Jolene "Brooksie" Brooks

Jo is one of the core characters of **Between Failures** and, like the others, works at the Megatainment store. She is obsessed with films, but generally shy.

## Appearance

### **Physique**

Jo is short (probably an inch or so shorter than Ed), and generally petite. She is known to have mixed Mexican / Caucasian heritage. Unlike many of the other female characters, Jo is clearly depicted as wearing earrings (normally small hoops). She has a small nose.

She dyes her hair bright blue, and usually wears violet (or occasionally amber) contact lenses. Although we very seldom see it, Jo is known to have Hetrochromia. Her natural colour is almost black, with a blonde streak at the front. Her eyes are also different shades, with the left being brown and the right a yellow-amber.

Jo's hair is worn relatively short, with slightly longer bangs on each side. It often hangs over her face, except where held back by a clasp over her left eye. It seems probable she has worn it in this style for a long time, possibly prior to using contacts to alter her eye colours.

### **Clothing**

Jo's clothing at work varies slightly more than most of the core characters. However, in general, she wears one of the long-sleeved store shirts, in sizes far too large for her, allowing her to hide her hands in the sleeves. Many of these appear to be borrowed from Nina. She wears a variety of t-shirts or vests underneath, often preferring red items.

For casual wear, Jo often wears colourful outsize tops and shirts. However, her girlfriend Jessie does sometimes persuade her to wear more fitted (even skimpy) outfits.

## Job Role

Jo appears to work full-time at the Megatainment store, running the Film section with the occasional assistance of the part-timers (Ed and Reggie).

## Relationships

### **Friendships**

#### Carol

At the start of the comic, Jo initially seems scared of Carol (at least when Carol is being managerial...) However, over time it becomes clear Jo likes (and may well be attracted to) her.

#### John

Jo and John seem to have a casual friendship, most likely borne of their taking smoke breaks together. From John's comments in an early strip, it is apparent they probably didn't know each other before working at the store. She seems comfortable enough to tease him fairly robustly.

#### Ed

Ed and Jo seem to become friends early in the strip, with her acknowledging this at the end of his first day. She seems to enjoy the challenge of quoting movies, and later invites him over to watch old movies. It's not totally clear whether she's actually asking him for date, as she seems nervous doing so. In any case, he accepts. She may also be flirting with her later the same day, when Thomas gives her the job of training him in the Video department.

#### Nina

Jo clearly likes Nina, and enjoys getting hugs from her. She also likes to borrow Nina's shirts (especially when slightly worn so they smell of her). Nina is also happy to share her fantasies with Jo, suggesting they are quite close.

## Personality

### **Behavior**

Jo is typically very shy around people she doesn't know, and rarely speaks long sentences unless quoting movies. Perhaps partly because of her interest in movies, she seems to have an extensive vocabullary. Sometimes, she speaks as if citing a quotation, but not actually doing so. Thomas considers her timid and odd, although he seems to like her.

She routinely sneaks around the store, and appears to listen to the other conversations. The other characters have a significant degree of respect for her stealth in this regard. It is apparent Brooksie realises she is eavesdropping, although the others don't appear to hold it against her. She might actually practice being stealthy, or may simply be in on the joke.

Unlike most of the staff, Jo does respond to direct instructions from senior staff (including Thomas). She dislikes the way the staff have to discuss and account for sales results each day (presumably over fear of conflict or losing her job).

### **Hobbies & Interests**

Jo is obviously a massive film buff, albeit we never actually see the characters in the strip watch any. Although she primarily mentions / quotes from English language titles, we know she also watches at least some in their original language (specifically mentioning the Mandarin version of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

We've seen Jo wearing headphones when arriving at work, although we haven't found out what music she enjoys - possibly movie soundtracks...?

Along with Thomas, John, and some of the other characters, Jo is part of the small group (informally referred to on this Wiki as the Ghost Hunters) who engage in urban exploration and hunts for paranormal activity.

### **Stance on Drink / Drugs**

Jo smokes, but has discussed quitting with John. Interestingly, their smoking is illustrated in different styles, with hers more suggestive of actually (inhaling and) exhaling the smoke.

## Trivia

* Despite being one of the six 'core' characters (and appearing on the front cover), Jo doesn't actually appear in the comic until after both Jess and Mike.
* Early on in the comic (when the some of the characters 'spoke' in different fonts) Jo appears to have used Maiandra GD.
* On the first 'day' of the comic, Jo wears a vest with a prominent round design. On close inspection, it appears to be a Greek Goddess with a small owl. This may well be Athena (virgin Goddess of Wisdom), who was often said to be accompanied by an owl. If so, this could well be a nod by Jackie to Jo's knowledge of films, and her possible innocence at the start of the comic.
* Jackie has previously mentioned that some of his characters have 'ear numbers' (as discussed on a podcast with Moonhawk Studios Presents. While the full list (and specifically Jackie's reasons for them) has never been revealed, Jo's appears to be 8.
* Jo uses quite a few contractions in her speech, although many of these form part of quotes.
* Jo's name is usually abbreviated as such, but is very occasionally abbreviated as 'Joe'.

## References

1. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/about
2. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/231-lost-in-translation
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterochromia\_iridum
4. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/284-odd-little-girl
5. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/253-so-happy
6. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/241-nee-hee-hee
7. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/240-the-importance-of-not-being-seen
8. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/124-silence-is-golden
9. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/124-silence-is-golden
10. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/315-dying-breed
11. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/286-something-special
12. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/234-watch-it
13. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/257-even
14. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/285-a-form-of-huffing
15. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/146-euphemism
16. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/113-from-the-ashes
17. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/147-my-way
18. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/255-harsh-but-fair
19. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/251-a-leader-of-men
20. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/214-cut-the-crap
21. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/219-your-ears-only
22. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/241-nee-hee-hee
23. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/218-ten-ninjas
24. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/249-the-chain-o-command
25. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/269-not-even-a-little
26. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/231-lost-in-translation
27. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/312-social-conscience
28. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/747-delegation
29. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/123-i-like-to-watch
30. ↑ https://youtu.be/NWCHoJcrblU?t=1h5m23s
31. ↑ http://betweenfailures.com/comics1/319-liar