#use. / begg garrott.

[drfeelgreed]

tag drop 001.

purchase. / edith carmine. use. / begg garrott. collapse. / roy maddock.

joy anger sorrow FUN. / maiza avaro. joy anger SORROW fun. / czeslaw meyer. JOY anger sorrow fun. / sylvie lumiere. joy ANGER sorrow fun. / nile. (smile.) / elmer c. albatross.

oil drum. / dallas genoard. flowers and dominos. / isaac dian. spear and knives and japanese katanas. / adele. rain and a letter and scissors and love and... / tick jefferson. documents and information. storm and terrorists. / rachel jones. the lethal weapons' lunacy is elated. / christopher shaldred. red eyes and red hair. / claire stanfield. slash. / maria barcelito.

[closedcoffins]

what’s up with baccano!? a helpful guide for mutuals who have no idea what the fuck i’m talking about, ever.

TL;DR? Everything is up with Baccano!. It would probably be easier to ask, “what’s NOT up with Baccano!?” but I’m not in the business of trying to compile that helpful guide. So, here’s my attempt to make my blog more comprehensible for those of you who just followed me out of goodwill. Introducing the bare-bones Baccano! cheat sheet!

IMPORTANT CONCEPTS.

Immmortality: The “perfect” state of being attained by the hard work of alchemists and the involvement of a homunculus. Immortals in Baccano! cannot age or die by any means, and experience something akin to regeneration when they are hurt. Essentially, given that people become immortal through drinking a liquor of immortality, their bodies are frozen at the point they were when they became immortal. Removed body parts will remain alive and attempt to reunite with the rest of the body. SEE: Huey Laforet, Melvi Dormentaire, Luck Gandor, Isaac Dian, Maiza Avaro, Molsa Martillo, Victor Talbot, Keith Gandor, Berga Gandor, Elmer C. Albatross, Sylvie Lumiere, Gretto Avaro, Begg Garrott, Nile, Renee Parmedes Branvillier, Denkuro Togo, Firo Prochainezo.

Incomplete immortality: The result of drinking a “failed” version of the liquor of immortality. While those who drink this cannot die by unnatural means such as murder or disease, their bodies can still age and die that way. SEE: Dallas Genoard.

Devouring: The only thing that can kill an immortal. One immortal places their right hand on top of the head of the other immortal and thinks “I want to eat”. Doing so absorbs the body and memories of the devoured into the devourer, along with any memories they might have obtained from other immortals before then. This action can be done without the consent of the immortal who is going to be devoured. Incomplete immortals can be devoured, but cannot devour others.

Homunculus: A creation of man resembling a human. Ideally, a homunculus should be created using an unknown formula to carry the complete sum of all knowledge.

“Perfect” Homunculus: Also referred to as Paracelsus’ Homunculus. Taking the form of a small human in a flask, this Homunculus is immortal and omnipotent, with control over time and space around it. In order to live among humans, it can break its flask and obtain the ability to take a human sized form, but it must give up either its ability to see into “space” or its ability to see into the future. The homunculus will retain significant control over the world around it, and has the capability to grant others immortality using the liquor. SEE: Ronny Schiatto.

“Imperfect” Homunculus: A being created using the Paracelsus method, but with parts missing from the formula. This being is created in an ordinary sized human body customizable to the creator’s needs. It has no knowledge of space or the future and is only as strong as an ordinary human. While it can still die from outside causes, its body will not age or decay. SEE: Christopher Shaldred, Rail, Hong Chi-Mei, Adele, Sickle.

Water Consciousness: A subtype of homunculus likened to a hivemind. Created first in the form of water, it seeks a “vessel” to drink its water. After a mental battle between the consciousness of host and parasite, the parasite will typically win, taking that body as host. It may control thousands of host bodies at one time in this way. Should the host win the battle, the parasite is ejected. Should both parties cede at the same time, the host and parasite share a body, each having access to the other’s memories. SEE: Sham, Leeza Laforet.

