#dr. harry haworth

[inposterumcumgaudio]

[djangodurango]

sally boyle for the ask meme?

Gurrrrl.

My NOTP for them: Nick Lightbearer.

Seems obvious on the surface, but not likely in practice. Nick is famous in Wellington Wells in the same sort of way Sally is, but Sally only dates guys who can do something for her. He can't really do anything helpful to advance her career or even get her in a better position socially than she already is. My assumption is that before she works for Stewart Adams, she is one of Davy Hackney's models (hence all her "outrageous" looks) and she supplies her co-workers with her own homebrewed drugs as a sideline. Socially, being one of Nick's groupies (or even one his wives) isn't much better than just being one of Hackney's models and is probably a much larger hassle so it's a moot point as far as Sally's concerned. Plus, if you're dating him, you can't charge him for drugs. My BROTP for them: Dr. Faraday.

Sally seems to be the only person Dr. Faraday likes in any capacity. She speaks respectfully to Sally (compared to show she speaks to Arthur, Roger, and James) and doesn't seem to mind that Sally has come asking for something, even though Dr. Faraday faked her own death to avoid being asked for things. I rather think it would have been good for both of them to be better friends. My OTP for them: Herself.

Girl needs to be alone, be self-sufficient, and work! on! herself! My second choice pairing for them: gonna cop out and say herself again.

Sally's whole way of being is this idea that she can't do anything without the support of a man in some way. And yet there are so many examples of women in Wellington Wells who do exactly that. I've gotten into arguments before about how much the time period and misogyny influences the story, but We Happy Few is an alternate timeline in which everything (including qualified workers in nearly every sector) is at a shortage. There are opportunities for women to strike out on their own and to be self-sufficient. Sally just never sees them. Part of that is how she was raised; part of it is that - of the three main protagonists - she is the most resistant to self-reflection.

While I don't wish the story was different - because I think this facet of her character is what makes her interesting in this context - if she were a real person, I would wish for her to have been put in a situation where she was forced to be alone - genuinely alone - for a while and see that she could have been all along. As is, Gwen (though not a man) acts as the same sort of motivation and I think in the long run, Sally will still have problems with being on her own, even though we know she's capable. My fluffy pairing for them: Gemma Olsen.

Maybe not fluffy per se, but Gemma would have been an excellent influence on Sally. Gemma is clever, self-assured, plucky! And she lives and works alone! Gemma also benefits from not having this idea that she's not like other girls. Gemma is like other girls. She likes pink and wearing cute outfits and she gets along well with other women. She even gets along well enough with Sally to glean information from her that Sally doesn't even soliloquize to herself about. If Sally had someone like Gemma to look up to (Gemma is older than her, 41, so that's a point towards maybe the time period not mattering as much as it would in the real world), Sally could have seen that you could reconcile femininity and everything about it that Sally thinks of as a burden. Gemma doesn't see her femininity that way; to her, it's another tool in her toolbox.

Bonus fluff: William Godwin.

I think when he comes to her for his consultation (he would be #9), Sally elects to put him on Blackberry not because she feels compelled to as in most other cases, but because his determination and certainty that Wellington Wells can course correct if only they can be made to see what they're doing to themselves endears him to her. It's a gesture of hope on her part. Sally mentions many different but disparate people who could help her in her soliloquy lines, so it stands to reason that she is aware of various resistance movements or people who are at least open to the idea (but maybe not with a baby involved). I think she probably does try to help in that way, which is why she has so many subversives on her Blackberry list. My angsty pairing for them: Arthur.

Look, I know everyone loves the idea of these two ending up together, but they're a shitshow waiting to happen. They're both in love with the idea of each other and while they've both realized that folly in an academic sense, if they were to make a of go of it, I don't think they'd actually be able to think rationally about it in real time. They would constantly be disappointing each other and pissing each other off.

And there's just a matter of trust on both halves of the equation. Is Arthur ever going to be certain Sally's not flirting with someone better? Is Sally ever going to feel secure that Arthur won't cut and run when things get complicated?

On the other hand, old timey people put up with a lot more shit in a relationship than I would so ???

I guess I'll leave the avenue of grim hope open for you diehards. My favorite poly ship for them: I might have, as a joke, once goaded @harrturr to draw Sally, Dr. Faraday, and Victoria Byng as a ship. And then proposed that what was needed beyond that was Gemma trying to figure out what the three of them were up to. Lesbian sci-fi political thriller! Cool new genre! My weirdest pairing for them: Harry Haworth.

