chaosprince01

[chaosprince01]

This is my new favorite Roman Roy love letter. I don't usually reblog, so I hope I haven't broken any courtesies!

Destined for Greatness, Doomed to Fail. The Tragedy of Roman Roy.

Roman Roy the youngest son of media tycoon Logan Roy, the failure child, the sicko, the pervert and to me the most compelling character in the world of Succession. So clearly broken but still trying to maintain the facade of being a strong capable macho man. But that’s not what I really find fascinating about him. The parallels between him and his father Logan are what intrigue me the most about his character.

Throughout the shows four season run we get bits and pieces of the Roy kids childhoods and of the abuse they suffered at the hands of their father. Each suffering an abuse uniquely tailored for them specifically. Kendall the heir apparent, was groomed to be his fathers successor from the age of 7. He never had the chance to grow up and be his own man. Forever the petulant child who throws a tantrum whenever things don’t go his way. He was made in his fathers image and any deviation from that meant his fall from grace and the one thing he desperately wanted taken away from him. Shiv the only daughter, the favourite, “Pinky”, suffered the misogyny of her father. Logan could never see her as a legitimate successor based on her gender. He couldn’t see her as anything more than his daughter because like she perfectly put it “He couldn’t fit a whole woman in his head.”

But Roman… Roman’s suffering was different. It singled him out from the rest. Roman was physically abused on more than one occasion throughout his entire life. And not just by Logan. “Dad’s theory was, you got two fighting dogs, you send the weak one away. You punish the weak on. Then everyone knows the hierarchy. Then everyone’s happy. So away he went.” Being singled out like that gave way to more abuse from everyone else. “Everyone hit me, I was annoying.” And everyone gaslight him into believing it was his fault. That he wanted it. That he asked for it. A literal child. They did nothing to disabuse him of that notion. So it grew. It festered within him. Something has to be wrong with him or else why was he the only one being pushed around? Why was he the only being physically abused?

As the show goes on we learn that Roman is most likely queer. He is effeminate. He struggles with body dysmorphia. He uses physical perfection as a front to seem strong and capable of being the successor his father wants. We see a crack in his facade in the finale. “I look okay. This looks fine. So like why isn’t it me?”

In season 1 we learn that Logan was physically abused by his uncle, and then its later revealed that he has scars on his back and that is the real reason why he doesn’t swim. Not because he doesn’t know like the sibs thought but because he doesn’t want anyone, especially not his children seeing his scars. It would make him weak, unworthy of the power and respect he spent a lifetime cultivating. That’s the first parallel between Logan and Roman that I clocked. They’re both self-conscious of the way they way look due to the physical abuse they suffered in their childhood and use physical perfection to hide any vulnerability.

We don’t get more information about the extent of Logan’s childhood abuse until season 4 in Church and State, when Ewan flips Roman’s life upside down. When he delivers the final blow that makes Roman’s grief real. Ewan’s eulogy made reality set in. It humanised Logan. Made him real. In that moment Roman realised his father was just a man. A man who had a terrible childhood not dissimilar to his. Logan too was hurt by the person who was meant to protect him. Logan too was sent away (the weaker dog). Logan too was a scared little boy once.

Logan kept Roman on a leash and tugged at him whenever he thought him useful. But he never kept him as close as he kept Connor, Kendall and Shiv. Because whenever he looked at Roman he saw a version of himself he was so desperate to leave behind. “The future is real. The past is all made up.” But Roman is the living breathing reminder of Logan’s past self. The innocent child who was abused, the weaker dog that was sent away, the boy who killed his baby sister. (Roman even resembles Logan the most out of all the sibs.) Logan couldn’t stand what Roman represented. What he reminded him of. But there was something else about Roman that irks Logan. He is queer, he’s vulnerable, he is emotional, he wears his heart on his sleeve but worst of all he loves Logan the most. “Love? You’re coming for me with love?”

Aside from the parallels of their horrible childhoods and the physical resemblance. Roman is in fact the most like his father. He shares a lot of traits with Logan. They almost think alike. Or more likely Roman knows how his father thinks. Roman has a killer business sense (even if deep down he doesn’t want to be CEO) and knows how to bring in new clients and close a deal. That is why Logan constantly pimped him out to potential business partners. Roman knew how to read people and how to give them what they want. Roman was the one sent to sway Lawrence before the board meeting. Logan went with Roman’s idea to gut Vaulter. Roman was the one sent to persuade Eduard and his father to invest in Waystar. Roman brought in Matsson when he was refusing to meet with Logan. Roman managed to achieve something only Logan was capable of, he became a Kingmaker! Mencken sought him out to get an in with Logan true, but Roman presented him to Logan in a way that appealed to him and after Logan’s death it was Roman who pushed for Mencken until the very end. It was Roman who made him President. He made the call without hesitation, “A ruthless fuck who’ll do whatever it takes.” while Kendall was tiptoeing around it and fussing about his morality. That’s the main difference between Kendall and Roman. While Roman doesn’t care about anything Kendall cares too much about everything. He’s in his head and that’s why Kendall always fumbles the bag. He fucked the company more than once. Trying to do things differently while still doing it the way he thinks Logan would do it. “You fucked it. You tried to dad it and you fucked it.” Is a more apt description of Kendall than it is of Roman.

