#Chauncey baker-parnassus

[destialpal]

I need everyone to understand how important Chauncey Baker-Parnassus is to me

[rajamitsu]

So I tore through both The House in the Cerulean Sea and Somewhere Beyond the Sea and when I got to this line in SBtS this was all I could think of.

Yes, Arthur Parnassus is too much of a gentleman to actually do this. …but he should have.

[adhdbisexualramblings]

Chauncey: Oh, no, we’re going to jail!

Phee: Luci’s going to jail. I’m saying I was kidnapped.

Chauncey: Hey, that’s a good plan. You and I were kidnapped.

Luci: If I’m goin’ to jail we’re all goin’ to jail!

[acebedrawing]

The Baker-Parnassus family. In Whimsy We Trust🌊

Old doodles from when I first read House in the cerulean sea and recent digital pieces. I LOVE THIS FAMILY 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[aglioeoliocat]

a little family portrait

this book has altered my brain chemistry, made my life better, my days brighter and made me very happy and now I can't stop thinking about it

[house-in-the-cerulean-sea]

Chauncey at the beach 🧡

@dontuwishuwerehere

[tiziamezzosangue1]

I just desperately need an high school AU of the house in the cerulean sea, where there are Arthur, Linus, Zoe and Helen as teenage and they all like volunteer in the orphanage or something like that, so they find the children. And I want a LinXArthur slowburn, whit a deeper analysis of Linus character and his youth (obviously Arthur’s too, but I haven’t seen a fanfic about Linus’ childhood). I want to see a deeper relationship between Zoe and Helen.

I don’t think I am asking for too much 😭.

[vivianna06]

My favorite quote from The House in The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

[myths-tournaments]

Found Family Tournament [Round 1 - Poll 10/64]

(list of characters under the cut)

THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA

Arthur Parnassus Linus Baker Zoe Chapelwhite Theodore Sal Lucy Phee Talia Chauncey

THE LAND BEFORE TIME

Littlefoot Cera Ducky Petri Spike

[strawberrycamel]

HI IM GOING TO EXPLODE /POSITIVE

I am going to recommend a book. a beautiful heartwarming desk-slammingly good book.

It's called The House in the Cerulean Sea and it's written by TJ Klune.

To summarize it without giving away big plot points, it is a beautiful story about a 40 year old social worker working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY) visiting a special orphanage for a month long investigation.

This orphanage houses a handful of non-human children considered 'dangerous'- for example, there is a gnome who loves gardening and threatening people with her shovel, a kid made of goo who wants to be a bellhop, and also the son of the capital D devil. There's also the mysterious Mr. Arthur Parnassus, the master of the orphanage, which the main character, Mr. Linus Baker, has been specifically instructed to share anything he learns about the man in his weekly reports. By his final report, Linus must make a recommendation based on his experience at the orphanage, either to allow it to keep running or to shut it down for the safety of the children.

Man, man, I don't seek out slow burn stuff, but god the slow burn in this story is so so good. And the way that Linus slowly starts to love each and every one of the children, his initial fear of them melting away little by little is so fucking good.

I've been on a bit of a kick with fictional found family stuff lately, and this? Scratches the itch perfectly.

And Sal, my little boy, my little woofer, he tries so hard despite his anxiety and loves to write. He stands up for his family. He is so brave. I hug him. He is mine. My book blorbo. My blorbko.

Anyway, back to Totally Professional Review, I love how the fonts change to indicate printed writing. It's such a small thing but it makes me happy. And Lucy, a very dramatic little guy who adores old records. THEODORE MY BELOVED. What a guy. What a beloved lil guy who treasures buttons and other mundane things like they're made of gold. Talia and her beautiful garden, her beard so soft and well taken care of. Phee and her love of nature. Chauncey is gonna be the best bellhop ever, I believe in him. How could such a sweet boy be anything else?

That concludes my book rec. I will now explode in real life.

