Tommy's List
Author's Notes:
Fandom young avengers. No beta. No warnings.
This is me trying to get into Tommy's head and trying out a new format/style/what-have-you of writing. Like it/hate it: please tell me why so I can get better.
Summary: Tommy has some observations.
Tommy’s List
The Young Avengers don’t think Tommy’s cut out for a superhero team; don’t think he’s made out of the right material. What they don’t realize is that they need someone like him. A guy doesn’t get to be the top dog in juvie just by being the strongest; he also has to be cunning. There is nothing more funny than stupid, smart people who think that just because an experiment is locked up it also means that it’s safe. The idiots in the lab coats didn’t think him a threat because of his devil-may-care attitude and his powers; what was he really going to do, outrun the correction officers. But his powers give him time, time to observe, to learn about his captors and to plan how he’s going to make them pay. And that’s the problem with the Young Avengers, they’re so slow that they have to rush everything to get anything done that they don’t have time to look, to see the important details. Details that show how things work, how things connect, how things can be broken.
First Observation: Tommy is the most dangerous person on the TEAM. Eli doesn’t trust him, but that has more to do with Tommy being uncontrollable than it does with him being a threat to the TEAM. What makes Tommy dangerous is that he A) was trained to be a weapon, B) has no moral problem with killing, and C) does (enjoy the) kill. In a tight pinch, he’ll do what needs to be done to keep the TEAM alive and neutralize the threat. His danger factor has doubled from his breakout of juvie because of that fact that D) Billy is his brother. What that means is that Tommy will always have one teammate in his corner, will always defend him from attacks from friend and foe alike, will always clean after his mess and fix mistakes. With that safety net, Tommy no longer has to worry about the consequences of his actions.
Second Observation: Billy is a badass-mother-fucker. It’s because he has the ability to A) throw lightening to blast enemies, B) teleport to escape and C) use magic for the ultimate cheat code. Billy is the most versatile on the TEAM with the capability to make up for any short comings in any situations. That only makes him the power-house of the TEAM, what makes him a BAMF was D) his time in prison. Nobody else, except Teddy, has realized that Billy killed someone there and is completely at peace with it. Billy can kill but he chooses not to, which means that he even sometimes agrees with Tommy’s choice of actions of doing what needs to be done…he’ll just look for the “heroic” options first.
Third Observation: Teddy is a possessive son-of-a-bitch. From what Tommy has gathered from friends of Teddy’s is that essentially he grew up with one family member responsible for his support system and stability and safety net. He invested himself in only one person and had to shift into a part for the rest of the world. With his mom gone, so too was his axis of his understanding of the world…until Billy caught him. He became the new focus, the center on which the rest of the world changes around but he stays fixed and safe and comforting. The rest of the TEAM doesn’t realize that while Teddy is kind to everyone, he loves only his Billy. Even living with the Kaplans, Teddy is invested only with his Billy. So, if it’s a choice between Billy and the world, Teddy will choose Billy who is his universal TRUTH. It also makes Teddy the only TRUE threat to Tommy, because if Tommy’s actions ever become a threat to Billy then the threat will be removed.
Fourth Observation: Jonas is a guy. Tommy’s not sure how the rest of the TEAM is missing this fact, but they are…especially his girlfriend. Jonas watches her like the nerd watches the head cheerleader; shy, awe, and wistful. He is also passive-aggressive in getting closer to her. Tommy found that out by accident when he learned that Jonas had switched Cassie’s secret vibrator with a new one made from parts of himself. Tommy has kept it secret (since he learned that info. from Jonas’s dairy) but has taken him into his confidence as the guy to go to when he wants to be a guy just shooting the breeze. His room is also a nice place to hideout in when being yelled at, Jonas doesn’t yell.
