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This is interesting and I completely agree that Shiv is more about dignity than power, but personally I never saw her decision to join Tom in the car as motivated by desire for power at all (I don't think she even really considered Tom when deciding to vote against Kendall, though I might be wrong). I feel like it's more that she has nowhere to go, she's numb and just as lost as the other two. I don't see that whole thing as her explicitly agreeing to play a wife-and-mother part but more as her just wanting to salvage any kind of relationship she has - and she does love Tom, despite everything. Obviously her ending is pretty dark - like undeniably she has been reduced to the position she always wanted to avoid, but I guess I don't think the scene should be understood simply as her being doomed to become her mother. For a start, Tom's power is empty, it's only status and the outward appearance of power. Also, Shiv has way more personal capital and influence than Caroline, it seems to me. The scene is tragic on the one hand because, yes, Shiv is reduced to wife-and-mother in the eyes of the world, but I think it's also about more than just that. On an individual character level, it's tragic because like her brothers Shiv is now simultaneously free and doomed, with only her estranged husband for company. At the end, I don't think her taking Tom's hand is her compromising herself for power, I think it's about the fact that she doesn't want to be alone, and she is sitting with the decision that she made. And, to be clear, I think this is all very sad and nowhere near as hopeful as Mark Mylod seems to think, but equally, it makes sense to me because ultimately I never interpreted her decision as being about power at this point.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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shiv roy — cubicles

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I truly do love how the dragon age games are just:

Origins: you're dead. You have been since the beginning. You should be by the end.

Dragon age 2: you failed and there's nothing you can do about it. You lost your home twice.

Inquisition: you're erased. You are the most important person in the world and nothing you are matters.

And it fucking slaps!!

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Antigone//Road to Hell, Hadestown//Cake, Roger McGough

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Vinny Gambini and Elle Woods should open a law firm together.

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Unpopular (?) opinion: Taryn Duarte is a really cool character, and the hate she gets is so disproportionate to what she actually did in the books.

I struggle to read her in The Cruel Prince as anything other than the victim in an abusive relationship with Locke, and as such deserving of sympathy even if you don't like her. Locke manipulates her into keeping quiet while he flirts with Jude, playing on her insecurities and desire to fit in at court (which is the exact same thing Jude wants. Also the extent of Locke's manipulation and abuse is detailed in Taryn's novella). When Jude finds out she goes after her sister rather than Locke which, I hasten to add, is fair enough. She challenges Taryn to a duel and nearly kills her. Again, in context, that doesn't automatically make Jude a bad person. As we know, she is morally grey and her actions are understandable. But so are Taryn's.

Further, I think the reason her "betrayal" of Jude in The Wicked King is seen as so unforgivable (despite the fact that Jude literally ends up forgiving her) is that there is a fundamental disconnect in how Jude and Taryn view the situation. Jude obviously sees it as a terrible political betrayal: Taryn ruined everything Jude has worked for and sided with her political enemy (Madoc). But from Taryn's point of view, Madoc is their father, not an enemy. Taryn didn't know Cardan could be trusted, and she believed that Madoc (probably with reason at that point) was acting in the best interest of the family and wouldn't actually hurt Jude. She has no idea of Jude's plans and strategies because Jude never tells her. From Taryn's pov, there is no reason Jude couldn't just join the rest of her family (and in fact, Madoc keeps trying to recruit her). In short, Taryn has no way of fully realising why Cardan remaining in power is as important to Jude as it is. Taryn isn't twirling a figurative moustache at the prospect of dealing a dastardly blow to her sister's political regime. She is following the advice of her father in a way which she believes won't actually be damaging to Jude.

