josephine-bracken - Tumblr blog

[josephine-bracken]

was sketching alcina on mother's day

[josephine-bracken]

Please make a post about the story of the RMS Carpathia, because it's something that's almost beyond belief and more people should know about it.

Carpathia received Titanic’s distress signal at 12:20am, April 15th, 1912. She was 58 miles away, a distance that absolutely could not be covered in less than four hours.

(Californian’s exact position at the time is…controversial. She was close enough to have helped. By all accounts she was close enough to see Titanic’s distress rockets. It’s uncertain to this day why her crew did not respond, or how many might not have been lost if she had been there. This is not the place for what-ifs. This is about what was done.)

Carpathia’s Captain Rostron had, yes, rolled out of bed instantly when woken by his radio operator, ordered his ship to Titanic’s aid and confirmed the signal before he was fully dressed. The man had never in his life responded to an emergency call. His goal tonight was to make sure nobody who heard that fact would ever believe it.

All of Carpathia’s lifeboats were swung out ready for deployment. Oil was set up to be poured off the side of the ship in case the sea turned choppy; oil would coat and calm the water near Carpathia if that happened, making it safer for lifeboats to draw up alongside her. He ordered lights to be rigged along the side of the ship so survivors could see it better, and had nets and ladders rigged along her sides ready to be dropped when they arrived, in order to let as many survivors as possible climb aboard at once.

I don’t know if his making provisions for there still being survivors in the water was optimism or not. I think he knew they were never going to get there in time for that. I think he did it anyway because, god, you have to hope.

Carpathia had three dining rooms, which were immediately converted into triage and first aid stations. Each had a doctor assigned to it. Hot soup, coffee, and tea were prepared in bulk in each dining room, and blankets and warm clothes were collected to be ready to hand out. By this time, many of the passengers were awake–prepping a ship for disaster relief isn’t quiet–and all of them stepped up to help, many donating their own clothes and blankets.

And then he did something I tend to refer to as diverting all power from life support.

Here’s the thing about steamships: They run on steam. Shocking, I know; but that steam powers everything on the ship, and right now, Carpathia needed power. So Rostron turned off hot water and central heating, which bled valuable steam power, to everywhere but the dining rooms–which, of course, were being used to make hot drinks and receive survivors. He woke up all the engineers, all the stokers and firemen, diverted all that steam back into the engines, and asked his ship to go as fast as she possibly could. And when she’d done that, he asked her to go faster.

I need you to understand that you simply can’t push a ship very far past its top speed. Pushing that much sheer tonnage through the water becomes harder with each extra knot past the speed it was designed for. Pushing a ship past its rated speed is not only reckless–it’s difficult to maneuver–but it puts an incredible amount of strain on the engines. Ships are not designed to exceed their top speed by even one knot. They can’t do it. It can’t be done.

Carpathia’s absolute do-or-die, the-engines-can’t-take-this-forever top speed was fourteen knots. Dodging icebergs, in the dark and the cold, surrounded by mist, she sustained a speed of almost seventeen and a half.

No one would have asked this of them. It wasn’t expected. They were almost sixty miles away, with icebergs in their path. They had a responsibility to respond; they did not have a responsibility to do the impossible and do it well. No one would have faulted them for taking more time to confirm the severity of the issue. No one would have blamed them for a slow and cautious approach. No one but themselves.

They damn near broke the laws of physics, galloping north headlong into the dark in the desperate hope that if they could shave an hour, half an hour, five minutes off their arrival time, maybe for one more person those five minutes would make the difference. I say: three people had died by the time they were lifted from the lifeboats. For all we know, in another hour it might have been more. I say they made all the difference in the world.

This ship and her crew received a message from a location they could not hope to reach in under four hours. Just barely over three hours later, they arrived at Titanic’s last known coordinates. Half an hour after that, at 4am, they would finally find the first of the lifeboats. it would take until 8:30 in the morning for the last survivor to be brought onboard. Passengers from Carpathia universally gave up their berths, staterooms, and clothing to the survivors, assisting the crew at every turn and sitting with the sobbing rescuees to offer whatever comfort they could.

In total, 705 people of Titanic’s original 2208 were brought onto Carpathia alive. No other ship would find survivors.

At 12:20am April 15th, 1912, there was a miracle on the North Atlantic. And it happened because a group of humans, some of them strangers, many of them only passengers on a small and unimpressive steam liner, looked at each other and decided: I cannot live with myself if I do anything less.

I think the least we can do is remember them for it.

[josephine-bracken]

Please make a post about the story of the RMS Carpathia, because it's something that's almost beyond belief and more people should know about it.

Carpathia received Titanic’s distress signal at 12:20am, April 15th, 1912. She was 58 miles away, a distance that absolutely could not be covered in less than four hours.

(Californian’s exact position at the time is…controversial. She was close enough to have helped. By all accounts she was close enough to see Titanic’s distress rockets. It’s uncertain to this day why her crew did not respond, or how many might not have been lost if she had been there. This is not the place for what-ifs. This is about what was done.)

Carpathia’s Captain Rostron had, yes, rolled out of bed instantly when woken by his radio operator, ordered his ship to Titanic’s aid and confirmed the signal before he was fully dressed. The man had never in his life responded to an emergency call. His goal tonight was to make sure nobody who heard that fact would ever believe it.

All of Carpathia’s lifeboats were swung out ready for deployment. Oil was set up to be poured off the side of the ship in case the sea turned choppy; oil would coat and calm the water near Carpathia if that happened, making it safer for lifeboats to draw up alongside her. He ordered lights to be rigged along the side of the ship so survivors could see it better, and had nets and ladders rigged along her sides ready to be dropped when they arrived, in order to let as many survivors as possible climb aboard at once.

I don’t know if his making provisions for there still being survivors in the water was optimism or not. I think he knew they were never going to get there in time for that. I think he did it anyway because, god, you have to hope.

Carpathia had three dining rooms, which were immediately converted into triage and first aid stations. Each had a doctor assigned to it. Hot soup, coffee, and tea were prepared in bulk in each dining room, and blankets and warm clothes were collected to be ready to hand out. By this time, many of the passengers were awake–prepping a ship for disaster relief isn’t quiet–and all of them stepped up to help, many donating their own clothes and blankets.

And then he did something I tend to refer to as diverting all power from life support.

Here’s the thing about steamships: They run on steam. Shocking, I know; but that steam powers everything on the ship, and right now, Carpathia needed power. So Rostron turned off hot water and central heating, which bled valuable steam power, to everywhere but the dining rooms–which, of course, were being used to make hot drinks and receive survivors. He woke up all the engineers, all the stokers and firemen, diverted all that steam back into the engines, and asked his ship to go as fast as she possibly could. And when she’d done that, he asked her to go faster.

I need you to understand that you simply can’t push a ship very far past its top speed. Pushing that much sheer tonnage through the water becomes harder with each extra knot past the speed it was designed for. Pushing a ship past its rated speed is not only reckless–it’s difficult to maneuver–but it puts an incredible amount of strain on the engines. Ships are not designed to exceed their top speed by even one knot. They can’t do it. It can’t be done.

Carpathia’s absolute do-or-die, the-engines-can’t-take-this-forever top speed was fourteen knots. Dodging icebergs, in the dark and the cold, surrounded by mist, she sustained a speed of almost seventeen and a half.

No one would have asked this of them. It wasn’t expected. They were almost sixty miles away, with icebergs in their path. They had a responsibility to respond; they did not have a responsibility to do the impossible and do it well. No one would have faulted them for taking more time to confirm the severity of the issue. No one would have blamed them for a slow and cautious approach. No one but themselves.

They damn near broke the laws of physics, galloping north headlong into the dark in the desperate hope that if they could shave an hour, half an hour, five minutes off their arrival time, maybe for one more person those five minutes would make the difference. I say: three people had died by the time they were lifted from the lifeboats. For all we know, in another hour it might have been more. I say they made all the difference in the world.

This ship and her crew received a message from a location they could not hope to reach in under four hours. Just barely over three hours later, they arrived at Titanic’s last known coordinates. Half an hour after that, at 4am, they would finally find the first of the lifeboats. it would take until 8:30 in the morning for the last survivor to be brought onboard. Passengers from Carpathia universally gave up their berths, staterooms, and clothing to the survivors, assisting the crew at every turn and sitting with the sobbing rescuees to offer whatever comfort they could.

In total, 705 people of Titanic’s original 2208 were brought onto Carpathia alive. No other ship would find survivors.

