[Phantom]

Jason Ryan Jae

Full Name: Jason Ryan Jae
Pronouns: He/him & They/them
Nicknames: Jace/Jase, Jay, JJ
Age: 26
Gender: Nonbinary
Room #: -
Birthplace: Charleston, South Carolina
Birthday: December 12th
Orientation: Pansexual
Status: Single
Powers: Shadow Camouflage, Shadow Interaction
Play-By: Bloo
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 156 lbs


Personality:
Jason is an adventurous, fun-loving individual, he's also a little too courageous for his own good. If he wants something done, he'll find a way to do it- even if he has to look both ways and wait for an opportunity to sneak in. They're incredibly spontaneous- used to just deciding on whim to stow away on a month-long Antarctic cruise. As a creative behind the lens (whether your bog standard photo or video camera,) Jason is a very observant person- they firmly believe there's a truth that's only captured in the image.

Given his nature, Jason is something of a loner. When they're trying to get "the shot" Jace doesn't have much in the way of limits or inhibitions- they're not a creep by any means, but they'll do what they've gotta do! To the point that they've put themselves directly in harm's way more than a few times. There's something quite pure about them, and it's obvious in the films and footage they produce- although sometimes Jason gets artistic- it really just depends on what mood they're in when editing.

Jason lives by the 3 D's- Dirty, Dangerous, and Difficult. He's a very clumsy person, and has tripped into things that he doesn't ever want to describe out loud to someone else. It's not uncommon for him to come back from an expedition with dirt, cuts, and bruises all over his face and body. Although Jason knows his passion- he very rarely has any kind of goal or aim. He just takes off wherever and uses or publishes what he manages to get. There is something disconcerting about the way that they almost throw themself into danger to get the pictures or footage they want- almost like they have no sense of self, or self-preservation.

They're just a strange person living a strange life. While Jace is usually quite earnest, there's something a little gloomy about them. Despite their bad habits, Jace is a very gentle person. He cares deeply about other people, and tries to be a decent person. Jason firmly believes some rules are meant to be broken- and they have jumped a lot of fences. They're also willing to wait around until just the right time of day to hitch a ride behind someone, or to get the perfect lighting. If there's anything to be said about them, it's that they're dedicated to their craft.

History:
Jason's childhood home was a... very lived in little abode at the edge of the city. They lived there with their father, who was almost always working- their mother, who picked up shifts at the community center- and their older sister who, once she started school, was very, very popular. If a tornado ever passed through on the right track, they were pretty sure it would just collapse in on itself.

They didn't have much back then, but Jace never felt it. It might be surprising, but they weren't born with a camera in their hand. For the first five years of their life, the only cameras Jason knew existed were disposable ones.

Unlike his sister, when he started school, Jason was not very popular.

He wasn't a total outcast either, but he found himself always sitting on the edges. Academically he did well enough- he obviously had special interests with the way his grades skewed, but he wasn't bombing, even in his "worst" subjects. In a sense, Jace was an early bloomer- they ruled at hide and go seek. Nobody could ever find him! Of course, there was that time that he was left at the park by accident, but how was he supposed to know they were leaving?

Sometimes they didn't know how to turn it off- which was mighty inconvenient. They would literally disappear if someone flicked a light switch off. Movie days were always interesting- they'd try and sit as close to the TV as possible so they'd be visible. At some point, they did get the hang of it. It would be a while later before they discovered their other power.

The first time Jason ever actually held a camera was in middle school. One of his friends decided to work on the yearbook committee- sometimes she got out of class for it- why not try it? He took a few pictures as a test, and they all liked them, so he was the photographer. Later he'd also do a lot of the editing for the "extra" pages that didn't have a template. Jace must have talked about it a lot, because one day his mom brought home an old DSLR. It wasn't the newest, most high-tech camera- but it took pictures like a beaut in the right lighting.

