#thread: roman

[finnleywood]

text || finn & roman

FINN: Maybe it's the couple of beers i've had. Or maybe it's the article I just read about myself half an hour ago that's given me a confidence boost but... FINN: I was wondering if you'd maybe like to grab coffee with me or something sometime soon?

[jcmesashcroft]

"Are we about to get into a my sword is bigger than your sword argument, because I have to warn you now, I will be the one coming out as the winner in that." James couldn't help but smirk upon seeing the others outfit, "And of course if you don't believe me, I'm more then happy to show you it, just to prove my point of course." He continued, knowing that if he continued on with lines like this throughout the night there would be a high possibility that he'd get slapped across the face.

@romcnrodriguez

[torixhcstings]

"Do you need me to leave?" Tori asked with a brow raised as she took a sip of her drink through her straw. "Am I throwing you off your game by standing too close? Because I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think it's more your so called flirting that's making you tank and not my presence."

@romcnrodriguez

[doctorknightley]

WHERE: Outside the Commune WHO: Roman (@endlessreruns)

Knightley was walking back towards the Commune entrance, he'd been out doing his round of house calls for the day. Cocking his head to the side when he spotted a familiar face sitting on the steps. "You can wait inside for them, unless you prefer sitting out in the cold."

[jacksbaker]

starter @romanphoenix -- fired up pizzeria.

"im thinking of doing a movie game night at my place. if you wanna join in?"

[judcmatthcws]

"I don't want to be the type of person who makes assumptions." Jude started, eyeing the other slightly. "But have you or have you not been going a whole lot of people tonight and feeding them terrible pick up lines. I think I must have overheard around seven and not necessarily from your mouth, but from people you've clearly hit on and are talking about you to their friends."

@romcnrodriguez

[riley-sowhat-aldridge]

Smiling as the other got into position, Riley made sure that his camera was up to his face so he wouldn't miss any real angles the other got to even accidentally while readying himself. There was a few quick positions that he got a good snip of, but mostly he waited until Roman was primed and ready. The way the other presented, even jerked a little and showed off, had the younger photographer smiling behind the lens as he took his shots, own speedo barely covering anything with his bulge starting to tent the tight fabric. Clearly he was on display for Riley's amusement right now, and hey, with a body like his why wouldn't Roman show off.

"I think you look positively radiant like that, Ro." He smiled as he took a few shots, repositioning himself around the lagoon for better angles again. Once done, he let the camera hang from his neck and just took in the image of the man half hard on display. "I mean, I prefer you any which way I can get you right now, but the pictures came out great. More for a porn sight tho than a portfolio." Squatting down, he ran his hand against Roman's chest gently. "Hope that's okay."

Roman smirks and steps closer to Riley.

"Well, since you asked so nicely."

He presses a kiss to the boy's cheek and then moves to the rocky spot Riley wants him. He give his cock a few lazy tugs, encouraging it to get longer though not enough to be fully hard yet. The rocks are smooth from the water weathering, so it's not uncomfortable to settle his naked body on them. He stretches out his long limbs, twisting so his body can catch the light in the best ways.

"What do you think?" he asks, looking up to Riley. "Do you like it, or is there something else you'd prefer?"

[troglobite]

cool so after watching the character creation session zero they posted today, brennan's choices re: sean's revenge are like. DEEPLY fucking symbolic. (hi @fluidstatick lol time to post abt it)

spenser talking about the death rituals in newfaire, how they keep the mouth closed and covered (often w gold) and place the hands over the mouth to prevent the soul from wandering

and how there'll be like pins and metaphorical stitching around the graveyards to corral the spirits of soldiers and unidentified dead, since it was impossible for their loved ones to perform the ritual of keeping the mouth closed to keep their soul inside

so. brennan chooses. a baseball. that has stitching on it, of course, and the stitches create an endless loop like a mobius strip.

and when he goes to kill the five men that the creature brings to him

he shoots a couple of them in the face. blasting their mouths wide open. damning their souls to an eternity of wandering.

