Basic Info;

Name/Handle: Samma
Journal: wolfsnc
AIM: bloodandhorses
Email: wolf.carder@gmail.com

Character Info;

Premade: Jack of Tales
Name: Benjamin Gregory Jackson; aka Jack, and if he LOVES you Benjy.
Age: 34
Played By: Josh Holloway


Personality: His momma always said that if there was one thing about her son it would be that he’d make his own way, flipping the world off as he did it. Jack is a charmer. He likes getting what he wants when he wants it and doesn’t care how he gets it. He’ll tell an old lady that she’s the prettiest thing he ever laid eyes on while helping her across the street just so he’ll get that dollar tip. Every little cent counts. He gambles just to try to get more money. There are days when he’s really on, weeks even, but then there’s always one day where he loses everything and is right back on square one. Even with these dreadful losses he can’t seem to quit gambling; it’s as addicting as his drinking and trying to see just what color of panties each woman is wearing that he comes across. He’s good at cards and great at dice when he can use his own. Just because someone hasn’t seen that ace of hearts in a while doesn’t mean that it’s up Jack’s sleeve...

To some strangers, Jack is the nicest man they’ve ever come across. He’s helpful, charming, has a sweet smile with dimples, and breaks his back for his fellow man. Everything he touches turns to gold because of his insane luck. He can toss out a seed and a bean plant will grow to nearly six feet tall and bear as much as two plants. Jack can go hunting back home, shoot once and a rabbit will die of a heart attack at his feet, a 12 point buck will fall from the bullet, the same bullet will come out of the deer and hit a tree limb that falls to kill a turkey. He can also fix just about anything even power it up better than Tim the Tool Man Taylor for the right price.

Jack knows his real face though. He only helps those that will help him in some way, be it in monetary gain or being in that social spotlight that gets him points toward being the upstanding citizen that he’s not. Jack works hard for himself, saving every penny, looking for ways to cheat the system, and gaining the trust of everyone around him that matters: the rich, the gossipers, and the trusting folk whose word to their fellow man is as good as gold. Deep down, Jack does have a heart. If he sees a person truly in need he helps them out, and it’s this bleeding heart that might just be his saving grace on judgment day.

Women and money are what Jack strives for the most. He’ll bury his face in some green as happily as he would soft, perfumed skin. Its money and women that let Jack know that he’s human, that he’s gained something for his life. It’s these things that let him know that he can’t be all that bad, that he deserves something. Every now and then he’ll think that he needs to change, to become nicer, a bleeding heart for his fellow man. It’s these times that he drains a bottle to lose that feeling.

He likes hanging out with Aladdin because of the kid’s pure ways, the niceties, and the hard work. Deep down, Jack would rather be more like Aladdin than he’d care to admit. Jack knows all too well what being nice will get you in this harsh world, and the other part of him doesn’t want to be anything like the kid. He wants to protect Aladdin from the harsh selfishness, the truth of the world. For the most part, he claims to keep Aladdin around because the kid knows getaways like no other when the chips are down. Prince Charming has the same quality to him as Aladdin, the nice guy plus a womanizer; although, there are times where Jack wonders about Prince flirting with everything that has two legs. With Aladdin and Prince he can be more himself, relaxed, and less of the charmer that he feels he needs to be with others. Rose Red is the one and only girl that he loved, or he thinks he’s loved. She knows more about him than most, which includes his secret love of strawberries. Jack goes absolutely nuts over strawberries. For the most part he can sneak then away before most can pick up on his obsession, except for Rose.

History: Ben Franklin was one of the best upstanding people that they could think of. Gregory came from his great-great-grandmother’s lover that the family never knew if it was great-great-grandpa Felix who gave them their bloodline or if it was old man Gregory. Jackson was the strong last name of a long line of powerful men. The paper was signed, and the sleeping baby boy that was born at 3 am on a Thursday morning was forever labeled as Benjamin Gregory Jackson. He was the first child of many to come to Donnie and Heather Jackson of Alpharetta Georgia. Donnie was a lawyer with a silver tongue that hardly ever lost a case. Even when he did lose a case he meant to and somehow managed to gain from the loss. Heather was a nurse, a RN to be exact, who worked in the local nursing home.

Being the first child, he could only pave a smoother way for his siblings to come. Benjamin at the age of three had already managed to climb to the top of the shelves somehow to get those cookies. Not only did he find the cookies, but he had found his momma’s secret money stash in the Folgers can. Seeing as how it was up there with the cookies, the bills inside must be as important as cookies, if not more so, because momma got mad when she found him playing with the pieces of paper. By age four he had his own Folgers can and worked on filling it up. He even went so far as to give his baby sister an old toy of his in trade for the pretty quarters their grandparents had just gave her. The can made a better fun toy than that old top anyway.

