#or was it him and tabitha not even being able to have sex

[endiness]

not to be a roman is gay/ace truther but literally me whenever i see the idea that roman is bi:

[wonderpommey]

Dude, I was gutted by the scripts when they came out, but now?

It would have been fun (and by fun I mean Jesse's tragic definition of fun) to see Roman and Tabitha try and fail to have normal patriarchal sex, Roman supposedly being on a high for managing it and instead of pursuing the possibility of a fully acceptable daddy-approved relationship, immediately running to Gerri to tell her that he was a real man now who could put it in and he didn't need to be banished to the bathroom anymore - if she even cares. efff-why-ai, looking at her "standing to attention, ready to go at it hard". The 2 levels of that scene were brilliant actually. And absolutely losing his mind when she doesn't respect his "potency", doesn't respect him on top. Doesn't actually believe he can do it the way his dad used to.

His dad didn't do all this out of emotion, he did it out of cold business calculations (apart from maybe possibly the last thing he did. getting Roman to kill the woman he loved- Roman knows that it's in his rehearsed speech in episode 9). Of course for Roman, PIV Logan fucking is hurting, destroying, taking women's agency away and he can't do that without hurting himself deeply. And of course he only manages the middle bit/the firing. No successful foreplay/completion anywhere. Even less pleasure in doing things because "maybe dad knew". What tragic phrasing. The inference being that Roman doesn't know. That he always gets it wrong, he has the wrong instincts, the wrong feelings, the wrong desires and even when he tries to be dad's guy at great cost to himself, it's not working.

There was also a strong connection between Living +, the perfect AC homes of fake life while the world burns and Roman entering his own Living+ facility of nightmarish daddy-approved normo life, having fake Logan whisper in his ear all day what his superego is shouting at him at this point that "he always gets it wrong". The normal outside vs an internal life in uproar and turmoil, heading towards destruction.

And 12 hours later, acting as if the Tabitha interlude never even happened, starting to stalk Gerri and Martyn, and does Martyn shower at the gym? and has anyone seen him naked? and how big is this fucking guy? Desperately trying to tell Gerri he'll go back to jerking off in cupboards, go back to his "hang-ups and act-outs", if that's what she wants. The double entendre of "she could've gotten him there" taking on an even more obvious dimension. Roman visibly dying inside when Gerri leaves and he tries to hurt Connor, who has the sense to listen to his woman, screaming at himself really that "nothing's gonna happen", and going on to shatter democracy because "nothing ever happens" and he never gets the steak that he wants. And Gerri offering him a "funeral freebie", but Roman not being to handle the fear and the lust. Needing to be punished for having all those emotions in the first place but also for not respecting those emotions, destroying his relationship with the love of his life, "the one person who was maybe closer to him than Logan was".

The way Logan was so deep inside his psyche this season, but Roman was absolutely bursting in there.

Thinking Logan wanted him to be able to put it in normo style, but Roman only caring about Gerri knowing that,

Thinking Logan wanted him to make hardball deals/fire people but Roman only doing those things out of pure anger, pain, ego.

Thinking that showing your emotions/scars to the people you love is a weakness when the only times Gerri aches for him are the times she sees him crumble "You're not your dad" and that's why she had chosen him.

Being made unable to accept the touch of love, the held out hand of wokeness - even though he'd die for those things to be real. The idea these things were real and obtainable and he fucked it - how unbearable as a concept

I'm left puzzled as to why they thought Ken or Shiv's stories were more compelling/important. I get they were the most realistic. Roman's was dramatised a lot, his dad telling him "be this", ordering Gerri's killing, the voicemail seconds before his death. But it makes it the most dramatic/tragic imo... And yes all these things were visible as things were but they could've made them even more so.

[mermaidsirennikita]

oh, derek and sarah! rookie mistake!

thanks for sharing those marcus lines, though. he's so starchy and turned on and so mad about it. love it.

maybe your fav derek moments next? :D i especially love when he realizes the woman he takes into his library as a stand-in for sarah, is /actually/ sarah, and she's all half undressed and trapped under this very around and angry derek craven. whew!

An easy mistake to make! Derek and Marcus are both done with that classic Stepback Man Hair.

And yes, I have SOME of my favorite Derek moments here lol. Not all. In the least. I left out the adult breastfeeding moment, for example, because I've posted that... multiple times.

(This is from my auxiliary "readable paperback" copy, because that first edition is not to be fucked with.)

The moment when he loses his shit on her and is like "ACTUALLY I'M OBSESSED WITH YOU" and has her feel his erection, which does not in fact scare Sara away because she matches his freak. She kills me. He does his big spiel about wanting to melt into her skin and she's like ".... I don't see the issue".

Followed by this PLEASE SAY MY NAME JUST ONCE moment:

And this isn't romantic but it typifies Derek's self worth issues so well. Also, I maintain that it's actually really important that people who read this book get that Derek is a former sex worker, and sees himself as one, and ALSO has a respect for and bond with the sex workers at his club that is undoubtedly influenced by that (additionally, it's absolutely not a coincidence that Sara writes about a sex worker who ~saves herself from sin~ before meeting these women who are sex workers and discovering how they're like, PEOPLE--and for that matter, falling in love with and marrying a former sex worker).

Lol and then the scene you were talking about, which has some of the most VIVIDLY DESCRIPTIVE language I've ever read in a romance novel. YOU'VE HAD ME LIKE A DRAWN DOG!!!!

And Sara is like *slow blink* what's that

Also him not being able to stand her wriggling lmao there's nothing I love more than a romance hero who's like STOP. MOVING.

Not a direct Derek quote, but when Tabitha describes him coming to have sex with her (because he absolutely did fuck Tabitha... I wanna be clear...... and I'm soooooo good with that interpretation). It's so pathetically brokenhearted and sweet. Also I love that she's like "don't worry he was very sad and gentle".

This scene after he deflowers Sara and he's both very sweet and also wants to STAY INSIDE HER FOREVER!!!!!

The scene where he deadass chases her former fiancee out of her parents' house like a rabid dog and then is like "WHAT THE FUCK DID HE MEAN INSATIABLE LUST" and she has to explain in front of her parents that she was horny and trying (fruitlessly) to recreate what Derek made her feel and her dad is like welp that's enough singlehood for you Sara.

This increeeedibly erotic moment ("Sometimes I want to punish you a little" may be my favorite dialogue in the book). Derek's lines about wanting to live in Sara's pussy are my favorite things. He wants to like, build a small cottage in this woman's vagina and stay there forever. It's great. I I don't even care that it sounds like he hits her cervix sometimes because some people are into that and tbh if anyone's into that shit it's Sara

And of course, the blubbering love confession. HE WOULD'VE GIVEN HIS LIFE TO HAVE ONE MORE DAY WITH HER AND TELL HER HE LOVES HER.

And Alex Raiford is in the background like "loser" lmao

[danses-with-dogmeat]

Day 23 -- Neil

The (nsfw) details for Kinktober 2023, Day 23 are just below the cut!

Minors, please don’t interact.

Sex Toys with Neil x M!Six

Yay, Neil! Another supermutant who is just so damn interesting to write for and think about! Just... his relationship with humans as a whole is complicated, I think, so it was fun to try and explore how he'd go about being in a relationship with one.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy! <3

Here is the link to my  Kinktober 2023 Event List so you can stay up-to-date, or re-visit these works as you please.

Included: Sex Toys, fingering, anal fingering, dildos, size difference, lube, kissing, hand job, frottage, cum shot, a teensy bit of aftercare.

Words: 2.1k

--

“Come on, human. If you really want this, you’re going to have to show me how much.” 

Six’s eyes watered as he rode his partner’s thick fingers. From this angle, he couldn’t see Neil’s face, couldn’t see the way his warm eyes raked down his smaller frame, taking in the slickness of his sweat over his smooth skin, the light play of muscle in his back, the endearing little jiggle of his ass. 

The vast differences between the two of them might’ve meant ruin, for other couples maybe, but for Six and Neil… Their uniqueness didn’t end in disagreement, but in compliment. Where Neil was stern, Six brought levity, where the mutant was tall and strong, Six was… well, human sized, and he was cunning and light footed, Six was hopeful, optimistic, spontaneous, and Neil grounded him, through his lifetime of experience, the hell he’s been through, what he’s heard people say about him, how the world has chosen to treat him– his kind, and Six made it… bearable. 

Who would’ve thought a human would be able to influence him so. 

He did though, Six did influence him. 

The courier was doing it now, with Neil’s name on his breath, with his hands grasping to the mutant’s huge thighs as he ground down against his still-clothed bulge with a desperate goal in mind. 

I will take him. One day. 

I'll be with him... wholly.

Six’s brows creased together as his hips continued their grinding. He felt sweat trickle down his spine from the effort, from the stretch of him. 

Of just his fingers. 

The thought had him swallowing down a whimper. 

“If you can’t take this, what makes you think–”

“I’m trying.” Six managed between breaths, and felt his back arch at the way Neil’s digits curled against the walls of his ass. 

“Care to– fuck, help me out?” 

