Joni Jacobson

**Joni Jacobson** is the mother of Arcadian Rebel Sentinel and late mad genius Creon, as well as the estrnaged wife of Matthew Drake.

## Biography

### Lady of the Canyon

Joni Jacobson was born on May 5th, 1971. Her father was disappointed because he wanted a boy. Her maternal and paternal grandfathers were both alcoholics, which led her own parents to never drink. She grew up on a small chicken farm near Mound City, where her parents tried to live more or less self-sufficiently and she had little contact with the outside world. Joni felt an incredible sense of isolation from her peers due to the remote area she grew up in, her only real friends being her two siblings, Robin and Caroline Jacobson. Along with playing extensively with them, she spent a large amount of time reading in order to pass time when she wasn’t helping around the farm. Robin, her older brother, easily took to much of the farm work and planned on continuing the family business. Her younger sister, Caroline, however, was much more interested in big city life, and wanted to be an architect. Some of the games they had the most fun playing on their farm were Kick the Can, Cowboys and Indians, and various make-believe games.

Joni had to make long treks down the highway in order to make it to her bus stop for school each morning. Despite being a very bright child, her lackluster education system left much to be desired, leading her to often grow frustrated. She excelled in English at an early age, but cared very little about history or science.

As Joni grew up she began to grow more and more spiteful to her very strict and patriarchal family structure. However, she learned to keep quiet about it, as she had seen through Robin’s growth that questioning authority often led to harsh punishments and often even violence. As a result, she came to view the usage of violence as a perfectly normal tool in parenting.

Joni began to participate in school theater productions in her freshman year of high school, which gave her some much needed social interaction. Her parents would often scold her for neglecting her responsibilities on the farm in favor of practicing. At one of the cast parties after her school’s production of “The Wizard of Oz,” Joni was offered a drink and a cigarette. Wanting to fit in with her peers, she accepted, starting a lifelong addiction to both substances. She still vividly remembers that warm rush and carefree feeling as she had her first few drinks.

### Turbulent Indigo

Joni would eventually meet a young man who seemed to be interested in her. Joni would jump as this chance, worrying she’d never find anyone else romantically interested in her, considering herself to be unattractive compared to many of her peers. This young man would eventually get her pregnant, forcing them into a shotgun wedding. They’d move to a small town near Center City, where Joni would give birth to Johnathan Jacobson on December 23rd, 1985. However, her family resented her for moving away, and cut off all contact with her as a result. What followed were probably Joni’s happiest years of her adult life. She stayed home for the most part, watching John, and despite at times growing annoyed at the incessant crying, she loved John with all her heart. Her husband worked for the most part, and they did occasionally have arguments, but they got along nicely for the most part.

However, as her drinking got worse, so did her relationship with her husband. By the time Johnathan was seven, the husband and wife hardly talked to each other at all unless they were bickering. Joni, once again feeling isolated and alone due to their sudden move, tended to take out this pent up aggression on her husband. Yet through it all, he never laid a hand on her. When John began to show signs of being incredibly gifted, Joni was overjoyed, yet also felt a tinge of envy and inferiority. She also tended to be jealous of how well her husband got along with John, feeling he was obviously John’s favorite.

Joni would remain friendless in her new town. As John began entering school she found a part-time job as a waitress, but this made little money. She grew more and more detached from those around her, her only real social interaction being with John or with her husband.

### Both Sides Now

On November 23rd, 2000, Joni and her husband would get into their biggest argument yet, culminating in Joni hurling a plate at her spouse's head. This was the final straw. Joni’s husband would decide to leave the family, unable to stand the constant verbal abuse and the economic burden of Joni’s drinking. Unbeknownst to her husband, Joni was pregnant at this time. Now left with the task of raising not only a growing teenager, but a newborn, with minimal financial resources, Joni’s happiest years had slipped right through her fingertips.

John would hold his father’s absence over Joni’s head for the rest of his time living with her, constantly lashing out at her for the smallest things. In a desperate attempt to keep some sort of control over her life and to deflect the guilt of such events, Joni vehemently argued back, on occasion even hitting John, though she would always apologize for these brief displays of violence.

On July 12th, 2001, Joni gave birth to Benjamin Jacobson. She was disappointed because she wanted a daughter. Joni was now unable to be a stay-at-home parent as she once had done with John, due to her single-handedly providing for the family, and she could barely afford adequate childcare. She’d rely heavily on John’s help in raising the child, which in turn forced John to try to juggle caring for his brother alongside his extracurricular activities.

For John's 17th birthday, he wanted nothing more than to go to the traveling opera that was stopping in Center City. It was all he would and, sometimes she thought, could, talk about. But it was a relief from the bickering. Joni worked overtime. Pushing herself mentally and physically. Saving up for the tickets. She skipped lunches. She barely slept. She just wanted to make him happy. He had been so melancholy since his father left, and this was her way of making it up to him. Tragedy struck in the form of their bathroom sink breaking. Joni had to hire a plumber. And plumbers weren't cheap. The look of disappointment on John's face still haunts her. One of the things that she prays for is to stop seeing it when she closes her eyes.

