Wen Keyi

Arcane academic with a natural grasp of execution but who thrives on theory.

• Too skinny
• Lanky without being particularly tall (5'9'')
• Glasses (nearsighted)
• Fluffy blue-black hair
• Eyebags; always looks at least a little sleep-deprived
• Generally a noodle
• Dresses business casual even off the clock; his main exception is big cozy sweaters
• Wears a lot of layers since he's always cold
• Has some fancier and incongruously fashionable pieces from his sister who works in fashion
• A little vain in that he cares how he looks and comes off to people; a lot more relaxed about it with people he knows well
• Generally looks put together, if often tired

• Fluffy and harmless looking but not actually particularly soft
• Unsentimental, a bit of a workaholic
• Has a flair for the dramatic
• Unabashedly uses illusions to keep his classes engaging, which makes him somewhat popular with students, though he's very careful to keep a professional distance from them
• Adventurous, but mostly magically
• Not a party boy, but not hard to drag along with some persistence
• Keeps meticulous notes on topics of interest but often careless about interpersonal matters
• His personal spaces are best described as “organized chaos,” meaning they often look cluttered or messy but he knows where everything is
• Basically impossible to pry away from something once he really gets going so it's advisable to preemptively stop him if you're supposed to have plans
• Fairly easygoing, if it's not about work or magic
• Catty, but generally in a plausibly deniable way, unless amongst friends
• Has a difficult time being vulnerable and will deflect if allowed
• Generally plays nice in public, regardless of his actual feelings, though he can be pushed past that point
• Honestly just a little mean, and prone to being judgemental; will just say it to your face if you're close enough
• Has an English name he has not used since he was forced to in K12 and generally does not respond to it; no he will not tell you what it is. He'll just keep correcting people until they pronounce his name correctly, it's not that hard :)
• The type to do something terrifying with a straight face
• Loves praise and attention a lot, though he sometimes pretends not to care
• Can be arrogant in his areas of expertise but it's less likely to activate if you pitch him something as a theoretical/in a way that pings his science brain instead
• Always working on sometimes questionable experiments, magically or professionally or some unholy mix of both
• Tends to show off unintentionally and be extremely blasé about it (what, like it's hard?)
• That said, when he shows off on purpose it tends to be very big and splashy

• Adept witch specializing in illusions and natural magic
• Has a banded linsang familiar named Orbit, though he often refers to her as xiao gui or “little monster” in Mandarin
• His illusion specialization is the more developed, in that it's the one he's worked hard to master, and he's very good at it – he could be quite dangerous with it if he chose to be, trapping someone in an illusory world
• Naturalism, on the other hand, has always been easier and more instinctive to him; he's always talking to plants and animals and coaxing things to grow or healing small animals
• Capable of an immense level of focus
• Theory-brained – it's cool that he can do this, but he also wants to know why and how
• Fluent in Mandarin Chinese
• Excellent at claw machines and carnival games
• Very high stamina stat though physically he's mostly useless

• Born in Cupertino, CA to immigrant parents
• Mother is from the Sichuan area of China; father is from Malaysia but of Chinese descent
• Mother is from a long line of witches, father is mundane, though he has witches in his ancestry in the not-too-distant past
• Has two elder sisters, also witches
• Growing up, spent summers alternating between his parents' families, maternal grandmother often came to the States to help with the kids when they were smaller
• Grew up a bit spoiled since he's the youngest and only boy, but a generally unremarkable childhood
• Became fascinated with space in fifth grade science class; had his heart set on studying the cosmos by middle school
• Did his BS in physics at UC Irvine
• Completed an astronomy PhD at UCLA
• Keyi and his sisters were mainly taught by their mother and maternal relatives growing up, he didn't really join a formal circle until getting involved with the Witch Student Union in grad school, which ended up going public during the final year of his PhD
• Dad was not particularly surprised when People of Alternate Species were revealed; “hey are you a witch” “yes and the children too” was a three minute dinner conversation, after which Dad confirmed his knowledge in the family group chat as they were emptynesters at that point
• Bounced around CA a bit during his postdoc, then moved to Amber Hollow in 2022 for an Assistant Professorship

• Wen Zhixuan (文制炫 ): Father; the classic phlegmatic Asian dad, works in tech, extremely sparing with praise. They get along fine.
• Tang Lirong (唐丽蓉): Mother; strict but overall supportive. Used to work part time to help make ends meet but eventually quit to focus on the kids once dad's job stabilized. Probably has some kind of witchy side hustle she doesn't talk about. Divination and natural specializations.
• Wen Kena (文科娜): Eldest sister; works in finance, married with children. Get along well, but not particularly close. Divination specialization.
• Wen Kelan (文科兰): 2nd elder sister; works in fashion, has a live-in partner with no intention of marrying, family member Keyi is closest to. Based in LA and bullied Keyi into helping with her work and showcases all the time when he was there for school. There are a lot of photos of him in Outfits. Illusion specialization.