#Roman Roy was portrayed by the eyes too

[fonthoura]

Gotta love Kieran Culkin being typecasted as a charming and charismatic guy who shuts his own light out cause of his fucked up little brain, forever doomed by his circumstances and his warped vision of himself and what he needs to do to the world and to others.

It's very enjoyable, bring him his Oscar.

[transmutationisms]

oh i very much agree that piss on the show is used to tell us about familial authority, sexuality, and biopower; anon's question was in response to a post i wrote about succession as a gothic in which logan's body is a spectre haunting his children, so what i was thinking through in this post was whether piss is also used to convey broader political economy via the flows of the bodily economy, à la connor's 'usury and onanism' line for cum. i've written extensively elsewhere about how the show links physical and emotional incontinence, particularly for kendall and logan, and about how the roys fear bodily loss of control and bodily fluids in general. i absolutely agree this is connected to logan's fascist worldview, in which power and masculinity are both signified and maintained through total control of the body.

i do think piss has multiple meanings on the show. although i'd agree logan's 'leakiness' is a major bodily mechanism by which the writers question his fitness to serve as ceo, this has to be nuanced by the incident in 'lifeboats' in which, consciously or not, he uses his piss to control/punish kendall by pissing on his office floor, essentially marking his territory. this is more similar to how roman and matsson use piss in 'too much birthday' as a way of dominating or 'owning' a rival, and in this instance it's critical that roman invites matsson to piss on his phone but then refuses to actually participate, demurely bowing out of his own literal pissing competition. so, though i agree that 'leakiness' is often equated to weakness (for logan this is specifically paralleling sumner redstone's public decline), the flows and stoppages of piss have additional meanings beyond that. cum, blood, and vomit are analogously polysemic.

the show's relationship with ableism is complex imo. on one level, yes, logan's body is declining and this is plainly one reason he can no longer run his empire the way he used to. however, i don't think the writers are ever shying away from the fact that the empire itself should not exist in the first place. logan is portrayed as petty, ill-tempered, dictatorial, and cruel; also, though i agree that competency isn't relevant to the question of whether waystar should even exist, it's worth pointing out that the inciting business event of the entire show is a shitty loan logan took out decades ago, presumably when he was in full control of his urinary faculties. also, shiv, who is not 'leaky' like her father or brothers, is not portrayed as any more 'deserving' of the company, and while for logan she's tainted by the mere fact of being a woman, i don't think the writers are agreeing with him here.

disability clearly lurks as a constant threat to the roys. they fear having bodies, being publicly known to have bodies, and losing control of those bodies. logan delights in sandy's physical decline, using it to call him dirty, diseased, and weak. i wouldn't say succession is, like, a particularly radical text as far as a disability studies lens goes, but i would also disagree that the writing is saying or implying that an able-bodied person is 'deserving' of logan's empire. part of what makes the show tick is that every character is morally compromised, including competent business operatives like gerri or stewy; it is impossible to operate in this world without being complicit in it. we've also pretty much been hit over the head from day one with the idea that waystar royco, and specifically atn, is a toxic cultural force selling fascism. and a political realignment would not solve this problem in the writers' eyes: think about the portrayal of the pierces (the sulzberger counterparts to the roys' murdochs), whose immense wealth and power makes them similarly out of touch, self-serving, and indifferent to their housestaff. though this is primarily a character study of wealthy people, it is quite clearly written from the angle of arguing that wealth and capitalism themselves are the fundamental issues here and the root of logan's fascism, including both his gender politics and ableism.

i hope it's clear that my intention is not, like, to 'defend' the show or its writers, lol. i think this is a reasonable line of critique/inquiry. and certainly the show's overall project of taking essentially a sociological approach to a bunch of powerful fictional fascists means there's always a tension of portraying/exploring how they think, versus advancing a critique or viewpoint on behalf of the writers or showrunner. i do think that succession has a pretty clear viewpoint on the ethics of these people and their empire, though this isn't the main point of the writing and may be inadequate in some ways (like its treatment of race) or simply distasteful in that it foregrounds logan's logic rather than a critique of logan's logic.

i can't really speak to viewer response because i engage with a pretty limited sample of viewers/fans tbh. reader studies are valuable for lots of reasons, though they clearly don't always line up with what a text is saying in itself, so i'd be cautious about using any type of fan response to argue about the intentions of the writers.

Any thoughts about the piss motif / humours relating to the nature of capitalism itself and the transfer of the Roy legacy and their hand in perpetuating violence? A lot of the times I see Logan scenes that revolve around piss it makes me think the writers are having a laugh about trickle-down economic theory, as well as the thought that Logan is passing down anything but waste to his potential heirs.

ok i'll be honest, the trickle-down economics thing hadn't occurred to me but it does make me giggle now that you raise it. i usually think of logan less as a reaganite/thatcherite and more as like..... a pretty classic fascist leader self-styling with the rhetoric of spencerian-darwinian (so, malthusian) capitalism. i will rotate this some more.

i definitely agree on the idea of logan's bodily waste being symbolic of a more generalised sense of waste and decline in his biological line. one of logan's greatest fears is that his children will fail to secure his biological (and therefore also cultural) legacy. this is why he's so bothered by iverson's implied autism, and why he orders tom to give him a grandson. logan's sons are all impotent in different ways: roman can't fuck, kendall can't produce acceptable offspring, connor pays for sex. logan would never put it this way consciously, but ultimately he's afraid that his sons are sexual failures because of some inherited biological defect---in other words, that their failures reflect poorly on his own virility and masculinity. so logan's bodily decline, frequently represented by his inability to control his bladder, is potentially part of the overarching familial weakness that he fears afflicts him too.

fluids-wise, i think the more direct connections here are blood (family relations) and cum (because the roys articulate power and domination by who fucks whom, ie who cums and in whom). this is why connor's line linking usury and onanism as 'the spilling of good seed' is so thematically important: politics and sexuality form one unified economic field for the roys, where cum is the operating currency. think about how humiliated tom is for swallowing his own cum, and how in logan's logic, getting fucked or dominated is equivalent to being feminised. piss is a little different imo because within the logic of the show it's not directly representing family ties or sexuality. but certainly the humiliation of a bodily loss of control is part of the larger spectre of biological degeneration that haunts logan's psyche, and his undeniable and worsening physical weakness terrifies him while also hinting at some of the ways in which his children may have been doomed from the start.

actually writing this out clarified for me why i think of logan as a spencerian-darwinian lol. it's that combination of hereditarian concerns, laissez-faire rhetoric (not necessarily practice) and the constant battle for dominance (remember that 'survival of the fittest' was spencer's phrase, not darwin's). yknow, life is a number on a piece of paper and knife fight in the mud and all.

