Luca Jones

"Okay, jackass, enough with the bullshit! Let's end him, Black bart!"
―Luca summonign his Persona"

Luca Jones
Current | School
Characteristics
Name	Luca Jones
Aliases	Owl/'America's Dark Horse'
Arcana	Temperance
Age	16
Birthday	January 7th
Height	5' 7.5" / 171.45cm
Status	Alive
Gender/Sexuality	Male/Homosexual
Race	American/Italian
Relatives	Theresa (older sister) Dino Cavallone (eventual brother-in-law) Ann (mother; deceased) Brendan (Father/ MIA, presumed dead)
Affiliations	Phantom Thieves of Heart (Primary) Cavallone (Loosely)
Game Debut	End of May
Japanese Voice	TBA
English Voice	TBA

Teenage figure skater who's currently an exchange student in Japan after an accident during training laid him up for a week and his coach thought a change in scenery might help him refocus. He ended up joining the Phantom Thieves of Heart after they help him out with an ISU memember who's out to ruin his reputation and skating career. .

Apperance

Luca is an athletic young man. He has black hair that he keeps slightly long and highlights with streaks of colors that match his skating costumes. It’s usually worn pulled back in a small tail at the base of his skull. He has a sharp, lean, face and sharp light green eyes. His skin is tan with a light sprinkle of freckles across his face. People have noted that he tends to have very good posture and move gracefully because of his ballet training..

Personality

Positive: Hard working | Calm | Passionate | Loyal | Protective
Negative: Stubborn | Wary | Prideful

"It's not that I don't wanna break his fucking face, it's that I know how much trouble I'll be in if I do."
―Luca about one of his bullies

