#(i could also see him being a mix of daph and other characters but he most fits daphne imo) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

viscountessevie · 2 years

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Sadly Colins season will focus more on Penelope than on him. With Daphnes season it almost felt equal, while with Anthony it was told more about his trauma than Kates. I know Benedict will shine. But Colin will be sidelined in his own season.

Maybe it's a good thing because it could be the perfect opportunity to cut her screentime permanently after that.

Hello anon I know you sent this a while ago so thanks for waiting and sending this in!

[Also important note, for all intents and purpose of these posts I will be using the alt ship name for P*lin that my friend Lav @sweetestviscount came up with which is Pelican. This is because I have no energy to enertain Pelican anon stans in my ask box and they always complain about valid criticisms made against Penalty as 'negativity' so hopefully with these different names it won't show up in their precious tag]

It took me a while to figure out how to answer because this isn't quite a question but an opinion I do agree with! Also now that I've been getting a few Pelican asks since they might be the S3 leads, I figured I'd might as well answer all of these in succession!

Let's talk about the trauma in the last two seasons first, I would need to see how they handle Sophie's trauma before commenting that the show is ignoring the women's trauma because Daphne didn't really have any "intense" trauma like Simon, Kate or Anthony had. Intense is in quotes cos this is not the trauma Olympics but I think it's right to say that other than her father's death grief, Daph turned out pretty well adjusted compared to the other three. Even then they did show Baby Daph singing to her sibs in S2 which does show how she coped during that time in her life and how she sprung into action for her younger siblings. It was a small scene but implied so much and was mentioned in the books so that was a nice touch.

But I absolutely hated the complete disregard of Kate's trauma and not showing it. Simon got flashbacks, why didn't Kate?? Is there a one character per season flashback quota??? I feel like the flashbacks for Kathony being similar could have strengthen the storytelling and showed that even from a young age those two are VERY SIMILAR. Because the show wasn't explicit enough about this that's why we have E/A shippers and why some people say they are only in lust and didn't have any emotional connection (tell me you didn't watch the show properly and read the books without telling me)

Now onto Colin, I loved Colin in the books but RMB while seeming like the 'perfect' fairytale book to me on my first read was actually quite bland and I have to attribute it to it feeling so perfect. Like neither of them really have very in depth backstories or a connection. It was basically him seeing her for the first cos she lost weight like ew EDIT: It was basically him seeing her after years of knowing her and of course she had lost weight by then - that's shady as hell Colin. RIP to you, Colin but Nicola as Pen is gorgeous and I would marry her if she was more like Book Pen. Yall know how I feel about Show!Pen sis is a criminal and needs to go to jail.

That being said, Newts is pretty charming in interviews but falls completely flat on the show??? It's really odd. At first, I used to attribute it to the script and directing but everyone else's acting is on point?? So it's not the directing but I think a mix of what is being written for Colin and as Zara @jeanvanjer has pointed out, Newts just doesn't the experience or chops to be on JB or Luke T's caliber right now. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just means this role is a good space for him to practice and get better and see what kind of actor he is. It's just disappointing that he's exploring this at the expense of a fan favourite book character. But I've made my peace with Pelican not being it for me. [Also side note: just because someone doesn't like your ship doesn't mean you need to spend time and effort telling them why they should like that ship especially if the person has already made up their mind.]

It is sad that Netflix and Shondaland keep pushing the LW angle that Colin is set to be overshadowed in his own season sigh. Out of all the couples of Bridgerton, I realised Pelican is the one with a power imbalance they don't quite overcome. Yes, because of the time period the others also have the gender power imbalance but I would say by the end of their books, they work it out and treat other with respect. Whereas with Pelican, it starts with Penalty being infactuated with him since forever and he never notices her then the dynamic switches when he finds out about LW. Now Penalty has power over him in everywhere that matters. Independence, money and a sense of purpose. Of course, the magic wand of HEA is waved over them and Colin discovers his love of writing too and in the epilogue we see her editing for him which also gives her a sense of power of him.

As sweet as they were in the books, for me personally I didn't see them working through their issues and power imbalances. They never felt like partners to me. She had to lose weight for him to see her as a prospect EDIT: Sorry yall I totally forgot she lost the weight in Book 2 and he still doesn't see her for another decade as this anon says and thanks Lav for catching it too. I think Colin was just straight up blind for a decade - it runs in the family. I did find that one of their central conflicts is her having to shrink herself as a person (give up LW and writing) to appease and make him feel comfortable?? It's just yucky all around.

Whereas now in the show, on the meta level the show is kind of giving Penalty the power she didn't quite have in the book. By doing so, now Colin feels irrelevant and not even his funny self in the books because his scenes are so minimal and his show personality literally is just Greece and being Penalty's obsession carelessly taped together.

I hope to God her screentime is cut if Pelican really is happening in S3 because did yall see how pissed Anthony looked when he heard what LW had published about Eloise. That man depises whoever is behind LW - he's never going to accept Penalty when the reveal happens. He was very weary and hesitant of Marina who only lied to survive but I geniunely believe Colin and her would have ultimately ended up very happy, do you think Anthony's gonna accept a whole ass criminal into his family? My wishlist for Pelican's season is for Anthony to ban them to another European country lmao. But we all know that won't happen ugh, the HEA wand will be waved over Penalty being LW in the show and everyone just magically accepts her without her apologising or taking any form of accountability.

Just like how Marina rooted for her this season 🙄🙄 which was so out of character. She must have known it was Penalty like Portia didn't want their family reputation ruined, Pru and Philly couldn't care less about her pregnancy (and I don't think they even knew lmao). Who was the only one in the family who knew first and was very against the match between her and Colin?? Marina wasn't stupid, I'm sure she figured it out the moment she was ruined. But no, the writers needed to push the Pelican agenda sigh.