Roman always seems to make decisions on impulse. He lacks the hesitation that Shiv and Kendall have because they still believe they can be better than their father. They believe they are smarter than their father and can run the company better than him. Roman doesn’t truly care about any of that. Not the business or the “morality” of it all. He thinks everything is bullshit. He only stuck around because he loved his family. Because he wanted his fathers approval. But in the end he was actually good at the business stuff.

There is a reason Logan kept bringing Roman back and I don’t believe it is because Roman is easy to manipulate (it did help that he was though) but because Logan eventually realised the potential Roman had (even if Roman never saw it in himself because its been so ingrained in him that he is a failure, that he is not a real person, that something is wrong with him, that he is not his dad). Something that stuck with me the most from season 2 was Logan almost defending Roman when Shiv was talking him down, Logan interjected. Something he rarely does. “He’s maturing” he said. Logan would never admit that any of his kids are up for the task of taking over because he doesn’t believe in them. But he does have moments when he recognises their potential and it was nice seeing Roman on the receiving end of Logan’s praise.

However, unlike his sibs Roman is the only one that was always loyal to Logan, even in death. Who never wanted anything other than his love. Who did Logan’s bidding with no ulterior motives. Who always came back. He was the only that was never truly a threat to Logan’s position as CEO. And that is a main factor in the push and pull of their relationship. "No, not with your father. He never saw anything he loved and he didn't wanna kick it just to see if it'd still come back.”

In a way Roman was the perfect successor for Logan, but alas there was something wrong with him that Logan could never accept. Could never get over. Something the business world would never accept either. Roman wore his heart on his sleeve and it turned people away from him. We saw how quickly Mencken soured on Roman after he cried at his fathers funeral. How Karl mocked him. He was not built for that world no matter how good at it he was. Roman is a killer in every way Logan wanted his successor to be and his only failing was that he loved too much. And that is his tragedy. He flew too close to the sun but the reason he got burned was not his greed for more (money/power) but his humanity.

Despite all their similarities and if it were anyone other than Roman they would’ve been well on their way to achieving greatness Roman was doomed to fail from the start. However, he had a moment of clarity, by the end knew he was not cut out for it. “Smart people know what they are.” By the end of the show he knew Logan never truly believed in any of them. He knew it was never going to be any of them. The main difference between Roman and his father is his vulnerability and in a way that saved him from becoming Logan. He does end up just as lonely and isolated as Logan was throughout his life but Roman’s capacity for love and forgiveness gives him a better chance at avoiding his fathers lonely fate.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that even while Roman is still a very nuanced and complex character of his own he was always meant to parallel and mirror Logan to an extent. I think all the siblings are meant to mirror Logan at some point in his life. Roman represents his childhood, Shiv represents Logan before he stopped trying and Kendall represents the Logan we know. The poison dripped through them all. But I am little biased and I believe Roman is the version of Logan that never stopped trying. The version that was capable of loving his family. The version that got out when he still could. The version Logan resents the most.

[chaosprince01]

"In the election episode, I thought maybe Roman really is best suited to be Waystar C.E.O. He was so motivated and singular in his vision in a way his siblings weren’t. After this episode, do you think Roman is still best suited of his siblings to run the company?

Absolutely. I’ve actually felt that for a while. I mean, is he more suited than say, Frank or Karl or Gerri? No. But if it’s going to be one of Logan’s children, absolutely. People underestimate him a lot. He is the most like his father in the way that he runs things and can read people. Especially when he has a clear point of view, there’s no stopping him." Vanity Fair interview with Kieran Culkin

God, this made me feel so much better. No, I won't explain how. If it lightens that tightness in your chest as a Roman fan, then you know what I mean.

[chaosprince01]

Just realized that Logan fired both Frank AND Gerri, his most trusted advisors in the Old Guard, for Roman, and I'm sick. Like, despite being physically abused, mocked for being moronic, and treated like a joke his whole life. Logan still put Roman before BOTH of them. It's very fucked up and kind of beautiful?