Immortal Homunculus: A homunculus created using a unique method that requires cells from one immortal and one other participant. The resulting Homunculus has no knowledge and stops aging when it reaches the age of the person the younger cells donated belong to. It maintains “perfect” immortality and can both devour and be devoured, but can also be killed by a mere thought of the immortal who created it. Immortal homunculi can transmit knowledge freely between them and their creators by use of the right hand placed on the head. SEE: Melvi Dormentaire, Ennis.

Curious about more Baccano! lore? We’re just getting started! Make sure to look under the cut for more things you might be confused about!

THE PLAYERS. Important groups to keep track of as we carry on! I’ll be listing characters I write and their affiliations within these groups!

The 1700s.

Lotto Valentino Alchemists: Largely, the group of people who sailed out of Lotto Valentino on the ship Advena Avis in 1711. Not all of these people were from Lotto Valentino originally, but nearly all of them were alchemists or related to alchemists. A majority of these people are dead. SEE: Huey Laforet, Maiza Avaro, Victor Talbot, Elmer C. Albatross, Sylvie Lumiere, Gretto Avaro, Begg Garrott, Nile, Denkuro Togo. To be noted that the Perfect Homunculus Ronny Schiatto made an appearance on the ship as well.

House Dormentaire: A large aristocratic family that lay siege to Lotto Valentino due to nasty rumors originating from a play. They sought to stop the Alchemists from leaving Lotto Valentino and employed a large number of spies. SEE: Huey Laforet, Victor Talbot, Elmer C. Albatross. Also noted that Melvi Dormentaire will be created with the aid of Lucrezia de Dormentaire at some point before 1930.

Mask Makers: The first iteration of this group was headed by three individuals living in Lotto Valentino. It dealt in the spread of counterfeit gold and the killing of corrupt aristocracy who stood in the way of that counterfeiting business, as well as those who trafficked people and drugs. SEE: Huey Laforet, Elmer C. Albatross, Monica Campanella.

The 1930s --- ALCHEMISTS.

The Lemures: A terrorist group founded by Huey Laforet at some point before 1930. Huey has ensnared most of the members with the promise of immortality. Following the Flying Pussyfoot Incident in December 1931, this organization is rendered non-functional. Formerly led by Goose Perkins. SEE: Huey Laforet, Chané Laforet, Jules Upham, Sham.

Larva: A group of humans working under Huey Laforet with slightly closer contact than the Lemures, who are privy to the nature of Huey’s immortality but not let in on all of his plans. Led by Tock “Tim” Jefferson. SEE: Huey Laforet, Tock "Tim" Jefferson.

Lamia: A collection of homunculi created by Huey Laforet who split off to form their own group underneath Larva. Officially led by Tim, but unofficially they tend to do as they like. SEE: Huey Laforet, Tock "Tim" Jefferson Christopher Shaldred, Rail, Hong Chi-Mei, Adele, Leeza Laforet, Sickle, Sham.

Rhythm: Huey Laforet’s experimental division, responsible for alchemical and scientific achievement and the creation of homunculi. Currently led by Salomé Carpenter. SEE: Huey Laforet.

Time: A group of people who serve an unknown function under Huey Laforet. It is speculated that they are the largest faction he supervises, but that they know very little about the grand scheme of things. Currently led by Melvi Dormentaire. SEE: Huey Laforet, Melvi Dormentaire, Claire Stanfield.

Nebula: A large corporation led by Cal Muybridge. While it handles everyday matters such as construction and city planning, it also takes care of matters related to the supernatural, up to and including the liquor of immortality. Headquartered in Chicago and with a skyscraper known as Mist Wall in New York City, Nebula’s alchemical research is headed by Renee Parmedes Branvillier. SEE: Renee Parmedes Branvillier, Sham.

The 1930s --- CRIME FAMILIES.