He couldn’t relax, not the way he knew he was meant to, the way Neil had gotten him to the last night they’d done this. There was still a ways to go, the file cabinet drawer he’d peeked into at the start of the night had reminded him. 

Multiple colors, textures, and of course sizes. 

Tabitha hadn’t been good for much, but she had been good for something.  

After a few rounds of terse boiling, Neil had deemed the array of dildos safe for his partner, but even still… that didn’t mean his partner was able to take them all yet. 

A rumble sounded behind him, and Six’s hips rolled of their own accord with the jostling of Neil’s chuckle. 

“As you say, human.” 

The mutant’s dark hand, his free one, evidently, appeared in Six’s line of sight. The broad mit went directly to his half-hard cock, giving it a rousing squeeze that had Six gasping for air and more all at once. Immediately, his hips picked up their pace, and he felt his ass give a vise-like clench over his partner’s fingers. 

“Hmm, effective. I’ll keep this in mind.” 

As though he didn’t know the effect his hand on my cock would have on me. 

Six could’ve rolled his eyes, if they weren’t already in the back of his skull. Throaty moans were leaving him now, as Neil’s rough hand massaged his cock, and as his fingers made a scissoring motion within him, stretching his walls further with each forceful undulation. 

“T-that’s it, Neil, that’s–” 

His own groan interrupted him as the pads of Neil’s fingers pressed to that sensitive place deep, deep inside. Six’s hold on his partner’s thighs clenched tighter, his own spread legs squeezed at Neil’s waist, and his his stuttering hips ground harder into the mutant’s steadily growing bulge. 

“I’d say we’re close enough now, hm?”

Six didn’t answer, only his walls bore down on Neil's digits and his grinding grew more desperate, but that was voice enough for him. 

In the next instant, Neil began to ease his fingers out, and he pulled his other hand away from Six’s cock at the same time. 

“Wha-? Neeeeil…” It came out an embarrassing whine that had the mutant laughing once again. 

“Go on.” He urged, ignoring the human’s complaint with a fond look on his face and a playful swat of his hand over his ass. 

A huff escaped him, but still, Six felt a giddy little jump from his stomach to his throat, as he slid off the bed and approached the file cabinet. 

“The one on the left should do it. That bluish color, I think.” 

Six’s eyes scanned the collection of phalluses, his mouth growing dry with each unique shape, with the increasing sizes, until his gaze set upon the recommended one. 

“Y-you sure?” 

“I know you, Six.” Neil’s voice was actually reassuring, genuine affection brimming at the surface of his words as he spoke softly from his place on the bed. “I know you can handle it. I’ll be here for you all the way.” 

A sigh left him, and then Six reached for the dildo. The… object was heavy, solid, shaped like a human man, thankfully, and not one of those  Yao Guais-cock-looking toys, but still… It was awfully large, easily wider than three of Six’s fingers around, and probably eight or nine inches long. He found his hands were shaking as he carried it back over to the bed. 

Six paused beside the mattress and slicked the dildo with a hefty coating of lube from the scraggly bedside table, and then pressed the thing into Neil’s eager grasp. 

“You will do well, Six. I know this.” Neil’s hand pressed to the courier’s back, urging him forward until their mouths were pressed to one another’s. The mutant’s lips were firm and thin, but their touch was deliberately soft as he brushed them over his partner’s, reassuring him with more than just words. 

“Are you ready?” 

He nodded before he uttered a soft yes under his breath, and felt Neil smile before he pulled away completely. 

With the mutant’s guidance, Six straddled him, this time face-to-face, and settled in his lap. Neil adjusted accordingly, sitting back against the wall that acted as the bed’s headboard, and pulled Six forward to rest comfortably over the tent of growing arousal in his shorts. 

“Lean forward for me, human.” 

“You know, there are better terms of endearment for your romantic partner.” Six quipped as he did as Neil requested, and leaned until he could wrap his forearms around the back of the mutant’s neck. 

“There are worse ones, too.” Neil gave it right back, that semblance of a smile on his stiff face. “But very well, babe. Hold onto me.” 

Six’s arms pulled him closer, almost lifting himself off Neil’s lap completely now. Already, he missed the heat of his partner’s erection pressing into his backside, but he wasn’t left yearning for long. Neil reached the dildo around Six’s body, nudging the exaggerated glans of the blue-grey monster to his entrance, before pulling back, and merely rubbing the slick there, spreading a healthy coating between his cheeks. 

“Relax. Or this will hurt you.” 

Neil’s shoulders shook as a shiver passed through his body, inspired by the deep breath that Six released against his chest as he leaned his head there. It felt safe, the warm dim of the mutant’s chest, that thunderous heartbeat, the audible fill and release of his huge lungs, the slightly plush firmness of his pronounced muscles. Six wished he could spend every night buried in the safehouse above his partner’s heart. 

“Mm. Better, babe. Keep it up.”

Neil’s voice was so soft, so clear and affectionate… unlike any mutant’s– or human’s– voice he’d ever heard. It was as comforting as it was commanding, firm as it was breathy. It was the same sort of paradox that their relationship sparked; gruff, but bursting at the seams with overwhelming and inexplicable affection.

The only sounds in the room were of that same affection, gasping breaths, complimentary heartbeats, the creaking of the mattress below their combined weight.

Another boon of Tabitha’s bunker in the mountains. 

The quiet, the silence, the alone-ness. 

The peace of being only with Neil. 

Six’s fingertips creased the mutant’s tough skin, as Neil began the steady process of easing the dildo’s tip inside. 

“Steady, Six.” He whispered, shimmying the thing a bit as he pushed forward ever so slowly. “That’s it, baby. Breathe through it.” 

He did just as his partner told him, he stayed relaxed, he breathed slow breaths, he focused on the feelings pouring all throughout his body, not just where the dildo was entering him. 

Though… as time went on, he found he didn’t mind the stretch. He felt himself becoming used to it, felt a fuzziness clouding his brain, felt a heat gathering in his belly, a stiffness taking hold of his cock. 

“Neil–” He choked out, but not for the reason he would’ve thought. 

“Too fast?” The mutant asked, and his movements ceased. 

“No!” Six very nearly shouted into his partner’s ear canal. “No, the opposite, please. More, Neil.” 

A roll of his hips gave the mutant another hint, as he felt the hardness of his partner’s member digging into his stomach. 

“More.” Six repeated, and Neil groaned in response. 

If his shallow breaths were anything to go off of, the mutant was becoming increasingly aroused just the same as Six. With a slight buck of his large hips up off the mattress, Neil pressed the remainder of the dildo inside. 

Six whimpered at the feeling, goosebumps shooting up the bareness of his back, his chords of muscle clenching beneath his skin, and his breath left him in fevered pants, as Neil merely ground the beast against his walls. 

“Good?” The mutant asked on a grunt, as Six’s writhing hips caught on his straining member below. 

“Mhm.” Was all the courier managed, but of his own accord, he started rutting right back into the toy. 

Neil released another hearty laugh as he began to thrust the instrument forward and back in small increments. One huge hand held to the small of Six’s back, urging him down to grind over Neil’s erection with his own. Soon, the stimulation had them both gasping and groaning, drinking in each other’s breaths from their proximity as both their minds became fogged and tangled with arousal, with need. 

Six’s eyes closed as he breathed his partner in, his scent thick and musty, but also natural, like gasoline and pine trees, gunpowder and fresh rain, sweat and soil. He was human… but also something more. 

With his partner all around him, the feeling of his hard skin, the smell of him so close, the taste of him lingering on Six’s tongue, it was easy to imagine the cock in his ass was Neil’s as well. 

The delicious stretch, the orgasmic press of the firm head against the very back of him, the vigor in which it entered him, and the reluctance as it pulled away. All things screamed Neil, and that thought, that wish for the future of their relationship spurred the courier forward. He ground his hips over Neil’s, feeling the throb of his massive cock even through the fabric of his pants, and his own member gave an enthusiastic little pulse as it felt his partner’s reactions firsthand. 

“Getting close?” The mutant asked between breaths. 

Six could only nod as he panted himself, as that fog filled his mind and dulled all other abilities but for the means to experience pleasure. Neil must’ve felt it though, for his thrusts increased in depth and intensity, pounding the dildo into his partner until Six’s whole body was being thrown into the mutant's chest, until Six was gasping and crying out, until his face scrunched and his hands clenched and his cock was spilling his pleasure out onto Neil’s lower belly. 

Six felt the heat of his own release as he continued to rut against his partner until his cock ran dry, until his ass felt used and wrung out and sore. His legs shook, and his hands ached where they clung to Neil’s shoulders, and slowly, carefully, the mutant eased the dildo out of him. 

“There.” He whispered as the enlarged, hard plastic glans tugged at Six’s entrance before coming away completely, “That’s another down.”

Six tried to smile, but he felt too tired for even that, as Neil’s arms tugged him closer, until he could press a kiss to the top of Six’s head. 

“How do you feel, human?” 

Six's chest warmed at the silly petname, at the feel of his partner's strong arms caressing his fatigued body.

“It’s one more closer to you.” He said, and kissed Neil’s chest. 

