Who is in VFD?
In order to answer this question, we have to take a look at what we know about VFD members. We know that they all refer to themselves with the first letter of their first name, and we know that they all have a tattoo on their ankle.
We know that LS, JS, and CO all have a tattoo on their ankle. So we know that they are members of VFD. We so far haven't met any other tattoos anywhere, but we have seen another eye somewhere. That's right, on Madame Lulu's wagon at the Caligari Carnival.
It's an eye that is described as looking exactly like Olaf's tattoo, and thus we can safely assume that Lulu is a VFD-er. That and she straight up says she is. Just read chapter seven of TCC for proof of that.
"Madame diLustro. On page 27 of the Reptile Room, Lemony says the reason he couldn't finish the story about Sunny and the Incredibly Deadly Viper is that he realized he was late for a dinner party. I quote, "Madame diLustro is a good friend, an excellent detective, and a fine cook... (emphasis added). This leads me to believe she is a detective with VFD.Ê What do you think?"
This information was sent into me by a young lady, whose name got away from me. If you sent in this info, let me know so I can give you credit for it.
The Taxi Driver in TRR might was a member of VFD. You'll recall that Olaf explains that he wasn't going to tip the driver, because not everyone wants to see pictures of his new baby.
In LSUA, we see that the Taxi Driver disguise contains a billfold full of pictures of a new baby for showing to passengers.
So, he's a member of VFD (Thanks Agent R and Efogoto for that info).
so let's take look at the other criteria, and see what we can garner from that.
At the VFD Social, (LSUA pgs 33-47) there are thirteen initials given. In no particular order, they are:
J, L, M, R, R, M, L, K, D, S, J, O, and E. Interestingly enough, there are thirteen chapters in each book, there are going to be thirteen books in the series, and in this list, there are thirteen letters.
Alright, can we put any names to these initials? Some of them, definitely. Let's look at each of them in turn. First, the two J's.
One of the J's is the Secretary of VFD. We don't know for sure which one, and it doesn't really matter, I don't think. One of the J's is Jacques Snicket. Whether or not Jacques is the secretary of VFD is unknown. The other J, as far as I can tell, is unknown.
Dan Kirk writes in with who the other J might be: Dan says the other J might well be Jacob- the Snicket father, as mentioned in ÒThe Little Snicket Lad,Ó however, the problem with this, is that if he is, then the other J could not be Jacques.
IÕve had numerous people write in to me that the other J is Josephine Anwhistle, and while that may be the case, I highly doubt it. Jospehine was married to Ike, who was a VFD-er, but I donÕt think she herself was. She didnÕt recognize Count Olaf, and she was afraid of everything, which is something that so far, we havenÕt seen in any VFD-ers.
The two L's are a little easier, if you know what you are looking for. The first L, obviously, is Lemony Snicket. No question there, but who's the second one? Well, the answer possibly presents itself in LSUA, pg 77:
"...I reviewed the Rirger's performance of a play entitled The World is Quiet Here [VFD's motto] by the unknown playwright Linda Rahldeen....... [Later, pg 78, second column] the crucial opening number "Let the Bell Ring"..." The ring of a bell, of course, is the signal of a coded message coming every tenth word, as any VFD-er knows.
So, it looks like we can place the second L as Linda Rahldeen. However, a young lady named Sophie writes in to tell me Linda Rahldeen is an anagram, and thus, not the right answer.
So who is it?
We know that the phrase "I didn't realize this was a sad occasion," is a VFD contact phrase (LSUA pg 97). And on page 98 of WW, (Good eyes, Christa to spot my mistake *grins*) we see a waiter named Larry who throws the phrase out very casually. the L there fits in with the L at the Social.
Now, what is Linda Rahldeen an anagram for? Daniel Handler, of course. (Thanks to Megan for that bit of information, which I wouldn't have figured out on my own.)
