#divearth

My whole goal with Beyond the Sea is to translate the world of these films into a human context without sacrificing the scale of said world, so a lot of setpieces are very close to how they were in the original version, but with a “Divearth” twist.

Generations back, her family boarded one of the Arks leaving Earth. The Arks were constructed right after the Breach occurred, and were massive space ships that would take people to the Surface and drift atop the Sky-Portal. Some of these Arks made it all the way up there and remained there for centuries. Some of the later Arks that were made drifted atop OUR ocean instead, which at that point had flooded the entire Earth.

The borders of Nacair-spheres are kind of like portals* in themselves. If you “swim” to the edge of your own, you’ll emerge through the edge of another one—possibly miles away! People don’t usually cross these boundaries for fear of what awaits on the other side, but massive Nacair-evolved sea creatures often come through.

*these portals are distinct from Cortals, which form in-between small spaces and are far more unstable in regards to where they lead/what their lifespan is. Nacair-sphere boundaries may lead to different places depending on cardinal directions and such, but those destinations never change.

Because these environments are underwater, the sky appears to ripple; Nacair clouds INSIDE of each sphere, meanwhile, are portals themselves to the Surface—or Diver World. You can look up some nights and see two skies at once!

LET ME EXPLAIN

I figured out what Divearth looks like from space. In essence, the massive portal enveloping the Earth functions as a two-way mirror: those on the 'inside' of the atmosphere are wrapped in the side of the portal that links the planet to the Diver Realm, but when viewed from the outside, Earth looks like it's undergoing a very very cloudy and colorful swirling storm. It moreso resembles a planet like Neptune or Jupiter. And, in some ways, it's a tide LIKE REPLICATOR'S TIDE, that's still conducted by our moon.

So what would happen if someone approached Divearth from space and went through the other side of the portal-storm that's going on? Well... I think they could get here--as in, move through the Portal normally and end up on Divearth--but I don't think they'd be able to leave through the way they came in. If they tried to ascend back to space, they'd just end up on the Surface--in the Divers' realm.

Of course, there are exceptions. The nacair tide is conducted by the moon, and does come in and out. There are times when Diver World's sky is sort of superimposed over OUR outer space; times when it's barely visible, but our Sun and Moon are. And then there are times when we can't see our own Sun and Moon, but we can see those of Diver World.

The effects of Nacair are largely influenced by altitude. The closer you are to the Surface, the weaker gravity is. Mutations in coral/general terraforming over the course of centuries post-Breach have caused many parts of Earth (especially coral reefs) to grow Very High, to the point of even piercing the atmosphere. Due to Nacair's properties, people can still breathe up there just fine.

"How did sea creatures from the True Blue make it all the way up into Nacair?" Great question! The formations of water spout-esque drains in the sky, which linked the True Blue (the original ocean) to the first Nacair clouds allowed many sea creatures to venture up into the sky, and thanks to Nacair's properties at these altitudes, they were able to stay there!

"How is the Finding Family able to go to the 'real' beach in On Anemone Lane when the reef is so high up?" Another great question! And something I absolutely thought about when I wrote it and am not making up an answer for right now! It's not the real beach!! Nacair varies in density, creating ocean-esque expanses of nacreous clouds at places such as the Reef! You still have to venture some ways to get there, but it's essentially still a beach! These Nacair "oceans," which house their own ecosystems and evolved fish, are also where the Sharks used to hunt before they swore off the practice.