#ranjit helsby

[drawings-and-sketches]

(ID: Fanart of Dr. Henry Jekyll (white male, brown hair, red eyes) and Dr. Ranjit Helsby (male of color, brown hair, lighter brown further down, black eyes, sideburns), and Edward Hyde (drawn as a shadow, long spiky hair). Helsby walks into the room Jekyll is in (pink floor, light gray walls), saying "Hey Jekyll!". Jekyll looks back and turns, saying "Hello Helsby, how can I help you?" Helsby stops, hands on his hips, and smirks, saying "What is Hyde to you?" Jekyll frowns. Image with white text and a black background, "that morning..." Henry is sleeping in bed (white sheets, gray pillow, red blanket, blue drapes behind bed). Hyde (a shadow) puts his hands on the bed, peeks his head up, then stands up, smirking at Henry. Starts shaking the bed, chanting "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!". Henry opens his eyes, annoyed. Back to Henry in first room, annoyed and speaking: "The reason I wake up in the morning." White text on black image, "later that day..." front view of Helsby, crossing his arms, eyes closed and smirking. Text above head says *Talking to the other lodgers* He says, "Oh yeah, they're totally shagging." End ID).

The Glass Scientists

[bansheeoftheforest]

I see you are asking for oneshot requests! Might I offer; truth serum but Jekyll isn't drunk this time, and the Lodgers have to deal with the guilt of their founder actively panicking as he spills his secrets. (Bonus: Jekyll trans reveal + Ito loudly stating her support of him/him reconciling with the Lodgers)

!!!!! I am DEFINTIELY Rusty and realized now that I am finished that I could have probably moved this in a different direction, but I hope the wait was worth it and that you'll enjoy this oneshot!! :D

also pls tell me if there are any mistakes because I've been trying to read through this a million times and I've forgotten how to post fics- help-

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Title name: Secrets To Be Found

Wordcount: 4989

Summary: As Virginia Ito tries to keep her mentor calm during a day of anxiety, Dr. Ranjit Helsby and Mr. Seward Griffin decide that it is time to get some truths out of their founder.

Relationships: Robert x Jekyll (mentioned), Morcant x Jekyll (mentioned)

CW: Unconsenting drug use, internalized transphobia, transphobia

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Helsby was up to something. 

  The man was a gossip, and by extension, he was always in someone else’s business, trying to find out more and more in an almost deliberate attempt to get his curiosity killed. Dr. Jekyll had never liked it, never liked it when the older man would smirk and grin, like he knew something you didn’t, which he often did. It was uncanny already, but this time... He did not like what his gut feeling was telling him. 

  He had tried to wave it all off, when it first started happening earlier this week. When Helsby would throw smug glances towards Griffin, as if silently communicating. He did not have any capacity to care much about either of them, he would not have cared if Griffin was the target of Helsby’s plot, yet he knew that that wasn’t the case. Griffin was a recluse even among the Lodgers, his temper and chronic migraines often kept him from forming any sort of positive connection with any of them, and so his sudden friendship with Helsby was... Concerning. His own suspicion was not quelled when a handful of days passed and their dubious behaviour only seemed to get worse.

  Safe to say, Dr. Henry Jekyll was nervous. 

  He forced himself to ignore this -probably imaginary- plot, and yet he had woken up with a horrible feeling within his very bones. He wasn’t really sure what it was, something within him was just... Jittery. Something was crawling inside of him but it was nothing he could put a finger on. He was almost certain that it wasn’t Hyde, as he had, in his own way, been quite calm and genuine the last few days, at least not seeming like he knew what was up with Jekyll or their body. He was not a stranger to anxiety, of course; but his anxiety normally came from something, it hadn’t come up without a reason in years, and that thought alone almost made him more nervous. Perhaps there was a reason, but really, why would he be nervous if Helsby and Griffin simply had a little prank planned? He could almost be certain he would not be at the receiving end, and yet...

  The anxiety had only worsened during the day, perhaps solidified by a familiar, nauseating feeling within his body; a dysphoria in which everything within and regarding his body felt wrong, no matter what he changed or how much he had convinced those around him that he was a perfectly normal man. Deep down, he felt- or perhaps knew- that he wasn’t. His jaw was not angled enough, his waist was too thin, his hips were too wide and his hair was too long- otherwise obscure details to his appearance which now felt like tell-tale signs of his biological sex. Perhaps that was what had caused the anxiety; the very fear that someone, at some point, would find out, and especially so when he knew- or assumed- that Helsby and Griffin were sniffing for vulnerable secrets. It wasn’t like he only had one skeleton in his closet, either. There were a myriad of things which someone could find out about him, which would inevitably ruin his life, and his imperfect body was merely one of those. 

  Regardless, the physical signs of his illness had manifested quite early and throughout the entire day. By breakfast, his hands had been shaking, and his cup of tea had slipped right out of his grasp and shattered onto the floor, making him jump as his heart practically galloped out of his chest. Before noon, another one of Luckett’s fires had gotten a bit too close to the chemistry lab, and while it had been nothing but a minor explosion, with minimal harm to equipment and no harm done to any of the Lodgers, it had still been enough to scare the doctor out of his boots and leave the anxiety in a thick lump in his throat. After noon, yet another bill came, another one that would be put in the “overdue” pile before the end of the week. Safe to say, Jekyll couldn’t wait for this day to be over. 

