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library-child · 1 year

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To me, this is a compelling, brilliant scene. It's the turning point for both Lemony's character arc and the story.

Here, Lemony realizes that Hangfire is most certainly Armstrong Feint in disguise. This confronts him and us readers that the story is bound to end in tragedy. Until now, there was the possibility of a happy ending if the good guys only managed to defeat the bad guys. But Lemony was set up for failure from the beginning. No matter what he does next, there won't be a happy ending. The best thing he still can hope to achieve is to save the town and its children from Hangfire, but there will be no way to spare Ellington her suffering.

On a storytelling level, this marks the passing from a children's mystery series to a full-on, unapologetic tragedy. On a character level, this might be a key moment to understand Lemony and his entire generation of volunteer children, such as Kit, Dewey, Olaf, Beatrice, etc.

These children were kidnapped by VFD at a very young age. Many of them were also orphaned. They were isolated from people they knew and trained rigorously since day one. They had it drilled into them that their basic needs and emotions didn't matter and that they only existed to serve the greater good. In return, they got a notion of nobility: They were an aristocracy because their skills and sacrifices made them morally and intellectually superior to regular people. Being stripped of everything they had, these kids clung to those dreams of greatness.

But as they got older, they realized that their elders at VFD didn't live up to their own promises. They were incompetent, callous, and caught up in internal conflicts. So at the beginning of ATWQ, Lemony and his friends seemed to have come up with another notion to fix their emotional crisis. VFD may not be as great as it should be, but they would make it so. They would be overcome the older generation and save the organization and the world from evil. They were going to be heroes. Everything they had gone through would be worthwhile.

But here, Lemony is confronted with the horrible truth that destroys the coping mechanism he's relied on for so long. So now he has to choose to either accept that and be honest about his suspicion or go into complete denial. He chooses the latter. Up until the very last moment, he clings to the illusion that Armstrong may be innocent after all, that he may still save the day. He tries to solve the problem by killing Hangfire, thus going against the very principles that he's been preaching. At the end of ATWQ, he's just traumatized, running away mindlessly and living on the streets.

I think the other volunteers from his generation have to face similar disillusionments. As the schism worsens, some leave or turn against VFD, such as Olivia and Ernest. Others fight teeth and claws to recreate this quiet world utopia they have been raised to believe in. They resort to increasingly violent tactics that only worsen things, like the Volatile Fungus Deportation, the burning of Anwhistle Aquatics, or the murder at the opera. And so they die before their time, by each others' hands or their own poor decisions. They end up as just another failed generation that leaves their children a pile of debris and unanswered question, but also the hope to do better.

#lemony snicket #all the wrong questions #atwq #a series of unfortunate events #series of unfortunate events #asoue #vfd #kit snicket #beatrice baudelaire #count olaf #ernest denouement #olivia caliban #hangfire #armstrong feint #ellington feint #dewey denouement #the unauthorized autobiography #tragedy

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moldygreenblue · 15 days

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All Alone

IMPORTANT NOTES: There is implied racism and implied period-typical racism (late 1970s/1980s period because I headcanon so), mainly in the second half of the fic.

[Know that if eternity dies out]

It’s not every day Rina can spend a day with her Uncle Ryutaro. More often than not, he’s always flying back and forth between Winnipeg and Vancouver for work. But whenever there’s a day he can stay around, they always have a great time together.

It’s too bad Grand-Mère’s goonies have to follow them though.

Rina isn’t sure why Grand-Mère’s goonies watch over them, hawking around in the distance. Uncle Ryutaro was family before he married Duchess Sabine. Uncle Ryutaro was family before Duchess Sabine became Mother; aunt is the proper term for her and Rina’s relationship, but she insisted to be call Mother, for it would be Rina who will inherit the Duchy of Winnipeg.

She should ask Grand-Mère about it one day. Or Mother. Or Uncle Ryutaro himself. But today is not that day. Today, Rina will have fun with Uncle Ryutaro. And today’s a special day. They’re in the City (by the Bay), visiting Mother. Mother is still sadly attending a meeting with the Count. So, for the time being, it’s just her and Uncle Ryutaro, spending the afternoon together.

