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Post by Dante on Sept 27, 2018 9:11:09 GMT -5
I'd forgotten that Sunny was asleep for so much of this sequence. You make good use of it.
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Post by Foxy on Sept 28, 2018 6:44:14 GMT -5
Thanks! I love to sneak Viper back into the story when I can.
Dear Dairy,
Foreman Wormhair admitted he was working with Shirlaf. “Deluny!” I shrieked, which meant, “You don’t just have a bad hairstyle – you’re an evil person!”
But Squigglyhair didn’t care. He told Klaus to saw Charles in half. I tried to guess the magic word to unhypnotize Klaus. “Kewtu!” I shrieked, which meant, “Sombrero!”
Violet was silent. She must have been thinking, too. “Egu!” I shrieked, which meant, “Hut!”
Violet figured out the word to make Klaus obey her, but then Dr. Orwell and Shirlaf came, and Dr. Orwell told Klaus not to listen to us. I continued to try to figure out the unhypnotizing word. “Gice!” I shrieked, which meant, “Cappello!”
It was no use. I saw tears in Charles’s eyes, and I felt tears in my own eyes. But just when I thought Charles was about to get sawed in half, Violet shouted “inordinate” and Klaus woke up. He tried to push Charles out of the way, but the foreman tripped him again! Violet tried to push Charles out of the way, but Shirlaf and the foreman grabbed her arms.
“Oh toonoy!” I cried, which meant, “Looks like it’s up to me and my teeth to save the day again!” Dr. Orwell attempted to pick me up, and I bit her as hard as I could. She tasted like burnt peanut butter cookies. Dr. Orwell turned her fake jewel cane into a sword, and we dueled. My teeth are as strong as steel! Dr. Orwell swung her cane sword at me, and I swung my teeth at her. There was a loud clinking noise every time her sword and my teeth hit, and a feeling of exhilaration filled my heart. I kept trying to get closer and closer to Charles so I could save him, so our fight was getting closer to the saw. In the middle of our fight, I saw a long pink string float over us. Klaus used the pink string to pull Charles out of the way. I looked at both Charles and Klaus, who had tears of joy in their eyes.
Then I got the wind knocked out of me. Dr. Orwell had decided to fight dirty. She kicked me and held me down with her foot. She held her sword high above me, and I thought, “What a way to go.” My life flashed before my eyes – being born in the hospital, Mommy and Daddy bringing me home, meeting Violet and Klaus, Mommy giving me fencing lessons while Violet and Klaus were at school, meeting Viper, and an assortment of terrible things which have happened to us in the past few months.
But before Dr. Orwell could slice me with her sword, Sir came to save the day. He came in the room, and Dr. Orwell was so surprised to see a man covered in a rain cloud that she took a step backward onto the saw.
I wish I could unsee what I saw, but I can’t, and what I saw was the saw cutting Dr. Orwell in half.
[This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 12 of The Miserable Mill.]
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Post by Dante on Sept 28, 2018 9:13:05 GMT -5
I wonder if it would have worked if Sunny said the correct word but in her baby language. I suppose we'll never know.
It is true, though, now you put it that way, that Sunny has now pretty much saved the day three books running. Could she be the most important Baudelaire?
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Post by Foxy on Sept 29, 2018 10:21:28 GMT -5
Oh rats, I really missed an opportunity there! I just wanted her to say the word "hat" in a bunch of different languages. I don't want to be too arrogant and say she is the most important, but it is certainly entertaining to think so. Dear Dairy, Mr. Poe came in the morning to talk with Sir and Charles. Even after everything which had happened, they still did not believe Shirlaf was Count Olaf. “Weleef!” I cried, which meant, “I think it is time for us to finally find an elephant and get out of Paltryville.” Then Sir said we are not staying with him anymore, which means we are going to boarding school. “Hech!” I shrieked, which meant, “I am not ready for school yet!” We went to the library where Phil was guarding Shirlaf and Foreman Flatulence. He was reading a book, and he told Sir employees cannot be paid in coupons. I felt happy for Phil. Hopefully he and the other employees can get real money now, and they can buy some breakfast and lunch, or their own escape elephant. Anyway, Shirlaf and Squigglyhair pretended they had been hypnotized. Mr. Poe made Shirlaf lift his skirt up so we could see his ankle, and finally the adults could see he was really Count Olaf. What we did not expect was the Foreman Flatulence was the bald man with the long nose! “Plemo!” I cried, which meant, “I should have recognized his mothball smell!” Then Count Olaf threw his not-biography out the window, and he and the bald man jumped out the window and escaped. Phil told us to look at the bright side, and we were lucky to be alive. Violet and Klaus complimented each other on how they each helped us escaped from Count Olaf’s plan, and I said, “Croif,” which meant, “I guess it was lucky we did not meet an elephant in Paltryville, as it may have stepped on us and gravely injured us.” Maybe boarding school will have cooking classes. To My Kind Editor, Seltepia! Love, Sunny Baudelaire [This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 13 of The Miserable Mill.]
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Post by Foxy on Sept 30, 2018 15:55:26 GMT -5
Dear Reader,
Marimo!
