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hadesknockedupintheunderworld · 2 days

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Okay I just need to say that I knew I'd like this Tailstube as soon as I saw the thumbnail (after all, I am a Sonadails enjoyer, and Tails is literally in the middle of them in the thumbnail)

But I think probably something that stood out the most to me when I watched it was just

The hints that Shadow and Tails have a relationship outside of Sonic??

The first thing that tipped me off to this was that not only did Tails convince Shadow to join in on his show, he also convinced him to stick around to its natural end?? You know, Shadow. The guy you can't force to do anything and frequently will just dip if he's bored or doesn't want to be there. But even while Sonic was annoying him and he made it clear he wanted the "interview" over with, he still never made a move to chaos control out of there because of any of this.

And the second thing that tipped me off was this:

When Shadow is both confused and annoyed at Sonic, he chooses to complain to Tails about Sonic. And so Tails steps in to try to "explain" what Sonic meant by what he said (i.e he told Shadow something much nicer in the interest of getting them to be on better terms). The fact that he looks to Tails to complain to about Tails' own best friend and possibly even to explain that which he does not understand in a social context tells me just how highly he regards Tails. And since both Shadow and Sonic are being childish here, it's amusing to see Tails regarded as something closer to a trusted figure with more power here.

From an objective analysis standpoint, of course this means they have their own friendship. And this is a prospect I enjoy (The idea that Tails and Shadow are good friends)! It actually means a lot to me that Tails could form a frienship or bond with Shadow outside of the context of Sonic (in terms of who initiates it and for what reason it's initiated).

But, my friends, from a biased standpoint, I'm shipping trash. And to me this Tailstube was a fun show for Sonadails fans. Honestly, Tails staging this episode to get Sonic and Shadow to talk and "bury the hatchet", as well as how he acts during the show, read a lot to me personally like a guy trying to get his two boyfriends (who happen to be rivals) to get on better terms, if not just tolerate each other. I quite like the idea of Tails dating both of these idiots and just trying to get them to play nice when they're all together (although frankly I think the ideal scenario for Tails in my biased reading is that Sonic and Shadow get together as well).

This is also not to mention the dynamics showcased here! Sonic and Tails as best friends, with Sonic assuming that he and Tails were gonna talk shit about Shadow behind his back, and Tails trying to get him to play nicer. Shadow and Tails as friends, with Tails trying to convince him why he and Sonic are in the perfect position to become friends and helping him out socially, and with Shadow choosing to do something he doesn't want to because of Tails, as well as looking to Tails to complain to when Sonic is annoying him or when he doesn't understand something. And then there's Sonic and Shadow. In short, their relationship in this episode reminded me a lot of the dynamic I plotted out for that Sonadow post I wrote up where the two just beat the crap out of each other. In slightly longer terms, I find interesting how Mr. Flynn maintained Sonic and Shadow's dynamic during SA2 (with Sonic bothering Shadow and trying to fight him, while Shadow is just annoyed that Sonic won't leave him alone) while also showing the audience that they are rivals. And in longer terms...Sonic was clearly seeking a fight during this episode. And the facial expression, the mocking, his tone of voice, it doesn’t really matter whether or not he actually dislikes Shadow and believes they could never be friends. He's trying to annoy Shadow and goad him into a fight because he wants to fight Shadow so badly it makes him look stupid. And we can tell by how he expresses his confusion to Tails that Shadow is just not getting this. To him Sonic is just being annoying and confusing. Sonic is targeting him specifically, and Shadow shoots back with his own words. And so it's also pointed that Shadow reciprocates/actually decides to fight Sonic when Sonic specifically challenges him. He doesn't respond to Sonic trying to goad him on, but when Sonic challenges him specifically he's much more interested in opposing him.

