Question Sirens

I was considering a story about a siren with a twist: he causes people to lash out, fight, and want to kill each other and him whenever his voice is heard. I looked up other sirens and saw a wide array of powers among them. What I'd like to know is simple: what the heck are they considered? Are they TK manipulators through sound waves? Telepaths who exude a low level of psychic projection through their music? Or something in-between?

So far there have been classic sirens like Vox, Songbird, and Melodious Silvertongue. But then there are ones like Axel who focuses the sound through his guitar. I'm confused on whether it's really TK or if it's an extension of a psychic abilities as it's more controllable than other sound-based manipulations like banshees and those who can create shockwaves via vibrations...

Are they actually TK or is it possible that it really is an open-ended "catch all" name for a power involving soundwaves?

This is like asking what a brick or speedster is considered. It's just a term referring to people who do stuff with their voice, regardless of what power they use to do it.

In the case of your character, he obviously can't be doing it purely via TK since all that would do is let him create sounds. That's fine for a siren who just does stuff like throwing their voice or mimicking an orchestra, but if you want the sound to manipulate people's emotions beyond what's possible for a baseline DJ to accomplish, something more will be needed. Probably projective empathy or magic.

I agree with Kettlekorn's first point about siren being a label but I disagree with his second point about PK being insufficient for your character.

I think that there are references in the WU of inaudible sound being able to induce a particular emotion.
- Dr. Diabolic references using a 'peeve' frequency against Captain Patriot in the Silver Linings stories.
- Jadis uses a similar technique (combined with others) to turn the protest outside her house into a minor riot.
- Dr. Goodvibes also uses sound to produce basically the opposite effect, though he may have devisor powers aiding his inventions.
- Bladedancer uses low frequency sound to induce disturb the enemy team when she plays the lair villain during team tactics.

I think there are two main aspects to the Sirens' abilities:
- The first is the more direct aspect: they do something weird with sound waves. Vox can produce pretty much any sound she wants, Screech and Glissade have destructive effects, Chorale sounds like six people talking (or singing) in harmony, there was one of them (I forgot who) who could project her voice to the entire Crystal Hall like it was a P.A. announcement...
- The second is using the sound as a carrier for some sort of Psi effect. Vox, Songbird, Melodious Silvertongue and Obsession exhibited the ability to give people commands in various ways.
Not all sirens have both types of effects, and there are some people who are not technically sirens (Chaka comes to mind) who can mimic some of it.

Sir Lee wrote: I think there are two main aspects to the Sirens' abilities:
- The first is the more direct aspect: they do something weird with sound waves. Vox can produce pretty much any sound she wants, Screech and Glissade have destructive effects, Chorale sounds like six people talking (or singing) in harmony, there was one of them (I forgot who) who could project her voice to the entire Crystal Hall like it was a P.A. announcement...
- The second is using the sound as a carrier for some sort of Psi effect. Vox, Songbird, Melodious Silvertongue and Obsession exhibited the ability to give people commands in various ways.
Not all sirens have both types of effects, and there are some people who are not technically sirens (Chaka comes to mind) who can mimic some of it.

Don't forget Jukebox, who can flawlessly imitate any group (including, unfortunately, the Bee Gees).

elrodw wrote: Don't forget Jukebox, who can flawlessly imitate any group (including, unfortunately, the Bee Gees).

Well, you can tell by the way he used his walk he's a woman's man, with no time to talk...

E. E. Nalley wrote:

elrodw wrote: Don't forget Jukebox, who can flawlessly imitate any group (including, unfortunately, the Bee Gees).

Well, you can tell by the way he used his walk he's a woman's man, with no time to talk...

Thanks for the earworm, I'll have that in my head. It's bad enough I have "Why MCO" in my head after reading the Halloween invasion, now this is stuck in my head!

Also, in Real Life, it's known that while 'subliminal messaging' isn't anywhere near as effective as the Conspiracy Theorists believe, various frequencies and modes do have subtle, and sometimes overt effects on people's perceptions. There have been several symposiums discussing the ethical implications of this

Bek D Corbin wrote: Also, in Real Life, it's known that while 'subliminal messaging' isn't anywhere near as effective as the Conspiracy Theorists believe, various frequencies and modes do have subtle, and sometimes overt effects on people's perceptions. There have been several symposiums discussing the ethical implications of this

It's also been used as a potential weapon as certain sounds and sound levels can cause disorientation, irritability, and other negative effects on someone when you target them, which I assume that is what many of the sonic powers do when used as an offensive and defensive weapon

Why are French Horns considered heroic? Or why do trumpets always inspire images of triumph and victory? Or tubas ponderous or trombones mournful? We have hundred, sometimes thousands of years of these sounds being used in connotations of certain emotions. Trumpets were played at victory celebrations for so long, the sound became associated it with them and thus modern composers use this to subtly sway our emotions in films through the score. It's why people say music is the back door to the brain.

Efindumb wrote:

Bek D Corbin wrote: Also, in Real Life, it's known that while 'subliminal messaging' isn't anywhere near as effective as the Conspiracy Theorists believe, various frequencies and modes do have subtle, and sometimes overt effects on people's perceptions. There have been several symposiums discussing the ethical implications of this

It's also been used as a potential weapon as certain sounds and sound levels can cause disorientation, irritability, and other negative effects on someone when you target them, which I assume that is what many of the sonic powers do when used as an offensive and defensive weapon

Bagpipes...

Astrodragon wrote:

Efindumb wrote:

Bek D Corbin wrote: Also, in Real Life, it's known that while 'subliminal messaging' isn't anywhere near as effective as the Conspiracy Theorists believe, various frequencies and modes do have subtle, and sometimes overt effects on people's perceptions. There have been several symposiums discussing the ethical implications of this

It's also been used as a potential weapon as certain sounds and sound levels can cause disorientation, irritability, and other negative effects on someone when you target them, which I assume that is what many of the sonic powers do when used as an offensive and defensive weapon

Bagpipes...

bagpipes are fine ---now Mexican cantina band music at 2am....now that is shooting your way time!

lighttech wrote:

Astrodragon wrote:

Efindumb wrote:

Bek D Corbin wrote: Also, in Real Life, it's known that while 'subliminal messaging' isn't anywhere near as effective as the Conspiracy Theorists believe, various frequencies and modes do have subtle, and sometimes overt effects on people's perceptions. There have been several symposiums discussing the ethical implications of this

It's also been used as a potential weapon as certain sounds and sound levels can cause disorientation, irritability, and other negative effects on someone when you target them, which I assume that is what many of the sonic powers do when used as an offensive and defensive weapon

Bagpipes...

bagpipes are fine ---now Mexican cantina band music at 2am....now that is shooting your way time!

Neither is that bad, it's when they start having a duel that it gets bad. And yes, I've experienced that. It was a bit of fun as the folks were bored out of their minds hanging around waiting for a parade to start. And 2 AM? My neighbors have played all night long but that was followed by empanadas and mexican sweets as well as a glass of homemade sangria so it was easily forgiven

Should I cite Robert Rodriguez for associating mariachi music with all manner of dreamy heroics?

Katssun wrote: Should I cite Robert Rodriguez for associating mariachi music with all manner of dreamy heroics?

In my case having lived in LA...the only thing 'heroic' about mariachi music being blasted all night on several WORK nights in a row because of the world cup in LA at the time...is that I held back from killing