Another pleasant rumble left the mutant, as he held his human close, and they both laid adrift in sweet musings of the future that awaited them.

[triviareads]

Any good marriage for convenience romance books?

I actually had a hard time with this one because there are so many historicals where the marriage is convenient for one party, or like, convenient in that otherwise she'll be "ruined" or she's possibly pregnant. But here are some of the ones where both parties agree to marry without any (or much) external pressure:

Historical:

Convergence of Desire by Felicity Niven: Harry wants to devote her energies to proving Fermat's Theorem (which I now know way too much about) rather than being out in society, and Thomas needs a rich wife, so they decide to marry and Harry even says he can sleep with whoever after they marry..... unfortunately this man is only able to get it up for her soon enough.

Fiona and the Enigmatic Earl by Grace Callaway: Fiona wants to be free to continue her work as a member of an investigative agency, Lady Charlotte's Society of Angels, and Hawk wants to marry but without any emotional entanglements and to continue his spy work, so they agree to a marriage of convenience where neither party will hinder the other.

How the Wallflower was Won by Eva Leigh: After fucking up his sister and best friend's (DOM MFING KILBURN) marriage, Finn needs to marry or he'll be cut off, and Tabitha wants to join an influential intellectual society that only admits married women, and so marriage it is.

The Scot of Mine by Sophie Jordan: Kind of a marriage of convenience? Except the terms aren't laid out super clearly beforehand and Clara's brother does have a hand in the marriage, but this one is too funny to not include. Clara lies about being pregnant to escape marriage to an asshole, but when she's sent to Scotland, she meets Hunt, a laird who has a generational curse on him which means he will die before his heir is born. So Hunt decides to marry her because she's pregnant with someone else's baby so obviously, he won't die!

Except, well, it's a lie, and he finishes inside her multiple times after they're married so........

The Beast of Beswick by Amalie Howard: Astrid proposes marriage to Thane, a scarred misanthrope duke, so that her sister can escape marriage to the man who ruined Astrid's reputation. Thane eventually agrees because he's intensely attracted to her but has no intention of falling in love with her.

The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare: Another scarred duke, this time in want of a wife that won't faint when she sees him so he can begat heirs; Emma is the seamstress who made his former fiancée's wedding dress and shows up for payment, but Ashbury decides she'll do just fine as a wife.

Worth Any Price Lisa Kleypas: The only male virgin in Kleypas-verse (well at least in the beginning), Nick Gentry is tasked with finding Charlotte on behalf of her family and fiancé, but it turns out the fiancé is, among other things, deffo a groomer so he agrees to marry her to protect her.

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas: You know the deal with this one; St. Vincent needs to marry a rich heiress since he's about to be cut off and his attempted kidnapping of Lillian failed miserably, and Evie needs to escape her abusive relatives, so off to Gretna Green it is.

Contemporary:

Lush Money by Angelina M Lopez: Prince Mateo agrees to marry billionaire Roxanne and have sex with her three nights a month so she can have a kid in exchange for money for his impoverished country. The resentment in this man is real, not that it stops him from calling her mi mujer and jumping her every 10 seconds. Basically, the only wife guy I condone.

Unfortunately Yours by Tessa Bailey: Natalie and August agree to marry so Natalie can access start-up capital and August can improve his shoddy vineyards. I really loved August's (objectively dumb) no-PiV-sex-until-she-won't-regret-it rule because it actually made the wedding night kinda great, and it also drew out tension until they had no choice but to admit their feelings for one another.

The Harlequin fave Jackie Ashenden very helpfully made a page on her website devoted to all her marriage of convenience books, and yes, I recommend all of them.

Crowning His Lost Princess by Caitlin Crews: Warlord touches down in a Kansas (?) field and announces that this farmer gal was switched at birth, is actually a princess, and that they must marry for political reasons.

Trust Fund Fiancé by Naima Simone: Reagan needs access to her inheritance and proposes a marriage of convenience to her friend Zeke in order to gain access. This one is also technically friends-to-lovers but a really well done one.

*tbh your best bet in terms of modern marriages of conveniences might be harlequins because the stakes feel somewhat high and the tension is real, unlike a lot of contemporary romances which have people marrying to like, inherit a family ski resort or something.

[royrockstone]

hiiii i just started reading the WROYS series a few days ago (already on pt5) and i love it so much!! you’ve captured roman’s voice so well and im so impressed how you’ve been able to weave such an extensive and comprehensive narrative. i also (probably projecting a bit) hc roman as having ADHD and i really appreciate your depiction of it. my favorite chapter so far has been with tabitha, i’d love to hear any more thoughts you have about the two of them!

Hi!! tysm for reading and im glad you're enjoying it!

i think roman asked tabitha out mostly or solely bc he thought it was funny. i don’t think roman has a type or a concept of who would be a good partner for him. i think he picks someone who’s physically plausible (ie logan would think shes fuckable) and maybe will laugh at his jokes and not ask too much of him emotionally. but then tabitha is like. so oddly well suited to him! like she doesn’t care if the sex is weird and she thinks hes interesting and shes not fazed by his family weirdness and they can talk shit about people together. and i think hes rlly awed by her bc shes so free and unbothered and yet in touch with human feelings.

unfortunately i think thats exactly why her and roman cant make it work. he cant accept care or understanding or nonjudgment, and he’ll always feel disconnected from someone who is comfortable with herself and knows what she wants and asks questions like “do you really think thats how to make people stay?” he can only accept someone being interested in him if its wrapped in the brutal logics of his father or comes through his position at waystar (edouard and mencken and matsson wouldnt even look at him if he werent in an influential position via a vis his father, gerri combines her belief in him with corporate logic and also degradation that reminds him of his father)

i think tabitha would 100% catch on to the food issues and try to gently help him, or at least get him to talk about it bc i don’t think she has much tolerance for secrets. which would also become intolerable to roman. 

i could see roman trying the old “degrade me with no aftercare to reinforce my self-loathing” thing with tabs, and her not going for it. i could also see him never even attempting it either bc gerri already has it covered or bc he senses she would feel sad for him. in general, i think his approach to relationships involves a large degree of trying to get his partner to admit to being disgusted by him/his body, and goading or prodding or trying to sus out those signs of disgust. and i dont think tabitha would play ball with that. 

ty for the ask! :-)

[vaguelyprophetic]

I have read ‘if you need someone to hold’ at least a million times now because that one scene where it finally breaks and Roman doesn’t say anything, just collapses into Stewy’s hug and eventually falls asleep SPEAKS VOLUMES!!! That in the end Roman doesn’t actually need to say anything because Stewy will see right through him anyway. I’ll be honest I wasn’t so keen on them in the first place but after reading your work and then rewatching specifically their scenes…mhm yeah, I have been exposed to the light 🙏 I was wondering if you had a particular hc/thought on Roman’s relationship with sex. It’s never really explicitly stated in the show and Ik a popular hc is that he’s a virgin. Or is that perhaps he’s never really been able to enjoy it before, it’s almost like this shameful thing in his head but when he and Stewy start hooking up he learns to enjoy it, learns more things about himself, his likes/dislikes. He learns love the healthy way <3 I loved the idea you had on another post that it starts with degradation if that’s what Roman wants but Stewy eventually coaxes him into praise and Roman likes hearing it. Anyway, I won’t go on forever but I just love your stuff <3

thank you so much 🥺 that fic is definitely one that I'm still very very proud of and it makes me extremely happy that people seem to like it so much!!! I also love to hear that my fics converted people into enjoying stewyroman lol. welcome to the dark side <3

I have a lot of thoughts about roman and sex so I'm going to put them under a read more both because this will probably go on for too long and because there's gonna be mention of sexual assault and trauma. so just be mindful of that!

I don't think he's a virgin. I think he has some serious hang-ups about sex and attraction, and those feelings absolutely come from his trauma. we still don't know exactly what happened to him, but I feel like it's pretty obvious that he was assaulted as a kid, probably multiple times. I mean, "uncle mo"? the rat pack that ran cruises? there were a lot of horrible people around when the roys were kids. it's definitely never going to be explicitly stated, because succession doesn't give us that kind of information, but the subtext and clues are all there and have been from the very beginning imo.

so yeah, that trauma makes it a little bit difficult for roman to have a normal relationship with sex as an adult. he's also got body image issues, which makes it even harder to be vulnerable like that. it also ties into why I think he's gay rather than bi -- he already feels ashamed enough about sexual attraction, so the fact that he's attracted to men makes that all the more difficult, because he knows what his dad (and the vast majority of the business world) think about gay men. the women he goes after are the ones who other men around him have expressed interest in, and I think to him, there's an idea that it's a sort of conquest and that those men will respect him if he can hook up with the women they find attractive.

I don't really have coherent thoughts about this but I'm thinking about how also it seems like roman's sexuality is sort of used as a pawn in business negotiations, too. I mean his thing with eduard, his thing with matsson, his thing with mencken... idk how to word what I'm trying to say here but it feels like that's something that roman is unfortunately very used to.

