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Post by Dante on Oct 5, 2018 11:11:52 GMT -5
Lots of character continuity in this chapter, with Sunny's animal affinity and sticky fingers.
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Post by Foxy on Oct 6, 2018 8:22:07 GMT -5
Dear Dairy,
Vice Principal Nero had me typing notes to some big-name candy companies to complain about their candy quality. “Hiyend!” I shrieked, which meant, “If you want good quality chocolate, you need to look for a brand which uses significantly less sugar and significantly more cocoa!” but Vice Principal Nero was not interested. At this point I was so distracted by Coach Golaf’s appointment I could not concentrate on my secretarial duties anymore.
The Quackmires didn’t show up for lunch, and in the afternoon I accidentally stapled my fingers twice. Now I am really running low on staples. To top it all off, I accidentally went to gym class with Violet and Klaus instead of sending a letter to someone named “Principal Augustus” to tell him summer break is over.
Duncan and Isadora came to dinner, and Klaus said Mr. Poe was an average banker. “Toricia!” I shrieked, which meant, “I hope he is better than an average banker; I am trusting him with all the money I am making as school secretary!”
Duncan and Isadora said they were going to spy on us at our meeting with Coach Golaf, and if he tries to do something bad, they will tell Vice Principal Nero. We continued to brainstorm about my staple problem until dinner was over.
When we met Coach Golaf on the lawn, he said we had to run. “Ooladu!” I shrieked, which meant, “I wish Mr. Poe would have let us take online classes instead of going to Prufrock Prep!”
Coach Golaf made us paint an enormous circle on the lawn, and I wanted to say, “Gargaba!” which meant, “Maybe Violet can invent a hovercraft so I do not have to run.”
Coach Golaf made me crawl and crawl and crawl until the sun came up. Now I am exhausted, and so are Violet and Klaus.
[This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 7 of The Austere Academy.]
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Post by Dante on Oct 6, 2018 14:33:46 GMT -5
I appreciated Sunny's comments on chocolate quality, and the inserted explanation for why Prufrock only has a Vice-Principal. Neat tying up of loose ends! I even sense hints of the Netflix series's occasional acknowledgement of the Internet.
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Post by Foxy on Oct 7, 2018 18:55:03 GMT -5
Dear Dairy, I think I have hit an all-time low. I fell asleep in salad today. Ordinarily, I would enjoy the crispness of the romaine, but today I was too fatigued. Violet lifted my head out of the salad. I made a miserable noise, which meant, “Why do robots serve our food every day?” Then I fell asleep in Violet’s lap. [This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 8 of The Austere Academy.]
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Post by Dante on Oct 8, 2018 2:20:15 GMT -5
Glancing back at the original text - Sunny basically wasn't in this chapter, was she?
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Post by Foxy on Oct 8, 2018 8:20:12 GMT -5
She pretty much slept right through it because she was exhausted, and I guessed she was too exhausted to even dream.
Dear Dairy,
Coach Golaf made us run laps again. I sweat more than I thought it was possible for a baby to sweat. The crabs have been pinching our toes when we finally go to sleep in our shack because we are too tired to even put on our noisy shoes. I vaguely heard them whispering about Lake Lachrymose, but I was too exhausted to have a telepathic conversation about it.
During the day, I sleep at my secretary desk. At one point, I answered the phone and talked to Principal Augustus, but I was so tired I forgot to write a message down for Vice Principal Nero to return his call about sending airfare so he could come back to the Prufrock Prep from Tahiti.
We have been running laps night after night, and I am exhausted. Instead of doing the tasks Vice Principal Nero assigns me to do, I have mostly been sleeping. When I finally summoned enough energy to staple a stack of letters together, I saw zero staples left in the staples drawer. I think Nero is going to start docking my pay, which is unfortunate because I was hoping to buy a pet alligator.
I told everybody I was out of staples at lunch, and Isadora and Klaus started arguing. “Mumdum!” I shrieked, which meant, “So much for a double wedding with you two and Violet and Duncan!”
Carmelita Spats said all three of us had to go to Vice Principal Nero’s office. When we handed our lunch trays back to the robots, I was too tired to even tell the one robot it had a white smudge on its face. It must have been using flour to cook.
Vice Principal Nero told us we owed him a bunch of candy and we were bad students and secretaries. “Galuka!” I shrieked, which meant, “No wonder Principal Augustus took a vacation to Tahiti! You are an unbearable person with whom to work!”
Vice Principal Nero said Violet and Klaus have to take exams tomorrow, and I have to staple a bunch of papers, or we are expelled and have to be homeschooled by Coach Golaf. Violet finally told Vice Principal Nero who Coach Golaf is. “Hifijoo!” I said, which meant, “And he probably does not even know what two plus two is, so he cannot possibly homeschool us!”
