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envysparkler · 1 month

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Clark swore he only turned away for a moment but when he looked back, there was a silhouette in the formerly empty corner. He jumped, inhaling sharply, before he registered the bat cowl.

“Do you have to sneak up on people?” Clark asked, half irritation, half relief as he willed his heart to slow down. He was Kryptonian, but the Bat of Gotham was another beast entirely. Clark was giving serious thought to Hal’s claim that the Bat was a spook.

Surely a man like this couldn’t be human.

Batman’s expression shifted imperceptibly under the cowl and Clark could practically hear the terse ‘well maybe if you were aware of your surroundings’. Batman didn’t voice it aloud, he never voiced it aloud, but the weight of his disdain was apparent.

Clark blew out a sharp breath, “So, what are you here for?” He tried to remember if there was any activity near Gotham lately—nothing would step on Batman’s toes quite as much as breaking his one rule—

“Kon-El.”

Clark tensed all the way up. He couldn’t help it, it had been over two years since he’d found Kon, but he was still overprotective of the kid. With a megalomaniac for a father and the end of a species for his legacy, Kon had a weighty burden to shoulder, and Clark would absolutely protect him from it as much as possible.

“What about Kon?” Clark asked levelly.

“He propositioned Tim.” The words nearly came out in a hiss and Clark blinked. Kon had told him of his plan to ask Tim out, Clark’s discreet inquiries seemed to conclude that the boy fancied Kon back, Clark couldn’t see what the problem was. Tim was seventeen, six months senior to Kon, and he had dated previously.

Which meant that either this was a gay thing or a meta thing.

“So?” Clark leaned back, narrowing his eyes as he kept his voice deliberately casual. “What about it? I think they’d make a cute couple.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No,” Batman hissed, vehement. Clark narrowed his eyes further. “It will not happen. I forbid it. You will tell Kon-El to stay away from my son.”

“They work on the same team,” Clark pointed out, starting to get angry.

“Tim will be leaving the Titans.”

“Because Kon asked him out?” Clark asked, incredulous. The sheer overreaction was ridiculous.

“Yes.”

“Does Tim want to leave?” Clark asked. He didn’t know the details of how Kon was planning to ask Tim out, but it was possible that he’d accidentally offended him. “Maybe I should talk to him—”

“No!”

Clark stared. Batman didn’t shout. Batman never shouted. Batman certainly didn’t ball his hands into fists like he was contemplating punching Clark. Whatever this was about, it was causing the man to lose his infamous composure.

“You will not talk to Tim. Your son,” Batman twisted the word and Clark came perilously close to seeing red—“will not talk to Tim. This will never happen again. Is that understood?”

Clark took five deep breaths to be able to speak without shouting. “No,” he said as calmly as he could. “I don’t understand. I don’t know why you’re so upset about this. If there’s a problem, and if the kids can’t solve it on their own, then it becomes my business—”

“There is no problem,” Batman ground out through gritted teeth.

“That’s not what it sounds like to me,” Clark said sharply. “I don’t know if this is homophobia or xenophobia, but our kids are doing a better job of getting along than we are, and that’s something to be encouraged.”

Batman was silent for so long that Clark actually got out of his chair to make sure the guy was still there. “Getting along,” the vigilante said finally, words slow and faintly bitter.

“What?”

“This is about getting along,” Batman said. Clark didn’t know whether it was a question.

“I guess?” he answered. Kon wouldn’t have asked Tim out unless they’d gotten to know each other, breaking the long-held isolation of the Bats.

Batman’s jaw tightened. “Okay,” he said.

“Okay?” Clark was very confused.

“Okay,” Batman repeated. “We can…get along.” Clark stared blankly at him. “Now tell your son to stop.”

Clark immediately protested, but was sidetracked as Batman pulled off his cowl. Batman never unmasked even though they all knew who he was, and Clark’s breath caught in his throat at the sight of Bruce Wayne’s glittering gray eyes glaring at him.

“Wait,” Clark said, shaking his head, “I’m not telling Kon to stop. Why are you—”

“Then what do you want,” Bruce snapped.

“For what?” Clark was keenly aware that he’d lost the thread of this conversation somewhere and he didn’t know where.

“To call your son off!” Bruce said, face narrowed into a glower, but Clark caught the edge of a crack in his tone. “Do you want me to get on my knees? Suck you off? Fuck you? You—”

“What,” Clark’s voice was the one that cracked this time, embarrassingly high as he swiftly backed away. “What the fuck. What are you talking about?!”

“You said,” Bruce said, and Clark abruptly realized that the terseness to his tone was because he pausing to swallow more often. “You wanted us to get along.”

“Not like that.”

“Kon-El propositioned my son.”

“Kon asked Tim on a date,” Clark said, voice still too high with dawning horror, “because he likes Tim. Because that’s what kids do when they like one of their friends!”

“Typically,” Bruce said quietly, and Clark could see the fractures in his eyes, “they don’t also have the power to immobilize said friend.”

Clark stared at him, frozen in shock and horror. He’d been wrong, then, it wasn’t the idea of his son dating a meta that Bruce didn’t like, except it kind of was, it was the idea of his son dating someone with the ability to overpower him.

“Why would you think,” Clark whispered, “that Kon would ever do that?” Kon was a good kid, a hero, he loved helping people, if Bruce dared to breathe one word about Lex, Clark would eviscerate him—

But no. Bruce didn’t say Lex’s name. He didn’t say anything at all, just stared at Clark with a blank expression. He looked…tense. Anxious. There were dark circles under his eyes and the lines on his face skewed to exhaustion. He hadn’t relaxed his fists.

Clark walked back over to him, slow and even, posture unthreatening. When Clark was two steps away, Bruce shifted ever-so-slightly, a flinch, a brace for a punch there could be no bracing against.

Clark stopped. He turned and sat back down in his chair.

“Batman,” he said slowly, heart heavy and aching, “I’m not going to hurt you or your son. Neither is Kon. This wasn’t a—a threat, or whatever you thought it was.” Because Bruce had clearly thought it was a threat, if he came here to bargain Clark into taking him instead. “Tim does not have to agree to Kon’s date. If he says no, Kon will leave him alone. If he wishes to leave the Titans, he can.”

I am not the monster you so clearly think I am, he wanted to scream.

“If that’s all you came here for,” he said, turning back to the reports, “You can leave.” Clark didn’t know if he could stop himself from venting his feelings if Batman stayed.

#my snippets #bruclark #timkon #bruce is terrified of clark #and unfortunately very good at hiding it #protective bruce

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therealvinelle · 3 months

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Do you think Heidi and the Volturi would look at the Titanic sinking and go "Hrm, a cruise ship disaster, that's a good way to get a lot of humans and make them disappear"?

Like maybe not regularly but if they had an emergency "we need 1500 people as fast as possible because I guess we're throwing a big feast idk"?

Oh god no.

The first rule to making 1500 people disappear is you don't make 1500 people disappear. You physically can't, at no point in history have 1500 people been able to disappear without people noticing. The reason we know so many painstaking details about the RMS Titanic, who was where when and exactly how the ship was built, is that a massive investigation was launched into how the ship sank. You'll remember the Malaysian Airline disaster a few years back, and you remember it because of the amount of attention and resources that were poured into uncovering what had happened.

In times past you might have been able to make away with a ship more easily and have it be noticed later, because the absence of wireless communication systems meant a ship not making it to port could simply mean they were delayed. Even then, though, people would notice and it would attract a lot of attention. The SS Waratah, which departed for Cape Town from Durban in July of 1909 and was expected to reach her destination on the 29th of July, had people looking for her on August 1st even if she wasn't reported officially missing until much later. An inquiry was launched the next year, with an emphasis on "Why haven't we found anything?". This was a 211 passenger casualty: imagine the inquiry, the search effort, for a 1500 passenger ship.

Even with the RMS Titanic many of the dead had worn life vests, several hundred people were recovered in the months after the disaster. There were bodies sighted around the place the SS Waratah had last been seen, though none were recovered. Point being, what's lost at sea is not always lost at sea. Heidi would have to create a record of her 1500 people having been aboard the ship she intends to sink, without them actually being on board or else she has to somehow ensure none of them will float to the surface after the fact.

You'll notice the ships on this wiki site generally have a few things in common: they had a lot of passengers and they were not expected to be lost. A fishing boat might be lost without attracting much surprise, this was something people knew to expect. During wartime, doubly so.

A ship containing any number of passengers, though, that wasn't expected to be lost, that will have people talking about it, investigating, trying to find out what happened even if we go back a few centuries. In the modern age, the search would be on every headline.

