#The Tale of Despereaux reference!

[lilybug-02]

A Gift from the underworld.

Bug Fact: The blood-red worm (Limnodrilus sulphurensis) is a newly discovered species that live off sulfur-eating bacteria in toxic spring waters.

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Masterpost

[dapper-comedy]

aaah my poor heart

[galaxies-and-gore]

Twst OC Bio: Mallory Tilling

Here's the last of my most recent ocs!

Basics:

Name: Mallory Tilling

Birthday: July 5th (Cancer)

Age: 16

Dominant Hand: Left

Unique Magic: Can remove and change the color of an object

School:

Grade: 1st year

Club: Art

Best Subject: Art

Preferences:

Hobbies: Gardening

Pet Peeves: Having trouble smoothing out clay for pottery

Favorite Food: Toast with jam

Least Favorite Food: Beans

Talent: Doesn't stumble over tongue twisters

Misc.:

Species: Mouse beastman

Based On: The dormouse from Alice in Wonderland

Likes: Sleeping, art, taking care of plants

Dislikes: Loud noises, oil paints, his whiskers being touched

Pronouns: He/they, trans man

Orientation: Asexual and heteroromantic

Hair: Grey-blue

Eyes: Grey

Rambling:

I have to say that I was dying to reference The Tale of Despereaux with this character. That book means so much to me. I haven't read Alice in Wonderland in a long time, so I forget what the dormouse is like in the book. Mallory is based on the Disney movie because of that. I consider Mallory to be one of my more interesting twst ocs becasue he was a very late bloomer with his magic. He only developed his UM shortly before being accepted to NRC, so he's still figuring it out and doesn't have a name for it. I can see his magic being comparable to Trey's. Mallory really looks up to Victor because they see him as a role model and someone to strive to be like. I don't have much else to say except they struggle with anxiety plus the feeling of failure and has a stutter.

[hogsnout]

People's tails being cut off is an important theme of my art & you can read into that a phallic metaphor I guess but mostly it is about the violence done to deviant children by adults & their peers. And also a reference to The Tale of Despereaux.

[listsofvaryingimportance]

Episodes of Psych Which I Rewatched out of order in Favorite order

The Old and The Restless (Season 2 Episode 12): Peak Henry moments and one of the first episodes I ever watched so it goes at the top

Lights, Camera... Homicido (Season 2 Episode 13): Yo entiendo español y me gusta telenovelas. Plus the killer isn't obvious unless you've watched the episode 5 times.

Extradition: British Columbia (Season 4 Episode 1): When rewatching the show in whatever order I wanted I started with the Despereaux episodes so you know I love them.

Extradition II: The Actual Extradition Part (Season 5 Episode 10): Despereaux and the kissing at the end

Indiana Shawn and the Temple of the Kind of Crappy, Rusty Old Dagger (Season 6, Episode 10) Another Despereaux and he fakes his own death.

100 Clues (Season 7 Episode 5) One of the few episodes that I greatly understand the parody material, and I love the movie Clue. It's just so good.

The Greatest Adventure in the History of Basic Cable (Season 3 Episode 4) It took me far longer than it should have to rewatch this episode. The supernatural reference is a small plus. Overall, has a heartbreaking ending which also reminds the audience that Henry is a reliable dad.

Tuesday the 17th (Season 3 Episode 15) I saved watching this episode until the night I went back to work at camp. Honestly, it's a thriller, and Gus' involvement sets a fun episode premise.

Shawn Interrupted (Season 6 Episode 6) I'm questioning how high to put this because of the bad portrayal of mental illness, but it is a favorite episode.

Dual Spires (Season 5 Epsiode 12) I don't exactly understand the source material, but I was fascinated the whole way through.

Death Is In The Air (Season 4, Episode 13)

We'd Like to Thank the Academy (Season 5 Episode 13) One of the best one episode side characters and a reminder on why Shawn never became a real cop.

Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast (Season 1, Episode 15) I love Juliet! Also, sororities. But also, why is Juliet the queen bee?

