#i love ken and roman and gerri too like So Much

[gregoftom]

ok i think it’s time i admit it i’m a tom apologist. sorry 

#i mean wbk but im gonna pin this post so if someone comes to my blog expecting Any disrespect they can immediately leave #it hurt me physically when shiv said what she did to him and he just said thats ok its been a difficult day in such a small voice #you know when you Know your blorbo is Yours yeah thats my BOY right there #he's always right sorry about it #i love ken and roman and gerri too like So Much #and greg IDC I LIKE HIM i'm in the delusion that his girl shit is a cover for his gay ass let me be <3 #and i love shiv too #but tom............ hes Special idk

[confinesofmy]

rewatching lifeboats and had a realisation about the reason why kendall called rava for advice about waystar's debt. he asked "do i go hulk or bruce banner" because she's "always so good at this stuff." by "this stuff" he meant socially delicate situations that he himself can't fully understand all the nuance of. when they were together, she was his secondary social filter when he didn't know what a situation called for and that's what he's asking her for at 6am on a monday morning with two school-age children (their school-age children). and he's asking without giving her any idea of the billions of dollars of debt, the circumstances under which the loan is very likely to soon default, or any other information that would've conveyed how big a deal his call with the bank is.

but she's been his Person when it comes to figuring out how he's supposed to act for like 15 years so when she says "the hulk is the incredible one, right? the hulk." what does he do? he hulks out on the representative from the bank that has every right to default the loan when the stock reaches 130, a rep that doesn't know kendall, doesn't like logan, and has no reason to cut some snot-nosed, spoiled brat a break anyway. he goes hulk when he obviously had no choice but to go bruce banner and completely ignores gerri's advice based on a 1 minute conversation with his very distracted ex. 🤦

#i've watched this episode like five times and i thought he was just a clueless moron #which #yeah #he is #but crucially he is also socially illiterate and rava is one of the very few people he trusts #rava literally told him 'talk to your people' #but then she said 'ask roman' so he threw that entire idea out the window and decided he'd just take her advice instead #and he's really rigid once he's got a plan so he ignored gerri‚ and then ignored mr. polk's decreasing congeniality #god i love mess #i could nearly cry from frustration lmao he's so. ugh. dammit ken. #adam talks too much #suck sesh

[wonderpommey]

Well Jesse said it, no one truly changes and indeed nothing really changed in the couples’ dynamics in the end.

The show dangled a possible happy ending for Connor and Willa for a second but of course it tears it away in the finale. We already see Willa squirming under Connor’s grip, grappling with the “sexy second week itch”. Roman is particularly repulsed by that pairing; buying a young escort-type woman and parading her as somehow worthy, as a ‘wife’. There’s something so offensive to him about that. We never see Roman give Gerri anything of monetary value. He’d never want to buy her, he’s desperately attracted to how real she is, to the experience and things she can teach him, in every possible way (sex & advice). He wants what she is willing to give, not what he can buy. The only time money comes into their relationship is the exit package (pass!) and even that is essentially just another lesson she’s teaching him. You wanna rule with emotion, the next person will take you for everything you’re worth!

Shiv's adoption of Tom remains partly strategic. It moves from "not being betrayed" to "holding onto power", it has very little to do with love. Shiv continues to push sadistically to see how much she can get away with, how close patriarchy will let her get to being her own woman. Then, when Tom or Logan tells her she’s gone too far, she folds. And Tom loves her enough or loves being in the fold enough that it works in the succession universe, it becomes a deal of somewhat terrifying equals. And that was what succession was all about. Capitalism, patriarchy and the oppression of women. What men demand things like love and care from women, but they actually lose any genuine connection the second they take a woman's agency away from her… Sure you get her by your side physically for a while but you crucially loose her very desire to be there.

Roman and Gerri’s relationship remains a study in longing and sensuality. They are barely featured in the finale but Roman sets the tone by going down on mummy’s cheese. Oh succession and its cheesy genitals, the ricotta dick! The grilled cheese with a sucked dick! The whole kitchen scene is obviously an allegory about the lack of food and incidentally love Caroline has supplied to her children. It’s only scraps, rot and fire going into that smoothie. But Oedipus-Roman, doesn’t want the smoothie, he wants the tasty morsel of maternal love which isn't for him. He doesn’t bite by the way, he only licks. Unlike his last second on screen, he can’t go as far as actual consumption. Did he want Lobster? No, he wanted the most love. Did he want steak? No! He wanted to be picked above Kendall!!

Speaking of what’s not for him... He then has to watch Gerri talk about the pleasures of a slow screw. It’s a sudden exposure to her sexuality, a validation of his intuition that she likes being superior to her conquests, sexually, spiritually. Something he knows he can give her alongside the painful realisation that she opens up - to others - in that way.

Then the office breakdown. I still look good, I still look the part “Why isn’t it me?” What are the rockstar and the molewoman when the rockstar is just a big sack of bullshit? And Ken reaffirming he’s not good enough, he’s pure emotion, he doesn’t have the drive, he only ever wanted a ride or die.

All culminating in his only true, almost naturalistic documentary-style consumption of the season; Gerri’s martini. Drinking in the quasi love of his life (I could do a whole post about how wild it is that Jesse ‘I don’t want to tell you what to think’ Armstrong said something so totalitarian). This isn't the first connection between an older woman’s sexual appetite and her drink of choice this season! Remember Roman’s reaction to the image of Nan liking her wine like she likes her men!

Sure, the outer layer of that scene shows Roman, having lost the company, his lover/mentor's good will, and any way he knows of interacting with his siblings in a bar drinking alone, overly dressed, old Hollywood style. A potential regression to his sad playboy lifestyle (Jesse), or the start of a hopeless spiral of alcohol abuse (Mark - who has since then said he saw how Roman’s ending could be perceived as hopeful). 

Upon closer inspection, his inferiority/beta complex, his emotions, his desire to be loved, his desire NOT to be in charge/on top - everything that his dad loathed to see in him - are finally showing through the physical scars on his face. He gave it a valiant try, but he couldn’t keep parading as whomever Logan wanted him to be and he realises that it makes him an unworthy heir and in the same breath, access to Gerri is disallowed. It still overwhelms him with emotion, but in the same way Oedipus took his own eyes and couldnt see Jocasta and longer, Roman only gets to see Gerri through screen and glass anymore. He demanded she believed he was as good and as ruthless as his dad and he turned out not to be. Objectively, it’s not a prerequisite to Gerri’s feelings for him as she responds to his pathos way more than she does to Logan's death, but his psyche is convinced he no longer deserves to be in her presence.

So he does the only thing he can do to keep her as close as he needs. Don't be fooled by the luxurious, civilised quality of the drink, this is a biological need,  pure sustenance (Get her inside of him, under his skin, into his bloodstream and pumping to his heart). He bites his lip as the liquid enters his mouth, swallowing dramatically, loving the burn & hating the pain. 

And we’ve come full circle on the theme of consuming each other. From the partnership-worthy mutual cannibalistic proposal of season 2, to the toxic if slightly castrating injunction for her to go down on him and devour him. Season 4 breaks him enough that he gets to the opposite nihilistic ideation that he’s nothing and hence has no claim on the company or being her protégé. The truth - that we don’t know if he can get to - is somewhat in between. All these kids are very smart and worthy in their own ways, even though of course the expectation placed on them to be exceptional prevents them being satisfied in being maybe just that.

His final scene showcases the sad and lonely consumption of the woman he loves’ essence, a poor ersatz for the ‘old gal’s juices’ that he doesn’t deserve. All he has to offer being something he has never been able to name or express without the alibi of the company; an amorphous, unworthy, unnamable but ultimately undeniable feeling.

And possibly in the writers’ minds, this is the suicide part of their contemporary Romeo & Juliet drama. Dying with the blade and the poison after daddy said the love was unacceptable & unobtainable? I mean come ON! 

