Jake Griffith
From DirtyWiki
Contents |
Out of Character
Jake Griffith was created 31 May, 2004 by Lora, as part of an Eton-based online roleplaying game, A Field Sable.
He is one of three characters who comprised Dirty Life during its creation. (The others are Avery Driscoll and Jack Dickon.)
In Character
Specifics
Full Name: Jacob Michael Griffith (Reali)
Birthdate: 26 October, 1987
Birthplace: London, England
Hometown: Cape Town, South Africa
Family: Mother, Sophie Reali. Father, Domani Reali. Siblings, Nick Griffith (half brother), Alessandro Reali (half brother), and Ava Reali.
Sexuality: Gay
Relationship Status: Engaged to Avery Driscoll and Jack Dickon
Schooling: Eton College, Regents Park Secondary School
Detailed Information
Physical Description
Jake stands at a height of 6 feet, or about 183 cm, has dark hazel eyes and dark, very messy and thick brown hair. He has a lean, typical footballer build, an olive complexion, and a toned stomach and muscular arms. He's takes a great amount of care and pride in the way he looks, so will rarely be seen looking nothing short of very well put together.
He currently has six tattoos: a tribal slash on his left shoulder blade; the names Avery and Jack with corresponding angel wings and a devil horns and tail flanking each, on his right and left hip respectively; a tribal design covering the whole of his right shoulder and part of his upper arm; an ankh on his chest (slightly left side) over his heart; and a sort of spiral of music notes, the melody of the first song he wrote for Avery, about halfway up his left forearm 'floating' up toward his elbow.
Personal Information
Jake is almost the stereotypical tall, dark, and handsome guy. He's extremely smart, which is most obviously noted his in vast knowledge of literature and music, though he rarely exercises it. He can almost always be found with either a book in hand, or at his piano. He reads about two books a week, and has been playing the piano since he was four. He has a natural ear for music and can play and transpose most things he listens to. He composes his own music, and his most prized possession is the antique grand piano Avery gave him for his 17th birthday - a family heirloom that had been in the family for over a century. He's fluent in French and nearly fluent in Spanish, is currently learning Italian, knows some Greek and can read and write Latin fairly well (from his classes at Eton).
Jake is an an avid footballer, though doesn't play as much as he would like anymore. He also boxes and works out regularly; long runs being a favorite escape of his, along with reading and music. His other hobbies include old films, shopping, and goofing around with Avery and Jack. He loves chocolate, black licorice, and tea (though not necessarily all together), and absolutely adores his mother and Claire Driscoll, who has become a second mother to him.
He can often be taken as cold and distant, and often broods, but don't be fooled. He too is a Mummy's Boy, and the world's biggest cuddle. Avery is the most imporant person in his life, and he is very protective of both his boyfriends. He owns three of what has become a Fitzwilliam menagerie, a black cat also named Jack, and two of Jack and Kat's kittens which he named Amun and Bast.
Jake was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder at 17.
Backstory
Jacob Michael Griffith was born on 26th October, 1987 in London, England to Sophie and John Griffith. John was a well-to-do architect, quickly moving up within the company he worked for. Only a year after Jake was born, John was packing up his wife, six year old son Nick, and one year old Jake, and moving them to Italy. This was only the beginning was what would be a slightly different than what some would consider normal childhood for Jake. Before he would turn 11 he lived in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland and the United States, not including all of the UK, for various amounts of time ranging from a year and a half to only a few weeks - they stayed in New York City for roughly a month when Jake was six, and he doesn't really consider himself to have ever lived there. It was more like a vacation.
Sophie, who had studied languages at Cambridge University, where she met John, home schooled both boys during this entire time with the help of numerous tutors – choosing home schooling over enrolling them in and then removing them from school after school in country after country. Born in France and an avid (and faintly known, mostly in France) painter, Sophie taught both boys her first language, French, and the main language of whatever country they were currently living in even as she learned it herself. Having lived the longest in Spain (three years, though not consecutively) Jake was almost fluent in Spanish by the time he was 8. He spent his days being taught by his mother in unconventional settings (she much preferred to take her boys out into cities or country sides or to beaches for hands on things and such), watching her paint, becoming an avid pianist and footballer (the latter if only by watching and playing sometimes with neighborhood kids in whichever country he was in), and following around Nick.
Sophie instilled in him a love of jazz – she wasn’t a huge fan herself, but by just playing the old records Jake became hooked on the sounds and the unique structure. Sophie got him a professional piano teacher, but Jake didn’t want to learn classical theory and was easily bored and unmotivated by what he would have to learn. Realizing he had a natural ear for music and a talent for picking pieces of music up after hearing them just a few times, Sophie encouraged him and taught him what she knew from her own training in piano.