  It was evening now. The Lodgers had clearly noticed their founder’s jumpiness. They had asked, of course, but Jekyll didn’t have answers. He didn’t know why he was like this today, all he knew was that he had slept and he had not consumed anything out of the ordinary, he did not drink anything remotely caffeinated and so he could not have made himself into a pile shaking bones through overconsumption. Whether or not the Lodgers believed that was an entirely different question. He was just happy that Robert was not here to see him like this. He was not necessarily ashamed of his irrational nervosity, but he knew that Robert would worry and, quite frankly, not leave his side until he had gotten him to calm down. 

  ... 

  Perhaps that would have been a good thing, actually. 

  But it was too late now. Ito seemed to have sensed his nervosity, regardless. She was often a quite strict and stoic lady, but she could never help but to worry for her mentor, she seemed to sense his distrust and paranoia and had stayed close for most of the day, after the little explosion in the chemistry lab. Jekyll could get no work done today, and Virginia could not focus on her own work when her worry clouded her brain, and so they had spent the majority of the afternoon in Jekyll’s office. He laid down on his couch, one arm covering his eyes to block out the light in an attempt to rest, while Virginia stayed by his desk and looked through some of his old notes. Notes which he knew were safe, notes that she would be studying, as his junior. But it was getting late now, and Ito knew that Jekyll’s anxiety would not be made any better on an empty stomach. He had been reluctant, of course; he felt safer in his office, but Virginia did not want him to eat alone and there wasn’t enough space for the two of them to dine in here, so Virginia helped him up and linked their arms together as they left the office in search of the dining hall, where Rachel would have prepared today’s dinner. Jekyll could not help but look around in every corridor, as if afraid that someone was watching, or that something more would go wrong when he least expected it. He, of course, told Ito that it was just his nerves, and it was. It was not a lie, she knew it wasn’t a lie, but it sure as hell did not make her any less nervous. 

  They came right by rush hour. The dining hall was filled with chattering Lodgers, all behaving perfectly normal and no one seeming out of the ordinary. Mrs. Cantilupe and Miss Lavender met them with sympathetic ‘how are you feeling’s, and Luckett once more apologised for the day's mishap. The alchemists sat down by their own table, a bit further away from the rest. 

  Jekyll didn’t have an appetite. How could he, when his stomach was riddled with knots? The mere sight and smell of the food got him to feel full, but Ito had none of it, and left the table to get them both something to eat. She knew what her mentor liked and what would be good for him, after all, and she would make sure that he ate what he could.

  But then again, this also meant that she left Jekyll alone. 

  His hands rested on the table. One grabbed the wrist of the other, thumb against his veins where he managed to feel his own rapid heartbeat, and he continued to look around. As he was turned away, he soon felt the chair next to him move, and as he looked back, he was met with the grinning face of none other than Dr. Ranjit Helsby- possibly the last person Jekyll wanted to see today.

  “My good fellow!” he greeted, “how’s it going?” 

  Jekyll blinked, confusion already evident.

  “I... I’m sorry, did you need something?” 

  Helsby waved him off. He grabbed the teacup that was neatly placed by Jekyll, pulled a teapot into view from vaguely under the table and poured tea for the other doctor, before giving him back the cup.

  “Nothing at all! I just wanted to see how you were feeling, good sir.” 

  Jekyll squinted. Helsby -sarcastic, dramatic or not- never called Jekyll “Good” or “Sir”, and certainly not both in succession. Helsby was not quiet about his general dislike for Jekyll, or perhaps dislike was a strong word. He often thought that he was a toff, and he very clearly did not like the direction to which Jekyll was moving the Society, but that didn’t have to mean that he actively disliked him. Still, Henry did not trust his newfound politeness, and yet he also knew that it would only be terribly rude of him to dismiss the diplomacy which was now offered. He noticed that Helsby already had a cup of tea for himself, and as the other doctor raised his in a silent ‘cheers’, Jekyll had no choice but to smile politely and do the same, before taking a sip. As the liquid went over his tongue, he winced, doing his best to not cough up the metallic fluid right afterwards- what on earth was this abomination of a tea? He tried not to gag, really- it was absolutely foul-... He recognised it, he recognised the metallic taste and the sour smell- but from where? 

  He felt someone moving towards his right, soon Griffin slammed the palms of his hands against the table quite aggressively, making Jekyll jump and successfully gaining the attention of the Lodgers by the nearby tables.

  “Well well, Jekyll,” He said, smugness evident, “You would not mind telling us a few things, right?” 

  His grin left little to the imagination, less like a human smile and more like baring teeth, more like a threat. Jekyll almost sank back into his chair, his heart beating and beating like it was about to crack through his ribs. Still, he tried to act calm, and pressed out a forced smile. 

  “Whatever do you mean?” 

