#i think i was a little more lenient with tommy

[anartisticdreamer0]

i have been reminded of how i love and loathe c!bedrock bros.

i will now talk about it for a while

I think especially when rewatching their argument during doomsday you really hear both of their sides and realize: “oh, oh if only” tommy is just kinda bad at articulating his point while techno literally refuses to even try and listen to it because as far as he sees it, it doesn’t matter.

in c!techno’s mind, c!tommy’s point doesn’t matter because it sympathizes with the people who have hurt him and gone against him multiple times. which is a valid stance. it just sucks that he refuses to really think about why tommy would want to be with L’manburg.

now, i shall now comment on c!tommy. he was in a position where really his only option had been to work with c!techno. but as soon as he was presented with another option he took it, why? because he realized he isn’t happy. do i think that he made a good decision? no, but i understand it. he didn’t want to betray techno, he just wasn’t happy. now, granted, we know as an audience that this decision won’t make him happy either, but he doesn’t. and as such he picks what is familiar and what has only failed to make him feel worthy once.

i also really love that there is this moment between them where tommy is unsure about destroying l’manburg and so techno says “you don’t have to help me” (not a direct quote but basically he says that). and when the betrayal happens in the community house he brings it up saying that perhaps he didn’t make himself clear, “when i said you don’t have to help me, i meant you could sit it out! not switch sides!” but here’s the thing. hadn’t, by that point, tommy already helped? like short of spawning the withers and attacking his former countrymen, he basically helped techno prepare for this attack. (of course help is a strong word but they did do most of it together) they got techno’s weapons and armor terrorizing the country along the way, they found and bred the dogs that would later make up the hound army, they did all sorts of things to prepare to attack l’manburg. tommy had already helped! so really what good does it mean if he were to “sit it out” he already helped you do most of the damage!

“i’m worst than everyone i didn’t want to be.” now THAT is a statement. a statement no one really talks about. when he was exiled he was compared to the country’s og founder turned terrorist and was upset by this, we can assume he definitely doesn’t want to be dream after everything and yet he says he’s worst than at least both of those people. you know i would love to ask him “how?” because how does he see himself as worst than an actual traitor terrorist that blew up the entire country and his own fucking abuser. makes you think

he even apologizes for betraying techno after admitting that he knows what he’s done and he hates himself for all that he’s done.

now, back to c!techno, before tumblr silences me, immediately following tommy’s betrayal c!dream (who we know had orchestrated this entire thing by blowing up the ch then blaming it on c!tommy) starts berating c!tubbo. and c!techno? who could use this distraction to escape? stays and even joins in. as much as i love c!bedrock bros, this why i loathe the c! part of it. because c!techno’s biggest flaw in this relationship is that he doesn’t see c!tommy or c!tubbo as kids. he sees them as adults or at least the equivalent of adults, which means he treats them the same way and he holds them to the same standards. he in a different stream comments that tommy had to have deserved exile because that is the consequences of his actions. that of course he deserves it after all the problems he’s caused. (unfortunately with the way this conversation is worded it’s hard to tell if the in character or ooc but still) which admittedly is both deserved also a flaw of every adult character on this server.

you know, actually, the more i watch the beginning of the bedrock bros arc- techno really lays it on heavy on them teaming up. like tommy is straight up walking away saying “no i’ll get my discs back myself” and techno keeps convincing him until it works. even saying they don’t need to be friends that it isn’t an option. “you’ll help me destroy the government” “i won’t help you destroy the government but you’ll- you’ll let me-“ “tell you what we’ll do some terrorism from where the government- you know what tommy we’ll work out the details on the way.” this was never going to work. tommy definitely didn’t want to go as far as techno wanted to go and that alone destined this friendship for failure.

to conclude, c!tommy is a traumatized character who absolutely refuses to deal with his issues until the worst possible time and then makes it everyone else’s problem. while c!techno struggles to see any pov outside of his own and presents their alliance under false pretenses and with soured feelings towards tommy. their friendship is one of tragedy as it was never going to work, but they do care about each other. and they will continue to until the server’s end.

[thewordypeach]

Flesh Without Blood

Flesh without Blood (Forbidden Fruit)

pairing: Joel Miller x fem!reader, Tommy Miller x fem!reader word count: 5.6k warnings: 18+, smut!, no use of y/n, incest (stepsibling!!!), threesome, oral (f and m receiving), unprotected penetration x2, little bit of voyeurism, maybe some cuckold, mentions of punishment, implied rape, slight uncaring/cold-hearted... summary: There’s something beneath the surface, something that has been waiting to be unleashed. Something dark and feral. author's note: hello, this is my third story I've posted! and oooof, yeah... it is incest. but between stepsiblings (as if that makes it better??!?) i couldn't help myself okay! i know you want to be sandwiched between Tommy and Joel Miller as much as i do. also, i am sorry that the summary sucks - i'm not very good at them lol. umm, anyways, i hope you enjoy because i might have another incest-y story in the works... ;) xoxo the wordy peach <3

Joel Miller’s rough exterior speaks to the life of survival the three of you’ve endured since the cordyceps outbreak. You watch as his chest expands and his shoulders pull back, making his already physically imposing body even more domineering than before. His face, rugged and weathered, twists into a scowl. Meanwhile, Tommy Miller’s exterior is merciful, exuding a softer, more lenient temper. His body language is casual. Less rigid. But his face is stricken with disappointment.

“I’ll give you a cut of whatever I make!” The contrast between the brothers makes you nervous, and you slowly start backing away. A sense of urgency makes you blurt out a new, better offer, “Whatever I make, I’ll give you a quarter - no! Half!”

Joel remains stoically hardened, but Tommy gives a disarming smile and barks a laugh, “What the hell are we going to do with the money?”

You shrug, “Buy some more guns?”

Tommy laughs again, and his entire face lights up. Tommy’s laid-back nature has always made him the easygoing of the two brothers, and even now, as they confront you about your secret business dealings, he seems to trust that you aren’t a threat. You might be slightly stupid, but you certainly aren’t dangerous.

“Oh, Nic,” Tommy shakes his head, and his face darkens as he approaches you. The sudden change in his demeanour makes you confused, and your body stills, becoming rigid and tense. His hand is quick, clamping down around your throat. Your breath hitches, and you reach up, grabbing his wrist. His hold on you is firm, and you struggle to remove his steellike grip.

“You think we’re fucking stupid?” He hisses, voice full of venom. He doesn’t squeeze, but his fingers flex around your throat, sending the message that he could easily choke you out. Your eyes dart to Joel, who isn’t stopping any of this - in fact, it looks like Joel is enjoying it. 

“Don’t look at him - look at me,” Tommy barks, “I’m the one who has you by the throat,” 

Your eyes snap to Tommy, and you squirm, trying to step back. Tommy glares, spitting out, “Never thought you’d be the one who would betray the family, Nic,”

“I wasn’t -” You grunt, still trying to pry his hand off your throat. By a fraction, Tommy’s grip tightens. “I wasn’t trying to fucking betray you - I was trying to fucking leave this shit hole,” 

At the admission of your actual plan, Tommy stops. His face softens ever so slightly, and his eyes, once hard and emotionless, shift into concern. His brows knit together, and he whispers, “Leave?”

You nod, eyes still panicked as they peer at Tommy. You know he’s the one you want to be bargaining with, but it’s still hard to admit the truth to Tommy. You reply, “I-I-I’m joining the Fireflies,”

Confusion floods Tommy’s face, and he presses, “You need money for that?”

Momentarily, you feel bad. It wasn’t money that you were after, but rather, you were gathering supplies for a mission which just happened to belong to your stepbrothers. You shake your head and bite your lower lip, considering your words, before cautiously speaking, “I needed the supplies for a mission Marlene is sending me on,” 

“Oh, that’s fucking rich, Nic - stealing from your own brothers,”

“Tommy, no - it’s not like that,” You say, voice breaking in the process. Tommy shakes his head, and the muscles in his hand, still holding your throat, flex and shift. 

“Then what’s it like, Nic?” Tommy asks. He sounds hurt; however, his neck is corded with tension and his lips are twisted into a wryly sneer.

“I know neither of you wants me around,” Your voice quivers as you speak, the weight of past rejections and present isolations bearing down on your heart. You know deep down that Tommy and Joel Miller, your brothers only by marriage, have never entirely accepted you as one of their own. 

There has always been a palpable tension that never seems to dissipate; something is always simmering beneath the surface. And now, decades later, that same tension remains in a world ravaged by a deadly fungus. Tears gather in your eyes as you confront the bitter wound that has never fully healed. 

Tommy’s tongue clicks against his teeth, tsking in disapproval, “Poor little Nicky thinks we don’t want her around, Joel….” 

You shake your head, “Tommy - please, don’t,”

Tommy glances at his older brother, “What do you have to say about this, Joel? Do we want little Nicky around?”

From the expression on Joel��s face, you think he is being asked what he thought of the weather because it is so casual, so aloof. Completely unaffected. You watch as Joel’s mouth moves. His voice is cold and detached: “You know what, Tommy? She is stupid for thinking that we don’t want her around, considering all we’ve done for her….”

Joel casually walks over, his brown eyes staring blankly at you. That is until a strange look flickers across his face. It’s a warning - you’ve seen it before. Your stomach drops, and you’re suddenly desperate to escape this situation, so you try to bargain with them, “Just let me go, and we can pretend this never happened, okay?” 

Still holding your neck, Tommy sweeps his thumb along your jaw and strokes little circles into it. It’s almost comforting. His head tilts to the side, and he peers at you, eyes blazing. It’s the lapse of silence that has you panicking again. His face tips down, and he presses his nose into your cheek, his hot breath cascading across your skin. 

“Oh, Nic…” Tommy murmurs, his lips flush against your cheek, “I know it’s hard to believe, but everything we’ve done, we did it for you,”

The implication makes your skin crawl. Lips quivering, you ask, “What are you talking about?”

Tommy’s voice is taut, filled with annoyance, “Stupid bitch doesn’t even know how many men we’ve stopped from ripping her apart -” His hand has moved from your throat to your jaw, holding it tightly between his fingers. He’s gazing at you with expanded pupils. There’s something beneath the surface, something that has been waiting to be unleashed. Something dark and feral. 

That’s when Joel presses his body into your back, and you realize you aren’t going anywhere. Your stomach twists and floods with despair, body submitting to him instantly. With a taunting undertone, Joel says, “Oh, Nicky… how can we convince you that we want you around?”

Tommy disagrees, huffing out, “Speak for yourself, Joel - Nicky has always been a pain in my ass,”

“Tommy,” Joel warns. The energy has shifted. It’s no longer hostile, but something taboo between the two brothers is unfolding. Tommy’s mouth twitches, and he sighs, relenting as Joel recounts a memory: “Remember that one summer when she wore that tiny bikini and paraded her body all around the yard? Like some goddamn peacock.” 

Tommy licks his lips, smirking at the memory. A prickling sensation shoots up your spine, and alarms start going off in the back of your mind. Frantically, you glance around the room. You already know there isn’t a way out of here, and even if there were, Joel and Tommy would never let you go. 

With a gruff voice, Joel asks, “Tommy, how does it feel having your fantasy come true?” 

A dreadful expression crosses your face, but underneath, there’s curiosity as bewilderment floods through you. Thinking of the past and present, searching for the signs of their secret desire - can it really be true? Tommy mumbles, “It only took a decade for it to happen,”

You shake your head, refusing to believe such things, “N-no, no….”

Wickedly, Tommy grins, “What, Nic? Are you trying to tell me that you never thought of us this way?” He cocks his head to the side, entertained by the defiant glare you’re giving him. It reminds him of the times he spent teasing you as a teenager; he had fun bullying you in those days.  

Firmly, you state, “No, I haven’t.” You’re disgusted by his insinuation: “It’s wrong,”

Tommy scoffs, laughing, “So, you didn’t write in your diary about how badly you wanted Joel to take your virginity?”

You stop, eyes blinking with disbelief. Your jaw slackens, mouth opening in shock. Tommy loves this look - he loves how you’re pretending to be all innocent when you are just as dirty as he and Joel. 

“I never wrote that,” You lie. Tommy rolls his eyes and gives you a playful look before his eyes travel down, taking inventory of your body. A possessiveness settles on his face as he hungrily gazes at your chest. He knows you hate wearing a bra, and even now, he can tell you aren’t wearing one. It’s in how your tits bounce and your nipples, perky and erect, poke through the fabric.

Tommy can’t stop himself and just has to reach up and pinch one. The pain is sharp and quick, making you squeal in surprise. You try to twist away, body turning, but Joel’s hands cinch around your waist, and he holds you against his solid body. Your attempt to fight back is futile. Utterly useless. You try to think of ways out of this, but your mind is giving up, and your body is giving in; Joel touching you makes you realize that the infatuation you once felt for him has never really gone away. 

“I…I was young and stupid,” You hastily admit to the secret you’ve been harbouring for decades, “I … I thought it’d be hot to fuck one of you - can you blame me, though? Both of you were constantly bringing girls over to fuck -”

“Aw, Nicky. Were you jealous?” Tommy coos as his finger completes a circle or two around your nipple. The sensation is causing pressure to build in the crest of your crotch, and you hate yourself for it. It’s wrong, totally wrong -

“If I’m being honest, Nic… I was jealous of your little boyfriend - what was his name again? Gregory? Geoff?” 

Joel says, “Garret,”

“Ahh, yeah. Garret. He’s the one who popped your cherry,” Disappointment lines Tommy’s voice, and he pouts, jealous that it wasn’t him. Unhurried, Tommy drags a finger down, down, down and slips his hand underneath your shirt. You inhale sharply as Tommy’s hand dances across your stomach, tickling you. Goosebumps explode across your skin, and you struggle to remain indifferent, but his touch sends mixed signals to your brain. 

Teasingly, Tommy presses, “Whatever happened to Garret? Hmmm, Nic? What happened to him?” 

