#i love you lucifer baker-parnassus

[bigassbowlingballhead]

6. somewhere beyond the sea

arbitrary list of the tj klune books i've read so far, ranked in order of enjoyment

ravensong

brothersong

wolfsong

heartsong

the house in the cerulean sea

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Queer Book Recommendations!!

I haven't really read a book book in years. Due to money problems and a lack of free time, audiobooks and AO3 were a MUCH cheaper option for me. But now that I'm struggling to fully read text posts on Tumblr I realize my attention span is shot. Reading novels is helping me tune out and focus in again. So I'm turning to queer novels written by my 'queer elders'.

For anyone who is struggling to get back into long form content after reading Fic for years, I highly recommend the books of TJ KLUNE (summaries of what I've read under the break).

If you are a fan of the 'escaping a shitty life and being welcomed into a found family' fanworks, this is the writer for you! All his stories center on home and feeling welcomed and loved. Of middle age and finding out who you are. Of finding love for others and yourself. He makes you hunger for that type of romantic and platonic love where people just know the real you. His stories also float by so quickly, there are so many things he does that I want to emulate his writing into my work.

Someone on Tumblr described the romances as: “what if a real life disney prince fell in love with the human equivalent of a wet paper bag?” and I agree 100%. All his protagonists are just like that, and I love them all.

(Also, this man definitely had an office job he hated, and writes office work culture as a death sentence in every one of his novels and I love it).

If you have any queer novels you love, don't be afraid to leave me a recommendation! (Especially WLW that isn't 'One Last Stop')

HAVE READ: The House in the Cerulean Sea : [An amazing love fantastical found family story (with a hint of romance)! I listened to the audiobook on Audible and absolutely loved it! I can't wait for the sequel coming out next year.]

Linus Baker is a lonely case worker for a governmental organization which manages orphaned kids who are magical beings.

One day, he's given a secret assignment to assess a special orphanage on the island of Marsyas, run by a man named Arthur Parnassus, who has secrets of his own. Among the six unique children living there, one of them is Lucy, short for Lucifer, who just happens to be the Antichrist.

Despite his initial reservations, as Linus's days pass in Marsyas, in this idyllic setting among a coterie of magical children, Linus finds himself coming across a little romance, an unlikely family and possibly even a home.

Currently Reading: Under the Whispering Door. [I know this is going to be heartbreaking, but I'm loving it, only on page 50/373. Will likely post something vague about how it made me cry lol]

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he really might be dead.

Instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village. On the outskirts, off the path through the woods, tucked between mountains, is a particular tea shop, run by a man named Hugo. Hugo is the tea shop's owner to locals and the ferryman to souls who need to cross over.

But Wallace isn't ready to abandon the life he barely lived. With Hugo's help, he finally starts to learn about all the things he missed in life.

When the Manager, a curious and powerful being, arrives at the tea shop and gives Wallace one week to cross over, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Planning on reading: In The Lives of Puppets(The book is on my shelf).

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots—fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio–a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

[starstickersonmyheart]

Linus and Arthur appretiation post

i finished the house in the cerulean sea a week ago * spoilers, it may not be the most intelligent or best written or most insightful book. Its just a dumb cozy fantasy. but it was so beautiful to read and i fell in love with the cute little gay romance between Linus Baker and Arthur Parnassus, obviously Lucy(Lucifer) is the best charecter ofc.He has spiders in his brain.

(i cant spell if you hadn't noticed)

anyway, Linus and Arthur really have a beautiful connection, like wheres my Linus, its the type of Romance that isn't perfect, its just absolutly perfect, ofc.

by the end of the book, they are engaged to be married, and although there is only one short kiss seen (extremly disapointing ) its just such strong connection you can really see why they love each other. AND THERE 45 SO ITS LIKE THEY FINALLY FOUND SOMEONE AFTER LIKE A WHOLE LIFE <3 and the way that they take care of the children is very well done in my (entirely uneducated) opinion.