  By this rate, or perhaps by Griffin’s loud movements, the rest of the hall had fallen silent and the Lodgers’ attention was now on the three men. Virginia, who was just on her way back, quickly placed the plates with food down at the nearest table and rushed towards her mentor. It was in this moment that Jekyll recognised the liquid which had practically been forced upon him, and he felt the panic take hold of his body.

  Truth serum.

  But it was too late.

  “Jekyll, what are your biggest secrets?” 

  Something within Jekyll stirred, an involuntary feeling which was not unlike the one which rose when Hyde took over control- his tongue began to move, and the words began to spill from his lips faster than he could process what he was doing. 

  “I was born a woman.” 

  The men’s expressions were unreadable, yet Jekyll continued, spellbound.

  “I’m bisexual and I’ve been in love with Robert Lanyon for over 15 years.” the words practically tumbled out of his mouth, he barely processed what he had said as the next confession slipped out, “I was in an unhealthy relationship with an ancient werewolf named Morcant.” His heart continued to thrum, he could feel how his breathing quickened, “I don’t think I’m good enough for anything and I fantasise about throwing myself off of the cliffs of Dover but I’m way too busy to even entertain such a thought” He attempted to struggle, to shut up, but he was as paralyzed in his chair, until his last confession finally came out, “I’ve been hallucinating my minds most horrifying creatures for weeks and I am Edward Hyde.” 

  …

  Silence. 

  He was hyperventilating, now. Jekyll’s mind was an absolute mess, trying to process what had just happened- and yet the Lodgers around him just stared, mouths agape. He tried desperately to speak once more- any explanation, hell- any anger which he could throw towards the perpetrators- and yet he couldn’t. His vision- he hoped it was just panic- started to blur, and before he knew it, he had already pushed the chair away from the table, as he quickly got up and just ran, out of the room, into the corridors. 

  He heard yelling behind him. He heard rapid footsteps of Lodgers who tried to follow him. He was not sure where he was going, but he would rather be anywhere but near the Lodgers- his dear Lodgers to which he had split all his secrets, and Griffin and Helsby, who had drugged him and forced him into this. He had been drugged- just like that- His heart pounded within his chest, like a hare with a heart attack. Before he knew it, he was back in his office, slamming the door closed behind him and locking it from the inside, before the exhaustion took hold. His legs gave in, and he sank back against the door. He could barely process the footsteps that ran after him now stopping in front of the very office he hid in.

  “Jekyll? Henry! Henry- Please, open the door!”

  It was Virginia, banging on the door in hopes that he would, in fact, open up for her. He heard more footsteps as more Lodgers arrived, he could hear their various voices through the door. He pulled his knees up to his chest, attempting to hide his face despite there being no one to see him.

  “You BASTARDS!” 

  Virginia seemed to turn her attention away from the door. He could hear shuffling and high-pitched yelps.

  “How DARE you do this to him?! WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELLS WERE YOU THINKING?!”

  “We didn’t think he- or she- or- whatever- was going to have THAT many secrets!” 

  “HE. Don’t you DARE call him by any different-” 

  “Hello? Did NO ONE hear that he confessed to BEING Hyde!?”

  As the third voice spoke, the commotion stopped, briefly, like they all started to properly think about the things he had said. Soon more Lodgers began to speak. 

  “...Well- he also said that he is a bisexual!” 

  “Yeah, but is anyone even surprised by that?” 

  “Should we not focus on the fact that he said he wanted himself DEAD?-”

  “Fantasising about jumping off cliffs is not the same!”

“Then what the HELL is it?” 

  Oh, God...

  He could try to escape. He could take the HJ7 and jump out of the window like he usually did, escape into the night and not come back- well... Not come back until he thought the Lodgers had calmed down, that is. At the same time, he felt paralyzed. To think that he had freely and openly admitted his deepest regrets to the Lodgers- Lodgers, who were now arguing about the severity of what he had said. At the same time, his mind was only filled with the shame of his very first and last confessions; he had not been a woman in multiple decades- if he ever was- but his body was itching by a need to practically pull off his own skin in an attempt to rid himself of what made him unmanly and a monster, of what made him the abomination he is, the horrid thing which the Lodgers now knew about. That was to not even mention that he had just told them everything- from his shameful love for Robert and his horrid affair with Morcant- he had told them that he created Edward Hyde. Why could he not have simply been allowed to forget it all? Why did they have to dredge up the past- could they not have let him keep his secrets? They had no right, yet they had taken that liberty, unaware or uncaring about the damage they had done. 

  His mind was a mess, still trying to grasp what had happened. He couldn’t help it when a sob broke free. He could barely hear the Lodgers outside quieting down, destroying any hope that they weren’t hearing his anguish.

  “Henry... Please, open the door. Griffin and Helsby are gone, we just want to help you.” 

  He didn’t believe it. He knew Virginia just wanted to help, but he did not believe for a second that the rest of the Lodgers wanted to. The others... He could barely imagine what they thought. Were they going to mock him? Or were they upset over the lies he had led them to believe? Would they blame this on him? Or perhaps some were already on their way to tell Frankenstein about what they had heard?

