon at various safe houses so that he can easily swap out which cards are stashed away in the back of his Pokédex.

Efraim

In Hogwarts AU, Tyson has a male Tawny Owl affectionately named Efraim [אֶפְרָיִם], which means fruitful in Hebrew. Tyson named him this because he has a habit of stealing fruit from Tyson, usually small pieces of apple, making him ‘full of fruit’.

He’s a pretty affectionate bird and a reliable message deliverer for the young Hufflepuff. With Tyson’s Synesthesia, Efraim’s body is viewed in black and his bones a deep purple, but his feathers are viewed in a mix of green, yellow, and red.

Jethro took Tyson into Diagon Alley to get his owl when they were buying school supplies, with an escort from the Jewish wizarding community in Cambridge. Tyson had known the type of owl he wanted before going in, but he was open to anything so long as he liked the bird and it liked him back.

Now that Jethro has graduated, Tyson feels like he never gets any time to see Efraim, as the tawny owl is constantly off delivering or returning with letters between the two brothers or ferrying muggle books, essays, and homework between Tyson and his father.

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Owls

Tyson finds the uses of owls in folklore interesting, but mostly he just thinks that owls are neat.

There isn’t much beyond that. They’re interesting creatures and he remembers seeing a few during some of the hunts his uncle dragged Tyson and Jethro on.

Spotter

When Tyson served with the First Bangalore Pioneers, he did so as a strategist and service dog handler, before being the spotter to Sebastian Moran was added to his duties.

It would have been difficult for them not to bond honestly, with how closely they were working together; often off on their own missions away from the rest of the squadron to avoid having their position given away. There were plenty of times when it was only the two of them together, sent off under cover of darkness.

Though there was a lot of watching silently as still as stone to avoid detection, there were also moments when Sebastian and Tyson could trade quips and stories as they waited or marched to, or back from, their destination. Kisses stolen in secret, always a risk of getting caught even where they were hidden.

There was a lot of Tyson trying not to giggle at how silly it looked, carefully dribbling water down to Sebastian through a straw; because it was the middle of the day, in the middle of a hot summer, but Sebastian couldn’t risk messing up the shot he needed to take at any second.

Even in those quiet moments, hyper-aware and fearful of an enemy stumbling across their hiding spot, Tyson found solace in Sebastian’s company; and the great view of his arse that it provided when he sprawled out to take his shot. Running his hands over Sebastian’s broad shoulders to ‘soothe out of ache of the recoil’.

Less enjoyable was having to stare down a detached scope or binoculars to confirm each kill. Tyson admired the skill it took to shoot so accurately. He had to. It was that or acknowledge the guilt in his chest as his sights locked in on freshly spilt blood, and knowing how much was on Sebastian’s hands that reached out to caress his jaw for a victory kiss.

Dentist

He has never been worried about going to the dentist’s office. Tyson’s brother, on the other hand, is deeply afraid of dentists.

In all other moments, it was Jethro comforting his twitchy, anxiety-ridden baby brother or providing a distraction to let him hide. In the dentists’ room, however, it was Tyson holding his big brother’s hand and whispering reassurances in Hebrew whilst the dentist gave Jethro his check-ups.

This usually meant that Tyson ended up getting an extra sticker from the assistant for being so helpful and then an extra treat stolen from the kitchens from Jethro.

Pup and puppies

As Tyson is a stupidly loyal thing with floppy brown hair and bright eyes, it’s not all that surprising that Tyson has a talent for talking down other dogs who lash out in fear.

He’s always had a talent for handling dogs, but his experiences since his army days have given Tyson a new understanding of why the lashing out happens and how to better avoid that reaction, to talk a dog down from that fear.

His two most notible failures in that regard, Razor biting his right wrist and Lily biting his left shoulder, came from dogs lashing outde to heatstroke rather than fear.

Mom Friend

Though Tyson tends to lash out in fear, he definitely has a ‘mom friend’ override with his fears.

Any amount of social anxiety about being in a restaurant and ordering food is thrown out of the window the moment someone else is nervous about doing something: making an order, fetching more ketchup, et cetera.

It doesn’t matter how afraid he is of The Colonel, Tyson will calmly distract him to make sure that no one else gets caught in the crossfire or patiently talk a stranger through their escape route to get them to safety. 