Roman “knifed” Gerri (This is rhetoric they use ON THE SHOW), she completed the execution by taking herself out and brought him the threat of annihilation (while ordering the poison; a martini). There is a delicious poisonous quality to the drink isn’t there (or its abuse)? And of course, if he dies he’ll die by her, he’ll taste the poison she chose off her lips, because if he has lost the love of his life in this eternal quasi status, it becomes the only worthy pursuit.

That was the roman-esque question of the show. What is love if it’s always been withheld, if it’s always been expressed via the proxy of the company, if it’s never been given freely, or modelled or held as something precious and worthy that had to be protected? And what if it makes you ravenous for it? And how could you get it, this thing you most desperately want, if you’d never been given the tools?

O true apothecary, Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. 

#roman roy #succession hbo #gerri kellman #romangerri #shiv roy #tom wambsgans #connor roy #willa ferreyra #sorry this isn't a hopeful post #obviously Gerri finds him and tells him she loves him the way he is #he finds a way to make himself feel worthy again #I'm just pulling the thread laid by those evil writers

[transmutationisms]

Would love if you have any thoughts on Kendall and Roman’s sibling relationship because they’re also my favorite together with Kendall and Shiv but in contrast to Ken and Shiv I have no real thoughts on what makes them interesting as a team. They’re just little guys to me and I like when they don’t fight! So would love to know if you have more intelligent thoughts on their dynamic because it really is interesting to me

ok i was curious whether episode 9 would pick up the threads of their dynamic that this season has played with more and im sooo glad it did. what works about kendall and roman as a pair is that they're the two logan picked out for male successor, and they both fail at that role but in different ways. kendall really wants to be logan; his eulogy was at least honest about that. he sees logan's entitlement to the world and the power and access that wealth granted him, and kendall wants that for himself. he speaks about logan as someone who "acted", ie contrasting the active masculine with the passive feminine. this is a dichotomy he learned from logan.

roman on the other hand wants others to perceive him as being as good as logan, but he doesn't actually want the things that defined logan. when he had the opportunity to pitch himself as ceo in season 2, he suggested co-running the company with logan. he likes being wealthy and he finds power intoxicating, but when he actually has it he's overwhelmed and doesn't like the responsibility. he's much happier trying to make himself the power no. 2 to some daddy figure or another (logan, gerri, mencken). roman can't fuck with his dick whereas kendall can; roman presents his dick to gerri as an object for consumption, whereas kendall is baffled when naomi asks for a dick pic because he doesn't relate to his body as an object of desire. in logan language, this all points to how roman assumes the more passive, submissive, feminine role naturally, whereas kendall gravitates toward logan's idea of masculinity and domination, but is consistently a flop in actualising those ideals.

'living+' was maybe the first episode where like, a majority of the tension comes from the roman-kendall compare/contrast, honestly. roman is trying to imitate logan, but also hates doing it and wants kendall to stop him and put him in his place. meanwhile, kendall is trying to imitate logan in a different way, where he's trying to put on a great show and literally solve the problem of death. he doesn't stop roman because he sees roman's firing spree as a demonstration of strength rather than as roman foundering. ultimately kendall succeeds in making his insane presentation, but ends the episode still struggling because nothing he does will ever actually earn him logan's approval (the #1 washing away in the sand), whereas roman chickens out of kendall's disneyland messiah thing, and ends up in the car alone listening to his deepfaked father denigrate him again.

'church and state' also plays with their dynamic, where roman starts as the triumphant son but then embarrasses himself by displaying affection for his father, and ends up getting ditched by mencken and referred to as a crying (female) pig; kendall, on the other hand, loses his family and his assistant in the first five minutes, then delivers the eulogy, tells roman off for being too submissive in his relationship with mencken, and ends up in a position that's strategically advantageous if emotionally dangerous. i like how these two episodes play with roman and kendall's different relationships to logan and the language of strength. they're each baffled by the other's desired position in the hierarchy; also, whereas kendall is ultimately willing to sacrifice roman for his own pursuit of power, roman wants power more as a way of being close to his siblings and getting their approval. so the ways that kendall and roman misunderstand each other can really open up a broader exploration of logan's worldview and the show's commentary on the family as a part of capitalist productive logics.

[brookheimer]

do u think kenrome can come back from this 😭

honestly i think any sibling relationship with roman can come back from just about anything as long as the other sibling wants that relationship still. so long as rome’s the primary ‘wounded party’ or w/e, the relationship will probably return to ‘normal’ (not ‘heal’ but return to stagnancy). roman is a kicked dog who never leaves no matter how much he’s kicked, and really, that hasn’t changed. remember when ken betrayed the entire family and tried to kill logan in the s2 finale and then next season rome immediately comes to ken’s apartment with a gift of airport pastries he knows ken likes? i don’t think any of his family could ever hurt roman beyond reproach — i don’t think such a line exists for him. if it did, god knows it would’ve been crossed by at least a few of them by now. sure, he’s realized everything’s bullshit, but his nihilism does not negate his lifelong yearning for genuine connection, a yearning that’s intensified ten-fold when it comes to his family. he might know it’s bullshit now, he might think genuine connection is bullshit and waystar’s dead so they are too, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still want it. honestly, a ‘healthy’ ‘free’ outcome for rome would probably be one in which he untethers himself from his family and only returns to them by choice rather than this sense of devotion and secretly embarrassingly love-fueled obligation, but that’s not how things end. he’s as haunted by logan, by waystar, as any of them. yeah, everything’s bullshit including waystar including them, but so long as he continues to view his family and the business as inextricable, he won’t be ‘free,’ not really. (i talk about that in this post a lot, so i’ll just link that so as not to broken record myself into infinity here lol.) i mean, he’s drinking gerri’s martini in the last shot. how bullshit are things really if he’s still consuming the remnants of his stand-in father/mother in his last scene? roman hasn’t changed, none of them have; that’s jesse’s entire thesis for the show. and so long as roman hasn’t changed, there is pretty much nothing that his siblings could do to lose him. the issue is that none of the siblings know how to interact with one another outside of the business, and honestly, i’m not sure if they’d even try to if not for roman who will inevitably awkwardly come around to ken’s place with pastries in a few days making sure he hasn’t killed himself yet. things won’t be good, and neither of them will know who to be or how to act or what it means to exist outside of waystar especially in terms of each other. but i do think this isn’t an end for them, largely, again, because there’s no end when it comes to roman. kick him as much as you want and watch him crawl back with a gift in his mouth. it might take him longer this time or it might be shrouded in even more irony and flippancy because he’s now newly convinced of the meaningless of their bonds, but that doesn’t change the fact that his love for them is real (as much as he might wish otherwise), and that he doesn’t want kendall dead. so i think there’s still something there, but not a good thing or a healed thing — it’s just roman continuing to lack a sense of worth or a sense of self. maybe things will get better, maybe they won’t, but i find it hard to imagine kendall and shiv ever really alienating roman for good unless they decide they no longer want him in their lives. so in that sense, i do think ken and rome will still have a relationship, but what form it takes (and if it can ever heal from the wounds not only of this fight but of the abuses that have always defined their relationship and will likely continue to) will be unclear even to them — what are they without waystar, after all?

#kenshiv on the other hand……. #also that would def make things harder for rome too — focusing solely on kenrome in a vacuum #here pretty much but add shiv into the equation and it gets hairy #rome will want a relationship w both ken and shiv neither of whom will want a relationship with each other #i just want them all to be fwendssssss :( #succession #succession spoilers #casey shut the fuck up about roman roy #asks #anon #long post #as always #100 #this time on posts i didn’t expect to get notes #i’m always shocked whenever responses to asks get more than like 30 notes max. idk why

[bamboobrat]

succession s4 e5 recap: swedish elon and his logan roy tribute band

time is a flat circle and we are back to ken hyping himself listening to rap, driving to the office.

anyone feeling nostalgic yet?

he is immediately caught off guard by the fact that roman and shiv are already there.

also he seems like the worst boss ever.

i really don't like ken when he is not hitting rock bottom.