His older brother and mother were his world, where his father was very, very absent. To make that story short: John had severe commitment problems and did not make a good father. His affairs were never quite hidden from his wife and over time she became numb to them, and once having one herself. But more on that later.
In between living in various European countries, the Griffith family did frequent London and their family home in Chelsea. Jake never thought of one place as his home, but considered his home to be his mother and brother.
Jake was not quite 11 when Sophie fell ill while they were once again in Spain. She had been ill for quite some time, unbeknownst to even herself – but as the seriousness of it became notable, John backed out of a job early and took them back to London. Several doctors visits and numerous tests later, Sophie was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. By that time it was too late. It had spread to her lymph nodes and the doctors told her she only had a few months to live. She died on 12 November, 1999, and Jake's life was over as he knew it.
Dealing with his own issues (not to mention guilt) John was once again packing them up - but this time it was permanently. Never having gotten along with Nick, John did nothing but fight with the older boy whenever they were in seeing distance of each other. Nick moved out of the house the day after he turned 18, the April after Sophie's death. John was packing up the house shortly after and moving himself and Jake to a spacious top floor flat in Regent's Park.
Jake spent his time in this new flat, holing himself away in his room or on the roof of the building, falling into a pit of depression and uncontrollable anger. John still managed to make himself absent, though he stayed in London, but when he was home (normally only at night) he and Jake fought worse than ever. Over the next year Jake refused to go school even after John enrolled him, got himself into his father's store of liquor fairly frequently, scratched himself to scar with his nails regularly, and rarely ever left the flat. During the summer of 2001 John had him enrolled to be tested for Eton, which Jake took only at the prospect of getting away from John. He passed with flying colors and that fall was boarding Eton, where he would remain for the following three years.
At Eton Jake met Avery, in their Latin class. Jake was drawn to him immediately, seeming to have found someone unlike all the other boys and quiet like himself. They spent the afternoon after class talking and it ended in a chaste kiss – leaving Jake already completely attached to the younger boy even as Avery’s older boyfriend led him away.
Up until that time Jake had never considered his sexuality, nor did he really after that either. As time wore on and he and Avery spent more and more time together revising, talking, and goofing around, Jake was falling in love with the boy, unbeknownst to himself. The two boys went to other’s games, Jake to Avery’s rugby games and Avery to Jake’s football games, and Jake was at every one of Avery’s concerts he played his violin in. Nearly all of their time was spent together.
Avery’s boyfriend Frank complicated their friendship immensely. He was possessive and jealous, and it wasn’t long before Jake realized Frank was getting Avery into hard drugs – though he had no idea what to do about that. He wanted Avery to be happy, and Avery loved Frank. Having started smoking not long before (to piss off his father – it worked), Jake didn’t say no when Avery showed him the pot he had gotten from Frank.
After they spent a night actually snogging in bed, Frank broke Avery’s knee and Avery was forced to break off his friendship with Jake. Devastated and beyond hurt, the only thing Jake knew to do was retreat into himself, bitter at himself for letting this happen and the world for taking away anyone he ever dared to love. He threw himself into his studies, started fencing some and joined the rowing team, and spent any extra time he had in the music hall on any piano he could find that didn’t have any other boys in the vicinity. He started writing his own music, sometimes sneaking into the building late at night to ensure that he would be alone while playing. He smoked more than ever, both cigarettes and pot, bribing older boys to get both for him with whatever he could. While his extremely high grades never dropped, his mood plunged. He talked to no one other than for football, which was a necessity, and kept to himself. He made himself try to forget about Avery, which was the only way he knew how to lessen the hurt of not having him.
Forgetting Avery included three boys, which Jake fooled around with in various ways. They never amounted to anything more than a blowjob. After the third boy, Avery still haunting his every thought, Jake gave up with other boys. Finally Avery approached him one day a year or so later, telling him he was done with Frank, and boldly kissed Jake on the lips. Too stunned to think, Jake could only manage the boy’s name – which Avery misinterpreted as a rejection, and had taken off before Jake could say another thing. Jake resolved to talk to him the following day and apologize, and do what he had really wanted to all along – snog Avery absolutely senseless. He asked Avery if they could talk, and they agreed to meet later that night.
Except Avery never came. Having gone through a humiliating public ordeal in the dining room earlier that same day, Jake thought Avery was just upset – until, after the weekend had passed, Jake saw Avery with Jack. With Jack. Once again, Jake retreated. As much as he could, anyway, while still trying to remain friends with Avery.
