#successsion

[cthaehart]

Quick lil Gerri

[waystartoo]

creates a monster creates a monster creates a monster creates a monster creates a-

[twinge-of-cosmicangst]

Thinking about how in seasons 1 to 3 it was common to not just see Tom and Greg in the background or Tom and Shiv in the background but Tom, Greg and Shiv, talking sometimes laughing in the background (when I say common it probably about about 3 times idk) and thinking about when Tom and Shiv teased Greg about the Contessa, but fondly, I’m not implying that Greg and Shiv were close or anything, because obviously they weren’t, but there was some minimal fondness there I think, Shiv probably found Greg somewhat amusing in a dorky distant relative way, also Greg being the closest to Shiv’s age, might mean that they spent slightly more time together as kids even if it was minimal, I know this is just a fan theory or whatever but it is somewhat supported by Shiv being the one to actually remember Greg’s name in the pilot.

In terms of Greg, Kendall was clearly his favourite cousin for a while, he had some admiration for him before he was disillusioned from him and was seeking his friendship, partly for power but I think partly because he generally liked him, probably seeking an older brother figure as he is clearly lonely and hasn’t got many close relatives that he speaks to on the regular. He’s disliked Roman since about mid season one, he tolerates Connor, of course, who has probably always been the nicest to him even when Kendall and Greg were close, but he didn’t seem to like Connor that much, probably because he had no power and is very unserious (obviously a bit hypocritical of clown shoes Greg but still) so after Ken threatening to burn him and his big fall out with him at Kenfest (I still think he liked Ken before the “burning threat” even though he switched sides, I think he lost respect for him but liked him as a person still, until the threat of burning on the day of the shareholders meeting) So he actively disliked Ken and Roman at the point of Caroline’s wedding, and as he seems quite indifferent to Connor, it’s very possible that Shiv was his favourite cousin by default, yes he was mainly trying to get Tom’s attention when he was talking to both of them at the wedding, but he definitely seemed comfortable and friendly around Shiv and vice versa.

Then Tom’s betrayal happened followed by Tom and Shiv’s separation. But of course Greg didn’t actually have anything to do with the siblings downfall, he just benefited from it, except actually he didn’t really, at least not yet (obviously he likely won’t benefit at all now Logan’s dead, but this is irrelevant to my post because I’m going to be talking about Shiv’s attitude towards Greg at the wedding before Logan died) Tom didn’t even tell Greg what he was planning to do, he just vaguely asked him to come with him. Of course considering that it seems that Tom and Shiv haven’t spoken much about what happened, Shiv wouldn’t know how much Greg knew about the betrayal, but she knows Greg has very little power, and thinks rightly or wrongly that he is a bumbling idiot, and wouldn’t of been able to help or hinder with it either way, so if you look at it objectively Shiv hasn’t got any reason to hate Greg in terms of business, it’s important to remember though that Kendall has got a reason to hate Greg in the “business sense” because Greg actually betrayed him at an earlier point via switching sides. Again I want to elaborate that Greg was yet to benefit very much from Tom’s betrayal of Shiv, he still isn’t much more then a glorified PA to Tom.

Perhaps because of this not even Roman seems to hold much contempt for Greg, his teasing of Greg when he was talking to the journalist woman, wasn’t particularly mean spirited for Roman, he was just being Roman, hell it’s something that he might of said to Connor or Kendall in the right circumstances, I actually think Roman likes Greg more the Greg likes Roman (he still doesn’t like him tho) and he certainly doesn’t dislike Greg as much as Shiv seems to now, in fact she seems to dislike him even more then Kendall, in fact at this point Kendall might be too indifferent to Greg to even dislike him anymore, he seemed to be somewhat amused by Greg’s desperation while trying to congratulate them on the pierce deal. Kendall says “Pass” and Shiv says “No” when Greg attempts to interact with them. That is pretty much what I’d expect from either of them, Greg is being quite irritating and he is not subtle about his schmoozing up to them in case things go tits up for him with Logan and Tom.

But then Greg touches Shiv’s shoulder (perhaps he goes for Shiv rather then Kendall because he, clearly very wrongly, assumed that he was on better terms with her then he was with Ken) it wasn’t Greg being overly affectionate like he has been with his cousins in the past, it was a simple shoulder touch, that’s perfectly acceptable between friendly acquaintances, let alone cousins who were on good terms until recently, even though they weren’t particularly close. It wasn’t necessarily the fact that Shiv’s reaction to this was to say “Don’t touch me” it was the way she said it, ice cold with complete and utter contempt.

It’s completely understandable that Shiv would be highly irritated by Greg and even dislike him, but she seems to fully hate him, when Roman and Kendall seem not to. Why would she have more reason to hate Greg then Kendall and Roman? The answer is obvious, of course, It’s two things Tom and jealously.

