Chapter Text
Account: Son_Of_Neptune
51 posts; 201,378 Followers; 28 Following (private)
[Image description: A red fish swims through the black depths of the ocean. She has a big mouth, small eyes, and a line of sensor spores running the length of her body.]
Meet Jill
Species: Flabby Whalefish (Family Cetomimidae)
Likes: Quiet
Dislikes: The bad food (Still microplastics -SoN)
What she wants to tell humans: Humans? What are humans?
#HappyNewYears #SavetheOceans #Whalefish #FlabbyWhalefish
72,551 Likes, 42,003 Comments
SpilltheTea: Rude! Accurate, but rude! LOL
SeaMeRun: I feel called out
DrJohnHolmes: Get out of here with your buns of steel lol
RetiredCenturion: I'll show you flabby, Graecus! Meet me in the practice ring as soon as you're back!
20kLeaguesUnder: Zen. I am zen. I will not let these posts get to me.
---MelodyMakesMusic6 @20kLeaguesUnder: What? It's just an ugly fish
--- 20kLeaguesUnder: [comment deleted]
(more)
r/scuba
u/20kLeaguesUnder
Am I crazy? Who is this guy?
Doxxing people is bad, and I'm normally opposed, but seriously, who the hell is this guy???
I don't know how many people here are active on Instagram, but @Son_of_Neptune popped out of nowhere a few months ago, and ever since he's taking impossible photographs of sea life.
Actually impossible. This guy has posted brand new photos of deep sea angler fish, goblin sharks, abyssal spiderfish, faceless fish, telescope fish, prickly sharks, and a goddamn megamouth shark. Yesterday he posted a picture of a live flabby whalefish. If it's Photoshop, it's the best I've ever seen.
And the sharks! He runs into bull sharks in the Hudson River. He removes fish hooks from the mouths of white sharks. (Don't worry, he wore gloves.(!?!?)) He hugs lemon sharks. And of course he did it all without a cage.
He jokes about going into the Midnight Zone, and his pictures back this up—I mentioned the abyssal spiderfish and the deep sea angler fish. There isn't a single deep sea submersible operator I can find that will admit to taking him out. Yes, I've called all of them.
The people who seem to know him IRL consider his content low-effort.
And now he's starting some sort of project with the heir to Dare Enterprises.
Is this some sort of elaborate scam or hoax? Is there a trick to CGIing fish photos that I'm missing? What is going on here???
Edit: I'm starting a new subreddit to collect theories. Join me on r/Skeptics_of_Neptune
43 comments
u/PM_ME_UR_NUDIS – I can't say much, but I met the Dare girl. She did her OW refresher through my shop. She wasn't bad, but her bodyguard sucked. I can believe she's doing something diving related.
+ u/20kLeaguesUnder - Her body guard?
++ u/PM_ME_UR_NUDIS - Blonde chick. Scary intense
+++ u/20kLeaguesUnder - Could she be the “mermaid” from Son_of_Neptune's posts?
++++ u/PM_ME_UR_NUDIS - Ha! She was no mermaid!
u/TheBrineyDeep – Hey, 20k. I'm with you on this one. There are some serious shenanigans going down. Either this asshole is a team of researchers and rescuers orchestrating an elaborate hoax, or he's dropping some serious cash to get this kind of access, and god only knows how much damage he's doing in the process
+ u/DiveDiveDive – what do you mean damage?
++ u/TheBrineyDeep – There isn't a rule he hasn't broken. To start with, he touches everything. Especially sharks. Someone is going to try to copy him and lose a hand
u/280575 – Dude, you're a little obsessed.
+ u/20kLeaguesUnder – I'm a lot obsessed. I've spent a lot of years studying marine biology. What he's doing is not possible. And the asshole is laughing at me.
u/ClickBoom – I went through his post history, and it appears to be legit. The early photos look like you'd expect to see if you put a GoPro in the hands of someone who never used one. His skill improves steadily and reasonably. Even if the water is unusually clear, he comes across as a lucky beginner.
Then he gets the new camera, and shit starts getting weird. Any equipment issues vanish, but the compositional skills stay the same (Someone needs to teach this guy the rule of thirds)
AI is still 5-10 years from being able to do this. It could possibly be human art, but anyone with the skills to pull this off wouldn't be posting to some two-bit insta account; they'd be making millions in Hollywood working on the next Aquaman movie.
ETA: just checked out his videos. Any of the Hollywood studios would kill to have CGI that good. This was filmed with a camera in the ocean.
+ u/20kLeaguesUnder – So this is weird, right?
++ u/ClickBoom – This is very weird
(˅ View more comments)
HuffPost.com
Rachel Elizabeth Dare Hints At New Undersea Project In Tantalizing Instagram Post
Social media is buzzing after last week's a joint Instagram post with the mysterious @Son_of_Neptune, in which the Dare heiress promises big things are coming.
[Image description: A beautiful scene of a coral reef. Colorful fish are swimming around, and in the center of the photo, a whiteboard sits on an easel. In thick block print, it reads “Changes ahead!”]
