johnathancanines

[johnathancanines]

me: i should write more of the fic also me: still looking at estates and now lore accurate 1920s wedding stuff

[johnathancanines]

PARKS AND RECREATION COLD OPENS » 5x16 - Bailout

[johnathancanines]

On A Foam-White Horse: Chapter 2

Story Rating: M / Chapter Rating: PG (just a lot of swearing) Word count: 2,709 Notes: I thought about changing out the banner to match the POVs of every chapter but that's..... Effort so we're sticking to the one lol.

Niamh is pronounced NEEve. Sadhbh is pronounced SIGH-ve like five. Dairmuid is pronounced DEERmud. Síobhan is pronounced SheeVAWN. Tadhg is pronounced TAIguh.

[MASTERLIST]

Tommy didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing to have another fucking Irish blonde walk into his life just as it was pulled apart by Anglo-Irish political struggles. He erred towards bad. Grace had, in the end, been nothing but a source of misery, why wouldn’t Niamh Brennan be? Not that she’d break his heart as well, there were other ways to make a man suffer. And how much did her fucking little cousins know? Niamh hadn’t mentioned Moira or Tadhg at all so it was all Sadhbh’s doing, how much did Polly tell her? Or was she just more observant and nosy than Tommy had pegged her for?

He’d have to tread carefully with that one. Ever since Polly started having those dreams about her daughter she’d clung to the girls tightly, especially Sadhbh. The story they’d given and the story he’d confirmed with his contacts in the Birmingham Irish and in New York City was that when Sadhbh was sixteen she’d rejected a man’s advances and he’d slashed her face with a broken bottle in retaliation. As part of dealing with the fallout and via some communication with the extended family Sadhbh, her older brother Tadhg, and her cousin Moira had turned up in Birmingham on the doorstep of some relative to get her out of there.

While Tadhg and Moira had been getting on well enough, things had not gone as smoothly for Sadhbh, who ended up being kicked out of the catholic school in Digbeth after arguing with the priest during mass. Her behavioral issues had caused additional strain on what was already a tense situation, as apparently their relatives had not been made aware before hand that Moira was black. That was when Sadhbh’s uncle had gone to Polly for help and she’d taken them under her wing. Moira was a nice girl and no trouble at all, she reminded him of Ada if she’d just been a bit (much) more sweet. Tadhg was also no trouble, he minded his own business, went to work, and played guitar at the Irish pubs the evening for fun. Sadhbh — Sadhbh had reminded him of himself and Polly, intelligent and organized. Something he was now realizing should have rung alarm bells.

That affinity had likely been part of why Polly got so attached, and with her thinking her own daughter might be dead…

He waited to talk to Polly until he knew she was at her new home, fussing with it to make it perfect for a reunion that might never come. He wanted to make sure they were completely alone for this conversation. He sat in his car for a long moment, not wanting to get out of the car to have this talk with her. She was already in a fragile state, he didn’t want to make it worse by raising her hackles over the girls. He lit a cigarette and the time it took him to get halfway through to gather himself enough to go and knock on the door.

Polly was surprised to see him but let him in anyway. She went into the living room where she was arranging some decorations she’d brought from Birmingham.

“Yes Tommy? Have you heard about my children?”

He worked very hard not to grimace. “No Pol, I haven’t. But I have made all the appropriate inquiries so it’s just a matter of time. I came to talk to you about Sadhbh.”

Polly looked at him sharply, accusation already brewing in her eyes. What he’d give for his own fucking family to stop giving him that look.

“Why do you want to talk about Sadhbh?”

“Her older cousin Niamh Brennan just came to talk to me about the Irish business.”

Her brows furrowed. “Niamh? That’s one of the famous ones right?”

“Yes, the vaudeville family.”

Polly worked through something in her mind, hands reflexively folding the good napkins she’d brought to the new home.

“Sadhbh did mention that Niamh would be taking a break from staying with the family in Ireland and working down in London for a while but that she’d be living up here in Birmingham, she was bringing her nephews with her, I remember Sadhbh talking about them. They’re both under six so there was a lot of talk about managing them on the trip. That’s why she’s living up here and not in London, more family here to help manage the boys when she’s at work.”

Tommy throw his arm out in exasperation. “How many fucking Brennans are there?”

Polly gave him a look before primly correcting him as she folded.

“Sadhbh and Tadhg are Keoghans and Moria is a Downey.”

He swore she did this shit just to be contrary.

“And at this rate they’ll be giving the Lees a run for their money.”