The Volturi would not be able to keep the secret for any amount of time if they attempted anything like this.

#heidi #volturi #twilight #twilight renaissance #shipwrecks #rms titanic #ss watarah #death mention

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listen-to-the-inner-walrus · 11 months

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can you explain why you dont believe the titanic switch conspiracy theory? didnt they find a propeller with "olympic" written on it amongst the wreckage?

i feel like the phrase "you just activated my trap card" applies here but i have also never watched yu-gi-oh so dont fully know the correct use of that. anyway whats the text limit on a tumblr post because i think i might hit it with this response.

before we begin (if you wanna join me on this fucking journey), ill just drop some useful sources on the topic:

olympic & titanic - an analysis of the robin gardiner conspiracy theory dissertation by mark chirnside in july 2006

titanic or olympic: which ship sank? by steve hall and bruce beveridge

olympic & titanic: the truth behind the conspiracy by steve hall and bruce beveridge

with that shipkeeping housekeeping out of the way, lets jump into it after the cut

so hands up, how many people knew that this theory originated in a book from 1995?

yeah, its a pretty modern theory considering titanic sank in 1912. the theory originated in the riddle of the titanic by robin gardiner and dan van der dat.

and the theory argues that the ships were switched and titanic (actually olympic) was deliberately sank as part of an insurance scam. now they didnt do this at all for shits and giggles. instead, the theory posits that the navy enquiry that followed the 1911 collision between hms hawke and olympic was biased which meant white star line couldnt recover the costs of repair from lloyds (the insurance company), and therefore, they wrote olmpic off as too damaged to be repaired, lied about the amount of damage, switched the ships and sank olympic disguised as titanic to recover some costs.

far-fetched? oh definitely and it gets worse, but ill leave that til later in this gargantuan response because its really fucking funny.

(seriously, i recommend you read til the end or just skip to the part where i start talking about the sinking itself because fam, gardiners theory gets wild )

according to van der dat, who is a dutch journalist and naval history writer with an incredibly dutch name, gardiner had wrote the manuscript after researching the titanic for however many years and sent it to his literary agent. this agent had previously worked with van der dat and so sent it to him to double-check the information by going back to the original sources. he then rewrote the book with line-by-line consultation with gardiner.

and would you like to hear a quote from van der dat regarding the theory? i think you would:

"the publishers were disillusioned when the theory did not stand up"

he also, in correspondence with titanic author and researcher paul lee, called it "bilge" which is a fun ship joke alongside calling the theory bullshit.

anyway, the publishers went ahead with the book anyway because fuck integrity, i guess... thats kinda harsh considering this first book (oh yeah, theres more) was praised for stellar research and for being balanced, and the final chapter of the book literally acknowledges that the wreck has titanics shipyard number (401) on it, hence disproving the theory.

in 1997, it was published in the us under the name the titanic conspiracy - cover-ups and mysteries of the worlds most famous sea disaster, and it sold like sliced bread in 1928 because 1997 was titanic fever, baby!

unsurprisingly, gardiner's following books (titanic: the ship that never sank? in 1998; the history of the white star line in 2001; the great titanic conspiracy in 2010) were a lot less well-received and were not co-authored by van der dat.

"but wait, kai!" you might shout if youre up to date with issues of the times from 1914, "what about raymond asquith's comments? he was junior counsel for the board of trade at the sinking inquiry!"

and i would say, what about it? the letter asquith wrote to the times was a sarcastic letter in response to a prior stance taken by the paper.

yes, he said "the architect, the owner, and the captain to repair their desperate fortunes by sinking the ship and sharing the insurance money" but said letter also included the phrase "manipulating dummy icebergs".

if were taking sarcastic or satirical responses outside of their original contexts as serious quotes, then i guess i need to cancel my dropout subscription since the company holds the opinion that oj simpson is innocent.

and while were here, that single deathbed confession from james fenton is not evidence of anything. his name is not on any crew lists or survivor lists, and not a single payment was ever claimed by a crewman called james fenton. he was not on board the titanic and his claims hold no weight.

now, my go-to explanation as to why i dont believe the switch theory is that their insurance scam would have lost them money and they would know that it would have lost them money.

see, it cost white star (which was a subsidiary of the international mercantile marine) £1.5million/$7.5million to build titanic and they insured it by lloyds (you can check their records on their website) for £1million/$5million.

you dont have to be good at maths to see a problem here.

they didnt just not insure the rest; it was self-insured by imm's insurance fund, but that still means theyd have lost £500,000/$2.5million on the sunken ship.

this whole insurance thing was established by uh the united states senate inquiry report:

"the vessel fully equipped, cost £1,500,000 sterling, or about $7,500,000. at the time of the accident the vessel carried insurance of £1,000,000 sterling or about $5,000,000, the remaining risk being carried by the company's insurance fund."

oh and the £1,000,009 insurance was announced in the daily mirror on 16th april 1912

and the insurance scam seemingly thought up by someones whose first and only introduction to maths was golf isnt the only way white star would have lost money on this.

after the sinking, olympic was temporarily pulled from service to increase safety measures like adding more lifeboats. obviously, a logical move made by a company with a brand new, safer ship on their hands who were desperate for any money they can make.

white star also halted construction of britannic, titanics other sister ship, in order to alter the design and make it safer. this costs quite a bit of money and is, again, an odd choice for a company apparently desperate for money.

and hey, question for you guys: if you were alive in 1913 and needed to cross the atlantic, would you

a) choose the near identical sister ship of that ship that sank last year and was the deadliest sinking of a ship at that time

b) choose any other option such as the lusitania or the mauretania or the ss france or the ss imperator

personally id take my chances with option a, idk about you

yeah so the point im making here is that the sinking of the titanic was what the kids say

a marketing disaster

it was the loss of the newest flagship on its maiden fucking voyage and it had been touted as "practically unsinkable". maybe just maybe people wouldnt feel that comfortable getting on a white star line ship after that.

i dont have any figures for you because reading through a detailed account of white stars history just is not on my to-do list, but that doesnt even matter. what matters is that its clearly a massive risk and who the fuck is taking that risk?

as titanic author, senan molony states:

"one doesnt need to compare designs and count portholes - a moments serious consideration of the reputational risk involved - individually and collectively - is all that is required to end any entertainment of the notion"

anyway, you guys wanna compare designs and count portholes? yeah? okay, here we go!

may i present a non-exhaustive list of differences between the ships:

olympics wheelhouse was curved; titanics was flat

titanic was 4 inches longer

the porthole arrangements on shelter deck c were different

on b deck, olympic had a 1st class promenade; titanic had 2 private verandahs and suites (put a pin in this by the way, it comes back in the best of ways)

titanic had additional cabins on promenade deck a

olympics promenade was open all the way along; on titanic, the forward half of the 1st class promenade on a-deck was enclosed with retractable glass screens

on titanic, the forward bridge wings aft docking bridge on the stern extended over the ships side by a couple of feet; this would not be true for olympic until the 1912/13 refit

the officers deck house was pushed out more on titanic

the iron gates of the elevators were different between the ships and this is evident in the wreck itself

their propellers had different pitches and hence not interchangeable (pitch is a theoretical concept which is like the distance a propeller would move if it turned once through something solid, yeah i dont know either)

the wireless cabin had an outside window on olympic, but not titanic

further, it was placed on the port side of the officers deck house on olympic but amidship on titanic

they had different air vent arrangements around the funnels

white star line cut the ships names into the shell-plating at the bow and stern, four feet high and a ½ inch deep

now, please, close your eyes, take a deep breath and consider how much money it would cost to switch just the list above. now compare all of that to the -£500,000/$2.5million youre losing in the insurance scam.

truly, a spend less on candles situation.

and while we're here, shall we quickly talk about how much hush money white star would be paying to silence everyone about this since its apparently an illegal insurance scam.

