#feeling normal on this fine evening

[stardatez3ro]

OKAY SO LIKE .I WATCHED GENERATIONS . MY THOUGHTS R SCRAMBLED ASF BUT IM WRITING EM DOWN

1- DATA !!!! DATA SOONG !!! HOOOLY SHIT . the emotion chip scenes all either were sooo silly or made me wanna kms /pos .like the one where he asks to be deactivated hurt me PHYSICALLY

2- DAFORGE TRUTHERS RISE UP we rly won w this movie they were being so incredibly gay

3- patrick stewart stop being an incredible actor challenge impossible mode .watching him cry is like watchinf your dad burst into tears its actually gutwrenching dude

4- where was beverly ??like the entire movie?? i feel like i barely saw her :(

5- deanna was serving CUNT the whole time and yknow what .she was so real for that

6- love that Starfleet Horsegirls In Chief got to save the day tgether .good for them

7- i was going ...wher spock .....where is spock.... the entire time the tos crew was on screen EHELEPPF i havent watched tos but like .wher spok guys

8- BRENT SPINER STOP BEING HOT CHALLENGE !!!!! I FEEL CRAZY .giggling kicking my feet twirling my hair every time he was there boy STAND UP

9- this movie is STUNNING objectively .like cmon budget !!!its soooo pretty to look at

#feeling normal on this fine evening #ticketts thoughts #long post #star trek #tng #star trek tng #star trek: generations #star trek the next generation #data soong #(mentioned) #st:tng

[sylveondreams]

🤣🤣 if you haven’t developed a quasi-religious devotion to a rock band...... don’t talk to me!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

#mine #mcr #feeling normal on this fine evening

[teenjiism]

thinking about vegas offering his heart up to pete, naked, bared, bleeding.

when he asks pete to be the one to kill him if it comes to it and confesses his love, he’s saying “here’s my heart, it’s yours for the taking. it’s your choice what you do with it. if it’s not you, nobody will want it, not even me. it only beats for you. if it’s not for you, i have no need for it.”

#vegaspete #vegas #pete #vegas theerapanyakul #feeling normal on this fine evening #blame user waitforthestars for this #i think it’s quite beautiful that when pete offered vegas the rope — he offered him control #but vegas ran with it a little too much. because he was terrified of losing pete AND himself #because with pete he found a new side of himself #and who would he be once pete is gone? he can’t revert to masks #and in that scene. vegas is giving back that control to pete #it’s up to him now. it’s his choice. and vegas will sincerely accept whatever outcome #because and i cannot believe i’m saying this but he realized that #sometimes loving someone means letting them go #and cliché as it is it’s Very charged for them #bc it’s not just this. vegas realizes that even though pete has feelings for him and is attached #(very Very attached)(like codependent levels) #vegas also knows that he caused him so much agony and hurt that he doesn’t really deserve forgiveness #and he thinks he doesn’t have much to offer pete aside from his love. but then he also thinks he doesn’t know how to do That #he doesn’t know how to Love #okay i’m done i really am

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

geto canonically having big ass hands ……… nobody contact me

#HES SOOOOOO #the only man ever i think #do we think he’d make u compare hand sizes if u were smaller #just bc he thinks its cute / he thinks its funny when u blush …….. #feeling normal abt suguru geto on this fine evening

[ineed-to-sleep]

So I've had this wip sitting in my folders for months now and decided to ressurect it to satiate the urge to draw these two again

