Post by Lori on Jul 17, 2016 23:53:36 GMT -5
BASICS
Name
Tyler Marquise Wheeler
Nicknames
The most common nickname is Ty. Sometimes he'll answer to Wheeler if someone's really trying to get his attention.
Age/Birthday
17/April 3
Job
Student/Waiter
SCHOOL
Class
Junior at Salem High
Grades
Average. He's not falling short but he's nothing special academically either.
Friends
TBD
Enemies
TBD
Interested in
Girls. Mostly. Probably. Question mark.
APPEARANCE
Body
Tyler stands around 5'7 or 5'8. Even though he is in high school, Tyler has been mistaken for a college student before. Not a lot of places ID him as a result, which is fine with him. Overall, he's of pretty average weight and build so he doesn't feel there's much to show off.
Eye Color
Brown
Hair
Brown, shoulder length dreadlocks. Tyler never really liked his hair; whether he keeps it down or ties it back he's pretty sure he looks like a thug. Even if he wears a hat? Same thing.
Style
Tyler likes mostly old fashioned clothes but will wear whatever's most comfortable at the end of the day. Mostly he prefers outfits with pastel colors because of how they contrast with his skin tone.
Playby
Leon Thomas III
PERSONALITY
Positives
Ambitious; Hard-working; Honest; Fighter; Strong; Spontaneous
Negatives
Short-tempered; Insecure; Obsessive; Greedy; Distrusting; Paranoid; Impulsive
Likes
Music; Money; Pastels; Internet; Piano; Bow ties; Comedies; Guitar; Spicy food; Coding; Pretending to be someone else
Dislikes
Getting caught; Cops; Thugs; Foods he can't eat; Taking the bus; Rats; His hair; Getting lost; When people get away with stuff
HISTORY
Family
La'shawna Ayana Rivas, Court Reporter - A single mom to three kids, La'Shawna worked her butt off to raise them while going to school. She relied heavily on her parents and never really left home. Well, she did. With the wrong guy. Smoking and occasional underage drinking aside, La'shawna was a pretty good student back in high school. Her boyfriend Dante was another story. It wasn't the piercings or the tattoos that were the problem as much as the things he did. He got into fights at the bar, cheated on La'shawna consistently and had his driver's license suspended multiple times. She had a thing for bad boys; that's exactly what drove her to cheat on him. She had a semi-drunken one-night stand with his best friend and ended up pregnant at eighteen. She tried to 'pin' the baby on Dante and it worked. For a while at least. When De'shaun was five months old, La'shawna and Dante got into an argument. La'shawna wound up confessing that De'shaun wasn't his. Dante ended up hitting her and stormed out. Things became worse when he found out that his best friend was the other possibility. The fight between the teenagers landed them behind bars for a bit. When Dante got out he swore he changed and La'shawna took him back. That was how she quickly ended up pregnant with her daughter. Dante denied her from the start even though there were no other possibilities this time. Even after a DNA test, Dante wasn't much of a father to Lexus. He continued his old habits to the point where he not only possibly got another woman pregnant but was caught driving with a suspended license. When Dante was caught driving a stolen car with no license, he was arrested on both accounts as well as resisting. It was right after he was sent to jail that La'shawna found out she was pregnant with Tyler. And when he was born with a low rate of survival, La'shawna realized she had to get her act together. She moved back in with her parents and they helped her raise her three kids while she went to school. There were points where she had to work part time as a waitress while going to school, unable to attend events for the kids. By the time De'shaun was in high school La'shawna was able to start working in the courts. She wanted to be able to help other families who had gone through similar situations like her. The health insurance for her and her kids was a nice benefit as well. Lay offs have occurred since she started working and sometimes La'shawna can't do all the work she'd like to. But she's still making a living and is just content that she is able to support her kids on her own. She has not dated since having Tyler nor has she had any contact with Dante.
