[CHAR] In Bloom: The Reunion

[HangYourSecrets]

Name: Jackson Robert Pennie

Nicknames: Known by his middle name, Robert, but more specifically, Rob.

Age: 34

Favorite Song: Ocean Song - Daughters

Appearance:



Description: Over the years, Rob has continued to remain fit and take care of himself; but middle age is slowly approaching, and with it have come a few new changes. His hair has begun to recede--so he typically keeps a hat or a hoodie nearby when he knows cameras are near. A skiing accident during his honeymoon also resulted in a compound fracture to his left leg. As a result, his typically technical drumming style has changed into a heavier, less complex approach, which is reflected in his taste in music as well as the bands he gigs out for.

Hobbies: Running, fishing, drinking, smoking (old habits), and multi-day solo hikes.

History: In many ways, the rapid success and sudden implosion of In Bloom came to define Rob's adult years.
After the experience, Rob turned to several odd jobs before eventually settling into the Orange County music scene. The connections he built, specifically with those in Vicarious, led him to become a modestly successful touring and gig musician. He soon began touring with MAE--a mononymic local alt-pop act who quickly topped the charts and released a platinum album in a whirlwind success story.

For a brief time, during Mae's first (and only) headline tour, Rob was able to play at every venue he had ever dreamed of playing--and remain mostly anonymous while doing so. Somewhere in the depths of Madison Square Garden, his and Mae's name are carved in exposed steel.

The experience would similarly sweep him into a whirlwind marriage with her, and by 26, he relocated out of California for the first time in his life and settled down in a Seattle suburb near Mae's extended family.

His then-wife continued a successful touring and singing career for another year before retiring early--embracing the label of "one-hit-wonder" as a badge of honor. The couple had one daughter, Elle, before tensions in the home separated the two within another year. As it turned out, they had only worked as a couple when they were touring.

Still, the divorce was as amicable as any divorce could be, and Rob chose to remain in Seattle to share custody of Elle. For the past several years, he has continued to tour whenever possible--focusing on fall and spring tours to stay local for Elle's summer breaks from school.

Rob remains a modest financial success--gigging out for national and international acts whenever a tour stops in Seattle, and going on the occasional tour or working as a session musician otherwise. His downtown apartment and its panoramic view are always a hit with Elle and her friends whenever they visit, but more recently, the isolation of the rainy Pacific Northwest has been getting to him.

Finding out of In Bloom's overnight success was initially an exciting prospect--but as the sales skyrocketed and the first big royalty check came in, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of fear for the phone call he knew was coming.

And when it finally did come--summoning him and anyone who wished to rejoin In Bloom's original lineup to a two-week retreat and songwriting period--he felt a pang of guilt that hung like a millstone for days.

Because he hadn't spoken to any of his former bandmates in nearly 10 years.

Who would come? Could they even write music together anymore?

How was Jane?

[megatrash]

NAME: Jane ‘J’ Malloy

AGE: 32

FAVORITE SONG: Lust Queen by Red Desert

APPEARANCE:

When Jane and the rest of In Bloom came back from their tour ten years ago, she was lost. They had loads of cash, success and fame, everything that she’d dreamt of as a young girl – but it didn’t fill the void. Nothing did. Andy was gone, and her and Rob could get back to normal life and relationship. But, with more and more pressure from management, labels, producers, and the rest of the world, Jane crumbled.

Her partying led her to rock bottom in less than a year of returning home. Booze throughout the day which was leveled out by the blow, going out and taking whatever was given to her, coming home angry, confused. The number of incidents in front of paparazzi was growing by the week.

That was around when it happened.

It – whatever it fucking was – was the cataclysmic event that took place between her and Rob. Jane had tried for the past nine years to remember what the hell happened that night, what she’d said to make him pack up his things and leave the following morning. What she did remember was waking up halfway on the couch to a half empty loft. Only a few tee shirts, a drumstick, and a photobooth strip of the two of them were all she had left of Rob, found in the back of their closet.

About a year later, Jane was rushed to the hospital by Austin, who found her foaming at the mouth with a syringe in her arm on her bed. She’d just started overdosing, and the only memory she had of that were flashing lights and people in white rushing around her. A nurse called her a junkie.

That led to the first stint in rehab. Jane was anything but receptive at first, remaining closed off to the doctors, therapists, and those around her. She had 30 days in a luxury facility that she spent either by the pool or in the room [if she wasn’t mandated to be elsewhere.]

The second round, a year later, was the one that began to stick. Her therapist cracked her wide open – Jane was talking about the death of her mother, the tour, what happened between her and best friend, and how fucking lonely she had been since it all.

Her newfound sobriety had her lusting for life again, and more importantly to her, surfing again. That’s where she’d met Nico. It was a bit of a whirlwind, her still being vulnerable and him just getting out of a relationship. They lasted a year, but it turned sour much sooner, as they both brought out the anger issues in each other. Too like an event in the past, Nico grabbed the few things he had in her loft and left.

The third round in rehab, 5 years ago, was truly the one that stuck. It’d been nearly exactly that long since she’d touched a drop of alcohol or done any substance [besides weed, which she keeps hidden her sponsor]. It had also been five years since Jane had a partner, a friend, or had really left her property she had purchased in the mountains since. The media wasn’t kind to her in the past – Jane couldn’t blame them – but the constant berating wore her down, so confined to her home she remained. A private IG account was created so that she could put out some acoustic songs when she wanted, and about 500 fans followed that. The rest of the world - she hoped - could forget who she was until the money ran out.

And the money was running out.

When Jane first got the call, it sounded to her like she’d be working alone in an AirBnB, able to record at her leisure. And, getting paid a lot of money to do it all. A fantasy for someone who loved to make music but also wanted to be left alone. It wasn’t until the day before the trip that it was made clear that it wasn’t just her. There’d be others there. And not just any others, the others. They’d not gotten in contact with Sam or Austin yet, but they did get in contact with one.

Jane’s biggest fear. The only one she’d refused to confront all these years.

Rob.