We can only hope that they wrap up her arc in the Pelican season and we never have to hear from her and Colin ever again (give their screen time to poor missing Frannie!!)

Thanks again for this ask anon I had fun analysing how their dynamic came across to me in the books and exploring where it could go from here in the show! Thanks to everyone for reading this far :)

#bridgerton #Marina Thompson #Bridgerton S2 #The GC Stamp of Approval #Kanthypants & Eldest Daughters GC #Asks #Penelope Critical

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psycheswritings · 4 years

Text

Nothing’s Fair in Love and War - Four

Title: Nothing’s Fair in Love and War Fandom: Peaky Blinders Pairing: Thomas Shelby x Daphne Scott (OFC) Warnings: Swearing, I guess. Word Count: 4533 Author's Note: Hello again, hope you are all well. Here's the update, hope you all like it. Thanks for everybody reading and liking it, I really appreciate it. Honorary mentions to @livingmybestfakelife, @stressedandbandobessed7771 and @livvtheangel for commenting. Tags are at the bottom. As always, this haven’t been proofread, so feel free to report any mistakes back to me; warnings are expecific for each chapter. Also, your feedback is also highly appreciated. I relly hope you like this one. Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

Masterlist

Chapter Summary: Daphne and Tommy share a moment alone at her birthday party and that leads him to get better acquaintance with some of her closest friends. The gangster has some unexpected meetings and receives a rather interesting invitation. Michael wants to take part in the family business, despite his mother’s disapproval. May Carleton goes to Birmingham to get Thomas’s horse and take a look at the betting shop. Aunt Polly has a little talk with her nephew about wanting things he shouldn’t want.

Four

They had sang Happy Birthday to her much to Daphne’s dismay, but it was worth it in the end because Karl had happily “helped” her blown out the candles, giggling all the time. She stayed and socialized with the guests for a bit until she made a very sneaky exit to the balcony on the side of the pub. Usually she would be the one waltzing around, making small talk with people and entertaining the guests, but today she wasn’t really feeling like it. Of course she appreciated Alfie’s gesture - he always tried to cheer her up on her birthday and she loved him for that, truthfully, but one can ignore the day you dread the most just for a certain amount of time.

The cold wind outside made her instantly regret not having grabbed her coat before leaving, but the perspective of going inside again didn’t appeal to her, so she just ignored the goosebumps. She let her eyes wonder to the street, observing a few people stumbling on the sidewalk before her already cold fingers searched for the locket hanging from her neck and nesting against her sternum. Daphne stroked the piece of metal with her thumb a few times, the material was warm against her skin, them she pulled it out of her neck and opened it.

There were two small black and white photographs inside – a young girl and a boy, their features were similar, yet different. You couldn’t tell by the image but they had the same hair color, his face was a little more angular than hers and his eyes from a darker shade of brown instead of the bright hazel of hers. Despite the fact that the photographs were in different sides of the locket, you could tell that they had been cut from the same image because they two seemed to be looking and smiling at each other. Daphne pressed her thumb in the boy’s picture, so absorbed in looking at it that she didn’t noticed she wasn’t alone anymore.

“You seem awfully unhappy for someone who has a whole party in her honor going on just inside.” A warm coat rested against her shoulders, she distinguished the smell of tobacco and whisky, mixed with a musky cologne that she did not quite recognized. Thomas noticed that she closed the locket before turning to face him, adjusting his jacket on her shoulders. The seemingly innocent and simple gesture of her adjusting a piece of clothing that belonged to him on her own body made something stir inside of him – some raw possessiveness that wanted to show the whole world that she belonged to him, even when he knew that it was far from the truth. Daphne seemed like the kind of woman who would never belong to nobody but herself.

“Let’s just say I’m not very prone to celebrate my birthday.” Her fingers rested on the collar of the jacket, the locket securely held between the fabric and her fingers. Thomas noticed that every time he had seen her she was wearing the jewelry. He took a step closer, taking the piece from her, the metal was still warm and weighted very little on his fingers while he twisted it. She did not protest, just observed him with the piece – in the dim light he noticed that the chocolate brown of her irises was almost drowning in a sea of deep forest-green. He didn’t opened it because he felt that whatever was inside it was something she wasn’t willing to share.

“You’re one of those girls who is all worried about getting older?” He asked while parting the chain and passing it through her head, the locket still between his fingers.

“Not exactly.” She smiled but he noticed that it was a forced one because it didn’t reached her eyes. Daphne raised her hand, placing it on top of his, her fingers curling themselves around his own to slip the locket from out of his grasp. He let her take it from him and watched as she adjusted it inside the neckline of her dress. “We better get inside.” Before someone notices, she thought but restrained herself from saying, even when the look in his eyes said that he had guessed it. She should not feel guilty, they weren’t doing nothing wrong, just talking. However, Daphne still felt like this stolen moment was some kind of secret that she had to keep to herself.

He followed her closely, when they stepped out the door she took off his jacket, handing it back to him, their fingers lingering together for a moment before she thanked him and excused herself, going to the opposite direction of the balcony. Thomas stood there, watching her leave, holding the jacket in one of his hands and wondering how this woman could have such a strong effect on him in such a short time. He opened and closed his hand – the one she had just touched - his fingers seeming to tingle from the contact even now.

Nobody in the pub seemed to have noticed the little interaction between the two – nobody except William and Polly, who were observing the couple on opposite sides of the mezzanine, unaware of one another.