Now, on to the two M's. It has been brought up that Dr. Montgomery Montgomery is one of the M's, but the only proof for this is an offhand comment by Lemony Snicket on pg 57 of LSUA:
"Now that I am convinced that Dr. Montgomery never learned the Sebald Code..."
It's dubious at best, but it does seem to imply that Dr. M. is in VFD, and should have known the code. (Thanks Megan for this tidbit!).
lucyjekyll writes into let me know that on pg 167 of LSUA, we read about Tony "Mommy" Eggmonteror. If you rearrange all those letters, what do you get? Montgomery Montgomery. Thanks Lucy!
The two R's are next, and I can only place one of them, and I don't even really know what the name is. What I do know about R is that she is a female, and she is the Duchess of Winnipeg. LSUA, pg 28 has the signature of the DoW, and on page 30, we read that the letter was alledgedly from the DoW. The Second R? Don't know. One of the R's, though, is the Vice Chancellor of VFD.
Another interesting fact that a young man named Richie brought to my attention is this: POssibly both R's are the two twins at Prufrock Prep that were carried off by Miss K, on pg 130 of LSUA. Furthermore, he adds that there is a picture of these two young ladies. On pg 127, and 142, we have identical pictures. In each one, right in the middle of the crowd, are two stern looking young ladies in identical clothes. They look to be about nine years old, which is the age that R is supposed to be (pg 38, LSUA), and they are identically dressed, which parents wil due to twins. Another thing that parents will do to twins is give them the same initials, R and R...
So, while we don't have the names, we have pictures, and that's almost as good.
This Just In: a researcher who I will simply refer to as "Woodin" writes in with this extremely interesting bit of info:
"Because of evidence I've found on pages 189, 163, and 38 in LSUA, I believe that the "R" who said she was nine years old in the VFD meeting was Ramona Quimby from the books by Beverly Cleary. (One of these books is also mentioned a few times in the Autobiography).
Another interesting thing, is that Ramona has an older sister named Beatrice. Since Beatrice was in middle school in 1981, according to "Ramona Quimby, Age Eight" Then she would be in her mid 30's now. I know it's a long shot, but could this be the Beatrice that Lemony Snicket was in love "
So, there is a possible explanation for one of the R's, as well as anothe rpossible explanation for who Beatrice is.
K. I have to admit, when I first read this, my thought was Hey, that's Klaus! because K uses the phrase "I know what the word [Infiltrated] means!" (LSUA pg 42). However, recent information has debunked this theory. First of all, Klaus, and his two sisters, think that VFD is at least partly a totally evil organization because of CO and the Schism. Secondly, He wouldn't be wondering what VFD stood for if he was part of it.
K is actually the third Snicket sibling.
There are three Snicket Children (LSUA, Chapter 1). We know that there is Lemony and Jacques, and the third we know is also female, because of a letter that Lemony wrote to her on LSUA, pg 192.
So now, how do we know that K is Lemony and Jacques's sister? Because of the Family Tree on page 196, and 197 (LSUA).
Take a look at it. We know it's a VFD family tree, but what else can we glean from it? Take a look at that second set of branches. The ones coming off of the E.
J, K, and L. This led me to believe that the J and the L stand for Jacques and Lemony, and thus the K would be their sister. I don't have much proof for that except that in the legend, it says the C is Chas Snicket, and that matches up with the initial deal. Also, on the same family tree, there is an O, with a noose hanging from it. I'll let you form your own conclusions on that one.
I've developed some doubts about this particular theory, though, and here's why. In the VFD Social, one of the J's says this: "I first met all of you- except for L of course- at 1485 Columbia road..." LSUA pg 44 If K was Jacques and Lemony's sister (J and L respectively) wouldn't J have said "except for L and K of course..."? Just a thought. And in TGG, on the very last page, the Bauds meet up with a Taxi driver named Kit Snicket. (Thanks Rick!)
D. I'm surprised I didn't see this myself. It took two young ladies to point this out to me. I guess I'm getting addled in my old age.