Anyways guys I love Shadow and Tails having a soft on the side relationship while Sonic flirts by convincing Shadow to fight him somehow😂💖

#sonic the hedgehog #tailstube #sonadails #sonshadails #sonadow #sontails #shadails #shadow the hedgehog #tails the fox #miles tails prower #i just be ramblin #man there are so many things about this episode #Another personal favorite interaction was when #Tails: Come on could you try to just say one nice thing about each other? One compliment? Please?#Sonic‚ mockingly: Anything you can do I can do better #Shadow: Yeah? Do it then. Prove it.#Sonic: Ah crap he called my bluff #Sonic: I uh...I love the way you...chaos control?#Tails: Okay. You do one now Shadow #Shadow: I uh... I also love the way you chaos control. ...It's impressive that you could do it with a fake emerald #Tails: See? You can compliment each other! Sorta #Sonic is on the aro/ace spectrum to me but to me his most compelling relationships are always little buddy effect related and knuckles #effect related #Which just means that he tends to hold relationships like his and Tails highly (and has taken more than one little buddy)‚ but is also #attracted to people who have tried to kill him. What can I say? He loves the softness and domesticity of having a smaller loyal partner as #he loves the danger and exhilaration of fighting/racing a strong opponent #Sonic and Shadow fighting (and especially Sonic trying to get Shadow to fight him on purpose) is just baseline what the two need #for 'toxic yaoi' so if someone can't even handle how hostile they were during the tailstube then...#Anyways‚ how we feelin Sonshadails fans?

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bisheepart · 8 months

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Someone's probably already done this but!

Evan 🤝 Cassie: Sunshine

Cassidy 🤝 Gregory: Sunshine Protectors

Seriously though where are the fics of Cassidy and Gregory teaming up to cause problems?

#fnaf #evan afton #fnaf gregory #fnaf cassie #fnaf cassidy #the one you should not have killed #golden duo #cassidy and evan were friends both before and after their deaths and you can't change my mind #Cassidy and Gregory coming up with plans to prank Michael while Evan and Cassie are trying to get them to stop #it's a thing of “we both care for this one and anyone who tries to harm them is immediately getting punched in the nose."

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vamprisms · 2 months

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current situation: halsin's clothes are back on but he's just standing in camp saying we need to stop the ringleaders while everyone is just stuck in eternal sleep and no-one will wake up. karlach keeps saying help me in her sleep like she's dying. new wild shape unlocked: fully clothed sleep paralysis demon

#oh we are never doing honour mode. i literally can't fix it by reloading #i tried to leave for act 2 and he just keeps saying WHERE ARE YOU GOING WE NEED TO KILL THE RINGLEADERS #neen plays bg3

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gecemi09 · 5 months

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can't believe there are ppl who don't like lost days wtf. not even the end scene, they just don't like jason's character and motivations in it. i mean, i always thought lost days jason>utrh jason so 🤷‍♀️

#“i didnt like making jason want to kill bruce its so generic” “ my brother in christ it is obvious as hell that jason only tries it because #also he clearly doesnt actually want bruce dead?? like he doesnt do it when he has the perfect chance #and he is obvsly lying to talia when he says “oh i want him to look at me as i kill him” like??#am i the only one who thought that or???#btw this isnt abt a specific person i just remembered someone on reddit saying that lost days jason made jason more #sympathetic in a fanservice way #i get what they mean by that but i rlly dont think thats whats up w lost days jason #bc whitewashing morally grey characters to make them appeal to a larger audience IS. a thing but i think youre missing the point here lol #anyway can't articulate why i ADORE lost days atm so #maybe ill make a seperate post on it one day but just know that i rlly like it(except the scene we dont talk about)#jason todd #lost days #red hood

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dimiclaudeblaigan · 7 months

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ah yes, she's concerned about the aggressor and attacker who was invading them six months ago. something is wrong with the empire right now, poor edelgard; whatever could've happened to her? :(

like... what. why do you care about what's going on with her specifically when she's the person who made the decision to invade leicester? does the whole war just mean nothing to marianne? it's just totally fine that all those people died in a war edelgard started? poor edelgard, something happened to her after she started her attack? you're concerned about the leader who gave the order to attack your home?

hopes has stupid lines but this one is top tier of the top tier and just an excuse for more edelgardjerking from the writers.

