#joint theory

[unfortunatetheorist]

*Joint Theory 6 - @unfortunatetheorist & @snicketstrange*:

-The Truthful Time Period-

When EXACTLY do the events of ASOUE (Netflix & Book) occur?

Firstly:

*Happy New Year, wherever you are celebrating from!*

(This post debuts on my, @unfortunatetheorist's, blog; 00:00 GMT)

The subject of time has been one of great debate throughout the ASOUE fandom, especially with references such as the Baudelaires' favourite film being the 1938 version of Dawn Patrol and Olaf saying he bought the hourglass from TBB online.

In this theory, @snicketstrange and I have come up with what we believe to be a definitive answer, for each case - Netflix Canon and Book Canon.

A firm starting point is this line from TBB:

"In the years since, I've inquired what became of the Brothers Poe. One followed his father into the world of banking. The other lives in a cave and talks to sheep. They each think the other has it better."

This means that the time between the main events of ASOUE and the release of the first season of the series on Netflix in the ASOUE universe is enough for Mr. Poe's children to grow up and one of them to become a banker. We can assume that it would be reasonable to think about at least 10 years. This should be approximately the age difference between Lemony who appears in TSS and Lemony who narrates.

Also, Violet's line from TRR:

"Um, Dawn Patrol, the 1938 version."

This implies 2 things: there was a later remake of Dawn Patrol (hence, "version") and the Baudelaire parents must have been at the suitable age rating to watch the movie when it came out, as:

Monty: "It was your parents' favourite too."

Let's estimate to see how accurate we can be. In 1938 the film was released. Bertrand probably saw this film when he was a teenager, but perhaps not at the premiere. But maybe. (Favourite films when we are adults often arise when we watch these films in [pre-]adolescence).

So, Bertrand in 1938 could have been 12 years old. Let's put this scenario as the oldest. If he was 12 years old in 1938, he must having got married and fathered Violet at around 28 (estimate based on all of Beatrice's history with Lemony prior to her marriage to Bertrand, and Bertrand's appearance in TE). In this case Violet would have been born in 1954, and the series' main events would have been 14 years later in 1968. Lemony would be narrating the story in about 1978.

Now, thinking about the upper limit, we would have the case where the premiere of the Netflix series in our universe happened in the same year as in Lemony's universe. In this case, 2017 would be the year of Lemony's narration, and then 2007 would be the year of ASOUE's main events. So, to date, our estimate is between 1968 and 2007 (book + Netflix).

The main problem is that ASOUE in the books is quite anachronistic. Despite the aesthetics Netflix exists within the universe. But, in contrast, we can argue that Netflix at the time was a video home delivery service, as was the original Netflix. (We don't see people with internet at home in ASOUE, and a computer like in Prufrock Prep was quite rare, hence it being called 'Advanced').

[And apparently something not connected to the internet.]

And this is very interesting. ASOUE's Netflix series is meant to be a video delivery service. After all, we see in THH that there are video delivery services in the library and devices for showing videos.

The first type of Home Video to exist in our world was Betamax in 1975.

And the first microcomputer for personal use was also launched in 1975, the Altair 8800.

And if we look at a detail in LSTUA.

They are separate universes, but this photographic record is the only one dated in the entire Unfortunate universe: October 1977. It wouldn't be surprising if the series' writers (who are fans of the books) had this enigmatic date in mind, and made ASOUE take place in the 1970s.

And 2 years after the launch of home video and after the launch of microcomputers would be exactly the time needed for a newly launched technology to have spread enough to suggest services like Netflix in the world of ASOUE.

Long enough for some people to buy video cassettes and even cameras.

Here's the full picture:

So the answer to our original question:

JOINT THEORY: ASOUE is set in the 1970s.