[astupidsuccessionsideblog]

Firefly

Roman/Reader

WC: 3,776

"Hey, remember that time Roman got kidnapped? And then it was like never mentioned again? Well, what if they were actually gonna try and kill him to send a message? And the reader, his assistant and childhood friend, was there, determined to never let that happen?"

Angst, h/c, kidnapping, general succession swearing and shit.

AO3 Link

You jerk awake, disoriented and unable to open your eyes. You can feel your hand searching for your phone that, oh yeah, is ringing. You finally find it, shockingly, plugged in on your bedside table. Who would’ve guessed? The brightness of the screen and the terrible contact photo of Rome you took a few months back jolt your brain back to a state of semi-awareness. You can’t help but grin. He was yelling at Kendall and didn’t know you were taking it, so his face is scrunched up in a drastic change from the usual put-together vibe he tries to portray. It never fails to make you laugh. He hates it, of course, but you refuse to change it, no amount of bribery will sway you. You suppose you should probably answer it, despite the absolutely ungodly hour. 

“What?” you groan at him, shoving your face back into your pillow. 

“Well good morning to you too, sunshine,” he says, entirely too cheery for, what? Four am? 

“This is not morning, Roman, this is torture. This better be good,” you mumble, face still safe from the cold air of your bedroom. 

“Oh, you bet your ass it is! So you know how you’ve always wanted to go to Turkey?” Your eyebrows furrow and you let out an exasperated sigh.

“Oh absolutely, every day of my life it’s just ‘Romey, Romey, please take me to Turkey, I don’t think I’ll survive if you don’t take me to Turkey!’” You say, putting it on. 

“Fuck off. Anyway! Your dreams are finally coming true. We’re going to Turkey! Today. In like. An hour. A car will be at your door to pick you up, see you soon!” He says, speeding up towards the end and hanging up before you can get another word in. 

“Goddamnit,” you say, to nobody but yourself. 

You shouldn’t be surprised, ever since Roman got you this job he’s been yanking your ass all over the globe. For the life of you, you don’t know why his assistant would need to go to family holidays and meetings and every other minor event he drags you to, but you still go. There’s not a lot you wouldn’t do if he asked. One flash of those puppy dog eyes and you’re done for. You know it, but you don’t like facing it very often. It makes you vulnerable and if there’s one thing you don’t want to be while living in this world, it’s that. But he’s the one who helped you work your way up from the daughter of a maid to the assistant of the son of one of the richest men alive, which is a pretty stark difference. God knows where you’d be right now if you hadn’t befriended that scared little boy. He could’ve just hidden your friendship growing up and listened to everyone telling him that you had no right even spending time with someone with the social standing of a Roy kid. But he didn’t. He dragged you around to every event then, and he does now. You know, in your bones, that there isn’t a single thing you wouldn’t do for that shitshow of a man. So Turkey it is. On four hours of sleep. God, you need caffeine. 

~ 

The car takes you and your single bag of luggage to Logan’s private wing of the airport. Which is something he has. Because of course he does. You’ve stopped questioning any of it at this point. You had zoned out most of the drive, idly hoping you had packed enough underwear. You jostle slightly when your door opens, pulling you out of your mind. Giving the driver a polite nod, you start making your way to the group of people huddled next to one of the Roy jets. Despite yourself, you can feel a smile start to grow when you see Roman notice you and start waving with the vigor of a small child. 

“Sunshine! You made it!” He yells, jumping up and down, finally making his way over to dramatically kiss you on both cheeks. You bite the inside of one in an attempt to calm the blush you can feel starting to creep over them, luckily the dim light of dawn still provides you with ample cover. You make a show out of rolling your eyes at the nickname and display of affection, but keep smiling to make sure he knows you’re not serious. The light in his eyes is still as bright as ever, so it’s safe to say you succeeded. You haven’t been able to drop that nickname, no matter how much higher up in the ranks you are now. You’re not that little girl, full of light anymore. If anything, the contrast between your cynicism and the nickname is perfect. 

“Where else would I be?” you ask, unable to fight the yawn that works its way out. “Oh right, sleeping. I remember sleeping. That was nice. Those were the days.” you say, full of nostalgia for an hour and a half ago. Now Roman rolls his eyes. 

“Come on, it’s gonna be great! You’re gonna see, uh, the ocean, and some buildings! You’ll love it!” He says as he puts his hand on the small of your back to lead you up the stairs into the jet. Karl and Laird shoot each other a look as they follow behind, but you don’t pay it any mind. They should be used to how you and Roman are by now. They know your story and they know how attached Roman is to you. Being the center of attention in a room full of Roys is something you are not a stranger to and haven’t been for a few decades at this point. It was worse at first when you were really young, but even then Roman told you they were just being stuffy and old and that they weren’t any better than you, no matter how hard they believed it. You’ve done your best to keep that attitude now, that you belong, and it’s done nothing but help you so far. Maybe one day you’ll actually believe it. 

After you sit down and get settled in, pulling some dumb book about Roman Mythology out of your bag to pretend to read, Roman throws himself down on the couch, shoving his head on your lap. 

