#we need more Tommy & Sweet Tooth content

[rositaa01xxr]

Here are a couple of 4K wallpapers for y’all- Sweet Tooth simpers 🤡😝

[tloujm]

Part XXVI: Giving Grief

Author’s Notes: This is the first chapter I’ve posted in months (literally since April). I don’t know if this is a full comeback. I have a few chapters in the drafts that need to be edited and formatted for posting but after that, I still plan on continuing the series bc my plan was always have a long fic. With no new content after part II of the game was released, my interest in the fandom waned but was always there. Now with HBO creating a show based off the game, as well as me being apart of the Pedro Pascal fandom, I think I will soon become more consistent in posting as new content gets released. I will say that at least half of what appeals to me for Joel is Troy Baker’s voice and while I love Pedro’s voice too, I know it won’t be the same. I still think Pedro will do the voice justice bc he can do a damn fine country accent as seen in the movie Prospect on Netflix. If you’re a fan of his and have Netflix, please go watch it!

Genre: Angst and Fluff

Summary: You and Joel reconcile and bond over Ellie and Sarah. 

Ship: Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Joel waited for you to come home. He paced back and forth in the kitchen switching from holding the card and setting it down on the counter. He was eager to talk to you about this new revelation partly because he was nervous to have the other conversation with you. After a while of calming his nerves down, you still hadn’t come home. The sun had set an hour ago and Joel was ready to throw on his boots and go looking for you. 

Just as he laced them up, the front door opened. You walked in and immediately stopped because his body blocked you from walking in the house further. 

“Going somewhere?” You asked as you slid past him. He was a grown man and could do what he wanted, but the thought of him leaving to go do other things before the issue between you was resolved upset you. 

He reached back down to unlace his boots. “Not anymore. I was ‘bout to head out and find you.”

“Why?” You asked dryly.

“I’d been waiting on you to come home for a couple of hours. We gotta talk.”

“You’re right, we do. I was helping Wendy walk the kids home from the daycare; that’s what held me up. I’m here now, though.” You leaned against the back of the couch and crossed your arms. The stance you took reminded you of what Joel would do.

He walked into the kitchen and came back. “Kiddo made this for us.”

You took it in your hands. “When did she have time to make this?” He shrugged. Your fingers brushed across the drawing of the hat before finally opening it. “Oh my God.” She looked at you for a split second before looking back down at her signature. “Her name has been ‘Ellie’ the whole time.”

“I know.” He commented. 

“She never said anything. All of us have asked her.”

“Technically, she still hasn’t spoken her name, but I guess she wasn’t ready for that.”

“She wasn’t ready to let anybody in.” You said. He nodded in agreement.

“Until now.” He walked up to you and pointed to her name on the card. “She’s doing so good, this Ellie. I can only try to imagine the horrors that she’s seen out in the world before she came to Jackson, but whatever happened out there, it led her to us. I’m...It’s just nice to see her opening up to this place.”

You understood what he was trying to say. “Yeah, I’m proud of her too.” You walked past him and into the kitchen to hang the card on the refrigerator. Joel followed. This time, his arms were crossed.

“(Y/N), I meant it when I said I was sorry back there. I shouldn’t have said what I did.”

“If you didn’t mean it, you wouldn’t have said it.” You rebutted.

“I was upset with you because I expected you to react the same as me when Ellie climbed up that T-Rex, but I don’t want a carbon copy of myself. I love you and want to have a family with you because you are wise beyond your years, confident even if you don’t always think so, responsible even for things that aren’t your responsibility and most importantly, you’re level headedness. Where I have a tendency to lose my cool in certain situations, you are guided by this calm...patient sense of will that I envy.” He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, giving you the opportunity to say something. Seeing that you were still soaking in his words, he continued. “You’ll be a great mother. I saw it in the gentle way you juggled all those kids at the daycare. I saw it in the way you took care of Ellie the first day she came here. You’ll see though, if it’s meant for us to have a baby, how difficult it is to stop worrying. It didn’t stop when Sarah....even when I tried to push those feelings away. It doesn’t stop. I know she’s not her, but it’s hard for me to just stand by and watch her do something that could hurt her.”

“I wasn’t standing by, or at least that wasn’t my intention. I wanted to give her space. She’s so delicate, or maybe that’s my problem. I shouldn’t treat her like she’s some glass figurine. I just wanted her to grow comfortable with us by trusting her. Believe me, it wasn’t easy for me to do when there was nothing personally for me to go off of, but then I thought, she’s lived out there for God knows how long by herself. She’s not only seen things but has been able to survive things. It’s hard to see how clever someone is when they won’t let you in, but I knew she had to be to have made it this far. I get it though. I’ve never been a parent. I can only sympathize with your worries. I can not empathize with you until I’ve been where you have. I’m sorry too. I could have found a way to give her space without allowing her to be in such a dangerous spot. You must be disappointed in me.”

