#thiamweekend2025

[fruchtfliege]

ALL BITE NO BARK (8k)

So... Theo keeps biting Liam. And it's getting weird.

For the thiam event of @theoraekenapperciation and @liamdunbarsappreciation !!

[genetic-hellhound]

Shattered Limits

Pain is a subjective concept, different for every individual. But Liam didn't know how much till Theo didn't even flinch after getting his ribs broken.

Theo decides it's the right moment to give Liam another piece of his history with the Dread Doctors.

Prompt: Dread Doctors and full shift for thiam weekend 🖤

@liamdunbarsappreciation🖤 @theoraekenapperciation🖤

[theoraekenapperciation]

✘ Thiam Appreciation Weekend ✘

run by me & @liamdunbarsappreciation !

this event is for Theo Raeken/Liam Dunbar centric fan works and will run from November 7th — November 9th 2025, it can be gen works or ship, all characters & au’s are welcome! feel free to send in an ask with any questions or concerns!

to participate just tag your creations with #thiamweekend2025 and/or #thiamweekend25 then tag this blog @theoraekenapperciation — please make sure to read the rules found here before posting a work for this event

✘ prompts - these can be mixed & matched however you please and if you don’t want to follow them that’s fine too!

✘ full shift - a full shift can mean many things to an individual but how would different would it be with another person there to witness the experience?

✘ missing scene - canon could only show so much, what do you think happened between scenes? or maybe after a scene you thought should’ve had more follow up?

✘ dread doctors - the doctors took up a big chunk of theo’s growing up and are bound to have left their marks, how do you think liam and theo would navigate the damage left behind?

✘ i.e.d - it’s rarely talked about in canon so this is a perfect opportunity to explore how liam’s ied affects his and theo’s relationship or how liam looks for help from theo to cope

✘ hanging out - could mean thiam’s going out on a date or they could just be two friends doing something casual together

[dividers by @cafekitsune ]

[wolfpawzjakey]

Full Shift + IED

He’s shaking as he stalks further into the woods, a violent tremor running through his body worsened by each of the heavy breaths he takes. Whether it’s from the anger still or the cold, he doesn’t really know and he doesn’t even care.

It’d been a particularly terrible day. Liam had had an outburst at school today after some kid kept shaking his desk with his bouncing foot and when he’d gotten home he followed that one up with an even louder, more explosive outburst toward his mom. But she just didn’t understand. He did ask nicely, a few times even, but that stupid kid just wouldn’t stop. He just smiled meanly at him and kept bouncing his foot. He deserved to be punched, he’d been a total jerk. Why couldn’t his mom see that?

So he ran away. It was just one more terrible thing for him to do, but it’s not like he could be scolded for acting out anymore. He’d be fine on his own and his stupid mom and her stupid new boyfriend wouldn’t ever have to deal with him and his stupid feelings ever again.

With one very loud huff he thought, good riddance, because it’s what those two deserved. If they were just gonna treat him like a stupid kid who needed to do better, they didn’t get to have him anymore. He’d be fine, it’d be better for him anyway.

He didn’t need anyone, just himself.

He repeated that in his head like a mantra the further he walked into the woods. Repeated it as the heat in his chest turned to an ache that made his stomach hurt and kept repeating it even when his face started to feel wet with hot tears quickly turned cold.

He didn’t need anyone. Really, he didn’t.

He stomped further into the woods, just a little bit unable to ignore the growing feeling of fear and frustration building in his chest, familiar heat joining the ugly clenching that made him sniffle and huff. It was stupid to cry, really dumb. He shouldn’t be crying, he was fine and would be fine and he definitely wouldn’t be sad about running away. It was for the best, he just had to keep telling himself that.

He sincerely planned on just walking forward, bull headed and completely and totally uncaring about what might be ahead, but he just had to trip. Just one more stupid little thing had to piss him off. Something like a growl rose up in his throat, a gravely sound of all of his anger threatening to escape. And jeez, he really did just wanna prove his mom wrong, wanted to shake it off and breathe through it like he knew how to, like they’d tried to teach him how to, but he blacked out for just long enough for his hand to connect with a nearby tree.