“Why read that when you’ve got the real thing right here?” He asks, shooting you a toothy grin. You sigh and put the book down onto his face. 

“I don’t know, maybe because this one,” you softly smush the book down, “doesn’t wake me up in the middle of the night and whisk me away to the other side of the globe. And it has volume control,” you throw in, you couldn’t help it. You hear him gasp, affronted. 

“That one also,” he bats at it like a damn kitten, finally succeeding in removing it, “doesn’t have near half the charm or wealth or status as the real one,” he throws in some jazz hands for good measure. 

“Charm I’ll give you, but if you’re inferring that you’ve got more money and status than the entire Roman empire, then I think I should probably let you read it on the flight, might be enlightening,” 

The two of you bicker on and off for the first few hours and then get talking about why the trip to Hungary is happening in the first place. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t zone out through half of it, something about sports and money and whatever, it all starts to blend together when you’ve been dealing with the Roys for half as long as you have. 

Eventually, you noticed that it had been a few minutes (or many minutes) since Roman had said anything. You look down and realize that he had fallen asleep, head still planted firmly on your lap. As quietly as you can, you grab a jacket from the top of your luggage and bundle it up to rest your head on. Before you close your eyes, you can’t help yourself from softly running your fingers through his hair. He subconsciously leans into it and lets out the smallest noise, practically a whimper. Your heart surges. You know you can’t stop now, so you doze off, hand still buried in his waves, a small smile stuck on your face. 

~

After what feels like a lifetime, you finally land and are immediately ushered into cars to meet up with who you think you remember to be Eduard. You and Rome in one car and Karl and Laird in another. You can tell Roman is nervous, he’s in constant movement, his foot is tapping, he’s making this weird clicking noise with his mouth. In both empathy and annoyance, you grab his hand and give it a squeeze. 

“You’ll do great,” you say, giving him what you hope is a genuine smile. He squeezes your hand back and the corner of his mouth raises ever so slightly. 

The two of you stay like that until the cars come to a stop and you all filter out into what appears to be a hotel for the moment of truth. You really do believe in him. Sure, he’s not as seemingly mature as Shiv or even Kendall, but his heart is somehow in the right place and he’s more talented than he knows. You walk in without a doubt that this will so swimmingly. 

You were wrong.

You’ve gotta say, you didn’t foresee the guns. But you know what they say, hindsight’s 20/20. 

Your heart is beating out of your fucking chest and you can’t seem to hold down a single thought, it’s all too much, too fuzzy. You didn’t sign up for this. But neither did Roman. You spare him a glance and can see the sheen of sweat on his forehead. His eyes are as big as saucers. You can hear Karl talking somewhere far away, you know he’s sitting right next to you, but you can’t seem to find your way out of your mind. 

But it gets worse because of course it does. The men approach all of you and hoist Roman up by his arm. Just like that, you snap back to reality. Nobody touches Roman. Fucking nobody. You tune back into the conversation, realizing unfortunately you don’t know what they’re saying.

“Eduard, what are they saying, what do they want?” you ask

“Sunshine, don’t,” Roman says, looking beyond petrified. 

“Shut up,” you mutter at him, eyes still stuck on Eduard. Him and the men go back and forth for a minute, shaking Roman every once in a while and the rage in your core boils even more. Nobody fucking touches him. But you’ve gotta be strategic, somewhere in the back of your head, you know that. You can’t piss them off and get everybody killed. That would be rather counterproductive. You have to stop yourself from audibly snorting at the thought.

“They want to send a message. Who better than the son of an American business tycoon?” he parrots, grimace evident in his voice and on his face. 

“Well tell them that’s fucking stupid,” you actively choose not to look at Roman as you say this next part, “If they kill him, Logan will never stop hunting them down. That man has people everywhere. They won’t last the night. He can destabilize continents. One militia is nothing to a man like him. They wouldn’t be sending a message, they’d be sealing their fate,” you hear Roman make a choked noise and make the executive decision to look over. They had gagged him at some point. You hadn’t even noticed. “Now on the other hand, if you take me. If you kill me, I’m not important enough for Logan to destroy them, but Roman will make sure the message gets spread. He will never stop talking about my death, your legacy will live on through him. Tell them that,” Roman is practically screaming, despite the gag. You glare daggers at Eduard. You don’t think you’ve ever been more serious in your entire life. He relays the message. They seem to be actually considering it and you can feel a physical weight removed from your chest as they throw Roman back onto the couch and stalk towards you. You grin as they grab your arm, your turn to be hoisted up and gagged. Eduard says something to them, they reply, and he removes Roman’s gag. 

“No. No no no no,” he’s in the midst of a full blown panic attack, you can tell. He’s shaking, his hair’s a mess and his pupils are fully blown out. You try and shoot him a reassuring look, but don’t know how successful you are, given the current circumstances. “Karl, Laird, Eduard, fucking do something, please. Please, please,” you look to the three of them and shake your head. They’ve gotta know you’re right. Roman’s gotta know you’re right. 

They corral the five of you into a room off to the side. It’s fully set up, two chairs on one end, a camera on the other. They order Karl, Laird, and Roman to their knees at the door and tie you and Eduard to the chairs, rope pulling tight on your wrists. You can feel your skin break. Roman is still muttering to himself and anyone that will listen, begging them, begging you, begging anyone to stop this. 

But you’re oddly at ease. This is the way it should be. Roman has taken care of you you’re entire life. And you don’t want to live in a world without him. There’s no lying to yourself anymore, what would be the point anyway? You’re about to die. You love him. You’ve always known that you are madly, truly, and incomprehenisbly in love with Roman Roy. You breathe out a sigh of relief. That’s a weight off of your chest too. 