Fifth Observation: Cassie is a teenaged girl. Yeah, Tommy gets that all the YA are really inexperienced kids, but Cassie is just playing dress-up. There’s a difference in life experiences. Eli and Kate have seen the way people are treated like crap, Billy and Teddy know what it’s like to fear going against a greater institutionalized power, Jonas was birthed out of a fight, and Tommy was trained for it. But Cassie is just a normal happy girl who happens to have powers; she doesn’t have any personal reason to keep doing this - and no, trying to be like her father doesn’t count because he was doing it to keep her alive and well - she’s just playing dress-up. She’s not doing this for anybody but herself. If the chips are ever down, she won’t rise to the occasion, she’ll shrink away to take the easier path. Tommy can’t fault her for that, after all she’s just a teenaged girl, not ready for an adult’s responsibility.
Sixth Observation: Kate is a wealthy hypocrite. It’s not just about money; it’s about the way she functions in the world. Yea, it’s useful to just be able to buy new customs, repair weapons, a hideout. But Billy can now just want those things into existence. She’s seen the crap people do to each other, and can survive. Hell she’s survived it herself. She wants to make the world a better place and Tommy thinks she can…he also thinks she could be doing more. She looks down on her wealth while still using it, which is hypocritical but also makes not use it to the best of her abilities. She volunteers at a soup kitchen, when she could be buying and improving the facilities with better food, staff, a free clinic, and counseling just for starters. She’s fighting super-powered wackjobs when she could be preventing their existence by influencing law or backing programs that help the desperate. What she does is amazing, but she has the power to do something not even Billy can do (yet), she could change the world.
Seventh Observation: Eli is not a leader. He may be and act in-charge of the group, but that’s only because the TEAM lets him. The Young Avengers are more of a democracy. He is a hard worker, super serious, and yells a lot and so the group generally does what he says (except Tommy). But he’s also a sensitive, protective, worrier who wants to keep the TEAM safe from any/everything. This makes him overly cautious and not as effective a leader as Kate because he cares for the welfare of the TEAM just as much, if not more than the civilians the Young Avengers try to save. He’s not a leader yet (which is why Tommy doesn’t listen to him), but he’s got the making of one…once he trusts that the rest of the TEAM take care of themselves.
So Tommy sits back and watches his TEAM to see how they change, how they handle new situations, and learns what makes them tick. He observes their strengths and weaknesses, what they can and can not do, and will use this information for his advantage and make sure no one else does the same.
Fandom young avengers. No beta. No warnings.
This is me trying to get into Tommy's head and trying out a new format/style/what-have-you of writing. Like it/hate it: please tell me why so I can get better.
Summary: Tommy has some observations.
Tommy’s List
The Young Avengers don’t think Tommy’s cut out for a superhero team; don’t think he’s made out of the right material. What they don’t realize is that they need someone like him. A guy doesn’t get to be the top dog in juvie just by being the strongest; he also has to be cunning. There is nothing more funny than stupid, smart people who think that just because an experiment is locked up it also means that it’s safe. The idiots in the lab coats didn’t think him a threat because of his devil-may-care attitude and his powers; what was he really going to do, outrun the correction officers. But his powers give him time, time to observe, to learn about his captors and to plan how he’s going to make them pay. And that’s the problem with the Young Avengers, they’re so slow that they have to rush everything to get anything done that they don’t have time to look, to see the important details. Details that show how things work, how things connect, how things can be broken.
First Observation: Tommy is the most dangerous person on the TEAM. Eli doesn’t trust him, but that has more to do with Tommy being uncontrollable than it does with him being a threat to the TEAM. What makes Tommy dangerous is that he A) was trained to be a weapon, B) has no moral problem with killing, and C) does (enjoy the) kill. In a tight pinch, he’ll do what needs to be done to keep the TEAM alive and neutralize the threat. His danger factor has doubled from his breakout of juvie because of that fact that D) Billy is his brother. What that means is that Tommy will always have one teammate in his corner, will always defend him from attacks from friend and foe alike, will always clean after his mess and fix mistakes. With that safety net, Tommy no longer has to worry about the consequences of his actions.
Second Observation: Billy is a badass-mother-fucker. It’s because he has the ability to A) throw lightening to blast enemies, B) teleport to escape and C) use magic for the ultimate cheat code. Billy is the most versatile on the TEAM with the capability to make up for any short comings in any situations. That only makes him the power-house of the TEAM, what makes him a BAMF was D) his time in prison. Nobody else, except Teddy, has realized that Billy killed someone there and is completely at peace with it. Billy can kill but he chooses not to, which means that he even sometimes agrees with Tommy’s choice of actions of doing what needs to be done…he’ll just look for the “heroic” options first.