If Harry hadn't been the Joy-addled mess that he was when Sally took that tour, she likely would have set her sights on him and not Anton. And Harry probably would've been better for her, not unlike Stewart Adams but without the significant drawback of being married. He was already in the habit of hiring women for scientific work so we can make a relatively safe assumption that he's not a misogynist. And Sally, in her wheedling way that Anton apparently couldn't or chose not to attempt, might have been able to discourage Harry from his experiments with that phrenological device of his.

[imaginesforthosewhoseekthem]

Can you do some Headcannons for Verloc and Haworth? Like how their relationship was, how Haworth went missing? Thanks!!

((Kay so this is probably a spoiler, for Haworth Labs so here’s a big ol warning

*DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS!!!!!!*

((Dr.Haworth isn’t missing, Verloc has him in a secret chamber under his office, but I have been looking at letter screenshots when I watched someone ChristopherOdd play the game because he explores and reads the notes a lot more than the usual Let’s Players like Mark and Jack. So here I go))

Haworth and Verloc were working on a lot after Sally Boyle had left. Their biggest concerns were the bad batches of Joy from letters pouring in.

They had QUITE a few disagreements, but they respected each other, at least to the public.

Haworth was looking to try new ingredients of Joy since they were eventually going to run out of supplies anyway from his letter to the General. Verloc, though stubborn, tried to use what they could gather, hence why there would become bad batches around the time of the game.

While the Joy crisis was starting to fade, Haworth was looking into the study of phrenology (which is mostly based on the measurements of the skull and how the brain is the organ of the mind, thanks, Google). It was HIS idea to come up with a permanent solution and Verloc over heard when Haworth was trying to steal it.

When they both argued about the situation, Verloc lied by saying he promises to not get in the way of his superior and they would continue working on coconut.

Verloc showed him the chambers he planned to test the coconut Joy on and Haworth, foolishly, looked inside, in which Verloc locked him in.

Haworth was locked in there for 4 years, attempting to attack anyone, ESPECIALLY Verloc and even attempted suicide. The Doctors had made a note to Verloc to never go in there, as his hostility grew when Verloc was near.

The two never started off on good terms, and this just worsened it.

[whfbobbyselfship]

Before Sally left, she left a supply of Blackberry Joy for me to distribute to the constabulary. She knows there’s a deep seated trust between me and them. The only downfall is that I don’t have her know how in regards to making Joy. I don’t have the recipes for Joy even if I did have know how for chemistry.

I try to get her to tell me where she’s going. She knows I’ll keep her secret but she told me that this secret is too precious to tell anyone, even me. I thank her for the Blackberry. We kiss each other’s cheeks and hug as we bid each other goodbye.

Over two weeks, the Blackberry dwindles. John is the first to go down in regards to taking the last bit of his Joy. Some of the other constables try to offer him some of theirs, knowing how bad the withdrawals will be. He refuses, stating he can’t and won’t put his boys through Joy withdrawals for his sake.

As each hour passes, John gets more and more anxious due to the Joy leaving his body and knowing what’s coming. He becomes more agitated. He tries not to snap at people but it’s difficult. He gradually becomes more fatigued. His eyes become red and he complains about them being itchy. I give him eye drops to use. It helps to some small degree. By the second day, he’s sleeping a bit more. When he’s awake, he complains about his muscles aching. Tylenol barely puts a dent in the growing aches and pains. He complains about having vivid, unpleasant dreams when he sleeps. He also clings to me in his sleep.

Over the first week, there’s times he breaks down in tears over the withdrawals. He wants more Blackberry but at the same time he wants to be free of it. Eventually he clings to me, sobbing in my arms, during the waking hours too. My heart breaks seeing the man I love like this.

Other constables go and try to talk to Dr. Verloc and ask him for help. He laughs in their faces, the faces of the men who protect him from the Downers and Wastrels.

“I’ll make you a deal,” Verloc tells a young constable. “Talk to Mrs. Constable. Have her come to me. I know out of all the constabulary, Constable Constable is suffering the most. If I know that bleeding heart that he calls a wife well enough, she’ll cave if she doesn’t want to see her man suffer.”

The white suited bobby by the door shows a flicker of emotion at this. Alastair knows that Anton and I both can be pig headed to varying degrees.

I frown when I’m told that Anton Verloc wants to see me. I know any deal made with him is like making a deal with the devil. On one hand, I don’t want to leave John alone in his current state… in sickness and health. On the other hand, I have a chance to help him and the other bobbies. I cautiously go.

