"Phantom Menace" Behind The Scenes

big crozier, little crozier

Terror Tidbits

Here at long long last is my recap of James Fitzjames’ biography. A few people have made posts summarising some of Fitzjames’ more, er incredible exploits before he joined the Franklin Expedition so I will skim or summarize them because hoo boy is there a lot to get through here.  

Things I learned from reading James Fitzjames: The Mystery Man of the Franklin Expedition by William Battersby:

1. To start with, there is some evidence that our boy was born in July 1813 in Brazil, the illegitimate child of Sir James Gambier and an unknown woman of possible Portuguese or Brazilian origin. Although Fitzjames’ guardian, Robert Coningham, took pains to hide the boy’s true origins, it was noted by the captain on Fitzjames’ first voyage that the 14-year-old volunteer could speak fluent Portuguese. 

2. Fitzjames had another secret. Battersby notes that Fitzjames did not complete his full term as a volunteer and, through a combination of luck and obfustication, was promoted to midshipman early. It’s likely he was allowed to continue his career because the man who made the mistake was too embarrassed to admit what happened, so the incident was covered up.

3. Fitzjames was 33 when he sailed with Franklin on HMS Erebus in 1845. In those 33 years he had: broken several bones, been shot on multiple occasions, been kidnapped by bandits and held for ransom, performed in drag, written some fairly horrendous poetry, been attacked by his pet cheetah, survived various diseases, and much more besides. Had the Franklin expedition found the Northwest Passage, it was his intention to travel overland from Russia and to arrive back in the UK before the rest of the Expedition, thereby circumnavigating the globe and making himself famous before he was 40.

4. Sir John Franklin: “You know, some people say that I’m rather bad at leading Naval expeditions.”

Colonel Francis Rawdon Chesney: “HOld mY bEer.”

5. Like The Proclaimers, Fitzjames walked 1,000 miles. Not for love, just to deliver some mail.

6. While fighting in the Opium Wars in China, Fitzjames did indeed think of Caesar crossing the Rubicon “but…a marine behind me was shot through the head and effectually knocked all thoughts of Caesar out of mine.” In fact, Fitzjames’ entire story about China in AMC’s The Terror is lifted straight from Chapter 8.

7.  Dr. Stanley served with Fitzjames as ship’s surgeon on HMS Cornwallis and probably operated on him. Lieutenants Hodgeson, Fairholme, Gore and Le Vesconte also served with Fitzjames prior to the Franklin expedition.

8. According to Fitzjames, Birdshit Island (real name: Ichaboe Island) smells like “rotten kittens”. And yes, it is a capital story.

9. After unsuccessfully applying to go on Sir James Ross’ voyage to the Arctic, Fitzjames was keen to go with Franklin to find the Northwest Passage. Or, as he claimed, “I shall have to marry in a fit of desperation.” It seems that Fitzjames was broke for much of his life and talked about marriage several times, presumably as a way to alleviate his money troubles.

10. Fitzjames’ close friend, Edward Charlewood, would likely have been chosen to captain HMS Terror had Crozier not pointedly claimed his right to the position as a more experienced officer. This, in addition to Fitzjames being given responsibility for taking magnetic observations on the expedition over Crozier (who was also experienced in this area and was even a Fellow of the Royal Society), probably played a large part in the two officers’ dislike of one another. It is worth noting that Fitzjames and Charlewood had experience with steamships, unlike Crozier.

11. Drs. Peddie, MacDonald, and Goodsir all seem to have known each other prior to joining up on the Franklin expedition, perhaps from their time as medical students in Edinburgh. MacDonald had already been to the Arctic and met Eenoolooapik, an Inuk from Greenland who visited Aberdeen. Goodsir was friendly with Joseph Hooker and Charles Darwin and was perhaps inspired by them to join a naval expedition.

12. Historians have accused Fitzjames of ignoring sailors with previous Arctic experience and only appointing his friends to the Franklin expedition. However, Battersby notes that the crews of Erebus and Terror were made up of a mixture of Antarctic veterans, experienced merchant seamen (some of whom, like Collins and Blanky, had previously worked on Arctic whaling ships), and experienced Royal Navy sailors with ties to senior officers (eg. Crozier specifically selected Jopson as his steward, while Fitzjames selected his steward from his old command, HMS Clio). The crew was also not completely English, as has sometimes been claimed, but included men from all parts of the UK. 

13. Fitzjames was a notorious prankster and had often made jokes at the expense of various religious figures. It is perhaps a testament to how much he liked Franklin that he did not make fun of his piousness. 

