welcome to forks, jae tanner. the population just gained another vampire. I suppose a lot of us will know you as the music lover, your vibe is all about beats blasting in ears on a noisy & crowded day, beatboxing along to a song on the radio, and a mischievous smile at confused faces. I heard you have vocal mimicry … interesting. When you’re not being a singer (online), you’ll always be found at second beach. I’m sure the nomads will be pleased to know you’ve been here for a month, as we all are !!
jae tanner, born on november 5, 1970 in manhattan, new york, was the son of a conservative strict mother and a rough around the edge father with a secret background.
his real name was tan jae kyung.
his mother worked as a cashier for a korean supermarket and his father did jobs that ... that didn’t require him to pay taxes. they went like this until he was eight, when they had enough money to own a korean restaurant, which he himself worked in until their closing
growing up, he learned the korean language and customs, but kept his “asian” side at home when he was with his friends. he also grew up with a big love for his father. it drove his mother crazy when he did bad things in his teens years, something his father encouraged.
his father was the start of jae’s introduction to his voice alteration abilities he has now. his father was the first to noticed how jae’s tone frequently changed when he spoke korean and english and how he mimicked his family and friends. his father, a man who also had the ability to adjust his voice, taught him certain techniques regarding the throat and nasal cavity to adjust his voice to resemble others.
(headcanon: mr. tan was a con artist who called old people and pretend to be the irs or their family needing money. mrs. tan didn’t know about this.)
his first test was with his mother, mimicking his own father. it took him a few trials before he succeeded.
with this learning experience from his father and the growing boom of beatboxing in harlem, jae took it a step higher, incorporating the skills he learned from his father in his beat box. he did pretty well with his talent and could have been compared to the o.g. beat boxers if he stuck around.
beatboxing unfortunately for jae was also his demise when a vampire named daniel took notice of his talent and turned him one night on his way home.
kidnapped and kept at daniel’s place, he woke up a new person, and livid at the man who changed him. he attempted to go home but stopped after nearly killing his mother. he attempted to kill daniel multiple times afterwards.
he stuck with daniel and committed a lot of petty crime with his ability; making jae grow to despise his creator ‘cause the deeds he did reminded him of home. he left once he knew he wouldn’t be followed, and that was shorty after daniel found a new subject who accepted him as a mate.
free from daniel, he learned to adjust to his life as a vampire by himself. he lived in a cabin for a few years before traveling and living in motels from time to time. his tolerance of blood was better when he fed extra before going into a town to spend time around humans.
(he got lonely sometimes, don’t blame him ... and beatboxing and doing voices for humans to get money was a plus!)
[he spoke in a thick korean accent and told people red eye contacts were popular in korea when asked about how he looked]
when the internet came along, he used the venue to his advantage and sold noise tracks, voice recordings, and other things to make a better buck. by this point, he adopted the name jae tanner to gain more customers; he was also really popular in the indie field.
by the news of the cullens, he decided to go to forks to see what the story is all about.
vocal mimicry
vocal mimicry is the ability to mimic someone’s voice perfectly. jae has had a talent for it since he was a child and the practice with his father helped solidify his chances of this ability.
for jae, he just needs to hear a little snippet of someone’s voice to be able to mimic their voice completely. he has used this in his music sales, selling snippets of his voice for backups and other uses, and has also used it to lure people in when they don’t come with him for him to feed.