V.F.D. - V.F.D. Codes

V.F.D. Codes

Throughout the books, a variety of codes are used by individuals working for or against the organization.

The "Sebald Code" is first mentioned in Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, attributed to Dr. Gustav Sebald, and was usually used to communicate messages through Dr. Sebald's movies. When a ring is mentioned (in any form of said word), the code is activated. The first word after the ring is in code, as is every eleventh word thereafter. When the ring is said again, the code ends. A typical scene from a film might go like this:

(Doorbell rings)

Gertrude: This is quite a surprise! Please do come in, Robert!

Robert: How is Ebenezer doing?

Gertrude: He is very ill. I have given him an injection hourly.

Robert: That's a shame. He once was a perfect example of good health.

Gertrude: Yes, for comfort he examines old photos of when he was healthier. We have been to see Doctor Sebald, but it seemed rather like he was just talking in code.

(Alarm clock rings)

Gertrude: He must need another pill. Coming, Ebenezer!

(All leave)

In this case, the hidden message is "This is an example of Sebald code". The code relies on the actors speaking the words perfectly, and on the viewer being able to notice the scene. In The Unauthorized Autobiography, the movie Zombies in the Snow, Werewolves in the Rain, and wedding invitations from the Vineyard of Fragrant Drapes feature the Sebald code, although the only instance in the main series is on page 67 of The Penultimate Peril. Either Frank or Ernest used it when speaking to the Baudelaires. The message was "I can't tell if you are associates or enemies. Please respond". Though this message was suspected to be "I can't tell if you are in or enemies. Please respond", a number within one of the sentences needs to be skipped rather than counted as a word to get the correct message.

The Nameless Novel, a promotional website for Book the Twelfth of the series, presented an excerpt from the Sebald movie Ants in the Fruit Salad that used the Sebald code. In The Reptile Room, Uncle Monty took Violet Baudelaire, Klaus Baudelaire, and Sunny Baudelaire to see the film Zombies in the Snow.

In The Reptile Room, the same book as mentioned as above, Uncle Monty's death could be attributed to the fact that he never learned Sebald code, as Lemony Snicket claims. In the novel, Dr. Montgomery watched the Sebald movie Zombies in the Snow, which warned him that his new assistant was a traitor, but it is suggested that Uncle Monty did not understand the code. Sebald himself is presumed dead, and his estate is being handled by his sister, Sally Sebald. Doctor Montgomery Montgomery was killed by Count Olaf with snake venom.

In The Wide Window, Aunt Josephine uses a code to communicate the location where she was hidden. Aunt Josephine was later discovered to be a member of V.F.D.

The code was recognizable because Aunt Josephine was known to take a heavy interest in grammar. Klaus soon realized that there were many grammatical and spelling mistakes in the text of her letter, The message is formed by the letters or punctuation that should be there. For example:

Coded Statement: I saw a kat today. It was so udd that I thought, "I've better take a picture of this filine."

Corrected Statement: I saw a cat today. It was so odd that I thought, "I'd better take a picture of this feline."

So in this example, the coded message is "code".

Verbal Fridge Dialogue is a code whereby volunteers can contact others through the use of a refrigerator. It is noted in The Slippery Slope that it is used as an emergency communication. Fridges are used due to their contents having a high likelihood of surviving fires. These are few of the guidelines of the code:

• The recipient of the message will know that the code is being used by finding Very Fresh Dill in the fridge and his or her initials scraped into the top of the darkest jam. A poem is used in The Slippery Slope to explain:

The darkest of the jams three,

Contains within the addressee

• To represent days of the week for a gathering, a cured, fruit-based calendar is used. One olive means Sunday, two means Monday, etc.
• Any spice-based condiment will have an ingredients label referring to coded poems.
• While the entire code in The Slippery Slope is incomplete, Lemony Snicket indicates that one of the remaining ingredients in the instance of Verbal Fridge Dialogue in that book, a pickle, was to be used inside a coded sandwich. The other remaining ingredient, lemon juice, also hints at Lemony's role in the code.

(See also List of VFDs.)

In The Vile Village, Isadora and Duncan Quagmire use a code within couplets to send a message to the Baudelaires about their location. It is necessary to say that Isadora and Duncan are members. It is possible that Duncan and Isadora learned about some of the V.F.D codes when they were kidnapped by Count Olaf. In The Vile Village, Isadora wrote four couplets:

For sapphires we are held in here

Only you can end our fear.

Until dawn comes we cannot speak

No words can come from this sad beak.

The first thing you read contains the clue:

An initial way to speak to you.

Inside these letters the eye will see

Nearby are your friends, and V.F.D.

The first letters of each line spell out “FOUNTAIN”, referring to Fowl Fountain where they were held hostage by Count Olaf. They sent the messages by tying them to the feet of crows that flew from the fountain to the Nevermore Tree each night.

Then of course one word in the poem completes the code in this case "beak" which was the part of the fowl fountain where the Quagmire triplets were held. The word "eye" means the way to open the crow fountain beak. The button was the crow fountain's eye.

From the book Versed Furtive Discourse in the novel The Grim Grotto, the code Verse Fluctuation Declaration works using a piece of poetry; words in a poem that the communicator wishes to use as code are substituted for alternate words. The book gives the example that My Last Duchess by Robert Browning may instead be written as My Last Wife by Obert Browning; in this case, the coded message is "Duchess R". In The Grim Grotto, the orphans receive a Volunteer Factual Dispatch which is written in this code. There are two poems (Lewis Carroll's The Walrus and the Carpenter and T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land) that tell them that they must go a taxi that will be waiting at Briny Beach. (See also List of VFDs.)

In several of Lemony Snicket's books, most notably in The Hostile Hospital, anagrams are used by Count Olaf to disguise himself and his henchmen. Lemony Snicket also uses anagrams to hint that several plays written by a Mr. Al Funcoot were actually written by Count Olaf.

Some anagrams used are as follows: Al Funcoot (A disguise name used for Count Olaf when he wrote plays), Flacutono (A name used for Olaf's bald associate whenever he was disguised), O. Lucafont (A name given to Olaf's hook-handed associate whenever he was disguised), and Laura V. Bleediotie (A false name used for Violet when Olaf tried to pass her off as a hospital patient), Dr. Tocuna and Nurse Flo (A name originally meant for the two powder faced women, two of Olaf's assistants, but instead were used for Klaus and Sunny - both of the names put together form the anagram). (All of the names stated above are anagrams of Count Olaf, except Laura V. Bleediotie, which is an anagram of Violet Baudelaire)

A Vernacularly Fastened Door is a special lock used in V.F.D. meeting places. It contains a keyboard. To enter, a user must answer three questions, which are secret themselves, by typing the answers into the keyboard. Lemony Snicket explains that to do this, a volunteer must know a large amount of information. If they are correct, the door will open. The Vernacularly Fastened Door was first discovered by Violet Baudelaire, Klaus Baudelaire and Quigley Quagmire in The Slippery Slope.

Other codes or coded messages from the series are:

• "The world is quiet here" (V.F.D.'s motto), to be said in response to the phrase "I didn't realize this was a sad occasion." Also used as the password to access secret places.
• "Well, young lady, have you been good to your mother?", which should be responded to with "The question is, has she been good to me?"
• Mozart's 14th Symphony, whistled, is also referred to as a coded song.
• "If there's nothing out there, then what was that noise?" is used mostly during recruitment.
• A taxi driver showing you a picture of a baby also used during recruitment.