I’m not for one moment suggesting that Shiv believes that there is anything romantic going on between Tom and Greg. Whether you believe Tomgreg is a thing or not, that’s not the point, Shiv has no suspicions in that department. And although there’s been a lot of jokes about her not perceiving it on here, honestly why would she? Most of Tom and Greg’s most intense scenes are done in private, and anything she would see could and obviously would be interpreted as entirely platonic, why would any woman assume their husband was sexually and/or romantically obsessed with their weird younger male cousin? No I don’t think Shiv has any suspicion in that department. Then why would she be jealous I hear you ask? Well there’s two potential reasons:

Reason 1: Shiv and Tom had an open relationship at Shiv’s behest, where Shiv was the only one that slept with other people, obviously the fact that Tom remained monogamous obviously made Shiv feel guilty, which is probably why she suggested the threesome to relieve some of the guilt. Despite her guilt, it’s pretty clear that ultimately she was pleased that Tom remained loyal to her (at least sexually) which was obvious by how she got jealous of the woman at Argestes. It’s established that Tom and Shiv had being going through a “trial of separation” from the return from Tuscany until the end of episode one when they decided to get a divorce, and from what Tom said while they were discussing Naomi, they agreed that they could both see other people in that time. Now this is pure speculation, but considering that Tom remained monogamous when she was in the wrong (cheating on him) she may of assumed that he would also remain monogamous while he was in the wrong (betraying her to Logan) but of course, she then started to hear rumours of “the disgusting brothers” and of how Tom was dating models now. Of course we do not know how much sex (if any) Tom has been having, but the point is Shiv clearly believed he had been sexually active. Perhaps the only way she could rationalise Tom sleeping with other woman while they remained married (no matter what they agreed on) was that he was led astray by Greg and that Greg has been a corrupting influence to Tom and encouraged him to sleep with other woman and if not for Greg, that Tom would’ve remained sexually loyal to her.

Reason 2 and perhaps the more compelling reason: Shiv’s jealously is not of a sexual nature and not about other women. But that Tom was her friend as well her husband and a massive emotional support for her. She has now effectively lost that friendship and emotional support (remember I am referring only to before Logan’s death, Tom was very supportive to Shiv at the time of Logan’s death but before that the last mayor interaction they had, was Shiv finding out that Tom was using Logan esque tactics to divorce her in the most brutal way possible) And by now Shiv would’ve finally realised how close Tom and Greg are as friends (before the Tomshiv betrayal she knew Tom and Greg were friends but I think she assumed they were only friends in a work colleagues/ in law level and not besties) When Greg was talking to Tom about “Gregging” on the phone right at the start of the episode Shiv walked past him and and looked straight at Greg, he did not notice, she had sunglasses on so it was hard to gage her expression, but she did not look pleased, and I’m pretty sure she knew who Greg was talking too (of all the characters to walk past Greg while he’s on the phone and the fact she looked at him, the writers and directors know what they are doing) From last weeks episode, with Shiv mournfully looking at Tom’s contact number on her phone, we know that she is missing Tom, she couldn’t bring herself to ring him out of pride, but there Greg is talking to him casually on the phone, she knows Greg can ring him whenever he wants, she knows they talk everyday, and that must make her incredibly jealous. Not to mention Tom used to be Shiv’s second in command for her bid for the top job and now Greg is Tom’s second in command, Tom and Shiv aren’t a team anymore, it’s Tom and Greg, a fact that doubtless isn’t lost on her either.

It is probably a mixture of these two jealously reasons that makes Shiv’s contempt for Greg so potent. For a short while Greg and his friendship with Tom will doubtless go back to irrelevance in Shiv’s mind as she deals with her father’s death and the early stages of grief. But as the season moves on, I can’t help but hope that Shiv and Greg will finally have some sort of confrontation or at least a discussion about Tom.

[arixlana]

from succession season 3 episode 9 (2021)

and season 4 episode 3 (2023)

[eclecticelectriceccentric]

stewy is SUCH a fucking kengirl. like girl WHAT

[jessaerys]

much like a good horror movie knows that whatever you are imagining is so much worse than the images the movie could ever conjure and so it only shows you glimpses of the monsters and it is you, then, that fills in the gaps, that tailor makes the fears and the misery. logan was always going to die offscreen

[kendallville]

Yeah, I'm fine, we're fine, right?

(from Arian Moayed's IG)

[talkaboutyourday]

"And then I- I can come back. You know, it could be like...like a business open relationship"

[muadweeb]

jesus christ and judas iscariot // kendall roy and stewy hosseini

[lesbianaang]

thinking about how shiv references how her and tom initially got together during a really crucial and dark period in her life, when she really “needed” him…. the shivtom fail!marriage may be back on i fear

[nellarw95]

Happy Birthday Holly 🥳🎂🎈🎁🎉

March 20,1958

Buon Compleanno 🥳🎂🎈🎁🎉

20 Marzo 1958

[tomgrcg]

tomgreg pride and prejudice au

the first chapter has received a much needed revamp and i've planned the entire fic. we're in for a fun time.

[twinge-of-cosmicangst]

Please God (Jesse Armstrong) let the Tomshiv baby be a girl so that Shiv doesn’t name her son Logan in a moment of madness

[arixlana]

“with open eyes, he attends, blind.

All the bells say: too late. This is not for tears;

thinking.”

“Nobody is ever missing.”

Dream Song 29 - John Berryman

[eclecticelectriceccentric]

tom wants to My Fair Lady greg sooooo bad

[jessaerys]

but not but not your usual stupid places uh somewhere fun and real away from the fancy dance a real bar with chicks and guys who work with their hands and grease and sweat from their hands. and have blood in their hair