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Description
When Titanic sank, Olympic’s entire world was shattered. Devastated by the sudden loss of her younger sister and traumatized by that horrible night spent trying in vain to help, she rapidly spiraled into darkness and despair, weighed down by a grief strong enough to put even the heaviest anchor to shame. She was hollow, a shell of her former proud, confident self; although she had her moments of happiness, they were few and far between. Nightmares plagued her, filling her sleep with the sound of her sister’s fading cries for help. She began to lash out at anyone who mentioned the disaster; only a select few ships were spared from these outbursts, Mauretania chief among them.

She blamed herself for what had happened. She hadn’t been there when Titanic needed her most, hadn’t tried hard enough to reach her. It didn’t matter that she’d been over five hundred miles away from her stricken sister, or that there wouldn’t have been much she could’ve done even if she’d arrived before Titanic went down. No amount of logic could convince her that the tragedy hadn’t, in any way, been her fault.

Britannic’s loss during the Great War only compounded Olympic’s suffering. Both of her sisters were gone, leaving her the sole survivor of what was meant to be the greatest class of ships ever constructed, and it didn’t help that she’d learned too late her role in Britannic’s own torment; the regret born of that revelation would never leave her. For a while her only source of light and hope was Mauretania, whose insistence that she couldn’t simply wallow in her grief forever eventually convinced her that something had to change.

The decision to try and get better is a crucial part of recovery, and Olympic was particularly lucky in that this decision coincided with her becoming a beloved figure among the soldiers she transported. The attack on U-103 added to this, helping her regain her old confidence, and the end of the war brought with it a new era for Olympic.

She emerged from the war ragged and tired, still stricken by grief, but she was alive, and beside her were Mauretania and Aquitania, with whom her bonds had been forged by hardship and fire. Her confidence was fast returning, and once the three ships had shed the last of their war paint and reentered passenger service the world suddenly seemed quite a bit brighter. Olympic found that her nightmares of Titanic’s sinking became less frequent. She lashed out less often, although her reactions to hearing mentions of her sisters’ fates were still very poor, and although she was never the same as she’d been before April 14th, 1912, she was able to piece herself together and rise from the ashes stronger than before. Being transformed into a human and finally reuniting with her sisters has only helped, although for her it’s more of a happy ending, a reward of sorts, rather than the catalyst for her happiness.

Trauma doesn’t fade so easily, though. Olympic may have found genuine happiness and strength, but that long, cold night spent helplessly trying to reach Titanic has burned itself into her mind, forming scars that will likely never fully heal. She still has nightmares from time to time, even decades later, and her horrible fear of letting others down hasn’t subsided one bit. Although she’s learned to cope with her pain, the past still haunts her, and it always will.

She’s found her happy ending, but the scars of her youth will always remain.

This piece depicts Olympic in her regular human form, meaning she’s had her entire life’s worth of character development already and been reunited with her lost sisters, and yet she’s clearly in the throes of a breakdown. Mental illness can be and often is a lifelong thing, after all, and even though Olympic has risen above her pain, for the most part, there are still times when her trauma rears its ugly head once more. It’s not nearly as pervasive or debilitating as it once was, though, and doesn’t that make her victorious, in a way?

Notes:
-The blood on her hands is symbolic (this time). It represents the guilt she’s carried with her throughout her life. It was really hard to draw!
-I kept the shadows sharp and dramatic, as the effect both looks cool and fits the tone of the piece.
-Her hair is falling over one eye; it doesn’t normally do that, nor was that the original plan for this piece. I ended up doing that to emphasize her other eye, which has a very small image of a sinking Titanic displayed in it. The shine in her eye is actually a distress rocket; it’s brighter now than it was in the wip pic I posted last night, although that’s hard to see, as are Titanic’s slightly-more-yellow lights. Other visible updates include the eyebrow scar, which I simply hadn’t drawn yet when I posted the wip (I hadn’t even drawn the pattern on her coat yet!), and of course the addition of shading to her hair.
-Speaking of her coat, that was a nightmare to shade. There’s a reason it’s lacking details like pockets and those trenchcoat shoulder things.
-Originally, her dress had a white belt (with a red skirt), which as my reference page for her shows was changed to gold over an all-black dress to emulate that gold stripe on her hull. I’ve finally settled on black, as white doesn’t look as elegant and the gold clashes with her color scheme, which is already teetering on the brink of being too much.
-I wanted to draw blood dripping from her hands as well as smeared on them, but it looked too cheesy. So, more smearing!
-Her pose is unnatural-looking; that’s 100% intentional (although her hands look a little more off than intended). It enhances the appearance of distress, or at least that’s what it’s supposed to do. I actually modeled the position of her arms and hands off the way I hold my own hands when they’re wet or dirty!
-The piece’s title comes from the lyrics of Already Broken by Karliene!

Update 9/7/2022: Added a light dusting of makeup (subtle blush and eyeshadow - Olympic isn’t the type to wear heavy makeup) and improved the blood on her hands. Also edited the background to make it look slightly smoother and darkened my signature to make it slightly less obtrusive.
Update 9/28/2022: Cleaned up some lines.

Olympic's career was long and dazzling, but the Titanic disaster and its aftermath was one of the darker chapters of her history. Passengers and crew alike spent a desperate, frantic night waiting for news of their friends and loved ones, trying to help, only to discover in the morning that Titanic was gone - and with her, over a thousand souls. Olympic's race through the night was in vain.