He moved up to you and placed his hands on your shoulder. “I’m not. Look at me. I’m not disappointed in you. She was both of our responsibilities earlier.” He brought you into a tight hug. “You’re right, she is smart. She felt comfortable enough to show a side of herself that no one else has seen. You know why? ‘Cause she felt safe around us. Despite the grief she put me through, it was nice to see her so happy.”

“I know it was, wasn’t it? I can’t believe she jumped though! I didn’t think she’d go that far.”

“At the end of the day, kids will be kids. It’s not an excuse to slack off on raising ‘em, but there's just a certain wild and carefree nature that every kid has. It’s instilled in their DNA or somethin’ and then it fades away as they get older, about the time their back starts to ache.” Joel chuckled as he explained. He kissed the top of your head before pulling away to get a good look at you. He made a face as if to ask if you were ok. You nodded. He took your hand and pulled you into the living room. You sat down next to him. “She reminds me of Sarah sometimes. Ellie’s about the same age as her. She ran me through the ringer, raising that one.” He chuckled at the memories. “I wouldn’t trade it in for the world, being her dad, but you shoulda seen the amount of grief she put me through. Especially being a single parent.” He wiped his hand across his face, letting it linger along the length of his neck. “One time, she snuck off to some skate park when I told her no. She was in this skateboarding phase. I bought her a customized skateboard for her birthday and she would practice using it up and down the driveway. She had barely learned that little flippy trick when she asked me to take her to the skate park. I told her no because it looked like it was for experienced skaters. I wanted her to practice more first. To say the least, she was mad at me. She told me she was staying after school for the science club, but she really went to the skate park with some friends. By the time I figured out where she was, I found her lying in the grass, holding her arm in pain. Turned out she had a hairline fracture in her...radius?” He pointed to the bone on his arm. You nodded that it was in fact called radius. “I grounded her for lying to me, but sometimes I wonder if I should have taken her to the park. I mean I’m no expert on skateboarding, but at least I could have been there to supervise; make sure she wasn’t on one of those tough looking ramps.”

“Did you ever take her skateboarding after she healed up?”

“After the cast came off, she switched interests to soccer. I installed a shelf on one of her walls to hang the skateboard on. Better that than being stuffed under her bed. Soccer was her life though. She made new friends from the team, won titles, learned tricks with the ball. Me and Tommy were regulars at her games. I was...am proud of her.”

You smiled as you envisioned his memories. “Did she give you grief with that as well?”

He nodded in an exaggerated way. “Oh yeah, but I’m sure I used to give her grief too.” You lifted your eyebrows with desire for him to elaborate. “I may or may not have argued with the coach and ref on a few occasions regarding plays.”

“You never dated any of the soccer moms?” You teased.

He scoffed. “Most of them were married and the ones who weren’t, I sent Tommy’s way instead. He wasn’t mad at it.” The two of you chuckled. “I did flirt with a few, married or not, so I could get my hands on some of their homemade baked goods.”

“I was under the assumption that soccer moms made food for everyone.”

“They did, but I still wanted a few more cupcakes for the ride home.” He admitted as you laughed. “Listen, I had a busy life. I didn’t have much time to hone my baking skills, so it was nice to be able to have homemade cakes and cookies for a change.

“Well, if you wanted cookies, that’s all you had to say! I can show you how to bake right now.”

“It’s late.” He reasoned.

“It’s never too late to feed your sweet tooth.” You rebutted as you pulled him back into the kitchen.

[the-sympathetic-villain]

Hello! I just saw your post about wanting remus prompts? Obvs no pressure but I cant get this out of my mind of the rat man..... BAKING

Yes... I need the rat man baking. This took me a bit because I’m really bad at writing short prompts but I like how it turned out! Originally, this was meant to be straight fluff but I couldn’t seem to get away from my personal headcanon that Remus stress bakes lol but its still mostly fluff with a little bit of vulnerability from the rat man <3

Cookies and Coping Mechanisms

Description: After SvSR, Remus knows that everyone is upset by the outcome of episode. His solution? Dragging a reluctant Virgil into the kitchen to make cookies.

Word Count: 1747

Characters: Remus, Virgil (Platonic Dukexiety)

Warnings: Remus-Type Content (Sexual innuendo, Allusions to Drugs, References to gore, etc.), Flirting, Swearing

---

    “Come on, Virgie. This'll be fun.”

    “Last time I heard that, you ended up on fire, Remus.” Virgil muttered as he shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets, cast a cautious glance at the bouncing creative side.

    “You can't spell fun without fire!” Remus chirped happily.

     Virgil stopped in his tracks, looking up in disbelief. “Yes, you can—”

     “Not if you actually want to have fun, Gerard Gay.” Remus threw out over his shoulder as he continued his manic dive into the cupboards. Metal pans flew up to the countertop as Remus swung around to throw open another drawer with a loud clang.

    Virgil growled. His eyes darkened with exasperation as Remus tossed a bag of flour on the counter and a puff of white haze shot up into the air. “I'm so glad that Logan soundproofed the kitchen so you can as be as loud as you want.”