Polly rolled her eyes. “So Niamh has come from Ireland to do more than just sing at a few clubs. What kind of business are the Irish talking to you about?”

“I don’t have all the details yet but nothing pleasant. What I’m more interested in right now is Campbell is a part of it and how Sadhbh apparently learned enough about his last visit that she knew to point Niamh in Grace’s direction for information.”

Polly stilled and straightened up. All her anxious energy was gone and there was nothing but the stubborn woman left staring at him. This was arguably worse than her falling apart. Polly was stubborn enough to stay seated in a burning building out of pure spite.

“I have never told her anything about our business. That girl is good. She’s intelligent, beautiful and has more integrity than most of Birmingham. She could have a future and I won’t have any of this life effecting that. If she knows anything it’s because she’s smart, she probably was just worried about things and told Niamh who passed it on.”

She dared him to challenge her on it but he wasn’t that cruel. Sadhbh was intelligent, righteous, and in another time and place she could truly do or be anything, but more detrimental than the fact she was woman was that she was disfigured. Tommy’s own opinion was closer to Polly’s, the jagged scars that ran down the right side of Sadhbh’s face from temple to jaw didn’t discredit what was an obviously pretty face nor a good character. He’d seen men who’d come back from the war with far, far worse and plenty had scars about the same as hers. But society was shallow and it didn’t matter how smart a girl was if they didn’t want to look at her. They both knew it was true but Polly refused to accept any limitations on Sadhbh’s future, or any of her faults, like the obvious rage boiling under the surface. He would never say it out loud but he was certain Polly was using the girl to prove she could’ve mothered her own daughter well if she’d had the chance.

“I didn’t think you did. But clearly she’s nosier than either of us gave her credit for. So we’ll need to be more careful about what we say around her. I don’t want her feeding any more information to that cousin of hers.”

Polly took her freshly folded napkins and went over to the sideboard, placing them neatly inside.

“I’ll keep that in mind for when the girls come to live here.”

He stared at her incredulously.

“Come to— Polly.”

Polly rounded on him.

“Don’t ‘Polly’ me Thomas.” She snapped. “They need to be out of there before all good will with that woman is gone and there’s new issues to deal with. There’s plenty of room here for all the children and it’ll be a better, safer, environment for them. Cook is still sniffing around Sadhbh and I don’t like it. I told you to tell him she was off limits.”

God he needed a fucking drink. He scanned the room already knowing he wouldn’t find anything and was still disappointed. Couldn’t she have brought over the whiskey before the fucking napkins?

“And I did. But you know how Cook is, he treats warnings like suggestions.” He held a hand out before she could start again. “I will talk to him again and make it clear I’m ordering him to stay away, alright?”

Polly looked only partially mollified. “Alright, fine. Back to the Irish business, did she tell you anything useful?”

His heartbeat spiked. He hadn’t decided how much he wanted to tell all of them, the less they knew the safer they’d be. “Well, Niamh is apparently interested in making sure I come out of it alright as a thank you to you for looking after her cousins.”

Polly had the gall to look smug. She was a fucking bitch when she wanted to be.

“Naturally. How does she plan to do that?”

He did not look at her.

“Apparently thanks to Sadhbh’s snooping around they learned enough to find and contact Grace. They contacted her as a fictional lady officer working under Campbell concerned about untoward behaviors and she told them all about her time working with him. Since he’s involved and the biggest threat to my continued existence, her plan is to highlight his instability and get him removed from the operation.”

“Oh, Tommy.” She breathed.

He couldn’t meet her eye, somehow the pity was worse than anything else. Polly at least seemed to understand that and left her sympathies in that simple sigh before returning to business.

“So how did a performer from New York City end up working for the IRA?”

“Her mother is from Ireland and after everything, she saw the cousins settled here then went to live in Ireland with the mother’s family,” He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Somehow in all of that she ended up spying on officers in Dublin. Likely some cousin or uncle or some such convinced her to do it for their sake.”

Polly lit her own cigarette and fixed Tommy with a look that he absolutely did not like as she blew out smoke.

“Oh Tommy, what is it with you and Irish spies?”

Tommy raised his brows, gesturing out sardonically. He did not appreciate the implication but he couldn’t pretend the parallels weren’t there.

“And this one is blonde too.“ He replied, trying to aim for levity and to avoid the pain he still felt thinking about Grace.

Polly snorted. “Well at least this one’s not ratting us out.”

“Yet.”

She leveled him with a shrewd look. “Let me talk to her, I know the family better and I don’t have the same prejudice as you do.”

“Oh? But you never liked Grace.”

