#i personally would probably be on a 2-4 if we count ''1900s during the invention of wireless communication + a murder trial'' as a story

[veryfashionabledesigns]

Analyzing the Snicket Aesthetic, Part 1/5: Time Period, Technology, and Medicine

.-There are quite a few fan theories placing the main events of ASOUE in the 80’s or 90’s, which is plausible, if not quite probable, in terms of the technology present in the series and the timing of the real-life publication of the books. On the other hand, I’m a shameless hipster and I live for that retro aesthetic, so I like the ambiguity.

-The post-post-apocalyptic theory is a fun one, but it can be a little limiting—not to mention difficult—to apply too many practical implications to this universe. Realism is all well and good, but it can easily be discarded for the sake of a good yarn or a pointed bit of commentary.  

Figure 1: The Illustrations of ASOUE are mostly influenced by the woodblock prints that frequently appeared in Victorian fiction--black and white, hatched shading, realistic perspective—while those of ATWQ vaguely resemble Modernist and/or Cubist art—subtle color, solid shadows, and slightly warped perspective.

(Continued under the cut)

        -Anachronisms everywhere, of course.  One of the books mentions a blacksmith and a computer repair shop in the same sentence. Events and media from before, during, or (infrequently) after the date range are regularly referenced.

        -Personally, I mix and match from a date range of about 1890-1980, for reasons we’ll get into over the course of this analysis, although this is really quite a large range, and even then it’s rather approximate, and can change depending on which version of the story one is referencing, and even from book to book or character to character.

-Time does not pass normally like in the real world. The atmosphere of ASOUE feels a bit older (gothic, vaguely turn of the century) than that of ATWQ (noir, 1930’s-40’s), but the latter is set before the former (see fig. 1). History has been run through a blender set to puree.

TECHNOLOGY

        -It’s sort of lowkey steampunk/dieselpunk. Relatively little sci fi tech is floating loose in the world, but given the materials and time, Violet would almost certainly come up with some fun retro-futuristic inventions.

        -Violet’s inventions involve mechanical and electrical technology, but seemingly nothing digital. She’s largely indifferent (and in the books, possibly even disdainful) in response to the “advanced computer” at Prufrock Prep, which always struck me as a bit odd. Maybe she distrusts Nero’s vague assertions that it will deter Count Olaf, maybe she prefers a more hands-on approach to inventing, or maybe she has the soul of cranky old lady.

Figure 2: Prufrock’s advanced computer in the Netflix series features cameras, a CRT monitor, and something resembling an oscilloscope.

        -Computers exist in this universe, but they don’t seem to do much, and there aren’t very many of them. Smart phones, laptops, and similar devices of the 21st century are almost certainly not around.

-In the books, Prufrock’s computer can display a recognizable image of Count Olaf and is compared to a toad in appearance, meaning it was likely modeled after PCs from the 80s and 90s.

-In the series, it’s even more anachronistic. The monitor looks more or less like what was described in the books, but it also comes fitted with a built in camera, much like a modern webcam, and can recognize faces about as well as most characters (although this really isn’t saying much), implying some kind of primitive deep learning capacity.  

Figure 3: A few computers that could fit in the Snicketverse. (The Apple 1, hilariously, is the real thing.)

-If the internet exists, it’s pretty useless. The first season of the Netflix series has a few references to the internet, none of which are relevant to the plot. The internet makes everything easier, and the Snicketverse is all about inconvenience and suffering.  

-Photographs appear in both black and white and color, although the color is quite grainy. The shift to color photography occurred gradually throughout the 20th century.

-Hector’s self-sustaining hot air mobile home is really quite impractical, if not impossible. A proper hot air balloon would require quite a bit of fuel to keep the air inside the balloons sufficiently hot. Historically, airships of comparative size would have filled their balloons with hydrogen and/or helium, which, barring leakage or other damage, could actually remain buoyant more or less indefinitely. Hydrogen, by the way, is very flammable.

