-> Gemma ⋆ jones ⋆ DEVEREUX
Nickname/s: Jonesie
Face claim: Candice King
Career Claim: Carrie Underwood (loosely)
Gender: cis female
Date of Birth: December 27, 1991
Age: Thirty One
Hometown: West End, Nashville, TN
Current Location: Downtown
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Accent: Slight Southern accent
Astrological Signs: Capricorn sun, Cancer moon, Gemini rising
Personality Type: ESFJ
Enneagram Type: 3w2
Height: 5″8
Allergies: Peanuts and all tree nuts
Tattoos: None
TW: child neglect, alcoholism, drug use
✨ AN: Helloooo, this is Gemma, my argumentative, antithetical dream girl. warning: this post is *LONG*, but, top to bottom, has literally everything you could want to know about Gems (aka Jonesie). However, for your convenience, below is a TLDR and quick links if you want to jump to one specific page! My discord is jess_linkedpinkies and I'm always open for plots or chats!
✨ Quick Links:
full biography
about Gemma
relationships
wanted connections
☆ TLDR ☆
Gemma Jones Devereux is the second oldest in her family, growing up as her mother's favorite due to her strong resemblance to her mother. As a child, she tried to play the role of peacemaker during family drama and fights, protecting and herding her younger siblings off to their rooms while going to comfort her older sister, who often clashed with their mother. At 17, Gemma became the first child in the family to be signed to the label and quickly erupted into stardom. While she loves what she does, Gemma's true passion is in songwriting, but her mother and the label would never let her write for other artists. However, it's a very well-kept secret among some people that Gemma does write for other artists all the time using a male ghost name, Drew King. All of the Devereux's are competing for ownership of Deverocks, but Gemma has been considering leaving the label and switching to a more mainstream label in order to capitalize on her success and see how big she can really be. Her end goal is to accumulate enough wealth and fame to possibly buy Deverocks from her parents, or at least accumulate enough wealth to put an end to the family drama and ensure all of her siblings are set for life. Currently, Gemma is on a break from her tour and is back in Nashville, TN.
☆ Full Biography ☆
EARLY LIFE (age 0-7):
Ahead of the birth of his second child, Gemma’s father was convinced they were having a boy - absolutely desperate for a son, who he was planning to name George Jones Devereux in homage to one of his favorite stars.
On December 27th, 1991, Gemma Jones Devereux was born at Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital West, the second Devereux daughter, three years younger than her sister Maggie. Mr. Devereux never got his son George, but he, and her entire family, always fondly called Gemma Jonesie anyway.
Born into the Devereux empire and looking every bit as blonde and blue-eyed as her mother, Gemma can remember her earliest memories of the sparkling lights of Broadway in and the bright lights of the spotlights that shone down on her when her father would bring her out onstage and hoist her onto his hip at the end of a show.
Back then, everyone cooed and fawned over the Devereux children at their parents shows and signings, and Gemma was happily toted along like a little show pony, as if one of her mother's greatest accomplishments was producing adorable little children (it wasn't a surprise then, that three more siblings followed).
Gemma’s early life was playing backstage at her parents shows and loving all the attention she got from her parents’ fans.
CHILDHOOD + EARLY TEENS (age 7-17):
She couldn't distinctly remember when she really caught onto her parents substance abuse, or the first time she distinctly thought "my parents shouldn’t say that to us," but by the time she was in the second grade, she was keenly aware of the way her mother's moods swung like a pendulum, the way she could get angry over anything, and the way her anger wasn't taken out on anyone rationally, just whichever one of the children was closest.
She could plainly see that Maggie, her oldest sister, took way more of her mother's aggression than any of their siblings, and when she thought about it, she realized that it was quite possible that Gemma herself was on the receiving end of the least amount of her mother's anger and manipulation, although even she got her fair share.
There were always comments (mostly from her mother) about which little Devereux would grow up to be the very best, who would be the best singer? who would grow up to take over Deverocks? It was dangled in their faces like candy, and, to Gemma, she took that to understand that she had to be the very best... at everything.