Again, it’s too bad Grand-Mère’s goonies have to follow them. Rina wouldn’t have even known they existed if it wasn’t for Uncle Ryutaro pointing them out to her one day. He always calls them kurokos; the ‘invisible’ stagehands clad in black. Only they’re not, at least not to Rina.

“Uncle Ryutaro! Look!” Rina quickly takes her uncle’s hand, and drags him to the inaccurate distant solar system model, inside the Milky Way Galaxy exhibit. Rina can hear the necklace Uncle Ryutaro wears jingling around.

Going to the Titania Space and Science Center is what Rina can call a special treat. Back home, Rina loves looking at the constellations and planets through her telescope. Grand-Mère is constantly telling her that she’s wasting the night away with an impractical hobby, but Uncle Ryutaro and Mother says she’s simply traveling the galaxy in a pure safe matter.

Rina drags Uncle Ryutaro until they reach the end of the solar system, where an inaccurate size model of planet Pluto stands. The model is reddish brown, and there’s a unique feature that she never saw in other solar system models back home: it has a small heart shape region.

Rina briefly looks up at her uncle, and stares at his necklace. His necklace is like any normal necklace with metal beads. But what stands out most to Rina is that it has a key. It’s a silver key that has a heart shape bow and wing shape shoulders. Rina looks back at the model, and sighs dreamily, holding her hands together with a smile. “Aww. Pluto has a heart, just like your key! It would be cool if Pluto does have a heart shape region on her surface.”

Uncle Ryutaro crouches down slightly, so the two of them are on the same eye level. He then clutches the key. “That would be something. Of course, we’ll only known for certain when we can finally reach Pluto. Be it a space probe or an actual human being in exploration. Until then, Pluto will be out there, waiting for us to visit her at long last.”

Rina’s soon frowns, and drops her hands to her sides. “That means she’ll be waiting for years. For years and years, she’ll be all alone, and unable to share her heart with all of us.”

Uncle Ryutaro grabs ahold of her hands, and he speaks softly. “It’s possible, Rina. Pluto has Charon as her companion, but sometimes, a companion can still make one feel as if they’re by themselves. There are always circumstances that one feels utterly all alone.”

Rina opens her mouth to ask how it’s possible, but Uncle Ryutaro glances sideways, and stands up. His eyes are fuel with anger, and his brow is all scrunch up. Rina turns her head towards where her uncle is looking. There’s a janitor pushing his cleaning cart, a teenager jamming to music on his Walkman, a small group of preschoolers with their teacher, and two goonies in black and dark sunglasses quickly focusing their attention to the asteroid models.

“Those kurokos are really starting to get bolder with each outing,” says Uncle Ryutaro. As he leads Rina away with his right hand, he rubs the key with his left hand. He speaks softly, talking more to himself than to Rina. “Can’t I have an outing with my da-darling niece? It would certainly be pleasant if they get suddenly distracted. Long enough for us to make an escape from them.”

CRASH!

Rina quickly looks back to see the jamming teenager inside the janitor’s cleaning cart, his legs sticking out from the bin. As the janitor tries to get the teenager out, the goonies in black are on the floor. The small group of preschoolers are running around them in circles, with the poor teacher trying regain control over them.

Rina turns back to Uncle Ryutaro, and stares at him in awe. The key has magical powers!

[I’ll keep standing here, all alone]

Even though her lecture was done, R decides to stay around at the Orion Observatory. Being open to public as an observatory and renovated space museum, R wants to be there as a simple visitor, and not a public known lecturer. It’s a good thing R always keeps a simple disguise kit on hand: sunglasses that block the majority of her face, and a giant brim sunhat.

It's not the Titania Space and Science Center, but the Orion Observatory has its own perks. It’s new, it has the latest information approved by both the Meteorological and Astronomical Societies, and best of all, it wasn’t burn down in a fire that now reduced it to a pile of ashes. Why bring it up? For that what sadly happened to the Titania Space and Science Center.

R walks over to Milky Way Galaxy exhibit, making her way to the end of the solar system model display, her key ring jingling on the belt of her skirt as she moves. From her observations, it seems that the only person at the exhibit is herself. That’s good; it makes the chances of getting recognize drop down tremendously; from slim picking to zero.