Miriam Vera Rivas, Retired - The most stabilizing presence in Tyler's life since he was born. Although Miriam and La'shawna had their share of fights, she never wanted her daughter to think that she was on her own. That was why it hurt her so much when La'shawna wound up pregnant at eighteen and moved in with her questionable boyfriend. It was difficult for Miriam and her husband to be around at the beginning because things did get hectic between La'shawna and Dante. But the moment that La'shawna came back, Miriam did everything for her grandkids. Sometimes it was as if she was more of a parent to them than their own mother. She took them to school, bought them clothes and went to their events. She has tried her best to make sure that unlike their mother, none of them strayed from the right path. It has become more difficult since Marquan passed away. Miriam was often homemaker so the thought of her going back to work was beyond her. La'shawna tried to take up extra hours as a result, although it's not what Miriam wanted. It pains her that she can't support the family the way she used to and that she can't stop herself from aging. Her biggest concern is what's going to happen to her grandkids after she's gone; if they'll all be alright.
Marquan Anthony Rivas, Deceased - The only father figure that Tyler and his siblings ever really had. Marquan had a typical nine to five job throughout most of his life and was the main breadwinner even when La'shawna started working full time. His relationship with his daughter became very strained after she started dating Dante. Everything went downhill after she got pregnant; Marquan held a grudge against her for some time. Tyler was the one who repaired the bond between daughter and father; when Marquan saw how small and weak Tyler was he knew he had to be a better father and grandfather. Marquan was the family member that Tyler was closest with and instilled a lot of confidence as well as a strong work ethic in him. Marquan taught Tyler how to be a real man and even how to play the piano. Tyler almost never called Marquan 'grandpa' because he was so much more than that. As a result, Tyler was devastated when Marquan passed away suddenly. The confidence quickly deteriorated and Tyler took it on himself to be the new man of the house, supporting his family whatever it takes.
De'shaun Dante Wheeler, Carpenter - The oldest of the siblings at twenty-two and the only one with a different father. De'shaun acts like he doesn't know or that it doesn't bother him but it really does. He holds a grudge against La'shawna for keeping him from his father and causing the mess in the first place. Being the one that saw the most hostility between the parents, De'shaun never quite recovered. He's somewhat abusive in every relationship he gets into and has been in trouble with the law. De'shaun's first battle with authority was when he was in third grade; he was sent to the principal's office for punching a kid. In sixth grade he got caught stealing a video game. He'd stolen a few things since and had been in juvie. By the time La'shawna got her act together and was working full time to support the kids and try to be more active in their lives, it was too late for De'shaun. His relationship with her was already too strained and even with his grandparents around it didn't seem like too much could be done for him. The lowest point in his life was when he got sent to jail for domestic violence. The girl was alright, luckily; nothing fatal. However it was a large mark on De'shaun's record and he spent time in jail instead of in college. He'd gotten a little better since getting out, finding a part time job as an entry level carpenter. De'shaun still has a lot of anger issues to work out and continues to be pissed at La'shawna. He is also actively looking for his father. As far as he's considered, Lexus and Tyler aren't even his siblings.
Lexus Latisha Wheeler, Student - Lexus is a sophomore in college and is studying to become a medical assistant. She doesn't talk with De'shaun and is somewhat estranged from Tyler. Lexus was never particularly close with her family and didn't form a bond with anyone until their grandparents got involved. She remains close with Miriam and does ask how everyone else is doing. Lexus probably has the most 'normal' life out of everyone. Although she was picked on growing up and felt like an oddball for having no father and a somewhat absent mother, Lexus did her best to stay out of trouble. She learned what not to do based on Miriam's stories and actually listened. The worst thing she ever did was smoke weed in high school. She has stopped since, although going away to school in Washington DC gives her a lot more freedom. She does go out and party, but is typically responsible. Although she doesn't particularly admit it, after seeing everything that's happened to De'shaun she does worry about Tyler. She just doesn't know how to form a bond with him this late nor really talk to him. She continues to use Miriam as a middle woman to find out how everyone is doing and hopes to be a better woman than La'shawna.
Backstory
Things weren't off to a great start when Tyler was born. He was premature, underweight and needed a ventilator. Unfortunately for him, there was trouble long before he was even a thought in his parents' minds.