You’re vaguely aware of the gun to your temple, the red blinking light on the camera, and Eduard again parrotting what the men are saying. You look over at Roman. He’s got a gun to his temple too and you frown. That’s not right. Then you notice Laird holding him back, as he tries to throw himself towards you, tears streaming down his face. As long as Laird holds on, he’ll be safe. That puts your mind back at ease. But you can’t look away from him. You’ve never seen him like this before, not even when he was a child and he’d come back from Logan’s room with a black eye, begging to borrow your makeup to cover it. Not when he was in his 20’s and had showed up, knocking at your door, drenched to the bone because his girlfriend had called him a freak and kicked him out in the middle of a torrential downpour. Never. You cock your head to the side and ponder over what it means. It’s not like it matters anyway, the two of you will never have a chance now. You hear the men’s voices getting louder and decide it’s time to close your eyes. You shoot Roman one last wink and you’re enveloped by darkness. 

~

It’s dark. Everything is dark. You think to yourself that this must be what the afterlife is like. Endless darkness. A heavy emptiness gnawing away at what’s left of your soul. 

But then there’s light. A small, tiny light. Not much bigger than a firefly. But it’s warm. A warm pressure surrounding your hand, it’s not overwhelming. It’s comforting. If this is what the afterlife is like, you could get behind it. It’s better than a cold, unforgiving void. A deep feeling of right settles in your gut. You smile. And darkness envelops you once more. 

~

You’re back. Back in the darkness. But this time, the light is brighter. And it’s… talking to you? It’s far away and jumbled. You can only make out a few words.

“love”

“sorry”

“reckless”

“stupid”

“lost”

You’re more confused than ever. Are you a ghost? And just like, really bad at being a ghost? You try and tune out the voice and just focus on the warmth instead. It’s nice. It feels like home. You fade off again.

~

You come back, used to the routine at this point. Opening your metaphorical eyes once more, because, oh yeah, you think, looking down. You don’t have a body. That’s fun. You’re expecting darkness, but you’re met with a blinding light. So bright it hurts. It doesn’t burn, it’s that same, comforting warmth. But the brightness is overbearing. You try and cry out to no avail. The light gets so bright that you’re worried for a second it’ll be your new forever. But no sooner than you can contemplate your new world, your entire being jolts, it feels like your atoms are being rearragnged, one by one.

And you open your eyes. 

Coming back to your physical form is strange. Your head aches and there’s this incessant beeping. Your vision finally comes back and you’re able to regain your bearings. You’re in… a hospital? That doesn’t make sense. Your arm shoots up to feel your head, and somehow it’s in one piece. You hear a snore and your head snaps to the right. 

It’s him. It’s Roman. You’re filled with that warmth again. That undying sense of right. Of home. You smile and can’t help but fall back asleep. 

It’s not dark this time. 

~

When you come to this time, you can feel what you only imagine is Roman’s hand in yours. You give it a squeeze, eyes still closed. You can hear and feel him shoot up in his seat, metal chair scraping the floor.

“Sunshine?” his voice is filled to the brim with an emotion you can’t identify. Hope? Joy? You give his hand another squeeze. 

“You got it, sugar tits. It’s me,” Your voice is rough and it hurts to talk, but you can’t bring yourself to care. You look over and he snorts, eyes filled with unshed tears. “What’s all the fuss about? I’m right here.” That’s all it takes, tears stream down his face. You can’t help but reach up and cradle his face in your hand, thumbing away the droplets. He closes his eyes and lets out a noise somewhere between a sob and a laugh. 

“I cannot fucking believe you. I almost lost you. What the fuck would I have done then, huh? How am I supposed to live in this shitshow of a world without you?” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Love, I’m not trying to invalidate your feelings or anything, but do you mind catching me up on why I’m, you know, still alive?” you ask. Roman’s face flashes with pain, but nevertheless, he catches you up. By some miracle, the Turkish police force stormed the building seconds before you almost met your end. The men pistol whipped the shit out of you and left you lying in a puddle of your own blood before you were rushed to the hospital. When Rome tells you it’s been a week, you think he’s fucking with you at first.

But then you look at him, really look at him. And he looks terrible. The dark circles under his eyes are so intense he practically looks like a skeleton, this five o’clock shadow has sprouted into a shaggy, untamed beard, and his cheeks are laced with more tear tracks than you can count. Somehow, when you were focusing on his appearance, it turned into the yelling at you show. 

“I cannot fucking believe you did that to me, what got into you? Why do you think you can do that? You cannot put yourself in that position for me. For me? Jesus, I need these people to run a goddamn psych eval on you, sacrificing yourself for me of all people,” he’s rambling. You know he’s rambling and he knows he’s rambling. 

“Roman?” you interrupt him, his eyes finally meet yours, “Shut the fuck up. You are worth so much more than you think, you are so much more important than you think, and you are so much more loved than you think. There is not a single doubt in my mind that I would give my life for yours, hell, I would do it again if given the opportunity” he tries to cut in, but you don’t let him. “If I died, your world would keep turning. But if you died? And I didn’t do anything to stop it? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. You are everything to me and you always have been,” you choke up, but keep pushing, because fuck it, “Roman fucking Roy, I love you, you asshole. And I’m never going to let anything happen to you.” He’s crying again. You assume he’s done more crying this week than he has in his entire life. He breaks eye contact and looks down.

“Sunshine. You do not know what this past week has been like for me. It has been hell. It has been worse than hell. I put you in this position. I dragged you to Hungary. I didn’t need you there, I wanted you there. You make my life fun, you are my light. And if I lost my light because I got selfish? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself,” his voice breaks and you give his hand a squeeze. “You deserve so much more than me, so much more than this whirlwind of an unstable life. I can never give you the peace you deserve.”

“Roman, you are my peace. Whether you like it or not. You always have been. It might look different for me than most of the people on this godforsken planet, but you are my peace. And you are my light. You are my home. I fucking love you,” you say, conviction coloring your voice. And he lets out an honest to god sob. You grab his head and pull it into your chest, it’s clumsy and haphazard, but the second his arms engulf your body, you know there is no greater happiness than having him in your arms. You can feel him sobbing into your body, so you grab his face with your hands and pull it up, gingerly placing his forehead on yours.

