Entry tags:
app @ box
Player Information
Player name: Demi
Contact:
Are you over 18: yes!
Characters in The Box Already: n/a
Character Information
Character Name: Clarke Griffin
Canon: The 100
Canon Point: 2x08, Spacewalker
History: Everything Sucks And The World Is Toxic
Personality:
Clarke Griffin is a gift.
That's it, that's the entire personality.
"You don't like being called Princess
very much, do you Princess?"
very much, do you Princess?"
Okay, no, that's not the entire personality. There's a couple more important bits. Clarke is one of the elite on the ship. Her mother was a member of the council, and her father was the Senior Environmental Engineer, which made her pretty up there on the social hierarchy. Hell, her best friend was the Chancellor's son, and if things went differently, maybe she would have been the first lady of the Ark or something. But everything went to shit in space, so both she and Wells Jaha were sent to Earth and somewhat isolated by their high social classes and notable status.
Not like that stops her from getting up on her completely logical soap box and voicing her opinions. Loudly. And often. And trying to user her reason to sway people to listen to her instead of her Ark-based status, especially re: initially finding Mount Weather supplies, and running from the Grounder war. While Bellamy Blake amasses his status with the 100 by generally being his awesome, positive self (preaching against the Ark, against Jaha, against the Guard and a bit against Clarke and Wells) and the two butt heads over a lot of things, they've rather complimentary personalities and leadership qualities and make for a pretty good team: the princess and the king.
"They also told me you were their leader."
She's a natural born leader.
Coming from a couple classes above everyone else that comprised the 100 didn't immediately curry her favor among them, and didn't automatically make her their leader. Initially, everyone seemed to gravitate towards Bellamy Blake's line of command, but with Clarke's steadfast all around goodness, medical expertise, and her borderline disgusting insistence that they be fair and good, it doesn't take the rest of their group long to realize they need her. By the time they all ("all", 47 + Clarke) wind up in Mount Weather, all of her people run to greet her excitedly halfway through their orientation, and they all listen to her as much as they would Bellamy had he been around. And when she leaves, at least a handful find themselves asking in times of trials and tribulations: what would Clarke do?
Her mother had been the head of medical on the Ark, and she had shadowed Abby (and probably some other medical experts as well) many times. It was a natural gift, and on the ground she has successfully performed tricky operations like relieving blood buildup in a young girls lungs, removing a knife from Finn's check without nicking his important bits, and manages to make anti-inflammatory medicines out of seaweed. She's incredibly determined to save everyones lives, deeply mourning the dead she couldn't, and very stubbornly continuing CPR on the young Grounder girl until Finn indicates that her efforts are fruitless.
This trait probably comes from mama Griffin, who zaps Lincoln with an taser in an attempt to revive him after his breathing stops. Where as her inherent goodness, fairness comes from her father, who believed the entire Ark population had a right to know that their resources were failing and was floated for trying to tell everyone. In a similar vein, Clarke's attempt at sharing information with the entire camp got Murphy "floated" (hanged) and her attempts to be incredibly fair and preserve life got Charlotte "floated" (cliff diving without a rope) as well. But those were good learning experiences, natural born leader doesn't mean they're perfect right off the bat.
Being able to treat wounds and the like makes her incredibly important to the 100, and even important enough to the Grounders that they try to keep her when they need a new healer. But Clarke is ultimately like "nah, my people need me" and ollies out.
She's an incredibly high moral compass that nicely compliments Bellamy's brash, whatever means necessary attitude. Clarke initially backs the we are civilized ideal, insisting they couldn't kill (hang Murphy, etc) because "that's not who we are", but later (after allowing the torture of Lincoln in an attempt to save Finn) seems to support the general "who we are, and who we are to survive are two different things" argument; believing that they're still good people, that violence is not the only option. But if mercy killing needs to be done? She's still your girl. Clarke's very diplomatic and often, especially with the Grounders, insists on trying to talk her way out of unfortunate situations before falling back on violent means. And a lot of times, people listen to her.
There's a learning curve between natural talent and refined skill, but she learns.
"I want to see my people."
"They're being led by a child!" "So are we."
"They're being led by a child!" "So are we."
But don't let those nonviolent ideals mean she's not ready to kick ass and wreck shit if she has to.
Clarke is fiercely protective of her people. She's the camp mother, and her own mother actively tried to tell her that she shouldn't try to take care of everyone, that she needed to focus on herself. But Clarke wasn't having any of that, and quickly became a sort of mama bear that would allow Bellamy to torture Lincoln in an attempt to procure the antidote to save Finn when he'd been poisoned.
