Alright which one of you fuckers (friendly) did this

You can’t be fecking trusted

wow okay i’m crying now

“And even as he watched the rescue unfolding that morning, he would have understood that for the living, everything which could have been done had been done: not a single survivor was lost or injured being brought aboard the Carpathia. For those who had gone down with the Titanic, save for reverencing their memory at the service later that day, there was nothing more that he or anyone could do. Rostron’s duty now was as he always saw it: to the living.”

I looked up a bit about this because the post is so movingly written that when I read it aloud to my husband and mother they both wept like babies, and something else really struck me about this story.

So Carpathia was not a top-end luxury liner. Her reputation was for being Jolly Comfortable - she was very broad in her proportions, and not super-duper fast, and the result was that she didn’t rock so much on the waves and you couldn’t particularly hear/feel the engines. She was solid and dependable, and lots of people liked using her, but she therefore occupied a lesser niche than Titanic or Olympian or whatever - and crucially, as a result of that, she only had one radio operator on board. This means she only had radio ops for a certain window in the day, unlike Titanic, which had 24 hour radio ops.

So on that night, when Titanic went down, Carpathia’s wireless operator - one Harold Cottam - clocked off his shift at midnight, and went to bed. While he was getting ready for bed, though, he left the transmitter on for the hell of it, and therefore picked up a transmission from Cape Race in Newfoundland, the closest transmitting tower sending messages to the ships. They told him that they had a backlog of private traffic for Titanic that wasn’t getting through. So, even though his shift was over, and it was now 11 minutes past bloody midnight, and he just wanted to go to bed, Harold Cottam decided that nonetheless, he’d be helpful, and let the Titanic know they had messages waiting.

And that’s how he received the Titanic’s distress signal. In spite of no longer being on shift to receive it, and therefore in order to send Carpathia galloping to Titanic’s rescue, and thus saving 705 people.

All because Harold Cottam decided one night to be kind. 

I dunno. That’s just really stuck with me.

Cottam also ended up staying awake for something like 48 hours straight trying to send survivors messages and a list of survivors home, but due to Carpathia’s limited radio frequency range and with no other ships to act as a relay, this was rather patchy. However, he tried his damn best to make sure the survivor’s messages got home, and was also bombarded with incoming messages of bribes to spill the details of the disaster to the press.

Rostrum had ordered that no messages to the press be sent out of respect to the survivors, for they would have their privacy destroyed as soon as they reached New York. Cottam respected this order, even under extreme duress of fatigue, stress, and the knowledge that in some cases the bribes were almost three times his annual salary.

He eventually went to bed but not before working with one of the rescued Titanic’s radio operators, Harold Bride, to transmit as many messages as possible. Bride was injured (his feet had been crushed in a lifeboat) and had just passed the body of the second of Titanic’s radio operators aboard (Jack Phillips), so neither of them were really in the best shape to keep working, but they did.

In the face of extreme adversity, both men refused to do anything but their duty (and exceeding their duty) not just because Rostrum had ordered it, but because it was the right thing to do. They could have profited considerably from the disaster and they refused for the dignity of the survivors.

This is hopepunk. This is what we can be, what we are, when instinct takes over. This is what we are when we choose to care about each other. We’re not profit machines or units of production or lone fierce wolves in a bitter wilderness. We are people, and we care about people.

This is human nature. Don’t give up on it.

Hopepunk is best punk.

this always leaves me sobbing. fuck.

I wrote a post a couple of years ago, wondering why there hadn’t been a documentary or docu-drama about the ‘Carpathia’ rescue run.

There are probably sound reasons why not, one of which is probably that getting yet another ‘Titanic’ project greenlit is far easier - name recognition, pre-sold property, multiple conspiracy theories to play with (all discredited, but when did that stop the “History” Channel?)

Here are a couple of stories about ‘Carpathia’:

As @mylordshesacactus has already said, her boilers and engines were rated for no more than 14 knots and, when she managed 17.5 for the only time in her life it’s said (I hate the phrase but I have to use it) that the Chief Engineer hung his hat over the main pressure gauge so no-one - including himself - could see how far its needle was into the red.