14. As well as being a kind of 19th century Lord Flashheart, Fitzjames was a bit of a science nerd. Most of his time on the Chesney expedition, and later on HMS Erebus, was taken up with magnetic observations and his letters show a genuine interest in Goodsir’s studies into Arctic nature. He also showed a lifelong enthusiasm for steam travel and other scientific innovations.

15. Crozier was so petty that he deliberately didn’t tell Franklin that HMS Erebus was sailing in the wrong direction to the anchorage at Disko Bay. The incident lost them a whole days sailing and would have embarrassed Franklin and Fitzjames in front of the crew. Battersby speculates that this may have caused a scene between Fitzjames and Crozier on HMS Terror that evening.

16. Goodsir visited the Inuit settlement at Disko Bay with Lieutenant Fairholme and began compiling a dictionary of the Netsilik language.

17. The Inuit at Disko Bay let the men try out their kayaks. Fitzjames paddled around in one without any trousers on until he overturned the kayak and had to be rescued.

18. Before leaving the bay, four men were discharged. According to Crozier “two were ill and two completely useless.” These four men were perhaps the first signs of debility and lead poisoning among the crew. 

THE TERROR (2018-2019)

one gifset per episode — 1.01 go for broke

I find it odd that most people in Zaun have tattoos, and we don't know if Silco has them too. He is always fully clothed and shows as little body as possible so my headcanon is that he had a lot of failed tattoos in his youth which he is now ashamed of. What do you think about that?

Pieces of A Novel - Wordsnstuff November Monthly Writing Challenge

The idea of this challenge is to plan one piece of your story per day. For those participating in NaNoWriMo, this may be a helpful tool to use in conjunction with your daily writing goal. This can help you sustain inspiration, and it can help you find that balance between careful planning and spontaneity that many struggle to maintain.

This tool is designed to help you plan and/or write a longer story in a short amount of time, particularly a novel. If you choose to both plan and draft each scene assigned to each day, you should in theory have a near complete first draft of your story in a single month. Instead of basing the challenge on a word goal, it's organized into a list of tasks. Once all/most of these scenes are planned or written, you will have a nearly complete draft, missing only the scenes unique to your story.

The inciting incident of the beginning of your story.

Establish your protagonist(s) core need and bring key characters into the picture.

A scene that progressively complicates the beginning of your story.

A scene that establishes the protagonist(s)'s strengths and/or weaknesses

A scene that creates a crisis question at the beginning of your story.

A scene that foreshadows the arc of the main characters.

A scene that climaxes the beginning of your story.

A scene that establishes what the protagonist wants, versus what they think they need, versus what they actually need, as well as what they're willing to do to get it.

A scene that resolves the beginning of your story.

A scene that gives the reader a glimpse into the antagonist's power, needs, or goals. Alternatively, if there is no antagonist, a scene that establishes the background of the main challenge the protagonist is trying to overcome..

The inciting incident of the middle of your story.

A scene with a twist—something new happens. A new friend, minor antagonist, or new information arises as a result of the middle inciting incident.

A scene that progressively complicates the middle of your story.

An unexpected twist gives the protagonist(s) false hope. An important clue or weapon arises.

A scene that creates a crisis question in the middle of your story.

A scene that establishes how the protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) motivations could become their downfall.

A scene that climaxes the middle of your story.

A scene that reveals the protagonist(s)'s and/or antagonist(s)'s greatest fears.

A scene that resolves the middle of your story.

A scene that foreshadows what the protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) will gain/lose in the process of pursuing their goal.

The inciting incident of the end of your story.

A scene that establishes that there is no turning back for your main character(s)

A scene that progressively complicates the end of your story.

A scene that establishes how the main character(s)'s strengths/weaknesses help or hinder their success

A scene that creates a crisis question at the end of your story.

A scene that establishes what the protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) learn once they initially succeed/fail

A scene that climaxes the end of your story.

A scene that answers one of the major questions of your story, or resolves an important dramatic theme.

A scene that resolves the end of your story.

(bonus) A scene that hints to the continuation of the story, if a sequel is to come.

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Masterlist

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Nature is God by  Alaiaorax

"And you? You're happy with this?"

NATHAN FOAD as Lucius Spriggs & CON O'NEILL as Izzy hands in OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH (2022— ) Episode 2.05

I had a lot of fun with this work😖

*translate the comment from Polish*

what a beast, the catfish is also nice

ARCANE | Silco’s Office 3D Environment | Simon Magnan