  He felt something push against the door, and then the sound of something sliding down. On the other side, Virginia mirrored his position.

  “Henry, I’m not leaving until you open the door. I can stay here all night if I need to.” 

  Through his tears, he couldn’t help but snort. As a Lodger, he only believed that she was staying to force more truth out of him, to shake out every last secret until he was nothing more than a sack of skin, but as his junior… Deep down, he could perhaps believe that she did care. It was confusing, yet a pleasant thought. He had no doubt that she would stay, she had always been stubborn, he couldn’t deny that. Whatever her true intentions were would, seemingly, not be revealed until he opened the door, but he was sure she wouldn’t stay that long...

...

He wasn’t sure how long they had stayed like this, now.

  It was darker outside. He was certain it had been at least a few hours since the mishap in the dining hall, the serum should have worn off by now. He had not dared to show himself since, he had not moved from his paralyzed place against the door, but he was quite sure Virginia hadn’t either.

  It was stupid, all of this. 

  He began to wonder if he had overreacted. Or perhaps underreacted. Griffin and Helsby had violated him in a way few could have managed… But he had no real choice, now. It was getting late, he had to open the door eventually and until then, he would be barricaded in his office, alone with nothing but his thoughts. He just wanted all of this to be over, even if it hurt. 

  He took a deep breath, and with shaky legs, he stood up and unlocked the door. 

  The sound of the lock and the push against the mahogany seemed to be enough to get Virginia to jump up and get away from the door, making Jekyll able to actually open it. She was ruffled, but she had indeed not left. He barely managed to fully open the door before she threw her arms around him.

  “Oh, Henry.” She murmured, her arms going tightly around his neck. She was not much shorter than him, but she still had to stand on her toes to be fully able to reach him. He could not help but melt against her, his own arms going around her waist as he buried his face in her shoulder. They did not often hug- he was her mentor, after all, and she did not like people touching her, but this felt... Nice. 

  After what felt simultaneously like too little and too much time, they parted, and Virginia placed her hands on Henry’s cheeks. Behind her, he could see the faces of various other Lodgers, who also had stayed, although he wasn’t necessarily sure why.

  “You don’t have to talk about anything, if you do not want to, but please, do not run away from us again.” 

  She didn’t necessarily sound heartbroken, but he knew her well enough to know that she most likely was. He couldn’t help but feel incredibly guilty.

  “I’m... I’m sorry. Please, forgive me- for everything.” 

  She scoffed, shaking her own head in a gesture that seemed to only be aimed at herself. “I don’t think you have anything to apologise for”, she said. Her hands moved to straighten Jekyll’s cravat and waistcoat, equally ruffled from his stay on the floor. “What is important is that you are fine. Yes, there might be things that need some explaining, but that can wait. I have no doubt that you have good explanations for everything. ” 

  Jekyll took a deep breath, and looked around at the group of Lodgers- his Lodgers, who had waited for him. He wasn’t really sure how to feel about it, truly. He was not sure of their intentions, but today’s constant panic had left him... Indifferent, stoic. Like every emotion had been squeezed out of him. Yet, as he looked over the gentle faces of his Lodgers, he couldn’t help but furrow his eyebrows.

  “...What happened to Griffin and Helsby?” 

  He glanced back at his apprentice, and watched as her expression hardened. Her eyebrows furrowed, but she forced herself to not get aggravated once more. 

  “I made sure they are now at the mercy of Rachel, after what they did to you.”

  Jekyll winced.

  “Good god.” 

  “Mmhm. Serves them right.” 

  The other Lodgers seemed to nod in agreement. They seemed unanimous that what the two men had done in the dining hall was violating and horrid, no matter if it just so happened to be Jekyll and not one of them. It was… Surprising, and yet comforting, almost. But he sighed, moved forward a little, before closing the door to his office behind him. Mirroring his previous actions, he sank back down to the floor, expecting this conversation to take a while. 

  “I... Guess you’d like some explanations.” He said, exhaustion and hesitance clear.

  “You don’t have to.”

  “I do. You all already know and I... I want to be able to explain.” 

  Virginia didn’t seem convinced, but accepted his stance. She sat down next to him, and the other Lodgers resumed their positions on the floor. 

  He began to explain Hyde; presumably his darkest secret. He did not want to dwell on it, he did not want to confess to the deprecation he had found himself in which had led him to Hyde’s creation, but he had to. And so, he explained, to the best of his ability; He is Hyde, but they are not the same. Hyde was everything that Jekyll thought wrong or imperfect with himself personified, yet he was his own person, with his own desires. He reiterated that they were separate multiple times, so none of them would think that they had been secretly talking with Jekyll, when they thought they were talking with Hyde. He stuttered and paused and had to regain himself multiple times, and through it all, the Lodgers just... Listened. Patiently. They simply let him finish his explanation on his own terms, without being forced. 

