#PFB theory

[snicketstrange]

Where does PFB fit into the ASOUE chronology?

That's a really tough question with a really easy answer. 

PFB is outside the fictional universe of ASOUE. PFB finds itself after the publication of all ASOUE books, simply because in the Poison For Breakfast universe Lemony Snicket created the fictional story that is in the ASOUE fiction books.

Let me be clearer. Daniel Handler (the writer in our universe) created a fictional character called Lemony Snicket. This fictional Lemony Snicket created a fictional universe in which there is Violet, Klaus, Sunny, Beatrice and even a Lemony Snciket. In ASOUE, LSTUA, TBL and ATWQ we find the life story (even if fragmented) of a fictional Lemony Snicket that was created by another fictional Lemony Snicket whose life story is narrated (even if partially and in a fragmented way ) in PFB.

In other words, the PFB narrator was never part of a secret organization that fights fires. This narrator invented this organization, as well as the entire ASOUE story.

I don't think it would be right to cite excerpts from the book directly here, as the book has just been published and I don't want to harm Daniel Handler. But if you've read PFB, (and if you haven't, I recommend you do) you'll easily see evidence from the first chapter that what I'm claiming here is true.

Lemony Snicket has a very different childhood story than what we see on LSTUA. VFD is not directly quoted even once. There are no tattoos, and there aren't even references to Lemony Snicket's brother and sister when he talks about his childhood. Apparently Kit and Jaques Snicket are just fictional characters, without an equivalent in the PFB universe. Lemony from PFB seems to have lived in a wealthy family, even having people who called him "Master Snicket", suggesting that he had servants at his disposal. 

At no time does Lemony appear to have been persecuted for his involvement with a secret organization. On the other hand, Lemony claims that in PFB he will talk about how he creates his books. So we have records on how he goes to libraries and sits in the philosophy section. And then we have a description of how he lost himself in imaginative thoughts during his childhood. Clearly this Lemony Snicket is a fiction writer and not a researcher overly concerned with recording truthful details for the general public about the history of the Baudelaires, (which are not mentioned at any time).

I want to be clear: I'm not complaining about the book. I liked the book. That's a way of understanding how Daniel Handler's mind works, although drawing on his interviews is more effective, I think.

Finally, in chapter 12 we have the solution to the mystery of the book. I won't write here, as it's a really big spoiler. But I can say that you will easily notice that there is a description of the creative process of a fiction book being one of the ATWQ books cited by name as an example of one of the books that came from the ideas of this Lemony Snicket, and not from his life experience.

I can also cite the non-existence of absurdisms found in ASOUE and ATWQ's books. PFB could happen in our universe perfectly, without any kind of weirdness. There are no babies with exceptional abilities, no animals trained for feats that would be impossible in our universe.

Is it then possible that this Lemony Snicket was actually Daniel Handler himself just using a different name? This is possible, but I still think it's important to point out that PFB is a fictional story, and contains a fictional protagonist. This protagonist reflects Daniel Handler's way of thinking and worldview. However, this fictional character has a life story of his own and a way of expressing himself. One of the most notorious members of the Dark Avenue 667: Answering Questions Wrong forum asked me something important about this point:

"I would like to know what specifically you find to be the difference between DH's "real" personality and the one in this book. I don't see a difference beyond some very superficial snickety stylings like "a word which here means..."

I think my answer was appropriate: "I think the biggest difference between Lemony and Daniel Handler is not what can be found in PFB, but what is not in PFB. If Daniel Handler hadn't put on his Lemony hat, it wouldn't be nearly suitable for children to read. Lemony is more sensitive to certain factors and to people. And if Daniel Handler had written it (having himself as the protagonist), I'm sure there wouldn't be several descriptions of how to prepare eggs but rather how to prepare alcoholic cocktails."

I would really like to read more about this Lemony Snicket and the series of unfortunate events an author can experience. As I've said before, I think Daniel Handler wants to leave the ASOUE universe intact, protected against himself. I think he found a way to do that by creating this universe in which Lemony is just an author of fiction books, and so Daniel Handler has the freedom to write whatever he wants without hurting ASOUE's canon or giving us room to discover some of the secrets of ASOUE that make it so special.

I think with PFB we can officially welcome Snicketmultiverse. 

