#but like in general it’s obvious tom is in love with greg and it’s semi hard to tell about greg

[gregmarriage]

on a tomgreg betrayal, i honestly don’t think it will actually happen. the chances of it genuinely happening seem very slim. i think there’s probably gonna be the possibility offered to one or both of them, one or both of them will get scared the other will actually go through with it (most likely, tom will be worried that greg will turn against him somehow) honestly? i just imagine a boar on the floor style situation where it’s tense and there’s a moment where you think one of them will betray the other, but they don’t. this later solidifies their relationship and could perhaps lead into the meaty stuff, i.e, the romantic side of things.

[transmutationisms]

id love to hear more abt the piss motif could u give me a comprehensive guide so far

omg yes of course

so on the surface level, pissing on this show is often a way of expressing dominance or power relations. which makes sense on an intuitive level—it's sort of like a dog marking its territory. that's what logan is doing in 'lifeboats' when he pisses on kendall's floor, and what matsson is doing in 'too much birthday' when he pisses on the waystar app. it's also what that rando is doing when he throws piss at logan in 'austerlitz' (impaled upon his own piss-sword, humiliated by his own design, etc).

i think the writers also subvert piss-as-dominance, though, by drawing the audience's attention to 1) the grossness of it and 2) the times when characters (logan) transgress the bounds of the appropriate time/place to piss. eg, the opening scene with logan pissing on the rug. he's an incredibly rich man and he can afford to just pay someone to clean up after himself—but it's still humiliating, he can't look directly at the person doing the cleanup, and obviously it foreshadows his haemorrhage. similarly, in 'retired janitors' he's pissing constantly because he's lost control of his bladder and consequently his mind, and he becomes a tragicomic figure rather than the omnipotent patriarch-king he normally tries to be.

most interestingly, though, i think the flow of bodily fluids in general tells you something about the character's emotional state. when you see someone bleeding, pissing, shitting, puking, yerfing, or even spitting you're usually also seeing some kind of emotional turning point or release. (my faves are kendall shitting the bed at his big emotional shift in s2, and the way tom swallowing his own load is symptomatic of his emotional constipation/repression/inability to get what he wants).

plus, when i think about piss motif, i also think about the large number of scenes that take place in bathrooms (depends how you count, but roughly an average of one per episode). the bathroom is socially coded as the one place where civilised people can go to release, and i don't think it's a coincidence that we also see so many emotionally charged and significant conversations on succession happening in these settings. eg, tabitha has two significant convos about roman's sex and intimacy issues where she's in the bathroom; tom has a couple important phone calls with shiv where he's in the bathroom; i also wrote about togan piss dialectics here which was semi a joke but also... true lmao.

there's also some excellent power plays in bathrooms. eg, kendall bringing the bear hug letter to logan. he catches his father off his guard, half-dressed, in a vulnerable situation. but, because he's kendall, he feels bad about this and logan can tell, and still manages to bully his son. still, the scene ends with logan's hand literally in the toilet, so i'd say this was a relative high point for kendall. or there's greg catching logan in the bathroom and telling him he wants out of waystar, and logan manipulating him into staying. logan is the character who's most free to be emotionally expressive/manipulative, and he's also the one the piss motif centres around.

there's obviously some overlap here with other recurring imagery/motifs in the show. kendall and roman both have a thing with mirrors; kendall has a water motif; there are also lots of other bodily fluids flowing on this show. i also think that, strictly speaking, piss motif and bathroom motif are two different things, though for obvious reasons they do come together in some scenes. but bathroom motif involves a lot of like... vulnerability and emotional dis/honesty and secrecy.

anyway yeah tl;dr: piss motif, to me, is about 1) power relations, 2) the inherently humiliating nature of possessing a human body, 3) emotional expressiveness/release. it's a top-notch motif :)

[fcrgedstrength]

Mary Watson

Face-claim: Amanda Abbington 

Status: semi-active

Biography:

Mary Elizabeth Watson (formerly Morstan, born Rosamund Mary Alistair) is the identity used by a former assassin.

She worked as a nurse in the same clinic as her husband John Watson, whom she met sometime after his best friend Sherlock Holmes' supposed death. She and John have a daughter named Rosamund Mary. She was killed by Vivian Norbury when trying to save Sherlock from being shot.

She was born Rosamund Mary Alistair in Los Angeles, California, and used to be a trained assassin who went rogue and changed her identity in order to hide from her past and her incredibly corrupt and unstable father. Approximately five years before meeting John Watson in 2008, she chose the name "Mary Elizabeth Morstan" from the gravestone of a stillborn child, in order to hide her true identity, and claimed to be an orphan in order to cover for the fact that she had no family.

They had been together at least six months before John proposed.

