#Titanic’s Rescuer

[kevinb3896]

RMS Carpathia Auction Offers Salvaged Objects From Titanic’s Rescuer Ahlers & Ogletree on January 15th, 2021 offering tableware items & pieces of the ship.

One platform that stands out in the realm of online auctions is Auction Daily. It serves as a comprehensive resource for anyone interested in the auction world, offering a wealth of information, including auction previews, auction calendars, auction news, and connections to auction houses, antique dealers, and painting dealers.

[oxygenbefore1775]

Reiner not being used to living without his titan after having it for half his life so he's still knowingly gets into accidents expecting that his regeneration would take care of everything and Jean has to whisk him away to safety each time

[prideprejudce]

so I guess the debris found is the landing frame and back cover of the submersible - the hull hasn’t been found yet (where the men were) but it pretty much suggests that there was an implosion and all the passengers are gone

well they found debris…. I’m almost sure the whole thing imploded on its way down right when the communication was cut and the passengers have been long gone for days now

[techmomma]

look. they're dead if they're not on the surface. if they're not, they and everyone else will wish they were. an implosion is the kindest death they could have down there.

here are some things to keep in mind:

the deepest operational depths, meaning the safest depth that a manned crew could, potentially, rescue a submersible, is 300 meters. 980 feet. just under a 1000 feet. classified subs may be able to go deeper but that limit is like maybe 100 feet more. submarines cannot go trawling around sea floors unless they're relatively close to the coast

the titanic is 2.4 miles deep. 3840 meters. 12,600 feet. 12 times the operational depth of even the best naval submarines.

this tourist submersible's greatest operating depth? 13,000 feet. they're already at 96% of their operating depth. there's about a 4% margin before shit goes sideways, in normal circumstances

96 hours of oxygen is what OceanGate has told everyone this submersible has. this unregulated, untested sub. that they made. 96 hours of oxygen is probably being very, very generous.

there's only like a handful of submersibles, in the entire world, that can reach those depths. there's more ROVs that can reach deeper, but what percentage could help pull an entire submersible that can fit five people? their best bet is going to be getting some kind of remotely-operated flotation device attached to the submersible.

descending and ascending in a submersible is an incredibly delicate process that takes careful monitoring and delicate instruments. if they attach the flotation device then they're going to need something to monitor the internal and external pressure of the submersible. expanding gas could create a leak, which would instantly implode the submersible on the way up. not to mention gases and ballast must be monitored to prevent the occupants from getting the Bends, which can be fatal of itself.

all of this going to be made infinitely harder if the submersible is, as some suspect, tangled in the wreckage itself, which presents a hundred more problems such as zero visibility, structural collapse of several thousand tonnes of rusting iron and steel, punctures, etc..

all of this is assuming they are still conscious inside, and even have power. no power? even more difficult.

none of this is including the numerous defects the submersible is suspected of having, such as a CO2 filter. this is all assuming this submersible had zero defects--unlikely, considering their own words on why they didn't wait for inspection.

There is a goddamn reason they send ROVs down to the Titanic. There is a reason it should only be done by non-profit groups. There is a reason there should be oversight from the Navy and Coastguard. There is a reason that any human visitation is a carefully coordinated and monitored effort, where the majority are trained technicians inside the submersible and out. There is a reason that submarine crew and research crews also go through psychological evaluations, go through training to understand what to do in life-threatening situations. All of them, not just one dude at the controls.

Because they understand that, like Mt. Everest, when things go wrong down there, it is so hazardous to even any would-be rescuers that you will be on your own, and you will, almost certainly, die. And they may not even be able to retrieve your body, because that too is life-threatening to rescuers. Frankly, emergencies at the top of Mt. Everest are less dangerous than emergencies at the bottom of the ocean.

The ocean is actively trying to kill you down there. It's safer to visit space right now than it is to visit the bottom of the ocean. People haven't gone down there just to get a looky-loo. People are sent down there because there's certain things that only human eyes and senses can do, when it comes to research.

The deep ocean is not a place for fucking rich tourists to live out their James Cameron fantasies of seeing the prow come out of the darkness like in the movie. Whether you believe it's a gravesite that shouldn't be disturbed at all or not, tourists should not be goddamn down there.

Money won't save you at 12,000 feet at the bottom of the sea, motherfuckers. A divine miracle won't save them. But a miracle of human ingenuity, if there's some merciful force out there, just might.

[alicerosejensen]

Warning: unhealthy relationship; Dark; not a yandere Leon but almost; the reader has no family and friends; Rescuer syndrome (if you look really closely at the very beginning); mentions of alcohol; Dom!Leon; fem/reader; Older!Leon; Mentions of pregnancy;

Summary: He will love you until his death. You are his and no one else's.

A/N: English is not my native language, so I apologize for any mistakes. Also I don't approve of this crap in real life and if it triggers you, please look at the warning again and skip it. Just because I write doesn't mean it's cool in real life. Build only healthy relationships based on mutual love, trust, compromises without violence.

If you look closely, neither of you two were healthy enough to build a relationship.

Of course you're not a pet. Even if you is devoted to him like a dog whose owner is drowning on the Titanic, and Leon has long been sinking. Of course, he does not consider you an animal and he is sincerely sorry that because of your injuries you cling to him, and he, in turn, succumbs to the selfish desire to keep his girl close to him.

You were so young and alone that, apparently due to your childhood traumas, you sought love from someone who tried to cope with his traumas with the help of alcohol. Leon didn't think he should have touched you at all. In his opinion, everything he touches turns to shit, and he didn't mean to hurt you at all. Besides, he believed that seducing such a young girl, even if you are of age, is almost a crime, however, he could not stop being drawn to you. My God, he’s already turning 40 and you’re a little over 20. Do girls your age hang out with such old men? You should find a young guy with whom you can do all sorts of stupid things while being on the same wavelength, and not cling to his back like a lost child. But in general, it’s not really a fact, but just an observation, but lonely people often have pets to while away their unbearable loneliness. Leon does not have the opportunity to get a dog or a cat, his job means that he spends little time at home, but...

At night, you sleep soundly, throwing your leg over him and reaching out with your arms to hug him. Leon catches himself thinking that he likes to listen to measured breathing and feel the soft skin on his body. His sweet girl... in your sleep you feel how other people's fingers are drawing patterns on your back and you fucking like it. Don’t care about studying, which can open the door to the world of a good career with a decent salary, love into which you dive headfirst is the most beautiful thing that has happened in your life.

And you are ready to hold on to him until the last... Well, actually, just like he does to you.

It’s deep night outside, the bedroom is in wireless darkness, which Leon is so afraid of because of painful memories, but why is he calm now when you’re sleeping so quietly next to him.

"Bunny?" Leon rarely calls you that, but those cute pajamas of yours with the bunny ears on the tank top make him smile, kissing your forehead because your sleep, unlike him, is quite sound.

In fact, he feels like a son of a bitch who sleeps with a girl half his age and, to Leon’s own horror, it’s not even lust. He himself doesn’t fully understand what kind of crap is happening to him, but the point is that he really feels for you... high feelings. At least every day it becomes more and more difficult to let you out of his arms.

But you're sleeping. An absolute angel and Leon wonders if he can mistake your compassion for love? Or do you just have daddy issues? Thinking about this, Leon grins, burying his nose in your hair. He has his faithful “Matilda” in his bedside table, and, in theory, he has nothing to fear, but he is unlikely to be able to live with such crap as before 1998. You planted an obsession for him, gradually nurturing and strengthening it, like a caring gardener painstakingly working on his favorite flower. You yourself cling to him, adjoining him, you are even ready to give up all prospects for your future life for the sake of him alone.

Leon kisses you and strokes your cheek with his thumb, pressing you to his chest, finally closing his eyes and falling into sleep.

