#luci THITCS

[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!

[vkelleyart]

“You silly, delightful man. There is nothing to be sorry for. You fought for us.” - Arthur, THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA by TJ Klune

Here is my contribution to Our Favorite Scene Zine latest edition, which compiled over 20 artists’ interpretations of the reunion scene from THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA. This book was my first inroad to TJ’s staggering body of work, and remains one of my comfort books at times when my faith in humanity is challenged, or when parenting two smarty-pants gets particularly hard. 😅 From the outset, I wanted to focus on the kids’ reactions to Arthur and Linus’s reunion, because love is something that children inherit from their grownups, and that joy multiplies as they grow up in safe and accepting spaces. I hope you like how it came out. 💕

[bookwyrminspiration]

a handful of moments I saved while reading somewhere beyond the sea :)

[skygemspeaks]

thinking about lucy yelling "you're not my real dad!" at linus one day because he's upset at him

and that night linus decides to sleep in the guest house because he thinks lucy is still upset and he wants to give lucy some space

But actually after he brushes his teeth, lucy sits on arthur and linus's bed, waiting for linus so that he can apologize to him

But then arthur starts turning off the lights and ushers lucy off to bed but lucy says "i'm waiting for linus to come back"

And arthur perhaps could have worded it better, but he says "linus isn't coming back" and of course he means he's not coming back tonight

But lucy bursts into big, wailing sobs because he thinks linus left for good, and he's about to dash out after him in a panic because he has to stop his dad from leaving

And arthur is bewildered at the big reaction, but he assures lucy that no, linus is just sleeping in the guest house tonight

Lucy calms down immediately, but still insists on going to apologize to linus right that moment because he just can't wait until morning

[lucky-numberme]

[ID: A digital illustration of Lucy, Theodore, and Phee in flight. Lucy has bat wings and grins excitedly at his siblings, eyes glowing slightly red. Phee is patting Theo's head, and both of them are smiling up at Lucy. End ID]

@davidbowielovesyou mentioned this idea in the most recent chap of On Your Shore, and it was too cute not to draw :3

[inndelibles]

I'm sorry I genuinely can't stop thinking about Somewhere Beyond The Sea and will very likely be making several posts talking about it. You have been warned 🫡

[ask-arthur-parnassus]

How are you and the children doing?

Thank you dearly for asking!

I don't check the computer very often, but when I open it to asks like this, I can't help but smile.

We are all doing as well as we can be. Some days are better than others, of course, but I would say on average our days have more ups than downs. When I was a much younger man I proclaimed that I would never be a father. I couldn't see myself ever having enough bandwidth to parent, and I considered myself too broken to impart anything positive on a child. As the years passed and I grew and healed, my icy feelings towards children thawed. I don't know if you know this but before living on the island I worked at a primary school in the city for some time, and seeing how intelligent, inquisitive, and tenacious our young can be was an inspiration and a half! These children Linus and I have, they make me grateful every single day that my mindset was untethered.

My writer extraordinaire, Sal, flourishes with each passing day. The worlds he holds in his mind... I know only a fraction of what he sees is translated onto the page, but it's enough to blow us away. He has gotten very into children's fantasy as of late, and has been reading to the girls at bedtime. He recently showed me a short play he wrote, about a strained relationship between a child and their parents. It had a tragic ending, and I cried. His future is so bright.

Talia has started down the path of mad scientist. She is mildly obsessed with cross-pollination, and believes she can Frankenstein together different flora to create... something. At first her goal was to create the tastiest fruit out there, but then she was trying to create the LEAST tasty fruit, and then I think she got fed up with Lucy's 'fruit' jokes and moved on to vegetables, and then she learned that vegetable is a culinary distinction and as far as gardening goes doesn't actually mean anything... so I'm not sure what she's doing in those flower beds. It's sure to be devious, though. I can count on Talia to be devious.

Linus, my wonderful Linus. Where to start?

Love is... unlike anything else. Love is him bringing me a mug of Earl Grey in the morning because he's an earlier riser than I am. Love is him covering my eyes during the suspenseful parts of horror movies. Love is a kiss on the temple during the hard days, a reminder that this argument or this struggle is temporary. Every day, I wake up and I thank the universe for sending me Linus. I have had loneliness and I have had companionship and I much prefer companionship. I much prefer Linus.