Actually, neither him nor his siblings were a thought. La'shawna was only eighteen when she became pregnant with De'shaun after cheating on her boyfriend Dante. At that point she had become so sick of him cheating on her as well as his actions that she turned to his best friend for comfort. Although the timing of De'shaun's conception was questionable, she insisted that Dante was his father. De'shaun was even named after the both of them. Things had gone decently the first five months of his life and for a few months leading up to his birth. La'shawna and Dante moved in together and, although Dante did continue to cheat, he mostly stayed out of trouble with the law - aside from a couple of parking tickets. After La'shawna caught him cheating one night a huge fight interrupted and she let it slip that De'shaun wasn't his. Dante stormed out only to later find out that his best friend was the father. The boys got into a fight which escalated enough for the two of them to get arrested. La'shawna took on a part time job as a waitress to support her and De'shaun, unsure if Dante would even come back. When he did he swore he was a changed man and that he forgave La'shawna. He really didn't and constantly held De'shaun's paternity over her head. Dante continued to have his spats with the law and cheat on La'shawna. Still, she remained with him and became pregnant with Lexus. Dante questioned paternity and went so far as to get a DNA test, even though that didn't happen until Lexus was two. He was proven to be the father, but didn't do anything more for her than he did for De'shaun. His old ways remained. La'shawna didn't stop it at that point, figuring that she deserved it for what she did. But when she came across a message from a woman that said she was pregnant and it was a possibility Dante was the father, La'shawna had enough. Another fight occurred and Dante left again. The next night he was arrested for driving a stolen car with no license and resisting an officer. A month after he landed behind bars, La'shawna found out she was pregnant with Tyler. She visited Dante in jail to tell him and he questioned paternity. She cheated before so what would stop her from doing it again? And besides, he'd been in jail for a month already so how could he possibly be the father? To him, it didn't matter that Tyler was born two months early. Or that the doctors were unsure that he would live. To Dante, Tyler was just some other mistake. Just like his sister and mother.
Fortunately for Tyler, he had his grandparents. La'shawna quickly moved back in with them after Tyler was discharged from the hospital. Miriam was nothing short of the best possible grandmother to him, doing everything that a mother should do when La'shawna couldn't. But in Tyler's eyes, the only person in his family that mattered was Marquan. The two of them did everything together. Tyler was the first one Marquan went to when he returned home from work. They would watch TV together, go to the park together, even food shop together. Tyler hated being away from his grandfather. To him, Marquan was everything.
Tyler was always interested in music. He loved listening to it before he went to bed. And when he was sad, Marquan would play something and cheer Tyler right up. Marquan was the one who taught Tyler how to play the piano and guitar. Well, really Tyler started out on more of a ukelele. He worked his way up to the guitar. Their love of music bonded the two of them together even more. Tyler could still remember one day in second grade, where every kid in his class had to ask a family member they admired to go to school with them. Tyler wrote a song for Marquan and played it on the keyboard in front of everyone. It was childish and silly, but it was the thought that mattered. When Marquan was around, it didn't matter what Tyler said or did. He was just a good grandson of a good guy.
When Tyler was thirteen everything changed. He and Lexus had just gotten home from school and heard Miriam frantically calling 911. Marquan had a heart attack. He didn't make it. It devastated Tyler. Nothing anyone could do would cheer him up. Tyler didn't want to do anything he used to do with Marquan because it just made him think of his grandfather. Suddenly everything that Marquan had taught Tyler - work hard, how to be a man, music, how to treat a lady, even how to tolerate spicy food - meant nothing. Tyler didn't have the same confidence he used to because Marquan wasn't around to back him up or make him feel better. Things only became worse as reports of cops shooting black people became more common. Tyler started hearing more and more about how an African American 'looked dangerous' or 'had a gun' or 'was threatening' and paid for it with their life even if they did nothing wrong. Why should Tyler follow anything Marquan taught him if the world was essentially telling him his life didn't matter?