In Anton Verloc’s office, he questions me about Sally, her whereabouts, and her recipe for her brand of Joy. I can honestly tell him that I don’t know about where she is or about the Joy recipe. There’s a sharp backhand to my cheek. It stings and my eyes water some.

“Tell me,” he says. “Now.”

“I honestly don’t know,” I tell him.

Another sharp backhand.

“If you want your darling Constable Constable to get better, you’re going to give me information or a favor,” he snaps.

“I don’t know! Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell because friends don’t rat out friends,” I responded icily.

There’s another sharp backhand. By now, my cheek is red. I would move away… if I could. Anton fists a hand into my hair and yanks. He holds my hair like this so I’ll have no other choice but to look at him.

“Tell. Me. Where. She. Is.”

Malice seems to punctuate each word.

“I’ve told you… repeatedly… I don’t know!”

Anton rearranges his grip, twists his hand sharply in my hair and pushes me to the ground. I cry out. As I sit up, I notice white pants clad legs move between me and Anton. It’s Alistair.

“Sir, I wouldn’t recommend treating a young lady like that… especially a constable’s wife. She’s been nothing but kind and loving to John, me, and our lads.”

The height difference would’ve been chuckle worthy if it had not been for the current situation.

“You need to stand down. This is between me and Mrs. Constable.”

Alistair refuses to budge. There’s always been Blue Faith amongst the constabulary. I knew it extended to the wives and girlfriends to some degree. Now I see how deep and wide that faith and respect goes in regards to me and the other women in the lives of the constables.

“I won’t and can’t do that, sir,” Alistair says. “My lads need their Joy. Give her the Joy so she can give it to them. You can take it out on me however you’d like… just leave Sonny alone.”

I carefully get up. Anton and I lock eyes. His expression is neutral but there’s contempt in his eyes.

“Your bleeding heart will be your downfall,” he tells me as he tries to move around Alistair.

Alistair blocks him.

“You can’t even keep you’re employees in line,” I snap. “The doctors are trying to overthrow you and the others want you out but are too afraid to do anything.”

It’s then that Alistair passes me his keycard. He gives me rough directions to find good batches of Joy. He urges me to run as he continues to block Anton. I take off running. I do my best to follow the directions that Alistair gave me. There are some of the employees that are more than happy to help me. They know that if the bobbies can get back on their Joy and get sorted out, the bobbies can help.

A couple of them help escort me out once I get enough good Joy. I’ll make sure that they and Alistair get some baked goods once I get sorted out. I find my way back to the flat.

Once there, I make sure John gets a dose of Blackberry. I then get as many bobbies as possible around and pass out Blackberry to them. John will need the most time to recover. The others are ready by the next morning.

The next morning, the others head out. Workers at Haworth Labs rebel against Verloc, blaming him for the recent bad batches of Joy. They demand for Verloc to be removed as the leader and bring back Sally Boyle. The Wellington Wells Public Works Department covers this up, claiming that the lab is in the middle of a "Beautification". Victoria Byng stops the rioters in order to get to Verloc.

After Victoria stops the rioters, she confronts him on this, to which Anton claims that he's close to finding a permanent solution. After realizing Victoria is off her Joy, he plans to have her locked up with Harry Haworth, only to be reasoned by Victoria herself, stating that he cannot lock her up “like poor mad Harry." He later reappears at the Dunkerton Waterworks to stop her from cutting off the Joy from the island's water supply.

When Victoria sets up the explosives to blow up Haworth Labs, Verloc orders some of the doctors and bobbies that haven’t turned to stop her. After setting off the bombs, she runs off leaving Verloc to his cries of dismay as the building starts to fall apart. He could have died in the final explosion but he most likely escaped though the Bobby popper in his office, since he knew that the lab was being blown up. Although that's pure speculation.

Life isn’t back to normal yet but we start taking steps in the right direction.

[prodigyofexplosives29]

Brigid Tenenbaum in We Happy Few

* She would be living with Dr. Faraday (like her, she has some hand in some of the technology in Wellington Wells, but hates how some people tried to take credit for her work)

* She refers to the people who kicked her and Faraday out into the Garden District as “Foolish cowards” and “Those blind fools”, believing that all they want is more defense when what she is to just invent new devices for her own reasons (to take down Joy once and for all) while Faraday wants to create a worm hole.