William had seen Thomas follow Daphne to the balcony moments before, distracting their friends and preventing them to look that way, trying his best to hide the frown on his face. He had managed to break free from the small group, who continued in deep conversation, and walked to the railing. There was a hint of sadness in his blue eyes as he observed Daphne stepping into the room wrapped in Thomas’s jacket. He clenched his fists, recognizing the all too familiar burn of anger and jealousy that he hated so much.

Polly, on the other hand, was sipping her drink when she saw Tommy and Daphne getting out the door. The older woman smiled to herself – she was right them, there was more than just attraction between his nephew and the girl. She looked around, checking if anybody had noticed the two and saw one of Daphne’s friends - the handsome bachelor who turned many girls heads all night - observing the couple with closed fists. He looked in her direction, a frown on his face, and saw that she had seen the same thing as him, making quick work to ignore it and come back to the group of people he had just left.

Thomas was walking towards his family, intending to leave and go to his hotel room when he heard his name being called.

“It can’t be Sargent Major Thomas M. Shelby!” He turned on his heels and took just a moment to recognize the man talking to him.

“Charles Johnson, I thought I would never see you again.” There was a hint of a smile on the gangster’s face when the man approached him and the two hugged, patting each other on the back.

“Me neither. I was pretty sure that none of us would get out of that hell alive.” Thomas couldn’t stop himself of thinking that a part of him never really came back from the war, but that wasn’t a conversation that he wanted to have.

“And yet, here we are.”

“Here we are, indeed. You should meet my fiancé.” Charles turned to look at the beautiful blonde that had almost knocked Daphne to the ground at the beginning of the night. He made a motion with his head and she approached them. “This is Jane, my fiancé. Jane this is Thomas Shelby, we’ve met in France.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Shelby.” They shook hands briefly. She looked like a delicate flower – young and beautiful and full of energy. They were a match made in heaven, because from what Tommy remembered, Charles had that optimistic nature that sometimes got to your nerves, despite some moments of weakness.

“Likewise. Let me ask you how you ended up with this moron?” She laughed and Charles scoffed at him.

“I thought you were better, Shelby.”

“It was actually my brother’s fault. Charles and William have been friends since they were kids.” Jane answered sweetly, looking around to find her brother. “Oh there he is. William, come here.”

“Where’s the fire?”

“There’s no fire, you daft.” Jane smacked her brother on the arm, the action made Tommy remember Ada. “Mr. Shelby was just asking how I and Charles have met. I said that it was all your fault.” Thomas recognized him immediately – it was the man who had hugged Daphne for a little too long earlier. He extended his hand towards him.

“Thomas Shelby.”

“William Weston.” They shook hands, analyzing each other while doing so. “You know Charles?”

“Yes, we’ve met in France.” Charles answered quickly, apparently unaware of the animosity between the two men.

“You certainly have been there too, haven’t you Mr. Weston?” The sarcasm was evident in Tommy’s voice, but only William noticed it.

“Yeah, served there as a doctor. It’s where I’ve met Daph.” If he wasn’t paying close attention, William would certainly have missed the brief twitch of Tommy’s lip and the hint of jealously in his eyes.

“Yeah, only good thing that happened there.” Charles observed. “You’re here because of her birthday too, right, Tommy?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me, Mr. Shelby, how do you know our Daphne?” This time Jane noticed that something was going on by the tone her bother used, so she paid close attention to the conversation.

“I’m working with Mr. Solomons.”

“That he is. A pain in my ass, if you ask me, mate.” They all turned to see Alfie arriving with Daphne on his arm, both of them smiling.

“Business partners.” William seemed a little impressed.

“Yeah. Would you believe it?” Alfie joked, making Jane and Charles laugh, William just smiled without humor to avoid suspicion but Daphne noticed it, so did Tommy.

“You should come to the weeding, Mr. Shelby.” Suggested Jane and Charles immediately agreed.

“Yeah, it’s a great idea. You can bring your wife, you certainly are married by now. You were always a heartbreaker.”

“No. No wife” He looked at Daphne for a moment and she tried to ignore the intensity of his gaze.

“That’s a shame, but you can bring anyone you want, really. Alfie will be there too, so you will at least have a familiar face around.”

“Wouldn’t lose William’s speech for nothing.” The Jew smiled, making the others laugh at William rolling his eyes.

“Again with that?”

“Couldn’t let it pass, mate.”

“Daphne will be there too. She will be my maid of honor.” Explained Jane as enthusiastically as is the day she actually made the invitation. All of a sudden, the idea of going to the weeding seemed quite interesting to Tommy.

“Well, why not.”

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Thomas sat in his office looking through the file that Campbell had given him earlier when he saw the blood smearing his fingers. He stared at the red staining his skin for a couple of seconds before putting the file in one of the drawers and getting up to take a drink. He cleaned his hand in a napkin while taking the bottle of whisky at the same time a knock could be heard on the door.

“Yes?” Lizzie opened the door, standing there to announce.

“Somebody to see you, Mr Shelby. He says he has come about the position of accounts clerk.”

“Send him in.” Tommy simply said before turning back to pour himself a drink.

“Just through here, sir.”

“Thank you.”

“Michael.” There was a hint of surprise in Tommy’s unreadable face, the boy smiled at him but the head of the Peaky Blinders just turned around to go back to his desk while talking. “Vacancy's been filled.”

“Not according to this morning's paper.” Michael had followed him, throwing said newspaper on his desk, right beside the glass of whiskey he had just placed there. The boy sat down on one of the chairs on the opposite side of the piece of furniture while Tommy stared down at him. “At school, I was top of the class in mathematics and I did a night-school course in accountancy at Worcester College.” Tommy takes the glass from the desk and walks around to lean against the shelf behind his chair, observing his cousin talk. “Mum says you've had six different accountant clerks in the last six months. When respectable men see the other things you do, they leave. But I, like Lizzie out there, already know what you do. Mum says you want to be eighty percent legal within two years.”