not to make another non-exhaustive list but heres just who i can think of that youd have to silence:

the 15,000 workers employed directly by the shipyard

the 20,000+ workers in support services or sub contractors

any permanent or casual staff at the belfast dock and harbour comission

all of the officers and crew who came directly from olympic onto titanic such as the captain or stewardess violet jessop (puppet history fans rise up) who interestingly remarked on how improved titanic was compared to olympic

any staff at white star, imm and harland & wolff (where she was built) who would be in the know such as designers

passengers who had previously sailed on olympic who then sailed on titanic

just like anyone in belfast who walked past while the ships were docked together

olympics wreckers: thomas wards & sons who kept huge loose-leaf ledgers for each ships. the one for olympic was 72 pages long and funnily enough olympics yard number and builders I'd frequently appear in it, as seen below

bob ballard who was the one who found titanic. hes known as a very honest man and didnt even claim salvage rights on titanic because he assumed everyone else would also recognise it was a gravesite. he also said "i think it is the titanic at the bottom of the ocean"

every other explorer or researcher like james fucking cameron or us navy consultant and titanic wreck explorer, parks stephenson

its been estimated likely over 60,000 people were involved in just the building of titanic. this was ⅕ of belfasts population and ⅓ of the working population. heres a photo of them leaving olympic at the end of the day

now maybe im just a fool, but that looks like a lot of people you need to silence, and unless white star were blackmailing them or idk fucking killing them i guess, thats a lot of hush money just in the photo above.

i mean, theres also the claim, from noted liar james fenton, that the surviving crew were forced to sign the official secrets act of 1911, but that act was about espionage that benefits the enemy military so im not sure how this is relevant to the switch, and also, again, the guy was never on the ship.

are you perhaps starting to get the picture as to why i dont believe the conspiracy theory because im still going.

okay so as established, if the ships were switched, there would have clearly been a lot of work that would need to be done to switch the ships.

and i only mentioned some of the structural differences, i didnt get into the aesthetic differences like the floor tiles and carpeting being different colours, or how the lounge furniture in each ship having the ship name on them.

mind you, this is what titanic looked like (in the foreground) when olympic was first docked next to her:

this was taken around october 11. olympic docked next to titanic on october 7th for repairs after that whole catastrophic collision.

now how much time do you think it was before olympic sailed away? mind you, titanic has already been launched at this point and just needs to be fitted-out, and that normally takes around 4 to 6 months?

oh, what was that? 44 days? why, kid, youre going somewhere. it was 44 days exactly!

now, i dont think i need to get into the fact that the dock only had 1 crane (which you needed to install and uninstall funnels and machinery) that physically couldnt reach olympic unless she was moved or how olympic was painted white for her launch and then painted black and that the white paint would get exposed in rough weather so the same would have to be applied to titanic so it would look convincingly like olympic.

i mean, you have that information now, but im hoping just by the words "44 days", you might get how off the wall insane it is to suggest white star was able to switch the ships so well no one noticed for decades in 44 fucking days.

"wait kai, youre forgetting that they were docked together again!" you shout, "after olympic threw a propeller, they were docked together from march 1st to march 7th 1912"

and i dont know dude, im pretty sure white star cant warp space time so i really dont know what eight extra days is gonna do.

i hate to strawman but man, the late robin gardiner would have won a gold medal in scarecrow hide and seek.

lets also take a quick detour into the idea that olympics repairs were so expensive.

without getting into gardiners claims about the damage because theres no evidence of it and as mark chirnside states "there are no credible sources indicating that the damage to olympic was worse than reported at the time - and indeed ample sworn expert testimony to the contrary", lets just quickly go over some financial stuff.

during the case, it was unofficially estimated that the damage didnt exceed $125,000. imm, by including lost passenger receipts, wanted to claim for as high as $750,000, but they lost that case.

during the year 1911, imms surplus profit was $822,062. so weve got:

750,000 > 822,062

now as we might remember from key stage 1 maths, the bigger number eats the smaller number, aka, their surplus profit covered the costs of repair.

aka, no ill-advised insurance scam needed.

"thousands of people in belfast would have seen the switch operation - and yet there is not one word in the papers of reporters or photographers rushing out to find out what was happening."

-dr paul lee

so this is the section where i ask how did no one fucking notice?

no one on titanic, who had previously sailed on olympic, ever said anything about the switch other than one guy who was literally not on the ship at any point.

no one who has ever explored the wreck or done research on it has definitively stated it was olympic. rather, they have definitively stated otherwise.

for example, what remains of the base on the wheelhouse shows it to be straight and not curved, and as you might remember: titanics wheelhouse was heterosexual straight and olympics was curved.

(id be impressed if you did remember)

also, as parks stephenson has stated:

"weve got actual high def images of this wreck. ive seen with my own eyes. weve identified the name titanic on the port bow"

its difficult to make out but its there; the name is on the fucking ship.

also, as you might remember, titanics b-deck was different to olympics. the 2 suites there were nicknamed the "millionaire suites" and jim cameron has used rovs to go inside of them.

funnily enough, robin gardiner has gone on the record saying that these suites didnt exist so make of that what you will.

and further, no one noticed anything about olympic even though she sailed for 24 more years. theres no written record of anything, theres nothing in the board of trade reports, theres no photographic proof and theres not even fucking hearsay.

she served as a damn troopship in ww1, youd figure someone would figure it out as all of her fittings were ripped out.

but no, theres nothing.

as i mentioned above, olympic was scrapped in 1935, but some of her fittings were auctioned off and still exist today. and these have the number 400 on them because that was her shipyard number. titanics was 401 and the wreck reflects this also:

the wooden parts are from olympic; the other has been salvaged from titanics wreck.

theres even the famous myth that olympic or olympus as one person told me is written on the propeller at the bottom of the ocean. its not, but you can see the number 401 written on it:

and while were disproving myths about the name olympic being on the titanic, the story about olympic being engraved on titanics lifeboats is also false:

theres no written testimony, no sketches and no photographs of this.

white star didnt engrave names onto lifeboats, the names were on metal plates that were screwed on

do you really think they did all of this work but just didnt fucking swap the lifeboats? if theyre this stupid, how did it take until 1995 for someone to figure it out?

we can also discuss the stupid olympic room thing while were here. see theres a maritime superstition that changing the name on a ship is bad luck and obviously, if youre swapping the ships, youre changing the names.

so to... get around this? cheat luck? outsmart superstition? i dont fucking know, to take a detour to avoid this, white star named a room "the olympic room."

i cannot find any evidence at all that this room ever existed. its not in the design plans or the blueprints, and no passenger or crew has ever said it existed, so im pretty sure the room just didnt exist.

and even if it did exist, titanic was in the olympic class of ships. thats what olympic, titanic and britannic were. its not weird to have an olympic room on an olympic class ship. i mean it is weird in this case since the room didnt exist, but you get my point.

and heres some quickfire myths and falsehoods

the myth about the 14 vs 16 bow portholes is also a false. yes, titanic had 14 portholes on launch but an extra 2 were added before her maiden voyage so yes, the ship photographed departing southampton with 16 bow portholes is the titanic, and do you really think it would take 83 years to figure this out if it was this easy?

similarly, titanic did have evenly spaced b-deck windows on launch, but then the extra verandahs and suites were added so the window configuration was altered, so that photograph is off the titanic.

the idea that titanic had a 2 degree list to port like the olympic before her is evidence of the switch theory is, to borrow a word from dan van der dat, bilge. plenty of ships at the time and now have minor lists. the one on titanic was only recorded by 2 passengers and we know that the list was related to coal consumption. it means nothing.

jp morgan (owner of imm) did not cancel last minute. as mark baber points out on encyclopedia titanica, it was announced in the new york times that hed be in venice on april 23. at that time, transatlantic voyages took at least 5 days so it would at least be a 10 day round trip and likely not give him time to get to venice for the opening of a store of whatever it was.

also, j bruce ismays wife and kids also didnt cancel last minute. theyd already decided to go on holiday to wales rather than sail on titanic.

addendum to that point: if ismay knew it was going to be sank deliberately and so warned his wife, why would he get on board himself? further, why would harland and wolff designer thomas andrews (who did not survive by the way) get on board?

and we're finally at my favourite part of this entire mess: the sinking itself.

see, a deliberate sinking doesnt really make sense for titanic because the conditions under which she sank has led to the descriptor "freak sinking."

these are: a new moon meaning less light, unusually calm ocean that disallowed lookouts to watch for foam as waves hit any icebergs, ice having drifted further south than normal for that time of year, and a sideways glancing blow that breached more watertight compartments than the ship could handle and stay afloat.

and idk dude, is there not an easier way? like maybe some light arson. just call it an accidental fire that got out of control and led to the ship being a write-off, this isnt difficult.

but you see gardiner has an answer to this, and i am laughing as im typing this, he claims that:

titanic didnt hit an iceberg, it hit an imm rescue ship.

thats right, this guy fully says titanic didnt hit an iceberg. apparently it hit another ship and NO ONE FUCKING NOTICED

i mean we have testimony from survivors but fuck them i guess.

