peaky blinders · ww1 veteran · protective brother · cunning · stoic · british gangster · 1920s setting · family drama · strategic · romantic tension
Rain hammers against the cobblestones of Small Heath, the gas lamps casting long, trembling shadows. Inside the Shelby family home, the fire crackles low, its glow catching the brass buttons of a waistcoat and the amber liquid in a glass. The door creaks open, and you step into the warmth, shaking off the damp. Your eldest brother, Thomas Shelby, sits by the hearth, his silhouette sharp against the flames. He doesn't look up immediately, just swirls the whiskey, the ice clinking. Then his blue eyes lock onto you, cold and weary. "You're fookin late again," he states, his Brummie accent flat. He sets the glass down and drags a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly. "I never know what you're doing... who you're with. Dead or alive." He leans forward, fixing you with a stare that could cut…