So in short, and without wanting to risk 'jinxing it', things are going quite well.

[lavender-lotion]

The House in the Cerulean Sea - T. J. Klune | Lucy/Sal (The House in the Cerulean Sea) | Lucy (The House in the Cerulean Sea), Sal (The House in the Cerulean Sea) | Pseudo-Incest, Future Fic, Pining, New Year's Kiss, Getting Together, Cuddling & Snuggling

“Tell me more about why people kiss on New Year’s Eve.”

“I don’t know why,” Lucy said with a frown. He uncrossed his arms, but didn’t shift up from his ankles. “It’s a tradition. You’re supposed to kiss when the clock hits midnight.”

[captain-is-king]

i LOVE the intimacy and love and hugs and kisses in this book.

like. thitcs is SO full of love but between arthur trying to not appear too close to the kids/seem like their father because he’s supposed to be the master of the orphanage and linus being literally a DICOMY representative we hardly see people hugging or like showing physical intimacy.

and now!! we have linus and arthur kissing all the time, zoe and arthur kissing each other on the cheek, helen kissing linus and arthur on the cheek or kissing her girlfriend on the mouth (sidenote i’m so happy to see more of these two). the kids hugging or cuddling or really just touching each other in some way like holding hands or leaning on each other. having sleepovers. the fucking cuddle puddle in linus and arthur’s room when the kids find out they’re engaged!!!! talia snuggled between them, phee next to arthur, chauncey on top of all of them. it’s so wonderful! we see phee and arthur have their moment in the gazebo and phee kisses arthur’s hand which is so sweet and then he becomes the phoenix and is poking at her with his beak and they fly together and fall asleep on the sandbar together! and then you have linus scooping lucy up and crying and peppering his face with kisses because he paid attention during fucking vocabulary lessons and lucy refusing to let go.

just. all the ways these characters showed love to each other was phenomenal in thitcs and i ate it up but now they can be even more open about it and it’s just wonderful. i love love!!!! i love found families!!!! i love this book!!!!

[azurejacques]

OK spoilery follow up to my last post on Somewhere Beyond the Sea- you have been warned!!

First off- I must admit that it was, quite genuinely, not until I read the acknowledgements that I realized that Janine Rowder is a stand-in for JK Rowling. I swear I use my brain sometimes, I just have a tendency to turn off the analytical part while I’m consuming media I’m enjoying.

Relatedly, I absolutely love TJ for not holding anything back at the end and calling JKR the fuck out, and calling himself the Anti-JKR; and as well for dedicating the book to the trans community.

It’s been a while since I read THITCS, so it took me a sec to remember everyone and everything, but omg still like Linus proposing to Arthur so quickly- 😭 my boy has come so far in his character development. And oh my god their wedding scene in the epilogue was so well done and so beautiful; it has that classic TJ Klune humor and I love the way the kids just ignore ceremony and tackle Arthur once he walks up to the podium.

The epilogue as a whole was so well-done, I love to see Marsyas blooming as a haven for magical folk and all people who see their vision, it works beautifully with the allegories for queerness and other oppressed minorities represented by magical people in this series; it reminds the reader that in hope there in strength, and we too can overcome and pave the path towards a better world.

And god, Arthur’s progress in this book was so good to watch unfold. For all the work and healing and processing he’d already done, there was much left to be done (and still is), and the way he (and the other grownups) not only helps the children, but they help him in turn is really well done; for example, Phee asking him to fly with her as the Phoenix, and everyone (Linus, Lucy) caring for him and helping him during and after his breakdown after hearing Marblemaw talking to Rowder on the beach. The amount of love, in small displays and great, is incredible in this book.

And Lucy, omg, I love him so much, his growth, too, is amazing to witness and he’s just so adorable, latching on to Linus and not wanting to go down after being picked up 😭

And I’ve kinda mentioned this before, but the ways in which the children begin to establish and express their autonomy is so well done, especially with Sal’s growth as a person. From being reserved and unspeaking (at least to those he’s not comfy with) due to trauma inflicted on him, to a brave teenager who will stand up for his siblings and make sure even his own fathers know when they’re wrong or don’t have the same perspective he or the kids in general do (e.g. the intersection of his identities as being both a magical person and a Black person, a perspective mainly limited to him (Zoe too, but also kinda not bc she hasn’t had as much interaction w humanity in the last… long while until recently)).