I can also see why people think that he's asexual, but I don't think he is! I think he does feel sexual attraction and wants to have that experience and connection but that his trauma and other issues sort of block him from being able to do that. we saw that he wanted to try different things with tabitha to see what worked, so I think there is definitely a desire to figure it out and be able to just enjoy sex and be "normal."

roman absolutely needs someone who is gentle and patient with him while he figures his shit out. which is why the stewy/roman dynamic works for me, because I think stewy could definitely fill that role of being the person who just wants to give roman pleasure and make sure that he feels good about whatever it is they do. so over time roman starts to feel less and less ashamed and scared of his attraction and starts to embrace it in a safe and healthy way <3

idk if any of this is actually coherent but I do have a lot of feelings about roman and his relationship with his own body and his desires. my fics are so self-indulgent because I just want him to feel safe and loved </3

[chenfordsrollisi]

Riverdale Final Season Thoughts 7x01-7x13

I've been watching the final season and I've got 7 episodes left. While the show was never amazing, it was at least somewhat decent for the first 4 seasons. Then it was like the writers decided, 'who gives af, let's just write the craziest and stupidest stuff we can come up with and call it good writing'.

I'm loving all the Jeronica friendship scenes. I wish there had been more throughout the show, but I'm definitely enjoying them in this last season. The Jeronica kiss in 7x04, I loved it. Too many disgusting Barchie scenes. Not enough Bughead scenes. Loving the Choni stuff, but I wish Cheryl would be able to be herself and be able to be free and with Toni. Her parents and brother are still complete a-holes and I wish they would be killed off. Alice is still a total female dog to Betty, and Hal, too. They both need to be killed off as well. Ethel's parents suck and needed to be killed. She got screwed with Alice dumping her in the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. The principal and psycho therapist need to be killed, too. Pop's is still great, love him. I still like Fangs, and Kevin. Tabitha still annoys me, but I'm glad that she and Jug aren't getting too many scenes together. It's tolerable. Despite how much I hate Archie, I like that he's been a good guy to Cheryl. I like that he's been a decent friend to Reggie. I've liked seeing Archie's Mom, but could do without the a-hole uncle. Too much shirtless Archie. I love that Jug gets to write, even if it's just comics. Too much talk about how a woman's place is in the home, and she shouldn't have a career. Not a fan of Betty and Cheryl being a beard for Kevin, but I understand since it's the 50's. Don't like him and Clay and Archie also being a beard for Cheryl and Toni, but again, I get it. Cheryl's parents and brother are still complete psychos. I don't like the stupid 50's version of Sheriff Keller. It's just wrong! I hate this guy, for making Kevin feel bad. Archie's uncle is such a dick for talking bad about Kevin. Hate that guy. At least in the regular Riverdale Sheriff Keller is okay with Kevin being gay and is there for him. In this stupid 50's version, he's just as much of a tool about it as everyone else. The Julian version of Cheryl's brother is such a tool all the time I can't stand him. Jughead nearly got expelled for writing gruesome horror comic books which is just ridiculous. The whole Kevin and the prostitute storyline made me sad, and made me want to punch Julian as well. I still don't like Archie, but he's being a good friend to Kevin in that episode, and he got him out of the room before he had sex with the prostitute and got more confused and hurt emotionally. Betty embarassed Alice on the Riverdale Grandstand show, in an effort to get kicked off of it, and Alice guilt tripped the hell out of Betty. It's some BS. Alice disowned Betty until Mary gave her a smack down talking to, which she needed. Archie still wants to be friends with Kevin and Clay, even knowing they're both gay, which is good, and makes me actually start to like Archie a tiny bit. I've got 7x14 - 7x20 left to watch. I'll probably finish the show tonight or in the early morning of tomorrow. I'll actually miss the show, well, I'll miss what the show was like in the first 4 seasons when I really loved it. Now, I simply tolerate it, and want to see what happens, which is why I'm even watching the final season. I was hoping that we wouldn't have to see Veronica's a-hole Dad, but unfortunately, he was in a few of the episodes, so that hope is lost. I liked seeing her Mom, though.

[kelsosefuealaguerra]

so, i have thoughts about how the writers have been addressing whatevers going on with roman + sex, and the hints theyve dropped during the whole show. (TW for sexual abuse / harassment, incest mention?)

lets look at succession as a whole so far regarding romans sexuality. The things we know are: 1) He only got into relationships with women he thought his dad would date. 2) Based on his conversation with Tabitha when they were trying to have sex, he seems to only be able to get off if he can pretend theres something "wrong" about it. 3) At this point, i think we can say his bisexuality is canon, based on his little thing with his personal trainer. Which is intriguing because if he really jerked roman off after sessions, that sounds like, the most intimate hes ever been with someone during the course of the show? And the fact that its a guy maybe enhances the Wrong aspect that he likes- i mean, remember gerris dirty talk in season 2: "what would your family think? theyd be ashamed of you. and rightly so". id say maybe dudes are easier for him because of the inherent feeling of "wrongness" his internal homophobia brings out.

And yeah, the whole thing with gerri has an air of wrongness too, because of the whole ~humiliation sex talk roleplay she did obviously, and because he knew his dad would be against it. which probably makes roman be even more into her- besides the fact that shes smoking hot, of course, but tabs is also hot as fuck and he still couldnt get into her (Ha), so we know hotness alone doesnt do the trick for him.

Then theres the incest/sexual abuse jokes, which... theres a lot to unpack there. the whole bit about him getting assaulted by connor as a child. "im touched" / "me too". what he said to rhea in dundee ("look at you, fitting right in, like a camp counselor in my butt when I was 12"??? terrible). Roman clearly doesnt know why he cant have sex, and theres the theory going around that its related to some kind of trauma like that in his past. (Last ep when shiv got mad at him for the gross sexy secretary joke and asked what was wrong with him, he said 'i dont know. were working on it, its an ongoing process', and we also know hes doing therapy 'my guy's surprised i got through at all'). so if it is sexual abuse, he probably buried it so deep inside his mind he cant actually remember, and it comes out occasionally with disturbing humor.

then theres that one time in 2x09 when he asked logan if he had someone to talk to and logan said smt like, "you want me to talk to a shrink? you know, you may want to screw your mother, but I am okay in that department, thank you". that scene is really important because like, correct me if im wrong, but i think that was one of the first times someone in his family talked openly about his issues. And it was just to make fun of them, and of roman for needing & going to therapy. Roman was really upset about it, kinda seemed like he thought there was a line in the things they taunted each other about and logan really went there anyway.

...which leads us to S3. Weve seen the family press the matter about roman and sex this season in ways that they never really did before, which was maybe one of the things that triggered the boiling point of his dysfunction: him being so careless about it he goes against gerris boundaries, possibly ruining the most healthy relationship he has right now with a person he clearly has feelings for. and in turn, becomes his fall from grace.

Ep 1, logan getting mad at roman for worrying about him and asking him if he wants to suck his dick. romans clearly not okay with it, even though a couple of scenes later he mimicks a blowjob when gerri was talking on the phone about the president respecting logan. thats basically how it worked this season: he got upset when sex shit was brought up, then he shrugged it off with innapropiate jokes. Cause we have Ep 2, where shiv tells him "you cant hide under the covers with mommy", and "someday youre actually going to have to fuck something". which bothered roman so much he had to leave the room. to my knowledge, thats the first time his siblings mentioned his issues with sex so directly. "that was low." "its not my fault he has a sex thing, that was an overreaction. was i too harsh?" "are you kidding? he loves it. hell be jerking off wearing my ex wifes panties." it was shocking to learn they know about it because, how?? rumours going around? tabitha explicitly outing roman as her eunuch bestie??? idk, but it surprised roman too and that was the moment where that boundary of his sex life being a secret from his family was completely broken, imo. for the audience and also, for himself, probably.

then there was the football team finger-bang joke, logan calling him the F slur, shivs comment about him wanting to blow logan and fuck his mom, asking about his intimacy with tabitha, kendall telling him he could take the giant replica of carolines vagina home with him SKDHSKD The curious thing though is that he went from being upset and storming out, to learning how to own the jokes and even going along with them until they got to be Too much. like. To me, the worst one so far was definitely this interaction:

and then he mimicked blowing logan... christ bro. like, how did we go from his normal response to logans innapropriate comment to him in episode one to THAT. its like season 3 was a journey of roman being desensitized about his issues because theyre joked about in every episode and not really a secret anymore, and hes kind of been going off the rails because of it. He cant tell where the lines are, doesnt undestand when hes going too far. That, coupled with his dad almost dying in episode 4, was probably what caused his undoing this season. Going hardcore with everything logan wants, allowing himself to be manipulated into severing his connection with kendall and shiv because of him. its insane bro. hes definitely losing his sense of reality a little bit ("youre not real. youre not a real person" / "no real person involved" cross my mind every now and then).

i dont know, i just thought it was important, how it all came down to last episode, where logan, shiv and gerri finally confronted him in all seriousness about his problem (though logan did it for the wrong reasons, as he usually does). Which is huge, because there were no jokes this time from shiv and logans part. and gerri had talked about him "being a sick fuck" and "having a revolting problem in his head" as dirty talk before, but there wasnt anything ~sexy about the way she called him out in italy. in all three cases, roman couldnt hide behind his usual humor or flirting, so all thats left is to come to terms with it. Even though he still has a hard time figuring out what his problem is, so... will he get better or worse? im not sure- i just think losing gerri could be his breaking point.

its really interesting to me that the writers took it there, and i wanna see where theyre gonna go with it. if its ever gonna get properly addressed, or if theyll never really explain what happened to him. knowing this show, anything could happen, tbh.

