FILE #002: Jacob ''Jake'' Arnold

Name: Jacob Zachary Arnold ''Jake'' (based on Jake Arosanervo, an old character)
Date of birth: 10 September 1998
Age: 21
Height: 168cm
Nationality: English
Hometown: London, England, United Kingdom
Languages: English
Eye colour: Black
Hair colour: Black
Skin colour: Very pale
Distinctive features: Snakebites (horseshoes)
Personality in a few words: A quiet but very kind and caring boy with an unique insight in life.
Family: Jennifer Arnold (mother), James Arnold (father), Joey Arnold (older brother), Jules Arnold (younger brother)
Issues: Bipolar disorder, alcoholism, abusive father

Detailed information

Favourite music: The Amity Affliction, The Agonist, God Forbid
Favourite movies: The Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Knight, Forrest Gump
Favourite TV series: Mad Men, Seinfeld, The Simpsons
Favourite foods: Fish and chips with mushy peas, chocolate, chips
Hobby: Cooking, gardening

Character history

COMING SOON

The creative process

Ah, Jake. My favourite child. No, for real, he's definitely my favourite out of all the characters I've ever created. He wasn't the most important one to me in the beginning, but as I gradually started developing him, I quickly became very fond of him. Maybe it's because he resembles me a lot - Ronnie started out as a shameless self-insert, but as years went on, I began to realise that maybe Jake was the true self-insert character after all. Jake was the second character I ever created, which also makes him very dear to me. I think at this point it goes without saying that he belongs to the Lapin tähdet-universe, originally. Oh, a fun fact about the first version of Sunset Bay with the superpowers; Jake's power was enhanced senses. I have no idea why.
   Jake has... remained the same, mostly. I mean, comparing to Ronnie, for example, who has changed quite a lot during these years, Jake really has not. He's always been a kind of an enigma, who always has some weird shamanic shit to say about whatever issue he's presented with. He definitely has his own share of issues, I think even in the beginning he was the one who was dealing with the most out of the core gang of my characters. At first, his issues with his family weren't that present and it was mostly his parents being very busy with their jobs and being really absent in both his and his brothers' lives. Then at some point I came up with the idea of his father being physically abusive. That might have even been before I remade him.
   As for his other issues... Seeing as I was 12 years old when I created him and definitely did not have any clue as to what mental illnesses really were, he wasn't bipolar to begin with. That was also something that just came to me at a later time and I went with it, because it felt like a good direction to take this character to (fuck, that sounds horrible when I put it like that). I've always imagined Jake as the type of person who's quick to leave his medication and start drinking instead. In the most recent version of the original universe, it was actually a running gag in the story that Jake very much has a drinking problem but he kind of chooses not to acknowledge it in any form.
   When it comes to his appearance, Jake has always stayed the same. I'm not joking about that, he's literally been the same black-eyed emo child for as long as he's been around, really. I made him that way because at that strange age of 12 I was for some godforsaken reason obsessed with the emo culture, and it made perfect sense for someone to be a striking image of a 2010s Internet Emo Boy. I kind of knew it would be Jake, to be honest, he just appeared in my head looking like that. You'd think he'd grow out of it, but as for now, he hasn't. Maybe he never will. I also have no idea where the idea of him having black eyes came from, but it's always been a part of his character. I mean, Jake wouldn't be Jake if he'd be something different than an eternal emo teenager.
   Ronnie and Jake are the one couple who will always find each other no matter what. They're soulmates, and I did create them for each other; I always meant for them to be together. As I mentioned before, somewhere (I'm sure of it), it was an on-going theme in the original version that Ronnie and Jake liked each other and everyone else knew that. They did end up together, yes, but also broke up and as of the most recent version of this universe, they are not together. But if we jump into their present, remade selves and the universe of Sunset Bay, they are definitely together. When I write little short stories, Ronnie and Jake are my go-to couple. I find them really easy to write about, as their relationship feels quite real to me.
   I don't know what else to say, really. Jake is so important to me that it feels kind of stupid, because he's not a real person. He's entirely a figment of my imagination, but I actually prefer it that way; I can do whatever I want with him. He's grown up with me, that's for sure. I don't know what's going to happen with him in the future, but I know he's always going to be there, somehow. Whatever I do, he's there. Out of all the characters I've ever created, Jake is probably the one who is already a part of me, in a weird way.