* When Faraday is in the Worm hole, Tenenbaum leaves as soon as James and Roger are gone to go and take down Joy (believing the pill is immoral)

*Tennenbaum’s notes about Dr. Verloc/Joy: Dr Verloc is a mad man who only looks out for himself. He doesn’t care about people like me and Faraday, hell he even took credit for something Sally Boyle did. I told her “You should’ve been outraged by this!”, but why she isn’t, I don’t think I’ll understand. What I do understand is that “Coconut Joy”, it’s a pill form of lobotomization. Harry Haworth is “on holiday” because of Anton Verloc and General Byng. But it’s their words against mine and without proof...No one believes me, except Faraday..”

[inposterumcumgaudio]

Poedit Cut/Unused Content: JF_Experiments

Dohoho! Look what I found.

Clap (Possibly Vanessa Tinker-Bell?)

001 Come here! Come here! It's not true, what they said!

002 You have to believe me! I'll die if you don't believe me!

003 What? Why are you in there?

004 You have to clap your hands! If you all clap your hands, I'll live. Otherwise I'll die!

005 Right…

006 Clap your hands! don't let me die!

JF_Experiments (Harry Haworth and Harry Plantagent)

001 Maybe I ought to have just clapped my hands.

002 You ought to be careful in there. Not everyone who goes in comes out.

003 Thanks. I'll be careful.

004 I know you will. Just look at your forehead. Your reflective lobe is well developed.

005 Thanks … I think.

006 He doesn't understand, in there. It's the only way to fix it. We change the shape of people's heads! You have to tell him!

007 How would you…?

008 THE PHRENOLOGISTS WERE RIGHT! WE JUST CHANGE THE SHAPE OF OUR HEADS. IF HE'D JUST LOOK AT MY DATA! WHY WON'T HE LOOK AT MY DATA?

009 Why won't anybody look at my data?

010 The permanent solution is just going to lobotomize everybody.

011 I think you might be right about that.

012 You must release me! I am your true King!

013 Just look at my family tree! I am the Plantagenet heir!

014 This is Clive's doing, isn't it? Thinks he's in line because his great-grandmum-times-ten fucked King Chuck! Rotten Jacobite bar sinister!

015 You have to let me out. England needs its King. England needs me.

016 The King awakes! The King awakes! The King awakes!

017 Don't laugh, Arthur. Don't laugh. Heh.

[inposterumcumgaudio]

Promised I'd do Victoria Byng for @axxloe too so.

I don't have any specific thoughts about her in the way that I did General Byng and Reg Cutty because I feel she's actually pretty well explored in the game and mostly understood by the fandom. Nonetheless, here's a laundry list of Victoria miscellanea.

Though her strikebreaking activities are treated neutrally by the narrative as a necessary action, it does make her a tool. Which, if you're on the ball, you know this because her entire DLC is about realizing she's a fkn tool.

I don't think anyone questions that Verloc is a psychopath who takes delight in drowning people for fun, but again, the people telling us that he's a psychopath are Sally and General Byng. So if we are eyeing that notion suspiciously, it may then be possible that - at least from Verloc's perspective - he actually has a valid reason to hate Victoria as much as he seems to. What is it? There's nothing in the lore that specifically points to anything large enough to merit that. She does call him Tony and we know from other places he not only hates being called by his first name but insists upon his honorific being used... but you can't really tell Victoria Byng how to address you, can you?

Being called Tony would be annoying, but probably not enough to be delighted that the Joy supply saboteur turns out to be her. Moreso I think this points to something that a lot of people miss when being told about who has the power in Wellington Wells. Verloc is said to be a law unto himself on the Holm of Uskglass, but whatever power he holds only extends to that one island. He still has to answer to General Byng and Victoria. And they do put the screws to him about showing progress whether it's viable or not. Maybe to the detriment of Verloc's other interests.

While you can bet Verloc hates being called Tony and I implied in my stories that doing so was a deliberate subordination tactic on Victoria's part, I actually think Victoria only did it because she thought it made her more approachable and that it was the culture of Haworth Labs to be so familiar. She recalls Haworth as "never one for ceremony" and she calls him Harry in her quest notes, suggesting she probably called him that in person too. It would have been awkward to be so formal as to call Verloc by his title when his boss was fine being on a first name basis. Tony is obviously a step further than Anton would have been, but maybe that was supposed to be a nudge. That is, if Verloc had actually called her Vicky back, even spitefully, she wouldn't have minded. She calls herself Vicky in her own thoughts. (Interestingly, when she calls herself that it's spelled "Vicky" in the subtitles, but when she's imagining her mother calling her that, it's spelled "Vickie".)