(there is a movie about a sleeping robot in a cave that takes up too much time in this episode. let's not get into all that)

the old guard checks up on the CE-bros before their trip to norway.

matchy matchy&lt;3

turns out mattson wants them all there (why wouldn't he?) so THE GANG IS GOING TO NORWAY! lets bleed the swede!*

*as a norwegian, i approve this message

mortality has set into team krank, as they put on compression socks before the flight.

krank is not here to have fun. krank has no young mistress to impress. krank is serious.

shiv has noticed ken's leaks to the media from last week because she is boss. it's the comeback we've been waiting for.

but most importantly, she is waging a very important war against tom and his stupid new sneakers:

the sibs say they can kill tom for her. that's brotherly love.

hugo is not having a good time.

i am tho.

gerri rallies the troops by shitting on europeans.

yes mommy tell me i'm weak because i have free healthcare! sit on my face

gerri for CEO. always.

they accurately depict what it is like driving in norway:

(this is why i don't have my licence)

the gang arrives in the motherland and it's beautiful, but rainy (so authentic) and are all like WHY THESE WOOD CABINS SO SMALL?!

ironic because jeremy lives in fucking denmark.

anyway, whatever this is:

I DO NOT APPROVE!

the trip up to mount olympus is interrupted by con saying he can send a picture of their dead dad to the group chat.

nobody wants to see it.

also, marcia is putting logan in a kilt like the fucking bay city rollers and con had to cancel a room full of working class whites in cleveland. the sacrifice.

they give con carte blanche for the whole funeral thing, which is probably a terrible decision.

the funeral is going to be one big campaign rally, i'm serious.

the others have to settle for a nice lil scandi brunch spread. what a hard life.

i don't say this often, but i would be hugo in this scenario, piling onto my plate like it's nobody's business.

karolina has a cute lesbian moment.

she says something in swedish at some point, but let me tell you, i understand swedish and i didn't even pick up on it. no shade to dag, but lol.

hugo doesn't understand how ski jumping works.

i thank the writers for putting this joke in there, even if literally no one other than random scandi people will get it.

it's like the opposite of danny boyle's the beach<3 give back to the community<3

roman enters negotiations and puts his fingers in the caviar.

you think i didn't notice? after all this time, you must know i notice everything.

the CE-bros make the village elders proud, as mattson offers 187 per share as long as he gets ATN.

also, gerri does a second take looking back at roman. these are the crumbs i am destined to live on, i guess. roman doesn't want to give up ATN tho, probably because 1) his dad wanted ATN 2) his dad told him he wouldn't make it at pierce and belongs at ATN 3) he is, somehow, the most rational of the siblings right now????

speaking of rational: how are we feeling about the shiv/mattson potential here? i honestly have zero objections.

shiv is like fuck yeah, sell ATN, that shit is toxic.

agreed, but who gave mencken an open line to ATN-meetings? sounds like something logan told cyd to do during one of those late night calls.

"even dad had a line" rings true zero percent. pass.

get rid of atn. word is, they don't even have tucker carlson anymore? just keep a sweater, much less racist.

we get some important leo dicap representation:

and greg is the bringer of all that is exposition, telling us there is a kill list with 8 to 9 names, ever evolving.

now, as most readers of these recaps would know, i would like to avoid spending any time on greg whatsoever (made even more poignant by the recent rumors about nick), however, this must be one of the best exchanges of dialogue ever made:

greg: da fam shiv: da fuck

that's all.

tom tells the swedes that americans don't care about the rest of the world and it's funny because it's true.

and alex being like "you're ALL related?!"

i see you, succession writers, i see you.

mattson calls waystar a parts shop and has a good take on right wing media:

"i dont think news for angry, old men works"

instead, he opts for bloomberg grey: simple, cheap, huge, ikea'd to fuck. i do love ikea.

he calls the sibs a tribute band which is harsh. even for a scandi, it's fucking harsh.

anyway, SAUNA! SAUNA! SAUNA!

GERRI. IN. SAUNA! (chant with me)

i will never forget what the succession writers took from me.

krank out here just chilling.

i've never shipped anyone more.

we are introduced to ebba. i can tell i'd have more to say on this in any other situation, but it just feels weird (all norwegian know each other, i guess).

anyone else here for the shiv/mattson dynamic?

i'm sorry, i kind of ship it????

ken wants to tank the deal and roman immediately calls him out on his destructive bullshit:

and then immediately caves.

"i think we are good at running the ship" they say after doing it for approximately 24 hours.

i wish i had their confidence.

also, pinky can't dance, according to ken, so they keep shiv out. meanwhile, she gets cozy with lukas, who asks her about her marriage (bad) and tells her he sends liters of blood to ebba (also bad).

shiv shows us why she is paid the big bucks for political advice:

we don't see the end of their night, so i'm just going to assume they fucked. because she's worth it.

also, talking up gerri and karolina? girlies stick together<3

big bi vibes here. huge. idc if she's pregnant and drinking.

meanwhile, the CE-bros use greg to leak that the negotiations are souring. why would you trust greg with anything?

in an attempt to fuck the deal, the CE-bros show a terrible film to the swedish team, as if being scandi doesn't mean you've sat through enough terrible cinema already....

we get the strangest fight in tv history:

lol @ us for thinking this was an important moment for the two of them and then it's a fight about white sneakers and fat earlobes.

i sure hope shiv fucked lukas.

roman receives a photo of his dead dad and it doesn't really put him in the right place to negotiate with mattson:

ouch.

leave it to kieran to make an emmy-worthy speech across from alex skarsgaard peeing.

the plan was: tank the deal, but in a subtle way. what they did: try and tank the deal, but in a not very subtle way. did the deal tank: no.

i hope you understand.

the question is, if a deal collapses in the woods and no one hears it, is it a SEC violation?

mattson ends up offering 192 per share. karl jizzes his pants.

shiv gives the little spelunker tom a lil treat, telling him to fire cyd.

then she asks him out?

and ignores him again because she is taking a call from mattson?

idk my dudes, but i'm into this shiv comeback.

mattson seems happy and flirty and i sure as shit hope this goes somewhere.

as long as it doesn't involve liters of frozen blood.

i have a feeling it will be all good vibes until he learns about her pregnancy. there's always something rotten in the state of denmark (or norway, or sweden, but it's all the same).

the waystar-team receives the kill list after the offer and it's very stressful for a few people who made themselves suffer through a session in the sauna:

not on the kill list: karolina gerri tom because shiv fucking did the thing!!

oh, and karl and frank are on the kill list, but i think they are just fine.

maybe the real treasure was the compression socks we made along the way.

#succession #succession hbo #succession spoilers #succession season 4 #kendall roy #jeremy strong #roman roy #kieran culkin #shiv roy #sarah snook #j. smith-cameron #gerri kellman #david rasche #karl muller #frank vernon #peter friedman #tom wambsgans #matthew macfadyen #hugo baker #fisher stevens #eili harboe #ebba succession #alexander skarsgard #lukas mattson #greg hirsch #nicholas braun

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

succession finale thoughts!

romangerri:

i don’t know if any tv show has ever given me as much of a stomachache as this episode, oooooooooof!!! the STRESS. (but honestly, the stomachache was 100% just suspense over whether gerri and roman would ever interact again. everything else, i was very zen about.)

gerri in the video radiantly reciting a dirty limerick like a roman daydream come true and roman watching her fondly!!!!! ugh!!!!! that was so schmoopy, especially for this show!!! he still loves her (not that that’s news)!!!!! and him panicking and losing it at the very sight of her and really feeling the crushing weight of his potential that she so believed in because she could have got him there!!!!!!!!!!! she also gave him a couple little not-hateful looks that might have even been sort of nice or concerned or at least ... okay, and i will cling to those for the rest of my life. but i’m so, so sad we never got to see them talk to each other again. OOF.

i have the most hope for roman just because he wound up self-aware enough to see the reality of the situation. jesse armstrong might think you’ll be a sad guy in a bar forever, but to me, there is nowhere for you to go but up, bb. and into the arms of your woman.

i hate the idea of gerri sticking with the company with tom as the ceo just because her disdain for tom was so strong; putting up with logan was one thing, putting up with roman was another even, but TOM????? tom, getting his melancholy everywhere?? however, i think it’s probably too idealistic of me to suggest that she’d turn it down for that reason. but also, maybe she would? isn’t she tired of idiot men yet??? doesn’t she want to go to the g.d. south of france already???? like, the contrast of the old camaraderie in the video of the party with logan with, like, the stupid dudebro tech culture of mattson ... ugh, i just don’t want gerri to be up in that mess! i want her to reject tom! and stand in solidarity with karl & frank! GIRL, IT’S TIME TO RETIRE!!!!!!! in any case: gerri being un-fireable remains hilarious.

gerri not really having any lines in the actual events of the ep = thumbs down forever. NOPE!

however.

roman martini-pining for gerri as his very last act onscreen.

dear GOD.

