{application | futurology}

[soldiersminute]

APPLICANT INFO.
NAME: Crystal
CONTACT: maledictions

CHARACTER INFO.
NAME: Thomas Shelby
CANON: Peaky Blinders
AGE: ~35 (b. ~1890, current season set in 1925)
APPEARANCE: That haircut is unfortunately real.
CANON POINT:4x02 - after Esme kicks Tommy and Arthur out of the morgue.

BACKGROUND:

Peaky Blinders is a historical drama that takes place primarily in Birmingham, England. The show centers around the gang serving as the show's namesake, run by the Shelby family, in the years after World War I (1919 to 1925 thus far). Although the second oldest son, Thomas Shelby is the Shelby family patriarch and controls the family's legitimate and illegal businesses.

Series 1 | Series 2 | Series 3

At the beginning of series 4, Tommy's brothers, cousin, and aunt are nearly executed as a direct result of the political dealings that were the focus of series 3. However, Tommy is able to force the English Crown to stay their executions and release them from prison. Unfortunately, his relationships with his family were understandably strained during the subsequent year and everyone went their separate ways. What brings the family together is the threat of death from the Cosa Nostra (Sicilian Mafia) and the assassination of one of his younger brothers, John.

PERSONALITY:

Before the war, Tommy was charming and persistent towards his goals, and he wanted to work with horses. It seemed likely that Tommy would lead a simple life, one where he put his family first and worked more honest jobs than dishonest ones. But like most, Tommy did not come back from the war entirely in one piece. Although somethings remained unchanged such as his ability to lead and his feelings towards his family (in spite of how he sometimes treats them), his demeanor shifted to something quieter and more serious, and his goals changed from a simple passion to one of greater ambition.

This quieter demeanor allowed Tommy to more easily close himself off from others, which has had its benefits and drawbacks. It's much easier for Tommy to maintain control over his family, the gang, and his various business ventures when he is the only one holding all the knowledge, only dispensing what is necessary to others. It's similarly made it easier for Tommy to navigate negotiations with those outside of the family because his stoic front has made it much harder for others to read his intention and desires. The drawback though is that withdrawal from true connection with others. Although some have managed to push past the walls he's built around himself, Tommy has the tendency to push others away from him as much as possible, making him seem cold and sometimes even cruel even to his own family members. There have been times in which he treated them as little more than tools or soldiers rather than people who are legitimately important to him.

But there is still something beneath that exterior that longs for connection with others. Parts of Tommy still live in the past, both before and during the war. For example, Tommy was known to be a bit of a romantic before the war, but afterward, he tries to close himself off from creating any deep connections with anyone outside the family. Tommy has mixed success in managing to keep others at an arm's length. Occasionally, Tommy is the one who reaches out, making it easier for him to define those set boundaries he finds to be safest both for the other person and for his goals. At other times, Tommy draws that person in unexpectedly and it has the capacity to become infinitely harder for Tommy to maintain his distance once he begins to reach for them.

As was true before the war, Tommy's ultimate loyalty will always be to his family. From Tommy's perspective, everything that he does is for the betterment and well-being of his family rather than (solely) for his own gain. This, of course, sometimes means that he has to be the bad guy in his family's eyes when he does things that temporarily hurt his family or disrupt their own individual plans. Tommy is not always right though when he micromanages their lives, and this paternalistic behavior can be just as destructive to his relationships with them as when he shuts them out. But even when he's wrong, it's their well-being and happiness that motivates his decision-making rather than his own desire for what he thinks they should do or want.

This desire to protect them, however, can sometimes override logic and reason when they are in more immediate danger. Tommy will act impulsively and with extreme violence towards any threat regardless of whether it's imagined or real. Other times, exploitation of his family allows others to manipulate Tommy into bending the knee, though that often only proves to be a temporary situation as Tommy is always quickly thinking and planning his way out of tight situations.

Those qualities that make for a good leader -- willingness to do anything for those loyal to him that he is in turn loyal to and quick thinking to regain the upper hand -- but they were also what put him in significantly traumatic situations during the war. As Tommy excelled as a soldier, it caused him to volunteer for riskier operations, such as tunneling. Those experiences stayed with Tommy in the form of flashbacks and nightmares, which he originally managed through drug use, but has since learned to manage through riskier gambles with his own life.

