#tnwg writes

[turtleneck-wambsgans]

“we sometimes grab a drink”

every time tom has seen greg outside of work in the past few months, greg has been drunk. it’s a familiar sight nowadays, a bright flush reaching up and across his high cheekbones. his typically uncertain voice now permanently punctuated by slurred words. this isn’t to say that tom is in a sober period - far from it. 

greg gets drunk on sickly sweet, almost-fluorescent cocktails bought for him by dainty women and broad-shouldered men in unbearably loud clubs and speakeasy hipster bars. tom gets drunk alone in his darkened apartment, in the corners of suffocating corporate party rooms or, in the times when he does go out with greg, hunched over away from the lupine smile of his newly-confident friend. 

tom is fucked up right now. greg is too. but greg seems happy, and that’s what matters. tom can’t bring himself to burst the bubble of greg’s high. greg will be brought down by either tom or his family. and tom has been the one to ruin him once before, he thinks, as the smell of burning paper fills his nose. 

so tom waits on the outskirts of rooms, watching the lithe figure of his friend flit around the room with an awkward charm. he watches greg stumble through social interactions with people far more judgemental than they have any right to be. and yet greg gets through to them - he inexplicably makes them fall for him. tom can’t blame them, though. he isn’t immune to greg, either. he’s quite possibly patient zero.

tom isn’t in a position to mind greg’s revolving door of paramours. if anything, he’s glad that greg is distracted. it makes it easier for greg to ignore the way tom looks at him. or how he stands and stares out of the open door as greg leaves his apartment. and he’s glad that the smell of drink on their breaths can explain away how their hands linger on one another. no one says anything about it when you’re drunk. no rumours. nothing to take away his one source of comfort in this godforsaken time.

like most other days, tom and greg head to a bar after a long day at atn. they sit at the bar, knees knocking against one another’s under the counter. tom orders two glasses of the most expensive whiskey on the menu. they each take a glass and fall into gentle conversation. 

after a while, a girl perches on the seat beside greg. she’s pretty enough. as tom orders another drink, greg turns to her and starts rambling away. greg orders himself and the girl some strange fruit-based concoction. tom holds his glass in one hand, and places the other on the small of greg’s back.

i blame @gregwambsganss for this rambling nonsense bc we have been catastrophising about greg spiralling at some point this season. also i haven’t read this back so if it doesn’t make sense, my apologies !!

[turtleneck-wambsgans]

holy shit - i was going over a WIP of a post-s3 fic that i stopped writing in august last year bc i was thinking of picking it up again and LOOK at this excerpt:

“he idly wonders when greg got so confident”

how did i write this and yet still get surprised by uber-confident greg this season ? insanity. 

[turtleneck-wambsgans]

look this might end up in a fic if i ever get the motivation to finish writing a story, but i keep thinking about different tomgreg first kisses. so here’s one:

tom is stressed about... something. they’re in one of their apartments (maybe even one they share ?), scheming and figuring out what the roys are thinking. what their next move is going to be. whether or not they’re in immediate danger.

tom is talking himself into a spiral. he thinks he’s being subtle, and he is - except greg can read tom better than anyone. he sees how tense tom is, looks past his measured sentences, and notices his shoulders seizing up with anxiety.

this concerns greg. he cares about tom so deeply, and struggles to see him in strife. something in him shifts. in front of him, he sees a man in turmoil. stressed, but refusing to ask for help. 

yet, no matter how fearful he is of his own situation, tom never once speaks in the singular. it’s always “we” or “our” or “us”. and he won’t do something without consulting greg. he hasn’t since tuscany. 

whatever moves tom wants to make, he’s going to take greg with him. to protect. to help. to thrive, together. 

greg makes a choice.

he steps into tom’s space, barely inches away from him. he simply says “tom”, stopping the other man in his tracks. tom looks up at greg, feels a hand curl around his jaw, and instinctively closes his eyes. 

the kiss is saccharine. tom lets greg take the lead, feeling the tension in his body slowly release. greg notices this, and smiles into the kiss. they break apart, but keep their heads close together. 

tom sighs, a happy thing. they look at each other and laugh. tom gently leans into greg, and they stay in the embrace for a while.