Likewise, when Anya states her intent to kill Finn after the two of them failed to save her second, Clarke manipulates her guard into taking off part of his armor; lulls him into a false sense of security, and then has no problem cutting his throat. She also has no problem holding a piece of broken window glass to Maya's throat when she thinks she's done something uncouth to Monty in Mount Weather, so it's not even just a Finn thing, her streak runs deep and she'd do drastic things to save any of her people.
Her protective streak doesn't just end at the 100 either. Clarke insists that all lives matter down on Earth, and probably rooted in the humanitarianism that led her to pursuing a medical career to save peoples lives, does her best to preserve life when she can. Yes, she will kill if she has to, but if she can save people, she will go out of her way to do so, like with Anya in Mount Weather when the two of them escaped. Clarke didn't need to save her (...yes she did, but didn't know she did when she initially busted her out of her cage), but she did it anyway.
When she has to deal with the grounders and try to negotiate war terms and the like with them, even they recognize Clarke as a leader. The leader. She is the one they actively seek out because they recognize that she has a good head on her shoulders, and eventually even the adults in Camp Jaha realize that she is really in charge here. They sent her down to die, and followed her down to follow her.
"Bring guns."
"They gave us a map with no exits."
"They gave us a map with no exits."
Clarke's smart. She can read people, can see through Bellamy's attempts to cause chaos to keep the Ark-bound people from following them down, can immediately tell that Finn is reckless, that Murphy is violent and dangerous, and that Mount Weather is dangerous. And oh how right she usually is, because Bellamy is stirring shit to save his own skin, Finn murders people on a whim, Murphy murders people out of vengeance and tries to hang Bellamy, and Mount Weather is trying to keep all the 100/48 locked in the mountain to use them as science experiments.
That said, she doesn't trust very easily.
She's very keen eyed, and spots all the red flags in Mount Weather. The fact that there were no exits on the maps they were given, the fact they've not been given key cards (so she has to steal one, you go Clarke), the fact they weren't allowed outside to help look for their people... Clarke is so suspicious that at first she refuses to eat the food provided, then refuses to believe that one of the guards was shot with an arrow, not a bow. Sometimes she is a little too quick to assume too, it would see. And while the likes of Monty and Jasper aren't quite ready to believe her suspicions and back them (they do eventually, because she was right), Clarke doesn't need their validation and acts upon her own instincts. Which are spot on, and she honestly should have shanked President Dante Wallace with the shoe heel she impulsively broke off and hid in her sleeve that first day, or when he tried to manipulate her with that "sometimes we feel so strongly about our people, we see things that aren't there" crap, playing on her suspicions and trying to also play on her love of her companions.
Likewise, Clarke doesn't really trust the Grounders. She holds somewhat of a grudge. When Finn initially sets up a meeting to sue for peace, Clarke immediately turns around and finds Bellamy so she can tell him to follow them and: "Bring guns."
She's cautious, and sometimes outright sneaky when it comes to sating her curiosity or following her gut. She's not above going against Bellamy (sending Octavia out to find Lincoln and the cure for the biological warfare the Grounders implemented) or stealing (the key card from Maya on her first attempt to escape Mount Weather), or to hurt herself (reopen her arm wound to get back into medical in Mount Weather because she was suspicious about how they recovered from radiation burns so quickly).
"I need you."
That's it, that's the entirety of Bellamy and Clarke and their relationship right there.
...But real talk, he is the yang to her yin. They're co-leaders, and rely on each other a lot, and compliment each others strengths and weaknesses. Where her ability to trust runs thin, and while she may not have trusted or liked him much initially, she trusts Bellamy completely; trusts him to have her back and trusts him to be harsh where she'd much rather be kind. They challenge each other, butt heads, and argue, but can concede when they know the other is right, and can comfort when the other is wounded. Clarke recognizes that Bellamy is the inspiration that the (their) people need, and Bellamy recognizes that Clarke is the logic and the peacekeeper; that they've each got so much more to offer the 100 than gun skills and medical prowess.
They help each other out. Bellamy helps Clarke mend the bridge with her mother by making the two of them talk, Clarke talks Bellamy down from running away because he's scared of Jaha. Clarke tells Bellamy that he's not a monster, kills Atom out of mercy because Bellamy can't, and Bellamy pulls her out of a pit of spikes when he'd much rather drop her, and later puts his unarmed self between Clarke and a slew of angry Grounders. Where they first couldn't stand each other and only cooperated out of necessity, now they hug. Now they lean on each other, care for each other, and can't quite function in a leadership position without the other.