His bright red anger was lit like a flare and, suddenly, with a loud crack and intense pain, it went out.

The growl of fury previously lodged in his throat was replaced by a pathetic, wet whimper as he cradled his right hand with his left and let himself crumple to the ground. Now, instead of bright red anger, he felt nothing but the purest of frustration laced with pitiful sadness.

Suddenly, his anger at his mom was gone and all he wanted was her. She’d make this better, make his frustration and pain go away like always. But he couldn’t have that, not when he was out in the middle of the woods without a clue of the direction he’d come from.

He was stuck out here with a situation and a wound of his own making, all because he couldn’t be a normal kid, all because he couldn’t be angry and terrible and awful. He deserved the pain in his hand, deserved the tears and the self humiliation and hatred too.

He wept, balled up on the dark forest floor, back pressed against the tree he’d hit. He cried and shivered from the cold and held his stupid, probably broken hand, and what was he supposed to do? He deserved this now, didn’t he?

He was fully intent on letting himself sit and suffer until he cried himself to sleep or until the sun rose, he didn’t really have any other choice really. If it weren’t for a loud echoing snap from the forest, it’s probably what he would’ve done too, but instead, with tear filled eyes, his head shot up toward the direction of the sound.

His eyes surveyed the darkness, head on a swivel and hoping to spot nothing, but of course he couldn’t just have this. In the distance, not too far from himself, were two glowing eyes, golden and too bright to be normal. As if he couldn’t get any colder, a chill of fear rushed through his body. On top of everything tonight, he was gonna get eaten by an animal, he was sure of it.

The gold eyes looked into his own and, to his horror, started to get closer to him. He was surely going to die, cold and alone and in pain, he was certain of it. Another pitiful sound left his mouth, unable to remain silent like he so badly wanted to. “Please,” he whimpered, pressing himself against the tree, curling into himself ever further, aching hand pulled close to his chest, before squeezing his eyes shut tight. “Please don’t kill me, please. I just wanna go home, please.”He sounded like a dumb little kid, but truly, that’s what he was. A stupid, stupid ten year old kid.

He sat with his eyes closed, flinching with each crunch and crack of the earth under the creature's paws. He muttered pleas under his breath as the sounds grew closer and closer but shut his mouth painfully when a twig cracked right in front of him.

He was doomed.

And yet…

Nothing but a cold wet nose met him. No painful demise, no sharp teeth and loud snarls, just a nose and some audible sniffs to his face. In an instant, his eyes snapped wide open. He startled at the sight, it was a… a dog? But not really, it was more than a dog. It looked like a wolf.

If that were the case, why didn’t it want to eat him?

“What-”, what was going on?

Before he could even question his safety any further, the wolf-slash-dog nudged itself closer to him, almost immediately covering him from the cold. “You’re not gonna eat me?” He asks quietly, like he’d get a reply anyway.

And he supposed he sort of gets one when the wolf-slash-dog looks at him and huffs, sounding similar to a sigh his mom would make when he asked too many questions.

“Yeah, I guess that’s a dumb question since you’re lyin’ on me.” The wolf-slash-dog sighs again and settles itself as on top of him as he could. “Thanks for keepin’ me warm. I didn’t really think about… anything when I ran away from home. My mom… she’s probably gonna be so mad when I get home. If I get home at least… I don’t really know where I am.”

The wolf-slash-dog, he still doesn’t know what to call it, just huffs again. “I know you can’t talk but, you kinda seem like you understand so, can I… can I touch you? I know your layin’ on me but my hand really hurts and I-”

He’s met startlingly quick with gold eyes, still shining too bright, growls a little before nudging at his hands, gentle as possible, like he somehow just knows. Liam doesn’t react at first, a little stunned, a little stupefied, but when another growl rumbles from the creature on top of him, he drops his hands into the soft fur, instantly grateful for the cushion and warmth.

“Thanks.” He murmurs, mindlessly petting immediately with his good hand.

Silence settles over them, no sound except for the soft breathing from his new companion and the barely noticeable sound of his fingers scratching through its fur. He’s still cold, but he’s warm enough that, mixed with the emotional exhaustion, he starts to feel tired. Really, really tired.