“No, I didn’t. But she never broke my heart either.”

Tommy didn’t have anything he could say to that. And perhaps to some extent she had a point. Already Niamh had been more straight forward than Grace ever had been — at least as far as he could tell — and she was explicitly offering him help in a tight situation. It didn’t mean he would trust her, but he could at least investigate her potential usefulness and see if she could be made to work towards his own benefit. He wasn’t in a position where he could afford to let the same kind of petty bitterness that lead Campbell to choosing him cost perfectly good tool in his arsenal.

“Alright. Talk to her and let me know what you think.” He turned to leave. “And Pol, the place is coming around nicely.”

He was going to get that fucking drink now.

When she’d first come to Birmingham she’d thought Cook was one of the most annoying, vulgar and horrific people she’d ever met. He was loud, gross, crude, and chased after skirts like a dog in heat. The only thing she’d liked doing with him was coming up with new insults and ways to tell him to fuck off. He never did though, and somehow in all of it he started to seem less aggravating and more charming. He wasn’t as stupid as he let on and he could be very sweet when he let himself be, which he rarely seemed to despite being practically an open book of emotions.

At the end of the day what brought them together and kept them together was that no one else liked them. Cook was simply too much and she was too mean apparently. Personally, Sadhbh thought she had every right to be cruel, people talked to her like she was dying of cancer. She wasn’t doomed, she was just ugly now. Ugly girls could still have careers. Girls who get kicked out of school don’t though, the snide little voice in her head sneered at her. She aggressively shoved it aside. She and Polly had talked about that, they’d gotten her tutors. The tutors were better anyway, Sadhbh was miles ahead of her classes back in school, it had been so grueling to have to sit there for hours while everyone else bumbled along and a nun smacked her with a ruler for working ahead.

Cook breathed out smoke and handed her the cigarette. She couldn’t buy her own, no one would sell them to her for fear of Polly and if they did someone would rat her out probably. She took a drag, thinking about how Cook’s mouth had just been on it, how if you squinted it was almost like a kiss. He’d like that idea with how horny he always was about everything. She shifted closer to him, placing her head on his shoulder. He squeezed her tighter with the arm he had around her. She liked their friendship, it was warm and comfortable. He didn’t treat her like glass or make fun of her face. He just treated her like he would any girl, complete with trying to get into her panties before finally taking the “no” with more grace than she’d anticipated.

She thought some of that was to do with the war — she didn’t know much about it, just that he’d served with the Shelby brothers though that math didn’t add up. He was older than her sure, but he was younger than John. He didn’t talk about any of it though so she didn’t ask. There was enough to talk about in the world, she didn’t need to reopen a wound just to satisfy her curiosity. She didn’t feel the need to do much of anything when they were tucked away in their little hidey hole under the bridge. She loved Polly and appreciated all the Shelbys had done for her but no one decided who she did or didn’t see but herself.

“Let me take you out properly eh? Huddling in here all the time is gonna get fucking dull.”

“Where would we go, London? It can’t be anywhere in Birmingham or every Shelby shill and goon will be jumping out of the wood work.”

“Nah not London,” He took back the cigarette when she offered it. “Tommy’s got us all gearing up to storm the place. Not a good idea for us to go around there if we don’t wanna get ratted out. How about Blackpool?”

Well that’s interesting, she filed it away for later.

“Blackpool? That’s the one with the Ferris wheel right?”

“Yup, the one and only. Got all kinds of shit there.”

“It’s not really the weather for it though.”

He snorted. “Who fucking cares. It’ll be rainy and miserable till summer and it’ll still probably be rainy and miserable then.”

Sadhbh thought about it, even thought they’d lived in New York she’d never been to Coney Island and now she probably never would. The realization sent a hollow pang through her chest. From what she’d seen in ads in the paper and people talking, Blackpool was as close as you got to Coney Island in England. And if was going to somewhere like that the best person to go with was Cook.

“Yeah alright, it should be fun. Let’s do it.”

Cook grinned that huge happy boyish grin of his and it was so infectious she couldn’t help but smile too. When she felt how her right side twisted and stretched though she dropped her head into his chest and stopped immediately. Sadhbh hadn’t thought that she was vain before, she certainly never spent too much time on her appearance. But maybe that was because she’d always gone through life confident she could get what she wanted with her good looks and strong mind. In the end she wasn’t really much better than all the girls who’d spend all their time on beautification, she’d just banked that what she naturally had was good enough already and acted like it made her better to not worry about ribbons and rogue. The attack had been, if anything, humbling. There was no amount of make up that would ever make her pretty again.