#I actually finished a wip after abandoning it for so long alright iconic moment for me personally #this is them in the cab coming back from the warrens after getting their asses handed to them by all the szlachta #she handled herself a lil better but vincent is squishy and almost died like. 10 times #vtm #vtmb #the fledgling #brujah #oc.vince #oc.pepper #ship: viper #sleepyscribble #she looks a lil sad bc yk she nearly lost the dude and she starts realizing she liiikes hiiiiiim teehee #she legit doesn't know what she would do if she rlly lost him #but she doesn't think she's in love ofc ofc it's just that yk he's the only person she really feels like she can trust #and the only one she feels really good around and who she feels she could tell anything to #and tbh she hasn't felt this way with anyone else in a long long time even before she became undead and had to deal w the other kindred #but that's normal for a friendship yk this is just a really strong friendship why ruin it with romance right that's stupid #no she wasn't watching him take his shirt off with her eyes almost popping out of her skull the other day shhh that didn't happen #she doesn't even remember he has freckles on his back and a scar on his shoulder. the left one. she doesn't remember she wasn't even lookin #ANYWAY no lust no feelings she's fine don't worry abt it 👍🏻

[icewindandboringhorror]

I know this is just a silly bad quality random screencap of a screencap that I found on facebook lol, BUT it's a succinct enough image to easily describe the concept in a quick/accessible way hopefully :

-

(and of course, feel free to elaborate in tags, etc.! (especially elaborating about other senses as well.. can you "hear" in your mind just as well as you can "see"? taste? etc.) It's an interesting topic to me, as someone who's like a 4.5 at MOST lol. I'm curious what option will be the most common :0c )

#tumblr polls #hrmm... a little poll perhaps.. about a subject I find interesting.. since this image came across my facebook today #still really not feeling that well. no longer shaking violently and such but I still feel weird and weak much more than usual #They did say my markers for like infection or inflammation were elevated but that they werent sure of the cause so hopefully #it's nothing too serious. they did also say a lot of different things can cause that thing to be higher than normal but didn't go into spec #fics of what. maybe some of them are relatively benign or something. I still havent felt much back to normal since #I got really sick that one time though. I feel fine on and off but then little bouts of feeling weird and sick happen. hrmmm #ANYWAY.. looking for small ways to be productive. such as little doodles on evil ipad or editing game videos #or posting polls or cat pictures or some other like not very labor intensive things #I WISH I COULD FOCUS on writing HHRGGhh... I need to finish my game.. it would be so freeing.. a project that's been looming #over my head for like 5 years even though througouht that 5yrs I've probably spent a total of 3 months working on it lo.. ANYWAY #I still partially really cannot beleive that people CAN see stuff in their heads. There's always part of me that's thinking like. well mayb #e everyone DOES see the same exact thing but we just describe/conceptualize it so differently that we think we're talking about #different things when we're really not. But I have been assured by people I've talked to about it that they can GENUINELY really see #stuff in their heads like as vivid as an actual picture in real life or something. And the other senses are neat too. Like for exmaple I #can hear in my head much better than I can see imagery. I still CANNOT hear vividly like as if I were listening to actual music out loud.. #but I think it's developed more than my sight. AND interesting how this varies the creative process. a friend I was talking to on the phone #said they write by literally just watching stuff play before them like a movie. where my process is COMPLETELY different. AND that affects #the content/what details we focus on as well as our individual styles of writing have differences that can be traced back to that.. hrmm

[samwwise]

— roland barthes

#good omens #goodomensedit #goodomensgifs #aziracrow #michael sheen #david tennant #usergif #it's a tragedy because it didn't have to end like this / it's a tragedy because it was always going to end like this #i feel fine! normal even #myedits #gif

[stardustdiiving]

Me explaining in terms of strictly how I read canon I think Nahida not severely punishing the Sages is just meant to convey that Nahida, even when wronged, is not a very vengeful or harsh person and makes the choice to be kind instead, but in my mind I have this idea of a Nahida interpretation which elaborates on that where her self punishing tendencies extend to her being someone who internally downplays her own experiences constantly, and as a result has a hard time feeling she’s allowed or justified in placing a lot of blame on the Sages for what they did to her So while she is following her own philosophies regarding teaching lessons/wisdom/etc in how to handle the Sages and genuinely doesn’t want to be really angry or punishing because of who she is as a person, her decision is also influenced by the fact she’s basically blocked herself out of grappling with how to handle people who hurt her by blaming herself for said hurt instead as a coping mechanism. And like this is all just me being insane about Nahida Trauma and not something explicitly implied in canon but also I really do think this isn’t a far stretch from her canon characterization especially when my vision isn’t to conclude that Nahida needs to be angry and vengeful but she should extend the kindness she shows others to herself and also every day I get tormented thinking about she was the mental equivalent of an average human child when the Sages found her and how they basically specifically discarded her for being a child and the idea of how Nahida would pick up on + internalize that and eventually need time to unlearn it