R leans down slightly to look at the information plaque card. She makes a small ‘tch’ and frowns as she reads it: Understand that despite Pluto’s model being on display, we do not consider it a planet; we are incapable of removing the model without removing the rest. We hope you enjoy the rest of your visit and time at the Orion Observatory.

“At least wait for an official statement for Pluto’s planetary status,” mutters R, as she ‘tch’ again. “This is certainly a terrible offense I can’t forgive.”

Why! My dear Rina! The sudden nagging voice sounds remarkably identical to Grand-Mère. R takes a sharp breath in. I didn’t think an adult like yourself still considers Pluto as a planet.

I only said they should wait for an official statement, replies back R to the nagging voice. With the debate still ongoing, it’s best for to wait on the conditions that makes a classification of a planet. Great. To think R is having an argument with herself that takes after Grand-Mère.

When Mother died way back when, due to R’s young age, it was Grand-Mère who helped R into her new role as Duchess of Winnipeg. She was R’s instructor, the self-proclaim protector to the Heir Apparent until the time came. She was everything R needed, but not what R wanted.

True. But what if it’s decided Pluto shouldn’t be classified as a planet, hmm? What then, dear Rina? ‘Grand-Mère’ is truly out to rile her up, huh?

Then I’ll accept Pluto is no longer a planet, and whatever new classification bestow on her. R soon guides her hand to her key ring, and plays with one key in particular. It’s a silver key that has a heart shape bow, and wing shape shoulders.

You’ll accept it? What a contradict! You haven’t even acceptance the truth about your upbringing, Rina. You’re still honoring Ryutaro and his cigar box of secrets. Ryutaro is a damn bastard! If he just left your mother as I asked, you would gotten a true well-adjusted upbringing. You would have been the fortunate adopted foreigner child of not one, but two blue bloods!

Even as a nagging voice in the deepest part of R’s subconscious, ‘Grand-Mère’ crossed the line. R grips tightly onto to the silver key. The broken-off engagement with the Baron of Arizona is something Grand-Mère never forgave Mother for. Oh, she said she did, but Mother refused to be in the same room with her for more than twenty minutes. For hers and Ryutaro’s sake.

Ryutato…how he truly wanted things to be different for them all. For R. R closes her eyes, and she instantly sees Ryutaro on his bed, pale and weak, saying words that has R’s head spinning. To think he was willing to make another sacrifice for her future as Duchess of Winnipeg.

For your information, I have accepted the truth. I accepted it when Ryutaro told me I could hate him. He told me I could hate him like how much you hated him, for getting in the way of Mother and mine’s so-call perfect life, but I of didn’t. And you know why? Because who forced Mother keep her engagement with that Baron before creating the piss-poor ultimatum? Who forced Ryutaro to remain in my life, but never granting him the honor of being who he truly is to me?

‘Grand-Mère’ doesn’t reply back.

“Finally! I thought she would never leave.” R soon exhales slowly, and opens her eyes. She can still feel her tight grip of the silver key in her hand. R looks down at the key, and thinks of a fond memory from long ago.

She thinks how one cannot help but love someone. How one cannot help but also suffer for love. She thinks how if one can’t go admit the truth, you’ll keep standing there, all alone.

R slowly release her grip of the silver key, and stares back at the model of Pluto.

#asoue #a series of unfortunate events #the unauthorized autobiography #fanfic #fan fiction #i got creative with the breaks for this fic

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dragoneyes618 · 2 years

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What if Lemony, Kit, and Jacques were taken by VFD when Lemony was so young he hadn’t even been named yet?

Since Kit and Jacques would have been Lemony’s only relatives in the headquarters where they would spend the rest of their childhood, it fell to them to name their baby brother.

Suppose they were drinking lemonade at the time or something....

This probably didn’t happen, though, since according to The Unauthorized Autobiography, Lemony was at least old enough to crawl when he and his siblings were “recruited.”

#Lemony Snicket #lemony snicket: the unauthorized Autobiography #the unauthorized autobiography #kit snicket #jacques snicket #snicket siblings #vfd #asoue #a series of unfortunate events

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himynameisskyyyy · 1 year

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Dairy or Diary?

