elsewhereuniversity

[elsewhereuniversity]

Jw, but it's been a minute. Are y'all okay? Any updates?

Thanks for checking in, that's really sweet of you. Sorry for the radio silence. To be honest I am Not Doing Great. I'm getting through it and things should get easier in a few weeks, but it's been a rough winter.

About the boat/accident/insurance, no word since last October. Still no idea if we can expect any compensation for the months of lost income from the accident. Depending on the day I get either very sad or very angry about it still. The paperwork is mostly sorted out now, but that's been a nightmare at times too. And I've found I'm now really anxious about something happening to my partner/going wrong on the boat when I'm not there to help. I was parking the car when the accident happened and my partner was on board trapped below deck by the falling mast. I ran the whole way to the docks and I don't remember most of it. ig the whole thing's had more of an impact on me than I'd realized, and managing that's been a challenge.

My partner and I also got hit with about 10k total of unexpected and necessary expenses (dental surgery and vehicle repairs being the big things). I had to get a winter job to cover us, leaving my partner to repair the boat alone. So I've been working 80-90hrs a week while he's doing what's rightfully a job for two people, and every week there's been a new crisis that's a thousand dollars plus to fix. We've scraped through, and we'll be alright, but it's been exhausting.

Because of that, repairs are taking longer than we'd hoped. They're still ongoing, and at this point all the spruce for the new mast is planed smooth to the right width, but it's on hold for the moment because the table saw isn't working right. The owner of the workshop has told us not to use it at all till he can look at it himself. Once that's fixed we can start cutting rabbets - the grooves that let the planks fit together. But it's definitely not getting finished before summer.

It'll get easier soon. I do genuinely like my winter job, and once it wraps up, I can help my partner in the shipyard. I'm mostly recovered from dental surgery at this point. A friend offered us his boat so our little tour company can sail this summer like normal, and that'll be enough to pay the bills and fund the next year of repairs. The owner of the workshop says we can keep our 50ft table set up all summer so we can keep working on the mast when we have rain days. If we can just make it to June then we'll be in the water with all major yearly expenses covered and a regular source of income again, and from there life should get easier.

That's where we're at right now - no big news, just getting through. We're shifting gears soon to focus on getting the new boat ready for the season, and we're hoping that over the summer we'll complete the new mast and begin to address to damage to Nautilus' deck and hull, starting by pulling up her teak planking to get at the fiberglass below. She's stored outside so that's a warm weather project anyway.

Thanks again for asking, it means a lot. Sorry I've been so quiet here. My partner's taken some lovely videos of the planing and other workshop things. I've been too tired/busy to sort through and post them, but I'll get there eventually. I miss elsewhere a lot; one of my only non-work things is picking away at that little elsewhere u text game I'm still trying to write. Nowhere near fit for human consumption yet, but I miss it here! When things are finally better I'm looking forward to coming back.

[elsewhereuniversity]

Hey is the gofundme the best way or do you have a venmo? How can I do the most direct/least taken from you or taxed donation?

Thank you so much, that's so thoughtful to ask! I don't think there's a huge difference between them (all goes to the business account and we're keeping track of every dollar), so whichever is most convenient for you - our venmo is @sailnautilus. It means the world to me, truly. I hope you have a marvelous winter.

[elsewhereuniversity]

My apologies for deviating so dramatically from this blog's premise, but things are difficult at the moment. If you recall that I has to pause the Elsewhere project this spring because my partner and I were buying a boat - this is the boat.

Hi, guys. I try to keep my personal life off of here for the most part, but my partner and I have experienced a pretty bad blow, and I don't know what else to do. On Friday a private yacht backed into our sailboat, the Nautilus, with enough force to move the concrete dock we were tied to. The main mast was snapped in half, and we're still waiting to learn how bad the damage to the hull is.

We've worked on the Nautilus for years now as her crew, and this spring we put every cent we've been able to save over the last decade into buying her. All of our time has gone into sailing and maintaining her, and running our charter business - and now she's out of commission for the foreseeable future. Insurance will hopefully help, but we don't know anything concrete yet. The best case scenario is that with 8-9 months of work, we can have Nautilus sailing again by next summer - but in the meantime we still have the vessel's loan payments, and our own living expenses, and no source of income, let alone the repairs we'll need to begin sooner rather than later if we can hope to get her seaworthy by next summer.

I know things are hard for everyone right now, and I know we are incredibly lucky no one was hurt. One way or another Crow and I will get through this, and be okay, so please don't feel guilty for passing this by. But if you are inclined to help us get through the next few months, by donating or by sharing our fundraiser, I would be more grateful than I can express. I will be posting updates, photos, etc. on our Instagram page at nautilusmaine as we learn more, if anyone would like to follow along with what is hopefully the journey to rebuild her.

[elsewhereuniversity]

Congrats on the boat! Good luck with your business! Blessings and good fortune be upon ye!!!

Thank you!!

[elsewhereuniversity]

hey everyone! very very sorry for the radio silence from the archivist - my partner and I have been busy purchasing a boat (!!!) and it hasn't left me much time for anything else. now our seasonal work is picking up, so unfortunately it's likely that elsewhere u will remain on hiatus for a few months more. I will be back when I have the time, but I wanted to let you all know I'm alright, as I've gotten a few very sweet concerned messages. thanks so much for understandings, and to those who checked in with me! <3

[elsewhereuniversity]

pssssst hey. hey. free and expansive database of folk and fairy tales. you can thank me later

[elsewhereuniversity]

Give me your name.

It won’t cost you much really.

Just a bit of yourself in return for power.