Clarke's other notable relationships are with Octavia Blake, who becomes somewhat of a sister to her, another reliable member of the
Raven Reyes is another important lady in Clarke's life. Sure, when she initially touched down on Earth, it was to reveal that Finn had a girlfriend and her romantic interests were cut short. And when Raven found out that Finn cheated on her with Clarke, the two of them butt heads initially. But they were very mature about it and Clarke tried to keep her distance to respect their standing relationship (outright telling him that Raven needed him) despite Finn being a dick and chasing after Clarke instead. She cares for Raven deeply, and the two have had a couple important heart-to-hearts. Also some fists-to-faces, but Clarke kind of deserved it at that point.
Their relationship is summed up pretty perfectly by:
"Hey Raven? I'd pick you first."
"Of course you would. I'm awesome."
And last but not least for now, Finn Collins. Arguably her first, maybe second love. The two had a fling just ten days after being Earth bound, and both Clarke and Finn get a little too invested in it. After she finds out that he has a girlfriend, she tries to be very diplomatic about the whole ordeal and put some distance between the two of them romantically, but they're like magnets and always end up together on some mission or another. And while Clarke puts kissing and gross stuff like that off the table, she still cries for him when he's wounded or running off into danger, or being dragged away by Grounders. She still obviously cares about him.
Though there's some serious wrenches thrown in the spokes when she escapes from Mount Weather, goes looking for Finn and finds him massacring and entire village on the pretext of finding her. He killed 13 people in the camp, and one more in cold blood after they (Bellamy, Murphy, Finn, etc) had questioned him on the whereabouts of the rest of the 100, and Clarke can't forgive mindless violence. She can't even look at him, and refuses to talk to him for a bit; definitely refuses to tell him that she loves him. But when the Grounders insist that the only alliance they can form is one that begins with Finn's dead body, she is ready to start World War 4 to protect him, and ready to sacrifice herself in his stead because he did those atrocious things "for me". The Commander says no, however; says that "now he shall die for you".
And when all of her attempts to save his life fail, Clarke takes it. Stabs him out of mercy so he can't be tortured, holds and kisses him until he dies, and makes a point to tell him that she loves him and forgives him (even if she probably doesn't entirely) before he dies.
(Then she starts seeing his ghost, how's that for dramatic.)
"I can be fun."
But at the end of the day, Clarke is still a girl. She's an eighteen year old kid with exceptional decision making skills and maturity, but still just eighteen. She's capable of falling in love, such as with Finn Collins
She's pretty decent at drinking games — she enjoys them — though she gets a little emotional when she drinks 100 year old whisky and is a kind of angry drunk if she's something on her mind to be angry about. Sometimes Clarke makes rather impulsive, teenager decisions, like sleeping with Finn after Charlotte killed herself, and she gets really excited about things like art and art supplies.
"MISC."
I hate writing apps and I'm sure I've missed some key things, and there's a bunch of small bits and pieces about Clarke that don't really fit into the above groupings. So let's just cover them here in a succinct fashion.
She's a very selfless person. She'll do anything for her people, including die for them, and tries to convince Lexa to let her trade places with Finn when he's about to be executed because "he did it for me". She's also a very guilt ridden person, and feels personally responsible for every death amoung her people, even if there's no way she could have prevented it and wasn't directly at fault. Because of the death of her father, and the impact that had on her, she feels every death quite personally and mourns for an extended period of time. Sometimes so severely she sees ghosts, re: Finn.
Clarke can be incredibly stubborn. She won't lay down when she's sick, she won't give up trying to save Finn's life, she won't stop attempting CPR on Anya's dead second in command, she won't give up performing CPR on Lincoln when he stopped breathing, and she won't give up trying to preserve peace. She can also be incredibly blunt, to the point where she's doling out the sickest burns. But that doesn't mean she's socially inept and can't be vulnerable in the right company. She cries, but it's not a sign of weakness with Clarke, more of a sign of her humanity when she so openly mourns the likes of Wells and Charlotte, and the rest of them.
Forgiveness is a big thing for her, and she cannot forgive people easily for killing others. While she and her mother seem to have mended bridges after the revelation that Abby got Jake killed, Clarke doesn't seem to ever be able to relate to her the same way she had before she'd known the truth. She snaps at Charlotte, refuses to forgive Murphy for being an all around dick as well as a murderer, despite his attempts at a redemption arc, and possibly only said she forgave Finn because she was about to kill him, and wanted his last few moments to be filled with relief rather than terror and unresolved issues.
Did she love him? Yes. Forgive him? No.
And while she did what she had to do because otherwise they were going to torture him and his death would have been prolonged and painful otherwise, knowing those facts doesn't mean Clarke's about to forgive herself either any time soon.
