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Post by Dante on Nov 14, 2012 14:04:34 GMT -5
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Nov 14, 2012 14:19:12 GMT -5
Interesting. I wonder if those stanzas are meant completely metaphorically or if they're to be taken literally... The Stain'd library doesn't have and cannot afford a librarian. And Qwerty is just the sub-librarian. But maybe he is meant and he weeps every night. I'm just listing facts and a possibility, but I don't know how to interpret the(se) stanza(s). Oh well, still two left... #5 and #7.
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Post by Dante on Nov 14, 2012 14:21:19 GMT -5
For me, this is the one that seems to seal the deal that the stanza composers know something about ?2. The librarian weeping all night is completely unprecedented data, as is the presence of a chemist at all - Dr. Flammarion, I presume?
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Antenora
Detriment Deleter
Fiendish Philologist
Put down that harpoon gun, in the name of these wonderful birds!
Posts: 15,891
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Post by Antenora on Nov 14, 2012 14:29:01 GMT -5
The more I think about these, the clearer it becomes that they're revealing details from the next book.
Also, a recurring theme in these stanzas has been events at night-- people looking to the sky, a horrible thing coming to life, and now Qwerty weeping. What could make him weep? It must be something quite terrible indeed.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Nov 14, 2012 14:29:27 GMT -5
For me, this is the one that seems to seal the deal that the stanza composers know something about ?2. The librarian weeping all night is completely unprecedented data, as is the presence of a chemist at all - Dr. Flammarion, I presume? Or maybe someone completely new. Also, Handler did indicate that he's involved in these mailouts. He didn't say he wrote them, but... he also didn't say he didn't. So I'm sure you're right in assuming whoever wrote these at least has information about ?2. Now we just have to see if it really does relate to the next book.
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Post by Kit's tits kick ticks on Nov 14, 2012 15:24:55 GMT -5
The Stain'd library doesn't have and cannot afford a librarian. And Qwerty is just the sub-librarian. But maybe he is meant and he weeps every night. I immediately thought Qwerty is meant, sub-librarian wouldn't fit in the poem. But it could be someone else too. And people who weep every night remind me of Lemony in the future. The chemist is new, but a dour chemist would fit very well in Stain'd . It could be some information about the second book, but the last line is still "Who could that be at this hour?" and the number still 1 /4, so it still belongs to the first. But maybe the 1/4 does not mean that it's about the first book, maybe there are just 4 groups of stanzas. (4 complete poems?)
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Post by Christmas Chief on Nov 14, 2012 15:27:20 GMT -5
Of all the hints toward the sequel, the allusions present here are by far the most direct. Dr. Flammarion was the first name that came to mind for "chemist," as well, but I don't disagree with the notion that it could be a new character. I wonder if "librarian" really does refer to Qwerty, and "sub" simply wouldn't fit into the rhyme scheme? Edit: It could be some information about the second book, but the last line is still "Who could that be at this hour?" and the number still 1 /4, so it still belongs to the first. But maybe the 1/4 does not mean that it's about the first book, maybe there are just 4 groups of stanzas. (4 complete poems?) I think 1/4 almost certainly refers to WCTBATH. We have five stanzas already, and after seven I can't see them continuing this particular pattern. It's possible that, while the mailouts still refer to book 1/4, it asks questions concerning the installment that were either answered, conceived of, or never asked.
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Post by Snicketeer21 on Nov 14, 2012 18:54:23 GMT -5
This stanza is intriguing, but what catches my attention is the illustration behind. It is a partial of the illustration that begins Ch. 8 of WCTBATH, but I've been interested in who the man sitting down unpacking the books could be. Is it Qwerty? He looks too young to be Qwerty, but I guess it could be. I was intrigued because the illustration does not correspond to what happens in that chapter. Thoughts?
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Nov 14, 2012 22:06:15 GMT -5
I'm quite certain it is supposed to be Qwerty. He is described as "younger than the father of anyone [Lemony] knew," has a black leather jacket, and has an odd, punky hairstyle. All of these aspects fit to the illustrated character. And he's sorting books, just like (sub-)librarians sometimes do.
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Post by Dante on Nov 15, 2012 2:30:20 GMT -5
I agree, the guy in the illustration's got to be Qwerty - Seth isn't going to introduce a detailed character prominently in an illustration who's just out of his own mind, not outside of a crowd scene. He doesn't quite fit the description of Qwerty - no leather jacket, his hair isn't a mess, it seems unlikely that Qwerty's wearing sunglasses - but I think that's Seth interpreting him a bit freely, but not in the wrong spirit. The impression I get of Qwerty from the way the Mitchums speak of him is that he's a teenager or at any rate a young man, even if he's rather older than the children of the cast.
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Post by Charlie on Nov 15, 2012 3:03:16 GMT -5
Qwerty struck me as a late teenager, maybe nineteen, with one of those ridiculous haircuts that some people may refer to as a "Flock of Seagulls" haircut. He seems like a really cool character by the way. What could be making him cry. Guilt? Sorrow over a dead loved one? Eye inflammation that the chemist must fix? Allergens? His missing father? Wait, wait... could Qwerty be hangfire in disguise? I mean, he could hypthetically right?
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Post by Dante on Nov 15, 2012 4:35:04 GMT -5
Remember that Hangfire was also the butler at the Sallis mansion. I think Qwerty would have difficulty dropping that disguise and rushing to the library before Snicket got there without being noticed. Also, while Hangfire is a master of all three phases of the V.F.D. disguise kit (whether through V.F.D. or not), I'm not sure I buy that he could be both Qwerty and the butler. Disguises can only be so good. I think it'd be a bit of a stretch. Not impossible, but implausible.
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Post by Kit's tits kick ticks on Nov 15, 2012 15:51:52 GMT -5
I never thought that Qwerty could be Hangfire - but his unusual voice makes him seem like someone in disguise.
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Post by Christmas Chief on Nov 15, 2012 15:59:03 GMT -5
Qwerty might still be learned in the ways of disguises, but not employ them for sinister purposes. If he is in fact the "observer," it's not unlikely at all he's disguising himself - as a librarian, a young person, or otherwise.
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Post by B. on Nov 15, 2012 16:05:29 GMT -5
I never thought that Qwerty could be Hangfire - but his unusual voice makes him seem like someone in disguise. I agree that there is a fair emphasis on his deep voice, which leads me to believe that there's more to Qwerty than meets the eye, as there is to every character in ATWQ. I think the possibility of him turning out to be Hangfire is unlikely, though namely because he would have to be in two places at once almost. There isn't anything to suggest he couldn't be working for/with Hangfire, however.
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