If you talked to the people that Luca knows casually, they would tell you about a polite young man who was a very good listener. However if you pressed them about who Luca actually was beyond that, you would be met with a blank look and a shrug. Because Luca is very at being superficially friendly in order to avoid conflicts, and avoid getting close to most people. He learned early on that most people were satisfied with a nice expression, someone who acted pleasant and mildly interested. They rarely looked deeper if you did that and you didn’t stand out as much. Besides, his Aunt would get pissed at him for acting like he was miserable, and it also made it easier to avoid worrying Theresa sometimes. Not that his sister ever really believed he was ‘fine’ when he really wasn’t, but at least he tried. How he speaks is part of his act. He always sounds polite and formal when he speaks Japanese because that’s how he was taught. In English or even Italian though? He has to very careful, and often bites back his words in order to actually sound polite. His relaxed language involves a lot of cursing, and he has to bite most of his first response because he knows they’re far to snarky.
There are precious few people that he drops this act around. It’s a reflex for him at this point, but if he starts to feel comfortable he’ll forget about the carefully constructed facade more and more, until one day he realizes that he’s not even acting around a particular person anymore. He’s really much more of a smart-ass and prone to being blunt or at least logical. He’s hard to really shock or shake, and in the event that you do manage to do it, he gets over it pretty quickly. Luca just doesn’t panic easily, and even in the event that something does shake him to the core, he’s clam enough under pressure that he’s able to pick some sort of action. The only other time he ever drops his act is when he gets either so mad or emotional that he forgets to think at all. Often times, when it's that bad, he's so busy trying to keep himself from doing anything really stupid like punching someone. Someone once said that he's really more of a delinquent who just learned to act like a prince sometimes, and Luca agrees with that in away.
Luca is honestly likes to think that he’s cool, calm, collected and a bit mature for his age because of this. But those few people that are close enough to him for him to be completely honest around aren’t really fooled. Luca is sometimes a voice of reason, and usually attempts to look out for his friends in more practical ways, but he’s not nearly as good at acting cool as he thinks he is. He’s incredibly passionate about certain things, and throws himself into things like skating full-force. Luca is also rather sensitive, though he tries hard to deny it and will pretend that he can shrug most things off. It also makes him aware of how the people he’s closest to feel, and he usually wants to help, but ends up having no idea how.
Luca is just not good at talking about emotions or heavy topics. He’ll try to avoid if it he can, and when attempting to offer comfort or support he’ll get very awkward or embarrassed, sometimes lapsing into a language he knows the other person doesn’t understand then claiming ‘it doesn’t translate well’ to avoid saying anything. If given the chance, he’d rather drag a person off to do something or offer to buy them something than continue the conversation. He’s not good at expressing affection verbally either, usually giving a blank stare or losing all words. He prefers to use actions instead, and Luca’s default expression of affection tends to be buying people things. Usually food or offering to take them out to eat, but he’ll also offer to pay for other outings or buy small (and no so small) things they’ve expressed interest in and he thinks he can afford. When he heads off on overseas competitions during the events of Persona 5, he buys the whole Phantom Thieves team souvenirs as a sort of ‘thanks for supporting me’ thing.
Luca is also very independent in his own way despite this, and often tries to get things done by himself first, before he even thinks to ask for help. Half the time he either doesn't think to ask for help at all or decides not to out of pride. He hates think he’s incompetent or needy, and doesn’t want to drag someone else into his own messes. It’s a trait he shares with his sister. They also share the trait of just throwing themselves into things sometimes, and almost driving themselves into the ground to get what they wants. It doesn’t help matters that Luca is competitive and hates to lose at the things he considers important. His coach sometimes has to all but force him to take a day off from training, or force him to look after his own mental health. Before he became an exchange student in Japan, Luca really didn’t do much besides train and go to school. The only people he had anything like a friendship with were the older skaters that he practiced with, something that worried them and his previous coach. Luca is only just starting to admit that he was lonely during that time, but had no idea how to make friends. He interacted with a lot of people, but not anyone he felt would really understand what he had been through or accept him if they found out what he was really like. Although the Phantom Thieves and the people he’s met since then have pulled him out of that mindset, it’s easy for him to be drawn back into that trap and he has to remind himself he needs to breathe.
Also because of his skating career and his past, Luca is very aware of his reputation and how people see him. Although he claims he doesn’t care what they think, he still worries about it. He’s not always honest about how much he holds himself back from things, and is slightly afraid to admit that to himself. In some ways, how dramatic he is in his phantom thief form - and in some cases how expressive he is during a skating routine - are much more like he really is than he wants to believe.
Skating is a major part of Luca’s life. Get him talking on the subject and he’ll go on forever if you let him. Luca competes at a very high level and drives himself hard. If not actively doing something related to the Phantom Thieves, he’s usually at the ice skating rink, ballet studio or otherwise training. He’ll make time for someone if they really want to hang out with him, but he usually doesn’t take a lot of time away from training on impulse. He doesn’t mind people being at the skating rink to watch him practice though, and in some ways when he’s there he’s more relaxed and open. He’ll talk more about himself -something he’s very reluctant to do -, or be more willing to genuinely smile. When he’s feeling stressed or wants to think, or even just take a break, you can usually find him in the skating rink or on the ice. He’s even offered to help out at the rink working behind the counter sometimes.
Luca is a very private person in general, which is why it surprises some people how much he relaxes while skating. He talks and his social towards friends normally, but in general not say anything himself or his past. He won’t bring up about the fact that he’s gay, for instance, although he will answer honestly if someone asks about his sexuality. He doesn’t even mention anything about his skating career at first, only that he skates. He’ll be honest and say he’s been in international competitions before if asked, but won’t brag about it. To him that’s in the past, and he’d rather focus on what he’s doing next.
Part of his relcutance is due to his is family situation. He loves his sister and trusts her completely...but he’s aware that she’s often involved in less-than-legal activities. Also the whole ‘she’s engaged to a mafia don now’ thing is kind of hard to explain to people. Luca, raised slightly apart from what she was doing, is kind of uncomfortable with the whole idea but never says anything because Theresa is happy and he likes Dino as a person. He just tries his best not to think about what the Cavallone organization actually does.
Luca is incredibly loyal, and generally thinks about the actions he takes. He has a personal moral code, but it’s one where he will willing point out that sometimes circumstances mean what’s ‘right’ isn’t necessarily what people would consider ‘lawful’.
He is working on actually talking about his problems more, because Dino gave him some advice on the subject. He just forgets it some of the time..