he claims that as titanic was apparently a "steel double-hulled vessel" so an iceberg simply couldnt inflict so much damage.

yeah titanic wasnt double-hulled. she had a double bottom, but it was only after titanic that shipbuilders were like ah maybe full double hulls arent an unnecessary expense after all.

theres also the issue of uh no evidence of this rescue ship ever existing? at all? i dont know where it came from, i dont know where it went, and who fucking knows, maybe it was called the rms cotton eyed joe.

yeah so weve got a theory riddled with problems and im just gonna introduce some more problems with this theory as gardiner has also alleged that:

the original plan was to open the seacocks and slowly flood the ship, but this was interrupted by titanic hitting another ship

1) titanic didnt have seacocks? and 2) was the rest of it a coincidence then? i think its meant to be a coincidence.

i believe his theory is alleging that the crew on titanic would open the seacocks that didnt exist to flood the ship slowly, and that the imm rescue ship that also didnt exist was in the area in advance to help evacuate passengers, alongside other ships such as the ss californian.

this is that ship that was like 10 miles away or something and didnt respond to titanics distress signals. according to gardiner, they were expecting a rendezvous with titanic according to the "original plan", but never received it.

instead, they saw the rockets of the fabled imm rescue ship and helped them instead.

this is fucking stupid.

i cant be charitable here, its a fucking stupid theory. i mean, that imm ship did not exist, and also californian is a ridiculous choice for a rescue ship. her capacity was 47 passengers and 55 crew; there were more than 2200 people on board titanic.

to counteract this argument, gardiner alleges carpathia was also in on the scheme as a rescue ship. she, at least, had capacity for the passengers, but theres also several problems with this too.

for one, it was fucking 50 miles away and famously arrived several hours after the sinking even though the captain had her running at top speed to get there.

for two, carpathia was owned by cunard, white stars rival. was their rival line in on the insurance scam??? how much money did they have to pay cunard for this????? why? just why?

do you understand why i dont believe it? please tell me you understand. i need you to understand. i need you to tell me that you understand that the guy who created this conspiracy claimed titanic didnt hit an iceberg.

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monarch-afterdark · 1 month

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Titan History: Scylla

Welcome once again to Monarch: After Dark, the digital gateway between you and the organisation dedicated to understanding and navigating this troubled new world we live in.

While our inquiry into Janos Biotech continues, we return to the regularly scheduled "Titan History" series, where we break down all you need to know about the creatures we now share our world with. For today's communication, we look to the most recent Titan crisis and examine one of the casualties; the Lovecraftian scavenger, Scylla.

(Pictured above: Scylla rampaging through Rome, prior to being confronted and executed by Godzilla, circa. 2027)

Monarch Database File: Scylla

Monarch Designation: Titanus Scylla

Height: 341 feet

Weight: 20,000 tons

Nature: Bio-Corrosive

Behavioural Classification: Destroyer

-----

A colossal cephalopod Titan that appears to have crawled out from the depths of the Cthulhu Mythos, Scylla is among one of Monarch's more recent discoveries, noted as 'Titan 024' in our database. Her discovery was recent enough that, during the construction of Monarch Outpost 55, a proper containment field for Scylla was unable to be constructed. Some of the outpost's operatives erroneously believed she was dead when they found her dormant in Arizona.

Scylla is known to us as a Titan scavenger, able to break down the carcasses of deceased Titans and convert the nutrients into a lethal waterborne bacteria. This ability led to the implementation of new protocols for Monarch's pathology teams when cleaning and disposing of Titan remains. She can also emit an incredibly dense fog-like pollutant, which she uses to feed on radiation sources or cover her while she evades an attacker, and can emit liquid nitrogen from her body. The latter ability in particular has been cited for cooling down the Antarctic ice and stabilizing global sea levels.

Scylla is also surprisingly intelligent, able to take the wreckages of ships and craft them into temporary shells for her body, and is remarkably agile in her movements, enabling her to take on opponents such as Godzilla with ease.

(Pictured above: The Moai statues of Easter Island. It is believed by Monarch these were built by the Rapa Nui people to ward off Titans like Scylla)

Like with most Titans, not much is known about Scylla's activities prior to 2019 outside of what mythological records allow. It is known that, at some point, Scylla made landfall on Easter Island. Feared by the Rapa Nui people, they erected the Moai status as megalithic scarecrows to deter her, and presumably other Titans as well.

When Scylla was awakened by Monster Zero in 2019, she erupted from beneath Monarch Outpost 55 and made her way to Arizona's capital Phoenix, where she rampaged through the city. She was pacified by the ORCA device's activation in Boston, and was among the few Titans present to witness Godzilla become the new Alpha, bowing down to him as he roared into the sky.

Between this and her next known sighting, Scylla enjoyed a deal of popularity among humanity once Monarch's record of her went public, even becoming a trending topic on social media platform Twitter once her Greek origins were confirmed.

(Pictured above: Artistic rendition of Scylla engaging the United States Coast Guard and Godzilla over possession of a nuclear warhead, circa. 2020)

Around the end of 2020, Scylla appeared off the coast of Savannah, Georgia in search of food. Her hunger led her to a discarded nuclear warhead, which she fought with the US Coast Guard for possession of. Godzilla arrived shortly after and successfully drove Scylla away after a short brawl. She then made her way to a frozen lake at the tip of South America, claiming it as her new territory. Like with all other Titans, Scylla then returned to dormancy, seemingly under Godzilla's instruction.

She did not stay dormant, however. In 2027, Scylla was lured to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in India by a reactor beacon created by Skull Island trophy hunter Raymond Martin, who (as Monarch later discovered) wanted to use her to occupy Godzilla's attention so he could proceed with his plans for Hollow Earth. After feeding on the radiation there, she would travel to other locations around the world and feed there, Godzilla always one step behind her.

Scylla attacked the United Kingdom Nuclear Labs in Preston and the Aviano Air Base in Italy, feasting off whatever she could find. Her ravenous feeding had caused her to cease cooling the planet's oceans, and Monarch instead found that she was heating the areas she attacked, causing damage to the ozone layer. After an attempted trap by Monarch failed, she was finally cornered by Godzilla in Rome and killed by a point-blank blast of his atomic breath following a short skirmish.

(Pictured above: An X-Ray scan of Scylla, part of a compiled bioacoustic database Monarch has on all Titans, circa. 2019)

-----

And there you go! While Scylla's passing means we may not be able to learn more about her, unless new data is found or another of her species emerge in the future, we do take some pride in knowing some people out there came to embrace Scylla, rather than fear her as most would.

Until next time,

Monarch: After Dark

#monarch #monarch after dark #monsterverse #godzilla king of the monsters #godzilla x kong the new empire #godzilla x kong spoilers #godzilla #titanus gojira #scylla #titanus scylla #godzilla dominion #godzilla x kong

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animemocha · 9 months

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The Beauty of Hange Zoe (Attack on Titan Essay)

Breaking The Cycle

In the world of Attack on Titan, war and conflict shape every aspect of life. At the centre of this struggle are the Scout Regiment, fighting for the survival of humanity.

Many of these characters are fueled by traditional motives - they fight for their families, their honour, and to be called heroes.

But this cycle of violence, driven by the same old reasons, is leading nowhere.

It’s tiring.

Eren isn’t the only character fighting for freedom, they all are. But it seems unattainably distant.

In this world where hope often dies before it can take root, there's a need for something – or someone – different. Someone who doesn't just continue the cycle, but who can break it and bring about a new dawn.

This is where Hange Zoë comes in.

The Perfect Scout

Unlike many others, Hange isn't just fighting for the sake of fighting - they are defining what it is we're fighting for.

Hange’s strength is not only in combat but also in what they represent. While many characters in Attack on Titan are essential for rallying around a cause and fighting for it, Hange is among the few who define the cause in the first place.

While many are driven by the dark winds of revenge and hatred, Hange's heart pulses with a different force.

Insatiable curiosity.

An undying thirst for knowledge that offers a beacon in the gloom.

They live to uncover the secrets of the world, extend the boundaries of human knowledge, and protect their spiritual and physical home.

Despite experiencing tragedy and loss, Hange remains committed to this goal. They believe that through progress, discovery, and knowledge, the truth of the world will be revealed, and with it, the possibility of freedom.

I mentioned earlier that the Scout Regiment fights for humanity's survival, and while this is certainly something that they do, it isn’t the ONLY thing that they do, and I’d go as far as to say, it isn’t even the goal.