Captain Rostron, a religious man, was seen on several occasions standing privately on the exposed bridge wing with his own hat raised and his mouth moving in silent prayer, and when daylight revealed the extent of the ice-field his ship had passed without harm, he only said “There must have been another Hand on the wheel than mine…”

There’s another problem-of-sorts about a screenplay set aboard ‘Carpathia’ - an astonishing lack of that easy dramatic tool, conflict. Captain Rostron decided he was going to the ‘Titanic’s assistance, and that was that. AFAIK not a single passenger or crewman - not one - questioned the wisdom of his decision either then or afterwards, even when…

It’s easier to write - and sell - a story about pride, arrogance, stupidity, rich against poor and lives lost through hubris, than it is to write one about people who rallied round and did the right thing at the right time, not for reward but because it was the right thing to do.

Here’s Rostron and his officers…

…the ‘Carpathia’ stewards and cabin crew….

…some of her passengers…

…and some of the people they helped.

I will always reblog one of the few posts to GUARANTEE leaving me in an ugly sobbing heartfelt mess.

Godspeed Carpathia and your crew, your memories live on.

I just discovered foodtimeline.org, which is exactly what it sounds like: centuries worth of information about FOOD.  If you are writing something historical and you want a starting point for figuring out what people should be eating, this might be a good place?

CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY

this is awesome but the original link just turned into a redirect loop for me, here it is again (x)

OH HELLO

No more potatoes in medieval novels!

TOG REVERSE BANG LINE-UP: Day 13

Posting for The Old Guard Reverse Big Bang 2022 begins on the two-year anniversary of the movie’s premier, July 10 - and you can look forward to new content every day for two weeks!

Here’s a sneak peek of the amazing fanart and fanfiction that you’ll get to enjoy very soon. Check out our blog or the tag #togrbb2022preview to see the other previews this week!

Check back at this blog to see the final works, or keep an eye on our AO3 collection. Thank you to our wonderful creators, who have worked very hard on their projects over the last few months!

I've been writing! The wonderful @giotanner drew some beautiful art and came up with a brilliant prompt that I just *had* to write for!

Check out all the other entries to the Reverse Big Bang!

The artist Paweł Ponichtera seems to have inexplicably dedicated a massive amount of time and effort to hyper-detailed and hyper-accurate illustrations of chinchillas engaged in historical fencing, many with clear and specific reference to particular historical treatises. So, I give you:

Hans Talhoffer Chinchillas

Harnisfechten Chinchillas

Joachim Meyer Longsword Chinchillas

Fantastical Snail Marginalia Chinchillas

Olympic Epee Chinchillas

Salvator Fabris Rapier-in-the-Nude Chinchillas

Napoleonic Saber Chinchillas

Arabic Shamshir Chinchillas

18th Century Smallsword Chinchillas

I.33 Sword and Buckler Chinchillas

These are great, and many thanks to @slightlydisoriented, @vr-trakowski​ and @ainawgsd​ for bringing them to my attention! (My rep for appreciating swordy stuff and cute stuff in equal measure has evidently spread…) :-D

They’re not just impressive drawings because Paweł Ponichtera is an enviably good artist…

…they’re accurate drawings because - as mentioned on his Facebook page - Paweł Ponichtera is a HEMA practitioner and contestant as well.

Look at the Halbschwert (blade-gripping) and Mordschlag (reversed sword) in the Talhoffer pic, the supinated (knuckles-down) hand position in the I.33 pic, and similar details in all the others.

Here’s the finished version of that WIP sketch: Hans Lecküchner Messer Chinchillas.

At first I thought, “Why chinchillas?”

Then I thought, “Why NOT chinchillas?”

They’re cute, they’re fluffy, and despite (or maybe because of) their Postures of Period Pugnacity, the picture series works really well… :->

Can’t for get to include the Fiore chinchillas that started it all.

lesbians love and support our trans sisters 💖💖

the terfs have found this post and they do not fucken like it god help me

reblog to make a terf big mad

reblog to make a trans lesbian feel big loved

I meant to make this meme ages ago when pride month was still on but yeah gé (pronounced gay) is the Irish for a goose.

IT’S FINALLY PRIDE MONTH, TIME TO REBLOG THIS AGAIN.

BE GÉ DO CRIMES

Sleep well

and that’s how Nicky got his disney channel privileges revoked (again) 😤 just another style experiment that turned into a comic

If you're fifteen or older an still sleep with a stuffed animal please reblog this.

My friend is embarrassed and thinks she’s the only one and I said id prove her wrong.

The appalling travesty that was BBC’s Sherlock has infested the Sherlock Holmes fandom like a malignant tumour so I want you all to know how awesome the OG literary Holmes was:

Literary Holmes is the SUPERIOR HOLMES

I adore BBC Sherlock but OH YES - THIS!

Plus Jeremy Brett is by far the best on screen incarnation and the most faithful

Here is my acoustic guitar cover of The Ballad of Ianto Jones!!!

This one took a  w h i l e  to compose (and practice to a better standard!) but I’m happy with the end result!!! Sheet music can be found here if you want it!! (Watch out for a few stretchy 5 fret holds aha!)

Also (random thought here) but if anybody has requests for covers, do let me know! I love arranging stuff, and do piano arrangements too! :P

isn’t it disgusting how american society only expects people to grieve for a few days until returning back to their everyday lives? that we should either overcome or repress our trauma of losing a loved one before the week is over with?

now im not saying that we should bring back the mourning periods of the victorian era BUT

Hospice workers and other related professionals ABSOLUTELY think we need to return to year long mourning periods! Structured time lines aren’t perfect (grief isn’t linear; it comes in slowly lulling waves) but a year is a hell of a lot better than a week. Moreover, it was a set of rules for the rest of society to abide by and that helped tremendously. Grief and shared grief make us panic; we aren’t certain what to do. Structured mourning periods help. Its pre-laid boundaries and guidance from the past. 

So anyway bring back mourning periods. 

Jewish tradition has a very structured mourning period, and it’s structure could be useful to others. I believe it could help as a guide for others, especially since it’s not only structured for the mourners, but for their community. 

The first thing we do is sit Shiva. Shiva is very intense mourning for those closest to the deceased (usually relatives but I would argue if you are close enough to the person it will hit just as hard). It lasts 7 days, where those closest to the deceased do not leave the house, and do not cook or clean. Instead the community brings over food and takes care of the normal day chores, as well as sit with the mourners to support them physically and emotionally. (For more religious folks there are prayers throughout the day at the house). We wear specific clothes for this week as well. It is deep deep mourning. 

After that week begins the Sheloshim (30) for thirty days (in reality it is 23 days as the 7 days of Shiva count towards the 30 total days). The mourners return to society in terms of taking care of themselves and going to work and such, but avoids socializing/parties/concerts/seeking entertainment, to focus on the loss. For religious folk, there is a prayer said every day (mourners kaddish) during this time. This can still be done with other friends and family to give emotional support even just by being present. 

For those mourning a parent (though I think this step is crucial for losing anyone close), the 11 months of mourning begins. You no longer are sequestering yourself from society, but you still spend time each day remembering the person. (in jewish tradition this means you keep saying the mourners kaddish every day for 11 months).

Why I think this is so so so important is the community aspect. Especially during Shiva. I remember a twitter thread that was posted here a while back about someone who lost their father and how they wouldnt have made it through if their friends hadn’t come to support them as they were so deep in sorrow they couldn’t take care of themselves (friends brought food, cleaned the house, etc). It almost exactly described Shiva, minus a religious aspect. And they described slowing being able to re-join society afterwards, like the 30 days. 

Grief shouldn’t be done alone, and mourners should be given support from their community to give them time and help them properly grieve and re-integrate with society. 

I come from a very Catholic, very rural Irish background. We have very ingrained mourning rituals.

The deceased will be laid out at home (either theirs or sometimes a close relative’s) in their coffin (sometimes a bed) from the death (or return from the hospital or wherever they died) until the funeral. This is the ‘Wake’.

