Herpetoloser

I personally think that in the TV show canon of ASOUE, it is hinted at that Monty and Gustav are in a relationship. Here's why:

1: His Assistant?

Gustav has a PhD in- presumably- cinematography and has his own whole career in making films. Why on earth is he assisting someone in an completely unrelated field that he seems to have no qualifications in? It's not uncommon for V.F.D members to end up living together as partners, and Monty himself states that he and Gustav have "lived together for many years", indicating that their relationship may be a little more personal than the title of "assistant" would suggest.

Monty hires Stephano himself in the books to replace Gustav, but doesn't do so in the series ("You are my new assistant, sent to me even though I didn't ask for one.."). Perhaps because he's not just his "assistant".

Also, Gustav states to Jacquelyn "Monty and I were expecting the children days ago", which is a rather strange way to phrase it if they are really just colleagues...

2: Small Details

Monty has a bumper sticker on his car that reads "I <3 my herpetologist", which is an oddly romantic gift, given he has no romantic partner- or does he? The set designers had to purposefully choose to create this, which makes me think the allusions were possibly intentional.

The guest room that Olaf moves into is very empty and has seemingly no personal items or any customisation whatsoever, despite the fact that Gustav has apparently been living there for "many years". If he wasn't sleeping there- then where was he sleeping???

3: Indications that Monty Might be Gay

-He has no wife or children despite being probably in his late 40s and also clearly wanting children.

-In the books, Monty states “I always meant to find a wife and start a family, but it just kept slipping my mind." whereas in the show he simply states "I always wanted a family of my own."

-He has no female date in the V.F.D party flashback scene.

1: Special Interest

The most obvious autism trait Monty has is his special interest in herpetology. It dominates his entire life and he infodumps about it constantly. Almost every conversation we see him have involves reptiles, and it's one of the first things he tells the Baudelaires about himself when they meet.

His house is entirely themed around snakes. He has pictures of reptiles framed on the walls like family photographs. The bushes outside of his house are trimmed to look like snakes. His moustache even resembles a snake. He and his interest are inseparable.

2: Social Skills

Monty's tone and general manner of speaking is very unorthodox. He also rambles a lot and jumps from topic to topic. When he first meets the Baudelaires, he essentially just yaps at them, lol, then infodumps about reptiles.

He makes a lot of random comments when speaking. His facial expression is usually completely deadpan or sincere, even if he's said something quite funny.

"I don't like fancy titles unless they get me a discount at the moo-vies!"

"I encircle the globe in search of a creature who can encircle a globe."

"I brought him under cover of night- and a very large hat."

"We were locked inside of the piano. Ah, we were so young..."

"Perhaps Sunny would prefer- a raw carrot!"

His facial expressions are very overexaggerated; he seems like he's trying to mask the whole time when he meets the children and Mr Poe. He makes too much eye contact- something that many autistic people do accidentally when trying to mask- and seems as though he's trying to mimic the "correct" facial expressions.

Monty is very blunt and very bad at hiding his emotions. He struggles to pretend to be cordial with Mr Poe ("I think I shall see myself out" > "Capital idea.") and shuts the door on him. He also struggles to do the same with Stefano and clearly finds lying difficult. He's terrible at making convincing facial expressions when he lies and his tone is notably amiss.

More examples of his bluntness:

Stefano offers to get popcorn, Monty replies "....really"

"Your generosity is noted, Stefano"

"Well I insisted first."

He also interrupts conversations a lot, especially when he's excited, and seems to struggle with social skills. He hates his colleagues, lives away from civilisation in the countryside and unintentionally scares the children with the Incredibly Deadly Viper lmao. Monty also seems quite socially unaware, for example, he's very loud in the theatre, and generally doesn't have much volume control.

3) Bonus Section

He's wearing the exact same outfit in the first and second half of the episode, which each take place about a week apart.

He forgets Stefano's name soon after being told it, but can remember everything about his special interest. Having a terrible working memory but an excellent long term memory is associated with autism.

He loves canned peaches (same food).

He's probably faceblind.