The purpose of the scouts was to learn, to advance, to push forward, and by doing that, survival is achieved as a by-product.

And in that sense, nobody embodies the scouts better than Hange.

Spark

It’s no secret that everybody loves Hange. It’s kind of impossible to hate them.

But Hange wasn’t always the exuberant and enthusiastic figure we see in the series.

Like many characters, Hange was once disillusioned, angry, and cynical about the world.

But that all changed with one simple act.

One day, out of frustration, they kicked the head of a titan, only to be surprised by how bizarrely light it was. How can the head of a creature so massive weight next to nothing? It went against everything they had learnt.

And it was that simple act that set them on a path to of scientific inquiry into the mysteries of the world.

This small moment was a turning point. It ignited Hange’s passion for research, a flame that burned so fiercely that it bordered on recklessness or appeared as madness to everyone else.

But in this fire, Hange saw a light that many failed to perceive. Hange saw something.

Hange began to believe in a way out, a path dependent on discovery, collaboration, knowledge, and finding solutions. After all, this is the core ideal of the Scout Regiment, not war or death or mere survival.

But it isn’t easy to hold onto this idealism in the grim world of Attack on Titan.

Over time, Hange faced roadblocks, stagnation, frustration, and the deaths of comrades and friends. They had to learn to stay focused, and to keep moving forward despite the obstacles.

And that’s perhaps when they faced their biggest challenge.

After becoming Commander of the Scout Regiment, the burden of leadership weighed heavily on Hange. The demands of duty, politics, and bureaucracy constrained their research. The compromises and hypocrisies necessary for leadership were agonising.

Yet, despite these challenges, Hange never lost themselves. They knew what it meant to be a scout, and they knew what their fallen comrades would have wanted.

I know I’ve beat this drum to death, but I can’t stress how important it is to understand the core principles of the Scout Regiment.

Finding the truth in search of a solution. Pushing forward. Advancing. And Exploring.

Erwin Smith is a character loved by many. But it’s crucial to understand, that while he was undoubtedly the greatest leader the scouts ever had, he didn’t embody their core principles. Or rather, he did not embody them to the extent Hange did.

Hange will never be as good of a leader as Erwin. But make no mistake. There is nobody that represents the scouts better than Hange.

And there’s no better example of this than a beautiful yet ever so tragic scene from season 4...

Hope

The entire reason the people in Paradis were forced to suffer was because of Marley. But the opposite is also true. The Marleyeans hate the Eldians, and the Eldians hate the Marleyeans. That isn’t an opinion. It is a fact established over centuries and a theme that is constantly reiterated.

And yet, somehow, before the final battle, we see an unlikely alliance form, we see connections built between former enemies.

But how did this happen? It seemed so impossible in the past?

But it did happen.

So who’s to say there’s no hope?

Who's to say it can't happen again?

Through their actions, this unlikely alliance follows the Scout Regiment’s mission of serving humanity and searching for hope. They didn’t know if they would find the answer, but they acted in the belief that it might be found one day.

And that’s when we see an ever so unfortunate yet beautiful scene. One that is saddening, but also one that can’t help but bring a smile to our faces.

To make us feel proud.

The Commander's Sacrifice

Hange dedicated the end of their life to preventing the most inhumane act imaginable. After all, it was not the future that Hange and their comrades had dreamed of.

In the hallowed silence left by Hange's sacrifice, those they entrusted with the torch of tomorrow found the strength to march forth, bearing the profound ideological and spiritual legacy that Hange had cherished in their heartbeats.

As a powerful personification of the Scout Regiment's spirit and core values, Hange was content to do their part in resisting the nihilism of their world and believing in something more. They were courageous enough not to succumb to despair and to seek something different.

While Hange’s death was tragic, Hange knew that Eren’s broken dream was not the answer.

They believed that as long as there was a chance, they would try to find it.

Hope is not enough to win a war. But when this hope ignites the fire in others to take action, they can pave the way for a future where wars are no longer necessary.

This is the lasting impact that Hange Zoë had on the world.

Hange died as they lived, daring to believe that there was a chance for something better out there.

Beautiful Differences

While many characters in Attack on Titan exemplify heroism, courage, and sacrifice, Hange stands out as a beacon of hope and curiosity in a world overrun by despair and hatred.

Hange’s insatiable desire for knowledge and understanding was their driving force, pushing them to explore the mysteries of the world even when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Their unyielding belief in the possibility of a better world made them a symbol of resilience and hope amidst the darkness.

In the face of a world that glorifies war and condemns those who bear the torch of heroism, Hange's unique perspective was a breath of fresh air.

They refused to be swept up in the cycle of violence and revenge that consumed so many around them.

Whether you choose to admit it or not, many of the characters, if not almost all, are consumed, or perhaps even driven by one thing, malice.

Whether it’s Eren wanting revenge for his mother, Zeke’s detest for his father, Reiner’s hatred of the cruelty of the world, or Levi wanting to fulfil his promise to Erwin by killing Zeke, the fact is, a majority of the cast is driven by hatred. And that’s perfectly normal in this world.

But Hange was different.

They didn’t harbour a hint of malice.

Instead, they chose to focus on the pursuit of knowledge and understanding, believing that these were the keys to a brighter future.

Their legacy serves as a testament to the power of hope, curiosity, and the human spirit to overcome even the most daunting challenges.

Hange's death was a powerful reminder of the sacrifices that are often required in the pursuit of a better world. They gave their life to prevent a tragedy that would have forever scarred the world they loved.

Their actions were a testament to their belief in a brighter future, one where people could live in harmony without the constant threat of war and violence.

Hange Zoe - 14th Commander

In a world overshadowed by despair and hatred, Hange stands as a beacon of insatiable curiosity. They were a unique presence in Attack on Titan, choosing the pursuit of knowledge over the endless cycle of revenge that ensnared so many.

Their commitment to understanding, to believing in a better world, and their willingness to sacrifice for it, make them an enduring symbol of hope.

Hange may not have lived to see a world without war, but their legacy lives on, inspiring others to carry on the fight for a brighter tomorrow.

psst...

A few things...

First of all. I cannot stress enough how grateful I am for the support I received on my last post, especially those of you that went over to watch the full video on YouTube. The Gilgamesh video is now by far my most viewed video ever! (10,000 views for a channel with 80 subs is pretty crazy!)

Thanks for the lovely comments you left on my video, and thanks for letting me know you came from Tumblr!

If you liked this essay, check out the full video essay on my youtube channel!

(Wow I've used a lot of exclamation marks...)

- love ya

youtube

#attack on titan #aot #shingeki no kyojin #anime #anime and manga #essay #hange zoe #Youtube

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nbwriteschaos · 3 months

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re: writing commissions.

---- my writing commissions are OPEN! all info can be found within this post or in this google doc. please dm for any inquiry or request!!

!!!fiction, nonfiction, original works, smut, etc!!!

1 thousand words ♡ $10 USD

2 thousand words ♡ $12 USD

3 thousand words ♡ $15 USD

4 thousand words ♡ $20 USD

5 thousand to 10 thousand words ♡ starts at $25 USD

---- all payments are processed through paypal only. payments must be submitted first before i begin the commission. refunds are not available but i will rewrite a commission if you are not satisfied :)

more below ...

(this may format a little funny as i'm copying and pasting some info from my doc, sorry!!)

-- as for pricing

((I do not accept negotiations as far as pricing! I’ve priced my commissions based on what I think my time and effort is worth while also maintaining affordability. There are to be NO REFUNDS. If you are unsatisfied with the result of your commission I am open to rewriting it once more to ensure your satisfaction. All payments are accepted through Paypal. I am working on opening some sort of website to provide the best experience for commissions as well, but for now, Paypal and Tumblr are the best I’ve got.

Please let it be noted that although I am an experienced writer, I do not have the qualifications of a professional published author. I am simply a person at their laptop trying to build a future career as a writer :)

You will not be charged if I go over your paid word count!!

Custom word counts between 5k and 10k will be charged based on how I see fit. **It will not go over $60 USD** ))

-- as for boundaries

i will write mostly anything. even if it seems a little questionable, i'll probably do it. for example:

a super sad angsty character death probably nobody but yourself would want to read, that one coffee shop/tattoo artist au you've been wanting to read but can't find on ao3, or like, idk, a fantasy involving d*bcon, f*rry, p*ssplay, whump/whumpee, mpr*g, terat*philia (monster fucking), obscure s*xual organs, g*re (ask me about this one if you are looking for smut involving g*re), v*yeurism, size differences, or other common k*nks.

i do request some sort of age verification if you are commissioning for smut.

strict NOs:

No extreme depictions of SH or s*icide. No animal a*use, death or g*re. Nothing depicting extreme homophobia or transphobia. No politics or opinion-based pieces of writing. No depictions of child or adult a*use of any kind. No extreme drug use. No underage, fe*derism, sc*t/f*rts/underarms/feet/sneezing, be*stiality, n*ncon, age pl*y/massive age difference, inc*st.

i have a right to deny any commission for any reason!