At 12:20am April 15th, 1912, there was a miracle on the North Atlantic. And it happened because a group of humans, some of them strangers, many of them only passengers on a small and unimpressive steam liner, looked at each other and decided: I cannot live with myself if I do anything less.

I think the least we can do is remember them for it.

[josephine-bracken]

Please make a post about the story of the RMS Carpathia, because it's something that's almost beyond belief and more people should know about it.

Carpathia received Titanic’s distress signal at 12:20am, April 15th, 1912. She was 58 miles away, a distance that absolutely could not be covered in less than four hours.

(Californian’s exact position at the time is…controversial. She was close enough to have helped. By all accounts she was close enough to see Titanic’s distress rockets. It’s uncertain to this day why her crew did not respond, or how many might not have been lost if she had been there. This is not the place for what-ifs. This is about what was done.)

Carpathia’s Captain Rostron had, yes, rolled out of bed instantly when woken by his radio operator, ordered his ship to Titanic’s aid and confirmed the signal before he was fully dressed. The man had never in his life responded to an emergency call. His goal tonight was to make sure nobody who heard that fact would ever believe it.

All of Carpathia’s lifeboats were swung out ready for deployment. Oil was set up to be poured off the side of the ship in case the sea turned choppy; oil would coat and calm the water near Carpathia if that happened, making it safer for lifeboats to draw up alongside her. He ordered lights to be rigged along the side of the ship so survivors could see it better, and had nets and ladders rigged along her sides ready to be dropped when they arrived, in order to let as many survivors as possible climb aboard at once.

I don’t know if his making provisions for there still being survivors in the water was optimism or not. I think he knew they were never going to get there in time for that. I think he did it anyway because, god, you have to hope.

Carpathia had three dining rooms, which were immediately converted into triage and first aid stations. Each had a doctor assigned to it. Hot soup, coffee, and tea were prepared in bulk in each dining room, and blankets and warm clothes were collected to be ready to hand out. By this time, many of the passengers were awake–prepping a ship for disaster relief isn’t quiet–and all of them stepped up to help, many donating their own clothes and blankets.

And then he did something I tend to refer to as diverting all power from life support.

Here’s the thing about steamships: They run on steam. Shocking, I know; but that steam powers everything on the ship, and right now, Carpathia needed power. So Rostron turned off hot water and central heating, which bled valuable steam power, to everywhere but the dining rooms–which, of course, were being used to make hot drinks and receive survivors. He woke up all the engineers, all the stokers and firemen, diverted all that steam back into the engines, and asked his ship to go as fast as she possibly could. And when she’d done that, he asked her to go faster.

I need you to understand that you simply can’t push a ship very far past its top speed. Pushing that much sheer tonnage through the water becomes harder with each extra knot past the speed it was designed for. Pushing a ship past its rated speed is not only reckless–it’s difficult to maneuver–but it puts an incredible amount of strain on the engines. Ships are not designed to exceed their top speed by even one knot. They can’t do it. It can’t be done.

Carpathia’s absolute do-or-die, the-engines-can’t-take-this-forever top speed was fourteen knots. Dodging icebergs, in the dark and the cold, surrounded by mist, she sustained a speed of almost seventeen and a half.

No one would have asked this of them. It wasn’t expected. They were almost sixty miles away, with icebergs in their path. They had a responsibility to respond; they did not have a responsibility to do the impossible and do it well. No one would have faulted them for taking more time to confirm the severity of the issue. No one would have blamed them for a slow and cautious approach. No one but themselves.

They damn near broke the laws of physics, galloping north headlong into the dark in the desperate hope that if they could shave an hour, half an hour, five minutes off their arrival time, maybe for one more person those five minutes would make the difference. I say: three people had died by the time they were lifted from the lifeboats. For all we know, in another hour it might have been more. I say they made all the difference in the world.

This ship and her crew received a message from a location they could not hope to reach in under four hours. Just barely over three hours later, they arrived at Titanic’s last known coordinates. Half an hour after that, at 4am, they would finally find the first of the lifeboats. it would take until 8:30 in the morning for the last survivor to be brought onboard. Passengers from Carpathia universally gave up their berths, staterooms, and clothing to the survivors, assisting the crew at every turn and sitting with the sobbing rescuees to offer whatever comfort they could.

In total, 705 people of Titanic’s original 2208 were brought onto Carpathia alive. No other ship would find survivors.