Hey this is my first post so please tell me if there is anything you would like to know :)

Anyway I found myself reading (per usual) Lemony Snicket’s THE UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHY and noticed something odd. Now before everyone comes at me about how bad it is just give me a chance to explain

On page xi we learn “Dear Dairy the diary began” now at first glance that seem like a normal way to start a diary entry but then I read to page 11 “I often have to deliver secret information which I sometimes hide in the letter, beginning ‘Dear Dairy’ if the letters intercepted it will be dismissed as a cheese makers, correspondence, or mistaken, for a fragment of ‘Diary’ spelled incorrectly”. Did you notice it? In the beginning it is spelled Dairy 🥛 not Diary 📔. That was just the beginning

Odd right now this part might be a stretch but I think the person who wrote this diary entry or better know as the imposing doorman is Lemnoy Snicket himself. Now what could have possibly drawn me to this conclusion? Well in the beginning of the book we learn all about this doorman and “how he came to possess” this book. A very interesting thing he says is “ it is well known that one of the easiest ways to avoid intentions of one’s enemies is too, concoct a long false tale about how something was passed you by a mysterious stranger, or how you received a letter out of the blue or a message in a handshake.” Odd that is really similar to how he received the information in the first place

So knowing all of this information how dose it all fit together in? Well to be completely honest I don’t know. There is some code in the diary entry and I have no way of finding it on my own. I have searched and searched and found nothing all I could muster up is it was a bad book that didn’t answer anything about the Baudelaire cace, that’s why I need some help. I will post if I find anything of interest but for now this is all I can dig up

#lemony snicket #the unauthorized autobiography #series of unfortunate events #all the wrong questions

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badlydrawndrawnings · 1 year

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A last year drawing that was meant to become digital but never got around to it, of Sally and R being happy with one another.

(Kind of wish I did made it digital. Oh well.)

#asoue #a series of unfortunate events #the unauthorized autobiography #sally sebald #duchess of winnipeg #a couple of supplementary material #badlydrawndrawning art #traditional art #rough sketches #pencil drawing

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tinybookgirl · 2 years

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A Photo For Every Book I Read This Year: The Unauthorized Autobiography by Lemony Snicket

#books #a series of unfortunate events #the unauthorized autobiography #lemony snicket #asoue

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toast-com · 3 months

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My favorite passage in the book this far:

"When we grab you by the ankles,

Where our mark is to be made,

You'll soon be doing noble work,

Although you won't be paid,

When we drive away in secret,

You'll be a volunteer,

So don't scream when we take you:

The world is quiet here."

(Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Biography, Chapter 1 (Why was Mr. Snicket's death published in the newspaper?) Page 19)

#toasty talks #the hardest passage thus far #the unauthorized autobiography

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justarandombrit · 1 year

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Is it really a musical if you don't want to put every single character in therapy?

#ride the cyclone #rtc #rtc musical #be more chill #bmc #bmc musical #dear evan hansen #deh #deh musical #the 25th annual putnam county spelling bee #25th annual putnam county spelling bee #25apcsb #the mad ones #the unauthorized autobiography of samantha brown #rockabye musical #musical theater #musical theatre

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snicketstrange · 8 months

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Sunny's Age and Lemony's Lies: An Investigation into the Great Hiatus

So, more and more my theory of the Great Hiatus seems to make more sense. Recalling, I defend the idea that the Masked Ball where Lemony was arrested happened many years after the main events described in TE. The Ball happened between the publication of the book TWW and TMM in the asoue universe. An important concept is that the books were originally published over many years.

Although TBB began to be written during the main events of asoue, TBB and TRR were only published at least 2 years after the main events described in asoue. TWW was published sometime shortly after TRR. But TMM was published many years after the publication of TWW. These years of hiatus, is what I call the Great Hiatus. Some events in the asoue universe that happened during the Great Hiatus were the Masked Ball, one of Lemony's false deaths, one of Lemony's escapes abroad, the closing of Prufrock-Prep, and evidently the sending of the original TMM to the editor.During the Masked Ball, Lemony tried to tell a supposed Beatrice something about Count Olaf.

