WESLEY STRIKE

open your eye now close it again tell me what do you see i see myself but never your failures

every night it's the same dream. every day it's the same pursuit. they can all see it in you, why bother trying to hide it? your gaze stays fixed towards and your smile playful. if it's madness they wish to see, you will happily show it.

❝ C O G I T O E R G O S U M ❞

if equivalent exchange is the rule of the universe, then something was created when he was destroyed. you will find it. you will turn it back. through whatever means necessary. you repeat it like a safety net.

HOME
BIO
HISTORY
HOOKS
BONUS: SENSES

guidelines . . .

i tend to prefer play-by-post over live RP, but i'm comfortable with either style
prefer not to write with minors, sorry!
i like writing stories with a darker/mature focus and body horror, but it's by no means the only genre i enjoy! i also love good old-fashioned adventuring and friendship persevering above all, so feel free to pitch me any kind of idea you may have!

ooc minnow (any/all , 21+)
timezone GMT-6
languages eng/esp

ON THE TOPIC OF THE SENSES

001 Sight. Vision. Visionary. One missing eye is not enough to stop you from seeing the truth. There are secrets at the heart of the universe, confidences it would keep from you - you will not permit it. You've seen secrets disguising themselves as your failures. You've seen them for what they really are. 002 Feel. Touch. Manipulate. The world is yours to shape and change. If something does not change, it may as well be dead. You hate everything dead. Life's final inertia is your greatest foe. You will see it defeated. Through whatever means necessary. 003 Smell. Scent. Signature. All too sterile; formaldehyde and ethanol, a sin both preserved and scrubbed away, but ever present. It follows you into the room; it makes noses wrinkle and brows furrow. You can pretend it's just the smell. It's just the smell.

004 Hear. Listen. Understand. Nothing escapes your notice. You listen to the whispers of the world and those who inhabit it. You heard the last words he ever spoke. You did. They are yours, and yours alone. 005 Taste. Flavor. Feed. You can't bear anything stronger than half-stale bread. It all tastes like flames to you. There is a perpetual taste of rust under your tongue, a discomfort within your maw. You bit your cheek taking a bite of the world. Now you can't help but worry the wound. 006 Cogito. Ergo. Sum. You think, and that's why you are. You are. Despite it all, you are.And he is not.

DOSSIER

the first thing most will notice about Wesley is the burn scars that cover half of his face as well as much of his body. the second thing is the obsession that is pervasive in his one visible eye. his appearance seems somewhat sickly, perhaps malnourished.wesley puts his all into everything he does, for better or worse. he's as studious as one would expect from a student of sharlayan, and he will often neglect his own well-being for the sake of advancing whatever project or focus he's fixated on in a given moment. he is also eager to please authority figures, and seeks approval wherever possible.

NAME
Wesley Strike NICKNAME/ALIAS
wes, if you're feeling brave TITLES
aetherologist AGE
21 GENDER & PRONOUNS
male, he/him ORIENTATION
gay RACE
midlander hyur

BIRTHPLACE
gridania CURRENT RESIDENCE
sharlayan OCCUPATION
student; researcher

OF PARTICULAR NOTE

though he has a good relationship with his mentors, he has not formed a peer to peer bond with anyone since Kailent's death. this has made him somewhat asocial, preferring to keep relationships professional wherever possible. he particularly struggles to connect to people his age.
wesley has always been precocious, and one instance of hubris hasn't been enough to curb his ambitions of academic greatness. he largely considers himself above his peers and even some of his elders.
the sage job crystal wesley wears on his breast is dull and colourless.

LISTEN TO YOUR HEARTBEAT.

HISTORY

born in gridania to leatherworker parents, wesley always aspired to something more. he began with a study of conjury and quickly turned his attention to the finer details of aetherology. his diligence in his work earned him a place in sharlayan's studium, where he met kailent bribusant, an elezen who would quickly become his academic partner and best friend.together, the two of them began work on an experimental theory for aetheric manipulation - the displacement of the soul's aether between vessels . it was meant to be the project that would earn them a place as archons, but alas, it was not to be. the experiment went catastrophically wrong, and kailent perished in the aftermath, while wesley sustained severe injuries. though he eventually recovered, he lost all sight in his left eye.

following the incident, wesley found himself shunned by most of the other students, who found his newly obsessive personality off-putting - to say nothing of the rumors surrounding kailent's demise. the one exception to this was an upperclassman by the name of ju'uk imi, who took wesley under his wing until the former's graduation.even after ju'uk's departure, the hrothgar continued to watch over wesley, offering him a position as an intern in the clinic he had found himself employed at. wesley now divides his time between finishing his degree in sharlayan and studying traditional medicine under ju'uk and gale lark in the dalmascan practice of The Second Chance.at least, this is what he does publicly.

privately, he's continued the work that took kailent's life, and remains firmly convinced that greater powers were at play that night - that someone, or something took kailent from him.he will do whatever it takes, join forces with whoever necessary, to reverse the exchange.

XVI. THE TOWER

the clock ticks to 12:00am. this is the moment it all falls apart.everything blows up in your face. literally. flames scald your skin and though you close your eyes, you already know one is lost. after all, this is not the first time you've been here.it's the least of the price you will pay.

the clock ticks to 11:59pm. this is the moment it all comes together.everything you've been working towards is culminating in this moment. all the sleepless hours spent in the labs with your partner, every failed hypothesis, every chocobo chick you lost. everything is perfectly measured; every i dotted, every t crossed.the clock ticks to 12:00am, and none of it matters.he is dead in your arms. you know this despite the melting flesh and tears clouding your vision. everything was right, so the only explanation is someone - or something - interfered. it has to be. because the alternative is failure, and you don't fail. not here. you didn't fail him.the clock ticks to 12:01am. you open your eye. every night it's the same dream. they can all see it in you, why bother trying to hide it?

the funeral is a quiet affair - or so you hear. his parents will not allow you to see him. you cannot bring yourself to care. it's inconsequential; you will see him yourself in due time, once this wrong is reversed.the hushed voices follow you through the halls. killer. killer. killer. nobody says it, but you hear it in your mind. how strange - after all, you did not kill him.

HOOKS

STUDENT OF SHARLAYAN

wesley is a student in sharlayan's studium.if your character is involved with the studium, be it as a student or as a professor, they'll have likely run into him, and possibly heard about the terrible incident which claimed a student's life not that long ago.

physician's apprentice

wesley is working as an intern of sorts in a private practice in dalmasca. if your character found themselves in need of healing in that area, they may have ended up in the care of him and his mentors. if so, they might find his bedside manner was somewhat... lacking, and his methods unorthodox.

gridanian native

wesley spent his childhood in gridania sticking his nose into whichever book he could get his hands on. if your character also grew up in gridania, it's possible they may have met back when wesley was still full of real life - not the mania that drives him now.

whatever it takes

wesley is willing to go to any lengths to accomplish his goals, morals be damned. maybe it's dubious experiments. maybe it's self-neglect. but wesley is willing to reach out to the darker and shadier parts of the star in order to get what he needs.maybe you are part of them.