But soon, Johnathan would get a letter in the mail, saying he had received a near full scholarship to Princeton. As a result, John, much like his father, would leave Joni and young Benjamin, never contacting the family again.

### The Circle Game

Joni lived the rest of her life almost in a daze. Wake up. Work. Go home. Drink. Sleep. Repeat. She continued to struggle making friends or socialize, as many within the community believed her to be cruel and hostile to strangers. Due to her commitment to keep the two afloat, she spent very little time with Benjamin at an early age, as she was almost always working. As soon as Ben was at an age where he could go to school, his nanny was promptly fired, simply because Joni could no longer afford her.

On March 15th, 2016, Joni would be abruptly jostled from her everyday routine. She had been fired. With overdue rent coming up and seemingly no other options, Joni would be forced to “strike a deal” with the landlord of her home. To Joni, this was the lowest point in her entire life. She soon came to rely on Benjamin’s income, causing her to grow even more ashamed and embarrassed of her own shortcomings.

June 17th, 2017. Joni would come home after a long day of work. Exhausted emotionally and physically. She would then stumble upon Benjamin Jacobson frantically packing a bag, as if he was in a hurry to leave. In panic of being utterly alone, Joni would beg Ben to stay, but this was to little avail. Benjamin Jacobson would flee the state of Missouri. And then Joni had nobody.

### Roses Blue

During the Blackout, Joni would meet the Rebels, who would help her and the rest of Center City during the harsh winter. However, she would soon find out that her son was among them, causing her to go into a fit of rage and then promptly sorrow. Almanac would give her his burner phone's number and tell her to meet up with the Rebels once they had stopped Ted.

### Morning Morgantown

Eventually, Joni would come to Neo Arcadia after saving long and hard for a bus ticket. Here she would encounter the likes of Tiresias, Flag, Sentinel, and Doublestep in a very brief and traumatic span of time, and begin a quest to save her son Benjamin from a siren's spell.

## Personality

Joni tries to be as nice as she can. With her interactions with Clark Flat and Jason Kade on their journey to stop Ted Kaczynski, she was pleasant and incredibly friendly and outgoing. But, on that same trip, the two witnessed just how quickly that could turn. At the slightest mention of Ben, Joni became incredibly hostile, beginning to curse and yell.

Joni’s isolation often means she takes her anger out on those who she loves most. After all, those are the only people readily available. Years of little social interaction with those outside of her immediate family, especially as a younger child, left her with poor socialization skills and no way to express her emotions outside of violence.

Joni faces a constant struggle of nature vs nurture. By nature she is very bright, but due to her lackluster education and being forced to put aside her personal aspirations in order to raise her children, this was never fully utilized. Joni by nature is a reserved and thoughtful individual, but her harsh environment in both youth and adulthood made this unbearable, forcing her to become bitter and complacent in order to survive.

Joni often uses anger as a way to mask more vulnerable emotions. By putting up a facade of anger, to those around her and to herself, Joni doesn't have to cope with feelings of vulnerability and helplessness. As a result, it can appear to others that she changes moods rapidly, going from angry to sad to angry in very short amounts of time, when in reality, she's just sad the entire time.

## Physical Appearance

Joni has blonde hair which is beginning to gray. She has pale blue eyes and wears a puffy winter coat and scarf, at least during the winter time. She is described as looking incredibly tired, and has several prominent wrinkles on her face, although these only make themselves known if she smiles. She is taller than average and is around average weight, leaning a little towards the heavier side.

## Equipment

* **Cigarettes:** Joni never leaves the house without them. Usually Camels brand, but she likes Natural American Spirits the best.

*"If I had a gun, half the people 'n this town'd be dead already, or at least bleedin'. I, uh, I been told I gots anger issues..."*
—Joni Jacobson
* **Colt M1911:** Given to her by Clark Flat, Joni keeps this gun in her purse at all times. She doesn't have any training in firing a gun, but she figures she could "figure it out" if need be.

## Relationships

### Family

* Father
* Mother
* Robin Jacobson - Brother
* Caroline Jacobson - Sister
* Matthew Drake - Estranged Husband
* Johnathan Jacobson † - Son
* Benjamin Jacobson - Son

### Enemies

* Arcadian Rebels
	+ Clark Flat/Flag - Ex-Boyfriend
	+ Almanac
* Fire Spider
* Tiresias

## Trivia

* In between 2017 and 2019, Joni became a Born Again Christian.
* Joni's name is based off of artist Joni Mitchell.
* Joni hates the taste of cigarettes, but is still a daily smoker.
* Before Joni got pregnant, she wanted to be a writer or a poet.
* Joni's favorite food is over-easy eggs, as they remind her of her childhood.
* Joni in her youth knew how to ice skate.
* Joni's favorite weather is snow.
* Joni shows a disdain towards superhumans, often labelling them as "freaks."
* Joni claimed that her ex-husband left to "pursuit drugs and gambling."
* Joni is nearly 3 years sober and regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and church.
* Joni prays four times a day. Once at every meal and once before bed. She sometimes prays more, but she also likes her schedule and doesn't like to mess with it.
* Joni loves poetry. She's notably a fan of Jack Gilbert.