     “Hey, that was Roman's fault." Remus stopped digging through the fridge to point at Virgil. “He brought the firecrackers—”

     “You lit them!” Virgil threw his hands up in a gesture to the large scorch marks in front of the stove.

     “Irrelevant.” Remus purred with a playful grin. “Now preheat the oven for me, emo boy.”

    “To what?” Virgil muttered as he stalked toward the oven.

    “350 degrees, baby!”

    “Don’t call me baby.” Virgil sighed, barely looking up at the mess Remus was making as he danced around the kitchen. “I don't even know why we're doing this. Cookies can’t fix what happened.”

    “Well, it sure as hell can't hurt, Donnie Darko,” Remus winked, shooting finger guns at Virgil. “especially since we’re catering to each of them personally. Everyone can hate each other and all, but they can't hate cookies.”

    Virgil paused in confusion.  “You said we were making one batch of cookies, Remus. I didn't sign up for a whole day with—”

    “I never said we weren't. Just one batch is all we need.” Remus grinned with a teasing smile, taunting him to continue.

    “How can one batch of cookies cater to all of them?” Virgil wondered. “I mean I get Patton, but the others are a little harder to please.”

    “Don't you worry. I'll spill the beans,” Remus paused with a suggestive grin. “but first I need you to strip, Frightmare before Christmas.”

    Virgil let out an exaggerated sigh as he ducked his head to hide the redness in his cheeks. “Whatever fantasy your trying to get me play out, I won't—”

     “Lose the hoodie, Virge. Everything else is optional.” Remus interrupted, grinning suggestively as Virgil tipped his head up. “Unless—"

    “No.”

    “Fine,” Remus giggled as he gave in to Virgil. Before he walked away, he slipped a piece of paper across the table as Virgil slipped his jacket off and laid it off to the side. “It’s to get nice and toasty in here and I don’t need you looking like you just got off a sweet bender covered in a suspicious white powder when we go to deliver the goods.”

    “Okay—Okay! It’s off now.” Virgil through his hands up in exasperation as Remus wiggled his eyebrow up at him. “You can stop tormenting me.”

    “Great.” Remus cheered with a flourish of his hands as he tossed the flour at Virgil. He giggled as the bag erupted into a white puff all over Virgil, leaning into his friend’s scowl before returning to hopping about the kitchen. “Mix the dry ingredients and I'll start on the wet stuff.”

    “Great.” Virgil huffed, rolling his eyes as he straightened out his black tee and brushed the flour off himself. Reluctantly, he picked up the flour to begin as he looked up at Remus for explanation. “Now, tell me why you think this is going to make everything better.”

    “Well, Pattycake obviously loves homemade gifts—"

     “Patton is the easiest to please.” Virgil muttered as he measured the flour. “That's not an accomplishment.”

   “Yeah, well. All Roman wants is attention. The fact that we were thinking of him is enough to brighten his spirits,” Remus grinned as he started to whisk together his ingredients. “and the snake boy has a sweet tooth. He hates to admit it, but sugar is Janus’ comfort food.”

    Virgil paused. His eyes narrowed on Remus with skepticism in his eyes. “And what about Logan?”

     Remus’ grin widened as he swiped Virgil’s bowl and began combining the ingredients. “Well, we're making thumbprint cookies and—”

    “—and thumbprint cookies require jam.” Virgil deadpanned as Remus nodded. He stared blankly as the creative side finished the dough and reached below the counter.

     “Bingo, bad boy.” Remus chirped as he slid a jar of Crofter's across the table.

    Virgil eyed the jam suspiciously as he bit his lip. “Where exactly did you pull that from—���

    “Not relevant.” Remus cheered brightly as he handed Virgil a spoon and started forming the cookies. “Start scooping and don't skimp on the jam. I don't want to offend the nerdy professor.”

    “Re, this is—” Virgil stared as he followed behind Remus, dropping jam into the indents of the cookies. “—surprisingly thoughtful.”

    “So, what?” Remus grinned, raising an eyebrow at Virgil. “Can't a guy do a nice thing every once in a while?”

     Virgil blinked, trying to stifle his own shock. “You try to convince Thomas to jump out of moving cars or eat dirt at least daily. Nice things just aren’t what you’re about. Are they?”

     “Maybe, I don’t like being predictable.” Remus chuckled as he took the tray from Virgil and slipped it in the oven.

    “Holy shit,” Virgil’s mouth dropped open as Remus set the timer. “You actually care about how the others are feeling right now?”

    “What?” Remus mused, raising an eyebrow at Virgil. “Did you think I was here for my own amusement, stormy night?”

    “I mean, kinda.” Virgil dropped his hands to his side, tugging at the hem of his tee. “I didn’t know that you were capable of—"”

    “Of course, you wouldn't think so.” Remus interrupted with a bored tone, sounding exasperated.

     Virgil paused as Remus dropped his voice. The uncharacteristic serious in his friend's muted tone stopped him in his tracks and he turned back to see Remus leaned on his elbows, staring at the countertop.