Rachel Elizabeth Dare is the only child of land developer William Dare, owner and CEO of Dare Enterprises. In recent years she has risen to prominence on social media, attracting more than three million followers on Instagram and nearly twice that on Facebook.
She uses her platform to promote charitable causes, with a focus on the environment. “We only have one planet,” she wrote on her Instagram. “We have a responsibility to take care of it.”
Details are scarce on her newest project, but given that the announcement photoshoot was interrupted by a #SharkCuddleAttack, it's bound to be interesting.
“Are you sure about this?” Percy asked, shifting uncomfortably in the back of the Dare Enterprises town car as it pulled to a stop in front of the lawyer's office in the Upper East Side.
“Yes.” Rachel reached out to straighten his tie. Again.
“I could wear a mask?"
“You're not actually a vigilante.”
“I still don't see why I have to go in there using my real name and face.”
“Because they're the ones who are going to keep the IRS off your back while you hide your identity from the internet. You can lie to the internet all you want; you need to tell your lawyer the truth.” The chauffeur opened the door for them and Rachel climbed out, pulling Percy with her. “You can do this.”
“I fought a Titan in single combat about a mile from here. That was far less terrifying.”
Rachel dragged him across the sidewalk, through the nondescript doors, and into the expensively decorated lobby. Percy wasn't sure he'd seen so much dark wood, marble, and brass in his life, and he was a regular visitor to Mt. Olympus. “When we're done here, I'll turn on my cell phone and summon some monsters for you to fight. Until then, this is my sort of battle—trust me to fight it for us.”
“I do. Really. But you have your hairbrush, right?” Rachel gave him a dirty look. In the last fifteen feet, he had become disheveled again.
As they approached the receptionist, Rachel straightened her back and flattened her expression, broadcasting to the world that she was the heir to the Dare fortune and not to be trifled with. “Rachel Dare for Mr. Hilverding.”
“Of course, Ms. Dare.” With a gentle buzz, the Lucite panels retracted into their columns, clearing the way for Rachel and Percy to access the elevator bank. She gestured to a person of indeterminate gender in a black pantsuit who had been waiting off to the side. “Sam will show you to Mr. Hilverding's office.”
“Thank you.”
They followed Sam into an elevator. Percy was not surprised to see the attached stool for an elevator operator, though given the general vibe of the office, he was half surprised that it as empty. Sam tapped a card against a discreet box and pushed the button for the eighth floor.
Percy stuck his hand in his pocket and ran his thumb against Riptide's cap, subconsciously taking a basic sword-fighting stance. This was not the sort of tension he was used to dealing with—Rachel was correct that he would much prefer having a monster to face. Rachel, on the other hand, was in her element as she stood straight, facing the elevator doors with a blank face, every inch the practiced businesswoman for all that she was still a teenager. Poor Sam looked to be attempting to become one with the elevator wall.
When the elevator chimed and the doors opened, Sam led them to an open door halfway down the hall. “Ms. Dare and Mr. Jackson here to see you, sir.”
“Thank you, Sam.” Sam vanished.
The man who rose to greet them was old and dressed in what even Percy could tell was a very expensive suit. The gleam of intelligence in his eyes would not have looked out of place in the Athena Cabin. Percy would not be underestimating him.
“Rachel.” Hilverding smiled warmly. “I'm glad that I get to be the one to set up your first company.”
Rachel's no-nonsense persona cracked for the first time since she left the car, and she smiled in return. “After everything you've done for my family, I wouldn't have it any other way.” She gestured at Percy. “This is Percy Jackson, my new business partner. Percy, John has been my family's lawyer since the days when my grandfather ran Dare Enterprises.”
The lawyer reached across his desk to shake Percy's hand. Percy quickly pulled his hand from his pocket to complete the gesture. “A pleasure, Percy. Rachel has explained your business plan, and I see no reason why your venture won't be equally profitable.”
Percy startled; the Dares were billionaires. “Not that profitable.”
Rachel looked at him. “The Discovery Channel is already offering you a contract, Percy. The plan may be to put most of our profits into charity, but we both still stand to make a lot of money.”
Hilverding gestured for the to be seated. “And I plan to make sure you keep as much of that money as possible. Rachel, I know you suggested a 501(c)(3), but given the level of scrutiny those receive, I believe you should have a closely held corporation as the parent company—Filius Neptuni Inc.—with a subsidiary 501(c)(3) as a charitable arm.”
“Not a Subchapter S corporation?”
“Not if Mr. Jackson is going to hold his shares via a corporation of his own.”
“Right—the pass through taxation requires individual ownership.”
“Correct. We can register everything in Delaware using 1209 North Orange Street for the corporate address. A member of my firm will serve as the registered agent...”
Percy's eyes glazed over. He understood nothing of what they discussed, but he trusted Rachel. She knew how businesses worked and she had enough faith in him that she was willing to front the cash to get everything off the ground. Annabeth agreed. They could do it. He could do it. He could turn his silly blow-off class into an actual profitable career. And if it meant he wouldn't end up as the target of anymore true crime podcasts or conspiracy theories, he'd sign anything they wanted.
Please, Gods of Olympus, let this work.