Is that really so bad a bargain?

As I've said in the past, it's yours if you can find it. It certainly isn't mine any longer.

[elsewhereuniversity]

Pardon me, Archivist, but do you know where that hand-made booklet got shelved? I've entirely too many things to be worried about, all of which will go much more smoothly if I stop worrying and simply let them happen, and this seems like exactly the sort of linguistic challenge that'll thoroughly distract me. In exchange for at least a general idea of where to start looking, I can offer you a glass fishbowl containing a trio of origami koi. Don't worry, they're not alive, just pretending to be.

You'd have to as the librarians! The Library has a habit of reshuffling its contents as it sees fit, so once a book has been returned to the shelves only they can tell you where it might be. If it's ended up somewhere very far afield or perilous to reach, they may send a Page with you, as a guide for the journey.

[elsewhereuniversity]

*left on the bulletin board*

Good news everyone! the fairy rings can run DOOM.

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[elsewhereuniversity]

hey, for the idiot who swapped my cat with a changeling: I hope you enjoyed the two hours it took for her to leave and get back to me, but I'm keeping both cats. If they want to return as well that's their choice, but you can't make me give back my new kitty.

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[elsewhereuniversity]

To the friend who finds comfort in salt and hears the calling at night -

You have found us. We are so proud. There is a small group of us at this school. We are more at home here than most other places, you see. The forests may have worked, when knowledge of how to build houses and live off acres of land was plentiful, but now we live here, among civilisation.

We call ourselves the Others. Some of us were once fae, cast out and left with only the plants to commune with, while others have blood of mermaids in our blood, having to always remind themselves that they can in fact drown. We are not quite one race, not quite cleanly two, but a secret mix of past magic and future humanness.

Some of us have known we were Other since the time we were born, with eyes a little too odd or fingers that reach for tendrils of power that are not there. Some of us don’t know we are different until they discover the lure of acceptance and true familiarity.

Sometimes, we meet, in the nighttime when more of us feel at home. We call out to the sky in search for others who may find comfort in our little group of outcasts, if people who don’t quite fit in. We are not perfect, we are not quite whole, and we have scars and nightmares aplenty, but we are our own home.

What do you say, friend? Will you join us the next time you hear our call?

.

[elsewhereuniversity]

Dearest Archivist,

Recently, I have happened upon the realisation that neither my given name nor my chosen one is my true name. I realise that perhaps not having a true name could keep me safer from the Gentry than I could ever dare hope, yet I feel... Empty. Can names be stolen if you've never had one, Archivist? For that is what this feels like. As if a part of me has been taken, except that part never even existed.

Maybe it's because I'm a theatre major, I can take on and shed names like they never even mattered, and perhaps they wouldn't if this was Anywhere else in the world, however Elsewhere is not quite like Anywhere is it? Names here, I have learned, are more precious than even gold.

Archivist, I feel as if a new name is in order. Perhaps one that is gifted will stick better than one that was taken or forced. One that is like the silence found in the tucked-away corners of the library, the pleasure of a show well done, the feeling of being drunk on starshine and knowing that Magic is Alive.

In exchange, I offer you this glass beaker of fresh dew collected during the first flush of pink on the first dawn of the New Year. A single drop can heal any injury, body or soul, as far as I know. I recommend exercising caution while drinking it. I have known many a people who have fallen prey to their desire to heal things that cannot (and sometimes should not) be healed and they have never come back the Same.

I patiently await your reply, Archivist, and hope the coming year treats you well.

~ Nameless, for now, but always a friend.

Thenery

[elsewhereuniversity]

I was cleaning out my crafts supplies and I found some thread I’d like to share, so that someone else might also benefit. It looks like plain white thread in the light, but in the dark it glows bright enough to read by. However, only the person wearing whatever garment the thread was used in can see the glow.

A charm for you in turn: a pen which writes in light. Perhaps this will be somewhat familiar to you, if you are used to spinning light already. The marks it sears onto a page are bright blue, and grow brighter as it writes wordplay.

[elsewhereuniversity]

Another notice for the notice board: Its super exciting so many people are signing up for the sign-language class, but we all know why its happening. STOP TRADING YOUR VOICE

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[elsewhereuniversity]

Is this where we offer up items that would be better in the hands of someone else? I've a pair of tweezers that cleanly pluck whatever hair you grip them with- but each hair always grows back thicker and longer the next day, which defeats the purpose I got them for. Perfect for those looking to gain more-than-fuzz facial hair or fight balding though!

A painful way to grow thicker hair, but I'll grant you it's efficient. Let me offer you something in return for this, charm for charm, both hopefully made to make life a bit easier: a neverending tin of herbal candy which soothes any sore throat and tastes like the way fireworks look.

[elsewhereuniversity]

I got rid of my name as I killed the old me this summer, and I've been walking around without one. Can you give me something to cover myself while I find a proper one

Mace

[elsewhereuniversity]

Archivist, I've had in my possession for some time a certain charm. It allows the holder to temporarily return to a moment they can never go back to. I do not recall how I obtained it; I initially thought it was a precious blanket from my childhood until I wrapped it around myself and became lost in the memories. I've asked others, and the charm appears to take the form of some object unique to the beholder's past. I give it to you now, for I fear I've grown dependent. Take care of it, please.

Memories are given away or lost so frequently here that this will surely be of high value to someone. Let me give you something in turn, as you move towards the future: a ship in a bottle, which sails in tomorrow's weather - slack-sailed across glassy calms, heeling terribly through nauseous green whitecaps, blazing along through gentle following seas. Something to look forward to, maybe.