You bite your lip, trying to remember. Garret was your first boyfriend. Your first love. Or so, that’s what you thought. Teenage boys can be so fickle. “He… he broke my heart - cheated on me with some dumb whore,” 

“Do you regret him being your first? Do you wish it was Joel or me who took your precious little flower?” Tommy circles back to your old diary entry. You refuse to admit it, mouth clamping shut. But it’s the way your body presses into Joel’s body that gives your secret away. Intrigued, Tommy studies your subtle movement. He knows that you’ve always had something for Joel - after all, Joel is the protective older brother who’s reliable and stable. Always has been.

“Well, Nic…” Tommy’s voice fades off. His hand underneath your shirt trails up and cups your breast. It’s soft and pillowy, exactly how he imagined. His voice is low, but his intentions are evident as he speaks: “What if you got the best of both worlds? What if Joel and I take you….” 

He’s massaging your tit, kneading the plump flesh. He tweaks your nipple, softer this time, and a little gasp escapes from your throat, betraying you. Traderous sparks begin to envelop your body. Your breath hitches as you ask, “And what happens if I refuse?” 

You know you won’t be backing out of this because Tommy’s words are true. You’ve been lusting after Joel for years, and if the world hadn’t gone to total shit, you wouldn’t be standing here, considering Tommy’s insane offer. But in this post-apocalyptic world, nothing matters, not even the familial bonds you share with them. Your eyes shutter closed as you try to steady your breathing. The anticipation and nervousness are unbearable. 

“Nothing bad, if that’s what you’re wondering, darlin’...” Joel assures you in a calm, steady voice. His hands haven’t moved from their spot on your waist. The grip he has on you is gentle, reassuring. It's as if he’s trying to comfort you, and in some weird, fucked up way, it’s working. There’s no aggression or force in his touch, and the proximity of his body makes it hard for you to ignore the bulge pressing into your back. 

“Nothing bad?” You repeat. 

“Nothing bad,” Tommy and Joel say in unison. Their words soothe your nerves, but only a little. You take a deep breath, trying to settle your racing heart. You know that you can trust them and that they won’t hurt you. But still. The idea of being intimate with them is overwhelming - 

“Get on your knees -” Tommy instructs. 

Joel interjects, “Go slow, Tommy - we have all night with her,”

Tommy scowls, annoyed with his brother. However, you are already sliding down to the floor. A smug look flickers over Tommy’s face, and he unbuckles his belt and pulls down his jeans. To your surprise, he’s not wearing underwear, and his cock falls out. It’s big, and it points right at you. You peer at it, frozen in shock. You aren’t sure what you were expecting, but suddenly, you’re left wondering if Joel is also blessed with a gift of this size. Or maybe, Tommy is the one who lucked out in the genetics department -

“You’ve sucked a cock before, haven’t you, Nic?” Tommy asks as his fingers touch your chin and his thumb swipes across your lower lip, opening your mouth. You nod, and slowly, Tommy’s cock replaces his hand. He makes a soft hissing sound as your lips slide down his shaft.

“Fuck,” Tommy threads his fingers through your hair as you babble around his cock. It’s a bit too deep for your liking, but a switch gets flicked, and all you want to do is prove yourself - you want to prove to your brother that you can suck cock. You hold his hips and bob your head, working your tongue against his arousal. But apparently, it’s not enough for Tommy because he starts thrusting in and out of your mouth, his cock reaching a dangerous depth, which causes your eyes to swell with tears. 

“I’ve dreamt of this filthy little mouth,” Eyes narrowing into slits, Tommy completely immerses himself into the fantasy. He can’t believe you are here, on your knees, sucking his cock. Joel loves it too, admiring how well you are doing, but he doesn’t like how rough Tommy is - he’s practically yanking your head down his shaft, making you gag and sputter. However, you don’t seem fazed by it. 

Joel can’t help but wonder if you’re genuinely enjoying it, and he knows the answer lies between your thighs. He kneels, hand snaking around your stomach and shoving into the waistband of your pants. You let out a muffled gasp of surprise but continued to gag and sputter around Tommy’s cock. Joel’s fingers are slow, but they move with purpose, and he teasingly presses them into your panties. He whispers into your ear, “You’re so fucking wet… does sucking your brother’s cock turn you on that much?” 

He taunts your clit, fingers circling it but never quite touching it. You’re gasping for air, hot tears tracking down your cheeks. Tommy quickly wipes them away, a tender action that leaves you feeling cared for as he continues to fuck your face. Joel senses your discomfort and tells Tommy to ease off. 

“Fuck, just let me -” Tommy groans, a familiar ache in his balls. He’s so fucking close; the tension is becoming unbearable. However, Tommy has to resign himself because he still wants to fuck you, and hastily, Tommy removes his cock from your mouth, groaning as a trail of spit dangles between your mouth and the tip of his well-sucked cock.

You greedily suck the air back into your lungs, chest heaving. Your eyelids flutter as Joel continues to apply pressure through the fabric of your panties, but you need more. You need him inside. Daringly, you ask: “Can we move this to the bed?” 

Tommy and Joel share a look. It’s so quick that you almost miss it. Joel stands, lifting you in the process. He twirls you around, places his large hands on your hips, and kisses you like a man starved. Joel doesn’t give a damn that you had Tommy’s cock in your mouth because Joel has been waiting for this and doesn’t want to hold back. He gives it all to you, nipping and sucking your lower lip. When Joel’s tongue touches yours, you groan. 

As your heart thrums wildly inside your chest, liquid heat pools in your core. It’s so wrong that it’s right. Any morals you once had are long gone. They don’t exist anymore. Joel cups your ass, gripping the fleshy mounds. You gasp, and Joel smiles before his lips travel down your jaw, planting kisses down to your neck, where his teeth graze your collarbone. His hands move up and play with the hem of your shirt, and in one swift motion, he lifts it off your body and tosses it to the side. 

Joel’s mouth continues to travel downward, and he closes his mouth against your tit. He’s all teeth and tongue with continuous suction — meanwhile, his other hand twists and tweaks your other nipple between his thumb and finger. Little mewls spill forth from your mouth, and your hands are groping Joel’s bulge through his jeans, desperate to feel his cock. 

“Take your pants off, Joel,” You demand, and to your surprise, he obeys. Joel strips and tosses his clothes. Unlike his brother, Joel wears underwear with a humorous pattern of hearts. It’s quite the contrast to his imposing physical ruggedness. It makes you smile and giggle - Joel’s eyebrow lifts quizzically. You shake your head, and the next thing you know, Joel is helping you out of your pants and lowering you down to the mattress where Tommy is already lying, waiting. His clothes have already been discarded. 

“I want to taste you,” Joel murmurs. You watch as the slightest tinge of pink rises to his cheeks. It makes you giddy. Only in your dreams has Joel said such things. Joel hovers, pushing your thighs open with his palms, kneeling between them, sliding lower and lower. He hooks a finger on your panties and glides them off your hips; they join the rest of the forgotten clothes in the room. 

Joel marvels at your glistening pussy that’s so swollen from having been kept in a state of anticipation. His fingertips sink so easily into your folds, parting them and gliding his digits through the slickness of arousal seeping out. Your head tilts back, eyes closing from the pleasure steadily streaming through your body. Joel lowers his face, inhaling your tantalizing scent, which unleashes a throaty moan from his chest. He’s gentle when carving a path through your arousal with his tongue, noting how your thighs twitch ever so slightly when he glides over your throbbing clit. 

“Mmm, how does she taste, Joel?” Tommy asks, voice breaking through the silence between the three of you—Joel answers by grunting. He’s a man of few words, even now. The vibration makes you clench and groan as your hands thread themselves through Joel’s hair because you need something to hold onto. His tongue circles your clit before licking downward and dipping into your wet hole. 

You hiss at the intrusion, “Fuck, Joel,” Never fucking ever did you think your brother would be this fucking good at eating pussy -

“Joel has quite the tongue, doesn’t he, Nic?” Tommy hums as he shifts his body, lying down next to you. His mouth hovers above your shoulder, and his warm breath strews across your skin as he lowers to your breast, tongue flicking your nipple. You groan as your brain goes hazy at the dual pleasure that is coursing through your body.

You don’t know what to focus on: Joel, who is ravaging your pussy, eating it like it's his last meal on earth, or Tommy, who is manhandling your tits, biting, sucking, and marking his territory by breaking your skin’s capillaries. 

Your chest heaves, and your teeth sink into your cheek. Liquid heat blossoms in your core, and your fingers grip Joel’s hair, practically ripping it out as his tongue takes a long, broad stroke up to your clit. You gasp as he sucks it into his mouth, “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

“You like that, Nic? You like it when Joel sucks your clit?” Tommy has quite a filthy mouth on him, and you nod, eagerly agreeing with his statement.

“Need more, though,” You murmur, and you watch as Tommy’s eyebrows shoot up.

“Oh, yeah? Little Nicky needs more?” Tommy teases before instructing Joel to add a finger or two, and just like that, Joel’s middle finger is circling your tight, wet hole. Tapping at it, applying the lightest pressure before it sinks inside. You’re shifting continuously, trying to adjust and make room - you can't remember the last time someone penetrated you, and Joel’s finger is so thick.  

“Relax, Nicky,” Joel rasps out, “I’m not going to hurt you….”

You order yourself to relax, but Joel can tell it’s still too much for you because he has to hold down your hip, stilling it, with his other hand. Once more, Joel latches his mouth to your clit, and twirls bud tongue around it. When Joel adds a second digit, you give a half-yelp. And when Joel curls his fingers, hooking them inside, pressing against that sweet spongy spot, heat floods your body.

Your hips grind into his face, desperately wanting more - no - needing more. Joel knows you are close to releasing because your walls clench around his fingers, and your moans have become more frequent and erratic. You’re begging, pleading, to cum.

He closes his eyes and plunders his way through, lapping and sucking your every fold. He’s tuning you to a rhythm that has your hips rising to meet his pistoning fingers, and that’s when Joel hits that perfect combination, unleashing a wave that swells and rolls across your body. Your back arches off the mattress, squealing, “Oh, fucking hell, Joeeeeel-” 

Your core tightens, and your toes curl as bright lights burst across your shuttered eyelids. Sticky wetness pours out, covering Joel’s finger and mouth, but he doesn’t stop until you’re thrashing beneath him. Unable to take any more, you gently push him away; otherwise, you know he won’t be stopping anytime soon. 

Having denied his meal, Joel gives you a sullen look with pouty lips that glisten with your nectar. You shudder at the sight and reach for Joel’s body because you need him and his cock. You tug off his boxers, springing free a heavy and lengthy cock, similar to Tommy’s. At the sight of pre-cum dribbling down from his slit, your mouth waters. 

“Like what you see, Nic?” Joel rasps as his hand reaches down, closing his fist around it. He pumps it once, twice, and you swear, it’s bigger than before. Your eyes widen, thinking it’s too big - this is something you haven’t considered before. Your past partners definitely did not measure up to what your brothers are packing. 

“It’s so big….” Your voice trails off, heat blossoming across your cheeks. You feel silly for asking, “Is it even going to fit?”

Joel smirks, “Oh, darlin’... that’s why Tommy goes first -” 

“That’s fucking right,” Tommy growls. Suddenly, Tommy’s hands groped your body, pulling you up the mattress so you’re in its center. Joel sees your disappointment. He knows you want him to be the first, but Joel and Tommy prefer it this way. It’s not only better for them, but it’s also better for you. Tommy’s cock is the perfect starter. Meanwhile, Joel’s cock is the perfect finisher. 

Tommy looks elated as he positions himself between your thighs, cock in his hand as he nudges it through your slick, wet folds. A deep, throaty moan spills out of his mouth, and he pushes his cock into your entrance. Your cunt is pliant now but still not loose enough, he comments, “Ah, what a tight fucking cunt you got, Nic,” 

It hurts, but it’s a good hurt. The type that makes you want more, and so you open your thighs, making room for Tommy. His body vibrates with tension, and he glides his cock forward, sinking into wetness with a sudden thrust. Your mouth falls open, “Shit, Tommy -”

“Fucking hell, Nicky,” He groans, rolling his hips back and snapping them forward as your velvety hole welcomes every inch of him. His throat bobs, sucking in a sharp breath, “Fucking better than I could’ve ever imaged,”

“Yeah?” You reply breathlessly. You hate to admit it, but dirty-talking Tommy is doing inexplicable things to your body and mind. You need to hear more; his encouragement alone could easily drive you to another orgasm. 

“Yeah, Nic - fucking perfect cunt,” Tommy drops his head against your shoulder, his cock nuzzled deep in your cunt. He’s trying to catch his breath, and he’s trying not to spill his entire load right then and there. But having you in this position, your walls suctioning all around him, is making him disintegrate. 

His stomach flexes, struggling to remain composed - fuck. The lack of pussy has him weak, skirting the edge of an orgasm all too soon. He’s barely even fucked you. He’s disappointed in himself. You feel Tommy’s embarrassment, and you wrap your arms around his torso, whispering into his ear, “C’mon, Tommy… don’t you want to make my pussy feel good?”

You start rocking your hips, needing more friction than what he can give. He hisses at the movement, body trembling against yours, “Fuck me, Tommy - fuck me,” Your legs shift around, locking Tommy in place as your pussy clenches around his cock, coaxing him to move. To do something. 

“You feel so good,” You lick and nip at his earlobe. He hisses in response, his hips slowly bucking to meet yours. He’s trudging forward, head hanging low, trying not to blow his entire load. 

“Mmm, do you like my pussy -”

“No more talking,” Tommy tries to quell you. Eyes closed, jaw straining, “You’re gonna make me cum, talking like that,”

Cockily, you continue to spew filth at him, “Oh, yeah, Tommy? Are you gonna cum in my pussy - are you gonna come in your sister’s pussy?”

Heart pumping wildly inside his chest, Tommy’s body seizes, and his orgasm punches through. A shaky groan, gritty and low, escapes from his chest. The room fills with ragged breathing as he ejaculates his sticky seed in your cunt. As his cock twitches and empties, Tommy shudders and gasps into your shoulder. 