-- as for fandoms

I can and will attempt to write for any fandom I am not familiar with so long as there is enough info that has been provided for it!! However, I can’t guarantee it will be perfect. Here are fandoms I am familiar with and will write for:

Anime/Cartoons: Genshin Impact, My Hero Academia, Tokyo Ghoul, Toilet Bound Hanako Kun, Fullmetal Alchemist, Death Note, Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family, Jujutsu Kaisen, My Melody, Free!!!, Haikyuu!!!, One Punch Man, Mob Psycho 100, Demon Slayer, Hunter x Hunter, JJBA, Black Butler, Bungou Stray Dogs, Yuri on Ice, Kakegurui, Attack on Titan, Noragami, Adventure Time, Steven Universe. Probably more, just ask!

Books: The Raven Cycle, The Dreamer Trilogy, Simon Snow Trilogy, The Foxhole Court series. Monstrous Series. Anything more obscure check out my Goodreads profile!!

I am 100% down to write your original characters and plots!! In fact, I encourage it! For maximum accuracy, please provide as much information as you can for each character, plot, setting, etc!

if you have any other questions feel free to send a DM or an ask and i'll get back to you as soon as possible! you can also check out the doc to see if it is answered there!

if you read this far, please feel free to reblog just to spread the love. i'd really appreciate it! thank you!!!

#writing commissions #commissions #writing #writeblr #smut writing #rambles

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dairy-farmer · 7 months

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(You are absolutely spectacular, love all your stuff)

I feel like Bruce would quote literally be insane enough to find a concoction to permanently de-age the rest of the bats to young children, stage an accident, and convince Tim that in order for them all to be a “true” family, he needs to be their mother and Bruce’s wife. Or maybe it happens by actual accident on a mission and Bruce takes advantage.. Even better if eventually, a new little sibling was on the way .

👀👀👀👀👀!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tim returns to the manor following a long mission and is greeted by the sight of a todder dick and cass, a baby jason who has only barely started to crawl, and damian who can't be more than a month or two old. all along with bruce who looks gray and haggard with an unshaved face and clear exhaustion painting him. bruce tells him about some dimension traveling magician that tore through gotham while he was away. that bruce had been scrambling to catch all the falling babies from falling off a roof to send out an alert. he tells tim about how the magic user had already flickered away and that the magic consultants they kept on retainer couldn't fix this, the magic was too archaic for one. for two it was done by an outerverser and the possible complications of trying to undo it were too high risk. and so, on the suggestion of three different consultants... the safest thing to do was to just...let them all grow up again. it was the only was to make sure they didn't suffer some horrible blowback from the magic in them which included mind wipes, changes at the cellular level, chronal element level time magic.

tim is thrown for a loop. devastated and horrified for his siblings because they've lost their friends, their lives, the things they went through. dick and jason will no longer have memories of their biological parents only of bruce. both cass and damian...have lost the traumatic childhoods that carved them into the people they were. and...tim tries to ignore how part of him believes that's not quite a bad thing.

he watches as cass loudly giggles at a barbie movie playing on tv and tim just stares at her from where he's carefully holding a fussy jason while she's being bounced on bruce's knee in a puffy tutu and hairclips galore.

dick is napping in a playpen on the floor between him and bruce while surrounded by blocks and soft toys that he joyfully chucks out before wearing himself out and nearly falling asleep while sitting up on his little diaper clad tush.

damian is upstairs in his nursery napping and awaiting another bottle feeding that bruce has a timer for to wake him up for. there's a baby monitor on the coffee table between them tuned so finely that tim can hear the slow and soft inhale and exhale of an infant. he knows that the moment damian makes the slightest cry he'll be up and racing up the steps with bruce close behind him.

tim has been helping for a few days now, helping relieve bruce of the various duties he has shouldered all by himself. alfred is still out of the country on his month long vacation he takes every year. it's a silent rule to never call and bother alfred during his recharge time and its only bad luck that all this happened while he was out of the manor. bruce had struggled those first few nights, tim knew that much. he'd seen the desperate searches on the batcomputer and the inquiries about how to change a diaper, how to hold a baby, how to rock a baby, what do babies eat, how to burp a baby. then the rapid purchases for diapers, clothing, bibs, binkies, and various other supplies that were delivered to the door of the manor within the hour.

batman has taken a temporary leave of absence from the justice league and tim is going to be sending a similar notice to the titans because the family needs them both more.

tim can see the exhaustion lining bruce's face but also the small bit of happiness every time he picks up one of the babies. tim has to admit that once the shock wore off, his siblings were all rather cute. they're small and chubby. dick is a darling child...when he's asleep. awake is when he's constantly toddling away and giggling with glee while he's chased. cass is deeply enthralled with the tv and the most well behaved so long as there's a movie or show on. jason is a lethargic baby. always sleepy and tired to the point that tim was concerned something was wrong because when jason wasn't asleep he was crying or clearly in great discomfort. bruce has an appointment for him with a discrete pediatrician in a few days (along with another for the other children) and so tim does his best to comfort him, holding, and kissing him until they can figure out how to make him feel better.

still. it's hard coming to terms with everything knowing that his siblings, as he knew them, were now no longer the people they'd grow to be. tim was scared, worried that they'd grow up and hate him or hate bruce because of what they did or didn't do.

bruce seems to think the same because he brings tim into his room after they've all been put to bed. he talks about how all of the kids need structure. they need parents. reliable parents who love and care for them and can give them what they need to grow up happy and healthy. bruce has been studying and he tells tim the statistics and the studies about the effects of growing up with a single parent. about the impact of different parental authority figures. about the effects of all the parenting styles.

they need stability, they need parents who will care for them, and bruce says he knows he's asking for a lot but he just needs to ask- can tim be there for them.

bruce can't do it alone. he knows he can't give them everything they need from a loving parent he's too...broken. but tim...tim can. he can fill the gaps- he can make sure the children never have anything to want for. bruce will take care of them all but he needs help....he needs tim.

bruce asking him to be the other parent...the be the....mother...it makes tim stop. makes him consider the needs of his siblings of his...children.

he knows bruce is right. tim knows he'll feel better if he's there to help bruce learn and to make sure all the mistakes he made while raising them aren't repeated again.

and...he sees the potential. the potential lives the children can lead. happier, better adjusted, more fulfilled, less timid, less scared of disappointing bruce. tim knows its a lot. becoming a parent is a huge sacrifice but...if it's him and bruce in it together....then there's nothing batman and robin can't do.

#answered asks #asks #anonymous #brutim

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atlasthegreatest · 5 months

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Fake It 'Till You Break It / Mikasa Ackerman

“So, Y/n. When are you going to find a bride?”

Y/n let out an exasperated breath as the same inquiry was posed to her once again, making it the hundredth time in just a week. Setting down her silverware on the ceramic dish, she reached for her glass and took a refreshing gulp of the chilled water. "Father, surely there are more pressing issues that I ought to be concerned about than finding a suitable match, don't you agree?" she replied, her tone weighted with frustration and a hint of resignation.

As Y/n sat at the dinner table with her family, she couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. Her father, Rod Reiss, had just dismissed her concerns with a wave of his hand, stating firmly that she was his heir and would assume power when he abdicated the throne. However, he also stressed that she would need to get married to continue their lineage. The king's worries about his own mortality were palpable as he cut into his meat with a slight tremble in his hand.

Rod Reiss let out a heavy sigh, glancing over at his daughter with a hint of concern. "You're not as young as you used to be, Y/n. And besides... it's high time you found someone special for you, my daughter," he said, his voice laced with a hint of urgency.

As Y/n chewed the meat slowly, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of resentment towards her younger sister. Her father pointed towards her sister's direction, indicating that she had already found her special one. It was a reminder of the pressure that Y/n was under to find a suitable partner, not just for her own happiness but for the sake of the royal family's lineage.

Historia Reiss; a girl with blonde hair that fell tied around her shoulders and an angelic beauty, her blue eyes widened in surprise when her father mentioned her relationship and how she was included in the matter.