Vice Principal Nero showed us the computer to prove Coach Golaf is not Count Olaf. “Ushilo!” I shrieked, which meant, “Babies are not even supposed to have screen time!”
We told the Quackmires the news. The five of us started brainstorming about what to do. “Plan!” I shrieked, which meant, “Maybe we can borrow some of your famous Quackmire duck teeth stones to throw at Coach Golaf!” Maybe he would go away, and then we wouldn’t have to run laps. But this was a sketchy plan at best, so I scraped my teeth together to sharpen them, and we all continued trying to come up with a plan.
[This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 9 of The Austere Academy.]
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Post by Dante on Oct 8, 2018 9:01:31 GMT -5
Sunny's busily tying up all the loose ends and foreshadowing the original text didn't take care of. If only we could have heard her perspecctive sooner! The screentime gag was a good one, too.
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Post by Foxy on Oct 9, 2018 7:51:54 GMT -5
Dear Dairy,
The Quackmires came over to our shack to help us think of a plan to pass our exams/secretarial duties. We didn’t know how we were going to study/make staples and run our laps. “Tarcour,” I said, which meant, “Maybe this school has a custodian who can help us.” If we got him to mop the floors right before Coach Golaf was about to walk in the hall, maybe he would slip and fall and have to go away to the hospital.
All of us talked about people who inspired us, and I said, “Shark,” rubbing my teeth as I thought of a time when Violet and Klaus were at school and Mommy and Daddy took me to an aquarium. They carried me to all the exhibits and held me up to the glass so I could see all the fish.
Then Duncan came up with the idea to switch places with Violet and Klaus tonight at track practice, and Isadora came up with the idea to have a bag of flour pretend to be me. “Denada,” I said, which meant, “I prefer more flavorful food, but I guess flour will do in a pinch.”
Everyone started talking about snitching things, and I said, “Nidop,” which meant, “It is very easy to snitch things from the cafeteria.” I thought of the peanut butter and jar of cinnamon I had snitched when the robots weren’t looking. All this running has been leaving me famished. Then we went to the cafeteria and got our supplies for this evening’s plans.
[This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 10 of The Austere Academy.]
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Post by Dante on Oct 9, 2018 9:08:20 GMT -5
I always felt that in some ways TAA had its own vocabulary, distinct from the rest of the series; and "snitch" is definitely the most recognisable element of that. I'd never thought about Prufrock having a custodian of any sort before; in some ways it feels like that would have been an easier but less interesting role for Olaf to impersonate.
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Post by Foxy on Oct 10, 2018 6:12:30 GMT -5
Dear Dairy,
The Quackmires dressed like us, but they did not really look like us. Violet and Klaus said Duncan and Isadora did not have to go to track practice for us, and we could run away instead. “Zubu,” I said, which meant, “I think I have earned enough money to buy us plane tickets to Tahiti.”
Duncan and Isadora insisted on pretending to be us. We saw them walk to the front lawn, and Klaus said they looked quite a bit like us. “Abax,” I said, which meant, “Run like gazelles, Quackmires.” If they run like ducks, Coach Golaf will for sure know they are not us.
When we went back into our shack, Violet had us trap a big, grumpy crab in the corner. I was in charge of guarding him, so I kept tapping my noisy shoes at him. The crab told me his name was Roger, and he kept muttering about how he and his family should have stayed in the grotto. I tried to get him to tell me what a grotto is, but he was being cantankerous.
As Violet got Roger to snip the metal rods into small pieces for my staples, Klaus asked us to quiz him on Mrs. Bass’s objects. “Soap?” I quizzed him, meaning, “The stuff Count Olaf never uses?”
Finally all the metal rods were cut, and I got to let Roger go. He scurried away, muttering about his cousins at Lake Lachrymose who got adopted by a crazy lady and get to eat dessert every night.
Violet said we were going to make the metal into staples, and I pondered what Roger said about his cousins. “Shablo,” I said, which meant, “I wonder if Roger’s cousins found Uncle Monty’s little covered bowl. I always thought it smelled dessert-like.”
Violet showed us how to make the staples using her invention. “Gyba!” I shrieked, which meant, “Violet, you are as wise as a sphynx.” Then she told me to keep tapping my noisy shoes. “Roger,” I said, which meant, “Thank you, Roger, for your part in making these staples.”
[This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 11 of The Austere Academy.]
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Post by Dante on Oct 10, 2018 9:12:37 GMT -5
Nice use of the word "cantankerous," and clever recontextualisation of "Roger".
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Post by Foxy on Oct 11, 2018 8:28:04 GMT -5
Dear Dairy,
This morning Violet said I would not lose my job, and Klaus said he and Violet would not be expelled. “Nilikoh,” I said, which meant, “That’s good, because I want to send Roger and his family on an all-expenses paid vacation.” I am going to have to keep making money, because flights to Tahiti are not cheap.