[jacobsnicket]

TOTALLY SERIOUS THEORY FOR HOW PFB WILL END

the search for the person who slipped poison into lemony’s breakfast leads him, after a long trip throughout the city, to the post office. after searching and searching, he runs into a beautiful woman. it is beatrice, the first one, the love of his life. hey, isn’t she supposed to be dead? but that doesn’t matter. she pulls him into an embrace and whispers in his ear,

“i’m not beatrice.”

huh?

“im eligton fent. i’m the one who poisoned you and slipped you that note.”

huh??

“i’m also the woman with the hair and no beard.”

now lemony knows beatrice or eligton or whatever is kidding, because there is no way eligton is... her. she’s way too young, for one.

“i know, it’s a surprise. a really large amount of people wanted me to be evil. no one seems to understand what it’s like to do difficult things to help the people you care about, it’s really sad. so then i really became evil out of spite.”

“that’s not spite, that’s just doing exactly what they want??”

“since when have you been right about things? bee tee dubs, the note was a lie. you’re not poisoned.”

“really?” says lemony, hope shining on his face. “i’m not going to die?”

“i wouldn’t say that, snicket,” she says with a smile that could mean anything. “everyone dies eventually.”

lemony walks out of the post office with a spring in his step, not noticing eligton pull out a gun. she shoots him halfway out of the door. he dies immediately. the end.

[kitsnicket]

didn't realize something about the covers gave me those respective vibes until you said that, and I have to admit now that's got me thinking about one small theory I have again where PFB takes place before the events of ASoUE rather than after. I have nothing strong to back this up tbh, all I really have to say is I can't believe this book's coming out NEXT MONTH.

If it took place sometime during the in between of atwq and asoue…that’d rock

[snicketstrange]

The asoue efect and The why

.One of the coolest scenes I saw in 2020 was the question that Roxy222 asked Daniel Handler. She asked "why?" Roxy222 (11) wanted to know why Daniel Handler couldn't count on disclosing whether Esmé had survived or not. As usual, he didn't respond. But before "not responding" Daniel Handler made several facial expressions. I am not a master of facial expressions, and my skills as a detective have been extremely flawed even though I love to show them off. But recently I found myself mentally reviewing that scene and the scene in which he ignored my question about Betrice.

You did not see exactly what exactly happened to me, and I did not have the courage to divulge in detail my impressions of what I saw. It is true that he smiled. But that smile had a touch of a word that I tried to escape for a long time, and that haunts me today, but that I finally have the courage to pronounce it: "disappointment". He wasn't angry with me for being an adult asking that. He was disappointed in me for asking about it.

The facial expressions he showed with Roxy222 seemed totally different. As I described it once, he went through a moment of anguish, having to deny the answer to Roxy222. But he knew he needed to deny the answer. Other fans went through similar situations, and his reaction was always to deny answers.

I first believed that this was like a marketing strategy. I thought that as long as he didn't provide definitive answers to ASOUE's mysteries, he would always keep his work relevant among theorists. But Daniel Handler's attitude towards snicketiologists is one of indifference, which borders on contempt. So he doesn't seem to support asoue's search for answers ... At least not from the heart. Maybe at first he felt something like that ... But that just doesn't answer the question that Roxy222 asked: "why?"

I later started thinking, "Daniel Handler got tired of ASOUE. He no longer wants to be recognized as the writer of ASOUE, but he wants to be recognized for having written under his own name." But that also doesn't make sense. He wrote other books using the name Lemony Snicket.

Now, thinking again about those facial expressions, about PFB's arrival, about how excited he was about this new book ... I think I understand DH's current feelings about asoue. And I understand even more about the work.

I believe that Daniel Handler considers ASOUE to be something really good. I believe Daniel Handler is one of the biggest fans of ASOUE, and the only one who can connect with ASOUE in a way that no other can connect. Me, Dante, Roxy222, Sherryann and many others here connect with ASOUE in a similar but less intense way. We feel what I just called "ASOUE effect." And to understand that, I have to say that the ASOUE effect is something that was created by itself, but it is very real.

Let me use an example from nature: proteins. Proteins are formed by a strip of amino acids. The instructions in our genetic material tell you how to make the amino acid strip. But it is not exactly the strip of amino acids that gives the final function of the protein. The strand of amino acids, while being synthesized in our ribosomes, starts to surprisingly wrap around itself and form a three-dimensional piece. And this three-dimensional shape, which was not written anywhere, gives the main function of the protein. Each of those amino acids, being in the ideal place, is what guarantees the final shape of the protein.