Third Observation: Teddy is a possessive son-of-a-bitch. From what Tommy has gathered from friends of Teddy’s is that essentially he grew up with one family member responsible for his support system and stability and safety net. He invested himself in only one person and had to shift into a part for the rest of the world. With his mom gone, so too was his axis of his understanding of the world…until Billy caught him. He became the new focus, the center on which the rest of the world changes around but he stays fixed and safe and comforting. The rest of the TEAM doesn’t realize that while Teddy is kind to everyone, he loves only his Billy. Even living with the Kaplans, Teddy is invested only with his Billy. So, if it’s a choice between Billy and the world, Teddy will choose Billy who is his universal TRUTH. It also makes Teddy the only TRUE threat to Tommy, because if Tommy’s actions ever become a threat to Billy then the threat will be removed.
Fourth Observation: Jonas is a guy. Tommy’s not sure how the rest of the TEAM is missing this fact, but they are…especially his girlfriend. Jonas watches her like the nerd watches the head cheerleader; shy, awe, and wistful. He is also passive-aggressive in getting closer to her. Tommy found that out by accident when he learned that Jonas had switched Cassie’s secret vibrator with a new one made from parts of himself. Tommy has kept it secret (since he learned that info. from Jonas’s dairy) but has taken him into his confidence as the guy to go to when he wants to be a guy just shooting the breeze. His room is also a nice place to hideout in when being yelled at, Jonas doesn’t yell.
Fifth Observation: Cassie is a teenaged girl. Yeah, Tommy gets that all the YA are really inexperienced kids, but Cassie is just playing dress-up. There’s a difference in life experiences. Eli and Kate have seen the way people are treated like crap, Billy and Teddy know what it’s like to fear going against a greater institutionalized power, Jonas was birthed out of a fight, and Tommy was trained for it. But Cassie is just a normal happy girl who happens to have powers; she doesn’t have any personal reason to keep doing this - and no, trying to be like her father doesn’t count because he was doing it to keep her alive and well - she’s just playing dress-up. She’s not doing this for anybody but herself. If the chips are ever down, she won’t rise to the occasion, she’ll shrink away to take the easier path. Tommy can’t fault her for that, after all she’s just a teenaged girl, not ready for an adult’s responsibility.
Sixth Observation: Kate is a wealthy hypocrite. It’s not just about money; it’s about the way she functions in the world. Yea, it’s useful to just be able to buy new customs, repair weapons, a hideout. But Billy can now just want those things into existence. She’s seen the crap people do to each other, and can survive. Hell she’s survived it herself. She wants to make the world a better place and Tommy thinks she can…he also thinks she could be doing more. She looks down on her wealth while still using it, which is hypocritical but also makes not use it to the best of her abilities. She volunteers at a soup kitchen, when she could be buying and improving the facilities with better food, staff, a free clinic, and counseling just for starters. She’s fighting super-powered wackjobs when she could be preventing their existence by influencing law or backing programs that help the desperate. What she does is amazing, but she has the power to do something not even Billy can do (yet), she could change the world.
Seventh Observation: Eli is not a leader. He may be and act in-charge of the group, but that’s only because the TEAM lets him. The Young Avengers are more of a democracy. He is a hard worker, super serious, and yells a lot and so the group generally does what he says (except Tommy). But he’s also a sensitive, protective, worrier who wants to keep the TEAM safe from any/everything. This makes him overly cautious and not as effective a leader as Kate because he cares for the welfare of the TEAM just as much, if not more than the civilians the Young Avengers try to save. He’s not a leader yet (which is why Tommy doesn’t listen to him), but he’s got the making of one…once he trusts that the rest of the TEAM take care of themselves.
So Tommy sits back and watches his TEAM to see how they change, how they handle new situations, and learns what makes them tick. He observes their strengths and weaknesses, what they can and can not do, and will use this information for his advantage and make sure no one else does the same.