“You’re really soft, you know that?” He mumbles, a sleepy lisp on his tongue.

The wolf-slash-dog just sighs again.

-

Liam’s not entirely too sure when he’d fallen asleep, he just knows he had when he’s startled from it, met by dim sunlight and his moms panicked voice. He blinks the blur from his eyes, good hand gripping tightly into black fur. He looks at the wolf, he’s sure of it now, before looking up to where his mom comes running toward him. “Mom-,” he says, eyes widening and heart picking up in pace as he reaches his good hand up at her.

But the moment he lets go, his wolf sprints off with nothing more than a look back. “No! Come back!” He leans toward the direction the wolf runs, both hands hitting the hard forest floor before his broken hand buckles under his weight. He hisses, whining at the pain but still wanting to scramble off in the direction of the wolf. “Mom, please, you’ve gotta make him come back! He- he saved me!”

“Oh, Liam!” She ignores his cries for the wolf, pulling him in close even. “You’re safe, oh my god, you’re safe. You can’t- baby you can’t run off like that! And you’re hurt! Honey, your hand’s swollen and bruised. We need to make sure you’re okay.”

“Mom, the wolf, I can’t leave him!”

-

But it didn’t matter. She’d been too worried in the end, reasonably so. Worried about his hand, worried about the fever he didn’t even know he’d had until he was too sick to not notice. He’d never seen his wolf again.

He’d forgotten almost entirely about it actually, reminiscent in a way a dream would be.

That was, until after he’d been bitten. After he’d been changed. Then the glowing eyes… they made more sense. The distant not-dream of the golden eyed, black wolf came back to him in full, the human-like understanding made complete and total sense no matter how badly he wanted it not to.

Still, never did he think he’d ever get a conclusion like this. Face to face with the same wolf in the main hall of Beacon Hills High School, his own golden eyes staring back at the same ones that fled from him all those years ago only moments after he’d turned to scare it away to protect himself and Mason.

It clicked the second his growl died down and his words fumbled in his mouth, clumsy around the still present fangs.

“It’s… you.”

The wolf just stared, recognition flashing in its eyes before it once more turned tail and fled.

He’d see him again he’d soon find out. He’d finally meet his wolf again. He just wouldn’t like how.

—

I’m really sad this is all I could put out for this fun event, but I’m really happy to partake even if it’s not my best work!! Thiam, and Theo in general, has become so special to me. I’ve been a Liam fan for years but Theo… them together…. Ugh I love them so, so much.

Thank you @liamdunbarsappreciation & @theoraekenapperciation for putting all of your efforts into this project and being a vessel to spread so much creativity!

I hope this is kinda, sorta enjoyable as I haven’t written in over a year and this is like super duper rough 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

[awinnn23]

Dried Blood on Bruised Fists

Prompt: i.e.d @liamdunbarsappreciation and @theoraekenapperciation !! (Did moodboard + fic)

Summary: A series of problems lead to Liam losing control of his temper, and his life. But the only one able to halt him and pull him back from going too far was, unexpectedly, Theo. Not only was he an anchor, but someone Liam learned to heavily depend on in such a state. (Do read the tags before reading the fic)

Rated M.

[outcastpack]

Thiam truck date featuring their kitties snuggled up

For Thiam appreciation hosted by @theoraekenapperciation + @liamdunbarsappreciation

(I've been super busy the last week or so with work so apologies for the late post peeps)

[codyreaken]

Prompts i.e.d and dread doctors #thiamweekend2025 @theoraekenapperciation @liamdunbarsappreciation

[clownelefou]

Prometheus Burnt His Hands

Luckily the bullets don’t break through the elevator doors as it slowly rises toward the next floor. Theo’s fingers begin to loosen on Liam’s shirt, but don’t let go completely. “God, you really showed up just in time,” Liam says. Theo scoffs.

“You’re lucky I did, or you’d be bleeding on the floor,” he answers. Liam twists slightly to actually look at Theo; as they make eye contact, his fingers finally release. “What was your plan, exactly? If you even had one,” he says. Liam crosses his arms.

