Chapter 1: o. thalia shelby
Chapter Text
Full Name:
Thalia Rose Shelby
Born:
1896
Age:
23 (Series 1) - 37 (Series 6)
Origin:
Small Heath, Birmingham, England
Address:
Arrow House
Also Known As:
Ms. Shelby, Liane Shelby. Sergeant, The Siren of Birmingham, The Devil’s Advocate
Other Names:
Tobias Shelby (fake name during WW1)
-
Status:
Alive
Affiliation:
Shelby Family, Peaky Blinders
Occupation:
Soldier (1914-1918), Bookmaker, Career Criminal, Gangster. Businesswoman
-
Allegiance:
United Kingdom - British Army
Years of Service:
1914-1918
Rank:
Sergeant
Unit:
British Expeditionary Force
Awards: Military Medal
Synopsis | Thalia Rose ‘Lia’ Shelby is the youngest daughter of Arthur and Mrs. Shelby and the second-in-command of the Birmingham criminal gang, the Peaky Blinders. She served in World War 1 under the name Tobias Shelby after enlisting on her eighteenth birthday. During this time, she was separated from her brothers early on and fought mostly in trenches on German soil. Thalia was assumed to be dead due to coming home a month later than the men.
Thalia is the only Shelby sibling to never marry, and the eldest of two to not have children. She is the closest to her elder brother Thomas, who she claimed to be the only man she would die for. Thalia is silent in every aspect, partially due to her PTSD, but turns her trauma into protectiveness, as if one wrong move could cause her to lose everything.
Chapter 2: i. time stands still
Chapter Text
It was the day of Thalia Shelby’s eighteenth birthday. The three sons of the Shelby family were leaving for France the next day, so the family used the youngest daughter’s birthday as a final celebration in case it was their last time as a complete unit.
Thalia was gone by sunrise, not returning to the Arrow House until nearly six o’clock in the evening.
“Thalia, where have you been?!” Polly Gray, the siblings’ aunt and caretaker, exclaimed, her hand making contact with the back of Thalia’s head. Thalia grimaced at the contact, but her aunt’s gaze had moved to the set of papers in the girl’s hand. “What is that?” Polly asked, reaching for the paper. Thalia quickly jerked her hand away, her gaze never leaving Polly’s face.
“Where are the boys?” Thalia asked, her expression colder than normal. She was dressed in her brother John’s suit, covering her hair with a cap that had the signature razor blade sewn in. Polly took in her niece’s appearance, shaking her head before motioning the girl upstairs.
“Get some of your own clothes on before they catch you.” Polly whispered. Thalia nodded, running upstairs to change into a dress, placing the suit into her closet for a later time.
-
“There’s the birthday girl!” Arthur Shelby exclaimed when Thalia came downstairs for dinner, placing a drunken kiss onto her forehead. Thomas, John, Ada, and six-year-old Finn Shelby were lounging in the sitting room with cigarettes and whiskey, Finn playing with his toys on the carpet.
Thalia smiled softly, hesitating in her step as she walked into the room. Every set of eyes were on her, including Polly’s, who was standing in the doorway. Thalia still had the papers in her hand, refusing to let them go.
“Tommy.” Thalia spoke softly, handing the second-born son the papers in her hand. Thomas and Thalia were the closest out of the six Shelby siblings, with their family believing that the two were meant to be twins but were born six years apart. Thomas read the contents on the paper carefully, only looking up from the papers when he was completely sure he understood what was said.
“You can’t be serious, Thalia.”
His words made the room go silent. “What’s going on?” John Shelby questioned, breaking the silence as he tried to catch a glimpse of the papers in his brother’s hands. Thalia’s eyes shifted towards her aunt, who was staring at her with an expression the girl could not read.
“Thalia, tell me these are not official.”
Thomas’ voice trembled with each breath he took. His eyes were wide with a mixture of shock and panic, reading over the lines as if there was a mistake in them. Even little Finn looked up from his toys to see what his siblings were talking about, despite not understanding the severity of the situation.
“Tommy, for fuck sake, what is happening?”
Thomas looked at his sister with a cold expression. “Do you want to tell them or should I?” He asked sternly, not giving the girl time to give an answer before handing the papers to his aunt.
“You fucking enlisted under a false name?”
The room erupted into chaos. Arthur and John were yelling at Thalia, Ada was crying, and Thomas simply remained seated, his mind racing with every possible thought he could manage. The words coming from the Shelby brothers were merging with one another, every insult being thrown at the girl with a force of the devil himself.
Stupid.
Suicidal.