The Martillo Family: The foremost crime family in the story. They’re a Camorra family whose base is just on the outskirts of Little Italy. In their speakeasy Alveare, they sell specialty honey-flavored drinks and other products, and are known for their skill with knives rather than guns. After an incident in 1930, every higher level of the family becomes a perfect Immortal. Over the years, they slowly begin to rely more on their restaurant income, phasing out the crime aspect of it. Founded and led by Molsa Martillo. SEE: Molsa Martillo, Ronny Schiatto, Maiza Avaro, Firo Prochainezo, Sham.

The Gandor Family: A small outfit in New York City led by three brothers---Luck, Keith, and Berga Gandor---as one unit. They’re known for being especially fierce, but people close to the brothers tend to comment on how they’re a bit unsuited to be mafia dons. Following the incident in 1930, the three brothers are perfect Immortals. SEE: Keith Gandor, Berga Gandor, Luck Gandor, Nicola Casetti, Tick Jefferson, Maria Barcelito, Edith, Kate Gandor, Kalia Gandor, Claire Stanfield, Sham.

The Runorata Family: A medium sized mafia family in New Jersey. They’re a bit troublesome to the rest of the characters, serving as antagonists most of the time, but their leader Bartolo Runorata is praised for having survived Lucky Luciano’s cleansing of “old fashioned” mafia families. SEE: Gabriel & Juliano Barsotti, Carzelio Runorata, Begg Garrott, Melvi Dormentaire, Claire Stanfield, Sham.

The Russo Family: An outfit on the brink of collapse in Chicago. Run by don Placido Russo, the Russo family is noted to be somewhat in shambles due to its leader’s impulsive decision making. As such, its members are somewhat scattered, and many of its former members have made their departure following 1931. SEE: Ladd Russo, Graham Specter, Christopher Shaldred, Ricardo Russo, Sham.

The 1930s --- INDEPENDENTS.

Isaac & Miria: A duo of Bonnie & Clyde style thieves, whose capers are almost as ridiculous as their costumes. They should in theory be annoying due to their stark lack of intelligence, but they somehow manage to bring a smile to everyone’s faces anyway. After an incident in 1930, the two of them are immortal. SEE: Isaac Dian.

Jacuzzi’s Gang: A Gang of “young punks” who gather around crybaby bootlegger Jacuzzi Splot because of a strange instinct to protect him. They number over 20 in rank and are all sorts of bad news, cast out of the communities they were part of. Many of them are immigrants who caused just enough trouble to be ousted from the communities they came to America with. SEE: Jacuzzi Splot, Nice Holystone, Chané Laforet, Claire Stanfield, Rail, Sham.

The Vanishing Bunny: A trio of robbers who aspire to the likes of Myra Starr. Though few in number, put together the three are clever and have a lot of firepower in the form of guns. SEE: Pamela McCall, Lana Sutton, Sonja Bake.

Freelance Hitmen: Any number of freelancers roam the streets of Baccano!’s imagining of New York City, though the people confident enough to do so tend to be oddballs in their own respect. SEE: Maria Barcelito, Laz Smith, Mark Wilmens, Ladd Russo, Graham Specter.

Fred’s Poorhouse / Clinic: A place on Gandor territory that anyone can go to for food and treatment, regardless of affiliation. It’s known neutral territory where fighting is strictly prohibited. SEE: Jules Upham, Roy Maddock, Laz Smith, Mark Wilmens, Isaac Dian, Nader Schasschule.

The Daily Days: An unusual information brokerage in New York City’s Chinatown. Rather than doing business in alleyways, they have a front of a newspaper company with their information exchanges taking place in one location. SEE: Rachel Jones, Gustav St. Germain, Carol.

Bureau of Investigation: It’s just the FBI. SEE: Victor Talbot.

The 2000s.

