Home About SoD? Current Comic The Beginning Character Bios New York South Carolina Louisiana Georgia Kentucky Iowa Minnesota California New Mexico Wyoming Hawaii More to Come! Creator Sketch Blog Ask Questions Merch Presenting Wyoming Wyoming is perceived by the other states as being very quiet, introverted, and a bit of a loner. She does, after all, have the least populated of all the states, and she doesn?t interact often with many other states. This wrong perception drives her up the wall! Wyoming is actually quite social and enjoys being with others either just to talk, or social events, like dancing, watching movies, sporting events, camping with others etc. The reason the other state?s see as the do is not because of her actual personality, but because she?s deaf and most states don?t make much effort to get to know her. Wyoming ends up isolated by circumstances rather than choice (as the states can?t interact with humans- they can see them but can?t be seen themselves- she can?t actively be part of the deaf community). The only other state fluent in ASL is her friend Nevada. They became close initially because of their mutual love of mining. They?d write back and forth and tell each other what new things they found and where. They?ll also help each other mine particularly big areas. (States are immune to naturally occurring dangerous materials in their states, so neither will get sick from natural Uranium; however, an atomic bomb would hurt them). Over time, they?ve also learned they both enjoy dancing, movies, and cheesy romance novels. She can drag Nevada hiking, which he?s come to enjoy and he she comes to his place to watch the huge state shows or sci-fi marathons (so long as Close Encounter is included!). Wyoming has recently begun to be closer friends with Montana. Montana was angry at Wyoming for a very long time over the Rock Springs Massacres (white Rail workers mutilated, burned alive, and otherwise killed/tortured Chinese rail workers) and for many years after had a policy of not speaking to her. However, in modern times they have gotten closer because of many mutual interests in outdoor activities. So, Montana has begun to learn ASL, but still struggles with it. Wyoming is also teaching ASL to Minnesota. They are not particularly close (divergent interests more than anything else), but Minnesota has begun to lose her hearing and finally asked Wyoming to teach her. Wyoming was the first of the female states to insist she be allowed an actual vote in state meetings rather than just the ability to give her opinion and hope it swayed some of the male states. (Wyoming was the first state to grant voting rights to women, also the first to have a female governor- hence the state?s motto and nickname). She also, much to Uncle?s annoyance, encourage the other female state?s to demand the same. She made many signs and passed out lots of literature, and initiated meetings among the female states. That said, usually state meetings can be a huge source of frustration for Wyoming. She can lip read, but when everyone is arguing, it?s impossible, and even under the best conditions, she?s not as skilled at lip reading as some humans are, and certainly not as skilled as the States think she is (California is particularly bad at not understanding this). Finally, Wyoming threatened to withhold coal until Uncle provided an interpreter, which became Washington DC. DC thinks he knows ASL, and interprets whenever Uncle is speaking (Uncle doesn?t know it at all), but he?s about as fluent as Google translate. She?s tried both politely and impolitely to suggest he study more, but he says he never has time ?with all the important things going on?. Needless to say she isn?t thrilled with that answer. Because DC is so bad with ASL, if Nevada can?t be there, Wyoming has taken to recording the meetings so Nevada can interpret for her later. She only goes without Nevada because she?s worried if she doesn?t go, DC and Uncle will forget to make accommodations at all somewhere down the line (much like Connecticut, who once knew ASL back in the early 1800?s, but by the time she joined the Union, he had forgotten it all as he never saw a use for it). So she tries to stay visible. She enjoys horseback riding and her horse is named Old Steamboat (because that?s the name of the horse on the license plate, and is supposedly named after an actual horse that couldn?t be ridden). She also has a pet Jackalope, but it is a vicious little thing, so she usually lets it be. On the birthday that coinciding with the 100th year since he had started the Confederacy, Wyoming gave South Carolina an official Jackalope hunting license because, among other restrictions, it states that no one with an IQ higher than 72 can have one. Some states found it funny, others pointed out it was in bad taste (not against South Carolina, but against people with lower IQ?s. Wyoming later apologized for the joke, agreeing it was in bad taste). She is an avid reader and book collector, (and as mentioned before enjoys romance novels especially). She is part of a reading club open to any states - Wyoming btw was the first state to have a county public library Wyoming has an ongoing joke with Nevada about arresting him when he comes to visit her- if he is wearing one of his larger feathered hats. One of the goofy laws is that it is illegal to wear a hat that obstructs view in a theater or other place of entertainment. Nevada (sometimes helped by Montana) will retaliate by trying to drag her into a bath tub on a Wednesday, because it?s also illegal to bathe on a Wednesday in Wyoming Some of the states patronize her about her mining, asking if it?s safe, since she wouldn?t be able to hear a cave in. She points out that first, a cave in has other signs besides noise. Second, if she is miles underground whether she hears it or feels it, she?s still in trouble. But, but most importantly, their land isn?t going to kill them, so she?s fine. What does concern her though- in regards to mining and her deafness- is that she might miss signs of Tommyknockers if they don?t knock hard enough to cause vibrations. So, before mining a new area, Wyoming always leaves little treats out and waits to see the treat is taken. If it?s left alone, she assumes Tommyknockers are not in the area and she is free to mine as she will. If it is taken, she mines the area with caution, and is sure to leave thank you treats behind, and be on the lookout for signs she is no longer welcome (like continued random canary deaths, without any reasonable cause). Now though, she figures they are aware of her deafness, because her lights will sometimes flicker in distinct patterns. Most of the mining states do believe in Tommyknockers, but she is the most overt in her belief (and honestly, as they are figments of human imagination, the could exist in the same way the states exist, but no one has ever seen one). So that is some info on Wyoming. :) Again, as with New Mexico, aspects of Wyoming are outside my life experiences, so I am drawing on information and research (and lots of amazing people from tumblr) to help me write a deaf characters. So please, if you have concerns or something I blatantly did wrong, let me know! At any point! Because I?d rather know than keep on screwing up. Thanks!