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"“Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”"
~ Sarah Williams, Twilight Hours: A Legacy of Verse

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"My Dad...he was from Jamaica and he said he didn't really see poppies until he came to the United States. So, when they were naming me, that was what he asked my mom to call me."
Poppy Dominique Clarke

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Pops and Pop-Rock {Most common; pretty much everyone} || Tiny {Common; mostly by family and very close friends since she has always been the short one}

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November 6, 1991

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26

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"If you value your life, do not listen to my brother. This wasn't a geek career...okay, maybe it was, but this geek is doing a pretty damn good job with her career and being loan-free, thank you very much. I was always interested in art, whether they be studio or performing. It just so happened that my skill set and interest lay solely with the former, which is why I went into art conservation, specifically restoration. I work primarily with paintings and try to bring them back to their former glory for a good number of exhibits and the like. So, yeah, maybe I'm a nerd. But this nerd loves her job."
Art Conservator at the Carnegie Museum of Art, though she does partake in freelance art on the side

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Female

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Demisexual || Biromantic

ＤＩＡＬＯＧＵＥ XＣＯＬＯＲ
#E8ADAA

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Poppy has definitely grown from the frail girl who could barely leave the four feet mark. She still retains the nickname of Tiny among close friends and family due to the fact that, despite her brother and mostly every other person on her father's side of the family being guaranteed to reach at least six feet, Poppy is very much standing at five feet and three point five inches, with the weight of one-hundred and fifteen pounds. Her now slim, hourglass frame is far more sturdier than during her teen years. Her complexion is a deeper olive than her brother's, closer to her father's, and her eyes are still considered hazel, just with more brown and gold flecks than the green her brother is noted for. With her high cheekbones, full lips, and almond-shaped eyes framed by thick dark lashes, Poppy can definitely be considered a looker. Her dark hair, thick and long, is typically straightened when she is not feeling lazy, but there are days when her more natural, curlier texture can be seen, though she's known during those times to wear her hair up and out of her way. It's also not out of pocket to see the occasional smear of paint on Poppy's fingers that refused to come out in the shower.

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Though typically considered the good girl all of her life, Poppy is like a live wire. She always seems to be filled with limitless energy and is almost always up for a bit of an adventure, despite being the main one ready to chill out with a movie marathon. Despite the fact that she is more frequently known for having harmless fun, there is a bit of a wild side to Pops that likes to make its presence known. She surprises even herself with wanting to go to a club, especially if she's found an underground one. She's not afraid to try most things once, though some things require a bit more coaxing from the right people, and she's usually up for going somewhere new and/or exciting. During her formative years, a big chunk of this side of her was hidden behind the studious and quietly intelligent yet sassy girl with glasses. But as the years have gone by, and she's had to flourish into a much mature business woman, Pops has also flourished into a woman who's more comfortable with her physical features and who likes to "let down her hair" and live a little in light of the professional world she's had to acclimate to. Some things have remained the same, however, in that Poppy still is the girl who will babble when nervous, even going so far as to make sexual innuendos without actually meaning to. While she is not the type to befriend everyone she sees, she's also not unapproachable and she typically remains relatable to the extent that Poppy has an assortment of associates from varying social classes. Despite having a pretty wealthy upbringing, Pops managed to stay a bit humble and that humility can have a magnetic allure. It's if you can stay in her presence that makes all the difference. Despite all the charisma and easy-going appeal she seems to exude and the easy way in which she can talk with people - even when she does not like them - Poppy isn't what you could call easy. You can't win her over with cheap tricks, coquettish smiles, or pick-up lines. That doesn't impress her and she makes sure that you know that. In fact, instead of having a plethora of best friends like her vivacious antics would fool you into believing, Poppy has a very, very tight knit circle of friends that not many can find their way in. She knows the difference between associates and friends, after all. Anyone who she finds a threat or simply unworthy of her friendship and that of her own beloved people get an upfront rejection. She doesn't filter herself and she doesn't like putting on airs. It's a waste of time and you should just be aware - she doesn't like you and Poppy isn't, in her own words, "pussy-footing" around it. For all of her nice girl sensibilities, Poppy can be quite blunt when she wants to be.

Poppy is self-sufficient, and goes after what she wants with will power and determination. She has a fiercely independent streak and likes to chart her own course. On one end, this calls to a bit of a vindictive and almost childish side of herself. She likes to see herself as someone who is indomitable. She doesn't just surrender to people easily. Especially those who feel like they control her or should dominate her. After being a bit more submissive and meek during her formative years, Pops has developed a much firmer back bone and is not the type to allow people to tell her what to do, which can oftentimes lead to a stubborn fixation on doing exactly what someone doesn't want her to do. Most of the times, that person is typically her brother, who can bring out a bit of a rebelliousness from Poppy. In that same light, it just goes to show that there is a side of her that is, again, willing to take on something new, even if it's just to be daring because someone has underestimated her or thought she wouldn't be bold. Poppy is actually a lot more impulsive than she likes admitting, though her impulsiveness reveals itself through the physical, or her actions. With that being said, especially when she feels insulted or someone has managed to piss her off, despite how much she does like having a much more controlled disposition when in the public eye, Poppy has maintained a reputation for not being afraid to, as she put it, "hit a bitch." She's a firm believer in slaps saving lives, though she's not afraid of using a fist if needed. She feels embarrassed afterwards for the primal satisfaction of causing someone physical pain due to their affront to her person, but there's no mistaking that under most circumstances, she wouldn't necessarily regret having to do it again.