#nahida #genshin #fern.txt #fandomferns #fictional child abuse cw #anyways is anyone else here normal #see I think a sentiment most ppl get from nahdia’s character is correctly that she is kind despite being treated so poorly #but I want to explore her grappling with Why she does that bc she is genuinely kind #and I don’t think she’s struggling with moving on from things #but based off things she says word for word I feel it’s established nahida is very distressed by not being able to rationalize or #understand things that upset her #this is clear in both her SQs & her voicelines even down to her not liking seafood bc the unknown of the ocean #intimidates her. so I’d imagine she’s someone who responds to being mistreated by concluding #there must be a reason for it. and I actually have dialogue that backs me up here #bc when we first learn the sages have imprisoned nahida nahida herself basically says it’s fine bc her existence has #little meaning and she’s not good enough to be an archon. even as paimon is remarking how awful #the sages are for it and prompting nahida on if she’s upset w them #it’s not that Nahida isn’t insightful enough to acknowledge something as mistreatment #but rather she finds more comfort and a sense of control in having explanations for things #heck the reason she gives up her gnosis to Dottore is states in her char stories to be bc #she doesn’t want the lack of control that comes from a lack of information #nahida leaning on knowledge for a sense of control makes me esp sad when I think abt how #she does not have autonomy or agency for a majority of her life bc of her imprisonment n had fo rely on her #mind n ability to learn n gain knowledge #anyways to reiterate ks anyone else normal

[perfectlyripeclementine]

right okay but imagine it’s stormy out and you’re all curled up in their arms and they’re gently scratching the nape of your neck. and you sweetly turn your heads towards them so you’re kissing their wrist. you look back at them and then kiss their palm and keep dragging your lips all the way up their hand. you kiss to the tip of their fingers and then you look them in the eye as you let them feel your tongue. you let them feel the whole length of it. looking at them still you start sucking, letting them feel the pressure on their skin. every surface of your mouth. soon your face is moving up and down as you let them fuck your mouth with their fingers. you see their eyes change, the sweetness in them turns into hunger. you climb on top of them, still making them watch themself push in and out of your lips.

#nblnb #this post is about queer sex #genderless nsft #genderless #queer nsft #genderless sext #anyways i’m feeling very normal this fine evening #weather has absolutely not at all got me yearning #me? pining? nah #could not be me #….. #Anyway

[uncanny-tranny]

I think one of the most surprising parts of transition, specifically going on testosterone, is just how... normal it felt to me. When I was watching other people go on testosterone and describe how they felt, I anticipated that I'd feel the huge emotions, the spark, I guess. But I didn't. If anything, I went from being a neurotic mess to being... normal. Almost painfully normal. It's like I've gotten a cloth and dusted off this thing I call my body.

I honestly think it's interesting how natural I feel on testosterone. I never really thought I could feel this normal, but I do. It's like I can stand in a crowd and not feel like eyes are watching me, like ants crawling on a log.

