#shipwreck shenanigans

[grimm-the-tiger]

I made this post a little while ago listing some facts about shipwrecks that probably only I find interesting, so now I’m back to talk about some of them. Specifically, the Olympic. The Olympic was the namesake of the Olympic-class liners, whose most notable member was the Titanic. Out of the three Olympic-class ships - Titanic, Olympic, and Britannic - only one of them was actually unsinkable, and that was the Olympic. 

Over the more than 20 years of its existence, the Olympic was never once in real danger. The Olympic was the danger. On its fifth voyage in September 1911, Olympic was running parallel to the HMS Hawke, a British warship designed specifically for ramming things. Olympic suddenly turned to starboard (right side of the ship if you were facing towards its front), catching Hawke’s commanding officer off-guard; he wasn’t able to avoid the collision and ended up ramming the other ship. Olympic was left with a substantial hole beneath the water line (although flooding was for the most part averted due to its bulkheads actually working properly, *cough* Titanic *cough*) and a slightly less substantial hole above it. Hawke, meanwhile, had its entire bow caved in. Olympic made it back to port just fine under her own power, while Hawke almost capsized. Somehow, no one was seriously hurt or killed. 

Three fun facts about this situation: Violet Jessop, a woman famous for surviving the sinkings of both of the Olympic’s sister ships, was onboard the Olympic when this happened. This incident also reinforced the idea that the Olympic-class was unsinkable. The famous postponement of the Titanic’s maiden voyage also occurred because of this incident; a propeller shaft was damaged in the collision, they needed a new one ASAP, and, well, the Titanic was right there... 

Four years later, WWI broke out. The Olympic was requisitioned as a troop ship, given 6-inch naval guns, and sent on its way. In 1918, while travelling to France with a literal boatload of American soldiers, Olympic spotted U-103, a German U-boat chilling on the surface of the ocean. Olympic opened fire on U-103, which immediately crash dived to keep from dying, then turned to ram the U-boat. Olympic hit U-103′s conning tower and tore open the hull with its propellers. U-103′s crew decided “fuck this” and abandoned ship; Olympic didn’t bother to stop to pick them up, so a nearby American warship did instead. It was later found that U-103 was preparing to torpedo Olympic when they’d been spotted, but they couldn’t flood the torpedo tubes in time. Olympic remains the only merchant vessel in WWI recorded to have sunk an enemy vessel (which would become a more common occurrence during WWII, to the extent that the Nazis apparently tried and hanged at least one captured British merchant captain for ramming one of their U-boats. The Nazis were ones to talk, considering they rehired the man who sank the Carpathia and was notorious for war crimes that included things like “drowning surrendered enemy crews by forcing them to strip and stand on the roof of his submarine, then diving the submarine” and “attacking designated hospital ships that made it very obvious they were hospital ships”). 

Following WWI, while Olympic was being refit for civilian service, a sizeable dent was discovered below the waterline. It was later concluded to have been caused by a faulty torpedo, most likely fired by U-53 while the Olympic was travelling through the English Channel. 

Olympic collided with another, smaller ship, Fort St. George, in New York Harbor on March 22, 1924. There’s not much information on how badly Olympic fucked Fort St. George up, just that Olympic apparently fucked around a little too much and found out, because the collision broke its sternpost (support post in the back of the ship; think of it like a central pillar in a structure), forcing the entire stern frame to be replaced. 

On November 18, 1929, Olympic was cruising not far from the Titanic’s wreck site when the whole thing began shaking for two minutes. This was later found to have been caused by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Newfoundland. 

The Olympic’s last hurrah (and casualty) was on May 15, 1934, when it collided with the lightship LV-117. Olympic had known the lightship was in the area, but didn’t know where exactly it was until they were right on top of it. Olympic’s captain immediately ordered a hard turn and the engines slowed, so Olympic wasn’t moving particularly fast when it did hit LV-117 (about 3 and a half miles per hour), but Olympic was fucking huge, and the people onboard barely noticed when they practically crushed the lightship under them. Only four of the eleven crew aboard LV-117 survived; four went down with the ship and three died in Olympic’s hospital (yes, these things had hospitals; I told you there were fucking huge). 

Olympic was fully scrapped in 1937, forever going down in history as both the only Olympic-class ship that was actually unsinkable and the one with the longest reign of terror. Good God, man. I understand sinking the U-boat, but you didn’t need to bring like four other ships down with you. 

[anthrophobixx]

doodle dump, been busy with comms sorry gang this is all i hab

[its-short-for-jackalope]

oops, I think the meteor hit the wrong town...

click for quality!

Bromtilda having a little Inevitable moment for @takingback-thepenguin!