-The submarines in The Grim Grotto are steampunk as heck—that is, realistically impractical but really friggin’ cool—likely inspired by early science fiction such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. In real life, submarines rarely have portholes; in warfare or high water pressure, they could potentially be a weak point, and they’re fairly pricy for something that isn’t strictly necessary. There are a few exceptions, though, such as in subs designed for tourism or marine biology.

Figure 4: The Quequeg has a number of features solely for the comfort of its crew, such as this lovely library with paintings and antique-looking lamps. The use of brass and copper tones, as well as the warm lighting reminiscent of gas, oil, or early incandescent lights, also add to the steampunk vibes.

-Mobile phones do not appear in the books. As with the internet, they’re just too convenient. Should they be necessary to your story, however, there are a few ways to work them in. The movie featured telephones built into cars, which is actually pretty cool. In real life, portable phones have existed since at least the 1960s, although they were too large and expensive to be popular with the public until recently.

Figure 5: The Radio Common Carrier, a sort of mobile phone introduced in the 1960s.

MEDICINE

        -If Heimlich Hospital is typical of the Snicketverse, then the medical technology of the time is… not good.

        -For all the bureaucracy and paperwork depicted, there seems to be very little control over what sorts of operations are actually performed. Count Olaf can waltz in and say he needs the operating theater for a “cranioectomy,” and nobody seems to question it. It’s entirely possible that the amount of paperwork required is so massive that nobody can really keep track of it all.

        -Patients at Heimlich Hospital often ask volunteers for simple things like a glass of water—implying that the hospital is severely understaffed.

        -It is unknown what happens if a Volunteer is seriously injured in the line of duty. V.F.D. may have its own medics/infirmaries. Alternately, they may try to recruit medical professionals who will treat patients without revealing any secrets. It is also possible that volunteers are expected to lie to their doctors, or that the healthcare system is such a mess that nobody really asks questions when someone turns up with a suspicious injury.

        -There is some good news: near the beginning of The Hostile Hospital, Klaus mentions antibiotics and shots (likely referring to vaccines). From this we can assume that many of history’s nastiest plagues (i.e. tuberculosis, cholera, scarlet fever, etc.) are more or less under control. (Although I personally headcannon that Mr. Poe’s cough is an early symptom of tuberculosis, as this would be a fun little shout-out to Edgar Allen Poe.)

        -The rusty knives used in Violet’s “surgery” imply that doctors could get away with some pretty lousy sanitation. In the Netflix series, the entire hospital is filthy.           

Figure 6: The operating theater in The Hostile Hospital is similar in structure, if not style, to the one at the Old Operating Theatre museum, built c.1822.

-Public operating theaters like the one seen in the Hostile Hospital were gradually replaced by sterile operating rooms as doctors developed proper understanding of germ theory between c. 1860-1900. (See fig. 6). Notably, the set design for the operating theater in the series uses a 19th century layout with mid-20th century materials and lighting.

        -Treatment for mental health conditions is given little attention, which is troubling; sooner or later those poor kids are going to need some therapy. If memory serves, one of the patients at Heimlich is described as looking sad but otherwise healthy, suggesting depression.

        -Given how dystopian the Snicketverse is, PTSD and anxiety are probably quite common—especially among V.F.D. members, who often wind up in very dangerous situations at very early ages. In fact, one could make a solid argument that childhood trauma might be behind the neuroses of characters such as Aunt Joesephine or Hector—both of whom, despite having severely debilitating anxiety disorders, never seem to receive any treatment.

FANTASY ELEMENTS

         -There are very few of these, but it’s far from realism. Some rough rules of thumb would be to avoid things typically considered supernatural (i.e. dragons, ghosts, vampires), but things that are not quite possible (i.e. babies can bite through concrete, reptiles can be trained to imitate human speech on command), or possible but very improbable (i.e. a harmless snake being officially named “the Incredibly Deadly Viper” solely for pranking purposes, a phony surgeon convincing a crowd that decapitation is a risky but necessary medical procedure) are all well and good.

