Siren's Pull ☆ Application
Player Information
Name: Meta/Panda.
Age: 21.
AIM SN: metathepanda.
email: I'd prefer not to use e-mail.
Have you played in an LJ based game before? Yes.
Currrently Played Characters: France (Francis Bonnefoy).
Conditional: Activity Check Link: Found here
Character Information
General
Canon Source: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
Canon Format: Video Game.
Character's Name: Jacob (Jake) Marshall.
Character's Age: 33.
Conditional: If your character is 13 years of age or under, please clarify how they will be played. N/A.
What form will your character's NV take? No matter what form his NV takes, Jake is going to have a hell of a time using it. But to make things simple, it will be a touch screen phone, with three buttons on the bottom: On/Off, Back, Home. The rest of its functionality will be on the touch screen, which will also have displayed big shiny buttons that are clearly labeled. Even then, Jake's still going to have a hard time with it.
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities: Jake is a skilled detective, so it's hard to pull the wool over his eyes, particularly when it comes to a burning truth he has a dire need to know. He can easily stay cool under pressure. He has a great way of reading people too, and getting at their true emotions. Also, he knows how to tie and actually use a lasso. In mun's headcanon he can speak at least basic Spanish, because he looks just a little too tan to be completely Caucasian, and he often uses Spanish words in his speech.
Conditional: If your character has no superhuman canon abilities, what dormant ability will you give them? I would like Jake to have the ability of seeing the past of a person or object in his mind's eye, simply by touching them with his hand or hands. This will be somewhat like the previews at the beginning of the first few cases in each Phoenix Wright game: Jake will be able to see, but not interact with, everything that was going on in near proximity to the person or object, starting from its full creation (for a human it would be as soon as they were born, for a gun it would be the moment that it was put on the market). At first, his powers will be extremely chaotic, showing only a second or two of its recent history or perhaps the whole history of the object at rapid speed (causing immense physical pain for Jake), or even just a still frame of the object. As he keeps using it, he will not only be able to keep the vision stable for longer periods of time, but he'll be able to control the flow of time, almost like it's a movie. He will then be able to play it forwards or backwards, at any speed he wants, or pause his vision. As it's going on, he'll be able to talk as well, something he won't be able to do as his ability first starts.
He will only be able to use it on one object at a time as he first starts, two at maximum. When using his ability to touch two objects at a time, his vision will only show something in common if the two pieces are related (i.e., a murder weapon and the victim of the weapon would show him the time of the murder). Otherwise, he will have two visions going on at once, which is not only dangerous for his sanity but also for his physical body, which may lead to him going into a seizure, going blind for a couple of hours, nosebleeds, paralyzation, or any number of things.
Weapons: His pocket knife; his gun was taken from him immediately before this point.
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History: **This part is headcanon. Jake is a minor character and so his backstory isn't delved into a whole lot in the game.**
Jacob Allen Marshall was born on November 19, 1984 in the city of Los Angeles, California. His father had lived in Texas breeding and raising livestock before he met Jake's mother, which is how Jake got his admiration for cowboys. Even as he was growing up, his father would take him (and his little brother Neil Marshall, born four years later) to their family's ranch in Texas, where their uncle still lived and watched over everything after Jake's father retired. He had a fairly normal childhood other than that, but was usually getting into trouble at least once a week (sometimes from protecting his little brother from older bullies). His over-inflated sense of justice was fed at an early age by his brother Neil. They had been close as children, but as they grew older they grew closer and closer together.
Jake had always admired lawmen in the many westerns their father watched, and loved the snappy detectives in the noir films his mother enjoyed. However, it was Neil that put into his head the idea of becoming a detective, and using his natural talents for the side of the law, since Neil had always had the desire to be a prosecutor; they were young enough that Neil never remembered spurring his brother on, but Jake did. Jake made it his goal to become a detective and work alongside his brother on cases as a brother team. He went to college in Los Angeles and got an Associates degree in Criminal Justice, and because of his outstanding marks was easily accepted into the police force as a detective. Once Neil graduated from law school he was given a job as prosecutor for the district Jake worked in, and Jake eagerly awaited the chance he'd get to team up with his brother in a case, but a few years went by and they were never given the chance; Neil and Jake helped each other out with both their cases indirectly when they could. It was at the precinct he met the love of his life, Lana Skye, who happened to be his superior. He instantly fell for her and, against protocol, convinced her to date him.
