#so prufrock coded

[ven10]

Is Quigley Quagmire dyslexic?

I have a theory!! Hear me out hear me out-

Reasons:

1: His siblings have very English-based interests (poetry+journalism) which require a lot of writing whereas Quigley is into cartography which is largely just images and numbers. Imagine Quigley struggling with words then finding cartography, something so fascinating and exciting which doesn’t need words to do. Isadora could write couplets to capture the feeling of a place, Duncan could scourge newspaper archives for historical context on the same place but Quigley would be able to map it out clearly+ precisely without needing a single written word to do so. 🗺️

2: His insistence to the Baudelaires that he is ‘well-read’ (possibly stemming from being shamed for his learning disability+trying to cover it up). 📚

3: He knew in advance the questions that the Vernacularly Fastened Door would ask and yet, despite having the opportunity during his time in Monty’s library, he did not research the answers in the books there. 🧐 ❓

4:Maybe one of the reasons why Quigley didn’t try reuniting with his siblings until they were out of reach (kidnapped) was bc when he realised they were at a boarding school he imagined himself being humiliated (nobody and no school Ofc should humiliate anyone for having learning disabilities but let’s face it. Prufrock absolutely would.) 🏫

5: When Quigley+the Baudelaires are in the burned down VFD headquarters in Netflix!TSS, Quigley comes across a partially burnt book and reads the title as “Odes”, Klaus soon corrects him saying it must have been originally titled “Codes” because of the positioning of the letters on the page (too far to the right so Klaus was able to tell that a letter was missing). Quigley may not have noticed the gap where a missing letter should have been as he may be familiar with experiencing the ‘river effect’, something which dyslexic people can experience. 🌊

[ “Dyslexic users may sometimes see the river effect in the text they’re reading [1]. This is when large gaps occur within consecutive lines of text”]-uxmovement.com

•~👁️VFD+prejudice&discrimination👁️~•

More on a matter I touched on briefly earlier, as much as I love many snicketverse characters, given the ideals VFD pushes onto them

(ie “well read people are less likely to be evil” also that quote about noble people always carrying a book with them, just to name a few examples)

I feel like they would treat Quigley’s dyslexia as something shameful and so Quigley, in his ‘cool+capable volunteer’ persona he puts on in TSS would try hiding the fact he’s dyslexic. The whole “well read people are less likely to be evil” thing he says is just so…odd but it could make sense if Quigley was just trying to really push the idea that he is a voracious reader.

Also, another example on how vfd members (It’s really likely his parents were raised in VFD and so would have similar mindsets) would see dyslexia as shameful is how Lemony Snicket, when describing the main VILLAIN (Olaf) includes details of Olaf’s spelling errors (eg not knowing how to spell ‘poison’ in TPP) and disregard of literature.

Lemony often uses the firestarters’ lack of knowledge about literature+lack of literary skills to portray them as villainous+ignorant. However, it strikes me as more than the firestarters being ‘not interested’ in literature than actively rebelling against the idea that knowing literature in depth/being well read=being noble. I mean, Esmé BURNED ‘Anna karenina’ after vfd assigned it as summer reading. If she merely wasn’t interested in literature she would have let the book collect dust. 🔥

Additionally, in ATWQ when Lemony is asked the ❗️difference between the noble and the villainous sides of VFD❗️ the only answer he can come up with is “we read more books” (not exact phrasing)

That concludes my rambling for now ☕️ ✌️

(Also, if anyone notices any mistakes in the info about dyslexia here then please lmk so I can correct it+avoid unintentionally spreading misinformation! :) )

[snicketsquadron]

VFD Is fundamentally voluntary

I know it’s a lot of fun in the ASOUE fandom to point out the sinister nature of VFD as an organization. The books themselves make a point of how no person is purely good or evil, and people can be pushed into all sorts of actions by circumstances. That being said, I think it can kind of flatten the point to argue that the VFD recruitment process is kidnapping/indoctrination in the same way that the snow scouts being kidnapped by eagles is. And I recently reread the Unauthorized Autobiography so here are some quotes:

A lot of folks will quote “The Little Snicket Lad” but the point of that chapter is that the lyrics are inaccurate.

“The cheesemakers...remain very close associates of my entire family.” Given that this was Valorous Farms Dairy, and the dairy is written to directly or mentioned in several future letters by the Snicket siblings and others, it seems likely that the cheesemakers were and remained VFD members.

“As part of my work with the heroes of this ballad, I often have to deliver secret information” VFD referred to as heroic. (You can, of course, disagree with Lemony)

“I was far past crawling on the day in question” Less of a voluntary take but more of a factual note, as people often interpret that Lemony was recruited as an infant.

Now the quote: “My mother asked the same question when she came home that fateful day and found waiting for her not three young children but one worried husband and two half-full cups of tea” is concerning. But it should be considered in the context of a later section.

Regarding the lyrics “One evening Jake was chopping wood/And his wife was at the mill” Snicket writes:

“This is more or less accurate, much to my mother’s dismay, who always wished that she had delayed her investigation one more day, so she could have been at home that day to say goodbye. My brother insists that he was allowed to finish his tea before departure”

So the Snicket parents were worries/dismayed, but not because they thought their children were kidnapped. They were already aware that their children were to be taken, and just wanted to be around when it happened. Given that his mother was investigating a mill and the Valorous Farms Dairy association mentioned above, it seems reasonable they were volunteers themselves.

Furthermore, Snicket notes he was able to visit his parents “rarely”, which may still be sinister to some people, but is hardly the often-implied total sequestering.

This exchange is small but important:

R: R’s right. We are entering people’s homes- J: We get permission first

And from Nero’s letter regarding K’s recruitment of two children at Prufrock Prep:

“Like all orphans, the two kidnapped brats were so stupid that they didn’t even look scared as Ms. K. carried them away. Their faces were very serious, as if they were embarking on an important mission of some kind.”

And finally, there’s the recruitment script itself, which follows three steps:

“What was that noise?” “Nothing”

According to Snicket, the parents saying “nothing” is already coded, as there is never nothing outside. So this already implies permission/engagement on the part of the parents. But even if the parents do not know about VFD, or the phrases happen by accident, it is much much less likely that anyone would completely by coincidence say the third phrase:

If there’s nothing out there then what was that noise?

Which signals listening volunteers that it’s safe to act. (This is also why it’s significant that Lemony was not an infant at the time of recruitment. All VFD volunteers recruited this way make a conscious choice to consent to recruitment.

Now, of course, in the real world children can’t legally consent or make binding contracts. But that gets into Doylist arguments, and this book series at a Doylist level is written for kids, so depicts children as full moral and intelligent agents who can make independent decisions.

[snicketverse-fic-finder]

any jacquelyn and olivia stories you recommend?? i like smut but honestly anything will do atp because there is barely anything of them 😓

[Word count: 1,519]

🗣️Main Character: Olivia Caliban

🫂Main relationship: Olivia Caliban / Jacquelyn Scieszka

Set: During Canon 🕰️

Fic Type:

Oneshot 📕

Romance, Sharing a bed

💘🛏️

Description:

‘Jacques can't come pick up Olivia, but she still misses the trolley. What's a girl to do now that she's stuck in The City?’

[This fic doesn’t contain smut however I have high hopes that you have not read this before as it currently has only 1 hit.]

•~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~•

A series of works. [No.of fics in series: 12]

[Total Word count: 28,356]

🗣️Main Characters: Olivia Caliban, Jacquelyn Scieszka and Esmé Squalor

🫂Main relationship: Olivia Caliban / Jacquelyn Scieszka / Esmé Squalor

Set: A timeline in which the unfortunate events of the Baudelaire children do not occur.

Description:

‘Olivia Caliban, Jacquelyn Scieszka, Esmé Squalor - The City and VFD's most important girlfriends (!)

This is the first collection of their adventures in love, work, more love, the occasional espionage and even supernatural and witchy encounters.’

[All works in this series are rated either ‘General Audiences’ or ‘Teen and up’. ]

•~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~•

[Word count: 23, 039] [5/? Chapters. Last updated 2019 ⚠️]

🗣️Main character: Olivia Caliban

🫂Main relationship: Olivia Caliban / Jacquelyn Scieszka

Set: During Canon 🕰️

Fic Type:

Multichapter (unfinished) 📚

Smut

❤️‍🔥

Rating: Explicit ❌🔞

Description:

‘Jacquelyn Scieszka does not call a taxi for Olivia Caliban the day they meet.’

•~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~•

[Word count: 774]

🗣️Main characters: Jacquelyn Scieszka and Olivia Caliban

🫂Main relationship: Olivia Caliban / Jacquelyn Scieszka

Fic Type:

Oneshot 📕

Smut, Fluff, Established relationship, PWP

❤️‍🔥

Rating: Mature❗️

Description:

‘ “Jacquelyn, darling, if you let me finish this chapter, I’m all yours.”

“Who says you can’t finish your chapter?”

~ Or, Jacquelyn is a pain, and Olivia loves it. ~’

[I personally don’t enjoy smut however judging by the comments this is a good fic so hopefully you will like it!]

•~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~•

[Word count: 17, 838]

🗣️Main Characters: Olivia Caliban, Jacquelyn Scieszka, Isadora Quagmire, Duncan Quagmire and Quigley Quagmire

🫂Main relationships:

Olivia Caliban / Jacquelyn Scieszka

Olivia Caliban & Jacquelyn Scieszka & Isadora Quagmire & Duncan Quagmire & Quigley Quagmire

Set: Post canon ⌛️

Fic Type:

Multichapter 📚

Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Found Family

❤️‍🩹🖤👩‍👩‍👧‍👦

Rating: Teen and up

Description:

‘Olivia finds herself thinking, not for the first time, back to Prufrock. It's as far and faded as a past life. What would life be if she'd never left? What life would be if she had simply gone home, or if she succumbed to those starving Caligari lions...

"Olivia?"

She looks up in surprise, "Sorry, is everything alright?"

"Yes, better than alright! But... are you okay?"