Sometimes, when she felt like humoring him- his sister who was now in high school, and way too popular to have the time of day for him- would "model" for him. He almost got in trouble more than once for taking pictures at school- but he'd always lie and say it was for yearbook. Jason wasn't a troublemaker- and it wasn't like they were taking upskirts or anything. He began to learn a little bit about stealth that year- he also learned that his camera would blend right in too, if he stepped into the shade while he was holding it.

He'd noticed over the past six months that his dad was making a lot of trips to China- for business, apparently. Jason assumed that these had to be paid trips- otherwise it made absolutely no sense that the last time they'd been to Disney World was when he was five. (They wanted to be too cool at eleven to want to go to Disney World- but what about Space Mountain?!) It paid off though- half-way through the seventh grade, he struck gold. They were rich.

Jace knew that the whole time his father was working so hard for their sake, so he tried not to complain too much when they moved. It helped that they bought him a computer- that he was only supposed to use for homework and editing photos. Yup, Totally!

They went from living in a house made of sticks in the sticks, to living in one of the nicest neighborhoods in the suburbs. The one with the best schools. Jason finally had a room big enough that they could actually stretch without causing an avalanche of junk, but they weren't sure the trade-off was worth it.

His sister got along fine- Jason was lucky if he had people he could sit with at lunch. He still had all of his old friends, but he had to wait until after school to hang out with them.

They were not, actually, very rich. Most of the actual rich people probably laughed at them.

He found that out quickly when one of his new classmates invited him out. Those kids ate out constantly, didn't care about the sale rack, and bought whatever they wanted. He could have asked, and his father probably wouldn't have cared if he joined them, but Jason honestly wasn't all that interested. They felt so much more comfortable with their old friends. They missed their old school- and the lousy school paper, and yearbook, that they took photos for.

He was also on the yearbook committee at his new school. The yearbook there was a big deal. The parents had multiple fundraisers- it was practically its own production. It didn't feel fun anymore, like when they clustered around the computer trying to come up with a good layout- looking at all the default program templates and laughing, trying to make it look "the fanciest" and most expensive. Sometimes they could get some of the artsier kids to work on something, if the scanner would cooperate.

The more isolated he felt, the more pictures Jace took. He took his camera everywhere with him now- they had money, what he had thought was a lot of it- but he couldn't throw away his "crappy" (he was the only one who could call it that,) DSLR. He did get a video camera, once he was in high school. They had a video-journalism program, so of course they joined. Jace still took pictures for the school paper too- but that felt equally soulless.

He was pretty sure the only reason he didn't get his ass kicked for being the "weird kid with the camera" was because his sister still had some cred there.

The camera neither thinks nor feels - encourages or discourages- it just observes. Jason was experiencing the world solely through the lens. He felt empty when he didn't have one of his camera's in hand. If there was one thing that he did like about those mega-rich kids- it was that they were wild and reckless in a way that he'd never known on the other side of the tracks.

Jason found that, while they loved taking pictures, they actually had more of a passion for video. With one exception.

Apparently years of not getting their ass kicked was catching up to them: Jason had a favorite subject. There was a guy in his grade that just... Lived completely in the moment. His expressions were amazing- he photographed so well. Common knowledge would probably dictate that he had a crush on him.

But, actually, Jason's favorite photos of him were the ones he took when he was with his girlfriend.

He didn't know if he didn't know, or just didn't care. Jace wasn't hiding when they took them- maybe he just knew Jason as the weird kid with the camera, and ignored them. Maybe he was humoring him- it's not like he had a bunch of friends or anything better to do.

He lived for the few hours he could free-roam after school. The only thing he actually enjoyed there was putting together projects for his video-journalism class. Jason even took two photography electives just to have an excuse to hang out in the darkroom. Most of his days slipped away and blended together- but he could tell you where and when exactly he filmed this, or that.

At some point, Jace really started to wonder who he was. At school, he was ignored unless someone needed to use him for something. At home, he was good, but not as good as his sister. With his friends, he felt happy, but he didn't see them nearly as much as he wanted to.