[anghraine]

I honestly feel a lot better about having posted anything at AO3, even things I won't finish, and there's something that warms my heart about posting fic for The Borgias in 2024.

I was actually deciding between two different WIPs to represent that "phase" between my undergrad years and grad school. The other one was the prologue to a Legend of Korra/Star Wars fusion in which Noatak/Amon is Korra's father and this is revealed in S1 (I think it was going to be Tarrlok who figures it out first, lol) and it actually affects the plot and it isn't just the LOK canon plot with minor adjustments—the fusion with SW was meant to be more than vague I-am-your-father inspiration. In any case, I only ever wrote the prologue about the Noatak/Senna quasi-romance that led to Korra's existence and never even got to the sheer comedy of Korra as Tarrlok's niece :(

But the Juan and Lucrezia as dysfunctional twins one-shot is closer to being a whole fic (in a side-story way) and I did like being able to add one more to my Borgias oeuvre—and getting at least some part of that AU on AO3 after all the time I spent on it!

[heatherfield]

The Trousers are paying me fifty whole dollars to film their Sleepy Hollow town history play.

Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story, Episode 4 “The Star on the Stage” [x]

Bonus:

[bokettochild]

Ketto's Whumptober 2024 Prompt Master List

No. 1: RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK - Kit & Violet (r by localicecreambiter)

Search Party | Panic Attack | "If only we could hold on.” (Icysami x Renegaderr, Strangers.)

No. 2: TRUST ISSUES - Warriors (anon)

Amusement Park | Role Reversal | “You got away with the crime while the knife's in my back.” (Charlotte Sands, Rollercoaster)

No. 3: SET UP FOR FAILURE - Legend & Sky (requested by notadragon)

Fingerprints | Wrongfully Arrested | "I warned you."

No. 4: HALLUCINATIONS - Legend &/or Warriors (anon)

Hypnosis | Sensory Deprivation | “You're still alive in my head.” (Billy Lockett, More)

No. 5: SUNBURN

Healing Salve | Heatstroke | "If my pain will stretch that far." (Lottery Winners, Burning House)

No. 6: NOT REALISING THEY'RE INJURED - Legend (requested by tiredkiwilol)

Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms | Healed Wrong | "It's not my blood."

No. 7: ONLY FOR EMERGENCIES - Time (FD) & Wind (requested by chuchujellybean)

Unconventional Weapon | Magic with a Cost | "It's us or them."

No. 8: SLEEP DEPRIVATION - Hyrule (requested by starwolfie)

Isolation Chamber | Forced to Stay Awake | "Leave the lights on." (Coldplay, Midnight)

No. 9: OBSESSION

Broken Window | Bruises | “Frame me up on the wall, just to keep me out of trouble.” (Fall Out Boy, Irresistible)

No. 10: BLOW TO THE HEAD - Legend (also tiredkiwilol)

Slurred Words | Passing Out from Pain | "I can't think straight."

No. 11: SEEING DOUBLE - Four (requested by mermain123)

Convenience Store | Loneliness | “Leave no trace behind, like you don't even exist.” (Taylor Swift, Illicit Affairs)

No. 12: STARVATION - Wild

Underground Caverns | Cannibalism | "Just a little more."

No. 13: TEAM AS A FAMILY - Wild & Four

Familial Curse | Multiple Whumpees | "Death will do us part." (Set It Off, Partner's In Crime)

No. 14: LEFT FOR DEAD

Hunting Gear | Blackmail | “Because I want you to know what it feels like to be haunted” (tiLLie, kooL aiD mAn)

No. 15: CHILDHOOD TRAUMA - Wind (requested by mermain123)

Painful Hug | Moment of Clarity | "I did good, right?"

No. 16: NECROSIS - Wild (requested by zips-quips)

Swamp | Wound Cleaning | "No, I can't feel anything."

No. 17: NOWHERE ELSE TO GO - Wind (theoneeyedgoldenwolf)

Ruined Map | Shipwrecked | "We had a good run."

No. 18: REVENGE - Sky (requested by icy-hot-0111)

Unreliable Narrator | Loss of Identity | “I see what's mine and take it.” (Panic! at the Disco, Emperor's New Clothes)

No. 19: BLOOD TRAIL - Twilight (r by toyouhellohowareyou)

Abandoned Cabin | One Way Out | "Is there anybody alive out there?" (Bruce Springsteen, Radio Nowhere)

No. 20: EMOTIONAL ANGST - Warriors (requested by aeghina)

Shoulder to Cry On | Giving Permission to Die | "It's not your fault."

