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wolven91 · 8 months

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Beginner's Luck

Did you know humans were lucky?

Ask any fik and they'll be able to tout any number of stories and anecdotes of how humans are not only lucky, but divinely so.

Brön, didn't put much stock into all that nonsense. As a male taurian, it was expected that he would know better. To not bother with superstition and focus on the real world. But he learnt that humans were lucky by sheer luck and a slip of the tongue by a human himself.

Luke was the first human Brön had come across in real life as an interaction. Not unusual given their rarity. At most the taurian had seen them on the news or waving from a secure area.

But as a taurian, and a registered guardian, when the human had appeared on his station, he had done his job as necessary. Brön wanted to make it clear that the taurians would be the best of the guardians. Ssypno weren't to be trusted and the ursidains were too stupid to know how to care for others.

So Brön escorted him round the station and ensured his safety whilst showing the sights, keeping to the finer areas. Humans were still critically endangered after all, one had to ensure they were safe, whilst giving them the enrichment they needed. Cute as humans were, Brön knew not to let his human out of his sight. Thankfully, Luke had made pleasant conversation that put Brön at ease. Luke didn't appear to be one of the mischievous humans.

Plenty of other guardians had gotten into trouble for allowing their human too much leeway and getting them sick or hurt. Mercifully, this Luke seemed to enjoy his wit and rather forward jokes. Brön had researched male humans after all and was told that they enjoyed the kind of humour their taurian women did. The taurian grinned listening to the human's belly laugh, it was so loud it echoed down the promenade, much to Brön's chagrin.

When they came across the gambling merchant, Luke had mentioned that he wouldn't mind putting on a wager. When Brön had asked why, the human merely turned to him and had said it was 'a vice'.

Brön watched as the human produced his stylus for interacting with the many touch screens of the modern day. Claws on ninety percent of the population meant that touching a screen directly usually earned the user a fine. The taurian watched the human curiously as he rubbed the stylus against his chest, before using it to select his choice of bet.

The human noticed Brön's quizzical eye ridge and grinned.

"For luck."

Brön thought nothing of this at first. Rubbing one's equipment did not make the object lucky or any action beyond what one can manipulate and better or worse. But as the pair watched the screens, a series of squidgits, each the size of a canid, race around a large track. The bet had been an odd choice, the human had picked an underdog for an upcoming race. The taurian noticed the human retrieve another item from his pocket, its morbid appearance held the prim and proper taurian's attention.

A set of keys connected by a single metal circle. Attached on the same loop, with a small, fluffy, taxidermized paw that he held tightly with his thumb. Again the human must have felt Brön's eyes boring into him as he leant to the side to whisper;

"For luck."

Damn Brön's horns, the human won.

Now. Brön was a male taurian so held himself to a high standard. But on learning the human enjoyed games of chance and luck, the taurian made enquiries into private card games where the human could play with others who enjoyed the same thing.

Brön grinned into his delicate drink at the bar whilst he watched his human be handled quiet easily by the ladies.

He was currently being held aloft in the middle of the barracks of the station far above Brön's head. A friend of his was currently celebrating her forth win at cards, whilst hold the human.

The group around the table groaned and threw their cards back onto the table, none beating the large lass's cards.

"This isn't fair! Let me hold him for the next hand!" demanded another tall, black furred taurian, one giant hand outstretched expectantly.

Luke was crushed into the current holder's chest as she held him tightly and protectively.

"Oh no no! He's my good luck charm! I have to keep him near me at aaall times..." she exclaimed in a sing-song tone. Luke didn't seem to be distressed or thrashing too much. The cad seemed to be enjoying the attention from Brön's position. Although the male did need to speak up a handful of times.

"You're suffocating my charge again."

Looking down, Brön was right and the taurian was, indeed, suffocating Luke against herself.

"Sorry! Sorry!"

Despite being slightly red in the face, Luke seemed in good spirits, laughing and extending his thumb skywards before demanding another hand and another drink.

They sat for another hand, Luke having his head rubbed by each of the taurian gamblers present for good luck.