[turtleneck-wambsgans]

the idea of tom and greg getting together before actually realising they’re together has a death grip on me.

i’m fully married to the tomgreg roommate arc happening in season 4 tbh so like,,, they start to do couple-y things without thinking about it:

they come home from work and they have dinner together,,, they know each other’s orders from all of their favourite takeaway places

they’re working through different tv series and sometimes fall asleep on the couch together,,, they share a blanket even though they have a bunch bc proximity 💕

they take mondale for walks together in the morning,,,they walk past a florist and tom points out which are his favourite flowers,,, the next day greg shows up with a bunch of them to put in a vase that they keep in the kitchen,,, tom experiences an unbelievable amount of Emotions

in the office, they’ve reached a new level of synchronicity. they have silent conversations and if people thought something was going on before, then they really think something is going on now

they decorate the apartment for christmas and it’s warm and cozy bc the world they live in is so cold and the holiday is very important to them and they wanna celebrate properly

tom fixes greg’s tie,,, he makes fun of greg and calls him a slob but he settles it so tenderly

they go on weekend trips spontaneously bc sometimes it all gets too much and they have the power to do that now

please add more if you have them,,, i thrive on it,,,

[turtleneck-wambsgans]

let’s furnish the dream tomgreg home

most importantly, NO PEN FOR MONDALE. he roams free and has the comfiest bed in the world. (most nights, he ends up at the foot of their bed)

remember in vaulter when tom wanted a massive gauche painting of him and shiv ? let’s have a tasteful portrait of tom and greg in their nero & sporus getup (this is a joke… or is it…). bonus points for mondale being in the picture. or maybe they generally have little references to nero and sporus bc it makes them smile - like a small bust of nero or some books about the romans on their coffee table.

all of their furniture is designed with the comfort of a 6’3” and a 6’7” man in mind. long, luxurious couch with lots of room to sprawl out on. higher tables so that they don’t hit their knees. you get the gist.

i think that their home aesthetic definitely wouldn’t be the sorta industrial, cold style that we see in a lot of the apartments. it also wouldn’t be old money, crazy exuberance either. it would be cozy ! and warm. soft textures and rounded edges. fluffy blankets and shaggy rugs.

they actually have framed photographs !! it looks like the home of two people with lots of happy memories together !! tom gets to have pictures of him and greg and his parents up !!

tom would make sure the decorations are tasteful and cohesive, but greg also has his random knickknacks dotted around everywhere. you’d think that tom would be annoyed, but seeing them makes him smile.

they have a pool. we all saw the rosé scene on the yacht. they have a pool. no elaboration required.

every room has at least three candles. they are dorks and go candle shopping together and spend hours figuring out which candles should go in which rooms to create the best ~ olfactory experience ~

add more if you have them - thinking about the tomgreg home makes me feel <3

[turtleneck-wambsgans]

writing greg dialogue is just figuring out how many times you should include the word “like” before it goes overboard

[turtleneck-wambsgans]

y’all this is an excerpt from a tomgreg break up scene I wrote (that isn’t really a breakup scene) and im seriously debating writing the full story

but i 1) haven’t written a fanfic before and 2) think that this story needs at least like 10,000 words to have a decent plot

i can’t decide whether or not to keep going, but here, have this small bit of Sad that my brain came up with lmao

[turtleneck-wambsgans]

scared away by snakes

It’s late in the evening, and Tom is sprawled out on the couch in the living room of his and Greg’s new apartment. The two had moved in a few weeks ago, deciding that it would be more convenient to live together rather than find two separate places in the New York housing market which was generally terrible, but particularly awful right now. Tom mindlessly scrolls through titles on Netflix, bored and alone, but too restless to settle on any one show.

Greg’s out with his friends, whom Tom is not entirely convinced exist. At frequent moments throughout the day, Tom tried to imagine the array of vapid millennials with whom Greg would be friends - a guy who always wears a beanie and overalls, a girl with electric yellow hair and a tattoo of RBG. At every fictive person he created, he simultaneously shuddered and sniggered. He’s only a little bit worried about his friend’s absence- it’s quite late. Greg should be back by now, shouldn’t he?

Just like clockwork, Tom hears the front door open, and the uneven tapping of shoes on the ground growing ever louder. Shoes Tom bought him, that is. After a few moments, Greg reaches the living room and smiles down at Tom. Tom can see the tiredness in his eyes.

“Hello, Gregory. Long day, was it? You scale the Empire State Building? Try and chat up a descendant of the Rockefellers?”

“What, Tom? No, we just walked around the city and got dinner and stuff.”

“And what do you have there, Greg?” Tom asks, pointing at a bright red paper bag that has the words ‘The MET’ clearly printed on it in white.

“Oh yeah! Right,” Greg says, his eyes brightening just a bit. He moves to sit down beside Tom, settling himself before continuing. 

“So we, like, went to the Met and they had this... like this exhibit on the Romans. We didn’t get to see much of it, because it was almost closing time. But I saw this one piece- it was this- this snake bracelet? Like, it was a snake curled up on itself. It was gold.”

“Uh huh,” Tom hums, dubiously.

“And when I was in the gift shop, I saw this replica of it as, like, a keychain. And it kinda reminded me of you. So, I bought it? For you,” Greg says, opening his bag and revealing the small trinket. 