and another, he shoves the baseball into his mouth--forcing it open and closed at the same. he can't speak or fight back, and his mouth is held open as sean beats him to death. mouth open, soul doomed to wander for eternity.

and with their hands tied behind their backs.

and the baseball already represented tony and jimmy, and specifically called forth that it was for THEM that sean sought revenge.

and

the stitching and symbolism of the baseball

it is meant to representationally carry and contain the spirits of tony and jimmy

they did not, could not receive the same death rites

who knows if tony ever made it back to a newfaire graveyard

who knows what they do with the body of a "traitor"

but this baseball. it has stitching in that loops forever, on and on. it keeps them inside and safe. sean literally tosses the ball around and traces the stitching like a rosary (bc spenser literally said, fantasy catholicisim).

and he tells his ma to not wash the ball, to keep it intact.

hey brennan, i just wanna fucking talk

about how you took everything spenser said and made some fucking incredible detail choices which are EVEN MORE DEVASTATING now that we have the same contextual world knowledge that you were given

FUCK

[exilethegame]

hiii pheo, from what i remember you play dragon age too, how are we feeling about the upcoming game??

Oooh so many mixed feelings. Rn for me it's a classic case of I **want** to be excited... but then EA is the one publishing the game so like... 🧍🏻

I'm def planning to keep an ear out for reviews before buying. However, I'm also in the camp of not letting nostalgia ruin the potential for a new game, especially since it seems they're changing a few things re. combat mechanics and the general format of the RPG. I'm also not saying I am a little scared for Varric in this game for some reason but... 👀

He's v much giving me "long-time companion character who's lived out his hay-days and will now die a tragic death to inspire the player." Also... I'm very curious about the Alistair/Hawke/Stroud Abyss storyline in DAI b/c there were so many theories surrounding that, esp. w/ Hawke + the Abyss but...

Imma be so fr I have like zero faith in that ever being acknowledged canonically 💀

[pinkjamblesss]

your first love vs. your soulmate

‘the person who taught you what love is’ vs. ‘the person who showed you the love you deserve’

‘the loss of your life’ vs. ‘the love of your life’

‘taught you the lesson’ vs. ‘the result of you learning that lesson’

‘maybe in another life’ vs. ‘in every life’

‘grew up together’ vs. ‘growing old together’

‘brocedes’ vs. ‘sewis’

[judcmatthcws]

At the others admission he could feel his body tense, yet another person knowing who he was and him being unfamiliar with who they were. The clap to his back brought him out of his thoughts, putting a smile on his face as though he was welcoming back an old friend, he was starting to learn that admitting to everyone he met that he had no fucking clue as to what was going on most of the time and that he couldn't remember those from his past was not the best idea. So, he was trying to refine his acting skills. "Oh I don't know about that, I think it depended on the celebration." He chuckled, hoping that the smile he had on his face was convincing enough. "Yeah, it's been some time right. What? Over three years now?" He asked, trying to pull some information from the other. "Ah, but where is the mystery if you're putting all your cards on the table straight away?"

“I have to say it’s an interesting way of celebrating, can’t say I’ve seen this sort of ritual before.” Jude commented, looking at the other with an amused expression on his face as he took in the whole scene. “And a treat? Is that true or something you need to advertise because you give off a different kind of energy upon first meetings?” He couldn’t help but ask. “If I join will I also be pulled into this chaotic craziness, cause if so, I think I might just be a spectator to it all.”

"You never really were good at celebrating." He teased lightly giving a smile when he saw the man. "Jude. Long time no see." He stated, clapping him on the back. "No, I just don't see the point in being modest about the obvious. Might as well save them time pondering over it."

[finnleywood]

text // finn & roman

Finn: Hey. It's Finn. The guy you gave your number to in like... February and is now using it in May. Finn: Hopefully better late than never, right? Finn: Or if it is too late, feel free to tell me to fuck right off.