**End headcanon**
Jake finally had a chance to work with his brother Neil, along with four other detectives: Angel Starr and Bruce Goodman, and the two chief detectives in charge of the case, Damon Gant and Lana Skye. These six were sent on the trail of a serial killer named Joe Darke. He was a businessman who had accidentally hit and killed a man with his car. In a fit of paranoia, he killed the only witness to his crime, and this murder happened to be witnessed by someone else; the chain reaction continued until he was finally taken into police custody. Unfortunately, even with five skilled detectives on the case, there was not definitive evidence to convict Darke for the killings. Jake and the other detectives were not present, while Neil and Damon Gant interrogated Darke together; it was the last time he would ever see his brother alive. Darke was convicted for the murders as well as Neil's murder, and the SL-9 case was considered over; however, as Damon Gant and Lana Skye carried out the investigation together, the other three detectives, especially Jake, felt there was something off about the evidence.
Before the three could investigate further, however, Damon Gant (who had just been promoted to Chief of Police for completing the SL-9 case) fired Angel and demoted Jake to a security guard for the evidence room. On top of that, Lana Skye told Jake that as the new Chief of Prosecutors, it was even more taboo for the two of them to continue their romance, and broke it off with him. Outraged and heartbroken, Jake shirked his duties (admitting aloud to Phoenix two years later that he only visited the evidence room once a month) and for two years tried to convince his peers and other colleagues to help him reopen SL-9. He became even more frustrated and desperate when all of his colleagues chalked it up to being emotionally involved in the case, since one of the victims was his dearly departed brother.
As a final call for help, on February 21st, 2017, Jake tried to convince Bruce, along with Angel, to let them open Bruce's locker holding all the SL-9 evidence and reexamine all of it themselves. The case evidence was two years old and was supposed to be taken to the prosecutor's office, where it would be closed for good. While Bruce felt something was still amiss, he had seen what had happened to both Jake and Angel since the case closed, and refused. As Bruce was leaving, Jake made up his mind - he had to take matters into his own hands. So he stole Bruce's ID and created a disguise so that he could sneak into the evidence room and look himself without drawing suspicion; he knew exactly where the cameras in the evidence room were, so Jake felt he would be best for the job. However, he had a moment of doubt, and hid Bruce's ID and the costume and went on with his day.
At around 5:00 that night, Jake suddenly got a call from Lana Skye, with the news that Bruce had been murdered at the prosecutor's office. Jake made up his mind, and using his disguise and Bruce's ID, snuck into the evidence room and opened Bruce's locker to find the SL-9 evidence missing. At the same time, a friend of Bruce's named Mike Meekins followed him in and asked to see his ID. Knowing his cover would be blown, Jake instead pulled out a knife. Mike became so afraid when he accidentally stabbed his hand on Jake's knife that he passed out, and Jake hastily left the room, using his knowledge of the camera system to sneak out unseen. As he was hiding the now bloody disguise in his locker near the door, he accidentally left one of the sleeves hanging out; this would later prove that Jake had been the one in the evidence room.
However, this incident accomplished his objective all along; it kept the SL-9 case open long enough for Phoenix Wright to prove that not only had Damon Gant killed Bruce to steal the evidence and keep the truth of the SL-9 case out of the open, but he also had been responsible for the murder of Neil Marshall; Neil had been alive when Damon Gant found him passed out with Joe Darke. Not only that, Damon Gant had also staged it to look like Emma Skye, Lana's younger sister, had accidentally shoved Neil and killed him, which forced Lana to help him rearrange the "crime scene" to convict Joe Darke.
Point in Canon: February 26, 2017, after Damon Gant has been found guilty for the murder of Neil Marshall and both cases have been resolved.
Conditional: Brief summary of previous RP history: N/A.
Character Personality: Jake is generally a very calm man, with a very cool attitude. Since the incident with his brother he has been cold and unfeeling towards many people, even the younger sister of his former lover (whom he had always treated kindly before his brother's death, according to her in the canon). He still obviously has some feeling of care or tenderness towards some people, but often times he tries to mask it behind his tough exterior. He makes himself extremely hard to read on purpose, not even batting an eyelash at someone accusing him of something in the canon unless they show him decisive evidence to the contrary. Only when he was shown to be lying did his mask ever falter. He does not want to show weakness, does not want to show that he still hasn't gotten over Neil's death or Gant and Lana's betrayal. If asked about his past, all he does is shut down, falling silent or telling them there are some things they're better off not knowing.
