Inklings // October 2025 + Autumn Tag Challenge

Hello and happy fall, friends!

I know it has been autumn for a couple of months, but now it feels like we are on the edge of winter so I'm feeling autumn for the last fragments that it is. Which today involves participating in Heidi's monthly link-up, Inklings!

How it works:

1. At any time during the month, on your own blog post a scene from a book or film that matches the prompt, including a link back to Heidi's blog in your post.

2. Make sure to come back and leave a link to your entry in the box on that month's post: Heidi's post for October 2025.

This month's prompt is:

A scene with a fountain in book or film

I'm going to choose the thirteenth book of A Series of Unfortunate Events, which is The End - by Lemony Snicket. 

I'm currently ending my huge re-listen of all of these books for the first time since I was young and I had been pondering what to do for a fountain scene when the very book that I was listening to provided the answer. Even though this scene comes from the last book in the series, this particular instance is spoiler-free as it is talking about something that happened before the first book, The Bad Beginning, even started. That timeline may seem strange, but trust me, it makes sense in the context! But here, even if you don't know the context, just relax and enjoy reading this scene.

     "...What about you, Sunny? What do you miss?"

     "Fountain," Sunny said.

     "The Fowl Fountain, at the Village of Fowl Devotees?" Klaus asked.

     "No," Sunny said, shaking her head. "In city."

     "The Fountain of Victorious Finance?" Violet asked. "Why on earth would you miss that?"

     "First swim," Sunny said and her siblings gasped.

     "You can't remember that," Klaus said.

     "You were just a few weeks old," Violet said.

     "I remember," Sunny said firmly, and the elder Baudelaires shook their heads in wonder. Sunny was talking about an afternoon long ago, during an unusually hot autumn in the city. The Baudelaire parents had some business to attend to, and brought along the children, promising to stop at the ice cream store on the way home. The family had arrived at the banking district, pausing to rest at the Fountain of Victorious Finance, and the Baudelaires' mother had hurried into a building with tall, curved towers poking out in all directions, while their father waited outside with the children. The hot weather made Sunny very cranky, and she began to fuss. To quiet her, the Baudelaires' father dipped her bare feet in the water, and Sunny had smiled so enthusiastically that he had begun to dunk Sunny's body, clothes and all, into the foutain, until the youngest Baudelaire was screaming with laughter. As you may know, the laughter of babies is often very contagious, and before long not only were Violet and Klaus also jumping into the fountain, but the Baudelaires' father, too, all of them laughing and laughing as Sunny grew more and more delighted. Soon the Baudelaires' mother came out of the building, and looked in astonishment for a moment at her soaking and giggling family, before putting down her pocketbook, kicking off her shoes, and joining them in the refreshing water."

The Baudelaires need more scenes where they're happy like this!

As this is a short post, there's room for me to add my answers to the Autumn Tag Challenge which Olivia just tagged me for! Thank you, Olivia! 

The Rules

1. Download the cover photo and use it for your post

2. Acknowledge the person who tagged you

3. Tag others and comment on their blog to let them know! (I am notorious for not following this rule so we'll see if I do or not...)

4. Slip into autumn vibes (which for Chloe involves Gilmore Girls as she was recently sick and one watches Gilmore Girls when one is sick. I don't make the rules.)

The Questions:

1. If autumn isn't your favourite season, what is? And if autumn is your favourite season, why?

WINTER. I love it. I adore it. You will never see me happier than when it is snowing. I just loooooooove the snow. I find it absolutely magically and never get tired of it. I have in recent years come to appreciate autumn as my second favorite season and in the peak of the colors I sometimes consider making it my favorite season. And I love Halloween, so...

2. What is your favourite thing that you do each autumn?

Go on walks and take pictures of all the miraculous colors. I've never been much into photography but I got into it last fall for this exact reason because I was missing my sister (the photography expert) and it felt wrong to not try to capture the glorious hues.

3. What are a couple of your favourite autumn memories?

Weirdly enough for fall I don't have as many distinct memories unlike the other seasons, but more just the images of glorious leaves blot out all other thoughts. Experiencing fall almost seems to take precedence over other things that are happening? I mean, I have many memories of things that happen in the fall, but I don't associate them as being FALL unless I am staring in wonder at a tree.

4. What book most reminds you of the autumn? Movie?

Besides Gilmore Girls, I talked about this a little on my last Inklings post. And to add to those I would say all Kate DiCamillo book, Ella Enchanted, and Don Quijote de la Mancha. As for movies themselves, here's a list of 10 Movies That Give Me Autumnal Vibes. In short, you can't get me to stop thinking of books and movies that remind me of autumn.

5. What is your favourite drink for the season?

I'm not allowed to have coffee. Because I get waaaaaaay too into coffee and never sleep. I think the first time I had coffee was in fall and if wasn't pumpkin spice it was some other fall-themed drink. Now tea, I can handle tea. Occasionally apple cider.

6. What is one new thing you want to do this autumn?

I've been getting into drawing, but that's not specifically autumnal. I have a few cards I want to make for a cozy fall vibe, I just have been stumped halfway with inspiration. Last year I wrote a poem about fall for extra credit in my Hispanic Literature class so maybe it's time I wrote another one.

7. Do you decorate for the autumn? If so, how soon? If not, why?

Not really? It just doesn't occur to me as something to do. I think the most autumnal decor in my room right now is the calendar. My roommates last year would, though, and I loved coming home the leaves on the windowsill or festive signs on the door.

8. What is your favourite way to celebrate Thanksgiving?

With my family. But also, sophomore year of college I was part of this program where if you were staying on campus they would find a place for you to go for Thanksgiving. And I ended up at this massive party of 50 or more people in this couple's garage. It was so much fun and I have friends that I met there who I am still close with today! I also felt useful because they had us college kids set up shrimp appetizers. Cuz' that's my least favorite thing about Thanksgiving: feeling useless.

9. What colour makes you think most of autumn?

A golden yellow. It's the colors that we get here when it's fall due to all the aspens. This lead to me being absolutely ASTONISHED these last four years in my college town when the colors were also red and bright orange.

10. Type up a list of ten words or names that encapsulate the season of autumn for you.

leaves // chill // rustling // falling // Halloween // lingering // golden // rusty // sleeping // dreaming //

And I tag: 

miranda at from nie

Amaris at The Storybook Journal

Katherine and Grace at The Maidens of Green Gables

Here's a clean copy of the questions:

1. If autumn isn't your favourite season, what is? And if autumn is your favourite season, why?

2. What is your favourite thing that you do each autumn?

3. What are a couple of your favourite autumn memories?

4. What book most reminds you of the autumn? Movie?

5. What is your favourite drink for the season?

6. What is one new thing you want to do this autumn?

7. Do you decorate for the autumn? If so, how soon? If not, why?

8. What is your favourite way to celebrate Thanksgiving?

9. What colour makes you think most of autumn?

10. Type up a list of ten words or names that encapsulate the season of autumn for you.

If you haven't already, I would love for all of you to go hanker some guesses on my Guess Movie From the Drawing Game! I've loved seeing the guesses so far and I would be honored if those of you reading this would also give it a try! There are no bad guesses, only a fun time. 

Thanks for reading! Any Lemony Snicket fans out there? Do you know any scenes that are told at the end of a book but are from before a book started? Any Gilmore Girls fans? 

Chloe the MovieCritic