A professional pre-War performer, Evelyn was once the finest singer in Atlantic City and a star of lounge music, working her way up the musical industry ladder to the point where venues were booked for her, rather than the other way around.[1] Her marriage to Antonio was a matter of random chance: He sat in the audience during one show and soon tried to book the Neapolitan's main stage for her. While she tried turning the offer down, he offered enough money to make her reconsider. Soon enough, she had private dressing rooms, more money than she made before, free access to concessions and bars. Most importantly, she had someone exceptional in her life: Independent, authoritative and disciplined. Antonio arranged boon after boon for her, hardly ever looking her way at the same time. He stood in stark contrast to the young upstarts showering her with gifts, idle flirtations, and no small amount of stalking. Evelyn soon took it upon herself to romance him, as he was apparently poorly versed in the art of love.[2]
It was a move against all rational insights, yet she did it anyway, becoming involved in the mafia business and Antonio's life of crime.[3] While it turned out to be hardly the American Dream she was promised, she threw caution to the wind and stuck with Antonio and then the children they conceived, first Vincenzo, then Abigail. As a star performer, Evelyn found family life to be a challenge,[4] treating it as a lifelong performance with no breaks and paralyzing pressure that only mounted over time.[5] Yet despite that, she managed to stay on top of the industry, changing as the tastes of the public evolved.[6]
Everything changed with the Great War. Suddenly, singing no longer had the appeal it once had, as everyone scrambled to survive. Then, something worse happened: Mother Charlotte founded the Showmen. Evelyn's singing couldn't compete with the sheer adrenaline rush of watching death-defying stunts. Eager to regain the adulation of crowds, Evelyn joined the Showmen as a performer, performing atop a derelict high rise. However, she did not embrace their ideals and performed with a lifeline. The masquerade only lasted as long as her first fall, which revealed the line and led to her being ejected from the group (and, she claims, the Showmen demanding her head).[7] Although she still had the protection of the Family, she lost the one thing that mattered in her life: The ability to perform and draw the adulation of crowds.[8]
Her family offered little consolation. The love she once felt for Antonio has largely petered out due to Antonio's constant absence and emotional unavailability, while her children drifted away from her.[9] Vincenzo was emotionally self-sufficient and driven, taking up work with the Munis to make a difference[10] and running the house, while Abigail was tied to her father like a puppy, at least until he pushed her away. She longed to matter once again, to take to the stage, and feel their love.[11] The flight to Appalachia has done her no favors, especially with the opening night ending in a bloodbath,[12] making it yet another entry in what seems like a twenty year long list of failures.[13]
Personality[]
Evelyn is a high-maintenance and cynical woman who, despite surviving the Great War, holds its survivors to incredibly high standards, as if she is not considering that the vast majority of humanity has died. She complains about mundane issues such as a lack of shopping facilities, buildings being poorly decorated in light of the apocalypse, her hair having split ends, as well as breaking her nail. She hates physical activities that make her exercise her body, including manual labor and cardio.[14] Vin feels his mother is a delusional train-wreck. Despite the dangers of Atlantic City, she wishes she was still there because she misses the attention she received as a performer.