#conservationverse #cuddleverse #haso #hfy #humans are space orcs #human #furry #human x furry #taurian #minotaur

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xclowniex · 2 months

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@transmascpetewentz made a post back on March 21st about the accountability archive project and I reblogged it, dissecting how it is likely they are fake.

On March 29th I decided to email them as they have an email address available to contact on their web page.

They did not respond to my email and I even sent a follow up email which again, has received no reply. It's now April 7th for me.

Any respectable study or research project with actual experts in any field would reply to email enquiries.

In case you needed further proof for them not being genuine, this is it.

The questions I asked in my email which have remained unanswered are

1. What credentials do the middle eastern experts on the study have?

2. What is being done to mitigate antisemitic submissions? To give an example, does the star of david count under the category "Justification or promotion of violence towards and collective punishment of civilian populations" and if it does not, what plans do you have in place to deal with submissions like that to remove them/not include them in the research or include a section on how many antisemitic/anti jew submissions are made?

3. Are there any institutes backing the research?

Please know that their words and inaction prove that their research project is not genuine. It is also likely that they plan to target jews with their "research"

#antisemitism #israel #palestine #i/p #jumblr

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is-the-19thcentury-man-okay · 10 months

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Help! I'm thinking of getting a 19th century man and my heart is hopelessly set on a fancy French breed! However, in researching breeds of French 19th century men, I'm torn if I want a Napoleonic 19th century man or a La Belle Epoque 19th century man. A friend of mine who has an English 19th century man says that the French breeds are much more high maintenance than their English cousins. Do you have any tips or insight into the differences between various English and French breeds of 19th century men?

I'm going to answer this more recent question over some asks that have been awaiting my attention (my apologies); because it's such a perennial enquiry. In brief, there are less differences between 19th century Frenchmen and 19th century Englishmen than you might think. Your Frenchman is probably a huge anglophile, at least when it comes to his clothes, and he's very influenced by English styles. Meanwhile your Englishman is very impressed by anything in French, and he admires a lot of French culture (and French wines), whether or not he wants to admit it.

Your typical 1830s Frenchman in his Habit à l'Anglaise.

You will want to research your particular type of 19th century Frenchman (or Englishman), and pay attention to a lot of regional and class variations. Gullible anglophones are super impressed by a 19th century man being French, as if this fact alone makes him like a Romantic Les Misérables protagonist or a slinky Parisian man in his robe de chambre like in a Paul Gavarni drawing.

The ideal, not always the reality!

Don't fall head over heels for a French 19th century man with misleading expectations in mind—when he could be from Marseille and want to eat bouillabaisse and play pétanque all day. You will see 19th century Frenchmen claimed to be working in fashion, and it turns out he works at a shirt factory in Argenton-sur-Creuse.

If you are deciding between Napoleonic or La Belle Epoque, I personally recommend Napoleonic if you have lots of energy and you're willing to indulge his urges to roam places at a forced march.

Fun-loving French soldiers at camp in 1809. Let these lads conquer something!

Who doesn't appreciate that sharp uniform that makes you want to show off a man in la Grande Armée? He's not cheap to equip, but it's worth it!

The Belle Époque man may seem less likely to set off on a path of unending war, but he absolutely has his own management issues with a propensity for absinthe, horse racing, and cigars.

You can't just give him free rein with whatever fin de siècle excessess he wants to pursue, and that pretty face won't last forever when he's a determined roué!

In short, your own lifestyle situation, and the type of 19th century man you're willing to support, will be the deciding factor. Good luck!

#is the 19th century man okay #mid 19th century #belle epoque #napoleonic era #asks #military men

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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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blueraineshadows · 1 year

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Your writing is so utterly captivating - thank you for all the work you put into these stories! I check your blog daily. 💜

Can I ask about a scenario where a well established SebxfemMC are just a few months out from graduation, and she realizes after a correspondence with her mom that, her and Sebastian may need to discuss marriage? And when she approaches Sebastian he’s not putting 2 and 2 together when she’s asking “what do we do when we graduate?” Because in his mind it’s obvious - they live together and find jobs. Then she says the words marriage and his brain just… blanks. Not because he’s opposed - quite the opposite - but she takes his reaction poorly. How does it end? Happily, spicy, or with the misunderstanding creating a huge fear for MC she’ll be left in the spotlight in a society that would not look upon them living unmarried in a positive way, thanking if he doesn’t want it she’ll have a hard choice ahead. Maybe Ominis and Imelda have to spell it out for Sebastian, but how does he react? 🥹