#trans #transgender #lgbt #lgbtq #ftm #nonbinary #HAVING FEELINGS #like i watched this guy talk about how... almost explosive it feels for him on testosterone... #...and he was talking about it like 'RAAAAAGH FUCK I'M SUDDENLY FILLED WITH THE URGE TO PUNCH DRYWALL' #'ANGRY...HUNGRY' and i think that's completely fine. but it was weird when i didn't experience that #instead of being like... i guess hormonal??? i just feel like i can take a deep breath for once #(though i do relate to when he was like 'I NEED TO EAT EVERYTHING IN THE HOUSE 🤬') #but yeah... i guess this is me just being fascinated at how the same exact hormone even at the same levels will feel and look so different #like to me that's magic. like the human body is the messiest result of pure magic to me #i guess to me it's so interesting that people have an intense experience on testosterone when i just do not #(and my levels are normal for my body/age range. it is painfully in the middle of normal in fact) #(though i am overdue for labs. i was JUST talking about labs with my dad too 💀)

[skitskatdacat63]

Fernando Chair Lore: 2013 edition(no lore, just pics haha):

#100% normal not derangement post what are you talking about!!! #you guys: 'wow she really likes this chair huh....' #itll all come full circle i swear to you #but also just like this is a comp post i really feel passionate abt CAUSE HE LOOKS SO GOOD OKAY #like....theres 30 pics...i cant even BEGIN to comment #so just let me know your fav yknowwwwwwww #or just join me in appreciating these fine photos #i want to be the ferrari photographer who was just lurking in the garage waiting for nando to sit down #anyways 5th one down on the leftmost side...i hope you know what my thoughts about that one are.... #these pics have incredible range: brooding...puppy cute...super villian sexy mastermind... #bro is COZYYYY #also these are just from getty. im sure theres more but i wasnt ready to get into alladat. it was a lot already #fernando alonso #f1 #formula one #formula 1 #we do a little bit of f1 #fa14

[manygreetingsfriend]

i’m sooooooo normal about the god of war series. so incredibly normal i liked it a normal amount and would be so chill talking about it. don’t worry about the sign

#god of war #i’m so so so so so normal about it it’s so whatever it’s so haha you know #something something when it comes to yourself you’ll let yourself drown before you change. you’ll die before you change who you’ve become #to survive this long #up to and until it affects the ones you’ve come to love in this life you’ve made for yourself and you suddenly have no choice but to change #it’s fine it’s ok it’s chill. everyone does this. #it’s becoming a parent and loving your child so much you HAVE to change. you HAVE to be better #we MUST be better. than they were. #who’s they. our parents. the gods that come before us. yes. #i’m screaming i’m crying i’m wasting away im disintegrating. there’s no coming back there no return #you are on your knees. you are gripping your son’s shoulders like they’re the only thing keeping you tethered to the earth. #you are struggling with who you are and who you want to become. you are promising to be better. #i’m so normal about parent(al figures) taking responsibility for their actions and choosing to do better #i’m not high enough to really express what’s going on here. can you feel it? can you fucking feel it? #this series has destroyed me. #dad of boy. dad(s) of boy. i will never be the same (affectionate) #can’t remember the last time i finished a series and went ‘oh well i’ve GOT to play it again Now That I Know’ #AND I HAVENT EVEN TALKED ABOUT THE BROTHER HULDRA!!!!!!!!! #sindri’s face. has not left my memory #i’m dying scoob #gow #gowr

[iguessitsjustme]

It’s about how Cha Yeowoon represented everything everything everything that Tae Myungha hated about himself and he fell in love anyway. He fell in love with the broken sad boy who just needed someone there.

It’s about how Myungha took care of everyone else but neglected himself. He neglected the sad boy who just needed someone there.

What Myungha needed was nothing more than himself.

It’s about how Yeowoon fell in love with Myunga and in doing so learned to love himself enough to advocate when he was unhappy and he’s needs weren’t being met.

It’s about how Yeowoon learned to give people he hated a chance because he gave Myungha a chance and he learned people are wonderful actually.

What Yeowoon needed was to give himself a chance.

And now they have each other and they’re both happy. But more importantly, they are choosing each other and choosing happiness. They no longer need each other to be happy but they get the choice and they choose each other.