I highly recomend it if that sounds like your thing.

[pridepages]

Magic in the Ordinary: The House in the Cerulean Sea

I just finished reading TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea. I have some thoughts.

Here there be spoilers!

A review on the cover of my copy of The House in the Cerulean Sea equates the experience of reading the book to “being wrapped up in a big gay blanket,” which pretty much nails it. This book is pure joy, but there is a particular aspect that deserves love and praise: the journey to queer parenthood.

Queer people are no strangers to found families. To this day, many of us find that we are alienated from the ones we were born into. Even the ones of us lucky enough to still have our biological families often feel like this is a part of our lives that they don’t fully understand or relate to, and being the ambassador or educator to the LGBTQ+ community is exhausting. In the end, all of us need to find our people--the ones who make us feel wrapped up in a big gay blanket. 

But queer parenthood is something beyond that common need. Not all of us want to become parents. But for the ones who do, we often have to forge our own path. We may need donors. We may look to adopt. Our structures will not have commonly understood narratives. But The House in the Cerulean Sea offers us a version of the story that affirms our journey to parenthood and the bonds that make our families just as strong, if not stronger, than any.

The House in the Cerulean Sea follows the journey of Linus Baker. He works for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY) in an ambiguous “city” in an unidentified country. This world is one of magical realism: it is accepted that magical non-human individuals exist. When they become wards of the State, they go to facilities overseen by DICOMY. Caseworkers like Linus are sent to make sure the facilities are up to scratch. As our story begins, Linus is sent to the Island of Marsyas--and a very particular orphanage.

Linus is a gentle soul, lonely and longing for connection--even though he can’t see it yet. He revels in the simple joys of music and a plot of sunflowers in front of his home. He is a career caseworker who genuinely wants to help people and believes that in his capacity at DICOMY that’s what he’s doing. On Marsyas, Linus meets six children who force their way into his guarded heart: Talia, a gnome with a talent for gardening, Phee, a sprite honing her connection to nature, Chauncey, a mysterious slug creature who dreams of working in a hotel as a bellhop, Sal, a pomeranian shape shifter with the soul of a poet, Theodore, a wyvern, and Lucifer “Lucy,” the antichrist with a love of old records. Minding them all is the master--Arthur Parnassus who is a phoenix and was once himself a ward of DICOMY.

This is not a book of great, thrilling adventures. If anything, it is the opposite. The magical abilities the children have set them apart in the harshest way. The way “normal” humans perceive magic is a thinly veiled metaphor for racism, homophobia, and any other prejudice that sets people apart. We as readers have to learn the same thing Linus does: we are more than our extraordinary characteristics. They may be part of our identities, but what’s more important is that we cultivate love and simple joys in life. Joys like dancing in a kitchen with our friends to golden oldies. Joys like admiring the flowers our loved ones grow. Joys like hearing a poem written from the heart read aloud by someone finding their voice. And when we do, we realize “there can be magic in the ordinary.”

The ordinary is a kind of magic for queer people. Some of us dream of simple moments like making dinner with a spouse who loves us, struggling through bedtime fights with a houseful of kids. Such domestic dreams sometimes feel far beyond our reach. But there is strength and courage in pushing back, in finding partners to build those lives with and creating our happiness in defiance of expectations. After all, “why can’t life work whatever way we want it to? What’s the point of living if you only do it how others want you to?” 

We don’t have to listen to the voices that scream that who we are makes us unfit to love and raise children. Nor are those children any less ours for having arrived in our care through unconventional paths. It does not matter that Arthur Parnassus was assigned the care of the children by DICOMY: he teaches them lessons. He schedules time for his kids to explore their own pursuits, exercise their imaginations, and to learn skills like teamwork. He holds family dinner with conversations where they all communicate and share. They build up each other’s self-esteem. When the children go wrong, he quietly corrects them without making them feel like they are bad or undeserving. Arthur is always affirming his belief in his kids’ ability to choose to be better people every day of their lives--whether that means overcoming their fears or fighting their worse natures. His care is trauma-informed, respecting the pain in each child’s background while still nurturing them towards growing and thriving. And that kind of unconditional love and nurturing, Linus insists, is what makes Arthur Parnassus “the best damn father” those kids could have.

