Behind-the-Scenes - Renewed - Fact or Fiction? Part 1

As promised, here's the first part of my "Behind the Scenes" extras for my story Renewed. Below you'll find a series of fact or fiction questions/answers for the story. I wanted to do something like this since I was writing a story taking place during something that actually happened. Granted, I did take some liberties while writing, so I wanted to be able to make it clear what's what. So here's the "Fact or Fiction?" section for chapters 1 & 2!

Chapter One :

1.) "And you're going to be on the maiden voyage of the biggest, safest ship in the world." -Kankuro
This is partly fact and partly fiction. At the time of its maiden voyage, Titanic was actually considered the safest ship afloat, despite its massive size. I almost had Kankuro use the phrase, "The unsinkable Titanic!" here, but I knew that would be a cheat. The Titanic was not called "unsinkable" until, ironically, after it sank.

2.) Temari peeked up at the clock hanging on the wall just inside the door, halfway surprised to see it there, as she stepped foot on the Titanic for the first time. -Temari, upon first boarding
This is probably a work of fiction. Most of the pictures we have of Titanic are of first class, and even those are rare, so not much is known about the second-class boarding area. We know for sure there were clocks in first class, so I decided to stretch it a teeny bit and hope there was at least one in second class, as well.

3.) As she walked, she inhaled the myriad scents that indicated the sheer newness of the Titanic: fresh paint that still looked slick and wet, newly cut and polished wood from the floor beneath her feet, and the crispness of freshly laundered sheets on the beds in each room. -Temari, as she tried to find her second class cabin
This is pure fact. On the morning of her departure, some crews got there extra early to complete small details to Titanic, including a fresh coat of paint on some of the walls. So as she sailed, I would imagine there were "warning: fresh paint" signs on some of the walls warning crews and passengers to be careful where they put their hands!

4.) The first thing Temari saw was the sink -- she would have running water! The second was the bunk bed sitting against the wall. -Temari, once reaching her second-class cabin
The first is definitely true. Titanic had running water in her first- and second-class staterooms, as well in the common bathrooms in third class. The bunk beds are a little bit of fiction, actually. There were bunk beds in second class cabins, but I don't know for sure that two people who didn't book passage together would have been put in the same room. There's not a way to know for sure. So this is probably a work of fiction on my part.

5.) "We'd best get to the rail!" she cried. "We'll miss the launch!" -Tenten
This part was almost very different. In my original draft for this chapter, Temari and Tenten went up and toured a bit of first class before going back down to second class for the departure of the ship. Since it was Titanic's maiden voyage, second class passengers were allowed to go up to first class to take a short tour before they left the dock. But ultimately the scene slowed down the flow of the story too much, and I wound up just leaving them in second class. Sorry, girls!

6.) The New York vs. the Titanic
This is also fact. As Titanic was leaving port, her wake caused the moored New York to break free of her ropes and float out into the water. She came within a few feet of actually striking Titanic, and many passengers viewed this as a very bad omen. In reality, Titanic's departure was delayed an hour while New York was towed back to shore, but for the purposes of my story, I only had them delayed half an hour.

Chapter Two

1.) "It's a good thing Titanic was late, or we might not have made it in time." - Sasuke
This is fact. Thanks to her near miss with the New York, Titanic was delayed in her arrival at Cherbourg, France, her next stop. Some people made it onto the ship who might not have otherwise, and still others were still so late arriving at the dock they missed the ship altogether.

2.) His family, being the only first-class one to board at Cherbourg, would be one of the first to make their way from land to the floating city. -Itachi
This is entirely fiction. There were several first-class passengers to board at Cherbourg, most noteably "Molly" Brown and John Jacob Astor and his wife, Madeleine. But I wanted the Uchiha alone on the boat as they went across to board Titanic, so I made them the only first class passengers, with the aforementioned having all boarded back at Southampton, Titanic's original departure point.

3.) "The evening meal has already been served," the steward guiding them said as the lift gates rattled open. "But a repast will be offered in the staterooms of all those who wish it after the Titanic is once more under way." - Titanic steward
This is probably fiction. In those days, the evening meal was served later, rather than earlier, so it's highly likely Titanic passengers wouldn't have had their meal until after she departed Cherbourg. But I could find no record of this, so I fudged things a little and made the meal be served beforehand, with the option for people to enjoy the meal in the rooms after Titanic departed.

4.) "I heard some crew members in the hall earlier saying that Captain Smith is going to take the ship through some practice turns to test maneuverability before we get to Queenstown." -Sasuke
This is fact. Between Cherbourg and Queenstown, Ireland, Captain Smith did some practice turns in the ship since the original sea trials were not allowed to go entirely according to plan when it was first launched since the weather wasn't quite permitting.

5.) "How many people would you say were on board?" -Itachi "Passengers?" -Sasuke "And crew." -Itachi "Around two thousand or so, I guess. Well, as soon as we finish picking up passengers at Queenstown, and the last few who are going to get off do so. Why?" -Sasuke "From what I remember last night, and recounting today, there aren't enough lifeboats on board for everyone." -Itachi
This is also fact. Titanic proudly stated she could carry up to 2,500 passengers, plus 600 crewmembers, easily. Final count (approximately) of the number of people aboard that night was around 2,300. Titanic was not at her full capicity on her maiden (and only) voyage, but still there were not nearly enough life boats aboard.

6.) "This ship is built to be unsinkable." -Sasuke
This was a moment of weakness for me. As stated above, Titanic was not actually referred to as "unsinkable" until after she sank. The term was first coined by the press, and then it took off like wildfire. But I couldn't resist having someone aboard say it, and I figured the mechanically-minded Sasuke was the perfect person to utter the line.

7.) The vibration from the ship's engines was a little more noticeable here as a slight tremor in the deck beneath Itachi's feet, but for the most part it seemed as smooth sailing below as it was above. -Itachi
This is hard to determine as fact or fiction. Vibration from the engines were noted by several people from first, second, and third class in all the research material I read, but it was noted in varying degrees, so it was hard to tell what class felt the most vibrations. I decided approximate location in relation to the engines would be the determining factor and deduced first would feel the least, second slightly more, and third the most.

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And that's all for now! If you have questions about anything else you noticed in the first two chapters, drop me a line and I'll answer it as best I can.

For the record, the research material I used for these chapters, and the entire fic, are listed below. I recommend all three books if you're interested in learning more about the ship, or just seeing some stunning images of Titanic.

The Discovery of the Titanic by Dr. Robert D. Ballard (Includes a fold-out section with blueprints of the ship as well as a diagram of the pieces found at the bottom of the Atlantic, as well as amazing images and the story of the ship's discovery. Most interesting is a practically moment-by-moment timeline of the ship's conception, building, sinking, and discovery at the back of the book.)

Ghosts of the Abyss: A Journey into the Heart of the Titanic by Don Lynch and Ken Marschall with an introduction by James Cameron (This book has never-before-seen images of the inside of the ship, both before and after her sinking, as well as diagrams and more blueprints, as well as absolutely breathtaking paintings and still shots.)

The Complete Titanic: From the Ship's Earliest Blueprints to the Epic Film by Stephen J. Spignesi (I also got a huge amount of information from this book. It has cargo manifests, menu from all three classes, more blueprints, partial transcripts from the hearings conducted by the U.S. and England after the sinking, and much, much more. It's over 400 pages long, but definitely worth a look!)

See you all again soon with Fact or Fiction Part 2!

~bastet (fyd)