“I love you too,” he chokes out. You don’t know if he leans in or if you do, but his lips crash into yours. You don’t know who’s tears are who’s but it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters but this moment. 

He’s safe. 

Your boy is safe. 

[dahliacrane]

♛ → THE REACH present DAHLIA FLOWERS, the DRESSMAKER of THE REACH. when the dragons danced in the sky they thought the GREENS would still fly, but in the blink of an eye, they would all die. the TWENTY-SEVEN year old FEMALE who was VIVACIOUS & OUTGOING before they saw the first of the flames, is now TEMPERAMENTAL & FLAKY after seeing the last. through the ash, now they struggle to find sage green silks across bare skin, delicately bandaged fingertips, half-eaten lemon cakes and honeyed mead dripping from careless, loose lips instead of the remnants of the war of succession. ( freya mavor )

character  basics

NAME  :  dahlia flowers. NICKNAMES  :  dahl, lia, dolly by a very select special few. OCCUPATION  /  TITLE  : dressmaker and tailor for the noble highborns of the reach; resident bastard. GENDER  :  she/her; female. ROMANTIC  &  SEXUAL  ORIENTATION  :  pansexual.   AGE  :  twenty seven years old. BIRTHPLACE  :  the floor of a blacksmith’s forge in the reach. CURRENT  RESIDENCE  :  the reach, near highgarden.  

personality

POSITIVES  :  vivacious, romantic, humorous, intelligent, artistic, confident.  NEGATIVES  :  impulsive, fickle, mischievous, tempermental, flaky, immature. MORAL  ALIGNMENT  :  chaotic good. MYERS-BRIGGS  TYPE  :  enfp. HOGWARTS  HOUSE  :  griffyndor. ZODIAC  SIGN  :  leo.

affiliations

FAMILY  :  a still living mother who has stepped back from primary duties as head dressmaker because she’s got Issues; an unknown father. PARTNER  :  n/a. CHILDREN  :  n/a.

physical details

PREFERRED  HAND  :  left handed. EYE  COLOR  :  blue. HAIR  COLOR  :  blonde. HAIR  STYLE  :  usually worn down in curls, rarely put up but often out of her face.   COMPLEXION  :  fair with numerous freckles along the bridge of her nose. BUILD  :  petite. HEIGHT  :   5′10″. CLOTHING  STYLE  :  the more see-through, the better; pale blues, pinks, greens; never in harsh jewel tones like ruby, emerald, or navy. tulle is lyfe. does make her own clothes. NOTABLE  FEATURES  OR  SCARS  :  freckles across her face. PORTRAYED  BY  :  freya mavor.

miscellaneous details

RELIGION  :  none. FEARS  :  being alone; disappointing important people. poverty. stifled creativity. inadequacy. does not like fire; another war. AFFINITIES  &  ABILITIES  :  has a strong work-ethic and attention to detail, is particularly known for creating picturesque designs with thread and beading, a skill her mother tends to purse her lips at. AESTHETICS  :  sage green silks across bare skin, delicately bandaged fingertips, half-eaten lemon cakes and honeyed mead dripping from careless, loose lips ANIMALS  :  a singular white dog named frog. HOBBIES  :  reading; dancing; drinking; sleeping in; shopping; avoiding responsibility; fountain swimming. POSSESSIONS  /  HEIRLOOMS  : carries a miniture iron anvil in her pocket everyday, a keepsake from her passed father-figure. CHARACTER  TROPES  : textile work is feminine; fashionista; material girl; the lover; the maiden; daddy issues; commitment issues. MEDIA  /  CHARACTER  INSPIRATIONS  &  INFLUENCES  :  regina george; anne shirley; delilah (bible); roman roy (succession); beatrice, edmund, ophelia (shakespeare); taylor swift’s speak now; pearl jam’s “black.”

more information — tw: emotional abuse ; tw: narcissistic mother ; tw: death of parent ; tw: war mention ; tw: parental neglect

dahlia was born to elyaine, the court dressmaker and an unknown father. elyaine had taken reprieve when her pregnancy became apparent, and one day when travelling, she went into labor and had to stop at a blacksmith’s shop, where she gave birth to dahlia.

the blacksmith, simply called ‘lore’, was kind to the child and frequently would care for her while she was too young to assist her mother, who was always off working (and a lot of partying).

they lived in a nice cottage, but there was trinkets and finery throughout (which dahlia learned later on was not from her mother’s work alone, but her father would send money that elyaine would spend frivolously)

as dahlia became older, around her 10th name day, she had begun to travel with her mother and learn the trade. but she was also exposed to the debauchery that elyaine surrounded herself with on a constant basis.

eventually, it would end up being dahlia that took over most of the work of making dresses, expanding to even men’s clothing while elyaine would pursue one lover in hopes of a husband after another. elyaine would graciously take credit for her daughter’s work.

elyaine was charming and bright and full of life, but made certain that dahlia understood that elyaine’s life was effectively ruined by her birth. this caused dahlia to pour herself further into her work and spend her spare time with lore, learning artistry from him and incorporating hardware into more of her designs. 

as the war began, lore was called away and elyaine slipped further into bitter rage and wine as business slowed. eventually, word got back that lore had been a casualty of someone else’s problems.

after losing the one stable paternal figure in her life, whose forge had been pillaged and burned, as if he had never been there; and the smallfolk struggled against the wartorn world around them, not safe behind castle walls, dahlia became more involved in escaping the world through hedonism.

when the dust and ash settled, elyaine caught a scarring disease that left her beautiful face dismantled, which led her to drink, dahlia assumed all responsibilities within their business. she still feels the loss of lore and a crippling sense of anxiety to face the poverty they experienced during the war.

dahlia searches for feeling and fulfillment, much to the detriment of her own well-being. she is struggling to make it through rebuilding, but refuses to let it show. she loves the finer things and wants more of them; she also tends to search for comfort in the wrong arms.