[ikkleosu]

The case for Roman and Gerri actual intercourse

Loathe as I am to disagree with J (because she is queen) but I can see HOW Roman and Gerri could - nay, should! - have the sex. And I feel I should post it before 3x08 and RomanGerri is blown out of the water by something hideous. LOL

First of all, the idea that Roman couldn’t do it, even if Gerri agreed.

The way I see it, Roman’s issue with sex is that he can only perform with another person when there’s an element of “wrong”. Thus him asking Tabitha to pretend to be dead. Tabitha is on paper perfect for him, so there was nothing “wrong” in his psyche when it came to her sexually, so he had to try and manufacture a wrong thing to be able to perform with her, although even that didn’t work.

With Gerri, the “wrongness” is inbuilt simply because of who she is. She significantly older than him, a contemporary (in a way) of his father’s, his sister’s godmother. He SHOULDN’T see her sexually - according the polite rules of society he’s meant to be bound by. So her evident sexuality, chemistry with him and indulging in his kinks makes every non-business interaction they have “wrong”.

She’s the forbidden fruit, and him getting a bite of the fruit wouldn’t make it any less forbidden - in fact, it would only be more so, particularly if it was an utter secret. His kink isn’t the chase without the catch. It’s not the not having her that arouses him, it’s the idea of business perfect, smart but dull filing cabinet Gerri being sexual and dirty and raw that is what arouses him. Her real persona compared to how everyone else sees her is “wrong” enough for him to be able to sexually perform with her, without any additional kink needed. 

And as for Gerri, obviously J is right Gerri is too clever, too careful to let herself get involved in something like that. Except, she already did the minute she started her berating in the bedroom and sending him into her bathroom.

Even the slime puppy call halfway through she knew exactly what he was doing and didn’t hang up on him, she knew what words were getting him hotter and she gave them to him.

And more than that, Gerri needs a flaw. All of the other characters are hugely flawed people whose greed, need for power, personal insecurity etc makes them make big mistakes. So far Gerri has made none. She NEEDS a flaw to be a true part of this game. She’s not a perfect human, we need to see her weak spot. Roman is it.

Having Gerri lose her resolve with Roman would show that she is as flawed as everyone else, but what makes her a better person than some of the others is that her flaw isn’t a thirst for power or approval, but the magnetic pull of another person. It’s a more understandable, relatable flaw for most people.

Everything about Gerri is controlled, careful playing of the game, keeping herself free of mess - that seemed like a pointed thing they brought up at the start for the season. To me, it’s a bit Chekov Gun, and that at some point she’s going to let herself get messy, and thus drawn further into the Roy web of power-play. It’s the perfect way to draw the outsider in and complicate her situation in an interesting way, that also makes the audience delighted

[edgarsabandonedrocketship]

I’ve written up some of my thoughts after watching the episode (as requested by @middleagedresidentofriverdale). I put it under the cut, since it got kind of long. I wrote it pretty fast and I’m exhausted, so I apologize if any of it’s incoherent.

I think that the people who’ve theorized that this episode is Archie’s skewed perspective (on people, situations, etc.) might be on to something.

Take for example, Dr. Curdle Jr. being a family practice physician/OBGYN/pediatrician or whatever he’s supposed to be in Rivervale. I could see Archie thinking that a medical examiner’s expertise is easily transferrable to treating those (living) patient populations.

Plenty has been said about Betty's OOC behavior. Her voice is unreal when she talks to Archie about all non-work-related topics. It’s almost mommy-like at times, like when she soothes him after his nightmare. Sometimes, her giggling came across as girlishly naive. She was never like this with Jughead (or anyone else for that matter). The voice also appears when she gets goo-goo over Baby Anthony. She wasn’t like that with Polly’s babies, so when did this character trait develop? However, when discussing investigations and such, Betty sounds more like herself, which is interesting. 

In Rivervale, Mary Andrews comes across as overbearing (is that really how Archie sees her?). Also, Archie can’t just be straightforward about what Mary was apparently pestering him about on the phone, but dances around the subject (like, if you’re ready to reproduce, you should be able to speak about it frankly). And then, we learn that Betty has been “dreaming of starting a family with Archie since the 6th grade.” As others have already stated, yeesh. 

(I really think this is what Archie believes, not what is actually true about either of these women)

Archie insists he has to have biological children. He notes that Fred always said most the fulfilling thing in his life was becoming a dad, but it seems like Archie’s more focused on his legacy than actual parenthood. Which makes his demise even more satisfying. In Rivervale, he’ll never even meet his son. He’s nothing more than a sperm donor. But hey, his genes will endure right?

Meanwhile, Veronica and Reggie are Rivervale’s “premier power couple,” who are all about the money (they even have sex on a bed covered with it, which is highly unsanitary, but whatever). However, they’re certainly not equals. Like always, Reggie is an afterthought. He’s someone's second choice.

(tbf, that’s actually how I’ve always interpreted Reggie’s arc, but I think it’s also how Archie perceives him. Reggie is always competing with him, but he never really wins)

Veronica refers to Reggie as a "colleague," but he's not even part of her meeting. He’s insecure and she seems annoyed by this, though she does half-heartedly try to reassure him. But actions (and pictures) speak louder than words, which we see when Reggie points out that Veronica forgot to give him an office when having the blueprints drawn up for the casino. 

Then we have Jughead and Tabitha, for whom things don’t seem to bode well from the start. We learn that it’s Tabitha’s “first time living with a beau” (while it seems like Jug has lived with every girlfriend he’s had), because she’s always been too guarded to take this step in the past. The real estate agent signing over the keys then says something like “well, you can never be too careful,” in an ominous manner. 

(Also, why is Jughead not part of this conversation? Tabitha appears to be taking care of it alone at work, while he’s running around doing what? Narrating? Who knows?)

Betty and Archie help the couple move into their new apartment (Betty’s living with Archie by now, so did Jughead still live in Archie’s garage until that morning, or?). Archie makes a remark about Jug’s massive comic book collection, which seems like a new piece of information. Like, was Jughead this into comic books during the series, or is this Archie’s idealized version of his old chum, Forever 12 Jughead? And is that why he comes across as sort of clueless and immature throughout this episode? 

To me, Jughead seemed almost patronizing about Tabitha’s bug worries. After he kills the spider and she worries that it might jinx them, he’s fairly dismissive and basically walks off to do whatever, leaving her to fret alone. Her face actually appears a bit distraught once he’s gone. Maybe she’s having misgivings already?

(Also, going into this episode, I really expected a sex scene, or at least a heavily implied one, given that this was their first night cohabitating. I’m actually kind of surprised the writers didn’t do a sex montage, tbh. What’s more, they don’t even kiss the entire episode, despite plenty of opportunities to do so. Not that I wanted to see this, it just struck me as odd)

In another scene, Tabitha is out of bed (they’re not even shown in it together), freaking out about being “eaten alive.” Jughead gets up, looks over the bedding, and says he doesn't see anything. She says she was having a nightmare about spiders. He walks over to her and says something like "well, then that's what it is" (just a nightmare). He does put his hands on her shoulders reassuringly and they hug. (I don’t remember Jughead ever acting this nonchalant about Betty’s concerns, but it’s just my interpretation)  Then there’s a scene in their bathroom, where Jug's half naked after showering, brushing his teeth. Tabitha walks into the bathroom and notices his back is covered in welts (which makes me doubt there was even any off-screen sexy times, lol) similar to the ones on her arms and legs. He wasn’t aware that anything was wrong until he looked in mirror. Even then, he still seemed kind of dismissive, saying "well, we changed the sheets..." She persists, so he says "alright, we'll wash the sheets with hot water and bleach." She gets upset then, saying something like, "Are you kidding? That's not going to do anything. we're infested!” She tells him she’s calling an exterminator and leaves. 

We then get a scene with Cheryl and Tabitha at Pop's. Cheryl notices the bug bites on her wrist and her tired eyes from sleepless nights. "Tell me, what demons torment you, Tabitha?"  Tabitha tells her that the "apartment is riddled with bugs and Jughead and I are being eaten alive.” However, they can’t afford to move, and the bugs would probably follow them wherever they go because “they’re in everything.” Cheryl offers to make a cleansing formula to take care of "any and all bugs and curses," but there’s a price. Tabitha, who can’t afford to move, says she'll “pay anything.” Cheryl says that both Tabitha AND Jughead need to participate in all maple festival events. 

(We aren’t treated to the off-screen scene where Tabitha informs her new roommate of this deal, which seems like it might be important. Does he agree on his own free will? Does Tabitha give him the paste without telling him and he becomes brainwashed? Also, what was meant by “any and all bugs?”) 