Ghosts! (Season 3, Episode 1) I love the episodes where we are reminded that Gus has a real job. This episode shows off Shawn's devotion to Gus.

The Head, The Tail, The Whole Damn Episode (Season 4 Episode 15): Pretty good, but the beginning is a whole lot better than the ending.

Office Space (Season 7 Episode 11) Sometimes I question if ACAB should include fake psychics who accidentaly tamper with crime scenes

Not Even Close, Encounters (Season 5, Episode 3) Although it is an interesting episode, and the ending is great for their childhood best friend. The bad guy is obvious from the beginning. But I do love so corporate baddies.

Lock Stock, Some Smoking Barrells and Burton Guster's Goblet of Fire (Season 8 Episode 1) This might be a surprise because I love Despereaux, but this episode just feels like they wanted one more episode with him for the final season.

Dead Bear Walking (Season 5, Episode 15) This episode could be so much better if they leaned further into the documentary style for it. Also, the whole bit of letting Lassie get his sister's love is a little trite.

Last Updated 6/6/23

Episodes I have watched and need to add to the list:

Six Feet Under the Sea (Season 3, Episode 10)

Lassie Did a Bad, Bad Thing (Season 3, Episode 11)

Ferry Tale (Season 5, Episode 7)

The Amazing Psych Man & Tap-Man, Issue #2 (Season 6, Episode 4)

Dis-Lodged (Season 2, Episode 14)

[let-remy-cook]

The Tale of Remy, A Rat Enchanted || Part One

A/N: Hello and welcome to my Remy Backstory, which will probably be my rp magnus opus lmfao. Whilst everyone else was doing wonderful swynwrimos, I was writing thousands and thousands of words about a rat in the style of The Tale of Despereaux. That children's book is one I've constantly cited as one of my greatest influences as a writer and a reader. It shaped my tastes and taught me really interesting things about voice and narrative structure, which persist to this day. So with all that said, this is in many ways an homage, and as silly as it is to dedicate a glorified Ratatouille fic to an author, it is dedicated to Kate DiCamillo. She will never read it, but I hope y'all do lol.

i will be releasing it in little chunks (the chapters of Despereaux are very short, normally just two or three pages). So... enjoy!

Chapter One: A Rat Enchanted

Once upon a time, a very special rat was born in the streets of Paris.

He was born during the rainy season, which rats referred to as the Great Wet. The Great Wet was a very difficult time for any street rodent, whether you were a rat or a mouse or even a squirrel, and squirrels have the unfair privilege of being very welcome in green places with lots of trees. But if you are a rat, you have it worst of all. This is one of the sad truths of being a rat. You are often too big to fit into nooks and crannies unless you spend weeks in advance chewing out rat-doors and rat-tunnels, which some rats do. But if you are a pregnant dam, you have no time for chewing out escape routes. And there are no homes for you in the trees. The places most welcome to you will be the greatest, wettest of all– the below places, like the sewers and basements. Many pups will die if they are born during the Great Wet, in all these below places.

Yet this was the place where Remy was born.

(Remy is the name of our special rat, although he will not come into that name for some time. Still, it is rather rude to refer to him as simply ‘the special rat’ and so we will call him by his name, the name that he chose for himself.)

Remy was born as the rain came down in spades and gushed through the grates. He was born in a box of gardener’s gloves on the top shelf of a basement home. The water filled the basement and the sound of the rain filled Remy’s sensitive ears, while his nose filled with the smells of his siblings on either side of him, as well as his mother’s milk, the soil from the gardener’s gloves, and most importantly of all, the faint memory of the fruits and vegetables those gloves had tended. Remy was so fascinated with all those smells in particular. His siblings mewled and suckled, but Remy sniffed and sniffed and sniffed.

And the more Remy sniffed, the more that he smelled. Because the rain had washed in the whole wide world of Paris– all those above places, now below.