AAAAAAAH.

though i’m sure the intention of canon is for their relationship to be over forever, it was so wobbly in its over-ness that i’m pretty pleased. i do think it’s in a place where it can be very patched up in fanfic in a way that’s still canon-compliant. hell, she might roll up to that very bar and order another martini and keep him company and be like, “uh, babe, why is that cut on your forehead burst open???”! anything goes! forever! whoohoo, ao3!

i’m so relieved this is over!!!!!!!!!!

THEIR SCENE AT THE FUNERAL WAS INDEED THEIR LAST EVER SCENE AND IT GOT CUT, CLEARLY FOR MAXIMUM PAIN AND ESTRANGEMENT REASONS, AND I’M JUST GONNA HAVE TO LIVE WITH THAT FOREVERMORE. jesus. will some rebellious intern just edit it back into the episode for me?

in my head they will make up tho. 💗 let the era of fix-it fics begin!

other stuff:

the sibling moments!!!!!! the rollercoaster!!!!! it’s funny how when they were getting along, i believed as much as they did that they HAD IT! and then watching them fall back into the old patterns ... it was that thing this show does best, condensed into one episode of agony. amazing acting, amazing chemistry!

ken starting to get physically abusive toward roman with the crushing hug and then smooshing his face!!!!! when before he stuck up for roman against their father’s abuse. jesus christ. :(

the contrast between the scene in the kitchen and the scene in the conference room ............... OOF!

tom and greg having their little bitchy slap fight in the bathroom, lol. tom putting his little sticker on greg’s forehead, lol.

tom really did marry up! jeez.

conwilla: the not-long-distance era, because democracy shall prevail

even beyond the flawless beauty of limerick gerri (obviously the highlight forever <3), that whole video and the kids watching it?? the emotions!!!!!!

KENDALL IS THE OLDEST BOY!!!!!!!

this episode made me feel So Bad.

roman and gerri need a spinoff where they are just cute and silly. someone please get this happening for me.

#dollsome's deep thoughts #succession spoilers #succession #roman x gerri #romangerri #and bits of everything else!

[reidoxreader]

My top fanfics of 2023 (so far)

I published or updated 60 works on AO3 this year, a lot of them are snippets but still, my most productive writing year yet.

2023 was the year of Succession so most of my top picks will be for that show but there are a couple of outliers marked with an *.

In no particular order, here are my top seven fics that I wrote or completed this year:

I’m Just Ken (And I’m Enough) (Succession/Barbie crossover)

And I’m Watching the Cruisers Below (Gerri Kellman backstory)

And Breathe Me (Succession/Six Feet Under crossover)

Complicated Airflow (A history of Kendall’s stutter)

My Empire of Dirt (Logan Roy backstory)

Poison & Wine (Missing RomanGerri scenes)

*The Curse of Home Farm (Emmerdale, 1920s AU, co-written with MissGeorgieTate)

Also in no particular order, here are my top seven completed fics that I read this year (I’ve kept it to those published this year):

*Out of Touch (The Bill, great insight into Mickey Webb post-attack)

you love blood too much (but not like i do) (A deep dive into the chaos that is Roman Roy)

the birthday party (the perfect post-finale fix-it, bonus Roman and Shiv are twins)

i bite at the hand that feeds me (flashback to a Roman and Logan incident)

aeneas, and a whimper (stunning Shiv character study)

An Oral History of Waystar Studios Feature Animation (made me laugh a lot)

art imitates life (I’m not usually into RPF but this is very clever)

#AO3 #succession #barbie 2023 #Fanfiction #the bill #mickey webb #best of 2023 #gerri kellman #kendall roy #logan roy #roman roy #shiv roy #Emmerdale #rpf #romangerri

[twinge-of-cosmicangst]

what are your hopes for the final episode?

Gonna go by character I guess

Kendall- Kendall has always been a favourite of mine, I have liked him less this season, that’s not me saying he’s been OC or anything, I just think it’s his natural progression now he hasn’t got the moral of high ground over his father. He is becoming his father, he is the epitome of “the cycle” some people think Shiv is most like Logan, some even think Roman is, but to me it’s Kendall, and always has been, and it’s even more evident this season. When Ewan said that he and Logan had a meagreness about them, but the the difference between them is that Ewan tries to be moral, whereas at some point Logan stopped trying. Meaning that once upon a time Logan was a better man, which I think can be somewhat backed up by Connor the eldest being somewhat softer then the rest, perhaps Logan was not as brutal with him, if somewhat absent because of his obsession with his career (remind you of anyone) and then 15-25 odd years later his youngest son is physically beaten by him. I think when Ewan made that “he stopped trying” statement about Logan, the audience was supposed to think about Kendall. Despite his faults Kendall has shown genuine empathy multiple times throughout first 3 seasons and yet in season 4 he grows more and more cold as he literally tries to become his father. So the natural conclusion to this is that he becomes CEO but he is deeply unhappy and his soul is basically ruined and his whole family inevitably hating him. That would be a sad ending for Kendall fans, but it’s honestly hard to imagine another one for him, other then perhaps suicide, which I think is a possibility. So out of those to options I’d guess I’ll say CEO? I don’t know, the other potential CEO that I think could happen is maybe Tom, which would not great for him in the long run either but ultimately not as thematically tragic.

Roman- I honestly have no idea what Roman’s end game could be, I’m not even sure what I would want for him, that probably has something to do with the fact that he has never been one of my favourites, yet I do feel empathy for his character, Logan abused all his children, yet Roman was the only one he physically abused, to be singled out like that must be traumatising. I think he is slightly more likely to get a somewhat happier ending then Kendall (idk why I just feel it in my waters) and yeah he’s not my favourite but I don’t hate him, so I’ll be fine with him getting a neutral ending, perhaps working at Waystar (not CEO) and befriending Gerri once again?