Once Tyson is given a task, he has laser focus. It’s the same reaction that allows Tyson to go unflinchingly through London’s streets when he’s on a mission for the web. He has a task that is bigger than himself to focus on. More important than his zero percent self-worth.

Within Canon

Though it’s ultimately academic as Tyson exists in a world with (limited) magical influence and duplicate Moriartys, within the timeline of BBC Sherlock canon, Tyson technically becomes an AU after Series 2.

That said, elements of Series 3 and Series 4 exist within Tyson’s world.

On the rooftop of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Mischief earnt that nickname from his previous CCT. He faked his death with hyper-realistic blood packs and nanobots to ensure his vital signs were absent for any checks, should his clean-up team be delayed or his body intercepted before they could arrive.

Meanwhile, Sunshine was the one pulling the strings of the web to make sure Sherlock had to follow through with his half of the ‘deal’. Theoretically, Tyson was doing his part to make sure everything went to plan, but in truth, he was having his heart ripped out listening to John’s anguish.

Sherlock then went on to dismantle parts of the web, that is true. However, the Moriarty Mirrors viewed this more as a spring cleaning. They laid low for a while, protected what was essential, and allowed Holmes to tidy up anything that wasn’t clever enough to survive without linking back to them.

For now, with Sherlock’s return to London and notoriety, the Moriarty Mirrors are content to leave him alone to his own devices. If Sherlock is aware of their continued existences, he has also left them alone. Tyson doesn’t expect that peace to last indefinitely nor for the next round to end so bloodlessly.

Though John didn’t know that Sherlock lived before he returned, he knew that Moriarty was still around. Simply due to the fact that Tyson hadn’t fled London or committed suicide to escape The Colonel once more. Now that Sherlock is back, they’ve returned to pretend not to know who the other is talking about in relation to a maddening flatmate and an insufferable Irish boss.

Charles Augustus Magnussen is alive and occasionally has dealings with the Moriarty Mirrors, but the events of Series 3 around Sherlock have not happened yet in Tyson’s timeline; and aren’t ever likely to. The Moriarty Mirrors would not take kindly to him poking their consulting curiosity.

Though Mary Morstan exists, in Tyson’s main universe Mary is not currently married to John Watson; who moved back into 221B Baker Street a few months after Sherlock’s return to London. Tyson won’t even pretend to know the current dynamic of their on and off again relationship, but he can say with certainty that John doesn’t have a child with Mary.

However, John does have a beagle called Toby, previously called Gladstone at the shelter. He was adopted as a way to help John grieve after Sherlock ‘died’ and has since started working with Sherlock during his detective cases; having already received some training from Tyson during that year where Tyson could pretend that he and John weren’t still on opposite sides and could see his former brother in arms a little more frequently.

If she exists, Tyson has never heard of Eurus Holmes and the Moriarty Mirrors have never mentioned her either. It wouldn’t have been the first time they had kept secrets from him, especially concerned their obsession with Holmes, but to date, there is no reason for Tyson to know of Eurus.

Tyson Delaney

UNIVERAL TRUTHS

• Birthname: Tyson Delaney (טייסון דילייני)
• Blood Type: O Positive
• Date of Birth: October 21st 1981 – Libra – Rooster (Metal/Gold)
• DnD Alignment: Lawful Neutral
• Dominant Hand: Right
• Ethnicity: Jew, Ashkenazi / White, British
• Myers Briggs Type: ISTJ-A | The Logistician
• Orientation: Romantically Bi, Sexually Gay, Polyamorous
• Religion: Non-Observant Jewish
• Signature:

FAVOURITE

• Favourite Animal: Dog
• Favourite Author: Terry Pratchett
• Favourite Colour: Red
• Favourite Film: Scarface (1983)
• Favourite Food: Rice
• Favourite Plant: Cosmos atrosanguineus
• Favourite Poem: A Gamble With Death - Tim Vallie

VERSE DEPENDANT

• Avatar Element: Earth
• His Dark Material’s Dæmon: Belgian Malinois
• Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff
• Hybrid!Verse Pairing: Roe Deer
• Mass Effect Species: Human Biotic L3-R
• Pokémon Team: A rotation of Pokémon from his squadron.

Colour Tyson’s Synesthesia Projects Onto Them: