At a Glance
Wyla is a tall, athletic woman with brown skin, and short black hair (which she colors dark green before her trip to Halcyon). She has a square jaw, hooked nose, and round, dark brown eyes. She has a barbwire tattoo around her left bicep and a tattoo of her ex-girlfriend Michelle's name with a rose on the left of her abdomen near her hip. (she also has a fun "up dog" tattoo but i can't decide where it would be :< on her right shoulder/forearm/wrist maybe?) Her ears have single lobe piercings, but I don't think she would have been able to wear jewelry while frozen and I don't think finding new earrings has been on her list of priorities.
Wyla dresses in nice, but casual masculine fashion. She's always preferred masculine clothing but I think some of her Halcyon pieces are directly adopted from Alex's wardrobe. (RIP BIG HOMIE THEY COULD HAVE BEEN BESTIES FR) She prefers warm and dark neutral tones, and she takes a lot of care in styling her hair and she does NOT wear hats. (except for when i make her for their stat bonuses, but we pretend they're not actually there u understand) That being said, she's not a tool about her hair getting messed up, it's whatever, occupational hazard, etc. On Earth, the only jewelry she would wear were gifted to her by Michelle: plain silver or gold studs/huggie style earrings and an engraved promise ring on a matching chain. Wyla doesn't personally care to accessorize in that manor, but it made Michelle happy! (These items did not make the trip to Halcyon.)
Wyla comes across as adventurous, open, and playful, and she is! But she can also be cheeky, blunt, and brash. She is very perceptive, resourceful and can play the part of a social chameleon.
History
So, it started as a joke. But the more I thought about it, the more it took root. The thing is, Wyla's whole backstory is almost entirely ripped from Futurama's pilot. It was specifically the part where Fry was repeating "I hate my life I hate my life I hate my life" after seeing his girlfriend with another guy (and even the "Michelle, baby, where ya goin?" "It's not working out, Fry. I left your stuff on the sidewalk!") that REALLY SPOKE TO ME?? I couldn't figure out why she would even apply for the trip to Halcyon in the first place, but after thinking about the Futurama similarities, it just clicked!!
So she was a bartender (which idk why the game is like "The Hope is filled with ENGINEERS and DOCTORS and SCIENTISTS and then the PC's former job options are like. team mascot. dirt farmer.) with a degree that she spent a lot of time on (Psychology, she has a doctorate!) in a field she feels dispassionate about (she later realized she would have preferred Law :/), and in a relationship that has started to feel... well. She needed a change!! She had been seeing the Halcyon ads at work and while they sounded interesting, it wasn't something that fully caught her interest until immediately after Michelle cheated dumped her.
In Halcyon, Wyla adopts Hawthorne's name, (EVEN THOUGH. it doesn't even mean anything in game, every single person you interact with knowwws you are NOT Alex. but people will still refer to you as Hawthorne. so. -_-) she claims to be his only living (estranged) cousin who inherited his ship/belongings upon his death. She's not Alex Hawthorne but she is A Hawthorne (as far as you know, anyway).
Throughout the Campaign, while tempted by Phineas' bounty (she even asks Udom about it -_-), she ultimately feels beholden to help him for saving her if nothing else (and later decides the board sucks nuts and everything in Halcyon kinda blows anyway SO! why not rock the boat for funsies :3 She and Felix become besties, (and with some chagrin I must admit it reminds me of the friendship between Fry and Bender in Futurama 😔) she has some very strong words for Felix during his personal quest when he starts to question if Harlow is worth following (specifically about who he respects more between Harlow and himself).
Michelle
Wyla met Michelle at college during a party, they hooked up, went their separate ways and forgot to get each others' numbers. A month later, Michelle was on a first coffee date she wasn't enjoying (they were nice! just boring) when she sees Wyla rushing by. Michelle chases and calls out to her, they reconnect and the rest is history!! They hit it off immediately, they had a lot of chemistry, they had similar personalities, and shared a lot of interests! A match made in heaven!! They swore they would get married once Wyla graduated, on their second anniversary, they bought matching promise rings (Wyla bought Michelle's first, and Michelle insisted on buying Wyla one to match). On their fifth anniversary, Wyla got Michelle's name tattooed on her hip.
Michelle went to school for Business Administration, she was a Varsity Cheerleader and a prominent member of Yearbook Club (she held an Officer? position? maybe VP or Secretary). She enjoys photography, romcoms and working with others. She and Wyla had a happy and healthy relationship for about seven years, Michelle finished her degree before Wyla and stuck with her through it. But when Wyla graduated, she didn't seem as eager to establish herself as Michelle thought she would. She kinda let it be for a while before she started questioning Wyla about it, and Wyla couldn't really explain why she wasn't more motivated in a way that satisfied Michelle's questioning. "You have a degree, you could get a job, make real money, we could get married, buy a house, start a family, like?? What are you waiting for?" Wyla would tell her that she did want to marry her, and that she would, just not yettt! She just wants a break from psych, she just wants to settle for a bit before she jumps into it all, you know? (It wasn't enough.)
