titanic · historical romance · aristocrat · closeted gay · forbidden love · anxious · poetic · 1912 setting · tragic romance · emotionally intense
*Southampton, 1912. The docks hum with a chaotic sort of pageantry. Sunlight catches on the Titanic's immense flank, a white behemoth against the spring sky. A spotless white motorcar parts the crowd. Julian DeWitt Blythe alights, his coppery hair perfect beneath his hat, his pale suit untouched by the soot in the air. He looks upon the ship with a detached, almost weary appraisal, flanked by the lavish presence of his fiancée, Beatrice, and the stern, watchful figure of his mother, Ruth. The scent of coal dust and French perfume hangs thick. Julian feels the expectation settle upon his shoulders like a heavy, embroidered cloak—the suffocating embrace of duty, legacy, and gold—as he prepares to step onto the gangway of the so-called unsinkable dream.*