Likes: Ice, cats, his family, Yusuke, pizza, ballet
Dislikes: hockey, idiots,

Story

Early Life

Luca was born in New York City. His first few years are a blur with a few clearer happy moments sprinkled in here or there. He can’t remember his mother’s face, but her remembers her voice as she read to him. He remembers playing in a park somewhere. Holding on to his father’s hand so he wouldn’t fall down on as he toddled around on the ice for the first time. He was in a daycare where they spoke both Italian and English. Their mother’s parents, according to his sister Theresa, were original from Italy and felt it was important that he learn that legacy.
But he doesn’t remember it himself, because his mother died when he was three.
His father, who had always been a distant figure to him, became even more so after that. It felt like he would be gone forever at times, leaving him and Theresa with a babysitter or a friend, only to pop back up again. The most Luca remember of him is a large presence and a hand on his head. Then one day, when he was four, their father took them to the apartment of an aunt they had never meet before, in a different part of the city that made Theresa very nervous, and left them there. He told them that he would be back in a month and to watch out for each other. Their Aunt made it very clear that she wasn’t happy about this, and told them that several times.
Theresa told him to ignore her and try to put up with it until their father came back.
One month went past and he didn’t show up.
Two months passed and he still didn’t return.
After that their father was reported missing, and their Aunt was placed as their guardian since no other living relatives had been found.
Their Aunt was rarely sober, rarely all together there at all, and Luca was convinced hated them from the moment she set eyes on them. She often yelled at them, verbally abused them, and Luca new that she would have beat them if Theresa hadn’t stood up to her once and made her back down. She often forgot to buy food or ‘forgot’ to buy something for them and only got something for herself. It was Theresa who made sure they had something to eat, even if it meant stealing it sometimes, and made sure that they stayed clean. Looking back on it, Luca would wonder how sister managed it when she was so young but could never bring himself to ask her. Luca often found himself bullied once he started school, and ended up in fights because of it. He tried to pretend nothing was happening though, because he was afraid if someone noticed something was off, their Aunt would be investigated. Then he and his sister would most likely be taken away and seperated. That was the one thing he didn’t want to happen. He would just have to endure everything else.
The men that their Aunt would show up with or date sometimes were generally rough, rude, and very intimidating. Neither Luca or Theresa trusted them. They both avoided them when they could, or at least tried to stay together when they were home. Luca picked up more than a few bruises from a couple of them, though he tried to hide them or blame them on school fights when Theresa asked.
One day when he was eight, their Aunt’s boyfriend cornered him and started mocking him. Annoyed, Luca snapped something back to him. Incensed that Luca would talk back, the man began to beat him.
The next thing Luca knew, Theresa was between them. She grabbed a knife on a kitchen counter and had the guy backed into a corner before either of them realized what was happening. Then the guy remembered he had a gun. Luckily their Aunt stepped in before they could be more bloodshed, on the principle that a murder would be much harder to cover up.
While Aunt and her boyfriend were arguing, Theresa grabbed Luca and pulled away. He was incredibly worried, especially about Theresa. She told him not to worry, that things would be okay.
A week later, they found out his Aunt’s boyfriend had been arrested. Drug and child pornography charges she said, something that shocked him but Theresa seemed curiously calm about. Their Aunt was livid, and blamed Theresa for everything. There was a massive argument between them, one that ended with them being kicked out of the house. For several days, Theresa frantically tried to convince her to at least take him back in, but their Aunt was stubborn. They ended up out of the street.
They were there for months, scrambling to survive. Theresa did what she could to make sure they didn’t starve, and looked semi-presentable. The last thing either of them wanted was someone noticing something was off and separating them. Not when they were all each other had left. Theresa tried to protect him as much as he could, but still learned to fight back as much as he could, and how to run away when he couldn’t. He wondered if they could really survive for very long out here though. It was the beginning of winter, right after Luca had developed a sniffle that wouldn’t go away, when Theresa came back from something she had been doing, looking pale and worried. She wouldn’t tell him what was wrong at first, but eventually she told him that she’d had an opportunity to take a job. One that would get them off the streets, one where he would have have a house and food and someone to look after them. It just meant that she would have to leave for six months. Away on training, she said.
He didn’t want her to go, didn’t want to be left all alone again, like he had been once before. He was worried about Theresa too, since she wouldn’t tell him what this would actually involve. She eventually talked him into accepting it, and he realized that she had already decided to take this job.
The next morning they meet an intimidating looking man in a suit outside a mall. He was tall, and even though he looked more normal then the men his Aunt had brought home, he still made Luca uneasy. The man, who called himself Mars, brought them to an apartment in a much better neighborhood than the one they’d been living in, and introduced them to Maria, an annoyed looking old woman who would be staying with Luca while he was there. Luca really didn’t want to be left there alone with her, but Theresa told him that it would be okay, and to try and stay out of trouble. Then she left.
The first four months went by slowly for Luca. Maria was stern, and distant, but she wasn’t cruel and at least did keep track of him. He never had to worry about if he had anything to eat at least. She also, for some reason, was strict about him doing his homework and actually going to school. Everyone else seemed convinced that she was an old friend of their mother’s who had taken them in. Not that he had ever seen her before the day that he’d been dropped off there, but at least it kept people from being curious.
He got into more fights at school over those few months, annoyed and upset, and tired to being picked on. Maria told him to knock it off sharply at one point, and he remembered that Theresa had told him to stay out of trouble. So he ran the next time they came after him. He ended up getting on a nearby bus to get away.
The bus dropped him off in a part of town he wasn’t familiar with, near an old ice rink, Curious, and not having anything better to do he went inside. Besides, he had that vague memory of being in something like this before and the memories were not unpleasant. A woman named Elena was running things there, and tried to ask him questions. He decided to just tell her that he was hiding from bullies. She seemed sympathetic and allowed him to stay for a bit. He watched a skating class that was happening, one Elena’s father Tomas was teaching. Luca watched fascinated by the way they moved - and completely envious because he knew that he would never get lessons himself .
Elena eventually helped him figure out how to get back to his neighborhood, and he left. The next weekend, since he had nothing else to do and didn’t want to stay in the apartment all day, he found his way back to the ice rink.
Eventually, because he kept coming back, Elena seemed to take pity on him. She let him help out around the rink with small tasks, and in exchange he was allowed use of a pair of rental skates. Her father didn’t like her doing it, but only complained a little when he found out. As long as he didn’t stop him, Luca didn’t care if the old man complained. He tried to copy what he’d seen the skaters in the lessons learning. He fell more times than he managed to do something right at first, and Tomas tired to get him to stop more than once. Luca just stubbornly got to his feet and tried again.
If after a while Tomas would stay late and maybe give Luca tips, well, everyone else decided it wasn’t their business.
Finally, one day Luca came home and Theresa was there waiting for him. He’d been focusing on the ice skating, and everything else to avoid thinking about the fact that she was gone, and he all but collapsed when she realized that she hadn’t abandoned him, that she was still there.
She could only stay for a week though, much to his disappointed. She had a job she had to get back to, and wouldn’t be back for while after that. She gave him a cell phone and said she could at least text him to say she was okay.
During that week, when she asked what Luca had been doing, she found out about the ice rink. One day, she went with him there, and he was eager to show off what he learned. He saw her and Tomas talking seriously about something, but she just told him it was nothing when he asked about it. He went back to his routine after she was gone. He started paying attention more in class, and avoided fights. Getting in trouble or put in detention ate into the time he could spend at the ice rink after all. Besides, he was afraid that if Elena or Tomas found out he was getting in trouble all the time, they wouldn’t let him come by anymore.
A couple months later, a few days after Christmas, Theresa turned up again. She gave him a pair of skates of his own, and told him she had arranged for real lessons for him. He asked her how she could afford that first thing, and told him not to worry about it. That he should just enjoy himself.
He made himself a kind of private promise then, that he would become the best skater, earn lots of money, and then pay Theresa back for everything.

