#shiv roy my beloved

[morethanwonderful]

Also feeling insane about how Tom and Shiv both want to go back to the points in their relationship where each of them had power over the other.

Tom goes to Shiv on the stairs of her dead father's home and reminds her of when she was vulnerable and fell in love with and relied on him. He hearkens back to a time in their relationship where she was going through a hard time and he supported her, because that's what he wants again. Being the rock supporting Shiv through a storm gives him irreplaceable power there, even if he's nothing but good to her in the process.

Meanwhile, when they had the divorce talk in 4x1, one of the reasons that Shiv cut things off so quickly was that she wanted Tom to reach out and ask for her. If she said "it's over" and Tom tried to fight for her, then it would have been him begging her and her making the decision. It would have given her power over him again.

But I think Shiv recognizes Tom's ploy at the wake, and she pushes him away rather than fall on him, and Tom doesn't let himself beg when she tells him it's over. Tom wants to be her rock again and Shiv wants to be in control of someone subservient, but Tom's sick of subservience and Shiv refuses to be weak or reliant on him. So they're both just grasping at what the other one won't let them have.

[pynkhues]

Oh wait, this is an important question. Long hair Shiv or short hair Shiv?

Okay, but they have such different vibes? Long haired Shiv is liberal-arts-poli-sci dual major who smokes weed and has fun drunken hook ups with women who are nothing like her and weaponises her womanness to get her way, and short haired Shiv is a cutthroat capitalist who does coke and hate-fucks women who are exactly like her and strangles her womanness until it's gasping for breath inside of her, and I love them both so much.

[lizardsarevcool]

SHIV ROY GIRLFRIEND ARC WHENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN??????

[shivgirly]

SARAH SNOOK as SHIV ROY in SUCCESSION: SEASON 2

[togansweep]

tomshiv // modern woman - billy joel

[brotherconstant]

So what can I do? I really beg you, my Lord To me, flirtin' is just like a sport

bonus (insp)

[kitherondale]

SUCCESSION | 2.01 The Summer Palace

[biherbalwitch]

listen I'll never fucking shut up about this show, the part of Shiv's eulogy saying "he couldn't fit a whole woman in his head" is a direct call to how most people online actually talk about her character. Disregarding all the complexity and nuance of her character and either painting her only as a feminist angel, a little girl, a victim, or only a stupid, malicious woman who's betraying everyone and deserves all the horrible things her brothers & husband do because "pinky can't dance" as if all these characters aren't deeply flawed ON PURPOSE and also mentally & emotionally complex to evoke empathy in viewers ON PURPOSE but that thought process is only afforded to the male characters and isn't that the heart of the statement?

[schmweed]

Succession | S02E01

[emgardner]

will you come back to my corner?

[morethanwonderful]

I haven't seen anyone else point this out yet, but like. Shiv divorcing Tom was a business decision. Shiv told Nan Pierce she was getting a divorce before she told her husband. There was no way out of that final conversation without Shiv landing on the d word, because she'd already committed to leaving him as part of the negotiations for Pierce.

And this isn't a Shiv bashing post! I don't mean to imply that she was only focused on the business of it or that this makes her cold and terrible, but you cannot deny how much that was a factor. Shiv's whole thing is that she feels like she cannot ever let her emotions get between her and the Business, especially not emotions about her husband. The second she lets the wall crack and some feelings seep through, she's just an emotional little girl again. She cannot show emotion around other people.

Shiv walks away and hides her face from the others when she realizes Tom's betrayal in 3x9. She wants to keep going with the business meeting when she's obviously upset about Tom's call at the beginning of 4x1. She turns away from him to cry as they discuss divorce. And when Nan Pierce raises the subject of her marriage during a business meeting, Shiv handwaves and says she's divorcing him like it's nothing.

She's upset with him and the divorce will help her win Pierce, so of course she jumps on the option. Business comes before emotion, and she copes by making herself feel like she cares less than she does and can brush him away.

And then the Pierce deal goes through, and now she is committed to leaving him. She's clearly not fully over him, and I genuinely don't know whether they might have held on for a little longer if not for Pierce. There's a chance she might have been more willing to fight and talk things out if she hadn't already announced to her brothers and business partner that she was leaving him. But she also might not have been.

Either way though, Shiv walked into that apartment knowing that she wasn't allowed to let herself want to stay married, because for better or worse, she'd already had to choose for the sake of the deal.

[akajustmerry]

something that really got to me in that episode was how long it felt and I realised that's because, for the most part, it took place in real time. we really stayed with Roman, Kendall and Shiv from the moment they picked up tom's call. there were practically no jumps, no cut to next location, just the relentless event of losing a parent in real time. watching Ken and Roman try to say their piece, then Ken walk every step across the boat to take shiv's hand and walk with her each step back to where Roman is still talking to Tom whose updating them on the obligatory chest compressions. then, shiv trying to choke out a goodbye and then three of them trudging out to find Connor still discussing cake, breaking the news to him and all the awkward silences, hugs, and barely contained fury that the the last thing each of them said to Logan will always be the last thing he heard. I fucking love the use of real time like this. typical story structure of film/tv garuntees relief from difficult scenes with a cutaway and a change of scene, but depriving the viewer of the heightened, efficient dream-like chronology of tv, and forcing us to sit with them for every moment is such an exquisite way to portray and evoke grief. because the moment you lose someone there is no escape, no relief or break...just the unassuming unending horror and solidification moment by moment of time being divided into Before and After.

[blvvdk3ep]

The entire succession cast being mouth-frothingly sexy was a very unfortunate event for the "adhere rigid irl morality to fictional media" crowd, but not for me

[beanghostprincess]

Judge: What have you got in your fucking hand?

Sanji: What have I got? I don’t know, fucking… love?

[brookheimer]

sooooo much to say about tomshiv fight oh my god. holy fuck

[loverboyromanroy]

roman roy + 👀