[lilli-eyr]

ꁝꏂ꒒꒒ꄲ ꉔꋪꋬꊰ꓄꒐ꏂꇙ

[scarlett-fever]

sometimes u make fan seasons not to see ur favs win but to see ur favs annoy each other. i just like noah being a hater

hes doing the get a load of this guy he is NUTS finger gesture i couldn't find a proper reference for it 😔

[silverthelovebug]

Brooklyn and Ben definitely convinced Yaz to start smoking with them. Brooklyn pulls Yaz aside and is like “Bro. I think you would benefit from a bit of weed”. and Yaz is mad sus. she couldn't smoke in hs bc of track and just never got into it. but Brooklyn has her hit a joint and Yaz is like “Wow… I love… not being anxious for like five seconds ….”

(Sammy does the minimum dosage on edibles)

[kagoutiss]

together, for tomorrow

[mx-jester]

thanks mom (read left to right)

An interaction I had with my mom

I may have an official diagnosis, but she will still give me her advice as an able body person.

Thanks mom...

[tumble-tv]

I wish I could still run around like other kids my age without being in so much pain.

[socalledsomethingorother]

you still can’t convince me that AFO didn’t give decay to tenko

bullshit that the grandchild of AFO’s enemy just so happened to have a quirk that perfectly symbolizes AFO’s desire to destroy hero society. bullshit that AFO found tenko after he’d destroyed his house and somehow knew tenko’s full name and what he’d just been through.

AFO is famous for manipulating people with his power to give and take.

and can you imagine. izuku was born with a quirk and had it stolen. meanwhile tenko was born quirkless and was given a quirk.

[goatbeard-goatbeard]

so Aziraphale says “I know, but I have a suggestion” right before Crowley escorts the humans out of the ball. then seems a bit disappointed when Crowley says “I’ve got this”

ever since the season came out, I’ve been wondering what his idea was, but couldn’t think of what it could be. was he thinking of the ritual circle? was he thinking of his halo? but then why was he trying to interrupt Crowley?

just saw the scene again

he was thinking of hiding the bookshop

[taralen]

My Spamton joint headcanon that I explore in my AU LoveLetter.

Spamton is semi-organic, so even though his interior looks similar to the support frames of a doll or puppet, he has veins like wires and blood like oil. A planned scene in LoveLetter makes this "trait" rather significant.

He also has internal organs that I'm too lazy to draw in detail since they're not that different from any human's except for being a little weird-looking.

I actually drew this last week and had the intention of uploading it, but I kept forgetting. Oops.

Fellow figure enthusiasts might recognize the specific joint "signature" I parody here.

[irisbaggins]

Spoilers ahead, y'all!

Whilst I did make a post about timelines and possible magic and extension of life, somehow, the simple explanation escaped me completely. Especially as someone who lives in Norway, where Winter is half of the year.

When were Lila and Jaysohn born, if they knew their dad half their life? Early Winter. Geoffrey probably died sometime right before Spring, where the snow is still thick and the air still freezing. Let's say, if the plot of the story takes place in September-October, Geoffrey died in March-April, with the kids born around December-January. It would, actually, explain everything. We know, from Viola, that these stoats don't follow normal stoat mating patterns; Viola is having her kids in Autumn. Therefore, who's to say Tula couldn't have Lila and Jaysohn in Winter? They're sapient creatures, who can think and plan. We also get the small glimpse that Tula knows that they may have some control over when they get pregnant, but not always. Who's to say it didn't happen to her, too? What if, that Winter was where Tula gained so much, and nearly lost everything in one moment.

Although, I still believe Ava is overestimating her own age just so she can get away with more things.

[unfortunatetheorist]

*Joint Theory 5 - @unfortunatetheorist & @snicketstrange*:

The End - Book Canon vs Netflix Canon

(Does Ishmael have a greater impact on our protagonists than expected?)

As much as we would have loved, or hated, to have seen the books' material 'copied and pasted' onto our screens, there are some things in the material that are simply too difficult/horrible to film, such as Dr Orwell & Sunny's 'duel', in TMM.

In this theory, @snicketstrange and I (@unfortunatetheorist) are going to be investigating differences between Book The Thirteenth, The End and Episode the... Last (26th?), The End.

The first is that:

BOOK: There is some narration from Lemony.

NETFLIX: There is absolutely NO input from Lemony.