#DCB Three Hopes Run #like no sorry if someone attacked the country i live in and then suddenly their army was a mess #i would /nooot/ be concerned about the leader who ordered an invasion of my home #you'd never see a character being like wow i sure am worried abt dimitri and claude #who are just defending themselves and fighting for their lives out there #but here we get marianne being worried abt the person who declared war on her people #this game tries so so SO hard to make edelgard seem justified and doing a good thing #and also has tons of characters being like wow i sure do just want the best for her #like no i would not want the best for someone who invaded my country unprovoked #being worried abt the civilians in the empire is one thing bc the imperial army was out of control #but just wanting edelgard specifically to be okay? uhhhh. seems like this was just #the only way the writers could keep it in their pants without having shez make a sex joke at edelgard like byleth can #like does marianne not realize the end goal here was to defeat and thus kill edelgard?#it doesn't happen bc of the plot bc thales' magic and yadda yadda #but ultimately without that happening she would've had to be killed to be truly defeated #she's not like claude who would prioritize survival. she would fight to the end #like if you're that concerned about the person who started this war then why are you fighting against her?#either join her side or stay out of the war. really don't understand why anyone from leicester in ag would be worried abt her #they can't even use the classmates excuse bc they weren't even classmates for that long (and it's a stupid excuse even in gw)#but like no rly this game just has ppl love up on edelgard for absolutely no reason #she comes in and starts killing their soldiers for her conquest and marianne six months later is like wow i sure am concerned abt her!!#literally like imagine someone from crimea being like ''im concerned abt ashnard''

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2ofswords · 1 month

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Let me talk about a frustrating fandom behavior I started to call "The Capella-Effect". It shows up when a character's morality gets based on how mean they are to the main character or how much their behaviour criticizes the main character's actions.

And it get's waaaay more aggregious when the offending character is either a woman or a POC or both. Because they are often already seen as subservient to the plot and the main character (especially if that character is white and/or male). People get soooo offended when they cross the main guy. It's personal. Everyone else can get excused for whatever they do but criticize the main guy (or - god forbid- betray them) is a crime that can never be forgiven! The reason for it barely matters and how sensible it is from the "offender's" perspective, what does matter is that the main character is inconvenienced and sad about it.

I've seen entire tier lists that can basically be summarized by "how nice the character is to the main character". And that doesn't mean btw, how much pain the character cause but specifically how much they disrespect or are rude to the main character. It's not a scale of morality but how difficult they make it for the consumer to relate to the main character and feel their power fantasy without being inconvenienced by other people's opinions.

#Btw this is called the Capella effect #because people see Capella in Pathologic 2 as worse then her in Pathologic Classic #because she is a little bit meaner to Artemy Burakh specifically when she tries to help save people on her own #whlie she is like 'you are great now kill some childern' in P1 #but I've also seen it in other fandoms #this is what we mean with 'women can't be mean'

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crimeronan · 6 months

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funniest thing is people just unanimously deciding that characters are siblings and despite it not being canon like at all, if anyone ships them together it's literally incest and they're all disgusting freaks who should be burned at the stake. it's SO silly

i remember when i first looked into luz-hunter art i was super startled to see how insistent the siblings thing was in wider fandom, and even MORE startled to see that romantic shipping was often treated as incest. it wasn't until i remembered that most people ship things monogamously that i realized the ENTIRE "luz/hunter is incest" thing Literally Only Happened because of luz/amity shippers feeling threatened & needing to make luz/hunter Problematic. and that to make luz/hunter Problematic, they had to reach for incest because luz & hunter have in common literally all the same things that luz & amity do.

like i legit FORGOT that monogamy was a thing and was sitting here like "but..... but hunter/luz/amity just MAKES SENSE......???? WHY ARE PEOPLE SO ANGRY....."

bitch. it's the compulsory monogamous ship wars.

Duh.

#replies #toh #fun fact: if you ever see a fandom behavior that makes very little sense to you based on the source characterization/story #look at it thru shipping goggles. it's literally fucking always about shipping.#hopefully not using the common ship names will keep this from showing up in ship tags bc i try not to tag like. anything discourse-adjacent #luz/amity shippers: he tried to kill her... no god dammit we can't use that one uh #he's a cutthroat asshole and mean person. NO SHIT. uhm uhm uhm he'll never understand luz's love of books- FUCK ME #like guys it's fine. you can polyship and you can also leave people alone. relax.#the assumption that shipping something non-canon means that you hate the canon and want gay people to die has done like #so much damage. to wider fandom. relax. go do some real life activism. find local mutual aid networks. give a few bucks to someone in need

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the-final-sif · 2 years

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Like, okay, imagine for a second you're a citizen in L'Manburg after the Doomsday Trio announces that they're razing L'Manburg to the ground.

