POWER DESCRIPTIONS

Jae's siren song is the first of his powers to manifest. When activated, Jae's voice becomes a conduit for his will, impressing it upon those who hear it. It isn't a strong ability and he hasn't managed to use it with merely a speaking voice; he must be singing to have any hope of passing along his will, his emotions. When it does work it's a fairly subtle thing. Jae can't make someone do anything truly against their will but it's more of a mental suggestion. His voice, backed by his intent, can sway someone in his favor or be more receptive to liking him a bit better. 

As for his sonic voice, that's something this young man is loathe to think about. Conversely, it is very strong and awoke all unbidden. When he projects his voice loud enough he can cause severe vibrations that can cause disorientation in living things and even structural damage in more extreme cases. It always leaves his throat feeling strained when he uses the sonic abilities of his voice but that isn't the thing that keeps him from utilizing it. It's fear. 

APPEARANCE

Jae is tall; that's the first thing people tend to notice about him. At close to six feet, and with some growth left in him, Jae isn't too hard to spot in the average crowd. His skin is a soft brown, a mixture of his mother's creamy, pale skin and his father's darker skin, also of a mixed heritage. His hair and eyes are dark, a product of both his parents' genetics. The former takes more after his father's though, thick and coarse and tightly curled; which he wears it in long dreadlocks. As for the later they look more like his mother's; inky and heavy-lidded. Much to his own dismay, he needs glasses but he uses contacts more often than not.

His attire tends to look rather nice in a casual sort of way. He got into the habit of dressing well when he was still a bit in the media's eyes and continues to do so. He likes bold colors and designs with a bit of pop but tends not to wear anything too terribly loud. When in uniform he follows the rules to a tee and when out of uniform he always looks presentable even when dressed causally. Hell, even his pajamas look pretty decent.

PERSONALITY

All in all, Jae is an easygoing sort of guy. He's polite and rather sensitive to other's moods, so he's always keen not to ruffle any feathers. He has a quiet sort of charisma born largely, in part, to his genuine desire to hear from everyone. Somehow, he always seems entirely genuine and earnest. That, of course, is because he largely is.

Jae genuinely likes people and wants people to be happy and feel good and generally unburdened. He's always willing to lend an ear or a gentle word of advice, and he is very slow to anger. Once angered he rarely stays so for long, preferring to let negativity go as best he can.

He is, unfortunately, a rather melancholy sort of guy. For all he tries to let go of negativity, and as much as he tries to help others cheer up, he sure does a piss poor job with himself. Jae takes upon himself the weight of far more than he should and it's slowly crushing him.

BIOGRAPHY

Talent. It's something everyone wants but not everyone takes the time to cultivate. Talent, after all, isn't just some whim of fate. Everyone has the potential to be talented at something but it takes time and so very much effort to apply one's self.  Jae wasn't afraid to work hard. Born in South Korea, but raised in the northeastern United States, he had ample opportunity to live up to his potential. His father's side of the family wasn't wealthy but they were all hard workers. His father was a teacher who had traveled to Korea to teach English. Before that he had done two semesters abroad in Korea and had come away with the deep friendship of Eun-suh, the daughter of his host family. During his time teaching, that friendship grew into love and the two of them were married.

Eun-suh was from a wealthy family, but that was no deterrent. Her family had come to be quite fond of Nate, so no one was surprised when they were engaged and eventually married. The trouble came from the fact that Nate was not a fair-skined man and when their child was born it was clear that he was of mixed race.  As a culture, Korea was less than welcoming of that sense of other and, while Nate had grown up with his own race issues in the US but he wasn't liking the idea of his little boy being so very different in a society that frowned upon differences. So he and Eun-suh moved to the United States and settled outside of New York.

Life for Jae began fairly quietly.  He had a little sister a few years after his own birth. He made friends with the other neighborhood kids and sang in the children's choir at church on Sundays. When he started school he was eager to learn and quite well behaved. Even when he struggled with mathematics, his teachers always had glowing praises of him and his behavior.  He was very much an American little kid, but his mother was determined that he would also know of his Korean heritage. As such, there were many family vacations to visit her family back in Korea over the years. Jae grew up bilingual, speaking English and Korean with both of his parents and his little sister. 

As he grew up his love of music only grew with him. Whenever he could get away with singing he would, and he was a lovely boy soprano until his voice began to change during puberty. He was sad for a little while; he couldn't hit notes the same way anymore after all. But as he went on his voice settled into a beautiful tenor, as smooth as mahogany silk.  But  his voice wasn't the only thing Jae had been cultivating.

It had begun with writing poetry. That, in turn, had turned into writing song lyrics to go with the tunes he often composed in his head.  School talent shows gave way to county shows which gave way to Jae being scouted by a talent scout. He, they told the boy and his parents, was brimming with raw (and not so raw) talent. It didn't take much convincing for Jae to take his first steps towards  a music career.

By middle school he was touring, though a private tutor was always in tow to assure his education was up to par. He was seen as a protege musician who stood out from the crowd not only in talent but in appearance as well. His mixed heritage gave him an allure no one had expected.

His family ties in Korea helped cement a short summer tour overseas where he opened for a few other musicians and expanded his fanbase into Asia. By the time he started his freshman year of high school he had made more money than his father to date and his whole family was very proud of how he was handling everything. He was sending money to his grandparents on both sides (though his maternal grandparents hardly needed it) and set aside the bulk of his earnings for his eventual college career. Everything was looking bright and promising for this young man.

Then the Incident happened. Jae was performing at a new venue in New York City when his sonic voice awakened. Amplified by the sound equipment his voice caused sonic waves that damaged the infrastructure of the building. Jae and the other musicians performing that night all made it out of the ensuing chaos more or less intact, but there had been casualties. 

Ten people had died that night, crushed in a freak accident by a falling metal beam. Many, many more had been injured. No one knew the exact cause of the accident but the venue was taking the fall as only poor structural integrity made sense for such a thing. Jae, who had known about his other power for years, was devastated. He was certain it was his lesson for trying to increase the effect of his coercive songs. No one was meant to use powers like that and this was what he got for trying to play God. It had been a miracle the casualties were so low all things considering.

Amidst the ensuing media storm, Jae dropped off the radar. Initially he refused to leave his room, swamped with guilt and self-loathing, but when another scout came a-knocking it got his attention. It was a scout for Aurora Academy, of course, and Jae was urged to attend with promises that they would help him control his vocal powers.

And so he did. Transferring in as a third year, Jae spoke very little and only when pressed. He was afraid, despite reassurances, that things could get out of control very quickly once again. He couldn't handle any more deaths on his conscious. Ten almost killed him as it was; ten perfectly normal people who had just been out for a concert never made it home. Jae wasn't willing to risk anyone else's life but his own at that point.

Now in his last year, the troubled young man is more prone to speak and communicate with his peers but he is much subdued from the friendly boy he once was. He never raises his voice, neither in joy nor aggravation, and seldom speaks above a mummer. His powers haven't run out of control like that fateful night a few years ago, but Jae doesn't trust them not to.

> MAGI; KASSIM <