“Three.”

“I can help. I know both sides and you know you can trust me. I want to help you, Tommy, become legal. Do the right thing. I want to be proud of this family.” The gangster says nothing as he eyes the boy, glass of whisky still untouched in his hand.

“Does Polly know you're here, Michael?”

“I'm eighteen on Friday, I go where I please.” Tommy step forward to the desk, places the glass on it to take the telephone and put it right in front of Michael.

“You phone your mother.” He takes the glass and starts to leave the room but not before saying. “Good luck.” Michael just observes the telephone for a few moments before making the call.

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Esme is at the shop, organizing things to open when a loud knock is heard from the front door.

“We're not open for winnings yet.”

“I'm here to see Thomas Shelby.” A woman says from outside and she rushes to the door to see a beautiful rich woman waiting there. “I have an appointment.”

“Come in.” Esme rushes her inside, taking notice of the car waiting parked on the street. Closing the door behind her and locking it, she hurries up to stop in front of the strange woman that is looking around the shop. After a while, the stranger extends a hand to her, which she does not take.

“May Carleton.”

“Mr. Shelby has his proper meetings in his other office.”

“This was the address that he gave me.”

“He gave you this address?” Esme asked surprised.

“He said it was a gambling den. I told him that I've wanted to see one since I'm always reading about them in the papers. Quite the big scandal in the Telegraph lately.” Rich people, Esme thought, always wanting to see how the peasants live. May noticed that the woman was still analyzing her and became quite uncomfortable. “Anyway, he said that I could come and have a look. And now I feel like a bit of an idiot because I'm early and he's late and I have no idea how to behave.”

“In a gambling den?” There was a hint of mock on her tone, so May decided that the best thing to do was to leave and wait in another place.

“I'll wait in the car.”

“If I open the door again, they'll all want to come in.” Esme made quick work of putting the keys back in her front pocket. “Like flies.” She starts doing her work again before asking to a very uncomfortable May. “So what are you?”

“W-what am I?” May asks, looking around.

“To Thomas?”

“I'm going to train his racehorse for Epsom.” This seemed to take Esme’s attention.

“You know horses?”

“Yes.” May turned to look at the other woman. “You?”

“Born riding. I slept in a manger when I was a baby.”

“I was born riding, too.” May seems almost daydreaming when the door open only for John to come in and slam it shut.

“There's a fucking great Riley parked out there and nobody's watching it.” He seems unaware of the woman’s presence until he stops right in front of her.

“John, this woman says she's training Thomas' horse.” He places the moneybags on the table and take a look at the woman in front of him.

“He's told us a lot about you.”

“Don't know where he is, do you?” May asks, hopeful. There’s a noise coming from the other door and soon Tommy walks in.

“Sorry, I'm late. There was a family matter. Esme, keep it locked up for a minute.”

“Yes, Thomas.”

“I'll show you around.” He says approaching May and nodding for John to leave. “So be my guest.” He leaned into one of the columns, lightening a cigarette while May starts walking around again. “That's my brother Arthur's office. Down there is my brother John's office - that's where we slate the runners and riders.”

“It's so out in the open. What about the police?” She approaches him, curiously.

“What about them?” Tommy answers and May walks to the nearby table, leaning on it and looking directly at him.

“When I drove into Small Heath, I thought I was going to get murdered then I mentioned your name. It was like being escorted to see a king.” The gangster barely acknowledges the comment, changing the subject.

“You came here to get my girl, right?”

“Right.” He walks to the front door and she follows him after taking a last look around.

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“She looks in very good condition, considering she's not been out on the gallops.” Acknowledges May as Curly walks to them with the mare.

“Curly's the best horseman in England.” Charlie says, smiling.

“I have a man called Mickey who'd argue the point.” She walks around Curly to inspect the animal.

“Ah, but Curly here is half horse himself.” Tommy says with a hint of a smile on his face as he pets the horse.

“She's blessed. Very blessed.” It’s visible that Curly is agitated when he makes the observation.

“Well, she's from the best stock.” The woman says coming to stop on his side.

“But I'd rather have a colored pony. Mixed blood is stronger.”

“Not to win the Derby, Curly.” Tommy says to the gentle man.

“Don't like them racing, Tommy, not the way they beat them.” Curly gives the reins to May. “She's all yours.”

“Thank you.” Then he leaves, clearly disturbed.

“He gets sad when one leaves.” Explains Charlie.

“What time is your box van coming?” Tommy asks.

“Midday.” She answers more focused on petting the horse.

“Maybe you've got time to take the lady to the Garrison, show her the spa and the tearooms.” Thomas looks at his uncle and see the clear suggestion in his smirk and tone of voice, but just plays along and so does she.

“I'd like that, why not?” May says, looking at Tommy before they head to the pub.

“I just had it done up. There was a fire.” He walks ahead of her, going behind the counter while she looks around.

“It's…”

“Yep.” He throws the keys in the counter and asks her. “What do you drink?”

“So early, but gin.” May takes off her gloves and sits on one of the chairs close to the bar. Tommy walks around, taking the bottle of gin and a glass, which he places in front of the woman and fills with the drink. “Goodness. With something?”

“Like what?” He asks a little annoyed as if she is saying something that doesn’t make sense.

“Tonic water or…” He starts looking around.

