lemony snicket: the man, the myth, the legend
~1.9k. Fernald vs the Snicket Siblings
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Like all other apprentices of the same era, Fernald has heard of Lemony Snicket.
Lemony Snicket is something of a urban legend. A myth. Okay, maybe that's exaggerating it a bit. But they've all heard of him and his reputation, and for them, Lemony Snicket represents some kind of - hope. For the generation who grew up as the schism was quickly worsening, yet the line that divided the sides seemed to get blurrier instead of clearer as time went on; for the generation of volunteers who'd lost even more hope, gotten even more confused then the previous volunteers (or, had every generation thought that way? Fernald doesn't not know, it is possible) - for them, as they questioned themselves, as they questioned what VFD stood for and what the enemies of VFD stood for, Lemony Snicket represented some kind of hope. The rebel, yet with intention to do good. The one who walked away from his apprenticeship, who almost disregarded the volunteer label, yet never stopped volunteering, action-wise.
Lemony Snicket, who killed a man to save a town, at the age of 13. Or almost 13. The urban legend was a bit unclear on that part.
Lemony Snicket, who saw what's wrong with VFD and didn't keep silent about it. Lemony Snicket, who blatantly chose the last-ranking chaperone. Lemony Snicket, who didn't follow the rules of VFD. But unlike others who did it because of their own benefits, he did it because what was right.
Of course, there are probably other volunteers who did the same kinds of things, other volunteers who tried to revolutionize VFD from within. A group of people, not necessarily all together as a group - perhaps just each with their individual efforts. It's too big a thing to pin on Snicket himself, whether those who want to label him as a hero for doing so, or a villain for doing so. But that's the thing about people who become legends - sometimes, other stories tended to fade to background in comparison. It's sometimes easier to rally behind a specific hero image, or just to shove all the blame onto one specific person, to pin as the villain.
Lemony Snicket is on the run. He's on the lam, accused of multiple accounts of arson. VFD, as an organization, didn't seem to rush to defend him, as Snicket was labelled an arsonist, therefore supposedly, an enemy of VFD. But those who have heard of Snicket's story knew that there had to be something more - perhaps Snicket was innocent, and framed; or perhaps he did set those fires, but knowing Lemony Snicket's story, surely he must've had a good reason. Because Lemony Snicket has always been a rulebreaker, but he was never evil. Never the villain of the story, although perhaps an anti-hero of some kind. Perhaps he was trying to save people with those fires. Nobody knew the details of the story - no one in Fernald's immediate social circle, anyway.
That's the thing about urban legends - you just know the story, but never the exact details.