Ironically, while he tries to make himself as unreadable as possible, he hates it when he can't read someone or something like an open book. With people, he's much more willing to work with and try to crack than inanimate things. Hence why, in the canon, it explicitly states that Jake does terribly with any sort of technology that's more complicated than a television set. "I don't take to machines much" are his exact words when asked about the subject. As he was working the security desk in the canon, he admitted, "I know what maybe two of the machines in here do", when there were a dozen machines or more in the room. He'll learn if people are willing to teach him, but he becomes easily frustrated with technology and as such doesn't need much of it to survive. A radio is probably the only piece of technology he would ever truly not want to be without.
Jake has a terrible thing for cowboys, cacti, country music, steaks, whiskey, horses, and practically everything that is stereotypically "Western". In canon, he has three named cacti - Billy, Bogey, and Marilyn - and several more cacti scattered around his work desk. He loves wearing leather chaps and ponchos, and is rarely seen without his cowboy hat and boots. He even talks like a cowboy, using terms like "pardner", "hombre", and "bambina" to refer to other people he's talking to, cowboy lingo like "dogies" and "Yeehaw!", and uses very odd metaphors that are related to his cowboy obsession somehow. In mun's headcanon, he loves hot food and teases people who can't handle his cooking because of the heat; he makes a fantastic Five-Alarm Chili with his mama's sweet cornbread recipe - and, of course, his mama's other recipes, which are all standard cowboy fare. Past that, he drowns practically everything in Tabasco sauce, when he can.
Jake has many weaknesses, though it takes a lot for him to show them. The first is that it is extremely easy to win him over with food, specifically a steak dinner or a pasta dinner. He gets much more amicable in that case; in the canon the only way to get him to talk about the case was to get a steak dinner bento box from miss Angel Starr, and give the bento to him to make him talk. The second is that he has a strong sense of justice that can easily be turned against the law if he feels that the law is not capable of doing its job. He assaulted an officer while impersonating another officer, with intent to steal evidence from a case, and it was all because his brother's death felt fishy to him. However, he seems perfectly willing to follow the law once justice has been served; in the canon he willingly accepted his conviction and simply told Phoenix to take care of his cactus named Billy.
The third and perhaps most fatal flaw is that he is extremely vindictive when angered. All the detectives in the Joe Darke killings were brilliant detectives: the first point being, why else would five detectives be put on one case, and the second point being, Angel Starr was still known as the "Cough-up Queen" of getting confessions from criminals, two years after she had been fired from the job). And yet, Jake says in the canon that "Bruce wasn't that gifted of a detective" even though he was the lead detective on the case. When asked in canon by Ema Skye about her older sister Lana, Jake nonchalantly says, "I'm afraid your sister's fate's already been decided" - even though there is strong evidence that they were dating at one point in their history, which has naturally got some emotion behind it. And yet he says cruel things about coworkers, about lovers, because one didn't let him see the evidence against protocol to find out what truly happened to his brother; and one left him at one of the worst times of his life.
Jake does have many good qualities to balance out his flaws, and he will show them much more as time goes on; he's generally very charming especially towards the fairer sex, and has a cynical and sarcastic sense of humor that pervades his speech. But he does know how to have a good laugh, although he hasn't truly laughed in more recent years. He is still very kind to younger children, like Ema when she was younger, and in mun's headcanon he will be generally friendly to others once he has been allowed a time to grieve. Until then, he'll act like a lone cowboy going wherever the wind takes him.
Conditional: Personality development in previous game: N/A.
Character Plans: It would amuse me if he got a job joining the SPPD as a detective... after he was arrested and convicted in his home world of assaulting an officer while impersonating another officer, with intent to steal evidence. Other than that, I really just missed playing Jake and I want to start playing him again. I'll eventually have to have him accidentally stumble upon his powers, which might cause some fun chaos.
Appearance/PB: Jake is 177 cm tall and is fairly lean for his figure. However, looks can be deceiving; he's muscular where it counts. He has shoulder-length hair that is somewhere between black and dark brown, and brown eyes. On his chin he has a patch of eternal stubble (literally; no matter how many times he shaves it off with his pocket knife in the game, it's still there). He is usually seen, in the canon at least, in his full police uniform, along with many additions of his own - a poncho around his shoulders, a red scarf around his neck, a cowboy hat instead of the police hat, black fingerless gloves, and cowboy boots on his feet. He even has sewn-on fringe on the sleeves of his jacket.