While her father strives to be on top of the pyramid and to wield his power over his subordinates, Victoria goes to great lengths to make herself seem very Of the People. She lives in the Village rather than the Parade. She isn't exactly hiding from the rest of society the way a lot of the other notable characters in the game seem to be (Nick Lightbearer, Dr. Faraday, Dr. Verloc, Jack Worthing, General Byng to an extent). Indeed, she organizes public activities quite frequently. Victoria's motivation in all things is to appear as much a common Wellie as anyone else, fancy clothes and mansion notwithstanding. That Wellies in her DLC feel comfortable approaching her on the street to make idle conversation (even though she probably looks like hell) is something she's worked to imbue in them. Obviously this is informed greatly by her being visibly Other and her desire to negate that, but it's also part of what she's come to think of as her duty and her power in the town. The people of Wellington Wells do listen to and follow her (as they have since she was quite young) and she uses this - she believes - to their benefit. Indeed, she's more a post-war English ideal in that way than practically all the Actually English people in town. She's had her shoulder to the wheel the entire time.

One of the few personal items General Byng keeps in his safehouse is a drawing Victoria did as a child. He's quick to cut her loose when called out for having been looking out for himself, but it may not be as easy a decision as it seems to Victoria in that moment.

Indira had one too. And we see it right as Victoria realizes that she had to make a choice about how Victoria should feel about her moving forward. Parallels! And perpendiculars!

And lastly...

Christian Louboutin has only just been born the previous year (to say nothing of Wellington Wells' policy of isolation) and yet she's got the red bottom shoes. But if she had a favorite designer and the ability to shop them, it'd be Hermès all the way.

[inposterumcumgaudio]

now it's your turn to talk about Haworth and Verloc >:)

The relationship in my fic that I get the most specific and vehement feedback about!

The foundation of information you're going to need… I'm gonna try and stick to just canon and not my extrapolations so this isn't insurmountably long, all the same, it's gonna get real tl;dr in here.

Let's start with Haworth's patient notes.

From this, we can see Haworth has regular intervals of incidents every four days. We can tell too from Harry Plantagenet's and Gemma Olsen's notes that incidents result in increased dosage of Coconut, but that Haworth (who has been there the longest, four years) has a notably lower dosage than either of them. He still gets this increased dosage after an incident, but given the length of his time there and the regularity of his incidents, it should be much higher than it is. His dose increases are also smaller than theirs.

So based on those notes alone (and that he gets the privilege of the extra tea biscuit) we can see that Haworth is being treated more carefully than any of Verloc's other test subjects. And also that something is happening on a regular enough schedule that causes him to act out every four days.

Still, all that says really is that Verloc has a prized pet in his menagerie. That is how I write Haworth's interpretation this situation. He believes Verloc has imprisoned him in order to commandeer his laboratories and now keeps him well-fed so he can come down and gloat about it. Thus he remains "very aggro, especially in the presence of Dr. Verloc."

But let's go back to what the environment tells us.

You know what there's a notable absence of at Haworth Labs? Self-aggrandizing Verloc bullshit. Compare to Wellington Health, where Verloc has apparently donated multiple large statues of himself. Indeed, the only statue at Haworth Labs is of Haworth (and an unknown female coworker). The only thing telling you Verloc is in charge there is his photo hanging outside his office… next to Haworth's (although Verloc's is a smidge bigger). Typically after a transition of power, you'd replace a photo like that, maybe doodle a mustache and glasses on it if the guy didn't already have both. You wouldn't leave it there and hang your own next to it. That same hallway also contains Haworth's phrenological memorabilia. Verloc is said to have spoken disparagingly of Haworth's phrenological study in a note from Sally to him, so we can assume Verloc didn't put stock in it, but he hasn't taken that stuff down either.

And bear in mind, all of this is what Arthur remembers about Haworth Labs. I think there is some room to assume that things that are not important to the player character may be overlooked in memory, so what they do remember is all the more apparent.

There is also a cut diary entry from Madame Wanda about Verloc that I always thought was interesting in this context.

That she notes that people keep misremembering Verloc as Joy's inventor but that the Labs are named for Haworth is how she remembers correctly… If Verloc only wanted the fame and glory of being in charge of Joy production, it would be so easy to rename the labs and get rid of any mention of Harry Haworth. But instead, Arthur can't help but note the very concerted effort to remind anyone who comes to Haworth Labs who they have to thank for their wonderful Wellie lifestyle… even if that man is currently thought to be on holiday.

So maybe the idea that Verloc put Haworth in the glass cell in a spiteful heir-to-the-throne gambit is not the full shape of it. And with that acknowledgement, you can now read the note "Dr. Haworth" in a more charitable light than the game led you to interpret it at first glance.