“Hum, we have cordial.” As he opens the bottle to pour it for her, Tommy points to the glass and says. “There's not much room in there but…” He turns around, helping himself a glass of whiskey. “You want to fuck me, Mrs. Carleton?” She swallows the alcohol she had just taken, looking at him surprised by his bluntness. “Perhaps because I… Perhaps because I represent something to you? We should have this conversation before the booze starts talking for us.” He says while lightening another cigarette. She may deny it, but the way he treats it like a business transaction brings something in her that May haven’t felt in a long while.

“You have a horse.”

“Yes, I have a horse.”

“The horse is why I'm here, purely that. And because you're paying me a lot of money to train your horse, that's why I'm here, purely that.” May takes another sip of her drink while he observes her frown swallowing the drink.

“Good. Good. Well, a toast, then.” He raises his glass but she hesitates. “To the horse, to the Derby.”

“Cheers.”

“So is that what you say to women?” She asks placing her glass on the counter and looking at him.

“Only if I don't know what they want.”

“And what if they don't want to fuck?”

“Then life is simpler.”

“You want a simple life?” He scoffs, placing his hands on the counter before answering her, recognizing the real question hidden in her words.

“Do I look like a man who wants a simple life, eh?”

“So what do you want?” May takes the drink and takes a sip. Tommy leans closer to her, resting his elbows into the counter.

“For what I'm paying you, Mrs. Carleton, I want a horse that'll pay out at Epsom on an each-way bet.” She takes the pack of cigars and the matches that he placed on the counter.

“Before I took your account, I did some credit checks on you.” She lights the cigarettes and takes a drag. “Apparently, you don't exist.” Tommy scratches the side of his head with the hand that holds the cigarette.

“My existence is questionable.”

“Gypsies don't like registers.”

“You see, I'm not a Gypsy like you mean.”

“But you did register for France. I also sent your name to the War Office. I have friends there. You won two medals for gallantry.” So he was right, she could be useful to them. Tommy puts his cigarette out on the ashtray before looking at her, seemingly unimpressed.

“Does that really impress you, Mrs. Carleton?”

“Call me May.” The door to the pub opens and Finn comes in, eyeing the woman curiously.

“Charlie says the box van is here.”

“Thank you, Finn.” Tommy says and the boy leaves again.

“You know, I still don't know what you're going to call your horse.” The gangster stops to think for a moment, remembering the little stolen time he had with Daphne a few nights ago - the way she quickly closed the locket when he arrived; the way her hazel eyes analyzed him with the piece between his fingers, never complaining about how he was closer to her than what was considered appropriate; how he still could feel the light pressure of her fingers on his.

“The horse will be called The Secret Locket.”

“The Secret Locket.” May ponders sipping the gin again.

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“I told him he definitely can't take the job. He said: "All right, I'll move to London, then.”. I said, I won't give in to blackmail. No is no." Polly is looking at Tommy from the mirror hanging in the wall while she puts her earrings – he was finishing putting his tie.

“Well that settles it, then. I'll give the job to the other candidate. He's much better qualified anyway.” He says as he puts in his shoulder holster.

“Michael did City And Guilds - six months.” The way she talks says clearly that even when she refuses to accept him doing the job, Polly wants Michael’s achievements recognized.

“Yeah, but he doesn't know racing, Poll.” Thomas takes a bottle from the table and serves his aunt a drink. “He knows horses, but he doesn't know racing. This other boy, he knows racing. He's good. He's a fast learner.” She looks at him distressed, when he hands her the glass.

“What if Michael really leaves?” Polly sits down on one of the armchairs, placing the ashtray and her drink on the coffee table.

“You just got to let him go, Poll. He'll get a job in an office in London. I'm sure he'll write to you.” Tommy gets his jacket in the clothes rack, putting it on.

“He made a big speech about wanting to help you build up a respectable business. Oh, he's like his dad, he could make me cry.”

“There are trains to London.”

“So I just let him leave?” Her tone is incredulous.

“Every month or so he'd be back.” Thomas takes the cigarette from the ashtray to take a drag. ��Unless of course he meets a girl. Then, who knows?”

“Oh, my God. You want him to do this job.” The older woman looks at him quizzically.

“Polly, I want what you want.” Polly knows him well enough to recognize what he is doing, the tone of his voice, the way he looks at her. It’s not very common for Thomas Shelby don’t get what he wants. She gets up, drink and cigarette in hand.

“What about this other more qualified candidate?”

“Mmm, well, I lied, there isn't one.”

“How much are you paying?” There is a hint of a smile in his face.

“The advertised rate.”

“Like hell.”

“Three bob.”

“Like hell.”

“Three and six.”

“Four.” He gives in.

“Four it is.” She spits on her hand and extends it to him, to seal the deal. Tommy does the same.

“I love him, Tom.” Polly looks at him, her expression serious.

“I know. That's why I'll keep him away from the old business, put him charge of the new. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” He helps her put her coat on and walks to the door but she stops him. “One more thing before we leave.

“What is it?” He asks with a frown.

“The woman.” Polly intentionally throws the bait to see if he is going to bite - and he does.

“What about Daphne?”

“She hides something.” He was not the only one who noticed how she the young woman seemed to have a habit of playing with the locket hanging from her neck when she was distracted or when somebody mentioned family matters. But it wasn’t just that. Polly had seen the hurt in her eyes, like something had been broken inside of her - she was all smiles and pleasantries with everybody but she held a sadness rooted deep down on her, something that she kept from the outside world, something that the gipsy woman was used to see in her own nephew after the war.

“I know. I’m already working on discovering it.”

“Do you want to discover it because of the business or there are other interests at stake?” He scoffs before answering her.

“Polly…”

“Thomas. You are a smart man. You’ve already been fooled by love once…”

“It’s not like that.” The way he punctuates every word just confirms her suspicious even more – he is, indeed, falling for the girl.