Jake
Writing Samples
First Person Sample
[Jake has been given his NV, and by god if he's still confused as to what it is. He runs his fingers over the smooth surface of the screen, leaning in to squint at it, then holding it at arms length again as he slowly tests out one of the buttons on the bottom.] What's this here little contraption? I wonder iff'n Emma's around these parts... [Jake taps at another key, experimentally. He practically drops it when it springs to life, a happy ding alerting him that the "contraption" has been turned on. Once he's determined it's safe, he slowly brings it closer to his face again. He taps the same key again, figuring out when it shuts off that the button he's been pressing has to be the power button. So, he turns on the strange device one more time. But what do these other buttons do? With another grimace, he tests out both buttons. Neither of them do anything.] Ah, damn it all...! [Jake slowly starts reading stuff on the screen.] "Video", "Voice", "Text", "Holo-"... "Hologram"? What in tarnation...? That can't be right.
[After staring at the buttons for a few moments, trying to figure out how to press them, he lightly tapped at the glass. This caused him to accidentally press the button to view the entirety of the Network's posts.] ... now how in the Sam Hill did I do that? [A low frown. He didn't like machines - or rather, the machines never seemed to like him. After a moment, he experimentally tapped the screen again, and it drew up a random post, a video. He suddenly seemed to grin.] Aw hell, it's got TV on this thing? Yeehaw, now we're talkin'! [Once the post finishes, he stares at the blank screen, waiting for it to do something else.] ... what... what do I do now? It's not workin' now... [Then he begins to grumble softly, and starts fumbling with his Netvice some more.] C'mon, you stupid thing, work already! Jesus, Mary and Joseph...!
Third Person Sample
A soft hiss emanated from the coffee maker, indicating that it was done brewing the steaming liquid. Thank god for that small miracle. Jake stood, making his way over, and pouring the freshly-brewed coffee into a mug, filling it only two-thirds full. The rest was filled directly out of his hip flask. He'd had a long day looking for jobs, and by god, he was going to drink. Not get drunk, though; he had to do the same old song and dance tomorrow. By god, was he tired of this. It had already been two weeks since he had first landed in the baseball diamond, dazed and bewildered as anyone else, while those SERO people had explained to him where he was. He'd first thought it a bit of a miracle. Now, he wasn't so sure.
He should have been in jail right now. Should have been. Well, the way that some of the other Newcomers had talked, it was like he was in jail, being trapped on this island and all. But it certainly was much ritzier than any stone and metal cell. Jake chuckled a little to himself as the lyrics to a song popped into his head; he sang softly under his breath, in a baritone that mimicked his dear Johnny Cash. "He's in the jailhouse now... he's in the jailhouse now... I told him once or twice to quit playin' cards and shootin' dice... he's in the jailhouse now..." He placed down his coffee on the decrepit end table, flopping down on the couch, lifting his feet up to rest his boots on the other armrest. Now that he was all settled, he reached down for the mug, instead knocking over a stack of papers. Cursing softly under his breath, he got out of his comfortable position to pick up the papers.
As his fingers touched the stack, Jake suddenly felt something. A spark of electricity, almost, and then his vision was blank. The only thing he saw was himself knocking over the papers, but as if he had been standing across from the scene when it happened. Then, he saw himself writing on the papers, filling them out - but that had been hours ago, almost when he first woke up. And then, his vision blurred, everything was moving past him at a rapid speed that practically made his head spin, and he saw himself picking up the forms the day before, like he'd been standing next to himself the whole time. The vision abruptly ended, causing him to gasp - had he stopped breathing? He didn't remember - and he clutched onto the coffee table with both hands, panting for breath. He wiped cold sweat off his brows, once his breathing had stabilized. God, what had just happened? He felt like he'd just gotten over a fever. After shakily standing up, he sat down square on the couch, and placed his elbows on each of his knees, leaning down to rest. After a deep breath, he reached out for his coffee, paused, and then touched it, slowly. Thankfully, nothing happened, and so he took the cup in both hands and had a long drink.
Jake's hands were still shaking. He had no idea what had just happened, but now, he was hoping the booze in his coffee cup would make him forget.