"I'm okay," she smiles fondly, "Promise,"

She is okay. Her wounds have healed, and without them, she might never have escaped that organization with her fiancée, never met these children, her children, never to be snatched away again. They had been burned down to their lowest, until they built each other back up from the ground. And she would do it all over again, if it meant to be where she was now.

Jacquelyn, Olivia, and the Quagmires get the home that they deserve.’

[‘Anything, if it’s with you’ is honestly speaking one of my favourite snicketverse fics!!! It has brought tears to my eyes before and it’s just…I don’t have the words to do justice to the emotions this fic evokes. It doesn’t contain smut (which you mentioned having a preference for) however Olivia and Jacquelyn’s relationship is a central (+extremely well written) part of this fic so I would definitely recommend reading this if you like Olivia/Jacquelyn.]

•~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~•

Thanks for the ask!! I hope at least 1 of these fics is what you were looking for! 👀

Feel free to send another ask if you would like more recs whether it’s more recs for Olivia/Jacquelyn or anything or anyone else!💛

If anyone knows of any good Olivia and Jacquelyn fics not mentioned in this post then feel free to comment your recommendations!

[eyesteeth]

ok fuck it au plot dump. incredibly major atwq spoilers & incredibly minor asoue spoilers. long post.

teen ghost hunt au, not to be confused with two ghosts au, another crazily elaborate asoue/atwq au i have. characters are color coded and there are game-like elements. this is an oxenfree adjacent au - there's no time shenanigans in this, nor does it remotely attempt at following the plot beat for beat - but it was v much an inspiration. our absolutely massive cast of characters are:

Lemony (Dark blue)

Kit (Red)

Jacques (Brown)

Beatrice (Green, vibrant)

Olaf (Purple)

Esme (Pink)

Frank (Blue)

Ernest (Yellow)

and, appearing as ghosts:

Dewey (Green, desaturated)

Qwerty (White)

Hangfire (Black)

The Countess (Gray)

vfd does not exist in this au. it's also in semi-modern time, sometime around the 2010s - no pandemic but they have cellphones and rockin fashion. the sugar bowl gen side of the cast are teens, ranging from 13 to 16, and they all attend the same boarding school, Prufrock. they all decide to sneak out one night and head to the abandoned town of Stain'd by the Sea, camping gear in tow, with the intent of spending the weekend there and coming back to campus without anyone noticing their disappearance.

the whole event is planned by olaf, who super believes in ghosts and wants to convince the group. (he specifically wants to talk to the ghost of his mother, but he does not tell them this up front.) while he initially plans to just bring kit, esme, ernest, and beatrice, they keep inviting other people to come with, and eventually olaf relents and allows the quite massive group to come with - but if they get found out, it's every man for himself. the group's opinion on ghosts varies, but most of them sit somewhere in the middle on whether or not ghosts are real.

for the hell of it, here's the ranking from believes the most to most skeptical:

olaf

ernest

frank

jacques

kit

beatrice

esme

(lemony would be asked at some point early in the game where he falls on the issue, and his ranking would be up to player choice within reason)

the gang takes the train, but the train only takes them so far. after that, they follow the train tracks on foot until they reach the town. this is where some of the game-like elements come into play - lemony takes the role of the player character and so different people can be interacted with. this is basically just to have fun with writing different character dynamics and would indicate who favors who in what way. various gags and funny comments abound - for example, bertrand also wanted to come with, but that was apparently the final straw and so he was not allowed to come.

eventually they reach stain'd. because he was born here and organized the event, olaf insists on being the group leader, but everyone's so annoyed by his drama king leadership up to this point that they elect someone else to take over. this would be another choice affected by lemony/the player. once that's decided, the gang splits into three groups: kit and jacques, beatrice olaf and esme, and the denouements. lemony/the player would then get to choose what group they wanted to be a part of. if they chose the group of three, they'd be responsible for putting one of the three in one of the other two groups.

the groups are then tasked with finding different things necessary for the stay, such as a safe place to sleep for the night or a food source in case they run out. this is also to keep them occupied until nightfall, which is when the seance is gonna go down. there's more conversation, character exploration, and backstory here. i have ideas on dialogue trees but i'm not gonna type all that out here.

everyone finds what they need to find and night falls. they all go to the big house, at which point investigation reveals that it is indeed olaf's childhood home. he pulls out a frankly ludicrous amount of ghost communication materials, ranging from a spirit box to a 12-pack of scented candles to an oujia board. there's also a lighter. the lighter will be important. he does a series of activities and characters respond with varying levels of enthusiasm. esme, being the most skeptical of the group, is not engaged while everyone else is at least humoring the shenanigans. on the other side of the spectrum, ernest is incredibly engaged and helps out when a second hand is needed.

the methods do not seem to work, and just as everyone's like "well, we can at least have a big sleepover", something finally clicks, and the ghost appears in front of everyone. while olaf gets to have a sweet moment, the focus is largely on Holy Shit A Real Ghost and the other characters freaking out about it. conversations are had and eventually the gang goes to set up their place of rest for the night without olaf, who has a lot to talk to his mom about.

it's hard for them to go to bed right away - esme, beatrice, and kit have their own little corner where they're rapidly discussing their thoughts on the whole matter, while jacques, frank, and ernest are having their own discussion. lemony can peek into either one and have different dialogue depending on wether or not he previously said he believes in ghosts. the groups' conversations begin to wind down, and eventually they all start saying their goodnights. lemony is the last to fall asleep (minus olaf, who is still talking with his mom in the house).

lemony has a nightmare. he's walking along the train tracks back to school alone. he's not dressed in any of the clothes he brought. as he walks along the tracks, the atmosphere gets darker and more ominous. a dark fog begins to waft in. eventually, lemony stops. there is a body dead on the tracks, the fog seemingly avoiding it, making it clearly visible. then, a black figure wearing a white mask emerges from the fog. a sound like a ragged inhale, a brief glitchy effect, and the nightmare ends.

so lemony wakes up in a cold sweat and sees everyone else up and moving. none of them has slept well, but some obviously slept for 6 hours while others obviously slept for 2. the gang comes together to have a brunch of granola bars and water, and they then figure they can do some good old fashioned urban exploring.

once again this is a group choosing + character talking moment. this au is mostly playing with potential character dynamics, to be honest. and i do have thoughts i just cannot succinctly type them all down at what is now 3:30 am.

to speed things up, after exploring, the gang comes together to share what they saw, take a nap if necessary, and have an early dinner together, before deciding to head back to campus. everything gets packed up and everyone leaves feeling changed by the experience. there's a happy tone as they all leave, and they start playing i spy as they walk next to the tracks. because the sun's starting to go down, a lot of the things people name just end up being the sunset.

however, eventually someone calls out "something black", which is clearly a lump on the tracks a way forwards. as the group proceeds, they begin to get more and more uncomfortable as the lump gets clearer - it's a body on the tracks.

once they realize this, they all go into panic mode, them thinking through first aid and seeing if this is someone slumped over from exertion. there is no blood or visible wounds and his body is completely intact. lemony is rightly freaked during this due to his nightmare, keeping his distance from the body. he hears his heartbeat in his ears more than he hears anyone else.

suddenly, a command snaps through - there's something in his bag they need if they're to help the man. everyone turns to look at lemony, who is clearly close to a panic attack, and the moment it's just lemony facing the body, it begins to do the Freaky Ghost Classic of rigidly snapping itself upright and then hovering a foot off the ground. somehow (wink) frank and ernest notice this and turn around, causing everyone else to look up at the figure. spooky black fog begins to roll in and everyone is in shock watching this guy levitate. wordlessly, he points behind the group.

they all turn and get jumpscared by the fucking train that's now barrelling down the track, a train that very much was not there before. because they had all crowded onto the track to help the figure, they have to dive left or right. there is a timed choice for which way you dive. whichever way you jump, the party has now been split.

as lemony and everyone else roll into the grass, they see the train wooshing by, jet black, with the lights inside windows smearing together into a near-blinding array. when the train has passed, the floating figure is gone, and so are the other half of the group.

part two coming tomorrow, it is 4am and i can physically feel my eyes straining to stay open

the rate at which i can mentally churn out an entire au plot is both a blessing and a curse because i now have a super cool idea that would take me literal weeks to fully write out. and i popped it out in 24 hours. bazinga

[absolutepowerabsolutley]

Things People Who've Read Daniel Handler's Script Drafts Have Told Me About Them

- One draft had the entire TRR section done as a puppet show performed by Olaf, recounting the events in song form.

- In another draft, the VFD spyglasses were originally pens.

- One of the drafts for the unmade sequel actually opened directly after the ending of the first movie. With the mailman who dropped off their parent's letter tearing off their disguise and being revealed to be a pregnant VFD agent...

- In one version of the sequel, the main plot would've involved VFD getting a coded book to the Baudelaires. Said book being "The Luckiest Kids in the World - The Pony Party!".

- One draft of the unmade sequel combined books 5 and 6 and had the Baudelaires and Quagmires staying at 667 Dark Avenue when they first meet.

- Another had Dr Orwell in it as the principal villain.

- One of the drafts for the sequel opened with the kids going to Lucky Smells. As they stand at the gates and realize they are going to be working there, Klaus turns to Violet and says "look on the bright side, it can't possibly get any worse ".

It would then Smash Cut to the aftermath of TMM with police cars, reporters and so on, swarming the place. The Baudelaires, still looking dishevelled and bruised from their ordeal, would then be yanked into Mr Poe's car and dumped off at Prufrock for "causing a fuss".

[when-we-drive-away-in-secret]

What did the sugar bowl gen do with their commonplace books?