In the VFD Social, we see that D sometimes represents L, though not in this case, and we know that L is Lemony Snicket. So, that logically leads to D being Daniel Handler, and I'm an old fogey. (Thanks to Sophie, and Christa on that one).
The S. we can make a reasonable guess at who S is.
In RR, we read about uncle Monty taking the kids to see Zombies in the Snow, a movie, which incidentally starred CO in the role of Young Rolf (LSUA, pg 67, picture caption). Yeah, that's a stretch, but remember that EVERYONE mistakes Olaf with Omar in the books.
Anyway, the movie was written by Gustav Sebold, who was a definite VFD-er (LSUA, pg 66, 67- He was the inventor of the Sebald code for Pete's sake...). But wait, the skeptical soul says, at the VFD Social, we read that the initials are taken from their first name, not the last, so the initial would be G!!!
Yep. You're right, skeptical soul. And thus, we must look elsewhere. Like the signature at the end of the letter that is printed on pgs 66-71. At the end, the letter is signed, and mottoed. The motto written down is "The World is Quiet Here," and the signature is Sally Sebold, Gustav's sister. So, this is who I believe the S is at the VFD Social.
All that we have left now is the O and the E. and if I need to explain these to you, then... oh alright.
The O is Olaf. Yes, he says he prefers to be called T, and no, I don't know what that stands for.
The E is Esmé. I don't think there's any room for doubt there.
So, recapping the list, with proper names put in, in attendance at the VFD Social were Jacques, Lemony, M, R and R (The two students at in the Prurock Pictorial), M, Larry, K (Miss Snicket(possibly)), Daniel Handler, Sally Sebold, J, Olaf, and Esme.
Are there any other people we can put into VFD with reasonable certainty? Ayuh, there are. At the VFD Social, one of the M's mentions the monthly examinations of Neophytes- a word which here means "a beginner, or novice"- R, L, K, B, J, E, and G. We don't have much information for who these initials stand for, but we can make a few guesses.
LSUA pg 38: "D: Our spies at The Daily Punctilio tell us that G may be publishing our address in her "Secret Organizations You Should Know About" column." The G of course, is Geraldine Julienne, who may or may not be a member of VFD. Perhaps she's the Neophyte listed above. It would explain how she knows about VFD's locations, and why Esmé knows about her.
Part of the VFD Operations speech that, I think R gives, is that a child has to show exceptional observational/NoteTakign skills.
That fits Duncan and Isadora to a T, doesn't it? I mean, they are always taking notes in their notebooks, and how else could they have gotten information on Olaf and VFD so quickly, if they hadn't been part of it? I'm pretty Duncan and Isadora are VFDers.
Is there anyone else we can name? Yes. Two more person for sure, and there may be others.
LSUA pg 98: "I feel, Lemony, as if we are drifting away from one another, as if one of us is on the ground, and the other is in some wondrous device, floating away into the sky, like that self-sustaining hot-air mobile home H is always talking about buidling."
Who is the H in question? VV, pg 58: "Oh, just a few little things," Hector said, "but I have an enormous project that is nearing completion. I've been building a self-sustaining hot-air mobile home." So, we know Hector is a VFDer.
Ike Anwhistle is a VFDer. How do we know that? In LSUA, reference forthcoming, we see that someone mentions leaving a message with Ike, which would seem to form a connection between himself, and VFD. (THanks to Sophie for sending that in.) Also, on page 284 of TSS. "Dr. Isaac Anwhistle, whom everyone called Ike" is listed, along with CM Kornbluth, as being a member of VFD. (THanks to Jyn for sending that in.)