Actually, Leon thinks that it’s all your fault. Who if not you?! It’s like you’re deliberately making him worry by putting the phone on silent or calling him back too late, which is why he gradually seems to lose his mind if he can’t be sure that everything is okay. He screams and you cry and apologize to him because you are afraid that he will leave you alone. This is your biggest fear, even if Leon had nothing like that in his thoughts. For heaven's sake, he really hates your tears and he hates feeling guilty about it even more.

"Just don't make me worry anymore" He asks in a soothing tone, pressing your trembling body to him.

And you nod your head, feeling how painful your stomach is from the stress you have experienced and your conflict with him.

"I'll never again...I swear"

You are a stone on his neck, which he in theory can throw off but does not want to. What's going on with you two is clearly not normal. This is immediately noticed by Claire watching how you loyally sit next to him and seem to be interested in nothing but Leon. Seriously, of course, few people from her inner circle like a secular reception, but Claire really thinks it's very strange.

"She's…" Redfield notices your discomfort when Leon walks away to talk to her. However, he himself constantly turns around to look after you while you are nervously sitting at a table with a half-empty glass looking at him with deer eyes. "How old is she? In my opinion, you don't really look like a guy who…indulging in young girls"

Leon squints into Claire's eyes. In truth, part of him realizes that she is saying a clever thought and the other begins to howl unbearably, because you are really the nicest thing that has happened in the last years of his life. So why the hell should he constantly give up his human happiness just because it allegedly does not fit into the worldview of other people?!

"I'm not keeping her forcibly next to me," he replied rudely, and Claire shuddered at the unusual cold tone, "She can leave if she wants to, but she doesn't want to."

Well, who will look after you if even all your loved ones have abandoned you?

The Redfields look disapproving, and when Leon returns to the table in a bad mood, they both see you clinging to his hand, anxiously flapping your eyes, calming down only when he quickly kisses you on the cheek and runs his palm over your back. However, Leon has never really hurt you. After a while, Claire even gets used to this abnormal connection between her friend and his young girlfriend, only rolls her eyes when she sees that Leon constantly sends you messages, checking how well you took care of yourself while he was away.

"She has problems with dad" is a fair conclusion, which Leon deliberately ignored, without commenting on it in any way.

And it wasn't even untrue. With Leon's help, you unconsciously compensated for what you were not given as a child, in turn, Leon himself treated himself with your presence. Because he knows for sure that when he wakes up, you will be next to him in bed, and you will not run away while he sleeps, leaving a paper airplane with traces of scarlet lipstick on his lips and a short signature "See you later", along with the fading scent of perfume in the room. He doesn't need to worry about where you are in the evening, because you are either in the living room watching TV, or in the bedroom, or in the kitchen. No matter what you are doing, the main thing is in his field of vision. If he need to call out to you, then you will respond, and this is the most important thing for him - to know that you are always in close proximity to him.

With each passing year, his control grows, building strict rules.

There is no point in listing them, and Leon knows that you would not violate anything even if you knew nothing about them. Mostly it was just for peace of mind. You walk only with him, don’t lift weights, communicate with strangers to a minimum and... yes, you don’t go to college anymore, because he doesn’t always have time to pick you up from there after classes, well, you can’t say that you were completely against it . There were already enough missed classes for this to become a problem. Anyone's problem but not yours, because...

“I will support you perfectly. My credit card is at your disposal, buy whatever you want or wait for me, sweetheart"

You weren’t a shopaholic, but sometimes you indulged in expensive purchases. Leon never objected.

They took care of you, you didn’t have to study or work, you could sleep until lunchtime, the only important thing was to remain an obedient girl for your Leon, who was too fixated on you. No normal person would consider what was happening to be normal, when you literally cannot leave the house without someone else’s permission. Should you walk to the store for groceries or just a short jog in the morning? Strictly prohibited! Of course you can with Leon, because in his opinion he is a guarantee that everything will be fine with you as long as he is around. You won’t be attacked by some crazy person or a rabid dog, he will carefully check the expiration date on the packages so that his bunny doesn’t get poisoned and other little things that were completely absurd.

It’s remarkable that you were an obedient girl, because your subconscious said that if you make even the slightest mistake, the retribution would be terrible, only the fear was not because of physical violence (no, he doesn’t beat you at all) but because you were afraid that Leon would find yourself another girlfriend, leaving you to choke on your own love or even kill yourself.

Although Leon didn’t threaten to break up with you at all. All lovers quarrel, but you were literally shaking with fear that everything would end, as if the sky would fall to the ground or the sun would stop shining, destroying all living things. No, of course Leon wouldn’t leave you, because his love is no less sick than yours. So his fear is that you'll probably realize he's too old for you, as Claire tells him, and leave for a younger guy. Leon simply cannot tolerate this shit, so he locks you in his house. And still you don't mind.

Leon knows everything his angel likes, from food to your favorite color, which can change depending on your mood. Unlike you, he himself was quite secretive, but you knew well some of his preferences and how to behave when his self-esteem fell through the roof after yet another death at work. Sometimes it was necessary to sit quietly in the next room, but more often just sit on his lap, stroke his head and kiss him. Kiss a lot.

And yet Leon was afraid that you would find a replacement for him.

Therefore, it was necessary to tie you to him so that no one could ever take you away from him. And the only option that Leon saw was to become a father.

“Are you serious?! Damn it, what’s happening to you?! Did she really so calmly agree to conceive a child with you?!”

For God's sake, the way Claire screams makes Leon's ears pop. In fact, only he planned, with only one goal to make you stay with him and fulfill his old dream of a family. But he will say that this was discussed with you and, in fact, you and he even managed to argue about names and what color you would decorate the nursery, which of course was not true, but Claire and others don’t need to know about it.

Leon didn’t even bring up this topic of conversation with you, he just pierced a few with a condoms and, fortunately for him, the result did not take long to arrive. With the first signs, Leon immediately knew that the pregnancy tests would show a positive result and yet he takes care of you when vomit turns your stomach. Like a caring daddy who collects your hair at the back of your head while you spew out everything you’ve eaten and strokes your back, supporting you. A warm blanket, a dim light, a pat on your stomach? It's all for you, baby, and for this little pea inside of you. Leon suppresses a grin, believing that his plan has worked... which is really the case.

"Oh, sweetheart, I hope it's tears of joy, because you don't have a single reason to cry anymore," Leon says when he looks at you crying sitting on the toilet lid, hugging his shoulder, and a positive test is lying on the floor next to you.

Complete shit, but you were crying literally because you were afraid that he would definitely leave now. Fortunately, luck, as you naively believed, has not left you.

Leon did everything to ensure that his little American dream and family were safe under his complete control. Firstly, he immediately said that his child needed more space, although the apartment was spacious enough and the three of them could live here in peace, especially since there was a park nearby, but Leon needed a house. The one that no one will stick their nose into, although in fact, despite the quarrel with Claire and the others, he is thinking of inviting them to the birth of a child. And he's not going to completely isolate you from others. Courses for young mothers, the same walks with a stroller near the house, it was necessary, especially since the baby and mom need fresh air.

You are required to obey and strictly follow all the doctor's recommendations as before. Of course, Leon takes you to all prenatal appointments to make sure that everything is fine, it gives him an unprecedented delight to be next to you at the first ultrasound. Damn, baby, you have to give him a girl! Although he wasn't against the boy.

It is noteworthy that you have never said a word against. After all, everything was fine with you: huge care, a new big house with a small extension for a playground in the backyard, which hinted at the obvious fact that this is your first child with Leon, but not the last. However, how much love he gives you while you are pregnant compensates for all the ailments!

And when you finally give birth, Leon, of course, next to you meets his sweet girl, whose fate, as he thinks, can only be envied. At least now you won’t leave him anywhere, but will forever remain with you and next to you, cherishing your little girl whom he is going to spoil just like her mommy. Leon will put the crib next to the bed, make a new schedule and take a million photos of his happy family.