I realised that all of VFD must have had them, and then got to wondering what the individuals would have used them for and... I’m going to be honest, once again I had way too much fun with this and once again it got super long so I put everything under the cut

Beatrice

People watching. Each page is dedicated to a different person (sometimes people she knows, sometimes people she doesn't). The title is the date, location and either the subject's name or a brief description of them if they're a stranger ("woman. Big hat, dark glasses" etc). She'll write down little details and mannerisms that she notices, if they seemed stressed or happy or like they were hiding something. Later, she uses this to become a better actress, both on the stage and off of it

Olaf

Ruined it. Every time. He filled it with random thoughts, reminders to himself, shopping lists, anything - all in an awful chicken scratch that he could barely decipher later (if he ever even tried). He would spill things on it, use it as a coaster, and the pages would always be torn and crumpled. The others were horrified whenever they saw it and kept getting him new ones, but they all ended up looking just as bad within two weeks. He once went swimming in a filthy cannel while it was in his pocket, and Kit swears you couldn't even tell the difference afterwards

Bertrand

Inventions! Every time someone mentioned something that bothered them ("I wish we could just do X", "why is it so hard to do Y?") He would write it down on a clean double page. Later, he would try to invent a solution, and even go so far as to sketch out designs and list what he'd need to create it. Sometimes they resulted in incredible feats of engineering, but sometimes it's just a mostly blank page with a small coffee stain and a lot of half-erased pencil markings

Esmé

Records. If someone insulted her, it would be written verbatim in perfect handwriting, alongside their name and the date. If she revealed something about herself, she made sure she knew precisely who she told, and sometimes she'd make things up just to see who spoke about her behind her back. If someone told her a secret, it would be written in a code only she knew, based around what was In on certain days in the past (each correlating to a particular letter, and changing depending on the day it was written)

Lemony

Unfamiliar words. Ever since he was a child, every time he heard a word he didn't recognise (which, being raised in VFD, happened frequently) he would write it down along with the pronunciation. He'd try and guess at the meaning from context and write that down too, and every week he'd take a dictionary and copy out the correct definitions. This eventually evolved into his habit of defining the complex words he used so other people didn't have to do the same thing, because he found it rather tiresome

Jacques

When he was younger it was dedicated to his budding investigative talents, and he’d solves all sorts of mysteries that other people hadn’t even noticed were mysteries (including, most notably, that of Dewey Denouement - with the help of his sister, of course). When they graduated Prufrock, though, his books became focused on some very particular mysteries; the whereabouts and wellbeing of his fellow Volunteers. Lemony had the most pages dedicated to him, and Jacques was always determined to ensure the safety of the people he cared about (resulting in him sending letters to warn Jerome and investigating various accidents where someone claimed to have seen Lemony Snicket, or even anyone matching his description)

Kit

She writes down any quote that she likes, and precisely where she heard it. From books, plays, the radio, her own friends, or even overheard snippets of conversation from a stranger, she notes them down and will often spend hours at a time analysing them later. She refuses to admit that’s what she’s doing, though, and her frequent scribbling in her book has often been the topic of curious conversation among her friends

The Denouements

Anything about the other members of VFD. Stories, anecdotes, even a fleeting conversation - it would all get recorded to build up a picture of their fellow Volunteers, and so they all knew how the others saw them. To this end, they would make sure to distinguish between what people said and how they acted towards "Frank", compared to "Ernest". The triplets spent many nights comparing notes and ensuring that they could all imitate each other perfectly, if required. They kept up this practise well into adulthood, though Frank and Ernest stopped after the fire (or, more accurately, after they lost Dewey). Pretending to be twins suddenly felt so much worse when there wasn’t a third triplet in on the joke

Josephine

A bucket list. Every time she heard of something exciting that she wanted to try, she would add it on, and a surprisingly (and, some might say, worryingly) high amount of them were crossed off within the week. Her book was frequently damaged by her lifestyle, as she always kept it on her in case she got a new idea. For example, it sustained significant water damage from the time she went over a rather large waterfall in a barrel. The only reason the others didn’t mind too much about the state of her book was because it was practically pristine when compared to Olaf’s. After Ike’s death, she couldn’t bring herself to write in it anymore, and locked it away in her safe, refusing to even read about all of the dangerous things she once dreamed of doing, for fear of her old spirit overtaking her once again

Monty

Reptiles (obviously). He would plan expeditions in the back, and sketch new species he discovered with detailed descriptions and diagrams in the front. When the two sides inevitably met in the middle (which always ended up happening far faster than he’d anticipated) he would start a new one, but he had an entire shelf in his room exclusively for his old books, just in case he ever needed to refer back to any of them. The last entry in his final book was dedicated to adding extra supplies for his expedition to Peru - enough for three children to accompany him

Olivia

What other people liked. Every time one of her friends mentioned something they liked, or got excited when they saw something, she'd note it down in their page of her book. Every time she made a new friend, they'd get their own page. Favourite foods, songs, jewellery, clothes, places and just about anything else would be contained within those pages - including how they liked to be comforted when they were sad, or congratulated when they were happy (even going so far as to write if they preferred to talk about their problems or be distracted from them). She was, unsurprisingly, the best at gift-giving, and the others would always go to her for advice or companionship

Georgina

A coded book of everyone’s hypnotic trigger and release words, and their purposes. When she was younger, it used to be for any interesting piece of information she learned, but when she discovered hypnotism that became a far more productive use of her book. Because of it’s sensitive nature and comparatively small spatial requirement, she’s only ever had one book since she adopted this new practise, and she keeps it on her at all times. The most recent entry, if anyone had found the book and managed to decode it, would have involved Klaus Baudelaire and the word ‘inordinate’

[foulbearobservation]

writer ask! 1 5 9 18 38 and 40

hi kei ily mwah

What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

I'm a filthy little default font user. on docs I use arial, now that I've switched to scrivener the default is something like Sitka I think. I don't care abt fonts, sometimes I'll change it to smthn random to unstick my brain but I don't have specific Font Tastes

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

I'm actually not. a superstitious person when it comes to writing,,,,, either I will get words down on a page or I won't, it's a simple true/false situation y'know. I am needlessly pragmatic 😭

9. Do you believe in ghosts? This isn’t about writing I just wanna know

Yeah! also fun fact I'm the reason my friend Jon believes in ghosts as well, but that wasn't on purpose.

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

oh ok this passage from to bleed 1: "The first thing Lilith does when she returns home is fall to her knees. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she grits out as Camila stands before her, worriedly stroking a hand through her hair. She is eight years old in her first confession all over again: Forgive me, Camila, for I have sinned. It has been too damn long since my last confession."

SO this was the result of me talking with my friend emily (hi emily!) abt how like. theologically horny it was that you had to kneel to confess and the whole like. inherent submission of kneeling in church in general. so I went thru the whole piece and added more horny kneeling and this moment in specific, the whole "forgive me camila" bit is what eventually led to the bdsm kneeling stuff for tb1. before I had cracked the code of horny catholicsm there was no horny stuff in to bleed. everyone say thank you emily.

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is Really Weird?

Before I post anything on ao3, I read it out loud so I can make sure the flow is correct. Is it horrifying to read smut out loud when ur only audience is ur precious little cats? yes. does it help you make sure all ur dialogue actually sounds like people talking? extremely yes.

40. Please share a poem with me, I need it.

I've rly been into the love song of alfred j. prufrock recently, so here's a little piece of that

[flabbergasties]

so gay poets... got any favorite dead ones? alive ones? both dead and alive ones?

Yes, this response is days late. 

Yes, it’s in part because I have been inside of a cave called “I need to work to make enough money to live” and said cave is dark and damp and doomed. Help me out of here. Anyway. I digress.  

The delay is also in part because I read this and IMMEDIATELY I spiraled. Like, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PICK FAVORITES AND WHAT IF I FORGET SOMEONE, WILL THEY FORGIVE ME?! They are all my children and I love them all equally.

...But also…I mean if I have to pick…

In the Exceptionally Gay, Exceptionally Dead category we have Emily Dickinson. Obviously. Duh. Yes. Welcome to my tumblog. (Shoutout to EDicks who died this day 136 years ago and has haunted the minds of mentally ill queer women ever since. Merry Death Day to you.) But also Charlotte Brontë (see below because it seems a sin to not mention all the sisters tbh “reclusive” IS CODE FOR “gay and autistic” and I won’t hear otherwise), Langston Hughes (fundamentally shaped how I read poetry), Christina Rossetti (listen. I did write a 20-page paper about The Goblin Market where the thesis was, essentially “Christina Rossetti is writing about gay sex and comparing it to the Eucharist. Yes. I know. I was…an unbearable undergrad.), James Baldwin (makes me want to scream) (in a good way), Audre Lorde (The difference between poetry and rhetoric/is being ready to kill/yourself/instead of your children…are you…kidding me…), Adrienne Rich, Tennyson (I KNOW that I’ve quoted this before but LISTEN “Queen rose of the rosebud garden of girls/Come hither, the dances are done/ In gloss of satin and glimmer of pearls/Queen lily and rose in one.”) Mary Oliver…SOMEONE STOP ME I AM JUST NAMING EVERY DEAD POET EVER. 

In the Subcategory of Exceptionally Dead and Gives Gay Vibes (Unconfirmed) we’ve got, obviously, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and 2/3s of the Brontës. I’m also slut for the Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock. I’m sorry, and I’m not sorry. 

In the Technically Still Alive category we have Ada Limón (has my entire fucking soul, thank you), Tommy Pico (whose podcast I also adore, I won’t lie), Alexander Chee (and okay I know you said poetry but his recent How to Write an Autobiographical Novel DID break me, thank you), Ellen Bass (makes my whole chest hurt), Natalie Diaz (These Hands If Not Gods broke me open and put me back together again; an oomph big time)….UGH THERE ARE SO MANY. 

In the Both Dead and Alive see: The entire list above. 

[fresh-prince-of-denmark]

New Dawn Fades — Literary References Analysis Part 4: The Id, the Ego, the Superego

Cyberpunk Spoiler Warning 

Here’s part four of me going through all the endings and looking for the literary references in each of the endings, which I believe allude to what happens to V/Johnny, possibly in future DLC. If you haven’t read my other posts, you should read them here (Johnny’s Mikoshi poem, V’s Mikoshi Poem, The Star ending) first since we’re gonna loop back to them later.

New Dawn Fades was such a pain in the ass; because Johnny is such an art hoe, I found three different poems/stories scattered around. Not only that, but two of them are translated from Polish, and one of them us from Ovid’s The Metamorphoses. I studied English literature so…forgive me if this is super surface-level. Also, stuff gets lost in translation, so the original meaning sometimes gets lost. If Polish literature is anyones niche, please teach me a thing two, but all I can do now is my best! But from what I could tell, damn…paints a pretty depressing picture. Let’s start with the two Polish writers first:

Bolesław Leśmian, "Why so many candles...”

