#cyrus poppyfield

[techmomma]

momo:

momo: what flavor? tb: smoothie.

[techmomma]

Tiberius always was good at finding weak spots.

[techmomma]

Maybe one of the sadder things, in kind of a dark mirror of each other, between TB and the Twins, is they both remember innacurate versions of the parent they idolize--while the other remembers the accurate version. That is, TB thought his mother was the good parent and his father was the bad parent, and the Twins think their father was the good parent and their mother was the bad parent--and both are wrong. (While all three would agree that yes, the Twins were the golden children, tho TB is probably more accurate as to why that is.)

Meanwhile the only sibling who had an accurate read of both parents was Virginia, and well. She dead.

The Twins have very forcibly forgotten that their father beat them all. I wouldn't say he hurt them wantonly, if there can be un-wanton physical abuse, but you know. He had hands and a belt and he made use of that from time to time. TB remembers tho.

But TB's forcibly forgotten that their mother was often cold, judging, and frequently enabled their father's mistreatment, either outright, subtly, or turning a blind eye to her children's struggles and differences (and neurodivergent needs) for the sake of "keeping the family together" or maintaining appearances, or frankly, because she didn't want to be beat. So sometimes she let her children take the fall or throw them under the bus, especially if she felt it might be justified in some way, if the children had been naughty. And the Twins do remember that.

It's part of why they can't reconcile; they remember very different childhoods, and neither really understands or sympathizes with the other. I would argue that TB, being the one who stood out the most and was the farthest from heteronormative (that their parents saw) did get the shortest straw, and probably had the roughest time; he certainly didn't get the same kind of help the other three did. But all four siblings did actually suffer immensely, but he's only willing to acknowledge his sister's treatment. (And he's certainly not willing to acknowledge the ways he and Virginia perpetuated further pain themselves, or how being golden children fucks you up almost as much as being the hated child.)

[techmomma]

wow!! art!! for the first time in like forever!! hopefully this answers some questions for those who've been like "what the FUCK is going on here??" :> (it did not, steph)

if any of the text is hard to read, here it is as follows:

Tiberius, the Fire Demon Ajax & Cyrus, Unbound Demons il Mago The Warlock of the Waste Pelagosa, the Apprentice Nizar, the Cursed The Wolf, a Wolf

[techmomma]

tbh just make a deal with them, they're barely literate so any contract you make will end up better for you than it will for them.

[techmomma]

Do you like tf2? Do you think there was untapped comedic potential between the Mann brothers? Have you literally never thought that but like to see old white guys stab each other?

Well have I got the ocs for you!!

My boys, the Poppyfield siblings! The twins Ajax and Cyrus! Their older brother, Tiberius!

Ajax and Cyrus are two old white guys who've gotten everything they've ever wanted handed to them on a silver platter with little to no repercussions ever! The only thing they've never gotten and will never admit to wanting is love! That not even Tiberius will give them!

Bonus facts!

They are functionally the same oc! Because I am unoriginal and I think that's hilarious!

Got beat in a spelling bee by a garden hose!

They're worse versions of Grunkle Stan! Somehow!

Hate each other almost as much as Tiberius hates them!

And worst of all, they're from Yorkshire!

Tiberius is their gay older brother! He's flamboyant! He's sadistic! He's every queer-coded disney villain who's ever served cunt! He will stab as a warning!

Bonus facts!

If you thought their dad hated Ajax and Cyrus wait till you hear about his queer son Tiberius!

Shortest older sibling syndrome!

Guess where he got those scars! That's right, gang violence!

He's also a Yorkie! But you'd never know it!

Knows his great-nephews' and great-nieces' names better than Ajax and Cyrus do!

So if you like to see intergenerational trauma, dysfunctional British families, and toxic sibling shenanigans, then come on down and watch my blog where you'll get an art post with them every century or two! Get it fast while the deals are hot--I will literally always talk about them! To your regret! <3

[techmomma]

What kind of birds would your OCs be?

OH WHAT A WONDERFUL QUESTION

TB is, obviously, a peacock. I always like to imagine him as a pied peacock.

Ed would probably be a red-tailed hawk or a chickadee.

Momo, when not a (regular) peacock like his grandpa, is probably a bearded vulture or a shaheen falcon.

Pel is a great frigatebird

Calliope is a southern royal albatross

the twins are scraggly eternally molting ugly peacocks

Thanks for asking!! I love questions like this!!

[techmomma]

A brain tickler for you. Imagine the twins got born first, followed by TB and then Virgie. Reverse the ages. Does anything change in how their relationships develop?

Absolutely nothing save for the twins somehow becoming even more insufferable as not only the two straight boys but the oldest siblings. Virgie was the one who took care of the three of them and they were lucky for it because she has a brain. The twins would never have been able to make the same social calculations she did. Would they have gotten great jobs with almost everything handed to them still? Probably. But it'd be more middling-to-blue collar income if they didn't just take their dad's job.

TB and Virgie probably estrange themselves at the soonest possible instance after 17. TB would have likely stayed with the gang he usually manages to leave. So no scar, but if he survives past 25 it'll be a miracle.

So twins become even more like carbon copies of their fathers. Virgie might get to run away with the wife she always wanted. TB probably ends up the unfortunate deceased sibling that the family treat as a black sheep, was always a bit of a queer one, that, was such a sad end to the boy. Had so much ahead of him and squandered it, they'd say, after getting mixed in with the wrong crowd. Shame, that boy.

Without Virgie and TB in their lives, the twins almost undoubtedly off each other in an attempted murder-suicide sometimes in or after middle age. The difference being that they succeed without any more safety nets to keep them alive or siblings to even half-heartedly try to keep them from killing each other.

Virgie, in the end, is the only one to survive that generation, in a little relationship with another woman, entirely estranged from her family and the twins' children. The only survivor of your average, abusive family caught in the cycle of poverty. TB is but a footnote in a family album, forgotten after only a generation or two. A passing story, a name, recited between other, more important people who've already passed on.

Long story short, somehow the twins being the youngest siblings was the best outcome, for everyone.