Tyler began to distance himself from the world. No one could talk him out of it. He spent more time on the computer, ending up on a dating website. Maybe a girl was all he really needed to get his mind off of everything. But what girl would want to date Tyler when he just looked like a thug? When his family was basically the kind of people to avoid? Tyler began creating fake accounts on dating websites, using mostly white people. He maintained his last name, which sounded pretty common, and his first name would always start with a T so he'd have some consistency. On one site he was Thomas Wheeler, a senior in high school from Florida. On another website he was Tony Wheeler, Jr, who went by his middle name James. Tyler liked pretending to be someone else. It was like he was in a whole different world; it made him forget about all the crap in his life. That was also how he became interested in coding. He started looking up HTML codes so he could make his profiles more unique. That was another thing that became somewhat consistent in his catfishing, his interest in computers or website coding. But there was a catch; girls always wanted to meet with him. At the end of the day, Tyler didn't want to break it to them that he wasn't who he said he was. So he would delete the accounts and eventually create all new ones with different pictures. That was how he ended up talking to a guy. They just started chatting because their profiles had similar interests. Tyler liked this guy; his name was Weston. He was like his best friend or something. And as their conversations went on, Tyler let more and more of his real self show to Weston. He talked about his grandfather and how he loved music. Weston sent him some links to bands that Tyler ended up liking. Listening to the different sounds and talking with someone about music again...it inspired him to play. He started with a few simple things at first; scales or playing for five minutes at a time. But sure enough he went back to playing.
One night when he was online with Weston, Tyler overheard a conversation between La'shawna and Miriam. Lexus was starting to look at colleges and they might have to support De'shaun when he got out of jail. Money was tight and they were lucky to afford most things they had. While they didn't have to worry about health care thanks to La'shawna's coverage at work, there were still bills to pay and food to buy. Tyler was unsure of what to do; he asked Weston about it. Weston told him the best thing to do was to help his family, especially after all the hell they've been through. Tyler started applying to part time jobs and figuring how to work out a schedule with school. That was how, five months later, he started working as a waiter at the local diner. It wasn't much, but it was something. The only thing Tyler hated was that he had to take the bus to get there. In the back of his mind he kept thinking that he would get mugged or arrested or killed. That never happened and he always went into work like there were no problems. Fortunately for him the only problems were out of his control. Sure, there were some screwed up orders here and there, but if the cook prepared someone's food wrong then it wasn't Tyler's fault. The downside was, it was still minimum wage for a few hours a week. It barely did much for his family. He didn't know what else to do. Another conversation with Weston occurred. Weston ended up asking, 'what would your grandfather want you to do?' For Tyler, the answer was easy. He would do whatever he had to for the family because that's what a man did. So even though Tyler continued to work at the diner and bring money to his mother and grandmother, there were instances where he found other ways. Sometimes they involved the wrong crowds. Tyler would sell things he shouldn't be. He'd do something for someone he shouldn't. Tyler hasn't got caught. Yet. But when he sees someone who does something worse than him get off the hook, he hates it. He hates it even more when someone gets in trouble for doing nothing. Tyler remains terrified that something like that will happen with him.
Tyler's had less time to talk to Weston since this all started. Fortunately for him no one really sees a difference and his grades pretty much remain the same. While Tyler should be thinking about what college to go to and what he wants to do, he doesn't know if college is even a possibility anymore. When Tyler becomes focused on one thing, it goes to the point of obsession. And right now, Tyler's just obsessed with making sure nothing happens to his home or family. He was born fighting and he will continue to fight for whatever he has to.
OTHER
•Tyler was born and raised in Salem.
•He knows how to play the ukelele; the guitar was too big for him when Marquan started teaching him. Tyler still prefers to play the piano, however.
•He hasn't sold many drugs, but he has played a part in selling fake IDs to his classmates at Salem High to make some extra money.
•He will have a drink once in a while; he'll drink a screwdriver or a Budlight. If he can get away with drinking underage, he might as well. What's he got to lose?
•Tyler was about four pounds when he was born.
•He's never met his biological father. To this day, Tyler is unsure if he even has a half sibling somewhere else in Salem, or anywhere in California really.
•He has a learner's permit but no license. As much as Tyler does want to drive, there's no way in hell he'll be able to afford a car any time soon.
•Weston is more than likely the reason that Tyler would stray away from girls. Although Tyler has yet to reveal that he isn't completely who he says he is, there are still some feelings there. They're just very confusing feelings.
•Tyler's allergic to hazel nuts, strawberries, some fish and wool.
•Tyler doesn't measure time in minutes; he measures them based on how long a song is. For example, instead of saying the bus ride took thirty minutes he'll say it took up most of his Fallout Boy playlist.