He smelled the warmth and dust of horses

He smelled the smoky remnants of discarded bullet shells

He smelled the rankness of spoiled meat and the riches of spilled wine.

And oh, there was even more. It was like a soup of scents, many of which Remy would spend his pup hood searching for again, because of the way they made him feel. He did not have the word for them then, but I will tell all of you now: it was magic that Remy was smelling, magic that danced on the tip of his quivering and curious nose. Magic, and hope, and dreams, from a city that looked out their windows into the Great Wet, waiting for the sun.

Perhaps if it had not been raining, Remy wouldn’t have been different. Perhaps he would have suckled his mother’s milk and grown up a regular rat like his brothers and sisters. There would be no story. There would be no miracles. And there would be no heartbreak.

But it was raining on the day that Remy was born. And so Remy sniffed, and he dreamed, and magic nestled itself inside his heart. He was a rat enchanted, and this is his story.

Chapter Two: The Below

Remy quickly realized that he was different.

It wasn’t hard to figure out. While his fellow pups ate regularly on schedule, Remy missed feedings because he was too busy sniffing out things he really should not be sniffing out, considering his size and his age. He was blind, just like his siblings, and hairless, just like his siblings, but still he could not help but crawl around and treat his whiskers and nose to all kinds of wonderful sensations.

At first, his mother chastised this behavior, because her heart was filled with love and worry for all her pups, and she couldn’t bear the thought of this strange baby of hers getting lost or not eating enough. But she also quickly realized that Remy was different, since he could describe to her the entire layout of the basement without even opening up his eyes. He was strange, but smart.

“Oh, but you really need to eat more,” his mother urged him. “Eating is the most important thing in life.”

This was Remy’s first lesson. And it must be said that it was one he took to heart, no matter how different he became.

Still, he grew to be slim and long, a bit smaller than average for his age, which also set him apart. And every day, there would be something new and bizarre that Remy would do.

One day, Remy asked if they ought to all give themselves names. The colony did not know what he meant by that! A name? How unnecessary, the rats chattered among themselves, when they had scents which distinguished one rat from another. Scents were better than names, because a scent could not only mark a rat, but let their fellow rats know where that rat had been and what they had eaten and if they were in heat or not. It was all useful information.

The next day, Remy asked if they all could smell the music. Someone was playing a guitar upstairs, each note as crisp as the first bite into a carrot. Ah, Remy wanted to listen forever! It was a banquet to his senses! But all the rats chattered at him that they couldn’t smell anything, certainly not carrots. There were no carrots discovered in the heap of trash behind the house either, so Remy must have his scents confused.

And then the third day, Remy asked if anyone would like to come upstairs with him, to sit at the foot of the wonderful music, and feast on the sounds.

At this point, the king of the colony, who was Remy’s father, scuttled forward and bit Remy’s ear.

“Ow!” Remy exclaimed.

“Let those ears of yours work properly or shall I bite your nose too?” exclaimed his father. “We never go upstairs, unless the big-feet leave the house! And when we do, I decide who stays and who goes. Were you not paying attention to the lessons?”

“Lessons?” Remy had not been paying attention to the lessons. He had been paying attention to the music, which smelled quite like celery, carrot, and potato this time.

“Bah, you ridiculous runt,” said the king. “Pay attention. Or one day, I will have to ask you to leave the colony.”

Remy nodded, running one of his delicate paws over his trembling whiskers. Well, Remy did not want to leave the colony. Perhaps he was very different from his siblings, his aunts, his uncles, and his cousins, but he loved them anyway. They were his family, and their scents were still his favourites, even more so than the music. They were the scents of home.

Since that day, Remy attempted to curb his strange questions and strange behaviors. He was a smart rat, after all. Smart rats (and this goes for people too) have a gift for tricking others into believing that they fit in. In fact, Remy put his smarts to good use and quickly became one of the best foragers in the colony, and so the king sent Remy out of the basement into the above world.

Chapter Three: The Above

The day Remy poked his head into the above world, the world welcomed him with light, sound, and scent.