Fandom: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

  Relationship: Uncle Monty | Dr. Montgomery Montgomery/Gustav Sebald

Characters: Uncle Monty | Dr. Montgomery Montgomery, Gustav Sebald, Jacquelyn Scieszka, Jacques Snicket, Kit Snicket, Olivia Caliban

A long fic following Monty and Gustav's life as they move in together in Michigan after Monty finishes his PhD. Set in a modern AU, in which other ASOUE characters are present as their friends. VFD is a book club.

I note down the model name, month/year of production and any different variants + special editions.

For sources I use cube shops, the internet archive, cubing forums, YouTube reviews and more.

Example Section for the MoYu AoLong versions:

AoLong

-MoYu AoLong (Black/ White) May 2014

-MoYu AoLong V2 (Black/ White/ Primary/ Stickerless/ S Pink/ S Dark) Jul 2014

Special Editions: Transparent Jul 2014 Transparent Green May 2017

Plastic Change

-MoYu AoLong GT (Black/ White/ Primary) Nov 2015

Special Editions: Blue/Pink/Teal/Grey/Brown Nov 2015

-MoYu Super AoLong (Matte/ UV) Oct 2025

-MoYu Mini Aolong (Black/ White/ Stickerless/ S Pink) Jun 2014

1) Mamba du Mal

In the show, there is a frame in which Monty's travel journal lists the Latin name of the snake as Dendroaspis polyepsis- aka the Black Mamba. This means that the mamba du mal would be the name for the Black Mamba in the ASOUE universe. Mamba du Mal translates to "Mamba of Evil", which is fitting given it's highly venomous.

Going by book canon, this complicates things. According to the books, the snake is both highly venomous and a constrictor- a rare combination. No mambas fit this description, so it would have to be another species. The closest I could find in appearance to the book variant is the Speckled Brown Snake (Pseudonaja guttata).¹

Book Extract:

2) The Incredibly Deadly Viper (IDV)

This was very difficult. The main specifications that I went by were being a very large and docile constrictor. The IDV is non-venomous and must actually be a boa or python, not a viper. The name is most definitely a misnomer indeed.

There are numerous very large species of boas and pythons, but most aren't suitable to be kept in captivity. In addition, it would have to be a rare species, as Monty was apparently the first to discover it.

Going solely by appearance, Ink could be a Reticulated Python. They aren't especially rare though, and were first described in 1801. ²

I think the snake that best fits Ink would be a very rare subspecies of Boa imperator- The Pearl Island Boa (Boa imperator sabogae). Boa imperator's are very frequently kept in captivity and respond well to handling. Females can get very large, much more so than males, which means that Ink is probably a girl. ³

As for the black colour, Ink could be a melanistic variant of the species.

3) Androgynous Cobra

Very little information about this snake is ever given, except that it is, of course, a cobra and also likes being in Monty's sock drawer. This means it probably likes hiding and/or burrowing.

Using this information, I think it could be a Burrowing Cobra (Naja multifasciata). It's rare and there isn't much research about it, but it probably likes burrowing and hiding in leaves. Or socks, in Monty's case. ⁴

4) Virginian Wolfsnake

This one is rather dubious. There are many species of Wolfsnake, though none of them are native to Virginia. All of them are in the genus Lycodon.

There is a species called the Yellow-Banded Big Tooth Snake (Lycodon flavozonatus) that was discovered in 1928 by a herpetologist named Clifford Hillhouse Pope. He was American and went to the University of Virginia, according to his Wikipedia page. That's the most interesting link I could find between Virginia and wolfsnakes.

5) Irascible Python

The word "irascible" means easily angered, the only given behaviour trait of this snake. Pythons generally aren't very dangerous, with only 5 being listed in the "List of Injurious Wildlife". ⁵

Of these, only 2 species have had documented attacks on humans- the Reticulated Python and the Central African Rock Python (Python sebae).⁶ The Reticulated Python, as described above, is a very famous species of snake, being the longest in the world. For this reason, I chose the second species as the closest match.

In Summary:

Mamba du Mal → Black Mamba (Dendroaspis polyepsis)

Incredibly Deadly Viper → Pearl Island Boa (Boa imperator sabogae)

Androgynous Cobra → Burrowing Cobra (Naja multifasciata)

Virginian Wolfsnake → Yellow-Banded Big Tooth Snake (Lycodon flavozonatus)

Irascible Python → Central African Rock Python (Python sebae)