Character Bio

West was born to a family of couriers/postal workers in a Solnersk, a city near the northern border of the Empire of Stozhary. His family was Jewish, and had established themselves as the couriers of choice in the city. He was the oldest of his siblings, of whom except for him and his younger brother Meilyr died in early childhood. He himself was expected to die due to his constantly-poor health. Because of that, his parents treasured him, readily supporting him in socially transition from female to male when he declared he was a boy at age eight.

West was an angry child, lashing out at other kids who teased him for being sickly and for being Jewish as well as at kids that he thought pitied him. He would often get into fights during school, leading to poor grades despite his intelligence. Outside of school he worked, helping the family business by delivering some of the easier packages, learning the city's layout extremely well in the process. He would often squabble with Meilyr and his assorted cousins, especially Enfys.

When he was 17 he began his three years of military service just as the Second Andromedan War broke out . After basic training he was sent to the front lines and his superior asked for volunteers for trench runners to work delivering messages between groups of troops. Not knowing how dangerous it would be and having some experience delivering messages, he volunteered. He quickly regretted this: trench runners were some of the most likely on the front to die, since they had to leave the safety of the trenches to run above ground, often in the midst of battle, and were the prime targets of snipers. In order to not weigh them down they were given only small armaments and limited ammunition. West was one of the few who survived for more than a year as a trench runner, though not without many close calls and witnessing many of his fellows die in front of his eyes.

After the war, he returned home but found he couldn't fit into his family anymore. While he loved them, he felt stifled working the family business, and soon left to make his own way with his parent's blessing. He had always dream of being a detective, and joined the city's armed forces in order to pursue that dream. He proved to be an effective (though abrasive) member of the Enforcement department, and after several years transferred to the more prestigious Special Forces. There, he was paired with newcomer to the city Saul Sibiryakov in hopes that their strengths would compliment each other.

While they got off to a rocky start, West and Saul quickly became fond of each other, growing extremely close over the years even as Saul eventually pursued further advancement and became West's superior while he was content to remain as a detective. He's a respected though disliked member of SF, known for his skill in undercover work and tracking.

Personality

West is a very abrasive, bad-tempered man. He enjoys getting under the skin of others and provoking them; the people who get along best with him recognize that he's not genuinely malicious most times, he's just very rude. He's very sarcastic, and curses frequently.

West is very confident and self-assured,; it takes quite a bit to make him question himself. He's aware of his own flaws, but doesn't see them as worth changing: he sees it as who he is, and if people don't like it that's not his problem. Because of this, he makes few friends; the ones he does have he treasures, even if he has a hard time admitting it. He's not much for open displays of affection, but he is extremely loyal to those he cares for.

Deep down, West is an idealist: he's kept at his job where he routinely sees the worst of humanity because he truly believes he's making a positive difference in the world. He is pugnacious and enjoys arguing with people, but tends to tends to avoid actual fights unless he's confident he can win; he only kills if all other options fail. He enjoys painting and sketching, though he's very private about it; only Saul regularly gets to see his work.

MAIN THEME: "Is There Somewhere", BY Hasley

PLaylist

“Very Good Bad Thing”, Mother Mother
“You’ll Always Be My Best Friend”, Relient K
“How to Embrace a Swamp Creature”, The Mountain Goats
"Continental Op", Roy Gallagher
“400 Lux”, Lorde
“I'll Hold My Breath”, Ellie Goulding
“Chasing Twisters”, Delta Rae
"Delilah", Florence + the Machine
“House of Memories”, Panic! At The Disco
“Breaking”, Anberlin
“Tear In My Heart”, Twenty One Pilots
"Matches to Paper Dolls", Dessa
“Plane Vs Tank Vs Submarine”, Tigers Jaw
"Swing Life Away", Rise Against
"I of the Storm", Of Monsters And Men
"Honest", The Neighborhood
"The Captain and the Hourglass", Laura Marling
“Ophelia”, The Lumineers
“Into the Fire (Acoustic)”, Thirteen Senses
"Broadripple Is Burning", Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
"Is There Somewhere", Halsey
"Fireproof", The National