Who did we get the idea that Verloc ousted Haworth from exactly?

Gemma.

Let's look at Gemma's notes about Verloc.

Most of the stuff about his personality I think is true. Or true enough. What's more interesting here is Verloc's history. He was born in 1926, making him 14 when he was sent to Wellington Wells in 1940 to escape the Blitz. He lived with an uncle until said uncle dies at age 48 in 1954. Verloc would have been 28. He would have been 21 in 1947, when the children leave on the train. He's unmarried, childless, living with his uncle (who is similarly childless if Verloc inherits his house).

And Verloc doesn't take Joy. That's the important thing. He does not participate in the most important civic activity of Wellington Wells. He's also one of the few people who will not wear a Happy Face mask. He behaves apart of the townspeople. He is not one of them.

And frankly, if you kept your head throughout the town's recent history, you'd probably judge these people very harshly. They let their children be taken, they killed the only people who tried to fight back, attacked anyone who might have had a child after, and they medicate themselves stupid to forget they behaved as cowards and savages. Again, it's easy for Verloc to think that of them. He has no stake in the game and he's not invested in his neighbors.

But he's not wrong either.

And if that's how he feels about them, it only makes sense that he's vain, thinks he's better than everyone else, and doesn't care about anyone unless they can do something for him.

If that's true though, what would make him so invested in Harry Haworth, the very man who enables these awful people to pretend they are not?

You know what there's a noted lack of at Wellington Health? Reverence for the savior of Wellington Wells and inventor of Joy, Harry Haworth. Not even a sculptural fountain piece donated by Haworth himself. He provided the town with its biggest medical breakthrough in living memory and yet there's no acknowledgement of that at Wellington Health.

Likely because Haworth is not an alumnus of Wellington Health's medical school. Which means he likely isn't from Wellington Wells itself. Perhaps he's an outsider, like Verloc is. And he's educated and doctorated. Mainland educated and doctorated. I think the evidence leans more to Haworth being a psychologist rather than a chemist, but he must know enough chemistry to have led his team to Joy. Combine all that with Haworth also being roughly the same age as that dead uncle (he and Haworth are only six years apart in age)? Compelling circumstances. A guy could become inappropriately obsessed.

But it's Gemma's notes on Haworth that suggest Verloc double-crossed him.

"Sense of duty."

"Became unsound."

"Gone a bit fuzzy."

"Not daft at all! Verloc backstabbed him."

"Objected to Verloc's methods."

Note that these statements are in quotes whereas Phrenology???? is not. Which means these are things that were said to Gemma. By whom though?

Going to guess that Victoria might be the first one as a sense of duty is a thing she's known to value in a person and she speaks fondly of Haworth in her quest notes. It's separate of the other statements, which makes sense. She'd certainly not be saying anything like the rest of these quotes, even if she thought them.

"Gone a bit fuzzy," is from Verloc in the O' Courant article about Haworth's disappearance. It's the most downplayed statement about Haworth's mental health, but it's also in the O' Courant so it's hard to say how much of that is Verloc playing it off and how much is spin to keep people from worrying.

As to the others, there's no way to tell who said any of them. Sally might have reason to imply Verloc to be two-faced like that, but she also never mentions Haworth in her own act so I find that unlikely. (I do, however, think she's lying to Gemma about Verloc inventing Sunshine). Beatrice Reeve of the Executive Committee has also been known to talk shit about my boy, but to do so to the press? Nnnn.

I do have one Hail Mary theory about this.

Gemma had to get her top secret internal Haworth Lab memos from someone within the company. And there is unrest in the labor pool as comes to a head in We All Fall Down. In the labor strike speech, a guy named Ronnie interrupts to make a snide comment.

Worker: Now listen! This labour action is important! We ain't striking for a nice hot lunch! Ronnie: -- like last time -- Worker: Shut up, Ronnie! No! We are trying to do our job, and we can't, as those who are in charge have gone completely off their trolley. Doctor V's failure to ensure the Joy supply strikes at the very heart of our civilization! These are the times that try men's souls, they are - yes, Edith, also women's souls too, I know - and we have all got to hang together! And if any Doctors are listening in, this is no time for partisan bickering! There's only one person who ever made the trains run on time here at Haworth, and that's Sally Boyle. We want Sally back! We need Sally back! Worker: We want Sally Boyle! We want Sally Boyle! (x2)

And as it so happens, a Ronald Norrish is also the guy who complained about the results of the A-329 formula on Vanessa Tinker-Bell. If the goal is to get Verloc ousted from his position and you're off the record? Well, it doesn't really matter if it's true or not, does it? If you've been in the basement and saw how mad Haworth was about it (which Norrish would have if he's attending to Vanessa), you'd certainly think it was true. Haworth also probably doesn't seem so crazy at the moment either, if he's fooling the staff enough to merit a note about it.