He adores you and that's all you need. In the end, Leon even admits to himself that he didn’t need the child as much as you, and only Claire and Chris seem to see how abnormal this relationship is.

Only Leon doesn't care anymore.

And you too.

[presidentofthelipglossclub]

rescue bots headcanons !!!

chase has very strong opinions on pretty much everything. anything from the best multiple of 12 to how ants work (his opinions on these two are 60 and "they are very civilized creatures when they are not stealing food")

heatwave needs the most fuel out of everyone because he's a quadruple changer, and because synthesizing water from the air is surprisingly exhausting

blades watches the most mature television out of all of the original four. he's the only one who's watched anything rated higher than pg-13

boulder does volunteer work at soup kitchens and homeless shelters on his off days

none of the og's speak neocybex because of the whole stasis thing

blades' medical knowledge is super outdated (again, stasis--most of the major medical breakthroughs came after they left)

the first time heatwave met wheeljack he tried to deck him. they did not get along (this surprised optimus bc he thought they were very similar and would therefore get along)

quickshadow is jazz and prowl's kid

hightide and optimus used to on and off date (both ratchet and megatronus hated hightide)

boulder reads such a wide variety of books that he sometimes forgets what a normal frame of mind is. like, he reads books for toddlers to classic literature to those books of facts about ancient history. there are a lot of books in the bunker.

salvage dropped out of engineering school and then got a job loading up transport ships. always sort of regretted it, but kept his loader job up until stasis

blurr and heatwave were both trained as professional pilots. blurr had the transport ship he and salvage worked on, and heatwave was/is the main pilot of the sigma

quickshadow was one of elita-one's team members until the squad was disbanded

hightide is a cityspeaker and his suit was a gift from a titan

boulder has minor claustrophobia. it normally isn't too bad, but part of the reason he loves nature and the outdoors is because he feels free/not restricted

all the original four rescue bots were dorm mates during their academy years

heatwave didn't even want to be team leader it just kinda happened because of his natural talent for leadership. the others elected him as their leader and he just went with it.

chase is a night owl and usually does most of his tasks at night. he likes the quiet and also that means during the day he can focus completely on rescues

blades gets "grounded" ridiculously often by dani. like, "no tv for a week" type grounding not "no flying." blades thought it was the second one and was thrilled, and then devastated when he learned what she actually meant.

boulder is a clean freak. not a germaphobe, but he needs everything to be tidy

blades bet heatwave that he wouldn't make a "deez nuts" joke to optimus. he lost that bet but it was so worth it for the pained look on optimus' face when heatwave did it

hightide REEKS of salt. it's constant and everyone hates it.

blurr and salvage were both neutrals before they became rescue bots, which is why they've never done combat

all the official rescue bots (everyone but blurr and salvage since they were trained later and never went to the academy) have an outlier because forged rescue bots are built that way

also all the official rescue bots can easily bench press optimus. like, one handed. they're all ridiculously strong (again, rescue bots are just built that way. super strength is very important)

heatwave is ultra magnus's and hot rod's/rodimus's kid (he was raised by them)

rescue bots (official ones, not blurr and salvage) are exclusively cold constructs. they have to be manufactured to achieve the abilities necessary for their line of work (super strength+speed, outliers, olfactory sensors, different optic types, ability to scan extra alt modes, etc.)

after rid2015 the bee team was trained by the rescue bots to become rescuers (this is canon)

at some point before rba heatwave sorta became everyone's boss. pretty much every cybertronian of significant influence listens to him or works for him. this happened in a similar way as how he became his team's leader (on accident and because he just naturally takes charge)

the original four rescue bots are ambassadors to earth and technically all have government jobs but they just also do other stuff (teachers at the academy, rescuers, god knows what else)

game night, movie night and karaoke night are sacred traditions to the team and are taken extremely seriously. hightide refused to look at salvage for a month over a game of scrabble. optimus and bumblebee have both been forced to join in multiple times.

way more but that's where imma stop this post for now

[sammycoola]

I wish to use this medium to elaborate *cough rant cough* on a fact everyone should be familiar with by now:

Nico changes with every book he appears in.

We all must've noticed that the Nico di Angelo of The Titan's Curse is not the Nico of The Tower of Nero, and without a doubt, the Nico of The Tower of Nero will not be the same as the Nico of The Sun And The Star.

So you may argue, “Character development and everything—no character stays the same throughout a series.” Then I'll say, “Percy's change isn't as rapid and obvious as Nico's. Why not? He's been through what Percy wouldn't have survived.”

Side note before I'm called mistaken: You are free to convince me that Percy Jackson would've had no trouble losing his closest family at a young age, roaming the labyrinth with a vengeful ghost as a guide, believing that due to his parentage and sexuality he would never be accepted by anyone, and—above all—going through Tartarus willingly and all by himself.

Nico's changes between books are so vivid and regular that I can give a name to him for every book he's appeared in.

The Titan's Curse: Clueless Nico, son of Hades.

The Battle of The Labyrinth: Angry) Misguided Nico, the ghost king (👑).

The Last Olympian: Helpful, Hopeful Nico, savior of Manhattan.

The Son of Neptune: Shady Nico, ambassador of Pluto.

The Mark of Athena: Trapped Nico, hostage of Gaia.

The House of Hades: Survivor Nico, leader of the Argo II.

The Blood of Olympus: Broken Nico, hero of Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter, uniter of the two fighting camps.

The Hidden Oracle: Healing Nico, all titles mentioned above repeated, boyfriend of Will Solace.

The Tower of Nero: Nico On The Brink Of A Relapse, founder of the trogdylytes, savior of Camp Half-Blood and New York.

The Sun And The Star: Nico On A Mission But At The Same Time Hopelessly In Love With Will Solace, rescuer of Iapetus, ghost king (👑), zombie dude, lord of darkness, future husband of William Andrew Solace (💍).

Try the same with Percy or mostly anyone else, you won't get such results.

See? Nico has gone through too much to stay stable. The changes make a lot of sense. The only hope now is for these changes to lead to his eventual happiness.

“Still Standing” by Elton John relates to him perfectly.

[katiekangaroogirl]

✨G'day lovelies! I am Katie. I decided to get back into role-playing and wanted to give tumblr a shot. I’ve heard many great things about this app, and needed to get away from Facebook RP groups. (Very toxic community may I add.)

✨Any-hooo!! I am a descriptive writer. I go heavy into details on a character’s feelings rather than the setting. Umm, I am a slow reader, but I don’t mind lengthy replies, like 4+ paragraphs is okay with me.

✨I am comfortable with dark themes and smut, thought it'd not a requirement. Please be 18+.

✨I will always use an OC but I am comfortable playing any canon character. I prefer double up role plays, but if you don't want to use an OC, then please play the character I'm shipping my OC with. (I am comfortable with male x male and female x female ships)

Here is a few of the fandoms l'm would love to role-play (will be adding more): (Purple Heart is most interested in)

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Stardew Valley

Harry Potter

Hogwarts Legacy

Death Note 💜💜💜

Naruto

Blue Exorcist

The Evil Within

Demon Slayer

Bungo Stray Dogs

Tokyo Revengers 💜💜💜

One Punch Man

Attack On Titan

Haikyuu 💜💜

Jujutsu Kaisen

My Hero Academia 💜💜💜

Black Butler

Until Dawn

Detroit Become Human

Hazbin Hotel

Marble Hornets

Free!!

Blue Lock

Howl’s Moving Castle

✨

And here are some fandomless role-plays that I’m interested in!