She felt Cook’s hand creep down towards her ass and she shoved him away with a bark of laughter. He laughed right along with her.

“There’s that pretty smile!”

[johnathancanines]

Day 24: Pearls

Rating: G Word count: 349 Characters: Tommy, Niamh Notes: the fact that I couldn't find a good pearl necklace gif and cannot mentally switch gears from this set up is a fucking curse.

“Tommy you know you don’t have to buy me all this jewelry right?” Niamh asked with a laugh as she watch her husband place a brand new pearl necklace around her neck in the mirror of her vanity.

“Oh I know. But I like to. One of the simpler joys in life a man can have is to get his pretty wife pretty things and then see his pretty wife in those pretty things.”

She laughed louder, eyes on Tommy’s smile more than the pearls. They were lovely, but it was him that she found truly wonderful. She didn’t need much more than his companionship to be happy but he really did love to shower her and the children in gifts. She could understand the impulse. She hadn’t grown up with much more than Tommy had, now that they had money felt wonderful to be able to do and buy things just because it made someone smile. To not have to penny pinch the joy out of life just to save up for food.

“Well, I do love to make you happy.”

“And you do, oh you do.”

The necklace was in place but his hands didn’t leave her, instead they trailed across the back of her shoulders to the front until they were wrapped around her and his nose was nuzzling the side of her head. He kissed her gently just where the ear started.

“I love you.” He said low and rumbly right in her ear.

She loved his accent. How it wasn’t refine or fancy. It was real human speech made even more gruff with about 80 pounds of cigarettes a day. It made her accent feel normal, they were completely different sure, but it was a similar energy. Posh types made her feel like she was in a bad production of Shakespeare.

“I love you too Tommy.” She shifted her head just enough to nuzzle back. “And so we’re clear they really are some fuckin’ stunning pearls and I will be fuckin’ obnoxious wearing them everywhere and showing them off.”

Tommy laughed. “That’s my girl.”

[johnathancanines]

Day 23: buttons

Rating: G Word count: 283 Characters: Tommy, Ray Notes: taking a break from saying a Lot and Achieving Nothing to catch up on these lol. talked a lot today about how much Tommy loves Niamh's nephews so I thought it'd be fun to do a nice little thing.

“How’d that happen ay?” Tommy said as he looked down at little Ray and saw his shirt buttons were askew and undone.

The little boy looked at his shirt then back up to Tommy with his big dark eyes.

“I did them myself.”

“Ah, well, it was a good try, here—”

Tommy knelt down in front of Ray and carefully undid the little buttons and tidied up the boy’s shirt. It was a miracle really he’d gotten any in with how small they were, especially at his age. Ray only fidgeted a little bit as Tommy worked to button him up properly, eventually resting his head against Tommy’s. It squeezed his heart to bits, god how he loved these boys. He barely had them and already nothing made him happier than hearing them cry “Uncle Tommy!” when he walked through the door.

Ray started to rub his head against Tommy’s in that way children do when they’re bored and a slave to their impulses and curiosities. Their hair was cut nearly identical, and the same dark shade. Tommy chuckled and when he finished with the last button he cupped Ray’s little cheeks and rubbed their heads together harder. Ray giggled at the scratchy sound and odd sensation. Tommy let him go with a laugh and a kiss on the forehead as he got up.

“There you are m’boy! Very nice. Now, let’s get your brother so we can go and say hello to the horses ay?”

Ray whooped with joy. “Horses! You have all the best horses uncle Tommy!”

Tommy grinned. “Oh I do, do I?”

Ray nodded enthusiastically as he barreled out into the hallway shouting about if Ollie was ready yet.

[johnathancanines]

thinking about niamh and i think she invented the modern celebrity brand or whatever?

like, she does movies and music, okay that's normal and makes sense. but i think around the 30s she gets into like "homemaker guides" and such and then also a whole line of products which all just stems from the work they do on the house and her decorating and care for the kids and hosting parties, etc etc.

like i know she absolutely puts out guides on how to make your house homey and cook on a budget during the depression, citing her own youth in hell's kitchen as her credentials on this and maybe even puts out a line of pretty but very affordable home goods as well.

she also works with tommy, ESPECIALLY after he's made mp, to put together community events, festivals, arts programs etc etc

like she absolutely gets equated to betty crocker and the first lady for all this shit she does.

she also convinces tommy to buy a publishing house which is where all her books come out of and cook puts out some cookbooks of his own at her encouragement.