His body presses against yours, needing momentary support as he wrestles with himself, feeling mortified at his lack of stamina. He used to go for hours; hell, girls would line up for a chance with Tommy fucking Miller. So, it takes him an extra moment to convince himself that this was just a one-off. 

“Next time?” He whispers, hoping - what is the likelihood you’ll be down for another round? You plant a tender kiss against his chin, hands sweeping across his sweaty temple, repeating, “Next time,”

His eyes, full of potential, snap to yours. He gives you a sheepish smile. You know you will want more after tonight because what else is there to do in this post-apocalyptic world?

Tommy moves, and as soon as he does, Joel is there to replace his brother. You barely have time to think before Joel is raising your knees, angling them apart.  Joel’s movements are quick and precise. He’s been restlessly watching you get fucked, and he’s relieved that Tommy only took five minutes because now, it’s his turn. Joel feels like he has been waiting his entire life for this moment; now, it’s here. It’s actually happening. 

A giddiness rushes over Joel, and his stomach flutters with anticipation as his eyes hungrily glaze over. He’s ready, so fucking ready to give you what you deserve. Teasingly, Joel glosses the tip of his cock past your poised entrance and rubs it against your delectable wet folds that have unmistakable evidence of Tommy. Your response is a throaty groan, watching Joel mix the precum leaking from his cock with Tommy’s leftovers.

You’re feeling lightheaded, dizzy with desire. Oh, how you’ve craved Joel. You spent decades yearning for him; you went far too long feeling like a depraved little slut for wanting to fuck your step-brother. Your perverted little fantasy is finally coming true - you have him right where you want.

Joel takes the plunge, his cock nudging into your cunt. It’s almost too much. Without Tommy’s cock to start you off, Joel would’ve never fit. You peek at the point of penetration; the sight is better than anything you dreamed of. Except his cock isn’t entirely inside - not even half. Joel definitely has an extra inch or two than Tommy. You wiggle and squirm, breathing out a scattered whimper that exudes impatience.

“Joel,” You mewl, hands groping his neck and chest. You need something to hold onto because he’s starting to push against the resistance. Joel grunts as your tight velvet walls keenly greet his cock, welcoming him inside. He doesn’t stop until he has bottomed out, cock buried to the hilt. Splitting and spreading you open, almost until a breaking point where you’re gasping at being so filled. He barely moves an inch, and your walls automatically clench, sealing around him. 

“Shit, Nic - Tommy’s right. Your cunt is so fucking tight,” Joel pulls out, and his hands slide to the small of your back, lifting into your body as he pushes back into molten wetness. He does this over and over, rubbing against the spot in your velvet channel. Your thighs tremble as a blissful pleasure travels up your spine. However, you ache for more friction. 

Noise pitches from the back of your throat, “Harder, Joel - fuck me harder,” 

And he does. He pushes your knees against your chest and tilts his hips, snapping forward with such force that you cry out, your nails digging into the side of his torso. In a matter of seconds, Joel’s thrusts have become exploratory - going from shallow to deep, reaching a point of no return as he plunders forward.

Your entire body begins pulsating, a feverish wave rolling through. A second climax is upon you, the throes of euphoria building inside your body as Joel swiftly continues, elated that he’s about to give you what you deserve. You are panting incoherent nonsense as Joel relentlessly drives his cock in and out, in and out. 

He slides a hand between your bodies, quickly finding your clit and tweaking it between his finger and thumb. Your pelvis canted upwards to meet his touch. Urgently, you gasp, needing more pressure because it’s insufficient. Joel, somehow an expert in your body, does precisely that.

Joel palms your clit, sending continuous shocks across your core, making it impossible to ignore the building pressure. When you hit the peak, it’s an endless stream of obscenities. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”

You thrash beneath him, thighs squeezing shut, but Joel rips them open. He charges his hips into yours, riding your orgasm out; he loves how your smooth walls flutter around his cock, milking him. Cock drenched with your juices, Joel plows, his thrusts becoming shallow and rough. He grabs your hips, trying to control them, but you continue to undulate beneath him, desperately trying to meet his rhythm because you want Joel to fill your cunt with his cum. 

“Fill my pussy, Joel, fill it -” You coax him, voice reedy, hitching on the last word. Joel’s eyes shuttered close, his lashes like dark half-moons against his skin. Your pussy is persistent, swallowing his cock without resistance now. 

A rush of ecstasy flits through Joel’s body, and within seconds, the tension of the coil is snapping. He loses control, and his strokes stutter out, cock surging with a powerful load of spunk that paints the inside of your cunt.

“Holy fuck, Nic,” Joel’s head snaps back, his throat shuddering as he tries to calm the carnal rush raging through his body. His cock twitches and convulses as it continues to empty weeks' worth of pent-up frustration. You marvel at the feeling of being stuffed with your brother’s warm seed, legs locking around his waist because you need every single drop. 

As it ends, Joel’s energy drains. The excitement has dulled into the tranquility of release. As he gently pulls out of the warmth, his movements are sluggish. You feel the remnants of your brother's love seeping out of your gaping, used hole. Your taboo appetite has been satiated, and you’re excited about the prospect of what will happen next time. You are thinking of taking both their cocks at the same time when Joel’s voice interrupts the daydream: “Still thinking of leaving us, Nic?”

You give a breathy giggle, "No, I'm thinking about what it feels like to fuck the both of you at the same time,"

[dykedvonte]

Ok so we know you love Benny (rightfully so, I mean look at the man) but do you have any thoughts on the other Chairmen? Swank and Tommy specifically?

I have so many thoughts on the Vegas families but even more on the Chairmen just because of how unique their position is.

Like to start off, I have mentioned and still fully believe the Chairmen are the most paranoid and distrusting of all of the Vegas families. You can get sucked into many personal dramas and plights when it comes to the other Vegas Families; Quest-lines that get you super involved with their inner workings and pasts, ergo, quest-lines like Beyond the Beef and How Little We Know. Other than the very little side quest we get from Tommy, where you don’t even out in a good word for the Aces Theater for the talent recruits, your very boxed out with the Chairmen.

While the other families are more curious and intrigued by the NCR and Legion tensions rising, House being killed and other things, the Chairmen are always paranoid, concerned and negative. They mention wanting to leave like in the old days but can’t drop the act. They don’t mention anything that isn’t in a way that relates back to them and it tells how little they wish to or do interact with those outside the family. Swank mentions how he doesn’t trust the other families and the sentiments are shared with Tommy who discourages you from seeing the other sights. They are probably not purposely isolating themselves but they keep to their own. I only think this is extrapolated by House favoring Benny as a successor and possibly more restrictions on them. They were the first family and likely the prototype of whatever is detailed in their contracts. House was not as lenient as he is now, taking Swank referring to House’s rules into account.

Specifically about Tommy and Swank is interesting. Tommy feels like he’s older to me, not like more mature but he’s been around to see how far the Boot-Riders changed into the Chairmen. He’s not like an old guy either but older than Swank and Benny. I like to think he’s a middle ground to Swank and Benny, where Benny is the idealist, Swank is the nihilist and he’s there realist. You gotta real with people when you work in entertainment. He has a keen eye and can tell when things aren’t right but doesn’t jump out of his lane, not without provocation that is. In relation to Benny, I think Tommy’s like a snide older brother type guy. He rips on Benny cause the guy is so obsessed with not being seen as a tribal anymore but Tommy of all people can see when someone is playing too much into a bit. Benny keeps him close cause he keeps him real.

Swank is described in universe by House as being dependable but unimaginative. I don’t think that’s fully the case but he isn’t the person to push things in my eyes either. He has complaints but he does what he’s asked of and is loyal. More of a “Are you sure” Man than a “Yes” Man. I don’t think he sees the best in the people around him but prefers to see them as static. I take this with how hard it is to convince him that Benny is a traitor and how he seems shocked you are so ready to kill him. Things run a certain why and it’s why he likes that. It’s why he’s so good a managing The Tops. He wants things to run smooth and easy and everyone to be having a time. He’s the type to struggle with a shift in change at first but then forget why when the new song and dance start to come naturally. He plays the part just like Benny but also reminds him of what they came from. He’s his most trusted advisor and friend keeps him in focus.

This is all personal opinion and just a quick run down of it. But I hope I answered at least some of what you asked:p

[modelbus]

ok ok WE NEED A CUT CHAOS PART 4 BDBDVZVZ

it’s not milking it if it’s what the people ask for…. This one is a bit different! It’s headcannons style of the other cc’s finding out what happened and such :D

Part 1

Pairing(s): cc!Ranboo, cc!Tubbo, cc!Wilbur and cc!Tommy x Fem!Reader (Platonic) Head Cannons of: Cc!Phil, Cc!Dream, Cc!Niki, and The Public (fans)

Cut Chaos Part 4

Phil

“You what?!”

Is overly concerned, ends up having a long lecture over communication and talking things out.

Even after multiple reassurances that everything is fine now, he’s very disappointed in Wilbur, Tubbo, Ranboo, and Tommy.

Ends up talking to Kristen about it later, he feels bad that he didn’t realize what was going on while it was happening.

He’s constantly on the lookout that things aren’t actually okay for weeks after that, then relaxes once he realizes you were being serious about it being okay now.

”That’s never happening again, to anyone.”

”It’s nobody’s fault. Just remember to follow basic internet rules and not trust everything we see. We’re literally content creators for fucks sake!”

Is more likely to be lenient on Ranboo, Tubbo, and Tommy but is just all Dad Mode Disappointed.

Dream

You’re the one to tell him, maybe with an offhand remark about hating rumors due to what happened. He pauses and goes, “wait, what?”

Wide-eyed the entire time you explain, this man cannot believe his ears.

”They did that? Really?”

Absolutely pissed on your behalf. Skips worrying and goes straight to muttering curses with a glare.

Deadass just doesn’t believe you when you say it’s okay now.

”Are you sure? Because that’s fucked. That’s really fucked. Good for you on resolving it, but… things don’t sound fine. That doesn’t just go away, right?”

Pushes you to talk to someone about it. A therapist, an animal, someone.

”I just can’t believe…”

He’s 100% blaming Wilbur, Ranboo, Tubbo, and Tommy. All of them. And the internet, for even spreading the rumor.

Posts a vague tweet in his private about disliking rumors being spread about content creators and how harmful it is.

Likes vague tweets then unlikes them.... mr. drama over here...

Niki

When Dream told you to talk to someone about it, you go to Niki.

She gets it, having experienced firsthand how horribly internet rumors can affect your life.

Out of everyone, she blames the internet the most for it.

Although she is still very disappointed in Wilbur, Tubbo, Tommy, and Ranboo.

”I would’ve expected better from them. I’m sure they didn’t even think about how it’d hurt you. And that’s so frustrating, right?”

Comforting <3

Playing cozy games together

”I’m an open door.”

Somehow it ends with you planning a trip to go hang out with her, although you’re not quite sure how

Also end up planning a stream??

The Public

After a while, after everyone is more comfortable and doesn’t feel absolutely shitty over what happened, it’s a little bit funny.

So there’s little quips in vlogs, streams, and videos that allude to what happened.

”I’m a ghost!” “Just don’t ghost me.”

”They’re talking about rumors, I swear—“ “Rumors, huh?” “…no.”

”Why am I back in videos now? ….don’t worry about it.”

It doesn’t take long for Twitter to realize what happened. The most popular theory is the correct one, leaving mixed opinions.

Most people are advocating to let things be, no matter what happened.

Some people, the mean ones, are saying they should’ve left you out for good.

A lot of your fans are upset at them, but take the cue from you and don’t cause a huge fuss.

Either way, it ends up trending for a little bit on Twitter. It’s slightly ironic to you.

Nobody addresses it to confirm/deny what went on, although when prompted through a donation Tommy says he "fucking loves" you in "a platonic way, chat. PLA-TON-IC!"

And when the Tik Tok fans find out…

incredibly dramatic

”Chaos squad is over guys D:"

Angsty edits

[lover-of-mine]

Don’t they realize Oliver was posting bucktaylor content at the PEAK of buddie 💀💀 but sure let’s blame Oliver. I think Oliver and ABC, abc has been more lenient on forcing the mains to “show support”. Otherwise; why has been Oliver silent about BuckTommy. Even after 7x04 when really no one disliked Tommy. Not even sharing the kiss. Nothing.

I mean, the way that Oliver logged in just to like that one video of the thumb moment and that was the only acknowledgment he gave to 710, I would say they are more lenient for sure. And like, I'm obsessed with the way for 704 he just shared the sunset picture with Ryan. He didn't share the kiss did he? He just shared some bi Buck art if I'm not wrong. He didn't even promote the interview he did with Lou. He does not care. He never did. Why are they acting like this is new behavior? Oliver did a whole interview with Lou and they barely talked bt and he looked like he was only there because his contract said so. And the way they are acting as if there's any way the show will pick anything that's not the thing that keeps Oliver comfortable if it comes down to a choice between the two is beyond delusional. Like? And like, sure, this is full conspiracy theory to say he's frustrated Buck is still in this particular relationship because he got told Buck was getting out of the hamster wheel and he understands Buck enough to know he's not, but it is a fucking power move to show up, like the most tender buddie moment and then dip. Oliver is the properly media trained one. He knows how that looks like even more when paired with his complete lack of enthusiasm about the relationship. And he did it anyway. And that after he shared those videos that showed Buck ripped Eddie's shirt and Eddie was the one pouring the liquor down Buck's throat. Oliver has been a buddie stan for a long time. Dude said he cries in the shower to edits. After saying he has read fanfiction. If he was even a little bit excited for this particular relationship as an aspect of Buck being bi, he would've been vocal about it. And the whole he's not doing it because the buddie people would be mean to Lou, when he said in an interview that he knows he was better received. Sure, he's not at Ryan levels of talking about buddie yet, but he is out there talking about them in a perpetual state of blushing. It's like they say, if he wanted to he would. They are taking he runs because he loves me too literally lol.