Royal Princess/Prince X Stable Boy/Girl

Merman/Mermaid X Human Man/Woman

Bounty Hunter/Huntress X Wanted Man/Woman

Bodyguard X CEO/Model/Celebrity

Captured Elf/Human X Rescuer Human/Elf

Princess (My OC) X Captured Thief/Knight 💜

Princess/Prince X Monster/Beast (Beauty and Beast idea) 💜

(Feel free to suggest any ideas! Dark themes are welcomed.)

✨

[mrsmarlasinger]

The surreal thing about the Titan submersible: unless someone pulls off a miraculous last-minute rescue, when we all wake up tomorrow, those five men will be dead.

I mean, assuming they haven't already hyperventilated the last of their oxygen or imploded in a hull failure event.

It's currently June 22nd, 1:48 AM, MDT. If they're still alive, they will not be within the next...what, three hours? Give or take. And it would take hours to get the sub to the surface if it were found miles underwater, so if it's at the bottom of the sea, that really gives the rescuers...I don't know, like, maybe an hour to pull off the impossible?

These men are about to cross the event horizon.

When the banging sounds were first reported, it blew my fucking mind. I'd been certain that they were dead already, or that if they weren't, they would be soon. Without question. Then came this bizarre, impossible glimmer of hope. And I thought, if those sounds really were occurring at thirty-minute intervals, if it really was the Titan passengers, then maybe—maybe—they had a chance.

But they just...don't. Let's be realistic: they're about to die. We know this. We know for a fact that their time is about to run out.

And I know people are angry about the Missing White Woman Syndrome feel of it all. It would make for such on-the-nose satire. Five wealthy men have the world on pins and needles; where was that energy when hundreds of refugees drowned off the coast of Greece a week ago?

It frustrates me that I'm so invested in the Titan sub. It's like the entire incident was orchestrated for the sole purpose of grabbing attention (of course I don't believe that's the case). The very premise of the sub is tauntingly ridiculous—so very blatantly an expensive suicide. I saw someone compare it to an Onion article, and it IS.

The shitty video game controller, the ominous waiver, Stockton Rush's portentous comments (hell, even his name), the toilet sat right in front of that tiny dollhouse window. The absurd price tag paired with a history of failed dives and an OceanGate employee fired and sued years ago for raising safety concerns.

God, it's so dumb. It's so so fucking dumb. In real life, what we'd call "foreshadowing" is really just actions→consequences. But still. Still. It reads like sitcom writers setting the dominos for a season finale, tirelessly working to maximize memeability so we can all point and laugh with our popcorn.

The sheer pointless, brainless, wasteful extravagance of it all makes it easy to forget how horrific and tragic the ordeal really is. It grants us some strange permission to rubberneck.

And, well, who wouldn't want to rubberneck? The drama. Horror movie levels of repulsion. Any fear you can imagine—the dark, the cold, the ocean, suffocation, confined spaces, death—all wrapped into one perfect, cinematic nightmare. It's a black comedy: dumbassery punished by a fate we don't, shouldn't, wish even on billionaires.

Then, of course, there is the deadline. Pun not intended.

That, I think, is what's really gripped us. The limited oxygen supply is a countdown, a ticking time bomb. Ten minutes left in the movie—can the protagonist pull off a daring escape in time?

God, I know I sound like one of those crisis actor conspiracy theorists, but you couldn't manufacture a more gripping story if you tried. That hard figure we've seen in every news article: 96 hours. Ninety-six hours to save the day.

Can you see the Netflix docudrama now? The cuts to a black screen with the remaining number of hours emblazoned in the center? "If we don't find that sub tonight, those men are dead," some intrepid rescuer says...a split second of grave silence...then the scene goes black, except for a line of heavyweight white text that reads, in all caps, "SIX HOURS REMAINING." Next we'll see a heart-wrenchingly candid conversation between the passengers, for character development.

You know Channel 5 is airing a documentary about the Titan in the UK tomorrow. Tonight, actually, since I guess it's technically Thursday morning. The countdown was so hard-set, ITN calculated the exact hour at which they could broadcast their production. The perfect moment for them to capitalize on that post-curtains melancholy we all get at the end of a movie.

It's crass, but fascinating, too. Is ITN going to acknowledge their production timeline by leaving the documentary's ending ambiguous, a choice which will ring bittersweet when aired in the aftermath of the inevitable deaths? Will they scramble to concoct an ending in those mere hours after the passengers asphyxiate? Have they already made two endings: one in case of a miracle, and one in case of a tragedy? Any answer is soulless.

But all of this is soulless. The Titan is our gladiator fight, our bread and circuses. Still, I can't stop staring, because I cannot wrap my head around it. It's 3:30 AM now. Within hours, they will be dead, sure as an execution.

Few news stories come with such a grim deadline. Almost always it's a nail-biting rescue whose twists and turns we follow until some hitherto-unpredictable endpoint; or a sprawling clusterfuck of tragedy trailed by aftermath upon aftermath; or a search for a missing person that eventually meanders into a quiet presumption of death.

The certainty blows my mind—the finality of it, the tragedy of it, is incomprehensible. It doesn't feel real. Why do I care so much? Those men were dead from the start (if not literally, then certainly figuratively). Why do I keep reading about it, posting about it? Why can't I stop watching the car wreck smolder? What am I doing still standing in the street?

I hate that I fell prey to the submarine story like everyone else with an internet connection. But whatever deity may or may not exist got bored, I guess, and crafted the dramedy-action-horror hybrid of the year. Even wove in little cliffhangers (the banging! On the sonobuoys! There's still time!) to string us along like a damn HBO producer.

It gets me, man.

It's 4:00 AM, MDT. I guess it's really over, huh? I know 96 hours was never an exact deadline, but let's not be idealistic here.

I hope it was quick. I hope they imploded in a single terrible instant.

I hope the next sunken boat of six hundred refugees wins as much attention as the Titan did.

I hope Netflix doesn't make that docudrama with the black screen and the all-caps line of heavyweight white text.

I hope we sleep. I hope I sleep. I hope we all can sleep.

[fandomsandflyingstingrays]

Luz has been here before.

When she stood between two different worlds, between two different families who needed her, and watched one of them disappear behind a door she didn’t know how to open. When she bridged the divide between dimensions as an echo to reach out to her mom, only to watch her mom's tears mix with the rain as she shrank into a memory and Luz was pulled away. When she watched her mentor’s eyes fill with darkness, the shadows sealing Eda so deep within herself that Luz didn’t know how to call her back. When she sat in a white-walled room facing a separation beyond portals or curses, seeing her dad right beside her and knowing, at the same time, that he would never be with her again.

Luz has been here before, again and again and again, and she never manages to find the right goodbye.

All she can do is admit that to Eda and King before she can no longer see them through her tears, before they splinter into light and she is obscured by shadow, unable to conceive of anything but the embrace of a dark ocean and a single thought.

I know what I should have said. I should have thanked them.

The lost words, the goodbye that she has never, ever been quick enough to get out, lodge and swell in her throat before finding their release in a single sob. She watches the tears mix with the water that holds her and relaxes into its embrace.

Then, all at once, there is a hand around her wrist, and she is being yanked upwards into light and air.

It feels exhausting just to stand, and she sways, blinking at her rescuer through bleary eyes. At first, all she can see is a blurred form, a sort of worm… bird worm… Hooty? Only, when she blinks again, she realize that this Hooty is still, expressionless, and tiny, protruding from the eye socket of someone who looks like…

“King?”

The figure chuckles in a voice that is decidedly not King’s, deep and measured. “No. But he does get his good looks from me.”

In the last twenty-four hours, Luz has faced down a dragon of eyeballs and mold, been chased through a celestial playground, and seen Mattholomule with a drawn-on mustache, and she’s managed not to get overwhelmed. But this? She feels like her brain is a plate of warm spaghetti, being twirled around and around on a fork.

“Oh, Titan,” she breathes.

“Oh, me!” her rescuer says, pleased. “Nice to meet you, Luz the human.”

