#ssus

[rayenigma]

We were watching the SSUS being towed from her pier in Philadelphia on stream earlier, and my friend pointed out something that i absolutely CANNOT stop thinking about.

The parrarel here... it's insane. The sad and solemn scene of a once beautiful ship, built during an era which has now long passed, being towed to her final final destination... Welcome back The Fighting Temeraire by J.M.W. Turner

[sugar-splenda]

It's me, I'm modders. @pekasairroc

[esqapevelocity]

[northadawn]

SS United States' Final Sunset (Reprise)

This journal is a revisit of my initial write-up of the SS United States back in 5 September 2024.

If you're reading this, most likely you have already watched the footage of the SS United States being escorted out of her pier by tugboats while passing the Walt Whitman Bridge on her way to her final home. The scenes are marvellous in all its solemn mood surrounding her and the circumstances of the final years of her life, with all of the failed plans to preserve her and a legal battle with Penn Warehousing.

How did we get here?

Let's look back for a while. The SS United States was withdrawn from service back in 11 November 1969, with the clear sunset of the ocean liner era in part due to the dawn of the jetliner age. She was stripped of her interiors and were auctioned off in 1984 under the ownership of Richard H. Hadley to raise money to pay creditors. While he envisioned the ship to be a floating condominium, the ship has been heavily neglected under his care. A Turkish businessman by the name of Kahraman Sadıkoğlu, a partner Marmara Marine Inc., got his hands on the ship after three bids in an attempt to get the ship sailing again. When she arrived in Istanbul, Turkey for refurbishment, concerns were raised over her asbestos-lined interior, and she was sent to Sevastopol, Ukraine, to strip her from the asbestos. By the time the work was complete, the partnering business of Sadıkoğlu's was out of money, and returned to the United States, where she was bought up by what we know now as the SS United States Conservancy.

Since then, the Conservancy has made their best efforts to find a buyer to help save the ship, and several plans to save her came and went from Norwegian Cruise Line, Crystal Cruises, RXR Realty, with all plans failing to take off, while the ship has continued to deteriorate.

Fast forward to 2025, and it has been made clear that her time has long gone, and the most graceful exit possible for the SS United States now is by turning her into an artificial reef (I've covered more information about this on my previous write-up). As of writing, she has finally started her journey after several delays to her departure, on her way to Mobile, Alabama.

Her Legacy

Her legacy in ocean liner history has and will be debated given the limbo she's been put under for decades, and her glory days coinciding with the rise of airliners, so it's really hard to come into a consensus over how she will be remembered by. Many ocean liner fans would love to remember her for being the final winner of the traditional Blue Riband, for sailing 400 voyages, for being the last great American-built ship, but her detractors would argue that the timing of her rise lessens her significance, and she'll mostly be remembered as a rusting shell who has done nothing of significance outside of the Blue Riband. Both sides have continued to be up in arms about it, and it does get to ridiculous extremes, with one extreme bringing political names as a proposal to save her last-minute, while the other extreme arguing that nobody cares about her and the time to save her was decades ago.

I think as much as people would argue about her, she does deserve to be remembered fondly. Although she might not have had the glorious career that ships like the Mauretania had, she has been a well-designed evolution of the ocean liners that came before her, one of, if not the greatest ocean liner that her nation has proudly designed and built, and I think we can all agree that she has left her mark in history, given how we're all talking about her, fans and detractors alike. She will always be one of the last great ocean liners, the proud last owner of the Blue Riband, and most importantly, a proud ship that has given every soul that sailed aboard her fond memories. To say that she's not significant in any way is a bit of an insult to not just her fans, but to the many who have spent their time sailing on her, and to the men who have put effort to bring her to life in the way they envisioned her to be. I look forward to her serving a new life as an artificial reef and I hope that the museum that will be built in her honour does well.

You are free to stop reading from here, but if you want to hear my own opinion of her and other remarks about her voyage to her destiny, continue reading.

My personal feelings towards the SS United States

Unfortunately, I don't think I've been given a proper chance to like her. As a 14 year old starting out on the Titanic gijinka circle, I've voiced out my opinion on how I thought that the SS United States was "good, but nothing great in comparison to the Aquitania and Queen Mary", and I never understood the hype around her. What did I get in response? A bunch of messages from people giving me death threats and racist messages over my "treasonous" opinion of the SS United States. I think it goes to show the ridiculousness of it all, there are some fans of her who go to the extremes in their love of the ship, and from the discussions that came in the ship communities, also from the people who couldn't care less of her. Personally though, from the trauma that came from being a young teenager who was told to die for thinking that the SS United States wasn't a great ship, I can't help but feel vindicated a little from this scene. At the same time, I can still understand just how important she is in the grand scheme of things, and I can appreciate how she's given people something to hope for, apart from the fond memories and love that she brings to many. You're free to love the SS United States, we're all free to like what we want to like. I respect the fact that she's the last great American piece of ocean liner history and the last winner of the traditional Blue Riband. We're all human, we have our own opinions of something, just as long as we can understand where each other is coming from and not resort to hostility.

All that aside, it's great to see you move again, SS United States. May you new life free you from the limbo of sitting around and waiting for all of the sand in the hourglass to run out.