Changes

WIP

Confidant

Luca's Persona 5 Confidant focuses on his feels connected to his sister's up coming wedding and how unsettled that makes him feel. It leads to him eventually coming to terms with it, and more acceptance of the fact that he does like showing off and being the center of attention, and that there's nothing wrong with that in moderation.

Power & Abilities

Flame group: Sky
Flame type: Rain
Box animal: Wolf
Persona: Black Bart :Aka Charles Earl Boles. One of the most notorious stagecoach robbers of the old west, he was considered a gentleman bandit with a reputation for style and sophistication. He was famous for leaving poems at the scenes of several of his robberies, and rumor claims never fired a shot during his entire career. He was noted to be incredible polite and never used foul language even after he was taken into custody.
Weapon: Cavalry Saber/Hunting Rifle
Skills: Bless damage, gun attacks, debilitate (final skill earned)

Trivia:

- Is a first year at Kosei High
- His best subjects are English and History. His worst subject is Japanese literature
- His current concern is how his next competitive season will go
- His animal theme would be Stray Dog
- People give him far to to many turtle themed items though.
- Similar skating style to Brian Joubert
- He went to an art school that was a sister school to Kosei, which is why he ended up there when he came over to Japan.
- Luca has as secret fascination with elegant or fancy things. It's nearly impossible to get him to admit to this.
- Luca also a habit of hording food. He usually has some small snacks either in his pockets or bag, and Yusuke has noted that he has several caches of food items in his dorm room. This annoys the dorm manager, but Luca hasn't stopped. Futaba and Ryuji have figured out that he'll give them what snacks he's carrying if they ask. He always end up buying more after they've taken them, especially if he sees something on sale. IF someone gets puzzled because it doesn't fit with his diet plan and asks him about it, he'll get embrassed or angry and dodge the question.
-He has carefully kept Instagram and twitter accounts that he claims he runs in order to make himself more attractive to sponsors, something he does wants, or to keep his sister up-to-date with what he's doing. If anyone dares to point out that there are other skaters who are okay without social media account or that there are better ways to contact Theresa, he will ignore them. He does seem pleased about his follower count, though he never brings it up.
-Luca does have a few fans because of his skating, and has a mixed opinion on them, appreciating the support and attention they give him, but not knowing how to deal with them in person. He finds most of them taxing to be around for any length of time.
-He also has a fascination with all sorts of dance, not just ballet. He watches all sorts of dance videos in his spare time. May know a bit of bellydancing techiniques although there are only one or two people who are aware of this fact, and Luca would die of embrassment if anyone else found out.