No. 21: BODY HORROR - Wind & Four (requested by tritailed-shenanigans)

Body Horror | Tattoo Gun | Spirit Possession | “Let the bedsheet soak up the tears.” (Apparat feat. Soap & Skin, Goodbye)

No. 22: BLEEDING THROUGH BANDAGES - Hyrule (requested by mermain123)

Tourniquet | Reopening Wounds | "Oh that's not good."

No. 23: FORCED CHOICE - Time (requested by boingobeepis)

Public Display | Broken Pedestal | "I'm doing this for you."

No. 24: RADIATION POISONING - Wild (requested by abbycrashing)

Collapsed Building | Equipment Failure | “I never knew daylight could be so violent.” (Florence + The Machine, No Light, No Light)

No. 25: SURGERY - Twilight & Warriors (mermain123 again :3)

Stitches | Being Monitored | "It's for your own good."

No. 26: NIGHTMARES - Legend (requested by mermain123)

Breakfast Table | Parting Words of Regret | “I'm haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions I have hated.” (Poe, Haunted)

No. 27: VOICELESS - Twilight has a Violet Incident (requested by zips-quips)

Laboratory | Muzzled | “I have no mouth and I must scream.”

No. 28: DENIAL

CCTV | Exposure | "They caught me red handed."

No. 29: FATIGUE

Labyrinth | Burnout | "Who said you could rest?"

No. 30: RECOVERY - Wind & Legend & Warriors (because I want to!)

Hospital Bed | Holding Back Tears | "What have I done?"

No. 31: ASKING FOR HELP

Therapy | Making Amends | "I'm alive, I'm just not well." (Elliot Lee, Alive, Not Well.)

-

Feel free to send in requests for this year! Any relationships (barring romantic) are optional, and you can give as much or as little detail for what you'd like to see as you like! And if the prompt you wanted is already claimed, no worries! I AM capable of whumping multiple boys at once >:)

(NOTE: I can see your requests best in the post replies, asks WILL most likely get lost in the slew of my askbox!!!!!)

Alternatives List:

Body Swap - Four and Wind (tritailed-shenanigans)

Communication Barrier

Finding Old Messages - Wild (requested by zips-quips)

Forgotten

Friendly Fire

Motion Sickness

No-Holds-Barred Beatdown

Regret

Secrets Revealed

Shivering

Survivor's Guilt

Time Loop

Used As Bait

Venom

Vermin

[mintartem]

Emily: Adam look what I found in the shipwreck!

Adam: You went there alone? Against Sera’s orders? Badass! What did you get?

This DIYS gave me an AU idea!

The Little Mermaid AU in which Emily wants to go to the surface. Adam, her adoptive older brother, gets caught up in her shenanigans.

Main Characters:

Emily is Sera’s only daughter and Crowned Princess of the Mer-Kingdom of Atlantica. She is low-key jealous of Adam’s freedom and lack of responsibilities. She does love him a lot and sees him as her older brother. She admires Sera a lot and hopes to be as great of a queen as her.

Adam is a family friend’s son whom Sera took in as her ward. Adam’s mom was killed by humans while Adam’s dad died in a battle against a fellow Mer-Kingdom when Adam was a baby. Like Emily, he’s curious, not as curious though. He doesn’t like humans but he doesn’t hate them the way Sera does either. He went to the surface once and saw what he assumes to be a human child flailing in the water and tried to help, only to be scared off by an older human.

Sera is the Queen of Atlantica. She has a huge hatred for humans for killing a lot of their own back then. She fought back by letting the sirens lure them and eat them for their own. Despite Adam being her ward, she sees Adam like her own son and even considers to officially adopt him. She wants Emily to hate humans but didn’t realized that she instead flared her curiosity.

Charlie is the Crowned Princess of the Kingdom of Pride. She is a sweet, kind-hearted, open-minded girl that only wants the best for people and her kingdom. People sometimes calls her crazy because she claims to have seen a mermaid when she was young.

Lucifer is the king of the Kingdom of Pride. Despite still being married, he and his Queen, Lilith, have fallen out of love. He has an obsession with ducks and collecting rare treasures. He sometimes hunts for the mermaid with golden tail who almost drowned his beloved daughter.

Side characters:

Saint Peter/Peter - Emily’s best friend (his role is basically Flounder)

Michael - Adam and Emily’s bodyguard. The one who told Sera about Emily’s secret cave of human collection. To make up to her for tattling, he joins Adam in making sure Emily has a great time in the surface. (He wasn’t there when Emily made a deal with the sea witch). He wants Adam’s hand in marriage.

Lilith - Lucifer’s wife and Charlie’s mother; queen of the kingdom of Pride. Concerned with her husband’s obsession with the mermaid.