  Finally, as he quieted down, the silence remained for a few seconds. They understood, of course; what Jekyll had been feeling back then couldn’t have been easy, and while they were not entirely convinced of his reasonings for not telling them, they accepted it, and told him as such. They could especially comprehend his hesitance now, as they had not been particularly understanding of him and his situation lately, having been too busy admiring Frankenstein’s every word... At least Jekyll could feel happy that he did not have to dwell more on the fact that he didn’t feel like he was good enough, or the fact that he wanted to throw himself off of cliffs, as they seemed to have grasped that from his monologue about Hyde. 

  After a few seconds, Miss Lavender spoke.

  “Wait- did you not also say that you have been hallucinating? Was that also Hyde?” she asked, confusion evident. Jekyll grimaced. 

  “Ah- well... Yes and no.” he started, scratching his neck a bit awkwardly, “after Moreau, Hyde and I fought, and, well... I wouldn’t necessarily say that he created the hallucinations, but he certainly kicked them out the door. It was mainly because I hadn’t slept in almost a week, though. They disappeared soon after I actually did so.”

  “Was that why you looked constantly terrified a little while ago?” 

  “... Was it that obvious?”

  “Well, yes, we thought you were suddenly terrified of everything and everyone- even Ito and Lanyon!” 

  Jekyll winced, although he tried to get out an apologetic smile. He desperately hoped that this was all of it, that he was done with explanations and could be satisfied with a neutral reaction from the Lodgers. He took yet another deep breath.

  “Any-” he coughed, “any other questions?” 

  The Lodgers looked between themselves, then shook their heads.

  “Nah, we already know that you like men, and we don’t mind if you happened to have been born a woman” one of them said, making Jekyll’s cheeks burn red as he realised what he had missed. “Although, like- are you and Lanyon dating or..?” 

  Jekyll attempted to cough out the ball in his throat, to no avail. He felt himself sinking down further against the door as he attempted to hide his face, clearly wishing to escape the conversation.

  “I... We never... Dated, so to speak. We had a... A fling when we went to university, but he broke it off. And... I guess I haven’t moved on as well as I thought.” 

  He removed his hand and watched as the Lodger grimaced, Jekyll wasn’t sure if it was out of sympathy or because they thought he was pathetic, at this point it very well could be both. 

  “And the werewolf?” Sinnett spoke up, and promptly got nudged by Luckett.

  “... Once, back in university still, I went on a vacation with Lanyon, to his family’s cottage. We came upon an injured werewolf and I insisted on nursing her back to health... I- I was young, and easily manipulated. I don’t... Like to talk about it.” 

  Sinnett looked apologetic, and Ito began to rub her hand against Jekyll’s arm in an attempt to comfort him. God, he was exhausted. Considering it must be past midnight by now, it certainly wasn’t hard to understand why.

  “Well...” Ito began, “I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we are... Sorry. We did not know about Griffin’s and Helsby’s plan, we were definitely not in on it- and at the very least I am sorry for what you have been through, then and now.” 

  Jekyll closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the door. Still, he smiled gently.

  “I know. I’m sorry you all had to bear witness to this.” 

  “I... I’m also sorry for... The Frankenstein situation,” Miss Lavender continued, “I didn’t know you were hurting so much.”

  Jekyll opened his eyes, and watched as the group of Lodgers nodded in agreement. He normally would have simply snorted, it was awfully convenient that they were so sorry after he had a break about it, it really was. Water under the bridge, sweep it under the rug, whatever they wished to call it- but he was too tired to think about how genuine they were, or how convenient it was for them now. He just wanted all of this to be over.

  “I accept your apologies.” he said simply. God, he just wanted to go to bed...

  He wondered, for a moment, if the perpetrators would apologise, later. Or if they would double down and state that they didn’t see what was so wrong with what they did. It was wrong, so incredibly wrong and violating, they had to know that, too. But whatever would become of them would be the topic of another day, for now, Dr. Henry Jekyll was absolutely drained. If he was lucky, he could end the day and tomorrow would be perfectly normal, no one would mention or talk about the fact that he had spilt the contents of his heart and soul for them, unwillingly at that. He doubted that that would be the case, but he could always hope. 

  A soft sigh escaped his lips. He was just about to stand up and state that he would be turning in for whatever remained of the night, when he heard his own stomach grumble. He felt how his cheeks once more flared up in embarrassment.

  “How about we see if Rachel has any food left in the kitchen, eh, Henry?” Ito suggested, “then you can sleep- and I will make sure you get no disturbances tomorrow.”

  He thought about it for a second, but was interrupted by yet another grumble. He couldn’t help but crack a sheepish smile at his dear apprentice. “You’ve convinced me.” 

And so Ito grinned, as she helped Henry stand up. The various Lodgers parted, some deciding to tuck in and others deciding to come with them for a late-night snack. It felt oddly anti-climatic for all of them, Henry especially, yet he was almost relieved. At least he could only be happy that his secrets had been... Accepted. Perhaps it all had just been his paranoia. Or perhaps it was fate, divine intervention- no, of course not. But his truths were told and his soul was bared, perhaps this was the beginning of a stronger foundation within his relationships with his Lodgers. At the same time, he couldn’t help but be curious. Of course he knew that he had been the target of Helsby’s and Griffin’s little plan, in some way he was glad that he was, so no other Lodger would have been at the receiving end of this treatment... 