Why so many candles, these faces above me?

No more harm shall ever meet my body.

Everyone is standing - while here alone I lie -

Grieving, feigning. One must be true when one must die.

And so, buried under these wreathes of leaves, I lie -

Solemnly - Agelessly - Solitarily.

Death, gone silent, once again rushes to my head,

Though by now I know all my comprehension is dead.

How I loathe to become accustomed to this grave,

To be what I once was - that is all I crave.

This one is…yikes. Depressing. As I talked about in previous posts, V’s poem is more pessimistic: nothing we do matters, we’re all just dust in the wind, you know, the good stuff. Johnny’s poem has a very different stance; art makes us immortal, and we can change the world, etc. With this…Johnny seems to have given his larger-than-life attitude up in favor of V’s resignation that life sucks. Much like Prufrock in V’s poem, Johnny is lying “Solemnly - Agelessly - Solitarily.” Almost as if he didn’t want V’s body, not as a selfless gesture…but because he has grown accustom to his previous form. In Johnny’s version of Alt’s poem, it almost seems as if he embraces being a construct — the form of immortality it, and his legacy, grants him (remember all that hokey about being a golden bird to sing his message to the youth?). Blackwall was a kind of death Johnny knew — yet now:

“How I loathe to become accustomed to this grave,

To be what I once was - that is all I crave.”

Interesting. We never find out where Johnny is going when he leaves Night City, but it makes me wonder. Is he truly starting anew? Or hoping to fix what went wrong?

In the next room, we find another poem, this one an excerpt from Labyrinth by Wisława Szymborska:

So this way or that,

Or no, the other,

By ear or by your gut,

By your wits or by shortcut,

By any means necessary,

Cutting crooked corners.

Past whatever row in a row

Of corridors and gates,

Quickly, in the meantime

Your time grows short,

From one place to another

To one of many still open,

Of darkness and plight

But also delight, held just ajar,

Where there's joy, though sorrow

Lies well-nigh nearby,

And elsewhere, somewhere,

Wheresoever and whereabout,

Fortune in misfortune

Like a parenthetical parenthesis

Acceptance of it all

And suddenly - a fall

I’m a little shaky on the meaning behind this one. My immediate response is to compare it to the poem found in The Star — which contains a piece from The Marriage Between Heaven and Hell by William Blake. The overarching use of this poem, by my interpretation, is an explanation for what the Blackwall is: hell. But not hell how most would perceive it. In fact, according to Blake, hell isn’t so bad. Our views of heaven and hell, good and evil, are wrong. Everyone contains both good and bad within them, and neither is wrong, simply two opposites; between conformity and rebellion, art and obedience. If we were to look at it this way, V would most likely belong in “Heaven,” the world of the obedient, those who play by the worlds rules (at least, in the beginning of the story, before Johnny influences them toward the rebel path), while Johnny represents “Evil,” and would belong to Hell. In some dialogue choices, Johnny will even state that he no longer believes he is a human, and is in fact code, no longer belonging in the world of the living. In this scenario, both have found themselves where they don’t belong. Not only that — but one is supposed to be a healthy mix of so-called “Good” and “Evil.” The “Soul,” and “Body,” are one, not meant to be separated. Uh oh. The tone of this poem in Johnny’s context just seems so…lost, to me. Someone who found their other half, their perfect foil, a soul and body as one…and now it’s gone. What does one do after such a loss?

And finally, the most grim of the three stories: Ovid’s The Metamorphoses. Specifically, Book III, Narcissus and Echo. This one most likely has the greatest significance; not only is it a shard you can pick up, but an open copy of the book can be found in Johnny’s hotel room, drawing further attention to it. 

If you haven’t read it, let me give you a quick and dirty summary:

At the beginning of the story, Narcissus’ mother, Liriope, asks the prophet Tiresias if her son will live to see old age, which he replies “only if he does not know himself.” One day when Narcissus is 16, he is out hunting when he finds a mountain Nymph named Echo. Echo, as one might guess, was cursed by Hera and can only repeat what is said back to her. You know. Like an echo. Echo falls in love with Narcissus at first sight and follows him throughout the forest, waiting for him to speak so she can communicate with him. Narcissus eventually gets separated from his hunting group, and calls out for them, which Echo…well, echos. Eventually Echo reveals herself and Narcissus freaks out, telling her basically he’d rather die than be with her. She hides in a cave and pines until she whithers away from hunger, and only her voice remains.

Many other nymphs fall for Narcissus because apparently he’s a straight up snack, but he rejects all of them. Apparently someone gets so salty about it, they summon the Goddess of Vengeance to do something about it. She leads him to a crystal clear pool, in which he is able to see his reflection. Remember the thing about knowing oneself? Yeah…At first, Narcissus thinks the reflection is a different person and falls in love. He smiles, the reflection smiles, so it must like him back, right? Eventually he reaches to touch it, and realizes that it’s him. He freaks out, and much like Echo, stays by his reflections side until he withers away. Having a total meltdown, he cries out “Alas!” which is echoed, by well, Echo. Her voice lived on, and she watches him die as he calls “Farewell, dear boy. Beloved in vain.” Once again, Echo repeats this. Narcissus dies and all the thirsty hoes make a pyre to burn him, but when they go looking for him they find the Narcissus (flower) instead (nooo...dont transform into a flower, you’re so sexy ahaha). 

So what does this mean for Johnny/V? Well, two main things pop out to me: transformation, and reflections. Much like Echo and Narcissus are reflections of each other, V and Johnny reflect each other. As @ellitira pointed out in my analysis of the Star, V and Johnny constantly reflect each other. One of the most obvious ways is their literal reflection; if you look in a mirror during a relic malfunction, you’ll see Johnny, not V. But scenes are reflected as well; the first and last time V meets Johnny, they grab him by the shoulder from behind to get his attention as he turn to face them. The first time Johnny and V have a civil conversation, they’re sitting at a table in Tom’s Diner, Johnny’s foot on the table. This mimics their conversation in Mikoshi with Alt. Their conversation about taking a bullet for one another in the Pista Sofia where Johnny is sitting backwards on a chair while V is on the ground is also repeated moments later, as Johnny and V have their final conversation about who will stay and who will go with Alt. Johnny also mentions that he spent his first few weeks in NC laying in bed, staring at the ceiling fan. When he awakens in New Dawn Fades, what is he doing? Staring at the ceiling fan…in Pacifica, not far from the Pista Sofia. The boy who he gives the guitar to is even wearing V’s “favorite shirt”…the one we see them wearing in the first scene they’re introduced. There’s probably loads more, so feel free to share if you find any more. If you want to know more about why this is significant, make sure to read about V’s version of Alt’s poem. 

So why do these reflections/echos matter? Well, what does one do with a reflection? Reflect. Johnny begins to examine himself through V, and he begins to realize he doesn’t like what he sees. If V calls him the man who saved her life, he’ll respond with “you have no idea how badly I want that to be true.” He tries his best to right his wrong only after this conversation with V, not only in Burning Love and Chippin’ In, but in other ways too. For example, it’s Johnny’s idea to call V’s loved ones to say goodbye on the roof scene, because “he wished that he had had a chance to.” Because of V, he grows, changes, and becomes a better person, just as much if not more as he seems to change V. As he leaves V’s grave, he even states that he has changed; that he’s wiser now, and won’t make the same mistakes. He states he won’t dwell on what happened, but somehow I doubt that, considering everything above.

The other theme of Narcissus and Echo is of transformation; after all, metamorphosis actually means "to change or transform.” Echo becomes, well, and echo, and Narcissus becomes a flower. V and Johnny also transform; not only physically between engram and human, but they transform one another. Both of them fall in love, and neither will move on. Echo falls in love with Narcissus, and Narcissus falls in love with his reflection. Because they refuse to transform the way they feel, they must die and transform physically. So who represents who in this scenario? In a way, Johnny is both. Johnny is a bit, well, narcissistic. He’s self-absorbed in his flashbacks, and adored by countless fans, yet ignores them in favor of his own company. He thinks everything is about him (Alt’s death, Samurai, etc.)  and is willing to die for his beliefs. He is also constantly reflecting on himself through V. However, what really kills him is losing Alt; she tells him not to follow her (much like Narcissus tells Echo to leave him alone). He does anyway, and avenging her leads to his demise.

What’s especially sad about this is the way Johnny views transformation; he is very concerned with the idea of one’s individual identity, and hates the idea of turning into something you’re not. He despises that he’s going to turn V into himself by force. He hates dolls because he sees their behavior chip as something that changes them into something they’re not. He’s scared of V going to Blackwall not because it’s death, but because they “won’t be the same.” I don’t think Johnny ever wanted V’s body; again, not as a courtesy, but because it’s not him. After all, he could have just let nature take its course and let himself re-write their psyche, but instead he actively tries to save them as best he can. If V chooses to let him have their body, he hardly seems happy about it; especially compared to how happy he seems to see that part of him will live on in the way V refuses to give up should they choose to live on. By taking V’s body, he is no longer himself; rebel, rocker-boy, legend, and the guy who promised to save V’s life. Johnny in A New Dawn has lost his entire sense of self, his entire new and improved identity; one that learned from his mistakes and became a better person because of V. Johnny has The Tower tattooed on his arm, the card of (often painful) transformation and change. Yet this is what Johnny is most afraid of; not death, or even the not-so-bad sort-of hell that is Blackwall. He’s afraid of losing himself, and by losing V, he has lost a part of himself. The part of himself that was supposed to be a better person; who was supposed to save V’s life.

[ven10]

hello, I was wondering which asoue character is your - well, i would say favourite, but I mean the one who fascinates you most, and why that is. I found your post about Duncan's idea to kick the fake sunny around hilarious, by the way.

Hi! My favourite characters are all three Quagmire triplets however the character who fascinates me the most is Quigley. 100%.