He felt more like a shadow. He was around, and sometimes seen, but rarely interacted with. They were like their camera that way- they just blended right in.

It wasn't until Jason started making a life outside of school that they felt happier. Whether that was waiting around all day to get the perfect shot of a rare bird, or slipping into a bar to film a local band. He began to put together these short films- but he never showed them to anyone. The fact that he had complete creative control- that he was making something for himself, alone- was so gratifying. What did it matter if he came home with dirt on his knees, and a few cuts on his arms?

If anyone actually saw any of the things he filmed, there would be cause for concern. They put themselves in harm's way more than once. None of it was planned- they felt alive when they took unscripted risks that paid off.

His mom was a little concerned, but at home, Jace cleaned up well. Long sleeves- sometimes they even borrowed their sister's foundation to cover up bruises.

In his senior year, Jason discovered his other power. He'd been walking around the neighborhood, taking some shots- when one of the neighbors' dogs jumped the fence. Straight up cleared the sucker- he was basically a sitting duck.

Jace tried to get away, but he fell forward.

His hand landed directly on the dog's shadow, and it froze dead-sprint. It tried in vain to scrabble towards him- but it was stuck in place where he held its shadow down. Jace was a risk taker, but they didn't want to take that risk. He moved, slowly- put his other hand down on the spot- and shifted his position to something a little more comfortable.

If he let go, the dog was probably going to kill him- so instead he just sat there with it. An hour, maybe two passed, and it seemed a lot less like it wanted to rip his guts out. Jason let go and walked away- like nothing had even happened. He even took a few pictures of his new friend before he left.

Jason had hundreds of hours of video- thousands of pictures scattered around and hidden in shelves, bins, and crevices all over his room- but somehow he could never really say that photography and videography were passions of his. All those bins, tapes, and SD cards scattered everywhere just started to feel like wasted time. He should have learned to code, like his sister- or learned a new language. Maybe he could have joined the family business.

It was probably silly, but they never really knew that it was possible to make money as a photographer outside of doing weddings, or school pictures. His parents had worked so hard- his father particularly- for what? Him to goof off with a camera? They never said anything like that to him, but he'd trafficked the idea in from somewhere. It felt damn near treasonous.

But they couldn't let go of the camera either. Jace's isolation had only deepened over the past few years. That was, partly, their own fault. There were people at school, like that guy he used to like to take pictures of- or the people in the video-journalism club- that they could have made more effort to talk to. They could have bugged their friends to hang out more. He knew a lot of people on social media, like Twitter, he could have used that.

He was "in" friend groups, but he wasn't in them. Jason "hung out" and documented things, like school trips. People liked him, in a general sense. But he'd have to acknowledge himself as a person to be able to get to know someone, right?

Despite everything, going to one of the nicer schools in the city did have its advantages. As a senior, he had a big-boy-pants internship at a local news station. Nothing important, he was just a high schooler. Even before then, he had a decent hit-list to put on his resume when he graduated.

It wasn't too late for him to do any of those things- make friends, code, learn a new language- but at some point Jason had to face up to the fact that he simply wasn't happy to do that. That path looked like fifty years of waiting for the clock to wind down.

So they took the credentials they'd gathered up, and the portfolio they'd been accidentally building since they were a middle schooler, and once they graduated they applied everywhere that wasn't home. Perhaps a change of scenery would be nice. They landed a job that was nothing to sneeze at, the kind of gig a kid just out of high school would kill for-

And Jason quit within three weeks.

He just couldn't do it. Jason wasn't someone that did what other people did. Sure they could take these pictures but... He had come to a realization when he was putting his portfolio together.

Some artists make art for the good of humanity, or whatever. Some artists can live with making art to get paid on the clock, and making what they actually wanted to on the weekends. But for Jason, the act of creation was deeply selfish. So much of the footage that he had was probably never going to see the light of day- but that was fine- it made him happy.

