WOEVEMBER DAY 4: UNSEEN CHARACTERS
[Image description: There are eleven consecutive images outlined in black. The first image has 'TEN THINGS/PEOPLE VIOLET BAUDELAIRE NEVER DID/MET BETWEEN THE AGES OF FOURTEEN-FIFTEEN (AMONGST OTHER THINGS)' written in the center, and underneath those words is Violet Baudelaire's head, denoted by the big ribbon present in her hair. The second image has written across the top, 'CELEBRATE W/ BACKSTAGE THEATRE ABOUT A JOB WELL DONE'. Underneath that, there are two triangular illustrations split diagonally with flowers. The left illustration has Violet Baudelaire and somebody else, both part of the theater backstage crew, smiling from the shadows as they look at two people in a spotlight. The right illustration depicts a scene from the Bad Beginning, and has Violet in a wedding dress and veil, wearing a grim expression, under a spotlight. The third image has two illustrations on the top and bottom, separated by a white bar with the words 'TAKE CARE OF CLASS PET W/ BEN'. The top illustration has Violet and Ben talking to each other in front of a terrarium that holds a snake, and the bottom illustration depicts someone grabbing a syringe labeled 'MAMBA DU MAL' from a suitcase. The fourth image has the words 'LISTEN TO SOMEONE TALK ABOUT FISH FOR HOURS (AND FIND IT VERY INTERESTING, BUT LONG)' written in the top left corner. On the left side of the image is an illustration of Violet and a person in a boat politely talking, the former holding a camera and both wearing life jackets. On the right side of the illustration is Violet stumbling back in a taller boat as someone's shoe just steps into frame, depicting a scene from the Wide Window. In the fifth image, there are two illustrations on the top and bottom separated by a white bar that has the words 'LEARN SWORDFIGHTING FROM A GOOD INSTRUCTOR'. The top illustration depicts Sunny Baudelaire challenging the POV to a sword fight, a scene in The Miserable Mill. In the bottom illustration, two people decked in fencing gear clash swords, Violet Baudelaire and her instructor, as Sunny cheers them on in the background. The sixth image has 'TRY OUT A NEW ICE CREAM STORE' and depicts Violet and Klaus ordering ice cream at a parlor, the vendor smiling widely to take their order. The Quagmire Twins sit in the foreground, waiting for them to return. The seventh image has 'FIND A LUCKY PENNY IN THE FISH DISTRICT' written on top and depicts Violet in a casual outfit stooping down to pick up a penny on the sidewalk. Behind her, somebody who can only be seen to their waist walks past on the brick roads, wearing an oversized pinstriped suit. The eighth image has 'HELP A LIBRARIAN' written in the top left corner, with one illustration taking up the majority of the image and a second smaller illustration in the top right corner. The main illustration depicts Violet with her hair tied up as she talks with a smiling elderly lady. In the background, there is a machine behind Violet that is grabbing a book off the shelf. In the smaller illustration, a hand holds out a ribbon with bent paper clips on it. The ninth image has 'GET AN IDEA FOR AN INVENTION AT THE CIRCUS' and shows Violet talking to a woman using still rings in a flexible position, feet over her head. The tenth image has 'GO ROCK CLIMBING (AND BE GLAD THERE'S SOMEONE THERE TO CATCH YOU' written in the top left corner and has a bird's eye view of Violet climbing up rocky terrain with a determined expression. The eleventh image has 'BLOW OUT THE CANDLES ON YOUR FIFTEENTH BIRTHDAY' written in a smaller font. The illustration is a birthday cake on a lonely table with a single lit candle, and a hair ribbon right next to it. End description.]
and i can in no way say i managed to keep up with the challenge, but regardless! this is for @asouefanworkevent 's lovely woevember week!
this probably doesn't center as much as the 'unseen characters' to really fit within the prompt, but i realized that only midway through drawing the images >_>
one of the things that makes me sad about the misfortunate riddled throughout the trouble years of the baudelaires, and other children within the series, is of how much they missed (which is, in a way, inspired by how much younger children missed due to the pandemic)
imagine all of the things they never did? the hobbies they never picked up? the memories they never made? the people they never met?
in a universe where that faithful day didn't happen, what things would they have accomplished? where they returned home from the beach, parents smiling and welcoming them back-- perhaps they'd been better at hiding, or the arsonists showing a rare act of mercy, or someone took a wrong turn around town and gave up-- whatever the circumstance, a universe where they'd have the 'normal' ups and downs of growing up
now, the baudelaires probably wouldn't ever have a particularly normal life, even if they had the safest childhood to ever have transpired, but still
would they be able to have the happiest experiences of their life? walking arm in arm with friends down the hallways, stopping to smell the roses and daises and tulips? would they have been struck by the 'norma' heartbreak and tragedy, of petty fights between friends and identity crises?
they'd never know. they'd never know, and they'd never get to know.
but, i mean, they grew up anyways. they developed and still made the happiest memories of their life. they still lived and laughed, and it's not like every moment of the years they ran was defined by just surviving. those years shouldn't be defined by them looking behind their backs every second, getting more and more jaded with every promise. they made friends and did learn things about themselves, learned that they could stare death in the face and spit.
so i suppose it doesn't matter either way, but still, there is always a what if