He’s wearing a Bad Girl Coven shirt, Luz realizes half-hysterically. And glyph-patterned pajama pants. But still, she reaches out and takes his hand. He might be some kind of mold-blast-induced dream, but that’s no reason not to be polite.

“You can’t actually be the Titan Titan, right? You’re the Boiling Isles, and that Titan is all—“

“Dead-looking?” he asks. His expression is sad, but there’s no denial in it, and Luz feels her knees go weak. She wraps her arms around herself, slowly sinking back into the embrace of the water.

“Does that mean I’m also…”

“Ah, no, nope, no, you don’t want to do that.” He reaches out, pulling her back to her feet. “If you go under without a portal, you really will be dead-looking.”

So… she’s not? And neither is he? Luz finds herself beaming. “I can’t believe this. You’re King’s dad!”

“I think King said it best once: ‘I am both king and queen, best of both things!’ But dad works fine.”

This might be the coolest being Luz has ever met.

With her most pressing questions answered, Luz looks around, and realizes to her surprise that her surroundings are familiar. The liquid below her, the floating cubes above… this is the space between the Human Realm and the demon one. Only, she’s never been clear about where exactly that is.

“What is this place?”

“This is the space in between… well, in between a lot of places. And I’ve been stuck here for quite some time. But at least I can keep an eye on my child, and those who have been kind to him.”

King’s dad grabs hold of a passing cube and watches images pass over it. Luz grabbing King in a hug, the two of them laughing over a pile of bread slices, Eda embracing them both. Luz feels warm and cold all at once. She’s thrilled for King, eager to tell him, that the parent he felt so far away from him was watching him with so much love. But behind that happiness is the question of her own dad, and the breathless wish that he could be watching her and the people she loves in the same way.

As soon as she thinks it, shame rises in her, so thick and choking that she has to look away. Does she really wish her dad could see what she’s become? This person who was nearly responsible for the deaths of an entire island of people, who can never make a plan that doesn’t fall apart almost immediately, who has turned so angry and vengeful?

“I’m not so kind,” she whispers. “When I saw the Collector fly up to Belos, I hoped with all my heart I would see them blast him away, and—"

“Hey, I can relate. I was willing to do anything to keep my kid safe. But I attacked the wrong person, dragged the Collector down here for nothing.”

“Does that make us as bad as Belos?”

To Luz’s shock, King’s dad laughs. “What? Have you been drinking Eda’s homemade apple blood?”

“Well, Belos says he’s trying to save humanity, and we’re saying we want to save our families, so isn’t that the same thing, don’t those feelings come from the same place?”

“Well, you assume Belos’s goal comes from a genuine place. But that man doesn’t care about anything but his need to be the hero in his own delusion. And because of that, he fears what he can’t control.”

“And now that fear is going to win.”

“Ah, dang.” Luz turns to see King’s dad staring down at his chest. She gasps.

There’s a glowing tumor there, eating a hole into it. It’s the same fungus that’s covering the Isles, she knows, the one Belos conjured— but it looks so much like her childhood nightmare, like the way her younger self began to picture her dad’s insides as his outside grew weaker and weaker, that a single look at it is enough to burn her eyes.

“I thought I had more time left,” King’s dad says, “but Belos will have full control soon.” He looks at Luz. “You ready to stop him?”

“What? What can I do?” 

Nothing. It’s the obvious answer, the lesson Luz has learned time and time again. She moved to Gravesfield without complaint because she thought it would fix her dad, and she was wrong. She did that stupid book report because she thought it would fix things for her mom, and she was wrong. She tried to fix things for the Isles, again and again and again, and she only made things worse— and then, when she attempted to set that right, she ended up here.

“You’ve already helped King so much. Now let me use my last bit of life to help you.”

King’s dad extends his hand, glowing with a combination of glyphs Luz has never seen before. But she knows what it means, what he’s offering: a second chance. A new body. Magic.

“Are you sure you want to give this power to me?”

“Well, you’re the one here, and you seem like a good witch. But I can’t give you anything unless you choose to accept it. So the question is, will you choose yourself?”

Luz has a flash of seeing the Titan as she knew him, watching his skeleton in the sea from high above on Owlbert, Eda on one side of her and King on the other. Look, kid, everyone wants to believe they’re chosen. But if we all waited around for a prophecy to make us special, we’d die waiting. That’s why you need to choose yourself.

Luz came to the Isles wanting to be a savior. If the person she was then had been in this position, she would have taken the Titan’s hand without hesitation, overjoyed to fulfill her fantasy. To be the hero in her own delusion. But she knows now that she’s not a hero. She’s just the one here.

The one here... because King’s dad believed she was a good witch. Because even when she was caught up in her fantasy, he still saw enough in her worth empowering to show her the glyphs she withheld from Belos. That has to mean something.

You’ve helped King so much, he said, and she believes him. She knows King loves her. And if she had given up after her dad died, if she had let herself believe it would be better for her mom if she became someone neither of them recognized, she never would have found him. Never would have found Eda and reunited her with Lilith, helped Amity leave her parents’ shadow and reconnect with Willow, helped Hunter see the truth about Belos before it was too late. She tried to help people, and yes, sometimes there was nothing she could do. Yes, sometimes she hurt people in the process. But she never meant to. Not like Belos… not like Philip.

Luz has been here before. Standing before a father she can’t heal. But there is still something she can do. It’s something she did for her mom, opening The Good Witch Azura for the first time in her black dress and reading it through puffy eyes. It’s something she did for Eda and King, following Owlbert through the portal door. It’s something she did for Amity and Willow and Hunter and Gus, running to that same door with them as it threatened to splinter apart. It’s something she did for all of them when she stepped back into the Isles two months later.

Luz can choose herself.

She reaches out to take King’s dad’s hand. And she comes back to life.

[bestanimatedmovie]

Welcome to Revenge of the Underrated!

Some of you asked me to put a "haven't watched both" to be more fair to the more unknown movies, but I've seen other tournaments doing this and I think it limits too much who can participate in the polls. So what I decided to do is a double elimination!

What does that mean? That means a movie has to lose twice to be eliminated. In other words, there will be a sorts of losers bracket that'll be part of main bracket. I'm undecided on whether to do this for only one round or the whole bracket, as it would make the tournament very long. Do let me know if you have any opinion about it.

Anyway, Revenge of the Underrated, Round 1:

Miss Hokusai vs Happily N'Ever After

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children vs Tiger and Bunny: The Rising

Ballerina vs Book Girl

On-Gaku: Our Sound vs Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie Part 1

Cats don't Dance vs The Flight of Dragons

Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge vs The Girl Without Hands

The Twelve Tasks of Asterix vs Flatland: The Film

Felidae vs Pokemon the Movie: The Power of Us

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West vs Unico in the Island of Magic

Rock and Rule vs Rock-A-Doodle

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning vs Freddie as F.R.0.7

The Plague Dogs vs The Magic Riddle

Pokemon Heroes vs The Pebble and the Penguin

Strange Magic vs Sea Prince and the Fire Child

Help! I'm a Fish vs Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs

16.Azur and Asmar: The Prince's Quest vs Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer

17.Titan A.E. vs Ico, the Brave Horse

18.The Adventures of Mark Twain vs A Troll in Central Park

19.The Case of Hana and Alice vs Once Upon a Forest

20.Underdogs vs Long Way North

21.Mars Needs Moms vs The Twelve Months

22.Phineas and Ferb: The Movie: Candace Against the Universe vs Blinky Bill

23.Robot Carnival vs Revue Starlight: The Movie

24.One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island vs Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom

25.Ruben Brandt, Collector vs Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie

26.Lupin III: The First vs Pippi Longstocking

27.The Three Caballeros vs The Legend of Manxmouse

28.Princes and Princesses vs The Snow Queen

29.A Letter to Momo vs Seven Days War

30.The Wild Thornberrys Movie vs The Rabbi's Cat

31.Night on the Galactic Railroad vs The Boy who Wanted to be a Bear

32.The Swan Princess vs Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito

33.Patema Inverted vs Bartok the Magnificent

34.Next Gen vs Padak

35.Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods vs Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland

36.Thumbelina vs Catnapped!

