personality

                      positive curious, open-minded, spontaneous, forgiving
                               neutral loyal, competitive, sarcastic
                  negative rebellious, unpredictable, possessive, pugnacious

Kei is a curious individual. Ne will happily research for you and ne is not late to say yes to a treasure hunt if that's what you're looking for. Ne will always be with you and even the most bizarre things might attract nem. Don't be surprised when ne suddenly takes interest in something you would've thought was completely off-limits.

Nir curiousity fosters nir spontaneous side and knowing Kei you'll quickly learn that planning stuff with nem is almost impossible because something else will almost certainly come up. Instead just ask nem to meet-up or do something 5 or 10 minutes before you do it because that will probably foster a positive answer. Kei is also the person who will drag you out of bed at 4 am because ne got a brilliant idea and ne wants you to be with nem.

Despite the bullying and harrassment throughout nir youth, Kei is a very open-minded person. You can't really surprise nem with anything. Okay, that's a lie, you can, but Kei will accept it quickly - unless you're a serial killer. Aside from that your uality, your gender, you interests, your appearance, nothing really puts nem off and you don't have to worry about nem being close-minded. If you can get nem to listen, ne'll probably be the most open-minded person you'll meet.

But all things considered Kei will be forgiving of most things. Again, we're talking extremes (you threatening nir or Tya's life) before ne won't be able to forgive you so don't fear making mistakes in nir company. It is one of nir best traits and it makes nem really nice company and a great friend.

Kei is a loyal person who will stick by your side if ne loves you as a friend. Ne will not willingly give you up. At the same time ne is a very competitive person and ne will never go out of nir way for a friendly (sometimes not so friendly) competition. This is usually shown in nir elite swimming and the surfing ne does, ne has had quite the surfing competitions with Marisha back home in Jamaica. Kei's competitiveness show in everything though but trust Kei to also have fun competitions. Not everything has to be serious. Kei is a sarcastic human being though and if you do not understand sarcasm a all, communicating with Kei may be a struggle. Ne will does nir best though but sarcasm just slips into nir sentences, even when ne doesn't think about it.

Kei's competitiveness may become a problem when it gets paired with nir pugnacious personality. It's not that ne wants to fight everyone but then at the same time - ne does. No doubt that ne can't win a physical fight because nir body isn't build for physical fighting. It's just that nir curiosity and nir competitiveness comes together and ends up with a very pugnacious Kei. Be aware, arguing with Kei is not uncommon - and ne will pick almost every argument nemself.

But ne is both rebellious and unpredictable. It's hard to say exactly what Kei will do next - and sometimes trouble will arise and it will be intentional. Kei doesn't like following rules and ne will try to bend them if ne can - just so ne can do what ne really wants to do. This makes nem unpredictable as well and you might think you know Kei quite well - and suddenly ne will do something tha completely sets you off. If you're not a teacher's pet but is rebellious as well (to some degree) you may actually enjoy this about Kei. If not - well, here's another argument to have.

The worst thing about Kei though is not nir unpredictable and rebellious behavior but rather nir possessiveness. Ne isn't quite sure where it comes from nemself but when ne finds someone ne feels strongly towards, ne will almost end up a stalker. Ne is possessive of those people really close to nim - and not just loyal. It's not uncommon that Marisha and Tya need Kei to approve of their boyfriends (and sometimes Tya needs approval of other friends as well). Kei tries to reel it in though and now that ne is in South Korea, so far away from Jamaica, nir possessiveness doesn't seem too strong.

background

Kei was born in South Korea and left at an orphanage in Seoul. No one therefore knows exactly where ne was born, except it's in South Korea somewhere. Ne was adopted by a Jamaican couple a month after nir birth and given nir Jamaican name, Seth Williams. The couple already had an adopted daughter who was more than happy to get a brother. Only 6 months after they had adopted nem they were killed in a traffic accident and Kei and nir sister was left to the care of their maternal grandmother.

Kei had the most clear blue eyes and they only grew clearer as ne grew up. A couple of nir classmates asked nem why but ne could only shrug - ne didn't know and ne honestly didn't care. It was just the way ne was it seemed.