Ivan Lachrymose has been brought up as a VFDer, though it's very probable he isn't. The biography of Ivan, which was written by Vincent Francis Doyle, and publshed by Very False Documents press (VFD x 2) was written boring on purpose to hide a document. If it was an autobiography, then we'd be mor einclined to believe, but since it isn't, and we don't have any further proof, he's probably not a member. (Thanks again, Sophie)
We know that LS, JS, and CO all have a tattoo on their ankle. So we know that they are members of VFD. We so far haven't met any other tattoos anywhere, but we have seen another eye somewhere. That's right, on Madame Lulu's wagon at the Caligari Carnival.
It's an eye that is described as looking exactly like Olaf's tattoo, and thus we can safely assume that Lulu is a VFD-er. That and she straight up says she is. Just read chapter seven of TCC for proof of that.
"Madame diLustro. On page 27 of the Reptile Room, Lemony says the reason he couldn't finish the story about Sunny and the Incredibly Deadly Viper is that he realized he was late for a dinner party. I quote, "Madame diLustro is a good friend, an excellent detective, and a fine cook... (emphasis added). This leads me to believe she is a detective with VFD.Ê What do you think?"
This information was sent into me by a young lady, whose name got away from me. If you sent in this info, let me know so I can give you credit for it.
The Taxi Driver in TRR might was a member of VFD. You'll recall that Olaf explains that he wasn't going to tip the driver, because not everyone wants to see pictures of his new baby.
In LSUA, we see that the Taxi Driver disguise contains a billfold full of pictures of a new baby for showing to passengers.
So, he's a member of VFD (Thanks Agent R and Efogoto for that info).
so let's take look at the other criteria, and see what we can garner from that.
At the VFD Social, (LSUA pgs 33-47) there are thirteen initials given. In no particular order, they are:
J, L, M, R, R, M, L, K, D, S, J, O, and E. Interestingly enough, there are thirteen chapters in each book, there are going to be thirteen books in the series, and in this list, there are thirteen letters.
Alright, can we put any names to these initials? Some of them, definitely. Let's look at each of them in turn. First, the two J's.
One of the J's is the Secretary of VFD. We don't know for sure which one, and it doesn't really matter, I don't think. One of the J's is Jacques Snicket. Whether or not Jacques is the secretary of VFD is unknown. The other J, as far as I can tell, is unknown.
Dan Kirk writes in with who the other J might be: Dan says the other J might well be Jacob- the Snicket father, as mentioned in ÒThe Little Snicket Lad,Ó however, the problem with this, is that if he is, then the other J could not be Jacques.
IÕve had numerous people write in to me that the other J is Josephine Anwhistle, and while that may be the case, I highly doubt it. Jospehine was married to Ike, who was a VFD-er, but I donÕt think she herself was. She didnÕt recognize Count Olaf, and she was afraid of everything, which is something that so far, we havenÕt seen in any VFD-ers.
The two L's are a little easier, if you know what you are looking for. The first L, obviously, is Lemony Snicket. No question there, but who's the second one? Well, the answer possibly presents itself in LSUA, pg 77:
"...I reviewed the Rirger's performance of a play entitled The World is Quiet Here [VFD's motto] by the unknown playwright Linda Rahldeen....... [Later, pg 78, second column] the crucial opening number "Let the Bell Ring"..." The ring of a bell, of course, is the signal of a coded message coming every tenth word, as any VFD-er knows.
So, it looks like we can place the second L as Linda Rahldeen. However, a young lady named Sophie writes in to tell me Linda Rahldeen is an anagram, and thus, not the right answer.
So who is it?
We know that the phrase "I didn't realize this was a sad occasion," is a VFD contact phrase (LSUA pg 97). And on page 98 of WW, (Good eyes, Christa to spot my mistake *grins*) we see a waiter named Larry who throws the phrase out very casually. the L there fits in with the L at the Social.
Now, what is Linda Rahldeen an anagram for? Daniel Handler, of course. (Thanks to Megan for that bit of information, which I wouldn't have figured out on my own.)
Now, on to the two M's. It has been brought up that Dr. Montgomery Montgomery is one of the M's, but the only proof for this is an offhand comment by Lemony Snicket on pg 57 of LSUA:
"Now that I am convinced that Dr. Montgomery never learned the Sebald Code..."