37.Early Man vs Rainbow Magic: Return to Rainspell Island

38.Junk Head vs Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie

39.Charlotte's Web (1973) vs The Princess and the Goblin

40.Shaun the Sheep Movie vs Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

41. Redline vs Balto

42. The Addams Family vs Inu-Oh

43. Epic vs Mary and the Witch's Flower

44.The Girl Who Leapt Through Time vs Vivo

45.Barbie: Princess Charm School vs Kronk''s New Groove

46.Waking Life vs The Transformers: The Movie

47.Barbie in the Nutcracker vs Barbie as Rapunzel

48.Pokemon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back vs Cool World

49.The Land Before Time vs When the Wind Blows

50.The Secret of NIMH vs Summer Wars

51.The Black Cauldron vs All Dogs go to Heaven

52.The Red Turtle vs FernGully: The Last Rainforest

53.Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas vs Ron's Gone Wrong

54.The Boxtrolls vs Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade

55.Arthur Christmas vs One Piece Film Red

56.Barbie of Swan Lake vs The Rescuers Down Under

57.Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole vs Secret of the Wings

58.The Castle of Cagliostro vs Pokemon: The Movie 2000

59.Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust vs Arthur and the Invisibles

60.Tinker Bell vs Barbie as the Island Princess

61.Mind Game vs Tekkonkinkreet

62.The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh vs Dragon Ball Super: Broly

63.Mirai vs Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

64.The Lion King II: Simba's Pride vs Scooby-Doo! and the Cyber Chase

[experimentaldragonfire]

so. floating the idea (...pun not initially intended but i'll take it) of a dead boy detectives au set on the titanic. not specifically based on the movie (because i haven't seen it, shockingly) but based on what i know about the actual event

so we've got this situation where edwin is in first class and charles in third. (again, not because of the movie, but presumably in 1912 you're going to have that very obvious class discrepancy and also did i mention yet that in order to make sense chronology-wise they're getting their dates of birth backdated to like 1894 or something?). they meet because of some sort of situation where edwin’s trying to find somewhere to escape his family and social pressures and ends up down in the third class sitting room or tucked away somewhere in a corridor he's not really supposed to be in, and charles just decides to befriend him because Hey New Person Who’s This? and then they have a good time avoiding edwin’s family and exploring the ship and maybe they hang out with charles’ mother a bit because she's on board as they're traveling to america together to attempt to start a new life away from his dad and then oops! iceberg! and first of all they’re not the priority for lifeboats (because "women and children first" and they're neither--but they make sure to drag charles' mum out on deck and get her into a boat and reassure her with false smiles that they'll be just a few boats behind) but even when edwin’s family try and cajole him onto one he asks if charles can come and the expressions on their faces give him all the answer he needs, so he flees back into the ship and there’s desperate confessions and they kiss with the water rising around them and then they’re holding hands on-deck as the ship sinks below the waves

and if i’m being really really mean about this, charles gets pulled from the freezing water into a lifeboat and he keeps pleading with his rescuers to take edwin too, but they can tell he’s already dead and can’t waste room on a body. and neither of them had intended to let themselves get rescued without the other one right by their side but that's how it ends up, and none of charles' rescuers are going to throw him back in the water when they have a chance to save his life, so he's forced to survive and go on and y'know, for someone who didn't intend for this to be the plot of the movie, I've sure accidentally stumbled upon some similar plot beats, haven't i

anyway in conclusion i don't need more story ideas but also i apparently can't stop myself from coming up with them

[true-blue-megamind]

I have a question. I don't know if this has been asked this before. Why does Roxanne fall for Megamind? I'm crazy happy they end up together but I still wonder why? Most people were scared of him until he saved the day. He kidnapped Roxanne all the time. She was super pissed at him for a while there. He's also not human. How does the whole attraction thing even work when you aren't the same species? Because, yeah, Megs is cool af, but an ET with blue skin and a big head probably wasn't the star of many Metro City girl's wet dreams. Maybe after he started the hero gig since people are just like that but not before. But Roxanne kind of flirted with him before he turned good or anything. So I guess she had to see something in him other people didn't. What do you think it was?

MEGAMIND FAN THEORY THURSDAY: Roxanne’s Attraction

Yes, I’m back again with another Megamind Fan Theory Thursday! Special thanks to this week’s anonymous contributor! I appreciate you, whoever you may be! I also want to express my sincere gratitude to all those who read, like, and reblog these posts… Knowing that you share the love for this fandom is the reason why I continue dedicating time, whenever possible, to researching and writing about these theories. This blog wouldn’t exist without you. Thank you!

If, however, you are that one individual who has inexplicably insisted upon reading two years' worth of articles about a film you still haven’t watched… I continue to have faith you’ll one day see the light. Or at least the movie. Hope springs eternal.

In the meantime: SPOILER WARNING!

We’re all human—at least, I assume most people reading this probably are—and that means we’re imperfect. One of the sadly common flaws of our species is a tendency to be rather judgmental, sometimes without just cause, and we certainly see that occurring in the film Megamind. After all, the alien genius was left to be raised in a high-security jail among presumably dangerous inmates simply due to his appearance and was pressured into supervillainy in part because he was different. Given that fact, along with the fear and ostracization many apparently showed him, there is reason to wonder exactly what first attracted Roxanne Ritchi to the blue man. After all, as today’s contributor pointed out, most humans, if asked to describe their perfect match, might not immediately default to “an alien with a large head and a complexion of a popular primary color, as a random nonspecific example.” Yet Roxanne is most certainly attracted to Megamind. Of course, many fan suggest that she must find him handsome—it’s doubtful she’d be in a romantic relationship with him by the end of the film if she thought him ugly—but they also contend that, given her disinterest in Metroman, the attraction must be more than physical. The question is: what qualities made her fall for him rather than an ordinary human or the supposedly perfect former Defender? Can fan theories shed any light? Let’s take a look!

Not Your Average Damsel

Some may be tempted to suggest that this is merely a typical case of the damsel falling for her rescuer. After all, that’s one of the common superhero tropes, isn’t it? Even Megamind himself, while talking to Titan after training, said that saving a lady was the way to her heart. The problem with this is that, in that particular instance, the blue man was completely and undeniably wrong. His love interest’s attraction had little or nothing to do with him whisking her out of Titan’s murderous clutches.

There are three reasons why fan theories rightfully dispute the concept of Megamind and Roxanne sharing a stereotypical hero/damsel romance. Firstly, the movie itself is well known for subverting superhero genre norms, and indeed that seems to have been one of the major themes of the narrative. Given how much effort was put into turning such conventions on their heads, sometimes even lampooning them, it’s extremely doubtful that the film’s creators would have suddenly adopted such stereotypes in this one case.

Secondly, there is Roxanne herself. This character is spunky, independent, and not easily cowed. During Megamind and Titan’s second fight, we see her holding a broken street sign, preparing to join in the fray. That’s a far cry from the expected behavior of a supposedly helpless damsel. Furthermore, despite being rescued by Metroman multiple times—hundreds, in fact, according to the prequel comic The Reign of Megamind—she states outright that they “were never a couple.” That alone clearly dismisses the idea of Roxanne swooning for the blue man simply because he rescues her. If she were the sort to do that, she would have fallen for Metroman as well—especially considering that most of the people around her apparently believed him to be Mr. Perfect.