[sketchehm]

I think another way of people treating the world around then differently as c!dream is how people act about his role as admin. He has to intervent in conflict to solve them and make sure people follows the rules. But at least with l'manberg and c!tommy's situation people want him to take others roles. On l'manberg c!will wants him to take the role of the tyrant just for doing his job (aside of his actions on it) and the rest of the server that arent his allies wants him to just give up the rules and give it a pass. But they also kinda want him to be responsible to look for others bad habits too. Like how when it's point put ctommy's bad actions sometimes it's just tell "he's just a kid" and act as it's cdream's fault for not looking out for him like some guardian, or how some blamed him for c!wilbur taking his life when yeah cdream didnt help him much but his decision was only his. For c!dream his role it's to make people follow the rules and not created conflicts and that's all but some treat him like he's some sort of teacher or guardian

Hi!!

That's very true! Its how the other server members treat and receive Dream that they practically put his role as an admin/owner on a pedestal.

It's Dream being the owner that he has to have all this power. Him being genuinely kind to his server members in the beginning is completely overlooked solely by the joining of Wilbur when he puts Dream in this frame as something more than an equal. Because Dream had regarded himself as an equal to everyone else, he was no different to them. Just someone who had more a voice of reason compared to many of his friends.

It isn't that he didn't want his friends to fight because he's the owner, but because he didn't want anyone upset. He didn't want anything griefed because he didn't want anyone to genuinely be affected by the destruction. He didn't uphold his role because it's his job, but because he genuinely wanted everyone to have fun. People want Dream to let them be and do whatever chaotic nonsense they want, but Dream knows that not everyone has that same mindset and is better to keep a more relatively calmer atmosphere. Tommy being added to the bag, if anything, had allowed Dream to find different ways to work around destructive behavior. Dream banning Tommy, if anything, showed how Dream was not used to someone just listening to him and saw an immediate threat in that. This was someone outside of his circle and he recognized it, so he did start being more lenient to Tommy's behaviors and learning about them. Such as engaging in stealing the discs. And I really don't regard this as him taking his role of an owner for the betterment of his server, but as someone who is finding a new kind of fun with someone else on his server.

However, that is quick to take a turn when people aren't regarding him as a fellow player that you should also hear out and respect but as someone in the way of what they want. Power. Something that was never on the table and something that never was to be contested before.

So Dream had to stand his ground and say no. Because a fight for some silly discs in a back and forth during the beginning was just that, a back and forth. It wasn't until Wilbur was claiming he had the right to take and control the land L'manburg stood on that pushed too far. Because the land was for everyone. But once he did this, no one had ever saw Dream the same again. And almost vice-versa. Dream could never again see the others being destructive as a way of entertainment but as a way to go against him and his server. They could never really be equals ever again.

Dream had taken his role as owner to try and stomp out the one thing he was being accused of abusing throughout the server's lifetime. Power, hierarchy, tyranny. And isn't that an amazing paradox?

Dream had to provide to the server in every which way because he was the owner, not too little and not too much. But it was always too little or too much. He was no longer someone working alongside them, someone also trying to work out the same problems they were facing and experiencing. He was just someone above them who should already know the answers. And with that, others didn't want someone above them, so they aimed to bring him below them and take whatever Dream had claimed to power.

But all Dream wanted was to stand by them again.

Of course, this is all personally speaking!

[rogueddie]

SEASON 1 STEVE DEFENSE LEAGUE okay omg i've been thinking about this for ages and i haven't been able to talk about it to anyone but like - not only is s1 "king steve" not that bad, realistically how long was he even King Steve???? like, the writers and a lot of fandom will have you believe he was King Steve all four years but I find that VERY hard to believe. freshman year - i doubt any (bully) senior would have let a freshie try and take over the school the way steve supposedly had. MAYBE the ground work was laid, but i high doubt he was King Steve. sophomore year - probably the year he was given the title, though i still find it hard to believe (bully) seniors would be letting him take too many liberties. junior year - canon. literally the season starts in the very beginning of november, and high school in the US doesn't start until September. So like. two months maybe of King Steve, but that doesn't include any time he was trying to woo Nancy, where he would have likely been a little less douchey than normal? and then of course canon happens, stancy get together, and steve ditches his old friends. he's not king Steve for his junior year, because he had already made the decision that he wanted to change, and I doubt Nancy would have put up with that. he was probs still popular, but at all close to a bully. senior year - ALSO NOT KING STEVE?? like for real there is almost an entire year gap between s1 and s2, and King Steve gets replaced by Billy like a fucking month into the year. and then steve is REALLY likely not popular any more.

so like if we're trying to be really lenient, steve was king for two years AT MOST. but it's more likely that it was just one year. and god that doesn't really seem like a lot of time huh???? HUH FANDOM!! now we can let steve be a mean girl and bitchy all we want, but like high school bully King Steve was realistically only going for a year

See, I'd argue that a lot of the legwork for King Steve was made in middle school, probably for a year. And, I know the 80s and geek writers will have you believe otherwise, the way you get to the top is by being likeable. It makes it easier for people to turn a blind eye.

He's a good looking guy, he's charismatic, he was a ladies man, he probably already had a solid little group with Tommy, Carol and Nicole. Plus, Steve is shit at fighting. He's shit at arguing and he clearly hates when Tommy gets too cruel. He 100% got his King Steve status by being charming and nice and making friends.

He probably had a solid 2 years as King Steve. And then, in season 2, he still had his King status- even though he lost his social status in season 1? And then the way Robin describes King Steve, making it sound like he was an asshole bc he didn't notice her? Hmm 👀👀👀

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

just remembered the dream I had last night it was super cool. basically c!dream genuinely felt awful after c!tommy towered in exile like he was mad at him for leaving until he saw that but he took the wrong idea from it instead of not abusing people and leaving them alone if they want nothing to do with you he decides the problem is that he just was being too mean about it and too lenient.

so he ended up kidnapping c!tommy and continuing to mentally and physically abuse him like in exile while keeping him literally locked in a tiny cell and monitoring him 24/7 and being even more controlling but also being incredibly polite and constantly praising and complimenting c!tommy whenever he did anything “good” and apologising profusely after “having” to hurt him (and placing the blame on c!tommy for making him do it, though in a “it’s not your fault the outside world made it so i need to fix you” way), being very calm and trying to seem as rational as he could while explaining why c!tommy shouldn’t have autonomy and how he’d thank c!dream later, constantly lovebombing him with gifts, occasionally giving him minor autonomy (like, deciding what food he was going to have or a hobby to do sort of minor), generally not requiring much of him other than the codependent toxic bond, and having explicitly laid out and clear (but still unfair and blatantly dehumanising) rules that he stuck to very consistently, technically allowing c!tommy some respite… if he was basically an obedient little doll who never slipped up and did anything c!dream arbitrarily banned him from doing.

and when c!tommy predictably ends up desperately clinging onto c!dream's seeming “niceness” bc he’s severely traumatised and was literally conditioned into it c!dream fully believes he's helping c!tommy and he’s not being hurtful anymore while being completely oblivious as to how he’s completely destroying his self esteem, or that he’s only going along with his bizarre logic and reasons that only make sense to him because he’s too tired to fight against them, or how he tends to switch from erratic mood swings and lashing out to quiet obedient automaton mode to bring seemingly the perfect friend and desperately trying to appease c!dream by acting nothing like himself to literally hiding and crying due to utter unrestrained terror as his brain desperately tries to find a response that works with the danger and can’t. as far as he’s concerned as long as he’s able to hang out with c!tommy and he doesn’t hurt himself physically then he’s fine because he thinks that the game of happy families they play where c!dream pretends they have a normal life and c!tommy is willingly hanging out and playing games and stuff with him is genuine like he’s lied to himself so much he believes it, even though c!tommy is miserable.

[normalbrothers]

1, 3, 5 generally, 13 (about polly) for the salty fandom asks >:)

What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

i'd guess the main otps in this fandom are tommy/grace, tommy/lizzie and tommy/alfie - which i all understand. the former two are literally consummated relationships in the show and you can see how they got there and the latter is a good dynamic between two male characters (hdhdhd), and i'm interested in/fine with all of them as far as watching pb goes. there are couple of popular tropes/takes assigned to these relationships that i don't really agree with or find fitting for the characters, and they tend to bleed through in fic, so it's kind of a hit and miss often enough, but as far as canon goes, they are all fine to me (in the specific ways they exist, etc), so i do get them (to answer the question as directly as possible) though imho this is one of these questions where it also becomes obvious that pb fandom doesn't really have traditional fandom dynamics where there are several OTP corners/niches of either canon or non-canon relationships (that don't involve tommy, and there are a couple!) that you could argue about; everything is so oversaturated with oc or y/n fic that you don't really have this stuff naturally occur in greater measure. which is sad, honestly.

Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion

sure have! i've grown a little more "lenient" or open-minded or patient about stuff, so it's not something i tend to do right away anymore, but i think there are probably still a couple of opinions i'd unfollow someone for.

Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

"ruined" is a harsh word, but tommy/alfie isn't that interesting to me anymore: most fics are either Margate Fics(tm) or stuck in s2 or just complete aus that have little to do with the characters in the first place and often it's tommy being written as separate/isolated from the family which is always kind of boring to me: i need to know what's happening Over There ! i get why this happens, etc, but it's a shame, since the relationship actually went through a couple of canon developments that could be explored. (THOUGH i do have to say alfie has grown somewhat obnoxious to me in s5/s6, and i ended up not really liking his and tommy's scenes (they are *fine*, but i sort of think it was a mistake to have brought him back after s4 at all, and i think you can see that in these seasons, even if alfie's function is plausible). and that's not quite the fandom's fault, that's kind of on the show/writing to be fair)

Unpopular opinion about XXX character? (Polly)

she's either reduced to the girlboss matriarch who's badass and right about everything (boring) or diminished in her own arc (re: michael) or caricatively mischaracterized as a jealous harpy when it comes to tommy and gr/ace (yawn), and it's all so terrible and doesn't dignify the character at all there's a trend of her being deprived of the complexity she absolutely has in canon (literally thee female lead, and what for!!), when what makes her so good is that she's faulty and flawed and this compelling melting pot of conflicting and contradictory desires and wants and emotions and ambitions and trauma and hypocrisies; and it all plainly plays out for everyone to see! she's as multifaceted as tommy and arthur, and as good and bad, as sympathetic and as hard to like as either of them. obviously, her arc has been tragically cut short, but there's still plenty of it when revisting the show, and her impact is tangible: anyone who's watched s6 probably had that odd moment of going 'oh i know how polly would have felt about that/what polly would have done/said here', that's how good she was, a perfectly realized character potrayed by an extraordinary actress!

[amostimprobabledream]

You know, I've been rewatching Peaky lately and it's reignited my burning hatred for Grace, and yet another thing to detest about her occurred to me:

I never see people talk about this, but has anyone else noticed that she was always trying to separate Tommy from his family? Like, when she pulls the whole "please spare him my liege" shit with Campbell, she specifically asks that he spare Tommy, but never says a thing about Arthur or John or anyone else - she only wants Tommy spared because of her personal feelings (and if you're going to argue that she knew Campbell would never agree to sparing all of them - then she should have known from go that Campbell wanted to get Tommy the most. It's ridiculous she'd think he'd agree to sparing the one guy who has been routinely outwitting him but not his brothers, who are a lesser threat). Then at the end of the season, Polly outright says that Grace took the job because she thought the Shelby's were just "scum" that would be easy to get rid of, but when she "fell for Tommy for real", suddenly it wasn't about the job anymore and Grace doesn't deny she had this attitude or that she still does - Tommy is only the exception in her eyes because she fell in love with him, but the rest of his family aren't important.

AND THEN, when Tommy confronts her at the end of Season One, Grace doesn't even apologise and says he should run away with her - like she genuinely thought he'd agree to abandon his family, friends, city, business, etc, for the woman who stabbed him in the back and indirectly got Danny killed - you have to wonder if Tommy would have been so lenient with her if, say, Arthur or John was the one who had died. Or what about Ada? She was right there inbetween the Peaky Blinders and Billy Kimber's gang with baby Karl - would Tommy have been able to forgive Grace if his little sister died because of her intel? (Also she didn't even confess until Tommy and Polly worked it out anyway, then she cried about how "I've done a terrible thing", but it really came off more like a bratty child crying because they know they're going to be punished, not out of genuine remorse.) In Season Two she outright blames Tommy for the relationship not working out because he didn't run away with her, instead of...you know, her selling him out to his worst enemy?

And she doesn't think she did anything wrong or regrets her actions because she still got what she wanted - she even brags to Polly about how "I used to do this for a living" without a smidge of guilt, and Queen Polly puts her right in her fucking place when she tells Grace point blank that only Tommy has chosen to forgive Grace for what she did, the rest of the family haven't forgotten and if Grace pulled that shit again, Polly would kill her.

It's almost like Grace eventually realised Tommy won't and cannot be parted from his family so she had to get pregnant so he'd pick her over May and become the mother of his kid, thereby making herself family as well. (I know she claims it's thought she was infertile at first, but honestly, taking her at her word is a big ask when she's a known liar).

Honestly, I truly, 100% believe that if the screenwriters hadn't killed Grace off (and I think they did that because honestly once she became Tommy's Wife, there was nowhere else to take her character. She'd gotten Tommy as a prize after not being punished whatsoever for her actions and that kind of concluded her arc, especially since her character is so intrinsically connected to Campbell), I think the marriage would have eventually crumbled - the entire wedding just showed the huge divide between the Shelby's and Grace's family, especially since Tommy was still doing gangster business right under her nose the entire time (almost like he didn't trust her enough to tell her about it) and everyone in Tommy's family except for Arthur didn't seem to like Grace and were only pretending to tolerate her because they love Tommy. Once the mystique of being "the one who got away" wore off, I think eventually the realisation that they have nothing in common and the undercurrent of "can she really be trusted?" would have gotten to him eventually.