Name: Meta/Panda.
Age: 21.
AIM SN: metathepanda.
email: I'd prefer not to use e-mail.
Have you played in an LJ based game before? Yes.
Currrently Played Characters: France (Francis Bonnefoy).
Conditional: Activity Check Link: Found here
Character Information
General
Canon Source: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
Canon Format: Video Game.
Character's Name: Jacob (Jake) Marshall.
Character's Age: 33.
Conditional: If your character is 13 years of age or under, please clarify how they will be played. N/A.
What form will your character's NV take? No matter what form his NV takes, Jake is going to have a hell of a time using it. But to make things simple, it will be a touch screen phone, with three buttons on the bottom: On/Off, Back, Home. The rest of its functionality will be on the touch screen, which will also have displayed big shiny buttons that are clearly labeled. Even then, Jake's still going to have a hard time with it.
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities: Jake is a skilled detective, so it's hard to pull the wool over his eyes, particularly when it comes to a burning truth he has a dire need to know. He can easily stay cool under pressure. He has a great way of reading people too, and getting at their true emotions. Also, he knows how to tie and actually use a lasso. In mun's headcanon he can speak at least basic Spanish, because he looks just a little too tan to be completely Caucasian, and he often uses Spanish words in his speech.
Conditional: If your character has no superhuman canon abilities, what dormant ability will you give them? I would like Jake to have the ability of seeing the past of a person or object in his mind's eye, simply by touching them with his hand or hands. This will be somewhat like the previews at the beginning of the first few cases in each Phoenix Wright game: Jake will be able to see, but not interact with, everything that was going on in near proximity to the person or object, starting from its full creation (for a human it would be as soon as they were born, for a gun it would be the moment that it was put on the market). At first, his powers will be extremely chaotic, showing only a second or two of its recent history or perhaps the whole history of the object at rapid speed (causing immense physical pain for Jake), or even just a still frame of the object. As he keeps using it, he will not only be able to keep the vision stable for longer periods of time, but he'll be able to control the flow of time, almost like it's a movie. He will then be able to play it forwards or backwards, at any speed he wants, or pause his vision. As it's going on, he'll be able to talk as well, something he won't be able to do as his ability first starts.
He will only be able to use it on one object at a time as he first starts, two at maximum. When using his ability to touch two objects at a time, his vision will only show something in common if the two pieces are related (i.e., a murder weapon and the victim of the weapon would show him the time of the murder). Otherwise, he will have two visions going on at once, which is not only dangerous for his sanity but also for his physical body, which may lead to him going into a seizure, going blind for a couple of hours, nosebleeds, paralyzation, or any number of things.
Weapons: His pocket knife; his gun was taken from him immediately before this point.
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History: **This part is headcanon. Jake is a minor character and so his backstory isn't delved into a whole lot in the game.**
Jacob Allen Marshall was born on November 19, 1984 in the city of Los Angeles, California. His father had lived in Texas breeding and raising livestock before he met Jake's mother, which is how Jake got his admiration for cowboys. Even as he was growing up, his father would take him (and his little brother Neil Marshall, born four years later) to their family's ranch in Texas, where their uncle still lived and watched over everything after Jake's father retired. He had a fairly normal childhood other than that, but was usually getting into trouble at least once a week (sometimes from protecting his little brother from older bullies). His over-inflated sense of justice was fed at an early age by his brother Neil. They had been close as children, but as they grew older they grew closer and closer together.
Jake had always admired lawmen in the many westerns their father watched, and loved the snappy detectives in the noir films his mother enjoyed. However, it was Neil that put into his head the idea of becoming a detective, and using his natural talents for the side of the law, since Neil had always had the desire to be a prosecutor; they were young enough that Neil never remembered spurring his brother on, but Jake did. Jake made it his goal to become a detective and work alongside his brother on cases as a brother team. He went to college in Los Angeles and got an Associates degree in Criminal Justice, and because of his outstanding marks was easily accepted into the police force as a detective. Once Neil graduated from law school he was given a job as prosecutor for the district Jake worked in, and Jake eagerly awaited the chance he'd get to team up with his brother in a case, but a few years went by and they were never given the chance; Neil and Jake helped each other out with both their cases indirectly when they could. It was at the precinct he met the love of his life, Lana Skye, who happened to be his superior. He instantly fell for her and, against protocol, convinced her to date him.