Eve/Roo - the Sea Witch whom Emily makes a deal with to get to the surface.

Alastor - Charlie’s trusted butler; head butler of the palace

Husk - head chef (monitored by Alastor of course)

Anthony - one of Charlie’s few friends, one of the castles butlers (jokingly calls himself a maid)

Nifty - head maid of the palace

Vaggie - Charlie’s girlfriend

Sir Pentious & Cherri - two of the most trusted castle guards. Charlie also considers them her friends.

That’s all I have in this AU for now. Do whatever you like with this AU if it inspired you. Will I write a fic with this AU? I don’t think so.

Does this AU intends to ship Adamsapple or Guitarhero? Maybe… maybe not. Who knows?

[mellioops]

I made this for @animaltamer7 as part of a gift swap in the hsbb discord :D

It’s for an au where Tango is a ghost who died when the ship he was on sank in a storm, and Jimmy is a mermaid who saw a shipwreck and when “oooo I should explore that” and accidentally found Tango (and then shenanigans happen lol)

I plan on maybe doing more stuff with this au eventually >:3

[prismatoons]

Watch out everyone, we are hurting our own feelings again.

Waking up and checking Discord to a long RP starter from @prismatoons is like Christmas morning all over again

[iamnmbr3]

dron, snupin, prongsfoot

Dron:

Sorry to all the dron shippers out there but personally I have to go with category 4: doesn't make sense, doesn't compel me. Oh sure it SHOULD world. all the classic enemies to lovers fodder is right there but somehow it just...doesn't. draco's too busy being obsessed with harry to really notice ron beyond being jealous that harry picked him instead of draco. ron mostly just gets the generic insult of 'lol you're poor' in different packaging with an occasional 'lol you suck at quidditch.' harry the one who draco really pulls out the stops for when it comes to needling bc he knows him so well. and as for ron's side of things well. to me ron is the 'diversity win. jkr finally wrote someone straight' character. plus their dynamic just...isn't that interesting to me somehow. they are both much more compelling to me when paired with other people.

Snupin:

category 3: doesn't make sense, compels me. Listen. LISTEN. I love this ship so much and i cannot believe there is not more content for it. it's a shipwreck that is simultaneously sinking while being on fire AND also blowing up. What's not to love? Would it ever happen? probably not but damn it is so compelling. where is my toxic enemies to enemies who are also lovers? where is my 'lupin falls on hard times due to being a werewolf' and snape seizes his chance for revenge...or else doesn't and is actually helps lupin while also still hating him and then feelings develop or perhaps not but an ill advised romance ensues anyway. there is so much potential for wild shenanigans, twisted manipulations, and awkward mornings after. i need it in my life.

Prongsfoot:

category 1: makes sense, compels me. lets be real. one-sided prongsfoot was canon. james was the oblvious straight friend. or maybe not so oblivious. after all, when james is unhappy and restless it is sirius who lily writes to, because apparently she feels that he will be able to cheer james up (or talk sense into him) in a way that she simply can't.

send me a ship and I'll tell you which of these categories it falls into

[grimm-the-tiger]

Dumb shipwreck facts because I need to hyperfixate for a moment: 

The only Olympic-class (Britannic, Titanic, and Olympic) ship that was actually unsinkable was the Olympic. Olympic took full advantage of this and became the only merchant vessel in WWI on record to sink an enemy vessel (it didn’t discriminate, either; Olympic actually sank two vessels during its service, one of which was a friendly lightship during peacetime). 

It took 150 years to discover what happened to the infamous Lost Franklin Expedition because the English were too racist to ask the natives. The Canadians, meanwhile, found the wreck of one of their ships, HMS Terror, in a fraction of the time by asking an Inuit hunter named Sammy Kogvik for help. 

There are at least two wrecks in Lake Erie that we may never find because the lakebed quite literally swallowed them. 

On a related note, Lake Erie might have the highest concentration of shipwrecks of any body of water in the world. 

Lake Superior is actually the least lethal Great Lake, despite its reputation, but over half of its wrecks are located around Whitefish Point, most notably the Edmund Fitzgerald. 

The Bermuda Triangle doesn’t actually have a very high disappearance or wreck rate. It’s considered weird because the gulf stream carries any wrecks and debris out of the search area, making it that much harder to find any remains. 

There’s a disturbing tendency for ships, particularly freighters, to not only split in half while they sink, but for the back half (the stern) to keep going, sometimes for miles. The most notable case of this would be the SS Pendleton, an oil freighter that wrecked off the coast of Massachusetts; the rescue of the crew on its stern is considered to be one of the most daring Coast Guard rescues ever pulled off. 