Love,
Sunny Baudelaire
To Mommy –
Calcium will always be in my bones
in my teeth,
and in milk.
Dear Dairy,
I am not so sure about this school.
First of all, a girl pushed us and called us “cakesniffers.” I do not like cake because it is soft, so I certainly would not sniff it.
We were walking to our new school, and I thought about saying, “Marimo!” which meant, “Perhaps I could gather the seaweed growing between the sidewalk cracks into a ball so I could bite it,” but I was feeling shy.
Mr. Poe said if we had any problems, we could contact him, and I said, “Terfunt,” to him, which meant, “A turtle would probably be more helpful.”
Prufrock Prep, our school, had strange words over it. Violet said she didn’t think it was in English. “Racho,” I said, which meant, “Even if it was in English, I still could not read it.” Maybe Prufrock Prep would teach me how to read. Klaus said the words mean, “Remember you will die.”
What kind of school is this?
[This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 1 of The Austere Academy.]
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Post by Dante on Sept 30, 2018 16:17:11 GMT -5
Another top-notch dedication, and I appreciate the way even the short chapters manage to hit all the recurring themes of Sunny's characterisation in this story.
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Post by Foxy on Oct 1, 2018 7:58:48 GMT -5
Dear Dairy,
Today we met Vice Principal Nero, who is a terrible violin player, which is probably why he is a vice principal of a school and not a professional orchestra player. He told me I will be employed as his secretary. “Aregg?” I asked, which meant, “What’s the starting salary?”
Children are not allowed in the administrative building, or they get their silverware taken away at meals. Since I work in the administrative building, I have an excuse to eat my food with my hands, which I think is great. People are always trying to make me learn how to use a spoon or a fork. It is way easier to just use my hands! Plus then I get to make a mess. It’s a win-win.
Vice Principal Nero told us the dorms have fresh fruit. “Keeb!” I shrieked, which meant, “How fresh are we talking?” I prefer unripe fruit, since it is usually harder than ripe fruit.
But we don’t even get to live in the dorms. We have to live in a shack, and Vice Principal Nero laughed at us. But we will see who gets the last laugh. There seem to be a lot of items good for pilfering from his office.
[This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 2 of The Austere Academy.]
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Post by Dante on Oct 1, 2018 14:35:45 GMT -5
Children are not allowed in the administrative building, or they get their silverware taken away at meals. Since I work in the administrative building, I have an excuse to eat my food with my hands, which I think is great. People are always trying to make me learn how to use a spoon or a fork. It is way easier to just use my hands! Plus then I get to make a mess. It’s a win-win. I like this moment. At times, Sunny has to grow up quite fast; but at heart, she is still an infant, and this is true to that.
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Post by Foxy on Oct 2, 2018 8:16:25 GMT -5
Dear Dairy,
Our shack has angry crabs, fungus, and, worst of all, ugly walls. I used my animal telepathy I learned from Viper to communicate with the crabs, but they just kept muttering about changing tides and an aquatic center.
Violet and Klaus made plans to fix our shack up, and I said, “Ivoser,” which meant, “The crabs are saying this fungus is not poisonous, but they know about some poisonous mushrooms.”
Violet and Klaus tried to look on the bright side about going to school, and I said, “Wonic,” which meant, “And I’ll be making the big bucks as Nero’s secretary.” Then we talked about how nice it was not to have Count Olaf around. “Olo,” I said, which meant, “Maybe he’ll finally take a break from chasing us and take a shower.”
Finally Klaus said it was lunchtime. “Kalc,” I said, which meant, “I hope there’s enough money in my lunch account to buy a cookie.”
Unfortunately, there was lasagna for lunch. I hate pasta! It is soft and tasteless. But we did meet some new friends at lunch, Duncan and Isadora Quackmire. “Sappho!” I shrieked, which meant, “Hey Violet, look how cute Duncan is!”
Duncan and Isadora lost their parents in a fire, too. “Bloni,” I said, which meant, “I miss Mommy and Daddy.” I thought for a while to myself. Mommy and Daddy were going to teach me how to walk. “Zatwal!” I suddenly shrieked, which meant, “What if I never learn to walk?”
Duncan and Isadora took us to the library, and now I am going to search for my favorite book, From Molars to Incisors: A Pictorial History of the Tooth.
[This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 3 of The Austere Academy.]
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Post by Dante on Oct 2, 2018 9:00:40 GMT -5
Those crabs are foreshadowing pretty hard. I hope Sunny doesn't get spoiled, that's a parent's job.
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Onder
Reptile Researcher
Posts: 28
Likes: 22
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Post by Onder on Oct 3, 2018 0:42:59 GMT -5
For all that TMM generally ranks low in people's affections, it's worth remembering that it did have these emotional scenes which were quite effective, and which we seem to get fewer of as the series goes on and the Baudelaires become more confident in themselves and in each other. For this reason, I tend to prefer the earlier books to their later counterparts. I like the VFD/Snicket plot lines, but I don't find them to be as compelling as parts of the series that focus on just the Baudelaires themselves. TSBD is sort of in that same vein, so I've really enjoyed it. This series is excellent, Foxy. It's incredibly well-written and packed with wit.