Not only are you literally told that they are going to destroy the city, while your government appears to have fucked off again to go prep elsewhere without giving you much direction for what to do, but this is something that happened before. The difference is when Wilbur Soot blew up the city and killed thousands of people, he called people to a festival first. People had absolutely no warning. He did it intentionally. You're glad that guy's gone. At least this time you have a warning.

Honestly, you can't say you didn't expect this. Your government tried to hold some sort of public execution for this guy, and his friend was being kept under house arrest. Neither of them got a trial. You never spoke out because you were worried the same might happen to you.

You start thinking about how you never hear about this shit happens in the Badlands. You've been told you've got at least a month, so you start packing. There's lots of places to go. Maybe you'll move to the Badlands, or maybe just back to the SMP. You've got more then enough time.

Then one day, you walk out and see a masked figure over the city and building something. Oh no. They lied about the amount of time you had. You assume the fight is about to start.

But it appears your government still isn't here, and after a few tense hours of watching Dream very slowly build, you come to the conclusion that he's just preparing. A few braver people approach and speak to him, confirming what you suspected. Citizens still have plenty of time to leave, he's just getting ready. He's even helpful enough to outline the area they plan to destroy. Apparently even Manifoldland next door is safe, although nobody wants to live there.

You think you see a few people offering Dream extra gunpowder or obsidian. People who were sick and tired of the government's constant propaganda and refusal to hold themselves accountable for anything. You don't know if you can blame them. Rumors circulate of a place up north for those sick and tired of governments.

For the next week and a half, anyone who walks outside can see the clearly forming grid and TNT machines. People who were in denial sigh and decide that maybe they will move after all. Honestly, this city has never really been a great place to live. It was kind of a stupid concept to begin with. You've decided to move to the main SMP and go from there. You leave with a group, you all built houses out in the SMP, and with the ample time you've had, you've been able to help move any pets, farm animals, and most of the important resources out of the city. Some people got a herd of horses together and are helping people move out. You'd say that you'd miss your house, but you brought most of it's materials with you.

Another month goes by, more people filter out. A few weeks later, that's when the first explosions actually happen. After a shouting match of some kind. There's withers running around, but that's not your problem. A few hours later, the city is dead.

No, no, that's not quite right. The city died well before that. It's been dying ever since it's creator murdered thousands then died himself. This was just burning it's corpse.

You go to see the ruins a week later. You knew people that died to Wilbur Soot. None of your friends died in the city this time. They still live next to you. Just in a new place. It's an adjustment, but you think that maybe it was for the best this time. Maybe it was never meant to be.

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avisisisis · 5 months

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What I want most in the entire world is for Sun Wukong to slowly be more included in the LMK gang

After a life-threatening event (post LBD, after the scroll, etc), MK and his friends usually share a group hug. A family hug! And Sun Wukong stays out of it, either walking away or just standing there and watching them

I want SWK to start hanging out around them a little more, either because they're stuck together due to yet another world ending event or something else, to the point where they start to warm up to him (and he starts to warm up to them) and begin to like him a little more

Honestly if we get more than 5 seasons (which please please please let them be well-done, don't let the sequel curse affect LMK too) then I'd like this to be long. Let's say, in one season he hangs out with them and they begin to at the very least tolerate him, in another season they become a little more closer and pretty much already consider him some kind of friend and then at the end of the next season he's already one of their best friends

And it has to end in yet another group hug scene! One where when Sun Wukong smiles fondly and walks away to let the family have their moments in peace, someone (let it be anyone who isn't MK, just to show how MK isn't SWK's only friend [besides the monkeys in FFM. And not counting any god or being he is friendly with because we know he doesn't see those much] anymore) calls out to him and says, “Where the fuck are you going. This is a group hug, it doesn't work if the whole group isn't in it” and he smiles (let him cry dammit) and joins in

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minotaurmutual · 1 month

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#since my partner told me how he was struggling with me being trans we had talked about it so much and it actually seemed like we were going #to make it but now it seems so hopeless again and i just. i just want to fucking die #i can't live without him without his love without our relationship #it's everything i stayed alive for fought for these last few horrible years #and what for what fucking for #i should have just fucking killed myself the last time i tried #why am i such a fucking coward #i fucking hate myself i just want it all to be finally over

