Hi! Love your Toko & Byakuya analyses. You parse their perplexing, one-of-a-kind relationship in a graspable way for me. I'm hoping your understanding can answer something I'm wondering on my own: does Byakuya truly tolerate Toko (and Syo's) behavior? Does he accept his lack of control over them, or is there something in it for him about their association?

Hi! Thank you for the kind words and apologies for the delayed answer.

To answer your question, I'm going to focus on Trigger Happy Havoc since I'm only aware through secondhand info of what happens in the rest of the franchise (though I got started on the second game recently!). I feel like there may be a development in his treatment of her later in the game, honestly.

He spends a good chunk of it actively hiding from her/openly running from Syo, so we can tell they genuinely make him uncomfortable. It's kind of interesting, in fact, because imo it says something about his level of discomfort that he's willing to show so openly that he's unnerved. But after the fourth trial, he seems to have resigned himself a bit to their dynamic, as seen when he praises her for finding the knife or when he tells her she's their only hope.

Thinking about it as I type, the key here might be that she's now his ally. Not merely an asset or liability, someone who is a nuisance but will do what is told, but someone who is firmly on the same side as him. After Ogami's trial, Togami's goal changes, so it's only natural his attitude towards the others would too. I think he comes to view the others as his equals--not necessarily intellectually, but at the very least ontologically (I doubt he'd offer help to an asset or a subordinate), and this extends to Fukawa and Syo. So I'd wager this allows them to interact on slightly more equal ground, where to Togami they stop being inferior beings that are failing to behave as they should and start being fellow classmates whose treatment of him does have its ups and downs.

Will you elaborate on those y/n answers you gave the q&a anon the other day?

Sure.

Will the Daryl spinoff sustain a large audience beyond the first episode? Caryl fan or otherwise, it doesn't seem like too many people are interested in it to begin with, so that's not a good a sign. They can draw people in for the pilot with heavy promotion and least we forget those who want Rick back, but I don't think it's going to be enough. And ultimately if suspicions are confirmed and the story is bad (remember who's pulling the strings), why watch?

Regardless of the above question, will there be a season 2? Highly suspect the premise of the show is finding Rick and you can't drag that out indefinitely (not at this stage). Six episodes gives Gimple enough space to repurpose whatever ideas he had for the movies and is probably the max people are willing to tolerate anyway. All that being said, they could use Carol as a saving grace if for whatever crazy reason Daryl still can't get Rick out of whatever the hell mess he's been stuck in for 10 years or however long it's been.

If the spinoff films in the States for season 2, will they bring Carol back? If the show is suffering and they need her to help finish out the story, then yes.

Will Melissa want to be involved? If her personal and work relationships are solid and if she thinks Carol has more story to tell, then I'd imagine so.

Can she refuse to be in the spinoff? Not if she's still under contract.

Will Carol show up on ftwd? There are many, many reasons why that should never happen, so let's not manifest it.

Is there a time limit on how long amc can muzzle Melissa from speaking her truth? If she's not working for them anymore and there's no legal obligations, they can't boss her around.

Will she ever speak her truth? Granted I don't know a lot about her and everyone has their breaking point, but I'd be surprised.

Is Melissa and Norman's friendship over? That's only speculation right now anyway, but if something did happen, hopefully there’s room for healing.

Hey SA I've just seen you reblogged a post about goodbyes in the show and I so would like to know your opnion on this. Do you think the cane scene was in character for John? Tbh I think his character was very OOC in S4 but I'd like to know your opinion on this. Yours are the only fanfic I read post-s4 I really trust you with my heart. Thank you!

Okay, just as a disclaimer, because I really, really don’t want anyone to think the opposite here, I absolutely love John Watson. Please don’t be confused about that. That said, he’s got some massive issues. 

Unfortunately, I do see the cane scene as in character, but I’m also one of those annoying people that would say that there’s a huge range of what could be considered “in character” for every human, you know? I’m just as much myself when I’m being a total dick as when I’m being the best version of myself. One end of the spectrum is not truer than the other. John is just as much John when he’s doing that soft, gentle, tender gaze, like at Sherlock and Mrs Hudson in ASIB as he is when he’s physically hurting Sherlock. Unfortunately, they chose to draw out the ugliest aspects of John’s personality in series 4, showcasing his damage far more than his heroism and the beautiful soul that he also is underneath those trust issues and unspent, ultimately inward-pointing anger and guilt and sense of inadequacy. Walking out when things get difficult is very much consistent with his behaviour from series 1 forward: look at his little domestic with Sherlock in TGG: Sherlock is being insulting and difficult, and instead of trying to talk through it or ask deeper questions, or even just argue it out, John gets up and leaves. 