[whumpslist]

Single episode Whumps

I will collect here single episodes with good whumps, even if the serie is not listed because lacks of whumps. This page will be continuously updated.

Nancy Drew: 2.14 episode “The Siege of the Unseen Specter”. Character: Detective Abe Tamura, performed by Ryan-James Hatanaka. Type of whumps: held hostage, touched an electrified door and fallen to the floor hitting his head, dressed hand and ice pack at his head, progressivily feeling worse, collapsed on the floor, rescued, bags under his eyes. °°°NEWEST°°°

Aftermath: Character: Joshua Copeland, performed by James Tupper

1.07 episode “What the Thunder Said”. Type of whumps: shot in the abdomen, treated on the field and bullet extracted “magically”, blood and pain, passed out, healed (too) fast.

1.10-1.11 episodes. Type of whumps: got brain fever in the previous episode, coughing blood, fever and hallucinations, heavely sedated and visions, delusional, collapsed and unconscious on the ground.

Blindspot: Character: Roman, performed by Luke Mitchell

2.09 episode “ Why Let Cooler Pasture Deform”. Type of whumps: intense headache and hissing ears, collapsed, unconscious on hospital bed, weak and couldn’t stand, painful memoris, emotional pain and crying.

3.16 episode “Artful Dodge”. Type of whumps: fought and shot, bloody and weak and sweating, treated on the field, injected with ZIP and upset, collapsed.

Colony: Character: Will Bowman, performed by Josh Holloway

1.06 episode “Yoknapatawpha”. Type of whumps: deep cut at his arm, treated and dressed on the field, fought and tired.

2.01 episode (and 2.02) “Eleven.Thirteen”. Type of whumps: beaten and stabbed into his shoulder, treated and dressed on the field, fought and hit at his wound, fought again.

Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders: 2.13 episode “The Ripper of Riga”

Character: Jack Garrett, performed by Gary Sinise. Type of whumps: intense emotional distress, shot by his own son and collapsed on the floor, blood on his hand, under gunpoint, passed out.

Character: Ryan Garrett, performed by Matt Cohen. Type of whumps: kidnapped, under gunpoint, beaten face and handcuffed hands, bloody and swollen eye, intense emotional distress.

Character: Matt Simmons, performed by Daniel Henney. Type of whumps: hit by explosion blast, bloody and cut face, treated on the field and many patches.

Deputy: Character: Sheriff Bill Hollister, performed by Stephen Dorff

1.01 episode “Graduation Day”. Type of whumps: shot in the arm and rough fight, bloody wound at his head, treated in hospital.

1.07 episode “10-8 Search and Rescue”. Type of whumps: into a car accident, treated in hospital, bruised face and ribs and sprained wrist, sore and grimacing, shot in the vest and fallen to the ground, many grunting, rough fight.

Forever: [not really durable because... you know, the immortal thing... but there are a couple worthy of mention]

1.05 episode “The Pugilist Break”. Character: Dr. Henry Morgan, performed by Ioan Gruffudd. Type of whumps: beaten and kicked, laying in hospital bed, bruises sore and limping.

1.07 episode “New York Kids”. Character: Dr. Henry Morgan, performed by Ioan Gruffudd. Type of whumps: shot twice in two different situations.

1.08 episode “The Ecstasy of Agony”. Character: Dr. Henry Morgan, performed by Ioan Gruffudd. Type of whumps: chained to a cross and badly tortured, electrocuted.

1.13 episode “Diamonds Are Forever”. Character: Det. Mike Hanson, performed by Donnie Keshawarz. Type of whumps: shot in the arm, hospital, arm in a sling for the rest of the episode.

1.22 episode “The Last Death of Henry Morgan”. Character: Dr. Henry Morgan, performed by Ioan Gruffudd. Type of whumps: fought and stabbed to death, shot to death and gasping in pain.

Frequency:

1.01 episode “Pilot”. Character: Det. Frank Sullivan, performed by Riley Smith. Type of whumps: shot, bleeding, recovering in hospital.

1.06 episode “Deviation”. Character: Det. Frank Sullivan, performed by Riley Smith. Type of whumps: beaten and kicked, bruises and sore.

1.10 episode “The Edison Effect”. Character: Det. Frank Sullivan, performed by Riley Smith. Type of whumps: car accident, bloody cut on his forehead, sore [consequences in 1.11 episode]. Character: Det. Kyle Moseby, performed by Rob Mayes. Type of whumps: laying in hospital bed with concussion, bruised ribs and broken foream.

1.13 episode “Signal Loss”. Character: Det. Frank Sullivan, performed by Riley Smith. Type of whumps: shot. Character: Captain Stan Moreno, performed by Anthony Ruivivar. Type of whumps: shot twice.

Godless: Character: Roy Goode, performed by Jack O'Connell

1.01 episode “An Incident at Creede”. Type of whumps: shot once but already shot twice, treated on the field, unconscious, collapsed, without voice, sore, arrested and handcuffed.

1.03 episode “Wisdom of the Horse”. Type of whumps: memory of previous shooting, horse-drawn.

1.07 episode “Homecoming”. Type of whumps: under heavy gunfire, duel with the gun, shot, collapsed.

Grantchester:

1.06 episode. Character: Detective Inspector Geordie Keating, performed by Robson Green. Type of whumps: shot, bleeding, hospital. Character: Reverend Sidney Chambers, performed by James Norton. Type of whumps: very worried and angst, fought and noise bleeding.

2.03 episode. Character: Reverend Sidney Chambers, performed by James Norton. Type of whumps: attacked and slashed an arm with a knife, hit on his neck and knocked out.

2.05/06 episode. Character: Detective Inspector Geordie Keating, performed by Robson Green and Character: Reverend Sidney Chambers, performed by James Norton.Type of whumps: fought together, bad argument and broken friendship (for a while).