Historia was in a long relationship with Ymir Dal – one of the guitarists and member of the rock band The Titans. And despite being supportive, Rod didn't like that one of his daughters – especially the youngest – was in a relationship with a musician. Especially one who was in a rock band.

Y/n sat at the dinner table, feeling frustrated with her father's comment. She let out a loud huff in indignation. “You say that as if I were that old. I'm only twenty-eight years old– about to turn twenty-nine in a few days, Dad. I’m still young,” Y/n explained, hoping to make her point clear. She looked down at her plate of food, but found herself without the appetite to continue eating. Y/n pushed her plate away, feeling a mix of annoyance and disappointment.

“At your age, I was already married to your mother and I was receiving the news that I was going to be a father for the first time,” Rod said, looking at his eldest daughter with a small smile, glancing briefly at the painting that hung above the dining room fireplace. The frame displayed a captivating image of a woman with luscious blonde locks that cascaded down her back and stunning light blue eyes that sparkled with an air of mystery. The name Alina Reiss was etched at the bottom of the frame, adding a touch of elegance to the overall presentation. “It was your mother’s wish for you to find someone who would make you happy.”

Y/n, although attempting to conceal it, could not help but display a moment of uncertainty when her mother was brought up in conversation. Being the eldest of six siblings, she was the one who bore the brunt of the crushing blow dealt by their mother's death. The weight of the loss seemed to weigh heavily on her, and it was evident in her demeanor.

Y/n mentally cursed at the emotional blackmail her father was doing. “Well… it’s not like I haven’t tried to get a bride, dad…” The woman lightly scratched her neck as she tried to ignore the way her cheeks began to burn. “It's just hard to find someone I can have a loving connection with these days,” That was a lie.

She had never been interested in anyone romantically–or carnally. Y/n was always too focused on her studies and the duties of an heiress, that she never gave herself the luxury of having romantic dates.

Y/n then sent a desperate look towards Historia.

Historia, upon seeing the silent cry for help that the older woman was sending towards her, was unable to hide the small laugh that escaped her and decided to help her sister. " I have an idea." She says, drawing her father's attention to herself. “How about a dance, dad?”

“A ball?” Rod asked, paying attention to what she was going to say.

“A ball?” Y/n gave her sister a deep look.

"Yes! A ball!” History repeated. “Since Y/n’s birthday is in a few days, a ball could be held where everyone would be invited to celebrate the heir to the throne’s twenty-ninth birthday.”

The king's face lit up with excitement as he exclaimed, "What a magnificent idea!" His mind was already racing with thoughts of how to bring this idea to fruition. He knew he had to speak with his trusted right-hand man to start preparing the invitations immediately. The king quickly ordered the butlers and maids to begin the necessary preparations for the grand ball that was now in the works.

Meanwhile, Historia and Y/n watched their father muttering to himself as he got up from the table and walked towards the exit to leave the dining room.

“Thank you very much for nothing, little sister.” Y/n says sarcastically.

“I just made your search easier.” Historia shrugged, ignoring her sister's sarcasm as she typed on her phone. "You're welcome."

Y/n stands up from her chair, takes off the napkin from her leg, and puts it on the table. "Once I become the queen, the first thing I'll do is kick you out," she says. "I have no idea how Ymir tolerates your presence."

Historia opened her mouth in disbelief. “You wouldn’t have the courage. You don’t have enough balls to do that.”

Y/n made a disgusted face as she picked up her phone from the table. “Please, I don’t want to hear you talking about the size of my balls.” Y/n left a kiss on her sister's forehead and then headed towards the door. “What do you think about Dad finding out about his little princess’s potty mouth?”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Historia exclaimed indignantly, going after the taller woman. Having her reputation as a good girl in her father's eyes destroyed by her sister was something she didn't want to happen.

“Oh, but I dare,” Y/n says laughing lightly, quickening her steps.

“Y/n!” Historia shouted as she strained her short legs to reach her sister.

#reader insert #mikasa x y/n #attack on titan #ymir x historia #gxg #fem reader #gip reader #fake dating

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oneaugustevent · 9 days

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The sea is the place permanently to honor our dead. This should be the occasion for a new birth of vigilance. And future generations must accord to this event a crowning motive for better things.

Senator William Alden Smith, to the United States Senate on May 18th, 1912

#titanic #rms titanic #person: senator william alden smith #literature: us senate inquiry

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happyminyards · 11 months

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i'd be interested in the titanic fact-check post if you'd still like to write it 👀

Oh tumblr user @burr-ell, i am giving you a friendly little kiss on the forehead for asking this. I would love nothing more.

Let's give the rundown of some common Titanic "facts" that people love to parade around especially nowadays and why they're either fully wrong, misinterpretations or actually close to the truth! With sources, because I'm nice like that.

This will be long, but I feel like it needs to be to actually give y'all the proper information and context, and frankly I think I'm writing this mostly for myself.

I'll divide it up into two parts, so here's "not enough lifeboats", "untrained crew", "no lifeboat drills" and "speeding & ignoring ice warnings".

Part two featuring "half empty lifeboats", "locking folks below deck", “missing binoculars", and "fire sank the Titanic, actually" is here!

"They didn't have enough lifeboats because they thought the ship was unsinkable"

Almost ship back then had enough lifeboats for all its passengers. Lifeboats were considered a very, very last ditch attempt at safety and more often than not resulted in the deaths of the people in them due to capsizing in bad weather, accidents while being lowered, drifting off etc etc. (SS Clallam, SS Valencia, SS Atlantic).

If they had to be used, the idea was to use them as ferries to other boats. Ocean liners started getting more watertight compartments, bulkheads and double bottoms, meaning they were able to survive collisions and stay floating for longer. Since the Atlantic shipping lanes were VERY busy back then and most accidents happened near the harbor someone was expected to be in reasonable distance at all times when such an accident occurred.

Besides that, ships had just gotten new, sparkly wireless machines, the Marconi transmitters. While their operators were technically not employed by the ship and their tasks consisted of sending letters from passengers, it was expected that they'd facilitate communication in accidents. And that system worked, for a while!

Best example is the sinking of another White Star Line ship, the RMS Republic in 1909. She got rammed, sunk, every ship nearby ran up to help her, all her passengers got transferred over, how nice, our procedures worked!

So while it's true that regulations for the amount of lifeboats hadn't kept up with the steeply increasing size of the new ocean liners (Titanic was actually carrying more than her size demanded), the authorities expected that these new technological advancements were sufficient.

Titanic showed them that this was not correct, so they were adjusted mainly through the SOLAS treaty (which actually resulted in tragedy itself, when ships not designed to fit so many lifeboats suffered from accidents due to the refitting, like the SS Eastland, who rolled over in dock, killing 844 people)

As for the ship being unsinkable, some surviving advertisements described Titanic and her sister Olympic as "And as far as it is possible to do so, these two wonderful vessels are designed to be unsinkable". Which was fairly common at the time (Captain Rostron actually does it in the inquiry after the sinking) due to the aforementioned new, fancy safety features. Hubris? Yes, but not a stand out characteristic of the Titanic.

"The Titanic Crew was untrained & overwhelmed"

Captain Smith had been at sea for 49 years, a commander for White Star for 25 years and the captain of their maiden voyages for ten years, including the then biggest ships in the world Baltic and Olympic. He was regarded as a "safe captain" by both the line and passengers, some who only booked with him. His most notable incident was probably when Olympic collided with the HSM Hawke, but he wasn't even in command of the ship at the time. They were under compulsory pilotage, i.e. a harbor pilot was giving the orders.

All her officers were also very experienced. From Chief to Sixth:

Wilde, on sea since his teens, with White Star for 15, including Majestic and Olympic

Murdoch, on the sea since he was 18, 12 years at White Star line, including Olympic, Celtic and Adriatic

Lightroller, with White Star for 13 years, including Oceanic and Majestic

Pitman, on the sea for 16 years, White Star for 5/12

Boxhall, on the sea for 13 years, with White Star for about 4 1/2 years

Lowe, on the sea for 14 years, with White Star for 15 months

Moody, on the sea for about 9-10 years (including his Navy education), with White Star for about half a year on the Oceanic

So really the only one you could clock for being inexperienced was Moody, who was the sixth officer. And he was well educated and perfectly qualified for that position. Wilde was actually pulled in sort of last minute just after Titanic's sea trials, bumping down Murdoch & Lightroller one position and causing Officer David Blair to leave the ship entirely, presumably so that the well-oiled team of officers from the Olympic could set Titanic up for a good start.