Everyone in the community will come to pay their respects, anyone with a connection to the deceased or the bereaved (my friends and colleagues will turn up to a relative’s Wake - for me.)

Relatives like nieces, nephews, grandchildren have specific roles to play (when my grandfathers and my grandmother died I had already moved to England and I was in a mad panic for the first plane/boat home because I had a job to do).

Nephews and grandsons often dig the grave. Nieces and granddaughters make tea for EVERYONE who turns up for the Wake. I have spent 12-hour days at the kitchen sink at Wakes. (I like this - when I am grieving I want a job to do, I’m very practical but there’s usually enough of us that someone can go take time if they need). Well-wishers usually land with cake, sandwiches and more teabags (never enough teabags).

A visitor to a Wake usually knows which house it is by all the cars parked on every available verge or curb (someone usually ends up having to steward the road). You are greeted a relative at the door and shown where the remains are. Unless the person died a very traumatic death, the coffin is open. A lot of people of my age and background saw their first dead body at a very young age at a Wake - I was about five. I have no qualms about death or the dead as a result. You pay your respects and if religious, pray over the remains. You then go to another room and will be offered enough tea and cake to sink a ship. Relatives are usually doing the rounds so you can offer your condolences especially those closest (the children, the widowed). The closest are supported the whole time. There are sometimes prayers (the priest is usually a regular visitor) and memories of the decreased.

Laughter is so common in a Wake house - any mischief you got up to your life, will get dragged out at your Wake. Sarcasm and keeping someone going are so important in Irish culture anywhere and a Wake is the prime example. You usually go from tears to laughter in two seconds flat.

The remains are never left alone. The family will take shifts to stay with the deceased. Someone usually brings food because no-one is up for cooking. (The local chippy sent huge portions of chips and sausages to my grandfather’s Wake).

The Funeral is usually three days after the death. Again the whole community will turn out to escort the coffin to the church. If the deceased was involved in a particular community group, that group will form a guard of honour. 

After the Funeral Mass (the family usually did readings and the like), everyone goes to watch the internment and the blessing of the grave.

After the Funeral, there is usually a meal and more opportunities to support the family (usually more laughter).

The family is in official mourning until the Month’s Mime, which is a Mass a month after the death. Some may return to work or school, others may sequester themselves (I know more traditional people who wouldn’t put the TV on in this time), but it is very much a mourning period and the community will rally around, but take their cue from the bereaved.

There are some more individual mourning traditions in the year following a death - some may mark the deceased’s birthday with a Mass. Most of my relatives will not send Christmas cards the year of a death, some wouldn’t decorate the house or go to festivities. Anniversary Masses on the annual anniversary of the death are the norm and the family will try to reunite for this (especially the first).

My Grand-da died recently during the pandemic and the importance of these rituals are showing in how we had to adapt them.

The Wake had to be socially distanced so only the family were allowed in the house. So we set up a tea and cake (and mask and sanitising) station under a gazebo in the yard. Grand-da was laid out in the conservatory so he could be viewed from outside. Hence why his Wake will forever known as the ‘Lying In State’ or the ‘Drive-tho Wake’. (He was a joker so he would have loved this)

The socially distanced guard of honour went on for miles. All the different groups he was involved in had to organise different spots (so the Ceili Dancing Club was on one road, the Gaelic Football club on another etc.)

Still as we adapted, my Granny has struggled. Social distancing has been necessary (especially to protect her) but has isolated her from much needed support. Thankfully I am a key-worker with an amazing work-family who have been brilliant, plus COVID-19 has kept me busy.

I am not very religious (I refer to myself as a recovering catholic) but I value greatly these mourning rituals. I love hearing about other cultures’ rituals from friends - from Pakistani Islamic to Jewish Shiva to Caribbean ‘Nine Nights’ etc.

All have structures in supporting the bereaved which is so important.

(I work in oncology so some of my patients are palliative and this brings it home more.)

HAPPY PRIDEEEEEEEEE