  And yet.. he couldn’t help but wonder; if it had been someone else, what would they have said?

  After all, who knew what secrets you might find, if you only knew where to look?

[wilt3d-r0zes]

hello this is an infodump about my probably-never-going-to-be-finished fic for the magic college au (it is Very Long)

basically like halfway through may i started this fic where (if you didnt read the tumblr post which is fine im about to tell you all about it anyways) I took all the lodgers, gave them super powers and stuck them into college (originally it was high school but that felt weird since they're supposed to be adults)

Here's me explaining all the powers and why I chose them now because I Can

Henry and Edward have the same power bc theyre still one physical being, Henry most reflects the "original", but pretty much when he was a little kid he accidentally used his power on himself and split his personality/being into two, creating Henry Jekyll (The "good") and Edward Hyde (The "bad"). Edward likes to hold it over him that as much as he likes to pretend he *isnt* the original and is just as much of a fragment as he is. Henry avoids using his powers now, but his friends and family kepts "casually" nudging him to try a school for exploring your powers, so now he's in one. His power is a lot more than what he did to himself, it just allows him to manipulate emotions, thoughts and memories. It was called "Disconnect" because the only way he knows how to use it is to shut off said things (for example, if someone is having a panic attack he could just turn their emotions off. he wont though, because he has no clue how to reverse it)

Ito is like, one of the most important characters just because of her power. Her power is like the opposite (kinda). It's called 'Connect', and it allows her to connect two or more people together through various means. Senses, thoughts, emotions, memories, etc. She hasn't unlocked much of its capabilities because she doesn't know how to control it, and one of the few times she's used it it was on her brother and he still holds a grudge on her for it. She accidentally Connects their entire dorm floor on the first day there. After those three the rest of the abilities are kinda basic and not super relevant to the plot i already came up with, but im sure theyll find a use at some point George Bird, who prefers to be called Bird, has chlorokinesis (which means he can manipulate plants) because in the comic his expertise is  Crypto-horticulture which is just like-- magic plants basically. So now he has a magic that deals with plants Christopher Archer, who prefers to be called Archer, has telekinesis. He often uses it to help himself while messing around with inventions or repairs (his family wasn’t exactly well off, so he was often the one repairing broken things. good thing he has a knack for it), he’s just in the college to learn something more and get away from home James Maijabi can communicate with spirits, it’s driven him a little bonkers but at least most ghosts fade after a period of time and stop bugging him. He doesn’t use the ability to do much, but he has successfully solved a murder once. He’s in the college to learn to banish the ghosts, and to maybe use them to his advantage. Ranjit Helsby can breathe underwater as his expertise in the comic is  Bathynautical Exploration, which if i remember right means he just explores the oceans. I thought it was fitting. He’s at the college to practice his power in a safe, controlled environment and see if there’s any hidden aspects to it. Lily Lavender can teleport, she doesn’t have much control on it as it only manifested in full a little under half a year ago. She often teleports around uncontrollably when excited, and it has turned into more than a few accidents. She just wants to learn to control it. Eleanora Cantiloupe can levitate herself and other objects, she wants to learn to life heavier objects and bring herself higher off the ground without risking falling off a building or crushing herself with a bowling ball. Jackson Griffin can turn himself and other living creatures invisible, which he discovered around age 8 when he turned his cat invisible and thought it died/ran away. The invisibility wore off after Griffin thought he was going insane feeling a cat-like weight on him while he was sleeping or hearing ghost purrs. Walter Pennybrigg’s ability is called ‘Lifelike’ and he can bring inanimate objects to life, he wants to learn how to make the time limit of half an hour longer. Anthony Sinnett can control fire, he wants to learn how to stop sparking when angry or excited and not catch random things on fire without noticing.  Martin Mosley can block light in such a way that seems as though they’re manipulating shadows, they want to see if there’s any way to make this useful. Baxter Tweedy can turn himself into a being of electricity and go from various electronic and manipulate them from inside. He wants to make sure he never gets stuck inside any electronic and maybe learn to manipulate things from the outside. Robert Lanyon can manipulate water, he just wants to stop accidentally splashing people when he gets pissed off. Jonathan Luckett’s ability is called ‘Combustion’ and it does exactly what it sounds like it does; make things explode. He just wants to be able to explode things without burning a hosue down. Rachel Pidgely can heal living beings, she wants to learn to heal bigger wounds after her brother died and she couldn’t help him. Charles Tanis can bring things back from the dead (temporarily, after half an hour they become zombie-like and after another fifteen minutes they drop dead, unable to be ressurected again), he wants to make his time limit longer and possibly re-ressurect previously ressurected beings. Jasper Kaylock, his ability is called ‘Werewolf’, he can shapechange between a fully human form, fully wolf form and anthro wolf form, he has heightened senses and is naturally much stronger and faster. He wants to be able to control his shapechanging, because currently he’s human during the day, anthro wolf at night and full wolf on full moons.  Victoria Frankenstein, ‘Sentience’, gives sentience to a being capable of containing it, and it is currently permanent with the exclusion of death. She wants to make the sentience non-permanent or learn to control those she gives it to. Creature, a product of Frankenstein’s attempts to create a new species, she has yet to kill him so he simply follows her around After arriving at the school Rachel and Jasper start gathering their dorm-hall mates (as everybody on this list all lives on the same floor/hall but in seperate rooms) for a shopping trip. sometime on this trip Ito accidentally Connects the entire party together, but it doesnt really hit until they all get back. There’s about fifteen minutes of everybody panicking, which created an obnoxious feedback loop of panic. Ito, familiar with her own ability (kinda), Henry, familiar with sharing a mind with another, and Rachel, naturally good at handling hers and others emotions, all manage to detangle themselves from the mess and start calming people down. They all make their way out into the common room where Ito admits that she really didn’t mean to do this, and she has no idea how to fix it. They have to figure out living with their minds all mangled up for at least a couple weeks now. In this time, they discover a few secrets about each other. Frankensteins dead girlfriend, Jekyll’s secret ability and even more secret other half, jasper’s werewolf downsides, rachel’s dead brother, the list goes on.  annd that’s all ive got anygays enjoy your day