He reaches over to give it to Tom, who automatically accepts it. Tom isn’t sure how he’s supposed to feel about it. ‘When are snakes ever a good thing?’ he thinks. ‘Aren’t they the literal Biblical symbol of evil?’

“Gregory... why the ever-loving fuck did a snake bracelet remind you of me?”

Greg laughs, an uncertain thing. He takes a sharp intake of breath.

“Well, there was a little description beside it, and apparently Emperor Nero used to wear a bracelet like this one. There was some rumour that, when he was a kid, some people tried to kill him. But then there were snakes? In his room? And they scared the people that had come to kill Nero. He, like, denied the story, but when he was older, he wore a bracelet like this. So to him, it was kinda a form of protection, against any plots or danger.”

Tom isn’t breathing. His eyes dart between Greg’s face and the object in his hands. Greg goes on, his voice ever quieter.

“And I just thought, maybe, it’d be a nice thing for you to have? Because this world we exist in, it’s so crazy all the time. Like, we never know for sure whether we’re safe and...”

Greg trails off, having noticed the odd look on Tom’s face. It’s unreadable to him, which is never a good sign. Terrified he’s made an embarrassing mistake, he rushes to make amends.

“Oh God, is this, like, too weird? I’m so sorry, man.” Greg starts, reaching over to grab the keychain. “I’ll take it back. Just forget about it and-” 

“NO!” Tom shouts, tightening his grip on the trinket and startling Greg.

“No?”

“I... It’s really...” Tom pauses. He doesn’t know what to say. 

He looks up, gaze boring into Greg’s doe-eyed stare. Agonisingly, the silence draws on. A warm feeling swirls in Tom’s stomach. He finally speaks.

“Thank you... Sporus.”

At that, a warm smile settles on Greg’s face. He looks down to hide his reddening cheeks. Tom stops for a moment, thinking.

“Hey, um, you know that exhibit you visited?”

“A-about the Romans?” Tom nods. “Yeah?”

“Would you maybe be interested in spending some more time going through it?”

Greg looks up, and asks, “With... with you?”

“With me,” Tom all but whispers back.

“I... I’d like that, Tom,” Greg says, smiling.

Tom chuckles. “Well, good. We’ll go, say, next Saturday? And if you’re good, I’ll take you out for dinner.”

“If I’m good?”

“I don’t know, I’m just saying stuff. Next Saturday, the Met and then dinner.”

“Cool! Then it’s a...” Greg trails off, scared to say the wrong thing.

“It’s a date,” Tom supplies, grinning. Greg beams back.

“According to a rumour, there was a plot against Nero as a child. However, the men sent to kill him were scared away by snakes in his bedroom. Nero dismissed the story, but later wore a snakeskin encased in a gold bracelet.”

Nero: the man behind the myth (2021), THE BRITISH MUSEUM

[turtleneck-wambsgans]

i’m writing this story in such a lawless order and none of the scenes i’ve written are the cozy happy things i enjoy. i’m just powering through the turmoil.

also, thank you to everyone who commented on my post about the rate at which i should publish the story once it’s complete - you’re all so helpful <3

as a lil present, i decided to quickly draft a relatively happy scene with everyone’s favourite succession character. here’s a tiny, itty bitty, little snippet from that (minor spoilers for my fic below the line)

[turtleneck-wambsgans]

hello, this is a call to any tomgreg fanfic readers - i have a question.

i’m most likely going to post a chaptered tomgreg fic on ao3 (when it’s complete... which it is not).

if i do post it, would you guys prefer if i:

1. posted it all at once (still chaptered, just all uploaded on the same day)

or

2. posted 1-2 chapters every day for about a week

or even

3. posted a 1-2 chapters every week for about 10 weeks?

any input would be greatly appreciated ! <3

[turtleneck-wambsgans]

admin post <3

hello - i’m kaz, and this is my succession blog !

i follow accounts from my main blog @itslittlealexhorne, so if you see a follow/reply from that account, it’s me !

send me an ask here ! i am genuinely always thrilled to talk about succession. 

i will also happily provide headcanons or analyses if you want them - all you gotta do is ask ! :D

my original content can be found at ‘#tnwg’, and my writing tag is ‘#tnwg writes’

i also spend too much time thinking about this show, and my posts about that can be found at ‘#tnwg overanalyses’

‼️ THIS BLOG CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SUCCESSION SEASON 4 ‼️

every post with potential spoilers will be tagged: “succession spoilers”, “succession season 4 spoilers”, “succession season 4”

follow along with my thoughts about each episode using these tags:

4x01 the munsters

4x02 rehearsal

4x03 connor’s wedding

[turtleneck-wambsgans]

imagine logan realising the team he’s on post-3x09,,,

“ah yes it’s my daughter’s husband and my daughter’s husband’s boyfriend who is also my great nephew,,, this was a good decision i’m certain of it”