Shiv: I am 99% sure that Shiv will not be CEO “American” or otherwise, I think pretty much all the other mains (aside from Connor) have more of a chance becoming CEO. This is not because I’m secretly a internal misogynist, neither do I think she will not become CEO because of her “Lack of experience” No the reason I think she has no chance is because of how the last episode ended Lucas telling her he can make the “American CEO work” was basically a neon sign saying “Matsson may be able to get an American CEO to work but it sure as fuck won’t be Shiv” that’s just how narrative convention works. Matsson is shady as fuck and it’s been kind of obvious that he’s been playing Shiv the whole time, she is aware of this and she has been playing him too, but she is only aware to an extent because when her mind is so close to the prize, I think she gets a little carried away. It fluctuates but at the moment Shiv is my second favourite character, and what I want for her professionally is what I’ve wanted for her since I watched season 2 and that’s to go back into politics. Connor has always been a bit of a scrounger (I love him though) and Ken and Roman of course have always been in the family business. Shiv was the only one to make a career for herself (yes she had a huge amount of privilege to help her build that career) but still she had a career that was hers not her fathers, not only that but she was a democrat, while her father has a hugely intimidating and influential presence in the conservative landscape, I never see anyone talk about how brave that was (even if it was somewhat to spite him lol) and yet after years of apparent resistance Logan managed to reel her back in, and we saw she was as desperate for his approval as her brothers were. The scene where Logan persuaded her to take her picture with Menken is one of the most devastating in the show imo, she was so reluctant but she did so for a promise of Waystar and Logan’s approval. She clearly had some passion for working in politics and she appeared to enjoy her job. This hope for her is fruitless though because it is the last episode of the last season so in terms of profession, my hope for Shiv would be that she ends up at Pierce, or perhaps goes into business with Roman (could they maybe work better together without Kendall, maybe it would be a disaster idk) I think there is more of a chance that Shiv gets out then there is for her brothers (she actually knows there is life outside of Waystar from 10+ years of a different career) also as she is my favourite of the siblings she is the one I want to escape the most, as I think working at Waystar (living in the haunted house) will end in misery for any of the siblings and I do want Shiv to be somewhat happy. In terms of personal I want Tom and Shiv to officially end it (although I think that’s unlikely this point) I’m not even talking from a Tomgreg perspective, Tom and Shiv clearly make each other miserable (I do believe they do love each other though) and I know them being miserable together is part of the appeal for a lot of people (hand in unloveable hand and all) but I would personally like them to put themselves out of their misery for good (honestly it would be better for their child as well) Speaking of the baby, I do not want to speak of it much because it is basically pointless as a plotline as we’ll never actually get to see the thing (unless they flash forward Harry Potter style “Logan Roman Nate Wambsgans you were named after the biggest sicko I’ve ever known”) I am not someone who was dead set against Shiv getting pregnant (in fact I thought it was a real possibility with some of the hints we got in season 3) but upon finding out that Jesse added it in last minute, it only makes me think the whole plotline is rushed and pointless and if the whole point of it is to bring Tom and Shiv back together, then dear god 🙄

Connor and Willa- These two’s married life seems to be going well (Yay I love Conwilla) and I think it is highly unlikely that they will randomly implode in the last episode, if they do, Jesse, I will Annie Wilkes your ass (For legal reasons this is a joke) but as the last episode is going to be very Waystar centric, Conwilla will probably be minimal, my main hope for them in the final is they get more screen time then I expect and that I am presently surprised, and that they are happy. Career wise it would be nice to hear how Willa’s playwriting is going, and I honestly don’t have a preference whether Connor is going to remain in politics or go back to “ranching” whatever tickles his pickle. What I would like for Connor though is a little, just smidge of affection from the sibs. GIVE US A SIBLING HUG WITH ALL 4 SIBLINGS YOU COWARDS! I know that the sibs care for Connor in their own way, but he doesn’t (he literally said no one loves him and none of them bothered correct him) Not to bring up the Tomshiv babby again but I can’t believe Matsson heard about it before brodad 🤮 the injustice. Please let at least one of the sibs have sweet moment with him. Please 🙏

Tom and Greg- Saving the best till last baby! I do genuinely want the gay art gallery date (real ones know) it is possible if somewhat unlikely. Other then that I do not expect Tomgreg to go canon but I would like them to have a decent amount of screen time (like proportionally the same as episode 8 which would be more screen time then episode 8 because episode 10 is 1/3 longer then episode 8, if I’m making sense) dream would be to have proportionally the same amount of screen time as episode 1 but that is unrealistic (episode 1 felt about 40% lmao). I would obviously like them to end on good terms, and I want them to be working together! I think Tom is a genuine possibility for “American CEO” he has experience, and Lukas may just do it to fuck with the Roy siblings. Matsson seems to genuinely like Greg but even he wouldn’t make someone like Greg CEO, under qualified is an understatement, the markets would freak, but maybe he would settle for Tom instead, maybe Greg persuades Matsson to name Tom (that would be the dream) I do think being CEO of Waystar inevitably leads to misery for anyone who becomes it (to quote Gerri “the job that makes your brain explode”) but like I said it’s not as tragic with Tom, because he won’t have the corpse of his abusive dead father breathing down his neck. Ultimately I would like Tom and Greg to be somewhat ok and working together and remain besties, wouldn’t mind Tom becoming CEO but idrc. If I’m being realistic I think Tom could end things in a really bad place unemployed? Publicly shamed? Getting arrested for cruises?? Lmao the last one is unlikely but not impossible, but I don’t want any of those things to happen, because he’s my favourite character and I don’t want him to be completely miserable, but I can deal with somewhat miserable, he kind of deserves it. With Greg I think he is the most likely out of the main characters to end up in a good place career wise (although again not CEO lmao) but it means nothing to me if he is in a good place career wise but estranged from Tom, so yeah Tomgreg to remain besties is really what I want for them the most (cheesy I know) a little bit of homoeroticism wouldn’t hurt either but I refuse to get my hopes up.

It just occurred to me while writing this that I said I wouldn’t mind if Tom became CEO but that I also said if Kendall doesn’t become CEO he’ll die! That is perhaps a bit extreme. But what I’m saying is that I think that out of all the characters Kendall is the most doomed by the narrative and will have a tragic ending no matter what, and hoping that he doesn’t his somewhat pointless, the only good thing that I can bring myself to hope for Kendall, is that his relationship with his siblings isn’t completely destroyed by the end of the series and that they are still on speaking terms.

#sorry for ending on a low point lmao! #Kendall roy #Roman roy #shiv roy #conwilla #tomgreg #Connor roy #willa ferreyra #tom wambsgans #greg hirsch #succession #succession spoilers #succession season 4 spoilers #spoilers

[diminutiveloser-romanroy]

sooo this is probably not a popular opinion but i’m just gonna say it. roman was right when he said this:

i mean, is it really a stretch to think that shiv and ken were just jealous of where roman was getting with logan? because they both had their shot. they were both playing “daddy’s favorite” for a while, thinking they would take over and it was taken from them. the thing is that they never thought that logan would seriously consider roman. they never saw him as a threat or as competition. think of all the times they’ve literally said so:

and shiv:

and:

when roman said “there’s a fucking line now? no line for you! no line for him! but there’s a line for me?” he was, once again, right.

when have there ever been lines in this family? yes, spying on sophie is disgusting but did shiv really say that because she cares? maybe… but there’s a chance she said it because she can’t bear to see where roman is getting with logan. she can’t bear that she’s not in on what’s going on at waystar, while roman seems to know about everything. he seems to be working pretty closely with logan.

i mean spying on sophie is disgusting but so is being in logan’s ear, trying to convince him to send kendall to jail. so is writing that letter about kendall. so is convincing logan that roman’s thing with gerri is an ongoing issue so you could push him out and so is giving fake support (not for the first time) to a victim of SA to benefit yourself.

like what fucking line? seriously? in a family where planning to destroy and sue a family member is just an average tuesday night…

and kendall saying this right after roman says that there have never been lines for anyone else but now there’s a line for him:

“nrpi” or people who don’t matter, people who are lesser than the roys, people who have been done wrong but who cares? they’re not real anyway…

there have literally never been boundaries with what they could do to roman. because roman was the weaker dog. that’s the position logan took and so… kendall and shiv did too.

there were no lines ever since roman was being put in a cage at four years old just so he would then be the one who gets punished for it. for being weaker.

there were no lines with roman since everyone knew he didn’t know how to set boundaries. kendall is planning to sue him because of the vote of no confidence thing? well, roman is driving to pick him up because kendall is using again and is not doing great. kendall turned against the family and is acting against them? well, roman still won’t sign shiv’s letter about him because “it makes him feel unwell”. kendall offers shiv and roman to join him and go against their dad and roman refuses because “he’s worried it might actually kill him [logan]”. the siblings are going to turn against logan in All The Bells Say and the script says that roman is “a little sad for logan though he is careful not to let it show”.

he feels sad for his abusive father because he has never set boundaries for how people can treat him!!

and that’s where he learned it! he’s “weak” and he gets punished for it and he is emotionally and physically abused but he still asks his dad if he’s ok. he still asks if he needs someone to talk to. his mother is absent and cold but he is still showing concern about her marrying peter. after everything, he still asks his siblings if there’s a way they could “talk to each other normally” about things. he still stands up against sending kendall to jail and he asks him if he’s ok. roman literally wants to help and take care of everyone but noone wants to do the same for him.

and that’s where he’s coming from when he’s “being horrible” in Too Much Birthday. i think roman is actually a really smart person and he knows that he’s spent his life being abused and he is aware of everyone labelling him “the weak one” but he could never help himself. he could never stop showing love and concern and offering help to those who have wronged him. that doesn’t mean that he was unaware of his position all along.

and at that point in s3 he is riding the wave of finally being taken more seriously. of his qualities being noticed. because roman is the only one of the roy siblings who is actually capable of developing alliances with people in business and politics. sooo it’s like gerri said, “if anyone here is bootleg logan…roman”. and that is true because roman also has something logan doesn’t and that’s unconditional love for his family.

