Wendell

• Born c. 1929 in Rouen, France. The youngest of two children; his older sister, Marguerite, is six years his senior. 
• The Laflèche’s are borderline circus royals; his grandfather, one of the great Equestrian riders of the 19th century, founded Cirque de Phénomènes in the late-1800’s.
  • 1848 – Andre Laflèche is born is born to a poor, single mother. 
  • 1876 – He proposes to a wealthy young woman, Appoline, five years his senior. The pairing is frowned upon by the girl’s parents, who threaten to disown her should she accept. They marry that spring, and are with child by autumn. The marriage is full of ups and downs. Mostly downs.
  • 1883 – Andre scrapes together enough money (primarily life savings and what little is left to him by his mother) to found Cirque de Phénomènes. After nearly two years of emotional and financial strain and instability, Andre’s wife, Appoline, files for divorce the following year. He gains full custody of their only child; seven year old Sebastien-Andre. 
  • 1886 – The cirque’s first show after years of financial setback. It’s a monumental success. The troupe begins touring around France immediately. Competition is in no short supply, but the company does well for themselves. 
    • Sebastien is raised waist deep in the circus scene, and urges his father to adapt to the times at the turn of the new century. By 1901, Equestrian shows are dated; he pleas instead they invest in larger animals, trained performers, all the bells and whistles of professional big top attractions. Bitterly, Andre swallows his pride, he allows his son to take the reins for a period of time. 
    • Sebastien reinvents their small sideshow into a proper extravaganza— he invests in elephants, tigers, fire swallowers and the finest trapeze artists Mascow had to offer, one such being sixteen year old Klara Popov. 
  • 1907 – Sebastien’s renovations are an unrivaled success. They travel through Europe; he proposes to Klara Popov in the winter of 1910. She declines, but they remain close. 
  • 1911 – Andre dies of a heart attack. The circus is left to Sebastien, who feels compelled to carry on his legacy. He attempts to propose again in 1913, but is declined once more. 
  • 1918 – The peak of Cirque de Phénomènes’ popularity. Klara proposes to Sebastien on the 35^th anniversary of the circus’ founding. They’re married within the same week. 
• Wendell, like his father, is raised in the constant spotlight of the big top. He’s a jack of all trades from childhood; an excellent rider, featured in a handful of trapeze acts alongside his mother and elder sister by nine, taming lions by fourteen, and dancing with elephants by eighteen. He’s charismatic, funny, and well-liked by audiences. 
• Late in 1948, tragedy strikes the Laflèche family. A fire destroys the troupe’s tent and a majority of their equipment; many are injured, and a handful die. Sebastien and Klara Laflèche are of the casualties. What remains is left to Marguerite, who (alongside Wen) is overwrought with grief. The pair are left to sort through the ashes of their families legacy, and the small mountain of business-related debt accumulated by both their father and grandfather. The fall of the Laflèche family makes headlines as Marguerite and Wendell are forced to sell what is left of their childhood. Rival cirques are quick to buy off their remaining performers and small stock of exotic animals. 
• By 1950 not much remains of Cirque de Phénomènes but an elephant or two and a handful of exotic cats. Wendell finds work as a cage cleaner in a small Paris zoo while Marguerite, unwilling to let go of her roots, attempts to find work within the big top circuit. The outcome is disappointment upon disappointment, and the siblings reluctantly decided to sell the last of their inheritance. It doesn’t take long before they receive a substantial offer, though the buyer is far beyond just another petty carnival rival. 
• Andrew Ryan, a self-made man, pens the Laflèche’s with interest in purchasing their animals for his very own city zoo. Rapture, he calls it— though neither sibling has a clue where it is. They express their concern, unwilling to write off their livestock to potentially unsavory characters, and Mr. Ryan counters with an invitation. The pair agree, and within a few months they see Ryan’s Rapture themselves. Captivated, they agree to sell their animals to Andrew at the price of admission. He agrees and by 1951 the Laflèche’s are living alongside their friendly beasts under the sea. 
• Marguerite thrives in Rapture’s artistic nature. She befriends those of the Fort Frolic scene; Sander Cohen and his fledglings, Anna Culpepper, and a handful of others. She uses a lifetime of acrobatics to preform to the denizens of Rapture, and becomes increasingly popular. She urges Wendell to join her in Frolic, and for a time he does. 
•  The Laflèche Duo take Fort Frolic by storm with small trapeze acts and acrobatic dancing. Marguerite relishes the return of the limelight, but Wendell begins to grow tired of the constant public eye. By 1952 he’s approached by Sander Cohen— an admitted admirer of the pair— and offers to take Wendell under his wing as an artistic disciple. Wendell respectfully declines. Cohen feigns graciousness. 
• Wendell preforms with Marguerite until 1954. Upon hearing the Rapture Zoo is finally prepared for the public, he quickly reaches out to those in charge. Due to his long standing repertoire with a handful of exotic animals, he’s given an internship under senior zoologists.  He’s reunited with longtime friends— an elephant pair named Poussin & Canard— and settles into his new profession with contented ease.
• Neither sibling is prepared for the civil war when it comes, and by Rapture’s fall the Laflèche’s are separated and ultimately fall out of contact. Wen has since locked himself up from within The Rapture Zoo, refusing to leave or lift the lock down. 