[wonderpommey]

{Roman’s sexuality - Solved}

What is going on with our little bundle of repression? Theories abound fixated around the main variations of human sexuality, which aren’t likely to fully explain what is going on here. It’s also sometimes hard to discern the writer’s intentions and the fandom’s desires for every man on the show to be gay ;) and shipper’s desires for him to be Gerri-sexual (guilty as charged). So just a heads-up that this is disgustingly biased, way too long but also 100% right. What we know from the people in the know is that although they initially wanted to have Roman be bisexual, they then seem to have decided that this was “too simple” an explanation for whatever was going on with Roman... Link to post

Roman as a character has this pull which draws people to him and he constantly uses that. He's a self admitted "people sniffer” who knows when to turn it on, to get what he wants, which is why so many of his interactions feel sexually charged. Case in point with Mencken who announces people wants to "fuck him or kill him”, thereby telling Roman what to do, which he does without any inhibition as he naturally has that fluidity, but it doesn’t really tell us what HE wants.

One explanation that may connect all the dots is that Roman just can’t bring himself to want what his parents would want him to desire. Logan has always pushed on his children the notion that business acumen=masculinity=toxicity=sex=love etc. This mantra is both something that Roman seeks officially and rejects privately (the total opposite of Shiv btw who rejects this officially but seeks it privately and that’s why Roman/Gerri despite being unofficial and private feels way more genuine and healthy than Tom/Shiv who have the legitimacy of marriage - and will keep having that - but that’s all). When his mother delights in Tabitha, because she is the very thing they want for him, he immediately says she’s a sex worker he met while she was blowing the groom at a sex party, in an effort to make her seem less agreeable. When his dad displays the acceptable sexuality by going “see Kerry, hot ugh, want her?”, he’s like “hawt ugh” and proceeds to look as uninterested as he possibly can. Trying to cure Roman from looking for love by trying to sell a relationship where one pimps out their girlfriend? Logan can be so incredibly dense sometimes.

Roman just can’t conform to what is expected of him sexually/romantically, maybe because he already conforms to everything else. Roman, unlike his siblings, is the least able to push back against his father and even when he finally disagrees with him (firing Gerri/selling the company), he caveats it by asking for Logan's love.

Might his sexuality be the only way he has to escape his dad’s grip and be his own man? His only way to rebel against visions of love/sex he instinctively disagrees with - most of his misogyny always feel so performative? Gerri’s admonishment that his family would be ashamed of him, if they knew where he was, doesn’t it only serve to excite him more? 

The typical misogynist alpha male relationship with the universally hot, younger, interchangeable girlfriend just bores him - and through his eyes to the audience, does feel boring - no matter how fun, young or hot the partner in question is. He knows to make a show of wanting it and we still see him flirting in public with whomever the nameless contessa of the episode is, but that’s not who he meets in private, who he watches painfully from a distance, who he asks about half drunk at night…

Unfortunately for him, repression is unavoidable when you simultaneously crave your parents' approval and try to kill them or at least rebel against the way they love you privately. This renders his sexuality too intrinsically linked to his dad’s disapproval to ever be something that is healthy and sustainable (Gerri even refers to his sexuality in terms of “finding an outlet” (allow me to digress within my digression - interesting by the way that she tells him that their relationship can exist without this - Everything being open to interpretation in succession, it almost reads as permission to pursue other “outlets”). Still, I think the people who want Roman to be a closeted gay/bisexual man who will be fixed once he accepts it have another thing coming. Roman will never be fixed, that’s the very push/pull of his character…

However, gay relationships definitely fit in something Logan would hate for Roman. It has the desired element of wrong (in Logan’s eyes).

So is incest and we always see Roman leaning into comments/jokes (though that’s probably more linked to Roman’s great original confusion as to what is family, love, sex and not having been taught to compartmentalise all that). Similarly, when Logan confronts him about Gerri, he’s uncomfortable, but he doesn’t take the clear way out Logan gives him of saying “this was like saying fuck you”, he maintains eye contact with Logan through that conversation and then asks him not to fire her. 

^ This, incredibly, was as much shame for not abiding by the acceptable sexuality and strength in being recognised.

In many ways, it’s not enough for a normal person who seeks a relationship with another, but in the universe of succession and for Roman, maybe as big of a backbone as he’s ever displayed in front of his dad, and the sign of a relationship which was, despite being incomplete/unofficial, much healthier than Shiv and Tom’s. We all saw this ultimate decision between Logan and Gerri for Roman coming from a mile out, but of course it turned out to be way more subtle and about many different things. What we saw in those final episodes were his two selves facing each other in this doomed confrontation; one ridden with primal fear and craving of Logan’s approval and the other as the only thing that makes him feel like he has agency, the only way he can finally tell his dad to “fuck off” with his antiquated notions of sex (and love and business as the 3 are so often linked in the show).

Do all these things have to be linked for Roman? I guess it depends how happy an ending the writers want for Roman (lol I know I know), but right now it seems as the only way he can get love is through not linking it to his many destructive, uncontrollable, repressed kinks, which so far have only destroyed his relationships. Roman instinctively feels he’s not loved the way he should have been and he’s right of course, so why should he abide by his family's rules of what love is, clearly none of them really know... It’s obviously the thing he seeks though; someone who will remind him enough of Logan but who, unlike Logan, will know how to love him the right way - or what he sees as the right way; forgiving all his trespasses and boundary-pushing behaviour, propping him up as the prince he wants to be, foregoing one’s own interest to pursue his instead. He’ll either go all out pursuing this fool’s errand with Matsson (who already told him he’d use his weaknesses against him by the way) or he’ll realise that he did have love - even if it couldn’t be expressed the way he wanted it to. Or both. What a f****n ride!

^ that’s just free

[hageny]

Succession Thoughts: Gerri x Roman

AN: Points two and three in this post were requested by @thinkingfixatingobsessing​, who wanted me to dissect those moments. Thanks goes to her for the ideas. 

1. Brother Against Brother.

Roman’s introduction in Succession sees him coming back from California to congratulate Kendall on what his siblings--at this point--believe is his new position as next CEO of Waystar. We find out in this scene that Roman was once working alongside Kendall--in a position Roman only refers to as “not as high” as Kendall’s--before he was shipped off to CA for being, in his own words, “a bad fit”. The further we get into the series however, the more hindsight helps in analyzing this first scene, and we realize two important things. Firstly, when Roman claims he was not right for the company, we can almost hear Logan’s voice in the shadow of Roman’s words, saying that he was a bad fit: too incompetent, too unreliable, not enough of a shark. The more we see of their dynamic, the more we realize Logan is the one who doesn’t believe in Roman and Roman more or less parrots to others what he has been told his whole life. We can also safely assume that Roman would have remained this way--directionless, unmotivated--had he not been taken by Gerri under her wing. I’ve mentioned in other posts how her belief in him is vital to his change in direction, so I needn’t go into great detail here, but Roman--depicted as un-invested in Waystar from the get-go--is invested enough to push Gerri as CEO only one episode later, which is interesting to say the least. Secondly, we see in this scene a foundation for what will later become Roman’s motivation to betray his own family and oust them and secure power for himself. We know from later episodes that Kendall is repeatedly given passes for bad behavior and privileges his siblings don’t get, Roman in particular. This however, is a pattern that precedes the show, as we see Kendall only three years after his cocaine spiral set to take over the company in spite of a history of poor decisions while Roman is depicted as simply ‘too stupid’ to run Waystar when he doesn’t engage in the same risk-taking that his peers do, drugs included. The bitterness Roman needs to accomplish his goals has a core located in his upbringing, and grows larger as he gets batted around in lower-level jobs in the company while watching his brother sail past him to take the reigns. 

2. Blank slate.

In Prague, we see Roman and Tom at Tom’s bachelor party scoping out the women and seeing if there are any that catch their eyes--particularly Tom, who is interested in exploring the opening given him by Shiv to ‘engage himself’ with other women for the evening. This marks Tabitha’s first appearance in the show, as she catches Tom’s eye, who quickly points her out to Roman, waffling whether or not to approach her. Roman attempts to make a sexual/salacious remark to describe what he might do to her, but is unable to properly express anything, saying, “Fuck yeah, I’d be all over that. I’d like...I’d fucking...arggh, fuck!”. We see here a moment that ties into Roman’s sexual hang-ups, first touched on by his first girlfriend earlier in the season, and explored in greater detail in his relationship with Tabitha. What’s key in his inability to express himself here is that Tabitha, from the beginning, before the start of her relationship with Roman, is unable to strike enough of a nerve with him for him to even be able to express how he might engage with her sexually, which is interesting given his ability to make sexually charged remarks in other settings. It also stands in stark contrast to his ability to come on to Gerri during their first moments on camera. Where he fails to find words to even say what he might do to Tabitha, even something as simple as “I’d fuck her hard”, he tells Gerri expressly that he likes to “lube up and fuck”, and while he does not necessarily mean it literally, he can still look her in the eye and flirt with her without hesitation, and proceeds to do so throughout that scene. He is later able to have phone sex with her--another scene where the show purposefully parallels his relationship with Tabitha, who he hangs up on--and tells her at that moment he wants for her to hear him masturbate to the sound of her voice--again expressly telling her sexually what he wants to do and then following through. In Hunting, he waits for her to come close to him and begin buttoning his shirt before telling her, “You know, if I were capable of any sudden movement I would totally pounce on you right now.” All of these moments spiral out of this first moment with Tabitha, where the show begins, even then, to showcase Romans’ inability to sexually engage with her while being able to do so with Gerri from the beginning. The reasons Roman is wired this way can be tied to his trauma as a child--his need for humiliation to get off with Gerri--but it can also be seen as possibly hinting that Roman and Gerri’s relationship goes back farther than we know, spelled out in his ability to flirt easily with her and engage with her in ways he cannot with younger women, and in Gerri’s ability to understand him deeply enough that she is able to please him without even sleeping with him.