As to the other statements about Haworth's mental state, they similarly cannot be confirmed or denied by these unattributed quotes alone. However, we do have Victoria's secondhand account in her quest notes for "Ill Omens".

Trust him? Ha. We needed someone to get things done. Harry was falling apart... the way Father describes it, it was really quite sad, the way Haworth got. Verloc was just there. He was available. Willing to take on the burden. Eager, even. He gave the impression of a man who could get things done. So we let him.

Victoria's not an entirely informed narrator and she is relaying something General Byng stated, not something she witnessed herself, but given that Haworth did seem quite proud of his invention that rendered five of his assistants mute... I think it tracks that even if he seems sane enough to Ronald Norrish now, he may not have to General Byng back in 1960.

Haworth's patient notes say he was admitted November 10th, 1960, exactly one month after he sends Verloc a copy of a paper he wants to submit to the Executive Committee. And they seem to be on quite friendly terms to judge by the forward:

Dear Anton,

Am enclosing the latest draft of the paper I was telling you about Friday last. Have made much progress, and | greatly anticipate showing it to the Committee. Any input would be most welcome. I really think I am on to something here — really appreciate all your encouragement!

Harry

This would have been six months after Haworth supposedly disappeared if he disappears on April 6th, 1960.

You will note that this article is dated 1964. But that cannot be, if Harry's been in his glass cell since 1960... unless Arthur is assuming its from the current year. We only get to read this article as Arthur and he'd have no reason to assume it was older. He doesn't get any contradicting info until he gets to Haworth Labs and sees Haworth's patient notes. Do note too that this article is also accompanied on Gemma's conspiracy board by a piece about Johnny Bolton before he went insane. How long ago might that have been? She's been digging through the archives, is the point.

To recap, Haworth disappears on his way to a meeting with General Byng on April 6th, Verloc is interviewed for an article asking for his whereabouts on the 9th, but Haworth appears to be on good terms and quite friendly with him six months later in October. A month after that, Verloc imprisons Haworth in the glass cell, but at the same time keeps Haworth's name and contributions to society prominent in the public mind. And Haworth has a very strange and regular experiment schedule compared to his much more erratic cellmates'. Very curious!

Well, those circumstances have to make sense somehow. I know what I think happened here, but this post is already soooo long with just the facts as is.

[inposterumcumgaudio]

Harold Ridgwell

Dr. Ridgwell is one of two Doctors with a unique texture (the other being Dr. Hughes). Unlike the stock Doctor skin that features a green Tyrolean hat and yellow wellies, his hat and boots are red. Practically, as with Hughes, this is to help the player identify the particular Doctor they are meant to be seeking out in a malpractice of them. Dr. Ridgwell is currently head of Wellington Health and since Dr. Hughes is the only named Doctor working at Haworth Labs, we can perhaps assume that Hughes is head of the Doctor contingent there.

My favorite thing about Dr. Ridgwell is this memo he wrote admonishing the staff and students for complaining about being made to study botany. Aside from the respect to disciplines peripheral to his own, it also indicates that this is a guy who is aware of the broader community and industry. Which, you know, actually a good thing for an organization like Wellington Health.

Also the criticism of Sally's ability to go into business for herself rather than work towards the greater good. Which is something I rarely see talked about actually. Like, in a post-war England - especially an isolationist one that lost said war and is suffering shortages of all kinds - Sally's abrupt departure from Haworth Labs would be considered selfish and unpatriotic. You do see others in the game approach the precipice of calling her out for this (Harry Cavendish's glib statement that "when love fades, you must move on"; Dottie Lloyd-Ramsey saying that she might have told Verloc that Blackberry wasn't based on Coconut) but their English propriety prevents them from outright saying that her selfishness has caused civic and personal suffering.

Although really, what Ridgwell is criticizing isn't that Sally has elected to profit off her skills rather than put her shoulder to the wheel, so much as that she's been allowed to. Back in his day, if you were that valuable to the town, they wouldn't let you play dickdick with them about it.