“I was hoping I could figure it out on the fly… always seems to work out for Stiles and Scott,” he answers. Theo rolls his eyes and Liam growls, reaching forward to push him back against the far wall of the elevator. “Stop being a dick and actually help us. If you aren’t here to help, just go home.”

When his back hits the wall, his eyes widen and then narrow; surprise and anger. “I live in my truck, first of all. I don’t have a home to go back to. Second, I just saved your life, kid, how much more help do you need? Maybe if you actually planned ahead instead of rushing in, you wouldn’t need so much help.”

“Why are you such an asshole?” Liam asks. Theo laughs, shaking his head. “Seriously, I get that you’ve had a hard knock life, but get over it.”

He crosses his arms again. His posture is defensive, because otherwise he’ll get aggressive. “Get over it? You don’t just ‘get over’ trauma.” The elevator continues to rise. His hands are shaking, though he isn’t sure why. Liam moves to turn away but Theo grabs his sleeve and tugs, pulling him closer. He lowers his voice as he says, “next time, maybe I won’t save you.”

Liam doesn’t pull away. His eyes are burning into Theo’s. A shiver dances through his body. “Maybe you shouldn’t,” he says. He doesn’t sound angry anymore, he sounds sad. Theo thinks about driving with Liam from the zoo, explaining that people only feel one emotion at a time. In this cramped space he can not only smell the chemosignals, but actually watch the individual muscles in his face shift to form a different expression. “Maybe I am stupid, and reckless. Maybe I don’t think ahead or make plans. But I care about these people, Theo. I actually care about something other than myself, unlike you.”

Theo laughs again. “If I didn’t care about anything… if I didn’t care about you I wouldn’t be here, risking my life to help you.”

“Are you helping me, or Scott?” Liam asks. He looks down at the ground. Theo thinks he probably expects one answer, and he surprises himself when he reaches forward to tilt Liam’s face up again by his chin.

“Both,” he says. “I stuck around to help Scott but… But I’m here for you.” He glances away, at the light shifting from one floor to the next as the elevator climbs.

The younger boy shivers again. “Why?” he asks. Theo frowns.

“You don’t think you’re worth anything… do you? You think you’re just some stupid little kid getting involved in all this big stuff. But you’re not stupid, Liam, and you’re not worthless. You’re one of the bravest people I’ve ever met.”

He cuts off abruptly, to stop himself from saying anything too embarrassing. Liam looks up at the ceiling, at the panel that would open up into the empty shaft above them. The top floor is approaching rapidly, and they still don’t have a plan. “You’re just saying that.”

Theo groans. He opens his mouth to reply when the doors open, and the moment passes as they rush out and toward the stairs on the opposite end of the building to try to circle around the hunters.

…

Gabe is bleeding, shivering, moaning on the cold tile. “It hurts,” he cries. Theo thinks about pain, and fear. He thinks about his childhood, stolen from him. He thinks about Mason telling him that he can’t take pain if he doesn’t care about the people he’s trying to help. He thinks about Liam, fists bloody, refusing to hurt anyone he doesn’t have to but willingly destroying himself. Then, he steps forward. “Stay away,” Gabe says.

“Let me help,” Theo whispers. He drops to his knees and slowly reaches out, places his hand on the dying boy’s arm, and watches with wonder as his veins run black. It makes him feel dizzy, a little nauseous. He can hear Liam gasp behind him, but he doesn’t look back. Right now, in this moment, it is just him and Gabe, who sighs and relaxes. “Better?” he asks.

Gabe nods weakly, sagging further against the shelves behind him. “Why are you helping me?” he asks.

Theo isn’t sure. He thinks on it for a moment, and what he eventually says is, “because we’re both people, even if we aren’t both human.”

In the end it makes no difference. Gabe dies there, and the group of them leave the hospital. In his truck, he is quiet. The radio drones softly into the night. Next to him, in the passenger seat, Liam is openly staring. “What?” he asks, harsh and abrupt. Liam chuckles.