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karmaphone · 10 months

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anyways if you're against either the death penalty or the guillotine you have to be against the other. either you think that people can't be trusted to Exectute People Only That Really Deserve It This Time or you think that people exercising the ultimate power over others is somehow not going to get twisted for a personal or political purpose

#idk if this is articulating exactly what I'm thinking but like. y'all. no one's going to magically Kill Only The Right People This Time #I PERSONALLY believe in exceptions but those exceptions would have to be communally made and through a supermajority consensus #like bundy or dahmer are the ppl that come directly to mind but I still absolutely think a rehabilitative approach should be tried first #'oh you think we should rehabilitate serial killers' I believe in a rehabilitative approach instead of a punitive one yes #but like. I don't think those exceptions are common at all they're very clearly for the people that enjoy doing awful things and have zero #intent to stop #and they're and extreme danger to others #but!!! there's no way in the current or near future political climate that this is ever going to be a legitimate discussion!!!#these tags are mostly my personal views that have little to do w the actual post (if you don't believe in the death penalty you can't #believe in the peoples guillotine)#(or vice versa)

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mariana-oconnor · 1 year

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The Cardboard Box pt 3

OK, so this was mostly solved last part, with a few hanging threads, mainly being the motive and who the second ear belongs to. Our working theory is a man that Mary's husband thought she was having an affair with. But how that all relates to Sarah Cushing and why he sent the ears to her specifically. My best guess is she was encouraging Mary to leave him and 'befriend' this other guy in some way?

“Lestrade has got him all right,” said Holmes, glancing up at me.

Welp, that was quick. I guess no one is dying in a mysterious shipwreck this week, even though there are actual sailors involved this time.

“In accordance with the scheme which we had formed in order to test our theories” [“the ‘we’ is rather fine, Watson, is it not?”]"

Are we going to get Holmes' commentary throughout? That would be fun. Throwing shade at Lestrade here for taking partial credit for everything. Fair.

@ameliahcrowley did the research about May Day and apparently it wasn't in use as a distress signal yet at this time, which surprised me. So this ship name is just retroactively ironic, which is one of the best flavours of irony.

"I found that there was a steward on board of the name of James Browner and that he had acted during the voyage in such an extraordinary manner that the captain had been compelled to relieve him of his duties."

This guy has zero chill, which we already knew because he was going around murdering his wife and sending ears to her relatives, but he fails so completely at getting away with it, it's kind of farcical.

I guess it makes sense that he'd be a bit weird after killing his wife. But at the same time, the kind of effort it takes to cut off ears, pack them in salt and send them off to women in Croydon indicates a level of thought and planning that is clearly not evident anywhere else in his crime. So weird.

"He jumped up when he heard my business, and I had my whistle to my lips to call a couple of river police, who were round the corner, but he seemed to have no heart in him, and he held out his hands quietly enough for the darbies."

This reads as though the guy is feeling guilty or remorseful, but please see prior notes about taking the time to pack ears in salt. The remorse was a really delayed reaction, huh?

Mr Browner's understanding of what he did dawning:

"...bar a big sharp knife such as most sailors have..."

If he has a big sharp knife, why did he use a blunt one to cut the ears off? Unless the blunt just meant 'not as sharp as a scalpel', which seems an unfair benchmark of sharpness to put on a knife. Not everyone can be a scalpel.

"The affair proves, as I always thought it would, to be an extremely simple one, but I am obliged to you for assisting me in my investigation."

This isn't exactly a lie. Except it kind of is. Lestrade at least claimed to think it was just the medical students the whole time, but at the same time he called Holmes in, which seems like a weird thing to do if he was convinced it was a prank?

"I tell you I've not shut an eye in sleep since I did it, and I don't believe I ever will again until I get past all waking."

Again, this is strange to me. Like did he get through the whole posting of the ears and did the guilt set in immediately after that, or did he do that while feeling guilty? which makes no sense. I do not understand this man.

"Ay, the white lamb, she might well be surprised when she read death on a face that had seldom looked anything but love upon her before."