At 12:20am April 15th, 1912, there was a miracle on the North Atlantic. And it happened because a group of humans, some of them strangers, many of them only passengers on a small and unimpressive steam liner, looked at each other and decided: I cannot live with myself if I do anything less.

I think the least we can do is remember them for it.

[josephine-bracken]

I know absolutely nothing about Orphan Black, but what do you like about it?

i love a lot about orphan black but here’s some of my faves

they don’t pull back on their themes. autonomy, misogyny, exploration of patriarchy & the dangers of that intermixed with science without limits, queerness, the human capacity for love & hate, honestly a lot of other things too. orphan black explores these topics with the full force they require but don’t often get.

helena. she’s best girl for so many reasons but her religious & sexual abuse trauma really resonated with me & the fact that her happy ending with her babies, her sestra & her family is not only not demonized by the narrative but something she’s actually given makes me so happy.

sarah is so bpd coded i love her.

the weird & funky exploration of science in the show is so cool & often doesn’t alienate viewers who don’t have this love or interest in these topics either: whatever jargon that cosima blurts out is then put into laymans terms for characters like sarah, felix or alison & by extension, us. the show wants to include us, not make us feel dumb for topics we may never have considered before.

rachel oh my god she is so complex. you hate her & then when she’s taken down at the peak of her prime, when everything seemed to be going her way with nothing to stop her: you almost feel sad for her. the show does a fantastic job in deconstructing just how much rachel is a pawn like the other clones, no matter what she’s been deluded into thinking by the patriarchal figures around her.

the themes of family are also a major part of the show & are just. god. the complexities in all the families we see, even those that’re off screen like cosima’s parents or beth’s, are still so impactful to the situation that the clones & their connected people have found themselves in.

the soundtrack is utterly fantastic. i won’t spoil it but there’s this one scene in 4x06 & the backing music to the scene & the way it plays is just fantastic. there are definitely more throughout the series but that has always just been one that stuck in my head.

honestly there’s a lot more but these are ones that i can think of from the top of my head tbh: orphan black has easily been one of the best shows released in this past decade & will always be in my top five.

[josephine-bracken]

[josephine-bracken]

Can... Can I see Eeve's orgasm face? [hides behind an anemone]

Bold little simper...

[josephine-bracken]

Some Blender screenshots for anyone in need of a reference for Miranda's face/hairstyle ;)

[josephine-bracken]

Lady Dimitrescu’s quotes extracted from Resident Evil Village Mercenaries Mode

1. Bela, get them!

2. Bela, I expect results.

3. Cassandra, do away with them.

4. Cassandra, time to hunt!

5. Daniela, after them!

6. Its your turn, Daniela!

7. Daniela, to my side.

[josephine-bracken]

Alcina's usual walk through the castle among the maidens begging to fuck them.

[josephine-bracken]

"Kill me and you kill the only one who understands you."

Miranda screenshots from my playthrough, including some of the quotes that stood out to me <3

[josephine-bracken]

Miranda being her mad-scientist self while getting the hots for Alcina (who was in the village to reclaim her family’s castle) and thinking: “I want those genes” that led to getting an unholy baby fever, thus deciding to create her own lab baby, is now my personal headcanon for how Eva came to be. She really looks like both of them. You are brilliant!

The validation is, once again, more than appreciated XD

Honestly, we should have more female characters whose tragedy doesn't derive from them being victims of their circumstances, but rather the result of a God-complex paired with "fuck around and find out". More lesbians, too. That'd be neat.

I also love the idea of Miranda emphasizing her own importance around the village in an attempt to woo Alcina - "No, the castle wasn't abandoned! I was keeping it and now I am giving it back to you as a gift because I am a figure of authority here, not just a plague doctor :)" - followed by the hilarious scene that would be Alcina walking into her bedroom with two post-coital glasses of water, only to find Miranda ripping the old hairs out of her hairbrush for DNA samples. Also, Miranda being the one who came up with the name Eva - probably because Alcina was in bedrest at the time she was born - and getting an earful out of it because the names were supposed to be alphabetical, damnit, so now they are three kids short (cue Miranda having a new conversation topic to use in her seduction). Alternatively, her showing up with Eva unannounced one day and just going "Hello there. Nice to properly meet you. This is our child - isn’t she cute? Anyways, the wedding is this Saturday at the chapel".

A most chaotic pairing, if I may say so. But it works.