The difference between then and now, however, is who Tommy is doing these things for. While in the war, Tommy fought for his country, but he threw his medals into the canal because he recognized that he and his fellow soldiers were nothing but fodder who would and could never truly be recompensed for their sacrifices. This led to the beginning of Tommy's disillusionment with society and that the only way he could ever achieve something more than what was given to him would be if he took it for himself. Thus, his goal in the years after the war was to gain traction and break through the rigid social structure. Tommy's disillusionment was completed when he realized that no matter how much he worked and how much success he found, upper society would never look at him as anything more than his heritage as middle class and from a family of Romani and Irish travelers.

This has not dissuaded him from his pursuits. If anything, it has only served to motivate Tommy to reach for more than he's already gotten for himself even when his well-intentioned, but ridiculously controlling behaviors have driven most of his family away from him. The distance, however, changes nothing when it comes to Tommy's priority to protect them and it is for them that he is still willing to do anything to ensure their safety and long-term happiness. But with one part of his mind still mired in the past and the other looking to the future, Tommy remains a somewhat distant and closed off individual. He stands alone at the top of his empire, struggling with letting others in and to maintain his empire with this new threat.

ABILITIES:

Tommy is skilled with a multitude of firearms. Although obviously his immediate knowledge and skill in using them is limited to weaponry available in his time period, he could reasonably make sense of other firearms either with brief inspection explanation. Though he has not been trained in any particular style, Tommy also has the ability to hold his own in hand-to-hand combat for the most part. He has the tendency to make the most of his environment in those situations, using whatever is at hand for makeshift melee weapons or introducing people's faces to various hard surfaces.

As far as non-combat skills are concerned, Tommy is fluent in both English and Romani. Tommy also has a way with horses and although he is more owner than trainer, he knows how to ride effectively and generally spot a strong potential racehorse. Lastly, Tommy is a businessman and has been running an empire of both legitimate and illegal businesses for a while now. This provides Tommy with a range of skills related to said businesses, which are primarily in import/export, horses, and alcohol production.

INVENTORY:

🔫 The clothes on his back (consisting of a finely tailored suit, coat, nice shoes, and flat cap; the flat cap has razors sewn into the peak as seen here)
🔫 One (mostly full) lighter
🔫 One (mostly full) cigarette case
🔫 One shoulder holster
🔫 One revolver (fully loaded)
🔫 Six additional bullets

HATHAWAY.
SUITABILITY:

Tommy is not used to getting his hands quite so dirty anymore, but that doesn't mean he won't. When things get desperate, Tommy doesn't rely solely on others or his command of others. Considering how desperate things are for him back home, there will be little that needs to be done in order to convince him to participate with the team. Despite how closed off Tommy tends to be with regard to how close he lets himself get to others, he tends to care more for the well-being of others than his own safety when it comes time for someone to do something risky. Coupling this with his tendency to be a bit of a gambler, Tommy isn't someone who hangs back. He tends to lead not just through command, but also by example and will blaze on ahead even when the path is dangerous.

INCENTIVE:

Tommy doesn't need an army to deal with the threat of Luca Changretta, but he does need a few highly skilled soldiers to protect his family and put Luca down. This would not be an indefinite arrangement, but would last the year or upon Luca's death, whichever happens to come first.

SPECIALIZATION:

Negotiator. One cannot be the head of company or a gang without having at least some charisma. Tommy is not a man of many words, but he uses them effectively to make his point. He's able to strike alliances with those outside his group as well as inspire them to lead and be willing to put their lives down for the good of the company/Shelby family. Also, quite honestly, he's not above seducing women to get what he wants if they hold something he wants. When it comes to persuasion, this is where Tommy becomes more ends justify the means. Although he never completely loses sight of the well-being of others, the consequences of talking someone into doing something that is against what they want doesn't weigh as heavily in his decision-making. Lastly, Tommy is able to quickly read his social environment and adapts accordingly to accomplish what he is after as he's able to navigate conversations with elite politicals as well as the common, everyday person in Small Heath.