In the first two books, her relative passivity and attempts to fit in at court through conventionally feminine means make her a morality tale about believing in classic fairy tales, hence her being represented as a victim of an abusive relationship (in a way paralleling her mother's murder at the hand of Madoc). But her character is more than that. The narrative does not merely condemn Taryn's femininity, pacifist tactics, diplomacy etc. in favour of Jude's more traditionally masculine aggression, military skill, and cynical politics. Not only does Taryn manage to ecape her abusive marriage, she proves her resourcefulness and intelligence in tricking Cardan and in dealing with the Ghost. Even Jude admires her for the skills she learned from Oriana.

There is a lot we don't know about Taryn. In many ways, we are seeing her at her lowest possible point for three books. But there is definitely plenty of evidence for a charitable and interesting interpretation of her character if only we afford her the same level of understanding we afford Jude.

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leopardi essere tipo: quanti confetti bisogna mangiare per morire?

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The Umbrella Academy is just Agatha Christie's Ordeal By Innocence but with superpowers.

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I was given to understand that you required a valet

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I think people really underestimate what Henry Tilney did for Catherine. It’s popular at the moment to look down on Henry for his sometimes condescending attitude towards Catherine and feel that she should stand up to him more (she DOES stand up to him - she says maybe her problem was not reading gothic novels but listening to Henry Tilney too much!).

But at the end of the novel, Henry, who has basically spent his life laughing at life and being perfectly aware of his father and brother’s failings but doing absolutely nothing about it, jeopardises his relationship with his father and his own possible future inheritance, leaving him reliant only on his income as a country clergyman possibly without patronage. He stands up to his father, chooses a side and comes down thoroughly and openly on Catherine’s side without a shadow of hesitation. And this after he has decent reason to think ill of her. The fact that he says he considers himself duty and honour bound to Catherine is not a douchey unromantic way of proposing but Henry’s way of saying that he’s decided to stop being a mocking observer of life and fully participate in it and do the right and moral thing. Which Henry has always been capable of. We love him because he’s snarky and clever but also incredibly humane and understanding. And that’s why Catherine likes him. She’s surrounded by hypocrites and manipulators and Henry is one of the good guys, which is very important to her. He’s seen her at her worst and he still wants her. (And can we please stop treating Catherine as if she’s a naive idiot with no character who will just be walked over by Henry. This is such a massive misinterpretation of her character and their relationship that it makes my blood boil!)

ANYWAY I just have loads of Northanger Abbey feelings atm. Must be going to visit @janeite06 soon. :P

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Me getting a clean insert of my phone charger; wow I’m gonna get a good grade on my bbc Sh//rlock drunk exam this is something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve

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Hi my name is Titus Lucretius Carus and I have luscious hair and a philosopher's beard and wise, calm eyes which I raise against the oppressive head of Religio and a lot of people tell me I look like Epicurus (AN: if u don’t know who he is get da hell out of here!). I’m not related to Philodemus but I wish I was because he’s a major fucking hottie. I’m a philosopher but my teeth are straight and white, like the path to Truth which Epicurus reveals. I’m also a poet, and I subscribe to the teachings of a school called the Kepos in Athens where I’m in the seventh year (I’m seventeen). I’m an Epicurean (in case you couldn’t tell) and I wear mostly simple clothing to satisfy only natural and necessary desires. For example today I was wearing a simple white toga with a copy of Epicurus' On Nature tucked under my cloak. I was walking outside the Curia. It was snowing and raining so there was no sun, which I was very happy about. A lot of Stoics stared at me. I put up my middle finger at them.

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Mfw for one moment I genuinely believed that the writers of Montalbano were going to commit to making the two female suspects gay for each other

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“Obviously ‘bihet’ offends a lot of bisexuals, so we need to come up with a better term for bisexuals in m/f relationships.”

How about… and hear me out… this may sound crazy…. but you… continue to call us bisexual… because (and I realize this gets confusing for you people so read this next part slowly) it turns out we continue to be bisexual regardless of who we’re dating.

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Why the hell is Old Merlin/Dragoon such a fucking madlad in the trashiest sense? He gives 0 fucks and I'm living for it.

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credits: noccioline_ on twitter