On the other end, it means that Poppy isn't the type to accept help from anyone, not even her parents. When she's sick, she hates the idea of someone having to take care of her. When she's struggling with a project that she's taking the lead on, she hates others offering help or solutions. It bothers her. Why? Because despite what this competitive little minx will tell you, she hates the idea of vulnerability. Of needing someone - anyone. It is something she tries to fight vehemently, oftentimes allowing her stubborn side to show through simply because she is unwilling to hear someone else's side. It is also why the close friends she does have and her family are known for being headstrong as well, having to ignore her pleas for independence when it becomes a hindrance for her well-being. Because of this consistent show of loyalty in the family and friends that she does have now, Poppy has a deep disdain for anyone would lie to her. She hates not knowing things or being the last to know something. It means she failed at something. It also signifies a fear of there having to be a truth because if there is anything she fears more, it is change and that truth can change everything. It clashes with her upfront nature, but it speaks to her biggest flaw: Poppy hates change. Oh, she's willing to tell everyone else that change or something new could be good for them. However, when it comes to herself - and she's acknowledged this hypocritical nature of hers - Poppy absolutely hates it. Because she cannot control change and as another child in the Clarke family household, not having control is just not in the cards.

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✔ Nature - As much as she seems a bit acclimated to city life now that she travels into the city more, Poppy is still the girl who loved taking long walks or morning jogs into the forest that surrounds Bellingstone. She feels at home there, even going so far as to have plants in her apartment.
✔ Cooking - While her family were wealthy enough to have cooks, there was nothing like her father taking the time to cook some of his island recipes, which Poppy would eventually pick up, along with a love of just making food in general.
✔ Art - She's always enjoyed it, whether she was observing or painting. Art has always been the most calming.
✔ The smell of rain - enough said there.
✔ Wine - Pops has always been a red girl, pinot noir or sweet reds specifically. She'll enjoy some pinot grigio occasionally, but she daily sticks to reds.

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✖ Being underestimated - Poppy gets it; she's the smaller sibling, not the strongest, and all that other stuff. But what she hates most is for anyone to think she's not capable because she is.
✖ Being lied to - She's not always the greatest liar unless she really needs to be because Poppy is a relatively honest individual, which means she hates when people aren't honest with her.
✖ Feeling weak and like she needs people
✖ Wearing shoes at home - Once she's in the comfort of her family's place or her own, all bets are off and so are shoes. How else is she going to comfortably read a book and drink a glass of wine, people??
✖ Spiders - You can tell Poppy all you want about how they help with other bugs. That won't stop her from jumping out of her skin at the sight of one.

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☠ Drowning, even though she does know how to swim.
☠ Dying alone
☠ Dark, enclosed spaces

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By the time Poppy was born, the Clarke family had been living in Bellingstone for four years and her father was just really considering the idea of competing in the mayoral race. At the time, he just liked having the position of Finance Director and being with his family. Jethro's own father had inherited a large sum of money from his own Jamaica-born father, and upon his death, Jethro and two siblings had split the money three ways and left it like that. Poppy never really paid attention to the specifics of that; all she knew was that she loved leaving Bellingstone during the holidays or when her aunt Chinyere came because that meant Jamaican recipes for Thanksgiving meals. It was rare that her father had the time to make dinner for them, let alone share the recipes that he had inherited. Nevertheless, Poppy was born in Bellingstone to an older brother, her mother and father. As a child who had been born prematurely, Poppy remembers that a lot of her time when she was smaller had been spent being relatively sick. She had spent two weeks in the incubator after being born because she was two months early. By the time she got to elementary school, she had classmates picking on her because she was so weak, tiny when in comparison to the rest of them and always tired - not to mention a bit of a teacher's pet - and there were rarely weeks when Poppy didn't pass out. Being short hadn't really been an issue for Poppy because on both sides of her family, there were just short people and there were tall. In fact, her mother - from whom her brother gets his height - was actually taller than her father, much to Jethro's chagrin. However, come to find out, the reason Poppy wasn't getting her height and was so weak wasn't just because she was simply a premature child; she had the endocrine disorder, growth hormone deficiency. Needless to say, Poppy spent a good portion of her childhood not exactly at her best.

During those years, though, was when her love for art had developed. Her mother, Fatima, had been an art teacher at both the elementary school and high school for Bellingstone, and she would spend extra time at home with Poppy, cultivating her love for painting and drawing in various mediums such as acrylic and oil paintings, water color, black ink pens, and charcoal. It was this that made her feel strong - that made her want to be stronger. The friends she had made helped, too, since she did want to be able to go out into the forest and play with them. However, her mother also would grow to be sick. Her mother had had breast cancer when Poppy was small, a little bit after breast feeding was done, but because everyone made her so worried about her own health, Poppy hadn't noticed. Her mother hadn't lost a considerable amount of hair and if she had, she had tricked Poppy with wigs. And she survived it. But then it came back, when Poppy was thirteen - this time, more aggressively. It would be within the next year that Fatima would die, and if Poppy had been close to her parents before, she was even closer to her father upon her mother's death. There were hardly pictures anyone saw of the Bellingstone mayor that did not include his two children, particularly his daughter. She would be in charge of his programs with the children, quick to make sure he was doing community service related activities with the townsfolk, and it damn near broke her heart to actually stay in the city to attend The Art Institute. But she visited at every break that she could and Poppy owed it to her father's connections for even getting her her current job. Which is why she's heartbroken over his death now. And suspicious.

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Apartment - Although Poppy can still live in her family's home, she rents out an condo in the thick of Bellingstone square, and it sits atop a more modern coffee shop for all the snotty townspeople who started thinking they were too good to drink coffee at the diner.