#obviously he loves shiv and rome but also shiv is like very very mean to him 99% of the time lmao. and roman's nicer than shiv

[stewyhosseini-bf]

they are literally brothers that's his little brother man!!!!!! you don't get it!!!!!!

[dogcodedcatboy]

pre relationship: 3, general: 3, 6, love: 10, 13, domestic life: 7 !!

hihihihihihi !!!! i cant wait to start s2 tonight i need to see my kittycat i need to see him !!!!! thank u for always sending asks my aaroman warrior o7 u should rb this ask game 2 so i can pelt u w waystarshipping and jermstone questions

Did any of their friends or family want them to get together?

absolutely fucking not!!!!!!

by the time any of the roys find out its too late, theyre already very much together. i think the fam knows abt aaron before 04x03 and like, willingly keeps him a secret (have 2 believe none of them would out a family member for personal gain. if not just to avoid the shitstorm for logan). some of them wuld obviously would prefer for roman to a) not be gay or b) at least not be dating a Fucking Weirdo. oh well!

aarons friends are also not. thrilled. for obvious reasons. reactions range from 'ok...u r gold digging, right? does this mean we can afford a hot tub :D' to 'morally/ethically what the Actual fuck is wrong with you bro???'

What was their first kiss like?

hmm the first time they kiss probably an impulsive. half-drunken thing. prolly after their first '''date''' (which roman insists is not a date despite calling him up and inviting him for dinner and drinks). it's rlly messy, roman is kind of an awful kisser at first (out of practice #nobitches) so aaron is kinda like...ok....but it's very endearing somehow.

What’s their relationship with each other’s families?

i could write a dissertation on. aaron and the roys. i think he's...polite? i mean, he knows roman is super close to them despite how fockin shitty they are to him all the time, so he's willing to grin and bear it. he doesnt like ken for Reasons (annoying on twitter, involvement in 'dog pound', annoying in real life)*, he's rightfully intimidated by shiv, he thinks connor is rlly fuckin funny, he has a weird psychosexual obsession w tom (as stated, would put tom in a saw trap), he thinks greg is cool and would like to talk about his record collection w him.

*authors footnote: i personally like kendall a lot i do love the fucked up brother dynamic between ken and rome BUT aaron is protective and an asshole and doesnt care abt nuance if youre mean to his boyfriend you go to the gulag for 1000 years ! aarons friends are hsi family! he lives w his childhood + college besties! they are all spectacular assholes as well so roman weirdly fits in! roman likes aarons bff because he is also a snarky asshole. one of aaron's college friends actually is from LA, so that's another person he can relate to somewhat. ovi he's a rich asshole tho and like, has to adapt to how normal people live and socialize (aaron and his friends arent even normal theyre like a weirdly codependent found family) but. they all kind come around to him! (will post extended oc universe lore someday on god)

Do they prefer verbal or physical affection?

i think they both are kinda stupid abt feelings and prefer physical affection, as sometimes its easier to manage than like, pouring your heart out. aaron is big on words of affirmation tho, once they r more comfy in their relationship/roman is more comfortable w receiving stuff like that.

Who remembers the little things?

aaron is def a romantic, he's big on anniversaries, quick to pick up little things like roman's coffee order, his favorite snacks, etc. roman is a little rusty but is surprisingly sensitive when he cares about someone. he's super in to aaron, so he makes sure to note all of aarons favorite movies and albums (so he can bring them up later and Totally sound like he knows what he's talking about).

[also they r a beautiful ocd (aaron) x adhd (roman) couple so in general aaron is Incredibly on top of things (or else he might die, who knows!) while roman is a fockin mess with remembering shit.]

Who kills the bugs in the house?

the real answer is gustav. he eats them. aaron will hold the cat up and he will take care of business.