[semper-legens]

34. The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune

Owned: No, library Page count: 398 My summary: Linus Baker is a case worker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, assigned to orphanages to see that magical children are being properly cared for. Proper and by-the-book, he is assigned to a ‘problem’ orphanage on a remote island - an orphanage that hosts a female gnome, a wyvern, a forest sprite, a blob boy, a werewolf, and the literal antichrist. Linus is expecting the worst. But with every day that passes, Linus finds himself caring more and more for the odd family on the island, headed by mild-mannered Arthur Parnassus and Zoe the island sprite. And as time goes by, Linus begins to wonder if he has a life outside of paperwork... My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

This book comes very well-recommended. And it's entirely up my street. I mean, please, a book about a home full of magical children seen as strange by the world and facing a lot of prejudice, and the case worker who falls in love with them and their lives? That's got me written all over it. And it was a fun book! Very charming, very endearing. The kids were all delightful, the main character was interesting, and I loved the world this was set in. More under the cut!

Our protagonist is Linus Baker, a by-the-book case worker for the government's branch dealing with magical youth. He goes into orphanages, ensures everything's running as it should, then leaves. He doesn't have dreams or ambitions, he's just a drone. But on going to the island, he finds his humanity, and allows himself to desire. In general I like protagonists in this kind of fiction that aren't Hot Young Singles, so seeing this relatively mediocre middle-aged man was actually really interesting! And his romance with Arthur, the head of the orphanage, was sweet. They play very well off each other, you really get a sense for how deeply compatible these two men are. The kids are also a delight. Fundamentally they're all just weird kids with magic powers who don't much trust outsiders - my favourite was Chauncey, a blob-boy who really wants to be a bellhop. Why? Saw it in a movie once and became obsessed with the notion. Which is exactly how little kid special interests work.

Not only is the worldbuilding here interesting, it's also revealed in small doses or at natural times, such as Linus going over the Rules and Regulations or reading case files. Magical beings are a Thing in this world, and are an oppressed minority, with children being forced into orphanages or schools and often abused by their caretakers. The signalling is pretty clear - the See Something, Say Something posters mentioned to be all over the place are so reminiscent of the posters with the exact same slogan that are all over train stations targeting immigrants. But magical beings aren't exactly one metaphor. Arthur and Linus' status as gay men are also the metaphor, it's allegorically representing a broad spectrum of marginalised communities.

The biggest gripe I had with this book was that the stakes didn't feel all that high. The kids are shown to be capable, threats are dealt with reasonably quickly, and people warm up to the kids rapidly on meeting them. A few decide to hate them for what they are, but they're portrayed more as one-note bigots than anything else. I get the wider point the book was trying to make about prejudice and systemic inequality, and it's admittedly effective in showing how individuals are often powerless in the face of systemic prejudice, and how even systems that seem to be working well from an outside perspective can be rotten to the core. It's just simplistic in its worldview, which isn't by necessity that bad a thing, but I was hoping for a little more nuance.

Next up...come on, grab your friends.

[readingforsanity]

Somewhere Beyond the Sea | TJ Klune | Published 2024

A magical house. A secret past. A summons that could change everything.

Arthur Parnassus lives a good life built on the ashes of a bad one.

He's the master of a strange orphanage on a distant and peculiar island, and he hopes to soon be the adoptive father to the six dangerous and magical children who live there.

Arthur works hard and loves with his whole heart so none of the children ever feel the neglect and pain that he once felt as an orphan on that very same island so long ago. He is not alone: joining him is the love of his life, Linus Baker, a former caseworker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. And there's the island's sprite, Zoe Chapelwhite, and her girlfriend, Mayor Helen Webb. Together, they will do anything to protect the children.

But when Arthur is summoned to make a public statement about his dark past, he finds himself at the helm of a fight for the future that his family, and all magical people, deserve.

And when a new magical child hopes to join them on their island home - one who finds power in calling himself monster, a name that Arthur worked so hard to protect his children from - Arthur knows they're at a breaking point: their family will either grow stronger than ever or fall apart.

Welcome back to Marsyas Island. This is Arthur's story.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea is a story of resistance, lovingly told, about the daunting experience of fighting for the life you want to live and doing the work to keep it.