    “After this last video without us, everyone's thoughts about themselves are turning to crap and I feel them spiraling just the way you do, emo boy.” Remus smirked as Virgil stared back at him with shock in his eyes. “So, yeah. I used to make Thomas repeat this recipe over and over in his head until he memorized the damn thing.”

    “You did that so you could bake for the others if they had a bad day?” Virgil blinked, shocked at the sudden change from Remus’ usual boisterous behavior.

    Remus let out a long sigh as he fidgeted with a wooden spoon in his hand, twirling it between his fingers. “You might be his anxiety, but your not the only one carrying that gnawing dread that nothing's gonna work out, Dr. Doom. If it's grating and repetitive, it shows up on my radar too.”

    “I had no idea." Virgil muttered, unsure of what else to say.

    “You can thank Janus for that one, Virgie baby.” Remus chirped, a little more upbeat as the time chimed off. “You didn’t want to know and the snake's been keeping you safe and snug as long as you been kicking.”

    “But what about you, Ree?” Virgil wondered out loud as Remus started to drop the hot cookies onto plates to cool. “Who keeps you safe?”

    “Eh, who cares?” Remus’ voice cracked slightly as he rolled his eyes. “Point is that I’ll feel icky and this’ll make that go away.”

    “Remus, that’s not—”

    “What? Healthy?” Remus purred, as he wrapped an arm around Virgil’s shoulder and jostling him. “Hate to break it to you, kid, but I'm not Tommy-boy’s good coping mechanisms.”

    “No, but that's why Thomas works on them.” Virgil muttered as Remus released him. “I'm not exactly what Thomas wants all the time either, but he work through his issues so that I can focus on protecting him.”

   “Here’s the thing though,” Remus flashed Virgil a sharp-toothed grin as he chuckled. “My purpose ain’t quite so handy as yours, so its not worth that—”

    “You’re wrong, Remus.”

    Remus looked up in surprise at Virgil’s abrupt response. He stared for a moment at the concern in Virgil’s eyes before straightening up. “Oh?”

    “You keep Thomas grounded in reality.” Virgil shrugged as Remus looked up at him with skepticism in his eyes. “If Thomas lived his life looking Princey's rose-colored glasses, he'd be ignoring all the complex and difficult things that give life meaning.”

    Remus raised an eyebrow at him with a playful glimmer in his eyes. “So, there is creative value in ‘juicy butth—”

    “Stop,” Virgil held up a hand with a chuckle. “You know what I mean. Not everything is sunshine and sparkles. Thomas can’t ignore things just because he doesn’t like them. He needs the ability to face those things and you give him that, Remus.”

     Remus giggled, flashing a knowing smirk at Virgil. “You better be careful, Virgie. If you’re not, I might start to think you give a shit.”

    “I do.” Virgil dipped his head to hide the redness in his cheeks as Remus smirked at him. “I do, okay? Now, just shut up so we can deliver some cookies.”

    “Oh, gag me, emo boy.” Remus chuckled, barely concealing his smile as he made an over-exaggerated expression of disgust. “I didn't know you were capable of being so tooth-rottingly sweet—”

    “Just shut up." Virgil muttered half-heartedly as he smiled and took the plate Remus held out for him.

    Remus chuckled, nodding to the exit with a smirk. “Fine. How about we just deliver these top-notch sweets to our favorite depressed bitches then?”

    “Fine—” Virgil nodded reluctantly, hesitating as he followed Remus. “—and then maybe we could watch a movie or something after?”

   Remus nodded, perking up as he bounced along the hallway. “Something gory?”

    Virgil snorted as he staggered down the hallway. “Might as well. None of the other sides will watch scary movies with me anyway.”

    “It's a date then, stormy night.” Remus grinned, feeling lighter as they walked down the hall together. “You wore me down.”

    Virgil rolled his eyes, smiling as he followed the bouncing man ahead of him. “Good.”

---

General Taglist:

@justanotherhumanstuff​ @im-an-anxious-wreck

[newtafterdark]

Taste of Metal - Chapter 11: A Closet Full of Memories AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26157634/chapters/66510040 What if the overwhelming VR experience Gordon went through, had a deeper purpose than just being a simple simulation & a freelance debug job for him?But most importantly- what if Gordon Freeman listens to Metal & used to be in a band? aka. the “Metalhead Gordon AU”

- -

“Okay, run this by me one more time, so I can be 100% sure this won’t wreck my apartment beyond all recognition.”

 Gordon stood beside Tommy, the papers G-Man had given him days prior in his hand.

 “W-Well, we just need to find something in your apartment that can be accessed through a door or something similar… a-and then Benrey and I can start working on the pocket dimension inside it! It is completely safe for everything a-and everyone outside of the pocket dimension, I promise!”

Earlier, Tommy had sat down the entire Science Team to explain what the papers were that G-Man had given to Gordon a few days prior.