“Yes, it is. I see it in your eyes and I saw it in hers.” He looks at her them, a little surprised by the revelation. “I said that you had to forget the barmaid, that there would be others. You’ve been sleeping around since them but now you have to have in mind that she’s not some common woman, Thomas. She is under Solomons’s protection and you have to have that in mind before you let your cock take your decisions for you.”

Tags: @stressedandbandobessed7771

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scoobydoominuscoobydoo · 6 years

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So really early on we had made comparisons between Shaggy and Daphne with Stiles and Lydia from Teen Wolf. Obviously they’re not carbon copies of one another, Daph is an amazingly well rounded babe but she’s no Field’s Medal winner. (She is a straight A student though) And while Shaggy is a very blessed individual he’s not exactly a born and bred detective like Stiles. But we’re not looking at the individual similarities between characters. We’re looking at the dynamics that are shared. Shaphne and Stydia’s similarities fall under their relationships. Lydia is an incredibly beautiful and popular girl but that’s not her whole character, like Daphne, behind that pretty face is a powerful and dangerous girl. And Stiles was the one taken for granted because he was just human, same could be said about Shaggy. Shaphne and Stydia are built on a mutual respect and reverence for one another. While Shaphne’s respect is not built on enough because of the Fraphne obsessed society we live in the respect is definitely there. Shaphne and Stydia were stuck in a world where people kept seeing them as how they wanted to see them.

In lieu of that Mod Silas has been redrawing some famous Stydia moments with Shaphne in place. And as a special present Mod Ninja will add on short fics to go with each picture. We hope you like this!

Part One

“It’s not just someone to hold you under, it has to be someone who can pull you back.”

Her hair had been perfect, it had taken hours for her to make it look windblown but in a sexy kind of way. She had redone her make-up four times to achieve the perfect mix of “I look like a million bucks!” and, “That hot chick you’d see at a Costco.” Resulting in a perfectly neutral yet captivating look. $200 had fallen out of her wallet so she could buy the regal, backless, deep purple dress.This dress was perfect, the closest thing to her dream coming true. Another $100 for the silver four inchers that matched her earrings.

She had stared at herself in the mirror for maybe five minutes.

“This time Daph.” She said softly, “This time I’m gonna get this prom thing right.”

It was safe to say her first prom was a disaster. She had to tackle Fred to the ground and beg him to go with her, and after pouring her feelings out somehow they settled on going as “Buds ™.” But at least she got her dance with him.

Well, half a dance. It was interrupted by someone that Fred could grasp being attracted to. And she was also dressed like a great aunt from Hell.

Just like that, Fred’s eyes were off Daphne for the rest of the night. Whether she was kidnapping guys and throwing them in her rape dungeon or not, she had Fred’s complete and uninterrupted attention.

But that was not going to happen this year.

Daphne was going to have her moment, she would get her dance with Fred and make her move. It was finally going to be the start of their perfect love story.

The mayor had sent two police squad cars to watch out for anything suspicious and protect the dance from it. Not wanting a repeat of the junior prom/Alice May debacle of last year.

While this was met with joy from Shaggy and Daphne, Velma had snorted and said, “Thank goodness our greatest allies are gonna be there to do nothing and get mad at us when we do all the work.” Daphne glared at her and Shaggy said, “Don’t you dare joke like that Velms! This is going to be a night of dancing, dates, and delicious snack tables. And absolutely no ghouls, zombies, werewolves, robotic werewolves, and vampires that look more like demons from hell than anything from Daph’s weird books!!”

Daphne had prayed to every god she could think of to help prevent any experts in special effects, puppetry, illusions, and advanced robotics didn’t get pissed off within the 72 hours before the dance. And she was almost considering being religious because here they were, walking into the gym that was decorated in and a 1940′s theme. No monsters in sight.

She was finally getting her moment with Fred, his arms were wrapped around her waist and his hands felt just perfect there.

And then a giant fucking bunny rabbit that spit acid just had to fall from the disco ball and send everyone into a panic. Daphne didn’t even need to look up at him to know that his eyes were sparkling and he was formulating a plan in his big, dumb, gorgeous, trap obsessed head. Once Shaggy let out a nervous chuckle she knew that her night of ineffable romance was over.

Precisely two hours and 15 minutes later they had caught The Buck Toothed Terror, which was a damn freshman who was mad that a senior hadn’t asked her out. Somehow Daph could relate.

Blah blah blah, robotics club member, blah blah blah, giant exoskeleton. “And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for you meddling upperclassmen!!”

Daphne had heard it all before.

Regardless of that total waste of time it was still only 9:15 and the dance ended at midnight. She still had her chance to revive the dying dream.

She scanned the gym looking for her target, the dance floor was now filling up with re-relaxed students. She spotted him on the other side of the floor adjusting his ascot, which didn’t match his tux at all but she didn’t care because he had to be the one.

She lit up as she spotted him and prepped herself to make her way over to him. She smoothed her dress which had become wrinkled from the several times they had been chased a giant, robotic bunny. It wasn’t back to it’s perfect crisp appearance, but she doubted Fred would even notice, as usual. Then she remembered that she had sent a roundhouse kick, with perfect form if she did say so herself, at the bunny and had broken the heel off her shoe as a result.

$100 down the drain.

Whatever, you could barely see the shoes at the bottom of the dress, if she walked on her toes it would look the same.

Ignoring the fact that her hair was popping up in every direction, and being jealous of Velma’s bounce back bob, she began to make her way over to him.

But was then stopped in her tracks when she saw the whole picture. Fred was surrounded by peers, most notably hot seniors. Now technically Daphne was in the category of hot senior, but she was also an outcast amongst the popular crowd.