That didn’t last long. School ended in a flurry of events, the most significant of which being Frank attacking Avery, resulting in the boy being sent home to South Africa. And then Jake learned of Avery’s attempt at suicide, after Jack cheated on him with another boy at the school. Time couldn’t pass fast enough before he was able to get enough money from his bank account to get to South Africa – where his relationship with Avery was rekindled, and with a passion they hadn’t let themselves have before. Even with Jack there Jake didn’t stop himself or Avery. They finally had what they had been trying for all along and it had taken Avery’s near death for Jake to realize how much the younger meant to him.
To make a long story short, Jack left for London (torn over Jake and Avery’s undeniable and growing relationship), Jake and Avery flew back shortly after for Frank’s trial, and the three of them met up and things were still very disastrous. Jack was skinnier than ever and soon checked himself into a hospital to be treated for severe anorexia. Upon his release, Jake let him stay with him and Avery at the flat in Regent’s Park. During this entire time John only showed up at the flat once, over the summer. Upon finding Jack and Avery there he confronted Jake and many nasty words were exchanged, including Jake telling him to get the fuck out and never come back.
The boys’ relationship grew, rockily, but together the three of them decided to enroll in Regent’s Park Secondary School, where Jake encountered even more problems in the form of other people.
News of John’s death came that autumn (2004), after his plane crashed off the coast of Portugal on the way back from business in Brazil. Because of his father’s business, and the money from now both his parents’ deaths, Jake was left with a good inheritance (to be split with his brother). It was at least enough to get him through a good university, should he ever decide to go. John’s death affected Jake little, and after the funeral was over Jake put him completely out of his mind.
During that time, Jake was unknowingly distancing himself from both Avery and Jack, having too much stress to deal with and trying to escape the enormous responsibilities life was placing on his shoulders. He often tried to escape, whether it was through smoking cigarette after cigarette on the roof of their building, or getting high. Tension mounted with another boy at school, Roger Sims, who was extremely interested in Avery and unafraid to show it. Jake finally snapped one day, screaming at Avery and scaring him so badly that Avery ran off in terror and hid, his wings coming out to instinctively protect him. Jake and Jack were shocked, Avery scared out of his mind, and none of them knew what to do.
As a solution, the following day Jake went to school and punched Roger hard enough to send the boy back into the wall, giving him a concussion, and resulting in Jake getting a week suspension from school. Not long after that, the tension at home exploded and Avery and Jake had a fight over Jake’s distance. Avery accused Jake of being just like Frank. Jake stopped smoking immediately, shredding his entire pack of cigarettes and flushing them down the toilet.
Jake fell into frequent depressions, for both short periods of times and longer ones. Things were starting to look up, if only he could control his moods and his anxiety. His brother finally encouraged him to see a doctor for his frequent migraines – who then, with a prescription, recommended him to a therapist for his severe anxiety, which was the cause of those migraines. After seeing the therapist for a time Jake was put on anti-depressants and diagnosed with depression and general anxiety disorder.
The boys returned to Cape Town during a holiday from school, to enjoy the warm weather. Avery, having conspired with his mother, had a surprise waiting there for Jake. It was Sophie about to be brought back due to angelic connections and his own long standing need for her. They found some sort of closure, spending the following two weeks all together. For once Jake actually felt complete.
School finished, and not long into the summer of 2005 Jake was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and started psychotherapy. The boys spent that summer introducing Avery’s younger brother James to London, as he was to start Eton in the fall. The boys had decided to move to South Africa more permanently, as Avery wanted to be home, and while packing Jake went sorting through all his mother’s things that John had boxed up and shoved into closets – her sketches, some paintings, and boxes upon boxes of photographs. Amongst it all Jake found a thick bundle of what turned out to be almost twenty year old love letters, between his mother and a man Jake never knew, Domani Reali. Avery, excited over the discovery of old memories and there looking through Jake’s baby pictures with him, thought he recognized the name. Together they wracked their brains and finally Jake dragged out a box of all his old football magazines and that’s where they found him. A star midfielder on AC Milan, and baring a scary resemblance to Jake, was Domani Reali staring up at them. Avery had often joked that Jake didn’t look at all like his father, John, and Jake often joked about how dark his skin was himself (for being British), but finally it seemed as if a lost puzzle piece had fallen in place.
Sophie had left a letter with Claire when Claire had brought her back, knowing Jake would find out some day. Claire confirmed what Jake and Avery had suspected, and several phone calls later she and the boys were on their way to Milan, just in time for Jake's 18th birthday.
Jake met Domani, who too confirmed his relationship with Sophie, nearly lost (though hardly forgotten) after so many years. It turned out that Domani was rather famously bisexual, and had had a previous marriage and another son. Jake began to explore part of himself he never knew existed, and dealt with the frustration of not knowing about his real father for years. Domani hadn’t known either, and with his and Claire’s help Jake came to understand what had happened, and the lack of choices his mother had had while still married to John.