 As it was clear that their entire group that they only felt safe when all of them were in close proximity to each other, so finding a way to have them all live comfortably closeby was really the only option that could work for them in the long run. 

 Apparently, in G-Man’s mind, that meant that some part of Gordon’s apartment would become the entryway to pocket space. Which in turn would basically be an extension of the apartment where the other members of the Science Team could create rooms and spaces as they pleased.

 “So… if something goes haywire in there, like an explosion-”

 “- it wouldn’t affect your apartment!”, Tommy confirmed.

 Gordon ran his hand through his hair in thought. This… didn’t seem like a too bad idea in all honesty, but he couldn’t help worry about the Science Team’s track record of somehow even turning the best ideas into pure chaos. 

 Eventually, he sighed and gave Tommy a nod, giving the papers to him and putting his hand on the taller man’s shoulder for emphasis.

 “Alright. I will trust you with this. Just… please make sure it’s absolutely safe for everyone? And my apartment walls? This is drywall, man, not Black Mesa’s almost laser-proof tiles.”

 Tommy beamed at him, bouncing on his heels in excitement-

“I will not only make sure this is OSHA-approved but also Science Team proved!”

 Gordon smiled softly up at him, patting his shoulder gently-

“Tommy, you’re a godsend. I honestly don’t know where I’d be without you, bud.”

A quick search for a fitting area later, they decided that Gordon’s storage closet would be the best option. 

 For one, it wouldn’t look suspicious to his landlord. Additionally, should they ever decide to move elsewhere, they could simply take the closet with them and avoid whatever having to “de-install” a pocket dimension entailed.

 The only thing they had to do at this point was simply emptying out the closet before they got to work.

 Gordon carefully opened the doors and assessed the situation with a hum and furrowed brows. There were some things he would have to find new places for… and a lot of stuff he’d probably just bring to nearby thrift stores and the local Goodwill.

 He almost jumped as he felt Benrey lift his arm and poke his head through under it to catch a glimpse at the closet contents as well.

 “Oh, nosey much?”, Gordon asked with a smirk, looking down at the guard.

 “Gotta make sure you don’t- uh, steal anything.”

 “From my own closet?”

 “Yeah, ‘cause that looks like quality loot to me. Lots of mystery boxes. Minecraft Lucky Blocks.”, Benrey said with a nod.

 “Oh, those? That’s mainly stuff from my MIT days. Lecture folders and all that-”

 Gordon pushed the leather jackets and winter coats on the rack aside to give Benrey a better view and access as he motioned at him to help him carry the boxes into the living room. 

 “- but I guess there’s also a lot of B.V.R. stuff in here too...”, Gordon added.

 Darnold, who was currently watering Gordon’s (only slightly) neglected house plants, turned towards them with a questioning look on his face. He quickly walked over to where Benrey placed the stack of boxes on the floor, the plants forgotten for now.

“B.V.R…? What does that stand for?”, he asked.

 Gordon smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. 

 “Remember when I said that I didn’t really get to tell you guys much about my interests during the simulation? Well… uh, this is one of them. The biggest, honestly...”

 Benrey picked up the box on the top of the stack and looked it over. It appeared to be an old and worn shoe box. It was covered in what seemed to be stickers of band logos he had seen around the apartment already… aside from the ones that read “BVR” and-

 “...”Black… Velvet Rabbits”...”, he read off the box. Suddenly, it was if someone had finally figured out which way the battery went into his brain to activate a thought process, as he connected the dots. 

 Gordon liked music, judging by all the countless band posters on the walls, even if he had yet to share what their tunes sounded like. 

 Gordon could play different types of guitars. 

 Gordon also had said that he hadn’t played on any of them “in a while”.

 And now this old box was exclusively covered in band stickers-

Benrey's head snapped up un-naturally fast to stare at Gordon with wide eyes. 

 “Yoooo… Gordo was in a band? Gordon... Musicman?”, he whispered out in a slightly unbelieving tone.

 Before Gordon could even attempt a reply, Bubby yelled from his spot on the couch-

“WHAT?! NO! Now you’re just bullshitting us!”

 “That would be several big boxes full of bullshit, dear!”, Dr Coomer countered as he looked at the stack in question from the doorframe to the kitchen.

 “What are we yelling about?”, Tommy threw in as he opened the door to the balcony from the outside, looking in with Sunkist and a peacefully sleeping Joshua in his free arm.

 Gordon let out a nervous chuckle at the entire scene-

“My band-past, apparently.”

 He then ran a hand through his hair, fluffing it up and ruffling through his slightly out-grown undercut to psyche himself up-

 “ALRIGHT! Time to dive right into this, I guess. Let me open these...”

 It took a box cutter and several backseat comments on how to open a taped box properly, but eventually, Gordon managed to get each of the six boxes open. He attempted to open the one covered in band stickers as carefully as possible, but as he pulled the lid open, several old polaroids and concert tickets fell out regardless. He silently cursed himself for having absolutely overstuffed the thing with memorabilia in the past. 