The third and final reason is one we’ve touched on before. It bears repeating, however, as it truly puts the proverbial nail in the coffin of the Typical Damsel argument. As our contributor mentioned, Roxanne canonically was attracted to Megamind while he was still a supervillain. During the kidnapping scene, when the blue man draws close and practically purrs a vaguely suggestive line—“such… tricks won’t work on me”—in the reporter’s ear, rather than showing reluctance she asks him to “please talk slower.” Megamind, of course, responds by calling her “Temptress.” Tellingly, while she doesn’t acknowledge it, Roxanne also doesn’t object to the epithet. Fan theories suggest that this obviously indicates there was already attraction on both sides, although its extremely doubtful either would have ever acted upon it. (As a well-known television reporter, Roxanne may have been too well aware of the potential destruction of her career, and Megamind, despite having her at his mercy numerous times, was obviously too goodhearted to make a move without invitation. You can read more about the latter in Megamind and Masculinity.)

Smart is Hot

This, then, leaves us with the question of exactly what did attract Roxanne to Megamind. Does she simply have a thing for blue aliens, or is it something more than that? One fan theory suggests that the answer lies in a line that was cut from the final version of the screenplay. Initially, after telling Megamind, who was then disguised as Bernard, that Metroman had never been her type, she added that she’d always preferred brains over brawn. That is interesting because intelligence is certainly something the former supervillain has in abundance. In a previous Fan Theory Thursday post, Why Kidnap Roxanne, we explored the likelihood of Megamind’s clearly ingenious species being naturally attracted to intellect. The thing is that he may not have been the only one. Merriam-Webster defines the term sapiosexual as someone who experiences “sexual or romantic attraction to highly intelligent people.” As you can guess from the mere fact that this word exists, it is fully possible for some humans to possess this inborn predisposition. Many fans believe that Roxanne Ritchi is, indeed, a sapiosexual, and this may be one reason why she would fall head-over-heels for a super-genius, alien or otherwise. In fact, as discussed in How Smart is Megamind, the blue man may quite literally be the smartest person on Earth, making him extremely alluring to someone already attracted by brilliance.

Indeed, according to fan theories, several things about Roxanne’s character support this idea. She was originally imagined as an investigative reporter, so she’s obviously not stupid. She appears to dislike Hal not based upon his appearance but rather due to his lack of intelligence and his constant harassment. Perhaps the most telling evidence, however, comes from comparing her reactions to Megamind and his former nemesis. As mentioned before, Metroman is supposed to be most people’s idea of masculine perfection. Simply look at the way his fans, especially the female ones, behave during the opening of his museum. Add to this the fact that he is largely based on Superman and Elvis Presley—both of whom were, at one time, considered extremely handsome—and we can safely assume that Metroman is supposed to be some sort of Adonis. He’s also wealthy, famous, and powerful; three qualities that many people might consider great advantages in a potential boyfriend. Nonetheless, Roxanne Ritchi shows no interest at all in him.

Conversely, while dating Megamind in his guise as “Bernard,” the woman’s attention—and perhaps her heart—seem to be captured by his conversation, intellect, wit, and humor. She initially begins spending time with him because she believes him to possess expert knowledge concerning Megamind as well as enough intelligence to help her decipher the supervillain’s plan. She clearly enjoys having long conversations with him, laughing at his humorous stories, and reading books together in a library. Granted, the last was done for research purposes in the film, but the Bad Blue Brilliant comics show Megamind and Roxanne planning a date at a library after the blue man has become a hero. Obviously a shared love of books was something Roxanne liked about him. It appears that such traits attracted the reporter while riches and model-perfect looks couldn’t.

Of course, Roxanne rejects the former villain after she learns who he really is, but one Megamind fan theory suggests that that was almost certainly not because of him, but rather because of his actions. It makes sense. She is hurt and infuriated that he lied to her, and she makes her objections to some of his past behaviors known in no uncertain terms. However, when considering the charges she lays at his proverbial doorstep, it’s clear that what she cannot abide is his criminal behavior. She accuses him of murder, taking control of the city, and tricking her. Furthermore, she seems convinced that his only purpose in disguising himself was to toy with her emotions for his own sadistic amusement.

As the film progresses, however, she realizes that he did not actually kill Metroman and that he was sincere about their relationship. That, in turn, removes many of her objections and creates room for her love to grow once more. Indeed, when Megamind, obviously upset, mentions their breakup while they are driving to Metroman’s hideout, Roxanne briefly displays a sorrowful expression before apparently hardening her resolve and slamming on the breaks. (This was likely because she still thought the former villain guilty of murder.) Furthermore, during this unused clip cut from the final film, while taunting his captive, Titan refers to Megamind as Roxanne’s boyfriend, and she doesn’t correct him. Moments later, when he tells the woman to summon her hero, she doesn’t hesitate to issue a heartfelt plea to Megamind. When she sees the blue man make his grand entrance, the look on Roxanne’s face says clearly that she knew he would come. When she believes Megamind to be wounded, Roxanne weeps, and when he, at last, takes up the position of Defender, she kisses his cheek. It seems the woman has grown to trust and love the former Master of All Villainy.

It’s What’s Inside That Counts

Megamind’s intelligence is likely not the only reason Roxanne finds herself falling for him. Many fan theories suggest that his personality was also a driving factor. As mentioned before, he is funny and likable during their dates. When they ride bikes together, he’s clearly having fun, and that makes him fun to be around. While dining out, just before the kiss and the holowatch’s malfunction, he obviously charms her. Even before that, however, the blue man seems to display some very positive traits. His mourning his nemesis, laughing with Minion, and playing with the brainbots all evince a kind heart hidden beneath the black leather and spikes. That same trait continues to appear throughout the film. Later in the narrative, during Titan's attack, Megamind displays a concern for the people of Metro City despite those same people having ostracized him all his life. He is manifestly not as evil as he tries to appear. In fact, his treatment of his damsel offers further proof of this. While he has Roxanne tied up in his Lair as bait for Metroman, it becomes obvious that Megamind’s so-called doom devices have been carefully calibrated not to actually harm the woman, and she seems to know it as she shows no fear. She even seems to enjoy her situation sometimes. When Megamind makes a veiled Star Wars reference, Roxanne smirks as if she’s trying not to laugh.

Thus it appears extremely likely that, from the start of the movie, the reporter already knew Megamind was too good a person to actually hurt her and it seems she appreciated his geeky humor. This is hardly surprising. According to the prequel comic, The Reign of Megamind, he has had more than 600 failed plots and Roxanne has been his compulsory guest of honor for many of them. Consider how much time for interaction that must have afforded them before the cameras started rolling. Even if Roxanne was only awake for an average of half an hour before each actual battle began, that would still mean that she spent roughly 300 hours alone in Megamind and Minion’s company. To put it in perspective, that’s twelve-and-a-half days! It seems nearly impossible that Roxanne could spend the equivalent of nearly two weeks in Megamind’s company without some of his charm, kindness, and humor showing through. This is quite possibly another reason for her evident attraction.

That’s not all. As mentioned in the post What Sort of Hero Will Megamind Be, the blue man lists several qualities necessary for a Defender while discussing the topic in the Metroman Museum. Although he doesn’t seem to recognize it at the time, he actually displays all of them with the exception of his former adversary's DNA. Strength? The fact that Megamind breaks a saw on Titan’s face while punching him indicates that the former villain is far more physically powerful than he looks, and his ability to remain calm and think under extreme pressure suggests that he has serious willpower. Determination? Megamind talks about learning from his many defeats, and the simple fact that he continued to get up and try again after losing more than 600 times shows that he certainly doesn’t give up easily. Courage? The alien genius goes to Roxanne for help in finding Titan’s weakness rather than fleeing despite Titan’s attempt to kill him. Afterward he puts his life on the line to save Roxanne from the new villain—and that’s after facing a superpowered foe for years. Whatever else he may be, no one can argue that Megamind isn’t brave.