According to this chronology, the only thing that would be relevant for a supposed Beatrice to know was the fact that "Count Olaf is Dead." Olaf died on a desert island. Olaf's death was not known to the general public, but it was known to Lemony, as evidently Lemony was on the island.

But the right question is: why would Lemony think it important that this information should reach a supposed Beatrice? That's because the reason that would lead a supposed Beatrice not to expose herself to the public was the fact that, in theory, Beatrice believed that as long as her death was accepted as true, at least one of her children would be kept alive by Count Olaf so he could recover the inheritance when the surviving child turned 18. If Beatrice showed herself alive, the inheritance would not be any of her children's but Beatrice's herself. So none of the children would have a reason to be kept alive by Count Olaf. Therefore she, in theory, needed to be regarded as dead. And that's why Lemony emphasizes so much that Beatrice is dead, even though he believes she may be alive. He tries not to alarm her and reinforce her pretense.

I want to make clear that all this is valid both in the case where Beatrice survived the fire and in the case where she died in the fire. Because it doesn't matter the truth, what matters is what Lemony believes to be true, and what he decides to do with his beliefs: reveal them or distort them for a greater good he believes to be a greater good. Lemony believes that lying is sometimes good and necessary. Even if he were right to say that Beatrice was dead, when he wrote that, he believed she was alive. So, he lied when he said she was dead. And all this can be seen by analyzing Sunny's age.

How old was Sunny when she arrived on the island? I can say more than 1 year, because of her behavior and the events mentioned in the story. Lemony claims he spent 14 years trying to talk about Count Olaf with Beatrice. But we have a limit for this subject to be relevant. When Sunny turned 18, if she was still in Olaf's clutches, he would find a way to cash the money and kill Sunny afterward. So, it wouldn't make sense for Beatrice to hide from Olaf anymore. If after discovering Olaf was dead, Lemony still tried to pass this information on to Beatrice, it's because he believed Beatrice believed Olaf had killed Klaus and Violet and preserved Sunny to cash the money. (It is interesting that Olaf tried to do exactly that at the end of TCC). Considering that Sunny spent 1 year on the island and Lemony didn't get there during that time, we can conclude that Sunny was at least 2 years old when she left the island, with the most likely being that she was 3 or 4 years old when she left the island. If Lemony got to the island during the year that followed and then found out that Olaf was dead (and also found the Baudelaires' notes), we can conclude that he spent the next 14 years trying to pass this information on to Beatrice, according to his own words, until the day of the Masked Ball.

This means that in the meantime he published 3 books, purposefully lying to the general public by saying that Beatrice was dead, when he believed she was alive.

That's why he couldn't complete the sentence for the general public. "Count Olaf is dead" would reveal that he believed Beatrice was alive.

It is interesting to note however, that evidence points to Beatrice in fact dying in her house fire, and that the woman Lemony thought was Beatrice was actually an imposter. Apparently that's what R meant to Lemony in the letter recorded in LSTUA chapter 2. "That girl was flammable." "Analyze these photos." "Impostors nearby in disguise". "Beatrice is far from reclaiming lost property." These hidden messages seem to be trying to tell Lemony, "Beatrice really is dead." And R only had to pass this message on to Lemony because he believed Beatrice was alive. This belief of Lemony's also explains why he was so alarmed when studying the city's underground, because he investigated possible survivors of fires hidden in fountains.

This deepens our understanding of the concept of unreliable narrators. Lemony Snicket becomes one of the most unique examples I've come across. He embodies the following notion: "One can tell an untruth without lying, simply by being mistaken. And one can tell the truth while lying, also by being mistaken." This intricate interplay of perceptions and realities adds another layer of complexity and intrigue to the narrative.

#asoue #asoue theory #asoue theories #count olaf #olaf #sunny baudelaire #sunny #lemony snicket the unauthorized autobiography #lemony snicket: the unauthorized autobiography #lemony snicket #beatrice baudelaire #a series of unfortunate events #lstua #masked ball #violet baudelaire #klaus baudelaire #duchness of winnipeg

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