**End headcanon**
Jake finally had a chance to work with his brother Neil, along with four other detectives: Angel Starr and Bruce Goodman, and the two chief detectives in charge of the case, Damon Gant and Lana Skye. These six were sent on the trail of a serial killer named Joe Darke. He was a businessman who had accidentally hit and killed a man with his car. In a fit of paranoia, he killed the only witness to his crime, and this murder happened to be witnessed by someone else; the chain reaction continued until he was finally taken into police custody. Unfortunately, even with five skilled detectives on the case, there was not definitive evidence to convict Darke for the killings. Jake and the other detectives were not present, while Neil and Damon Gant interrogated Darke together; it was the last time he would ever see his brother alive. Darke was convicted for the murders as well as Neil's murder, and the SL-9 case was considered over; however, as Damon Gant and Lana Skye carried out the investigation together, the other three detectives, especially Jake, felt there was something off about the evidence.
Before the three could investigate further, however, Damon Gant (who had just been promoted to Chief of Police for completing the SL-9 case) fired Angel and demoted Jake to a security guard for the evidence room. On top of that, Lana Skye told Jake that as the new Chief of Prosecutors, it was even more taboo for the two of them to continue their romance, and broke it off with him. Outraged and heartbroken, Jake shirked his duties (admitting aloud to Phoenix two years later that he only visited the evidence room once a month) and for two years tried to convince his peers and other colleagues to help him reopen SL-9. He became even more frustrated and desperate when all of his colleagues chalked it up to being emotionally involved in the case, since one of the victims was his dearly departed brother.
As a final call for help, on February 21st, 2017, Jake tried to convince Bruce, along with Angel, to let them open Bruce's locker holding all the SL-9 evidence and reexamine all of it themselves. The case evidence was two years old and was supposed to be taken to the prosecutor's office, where it would be closed for good. While Bruce felt something was still amiss, he had seen what had happened to both Jake and Angel since the case closed, and refused. As Bruce was leaving, Jake made up his mind - he had to take matters into his own hands. So he stole Bruce's ID and created a disguise so that he could sneak into the evidence room and look himself without drawing suspicion; he knew exactly where the cameras in the evidence room were, so Jake felt he would be best for the job. However, he had a moment of doubt, and hid Bruce's ID and the costume and went on with his day.
At around 5:00 that night, Jake suddenly got a call from Lana Skye, with the news that Bruce had been murdered at the prosecutor's office. Jake made up his mind, and using his disguise and Bruce's ID, snuck into the evidence room and opened Bruce's locker to find the SL-9 evidence missing. At the same time, a friend of Bruce's named Mike Meekins followed him in and asked to see his ID. Knowing his cover would be blown, Jake instead pulled out a knife. Mike became so afraid when he accidentally stabbed his hand on Jake's knife that he passed out, and Jake hastily left the room, using his knowledge of the camera system to sneak out unseen. As he was hiding the now bloody disguise in his locker near the door, he accidentally left one of the sleeves hanging out; this would later prove that Jake had been the one in the evidence room.
However, this incident accomplished his objective all along; it kept the SL-9 case open long enough for Phoenix Wright to prove that not only had Damon Gant killed Bruce to steal the evidence and keep the truth of the SL-9 case out of the open, but he also had been responsible for the murder of Neil Marshall; Neil had been alive when Damon Gant found him passed out with Joe Darke. Not only that, Damon Gant had also staged it to look like Emma Skye, Lana's younger sister, had accidentally shoved Neil and killed him, which forced Lana to help him rearrange the "crime scene" to convict Joe Darke.
Point in Canon: February 26, 2017, after Damon Gant has been found guilty for the murder of Neil Marshall and both cases have been resolved.
Conditional: Brief summary of previous RP history: N/A.
Character Personality: Jake is generally a very calm man, with a very cool attitude. Since the incident with his brother he has been cold and unfeeling towards many people, even the younger sister of his former lover (whom he had always treated kindly before his brother's death, according to her in the canon). He still obviously has some feeling of care or tenderness towards some people, but often times he tries to mask it behind his tough exterior. He makes himself extremely hard to read on purpose, not even batting an eyelash at someone accusing him of something in the canon unless they show him decisive evidence to the contrary. Only when he was shown to be lying did his mask ever falter. He does not want to show weakness, does not want to show that he still hasn't gotten over Neil's death or Gant and Lana's betrayal. If asked about his past, all he does is shut down, falling silent or telling them there are some things they're better off not knowing.
