#brett helquist

[thesnicketfile]

I was cleaning out a flat file and these Unfortunate Events drawings. I don't remember how they were used but thought they were fun.

- Brett Helquist, Nov 6, 2024

[the-anxious-acrobat]

a series of unfortunate events coloured official art by brett helquist

damn I love this world so much it makes me cry and laugh and literally I’m so obsessed 😍

[library-child]

Finally, the Baudelaires have found their place in my library! ❤️

[unfortunatetheorist]

Orwellian Secrets: Is Brett Helquist in the Netflix series?

I would like to dedicate this theory to @snicketstrange, as well as credit him for the concluding ideas of this theory.

After TCWOCL Part 7, TMM Part 1, I noticed a theorist's window of opportunity. In the scene where Georgina hypnotises Klaus, one of the pictures she shows him is the picture of the burnt remains of his home: the Baudelaire mansion after the fire.

She asks him, "Fire or accident?" ... I'll lay out my thoughts on this in a separate post.

In TBB:RE, Lemony describes a part of his research at the Baudelaire mansion:

pp. 12-13 Here and there, the children could see traces of the home they had loved: fragments of their grand piano, an elegant bottle in which Mr. Baudelaire had kept brandy, the scorched cushion of the windowseat where their mother liked to sit and read.

Curiously enough, Mr. Baudelaire's brandy bottle was found on the remians of the dining table, with no coasters nearby. This would indicate that either the coasters were burned beyond recognition, or the Baudelaires had received a visitor who had no manners whatsoever.

The picture in the series (when paused at the correct moment!) can be identified due to the large 'portion' of grand piano. But @snicketstrange has helped me come to the conclusion that:

Brett Helquist is NOT in the Netflix series; instead, it is the photographer of LSTUA, Julie Blattberg.

In LSTUA, we get this:

Crucially, this proves: the fact that Mr. Helquist made an illustration does not mean that the only source of images available are the ones he created.

Plus, logic (@snicketstrange, thank you for providing this logic 😅) dictates that photography and film are closer than drawing (illustration) and film.

Therefore:

THEORY: Julie Blattberg, Lemony's photographer, is a part of the Netflix canon.

Possibly:

As an undercover member of The Daily Punctilio

As herself, helping Lemony and Beatrice II write 'A Series of Unfortunate Events'.

With help from @snicketstrange,

~ Th3r3534rch1ngr4ph, Unfortunate Theorist/Snicketologist

[that1grungechick]

did anyone else have a serious addiction to Brett Helquist's art when they were little? just me?

[beatricebidelaire]

in brett helquist's letter, he said he never believed the stories he read about lemony in dp, whether it's in relation to the quagmire case or any other.

lemony was being accused of the quagmire fire ......... hmmm something something about how if someone's repeatedly rumored to be dead for various times (therefore in a way giving the impression that the previous reports were all wrong, that the death was false - perhaps potentially faked) it was then also easy to frame this person for arson, even after the supposed death - because hey, he faked it last time, and the time before that, and so on - wasn't that suspicious? he's the perfect scapegoat for all the arson committed by others, in a way, because he's "frequently rumored to be dead" but all those times can't all be correct. some has gotta be false reporting, even if he did indeed die at some point. the quagmire is very recent to canon timeline and lemony's been rumored dead before that. dp just keeps printing lemony to either be dead or had just committed arson don't they ..........

also, daily punctilio supposedly accused lemony of burning down the quagmire's place. we know from the slippery slope that quigley quagmire read the daily punctilio after the fire happened

“Well, nothing happened for a while,” Quigley said. “On the doorstep of the house was a copy of The Daily Punctilio, which had an article about the fire. That’s how I learned that my parents were dead. I spent days and days there, all by myself. I was so sad, and so scared, and I didn’t know what else to do. I suppose I was waiting for the herpetologist to show up for work, and see if he was a friend of my parents and might be of some assistance. The kitchen was filled with food, so I had enough to eat, and every night I slept at the bottom of the stairs, so I could hear if anyone came in.”

__

“The Daily Punctilio said that I died in the fire, too,” Quigley said. “The article said that my sister and brother were sent off to Prufrock Preparatory School, and that my parents’ estate was under the care of the city’s sixth most important financial advisor.” “Esmé Squalor,” Violet and Klaus said simultaneously, a word which here means “in a disgusted voice, and at the exact same time.” “Right,” Quigley said, “but I wasn’t interested in that part of the story. I was determined to go to the school and find my siblings again. I found an atlas in Dr. Montgomery’s library, and studied it until I found Prufrock Preparatory School. It wasn’t too far, so I started to gather whatever supplies I could find around his house.”

quigley did not mention the name lemony snicket. it's possible that the article accusing lemony was a later article, one published "after some investigations" and not immediately after the fire, so quigley did not read it.

alternatively, he read it, and then he met jacques snicket, of all people, while he's at monty's house. maybe jacques and he talked and he then understood/believed that lemony was not behind it. since lemony is not actually the one who burnt down the house, he decided not to mention this to the baudelaires.

if it was a different article and he never read the one accusing lemony, it was perhaps very narrowly avoided and he may have almost read the article and then come across jacques snicket, someone who's related to the "arsonist"

though, according to quigley, he did not know who J was at first, and maybe didn't know his name until a bit later

“I was interrupted,” Quigley said. “Someone walked in just as I was putting the atlas in a totebag I found. It was Jacques Snicket, although I didn’t know who he was, of course. But he knew who I was, and was overjoyed that I was alive after all.” “How did you know you could trust him?” Klaus asked. “Well, he knew about the secret passageway,” Quigley said. “In fact, he knew quite a bit about my family, even though he hadn’t seen my parents in years. And…” “And?” Violet said. Quigley gave her a small smile. “And he was very well-read,” he said.

anyway i just think the "almost could have" "maybe actually did" could play a lot into jacques and quigley's dynamic. if things were different, would he have trusted J?