Thank you for the request! I am sorry it took a while to get to you 💜 and thank you for your kind words 🙏 😊

Sebastian Sallow x F!MC - fluff ❤️

The sun was warm on their faces as Sebastian and MC sat near the lake. They had been out for a walk, making the most of the fair weather before going back in to continue with their studies. Exams were almost upon them, and after that graduation. Their time at Hogwarts was almost over.

MC looked down at their clasped hands, her heart full of her love for the man beside her. He had been her heart since the end of 6th year. It was hard to picture him not being by her side, there to hold her hand and warm her cheeks with soft kisses.

Her heart fluttered at the thought of what may come next, and her thoughts turned to the most recent letter her mother had sent to her. After hearing about how close she had become to a young man, her mother had enquired if he had asked for her hand. Social society back home had rules for this kind of thing, rules that were not so rigid here in the Wizarding World.

MC glanced at her suitor, her love, and wondered if he had given marriage any thought. It was certainly not something that had come up in their conversations. Perhaps it should be something they spoke about.

Sebastian turned to her, a curious smile on his lips. "Are you alright? You've been rather quiet and fidgety this morning," he said. He gave her hand a little squeeze. "Would you like to share?"

Nerves had MC licking her lips. "Have you given much thought to what we shall do after graduation?"

Sebastian creased his brow in thought. "Well, we shall need to find employment. I have made some enquiries at the Ministry and at a few libraries. I quite fancy the idea of research."

"And, where would you live? Somewhere else, or would you remain at Feldcroft?"

He looked at her. "Where would I live? Did you not mean, where would we live?"

MC felt a little breathless. "You...you wish for me to live with you?"

"Of course," he said. He gave her a playful nudge with his shoulder. "How else will I be able to see you every day?"

Her heart was pounding against her ribs. The thought of living alone with him, nobody to be in the way, no rules but those of their own making, it was all rather exciting, and rather scary too.

"When should we marry?" She asked. She felt rather giddy, the words popping from her mouth in her excitement.

"Marry?" He asked, taken aback. He looked at her blankly. "What?"

MC's lips parted, uncertainty making her flustered. "You...you said we were to live together...I thought..."

"Bloody hell, MC," he said. His words came out as a breathless rush and he ran his fingers through his hair. "Marriage?"

She tugged her hand free of his, a little stunned at his reaction. Was this rejection? Her cheeks flooded with shame. "I'm sorry," she said. She quickly stood, her palms now sweaty as she rubbed them against her hips. "My mistake, I'm sorry."

She pressed her hands to her cheeks and muttered some excuse about needing to get back to the castle before she took off at a little run, leaving him sitting on their little perch beside the lake, stunned.

Cursing herself for a fool, she wondered how she was going to write a reply to her mother. How to find the words to suggest that Sebastian wished for them to live in sin, or worse, wasn't prepared to offer her the stability of a permanent future with him.

She would be ruined socially, shunned! MC felt tears prick her eyes. What if she now had to make an awful decision? After graduation, would she have to abandon her true love and return home to seek an alternative suitor for marriage? Her heart crushed at the thought! How could she ever bear to be with another? Sebastian held her heart, it belonged with him.

....*....

MC had been hiding in the Undercroft since dinner, her handkerchief clutched in her hands as she quietly cried. The very thought of having to leave Sebastian was worse than any Crucio curse, but she was scared of abandoning her mother for a life of wild sin too. Her mother would never forgive her! But would she ever forgive herself if she gave up Sebastian? The very thought made her want to scream like some wild thing.

The Undercroft gate opened and the man himself entered, his gaze roaming their secret space until he spied her seated against the crates. "There you are," he said. He walked towards her.