I would say that it’s canon that he also left Mary after she shot Sherlock. I don’t see how anyone could possibly have maintained “months of silence” while occupying the same space. It just isn’t possible. For a few weeks, maybe, but months of genuine silence? No way. John wasn’t there. To his credit, and this is a big thing, John doesn’t stay mad. His capacity to handle things blowing up in his face is rather limited, but give him time and he’ll go back and give it another go. It took him 24 hours after Sherlock returned. Even when he thought the bearded old man was Sherlock playing a prank, he was laughing in spite of himself and clearly, overtly disappointed when it turned out not to be Sherlock. So he went back. The fact that it took him six months to return to Mary says a lot in terms of how reluctant he was to do it. I hate that he did it, but I get that the weight of his sworn word and the impending arrival of his child were the sole driving factors there, rather than love for Mary herself. His extreme reluctance and over promise of continuing anger during that scene hardly made for a cozy little reunion scene (I once saw an interview where Gatiss referred to it as “so tender and moving” or some crap like that, but that’s a rage post for another day!). The point is, given time to sort himself out, John goes back. He goes back to therapy even when he thinks it isn’t working. For all that Mrs Hudson had to bully him into it (he wasn’t ready and that wasn’t right!), John did finally agree to see and treat Sherlock. He would have gone back. That’s as much in his character as his preponderance for leaving is. 

Furthermore, while it’s ugly that he leaves, I also find it entirely understandable. This is someone who has a history of familial issues, estranged from everyone except a sister, with whom he shares a barely-tolerated relationship. He was in an active war zone: say no more. His superior officer, on whom he clearly had at least a bit of a hero complex for (and I personally don’t see anything else there, but that’s also plenty!), let him down and shut him out. Life had already betrayed John over and over and over again by the point that he met Sherlock. And Sherlock, for all of his intellectual brilliance, had never allowed himself to have a relationship so close that he might actually want to consider the other person’s feelings. He was clumsy and a slow learner and I think it took him a long time to see that John’s feelings needed better care than he was equipped to understand or give at the time. Their shared sense of inappropriate humour always had that edge to it, and while John is mentally healthy, I think he loves it (and I think that that’s why, when Sherlock faltered in the restaurant upon seeing John again and hastily revised his ill-conceived plan, that he turned to the one thing he thought he could rely on, this shared humour) but when he’s having one of his bad times, it cuts sharply. I think that he understands the genuine affection behind it, and when Sherlock said everything he said in his wedding speech, I think he was honestly shocked to hear it expressed so directly. He does know how much Sherlock thinks of him, how much he relies on him, and that any light jokes to the contrary are genuinely jokes. With Mary, on the other hand, they weren’t actually jokes and he knew it. They’ve always had communication problems, ones that lead to living out what they want from each other in the worst ways possible, but the love behind it is a real thing. Their actions only hurt each other so badly because of that very yearning there, one that neither of them seems able to express, or willing to take the risk to express. It’s a truly damaged relationship and they’ve both been damaged by it. As someone who absolutely believes in their love, and in the capacity for them to love hugely, deeply, and without reserve, it hurts to say that. Nevertheless, I do believe that with all of my being. 

I’ve joked that my new “kink” since series 4 is getting them both some therapy. I’ve written more therapy in stories since Christmas than ever before! Since series 4 started airing, I’ve written These Four Walls & Exile (after TST), Where My Demons Hide (John goes back to Ella), Now That the Dust Has Settled (We Can See the Stars), and A Satellite Out of Orbit (told from Ella’s POV in which she sees Sherlock during TLD), (after TLD), and then after TFP: A Case for Domestic Propinquity, Hell Hath No Fury (John goes back to Ella), From the Bottom of the Well (John goes back to Ella), Bridging the Ravine & Set in Stone (which take place at a resort for same-sex couples needing group and one-on-one relationship counselling). I think they need help. I also think that one of them could finally come to his senses and realise one day that they need to talk, and talk properly. I take back what I said about my biggest canon frustration being the way John leaves Sherlock: it’s definitely Moftiss never having once allowed them to have a direct, honest, and complete conversation. (Sometimes direct, sometimes honest, but never complete!) I think that they could get there on their own. It’s possible. It just hasn’t happened yet. 

That said, remember this: in opera we always say that the opera never takes place on the day that nothing happened. Remember all of those other days we aren’t shown: we can safely assume that alllll of those other days, and these are the majority by far, they lived together, cooking and taking out the trash and taking turns in the bathroom (that model of house would rarely have had a third bathroom on the third storey; that’s where the servants would have lived and they’d have used an outdoor privy at the time when this model of house was built, and the other bathroom would be in Mrs Hudson’s suite). They’d have taken cases and gone for midnight dinners at the Chinese restaurant on the corner and laughed at all of the wrong times and provoked speculation from anyone and everyone who ever saw them together. They’d have complained about their respective siblings and been a little nicer to each other every time one or the other was having a bad day. Think of Sherlock buying John beer after things with Sarah ended, according to John’s blog. Think of John, on his honeymoon, yet unable to just stop communicating regularly with Sherlock. They’re a damaged team, but nonetheless a team. Think of Sherlock knowing John so well that he could even predict that John would choose to leave him again, and how. They know each other in ways that no one else ever will, and I stand by that. 

I hope that helps? :)