         -It should be noted, however, that at least a few characters in-universe believe in the supernatural. In the Ersatz Elevator, the Baudelaires are briefly mistaken for ghosts, and in The End, Ishmael claims to predict the weather using magic.

[zoueriemandzijnopmars]

11 Questions

I was tagged by @doughtah (again, I had only just finished the previous time you tagged me, but not really really complaining, because it was fun) thank you!!!

Rules:

Answer the 11 questions you’ve been asked.

Nominate 11 other bloggers.

Ask your nominees 11 questions.

Let them know you’ve nominated them.

Questions:

1. What are your top 5 tv/movie/stage adaptions? This is hard, worst is much easier :/

I have only heard the songs, but the Lightning Thief musical is amazing

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie

The Mees Kees movies are the best Dutch movies ever, you can’t change my mind.

I was forgetting The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!!!

I liked the Hobbit movies. Though they invented whole new story lines, but to be fair, I’ve never really been a Tolkien fan, so I didn’t really care about it.

I’m forgetting things, but this is what I have.

2. What is a genre you tend to avoid actively? Romance and historical fiction set after 1900. That’s about it, I don’t really like realistic stories though, unless it’s a detective.

3. What was the last book you read? Can you give us a blurb about it? I’m in a bit of a reading slump, because I just can’t seem to get into American Gods, but I’m also rereading Scarlet, and before that I finished Cinder (both by Marissa Meyer). The catchphrase on Cinder is: “This is not the fairy tale you remember, but it’s one you won’t forget.” It’s fantasy/science fiction, and set in the far future, where there are people living on the moon, but they have evolved and have some kind of magic. It’s set on earth though. And... It is a Cinderella retelling.

4. Would you rather have an endless library, but you only had one week to read each book you check out before you never had the opportunity to read it again anywhere, or a small personal stock of 40 books that you could read over and over but you would have to only read those 40 books from now until your death? I don’t know?? I would hate it if I couldn’t finish the last book in a series and I never know how it ends, and I love rereading books. But I also want to read more than 40 books in my life? So the endless library I guess. Unless there are loopholes somewhere?

5. Can you cook? What is one dish you were especially proud of? Uhmm, not really. I want to learn it, and I do kinda need to, I just haven’t got to it. I can make really basic stuff though, and I’m proud every time I make something very simple.

6. Can you read during transit? I can read in trains and planes, but anything driving on an actual road is no go. I get so sick when reading in cars and busses.

7. Do you have a Type when it comes to favourite fictional characters? Do you want to share what that type is? I think I have? I love characters that are too sarcastic than is good for them, while simultaneously being a mess on the inside. Also I love smart socially awkward girls.

8. Do you prefer stand-alones or series? Series, more time for world and character building, most of the time more characters anyway, and more to read!

9. What was the first book you ever truly enjoyed? If we go with books I read myself, it are the Koen en Lot books by Marianne Busser and Ron Schröder, though I think I read Matilda very close after that. (If we go with books my parents read to me, it’s probably either Miffy, Pluk van de Petteflet, Jip en Janneke, Iris en Michiel (I still think ‘feestkriebels’ is a very funny book) or The Very Hungry Caterpillar.)

10. What, if any, are your reading traditions? I don’t think I have any. Apart from reading before going to bed.

11. Do you read at work? In general not (though I once read a chapter of fanfic, but that felt uncomfortable) and not often at school either. I used to read loads at primary school though.

My Questions:

What is the last song you listened to?

On that note, do you like musicals? If so, what’s your favourite? (Movies count)

Do you like to bake? What’s the last thing you made?

Who’s your favourite fictional character?

Who’s your favourite fictional antagonist?

What’s a skill you have that you are very proud of?

Do you like to draw? What’s the last thing you drew?

What is your favourite board game? (Cards are also fine)

What is your go-to writing utensil? (Pencil, fountain pen, cheap ballpoint, etc.)

Do you wear glasses? How often do you have to clean them?

Would you like to live in another country? Which?

I’m tagging (only if you want to) @yeah-tea, @chmod666, @hardhuilen, and whoever wants to do this. (Really, if you want to, go for it)