#i said what i said #roman roy #kendall roy #shiv roy #logan roy #gerri kellman #succession #succession hbo

[ging333rgesus-v-uphurglingelwiwi]

does shiv actually care abt loyalty?

thinking abt shivtom, then specifically WHY they're together i.e wrt shiv, made me reexamine logan's assessment of their relationship, i'd never thought too deeply abt it before, bc it certainly provoked a reaction from shiv (which was the point), and seemed biting enough, but i don't think that's quite what's going on there.

first off i don't think shiv's vice is loyalty, i don't think she was ever quite preoccupied with anyone's loyalty to her

(none of the siblings were — sans roman who was loyal TO logan and con, who chased after willa's love — [the two most romanticizing/complacent characters in relation to logan] but it could be argued that the two are the same thing manifesting differently),

let alone tom's, that's more logan's realm (projection lol? esp when he's notoriously disloyal and fickle in the romance department — and ACTUALLY pursues women below him, most notably kerry (also think its worth noting that when a woman did challenge him i.e gerri, he immediately devalues her, particularly interesting if you consider gerri's inclusion at the widow's table during his service — unless she was networking lol, doubly interesting considering his hypocrisies considering company dating/allegiance, ageism + desirability) — mans is NOTORIOUSLY noncommittal, esp as a means to ensnare ppl. which he and shiv DO share so maybe bru was cooking) and tom's, ironically [or not... more on that later].

loyalty, or one's preoccupation with it, is a possessive affliction, it demands, it is constantly evidenced and performed, its an anxious and insecure deficit — and this isn't to say that shiv isn't insecure (someone who opts for such shallow relationships and flits from vacuous intimacy to intimacy is obviously running from or compensating for smth), but she buries it, she disregards and bites back instead, opting to control and wound (treating things as tit for tat - transactional) —

shiv never really demanded things of tom, quite the opposite actually, she languished in his floundering, she pushed to see how much he could take, shiv shares caroline's judgement on the things logan loves: shiv too kicks to see if it will bother coming back, if it WANTS it bad enough. and shiv and logan are both cold and largely emotionally unavailable/unconcerned with emotion, and so the kind of passion that loyalty demands is largely absent from shiv & shivtom's dynamic, however the clinical, impassive manner in which shiv curates her life, CERTAINLY pertains to the way she moulds tom's place within it/her (😏).

to understand this, shiv's core fallibility has to actually be addressed, and that is - needing to be right™, or specifically, superior. shiv wants the sort of veneer that logan has earned, she wants to laud her superiority over others, the same way that logan thinks himself faultless and intellectually superior to his kin — except shiv wants to be able to feel superior abt it too, she wants to feel she earned it [which feeds into her efforts at individuality], she holds notions abt her true character that logan only wields manipulatively, practically.

unable to fit into logan's mould, shiv positions herself diametrically from him, seeking, unknowingly or otherwise, to best him at his own game [proving her superiority and equal formidability — the one he overlooked — bc part of shiv's overcompensation is egotism].

shiv is very perfunctory, and part of that probably stems from trying to claim this aforementioned individuality, trying to not be a logan derivative, to be better™.

shiv is always working in her own interests, even her pursuits within waystar always center herself, and ofc vying for heir is an inherently individualistic pursuit, but does waystar mean anything to shiv, like personally, other than a chance to take and spite, even until the end, a purely aggrandizing venture. shiv is concerned only with her stature during her tenure, with the optics of it all (as ken would say heh), shiv is constantly trying to assert herself, and similarly to all the roy siblings, her one pursuit is her most thwarted.

now this may not all meld given than love and betrayal specifically are shiv's consequences by the end of the show [the two things i posit she most neglected, yet evidently trailed her most], her interpersonal bonds largely frayed, but its important to note HOW this unfolds, and that these consequences were [not only] unforeseen, but inadvertent and inevitable. to expand on this, it needs to be acknowledged that at the core of the "betrayal" is tom besting shiv, its matson picking him over her, and a consequent reversal of their dynamic, tom now becoming the apparatus with which she accesses power instead of the inverse — her needing tom instead of him her. sure she had use for him/extricated smth exclusive to him, but she never felt indebted to him, she never felt weighted, tom was a choice, and she stuck by him to prove its worth to her, to always have a dependable sunk cost. evidenced largely by WHY shiv would stay upon her father's condemnations, upon their marring of her character, her undeniability, and its bc what shiv needs, what shiv truly values is subservience, its dependence, its the feeling of control and doing tom "favors", her benevolence and his constant parasitism, as she leeches and undermines his personal needs — the transaction. earning, feeling good™.

shiv is a coward yes. there's nothing to lose when you're uninvested, but there's also nothing to gain when nothing matters, including those around you. shiv had undermined and undercut tom at every opportunity and disregarded his every evident discomfort at her betrayals. tom, despite the implicit tenuous transactional tone of their relationship, actually tried to humanize shiv, its far from mere waffling when tom says he's offered her endless validation, when he says her sense of identity is non-existent, he's accepted her slights, he's offered the simple life, he's even doubted the authenticity of her pregnancy despite most seeing his attempts at family to be entrapping shiv. in actuality, shiv began to panic when there was no one to posture to, when the vacuum of logan's validation/acknowledgment also ushered in tom's independence, his participation in the game, elevated from mere collateral or pawn.

interestingly enough, tho, shiv treats tom most favorably when he openly wants, when he rejects his own pretenses and frailty and is callous and unfeeling like her, as if goading and priming him for this very iteration — a man she built up, gave value, modest and ambitious, and notably, a similar archetype to her socialclimber father [and tom IS the new logan, a ruthless opportunist corroded by the elitist world into viewing others merely as capitol (e.g shiv). shiv legit marries her father — siggy freu boy would be proud]. shiv enjoys the antagonism, the freedom in unabashed cruelty, but its in her indulgence that she loses, that she underestimates and comes to, ironically, find value in the adoration and dependence tom once supplied.

the hand that feeds finally being bit.

to conclude, this can easily be construed as loyalty: validation, subservience - they are the mark of subjects, of subordinates, and one's subordinates are implicitly loyal, but does shiv require his heart? does she require his care? does she agonize over being "fcked for her dna", or does she tally, does she loom, waiting, waiting for tom to incur her moral adjudication, making him work for her notice otherwise, fashioning her missteps into technicalities and overreactions and transaction.

does shiv need tom, or does shiv need tom to need her? [does she need his loyalty, him — authentic, dedicated and uncalculated. — or what he can provide her, his unwavering need.

logan is right that she's marrying a man fathoms beneath her, but she never cared much for him, his qualities, his approval, his presence, his allegiance (or lackthereof) or dependability, it was the echoes of her own influence she most prized. not loyalty, but entrapment — just like her pappy lol].

#succession meta #tomshiv #long post #siobhan roy #interesting to note that tom projects shiv's dependency entrapment onto greg — but imbues it with the passion/emotion he's left lacking #if this is bad and nonsensical its cuz im eepy #deal wiv it #succession #logan roy #tom wambsgans #all roads lead to... #pay for it by mindless self indugence #on spotify now #the last line lowkey being a jules vaughn reference pls ???