Above all, The House in the Cerulean Sea reminds us that every one of us deserves to be loved as the everyday miracles we are. Constantly, Linus’s refrain is “I don’t know how to be anyone but who I already am...It’s not much, but I do the best I can with what I have.” Which absolutely baffles Arthur, who cannot help but effuse to his love “You silly, delightful man...How I cherish you.” “You dear, dear man. How I adore you.” The love they share with each other and for each of their children--for everything they are--is the solid foundation for a home that is joyful, nurturing, and fulfilling. 

Some of us yearn for grand love affairs. Some of us long to spread our wings and have fleeting passions. And some of us hope for warm, quiet hearths with spouses and children to share them. The House in the Cerulean Sea is a love letter to this last group: someday, may we all turn “Don’t you wish you were here?” into that “life that chose you back.”

[siriuslyreads]

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune: A Review

Title: The House in the Cerulean Sea

Author: TJ Klune

Genre: LGBTQ Fantasy

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Release Date: March 17, 2020

Format: E-Book (though I own the physical)

Synopsis:

Linus Baker is a by-the-book case worker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He's tasked with determining whether six dangerous magical children are likely to bring about the end of the world.

Arthur Parnassus is the master of the orphanage. He would do anything to keep the children safe, even if it means the world will burn. And his secrets will come to light.

The House in the Cerulean Sea is an enchanting love story, masterfully told, about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.

Review: (Spoilers Here)

I’ll start by saying, this is one of my all-time favorite books. The found family in this book is something that I adore, and I dream of (though I’ve never been a fan of children). The feelings this book makes me feel just make my day better. It is everything that is needed for a soft comfortable hug at the end of the day. Some Content/Trigger Warnings: major prejudices (against magical beings, but still), and descriptions of child abuse (specifically through severe isolation).

The family in this consists of Arthur, Lucy, Talia, Phee, Chauncey, Theodore, Sal, and Zoe. Each of these magical beings is on Marsyas Island due to their abilities and the world forcing them into isolation in order to ‘protect them and others’. This is a common theme in the book. There are signs all over the city and the town that say “See Something, Say Something” as if having magical abilities is somehow a crime that needs to be reported on, and DICOMY and DICOMA (Department in Charge of Magical Youth/Adults) wants to ensure all magical beings are documented. It makes you question how in the world this would be acceptable in society and why there are not riots/protests.

Enter Linus. Linus is a DICOMY case worker who works with ‘orphanages’ in order to ensure that the children are being taken care of.  Our story begins with him being assigned to visit the Marsyas Orphanage in order to investigate Arthur and the children. In the beginning, Linus holds the same prejudices that the rest of society does, and who wouldn’t? When it is shoved in your face day to day that this is being done for the good of all, it is easy to ignore the discomfort of it. When he arrives and is met with Lucy (AKA Lucifer, the anti-Christ (but we don’t use that word in this house)), he holds certain prejudices against the 6-year-old for who the child is, and who the child can be. It asks the question: nature vs nurture. By the end we can see that (at least in this case) nurture won as Arthur is Lucy’s father, regardless that his biological father is the devil himself.

Each of the children in this book are in the ‘orphanage’ due to their peculiarity. We learn throughout this book the true bond that the children have with each other, with Arthur and with Zoe. Even though Arthur is not their true father, he sees them as his children and will stop at nothing to care for them. Zoe is much the same, she failed Arthur when he was a child and when he returned to open the ‘orphanage’ in his former hell, she offered to help however she could. And Linus becomes someone who cares so deeply for the children and for Arthur that he stands up to those he was fearful of in the beginning.

