“you know how it is! once close friends having less and less time for each other after they move to different towns for volunteer work and haven’t seen each other in forever, keeps saying ‘we should meet for lunch the next time i’m in the city!’ but then never actually do! it’s terrible!” beatrice exclaims.
“well, yes, but,” bertrand begins.
“no buts, this is the perfect chance for us to see monty and gustav again!” beatrice declares.
“well i mean, monty has the conference thing on sunday, and gustav has a movie shooting to attend to on friday, so the only time they have free is saturday, which is also the announced time of the manhunt,” beatrice says. “and you know there’s no other tour of the city that covers as much ground as the lemony manhunts. the travel agency on 4th street has been marketing this to the tourists for quite a while. gustav says he wants to experience one too.”
something about the masked ball is judging from everyone’s attire it’s likely expected for people to show up in suits or dresses and wearing a mask, and most people don’t show up with extravagant / elaborate costumes since it’s not a a halloween party kind of thing but a masked ball. so if we make the above assumption, the question becomes who shows up with wing costumes as part of her attire, and the mechanical wings can actually fly with no problem, also they’re huge and probably keeps knocking into people during the ball since it’s crowded. like. who does this? and all the dramatics aside, the wings turned about to be useful when and saved her when she’s being pushed down from the balcony.
but on the other hand, who shows up at a ball and pushes someone down the balcony, would’ve murdered them if the wings hadn’t saved them, when the place is filled with friends and associates of the person pushed down the balcony, that it’s almost guaranteed it’s very hard to escape once committing the crime? it requires either extreme recklessness or arrogance or thinking that getting caught doesn’t matter.
beatrice’s costume is unnecessarily elaborate and dramatic and turned out to be useful when those wings can fly, and olaf’s act of pushing her over the balcony is not a particularly well thought out plan if he cares about the aftermath, if those wings turned out to not actually fly. i know in the show when olaf was explaining things in tcc he said “who knew those wings can actually fly” but is that really the case, or is he just saying that to maintain some reputation, so it wouldn’t look like he failed in that?
case 1: maybe he already knew even before he pushed her, or at least highly suspected, or just expected that it could either fly or that beatrice can pull off some other trick and survive. beatrice wore mechanical wings that can actually fly to the party expecting some sort of move from olaf, olaf pushing her over the balcony expecting that she’d survive anyway. it’s a very continuously back and forth game between them and they plan their actions revolving around each other anticipating the other’s move, it’s a game they’ve been playing since they were kids, getting into fights in the playground, just more elaborate now, more planning, but boiling down to its core they’re just two kids wrestling each other and falling down into the grass together covered in mud and sweat.
case 2: he really didn’t know the wings could fly and didn’t even suspect so, but seeing her brings out a very primal anger and rage that makes him throw detailed revenge plan down the window like he threw beatrice off that balcony, and just went with his instinct. because when it comes to her everything stops being a detailed revenge plan and he just wants to fight her like the way they used to fight as children, two kids wrestling each other and falling down into the grass together covered in mud and sweat. it’s all instincts and no plans and he doesn’t care about escaping from his enemies later because at this moment only beatrice matters, he shoves her off the balcony and he doesn’t really think about the consequences of that it doesn’t actually register to him that she could die but he tells himself if she died it’d be great but is secretly relieved that she didn’t die because he’s never actually expected it to happen so soon she’s not allowed to die until he’s had his revenge, because deep down he wants this back and forth of revenge and attacks on each other to continue forever. olaf in the 13 books of asoue we see he can plan meticulously with complicated and elaborate disguises (sounds familiar? almost like someone else who also has this tendency…) just to get what he wants. he can plan things, no problem, so why would he be so reckless at ball, resorting to such a purely physical and not well thought out way - because it’s beatrice and with her it’s all emotions and no planning all primal instincts, it’s like they’re children again and fighting on the playground ….
