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the-commonplace-book · 8 months

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@monstroso (separate post for the other ship)

Send me a ship for the ship bingo chart: Sally Boyle / Anton Verloc ( We Happy Few )

I feel like I’m going to make some people mad with this one considering the general fandom discourse about these two, but I actually love these two and think that under different circumstances they could have had a much healthier relationship, and I think that it was less of an abusive relationship and more of a mutually toxic relationship.

I’ve talked about their relationship previously, so I’m actually just going to copy back what I wrote before, since I’m not sure I can say it any better than I already did, and then add a little more, so buckle up, folks! I have so many Thoughts™

In a lot of ways they’re terrible for each other. Verloc is obsessed with his work and sometimes loses sight of the humanity of his subjects in his pursuit of scientific discovery. Sally always puts herself first, in every decision she ever makes, and has no qualms about using people to get what she wants/needs. They both want to be the smartest person in the room at all times, and that definitely causes conflicts.

However, they also really get each other on this deep intellectual level. They can keep up with each other in a way hardly anyone else can and that scientific discovery shit gets them turnt. Both of them have a tendency to dive into their work to an obsessive degree which works for them, because it’s mutual. Long hours at the lab, even talking about work when at home. They live and breath chemistry and have chemistry with each other because of that - not to mention the mutual attraction.

There’s a reason Sally stayed with him for as long as she did. In fact, the only reason she left was Gwen. If not for Gwen, she probably would have stayed, despite how mutually toxic their relationship had become. It’s hard to say how much of the degradation of their relationship was their individual issues and how much of it was the increasing stress put on them by the state of Wellington Wells. With the Executive Committee, the General, the Doctors, and the Constabulary constantly breathing down their necks for the latest Joy solution, the stress must have been insane. There’s less and less room for fun banter and exciting discoveries. It all gradually becomes a race against the clock with their dwindling resources. When you already have issues in the relationship, that kind of stress diminishes what little room may have existed for working those issues out. And when neither of them have healthy ways of dealing with that stress, it makes sense that he would start to take it out on her. And it makes sense that she would start to resent him. And it makes sense that all the toxic aspects of their relationship would amplify ten fold.

But what if things had been different? What if they’d had the space to work things out? What if they could learn to be a healthier couple? Or what if they even could have kept cruising along like they were at the start? I think they could have been a good couple, if things had been different, because they really did work together, and they really did understand each other, and they really did care about each other.

It’s important to remember that much of what we hear about their relationship is from Sally’s perspective and, as we know, Sally is an unreliable narrator. In fact, some of what she says about Verloc is actively contradicted by other sources in the game. There’s little things like Sally remarking how fashionable he was when they met and how she was just some innocent girl who got swept up by this dashing scientist… while an old edition of So Mod Magazine credits Sally for teaching him how to dress. Sally refers to Verloc as a psychopath, painting him as unfeeling and cold. Meanwhile, Verloc is out here pulling out Sally’s old letters and re-reading them while downing martinis (as seen by the empty glasses and the old letters in the lab during Arthur’s act). We see from old notes around Haworth Labs that there was affection between them, even if they didn’t have the healthiest relationship. But it’s easier for Sally to paint her ex as an emotionally abusive psychopath than to admit any degree of fault. (to be clear, I’m not saying that it is a victim’s fault if they are abused, I’m saying that this wasn’t an instance of abuse to begin with)

I find the concept of a timeline where for some reason Sally stayed at Haworth Labs while having Gwen to be intriguing. Byng has a poor opinion of Verloc and implies that he would see a baby as a perfect test subject, but this is based on Byng’s perception of what happened between Verloc and Haworth, his brief interactions with Verloc over the years (Verloc primarily worked with Victoria, not the General), and the benefit of painting Verloc in such a light in that moment when he’s trying to convince Sally to send Gwen away to the mainland and be his safe-house girlfriend.

I imagine Verloc would rather see Gwen as a mild curiosity, but mostly an inconvenience. She would very much be “Sally’s daughter” kept out of sight and out of mind. That is, until Gwen starts showing real promise in regard to science as she grows up a little (in a scenario where Wellington Wells doesn’t collapse), in which case it may become “OUR daughter” so he can take credit for her smarts and train her up as a scientist. Fresh perspective and ideas? In this economy?? Either that, or he still wouldn’t acknowledge her as his daughter, but would take a more proactive role in her education at least. But that’s all AU conjecture rather than the canon.

Look I could talk about these two for ages, so I’m going to close up here before this gets any longer than it is, but thanks so much for sending this ship in! I really need to write and draw more content for these two because they are so fascinating and underdiscussed.

#hnnngggg I could write so much more on these two but this post is getting too long #we happy few #whf #anton verloc #sally boyle #[sketchbook]#they're just two messed up people in a messed up place having a messy relationship and i love them

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inposterumcumgaudio · 8 months

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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.

#harry haworth #anton verloc #we happy few

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