They had to really sit down and look at what other artists did to sustain themselves. He had a gift, in more ways than one. He could literally just hop on a plane, or a boat, and go wherever- so long as the flight wasn't full, he could step into someone's shadow until he was in a seat, and they were off. He had an advantage nobody else had: he could draw his own map, painstakingly- and follow his own compass. Like how he could just slip into bars, and film the local bands.

They made a portfolio for their applications- they could make an online portfolio too. They made accounts on basically every social media platform. When they actually cared about the subject matter- Jace could bring themself to network. It was much easier to talk about camera specs, or Lightroom presets, than it was to talk about themself as a person.

The start was bumpy. Jason was used to always having his family to lean on. But when he could travel anywhere for free, it was pretty easy to get by. If he could find a sheltered place to crash, it was fine. Cash for food? He wasn't too good to wash some dishes. He had to keep posting to show up in the algorithm. But while he was trying to build up a follower count, there were plenty of other opportunities.

Jason always used to photograph birds back home, birder magazines paid a decent amount per photo. People wanted all kinds of stock footage. If he knew where he was going, he made a list- kind of like he was going on a scavenger hunt- of things that he had to get photo or video of. These were the things he knew he was getting paid for. Everything else was just a bonus. If people liked it, they liked it. If they didn't, they didn't have to follow him. There were competitions for damn near everything in the media world, even if he didn't place, or even if there wasn't a cash prize- his entry was posted with his socials.

Some habits are hard to break. Jace was happier than he'd been in a long time, but their experience with the dog had emboldened them.

'Keep Out' signs were just suggestions. They almost always hopped the fence if they thought they could get away with it. They just thought twice about what they posted online. Nothing from restricted sections here! Could anyone tell from the thumbnail that they'd scaled the fence and were standing close to the edge? If Jason trekked out, they always paid attention to the position of the sun in the sky, so they'd be just right in the path of the shadows.

Their ability to blend in was top notch. Jace took photos and videos that other wildlife photographers waited their whole lives for.

Mostly because he didn't care that much about his.

He could set up in the shadow of a tree, or a rock, and get up close and personal with some of the most elusive animals in the world. It was even easier when he didn't have to worry about rangers catching him. It's not like he was littering, hunting, or anything- just there to get some footage. Except for the footprints in the snow, nobody would ever know he was there.

Jason didn't need much to sustain themselves. They needed to pay for things like food, and haircuts. They had their trekking clothes, and then they had their "going out" clothes. Their trekking clothes were replaced when they got too ratty. They did, admittedly, "splurge" on their going out clothes. Maybe hanging out around all those rich kids rubbed off on him, Jace actually did like some designer brands, he just never paid full price for them. He had nothing against the sale rack- or Ebay- for that matter. As they got more comfortable they even got to know some archivists, when they were in town.

Outside of taking pictures of their sister, Jace had never gotten into model photography- but they did land a couple of avant-garde gigs. Background videos for smaller fashion shows.

Aside from that, Jason didn't really need to pay for anything. He could rent a cheap place in the sticks to store all his clothes and gear. Unless it was a full flight or a full house, he could literally slip into anywhere. He did slip into anywhere- with reckless abandon.

Part of becoming more comfortable with themselves was realizing that not everyone needed to know who he was, or how he identified. He could choose his adventure, both literally in the world, and figuratively in his identity. He got tats, and attended art galleries, and went to outdoor festivals- he trekked out to some of the most remote places in the world, and sat out and froze his ass off to get great footage of the northern lights.

Everything they posted was for them.

Jason wanted to be appreciated- naturally- but it was better to be weird than to be invisible. Personally, they didn't want to be recognized, they just wanted their work to be.

Jason always felt more like a camera than a person, and as the years went by, they held onto that feeling.

There was something special about the image, compared to the real thing. There was a kind of truth there, even in motion. Camera's don't think or feel- but they do record everything. It hurt them to do so, but if they witnessed a crime, they always handed over their SD card. Jace couldn't always do anything in the moment, but they could hand over the evidence.