Oh! It was even better than the guitar! Remy’s senses came alive. He could taste the sunshine on his tongue– as sweet and hot as melted sugar. The breeze tingled like pepper in the nose. Remy scampered out with abandon, forgetting the lessons he had dutifully practiced until this point.

“Hey! Come back here! Come back!” shouted Remy’s brother.

Remy skidded to a stop, his fur sticking right up. “Right!” Remy turned right around and scampered back, twitching his whiskers apologetically to the mischief that he was leading. He couldn’t forget them. As the lead forager, his duty must be to his siblings.

But from here, Remy could smell into the faraway places. He stood on his hindlegs to sniff, sniff, sniff, catching not only the rich smells of fresh food, but the traces of the lively, bustling city. Big-feet! That’s what he smelled. They smelled amazing to him, as distinct from one another as one rat to the next. He could not resist learning more about them, and so he beckoned his siblings forward. Instead of exploring the trash heaps along the streets, they headed deeper into the city.

The troop zigged, zagged, and skidded. They scuttled, dipped, and raced as gracefully as– well, as gracefully as rats. I know that rats are probably not what you think of when you picture a graceful animal, but they really are nimble creatures worthy of the compliment.

It did not take them long at all to arrive in a trading market. The air was kicked up with dust, warmed by the sun, and full of human sweat. It was also full of fresh vegetables, ripe fruit, raw cuts of meat, fresh fish from the river, baked bread, and bowls and bowls of spices and herbs.

It was the best-smelling place in the world. For once, Remy and his siblings all agreed.

His siblings began to plot. What foods should they go for first? How would they avoid the big-feet? Ah, perhaps there were some trash heaps in the immediate area that they could scout for. Yes, a good idea! What did their brother, the lead forager and most clever among them, think?

But Remy wasn’t listening.

Remy had his paws grasped together, his entire body trembling at the scents. It was not just the food, the food, the food! It was the big-feet. He quivered as he drank in, for the first time, the smells of human emotion. There, a man arguing with another– their emotions stung his nose. And over there, two men were laughing with each other. Their laughter was milk-and-honey, and filled Remy’s stomach to bursting. And in the middle of the market, a man presented his pregnant dam with a flower, and the dam laughed and kissed the man on the mouth. To Remy, this kiss was the most delicious emotion of all. It tasted like a sunshower– like rain and like light– and he wanted to wrap himself in it, and die a happy rat.

It was too much for such a small, young, strange rat. And so Remy put his paws over his eyes and began to weep.

“What!” squeaked Remy’s sister. “What dreadful noise are you making?”

“Did I step on his tail?” asked Remy’s brother.

“Was he bitten by a mosquito? Is he dying?” asked Remy’s brother (another one).

“By the king’s whisker, he’s leaking!” said one of Remy’s cousins, jumping back.

Remy could not answer his family, even though he wanted to. He could not explain where the tears came from, or how he, a rat, could cry them. It was yet another unexplainable thing about this unexplainable rat, and it struck him right then what a miserable fate it was to be unexplainable. In fact the more he cried, the more his own loneliness bloomed, tasting as bitter as coriander. It hurt his teeth. It hurt his heart.

“I think we should leave him here, in case it's contagious,” said Remy’s sister, who was the beta for the troop and also one of the smarter ones. To her credit, she said it sadly. Remy could taste his sister’s regret. It was also as bitter as coriander.

So Remy nodded to his sister, to let her know that he understood and did not take it to heart. (But he did take it to heart. He took it to heart very much.)

One by one, his family turned away from him, until Remy was alone.

But he was not really alone, was he?

No. Remy looked up from his paws and he looked through his tears to the market, where all the humans moved in front of him, talking and yelling and laughing. It remained the best-smelling thing in the whole world. And right there, Remy’s wish was born. Oh, he thought to himself, how I wished I could belong among them.

[crewdlydrawn]

Fun Fact: in “The Tale of Despereaux”, the soup genie whose visage is made up of food is named “Boldo”—-a direct reference to Arcimboldo’s claim to fame.