Shortly after they first met Sherlock performed a series of deductions about Mary, which revealed that she was an only child, that she was clever, a nurse, linguist, short sighted, romantic, had a cat, wore size 12, was a disillusioned Liberal Democrat, bakes, had a secret tattoo and an appendix scar, and that she was a "liar". However, Sherlock did not reveal any of these deductions to anyone.

John planned to ask Mary to marry him shortly before Sherlock's return, he took her for a meal out and brought a ring, however the meal was interrupted by Sherlock just as John was about to ask her. When John finally saw that Sherlock was alive the horror on Mary's face was obvious, as she knew just what Sherlock's "death" put him through. Despite being together for less than two years, Mary was more of a serious girlfriend than the other girlfriends John had and he proposed to her soon after the interrupted meal.

Mary married John on the 18th May, at St, Mary's Church in Sutton Mallet, Somerset. The wedding was attended by among others, Greg Lestrade, Molly Hooper, Tom, Mrs Hudson, General Sholto and Sherlock who was John's best man. Her wedding was tumultuous, and she received a possibly threatening telegram from CAM (or, Charles Augustus Magnussen). Her first dance with John as a married couple was a waltz written by Sherlock. She was revealed to be pregnant during one of Sherlock's speeches at the wedding.

The truth about her past was revealed to some extent during Sherlock and John's investigation of Charles Augustus Magnussen. Under a threat from Magnussen, she went to his office intending to kill him, however she was discovered by Sherlock whilst he and John were breaking into the place. Knowing that if she killed both men, John would be a suspect, and she could no longer kill Magnussen without Sherlock witnessing, she shot Sherlock just below his chest where the wound would not surely kill him. She then hit Magnussen over the head and phoned an ambulance for Sherlock and left the building. When he was in the hospital, she told Sherlock not to tell John about any of it.

After Sherlock ran away from the hospital Mary found him after he fed her a series of clues. He projected a picture of her face onto an empty house – saying that it mimicked her personality, a façade. Inside the house, they discussed how she could easily have killed him yet chose not to. Mary said that she would do anything not to have John leave her. However, John was present while she confessed to being an assassin. They returned to Baker Street, where Sherlock told him as much as he knew about her. Mary produced a USB drive that she claimed had everything about who she used to be on it. She begged John not to read it in front of her, because she did not want to watch him stop loving her.

Six months later at Christmas, after a period of separation between Mary and John, John told her that he did not think her past was his business but that her future was his privilege. Mary, now known to be pregnant with a girl, was incredibly relieved. John admitted he was still angry at her, but the two remained together. After Sherlock kills Magnussen, Mary and John see him off in an emotional farewell when he is being exiled and sent on a dangerous mission as part of his punishment. However Sherlock ends up being flown back in when images of the deceased Jim Moriarty start appearing around London, indicating the late master criminal may still be alive.

Mary later gives birth to a healthy baby girl, named Rosamund Mary Watson, after her prior self and Sherlock, Molly, Mrs. Hudson and D.I. Greg Lestrade were named as Godparents. Alas, Mary is tracked down by a member of the assassin team she was part of and is forced to leave John and Rosamund behind whilst she takes random trips around the world, a new country, a new identity. Eventually, she is tracked down by Sherlock and John, but also Ajay, the fellow assassin she was running from. The three escape.

Mary meets Sherlock in an alcove to show him her past. She knocks him out using some sort of drug and leaves after he has seen the real Mary Watson, also known as Rosamund Watson. Her real maiden name is still unknown. We later find out, in an aquarium, that a government secretary, Vivian, gave the order in a fateful mission in Georgia (the country, not the state) that cost the lives of half of A.G.R.A., Mary's former assassin team. She then shoots Sherlock, but before the bullet could get to him, Mary intercepts it and dies from the bullet wound.

Verses:

Terrifying Skill-set: pre-canon, her life as Rosamund, and as a part of AGRA.

The Only Life That Mattered: life after AGRA, as Mary Morstan, up until HLV when John discovers who she was.

Hanging Off My Gun Arm: from HLV to her death in TST, during the time when John and Sherlock and Mycroft all know who she was, and consider it to be a bit of an open secret between the four of them.

Not Supposed to Be Like That: ghost Mary, or the deceased Mary that continued on in the minds of her loved ones.

Nothing I Would Not Do: AU in which Mary lives past TST.

Road Less Traveled: any other AUs

[fcrgedstrcngth]

Mary Watson

Face-claim: Amanda Abbington

Status: semi-active

Biography:

Mary Elizabeth Watson (formerly Morstan, born Rosamund Mary Alistair) is the identity used by a former assassin.

She worked as a nurse in the same clinic as her husband John Watson, whom she met sometime after his best friend Sherlock Holmes’ supposed death. She and John have a daughter named Rosamund Mary. She was killed by Vivian Norbury when trying to save Sherlock from being shot.