The role of the RMS Olympic on the night the Titanic sank
Titanic: A Desperate Dialogue
I Heard Titanic's Call

Description
When Titanic sank, Olympic’s entire world was shattered. Devastated by the sudden loss of her younger sister and traumatized by that horrible night spent trying in vain to help, she rapidly spiraled into darkness and despair, weighed down by a grief strong enough to put even the heaviest anchor to shame. She was hollow, a shell of her former proud, confident self; although she had her moments of happiness, they were few and far between. Nightmares plagued her, filling her sleep with the sound of her sister’s fading cries for help. She began to lash out at anyone who mentioned the disaster; only a select few ships were spared from these outbursts, Mauretania chief among them.

She blamed herself for what had happened. She hadn’t been there when Titanic needed her most, hadn’t tried hard enough to reach her. It didn’t matter that she’d been over five hundred miles away from her stricken sister, or that there wouldn’t have been much she could’ve done even if she’d arrived before Titanic went down. No amount of logic could convince her that the tragedy hadn’t, in any way, been her fault.

Britannic’s loss during the Great War only compounded Olympic’s suffering. Both of her sisters were gone, leaving her the sole survivor of what was meant to be the greatest class of ships ever constructed, and it didn’t help that she’d learned too late her role in Britannic’s own torment; the regret born of that revelation would never leave her. For a while her only source of light and hope was Mauretania, whose insistence that she couldn’t simply wallow in her grief forever eventually convinced her that something had to change.

The decision to try and get better is a crucial part of recovery, and Olympic was particularly lucky in that this decision coincided with her becoming a beloved figure among the soldiers she transported. The attack on U-103 added to this, helping her regain her old confidence, and the end of the war brought with it a new era for Olympic.

She emerged from the war ragged and tired, still stricken by grief, but she was alive, and beside her were Mauretania and Aquitania, with whom her bonds had been forged by hardship and fire. Her confidence was fast returning, and once the three ships had shed the last of their war paint and reentered passenger service the world suddenly seemed quite a bit brighter. Olympic found that her nightmares of Titanic’s sinking became less frequent. She lashed out less often, although her reactions to hearing mentions of her sisters’ fates were still very poor, and although she was never the same as she’d been before April 14th, 1912, she was able to piece herself together and rise from the ashes stronger than before. Being transformed into a human and finally reuniting with her sisters has only helped, although for her it’s more of a happy ending, a reward of sorts, rather than the catalyst for her happiness.

Trauma doesn’t fade so easily, though. Olympic may have found genuine happiness and strength, but that long, cold night spent helplessly trying to reach Titanic has burned itself into her mind, forming scars that will likely never fully heal. She still has nightmares from time to time, even decades later, and her horrible fear of letting others down hasn’t subsided one bit. Although she’s learned to cope with her pain, the past still haunts her, and it always will.

She’s found her happy ending, but the scars of her youth will always remain.

This piece depicts Olympic in her regular human form, meaning she’s had her entire life’s worth of character development already and been reunited with her lost sisters, and yet she’s clearly in the throes of a breakdown. Mental illness can be and often is a lifelong thing, after all, and even though Olympic has risen above her pain, for the most part, there are still times when her trauma rears its ugly head once more. It’s not nearly as pervasive or debilitating as it once was, though, and doesn’t that make her victorious, in a way?

Notes:
-The blood on her hands is symbolic (this time). It represents the guilt she’s carried with her throughout her life. It was really hard to draw!
-I kept the shadows sharp and dramatic, as the effect both looks cool and fits the tone of the piece.
-Her hair is falling over one eye; it doesn’t normally do that, nor was that the original plan for this piece. I ended up doing that to emphasize her other eye, which has a very small image of a sinking Titanic displayed in it. The shine in her eye is actually a distress rocket; it’s brighter now than it was in the wip pic I posted last night, although that’s hard to see, as are Titanic’s slightly-more-yellow lights. Other visible updates include the eyebrow scar, which I simply hadn’t drawn yet when I posted the wip (I hadn’t even drawn the pattern on her coat yet!), and of course the addition of shading to her hair.
-Speaking of her coat, that was a nightmare to shade. There’s a reason it’s lacking details like pockets and those trenchcoat shoulder things.
-Originally, her dress had a white belt (with a red skirt), which as my reference page for her shows was changed to gold over an all-black dress to emulate that gold stripe on her hull. I’ve finally settled on black, as white doesn’t look as elegant and the gold clashes with her color scheme, which is already teetering on the brink of being too much.
-I wanted to draw blood dripping from her hands as well as smeared on them, but it looked too cheesy. So, more smearing!
-Her pose is unnatural-looking; that’s 100% intentional (although her hands look a little more off than intended). It enhances the appearance of distress, or at least that’s what it’s supposed to do. I actually modeled the position of her arms and hands off the way I hold my own hands when they’re wet or dirty!
-The piece’s title comes from the lyrics of Already Broken by Karliene!

Update 9/7/2022: Added a light dusting of makeup (subtle blush and eyeshadow - Olympic isn’t the type to wear heavy makeup) and improved the blood on her hands. Also edited the background to make it look slightly smoother and darkened my signature to make it slightly less obtrusive.
Update 9/28/2022: Cleaned up some lines.

Olympic's career was long and dazzling, but the Titanic disaster and its aftermath was one of the darker chapters of her history. Passengers and crew alike spent a desperate, frantic night waiting for news of their friends and loved ones, trying to help, only to discover in the morning that Titanic was gone - and with her, over a thousand souls. Olympic's race through the night was in vain.

The role of the RMS Olympic on the night the Titanic sank
Titanic: A Desperate Dialogue
I Heard Titanic's Call