She always had the chance to join the popular crowd. Everyone in the school knew she would be a hit. But at the start of every year Daph found herself only giving the popular kids friendly nods and then she’d dash over to the table where Fred, Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma were sitting. And just like that she would be pushed into the rag-tag group of weirdos, same as every year. But she didn’t mind, these were her best friends and unlike everything else in her life they made her happy.

The popular kids seemed to understand this and left her be, left the whole group alone really. The most they ever did was try and convince Fred to ask her out once, which failed of course. But it showed Daph how genuinely nice these girls were.

And currently two of them were putting their hands on his huge shoulders and drooling at every word he said.

He must have been telling the brave tale of how he saved their senior prom, of course adding in that it was a team effort. Because he wasn’t full of himself like other guys she’d met. He cared about equal credit and everyone’s happiness, unlike other guys she’d met.

She felt herself tearing up.

“No Daph this is a dumb reason. It’s not like he had to spend prom with me.”

She had stared at him for another two minutes or so, hoping he’d look over at her and remember they were dancing earlier.

But he didn’t look over at her, instead the football players had dragged him off to their man huddle, and that was that.

She had no idea why she didn’t just walk over to him and ask him to pick up where they left off. Maybe she was too shy or nervous or scared, who cares it was too late.

She waddled over to the nearest empty tables and sat down, since Fred had been her ride she wasn’t able to just leave. So she chose to wallow and pout.

She felt her jaw drop when Fred escorted one of the hot seniors onto the dance floor. It took her like five minutes to get him to ask while it took Daph two months of planning to ensure she’d be the first girl he’d ask.

Her eyes began to tear up again, seeing how happy and natural he looked while he danced with someone they barely knew, and she didn’t care enough to hide her tears.

Until out of nowhere Shaggy had pulled out the chair next to her and sat down with a plop.

She quickly wiped her eyes and leaned forward so he couldn’t see her face. And while attempting to sound okay said, “How’s it going Shags?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, “Like, not great. Since Freddie had to commandeer all the precious food for the trap I’ve got nothing to do.” He leaned back in the chair and sighed. Daph looked around and smiled while saying, “Well where’s Scooby, I’m sure you and him could get into some sort of trouble.” She smirked and clasped her hands in her lap.

“Daph, do you really think Velma would let him stay at prom after what happened last year. Like man, she didn’t waste any time turning on the demon eyes.” He motioned towards the other side of the room where Velma was surrounded by guys from all walks of life. Somehow, this year Velms had become one of the hottest chicks in our class, getting date requests every other day.

Daphne wasn’t really jealous of her since she had her eye on only one guy, and it was way too funny watching Velma’s reactions to all the attention.

“But you and Velma aren’t even together anymore are you?” She gave him a suspicious look but he quickly shook his head, “God no. I-uh, I guess she just doesn’t want Scoob ruining her last prom.” She smiled and sighed, “Honestly I would prefer if Scooby were here, then maybe it’d be a little fun.”

He stared at her for a second, maybe trying to unpack the meaning of what she said, and then he nodded.

He looked from Velma back to Daph, and they kinda just sat in silence for a little bit, just looking at each other.

That was one of the nice things about Shaggy, they didn’t need to say much of anything. Sometimes they could go on and on about how nice V-necks were, and other times they could just be quiet and accept each other’s company. At certain times Daph could use that comforting quiet that only Shaggy could handle.

It had taken a few minutes but Daphne looked down and realized that his hands were shaking, subtly but still noticeable.

She remembered that once again they had appointed Shaggy and Scooby as the bait in the formula. Daphne believed that it was because they were the fastest, but she couldn’t speak for Fred and Velma.

After everything was all wrapped up Shags was pretty good at looking like he was over his life being put in jeopardy. But Daphne eventually noticed that his hands didn’t stop shaking until the next day. That was when she considered that maybe he deserved a break. Her beliefs were confirmed when a doctor basically diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress.

Of course that didn’t last long and he was back to being shoved into danger at every turn.

The main thing that had changed was that Daph now worried about him every time he became bait.

So of course he was still shaken up only half an hour after being chased to the death by an acid spitting rabbit that was 5x it’s original size.

She could tell he was trying to calm down since he took deep breaths every few minutes, it didn’t stop his hands from shaking and she hated it. She took a deep breath as she grabbed his hands. He jumped at the sudden contact and Daph giggled, “Hey,” she said softly, he looked back at her, “Are you sure you’re okay.”

He stared at her with his eyebrows raised and said, “No Daph I am not okay, I almost got my tux melted off by a fucking bunny. And now I don’t even have any food or alcohol to drown my sorrows in!!”

She giggled again, “I have cappuccino flavored gum, it’s from my mom’s therapist.”

“Which one?” Daph stared at him for a second, “Her-um-speech-no- it’s her anger management dude. Jackery??”

Shag chuckled, “Like, is Jackery even a real name?” She smirked, “Is Shaggy?Or Norville for that matter?” He winced, “Daph don’t even start that.”

She found them both chuckling, he seemed a lot calmer now that she had asked. Then she remembered that she was still holding onto his hands and he was gently holding back.

She quickly let go and put them back in her lap, looking around and hoping nobody saw them. More specifically, that Fred hadn’t seen. She peeked over Shag’s shoulder and felt her heart drop, several songs had passed and he was still out on the dance floor with the hot senior. He was still laughing and holding onto her tightly, something she had to beg to do with him.

Shag wondered what she had been staring at and looked over his shoulder. He then let out a sigh as he realized why party animal Daphne was bored at a school dance.

He looked back and saw her discouraged eyes filling with tears.