Upon returning from Italy, Avery presented Jake with the keys to his old house in Chelsea - Avery had bought it and had it redecorated and restored for them. They moved out of the flat for good, returning to the house in Chelsea whenever they were in London.
The following Christmas there was a huge gathering at Avery’s house in Cape Town, which included not only the entire Driscoll and Fitzwilliam’s family and friends, but Domani and Jake’s newly discovered younger half brother, Alessandro – as well as Sophie, who Claire had arranged to call back to spend the holidays with them, and reunite with Domani.
Jake had a family like he had never had before, and unexpectedly this became permanent – suddenly Sophie was real, through an impossibility turned reality which involved a whole lot of love and the conception of another child.
The holidays ended and 2006 started with Domani asking Sophie to marry him, and her enthusiastic yes. They went back to Milan in February to start their new life, and a week after Jake followed to spend time with his parents and help them find a new house.
Jake’s parents found and bought a house in Genoa, Italy, on the coast, and while this aspect of Jake’s life finally seemed complete, his relationship with Avery and Jack was taking another blow.
None of the boys were taken their separation, however short, well. Once Jake returned this culminated in a nasty fight where Avery shouted that he wasn’t enough for Jake, and Jake, very unfortunately, shouting back without thinking that he wasn’t enough for Avery either. He realized his mistake immediately and tried to take it back but that didn’t erase the amount of hurt he had caused – Avery was hysterical and Jack slapped him before running from the room. It took some time for Jake to get back into their good graces.
After this they also went through a very tough period where Jack began fooling around with girls, one a mutual friend of theirs. The boys once more returned to Cape Town, barely holding themselves together. Jake and Jack got into a fist fight, Jake beating Jack horribly (with an unfair advantage of strength). Then Avery proposed to Jake that they let Jack sleep with Avery’s mother Claire.
It was a bad period for all. Jake hit what was probably his lowest point ever, affected by the strong emotions in the Driscoll house (Claire and John were at that point going through a divorce, and Claire’s guilt over her budding relationship with Jack was strong) as well as dealing with deep seated feelings of inadequacy and absolute self loathing. It was during this period that he slapped Avery, something he had sworn he would never do, and put his fist through a window.
It was when they once more returned to London for Jack’s 19th birthday party that Jack actually slept with a girl, a girl who hated Avery and Jake, and Avery went into a downward spiral that culminated in him once more slitting his throat. This time it was with a butcher knife, and this time it was Claire and Jake who found him – on the floor of the kitchen in their house in Chelsea, in a huge puddle of blood. The image of him there would remain burned into Jake’s mind forever.
Afterwards, there was a very slow climb upwards. There was a much need vacation in Jamaica, Sophie and Domani’s wedding in Milan, and Jack checking himself into a rehab clinic for sex addiction. Though Jake’s parents’ wedding upset all three of them, Avery the most, it was in the fall of 2006 that South Africa granted gay and lesbian couples the full right to marry. It was during this period that Johnny (Jack) Camden – Claire’s first love – also reappeared and it wasn’t long before they were married. In the days before their wedding, Jake proposed to Avery and Jack (now that being engaged would actually mean something).
This brings things fairly up to date with the current game play.
Backstory: Simplified
Jake was conceived near the end of a very passionate love affair his mother Sophie Reali (then Sophie Griffith) had with Domani Reali while in Italy with her then husband John Griffith, who was on business. Sophie raised Jake to believe John was his father, for her own reasons. For the most part Jake had a normal childhood - or as normal as it could get since John was an architect and traveled often, taking the family with him. By the time he was twelve he had lived in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland and the United States, not including all of the UK.
Sophie's death when he was twelve affected him severely, and because John was absent and traveled with his job Jake was left mostly to his own devices for the next few years. His brother, Nick Griffith, moved out not long after their mother died.
Jake met Avery Driscoll at Eton, and the two became fast friends, though they went through some extremely rocky periods due to Avery's current (abusive) boyfriend, Frank Benedict. Later Jake and Avery would finally be able to have the relationship they had always looked for together, along with Jack Dickon. After finding out that Avery's family were angels, Sophie was brought back to life by Avery and Claire Driscoll, Avery's mother.
Jake currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa, on the Fitzwilliam Estate, and spends time when he can with his parents in Milan, Italy.
External Links
Current Journal
Old Journal
100 Things About Jake
Inhabit the Garden Avery's complete history in novel form, by Scout, and has detailed information about the beginnings of Jake and Avery's relationship.