3.02 episode. Character: Reverend Sidney Chambers, performed by James Norton. Type of whumps: poisoned and felt sick, collapsed.

4.01 episode. Character: Sidney Chambers, portrayed by James Norton. Type of whumps: punched in the face, fought and elbowed, slammed against a wall and glass then collapsed, repeatedly punched, rescued, bleeding lip and bruised eyebrown, refused treatment and grumpy, treated on the field by his friend.

Lucifer: Character: Lucifer Morningstar, performed by Tom Ellis [not really durable because... you know, the immortal thing... but there are a couple worthy of mention]

1.13 episode “Take Me Back to Hell”. Type of whumps: shot, bleeding and gasping, dead than resurrected.

2.13 episode “A Good Day to Die”. Type of whumps: stopped his heart and revived, sweating.

3.17 episode “Let Pinhead Sing”. Type of whumps: stabbed with a knife, weak legs and sitting, arm in a sling.

4.01 episode “Everything's Okay”. Type of whumps: shot in the had and hole in it, screaming in effort and hand profusely bleeding, dresed hand.

4.04 episode “All About Eve”. Type of whumps: fought, hit and stabbed in the shoulder, frustrated.

4.04 episode “All About Eve”. Type of whumps: fought, hit and stabbed in the shoulder, frustrated.

4.05 episode “Expire Erect”. Type of whumps: held hostage, shot, badly bleeding and grunting, weak and pale, almost hit by explosion blast, on a gurney.

3.03 episode “Mr. and Mrs. Mazikeen Smith”. Character: BenRivers, performed by Chris L. McKenna. Type of whumps: handcuffed twice, fought, under heavy gunfire, shot and bleeding, “treated”on the field, punched and knocked out, stitched wound with... a button (?), captured tied up and gun at his head, fought, bruise on his face and sore.

Lucifer: Character: Marcus Pierce / Cain, performed by Tom Welling [not really durable because... you know, the immortal thing... but there are a couple worthy of mention]

3.04 episode “What Would Lucifer Do”. Type of whumps: shot, on a gurney, in hospital.

3.10 episode “The Sin bin” (and a brief aftermath in 3.12). Type of whumps: stabbed with a knife, collapsed and dead, resuscitated and gasping in pain, bleeding and treating himself.

3.13 episode “Til Death Do Us Part ”. Type of whumps: stabbed with a knife, groaning in pain.

3.14 episode “My Brother's Keeper”. Type of whumps: rough fight, shot, fallen dead and resuscitated, stabbed with broken bottle and screaming in pain, impaled and bleeding, heavily panting.

3.16 episode “Infernal Guinea Pig”. Type of whumps: shot, fallen dead and resuscitated.

3.24 episode “Quintessential Deckerstar”. Type of whumps: shot, into a gunfight, rough fight, stabbed and groaning in pain, dead.

Off the Map:

1.05 episode “I’m Here”. Character: Mateo, performed by Nicholas Gonzalez. Type of whumps: shot, bleeding, recovering in hospital.

1.06 episode “It’s Good”. Character: Julio, performed by José Zúñiga. Type of whumps: appendicitis, surgery without painkillers, chopper crash.

1.13 episode “There’s A Lot to Miss About the Jungle”. Character: Mateo, performed by Nicholas Gonzalez. Type of whumps: multiple shots, bleeding.

Profilage: Character: Inspector Thomas Rocher, performed by Philippe Bas

3.08 episode “Le prix de la liberté”. Type of whumps: rough fight, various bruises.

3.11-12 episode “Insoupçonnable”. Type of whumps: car accident and aftermath with headache and various bruises.

4.10 episode “La poudre aux yeux”. Type of whumps: shot, bleeding and passing out, brief aftermath.

5.08 episode “Entre deux”. Type of whumps: drugged and passed out, threated with a knife.

5.12 episode “À jamais”. Type of whumps: involved into a prison riot, fought and beaten, various bruises, later stabbed with scissors, shocked and collapsed.

8.02 episode “Le Prisonnier: 1ère partie”. Type of whumps: hit by explosion blast, uncoscious into an hospital bed with orthopedic collar and cuts on his face, dizzy and sore.

9.02 episode “Nouveau départ: 2ème partie”. Type of whumps: hit at his head and bullet grazed, kidnapped, tied, fought, treated in hospital.

9.08 episode “Les yeux fermés”. Type of whumps: head surgery, into a coma and nightmares, bandaged head.

SEAL Team: 3.01 episode “Welcome to the Refuge”. Character: Jason Hayes, performed by David Boreanaz. Type of whumps: hit by explosion blast and roughly pushed to the ground, unconscious, wobbly scratches and bruises, blood from his nose.

Shades of Blue:

2.02 episode “Eye of the Hurricane”. Character: Robert Stahl, performed by Warren Kole. Type of whumps: punched and almost chocked to death, with black eye in the following episode.

2.12 episode “Behind the Mask”. Character: James Nava, performed by Gino Anthony Pesi. Type of whumps: slashed on his forearm with a piece of glass, bleeding, hospital care.

2.13 episode “Broken Dolls”. Character: Matt Wozniak, performed by Ray Liotta. Type of whumps: shot point-blank in the abdomen.

3.07 episode “Straight Through The Heart”. Character: Anthony Cole, portrayed by Nick Wechsler. Type of whumps: tortured, manhandled, slapped, hands tied, searing flesh with blowtorch, screaming.

3.08 episode “Cry Havoc”. Character: Anthony Cole, portrayed by Nick Wechsler. Type of whumps: tortured and restrained, searing flesh wih a blowtorch, screaming in pain, sweating and panting, hit on the forehead and bloody, manhandled.

Tandem: Character: Paul Marchal, performed by Stéphane Blancafort

1.11 episode “Un anneau d'or: 1ère partie”. Type of whumps: into a shooting fight, bloody wound at his arm, hit in the head.