His actions are questionable at best, alongside who he chooses to place trust in. I get that Jaques was the first person Quigley was in contact with after the Quagmire fire so he would be more easily swayed by Jaques but still…the fact that Quigley CHOOSES to stay seperated from his siblings, allowing them to believe he is dead is intriguing, especially for someone claiming to have ventured to the Mortmain Mountains searching for them.

Quigley could have let Isadora and Duncan know he was alive at any time during their stay at Prufrock. On page 48 of ‘The Austere Academy’ Isadora states that she and Duncan had been living at the school for “three semesters”. Three semesters is approximately the equivalent of 45 weeks.

Why did Quigley not send them a letter during this time? Yes, Jaques said it was dangerous for people to know Quigley was alive, however Quigley was willing to risk sending a telegram to Violet in ‘The Grim Grotto’. Although, at that stage the secret of his existence had become known to Count Olaf and Esmé Squalor, which may have influenced Quigley’s decision to risk sending said telegram. This does not take away from the fact that Quigley still could have sent his siblings a CODED letter revealing his status as alive. Or, a coded newspaper article in ‘The Daily Punctilio’, as he knows of Duncan’s interest in journalism and how it would mean his brother is likely to see it. (‘The Austere Academy’ page 49 “I plan to be a newspaper reporter…figure it’s good to start practicing”-Duncan) (‘The Ersatz Elevator’ pg 143 “I’m still a journalist”-Duncan)

It is endlessly frustrating to me that Quigley waited until his siblings were out of reach (kidnapped) before he went out searching for them. The fact he went investigating in the Mortmain Mountains of all places is also somewhat incriminating. VFD headquarters was located in the Valley of Four Drafts so it is possible that Quigley was telling the truth: he was searching for his siblings and seeking information/help from VFD recruits. It’s possible he began searching after his siblings’ kidnapping to keep them safe, the same reason he didn’t reach out when they were ‘safe’ at Prufrock was because Jaques told him it was dangerous. That would align with what Quigley claims his intentions were: “set out to find the organisation. I thought they were my best hope of rescuing my siblings”. (‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 8, page 155)

In ‘The Slippery Slope’ book version Quigley claims he got ready to search for his siblings prior to their kidnapping, “started to gather…supplies” (Chapter 8, page 147) but “was interrupted” by “Jaques Snicket” who Quigley did not know at the time but trusted because Jaques knew a lot about the Quagmire family, the secret passageway and because Jaques was “very well-read.” (The lack of sense in Quigley’s reasons to trust Jaques is very intriguing to me. Factors Quigley deems trustworthy I would see as suspicious and [“well-read”] irrelevant.)

Moreover, Quigley’s blind trust in Jaques portrays him as a sort of naïve character -maybe a manipulated one- as he obeys Jaques by remaining hidden even though Jaques neglected him during their stay at Montgomery Montgomery’s house, prioritising VFD work over the newly-orphaned, isolated child.

“Jaques spent a long time at Dr. Montgomery’s house, but he was too busy”… “to explain everything to me”… “He would”… “sleep all day, or disappear for hours at a time” -Quigley about Jaques Snicket (‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 8, page 152)

Another possibility is that Quigley was not searching for his siblings in the Mortmain Mountains. He was searching for the sugar bowl.

Reasons:

1: Quigley is very likely a VFD recruit, VFD recruits are searching for the sugar bowl.

Reason to believe Quigley is a recruit: when explaining the function of ‘Verdant Flammable Devices’ Quigley says

“so another volunteer will know where you are” (‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 7, page 126)(not originally bolded) The word choice “another” implies that Quigley himself is a volunteer.

Another reason: Quigley suggests that Isadora-his triplet- may be a member of VFD already “I wonder if that’s a code she learned from V.F.D.”-Quigley (‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 10, page 187)

2: It could be interpreted that Quigley has already been inside of VFD headquarters. If he had been there searching for his siblings why would he lie about never entering the headquarters whilst it still stood?

“I read that there was a large window”… ‘moving his gloved hand in the air as if it were still there’. “When it was your turn to cook you could look out at the waterfall while you were chopping vegetables or simmering sauce” -Quigley Quagmire (‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 7, page 136)

^The hand gesture in particular suggests Quigley’s familiarity with the building as it conveys how he knew the precise spot where the window was situated. Even possessing the information‘through reading’ that you could “look out at the waterfall while cooking” he should have needed time to work out where the kitchen worktop would be positioned to figure where the window would be. The specific actions “chopping vegetables” and “simmering sauce” especially hint towards this being something Quigley tells from personal experience rather than reading. Unless it was a diary or an encoded message why would somebody write in such detail about a secret headquarters? Unless Montgomery Montgomery kept a diary which Quigley found whilst staying in his house?

^Additionally, volunteers “chopping vegetables” has extra relevance. Quigley is a TRAVELLER at this point, he should only have food on him that is long-lasting, otherwise is SURELY would have gone mouldy… so where does he get the carrot sticks he offers Violet on the frozen waterfall? (See Chapter 10, page 188 of ‘The Slippery Slope’.)

Carrot sticks=A chopped vegetable. What did volunteers do in the VFD headquarters’ kitchen? Chopped vegetables!

3: Quigley has written about the sugar bowl in his notebook,

“Jaques Snicket mentioned a sugar bowl once” … “said it was very important to find it” …”I wrote it down on…a page in my commonplace book” (‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 11, page 219)

4:The sugar bowl is located in the Mortmain Mountains whilst Quigley is there.

Asides from the endless theories surrounding Quigley’s actions, I find his characterisation interesting. Likeable too, if you couldn’t tell that already by the sheer amount I’ve written about him…

He’s so isolated and very much in denial about that.

“Not quite by myself”… “I had this backpack” … “and I had my commonplace book”-Quigley (‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 8, page 155) This is just SAD.

“I wish Isadora were here”-Quigley (‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 11, page 217)

He’s so LONELY! Everyone thinks he’s DEAD! His siblings are kidnapped; Quigley has no way of knowing that they’re even still alive! His mother left him in that secret tunnel then the first adult he saw (and became attached to-) after her kept leaving him continuously without even SAYING he was going anywhere! (Implied by word choice “disappear” describing Jaques’ actions) Only for Jaques to leave and never come back! Then-and this gets OVERLOOKED- the snow scouts he spent time with when disguised as one, were KIDNAPPED! They were literally swooped up and taken away right before his eyes!!! After THAT he gets SEPARATED from the only friends he still has!!!! Somebody give this child a hug!!!!!!!!!!!

The isolation he’s in has caused Quigley to become INDEPENDENT and capable, unable to rely on others he can only help himself.

“We found it in a coded map”-Klaus Baudelaire

“I had to draw my own map.”-Quigley Quagmire (‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 7, page 126)

Despite not having any of the advantages of childhood (receiving help) he is still vulnerable to the drawbacks: “Bruce saw my matches and confiscated them, because children shouldn’t play with matches”-Quigley (‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 9, page 163)

He’s selfless too, to an extent, when he helps the Baudelaires save Sunny even though it risks his safety and well-kept secret of being alive

“You don’t have to risk your life any further”-Violet

“Don’t be absurd” “Of course I’m going to help you” -Quigley (‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 9, page 182)

Although, the fact he risks his identity being leaked to help the Baudelaires circles back to the question of why he let his siblings believe he was dead.

Point out of his favour: Quigley helps to convince Violet to leave her baby sister to spy on villains, “Sunny can find out for us, but only if she stays here.” (Chapter 10, page 202) but everyone has flaws. We don’t need to criticise Quigley for this, right? If anything it depicts how brainwashed he is.

He’s naïve:

“I never thought of learning about maps as training,” Quigley said. “I just liked it.” -(‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 11, page 213) [Referring to his home-life pre-fire]

^The fact Quigley keeps placing trust in adults with hidden intentions is heartbreaking.

He’s MORALLY GREY in the books especially!!! He has the idea to hold Esmé Squalor hostage:

‘ “We could take her prisoner,” Quigley said’ … “thinks cigarettes are in. If we lit some of them, she might smell the smoke and come down here.” (‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 11, page 221) The fact that he’s willing to do bad things to protect the people he cares about contributes to why he’s one of my favourite characters.

Although he helps the Baudelaires, Quigley did not reveal his identity to them until there were no other options of people he could turn to. He kept his mask on when they were working on the lock but thought nothing of revealing VFD secrets,

“very centre of the Valley of Four Drafts, so the smoke is scattered… V.F.D doesn’t want anyone to see the smoke.”-Quigley(‘The Slippery Slope’ Chapter 7, page 125)

meaning he was intentionally keeping his identity secret from them until they finished helping him with the lock. He was using them, if only for a small thing, redeeming himself when he helps them later.

In conclusion, Quigley is the most fascinating ASOUE character because his actions and words compose of half-truths and veiled intentions, leaving him open to interpretation. He is not straightforward. I see him as a character who doesn’t always do what he thinks is good but will try to display himself as having good intentions, even if that means lying. Quigley leaves behind more questions than answers and is therefore the most intriguing character.

Thanks for the ask! (+thanks for the compliment! I’m happy you enjoyed my post!) :)

This may be…a little longer than you anticipated… it is far lengthier than I thought it would turn out anyway! Whoops?

Please, feel free to send more asks! :)

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with nevdull

nevdull has 8 stories at Gossamer, and there are more X-Files fics at her website. They wonderfully and smartly capture the Mulder/Scully dynamic in various ways. I’ve recced some of my favorites here before including Fish for Fallen Light and Gazzaniga. Big thanks to nevdull for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

I'm surprised if there are wholly new readers, less so if people are revisiting old favorites and following discussions (like this one!) that might bring stories to their attention that they missed. I know of at least one "classic" story group reads that featured one of mine and it was extremely flattering to have been picked. I haven't done much fic re-reading myself but I completely understand the impulse to return to a beloved story.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

It was all so positive for me. I'm no stranger to internet drama but I didn't get drawn into it with this community (and when drama would erupt I generally had no idea what anyone was talking about!). I had a small group of friends I knew either purely online or partially in person and read the kinds of stories I liked or were recommended. I got a chance to practice both writing and editing, and get introduced to the practice of supportive critique that fandom does especially well. (Most modern software is extensively peer-reviewed, and I think I brought a lot of what I experienced with beta reading to my practice of code review both as a programmer and a manager.)