 He picked up one of the photos carefully, while the Science Team got closer to him to look at the other contents with high interest. 

 Bubby pulled out two seemingly hand-printed t-shirts. The print on each depicted a simplified front-facing head of a rabbit with ear piercings, lightning bolts at the side... and under all that calligraphy-like font reading “Black Velvet Rabbits”.

 Meanwhile, Darnold was intently scanning the concert tickets. A good chunk of them were from big and small cities in America, but there were also a few European ones. Berlin specifically popped up several times. 

 Tommy and Dr Coomer were fascinated by the amount of seemingly random tiny items in the bottom of the box - Safety pins of varying sizes, bottle caps, empty lighters with sharpie writings on them, an ungodly amount of mismatched guitar picks, a pair of plush cubes, numerous cassette tapes and CDs, two pocket knives, patches, buttons, several pieces of steel jewellery… and a tooth??? 

 While that was happening, Benrey had carefully picked up each of the polaroids that had tumbled out of the box. 

 Looking at them, he could make out that they were probably taken at concerts. Several of them were blurry either due to poor lighting conditions or the photographer moving… or both.

 Some were of several people in dimly lit backstage areas… others of the same people in other spots, smiling, laughing, hanging out with food and drinks… and playing and tuning their respective instruments.

 Benrey counted at least four people… plus the person he couldn’t mistake for anyone else.

 He looked up from the polaroids in his hands and over to the one Gordon was still staring at.

 On that one, standing on a small stage, tightly gripping a guitar and leaning into the microphone as he seemingly yelled into it… was Gordon. A slightly younger Gordon, but unmistakenly the man beside him.

He leaned over more to get a better look, his helmet bumping gently against Gordon’s arm in the process.

Most of what wasn’t completely in-focus was blurry... but Benrey could still make out the shine of a leather jacket, leather pants, heavy boots… and oh FUCK- okay, he was absolutely staring at this photo like a cat high on catnip now but he could not give two shits - the hair. Long and curly and 100% a sidecut that had been dyed an obnoxious orange. There was a shine of snake-bite piercings… and the hint of more piercings on the visible ear.

Gordon shifted slightly beside him, smiling at the photo.

“I think I still have most of the piercings… somewhere in these boxes. Black Mesa didn’t like seeing me wearing any to work, but you know… we’re not going back there anytime, so…”

Benrey needed to say something. Anything. 

He had no idea what, but this was worth so many words-

“Awooga.”

Gordon instantly let out a sudden loud laugh, followed by a wheeze as he bent slightly over, holding his stomach-

 “Really?? “A-Awooga”??”, he asked in disbelief, yet still smiling.

 “Yeah, dude. Like… uh.. uuuuh...”, Benrey started, but it seemed like he couldn’t quite figure out how to exactly end his sentence. A stream of pink Sweet Voice escaped him before he quickly covered his mouth with his hands.

 Gordon chuckled at that and patted Benrey’s helmet.

 “‘s all good, man.”

 He looked over to the rest of the Science Team, blinking in surprise as he saw that Tommy and Dr Coomer had picked out the cassette tapes and CDs and placed them on the table.

“Would you mind if we listened to some of your old tunes, Gordon?”, Dr Coomer asked as he held up one of the CDs. That specific one was labelled “First Band Practices with the Rabbits - 2012”.

 “As long as no one comments about my inability to grow a proper beard back then-”

 “You tried anyway, didn’t you?”, Bubby asked with a smirk.

 Gordon inhaled deeply, looking contemplative for a second before replying-

 “Look... I had only been on T for about 2 years when we founded BVR. This-”, he pointed at his current full beard- “- takes time.”

 “A-And for some people it doesn’t get easier over time either, Bubby! That’s why I personally stay clean-shaven!”, Tommy added with a nod before he looked over to Gordon with a bright smile. 

 Gordon looked at Tommy with surprise, but quickly beamed and tapped his hand rapidly against his thigh in excitement.

 “YOOOOO!!! NO WAY!!”, he exclaimed.

 “Yes way!”, Tommy confirmed, followed by a soft giggle.

 Darnold raised his hand with a shy smile. 

“Same hat.”

 Coomer stood up a bit straighter, patting Gordon on the back.

“Gordon, you’ll find that no one in our group of friends falls under the label of “cisgender”!”

 “Yup.”, Benrey added, popping the “P” loudly- “You’re good. Not gonna pick on the stuff your body was still getting a hang of. Your tunes though? Those are gonna get the full, uh, the full IGN rating.”

 Gordon let out a soft breath he didn’t know he was holding.

 “You know what? Yeah, put that in the stereo! You can also help me sort through… well, all this.”, he said with a chuckle, looking down to the remaining boxes beside him.

 Looking back up, Gordon saw that each member of the Science Team was fiddling with one or two smaller items from the shoe box. He let out a short amused huff as he smiled at the scene before him.

 “Oh, and If you find anything you like, you can keep it! That also goes for the leather jackets-”

 Gordon barely moved fast enough to avoid Bubby as he scrambled to get to the closet first, closely followed by Benrey.