He paused before her and she sniffed, dabbing her face with her hanky. "I am sorry," she said. "I must look a frightful mess."

He held out his hands to her. "Come here, my love," he said. "You look as beautiful as always."

Shyly, she took his hands and allowed him to pull her up to her feet. He took her hanky, dabbed away her tears and placed a kiss on her nose. "Alright?"

She nodded weakly. He smiled and cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs stroking soothingly over her reddened cheeks.

"I owe you an apology," he said. "I did not mean to upset you by the lake today. You surprised me, is all."

"Perhaps I was a little forward," she said.

He smiled. "Ominis told me to stop being a fool. And while this isn't new advice, I have to say he is quite right. I am a fool."

She met his eyes. "How so?"

His eyes softened. "Because I love you, so, so much, and I just assumed that things would just carry on as they have been after we left here," he said. "Of course, out in the real world, things are different. And, marriage is something that I had pondered over."

"It is?" She felt a spark of hope in her chest, her eyes widening a little as she gazed at him.

"Of course!" He said. "Although, I had rather liked the idea of coming to you with a romantic proposal, you know. It's only what you deserve. I had not expected it to come up for discussion so soon. When you mentioned it earlier, I was taken by surprise, all my previous thoughts and ideas scattered wildly. I had thought to surprise you at graduation."

"Oh, Sebastian," she sighed. She took hold of the front of his cloak, her face crumpling. "And there I am stomping all over your plans with my insecurity and impatience."

He chuckled and pulled her in close, his arms encircling her warmly. He pressed a kiss to her hair. "It's a good job I love you."

"I love you too," she said. She buried her face into the crook of his neck, his scent and the warmth of his embrace her home.

"So, does that mean you would accept my proposal?" He asked. "If I should offer it."

She pulled back to look up at him. "Nothing in this world would stop me from accepting you, Sebastian," she said, earnestly. "I am yours, always."

He swallowed hard, his forehead leaning against hers, his voice thick with emotion. "You would be my wife...Mrs Sallow..."

"Yes," she breathed.

Suddenly, the air surrounded them seemed to shift. MC took a shaky breath, her pulse racing. They had kissed before, many times, he had held her hands, touched her face, stroked her hair, but never much more than that.

This felt different. When his mouth touched hers, there was an intense blaze flickering to life inside of her. Moved by his words, her heart swelling ever larger with her love for him, her body seemed to call out for him at its most primal level.

He must have felt the same. His kiss was far more impassioned than usual, and when her lips parted to gasp a breath, his tongue touched hers. A soft moan escaped her at that soft, erotic touch. Her body seemed to flicker into life, her hands grasping him tighter, pulling him closer.

They kissed deeply, lost in each other's fire. MC found a deep well of passion she didn't know she possessed and she melted into it, gasping softly as his hands caressed her back, her waist.

Her clothes felt awfully restrictive and her cheeks flushed hotly as she realised she would quite happily discard every last stitch, allow him to touch where she had never been touched.

"Sebastian," she moaned. She felt the hard press of the wooden crates behind her against her back, his hands gripping her hips as he pressed his body flush with hers. His kisses moved to her throat, his tongue tasting the delicate throb of her pulse and she thought she might very well melt into a puddle at his feet. Her fingers clutched at the back of his robes, terrified he would let her go, or stop this powerful rush of desperate want.

But, eventually, he did stop. He lifted his lips to smile down at her. His eyes were darkened with desire and she was left breathless, utterly his.

"Just think, we could do this every day as man and wife," he said. His smirk made her want to pull that mouth back down to continue where he had left off.

"I fear I might go crazy before that day arrives," she said. "Your kisses are like fire and I want to burn, Sebastian."

He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her mouth. "Now, what sort of man would I be to deprive my love of such passion," he said. He swiped his thumb over her lower lip. "Allow me to kiss you again."

"Only if you promise to never stop," she said.

He bowed his head and claimed her mouth for his own, kissing her so thoroughly lest she ever forget how much he loved her.

#hogwarts legacy fanfic #sebastian sallow #mc x sebastian sallow #sebastian sallow fanfiction #hogwarts legacy #blueraineshadows

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bretongirlwrites · 4 months

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‘You have not wasted your time, I see,’ said Caius looking me up and down.