Most ships built before 1950 were made with subprime or low-grade metal, which is believed to be part of the reason why they split in half so often. This metal turned brittle in colder water; guess where most of these wrecks were. Some wrecks believed to have fallen victim to this include the Titanic, the aforementioned Pendleton, the Carl D. Bradley, and the Daniel J. Morrell. 

An Arctic cruise ship took on a Venezuelan patrol boat and won. Said patrol boat was trying to force the cruise ship, the Resolute, to come ashore. Ships create depressions in the water (you most often see this in the “wake”) called displacement, and it’s generally believed the patrol boat underestimated the strength of the Resolute’s displacement and was sucked into its path, ending up crushed by Resolute’s icebreaker-grade hull. 

While we can be reasonably certain what sank the Marquette & Bessemer No. 2 (it was a train ferry with an open back and had previously had a near-accident when a wave slammed directly into the opening, almost flooding it), what we don’t know is what happened before and after. One of its lifeboats was found with nine bodies and the clothing of a tenth. The ship’s steward was found armed with two knives and a meat cleaver, and the captain’s body was found some time later with slash wounds. It’s agreed that the steward killed him, but why remains a mystery. 

Moby Dick was based on the sinking of the Essex, a whaling ship that was rammed and sunk by its own prey. The crew resorted to cannibalism to survive; ironically, they would’ve been rescued sooner had they not avoided a nearby island chain for fear of cannibal tribes. 

Don’t read about the sinking of the Estonia. Just...don’t. It’s not pleasant. For some hint of how awful it was, despite being reasonably close to the surface no one was ever able to get all the bodies out because of the sheer number of them. 

On a much lighter note, the Swedish Navy in the 1700s poured thousands of kroner into building a mighty flagship for their navy, the Vasa...only for the Vasa to sink less than 300 yards into its maiden voyage. Turns out they gave it too many guns, making it too top-heavy, and it capsized. 

The Canadian freighter Bannockburn disappeared in a storm in 1902. Almost all of its crew were in their late teens and early 20s; the youngest was 16. Companies would hire younger, less experienced men to work aboard their ships because they were cheaper. The Bannockburn has never been found. 

Speaking of Lake Superior shipwrecks, there’s a saying that “Lake Superior never gives up her dead”. It’s not wrong; the temperatures at the bottom are cold enough to halt the decaying process, which prevents the bodies from rising to the surface. The most notable instance of this is Old Whitey, the nickname for a body found in the engine room of the Kamloops who has never been identified. This is also the reason no one is allowed to dive to the Edmund Fitzgerald; the crew’s bodies are still aboard the wreck, and it’s considered disrespectful at best to dive to a place that for all intents and purposes is a graveyard. 

It took over 100 years and numerous deaths from scurvy for anyone to realize that eating raw meat can prevent it. They discovered this on a Belgian arctic expedition where one of the crewmen, drawing on past experience, somehow managed to convince the rest of the crew to eat raw penguin, rapidly decreasing the number and severity of scurvy cases onboard. 

To end this on a lighter note, the saying “Batten down the hatches” is an actual maritime phrase; hatches are openings in the ship’s deck used to bring cargo inside and, on older ships, allow passengers and crew on deck. Hatches let enormous amounts of water into the ship in bad weather, and are often “battened down” (covered up) to prevent water from getting in. It will probably not surprise you to learn that not battening down the hatches or not doing it properly has caused its fair share of wrecks; notably, it’s believed that the Cyprus, an ore carrier that was said to be leaving a red trail in its wake the day before it capsized, was leaving said trail because its hatches were improperly sealed; water was getting into the hold, mixing with the cargo of iron ore, and then being pumped out, hence the red wake. 

[fulcrum-art-fox]