Daniel Handler was the author of the words and phrases that are in ASOUE. But what ASOUE ended up becoming was something that exceeded the author's own expectations. I am not referring to sales success. I'm talking about the work itself. ASOUE was not the result of a great advance planning of all the details. In fact, even the initiative to create content like this, aimed at 10 year olds, didn't even come from Daniel Handler. The final number of books had not been planned from the beginning, and I am sure to imagine that Lemony Snicket became fascinated with the number 13 by simple coincidence ... I think it had to do with the number of chapters of the first book. It turned out to be very stylish. The photographs in LSTUA already existed before ASOUE existed ... And they helped to form a universe in the readers' imagination. A universe capable of being imagined. If we add Mr. Helquist's drawings to the equation ... And then the jokes that Daniel Handler made for ASOUE that ended up becoming background events. And the underdeveloped characters and events that ended up becoming very cool mysteries. The black comedy for children that ended up becoming a question about human morals. 

These things don't seem to have been intentional. But the effect of it all together, the way it happened, gives a unique effect. The ASOUE effect has become something that no one can replicate perfectly because the imperfections, coincidences, inconsistencies, lack of discernment, drawings, photographs, poetry, and Daniel Handler's somewhat aimless creativity have come together in an incredible way to form a set of actually much more impressive work than Daniel Handler himself could have done by his own willpower.

Thus, I believe that Daniel Handler cannot say some details about ASOUE simply because he realized this: if he, as an author, touches on one of ASOUE's sensitive components, the entire ASOUE Effect can fall apart in his own hands. It is as if asoue were that quarterly protein structure, and it was the ribosome that produced the amino acid strand. If he exchanged one amino acid for another, that whole protein could fall apart and form a mutant monstrosity. Daniel Handler put ASOUE on the pedestal he deserves to be surrounded by a strong security system. The ASOUE effect is as valuable as it is sensitive to his observations. And he will never reveal any additional details, for fear that it will ruin one of the coolest lierary works of the past 20 years.

And when I think of the face of disappointment he threw at me, I understand the reason for that disappointment. He was saying to me something like, "Can't you appreciate the beauty of it? And can't you feel how fragile it is? Are you, a fan, trying to destroy a magnificent piece like this by asking me a question like that? If you you can't even see it, you are not a real fan. You are just an idiot. "

Well, Daniel Handler ... I'm here to tell you that I can see now. Congratulations on having had the opportunity to write this. And congratulations on the courage to make asoue have a life of its own. 

I will not do anything else that could end up killing the very creation I admire. I'm still going to make theories, probably. But they are harmless, as long as you don't confirm or deny them. They are just side effects of the ASOUE effect. But I think you already know that.

[snicketstrange]

Canonicality of 13 Shocking Secrets You'll Wish You Never Knew About

There is an asoue booklet called 13 Shocking Secrets You'll Wish You Never Knew About Lemony Snicket. You can find it here.

Some claim that this booklet should not be considered canonical. The reasons given involve the lack of evidence that Daniel Handler did in fact write the entire contents of the booklet, as well as the fact that this booklet was not "written" by a character from the universe of asoue. The booklet was written by someone in our universe, targeting the people in our universe. It is true that it contains information that was ahead of its time (with respect to small revelations that would be made only in TE and TBL, the booklet being published before that). But many argue that the editors created this booklet, not Daniel Handler. As publishers had access to the books in advance, they released this booklet. The booklet also seems to contain some pretty confusing things, like a list of characters with arrows that relate them in some mysterious and seemingly wrong way in some cases.

Still, I want to give reasons in favor and consider this booklet to be canonical. 

I see reasons why the 13 secrets are canonical. Perhaps not the booklet as a whole, but each of the secrets is important to confirm facts that could be questioned due to the unreliable nature of the narrator. As has already been said,  these secrets were not written by Lemony Snicket, but about Lemony Snicket. It was written by someone in our universe about Lemony's universe. I don't know if it was Daniel Handler who wrote these secrets, but apparently there was at least his approval.

More than that ... This leaflet is an important part for the "Asoue effect" to exist. Note the introduction:

"There are certain individuals who think they know what Lemony Snicket's books are about."