SAMPLE: A cult based on an old European one. They attack the cruise ships Entrance and Exit in 2002, and follow a philosophy that Gods must be created by selecting a young child to use as a “scapegoat”. SEE: Elmer C. Albatross ( in the late 1690′s. )

Mask Makers: The second iteration of Lotto Valentino’s Mask Makers. A powerful underground society descended from Monica Campanella, the very first Mask Maker. Their sole purpose is to see the end of Huey Laforet to fruition, believing him responsible for Monica’s death. SEE: Luchino B. Campanella, Aging, Elmer C. Albatross.

Lotto Valentino Survivors: The remaining immortals from the Advena Avis who avoided being devoured. By the early 2000′s, they have all reestablished contact with eachother. SEE: Maiza Avaro, Huey Laforet, Elmer C. Albatross, Victor Talbot, Nile, Begg Garrott, Sylvie Lumiere, Denkuro Togo.

THE STORY. A breakdown of the novels and what years they take place in.

Volume 1 / The Rolling Bootlegs. 1930.

Volume 2 / The Grand Punk Railroad: Local. 1931.

Volume 3 / The Grand Punk Railroad: Express. 1931.

Volume 4 / Drug and the Dominoes. 1931 - 1932. Happens concurrently with The Grand Punk Railroad.

Volume 5 / Children of Bottle. 2001 - 2002.

Volume 6 / The Slash: Cloudy to Rainy. 1933.

Volume 7 / The Slash: Bloody to Fair. 1933.

Volume 8 / Alice in Jails: Prison. 1934.

Volume 9 / Alice in Jails: Streets. 1934.

Volume 10 / Peter Pan in Chains: Finale. 1934.

Volume 11 / The Ironic Light Orchestra. 1705.

Volume 12 / Bullet Garden. 2002.

Volume 13 / Blood Sabbath. 2002. Happens concurrently with Bullet Garden.

Volume 14 / Another Junk Railroad: Special Express. 1931 - 1932.

Volume 15 / Crack Flag. 1710.

Volume 16 / Man in the Killer. 1932. Happens the summer after Drug and the Dominoes.

Volume 17 / Whitesmile. 1711. Happens just before the 1711 episode of the anime.

Volume 18 / Deep Marble. 1935.

Volume 19 / Dr. Feelgreed. 1935.

Volume 20 / Time of the Oasis. 1931. Happens concurrently with The Grand Punk Railroad.

Volume 21 / The Grateful Bet. 1935.

Volume 22 / Luckstreet Boys. 1935.

Volume 23 / The Buzz Messengers. 1935. Postponed; planned to be the last book of the Baccano! series.

[rhpsdys]

i finally developed my full baccano! verse for raine, so i'm detailing that below.

most of this was originally conceived by @closedcoffins over on this post, && i've just expanded on it now that i'm, you know, reading baccano!

in the 1700s, raine was living in italy, an accomplished musician of the baroque era, playing in opera houses around the country. they still identified as female at this time, && it was uncommon (nigh unheard of!) for women to play music publicly. however, this isn't the only thing that set them apart.

raine was an alchemist. raine's studies were focused on the use of alchemy as a simple aide, a way of amassing additional power that might be of use in an uprising against the house dormentaire — which is how they met maiza avaro. they were not practicing alchemy publicly, despite lotto valentino being full of alchemists, out of fear of it interfering with the music career they'd worked so hard to build.

but when the group of alchemists pursuing immortality fled for north america on the advena avis in 1711, raine went with them. they drank the liquor with the others, && obtained perfect immortality without it ever being their true desire or goal.

upon arrival, raine cut ties with the surviving alchemists, desperately wanting to simply make a fresh start && live under the radar. they traveled for a while, only staying in touch on occasion with maiza, if only to confirm on occasion that the other was still okay.

eventually, in the mid-late 1800s, raine settled back in brooklyn, new york. during this time, they had mostly abandoned alchemy as a practice, focusing primarily on a music career. while women were starting to become more prominent in classical music, particularly in opera, it was still difficult to make a living, especially as an immigrant ; despite having been there for over a century, raine did not have all their proper documentation at this point. after all, they should've been dead a long time ago, && the raine whispers of the early eighteenth century seemingly no longer existed. in order to make life a little bit easier, they would disguise themself as a man at auditions (something they'd often done over the last century simply for survival's sake). they wore this manufactured identity through the birth of their new career. they played with the recently-founded new york philharmonic, && was later hired as first chair violinist && concertmaster at the original metropolitan opera house.