It's dubious at best, but it does seem to imply that Dr. M. is in VFD, and should have known the code. (Thanks Megan for this tidbit!).
lucyjekyll writes into let me know that on pg 167 of LSUA, we read about Tony "Mommy" Eggmonteror. If you rearrange all those letters, what do you get? Montgomery Montgomery. Thanks Lucy!
The two R's are next, and I can only place one of them, and I don't even really know what the name is. What I do know about R is that she is a female, and she is the Duchess of Winnipeg. LSUA, pg 28 has the signature of the DoW, and on page 30, we read that the letter was alledgedly from the DoW. The Second R? Don't know. One of the R's, though, is the Vice Chancellor of VFD.
Another interesting fact that a young man named Richie brought to my attention is this: POssibly both R's are the two twins at Prufrock Prep that were carried off by Miss K, on pg 130 of LSUA. Furthermore, he adds that there is a picture of these two young ladies. On pg 127, and 142, we have identical pictures. In each one, right in the middle of the crowd, are two stern looking young ladies in identical clothes. They look to be about nine years old, which is the age that R is supposed to be (pg 38, LSUA), and they are identically dressed, which parents wil due to twins. Another thing that parents will do to twins is give them the same initials, R and R...
So, while we don't have the names, we have pictures, and that's almost as good.
This Just In: a researcher who I will simply refer to as "Woodin" writes in with this extremely interesting bit of info:
"Because of evidence I've found on pages 189, 163, and 38 in LSUA, I believe that the "R" who said she was nine years old in the VFD meeting was Ramona Quimby from the books by Beverly Cleary. (One of these books is also mentioned a few times in the Autobiography).
Another interesting thing, is that Ramona has an older sister named Beatrice. Since Beatrice was in middle school in 1981, according to "Ramona Quimby, Age Eight" Then she would be in her mid 30's now. I know it's a long shot, but could this be the Beatrice that Lemony Snicket was in love "
So, there is a possible explanation for one of the R's, as well as anothe rpossible explanation for who Beatrice is.
K. I have to admit, when I first read this, my thought was Hey, that's Klaus! because K uses the phrase "I know what the word [Infiltrated] means!" (LSUA pg 42). However, recent information has debunked this theory. First of all, Klaus, and his two sisters, think that VFD is at least partly a totally evil organization because of CO and the Schism. Secondly, He wouldn't be wondering what VFD stood for if he was part of it.
K is actually the third Snicket sibling.
There are three Snicket Children (LSUA, Chapter 1). We know that there is Lemony and Jacques, and the third we know is also female, because of a letter that Lemony wrote to her on LSUA, pg 192.
So now, how do we know that K is Lemony and Jacques's sister? Because of the Family Tree on page 196, and 197 (LSUA).
Take a look at it. We know it's a VFD family tree, but what else can we glean from it? Take a look at that second set of branches. The ones coming off of the E.
J, K, and L. This led me to believe that the J and the L stand for Jacques and Lemony, and thus the K would be their sister. I don't have much proof for that except that in the legend, it says the C is Chas Snicket, and that matches up with the initial deal. Also, on the same family tree, there is an O, with a noose hanging from it. I'll let you form your own conclusions on that one.
I've developed some doubts about this particular theory, though, and here's why. In the VFD Social, one of the J's says this: "I first met all of you- except for L of course- at 1485 Columbia road..." LSUA pg 44 If K was Jacques and Lemony's sister (J and L respectively) wouldn't J have said "except for L and K of course..."? Just a thought. And in TGG, on the very last page, the Bauds meet up with a Taxi driver named Kit Snicket. (Thanks Rick!)
D. I'm surprised I didn't see this myself. It took two young ladies to point this out to me. I guess I'm getting addled in my old age.