A part in this book that always touched me: “A home isn’t always the house we live in. It’s also the people we choose to surround ourselves with. You may not live on the island, but you can’t tell me it’s not your home. Your bubble, Mr. Baker. It’s been popped. Why would you allow it to grow around you again?”

Isn’t this how we should all live our lives? Surrounding ourselves with our home, regardless of the place we reside? Popping the comfortable bubble that surrounds us in order to fully experience the wide world that we inhabit? No, there may not be magic in the world, not in the wand waving and shape changing way, but magic is out there for everyone who is willing to pay attention.

Be sure to look out for TJ Klune's next book: In The Lives of Puppets coming out April 25, 2023.

[lizabethstucker]

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

By-the-book caseworker Linus Baker has worked for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY) for 17 years in the same position. His job was to inspect orphanages to ensure the safety of the magical children. If he recommends closure or removal of the master, Linus never follows up as to what happens, excusing it as above his level.

Linus' methodical and seemingly cold reports have him selected by Extremely Upper Management for a mandatory promotional assignment. He must spend a month observing and investigating a small orphanage on Marsyas Island. The master, Arthur Parnassus, only has six children in his care, all of whom are classified as Level Four secrecy due to their inherent dangerousness. The children include six year old Lucy (aka Lucifer) who is allegedly the antichrist; Talia who is a fierce bearded female gnome; Theodore, one of the last wyverns and a bit clumsy on his feet; Phee, the forest sprite who is being coached by an island sprite; Sal who shifts into a Pomeranian when frightened and has dealt with both physical and emotional abuse through 12 orphanages; and Chauncey, a green blob with tentacles and eyes on stalks whose only dream is to help people by being a bellhop.

Zoe Chapelwhite is an island sprite. She is the caretaker of Marsyas Island who helps with the children and will do whatever needs to be done to protect them and Arthur, whether from the villagers on the mainland or from Linus and the rest of DICOMY. She slowly comes to understand that there is more to Linus than meets the eye. Now if only Linus could recognize that fact.

Despite trying to stay his usual objective and emotionally distant self, Linus is being drawn into the lives of all the Island's inhabitants. From supporting and protecting the children to trying to ignore his attraction to Arthur, Linus is changing. Or perhaps letting his true self free from the bubble he's occupied for too long.

I am not going to discuss the frankly ridiculous "controversy" surrounding this book and its author. Writers can and are inspired by everything they read, see, and hear, consciously and subconsciously. Anyone who doesn't understand that fact has never written anything, whether for themselves or others. Klune didn't glorify the mass kidnapping of indigenous children. As a matter of fact, if he hadn't realized where a small piece of his inspiration came from, no one would guessed it for a second. So, you know, shut the fuck up. Yes, Own Voices should write about their cultural heritage and history in fiction and non-fiction, but that doesn't mean others can't be inspired to do the same. Moving on...

I was dubious about reading this book due to all the worshipful reviews plastered over BookTube. I didn't think it could possibly be that good. I've been burned too many times in the past. But, considering I really had nothing to lose as I get 95% of my books from the library, I finally decided to give it a try. And I'm glad that I did.

This is a delightful, if sometimes painful, read from start to finish. It is a story of found families, the struggle to accept yourself and others for what we are and what we can become, to be open to others, and to never give up on finding love. With all the pain and disappointments that might be in their pasts, there is so much hope to get them through to the future.

I would honestly recommend this book to readers Middle Grade up to Senior Citizens. The reader will experience delight and wonder, gasps and tears, yearning and disgust. There are lessons to be learned and prejudices to weaken. We are never too young or too old to learn those lessons.

Thank you, Mr. Klune, for bringing me into your hope-filled world. The epilogue isn't an ending, it is a beginning. My hope is that you revisit Marsyas once more sometime in the future. 5 out of 5