Say what you will about Lizzie but at least it's shown the family were fond of her even before she and Tommy got involved in Season 4, and May had a lot of potential from that scene with her and Esme or how Charlie outright shipped them - like when he made this point of telling Tommy to take May to The Garrison for a drink. If having Charlie's seal of approval isn't a big deal, idk what is.

[fluffallamaful]

Well, yeah — Dream was certainly a big figure, especially early on. But it wasn’t because he was King or anything: he was just Strong, and also one of the first ones there. In a lot of ways he was actually one of the most lenient characters on the server: he was always going for the option that would end with the least bloodshed.

Hell: even later on, he doesn’t really seem to know how to be cruel. He had Sam in his grasp, and he let him go to make a point about Getting Even over Exercising Vengeance. He chased down Quackity, but didn’t really seem to know what to do afterwards aside from say a whole lot of shit before running home and hiding in the prison for weeks. (Long enough for Tommy to go through a whole chest of bread.) (He was in such a hurry he didn’t even check to see if he was being followed, my boy.)

Like, even EXILE wasn’t an exercise of needless cruelty. Yeah, Tommy was traumatized, but pretty much all of Dream’s actions had logical explanations — Tommy was LOUD about wanting to kill Dream, so Dream made sure he didn’t have the means to do that a la burning his armor and tools before he could gain the necessary means to become a physical threat; Dream wanted the disc from Tubbo so that he could do the whole Staged Finale bit and get to thrown in Pandora, so Tommy wasn’t allowed to be near him while Dream tried to weasel it away; Having Tommy on his side would help him, so he was friendly in a half-hearted attempt to get him on his side (according to cc!Dream, if you believe in Word of God). Hell, he KNEW Tommy was with Techno and he DIDN’T CARE. Tommy wasn’t near Tubbo to mess with his plan to get the disc, and while not getting him on his side was a bit of a disappointment it ultimately wasn’t his main goal so he let it be.

most of his cruelness just ends up coming down to him overestimating everyone :( but also from wanting revenge. like i feel like he never really acted cruelly unless it was for revenge or for self preservation? it wasn’t really with malicious intent, but his overestimation for people always made his revenge far more traumatic for the recipient than i think he realised

for the quackity thing i think he definitely had a plan. like the plan was to have purpled turn on quackity,, but i also suspect that it was probably because he feared quackity a little. there was a cool moment where their characters were scared of each other and i enjoyed. i wish we got to know what the prison decorations ended up being for. or why it was that dream actually hid in prison for that long

[mischievouslittlecreature]

Thank you so much, Brummie! Eek, things are starting to ramp up! 🫣

Lucy very much uses her gender and the way it causes people to underestimate her to her advantage. And I very much leaned into that with Luca. He simply doesn't take her seriously, especially adding on her small size and everything as well, she just doesn't appear as a legitimate threat.

Lizzie is such a hot mess 😅. Lucy tries so hard to give her the benefit of the doubt, because she very badly wants to be her friend. And at some level I think Lizzie actually does want to be friends with Lucy. Lucy's always been warm and welcoming to her and has never used her past against her. But she gets so swept up in her jealousy at times that she can't stop herself from being cruel towards her. And Lucy feels so guilty about the whole thing that often she'll just lie down and take it because she thinks on some level she deserves it.

They very much only show their deepest insecurities towards each other. They're the other's safe space where they can do so without judgement!

Tommy definitely knows there's something up with Michael. He just tends to be a bit or lenient with the rest of the family than Lucy. She can sometimes be overly harsh towards them, particularly when they don't show complete loyalty or competency (though she is of course 100% right about Michael this time).

One of the big themes of this whole series is the parallel experiences/traumas that Tommy and Lucy both live through. They are the same person in a lot of aspects. So her mom also dying by suicide felt like another way to further tie them together. Poor Genevieve, though. I hope to use her more in some AUs because I love her.

They deserve a lovely little holiday (but will I actually give it to them...? 😈).

Thank you as always for reading and leaving such wonderful, thoughtful comments, love! 🖤🖤🖤

Part 21: The Shadow of the Abattoir

Fandom: Peaky Blinders

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x OC

Summary: Lucy begins to worry over the intentions of a member of the family, and receives some sorrowful news.

Word Count: 6,376

Notes: Warnings for depictions of jealousy, minor sexual content, violence, blood, and references to minor character death, depression, and suicide.

Previous Chapter • Series • Fic • Next Chapter

Chapter 13: Traitor

“He was never the brightest. Or the most competent. But…he was such a good boy,” Audrey Changretta’s fingers clutched at her handkerchief. Just from looking at her, one would not have been able to tell that she had been crying just moments ago. Her eyes were dry, face as hard and as immovable as stone.

Luca rested a hand on his mother’s knee. “I know, Ma. I know. He was.”

He thought of his cousin, running rampant with them down the streets. Playing on the floor in his father’s living room when they were little. Of his wedding day, and how he’d smiled so nervously at Luca while he adjusted Alessio’s suit jacket for him. 

All gone.

They would not even be able to have a proper burial for him. Nor his wife or the two men who’d been guarding them. No open casket would be possible considering that the fucking heads of the deceased had been misplaced. 

His fingers tightened around the toothpick held between them. Fucking Shelby.

“It was her,” his mother said, lips thinning into a straight red slash across her mouth. “That red bitch. Shelby’s little whore. I know it in my bones.”

Luca shook his head. “It’s more likely that it was those savages from the mountains that Shelby has hired to do his dirty work for him.”

His mother shot him a glare. “You aren’t listening to me about her, Luca.”

He took a deep breath, reminding himself to be patient with her. Already she’d had to mourn a husband and a son. And now a nephew. How much more pain and loss would their family be forced to endure before it was enough?  

Deep down, he knew: as much as it took to put Thomas Shelby in the fucking ground.

“Winters is small. I doubt that she has the physical ability to kill and decapitate four fully grown people like that. Besides,” he added when his mother pursed her lips, “she never leaves Shelby’s side.”

“Your refusal to consider her a serious threat will be your downfall, Luca,” his mother warned in a tone of voice that reminded him eerily of being scolded in his childhood.

Luca chuckled to hide his annoyance. “I just find it hard to believe that one little girl could cause so many problems,” he put the toothpick between his teeth. “And if she does, we’ll mow her down like all the rest. I am being meticulous, Mother. You don’t need to worry.” Standing, he shoved his hands into his pockets while he approached the window. “You yourself told me that decapitation was never really part of Winters’s repertoire anyway.”

“She could be changing things up on purpose. As a way to trick you into not considering her a legitimate threat. She’s cunning, that one. Like a fox.”

Luca just hummed to let her know he’d heard her, peering out the window. It was raining again.

“Well, whoever it was, it’ll be taken care of. I promise. Alessio will not go unavenged.”

The clock on the mantle chimed, and he sighed.

“I have to go speak with Matteo,” returning to his mother’s side, he bent to kiss her on the cheek. But before departing from the room, he hesitated.

“There’s someone else. A secretary working for Shelby. Lizzie Stark. I remember Angel mentioning her in his letters. I was wondering if you know of anything that would be useful there. A grievance over Angel’s death that we could use, perhaps…” 

His mother’s face had gone dark. “No,” she said sharply with a bitter scoff. “No, you won’t be getting anything from that harlot. She’s loyal to the Shelbys. Always has been.”

Luca frowned. His impression from Angel’s letters had been that he and the Stark woman had been deeply in love. It had surprised him that she was still working for Shelby at all, after what he and his brothers had done to Angel. He’d hoped that she perhaps was looking for her own chance to take revenge on them. Or maybe was simply trapped into employment for Shelby due to economic reasons. That she could be truly loyal in her heart to him was…disappointing. 

The idea that his brother’s love for her may have been unrequited filled him with both sorrow and rage. As if she could do better than Angel Changretta. Had she misled him on purpose? Lured him into a relationship with her to give the Shelbys an excuse to come after him?

His teeth grinded against the toothpick with his thoughts. For a moment, he considered whether or not it would be worth it to pay the Stark woman a little visit. Probably not, in the larger scheme of things. At least not right now. But maybe after…once all the Shelbys were gone and their domain belonged to him…he and Miss. Stark could have a little chat about the way she’d behaved regarding his little brother. 

“Pity,” he said with a shrug. “But…there are still others in this city with hate in their hearts for the Shelbys that we can use.”

∗ ∗ ∗ 

“Well,” Lucy said, waiting until Mrs. Ross had left the office before speaking, “that may have just been the most obvious set-up for an ambush that I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Tommy made a sound of agreement, index and thumb rubbing together as he watched the door that Mrs. Ross had disappeared through, frowning. “Unless it’s intended to be that obvious.”

She leaned back, the leather in the chair creaking beneath her. “Why would Luca do that? If we all think it’s a set-up for Arthur, everyone will be near Mrs. Ross’s. Unless he were going to try to get the women during that time…”

“Or Michael.”

“Michael has guards.”

Tommy shrugged. “I think that you’ve proved quite soundly that guards can only do so much, love.”

“Mm,” she stifled a small smile. “Fair.” Her head cocked as she watched him, still staring at the door, mind working a mile a minute behind those pretty blue eyes. “What do you want to do?”

He finally turned his gaze to her. “I say we take the bait. See what Luca has in store for us,” he raised an eyebrow. “You think that you would be up for shooting some more people?”

She failed to stifle her smile, rising up out of her seat and stepping around the desk to him, setting her cigarette down in the ashtray. Tommy chuckled when she pushed him back lightly so that she could settle herself on his lap. 

“What do you think?” she asked with a cheeky grin, curling her arms around his shoulders. Tommy’s laugh rumbled in his chest, face tiling up to meet her kiss. His strong hands smoothed up her back, rubbing along her shoulder blades.

The door to the office opened suddenly, without even a courtesy knock in warning before it was wrenched harshly ajar. They both jerked apart hastily. While their relationship was no longer a secret as it had been during his marriage to Grace and the first couple of years spent together, they still preferred their privacy when it came to more intimate moments.

But it was just Lizzie, a mountain of papers clutched in her arms. Grateful that it wasn’t a client or someone else less familiar with their relationship, Lucy just shifted herself so that she was sitting across Tommy’s lap with her arm around his shoulders, his hand on her waist. Lizzie took one look at them seated behind his desk together, and scowled. 

“There’s a call for you, Tommy. And these,” she dumped the papers onto his desk unceremoniously, “all need to be signed.”  

Lucy raised an eyebrow at the chillness in Lizzie’s voice, frowning a little to herself. Apparently today was a cold day, as far as Lizzie’s feelings towards her went.

Her heart sank a little at that. And here she was hoping that perhaps they’d finally gotten past moments like these.

It made things so confusing, sometimes. Not to mention almost impossible to properly discern how Lizzie really felt about her. Did she genuinely want to be friends, or was she just putting up with her because she had to if she wanted to stay close to Tommy? Did she really hate her, or was it just bitterness and jealousy getting the better of her in the moment? 

Lucy had never been able to entirely shake the feeling that, if she had it her way, Lizzie would have happily erased her from all existence if given the chance. 

She felt bad for her, really she did. And she had tried to be more mindful of Lizzie’s feelings over the years, making an effort not to flaunt things between her and Tommy too much in front of her. 

But she had really thought, given Lizzie’s behavior and attitude shift towards her over the past year, that maybe she had finally gotten over Tommy. That they could be real friends. That she wouldn’t have to walk on eggshells regarding what she did or said around her for fear that she would unintentionally cause Lizzie to turn sour on her again.     

Apparently not. 

“Right,” Tommy said, picking up his pen and pulling the first paper towards him. “Transfer the call to the phone in here.”

Lizzie nodded, mouth set in a firm line, narrowed eyes fixed hard on them. Lucy shifted uncomfortably, wiggling out of Tommy’s grasp to stand up and move a few paces away from him. She caught him shooting her a puzzled look from the corner of her eye. 

“And call around to the boys, tell them I want to see them all in Charlie’s yard tomorrow morning.”

“Anything else?”

Lucy’s brows flew up at Lizzie’s tone. Even in her worst moods, it was rare for her to talk to him like that. Tommy blinked behind his glasses, looking more taken aback than anything else.

“No. That’s all.”

Lizzie shot Lucy a look that could have curdled milk, spun on her heel, and stomped from the room. 

“What the fuck is her problem?” Tommy asked soon as the door had closed behind her, his expression genuinely baffled. Lucy sighed, fingers finding the familiar pattern of her rings to fumble with. 

“We shouldn’t have taken her to the canal,” she bemoaned. Tommy’s brows pinched. 

“Why not?”

She sighed. For someone so smart, he could be quite daft when it came to things like this. “It must’ve, I don’t know, gotten her hopes up that maybe something was finally going to happen between you two or something.”

“From that?” he sounded incredulous.

“You were being very nice to her.”

“So? That doesn’t mean that I’m in fucking love with her. Besides, you were there too, so how could she think…” 

She shrugged helplessly, and he leaned back in his chair with a long suffering sigh.

“Fucking hell.”

“Who knows what really goes on inside Lizzie’s head.” 

He must have heard something in her voice, because his eyes snapped over to her.

“Hey,” he leaned forward, looping his arm around her hips and pulling her closer, “don’t let her bother you. It’s her problem if she misinterpreted things.”

“I always feel bad for her…” she said softly, even as she rested her hands on him.

“You shouldn’t. It’s not your fault.”

She bit her lip. Sometimes she wasn’t sure if that was entirely true or not.

But before she could say anything more on the subject, the phone on the desk started to ring.

“I’ll get it,” she said, “you work on getting all those signed.”

Tommy loosened his grip on her enough that she could reach over to pluck the phone from its cradle, but she could still sense him watching her carefully, probably sensing the confliction inside her that Lizzie’s behavior had triggered. 

“Thomas Shelby’s office,” she said into the phone professionally. 