(This also caused the supposed missing binoculars, more on that below).

This was White Star's newest, biggest ship. White Star's whole sales pitch was luxury and comfort, they're the line running the "Millionaire's ship". They're not gonna risk anything, even if it's just their rich passengers having to deal with inexperienced officers. They were gonna put their best on it.

There were no lifeboat drills

Titanic needed drills to get her certifications and completed them in early April. The officers (minus Wilde plus Blair) were all there and involved, everything got checked and a bunch of the lifeboats lowered.

There was also a separate Board of Trade drill on the 10th of April. Lightoller, Pitman, Lowe, Moody and "[nearly all seaman], including able-bodied seamen, ordinary seamen, lookouts and quartermasters" were all involved. There was also the bulkhead and the emergency boat drill.

Now there is some confusion around the "Sunday Drill". This was another drill involving the crew, not the passengers.

It's essentially a muster plus a check of the boats, not actually anything to do with the procedure of loading the boats. This didn't happen on Titanic, but there seems to be no clear reason why. Some crew members state it was scheduled, others said the drill didn't happen due to weather, some said they only happened on Sundays "in New York", potentially because otherwise the firemen wouldn't join in. The "Sunday in New York" one is the one that gets mentioned the most, but truly this is anyone's guess.

However, it's clear that this drill would have changed nothing. The crew already had undergone similar drills before, this one was not new information. Here's a really good, well sourced article on the whole drill issue.

The Titanic was speeding & ignoring ice warnings.

Titanic had received multiple ice warnings throughout her journey. This was nothing unusual, it was April in the North Atlantic. The ice warnings were communicated via the wireless, given to the bridge and marked on the board.

We know of a bunch of specific warnings that were received and posted on the bridge, mainly from the Caronia and the Baltic. The Baltic one is the famous message that made it to Bruce Ismay's, chairman of the White Star Line, pocket. He showed it to some passengers before giving it back to Captain Smith.

There's two warnings that probably didn't make it to the bridge, captain or all officers. One from the Californian to the Antillian that the Titanic happened to overhear, warning of "three large bergs 5 miles southward of latitude 42° 3′ N, longitude 49° 9′ W". Harold Bride, junior wireless operator, testified he delivered this warning to the bridge, but Pitman testified he wasn’t aware of it. It could be that Murdoch, who was actually on duty at time of collision, was, but he ended up dying in the sinking.

The other one is from the Mesaba at around 9:40 PM, stating: "In latitude 42° N to 41° 25′, longitude 49° W to longitude 50° 30′ W, saw much heavy pack ice and great number large icebergs, also field ice, weather good, clear". While this message was received by Phillips, Titanic's senior wireless operator, we’re pretty sure it never made it to the bridge.

There's also the infamous Californian warning at 11:00 PM, about 40 minutes before Titanic hit the iceberg, that Phillips interrupted with a seemingly harsh "Shut up, I'm busy, I'm working Cape Race". Now, that seems rough, but was actually a really common "tone" between the wireless operators of the time:

They were a fraternity of pioneers, considered to be cranks, and had the curious habit of addressing one another as O M ("Old Man"). A common signal exchanged between them was GTHOMQRL ("Get to hell, old man, shut up, I'm busy"), or A S O M ("Wait a minute, old man!"). [James Bisett, Commodore of the Cunard Line, “Tramps and Ladies - My Early Years At Steam]

What happened is that Phillips was working through a backlog of messages, Titanic's wireless had been broken earlier and he had fixed it against standing orders from the Marconi company (which actually made it possible for any of them to survive in the end).

He had cranked the power all the way up to be able to understand the messages of Cape Race, which was on the edge of his receivers' span. Californian's operator, Cyril Evans, chimed in in the middle of that with a "I SAY, OLD MAN, WE ARE STOPPED AND SURROUNDED BY ICE!" essentially blasting Phillips' ears off, since Californian was much closer.

Phillips told him to pipe down, Evans signed off and went to bed. The issue is: no one is at fault here. Phillips had already received and delivered multiple ice warnings, Evans was telling him nothing new or indicating that it was an urgent message, so Phillips had no reason to consider it important. Evans, in his inquiry, literally states that he was "jamming" him and gives no indication that Phillips was acting rude.

Titanic's speed at the time is debated. Boxhall says he estimates it at around 22 knots based on the propeller speed, Lightoller at 21.5, the US inquiry at "no less than 21". However, that is an estimation, and we nowadays think that Titanic was going around 20-21 knots.

The officers were also unsure about the exact position of the Titanic, Boxhall actually calculated her a good 13 nautical miles further west than she was, so some mis-estimates are to be expected. We actually aren't quite sure what her exact top speed would have been, Lightoller estimated it at 22-23 knots based on "general rumours", Lowe at 24 to 25, which is a really hefty difference.

We can assume Titanic's top speed to be similar to her sister ship Olympic's after Olympic got refitted with a three-bladed central propeller, which was around 24.5 knots (according to Chirnside). So while we can't be fully sure of her potential, it's a pretty safe bet that she wasn't going full speed, she was essentially going "cruising" speed.

Now, was Titanic ignoring all the ice warnings? No. The surviving officers testified they were aware of them, and that Smith had told them to expect ice at around midnight and to get him immediately (his cabin was right on the bridge) if anything changed.

Now, was she speeding? That, actually, comes down to your interpretation of events. Some could say that going "cruising" speed at night with ice warnings would be constituted as reckless speeding. However, all evidence indicates that holding your speed and posting look outs, only reducing once you actually spot dangerous ice yourself, was the common procedure. Here's an excerpt from the UK inquiry that sums it up well:

It was shown that for many years past, indeed, for a quarter of a century or more, the practice of liners using this track when in the vicinity of ice at night had been in clear weather to keep the course, to maintain the speed and to trust to a sharp look-out to enable them to avoid the danger. This practice, it was said, had been justified by experience, no casualties having resulted from it. I accept the evidence as to the practice and as to the immunity from casualties which is said to have accompanied it. But the event has proved the practice to be bad.

Titanic, by her best judgment, was not acting recklessly. She was following common procedures for a ship her size and built at the time (very, very unlike the Titan, since I see that comparison often).

The idea that "as long as the weather is clear, you go top/normal speed" is also backed up by other captains in the inquiry, mainly Pritchard (commander of the Mauretania, who as mentioned was much quicker) but also Andrew Braes, Hugh Young, Edwin Cannons and William Stewart as well as others. They all say the exact same thing: if they were warned about ice and it was clear weather, they'd go their normal speed, day and night. They would only add extra lookouts in bad weather conditions, and only do "what they thought was proper" once they actually saw any ice themselves.

They really emphasize the "in clear weather" part, and we know that the Titanic thought they were traveling in clear weather (Smith and Lightoller had even discussed it that very night). And they were!

The issue is that it was almost TOO clear.

The waves didn't even break on the iceberg, and the stars didn't even reflect off it. Meaning they saw it way later than they would usually. This was very, very unusual. Lightroller said that "the first time in my experience in the Atlantic in 24 years, and I have been going across the Atlantic nearly all the time, of seeing an absolutely flat sea.".

This was an unprecedented condition for them, and they had no way of knowing how it would impact visibility of icebergs.

Cameron shows a scene where Ismay urges Captain Smith to go quicker to reach New York a day earlier. This seems to be entirely based on the testimony of Elizabeth Lindsey Lines, who states that she overheard Ismay and Smith discussing Olympic's and Titanic's maiden voyages, and that Ismay was saying:

"Well, we did better to-day than we did yesterday, we made a better run to-day than we did yesterday, we will make a better run to-morrow. Things are working smoothly, the machinery is bearing the test, the boilers are working well". They went on discussing it, and then I heard [Ismay] make the statement: "We will beat the Olympic and get in to New York on Tuesday."

It's true that Titanic was being quicker than Olympic, but we know now that that is mostly down to Titanic's superior propellor system (something we actually didn't know until someone dug up an engineering notebook like a decade ago). We have zero other evidence that Titanic was trying to be quicker, or that Ismay somehow was trying to force Smith to speed.

No other passenger or crew member testified anything of that nature. Titanic was also not gonna get the Blue Ribband, as mentioned previously Mauretania was a whole few knots quicker. Arriving a whole day earlier would only throw the travel plans and hotel bookings of the passengers into chaos. There was nothing to gain from speeding.

#titanic #this is.... so long im so sorry #and i left out!! so much!!!#tina rambles #thanks to lauren for proof-reading you're an absolute gem

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