“You can drop the tough guy act, Theo,” he says. He laughs, then, and Theo doesn’t join him but he does feel something. And oh God, how nice it is to feel something. What it is, he can’t name, but it is warm and soft like a blanket covering him. He is struck by a memory of waking up in his father’s arms as a child, being carried from the couch where he’d fallen asleep and into his room. Being tucked in bed.

Slowly, Liam’s arm extends until his hand is resting on Theo’s leg, just above the knee. He rolls his eyes, but doesn’t shake him off. “Don’t get the wrong idea,” he says, “being tough isn’t an act.”

They laugh, together, as the road rolls underneath them in the darkness.

…

He considers leaving Beacon Hills behind, but no matter how many times he packs a bag and climbs into his truck he just can’t bring himself to go. Something is keeping him here, some thread tying him in place like a chain attached to a dog’s collar. It doesn’t feel like he is trapped, exactly. It feels more like there’s something he keeps forgetting to do.

Weeks after the dramatic conclusion to Gerard and Monroe’s idiotic plot, he finds himself sitting in Liam’s room. Music is playing in the afternoon. He’s taking a break, has been working on his truck all morning, and as he reaches out to flick Liam’s ear he leaves a dark smudge of grease behind. “Ugh, gross,” Liam says. Theo laughs.

“I’m bored,” he says. Liam looks away from his homework and shrugs. “I’m so bored… let’s go do something. Let’s go for a drive.”

With a sigh, Liam snaps his notebook shut and tosses the pencil toward his desk. “Fine,” he says. Theo grins.

It’s strange, this sort of not-quite-friendship he’s found himself in. Liam is brash and funny and strange. Theo thinks of himself as funny, but far more reserved. At least, he used to. He isn’t sure, exactly, who or what he is now. The Doctors are gone. The Beast has been defeated. His sister no longer haunts him. He is but he is not.

It’s a sunny day. Liam flips the visor down to block the light from his eyes as Theo drives aimlessly, skirting along the preserve. Their windows are down, and as he feels his hair ruffling in the wind he smiles. Then, he howls. Liam laughs, and joins him, howling at the sun instead of the moon. The truth, Theo thinks, is that he is still here for Liam. He figured he would stick around for Scott, for pack, for some sort of belonging. Instead this crazy boy, who got dragged into all of this just like they all did, has captured his attention. He smiles again, shaking his head at the thought, and then pulls over.

“What’s up?” Liam asks, as Theo undoes his seatbelt and turns to face him.

“Would you be mad if I kissed you?” he asks, giving himself no time to second guess. Liam’s eyes go wide, and then he slowly shakes his head.

“No. Confused, I guess. Not mad.”

“I can work with that,” Theo says, leaning in all at once like a crashing wave to press his lips against Liam’s. He feels a hand gently rest against his cheek, then shift back to tangle in his hair and pull him even closer. Lips touching lips, heart touching heart. He feels it, the soft, warm feeling, once more. He can feel the syrupy glow filling him up, lighting his nerves, spurring his heart to beat harder.

Theo pulls back and sits fully in his seat again. He reaches for the seatbelt when Liam’s fingers  grip the collar of his shirt, like Theo’s had when he pulled him into the elevator, and he tugs Theo back to kiss him again. And again. And one more time, just to be sure.

…

“So,” Scott says, tilting his head to look at Theo. They are lying in the grass, soaking in sunlight while the rest of the pack mills about, swimming or talking. The lake is abandoned, this early in the spring. The grass is tall and soft. Theo feels an ant crawl across his arm, and his first instinct is to flick it off, but he decides to leave it be. “You and Liam, huh?”

He laughs, sitting up to look around, spotting Liam laughing at something Mason said. His eyes are shining when they catch on Theo’s and his face splits into a grin. “Yeah,” he says. “Who woulda guessed?” Liam turns back to Mason and says something, then they all laugh again. This delicate thing, this family. They may have been brought together in darkness, but now they remain in light.

“I dunno, it makes sense to me,” Scott says. Theo chuckles again. “It’s like… you each have something the other doesn’t. Opposites attract and all that.”