“Lucy? It’s May.”

“May! Hi!”

Tommy’s head quirked up with interest at the name. 

“How are you?” Lucy asked, all thought or worry about Lizzie momentarily forgotten.

“Oh, alright. Busy, you know. It’s always hard work when getting familiar with a new horse.”

“Of course. How is she doing?”

“Actually, that’s what I was calling you about. I have a few things that need Tommy’s signature, so I was thinking that perhaps I could pop over to Small Heath sometime and give you both a full report.” 

Excitement bloomed in her chest at the thought of getting to see her friend again. “We’d both love to see you. When were you thinking of coming?”

“I have a few dates in mind. But really whenever works best for you and Tommy. I know how busy you can both get.” 

Tommy nudged her. “Tell her that I’ll send Charlie in a boat to pick her up from the station.”

Her brows rose. “May, can you hang on a second?” she covered the mouthpiece of the phone with her palm. “A boat?”

“Safer than having her come by cab. I don’t trust Changretta not to try to take her hostage should he find out she’s coming.”

“Okayyyy,” she removed her hand from the mouthpiece. “May, how would you feel about coming by boat from the station?”

“Boat?”

“Mhm. Charlie would come pick you up and you’d come in through the canals. It would be safer considering all the…trouble we’ve been dealing with lately.”

“You mean the mafia?”

“How do you know about that?”

“Curly let it slip when I came to pick up the horse. And a boat would be fine, if you think it would be safer.”

“We’ll talk with Charlie and I’ll call you later with the date and where you should go for him to pick you up.”  

“Alright.”

“Talk later.”

“Bye, Lucy.”

She set the phone back into its cradle, a bubble of excitement building in her chest. She had missed May.

“She said yes?” Tommy asked, eyes trained on the paper in front of him, scribbling his signature on the line at the bottom.

“Yeah.”

“Mm,” he looked up at her with dancing eyes. “Good.”

She took a step towards him, rubbing idly at his shoulder while she watched him sign another paper before setting it aside. “Something to look forward to, at least.” She bit her lip. “Maybe…you could book a suite for all of us while she’s here.”

His gaze snapped up to hers, cheeks twitching as he tried to hide a mischievous smile. “Oh? And what sort of things do you think we would do in this suite, hm?”

Her hands slid along the nape of his neck while he encouraged her back into his lap.

“All sorts of things,” she said, voice lowered. 

Tommy purred in deep approval, and brought his lips to hers. 

∗ ∗ �� 

Lucy puffed on her cigarette, moving to push her curls more firmly underneath her cap. For not the first time, she cursed her dark red hair for its obviousness, silently wishing that she’d worn a wig to better conceal it. Tommy’s hand shot out to gently take her wrist, lowering her hand from her head.  

“You’re fine. Hardly anyone will be able to see us up here, anyway.”

She drew in a shaky breath, nodding silently and adjusting her grip on the rifle in her hand, peeking out the narrow window they were stationed behind, down to the square where Johnny Dogs was posing as a vendor selling meats. 

She had stood by quietly earlier at Charlie’s yard while Tommy had laid out the plan they’d come up with Arthur after Mrs. Ross’s visit to the office and the delivery of her strange invitation. Charlie had handed her a rifle that she leaned casually against as Tommy gave the other boys their instructions. 

“Don’t know what you think you need the rest of us for, Tom, when you’ve got this one with her deadshot and new fondness for lopping off heads,” Johnny had chuckled, reaching around the ruffle Lucy’s hair fondly. She had rolled her eyes at him affectionately, smiling to herself as all the men laughed. 

Would it be terrible to say that she had missed this? 

Her eyes fixed on the entry points to the square, muscles tensed and prepared to spring into action at the first sign of trouble. She could see Arthur climbing the stairs, heading in the direction of Mrs. Ross’s home. Taking one last long drag from her cigarette, she stubbed it out against the stone windowsill, bouncing once on her toes in preparation. 

Beside her, stress seemed to come off of Tommy in waves, his shoulder so tense where it lightly brushed against hers that Lucy was half worried he would snap like a rubber band. She leaned her side more firmly into his, hoping that the press of their bodies together would help soothe him a little. He just sighed deeply, reaching out a hand to smooth along the back of her skull, down her spine to rest on the small of her back, encouraging her to lean more heavily into him. 

They waited for what felt like an age after Arthur disappeared inside of Mrs. Ross’s home. A few beads of sweat rolled down Lucy’s back, her chest feeling tight with tension. 

They had told their men guarding Michael to be ready. And Polly, Ada, and Linda were all holed up at the betting shop, surrounded by a small army of their men. Just in case this whole thing turned out to be a decoy.

“Car,” she breathed out suddenly, spotting the nose of what looked like a Rolls Royce pulling up in one of the alleys. Tommy spotted it at the same time she did, a high whistle sounding from his lips in warning to their other men positioned around the square. She shifted the rifle in her hands, finger curling over the trigger.

The car idled in the alley, a man stepping out and leaning against one of the car’s doors while he lit a cigarette. Lucy narrowed her eyes, trying to discern if she recognized him or not from any of the photos of Luca’s men they’d acquired. Tommy raised a hand to Johnny and Isiah down below, silently ordering them to hold their fire. 

“Wait,” he breathed out, when she moved to raise her rifle and take aim. She raised an eyebrow, but did as she was told, keeping her rifle lowered.  

Another seemingly massive stretch of time seemed to pass. The man at the car didn’t move; didn’t do anything at all except smoke and stare at the wall.

A young girl suddenly darted out onto the street, a blue handkerchief clutched in her hand. She came to a stop at the mouth of the alley, waved it wildly over her head, and then took off running back the way she’d came. The man leapt back into the car and then it was reversing back, away from the square. Tommy shouted out the order to fire on it, but it was already out of their line of sight from the angle that the window was at. Johnny and Isiah opened up on it with their revolvers, but just based on the looks on their faces, she knew that they hadn’t managed to cause any legitimate damage. 

Beside her, Tommy was shouting to them that it was a decoy, ordering for the car to be brought around. He took her hand firmly, leading her along down the stairs. They took them two at a time, jumping into the car where it pulled up half on the curb.

“Who did you think they went for instead?” she asked, wiping some hair out of her eyes. 

“Michael. I can’t see Luca being dumb enough to try an all out assault on the betting shop with so many of our men working there. Michael’s the most vulnerable.” 

They took off speeding to the hospital, the horn of the car blaring to warn pedestrians and other vehicles out of the way. It was barely parked and shut off before they were piling out and tearing through the hospital’s front doors, footsteps clattering up the stairs, revolvers pulled from coats. 

Tommy pushed through the double doors first, coming to such a sudden halt that Lucy nearly collided with him.

The wall to the side of the door was splattered with fresh blood, dripping like crimson tears down the pristine, white paint. The body of one of their men was slumped on the floor, his head still oozing red in a sluggish river.

She and Tommy shared a look, and then they were rushing to the doors that led into Michael’s room. Arthur blew the lock off, and Tommy shouldered them open, hurrying to where Michael was half slouched against bed. His eyes were wide, face pale as a ghost. 

Tommy was by his side in a second, asking in a voice that was suddenly incredibly paternal what had happened. Lucy swept the corners of the room, fingers flexing on her revolver as she checked for any enemies that may have been hiding to ambush them. There was no one, but the door leading out the back way was hanging ajar. Michael was stuttering something about how the Italians had run away when they heard them coming.  

“Go,” Lucy ordered to Arthur, and he went racing through the door with Johnny. She doubted that they would be able to catch any of them, but it was worth a shot.    

Tommy collapsed into one of the chairs at the table in the center of the room, chest heaving as he caught his breath. Lucy uncocked her revolver and tucked it back into her holster, her own breaths labored from the mad dash from the square to the car and up the stairs. 

Her eyes landed on Michael, and the hairs on the back of her arms stood on end at the look she saw cross his face when he told Tommy that he was fine and unhurt. There was something in his eyes…something calculated and almost malicious. It made her stomach heave queasily with anxiety, instincts prickling in alarm.

There was something that Michael was not telling them. Something important.

Lucy suddenly couldn’t shake the feeling that while there may have been no Italians in the room with them, that did not mean that they were not in the presence of an enemy. 

∗ ∗ ∗ 

She waited as Tommy finished up his phone call to Charlie, arms crossed and finger tapping against her bicep while she waited. The exhale that he let out after hanging up and leaning back in his chair carried with it the weight of the world, stress clear in the frown melding itself to his lips. He sat there for a long moment, just thinking, and then rose to his feet, indicating with a small jerk of his head that he wanted her to follow him. 

Lucy had debated whether or not to tell him about the thing she’d seen in Michael’s face the whole way back from the hospital to the betting shop. A part of her had thought–hoped, was actually the more accurate word–that she was just being paranoid. But the feelings of uneasiness within her had not gotten better since they’d left Michael. It was as if something had shifted. The moment Michael decided not to tell them the thing that was of such importance, everything within him and between him and Tommy had changed. 

“Tommy?” she started carefully. He just grunted in response. “Did you notice anything strange about Michael when we were at the hospital?”

He just sighed, long and exhaustedly. “You noticed that too, eh?”

“It was strange, wasn’t it?”

“Mhm. Yeah, it was.”

She lowered her voice. “I had told Polly not to tell Michael about the plan to offer you up to Luca on a silver platter. Maybe it had something to do with that? Luca might’ve said something while he was in the room with him.” 

Polly had told them that when she made contact with Luca, she had asked him to spare everyone else if she handed over Tommy. To get his focus off of the rest of them for a while. Alleviate the danger somewhat, at least for everyone else. Nervous as it may have made Lucy, it was a risk Tommy was more than willing to take.

“Luca’s clearly decided to take the deal. That’s the only way to explain why Michael’s alive at all. I don’t believe that shit he said about the gun misfiring. We would have heard it.”

“We should have been able to hear them running, had they still been in the room when we made it up there and made and break for it only after we arrived. But I didn’t hear any footsteps at all when we got into the room,” she sighed, pulling a cigarette from her pocket and lighting it. “Maybe…if he’s pieced it together that Polly is the one who made a deal with Luca, he’s just trying to protect her.”

Tommy gave her a look. “Do you really believe that?”

She exhaled again, a plume of smoke flowing from her lips and up into the air around them. “Not really,” she considered whether or not to share the next bit, “I haven’t felt good about him for a while now, Tom. Not since he killed Hughes, actually. I thought…that killing the priest would help him. Like how killing Matthew helped me. But I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Not everyone can be like you, love,” Tommy said gently. 

“There’s this way that he looks at you sometimes, when he thinks you aren’t watching. I don’t like it,” chewing on her bottom lip, she watched the black smoke rise up from the factories around them, suddenly feeling very anxious. “Like he’s sizing you up.”

“Like he’s looking for weak points?”

“Yeah. He’s gotten more ambitious. Maybe…” she shook her head, letting out a breath, rubbing at her eyes. “I don’t know. But I don’t have a good feeling about any of it.”

Tommy hummed, considering as they walked. “We’ll just keep an eye on him for now.”

“Right.” She nodded, and reached out to thread her arms through his. She asked him if they could stop for some food, and by the time they’d eaten, ran some errands, and gotten to Charlie’s yard, it was nightfall.

The lantern swung precariously from Tommy’s hand, clutched in the one not interlaced with hers. They found the Golds waiting for them in the stables, and she left Tommy to the business of paying them for the men they’d killed while she cooed over a few of the horses currently being housed there. 

“Oi! I got four all on my own earlier!” she bristled a little, looking over her shoulder when Aberama suggested that, considering the lack of casualties inflicted by them today, that they’d been spending too much time pushing paper. Tommy just grumbled, pointing out that Aberama and his men had also allowed Luca to get away, even if they had managed to take out two of his men.

She made a movement to follow him when he snatched up his lantern and headed for the door, but froze at Aberama’s voice suddenly calling out to her. 

“Miss. Winters! Before you go, there’s something that I’ve been meaning to tell you,” Aberama called, and she and Tommy both hesitated. Her memory, of Aberama trying to tell her something at the last family meeting before she’d stormed off to kill Alessio, was promptly jogged. Jesus, with everything else going on, she’d completely forgotten that there was something he had wanted to say to her. “You remember our discussion at the house, earlier, I mentioned knowing your aunt and cousins?”

Something cold washed over her. “Yes.”

Aberama nodded, removing his hat and straightening his back, looking her squarely in the eye. “The last time that I spoke with Miri, it was but a few months ago. She said that your mother had been traveling with them since about 1920 or so.”

That sounded about right. Her mother had left their family home in London at around that time to rejoin the caravans. After telling Lucy that she thought it best that they never saw each other again. 

Aberama looked for a moment like he did not entirely know what to say, lips parting, an expression of what she realized after a moment was compassion crossing his face. “Your mother is dead, Miss. Winters. She died this past winter. I’m sorry.”

Her brows pinched, for a moment not entirely understanding. Her legs swayed slightly underneath her, suddenly feeling greatly unsteady. The world felt like it had fallen entirely away, and all she could see was her mother’s face. Her mother who, for all of her flaws and shortcomings, Lucy had never been able to entirely bring herself to resent. Mum had tried, after all. And there had been moments when she was successful in protecting Lucy from her father’s abuse and fanaticism. Her mother had been a kind person with a big heart. And when Lucy was young, everyone had always told her how much she was like her mother had been when she was that age. 

Mum had been what she would have become, had her father been successful in his attempts to force her into marriage with Matthew Sutton. A broken, abused woman, all fight and spunk beaten out of her through the years of horror that her husband had inflicted upon her. But she had loved Lucy and her brothers as best as she could. She had done her very best with all of them.  

Lucy let out a small sound, taking a few shaky steps towards the stall where the horses were. Her hand gripped the sturdy wood, using it to keep herself steady. One of the horses–one that belonged to the Golds, she assumed, since she didn’t recognize him–nudged his nose at her. She stroked it absently. 