We have returned to Marsyas Island, where Arthur Parnassus lives with former Department in Charge of Magical Youth employee, Linus Baker, and the six children they hope to adopt. However, these aren't just ordinary children. They have been deemed the most dangerous of children by DICOMY. There is Phee, a forest sprite; Chauncey, an unknown green blob of unknown origin; Talia, a garden gnome whose gardens have blessed magazines across the world; Theodore, a wyvern who loves the strange and unordinary in every day items; Sal, the oldest and who can transform into a tiny pomeranian if he should experience any sort of emotion and finally, Lucy, the Antichrist himself, the son of the Devil.

For years, they have lived quietly and comfortably within their home on the island off to Marsyas. Also living on the island is Zoe, an island sprite and friend of Arthur's, who is also in a romantic relationship with the mayor of Marsyas Village, Helen.

After the events of the last book, the group is dealing with the aftermath of Linus leaving his post at DICOMY and moving to the island permanently. Arthur has been invited at the behest of the government to speak on his past experiences. Arthur had previously inhabited the island as a child, living in the orphange himself before he purchased and reopened it, having been secluded in a cellar for six months before he was rescued. Arthur is also magical, and is the last known living phoenix in the world.

Linus and Arthur travel back to for the hearing. During its proceedings, they are introduced to the interm head of the departments of DICOMY and DICOMA (which deals with magical adults). He realizes that this invitation was never to learn the truth about what had happened to him but instead was to learn intel on his children, of whom he has now sent in an official adoption application. When it is requested of him to let his phoenix free, he does so, but only realizing too late that has played into the hands of the awful woman, Jeanine Rowder.

Leaving the hearing, they are also dealing with another situation. The following morning, they go to another safe house for adults, where they will be picking up another orphaned child named David. David is a yeti, and his parents had been unlawfully murdered by hunters living him without the only family he had known. David is a theatrical child, though is shy and nervous to leave the home he has known to go to the island where there is nothing but unknowns.

But, David takes the chance and travels with Linus and Arthur back to the island. The children are thrilled to meet him, and they as a family have done everything they could to ensure that David is comfortable in their home, even repurposing the cellar from the horrors it once held to a room cold enough for a young yeti to hang out and sleep.

As time goes on, they are also preparing for the arrival of a DICOMY official to do an inspection. It has been hinted at that Arthur has gotten around his past inspections by seducing the people performing them, as prior to his relationship with Linus, he had been in a relationship with another member of DICOMY at the time he had the orphange reopened (as recalled in the first novel).

When she arrives, the children are unhappy, as is Arthur and Linus. She is rude, and though the government makes its claims that they are doing best by the children, they know the truth. The inspection is set to last two weeks, and while David was meant to be hidden away during this time due to being unregistered with the department, they have come up with a plan to allow him to remain visible.

But it becomes clear later, after Arthur finds her hiding away, that the real reason for the inspection wasn't to ensure the safety of the children, but instead for the governemnt to remove Lucy from Arthur's care for Rowder's own personal gain. It is then that Arthur realizes that he needs to come up with a plan.

Knowing that the outcome of the inspection would result in the children's removal no matter how well it went because the inspector would simply lie in her report, Arthur decides to remove himself as master of the orphange, simply becoming their caregiver and father. Zoe also helps by banishing the inspector from the island, a power that she doesn't like to use but will if she feels it is necessary.

A few weeks go by with the government showing up, but during a Saturday outing to the village with the children ends up with a face to face with Rowder, with the inspector at her side. With the help of reporters who have been trailing behind them for their entire visit to the village, and those friends they've made along the way, they stand up to Rowder and her merrymen.

It is now that we learn that Zoe, the island sprite, is the last of her kind; her grandmother, who had died at the hands of humans in the government more centuries before, was the queen and now Zoe is the queen as the last one of her kind. She fully banishes them from the village, as the island and the village had once been one in the same, and with the help of Lucy, has the government officials removed.

In the epilogue, Arthur and Linus finally marry, and the village becomes a safe haven for individuals of magical and nonmagical backgrounds alike.

