V.F.D.

V.F.D. is an organization in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series and Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, both by Daniel Handler writing under the pen name Lemony Snicket. V.F.D. is also the occasion for what could be called a Veritable Feast of Digressions. In fact, V.F.D. could be a recursive acronym along the lines of "V.F.D. Favors Digressions."

While the real name of the V.F.D. organization is never revealed (however, it seems most likely it means Volunteer Fire Department; due to the many references to fires post-schism, and the strong anti-fire theme running thru the Unauthorized Autobiography), except for the first letter, which stands for "Volunteer", it is known that V.F.D. watches children seen to have talent in note-taking or observation, contacts them, and, with their permission, takes them from their home by the ankles.

V.F.D. is first mentioned in The Austere Academy; then, in The Vile Village, we learn that the village is called V.F.D., which in this case stands for Village of Fowl Devotees. In The Hostile Hospital, we meet a group of people who call themselves the Volunteers Fighting Disease. In The Slippery Slope it is suggested that the initials actually stand for Volunteer Fire Department, which ties in with a number of other clues in the novels (indeed, the author seems to have anticipated that some readers would have guessed already). Also, in "The Grim Grotto", Captain Widdershins says to the Baudalaires that the V.F.D. started out as A Volunteer Fire Department, but it eventually expanded out to have planes and ships.

In Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography (LSUA), we see many more VFDs:

• Vinyard of Fragrant Drapes (p. 84)
• Valorous Farms Dairy (p. 156)
• Very Frightening Danger (Copyright notice)
• Veritable French Diner (pp. 79, 120-121)
• Veiled Facial Disguises (p. 99)
• Various Finery Disguises (p. 101)
• Very False Documents Press (p. 162)
• Very Fancy Doily Press (p. 164)
• Voracious Film Discussion Press (p. 165)
• Venom Feels Delightful Press (p. 167)
• Vincent Francis Doyle (p. 162)

LSUA reveals much more about V.F.D.:

Many of its members seem to be children (p. 38). The goal of V.F.D is to ensure that the World remains "quiet", as they call it (p. 36, 39). Count Olaf seems to have been a member of V.F.D. (p. 45). Because of its greedy enemies, V.F.D. is very often forced to change their headquarters (p. 51). A ship called "Prospero" is often used to carry members. Throughout the book, it is strongly suggested that the "D" stands for "disguise".

The Grim Grotto introduces many more VFDs, ranging from Volunteer Factual Dispatches to Visitable Fungal Ditches.

Members

• Count Olaf, actor, out to get the Baudelaire and Quagmire fortunes.
• Lemony Snicket,a taxidermist with marmosets and documentor.
• Jacques Snicket, Lemony's brother; he was framed for being Count Olaf due to a similar appearance and was to be burned at the stake in the Village of Fowl Devotees but was first murdered by the real Count Olaf instead, who then proceeded to blame it on the three Baudelaire children.
• Madame Lulu, fortune teller at Caligari Carnival, devoured by lions.
• Dr. Montgomery Montgomery, second guadarian of Baudelaire orphans, injected with snake venom by Olaf.
• Ike and Josephine Anwhistle, third guardian of Baudelaire orphans, both devoured by leeches on separate occasions.
• Kit Snicket, Lemony's sister; she is mentioned a few times in the Grim Grotto, and takes the Baudelaires away in a taxi at the end of the book. Although Kit Snicket is said to have been at the meeting in the transcripts that is incorrect. Jacques Snicket when in the transcript says that he met everyone except for L(Lemony)at a previous spot where headquarters were.Thus proves should could have not been at the meeting.She used to be Mrs. K at Prufrock Prepatory School.
• Dr. Sebald, playwright, uses sebald code in his plays & films to pass on coded messages to volunteers.
• Hector, used to live in the Village of Fowl Devotees, last known living on a self-made self-sustaining hot air balloon.
• Mr. and Mrs. Baudelaire, killed in mansion fire started by Olaf (although it does imply that one survives and it's not the father).
• Quigley Quagmire, one of a set of triplets whose parents also died in a fire, leaving behind a fortune in sapphires.
• Captain Widdershins, the captain on a submarine.
• And probably many others