“Love?” she heard Tommy’s voice distantly, almost as if he were underwater, and then felt his hand tentatively resting on her back.

“How?” she asked hoarsely. 

Aberama hesitated, and she knew from that alone that whatever he was about to tell her would not be easy to hear. 

“Miri said that she was unwell from the moment that she first arrived.”

Lucy frowned. “She always had problems with migraines…”

“Not that kind of unwell.”

She went quiet at that.

“Miri said that the melancholy would come and go. Some days she would be fine. Others, well…” he trailed off. Lucy sniffed, and could feel Tommy’s thumb rubbing circles into her back. Aberama continued. “It started to get worse, and last longer. It happened gradually, you see. And then, one night while the rest of the camp was asleep, Genevieve took a rope and found a tree–”

“That’s enough,” Tommy barked sternly. Lucy shook her head furiously, turning and taking hold of the hand that he’d been resting on her back.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I need to hear it,” her voice came out as a cracked whisper. Tommy looked her over for a moment, and she was touched at the deep worry in his eyes, squeezing his fingers in gratefulness. She looked back at Aberama. He met her gaze steadily.

“They found her hanging from a branch in the morning. They burned her and her vardo. As she wanted.”

Sniffling, Lucy wiped furiously at her eyes, not wanting to be seen crying in front of strangers. 

Could they really still be considered strangers, though? After what Aberama had just told her?

“Thank you for telling me, Aberama,” she said. 

He nodded, fingers playing with each other. “I thought you ought to know.”

Wiping a clammy hand across her forehead, she blinked hard, barely keeping the bulk of her tears back. “Tommy, will you take me home?” 

He was there in an instant, arm wrapping comfortingly around her shoulders, steering her towards the exit with a gentle “come on.” She let him shepherd her along, pressing in closer to his side, suddenly feeling very cold and alone. 

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Tommy said, voice deep and soft in the otherwise dark of night. She latched onto him like a child would a security blanket, suddenly terrified that if she let him go, she would slip away and be lost in the dark for good. 

He had to leave the lantern in the yard, and when they stepped onto the cobblestones without it, she was reminded horribly of her dream with the darkness rushing up to consume both her and Grace in one great swallow, the blackness washing everything away. But Tommy’s grip remained firm around her, guiding her through the dark with his warm touch and the soft murmurs of his voice. 

She didn’t start properly crying until they’d turned onto Watery Lane. Tommy ushered her quickly down the remainder of the street and finally into the house, and the moment that the door was closed and the lock latched into place, he was pulling her into his arms. 

He rubbed her back and stroked her hair gingerly while she cried. Not big heaving sobs but soft, spasming little whimpers, hugging him tight around the middle while her face buried in his chest. 

Her mother had killed herself. Had been so miserable and depressed that she hadn’t wanted to live anymore. Not even amongst the caravans and kin that she had always spoken so longingly of.  

Lucy had not wanted her mother to leave. She had wanted her to stay. Wanted to look after her. For her to get to know Tommy. The thought of how she would have no doubt doted over Charlie had another wave of tears springing forth into her eyes.

She’d let her go. Why had she done that? She could have forced her to stay. Could have insisted. But she’d let her go. And now her mother was dead.  

“Lucy?” Tommy asked tentatively once her tears had ebbed to just quiet sniffles, pulling back just enough so that he could see her face. 

“I shouldn’t have let her leave, Tommy.”

“Hey, no. None of that, now. This isn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known,” at her unconvinced shrug, he took her by the shoulders, pulling back to look her sternly in the eye. “All you’ve heard is a greatly abridged version of what happened. There’s probably a whole lot of details that Aberama doesn’t even know about. And besides,” he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “You couldn’t have forced her to stay. She made the choice to leave. And what happened after is not on you. All right?”

She closed her eyes, nodding weakly, forcing herself to listen to him. Trying to believe what he was saying. 

“Come here,” he pulled her back into him, giving her a fierce hug that greatly helped to stifle the grief raging in her heart. 

“I didn’t expect it to affect me this much,” she mused after a couple minutes. “I mean…I’d more or less thought of her as already dead anyway…”

“Sometimes thinking and knowing are two drastically different things.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “I suppose that’s true.”  

“Lucy?” a soft voice asked from the doorway, and they both started. Charlie was standing there on the threshold that led from the front sitting room into the kitchen, dressed in his pajamas and rubbing at his eyes.

“Charlie, mate, what are you doing up?” Tommy asked.

“I heard noises,” he took a step towards them, big blue eyes focused on Lucy. “Why are you crying?”

She hastily wiped at her eyes, managing a trembling smile. “I just got some sad news, honey. That’s all.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, sweetheart. Everything’s fine,” she gave Tommy’s elbow a small squeeze. “Your dad’s taking good care of me.”

Tommy gave her a small smile, pecking her on the forehead. Charlie shuffled closer, until he was right in front of her, and then wrapped his little arms around her waist, hugging her almost as ferociously as his father had been a moment ago. 

“Don’t be sad, Lucy.”

Tears of a different variety pricked at her eyes. “Thank you, kiddo,” she said, stroking the soft blonde hair on his head. He craned his head up to look at her. 

“Do you want my stuffed horse? Squeezing him always makes me feel better when I’m sad…”

She chuckled, ruffling affectionately at his hair. “No, that’s okay, Charlie. You can give him a few extra squeezes for me, okay?”

“Okay!”

Tommy smiled down at his boy, touching his shoulder lightly. “Let’s get you back in bed, eh?”

“But I’m not tired!”

“Mm, but Daddy and Lucy are. It’s past our bedtime,” he scooped Charlie up, lifting him onto his hip. “Which means it is wayyy past time you were in bed.”

Charlie pouted, but seemed content to be carried back upstairs. Lucy followed her boys with a small smile into Charlie’s room, Tommy depositing the boy gently onto the mattress, letting him get situated, horse squeezed against his chest and head snuggled into the pillow, before pulling the blankets up around him.

“Goodnight, my boy,” he said, smoothing a hand across Charlie’s brow. 

“Goodnight, Daddy.”

Lucy felt her heart squeeze, trading places with Tommy to kiss Charlie’s forehead. “Sweet dreams, Charlie.”

“Goodnight, Lucy,” he mumbled, the yawn he released greatly undercutting his previous claims of not being tired.

She switched off the light and joined Tommy in the hall, closing the door gently behind her and following him to their bedroom next door. The moment they were inside, he inched in closer to her, wrapping his arms around her so she could rest her head on his chest once more. 

“What a fucking day.”

She hummed in agreement, turning her face to kiss the underside of his jaw. “I’m starting to miss home.”

“Arrow House?”

She nodded. “Mostly riding around the grounds with the horses. Camping out in the woods by the house…”

“When this is all over, we’ll take Sin and Wraith and go out together.”

“I’d like that.”

He kissed the top of her head, and they remained there, just holding each other, for a long, long time.  

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Thank you for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, reblog, or like. I always appreciate feedback and love getting the opportunity to interact with you and hear your thoughts!

[mlmxreader]

Little Bastard | Alfie Solomons x platonic!gn!reader

@satan-incarnate-666 asked: okay last one PROMISE

"So what? I have a soft spot. Big deal" - platonic/familial alfie solomons and a younger gn!reader if possible?

summary: Alfie's the only family you got, and although he trusts you more than anyone, he does still let you get away with murder.

tws: mentions of guns, swearing, mentions of smoking

Alfie took you under his wing when you were quite young, with no family left, Alfie decided to bring you into his own; you were only little, and he was the only family that you had. But he treated you no differently to his blood relatives - except he was a lot more lenient and a lot less coarse with you; you were his little sibling, he loved you, and he was always looking out for you. It was even often said that, if something were to happen to him, you would take over his business once you were old enough; luckily, though, that didn't seem to be a possibility, Alfie was strong and tough and he wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

You sat in on meetings with him, always introduced as his sibling, sometimes the heir to his business as well, and if anyone had a problem with you, then Alfie had a problem with them; no one had a bigger problem with you than Tommy Shelby, though.

You were sat in Alfie's office with him as you listened to the Peaky Blinder rant and rave and bore everyone half to death when you suddenly spoke up.

"Not being funny, mate," you cleared your throat and looked him dead in the eye. "But don't you bust unions?"

Tommy frowned. "I do what I have to."

"Yeah, see, you bust unions," you shrugged. "You fuck over your own so that you can make a couple more pence. You let all the scabs in... my brother shouldn't be doing business with you."

He seemed a little caught off guard as he shifted in his seat, running a hand through his hair. "May I have a cigarette?"

"No," you grinned. "I don't give shit to cunts."

"Alfie," Tommy turned to your brother, then, sighing heavily. "Come on. How long have we been doing business?"

Alfie shrugged, looking at you for a second before turning back to Tommy and clearing his throat. "I dunno, mate, I'm more inclined to listen to my own family than you. And if (y/n) thinks you're a cunt, then you're a cunt, yeah?"

"Alfie-"

"Yeah, I know, I know," he grumbled. "So what? I have a soft spot. Big deal. Now answer my sibling's question, yeah? 'Cause if you don't, I will fuckin' shoot you."

Tommy let out a soft growl as he stood up, shaking his head. "I think I'll leave. I'll be back when (y/n) isn't around."

You laughed, a howling sound as you threw your head back. "What? You scared, mate?"

"Not scared," Tommy shook his head again as he got to the door. "Practical."

You taunted and teased him as he left, but once the office door was closed, you turned to your brother again. "Now, before you say anything-"

"Nah, I ain't sayin' nothin'," Alfie chuckled, kicking his feet up on the desk. "This'll be your business one day, you might as well take charge here and there."

"So you think I did well?" You asked, almost impatient to hear his answer as you stared at him.

He fell silent for a bit, thinking about it; sure, you weren't a great negotiator, but you did always stand your ground, and you always made it clear where that ground was. Alfie knew that, if you ever took over from him, you would probably be alright.

"Yeah, you did alright, kid."

You smiled, kicking your feet up on the desk next to his and leaning back in your chair. "Do you think I'll be as good as you one day?"

"No one's as good as me," Alfie scoffed. "But you'll be alright. I trust you, (y/n)... just don't go fuckin' shootin' Peaky Blinders, yeah? Bad for business, that."

"How dare you?" You scoffed, shaking your head. "I wouldn't get caught shooting them."

"As long as you don't get caught," he chuckled, closing his eyes and resting his hands on his stomach. "What you fancy for tea, anyway? I were thinkin' we could cook somethin'."

"I'll cook," you told him, copying his actions without even thinking about it; you often mimicked Alfie's mannerisms without thinking about them, you always had done. "Full offense, Alf, but you're a shit cook."

"Fuck off." A smile tugged at his lips. "Little bastard."

if you liked this fic, REBLOG IT - do not just leave a "like", REBLOG IT. you may also leave feedback in the form of asks, tags, etc which is greatly appreciated, but you SHOULD reblog it regardless.

[merrinpippy]

c!punz's motivators

c!punz is so fascinating to me bc he seems to have three general motivators that once picked up upon shine a really intersting light on what he and c!dream may have in store.

the first: when he's on the server and acting of his own volition he seems to be a staunch advocate for fairness. when a fight breaks out nearby with the intent to steal from the ambushed party, for example, he will join on the side of the victim. (swear to god i remember this happening but i cannot find a clip rip.) when c!tubbo mentions not having much stuff to his name c!punz immediately gives him iron blocks and netherite ingots completely for free. i also think it's worth noting that c!dream absolutely could have saved c!technoblade from execution on his own but presumably chooses c!punz to go in his stead to distance himself from acting against l'manberg in the public eye. this suggests that acting in c!technoblade's defense wouldn't be seen as out of character for c!punz in hindsight had c!quackity not spotted c!dream helping out, which contributes to my belief that c!punz is motivated by (and known for being motivated by) fairness on the server.

much later, when c!hannah, c!bad, and c!tina appropriate his tower he gets angry and evicts them immediately, but his problem with it seems to be a little more complicated than on first appearance. he doesn't have an issue with the people in an i-need-revenge kind of way that characterises a lot of conflicts on the server, but takes issue with them claiming to have made something that he made. he is amenable to trading with c!hannah to convince her to leave rather than fighting her, a fight which he would provably win, and lenient with the deadline by which she must move. violence for the sake of violence doesn't drive him to vengeance here, and personal loyalty neither saves c!hannah from his ire nor increases it towards c!tina who doesn't already have a good working relationship with him. despite being within his rights to react larger and louder, after his first outburst he seeks to resolve the situation in a way that is fair to all parties equally (even if it means demeaning himself to do so).

the second and third are more obvious: money and personal loyalty. before the disc finale, in the privacy of his own home c!punz admits that the money c!tommy offers him to betray c!dream is 'the biggest payment [he's] ever seen' and 'more than dream has ever given [him]'. he says he is 'torn' about the choice even though if going only by money siding with c!tommy is clearly the right choice, which illustrates his personal loyalty to c!dream. yet neither motivation seems to be one c!punz sticks to as an absolute rule, since if that was the case we'd see him easily switch sides for the money or stoutly refuse to betray his partner.

of course, as we see later, he does refuse to betray c!dream after all. c!tommy's offer to him wasn't part of their plan. before this c!punz thought he'd already done enough to distance himself from c!dream to sell the 'betrayal' and is surprised by c!tommy's message. so c!punz easily could have betrayed c!dream for real here in exchange for what c!tommy gives him, and maybe even more if he convinced the other members of the server they owe him for all the info he surely has on c!dream at this point. but he doesn't.

this demonstrates to me that c!punz has a code of fairness that he abides by, and though he is a mercenary his individual loyalty ultimately matters more to him than money. my question for c!punz then becomes: what is this plan c!dream has that not only passes his fairness rule but also motivates him more than the vast amounts of personal riches that gave him pause before the disc finale? what makes him more loyal to c!dream than literally the entire rest of the entire server? what, in c!punz's mind, is worth everything both of them are putting themselves through: lying to all his friends, being completely isolated from everyone else, acting as exaggerated villains and hurting people c!punz seems to genuinely care about to cover up what they're really doing (not to mention the torture and starvation in c!dream's case)... i just find it really fascinating all round. and i honestly cannot wait for the payoff!