During the final year of Michelle and Wyla's relationship, Michelle ran into Cynthia (aka Cyn). Literally! It was a real meet-cute. Cyn was immediately interested in Michelle, and Michelle, being in a long term relationship, of course, shot her down. But they did become friends. Cyn is a tattoo artist, she's driven, ambitious, knows what she wants, and is willing to do what it takes to get what she wants (ofc features Michelle at this point was starting to feel Wyla lacked :/). Cyn came across as really cool and charming and attractive. (and most noticeably different from her same old!) Michelle was pretty adamant about remaining platonic with Cyn, but about six months after their first meeting, she realized she really had started to like her, and she would try to avoid Cyn and Wyla interacting at all costs (Cyn didn't want to interact with Wyla, either tbf). Michelle didn't start physically cheating on Wyla until the last few weeks of their relationship, but she was (and knew she was) emotionally cheating for months before that. Sunk cost fallacy and comfort in what she thought of as a sure thing, rather than going through the process of fully separating from Wyla is what kept her from ending things sooner. During this time, I think Wyla would have noticed that Michelle was feeling different, but she still trusted her! She really was blindsided by the whole thing.
And at the end of the day, it was Michelle's disrupting their relationship that pushed Wyla to apply for the Halcyon program. She had very limited interactions with Cyn, she never recieved any sort of closure or answers from Michelle. I think she would have tried, at first. Michelle, maybe at Cyn's behest, maybe not, would have blocked/ignored her calls. And Wyla would have avoided it moved on. I think this is something she would probably have to process eventually in Halcyon, because it did affect her! I think she likely has trust issues, avoids romantic entanglements, etc. Maybe one day she'll meet the Halcyon woman of her dreams!! But definitely not during the campaign.
**Note that normally I wouldn't worry about the fate of Michelle simply because it's something that Wyla will never know, but just for funsies and based on the fact that Futurama Michelle ends up in the future too at one point, leads to me think Michelle and Cyn don't last! And if it's any consolation, Cyn DEF gave Michelle a tattoo based on her name meaning (Moon) and Michelle would def have to live with that. 👍
For Fun :>
Wyla is a Sagittarius, ESFP and Sanguine. She is Neutral Good. She has Acrophobia and Smoke Addiction.
Originally, I wanted Wyla to be unintelligent, I wanted her to use the dumb dialogue (i love low int builds!!) but she refused :/
Her Attributes: Strength...Average / Dexterity...Good / Intelligence...High / Perception...High / Charm...High / Temperament...Below Average
Her top Skills are Handguns, Lockpick, Dialogue, Medical and Inspiration.
Wyla is mixed Egyptian/Persian and 3rd generation New Yorker.
She has (had?) a younger brother! He was a freshman in college when Wyla left. His name was Zayn. He became a doctor (yes, they would have been Dr. Kian and Dr. Kian :)). If I wanted to mimic Fry and his brother, Zayn would have had a daughter named after her, but Wyla would have no way of ever discovering this, so I don't care to set it in stone. (I don't think this is canon either, but I imagine Earth eventually found out that The Hope was lost, which means her family had to live with that.)
I'm pretty sure I saw Wyla either on a name generator or SOMEWHERE on a name website, but I have not been able to find it anywhere since (and have been unable to find a concrete meaning/definition behind it either so -_-)
Wyla knew how to shoot a gun beforehand, like. at a shooting range ig... UM don't think about it too hard, she needs to know how to shoot because video game logic ?? neway she then gets to process the aftermath of killing her first human :((( (it's a whole thing !) I think Edgewater takes a lot out of her for more than a few reasons, but (bc video game reasons) you're kinda just thrown into the thick of things, but I still think it's a lot! to Process!! So after they leave Edgewater, she sits in her room and stares out the window for a long couple hours. (I also think she and Max become v good buddies since he's one of the few to like. ask about the hope and everything? so i can see him fulfilling his Vicarly duties.)
Other than that, she really enjoys social activities! She and Michelle would have gone to karaoke and trivia nights at different bars, they would have been regulars at several spots over the years! I think the crew does some sort of game night too :)
What's in her inventory?
- 2 handguns and ammo (The Vermin II and a Revolver with N-ray ammo/mods, named Romeo and Juliet respectively, Romeo is her primary and if he doesn't cut it, she breaks out Juliet.)
- pack of cigarettes and novelty Spacer's Choice lighter (with Smoke Addiction, I would just buy whatever was available in vending machines, and I imagine she's much the same but her personal faves are High Society Cigarettes and Cosmic Smokes, and it's a personal headcanon that she bought a MoonMan lighter from Martin on the Groundbreaker after her lengthy conversation with him.)
- Holographic Shroud + various ID Cartridges
- Captain's Identification naming her as Captain Hawthorne of The Unreliable
- Bits (bitcard? currency), necessary keys (keys are always in your inventory but i think she tries to only bring relevant ones along)
- Adreno, Bypass Shunts, Mag Picks, and Pep Pills (rarely used)
- *Pager/Radio/Communicator (i dont think this is a real thing in game, but it feels like there should be SOMETHING ppl/ada can contact u on??)
(i think she packs pretty bare bones, but her cabin has a lot of doodads and decor she collects, i like to think she got to pack a footlocker or maybe a shoebox of stuff to bring from earth so she has at least one photo of her family ;a;)
Wyla's partner Pokemon would be:
- Snubbull: Despite its intimidating face, it's quite cowardly. Its desperate attempts to appear threatening make it popular with people. This laid-back Pokémon tends to sleep half the day. It grows close to others easily and is also easily spoiled. The disparity between its face and its actions makes many young people wild about it. (I just think she would get along best with a small, cute pokemon and I think Snubbull, while not entirely replicating Anubis, is close enough!)
In Animal Crossing she would be an Uchi Monkey (fun fact: i got a monkey villager vibe from her a long time ago but took a quiz when writing this and it also deemed her monkey so 😌) Her phrase would be "updog", she would have the play hobby, prefer brown and green, and she would enjoy a cool or active style. (old school jacket)
As a Companion
WIP :)
Spotify Playlist
