[James Clark]

JAMES CLARK

37 / PAROLE OFFICER; SOCIAL WORKER / HUMAN (SECTOR AFFILIATED) / MARRIED (?) / APP

ABOUT

As a child James was thrown back in time to the year 1975 where he lived most of his life, got married, and had children--but then his youngest child's gifts caused havoc and destruction, prompting The Sector to bring him back to the present day to prevent it. He jumped over the last 15 years and very much wants to get back to his family in the past. He's also struggling with when and how he can approach his wife and kids in the present, knowing that he's been missing from their lives for over a decade. [Why...YES! I would love you to play his wife or kids. Send me a message! =)]

PLATONIC

Social work (within foster care) is really James' main passion, but he's too afraid to get himself re-invested in kids' lives when he's doing everything he can to escape the current year and return to the past. As a parole officer, he feels he can still help troubled people without getting too attached. Though he's not the biggest fan of The Sector, he helps them out on a case-by-case basis. He's seeking out other Gifted individuals with time travel powers, attempting to get back to his wife and kids. He also wants to learn more about how to control uncontrollable powers.

ANTAGONISTIC

James takes his job seriously and keeps close tabs on his parolees, not letting them off the hook and doing his best to keep them on the straight-and-narrow. He hates powers, but usually does an okay job of separating the gifted from the gifts. He will butt heads with gifted individuals who misuse their powers or are reckless and dangerous. He has little patience for people who don't respect authority.

ROMANTIC

As far as James is concerned, just a few months ago, he was married to the love of his life with two young children. From the perspective of his family and friends, though, he's been missing/presumed dead for the last 15 years. But maybe if he meets the right person some sparks could fly?

PLOT HOOKS

Chat me up! I'm terrible at coming up with hooks like this. I mostly just go with the flow of what my character is up to and see where that all leads. He's currently getting to know his long-lost sister, but eventually I'd love for him to maybe be chastised by the Sector for breaking the rules and making contact with his family. I think it would also be fun for him to get pulled into some kind of gifted plot. He's just a regular human guy, the perfect character for another player to entangle in some ridiculous situation. Just don't be surprised by all the 90s references.

THREAD TRACKER

I don't like keeping track of lots of OOC threads, so I'm using this as my tracker, too. Sue me.

• the world will never, ever be the same...and you're to blame - Imani & James - Sept 2008 [fizzled]

• hello mcfly - Katie & James - 2023/2024ish [complete]

• Civil War - Katie & James - 2024ish [active]

• Empty Generalities - Luck & James - 2024 [active]

PLAYER NOTES

I am very easy-going and would love to plot/throw around ideas with you! Send me a direct message on the board or on discord. I am usually pretty quick to respond; if it's been more than two days, then I haven't seen it. I can only post about once a week max usually. I also try to keep myself in only one or two threads at a time--so please feel free to reach out to me any time but don't be offended if I ask that we wait a few weeks or months before we start up a thread. Looking forward to plotting/threading with you all!

[Charlotte Lewis]

I can see Charlotte's brother contacting James to ask him to do a check up on his recovering addict sister after not having heard from her for a few days!

Or Charlotte could happen to see James drinking in a bar and become over-social!

[James Clark]

I have two threads upcoming (one with Imani and one with Katie) so I'm not totally ready to think about starting any new ones just yet. I'll keep these in mind! I'm sure James will meet Charlotte once he re-establishes contact with his sister. He's probably not too happy about an addict living with his big sis.

lol. Or *maybe* he gets called to their apartment by Charlotte's brother and randomly bumps into his sister (who wouldn't recognize him since last time she saw him he was in preschool and she thinks he's, like, 11 years old). LOL. That might be fun, too...

I gotta get my post up for Imani this weekend (probably tomorrow) and then I'll start thinking more about Katie. Besides, I want to get my character a little more established first and I know florafaunatic will want to finish up your current Charlotte/Katie thread before we jump into a new one.

[Charlotte Lewis]

Aug 26, 2023 8:46:40 GMT -5 James Clark said:

I have two threads upcoming (one with Imani and one with Katie) so I'm not totally ready to think about starting any new ones just yet. I'll keep these in mind! I'm sure James will meet Charlotte once he re-establishes contact with his sister. He's probably not too happy about an addict living with his big sis.

lol. Or *maybe* he gets called to their apartment by Charlotte's brother and randomly bumps into his sister (who wouldn't recognize him since last time she saw him he was in preschool and she thinks he's, like, 11 years old). LOL. That might be fun, too...

I gotta get my post up for Imani this weekend (probably tomorrow) and then I'll start thinking more about Katie. Besides, I want to get my character a little more established first and I know florafaunatic will want to finish up your current Charlotte/Katie thread before we jump into a new one.