Vice Principal Nero, Mr. Remora, and Mrs. Bass came to our shack, and I started stapling papers while Violet and Klaus took their exams. After they answered many, many questions correctly, Mr. Remora and Mrs. Bass told Vice Principal Nero the exams should be over. Mrs. Bass said my booklets were gorgeous. “Pilso!” I shrieked, which meant, “I should get a raise!”
But now Coach Golaf is at our shack, and he has Violet’s hair ribbon and Klaus’s glasses, and his feet are covered in white powder, just like the cafeteria robot’s face.
[This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 12 of The Austere Academy.]
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Post by Uncle Algernon on Oct 11, 2018 14:50:31 GMT -5
I let quite a few chapters build up so I could delight myself in an archive binge. This is continues to be unspeakably awesome and adorable and amazing and many other meliorative words beginning with the later "A".
Not entirely sure about spelling out 'telepathic communication'. It seems to take it in too overtly “supernatural” a direction. If I were you I'd just keep it at the fact that Sunny has the gift to talk to animals, and leave it up to one's imagination whether animals just talk and Sunny understands them somehow, Sunny is a telepath, or she's just imaginign things.
By the by, has there been serious discussing on this Forum of what exactly is going on with Sunny's intelligence? I have a theory that, aside from a natural high intellect, the key thing is that Sunny is the result of a random mutation that makes her hypermnesic from bith. Of all babies, she alone able to remember things for a long period of time. The key thing that makes infants so helpless is their lack of episodic memory, after all.
I like this theory, and it has the added benefit that it actually explains why the Diaries as written here exist, even though Sunny clearly had neither the time nor the ability to write them on the relevant days. I posit that they are written years and years later by a grown-up, fully-writing-savvy Sunny reliving her youth in her mind, with her memory allowing her to remember exactly what her train of thoughts or dreams were at a given moment.
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Post by Foxy on Oct 12, 2018 9:08:12 GMT -5
Thank you for your many compliments! I am honored that anyone is reading my writing at all, let alone that you saved a bunch of chapters to read all at once. Sometimes I wonder if I should keep going, so thank you for giving me the encouragement to continue. And I think I might agree with you about telepathy being a bit too supernatural. Dear Dairy, Coach Golaf said he tried to kick me! I supposed this was one instance where a bag of flour was actually a good thing. Then Vice Principal Nero insulted my secretarial skills. I am not sorry I stole his good bag of chocolates he got. Mr. Remora stood up for me, but after Coach Golaf said the Quackmires ran our laps, Vice Principal Nero said Violet and Klaus are expelled, and I am fired. “Rantaw!” I shrieked, which meant, “You can’t fire me! I quit!” Coach Golaf said he gave the Quackmires to the cafeteria robots, and I thought of the one who got flour on its mask, just like Count Golaf had flour on his shoes. Then Mr. Poe showed up to not save the day. Nero told him we are expelled, and Mr. Poe gave Nero bags of candy. I hope it was terrible quality. I kept thinking about the robots, and suddenly it came to me. The flour on the robot’s face was powder! “Weitfayse!” I shrieked as Klaus was saying something else. Coach Golaf started running away, and we saw the two powder-faced women with Duncan and Isadora. Everyone started running after Coach Golaf, and I started crawling. Violet grabbed his turban, and I bit his shoelaces. With his eyebrow and tattoo revealed, Mr. Poe finally realized Coach Golaf was actually Count Olaf. “Merd!” I shrieked, which meant, “I didn’t even get a formal education at this school, and I knew that!” I don’t know what school let Mr. Poe graduate. Klaus ran to Count Olaf’s car, but the white-faced women dragged the Quackmires in and shoved Klaus out. Then Count Olaf kicked him, took Duncan and Isadora’s notebooks, and drove away. We tried to run after the car, but it was going too fast. Now our friends are captured! I cried because now I will never get to be the flower girl at Violet, Duncan, Klaus, and Isadora’s double wedding. Klaus said Duncan told him “V.F.D.” “Ceju,” I said, which meant, “I have to go clear my personal belongings from my secretarial desk since I have quit my job.” I hope I never run into Nero again. It is always awkward running into one’s former employer. To My Kind Editor, Thousand! Love, Sunny Baudelaire [This section of The Sunny Baudelaire Diaries correlates with Chapter 13 of The Austere Academy.]
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Post by Dante on Oct 12, 2018 9:34:32 GMT -5
Then Mr. Poe showed up to not save the day. One of my favourite lines in the series so far. I definitely enjoy the times where circumstances lead Sunny's attitude to resemble a person decades older than herself.
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