somewhere along the way, raine began to realize that this identity was not just a disguise — it was who they were. there was no real terminology for this identity at the time, but it didn't matter, as they never told anyone except for maiza.

it was a simple request, enclosed in a letter postmarked november the second, 1883: to m. avaro: my dear friend — it's been a long time. i've just moved to manhattan, to be closer to my work. please meet me for dinner. there is a matter i'd like to discuss with you. yours, r. whispers

raine told maiza everything about what they'd been feeling, their disguise, && the idea that had struck them while playing faust at the opera house — there had to be some alchemical process that could permanently alter their features, to give them a more masculine appearance. for the first time in close to two centuries, raine was prepared to become an alchemist once again. at maiza's suggestion, they re-established contact with begg garrott, another alchemist, whose work as an apothecary made him especially qualified to help with this. what the pair ultimately developed together, after decades of work, was something like a precursor to clinically-distributed hormone supplements — in other words, alchemically-created testosterone.

it began, not unlike the immortality liquor, as an elixir to be consumed. the biggest test was not whether it would work as conceived, but whether it would work on an immortal body.

the answer? it did.

&& so over the course of the next couple of years, from approximately 1908-1910, raine "transitioned". it was an incredible feeling.

after that, they got back to work again, more confident than ever. raine left the philharmonic ( which they had gone back to when the opera house closed down for a season due to a fire ) && began playing in broadway pit orchestras. in 1926, they were hired as a teacher at the juilliard school of music.

around this time, or shortly thereafter, raine found themself surrounded by a small community of people like them, how they'd found each other is somewhat of a mystery, but the fact remains — these individuals, like raine themself, were experiencing discrepancies between their assigned gender && their identities, && raine had the seemingly magic cure for the dysphoria it caused.

so raine went back to work, distilling the elixir for a more widespread distribution, as well as concocting an alternate version, which would act as an artificial estrogen supplement. in the midst of prohibition && the 1932 drug and the dominos plot, raine is engaged in their own drug trade, though for (in their mind) much nobler cause.

a few things of note about this verse: raine would have been using she/her pronouns up until the mid 1800s, && he/him after that, up to the present. however, for my own comfort && out of respect for their character, i will only be using they/them pronouns to refer to raine, && ask that you do the same. however, if your muse themself is referring to raine, they are welcome to use whichever pronoun set would've been appropriate for the time period. additionally, i may be aging raine down slightly, to the physical age of 38 — given the time period in which this verse begins, it feels impractical for them to have been as old as 46 when this story begins. now, of course, they're well over 200 years old. ( this is subject to change. i may feel differently about it later on. ) finally, i want to work eda into this somehow, but i'm not sure what makes the most sense, so that's a problem for a later day.

[gratefulbet]

“AN INQUIRY OF A CURIOUS TRAVELER RESPONDED TO AT LENGTH BY A YOUNG CONDUCTOR OF THE FLYING PUSSYFOOT EXPRESS FOLLOWING THE RECENT TRAGEDIES IN FOUR OF THE SEVEN NATIONS”

it should be no surprise that in the underbelly of fontaine, the nation ruled over by the god of justice, crime runs rampant and nearly uncontrolled. there are the common street criminals, of course, but look any deeper than that and you might see the nation itself runs on the organized kind of crime.

well, that’s some justice, isn’t it?

there are four major families who control the underground of fontaine. the first and most powerful are the runoratas, ruthless to anyone who even thinks about stepping in their path. there are rumors among smaller gangs that the runoratas even have connections to the nobles of fontaine and the hydro archon herself... but, of course, anyone who would know is sworn to secrecy or otherwise killed. one notable member of the runorata family is the alchemist said to have attained immortality for himself, begg garrott, who now seeks only to create a drug to let anyone who ingests it spend the rest of their lives--however short--high and at peace.