#love for love's sake #feeling completely normal about this show #how am i supposed to watch anything else tonight #cause this show did something to me and i cant even explain what #the storytelling is just on a completely different level #this show makes me want to sing and laugh and never take a single moment for granted #but it also makes me want to cry and let myself feel what i need to feel #that ending really took its audience by the hand and led us into a warm embrace #it walked us right into the safest hug #and i am absolutely and completely fine #and for once i mean it

[the---hermit]

Buying evidently queer books with my mom feeling 100% comfortable asking her to hold them for me as i do something else is something i didn't know i needed.

#since i came out to them things have not changed like idk if i expected the sky to have a different color #but this sense of relaxation of not having to hide and control things for fear of questions always gives me life #there's so much i need to discuss with them because queer talk is non existent here #i recently found out my mom didn't even know what lgbt meant #so i definitely need to sit down and have a bit of a conversation to educate them #but i am happy they know and everything is fine and normal #i am truly starting to feel queer joy lately #idk where i am going with this but small things that make me happy i guess #cris speaks #the---hermit

[goodobservationshirley]

Harlan Coben's Shelter - s01e08 "Found"

#harlan coben's shelter #shelteredit #this is not even a trope i like in general #but i would really love a fic where rachel absolutely does not realize she has feelings for ema #she just has a lot of opinions about how other girls aren't good enough for her okay #these are normal opinions because ema is great #and it just so happens that the other girls they know aren't #and of course if ema were to start dating a nice girl rachel would be 100% fine with it why wouldn't she be #and then ema starts doing just that #and GUESS WHAT

[brookheimer]

i feel very mixed on shiv's ending, particularly her choice to return to tom -- i think it makes sense from a thematic/character arc perspective and is a powerful yet devastating indictment of both shiv and the world that created her as well as showing that the cycle of abuse will always continue to cycle, that shiv will become her mother etc, but i also think it does not make sense from a character/internal logic perspective. it's a choice that makes sense from the writers, but not from shiv, not yet. it could've been a brilliant ending to her character, but is tainted for me by the less-than-ideal execution of it, which felt very rushed, making shiv's final submission to tom feel forced by the show rather than forced by the situation or honest to her character. the ending is not inherently misogynistic from the writers' side as i've seen some criticisms claim (it is a dark but real portrayal of misogyny within capitalist society and how it's internalized within the white women who end up at the hips of the CEOs who run it), but i do understand how it could feel that way. the show fails at building up to (and thus convincing us) that the version of shiv we currently know would so immediately subject herself to her mother's fate, so instead of it feeling like shiv's hand was forced by patriarchy to place herself into her worst nightmare, it instead feels like the show itself was the thing that forced shiv to take that route, which does leave a sour taste in the mouth. it doesn't feel like the result of a choice shiv would make or the impact of patriarchal society bearing down, it just feels rushed and thus wrong. shiv would've benefitted immensely from a few more episodes or even just a few scenes dedicated to teasing out her newfound willingness to subject herself to immense disrespect in order to remain close to power, but given that her entire character has always been defined by her inability to do just that unless forced to (which i don't think she was in this situation as she could've easily not waited in the car for tom, not put her hand in his, but she did), her return to tom feels hard to comprehend, and her near immediate submission to him hard to stomach.

(read more under the cut because jesus christ did this get long)