You guys were not kidding about the absolute insanity going on between Mizu and Taigen and Akemi. Like never in a million years would I have guessed they were gonna be just this unhinged about it. Like, the way that Akemi uses all her wiles to get her father to agree to let her marry Taigen, who is not a noble but is an undefeated samurai, and Mizu just totally ruins that, almost incidentally, and then Taigen fucks himself over extra hard when he’s already lost to Mizu bc he decides it’s a good idea to call him a dog to his retreating back. Taigen and Akemi having sex to a description of duelling and killing Mizu was pretty insane also. That’s a set up for a massive complex between those three of I’ve ever seen one. And then Taigen leaves Akemi to go get his revenge - wait sorry, his rematch with Mizu, but because he’s got a honour complex just killing Mizu isn’t what he’s here for he needs him back to full strength but Mizu just so happens to be a walking disaster who is constantly injured and constantly courting death so he has to delay it almost indefinitely cue the whole “no one’s allowed to kill you but me” shenanigans and the insane degree of loyalty Taigen shows to that even under torture. And Mizu does actually agree to a date (joke intended) to a fight to the literal death but only after revenge. Then Akemi tracks Mizu down, recognising him not just by the blue eyes but by the fact she has snagged Taigan’s scarf and is actually wearing it. Akemi “no one says no to me” compliments Mizu on her eyes to get close to try and lower his guard while Mizu knows exactly who Akemi is and is extra on guard and also fucks with her about it “anyway he’s dead now” Mizu you can be a real bastard you know that (and I love it). And the way that as Akemi attempts to kill him the others at the brothel hear the crashes and immediately go “oh she’s good” because they assume they’re fucking?? Like oh my god. Mizu pinning Akemi to the ground, like she did with her husband and does again with Taigen?? The way that last time Mizu playfully sparred with and pinned a man to the ground she got called a monster but Taigen gets turned on by it??? And immediately tries to play it off as missing Akemi?? But he also calls her a demon over Mizu’s decision to let the guards take Akemi and the way that Taigen sets off to the city long before Mizu but because he’s honourable and a loyal samurai he focuses on saving the whole royal family, so Mizu is the one who actually reaches Akemi first, to try and right the fuck up and protect and get Akemi her freedom and honour his word to Ringo and during all this Mizu describes Taigen to Akemi as “not a good man, but he could be a great one” in a big long speech where she also says “he thinks he loves you very much.” Like I’m sorry Mizu come back here, what is that phrasing you are making me insane here. These three are insaner than insane and I just love watching them but like. something like how you watch a shipwreck

[intrepid-fictioneer-7]

Somewhat detailed sypnosis of Fate/school life, the 4-koma spinoff of Fate/stay night following the regular lives of the Homurahara students, specifically the track team trio. A manga that has never been translated into English, and so is largely unknown in the English fandom. This would largely not be a problem, except Fate/strange Fake is set in its continuity, or close enough, which makes its allusions to it and important plot points derived from it incredibly confusing.

Not my work, this sypnosis was exclusively typed up by Comun (@kaibutsushidousha​ here) on Beast Lair:

Ok, I have time now. Here's what the general deal with HimuTen is. Himuro no Tenchi is a yonkoma manga starring the normal girls of the track trio + Mitsuzuri, and the much less normal Sajou Ayaka from Fate/Prototype. As the "Fate/school life" subtitle implies, it's wholly slice-of-life, featuring its cast involved in everyday situations, the many original games they play, and supernatural shenanigans that they don't realize are supernatural thanks to Rin or Ayaka cleaning things up neatly.

Publication started in 2006 covering a story set 9 months before the Grail War, but then during its 2015-2017 run, it covered the Grail War from the perspective of people who didn't know the Grail War happening, and is currently set after the Grail War.

In terms of timeline, the main point of divergence that defines HimuTen is Kotomine's handling of Tokiomi's property. Like in the Fsn timeline, after the 4th Grail War, Kotomine was in charge of Tokiomi's finances until Rin grew up, but he made categorically stupid decisions on what to sell and what to keep, and his disastrous management was the cause of Rin's current money problems. But in HimuTen's timeline, while the outcome of Kotomine's poor management was still the same, what specifically he chose to sell was different. This results in two major consequences that separate HimuTen from Fate/stay night:

1)A lot of Tokiomi's less practically useful artifacts and Mystic Codes were sold to Makidera's father's antique shop, which often results in Makidera and her friends being involved in strange phenomena that Rin needs to take responsibility for.

2) A plot of land directly above Fuyuki's best leyline was sold to Sajou Hiroki, causing him to move with his two daughters to move to Fuyuki in 1994. By 2003-2004, Manaka already moved away from her father's house, and Hiroki himself never appears because he's always out of Fuyuki either meeting up with his mage buddy from Tokyo or dealing with Manaka situations, but Ayaka is a main character in this story, so that obviously has many ramifications.

Also, Ayaka's and Manaka's characters in HimuTen are pretty different from their Prototype counterparts. Fake Ayaka is about as much of a self-hating introvert with no self-esteem as Proto Ayaka, but she didn't get from the real Ayaka of this timeline.

The younger Manaka still had the same propensity to set the world on fire for her Prince Charming, but direct quote: "Her excessive omnipotence caused [REDACTED] to [REDACTED] because it was [REDACTED], thus [REDACTED] went completely off-rails, resulting in the collapse of her most confident plan. Catastrophic shipwreck. She learned that picture books are pictures books are for a reason. The Prince Charming of her dreams wasn't real. Disheartened, she [REDACTED]. [REDACTED]. She turned harmless."