Finally, there’s also Megamind’s industriousness. Imagine how many inventions he must have constructed over the years… There would doubtlessly be hundreds! Everyone one of them had to be not only built but also designed and tested. How many hours of plans, calculations, schematics, calibrations, and labor go into each one? It's unclear, but what is certain is that, despite clearly knowing how to have fun, the blue man just as obviously understands the value of hard work. It’s doubtful that laziness is a vice he has ever suffered from.

So, why is Roxanne Ritchi attracted to Megamind? While we may never know how physically desirable she finds him—although fans speculate that, based on their relationship, she must find him handsome—the blue man possesses plenty of other beguiling virtues. Alien or not, Roxanne obviously finds his intelligence and personality too alluring to ignore, and as soon as he embraced goodness rather than behaving in destructive ways she could not condone, she gave him her heart. If you consider it, that really isn’t shocking at all. If any one of us were courted by a person who was smart, funny, courageous, kind, charming, hardworking, fun-loving, and strong, would we remain unaffected? Or would we, like the movie’s heroine, tumble head-over-heels into love? In the end, it’s little wonder that Roxanne fell for the new Defender of Metro City. It would have been more surprising if she hadn’t.

That concludes this week’s Fan Theory Thursday! I hope you enjoyed it!

[techmomma]

whilst I am sick in bed, I want to put something out here before things start getting wild with conspiracy theories about this whole submersible debacle. because I think we will start seeing a lot of conspiracy theories starting up. some irrational, but some rational!

also note that I have no educated experience on these matters, just 33 years of living and a special interest in both the titanic and maritime disasters. so take everything with a grain of salt(water).

and while yes, if they’re dead, I genuinely think every navy and coast guard already knows and has known since like the first three hours since the sub went missing, I also genuinely do not think this was out of malicious or subversive intent, or trying to hide some big secret, and I will explain why:

underwater explosions/implosions make a very characteristic sound. this is called a bubble pulse: multiple booms being the result of initial explosion, followed by water pressure collapsing the gas bubble.

the major powers of the world, certainly the US with SOSUS/IUSS, have underwater listening stations. this is a system of underwater hydrophones and listening devices originally meant to track soviet submarine activity and underwater nuclear tests. this system was already quite powerful in the 60s, and its capabilities by now in the 2020s are classified but likely even moreso powerful. this is not me saying THEY’RE LISTENING TO US AND PUTTING TRACKERS IN US this is me saying “by the early 90s they could track a single whale over the entire Pacific for several years.”

if the submersible imploded--and I am leaning toward it not being built well enough to withstand four days of 375 atmospheres worth of pressure--then this was almost undoubtedly heard by listening stations across the atlantic

so why not tell the public?

despite having declassified much of the program, SOSUS/IUSS still has many parts that remain classified. to reveal that they heard the implosion would be to also reveal potentially delicate information such as station positions (figuring out WHERE a classified station might be based on the fact that it picked up the sound, and figuring out the minimum capabilities of such a system).

we’re already in kind of a weird proxy war with the Russians, again, so the government’s paranoia about not letting anything leak to them Russkies is, again, at an all-time high. I will state though that classified information is actually like, at the bottom of my list of “reasons why they may not have said anything immediately.”

this is an incredibly... unique situation. while I have no doubt they heard the implosion, they may not have been able to concretely confirm that it was an implosion, and an implosion of a civilian submersible, until after the story of the missing sub had already gotten out to the public. one of those “it looked like a duck and quacked like a duck so I’m pretty sure it was a goddamn duck, but I technically need to run tests to make 100% certain that it was in fact a duck, because if I’m wrong that could mean big trouble.”

in addition, to 100% confirm an implosion, typically the debris field has to be actually spotted on the sea floor, in addition to all the previous criteria being met. they have been trying to find a debris field... in a bigger, messier debris field.

they need to do this, because if there’s even a .0000000001% chance that they are still alive and you left them for dead, that would be... bad, for a lot of reasons

because the debris field has not been found and there IS a .0000001% chance that they could be alive, they still need to TREAT it as a rescue operation. this is standard procedure for like. everywhere.

even if they WERE still alive, they were going to die. every rescue party out there right now knows this. just planning to recover debris from that depth often takes months if not years of planning, let alone a sub about to run out of air in four days, max. in these situations, where the rescuers know the victims are alive but will, without fail, die, you have to still TREAT IT as if they are able to be saved (while also, quietly, making sure no one else is going to be further hurt). for the sake of the victims, their families, and the public at large. for the basic dignity of the victims. yes, out of compassion.

a comparable situation is when an EMT arrives to the scene of a traffic accident and knows, immediately, that this person, while not technically dead, is absolutely not going to make it. the EMT is still going to attempt to do everything they can to save that person, for their dignity and for the slim chance that maybe, by some miracle, they can help. you don’t give up until you know they’re actually dead. this is standard procedure and also like. a basic human compassion thing.

this is also likely why, if you’ve been watching any news about this, we’ve not seen any illustrations of “potential ways to rescue the sub,” or how authorities think they might do it, only diagrams and illustrations of where the sub might be or the depth it might be at. ideas have been floated around, but nothing concrete. because there is nothing concrete. at least, that’s what I’ve seen but that’s probably confirmation bias.

so yeah. in the coming days or years or whatever, I think it’ll come out that rescuers have known all along what happened and kept that little part quiet. but I also think it’s for the most boring, mundane reasons possible: standard procedure technicalities and human compassion while having to navigate a sticky situation between the media and the public.

[contentment-of-cats]

Tell me there's no good news without saying "We're looking for bodies."

From CNN:

"They're freezing cold. The water entirely surrounding the ship is at freezing or slightly below. When they exhale, their breath condenses. There's frost on the inside of the parts of the submarine. They're all huddled together trying to conserve their body heat. They're running low on oxygen and they're exhaling carbon dioxide." He told CNN the submersible has a "limited ability" to absorb the exhaled carbon dioxide, which at high levels could trigger headaches, confusion and nausea. "The oxygen and the carbon dioxide and the freezing are what they got to hold onto as long as possible to give the rescuers the time they need," Marquet added.

And then think about this - their air, such s it is, runs out in about 12 hours from now. Then there is this also from CNN:

A US Navy salvage system has arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland, a Navy official said Wednesday, as crews prepare it for mobilization to the site of the ongoing search for a missing submersible.  The Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS) is capable of retrieving objects or vessels off the bottom of the ocean floor up to a depth of 20,000 feet, more than enough to reach the wreckage of the Titanic. But before the FADOSS system can be used, it must be welded to the deck of a ship, a process which can take a full day, the official said. “Our estimate is approximately 24 hours of round-the-clock operation to weld it and secure it to the deck of the vessel prior to getting underway,” the official said on a call with reporters. The Navy does not currently have a vessel lined up to carry the FADOSS to the site, but the official said they are trying to contract a vessel soon.  “We have a vessel of opportunity that we are looking to put under charter, but it is not currently under charter,” said the official.  The FADOSS was most recently used to recover a F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet from the Mediterranean Sea last July. Its deepest recovery to date was at 19,075 feet, the Navy official said. Asked if it had ever recovered someone alive, the official said, “Usually, we’re recovering objects from the bottom or aircraft from a mishap.”

Yes it is still in port, they can't predict four assholes and a teenaged kid are going to dive to the bottom of the ocean in an overgrown bathtub toy!

They do not have a ship on hand to weld this equipment to. Once they do, it has be welded in place, then get to the site. In other words, a minimum of 72 hours if a ship of the correct class can be found RIGHT THERE for work to start immediately. Otherwise it will be used in recovering the sub (or what's left of it, if it imploded), and the bodies of the crew.

[spainy-spoon]

I mean it is a little bit funny that the entire time over the course of several days that rescuers were trying and failing to find a fully intact submersible, the Titan was lying like this right next to the wreck of the Titanic.