regardless if it’s closer to case 1 or case 2, i guess i just wanted to say, no matter how old they grow up to be they’re always, deep down, two little kids fighting and wresting each other falling down together into the mud punching each other with dirty hands and bruised knuckles but then still play together the next day. they know the most random and trivial details about each other that doesn’t even matter but it’s just knowledge one accumulated over the years they know each other’s secrets know the crushes see through each other’s lies meanly tease each other. “you’ll fail” “your mother told me the same thing”. ahhhhhhhh
actually something i’m constantly wondering about is, all the little details in canon about beatrice and olaf, the things mentioned in the books, were they …. intentional. well, maybe intentional is not the right word, it’s more like, did he put those in with the intention of hinting a history of friendship between them behind the scenes, if that makes sense. like, a lot of olaf and beatrice dynamics are our own interpretations and guesses since we don’t see them together in the same scene in the books (by same scene i mean it more in a “on screen” way like the way two characters are in a scene at the same time, instead of offhandedly mentioned that they are offscreen doing something together)
(netflix does have them on screen together, for example the opera night, but that scene is actually not as compelling b&o friendship hint/evidence compared to other scenes where they don’t actually show up together. olaf’s “remarkable woman. flammable.” is iconic. klaus’s line “mother said actors will eat anything” is interesting not just because beatrice obviously knows olaf who is an actor, but she also is one herself.)
the thing is that as much as the interpretations of their dynamic is guesswork, it’s guesswork based on canon lines. olaf’s “your mother told me the same thing ha but one day when i was 7 year old”. or when he says sunny’s beans is “worse than that salad your parents used to make”. or how ghede in ?4 told lemony that beatrice is accompanying olaf to the edge of the forest, hinting the two probably did their apprenticeship together. like when i read ?4 it made me wonder did handler put that line there wanting to hint at a deeper backstory of friendship between the two of them, considering how they were already confirmed to have known each other before the age of 7. it’s unclear if at that time they’re part of vfd or not. but it’s a possibility that they know each other before vfd. they did their apprenticeship together in their teens. she was part of the opera plot, part of the operation who murdered his parents. he hunts down after her children as revenge, more than a decade later. their lives were so revolved around each other in some way. she is his motive for revenge the revenge that drove the plot of asoue forward. they were basically childhood friends who’ve known each other forever turned enemies. was DH thinking of this when he puts the lines in. because even disregarding my personal interpretations and guesswork there’s no denying that they did at least know each other at 7, possibly earlier. did their apprenticeship together. became enemies at some point. mr handler do you know. one one hand i think there’s no way he doesn’t when i type these all out on the other hand some of the details are such trivial offhanded mentions in canon that it’s possible it’s just an afterthought and not something intentional …… or is it. mr handler pls.
because on the one hand it’s just like. side characters’ characterization but on the other hand these side characters’ interactions and history are actually very integral to the whole plot of the series and even arguably one of the biggest things pushing the plot forward for the 13 books! like yes he’s a horrible person hunting down the protagonists trying to steal their fortune and he’s a terrible person regardless of his motives for doing so but there still exists a reason a motive a thing that’s been pushing the plot along, their history directly influenced the plot even if it’s only ever mentioned indirectly never showing the two of them interact on screen in the books but it’s still heavily influencing what happened for 13 books the mystery behind it all the motive for revenge okay maybe it was intentional on handler’s part after all but the thing is i just don’t know!! i mean i have suspicions but they’re not confirmed. and i’ll never know and i love that too but i wonder, i really do
actually something i’m constantly wondering about is, all the little details in canon about beatrice and olaf, the things mentioned in the books, were they …. intentional. well, maybe intentional is not the right word, it’s more like, did he put those in with the intention of hinting a history of friendship between them behind the scenes, if that makes sense. like, a lot of olaf and beatrice dynamics are our own interpretations and guesses since we don’t see them together in the same scene in the books (by same scene i mean it more in a “on screen” way like the way two characters are in a scene at the same time, instead of offhandedly mentioned that they are offscreen doing something together)
(netflix does have them on screen together, for example the opera night, but that scene is actually not as compelling b&o friendship hint/evidence compared to other scenes where they don’t actually show up together. olaf’s “remarkable woman. flammable.” is iconic. klaus’s line “mother said actors will eat anything” is interesting not just because beatrice obviously knows olaf who is an actor, but she also is one herself.)