1.12 episode “Un anneau d'or: 2ème partie”. Type of whumps: injured in the previous episode, blindfolded and hands tied, kidnapped, escaped and hunted, in pain and heavily panting, manhandled, treated on the field, manhandled and repeatedly under gunpoint, rescued.

2.01 episode “Dans les mailles du filet”. Type of whumps: still recovering from gunshot wound, in pain under distress, a bit manhandled.

The Librarians: Character: Flynn Carsen, performed by Noah Wyle

1.01 episode “And the Crown of King Arthur”. Type of whumps: stabbed with a magical sword and collapsed to the ground.

1.02 episode “And the Sword in the Stone”. Type of whumps: mortally-wounded, treated on the field, bleeding and fainting this and there, fought, collapsed and dead, magically resuscitated.

3.10 episode “And the Wrath of Chaos”. Type of whumps: willing to sacrifice his life, hit by an energy ball and fallen to the ground, screaming in pain and on his knees, exhausted.

4.12 episode “And the Echoes of Memory”. Type of whumps: locked into an asylum, manhandled and electrocuted, grabbed again and almost lobotomized.

The Night Shift: Character: Dr. TC Callahan, performed by Eoin Macken

3.13 episode “Burned”. Type of whumps: beaten up, arrested and tied up, hit by explosion blast and bloody unconscious.

4.01 episode “Recoil”. Type of whumps: bloody face and tied up, hit by explosion blast, submerged by debris, nail in his hand, beaten.

4.02 episode “Off the Rails”. Type of whumps: manhandled and tied up, shot in the shoulder, arm sling.

4.09 episode “Land of the Free”. Type of whumps: rough fight, badly fallen to the ground, medical treatment, bruises on his face.

The Vampire Diaries: Character: Damon Salvatore, performed by Ian Somerhalder

2.22 episode “As I Lay Dying”. Type of whumps: poisoned, exposed to sun and burning, locked into a cell, spitting blood, weak for poison spreading, hallucinations and needing help to walk, on his knees, weak and sweating, moaning in bed, care.

4.23 episode “Graduation”. Type of whumps: shot with poisoned bullet and self-treatment, sore and bloody wound, weak for poison spreading, shot two times, on his knees weak and sweating.

Transporter The Series: 2.03 episode “Beacon of Hope”

Character: Frank Martin, performed by Chris Vance. Type of whumps: surrounded and hit in the face with rifle’s butt, captured and slapped, captured again and tortured, beaten and fought, many bruises on his face, under gunpoint.

Character: Zac Preston, performed by Tyler Hynes. Type of whumps: cut on his forearm and somehow dressed, sweating and weak, collapsed, discovered infected cut on his flank and fever, on a stretch and coughing, weak sore and in need of help to walk, injected with antibiotics, sore and in need of help to walk, under gunpoint.

X Company:

1.08–2.01 episode “Creon Via London”. Character: Tom Cummings, performed by Dustin Milligan. Type of whumps: aftermath of the shot in episode 1.08, bleeding, sweeting, fever for infection, very pale and weak.

2.01 episode “Creon Via London”. Character: Alfred Graves, performed by Jack Laskey. Type of whumps: captured and hanged by hands into a cell, badly beaten, many bloody bruises [torture continues in following episode].

3.05 episode “Frontiers”. Character: Franz Faber, performed by Torben Liebrecht. Type of whumps: captured, tied up, scarred with a knife and beaten, taunted, still shocked after escaped.

Agent Carter: 2.07 episode “Monsters”. Character: Det. Daniel Sousa, performed by Enver Gjokaj. Type of whumps: beaten and kicked, bruises and sore

Big Sky: 1.16 episode “Love is a Strange and Dangerous Thing”. Character: Mark Lindor, performed by Omar Metwally. Type of whumps: T-boned and car accident, bloody head and unconscious, under gunpoint, on a gurney unconscious.

Cardinal: 1.06 episode. Character: Det. John Cardinal, performed by Billy Campbell. Type of whumps: shot twice, bleeding and gasping, hit on his wounds, in hospital bed.

Extant: last frames of 2.12 and 2.13 episode “The Greater Good”. Character: JD Richter, performed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Type of whumps: shot, bleeding out, treated on the field, recovering, fever and dizziness.

Hostages: 1.08 episode “The Good Reason”. Character: Duncan Carlisle, performed by Dylan McDermott. Type of whumps: attacked, stabbed with a syringe full of paralytic, treated on the field, cut with a knife without anesthetic, into a tub with ice to contrast poisoning.

Jessica Jones: 1.09 episode “AKA Sin Bin”. Character: Will Simpson, performed by Wil Traval. Type of whumps: involved into an explosion blast, injured and bloody, into hospital bed.

Halt and Catch Fire: 1.04 episode “Close to the Metal” (with some aftermath into 1.05). Character: Joe Macmillan, performed by Lee Pace. Type of whumps: beadly beaten up, arrested and handcuffed in pain, hurt and sore.

Mary Kills People: 1.02 episode “The River Styx”. Character: Des, performed by Richard Short. Type of whumps: shot, blood and sweating, treated on the field, flesh wound dressed.

Nancy Drew: 2.14 episode “The Siege of the Unseen Specter”. Character: Detective Abe Tamura, performed by Ryan-James Hatanaka. Type of whumps: held hostage, touched an electrified door and fallen to the floor hitting his head, dressed hand and ice pack at his head, progressivily feeling worse, collapsed on the floor, rescued, bags under his eyes.

Powers: 2.08 episode “Chasing Ghosts”. Character: Det. Kutter, performed by Justice Leak. Type of whumps: stabbed ripetutely, lot of blood.

Salvation: 1.04 episode “The Human Strain”. Character: Darius Tanz, performed by Santiago Cabrera. Type of whumps: incarcerated and interrogated, slapped and fallen from the chair, tied up to a table and tortured with water, shaking and coughing, almost injected with truth serium, weak and wet, in need of help to walk.

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