This phrase alone captivated me, and it is truly responsible for making me the asoue theorist that I am today. This phrase suggests that there are secrets not evident in the work of Lemony Snicket. An even darker truth than the obvious truth. Who is this hidden truth about? About the Baudelaires? No. The introduction answers:

"They are under the impression they understand who he is. They believe they know what to expect. In fact, the truth is far worse than such people ever imagined."

The non-obvious truth is about Lemony Snicket himself. In other words, Lemony's life is somewhat portrayed in ASOUE, and not just the life of the Baudelaires. And this story behind the story was what captivated me, and this booklet was what pushed me on this path.

After that to a sentence: "How to Conduct Your Investigation"

In other words, this is official material encouraging the creation of theories.

The booklet continues:

"This important booklet contains twelve shocking secrets about Lemony Snicket - secrets that make up the keychain that holds the key that unlocks the door that hides the mystery."

So ... According to the booklet, each of the secrets is important to solve a mystery. I can say that secrets can and should be seen as absolute truths, unlike the content narrated by Lemony Snicket, which may have its validity questioned (not that the question is true or not).

Consider as an example the question of Lemony being kidnapped and taken to VFD when he was a child of a few years old or when he was just a baby. Based on LSTUA, I made a theory (which was shown to be unreasonable) that shows that Lemony was kidnapped twice: once when he was a baby, and again when he was a child of a few years old. He no longer has memories of when he was a baby, but he does have memories of the next kidnapping. He was taken from the home of the true parents (as indicated in the TLSL song in LSTUA) and taken to the home of false parents (which he believed to be the true parents). Well, my theory gains a lot more weight when we look at this booklet.

The shocking 13 secrets booklet indicates that Lemony was kidnapped when he was a baby.

SHOCKING SECRET #7:

WHEN HE WAS A BABY, LEMONY SNICKET WAS KIDNAPPED BY A SECRET ORGANIZATION

While in LSTUA, Lemony (talking about his own memories) states that he was not kidnapped when he was a baby, but when he was a small child.

We have a contradiction here. An interesting contradiction: Many claim that LSTUA's inconsistencies are a reason for not considering the history assembled based on the documents found in it to be really canonical. On the other hand, this story (full of lack of merit on the part of many) is in contradiction with something that has even less credit in the opinion of most readers. So, what should you believe? What I propose is an opinion against the majority, and from my point of view something that seems to make more sense: 13 secrets should be seen as absolute truth, simply because they are not written from the point of view of a character, but rather of a third-person narrator. While the characters in ASOUE and LSTUA may be wrong or mistaken, this is not the case with third-person narrators. (At least not often). It is significant that LSTUA had already been published with the booklet being published. It is significant that Lemony explicitly states in LSTUA that he was not kidnapped as a baby. Dante accuses the writer of these secrets of having relied on previous information (and information on TE and TBL) to formulate these secrets. But in this case, this "writer" would have intentionally chosen to contradict something that was already seen as true by most readers of LSTUA: that Lemony was not kidnapped when he was a baby. This contradiction does not help at all, if it is thought of as someone trying to defraud ASOUE. On the other hand, when viewed as an intentional detail, this contradiction makes LSTUA more interesting. Of course ... This may have been just a mistake, when the writer chose the word "baby" to compose this secret. (A mistake that proves that Daniel Handler wrote these secrets, as he is prone to mistakes, not his fans). This is a question that has no way of discovering the truth, and seriously ... The truth is not that important. The ASOUE effect is more important, and in the name of this effect, adding this booklet to the big puzzle that ASOUE is something that only improves that effect.

I can say something more about this booklet. If his introduction is already a tip that encourages you to be a theorist, his conclusion is something that makes you wonder how Daniel Handler's creative imagination seems to be guided by a supernatural entity:

"Like an off-key violin concert, the Roman Empire, or food poisoning, all things must come to an end".

Now tell me: Where did Daniel Handler, at that time, get the idea to refer to poisoned food and relate it to the end? Did he ever imagine writing Poison for Breakfast? No ... At least not consciously. But the fact is, he did. And taking this booklet out of what we consider canonical is a mistake, as it will prevent readers who are more attentive from making these very interesting connections.

I'm not sure that Lemony will die even in PFB. But if he dies, everything will be connected through this phrase found in this booklet. And this is beautiful.