the second major family in fontaine is known as the russo family. an enigmatic bunch, little is known about them because unlike the other two, they do not congregate in fontaine’s more major city, instead preferring to stick to the outskirts--though it’s unknown to most whether that is a strategic move to gain more territory... or because their boss knows full well they don’t stand a real chance against the runoratas. from within this bunch of criminals emerges one of the best assassins fontaine has: ladd russo, a crazed killer of anyone who thinks they can’t die and a former member of the family, having recently been found innocent of the murders on the flying pussyfoot express.

haha, you wanna know about the murders? well, i’ll finish introducing the players to you, first.

the third family is the martillos. they’re an odd bunch--don’t necessarily like associating themselves much with the other three, claim their sort of organized crime is from an entirely different part of fontaine, regardless of how true that actually is. they’re nothing to scoff at, even if only because of the money they make off people gambling at those places they’ve got set up--casinos, they’re calling ‘em. if there’s anyone from the martillo family worth watching out for, it’s that firo prochainezo. he’s young, but steadfast. don’t make the mistake of thinking it’ll be an easy fight.

and that leaves us with just the gandors left. to be honest, i really doubt they’d be as major as they are if it weren’t for their sheer determination to see things through. unlike the rest of the families, the gandors have their origins in snezhnaya, only having relocated to fontaine... relatively recently, compared to the other three. even so, they defend their small territory and smaller numbers with unmatched ferocity, but are perhaps the kindest criminals one could hope to stumble upon. instead of having one head, the gandors have three, the youngest of whom is called luck gandor. he’s got a soft heart, but a strong will--i don’t know anyone who’s crossed him and come out alive. he’s barely in fontaine these days, though, so there’s no need to worry about running into him.

and then, of course, impartial to all of them but with a bigger inclination to help the gandors, you have the daily days. the steambird might be the newspaper for the elite in fontaine, but the daily days is what the common people and the criminals read--and they just so happen to be notable information brokers for anyone who has enough money to buy, or enough intel to trade. of the lot of them... well, i’m sure it doesn’t matter what i tell you; you’ll come across one of ‘em if you’re here in fontaine for long.

...haha, yeah, now we can get on to the role of the flying pussyfoot in the story!

it’s a real marvel of engineering, this train. it might not seem all that impressive, but there’s nothin’ like it in all of teyvat... and, unfortunately, there might not be for a long while because of what happened that day. so... what exactly happened?

hahaha, even i don’t really know. but here’s what i can tell you: a cult in black, a band of killers in white, a gang of delinquents, a pair of robbers, a cursed child, the wife of a fontainean politician, a doctor, a couple of alchemists-turned-immortals, and an information broker all board the flying pussyfoot express at the outskirts of fontaine. when the train arrives here at this station in the heart of the city, the cars of the train have been completely replaced, and most of the people in black and white turn up dead along the tracks of the train.

locals have been saying it’s the rail tracer. it’s a bit of a legend around here--started when the train was finished. most people think the rail tracer is a vengeful spirit of the land, angry about the modern productions getting in the way of the landscape... hahaha, but i think differently. it’s my belief, as a conductor, that the rail tracer is out there to protect the trains.

that said, it really didn’t do a very good job, since we’re goin’ outta business now.

as for the rest--i mean, how it all connects... i’m afraid i really don’t have any answers for you! after all, i’m just a conductor. it’d be best if you learned the rest of that for yourself.

[agallimaufryofoddments]

It, uh, how do I put this...

The Yen Press translation of Baccano! Volume 11 released in September 2019, but I don’t think I noticed until just now that Yen Press spelled Begg’s last name as Garrott, not Garott. WHOOPS.