     PERSONALITY 

• Wendell, prior to coming to Rapture, was happy to be the center of attention. His time in the circus circuit cultivated him into a peppy jokester, a child star—audiences saw him undergo a variety of different roles in a single show; from heckler to boisterous ringmaster to L'incroyable Garçon Volant. He excelled in acrobatic feats as a child, but found his heart in beast taming in his teen years. Wendell has worked with lions, elephants, and horses extensively. 
• He always wanted to be his father; charismatic and self-assured, Wendell mimicked his father’s walk and talk well into his early adulthood. Losing Sebastian was devastating, but allowed Wendell to begin self-discovery while in the grieving process. 
• By the time he and his sister roll into Rapture, Wen is sort of burned out on the whole preforming thing. Unlike his sister, Wendell finds his time away from the circus to be enlightening. As a child he enjoyed the hustle and bustle and chaos— but as a young man? He enjoys the peace and quiet of a more normal profession. This isn’t to say he shies away from parties or social circles (try as he may, Wen is a showmen either at heart or by habit), only that he no longer wishes to be under the unnerving, constant watch of the public eye. 
• When he decides to go back to preforming with Marguerite, it’s more out of guilt than not. His sister is desperate for a taste of home, for the old days, and Wendell is nothing if not weak when it comes to his big sis. During his time in Fort Frolic, he dabbles in ADAM— using a good deal recreationally for a myriad of different reasons. It’s since caused a bit of psychosis. 
  • Wendell is still in his right mind. For the most part, anyway. He has vivid hallucinations and is prone to hearing voices due to pervious ADAM usage. The visions and such typically come in waves, and bring on violent panic attacks afterward. It isn’t atypical for Wen to feel a spell coming on. 
  • He is TERRIFIED he could hurt someone as a result of the hallucinations or panic attacks. Wendell dislikes splicers, knows they’re hardly people anymore, but still wouldn’t want to kill anyone. 
  • That said, he has killed a handful that have crawled in through the vents. 
• Does not like Sander Cohen at all. The dude weirded him out, but he tolerated Sander for the sake of his sister. The whole “be my disciple” thing is admittedly part of the reason Wen pulled himself from Marguerite’s show. Shit was getting too weird. 
• He’s sort of an anxious mess all the time. Wants really badly to find his sister but he’s scared to fucking death what the rest of Rapture looks like right about now. He’s dedicated his time and efforts to keep the animals in Rapture Zoo alive and content— if only because keeping busy keeps him sane. The only time he leaves the locked down zoo is in order to make supply runs to the Market. 
• He says he isn’t interested in making friends because he’s convinced all the “normal” people in Rapture are already dead but… my dude, he is so terrified and lonely he’s willing to give people a chance despite his better judgement. 
• Makes lots of morbid jokes. Thinks he could be a pretty good Spider if ever he completely loses his mind. 
• Defaults to speaking French when he’s frustrated or upset. Hums when bored. Thinks about home a lot in his spare time. 
• He hordes crossword puzzles. All of them he’s done about a thousand times, but at least it’s something.

Additional Info:

• fc used is robert mitchum.

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