Charkellyism - Tedsune Stan

Honestly I think one of the underappreciated aspects of tomgreg is that... I don't think Tom has had a real friend before - or if he has, it was a very long time ago. He's in this world where everything is false and everything has a veneer of artifice and everyone keeps themselves and their emotions under lock and key, and everyone is at everyone else's throats. And he's been in that world probably since college, when he started trying to climb the social ladder, and the problem is that you can't really have actual friendships in that world. You can have people who you do things with and people that you talk to regularly, but you can't have the kinds of emotional intimacy that really characterize a friendship.

And on top of that, Tom is... off-putting, and he knows it. He comes on too strong and he can't quite master the mannerisms and jokes and air of being unaffected that are requisite for fitting into this world. I really strongly get the sense that he felt like an outsider even before he started dating Shiv and became part of the Roy's sphere of influence for this exact reason.

And I think he really does feel, especially from 1.06 onwards, that he has an actual friend in Greg. The way that he and Greg gravitate towards each other in the background of every group scene? The way that Tom rushes to tell him about the bj from Tabitha at his bachelor party? Boar on the floor? "Just fucking come over"? We can go on and on about the power imbalance and Tom's need to feel dominant over somebody and the emotional needs that aren't being met in his marriage, and all of that is true, but I think it's also so clear that he really does value Greg as a person and as a friend and as someone he can talk to and demonstrate some degree of emotional vulnerability with. Greg's not intimidating and Greg lets Tom's emotional outbursts roll off him and Greg doesn't shun or judge Tom for his offputting mannerisms, because he's also a little offputting and he knows it.

(And while I think Greg's feelings towards Tom are a little more complicated than Tom's feelings towards Greg, I think he really does consider them friends and value the friendship too. First of all bc he's actually explicitly referred to Tom as his friend, but just as Tom seems more comfortable around Greg than he does around anyone else, so does Greg seem to be comfortable around Tom).

"Eternal life is a curse" idk maybe you're just boring. Meanwhile I'm gonna listen to every song ever, finish reading wikipedia, and finally learn how to snowboard.

this episode really gets you to sympathize with basically everyone except logan. you see that roman and connor actually care that the letter would hurt kendall and therefore abstain from signing it despite the possible wrath of their father. you feel for how embarrassed and upset and angry shiv is after she is undermined yet again and her big moment is stolen from her by a strategic nirvana song. you learn that connor stepped in to take his younger brother on a fishing trip that roman has had to substitute for a happy memory of his father because he never gave him any. you feel bad for kendall as he hides himself away in a server room while the whole world reads an incredibly hurtful statement from his own sister. you’re made to watch as roman tries to improve his father’s image by expressing affection publicly (something he was asked to do) before logan himself calls him a slur for it. even tom has his moments, as you worry about his potential incarceration and see the increasing loneliness he feels after greg doesn’t show up and his wife appears to be at least partially in support of him taking the fall for her father and heading off to prison. idk man you can just see they’re all just sad and scared and want love from people who do not know how to (or won’t) give it to them.

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fyi this blog is for engaging with fandom stuff but have patience i'm going thru a backlog of old posts to reblog here... still care for most someway but they won't necessarily be focused on once i've gotten somewhat up to date. just different interests occupy my thoughts since i first started this blog so expect different media and focuses in the future ^^

yeah can we get assistance in the greeting card aisle. this guy's been trying to pick out a card for 45 minutes

Augh my pretty pretty 30yo princesa

i hauve a cold

pardon oomfs im going to be spam rbing this summer from old to new tryna actually Fill a tumblr blog lmao so Good Luck dealing with the insurge of posts heh