Ironically, while he tries to make himself as unreadable as possible, he hates it when he can't read someone or something like an open book. With people, he's much more willing to work with and try to crack than inanimate things. Hence why, in the canon, it explicitly states that Jake does terribly with any sort of technology that's more complicated than a television set. "I don't take to machines much" are his exact words when asked about the subject. As he was working the security desk in the canon, he admitted, "I know what maybe two of the machines in here do", when there were a dozen machines or more in the room. He'll learn if people are willing to teach him, but he becomes easily frustrated with technology and as such doesn't need much of it to survive. A radio is probably the only piece of technology he would ever truly not want to be without.
Jake has a terrible thing for cowboys, cacti, country music, steaks, whiskey, horses, and practically everything that is stereotypically "Western". In canon, he has three named cacti - Billy, Bogey, and Marilyn - and several more cacti scattered around his work desk. He loves wearing leather chaps and ponchos, and is rarely seen without his cowboy hat and boots. He even talks like a cowboy, using terms like "pardner", "hombre", and "bambina" to refer to other people he's talking to, cowboy lingo like "dogies" and "Yeehaw!", and uses very odd metaphors that are related to his cowboy obsession somehow. In mun's headcanon, he loves hot food and teases people who can't handle his cooking because of the heat; he makes a fantastic Five-Alarm Chili with his mama's sweet cornbread recipe - and, of course, his mama's other recipes, which are all standard cowboy fare. Past that, he drowns practically everything in Tabasco sauce, when he can.
Jake has many weaknesses, though it takes a lot for him to show them. The first is that it is extremely easy to win him over with food, specifically a steak dinner or a pasta dinner. He gets much more amicable in that case; in the canon the only way to get him to talk about the case was to get a steak dinner bento box from miss Angel Starr, and give the bento to him to make him talk. The second is that he has a strong sense of justice that can easily be turned against the law if he feels that the law is not capable of doing its job. He assaulted an officer while impersonating another officer, with intent to steal evidence from a case, and it was all because his brother's death felt fishy to him. However, he seems perfectly willing to follow the law once justice has been served; in the canon he willingly accepted his conviction and simply told Phoenix to take care of his cactus named Billy.
The third and perhaps most fatal flaw is that he is extremely vindictive when angered. All the detectives in the Joe Darke killings were brilliant detectives: the first point being, why else would five detectives be put on one case, and the second point being, Angel Starr was still known as the "Cough-up Queen" of getting confessions from criminals, two years after she had been fired from the job). And yet, Jake says in the canon that "Bruce wasn't that gifted of a detective" even though he was the lead detective on the case. When asked in canon by Ema Skye about her older sister Lana, Jake nonchalantly says, "I'm afraid your sister's fate's already been decided" - even though there is strong evidence that they were dating at one point in their history, which has naturally got some emotion behind it. And yet he says cruel things about coworkers, about lovers, because one didn't let him see the evidence against protocol to find out what truly happened to his brother; and one left him at one of the worst times of his life.
Jake does have many good qualities to balance out his flaws, and he will show them much more as time goes on; he's generally very charming especially towards the fairer sex, and has a cynical and sarcastic sense of humor that pervades his speech. But he does know how to have a good laugh, although he hasn't truly laughed in more recent years. He is still very kind to younger children, like Ema when she was younger, and in mun's headcanon he will be generally friendly to others once he has been allowed a time to grieve. Until then, he'll act like a lone cowboy going wherever the wind takes him.
Conditional: Personality development in previous game: N/A.
Character Plans: It would amuse me if he got a job joining the SPPD as a detective... after he was arrested and convicted in his home world of assaulting an officer while impersonating another officer, with intent to steal evidence. Other than that, I really just missed playing Jake and I want to start playing him again. I'll eventually have to have him accidentally stumble upon his powers, which might cause some fun chaos.
Appearance/PB: Jake is 177 cm tall and is fairly lean for his figure. However, looks can be deceiving; he's muscular where it counts. He has shoulder-length hair that is somewhere between black and dark brown, and brown eyes. On his chin he has a patch of eternal stubble (literally; no matter how many times he shaves it off with his pocket knife in the game, it's still there). He is usually seen, in the canon at least, in his full police uniform, along with many additions of his own - a poncho around his shoulders, a red scarf around his neck, a cowboy hat instead of the police hat, black fingerless gloves, and cowboy boots on his feet. He even has sewn-on fringe on the sleeves of his jacket.