He hums, thoughtful. Then he shuts his eyes and just feels. The warmth of the sun on his skin, the light breeze drifting past them, the tickle of the grass on his bare legs. Love. That’s what he’s felt all along; that soft light in his chest. It’s love. And it’s here, all around him. Something he never thought he could have and never would have allowed even if he thought it possible.

“I guess you’re right,” he says, glancing over at Scott. “I just hope I don’t fuck this up.”

Scott grins, then shakes his head. “You couldn’t if you tried. Have you seen the way he looks at you?”

He has. Maybe he just refuses to let himself accept it as fact. Maybe he just needs to relax into it all. “I’m gonna swim,” he says, standing up and rushing across the field toward Liam. He grabs his arm and pulls him along, as he protests, and then he dives headfirst into the cold water.

…

Theo sits up, gasping and sweating, frantically looking around the room. At first it seems unfamiliar and a whine tears itself from his throat. A hand touches his arm and he jumps, but when he hears Liam’s sleepy voice whisper, “hey, you alright?” the tension floods from him. He takes in a few deep breaths and then sighs, lying back down. In the dark he can barely see Liam’s face, but what he can see is marred with concern. “Bad dream?” he asks.

He sighs again. “Yeah, something like that,” he says. Liam scoots closer, cuddles up against his side, and lays his head on Theo’s chest. “More like… memories. It’s alright now.”

Liam yawns. His hand is running along Theo’s skin and leaving warm trails behind. “Wanna talk about it?” he asks. Theo shakes his head. “Alright,” he says, already drifting off again, “love you.”

Theo tenses up, his breath catches in his chest. Oh, he thinks. He hadn’t considered that. It isn’t necessarily a surprise; the two of them have been essentially inseparable ever since he kissed Liam, they spend most days together, he sleeps at Liam’s place more often than not. Still, it is terrifying. Love… It’s heavy, it’s a heavy thing. The idea that anyone could find him lovable is absurd, let alone someone who he was so cruel to. Is he capable of love, true love, real love?

He isn’t sure, but he wants to be.

Sometimes he thinks that the Dread Doctors burned everything human right out of him, and left him just a hollow thing to be used. But when Liam shifts closer in his sleep, and his breaths huff hot across his skin… that empty cavity where his heart once beat, where his sister’s beats now, it is full to bursting with something. Once Liam has been snoring for a minute or so, and Theo is certain that he’s asleep, he takes one more deep breath. “I love you too,” he whispers.

…

Theo doesn’t bring it up, and Liam doesn’t say it again, but the love is there and plain to see. He gets an apartment downtown, and instead of him crashing in Liam’s room, they start spending most of their time together there. He keeps it cold because he’s used to it by now and has a tendency to overheat, especially when Liam is curled up with him. He is happy, or at least something which resembles happiness. For a while, things are quiet in Beacon Hills. Quiet and peaceful, for the first time in years. Paradoxically it has him on edge, always expecting a disaster. Aside from his nightmares, things are nice.

When he does dream, invariably, he is back in that infinitive and horrifying loop; Tara is hunting him down in Hell and the worst part is that even now, he knows that he deserves every agonizing second of it. He opens his eyes in the morgue, and fights his way out of the drawer, and even though he knows that it’s futile he runs through the maze-like building which makes up the entirety of his dreamscape. This time, when Tara finds him, she reaches out but freezes when the door opens.

Liam is there, shining like a torch, and Tara shrinks away as he walks up and grabs Theo’s hand. “That’s enough of that,” he says. He points to Theo’s hand, and as he looks down he notices for the first time that it is charred and cracked, burned away.

“Don’t worry, Prometheus. The gift was worth the pain.”

…

He wakes up and rolls over. He shakes Liam’s shoulder until he wakes up, and as his eyes flutter open Theo leans in and kisses him. “I love you,” he says, as he pulls back.

The smile that dawns underneath him is blinding bright; Liam is always a light, a warm glow which soothes his temperament and polishes down his sharp edges. In his presence, Theo feels absolved. “I love you,” he says again. Then one more time, just to be sure.

Liam laughs, and says, “I love you too.”

Maybe he knew the whole time. Maybe he does deserve this, or has earned it, or is earning it now. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Regardless, he is happy. And that’s enough.