[jcmesashcroft]

"Okay, I have to ask because I imagine the number is going to be pretty high and I want to know how many unimaginative people are out and bout tonight." James spoke as he approached the other, "How many people have asked if they can rub your lamp? Because I have to guess it's at least more than five."

@romcnrodriguez

[tonibeltran]

[ OUTGOING SMS 📲 ROMAN (♥️) ]

ANTONIO: What do you think are the chances that vets are actually a scam? ANTONIO: Just paid over $500 for these fuckers to tell me they don't know what's wrong with Moon ANTONIO: Sent her home with antibiotics and a "good luck." I'm starting to think veterinary medicine isn't real. @theromandaniels

[bruisedconscience]

Roman thinks it over on his way up, and he doesn’t want to do it himself. All that scar-stuff was Victor’s MO. Roman liked having the faces peeled but he rarely enjoyed doing it himself. Only on more manic days when the fear of uncleanliness was nowhere to be seen, masked by other, stronger compulsions.

“Don’t hand that thing to me,” he spat at Victor with a scoff. “I want it where you would never put it. Pick…whatever your least favorite fucking spot is, that’s where this tally mark goes. —Not where it’ll make you useless to me, obviously. Christ, you idiot… I still can’t believe I’m gonna have to come up with some other plan to get the next Gotham General investor in my pocket. God, so much work!” He smooths his gloved hands up and down his face, stressed out and flushed light pink just from thinking of the slight exertion.

senseless violence — Roman & Victor

n.sfw

[wonderpommey]

Well Jesse said it, no one truly changes and indeed nothing really changed in the couples’ dynamics in the end.

The show dangled a possible happy ending for Connor and Willa for a second but of course it tears it away in the finale. We already see Willa squirming under Connor’s grip, grappling with the “sexy second week itch”. Roman is particularly repulsed by that pairing; buying a young escort-type woman and parading her as somehow worthy, as a ‘wife’. There’s something so offensive to him about that. We never see Roman give Gerri anything of monetary value. He’d never want to buy her, he’s desperately attracted to how real she is, to the experience and things she can teach him, in every possible way (sex & advice). He wants what she is willing to give, not what he can buy. The only time money comes into their relationship is the exit package (pass!) and even that is essentially just another lesson she’s teaching him. You wanna rule with emotion, the next person will take you for everything you’re worth!

Shiv's adoption of Tom remains partly strategic. It moves from "not being betrayed" to "holding onto power", it has very little to do with love. Shiv continues to push sadistically to see how much she can get away with, how close patriarchy will let her get to being her own woman. Then, when Tom or Logan tells her she’s gone too far, she folds. And Tom loves her enough or loves being in the fold enough that it works in the succession universe, it becomes a deal of somewhat terrifying equals. And that was what succession was all about. Capitalism, patriarchy and the oppression of women. What men demand things like love and care from women, but they actually lose any genuine connection the second they take a woman's agency away from her… Sure you get her by your side physically for a while but you crucially loose her very desire to be there.

Roman and Gerri’s relationship remains a study in longing and sensuality. They are barely featured in the finale but Roman sets the tone by going down on mummy’s cheese. Oh succession and its cheesy genitals, the ricotta dick! The grilled cheese with a sucked dick! The whole kitchen scene is obviously an allegory about the lack of food and incidentally love Caroline has supplied to her children. It’s only scraps, rot and fire going into that smoothie. But Oedipus-Roman, doesn’t want the smoothie, he wants the tasty morsel of maternal love which isn't for him. He doesn’t bite by the way, he only licks. Unlike his last second on screen, he can’t go as far as actual consumption. Did he want Lobster? No, he wanted the most love. Did he want steak? No! He wanted to be picked above Kendall!!

Speaking of what’s not for him... He then has to watch Gerri talk about the pleasures of a slow screw. It’s a sudden exposure to her sexuality, a validation of his intuition that she likes being superior to her conquests, sexually, spiritually. Something he knows he can give her alongside the painful realisation that she opens up - to others - in that way.