She was born Rosamund Mary Alistair in Los Angeles, California, and used to be a trained assassin who went rogue and changed her identity in order to hide from her past and her incredibly corrupt and unstable father. Approximately five years before meeting John Watson in 2008, she chose the name “Mary Elizabeth Morstan” from the gravestone of a stillborn child, in order to hide her true identity, and claimed to be an orphan in order to cover for the fact that she had no family.

They had been together at least six months before John proposed.

Shortly after they first met Sherlock performed a series of deductions about Mary, which revealed that she was an only child, that she was clever, a nurse, linguist, short sighted, romantic, had a cat, wore size 12, was a disillusioned Liberal Democrat, bakes, had a secret tattoo and an appendix scar, and that she was a “liar”. However, Sherlock did not reveal any of these deductions to anyone.

John planned to ask Mary to marry him shortly before Sherlock’s return, he took her for a meal out and brought a ring, however the meal was interrupted by Sherlock just as John was about to ask her. When John finally saw that Sherlock was alive the horror on Mary’s face was obvious, as she knew just what Sherlock’s “death” put him through. Despite being together for less than two years, Mary was more of a serious girlfriend than the other girlfriends John had and he proposed to her soon after the interrupted meal.

Mary married John on the 18th May, at St, Mary’s Church in Sutton Mallet, Somerset. The wedding was attended by among others, Greg Lestrade, Molly Hooper, Tom, Mrs Hudson, General Sholto and Sherlock who was John’s best man. Her wedding was tumultuous, and she received a possibly threatening telegram from CAM (or, Charles Augustus Magnussen). Her first dance with John as a married couple was a waltz written by Sherlock. She was revealed to be pregnant during one of Sherlock’s speeches at the wedding.

The truth about her past was revealed to some extent during Sherlock and John’s investigation of Charles Augustus Magnussen. Under a threat from Magnussen, she went to his office intending to kill him, however she was discovered by Sherlock whilst he and John were breaking into the place. Knowing that if she killed both men, John would be a suspect, and she could no longer kill Magnussen without Sherlock witnessing, she shot Sherlock just below his chest where the wound would not surely kill him. She then hit Magnussen over the head and phoned an ambulance for Sherlock and left the building. When he was in the hospital, she told Sherlock not to tell John about any of it.

After Sherlock ran away from the hospital Mary found him after he fed her a series of clues. He projected a picture of her face onto an empty house – saying that it mimicked her personality, a façade. Inside the house, they discussed how she could easily have killed him yet chose not to. Mary said that she would do anything not to have John leave her. However, John was present while she confessed to being an assassin. They returned to Baker Street, where Sherlock told him as much as he knew about her. Mary produced a USB drive that she claimed had everything about who she used to be on it. She begged John not to read it in front of her, because she did not want to watch him stop loving her.

Six months later at Christmas, after a period of separation between Mary and John, John told her that he did not think her past was his business but that her future was his privilege. Mary, now known to be pregnant with a girl, was incredibly relieved. John admitted he was still angry at her, but the two remained together. After Sherlock kills Magnussen, Mary and John see him off in an emotional farewell when he is being exiled and sent on a dangerous mission as part of his punishment. However Sherlock ends up being flown back in when images of the deceased Jim Moriarty start appearing around London, indicating the late master criminal may still be alive.

Mary later gives birth to a healthy baby girl, named Rosamund Mary Watson, after her prior self and Sherlock, Molly, Mrs. Hudson and D.I. Greg Lestrade were named as Godparents. Alas, Mary is tracked down by a member of the assassin team she was part of and is forced to leave John and Rosamund behind whilst she takes random trips around the world, a new country, a new identity. Eventually, she is tracked down by Sherlock and John, but also Ajay, the fellow assassin she was running from. The three escape.

Mary meets Sherlock in an alcove to show him her past. She knocks him out using some sort of drug and leaves after he has seen the real Mary Watson, also known as Rosamund Watson. Her real maiden name is still unknown. We later find out, in an aquarium, that a government secretary, Vivian, gave the order in a fateful mission in Georgia (the country, not the state) that cost the lives of half of A.G.R.A., Mary’s former assassin team. She then shoots Sherlock, but before the bullet could get to him, Mary intercepts it and dies from the bullet wound.

Verses:

Terrifying Skill-set: pre-canon, her life as Rosamund, and as a part of AGRA.

The Only Life That Mattered: life after AGRA, as Mary Morstan, up until HLV when John discovers who she was.

Hanging Off My Gun Arm: from HLV to her death in TST, during the time when John and Sherlock and Mycroft all know who she was, and consider it to be a bit of an open secret between the four of them.

Not Supposed to Be Like That: ghost Mary, or the deceased Mary that continued on in the minds of her loved ones.

Nothing I Would Not Do: AU in which Mary lives past TST.

Road Less Traveled: any other AUs

Starter Call