I wondered what he saw, and what he had heard: knew I’d made waves, in some circles: but knew not that it had surged up to my very face: wondered if I was blushing; wondered if I’d paled for lack of sun, in Vivec’s damnable indoor cantons; wondered if I was cockier, more confident, more Hlaalu; until at last, I remembered my ruffled dress and my heavy satchel, and setting the latter down, followed it into a chair.

‘You were right,’ said I, ‘that Vivec is where things happen.’

‘Well, just make sure it is not too many things,’ said Caius: ‘you have proven yourself in the art of speechcraft, and in a good many other things which I did not require of you; but now it is time to get out that tuppence dagger.’

‘Already!’ said I: ‘am I to kill the midges hatching from all the marshes?’

Caius grimaced. ‘I will see what I can do about an upgrade. In the meantime, I want you to read this. Mission report from Buckmoth, – by Ald’ruhn, you know.’

The thing was very Legion: which is to say, it was all figures and half-sentences, weather reports on a par with injury reports. There had been a patrol out by Gnaar Mok, a routine sort of thing redoubled with reports of suspicious activity near a cave to the north. The locals reported smugglers, it read: no smugglers were found. Activity found to be corprus monsters, cultists and Sixth House priests.

‘The stories of the bases are true, then?’ said I: ‘Gods help Gnaar Mok.’

He only went for his reading-glasses and invited me to turn the report over.

Three men in; one man out. Instructions from Dagoth Gares, the High Priest, requesting the audience of someone called Lunette. Further enquiries needed. Two men dead on-site; one later, of the blight.

‘This is terribly flippant,’ said I shrinking in my seat.

‘They have asked for you by name,’ said Caius: ‘proof if proof were needed. Probably. Anyway it would be unwise, I think, to keep Dagoth Gares waiting.’

‘You’re sending me in!’ I cried: and threw the papers down on the table.

Vivec seemed so airy in comparison, that I was stifled; that I must shuffle in my dress and wish layers were not all the rage; Vivec after all, had been my field, – but this! – in all the time I’d spent there, in all the time I’d spent cultivating renown and infamy both, I’d forgotten this, the mission: in all the time I’d spent being my someone else, I’d forgotten the other someone else that Caius expected me to be. I’d forgotten, – in short, – that I was a damn Blade.

‘Not alone,’ said Caius sighing: ‘Buckmoth will be ready this time. But you need to go with them.’

Three men in; one man out.

‘Is this all you have to show for yourself,’ said I: ‘after a month! is this all your research, – is there no better way, –’

I had been enraged at his flippancy to match the report: but found in looking up, that I’d quite misjudged it. That the house was filled with papers; that there were letters still unread in the rack; that the bed was unmade and hardly slept in. That Caius himself, – had procured himself a new pair of reading-glasses; that beneath their rims, was a deepened frown on his brow; that his eyes were bloodshot and rubbed, – that there was a fading red line at his collarbone, and to hide it, he’d put on a shirt. The shirt threw me so wholly, that I must bend towards him and apologise.

‘You must realise,’ said he tiredly, ‘that I have not wasted my time, either.’

‘I trust you,’ said I at last: took up the papers, from where I’d thrown them: and feeling the tip of my scabbard ever-present at my thigh, leaned over frowning likewise, to read them, again.

#oc:lunette #breton girl writes #is this rushed? i think this is rushed. speed attribute maxed out

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scotianostra · 1 year

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The Fettercairn Jewel

From my visit to The National Museum yesterday,, this fascinating wee pendant is shrouded in mystery, this is what the museum says about it.

The Fettercairn Jewel is an exceptionally rare Renaissance gold pendant locket. Set with a large almandine garnet, it features an elaborate scene in enamel on the back. The jewel is oval, with a fastening at the top to hold a gold ring, and, at the bottom, a smaller ring, that was originally a catch to hold the case shut. The case opens and would probably have contained a miniature portrait on vellum or ivory or some other personal memento. It would have been worn as a pendant on a chain or pinned to clothing, and it probably had a pearl or precious stone hanging beneath it.