-Northa

THERE IS STILL A VOYAGE TO EMBARK ON

[poaterre1]

Lotus Wimbo

[twyllodrus]

[enhaflixer]

Sined sealed and undone is such a beautiful story! I loved it! It would be lovely if we could get some more snippets of their lives someday! Maybe about the pregnancy or when the baby is born???

First Trimester

Jay doesn’t know how to react at first. Not really. He’s not shocked—he’s prepared on paper. They talked about children. They were careful. But deep down? He always knew Mina was going to come early. And yet somehow it still knocks the breath out of him.

He doesn’t celebrate at first. He calculates. Sits up late reading medical journals and government maternity policies. Makes a spreadsheet of every hospital in a 100km radius. Sends your doctor a thank-you gift after every appointment.

You find him one night in his study, staring blankly at a half-done nursery mood board, his phone open to an article titled “Intergenerational Trauma and Pregnancy Outcomes.”

“Jay,” you say gently, stepping into the room. “You’re allowed to be excited, you know.”

He blinks at you like he forgot how to breathe. Then:

“I don’t want her to inherit anything broken.”

You kneel in front of him.

“She won’t. She’s getting the best of you.”

Then, softer:

“And the rest she’ll learn to survive. Like we did.”

He wraps his arms around you so tight you can barely breathe. But you don’t mind. He needs this more than you do.

Second Trimester

Jay gets weirdly charming during this time. Like, glowing. He stops answering calls after 6PM. Starts making dinner. Starts… humming while folding laundry???

You ask him one day, “Are you nesting?”

“I’m stabilizing our home environment,” he says, dead serious, as he alphabetizes the spice rack.

He talks to your belly every night, even before you can feel movement. His voice goes low, affectionate, incredibly gentle—like he’s already protecting Mina from the world.

“Hi, Baby,” he whispers against your stomach. “It’s Appa. Don’t worry about anything. I’ll handle it.”

You cry the first time you hear him say her name.

He panics and tries to call your OB.

You have to explain that these are happy tears.

Later, you find a leather-bound journal hidden in his drawer. Inside: handwritten letters to Mina. Every week. Every milestone. Every fear. Every dream.

Third Trimester

Jay is officially in full Dad Mode™. He speaks to your belly in boardroom Korean. You swear Mina kicks harder when he starts using his “negotiation voice.”

He buys three diaper bags. Tests the car seat installation seven times. Has every caregiver within his family vetted by a private firm.

But also? He’s scared. You catch it in quiet moments—when he watches you sleep with a crease between his brows. When he lingers at the hospital lobby longer than necessary.

“I don’t know if I can protect you both,” he admits one night, forehead pressed to your shoulder.

“You don’t have to,” you say softly. “You just have to love us.”

And he holds you tighter. Doesn’t say a word. But later that night, he changes your contact name in his phone from just your name… to My Family.

The Birth

Jay doesn’t cry. Not until they place Mina in your arms, all tiny fingers and sleepy squints and scrunched-up nose that definitely came from him.

Then he’s gone. Sobbing silently, shoulders shaking, forehead pressed to the edge of your hospital bed like he’s trying to keep himself from collapsing.

“She’s real,” he says. “She’s here.”

And you nod, exhausted, whispering, “She’s perfect.”

Jay kisses Mina’s forehead, then yours. His voice cracks when he says, “Thank you. For giving her to me.”

Postpartum / First Months

Jay doesn’t sleep. Not out of stress—he just can’t look away. He watches Mina breathe. He learns how to swaddle from six different sources and compares their efficiency. He insists on doing midnight feedings because “you carried her for nine months, I can carry her through a few nights.”

He works less. Holds more. Laughs more.

One night, Mina won’t stop crying no matter what either of you do. You’re both exhausted, on the edge. You find Jay in the living room with her on his chest, softly singing a lullaby his mother used to hum to him.

“Please sleep, Mina,” he whispers. “Appa needs to believe the world is good again.”

She finally settles.

And you know, in your bones, she already believes it is.

Because he’s here.

And he loves her.

And you.

More than anything.

[dddesc]

you lose...

[comicweek]

Spider-Women from Madame Web

[rayenigma]

Bon Voyage!

At last, the inevitable happened and SS United States is on her final journey. While many of us are gathering for the funeral, I wanted to draw a piece with a bit more whimsy - so here she is!

Even though I live on the other side of the world, she's still a somewhat sentimental ship to me - I think she was one of the first liners I heard about! I don't know if I'll ever get to see her in person (I do have a diving certificate though), but a man can dream, eh?

Farewell, Big U!

[m00nb04rd5]

May I have Kirby Super Star Ultra Please?

Poyo!!

[conceptofjoy]

i just think its interesting that scoring symptoms for “more than half the days over the past two weeks” for depression is what qualifies a person for the disorder, but if you have a two bad weeks in a row for a semester long class, youre just fucked

[sugar-splenda]

I adore our little parasites.

[rmsfranconia]

Welp, there goes my will to live.

Guys... this can't be happening

[veveisveryuncool]

"you turned me into this. this is all your fault, pink demon!"

kirbytober day 15: favorite remake/arts and crafts

i think ssu was a pretty solid remake!! im in love with the pixel style they used in this era :]

[castielsprostate]

genuinely though if they continue venom without tom hardy, or without eddie brock, i will blow myself up and not in a good way