In school Benjamin just skimmed by, getting better grades when he could charm the teachers rather than by turning in homework. His best subject was math. He could crank out numbers and figure out just how many goats he’d have if he and Jane traded some, one died, and another had two kids. History was his worst subject, and when he learned of Ben Franklin he made everyone start calling him Jack. He liked President Jackson better anyways; Ben was a four-eyed dork.

By the time he was in high school, Benjamin was well known as Jack. Jack now had four sisters and three brothers who still to this day call him the dreadful name of Benjy. His family is the only ones that can get away with it. At 13, Jack took his several Folgers cans to the bank, and opened up an account with the two thousand two hundred sixty-five dollars and forty-three cents he had worked for, stole, and picked up off the ground and out from between couches since he was four. He was going to work more to get a car. It was the same year that his grandfather started teaching him how to be ‘a man’. The old man gave him the first sip of Jack Daniel’s (another Jack that the boy began to like more than old Ben). Grandpa took him out hunting and fishing. Jack learned how to skin and live off the land. He also learned the Jackson silver tongue even better. He learned that there was something different about him. He had what his grandfather called luck. More often than not he should have gotten hurt, but he didn’t. He should have only gotten one fish, but he pulled out five. That old woman should have caught him stealing her pie, but she didn’t. The old man Hawkins should have made him do more work and not paid him, but he didn’t.

At 14, Jack had his first woman and wanted more. Jack was the bad boy of his high school. He was the rough and ready boy, randy and kiss ass, and he had his own money. Every boy wondered at his crass, while every girl wanted to break him into being their tame boy. Jack promised every girl that he was saving his money just to spend on them, and each time the girl maybe got a night out at the movies and a cheap dinner. With going through the girl population of the school, Jack got more practice. He was more suave when he finally got his first car at 15. He picked an old 1969 Dodge Charger that his grandpa had out in the back yard. His grandpa sold it to him for 2k, and Jack took it to fix the old thing up that summer with his grandpa and daddy’s help. Getting his permit, Jack drove up one day in school in the sleek looking powerhouse car. He found that he had to fight off the girls, and his charm was mainly used for grades and keeping boyfriends from kicking his butt.

The next year, his mother was in an accident. The nursing home had caught on fire and Heather, always one to help anyone, was trying to get everyone out. She lost her life with the last few patients in the nursing home. The family was devastated. Donnie began drinking. Jack took on the role of mother and father at the age of 16. Quitting school he gained his GED so he could work two jobs to provide for his siblings. He moved the older ones in with his grandparents over in Ellijay Georgia, sending them money when he could, knowing that they would have better care and more opportunity there. The younger ones he did the best he could with.

The only lesson he learned from his mother’s death was to help people for his own gain. Why did she have to die for others? Why couldn’t she live for them, save herself for her very own family? She died for strangers. She worked her ass off for strangers and it got her what she had. A large family, love, and she was a hero when she died. Jack wasn’t sure what was best, to die a hero or have more. This confusion had him helping people, tinkering on projects for them, fixing things. It also had him wondering what more he could get from them.

When Jack was 18, Donnie finally came out of the bottle and started being the breadwinner for his family again. It was too late. Jack had already turned into a beast, and using everyone for all they were worth so he could provide for his siblings and father. His charm and luck had made him into a womanizer and gambler. Jack had become a jack-of-all-trades, a card shark, a liar and a cheat. The teen was able to charm an heirloom from a young woman to pawn off the next day. He played poker almost every night, winning more than he lost. Jack would come home, barely escaping cops and jealous brawls. His father finally woke up to what his son had become, and began trying to work it out of his precious Benjy.

When Donnie took back his practice Jack found that he wasn’t needed. Plus his father was trying to wax morals and goodness; things that Jack no longer truly appreciated. He packed up, moved down to Atlanta. In the big city he found underground gambling, all the women he could wish for and a way of life that had his mouth watering for more. Jack worked at a pawn shop, fixing electronics that came in. He then moved on into working for a hotel, fixing elevators, coffee machines, being their handyman. He was 19, and had a call for room 1204, the microwave wasn’t working. Jack rode up the elevator, knocked on the door and gave a smile when a pretty lady opened the door for him and told him what the microwave didn’t do. She was wearing nothing but a silk robe, high heels, and thigh length panty-hose. Jack fixed the microwave, and found himself being paid for testing out the bed, couch and thick carpeted floor of her suite too.