3. Roman’s Wife. 

The scene where Roman proposes to Gerri can probably be dissected a million ways--as can really any of the show, to be fair--but I will touch on one interesting facet of this scene. There is--as there are many times over the show--a parallelism at play here between Tabitha and Gerri. In Pre-Nuptial, Roman proposes to Tabitha by asking her, “What if I was prepared to marry you?”. When Tabitha balks at the suggestion, he elaborates that because his siblings are married, or have been, that he should be too, insinuating the decision is made more-so to follow suit. It’s not that he doesn’t like Tabitha--he precedes his proposal with a list of her best qualities, after all. It’s more-so that this scene makes it obvious that his desire to marry her doesn’t come from a desire for her as a person, merely his desire to be on-par with his siblings with regard to lifestyle choices. That proposal culminates with Tabitha asking Roman, “Do you think this is the way to get someone to stay?” to which Roman doesn’t respond, but the audience already knows the answer. Roman’s desire not to be alone precedes his actual interest in her, and Tabitha is smart enough to suss out that she is not the one for him, merely the one he is with right now. When Roman proposes to Gerri, he takes a much different approach. Roman’s proposal is something of a surprise, but yet it also is another step in a relationship wherein the players are already entrenched in a sexual affair with one another. Roman throws out the question as casually as he can and then when Gerri reacts with surprise, Roman quickly subverts the seriousness of the moment by jokingly telling her that if not marriage than simply abducting her will suffice. He also adds on that their eating one another--again, not literally, although he makes reference to Germany’s famous Armin Meiwes--suits his fancy, implying that being ‘one’ with her even in oneness’ most brutal, animalistic way is enough for him. Where he loses his patience with Tabitha when she rejects him, finally snapping, “Do you want to get married or not?”, when Gerri reacts with shock he merely plays it cool and offers her alternatives, finally slipping out of the room and leaving the ball in her court. Roman would most certainly like Gerri to stay, but he doesn’t use marrying her as a ploy to get her to do so merely so he isn’t alone--a narcissistic reason for marrying someone that satisfies only his own ends. He is comfortable enough in his relationship with Gerri to allow her to roam independently and decide for herself what she wants. He doesn’t force any aspect of their togetherness, merely presents her with different opportunities to see how she will react and if she can keep up with him. Gerri proves time and again that she is capable and Roman ups the ante in response to her prowess. His desire to marry her is based in what we know from the “Rockstar and the Molewoman” scene as his ability to see them as a team. To him, Gerri is an equal, not a belonging or a means to evade unpleasant emotions. She fulfills him in a way Tabitha and others cannot, and so when he asks her to marry him, he is also showcasing to the audience his view of her as an equal, and a prime candidate for the role of wife. 

[alaffy]

Riverdale - 5x16 (Spoilers) - Band of Brothers

Hmm. Not sure where to start. Reggie had a thing with Hermosa. Sure, why not?

Cheryl's going to be a witch, isn't she? Though I did like her constantly shutting her mother down in this episode.

Veronica is able to clear the debt that her husband caused and then caused the ruin of her, hopefully, soon-to-be-ex husband. She also stole the Palladium from Hiram and it looks like she's done something to SoDale? Or was that her way of letting Hiram know she's the one who's been taking his investors? Bit confused at that part.

Archie finally dealt with his commanding officer. Honestly, I felt the whole trial thing happened a bit quickly. It probably wouldn't have hurt to have had that also going on in the last few episodes. Kind of as a way to show how Archie was triggered by the General being hailed as a hero. I mean, it's not like you can't figure it out after this episode. But we had the General in two episodes, that were months apart, a reminder would have been nice.

Jughead tries to get his life back together. But is put on administrative leave and is told if he doesn't turn in his manuscript he'll loose his publisher. So, of course, he first turns to the manuscript that he wrote while high. Unfortunately, Jessica has it. And before anyone tries to blame Betty, remember that Jessica PURPOSLY DRUGGED BETTY in order to get that manuscript. If we can acknowledge the voicemail Jughead sent was only because he was under the influence, it shouldn't be hard to accept that the drugs were involved is Betty's choice as well. Unless we're saying different rules apply to Betty and Jughead.

Anyway, Jughead just so happens to have Cora's manuscript and sends it in as his own. But, long story short, he can't go through with it and admits what he's done to Sam. Of course, he looses his agent after this. Somehow, thought, it wouldn't surprise me if someone where to get the manuscript that Jughead wrote, they realize it's Jughead's, and he's published again.

Betty is pretending to be a sex worker to catch the killer and Alice is getting worse. One could argue that Betty could be staying home with Alice, but I don't know if her being there would make that much of a difference. Alice was basically the same way when Hal was arrested as the Black Hood and Betty stayed with her that time. Really, Alice (like the rest of everyone in town) needs professional help. And I'm not sure that with Betty's own issues, she's in a place to help.

Speaking of helping. I love Tabitha, I love that she wants to carry on her family's legacy, and I love that she wants to help her friends. But maybe we should talk about how to help people. Cuffing Jughead to the table, not mentioning Jessica drugged them to Jughead, just telling him to let go of the manuscript instead maybe going with him to talk to Jessica to get it back, pretending to be a sex worker with Betty. I mean, I give her points for trying but....

And finally, Betty and Jughead talk. And it's literally them talking about how screwed up they are. Jughead admits that he's a drunk and doesn't remember what his voicemail said. Betty admits she has an obsession with killers and the reason she didn't show up to the book party is because, if she wanted to be on the TBK taskforce, she had to go with them that night. Knowing what we know, obviously the book part would have been the better choice, but I get it. First off, going in to her past a bit, she mentioned how she wasn't able to adjust to a normal life on campus, it didn't feel right to her. And why would it? For three years she was either dealing with her serial killer father or trying to prevent other serial killers from killing her friends. This was her normal. Without true psychological help it's not surprising that she's not adjusting, hell it's amazing she was able to function. It's not a surprise that this idea to capture serial killers, something that again kept her and (most) of her friends alive, became an obsession. As for it being an addiction? Well yes. An addiction can be when a person engages in a behavior that has harmful effects on their day to day life. If Betty feels like that this is something she has to do to feel normal, again probably due her trauma, then it is an addiction. So, yeah, her choosing to go on the taskforce makes sense, because of the issues she's going through.

But even if she hadn't had this obsession, I'd still understand why she didn't go. Being invited to join the task force is a great opportunity for her career and, yeah, I can understand her choosing this over her ex-boyfriend. As I said before, I don't think either of them were completely honest with each other about how their lives were going during those phone calls and texts. The probably both felt the other was doing well and if she felt like he was doing fine without her, then why wouldn't she try to move on with her life? But now that they are face to face, they finally have to admit to each other they they were struggling and that they both seem to be missing something in their life.

Anyway, this is when Jughead finds out about what Betty is doing and becomes concerned. He tells her maybe she should stop, but gets a call, and when he returns she's gone. I like the fact that, instead of just going after her, he talks to Tabitha. Because Tabitha is right, he needs to deal with his own issues before he takes on anyone else's.

As for what going to happen next? With some of the things that are being said recently it's anything from Cheryl being a witch, to everyone hallucinating because of the gas, to an alternate reality for the first part of season 6 to God knows what else. I refuse to hurt my brain guessing.

[staliasjeronica]

Riverdale S5 Ep16 Thoughts *Spoilers*

Thoughts under cut to keep tag clean!

- Archie feeling guilty about his platoon :(

- “Considering you always screw things up…” GO OFF QUEEN!

- Oh thank you for stopping the random musical number but still fuck you Penelope. ‘A young man of few words’ the writers coming after themselves wow

- Jughead 🥺🥺 but what was the point of that scene with Alice (though I’m glad to see her) like—they could’ve just waited for Betty to be available…

- Jughead apologizing to Principal Weatherbee for his apology tour

- Hermosa and Reggie ew but also Veronica’s reaction is priceless. "What KIND of thing?"But it’s sad yet telling that she had more reaction to Reggie x Hermosa than Barcheating. Fuck these writers smh

- I mean Penelope should be in jail but we’re gonna skirt over that huh… but anyways lets upstage her for the millionth time

- THE ANIMOSITY IN VERONICA’S VOICE ASDFGHJKL;

- God poor Archie…

- “I don’t think it’s a war you can win.” “Maybe not, but it’s a war worth fighting.” YES ARCHIE GO TAKE DOWN GENERAL TAYLOR!