The front of the Fettercairn Jewel, set with a large garnet, but I prefer the back, whichl is decorated with detailed enameled imagery.

The Fettercairn Jewel is one of a very small number of Renaissance jewels to have survived in the British Isles. Jewellery from such an early date has a very low survival rate, due to the historic recycling of precious stones and materials. This makes the survival of the Fettercairn Jewel remarkable.

Its Scottish provenance, and its potential relationship with other known jewels made for Scottish patrons, raise the possibility that the Fettercairn Jewel was made in Scotland or for a 16th-century Scottish patron. Our initial historical research is concentrating on these lines of enquiry.

The Fettercairn Jewel holds the potential to expand significantly our knowledge of the Scottish Renaissance, about the way in which a visually literate society communicated complex messages through objects, and to learn more about the quality and ambitions of 16th-century craftsmanship.

The garnet, on the front was reputed to have medicinal and healing properties.

On the reverse of the pendant the scene centres on a figure of Mercury, with his caduceus, or staff, resting on his outstretched right arm. He is wearing a winged helmet and classical armour, and holding something in his raised left hand.

To the right of Mercury sits a white dog looking upwards, possibly a symbol of fidelity. A vase of flowers stands to his left and more flowers appear elsewhere on the ground. The carefully delineated flowers, including cornflowers, wild roses, violets and marguerites, are all identifiable and many had specific symbolic meanings.

On the horizon are two groups of buildings and a large tree. On the buildings to the left sits a green bird resembling a parrot with its distinctive hooked beak, and on the right a smaller white bird. Above Mercury’s head flies another bird and two butterflies.

The dog, birds and flowers are not part of the usual iconography associated with Mercury, which suggests that the imagery has been designed with a particular meaning and patron in mind. Jewels of this sort often contained complex messages; could the animals and flowers have a heraldic association with the original owner of the Jewel? Is some more complex story hidden in its imagery? So far the Fettercairn Jewel retains its mystery.

Mercury was one of the most popular gods in Renaissance imagery. He was specifically associated at this time as the god of messengers and became closely associated with the officers of arms (the royal heralds) in 16th-century Scotland. An image from the Seton Armorial of c.1591 casts Lyon King of Arms, the king’s personal representative, as Mercury. This could suggest that the Fettercairn Jewel was crafted around the same time, and may indicate a connection to the Scottish court.

We are also trying to establish why the Fettercairn Jewel was made. One possibility links it to the extensive practice of royal court and noble household gift-giving: during the Scottish Renaissance, the royal family gave generous gifts of jewellery to courtiers and ambassadors, a practice common in other European courts of the period.

Alternatively, the Jewel may have been conceived as a token for a beloved family member or spouse. Jewels containing miniature portraits were often exchanged as keepsakes between loved ones, and would often be worn close to the heart.

The pendant came into the National Museums Scotland collection through an auction of over 400 works of art and artefacts from the private collection of the Forbes family, whose home was Fettercairn House in Aberdeenshire. The Forbes of Pitsligo descend from Sir William Forbes, brother of Alexander Forbes, first Lord Forbes. Both branches were prominent elite families in the sixteenth century. The first Lord Forbes married the granddaughter of King Robert II of Scotland and daughter of Douglas, Earl of Angus.

National Museums Scotland is investigating potential links between the Jewel and the Scottish royal court, and the possibility of its links to the Darnley Jewel, now in the Royal Collection. The Darnley Jewel was probably commissioned during the 1570s by Lady Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, as a memorial for her husband Matthew Stewart, earl of Lennox and Regent of Scotland, and was later owned by both Horace Walpole and Queen Victoria. The Fettercairn Jewel shows similarities of design and technique with the Darnley Jewel, and their shared Scottish provenance merits further investigation.

The Fettercairn Jewel is currently on display in the Kingdom of the Scots gallery, near to the Penicuik Jewels, which are associated with Mary, Queen of Scots.

#scotland #scottish #jewellery #pendant #mystery #my pics #history #National Museum of Scotland #Chamber Street #edinburgh

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