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

atxc first, as I was very active on Usenet in general. But I connected most with the Scullyfic mailing list. The writing prompts were especially fun to play with.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

XF is my only fandom experience—I've gotten into other shows but I've read very little other fanfic and I've never gone to cons. I tried following some of my favorite writers to other fandoms where I also liked the source material (Buffy, Bones) but it just didn't take. XF was singular for me in that way.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

I got a pretty late start, I think around season 5, and had to work backward. Watching was a group ritual with my roommates and I would occasionally forward some fandom things to them like the blooper reels or super top secret spoilers, but I was the only one who went all-in with the online community.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

The naughty stories! At first that was the only thing that made sense to me to read, because that was what was missing from the show. I didn't immediately grasp why anyone would read casefiles or post-ep fic or other genres—ironically these were the genres I ended up writing in. As time went on I would read just about anything from a favorite author or that got strong recommendations.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Occasional get-togethers with the Boston crew, and I had fun live-watching some of the recent season with folks on Facebook.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

My memory here is pretty poor and I'm going to forget lots of authors whose work I really loved, but just to list a few: Jesemie's Evil Twin, Anjou, syntax6, prufrock’s love, cofax, Penumbra, and Vehemently.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

I write (and do advocacy work for) a different sort of niche: interactive fiction, which has some overlap with video games but also the broader writing community through tools like Twine. Interactive fiction (IF) and Twine in particular has become an active area for authors from underrepresented groups. Like fanfic, IF is generally authored for free and is often people's first opportunity to get their work in front of a worldwide audience. (Also like fanfic, several IF authors have gone on to full-time writing careers as either novelists or journalists. And I know of at least one other IF author who got their start writing XF fic.) My IF story Stone Harbor definitely draws from an XF tradition, though I didn't realize that until just now!

What's the story behind your pen name?

There's a special file on many operating systems called /dev/null, which acts like a black hole—anything you write to it is immediately deleted. It's just a tweak on that.

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

At the time I was writing I treated it like a big secret, which seems silly now—especially since my stories are pretty tame. These days I don't advertise it just because it was so long ago, but I don't mind if people know. My husband is fully aware of the crew I hang out with on New Year's Day, and why.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

I'm on Twitter as @liza and for some reason my stories are still up on https://nevdull.tripod.com/ and at Gossamer.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

Thanks for everything y'all taught me!

(Posted by Lilydale on January 19, 2021)

[jacobsnicket]

but if we can decode our secret code (it wasn’t a secret, was it?)

Prompt number: 27 ("give me that") and 29 ("back up!") Fandom: All The Wrong Questions Rating: T Warnings/Tags: None

Inspired by a conversation on the VFDiscord, please accept my humble offering of crack. Title is from The Carioca by Stephen Merritt, which you can listen to Daniel Handler perform here.

In the basement of Prufrock Preparatory School, the Apprenticeship Committee (all seven members) of the branch of VFD presiding over the City and the surrounding areas were hard at work. You see, it was around the time of year in which older neophytes graduate and begin their apprenticeships, and the Committee was in charge of arranging them.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to split some apprentices into pairs,” D was saying. “Our graduating class this year was unexpectedly large.”

“At least it’s not too large. Only fifty-seven neophytes.”

H nudged F on the shoulder, in the way that you would if you had found something either extremely amusing or extremely terrible and wished to let others know of it. “Baudelaire selected C as a chaperone. Her only reasoning was ‘I like acting and bats are cool.’”

F snorted. “Olaf also selected C as chaperone. So far, no one else has chosen C, and they both seem adept in her field of study, we could assign them both to her-”

V, who apart from being a member of the Committee also instructed Encoding Monologues at Prufrock, nearly burst from her seat. “What, do you want to kill C?”

“They won’t kill her-”

“F, you’ve never met them, much less had to teach them. They’re terrible. One of them alone is bad, but get the two of them together and they’re incorrigible.”

E frowned. “Snicket-level incorrigible?”

“Which one?”

“The youngest.”

“Oh, dear, the one who snuck into your office?”

“He was sore about that for weeks-”

“No one’s ever passed the Sneaking final exam before! No one! I was upstaged by a child!”

“Shut up, E, you can’t deny it was hilarious.”

“I mean, I do have to commend him for sneaking into my office, I’ll just never say that to his face.”

“Fair enough.”

A, who until now was sat in the corner, going through requests, cleared her throat. “Speaking of Snicket... he, uh, chose S as his chaperone.”

D nearly broke their neck turning their head to face A. “24, 37, or 52?”

A sighed. “52.”

“You’re joking. You have to be joking.”

“Why in the name of Beverly Cleary would I be joking?”

“You don’t even like Beverly Cleary, A-”

I slammed her hands on the table. “We’re approving it.”

There was silence for one, excruciating moment.

Then the room erupted.

“Why in hell-”

“He’ll kill her!”

“This is probably the worst idea you’ve ever had, I, and I’m including that time you jumped off the roof with nothing but a tablecloth during our training.”

“Why would we do that?”

“Because it’ll be funny as shit, that’s why!”

“Sometimes, with your proclivity for chaos, I wonder why you never joined the other side of the schism. And then I am extremely grateful that you never joined the other side of the schism.”

“It’s because I would probably die if I was told to light a fire, come on, H, you know this.”

V grinned. “I personally bet one of them’s not coming back at the end of the period.”

“V, not you too!”

“I thought you didn’t want Olaf and Beatrice to kill C, and now you’re completely fine with Snicket killing S?”

“I don’t particularly care for S.”

“No one particularly cares for S!”

A glanced at V. “I might have to take you up on that bet.”

“Back up, V, we’re not gambling the lives away of any volunteers, incorrigible or otherwise.”

“I didn’t say anyone was dying! I just said that one of them’s not coming back at the end of the period!”

“That implies death!”

“It doesn’t! Honestly, how did you even pass Analysing Literature, E?”

“I bet S is going to leave him on the side of the road.”

“Five dollars?”

“Ten dollars.”

“Your copy of Anna Karenina.”

“That’s too much, F, you know it’s signed.”

“Are we all just betting to spite E?”

“Yes!”

“Why?”

“Because it’s fun!”

D slammed his hands on the table. “You’re all being completely unreasonable!”

“I mean, not really-”

“Sure, S might be bad with children, and, sure, Snicket might have a tendency to insult authority figures, but that’s no reason to assume things won’t go smoothly, like every apprenticeship before.”

“There was that time back in ‘06…”

I reached across the table, so far that she was nearly lounging on it. “Hey. A. Give me that.” She motioned towards the request letter.

A wordlessly handed it to her.

“Okay, everyone, Snicket’s reasoning for requesting S. Theodora Markson as a chaperone is…” She dramatically cleared her throat. “There’s just- a fucking giant root beer stain covering it up.”

V snatched it out of her hands and held it up to the light. “He didn’t- oh my god, he didn’t even write anything, he just purposely spilled some root beer on it so it would look like he wrote something and then accidentally covered it.”

“It’s times like these when I feel hopeful for the new generation of volunteers.”

“They’ll probably just annoy the firestarters to death.”

“Fair.”

D clapped his hands. “Enough dillydallying, everyone. Back to work!”

~-~

The news spread quickly among the Apprenticeship Committee -- it started with a letter to A, who sent a telegram to F, who whispered the news to H, who was overheard by D, who decided to hold a committee meeting to let everyone else know.

“Volunteers,” he began, “all apprentices have returned to the city.”

“Did you have to call a meeting to say that-?”

“Except one.”

Silence for one, excruciating moment.

“Was it Snicket?”

“Yeah, it was Snicket.”

A wordlessly handed V ten dollars.

[snicketstrange]

The Dark Day and The Sugar Bowl

My theory about having a radioactive stone or the powder of a radioactive stone inside the SB was criticized by very qualified judges. Their names are Dante and Hermes, and they volunteer for Dark Avenue 667.

  Dante      demonstrated that Esmé's sugar bowl could contain information. I will quote you here for clarity: Neither of these statements indicate that the contents of the sugar bowl pose a direct physical danger in themselves; merely that using them would have wide-ranging repercussions. If the villains can't get their hands on the sugar bowl, the risk is always that those repercussions will come to pass; consequently, if the villains can get their hands on the sugar bowl, they'll be able to act with impunity. This is a valid interpretation. Lemony's hint in TSS is as follows: I have at last learned the whereabouts of the evidence that will exonerate me, a phrase which here means "prove to the authorities that it is Count Olaf, and not me, who has started so many fires." Your suggestion, so many years ago at that picnic, that a tea set would be a handy place to hide anything important and small in the event of a dark day, has turned out to be correct. -Lemony Snicket, TSS p. 101 The evidence in question does not only prove Lemony innocent; it proves Olaf guilty - apparently unambiguously and elegantly. It is easy to see why Count Olaf would find this evidence desirable. (The exact nature of the evidence is unclear and seems narrow in scope, which is perhaps one reason why it ultimately could not be revealed.) A point: A container in which to secure something safely may indicate something dangerous, but it may also indicate something fragile. TGG p. 178 clarifies that the sugar bowl has a "tight-fitting lid"; a necessity if you want to keep anything in it while throwing it down rivers and so on, but this also implies that it's watertight, and that whatever is inside may be perishable or otherwise easy to damage. It was generally agreed back in the day that the "classic" use for sugar bowls was probably for something along the lines of privately passing information or small objects during dinner parties or other meetings; consider how easy it would be to place something small inside a sugar bowl whilst seeming to take sugar, and for the other party to then retrieve it. Listening devices have also been proposed, which would allow coded communication to be potentially overheard but would also allow suspicious conversations to be recorded; it's easy to see how such a recording might incriminate a person who had set a lot of fires, for example, or more pertinently, to exonerate somebody who had not. Something like this I think is probably what is indicated by Lemony's statement on the subject in TSS.