Growing up with nir grandmother gave Kei a very relaxed upbringing. Ne was allowed to do what ne wanted as long as ne didn't get in trouble and as long as ne continued nir school-work and kept nir grades up. Nir grandmother only spoke Jamaican Patois, so ne and nir sister spoke Jamaican Patois with her and spoke English in school and well - mostly elsewhere, unless they had friends who spoke Jamaican Patois as well. This is the reason Kei is fluent and native in both English and Jamaican Patois.

When Kei started elementary ne decided that ne wanted to swim. Ne had always had a calling for the ocean but ne guessed every Jamaican had a certain love for the ocean. Enrolled in the school's swim team, Kei quickly fell in love with swimming. Ne kept swimming from elementary and up to high school. Nir swim teacher wanted nem to swim on elite level but nir grandmother was against it. She wanted to make sure ne didn't forget to have fun either as ne grew up. Kei ended up swimming on elite level anyway.

Kei didn't have a lot of friends though. Nir Asian appearance didn't fit well in with the majority of black people and ne often felt alienated. It wasn't that the other kids didn't invite nem to their events or games, it was just that ne felt ne lacked something. Despite all this, nir cultural background was Jamaican and nir grandmother did everything she could to teach both nem and nir sister about the Jamaican culture.

When Kei was in nir last year of middle school, Kei's best friend Marisha decided to teach nem how to surf. This quickly became one of nir favorite things to do together with swimming.

       

Up until now, Kei had accepted that everyone was calling nem 'him' just like they would any other boy or man, but then it started to annoy nem. It felt wrong. Kei never thought of nemself as either a man or a woman, ne was just a person. A human. So one day Kei announced that from now on ne was no longer Seth but Kei instead and that they should use ne/nem/nir pronouns. People didn't take those news well at all and Kei was shunned into nir old he/him/his pronouns again. Nir grandmother tried to explain that ne wasn't going to get accepted if ne went about "sprouting nonsense like that". Both nir sister and grandmother called nem Kei inside the four walls of the house though, to respect nir wishes. Although nir grandmother still thought it was absolute nonsense.

It wasn't everyone that was up for Kei's gender-identity and nir swim teacher pulled nem from the contests in nir first year of high school when he heard the rumors of Kei being anything other than "homoual elite swimmer Seth Williams" and ne kind-of felt bummed. To think that something as small as nem not being 'him' or 'Seth Williams' anymore could ruin nir athletic career (and ultimately nir life according to nir sister). Nir sister was the one to comfort nem as ne sat on the beach, looking at the ocean, thinking. Ne still enjoyed swimming and surfing and slowly but surely ne realized that competition and elite level sports weren't everything to life.

When the rumor started to spread though, ne wasn't in for a very pleasant high school experience. Most of nir friends was disgusted by nem, only a few select who knew nem well enough stayed by nir side. Most of nir classmates would say disgusting things about nir back (and also sometimes to nir face) and it wasn't uncommon that someone drove by to egg nir house or approach nem in the twilight to shove nem and try to pick a fight. It got so bad during nir sophomore year that nir grandmother stopped nem from going to school for a couple of weeks. Nir sister was also affected by verbal bullying but not nearly as much as Kei.

That was up until their grandmother died in nir junior year of high school. It was a shock for everybody when she suddenly collapsed due to a heart attack and there was no way to save her.

After the funeral Kei went to the ocean and sat there most of the day. Ne hummed a tune to the sea that seemed to hum back to nem but ne supposed it was only imagination as the ocean (of course) couldn't sing. Nir sister found nem and brought nem back every evening. It took nem months before ne was somewhat functional again after the death of nir grandmother and the physical bullying ceased, though ne still heard rumors about nir back about how he had ed this or that boy or how disgusting ne were. Kei didn't take offence to the verbal bullying anymore though.

