The commentator narrating the pup’s moves with the ball is AMAZING and I’m crying
“(…) right, but he decides to kick the ball. He gets close, and who grabs it? The Friend(dog)! Yes! A pup got into the field. He’s tied to it. He puts it under his paws and shows what football was missing in the Gasometro (field’s name). The [team]’s men want to grab him, but they cant! The Friend has his eyes on the ball. He runs to find it again. Yes! He bites! He kneads! He wants it close! He gets lost, he’s so happy! Castro (player) wants to kick his Corner but he can’t. He tells the pup “enough, enough, go over there”… however *commentator laughs*, there’s the pup! When he puts it on the floor, [the dog] goes again for the ball. And of course, as any skilled man, wants it all for himself. A bit of an over-eater, this pup. And he clearly has shown conditions / talent. [The team] found the way to the goal thanks to the Pichicho’s (little dog) essential input…. who, of course, as any protagonist had his place at [the tv show].“
*camera switches to interview where dog barks and mounches on the reporter’s mic (who allows him do it)*
I’ve been watching Argentinean football all my life and I can confirm this is the best to ever happen on a match.
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!!!!
Girl listen, I am thick as a box of rocks, so no I did not pick up on the completely unsubtle Jeanine Rowder, but damn if that wasn’t a stunning revelation when I got to the Acknowledgements. Punches? Unpulled. 10/10 no notes.
My favorite part of Somewhere Beyond the Sea so far has got to be all the government officials trying to slutshame a middle aged dad of six with funky socks
One of my favorite things about Somewhere Beyond the Sea was how was Sal has grown and become more comfortable since the beginning of the first book. I mean, this kid who rarely spoke up about anything, and NEVER around Linus, is now the one the kids almost always trust to speak up for them.
And more importantly, he calls out the adults for dumb things they’re saying or doing SEVERAL times throughout this book. It says so much about Arthur, Linus, and Zoe and the way they raise these kids that he’s comfortable doing that. It makes my heart so happy to see him have a place where he’s that comfortable in his own skin, and I love the adults in his life for giving him enough respect and room to flourish for that to happen. It shows in all of the kids, but I think Sal especially.