in my mind, at least, i've always understood shiv as being respect-driven rather than power-driven -- she wants power, yes, but more than anything she wants to be taken seriously and respected and seen as a legitimate player, and time and time again we've seen her blow up situations that would've been very advantageous long-term because she felt disrespected and needed to speak up and force people to take her seriously (which, ironically, typically results in the opposite). shiv's overarching goal is power, but her immediate necessity is always respect. her dignity is her number one priority at any given moment, even when it shouldn't be, even when it stops her from attaining the success and power she wants. i can kind of understand shiv going against kendall because of this -- she's always had a very, very narrow lens whenever she feels like she's being disrespected, and even though it is infinitely more humiliating for your (somewhat ex) husband to betray you and boot you out of the CEO position behind your back at the behest of your supposed closest ally (and for you to still vote for them after that!!!) than it is for you to magnanimously allow your brother to be CEO (which would publicly be seen as a choice, as telly etc said - sibs need to stand united behind one chosen CEO - rather than shiv being out of the loop and fucked to infinity), the narrowness of her vision upon seeing kendall about to win makes it impossible for her to think about that legitimately. it's not just jealousy, it's indignity: shiv feels she earned CEO through her machinations with mattson and feels genuinely sick seeing the loganified kendall grinning at the head of the table, hearing his "that's fucking right" and witnessing his cocky entitlement to the job that belonged to her. so, she does what she always does when she feels disrespected, when she feels her dignity is at stake, and impulsively blows everything to fuck, including her own best interests. that makes sense for shiv, at least somewhat -- i still think that as much as she wouldn't want ken as CEO she'd feel like at least w that outcome she'd be seen as a player and a deciding factor, whereas with mattson/tom she'd be viewed as a pathetic fucked-over nothing woman pawn etc (a situation of unparalleled indignity imo), but i can rationalize her choice to go against ken anyways as being part of the narrowed field of vision she always gets upon feeling disrespected by men in her life that makes it impossible for her to think strategically (and i guess even though the disrespect was greater and more humiliating from tom/mattson than ken, ken was the most recent most present and most lifelong source so that's all she could focus on; seeing him like logan was too much to bear). it's hard to imagine shiv publicly throwing her vote behind two men who publicly fucked her as humiliatingly as mattson and tom just did, even if the other option is kendall, but i think that's part of it -- it's fundamentally illogical, even from her disrespect-lens, because there's just something about kendall specifically being in charge that she's never been able to stomach. it's visceral and impulsive. it's not meant to make "sense." it's just what she feels she has to do to preserve her own dignity, even though it works directly against those same interests realistically. it wasn't executed very well, making it hard to entirely buy it given just how publicly humiliating the alternative is, but it can still be chalked up to her historically one-track-mind when it comes to indignity by the hands of kendall in particular. it's a last-ditch attempt for shiv to at least feel like she's maintaining her dignity, her self-respect, as counterintuitive as it actually is. it makes sense. i can stomach it.

again, shiv's fatal flaw (in logan's eyes and aside from her original sin of being a woman) has always, always been her inability to shut up and make the smart move in situations where she feels she's being disrespected or not taken seriously. if shiv stayed quiet during that dinner with the pierces, maybe she would've been logan's CEO, but no, she couldn't stop herself, she needed to feel she was being taken seriously, she burst out 'cmon, dad, just tell them it's going to be me.' she is unable to play it smart, to keep quiet, to win when winning means perceived disrespect. she's allergic to it. even on a personal level, she shoots herself in the foot constantly because of this: she is unable to let herself have the things she wants because she can't put herself in positions that open her up to disrespect and perceived inferiority. she can't be vulnerable because she needs to be respected. tom asks her if he could 'try to make love to her' in episode one of this season, and even though she clearly wants to, she says 'no, i don't think so, tom.' tom tells her he 'wants her, wants this' back in episode six, and even though she clearly wants that too, she draws back and says 'well then you shouldn't have betrayed me.' shiv is fundamentally incapable of allowing herself to remain in possibly advantageous situations when she feels at risk of being seen as lesser, of being disrespected, of being perceived as weak. that is her response to patriarchy. when patriarchal forces bear down, shiv is unable to grin and bare it -- she has a short fuse, a sharp tongue, and an inability to entertain even a second of being treated like The Woman, of being looked down upon, especially when it's for her gender. it's the one thing she cannot do, cannot let herself do, and it's why she fails to "win" over and over and over again. she shoots herself in the foot the second her patriarchy disrespect sensors tingle. she makes the wrong choice, the dumb choice, the one that makes her feel like she stood up for herself in the moment but ends up leaving her powerless and helpless in the end. that's the only explanation for why she chose to vote against kendall (the clearly better option for her long-term as she'd 1) be respected as part of the decision, as someone who helped choose the CEO rather than a Woman who got fucked over and had the door slammed in her face by her husband and close ally simply because she possessed a womb, and 2) probably be head of ATN or some other area of waystar, she'd have actual power within the company and be respected as a legitimate source of power rather than the CEO-to-be made CEO's humiliated wife -- if she was capable of making the smart, selfish choice in terms of power instead of having a hair-trigger reaction to gendered disrespect and cocky male superiority, she would have voted kendall. but she is not capable of doing that. she never has been. so she voted tom and mattson.