As a former star of the stage, Evelyn has developed a stage persona that she carefully maintained after the Great War. She deliberately plays up her status and employs inflated confidence to, in her own words, keep things entertaining.[15] This includes a very particular form of speaking, drawn from her experience on the stage. She delights in her speech being a carefully nurtured talent, rather than stilted repetition based on a lack of experience in performing live.[16] And, if Evelyn is to be believed, she also burned down the stage curtains at one venue, when the owner dismissed her talent, and arranged for a news company's electric lines to be cut when they slighted her.[17]
Her rudeness is part of the persona, and she does not shy away from answering obstinacy with the verbal equivalent of an artillery barrage. She considers it simply sticking up for herself,[18] though a part of it is simply weeding out the meek. Evelyn is not a misanthrope and believes that people's confusing complexity is what makes them worthwhile. She's also perfectly capable of taking anger and complaints directed at her, and while she will respond in kind, she believes it's worth it just to learn a little more about each other. At any rate, it's better than a crowd of yes-men with no original ideas.[19] She can be incredibly clueless when it comes to her blind spots: Self-sacrifice is a foreign concept to Evelyn, and so she failed to realize that her son sacrificed his Muni career to help his family.[20]
The borderline estrangement from her family results in a certain detachment. The benefit is that she is able to maintain a cool head under pressure, even with her daughter having a psychotic breakdown.[21] Her stage abilities and genuine affection for her children - despite her griping - also mean that she is ready to head over to Acee in order to help secure the Devil's Blood.[22] However, she has an ulterior motive influenced by this distance: Abbie's plight also gives her an opportunity to return to Acee and show up the Showmen, as a final bid to regain her standing on the stage.[23][24]
Interactions with the player character[]
Interactions overview[]
Interactions
This character ignores combat and cannot be damaged.
Opportunity Knocking: The star performer of the newly opened nightclub, Evelyn makes a poor first impression on Appalachia. However, when her daughter succumbs to addiction, she is the first to organize a flight to Atlantic City to help her.
All the World's a Stage: Evelyn coerces Orlando to lend her Lennox's Vertibird to fly to Acee and helps figure out a way to gain some Devil's Blood. However, old grudges don't die easy.
Sins of the Father: While not directly involved, Evelyn will react in a variety of ways to the outcome of the quest. In a positive outcome, she might even try to settle into domestic life,[25] though she'll struggle at first to find a way to bond with Abbie after all these years. Family life is, after all, still a foreign idea and she has no idea what to expect, unlike with an audience.[26]
Other interactions[]
When outside a quest, Evelyn can be asked about her past and family relations. With Charisma 4+ and talking to Vin, she might be enlightened as to why Vin seems so meek in her presence.[17]
During All the World's a Stage, if the player reveals why Evelyn was in Atlantic City, an incredulous Vin asks his mother if she is crazy and says she is lucky to make it back alive. He asks her when she will think of her family for once, but Evelyn instead acts like the victim and blames her family for taking her stardom away from her. The two enter a brief argument.
If Abbie stays in AC while Vin also decides to go to AC, Evelyn will be disappointed.
"Oh, but both my children gone? A mother left to anguish in a cabin in the woods... I can hardly bear it."
"Poor girl. I can't stop thinking of her on her own out there. Well... it's out of my hands. My daughter is out there doing God knows what, hopped up on the literal blood of the Devil. Who knows if she's even still alive. *sigh* There's only so much you can do when someone refuses to be helped. Even if it is your little girl."
↑Vault 76 dweller: "What did you used to do in Atlantic City?" Evelyn Russo: "I sang in lounges, mostly. Soon enough, exclusive ones. They started booking places for me rather than booking me for a place. I was on top of the world. Biggest talent in the city! Then the war came. Priorities changed. The Showmen took advantage of the lawlessness, took advantage of people's primal ugliness, and stole everything from me. If I sound bitter it's because I am. Maybe I could have survived the world dying with my optimism intact, but to watch my dreams die with it? That's the real injury, for those of us that survived." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "How did you and Antonio meet?" Evelyn Russo: "Oh, he was an utter fool. Sat in the audience for one show and tried to book me at the Neapolitan's main stage. I told him casinos weren't my scene, but the money he offered… Now, you've no idea how many young gentlemen I had to fend off during those days. The flirtations, the roses, the breaches of privacy. Endless! But Antonio? The fool got me a private dressing room, bigger paychecks, free concessions all over the establishment. And he would hardly look my way. It wasn't his money I wanted. It was his independence, the authority and discipline he exuded. But he had no idea how to romance a woman... I soon had to take matters into my own hands. The rest, as they say, is history." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "So those hitmen were after Antonio all along." Evelyn Russo: "That seems to be the verdict. I knew Antonio was involved in the Blood trade; I didn't know he was the root of it. Too crafty for his own good, the cunning devil. Reminds me of the slick young gentleman I fell in love with. Against all rational insights, mind you. Perhaps we need a reminder of those days. A glass of wine by the fire. A perilous dance into the night. Maybe I can surprise him." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "Do you mind if I ask about your family?" Evelyn Russo: "I hope this isn't some attempt at counseling. Our American Dream didn't work out exactly as planned. Sue me for it." Vault 76 dweller: "I wasn't looking to counsel. Family is messy, I get it." Evelyn Russo: "They say it's life's most difficult and most rewarding endeavor. They are most certainly right on the former. But... I sometimes think about where I would be if I hadn't said yes. If I hadn't thrown caution to the wind. If I hadn't stuck around to raise little Vincenzo... and then Abigail. It feels like a string of reckless coincidences, but those were choices I made. Choices I wanted. In the end, life is much more vibrant with them around, don't you think?" (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "Aren't they completely different? You're way closer to your family." Evelyn Russo: "Oh yes. And that makes things even more... delicate. Instead of working with someone's expectations for an hour, you're working with their expectations for their entire life. Their hopes and dreams. The pressure is paralyzing. You look away for a moment to retain your own sanity, and when you look back, everything's moved on without you." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "What exactly did you do?" Evelyn Russo: "Nothing! When the industry changed, I could have fallen into obscurity, but I adapted. I catered to the masses without losing my own sanity. Those lunatics who are in charge of entertainment now - they call themselves artists, but they exile those who won't conform. Absolute madness." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "What happened to your career?" Evelyn Russo: "I was the best singer in Atlantic City! Everyone wanted me! Then the world ended, and... everyone changed. That Charlotte bitch started feeding them adrenaline in place of talent. I can't compete with a chemical reaction! My only chance to stay relevant was to join them. I became a Showman. I put my act on a dangerous high-rise, let people get off thinking they might see me topple to my death… But I have too much to live for. I was on wires the whole time. I fell one day and the jig was up. After that, the Showmen wanted my head. I need a chance to redeem myself. These people... they used to love me. They just need to be reminded of that." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "Who are the Showmen?" Evelyn Russo: "They're masochists who get off on risking their own lives in front of others. Once upon a time, people could appreciate simple talent. Now everyone's so depressed about the end of the world that the only way they can feel something is by pumping their adrenaline up to eleven. The Showmen make a living by capitalizing on that desire." Vault 76 dweller: "What can you tell me about Atlantic City?" Evelyn Russo: "Once a paradise, now a madhouse. Everyone lost their sanity after the bombs. The Showmen are the worst of all. Avoid them at all costs." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "What's wrong with you? Your children need you right now." Evelyn Russo: "Need me? The last time they needed me was when they were in diapers. Those unruly children learned the gift of language and have used it to complain ever since." Vault 76 dweller: "Yeah, this seems like a mess. I'd be frustrated too." Evelyn Russo: "Welcome to my life. Nothing has gone right since the bombs, and that's a damn long time to make the show go on." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "I didn't know Vin used to be involved with local government." Evelyn Russo: "He certainly did. Begged me not to tell his father, too, but that wasn't going to last. That boy is more responsible than I ever was. Wants to "make a difference", whatever that means. Well, I suppose performing does the same thing, when you get down to it. Just, a different kind of difference. An emotional one." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "So this is the real reason you came here? Not for Abbie." Evelyn Russo: "You and Vin have that situation handled. This family has never needed me. Antonio was always busy, and Abbie followed him like a dog. Vin handled everything around the house. But the crowd... they always loved me. I gave them something. I still have more to give." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Evelyn Russo: "I offer drinks, games, music, more excitement and luxury than this dreary mountain range has ever seen, and what do I get? An audience full of hitmen, a strung out daughter, and an unappreciative son. Just ridiculous. Nothing makes any sense any more." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "Vin wants you to come downstairs and help Abbie." Evelyn Russo: "Of course he does. And I'd like one thing in the last twenty years of my life to count as a success. Is that so much to ask for?" (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "You think pretty highly of yourself, don't you?" Evelyn Russo: "Oh, please. I'm in showbiz. The inflated confidence is tactical. Ever heard of a rock star who didn't act like they were God's gift to humankind? It's a persona. It makes people look up to them. Not to mention things are far more entertaining this way." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "You have a pretty strange way of speaking, yourself." Evelyn Russo: "Oh, please. I'm a performer! I learned from real life stage experience, not from sitting at home reading Shakespeare over and over, like that Orlando character must have. It's embarrassing to listen to!" (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑ 17.017.1Vault 76 dweller: "[Charisma 4+] Vin might think speaking up would only cause more trouble." Evelyn Russo: "What in heaven's name would make him think that? I'm his mother. And besides, accepting critique is a crucial part of my job. Nevermind the time I burned down the curtains at that awful theatre. It's the owner's fault for dismissing my talent. And that phony news company, they deserved to have their electric lines cut. It was a service to the city! Oh. I see your point." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "You didn't have to be so rude." Evelyn Russo: "Of course I didn't have to. We're all free people, aren't we? I take it upon myself to answer a pain in the ass with a full-body charley horse. At a minimum. Honestly. Do you not stick up for yourself?" (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "I hear you. People can be really confusing." Evelyn Russo: "Then again, that's what makes them so worthwhile. I'd rather a thousand complaints thrown my way than a crowd full of yes men, or dullards with no original ideas. People need to express themselves! Tell me how angry you are! Tell me what you hate about me! I'll throw it right back, of course, but... in the end we'll both know a little more about each other, won't we?" (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "Vin has ambitions he put on hold to take care of this family." Evelyn Russo: "I would never get in the way of Vin's ambitions! I'm his mother, of course I want him to succeed. You mean to tell me he's prioritizing family issues over his own career? That's... Well, I didn't expect that. Maybe I can do more to free up his plate. I've just been so distracted by, well... everything." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "Shouldn't you be more concerned about your daughter right now?" Evelyn Russo: "You think I'm not concerned? Let me ask you something. What do you do to destress? Read a comic? Listen to the radio? It's the apocalypse - maybe you go out and blow some heads off? Whatever it is, it's a distraction. A tool to stay sane under pressure. So don't you dare judge me for keeping my head above water. Much better to complain than have an emotional breakdown." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "Why are you here? I was planning to head to Atlantic City alone." Evelyn Russo: "Oh, you were, were you? And what was I supposed to do? Just leave my daughter's fate in the hands of some stranger hundreds of miles away? For all I know, you might throw back the Blood at your first opportunity. Then you'll find yourself splayed out naked on the Boardwalk two days later, choking on your own vomit. I suppose the Showmen would dispose of you before letting you bare your cheeks on their turf. Then where would that leave me? And Abbie?" (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "Your family does need you, now more than ever. Can't you see that?" Evelyn Russo: "Oh, nonsense. They were always complaining about me. Calling me a diva. Vin would tell me to get out of the way so he could do things properly. I'm nothing but a failure to them. They have no appreciation." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "Wait, then why did you even come here? Is this for Abbie, or something else?" Evelyn Russo: "Oh, don't be silly. *extended laughter* I'm like a handler. I have to be present to make sure you get the job done. That doesn't mean I'm going to be the one to do it. Don't you worry about what I'm occupied with. It'll just be a distraction." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "How's domestic life treating you?" Evelyn Russo: "Not so different from professional life, really. Same show, different venue. You play a role, manage conflicts, try and decipher what people want from you. I've never been good at that part." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
↑Evelyn Russo: "I don't take that for granted. We're going to have some much-needed... What do you call it? "Mother-daughter time"? What do you even do in those? Paint your nails? Gossip about the new boy about school? Oh, forget it. Maybe I can still pull out the vinyls and convince her to appreciate some fine art. I only wish I understood my place in all this. Being part of a family has always felt... foreign to me. I don't know what's expected. Even if I try, I can't do anything right. I understood how to please an audience, but now that's gone too." (Evelyn Russo's dialogue)
