Visual Novel / Ship of Dreams

Violet Calhoun and Theo Carter.

Ship of Dreams is one of the many stories under the Choices: Stories You Play collection.

In this one, you play American heiress Violet Calhoun as she embarks home from travels through Europe, only to be told by her sister that she has to find a husband before the ship docks in New York. Too bad Violet instead finds herself attracted to stoker Theo Carter.

And also too bad the ship is the Titanic.

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Ship of Dreams includes examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer: Almost all of Violet's suitors, but particularly Philippe.
• Alliterative Name: Loretta Langley.
• Arranged Marriage: In chapter 1, Adele tries to find a suitor for Violet, but fails.
• Artistic License – History: There are quite some inaccuracies for such a famous historic event.
  • Most blatant example is the timeline. The real Titanic hit the iceberg 4 days after the departure from Southampton, while this story takes place over much more days. This Reddit user compared the timeline of the story with the real timeline if you want to see a detailed analysis. Conclusion: this version of the Titanic should have made it to New York with days to spare.
  • When arriving at Queenstown (now Cork), Ireland to pick-up passengers over there, Violet and Theo disembark and spend a few hours in the countryside. However, the harbour of Queenstown didn't have the docking facilities for a ship the size of the Titanic. Embarking passengers had to be ferried with smaller boats. Also, Titanic stayed there for only 2 hours.
  • One scene takes place in a large theater room. Titanic didn't have any sort of theater on board. Multiple scenes take place in large ballrooms, but those weren't on the Titanic either.
  • Theo, a crewmember, pops up in a Turkish Bath when Violet is there as well. While there were Turkish Bath's on board of the Titanic, they were restricted only to First-Class Passengers. Access was only granted by requesting tickets, which surely would have been refused to a stoker. Furthermore, they were segregated by gender, so with a male Theo this scene is even more inaccurate.
• Calling The Sibling Out: It is a premium option in chapter 17 to call Adele out for forcing Violet into a loveless marriage, even though Adele experienced something similar.
• Character Customization: The player can choose Theo's gender and ethnicity, not their name.
• Content Warnings:
  • In chapter 1, the book warns that it is based on historical events and contains mature, sexual content.
  • Chapter 18 warns about depictions of death by drowning.
  • Chapter 19 warns about depictions of death by drowning & dead bodies.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Duty-devoted Adele and free-spirited Violet, although Violet would likely see it more as a case of Big Sister Bully.
• Forced Out of the Closet: If Theo is female, she and Violet will eventually be found out by Adele, and Violet is forced to admit that she likes women. To say that Adele is not happy would be an understatement.
• Fourth-Date Marriage: Theo proposes to Violet when they reach New York, even though they know each other for hardly a week.
• Foreshadowing: The book begins with the RMS Titanic sinking and Violet being saved by Theo. The disaster happens in Chapter 18, which is literally titled "Disaster".
• Gender-Blender Name: Theo is short for Theodore or Theodora, depending on the gender of Violet's love interest.
• Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Right after you are both rescued by the Carpathia, there is a premium option to celebrate your survival.
• Hate Sink: Adele is getting serious hatred from readers for trying to force Violet into a marriage she doesn't want and sending Theo to prison while locking Violet in her room.
  • While Adele at least apologizes for her actions and begs for forgiveness, there are no redeeming qualities for Phillipe. He looks down upon the crew and passengers from lower classes, is self-absorbed, boring and admits he only wants to marry Violet for her money.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: As with all Choices characters, you can name your character. The default name here is Violet Calhoun.
• How We Got Here: The story opens well into the sinking, when Violet is saved from falling in the ocean by Theo. Then we revert back to a few days before in Cherbourg, when Violet and Adele board the Titanic.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Adele admits on the Carpathia that because of her own actions she almost killed her own sister. Adele asks for forgiveness, it is up to the reader whether to forgive Adele or not.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Adele locking Violet in the closet after finding out about Theo is similar to a story from the 1800s where a rich New York woman arranged for her daughter to be married to an English Nobleman only for the mother to lock her daughter in her room after finding out that she was in love with a fellow New Yorker.
• No One Gets Left Behind: Mac, one of the stokers and a friend of Theo, is stuck with his leg below a piece of metal in a flooding compartment. Mac tells Theo to leave him, but Theo insists on saving Mac. With the help of Violet, the three of them make it out alive.
• Only the Leads Get a Happy Ending: Theo and Violet survive the sinking and get married. Their friends and family also survive, while the only major character with an uncertain fate is Philippe, who they dislike. So they also don't lost somebody close to them. However, more than 1400 people died when the Titanic sank. And on a minor note: Adele still has to deal with salvaging her families finances and reputation, so her ending is less happy compared to the main duo.
• Proper Lady: Adele.
• Sarcastic Title: The name of the book is Ship of Dreams, but the entire plot takes place on a ship that will sink.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Ship of Dreams is based on the real-life story of the Titanic, as well as the 1997 film, but Theo, this story's equivalent of Jack, survives the disaster.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: A premium option is to give one of these to Philippe when he doesn't take the hint that Violet does not want to marry him.
• Wham Episode:
  • Chapter 16. Violet and Theo are found out by Adele.
  • Chapter 17 is an even bigger one. Adele, upon finding out that Violet and Theo are together, levels an accusation at Theo, has them dragged away, tries one last ditch attempt to get Violet to marry Philippe, then locks Violet in her room when she refuses. The chapter ends with the moment that's been 17 chapters in the making; the iceberg hits.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: It is never confirmed whether Philippe survived the disaster or not.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: One can't help but get the feeling that Violet is a bit naive, from expecting that a trip to the lower decks would make Adele more accepting of giving up her family's wealth (Spoiler Alert: it doesn't) to only caring about when she can next sneak away to meet a man/woman she has met not even a week ago instead of actually trying to find a solution to the situation at hand. Of course, she doesn't HAVE to be on board with marrying to please her family, but she ignores Adele's matchmaking efforts as best she can and is still surprised that this leads to Adele making decisions she doesn't appreciate.