#water world

[shoreline-system]

Really urging you to try and unpack the capitalist and ableist ideas of doing enough to justify your existence actually.

Like, yes, we live in an unfair system where you need to afford to live. On a practical level, that is the situation many people find themselves in.

But fundamentally, you don't have to earn the right to exist. You have nothing to prove to anyone before you're allowed to exist in this world guilt-free. Your right to life does not depend on your productivity or you "living up to your potential", it is fundamental and unchangeable. You deserve to be here.

Don't let the guilt of falling short of some arbitrary and ever-changing (and likely unobtainable) goal wear you down. You have nothing to prove, and you deserve to be here.

[aidigitalfun]

Pink Undine

[ai-arts-gallery]

Space travel - Aqaris II

All space travel (Click!)

All space travel (Click!)

[theofficialastronomy101]

What the earth looked like and how it may end. A water world before large-scale continents had formed; a "snowball" Earth phase with extreme glaciation; and a world shrouded in smoke after a large asteroid impact. Bottom: Earth today; Earth losing its oceans as the sun becomes hotter; and a final scorched Earth.

[biostatprof]

Surfer contemplating the infinite

[elliepassmore]

A Letter to the Luminous Deep review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: light academia, fantasy, mysteries, epistolary narrative, mental illness rep, LGBTQ+ characters

Big thanks to Netgalley, Orbit, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book starts out relatively slow, and even when it picks up this is a character-driven novel more than a plot-driven one. I've seen it likened to Emily Wilde's, which I would have to agree with, and imo the pacing is pretty similar between the two. With that said, I think the pacing benefits this kind of novel and I enjoyed the unfolding of events and character relationships over the course of the book.

Likewise, this book is written epistolary style, so through letters and journal entries, which I've noticed becoming more of a thing recently. I think it's a really interesting way of telling a story and think it's a great way both to get to know a character and to introduce narrator unreliability (Henerey himself even points out that he purposefully will not write certain things down since he does not want them to be read). I think the way Cathrell utilized the epistolary narrative style for this novel was brilliant. The events that occur are, in and of themselves, a mystery and by having those events told via letter, the mystery is compounded through two layers of characters revealing things. It's a super interesting way to go through a mystery novel and I feel it added to the experience and the suspense. We already know the ending, but E. and Henerey nor Sophy and Vy nor us know how that ending happened, and only the latter two groups are going into this mystery with the knowledge of how it ends.

The world in this novel is quite interesting. It's a mostly-aquatic society that had to rebuild after falling out of the sky 1000 years prior in an event known as the Dive. It seemed to have decimated technology, land masses, and a good portion of the population, though society is now flourishing on it's three "campuses," each of which have slightly different cultures and seem to prize different virtues. I liked getting the snippets about the world and how it functioned, as well as getting to know the names for the animals of the world (some of them are familiar, most are variations on what we would know, such as the "toothed whale"). I look forward to learning more about the world in book 2.

The book is pretty evenly split between E. and Henerey's correspondence and Sophy and Vyerin's, leaning more toward Sophy and Vyerin's. I liked seeing the two sets of relationships grow, with E. and Henerey becoming romantic while Sophy and Vy become friends and help each other heal from the loss of their siblings. I also enjoyed seeing how each group put the puzzle pieces together and the ways in with Vy and Sophy are able to add some additional context both to the mystery as well as to their siblings' lives.

To start with, E. is afflicted with a "Malady of the Brain" with makes her extremely anxious and gives her OCD-like tendencies and thoughts (i.e., she repeatedly checks portholes and airlocks to ensure the Deep House is secure, feeling as though the house will spring a leak and kill her otherwise; she also has major intrusive thoughts), and ensures that she has spent most of her adult life within the confines of the Deep House. Despite her anxiety, she pens the letter to Henerey that gets their relationship, and the mystery, started. E. is remarkably inquisitive and seems to have a broad depth of knowledge in multiple subjects, not least ocean life and fantasy novels (two things she and Henerey bond over). I enjoyed getting tidbits about her childhood and seeing her open up to Henerey and their shared intellectual pursuits.

Henerey comes across as a mix of level-headed and endearingly enthusiastic (and nervous). He takes E. seriously from the get-go and the two are intellectual matches as they talk over the ocean, life, and novels. It's clear that Henerey is excited to have made a friend and I liked how much he cared about E.'s interests and opinions. I do feel that we didn't get to know him as well as some of the other characters, so I would like more insight into Henerey if possible in book 2 (Vyerin will def be in it, so hopefully he can provide more insight).

Speaking of, Vyerin felt very realistic to me. He still clearly misses his brother and is grieving his loss, even a year out from when it occurred. This has prevented him from doing much reading into Henerey's personal affects, but as he and Sophy converse via letter, he's able to reconnect with his brother through those letters and begin to both heal and become invigorated for the mystery central to the novel. While Vy seems more 'stuck' in the grief cycle as compared to Sophy (not to say Sophy isn't grieving still too), he's also able to be humorous at times and I enjoyed his quips, as well as the moments when he revealed more about his husband and children.

Sophy seems to have moved a step or two further in the grieving process than Vy, but she too still deeply misses her sister. She comes across as very determined, and even though she isn't in the career position she was in when E. died, she's still very academic in nature and approaches things in a very systematic and logical manner. I particularly enjoyed Sophy's letters because they gave insight not just into the E. and Henerey affair, but also into the Ridge Expedition, which was a major scientific expedition Sophy was on when the whole thing with E-H was going down. The expedition was alluded to have ended abruptly and to have returned few results, but imo it's clear from the get-go that the mission somehow ties in with what happened to E. and Henerey as well as into the book's central mystery.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this book and found myself immersed in the characters and the world. It's definitely slow paced but I think it works for the story and the narrative style. I absolutely love the epistolary nature of the story and the way both the story and the mystery unfolded in dual 'timelines.' I'm greatly looking forward to the sequel!

[thedaily-beer]

Coronado + Fremont Water World West Coast Double IPA (Picked up at Windmill Farms). A 3 of 4. Lots of great herbal and resinous notes in this and a bit of caramel malt sweetness, too. A bit old-school and much appreciated, though it is quite a bit maltier than even the West Coast IPAs of yesteryear. Still, a nice change of pace and quite good.

[blueskipper-photography]

Lüneburg (Town Centre) ©2024 blueskipper

Another rainy day

In the North

Feeding the birds

Makes me smile

©2024 blueskipper

[thewisemankey]

Donkey Kong on synthwave is something I never knew I needed.

[saltavista]

[shoreline-system]

Psst. It's ok if physical activities like showering or taking a bath is all you can do in a day. It's okay if you need a long rest afterwards. It's ok if you planned to do stuff afterwards and realised that, today, you aren't going to be able to do that.

Chronic pain and fatigue are difficult to deal with. Disability makes everything, including these tasks, more difficult. It's okay to take things at your own pace.

[aidigitalfun]

Pink Undine: Re

[emly-seppele]

[itsnoahgarcia]

Sparkling Water Magic: When Holographic Meets Nature ✨💧

[jaymyfaie]

Me and flowers 🤷🌸😅

[whimsical-seafarers]