In the VFD Social, we see that D sometimes represents L, though not in this case, and we know that L is Lemony Snicket. So, that logically leads to D being Daniel Handler, and I'm an old fogey. (Thanks to Sophie, and Christa on that one).
The S. we can make a reasonable guess at who S is.
In RR, we read about uncle Monty taking the kids to see Zombies in the Snow, a movie, which incidentally starred CO in the role of Young Rolf (LSUA, pg 67, picture caption). Yeah, that's a stretch, but remember that EVERYONE mistakes Olaf with Omar in the books.
Anyway, the movie was written by Gustav Sebold, who was a definite VFD-er (LSUA, pg 66, 67- He was the inventor of the Sebald code for Pete's sake...). But wait, the skeptical soul says, at the VFD Social, we read that the initials are taken from their first name, not the last, so the initial would be G!!!
Yep. You're right, skeptical soul. And thus, we must look elsewhere. Like the signature at the end of the letter that is printed on pgs 66-71. At the end, the letter is signed, and mottoed. The motto written down is "The World is Quiet Here," and the signature is Sally Sebold, Gustav's sister. So, this is who I believe the S is at the VFD Social.
All that we have left now is the O and the E. and if I need to explain these to you, then... oh alright.
The O is Olaf. Yes, he says he prefers to be called T, and no, I don't know what that stands for.
The E is Esmé. I don't think there's any room for doubt there.
So, recapping the list, with proper names put in, in attendance at the VFD Social were Jacques, Lemony, M, R and R (The two students at in the Prurock Pictorial), M, Larry, K (Miss Snicket(possibly)), Daniel Handler, Sally Sebold, J, Olaf, and Esme.
Are there any other people we can put into VFD with reasonable certainty? Ayuh, there are. At the VFD Social, one of the M's mentions the monthly examinations of Neophytes- a word which here means "a beginner, or novice"- R, L, K, B, J, E, and G. We don't have much information for who these initials stand for, but we can make a few guesses.
LSUA pg 38: "D: Our spies at The Daily Punctilio tell us that G may be publishing our address in her "Secret Organizations You Should Know About" column." The G of course, is Geraldine Julienne, who may or may not be a member of VFD. Perhaps she's the Neophyte listed above. It would explain how she knows about VFD's locations, and why Esmé knows about her.
Part of the VFD Operations speech that, I think R gives, is that a child has to show exceptional observational/NoteTakign skills.
That fits Duncan and Isadora to a T, doesn't it? I mean, they are always taking notes in their notebooks, and how else could they have gotten information on Olaf and VFD so quickly, if they hadn't been part of it? I'm pretty Duncan and Isadora are VFDers.
Is there anyone else we can name? Yes. Two more person for sure, and there may be others.
LSUA pg 98: "I feel, Lemony, as if we are drifting away from one another, as if one of us is on the ground, and the other is in some wondrous device, floating away into the sky, like that self-sustaining hot-air mobile home H is always talking about buidling."
Who is the H in question? VV, pg 58: "Oh, just a few little things," Hector said, "but I have an enormous project that is nearing completion. I've been building a self-sustaining hot-air mobile home." So, we know Hector is a VFDer.
Ike Anwhistle is a VFDer. How do we know that? In LSUA, reference forthcoming, we see that someone mentions leaving a message with Ike, which would seem to form a connection between himself, and VFD. (THanks to Sophie for sending that in.) Also, on page 284 of TSS. "Dr. Isaac Anwhistle, whom everyone called Ike" is listed, along with CM Kornbluth, as being a member of VFD. (THanks to Jyn for sending that in.)
Ivan Lachrymose has been brought up as a VFDer, though it's very probable he isn't. The biography of Ivan, which was written by Vincent Francis Doyle, and publshed by Very False Documents press (VFD x 2) was written boring on purpose to hide a document. If it was an autobiography, then we'd be mor einclined to believe, but since it isn't, and we don't have any further proof, he's probably not a member. (Thanks again, Sophie)