Whether it was because she'd grown up in Maggie's shadow or because she was simply driven, Gemma tried hard at everything.
She got stellar grades in school, was a varsity swimmer all of high school, and, most importantly, she could sing and write music.
She’d been singing and performing since she remembered, guided by her mother and obediently following along to all the lessons she was sent to.
ADULTHOOD + THE SPOTLIGHT (age 17-now):
She didn’t expect to be signed to Deverocks at 17 years old, before even her sister had - but that was their mother, constantly trying to pit her children against each other, particularly her two oldest girls.
Gemma signed the dotted line, realizing her life was going to change forever, and even knowing that, she couldn’t have been prepared for what her life became.
Gone were her dreams of going to an Ivy League or getting a swim scholarship in college - she didn’t even go to college. Instead, Deverocks capitalized on her as America’s Sweetheart, a young, sweet country girl with Country Music Hall of Fame in her blood.
It wasn’t that Gemma didn’t like the success- she did, but was it what she wanted? She couldn’t say. She liked singing, she loved touring, and she knew she was doing well at Deverocks, but the underlying turmoil of her family was something she could never escape.
Being exposed to celebrity so young, Gemma had a brief partying phase, experimenting with drugs that got passed around at parties, that her boyfriends always seemed to have access too, but she hated the way they made her feel, and, above all, she feared becoming her parents. She cut the drugs out, but not the drinking.
Above all, while Gemma was pumping out album after album- she was observing the business, making connections, and trying to figure out how, if she could, make sure her siblings and herself could escape the toxicity in their family and skirt out from under the pressure of one day possibly owning Deverocks Records.
She knows she’s doing better and better with every album, but at the same time, part of her knows she could do more, could do better. She wants more control over her career, more than she has a Deverocks.
She wants to write more, she wants to do other things, branch out into pop and see how successful she can really be. But that would mean leaving Deverocks Records for a competitor, which is a move that she knows would change her life forever once again.
☆ Relationships ☆
Older sister: @maggiedereux - Maggie and Gemma are two and a half years apart, and Gemma has idolized her older sister since her earliest memory. As the two oldest Devereux children, and both girls, their relationship was a rollercoaster of competition and codependence, made worse by their mother, who pit them against each other at all opportunities. Gemma, more mild-mannered and younger, got the least of their mother's wrath while Maggie got the worst, and they spent a large part of their youth flipping back and forth in which one was acting as the "older sister." Gemma stepped into that role whenever Maggie and their mother were having a particularly bad fight, shepherding their younger siblings into their rooms and then fishing a bobby pin out of her jewelry box to pick the lock on Maggie's door, crawling into bed with her older sister and wiping her tears. Maggie did the same for her too many times to count, always trying to protect all of them from their mother. Gemma was signed before Maggie, even though, to Gemma, Maggie's always been more talented. Gemma harshly disapproves of Maggie's drug use and drinking, and constantly tries to pry and see if her sister really is okay, because truly, she never really believes her.
Younger brother: @callumdevereux - Growing up in the Devereux family, Gemma and Callum were polar opposites. While Callum was shy and quiet, Gemma was the opposite, unbothered by the twinkling spotlights in her eyes when her parents carried her onstage at the end of their shows. As the designated protector and peacemaker, Gemma kept an eye out for her younger siblings, always trying to shepherd them off to their rooms when the fighting escalated, trying to distract them with toys and games so it wasn't as upsetting. Gemma maintains a close relationship with all of her siblings, even Callum, and fully supported him selling his shares of the company and cutting ties with the label.
Love affair: @rowan-dashner - Gemma and Rowan are currently sleeping together/seeing each other in secret. Rowan is married, and Gemma never intended to be someone's mistress, but one of the talents he manages was an opener for Gemma on tour and they ended up spending a lot of time together until they hooked up one night, starting a tour romance. Rowan would sneak into Gemma's trailer or hotel room every night. They truly have fallen in love with each other and although she knows it's wrong, she craves the stability and peace Rowan brings her. Rowan has become the inspiration for several of her songs, including her single I Can See You, which heavily references secret hookups and romances.