Hermes     , however, showed the apparent contradiction in this interpretation. Speaking about the secret letter in TSS, Hermes said:

"This letter is possibly the most paradoxical thing in the whole of ASOUE. It implies that the Sugar Bowl contains the evidence that will exonerate Lemony, although this does not seem to fit what we hear of its significance anywhere else." I believe Hermes was referring to passages like the ones that Dante and I cited in a recent theory that I will write here for clarity: "Our enemies capturing the sugar bowl would be as troubling as their capture of the Medusoid Mycelium." - Dewey, chapter 8 TPP. "The sugar bowl is on its way to the hotel even as we speak, and I'd hate to think what would happen if our enemies got ahold of it. I can't imagine anything worse, except perhaps if our enemies somehow got ahold of the Medusoid Mycelium. " - Kit Snicket , TPP p. 36 I was defending the idea that the SB contained some kind of radioactive material. But even a radioactive stone would not cause a disaster similar to what Medusoid Mycelium can do. Similarly, even information that could clear Lemony and accuse Olaf would actually do similar damage to Medusoid Mycelium. Medusoid Mycelium is a weapon of mass destruction that can cause an epidemic. Medusoid Mycelium can be grown easily and could be used to cause worldwide chaos in the event of coordination of villain efforts. In addition, we have some interesting statements from Captain W regarding the SB content: "My stepfather says that if the sugar bowl falls into his hands, then all of the efforts of all the volunteers will be for naught ... "He said it was better I didn't know ... He said people had been destroyed for knowing such enormous secrets, and that he didn't want me in that sort of danger. "- Fiona, TGG Chapter 3. That's why I haven't told you why the sugar bowl is so very crucial. There are secrets in this world too terrible for young people to know, even as those secrets get closer and closer. - W., TGG, Chapter 4. "It's not the sugar bowl," Captain Widdershins said, "it's what's inside it. - W. TGG, Chapter 6 What Captain W makes it clear is that there is a terrible secret within the SB. Let me fix this. Captain W makes it clear that there are huge secrets (in the plural) within the SB. And from there everything becomes more interesting.

Let's go back to the TSS secret letter. There is a strong indication that the use of a sugar bowl to protect and hide information was Kit Snicket's idea. Kit Snikcet is more than the sister of Lemony Snicket and mother of Beatrice Jr. Kit Snicket is known as the creator of the submarine Quequeeg. This seems to indicate that in his youth, Kit was able to create highly technological mechanical devices, like a submarine in which only a captain and two crewmen are needed. (Compared to submarine C, in which a large number of humans are required using arm force to move the submarine). I just want to highlight Kit Snicket's genius. Lemony's letter to Kit reveals for what purpose Kit had the idea of ​​using an SB. Lemony wrote: "Your suggestion, so many years ago at that picnic, that a tea set would be a handy place to hide anything important and small in the event of a dark day, has turned out to be correct." - Lemony Snicket on the secret letter in TSS. The original objective of SB was to protect something small and important in the event of a Dark Day. What is a Dark Day? In North America, something called Dark Day happened on May 19, 1780. An unusual darkening of the day sky was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada. (You can search for it on Wikipedia). But what caused this Dark Day? Wikipedia says: "The primary cause of the event is believed to have been a combination of smoke from forest fires, a thick fog, and cloud cover. The darkness was so complete that candles were required from noon on. It did not disperse until the middle of the next night. " In other words, that Dark Day was caused by a big fire. So the SB's goal is likely to be to protect something small and important from a Big Fire. Although Kit was responsible for giving the idea, the implementation of the idea to protect it came from Esmé. The sugar bowl serves as a protection against fire (and apparently also against water and other weather). But why could a Dark Day be so dreaded as to need a fireproof container? And what could this container contain? One of the biggest reasons that fires are so destructive is that fires destroy libraries. Large libraries throughout the real history and throughout the fictional history of ASOUE have already been lost to major fires. What if it was possible that all crucial information in a library could be compressed to the point of being fit into a portable device? Well ... It exists in our universe! In fact, digital information is just like that. Think about how many books will fit on your SD card on your phone. When ASOUE's books were written, we were in the age of data compression. Daniel Handler spoke about various types of libraries. Did he not leave out digital libraries? After all, there were computers in Prufrock Prep. Of course, we don't necessarily have to imagine a pen drive within the SB. But we can imagine an entire library within the SB. A library that can contain the most different types of secrets, some of which are really dangerous. If Count Olaf (or other enemies)  had access to these secrets, in addition to being able to eliminate important evidence against him, who knows what he would be able to do with all that information! In this case, the damage could be similar to that of the deadly fungus MM. In other words, inside Esme's SB was a big backup with the main secrets kept by VFD. It is likely that there were shameful secrets for VFD, which made Captain W hesitate just thinking about them. In the case of a Dark Day in which all physical libraries were destroyed, the information from those libraries would be saved inside the sugar bowl. And that is why Esme, despite having the SB did not make much use of it. Esme hates to read. She only discovered the value of what she had in hand when she lost it. I mean ... She already valued the SB itself. Let me be canonical so you don't think I took this theory out of thin air. TE chapter 9: The most common use of the word "library," of course, refers to a collection of books or documents, such as the libraries the Baudelaires had encountered during their travels and troubles, from the legal library of Justice Strauss to the Hotel Denouement, which was itself an enormous library–with, it turned out, another library hidden nearby. But the word "library" can also refer to a mass of knowledge or a source of learning, just as Klaus Baudelaire is something of a library with the mass of knowledge stored in his brain, or Kit Snicket, who was a source of learning for the Baudelaires as she told them about V.F.D. and its noble errands." At first glance this sentence seems to indicate that the hotel where people slept was a library and that the sub-aquatic library was the hidden library. However, that doesn't make much sense in that sentence. Lemony is defining the library as a collection of information in some kind of media that can be accessed and read. The hotel where people slept was not that kind of library, although the rooms were organized as if it were a library, the function of the hotel itself was not to store information. Thus, the Hotel Denouement that Lemony is referring to here as a library was the underwater library, which Dewey referred to as the real Hotel Denouement.

I will quote a passage for clarity:

TPP Chapter 8: "Exactly," Dewey said. "The truth has been right under everyone's noses, if anyone cared to look past the surface. Volunteers and villains alike know that the last safe place is the Hotel Denouement, but no one has ever questioned why the sign is written backward. They're staying in the TNEMEUONED LETOH, while the real last safe place-the catalog-is hidden safely at the bottom of the pond, in underwater rooms organized in a mirror image of the hotel itself. Our enemies could burn the entire building to the ground, but the most important secrets would be safe. In other words, what was destroyed was TNEMEUONED LETOH and not the Hotel Denouement. "Hotel Denouement" was the name that was written on the entrance to the underwater library.

So the library that was hidden nearby that Lemony refers in TE chpater 9 to here was something else. And I deduce that this other thing is the content of the SB.

[that-one-girl-who-writes]

A Series of Unfortunate Events.

The Penultimate Peril

The book begins back in the taxi, where The Grim Gotto ended. The Taxi is driven by a V.F.D member, Kit Snicket who drives them up to the Hotel Denouement  for their first mission.

She tells them that she used to work with their parents, although to the children she is still a stranger, like most of the people they have met in their story. Kit is pregnant and clearly distraught as she drives them and she soon drops them off, leaving them with concierge uniforms to use as a disguise, it is importance for the children to keep their identities a secret so that the enemies hunting them do not discover them, and if they were to discover that the safety of the hotel has been compromised, they are to send a signal to Kit to warn them so that they are not caught off-guard.She also leaves them with a warning, to be careful of the hotel managers. Frank and Ernest, who are identical twins, and while Frank is a volunteer Ernest is a villain. The goal of their undercover mission is to figure out which of the guests are working with the V.F.D. They are also hoping to figure out the true identity of J.S. as well as the location of the sugar bowl, an important artifact for both parts of the schism.

On their first day at the hotel, the children spot a number of villains roaming the property, the group including various characters from previous books in the series. The children take notes to keep track of whom they have seen and to figure out who can be trusted and who cannot. 

The Baudelaires are then forced to split up to assist the hotel's guests ― Violet assists Esme Squalor and Carmelita Spats by bringing them a harpoon gun up to the roof, Klaus assists Charled and Sir, the owners of the Lucky Smells Lumbermill, by escorting them to the sauna while also hanging flypaper outside a window for one of the managers, and Sunny assists Hal, an employee at Heimlich Hospital, Vice-Principal Nero, Ms. Bass, and Mr. Remora, teachers at Prufrock Preparatory School, while locking a V.F.D device onto a door of the laundry room, turning it into a Vernacularly Fastened Door.

All the guests discuss the mysterious J.S. and together the siblings discuss who asked for what, as each of them runs into a separate manager. Klaus concludes that Carmelita Spats requested the harpoon gun to shoot down a bird carrying the sugar bowl, as Sunny mentioned that Hal and a manager were discussing the sugar bowl and the Medusoid Mycelium. The flypaper would then retrieve the bird's body, and the sugar bowl would fall into the laundry room, in which the room's door was converted into a Vernacularly Fastened Door.

All the guests discuss the mysterious J.S. and together the siblings discuss who asked for what, as each of them runs into a separate manager. Klaus concludes that Carmelita Spats requested the harpoon gun to shoot down a bird carrying the sugar bowl, as Sunny mentioned that Hal and a manager were discussing the sugar bowl and the Medusoid Mycelium. The flypaper would then retrieve the bird's body, and the sugar bowl would fall into the laundry room, in which the room's door was converted into a Vernacularly Fastened Door.

All the guests discuss the mysterious J.S. and together the siblings discuss who asked for what, as each of them runs into a separate manager. Klaus concludes that Carmelita Spats requested the harpoon gun to shoot down a bird carrying the sugar bowl, as Sunny mentioned that Hal and a manager were discussing the sugar bowl and the Medusoid Mycelium. The flypaper would then retrieve the bird's body, and the sugar bowl would fall into the laundry room, in which the room's door was converted into a Vernacularly Fastened Door.