That's totally fine! I apologize for having completely missed the part in your plotter where you said you like to keep it to two threads lol! No rush anyway

[James Clark]

Don't be sorry at all! I'm still happy to plot/throw around ideas. I just like to let people know up front that I'm a big slowbie and it might be a while before anything comes to fruition. Lol. ☺

[Katie Graushuper]

I think it would be fun for James to show up to do a check on Charlotte and just find his sister chillin. It'd be fun to see the three of them interact. Also would be a cool way to boost the thread Blink and I were planning, too. She says she's happy to start a thread if your up for it? Probably will be a little while tho.

[Rinse]

Heyo!

I'm coming at you with little more than a general vibe right now, I don't actually have anything thought out or a specific idea in mind. If interested, we can try and think of something more particular lolol. If not, totally alright! Or, if you're interested but wanna shelf it for awhile, I'm totally cool with that, too. Also cool with slow and steady. I'm slow asf sdlksdffj. The main reason I've been hesitant to post this before is I don't want to take up one of your thread spots when my fickle muse/mind can leave replies half-made and hanging for a hot minute. So I'll totally understand if you wanna pass!

That being said....

I've thought about how Luck and James might play off each other before and... I think it might be neat.

He works for the Sector, doing mostly advocacy work on behalf of troubled Gifted. And his ex is a social worker, so he'd be pretty familiar (and appreciative) of the type of work James did/does. They could meet in a work capacity? Or they could recognize each other in a bar if James is drowning out his sorrows one night (and Luck is there because Luck is always there nowadays, lol).

Luck has his bitches about the Sector. He's been in trouble, been reprimanded/suspended, and doesn't always agree with how they handle/do things. And I imagine he can be pretty vocal about it at times. So I think it could be cool if he's aware of James' situation and straight-up openly sympathizes like "that's f*cked up", "why didn't they just... idk.. snip ya instead of traumatizing your family... y'know... again?" Leaving his kids suddenly without a Dad would be a particularly sore/bitter spot for him (especially if Tabby never remarried), since he grew up without a father.

Idk... could be beneficial for James to have someone he can be openly frustrated with. Angry with. Etc. Not have to pretend he isn't where he is "really" supposed to be. Ask what the best/closest alternatives are to cable TV nowadays without shame and gush about X-Files or smth idk, idk.

Again, just a general vibe. Not sure where it'd go or if we can build something off it. Just thought I'd throw it at you — to kick around or leave as you wish — since I'd considered it some time ago!

[James Clark]

OooOoooo. I will check out Luck's app/plotter/etc this weekend and start thinking about something! I'd love for James to have a little interaction with others at the Sector!

[James Clark]

Rinse


lol. Hopefully I don't turn people off mentioning that I like to only be a in few threads at a time. I'm still happy to plot/throw around ideas whenever and with whoever. I just like to be up front about being slow to respond. (I've also been *much* slower to Katie since she and I are so close. I'm usually faster to people I don't know irl, cuz, yeah, gotta be a good rp partner, amiright?)

As for Luck specifically, I'm def open to starting a new thread! I agree that he and James would be fun together. They seem to have similar personalities in many ways and it would be nice for James to have someone to talk to without lying. I imagine that James would be a little hesitant about building any relationships, but he's also human and NEEDS that interaction whether he wants to admit it or not.

I also enjoy Luck's power. James spends a lot of time hiding his real emotions outwardly and that could be fun for you to play Luck, knowing what James is really feeling even if it's just unspoken (or, might be fun for Luck to call him out, too? *shrugs*).

I looked at Luck's plot hooks. He should totally push James into joining The Sector softball team. Dude needs some socialization.

Your first hook about Luck getting in trouble, being put under review/suspension by The Sector. I wonder if James could assist with that? James isn't supposed to have any contact with his family--and he just had his biological sister move in with him. Also, he has a habit of stealing stuff from his wife's house (mementos and the like). Perhaps Luck was assigned to make sure James followed those rules and he's not doing a particularly good job? (Totally understand if you want that plot to go a different way, just spitballing.)

I've been trying to play Tabby sorta open-ended in case someone else wants to play her in the future, but James would definitely stalk her, 100%. He would be too afraid to approach his wife or kids, not because of Sector but because he'd be afraid what it would do to them emotionally and he doesn't want to hurt them.

Let me know if anything strikes you! Feel free to DM on discord, too!

If you don't have any specific idea in mind right off the bat, we can get a feel for their relationship/how they play off each other doing a more casual thread first, maybe something softball team related. James is probably a pretty decent player, but would need to be dragged along. Maybe they can pull a prank on the opposing team!   Or I am also very much down with James getting drunk in a bar and Luck coming over, too. That also sounds fun. XD

[Rinse]

James Clark

Yay! I'm excited! I'm just gonna post here cause I like to write essays in plotters and Discord doesn't like essays, but if you prefer PM, just lemme know!