Items on your character at canon point:
» the dirty, bloody clothes on her back
» the dirty, bloody knife in her hand
» the ghost of finn collins following her around like a creep
Abilities, Strengths and Weaknesses:
ABILITIES:
» medical training Clarke did an internship under her mother while on board the Ark, which went on for an unspecified amount of time, but left her quite capable. She can do everything from basic sprained ankle tests, to removing knives from peoples rib cages, to relieving blood buildup from internal bleeding, to curing infections with some seaweed tea, to deciding who's not going to make it and putting them out of their misery.
» leadership qualities Don't ask her to tie someone up and whip them with a seatbelt, but Clarke provides a complimentary approach to Bellamy's leadership, acting as the moral compass, and calling for order when she thinks it will save peoples lives. She's an excellent, earnest public speaker that has a way of appealing to everyones better natures with her logic and sound reasoning. She cares for everyone around her, and in acting to save or better their lives, she inspires them to follow her.
» well read, knowledgable Clarke is a smarty; a self taught map reader and a quoter of Oppenheimer. She's one of the privileged and was accorded a quality education on board the Ark, and while she may not have the skills Raven and Monty possess when it comes to technology and engineering, she's very useful.
» artsy fartsy She's is a natural artist. Her Skybox cell is covered in sketches, and she appreciates the art supplies and artwork around Mount Weather (even if she uses her gifted fancy coloring material to plot her escape.)
STRENGTHS:
» negotiations Clarke's a peace keeper. She's got a lot of nonviolent ideals and a good, commanding speaking voice with which to impress upon people the importance of resolutions. She's talked her way out of a lot of sticky situations between the 100, and between the Sky People and the Grounders in hopes of avoiding war. Even when her efforts are obviously going to be futile, she still argues her side relentlessly in hopes of reaching some sort of agreement.
» gunplei Bellamy once made her pick up a gun and shoot at a weird sheet, and she's weirdly good at it and almost thought it was fun, so yeah.
» this is ourselves under pressure When she wants to do something, she is going to do something. And you can try to step between her and her agenda, but you will lose and lose spectacularly. She handles herself spectacularly well under pressure, be that pressure come from public speaking or from escaping a military compound full of Mountain Men and Reapers. Sometimes she handles this pressure by jumping off of a dam.
» i feel it in my bones She, like all of the 100 and all of the Sky People, have been exposed to mass amounts of radiation while on board the Ark and are immune to the radiation remaining on Earth 97 years after the nuclear apocalypse.
» camp mama Clarke's got the biggest heart, and wears it on her sleeve. She cares for people, completely and with abandon, and is fiercely protective of everyone she loves. And even a few people she doesn't love, like Anya, or people she's mad at, like Finn or Bellamy.
WEAKNESSES:
» not too physically strong While she can hold her own on pure precedent and stubborness, she has an incredibly difficult time fighting Anya and almost gets stabbed, like, twice even while Anya is emaciated and still drugged. The only way she really wins physical skirmishes is when she has the element of surprise on her side or some timely intervention from a friend.
» torture She's a doctor, and is out to help people, which makes senseless violence sort of her kryptonite. Clarke's no stomach for it, looks physically ill when she's a part of it, and has a really hard time getting behind Bellamy's torturing Lincoln agenda, forgiving Finn for killing a whole village of people, not yelling at Charlotte for killing wells, and getting over her mother's contribution to her fathers death.
» bloodprice Considering she's willing to do anything to keep her friends (and new family) safe, Clarke is very self sacrificing. Which is great from a moral standpoint, but not necessarily from a...surviving...standpoint.
» love is weakness She loves too easily. It gets her sad places.
» ghost of finn collins What you did will haunt you until the end of your days.
Samples
Network/Action Spam Sample:
( re-used fromcheckingin application )
( there are certain major pluses to being born in space, raised in space, and surrounded by space-quality technology all your life. even if most of the equipment was about 100 years old in her time, and even if clarke was more of an artist than a computer wizard, this tiny little tablet was child's play.
that... doesn't soften the shock of waking up in a dark room any, however. and while she's lived through this (exact same? no that room had been stark white, and there'd been friends across the hall) same scenario before, that doesn't make it any more pleasant or easy. but while clarke may be freaking out on the inside — her panic only intensifying when she reaches her room and can't see familiar woods or the mountains beyond due to the heavy, unrelenting fog — she sounds pretty calm when she activates the video function. )
I'm looking for a... a group of people.
( attached, and very neatly typed and easily accessible, is a list: )Abigail Griffin
Raven Reyes
Jasper Jordan
Monty Green
Octavia Blake
Bellamy Blake
( not featured: finn collins. anyways — )
Or anyone who might recognize those names. ( which is about to be the end of the message, but almost as an afterthought, clarke adds: ) And if you've also been brought here against your will, I'd like to talk to you too.
( feed terminated. )
Prose Log Sample:
Ha. Haha. Hahahahaha.
I have more!
Please love me.