just don't let go

A R R I V A L — ( 1981)

Jelly's lived in Aurora Bay his whole godforsaken life. He grew up in a trailer park just outside of/on the edge of town, and even once his family found their footing and moved to Fisher's Cove, Jelly found himself yearning for the tight-knit community that the trailer park created. This lead to him spending too, too much on his own mobile home, which he's parked on his Fisher's Cove property. Class.

E X T R A B I T S —

- Jelly has a modestly sized boat he's named the Knotty Buoy. Did he, perhaps, come into ownership of the boat after through means not technically legal? Perhaps. But he needed a new boat! His previous boat, a tiny little fishing canoe, was falling apart in tragic ways. If the owner doesn't want it, who cares if he took it? - Basically invented chain smoking. Unfortunately he's picked Newports as his brand of choice, which is disgusting, but he claims he loves the minty after-effect. - While he isn't good at a whole lot, he's very good at fixing things. He was the under-the-table handyman in the trailer park, and he always helped repair the ball returns at the bowling alley, even when the boss forgot to pay him. Eventually, this resulted in Jelly becoming the recipient of the bowling alley when the owner died a few years back. - After his sister's sudden and tragic death, Jelly's became the stand-in father for his fifteen year old niece, Katie, who calls him Uncle Big Time (a common phrase he can't shake). Now, she's eighteen and off to college, leaving Uncle Big Time to return to his childish ways. - Technically has an ex-wife even though they were never public about their marriage. They had no kids, didn't live together, and never met each other's parents as significant others. They haven't talked in a decade despite her moving back to town two years ago - but damn, does Jelly think about her.

F R E Q U E N T S T O P S —

All-Nighter Diner - Huge 'big plate of sloppy, greasy food' fan. Will demolish an order of biscuits and gravy in a ridiculously short time. Bay Bait & Tackle - Loves fishing, and often has to re-up on supplies. Even when he's not stocking up, he might be there just to bother the owner. The Corner Store - You already know Jelly's buying his mutha' fuckin' Newports here! And a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos for a snack. The Movie House - Loves an action flick, or a buddy comedy. Get's bored sometimes and sneaks in a flask. Rock & Bowl - Where he spends a majority of his time. He loves being here, even when he doesn't need to be working, and you can often find him either playing a game by himself or lounging at the bar with the regulars. You will never find him fucking rollerskating though. Tool Time Hardware - Big fix-it man so any project he's doing brings him right back here. The Reef Bar - Prefers drinking at home, but if he's gonna have a round anywhere, it'll be here.

C O N N E C T I O N S —

Caleb Majhi - Buddies. Jelly loves to bother him when he needs fishing supplies (or someone to try one of his disgusting creations). Atlas Nolan - Neighborhood "Entertainment". Have this weird feud going that he can't remember the origin of - he only knows he must win.

B A C K G R O U N D —

tw: car accident, death

Jelly grew up locally - or, well, as local as he could get while living just at town limits and having nothing but pocket fuzz to his family's name. He spent so much of his childhood outside that he and poison ivy were practically best friends (until he finally started giving up on chasing the frogs into the patches of green) and his pale skin carried a permanent pinkness to it. He had two best-best-bestest friends - fellow trailer park kids - who loved getting into trouble just as much as he did: Pete (Petey Butter) and Ryan (Rye Bread). Their bond has stayed true to this day despite Pete and Ryan moving out of state together to be gay in rural Colorado - a fact which Jelly is only mad about because they didn't ask him to be their third.

Jelly's troublemaking childhood grew into troublemaking teenage-hood and eventually troublemaking adulthood, though he got a lot better at controlling himself as long as he stayed (mostly) sober. While he dabbled in girlfriends, he could never get the hang of long term stuff, and most of the girls he managed to bag ended up dumping him once they found out his lack of vulnerability wasn't going to go away any time soon. He found himself more suited to grubby bathroom hookups anyway - and once he hit his twenties, he found that hooking up with men was just as fulfilling. College was for dweebs so he never went, but he supported his sister, Nicolette, through everything, making sure he was present for every award ceremony possible. Trade school was easy enough - he'd always been hardwired for fixing shit up - and he liked taking the train to San Francisco to see his sister's success. He was less enthused about her dickhole boyfriend, but once they got pregnant, he decided that being a mature brother and only making jokes about the guy's egg-shaped head out of ear shot was the right thing to do.

Nikki's funeral was the most serious Jelly's ever been. A car accident had brought her and her dickhole boyfriend - now husband - now dead husband - to the grave and left their daughter with no one but shitty trailer park trash to care for her. Only a few months later, the owner of Rock N' Bowl passed too, leaving the business to his most trusted handyman. Middle-aged and aimless, Jelly's been on the path to maturity ever since, his life clouded by his sister's death but brightened by his neice.