❝ If you look in your dictionary you will find: Titans - A race of people vainly striving to overcome the forces of nature. Could anything be more unfortunate than such a name, anything more significant? ❞ - Arthur Rostron, Captain of the rescue shi...
DISCLAIMER: I do not claim to know precisely what occurred in the mind of Thomas Andrews Jr., architect of the Titanic, as his creation perished on April 15, 1912. This is merely a fictional recreation of that particular event, founded upon speculation rooted in historical research. It is compliant with the canon of James Cameron's 1997 Titanic film, and inspired by the song "Mr. Andrews' Vision" from Titanic: A New Musical. I write this with nothing but the utmost respect and awe of Mr. Andrews; his story is near and dear to my heart, and I would never dream of romanticizing or misappropriating it to any extent. Please be advised that this writing does contain triggering content, and behave accordingly.
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The triggers present within this work include Canonical Character Death, Suicidal Ideation, Drowning, Guilt, Building Collapse, Implied Depersonalization, and Religous Themes.
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⠀⠀⠀Retrospectively, his demise was in no uncertain terms the highest peak of irony, and were the circumstances any other, such a fact might be cause for amusement.
⠀⠀⠀It had the makings of a lost story from the Christian Bible. Mr. Andrews had once proudly proclaimed to a close friend that his Titanic was "as nearly perfect as human brains can make her.", and yet, his masterful creation was now foundering before his eyes. His ship, the floating palace which he and so many others strove to bring to life with bare hands, became an instrument of death from the very moment of her unfortunate collision. Titanic was destined to sink beneath the waves, and as she plunged to her untimely death, Fate and Destiny would ensure that 1,500 innocent souls died with her.
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⠀⠀⠀Upon the utterance to Mr. Ismay regarding the "mathematical uncertainty" that his floating palace was doomed to founder – nay, from the very moment he witnessed for himself the damage that the damnable 'berg did to his ship – Thomas Andrews accepted his fate as one of the 1,500 who would perish on that tragic night. As the architect responsible for Titanic's birth, the responsibility for that which would transpire the night of April 14-15, 1912 fell to him. Like an anchor nestled in the bottom of the sea, the sheer guilt of it all crushed his shoulders and crushed his soul, rendering him forever chained to this precise position in the First Class Smoking Room. Escape would be a sensible endeavor for a gentleman of sound mind and profound intellect, but Mr. Andrews at that moment was neither. Any semblance of sanity and rational thought abandoned him long ago, just as those lucky enough to climb into a lifeboat abandoned Titanic.
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⠀⠀⠀He could envision it all. Within his mind's eye, Mr. Andrews was able to imagine a picture perfect recreation of his Titanic's fate, and what he witnessed chilled him to the bone. Although the mechanisms of the ship's demise would remain a mystery to all others on board, he understood innately that which was to pass. In what appeared to be the blink of an eye, yet in reality was a prophecy centuries in the making, the Ship of Dreams became the Ship of Nightmares. Mr. Ismay truly proclaimed it best; Mr. Andrews did indeed know "every rivet" of the Titanic like the back of his hand, but now, his intimate knowledge of Titanic chose him as the subject of vicious taunts. The ship would begin her plunge bow-first, he knew, the stern raised to the sky, and fifteen thousand would die–