They were simultaneously not okay, and living their best life. Jason could have gone on living that way for the rest of their life. But, as the saying goes: life comes at you fast.

He'd hoped on a flight, and then a train. Somewhere in South America, with his trekking clothes on, Jace wandered out. In the forest he could get all kinds of footage: some stock, some for his portfolio, some for prints. He was making great time, and had crossed almost everything off his "list".

Jason always expected to get into an accident. But, usually, he just accidentally ran into a thorn bush, or tripped on a root. Maybe he fell knees first onto some rocks- whatever- no biggie.

The leaves were damp, and the sun was starting to set. On their way home, Jace felt his foot start to slip out from underneath him-

Then he was looking up at the trees- rocks digging into his back- going nowhere fast.
Instinctively, he protected his cameras. Rolling down over rocks, and through bushes- poorly attempting to break his fall.

He saw the rock for what felt like a second before he hit it. Head-first.

"Fuck me!"

It would really suck if those were their last words- ringing out loud and clear into the forest.

Jason had no idea how long he was out there for, lying on the forest floor. If he had to guess? A few days, maybe a week. He came to sporadically to take a sip of water. He'd landed in the "perfect" place- right under a copse of trees. If anyone actually came out there, they'd have a hard time finding him.

Was he invisible when he passed out?
No time to think about it, lights out.

When he came to, he was in a hospital in Guyana. The first thing Jason did was ask for his camera.

Jason had saved his video camera, but his poor old DSLR was done. He'd somehow been found by a group of researchers. The doctor recommended he stay there for a week, and then get back home. Spend some time "with family". (Jason figured that was code.)

Home was a place he hadn't been in a while. He visited his parents occasionally, but they usually went out to eat or something- then Jace took off again. There was always some place they had to be, somewhere they had to film. Friends to see.

He always knew that they were so proud of their daughter, his sister. He was proud of her too. She was incredibly successful. Jason still felt like a shadow- now he was living in hers.

They'd visited lots of times, but Jace hadn't stepped into the house in a long, long time. The first thing they noticed was the picture in the foyer. They used to have a photo of all of them, him, his father, mother, sister- instead it was a picture of a snow leopard...

It was his picture of a snow leopard! His dad helped him in, and he sat down on the couch in the living room. The place was covered in pictures like it always was. Some of it was of them, but in between all the family photos were his own.

...Had they printed them out, or had they paid for them? Some of them were from nearly a decade ago. Jason felt like they were melting into the couch. If they had them up all over... Had they been bragging about him to their friends this whole time?

Over dinner, they told him he could stay as long as he wanted, but he should consider getting some treatment while he was home. His mother looked right through him like she knew it wasn't an accident. This time it actually was, but he probably shouldn't argue.

He needed something to do anyway, while his bones healed. They found a nice little outpatient program. He stayed there during the day, and went home at night.

Jason stayed in his old room. Had he left all this stuff when he moved out? He couldn't remember.

Almost all of the photos he had taken in high school were still there. On a whim, he started to look for his favorite ones. When he found them, it felt like Jason had been hit with a bat- like he was getting the ass-kicking he felt was coming to him back then. There in the little photo-album he'd made, there was one picture in particular that he was paying attention to. His favorite model and his girlfriend, both looking at him and posing-

Why hadn't he remembered?

He started flipping through all of the other pictures he took.

There was that guy and his friends that had invited him out, smiling and laughing into the camera like they were best friends. Some originals of pictures he took for the yearbook committee that he'd quit- with notes scribbled all over the back about where they should put it, and how much the editor liked it.

...An SD card in the back of the closet. It was unlabelled, but they put it into their reader and let it rip.
'Hell yeah man- Jason! Did you get that?' One of the jocks... Alex- that was his name, was reaching up to give them a high five from behind the camera.
They opened another file- from the thumbnail it looked like it was from one of the pep rallies.
'Jace!' It was one of the cheerleaders- Candace, or Candy, or something. She seemed almost happy to see him. She smiled into the camera. 'Be sure to get my good side, okay?' She had her hand on his wrist (it had to be his wrist, even though he didn't recognize it as his), but he couldn't see what she was doing. They all chuckled a little, before the team was called up.