[josephine-bracken]

“So inbetween these luxury condos is this group house full of queer witches…”

[josephine-bracken]

Some more Village sketches~

[josephine-bracken]

“And you’ll never see the reasons I had For keeping my claws away when they were close enough to hurt you”

—The Crane Wives, “Never Love An Anchor”

[josephine-bracken]

After 89 layers, 20 drawings of maidens and ~100 hours of work… Here is our new video, “Martyr” Sound ON !! Enjoy ^^ Music credit : Martyr Roniit and Saint Mesa

[josephine-bracken]

May I request the Mother Miranda and Lady Dimitrescu with a s/o that insists on wearing a gas mask. Like they never take it off, and spend their lei on filters, and they swear there is something wrong with them. Then one day, they get lucky and their partner just walks up to them without it on and they are breathtaking?

Birb and vambire.

Mother Miranda and Alcina Dimitrescu with an s/o that is never seen without a gas mask walking up to them one day, maskless and breathtaking.

(Gender neutral).

Warnings: n/a

Mother Miranda

Generally speaking, Miranda hates not knowing things. Unanswered questions? They won’t be unanswered after she sets her sights on them. You are one of few exceptions. 

Don’t think she’s never tried to ask anything, though. 

“Why do you wear that thing?”

“Why do you wear that?” you countered, pointing at her bird mask. 

...Because it looks pleasing with her robes and adds to her bird aesthetic.

Miranda wasn’t going to say that, though. All you received in response was a stare that would make most villagers quiver in fear. So...  touché. After that, for the most part, she doesn’t ask you something more than once.

How do you manage to eat right in front of her without removing your mask? Miranda will just have to theorize. 

What does your face look like? She’ll have to give her imagination the exercise it never gets.

“Why do you insist on wearing that mask?” Miranda asks again one day while you’re walking beside her.

“There’s something wrong with me,” you answer vaguely. And you don’t say anything more. 

Months after that interaction, you enter Miranda’s lab like you would any other day. 

She looks up briefly, returning your greeting. Emphasis on brief. She doesn’t notice that the straps of your mask are missing from the back of your head. 

“I brought you coffee,” you tell her, setting a mug down in front of her. But also away from her important papers and equipment, of course. 

The fact that your voice is significantly clearer ought to be a better indicator that something is different, but Miranda is so engrossed in her work that the difference doesn’t process. 

“Thank you, darling.” 

You continue to linger.

“Is there something you need?” She picks up the coffee, then tips her head up to look at you properly.

Now, Miranda carries herself with poise (sans that one time you got her to dance with you) (and also when you first started initiating physical affection with her) so she doesn’t spill hot coffee into her lap upon managing to miss her mouth, but she gets closer to doing that than she has in a long, long time. 

Not only can Miranda actually see your face, but your face is one that’s utterly striking. She’s intent on taking in every aspect of it. 

"The straps broke." You hold up your mask, seeming uncharacteristically nervous. "Do you know where I can find something to fix it with?"

Miranda doesn't say much of anything while the straps are being repaired, but she's certainly going to bring up the incident again later.

Alcina Dimitrescu

Did Alcina ask you to take off your gas mask not long (aka almost immediately) after first meeting you? 

Yes, she did.

Did her tone make it seem more like a demand than a request? 

Yes, it did.

Did the way you flatly declined sort of surprise her? 

Also yes. 

Early on, it drove Alcina nuts that you always have the thing on.

But since you mean so much to her, she just comes to accept it. 

Further fueling that is your insistence that you need to wear it.

Alcina’s offered more than once to get you a nicer gas mask but you’ve never accepted.

She semi-frequently buys filters for you even though you can definitely afford them with your own Lei. 

One day, Bela finds your mask draped over the helmet of one of the suits of armor. She presents it to her mother simply because she runs into her first.

Your gas mask and no you nearby worries Alcina. You sleep with it on. She, your partner, has never seen even a glimpse of what lies beneath it. Something must have happened to you for it to be left in such a random spot.

Before Alcina even gets the chance to finish telling Bela to start looking for you, footsteps begin approaching.

She turns around.

Surprise crosses her features for only a second, but the sight of your face is something that she instantly wants to try and commit to memory. You're absolutely stunning.

"Alci, one of the maids stole my mask. I don't—"

"It's right here, dragostea mea."

Please say that you know the name of the maid so she can be... taken care of.