And this does not read like the words of someone who feels remorse. I feel like Jim Browner is a very disturbed individual. This is very creepy. Anyone who compares another person to a 'white lamb' is instantly ten times creepier than they were before. I'm already getting 'my wife drove me to it' delusional self-justification from his language.

"For Sarah Cushing loved me—that's the root of the business—she loved me until all her love turned to poisonous hate when she knew that I thought more of my wife's footmark in the mud than I did of her whole body and soul."

Oh, I did not see that coming. Although thinking back, the way her interactions with him were referred to were a bit weird. I thought it was just a Victorian flare for language coming through, but no.

I said last time that Mary needed better sisters. She really needed better sisters.

"The old one was just a good woman, the second was a devil, and the third was an angel. Sarah was thirty-three, and Mary was twenty-nine when I married."

A devil and an angel? Right, this guy has unrealistic expectations of the women in his life, I can tell you that right away. The Madonna-Whore complex called, Jim, it thinks you might have a problem.

For someone who is so guilty he can't sleep, Jim Browner is trying very hard to seem like the victim here. Dude murdered two people and cut off their ears and he's determined that it's Sarah's fault. I'm not saying she had nothing to do with it, but seems like he's having a little trouble with accountability here.

Also, her seduction of him is very... like she took hold of his hand and looked at him? That's all she did? I was expecting something more overt. Although this is the Victorian era, I guess maybe that's pretty overt by their standards? Or he misread the entire situation.

"Things went on much as before, but after a time I began to find that there was a bit of a change in Mary herself. She had always been so trusting and so innocent, but now she became queer and suspicious, wanting to know where I had been and what I had been doing, and whom my letters were from, and what I had in my pockets, and a thousand such follies."

This whole thing reads very strangely. 'so trusting and so innocent', and the pedestal he seems determined to put his wife on. It's all a little icky. He seems like a remarkably unreliable narrator.

OK, maybe it happened like he says. We have no evidence in the text contradicting him as of yet. But at the same time we only have his word for any of this and it's possible that he hit on Sarah rather than the other way around, she told Mary. OR that neither of them was hitting on each other, but they both thought the other one was hitting on them and things... spiralled.

"I can see now how she was plotting and scheming and poisoning my wife's mind against me."

If this story hadn't ended with him murdering people and mutilating their corpses, I'd be more inclined to believe him at face value, but knowing the extremes he went to, I feel like this is just massive paranoia.

"And then this Alec Fairbairn chipped in, and things became a thousand times blacker."

Ah, we finally get to the owner of the second ear. Alas, poor Alec. You were doomed by the narrative.

“‘It was only a little thing, too. I had come into the parlour unexpected, and as I walked in at the door I saw a light of welcome on my wife's face. But as she saw who it was it faded again, and she turned away with a look of disappointment."

His entire motive is based on two moments when he saw a look in a woman's eyes? Are you kidding me, Mr Browner? Are you a telepath? Can you read their minds? You have no evidence of literally anything and you just murdered people?

Maybe we're getting to the evidence. Maybe you're going to walk in on them in a compromising position, or find a love letter, or overhear a incriminating conversation. But so far all we have is 'my sister-in-law was upset I didn't enjoy her company and held my hand and made eye contact with me' (which I agree was a bit weird, but not conspiracy worthy) and 'my wife looked like she was looking forward to talking to someone who wasn't me'.

“You can do what you like,” says I, “but if Fairbairn shows his face here again I'll send you one of his ears for a keepsake.”

OK, no. You're just going straight to threats of violence. No further proof needed.

“‘Well, I don't know now whether it was pure devilry on the part of this woman, or whether she thought that she could turn me against my wife by encouraging her to misbehave.'"

The paranoia and entitlement is so strong in this one. He's completely irrational. We're all agreed on that, right? Maybe he was right about everything, but he's based all of his conclusions on...

heh...

He's based all his conclusions on vibes.

I played myself.

At least I didn't kill anyone over it.

"'How often she went I don't know, but I followed her one day, and as I broke in at the door Fairbairn got away over the back garden wall, like the cowardly skunk that he was. I swore to my wife that I would kill her if I found her in his company again, and I led her back with me, sobbing and trembling, and as white as a piece of paper.'"

