Lemony Snicket, The Beatrice Letters

The Baudelaires: That's count Olaf! Every adult in a five mile radius: Don't be ridiculous.

The Baudelaire siblings

Sibling Showdown Quarter-Finals Bracket D

When Lemony Snicket said "I will love you as a thief loves a gallery and as a crow loves a murder, as a cloud loves bats and as a range loves braes. I will love you as misfortune loves orphans, as fire loves innocence and as justice loves to sit and watch while everything goes wrong. I will love you as a battlefield loves young men and as peppermints love your allergies, and I will love you as the banana peel loves the shoe of a man who was just struck by a shingle falling off a house. I will love you as a volunteer fire department loves rushing into burning buildings and as burning buildings love to chase them back out, and as a parachute loves to leave a blimp and as a blimp operator loves to chase after it" I felt that.

My favourite sad children

I could talk forever about how, despite Lemony Snicket telling us every single episode and every single chance he got that things would not go well for the Baudelaires, that this was a series of UNFORTUNATE events, we still kind of all thought that they wouldn’t be?

Each new guardian or place they stayed at, you got the feeling that, maybe, this is the one (except for the obviously terrible ones). There was something inside (it was actually usually the other people, the small good things that gave us this hope) telling us this one would be it, and they’d live happily ever after. Even though they never really did.

It is literally human nature to hope.

“But even if the meal had featured a variety of foods, all cooked deliciously and brought by a waiter dressed in a simple, comfortable outfit, the Baudelaires would not have enjoyed their dinner, because the thought of Gunther spending the evening alone with their guardian made them lose their appetite far more than too much pink, flavourful fish, and Jerome was simply not willing to discuss the matter any further.” - The Ersatz Elevator, Chapter Five

Do you ever think about how the Baudelaires were genuinely terrified that Olaf was going to murder Esmé? How experience had taught them that it was their responsibility to protect their guardians, and not the other way around, because time and again the adult in charge would be left alone with Olaf and would end up dead

Monty, Josephine, (almost) Charles, even Georgina's death will have left a(n understandably) massive impact despite her villainy. And they always tried to warn the adults and they were never believed. And then the Quagmires were taken when they were left alone with Olaf and once again, the Baudelaires blame themselves for the kidnapping

And then they meet Esmé and Jerome—a shallow woman married to a kind but spineless man—and despite her faults, despite her supposed indifference to them or their well-being, the children are terrified that she's going to die

And I just think about it a lot. How they were so worried, and then she was fine, the how that relief overshadowed any of them asking why Olaf didn't hurt her until it was too late for asking to make any difference. How they still trusted her completely—enough to try and get her on side by telling her Olaf's plan. And how Esmé was the last adult that the Baudelaires completely trusted for a long time—because later, they always wondered if this person might be working with Olaf, too. They always had to second guess themselves, and they were so young, and had already seen far too much, but despite that they always tried to see the good in people

And I don't really know where I'm going with this but I've made myself sad

Underrated Shows/Books that I will never stop recommending (might add on more later):

1. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (Netflix Series/Books): Brilliantly made, beautifully written, amazing actors, amazing for bookworms like me (Esme is a queen fr)

2. The Unlisted (Netflix Series): Amazingly crafted, top-tier plot, suspense keeps you on edge, very lovable characters (Dadi, Kymara, Jiao and Bua are so lovable bro AHJFJSHF)

3. The Mystery Series by Paul Moxham (Books): Very addicting, albeit corny yet still enjoyable, gives old nostalgic vibes even though I'm Gen Z lmao (Amy x Will SHIPPP 🚢)

4. Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi (Books): Beautiful graphics, tragic beginning, good character growth up until book 6, ending was absolute horseshit BUT it's a really genius concept, just wasted potential (Riva is such a badass I love her)

5. Maze Runner (Books/Movie Trilogy): Gripping mystery, terrifying ahh jumpscares, very likeable characters, well-written villains/morally-gray characters (Brenda is such a queen, but I'm always gonna remain a Teresa defender)

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

PLEASE DOES ANYBODY KNOW THE QUOTE FROM LEMONY SNICKET THAT GOES LIKE, “i will miss you at work or going to the bathroom or during a movie the other does not want to see.” I NEED IT DESPERATELYYYY

nostalgia time <3

“At times the world may seem an unfriendly and sinister place, but believe that there is much more good in it than bad. All you have to do is look hard enough, and what might seem to be a series of unfortunate events may in fact be the first steps of a journey.” ― Lemony Snicket

Sibling Showdown Round 3 Bracket D2

literal peak fiction when I was a kid