[spiltsoup]

“Susannah this edible ain’t shi-”

[overthestars-and-offtoneverland]

Sometimes I think about the fact the Brett Helquist illustrated the later copies of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Then I think about how that motherfucker had the gall to sneak in known designs of ASOUE characters like I wouldn't notice.

[kingluke29]

A little hellquist love

[the-dust-jacket]

Myrtle Hardcastle mysteries by Elizabeth C. Bunce, with cover art by Brett Helquist

[liamfindlay]

COVER REVEAL!

After 7 years of writing, I'm excited to share the cover of The Doom Town Dummies!

A supernatural adventure for ages 8+, fully illustrated by Milena Bragina (who also made this beautiful cover)

Out 19/09/2023!

More info: http://liamrfindlay.com

[thesnicketfile]

Unused Brett Helquist artwork of the Baudelaire orphans. You can see an early sketch and draft of this drawing here.

[earthiercurator]

✨Shakespeare’s Secret✨ 5/5, a new favorite. And it’s what Chasing Vermeer wanted to be (2.5/5). I still might read the sequel

[library-child]

[unfortunatetheorist]

*Joint Theory 4: @unfortunatetheorist with @snicketstrange* :

Liar, Liar? Quag's on Fire? - (BCT & NCT)

We're back! This time, to discuss the apparent contradiction surrounding the Quagmire fire:

How did Duncan and Isadora get out of the Orphans Shack if their parents were already dead when they got there?

But perhaps, more importantly, When did the Quagmire fire occur?

Well, there are some key excerpts that further our understanding:

The letter to the editor found in TAA indicates that the Baudelaires stayed a half-term (half-semester) at Prufrock-Prep.

According to Nero, for a child to live in the good apartments of Prufrock-Prep, a signature from a parent or guardian would be required. It could not be Mr. Poe, who was in charge of their inheritance.

TAA - Chapter 3: "My sister and I went through the experience of a terrible fire, and we know what it's like. Did your father die in the fire?" "Our parents also died in a fire. It's horrible to miss your parents, isn't it?" "For a long time," Duncan confessed, "I was afraid of any kind of fire. I didn't even like to look at heaters or fireplaces." "Duncan and I had to live there for three terms because we needed a father or mother or a guardian to sign our authorization pass, and we had no one."

According to Quigley's account in TSS, the fire occurred after the events in TRR.

Brett Helquist's Letter to Lemony from Ch 11 of LSTUA:

Note: There was a Quagmire case that Lemony Snicket was accused of being involved in that PRECEDED the Baudelaire mansion fire. (Mr. Helquist arrived at the mansion while it was still on fire, and made the drawing that can be found in TBB).

Quigley's speech from Ch 8 of TSS:

You can verify that the Quagmire fire, according to Quigley, happened after the events described in TRR, that is, after the Baudelaire mansion was destroyed.

And all the main events described from TBB until Ch 13 of The End, take place within a MAXIMUM of 1 year. We know this because Violet and Klaus start the story at 14 and 12 years old, respectively, and have birthdays during the story: Klaus in TVV and Violet in TGG, and when they arrive on the island they are 15 and 13 years old respectively.

Actually, this is something the showrunners of the Netflix series picked up on - and SOLVED:

THEORY: The Quagmire parents faked their deaths. This means the children would've been sent to the Orphans' Shack before the revelation of Mr & Mrs Quagmire being alive allowed Isadora and Duncan to live in the apartment section of Prufrock Prep - they would've been alive to sign the necessary paperwork, and thus get out of the Shack. Then they died for REAL, meaning that the two triplets went back to Prufrock, but they STAYED at the dormitory because the papers had already been signed.

Netflix clears a lot of it up [hence 'BCT & NCT'], answering the questions we posed earlier:

Q: How did Duncan and Isadora get out of the Orphans Shack if their parents were already dead when they got there?

A: They were sent to the Orphans' Shack during the time when their parents' deaths were faked. The problem was that they didn't have someone to sign the paperwork. The Orphans' Shack is a temporary location until the parents can sign the paperwork. They only managed to get out of there, because their parents weren't really dead, and they signed the papers. When their parents actually died, they had already signed the papers.

Q: When did the Quagmire fire occur?

A: As Netflix states it, during the events of TMM.

¬ Th3r3534rch1ngr4ph & @snicketstrange,

Unfortunate Theorists/Snicketologists

[crepuscular-haze]

devastated that I will likely never truly understand the deep and erotic connection between a writer and their illustrator