This addition by Netflix removes the books' doubt of Lemony being a reliable narrator, as it shows the Baudelaires' direct experience.

Book Lemony knew what had happened there and the consequences of it - Lemony knew Kit had died when he wrote TE. But Netflix Lemony only discovered this after he met with Beatrice Baudelaire II. This is an important chronological difference: when Beatrice II started looking for Lemony it was around the time he was yet to publish the TWW book, and that is evidenced by the fact that Beatrice Jr did not identify the paperweight in the shape of leeches despite her having already read some of Lemony's books according to her words.

The Netflix show's writer(s) probably chose this to deal with TSS's secret letter. The screenwriter(s) interpreted the letter to mean that Lemony did NOT know that Kit was dead.

Meaning:

BOOK: Lemony knows Kit is dead during the writing of TE.

NETFLIX: Lemony does NOT know Kit is dead until he meets Beatrice II.

Also, this notable curiosity:

BOOK: Every single islander is NAMED.

NETFLIX: Only a few of the islanders are named, such as Miranda, Friday and Alonso.

This could be due to the fact that in the books, the Baudelaires are implicitly, but still evidently, Jewish. In the Netflix series, they probably saw that as some sort of risk of anti-semitism (i.e. Jewish persecution) and so had to remove all possible traces, e.g. Rabbi Bligh, to ensure the show still aired.

Another:

BOOK: Ishmael was chemistry teacher at Prufrock.

NETFLIX: Ishmael was the principal of Prufrock.

This is quite considerable, especially linking to ATWQ and Cleo's love and talent for chemistry - he could('ve) be(en) a chemistry teacher with the name Ishmael N Knight, as a family member of Cleo and Ingrid and... Cleo's other somehow-forgotten parent. Also, the fact that in the series, Ishmael started V.F.D. - this means that Netflix's Baudelaires had it wrong the whole time, but they only learnt when he mentioned his story: in the Netflix series, the root cause of the Baudelaires' trouble was actually Ishmael.

If he didn't start V.F.D. nothing would've happened...

Now we come to what is, arguably, the most important difference of all:

BOOK: There is a mutiny/schism between the islanders, because the islanders do things in secret, such as Professor Fletcher teaching islanders how to read, and Madame Nordoff learning how to yodel.

NETFLIX: There is NO mutiny.

The mutiny was probably left out of the Netflix series due to the budget for showtime and money - it was too much to carry out.

However, within this difference, there are other differences, such as:

BOOK: The Baudelaires [temporarily] get kicked out from the island, before Finn and Erewhon bring them some mild onion soup.

NETFLIX: Nothing happens to the Baudelaires.

There's a lot to unpick in TE, even for Snicket-ologists like us; it can get really trivial, especially with lines like Olaf's "You don't know anything".

As the 'poet' Emma Montana McElroy said:

"That's the end of that".

¬ Th3r3534rch1ngr4ph & @snicketstrange,

Unfortunate Theorists/Snicketologists

[doomed-to-be-obsessed]

Heheh Benny!!

[mybendyplaces]

anyone else with hEDS feel like a bunch of loose bones in a ripped up rite aide plastic bag

[beforeitrains]

I just had to illustrate my crackpot theory about Miley saving Megumi after the First Trial and giving her prosthetic doll limbs. Would be so awesome to see them scheme against Asunaro together. :D

[peepee-magee]

I’m taking a crack shot n saying I think Nightbringer might be Diavolo’s dad trying to prove a point since he didn’t expect his son to succeed as well as he did. (He has the free time)

I have no evidence other than they’ve mentioned Nightbringer was the first king of the Devildom multiple times n while his dad isn’t the first king that’s just the right amount of obscure history one could masquerade behind without to many ppl connecting the dots. (So obscure n yet mentioned it trice???)

Also they’ve subtly mentioned this mystery man on way more occasion’s than feels needed for someone not involved with the plot at all beyond lore. I wouldn’t shit my pants about it but we might even see him for a bit. Even if only in passing the way Micheal often is in OG- added in from time to time but never directly seen. (More in the tags cough)