Pathetic.
Little girl.
Thalia stood in the middle of the room, taking everything as if it were a daily occurrence. Her face remained stoic in their anger, which made them even more furious. Thomas held up his hand, signaling for the two to stop talking. Arthur and John were silenced immediately, and Thomas stood up from the couch.
“If you,” Thomas began, inching closer to his sister with each passing second. “die in this war. If you so much as get a scratch on your arm, none of us will be there. You will die alone., and nobody will mourn your death. Do you understand?” Thalia’s shoulders tensed up at the sound of her brother’s words, his calm demeanor sending a shiver down her spine.
“Tommy, that’s a bit harsh-” Polly spoke up, but was silenced by her nephew.
“Do you understand me, Thalia Rose Shelby?”
Thalia locked eyes with her elder brother, their blue eyes matching one another in more ways than one.
“And if I come back?”
Thomas let out a near incoherent sigh placing his hands on her shoulders to hold her close, but still maintained distance due to his undisclosed anger.
“Then you will be a fucking god.”
-
The day that Thalia Shelby came home from the war, everything had changed.
During the war, Thalia was separated from her brothers early on, fighting as a Sergeant on German soil for the entire four years of the conflict. She was captured twice by the Germans, tortured for information, but managed to escape with life-threatening injuries and not a single piece of information revealed.
As the newly-veteraned Sergeant walked up to the house she grew up in, a single bag in hand filled with nothing but her uniform and a medal, Thalia felt a pang of fear in her gut. Her left arm was in a sling due to a dislocated shoulder, and her overcoat, once tailored to her body. was now engulfing her body from years of borderline starvation.
Thalia sat her bag down on the ground, knocking on the door three times and stepping back, a pit in her stomach growing as she awaited the impending doom that was the Shelby family.
It was John Shelby that opened the door. He expected a copper or an employee of the Peaky Blinders, but when he saw his baby sister in front of him, his jaw nearly fell to the ground in shock.
“Thalia?” He gasped, like he assumed that the girl was just a figment of his imagination.
“Hi, Johnny.” Thalia greeted softly.
It was her. She was home.
John pulled the girl into his embrace with care, avoiding her arm as he stifled a choked sob.“
We thought you were dead.” John said in a low tone as he kept his composure. Thalia tensed up.
“Where’s everyone else?” She asked, matching his tone.
“Inside. Tommy hasn’t said a word to anyone since we’ve come home.”
Thalia grabbed her bag off of the ground, pushing herself out of John’s embrace before walking through the door of her home.
It didn’t feel like home anymore. It felt desolate. Empty, even. John closed the door behind her, watching her with intensity as she took in her surroundings. “Hasn’t changed much.” Thalia said softly as she crept through the space. John hummed in response, unable to find the right words to say in that particular moment in time.
John and Thalia parted ways at the staircase. She began to climb up the flight of stairs, hearing John’s voice as she stepped upwards.
“
It’s good to have you home, Thalia.” He called out, but she didn’t turn back.
She was determined to see her brother.
Thomas was lying in his bed when Thalia reached the open doorway of his bedroom, his eyes focused on the ceiling as he laid in silence.
“Staring at the ceiling is bad for your eyes.”
Thomas nearly leapt out of his skin as Thalia broke the silence in the room, leaning against the doorway with her good shoulder. His eyes darted towards her, his face immediately growing pale.
“Thalia…” His voice trailed off, taking in the girl's appearance.
He looked terrible, as did she.
His expression remained emotionless as he stood up from the bed, inching towards her with extreme caution. “It’s really you.” He muttered, his hands reaching up to cup the girl's cheeks. Her eyes welled up with tears, the years of not seeing her older brother finally taking a toll on her emotions.
“I came back, Tommy.”
Thomas simply stared at her. No emotion, no change in demeanor, just a blank stare that sent shivers down her spine.
“You’re hurt.”
Her eyes locked with his, as if they were speaking without moving their lips.
“I was sent to Germany. Not France.”
Thomas’ breath hitched softly, the realisation hitting him almost instantly. Thalia sat her bag down in between her feet, pulling out the medal they had given her. She held it out to her brother, and when he took it, their calloused hands grazed one another.
“You’re a hero?”
“No, I just kept my mouth shut.”
Thomas looked up from the medal in his hand. His eyes were filled with an emotion she couldn’t read, but she knew him well enough to know exactly what was going through his head.
“Welcome home, Sergeant. You’re a fucking god.”
Yuri_Akira on Chapter 2 Fri 11 Jul 2025 07:03AM UTC
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