You can argue that firing Gerri was a punishment to Roman for his rebellion, but I've seen some people look at it as protecting him. If Roman took over, and Gerri stayed, she'd forever have undue influence over him, because she was his mentor and because she'd have the sexual harassment over his head. Logan's protecting himself too, of course, because he can't have Roman's loyalty divided. He doesn't want Roman to be drawn away like he was with Kendall and Shiv, or planning a secret inner circle coup like Frank and Kendall.

[chaosprince01]

Succession s4 Spoilers

It's the way that Logan was able to read Roman's microexpressions perfectly the last time they were together. How he knew that calling him a "ruthless fuck" had landed wrong, and how he knew he smiled when he knew that he had Roman back after telling him that he needed him.

[chaosprince01]

Succession Spoilers s4e3

More fucked up succession observations: Roman forgot to tell his dying father that he loved him, but his Dad already knew that Roman loved him the most, because he came back in the end. He was an absolute MASTER of using Roman's love to manipulate him, even when all the other kids were out of line. In the end, Roman is the only kid that he KNEW loved him.

[chaosprince01]

Season 4

Troy: *suddenly appears*

Madison: Troy?

Troy: I LIVED BITCH

Nick: *slowly applauds* you’re doing amazing sweetie ;)

[chaosprince01]

They did my boi’s a dirty

Here’s some matching Trick icons I did at 1 am when the pain became unbearable. If 4x01 does not contain any hints of Troy I will flY OUT A WINDOW

EDIT: LOL I FORGOT TO TURN ON THE LAYER WITH TROY’S STUBBLE RIP i replaced it hi im Matthias i have bad memory 

https://www.change.org/p/amc-entertainment-bring-back-troy-otto

[chaosprince01]

"Troy Otto season 4: starter pack."

[chaosprince01]

Troy: Drugs? Nick, don’t, just, no-

Nick: *gives him The Look™ whilst taking a shot*

Troy: FuCk iT! *does all the drugs*

[chaosprince01]

Troy & Nick | Till my heart stops [+3x15/16]

[chaosprince01]

OMG YOU TOO?

Actual conversation with my friend this morning (After rambling about Troy Otto):

Friend: You’re always siding with the bad guys in movies or series. I’m kind of concerned…

Me: What. Why? They’re just the most interesting...most of the time people are just misunderstanding them…

Friend: *sighs*

Me: What? *getting angry* Siding with the “bad guys” does not make me a bad person too…

Friend: Yeah, but a bad future lawyer…

Me: Oh…

[chaosprince01]

Is anyone else obsessed with Troy Otto as much as i am?? Please like/reblog this so I can FOLLOW U ALL

[chaosprince01]

I really need “Fear The Walking Dead” to NOT be screwing with me regarding Nick & Troy. Because they’re writing this as “American Psycho: A Love Story”. Before this week I could’ve accepted that Nick saw a fellow screw-up and felt a need to help him. But after Troy’s “You stayed because you love me” and the cuddling while high, yeah I’m feeling it. Nick is pretty gone over Tory to me. He risked his life to save Troy more than once, hallucinated Troy, basically threw Jake to his death to protect Troy some more, lied many times over to protect Troy again. Oh, yeah, he wants him some of that hot crazy mess that is Mr. Otto. Not that I blame him. Daniel Sharman is literally the only reason I’m still watching this show. I know Troy is a total psychopath but he’s easily the most interesting character to land on this show and Sharman is a mesmerizing actor. But it’s FTWD so that means he’ll probably die next week, right? Cause no one interesting can stay for long. (See: Travis, Ofelia, Liza, Jeremiah, Thomas Abigail – whose story was a total rip-off of “Black Sails”, BTW).

Also, Mercedes Mason ships Nick/Troy hard. I love her.

[chaosprince01]

———————————–

Getting close to 1,500 signatures…

LINK TO SIGN PETITION:

https://www.change.org/p/amc-entertainment-bring-back-troy-otto?recruiter=818956378&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial.combo_new_control_progress_bar

[chaosprince01]

You know, the sad thing, Troy, is you will never feel freer or more yourself than when it’s 5:00 in the morning and the sun’s about to rise and you’re out of your mind. Everything else is just lunch. And people’s disappointment.

[chaosprince01]

We all want to protect him... https://www.change.org/p/amc-entertainment-bring-back-troy-otto

Wanna know why I understand, protect and forgive Troy?

Because Nick does. So, you can be Maddie or Salazar for me, I don’t care - and I’ll protect him till the end of time.  Nick has his own reasons, I agree with him. That’s it 

[chaosprince01]

I’m exhausted for you... 

Troy is a mass murderer why do you defend him??!

Actually I’m kind of tired to explain myself: short version:

- I don’t agree with his actions

- I don’t defend him in any way, I just empathize with him…

- He’s a TV-show character. We as REAL human beings  are allowed to like a villian on a show and not be one ourself…