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Post by Foxy on Oct 3, 2018 8:34:59 GMT -5
Thank you! I'm trying to have fun with it. Dear Dairy, Vice Principal Nero has me answer the telephone in his office, and I must say I am quite good at it. “Seltepia!” I say, which means, “Good morning, this is the worst violin player in the world’s office, how may I help you?” By the second day, Nero was furious at me for insulting him to so many of his business associates. I am having a battle with the office supplies, though. The typewriter doesn’t know how to spell, the stapler keeps attacking my fingers instead of papers, and the stamps are extra sticky and keep getting stuck on my tongue. Admittedly, I do have quite a bit of drool due to the whole teething thing, so this probably isn’t helping matters. And I don’t even get weekends off. But I do get paid overtime, so I guess it could be worse. One day I called Mr. Poe and had him set up a banking account for me. I hope he is a better banker than executor of our affairs. One day I noticed I was running out of staples. “Rashunns!” I shrieked, holding up the nearly empty box. Nero says I will have to make my own staples using some tiny pieces of metal. Violet has made us some really fun shoes to scare the crabs away, but I miss talking to them. One night the Quackmires were over trying to exterminate the fungus with us, and Isadora said they would help us make staples. Duncan said his parents left them the Quackmire sapphires, which I am guessing are valuable duck teeth. Then Vice Principal Nero showed up, which made everyone drop their salt shakers. The crabs took the salt shakers, saying something about French fries. He introduced us to the new gym teacher, Coach Genghis, who said orphans have good running legs. But I still haven’t learned to walk! I am very concerned. I am also very concerned because Coach Genghis is actually Count Olaf. [This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 4 of The Austere Academy.]
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Post by Dante on Oct 3, 2018 14:39:51 GMT -5
I particularly enjoyed Sunny's "battle" with the office supplies; it's a very well-realised sentence that follows. "The typewriter doesn't know how to spell" is brilliant. Sunny's lack of any real surprise that Coach Genghis is actually Count Olaf, and hence she mentions it so casually, is amusing, too.
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Post by Foxy on Oct 4, 2018 8:18:42 GMT -5
Dear Dairy,
Violet and Klaus got up and greeted Coach Golaf, and I shrieked, “Gefidio!” which meant, “It is actually quite clever of you to disguise yourself as someone who is supposed to smell sweaty.”
All five of us followed Vice Principal Nero and Coach Golaf to the auditorium. During the violin concert, we talked about Coach Golaf. Duncan asked us how Coach Golaf found us. “Stewak,” I said glumly, which meant, “Maybe he has super-smell, like a dog.” I wish Viper had super-smell and could track us down. I miss that guy. “Lirt!” I shrieked, which meant, “Can you teach a snake to track people like a dog?”
My siblings started explaining Coach Golaf’s associates to the Quackmires, and I said, “Aeginu!” which meant, “Don’t forget about the associate who never eats salads!” Nero’s violin playing got even worse, if that was possible, and I shuddered in my seat. Violet picked me up and let me sit on her lap. I saw Duncan pat Violet’s hand. Violet always gets all the cute boys! At least I had a sturdy armrest to chew. I’m too young to date, anyway.
[This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 5 of The Austere Academy.]
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Post by Foxy on Oct 5, 2018 10:27:16 GMT -5
Dear Dairy,
As we walked to the administrative building, Klaus started laughing. He realized he and Violet will have to eat their oatmeal with their hands. “Oot,” I suggested, which meant, “I just pretend I am a wild animal and gobble everything up ferociously.”
We joked about all the foods which might be served for breakfast. “Soup!” I shrieked, which meant, “Maybe they will serve chilled cucumber soup!”
Then we remembered a time when we went on a picnic with Mommy and Daddy, and we had no forks or spoons. “Sticky!” I said, which meant, “My hands got even stickier than they usually are!” Baby hands are notoriously sticky, which might explain why I occasionally swipe things from our guardians. “Eroos,” I said, which meant, “I wonder if Vice Principal Nero will notice some of his office supplies have gone missing.”
When we got to Vice Principal Nero’s office, he insinuated Duncan is Violet’s boyfriend. She blushed. I knew she liked him! Maybe they will let me be the flower girl at their wedding, and I can munch on the flowers.
Coach Golaf showed up while Violet and Klaus were trying to tell Vice Principal Nero who he really was, and Klaus started joking about Coach Golaf’s turban. “Volasocks!” I shrieked, which meant, “I bet your shoes are trying to escape from your smelly socks!”
Violet and Klaus tried to take off Coach Golaf’s turban and shoes, but Coach Golaf stopped them. “Drat!” I shrieked, which meant, “Drat!”
We went to breakfast, and I pretended to eat my eggs like a tiger eating his meat. “Kosbal!” I shrieked, which meant, “I am swallowing the antelope!”
Carmelita Spats came over and said we have to go see Coach Golaf tonight. Suddenly I did not feel like eating my antelope eggs anymore.
[This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 6 of The Austere Academy.]
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