[somelazyassartist]

wanted to let you know you’re the tumblr blog i follow that has the most soup related posts on it/pos

What can I say? Soup is just,,, so good,,,,,,,, I swear the meaning of life has to be just. Making a nice soup to share with your friends. I love making soup,, call my kitchen the Kingdom of Dor, cuz we love soup in this household!!

[pistil]

if i were a movie this would be my soundtrack

[fredzina]

Things that happened to me today:

A mouse crawled on me while I was at work to which I had to promptly had to hold in a scream

Two minutes after that I found out my boss tested positivity for covid

A minute after that I found out I will be running the store by myself all weekend with some randos from other stores because my coworkers are either a) having surgery b) going to be in fucking Canada or c) will be home sick due to covid now

Then promptly after that I spilled chlorine all over the floor because one of the lids wasn't on right while stocking it

One of the other managers stopped by and gave me a pretzel reeses because he was on his route from his other job at Hershey

I kind of insulted my gf (but not really) by saying I'd be real bummed if I died before my psych final tomorrow and never got to know my end of the semester grades instead of like saying I'd be bummed if I died rn because my partner is moving to live with me in a couple of weeks

Then I remembered it's our anniversary to which I got a .-. In response (she acts like she's not amused but I know she is)

Oh and I also had the realization that I apparently do not relate the most to tim and dick like I thought but rather bruce wayne and one of my best friends now has me in her contacts as the lego batman and I don't know whether I should feel honored or horrified at the implications of this

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

For Reference, Big Animated Movie Multipliers

The multiplier refers to how many times the opening weekend gross a movie makes... Animated movies typically score really solid multipliers, usually above the 3x range. Of course, we'll be looking at domestic box office performances. Meaning, the US and Canada.

We'll also be starting, because of data availability, post-1984... And we'll cut it off at multipliers under 4.49x.

Not included are films that had unique releases, such as Isle of Dogs. This refers to films that generally open wide and play wide, though some Disney animated features and some Pixar films had select city runs a few weeks before general release. Opening weekend grosses, not overall totals, will be counted in these cases. It also doesn't apply to something like The Croods: A New Age or Raya and the Last Dragon, titles which didn't have the usual traditional wide releases due to their release during the COVID-19 pandemic before vaccines.

The majority of these multipliers are also approximate, save for films that opened under $10m domestically...

Titles highlighted in blue are currently playing in theaters.

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022) - 15.41x ($12m OW / $185m DOM)

Beauty and the Beast (1991) - 15.10x ($9.6m OW / $145m DOM) *original release*

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) - 14.18x ($11m OW / $156m DOM)

The Little Mermaid (1989) - 14.00x ($6.0m OW / $84m DOM) *original release*

Oliver & Company (1988) - 13.25x ($4.0m OW / $53m DOM) *original release*

Aladdin (1992) - 11.42x ($19m OW / $217m DOM)

Migration (2023) - 10.00x ($12m OW / $120m DOM)

The Emperor's New Groove (2000) - 9.08x ($9.8m OW / $89m DOM)

An American Tail (1986) - 9.03x ($5.2m OW / $47m DOM)

The Rescuers Down Under (1990) - 8.20x ($3.4m OW / $27m DOM)

The Adventures of Tintin (2011) - 7.93x ($9.7m OW / $77m DOM)

The Great Mouse Detective (1986) - 7.81x ($3m OW / $25m DOM) *original release*

The Lion King (1994) - 7.80x ($40m OW / $312m DOM) *original release*

Sing (2016) - 7.71x ($35m OW / $270m DOM)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - 7.69x ($6.2m OW / $50m DOM) *original release*

Balto (1995) - 7.53x ($1.5m OW / $11m DOM)

Sing 2 (2021) - 7.36x ($22m OW / $162m DOM)

The Prince of Egypt (1998) - 7.21x ($14m OW / $101m DOM)