Such a great book

WAIT ZOE!! Omg I loved her arc and story in this book!! I love the way her character is done and how her status as protector of the island is highlighted and then it’s revealed that she is, in fact, Queen. It almost feels allegorical for how the movements and communities we have were built upon the work and literal ground of Black and Indigenous communities here in America (and especially Black trans folk!). Marsyas is her people’s land, and despite everything done to her and her family and people, she, with the help of her newfound allies, creates a new home for those who have been hurt and oppressed like her.

[theluciferswar]

Lucifers VS Lucifers : Round 1

Lucy : Six year old orphan antichrist being raised by two gay men with a bunch of other orphaned found family

Lucifenia : A place rather than a person but I think it would be funny. Landmass sweep

[yamikakyuu]

After seeing @samglyph's THitCS art, I desperately need a Malevolent/THitCS crossover where Lucy can totally hear John. Arthur (Lester) is shocked, Arthur (Parnassus) is not. Linus is confused.

[dontuwishuwerehere]

Don't You Wish You Were Here Event Fic Collection

At the Door with Linus by Westgate (Harkpad) (Rated T, multichapter in progress) Summary: Hugo, Wallace, and Mei get a very unusual file: one of Linus Baker. It's a little sad because obvious reasons, but I promise it's a feel-good story. The "Major Character Death" tag is there because that's how the world of "Under The Whispering Door" works. Offscreen death. Lucy isn't having it, btw. If he can boil the seas, he can stop all of this, surely.

The Home in the Cerulean Sea by @house-in-the-cerulean-sea (Rated General Audiences, 2434 words) Summary: so this is for the don't you wish you were here event in celebration of thitcs's third birthday. It is the story but from the perspective of the house, which is also magic and sentient. You know, the usual. Basically I thought a house filled with so many magical people on what is essentially a magical island can't not be magic right? So what if it loves the people that live in it back?

Lucy's Macbeth by @davidbowielovesyou. (Rated T, 8218 words) Summary: For his seventh birthday, Lucy wishes to direct a play. So, with the help of Sal, he writes a script for everyone at Marsyas (plus J-Bone!) to perform Macbeth together under his direction. He also plays Lady Macbeth.

Magic Yet Unwritten by nyaaauuuu (Rated General Audiences, 3147 words) Summary: Zoe Chapelwhite has always been a little suspicious about Marsyas village. But she's been curious, too.

[see the collection on AO3]

[bookwyrminspiration]

THE ANTICHRIST???

LUCY MY BELOVED!! I adore him so so much but also was so startled when that scene came up because I wasn't expecting it at all. You're gonna fall in love with him I'm telling you right now he's the best, every scene he's in is a delight. All the kids are delightful I just have a soft spot for Lucy. Clapping with delight I'm so excited for you <33

[skygemspeaks]

i'm only about halfway through, but there are so so many things i really appreciate about "somewhere beyond the sea"!

i really appreciate how arthur firmly but gently reminds linus that though he and the children love and appreciate linus for standing by them and standing up for them, at the end of the day there are still things that linus will never be able to understand about what arthur and the children go through every single day, just by being born the way they were born.

i appreciate that linus doesn't get defensive! he listens to arthur and apologizes when he realizes what he did wrong, and asks what he can do better!

i appreciate that arthur will always be the first to admit when he did something wrong, and when one of his children says something to contradict him0 instead of shutting them down, arthur asks them to expand, and he takes what they say to heart.

i appreciate that arthur is willing to have the difficult conversations with their kids - when sal and lucy ask why it's up to them to educate and change the minds of bigots, to the prove to the world that they deserve to live and be happy and safe, and arthur validates them, says that they're right, and in a perfect world it wouldn't be up to them to do the emotional labour of teaching people the error of their ways. i appreciate how he gently explains to them that unfortunately they (we) don't live in a perfect world, and we can only do the best with what we have.

there's just so much about this book that's painful and healing and heartwarming and i just love it so so much.

[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