For years he worked for several different hotels. Luck and good hands got him far in life. The day came where his luck ran out. One of the ladies that always called him to fix the squeak in her bed was none other than a senator’s wife. The senator didn’t take kindly to Jack seeing if the squeak was gone before he left. He paid Jack to move at least 500 miles away, to never contact his wife again, or tell anyone. Jack took it and ran. He ran all the way to New York to a hotel called Bellum Letale. Here he grew into his old tricks, fixing things for the hotel and gambling. Here he could tone it down a bit though, start fresh. His first floor apartment wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst. Plus, his apartment was half off cause he was the handy-man. It did have a nice little garden spot too where he grows all kinds of things that flourish more than they should.

Future Plans: Jack needs a saving grace, so I see him being broken into being a nice guy eventually. I’m not real sure who would be up to that part, and would really like to play that out with the other characters to see who fits the part. Might even be more of a group effort than just one person. It will be a very long process, and seeing as he’ll be coming into his powers a very tedious one as well. Eventually he will also come into more of his powers; probably with the longer he stays at the hotel and has interactions with the others.

When he gets exceptionally drunk is when he’ll try for Rose Red again, scratching at her door like a little lost puppy and using his silver tongue to try to get back into her good graces. The Baba Yaga will intrigue him mainly because she’s nicer to the Frog Prince than she is to him. Eventually maybe he takes The Frog Prince under his wing to try to teach him ‘the womanizing ways’.

Any and all interactions are possible as he’s the handyman. Probably has or will fix something for everyone.

Ability/Powers:
Luck: He has it in spades now, but eventually he’ll have even more. He’ll be able to steal things and get away with it. Throw a rock at a bird and not only hit it but possibly gain five more kills with the one rock.
Cleverness: His ability to think through problems and come up with a solution is decent now, steadily growing as he gains experience.
Persuasion: Has the ability through smooth talking to get his way. This will become stronger, but not as powerful as making another believe that it’s their idea to do something.

Examples;

First Person Community Example:
I would like for whoever the person is that uses the elevator as a punching bag to STOP doing it. Do you know how hard it is to punch out stainless steel without leaving a mark? Yeah I’m good at what I do but, Jesus, twice in one week? What the hell are you going through? Flashbacks of some mental asylum padded room where you thought you were banging the nurse that gives you meds or something?

Oh yeah, sorry for the small electrical surge at about 4 pm yesterday. Just so everyone knows, the cartoon characters that get electrocuted and their hair smokes and stands on end…it happens in real life folks. Don’t try it at home; mainly because that’s my job anyways and you shouldn’t be doing anything electrical.

Third Person Log Example:
He heaved a sigh as he hit the end button on his cell phone. He’d been trying to call his father for years now. It was always different times of the day, whenever he thought about it. His father hadn’t spoken to him since he had left Atlanta in such a hurry. Jack figured he’d really pissed the old man off this time. Either that or his phone had been broken for that many years. Not once had Donnie picked up the phone when Jack called, not even when he did so from a pay phone.

He hated it, he really did. His old man and siblings were all he had left now. His grandparents had died a few years back. One had passed from a heart attack and his grandmother died in her sleep not even a year afterward. His old man was getting old, and he wanted to make amends. He couldn’t do that if Donnie wouldn’t talk to him. Jack definitely knew where he had gotten his stubbornness from.

Jack lay there in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He hadn’t brought anyone home with him that night. He’d just felt the need to be alone for a while. Reaching up he rubbed at his scruff. He hated shaving as much as he hated someone not answering their phone. He had to start the day. He had a few appointments to hold, some people had some things broken or whatever in their rooms. He had to make a living. Jack sure as hell wasn’t getting much action from the gigolo front.

He’d tried to swear off women and drinking. It had lasted all of fifteen minutes. They had been the worst fifteen minutes of his life. He should sue the dude that had taken those lines from his life and made a hit song out of them.

Finally crawling out of bed, Jack headed to take a shower. Debated for the whole 30 minutes in the shower about whether or not he should shave. It wasn’t like it would matter anyway. He finished up, dried off and got dressed. He pulled open his fridge. "The hell?!" In the back of his fridge there was a mound of green. Jack eyed it for a moment, picking up a butter knife. He wondered if the thing would move. He poked at it, grimacing as it was indeed mold. Mold on cheese. “Great.” He growled, scrapping it out of the fridge and dumping it into the trash. "I can grow anything and everything now." He glanced over at the small garden that had become a jungle over night and sighed. "I need to work on that patch too, shave it down." Grabbing his milk he chugged some down. "Tomorrow’s another day..."

Notes: I do have previous roleplay experience if you would like to check out this post to see some of them. I haven't updated it in a while, so if you would rather see more current work I can provide you with that as well. I do like constructive criticism. So if you see anything wrong at all please let me know.