I think... I think I must have forgotten that Begg’s last name isn’t mentioned in Volume 4; it wouldn’t have occurred to me to check his surname’s official spelling in Vol 11 if I thought it had already been confirmed.

Argh. Argh argh argh.

The Garrott spelling is used again in Volume 12:

--so we know that’s the spelling for sure.

Well, I’m embarrassed. All this time on the wiki he’s been “Begg Garott,” and no one said a word about it. I really should be getting back to work (clearly I got sidetracked, I know), but first I’ll rename his article and maybe use BaccaBot to perform a quick Find-and-Replace for his surname...

...and, I guess, write a tweet of shame on the wiki’s Twitter account acknowledging the oversight. Oh, the shame.

[storytell]

@praevari​ asked

but also talk about roy pls

objectively, roy is one of the most interesting characters in drug & dominos, if not the entire baccano! series, and it’s a shame that he has so small of a role outside of D&D. his complicated relationship with edith, drugs, and himself make him a very fun character to explore further than what we’re already given by canon.

let me first start talking about him by explaining the vicious cycle he lives in and what he does when he breaks out of it, because i know you don’t exactly know. roy, a scottish immigrant to the US, was introduced to drugs shortly after meeting his girlfriend edith and it was discovered that he had a very high sensitivity to them. he was hooked immediately after his first trip, and his trips are all very vivid and realistic. his personality would change so much during his trips that i believe he once hijacked a truck and stole more drugs from a mafia family despite being very polite and introverted off of the influence of drugs. his trips and the way he acted on them made his girlfriend, edith, extremely disappointed in him. this along with the withdrawal symptoms would only serve to make him want to chase another high, and so he would. this carried on for a LONG while until the events of D&D, which culminated in roy attempting to kill himself so that if he died, he wouldn’t die in a way that disappointed edith.

my own headcanons for what happened with him personality-wise afterwards begin here. during the beginning stages of his recovery, roy was a jittery mess who could barely do anything for himself. suffering from extreme withdrawal symptoms from the minute dose of the immortal begg garrott’s intense new drug and also suffering from a depression over how much he’d let edith down, the first stretch of his recovery process was, as he will later recount, “the worst part of my life, because at least when i was tripping i didn’t feel like shite.” as soon as he was able enough, he was given a job as a server at fred’s poorhouse as repayment to the gandor family for covering up his crimes, but also as protection from himself, to ensure he wouldn’t get his hands on anything else that could hurt him. as the time passed, roy worked his way up to manager and elected to stay even after he left.

now onto the things regarding personality and motivations!

first of all, roy doesn’t have very good self confidence. it’s edith who always tries to hammer the message that he should seek to improve himself for his own good into his head; right now, he only seeks to improve himself because he believes edith deserves someone much better than him and if she insists on staying with him, he wants to be better for her. because he has so little confidence in himself, he’s less reactive to threats on his life. he attributes most of where he is now to edith’s influence, because he would have never been able to keep himself away from drugs without her there.

because of his own experiences with being down in the dirt and knowing how much it helped him to get help from someone else, he does his best to get to know everyone that comes into fred’s poorhouse. he talks with people because many people coming to the poorhouse don’t have anyone else they know, and he knows that the only thing that kept him from going overboard was edith. likewise, he’s more inclined than the average person to help someone out if they look like they’re struggling. he says this is just because he wants to be a good person, but that’s always been how he is. even in canon, when he quote-unquote “used” eve genoard, he genuinely didn’t want to see her hurt and hoped that speaking to the gandors would get her answers about her brother.

on a final note about roy, he’s actually naturally prone to visual and auditory hallucinations, which is why his drug trips were ever as vivid as they were. during recovery, he gets very jumpy at them, because he sometimes worries himself into thinking that these hallucinations are remnants of his addiction and he’ll never truly be rid of drugs, but they’re not. they’re genuinely unrelated (but a lot of his hallucinations from his trips were just more vivid, amplified versions of hallucinations he would have had anyway). 

let me talk about my muses!