The Polar Express (2004) - 7.04x ($23m OW / $162m DOM)

FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) - 6.85x ($3.5m OW / $24m DOM)

Toy Story (1995) - 6.58x ($29m OW / $191m DOM)

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) - 6.47x ($3.4m OW / $22m DOM)

The Land Before Time (1988) - 6.40x ($7.5m OW / $48m DOM)

Shrek (2001) - 6.35x ($42m OW / $267m DOM)

Chicken Run (2000) - 6.23x ($17m OW / $106m DOM)

Frozen (2013) - 5.97x ($67m OW / $400m DOM)

The Care Bears Movie (1985) - 5.94x ($3.7m OW / $22m DOM)

All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) - 5.74x ($4m OW / $27m DOM)

A Goofy Movie (1995) - 5.73x ($6.1m OW / $35m DOM)

Mulan (1998) - 5.45x ($22m OW / $120m DOM)

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018) - 5.42x ($35m OW / $190m DOM)

Elemental (2023) - 5.31x ($29m OW / $154m DOM)

The Black Cauldron (1985) - 5.12x ($4.1m OW / $21m DOM)

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) - 5.09x ($1.1m OW / $5.6m DOM)

Spies in Disguise (2019) - 5.07x ($13m OW / $66m DOM)

How To Train Your Dragon (2010) - 5.04x ($43m OW / $217m DOM)

Tarzan (1999) - 5.02x ($34m OW / $171m DOM)

The Tale of Despereaux (2008) - 5.00x ($10m OW / $50m DOM)

Pocahontas (1995) - 4.86x ($29m OW / $141m DOM)

Finding Nemo (2003) - 4.84x ($70m OW / $339m DOM)

Happy Feet (2006) - 4.82x ($41m OW / $198m DOM)

Barnyard (2006) - 4.80x ($15m OW / $72m DOM)

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) - 4.78x ($41m OW / $196m DOM)

Thumbelina (1994) - 4.78x ($2.3m OW / $11m DOM)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) - 4.76x ($21m OW / $100m DOM)

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) - 4.72x ($11m OW / $52m DOM)

Hercules (1997) - 4.71x ($21m OW / $99m DOM)

Coraline (2009) - 4.68x ($16m OW / $75m DOM)

A Christmas Carol (2009) - 4.56x ($30m OW / $137m DOM)

Zootopia (2016) - 4.54x ($75m OW / $341m DOM)

[ask-the-reaper-conspiracy]

Is Seishiro's response to Seishirat a reference to The Tale of Despereaux's character Roscuro?

kgksfgksfd yeah roscuro was a surprisingly good villain to me, a child, when I was first exposed to that book.

but the Great Mouse Detective reference in the comments would have been more fitting ;w;

[sunflowerprotocol]

Reference sheet for Laramie (alt text under the cut)

Name: Laramie Tanner

A digital portrait by the artist dxc.strange. A young white woman with freckles and short strawberry blonde hair smiles slightly. She is wearing a light blue shirt and round, silver glasses.

Summary: Laramie lives in Delano with her brother, Earnest. After years of struggling to manage the general store her parents left them, she aims to attend the ICT Engineering Academy and begin her career in civic tech.

Personality: ambitious, strong work ethic, curious, distractable, values craftsmanship, pessimistic, judgmental

Nickname: Remy (close friends/family) Age: 26 Pronouns: she/her Race: white Gender: woman/lesbian Sexuality: lesbian/sapphic

Height: 5'3'' Weight: 150 lbs Hair color: strawberry blonde/brown Hair style: layered wavy blonde/pixie Eye color: brown Occupations: student, tailor, programmer

Distinguishing features: freckles Tale of Despereaux ankle tattoo scar on left index finger (sewing accident)

Clothing/Accessories She is a tailor and usually prefers to mend and alter items, rather than buy new ones. Personal style takes influence from dark academia and gorpcore. Lover of pockets, bags, layers, soft/satisfying textures, novelty earrings. Usually gets around on bike, has her helmet with her. Carries keys on a carabiner. Round, silver prescription glasses and sunglasses.

