Jay is a very pale and sickly looking person. They are 5’2 with long, blond hair. It is naturally straight, however, they curl it in order to look less like both their previous identity as Francesca and their father who also had straight blond hair. They have dark brown eyes with visible dark circles. Their frame and face are very thin. Jay’s hands and forearms are both discolored and red from years of exposure to steam burns. Their left hand has a long, thin scar through their palm and the backside of their hand from their father stabbing them during an argument. It falls before their wedding and pinky finger, leaving them unable to fully bend.
They typically wear a black vest and black pants with a white balloon sleeve shirt. They have a red silk bow they tie around their neck, black gloves they cut the fingers off of, and a silver chatelaine which holds keys to various rooms in the house, a pair of scissors, and a small silver container of dried lilac petals as perfume.

Jay was physically and emotionally abused by their father until age 16 when they would leave to find work as a tailor for a theatre company. Shortly before leaving home, they were stabbed in the left palm, permanently damaging tendons and limiting their hand’s movement. During their childhood, they would work for Finework Fabric Manufacturing, a company now owned by their father, which he received upon marrying their mother. They would live on their own for several years, working for Billet-doux Theatre Co. as a tailor. After receiving a letter from their mother stating she was unable to maintain the household due to an injury, Jay would frequently return home to tend to their mother and her home. During this time, Jay’s father would come home drunk and violent, resulting in Jay killing him in self defense while their mother slept. After disposing of his body, Jay would spend the majority of their time in a rundown apartment and would go solely by the name James Foster in public. As suspicion towards Francesca Picciotto increased as it became clear their mother couldn’t have murdered their father, Jay would receive a letter from Achille Meursault to work for him privately in his home in Glasgow, Scotland, including a ticket to a ship departing one week from the date they received the letter. Their mother would encourage them to take his offer, having come to realize that Jay is the one who killed their father. After beginning work for Achille, Jay would attempt to frequently write letters to their mother with money inside. However, they couldn’t include the address or accurate descriptions of their real work, and so their mother was never able to reply to them.
Jay is responsible for the burning of the mansion. After being stabbed in the chest by Achille on the night Samson and Dorothea died, they smashed an oil lamp onto the carpet, catching it and the estate on fire. This resulted in the bodies of themself and the other victims of Achille to be unrecognizable, leading to Achille Meursault being presumed dead.

Jay is addicted to stimulants (primarily caffeine and cigarettes, but they also will take other stimulant substances when offered.) They frequently drink black coffee, which Achille imports for them as coffee was not popular in the UK in the 1800s.

They are the one who gave Achille the nickname Orfeo as a term of sarcastic endearment, referencing the Italian opera of the same name.

Jay cannot drive because they walked everywhere in the city they lived in before moving to Glasgow.

Because of the method they used to dispose of their father’s body, they are uncomfortable around water. This made traveling to Glasgow a nightmare for them.

As a hobby, Jay likes to make cloth dolls with leftover fabric. They also enjoy stargazing and can identify several constellations.

In America, Jay was a chess hustler to supplement their pay as a tailor.