the thing is that as much as the interpretations of their dynamic is guesswork, it’s guesswork based on canon lines. olaf’s “your mother told me the same thing ha but one day when i was 7 year old”. or when he says sunny’s beans is “worse than that salad your parents used to make”. or how ghede in ?4 told lemony that beatrice is accompanying olaf to the edge of the forest, hinting the two probably did their apprenticeship together. like when i read ?4 it made me wonder did handler put that line there wanting to hint at a deeper backstory of friendship between the two of them, considering how they were already confirmed to have known each other before the age of 7. it’s unclear if at that time they’re part of vfd or not. but it’s a possibility that they know each other before vfd. they did their apprenticeship together in their teens. she was part of the opera plot, part of the operation who murdered his parents. he hunts down after her children as revenge, more than a decade later. their lives were so revolved around each other in some way. she is his motive for revenge the revenge that drove the plot of asoue forward. they were basically childhood friends who’ve known each other forever turned enemies. was DH thinking of this when he puts the lines in. because even disregarding my personal interpretations and guesswork there’s no denying that they did at least know each other at 7, possibly earlier. did their apprenticeship together. became enemies at some point. mr handler do you know. one one hand i think there’s no way he doesn’t when i type these all out on the other hand some of the details are such trivial offhanded mentions in canon that it’s possible it’s just an afterthought and not something intentional …… or is it. mr handler pls.
because on the one hand it’s just like. side characters’ characterization but on the other hand these side characters’ interactions and history are actually very integral to the whole plot of the series and even arguably one of the biggest things pushing the plot forward for the 13 books! like yes he’s a horrible person hunting down the protagonists trying to steal their fortune and he’s a terrible person regardless of his motives for doing so but there still exists a reason a motive a thing that’s been pushing the plot along, their history directly influenced the plot even if it’s only ever mentioned indirectly never showing the two of them interact on screen in the books but it’s still heavily influencing what happened for 13 books the mystery behind it all the motive for revenge okay maybe it was intentional on handler’s part after all but the thing is i just don’t know!! i mean i have suspicions but they’re not confirmed. and i’ll never know and i love that too but i wonder, i really do
actually something i’m constantly wondering about is, all the little details in canon about beatrice and olaf, the things mentioned in the books, were they …. intentional. well, maybe intentional is not the right word, it’s more like, did he put those in with the intention of hinting a history of friendship between them behind the scenes, if that makes sense. like, a lot of olaf and beatrice dynamics are our own interpretations and guesses since we don’t see them together in the same scene in the books (by same scene i mean it more in a “on screen” way like the way two characters are in a scene at the same time, instead of offhandedly mentioned that they are offscreen doing something together)
(netflix does have them on screen together, for example the opera night, but that scene is actually not as compelling b&o friendship hint/evidence compared to other scenes where they don’t actually show up together. olaf’s “remarkable woman. flammable.” is iconic. klaus’s line “mother said actors will eat anything” is interesting not just because beatrice obviously knows olaf who is an actor, but she also is one herself.)