- Hiram being dumb enough to not change his locks after his previous co-worker (?) goes to work with his daughter/rival

- OMG CHERONICA?! FUCK. bugdead really helping everyone actually get screen time together we love to see it! fuck bhva <3

- Jughead wearing purple, Jeronica’s color muah

- Jabitha in Pop’s <3

- Betty sabotaging Jughead in whatever way possible without even truly meaning to r.i.p.

- I hate this ministry cult church bs plot but Cheryl’s outfit is *chef’s kiss*

- Archie being Archie and doing the good thing by asking him to step down, hoping/believing that he would be as good as him and step down :(

- … He’s still a solider who WENT TO WAR? Saw awful shit? The army is not some elite group you freak

- Better opening wounds than to let some asshole gets away with murdering many men and therefore CREATING those open wounds...

- Jughead don’t use her novels… don’t do it… I know you will and that you’ll end up not going through with it but PLEASE

- God seeing the boy in the hallway all messed up is amazing cinematography, but feels kind of out of place for Riverdale. They can only write and shoot well when it’s a character and plot focused episode instead of an insane all over the place episode

- LMAO VERONICA SAID FUCK YOU HIRAM AS SHE SHOULD HAVE! Not Hiram calling Veronica petty…??? He’s the petty child, aka a little bitch as Josie puts it.

- Of COURSE Nana Rose was a beekeeper…

- That coptercab thing sounds like an awful idea asdfghjkl;

- Veronica finally getting rid of Chad from her life as she should!

- Jughead drinking alcohol :( He was clean for a week my poor baby, but it’s so hard to kick… hopefully the writers actually allow him to grow and get better

- I know bh don’t have sex or anythning but this music is so… suggestive?? Why make it sound like they’re gonna get together again stop babying the Bughead’s after all they’ve done to everyone and this show??? Let them whine and cry

- The guilt Eric must feel for doing that FUCK “let me bring this home for you, it would be my honor” stop this is so 🥺😭

- Penelope decides to stop them after they’ve done two “miracles”??? okay… lol

- WHOREMONGER AND ESCAPED CONVICT if you want her gone just send her back?? QUEEN OF TTHE BEES BROOOO her making her mother flinch damnnnn

- ERIC GOING WITH ARCHIE AWW what a G though

- VERONICA IN PINK MUAH! “If you’re gonna bee a big boy, you gotta party like a big boy.”

- “You’ve impressed me, Chad.” ew over an awful idea fajsdlfahsf okay

- “probably not, Jughead, but-“ the way they’re speaking is so awkward

- Why does Jughead have to apologize for the voicemail when he said nothing wrong?? Sure it was a bit much and toxic but he was RIGHT why can’t people call out Betty?

- “I’m in recovery”Jughead says, drinking alcohol...

- Betty’s not gonna apologize for cheating huh… oh yeah lets also bring up the fact that you stole Yale from Jughead.

- Betty’s more comfortable with serial killers than being a normal person… yeah we know Betty

- Betty choosing a serial killer over Jughead BUGDEAD!

- Jughead she’s never taken accountability, she’s not going to stop

- Jughead admitting it wasn’t his novel. Good for him, even though he’s gonna lose his career :(

- BETTY JUST LEAVING LMAO OKAY—

- “my boysenberry is blowing up!” asdfghjkl; Veronica sabotaging Chad MUAH WE STAN! YOU’LL NEVER BE AN ALPHA, CHAD, YOU’RE A BORN BETA.

- So now everyone knows that Chad crashed the helicopter and nothing’s gonna happen bc of it huh

- JABITHA GOT A POP’S HANDHOLD OH MY GODDDD

- “Why are you so nice to me?” Jughead never being able to tell when anyone (aka Tabitha and Veronica) is into him what a babie

- It’s so telling that Betty sees Jughead drinking and says absolutely nothing and only talks about what’s going on with her, but Tabitha immediately makes sure that he’s going to continue going to AA and get better. Jabitha eating Bughead up (which isn’t hard to do considering Bughead was never anything good)

- THEY TOOK GENERAL TAYLOR DOWN!! And Eric isn’t in trouble 🥺🥺

- Tabitha going to help Betty muah we love one of the best girls in Riverdale!

- Not Cheryl thinking she’s a witch… like sure I’ve thought of this for a CAOS/Riverdale crossover but—

- “I’ve got this bad feeling about what happens next.” me after every episode of Riverdale bc of thee dumb ass plots

- When the two miners are Archie and Eric and we get Betty digging him out despite how dangerous it is!

- “If Archie dies, you die.” We stan Veronica Lodge <3

[multimetaverse]

Riverdale 5x10 Recap

Bold move kissing your boss Jughead

Glen really out here trying to get to know Betty’s family better when they’re searching for her missing, possibly murdered, sister??

10 agents to search 321 kilometres of highway doesn’t sound very efficient

Extremely realistic that the FBI would task the daughter of a serial killer, whose sister is missing, with going over the tapes of her serial killer father

Gotta love how they did a 7 time jump to age the kids but they’re lives still revolve around the High School. At least this is the first Parent-Teacher night we’ve seen on the show

Does it even really matter if Chadwick doesn’t sign the divorce papers? At best all he can do is delay it

I’m shooketh that Cheryl called Nana Rose out for acting insane. Methinks the pot is calling the kettle black

What a bizarre use of the budget to rent out the park and hire those background extras just for this scene of Jughead’s agent walking to a bench holding a hotdog

Hiram really needs to do something really evil soon. He’s becoming a parody of himself, he’s literally plotting to disrupt the fucking parent-teacher night at the high school. And why does he just have Reggie for a henchman? 

Lmao he’s mining for some metal called palladium under his prison? I’m getting real Avatar (the James Cameron movie) and unobtanium vibes from this plot. Well good luck taking down the Blossoms

I sure would like to know which enemy was able to kill 10 American soldiers in a single battle. Also the Silver Eagle is a boy scouts medal lmao

Are they trying to set it up so that Hal was murdering sex workers he met off a knockoff Craigslist like the Long Island Serial killer is believed to have done? 

Oh no Chad has discovered Veronica’s open and public relationship with Archie

Is Archie really trying to equate him not wanting this medal to soldiers refusing to carry out illegal orders?

Nana Rose looking at Reggie like he’s a full course meal

Tabitha can do way better than Jughead

Maple mushrooms... my god the drugs on this show

Omfg this callback to the helicopter crash. Well this scene sure seems like setup for some sort of disaster to befall Varchie

Well not surprising that the twins have issues given their ancestry and home lives

Surely Cheryl would also need to sign off on any sale of the Blossom groves

Omg we finally got some background info on the war!! Archie was in Uzbekistan! The writers might have well just have said he was fighting in Afghanistan since they just ended up picking a nearby central Asian Muslim majority country

So General Taylor might have set Archie up on a dirty mission eh?

Hahaha Glen really thinks that his dissertation on the Cooper family’s dark history is gonna impress Betty

Oh hey Uncle Frank! looks like he really did turn himself in for his crimes after all

Good on Cheryl for assuming power of attorney for Nana Rose and thwarting Hiram’s takeover 

Chad is being way too chill about the dissolution of his marriage (In fairness to Chad I think a tour of London dungeons would be a great date)

Not Cheronica having more chemistry during their divorce than they did during their marriage 

That’s Hiram’s big plan? A prison break at his private prison?? Even if it ‘ruined’ Riverdale it’s bound to backfire when there’s an investigation of his management of the prison!

Reggie really just started a forest fire huh

Why is general Taylor there for parent-teacher night?

Omg Charles and Chic! And Chic has hideously long hair!

Hope Alice is right that Charles and Chic aren’t gonna hurt them

I had to pause for 30 seconds to laugh, this is too good. The first gay wedding on Riverdale is gonna be between Charles and Chic! And Alice is gonna be the minister! Moments like this are why I still watch this train wreck of a show

Pretty brutal fight scene. Clearly Archie picked up some tricks while serving in Uzbekistan

Well congrats to the Charles x Chic shippers, it took a while but you got your endgame

Oh Archie, it’s not like American High Schools aren’t full of guns

Well Betty just stabbed one gay man and shot another, homophobic queen

Don’t think we needed to spend quite this much time on Jughead tripping balls

Yaaas Penelope! I love this Blossom dialogue, one of the other reasons I still suffer through this show

Kinda surprising that it took this long for Chad to be revealed as a financial crook. It’s a hollow threat however, he can still testify against Veronica if they’re still married, he just can’t be compelled to

Guess they all escaped the school? 

Love that Archie is just harbouring his fugitive Uncle like it’s no big deal

Looks like god (or the devil) listened to the Blossoms’ prayers and saved Thornhill

If Hiram is so concerned about shutting down the school why not just burn it down?

Well good thing Glen and Charles survived (what about Chic though?)

Is Betty going undercover as a truck driver?

Ru-oh Raggy that blood in the bunker and no Jughead sure looks bad

Well that was a pretty good mid-season finale by Riverdale standards. Until we meet again Riverdalers