Jake
Writing Samples
First Person Sample
[Jake has been given his NV, and by god if he's still confused as to what it is. He runs his fingers over the smooth surface of the screen, leaning in to squint at it, then holding it at arms length again as he slowly tests out one of the buttons on the bottom.] What's this here little contraption? I wonder iff'n Emma's around these parts... [Jake taps at another key, experimentally. He practically drops it when it springs to life, a happy ding alerting him that the "contraption" has been turned on. Once he's determined it's safe, he slowly brings it closer to his face again. He taps the same key again, figuring out when it shuts off that the button he's been pressing has to be the power button. So, he turns on the strange device one more time. But what do these other buttons do? With another grimace, he tests out both buttons. Neither of them do anything.] Ah, damn it all...! [Jake slowly starts reading stuff on the screen.] "Video", "Voice", "Text", "Holo-"... "Hologram"? What in tarnation...? That can't be right.
[After staring at the buttons for a few moments, trying to figure out how to press them, he lightly tapped at the glass. This caused him to accidentally press the button to view the entirety of the Network's posts.] ... now how in the Sam Hill did I do that? [A low frown. He didn't like machines - or rather, the machines never seemed to like him. After a moment, he experimentally tapped the screen again, and it drew up a random post, a video. He suddenly seemed to grin.] Aw hell, it's got TV on this thing? Yeehaw, now we're talkin'! [Once the post finishes, he stares at the blank screen, waiting for it to do something else.] ... what... what do I do now? It's not workin' now... [Then he begins to grumble softly, and starts fumbling with his Netvice some more.] C'mon, you stupid thing, work already! Jesus, Mary and Joseph...!
Third Person Sample
A soft hiss emanated from the coffee maker, indicating that it was done brewing the steaming liquid. Thank god for that small miracle. Jake stood, making his way over, and pouring the freshly-brewed coffee into a mug, filling it only two-thirds full. The rest was filled directly out of his hip flask. He'd had a long day looking for jobs, and by god, he was going to drink. Not get drunk, though; he had to do the same old song and dance tomorrow. By god, was he tired of this. It had already been two weeks since he had first landed in the baseball diamond, dazed and bewildered as anyone else, while those SERO people had explained to him where he was. He'd first thought it a bit of a miracle. Now, he wasn't so sure.
He should have been in jail right now. Should have been. Well, the way that some of the other Newcomers had talked, it was like he was in jail, being trapped on this island and all. But it certainly was much ritzier than any stone and metal cell. Jake chuckled a little to himself as the lyrics to a song popped into his head; he sang softly under his breath, in a baritone that mimicked his dear Johnny Cash. "He's in the jailhouse now... he's in the jailhouse now... I told him once or twice to quit playin' cards and shootin' dice... he's in the jailhouse now..." He placed down his coffee on the decrepit end table, flopping down on the couch, lifting his feet up to rest his boots on the other armrest. Now that he was all settled, he reached down for the mug, instead knocking over a stack of papers. Cursing softly under his breath, he got out of his comfortable position to pick up the papers.
As his fingers touched the stack, Jake suddenly felt something. A spark of electricity, almost, and then his vision was blank. The only thing he saw was himself knocking over the papers, but as if he had been standing across from the scene when it happened. Then, he saw himself writing on the papers, filling them out - but that had been hours ago, almost when he first woke up. And then, his vision blurred, everything was moving past him at a rapid speed that practically made his head spin, and he saw himself picking up the forms the day before, like he'd been standing next to himself the whole time. The vision abruptly ended, causing him to gasp - had he stopped breathing? He didn't remember - and he clutched onto the coffee table with both hands, panting for breath. He wiped cold sweat off his brows, once his breathing had stabilized. God, what had just happened? He felt like he'd just gotten over a fever. After shakily standing up, he sat down square on the couch, and placed his elbows on each of his knees, leaning down to rest. After a deep breath, he reached out for his coffee, paused, and then touched it, slowly. Thankfully, nothing happened, and so he took the cup in both hands and had a long drink.
Jake's hands were still shaking. He had no idea what had just happened, but now, he was hoping the booze in his coffee cup would make him forget.