OOC: History/Backstory
Aside from the fact that Joey had a taste for gin, Jazz, and fedoras and died sometime in the mid '20s, not much is known about his life before his death. Joey usually meets questions about his life before death with insults and great apprehension, leading one to believe he had it pretty hard before he was killed. Considering his appearance and general demeanor give him an air of being in his late 20s to early 30s, one can assume he died due to outside circumstances.
After his death, it's also uncertain how he was chosen to become the spirit guide of the Blackwell family, but judging from his responses it can be ascertained that he didn't and doesn't know either. He first manifested himself to Patricia Blackwell, Rosa's grandmother. She never accepted her duty as a medium and spent the next seven months trying to ignore Joey and pretend everything was fine. It's assumed in game that mediums who avoid their duties of helping lost spirits reach the other side slowly go insane. This happened to Patricia. She only lasted those seven months before she actually died of what the doctors called a massive brain hemorrhage. Having been ignored by the only person on Earth who could see or hear him for seven months, it makes sense that Joey doesn't hold Patricia in high regard. It isn't certain whether or not Joey had a direct hand in Patricia's death, but according to his comments, it can be assumed he had a hand in helping drive her insane. He threatens Rosa regularly by saying, “You mention one word about me to anyone, and I'll make sure the rest of your life between those padded walls is a living hell.”
Lauren Blackwell, who was away at college during her mother's degradation into insanity, was the next to receive the Legacy. It's never explained how their initial meeting went, but it is understood that Joey and Lauren came to an understanding about both of their situations. As Joey says, they “figured it out as they went along.” Things seemed to stay fine and dandy as long as they were seeking out lost souls and helping send them on their merry way. One notable situation they helped to quell involved a woman who called herself the Countess. She was a crazy woman wandering the streets on New York, 'saving' people by killing them because her 'guide' was telling her to. It turned out, the Countess had once had a spirit guide as well, but the guide had somehow left her, and the Link had moved on to a living person: a journalist. The Countess, through the Link, was being told by the writer's articles, to 'free' the 'lost souls' he wrote about. Eventually Lauren and Joey were able to stop her, and they thought for good. They threw her off a balcony.
Lauren and Joey continued their task of freeing the wandering souls of New York until 1984, when her brother and his wife, along with their infant daughter, Rosangela, were involved in a car crash. With no other family left to take care of the child, Lauren gave up helping the wandering spirits and listening to Joey to take care of baby Rosa. She lasted five years before a heated argument between her and Joey had the police called. They assumed they were responding to a domestic disturbance. What they found was a woman screaming at the air. She was involuntarily committed and Rosa was taken into foster care. Lauren lasted another 25 years in a mental institution, heavily medicated, before she finally couldn't hold on any longer.
After her death, the Legacy passed to Rosa. Rosa was told by her aunt's physician of her grandmother and aunt's condition. Even including that both of them often spoke of a man called 'Joey'. When Rosa asked who this 'Joey' was, he replied they'd been wondering the same thing for twenty-five years. Joey manifested to Rosa that night. At first she didn't want to believe she was seeing what her aunt and grandmother had seen. She didn't want to believe it was true. Joey pushed the issue, making her 'say his name.' Finally, she resigned herself to that fate and admitted he was Joey. Joey proceeded, gently even, to tell her what it meant to be a medium and introduced her to all the things he and Lauren had worked out, though he avoided the topic of her aunt as much as possible, saying Patricia had been a fool, but Lauren had only 'made a mistake.' Immediately they're thrown into a situation involving a powerful ghost called the Deacon who was using Ouija boards to contact people to help him avoid the devil and save his soul from hell. At the end of the day, Rosa impresses Joey by not only convincing the Deacon he needs to face his fears, but also resolve himself of his sins. “Not bad, for a newbie,” he comments.
Six months passed before the past came back to haunt them. Literally. The Countess, now a ghost, has been at it again, this time with a link to another man, who was aware of this ability to send a proverbial spiritual hitman after whomever he wished. In order to free the Countess and her spirit guide, Rosa had to reconnect the two. She pulled it off, and without a hitch to boot, earning even more brownie points from the doubtful and always pessimistic Joey.