[brookheimer]

i’m going to be <3 honest <3 and say that roman has never looked hotter then when he was being decisive last ep. like obviously it’s bad BUT i cannot lie it was very refreshing to see him play the game like ken & shiv have been all season !!

i appreciate the honesty this is a space of full support and respect <3 but i must speak my truth as well — while i loved roman this ep truly (read: would kill him if he were real) i’m a long floppy haired roman girl at heart….. the rly short sides this season are an attack against me personally

also yes i’m always a proponent of roman Playing The Game like those r always some of my fav rome eps (see: too much birthday) bc it’s when he’s in that mindset that certain aspects of his way of thinking (ab business/himself/family/the world at large/etc) are like most explicitly shown and it’s always so fascinating and hard to watch at the same time! talked ab this a lot with too much birthday but Playing The Game is EXACTLY the right phrase for what he’s doing bc he, unlike all the other sibs (and everyone but logan, tbh), really does view it as just that: a game to be played. but while logan viewed it like that in a more, like, Everything Can Be Manipulated Everyone Is A Pawn It’s A Chess Match way, roman views it as a game in the Guys Cmon It’s Literally Just A Game It Doesn’t Actually Fucking Mean Anything Why Are You So Mad Is It Just Cuz Im Winning For Once way etc etc etc. agh i wrote a whole ass post ab this last year i’ll go back and find it n link it here in a sec for anyone interested i don’t have the mental capacity to reiterate it in any meaningful way rn LOL

EDIT: okay this is the one about the ‘game’ thing but it’s a lil different from what i’d say now or at least how i’d say it — i emphasized like empathy and how roman is sympathetic and why his actions make sense from a human perspective bc this was right after too much birthday and the general consensus was Roman Is An Evil Sociopath And I Unironically Want Him Dead so a lot of this was me being like guys. guys. calm down. he’s acting like this for a reason. it’s still very shitty but it’s not just pure malice or anything let’s look at this from a character perspective okay etc etc etc. there’s also this one which covers similar stuff that i think i maybe stand by a little more now altho i haven’t read it again lately so who knows! linking it anyways cuz who cares

[gregoftom]

Re: Greg hating Shiv.

I do agree they have a very unfriendly relationship and it is 100% over the fact that Greg chooses Tom (or rather Tom chooses him lol) that veers close to hate because of who she is and how she treats everybody, especially Tom.

However, I can totally see a world where if Shiv and Tom were an actual team instead of her treating him like shit, the 3 of them could be a fucking powerhouse, covering every angle and take everything from under Logan/Ken.

Because at the very beginning of the show we see Greg choosing Shiv over Rome with the papers thing in ep 1 (which is also the thing that killed Greg in Rome's mind, he didn't do the one thing he asked so Greg was dead to him after that).

So potentially Greg was totally down to do Shiv's bidding and then he got close to Tom and became Tom's Greg and nobody paid any attention to what either of them did.

I love the scene at Caroline's wedding when the 3 of them are talking about Comfrey and making fun of Rome. The potential that trio had was totally untapped with how fucked up Tom and Shiv are, so naturally Tom and Greg gravitated toward each other, which is turn makes Shiv not give a fuck if they don't serve her purposes.

Even in s4, Greg was willing to negotiate with Shiv and all she did was threaten him (which we all know doesn't work lol) because at that point she is the one that hates Greg for having a rapport with Matsson and obviously supporting Tom all this time.

I don't even like Shiv but that scene at the wedding has such a grip on me for some reason!

i think that's the point though - shiv and tom and greg are supposed to all be at odds. i do not think there would be quite so much of an issue with ts relationship if greg were not around. like obviously they would have their fights, tom would be miserable, shiv would be bored and unable to be vulnerable with him etc. the events would still happen, but i think greg is a huge wrench in the works as well. america decides helps show this too, when tom moves into a room and greg makes to follow, shiv tries to physically block him from getting to him lmao. the show makes pretty pointed parallels and cinematography to indicate that tg are having at the very least an emotional affair and i don't think shiv would ever tolerate something like that, and she wouldn't tolerate someone else being chosen/preferred over her and like. that's not exactly a nice feeling anyway lmao, so...