[a-member-of-minuteswithmandm]

Happy Succession day to all those who observe!! 🎉🎉

In case you need a refresher on the first 3 seasons - we go over the entire show in the first 5 minutes of the video, so feel free to check it out ☺️

You guys this is the last ever premiere we'll ever have 😭😭 can you believe the show is ending? They could have given us at least 2 more seasons. Sigh

Okay raise your hand if you're excited to see Logan Roy show how much contempt he has for his children by fucking them all over? My favorite thing about the upcoming season is having the kids all work together for once! Kendall has been begging for this forever and finally he, Shiv and Roman will be working against their dad hallelujah. Not really sure what presidential candidate Connor Roy will be doing, but maybe we can have another Roy wedding so the drama can be EVERYWHERE. Willa is probably regretting saying yes to Connor but it's too late to walk it back now baby!

Speaking of babies we also have the weasel of all weasels Tom who fucking betrayed Shiv. I hope she demolishes him (after Logan tosses him to the wayside). Also I don't trust Greg to stay loyal to Tom even though they're joined at the hip, hopefully he defects to his blood family and Tom is left to fail alone (lol can you tell I'm not a fan of Tom?). Honestly other than cheating on him BEFORE their wedding, Shiv didn't do anything to him and she's to good for him. I said what I said.

I really want a win for Kendall, his been losing for 3 seasons straight and its heart breaking. Shiv is the smartest (to me) but I hope she stays loyal to Ken and not put herself first this time.

I don't have too much to say about Roman - he's sunny and I really hope he fucks a guy this season lmao.

Also rooting for Gerri, Frank & Karl to somehow win while Logan loses because they deserve to be rewarded after 30 years of doing the devil's bidding lmao.

Basically Logan is the worst and all I want is his downfall. The way he treats his kids (and grandkids - Iverson deserves better) is unconsciounable and I love watching how complex and fucked up the whole family is because of him. Gosh this is such a good King Lear show and I'm ecstatic to see the writers hit it out of the park!

Honestly the main point is that I'm super super super excited for season 4 to begin! And if your looking for a refresher of the first 3 seasons and/or discussions about the characters, you can watch out video here:

Let us know what you think and if you agree or disagree!! (And if you watch our video please like it! And comment about what you like or dislike, lol we are so desperate to grow out channel haha)

#succession #succession hbo #logan roy #kendall roy #shiv roy #siobhan roy #roman roy #romulus roy #tom wambsgans #greg hirsch #gerri kellman #waystar royco #brian cox #jeremy strong #sarah snook #kieran culkin #matthew mcfayden #connor roy #karl muller #rhea jarrell #tomgreg #shiv x tom #kendall x naomi #marcia roy #gil eavis #stewy hosseini #roman x gerri #willa ferreyra #roman x lukas #shiv x nate

[measuringbliss]

So I guess this is a Succession S2 finale reaction post + a review of season 2 as a whole.

On one hand, the Con-head stuff is delightful. On the other hand, I feel like a fan of the Muskrat–but Connor is fictional, so it's fine.

The writers completely predicted that we would love the firstbump.

Roman is such a great character. They're (almost) all great characters. I love that he gets a chance to shine.

Gosh Connor is so hot.

I'm enjoying this episode simply thanks to the vacation vibes.

Some stuff hits close to home though...

I really enjoy Tom and Shiv as a couple because sometimes they're incompatible but other times, like when they discuss the threesome, they're trying to support each other anyway.

HAHAHAHAAHAHA no but for real don't let it be Gerri I love her. And Roman subtly supports her too! Roman is on fire this episode. And this whole scene is excellent, truly comedy genius. Matthew MacFayden plays the pathetic loser expertly.

Gerri must be respected as well.

Tom really is a pathetic little meow meow, I can't help but pity him.

So Stewy comes to the rescue and naturally enjoys it a lot. He's tired (as am I) of Ken's baseless, stupid, infantile speeches. Stewy is me?!

"Thank you for the chicken is a great scene."

So after making us agonize, Logan picks Kendall. It's a betrayal, of course, of the one who's been his lapdog for a whole season. Hopefully this triggers a change in Kendall, because while seeing less of him this season was great, I was almost beginning to warm up to him.

"The truth is that my father is malignant presence, a bully and a liar..."

oh. what.

so that makes it much more interesting. Kendall finally had agency in his own story! That's good.

tier list time! Stewy went up because he's the one bitch who sees everything as it is. Roman went up because he finally got compelling moments this season. Rhea had an annoying voice but I enjoyed making fun of her so she's fun too. Greg went down! I'm sorry Greg, your shtick is limited, your role doesn't have much range and as it is, you're simply unneeded. Mom Roy was very interesting to see but I needed more. Ken's girlfriend is fine but doesn't amount to much, I always wonder who she is because I keep forgetting her. Kendall went up! Good for him.

Logan got some losses this season and was better, but he's still, you know, Logan. But he was better this season. And overall, the season itself was much better, notably thanks to not having a shitty final episode. Looking at my grades, only eps 2 & 3 went below 8/10. Meanwhile, in S1, only 3 episodes went *above* 7/10 (6, 7 and 9) while the finale achieved the lowest grade for now, 3/10.

I just reread my review of the first season and I still stand by it.

Let's consider my conclusion:

I absolutely still consider the curtains make people think more of the show than what it actually is. It could be more funny, more incisive, more fun. However, S2 was a clear improvement on that front. We got more of the other characters, thanks to Kendall staying in the background and Logan being put down a few times.

And I know *what* happens in 4x03 and honestly can't wait to be there. Maybe then will the show be finally what it aims to be: excellent.

#Succession #Succession s2

[romulusfuckingroy]

what do you think about kendall hurting roman in the final office scene? like i don’t understand why kendall looked like he was trying to rip roman’s head apart rather than just hitting him or shoving him like a regular fight, if that makes sense. do you have an opinion on it?

YES I DO I DO HAVE AN OPINION THAT I DONT THINK ANYONES SAID YET

Okay before I start I’m gonna give the general outline of my thoughts on the scene. I know there’s a bunch of different analyses different people have, so I’m going to quickly simplify mine. Keep in mind that I’m not claiming this as The Correct Interpretation- there’s no such thing. But this is my take.

My general interpretation is that kendall acted primarily out of selfishness and greed and secondarily out of love for Roman. And Roman did want to be CEO but was convinced not to by kendall. So you should view this answer through that lens.

Kendall and Roman are in the office. Roman catches a glance of Gerri and instinctively starts to panic. Kendall doesn’t fully understand what’s running through Roman’s head at that moment, so he hits him with a few general placations. Roman, meanwhile, is now thinking about Gerri, and how she’s back at Waystar even after everything, proving she really COULD’VE gotten him there. And then he starts to think about how Gerri believed in him. Him, Roman, the spare kid, the fuckup, the dog, the scapegoat. And he begins to think… maybe I can do it. Dad believed I could. Gerri believed I could. Maybe I really could.

He looks at his reflection, which- many of us know about the mirror motif, right- looks like CEO material. His stitches are good, right? He can take a fucking punch and still look good. And he KNOWS he’s been doing a good job (before his manic power trips) and he KNOWS he’s the only sibling who went to the stupid management class and he KNOWS he fucking aced it. He KNOWS his dad wanted HIM to succeed him, at the end of his life. And he wants it, and that scares him. It scares him, because he loves his brother, and this would take EVERYTHING away from him.

Kendall sees this thought process. Or at least, he sees two key parts. One, that his little brother is struggling with a decision that’s paining him. And two, and more importantly, the decision is whether or not to fight for Ken’s rightful position. By this point, Ken is in do-or-die mode. This is fucking it, he can feel it in his fingers, finally he’s getting what he was promised, and Roman’s about to fuck it up again.

