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I have unearthed some more Nedseil scenes...

Today I went foraging through my drafts folding seeing if there was anything I could salvage, and found some mostly-drafted Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea scenes! I decided that instead of fussing with them until they're thematically linked the way I wanted, I would just post them instead. Featuring Ned being depressed and Conseil being helpful.

Rated Teen, but the first scene is directly after the part of the book where Captain Nemo kills like fifty sperm whales, so heed the animal death tags.

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Conseil and Ned Land carrying unconscious Aronnax to shore at the end of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

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Captain Nemo of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Watched this movie recently, it was a lot of fun! Nemo was a great pick for Underwater month! You can get this sticker and 6 others on my patreon!

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Is there an official ship name or can I just call Nemo/Aronnax “Marine Biologist Benefits”?

Marine Biologist with Benefits?

Is this anything?

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Voyage of the Nautilus turned 1 today!

Awww… Just a year ago, I made this blog in preparation for our exciting adventure. The time has flown!

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Blue says Around the World In Eighty Days is AMAZING and her second favorite Verne novel, please read it!! Unfortunately you’re right about it not being possible to do a substack as the original translation, much like 20k Leagues, is a poor one, and the more accurate ones are under copyright. According to @linguisticparadox (who is quite knowledgeable when it comes to Jules Verne translations), the Penguin Classics edition has a pretty good translation of it.

The Mysterious Island is a good read if you’re interested in uncovering the mysteries of Nemo. It’s also, as I recall, a fun castaway story, although by a certain point you’re left thinking “okay, they’ve made all these things and they still haven’t figured out a way to make a BOAT to get off this island??” It also ties in with another one of Verne’s novels, The Children of Captain Grant (or In Search of the Castaways- I can’t remember which one of these titles was the original), which I haven’t read but have been longing to track down ever since reading Mysterious Island.

As far as the other Verne novels I’ve read go, I quite enjoyed The Children of the Cavern, which I read a very long time ago so I don’t remember much about it other than it takes place near an underground lake in Scotland. From the Earth to the Moon, on the other hand, bored me to death (despite being surprisingly accurate when it comes to certain assumptions made about space travel- while hilariously wrong in regards to others). There’s a lot of talk of math and calculations in that book and I am rather mathematically-challenged so others might enjoy it more than I did (and I’d be willing to read it again).

What say you, followers? Any other Verne you’d recommend?

Now that the voyage is sadly over I’m curious where to go from where with Verne’s works. I assume the next book to read is Around the World in Eighty Days but does anyone have any translations they recommend (I would still love to do it as a substack but I know it’s not possible at the moment)? Is the Mysterious Island worth the read? Any other recommendations? I loved 20,000 Leauges way more than I ever thought I would and definitely want to read more n the future!

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He’s still sending me emails :)

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so where’s my love never dies sequel to 20k where aronnax goes back to the nautilus for a one night stand

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As you know, at the turn of the tide, the waters confined between the Faroe and Lofoten Islands rush out with irresistible violence.

*points* Malevolent reference

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Will the waves someday deliver that manuscript that contains his full life story? Will I finally learn the man’s name?

After all this, the reminder that Aronnax doesn’t even know Nemo’s NAME is such a gutpunch

and oh god the pining of this whole last part. the near-death experience and all the fear of those last weeks weren’t enough to tarnish his feelings completely. Aronnax may have escaped the Nautilus after months of wavering over if he even wanted to, but he left a piece of his soul behind with its captain.

And then to emphasize that one last time, the last sentence of the book is “Captain Nemo and I.”

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Ned: We’re going to escape tonight. Don’t act suspicious.

Aronnax: *shivering and whimpering in front of Nemo’s door like a puppy caught in the rain*

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Just then I heard indistinct chords from the organ, melancholy harmonies from some undefinable hymn, actual pleadings from a soul trying to sever its earthly ties. I listened with all my senses at once, barely breathing, immersed like Captain Nemo in this musical trance that was drawing him beyond the bounds of this world.

Then a sudden thought terrified me. Captain Nemo had left his stateroom. He was in the same lounge I had to cross in order to escape. There I would encounter him one last time. He would see me, perhaps speak to me! One gesture from him could obliterate me, a single word shackle me to his vessel!

I’M LOSING MY MIND I’m losing my goDDAMn MIND

For all the fantasizing about confronting Nemo earlier, for all the weeks of building up resolve to escape or die trying, it all comes down to this moment of knowing it will all come crashing down if Nemo says a single word to him. the desperation the YEARNING the ANGUISH

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I took one last look at the natural wonders and artistic treasures amassed in the museum, this unrivaled collection doomed to perish someday in the depths of the seas, together with its curator. I wanted to establish one supreme impression in my mind. I stayed there an hour, basking in the aura of the ceiling lights, passing in review the treasures shining in their glass cases. Then I returned to my stateroom.

I bet you anything he was just fantasizing about the time Nemo had shown him through the museum, and was mentally trying to relive that period of time where everything was ignorant wonder and excitement.

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My anxiety and agitation would certainly have given me away if Captain Nemo had seen me.

What was he doing just then? I listened at the door to his stateroom. I heard the sound of footsteps. Captain Nemo was inside. He hadn’t gone to bed. With his every movement I imagined he would appear and ask me why I wanted to escape!

Me: Good lord Aronnax it’s like you WANT him to catch you—

The feeling became so acute, I wondered whether it wouldn’t be better to enter the captain’s stateroom, dare him face to face, brave it out with word and deed!

Me: WAIT WAIT I WAS BEING HYPERBOLIC—

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I’ll also mention that the Canadian, at the end of his strength and patience, made no further appearances. Conseil couldn’t coax a single word out of him and feared that, in a fit of delirium while under the sway of a ghastly homesickness, Ned would kill himself. So he kept a devoted watch on his friend every instant.

aaaughgghgh this friendship I swear to god 😭😭

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I returned to the lounge, dreading yet desiring an encounter with Captain Nemo, wanting yet not wanting to see him. What would I say to him? How could I hide the involuntary horror he inspired in me? No! It was best not to meet him face to face! Best to try and forget him! And yet . . . !

I swear to god. i SWEAR to GOD!!!!!!

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I felt myself being drawn into that strange domain where the overwrought imagination of Edgar Allan Poe was at home.

giggles at second Edgar Allen Poe reference. blorbo from his bookshelf.