[incorrect-lodgers-quotes]

Mr. Pennebrygg: Money can't buy happiness, you know!

Dr. Helsby: Sure it can. That's just a lie they tell the proletariat to keep them from rioting.

[galaxy-parchment]

A sneaking suspicion

1 : 2 : 3 : 4 (you are here) : 5 : 6 : 7 : 8

The next few days of investigating were an absolute nightmare.

Between keeping Jekyll off of their tails, finding evidence and trying to find any sense in what any of it meant had Rachel and Lanyon more confused than when they had started. Lucy’s gang couldn’t find a single hair to indicate that Hyde even existed, the matter of Henry’s will was still up in the air and with Frankenstein hanging around the society he seemed to be spending a lot more time rekindling his love for alchemy, whether it be in finding her a cure or simply vying for her favour in him being a ‘true scientist’, whatever that meant.

Jekyll had become more cautious too. After their office heist he seemed to have caught on that someone was onto him, though thankfully he didn’t seem to have any suspicions aimed towards his closest friends.

His office was now locked even while he occupied it and he refused to leave anyone in there unattended. Unless they became master thieves sometime soon, they needed a different approach. Thankfully Henry wasn’t the only alchemist at the Society, so Virginia Ito found Dr Lanyon at her door that afternoon.

“Ms Ito, how have you been?” Miss Ito turned to him and casually leaned against the side of her workbench.

“I assume you need me for something, Dr Lanyon? You’re not one to make house-calls with lodgers for the fun of it” She said as she casually leaned against her workbench, both hands gripping the edge.

“I was simply wishing to get some clarification on something alchemy related, since Henry isn’t all that talkative about it”

“Ask away”

“Does he still do his own experiments?”

“Not that I know of, except for fixing up Doctor Frankenstein, but I doubt he’s making up new medicines, since his work is apparently dull and academic.” she said with a hint of mocking in her voice.

“I just think it’s odd since he used to be so absorbed in his work, what with the shutting himself in his room and testing out new theories for days on end.” He said cautiously. Usually he wouldn’t be so open about this sort of thing but he had to get the information he needed.

“Yeah, he did used to be a lot more involved with his experiments. I suppose when you’ve got a student there’d be less time for furthering your own work”

“Student?” This was certainly news to Lanyon.

“Hyde. The man’s wild for sure but he knows his way around a chemistry kit. Where else would a guy that spends his free time drinking and fucking learn advanced distilling methods?”

“And how exactly do you know this?”

“The bastard snuck in here late one night to make an aphrodisiac, ruined a perfectly good flask with his first attempt. I never even got any justice for that, Jekyll just said that he can play around with my kit if he likes but he ‘told him off’ for it.” She complained, the annoyance in her voice abundantly clear.

“My heart bleeds for you, Miss Ito” Lanyon responded sarcastically

“All due respect, sir, you asked”

“Fair enough, thank you for your time, good day to you” He concluded with a wave of his hand as he made his way back through the door.

“To you as well, sir” She responded as the door clicked shut behind him, turning back to the bench to return to her work.

This was becoming stranger by the minute. The more he learned about this debacle to less sense it made.

-

Rachel was stirring a pot in the kitchen in preparation for yet another dinner for the lodgers when Dr Helsby and Mr Griffin decided to keep her company as she cooked. No doubt the smell of the stew had attracted them both.

“Why Miss Rachel, I insist on lending a hand and passing out dinner tonight” Mr Griffin offered

“So you can take the best bowl for yourself, not a chance, this isn’t leaving the room until Dr Jay shows his face downstairs, I told him he was eating dinner tonight and by god am I gonna watch him eat this damned food”

“As if he’s gonna come down for dinner, Rachel, it’s nighttime, he’s probably done his little disappearing act like he always does” Dr Helsby butt in with annoyance

“Oh, don’t be silly, he’s just in his office at this time”

“Not since he hired Hyde, he isn’t. Don’t tell me you’ve never checked on him”

“Well Hyde hasn’t been around recently, besides, I’m not the sort of woman to go snooping in on a man when he says to leave him alone”

He simply gave her a knowing look, having known her approach to many men in the past. Rachel felt her face grow warm.

