Jonah O'Regan's Application

This is an application for an original adult character. As such, his background needs to cover both his school days and his activities after school. This was approved in January, 2003.

Jonah O'Regan was born on November 20, 1965 to pureblood wizarding parents living in the quiet rural setting of Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland. He was an only child of fairly well-to-do parents, and became accustomed at a very early age to getting things his way. His mother had achieved some success as a singer in her youth, though she never had the courage to really get herself noticed. When she got married, she devoted less and less time to this career before eventually dropping it altogether. Jonah's father has worked as support staff for the Ballycastle Bats for decades. Both his parents had been in Slytherin house; though his mother's insecurities outweighed her ambition, it was present nonetheless, causing her much self-loathing for her own inability to fulfill her goals.

As he grew up, blond, talented Jonah was always the center of attention. His musical talent manifested itself early, and he would regularly delight aunts and uncles with his performances as early as age 4. He'd always undertake these ventures with the utmost of seriousness, even choosing specific costumes for the venue. His magical talent showed itself later when, in a fit of pique, he smashed a set of toy bongos, then began to wail, and somehow managed to repair them. It was so much fun (and earned him such praise) that he promptly smashed them again.

The Hogwarts letter was no surprise at all, and neither was his subsequent sorting into Slytherin. Thankfully for Jonah, he had inherited two key ingredients from his parents. Talent, but the ability to promote oneself. His ambitions were clear: to get noticed, somehow, someway. To get attention, and to get praise. His deepest desire is to be reknowned as a "genius". He studied not for the benefits of education, but to make the highest score on the test. He behaved himself not because he ought, but so as to earn the most points for his House. He had occasional successes at this, and had good grades, but there were brighter students in his year, meaning he was not tapped for a prefecture. Outwardly congratulatory, it made him feel like he was repeating his mother's mistake, and he became even more ruthlessly determined to shine after that.

This summary of his school days may be brief, but it contains enough information upon which to build the career mentioned subsequent to it.

When approached by Rory Shanahan after graduation with the idea to start a band, Jonah accepted. He had made some efforts on his own as a solo artist, but hadn't gotten far yet. This could be his ticket to stardom! Unfortunately, a few years of floundering preceded any success, but when Keith Chambers joined on as manager, the plight of Cheese Crisis turned around and by 1991 they had their first major hit. Jonah showed his amiable and charming side to the fans, but behind the scenes behaved not unlike a manipulative dictator, which needless to say did /not/ earn him the affection of his bandmates.

That same year, Jonah married his appropriately stylish girlfriend of two years, Myra Snowden. Myra was 22 at the time of their wedding, and the older sister of Lucas Snowden, 3 years her junior. Being thus a part of the Snowden family, Jonah has had the opportunity to see Lucas' career thrive. He's always shown a great deal of interest in the activities of his brother-in-law, taking the protective gig perhaps a bit far at times. His marriage is mostly one of show, as the two cut a rather dashing pair together.

One typical problem we see with adult characters is a distinct lack of dating or relationships in their backgrounds. Though this is not unheard of, most people do have close friends and boyfriends and girlfriends in their past by the time they hit their 20s. Even if you'd prefer not to take the chance of creating an NPC spouse or current love interest, NPCs in the past can provide interesting backstory.

When Cheese Crisis broke up in 1994, Jonah pursued his interest in producing, helping other groups to achieve hits of their own. In 1996, he began drafting plans to open his own nightclub in wizarding London, The Grotto, which was formally announced on the Wizarding Wireless Network in August of 1997. In that same broadcast, Cheese Crisis announced that they'd be reuniting. Though he can barely tolerate his bandmates, Jonah knows that he soon will be exactly where he wants to be -- in the spotlight.