           

In senior year, Kei was approached by the club president of the dancing club and asked whether or not ne wanted to join. It turned out that nir slim swimmer body was also incredibly skilled at dancing. Kei enjoyed dancing but ne didn't mention to anyone that ne wasn't a boy. If they asked for a nickname though, ne would gladly tell them to call nem Kei (and avoid Seth as much as ne could). The rumors from freshman ad sophomore year seemed to have sloly died out throughtout nir junior year.

Kei was trying to decide whether ne should choose University of The West Indies or University College of the Caribbean when ne received a letter from Moorim University. The letter was an application form and a letter that stated a wish that ne would apply. Ne looked over the benefits (free university!) and chose to apply. Why not? It turned out ne had gotten the application form because of nir dancing rather than anything else, and it had nem a little concerned because Moorim University seemed to be a martial arts university, but as far as ne could read on the letter (because a Google search had given nem nothing) there was a dancing class as well - so nem supposed ne was going to be alright if ne made it in.

Ne was accepted to Moorim University and only then did it occur to nem that, holy , ne was going to move from Jamaica to South Korea. Ne promised to call nir sister often - and upon arrival ne almost regretted it because, holy South Korea was cold! Kei never really grew used to the temperate climate when ne had been used to tropical climate, but at least ne took off a few of the layers of nir 10-layered winter outfits over the years.

Although South Korea wasn't as open as ne could've wished, ne felt safer letting people know of nir gender identity and ne even started to ask people to call nem by the right pronouns. When ne introduced nemself now it was always with Kei, never with Seth.

Ne still struggles a little with the Korean language and if one wants to have deep conversation with nem, ne prefers English, but ne is getting there slowly but surely. If ne thinks someone is eavesdropping on nir phone calls with nir sister or best friend, ne will switch into Jamaican Patois instead of English.

comments

Why do I always write hella long apps? I don't know, I've got no ing clue. I'm sorry. >.<

I know Kei's preferred pronouns may be a struggle (trust me, I had to doublecheck like 5 million times to make sure i didn't write 'he' instead of 'ne') but it felt weird for me to have a non-binary character with genderspecific pronouns. So ~

Ne/nem/nir/nirs/nemself pronouns follow 'they' pronouns (they, them, their, theirs, themself) but Kei wouldn't have a big problem with someone using they-pronouns (if it makes it easier).

Of course other characters can be mistaken, but Kei will most likely correct any mistake because - well, it's geting kinda annoying to be called something you're not, especially when ne has been forced into the wrong pronouns in Jamaica as well.

Also - yay for island nations and merfolk!!! I sincerely hope the reason kei got the application form to Moorim isn't too weird. It's the only thing that sort-of felt "real" because ne is more of a swimmer/surfer than a martial arts master, so .... >.< (and a dancer ofc).

Side-info: Nir grandmorther knew ne was a merman. She was a witch herself but she never told her grandchildren anything. Tya, Kei's sister, is 100 % human.

Ne is the descendant of an Atlantic tribe and it's quite the mystery how ne ended up as being born in South Korea, so far from the ocean nir ancestors come from.

scene suggestions

☮ Ne sneaks hash onto campus (and gets caught high *gasp*)
☮ Kei finds a mountain lake and disappears for hours because ne misses the water and the mountain lake is better than no water
☮ Valentines Day with love interest gets real sappy and everything goes wrong, every plan ne has had just goes wrong, but at the end of the day, love interest really appreciates nir efforts
☮ Tya comes visiting nem at school and for the first time she calls nem with the real pronouns - Tya and Kei speaks in Jamaican Patois her entire stay just because ne knows that nobody else will be able to understand them
☮ Ne travels with some of nir classmates to the sea - and have a camping trip (or something equal)
☮ Kei confides in Sam about how ne feels as the odd one out with a completely different culture than the Asian one and how ne can't get used to the Asian cuisine
☮ Ne gets really surprised when nir possessive qualities suddenly is much stronger than they used to be - and ne doesn't particularly like it
☮ Kei is reading in the library when ne comes across an old myth and decides to bug some classmates into researching more (and maybe find something of value at the end of the treasure hunting the myth leads them on)

password

gil raim x kim joowon (secret garden)