[thelightfluxtastic]

Paladiary Day 15: Pararchetrope: Despereaux

It's been a while since I've done one of these, since school and work got very busy. But the quest isn't over so long as one can always get back on the horse. As before, today is another pararchetrope: a character I strongly relate to because of fitting the same arctheype. Today's is the mouse Despereaux from Kate DiCamillo's The Tale of Despereaux.

I think one of the powerful things about Despereaux is that his character is, himself, trying to embody an archetype. He lives in a fantasy world with real knights and princesses and kings. But he gets his idea of knighthood and love and honor not from the knights around him (which are more realistic, typical guards and soldiers) but from stories. In fact, stories and narratives are a central theme in the book. One of the characters says "Stories are light" and Despereaux comforts himself in the darkness by saying to himself "Once upon a time". In other words, in-universe, Despereaux himself has a knight archetrope. He isn't directly a knight/paladin like Gawain, he is someone who (like myself) discovered the archetype through fictional stories and wants to embody it and make it real in his own world. It adds a layer of direct connectivity and relatability. The story also has quite a lot to say about what that romantic-knight archetype means. And also, in general about the nature of love and light and virtue and pain. It's been a while, so my memory and references are scant, but I will try to share what quotes I can: "Say it, reader. Say the word 'quest' out loud. It is an extraordinary word, isn't it? So small and yet so full of wonder, so full of hope."

"Forgiveness, reader, is, I think, something very much like hope and love - a powerful, wonderful thing. And a ridiculous thing, too."

"Pea was aware suddenly of how fragile her heart was, how much darkness was inside it, fighting, always, with the light. She did not like the rat. She would never like the rat, but she knew what she must do to save her own heart." "Do you know what it means to be emphatic? I will tell you: It means that when you are being forcibly taken to a dungeon, when you have a large knife at your back, when you are trying to be brave, you are able, still, to think for a moment of the person who is holding the knife."

"I honor you" "Every action, reader, no matter how small, has a consequence" "You, friend, are on a quest." "I don't know what that is," said Despereaux. "You don't have to know. You just have to feel compelled to do the thing, the impossible, important task at hand."

In general, the story posits characters who are not perfect or ideal or free from bitterness or hatred. But characters who commit, wholly and truly, to believing in an ideal greater than themselves and attempting to act as conduits for that light.

[miafic]

MIA + RT Literary References

People have asked for these over the years, and I finally got a list together! 

First is everything alphabetically, and second is chapter-by-chapter. If you have any questions, please let me know :)

Italics denote that an excerpt of the book is included. 

Made In America:

Because of Winn-Dixie - Kate DiCamillo

The Catcher In the Rye - J. D. Salinger 

The City of Ember - Jeanne DuPrau

Ender’s Game - Orson Scott Card

Fifty Shades of Grey - E. L. James

The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl

Legend - Marie Lu

The Maze Runner - James Dashner

The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka

Of Mice & Men - John Steinbeck

Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut

Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

---------

Rising Tide:

A-C

An Abundance of Katherines - John Green

Allegiant - Veronica Roth

Anne Sexton: A Biography - Diane Wood Middlebrook

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz

The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein

Beautiful Darkness - Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoët

Because of Winn-Dixie - Kate DiCamillo

Blankets - Craig Thompson

Brain on Fire - Susannah Cahalan

Breakage - Mary Oliver

Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs - Judi Barrett

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon

D-L

Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney

Doctor Zhivago - Boris Pasternak

The Fault In Our Stars - John Green

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

How I Go Into the Woods - Mary Oliver

Insurgent - Veronica Roth

King Lear - William Shakespeare

Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls - David Sedaris

The Library Book - Tom Chapin and Michael Mark

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis

Live - Anne Sexton

Looking For Alaska - John Green

M-O

Macbeth - William Shakespeare

Making Rumors: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album - Ken Caillat and Steve Stiefel