Situationship: @tylermason - Tyler Mason, another person Gemma should not be hooking up with. Tyler is her musical rival and, in the public eye, they're enemies, their singles and albums constantly vying for number one. However, behind the scenes, whenever they're both in Nashville and not touring, they're usually staying at each other's places and hooking up. Their relationship is incredibly secretive because their labels would be furious if they knew, and Gemma's incredibly conflicted between Rowand and Tyler, two hookups that developed into something much more, and two men that she has feelings for but she has to keep secret.
Publicist: @emiliamcdden - Emilia is Gemma's publicist, someone responsible for maintaining her image as America's sweetheart and cleaning up any media messes. Beyond that, Emilia has grown to become someone Gemma trusts beyond a professional relationship, especially since their is so much drama and betrayal in the industry. Gemma's incredibly grateful to Emilia and considers her a friend.
Best friend: @colton-reynolds - Colton and Gemma are an unlikely close pair, having bonded over their shared hard times and witnessed each other at their worst. Now that they've both stopped using (at least, for the most part, on Gemma's part), she'd drawn to Colton because she doesn't have to try around him and she knows he doesn't judge her or view her as Gemma the celebrity, rather, Gemma- the person.
Friend and mentee: @chloecampbell - On paper, Gemma and Chloe are rivals. Blonde, successful, with similar aesthetics, both marketed as all-American sweethearts. Gemma was told Chloe was her competition, but when Chloe collapsed onstage in LA, Gemma saw too much of herself in the younger girl and showed up at her house in Nashville shortly after she canceled her tour. Instead of acting like her enemy, Gemma took on the role of mentor and friend, keeping an eye on Chloe and helping her, even co-writing together and pushing Chloe to try her hand at writing.
☆ Facts ☆
Her drink of choice is bourbon (a nod to TVD, iykyk). She drinks it straight and will drink it after a long day or when she needs something to take the edge off, but when she's out, she'll order a whiskey coke, a Paloma, aperol spritz, or skinny margarita. She drank way too much vodka as a college student, and isn't a picky drinker, although she tries to avoid anything overly sweet.
Gemma is severely allergic to peanuts and all tree nuts. She carries an epipen and Benadryl with her almost always, and goes to an allergist every six months (so far she's failed every test and hasn't outgrown any allergies).
She is a big reader, when time allows. She loves the world of books and is prone to crying at the end of books because she's sad there over. A bad habit Gemma has is beginning a book and then staying up all night to finish it, and she has a notebook full of all her favorite quotes from books that she's handwritten over the years.
Gemma keeps diaries. She knows it's stupid and old fashioned and she'd probably be totally fucked if anyone found them, but something about keeping diaries and writing down all of her thoughts is incredibly therapeutic to her. This hobby goes hand in hand with her love of reading, and, in a way, Gemma likes the thought that she's writing the story of her life, as it happens. Of course, her emotions and thoughts change all the time, but if she didn't have an outlet to get her feelings out, she'd probably never sleep, or be even closer to perpetually losing her shit than she is on a daily basis.
She is absolutely addicted to coffee and prefers iced coffee to hot coffee. Gemma's convinced it doesn't actually affect her anymore and she's still so tired all the time but still drinks it out of habit and loves the ritual of making coffee every morning.
She is a terrible sleeper. She's a constant worried who is absolutely awful at turning her brain off at night to rest because she's constantly thinking about work, her family, her relationships, and her life-at-large. She sleeps much better when she's sleeping next to someone, and also sleeps better when the sun is out and she can take naps.
When it comes to values, Gemma is very traditional, honest, and true, despite the emotional turmoil that was her childhood and upbringing. She values her relationships with her family, friends, and partners above all else and when she does something, she'll stick to her word. She's never cheated on a partner and rarely ever lies or sneaks around the truth. She's a terrible liar to begin with, but also hates the feeling it gives her and she automatically feels bad about it. However, when it comes to protecting her family, she'd lie or do whatever she needs to do for her parents and siblings, even though her relationships with each of them are incredibly complicated and nuanced.