 Gordon called after them with a laugh-

 “OH MY GOD! THERE ARE ENOUGH FOR EACH OF YOU AND THEN SOME, YOU HEATHENS!”

[hethrewmyheartinthecut]

The Complete Peaky Blinders + Characters of Color Masterlist (edit: no longer complete)

Edit: this masterlist is no longer complete, as I am no longer using this tumblr very much and won’t be around to update it

All works on this list are set in the world of Peaky Blinders and FOCUSED on at least one canon or original character of color. (This means no Michael-centric fics with only one or two scenes involving Isaiah, etc.) All works should be longer than 500 words and located on tumblr or archiveofourown. 

Last updated 10/16/18.

WARNING: I have not read all the fics on this list, and fully abandon all responsibility for their quality, content warnings, etc. Read at your own risk.

🎖 indicates a personal favorite of mine + notes on why I like it

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FIC W/ A CANON CHARACTER OF COLOR - This is any fic that focuses on at least one canon character of color.

FIC W/ AN ORIGINAL CHARACTER OF COLOR - This is any Peaky fic or imagine that focuses on at least one original character of color.

READER x CANON CHARACTER OF COLOR - This is any Peaky imagine that focuses on the relationship between Reader & a canon character of color.

READER OF COLOR x CANON CHARACTER - This is any Peaky imagine that focuses on the relationship between a Reader of color & a canon character.

CONCLUSION - some parting thoughts

1. FIC W/ A CANON CHARACTER OF COLOR

This is any fic that focuses on at least one canon character of color.

🎖 ISAIAH-CENTRIC - me aka Ashling on ao3 //  Isaiah Jesus and the Sucker Punch Heist // Multi-chapter heist fic focusing on Isaiah, w/ side helpings of Isaiah x WOC, other original characters of color, action, friendship, drama 🎖 notes: really did my damnedest to make this a fun, good one

ISAIAH x FINN - rxttenk1d on ao3 // Finn Has A Choking Kink // smut, written in the second person

ISAIAH x FINN - me // picnic // short modern AU romcom fic

ISAIAH x FINN - me // coffeeshop // Finn has been waiting a long time for his goddamn espresso. 

ISAIAH x MICHAEL - cyrusbarrone // change // exquisite prose, incredibly short 

ISAIAH x MICHAEL - cyrusbarrone // saint dymphna // exquisite prose, perfect 100-word drabbles

ISAIAH x MONA MALLORY - @danceyreagan // several fics on this masterlist //a black OC, Mona Mallory, is cute as hell and dating Isaiah Jesus

ISAIAH x OC - @justaclichewhitegirl​ aka justaclichewhitegirl on ao3 // Hell is Empty and the Devils Are All Here // Alexandra wanted the past to stay in the past, but when doing a business deal with the Shelby's that doesn't always happen.

ISAIAH x OC - wishfulwriter on ao3 // Don't forget where you came from // Living with the Blinders is no walk in the park, especially not if you're somewhat involved with some of them.

🎖 MR. ZHANG x TOMMY - KeithKoenar // For what are we but weak men in a mad world on ao3 // In which Mister Zhang is terribly sick for two weeks and Thomas Shelby ultimately ends up stealing a damn prostitute, because he is a foolish, weak man. 🎖 notes: intriguing, original, smutty

2. FIC W/ ORIGINAL CHARACTERS OF COLOR

This is any Peaky fic or imagine that focuses on at least one original character of color.

CHADDA “SAM” SAMRA x ISAIAH - @peakyposts // The Art of Sneaking Around // Multiple Chapters // Finn Shelby, Isaiah Jesus and Chadda “Sam” Samra had been friends since they were children, but as Chadda gets older her responsibilities become more important than hanging out with her friends. How is she supposed to juggle helping out at her mother’s hair salon, going to school, and eventually falling in love with one of her best friends? Especially when one of those things is completely forbidden by her traditional parents? 

MONA MALLORY x ISAIAH - @danceyreagan // a black OC, Mona Mallory, is cute as hell and dating Isaiah Jesus. There’s over half a dozen small fics on danceyreagan’s masterlist about this couple, plus some moodboards.

RADHA CHAKRAVATI x FINN - @peakyarthurs // “It was all about helping a friend in need.” (Indian OC)

UPCOMING FIC PROMOS: 

UNNAMED OC x MICHAEL - [PENDING] @alfiesolcmons​ plans to write a fic set in America, where the OC is a woman of color. More info forthcoming.

EVE CHEN x TOMMY - [PENDING] I plan to write a multichapter fic about Eve Chen, a fiercely guarded and independent Chinese woman who develops an enemies with benefits situation with Tommy. Moodboard here, more info forthcoming.

3. READER x CANON CHARACTER OF COLOR

This is any Peaky imagine that focuses on the relationship between Reader & a canon character of color.