i mean i don't think he Hates shiv or anything he doesn't want her dead lmao but you know. he doesn't like her. he dislikes her and that's fine bc she dislikes him too. wrt the beginning of the show he ended up choosing her because she appeared much more personable than roman and like he probably thought she could potentially be nice to him, and perhaps he gravitated more towards females because he's used to having his mother and like, she's not the nicest in the world to him but she's pretty decent so it makes sense.

and i mean even if greg hated somebody he would try to negotiate with them first of all, because it's easier and it's efficient and it gets him with good backup, that's just how he is naturally. no matter who the person was he would try to do the same thing i think. but yeah no there were multiple reasons imo that she ended up doing what she did instead and threatened him, but that wasn't the particular reason greg did what he did. he did it for tom, shiv was just the only person who could have saved herself. like, if she had offered something instead of threaten him she could've saved herself. but alas lmao.

i really like that scene too but i think for different reasons askJADLKJ like. i feel like shiv is being pretty cunty to greg and tom is Kinda joining in BUT he's giving greg these looks like. these kind of affair looks lmao. little smiles and bursting with happiness almost as though he knows what is going to happen later on.

[violaobanion]

I'm caught up on Succession!! And I have to say that I'm happy Shiv and Tom are getting divorced. I know that sounds mean, but I never liked them together. Tom irritates me and I kind of wanted him to go to prison so he'd be outside the group for a bit 😬 My sense of relationships is a little fucked up tho bc I'm kind of obsessed with whatever the fuck is going on between Roman and Gerri.

Fuck yeah let's gooooo!!!!

Shiv and Tom: Agreed. They were never a good match. Tom is scared of Shiv and she is as toxic as any of the Roys... imagine being their kid 😬 I was so happy for Tom when they were on the beach and he managed to say "Sometimes I wonder, if the unhappy I'd be without you is less than the one with you" (something like that) 😭😭😭

Tom is annoying: Yes, obviously. But we love him for it, right? He is a very fine example of how far strategic ass kissing can getcha 😏 He might be annoying, but he's not dumb (although it kind of seems that way sometimes haha)

Speaking of Tom, what do you think of the phrase "You can't make a Tomelette without breaking a few Gregs"? Or tomgreg in general? Only asking bc I'm a BIG FAN haha (you're not the only one obsessing over fucked up dynamics lol)

Also, you say Tom annoys you - I'd say Greg annoys me more. But I wouldn't be without either of them. Greg makes me cringe in ways I never knew possible and I think that's beautiful ngl 😌

Roman and Gerri is/was 🔥🔥🔥 I kinda hate how Logan killed it, as one of his last actions on earth, when he asked Rome to tell Gerri she'd be fired. I hope they get back together in their own twisted way somehow 🥺 It is a very fucked up reltionship, I agree. But like everything else on this, goddamn show it makes. fucking. sense.!!! 💗

Btw Gerri is my fave, if I had to pick one. She's so good at playing both sides. She is simply divine 😌👌🏻

Lastly: Kendall's smile at the end of the newest episode got me feeling all kinds of ways, but most of all NOOOOOO bc you know the cycle of abuse is about to repeat itself 😭 THEY WERE SO CLOSE GODDAMNIT KENDALL WHYYYYYYY

Oh and Connor! I always forget Connor (the irony lol). What do you think of him and Willa?