Shortly‌ ‌after‌ ‌his‌ ‌proposal,‌ ‌a‌ ‌man‌ ‌encounters‌ ‌them‌ ‌and‌ ‌reveals‌ ‌himself‌ ‌as‌ ‌Dewey‌ ‌Denouement‌ ‌the‌ ‌third‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌secretly‌ ‌three‌ ‌brothers.‌ ‌‌Dewey‌ ‌has‌ ‌organized‌ ‌all‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌V.F.D.’s‌ ‌information‌ ‌about‌ ‌the‌ ‌villains‌ ‌and‌ ‌plans‌ ‌to‌ ‌present‌ ‌this‌ ‌information‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌upcoming‌ ‌trial,‌ ‌which‌ ‌is‌ ‌the‌ ‌reason‌ ‌for‌ ‌Thursday’s‌ ‌meeting.‌

‌‌He‌ ‌also‌ ‌tells‌ ‌them‌ ‌that‌ ‌a‌ ‌pool‌ ‌reflection‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌hotel‌ ‌is‌ ‌the‌ ‌actual‌ ‌safe‌ ‌place,‌ ‌as‌ ‌the‌ ‌hotel's‌ ‌words‌ ‌and‌ ‌structure‌ ‌were‌ ‌designed‌ ‌backward‌ ‌to‌ ‌reflect‌ ‌the‌ ‌actual‌ ‌words‌ ‌onto‌ ‌the‌ ‌pool‌ ‌-‌ ‌beneath‌ ‌the‌ ‌pond ‌is‌ ‌an‌ ‌underwater‌ ‌library‌ ‌containing‌ ‌crucial‌ ‌information‌ ‌concerning‌ ‌V.F.D.‌ 

They‌ ‌are‌ ‌then‌ ‌met ‌by‌ ‌Jerome‌ ‌Squalor‌ ‌and‌ ‌Justice‌ ‌Strauss,‌ ‌who‌ ‌have‌ ‌joined‌ ‌V.F.D.‌ ‌after‌ ‌believing‌ ‌messages‌ ‌being‌ ‌sent‌ ‌to‌ ‌J.S‌ ‌were‌ ‌being‌ ‌addressed‌ ‌to‌ ‌them.‌ ‌‌Count‌ ‌Olaf‌ ‌suddenly‌ ‌appears,‌ ‌threatening‌ ‌Dewey‌ ‌with‌ ‌a‌ ‌harpoon‌ ‌gun‌ ‌and‌ ‌demanding‌ ‌the‌ ‌code‌ ‌for‌ ‌unlocking‌ ‌the‌ ‌Vernacularly‌ ‌Fastened‌ ‌Door,‌ ‌where‌ ‌he‌ ‌is‌ ‌sure‌ ‌the‌ ‌sugar‌ ‌bowl‌ ‌is‌ ‌being‌ ‌held.‌ ‌As‌ ‌they‌ ‌attempt‌ ‌to‌ ‌deter‌ ‌Count‌ ‌Olaf‌ ‌and‌ ‌rescue‌ ‌Dewey,‌ ‌the‌ ‌Baudelaire‌ ‌children‌ ‌accidentally‌ ‌fire‌ ‌Olaf’s‌ ‌harpoon‌ ‌gun.‌ ‌Dewey‌ ‌is‌ ‌shot‌ ‌and‌ ‌dies‌.

The‌ ‌Baudelaires‌ ‌are‌ ‌put‌ ‌on‌ ‌trial‌ ‌for‌ ‌murder‌ ‌the‌ ‌next‌ ‌morning,‌ ‌brought‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌lobby‌ ‌by‌ ‌Frank‌ ‌and‌ ‌Ernest‌ to stand‌ ‌in‌ ‌front‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌judges,‌ ‌blindfolded‌ ‌in‌ ‌order‌ ‌to‌ ‌respect‌ ‌the‌ ‌concept‌ ‌of‌ ‌justice‌ ‌being‌ ‌blind.‌ ‌They‌ ‌are‌ ‌given‌ ‌the‌ ‌opportunity‌ ‌to‌ ‌tell‌ ‌their‌ ‌side‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌story‌ ‌but‌ ‌find‌ ‌themselves‌ ‌having‌ ‌a‌ ‌hard‌ ‌time‌ ‌doing‌ ‌so.‌ ‌Violet‌ ‌starts‌ ‌from‌ ‌Briny‌ ‌Beach‌ ‌where‌ ‌they‌  were give the news of their ‌parents‌ ‌death‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌fire that destroyed their home. However,‌ ‌the‌ ‌Baudelaires‌ ‌soon‌ ‌realize‌ ‌that‌ ‌the‌ ‌judge,‌ ‌ ‌called‌ ‌Justice‌ ‌Strauss,‌ ‌is‌ ‌none‌ ‌other‌ ‌than‌ ‌the‌ ‌Man‌ ‌With‌ ‌A‌ ‌Beard‌ ‌But‌ ‌No‌ ‌Hair,‌ ‌one‌ ‌of‌ ‌Olaf’s‌ accomplice.‌ ‌The‌ ‌children‌ ‌are‌ ‌accused‌ ‌of‌ ‌ being‌ ‌in‌ ‌contempt‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌court,‌ ‌and‌ ‌Sunny‌ ‌encourages‌ ‌the‌ ‌other‌ ‌Baudelaires‌ ‌to‌ ‌remove‌ ‌their‌ ‌blindfolds.‌ ‌

The‌ ‌trial‌ ‌cannot‌ ‌be‌ ‌completed‌ ‌as‌ ‌Count‌ ‌Olaf‌ ‌kidnaps‌ ‌the‌ ‌judge‌ ‌to‌ ‌use‌ ‌as‌ ‌a‌ ‌hostage‌ ‌to‌ ‌demand‌ ‌that‌ ‌the‌ ‌Vernacularly‌ ‌Fastened‌ ‌Door‌ ‌be‌ ‌opened.‌ ‌Down‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌laundry‌ ‌room,‌ ‌the‌ ‌Baudelaire‌ ‌children‌ ‌shockingly ‌decide‌ ‌to‌ ‌help‌ ‌Count‌ ‌Olaf‌ ‌escape‌ ‌the‌ ‌hotel‌ ‌because‌ ‌they‌ ‌know‌ ‌he‌ ‌won’t‌ ‌be‌ ‌able‌ ‌to‌ ‌find‌ ‌the‌ ‌sugar‌ ‌bowl ‌and‌ ‌they‌ ‌will‌ ‌be‌ ‌able‌ ‌to‌ ‌escape‌ ‌beside‌ ‌him.‌ Sunny‌ ‌sets‌ ‌the‌ ‌Hotel‌ ‌Denouement‌ ‌on‌ fire,‌ ‌sending‌ ‌a‌ ‌sign‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌V.F.D.‌ ‌that‌ ‌the‌ ‌building‌ ‌is‌ ‌no‌ ‌longer‌ ‌safe‌ ‌for‌ ‌their Thursday‌ ‌meeting.‌

At‌ ‌the‌ ‌close‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌novel,‌ ‌the‌ ‌children‌ ‌find‌ ‌themselves‌ ‌adrift‌ ‌in‌ ‌a‌ ‌boat‌ ‌beside‌ ‌Count‌ ‌Olaf‌ ‌leaving‌ ‌the‌ ‌story‌ ‌at‌ ‌yet‌ ‌another‌ ‌cliff‌ ‌hanger.‌ ‌

Check out the last summary here: The End.

[fictionkinfessionsarchived]

@ my other associate: I've always been partial to "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" myself. "And indeed there will be time/To wonder hello there and do I dare/Time to turn back and descend the stair..." Side note, Tumblr's character limit for asks makes Verse Fluctuation Declarations (and every other code) so much harder than they need to be. But this is a Very Fascinating Diversion, I will admit. I've missed this. —S (#sberinger)

[serenzippity]

Hi ❤️ I requested the Jooheon scenario from you but don't feel rushed to get it out bc of your hand. So I think that you are my internet crush and I really really want to know more about you if that isn't too invasive? I love your writing and I get so happy when I find out you posted something new. I was wondering if you could list your seven favorite (not mx) albums, songs, movies, books, poems, dreams, fears, and anything that makes you extremely happy? ❤️

Hi love. And don’t feel invasive! I’m gonna try to get the requests rolling out in about a week or two. Don’t tell my doctor.

I’m so flattered that I’m your internet crush. Here are some answers to your questions 🖤

Albums

The Da Vinci Code OST - Hans Zimmer

The Dark Knight Rises - Hans Zimmer

Blood Diamond OST - James Newton Howard

This Is War - 30 Seconds to Mars

Battle Studies - John Mayer

Born and Raised - John Mayer

The White Album - The Beatles

Songs

“Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967″- John Mayer 

“Blackbird” - The Beatles

“Chevaliers de Sangreal” - Hans Zimmer

“You’re So Dark” - Arctic Monkeys

“So Much Better” - Laura Bell Bundy

“All Too Well” - Camila Cabello 

“You’ll Be In My Heart” - Phil Collins

Movies

Sabrina (1954)

Blood Diamond (2006)

Ladri Di Biciclette (1948)

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

Roman Holiday (1953)

The Harry Potter Franchise (2001-2011)

Books

Thief of Always- Clive Barker

And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

One Thousand and One Nights

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë

Utopia - Thomas More

Anthem - Ayn Rand

Poems (I’m including epic poems here because poetry isn’t a big thing of mine)

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" - T. S. Eliot

Paradise Lost - John Milton

Paradise Regained - John Milton

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Theogony - Hesiod

Metamorphoses - Ovid

Psyche - Mary Tighe

Dreams

Live a long, healthy, and happy life

Invest in a small bakery/cafe

Spend a few years working in Africa

Learn four languages

See Hans Zimmer live

Become a wine connoisseur 

Be able to spend months on end in Paris

Fears

Death of my father

Dying without being able to say goodbye

Not having control of my future

Financial ruin

Financial dependence

Otherworldly negative forces

Spiders

Things that make me happy

Rainy days

Full tanks of gas

Soft cardigans

Meeting your idols/heroes

Writing until the sun comes up

Fresh cappuccinos

Getting lost in Paris