Meanwhile, since Manaka never found her ideal hot man, this Ayaka has none of her Grail War trauma. Instead, she had the experience of witnessing depression turn her highly competent sister into an unproductive failure of a human being, and built an actual self-esteem from training in Fuyuki's best leyline, so she internalized that she needed to be the responsible sister.

And, relevantly to /strange Fake, Ayaka also left Fuyuki in the July-August 2003 period for a student experience in the Clock Tower. Waver naturally got interested in a new student with the same last name as Manaka, so they met and she was a temporary student in his class, where she also got to realize her Formalcraft talents from Proto and was advised to specialize in plants since she was so opposed to sacrificing animals.

The last major thing to talk about is the Grail War arc, although I think this was already discussed in the thread when FsF being a HimuTen sequel first came up. Due to the premise of the manga, we don't see anything of the Grail War actually happen, but from its consequences to the people around the track trio (Kuzuki's disappearance, Mitsuzuri's assault and hospitalization, Zouken's death, the Ryuudou family needing to move to the Semina Apartments after the collapse of the cavern under their temple, Medusa's post-war presence, Shirou's survival and relationship status with Sakura, etc.), it's completely that HimuTen follows Heaven's Feel Good End except for the minor divergences caused by Ayaka's presence. And those are only two:

1) During the weeks of the Grail War, Ayaka was teaming up with Ciel (yes, Ciel was there, but she isn't a character in HimuTen, she's just an incognito figure you find, exclusively during the Grail War chapters, talking to Ayaka in the background, appearing on the corners of pages, group shots, etc. and what is up with her cameos is only revealed in profiles outside of the story proper) to kept outside scavengers from interfering with the Grail War. Mashin's official statement is that together the thwarted 9 out of 10 invaders, and the 10th one that slipped past them would have consequences later in the United States. (This seriously implies that the Fsn timeline had a bigger number of scavengers profiting from the Grail War, which certainly will come up in some spin-off, probably the El-Melloi series)

2) Shinji lost a bet to Ayaka during that week, so he had to wear a magical wig that copied his hair, but slightly off-center, making people think he was wearing a wig all along. This protected his head from Sakura's attack, so in this timeline, Shinji was only injured rather than killed.

I suppose I could also talk about Tsunokuma since he cameoed here and how the reveal that the real Ayaka is currently studying in Romania is an extension of Manaka's and Celenike's relationship in HimuTen, but I'll stick to the Ayaka parts to keep this post as short as it can be.

[nanomooselet]

The Immortal Twins

Note: I am not an expert. I've just read too many books.

If you were ever regrettably into Homestuck* or possibly The Hunger Games, you've probably heard of Castor and Pollux (together, Polydeuces or the Dioskouroi), the demigod twins of the constellation Gemini.

Twin brothers to Helen (of Troy) and Clytemnestra, who were twin sisters, and all born of the mortal Leda and two fathers, a Spartan king and Zeus (don't ask, usual Zeus-related shenanigans involved). Speaking very very generally because of course sources are contradictory, Pollux was Zeus's son and thus immortal, while Castor was the king's son and mortal. Nevertheless, they were always together, usually getting into trouble. Even as adults, they were inseparable.

Then came the day they got into too much trouble and Castor was badly wounded. Pollux killed the man who injured his brother, but could do nothing for Castor himself, who was dying - and once he did, he'd be in Hades, where immortal Pollux couldn't follow him. So Zeus, keeping an eye on his son, gave Pollux a choice. His divine heritage entitled Pollux to live on Olympus... or he could give half his immortality to his brother.

Obviously Pollux chose the latter and the twins became the constellation Gemini. Also divided their time between Hades and Olympus, but stars is the point. They give aid to the shipwrecked.

Knives, naturally, has found a way to ruin it.

English translation of the lyrics in the closing song:

Your light... If that light never changes And continues to shine high above the sky Even when I'm lost, even when I'm struggling I'll continue to search for you Even on days of sickness or sadness I'll open the window to a new morning I'm moving forward, I'm standing still Tell the people who are praying But today this flower before me is praising you My song is a song of joy and wishes Yes, I'm reaching out But you're too high up in the evening stars But today this flower before me is praising you My song is a song of joy and wishes Yes, I try to reach out But you're too high up in the evening stars

The song in the credits is from Knives's point of view. He's believes himself to be the immortal twin, and he wants his mortal brother with him among the stars, sharing his immortality.

Sounds sweet! It's such a soft and gentle song. Maybe a little, uh, fixated, but hey, he's an intense guy! It's... possibly also strange that he thinks of his adult brother as a child even after (checks notes) a century and half but you know, childhood leaves a strong impression on a person -

...Oh.