Then the office breakdown. I still look good, I still look the part “Why isn’t it me?” What are the rockstar and the molewoman when the rockstar is just a big sack of bullshit? And Ken reaffirming he’s not good enough, he’s pure emotion, he doesn’t have the drive, he only ever wanted a ride or die.

All culminating in his only true, almost naturalistic documentary-style consumption of the season; Gerri’s martini. Drinking in the quasi love of his life (I could do a whole post about how wild it is that Jesse ‘I don’t want to tell you what to think’ Armstrong said something so totalitarian). This isn't the first connection between an older woman’s sexual appetite and her drink of choice this season! Remember Roman’s reaction to the image of Nan liking her wine like she likes her men!

Sure, the outer layer of that scene shows Roman, having lost the company, his lover/mentor's good will, and any way he knows of interacting with his siblings in a bar drinking alone, overly dressed, old Hollywood style. A potential regression to his sad playboy lifestyle (Jesse), or the start of a hopeless spiral of alcohol abuse (Mark - who has since then said he saw how Roman’s ending could be perceived as hopeful). 

Upon closer inspection, his inferiority/beta complex, his emotions, his desire to be loved, his desire NOT to be in charge/on top - everything that his dad loathed to see in him - are finally showing through the physical scars on his face. He gave it a valiant try, but he couldn’t keep parading as whomever Logan wanted him to be and he realises that it makes him an unworthy heir and in the same breath, access to Gerri is disallowed. It still overwhelms him with emotion, but in the same way Oedipus took his own eyes and couldnt see Jocasta and longer, Roman only gets to see Gerri through screen and glass anymore. He demanded she believed he was as good and as ruthless as his dad and he turned out not to be. Objectively, it’s not a prerequisite to Gerri’s feelings for him as she responds to his pathos way more than she does to Logan's death, but his psyche is convinced he no longer deserves to be in her presence.

So he does the only thing he can do to keep her as close as he needs. Don't be fooled by the luxurious, civilised quality of the drink, this is a biological need,  pure sustenance (Get her inside of him, under his skin, into his bloodstream and pumping to his heart). He bites his lip as the liquid enters his mouth, swallowing dramatically, loving the burn & hating the pain. 

And we’ve come full circle on the theme of consuming each other. From the partnership-worthy mutual cannibalistic proposal of season 2, to the toxic if slightly castrating injunction for her to go down on him and devour him. Season 4 breaks him enough that he gets to the opposite nihilistic ideation that he’s nothing and hence has no claim on the company or being her protégé. The truth - that we don’t know if he can get to - is somewhat in between. All these kids are very smart and worthy in their own ways, even though of course the expectation placed on them to be exceptional prevents them being satisfied in being maybe just that.

His final scene showcases the sad and lonely consumption of the woman he loves’ essence, a poor ersatz for the ‘old gal’s juices’ that he doesn’t deserve. All he has to offer being something he has never been able to name or express without the alibi of the company; an amorphous, unworthy, unnamable but ultimately undeniable feeling.

And possibly in the writers’ minds, this is the suicide part of their contemporary Romeo & Juliet drama. Dying with the blade and the poison after daddy said the love was unacceptable & unobtainable? I mean come ON! 

Roman “knifed” Gerri (This is rhetoric they use ON THE SHOW), she completed the execution by taking herself out and brought him the threat of annihilation (while ordering the poison; a martini). There is a delicious poisonous quality to the drink isn’t there (or its abuse)? And of course, if he dies he’ll die by her, he’ll taste the poison she chose off her lips, because if he has lost the love of his life in this eternal quasi status, it becomes the only worthy pursuit.

That was the roman-esque question of the show. What is love if it’s always been withheld, if it’s always been expressed via the proxy of the company, if it’s never been given freely, or modelled or held as something precious and worthy that had to be protected? And what if it makes you ravenous for it? And how could you get it, this thing you most desperately want, if you’d never been given the tools?

O true apothecary, Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.