/rp /dsmp

[faebriel]

pspsps i think you should become toxic, as a treat. release the niki takes (if you want)

-danny

danny i am going straight to hell for this (DISCLAIMER c!niki is my pathetic little meow meow etc etc i am being toxic and c!niki-centric on purpose. i don't use tiktok this isn't informed by like the girlboss niki takes or whatever this is shit that annoys me in my own circles)

the girlboss takes suck we've all been through this i'm glossing over it

people will just not watch her streams and then say "this part of her character came out of nowhere 😒" smartass i don't watch like. fundy's streams but i don't complain when he does something i don't expect. tbh i haven't even watched all of niki's streams bc i got busy around season 2 but a lot of these details get picked up by tumblr so. look ok. like people will think the Only mental health moment she had in season 3 was the nuke thing and it's like. bestie no

semi related i don't think some ppl get what an unreliable narrator is. like. not to drag my fave but who the fuck is looking at season 3 c!niki and going Yeah This Is A Character That Has Her Shit Together And I'm Supposed To Take At Face Value

people Do Not understand how central her relationship with l'manberg is to her character. they just fucking don't. and i don't know how. like ppl will just ignore Everything she did in season 1 and how defense of l'manberg and its people was kind of Uh Her Entire Motivation throughout the manberg administration. doomsday was a big moment for her character bc of that. search for community in lieu of l'manberg is what motivated her joining the syndicate. Hello i am ringing the phone is anybody listening

also people complain about her burning down the tree as if anyone else gave a fuck about it. Like how do i say this uhhh its a moment that was very encapsulated on her stream. like if you were watching tommy's pov or something you might not have noticed it. and that's fine i think that suits how burning the tree relates So Strongly to her internal arc! but why do i hear so much complaining about it then

ALSO THE FESTIVAL. GOD. people will either go "actually c!wilbur orchestrated The Entire Fucking Festival" (no) or "actually he never did anything wrong in pogtopia ever". pardon my impulse to drag my fave but can we PLEASE talk about the fact that c!niki was Going To Get Executed, Was Then Exiled (i choose to believe this was part of c!schlatt's #plan to fracture pogtopia bc copium) And Then Rocks Up To Pogtopia Like Hi. and c!wilbur goes Yeah I Was Gonna Blow Up The Place Lol. and c!niki goes um. what. CAN YOU IMAGINE WALKING INTO THAT SITUATION HELLO. and like WE see c!wilbur hemming and hawwing for like two weeks about how to get c!niki out and how he doesn't think she would be a traitor or whatever BUT SHE DIDN'T. WHOOPS. (honest 2 god some of the most tragic miscommunication of the dsmp don't talk to me.) and THEN he's egging on the pit and like this post ain't about wibler but like if i am c!niki i pull up to pogtopia one of my besties says he was going to blow up the land i was standing on and then encourages his little brother and dads roommate to a punchup I AM GOING TO BE CONCERNED. AND SHE STILL FUCKING BELIEVES IN HIM LITERALLY UP UNTIL HE BLOWS THE JOINT UP !!!! like WHAT did you want her to do here guys come on i am so lenient with wilbur about the whole "left my bestie in manberg" thing bc There Were External And Internal Pressures That Outsiders Would Be Unaware Of but c!niki's feelings on the festival until she is given more information are fucking valid lmfao

also ppl will talk about like exile and the nuke stuff and blame c!niki for not visiting or participating or whatever like,, much more than everyone else. i do think c!jack has had stronger writing since the nuke plot re: tommy but the way that some ppl approach their c!niki crit gives me bad vibes

related point but more about cc!niki: when there are massive delays in lore or whatever bc of IRL things (this is about like sam or dream or whatever) it’s mildly frustrating but people don’t get personal with it, whereas i’ve seen so many people shit on how cc!niki wrote her character in season 2 and like, look, this comes back to not watching her streams but i feel like we should give her a smidge more slack for that period (or just not get weirdly personal at all! just criticise the writing like a normal person!)

like i have seen people straight up judging her career choices (no im not talking about bsmp or whatever i don't care) because of her minecraft character and look i'm not generally someone who says It's Just A Block Roleplay but jesus christ

second fucking disclaimer: i am not exposed to a massive amount of dsmp community or analysis, i literally do not touch twitter or tiktok, these complaints are not gripes with what i assume is the majority opinion across the board (probably the girlboss take, which i have already beaten to death like the dead horse it is so i'm not going through that again here). also i am very strongly motivated by the fact that there has been cc!niki crit around again bc of the elytra stream and michael piglin or whatever which is making me extra pissy re: criticism of her that gets way too personal

tldr critique of writing on the dsmp is fine, critiquing c!niki’s writing is fine, i am just bitching about how people approach it esp when criticism gets a little more personal than with everyone else

[cube-cumb3r]

The Means Reflect On The Ends Actually, (c!Dream & the conditioning of Exile)

What was the point of exile, storywise? What does it say about c!Dream? Sure, it’s showcasing how far he’s willing to go to achieve his own ends, but I don't think all discussion about what exile tells us about c!Dream should start and end there.

Dream is not cruel for cruelty’s sake. Dream’s end goal is not to hurt as many people as possible. He views his cruelty are “necessary evils”, and he doesn’t dwell much on whether the things he does are “good” or “bad”. He’s fully aware he’s hurting people and he ultimately thinks that hurting people, to the extent that he does, is worth it. That being said, while Dream has an ends justify the means mindset, but the truth is, the means absolutely reflect on the ends. His true intentions aren’t a mystery, it’s very clear in the text that his ultimate goal is unity, but why does he want unity? And what would said unity entail?

(Before this essay starts I have to do an ad break to promo @daggryet's very helpful [transcriptions from the exile streams], which I'll be using a lot of. Thanks for the very helpful resource.)

TW: Relatively extensive discussion abt the abuse in exile arc & the effects of said abuse.

Firstly, I don't think you should deny his relationship to control. A through-line of his character is achieving harmony through control, and more specifically, obedience. There’s a reason why he tends to single out Tommy the most. It’s not actually because Tommy is remarkably more troublesome than anyone else on the server, but rather, because his disruptive nature is at Dream’s expense. Tommy is the only character who’s consistently over and over again refused to respect Dream’s authority, and though he isn’t particularly threatening on his own, it’s the sentiment itself that’s dangerous. Similarly, this is why he has consistently targeted L’manburg, moreso than any other faction on the server such as, say, Badlands, El Rapids. It’s almost as if they represented the sentiment, “Hey, why are we listening to you anyway? Why can’t we be listening to anyone else?”, which is why he crushed them, over, and over again. What if everyone figures out they can just stop listening to him? What then?

We talk a lot about the effects exile had on Tommy, and rightfully so, but we don’t talk enough about what Dream was actually doing. What was the purpose of exile? Was it just a way to get closer to the discs? Just a means to an end? What was the end?

TOMMY: What, what could you possibly want more from me? You’ve tortured me.

DREAM: I’m just keeping an eye on you, Tommy.

TOMMY: What does that mean?!

DREAM: I’m just, I’m making sure that you’re not up to no good.

TOMMY: But, how, you’ve exiled me, you fucking stupid, manipulative fucking green bastard!

DREAM: I know! And you know why I did that?

TOMMY: Yes? 

DREAM: No, you know why?

TOMMY: Why?

DREAM: Because you don’t listen to me ever, you’re the only person who doesn’t ever listen to me. If I tell you to do something, you’re like “no, fuck you!”, and you go and like do like the exact opposite.

[full transcription]

As much as I have to preface this with that this is speculative and we may not have any irrefutable confirmation, I think it's very likely that it's literally just what Dream is saying he's doing. Tommy is the one person who refuses to listen to him, and he wants him to listen. Exile was not only conditioning Tommy to believe that nobody other than Dream cares about him, not only conditioning Tommy to be entirely reliant on him, but also conditioning Tommy to listen to him, without question, without disobeying. And that is such a significant and reoccurring motif for it to arguably just be the intended reading of exile.

Abuse is a vague term that encompasses a lot of abusive practices. There are a good handful that apply to exile, I'm sure if you ask someone qualified they'll be able to provide you a nice handy list, but ultimately, all of them target Tommy's own sense of agency and autonomy, and it all revolves around power and control. Dream creates rituals purely to disarm him, threatens him and punishes him when he doesn't listen, and rewards him when he complies (or rather, conditions Tommy into thinking that not being punished is a reward).

TOMMY: [begins throwing his armor and axe down for DREAM to explode.]

DREAM: No, no, it’s fine.

TOMMY: Re-really?

DREAM: Yeah. Today’s the party, right?

---

TOMMY: So when can I- no, I wanna go back. I… hey, thanks for letting me keep my armour today.

DREAM: You’re welcome.

TOMMY: Kinda nice of you.

[full transcription]

Dream isn’t only hurting Tommy for the sake of hurting him. People tend to frame it as if Dream Just Hates Tommy, but that’s not true. He finds Tommy fun, in a twisted way. There are a lot of moments in exile where they’re both on very good terms and Dream is friendly with Tommy. But, it's also all part of horror of exile, making Tommy reliant on him and his company, getting him to doubt his sense of reality, making him question whether his friends back in L’manburg ever cared about him at all, and possibly questioning whether he’s imagining the abuse as well, Dream is so kind to him after all, why would he ever want to hurt him?

Over the course of exile Tommy agency and sense of self start to deteriorate as well as his mental health, he starts worrying about what Dream would think, starts asking Dream for permission, going out of his way to avoid upsetting him, his only friend, his only reliable caring companion.

TOMMY: Yeah, so I’m thinking we- and then I can- but the thing is; so recently my buddy, Dream, has been doing this thing where he, uhm… it makes sense, though, because I’m not in his land anymore, but he takes my shit from me, so I need to make sure- […]

---

RANBOO: Yeah, so what do you say- does Dream like take your armor? Is that what you said?

TOMMY: I don’t know, he just- hey man, I just follow the boss.

[full transcription]

TOMMY: “Visit Techno” no, no, what would Dream think? […]

---

TOMMY: I’ve had a little idea, by the way, and I wanna know what you think, and also if I’m allowed

DREAM: Okay?

[full transcription]

TOMMY: Yeah, I know he’s actually - he’s sort of my- he’s borderline my owner, Big Q, so I’m not really sure.

MEXICAN DREAM: He’s your dad?

TOMMY: No, no-

MEXICAN DREAM: Ey! Ey, Papa Thomas!

TOMMY: No, no, we’re- as in labor.

MEXICAN DREAM: You gotta teach your child some manners.

[full transcription]

Dream’s outburst in exile after finding Tommy’s chests, is arguably one of Dream's most emotionally honest (and reckless) moments in exile considering it was what made Tommy realize he needed to save himself and escape. And it's punishing Tommy for going behind his back and planning to revolt.

TOMMY: I’m really, no, I’m really sorry, though. Why don’t we just pretend this never- yeah, let’s, shall we just pretend this-?

DREAM: Sorry doesn’t cut it, Tommy. Listen, I’ll leave you here to think about what you did-

TOMMY: What about the nether? What about the nether, my friends, what-?

DREAM: No! You can’t go to the nether, no one can come here, you are alone, okay? As soon as I think that you have changed, have become somebody who isn’t going to hide and lie and try and revolt; then people can visit you again. You can go to the nether again. But for now - no, no one can. You- I was being very lenient. Yesterday I let you go into the Dream SMP on a temporary pass, and then what do I find out the next day?

TOMMY: I’m so sorry.

DREAM: I have been nothing but gracious to you. Tommy. Think about what you did.

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Exile wasn’t only a means to getting closer to the discs or getting Tommy out of the way. Exile was a means to conditioning Tommy into listening and respecting Dream as his superior. Dreams solution to Tommy being disruptive and troublesome was to [physically beat], emotionally abuse, and psychologically condition him into obedience. Only seeing exile as a testament to how far how willing he was go to meet his ends is reductive, and not acknowledging what Dream considers to be a “problem” and what he considers to be “solutions” is to not engage with his worldview. You have to take exile into account and what it actually says about his ideals of harmony and unity.

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TOMMY: I can’t go back… I can’t go back, and see my friends and see Tubbo. This is a shithole! He wasn’t- he wasn’t here ‘cause he was my friend. He was here to- what did he say on the first day? Got a little bug that he can’t flig off? I’m the only person who never does exactly what he says?

TOMMY: I’m the only person who never does what he says. Me! He said that to me, didn’t he?

TOMMY: He was here to watch me.

[full transcription]

Dream’s relationship to Tommy can (and honestly should) be compared to his relationship to the entire server at large. Not to imply that He Literally Wants To Abuse The Server, but rather the he views the server revolting as a problem, and the solution? Well. The [prison]. The hall of attachments. It’s no surprise that the disc war, a conflict that was initially only primarily between Dream and Tommy*, is suddenly about everyone. Bargaining and blackmailing using attachments, something Dream initially only subjected Tommy to, to keep him under his control, is now a means to control everyone.

Is Dream's goal of unity for the sake of the overall happiness and quality of life of the people living within said unity? I don’t doubt that this at some point in time was true. But, the fact that he’s willing to ruin lives and long-term psychologically destroy people over it, means that his goal isn’t unity for the sake of the people living in his ideal version of the server, but at their expense. Him believing he needs to control people to maintain unity and harmony means that he believes himself to know what's best for people moreso than the people themselves, and therefore he's the only one responsible enough to make decisions for them. And it also means that his motives has warped and twisted overtime, it’s likely that he’s become so fixated on the goal of unity itself that he’s lost track of why he wanted it in the first place.

Anyway. Stop buying into Dream's own self-justification of "ends justify the means" and put his deeply flawed and broken worldview and view of people under a little bit of goddam scrutiny.