No way. He didn't remember any of this. These people didn't hate him- but he didn't remember them smiling at him, or laughing with him, or high-fiving him. His pictures were in the yearbook, but...

A few days later, his parents got a call from his old AV club teacher. They wanted him to come in for an hour or so- talk to the kids. It wasn't like he had anything better to do, so they set up a date for Wednesday.

They were already feeling shell-shocked. The first thing they saw on campus was the fountain- the one where they'd filmed some of the seniors playing a prank, and then they invited them out to dinner. He walked through the main entrance- with the Wall of Heroes for all of the students that had enlisted- and then he took a right to where the AV club was, where they had the display for distinguished alumni.

When he passed it, he did a double take.

There had to be another Jason Jae, right?

No, that was his name- and his photo. (One of, probably, three photo's he had ever taken of himself. The site needed one to post alongside his entry.) And his photos- the main one being the one of the snow leopard his parents had hanging in their foyer... Yeah, he'd won a wildlife photography competition with that one. These kids didn't think they were meeting a celebrity, right?

Up the stairs, where Candace (her name was Candace!) and the cheerleaders used to always do really intense step exercises. One day they'd offered to teach him how to do a stand, which he failed miserably at. After a billion other flashbacks that felt more like intrusive thoughts, he walked into the AV room and spent the next hour answering questions about what it's like to be an actual photographer and videographer.

Naturally, he left some details out.

Jason felt like he hated every single second that he'd spent in this building, but why did he only have good memories? After class he hung out for a bit, with a couple of students who stayed behind, and his old teacher. She told stories about him, and it sounded like she was talking about a different person. He answered a few more questions for the kids, and then he went home.

He got into contact with one of his old friends who was still in town- and he sounded thrilled to hear from him. They met up, along with some other kids he'd known before he switched schools.

It felt like his entire conception of reality was falling apart. When he finally finished the outpatient program, his bones were mostly back where they should be. His parents were, actually, bragging about him. They had even convinced some of their friends to buy his work!

Jason was about to take off again when the letter came. They were glad they were the one who got the mail... School for the gifted. Was that what they were? Gifted? And here they were thinking they needed to book a room in an inpatient program.

Jace met with the recruiter. On one hand: they wanted to take off again, see the world, work, and finish the projects that they'd been working on for the last decade. On the other: there was still a huge part of them that wanted to make just the wrong decision- it had never steered them wrong so far. Even when they thought they were completely fucking up their life. Even when they felt like an outcast.

Some habits are hard to break.

Unfortunately, this school didn't allow anything but oldschool cameras. Which he had, but Jason had always preferred video as a medium. Well... He could use his phone. He was a master at smuggling things in, what if he sewed a couple hundred SD cards into his pants, his hat, his bags?

They couldn't possibly find them all.

Other:
The Powers:
Shadow Camouflage- Jason has the ability to visually blend in perfectly- essentially "melt into"- darkness, or shadows. He's become so good at it that it doesn't even have to be a large shadow.

Shadow Interaction- Jason can interact with shadows as if they were actual objects. He can do this in two ways- the first of which is to literally just move and bend them with physical contact. The second, and much more interesting, application of his power is that he can induce effects by interacting with a person or an object's shadow.
He could bend someone's arm backwards by manipulating the "arm" of their shadow. Or make them sneeze if he tickled its nose. He could pin someone down by pinning their shadow down, even. Among other things. It's the same with objects- although there are no biological factors to change there.

It's worth mentioning that, perhaps as a side effect of his power, or maybe due to his own physiology- Jason has no shadow- even when they're standing in direct sunlight.

Love them, hate them, wanna date them?