the thing is that as much as the interpretations of their dynamic is guesswork, it’s guesswork based on canon lines. olaf’s “your mother told me the same thing ha but one day when i was 7 year old”. or when he says sunny’s beans is “worse than that salad your parents used to make”. or how ghede in ?4 told lemony that beatrice is accompanying olaf to the edge of the forest, hinting the two probably did their apprenticeship together. like when i read ?4 it made me wonder did handler put that line there wanting to hint at a deeper backstory of friendship between the two of them, considering how they were already confirmed to have known each other before the age of 7. it’s unclear if at that time they’re part of vfd or not. but it’s a possibility that they know each other before vfd. they did their apprenticeship together in their teens. she was part of the opera plot, part of the operation who murdered his parents. he hunts down after her children as revenge, more than a decade later. their lives were so revolved around each other in some way. she is his motive for revenge the revenge that drove the plot of asoue forward. they were basically childhood friends who’ve known each other forever turned enemies. was DH thinking of this when he puts the lines in. because even disregarding my personal interpretations and guesswork there’s no denying that they did at least know each other at 7, possibly earlier. did their apprenticeship together. became enemies at some point. mr handler do you know. one one hand i think there’s no way he doesn’t when i type these all out on the other hand some of the details are such trivial offhanded mentions in canon that it’s possible it’s just an afterthought and not something intentional …… or is it. mr handler pls.
i think olaf sometimes calls beatrice B but he rarely, possibly never, calls kit K. addressing others by initial, the very vfd way, is a very vfd thing and kit’s loyalty to vfd is one of the things he dislikes about her even when they’re dating she one he’d prefer to pretend that doesn’t exist sometimes.
with beatrice it’s different it’s more of a “we both got involved in it and there’s no way out you can never leave just like i can never leave because no matter how far you try to distance yourself from vfd by pulling away or how far i try to distance myself from vfd by changing sides vfd would always be part of us no matter how far we run because everyone’s childhood makes them what they are you and i can never escape we’re in it together and i hate that i can’t escape but i’m quite pleased by the fact that you can’t truly leave either because if i have to drag someone down it’s you we are going down together, beatrice”.
it’s fine to think about beatrice as a vfd volunteer because it’s a curse that binds them together no matter how far they try to escape but it’s unpleasant to think about kit as a vfd volunteer because from his perspective she chose vfd over him and ruined the chance they have.
“urban legends live forever though,” beatrice says. “a tale pass on to generation after generation. so even though you’re legally dead, you’ve been immortalized, living on as another legendary tale in this city, like -”
she pauses for a moment, and dewey looks at her expectantly.
“like giuseppe verdi and unicorns!” she exclaims.
“verdi was real person.” dewey points out.
“and unicorns are real and so are you,” beatrice says sagely. “one doesn’t have to be made up to become a legend. my point is, you’ll live forever in people’s hearts! think of it this way. i’m almost jealous. i wish i could be remembered just as long, instead of, you know, only being the most famous actress of the decade.” she sighs thoughtfully. “maybe i should become someone’s muse, perhaps they’ll write poems about me after I break their heart.”
“ah, the one that got away,” dewey says.
“it makes the memories of me even beautiful than i already am,” beatrice nods. “still, that’ll probably never happen.”
dewey looks skeptical.
“what?” beatrice demands. “i am such a sentimental soul that it’s almost guaranteed that i’ll be the one getting my heart broken.”
thinking about atwq era sugar bowl gen and thinking about little beatrice who ties her hair in ribbons and yet still has hair falling in front of her eyes and scrunches her nose up when she’s annoyed and is stuck in the forest with her tall gangly frenemy who refuses to stop talking for a second and keeps saying she’s giving herself permanent wrinkles and they both playfully snip at each other every chance they get and yet neither of them refuse to leave the other on their own for even a second, just in case
Thinking about when Beatrice and Bertrand ran a marathon together and then came home and bertrand made dinner while sitting on the kitchen floor bc he was too tired to stand
Kit Snicket and Beatrice Baudelaires, posing in the backyard of the once-esteemed VFD academy.
Purportedly, when the Baudelaire children found this photograph, they were taken aback by how much Violet resembled their late mother in her teenage years.
Dated to a time when the talk of a schism was nothing more than paranoid gossip.
Bea and Bert studies because they were good enough parents ft. casual mistakes on my part b/c i haven’t drawn bert in a long time. (Bertrand’s text is the last two lines from ‘the blind men and the elephant btw even if its not legible anymore)