Reader x Isaiah Jesus

🎖 by @birminghamblinders​ 

🎖 notes: haven’t read these imagines but I know birminghamblinders can write

son of a preacher man // Isaiah had been in your life for what seemed like forever, but was really no time at all. 

love, in phases // Isaiah, quite honestly, knew he wanted to marry you from the first time he spoke to you. 

by @blindersbeach​: 

dad’s plan: pt 1 / pt 2

with purpose // “Isaiah and the reader are best friends spending Valentine’s day together, but become more”

by @blinder-baker​

Brown Eyes // Reader reassures Isaiah

🎖 by @blinder-secrets​ 

Perfect // Reader marries Isaiah

🎖 notes: tooth-rotting fluff

by @bonniebird 

untitled // Imagine hiding that you and Isaiah are dating 

by @collecting-stories​

untitled // sex worker Reader falls for Isaiah 

🎖 Visiting // Isaiah meets a black girl from America and is completely smitten: pt 1 / pt 2 🎖 notes: sweet stuff

morning // protective Isaiah

untitled // reader stands up for Isaiah against some racist

by @ijustwant2write​ 

“Let me help you!” // Reader helps her friend get out of an abusive relationship & Isaiah gets caught up in the mix

by on Jordy___9 ao3

A Long Time Wait // Michael x Reader; Michael invites Isaiah to join them, and he agrees to the idea.

by @la-dame-fleur 

untitled // SMUT

by @lucachangretta 

give over // jealous!Isaiah

by @michaelshelbys 

dramatic // in which isaiah jesus is quite frankly sick of sneaking around with the youngest shelby sister

by @nogods--nomasters​

untitled // You and Isaiah having to hide your feelings

“Please don’t cry. I hate to see you cry.” // Shelby sister Reader

“Why are you so nice to me?”

by @peakyxshelby 

Item // Reader is John’s daughter

Forbidden Flame // Reader is a Shelby sister: pt 1 / pt 2 / pt 3 / pt 4

by @peaky-blinders-lit​ 

Savior // country girl gets lost in Birmingham, meets Isaiah

by @shelbylimiited 

blissful unawareness // Reader is a Shelby sister

helping hand // Reader is a barmaid at the Garrison; Isaiah helps

disapproval // Reader is kicked out of her home for dating Isaiah

by @theshelbycompanyltd​

of fire, fighting, and other “f” words // You went to the Shelby wedding in search of a little excitement. You found Isaiah. 

Reader x Jeremiah Jesus

surely somebody has to have written this, and yet I cannot find anything?

Reader x Colonel Ben Younger

the universe is nothing but a vast disappointment. that man was CUTE

4. READER OF COLOR x CANON CHARACTER

This is any Peaky imagine that focuses on the relationship between a Reader of color & a canon character.

Alfie Solomons

by @peaky-yamyam

Wisdom and War // “Alfie falls for a beautiful black lady who is strong, intelligent, curvy, badass, and is as nutcrackers as him”

by @mrschangrettawrites

[PENDING] untitled [promo post] // (Persian reader)

by me

🎖 A Curious Correspondence // WOC reader gets to know Alfie Solomons through writing him letters as a volunteer during the war🎖 notes: I reread this one sometimes for kicks and giggles

by somebody

I KNOW somebody has an adorable fic that I think is titled Habibi which is ROC x Alfie but I can’t for the life of me remember where I saw it???? please send help

Finn Shelby

by @twistedrunes​

untitled // Isaiah’s sister is rescued by Finn.

Isaiah Jesus

Note: These are only the Isaiah Jesus imagines with a reader that is explicitly a POC; see above (pt 3) for all Isaiah Jesus imagines

🎖 by @collecting-stories​ 

Visiting // Isaiah meets a black girl from America and is completely smitten: pt 1 / pt 2

🎖 sweet stuff

John Shelby

by @xxdearlybeloved​

Among the Stars (masterlist, 10 chapters) // the reader is Jeremiah Jesus’ niece, forced to return to Small Heath from London.

Luca Changretta

by @mrschangrettawrites​

Acquisitions // (Turkish reader) “Every person has their purpose, and yours has just come up.”

[PENDING] untitled [promo post] // (Indian reader x Tommy x Luca)

Tommy Shelby

by @mrschangrettawrites

Another Kind of Language // (black reader) “You couldn’t speak the same way others could, but you still knew how to communicate.”

[PENDING] untitled [promo post] // (Indian reader x Tommy x Luca)

5. IN (MESSY) CONCLUSION

Isaiah is deeply beloved by all. do you have any idea how many fucking tabs I had to open to sort through the Isaiah fic and imagines? I had to bust my ASS

WOC are desperately underappreciated, but at least we’re doing better than fucking Steven 

someone: “I want to write fic but I am not a POC/not that kind of POC/unsure of how to do this” 

me: “listen, just use google & your common sense, then you’ll already be 2 steps ahead of steven fucking knight”

AGAIN, if you have any additions, subtractions, recommendations, send me an ask or a message or whatever. talk to me