#emjen rambles

[emjenenla]

Something about Tommy being so willing to take on blame for things he totally didn't do suggests to me that he's probably spent his whole life knowing that his family will believe the worst of him. But also it's such a catholic thing, at least in my family, to internalize the shame and guilt of something you didn't even do. No point arguing just go about doing your penance and move on. Idk I wonder why he does that but I've def seen that happen in the very strict catholic side of my family too

Sorry for the late response, I kept forgetting to respond.

I’m not sure I have any coherent thoughts on the concept of Catholic Guilt in the context of the Shelby family, though I would love to hear other people’s thoughts on the matter.

Moving on to “was Tommy raised to believe the family will always believe the worst of him?” Overall, I think the dynamic the family has in the show where Tommy is always to blame for everything regardless of whether he actually had anything to do with it is largely a post-war thing. I especially think this is true regarding his relationship with Polly, because the impression I got was that pre-war they were basically equal partners in the running the betting shop and the Peaky Blinders. @deadendtracks mentioned in a meta once that it seems like the real issue Polly has with Tommy in s1 is with the fact that he’s no consulting with her the way he used to, and I’d agree with that. After that things just keep snowballing and eventually we get to where we are at the end of s5.

You could perhaps combine your thoughts with the “Tommy was a parentified child” theory and argue that Tommy could have picked some “people will always believe the worst of me” stuff that way, though I’m far from an expert on parentification and therefore probably don’t know what I’m talking about. That said, if you assume Tommy and Arthur’s relationship dynamic (where Arthur leans on Tommy to avoid having to make decisions for himself) pre-dates the war, that could tie into this, because it would mean that Tommy is long used to taking the blame for Arthur’s actions.

Tbh, I’m not quite sure where I’m trying to go with this. Does anyone else have any thoughts?

[emjenenla]

You know it occurs to me that the Naturals are actually just a bunch of traumatized kids whose survival strategies are useful to the FBI.

Yeah, there’s definitely some conveniently ignored ethical dilemmas to this series.

[emjenenla]

Welcome to Emjen is Pedantic Hours. I don’t want to highjack the post that got me thinking about this so here you go:

1. As much as Anakin removing his arm as a practical joke to freak people out is funny, it’s not actually possible. Prosthetic limbs in the GFFA are connected to nerve endings and muscles to offer the best degree of motion. Anakin’s mechanical arm is literally attached to his body; he cannot remove it without major surgery (or, you know, another catastrophic lightsaber injury).

2. Anakin’s mechanical arm has some degree of sensation. Exactly how much is debatable and greatly depends on how advanced you think prosthetic technology is during the Clone Wars. Personally, I think it’s likely Luke’s mechanical hand has a much greater degree of feeling than Anakin’s arm does, unless of course, the Rebels, being, you know, a rebellion on the run from the government, are still using Clone Wars era prosthetics just like they’re still using Clone Wars era starships (**cough**the Y-wings**cough**). Regardless of your theories here, Anakin likely has enough sensation in his mechanical arm to at least feel something similar to pain when it’s damaged.

3. Also Phantom Limb Pain is a thing (like, an actual thing that happens in real life), but somehow most people who write Anakin (myself included, admittedly), always forget about it.

4. Given prosthetic limbs in the GFFA have so many nerve connections, the surgery to attach one after a lightsaber injury must be very complicated, because, you know, the reason you’re unlikely to bleed to death from a lightsaber wound is because lightsabers cauterize your flesh. Then remember that all the surgeries done to put Vader in his suit are done without anesthetics on Sidious’s orders. 😬

[emjenenla]

Okay I’m calling it now so there’s record of me saying this if I turn out to be right when book 2 comes out: Darlington killed his grandfather. That’s the murder that turned him into a demon.

(It makes sense. That chapter has his grandfather asking for Darlington to let him die but it never says how Darlington responded. It just jumps to him leaving the house.)

[emjenenla]

So last year I read “Nothing but Shadows” and correctly assumed I’d never be able to keep all the new characters straight. I turned out to be right (especially the Lightwoods, they’re very confusing). Here’s the table I made back then in case it helps someone else too.

[emjenenla]

So a while ago, someone* pointed out that Tommy’s PTSD manifests as anxiety and paranoia. The paranoia is obvious, especially post-s5, but I’d never thought about Tommy as anxious before. I think that’s a really interesting and really important reading of his character.

* = I can’t remember who, if you know, please tell me.

[emjenenla]

So, I admittedly have mixed feelings about that scene in “A Decent Echo” where its revealed that Obi-Wan knows Anakin was talking to Padme. I really love that its now canon that Rex knows and helps Anakin talk to her, but I don’t think I’m a fan of what they did with Obi-Wan.

Admittedly, ROTS makes it basically canon that Obi-Wan knows, but I always liked the implication that Anakin didn’t know he knew. I liked that Anidala’s existence is the elephant in the room in Anakin and Obi-Wan’s relationship. Like, Obi-Wan knows and it would be ridiculous to think he didn’t, but he never brings it up so Anakin lives under the illusion that Obi-Wan doesn’t know and that puts a lot of strain on their relationship. There’s a lot of really great tension to explore there, especially since these two are going to end up as enemies who are actively trying to kill each other by the end of ROTS.

I should point out that this isn’t a rant; I’m not mad, I’m just musing. I’m okay with this being canon, I just think I liked my earlier interpretation better.

[emjenenla]

Tommy Shelby's Most Ill-Advised Plan

Okay, so for all his cleverness, Tommy's plans tend to be a bit iffy. Let's see what the fandom thinks the most bat-shit one is.

I’m curious to know how the fandom’s consensus on this is. Hopefully you enjoy this and find it at least mildly entertaining.