Matilda - Roald Dahl

Moby-Dick - Herman Melville

A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness

My Heart and Other Black Holes - Jasmine Warga

Of Mice & Men - John Steinbeck

A Midsummer Night’s Dream - William Shakespeare

Monster - Walter Dean Myers

The Night Circus - Erin Morganstern

The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton

P-Z

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons - James Dean

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes - James Dean

The Pillowcase - Annelyse Gelman

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket

The Summer Day - Mary Oliver

The Tale of Despereaux - Kate DiCamillo

This Is Just to Say - William Carlos Williams

The Uses of Sorrow - Mary Oliver

When Death Comes - Mary Oliver

Wild Geese - Mary Oliver

Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green

Wonder - R. J. Palacio

---------

Made In America

Chapter 1 - Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Chapters 2 and 3 - Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck

Chapter 4 - Of Mice & Men, The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom

Chapters 5 and 6 - N/A

Chapter 7 - The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Chapter 8 and 9 - N/A

Chapter 10 - The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Chapters 11 and 12 - The Five People You Meet In Heaven, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Chapter 13 - The Maze Runner by James Dashner, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling

Chapter 14 - The Maze Runner, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (”God, no one else in this place knows who Gregor Samsa is.”)

Chapter 15 - N/A

Chapter 16 - The Maze Runner, The Catcher In the Rye by J. D. Salinger 

Chapter 17 - The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Chapter 18 - The Maze Runner (And I added an indirect reference to Shakespeare’s Macbeth. See if you can find it!)

Chapter 19 - Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James, The Maze Runner, Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Chapter 20 - The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Chapter 21 - Twilight, Legend by Marie Lu, The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Chapter 22 - James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, Harry Potter, Because of Winn-Dixie (“It’s a Littmus Lozenge.”)

---------

Rising Tide

Prologue - N/A

June - Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling, Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck, King Lear by William Shakespeare

July - Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoët, Blankets by Craig Thompson, Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan, Harry Potter, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

August - Insurgent by Veronica Roth, Allegiant by Veronica Roth, The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

September - The Fault In Our Stars, Looking For Alaska by John Green, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, The Fault In Our Stars

October - A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, The Library Book by Tom Chapin and Michael Mark, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

November I - Wild Geese by Mary Oliver, Breakage by Mary Oliver, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

November II - Life of Pi by Yann Martel, The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

November III - Life of Pi, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, The Tale of Despereaux, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

December - Monster by Walter Dean Myers, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, Harry Potter, The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern, The Tale of Despereaux, Wonder by R. J. Palacio, Making Rumors: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album by Ken Caillat and Steve Stiefel, The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

January - Harry Potter, Anne Sexton: A Biography by Diane Wood Middlebrook, Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Live by Anne Sexton

February - The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

March I - Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, The Uses of Sorrow by Mary Oliver, Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

March II - My Heart and Other Black Holes, The Pillowcase by Annelyse Gelman, Harry Potter, This Is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams

March III - The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis, Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, The Summer Day by Mary Oliver, When Death Comes by Mary Oliver, Goodnight Moon

March IV - Aristotle and Dante Discover the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Because of Winn-Dixie

April - King Lear, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

May - Harry Potter, Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by James Dean

June - Looking For Alaska, Of Mice & Men

Epilogue - How I Go Into the Woods by Mary Oliver, Matilda by Roald Dahl

[dramaphan]

If I may I'd like to lightly roast phannies. You can tell their primary source of reading is fanfiction based on the fact that they think Dan's book is long and they think 5 hours is a long audiobook. 5 hours is like a child's book. On average audiobooks are generally 8 to 10 hours for a smaller book, 15 hours for normal sized book, and 20+ hours for bigger books. The Tale of Despereaux, a child's book, is 4 hours for reference. Percy Jackson, another child book, is 10 hours.

That’s so many fuckin hours oh my god. People who listen to audiobooks are stronger than I. I just could not pay attention to someone talking for that long