so what i still cannot for the life of me understand is what would compel this shiv, the one who cannot stomach indignity even when power's on the line, to immediately return to tom's side the second he beckons her, which is like five minutes after he becomes CEO (the job she was promised) by mattson (who gave it to tom instead of shiv because 'why get the baby lady if i can get the man who put the baby inside her?'). it makes perfect, cruel, devastating sense from a show perspective, and that's what most people are talking about, understandably. it's a devastating yet unavoidable, inevitable outcome. she's left with no other choice once she makes the decision against kendall, and patriarchy compels her to play the good wife to stay close to power. except, like... she does still have a choice. she does not have to go back to tom's car. she does not have to sit patiently waiting for him. she does not have to quietly congratulate him on his victory. she does not have to place her hand in his. these are all choices she made very voluntary. they're choices between maintaining her dignity and self-respect at the cost of future power versus maintaining the potential for future power at the cost of her dignity and self-respect -- the classic siobhan roy conundrum. she's been faced with it time and time again (even just five minutes prior with kendall) and she has never, not once, chosen the latter of her own volition. she hasn't been able to. that's her fatal flaw. maybe i could stomach her going back to tom if she didn't congratulate him, didn't place her hand in his when he expectantly held his out -- then some dignity would be preserved, maybe. but her complete and total submission for the sake of future power does not make sense with her lifelong inability to do just that. it makes sense that this would be her eventual endpoint, but we have seen nothing that implies shiv would so willingly subject herself to this feminine submission of wife and mother before person or source of power, to the complete and utter humiliation of being the quiet wife at the side of the man who knifed her in the back (and notably handed said knife by the man she thought her closest ally) in order to steal the job she fought for her entire life and, in her opinion, had earned. maybe she would come back to him eventually, for love or (more likely) for power, but it is incredibly hard to believe that shiv 'impulsive when faced with indignity' roy would be capable of immediately and publicly playing the role of the good wife after such intense and public humiliation at the hands of her husband.

really, the way i feel about the shiv ending is similar to how i feel about the daenerys ending -- unlike most people, i really wasn't that against the daenerys outcome. i thought it made a lot of sense and was interesting, devastating, and fascinating. i thought there had been a few signs all along and that that ending for her would make sense and be far more interesting than a Hooray ! Girlboss ! ending. however, it was poorly executed -- it was rushed. it did not make sense from where daenerys was at that point in the text. it could've worked, it could've worked brilliantly, but it needed more time to build and fester in order for her ultimate turn to feel earned rather than forced for the sake of the point the writers wanted to make. that's kind of how i feel about shiv. i get the ending and i don't think it's inherently bad or misogynistic or anything, but it feels like the writers saw the possibility for a shiv 'mommed' ending and immediately took it, with little regard to what actually made sense for shiv herself to do in that moment. outcome > character. that's frustrating for me particularly for succession because my like number one reason for adoring succession as much as i do is their consistent refusal to operate the way most media does (using the characters as instruments to achieve the plot/outcome the writers want), instead prioritizing following the characters themselves in a way that feels honest and real. it's character-driven, not plot or ending driven. i think that this fell by the wayside a few times in the latter half of this season simply because there was so much that needed to happen in such a short space of time (especially during the finale), but in my opinion, at least, the most egregious case is shiv. given more time, more development, more build-up, the last shot of her hand in tom's would've struck the chord the writers wanted it to -- and for some people, it did anyways! but for me, it rang out and fell nauseatingly flat. it felt hollow and wrong and unearned. shiv could end up becoming her mother, that feels entirely possible, but not in this particular sense, not yet. in what world would siobhan roy willingly choose to be seen as nothing more than a woman hanging off her husband's arm, especially when said husband had publicly humiliated her and ruined her entire life just five minutes prior? when, just five (metaphorical) minutes prior, she was the one poised to be CEO and everyone knew it? when now everyone will see her on tom's arm and whisper and gawk? she has become her worst fear, yes, but unlike kendall, it does not feel earned. it does not feel like she has actually become her worst fear. it feels like the show forced her to. not patriarchy or the situation or her own desire for power, but the show itself. that's what feels so shitty.