[bacchilles]

JUST HAD TROJAN WAR CLASS AGAIN SO MORE SUCCESSION THOUGHTS

edit: this got longer than i expected it but tl;dr i think Waystar Royco is going to burn to the ground because Succession is a greek tragedy with thematic roots that go back to Bronze Age monarchical succession practices

ok so ancient (im talkin bronze age) succession practices in the Mycenaean (Greek) kingdoms were different from Hittite (empire in Anatolia/N. Syria) succession in that it was probably common for the Mycenaeans to hand on their kingdoms to the son-in-law rather than their actual sons, whereas the Hittites generally went with bloodline. this may have been the reason for the historical Trojan War but we dont have time to unpack all that. we can see some examples in Greek mythology of how the Mycenaeans may have understood bloodline succession to lead to destruction of the state because of the violence that it engenders. take Orestes and Oedipus, for example. Orestes killed his mother, Klytemaistra, and her lover, Aigisthos, in order to succeed his father Agamemnon as king of Mycenae rather than going out and winning a contest for some other king’s daughter, like other kings before him had done (think Menelaus and Helen, or Meleager and Atalanta). Oedipus killed his father and married his mother to become king of Thebes, and his sons killed each other trying to succeed him. There’s also a true to life example in Rome during the empire: the five good emperors of the 1st/2nd centuries CE passed along the imperial seat through adopting people they thought would be suited to the job, and then Marcus Aurelius ruined it by passing the power to his actual son, Commodus, who was a hot fucking mess. by having son-in-laws succeed as king rather than actual sons, rulers could better choose who was going to run their kingdom correctly after they died instead of just hoping they didn’t raise their kid to be evil.

now, Succession already has some clear elements of this; just look at Kendall “killing” his father, Logan. they aren’t subtle about the comparison. it’s fairly clear that Kendall is going to try taking over the company just as he tried in season one. however, even if Kendall does take the throne, that doesn’t mean things will be fixed according to the Greek narrative. just as Oedipus’ sons fought amongst themselves, the family will inevitably continue to backstab one another until they tear themselves apart. it is vital that an outside influence must step in. it’s the only way to keep the community - or in this case, the business - from bringing its own demise upon itself. as mentioned, this would normally be the son-in-law.

this is where Succession gets weird. the easy answer to this problem is Tom Wambsgans, if we stick to the Mycenaean belief. he didn’t grow up in the shadow of Waystar, but he grew up with money; he won the contest for Shiv’s hand in marriage; he has experience working for the company. HOWEVER! the split between Tom and Shiv means that Tom doesn’t have that family tie anymore. he’s a total outsider now, without that ever-important marriage-alliance. so, Succession starts to turn these ideas on their heads. instead of the bloodline sons looking to find their kingdoms elsewhere, Shiv is the one who courted other options like Gil’s campaign (which would’ve put her in a very powerful position in the event of his success) and PGM. Tom was never really considered to be part of the equation, even though he thought he was. this also goes along with succession’s use of Shiv’s internalized misogyny, as she plays the “male” role in that scenario. basically, the son-in-law has been sidelined; the tragic narrative structure now demands destruction.

where does Greg fit into all of this, though? what do you do with a cousin of royalty, especially when society has now realized that oh, whoops, incest isn’t okay, actually? my tomgreg heart says that Greg could function as a “son” to Kendall (because of blood ties) and then Tom could come back to his role as son-in-law, but if i’m being honest with myself, that’s a big stretch. also, Greg has played an active role in bringing Waystar down, despite being an estranged member of the family. Thus, Greg is more like Paris coming to Troy than Menelaus coming to Sparta. According to fragments of Euripides’ lost play Alexandros, Paris comes to Troy as a long-lost family member, wins a contest, and thus takes his rightful place in the royal family. Then, destruction rains down on the city as a result of his ensuing actions against the Greeks. Thus, Waystar becomes both Mycenae and Troy, simultaneously. Paris allies with Orestes, and they kill Agamemnon. Bloodlines kill the king, and doom the city with it.

Because of this, I think that - if this is really what Jesse Armstrong is doing - Succession has to end with the fall of Waystar Royco. I’m not talking absorbed by another company or something: it has to be obliterated. Razed. Burned to the ground, no survivors. Will that be what happens? Obviously, I don’t know. I’d personally love to see Greg take over in the end, but I don’t think that’s realistic. It’s a convoluted, fucked up modern tragedy, and it’s going to be INCREDIBLY fun to watch how it all plays out in the end.