Anyway, Ridgwell's also aware of the shortages in his own organization and in the town's population. In this other note to the admissions director, he points out that the populace simply does not have many people in it who can qualify for training as Doctors. Aside from the bad Joy taking out possible applicants that he mentions, there's also the fact that Doctors have a height (i.e. strength) requirement on top of the intellectual demand of the job. Wellies are malnourished (which results in shorter, weaker people), but Doctors still have to be able to lift and restrain patients. Especially with so many of them being plague Wastrels these days. It's like that fungus gives them extra strength or something.

But let's be real, you probably asked about Ridgwell because you want the tea on his rivalry with Verloc.

I mean, Ridgwell obviously has opinions about the guy.

That said, the environmental storytelling of Wellington Health is complicated. The motilene-filled room with Ridgwell's draft letter and the chest? I remember the level designer blogging about designing the environmental storytelling in that area, but I have no clue what the story is supposed to be there. Like, Ridgwell doesn't seem like he's planning to bug out otherwise. That the admissions office has been converted into plague wastrel patient cells? I mean, I guess if you can't find students, you don't need the offices, but there's nothing saying they need the space otherwise. Both of those things are just sort of there, you know? They don't go anywhere with it.

I honestly think this part of the story and accordant level was one of the most contested and revised areas, particularly with regard to what was supposed to be happening here. Then, because of the confused environmental storytelling, there was also confused supposition in the fanbase as to what it all meant.

That is, because of this statue in here, people assumed it meant that Verloc used to be head of Wellington Health. after all, Ridgwell donated a fuck-off big statue for his own office, surely an egomaniac like Verloc would have too.

I do not think this is the case.

Usually when I have a question like this, I start digging around in Poedit to get hints as to what the intent might have been. If I can see what was or where they might have been headed, then I can usually assume whether a detail was revised or jettisoned. But there's nothing in there suggesting that Verloc was head of Wellington Health at any point. And I also think that he's too young to have become head of this organization while still having to work in subordinate roles at Haworth Labs. If he'd become head of Wellington Health, going to Haworth Labs would only make sense as a lateral move, especially for a guy with an ego like Verloc. One does not go back down the ladder. A guy who was head of Wellington Health does not write a letter like this.

But... I have a concept.

Verloc has two statues in Wellington Health. One in the hallway, that he apparently donated himself.

And the toppled one in Ridgwell's office.

That the one in Ridgwell's office is knocked over and vandalized and not just removed entirely suggests that Ridgwell's ascension to that role is recent. And as I supposed in that other post about Verloc and Haworth, there are no statues of Haworth at Wellington Health despite inventing Joy, but there are these statues of Verloc. Suggesting that Haworth is not a Wellington Health alumnus, but since Verloc is, they can be proud of and take some credit for his becoming head of the other (competing) medical organization in the town.

What if the previous head of Wellington Health then considered Verloc's acquisition of Haworth Labs to be his own vicarious greatest accomplishment? I mean, this guy probably taught Verloc, maybe thought he was quite promising. Verloc does have that effect on people after all. Maybe this guy even thought he was raising up a protegé.

But Verloc's also fairly good at hiding his disdain for the people of Wellington Wells and he doesn't need a mentor at this point because he's young and invincible and his uncle is still alive. Also, he has no intention of serving the greater good. So regardless of whatever machinations this former director had for him, Verloc gets his degree and defects to Wellington Health's competitor. Which, that's fine, this former director thinks. Brings Haworth Labs into the Wellington Health fold to have it under the watch of an alumnus. Or so he might have hoped.

Ridgwell clearly never liked Verloc, stating particularly that his refusal to share his healthy test subjects with them is not unexpected. I don't think they were students together, but rather that Ridgwell may have been a professor at the time. Might maybe even advised the former director against investing so much energy into Verloc above other more reliably tempered students.

And he was right. Verloc refuses to collaborate or share resources, which hinders progress for both organizations and is very modern and unbecoming behavior typical of the youth these days. Would that they could just be conscripted still.

So shit plays out how it do, former director puts a statue of Verloc up in his office because he's just so damn proud, but isn't it actually sad because that's not even his accomplishment, it's that of a student who probably thinks about him only as a stepping stone to where he actually wanted to be, if at all. Indeed, we don't even know this guy's name because he's ultimately unimportant.

And when Ridgwell succeeds him, he knocks down that monument to misplaced pride and replaces it with one celebrating his own achievement.

What a familiar pose he chose!

And why not? If anyone is going to save Wellington Wells with the next big medical breakthrough, it'll probably be someone who can work well with others and is willing to entertain disciplines beyond his own field of study.