Like you mentioned, Luck & James are pretty similar personality-wise. So I think if James was hesitant/slow to build any sort of rapport/trust/etc, Luck would hardly be fussed about it. Wouldn't make any sort of push to buddy-buddy. I think they'd both be pretty chill, no pressure, and understanding of that. Luck, too, isn't typically very forthcoming about his feelings and such, so sksjdhfgdff. Him being able to tell, via his Gift, that James isn't really saying/sharing what he's feeling...... he'd get that. And probably only comment on it if he felt it particularly warranted. Such fun!

Do you think it'd be interesting if Luck was assigned to sort of... keep tabs on his family at some point? Maybe the Sector wanted to keep an eye on how they were keeping up/going on immediately afterward? James "disappeared" about seven years before Luck started working for the Sector, but... maybe the file was sort of... "passed on" to him when whoever handled it before retired or smth? At that point, the brunt of the trauma/upheaval would be somewhat played through... the kids are a bit older... so I imagine Luck's involvement would be little more than the occasional "peek in". Making notes if the kids are showing signs of anything, struggling, that sort of thing. 

If you like that, then we could keep it as vague or specific as you want (in case someone does pick up one of the family members in the future). But... could be interesting for Luck to be able to chime in with what he thought of his kids, how they were doing, at that time and stuff? Witnessed a bit how their father's disappearance sort of affected them, if that makes sense.

If you don't like that, totally fine too! In any case, if Luck still does do the occasional peek-in on them (probably far less frequently now, maybe just to "check a box" essentially), I could see him definitely being made to keep an eye on James about the "No Contact". But then, Luck would be so sympathetic about the whole thing, I imagine it'd be hard for him to be firm (or whistle-blowing) about it.

For Luck's Plot Hook specifically, I'm imagining something much more traumatic and high-stakes. But I think this could still be neat and do-able (and could still get him in some trouble, providing more fuel for that specific, eventual Plot Hook lol).

I'm all sorts of down for Luck to drag James into the Sector's softball team (lmaoooo). We could start with an actual game/pulling a prank/match shenanigans (wow, who knew Luck was COMPETETIVE?? JAMES, IT'S THE NINTH INNING, THE BASES ARE LOADED, YOU BETTER NOT STRIKE OUT), or we could even start a little more low-key with like a simple practice sesh? (I'd def throw my other Sector character, Tawny, into the mix so she can be made fun of for having zero coordination and squealing and probably not knowing what to do the moment she ACCIDENTALLY bunts a ball while swinging with her eyes closed dsjfhakjdshf). Either sort of idea works with me! But maybe the practice could be a way of easing James into it. Not everyone's there, they can joke around, and everyone can feel each other out at their own leisure, etc, etc.

From there we can see where it goes, I think! The softball thing could be a very good "casual/launch point"... and then, depending on how they play off each other... maybe there's bar-thread potential afterward/in the future? Where James is having a bit of a spiral and Luck plops down to just... be there (lol). Maybe that would be a more fitting scenario for Luck to be a bit more forthcoming about keeping an eye on him (and his family for the past eight years, if you do fancy that idea), and sympathetic bitching in general about the situation/Sector-doings.

[James Clark]

Rinse

Yaaas. It would also be fun to get to play off Tawny. James would probably know her by name and maybe face, but I doubt he would have gone out of his way to make any connections with people at the Sector beyond the superficial. (UNLESS he was forced to have a therapy session with Tawny soon after his return to the current time, lol... getting off track). He was antagonistic at the beginning to any Sector people, but it's been months and now he's just bitter. He misses social work so much, though, that he'd probably jump at any opportunities to help them out.

I like the idea of Sector/Luck being assigned to keep tabs on his family (who live in a suburb of San Diego). Probably the primary objective from the Sector would be to ensure that his other kids didn't develop any destructive powers and to monitor if Tabby remarried and got pregnant again. Lol, James should have no idea that Luck's been checking in on his kids. I imagine he will like Luck a lot, see a real friendship potential there and it would piss him off if he found out this whole time he knew stuff about his family. (He could know that Luck is assigned to keep tabs on him, though; his very own parole officer.)

I was trying to keep things sorta vague, but I'm also a big world builder so I get carried away with details sometimes regardless. Haha. If you're writing and something strikes you as potentially a fun idea about his family that Luck knows and you want to incorporate, we can probably work it in! I'm pretty easy. Besides, we can always fudge some history details later if needed based on new players...which I am not very actively seeking out anyway.

I'm down with a softball thread to start! Do you mind starting it? It seems like you have some general ideas/vibes for what you are looking for with this plot hook and so you setting the scene probably makes sense. I am down with a practice or a game--whatever strikes you as you start writing.

I am in no rush whatsoever. I am mostly a weekend player anyway.

And...depending on how my new thread with Katie goes (civil war), James might very much end up spiraling and have a good reason to go drown his sorrows at a bar... haha. Future problems.


Oh. Also:
Instead of last names, the Sector team should totally have everyone pick (or be assigned) fun names for the back of their jerseys. James should definitely have PRESUMED DEAD and #2 on the back of his. *g*