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OUT of CHARACTER
Name: Danya
Other characters: None!

IN CHARACTER
Name: Clara Murphy
Fandom: RoboCop (2014)
Canon point/AU: Mid-movie, after the meeting with Sellars, but before the rooftop.
Journal:

seestheman
PB: Abbie Cornish
History: Here! If you want me to expand it with what I have as headcanon about her life before everything went completely crazy, just let me know!

Presentation:
At first glance, Clara appears to be a completely average stay-at-home mom. Which is actually fairly accurate. She makes every effort to try to be that super-mom we see on TV who can balance a social life, being the Best Mom Ever who can seamlessly handle everything from rides to-and-from hockey practice to making cookies for a school bake sale, and being a supportive wife even when her husband does stupid shit. Which, okay, she doesn't always succeed at accomplishing it all, but by god she tries.

The truth is, for all her warmth and caring, there's a layer of steel to her. While she isn't much of a fighter physically (she leaves that to Alex, thank you very much), she is a woman who knows how to use her words, which goes hand-in-hand with the fact that she can be ridiculously headstrong. If there's something she wants, she will try to fight for it and won't stop until she's achieved it or she's found a damn good reason not to go after it anymore.

As much as she tries to keep from wearing her heart on her sleeve, when she hits a certain point, she's a crier, even if she's trying to put on a brave face. Despite this, she can keep a cool head when she's under pressure (or at least can make herself seem like she's keeping a cool head).

Motivations:
Not to oversimplify her, but Clara's family is the center of her world and has been for years. It's not that she doesn't have other things in her life that concern her, but at the end of the day she's a woman who will do anything for her husband and son. And, because of this, a lot of who she is now comes from spending the bulk of her adult life in the role of a wife and mother.

She carries a lot of guilt for what happened to Alex, despite the fact that she had nothing to do with the bomb. In her eyes, because she signed the papers for OmniCorp, she took away Alex's chance to say no if he didn't want it. And, honestly, she isn't entirely convinced that he doesn't resent her on some level for choosing for him, even if he was unable to and time was of the essence. Even if he was to tell her otherwise, she's certain he has to be a little peeved with her and it just saying it to spare her feelings. Because of this, she feels as if she has to find some way to atone for taking that away from him (even though, logically, anyone in her situation would probably make the same choice).

Clara is painfully selfish, though she isn't completely aware of it. It really tends not to show because, on some subconscious level, she sometimes masks it with selflessness by making it out to be about other people in her life. On top of that, she has a tendency to get away from very real problems in her life through rationalization and denial, such as trying to convince herself that once Alex came home, everything would go back to normal even though that's impossible.

Setting: In the short term, at least through her first arena, Clara's going to be in a state of disbelief and horror that someone would ever think that this is a good idea. Especially the idea of subjecting children to this. Once the fact that this is real fully sinks in, she'll eventually get somewhat used to it, though there will always be horror and disgust that the Capitol thinks that this is a valid form of entertainment. She will never really be comfortable with the idea of killing someone, even once she knows that it isn't permanent.

No matter how amazing or lavish life in the Capitol may seem, Clara's main goal will always be to get back home to her son. If the offer to join any rebellions were to crop up, she would definitely consider joining them, but whether she would accept depends heavily on whether or she has a better chance getting home if she cooperates with them compared to cooperating with the Capitol.

SAMPLES
First Person Thread:
[It takes a while for Clara to finally bring herself to make the recording. She was supposed to be dead. Not that she really remembers much about actually dying, considering she had been knocked unconscious by the second blow to her head her 'ally' (so much for that concept) had given her. She does remember him saying something about it being a mercy killing or some shit like that. It doesn't change the fact that he killed her. Or that her untimely death apparently hadn't taken.

Or that she ended up coming around here instead of at home as proof that this was all some crazy, hyper-violent dream her brain concocted. Because that's where she should be, safe and sound at home with her son and her husband. Not curled up sobbing in a room she's never been in before, because she's damn sure she's never going to see them again (though, considering the news she had gotten before she ended up here, she wasn't going to see Alex again as it was).

Really, that might be the worst part of all this. Dying violently and coming back from the dead is horrific and world shattering. Going through all that and knowing that you've effectively lost everything? Makes her wish she had just stayed dead. It would have been kinder.

Eventually she manages to compose herself. Despite that, her eyes make it obvious that she's been crying and her voice is hoarse from her previous sobbing.]

I thought I was going home. I was wrong.

[There really isn't anything else for her to say other than that. She's well aware that none of her loved ones are going to be watching this, so tacking on a message for them saying that she's okay is moot, and she doesn't know anyone else here other than the people she met in the arena. She stares at the camera of the device for a moment more before switching it off.]

Prose:
Clara doesn't know how she got here. She doesn't even really know where 'here' is, except for the fact that the man who had ushered her into the room said something about showing off her stuff so she could survive a death match (which she's sure has to be a hyperbole, considering, y'know, the whole idea of a death match is pretty far fetched and belongs in pop culture, not in real life). As much as she's trying to focus on the situation at hand to impress the people watching her not-so-intently from behind the screen (or was it a window? It was definitely something), she can't. Not when the last thing she remembers before being here was walking into an elevator with David and trying to figure out how to break the news to him that Alex was dead without telling him the gritty details Sellars had given her. It's hard enough to focus on much of anything knowing that she's now a widow, but trying to concentrate on impressing these people while she has no clue if her son's okay is next to impossible.

She takes a deep breath to steady herself and tries to lock onto the task at hand. Maybe if she plays her cards right, they'll just send her home instead of keeping her here.

A glance at the weapons tells her everything she needs to know: they were probably serious about the death match thing. On one hand, she can go for a weapon and show just how utterly useless she is at fighting, so that's out. Or she thinks it is until her eyes land on a spear. It clicks in her head that really, a spear is just an oversized dart and she was always pretty decent at playing darts on those date nights at a divey cop bar with Alex (and the thought of him just stings right now). She picks a few up and carries them with her over towards the targets and, once she's positioned, let's the first one fly. And watches it miss the target completely. This would probably be so much easier with a beer or two in her and music playing in the background. And little plastic-and-metal darts instead of giant spears. She shakes herself out and picks up a second spear, this one hitting a bit off from the bullseye, but still sinking into the board. The third one lands closer to the edge, followed by the fourth, which, like the first, completely misses the target.

That definitely could have gone better.

Clara's at a loss about what else to do that could be even vaguely impressive and is about to throw in the towel (and possibly any shot at seeing her son again if these are the people who can help her survive this) when she notices a first aid kit. If there is one thing that being married to Alex along with eight years of motherhood to a slightly unruly, hockey loving son has taught Clara, it's the fine art of first aid. She grabs a kit and drags one of the dummies onto a table and sets to work. Wrapping ankles and wrists with ace bandages, creating wounds and then demonstrating how to properly clean and bandage them, dislocating and resetting shoulders and toes and fingers.

It isn't much, but she knows how to do this. Once she's done she turns to face her (obviously bored) audience and tries not to show her dismay. Not a single one is sparing her a second glance. There's a small part of her that wants to ask if they have David, or if he's safe at the very least, but she's certain they either don't know or care enough to answer her. Instead of trying to pry at them for answers, she shakes her head and storms out of the room, just wanting to escape their gazes and find a place where she can grieve her losses.

What is your character scored: Probably a 4. Maybe a 5 or 6 at best. She doesn't have any powers or any sort of combat training. She's completely average and the best thing she has going for her is her wits and the fact that she was pulled away from her son might earn her some sympathy from a few sponsors.

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