And that's why the 'welcome home' Morse code is weird.

* I don't want to talk about it.

[eloquentsisyphianturmoil]

Planning a crackfic where Fëanáro signs his sons up for a Shakespeare play with Valar Productions, where they meet the family of Náro’s old nemesis and a few prodigy hippies (cue Luthien drama).

Synopsis of each play below.

All these plays are versatile with many similarly prominent characters, except perhaps King Lear (but I adore act three so much).

The Tempest follows Prospero (evil), his daughter (heroine), and fairy servant (kind of camp) as they shipwreck Prospero’s usurping brother and cause general chaos. Includes drunk clowns, a love struck prince, murder, apparitions, and disgruntled slaves.

Twelfth Night is genderbent romantic shenanigans involving servants taking the piss out of a nobleman, a fool for fool’s sake, and some very gay interactions. Class divide is for dummies.

Henry IV doesn’t have many women, but it’s got a lovely range of scenes between Prince Harry and the war, some fun at a pub, shenanigans, and Falstaff. Plus serious Revolution business.

Comedy of Errors is complete crack. Some women, plenty of bumbling, and hectic costumery. Twins get separated, named the same thing, end up in the same city, and cause chaos.

[orderforbrian]

Day 7 - Fairy Tale for @jonmartinweek!

martin's mermaid form is under the cut (he doesnt exactly have a seashell bra if you catch my drift)

brushing off the dust from an old mermaid AU - loosely based off the little mermaid (you can take a guess as to who the villain is lol) where martin is a lonely mermaid living on a small island and saves jon, a celestial navigator, from a shipwreck. they bicker a first (jon is not enthused to be trapped on an island) but eventually work together to get jon back to england. martin returns to his island, longing to be human so he could follow jon, when a stranger full of eyes approaches with a deal (and a price to be paid). martin accepts and travels to england using the navigation jon taught him. once there, martin realizes he is woefully unprepared to live as a human (and impress the man whose requited love is vital to the deal) - jon assists him, offering his flat to reside in, and very much does not understand 1. why martin can't talk about the eyeball in his necklace 2. why martin is so hellbent on distracting him from work. shenanigans ensue, complicated feelings, drama, comedy, romance, magic...and it doesn't end with 'i love you!' - tho it does end with a kiss :3

[Start ID: Multiple drawings of Jon and Martin from the Magnus Archives in a mermaid AU. All drawings have a blue hue to them. Jon is a thin Persian man with a full mustache and beard, and dark, curly hair down past his shoulders. He wears a long earring on both ears. Martin is a fat mixed Polish/Korean man with long, wavy hair and a beauty mark below his lip. He wears a drop earring in both ears. In the image under the cut Martin is in his mermaid form with a long glittery blue tale with an ice blue fin behind him. His hair is pulled back in a low ponytail and wet, he also wears two overlapping necklaces with some shells tied in them. Martin is bare chested. He leans over Jon with a curious face, one hand on his chest and the other cradling his neck. Jon lays on the ground in his arms, wearing a torn collared shirt and a lined vest, his chest hair is visible until out of frame. His hair is loose and wet and he looks up at Martin with wide eyes, one hand on his chest and the other laying next to his own head. 2nd image is multiple drawings on the same page - Martin is human now. To the left there is a metal locket with a chain, opened to reveal a pale blue eye embedded in backlace. To the right, Martin sits in a bathtub, bent over and blowing bubbles out of his hands. Jon sits behind him, visible from the nose down and washes his hair. He wears a shirt with puffy lined sleeves, a long tunic, and pants rolled up under the knee. To the middle, Martin wears a long shirt with ties near the elbow, allowing the sleeves to pleat. He also wears a simple vest, a cravat, pants, and a blue bow in his ponytail. Jon wears a head scarf, a similar shirt to Martin except his has multiple ties along the sleeves, a lined vest, and pants with some belts holding a variety of nondescript items. Jon holds out his hands to steady Martin, who is hunched over and holding one of his hands, the other outstretched onto an imaginary wall. He appears very embarrassed, as if he fell. To the middle right is three dark octopus tentacles, instead of suckers they are lined with multi-color eyes with neon green pupils. One tentacles holds a green eyeball on its tip. The last image below is Jon and Martin sitting side by side, looking up at an off frame night sky with stars in their eyes. Jon points up with a smile, his other hand over Martin's holding a telescope at shoulder height. Jon's hair is middle parted and flows past his shoulders, he wears a collared shirt and a shawl. Martin looks up with a smile, both hands holding a small telescope. He wears the eye locket, a collared shirt and a shawl. They are both blushing slightly. End ID.]