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Post by RockSunner on Dec 29, 2004 21:11:09 GMT -5
In TGG p. 243, there is a chapter listed in the Mushroom Minutiae book called Visitable Fungal Ditches, chapter 38. L.S. says twice that they should have read that chapter. I think it refers to other places accessible to the V.F.D. where the Medusoid Mycelium may be found. Where are these places? Are they near Lousy Lane, perhaps, or near the Hotel Denouement? Might they appear in the next book? I think they might. Here is my theory: what if they are not literally ditches? (The lions which sniff out smoke are not literally detectives, either, but the initials controls the name). These mushrooms grow well in damp, enclosed places. The interiors of the Fickle Fountain and the Fountain of Victorious Finance have damp, enclosed hiding places (TBBRE p 178). Might they be the Visitable Fungal Ditches? If they are, perhaps it was not a good idea for a fire survivor to seek refuge there (also TBBRE p 178). Maybe they weren't a survivor for long.
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Post by Dante on Jan 1, 2005 12:12:32 GMT -5
I don't have anything much to contribute, but I do think that it was right for somebody to make this thread.
I don't think that the fountains contain Medusoid Mycelium - it's just not practical, not logical, not sensible, not plottable, not doable. I'd list the reasons, but I'm tired and I like to think that they're obvious.
And the Volunteer Feline Detectives were detectives, of a sort - tracking down fires and such. The Visitable Fungal Ditches, if not actual ditches, would have to be something quite like them.
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Post by RockSunner on Jan 1, 2005 20:17:22 GMT -5
I admit there are many practical objections to putting the Medusoids in the fountains. However, there are also serious objections to having them out in an open ditch. Such a place would be very difficult to quarantine. While damp, it isn't enclosed.
Do you have alternative ideas for the Visitable Fungal Ditches?
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Post by SnicketFires on Jan 1, 2005 21:46:54 GMT -5
Ditches Not much to work with. I would assume it wouldn't be slang. Thus we are left with the trench-type ditches.
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Antenora
Detriment Deleter
Fiendish Philologist
Put down that harpoon gun, in the name of these wonderful birds!
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Post by Antenora on Jan 1, 2005 22:03:27 GMT -5
This is a bit of a stretch, but could the "ditches" be undergroud passages? VFD uses underground tunnels, and the Mycelium would thrive in them as it does in any confined space.
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Post by SnicketFires on Jan 1, 2005 22:07:58 GMT -5
Entry: channel Part of Speech: noun Definition: pathway Synonyms: approach, aqueduct, arroyo, artery, avenue, canal, canyon, carrier, chamber, chase, conduit, course, dig, ditch, duct, fluting, furrow, gouge, groove, gully, gutter, main, means, medium, pass, passage, pipe, raceway, reach, route, runway, sewer, slit, snye, strait, tideway, trough, tube, tunnel, vein, watercourse, way The ever-so-exciting source. According to the above, it could be possible.
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Post by Dante on Jan 2, 2005 3:30:28 GMT -5
I admit there are many practical objections to putting the Medusoids in the fountains. However, there are also serious objections to having them out in an open ditch. Such a place would be very difficult to quarantine. While damp, it isn't enclosed. Do you have alternative ideas for the Visitable Fungal Ditches? My complaint is just against the Visitable Fungal Ditches being places where Medusoid Mycelium is kept. The Mycelium is described in some detail in Chapter 40 - Gorgonian Grotto. If the Visitable Fungal Ditches contained Medusoid Mycelium, then it would certainly have been described in that chapter, and so would not have been described in Chapter 40 - there would probably have been a footnote saying "see Chapter 39 for more information on Medusoid Mycelium" or something to that effect. And I myself doubt that the Mycelium would be kept anywhere except Gorgonian Grotto - it's far too volatile, and the fire-extinguishing side of the schism would clearly prefer it if the Mycelium was destroyed rather than cultivated.
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Post by RockSunner on Jan 2, 2005 17:49:59 GMT -5
If the Visitable Fungal Ditches contained Medusoid Mycelium, then it would certainly have been described in that chapter, and so would not have been described in Chapter 40 - there would probably have been a footnote saying "see Chapter 39 for more information on Medusoid Mycelium" or something to that effect. Cross-references can go forwards, too. Perhaps Chapter 39 said something like: "The Visitable Fungal Ditches contain many fungi species of interest to the V.F.D., including the Meduoid Mycelium, which is described in detail in Chapter 40." Lemony twice laments that the children skipped reading Chapter 39. There must be a secret of equal gravity there. Another location for the same mushrooms would fit the requirement, espccially if it is a place they are about to come across in their travels. If it's another mushroom of equal deadliness, then as far as my argument is concerned it's just the Medusoids under another name. One more bit of supportive speculation. Suppose that the Gorgonian Grotto was the only available source of Medusoids the V.F.D. had. The Anwhistle Aquatics fire was for the express purpose of destroying them. Why didn't it succeed? Why didn't someone go down into the Grotto and wipe them out? Perhaps they did, but later someone brought spores from the Ditches and restarted them.
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Post by Dante on Jan 3, 2005 5:11:04 GMT -5
One more bit of supportive speculation. Suppose that the Gorgonian Grotto was the only available source of Medusoids the V.F.D. had. The Anwhistle Aquatics fire was for the express purpose of destroying them. Why didn't it succeed? Why didn't someone go down into the Grotto and wipe them out? Perhaps they did, but later someone brought spores from the Ditches and restarted them. Maybe V.F.D. didn't think anyone would ever go down there again - and it's interesting that Olaf and Esmé thought that the Medusoid Mycelium was all destroyed in the fire. The Baudelaires gasped and looked at one another in horror, as Count Olaf peered through the helmet’s tiny window, his eyes wide beneath his eyebrow. “The Medusoid Mycelium,” he murmured, and ran his tongue thoughtfully along his teeth. “Could it be?”
“Impossible,” Esmé Squalor said. “That fungus was destroyed long ago.”
“They brought it with them,” the hook-handed man said. “That’s why the baby was so sick.”
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Post by PJ on Jan 5, 2005 4:35:16 GMT -5
Exactly. I believe the ditches could just be secret VFD places, they don't necessarily have to have fungi in them. Perhaps they contain the sebald code or something like that. Yes, I also think that Lucafont and Widdershins burnt down AA because of the medusoid. Or at least, so that Olaf couldn't get hold of it. Yes, that is probably it.
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Post by RockSunner on Jan 5, 2005 15:32:57 GMT -5
Exactly. I believe the ditches could just be secret VFD places, they don't necessarily have to have fungi in them. Perhaps they contain the sebald code or something like that. Yes, I also think that Lucafont and Widdershins burnt down AA because of the medusoid. Or at least, so that Olaf couldn't get hold of it. Yes, that is probably it. It would be quite odd for them to be called "Fungal" if they had nothing to do with fungi. Not to mention there is a chapter on them in Mushroom Minutiae.
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Post by Angel on Jan 26, 2005 15:58:01 GMT -5
Ugh! The ditches outside my house are filled with fungi! Argh! And my brother is allergic to the spores, so for him, they're not visitable. So they're just Fungal Ditches. So that means the next book doesn't take place outside my house-- crap!
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