Hayward

> *"Everyone wants a personal relationship with the divine, but none of us are really equipped to handle the consequences." -Hayward*
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James Hayward was a Special Investigating Officer with the Greater Glottage Police Authority, specializing in religious criminality, until the events of the season 1 finale, when he was fired. he got a job working for a grocery store where he went by the name Tanner. after a catering hustle gone awry, he is forced to flee the police himself. he then falls in with Paige, and they create their god of martyrs, the Woundtree.

## Description

### Physical

Stated in the casting call to be in his 30s, but otherwise age unstated. It is implied that he is plainclothes, as Carpenter didn't recognize him as an officer until he said something. In season 2, it is implied that he is hit on working as a waiter for a party.

### Personality

Hayward is described as 'smart, a little self-satisfied, and has a weary amusement in all things.'. He's introduced as a firmly middling cop doing his best to walk the line of his job and the public, and finds the idea of the police's deity to be incredibly stupid. He's even mildly resentful to the union, because the invention of their god means they don't have partners anymore.

It is mentioned that he forgets his service arm frequently, and has gotten into serious issues in the past because of this. Coupled with the fact that he *believes* that The Stink is on him, it is safe to assume that he does not do his job well. He believes himself to be bordering on a failure, resents the hours and blames his job for the emotional distance with his wife, and tries to have a mild, accepting outlook despite this. Overall, in terms of his interaction with the world, he wants to be a good person but his attempts have put him here, and has to deal with the reality of that. He speaks of wanting to make a new start several times, both in his discussion of his divorce with Carpenter, and his talk with Stanton, in which he entertains ideas of giving up on the police and starting a fish restaurant, though he's mostly joking in the latter case.

He finds faith in general to be a chore more than anything. He says his thanks for the coffee in the morning, and that's enough. He firmly believes that people out in the country take their Gods too seriously. Despite his belief that worshiping the gods are a waste of time, he shows interest in information *about* deities and the stories around them. He often goes on small tangents about the illegal deities he's encountered in his time as an officer, remembering the details, themes, people, and stories around them and enjoying recounting these tales to others.

## Background

It is implied that in his description of 'The Stink' Hayward was speaking of his own past. As such, Hayward joined the Greater Glottage Police Authority by the age of 19. He was assigned to the Furnace District station in Southern Glottage after seven weeks of training, and mainly patrolled, as he was not initially given casework. In this same period, he witnesses the execution of Officer Kerling, without the context of the reason for the killing.

Additionally, he claims to be heading towards divorce, talking of his failing marriage to Carpenter, though its unclear whether he did this in order to get her guard down, actually is having issues with his home life, or came up with the story as veiled metaphor for his relationship to his work. Later, this comes up again between them. In Season 2 Episode 12 (Episode 27 overall), he reveals to Paige that his wedding ring is an old heirloom from his mother, and that he has never actually been married.

Hayward also has some affinity/exposure for the Saint Electric - tuning his radio into Sid Wright's show, mentioning praying to the Saint Electric over coffee, and when surprised by Daggler, calling out 'Sainted Current!', though this might be expected given the high presence of the Saint Electric in cities, being stamped on both his coffeemaker and the trains.

Hayward expresses that his whole life has felt like a performance. His mother would always look worried, and although she never expressed it, Hayward knew what she was worried about. She worried he's never get out of the tenements, because he was always messing around, telling stories and didn't have any connections. So he told her he would apply to become a cop to keep the worry at bay.

He didn't fit in with the other cadets, they'd stare at him and joke about him. He pretended he was like them and the world opened up to him for the first time in his life. He would make himself into the person they need him to be, always pretending but with the hope that one day he won't have to pretend anymore. He did that for thirteen years. The fact the job was taken from him should come as a relief, but the weight of everything he's done stays with him.

## Episode Appearances

 Chapter 36: All Lovers Part As Dust | Hayward and Carpenter meaninglessly bicker. They spend the night at the Amicus Hotel before continuing on towards Glottage.

## Trivia

* Hayward's romantic entanglements change numerous times throughout the podcast:
	+ He claims to be in a rocky marriage in Chapter 5, and a line in the transcript reads: "*But it’s when things are falling apart - that’s when you realise you’re doing most of the negotiating with yourself. ‘If I can only do better, maybe he won’t look at me like he hates me.’"* He may be suggesting his partner uses he/him pronouns, or he might be speaking generically.
	+ In Chapter 14, he mentions having a Wife and speaks compellingly about an interaction with her.
	+ In Season 2, he denies having been married, and says he sometimes lied about that or wore a false wedding ring as a part of an undercover persona.
* Hayward's name continues on the trend of being named for medieval English professions, a Hayward being an officer in charge of fences and enclosures, with the job of protecting crops from livestock. In Season Two Chapter Three (Chapter 18 overall), he goes by the fake name Tanner, which keeps with this trend as well (one who tans hides for later use as clothing or other things).
* Hayward's story about the Lady of Linked Hearts and Carpenter's story about The Cleft Beneath All Things mention deities that could be argued as foils. The first revealing if lovers were true but not giving real information, and the other forcing truth from those in questioning. There is also something to be said about the iconography of the deities, one of locks and the other of opening.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 18: If My Hands Could Shape The Flow
2. ↑ Chapter 23: I'd Howl, I'd Scream, In Victory
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Chapter 3: Then I'll Speak of Champions
4. ↑ https://thesiltverses.tumblr.com/post/665728877508919296/how-old-is-hayward-ive-always-pictured-him-as-on
5. ↑ The Silt Verses- Chapter 3.pdf, https://www.patreon.com/posts/45790766
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Chapter 5: My Song Is Long And Twisted
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 23: I'd Howl, I'd Scream, In Victory
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 14: And In Ruined Flesh Ascend
9. ↑ Susa Young Gates (1918). *Surname book and racial history.* Pg. 435. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayward\_(profession)