This is slightly more incriminating, but given that there was a threat made to cut off the man's ears, that seems enough reason for him to run away. And death threats are never cool.

"'The thought was in my head as I turned into my own street, and at that moment a cab passed me, and there she was, sitting by the side of Fairbairn, the two chatting and laughing, with never a thought for me as I stood watching them from the footpath.'"

Honestly, at this point if she was having an affair with him I'm kind of okay with that. Mr Browner is clearly paranoid, violent and unstable. Divorce wasn't really an option for her because Victorian divorce laws were sexist and terrible, and from Browner's earlier description Fairbairn seems like a pretty cool guy. I hope she at least had fun before her husband brutally murdered her.

OK, point of Victorian etiquette, was it considered scandalous to be alone in a cab together? To me that's far less intimate than being found alone in a house together. But chatting in a cab? I suppose there isn't a chaperone, so maybe.

“‘Well, I took to my heels, and I ran after the cab. I had a heavy oak stick in my hand, and I tell you I saw red from the first; but as I ran I got cunning, too, and hung back a little to see them without being seen.'"

Either you couldn't think straight OR you could think straight enough to be cunning. You can't have it both ways. That's not how it works. EITHER you're blinded by jealousy and commit a crime of passion, OR you're thinking through your plan. My dude, you're undermining your own argument (although, as mentioned, the ear thing already did that).

They do seem to be having a very nice date. Good for them. Pity about the murderer lurking in the shadows.

And he's spending an entire day stalking them. Yeah, no, Mr Browner, we're way outside of 'blind jealous rage' murder. You hired a boat specifically to hunt them down and kill them without witnesses. This is now officially premeditated.

"'I cleaned myself up, got back to land, and joined my ship without a soul having a suspicion of what had passed. That night I made up the packet for Sarah Cushing, and next day I sent it from Belfast'."

Yeeeaaah, those are not the actions of a remorseful person.

You're just a dick.

If only she'd had good sense and just run the fuck away with Mr Fairbairn and changed her name. Genuinely, usually I'm super against infidelity in all forms, but you seem like a real piece of work. Your story is so full of inconsistencies and irrational jealousy and paranoia that I can't believe half of it.

"'I cannot shut my eyes but I see those two faces staring at me—staring at me as they stared when my boat broke through the haze. I killed them quick, but they are killing me slow; and if I have another night of it I shall be either mad or dead before morning.'"

Can confirm: you are already 'mad'. Your actions were not those of a mentally stable person. Not that that's why you did it. You clearly have problems, but loads of people deal with problems without killing people. You just suck, my dude. And honestly, zero sympathy.

'I feel super guilty about the crime I threatened to commit, then deliberately set up so as not to get caught, then followed up with acts of bodily mutilation, cover-up, and terrorising of the victim's relatives. But now I feel super guilty.'

Yeah, this whole account is just one long rant about how he's not really responsible. It was the women who drove him to it. By... talking to men and... looking at him funny.

“What object is served by this circle of misery and violence and fear? It must tend to some end, or else our universe is ruled by chance, which is unthinkable. But what end? There is the great standing perennial problem to which human reason is as far from an answer as ever.”

Super philosophical at the end there Holmes. Seems like Holmes at least is taking Browner at his word about Sarah, or else the cycle doesn't really make any sense here. Even if Sarah did put events in motion, it's not really a cycle. It's just... a couple of rather horrible people being horrible to each other.

Or maybe he's referring to the death penalty?

Well, this one was weird. Given ACD's predilection for spiritualism and the afterlife, it's possible he intended the guilt plaguing Browner here to be the spirits of the people he murdered, which - given his lack of accountability throughout his own narrative - actually makes more sense. But there's no evidence of that in the text, so that's just me. But mark it down as another score on the 'supernatural Holmes universe' tally.

#Letters from Watson #Sherlock Holmes #The Cardboard Box #long post #I really tried to take everything at face value here #I just couldn't #'seldom looked on her with anything but love' rings false when you look back on it #You threatened to kill her #Browner reads as a completely unreliable narrator #Maybe Sarah was obsessed with him but we literally have nothing to support that except his word #It seems likely that his wife was emotionally involved with Fairbairn #but given what we know of him I can't really blame her

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