[johnathancanines]

looking at estates and older interiors and such and like--

man i do love niamh bc she really do be havin' style and is not afraid to make the house look really cool. it is also a testament to tommy's affection how he does not complain about the decor bills or how she fucking redoes the nursery every. single. time.

[johnathancanines]

i am foreseeing tommy blackmailing his way into that estate and then IMMEDIATELY getting to work on an expansion because he knows it won't hold the fucking extended relatives and they WILL be coming for LONG stays sdfgfsgds

back to looking at estates again and the one i love is literally not big enough to contain the size of this family in this fic

[johnathancanines]

back to looking at estates again and the one i love is literally not big enough to contain the size of this family in this fic

[johnathancanines]

thinking about some of the professions/futures of at least the older kids/cousins:

tadhg becomes a well respected musician, works in bands, a solo career and on soundtracks for shelby studios sadhbh goes to school for business and politics, becomes tommy's minion for a while then runs for office too. ends up being like one of the youngest female mps ever or some shit. also writes super good weird fiction on the side for fun

moira becomes a performer/singer

oisín (tadhg and sadhbh's younger brother) ends up falling in love with horses after spending time with tommy's which worries everyone (see the legend of oisín) but thankfully it just means he ends up wanting to be a vet

blathnáid (tadhg and sadhbh's younger sister) never really as a profession. she marries and lives very happily. she does have a real knack for flower arrangements so that's a lil bit of a side hustle for her.

ray becomes an actor and later a director too, he eventually takes over shelby studios as its president.

ollie kinda struggles to find his footing for a bit but ends up going into pediatrics and is very happy.

cook works as a chef for tommy for a while (especially when sadhbh's his minion since they both just live at his fucking estate lol) but when sadhbh's elected he kinda stops. he also ends up fighting in ww2 which changes a lot for him. at that point i just take advantage of joc being in sas and superimpose cook onto paddy fskdjghsdf

it's also very likely that all the boys from tadhg to ollie end up fighting in ww2 fuckin' rip

[johnathancanines]

Thinking about a very real chance of aberama/polly/sadhbh’s dad happening in the future….

[johnathancanines]

I tend to lean to the end that the vast majority of niamh’s american family are not involved with crime at all and her irish family has none of it really save a bad apple or two

But then i also think about how economics were at the time and prohibition… like her dad isn’t a mob kinda man he’s very earnest but to get a drink… well

[johnathancanines]

Fuck them.

[johnathancanines]

I will figure out a nice happy ship for lizzie in this fic or die trying

[johnathancanines]

Peaky Blinders 6.01: Summary

[johnathancanines]

1922 Cartier brooch. The bar of the brooch supports a pair of diamond-set, onyx and coral bead spotted chains that support a red coral vase with diamond and onyx bands. The whole is mounted on a platinum frame. From Attire’s Mind, FB.

[johnathancanines]

Day 24: Pearls

Rating: G Word count: 349 Characters: Tommy, Niamh Notes: the fact that I couldn't find a good pearl necklace gif and cannot mentally switch gears from this set up is a fucking curse.

“Tommy you know you don’t have to buy me all this jewelry right?” Niamh asked with a laugh as she watch her husband place a brand new pearl necklace around her neck in the mirror of her vanity.

“Oh I know. But I like to. One of the simpler joys in life a man can have is to get his pretty wife pretty things and then see his pretty wife in those pretty things.”

She laughed louder, eyes on Tommy’s smile more than the pearls. They were lovely, but it was him that she found truly wonderful. She didn’t need much more than his companionship to be happy but he really did love to shower her and the children in gifts. She could understand the impulse. She hadn’t grown up with much more than Tommy had, now that they had money felt wonderful to be able to do and buy things just because it made someone smile. To not have to penny pinch the joy out of life just to save up for food.

“Well, I do love to make you happy.”

“And you do, oh you do.”

The necklace was in place but his hands didn’t leave her, instead they trailed across the back of her shoulders to the front until they were wrapped around her and his nose was nuzzling the side of her head. He kissed her gently just where the ear started.

“I love you.” He said low and rumbly right in her ear.

She loved his accent. How it wasn’t refine or fancy. It was real human speech made even more gruff with about 80 pounds of cigarettes a day. It made her accent feel normal, they were completely different sure, but it was a similar energy. Posh types made her feel like she was in a bad production of Shakespeare.

“I love you too Tommy.” She shifted her head just enough to nuzzle back. “And so we’re clear they really are some fuckin’ stunning pearls and I will be fuckin’ obnoxious wearing them everywhere and showing them off.”

Tommy laughed. “That’s my girl.”