Somewhere Beyond the Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #2)

by T.J. Klune

“When we live in fear, it controls us. Every decision we make is smothered by it. I refuse to live like that any longer. I have every right to walk in through those front doors, same as anyone else.”

Lucy nodded. “And I’ll open up a dimensional doorway in the fabric of reality and send her to a place where even demons fear to tread. What is this evil place, you might be asking? Great question!” He spread his hands wide in a practiced display of showmanship. “It’s called … Florida.”

“Bigotry comes in all forms,” Sal said, “not just against magical people. It wasn’t too long ago that you and Linus couldn’t get married, and look at you now.” And then he broke the world. “You have to trust me. Trust us. We may be kids, but we’re your kids, Dad. You made us all believe we could do anything. Now you have to trust us to do that.”

Sal laughed, shaking his head. “That’s because you’re our father.” His smile faded slightly. “But even then, I have to figure out some things on my own. I need to make mistakes and learn from them. I’m a kid, but I won’t be for long.” He glanced back at his brothers and sisters. “We won’t be for long. Isn’t it time we showed people what we’re made of?”

“You don’t know the first thing about us,” Sal said. “You claim to, but you don’t. Even when you first met us, you tried to get us to say something we didn’t like about living here. You showed your hand before you even knew the game had started.” “This isn’t a game,” Miss Marblemaw said. “Then stop treating us like pawns on a chessboard,” Sal countered. “You were never going to let us stay here. Admit it. You talk of honesty, but you don’t know the first thing about it.”

I do want to be remembered as something, and it’s very specific: not the Antichrist, but the Anti–J.K. Rowling. I want to be her antithesis, her opposite. I want my stories to fly in the face of everything she believes in.

To make it unequivocal: J.K. Rowling’s beliefs on trans people are abhorrent and have no place in a modern society. People like her—people who believe trans people are somehow lesser—deserve to be shunned until they disappear into the ether. As Arthur says in the novel, “Hate is loud.” He’s right. People tend to love quietly and hate loudly. But here’s the thing: I don’t do anything quietly. I’m a loud motherfucker, and I will continue to be, especially when my community is under attack.