[mywavesyourshore]

House in the Cerulean Sea

Personally, I'm not fond of fantasy novels, keeping tabs on the intricate web of magical creatures and complex universes can get challenging (I had to look up fan-art for this book more than once, thankfully the art has been amazing). Yet The House in the Cerulean Sea is not your typical fictional conquest of mythical beasts, or a dark twisted journey to a bewitching forest, rather a wonderful and lighthearted story on prejudices, and a reminder to us all, that there's more to life on earth than the naked eye.

"The House in the Cerulean Sea" follows Linus Baker, a quiet and reserved caseworker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY). Linus' life takes an unexpected turn when he is tasked with investigating a group of orphans with magical powers, residing at the mysterious Marsyas Island. Along the way, he learns about the true meaning of family, friendship, and finding happiness in unexpected places.

One of the things that set this book apart is its ability to seamlessly blend the fantastical with the mundane, creating a world that feels both familiar and magical at the same time.

The characters are the true stars of the show, each one unique and lovable in their own way. From the gentle and kind Arthur Parnassus, the caretaker of the orphanage, to the mischievous and adorable children who call it home. The most enjoyable parts of the book is the children bantering and rambunctious daily activities.

While the story may seem light-hearted at first glance, it also has a powerful message about the importance of embracing diversity and fighting against discrimination. The story's overall set up and the juxtaposition of the character's lives creates wonderful friction for such conversation. Arthur and his children on a whimsical island, Linus in a grim corporate desk-job, between the ever-raining city and the sun-filled island . Arthur and Linus both have their reasons to stay within their respective world, is something I relate to. As a (practicing) adult, I know what regulations are made for, but color it with obsession and rules become limitation, cover our eyes from the wonderful thing humans can make. That's why most of us will slip right into misconceptions and stereotypes in order to avoid the discomfort of confronting our own ignorance. We blind ourselves, just because we can't handle how much of our kind we haven't understand. The House in the Cerulean Sea raises a tough but important question about our tendency to categorize people (and worse, segregated them) just to make it easier to understand the world.

What made this whole adventure less fulfilling, is the heavy handed approach and repetitious preaching. The moral lessons that TJ Klune tried to get through aren ill-intention by any means, but being too one-the-nose can feel forceful (especially when I already got the point made halfway through the book). With a bit more restraint and smarter exposition, this book could have been an absolute modern day classic.

Delightfully goofy at times, charming and kindhearted at others, The House in the Cerulean Sea is a beautiful little gem, a whimsical adventure with family at its heart. TJ Klune managed to tell an enchanting tale of love and acceptance touching on important issues, all the while bringing joy and laughter. I'm glad, for once, fantasy novels can just be about confronting our fears and not slaying the head off a dragon.

Final Rating: B+

__________________________________________________________

(Spoilers ahead)

What I like The chemistry between Arthur and Linus (goals tbh), their arguments give off old-married couple vibes.

My favorite characters Chauncey, an amorphous blob who aspires to be a bellhop. Chauncey's simple dream remind an overachiever like me that sometimes its best to not overthink your goals in life.

What put me off towards the end the writing was a little bit over-sentimental, and felt like the narration was rushing to get to a conclusion.

It would be better if the book had discussed more on both of Arthur and Linus's past and backstories, I'm curious to know more on why they have come to nourish a love for protecting children. Also, while the children are fun, the book didn't spend time on the world-building. A sequel could benefit this, should we get to know more about the magical creatures and the world they inhabit

Would I read it again? Yes, people described it as a warm hug. And as every hugs in the world go, you always need it most during

This is perfect for times when you need something warmth and uplifting, not recommended for people who don't believe in magic (seriously what's wrong with you)

[leticiahorta]

Recently I’ve read the house in the cerulean sea and I loved it SO much!!! I couldn't stop thinking about them so I HAD to make a least a sketch of these lovely characters who have my entire heart

[acebedrawing]

*Somewhere Beyond the Sea* out of context meme: The garden scene~

The fathers proceeded to sip their tea☕️

[kidovna]

This entire book played out like an animated movie in my head so i had to draw the characters as if they were in one 🌊✨