The hair on the back of his neck raised, he could handle his dog being over dramatic and Velma’s demonic tantrums and Fred throwing him into danger every other week. But he had no idea what to do when Daphne cried.

Whenever she cried she did it like a Disney princess, usually sprawled out on a bed with her hair all spread out and her face buried in the covers. When Daph cried everyone was going to know about it, and everyone just let a combo of Fred complimenting her and Scooby offering her his favorite toys. Eventually that would calm her down and she would explain while Velma rolled her eyes and Shaggy gave her apologetic looks.

But this crying wasn’t the typical, charming Daphne crying.

This was purposely silenced crying, the kind where you wanted nobody to notice.

He sighed and she realized that he was looking at her, she turned away and wiped her eyes. “What a day to not wear my waterproof mascara.” She forced a chuckle. Shag only needed to look at her helplessly trying to fix her eyes for a couple seconds before he gulped and took a deep breath.

“Like, Daph?” He sounded a lot more croaked than intended, which didn’t help his confidence.

She looked away from the napkin she had used to clean the lines of her eyeliner and back to him. The second her purple eyes met his brown ones he became like 10 million times more nervous and his heartbeat probably spiked. Daph could say the same thing since she had no clue what he was gonna ask her.

“Yes Norville?” She sent him a smirk.

“Don’t even Daph I mean it.” She giggled as she let out a few sniffles.

He took a deep breath and looked out at the dance floor, “Do you-uh like, do you wanna dance?” It took him a lot longer to get that out, so he sounded like a sloth. Daphne stared at him for a second, her eyes wide while she processed what he said. She only ever danced with Fred.

At every dance she’d been to, homecoming, winter ball, spring formal, hoedowns, and of course the junior prom.

It’s was just a natural position she assumed.

She knew that just friends could dance, that’s more likely than dancing with a date. But somehow dancing with Shaggy felt like something in between. She had never danced with anyone else.

She must’ve been silent a long time because Shag added, “We’re stuck here for, like, another four hours so we might as well do what society expects us to.” She smiled and sent a glance over toward Fred, another song had passed and he was still on the floor smiling with the hot senior.

“The dance floor is super crowded. Like, I doubt Fred would see you, i-if you’re worried about that.”

She stared at him for another second and came to a conclusion. Tonight, she did not care what Fred saw or didn’t see. She had made this whole night about him and that was the same thing that ruined last year. For once this night was just about Daph, and Daph could do what she wanted.

So she ripped her gaze away from Fred, who could do whatever (and whoever) he wanted tonight, and gave Shaggy a smile.

She nodded quickly and they both stood up.

That was when she remembered that one of her shoes was broken.

She lifted her skirt, her foot was being forced into a contorted position, “Damn it.” Shag whistled and said, “Like, now that is a terrible shoe design. Don’t no heel high heels conflict each other?” Daph rolled her eyes, “I didn’t spend $100 on a pair of gravity defying heels, I-I…I broke one of them when I kicked that stupid bunny.”

“Sounds like something you’d do.” She was about to point out that it had saved Velma’s hide but when she looked up she saw Shaggy kicking off his shoes.

“W-What are you doing Shag?” She crossed her arms and hoped no one noticed. He rubbed the back of his neck and said sheepishly, “You need to take your shoes off now that I don’t have any on.” Daph raised an eyebrow at him, she absolutely hated getting her feet dirty and he knew that, it just wasn’t right at all.

One time they were chasing after a swamp creature while surrounded with mud pits and Daph had been in a catatonic state for about an hour, even after her feet had been cleaned.

She would rather fight through the pain of these useless shoes then get some sort of bacteria through her feet.

But then she saw his hands, still shaking, and the random deep breaths every few seconds. It only took her a second before she groaned and kicked her shoes off, effectively shrinking her and reminding her that Shaggy was roughly 6′0. She ignored how gross her feet felt and grabbed one of his shaking hands.

She started to drag him toward the middle of the dance floor, where it was the most crowded. Still hoping nobody would notice.

Although that might be asking too much since they were both shoeless and she was Daphne Blake.

Once they reached the center they both stood in front of one another, being quiet while a wall of other people swayed to the music around them. “Like, I uh…..”

Daph nodded and said, “I don’t know how to do this either.” His eyes darted around the room before they landed on her again.

She really liked the way he looked at her, no strings attached, no expectations, and no stupid clueless gaze. It just felt like he was looking at just her, Daphne.

She took a step forward so there were only a few inches between them and she placed her hands on his shoulders, “We’ll figure it out.” She smiled and he returned it as he rested his hands on either side of her. His fingers brushed the skin of her back for a couple seconds sending chills up her whole body. They slowly swayed to the music, not saying anything. Their comfortable silence returning. She just smiled and stared at him and he returned the favor.

Even dancing with him felt relaxed, and right.

She felt perfect, finally she believed this is what she deserved to have at prom.

And then her eyes drifted over to Fred, who was only a few feet away from them, and his eyes were on her. And instantly she was filled with regret and guilt, she was ruining everything! The more Fred stared at her the more the gentle swaying felt like the rocking of a ship in a storm.

She had felt perfect and happy with herself a few seconds ago but she just had to think about her weakness, and then meet eyes with said weakness.

With that she looked away, and to keep herself from looking at him again she slid her hand down Shag’s arm and pulled herself into a hug. Hiding her face, and blocking her gaze, in his chest.

She could hear his breathing stifle, but he didn’t move.

Instead he leaned down and rested his head on her shoulder, the random deeps breaths seemed to diminish.

And it was replaced by a warm feeling in Daph’s chest, which she prayed meant anything but the first thing that came to her mind.

#scooby doo #shaphne #shaggy rogers #daphne blake #shaphne fanfiction #teen wolf #stydia

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