“Well- well point taken but- but I wouldn’t just go waltzing in there whenever I feel like it”

“Point is, there’s no way you haven’t noticed that whenever Hyde has left for one of his bar crawls, Jekyll isn’t anywhere to be found either. I reckon that they go out together so they can sleep together at Hyde’s place without drawing attention.” He snickered.

“That’s enough outta you, mister, you get dinner last!”

“What? No fair!”

“I think it’s quite fair, Helsby, you should stop embarrassing yourself and leave” Griffin mocked

“I’m just saying that if they weren’t shagging then they wouldn’t make such a damn good effort to never be seen in the same room! I can say for sure that I’ve never seen Jekyll standing next to Hyde, otherwise they’d be all over each other.” He remarked as he strolled out of the kitchen huffily.

The comment stayed with Rachel as she scooped out portions into everyone’s bowls. Jekyll wouldn’t mind if he was late to dinner tonight anyway. She was far too lost in thought to realise that the man in question had quickly crept back to his office after overhearing such slanderous gossip.

-

He couldn’t ignore it any longer. Someone was clearly onto him and he had an awful feeling that Rachel and Lanyon were the ones stirring up trouble. He thought it odd that they were the only ones not present during the argument yesterday, with his very private drawer left open, but after getting a stray comment from Ito about how Lanyon had stopped by to ask about him and the conversation he overheard with Rachel, he had no other conclusion to come to than that they were going behind his back to figure out why he’d been acting strangely.

If they found out, God knows what would happen. They probably wouldn’t look at him the same way again and he’d be sent to Bethlam without a second thought. He couldn’t bear to think about it.

What could he possible do? His closest friends had turned on him and he had been left with no options. He gathered up all evidence that he had even touched a flask in the past decade and stuffed it in his desk drawer and locked it. He couldn’t destroy his life’s work, but there wasn’t much else he could do right now. Hopefully it was enough for now.

[artsyallouette]

Alright, it’s Hunger Games au time again! So this is part four in my twelve-part “draw every district’s opening ceremonies costume” project. So here’s District 4, with James Maijabi and Ranjit Helsby! Link to story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14018601/chapters/32284350 (As always with my digital art, click for a better resolution) Oh! Credit for the lodger’s names to carol-molliniere and authorloremipsum, the resident lodger enthusiasts! Trust me I’m not creative enough to name them all lol

[glassscientistsarchieves]

Helsby

Full Name: Ranjit Helsby

Title: Doctor

Age: Unknown

Birthplace: Unknown

Accent(s): Unknown

Occupation/Area of study: Exploratory Bathynaut

First Appearance and Quote: Chapter 2, Page 13

[incorrect-lodgers-quotes]

Virginia: I really, really wish you'd just admit it when you've made a mistake.

Dr. Helsby, grimacing as he takes a sip of his tea: I quite prefer it with salt, actually.

[incorrect-lodgers-quotes]

Helsby: Sorry I'm late! I was...doing things.

Henry: YOU PUSHED ME DOWN THE FUCKING STAIRS!!!

[incorrect-lodgers-quotes]

Dr. Helsby: Did you just refer to a scalpel as a people opener?!

Mr. Tanis: Should I not have?

[incorrect-lodgers-quotes]

Dr. Maijabi: There are three ways to do this: the right way, the wrong way, and the Ranjit way.

Virginia:...what's the Ranjit way?

Dr. Helsby: The wrong way, but faster.

[incorrect-lodgers-quotes]

Archer: Yeeted!

Helsby: Yote!

Archer: YEETED!

Helsby: YOTE!

Virginia: I just want to know who pushed Henry down the stairs.

[incorrect-lodgers-quotes]

Mr. Mosely: Croissants: dropped

Miss Lavender: Road: works ahead

Dr. Helsby: BBQ sauce: on my titties

Mr. Tweedy: Shavacado: fre

Mrs. Cantilupe: Miss Keisha: fuckin dead

Mr. Doddle:

Mr. Doddle: ...I didn’t understand a single word of that and I hate every single one of you.

[incorrect-lodgers-quotes]

Mr. Mosely: Did Ranjit just tell me he loved me for the first time?

Miss Flowers: Yes, yes he did.

Mr. Mosely: And did I do fingerguns back?

Miss Flowers: Yes, yes you did.

[bansheeoftheforest]

Griffin: Okay, let's go over this again. What do we do when something goes wrong?

Helsby: We try to fix it until Jekyll gets back.

Griffin: And if that doesn't work?

Helsby: We blame Hyde.

Griffin: Right.

Hyde: Honestly, fuck you guys.

[bansheeoftheforest]

Hey Ban! Could you do me a solid and make these two on an ace flag bg?

Happy Pride btw!!

Here ya go! I'm kinda rusty with making pride wallpapers and I also lost the original backgrounds I had for these edits but!!! I hope they are still okay!!! Happy pride!!! <3