i wouldn't necessarily call the writing misogynistic as a result of this, as it's less a flaw of misogyny and more a flaw of bad, rushed writing that could happen to any character. it's the same as with daenerys -- although (somewhat unlike succession) there were many, many aspects of GoT's writing that were deeply misogynistic, especially in the last season (just look at fucking brienne), the core issue with the daenerys plotline is not one of misogyny but of time. they did not give daenerys the time needed to become the version of herself seen burning down the city. that could've easily been a focus of previous episodes, but it wasn't. they simply did not develop her enough for that turn to make sense yet. it could make sense, hypothetically, at some point down the line, but at that point it felt sudden, off-putting, and wrong. shiv could easily become her mother. that's been made evident especially regarding her relationship to pregnancy/children, love, and vulnerability (or the lack thereof). but for this ending to make sense, we would have needed to see signs of shiv imitating her mother's willingness to be relegated to the sidelines, to bring out the food while the men eat and make deals, in order to remain tangential to power. that is a concession shiv roy had never been willing to make prior to the last five minutes of the entire show. other signs of shiv imitating caroline or falling prey to patriarchal norms throughout the show are not enough to undo shiv's fundamental refusal to weather gender-related indignity even when doing so would benefit her. in my opinion, that's why the final five minutes of shiv's plotline were so unsatisfying.

shiv could become her mother, and her ending could be a devastating portrayal of the inability for even rich white women to escape their original sin of being a woman in a man's world, as well as a dark, ironic criticism of both women like shiv and the patriarchal world that breeds them into existence. but because the show did not develop shiv in this particular direction and because her entire character thus far has been defined by her self-destructive insistence on being respected at all costs, shiv's ending did not land the way it could've, or should've.

#WOOF okay this was long. not even gonna read it over bc if i do i'll never stop editing to it or adding to it and god knows no one needs tht #so if it's shit well. forgive me #but yeah this is just my take. i felt really unhappy w shiv's ending but didn't quite know why because the ending itself i can imagine bein #fine with but really i just feel very frustrated by the show writing over any agency she would normally have had in order to make their #point by the time the episode ended #honestly the more i think about it the more i feel this season should've had more episodes -- i think another season after this one would b #GREAT for me personally obviously but unnecessary for the show itself and possibly too much of a good thing #but at the same time the latter half of this season could really have benefitted from a little wiggle room and space to develop #so it wasn't just Sudden Mattson Likes Tom or Wait Did Mencken Disappear or Remember Roman's Sexuality or SHIV FUCKING SHIIIIV lolllll #ok. this is too long. post #succession #succession spoilers #long post #and i mean LONG #should i do a read more? i never know what the like courtesy is lmao #well . yall asked for it so here u go #shiv roy #succession meta #i guess #edit i did a read more this is disgusting LOLOL #100 #casey shut the fuck up about shiv roy