Now, Rosa has decided she's going to advertise on the Internet as a paranormal investigator. Let's just say, Joey is really not liking this idea.
After his death, it's also uncertain how he was chosen to become the spirit guide of the Blackwell family, but judging from his responses it can be ascertained that he didn't and doesn't know either. He first manifested himself to Patricia Blackwell, Rosa's grandmother. She never accepted her duty as a medium and spent the next seven months trying to ignore Joey and pretend everything was fine. It's assumed in game that mediums who avoid their duties of helping lost spirits reach the other side slowly go insane. This happened to Patricia. She only lasted those seven months before she actually died of what the doctors called a massive brain hemorrhage. Having been ignored by the only person on Earth who could see or hear him for seven months, it makes sense that Joey doesn't hold Patricia in high regard. It isn't certain whether or not Joey had a direct hand in Patricia's death, but according to his comments, it can be assumed he had a hand in helping drive her insane. He threatens Rosa regularly by saying, “You mention one word about me to anyone, and I'll make sure the rest of your life between those padded walls is a living hell.”
Lauren Blackwell, who was away at college during her mother's degradation into insanity, was the next to receive the Legacy. It's never explained how their initial meeting went, but it is understood that Joey and Lauren came to an understanding about both of their situations. As Joey says, they “figured it out as they went along.” Things seemed to stay fine and dandy as long as they were seeking out lost souls and helping send them on their merry way. One notable situation they helped to quell involved a woman who called herself the Countess. She was a crazy woman wandering the streets on New York, 'saving' people by killing them because her 'guide' was telling her to. It turned out, the Countess had once had a spirit guide as well, but the guide had somehow left her, and the Link had moved on to a living person: a journalist. The Countess, through the Link, was being told by the writer's articles, to 'free' the 'lost souls' he wrote about. Eventually Lauren and Joey were able to stop her, and they thought for good. They threw her off a balcony.
Lauren and Joey continued their task of freeing the wandering souls of New York until 1984, when her brother and his wife, along with their infant daughter, Rosangela, were involved in a car crash. With no other family left to take care of the child, Lauren gave up helping the wandering spirits and listening to Joey to take care of baby Rosa. She lasted five years before a heated argument between her and Joey had the police called. They assumed they were responding to a domestic disturbance. What they found was a woman screaming at the air. She was involuntarily committed and Rosa was taken into foster care. Lauren lasted another 25 years in a mental institution, heavily medicated, before she finally couldn't hold on any longer.
After her death, the Legacy passed to Rosa. Rosa was told by her aunt's physician of her grandmother and aunt's condition. Even including that both of them often spoke of a man called 'Joey'. When Rosa asked who this 'Joey' was, he replied they'd been wondering the same thing for twenty-five years. Joey manifested to Rosa that night. At first she didn't want to believe she was seeing what her aunt and grandmother had seen. She didn't want to believe it was true. Joey pushed the issue, making her 'say his name.' Finally, she resigned herself to that fate and admitted he was Joey. Joey proceeded, gently even, to tell her what it meant to be a medium and introduced her to all the things he and Lauren had worked out, though he avoided the topic of her aunt as much as possible, saying Patricia had been a fool, but Lauren had only 'made a mistake.' Immediately they're thrown into a situation involving a powerful ghost called the Deacon who was using Ouija boards to contact people to help him avoid the devil and save his soul from hell. At the end of the day, Rosa impresses Joey by not only convincing the Deacon he needs to face his fears, but also resolve himself of his sins. “Not bad, for a newbie,” he comments.
Six months passed before the past came back to haunt them. Literally. The Countess, now a ghost, has been at it again, this time with a link to another man, who was aware of this ability to send a proverbial spiritual hitman after whomever he wished. In order to free the Countess and her spirit guide, Rosa had to reconnect the two. She pulled it off, and without a hitch to boot, earning even more brownie points from the doubtful and always pessimistic Joey.
Now, Rosa has decided she's going to advertise on the Internet as a paranormal investigator. Let's just say, Joey is really not liking this idea.