History Literature / TheHouseInTheCeruleanSea

* ManipulativeBastard: Charles Warner, both in the present to Linus and [[spoiler: in the past to Arthur when they were in a relationship]]. The more he says and does, the more obvious it becomes that he deliberately set up Linus by withholding information, in the hopes that the shock would get him to write a bad report. When that doesn't work, and his further prodding also fails, he [[spoiler: outs Arthur as a phoenix and tells Linus to go look at the cellar Arthur was once imprisoned in, clearly hoping the scorch marks will frighten Linus or make him think Arthur is a bad person.]]

* BullyingADragon: On the field trip into Marsyas town, a record store employee named Marty gets the bright idea to [[spoiler: try an exorcism on Lucy. Since Lucy isn't a bad kid, he just throws Marty into the wall, but everyone knows he could've done a lot worse.]] Marty is acknowledge not to be very smart and to have deserved what he got.

* AdultFear: Arthur fears deeply what the outside world will do to the children under his protection. Until Linus came along, he [[OverprotectiveDad didn't even let them off the island.]]

* BullyingADragon: On the field trip into Marsyas town, a record store employee gets the bright idea to [[spoiler: try an exorcism on Lucy. Since Lucy isn't a bad kid, he just throws the guy into the wall, but everyone knows he could've done a lot worse.]] This particular denizen is acknowledge not to be very smart and to have deserved what he got.

* SoulCrushingDeskJob: DICOMY is ''not'' a pleasant place to work. It has a demerits system where employees are dinged for having photos on their desks and getting lunch stains on their clothes, the supervisors are authoritarian monsters, everyone is in fear of Extremely Upper Management, and the layers of bureaucracy in the actual job is noted to crush the hope in new employees. Even the weak attempts at raising morale only serve to be more depressing (such as the mandatory celebrations held by Extremely Upper Management that require employees to eat the lumpy potatoes and dry ham they serve).

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: It seems to be TwentyMinutesIntoThePast with Linus' office having computers but no mention of cellphones or internet.

* AntiAntiChrist: Although Lucy regularly (and hammily) proclaims he's evil, underneath it all he's a sweet kid who doesn't actually want to drown the world in blood and become a god-king.

* TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: Subverted by the Extremely Upper Management. They certain look like it, with their room being a dark rom where they stand above their guest and the information they give Linus is often vague or incomplete, sometimes willfully. That said, they're far from omniscient, are as prejudiced and misinformed about the magical creatures as anyone else under them.

* Unperson: The children on the island and Arthur are considered a secret by the DICOMY and references to them are hidden and omitted everywhere, with the people at the village being paid to pretend they don't know the orphanage even exists. The files about the children are kept in the highest level of confidentiality there is and Arthur's is even more confidential.

* ShipperOnDeck: Zoe and the children for Arthur and Linus.

* TheUnperson: The children on the island and Arthur are considered a secret by the DICOMY and references to them are hidden and omitted everywhere, with the people at the village being paid to pretend they don't know the orphanage even exists. The files about the children are kept in the highest level of confidentiality there is and Arthur's is even more confidential.

A novel by Creator/TJKlune, published in March 2020.

* NatureVsNurture: A central conflict of the story: the DICOMY works with the belief that the children simply are what they are, but as Linus learns, especially in regards to what he sees Lucy being capable of, chosing to be a nice boy instead of the antichrist, it's much more about how they're treated.

* ArcWords: "Don't you wish you were here?"

* BerserkButton: Threatening the children is one to Linus, Arthur, and Zoe.

* CreepyGood: Lucy and Talia.

* HumbleGoal: Chauncey, the many-limbed jellyfishlike child sent to the orphanage for inspiring fear and horror in all who beheld him, wishes for nothing else than to be...a bellhop.

* BadPowersGoodPeople: Several of the characters, but most notably [[spoiler:Arthur, who could burn the world if he wanted to but is more concerned with being a good dad.}}

* {{Department of Child Disservices}}: While Linus himself expresses genuine concern for the children in his care, Arthur's comments and [[spoiler: the level of abuse Sal was forced to endure]] both indicate that Linus is rare. There are also more general problems regarding the Department, given that not a single magical creature had any part in writing the guidelines that run that entire organization.
* EnfanteTerrible: Subverted with Lucy (see above); although he likes to talk a big game, the actual danger is to ''him'' from other people ''believing'' he is this, which is why Arthur is so hair-trigger about Linus using words like "Antichrist".
* ExactWords: When Linus's awful direct supervisor demands to know what exactly he likes about her management style, he realizes he can't pull off another lie and manages to spit out "authoritative". This is not a compliment, but he knows she'll take it as one.

A novel by TJ Klune.

Published in March 2020. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250217288

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In the end, Linus has finally seen DICOMY for what it really is, snaps, and gives Extremely Upper Management one of these before [[spoiler: quitting and returning to the island.]]

* GooGooGodlike: A regular issue for magical children, particularly the ones under Arthur's care. Phee, for instance, is so strong she turned several people into trees by mistake.

* {{Family of Choice}}: Arthur, Zoe, and the children are already one before the novel begins. Linus joins it over the course of the novel.

Linus Baker is a social worker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He has been working the job for seventeen years, and now he is forty, rotund, and alone. Linus is charged with a special assignment by Extremely Upper Management. The assignment is a month-long visit to a small island to evaluate an orphanage run by Arthur Parnassus. The orphanage is home to six magical children, one of which is a six-year-old named Lucy, who is the Antichrist. As the month goes by Linus finds himself becoming increasingly attached to the children and their mysterious caretaker. Published in March 2020. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250217288