Kendall Roy knows how to do one thing, at least. He knows how to get Roman to do what he wants. If he hurts him, Roman will fall back in line, and also he’ll stop worrying about making a decision he’ll regret. But… He’s stood up for Roman against his dad for their whole childhood, and in Argestes, and he hasn’t fallen so hard as to hit his baby brother just for having second thoughts. He’s different than his father.

He cares about Roman. He has to hurt him, but he’s taken care of him his whole life. And the key player here: I don’t think Ken could bear to hurt Roman while looking directly at him. He loves him too much for that.

So then we get the hug, which Kendall offers wordlessly, and Roman takes him up on immediately. Except, wait, Ken’s taking Roman’s head in his hand and positioning it, lower, and more to the side, and then suddenly he’s pushing. And Roman is struggling, and groaning in pain, and tensing up, but Kendall has to keep doing it, he has to hurt him, he has to hurt him because he loves him.

And the sudden pain, the sudden violent act coming from his brother, triggers Roman. So he starts pushing into it, while still protesting, because it’s all his body can think to do. And that’s when Ken kisses him. Because he loves him, and he feels bad, but not really, because Roman wanted it. Needed it, even. And Ken was just doing what’s best for him- it’s different than Dad, because he gave him love while he hurt him.

#succession #succession spoilers #writeup

[oreganosbaby]

Thinking about girl Roman and boy Kendall again, and I feel like he would have this kind of botched chivalrous attitude with her which backfires because he doesn't get what she wants or needs and she's not interested in that kind of attention from someone is not Daddy and in the way of her getting Daddy's attention and also who she doesn't see as a "real man", and he'd just turn around and shit on her anyway when he got frustrated with her. Maybe she would get along with Kendall a little better than with Shiv just by virtue of her desire for male approval, but at best he'd be a proxy for Logan the way Gerri is for canon Roman. And I think maybe she'd actually like Shiv more in a kind of catty best friend way where they can be assholes but are still on the same team. Also I'm still curious how their dynamic with Caroline would play, with Shiv maybe thinking Roman's sucking up to her because she wants to Be Mommy rather than "marry" her.

Ok I meant to answer this like 80 years ago but yeah. Anyway, yeah with cis girl Roman, it'd be fairly similar to how it is in canon except more chauvinistic. In canon, Roman is his "homey Romey." Ken has this fixed idea of him as being his annoying kid brother with his main traits being joke/funny, pervert and weak, (Shiv's are liberal, woman, and baby) but, it'd be a bit different here because he wouldn't really see her as as much of a "pervert." Anyway, she'd kind of throw Ken a bone every now and again but, I think quite often, he'd be obtrusive because he wouldn't really understand her. He would get frustrated if white knighting her was somehow central to whatever the fuck he wanted to do but, I also think that he doesn't have it in him fixate on her enough to hold any grudges. I think she'd still see Kendall as a bit too much of a loser to really revel in approval from him the way she would Gerri, though. Also, I don't think Kendall would do that for her in the first place, be a proxy for Logan, I mean.

With Shiv, I think that they would be best frenemies, similar to in canon and Shiv's ribbing would be more abt wanting to "marry" daddy than it is about wanting to "be mommy," unless she directly relates the latter to the former which is kind of implied anyway. It always has to be the more disgusting one. Other than that, Roman being a cis girl would unlock so many more ways for them to be bitches to each other. It rules so hard. Their dynamic with Caroline is honestly probably one of my favourite things about this au because it's like, marginally worse and I already love it in canon. So like, Caroline and Roman's relationship is more initially fulfilling for Caroline but, is less pleasant as time goes on because Roman does inevitably individuate from Caroline and like, is able to disappoint her more. Lots of passive aggression and whatnot but, there's still a bond, especially if they're making fun of other people (Shiv...). Meanwhile, Shiv still thinks Rome and Caroline are unserious, the type of women she doesn't want to be.

#dalia replies #myplasticadversary #succ sesh

[karen-aronofsky]

i finally finished succession and am now planning to talk too much about it

i was going to post about shiv first because i have so many feelings about her arc and i think people get her character so wrong, but i’m going to need to break it into like 80 different posts, so let’s do roman first

spoilers under the cut

i feel like i haven’t seen a lot of people talking about roman, and that’s kind of understandable since the final drama was more or less ken vs. shiv. but… i wanna talk about him! so it’s time for me to be the change i want to see in the world.

let’s start with him picking the president. the few little stirrings about him i saw online did have to do with this—he’s a fascist, etc. i think that might be a little reductive, though. yeah, he’s a fool-ass little monster, and he makes a ton of racist, sexist, homophobic, anythingist anythingphobic jokes. but realistically… he’s pretty apolitical as a character, and he only says shit to piss other people off. we get a few glimpses of genuine fashy stuff from him, but i don’t see that as the ultimate reason he crowns mencken. i think he crowns mencken because he goes off the ledge from apolitical into totally nihilist. i think this exchange shows it the best:

KEN You know, one of those fucking guys pushed my daughter. ROMAN (taken aback) Uh, she’s okay? KEN If we do this… people… people are gonna say shit. ROMAN Yeah. We’ll be in the West Wing. Nothing matters, Ken. Nothing fucking matters. Dad’s dead, and the country’s just a big pussy waiting to get fucked.

roman both exhibits concern for his niece (arguably more concern than ken did when he first heard about the incident), and says that the reason he wants mencken to win is because “nothing fucking matters”, because “dad’s dead”. this doesn’t read like he’s feeling victorious, or righteous. this reads like someone who’s decided to commit suicide by car crash, and doesn’t care that the car they’re crashing contains the entire country. this is borne out by his choice to go out into the protest: his attempts at picking a fight are halfhearted at best, and seem entirely focused on getting someone to hurt him.

speaking of getting someone to hurt him… i wish we got a little more time with his storyline with gerri in the final season. i don’t want to romanticize their relationship, but it does seem like she cares about him (she tries to groom him for the ceo position even after he’s inappropriate with her), and i think he cares about her.

a lot of discussion i’ve seen online glosses over two points that i think are very important: one, he didn’t just lose his dad that day, but also his relationship with gerri; and two, he thinks the voicemail he left for his dad might have been the thing that killed him. this is the voicemail that is maybe the first time he tried to stand up for himself in the show; the voicemail that is maybe the most empathetic thing we see him do insofar as he is angry on not only his behalf, but also gerri’s. she does, somehow, bring out better parts of him. she does, somehow, seem to know what he needs. he doesn’t feel comfortable unless he’s getting hurt. (side note, because i can’t not talk about shiv, this feels very related to what she says to tom:

I think I've always just been scared in relationships of, uh… the underneaths. You know, what's the worst thing a person thinks? But we know… Once you've said and done the worst things, you're kind of free. I guess my question is: are you interested in a real relationship? 

their dad mixed love and pain, and now they don’t feel right unless the person they’re with also hurts them. 🤷) so yeah, he’s the most fucked up after their dad dies, because that’s not his only major loss: he also lost someone who’d chosen to ally themselves with him, despite him doing his worst. again, i do not want to romanticize how he treats her especially, but her choosing to teach him despite everything he puts her through is probably the closest thing we see to love on the show. her refusal to go along with their plan in italy only confirms this for me: instead of doing what he wants her to do, she does what’s good for him and tells him no, and asks, essentially, what’s in it for her. it might seem cruel on the surface, but that’s, like, lesson number one for being a ceo/dealmaker: you have to convince people by showing people that your deal is in their best interests.

in addition to those two points, i do think that rome is in some ways the softest of the siblings? i think we don’t see a lot of examples of kindness between them. way back in s2, though, we see roman go pick up kendall when he’s freshly relapsed for no real benefit to himself. so maybe he is just less of a psychopath than his siblings and that’s why he got so choked up at the funeral! who knows.

anyway, roman’s a horrible, fucked-up little man. he’s not a good person! no one in succession is a good person! but he’s an interesting character and i hope i can find more discussion of him online.